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helliontherapscallion · 3 years

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Phantasmagoria (Adrenaline Junkie Part 16)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 17

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: swearing, mentions of injuries, death, depersonalization, grief

REMINDER: you are real. the topics discussed in this is fiction and not reality. you are loved and valid, hydrate and eat 3 meals a day <3

Word count: 2,645

You were in and out of it for the next few days. Whenever your eyes would crack open and you would even slightly move your arm, you would be in immense pain before you would pass out again. You could sometimes hear the voices of your family talking to you, but never Arthur. Good, he definitely shouldn’t see you like this.

Whenever you heard Philza, he would be talking to you about all the journeys he’s been on in his hundreds of years of living. Oh yeah, you found out that he was an immortal being that can’t die. Your brain was too tired and clouded to contemplate it.

Whenever you heard Technoblade, his monotone and deep voice always eased your worries. It gave you something to focus on; if anything, his voice was the one that cut through the fog the most. He would always recite Greek myths to you, often telling you that you reminded him of a few characters.

Whenever you heard Wilbur, all you heard was him asking you questions such as ‘how was your day’ or ‘what do you think of someone-so’. He would talk to you as if you were conscious, often having one sided conversations with you. Sometimes he would bring his guitar and compose new songs, asking you if he should keep a lyric or if he should throw it away.

Whenever you heard Tommy, it broke your weak heart. It was like your little brother was a completely different person; his usually loud and upbeat tone was reduced to a quiet and broken one. He was the one that wouldn’t talk much, instead he would sit with you and eventually after a day or two (you think) of silence he would play his jukebox. But whenever he did talk (which was rare) he would tell you how scared he was seeing you like that on the table.

As time passed, you could feel yourself slipping deeper and deeper into your subconscious. It was like you were fading away, but you couldn’t fight against it. You wouldn’t fight against it; you could feel your pain fading and it was a great relief. You only wished you could hear your family’s voices before you completely left them, they were fading as well. Eventually, everything slipped into nothingness and you felt… euphoric.

When you opened your eyes, everything was black. You were sure that you had your eyes open, so why was everything so dark? Was this the afterlife? You expected it to be more… heavenly. However, you weren’t complaining; your entire body felt light and you felt waves of peace waft over you. This was nice. You didn’t have much time to relax while you were living.

After a while of staring into nothingness and just peacefully floating in one place, you became restless. Sure this was nice, but your hands itched to tinker with something. You’ve never done well with sitting in one place for too long, that’s always been your weakness. You tried to push your body off from anything so you could at least float around, but that proved useless when there was nothing to push off from. When you tried flapping your wings- well, wing- you only succeeded in spinning in circles. At least you thought you were spinning in circles, the inky abyss was unchanging and it was starting to mess with your perception. Your senses felt like they were deprived, but the worst thing about it was the overwhelming silence.

So, you talked to yourself to fill the ringing silence. You were merely voicing your thoughts, repeating your lessons you’ve taught Arthur over the last few weeks. After a while, you were running out of things to talk to yourself about. So, you sighed and crossed your arms. They were very pale, you were actually dead this time, huh? You could only wait to see your brothers and Arthur when it was their time, hoping that they wouldn’t come to you too soon. It pained you to remember that you would probably never see Philza again, but who knows; the universe has a strange way of working.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, (y/n).” You screamed at the soft voice that cut through the overwhelming silence and whipped your head around. There stood a woman that looked to be in her early thirties with long black hair and tanned skin. You could not see the upper half of her face as it was covered by a crow mask, however her eyes glowed a bright white. She was smiling at you with melancholy and bittersweet happiness. The two giant white feathered wings sprouted from her back were glowing slightly. The powerful and intense aura that loomed around her was the complete antithesis of the gentle smile she was giving you.

“Calm down,” she flew over to you and wove her hand in the air. You immediately felt a wave of calm ease over you. “That’s better. You’ve been through so much, my little fledgling.” Her little fledgling? That was something you’ve recently started to call Arthur.

“Who are you?”

“Oh where are my manners? I’m Kristin, the Goddess of Death. I wish I didn’t have to do this, but I’m here for your life.” You hummed, “that makes sense.” She tilted her head slightly and somehow the eyeholes of the mask morphed into an eyebrow raise. Was that her actual face? “You’re not scared of death?”

“No, I’ve already died twice- no, three times already. But this is- it’s different. Is that because I’ve lost my last life?”

“You’ll find out in due time. Ender, you’re everything Phil described you as and then some.”

You perked up slightly, “you know my Dad?” Her airy chuckle brought you even more at ease, “of course I do, he’s my husband.”

You gaped at her, “so does that- does that make you my mom?”

“Only if you’re comfortable with it, I wouldn’t want to push you into something you didn’t want.”

“I’ve always wanted a mom. D-don’t get me wrong, Dad’s done more than enough for me he’s an amazing parent-”

“I understand and I’d love to be the mother of someone so smart. You’re destined to do great things one day, my little fledgling.” You tilted your head slightly, “greater than being an inventor?”

She nodded, her black locks swaying with the movement, “greater than being an inventor. Our time together is coming to a close.” She flew over gracefully and pulled you into a hug. You reciprocated it. Her hug felt warm and welcoming. It was hard to believe that she was the Goddess of Death, you always thought Kristin would be ruthless and cruel.

“You will face many trials and tribulations and you must persevere through them. This is indeed your reality, but you share it. Do not be afraid to ask for help. The world can be a lonely place, but remember that you are never truly alone.”

She pulled away from you and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead, the beak of her mask poking you. Suddenly, the weightlessness feeling disappeared and you felt a tugging sensation from deep within your chest. Your body was sent flying through the abyss, the gripping sensation you felt in your inner chest felt very intimate somehow. After a bit of screaming, you were still flying through the void. You had no idea how long you were flying for, but eventually you just crossed your arms and went limp in the mysterious embrace. Aaaanny time now.

Eventually you saw a pinprick of light far off into the distance and it was rapidly approaching you. You sighed out a drawn out “finally.” And watched as it came at you at mach speed. After you crashed into it, everything went white.

You jolted up with wide eyes and looked around panting. You saw the walls of your childhood room? So you didn’t die? Then what the hell were you doing in the void? You were so sure that you died permanently. That you lost your last life. When you glanced out the window, everything was dark. When you sat up, you felt the familiar tugging sensation of the scar tissue around the base of your wing, except it was less intense and you had less mobility in your right shoulder. You glanced at the hearts on your wrist expecting to see three empty outlines. Instead, two ruby red hearts stared at you.

Impossible. Impossible. You were in your last life so even if you didn’t die, you should still only be in your last life. Your second life was taken from you in an explosion. It should not show up on your wrist. Furrowing your eyebrows, you ignored the sound of the door opening and footsteps rushing towards you. You ignored hands appearing in your vision and hovering unsure above your hand.

You only looked up when the hand grabbed your wrist and blocked the two perplexing ruby red hearts. You saw Philza with a look of immense relief on his face. “How’re you feeling?”

“I don’t know.” You looked back at your covered wrist and took it out of Philza’s grasp, staring at the two red hearts again in confusion. “I-I should only have one life. Where’s Arthur? Ender, he’s probably so scared. Did you leave my prosthetic in the cave?” Your rapid fire questioning was stopped by a hand on your shoulder.

“Slow down, you only just respawned.” You threw your hands up in frustration (well, you tried with your right arm, it only moved to about two thirds of your full range of movement before you felt a slight pain and a stretching sensation), “how the hell do I respawn when I was on my last life?”

“You aren’t-”

“Yes I am! Fuck man, how do you forget that?! First time: Warden. Second time: explosion! I know I just died for the last time, so how am I still here?!” You glared up at him. It astonished you that he just forgot about the first two times you died. Who forgets their own kids’ deaths? It takes a real monster to forget things like that.

“(Y/n), you’ve only died once and that was because the infection you got was too severe,” he put a gentle hand on your shoulder and pulled you into a hug. You pushed him away and seethed, “How do you not remember! Ender, did the last two and a half years just escape you? You’re fucking immortal, almost three years is nothing to you!”

“Two and a half- (y/n). Two and a half years ago you were fourteen and you were barely just learning how to do tricks midair.”

“No, I’m twenty years old! How the fuck do you forget your own kid’s age?”

“You turned seventeen six months ago, (y/n).”

You ran a frustrated hand through your hair and laughed sardonically, “I’m not dealing with your bullshit right now. Where’s Arthur?” You stood up with shaky legs and swatted his hands away. “I don’t know an Arthur. Please lay back down, you’re-”

“First you forget my deaths, next my age, and now Arthur?! What the actual fuck is wrong with you? Where is he?” You gritted the last sentence out through clenched teeth.

“Who-”

“Curly red hair, freckles, always smiling, about yay high,” you flailed your hand from side to side rapidly at your mid torso, “your grandson. That ring a bell?”

“No because I don’t have a grandson. Sit down, I think I know what’s happening.”

“No. Not until I see Arthur.” You brushed his shoulder as you walked by him and out of the room. You could hear him following behind you, but you ignored him. After you ripped Arthur’s door open, you paused in the doorway.

The entire room was decorated with Wilbur’s belongings. Instead of random bags of redstone dust and small contraptions that Arthur was too proud of to throw away, piles of sheet music and the occasional book was strewn about. Instead of the poster of you Arthur had hung up on the wall (you had laughed at it at first, he still geeked out over you even though you were his parent), a picture of the family was there. Despite it being a sweet picture (it was one of the very few ones of the family where everybody was smiling at the artist and not moving around), it shook you to your core. “A-Arthur?” You whispered in a broken voice. What was going on, where was he?

You faintly felt someone put a hand on your shoulder. You however stood frozen clutching the door handle in your hand until you walked over to the nightstand. It was completely barren except for the glasses case sitting near the lamp. This isn’t right, this isn’t right at all. Arthur’s things should be there, not Wilbur’s.

“No, no, no, no this isn’t right.” You broke off into mumbling while staring at Arthur’s (or Wilbur’s?) nightstand desperately trying to find the feather hidden somewhere. Once again, you felt a hand on your upper arm. “Everything’s right, (y/n).” You said nothing as you stared at the glasses case on the nightstand. “C’mon, let’s go sit down.” You barely registered him leading you gently back to your room and handing you a glass of water. “(Y/n)?”

“Why is his stuff just- just gone? Everything was there before I left.”

Philza was silent for a moment, his feathers ruffling and brushing against your arm. “...Sometimes when a person’s been through something traumatic and they’re about to die, they sort of… make up their own reality without knowing that they’re doing it. It’s the brain’s way of coping.

“This reality could last anywhere from a few days to years for them with the events seeming real, but in actuality only a few minutes have passed and nothing that the person thinks happened actually happened. It’s just the person’s subconscious mind playing out scenarios that they think would happen or wished had happened.”

You felt like you were previously walking on a stable sheet of ice before you were plunged into the icy abyss of unknowing. You felt several emotions coursing through your veins ranging from anxiety and frustration to grief and disbelief. The cup of water in your hands became incredibly blurry before you were pulled into his chest. He wrapped his arms and wings around you tightly and held your face securely against his shoulder. He started rocking you back and forth as you felt the tears silently leave your eyes and your breathing shudder. You felt yourself start to sob when a barrage of thoughts came and the reality of the situation hit you.

None of your inventions actually existed.

L’manberg doesn’t exist.

Your name was unknown.

The last two and a half years were pointless.

Arthur doesn’t exist.

Your precious Artie, the little boy that idolized you, begged for you to teach him everything you knew, followed you around like a little duckling, held your feather against his chest as he slept, enthusiastically asked you if you could take him flying, your little fledgling, your pride and joy, your son, didn’t fucking exist. You were never going to see his smile again. You were never going to laugh with him as you took him into the clouds. You were never going to cook breakfast with him again. He was never going to give you magnets again. He was never going to ask you to teach him something or ask you to help him with his own inventions. He was gone and there was nothing you could do to get him back.

“I- I prom-mised him that I’d never leave him.” You sobbed into his shoulder, clutching onto his shirt. “I fucking promised him and I’m never gonna see him again.”

(A/N): ok so a little explanation, chapters 4-mid 15 didn’t actually happen. It was in the reader’s mind as after they passed out in chapter 3. There was foreshadowing (esp in chapter 4, I consider chapter 4 to be the chapter where the brain is getting used to the illusion it set up (hence the title “what is real”)). It explains why the reader couldn’t remember their own death. The line “You were probably still in the cave bleeding out as your delirious mind turned stone into the comforting walls of your home. You were probably imagining hearing your dad’s voice in a last chance to comfort yourself as you neared your impending doom” was pretty self explanatory. In the last chapter, the souls saying “wake up, we need to get you out of here” and “don’t leave me” were Philza’s voice cutting through (”The voices ranged from... familiar to unfamiliar”)

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missyasf · 3 years

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Game Of Hearts

| 1 |

↳ Summary: Your life is in monotonous tones of grey, day in, day out. Nothing matters besides your sister, the only thing you remember is seeing fireworks before waking up to Tokyo abandoned . Soon enough you are properly introduced to the deadly Borderlands where you must fight for your life in Games to survive. When things can’t possibly get worse soon division arises and rivalries are made. No matter what though, you are constantly plagued by a blonde who, no matter how hard you try, just can’t seem to go too far without.

↳ Pairing: Chishiya/Reader

↳ Genre: Angst, smut, thriller

Word Count: 11k

___| Next

Trigger Warning: ⚠️ much like the manga/Netflix adaptation this will be a dark fic which includes mentions of prostitution, attempted murder, child ab*se, sexual harassment, heavy grief and attempted suic*de among other things. Additional warnings will be added for chapters when triggers are brought up. Please read with caution if these are triggers for you or just skip all together!

Side mention: This could be considered a prequel to the current Alice In Borderland. I’m writing based off the Manga bc I was a glutton and couldn’t wait no spoilers will be present as of...

Escapism

noun

the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy ♡

You had known all about this during your short lifespan, as a child you’d often play pretend with your sister that you were movie stars living in a five star hotel rather than the shitty busted up apartment on the wrong side of town. Escapism came in, many forms. It was often a way for people to cope psychologically, simply because sometimes, facing the reality of your situation can be too much for one person to handle mentally.

Or at least, that was the topic of your lecture today in class. The human mind always fascinated you. Even at the young tender age when your mom died and you watched your once cozy little family fall apart piece by piece until nothing was left in its wake.

It was your fascination that drove you now for most things, why? Why, why, why? You always wondered what the motive was behind someone’s actions, not only thing but you wanted to understand them better, to try and sympathize. You were already fairly intuitive in nature. It wasn’t difficult to read people. In fact your line of work made it easy, you’d watch a man who would be excited to be with you reach for his left finger as if used to touching something. A wedding band perhaps?

The lowlife cheater was fairly common in a whore house after all. Or the man who had been pissy this morning behind you in line because you had decided to try something new on the menu and you weren’t fast enough, obviously because he was tardy and woke up late, his shirt unbeknownst to him was button the wrong way and his tie loose and even the way his hair fell were all signs of being late to work.

It was the little things you noticed in people’s facial expressions, the way they moved and spoke. You could read people like a book, and sure sometimes it was useful. But you often wished you weren’t so perceptive. It drove you mad knowing when a potential love interest was no longer interested through a simple text or a friend not wanting to talk by their tone. Sometimes you wished you could just blot it all out, still, you lived like this day in and day out, you were used to this kind of thing and honestly. Friends? Love? Your gaze dropped a little to your feet, the pumps you were wearing a jet black and the heel too high for any respectable woman to ever wear.

...It wasn’t like you ever had any of those in your life and you had struggled to come to terms with the fact that you could survive without that kind of support. Still...it made you envious, the couple happily holding hands on the sidewalk. The group of friends all laughing at a table while they studied. Oftentimes these feelings are muted, but when you’re faced with something you’ve always craved, those muted feelings suddenly become hyperactive in your mind.

It’s pathetic, honestly.

“How dare you! You disgusting slut!”

In this moment however, you were brought back to reality at just what was happening, you squeaked loudly as you dodged the shoe the woman had thrown at you. This was all a regular occurrence, you had a lot of regulars who weren’t the most amazing people but hey, money was money. But along with them they also left a trail which their wives and girlfriends always followed. And then they always blamed you instead of their partner for leaving them for a prostitute despite you never having agreed to anything such as that.

It really wasn’t your fault, you were just trying to make a living while juggling with keeping up your own education, paying your fathers debts, rent and still somehow getting food on the table. What part time college job could provide that?

Prostitution wasn’t a job you would’ve gone into willingly but given the past and your trauma that was already laced in it you had been learning that sometimes because of the trauma we experience, sometimes people go back to that same trauma and actively participate in it as a way of feeling like they’re in control.

That whatever happened before, would never happen again if you were in control. You weren’t sure if you qualified under this category, trauma came in many forms but the one most used as an example in your class was that a study showed that women who were assaulted often develop a kink for consensual non consent as a way of coping with what happened, except this time, it’s in a controlled environment where it can end the moment they want it too.

Again, you weren’t sure you fell into this category, but you often wondered if your line of work was intertwined with your earlier memories when you were younger, if anything it brought comfort to you. Much of it, blotted out now simply because your mind couldn’t take it. Trauma expressed through amnesia was also much more common than many thought, and it’s so small, so easy to miss. After all how can you be aware of something if you have no memory of it anymore?

“Security!” Your manager screeched, two of the bodyguards were already between you and the feral woman who was ready to gut you clean as she screamed hysterically, her husband...your regular....at her side trying to get her to calm down only for her to come to her senses and slap him clean across the face. You didn’t condone violence, but he did have it coming...

You weren’t about to justify cheaters, you couldn’t imagine the hurt someone had to feel that not only did their partner cheat on them, but it was with someone...like you...You had been trying not to put down your job occupation, sex workers were just as valid as anyone else...you knew you would’ve thought this way if it was anyone but you in this position.

You sighed as you ran your hands through your hair, watching the couple get dragged out of the tight space of the brothel, “Jesus christ....didn’t you say you stopped using perfume because of this?” Miki, your manager sighed as she crossed her arms. You didn’t want to say your manager was your friend but she was the closest you had as you’d often complain to her about most of your problems. Sex work often attracted broken people, it wasn’t something she wasn’t used to.

“Yeah, but apparently he never got around to washing his clothes…” You wiped your mouth on the back of your hand, “Lipstick stain,” You glanced down at the ruby pink color that stained your skin now, “Fuck...that did hurt.” You rubbed your sore cheek that was still throbbing from where she had first slapped it when she ripped the door open of the room where she got to see with her own eyes you riding her husband.

It had happened so many times now you weren’t even embarrassed about someone walking in let alone a partner. Miki gave you a lopsided smile as she patted your shoulder, “Guess that just pays for being one of the best here. Did you at least get paid.”

You nodded, “Yeah, I always make them pay in advanced but I was hoping to get a tip afterwards...He was a lawyer so you know he had good money.” You sighed, crossing your arms, you were well aware of his partner because a lot of the time he didn’t even come in for sex anymore. It was funny how humans work.

He often felt his wife was overbearing and you had suspected some sort of verbal abuse by the way he talked about her constant screaming. Truthfully, you don’t think he ever intended on cheating with her. He just wanted someone to talk to without being judged, you could relate with sympathy to that, but he unfortunately chose to walk into a brothel instead of a therapy clinic and this truly was the only inevitable outcome. Still, you hope if for anyone’s sake, he gets that divorce for himself.

“Hey I think I’m gonna call it a day. I need to get back to Nanami, she was wanting to talk to me about college applications.” You sighed as you rubbed your neck, ever since she had graduated high school she had been chomping at the bit to start applying for college, maybe to just get out of the house and into a dorm. You couldn’t blame her and if she did that it would lighten your load a little.

Guilt washed over you at the thought as Miki chuckled, “They grow up pretty fast huh? My brother was the same way, except the moment he found out I was a sex worker was the moment he called me a whore and we haven’t talked since. That was probably about five years ago,” She crossed her arms as she sighed, “Crazy how the things we do for the ones we love, never appreciate our effort...I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“If I’m not bruising.” You offered a weak smile as you nodded at her before going back to your room to get changed. Truthfully, you much like anyone else, often wished you could go to a world where reality wasn’t a concept any longer. Where you could lay out in the sun for the whole day and just soak up it’s rays with no worries or trepidations.

But sooner then later everyone had to face their fears. Even you, you supposed. But no matter how hard you fought your demons, they always came back tenfold. Again, you supposed your story was no different from tens of thousands, and yet you all live on regardless. Maybe it’s you who should be the one seeking therapy. Pulling on your jeans and the cropped top over your head before pulling the jacket over your arms and grabbing your bag.

The walk home was as quiet as ever, your hood over your head and earbuds any unwanted attention, it wasn’t too late at night, only eleven PM and your work had just been getting started but that had ruined the night for you and besides, you had already failed a test today, you could use the sleep tonight.

Occasionally you’d hear the sirens of a cop car passing by or a bystander shout, nothing out of the ordinary in this neighborhood. Walking up to the apartment complex you pulled the key from your bag as you unlocked the door. Quietly stepping insides as you shut the door before locking it once more. Your nose wrinkled at the smell of stale air mixed with rotten...something…

If anything, you were always lacking in something, you had been so busy most of the day that you never had time to clean anything leaving the house in a horrible state. Not that you thought this was much of a house.

Walking down the narrow hallway you opened the rickety door with a missing lock as you gave a brief smile to the small clump of bedsheets. Your sister was curled up and on her phone, eyes darting to the door with a hint of fear before she jumped up, “Y/n! You’re home earlier from night shift already!?”

You offered a smile as you set down your bag and nodded, sitting down on the mattress that laid on the floor as you replied, “Yeah, a coworker needed the extra hours so I let them cover for me tonight. Besides, you wanted to talk about college applications?” Your sister was under the impression your late night job was bartending at some hole in the wall downtown, where in all actuality you just went there to drink a few days and talk to the loud and sometimes obnoxious, but good hearted bartender who loved talking about his nerdy underaged friends that couldn’t do anything beside stay and drink soda.

It wasn’t that you didn’t think your sister would accept you, if she knew what you were actually doing. Fear, most times came in many different forms and this was one of them. You simply didn’t want to be judged, even by her. So nobody in your life truly knew who you were, and therefore, how could you hold the expectation for people to accept you into society if you were already self sabotaging yourself?

All philosophy aside, you were simply a lost soul, looking for your way in the cruel reality called life.

“Yes!” Nanami was chipper as always as she squealed, clapping her hands, “I…! I was thinking about applying to the university you attend! Maybe I'll get a grant and move into the dorms there? I already applied for several jobs, I’m just waiting on a callback!”

You offered a small smile as you hugged your knees to your chest, “I think you’d like it there, there’s lots to do around campus. But what will you go in for? The only advice I can offer is be sure it’s what you want to do.”

Nanami’s face faltered a little as she hummed, “Well...I thought maybe working with animals? I’d love to be an assistant surgeon in veterinarian? I know it’s a pretty...sad job but...I really like the idea of being able to heal such innocent things.” Your smile tugged into a gentle one at your sister. She was too tender for this world.

It had been your goal sense the day your mother died that you took care of your sister, it didn’t matter what happened to you. You could rot for all you cared at the end of the day, all you wanted was to look up and see your sister's smile and her happiness in life blossom. She more than anyone deserved it.

“I think you’ll be great at it.” You encouraged as you rested your chin on your hand, always happy to see her bounce in excitement as you yawned, your body was used to your demanding schedule but it was always more than happy to welcome a few extra hours of sleep.”

Hearing the door loudly slam close caused you both to jump, Nanami hurriedly crawled back in bed, pretending to be asleep as you frowned. Your dad must’ve come back home from wherever he was.

“Y/n! Just stay here! Can’t you talk to him later?” Nanami looked scared, she always did when he was around. But you weren’t about to stand down to the bastard any day of the week, you offered a weak smile as you replied.

“It’s fine Nami, I’ll be just a few minutes.” You replied, you knew that she knew, that was probably a lie. But you’d try your best, for her sake at least. But somebody had to put this guy in his place occasionally and it was always you. It results in a lot of screaming sometimes, other times he’d break down in tears or on a bad occasion you’d get shoved to the ground, a few times hit. Nothing major.

Walking out of the room you leaned against the wall of the entrance of the hallway watching your father stumble around in the living room, “Did you finally talk to the loan company?” You called out as you asked, not in a forgiving mood tonight. He had said he’d do this for two weeks in a row. The company that sank your whole family into the ground. The reason your mother couldn’t take it anymore and put a blade to her wrist.

Your father stood up, looking a little wobbly, obviously drunk, “Now listen here little girl I don’t have shit to own to you or anyone else.” You sighed as you tucked your tongue into your cheek, annoyance flowing inside you as you straightened up. You weren’t going to be bullied into being scared of this guy.

“Actually you do,” Your smile twisted into something more sharp, more bitter and sinister as you walked forward, “See, if you hadn’t of gotten involved in something shady like loan sharks we wouldn’t be drowning in debt and mom wouldn’t have killed herself because of you and both your daughters wouldn’t hate you. I know you drink away all our money in some pathetic attempt to escape from the cold reality that you fucked up your whole life and watched your family slip from your fingers while not even trying to do anything other then put us in further shit,” You closed your eyes as you tilted your head, “But the least you could do, is admit that. You owe us at least that for being a total fuck up.”

You opened your eyes to find pure rage brewing in your fathers eyes as you smiled once more, this time a false sense of sickly sweet tone to it as you shrugged, “Or you could live in denial, at this point, there really isn’t anything you can do to get anyone back ♡ ”

You had turned around, planning to tell Nanami that maybe she should go sleep over at a friends house today but you never got the chance, suddenly being slammed into the wall and flecks of spit hitting your face, “I am your fucking father! I deserve respect from you and your worthless sister! Do you know how much I provide for you both?”

Anger splintered through your veins as you grabbed onto his wrists, his fingers digging into your neck as you squirmed, “Like fucking what!? A shitty broken down apartment that your vacant from because you’re too fucking ashamed of yourself to even look at us sober!?”

Much like years in the past you weren’t surprised to hear Nanami cry as she rushed out of the room at the sound of you both screaming, “Stop!” She cried out, trying to break you both up, “Stop! Don’t fight! Why…! Why can’t we all just get along!” She sobbed only for your dad to shove her down making her curl up in defeat.

Alarm bells were triggered in your head at the sight of Nanami on the ground, she had never actually gotten hurt while in your sight and it was triggering something deep inside you as you watched him stalk up to her. Your hands shaking and rage boiling in your mind as you grabbed the closet thing you could find. An empty beer bottle on the table.

Your vision blurred and you don’t quite remember what happened other than glass shattering over his head and the brute force of you shoving something before blood was stained on your hands.

How did you end up sitting against the wall? Why was there….blood on your hands…? Your fingers trembled at the metallic sticky substance. All you could hear were Nanami’s sobs and cries as she frantically pushed herself away from the body slumped on the ground.

“You…! He…!” Nanami’s eyes brimmed with tears as you heard a loud boom making you jump, your eyes darting to the open window where….fireworks, big and bold crashed and crackled before you felt like you were sucked into a vortex making your whole vision black out.

Your head felt fuzzy and there was ringing in your ears as you groaned, curling up into yourself as the darkness beckoned you closer before you forcibly opened your eyes. You were laying against the hardwood floor. Beams of light streaked through the window and you could see dust particles in the air against the shower of sunshine that streamed in.

...Wait...Light? The thought had perplexed your head enough to make you push up from the ground, memories pulling into your mind as your breath became shallow, suddenly looking to the side where...you slumped against the wall. It must’ve just been a bad dream….your eyes flickered to Nanami’s curled up figure...a really vivid dream…? Something wrenched in your gut as you rubbed your eyes. What happened? “Nami…!” You whispered, forcing your muscles to move despite their protest as she whined.

After another moment she reluctantly opened her eyes, flickering around before she suddenly scrambled up, taking a deep breath as if realizing what had happened before, looking towards where your dad once was she frowned, “...I...What…” She seemed just as perplexed as you and if her face was anything to go by, last night had obviously happened, “Is dad…” She looked at the absent place of the floor.

Leaning against the wall your eyes darted around the room, “I guess so…” You silently felt relief at knowing your dad was still very much alive as you leaned back as you closed your eyes, trying to remember what had happened before everything went dark...oh..! The fireworks...had it been a celebration last night? Your brows pinched together, something felt...off...getting up you opened the door to the apartment walking out.

“Y/n? Y/n! Hey! Where are you going!” Nanami called out, quickly chasing after you as you frowned, cars were parked odd and there was no one out on the street...as in...at all...Something was very wrong and you couldn’t figure out what.

“Wow...it..must be a slow day…” Nanami felt a sense of discomfort at the lack of life as you both walked down the side walk, it didn’t just feel like a slow day it felt, apocalyptic. As if humanity just left on it’s own leaving nothing but an empty city behind. Cars were parked on the curb and a few even left in the street.

“No, it’s like everyone vanished...This is really weird.” You wrapped your arms around yourself as you frowned, looking around as you came closer to where typically it would be a booming part of the downtown but it was empty, just as everything before.

“Well, maybe it’s a national holiday?” Nanami rubbed her head, trying to make sense of the situation just as much as you, surely everyone wasn’t...gone...right? She looked around as she bit her lip, second guessing herself at all the cars that were vacant, “Hey Y/n.”

You paused as you looked at your sister, curving an eyebrow as she offered a weak smile, “What if everyone got raptured away like they talk about in christanity?” Your expression flattened as she giggled, obviously getting a rise out of you as you crossed your arms.

Raptured? Where? To heaven? “Wouldn’t it be fire and brimstone then if that was the case?” Nanami pouted at your words as you shrugged, snickering yourself at her expression, the tables now turned as you sighed, “I don’t think there’s anyone left in Tokyo...I mean, it feels like...we’d have seen someone by now...right?”

“Well…” Nanami frowned once more, a little disturbed at your words as she spoke, “There’s no way everyone could be gone I mean, where would they go? And how could we miss something like that...Maybe the police found us and now we’re under some weird simulation.”

Chills spilled down your spine as you shoved her making her whine, “Don’t say that! That makes me feel all weird…! I didn’t…!” You cut yourself off, you didn’t what? Murder your own dad in cold blood...you looked down at your hands, they were free of any blood but it still felt like something like sin lingered. Like no matter where you went, it would always be stuck to you.

You didn’t like this, not one bit. Briefly you felt the urge to go hunt down your dad, he was a deadbeat but you would never...you’d never kill him....Right?

“Well…” Nanami hummed her eyes scanning ahead before they jumped to the mall that was up ahead, “Hey…! If nobody is here...maybe we could make use of it! Come on! Let's go!” You yelped at her grabbing your arm before dragging you ahead. Cars were all parked and yet not a single person exited through the mall's entrance. Something just felt off! You wrapped your arms around yourself as you warily looked around the empty mall, “Nanami I really don’t like this!” You looked around, concern bubbling inside you as she ran ahead into the store, digging through the section of clothes as she giggled.

“Relax! I doubt any of this is real and even so…! Who’s going to stop us!?” She shrugged as she bounced in excitement, “Oh my god! I had dreamed of something like this happening! Now we can do whatever we want! Go wherever we want! Y/n!” She gasped with a smile, “Now we don’t even have to worry about money!”

“We don’t even know if this is permanent.” You looked around warily, not partaking as she began plucking off the racks, “Regardless of what this is, I don’t like it. I want to go back home, our home. This just doesn’t…” You shook your head, “This just doesn’t feel right.”

“Well you can feel that way!” Nanami clacked her tongue as she gave a childish smile, “But I’m gonna go through this whole store and get a new wardrobe so feel free to sit on the bench and tell me what you think looks good!”

Looking away you sighed, unable to pinch the anxious feeling you had away as you sat down reluctantly as Nanami went into the changing room. Well...at least she was smiling and she was happy...With each outfit Nanami tried out and giggled, you giggled with her and maybe things weren’t so bad after all…

“What a perfect day.” Nanami hugged you close as she sighed, yawning as you looked up at the sky in awe, you had seen a single star while living in Tokyo before, but now it was filled with constellations and millions of stars that stretched for miles. You could stare at it for days and days. The sun had just set a little over half an hour ago and you were ready to retire and find something to eat at the apartment.

You and Nanami had tried going to the food court but much to your dismay everything had been...rotten...soiled and ruined, meaning there was no point in trying to find anything there and you were getting really hungry despite devouring bags of chips you had both got at the convenient store, another thing that stood out to you was that there was no electricity...at all..

Looking back up to the sidewalk something caught your eyes...was that…! Light!? “Hey! Nanami look!” You shook her making her squeak as she looked up ahead, “It’s the hospital! They have electricity there which means there’s other people! Of course! Why didn’t we think to check essential areas!? Come on! Lets go! I wanna figure out what happened.”

“Alright! It sucks that this is already over but at least I can finally charge my phone, the battery is pretty low.” Nanami nodded in agreement as you both made your way up the road.

The walk wasn’t too far and you felt excitement fill you at the sight of the hospital all lit up as you walked into the entrance, a frown slowly setting on your lips once more as you walked past the receptionist desk and…! Oh there’s other people!

You felt relief wash over your as you ran up, there were at least seven other other people here at least! “Hey! Guys oh my god. I thought everyone was gone! What’s going on?” You asked, smiling bright in relief that you and Nanami weren’t the only ones left behind. Was this some kind of evac point or…?

Silence ensued and you slowly began to frown as you felt everyone stare at you as if you were insane, “Um…” You wrapped a hand around your arm, suddenly feeling as if everyone knew something you didn’t, “What’s going on…?” You furrowed your brows as you tilted your head, unsure of why everyone was looking at you like this.

Somebody looked like they were going to talk to you, a guy relatively around your age but a woman stopped him- his girlfriend maybe? “Stop, the less that know the better chance we have.” She said quietly though you still heard just enough. Fear twisted inside you as you took a cautious step back...The...the less you knew?

“Wow, you guys are assholes,” A girl suddenly whistled out, she was sitting in a waiting chair, a cowboy hat on her head paired with distressed jeans and...a bikini top? Strange but you’d roll with it if it meant getting answers. She stood up as she offered a smile, “Akari, nice to meet ya’. You folk must be new to the Borderlands huh?” She jutted her bottom lip a little as you frowned.

“Um I’m Y/n and this is my sister Nanami...?” You introduced yourself despite feeling confused as you raised a brow, “Borderlands…?” You echoed, what was that supposed to be? Other than Tokyo?

Akari gave a nod as she let out a brief chuckle, as if amused by your confusion but you sensed she had no real ill will unlike....your eyes checked to the couple that stood off in the corner on their own, “That’s what they call it here,” She nodded in affirmation as your eyes darted back to her in confusion, “To be frank with ya’, I don’t have a damn clue what's going on. Nobody does. But ever since you crossed the threshold there’s no going back, so I’ll be brief. We’re all considered outsiders here and we participate in games at venues such as this to extend our stay.”

Nanami and you looked at one another confused as Akari waved you over to the table in front of a TV, “Here, you’ll wanna put these on, it’s for the game.” She explained as you carefully picked up the metal bracelet, something about it felt ominous as you reluctantly put it on, jumping at the way it latched together and there was no getting it off now, “Word of advice, just don’t panic and you probably won’t die.”

“What?!” You screeched as Akari smacked your back, panic evident in your voice as you turned around to face her making her laugh again, this girl was insane! She had to be! “You’re…! You’re joking!”

Akari wrinkled her nose as she tilted her head, “Ah shit, I wish I was- Oh…! There’s the last player!” Just on que everyone turned to look at who had arrived, someone heaving breaths with their hands on their knees as if they had sprinted. You were mildly worried at why he seemed so scared but you had a feeling that was the least of your problems right now.

“Y/n what’s going on…?” Nanami frightened grabbed your arm as she hid a little behind you due to all these immensing strangers that looked like they were ready to feed you to the sharks, literally.

The guy walked past you both as he put on his bracelet, your eyes sharp as you watched it latch together automatically, your gaze jumping to everyone's wrists to notice you were all now wearing one. The TV suddenly lit up.

Game

You squinted your eyes a little at the sight of the screen, just what were you about to unwillingly participate in…?

Difficulty: 5♣

“The game you will be participating in is, Monster under the bed.”

A playing card? Monster under the bed? Your brows furrowed as you looked at Nanami who shrugged a little despite her concerned expression, looking just as confused as you. You could’ve made a joke out of this, surely it would’ve been easier. Maybe everyone would bust out laughing and you’d be at the end of a poor joke but...somehow you felt that wasn’t the case. Thus paying very close attention to whatever was on this screen,

“Everyone will be sectioned off into pairs by the number chosen on your bracelet, when the doors to the ward open you will have three rounds ten minutes each to figure out who is the monster under the bed that must be returned to its own, once the ten minutes is up you must hide before you are found. If the selected pair that is the monster is chosen correctly it’s a Game Clear. If the monster is not found by the end of the third round or if the pair fails to hide it’s a Game Over.”

Rules:

Once the doors are open you and your partner must find a hiding spot by the time limit

Both partners must be hidden. If one is exposed to the monster it’s a Game Over for both partners

There will be an X marked on the ground to place the monster of your guess onto.

You will have three rounds of ten minutes each to find the monster.

Any attempt to remove bracelets results in a Game Over

If the monster is not found by the third round a Game Over.

The only Game Clear condition required is for the monster to be returned by the third round.

What…

What!?

“Now the game will commence, you have five minutes to figure out who you have been paired up with before the doors open.”

Your mind was blanking as you watched everyone look down at their bracelet, hurriedly you lifted your arm as your mind blanked 2 looking back at Nanami her lips were already quivering as she sniffled lifting her arm in defeat as your lips dropped open, 5.

“Hey! Guess you’re my partner!” Akari grinned as she wrapped an arm around Nanami who sniffled, “Oh…” She looked between you both, “Oh! Oh don’t worry! We’re not the monster so I’ll make sure your sister lives! You should go find your partner.”

Your hands trembled unsure of what to do before you went to hug Nanami, “Whatever happens just stay calm okay! I need to go find my partner now!” You whispered, kissing her cheek as she sniffled while nodding.

Everybody was shuffling around looking for their partner now, you passed by a few people, 4, 1, 3...did you even have a partner…? You scanned around, your throat tightening a little in panic, there had to be a mistake! There were only 8 people surrounding you- you yelped at the tight grip that suddenly held your arm forcing you to turn around to be met with a white hooded figure, a lollipop handle hanging and earbuds in before sighing, “So it appears I’m stuck with someone useless.” The man concluded as he stood up making you back away a little as your lips parted somewhat indignantly.

How...how rude! You looked up, unable to fully make out his face but you could tell you didn’t like him one bit, “I’ll…! First of all I’m not useless! I’m just trying to understand what's going on! This is insane! We aren’t actually going to die from this, are we!?” Pushing his hood down you were immediately met with a snide gaze and cat eyes that leered at you like you were nothing more then dirt beneath his feet, long blonde hair pushed behind his shoulders and his bangs hanging low, suddenly a viscous side smile appeared on his lips, “Apparently so, otherwise I wouldn’t have watched half my last game get their brains blown out and the other half hung.”

You reeled a little away from the blonde, your face dropped in semi horror, unsure if this was just a sick joke or he was serious. You searched his face a thousand times over, but for the first time in your life, you couldn’t figure out what his goal was. You couldn’t figure out anything about him, except he was exceptionally cold, “Well I don’t suppose I have much choice to doubt you,” He said with an annoying sing song tone as he rattled his wrist that showed the bracelet with a matching 2 on it, “My name is Chishiya, just stay out of my way and we’ll both live.”

How arrogant! You scoffed as he walked past you, not the least bit bothered at your offense as you whipped around, glaring at his back. How come out of everyone you got stuck with the most…! Pompous! Arrogant! Ugh! You crossed your arms as you followed behind him, stilling secretly sending daggers into his back with your eyes as everyone shuffled into the ward.

Hospital beds were scattered around the room, a few closets and one large vent at the bottom right corner of the room ahead.

“Wait, what is this?” The first person to speak was a fair thin older gentleman, he appeared friendly as he observed the room around him, everyone looked around in confusion as you noticed what he meant.

Any possible hiding spot was covered by either sheets of metal or locked tight...How were any of you supposed to hide if…!? The rules mentioned nothing about solving puzzles to gain access to a hiding spot!

“Forget that,” Another man said with a sneer he was broad and a bit older, well into his late twenties at least, perhaps a gym coach? Or maybe a wrestler of some sort? He looked like he could break you and nearly every other person in this room like a twig, “We need to figure out who’s the monster. “ He cracked his knuckles as you leered a little away and nobody spoke for a second.

Of course, who would out themselves as the monster, more importantly, how does one even know they’re the monster? You could immediately feel tension rise as the previous, more patient man spoke, a little more collected, “How about we just check one another's’ watches! If anywhere it would show us on that! One pair should work on solving these puzzles here so everyone has a place to hide”

“Unless the monster is among us and it sabotages us so we all die by the time limit.” The girlfriend crossed her arms as she darted her eyes around. Truthfully you didn’t know what to believe, the wording on the soundbox was rather confusing as to just what were you looking for. Was the monster supposed to be in the group or it’s own entity?

“If that were the case it would’ve showed up on our watches, which it didn’t. So that won’t work.” Chishiya spoke matter of fact, his tone cool as his eyes gazed across the room before he walked away from the group inspecting various hiding spots granted you didn’t think he was about to help anyone but himself, if anything you were at least lucky that him securing a hiding spot meant it was one for you as well.

You looked at everyone in confusion, some arguing while others scattered to look for a hiding spot as the clock ticked down. You breathed in relief at the sight of Nanami and Akari both going for a bed to hide under. Your gaze finally found Chishiya’s form before following him, unsure of what you were supposed to do, if anything outside trying to figure out just what the monster even was.

You glanced up at the digital clock that stood above the entrance you had just come in from, it was already a minute in before you searched the floor where you found a red X in the center of the room, that must’ve been the...what? Offering spot? You cringed a little at the idea. Looking forward you peered behind Chishiya’s shoulder deciding to not think about that, it seemed the metal sheet that had wrapped around the bed and was sealed to the ground was locked by some sort of metal device…? Contraption? Lock?

“Isn’t hiding under a bed a bit obvious…?” You frowned as you crossed your arms, unsure as you looked behind your shoulder once more to where accusations were already being thrown in the group.

“The vent is a decoy to make you waste time, I already checked,” Chishiya replied, his fingers nimble as they rattled the metal, “And even if someone were to accomplish it in the time limit it’s the most obvious spot the monster would first check. Next would be the closet given it’s at eye level and the first thing one is drawn too when they walk into a room.”

Your lips parted a little in surprise at his assessment...obviously he wasn’t just overconfident, “And why this spot?” If he had really thought about all this in less than a minute then...did he have a reason for this spot? You now found yourself, slightly less annoyed and a little more curious as to what was going on in his mind.

“If the monster were to check a bed it would be after his eyes are drawn to the closet. Next in that line of sight would be the vent directly across it, which would be his next place to look if not his first and vice versa. The beds are all staggered throughout the room making them less conspicuous compared to the other hiding places, the bed on the far end of the room would be no good.”

Your brows furrowed in curiosity at his assessment as you watched Chishiya blow a piece of hair from his face, wiggling out one piece of the knotted metal, “It’s too far from the entrance where as the one in the middle is by average the one most people would start with, where as the first? It’s almost too soon in the start to look there thus making it the safest.”

“It’s them! They’re over there conspiring!” You both twisted around to watch the broad man point an accusing finger at you both as your eyes darted from him to the clock on the wall, which read at six minutes. A few other pairs, relievingly so was your sister had started working on a hiding spot while a few others stood around and argued.

Your face coiled a little as you replied, not appreciating the accusation to such a baseless accusation, did they not realize the longer they argued the less time they had to secure a hiding spot? “Someone who’s terrible at playing the minority would often be the first to point fingers. There’s only six minutes left before the first round is over and we need to hide. But if you want to talk about this then sure,”

You stepped closer as you crossed your arms, scanning over him before continuing, “Let’s talk about the chances of you being the monster, ever since you first came in you’ve been all twitchy and acting like something is wrong. Even when we first got paired up, you seemed a little panicked. Anyways,” You turned around as you spoke, “How do we know one pair is a monster and not one single person?”

“Eh,” Akari sat on the bed that her and Nanami chose as Nanami fumbled to work out the puzzle, she had always been good at those! You felt assured as your heart beat frantically at the idea of them not being able to get a hiding spot in time, “Let’s all calm down,” She gave an awkward laugh, “This isn’t a hearts game, we shouldn’t divide our trust. This is a team building after all which means this game should be making us work together, the last thing we need to do is throw that away on our own accord.”

“...Team building?” You frowned as you murmured having not been aware that this was some sort of game category...Hearts? Clubs? The memory of the playing card flashing on the screen appeared in your mind again, right...was that to stand for some kind of game genre? If Clubs stood for team building then...there should be no reason that the monster is any of you. Why would they even suggest that to begin with?

Then...what was the monster?

“One minute remaining.”

The lights suddenly began flickering, “Got it.” Chishiya yanked the last piece of metal undone as he pulled the sheet of metal off, everyone was now scrambling and the few who had not done their puzzle were now panicking. Getting down you crawled under the bed, your back flat to the ground as you inhaled sharply as you noticed the lights beginning to dim, “This is...uncomfortable.” You mumbled, trying to ignore being pressed shoulder to shoulder with a man you didn’t even know besides him having a god complex, “We should’ve went with the vent.”

“By all means, if you want to try and get yourself killed already. Go for it.” You turned to look at him, dark endless cat eyes meeting you as you harshly glared at him, why was he so condescending!?

You were about to snap back something before you realized it was completely dark and the door slammed open causing you to jump. Was your heart always this loud? You could see the heavy boots step against the ground making you unsteadily inhale, swallowing as you closed your eyes. You could only place your trust that Chishiya hadn’t picked a horrible spot.

More importantly your mind was plagued with worry for your sister, you had been so caught up you hadn’t even tried to help her yet...did she even…! You heard a sudden loud scream from two people causing you to stiffen as you looked up at the bed frame lined with wooden planks. You could only cower back down at blood suddenly painting the floor.

Your stomach suddenly churned as you covered your mouth. So he wasn’t lying. Chishiya however looked just as nonpulsed as he did when he first told you himself, his eyes blankly staring up at the bed frame as if this was just a regular game of hide and seek as people screamed as they were torn apart.

Or that’s at least what you assumed it was.

After an agonizing few minutes the doors finally closed and the lights flickered back on making you breath in relief as you waited a moment, could you even bear to face what was waiting on the floor? You winced a little before something caught your eye. What was with all this extra wood stuck in the frame?

Chishiya had already gotten out from under the bed and before you suddenly heard a few girls scream, your sister among them making you puff and breath as you scrambled from beneath the bed.

Standing up your mouth agape at the horrid sight of the female and the broad male that had been too focused on accusing others, they didn’t have...enough time...it looked like they had been completely mutilated, blood pouring on the floor and the smell made you want to gag as you looked away.

“Well, now what do we do.” Akari scratched her head, also not looking phased that two people had just been brutally killed. Your eyes stayed placed on the bodies before they slowly trailed to your hands, the memory of blood staining them still fresh in your mind.

“Well we have to figure out where the monster is?” The girlfriend of the couple spoke up, she looked around somewhat suspiciously, “But I’m not sure where we could find it? Maybe it has to do with the bracelets? Maybe there’s a clue hidden.”

“Oh what about in the cabinets?” The collected man from before offered as he went to search the cabinets, your frown furthered as you glanced around. Everyone was now getting along, still on edge but along at least.

Chishiya only leaned against the wall, his hands in his pocket as he rolled the lollipop in his mouth, his gaze the same steely one it was before as if he had done his job in securing his temporary salvation and was now done.

Or maybe he just didn’t know what to do? It was obvious his strength didn’t lie in teamwork, clearly. But then again, you weren’t sure what was going on, you couldn’t get a read on him. Crossing your arms you stayed beside him, your eyes briefly washing over your sister who was working Akari to dig through a desk together.

“Cabinets and drawers are too obvious.”

Chishiya’s eyes flickered to your figure, his expression just as cold if not...a little smug maybe? He said nothing in return as you continued, “If we’re looking for a monster, it’s obvious it’s a metaphor for something. Inanimate most likely,” Your eyes flickered around the room, inhaling sharply, why did it feel like the answer was right in front of you?

Think…! You glanced at the clock, only six minutes left. The rounds were really short…! “It’d be something small and inconspicuous, something that’s in plain sight….but easy to miss...and the game said it was a pair which means there’s more than likely two.”

“Three,” You glanced at Chishiya as he spoke, pulling the lollipop from his mouth, that permanent smug look on his face as he answered, “Two is what they want you to think and if you spend a round searching for each like they hope it’s game over by three.”

You rubbed your neck as you frowned, “It’s already the second round and we haven’t even found one…” You glanced around before you suddenly perked up, “Wait…!” Getting back down on the floor you laid on your back as you pushed yourself under the bed, “Chishiya! Help me get this thing out!”

Within a moment the blonde appeared as well, his eye sharp and keen as they noticed straight away what you were tugging at, “You think this is the monster?”

You looked at him as you raised a brow, “We have less than four minutes left on our second round, you have a better idea?” Chishiya said no more but helped regardless, successfully with the both of you maneuvering it around from beneath the wooden boards you managed to get it out.

Holding it up you looked at it, “It’s a poppet doll.” You turned to face him as you smiled in accomplishment, “They’re typically used as curses to place upon people in folklore. If anything is a monster, this would be it.”

Excited at your first victory you pulled out from beneath the bed as you waved it up, “Hey guys! We need to start looking for something similar to this! If not a replica.” Everyone huddled around you examining the doll before the microphone sounded, “One minute remaining.”

Everyone had immediately scrambled back to their hiding place as you ran to the red X, placing the poppet on it, that's the reason that had to be there right!? You’d just have to see, hurriedly you ran back to your spot under the bed. Making it just in time as the lights flickered off.

The door slamming open once more as you slowly inhaled, it had to work right? If not...then you were at a loss for what to search for and you were utterly screwed.

The boots stomped against the floor past the bed as you closed your eyes, unable to calm yourself. After a moment you heard a screech and something rip open before screams followed making you jump. Chishiya’s eyes were on the feet that stood by the closet that had been obviously ripped open.

You heard the sound of something wet and a gurgle before a body slumped to the floor and you could hear begging before something got snapped in half causing you to close your eyes once more...Did you make it angry!? Was that not it? Fuck. You had never felt this stressed before as it roamed around, passing in front of your bed as you tensed.

Was this your last moment alive? Truly?

Much to your relief, the door closed once more before the lights followed, flickering on, relaxing a little you sighed as you reluctantly got out from underneath the bed with Chishiya to see what had happened. Much to your horror it was the man who had been so kind this whole game and his partner.

The monster didn’t check anywhere in the first round, yet he did this round? You tried to block out the bodies slumped in the corner as you glanced at the red X, the poppet doll gone.

“Why- why were they killed!” Nanami’s eyes began to water as she grabbed her head, “This makes no sense!”

“If it accepts the doll that means we only need two more. What happened to them is irrelevant.” Chishiya stuffed his hands back into his pocket as you glared at him sideways, not appreciating his careless tone. You could deal with it, but you didn’t want your sister dragged into it.

Grabbing your chin you thought about it for a moment, “Well...the game said to return the monster to its own and…” You glance down at the X, was there some kind of unsaid rule that if you didn’t get all three of them on the first try that it would start hunting down players? “How would a mother feel if they only returned one of its children?”

“This thing doesn’t have feelings,” The girlfriend of the partners replied coldly, her eyes like steel of her own as she clung to her boyfriend, “It’s as he said,” She waved to Chishiya, “It doesn’t matter, we’ll be like them if we don’t figure this out.”

You glanced around the room, “Tell me this, if it doesn’t matter, then why did they give us all these different hiding spots?” Everyone was silent, all eyes on you as if your question didn’t make any sense, your eyes flickered to the clock that was nearing eight minutes, you didn’t have time to monologue, “No think about it. The monster never intended to look for us- that was never stated in the rules. So why did they give us all of these choices if we only needed one per pair? My point being, if we found one poppet in our hiding spot then...You get where I’m going with this? Chishiya.”

He glanced up at you acknowledgement as you curved a brow, your lips threatening to tug into a smile as you tilted your head, “How confident are you in solving that vent?”

He glanced back down and for the first time, you watch a cocky wide smirk twist onto his lips, “You’re lucky to have someone as smart as me here to be able to open it.” You tucked your tongue into your cheek as in annoyance as he sauntered over to the vent already getting to work, “As for everyone else, we need to open up as many of these as possible to find the other two.”

Everyone immediately scrambled to get to work, with only seven minutes on the clock this was...going to be difficult. First Nanami and Akari searched all the opened spots as you worked on another bed. Rubbing your head as muttered, “Shit...I never was good with puzzles.” You awkwardly hung your head in defeat temporarily, briefly letting your eyes shift to Chishiya who was fiddling with several locks, his gaze sharp and you couldn’t even imagine all the calculations going on in his mind. You were somewhat envious of what it would be like to be that perceptive to anything adhering to logic and solution.

“Aha! Found one!” Akari yanked the poppet from the top of the closest as Nanami covered her mouth, looking like she was gonna throw up being so close to so many dead bodies. You ignored the grisly sight at the second victory of the poppet doll. Akari quickly placed it on the X as you began to work on the puzzle once more, looking up at the clock. Oh no...Oh no there was only three minutes left!

“Chishiya! Hows that puzzle coming along.” You called out, trying not to sound alarmed but you could see the clear cut annoyance on his face as he continued working through the locks, “If you’d like to help while struggling on a novice lock feel free.” He replied condescendingly, not appreciating the pressure.

You rolled your eyes with huff as you finally managed to get it undone, feeling triumphant as you searched under the bed but there was no luck, “There’s nothing here!”

“Or here!”

Several people called out as well as you rubbed your head, standing up, “If the only other place that hasn’t been searched is the vent then maybe there’s only two? It did say a pair.” You felt a lump of anxiety well in your chest at the sight of the clock ticking close to a minute and half.

“Should we really take the risk?” The boyfriend asked as he rubbed his neck, concern on his face as he looked around, “If we’re wrong then we’ll all…”

You hadn’t even thought of that…

“...! Hey.” You turned to Chishiya who seemed to be trying to get your attention making you immediately come over, if he was asking for you it’d have to be for something important given there was nearly less then two minute on the clock, “Hold this right here.” He immediately pushed your hand onto the lock right where he wanted it, “This is a two handle mechanism meaning that there needs to be two people unlocking it. Push down and out at the same time.”

“Hide! Everyone needs to hide now!”

The lights were beginning to flicker as everyone scrambled to hide, stress evidently put on your shoulders now more than ever. You could only hope he was right with your life on the line, “Now!” You pushed down on your side, the lock sliding as you pulled out, pulling a piece of metal holding up the lock directly out as Chishiya did the same with his side.

The lock fell off as well as the metal of the gate of the vent, you immediately with no hesitation leaned inside it was dark and hard to make it out anything besides the steep drop off. So he was right, this was a waste of time for a hiding place.

Looking down you caught sight of wood before laughing in relief, “It’s here! Wait shit! Chishiya! It’s too far down in the vent, you’re gonna have to lower me down to reach it. Time?”

“Forty five seconds.” You felt unfamiliar hands on your hips lifting you up as you were lowered down, “We have time.”

You squinted trying to see as you reached down, “Lower me further! I’m not quite in reach,” Your muscles began to ache in your shoulder as you reached harder, growling in frustration, “Time!?” You were lowered a little further, the wooden poppet brushing against your fingers.

“Thirty seconds! Could you go a little faster?”

“Could you lower me a little quicker- Ah! Hey did you almost let go!?” You snarled back, grabbing the poppet doll, giving a good yank as it lodged in between the crevice it was in, “Get me back up! I got it. Time!”

“Twenty seconds.” Chishiya called back, pulling you up as you gasped, pain from the metal jabbing into your stomach evident as you were met with a darkening room. Setting your feet firmly on the floor your eyes flew to the flock fifteen seconds and your spot was all the way across the room….!

“Where are we supposed to hide!? We can’t get all the way there in time!” You hissed out running to the X as you dropped the poppet down. The lights shut off as the final five seconds counted down and before you could do anything you were shoved to the floor as you squeaked. Your body throbbing in pain and your mouth immediately covered as you were met with the coverage of a bed but neither one of you were bold enough to try and scramble beneath it as the doors slammed open.

Fuck.

Your whole body was tense as your eyes squeezed shut, you were just a little ahead of the X here, if this is all the poppet dolls...they’d have no reason to go further into the room...unless...Your hand squeezed tight around the wrist of the hand that covered your mouth as you tried to calm yourself at the loud thudded footsteps.

It was quiet for a moment before you heard more walking before the doors closed.

“Game Cleared”

The lights turned on as you fell limp against the side of the bed, Chishiya’s hand removed from mouth as you pushed your hair from your face, closing your eyes as you breathed in relief, “Holy shit.” Was all you could mutter to yourself, you had never been more grateful to breathe air in your whole life.

“I guess you weren’t that useless after all huh.” Chishiya clacked his tongue as you turned your head to look at him, raising your brows as your face contorted into something between insult and amusement.

You’ve only known this man for a half an hour and yet...something about his words, if you dug down deep past that smug expression of his, was this a compliment? Looking away you pressed your tongue into your cheek, trying to keep from smiling, “Yeah, and you’re still conceited and arrogant but, I guess you have a good reason to be.” You glanced back at him again but you could hardly hold his gaze, something in that brief moment was electrified between you both as you laughed somewhat sheepishly, closing your eyes as you looked away once more.

What the fuck was even wrong with you? If this was back before today you would’ve totally kicked this guy in the balls and went about your day.

“Y/n!” You straightened up at the sound of Nanami’s voice, your expression brightening as you stood up, quickly running to her as you hugged her tight, “I can’t believe that just happened…” She whispered to you as she pressed her face into your neck. You couldn’t either but, you were thankful you had survived this game. Whatever it was.

“Come on, let's get out of this room.” You tugged on her arm, no longer wanting to be in this death room despite knowing it was all over. Pulling her out you paused at the sight of the TV and a...register…? You bracelet unlocked as you took it off, tossing it on the table as you tilted your head.

“Congratulations Game ''Clear ``.''

“...Now issuing visas to those who survived the game…?” You furrowed your brows as you glanced at Nanami who rubbed her head in confusion. You grabbed the receipt as you looked it over with a frown before picking up the 5 of clubs playing card along with it. Odd.

“It’s how many days you’re allowed to stay now! Almost a whole week, that's a good score for a first game!” Akari called out as she patted your back making you jump a little.

Almost a whole week…”Until we have to play again to...continue our stay?” You raised a brow, deciding not to ask what happens if you refused. While you had many questions, you had a feeling you knew the answer to that one.

A part of you couldn’t even believe this had happened, or was it all still a dream.

“Hey��! Sorry for all of that in there,” You turned to see...oh…! It was the boyfriend of the partner, the gifrlfriend stayed behind looking brooding, “I’m Ryu and that’s my girlfriend Hiroko I was...ah…” He faltered a little, rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze flittered to his girlfriend who was glaring him down, “You should stop by the Beach- I...I think you guys would make good additions! Bye!” He hurried not even finishing his original sentence before scurrying off making you furrow your brows at what he even meant.

“The hell?” Akari raised a brow as she watched the guy run off, “Seems to me he wanted to chat more…guess we know who's really pulling balls in that relationship.”

Nanami suddenly snickered, covering her mouth as she giggled, “Hey Akari! Why don’t we stay together! We did really well in the game together!”

“Awh shit, if you guys really want me too!” Akari offered a quirky smile as you laughed, you had no problems with someone staying behind with you. Looking past Akari your smile faded a little at the sight of a white hoodie exiting the entrance.

“Hey- I’ll be right back!” You pushed past the both of them who paid you no mind as you pushed out of the exit and down the stone steps, not sure why your feet were making you chase after such an egotistical man but…!

“Chishiya!” You called out, making the man pause, he turned around, pulling the earbuds out as he glanced up from his hoodie, raising his brows in acknowledgement, “Um…” Why did you even chase after him…? You stepped down the last step as you wrapped your arms around yourself.

It was silent for a moment as you berated yourself internally for why you seemed so speechless all of a sudden. Chishiya however didn’t seem to mind, his eyes absent now as he stared up at the hospital, “I used to do my clinical rotations here.”

You were broken out of your silent thrashing of internal humiliation as you raised your brows, lips parting in curiosity as you asked, “You were a doctor?”

“No,” Chishiya snorted, that amused calico look of his on his face once more as he looked down at you, “I was a medical student. Training to be a doctor but that obviously didn’t happen…” His lips curved into a frown, his eyes cold once more as they looked back up at the building, “I came here tonight to see if anyone I knew would be here.”

“Oh…” You looked away, feeling somewhat awkward and unsure of how to reply to him as silence took over once more beside the occasional rustling of the wind in the tree’s, the urge to speak overtaking you to the point you couldn't resist, “Chishiya...I…” You looked away, feeling somewhat bashful, “We...made a really good team back there.” You forced yourself to look up at him as you offered a bright yet subtly shy smile, “If you want...you could stay with us…?”

Chishiya pulled the lollipop stick from his mouth, letting it drop to the ground as he spoke, “No thanks.” You turned to him in surprise as you frowned a little, you shouldn’t have expected anything less…

“Oh...I understand.” You offered a weak smile as he turned his back on you and began to walk once more, “I just have one more question,” You called out causing him to pause, “...Do you by any chance know about a place called the Beach?”

Note: Whew...! As a lurker in the Alice in borderland fandom I saw a lot of people complaining about the lack of Chishiya fics so I decided to volunteer myself and take on for the team to write a series for this little blonde fucker so PLEASE let me know your thoughts and I hope you enjoy!! Also

#alice in borderland #aib #alice in borderland imagine #alice in borderland x reader #chishiya x reader #chishiya x reader smut #shuntaro chishiya #shuntaro chishiya x reader #aib imagine #aib x reader

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dontcare77ghj · 3 years

Text

All-New Halloween Spooktacular

Wanda x reader x Vision

"Halloween's a magical holiday," Billy told someone unseen as he walked into the kitchen dressed in a cape. "All about family, friends, and the thrill of getting to be someone else for the day."

"Wrong! Halloween's all about candy!" Tommy informed his brother.

"You're both wrong." Luna piped up from where she sat, eating toast. "It's about scaring people."

"That too." Tommy agreed. "But mostly about candy." He added.

"Where's your costume, Tommy?" Billy questioned, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"This is my costume. I'm the cool twin." Tommy told him in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Lame." Luna shook her head.

"What does that make me?" Billy asked, tilting his head to the side.

"A dorkasurus rex," Tommy said, smirking as he remembered the time Billy caused himself to fall playing Dance Dance Revolution.

"Not a real dinosaur." Billy rolled his eyes. "What's your costume, Luna?" He asked, glancing over his sister's grey jacket and pink dress.

"I'm a spy," Luna said, pulling on a pair of sunglasses. "Duh." She added, picking up her plate as the three kids moved into the living room.

Quickly the three ten-year-olds noticed their usual seats on the couch were occupied by their uncle, who was fast asleep and snoring loudly.

"Man, he even snores cool." Tommy quietly exclaimed, Pietro on the couch. "I'm gonna wake him up."

"Don't!" Billy snapped, grabbing Tommy's arm.

"You scared?"

"Why would he be scared, Tommy? He's our uncle." Luna asked, tilting her head.

"'Cause it's four o'clock in the afternoon, and Billy's secretly afraid he's a vampire." Tommy teased.

"No, I'm not!" Billy denied.

"Yes, you are!" Tommy smirked.

"Both of you, be quiet!" Luna hissed.

What none of the kids had noticed was that while they were arguing, Pietro had woken up. Pietro watched the three for a second before he flashed in front of his nephews and niece.

"Blood is thicker than water! I show you!" Pietro roared, causing the kids to scream.

Pietro began to chase the still screaming children around the living room before a loud voice interrupted them.

"Oh! Somebody better be bleeding, broken, or on fire." Wanda said as she rushed down the stairs, all dressed for Halloween.

"Whoa, Mama. Are you old Red Riding Hood?" Billy wondered, causing Wanda to frown.

"I'm a Sokovian fortune teller." His mother told him.

"Wow, that is so,"

"Rad!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Lame," Pietro said, causing Tommy to frown.

"Lame." Tommy agreed.

"Well, think it's cool, Mama," Luna said, smiling at the woman.

"Why, thank you, favorite child," Wanda said with a teasing grin to her other children.

"That costume is worse than the ones mom made us the year we got typhus." Pietro grimaced, staring his sister up and down.

"That's not exactly how I remember it." Wanda frowned, recalling a faint memory of herself, her brother, and an old woman with a fish.

"You probably suppressed a lot of the trauma." Pietro guessed.

"Mom has been weird since uncle Pietro got here," Billy announced, once more talking to someone unseen. "I think it's because she hasn't seen him in a long time, and he's what you call 'a man child.'"

"Want to talk about trauma? Someone drank my coffee this morning." Y/N said as she descended the stairs. "I'm looking at you, Pietro."

"What are you dressed as, Mom?" Tommy asked, looking at his mother.

"I'm Artemis," Y/N told him, pulling a fake bow off her caped back. "She's the Greek Goddess of the Hunt."

"Whoa! Sweet costume, bro-ham-in-law!" Pietro cackled as Vision appeared behind Y/N. "Let me guess, traffic light!" He said, causing Vision to sigh. "Half shucked corn! A booger!"

"Yes." Vision sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Yes!" Pietro exclaimed with a grin before making his way over to the couch.

"Well, thank you two for humoring me," Wanda said, giving her partners an apologetic smile.

"I love Halloween. No-one had to ask me to dress up twice." Y/N shrugged, throwing her bow back onto her back.

"At least you got to choose your costume. I simply had no other clothes in my closet." Vision said before grinning at his wives. "You are incorrigible, darling. I know you have a secret thing for Mexican wrestlers." He told Wanda.

"Mi gusta mucho."

"Ellos son bastante buenos."

"Chili con carne." Vision said, causing his wives to laugh. "What do you say, kiddos? Who's ready for that first hit of high fructose corn syrup?" Vision asked, turning to the kids who were playing a video game with Pietro.

"Yes! Headlock!"

"Get out of here! Get out of here!"

"You never really told us anything about your brother," Y/N said, watching the three with a smile. "He's not what I expected."

"Yes. I had no idea that he'd be so,"

"Go!"

"Great with kids." Vision summarised, throwing his thumb up.

"Yeah, he's just full of surprises." Wanda shook her head.

"Well, I hope the two of you have fun tonight, darlings." Vision said, moving towards the door.

"What? What do you mean? You're all dressed and ready to go." Wanda asked, staring at Vision with wide eyes.

"I'm undercover," Vision told her. "Halloween is a bacchanal for adolescent trouble-makers, and the neighborhood watch is the only thing that stands between the trees and toilet paper." He explained.

"Ah yes, the age-old enemy. Children with toilet paper." Y/N teased her husband with a smirk.

"No. That's not what you're supposed to,"

"What?" Vision cut her off, causing Wanda to cross her arms and sigh.

"Well, you didn't tell me you had plans."

"Vis told me last night, Wand," Y/N announced, causing Wanda to narrow her eyes.

"And you're okay with this?"

"Mama, Mom, and Dad have been, well, not fighting, just different," Billy announced to the unseen person.

"Okay with it? Vis is going out with the neighborhood watch. What's there to be okay about?" Y/N wondered.

"It's the kid's first Halloween. We all have to be there with them." Wanda demanded.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's the big dealio?" Pietro whispered as he came to stand with the three. "The big guy has conflict. The kids need a father figure for the night. Don't sweat it, guys. I got the old XY chromosome. Uncle P to the rescue! Huh?" He suggested.

"There you go. Problem solved." Vision agreed, lightly punching Pietro in the shoulder. "You have a spooky time tonight, kids."

"Goodnight, Dad!"

"Bye, Dad!"

"Love you, Dad!"

"Sweethearts, be good." He said (mostly to Wanda) as he kissed both women's cheeks. "I smell crime."

"Oh, hang on, I need to put the pumpkin out," Y/N said before Vision left the house.

She grabbed the jack-o-lantern from beside the door and followed Vision outside, shutting the door behind her.

"You understand your part of the plan?" Vision whispered.

"I'll keep Wanda distracted and keep my eyes open," Y/N whispered to her husband. "Be careful?" She asked.

"Always, darling," Vision promised, quickly pulling Y/N into an embrace before taking his leave.

"Where do you keep your water balloons?" Y/N heard as she re-entered the house.

"What? We don't have water balloons." Wanda said as Y/N locked the front door.

"Not anymore. Wanda won't let me keep them in the house." Y/N teased, coming to stand beside her wife.

"Then where are we gonna put all this shaving cream?" Pietro asked, holding up two cans. Cans Y/N had no idea as to where they'd come from. "It was Luna's idea!" Pietro defended himself.

"I'm Tommy," Tommy said, holding a shopping bag in his hands.

"And don't you forget it!"

"You two don't even have costumes," Wanda said, looking between her brother and son.

Pietro let out a scoff as he held a hand out towards Tommy. When the boy took it, Pietro sped the two out of the house, and when they reappeared, they were in matching costumes.

"Okay, but just remember that this is a respectable family." Wanda sighed. "If I see any funny business, I am going to magic you into a pickled herring." She said, causing Pietro to cringe.

"C'mon Billy, Luna, let's get your pillowcases," Y/N said, causing the kids to jump to their feet. "It's T-minus ten to our Halloween spooktacular!" She grinned.

Back at SWORD headquarters, agents were in a flurry after Wanda's appearance.

"I wanna see a full work-up inside the hour," Hayward demanded of the agents examining the missile that was still glowing with Wanda's power.

"Yes, sir."

"Hayward. Hayward! You cut us off at the knees sending in that missile." Monica snapped, rushing after the director.

"Now we know who we're dealing with." He shrugged.

"There he is! The man who almost got murdered by his own team." Clint clapped, causing Hayward to snap around.

"Why are you still here?" He demanded.

"Because that's my family in there," Clint told the man.

"And he's with us," Darcy said, standing beside Clint with Monica on her other side.

"I see, so if he's the struggling father, which of you is the sassy best friend?"

"There is no time for you to diminish your colleagues when you're about to start a war you can't win." Jimmy admonished, standing on Clint's other side.

"Maximoff was never going to negotiate with us." Hayward waved him off. "We take her out, and this whole nightmare ends."

"We don't know that," Monica told him.

"And we're never going to now." Clint scoffed.

"We have no idea what will happen in there or out here if Wanda dies." Monica reasoned.

"So what? We just surrender to that?" Hayward exclaimed, glaring at the red energy field behind him. "Not happening."

"We can't outgun her, and clearly antagonizing her is only making things worse. If Wanda is the problem, then she has to be our solution!"

"Captain Rambeau, Agent Barton, the two of you have become an impediment to this mission," Hayward told the two, causing Monica to sigh heavily.

"Technically, I was never assigned to anything." Clint shrugged.

"Constantly advocating on behalf of super-power-based individuals. Yes, I know your history with Carol Danvers. You know, you people who left still have the luxury of optimism. You have no idea what it was like what it took to keep the lights." Hayward shook his head.

"Monica might not have been around, but I was," Clint spoke up. "I remember what it took, and I can never forget. Wanda dusted. Y/N dusted. The two came back to a world where nothing was the same, and Vision was dead. Vision who had to die by Wanda's own hand."

"That's not an excuse for what Maximoff's doing. And the snap wasn't an excuse for what you did during those five years either." The director said, causing Clint to flinch.

"Don't use the last five years to be a coward, Tyler." Monica snapped, causing Hayward to direct his attention back to her.

"Maybe it's a good thing you weren't here when your mother died. Because clearly, you don't have the stomach for this job." Hayward said, causing the air to knock right out of Monica's lungs. "Get her off my base. Get them all out." He demanded the agents, who immediately surrounded the four.

"Yes, sir. All right, come on. Let's go." One of the agents said, pulling Monica out of the room, the other three not far behind.

"Hayward is way overstepping his provisional authority," Jimmy complained.

"He was looking for a reason to sideline us," Clint commented from his side.

"He's up to something." Monica agreed as they came to a stop at a van.

"Let's go, everybody in." An agent demanded.

With a second's hesitation, Jimmy punched the agent holding him. Monica and Clint quickly followed Jimmy's lead and attacked the guards holding them. Slamming the men into the truck and the ground, the three made quick work of the agents while Darcy watched in shock.

"Why didn't anyone tell me the plan?" Darcy demanded once all the agents were dispatched.

"You okay?" Jimmy asked Clint and Monica.

"Always am," Clint grunted, rolling his shoulder.

"Yeah, let's move." Monica sighed. Quickly the four found themselves SWORD ponchos and dragged the agents into a storage shed, far out of the way.

"This is it. Game time." Tommy told the same unseen person Billy had spoken to.

"It's not a competition, Tommy." Billy sighed.

"Everything can be a competition, Billy," Luna said with a grin.

"Luna's right. It's even better when you're the winner." Tommy said before running off.

"Tommy!" Billy groaned before running after his older brother, with Luna in tow.

"Unleash hell, demon spawn!" Pietro cheered.

"Someone's got to follow after them," Y/N said, pressing a kiss to her wife's cheek. "God knows how many bones they'd break without someone watching." She added, following after the kids.

When Wanda and Pietro were alone, Wanda gave her brother a smile before taking a step towards him.

"Do you remember when we were at the orphanage after Mom and Dad died? What was the name of the kid who was always trying to steal your boots?" Wanda asked him. "You know, he was the one with the. He had the, he had the skin thing."

"You're testing me," Pietro said, pointing at his younger sister.

"No, I'm not." She immediately denied it.

"Hey, it's cool. I know I look different." Pietro said, gesturing to his hair.

"Why do you look different?" Wanda wondered.

"You tell me." Pietro shrugged. "I mean, if I found Shangri-La, I wouldn't wanna be reminded of the past either." He said, causing Wanda to freeze.

"Next house, Mama!" Tommy said as he and his siblings rushed over to the Maximoff siblings with Y/N right behind.

"Junior entrepreneur, over here!" Pietro grinned. "How about you let Uncle P help you maximize your candy acquisition, huh?"

"That'd be so cool!" Luna grinned.

"Yeah! Kick-ass!" Tommy agreed.

"I feel the need," Pietro stated, holding his hand out to Tommy.

"For speed!" Tommy cheered, taking Pietro and Billy's hand. Billy grabbed onto Luna's hand, and with that, the four were off.

Speeding around the neighborhood for candy.

"Kick-ass," Wanda murmured as Y/N chuckled.

"I certainly didn't teach them that word," Y/N said as they began to walk down the street.

"Sweetheart, you swear more than anyone else I've ever met," Wanda told the woman.

"Lies and blasphemy!" Y/N gasped, causing Wanda to giggle.

"Oh! Hey, Herb!" Wanda said upon spotted their neighbor dressed as Frankenstein.

"Hey, guys!" Herb smiled as the two approached.

"How's patrol going?" Wanda asked politely.

"Any trees meet the dreaded toilet paper yet?" Y/N smirked.

"No, not yet." Herb chuckled. "It's been quiet so far." He said before his com began to chatter. "Hold up, will you? Say again?" He asked his com. "All the candy has disappeared?" He asked, causing the two women to freeze.

Behind the man, Wanda and Y/N could vaguely make out the blue blur of Pietro speeding the kids around and causing hijinks.

"And now all the jack-o-lanterns have been smashed?" Herb asked as the kids let out a loud cheer. "And now everyone's covered in silly string?"

"Whoo!" Pietro cheered loudly.

"Sorry, girls, but I gotta bounce." Herb apologized.

"Well, maybe Vision can help you out," Wanda suggested.

"Vision? He's not on duty."

"Oh, isn't he?" Y/N asked, playing along with Wanda's confusion.

"We just thought,"

"Is there something I can do for you, Wanda?" Herb asked, sensing Wanda's confusion. "Do you want something changed?" He questioned, causing Y/N to frown.

"No, it's fine." Wanda shook her head, grabbing Y/N's hand and squeezing it comfortingly. "Never mind."

"All right. Peace." Herb smiled before walking away.

"That was good, sweetheart." Y/N complimented her wife.

"I'm always good." Wanda shrugged, giving Y/N a smile.

Vision was on the other side of town while his family trick-or-treated.

The further away Vision got away from his home and family, the stranger Vision noticed the town's people were.

He had noticed people robotically repeating their actions with blank expressions.

Vision stared at a woman and her husband for several seconds before he had to tear his gaze away when the woman shed a single tear.

Meanwhile, the group of six had made their way to the town's center, where the committee had set up a festival of sorts.

"This is so lame. I can't believe you're making the kids return all the candy." Pietro groaned as Y/N led the kids away.

"I can't believe what a bad influence you are," Wanda said, turning to Pietro with crossed arms.

"Who beefed in your borscht?" Pietro asked, causing Wanda to tilt her head. "I'm just doing my part, okay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the in-laws, stir up trouble with the rugrats and ultimately give you grief. I mean, that's what you wanted, isn't it?" He asked her.

"What happened to your accent?" Wanda questioned, pointing a gloved finger at her brother.

"What happened to yours?" He fired back. "Details are fuzzy, man. I got shot like a chump on the street for no reason at all, and the next thing I know, I heard you calling me. I knew you needed me." Pietro admitted as Y/N came back over.

"Alright, candy is returned, the kids are still being sourballs about it, but it's done." She clapped, standing beside her wife.

"Thank goodness for that." Wanda smiled.

"Uncle P, guess what?" Tommy exclaimed as he and his siblings ran over.

"They've got full-size candy bars a few blocks up! Mama, Mom, can we go?" Billy begged before his brother rushed away.

Tommy rushed away in a blur of blue.

"Next stop, Cavity Town!" Tommy cheered, reappearing with three candy bars in hand.

Everyone turned to stare at Tommy in surprise before Pietro let out a cheer.

"Right on, little dude! Chip off the old Maximoff block! You've got super speed!"

"I do?"

"Yeah!" Pietro grinned, holding a hand out to his nephew, who eagerly jumped to high-five him.

"It's okay, baby. You can take it slow, and you can," Wanda started to tell the boy but was cut off when he sped away.

"That's my boy." Y/N grinned as Tommy cheered loudly.

Wanda allowed Tommy to speed around the five for a few minutes before she threw her hand out and pulled the boy to a stop.

"If you're going to break the sound barrier, please take your siblings with you," Wanda begged.

"Really?" Billy asked excitedly.

"Really?" Tommy asked sadly.

"Really, yeah. And please just remember to-"

"Don't go past Ellis Avenue." The twins chorused in unison.

"And?" Y/N wondered.

"Always stick together." They added.

"We know. We know." Tommy said as Billy took his hand.

"Luna, are you coming?" Billy asked his sister, who shook her head.

"I think I want to look at the stalls," Luna told him, glancing behind her at the stalls that were lined up.

"Oh, good idea. I'll come with you." Y/N said, taking her daughter's hand.

"Hey! be careful!" Wanda called as her family all went their separate ways.

Leaving her with Pietro.

Outside the Hex, Monica, Clint, Jimmy, and Darcy were sneaking their way to an empty tent.

"I'm just trying to do my part, okay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the in-laws,"

"Who is that?" Monica asked, staring at the man on the screen.

"Wanda's brother came to town," Jimmy told the woman.

"That's not the punk I remember," Clint said, staring at the screen in confusion.

"Yeah, he's got a new face." Darcy scoffed.

"Over here." Jimmy quietly called. Monica and Darcy quickly rushed over to Jimmy while Clint continued to stare at the screen.

"What happened to your accent?"

"What happened to yours?"

"We shouldn't stick around here much longer." Clint coughed, pulling his eyes away once his daughter appeared on the screen.

"Give me two seconds. I just need to hack into the secure network on the base." Darcy told everyone as she typed away frantically at the computer. "Donezo! Now, should be able to access the data on Hayward's devices." She said, connecting the USB to her laptop. "Oh, that's interesting. Guys, Hayward figured out a way to look into the boundary."

"And he didn't share with the group." Monica scoffed.

"Is this Wanda, right here?" Jimmy asked, pointing to a glowing dot on Darcy's screen.

"No, the program is tracking the decay signature of vibranium," Darcy told him.

"Vision."

"Why is Hayward tracking Vision?" Clint asked.

"I don't know. This is all I can access so far." Darcy told him.

"These other dots, those are Westview residents?" Jimmy wondered.

"The ones in Vision's immediate vicinity, yeah." Darcy nodded.

"So Hayward must have an accurate headcount by now." Jimmy summarised.

"Hayward's got to have some sense of their well-being. Where would that be?" Clint asked, playing around with the screen.

"Not sure."

"These people near the edge of town, they're bearly moving. Are they even alive?" Jimmy asked, looking over the dulled blue dots.

But Darcy didn't have an answer for that. In fact, she didn't have time to give him one before the laptop dinged, and the map began to move.

This was stranger than strange. Vision noted as he got closer towards the edge of town.

It seemed the closer he got to the edge of town, the less Wanda cared about the people.

The people were not moving about robotically anymore. They were simply still.

There was a blanket of silence covering the street as Vision walked past the countless people on the street.

No-one made even the faintest of sounds, not even when he spoke to them.

"Excuse me, ma'am? Are those your children? Are you waiting for something?" Vision asked, but when no-one responded, he forced himself to move on.

Vision made his way to the end of the street before he decided walking was fruitless.

He dropped his disguise before he took to the skies.

He could hear the sounds of children laughing, people wishing each happy Halloween's and other pleasantries before noticed a car stopped at a stop sign.

Vision flew towards the car and lightly landed before the stopped vehicle.

There, in the driver's seat, Vision found Agnes to be behind the wheel.

"Agnes?" He asked aloud. "What are you doing here?"

"Town Square Scare," Agnes said blankly. "Where is it?"

"Oh, well, the Town Square, I expect." Vision joked, causing Agnes to laugh emotionlessly.

"Took a wrong turn," Agnes admitted, still staring out the front window. "Got lost." She shrugged as her eyes welled with tears.

"In the town, you grew up in?" Vision wondered, staring at his neighbor in confusion.

Agnes didn't respond, causing Vision's worry to grow so that he reached a hand out to her temple.

When Vision broke the wall in her mind, Agnes jolted violently and let out a loud gasp.

"It's all right." Vision soothed.

"You!" Agnes gasped, staring at her neighbor in shock. "You're one of the Avengers. You're Vision. Are you here to help us?" She asked with wide eyes.

"I am Vision, and I do want to help." Vision nodded, gently placing his hand on hers. "But what's an Avenger?" He wondered, causing Agnes to gasp.

"What? Why don't you know?" She demanded, snatching her hand away. "Am I dead?" Agnes asked, pressing her hands to her chest.

"No. No." Vision promised. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you are."

"'Cause I'm what?"

"Dead," Agnes said, causing Vision to freeze. "Dead. Dead! Dead!" She yelled.

"Agnes, it is my intention to reach those outside of Westview and make sense of our situation." Vision explained, gesturing towards the town's end.

"How? No-one leaves." Agnes shook her head. "Wanda won't even let us think about it." She laughed. "All is lost," Agnes added as her laughter began to grow wilder.

"Agnes. Agnes, please calm down." Vision asked but was drowned out by the woman's loud cackling. "Agnes! Please."

Vision knew Agnes was too far gone to hear this conversation, so with a sigh, he pressed his hand to her temple once more.

Agnes snapped upright in her seat as her laughter died in her throat.

"I will fix this, Agnes. I promise."

"Okey-dokey, neighbor." Agnes chirped, smiling widely, as she did a U-turn. "Happy Halloweenie!" She cheered, driving away.

Leaving Vision to stare into the distance, just past Ellis Avenue.

"That's it. My way back into the Hex will be here in an hour. Just got to meet my guy over the ridge. Let's roll." Monica told the group.

"You can't do that," Darcy spoke up.

"Sure we can." Jimmy shrugged. "I'm a wiz at hot-wiring cars."

"No. You can't go back into the Hex." Darcy told Monica.

"Worst case scenario, Wanda removes my free will and puts me in ultra-low-rise jeans." Monica shrugged.

"Hayward has your blood work," Darcy announced. "You've gone through the boundary twice already, Monica. The energy inside has re-written your cells on a molecular level twice. It's changing you."

"Seen enough lab results to last me a lifetime." Monica shrugged. "I've seen cells metastasizing, cells in remission. I know what Wanda's feeling, and I won't stop until I help her."

"Okay."

"But I'm staying here," Darcy told the group.

"You can't stay here. It's not safe." Jimmy told her.

"Why would you want to stay here?" Clint asked.

"Darcy, what are you talkin' about?"

"I haven't made it through Hayward's last firewall. There's something big here, something that can help us. I know it." Darcy said.

"I'll stay," Clint announced. "Just in case you need me."

"Fine." Monica sighed. "I'll drop you the location. You meet us out there as soon as you can." She told the two before she and Jimmy left the tent.

Jimmy and Monica found an abandoned truck which they quickly stole before driving away from the SWORD base.

Leaving Darcy and Clint alone.

"Seems the whole town's out tonight, huh, Luna?" Y/N wondered as she and her daughter strolled through the Town Square.

"There's a lot of people." Luna nodded, staring at the townsfolk curiously.

"Everything okay, sweetheart?" Y/N asked, kneeling in front of the blonde girl. "Are you not feeling well?" She pushed, pressing her hand to Luna's forehead.

"No, I feel fine, Mom," Luna promised, pulling her mother's hand away.

"What's wrong then? You've been acting off all night." Y/N commented, rising to a stand and pulling Luna over to a hay bale to sit.

"I can see things, Mom," Luna admitted, playing with her thumbs.

"Things like what, sweetheart?"

"Emotions, I think," Luna told Y/N. "There are these colors all around everyone. I can see 'em change, Mom."

"That's okay, sweetheart. We can help you find out more about your powers."

"But, Mom, there's something wrong with everyone's colors," Luna said.

"What's wrong with their colors?

"They're all blue, all sad," Luna said, staring at the people who passed her. "And when they pass Mama, they're scared."

"I know, sweetheart." Y/N sighed, pulling her daughter into her side. "But me and your Dad are trying to fix this. We're gonna fix this." She promised the girl.

"Holy shmacaroni," Pietro commented, looking around the Town Square as Wanda laughed. "Wow!"

"Isn't it great?" Wanda asked with a grin.

"Damn it, if Westview, New Jersey isn't charming as hell." Pietro complimented, watching the people mill about.

"Now, I know that you think that I've gone full soccer mom,"

"You have." Pietro cut in.

"But it really is nice, right?" Wanda asked as the two sat down.

"Yeah." Pietro nodded before letting out a sigh. "I think Mom and Dad would have loved it."

"Yeah. I think Mom and Dad would have."

"Where were you hiding these kids up till now?" Pietro asked after a gaggle of children ran past them.

"What?" Wanda asked, snapping her head to face him.

"I assume they were sleeping peacefully in their beds." Pietro theorized. "No need to traumatize beyond the occasional holiday episode cameo, right?" He joked.

"No."

"You were always the empathetic twin," Pietro told her.

"I don't. I didn't."

"Don't get me wrong, you've handled the ethical considerations of this scenario as best you could." Pietro complimented. "Families and couples stay together, most personalities aren't far off from what's underneath, people got better jobs, better haircuts, for sure."

"You don't think it's wrong?" Wanda stuttered.

"What, are you kidding? I'm impressed." Pietro told her. "Seriously. It's a big leap from giving people nightmares and shooting red wiggly-woos out of your hands. How'd you even do all this?" Pietro asked, causing Wanda to fall into silence. "Hey, I'm not some stranger, and I'm not your husband or your wife. You can talk to me."

"I don't know how I did it," Wanda admitted with a sigh, looking down. "I, I only remember feeling scared. Empty." She sniffed. When Wanda finally looked up, she let out a gasp when she saw Pietro grey and full of holes.

Wanda squeezed her eyes shut tightly, and when she opened them, she out out a sigh. For Pietro was no longer grey and was hole-free.

"Are you okay?" Pietro wondered, staring at his sister in worry.

"I'm fine." Wanda smiled, waving him off.

"Sure you are."

"Hayward, you sneaky bastard," Darcy said as she continued to snoop through the director's files.

"You got that right." Clint scoffed, watching over the doctor's shoulder.

Darcy pulled up a new screen that showed Vision's blinking dot moving closer to the border.

"What's he doing?" Clint asked, staring at Vision's dot in confusion.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," Darcy said, jumping up from her chair.

On the other side of the Hex, Vision had reached the edge of the town.

The closer he got to the town's border, the larger the foreboding feeling in his stomach grew.

But the closer he got, the clearer the energy field became.

Blocked from the outside world. Vision mused as he stood a nose length's away.

Vision pressed his hand onto the field, and it was immediately sucked into the energy.

Vision pushed his way through the energy field to see swarms of people, cars, and helicopters surrounding him.

But Vision could not spare them another thought as the more he tried to pull his body out of the energy field, the more pain he found himself to be in.

"He really does want out, doesn't he?" A man asked as Vision let out a loud yell.

SWORD watched as, before their eyes, Vision began to disintegrate.

"Oh no." Darcy gasped and began to rush forward with Clint right behind her. "Why aren't you helping him?" Darcy screamed, causing all the agents to turn and face the two. "He's coming apart!" She yelled when an agent grabbed her and pushed her away.

"Get your hands off her!" Clint exclaimed when he, too, was restrained.

Billy was alone when his head began to pound.

Billy was alone when he began to have images of his father in pain.

Billy was alone when he began to hear what was happening at the town's edge.

Billy could sense his brother speeding closer, and he held a hand out to stop him.

"Whoa, Billy!" Tommy cheered.

"Shh!" Billy hissed.

"Are you okay?" Tommy asked, watching his brother in concern.

Billy ignored his brother as the screaming in his head grew louder.

"Mama!"

Billy and Tommy rushed into the Town Square to find both mothers, their sister, and their uncle sitting on hay bales.

"Mama! Mom! Mama!"

"What? What is it, Billy?" Wanda asked as she jumped to her feet.

"I hear Dad in my head. He's in trouble." Billy panted.

"What? Where is he?" Y/N asked, rushing to her wife's side.

"Let me go!" Darcy snapped as she was handcuffed to a car. "What are you doing?" She yelled when she saw Clint be smacked across the face with the butt of a gun.

"Help!" Vision yelled, not caring that he was falling apart. "The people need help!" He exclaimed before he fell to the ground.

"I don't understand. What's happening to me?" Billy demanded.

"Where is he? Where's your Dad?" Wanda asked, staring at Billy with urgent eyes.

"Hey, don't sweat it, sis. It's not like your dead husband can die twice." Pietro joked.

"Excuse me?" Y/N asked, staring at Pietro with wide eyes. Before she could further question her brother-in-law, Wanda shot him with a blast of magic and sent him flying through the air. "Wanda!" Y/N exclaimed as the kids stared at their mother in shock.

"Billy, I need you to focus," Wanda demanded, ignoring her wife. Billy nodded at his mother and closed his eyes tightly.

"I can't tell. I see these soldiers." Billy said as the images flooded his mind. "They think he's dying!"

"Wanda, don't," Y/N said as Wanda's hands glowed red. But she couldn't say another word as time froze.

The last thing she saw was Wanda's eyes glowing red.

"Jimmy, do you see that? It's magic." Monica said as she and Jimmy drove away from Westview.

"It's moving!" Jimmy gasped. "Go, Monica! Go!" He exclaimed, causing the woman to press harder on the pedal.

"Go, go, go!" Hayward demanded, running away from the Hex. "Move, move, move!"

The agents began to scatter in a panic as the red energy drew closer to them.

"Are you serious right now?" Darcy growled as she was left alone, handcuffed to the car. "Clint, wake up!" Darcy exclaimed as the Hex swallowed everything around it. "Oh, fudge." Darcy sighed as she was hit.

The Hex swallowed the entirety of the SWORD base. Anything it touched changed to fit Wanda's script.

"Can anyone read me?" Hayward asked as he and three others sped away from Westview. "Can anyone hear my voice?" He demanded once more.

But no-one responded.

They were a part of Westview now.

@x-uglyprincess-x @imthedoctorlove @loveinnoya @unknownalien3388 @bindythedemon @summersimmerus @buckmesidewaysandcallmesteve @natasharomanoffismywife @mcsteamy4ever @monxpeet @amywinehouseisgod-blog @milleniumloki @buckybarnesplumwhore @kennedywxlsh @drpepperobsessed @madamevirgo @superbsccissorsdeanexpert @itty-bitty-witch @essenceproxima @severusminerva @okkulta @mrscasnovak @niki-is-a-thing @sunshinepower17 @pinkninja200 @iflostreturntoflynnrider @simp4mcuwomen @blackfarrahfawcett @angelicl-y @bromieeeomieee @persie33 @ambria @1awesomemeash @montygator17 @runaway-mom-friend @gengen64 @tiny-freak @abitofeverythinggg

#wanda maximoff #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x vision #vision x reader #wandavision #scarlet witch x reader

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winchesterxxi · 3 years

Note

Maybe Poe and Skywalker reader being married to each other. Their life together, struggles and everything in between

(force awakens to rise of Skywalker)

WARNINGS: Non-canon content for the sake of the request; Focuses more on the Reader x Poe relationship, so many plot points are left untouched (as in, Reader doesn’t know Kylo is her brother)

THE FORCE AWAKENS

You were stationed in Jakku with your dad and Chewie when a girl and a guy board onto the ship;

“Who the hell are you?” you ask, you and your dad with blasters pointed out to them.

They throw they’re hands up and from behind them rolls out BB8 and you immediately drop to your knees.

“BB! Oh my God, where is Poe? We lost his TIE signal two hours ago, we’ve been worried sick!”

“You know Poe Dameron?” Finn asks you, lowering his hands.

“I’m Y/N Skywalker, his wife.” you eye him, only now noticing he is wearing your husband’s jacket “W-Where is my husband?”

That’s when he gives you the news of the crash and you latch onto your dad, crying.

Days later, on Takodana you are under an attack by the First Order and just as you thought there was no hope left, a fleet of X-Wings come in and save you.

After the fleet landed, you went to meet you mom, knowing that she was the Commander behind this offence against the First Order.

“It’s not me you have to thank honey.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your husband’s the one behind it this time.”

“My...?”

She just nods your head and cups your cheek, stroking your teary eyes, knowing how you’ve been grieving, thinking that Poe had died

“Go find your husband.”

You run past her and your dad to the the landing site trying to spot Poe in the crowd, heart beating hard in your chest

“POE?” “POE!?” you scream is name, trying to find him.

Then

“Y/N?” you stop in your tracks and turn around, spotting your husband.

Your run to him faster than you’ve ever ran until you crash into him in a tight hug, crying.

“I thought you - I thought you had -” you sniff between the tears.

He cups the sides of your face “I know, but I’m here, honey. I’m sorry to worry you. You’d never get rid of me so easily!” He smiles into the crashing kiss.

He helps you blast the FO’s base's thermal oscillator after you witness Kylo killing your father, tears stinging your eyes as you charge ahead.

Afterwards, him being your shoulder to cry on as you mourn your loss.

THE LAST JEDI

Flying alongside him on the dreadnought attack;

“Y/N, FIRE NOW!”

You do as you’re instructed, your shot igniting the explosives that had been set inside the dreadnought making it light up like the 4th of July

“THAT’S MY GIRL!” he shouts over the intercom

When back at the ship, reunited with your mother, you’re the one that spots the Star Destroyer in the radar grabbing Finn’s forearm, alerting him to the map.

“We need to jump to lightspeed!” he states running to your mom, awaiting clearance to do so, hot-headed as always.

“Poe, we can’t do that! We only have enough resources for one jump and if we do so, they’ll just track us again and be without fuel.”

You eye your mother, looking for some help.

“Permission to jump on an X-Wing and blow something up?” he addresses your mom.

“Poe w-” you start

“Permission granted!” your mom agrees as Poe darts running

“MOM!”

“Go get on one as well.” she comes forward and kisses your forehead “You’re a team now.”

Just as you and Poe are about to reach the X-Wings, him slightly ahead of you the FO manages to blast the platform, sending him flying against you as you both crash to the ground.

He his also next to you when you spot your mother floating in space after the attack and he grips your hand tightly.

You insist on pushing her to the medical wing but he stops you before you can do it

“Poe, I need to be with my mom please.” you grip his arms, sobbing.

He kisses your forehead

“I’ll go with her, you stay here please.” you nod, teary eyed at him “Finn, take care of her for me while I’m gone”

*FASTFORWARD TO HOLDO’S EVACUATION PLAN*

You believe her plan won’t work either so you lead the mutiny alongside your husband

That is until he is stunned against the wall.

You throw yourself on your knees beside him, cradling his head.

Turning back you spot your mom, alive, holding the blaster

“MOM? WHAT THE HELL?”

“I know you love your husband but for once, just drag his ass out.”

You are holding his hand when he springs back to life.

“What - What happened?” he is shaken

“Poe I-”

He pushes past you running to the nearest window

“NO!” he slams on the glass and you come up behind him hand on his shoulder

“Honey,...” he shrugs his shoulder off, facing you, hurt tainting his face.

“Don’t... Call me that.”

“Poe...”

“No! I thought we were in this together!”

“This plan is gonna work, you have to trust me!”

“How can you ask me that after what you just did.”

First serious married fight... yay.

You look at him, biting your lip, tears in your eyes before walking away.

“Poe.” he turns around and finds your mom, calling him and that’s when she shows him Crait and explains him the full and he realizes he was just an asshole to the person he loved the most.

“Oh my god, I’m such an idiot.”

“Yes you are. Now go apologize to my daughter.”

“Yes ma’am.”

*Cue romantic, cute and awkward apology scene*

When the time comes to face the First Order he boards on a speeder and you on your father’s Falcon alongside Chewie

And of course you then help him lead your people out of the cave

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

So...you’re kind of the captain of the Falcon

Despite Poe being an undeniably better pilot than you, he insisted that you were the rightful captain of the ship now that your dad was gone.

And he loved to call you captain

It made you smile every single time

Fastforward to Kijimi when Poe has a blaster pointed to his head

You are quick to point your own to the armored woman behind him

“Blaster off him, now.”

“She won’t ask twice, I would listen to her”

“Who are you?” you ask, blaster still up as she hadn’t let hers down

“Honey, this is Zorii. Zorii, this is my wife, Y/N”

Her helmet turns to you “Wife? There are actually people out there who go along with what you say.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” he retorts and you snap a look at him

“I could pull this trigger right now.” She says, pushing the blaster harder against Poe’s head.

“You do that, my blaster is the last thing you’ll see in this life.”

“We’re trying to find Babu Frik.” Poe tries to ease the situation

“He only works with the crew. That’s not you anymore.”

“What does she mean crew?” you ask him

“Oh your wife doesn’t know?”

you look between her and him confused

“Funny he never mentioned it...”

“Married people are still allowed secrets Zorii - “ he tries

“Your husband was a spice runner.”

Your eyes almost pop out of your eye sockets

“You were a spice runner? In almost 5 years of marriage NOT ONCE did it occur to you to mention that!?”

Once again, next to him when one of the stormtroopers blasts him in the arm inside the Star Destroyer

“POE!”

Standing in line next him, Chewie and Finn

“Were you ever going to tell me you were a spice runner?”

“You’re still on that?”

“OH I’M SORRY, IS THIS A BAD TIME?”

“IT KIND OF IS, YEAH!”

“Well, because later doesn’t really seem like an option right now -”

“You don’t say -”

“And if my husband has some other important life information before meeting me that I should be aware of, I would like to know becasue for all i know, you could’ve even been a stormtr--”

BAM

Troopers dead, you all alive

Hux admits to being the spy

“I KNEW IT” he points out

“No, you didn’t.”

While on one of the Endor’s moon your mom uses her last breath to reach out to you trough the Force

You are a few feet behind Poe on the grass and fall to your knees with a thud

He looks over at you, face dropping as he runs in your direction

Your face is white and your look is blank and he is trying to shake your shoulders to gain some attention from you

“My mom...” You look up at him and he immediately understands, gulping hardly. He doesn’t say a word, simply pulling you into a crushing hug as you scream into the ground, tears running down.

Later, back at the resistance base, after you’ve said your goodbyes to your mom, Poe is the one sitting next to her linen-covered body

“I... I promise I’ll take care of her. Not just now, or in the near future, just... forever. I’ll stay by her side, always, Leia. Your daughter... Your daughter is the love of my life.”

After you defeat the First Order, during the celebrations Poe pulls you aside to a quiet place and tells you that he wants to settle down.

You agree with him, teary eyed, kiss kiss, you know the drill

BB8 beeps at your feet

POST TROS BONUS

The both of you settled on Yavin 4, his home planet

You are blessed with kids, first a baby boy and then a baby girl, 2 years apart

Who you name Kes and Leia, after Poe’s dad and Leia’s mom, who devoted their lives to the resistance and in one way or another were behind the reason your life path’s ever crossed

Poe cried like a baby when you told him you wanted your first born to be named Kes

Occasional visits form uncle Finn and uncle Chewie

When it’s just Finn, him and Poe tend to go out and do “guy stuff”

While you sit back at home with the kids and BB8 who loves to entertain them

And it isn’t rare for sometimes you being sitting on a bench, watching the three of them play in the distance, head on Poe’s shoulder, his arms draped around your waist

And you look to the side to be met with the Force ghosts of your family members looking down at you

#THIS ONE TOOK TOO LONG #why do i always go all out on the headcanons ffs #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron headcanon #poe dameron x skywalker!reader #poe dameron #oscar isaac #the rise of skywalker #the force awakens #star wars #the last jedi

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study-coffee-chicago · 3 years

Text

Stars on your Sleeve (A Ranger! Jay imagine)

Not a Halstead sister fic, just Jay and the reader as a child. (Sort of daddy! Jay)

The rain drummed down on Jay's tan helmet, the sound soothing him as he focused his eyes across the dark of the Tabernas Desert. Despite it being cold and wet, his focus was razor-sharp. He looked through the scope of his sniper at the sparsely vegetated, and sandy yet rocky terrain. He kept his eyes peeled for anything or anyone out of the ordinary, most notably Los Rebeldes.

Los Rebeldes (The Rebels) had thrown over the Spanish government and turned it into a warzone. Anyone who went against them was instantly killed. Anyone who refused to serve in their army had their families taken away. Jay didn't care much about the politics of the matter. All he cared about was making sure that no more innocents were harmed because of some fringe group getting their way and wanting to keep it that way. It wasn't Afghanistan, but it was the same goal.

When the war broke out, he knew he had to come back, to fight and protect. So, when Mouse had mentioned that was going to reenlist, Jay had been right behind him, despite Hailey arguing with him. They had been married for a year at the time and she didn't want to lose her husband to the gruesomeness that was battle. But, he told her he'd be safe. He told her that he had Mouse and all the other platoon members that would keep him safe, just as he would do the same for them. And now here he was, three weeks left of his deployment, still safe, and as ready as ever to get back to his wife.

As he looked into the scope, something being swept across the land caught his eye. And then, the wind died down, stopping it. He moved his sniper to be directly looking at it close up. Wet and matted, covered in dirt, but no doubt had it been loved by a child for many years. Then, he saw something out of the corner of his eye and moved around once more.

The feet were small, wet from the rain. He couldn't see much else because the rest of the body was hidden behind a bush. If he could get closer, he'd be able to see that the toes were starting to turn blue. It hadn't dipped below freezing, but the rain made it feel like it had.

"Mouse, I see something on my nine. Does that look like a kid to you?" Jay radioed.

Mouse turned his gun from where he was fifty feet away from Jay and zoomed his scope in as close as he could. "Oh my God."

That was all the confirmation Jay needed. "Mouse, I need you and Logans to cover me. I'm going to get them."

"Halstead, you can't--"

"Logans, I can and I will. It's a child, they're defenseless and last I checked we're here to protect them, so cover me."

He spotted the teddy bear still laying on the ground about one hundred feet away from who they presumed to be the child.

Jay held his gun in front of him, using the light from his sniper to guide him toward the child. Mouse was right behind him and Logans was a few yards behind them, walking backward to watch their six.

Jay stopped. "What are you doing?" Mouse asked as Jay reached down.

"I think this belongs to them." With his gun still trained in front of him, he grasped the sopping wet teddy bear. He noticed it was missing an eye. And then, he continued walking, boots heavy against the ground.

Jay continuously checked his three and nine as they got closer and closer to the child. For all they knew, this could be a ploy to take the three of them prisoner. But, there was no one.

"I'll run ahead, go check to make sure there's no one there," Logans volunteered.

"Copy," Jay answered, a few feet away from the child. Logans ran up ahead without even glancing down at the child, his main mission to make sure his fellow brothers in arms were safe.

Jay swallowed as he saw what lay on the ground in front of him. A girl, no more than ten, lay on the cold ground only wearing a dress and a small locket, which were now sopping wet. Her fingers and toes were a pale shade of blue and her lips were cracked and purple.

"All clear," Logans said as he ran back behind Mouse to watch their six once more.

Jay swung his gun behind him and took off his helmet. "Jay, what are you doing?" Mouse asked.

"I don't want to scare her if she wakes up, Mouse."

He leaned down and pressed his fingers to the girl's neck. "I've got a pulse. It's slow. She's probably slightly hypothermic, but it's there."

Jay balled his hand into a first and placed it on the girl's chest, rubbing hard and fast, hoping to warm her up.

You woke with a start. You widened your eyes as you saw someone crouched above you, brown hair, freckles, and green eyes with water dripping down his face. You tried to back away, but you couldn't feel your fingers, and that made it hard to push yourself up into a seated position.

The man took his hand off you and then held both his hands up in a sign of surrender. "This is Halstead to base, patch me through to Diaz," the man spoke into something like a walkie-talkie that was strapped to the band in front of him.

"Copy, Halstead. Patching you through to Diaz."

You jumped, not knowing where the second voice was coming from and Jay noticed. "Hey, hey, estás segura, cariña, estás segura." He used one of the few phrases he could say in Spanish to tell you that you were safe.

Upon hearing your first language, you relaxed a little. Then, you noticed the patch on his sleeve. It was the one with the red and white stripes and the stars. Your mom had always told you that if anything happened, to look for the men with the stars and red stripes on their sleeves because they would help you. That was one of the last things she told you five years ago and you were glad you had remembered.

"Diaz," you heard.

"Hey, Emilia, I've got a little girl here, signs of hypothermia, can't be more than ten. I got her to wake up. I have no idea if she speaks English, so what do I do?"

"First off, ask her her name. I know you know how to say that."

"¿Como te llamas, cariña?"

"Y/N," you answered.

"Y/N. Me llamo Jay." He picked up the teddy bear beside him. "Diaz, how do I ask her if this is hers?"

"¿Es tuyo?" Emilia answered.

"¿Es tuyo?" Jay repeated, his horrible Spanish accent showing.

You nodded and Jay held out your teddy bear to you. Slowly, you reached your hand out and took it from him and then, despite it being sopping wet, hugged it tightly to your chest.

"¿Hablas inglés, Y/N?" Jay asked.

You nodded, telling him that you did in fact speak English. At the orphanage you and your older sister had been at, the workers spoke both Spanish and English. And, since you had been there for five years, you had picked up most of the language.

"I'm Jay," he told you once more and then motioned behind him. "That's my friend Mouse and way back there is my friend Chad. I promise we won't hurt you. Now, can you come with us?"

"Stars on your mangas. Yes, I come," you answered. Despite having been around English for five years, you were bound to make mistakes sometimes.

"Diaz, help me out here. Mangas?"

"Sleeves, she said you have stars on your sleeve. I think she's talking about the American flag patch."

"Thanks. Can we get a truck to our location stat? I don't think we could carry her all the way back there seeing as it's a three-hour trek. She might get worse."

"Copy. Pulling location and sending emergency trucks your way. Want me to stay on the line?"

"That'd be great. Thanks, Emilia."

Jay took off his heavy coat and held it out you. You nodded at him and he wrapped it around your small body. "What's your bear's name?"

"Osito."

Diaz chuckled on her end. "Translates to teddy or little bear," she told Jay.

"Thanks for the info."

Despite the heavy jacket, you shivered. Jay wrapped an arm around you. "Help will be here soon, Y/N. For now I just need you to stay awake for me, can you do that? Diaz, how do I tell her not to sleep?"

"No despierte," she answered.

"No despierte, Y/N, no despierte."

"Halstead, emergency's thirty minutes out," Mouse told him. "It's your call. Go back to where we were or stay here."

He looked to you. He didn't want to move you if you weren't comfortable. "Wait here or wait somewhere else?" he asked you.

"Here," you answered.

"You heard her boys, we're staying here."

***

You didn't know how long it had been, but the nice soldier, Jay, had let you drink out of his big, round water bottle. He told you it was called a canteen. You had never heard that word before. He had helped you hold it since your hands were still numb and blue from the cold. Once you took one sip, you didn't stop until it was all gone.

Jay didn't mind that you had drunk the rest of his water, which was only half full when he had given it to you. You probably needed it more than him anyway; he had no idea how long you had been out in the desert without anything to drink.

You heard a truck motor in the distance, causing you to jump. "This is Halstead to Base," Jay started, "is there a truck heading towards our current location?"

"There is," the voice on the other end answered. "Do you see them?"

"I see them!" Logans yelled to Mouse who relayed the message to Jay.

"Copy, yeah we see them."

The noise grew louder and you squeezed your eyes shut. "Diaz, you still there?" Jay asked.

"Still here. What's up?"

"Can you tell Y/N that the truck is just to help her and then we're taking her someplace safe? I know she understands English, but I thought it might be a little hard for her to understand since there might be some military words mixed in there that she doesn't know. She looks pretty scared to me."

"Yeah, I can do that."

Over the soldier's radio, you heard a woman, who introduced herself to you as Emilia, speaking Spanish. She told you that there was a big truck coming your way and inside were a doctor and a nurse who would help get you better. Then, they'd take you back to a big house with lots of people where you could rest and eat some food. She told you that you'd be safe there.

"She seem calmer to you, Jay?"

"Actually yeah, she does."

"Halstead, truck's here!" Mouse yelled.

"Copy!" Then, he turned to you. "Hey, I'm gonna pick you up now and carry you over to that truck." He pointed ahead of him. "More of my friends are in there and there's doctors who can help you get warm. Are you okay with that?" You nodded, understanding most of what he was saying. "Okay, up you go. One, two, three."

He picked you up as the doctor and nurse jumped out of the back of the truck.

"A kid? How'd you find her?" the nurse, Ava, asked.

"I saw her teddy bear on the ground and then I looked and there she was. I don't know what happened to her. All I know is that she's showing signs of hypothermia and her name's Y/N."

"Okay, let's get in the truck and we'll take a look at her in there. That way me and Colin can actually see what we're working with."

"Copy," Jay answered. He climbed into the truck behind Ava and Mouse and Logans followed.

Jay went to set you down on the stretcher that sat between the two benches of the truck, equipped with an IV pole and other medical supplies, but you held onto his shirt. You didn't know what these people were going to do to you. The other guy didn't have stars on his sleeve. He could be bad.

"¡No! !No, lo tiene una bandera! ¡No me voy!"

Jay looked at Nurse Ava and Dr. Collins, seeing if they understood what she said, as you put your face into Jay's shirt. When they just stared back at him with a blank expression, Jay wanted to kill whoever decided not to send a bilingual nurse or doctor. If they couldn't send one of them, the least they could've done was send a translator with them.

"Mouse, get Diaz on your radio. I won't be able to hear her through mine since Y/N's covering it. Diaz, you can still hear us though, right?" Jay asked.

Jay heard muffling from underneath him and he took it as yes.

"Diaz, it's Mouse. You hear me?" Mouse asked, moving closer to Jay so they could both hear and speak into his radio.

"Loud and clear. Need me to translate?"

"Please," Jay replied.

"Okay. What she just said was that she doesn't want to go to him--I'm assuming him means Dr. Collins--because he doesn't have a flag on his sleeve," Emilia Diaz answered.

"Okay, let me try something."

"Oh God," Mouse muttered.

"Y/N," Jay started, causing you to move your head to look up at him. "This is a doctor. I know him. Es amigo."

"¿Su amigo?"

"Sí," Jay answered, confirming that the doctor was in fact his friend.

"He will not hurt me?" you asked.

"I promise he will not hurt you."

You looked at Dr. Collins and he smiled at you. "Okay," you said.

"I'm gonna put you down now."

He set you down on the stretcher and spoke loudly so that it could be heard through Mouse's radio. "Diaz, I'm gonna need you to translate this stuff because I doubt she knows medical stuff in English."

"Gotcha, doc," Diaz replied.

"Y/N, I have to tie off your arm and then put a needle in it so that warm saline gets into your body. That way, you'll warm up and your toes and fingers won't be cold anymore."

He waited for Diaz to translate and waited for your expression to change when she mentioned the needle to you. It did.

"I promise you'll only feel a small pinch."

"And you can squeeze my hand really, really hard," Jay added.

Diaz translated and you looked to Jay who had stretched his hand out towards you. You took it and the doctor counted down from three, in Spanish, but on one he stuck the IV in your arm and you squeezed Jay's hand as hard as your numb little fingers could.

You relaxed once the needle was in, starting to feel warmer.

Nurse Ava looked at your locket and whispered something to Dr. Collins. Jay knew what was up. They needed to take your necklace off right away and then put it in a bag to be looked at by tech so that they could be sure that there were no cameras or microphones in it. Nobody would put it past Los Rebeldes to use kids to find out what American soldiers were doing.

"Sweetie, we need to take off your necklace," Ava said. "We just need to look at it and you can have it back tomorrow."

"No. It is mine," you answered.

"I know it's yours, which is why you'll get it back tomorrow." She wanted to say that she had to take your teddy bear too, just to make sure that there were no microphones or cameras in there as well, but she could only fight one battle at a time.

She turned to Jay and spoke really fast so that you couldn't understand her.

"I know. I'll handle it." Jay crouched down next to you. "Y/N, we know that this necklace is yours," he spoke slowly, so that you were able to understand, "Because of the stuff the doctor put in your arm, you're gonna warm up fast. And, sometimes if there's metal on you, it can burn you because you heat up too fast. ¿Entiendes?"

"A little," you answered Jay's question of if you understood what he had told you.

"Diaz, can you repeat what I just told Y/N about her locket?"

Diaz translated what Jay had told you into Spanish, and he watched as you nodded in understanding and reached back to undo the clasp of your locket. But, you couldn't get it. Ava reached over to undo it, but she couldn't get it either.

"The clasp is so rusty that it's stuck," Ava said.

"Let me take a look," Jay said and moved behind you. He gently touched your neck as he grabbed the chain of the locket and then looked at the clasp. Ava was right. There was no way this was going to come off easily.

"Y/N," Jay started. "Ava's gonna pull the necklace a little bit and when she does I need you to sit really still, okay?"

"Okay," you answered.

"What are you doing?" Ava hissed so quietly so that you couldn't hear as Jay reached into a pocket of his cargo pants.

He pulled out his pocket knife and flicked it open. "It's our only option. I'll just go right through the clasp because it'll be easiest."

"Fine." She pulled on the chain of the necklace, moving it so that it was far away from you, but not so much that it was choking you.

"Y/N, I need you to stay really still."

You nodded and then you felt the necklace fall off, the heart-shaped charm falling on the floor of the truck.

"You broke it!" you yelled.

Your sister had given that to you when she heard people coming into the orphanage two days ago. She had quickly clasped it on you and told you to hide in the crawl space under your shared bunk bed. Inside the heart-shaped charm was a picture of your dad on one side and a picture of your mom on the other. Your parents had given it to your sister for her tenth birthday and she always let you look at it when you missed them. You had gotten the teddy bear and she had gotten the necklace. But, now you had both, the only picture of your parents inside that locket and now it was broken.

Jay rushed to pick it up before it bounced out of the truck. "Got it!"

"But you broke it!"

Jay laughed at how you thought it couldn't be fixed. "No, we just need a new chain to put the necklace on. It's okay."

"You can fix it?"

"Yes, I can fix it." He knew that if he could get his hands on a chain and a clasp that he could, but he wasn't going to tell you that. All you needed to know was that it could be fixed.

"Do not lose it," you told him.

"I will not lose it, Y/N. I promise."

You yawned, the tiredness of the last few days finally taking over you as you started to warm up. You were safe and the stretcher was softer than the ground you had previously been on.

Jay moved his jacket from behind you and placed it over top of you like a blanket. "You can sleep. It's safe. You're safe." he told you.

You clutched your teddy bear as you snuggled into Jay's jacket, allowing the sound of the truck and the quiet whispers around you to lull you to sleep.

***

"You are not taking her teddy bear!"

"Halstead, we have--"

"Listen to me! You do not have to do anything. That girl was cold, terrified, and alone when I found her. That stuffed animal was probably her only comfort item, besides that necklace, which we have already taken away from her for the night by the way, so there is no way in hell I am letting you take it away from her!"

"Mmmm, ¿Qúe estaís haciendo?" you asked, rolling over and trying to remember where you were.

Jay shut his mouth the minute he heard you talking. "Emilia," he said.

"She asked what we doing," she translated, as their superior officer stared at the two of them.

"That's a damn good question," Jay said, crossing his arms and glaring at his superior officer. "Care to explain what you were going to do, Captain?"

"I'll handle this," Emilia mumbled, knowing that a fight would just break out and Jay could get in trouble for going up against a superior. She, not as much though since she was just a translator.

Emilia explained to you that you were in the hospital part of the big house she had told you about over the radio earlier. She asked you how you were feeling and you said good, warm. You also mentioned how the bed was soft and she smiled at your innocentness.

Then, Emilia asked if you wanted to take a bath, a warm bath. You said yes. She asked if she could take Osito and give him his own bath, make him all nice and clean for you. You agreed and handed her the bear, causing Jay's eyes to go wide.

Emilia called for Ava and said that you wanted to take a bath. You looked up at Jay. "You come, too?" you asked.

"Where are we going?" Jay asked as enthusiastically as he could.

"I get a warm bath! So does Osito!" you exclaimed.

Jay chuckled at your cuteness. Even though you were eight, you still spoke like a five-year-old since English was your second language. But, he didn't mind; knowing two languages at your age was an accomplishment in and of itself. After all, he could only speak English.

"I'm sorry, but I can't come with you," he answered, squatting down so that he was eye-level with you. "But I'll be here when you get back."

"You keep Osito safe?"

"I will," he answered.

You nodded and took Ava's hand and headed out of the room in Med Station to take a bath.

"What did you tell her, Diaz?" their captain asked.

"I just asked her if she wanted a bath and that we'd wash her bear for her. That way, we can check it out while she's gone."

"Good thinking. I'll leave you two to bring it to security."

"Yes sir," both Jay and Emilia answered.

"That's not all she told you was it?" Jay asked as they made their way through the compound and to the security sector.

"She uh, she said she's never had a warm bath before, that the water was always cold at the orphanage," Emilia answered sadly.

"So she has no family?"

"She mentioned a sister, but when I asked where she was, she didn't answer, and that's when I mentioned giving the bear a bath. Something had to have happened there for her to leave and walk across the desert all alone."

"Poor kid," Jay sighed. "Now, where are you gonna wash her bear?"

"Me?" Emilia asked. "Oh no, Halstead, that's your job. I'm gonna go look for some clothes for her. Figured I'd be better at that than you."

"So you just want me to walk into a barracks full of grown men with a stuffed animal?"

"Precisely," Emilia smiled. "And, if I recall correctly, you still owe me a favor."

"Yeah, from when we were sixteen and my car broke down and you gave me a ride home!"

"Favor's a favor. Now get going. Don't want Y/N to think that you stole her bear. After all, you did promise to keep Osito safe," she laughed.

Jay rolled his eyes as he continued walking towards the barracks and Emilia went to the left to try and find you some clothes that might actually fit you.

He walked into the barracks and then into the communal bathrooms. He turned on one of the sinks and put your teddy bear under the cold water and wrung it out, not so hard that he'd rip it, but hard enough that he could get all the dirt out. He repeated the process for ten minutes until the water finally ran clear.

"The hell you got there, Halstead?" a fellow soldier of Jay's asked.

"I found a little girl when we were out last night and we have to get it checked for mics and cams, so to get it away from her, Diaz promise that the bear would get a bath...which meant that I gotta wash it," Jay answered, grabbing some paper towel to dry Osito off as best he could.

"I bet she'll appreciate that," he answered.

"Yeah," Jay agreed and then left to go bring the bear to security.

As expected, there were no microphones or cameras in it...which Jay could've told them that. Then, he walked back to Med Station just in time to see you walking back in your room along with Ava.

"Osito!" you exclaimed, running up to Jay.

"Here you go, cariña. All nice and clean." He handed you the bear and you hugged it to your chest.

"Look! My dress has bears on it!" you exclaimed, referring to your hospital gown. Somehow, someway, the nurses had children's gowns on the base. Jay wondered if they had expected more child casualties here and the thought made him internally shudder.

"I can see that. How are you feeling?"

You pursed your lips, trying to think of the word in English. "Clean!" you answered.

Jay laughed at this. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, I'm gonna be right back okay? I'll be right over there." He pointed out the door to the nurses' station.

"Okay, Jay."

Jay. His heart swelled when he heard your little voice say his name. And at that moment, he knew he'd do anything and everything to protect you. He didn't know what you had been through, but he knew that he'd make damn sure that you wouldn't get left behind again.

***

Jay was abruptly woken from his sleep by Dr. Collins. "Whoa, whoa, Halstead. It's Dr. Collins," he quickly said, putting his hands in front of his face in a protective position as Jay started to swing.

Jay shook his head and slowly lowered his hands. "Sorry, habit."

"No big deal. I suspect most people here would do the same. Now, I need you to come with me."

"Why?" Jay asked, slipping his feet into his boots.

"The girl you brought in--"

"Y/N?"

"Yeah, her. She keeps asking for you. She woke up and she won't go back to sleep and she said she wants you."

"But why me?" he asked as they exited the barracks.

"You were the one who found her, correct?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with it?"

"What did you say to her when you were there?"

"I told her that she's safe, told her my name, and then asked if she wanted to wait where we were or somewhere else. She said she wanted to wait where we were, so that's what we did."

"I see," Dr. Collins started, "you gave her some semblance of control."

"What?"

"You asked her if she wanted to stay there or go somewhere else and actually did what she wanted. She feels safe with you. She trusts you, Halstead."

She trusts you, Halstead.

They entered Med Station and then walked to your room. Jay heard your quiet sniffles before he saw you.

You were clutching your bear to your chest, Ava was next to you trying to get you to sleep, but you just shook your head back and forth. It was too dark, too quiet. You wanted your sister.

"Hey, cariña," Jay whispered, crouching down in front of the bed.

"J-Jay," you stuttered through tears.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's wrong?" he asked slowly, making sure that you could understand.

"I can not sleep. Miss sister."

"You miss your sister?" he asked. You nodded. "I miss my brother sometimes, too. And my wife."

Wife. You didn't know that word. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. He pointed to his wedding band and you understood what he meant. He had a princess at home. Your dad always told you that your mom was his princess and she always said that he was her prince. And, the rings were to make sure they stayed prince and princess.

"¿Princesa?" you asked.

"She is my princess, yes."

"Is she pretty?"

"She is really, really pretty."

"You cry for her and your brother at night?"

Now that, that question took Jay off guard. But, he did occasionally do that...like when he missed their wedding anniversary because he was overseas. "Oh, yeah," he answered. "Adults cry too and it's okay."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, how about we go to sleep and you can tell me about your sister tomorrow. I will tell you about my brother and my princess tomorrow, too." He made a conscious choice not to use contractions when talking to you because, if your speaking was any indication, you hadn't picked up on those yet. But, wow, he was still impressed by your English skills.

Ava stood up and turned off the light. She went to leave but was stopped. "Too dark," you said.

Jay reached into one of the many pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out a flashlight. He clicked it on. "Better?" You nodded. "Now, how about you go to sleep?"

"You stay?"

Jay wasn't planning on staying, but when you asked that, he knew he couldn't say no. "I will stay."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Jay hadn't broken any of his promises to you so far, so you expected him to still be here in the morning when you woke up.

***

It had been a week since Jay and the others had found you and your strength was finally back up to where it normally was. Jay had introduced you to his wife, Hailey, over a Skype call and he was right, she was pretty. When Jay told a joke, that you didn't understand, Hailey laughed, which caused you to laugh, too. And, before Jay knew it, he was laughing as well.

From that call, Jay had learned how old you were because Hailey had asked you. You were eight and your favorite color was purple. Your favorite animal was a bear and your favorite food...well you didn't really have one because all your food at the orphanage was boring and bland. You were fed for survival there, not enjoyment.

Stateside, Hailey's thoughts were littered with the little Spanish girl that Jay had saved. She'd be lying if she didn't see a connection between you two. How much you trusted him and how he looked at you with the light in his eyes that was only ever seen when he was at home. During these months on deployment during their weekly Skype calls, Hailey had only seen that light once: the call when you were next to him.

"You seem happy," Mouse pointed out as Jay was tying his boots the next morning, about to go grab breakfast from the chow hall.

"They said that Y/N can go outside and play now. She's been asking to go outside for the past three days. And now she finally can."

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"She's just a kid, man," Jay answered. "And the way we found her, what she must've gone through. I just want to make her feel safe."

"I get it. Just don't get too attached. You gotta go out one more time before you leave."

Mouse was right of course. He did have to leave the base and go into no man's land one more time to stand guard with Mouse, Logans, and a few others before the end of his deployment in two weeks.

Jay slumped his shoulders. "What if something happens to me when we're out there?"

"What?" Jay had never spoken like that before. His focus was always on the task ahead of him. His best friend had never heard him ask a question like that before in their three deployments together or during risky raids back in Chicago as part of the Intelligence Unit.

"What if they find us and we don't come back? What's Y/N going to think? That I abandoned her? That I broke a promise to her?"

"Jay, man, you are getting way too close to this kid. If it's gonna affect the way that you do your job, you gotta take a step back."

"I know that. What if I-- you know what? Forget it."

Jay stood up to go brush his teeth, but Mouse followed him.

"C'mon, Jay. Talk to me."

Jay sighed. "Fine. But not here. Let's go grab our guns."

After grabbing their guns, the two walked to a secluded space on the base, a place where they usually cleaned their weapons. And, since it was so early, no one was around they could talk freely. But, they had to make it look like they were here to clean their weapons, which is why Jay had his sniper rifle on the table, already unscrewing it, ready to clean the barrel.

"What if I didn't go?" Jay asked breaking the silence.

"Go where? What are you talking about?" Mouse asked, taking apart his gun as well.

"What if, the next time we have to leave Base, I didn't go. What if I just stayed behind."

"You can't do that! One, Smith would find out pretty damn fast. And two, you can be dishonorably discharged for insubordination for going against the orders of a superior officer! Are you crazy?"

"Smith's got kids, right?" Jay asked, referring to their captain.

"I think so. Why?"

"Maybe if I talked to him and told him the reason that I want to stay back is because of Y/N, then maybe he'd let me."

"You know you wouldn't be getting out of this unscathed, right? You'd be on kitchen or latrine duty for the rest of the tour."

"I know that," Jay groaned.

They worked in comfortable silence for a few minutes until Mouse broke it. "You really have a soft spot for this girl, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah I do." Jay paused, putting his gun back together. "I just, I wonder where she's gonna go after she gets better. She was at an orphanage before we found her, a place that was supposed to keep her safe, Mouse. And, the way we found her, they obviously didn't do their jobs."

"You know who might know where she's going?"

They both looked at each other and nodded. Diaz.

"Emilia," Jay said in a sing-song voice as he saw Emilia round the corner in the chow hall with her breakfast.

"Oh, no. You only use that voice when you want something," she said as she headed to her table.

Jay and Mouse sat down across from her. "Well, you're not wrong."

"The number of times I heard that voice in high school when he wanted to cheat off my homework was astronomical, Mouse," Emilia said.

"In my defense, it wasn't cheating. It was checking my answers." Emilia raised an eyebrow. "Fine. It was checking my answers and changing them."

"That's better. Now, what do you two want?"

Mouse held his hands up in surrender. "It's all Jay this time."

Emilia turned her attention to Jay. "What do you want?"

"I know that you're on good terms with basically everybody here, so I was wondering if maybe you'd know where Y/N is going once she gets better?"

Emilia sighed, knowing the attachment Jay had to you. "Last I heard is that she's gonna go back to another orphanage."

"Any idea when that might be?"

"Maybe a month, month and a half at most."

"So, we'll essentially be getting her to feel comfortable and safe here and then she'll just up and move again."

"When you put it like that, yeah. I'm sorry, Jay."

"Yeah, thanks." He turned to Mouse. "Let's go grab some breakfast."

***

Jay walked into Captain Smith's office, nervous as hell. "Captain," Jay spoke with a curt nod.

"Halstead, what can I do for you? I've been meaning to tell Diaz that that was a good idea on how to get the little girl's bear away from her."

"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to pass that on to her."

"How is the little girl?"

"Doing better, sir. She's been asking to go outside and play, so I'll probably stop by later to take her outside, maybe start a soccer game."

"She'd probably like that. Now, I can tell that you didn't just come in here to update me on how she's doing. Would I be correct?"

"You're correct, sir. I came to ask you if there is any way that I don't have to go out on my next scheduled guard post."

"I'm assuming that I don't have to tell you that if I tell you that you have to go and you refuse, that that would be grounds for insubordination."

"No, sir."

"Can I ask what prompted this?" Captain Smith had heard stories about Jay's time in Afghanistan and the man in front of him never backed down from a fight.

"It's Y/N, the girl I rescued, sir. She feels safe with me and I don't want to leave her. I don't want to be another person who leaves her." Jay hoped his captain understood the unspoken words that the sentiment conveyed.

"Halstead, I understand where you're coming from. I have kids of my own and I'd be lying if I told you that whenever I have to go off base in combat, that they aren't at the forefront of my mind. But, it's what we signed up for. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do.

"I understand, sir. Thank you for your time."

***

"Hey, cariña," Jay said happily as he walked into your room just before ten o'clock. "Did you get new clothes?" he asked, overexaggerating his surprise.

"Yes! Emilia give them to me!"

You were currently in a pair of shorts and a way too big t-shirt that was made tighter by bringing the back together using a hair tie. Emilia had taken a pair of shorts she had with her (no doubt to be used on one of the rare days when they got to go into the city) and had cut and sewn them so they were smaller.

"She did, did she?"

"Yeah!"

"Are you ready to go outside?"

You jumped out of bed at that. "Go outside! Go outside!"

You grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out of the room. Who knew you could have so much strength in that little body of yours? Jay could barely stop and tell a nurse where you were going. But, then he laughed, seeing as you were going in the wrong direction.

"Wrong way, cariña," he laughed as he stopped walking.

"Oh." You scrunched up your eyebrows. "You go first."

"Okay, I'll go first. Do you want to keep going mano a mano so that you don't get lost?"

Your eyes lit up when he spoke the bit of Spanish. You nodded and Jay continued to hold onto your little hand as he led you outside.

When you and Jay got outside, you were met with a big group of soldiers, some women, but mostly men. One was holding a soccer ball. Jay put his fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle to gather everyone's attention.

The one holding the ball turned to face them. "Can you guys add two more?"

"I think so. What's her name?" the soldier asked Jay.

"Her name's Y/N."

"Hi, Y/N. Do you want to be a captain? You get to pick who's on your team."

You looked up at Jay as if asking for his permission and he nodded. "Okay! But, I want Jay and Emilia."

"We can do that." Then, he turned back to the group. "Hey, whoever wants in on this game, line up! Me and Y/N are captains. And, she's already got dibs on Halstead and Diaz!"

A few grumbled, they knew Jay was one of the best at soccer having played in high school, and kept it up as a hobby after that. Everyone lined up and you started picking teams. Jay mouthed something to the other captain and he nodded, knowing that they were going to let your team win and not put up a fight when you went to score goals.

***

"Hey, Halstead!" Logans yelled to Jay once he had dropped you off to your room for lunch...and a bath seeing how dirty you had gotten playing soccer in the sand.

Jay turned and raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected to see Logans right now. But, he didn't mind. The two had grown close just because they had to go on missions together.

"Few of us are going into Seville, wanna tag along?" Chad Logans finished.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Mind if Emilia comes too? You know, for translation purposes."

"Yeah, for translation purposes," Logans mocked.

Jay laughed. "Dude, you've got it all wrong. We went to high school together and one time we got dared to kiss each other, and it was like I was kissing my sister."

"Talkin' about me, Halstead?" Emilia asked, sneaking up behind him.

"Jesus Christ!" Jay jumped. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Aw, the man who plays with big guns is scared of a little translator. I'm honored."

"Shut up," Jay retorted, rolling his eyes. "So, assuming you didn't hear the first half of our conversation, you wanna head into Seville? Apparently, there's a bit more room on the truck."

"Sure, why not. I'm off for the rest of the day anyway."

"Good, because we're getting Y/N's necklace fixed and I need you to translate."

"And make sure you don't get ripped off."

"That too."

***

"What about this one?" Jay asked Emilia, holding up a silver chain.

"Jay, I know you're a man, but Jesus, I thought you were smarter than this!"

"What? What did I do wrong?"

"Take out the locket and look closely at it along with the chain. Go."

Jay pulled the locket out of one of the many pockets of his pants and held it next to the chain. "So? One's silver and one's gold."

"Exactly. You can't have a silver chain go with a gold locket. We need to find a gold chain. C'mon, put it back and we'll keep looking."

"Women," Jay scoffed.

"I can almost guarantee if you said that to Hailey that she'd have your balls in a blender so fast, Halstead."

"It's why I married her. Strong, independent, beautiful, and not to mention she's the one who calls me out on my shit almost daily."

"As she should."

"You should come around more often when we're both Stateside again. I think you and Hailey would get along really well. Also, you can see Will."

"Would you stop trying to set me up with your brother? He's not my type, we've been through this, many, many times actually."

"But, if I remember correctly, you do have a thing for doctors."

"It was my freshman year of college and he was a med student. Don't blame me for liking guys who are a few years older than me. They're more mature for one."

"Will's older than me," Jay pointed out.

"If he's anything like you then, he sure as hell ain't mature."

"That hurt, Emilia, that really did."

"Shut up. Now, let's keep looking, we only have a limited amount of time here in the city."

The two friends continued to walk through the cobblestone streets of Seville and look at all the small booths. Jay had bought some hard candy, despite Emilia telling him that he should save his money for the chain. To which he replied by saying that he had more than enough money and that Emilia was here to make sure that he didn't get ripped off after all.

"You're not gonna eat your candy, Halstead?" Emilia asked.

"They're not for me. They're for Y/N."

"I should've known when you got the bear-shaped ones and got a mix of flavors. I know you don't like grape-flavored stuff."

"Who does? It's gross! Tastes like medicine."

"I like it!"

"Of course you do, if my memory serves me correctly, the day we took the ACTs junior year, you came to school high on that nasty grape cough syrup."

"I was not going to reschedule that test and put myself through that panic again. So, yes, I came to school when I probably shouldn't have. But, I was not high!"

"Whatever you say."

"I still scored higher than you. There was no I would've been able to do that if I was high...or maybe there was. You weren't the brightest crayon in the box back in high school."

"Crayon in the box? What are you? Five?"

"Yes, now c'mon, let's keep looking for that chain before that candy ends up melting into a big ball of multi-colored goo."

***

"What about this one?" Jay asked, holding up a gold chain.

"You know, that one might work. Just let me talk to the seller for a second to see if we can slip the charm on it to see if it looks good and if it fits."

"Go for it. That's why I brought you, isn't it?"

"Shut up."

Emilia started to talk to the woman who ran the small jewelry booth and asked her if they could slip the locket on the chain to see if it fit. At least, that's what Jay assumed they were talking about...he barely spoke Spanish save for a few key words and phrases.

"What do you think?" Emilia asked as she held up the chain with the locket on it. "I think it looks good."

Jay looked at it. The chain was definitely cleaner than the locket. The locket had some dirt and grime stuck in its little crevices, but he figured once it got cleaned the colors would probably match up nicely. He figured that you'd just be excited to get your necklace back, no matter whether or not the gold from the chain and the gold from the locket matched perfectly.

"Me too," Jay agreed. "Just tell me how much it is."

She spoke to the shop owner one more time and then told Jay how much it was and he paid for the chain.

"Do you think she'll like it?" Jay asked as they continued their walk through the town.

"Jay, stop second-guessing yourself. She'll love it. Where's all this coming from? I know kid cases used to hit you hard, even when you worked for the police back in Chicago, but I've never seen something like this hit you this hard."

"You know I did two tours before this, right?"

"We've been best friends since high school, kind of hard to forget something as big as that."

"Right, sorry. Uh, on my last tour, there was this- there was this eight-year-old girl. She uh, she had a beautiful face, dark skin. My nine--the bullet from my gun--it went through a combatant and then through a doorway."

"Jay, you don't have to justify this. If it brings you back there, I don't--"

"No, it's okay. You deserve an explanation." He was quiet for a moment. "Anyway, the bullet went through the doorway, and then it uh, it ripped open her neck." He closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself not to cry. "She didn't die right away though. I sat there, with her. I held her hand, told her that she wasn't alone. Sometimes, I still have nightmares about it."

"So, when you saw Y/N, you thought that you could save her because you didn't save that little girl?"

"Exactly. What makes it worse is that she's the same age as that girl was when I, when I--"

"Jay, you didn't shoot her. You had no intention of shooting her. It was an accident. I know I can't erase what happened, but it was not your fault."

They walked in silence after that, neither knowing what to say.

"What do you think about me bringing Y/N home with me when I leave?" Jay asked after they walked in silence for ten minutes, just looking at other booths.

"Like adopting her?"

"When you put it like that, yeah I guess."

"I think that you and Hailey share one brain."

"What do you mean?"

"Hailey asked me the same thing. And before you ask how I talked to her, remember that I work with computers, Jay. And, Mouse knows how to hack said computers."

"So, you called her?"

"Precisely."

"And what'd you two talk about?"

"The usual, how you were doing, how she was doing. She also said that she hasn't seen you this happy on base in a long time. She wants the same thing you do, Jay. Even though she's only seen it through one video call, she knows how good you are with Y/N and understands how much it will break her when you have to leave."

"So, she wants to adopt Y/N, too?"

"Yes, dummy! But, you guys need to have a conversation about that because I don't think I was supposed to tell you."

"You think it could happen? Us adopting her even though I'm in a different country right now?"

"I'm sure there have been other scenarios like this one before. But, you'll have to talk to Hailey about this, because she probably has some connections who can work with you Stateside on this because of you two being Chicago cops and all that. But hey, if it does somehow work out, you and Hailey seem like you'd make great parents."

***

Jay and Emilia barely made it back into Base before their names were being called.

"Halstead! Diaz! We need you to Med Station now!"

The minute Jay heard Med Station mentioned, he took off running.

"What's going on?" he asked the nurse who stood in front of your room.

"Did she go outside today?" she asked.

"Yes, we played soccer. Why is she screaming? What's wrong?"

"She was bitten by a tick and has what we call tick paralysis. Even though we got a translator in there to explain what was going on, she won't let us remove it. And, we need to give her some antibiotics as well, which requires an IV and she won't let us do that either. She just kept asking for you."

"You want me to get that tick off of her and plunge that needle into her? No way!"

"Jay," Emilia started, "it might be the only way to stop the paralysis and to get her to calm down. She trusts you. I know it's gonna suck because you're scared of needles, but you have to do it."

"Can't you do it? Please Em."

"She's asking for you."

Jay sighed. "All I have to do is get the tick off and then push the meds?"

"Yes, that's all."

"Okay."

He entered your room and to say that you were distraught would be an absolute understatement. You had tears running down your face at an alarmingly fast rate and your cries had reduced to panicked whimpers. You were staring at your legs, willing them to move, but they just wouldn't.

"Hey cariña," Jay said gently.

"J-Jay?" you asked, looking at him.

Jay crouched down next you and took your little hand in his. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Is it okay if I help you feel better?"

"How? I no want an aguja," you whined.

Jay looked to Emilia. "Needle," she translated.

"Y/N, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. I don't like agujas either. But, they have special medicine in them that make you feel better. And, once I get the insect off of you and give the medicine, you'll feel all better."

"You promise?"

"I promise. And, I have a surprise for you, too."

"You do?"

"I do. But you have to let me give you the medicine and then you can get it, okay?"

"Okay."

"Can someone get me some gloves?" he asked.

A nurse came back with a pair of blue surgical gloves for him. "Would you like some help with this?" she asked him.

Yes, Jay had seen needles inserted into IV lines dozens of times, but he's never actually done it. "Please," he answered.

The nurse helped guide Jay's hand to where he was supposed to put the needle into, but you were intently watching his every move.

"Miras otro lado, cariña," Emilia said and you proceeded to look at the wall on the other side of you instead of looking at Jay putting the needle in.

"3...2..." Before he got to one, he pushed, causing you to let out a small whimper that absolutely broke his heart.

"She should be out soon," the nurse said. "And then we can remove the tick and she'll be back to normal in no time. Good work, Halstead."

"Thank you ma'am."

Jay was about to leave, when he remembered something. "Where was the tick?"

"It was on her foot."

"Because she didn't have shoes on when we were playing soccer earlier," Jay stated as he put the pieces together, once a detective, always a detective.

"You can't blame yourself. You didn't know there'd be a tick."

"Jay," Mouse said as he entered the room. "Hailey's on the phone for you."

He looked at Emilia. "Promise to come get me when she wakes up?"

"I promise."

***

"Hey, Hails."

"Hey, Jay. What's wrong?" she asked, immediately concerned at how down Jay looked.

"It's just that, me and Y/N went outside and played soccer today, and then I got back from going to Seville with Emilia to get stuff to fix her necklace, and then she got bit by a tick. She had tick paralysis. She couldn't move her legs, Hailey. She was so scared. I had to push the needle into her and I felt so bad because I know it hurt her."

"Oh, honey. It's okay. She's gonna be okay and she'll love you for fixing her necklace that she won't even remember how much that needle hurt."

"Thanks, but that doesn't make me feel any better. I was the one who hurt her."

"No, you made her feel better. Without that medication, she probably would've stayed paralyzed. Don't beat yourself up here Jay, you're trying your best."

"But what if I'm not?"

"Jay, listen to me. That little girl loves you. You're the happiest I've ever seen you when you're with her and when you're talking about her."

"Emilia told me you'd say that."

"Because it's true. Wait, what else did she tell you?"

"Hey, don't be mad at her, but I like the idea of adopting Y/N, too."

"Really? You don't think it's too sudden or that it's the wrong choice?"

"Not at all. I think it's the right choice, actually. They were gonna send her to another orphanage in a month anyway, so if we can get everything set up somehow and get the paperwork in order, I think it would work," Jay answered.

"I'm pretty sure Voight has some contacts at DCFS who know how these types of international adoptions work. I'll reach out."

"Awesome. Think you could convince Ruz to help you paint the guest room purple?"

"For Y/N's bedroom? You're getting way too ahead of yourself, soldier. Let's just get the paperwork sorted first."

Jay talked to Hailey for a few more minutes and then started to walk back to his barracks to change and have a shower. After being out in the heat of Seville in the middle of the day, it was very much needed. But, he stopped when he saw Captain Smith approaching him.

"Halstead."

"Captain," Jay said and then stood at attention.

"At ease. I heard you did a good thing to help Y/N with that tick paralysis scare she had a bit ago. You really care about her, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"About that change in position you asked me about earlier, after seeing how good you were with her, I think I can take you up on that. That is if you're still okay with it."

"I am. Where am I needed, sir?"

"Report to the kitchens at 0500."

"Thank you, sir."

***

Jay was almost asleep in the very uncomfortable chair in your hospital room when he heard your soft whimpers. You hadn't woken up yet after being given the antibiotics and the sedative, but it was nighttime and Jay didn't want you to wake up and he not be there, since it was dark. He didn't want to you wake up and be scared all alone.

"Y/N, cariña, what's wrong?" He turned pulled his flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on to be met with your tear-stained face.

"I-I scared."

Jay moved his chair to be closer to you. "Why are you scared, cariña? Maybe talking about it will help?"

"I scared of not feeling my legs. What if happens again?"

"Oh, cariña. The reason that happened is that an insect got on your leg. But, the doctors took it away so it can't bite you and hurt you again."

"You sure?"

"I am very sure. Now, I don't know if you remember, but I told you I had something for you before I gave you that medicine earlier. Do you remember that?"

"A little bit."

Jay reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the necklace. He had locked the candy in his trunk back in his barracks so that his body heat wouldn't melt it and so that no one would steal it.

"I told you I'd fix it," he said as he held up the necklace, the locket spinning in small circles.

"You did it! You did it! Thank you, Jay!"

"You're welcome. want me to put it on you?"

"Por favor."

Jay unclasped the necklace and carefully put it on you and then secured the clasp. The minute it was on, you opened the locket and looked at the two pictures in there, you looked at your mom and dad, at your mami and papi.

"Is that your mommy and daddy?" Jay asked carefully.

"Yes, my mami and papi," you answered, still looking down at their pictures. "I miss them."

"I miss my mommy and daddy, too," Jay answered.

"Your mami and papi in America? They see you when you come back?"

"No. Actually, uh..." God, he really hoped you knew the word dead in English because he didn't feel like trying to explain it to you. "They died. I don't have a mommy and daddy either."

"You do not?"

"I do not. But, I know they still love me. And I know yours still love you."

"Because they are always in my corazón." You pointed to your heart, your actual heart, not the locket.

"Yes, they will always be in your heart, that's right."

"When I couldn't sleep, my mami or my papi would lay next to me and tell me a story. Will you do that, Jay?"

"You want me to lay next to you?"

"Yes, please," you said. Jay started to get on your bed, but you stopped him. "No!" He abruptly froze. "You have to take your shoes off. Mami always said no shoes on the bed."

"You know what? You're right! How could I forget that? My mommy always told me the same thing."

Jay removed his heavy boots and then got into bed next to you. You immediately laid your head against his chest, just like you had done when your mami or papi was in your bed about to tell you a bedtime story, which shocked Jay.

"Okay, cariña, what kind of story do you want?"

"How you meet Hailey?"

"How'd I meet Hailey?" You nodded excitedly. "Well, I was policia in Chicago and so was she, but we didn't work together."

"Why not?"

"We were in different units."

"Like how you a sold--" you furrowed your eyebrows as you tried to remember the word in English, "--soldier and how Emilia es intérprete, like how she speaks English and Spanish?"

Jay assumed that intérprete meant translator, so he nodded. "That's exactly right! You're so smart! Me and Hailey were in different units, so we didn't work together. But, one day, my unit got called to a robbery. Do you know what a robbery is?"

"Where they take something that isn't theirs and they do not pay for it."

"That's right. Hailey got called to that and tried to take it away from me, but we had to work together."

"You no like her at first?"

Jay chuckled because no, he did not like her at first. But, he had to admit, her commanding the attention of everyone in that bank, well that was hot, it was really hot. "No, I didn't. But, then I saw how good of a person she was and we got really close."

"Like you and Emilia?"

"Kind of. But, we met in school. And, we don't kiss."

"Just amigos."

"Just amigos," Jay confirmed.

"Then what happened? With you and Hailey?"

"It took me a while to actually kiss her," he admitted.

"How long?"

"Almost four years."

"That's a long time! Why it take you so long?"

"Because I was scared."

"But you big and strong. You no get scared. Only kids like me get scared."

"That's not true. Adults get scared, too." You cocked your head to the side. "Oh yeah, adults get scared, too."

"When are you scared?"

"I was scared earlier when I had to put that needle in your arm to make you feel better."

"But why? You didn't have it go in your skin. It didn't hurt you."

"I was scared I was going to hurt you. I didn't want you to not like me because I had to poke you with a needle because I don't like them either."

"So you scared of n-needles, too?"

"Oh yeah. When I was little and had to go to the doctor's, my mom would always have to give me ice cream to make me get needles in my skin."

"Like how you promised me the necklace?"

"Exactly."

"You tell me another story?"

"What do you want to hear?"

"How you meet Emilia?"

"Oh, now this, this is a good story. When I was a little older than you, probably twelve, I was at the park with my big brother, Will, and we were playing soccer. Emilia came up and she wanted to play, too. I told her that she couldn't because she was a girl. I know, mean right? Then, Will told me that she could play and that I was being mean and she beat me at soccer. She played so much better than me..."

He looked down to see if you were paying attention or if you were confused because he hadn't stopped to check for your comprehension, but he was met with the cutest sight in the world that made his heart swell out of his chest. You, were asleep on his chest, one hand gripping your locket and the other holding his army green t-shirt in your little fist.

***

"Hey lunch lady, how's it going in there?" Emilia asked as she held your hand and you two made your way into the cafeteria a few days later.

"Technically, it's breakfast and I'm a man, so it's breakfast man to you."

"Fine. How's it going in there, breakfast man?"

"It's fine. But good god, if I thought the barracks required a lot of cleaning, this place requires a fu--"

"Jay! Little ears!"

"--A lot. This place requires a lot more cleaning than the barracks."

"So, what's on the menu today?" Mouse asked.

"Same old, same old." Jay shrugged. "Oatmeal, eggs, and sausage."

"And coffee."

"That too, obviously."

"I want that bowl of oatmeal," Mouse stated as he tried to reach for it, but Jay pulled it back towards him.

"Nuh-uh. Get your grubby hands away from this. This is for Y/N."

He handed the bowl to Emilia who passed it to you. "It's got bananas in it!" you exclaimed excitedly. "But, what's this stuff?"

"Mantequilla de cacahuete," Emilia aswered you in your first language. "How did you get ahold of extra peanut butter, Halstead?"

"A chef never reveals his secrets. Now get outta here. You're holding up my line."

"Don't forget about the call with Hailey today," Emilia reminded him.

"I can't ever forget about those. But for this, I'm counting down the minutes."

***

"Hey Hails," Jay greeted as he answered his video call with his wife. "Is everything alright? You missed the call last time."

"I know, I'm really sorry. I was just trying to get all this paperwork in order and I had to find all your information and had to get references and-- I'm sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Hails, it's fine. I'd listen to you ramble all day when I'm out here. I just love to hear your voice."

"You're so whipped, Halstead."

"As are you, Mrs. Halstead."

"I love it when you call me that."

"Mrs. Halstead, do you have any update about the Y/N situation? I didn't mention anything to her yet because I didn't want to get her hopes up."

"Actually, that's the main reason I'm calling you...and because our calls are scheduled. But, everything's in order. I just finished the home inspection literally five minutes ago."

"So that's why the house is so clean."

"Shut up. Anyway, everything's in order. She just needs to get a few documents in order, which Emilia is helping me with since we need Y/N's picture. She also got me in touch with your captain and he reached out to someone he knows who works in some office or something for foreign-born orphans near where you guys are to get a passport for Y/N. They'll just need to interview you a few days after you get home, but they said unless you're not the person you say you are, that we should be able to keep Y/N."

"You're serious?"

"100%."

"Shit, Hails, this is- this is amazing. I love you, you know that? We're gonna have a daughter."

"It's amazing isn't it?"

Jay's eyes began to tear up. "Yeah, it is. And to think, if I would've just glanced over that teddy bear like it was nothing, then she wouldn't be coming with home me, home to us. I know I haven't even known her for three weeks yet, but I just want to do everything in my power to keep her safe, to make her feel loved."

"That's what a dad's supposed to do."

That's what a dad's supposed to do.

"I'm gonna be a dad," Jay realized. "And you're gonna be a mom. What if I'm no good at this, Hailey? What if I mess up like my dad did? What if--"

"Jay, listen to me. You are going to be a great father to that little girl. You know how I know that? Because you're not even her dad yet and that girl loves you. She loves you, Jay. She loves you so much."

"And I know she's going to love too, Hailey Halstead." The phone binged, telling him that he had only one more minute to talk to his wife. "You're going to be a great mom, Hails. Now, I have to go tell Y/N the good news. I have to go tell our kid the good news."

***

Emilia was sitting in front of you on your bed and your tongue was slightly hanging out of your mouth in concentration as you focused on braiding her hair. "Emilia teaching you how to braid, cariña?" Jay asked.

"Yeah! I know a little before, but she helping me."

"That's good. Maybe you can braid Hailey's hair at home."

If you weren't holding Emilia's hair, she would've whipped around to face Jay. She knew what that sentence meant.

"Are you almost done, Y/N? I think Jay needs to tell you something," Emilia said.

"Are you leaving?" you asked, turning towards him and letting go of Emilia's hair altogether. Whenever people said that they had to tell you something, it was almost always bad news. "I do not want you to leave! Please stay!"

You jumped off the bed and grabbed onto Jay.

He crouched down to your height. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm not leaving you, I promise."

"Jay, let me take it from here, okay? It might be better if I explain it to her in her first language."

"No, I should do it. You're not gonna be with me all the time back in Chicago. I'm gonna need to stop relying on you at some point."

"Okay, but I'll stay here in case she gets confused."

"Y/N, do you know what adoption is?"

"¿Cómo adopción?" you asked. The word sounded similar in both languages, so you hoped you and Jay were talking about the same thing.

Jay looked to Emilia and she nodded. "Adopción, sí," Jay confirmed. "Me and Hailey talked and we want to adopt you. Do you want that? To come home with me when I leave and live with me and Hailey?"

"You be my mami and papi?"

Jay knew that he was going to have to answer this question eventually, but he didn't want you to feel like he and Hailey were replacing your real mom and dad. "Um, yeah, we would. But, you don't have to call us that," he added quickly. "You can call us Jay and Hailey if you want. We don't want to take the place of your parents because they're very special to you."

"And they always be in my heart?"

"That's right, they'll always be in your heart."

"But, you and Hailey be my parents in real life and not just in my heart and I go to Chicago with you and see the snow?"

"That's right. If you want--"

You hugged him, which took him off guard, but he wrapped his arms around you and held you close.

"Thank you, te quiero."

Emilia put a hand to her mouth and held back tears after you said that.

"What? What did she say?" Jay asked anxiously.

"Jay, she said she loves you."

And, before Jay started to cry, he barely choked out, "Me, too. Te quiero, cariña."

***

The flight from Spain to Chicago went surprisingly well for you and Jay. The flight was late at night because, before finding you, he had hoped he'd be able to sleep on the flight home. But, you had never been on a plane before, so during the entire plane ride, Jay stayed awake just in case you got scared or your ears popped and started to hurt.

Jay had saved the hard candies that were shaped like little bears for the plane ride and you both ate them. He told you that they were all for you, but you insisted on sharing them. But, whenever he'd get a grape-flavored one, he'd hand it to you since he hated that flavor. You didn't like the lime ones very much, so you gave him those ones. But, both of you had the same favorite flavor: strawberry.

During the flight, you ate candy and Jay showed you all the places in Chicago that he would take you to from the flight magazines. He showed you Navy Pier, the Bean, the Chicago theater, Gino's East, Miracle Mile, and all the other things in those touristy magazines. You had never gone on a Ferris wheel before, but from the picture in the magazine about the one on Navy Pier and from Jay's description, it sounded super fun!

The fasten seatbelt sign came on as you were starting to descend into Midway airport. Despite all the bad memories he had here with Keyes kidnapping him all those years ago before he reenlisted, and before he even met Hailey, he knew that this new happy memory, of bringing you home, would outweigh that horrible memory.

He looked over to make sure that you had your seatbelt on and snapped a picture of your sleeping form. You were using Osito as a pillow and had a blanket messily draped over you, and one hand lazily rest on Jay.

Luckily for Jay, you didn't wake up when he maneuvered himself to be able to put his seatbelt on. But, the minute you hit the runaway, your eyes shot open.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Jay reassured you. "We're just getting on the ground again."

You grabbed the hem of his shirt and squeezed a little bit until the bumpiness died down and you came to a slow roll at the end of the runway.

"We here? In Chicago?" you asked.

"We are. Welcome home, cariña."

A/N: This has sat in my drafts for a longggg time. But, I got inspired today and ended up writing 5k words to finish it up. I'm thinking of writing a part 2 to this when the reader is in her teen years. What do you think? Side note, daddy! Jay and big brother! Jay are my two favorite Jays if you couldn't already tell! Please reblog/like and comment and tell me what you think! Also, if you want to be added to my taglist, just comment and I’ll add you!

taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox

#jay halstead #chicago pd #jay halstead imagine #ranger! jay #fanfiction #chicago pd imagine #chicago pd fanfiction #imagine #writer #writing

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fkingsteverogers · 3 years

Text

Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince

I don’t know what the fuck this is, but here it is.

How to court a girl in the 21st century

What is a tinder?

Do men and women still go steady?

What to do when you sleep with your best friend’s widow?

Google, or whatever the fuck it was called, had been exactly no help in figuring what the fuck to do about sleeping with you. Had that been considered sleeping together? As Bucky remembered it, when he allowed himself to think about it, sleeping together had involved a lot more than you rocking on his lap, looking like heaven come down to meet him. After, you’d looked up at him with those big eyes and he’d have given you just about anything. If you’d asked for the moon, he would’ve personally delivered it to you no questions asked.

You hadn’t asked for the moon, you hadn’t asked for anything. You’d grinned shyly and disappeared into your bedroom. In the past, he would’ve followed, would’ve shown you exactly what making love with him was like. Instead he just watches you go, painfully hard. He corners you the next day, pinning you against the counter and kissing you like a man starved of oxygen taking his first full breath.

“‘M gonna court you, make you mine.”

It’s a promise, the way he says it. He’s promising you he’s going to court you, promising that you’re going to be his. You want to believe him. (He wants to believe himself.)

Sam is no help, he suggests Google then refuses to help Bucky figure out how to use Google. It’s the guard at the front door, a pretty young woman with blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun, that finally helps him out. He’s shocked to find an article from Cosmopolitan. His mom and aunties used to read it religiously. It’s comforting when he finds things that remind him of his past. So many things are gone, lost to time. The alley where he and Steve met in is now a road. The building where he enlisted, demolished. It’s a special kind of yearning, one he can’t share with anyone else now that Steve is gone.

A little voice in his head tells him that maybe he could share it with you, you who understands what it’s like to be with someone who was yanked out of time. But being with Steve and being with him are completely different. Steve was good, Steve didn’t have blood on his hands. His thoughts spiral until he’s forced to go for a run, sprinting until all he can feel is the ache in his lungs and all thoughts have dissolved into the rhythm of running.

It’s a nice evening, the flowers in front of the safe house (who tended to those?) are blooming, filling the air with a sweet, floral scent that reminds him of the spring before he shipped off. It’s a brutally hot summer, a brutally hot evening, too hot for the fifty fans in the house to cool anyone off. In their infinite wisdom, the geniuses at the State Department had decided on a safe house without air conditioning. Someone with more than two brain cells had thought to provide an inflatable pool to at least pretend to cool off in.

It’s not unusual to see you relaxing in the pool in the evenings, drink in hand. It’d become part of your nightly routine to relax in an attempt to get cool enough to get some sleep so he’s not surprised when he first sees you outside. But when he really gets a look at you, his brain short circuits. There’s a white noise buzzing in his ears and if someone had asked him his name at that moment, he probably would have said Steve Rogers. You’re relaxing in the pool topless, your breasts on display. If he’d known you were topless, Bucky would’ve turned and walked back to New York, probably further. His mother had done her best to teach him manners. Those manners did not include spying on pretty women who were bathing topless. Bucky wants to look away, knows he should look away, but he can’t. His eyes are glued to you. He’d seen tits before, had even held them and worshipped them.

None were as beautiful as yours, bathed in the glow of the soft evening pinks.

Your face is utterly relaxed, upturned towards the sky to catch the last rays of the dying light. You’re prettiest like this, looking so relaxed. You deserve to be this relaxed all the time, to never have to worry about assholes like John Walker.

You open an eye, probably feeling his staring, and shatter the moment. You start, your tits bouncing a little in the water before sinking down in an attempt to cover yourself. There isn’t enough water to cover anything, mortifying you both.

“I’ll...I should…” Bucky turns and motions towards the house, a blush creeping up his cheeks. He’ll go back inside and you’ll never talk about this. You’ll never mention that he saw you topless in the yard and the awkward tension will continue until one of you dies. Probably you, Bucky was too stubborn to die. Instead, you stand, revealing everything to him.

“You don’t have to go, James.”

His head whips around when you call him James. It sounds pretty on your lips, makes him feel like a different person, like he isn’t the piece of shit he is. It makes him think about the last time you’d called him James. “I really do. I don’t think…” You’re walking towards him, still wet from your time in the pool. (That weird static noise is back in his brain, is he having a stroke? Can super soldiers have a stroke? He is 104.) You’re standing in front of him now and he’s aching to reach out and touch your skin. It’s probably soft and smooth, beautiful just like you. Images of you in his bed, your back arched in pleasure flash through his mind. He remembers how pretty you looked when you were rocking on his thigh, taking your pleasure.

Bucky wants more than anything to reach out and touch you, to pull you flush against his chest and kiss the living daylights out of you. That’s what he would’ve done before, before he went to war and everything changed. But he’s trying to be better, to actually court you instead of just take you into his bed. Instead, he hands you the towel on the lounge chair so you can cover yourself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you, my bad.”

Things are awkward for a few days after. Sam laughs like the asshole he is when he hears the story. “Man, you just gave her a towel and left? You’ve got no game!” Torres defends him, says it was the sweet thing to do. You avoid him.

Before he can figure out how to make it up, you’re released back to your homes. Sam goes back to Louisiana, Torres is needed back on the base, and you disappear back to your life. Bucky goes home and tries to figure out how he’s supposed to woo you. He settles on flowers. Women like flowers.

You’re elbow deep in paperwork when Bucky shows up with flowers. You welcome him into the apartment, invite him to eat dinner with you. It’s a quiet moment when you start talking about you and Steve.

“He was late to our wedding, did you know that? He got sidetracked helping someone and it made him late. I thought he stood me up. Then he showed up and we got married and...I suppose you know that rest.”

You look destroyed as you take another sip of your drink. Bucky wants to pull you into his chest and make sure you never cry again. He wants to take care of you. He wants to punch Steve for ever making you feel like this.

“I’m not even mad he left anymore, I just wish he would’ve told me. I could’ve understood it if he had just told me about it. I came home to a note. A fucking note.” You sniffle angrily and stand abruptly. “No sense crying, ‘m gonna clean up.” Bucky stands as you do, almost overturning the table. Suddenly, he feels too large and too awkward to comfort you. He’s nothing like Steve, the husband you still missed. Steve would know exactly what to do right now.

“I’m sor--”

You turn on him before he can even get the words out, eyes blazing. You’re suddenly angry and it makes you look beautiful. “For fuck’s sake, Bucky! Don’t! I’m so fucking sick of talking about Steve and everyone apologizing! Everyone looks at me like I’m some broken woman because Steve left. I’m not broken, he didn’t break me! Then you showed up and and it finally felt like there would be someone there for me! But you left, just like he did! One moment we’re practically sleeping together and the next, you’re blowing me off. Pick one, Bucky!”

You stare at each other, both surprised by your outburst.

“I didn’t leave--” You open your mouth to protest and he holds up a hand, stopping you. “Let me finish. I didn’t leave because I wanted to or I didn’t like you. I got nervous. I haven’t done this in--it’s been awhile. And you’re so beautiful, I didn’t know what to do. I still don’t know what to do. You’re so good, and I’m not.” You surge forward at his lame finish, cupping his face in your hands. His stubble scratches against your palm as you gaze into his eyes. “Don’t say that, James. You’re one of the best people I know. You’re good. The things they made your body do are not things you did. I love you, James.”

Your words hang in the air between you. You want to grab them out of the air and take them back. You want to unsay them.

“You can’t love me. Loving me is dangerous.”

“I think I should be able to make that choice for myself.”

He gives you a long, hard look. Finally, he relents, sighs, and pulls you into his chest. “God help us.”

#Sara writes #ls!reader #tfatws x reader #tfatws imagine #marvel imagine #marvel x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #I kinda hate thisssss #but um I just want to be done with the awkward

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miss-kittys-magical-library · 3 years

Text

In The Air Tonight

From The MoonBrella Academy

Word Count: 2300

Warnings: sex (penatrative, m/f), erotic asphyxiation, death, angst, PTSD, mentions of war, magic, general Klaus-induced chaos. GIF by @sheehanspam

A/N: During the summer of 1974, The Kostas family feels more than the oppressive weight heat. A true prophecy warns them something is on the horizon. Something that will set the course for the rest of their lives all thanks to the man out of time and a baby they promised to raise.

Honey found her balance after straddling Leon. Her hips rolled in a steady rhythm of back and forth. Her husband reached up to caress her breasts. She seized his wrists so tight, her manicured nails dug into her own palms.

Leon, switching gears, grabbed at them roughly instead. He pinched one of Honey’s nipples swollen then the other. They were lost perfectly in his grip as he massaged them, played with them as Honey rode him. He growled and she cried out before moving his hand towards her mouth to suck and bite at Leon's finger and thumb.

They were like a couple possessed. There was something in the air like static. Manhattan was the hottest Honey had known it to be. Everyone drifted slowly and drenched in sweat on the streets and in her apartment. It had been quiet during the worst of the heat. Only Diego and Klaus dained to still visit.

Earlier in the evening, up on the roof with their feet solidly in a wading pool, Leon and Honey sensed Klaus was uneasy about everything. He complained that the temperatures and the electricity in the air was suffocating him. Making his skin crawl as he stripped to his underwear. Everyone was in stages of undress, even the littles were naked and Honey topless.

“It's like Vietnam. The humidity is cellular. I feel strange and twisted.”

“Murderous, but fancy a good shag?” Leon’s query settled across the roof. “Like you could kill who you..” he mouthed fuck.

Two sets of verdant eyes gawked at Honey who suddenly sat up and covered her breasts. “Knock it off, the both of you. You're creeping me out.”

Somehow they made it through dinner and bedtime and MASH and Carol Burnett before Leon threw Honey over his shoulder. She squealed and mimicked trying to escape, but it only spurned Leon into grabbing a fistful of her ass. He maneuvered her around so she could wrap her arms and legs around him while they lumbered and kissed and undressed towards the bedrooms.

“Shhh,” Honey admonished with a strangled laugh. She pointed at the doorway to Sugar and Sunny’s room.

Klaus had passed out on the floor between the tiny beds, his head in his arms on his stomach. Sunny half poured out of the bed with a hand on his.. uncle? Brother? Klaus’s head, little fingers tangled up as he sucked on his free thumb.

Now here they were maybe hours later, insatiable. The air was stifling and had a magnetic crackle that raised the hair on their bodies as they kept having sex. Honey pushed it out of her mind that metal objects were slowly shifting in one direction as she placed Leon's hand around her throat. Her body rocked up and down faster.

There was a blue tinge to the sky and lightning. Heat lightning Leon insisted. It set Klaus on edge with the kids playing around him. He and Sunny tested out telekinesis while Selina danced to David Bowie. Her dark eyes were covered by Klaus’s literal rose colored glasses. He kept zoning out. Like he was waiting, waiting for the consequences of all of his actions.

“Tio Topolino, watch me!” Selina spun with her arms up in the air. Uncle Mouse. Klaus had been too hard to say before she learned her parents’ native tongues.

“Something is coming, Gracie.”

“Why would you say that, Leonidas?”

They were whispering in Greek. The littles weren't quite ready for Greek yet, but Klaus was born fluent. So they spoke in hushed tones on the fire escape.

“Doesn't it feel that way? The last few Weeks. Klaus usually leaves after a day. He's been here for nearly two months. There's bound to be repercussions, right?”

“Not much happened that he's said, or we read, as the result of Vietnam or 1960-1963.”

Leon rolled his eyes at his wife and made a tsk sound, “Just a bloody apocalypse or two. That Dickensian fuck who raised him got a whole new legion off it. Klaus talked you into having our baby. Then into taking another baby he stole. Skip a stone on a pond, and it makes ripples, don’t it?”

Honey hated when her husband was right. And her vagina loved how smart he was. She had looked in the window in time to see Sunny stand and toddle towards Klaus. His eyes glossed over and lost their irises. It was as if he had gone blind.

The parents scrambled through the window towards their son, but Klaus had him by the tiny hands. Sunny's pudgy fingers curled around his.. The larger ones for stability.

“Sunny?!” Selina shook her baby brother lightly.

“Klaus what the fuck? HELP HI-!” Honey yelled but Leon clamped a hand over her mouth.

“He’ll be ok,” Klaus sort of cooed. His voice was low and gentle. “I remember these. It happened so much when I was a kid. It's the innocence I think. I lost this ability because of Reginald.”

“He's in a trance, love. Like in all those movies with seances where the medium goes wonky, and they've got a message from the other side.” .

Everyone held their breath. Then a delighted shout came from the boy. “BIRB!! BEN!!” Then his eyes came back into focus; he threw his arms around Klaus’s neck. As if that was what he planned the entire time.

“Ben?!” Two men with the same face asked simultaneously. “That's my brother.”

“That was your brother’s name?” Klaus spoke first. “Maybe that's where I got it. When Mom asked us to choose our names based on our birth countries, I thought Germany was mine. My brother was Korean, but he couldn't settle on a name. Ben came to my mind. It felt.. familiar.”

Leon walked over to his kids and his twin, or clone, or whatever Klaus was, and picked Sunny up. The toddler stuck his thumb in his mouth and flexed and unflexed his little chubby fingers in his daddy’s long curls.

The matching mess of hair covered Leon's neck and chin as Sunny laid his tiny head down on the elder’s shoulder. The little yawned as his hand now absently stroked Leon's goatee.

“He died in Cyprus. He fought for Britain against our own people. He defected and was killed,” Leon said so casually. “He was 20. I was 16. It was really bloody difficult being an immigrant. A refugee. We left Greece during the Independence War when I was a year old. There's so much death, mate. All around us. I'm just really so sorry you and Nicklaus have to see it up close. I hope here, with Honey and I, they're a bit friendlier.”

Klaus had offered to conjure Leon's brother. His Benjamin. Leon declined. One day, maybe, but 15 years still wasn't enough time. That The Séance had likewise lost his brother in battle at the same age was empathetic enough.

Everyone was a bit melancholy, the air more humid with a spark, Klaus offered to get the littles to bed. Asked if he could crash in their room tonight instead of on the couch. The couple didn't mind.

Really, if Klaus could somehow, they both preferred he just stay here permanently. Honey could keep an eye on him that way. She and Leon knew Klaus had to go back and forth, maintaining his own timeline.

Except the last time he came was two years after he smuggled Sunny to his parents. He promised five minutes. This time it had been over a year. The Kostases were worried the next time he showed up, it would be the 80s. Or they would be old, their kids in their forties.

It was a silent agreement between Leon and Honey that they liked Klaus being around. “But what’s the price WE end up paying?”

Now there they were in the throes of it all. Honey encouraged Leon to tighten his grip around her neck as she scratched at his forearm. Their bodies gyrating in ways they hadn't in years. Not since before Selina. As if they couldn't fuck each other harder or faster.

Honey started to see black spots on the corners of her eyes. She relished in the struggle to breathe. Looking down, the blue tinted midnight sky with its wild lightning reflected back at her through Leon's eyes. He looked deliberate, livid. She knew she looked barking mad to him.

Honey tore at her tits and hair as she felt an orgasm coil around her sex and stomach. She was lightheaded and unable to scream out like always. She began to laugh as best she could like a woman possessed. Rode Leon through his explosion inside of her. She mentally willed it to get her pregnant.

Such a strange thing to wish for while Leon was killing her. Except he wasn't really, was he? Honey could feel herself pass out when there was a massive explosion in the sky over Manhattan.

Leon immediately let go of his wife. A blazing white light that blinded both of them filled the bedroom, and a squawking noise sounded from down the hall. Then yelling from Klaus lost somewhere in the present and possibly Vietnam. There was giggling and the patter of feet with more incoherent shouting and swearing from the littles’ room.

The bird noise only grew over the shouting, so Honey covered her ears to drown it all out. Leon looked stunned. Like he had woken from a terrible dream. That little girl laughter. The patter of feet running down the hall. The yelling and squawking all stopped. Cut off, as if the couple had fallen deaf.

“Mummy!” Selina exclaimed delightedly. It would be strange to Honey that her daughter had developed an accent like Leon's. Except that's who she spent most of her days with. Eventually Selina grew out of it, and Little Italy would take over.

“Can we keep him?! Are you and Papa playing?”

Honey knew Selina’s little head would be tilted. Little forehead wrinkled as it gathered between her eyebrows, tiny pink mouth slightly agape. How Honey loved finding more of Leon in her daughter every day.

“Keep what, Poppet?” Leon asked while helping Honey slide off of his lap. They weren't being modest, she just clearly was coming down from an adrenaline rush.

“This!” Selina held something large and black aloft. That squawking sound again.

Her parents froze. Selina held a raven nearly the size of Sunny in front of herself. It blinked its bright ebony eyes a few times, but was rather calm for being squeezed by a 5 year old. It, he. They knew it was a he. There was even affection on his face.

“Blimey love, whatcha got there?” Leon dared to ask. He was more fascinated than scared. The corvid set Honey’s hair on end.

“It’s Ben, Daddy!” Selina made a tsk noise and rolled her eyes. Little female Leon. “Sunny told us he was coming! The sky was filled with blue people, and Topo was scared. And Sunny’s little hands were blue and Topo’s were too and then Sunny started to fly. He's on the inside roof! Is he Mary Poppins?!” Selina could barely breathe, she was so excited.

“Those blue people are sad and Topo saw one and started to cry. That blue people is Dave. Then the bird came,” she held him out again towards her parents, “and he started making noises at all the blue people and they went away except three and Topo won't stop crying and Sunny is giggling. I'm tired. Can I sleep with you?”

As calm as they could muster, Honey and Leon got out of bed and put on clothes. Leon scooped up Selina who held the raven like a baby. Her dad ignored it. They made their way to the second bedroom where a blue light emanated into the hallway.

Like Sugar said, Klaus was on his knees crying into his hands. Sunny bobbed along the ceiling. He pushed off of it and bounced back up. The little boy’s laughter was a creepy juxtaposition to his older self gently weeping on the floor.

Honey knew. Leon knew. The “blue people” were ghosts. All of that static, that violence and heat in the air the last few weeks were the dead. Crackling and surfacing, begging to break through now that TWO mediums were together. It was, they immediately understood, Klaus’s sheer willpower that had held them at bay. But he was vulnerable, lost vigilance. They all broke through at once.

“Fuck me,” Leon managed at one of two soldiers. He was taller than Leon, but no mistaking his best of curls and angular jaw. Honey knew in life he had dark eyes. “Βενιᾱμῑ́ν?” Benjamin?

Dave, the woman knew, had been Klaus’s lover in Vietnam. He died saving Klaus and their regiment on the front line.

Except Honey could tell that wasn't true. The Commission had him killed to fix the timeline. They were different, not governed by violence more like stern warnings. As if parents instead of a dictator ran them now. When would they come to scold her family?

Lost in her worry, Honey didn't see the third man. The melancholic one with a cigarette perched in his fingers. He wore a giant suit jacket and equally large pants. There was a transparent tumbler of whiskey in his other hand.

This one, this ghost opened his mouth. At the same time Klaus sat up, his head cocked. Then he spoke, and a voice Honey hadn't heard in ten years came out.

“Hiya, Gracie.”

Honey began to weep. “Uncle Lenny.” She hid herself away so he wouldn't see the tears.

“Aw c’mon dollface. It's ok. I'm ok. I'm not ruining my life anymore. I do miss the stage. And Kitty. Tell Kitty I love her, will ya? And Honey, my Honey. That Kindergarten hooker. Spiteful bitch. I miss them. Proud of you, Gracie. We gotta go, ok. The three of us got wrapped up in all that jazz. By the way, cute little fuckers ya got there.”

Lenny tipped his head at Honey and Leon. Then he was gone. They were all gone. Everyone left behind in their wake to cry harder. To mourn in disbelief. Then giggling brought them all to.

Sunny floated down enough for Klaus to catch him by the ankle. He held the little boy to his chest, and Sunny patted him on the cheek. His hands weren't glowing anymore as he shoved a thumb in his mouth. Then, delighted, he gave a shout in the direction of the raven:

“BIRB!!”

@neuroticpuppy @nightmonsters @magic-multicolored-miracle @forenschik @super-unpredictable98 @ghouls-buddy @vonkimmeren @messengeronthemoon @frogs--are--bitches @bisexualnathanyoung @elliethesuperfruitlover @070188 @firstpersonnarrator @rob-private @duck-noises @sylvertyger

#robert sheehan #klaus hargreeves #leon x honey #moonwalkers #the umbrella academy #robert sheehan smut #robert sheehan character fics #moonbrella academy #crossover #leon #honey comb

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dr-spencer-reids-queen · 3 years

Text

Riding the Lightning: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Word Count: ~2.1k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill, fluff and angst

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated.

Feedback is gold, and it’s the only currency I take

The couple’s house hasn’t been treated well. It has so much graffiti and damage that the city had to put a chain-link fence around the place to keep trespassers away. However, if more came, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. The place is so badly damaged, you’re shocked it’s still standing. This place holds a lot of memories, and none of them are good.

This used to be a good house--you can see it. Years of ignored care left it in the state it’s in. The outside walls used to be bright white but now are a dirty color. The wood is falling apart at the base of the house. The windows are smashed and shattered, so to keep people out of the house, they board it up haphazardly.

“Jacob's workshop is out the back,” Derek says.

“I don’t know about this place, Derek. I have a really bad feeling,” you say with an uneasy feeling.

Derek leads you onto the property and towards the back. The closer you get to the place where his workshop used to be, the more the uneasy feeling comes back. All that’s left back there is just dirt, but you can clearly see the workshop as if it were standing right now. Everything is perfectly clear as to what used to be here.

“He claimed that Sarah Jean would lure the victims from mall parking lots. She'd invite them to smoke pot in her truck. They'd find Jacob but no pot. They’d bring them here.”

“This is where the workshop stood,” you state, looking around as if it were actually here.

“What do you see?”

“It’s a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. It’s big enough to not warrant concerns from anyone else but small enough to hide away from the street’s view. It looks homey like a guest house, but not too scary to throw off any of the people who passed by the house on a daily basis. There are high cabinets with a ton of tools inside like a mechanic would have. There are some tools hanging on the far wall, a few desks around, and a big bench saw,” you whisper fearfully when you see what’s on it.

Right on the blade is red liquid, and you know it’s blood.

“The blade has a ton of blood on it. He used it to cut up his victims,” you say.

As you get out the last word, you see a mystified version of Jacob standing by the saw with one of his faceless victims on the table. She is squirming, but he cuts her up anyway. Sarah Jean is nowhere to be found, but you have a feeling that she didn’t know he did this to these poor girls. Killing, maybe, but killing them this way, absolutely not. Sarah Jean was a victim herself--and she still is.

“I can’t look at this anymore,” you whisper and look away from the crime scene that’s no longer there.

“We know that Jacob was abused as a child. What about Sarah Jean?” Derek asks.

“Her mother refused to give any testimony in her defense. She never talked to anybody,” you state.

When you look back at Derek, the workshop had disappeared. Your mind is focused on something else, so it doesn’t have the energy to conjure up what was, but instead, focuses on what is.

“Maybe she's willing to talk now. Let's go pay Sarah Jean's mother a visit.”

“Despite what happened, she doesn’t live far. It’s within walking distance.”

“I wonder why she didn’t move halfway around the world.”

“She’s a mother, Derek. A Mother doesn’t abandon her children,” you say with sadness.

“You say that like you know that. Do you have children?”

“No.”

You don’t say anything more on the matter, not like you would if you could. Your past promised to stay in the past, so there is no use in digging up things that have been locked away for almost a decade now. You two quickly head over to Sarah Jean’s mother’s house to see if she’ll talk to you now.

Her house is still standing, but it looks like there is a lot of work still left to be done. Its as if she wants to repaint and redo the house to give it a new start so she can somehow move on from all this. No matter how much work is done on the house, you can still sense the sadness within the foundations. Right by the door is ‘Rot in Hell Sarah Jean’ spray-painted loud for anyone who walks by. You ignore it and knock on the door, looking at Derek when she doesn’t answer.

“She’s sad, Derek--in more pain than anyone I’ve seen in a while,” you sigh.

“Hello? Anybody? Hello! Mrs. Mason?” Derek yells, knowing she is home.

The door opens and Sarah’s mother, Deborah Mason, stands there with a small teacup in her hands.

“Yeah?”

“Are you Sarah Jean Dawes’ mother?” you ask.

“Who the hell are you?”

“FBI. We are from the behavior analysis unit,” you state and flash her your badge.

“My daughter and her son of a bitch husband buried a thirteen-year-old girl under my floor. What more do you need to know?”

“Ma'am, Sarah Jean has agreed to meet with our colleges to talk about why they killed those girls. We'd like some background information if you don't mind,” Derek says gently.

She has nothing to lose by letting you two in and talking, so she just shrugs and lets the door open as she heads back inside. The inside looks the same as the outside, but with more work. Plastic covers virtually everything as she gets ready to repaint the house. There are some parts torn up from the floor, so you’re careful as you walk inside to where Deborah is in the kitchen. This is an open floor plan, and you can see into the dining room on the other end of the kitchen right through an arched entryway. Almost every doorway is an arch.

“Extensive remodeling. Jacob built the original extension?” you ask and point to the arch separating the kitchen and the dining room. “I see he liked arches.”

“Teenage girls, agent, that's what he liked.”

“How was Sarah Jean growing up?”

“Fine, until she met Jacob. She was shy, quiet, and also smart.”

She picks up a bottle of vodka and adds more to her small teacup, and you exchange silent glances with Derek.

“What about her relationship with her father?” you wonder. “Was Sarah ever abused?”

“He was strict. He was a military man. They didn't always see eye to eye. That's all history. He's dead. She's about to die,” she sighs and drinks from the cup.

“Mrs. Mason, if we better understand the dynamics of her relationships, we can get a better idea of why and what actually happened,” Derek says.

“Dynamics?” she scoffs and moves away from the kitchen to the living room where her purse is.

“Well, it might answer why Jacob never killed Sarah Jean. They shared something.”

“They shared pain.”

“How strict was your husband? How did he discipline Sarah Jean? Was he physical with her?” you pry.

“He was a mean bastard, but he only hurt me… never her.”

“Why didn’t you leave with her?”

“Because we had no place to go,” her voice falters as she takes another sip.

“An anonymous caller tipped the police off about Jacob, was it you?” you ask.

“No, but I know who it was,” she says and pulls out a letter from her purse. She hands it to you, and you take it gently from her hands. “This came this morning.”

You open the letter, and your mouth hangs open just a bit when you read exactly what it is.

“What does it say?” Derek asks.

“It’s a statement of innocence,” you reveal. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to call Gideon about this.”

You quickly head outside and dial Penelope so she can patch you through to the older agent.

“Garcia,” she says once she answers.

“Hey, it’s Y/N. I need Gideon please.”

“Yeah, I'll pass you through,” she puts you on a brief hold until she can get the older agent on the line for you.

“What?” Gideon mutters quietly.

“We're at the mother's house, and she gave me a letter. A statement of innocence. I want to read to you.”

“Read the letter, Y/N.”

“Mom, I know how difficult this must be. Things between us were never what they should be between a mother and a daughter. I want you to know that the best part of me, the most important part of me, is now in a better place than you and I will ever be. I'm responsible for the death of those girls. I neglected my duties as a woman and as a mother.”

There is more to it, but you can hear Sarah Jean get upset over the line. You don’t know what is happening, but you feel like you need to get over there right now. Screw prisons and your fear of them. You need to help this woman, and it sounds like you can, based on what you hear over the phone.

“I’m coming over there. I’ll be there soon,” you say to whoever is listening before hanging up. Derek exits the house, and you put your phone away and hand him the letter. “I’m going back to prison. You’ll be okay here? I can send Elle to help you.”

“Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll see if I can’t get anything else out of Deborah.”

“Okay, stay safe.”

“And stay sane,” he quips back as you head to the car.

When you get to the prison, Gideon and Spencer are done talking to Sarah Jean. She didn’t know you would be reading her private letter, so she needed to clear her head before you go and talk to her. If she is truly innocent, then why is she fighting so hard to stay here? Why not fight to get out and separate herself fro Jacob? She is scared of something… or she’s trying to protect someone. You sent Elle to go to Derek when you arrived, and the team gathers where Penelope is to watch the tapes of the interviews to see if they can’t spot anything that they might have missed.

“They died as a result of my neglect,” Sarah Jean whispers regretfully.

“This letter suggests to me that an innocent woman is about to be executed for a crime she did not commit.”

“I could tell you right now, it's not enough to get a stay,” Sam Shapiro sighs.

“Well, facts. Reid,” Gideon says.

“Human sexuality is a complex dynamic of three components: biological, physiological, and emotional. Jacob's needs were informed by the emotional, sexual abuse that he received at the hand of his mother. Long term appetitive abuse informed the template of his love map. Something we refer to as a signature. Jacob was an only child, so he was alone when the abuse occurred. So, in order for him to fulfill his fantasy he has got to be alone with his victims.”

You look from the tape of Sarah Jean to the one with Jacob, and you just narrow our eyes in anger for him. He’s not a good person at all, and you refuse to even be in within sight of him. There is no way you’ll survive talking to him about anything.

“If I told you that what would I have left for myself?” Jacob says over the tape.

“He said ‘myself’. If Sarah Jean was present, it would have destroyed his fantasy,” you note.

“She confessed to killing her son,” the warden, Charles Diehl, states.

“Yes, true, but we are also convinced that she is the anonymous caller that made the phone call that nailed Jacob. In fact, I know she is.”

“Guilt-ridden and filled with remorse, she called the police. It's not the profile of a woman who would then kill a child,” Gideon sighs.

“What else do you need?” you ask the attorney.

“Evidence.”

“So, if we prove Jacob killed Riley, would that get a stay?”

“Absolutely.”

“She protects the painting, she protects the boy,” Gideon mutters.

“What?” you ask.

“Paintings are her statement. We need to figure out what they say.”

“Get me into her room, and I’ll find that out. I have to be alone though. I can’t have her influence on this.”

“You’ll get it,” Gideon confirms with a single nod.

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santiagonex · 5 years

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As 2020 is nearing, it’s time to see what 2019 has brought us when it comes to gay representation in tv shows and movies. Below ‘read more’, there’s a whole list of tv shows/ships/movies (with pictures and basic description) which include/are about gay (used as an umbrella term) men and couples (so basically have gay storylines and at least one gay person is a main character of the show/movie).

Since I’m a gay man, I keep up mostly with mlm, if I included wlw as well, I don’t think the list would be complete with my lack of knowledge, so sorry about that. I’m pretty sure there are more competent people who can do that instead of me.

Total Count of TV Shows in the list: 65 Total Count of Movies in the list: 27

Anyways, here we go.

TV SHOWS

TV SHOWS WITH TITULAR/CENTRAL GAY CHARACTERS/SHIPS

The Other Two: the funniest most-relatable show centered around three siblings – one of them is gay (left). A must-watch for sure. He’s pretty much the hugest part of the show, there are some love storyline (...and they were roomates), some self-loving moments and iconic lines. Just watch it, you won’t regret it.

Sex Education: show about two best friends, one of them (right) is gay. His name is Eric and he gets involved with his enemy Adam (left). Amazing show.

Special: show about a gay man Ryan (right) with mild cerebral palsy, who wants to live his life as an independent person to the fullest. Easy and short show to watch.

Druck (German SKAM Remake): if you don’t know SKAM, it’s pretty much a show where each season is devoted to one character. Third season of German SKAM aired this year and it was revolved around a gay guy (left). For the first time in SKAM history, the main character’s love interest is a trans guy (right).

Skam France (French SKAM Remake): the French version of SKAM had a gay season this year as well.

WTFock (Belgian SKAM Remake): Belgium has a season focused on the main gay character this year as well.

El corazón nunca se equivoca: I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of Aristemo from ‘Mi marido tiene más familia’. Well, they’d already aired the first season of the new spin-off centered around their lives in college (I think).

Merlí: Sapere Aude: Bruno (left) and Pol (right) fans, it’s time to make some noise. Brunol is coming back because Pol is getting a spin-off which will be taking place in university. Bruno will be in it as well. First episode airs on 5th of December this year.

Pose: second season of Ryan Murphy’s popular show with main transgender and gay characters has aired this year.

The Politician: another show from Ryan Murphy was created. The main protagonist of the show (right) is played by Ben Platt and he’s gay. The show contains many LGBT+ main characters.

Tales of the City: the revival of the Tales of the City sequence of miniseries aired this year. The show includes many LGBT+ storylines.

The L Word: Generation Q: the revival of The L Word show will air on 8th of December this year. The show is mainly about lesbians, but based on trailer, there will be a gay couple included as well.

Years and Years: very futuristic show with a political message. Includes both mlm and wlw as main characters.

The Red Line: the plot of this show involves a white cop in Chicago who mistakenly shoots and kills a black doctor named Harrison. Harrison had a husband (left) and daughter (right). The show deals with the consequences of the event.

Now Apocalypse: all I’m gonna say is that Beck from Victorious got to make out with Scott from Teen Wolf, Matty from Awkward and Jake from Glee. The show was renewed for second season and later this statement was taken back and it got cancelled – which I guess says enough about the show.

This Close: the show is about two best friends who are deaf. One of them (left) is gay and has a storyline and spicy scenes with the guy on the right and some other guys as well.

Schitt’s Creek: David (right) and Patrick (left) aka the cutest softest couple of all time. The last season of the show will air next air. Watch the show if you wanna laugh and watch the healthiest gay couple on tv. They also got engaged this year, which was beautiful.

NEW TV SHOWS (1 SEASON) WITH MAIN GAY CHARACTERS/SHIPS

Daybreak: both main characters and basically on different sides of the battles. Who wouldn’t want to watch enemies being in love Romeo & Juliet style.

El Juego de las Llaves (The Game of Keys): very interesting and fun show to follow, the one on the right is the main character. He’s closeted, has a girlfriend and gradually realizes there’s something else out there. Nice kissing scenes, plus one very spicy scene. Doesn’t hurt that the guy on the left he will be involved with looks like a dollar store Chris Evans if you squint hard enough.

Five Bedrooms: 5 strangers moves in. The guy in the middle is gay. His mom is a very traditional Indian woman who just wants grandchildren. The whole show is heart-warming and sad at times. The guy gets fair share of screentime and some love interests including a cop from the neighbourhood.

Made In Heaven: Indian show that follows the lives of Tara and Karan (left), two wedding planners in Delhi running an agency named Made in Heaven. Karan is gay. Very progressive show with spicy gay scenes.

What/If: haven’t seen the show yet but friends said these two have a nice storyline in the show. Threesome included.

Bonding: show about two best friends Pete (left) and Tiff (right). Pete is gay. They basically... do freaky shit for work... umm. Just watch trailer or something.

Osmosis: I have no idea what the show is about but the guy on the left is set to betrying to find a soulmate or something. I think I remember seeing some spicy scenes.

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists: basically some gay romance with the guy on the right and someone else. The one on the left dies the first episode so I did not even bother after that. But you can be the judge of it.

Doom Patrol: Larry (left) is a superhero, kinda. There’s something haunting his past, though. Something that involves being gay.

The Umbrella Academy: Klaus (left) my favorite character. He’s kind of a hero along with his other siblings. There’s a deep gay storyling along the way.

Weird City: anyways... all I’m gonna say is that Dylan O’Brien played a gay for one episode in a show. Wish there wasn’t this huge ugly age difference.

Roswell, New Mexico: cowboys, aliens, bisexuality, homosexuality and all that. Didn’t really see the show but there’s a lot of content with these two.

Good Trouble: never saw the sow but the guy on the picture is a main bisexual characters. There are some mlm scenes.

The Society: Grizz (right) and Sam (left) literally the highlight of the show. Just watch it, it is worth to see it for both of them. Sam is also deaf. The show is basically about a bunch of teenagers getting stuck in a town with no one else in or around.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The High School Musical tv show has just started airing on Disney+. Carlos (left) is confirmed to be gay and to be getting a nice development this season which will probably involve Seb (right) as well.

The Heights: Australian tv show. Sully (left) is gay. Got a thing for Ash (right) at the start. Then things were messy. Then they suddenly kissed. And the things are messy again.

El Club (The Club): very interesting show. The gave these two really (like REALLY) spicy scenes. Some romantic stuff. But there’s really not much depth in my option. Check and see.

Volevo fare la rockstar: didn’t see it but it’s an Italian show and there’s a romantic storyline between these two.

No Good Nick: Jeremy (right) came out this year on this sitcom. Nice and very weid sitcom. Unfortunately it was cancelled, but the way they handled his gay storyline was rather nice.

World on Fire: follows lives of ordinary people from Britain, Poland, France, Germany and the USA during World War II. Two of them are gay. And yeah one of those two is Will from sense8.

TV SHOWS (1 SEASON+) WITH MAIN GAY CHARACTERS/SHIPS

Andi Mack: the show that made history. Andi Mack is a Disney Channel show and for the first time in Disney Channel history, Cyrus (right) came out using the word ‘gay’ and made it official with the recurring character TJ (left) this year. The two-season slow-burn was really worth it.

Shadowhunters: Malec got married this year. Yay.

Grey’s Anatomy: Levi and Nico still going strong.

La Casa de las Flores (The House of Flowers): despite the first season making it seem like it was the end for Diego and Julián, that’s not the case. In season 2, they’re stronger than ever, the scenes are spicier than ever and the show is gayer than ever.

Baby: first season was mostly focused on Fabio (face on right) realizing he’s gay. The second season has shockingly showed us that Brando (face on left) is gay as well. Very toxic ship so if you enjoy Gallavich this is probably for you.

Élite: Omar and Ander continuing their journey.

Shameless: Ian (up) and Mickey (down) came back to Shameless season 10 as main characters. About time.

Station 19: new love interest (left, a deaf character portrayed by a deaf actor) was introduced for Travis (right) in the season 2 finale. Let’s see what happens in season 3, which airs in 2020.

Ackley Bridge: they pretty much baited us with Cory (left) and Naveed (right) this season. They stayed just friends, but Naveed found a love interest, so that’s nice.

Find Me In Paris: Never saw the show, but Jeff (on the picture) is gay and his love interest Isaac gets introduced in second season that aired this year.

13 Reasons Why: Tony and Caleb going strong. It was also revealed that Monty (right) is a closeted gay and had a storyline with Winston (left). There’s probably more to come with them in next season.

Insatiable: unfortunately they didn’t serve much Bob (right) & Bob this year. But they introduced detective Rudy (left) and there were some scenes and twists and turns. Whatever.

Riverdale: I don’t care. Kevin (left) is still there. There are some gay charcters based on wiki, but yeah. Crumbs, I bet. Whatever.

Charité: second season (which has the two main gay characters) takes place in Berlin in 1943. You don’t need to watch the first season at all, to understand the second one with them, it’s basically a stand-alone.

Animal Kingdom: Deran and Adrian’s story coming to an end?

The Magicians: Well, they killed off the central bi character Quentin (on the picture), so fuck them.

How to Get Away With Murder: Connor (left) and Oliver (right) still there.

Dear White People: haven’t seen it, but Lionel (on the picture) is still there and he’s gay.

Zoe Valentine: there’s this web series and these two have a storyline in second season that aired this year.

SOAP OPERAS AND TELENOVELAS

Sturm der Liebe: Boris (left) and Tobias (right) are married and lived happily ever after. Really cute and sometimes dramatic storyline overall. Check it out.

Malhação: Vidas Brasileiras: Santiago (left) and Michael (right) had a gay storyline but the show ended this year.

Malhação: Toda Forma de Amar: Guga (right) and Serginho (left) have a gay storyline in the show.

Eastenders: Ben (left) and Callum’s (right) storyline has begun this year.

Neighbours: David (right) and Aaron (left) aka husbands still in the soap.

REALITY SHOWS

Queer Eye: five gay guys helping others. Season 3, 4 and a special have aired this year.

Are You the One?: for the first time in the show’s history, season 8 of this dating reality show had an all-sexually fluid cast this year. Which means mlm and wlw and anything else. Really fun show.

MOVIES

Benjamin: don’t even remember what the movie was about but I rec because it was cute and I mean hello Merlin.

Boy Erased: homosexuality and religion. Has a Troye Sivan in it. Very decent movie.

And Then We Danced: my favorite gay movie of this year. All the things they had to do to be able to film this in homophobic Georgia (the country)... just wow. It’s a must-watch.

Who Would You Take to a Deserted Island?: didn’t know what to expect from this movie. It is based on a play and it shows. Watch and be the judge of it. The acting was really highlight of the movie.

This Is Not Berlin: hasn’t seen it yet since it was just officially released. But it is included in an LGBT+ section so... hopefully they didn’ lie.

Rocketman: movie about Elton John with Taron Egerton and Richard Madden... I mean, phew.

Un Rubio (The Blonde One): gonna watch this, apparently it’s amazing based on what some of my mutuals have said.

The Death and Life of John F. Donovan: Jon Snow being gay and kissing Chris Zylka. Made by Xavier Dolan. A literal tripple threat. Genuinely enjoyed the movie and the soundtrack.

Ranchlands: haven’t seen this but my friend said it’s amazing.

Steam Room Stories: this movie was something... Eating Out levels of ‘I-’ but without all the sex. I guess watch this if you are bored.

Posledice (Consequences): very spicy and intriguing movie. Slovenia snapped with this one.

Papi Chulo: didn’t like this movie and the concept of it but... you can check out and see for yourself.

Dolor y gloria (Pain and Glory): Antonio Banderas kissing a man. Hopefully it really is a gay-related movie because I haven’t seen it yet.

Die Stropers (The Harvesters): brilliant cinematography but I expected much more from the movie.

Giant Little Ones: what happens when you’re into your best friend’s sister but the best friend gives you a BJ. Well... watch and see.

Kanarie (Canary): a war musical about a small town boy who gets chosen to serve his compulsory two year military training in the South African Defence Force Choir and Concert. Loved the involvement of the Boy George music, aesthetic and story. One of my favorites this year.��

Luciérnagas (Fireflies): haven’t seen it yet but the description says that the main gay character (right) “flees from persecution in Iran and ends up living in the tropical town of Veracruz.”

El Angel: haven’t seen it but apparently there are some implications it was lowkey gay... so yeah.

Dear Ex: from wiki “San Lian was devastated when she discovered her late ex-husband left his insurance payout to his male partner Ah Jie. She decided to bring her son to fight for their rights, but her son instead chose to stand on the other person's side.” Will watch this soon, sounds interesting.

Sauvage: one of the best gay movies this year. Don’t know how to describe it so let me copy paste the description “ Léo is a sex worker who uses drugs whilst longing for love.”

Sócrates: haven’t seen it yet as it was just released.

Marilyn: story about a farm worker who discovers his sexuality in a hostile environment. Didn’t see it since someone has told me there are some scenes that are really HARD to stomach and I ain’t about that life.

Les Crevettes pailletées (The Shiny Shrimps): the movie is about an Olympic swimming champion who makes a homophobic comment in a television interview, and is disciplined by the national swim team with the responsibility of coaching a gay water polo team who aspire to compete in the Gay Games. Sounds and looks like an amazing comedy and can’t wait to watch it when I will be able to.

Fin de siglo (End of the Century): it’s not out yet as far as I know, but it’s about two men who meet in Barcelona and realize they have met already 20 years ago.

Matthias et Maxime: another excellence by Xavier Dolan. Story about life-long friends who question their sexual identities after they kiss. Looks amazing and I can’t wait for it to get released finally.

The Goldfinch: not a gay movie, but I’ve seen many people considering it as LGBT+ cinema because of the book and you know what, they kissed after all so you can perceive it beyond friendship if you want. If not, then just skip it. I feel like it is worth mentioning it tho.

Mapplethorpe: movie is about the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Didn’t see it but Doctor Who plays him so there’s that.

UPCOMING

TV SHOWS

9-1-1: Lone Star: The spin-off of a popular show 9-1-1 by Ryan Murphy is premiering 19th of January 2020. It’s confirmed that the main character TK (a firefighter, left) will be romantically involved with the main character Carlos (a police officer, right). The show will also have a main trans man.

Love, Simon: The Series: A Disney+ Love, Simon spin-off is on its way and will premiere in 2020. The series will follow Victor (right) and his coming-out story at the same high school where Love, Simon took place. Didn’t find a photo with his love interest. The guy on the left will most likely be his enemy.

#lgbtcinema #gallavich #tyrus #ballum #lgbtedit #love simon #the goldfinch #hsmtmts #brunol #wtfock #lgbt #gay #text #*#gay rec

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jane-fucking-seymour · 3 years

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Every Tudor Rose Has Its Thorns - CH 2 now live

AO3 Link here

“So… you think they’re alive?” Jim asks, tilting his head.

“At least one of them is a ghost, I think,” she explains, walking towards the alley next to the theatre. They had gotten their tickets refunded due to “technical difficulties,” despite knowing that the real issue was far beyond that. “But the visions I had when Catherine and Anne went up for their songs… it felt really powerful. It could be more than one. Maybe all of them, just based on the pure strength of it.”

“What, so you think the ghosts of the ex-wives of Henry VIII are… haunting the performers when they go on?” Jim asks. “One ghost doing that, sure, but all of them? Seems pretty unlikely.”

Melinda frowned and looked down at the programme, flipping to the page where the actors were shown. She tilts her head. “You know, they never say what the actor’s names are in here. They just say Anne and Catherine and the rest.”

“Maybe it’s an acting thing?” Jim asks, though he clearly sounds like he’s fishing for an answer. “Some actors do that, live as though they’re the characters they are.”

Melinda nods in consideration, but goes back to the original theory: that the ghosts are involved.

“I mean, it’s not surprising that they would be earthbound if it is actually them,” Melinda says. “Not after everything they got put through.”

“Do you think they caused the technical difficulties?” Jim asks.

“I didn’t sense anyone else around, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility,” Melinda replies. “Why would they want to ruin their own show, though? It’s about their story, their lives being told-”

“No, they’re not ruining their own show.”

Jim and Melinda jump a bit as they hear a voice behind them. When they turn, they spot…

“You’re Maria, right?” Melinda asks. “You’re the drummer.”

“I am,” Maria nods. “I was hoping you’d still be around. I… I don’t know how to explain this, but I really think you should come with me.”

Melinda watches her for a moment before tilting her head. She slowly walks more towards Maria, gently taking her hand. There’s a slight jolt before Melidna is once again pulled into a vision:

She’s managed to avoid the guards, sneak into the premises, and get to her door. With a running start, she bangs through it, immediately looking down at a woman in bed. She looks deathly ill, yet oddly familiar…

Melinda can hear herself speak Spanish to the woman, crying as she holds her. She can see her arm gently push back some hair, gently speak comforting words to the woman she held, crying out her name as the former queen’s eyes start to dim and close:

“Catalina!”

Suddenly, Melinda was back to the present. Maria looks terrified.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt her, is she-”

“It’s okay, she’s okay,” Jim says, nodding. He keeps an eye on Melinda, though, just in case.

Melinda took a moment to clear her thoughts before she continued. “That was… the other side of the vision I had when Catherine of Aragon’s song came up.”

“Vision?” Maria asks, taking a step back in surprise. “Are you a witch?”

“No,” Mel is quick to dispel the theory. “But I do… have a gift. I can see the dead.”

Maria pales. Melinda narrows her eyes.

“How?” Melinda asks. Maria is quiet, so Melinda clarifies: “How are you alive and dead at the same time?”

She looks down at her hands before she looks back up at the couple. “I… I need you to come inside. To come with me to see the others.” She looks from Melinda to Jim and back to Melinda. “I promise, we’re not… we’re not bad. And we didn’t do anything to cause those issues.” She takes a deep breath. “Oh, I can’t believe Jane’s going to be right on this.”

“Right on what?” Jim asks, stepping forward.

Maria makes a face.

“She said she felt someone else on stage with us tonight. Someone cold. She’s been off ever since.”

That was enough for Melinda to follow Maria into the backdoor.

As soon as they walk in, Maria takes Jim and Mel to the dressing rooms. Melinda recognized the queens: Jane was sitting next to Anne, quietly discussing something. Catherine and Cathy were getting their things together. Anna and Katherine were on their phones.

It’s the latter that speak up first.

“I mean, I’m seeing stuff where people say their electronics went haywire due to a ghost,” Katherine says. “Even as common as we’ve been having it lately.”

“It could also be some faulty wiring, though,” Anna points out, scrolling through some searches. “Or maybe the wind that’s been picking up knocked something loose.”

“I swear, I felt a cold wind, and I…” Jane starts, but she freezes up when she spots Maria and her guests. “Who’s this?”

Maria clears her throat and steps forward. “Everyone, this is Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy.” She looks directly at Catherine for the next part. “Melinda can speak to the dead.”

They’re all quiet for a moment before Anne speaks up.

“Oh really?” She asks, a hint of joking in her voice. Melinda grimaces at that; people usually are in disbelief, but the mocking tone some can get reminded her of the high school and college bullies. It’s not easy doing her job, after all.

“Yes,” Maria continues. “Actual ghosts.”

“How do you think she can help?” Cathy asks.

“How do we know to trust her?” Jane asks.

“I think I know the answer to both of those things.”

Before Melinda or Jim can answer, someone else has jumped to their defense: Melinda recognized her as Joan, the pianist. Right behind her was Bessie and Maggie. All three of them were in normal clothes now, bags left at the side of the door as they move towards the group and stand nearby.

“Maria,” Joan says quietly. “I saw you stumble on Catherine’s song today. You were looking right at her in the front row.” Joan looks over at Melinda, almost pitying her. “And you looked incredibly pale. I thought it might be a trick of the light, but I’m assuming you being here makes it not the case.”

Melinda nods, stepping forward. “I had a vision. I was in a bed, hurting, and someone barged into the room and held me as I died. It felt like the person wasn’t supposed to be there, but I needed her to be there.” She looks over at Maria, who is looking at Catherine. “I think it was you. You called her name as she died, didn’t you? You called for Catalina. That was who you were holding, as she died.”

Maggie frowns. “Not that I don’t believe you, but anyone who knows our histories knows that Maria held Catherine at the end. How do we know this isn’t a trick?”

“Because,” Joan says, “when that… vision… of hers happened, Maria looked completely out of sorts.” She steps towards the woman in question. “What did you feel?”

“I felt… connected,” Maria explains, moving to gently hold Catherine’s hand for support. Catherine, of course, holds it firm. “I felt like someone was connecting with me. And I… I heard Catalina’s cries. I heard what I heard when she died. Then I looked up, and it was Melinda.”

“Did you… see something… during Don’t Lose Ur Head?” Maggie asks, frowning.

Melinda shivered at the thought. “Yes. I saw someone being taken to the block. A young, red headed girl called for her mom-”

Anne stands up quickly, like a reflex, but Maggie quickly grabs her arm. It calms the woman somewhat as she sits back down. Jim stands a bit closer to Melinda as she backed up at the sudden movement, but with things calmer, she relaxes a bit more.

“Not quite how that went,” Anne says quietly, “but if Catherine and Maria believe you, I’m inclined to as well.”

“Sometimes my visions aren’t exact to what happened,” Melinda replies. “Sometimes they’ve got more symbolism in them then actual events-”

Melinda stopped, though, when a sudden chill fell through the air. She felt her head reeling with no warning; she put a hand to it and tried to breathe through it. Jim was calling for her, she knew this, but the voice became less and less her husbands and more and more like someone else.

The lights suddenly turned off.

And he appeared.

What hit her first was a wave of emotions - fear, jealousy, panic.. But mostly anger. A lot of anger. She couldn’t tell who he was exactly, as the Shadows around them were so thick, but he pointed to her and spoke; it cut through her mind like glass.

“You should not be here,” he said, and Melinda winced every time he spoke. “You should not be here.”

“Who are you?” She asks, but he screamed, and the Shadows rushed her, and everything went dark…

… only for the lights to turn on a moment later.

Melinda blinked; somehow, she had ended up crouched on the floor, hands on her head as she looked around. Jim was immediately at her side, checking her over.

“Are you okay-?” He started, but someone else’s voice cut through his question. This time, it didn’t hurt Melinda at all.

“Jane?!?”

The couple looked over to find Jane Seymour collapsed to the ground, eyes unfocused and glassy, breathing rapidly as if panicked. With a nod from Mel, Jim rushed over to see if he could help.

“What’s happened, why is that happening again?” Katherine asks, clearly panicked.

Melinda picked up the clue. “Again? When did it happen before?”

“It happened yesterday, too,” Bessie says, stepping forward. “She’s been having these type of spells for a while now.”

“Anna had some to start with as well, Cathy too,” Joan points out. “But Jane’s been hit the hardest with them.”

Melinda nods, looking over at Jane just in time to see her gasp for air. She coughed, being helped to sit up by Jim.

“Are you alright?” Jim asks, looking the woman over.

“Jane?” Joan is right beside her queen in an instant; now Melinda knew what she meant by they took care of their queens; Joan was Jane’s Lady in Waiting in their previous life, after all.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Jane mumbles, a hand to her head as she collects her thoughts. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s the damned ghost, that’s what’s come over you,” Katherine says, clearly angry. “What does it want and why does it keep on messing with our productions?”

Anne looked over at Melinda before stepping towards her. “Alright, I don’t quite believe you, but… what did you see? Before, in the dark?” Melinda seemed to be confused, so Anne continued. “If you’re having those vision things, I’d assume you’d have one when things go bad.”

“That’s not how it works all the time,” Melinda says, “but I did see the ghost. He was…” she swallowed thickly at the next few words, looking over at Jim. “He was surrounded by Shadows.”

Jim’s jaw set with anger for a moment, before he corrected his expression. Melinda continued.

“He said I shouldn’t be here. He was tall, that’s all I got from it.”

The lights flickered again and Melinda once again felt a wave of nausea. She blinked, squeezing her eyes shut. Catherine frowned when Anna did the same.

“We should leave,” Melinda said through shaky breaths. “Whoever it is, they’re going to try again.”

Anna is unsteady, but she powers through it to get to the alley. As soon as they’re out of the theatre, Melinda feels her head clear up considerably. She breathes a sigh of relief as she looks at Anna; she seems far better, too.

Maria steps forward. “Do you mind if we go somewhere a bit more private?” she asks, looking at the couple. “Our flat’s nearby. Might be the best place to discuss this more.”

“Sure,” Melinda says. “We’ll follow you.”

Maggie leads the group as they walk down the street, Jim and Melinda in the middle of the pack. Maria and Bessie hang at the back. They’re silent, before Maria speaks:

“You’re on the fence for this, aren’t you, Bessie?”

She sighs. “I don’t know what to think,” she replies. “But if you think she’s the answer to what’s been happening lately I think it’s worth a shot.” She shrugs. “Not like we had any success with anything else, so…”

Maria looks back at the couple, who are quietly walking, Melinda’s arm in his. “Yeah. I really think they are.”

As they walk, Jim looks Melinda over some more. “You sure you’re feeling alright?” Jim asks quietly.

Melinda glanced over then shook her head. “A little woozy,” she admits. “The visions are strong, and I think it’s because of who they are.” she gives him a small smile. “I’ll be ok. I’ve got you here.”

Jim tries to smile back, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. Melinda understands this, but her focus right now is moreso on Jane.

“She looks about as good as I feel,” Mel mumbles.

Jane looked as pale as a ghost, stumbling occasionally as they moved towards the queen’s flat. Joan was right next to her, watching her closely as they moved.

“Yeah, and Anna doesn’t look too well either,” Jim observed. Anna was at the front of the pack with Katherine, answering her questions and smiling with her, but Jim’s EMT training allowed him to see the occasional stumble and wince in pain. “It took a lot out of them, too, I think.”

“When we get to the flat,” Catherine says, having heard their conversation, “We can all take a breather there.”

Cathy watches the couple very closely for a moment before she just continues on with Catherine in tow. Catherine narrows her eyes at Cathy for a moment before moving on.

The sound of a child’s laughter rings through the area; it makes Melinda smile as she and Jim are let into the flat. From there, everyone comes together in the living room.

“The weird stuff hasn’t followed us home before,” Cathy says. “So we should be safe here.”

Melinda breathes a sigh of relief; her head already feels like it’s clearing, and some of her energy’s returned. “This place feels a lot better than the theatre.”

“Please, sit down,” Anna says, offering them two spots on the couch. Melinda and Jim sit down next to each other while the others settle down on chairs around them.

Catherine, with a small smile, starts the conversation:

“If you don’t mind, Melinda, I think it’d be best if we just get into it, okay?”

Melinda nodded, and Catherine continued.

“Maria seems to be convinced that you’ve got special powers,” Catherine replies. “And you definitely saw something at the theatre multiple times.”

Melinda nods. “It’s more powerful than what I usually deal with, to be honest,” Melinda says. “I just feel… a lot of energy, coming from all of you.” She looks around the room. “It’s not bad. It’s better than when you were at the theatre. From personal experience, that means the Shadows aren’t able to affect you here.”

“Shadows?” Cathy asks.

“They’re dark energy,” Melinda continues. “Powerful, dark, negative energy. It’s sometimes leftover energy from bad souls, other times those souls are… converted, into the Shadows.” She shivers at the thought, remembering when they took her over, remembering when they made her think and almost do terrible things…

“What’s the Shadows have to do with us?” Jane asks quietly, looking down at her hands. “Why are we being tormented?”

“And some of us more than others,” Anne replies. “It seems to be tormenting Catherine, Anna, and Jane more-”

“Is it, though?” Katherine asks. “You almost died on stage. Again.”

Melinda sat up at that. “You said that it happened before at the theatre, too. Can you tell me what’s been going on?”

They all look at each other, uncertain. Jim speaks up then.

“We want to help,” he tries. “But we need all the information we can.”

“You have to at least believe that there’s truth to what I’m saying, don’t you?” Melinda asks. “You wouldn’t have invited me into your homes if you didn’t.”

Katherine narrows her eyes. “You said you got a vision every time you touched one of us, right?” When Melinda nods, Katherine stands up in front of her and offers a hand. “Well, prove it.”

Melinda looks at Jim and, with a nod his way, looks back at the hand. With some hesitation, she takes it, and-

-she’s suddenly not in the room.

She’s on stage, the exact one Melinda had been watching only an hour before. She’s singing something, on her knees, breathing heavily as she talks about being touched and enough being enough and people supposed to be different. Just as she finishes it, she hastily blows a kiss at the audience as she gasps for air and looks up, a single pink spotlight on her.

The crowd is silent for a moment, and it seems to save her life - she can hear something above her crack.

Her eyes go wide as the spotlight momentarily is blocked by something. Realizing what’s about to happen, she instantly backs up, straight back as a bar suddenly slams right where she just was.

She gasps, catching her breath, wincing as she feels something hit her hand as the bar makes impact with the ground. She ignores the pain as someone grabs her and rushes her off stage, the audience being evacuated…

… and Melinda gasps as she is brought back to the present.

“Holy crap,” Katherine says, eyes wide. “I… Maria was right.”

“What did you see?” Bessie asks.

Melinda catches her breath for a second. “She was singing, then she looked up at the spotlight, and a bar fell and hurt her hand,” Melinda says, pointing to the mark on Katherine’s hand.

“That’s what happened Thursday,” Katherine says. “That’s what happened when I was injured. And I never told anyone who I knew about it.” Katherine looks back at Catherine. “She’s legit, swear it.”

Catherine nods at the girl and then looks at Melinda. “I think it’s enough evidence to continue,” Catherine says quietly. “Now… what would this shadow want with us?”

“The Shadows work best through people,” Melinda says. “That’s how they became a threat to us back in Grandview, they influenced people to make their move.” She shivers at the thought, but doesn’t get too into detail; they’ve only just started to trust her, she didn’t want them to be scared.

Not yet, anyways.

Catherine nods. “So you think it’s possible whoever is doing this is trying to influence us?”

Melinda leans back on the couch. “Katherine was almost killed that time, and Anne was today… did anything else happen?”

“Yeah,” Anna says. “Catherine was almost electrocuted the other day.”

Catherine winces at the memory. “I was on stage and about to sit on the throne during No Way, and suddenly the damn thing broke apart. One of the legs splintered off and cut a nearby wire. If it wasn’t for Maria, I would have been shocked.”

Melinda nods. “Anything else?”

“There was that time Katherine tripped and knocked herself unconscious last week,” Anne points out.

“And the slip and fall Catherine had,” Cathy points out.

“And Anne’s phone literally blew up in her hand the week before on stage,” Maggie added.

Jim had been keeping count. “So it’s really only been physical ‘accidents’ for Anne, Katherine, and Catherine?” He asks, nodding towards the correct C/Katherines to clarify who he was talking about.

Cathy nods. “The rest of us… when those things happen, we start to feel weird.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest defensively. “It’s like something’s there. Something cold. Something not pleasant.”

“You feel an anger, right?” Melinda asks, looking directly at Cathy. “You feel like you’re helpless, and you feel cold and angry and not yourself, right? And you can’t let that feeling go because it’s taking you over?”

Jane nods, but looks wary. “They seem scary the more you talk about them.”

“They are, to be honest,” Melinda says, looking down. “But it’s beatable. It is.” She looks up again, a gentle smile on her face. “With some support from others, we can beat it here.”

Cathy seems hesitant to say something, but after a moment (and a deep breath) she steps forward. “The ghosts that you can see… can you see anyone else?”

Melinda tilts her head, confused. “I’m sorry?”

“Do you see any other ghosts,” Cathy repeats. “Can you see any other ghosts around us?”

Melinda frowns. “Who would I be looking for?”

“A young girl, probably,” Cathy says. “Or, uhm… maybe two women, or maybe a teenaged boy.”

Melinda considers Cathy for a moment before she nods quickly, looking around the room. She’s been at this long enough that she can filter out the queen’s and ladies in waiting’s presence well enough to find other people when she needs to, but right now…

“... there’s no one else here,” Melinda says, looking back at the woman. “I’m sorry, is it someone you know?”

Cathy sighs. “It’s nothing.” She gets up and leaves.

Catherine steps in. “I’m sorry about her.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Melinda says. “I just… who was she looking for?”

Catherine isn’t sure she should answer.

Anne cuts in.

“Well,” she says, getting up. “We should probably start preparing dinner.” She smiles to try to diffuse the tension in the room; it’s kind of working.

Melinda nods and goes to stand up with Jim when Katherine gives them a look.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kat asks, raising an eyebrow.

Melinda blinks. “Uh… didn’t you say you were preparing dinner?” she asks. “We were headed to the door.”

“But then you’d miss dinner,” Katherine replies.

“Sorry, uh, we weren’t aware we were invited,” Jim replies.

“We’ve still got a bit to talk about, if you’re interested in hanging around,” Maria says. “It’s likely this’ll happen at the show tomorrow, too. It’s been like this for a while now. And if you’re our chance of stopping it… well, I think we can all agree we’d want to give you all the time in the world to figure it out.”

“Besides,” Maggie says, smiling widely. “We need an extra hand in the kitchen. Anne’s not allowed in there since the Knife Incident.”

Melinda looked alarmed. “The accidents have been happening here, too?”

“No,” Maggie replies. “We just can’t trust Anne, Katherine, and Cathy to be on their own with a bunch of knives and a dart board anymore.”

Jim looks concerned and Melinda’s very confused.

“Which K/Catherine-” Mel starts, but the queens laugh.

Catherine motions towards the kitchen. “Come on, Melinda, you can chop up some vegetables and we can keep on chatting.”

Melinda nods, then looks over at Jim. “Are you ok with this?”

“Free dinner? Yeah, sure,” he replies, smiling back at her. “I’ll get to work on some research while you guys are talking.”

“I’d like to help with that,” Anna says. “If you don’t mind.”

Mel nods appreciatively. “The more the merrier.”

Jim gives Melinda’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, and Melinda nods in his direction. It’s an unspoken conversation between them - if Mel needed anything, she can go to Jim, and Jim’ll be there. On the flip side, if he found anything out, he could come into the kitchen to let her know. All that exchanged in two movements and no words.

Honestly, Catherine thought as she led Melinda into the kitchen, it was rather adorable how the two interacted. A happy, healthy couple who had each other’s backs. She wouldn’t know what that felt like - not really - but she’s glad at least someone seemed to have a love story out of a storybook. It was a nice change of pace from the usual.

Anna was thinking something very similar as she replaced Melinda on the couch. “You two are something special, aren’t you?”

Jim chuckled. “We’ve been at this for years,” he said, unlocking his phone. “I’m not usually this involved in it, but I’m glad to be when she asks me to.”

“You guys are really adorable,” Bessie replies with a grin.

Jim’s about to reply when Anna sharply inhales some air, frowning as she looks down at her phone. Jim springs into action.

“Can I see?” Jim asks, offering Anna his hand. With some consideration, Anna puts her wrist in Jim’s hand, watching as he looks it over. “Bessie, do you guys have a first aid kit?”

“In the closet,” Bessie nods.

“Does it have an ace bandage?”

“Yeah.”

“Bring it over, please, and some ice in a bag from the freezer if you have any,” he says, and Bessie rushes to grab the requested materials. When she’s not in earshot, Jim speaks to Anna quietly so no one else can hear: “You know, if it was hurting this much, you shouldn’t have let Katherine grab it so often on the way here…”

Anna huffs.

“How’d you know?” Anna asks, tilting her head.

“When we were walking here,” Jim said, “I noticed that you were wincing, but it wasn’t in time with the walk. Then I saw Katherine take your arm and that’s when you winced.”

Anna is impressed. “All that from looking at me?”

“I’m an EMT back at home,” he explains, taking the first aid kit and pulling out the ace bandage. He wraps it and puts the ice on top.

“Amongst other things, I take it.” Anna replies. “More like us than them, right?”

Jim looks up at her, and Anna smirks a little bit. Jim tilts his head.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Anna smiles a bit wider and goes back to researching, leaving Jim confused.

Meanwhile, Melinda had been helping prep for dinner, watching as the other queens and ladies were preparing things as well.

“Are you sure it’s ok if we join you guys for dinner?” Melinda asks, cutting the vegetables as requested.

Catherine smiles. “It’s no problem at all. It’s been a while since we were able to cook for people, anyways.”

Melinda smiles politely back before looking around - she can hear some of the others talking in the other room, she can hear a child laughing again somewhere in the building, and she can already smell the dinner cooking. It seemed… peaceful.

“How many people know about you all?” Melinda asks, going back to preparing vegetables. “The truth, I mean.”

Catherine hums. “Not many. A handful.” She nods towards Cathy, who is putting something in the oven. “Cathy is the one to keep track of that.”

“It’s mainly need to know,” Cathy says. “We don’t exactly want everyone to know, it would scare quite a bit of people.”

“So do you have fake names for the board at the front of the lobby?” Melinda asks, genuinely curious.

Cathy nods. “Just there. It’s not in the programmes or anything. Just didn’t feel right.”

Melinda nods, wincing in pain for a moment before getting her bearings together.

Catherine tilts her head. “Are you ok? Here, eat something,” she says, putting an apple in front of the woman.

Mel shakes her head. “Not really that hungry, sorry,” she mumbles, a hand to her head. She sighs. “I was running a fever back in Grandview, too, when this all happened there.”

“What else happened while you were fighting these… Shadow, things?” Katherine asks, tilting her head curiously.

Melinda swallowed. “I… was consumed by it.”

Cathy tilts her head. “Consumed?”

Mel nods. “It wore me down. I couldn’t differentiate ghosts and visions from people and real life.” Her arms involuntarily cross as she remembers. “It was scary. I didn’t think I’d find my way back. I thought I was lost.”

“What got you back?” Catherine asks.

At that, Melinda smiles. “My son. And the memories of my family, my loved ones - it helped me break through.” She frowns. “We don’t have Aiden around this time, though. He was the reason why I could break through in the first place. He gave the opening. And he’s not here.” She frowns. “So… the big question is, what are we going to do if they try to take one of you?”

No one had an answer for that.

Meanwhile, Jim and Anna were sitting in the living room, looking through papers and websites to find leads. They had sat in relative silence for a while - a comfortable one, but silence nonetheless.

It’s broken when Jim makes a small noise of annoyance and puts down a piece of paper.

Anna raises an eyebrow and looks at him. “You alright, Jim?”

He looks over, a bit surprised by the question, but sighs and answers. “Look, Anna, the last time Melinda dealt with the Shadows… she almost didn’t make it out. It’s practically a miracle that she survived.” He sighs. “I know this is important, and I wouldn’t dream of stopping her from doing her work, but-”

“You don’t want her hurt in the process.” Anna finishes, a knowing nod.

Jim leans back a bit, slightly more relaxed. “Yeah.”

Anna thinks about it for a moment before she stands up and walks over to him. “Listen, Jim… I know we’ve only just met. But from what I can tell, you two have gone through much, much worse.” She points to his hair. “Your reflection is blonde, but you definitely aren’t. So, basically… this isn’t your first body, is it?” She looks him over. “It looks good, by the way, though I think I see what Melinda saw in your reflection, which I’m assuming is your second form? So I can see who you were but in reflections I see the body you’re in now?” She shrugs. “That’s what I’ve come to the conclusion to, anyways.”

Jim sits back, absolutely floored. “I’m extremely impressed that you figure this out so quickly - I couldn’t even figure it out for a while.”

“It was more of theory than fact, but I’m glad I was right,” she says. “Maybe souls can see souls. And maybe you’re not so different from me and my family, and maybe you’ve been through something similar. I get supporting your wife and all, but you take it to an inhuman level.”

“I’m not…” He runs a hand through his hair; guess it’s time to come clean, he supposed. “This body was someone else’s before it was mine. He crossed over, and I took his place as soon as he did.” He looks her over. “Originally, Melinda was thinking you guys did something similar to the bodies you have now.”

“We didn’t,” she assures. “I know you can’t completely trust me, but we didn’t. We showed up in these bodies.”

“Have you tried sending off DNA or fingerprints or death records?” He suggests. “We’ve seen weird stuff, Anna, maybe you all happened to die at the same time and you jumped in after that. I didn’t remember doing that at first, either-”

“We didn’t.”

The two look over to find Katherine. She’s standing in the doorway, two plates in her hands, Melinda right behind her.

“Kat-” Anna starts, but Katherine moves into the room, offering Anna and Jim plates. They both take them. Jim moves over so Melinda can sit next to him as Katherine continues.

“We showed up with them,” she says firmly, looking over at Melinda.

Mel nods. “These bodies… they’re here, but they’re not,” she explains. She frowns as she looks at Katherine’s hand. “I get visions any time I touch them, and their energies are so strong… it’s like the Shadows, but not threatening. Not dangerous.”

“That’s… not something we’ve seen before,” Jim says. “Payne might know something about that. He said to call him if anything gets wild, didn’t he?”

“I left a message for him already,” Melinda explains. She sees Jim’s worried look next to her and gently squeezes his hand, letting him know she’s okay. “We’ll have an answer tomorrow.” She looks at the group. “He’s a professor of the occult. Used to work in Grandview, now he’s researching off in the Himalayas.”

“And you think he’ll be able to help us?” Anne asks.

“I think so,” Mel confirmed.

“That’s all we can do for now, right?” Jane asks, looking around. “Just wait until Professor Payne gives us some more information?”

“I think so,” Catherine replies with a nod. She looks at the couple with a soft smile. “You two should get some rest. Call time is fairly early.”

Melinda blinks. “Call time?”

“Well,” Anne says, smiling. “You want this solved as much as we do, right? Might as well give you the best access we can.”

“So you’ll be our VIP guests for as long as you need to be,” Jane continues. “Behind the scenes access before, during, and after the show.”

“We figured it would help with the investigation,” Anna replies. “Maybe help you catch whoever’s behind it, since we’re all in agreement it’s supernaturally aligned.”

“And besides,” Jane says with a teasing grin. “If someone gets injured again, Jim won’t have an excuse for being slow to help.”

Jim chuckles at that and looks over at Melinda. “Well, I guess we’ll reschedule the ghost tour of the Tower of London.”

“Why would you pay for that?” Anne jokes, waving her hand dismissively. “You’ve already met them.”

#ghost whisperer #gw #gw fanfic #gw fanfiction #gw ff #ghost whisperer fanfiction #ghost whisperer fanfic #six the musical #six the musical fanfic #six the musical fanfiction #six the musical ff #six fanfic #six ff #six fanfiction

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angst-fairygodmother · 3 years

Text

Til Death Do Us Part (A Light Fingers AU)

A/N: I’ve had flash-images of Elena and Diego’s second wedding in my head since before I wrote the first one. I wrote part of this up back in October, but never finished it because “it’s not going to be what happens, so what’s the point?” But now I’ve decided the point is because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, so I made a few tweaks and finished it off. If anyone’s interested in their first dance song it’s this one. Because I choose to live in a fantasy wonderland and not overanalyze any lyrics. Rating: G. Other than a few swears, this one is nothing but wholesome fluffiness. Word Count: 3294 (oops, that got away from me) Cross-posted to AO3.

Diego fidgeted nervously, buttoning and unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt, not wanting to put on the suit jacket until the last possible moment for fear of sweating through it.

He started to pace the small room. Duncan picked his head up from the floor where he’d sprawled and whined, watching him. Diego leaned down to scratch him, ruffling his ears.

There was a knock on the door. He froze.

“Diego,” his mother’s voice called softly. “They wanted me to tell you they’re ready for you.”

He slid his arms one at a time into the smooth black sleeves, hands shaking. With a white-knuckled grip on the knob, he opened the door. Grace’s smile being the first thing he saw made him feel instantly calmer, though for once in his life, it didn’t completely quell his jitters.

“Oh Diego,” she said, touch cool as she stroked his cheek lovingly. “I’m so happy for you. And you look so handsome.”

“Thanks, Mom,” he said, smiling. “You should go find your seat.”

His siblings all smiled brightly at him as he walked toward them – except Five who still wore a much more peaceful and pleasant expression than his usual scowl – all resplendent in black and azure. Klaus flashed him a thumbs up. He turned and took his place, eyes fixed on the door.

“Nervous bro?” Klaus leaned in to whisper.

“No,” he lied with a chuckle. “I mean, we already did this once.”

“It’s still not too late to run.” Klaus gestured with his head toward the small door behind the altar.

Slowly, like a rolling wave, the assembled crowd turned and stood.

“Not a chance.”

Before his brother could say anything else, the music swelled and the doors creaked open one last time, and the rest of the world fell away until only Elena remained.

Her blonde curls were swept back from her face on one side, pinned in place by a simple comb and a posy of forget-me-nots, forget-me-nots that matched the ones in her hand mixed with the white carnations and roses and broad green ferns. Her long white gown clung to all of those wonderful curves that he loved so much before flaring out at her waist like a shining lace-capped cloud. She had chosen to forego a veil (or the “jaunty little top hat” she had joked about), so as she drew closer, he could see tears sparkling in her hazel eyes, joyful ones based on the dazzling smile on her wine-red lips, and he felt thankful that he wasn’t the only one feeling so much emotion.

As they reached the front of the hall, Daniel turned to look at her instead of standing beside and studied her face intently for a moment. Then he patted her hand lightly and turned back, smiling broadly, handing her up the steps and taking his place to her left.

Diego was sure the entire room could hear the heart beating out of his chest.

“Hey there stranger,” Elena mouthed, lacing her fingers through his.

He smiled at her, knees weak.

“Hi,” he murmured.

“Dearly beloved we are gathered here today…” the justice began, and Diego felt his heart leap into his throat. Hearing those words made it all seem so much more real. The rest of the words seemed a hazy buzz, he was too focused on her, on the way she looked, the way she smelled, the smile on her face, that perfect moment.

“…if anyone here can show cause why these two people should not be joined in matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace…”

Elena glared out at the crowd, and Diego couldn’t help but grin. It had been hard enough to get here, neither of them was going to really allow anyone to object, not without a fight. No one spoke and the officiant quickly moved on, and before he knew it, they were at the vows. Suddenly, nerves twisted his stomach and found himself forcing steadying breaths, just hoping he could get through a simple sentence without a stutter.

“Do you, Elena Pryce, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, honor and obey, til death do you part?”

“No,” she said bluntly with a shrug as the gathered audience gasped. “We talked about this. I mean I’m totally here for the whole love and cherish, share and support deal. Honor’s fine even, for the most part. But the ‘obey’ thing is some selfish buuullshiiit and I’m not doing that.”

“If anything, he’s probably the one obeying her,” Luther muttered, causing Klaus to giggle at his brother’s accidental innuendo and Elena to flash them a wink.

“But I do. I promise the rest of it. And more. My heart is yours, my soul is yours. We’re equals. Partners. No matter what. Until the end of the world, and probably beyond. I know I fucked that up the last time around, but I’m not going to make that mistake again. I’m in this, one hundred percent. I love you.”

Several of the audience gasped, scandalized that she had sworn. He grinned at her, rolling his eyes fondly.

The officiant stood, gaping, for a moment, and Diego turned to him with a half-shrug, as if to say ‘we did talk vows ahead of time, you knew this was coming.’

“Um. Right then...do you, Diego Hargreeves, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, honor, til death do you part?”

Elena raised her eyebrows at the absent word in his version of the vow.

“I do,” his words were slow, and she squeezed his fingers comfortingly. “I promise everything, and more, that I promised you the first time around, Elena. To see you as an equal and a partner, to take your needs and wants into every consideration, to support you and love you even when I don’t understand you. No matter what we’re going through or how things are between us, I’ll be there. Apocalypses couldn’t keep us apart.”

Klaus sniffled dramatically from behind him; one of the bridesmaids tossed a handkerchief over their heads to him and he hopped in the air to catch it. The officiant scowled at the antics. Diego and Elena just smiled.

“If we could now have the rings?” the officiant asked.

Luther stepped forward, pulling the two little velvet boxes out of his pocket, nearly dropping them in his fumble to deliver them, completely unsure anymore which was which.

“He’s going to quit before we’re through,” Elena mouthed, trying not to giggle at the officiant’s increasing annoyance.

“We’re almost there, I think he can make it,” Diego joked back.

“Repeat after me. With this ring, I, Diego Hargreeves,” the officiant started.

“Seal my promise, binding me to my word and vow. Let it be a physical token of all that I am and all I give to you. I now take thee, Elena Pryce, as my wife and the love of my life.” He finished, adding in the last bit as he slipped the familiar silver band back onto her finger where it belonged.

Tears welled up in her eyes again and she tried to surreptitiously brush them away before anyone noticed, and this time it was his turn to squeeze her fingers gently.

“And now you,” the officiant gestured to her. “Repeat after me…”

“With this ring, I, Elena Pryce, seal my promise, binding me to my word and vow. Let it be a physical token of all that I am and all I give to you. I now take thee, Diego Hargreeves,” she felt herself choking up, struggling to get the words out around everything she was feeling, “as my husband, again.”

Slowly, with shaking hands, she slid his ring onto his finger, and it was all he could do to wait for his cue of “you may now kiss the bride” before he pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. Her arms circled his neck as his wrapped tightly around her waist, and for not the first time that day, the rest of the world disappeared. He’d never bothered to try to count how many times they’d kissed, but this was the most perfect one, he was sure of it. He felt like the entire world was in his arms, and he never wanted it to end.

Someone cleared their throat, and the pair slowly separated, lingering as if there was some magnetic pull keeping them together. When they finally turned to the crowd, neither of them could stop grinning, faces wide and bright.

“Shall we?” he leaned in to whisper before offering her an arm.

“I think we shall, husband,” she answered, hooking her hand through. “After all, the snacks wait for no man.”

He laughed, head thrown back in delight as they led the processional out of the hall and across the lawn to the tent where the reception was being held.

Toward the end of dinner, Klaus stood up from his seat dramatically, holding his champagne flute aloft and tapping it with his fork.

“As the Best Man, I’ve decided, it’s probably time for my speech,” he called, voice carrying through the tent without need for amplification.

“Please tell me you cleared his speech ahead of time,” Diego muttered into Elena’s ear as they both watched his brother with wide eyes.

“He’s your best man,” she hissed back. “Besides, it’s Klaus. There’s no way he’d stick to a script even if he’d bothered with one.”

“Now, I’ve known Diego longer because he’s my brother, but I’ve known both halves of the happy couple for most of our lives. I’m sad it wasn’t me that introduced them, honestly. They just had to go and meet by random chance, without me.” He struck a dramatic pout for a moment before continuing. “I don’t know how they do it. Elena’s lovely, flawless, but Diego. Impossible to live with. So broody and stubborn. And the knives. Raise your hands if you think he’s brought at least one to his own wedding?”

Again he paused, and this time, hands went up all around the tent, probably at least half the attendees either agreeing or playing along with the joke, including, much to Diego’s shock and betrayal, Elena. Klaus caught onto it, and her grin, immediately and pointed.

“I’m taking that as he definitely has one, and I don’t want to know what you’re planning for it. Keep your wedding night shenanigans private.”

He threw a mock scolding glare, before he grew serious.

“You two are so good for each other, and you deserve this happiness. You’ve been through so much shit — am I allowed to say shit? Who am I kidding, her vows contained the words ‘fucked up’? — both together and apart. And no one should have to earn a happy ending, you should just automatically get one, but you two...definitely have. And if anyone ever ties to mess that up, I’ll...probably just let Five handle it actually. He’s so bored these days now that he’s retired from the apocalypse and assassination businesses. I love you both.”

He swept his arm outward, nearly splashing the champagne onto his aforementioned brother’s head. “To the bride and groom and happily ever after!”

The crowd cheered, raising their glasses and voices in answer.

“That was surprisingly heartfelt,” Elena whispered, and Diego nodded.

“Five’s still probably going to smother him with a pillow for that ending though.”

“Not our problem.” She laughed. Diego’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he joined her, heart swelling. He could listen to that sound forever.

As the crowd settled and Klaus retook his seat, Daniel stood.

“I suppose I should follow that then, as the bride’s Man of Honor, and as her brother,” he chuckled. “But I’m not sure how I can compete. That was...quite a speech. Still, it can't hurt to try I suppose.”

He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“My little sister is a pain in the ass. Stubborn, reckless, impulsive, short-tempered. But underneath that is a heart of gold. I have never known anyone who cares so much. Until I met Diego. I don’t think there could be a more perfect match than the two of them. There’s really nothing else to say. They’re cut from the same cloth, exactly alike and clearly meant for one another. I’m not usually one to credit fate, but these two might make a believer out of me. I have never seen Elena look like that, glowing with happiness like she does when she’s with him. And that alone is enough for me. To bless this marriage, and their lives together. To wish them, as Klaus did, a happily ever after.” He raised his glass in salute. “Elena and Diego!”

Elena blushed as the crowd once again cheered, ducking her head to bury it against the crook of Diego’s neck. Daniel’s speech left her full of emotion that she was almost embarrassed to show. He turned his head to kiss her, letting his lips linger on her hair for a moment.

Before long, it was time for the official first dance, and Diego felt nervous again. He had taken ballroom lessons as a child, and they had practiced together, not planning anything fancy, but his legs felt leaden as he walked to the center of the open space they’d reserved for dancing. He didn’t even care about himself, just worried that he would embarrass Elena somehow, or ruin things. He tried to squash down the feeling, knowing it was lingering self-hate from the way he was raised, but he couldn’t.

As the first humming cords of the song played, Elena walked through the parted crowd to join him. Their hands fit naturally together and he wrapped his other arm around her waist, holding her close. She rested her forehead against his as they swayed, and he felt sure for a moment that his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

“How are you doing?” she asked, a feather-light whisper.

The entire day had been a whirlwind, never stopping for a moment to give him time to process it all. And part of him was glad of it, sure that he’d be overwhelmed and exhausted if he did. But of course, here she was, checking in with him. And he could only guess that she was in much the same boat. Neither of them were exactly the most gregarious of people, and there were so many people and so much being asked of them.

“I’m fine,” he lied, knowing she’d pick up on his true meaning anyway, she knew him too well not to.

“Me too,” she murmured.

He leaned in a little further, nuzzling his nose against hers.

“We can bail.”

“On our own wedding?”

“If you want to.”

She chuckled, her eyes sparkling, head shaking just slightly.

They continued to spin around the floor, heedless of the eyes on them. He became aware that she was singing, soft and under her breath, eyes locked with his as if trying to bore the words into him with her gaze. Time seemed to be slowed down as they danced. Softly he brushed his lips against hers, the pair of them sinking into the kiss like they were falling.

She would happily die here in his arms, kissing him like this, she thought, her final moment trapped in such perfection, preserved like amber. She had no need of air or space or anything else but him.

Dimly the sound of applause tickled her awareness. Reluctantly she drew away, her eyes closed a moment longer before they fluttered open to meet his warm gaze.

“I love you,” he whispered for possibly the hundredth time that day alone. But she could never tire of hearing it, or saying it right back.

An hour later, she collapsed into a chair, leaning heavily against his side, after being dragged and paraded about the dancefloor by Klaus for several songs, and Amelia for several more without stopping. Meanwhile, he had been cutting a rug of his own, but managed to detangle himself sooner to take a break.

“How serious were you about cutting and running?” she asked, trying to catch her breath.

“Vanya moved a car as close as possible for us while we were serving the cake,” he replied casually, pouring a glass of icy water for her.

“Have I mentioned lately that you’re perfect?” she joked, taking a grateful sip. “I’m thinking I chuck these flowers so everyone’s nice and distracted and we make a break for it.”

“Not as perfect as you are.”

“Lies.” She stuck her tongue out at him with a giggle.

With a sigh, she dragged herself back to her feet, reluctant to leave him, again, feeling like they’d been separated by every ritual of a wedding and whim of their guests, even when they managed a dance together or a moment to sit side by side and hand in hand. His fingers lingered on her wrist, brushing against her skin as she stepped away, not holding her back but coaxing her to return to him.

Rather than raise her own voice, she shook the flowers in Allison’s direction, letting her claim a microphone from the band and make the call for all the interested single people to gather around. Realizing she was shorter than a good percentage of the crowd, she pulled over a chair, surprised to find Luther offering her a hand to climb up onto it.

“Alright, here it goes,” she called over her shoulder at the crowd. “Hope this doesn’t take any eyes out!”

The gathered group chuckled, though she was pretty sure she heard several people shuffle out and away from the likely throw-zone. She took a deep breath and several practice swings of her arms before finally letting the bouquet go, curving a graceful arc over her head, straight into Klaus’s arms.

“Hah!” he crowed, making her giggle and nearly fall from the chair.

Luckily, a firm, gentle arm caught her, helping her back to the ground safely, and she looked over to see Grace smiling at her.

“You and Diego should get going,” her melodic voice was nearly hypnotic in its comforting. “Klaus will keep their attention for a few minutes.”

“How did you…” she trailed off, puzzled by Grace’s seeming omniscience.

“Diego’s always been a little shy,” Grace explained, eyes soft and fond. “And I heard him ask Vanya about the car. It wasn’t hard to guess.”

Suddenly, Elena found herself being pulled into a tight hug.

“Welcome to the family, dear. I’m so happy for you two.”

After a split second of hesitation, mostly as she tried to process the strange emotion she was feeling, she returned the hug fiercely.

“Th-thanks,” she whispered, fighting back more tears. “You have no idea what that means.”

“Now go, and enjoy your honeymoon.” Grace stepped back, ushering Elena away as Klaus continued to brag and celebrate behind them, offering to let practically anyone in the crowd be the other half of ‘the next greatest newlyweds.’

Diego squeezed tightly, grinning, as she slipped her hand into his.

“Powers or no?” he asked.

“Where’s the fun in cheating?” she teased, answering his squeeze with her own and casting a glance behind her. “Now or never, let’s go.”

The two of them were laughing as they took off running, out of the tent, across the lawn, and into the night.

#definitely put more effort into planning this wedding than any event of my actual life #I had to cut the brother-sister dance (replacement for father-daughter) because it made me sad #and this is supposed to be nothin but fluff #cute romantic domestic fluff #Elena Pryce x Diego Hargreeves #Light Fingers #big Wedding AU #I'm sad that I couldn't find a way to incorporate Five into the wedding more #but I imagine him just being a little grumpy and awkward in the corner anyway #editing's for losers. I'll do it later

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