𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 || 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝
“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴
𝘐 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸
𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦
𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦: 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘦
'𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴“
Inspo: Henry Verus - REVENGE
Henry Verus - loveletter
Pairing: Cassie Howard x Male!reader
Summary: Revenge was always the answer...
Warnings: Angst, toxic vibes, smut, unprotected sex, and even more toxic vibes
Words: 2190
DNI IF YOU’RE YOUNGER THAN 18!
A wise man once said, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” The meaning of it was that the person willing to make that commitment, willing to ruin themselves to hurt another only led to their only damnation. But you wondered if he knew how much that matched the situation you had found yourself in.
A situation and place in time where you could only feel the air being sucked free from your lungs. An uncontrollable fury that flowed through your bloodstream. Creating shakes in your hands as you tried to bottle all that you were feeling. Chest rising in falling in quick and angry puffs as you tuned in on the secret you had discovered only a mere night ago. The sounds you had heard upon entering your home. Spotting those all too familiar sneakers by the front door.
Oh, man, you were seething with rage. And hearing those moans, that fragile voice calling out your brother's name. That might’ve been one of the darkest moments in your life. Close behind the videotapes of your father, that has scarred you for life.
And when you entered Nate’s room, you found the one thing that changed your outlook on dating or women. Although Nate was part of the blame, Cassie fell under his spell. She knew half the fucked up shit he’d done in the past, yet, she still followed through on fucking him. She easy. She wasn’t endgame material and you should’ve realized that a while ago.
But that had been the night things changed between you and Cassie. You couldn’t look at her like she was a normal human being. If anything, now, you looked at her like a piece of property- Nate’s property because that was what she was now. It had been the same with Maddy and it was now happening with your girlfriend.
She broke up with you not long after that night, and she was surprised to find you took it so easily. Thinking that she ended things peacefully with you and carried on with her days. But she should’ve been able to see the dark look in your eyes when she ended things. Although you did love her, she was far too gone to be saved. A piece of property was what she was now. Except, there was one thing you knew about Nate’s property and it was that he didn’t like that property to be touched.
So, here you were, standing in the far corner of the party ensuing around you. Falling Back by Drake blasted in the background as you continued to stare at your ex. Seeing her smile and enjoying her time with your brother. Feeling that guttural rage begin to build and build each moment you watched. The fact that they were happy, genuinely happy with one another was a shot in the back. Not only by your brother but by Cassie as well.
You wanted to set their world on fire. Just the idea of them suffering as you slowly widdle down their psyche was just blissful. Pretty fucked up, but the fact that Cassie had practically moved into your house, you weren’t merciful anymore. Especially now that you and your father spent most of the nights with football on, beers in hand, and hoping that the casters’ voices can block out the moans belonging to Cassie.
No, they didn’t deserve your mercy. They didn’t deserve the side of you that would roll over and accept the reality of the situation. So, when you spotted Lexi in the crowd talking to Kat, a lightbulb ignited in your mind.
Downing the rest of your drink, you made your way across the busy living room and to the kitchen where Lexi was. Entering, you moved past the two girls and to the bottles on the counter. Kat had dismissed herself to pick up Ethan’s call, giving you the chance you needed.
“Hey, Lex,” you greeted, causing the girl to turn around, her soft smile on display at the sight of you. But it faltered when seeing the bags under your eyes and hair slightly astray.
“Oh, hey, Y/n. How’s your night going?” She asked with a soft chuckle.
You pursed your lips with a shrug, offering a forced smile. “Just as anyone could expect nowadays.” Glancing past the girl, you could still see Cassie hanging onto Nate’s side. You nodded to the pair, a stab of pain in your chest. “But they look like they’re having fun though.”
She glanced over, scoffing at the sight of her sister drunk and being with Nate. “She’s going to get her heart broken in no time. After everything he’s done, she still goes to him.” You offered a red solo cup to her, pausing her ranting as she thanked you before she continued. “I mean, how dumb is she?”
Squinting your eyes, you stared at the blonde. “I mean, I dated her, so I can confirm that she is quite dumb. Maybe a few screws loose as well.” Your statement made the girl laugh, enabling a smile to form on your lips.
A lot of your friends didn’t exactly align with your brother as you hung out with drug addicts and the gossip girls of East Highland. Lexi was a part of that group and there was a genuine friendship you had with her. But, if you wanted to get some payback, you would have to twist it in a way that may piss Cassie off. Just the first stab into her heart that might show that this was just the start.
So, with nothing so much as a warning, your arm wrapped around Lexi’s waist and you pulled her into your chest. The squeak that fell from her lips made you smile, tilting your head as you stared down at the girl. “Just play along.”
“Y/n, what are you-” Lexi couldn’t help but stop herself, glancing in her sister’s direction. Finding the blonde watching intently of the position Lexi had found herself in. But the longer she stared at her sister, the longer she found reasons as to why she should listen to you. To get payback. To get revenge.
So, she looked up at you, glancing down at your lips before back up at your eyes. And it was her turn to take you by surprise, taking your breath away with her lips slamming against yours.
The kiss wasn’t what you thought capable from the bookworm. Everything you knew about Lexi was innocence. That and the fact that after a long night of drinking, when Cassie left the room to grab more beer, Lexi had confessed that she was a virgin. Wanting your advice on what may get her past this stage in her life. But feeling this and experiencing it would’ve fooled you if you never were exposed to the vulnerability she had shown.
Lexi’s hands drifted down, moving just past the hem of your jeans and resting over the growing tent. A deep guttural moan was swallowed by the girl, who couldn’t contain the smirk that formed on her lips. The desperate need for air was slowly becoming faded with the need for something more grew.
But it was short-lived by a livid blonde who wasn’t afraid to shove Lexi away and sweep you away. Looking over your shoulder, you gave an apologetic smile to Lexi. She was still trying to recover from the intensity, face red and lips beginning to bruise. It was adorable.
And when you found yourself pushed against a door in a room with no lights on, you couldn’t help but smile in amusement. Finding the amount of anger written on Cassie’s face to be adorable coming from someone who had no right to be this angry.
“Hello, Cass,” you greeted smugly.
“What do you think you’re doing with my sister? Going to use her to get back at me?” Cassie spat.
“Well, it got us alone, didn’t it?” You inquired, making the girl hush. A sigh fell from your lips, shrugging. “We’re just getting to know each other a bit better, you know?”
“Don’t be a fucking asshole. You look like a little pussy doing this. You know that, right?” Cassie said. “I mean, you are acting like a child by trying to have sex with my sister after I broke up with you.”
You laughed, scratching your temple. “Please, remind me because my memory might be a little fuzzy. But who was the one that cheated?” You asked. “Oh, wait! That was you! Now I remember!”
“Dont be a child-”
Before she could finish, you grabbed the side of her neck firmly. Nothing that with substitute as aggressive. You didn’t squeeze. You didn’t pull. You simply grabbed it. But it didn’t seize to make Cassie grasp and whimper under your hold.
Leaning closer, you stared at her lips with an essence of hunger rumbling in your gut. “I never cheated on you,” you stated. “But God, do I wish I did. The embarrassment you would’ve felt.”
Cassie groaned, managing to meet your dark gaze. “What are you going to do about it then?”
A sickening sweet smile crossed your features before you pressed your lips against hers. And then, it felt like everything before. The kiss, the heat, the need for one another. It was manufactured, but you had missed it so damn much.
She fought against you. The urgency in her hands was evident with her fumbling with your belt. The rattling of the buckle and the groans of frustration with the button made you grin.
Taking the lead, you peeled her shirt off and snapped her bra. Revealing her bare chest as you moved her toward the bed, keeping your lips pressed against hers even when the back of her knees met the edge of the bed.
Peeling her panties off, you pulled your pants off before peppering her neck in kisses. Cassie’s nails dug into your back, a greater sense of urgency in her movements. She was completely putty within your hold and liked it that way.
And some part of you felt horrible doing what you were doing. This wasn’t just to get some sort of moment of euphoric galore. If you wanted that, you would’ve told Cassie to fuck off and just fucked Lexi. At least there, things may have worked out better. But this was a plan that you were making up on the fly. You were scheming to get back at your brother and Cassie.
Forcing her legs apart, you grabbed the base of your cock and lined it up with her fluttering cunt. Ever so slowly, you eased yourself in. A deep guttural groan is ripped from your chest. Cassie was a panting, writhing mess laid out just for you. Her hands grabbed handfuls of the bed sheets in an attempt to find some grounding aspect to the intensity filling the room.
Her breaths were hiccuped and choked out of her when you laid flush against her, hips raising to relieve her of the sense of fullness. But it was only a moment later that you slammed your hips against her, stealing the air from her lungs. Nails dug deeper into your skin until they drew blood, making the line between pain and pleasure blur. Mending together into some sick and twisted turn-on for you. And it sparked the aggression in your body.
And something in the air shifted the energy the two of you had. From pent-up and possible deprivation of one another was now an animalistic desire. Teeth baring, lips sucking, hands roaming and gripping as tight as possible. Sweaty bodies flush with choked moans filling the bedroom.
It was the source of why things ended so quickly. Cassie trembling beneath you and your cock twitching around the vice grip of her velvet walls. Sweeping a few strands of hair from your face, you placed a firm hand on her stomach and slowly pulled out. Hearing the girl whimper and whine. “Good girl.”
Cassie lay there, catching her breath as you disappeared from her vision. She could hear the scuffling of clothes until the weight beside her sunk with the sight of you pulling your jeans up. A wandering hand grabbed your arm. You looked back at her for a moment, but ripped her hand off of you, making her frown. “What’s wrong?” She mumbled, sitting up on her elbows.
“If you thought this was up making up for your idiocy, then you’re sadly mistaken, Cassie,” you stated. “I mean, I knew you were fucking clueless sometimes, but you are breaking the world record.”
The hurtful comments made Cassie purse her lips, looking away from you.
“Oh, and Cassie?” The blonde sniffled, turning her head and watching you stand from the edge of the bed and straighten your shirt out. A devilish grin etched on your lips as you shrugged. “You deserve to be lied to, but I’ll spare surprising you.” Placing your hands on the frame at the foot of the bed, you shook your head. “I cannot wait to see him tear you into pieces.”
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Summary: Bruised and bloodied, you end up with the last person you thought you'd turn to, and he wants answers.
Word Count: 6.7k
Warnings: alcohol use, drinking
“Who was he?” you asked as he pulled back onto the freeway.
“Someone very powerful. And, like I said, someone you don’t want to fuck with. He gave up your keys too easily, I don’t like it.”
You shrugged. “Fine. Keep your secrets. I’m gonna try to get some sleep, but wake me up when we get to a motel.”
You balled up your sweatshirt between your head and the car window and fell asleep almost immediately.
Sweeney took that opportunity to scan your sleeping face, the fear from earlier a stone in his stomach. Why was Fear Doirich looking for you? He had said he wanted whatever it was that you had been sent to retrieve for Wednesday, but that was a lie. At least, it was a partial one. The Dark Man was plotting something, Sweeney just knew it, and it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Sweeney knew he couldn’t do anything about it now, but he could at the very least do his damnedest to make sure that you were protected.
A few hours later, Sweeney shook you awake. You peered up at him groggily and groaned. “Five more minutes,” you mumbled, turning away from him and pulling your sweatshirt-pillow closer.
He rolled his eyes. “We’re here so you can keep sleepin’. Besides, I already paid for the room so you are not sleeping in this car.”
You made a muffled sound that Sweeney was fairly confident was an impressive string of profanity.
He huffed. “We don’t have time for this. Up you get, let’s go.” He leaned down and pulled you from the car, slinging you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Now you were wide awake.
“Put me down!” you snarled, pounding on his back with your fists. “I’m not a child!”
He snorted. “Could’ve fooled me.”
You growled and aimed a kick at his stomach, feeling your foot sink into the soft flesh there. He doubled over, loosening his grip and nearly dropping you, but you managed to land neatly on your feet.
“You are a fuckin’ piece’a work, you know that?” he snapped.
“You’re one to talk,” you shot back. “Don’t manhandle me.”
“Then get your fuckin’ ass in gear next time!” He stood to his full height, massaging his stomach and sucking in a breath. “Every day you get on my nerves a little more.”
You glared at him. “No one’s forcing you to be here.”
He shot you a look as he unlocked the door of the motel room. You stepped in, wrinkling your nose at the faint odor.
“Would it kill us to get a halfway decent room every once in a while?” you muttered.
He pretended not to hear you and made his way into the bathroom, gesturing for you to follow.
“Up there,” he said, pointing to the counter. “Shirt off.”
You smirked at him. “If you wanted to get me naked you could’ve just said.”
He snorted. “Needta change your bandages.”
You moved to strip down but paused.
“You all right?” he asked. “I can get the scissors again, but at the rate you’ve been goin’ through clothes ‘m not sure—“
You cut him off. “It’s not that it hurts,” you murmured, twisting gently to your left and then to your right. “It’s that it…doesn’t?”
His red eyebrows shot up. “What?”
You hurried to correct yourself. “No, I mean it still hurts, obviously it still hurts, but it doesn’t hurt as much as it feels like it should.”
His brow furrowed. “Lemme take a look.”
You pulled your shirt over your shoulders and presented your back to him. Sweeney carefully peeled back the layers of bandages. He sucked in a startled breath and you could see his surprise in the mirror on the wall.
“What is it?” you demanded.
“This is…it shouldn’t look like this,” he said slowly. “I mean, it still doesn’t look good, but considering your flesh was ribbons two days ago?” His eyes met yours in the mirror. “It shouldn’t look like this.”
You twisted to see your back in the mirror and an uneasy feeling settled over you. Sweeney was right, it still didn’t look great, but the deep lacerations across your back looked as though they were at least a few weeks healed, not just a few days.
You turned to Sweeney with wide eyes and were met with an equally surprised stare. He reached out, bracing a hand against your cheek, and gently pulled away the bandage on your face. It was the same. Far more along in healing than it had any right to be.
“What the hell is this?” you demanded.
He held up his hands. “How in the fuck am I s’posed to know?”
“I don’t know! You’re the leprechaun that’s supposedly thousands of years old, I figured if one of us was gonna know what the fuck is going on, it would be you!” You were fairly shouting now, but Sweeney could see the fear that was beginning to creep into your expression.
He shook his head. “I’ve seen a lot of things, love, but nothing like this. You’re healing miles faster than you should be.”
You chewed on your lower lip. “There’s gotta be someone we can ask.”
Sweeney shrugged. “First person I can think of is Circe.”
You shook your head. “I dunno, I don’t know that she would be able to help us with this. I don’t know how much she can help with things that aren’t a direct result of magic.”
He looked at you incredulously. “Look at yer back an’ tell me magic isn’t involved somehow.”
Now it was your turn to shrug. “I don’t know, but honestly? As long as I’m not dying from blood loss or infection, this is not at the top of my list of priorities.”
“So what is?” Sweeney demanded.
You blinked. “Are you serious? The weird bitch that had my car? The one that had you about to shit your britches?”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. Who was he?”
Sweeney squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose like he could will your questions away.
“Sweeney,” you demanded.
“He’s someone you don’t want to fuck with,” was his only response.
You stared at him in disbelief. “That cannot be your actual answer. Everyone we interact with is someone we don’t want to fuck with but none of them have ever had you acting like this.”
The ginger giant refused to meet your eyes. You sandwiched his face between your hands and made him look at you. “Sweeney. Who was he?”
His grass-green eyes looked at you pleadingly.
“Don’t make me smack you,” you threatened.
He sighed and pulled his face from your grasp. “You know how you won’t refer to Gr — to the old man by name? This is the same. Names have power, and that…that thing doesn’t need any more than he already has, just like the old man. We’ll call him the Dark Man. S’what his name translates to anyway.”
You looked at him expectantly and he took a deep breath.
Sweeney spoke haltingly. “F—the Dark Man, he…he’s fear itself, as it were. Or one of its iterations at least. He used to…take people. He was a servant of the Faerie Queen and he has…an ability, we’ll call it, to strip people of their will.”
“To make them do what he wants,” you said. It wasn’t a question.
Sweeney nodded. “Many have followed him, but few, if any, have ever come back. The Dark Man, the Black Druid, he’s gone by many different names. He feeds on fear and doubt.”
You scratched your chin thoughtfully. “So what could he want from us? Like…I’ve never actually heard of this guy, not in the way we’ve heard of the old man or Czernobog or anyone else. He can’t actually be that powerful, can he? There’s not that many stories about him, there’s no way—“
“Drop it,” Sweeney said sharply.
You blinked, startled at his tone. Usually, you would immediately be inclined to argue with him or to keep poking the bear, but something in his eyes, something that looked an awful lot like real fear, held you back.
“Fine. Whatever.” You turned your back to him. “I’m going to get food. Come with me or don’t.”
He put a warm hand on your shoulder. “You need rest. I’ll go get us some burgers.”
You looked up at him. “Can we get chicken?”
He chuckled. “Can those eyes get any bigger?”
You stuck out your lower lip for added effect and the corner of his mouth quirked up. “All right, we passed a KFC not too far from here. I’ll go, you rest. Don’t leave this room and don’t open the door for anyone but me.”
You saluted sarcastically. “Yessir.”
He rolled his eyes and left the room, grabbing your keys. The door shut behind him, the lock sliding into place, and you were alone in the dank room. You flipped through the channels on the grainy television until you landed on something that seemed even vaguely interesting.
Shucking off your grimy jeans, you dug through the duffel until you came up with a pair of relatively clean sweatpants and what looked like one of Sweeney’s shirts. You pulled on the sweats and tugged the shirt over your head, rolling up the sleeves until your hands were visible.
You flopped onto the bed, wincing when the wounds on your back twinged in protest, and sighed heavily. The bed wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was the best you’d had in a bit. At the very least, it was significantly better than being stuck in whatever shithole the Jotnar had you in. Sitting up, you pulled the pillows and blankets from their positions, building a nest around yourself, but it still didn’t feel like it was enough. Then, you spied the phone on the nightstand.
You dialed the front desk. “Hi!” you said brightly. “Yes, everything is fine. I was just wondering if it would be possible to have some extra pillows brought to room fifteen? Two or three, if you wouldn’t mind, and an extra blanket if you can. Great, thank you!”
A few minutes later, you had the extra pillows and blanket. You arranged everything into a nest on your bed, propping yourself up with a pillow so you could see the episode of Kitchen Nightmares that was playing on the old, staticky television. You were determined to stay awake until the Irishman returned with your chicken tenders in tow, but as the minutes ticked by you found it more and more difficult to keep your eyes open. You didn’t even notice yourself fall asleep.
Sweeney shouldered the door open, balancing the boxes in one hand. “Here’s yer damn chicken, you—“
He stopped short when he saw you curled up in a nest of blankets and pillows, fast asleep and breathing softly. Your hair was a mess, sticking out in all directions, and the circles under your eyes were dark as bruises, but you were asleep. Properly asleep, not passed out from pain or crammed into a car. He knew he should wake you and make you eat something, but you looked so small and fragile that he couldn’t bring himself to disturb you.
Sweeney turned off the TV and slid into the empty bed. Staring up at the blank ceiling, his mind ran a mile a minute. He still couldn’t wrap his head around why Fear Doirich would have taken an interest in you, and it made his skin crawl. The Dark Man had said that he’d wanted whatever it was that you had been sent to retrieve for Grimnir, but that wasn’t the truth. Or at least, it wasn’t the whole truth. He didn’t know how he knew, but he could feel in his gut that there was more to what the Dark Man wanted.
And then there was the matter of your wounds. How were you healing the way you were? There was no way this was occurring naturally, but Sweeney could think of no time between when you’d shown up at his door on the verge of death and now where you would have been able to see a healer. He’d been by your side the entire time and there was nothing and no one that could have done this, but there had to be some sort of external force. He wracked his brain, trying to recall anything that you might have said or done that would indicate that something about you was more than human, but he came up empty.
The leprechaun slept, although fitfully. He found himself waking almost every hour, sitting upright and sweating, eyes darting frantically around the room until they landed on you and he was sure that there was no immediate danger and you were still asleep. That you were still safe.
The next morning, you busied yourself with the coffeepot in the motel room’s dinky kitchenette. The events from the previous day swirled through your mind and you were so preoccupied that you hadn’t noticed Sweeney had woken and was watching you from the counter.
You started when you turned and saw him, almost dropping the coffeepot, and scowled. “You look like shit,” you told him, taking in his bloodshot eyes.
He snorted. “You should look in a mirror, fuck.”
“Did you sleep at all?” you asked.
He made a noncommittal sound. “Here and there.”
You hummed and pointed to a roadmap that you had laid out on the table. “Okay, so the old man’s trinket is in Kansas City, about two and a half hours away from where we are now in Joplin. If we hit the road in the next hour, we can get it and then we’ll be in Kentucky by late tomorrow morning or early afternoon at the latest.”
You set a mug of watery instant coffee down in front of him and he lifted it to his lips, taking a sip and wincing before sliding a flask from his pocket and emptying the contents into the mug. You rolled your eyes.
“I think we should give it a bit before we go get whatever it is that he sent you for,” Sweeney said, eyeing you like he knew you weren’t going to take to that idea at all.
Sure enough, you looked at him incredulously. “Absolutely not. I want to get this shit out of my hands and I want to get paid.”
He glared at you. “You have the Dark Man after you because supposedly he wants whatever it is that you have and the Jotnar are after you for the same reason and because you stole from them. It might be a good idea to lay low for a little.”
“Isn’t that all the more reason to get rid of it?” you asked. “If it gets returned to the old man, it’s not my problem anymore.”
He narrowed his eyes and grunted. “And if you get killed along the way?”
You set your jaw. “I won’t.”
“You’re so sure?”
“I’ve been pretty lucky the last couple of days,” you pointed out. “I’m willing to bet it’ll hold.”
“You’re putting a lot of faith in something that really just amounts to chance,” he muttered.
You grinned. “That’s what I’ve got you for, isn’t it? Don’t you do that every day?”
He chuckled darkly. “That’s not how it works.”
You shrugged. “Either way, I think between the two of us we’ve got enough luck to get us to the other side in one piece.”
He sighed heavily. “Fine, but if you get me killed, I’m haunting you.”
You smiled. “Seems like a fair trade.”
Within the next half hour, you were fed and on the road.
The drive, surprisingly, was relatively peaceful. You bickered about radio stations and music choices, argued about directions, and tried to play road games, which then devolved into a shouting match in which you almost swung on him over his interpretation of the rules for the alphabet game. But nothing came after you. You sighed and patted the dashboard of the car.
“Thanks, darlin’,” you murmured.
Sweeney looked at you. “Talking to the car? And they say I’m the one that’s lost it.”
“You’re just jealous,” you shot back.
“Of who? You or the car?”
“Open to interpretation.”
He swatted at you with a meaty paw and you leaned your seat back as far as it would go, laughing.
He mimicked your laugh in a high tone. “You’re not gonna be laughing when I run us off the road,” he sang.
You sat back up and pouted at him. “You wouldn’t do that to me, you’d be lost without me.”
His eyes flicked to you for a moment before his attention was back on the road. “Yeah,” he said softly, “I would.”
Taken aback by the change in his energy, your eyes darted around for something to change the subject. In the signs whipping past, you saw that you were about half an hour outside of Kansas City, where you had utilized a bus station locker as your storage. You’d lost the key when the Jotnar had caught up to you, throwing it as hard as you could into the Arkansas River, but you were confident that even though your knowledge of spells was limited, you had one to unlock things. And even if you didn’t, you knew how to pick a lock.
You turned to Sweeney. “If we don’t get something to eat soon, I’m going to do something to end up on national news,” you threatened.
“You’re the one that’s having us make this detour, you can wait a couple hours,” he replied.
You grumbled something under your breath about stupid rat bastards and he pretended not to hear.
When you arrived at the station in Kansas City, you shifted your body so you were facing Sweeney. “Can you please, for the love of all things sacred and holy, wait here?”
He shook his head. “Not a chance. I’m not letting you go in there by yourself.”
You groaned and pinched the bridge of your nose. “I can get in and out without anyone seeing me. Please, Sweeney. In and out, I promise.”
He shook his head again. “No. What if it’s a trap? What if they’re waiting for you?”
“Then I’ll scream.”
“I won’t be able to hear you from out here,” he countered.
You huffed. “If I’m not back in this seat in fifteen minutes, you can barge in and rescue me, okay?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Ten minutes.”
“Oh my god, fine. Ten minutes.”
He seemed slightly more satisfied with this, but still unhappy. “At least take this with you,” he said, taking a pendant from his neck and placing it over your head. His fingers brushed your collarbones and seemed to linger for a fraction of a second longer than they needed to, making your cheeks flush. You inspected it and found that it was a small clay pendant with knotwork molded into its face.
You looked at him questioningly but he wouldn’t meet your eyes.
“It’s the Dara knot,” he said quietly. “The shield knot. We…we used to use it for protection.”
You wanted to say something, but your tongue was leaden in your mouth. You were overwhelmed with a surge of affection or the giant idiot in the passenger seat of your car and, unable to speak, you settled for patting him on the knee. “I’ll be back soon,” you promised.
He looked at you with a look in his eyes that made your chest tighten. “Be safe,” he murmured.
You climbed out of the car and pulled up the hood of your sweatshirt as you made your way inside the station. Your eyes scanned the rows of steel storage lockers until the landed on the one you were looking for. You made a lap around the station before approaching, eyes bouncing from face to face and scanning every nook and cranny, every corner where someone might hide. Satisfied that it was safe, you approached the locker as casually as you could.
The initial aura that hung around it seemed undamaged and you breathed a sigh of relief. Running your fingers around the edges of the door, you felt for the wards you had set. These, too, remained unbroken.
You whispered a few words and the door popped open. The contents within remained undisturbed and your legs jellied with relief. The canvas backpack was crammed into the back, same as you had left it, and you snatched it from the locker, rummaging around and doing a mental inventory. All of your charms and amulets seemed to be present and accounted for, but you kept digging until your fingers closed around what you were looking for. The rough wooden rod was there at the bottom, its warmth seeping into your hand and the carved runes pressing against your skin. You released a breath you hadn’t known you were holding. Gungnir was safe. You wrapped it in a silk cloth that had been tucked into one of the outer compartments of the bag and placed it back inside alongside a small number of vials and herbs before quickly making your way back out to the parking lot, conscious of the fact that your ten minutes was almost up.
Sweeney saw you coming and unlocked the doors. Tossing the bag into the footwell, you slid into the passenger seat and he immediately reached for the bag to begin rummaging through until he produced the cloth bundle. He unwrapped it and his jaw fell open.
“Are you serious? The trinket you were talking about was Gungnir?”
You nodded and he scrubbed his hands over his face.
“Christ, no wonder they were after you! You had Gungnir.”
You looked at him reproachfully. “Don’t take that tone with me.”
“Tone? You had one of the most powerful weapons on the planet in a bus locker and you’re worried about my tone? There’s no way we make it to Jack’s without dying, this might as well be a beacon for everything within a hundred miles!”
You flashed him a grin. “Ah, but therein lies the beauty of this old girl!” you crowed, smacking the dashboard. “She’s warded! Nigh impossible to find.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And you’re sure about this? Even with something this powerful?”
You chewed your lip. “Like 87% sure.”
His eyes bulged and he made a disbelieving sound. You glared at him. “I’ll say it again, no one’s forcing you to stick around,” you snapped. “If you don’t like it, no one’s making you put your ass on the line. I can get there just fine by myself.”
Sweeney didn’t say a word, but tightened his grip on the wheel and stared straight ahead.
“That’s what I thought,” you muttered.
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he shot back.
“No, but it does mean you have to stop bitching. If I was forcing you to come with me I’d let you complain all you wanted, but let me remind you that you were the one that attached himself to me. So let me do what I need to do and shut the hell and fuck up about it.” You were beginning to get angry.
He didn’t answer but sulked in the driver’s seat. You rolled your eyes and flipped through the radio stations, settling on one that was blaring Alanis Morissette.
Sweeney groaned. “For chrissakes, can’t we listen to something else?”
“No. I’m not listening to your bullshit for the next ten hours.”
He made a face. “So I have to listen to yours?”
“It’s my car!”
“What happened to your rule about the driver picking the music?” he whined.
“When I’m driving,” you said, jabbing a finger at your chest for emphasis. “Otherwise it’s passenger DJ rules.”
“That feels rigged,” he grumbled. He opened his mouth to make what you could only assume was another smartass comment, but his eyes locked on something in the rearview mirror and his face paled. His hand shot out and gripped your thigh.
The sudden shift in his energy made you nervous. “What? What is it?”
He didn’t answer, but pressed his foot against the gas and the car leapt forward. You twisted in your seat to get a glimpse of what might’ve been after you. Three massive goat-headed figures were charging up the road after you, and they were closing the gap.
“Sweeney, what the fuck are those?” you demanded, unable to keep the tremor from your voice.
He swore. “Bocánaigh. He must’ve sent them, but I don’t know how—“
His words were drowned out by an earsplitting wail that turned your blood to ice. Something landed on the roof of the car with a thud and Sweeney jerked the steering wheel in an effort to throw it off, spewing profanities.
“Bran, the last time I saw one of these was…fuck it was millennia ago. Where did he find them?” Sweeney was talking more to himself than to you, but you still shook your head.
“I don’t know! I’ve never seen—“
Before you could finish your thought, there was a tremendous bang as one of the front tires exploded. The car swerved dangerously, but Sweeney managed to wrestle it to the shoulder of the road, narrowly avoiding colliding with a telephone pole.
Your eyes were squeezed shut and you white-knuckled your seat as you chanted every protection spell you could remember, sifting through the recesses of your mind for even the smallest thing that Circe had taught you that might help. You didn’t know what else to do.
“Is there any iron in here?” Sweeney demanded.
Your chanting stuttered. “Do I have any what?”
“Iron!” he bellowed. “Iron, do you have iron anywhere in this car?”
You blinked. “Horseshoe in the glovebox. Everything that was in the trunk is gone.”
He clenched his jaw. “It’ll have to do. Stay here, stay in this car, and pray to whoever the fuck might be listening that the enchantments Circe put on this thing hold.” He yanked the horseshoe from the glovebox, gripping it like makeshift brass knuckles in his fist, and launched himself from the car with a howl.
You returned to your incantations, doing your best to block the awful sounds. Every time one of Sweeney’s blows landed and the iron made contact with the flesh of the goat-headed men, you could hear their flesh sizzle and their screams of rage. You heard a nasty thwack followed by Sweeney grunting in pain as they head-butted him and did their damnedest to gore him with the curved and cruelly pointed horns that arced out of their heads.
You wracked your brain for something, anything, that you could do aside from sitting on your ass and muttering spells that may or may not have been working.
Sweeney’s head hit the ground with a sickening thud and you swallowed. Fuck it, you thought. If I’m going down, I’m going down swinging. You kicked open the car door, armed only with Sweeney’s pocketknife and a snarl.
You howled at the top of your lungs, slinging every word of Greek protection that Circe had taught you. The beasts turned to you, yellow eyes narrowing. Your heart picked up in your chest but you held fast, reciting the verses over and over, but they had no effect.
You opened your mouth to try again, but what came out was not Greek. It wasn’t any language that you knew and it certainly was not part of the meager arsenal Circe had armed you with, but the words flowed from your lips as though you had known them for years.
"Ceathrar a leag an tsúil, fear agus bean, buachaill agus cailín, triúr gortach, an tAthair, an Mac, agus an Spiorad Naomh!”*
The Bocánaigh hissed and cringed at your words and you moved towards them, more of that familiar-yet-unfamiliar language rolling off your tongue like you had never known another.
You picked up the horseshoe and began smashing your way through the three of them, your words never faltering, never slowing, until eventually the beasts fled.
After a moment, when you were sure the danger had gone, you hauled yourself to Sweeney’s slumped form against the side of the car.
“Hey dummy,” you said, crouching in front of him. “You okay?”
He groaned and rose to his feet, swaying slightly before sitting back down heavily. “I might be concussed.”
You nodded. “Yeah, you took a few slams to the noggin there. You hit the ground pretty hard, too. Other’n that though it doesn’t look like they did too much damage. Looks like your luck is holding.” You flashed him a grin, but he wouldn’t meet your eyes. Instead, his eyes skated over your face, suspicion knitting his brow.
“Yeah, those things might as well just be specters that pack a punch, can’t do much damage to someone like me.” His voice was distant, he was distracted. “You, though…there’s barely a scratch on ya. And what the hell was that? Where’d you learn Gaeilge like that?”
You shrugged. “I didn’t even know that that’s what that was. I was trying to recite a Greek incantation, but that came out instead. I guess I got lucky.” You paused as you realized what you said. “Hey now, see? I told you you had enough luck for the both of us.”
Sweeney shook his head. “No, that wasn’t luck, love. That was…that was something else. I think we need to have words with Wednesday.”
You hummed. “Fine, but we need to get him his thing first. Get in the passenger seat, princess, I’m driving the rest of the way.”
He made a face but did as you said.
“C’mon, up you get,” you grunted, pulling one of his arms over your shoulders. He groaned as you pulled him to his feet and led him around the car, gingerly lowering him into the passenger seat. “Big baby,” you teased.
He glowered at you, but there was no heat behind it. “I did just get the living daylights beat out of me.”
You laughed. “My knight in shining armor. We’ll stop and get you some Advil on the way, yeah?”
“An’ a bottle of whiskey.”
You gave him a mock salute. “Yessir, a bottle of Jamo should get you right as rain.”
You managed to make it the rest of the way to Knott County without incident, the ride passing much smoother once Sweeney got his Jameson and his painkillers. You sent a silent prayer of thanks to whoever it was that seemed to be looking out for you. Helping the ginger giant out of the car, the two of you made your way into the bar.
Instantly, the hair on the back of your neck stood on end as you were assaulted with the sounds and smells of Jack’s Crocodile Bar. You hated this place. As often as it had been the site of many rowdy nights and raucous fun, it was also the place where you had functionally sold your soul to the Devil. A devil with one eye and no care for anyone but himself.
You had hoped that you would have some time before the old man saw you, desperately needing a pint before whatever was about to happen, but it seemed that your luck did not extend that far. A familiar voice called your name, and it made your skin crawl.
The old man beckoned you to where he sat with a wide grin. Sweeney took the seat on his left and you took the one on his right. Wednesday had already ordered for you, a pint of lager sitting beside his glass of what you could only assume was Jack Daniels. The man had few vices, but apparently Tennessee whiskey was one of them. You eyed the pint glass suspiciously, not trusting anything he put in front of you.
“I see we have one more joining us,” he said jovially, clapping Sweeney on the shoulder. “Mad Sweeney! I wasn’t expecting you for another two days. Oh, this is delightful.” The Irishman grunted and flagged down the bartender and a few moments later a rum and coke was on the bar in front of him. You could see a muscle in his jaw feather as he grit his teeth.
“I’m not particularly in the mood for pleasantries,” you said coldly, reaching into your pack and producing the cloth bundle that held Gungnir. Wednesday’s cold eyes brightened and he reached for it, but you snatched it from his reach. “Payment first.”
He sighed. “Always business, never pleasure. When was the last time you sat and enjoyed a drink with an old friend?”
“We are not friends,” you sneered. “You are my employer and I am your employee. This is a business relationship.”
He pouted and then gave you a knowing look that made you want to poke out his other eye. “We know you’re more than that now, don’t we?”
“They were held by the Jotnar for almost a week,” Sweeney cut in. “Where were you?”
The old man looked at him coldly before producing a fat envelope from inside his jacket. “Payment, as agreed.” He turned to Sweeney. “And you! Let me buy you another round. Consider it thanks for bringing my favorite employee back to me in one piece.” His words oozed sarcasm. It made you itch.
“Weren’t for lack of trying on their part,” Sweeney muttered.
You cocked your head. “Yeah, about that. Some guy’s after your stick.”
Wednesday chuckled. “You’ll have to be more specific than that. There’s plenty of people that would love to get their hands on this.”
“Tall, dark, radiates fear? Ring any bells?” You were losing what little patience you had.
He shook his head. “Doesn’t sound familiar.”
“The Dark Man,” Sweeney snapped, clearly no more in the mood for games than you were.
Wednesday’s face remained impassive, but his eyes widened. Just a fraction, but it was enough. It wasn’t fear, but at the very least he was unsettled hearing the name.
“The Black Druid?” His voice was careful, measured. He knew something that he wasn’t telling you.
Something new and different, you thought bitterly, but you nodded. “He stole my car and seemed pretty keen on finding this.”
Wednesday’s face pinched and he sighed. “The Dark Man isn’t after this, I’m afraid. He’s after you.”
Your face paled and Sweeney gripped the glass he was holding so tightly that it shattered.
“What? What in the hell could he want with me?” you asked.
He sipped at his whiskey. “I believe you have something that he wants.”
You stared at him, mouth agape. “What could I possibly, possibly fucking have that he would want? I didn’t even know who he was two days ago!”
The old man didn’t answer, merely gazed at you with an indecipherable expression. “I’d be very careful if I were you,” he said simply, before downing the rest of his drink and taking his leave before you could so much as blink.
The two of you stared after him, dumbfounded. “Great, we’ve got more questions than we had when he got here and he left us with the tab,” you said, scowling at your untouched pint.
Sweeney knocked back a shot. “Wish I could say I was surprised.” He clapped a hand on your shoulder and pulled you from your seat. “C’mon, let’s do what we do best.”
You looked up at him. “Get shithoused?”
He knocked back another shot and slammed the glass against the wooden surface of the bar. “Get shithoused,” he grinned.
That was how, several hours later, you ended up standing on top of the bar, belting “Mr. Brightside” at the top of your lungs. Sweeney watched you with a smile on his face as you led the entire bar through the chorus.
The song finished and you swept your arms wide, a huge grin plastered on your face. You moved to take a bow and pitched too far forward almost immediately. The world fell out from under you as you toppled from the bar, but you never hit the concrete floor. Warm arms encircled you and you found yourself gazing into a familiar pair of green eyes.
“I think it might be time for us to go, love,” Sweeney said.
You looked up at him and giggled. “Awh, we can’t stop now! The party’s just getting started!”
He chuckled and set you on your feet, steadying you as you swayed. “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we need to bow out. Before you split your skull.”
He pulled you out the door and you pouted. “Can’t believe my king is telling me the party’s over. Y’know, if you’d acted like this before Mag Rath we might not’ve lost.”
At your words, Sweeney’s blood turned to ice. “Wh-what did you just say?”
Something in your eyes had shifted. There was a wild and determined look in them now as you held up your hands. “Look, don’t get pissy with me. All’s I’m saying is if we’d been more careful, Donall wouldn’t’ve—“
“No. What do you mean ‘before Mag Rath’? How would you know anything about that battle?”
You flicked his nose. “I was there, dummy. I led your battalion like you aaaaasked and you still booked it. Not that I blame you, honestly. That shit was horrific.”
Sweeney stared at you like he had never seen you before. A memory flickered at the back of his mind.
“Go!” you bellowed. “Go, I’ll hold them off!” You raised your arms wide and a gust of wind ripped across the field, forcing Donall’s men back.
He blinked, his mind reeling. His lieutenant…
No. That wasn’t you. It couldn’t have been. That was almost two thousand years ago. That wasn’t you.
And yet…and yet. He couldn’t deny the magic that ran through you. The way the Irish incantations had pulled themselves from you like you had always known them. The way you were healing faster than you had any right to.
He grabbed you by the shoulders.
“Who are you?” he demanded. “What are you?”
That wild look in your eyes cleared and you stared at him in confusion. “I’m me? Sweeney, what? You’ve known me for years, you know—“
“Who are you?” he bellowed. “How do you know about Mag Rath?”
You flinched and backed away from him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said, your voice shaking. “I don’t know what Mag Rath is. Sweeney, please, you’re scaring me.”
He stared at you, his expression frantic. “What about what you just said? About us losing and Donall…” he trailed off. You were looking at him with so much fear written on your face it made his chest ache. “Do you remember what you just said to me?” he asked slowly.
“I…I don’t…I fell off the bar and you caught me and then we were outside and then you were yelling at me.” You sounded like you were on the verge of tears. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He gripped his hair in his fists. You didn’t remember. You didn’t remember what you had just said to him, you didn’t remember fighting at his side. And he didn’t remember you. Why didn’t he remember you?
“What did you do before you worked for Wednesday?” he barked.
“I-I dunno. I don’t remember what I did, I don’t remember what my life was.” You were crying now. “Before Wednesday, everything is blank.”
He knew this. You had told him this before, that Wednesday had found you wandering through northern Minnesota, half-frozen and with no memory to speak of. But now…he had to wonder. Did Wednesday happen upon you by chance? Or had he lied? Knowing the old man, the latter was far from impossible or even unlikely.
He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you against his chest, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head. “I think we need to get some answers,” he murmured against your hair. “But first, let’s get you to bed.”
*"Four who set the eye, man and woman, boy and girl, three sick, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!"
tagged: @imaginethatneathuhpartdos @kind-wolf
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