#able to get sick because of Pink's healing powers!! why no school? because he's a gem? maybe crystal gems pressed on for him to learn more

[mochminnie]

Turning Back Time| Barry Allen |The Flash (2023)

Universe: DC Extended Universe (DCEU) 

Original Character: Elizabeth Rosalind Fernandez

Pair: Barry Allen X Elizabeth Rosalind Fernandez

Polar Opposites

Inspiration: The Scarlet Witch,  Raven, Darna (Filipino Superhero)

Born: 1997

Species: Goddess/Witch

Langauges: English, Tagalog

Personality:  Kind, Compassionate, Hard Working Free Spirit, Tease, Outgoing, Fun, Has a Temper, Stubborn, Competitive who is always a step ahead of Barry, Honest, Protective

Appearance: Tan, Short 5’0, Long wavy Brown hair with curtain bangs, Curvy 

Abilities/Powers: Premonition, Empathy, Empathic Precognition, Psychic Link, Bilocation/Astral Projection, Teleportation, Telekinesis, Telepathic Communication, other mind powers, Force Field, Healing, Combat, Can use weapons, Magic Flight, Levitation, Control Elements, Sensing, intangibility

Colors: Pink, White, Gold, Sometimes Black

Ally: Batman, Diana, Arthur, Superman, Victor, Barry, Iris

Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Fernandez

Dara

“You’re the fastest man alive, How can you be late?”

Bartholomew ‘Barry’ Allen

The Flash

“I know. I know. I’m always late. I am so late. I am very late”

Lizzie has always worked alone as a hero but occasionally works with Justice League. She knew Barry before but he never knew she had magical powers until she helped the Justice League defeat Steppenwolf. Barry and Lizzie went to school together but did not develop a friendship when she helped the Justice League. Though Elizabeth and Iris are both good friends, the three went to school together. 

Outside of her being a hero she has worked in Wayne Enterprise and now in an internship at Central City Police Department. 

Lizzie already got Barry's goto sandwich PB and BRHC on a roll, The Peanut Butter, Banana, Raisins, Honey and Cheese on a roll. Knowing that Sara the curly haired girl isn't currently working at the coffee shop. Sara knew Lizzie and Barry are her regulars. But the Barista guy is so slow. Barry is gonna be stuck. 

Lizzie went straight to the Police Department on time for the meeting to present case. Though she senses danger in Gotham. She did bilocation. Her other body is staying at the Research Center for the presentation, without Barry on cases which she has finished. Her other body magically changes to her Superhero suit. Lizzie saw her phone ring, and Alfred appeared. She answers the call. "Good Morning! Ms. Fernandez, I'm glad you are able to pick up the phone. I can always rely on you." She sighed. Her pink headset magically appears. Already on the go. That a hospital is collapsing. "Alfred,I sense danger and you come to call me and beep me whenever you wanna reach me.' Still concentrating on pretending to work on cases. Alfred called her before Barry. With no questions and complaints she's on it to save the city. 

Barry is stuck with the barista guy, "Morning. What can I get you?" Sounding unamused seeing Barry. Clearly late Barry fidgeting. Checking his watch. Barry being disappointed. "Where is the curly haired lady?" 

"Sara? She's out sick. Or at least, that's what she says." Barista guy is gossip type of employee. Whispers the last sentence, "She's got a new boyfriend." Barry couldn't careless why she isn't here. "Oh." Barry says. He just needs something to eat. Right now. Barista guy finally asks him what he can get him.

Barry answers quickly. "Usually. It's my usual and she usually has it ready because I'm usually late." 

"Well, don't keep me in suspense." Not knowing Barry's usual. Barry orders a PB and BRHC on a Roll. Then explains what's in the sandwich. 

Barista Guy interrupts him, "Actually you know this girl ordered the exact same sandwich as you." He said excitedly like a strain princess voice. "Well aren't you lucky you got a girlfriend." 

Barry says, "She's not my myy grr girlfriend were just colleagues" His ears turning red. He can't think of her that way. No. 

Barista guy teases him, "Keep telling yourself that. She came here and asked for two. And said it was for a friend of hers. I told her. Doesn't he have a fast metabolism?" 

Barista guy winking writing down his order. He just kept yapping, running his mouth. 

"-Are you running a marathon? My sister ran a marathon once, God rest her soul. She's not dead. We get it Sharon you ran. But everyone has to work in the morning."

Barry, "And sorry I'm in sort of a rush for the sandwich" Trying to find his phone. Barista guy. "You can't rush a good sandwich dude." 

Alfred calls Barry with Lizzie on the other line. Lizzie teleported to the hospital. Saving everyone in the building. Alfred is making coffee. 

Barry answers, "Alfred, Lizzie. Really can't talk."

Alfred is making coffee. "Good Morning. Mr. Allen." 

Barry places his phone over his ear, walking away from the Barista guy. "No, I'm late. And I'm starving and curly haired girl isn't here." 

Lizzie, "Her names Sara and she got a boyfriend. Don't worry Bare I got you two sandwiches ready." 

Barry rolls his eyes. "Yeah! Well I need it right now." Whining. 

Lizzie, "I would love to teleport it to ya. We're in need of your help. You're the fastest man alive how could you be late?" 

Barry, "I know. I know. I'm always late. I am so late. I am very late"

Alfred. "Yes, We have a situation at Gotham General. A robbery gone wrong. Lizzie is at the Hospital saving people from the building." 

Barry, "Of course Dara is! She can be in multiple places at once. Like 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'. I bet you she got an eye in the middle of her forehead. This is in the middle of the morning? Why is our bat-friend even awake?" Lizzie made a face over the eye comment and Batman "He can fight crime in daylight Barry! He's no vampire." 

Whisper yells "-You got Dara! Call Superman." Looking around seeing if anyone overheard him. Then looking over at the news on TV. He's clearly occupied. 

Alfred, "That was my first thought. Sadly. He's otherwise engaged."

Barry seeing that a volcano is erupting in Guatemala. "Classic. What about Diana?" 

Alfred reading his morning paper. "My other first thought. Rather annoyingly, she's not picking up." 

Barry was offended. "How many first thoughts, exactly, did you have before you first thought of me?" Clearly Superman, Wonderwoman, Dara, right after Batman are Alfred's first thought.

Alfred. "Well you know Lizzie she rarely complains on the go." Barry puts the phone down. Not listening to him. Barry ask, "Sorry is my sandwich rea-" See how the sandwich. It's not even close to being done. He rushes to the restroom to change into his suit. Now out of the coffee shop in seconds. Was about to run to Gotham. But comes across some of his fans. Not use to having any. Seeing that these fans have superhero pins including Dara's and The Flash.

Alfred. "Patching you and Ms. Fernandez to Mr. Wayne." 

Barry, "No, Please don't." After asking a fan for a chocolate bar "in the name of Justice" 

Bruce, "Lizzie is at the Hospital. I need you here now Barry." The fan threw it but Barry couldn't catch it because of low energy. They threw it at Barry's head. Annoyed. 

Barry, "Hi, Bruce. Yes, I'm... Coming" 

Lizzie, "About time. I am still working on teleportation and flight. I can't help everyone at once." Still presenting the cases like she is functioning well at the meeting without Barry. 

Barry sees that the mess with the hospital building collapsing and the roads are becoming sinkholes. Barry, "Bruce, this is a huge mess! Why aren't you here helping Lizzie?" 

Lizzie teleports, saving each patient and the staff at the hospital at a time and then comes across a group of nurses trying to help a baby nurse that is trapped in the room. 

Barry asks, " Bruce, why does it sound like you're fleeing the scene?" Bruce chasing Falcone's son in his batcycle. Bruce, "Falcone's idiot kid decided to try to play in the big leagues. He put a crew together and broke into the lab at Gotham General. Stole a highly deadly virus. I intercepted them, but they blasted their way out. Lizzie and you can handle the hospital Barry Someone else has to save the rest of the world. So, I was gonna do that If you don't mind." 

Barry, "Sounds about right Bruce." Muting Bruce but still having Lizzie. On the line. 

Barry saves a doctor from the sinkhole. But she runs away, not thanking him. "Thanks for saving me from the sinkhole, Flash." Says sarcastically. 

Alfred, "Barry, gas and water pipes ruptured. In the basement."

Barry, "Right. On it." Runs to the basement. Lizzie is trying to hold the entire building. "It's no longer safe to stay in the building." Telling the staff. Sending them out of the building. The baby nurse is screaming. Barry fixes the Water and Gas situation. 

Barry complains. "Look, Alfred. I've come to accept it. That I'm essentially the janitor of the Justice League. Which sucks. But I've come to accept it." 

Lizzie, "Barry, You're not the janitor of the Justice League. You can't just accept that." While Barry is still yapping, complaining. 

Barry continued his rant, "But, I can't help but notice... That it always seems to be a bat mess I'm cleaning up. 

Alfred, "If my calculations are correct, and history will prove they usually are, the foundational damage caused the collapse of the east wing." 

Barrys says, "The east wing is fine. Lizzie got it." Then mutters, " Like she always does." The baby nurse is holding the baby. Lizzie is about to fall. Then uses her flight but fails the babies and the baby nurse falls off the building. Not using her teleportation or her force field in time. 

"Barry, a little help please. Barry!!!" This didn't use her magic on time. 

"You hear that it's my stomach. Oh it's the collapsing east wing." The Flash. Hearing Lizzie screaming. Saves the nurse, service dog, babies, and Lizzie. While eating a falling burritos and snacks. Barry still holding on to Lizzie/Dara bridal style. Barry smiling as if he was presenting that all the babies are saved. the dog, despite all of that the nurse is still screaming. Lizzie getting his attention to let her go. Lizzie holds onto one of the babies. Then pets the dog.

Alfred congratulating Lizzie and Barry for working together. Then Barry hands the baby from the microwave to the nurse. Lizzie comforts the nurse. "You're okay, miss. The Flash and I saved the babies and service dog." 

Barry adds, "I understand that these events can be psychologically scarring. You should seek the services of a mental health professional. The Justice League is not very good at that part yet... Trust me." 

Lizzie teleports off to Batman. The Flash runs to where Batman and Falcone's kid. Are falling off the bridge, Falcone's Son drops the briefcase. Lizzie caught the briefcase on time. With her mind. Then Wonderwoman uses her whip pulling Bruce up. "Sorry I'm late." Smiling. 

Diana compliments Dara on catching that briefcase. "Hello, Dara, it's nice to see you. Caught that just in time." Lizzie excitedly then hugs Diana. Then Barry arrives. She then compliments flash, "Nice suit. Looking good Flash." Barry nervously, awkwardly thanks her. Diana turns to Bruce, "And you are welcome." 

Bruce, "My ego's far too big to say "thank you" to someone else." Both Diana and Lizzie gave him a look. 

Lizzie just said, "Bruce." Then Bruce had a hard time removing the whip from him and Falcone's Son. 

Bruce, "I developed this all powerful persona to compensate for my childhood trauma..." 

Falcone's Son raises his hand to look at all the heroes. "I too have childhood trauma." 

Lizzie. "Yeah... No kidding." The Lasso of Truth makes them spit out everything. 

Bruces continues. "I'd do a lot better just giving all my money away. Yes, if I really wanted to end crime, I should end poverty." Then Barry helps remove him from the Lasso of Truth. Barry and Lizzie can feel the sexual tension between Diana and Bruce. 

"I know sex exists. I've just never experienced it." Barry was about to keep on going but good thing he drops the whip. Lizzie jaw drops. Then she tries to cover her face and chuckles. She hates to admit it but she finds it adorable. Dropping the Whip. Then mutters, "Damn it." 

"Well. I have to run. It's always a pleasure." Diana Flies off. 

Barry looks at Lizzie and yells at Diana. "The sex thing was a metaphor. For... Gothic Literature... There is just no way to recover from that." 

Bruce firmly says, "Just let it go." 

Barry, "Well I'd love to stay here and clean up more mess. But this little superhero needs his breakfast."

Bruce, "Goodbye Flash, Dara." 

Barry, "Goodbye, Batman." 

Lizzie, "See ya. Bats"

Barry then turns to Lizzie, "No because, what was that?" Teasing him. She could tell he was turning a little red under his suit and felt he was nervous and his heart raised even more. Whenever she tease him. 

"Lizzie, can you stop, you heard our batfriend let it go. Please don't tell anyone about this." Lizzie was not one to make fun of anyone's sexual experiences or virgins. Then She couldn't help but check out his butt from his new suit. It looks really plump. Thank the heavens she didn't touch the suit she would've mentioned when Diana complimented his suit. 

Lizzie went back into one body at Central City Police Department, the research center. 

Patty and Albert coming up to Lizzie and always on Barry's ass teasing her and him. 

Patty near the printer next to Lizzie's desk, "Oh, little miss goody goody is always on time. When is your boyfriend ever going to come in on time? Oh, how cute you got him his little sandwiches."

"Speaking of the devil. Look who's here." Albert in his hoverboard sees a nervous Barry facing Professor Singh. 

"Everyday I don't know how you do it. Oh I know little miss goody goody covers for you. Isn't that sweet?" Patty now sees Barry following him along with Albert while Lizzie is still on her desk continuing her work. 

Barry tells Albert to Shut up. "Did you like to crawl here bro?" 

Barry turns to look at Albert. " Is he mad?" 

Patty, "Well, you're getting fired." 

Albert, "More like you're getting murdered." 

Dr. Singh sees Barry, "No, no, no, no. Let me guess. Your alarm clock didn't go off." Barry was about to explain himself. "N-" Then, Dr Singh continues. "Oh, your dog ate your alarm clock. Your alarm clock ate your keys. Your keys' grandmother died, and they need a personal day." 

Barry's eyes widened and nervously said, "It was none of those things." 

Dr. Singh walking away from Barry. "What was it this time, Barry?" 

Lizzie hands the papers to Barry. "It was, um, something else. That was far less outlandish. And I know I missed the meeting. But I'd still really like to present these case files for potential review. I think we rushed these cases. We need to reopen them."

Dr. Singh, "Oh! Rushed? We got a backlog six months deep, and you want us to move slower? Elizabeth already presented those without you. You need to focus your motion. Do the work, close the case, move on." Sighs removing his glasses due to disappointment. "You have a lot of potential Barry. You shouldn't still be getting me coffee after all these years." 

Barry, "You're right. That's... That's true." Barry thought he was kidding but. Dr. Singh was serious. "Go get me coffee Barry. " 

"Two Sugars." 

"Oh. yeah." 

Lizzie meets Barry at the break room while he gets Dr. Singh's coffee. "Sorry Barry, I wasn't much of a help back there. You shouldn't be giving him coffee anymore. You're not his errand boy." handing him a bag off two PB and BRHC on a roll. 

Barry not facing her. While eating the sandwiches."Yeah Thanks, Like I said. I am the janitor of the Justice League and at the internship for christ sakes." 

Lizzie, "I was only helping you. I was there You got to remind yourself you're much more and why Bruce recommended you to work here. " 

Barry now making Dr. Singh some more coffee, "Being ahead of me every time isn't helping me now is it I wanted to go back to those cases." 

Lizzie, "Barry listen to me. No self doubt here. Alright." Lizzie communicates through her mind. "You are the fucking flash you got that. You hear me and you are the member of the Justice League. You saved many lives today."

Barry was still working on the Evidence at the lab. Patty and Albert are still teasing him. Lizzie defending Barry. "Guys cut it out." Barry defends himself, "You know what? I'm so happy you find this all so hilarious, but we are dealing with real people's lives, people's families. And I don't think you can grasp the gravity of that. So, why don't you leave me alone?" 

"Lizzie Fernandez ? Barry Allen?" Iris West, walking up to the four. 

Barry, "Iris West'' Barry is so glad to see her. Lizzie, Smiles. "Iris hi!" The two ladies hug each other. 

Barry, "You know our full names?" 

Iris, "Yes, If you didn't know Lizzie's my friend from school. We have been close since then." 

Albert faced Barry, "Aw, You didn't tell us you had a friend from school." Motioning himself and Patty not knowing Iris. 

Patty, "We actually didn't know that Barry have mutual friends with Lizzie. Wow. consider she's wayyy cooler than you." 

Barry, "Aha aha. Okay, Um. Bye you guys." Barry and Lizzie pull them off and tell Patty and Albert 

Lizzie waving, "Bye, guys." 

Barry, facing. "They're not really my friends. They're my work friends." 

Lizzie, "I wouldn't say that Patty and Albert are our friends at all. More like just coworkers."  With that Barry can agree. 

Iris, "Oh, I didn't know the both of you worked here. I feel like we have seen each other. Right like a few years ago the both of you are getting much closer." 

Lizzie, "Yes umm we didn't get much closer under we worked together outside of school." 

Barry, " No because, we haven't seen each other since college." Facing Iris.

Iris, "Maybe I was thinking about the both of you. I'm really glad I run into you guys." Facing both Lizzie and Barry. She asks Barry, "Your father's appeal is tomorrow right?" While the three are catching up a bit. Watching side by side each other. 

Barry was caught off guard , "Yeah, Sorry. How do you know about that?" 

Iris, "I'm covering it for the paper." Barry, "Oh," Barry is disappointed he felt that Iris just came up to him just so she can ask about his father. Iris then asks, "How is he holding up?" 

Barry, "Are you asking for the paper?"

Iris now in front of Barry. "No, I'm asking as a friend. I'm sure the public would like to know as well." 

Lizzie, "Iris... It really doesn't sound like you're asking as a friend." Iris is shocked she has never seen her disappointed in her. It was Lizzie right to defend Barry and to call Iris out. Though Lizzie felt that she doesn't have the right to speak for Barry and his father. 

Lizzie communicates with Barry through her mind, "You don't have to answer." 

Barry, " Well, my only comment is that my dad is innocent." 

Iris, "Right, I mean, no one would want to believe that their father killed their mother." 

Barry, "What do you mean, "believe"? My dad shouldn't be in jail. My mom should be alive, it's not about what I believe. It's about what the truth is." 

Iris, "Right. No, yes, that's. Oh, my god. That's what I meant." 

Barry "Right, Sorry, I have no official comment at this time." leaving both Lizzie and Iris together. Then Lizzie was about to follow Barry to check on him. She felt all of his emotions, disappointment, upset, anger. Iris stopped Lizzie a bit. "Liz I'm sorry. I-"

Lizzie, "You should be apologizing to Barry it seems like you're using Barry for your report. A real friend wouldn't write that paper." 

Lizzie checks up on Barry. On the phone, "Just thought you needed time alone before I call you... And I felt everything that was going on."

Barry, "Bruce sent me the footage while my dad was at the grocery store to pick... up some canned tomatoes." Barry started tearing up as he was watching the footage the first time "...He was... Not looking up." Lizzie could hear him hurt so much. "-I should call go, I shouldn't be bothering you..." 

Lizzie, "Just because we work together doesn't mean you aren't my friend." 

Celestia Lizzie's Mother magically appeared to her Apartment. "Ma, Please. You can not just come here unannounced. I thought you were working a night shift?" Celestia is a head nurse in California. Though Celestia is in her goddess attire. 

"Can't I check up on my only daughter?" She is snooping around curious Seeing pictures of Barry, Iris, and her other friends. Even sees some of Wayne Enterprises tech here and there. 

She cuts to the chase why she really comes here. "You awfully spend time with Bruce Wayne. Is he what you call your sugar daddy? Are you having sex with that man?" 

Lizzie, places a hand over her chest "MA! No, I am not having any sort of relationship with a 50 year old man! Where is this all coming from?" Lizzie always saw him as a mentor. 

"Or this Barry Allen? You spending so much time with him you go to his apartment." 

"MA HINDI. NAMAN (Ma no, I am not), Can you please stop. They are my friends. Wait you watch over me, You scryed wherever I'm at? Ma all I ask is for some privacy." 

Celeistia never answers but scrying is like finding your location in magic. "But this Barry, I have this feeling you have a crush on him." Celestia teases her daughter. Lizzie doesn't want her to push it."-The boy likes this kpop, and is a superhero like you. What's not to like about him. Really, Elizabeth Anak (My child) What's not to like?" Lizzie face palms. Celeistia magically disappears.

#The flash #barry allen #barry allen x reader #the flash 2023 #ezra! barry allen #the flash x reader #justice league x reader #justice league imagines #Barry allen dceu x reader #dceu #dc #dcu #time travel #x reader #reader insert #fanfiction #imagines #superhero #superhero reader #superheroes #polar opposites #dc original character #oc #original character #flashpoint #justice league

[oikawaplssteponme]

PART 6 | previously: part 5 | masterlist

pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x fem! reader

ratings/warnings: swearing, unconsciousness, violence (?)

synopsis: When UA’s hot heads, Katsuki Bakugou and you, are forced to put your hatred for each other aside and plan the third year Prom, things end up getting a little heated...

a/n: hi hi! i hope you all are doing well❤️ all i have to say is: it’s about time Y/N ;)) enjoy XX

•

Six: butterflies

For probably the first time in your life, you weren’t looking forward to Hero Training today. You didn’t feel the greatest. Today was peer evaluations but it wasn’t with Aizawa. Midnight was in charge today.

“Alright everyone! So I’m feeling generous and you can pick your partner today! One partner will demonstrate what they have been working on while the other will be providing helpful, constructive feedback. Then when I tell you, you can switch!” explained Midnight. You looked around at your classmates, unsure who you’d partner up with.

“Hey Y/N!” waved Deku, “did you maybe want to be-”

“Sorry Deku, Y/N’s with me.” You felt a hand grab your wrist.

“Kacchan? I thought you and Y/N were banned from fighting with each other?” huffed Deku. You looked up at Bakugou, who was already leading you away.

“This isn’t fighting, it’s constructive feedback. And shut up Deku.” Bakugou led you to the corner of the room, away from the other groups.

“Well damn maybe I wanted to be partners with Deku,” you said, crossing your arms. Bakugou laughed.

“And miss the opportunity for me to show you up? I don’t think so princess,” smiled Bakugou. You groaned.

“Whatever. Alright, who’s going first?”

“You obviously. You need the help,” said Bakugou.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah so what have you been working on?” he asked. You rolled your eyes.

“I’ve been practicing close combat without using my quirk. I can't rely on my quirk to get me out of every tough situation because if my body temperature is really low or my creation time is super delayed, that could cost me the fight,” you explained. Bakugou nodded.

“Alright then, so come at me Y/N. Show me what you’ve got!” yelled Bakugou. He adjusted himself into a defensive stance. You took a deep breath and got ready to strike.

“Don’t waste my time now Y/N, I haven’t got all day!” he teased.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for too long,” you smiled. You went in for a direct punch with one hand while using your other as a fake. Bakugou saw it coming though.

“Amateur work,” he mumbled. Bakugou continued to dodge you and your attacks. You began to get desperate, unable to land a solid hit on him.

“You’ve got me yawning over here princess.”

“OH FUCK OFF!” You were getting worked up at this point. You went for an uppercut shot and then whipped your leg around to kick Bakugou in the side. He fell to the ground.

“Shit-”

“Hmm guess you should’ve paid more attention,” you smirked. You helped Bakugou back to his feet.

“That kick was good but I know you’ve got way more power than that,” he said. You raised a brow.

“What do you mean?”

“Here, when you go for a side kick like that, you want to engage more than just your leg. Use your core and hips to create more momentum. Like this.” Bakugou changed his stance and whipped his leg around for a clean swing. You nodded.

“Okay…” You attempted to do the same.

“That was better but rotate your hips more, like this.” Bakugou went over to you and placed his large hands tightly on your hips. Your eyes widened.

“You want to force them to move, not just have them go with your leg. That way you generate more power,” he explained. Bakugou moved your hips as he pleased, keeping his hands firmly on you. You looked over your shoulder at Bakugou. His red eyes moved to look into yours. You never really noticed his eyes until now. They were beautiful.

“I-I…” you became instantly flustered. Bakugou’s face turned pink. His face was so close to yours, your noses almost touched.

“Uh, is this okay?” he whispered. You nodded.

“Y-Yes…”

“OKAY TIME TO SWITCH PARTNERS!” Announced Midnight. Bakugou instantly snapped out of whatever trance he was in and took his hands off of you. You turned the other way, slapping your hands over your cheeks.

“Uh so yeah just try it like that next time,” he said.

“Yup okay yeah sounds good,” you stuttered out. You tried to cool off but your face felt like a million degrees. You couldn’t understand why.

“Okay, what did you want to work on?” You asked. Bakugou looked over at you and smirked.

“I hope you brought your gloves.”

~

“This is a bad idea,” you insisted as you put your gloves on. Bakugou shook his head.

“No it’s a good idea. If anything it helps both of us. Now start throwing them princess,” said Bakugou. He had been focusing on quicker reflexes and his air speed while dodging. His plan was for you to throw as many of if bonds as possible, to test how he reacts.

“Bakugou if I blow you up it’s not my fault,” you huffed. Bakugou laughed.

“Your confidence amazes me. I doubt you’ll be able to even get a bond near me.”

“Oh really? Wells how’s this!” You generated a quick carbon bond and aimed it right for his head. By the time you threw it, he was already blasted up with his own explosions.

“Nice try but you’ve gotta be quicker than that. Come on you’re supposed to be challenging me!” He called. You clenched your fists.

“FINE!” You began to throw your bonds at him. One after the other after the other. Bakugou shifted from flying, dodging on the ground, and using his own explosions to cancel yours out. As much as he hated to admit it, you were giving him a run for his money.

“WOW KATSUKI, TIRED ALREADY?” You teased. Bakugou continued to counter your attacks.

“NOT EVEN CLOSE!”

You kept on throwing your bonds at him, despite the pain radiating from your entire body. You weren’t used to such speed when creating your bonds. Your cells weren’t regenerating fast enough to keep you stable. You began to feel lightheaded.

“Don’t go and get shy on me Y/N!” He yelled. Your hands ached and you felt sick. You threw one last bond before crashing to your knees.

“Hey that last one was pretty weak Y/N...Y/N?” Bakugou landed from his explosions. Your eyelids felt heavy. The last thing you saw before you collapsed was Bakugou rushing towards you.

~

By the time you woke up, the school day had already ended. You laid in Recovery Girl’s office, a cold towel across your head. The room was dark. You felt better so you decided to get up.

“Now where do you think you’re going?” said Recovery Girl. You jumped.

“Oh hi, sorry. Am I okay to go?” You asked. Recovery Girl smiled and patted your hand.

“You’ve gotta be more careful sweetheart. I’ve never seen you get like that before,” she said. You sighed.

“Yeah I guess I overworked myself a little,” you explained. Recovery Girl shook her head.

“More than a little dear. You’ve gotta remember that you’re only human after all, and you’ve gotta heal. It’s a good thing that blond boy brought you over here immediately,” she said. You jumped.

“Wait do you mean Bakugou?”

“Oh yes, I think that was his name. He came bursting into my office while you were still unconscious. Very heroic I dare say,” she smiled. You couldn’t believe it.

“You’re good to go sweetheart. I recommend you grab a good dinner and rest up,” Recovery Girl removed the towel from your head. You nodded.

“Right. Thank you very much.”

You stepped outside of Recovery Girl’s office and there sitting on the floor was Katsuki Bakugou.

“Bakugou?” He looked at you and got up.

“Oh you’re awake. A-are you okay?” he asked. Bakugou was twiddling his thumbs as he spoke to you. He looked a little nervous.

“Oh yeah I’m fine. Just pushed myself too far that's all,” you explained. He nodded.

“Did you wait for me this whole time?” You asked. Bakugou’s eyes widened.

“NO-well uh maybe...I just felt bad that it was kinda my fault that you ended up like this…” he mumbled. You felt your face grow hot.

“It wasn’t your fault, I was the one who pushed myself too far. I knew that it was a bad idea,” you said.

“Still...uh, the cafeteria already closed so I uh grabbed you this.” Bakugou handed you a box with rice, vegetables, and meat. You gasped.

“Bakugou...”

“It’s not a big deal I just didn’t want you to starve to death that’s all,” he huffed. You took the box from his hands.

“Thank you Katsuki,” you smiled.

“Yeah well you’ve gotta get stronger if you even think about beating me for the number one Hero spot. I want it to be a fair fight,” he said. You laughed.

“Sounds good.”

“Well, I’ll see you later Y/N.” Bakugou started to walk back to the dorms. You looked down at the box of food. You had this warm feeling all over your body. Your stomach felt tingly.

What the hell…

Then it hit you.

Do I have butterflies in my stomach?

You rushed over to the bathroom and splashed cold water on your face.

No no no this can’t be happening.

You looked at yourself in the mirror. You couldn’t get his image out of your brain. The way he looked at you. The way he held you. The way he teased you. They way you always wanted to be around him. The way you couldn’t go a day without thinking about him.

After that night with Bakugou, something woke up in you. It was as if you had been suppressing it for years and you just now felt it. The only problem was, you had no idea what ‘it’ was.

Now, you did.

Fuck. I’m in love with Katsuki Bakugou, aren’t I?

•

[taglist OPEN: @vangoghpoets @vangoghmusings @bokutory @complimentaryhugsgirl @cloudswritings @kriswu46 @neodnyl @evivn1 @jazzylove @mileven-reddie @whalerus @misssugarless @random-fandom-girl-24 @fanfiction-and-stress @ushiwakatrash @minhoswife @addictofsupernatural @the-shota-king-masayuki @freyafolkvangr @fourteenow @tamaguchi @lalayy @athenarosaline @blxck-coffee @katsukibabe @thatonegeekchick @that-chick212 @bibly @nxynxy ]

#willow.🌸 #my hero academia #bakugou x you #katsuki bakugō #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugou x reader #bakugou x y/n #bakugo x y/n #katsuki x y/n #mha katsuki #bakugou katuski x reader #bnha katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #katsuki x you #katsukibakugou #hot heads.🌸

[watanabes-cum-dump]

Winter Eden Chapter one: Wake up

"Live... you have... to live"

Cold, freezing, relentless cold surrounded the boy. And he heard someone call his name. He looked up and saw a girl, beautiful and doll like jumping down towards him. Instantly, he noticed one thing: her eyes. They looked just like his. A light, beautiful shade of cool, crisp blue. But other than that, she looked nothing like him. Her hair was a pale creamy colour, and her features didn't suggest Asian origin like his. But, he welcomed her, nonetheless.

He reached out towards her, and she to him. Their fingers touched as an explosion shook him to the core, sending several tons of snow and rubble into the water.

BOOM

"-Wake up"

A boy caught the hand that was hovering above him, holding it in his steel grip, his blue eyes suddenly alert and sharp.

"Woah, woah, woah" he looked to see a girl, the one he had seen just moments before, awake and with her delicate wrist in his gloved hand.

"Ren, it's me. Aisha" she said kindly.

He blinked. Ren. That was... that was his name. And she was Aisha. His sister.

He sat up, groaning a little as a dull pain rang in his head. He looked to Aisha, and noticed how disoriented she was. Her hair was matted and stringy, carelessly hanging down one side of her face, her white and pink dress was dirty and a bit torn. He knew she was supposed to have a black shawl with a pink flower pattern over her shoulders, with white fur all over it. He had given that to her, right?

Ren looked down at himself, noticing the once pristine white long coat was covered in filth and muck, torn to near shreds. It saddened him a bit to see it. He wondered why...

"Ah, you're awake"

Ren shot up and got into a fighting stance, gauntlets suddenly covering his fists, try hummed with energy and a curious blue emitted from the cracks.  

An elderly man had entered the room, he had aged well, as he was still rather handsome, and could have been more so in his youth. He was tall and seemed to be very healthy for a man his age as well. He was probably around what, fifty? Sixty even? His kind blue eyes sat behind a pair of glasses, twinkling as he stroked an immaculate stark white beard.

"Ren, that's principal Anjou. He told me he pulled us out of the ocean" Aisha gripped his arm, giving him a pleading look.

Why did she trust him? Some shady old man living in this palace? Or was it a mansion? The room was massive and ornate, arched ceilings and chandeliers, black and white marble everywhere. Perhaps a sick bay of some sorts? But in a castle? How strange...

Ren put his arms down, the gauntlets retracted to bracelets hidden by his sleeves. He eyed the man suspiciously before sitting back down into the bed.

"I'm sure you have many questions, but, I won't be able to answer all of them!" he said, giving him a light hearted chuckle.

"But, your sister is right. I am principal Anjou, you are at my school, Cassel College. And by the looks of it, you're a hybrid, aren't you?"

Aisha piped up "Um, principal Anjou, sir, sorry for not asking this earlier, but what is a hybrid?" She asked innocently.

"Ah, do not fret my dear, a hybrid is just that: a hybrid. A human that has dragon blood running through their veins. Many actually don't know they're hybrids for quite a long time. But, I am here to inform you two that you are both hybrids. Very powerful ones at that" Anjou explained, taking a puff from a cigar.

"Alright, why is that important?" Aisha asked.

"Because I train youths like you to fight monsters here at Cassel College. Consider it a sort of secret organization" Anjou said with a wink.

Ren glared at him suspiciously, fists tightening. Anjou noticed.

"Ah, it looks like the little lotus doesn't trust me, does he?"

Little lotus? That sounded oddly familiar... where had he heard it?

"That aside, it has come to my understanding that you both have long term amnesia, based on some scans run by the school's AI, whom you will meet shortly. And that you two were both injured rather gravely. Ren here survived two bullets, one to the knee, and one to his lower spine. It's remarkable that he is still alive and walking, and how fast he's healed. I've seen some speedy regeneration abilities but never anything like this"

He had been shot!? By whom!?

"And I have taken it upon myself to formally invite you to study here at Cassel, provided you accept"

Aisha seemed to get suspicious as well "Why would you openly welcome two random teenagers?"

Anjou sighed, "It is an unfortunate fact that a lot of hybrids are orphans, and they often run away from home and stumble into danger. More than half of my students have run away from their foster families or local orphanages. Which is why I can't have two powerful hybrids like you two wandering around"

Aisha looked over at Ren, who silently told her that he needed to think. This was all going too fast.

"Can you give us a moment to think?" Aisha requested.

Anjou nodded "Of course. Should you two refuse, I can send you one of our safe houses until you can get back on your feet. But, I encourage you to choose to study here, because there aren't many other places that can teach you how to use you powers. And that may come with a grave price" he stated before walking out the archway.

Aisha sighed and took Ren's hands in hers "Ren, I don't remember much, but I remember that I care about you a lot, and that we do fight with some sort of magic. I think this is the best option, he's a kind old gentleman and it's true for the most part. There are students here, and they're just like us"

Ren met her eyes "Hybrids" he rasped out, his throat hurt, he never said much. He never felt the need to. He knew that he had been like that for most of his life.

They weren't regular teenagers with regular problems, they were warriors. Hybrids with whatever powers the title came with.

Aisha nodded "Yes, hybrids, whatever they may be"

Ren sighed and nodded. Aisha lit up and hugged him. "Thank you"

Ren hugged her back, she smelt like pine, crisp and cold. Whatever it was, it felt like home, and he gladly welcomed it.

"I take it you've come to a decision?"

The siblings turned to see Anjou back in the room, perhaps to check on them.

"Yes. We accept your offer" Aisha said firmly.

Anjou smiled "Good. Now, I'll make arrangements for your rooms, and our Butler EVA will help you get ready for the test"

Just as he said that, a holographic figure of a girl materialized. She was like a graceful blue spirit, with a long flowing dress, and long hair. Strings of code spiraled in and out of existence around her, while her bare feet levitated off the ground.

"This is EVA, the college's AI Butler. Should you need anything, just ask her. EVA, prepare uniforms for our new students, and perhaps show them to a bathroom so that they can freshen up" Anjou ordered.

"Of course, principal Anjou" EVA replied in an automated voice.

"A... test?" Aisha asked nervously.

Anjou threw back his head in laughter "Did you think you could just waltz in and study here?"

"Of course not!" Aisha exclaimed "But, uh, what kind of test is it?"

"You'll see in due time my dear, for now, just make yourself look more presentable, the frozen sea of Siberia couldn't have been kind to you" and with that, the principal left, leaving the floating blue hologram and the siblings in the sick bay.

Ren sighed as he looked into the mirror of the washroom. This was the first time he had gotten a look at himself. His hair was long and snowy white, it had been all over the place but had managed to tame it and tie it in a messy bun so that it didn't get in the way of his limbs or fly around in his face. He was oddly handsome, he supposed, more attractive than he would have thought, with nearly flawless skin safe for a scar on his cheekbone, and slanted blue eyes.

He flashed a little smirk and wink the the mirror, pushing his bangs back a bit before heading out. The uniform was surprisingly comfortable, and allowed lots of free movement. It was rather stylish too, with the sharp black and purple jacket and close fitting black pants. EVA had even provided him with a pair of black ankle boots, he supposed his white boots would stick out too much with the uniform.

When he got out, Aisha was standing there in the uniform, plucking nervously at her black and purple skirt while talking with a male student. He was tall and lanky with ash grey hair tied in a ponytail, and was kind of handsome in an oddly charming angular way. Was he flirting with her?

"Anyways, what should I call you, besides beautiful, beautiful?"

Oh dear god he was.

Ren marched up to him and shoved Aisha behind him, facing the student.

"Uh, hey! Is um, is that your girl?" he asked nervously, pointing a nervous finger at Aisha.

"No. This is my brother, Ren" she piped up from behind the white haired boy.

The student backed away nervously when he looked down and saw Ren's fists clenched tightly. "Eh, sorry I'll go. I won't flirt with your lil' sis again, ok? Promise! Please don't hurt me!"

Ah. So he was a wimp.

Ren nodded down the hallway, the student took it as a signal to get lost. The grey haired boy ran down the hallways without looking back, his pride probably deeply wounded. If he had any left, anyhow.

EVA appeared again "I will show you two outside. Someone is waiting to show you around" she said, gesturing for them to follow her towards the exit. Ren's eyes widened at the sight of the light. Yes, the light. His new light. And he was reading to take it with him, especially with his dear sister at his side.

Anjou sat at his desk, frowning as he clicked his pen. "EVA" he called.

The blue hologram of a girl appeared beside him "Yes, principal Anjou?"

"I want you to run scans on whatever DNA was left on their old clothes. Compare it to every Hybrid family we have information on"

EVA bowed her head "Understood" she replied before disappearing.

Anjou narrowed his eyes as he remembered Ren's slanted light blue eyes. He had only seen a pair like those once before. And Aisha emitted a powerful aura, with a charismatic pale and nearly invisible light pink edging her all too familiar cream coloured locks.

They resembled the missing children of those hybrid families all too well, and them turning up near the ruins of Black Swan Bay couldn't just he a coincidence... could it?

Notes:

I'm terribly sorry of this seems a little rushed! I might fix it some other time, it is rather late and though I usually have a creative streak around this time, my writing is always a bit sloppy late at night. I know it seems to have gone a bit quick, but that's honestly what is was like in the game and I find this beginning part hard to add details onto, with this being from Ren, a near mute amnesiac's point of view. It's going to be quite a challenge for me since I've never written a mute or relatively quiet character before, most of my characters are very chatty or vocal about their opinions.

Also in regards to the title, I went with Winter Eden since Ren is our Ice King, and Aisha means prosperous, you know like a garden. I thought Arctic flowers initially since Ren means flower, Aisha means prosperous and they grew up in Siberia, but I like Winter Eden much more. Since, Eden was ultimately abandoned and Adam and Eve were banished, much like how Black Swan Bay was destroyed. 

As you can see, Aisha often speaks for Ren, since he doesn't speak much himself. Point of views will alternate in between Ren and Aisha from time to time. I hope this wasn't too terrible, I promise I can write proper stories!

#winter eden #dragon raja #DragonRajaOC #OC #original story #dragon raja anjou #principal Anjou #original character #draja #draja OCs #OCs

[pandawritespoorly]

With Time: Chapter 39 - A General Upward Trend

Author’s Note: Ladybug finally has a talk with her former teammates, and Marinette gets around to finishing something she's been putting off.

Chapter Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir's interactions in this chapter are very precious. Like, they're real cute. Prepare yourself. No warnings! This is a calm chapter. It's so weird to say, but there's only three left after this one, and chapter 42 is just an epilogue, so this story is well and truly wrapping up. Goodness.

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Adrien is doing better. Marinette smiles at him, happy to see him resting happily. He’s basically recovered at this point, but she’d insisted he rest a little more, and being the cat he is, he didn’t protest.

She glances out the window and sighs. It’s no longer light enough out that she can justify waiting. It’s most certainly dark enough that Ladybug could go out without issue.

“Tikki, spots on.”

As quietly as she can, she creeps past the model and heads out through the balcony.

Whizzing through the city on her yo-yo, she gets to her first destination.

The window opens when she knocks.

“L-Ladybug?” Nino looks surprised to see her.

“Hello. I’m… I’m here to apologize. Last time I visited, I dropped some very shocking news on you with no explanation. I’m willing to explain myself now, especially since I believe you’ll be more receptive to what I have to say.”

“Oh. Yeah, uh, Dudette, I definitely figured it out.” He looks away.

She forces a gentle smile. “I understand, but I feel like you still deserve to hear a proper explanation from me, and the opportunity to ask any questions you might have.”

He nods, still not meeting her eyes.

“Due to the high rate of akumas at your school, Chat and I keep tabs on it. We… became aware of a situation with Ms. Dupain-Cheng and Ms. Rossi. After a few months of you and Alya both only further bullying Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I came to the realization that if I couldn’t trust you two to treat your friends well, I couldn’t trust you to be a good member of the team. Nino, you wielded the miraculous of protection, and you not only failed to protect your friend, you went out of your way to harm her. I could not let you continue to be Carapace.”

Tears have welled up in his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you let me know so I could fix things?”

She sighs, doing her best to keep herself together. “I had already spoken directly to Adrien, and soon learned Marinette had been a witness to that conversation. Two of your close friends told you that Lila was lying, and you dismissed them. You made no effort to track me down for confirmation. You also immediately turned on me the day after I informed you of Carapace’s retirement. You refused to accept that you could have done something wrong and blamed an innocent girl so that you had someone to take it out on. You were given chances, and it shouldn’t have been up to me to let you know you were in the wrong. You ignored the signs, and that’s on you.”

He removes his glasses, wiping at his eyes with his forearm. “Y-yeah. I know. A-after what I did to M-M-Marinette…”

“Is there anything else you want to know?”

He shakes his head, returning inside.

Ladybug takes a few breaths to steady herself. That was more emotionally exhausting than she thought it would be.

One down. One to go.

It’s barely night, and it’s already a long one.

She goes to the roof, intending to get on her way to Alya’s when a dark figure catches her eye.

Chat Noir stands on the roof, arms crossed and looking at her, eyebrows raised.

“Ladybug. You did not specifically wait until I was asleep to sneak out and confront your former bullies alone again, did you?”

“Uh, well, when you phrase it like that…”

He sags, approaching her, face softening. “Bug. I told you, you don’t need to need to do this alone. You can have support.”

“I just didn’t want to bother you, and you need rest anyways, and-”

“Bug. Look at me.” He walks up to her, taking both of her hands in his. He leans down, touching his forehead to hers. He looks at her eyes for a moment. “I will say this as many times as it takes, but no matter what it is, no matter who it is - no matter what, if it is important to you, it’s important to me. If something’s bothering you, you can tell me. If you aren’t feeling well, mentally or physically, you can tell me. You matter, you’re important, and you are not alone.”

Her breath hitches, and a few tears show up in her bright blue eyes.

“Do you understand me, Mari?”

She nods, separating their hands to wrap her arms around him, burying her face in his chest, squeezing him tightly.

He holds her, kissing her hair. “I love you, Bug, I just want you to realize how important you are.”

“I love you too,” she sobs, voice cracking slightly.

She lets a few tears fall, then regains her composure.

“Alya next?” Chat asks.

She nods, and he follows her to the ex-reporter’s house. He sits on the roof, waiting for her as she goes to Alya.

“Alya?”

The girl whips around at her hero’s voice. Her eyes well up immediately. “Ladybug. I- I’m so sorry.”

“So am I. I’m here to apologize for how I broke the news to you in November-”

Alya shakes her head. “I don’t deserve an apology. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

“No, Alya, it was perfectly understandable. You deserved an explanation and that’s what I’m here to give you, even if it’s a little late. You deserve to have your questions answered. Chat and I keep an eye on your school, because so many students and faculty members have been akumatized there. We became aware of the treatment of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and the role you played in that. You and Nino needed to be heroes with and without the miraculouses, and you didn’t do that. If anything, you were villains. It wasn’t my job to point things out, especially after I’d already outed Lila to two of your close friends. As the Fox, you had the power of illusions. You should have been able to see through the very clear lies that Ms. Rossi was spewing, and as a friend, you should have stuck-” Ladybug stops. Alya is sniffling and tears are streaming down her face endlessly. Her face falls. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rub salt in the wound-”

“N-no I-I-I d-d-de-deserve it.”

“No. No you don’t.” Ladybug puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You were a victim of Lila. That doesn’t excuse your actions, but you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it.”

Alya clearly isn’t having it, so Ladybug tries to change the topic. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

After a minute or two, Alya calms enough to mumble, “W-wh-why d-didn’t y-you t-t-t-tell th-this me b-before? Wh-why w-w-wait to e-explain-n-n?”

Ladybug sighs, staring at the sky. “I… I wasn’t doing very well late last year. I’d… lost some people that were very important to me, and I was having a rough time. I didn’t want to lose Carapace and Rena Rouge too, but I knew I had to let you guys go. I put it off for a while, but I was starting to slow down from the cold and I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. I’m sorry about how I went about that.”

“Oh,” She sobs, “and I yelled at you. I’m so so sorry!”

“I- It’s fine. I didn’t really do the best job at explaining it to you.”

“Still.” Alya hiccups a few more times, trying to get her emotions under control. “I-I think you sh-should go home. You should r-rest. You sh-shouldn’t have t-to be up l-late because of m-me.”

Ladybug smiles at her a little, then nods, wishing her a goodnight and heading to the roof. Chat is waiting for her with open arms, and she collapses against him, shaking.

“It’s okay Bugaboo, it’s okay.”

“I- I just- I th-thought I w-was o-over all- all of this.”

“It’ll take more time than this. No one is expecting you to be all healed by now.”

She doesn’t respond initially, then she whispers, “Ladybug is supposed to be strong.”

“Oh Princess. You are strong, I promise you that.” He holds her face, wiping away a tear with a thumb. “You just have a hard time appreciating yourself.”

The soft smile she gives him makes him wonder, not for the first time, why he’s the sunshine child. Everything about her is blinding in the best possible way.

“Kitty, what would I do without you?”

He scoops her up. “Well, fur one, you’d have to get home on your own.”

She kicks. “Hey! You’re sick, you shouldn’t be patrolling, let alone carrying me!”

“Paw-lease, I’m mostly recovered and we both know it. You’ve been keeping an eye on me, so it’s time for me to return the favor. Now I get to take care of you!”

“What do you call most of this school year then?”

“Being your friend. Obviously.” He rolls his eyes, as though it was ridiculous that she even had to ask.

Before she can protest further, he takes off across the rooftops. He lands on her terrace, and sets her down. He bows. “I do hope you enjoyed your cat-xi ride, mademoiselle.”

She gives him an odd look, and murmurs to herself, “...catzee…?” A look of realization dawns on her face, and she punches his arm. “That was really bad, Chaton. It’s not even a taxi ride, because I didn’t pay you.”

“Your prrr-sence is enough,” he says, kissing her hand.

She blushes, but pushes his forehead back with her index finger. “That’s enough from you.”

“Claws in. Guess it’s Adrien’s turn then.”

“No, no cheesy pick up lines from you.” She turns away, finally entering her room.

Pouting, he follows her. “But cheesy pick up lines are the best,” he whines, sitting on her chaise, across from where she sits at her desk chair.

She raises an eyebrow, then grows concerned at the cheshire grin on his face. Before she can ask what he’s up to, he starts to talk.

“I can make do without pick up lines, beautiful.”

She turns a little pink, and decides to pretend to focus on designing. He rolls around on the chaise, laying on his back but facing her.

“Hey. Hey. Marinette. Heyyyyy, Mariiiiiii! You’re really pretty, and you’re so nice, and you’re super smart, because, like, you always come up with the best plans all the time, and your eyes are absolutely stunning, and you are such a good person and-” He glances at her, and her face is about the same color as Tikki. “Maybe I should stop, I’m worried about all your blood going to your face.”

Adrien hangs off the lounge, looking at her upside-down. He waits until her face begins to cool off, then he adds, “Not that you don’t look good in red, of course.”

She squeaks, and her face goes crimson again.

---

Patisserie Princess: so um

Patisserie Princess: i think im gonna go through all my old stuff finally

Patisserie Princess: so if you guys want to come over and help then yeah

 The Mom Friend: omw

 Melodie: I’m close already, so I’ll be there quick.

 Kid Mime: im on ur roof

 Felix: I will head over.

 Patisserie Princess: thanks

Patisserie Princess: wait wat

 The Mom Friend: the roof roof or the balcony roof

The Mom Friend: coz 1 of those is v dangerous

 Kid Mime: balcony roof

 Melodie: Okay.

 Patisserie Princess: how and why????

 Hug This Boy: Because Claude.

Hug This Boy: There is no logic where there is Claude.

 The Mom Friend: yep

 Patisserie Princess: but on my roof???

 Felix: I found them clinging to the outside of my window once.

 Kid Mime: that was fun

Kid Mime: mari is it good for me to come in now

Kid Mime: ur flowers r pretty but ur prettierrrrrrrrr!!!

 Patisserie Princess: yes u can come in

 Once Marinette sends that, she hears her trapdoor open and turns to see Claude landing on her bed, smiling wide.

“You really were on my roof.”

They grin more. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“Well yeah, but my roof? How did you even-”

“Mari!” Claude gasps. “You should know that a magician never reveals their secrets!”

Adrien comes up through the trapdoor, bearing a tray of cookies. “Hey Claude. Cookie?”

“Yes!”

Marinette just blinks, still trying to figure this out.

 Kid Mime: haha

Kid Mime: i got the first cookie

 Melodie: Because you were on the roof.

Melodie: For who knows what reasons.

 The Mom Friend: 4 claude reasons obviously

 Kid Mime: see? mom gets me

 Felix: No one truly understands you, if we are all being honest.

 Patisserie Princess: yea im still confused

 Melodie: Honey, by now I would have thought you’d know not to dwell on the how.

 Kid Mime: ive been told i cause headaches

 The Mom Friend: and heart attacks

 Felix: Marinette, it would be for the best if you did not spend an excessive amount of time attempting to comprehend him.

Felix: He is Claude, and that is the best explanation we will ever truly get.

 Patisserie Princess: i suppose

 Melodie: I’m here!

 Kid Mime: thats great

 Melodie: …

Melodie: Don’t let Claude finish off the cookies.

 Kid Mime: wat wood make u think id do that

 Patisserie Princess: he just stuffed three in his mouth

Patisserie Princess: u may want to hurry

---

When they’ve all arrived, Marinette retrieves the stuff from last time when they’d sorted. Marinette looks over the piles, trying to decide what to do. The others wait patiently.

“Okay, I think I’ll keep all the pictures. This is basically my entire childhood, and I’m not going to let what happened taint my past. Especially a lot of these early ones.” She looks over a few photos, finding some with especially young versions of the classmates. “I’m not going to blame four year old Nino for what present Nino did.”

“We can help you find a photo album for all these sometime then.”

She nods gratefully.

“Paper then… uh, if it’s just schoolwork, we can recycle it. Unless it’s some big project or you think I might want it, then I can look over it. Um. Designs can stay. I’ll look over cards…” She continues to list off what can happen to anything they might find in the mess. “Anything else, you can just leave to me.”

So they get started, and the pile of things getting thrown out or recycled grows and grows. It’s not nearly as tense or sad of an atmosphere as it had been last time, instead, they talk and joke as they would any normal day. Sometimes Marinette grows quiet, looking at something in her hands with an expression that doesn’t fall into any singular category.

Glee and anguish are usually considered opposites.

The mess of pining, fear, nostalgia, grief, and an unending amount of other emotions on her face is almost physically painful to see.

If she seems okay, they’ll keep talking, letting her feel in peace. Other times, she’s clearly struggling, so one of them will touch her softly, or hug her gently, pulling her from the past back to the present.

She laughs plenty too. This time around is clearly easier for her, and her progress is undeniable.

It’s good to see her good.

---

Author’s Note: I told you they were precious. I told you! How does it feel knowing that the angst in this story is basically over? You've got mostly fluff and sweetness until the end. Sure, I'll be getting those extra one-shots up eventually, so those will have salt, guilt, etc, but the next chapters? Smooth sailing, my friends.

Speaking of sailing, yes, our ships will be sailing by the time this is fully posted. No worries, we'll get a kiss, it's already written and everything.

I keep realizing I'm not really doing anything productive, and I'm like 'Oh! I'll just work on With Time!'. Nope! Can't do that anymore, so I'm finally getting around to those one-shots I've been promising. I'm sure some of you stalk the comments, do any of you remember anything I mentioned getting around to write that took place in the main story but didn't get into a chapter? If you don't that's fine. If you think of anything you want to see, regardless of if I've mentioned it before, just let me know. I'm finally starting a legitimate list. So far, I have Tikki and Plagg talking after the reveal (low priority), Alya and Nino's respective apologies to Adrien, and Gabriel and Nathalie realized they screwed up after the GoodFriends™ launched their whole thing last chapter. Anything else?

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in my ask box, in replies or through reblogs. I love seeing what you think!

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#miraculous ladybug #with time #fanfic #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ladybug #chat noir #alya cesaire #Nino lahiffe #good partners #ml felix #quantic kids #allan #allegra #claude #claude being claude #marinette is healling #precious babies

[entomycetic]

SU AU - The Space Between Us AU (Synopsis)

Figure I may as well post this au here-

ALSO I know this movie came out like. 2 years ago? But uh SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE ‘THE SPACE BETWEEN US’, this whole thing is just the plot of the movie but rewritten (it’s QPR rather than romantic); also SPOILERS FOR STEVEN UNIVERSE SEASON 1-5

For those that haven’t seen/don’t plan to see it, here’s the movie synopsis: “Gardner Elliot, the first human born on Mars, begins an online friendship with Tulsa, a teen in Colorado. On his maiden voyage to Earth, the 16-year-old finally gets to experience all the joys and wonders of a world he could only read about. Problems arise when scientists discover that Gardner's organs can't withstand the atmosphere. United with Tulsa and on the run, the interplanetary visitor races against time to unravel the mysteries of how he came to be, and where he belongs in the universe.“

LET’S GET STARTED SHALL WE; GRAB SOME POPCORN ‘CUZ THIS ACCIDENTALLY GOT LENGTHY(2k words) AND SAD HAHA (REMINDER THAT THIS IS QPR CONNVERSE, NOT ROMANTIC)

Introduction

Steven Universe is a hybrid son of human and gem, born on Earth- but living his life off planet, in the moon base, ever since that point. Normally, a gem’s lightform automatically adapts to it’s environments, and a Rose Quartz Pink Diamond is certainly a different shape from a newborn human. Steven’s body and his gem, new to this existence, were fighting for dominance in his form. To help alleviate this, the Crystal Gems took Steven and Greg to the moon base; the lack of gravity helped in Steven’s growth and help his gem adapt to the new form (or lack thereof).

The longer he stayed there though, the longer his human anatomy adapted too; his heart enlarged, his bones weak, until he was unable to stay on Earth comfortably for longer than a few days. For 13 years the moon base was his home, the Crystal Gems only taking him to isolated areas on Earth for practice missions, making him wear a face mask; they were afraid his immune system wouldn’t be able to handle being around other humans or animals.

Speaking of his home, the gems took on the task of adapting the moon base to look as much like a human home as they could; they felt guilty for inadvertently confining Steven to such a small space, it was the least they could do. With Greg’s (limited) knowledge, they covered the walls, murals, and floors with wood and plaster, warping in furniture and materials to build in proper electrical systems, water systems, etc. They even built extra floor(s); the base was built for someone the size of a diamond, but Steven didn’t need that as much as he needed floor space to run around. A floor for the living room, bathroom, and warp pad, a floor for the kitchen and garden, and the top conservatory re-purposed as his bedroom. 

Greg frequently visits Steven during the week, considering Beach City has few people needing car washes that often. He comes over slightly less now that Steven is mostly able to take care of himself, but still visits a lot more than canon. The gems’ temple is their base of operations, but they tend to hang out in the moon base if they aren’t off on a mission or doing who knows what in their rooms; it used to be weird for them, but by the time Steven was 10 it became instinct to them to warp there as ‘home’. Amethyst has taken to staying there the most, sometimes just staying there to sleep instead of going to her room; though she has to restrain herself from being the trash lord she is

Because of his lack of interaction, Steven makes many friends online; he’s even set up a curtain around his desk that he can pull behind him, so whenever someone video calls he doesn’t have to explain why it looks like he’s in space. On of these friends he’s made is Connie Maheswaran, a fellow nerd located surprisingly close to Beach City.

Interest Grows

Connie quickly becomes his best friend, hitting it off over their love of books. Steven - knowing very little about normal human life - constantly asks her about hers, living vicariously through her stories. Eventually he explains to her that he’s sick, too sick to leave his house; between the constant curiosity and how often he’s online, she had gotten curious herself. He’s never bonded with another human so well besides his dad, and the fact he can’t visit her severely dampens his mood.

The Gems quickly notice this, trying to help by offering more missions. He learns more about his past and about gemkind, including about his mom’s healing fountain. The Gems and Greg decided to tell Steven that his mom was half-gem, like him, so he wouldn’t feel so alone as a hybrid. He asks if maybe that’d ‘cure’ him, but they tell him there technically isn’t anything to cure; his body simply adapted to his environment, and they were afraid that if it did work, it’d change his anatomy too quickly and end up hurting him even more. Steven saw this as an excuse; he was growing desperate and impatient, and a plan formed in his mind. He became subtly more cold and serious towards the Gems, but joined them as often as he could on missions.

To Earth...

Finally, after months of pushing through the extra work, the Gems planned a mission to a gem site located somewhat near Connie’s city. He texted Connie that he’d see her soon, and taking his cheeseburger backpack, he warped with the Gems to their mission; though he had a different mission in mind. While they were busy fighting the corruption they had found, Steven booked it away from the gem site, running to the nearest bus stop and getting a ride to Connie’s city. She had told him which school she went to, so with the help of confused strangers, he found his way to her school. Finally, the two met in person; on the walk home from school, Steven told her the truth about him and his life; Connie partially believed him considering he had a giant gem embedded in his stomach, but his powers weren’t wanting to work. Steven asked for her help, he wanted to stay on Earth with her, and his best bet was his mom’s fountain. Despite how crazy he sounded, she agreed to help him; she’s been waiting for an excuse to rebel against her parent’s strict scheduling. Besides, how long would it take?

When the Gems finally poofed the corrupted monster and realized Steven was missing, they naturally panicked. Pearl called Greg who used his parental authority to locate Steven’s phone (which Steven kept on him, not realizing Greg could do that) and Garnet used her future vision; between the two, they all hurriedly rushed to the Maheswaran’s house. Turn’s out Steven was either smarter than they thought or just dropped his phone, as they found it sitting on the porch. The Maheswarans were quickly caught up in the situation, realizing their daughter missing at the same time was probably more than coincidence. Garnet’s vision told her that, because he was so curious about the healing fountain, he’d most likely head there. The Maheswarans joined Greg and the Gems in the van, and the party drove off with Pearl’s guidance.

The trip to the fountain took approximately a week, with Steven and Connie hitching rides and taking buses, living off the money Amethyst had given him (”Why do you need all this cash?” “...I wanted to buy stuff off Etsy? Where’d you get all this money anyways?” “Doesn’t matter, it wasn’t being used”) and the money Connie kept in her wallet (her parents insisted she kept ‘emergency cash’ on her, oh how that backfired). They grew closer as friends; Steven fell in love with the Earth and society, and Connie rethought her views on life in turn, her confidence and self-esteem blooming. As they traveled though, Steven could feel himself getting weaker and weaker; his body truly wasn’t able to support him on Earth, to his dismay. He hid it as long as he could, but Connie could tell he wasn’t feeling well as they approached their destination.

...And Back

Connie and Steven made it to the fountain just ahead of the van full of worried adults. The last part of their journey had to be on foot, as there were no roads leading to the small valley hiding their destination. Connie had to support Steven as they reached the overgrown brambles covering the site. Steven was getting desperate, both in wanting answers and needing help for his physical state. The brambles went after Connie; Steven finally proving he at least wasn’t entirely human as he used his shield to cut them off. He put up a bubble around them, collapsing in exhaustion as he protected them from the brambles trying to break through.

The van barely pulled to a stop before the Gems got out and fought off the brambles, Steven finally letting the bubble down. They quickly told the parents to watch the kids as they went to clear the brambles and fix the fountain, the Maheswarans too shocked by the scene to bother yelling at Connie yet, just following Greg in stunned silence. Greg barely registered Connie as he picked up his son and ran after the Gems; Garnet instructed him to place Steven in the empty fountain before running off to help Amethyst and Pearl.

Greg gently laid Steven on the ground with his head propped against his chest; Steven’s physical state was incredibly weak, but he still asked about his mom, trying to get answers while he was able. Greg tells him the truth- Rose was not only a full gem, but that she gave up her form so he could live. Steven thanks him for telling him before passing out, his heart literally being too big to support him. Greg and the Maheswarans were quietly crying as Connie tried to shake him awake, her face panicked (”I believe you now, Steven...you really are a moon boy...c’mon Steven, tell me you told me so”). Greg and Connie were too focused on the wounded boy to notice her parents jumping into the fountain, trying to avoid the brambles that were now coming after them.

Before Steven could take his last breath, the fountain finally flowed over them, the pink water soaking everyone. Greg helped his son float as the CG came running back; everyone waited with bated breath. Finally, Steven coughed and weakly tried sitting up; his body still wasn’t used to the atmosphere, though. The Gems were right about that, at least; his body didn’t seem to need a ‘cure’. He quickly passed out again, but with the reassurance that he was alive, the Gems took control of the situation. While the parents followed in Greg’s van, Amethyst shape shifted into a helicopter and flew Steven, Connie, Pearl, and Garnet to the closest warp pad (Greg took this time to further explain what exactly was happening to Connie’s parents.) 

The Gems reached the warp pad ahead of the van; Connie insisted she came with them, and so did Steven in one of his brief moments of consciousness ; they didn’t have time to argue, so all 5 of them warped to the moon base, to his house. 

Greg helped the Maheswarans follow using his warp flute about 30 minutes later, finding everyone upstairs huddled around Steven’s bed. He had recently woken up with his head in Connie’s lap, and upon seeing the Maheswarans immediately apologized for putting Connie in danger (he had to be told to at least lay back down as he kept talking.) He didn’t mean for her to be gone so long, for her to risk herself for his sake, he didn’t fully understand human society and the complexities of normal life. At his sincere words, the Maheswarans forgave him; Steven protected her, helped her grow, and gave her a friend; they couldn’t ask for a better person to ‘accidentally kidnap’ their daughter (though Connie was fairly grounded for a month; Steven and Connie agreed that seemed kinda fair.)

After a tearful reunion, they decided over dinner that the adults would help the two be able to interact more. Steven would go on more missions, hang out in the fountain, and have a heavier but more regulated integration with human life; Connie would be given her own warp flute and would be able to better adjust to no atmosphere- aka, hang out with Steven in zero gravity. Later this would turn into sword practice and gem adventures, but hey- baby steps, right?

HELLS YEA How’s that? That took- 1.5 hours longer than I thought it’d take to rewrite here lmao OOPS

Also one more reminder that this is QPR Connverse bc my AU my rules; I know the movie was romantic but I ain’t havin it >8)

Anyways ‘The Space Between Us AU’ is too long, I thought about shortening it to TSBU but why do that when it could be BUST AU (EARTH OR BUST, BABEY)-

#steven universe #su au #the space between us au #is there a tag for 'an idea i put too much thought into for something im gonna do NOTHING with' #the space between us #connverse #qpr connverse #su bust au #mynotatian

[polarishq]

Meet MARTHA “Molly” HARRIS. They are ONE-HUNDRED and FORTY-TWO years old and hail from CLAREMORE, OK. Molly embodies the star, VEGA. They use she/her pronouns. Their faceclaim is MAIA MITCHELL.

Molly reminds me of a fully stocked first aid kit, peter pan collars and bruised knuckles, blurred photographs, tense muscles, a cross tucked in the far back of the jewelry box, deep breathing techniques, a southern drawl, prayers whispered in the dead of night, dusty windowsills, pink pocketknives, and a redemption you can only hope to deserve.

BIOGRAPHY

(TRIGGERS for death, violence, assault. and religion)

For Molly Harris, the very idea of magic was something to be feared. She was born the youngest of five children and the only daughter, to their town’s pastor and his wife, a woman who Molly only knows through stories as she died during childbirth. The Harris family has never known a drop of magic, and within Claremore, withcraft was heresy used to turn others away from God. Molly never imagined that anything about her was out of the ordinary, though looking back on it, she takes note of how easily injuries of hers would heal compared to her brothers’. Her life was simple, comprised of being the good pastor’s daughter and very little else.

Most of her childhood and early adolescence passed by easily. It wasn’t until the age of 13 when Molly realized she was different. While walking home one day, she discovered a cat who’d sustained a broken leg. Her intention had been to move it somewhere safe, but when she picked the poor fellow up, there was a burst of warmth in the tips of her fingers and suddenly, the cat leapt from her arms without any sign of injury. Maybe she had imagined that it had been hurt. Maybe it had been faking. But when a bird fell out of its nest on the Harris family’s roof a few weeks later, and a simple touch managed to fix its busted wing, it was too much to be a coincidence. Molly was terrified when she put two and two together. Had the devil taken hold of her somehow? But if so, why was she able to do something that helped, rather than hurt like she’d always been taught was the only way for magic? She didn’t understand, but she did know that it needed to be kept secret. She could use her powers in peace to do good when people weren’t around, and every other minute of the day, she could be just as normal as the rest of her family

It was a good plan in theory, and one that Molly managed to execute for years. First it was healing wounded animals, then when she found out she could heal sickness as well, she tended to her family under the guise of very good home remedies to get them back on track. All the while, she continued to sit in the front pew of her father’s church, hearing him talk of smiting the wicked and those who went against God’s natural plan. If her abilities meant she would burn in Hell, she would at least do good while on Earth. That all came to a crashing halt right around Molly’s nineteenth birthday. A tragic incident involving one of her brother’s and a buggy left him barely alive; while her father sat at his bedside praying God spare his son, Molly made a sudden decision to stitch up his wounds and heal the internal damage. This wasn’t a stray dog, this was her family. Surely her father would understand that this was a gift.

He did not.

The moment her brother’s wounds were clearly healed, her father turned on his only daughter. The words he shouted at her are one she’ll never forget, nor the way he physically grabbed her while her other brothers worked to restrain him. Worst of all was the accusation that her late mother had consorted with the devil, and Molly was nothing more than his spawn. She had thought that herself countless times, but to have her father think it as well was more than she knew how to handle. A switch was instantly flipped within the Harris household. Molly wasn’t allowed to leave the home, not even to go to church lest she infect the congregation with her sorcery. Her brothers were forbidden to interact with her, though they did occasionally speak to her through her bedroom door when there was no chance of getting caught. And her father’s only acknowledgment of her was in the form of rituals and ceremonies, claiming they would remove the evil from her body but usually only resulted in Molly being left crying on the floor. Her faith quickly began to dwindle; if God were real, why would he have given her these abilities when she’d only ever tried to be good?

The abuse continued for years, long past the time when Molly’s physical aging slowed down. And in all that time, Molly only became angrier. The day came when she finally cracked, and told her father that she would kill him if he didn’t let her go. Molly had no intention of doing so. At the time, she didnt’ know that she was capable of anything outside of healing, but in that moment, she realized that her father was more fearful of her than anything else and she used that to her advantage. When Molly finally stepped outside of her home for the first time in almost two decades, it was a world she barely knew. But it was wide open to her.

The years of trauma and building viciousness had turned Molly into something very different from the good little Christian girl she had once been. She was completely on her own, and learning to navigate this new existence was daunting, but Molly prevailed. She learned to listen and take in the actions of those around, and eventually heard rumors (whispered only in the farthest corners of restaurants and under the breaths of young girls) of a group that claimed to be witches. Actual witches, who made no secret of their magic. Molly followed these rumors to New Orleans, and tracked down the group with no name.

Gaining their trust wasn’t easy, but then again, nothing about Molly’s life had been easy. Once she’d proven herself a valuable asset (the group thrived on making their presence known on violence, and the backfiring of that meant that a healer had a very special place among them), Molly began learning what exactly she was. A witch, yes, but very different from the ugly old women she’d heard about in childhood stories. Beyond that, she learned that she was capable of more than just healing. Healing was her specialty, but years of trauma had left any other abilities stunted. In the group though, proving you belonged meant being willing to get her hands dirty. If Molly couldn’t do so with magic, then she may as use her own body. She learned to fight with her fists, and when she became skilled at that, Molly gained a rather special love for knives. The Group with No Name was one of a handful of magic gangs scattered around the country, and the number of fights (both physical and magical) that Molly found herself in over the proceeding decades was immeasurable. She’s pretty sure she has almost died at least two dozen times, but the sheer rush of it all — after all of the hurt and pain she’d gone through — was beyond words.

The Group became a second family to her, or at least in the sense of what Molly defined as family. There was no love, but there was fierce loyalty to their own. That’s why, when their leader told them they had captured two mortals who had been hunting them down, Molly didn’t bat an eyelash at the prospect of killing them. Until she heard the name. Zachary and Peter Harris of Fucksville, Oklahoma, as their leader so politely put it. Molly’s brothers were in their 70s at this point, harmless and human and looking for her. The Group was loyal to their own, so surely if she asked that they be spared, they would. Right? Wrong. 

Much like her father, the Group turned on her the second it seemed that she was different from them. Her brothers were dragged out in front of her, and before Molly could take in the sight of them, they were both dead. Nothing needed to be said for Molly to know that they hadn’t simply been found. They had been looking for her after all those years, and now they had been murdered because of her. Much like with her father, something in Molly snapped. Unlike that incident, she did not have the upper hand. The fight that result was all flinging spells and tearing skin, and Molly’s focus was on escaping rather than winning. Had she not been able to heal herself, she’s certain she would have died, but eventually she was able to run far enough away out of their reach. 

Molly was once again alone. She hated the violent person she had become while with them, and she hated the naive little girl she’d been before. Over the following years, Molly focused on surviving just for herself, picking up off jobs and leaving town once her lack of aging became too obvious. At one point in the late 1980s, she obtained fake documents to get her into nursing school, if only to be able to use her healing powers in a proper setting. And just a few years ago, she heard word of a school in Vermont that trained magic users properly, something she had never known she wanted. When she spoke with the Ursas, her biggest fear was that she would be rejected since her only ability to date was healing. But she was more than that, they assured her. The rest of her magic had gone dormant as a result of her father’s abuse, but that just meant they could awaken it. Molly was accepted in Polaris and, for the dozenth time in her life, learned to live a new existence.

She’s been at Polaris for a few years now and indeed, her magic has slowly made itself known. She’s learning to control water, but her largest focus has been on strengthening her healers skillset. She has done so much harm, that now she can’t imagine doing anything but good. Molly has also slowly began reevaluating her relationship with religion, though the borderline exorcisms her father put her through now makes prayers taste like ash in her mouth. And after decades of living to survive, Molly is still unlearning how to react with violence first. When she moved quickly, fists balled at her side and ready to swing, its not out of anger. It’s a need to make the first move before someone else gets the advantage. The thing that’s taken Molly the longest to learn is that she’s safe. Quite honestly, she’s not sure if she’ll ever learn that lesson.

INCLINATION

As the brightest star within Lyra, it comes as no surprise that Vega has its own capacity for healing. In particular, Vega tends to sponsor magic users at birth, often those whose mothers have died during the process. In Vega’s opinion, an individual born among death should have something resembling the gift of life. The healers of Vega tend to be gentle souls by nature, though it can be very easy to hurt their souls. They can heal and cure just about anyone who still has a heartbeat, but their inability to heal emotional pain can weigh heavy.

CONNECTIONS

Birds of a Feather: Another member or the former gang Molly was in. Maybe they left, maybe they’re still in but are now at Polaris for any number of reasons. Either way, considering the way Molly left, there is a heavy dose of bad blood between them despite the former loyalty.

Sparring Partner: Although it can be hard to tell at first glance, Molly knows how to easily take someone down in a physical fight. And while she’s trying very hard to be a gentle person nowadays, she’s well aware that sometimes you need to protect yourself. This is someone who’s aware of Molly’s past enough to know her fighting skills, and the two of them occasionally spar together to keep their abilities sharp.

Filling the role of Leonard Vance’s Best Friend.

Penned by Jeanne ★

#water. #vega. #taken. #jeanne. #student.

[its-r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s]

Call Me A Freak- Chapter 4: Playing Pawns

Words: 2,632

Warnings: manipulation, descriptions of injuries and scars, descriptions of violence and blood, physical abuse, nightmares

Ch 3 | Ch 5

~ ~ ~

Evie and I went back to our own room, leaving the boys to play their game in silence. It was going to be curfew soon enough, and no doubt someone was going to be watching especially hard tonight to make sure we didn’t disobey any rules.

Evie had practically made herself at home on her side of the room.  She planned her outfit for the next day and laid it out across the bed. Then, she began to set up her sewing equipment on the table.

I opted to just go to sleep. I wanted to be ready for whatever tomorrow brought me and I figured it would take me awhile to fall asleep anyway. My surroundings were new and completely unfamiliar. And I’d never had to share a room with anybody before.

As I peeled my jacket off, I heard Evie practically screech behind me.

“Mal! What happened?”

I swung around to stare at her, eyes wide. My jacket had fallen to my feet. “What are you talking about?”

“Your shoulder!” she insisted, rushing up to me. “What happened?” She tried to reach for it, but I backed away from her.

I knew what she was talking about. The tank top I was wearing put the burns across my back on full display.

The scars reached around my right shoulder and across my spine. They were bright pink, with pale stretch marks littered throughout, caused by overextension before the burns had healed.

I raised an eyebrow at Evie’s concerned expression. Everyone on the Isle had seen the jagged scar underneath my left eye. Everyone knew exactly where it came from. So, why wouldn’t she assume I had other scars elsewhere?

“My mother happened,” I snapped.

Evie faltered on her next response. “Mal, I… That doesn’t look very good. I’m worried it’s infected-”

“It’s just a scar, Evie,” I insisted. “The burn is from well over a year ago. There’s no need to freak out.”

I sat down on the edge of my bed, pulling off my boots. She stood over me a bit longer, but I didn’t say anything to her. There was no reason to.

Once Evie had gone back to her sewing machine, I kicked the bag off the end of my bed and laid down.

My mind kept drifting to and from one thought: how much would be revealed before we got back to our parents?

I was never hiding the way my mother treated me. But I didn’t talk about it with anyone. All that would lead to were deep and pointless conversations. I couldn’t get away from my mother. She was the most powerful person on the Isle. And it’s not like I wanted to. My mother taught me how to protect myself from the vicious life on the Isle. She taught me the pain was fleeting, so there was no use in letting it get to you. She taught me what true pain was. True fear. Those things never left you.

~ ~ ~

My mother’s fingers were like talons against my skin. Her grip was firm, as if she expected me to run any minute.

My feet were heavy. I stumbled as she dragged me down the short staircase to the back entrance of the castle.

Every sound was amplified down here. Noises bounced off the concrete walls like a rubber ball. Even slight shuffles of clothing could be distinguished clearly throughout the hallway.

The back door lead out to a small courtyard. It was surrounded on all sides by other buildings.

I never went out there, because it made me sick to my stomach. The courtyard was perhaps the only place in the whole of the Isle that didn’t smell like smoke. Instead… it smelled of iron.

When my mother shoved me outside, I froze in fear.

At my feet was a bloody pulp of a person. They lay in a fetal position, their bruised fingers just barely reaching over their knees. Their hair was matted with blood and dirt. And their face…

~ ~ ~

I jolted awake in a cold sweat, my eyelids still stained by the horrifying image. Luckily, Evie didn’t notice, fast asleep across the room.

I pushed myself out from underneath the covers and started to get ready for the day, quickly pushing the dream from my mind. It was almost too easy at this point to forget the horrors I faced during the night. As I walked around, I tried to figure out what would come next for the four of us.

Trying to find a way to get to the museum was number one, obviously. But to do that, we needed someone who had a car and we had to convince them to let us use it… or get them to take us there.

I racked my brain for people we could use as pawns in this plan. Fairy Godmother was the main one. If we could convince her to take the wand out for some reason, we would be golden. Probably not Audrey considering she hated my guts, but there was always the opportunity to start a fight with her if we needed a distraction. Doug was smitten with Evie and he seemed to know a lot about the school. Perhaps he could tell us where they keep the keys to the limo we came in.

As I went down the list, my mind kept jumping to Ben. But honestly, I didn’t know what he could do for us. There was no need for us to be nice to him unless he had some sort of use, but I couldn’t find it. All I could think was, we need him. We will need him.

~ ~ ~

The Headmistress Fairy Godmother had set up a black board with the title “Welcome to Remedial Goodness” ahead of us. As she listed off her obvious questions, I found myself distracted.

I began to sketch the wand from memory over a blank piece of paper in front of me. I wanted to make sure I’d be able to recognize it anywhere.

“If someone hands you a crying baby, do you: A) Curse it?, B) Lock it in a tower?, C) Give it a bottle?, or D) Carve out its heart?”

I was beginning to find Fairy Godmother’s fake and fabricated voice extremely annoying.

Evie gasped and threw up her hand, but I knew for a fact that she had no clue what the answer was.

As Fairy Godmother called on her excitedly, she tilted her head to the side with a smile, and asked, “What was the second one?”

“Oh, okay,” our teacher for the day responded. “Anyone else?”

She was disappointed, looking between us. That’s when she noticed my disinterest.

“Mal?”

“C, give it a bottle,” I replied, without so much as a look up from my work.

“Correct,” she said with a smile. “Again.”

“You are on fire, girl.” Carlos was leaning back in his seat, not retaining any of the information placed in front of him. Although his eyes were fixed on the board, I could tell he wasn’t reading anything.

“I just pick the one that my mom is least likely to do,” I explained, trying to get them to pick up on the class so I could get out of there. It felt like there were a ton of heavy coins in my brain and every time Fairy Godmother talked, she was shaking them around.

“Oh,” he responded, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the board again.

“That makes so much sense,��� Evie mumbled beside me.

I wanted to make a snarky response to them all about being idiots, but I was distracted by a high pitched shriek to my left.

Scuttling past the four of us was a stout girl in a baby blue dress. She clutched a clipboard across her chest and continued to glance back at us as she approached the headmistress.

“Hello dear one,” Fairy Godmother cooed.

“Hi. You need to sign off on early dismissal for the Coronation.” She shoved the pen and papers into the woman’s arms.

“Everyone here remembers my daughter, Jane,” Fairy Godmother started and one thought went through my head: pawn.

“Mom, no!” she hissed.

“It’s okay,” her mother reassured. “Jane, this is everyone.”

Fairy Godmother put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders as she introduced us. She had this comforting sort of look in her eyes when she was around Jane that made my chest cave in, but it only lasted a minute.

Jane stumbled towards us, then froze. “Hi… That’s okay. Don’t mind me… As you were,” she finished off with a small bow and squealed once again when she walked by.

My eyes followed her down the hall as I began to think of ways she could get us to the wand.

~ ~ ~

“You are so smart, Mal,” Evie complimented as she watched me shuffle through my new locker. “You got all those answers right in goodness class today.”

I shook my head as I tore through my bag. I knew why I was better at remedial goodness than the rest of them, and it wasn’t because I was super smart or inherently good. I had learned the hard way to find out what other people wanted me to say. I had grown so used to listening to my mother speak condescendingly and picking up her true intentions.

But I didn’t admit this to Evie. I just muttered, “Thanks.”

Audrey laughed loudly as she walked down the hallway, stopping only when she saw us.

Evie turned almost immediately, hurried saying her goodbyes and I quickly turned into my locker so that she wouldn’t think to talk to me. She had been walking with her boyfriend and another boy named Chad, who I had been informed was Cinderella’s son.

I could hear them continue talking a few feet away, but I had no clue what they were saying, until Ben announced, “I think you’re wrong about them. I’ll see you later.”

I finished up switching out my books and shut my locker to find Ben standing on the other side.

“Hey!”

I did my best to subdue my startled look and quickly responded, “Hey.”

“How was your first day?” he asked.

I pretended to think about it for a moment. “Super.”

“You should really think about taking this talent off the locker and into art class,” he smiled. He nodded towards the design I had painted over the front of my locker. It was a quick recreation of the one I left of the Isle the day before. “I could, uh, sign you up? What do you think?”

Ben was a bit too observant, I thought to myself.

On the Isle, I spray painted walls to send a message. No one stopped to tell me how beautiful my designs were. Mostly because on the Isle you worried about yourself and only yourself.

Ben cared. He saw my art and thought I was talented. He asked if I wanted to study it more. He even offered to sign me up himself. It was attention that I didn’t want to have.

Lucky enough, at that exact moment, Jane walked by. She squealed in fear, then shuffled into the nearby bathroom. A smile graced my face and I held tighter to my spell book.

I flipped back towards Ben. “Way to take all the fun out of it,” I joked, before rushing after Jane.

I took in a deep breath, then entered. She was standing in front of the mirror, fixing up her hair when I waltzed in. I saw her eyes turn to circles as she recognized my purple and black attire.

“Hi,” I greeted with a kind smile. “It’s Jane, right?”

She didn’t respond, her mouth falling open. Perhaps she was surprised that I hadn’t threatened her or tried to kill her the moment we were alone. I mean, I knew she was terrified of us, so I decided to play that to my advantage.

“Sorry if I startled you. My friends and I can be a bit rough around the edges. I guess I was just kinda hoping to make a friend… You probably have all the friends you need though, huh?” I did my best to play the sympathetic card.

“Hardly,” she mumbled.

“Really?” I questioned, slowly getting closer. “I mean, with your mom being Fairy Godmother and Headmistress? I mean, not to mention your own… personality.”

I had to choose my words carefully. This was about building trust. If I showed immediate interest in the wand, then she wouldn’t care. But if she thought I was a friend, she’d feel more obligated to show me the wand when I brought it up later.”

“I’d rather be pretty,” she responded truthfully. “You’ve got great hair.”

Perfect, I thought. I know exactly how to get her to feel in debt to me.

“You know what? I have just the thing for that,” I giggled. I opened up my spellbook, flipping through the pages. “It’s right… Ah! Here.”

I sent her a reassuring smile, running my fingers over the spell.

“Beware, forswear, replace the old with brand new hair.” Once I had finished the words, I flicked my pointer finger just as my mother had shown me.

It threw Jane’s head around a little bit. I felt bad. It was no doubt startling. But once I was done, she lifted her head to find a longer, curly style that draped over her shoulders.

She ran her fingers through it, eyes fixed on her reflection.

“Wow,” she breathed out. “That’s so amazing. I wish I could use magic like you.”

I shrugged, nonchalantly. “I’ve been practicing, but I can’t do really big magic. Not like your mom! With her wand! I mean, one swoosh from that thing and you could probably do whatever you wanted!”

Her face saddened. “She doesn’t use the wand anymore. She believes the real magic is in the books. And not the spellbooks. Regular books with history and stuff.”

I rolled my eyes. “What a rip.”

This was my chance to persuade her. Convince her to give me the wand.

“You know,” I started. “You’ve got fairy blood in you. I’m sure if you used the wand you could do things yourself. Give yourself whatever features you wanted.”

Jane looked down. “Yeah, but I’d need her permission.”

“You know, she used magic on Cinderella. Who wasn’t even her real daughter.” I toyed with her emotions. “Doesn’t she love you?”

“Well, of course she does,” Jane said quickly. “It’s just… you know, tough love. ‘Work on the inside, not the outside’ That sort of thing.”

I was a bit shocked to find her defending her mother’s honor so much, but I wasn’t done with her yet. I had to think on my toes.

“That’s the face!” I exclaimed, gesturing to her disappointed expression. “Yeah! And then just look as if your heart is about to break.”

She wasn’t picking up on what I was implying, so I held a finger up to show her.

“‘Oh mother,’” I overdramatized. “‘I just don’t understand why you can’t make me beautiful, too.’”

I dropped the act and turned back to her hopeful expression. “You think it would work?”

I smirked. “Yeah. I mean, that’s what old Cindy did, right? And your mom bippity boppity boo’d the living daylights out of her.”

Jane chuckled, thinking it over.

“And hey,” I added. “I can totally help you with the magic part, seeing as I’m also the daughter of a fairy.”

She was grinning from ear to ear at this point. “If I can convince mom, you’re so there.”

“Yay!” I cheered.

“Bye!” she said, grabbing her bag to go.

I waved my fingers, cutely, “Bye.”

#descendants #disney #disney descendants #disney channel #dcom #descendants fanfic #descendants fanfiction #descendents #descendants imagine #descendants imagines #disney fanfiction #disney fanfic #disney imagine #disney imagines #descendants dcom #fanfic #fanfiction #imagines #imagine #mal #mal descendants #evie #evie descendants #maleficent #fairy godmother #jay #jay descendants #carlos #carlos de vil #carlos descendants

[misfxts]

A Special Place || Ichisada & Osamu Drabble

*Warning for Sensitive Material *Read [Black Hole] [Fresh Bruises] [Precious Things] [Hitting Home] [Last Day] [To Be Loved] [Party Favors] [Supernova]

“So, how are you liking this place?” 

“Um... it’s... weird.” 

“Yeah, because it’s inter-dimensional and stuff?”

“Y-Yeah..”

“But is it cool though?”

“Yeah... it’s cool.”

“Cool.”

There was silence between the two siblings, as they sat on the bed of their new temporary housing situation-- which what the break room of a very special place.

“..Nii-san, why are we staying here now?” Osamu asked. “Why did you go away for so long? Dr. Osamu thought you said it’d only be for a couple weeks, but it was almost two months... were Chichi and Haha okay with it? Why is there a scorpion in that big aquarium over there? A-And...”

“...why do you look like that Nii-san?” Osamu reached out and held Ichisada’s hand, observing the bruising on the wrist. “Who hurt you?”

Oh, how easy it’d be to brush off his comments and say ‘he’ll understand when he’s older’. Osamu doesn’t deserve to be subjected to the hard truths of this world, of what she’s endured. He’s far too young! He should be focusing on school and the latest cartoons! Not... not this.

And yet, fate or whatever outside power decides that not even her little brother can have a normal childhood. Something that Ichisada was robbed of herself, a long time ago.

“...I was..kidnapped.” 

“W-What?!” Osamu looked at his sister with such shock in his eyes. “W-why?! Was it someone that--”

“No, it wasn’t because of Crow...” Though this whole thing was somewhat his fault. “...Do you remember Miyamoto-san?”

Osamu tilted his head. “You mean that big scary man who owns this place? O-Or he means the real version of this place?”

“Yeah. That’s him.” Ichisada nods, choosing her next words carefully. “I’ve never told you this... hell, I’ve never told anyone this until recently. But... Miya-- Atsushi... Atsushi hit me, a lot.”

Osamu’s eyes widened.

“Yeah. He did other bad things too. Making fun of me, yelling at me because I did something wrong, making me believe stuff that wasn’t actually real..The list goes on.” 

“Just... just like...”

“Yeah. Just like my life in foster care.” Ichisada lays back on the bed. “I guess I just have some really shit luck when it comes to mentors, don’t I Osamu?”

Osamu lays down on the bed, facing Ichisada. “He guesses so... does the world just not like you?”

“Seems like it.” Ichisada could think up a few theories on her horrible luck. “I realized that I couldn’t go through that shit again. It wasn’t like when I was younger, when someone realized I was being treated poorly and I’d be handed off to someone else... I felt like I was on my own for this, I had to get away by myself.”

“So what did you do?”

“I quit.” Ichisada turns to face Osamu on the bed. “I got my pink slip, and I handed it in to him... I knew he wasn’t going to be happy with it... and I didn’t know what he’d do. I was worried he might try and come after you to convince me to stay with him.”

“Is that why Dr. Osamu had to go away?”

“Yeah.. yeah that’s why you had to go away.” Ichisada nodded, not mentioning the fact that Miyamoto threatened him. “This was my mess, you had nothing to do with what was going on. I wasn’t gonna let him drag you into this mess that I made.”

“So.. what happened next?”

“Well.. when it was my last day, I got a party but... Miyamoto put something in my drink, and it made me sick.”

“Oh no!”

“Yeah. I got really sick, and I fell asleep outside. Then I woke up in Miyamoto’s house, and he said he was gonna try and make me like him again. So.. he tried. He did a lot of bad things to me, Osamu. Said a lot of awful things too..”

“But it didn’t work did it?” Osamu blinked. “Because you’re strong! You beat up the monsters that try to get under Dr. Osamu’s bed, there’s nothing that can stop you!”

“Heh.. yeah, it didn’t work.” Ichisada smiled. “I even thought up a plan to make sure he wasn’t gonna go after us. You know what I did?”

“No, what?” 

“I poisoned him.”

“You did?!” Osamu gasped again, sitting up. “W-What did you poison him with?” 

“Antifreeze.”

Osamu gasped again. “Ayeayeaye! You really did want to hurt him, didn’t you?”

“Well yeah, he was hurting me, and I wasn’t having that shit again!” Ichisada laughed and threw a couple punches in the air. “You’re little sister doesn’t do anything halfway you know!”

Osamu giggled. “So.. did it work then?”

“Yeah, it did... Now that I think about it, I think he realized that he was poisoned and got help right away.. he just let me think it was working.”

“Oh no..”

“Mhm. I found him passed out in the bathroom, and there were no guards. So like-- how could I not take that chance to escape, right?”

Osamu nodded.

“So I got my shit, and as I was leaving... I found a radio! So I called up our friends and tried to get out with their help.. Miya-- Atsushi caught me though.. he wasn’t very happy.”

Osamu gasped. 

“Yep.”Ichisada nodded. “There was Sixer, Desco.. and a couple of others you haven’t met yet... they all got me out of that jam together. I wouldn’t have been able to pull it off myself.. They all worked together to bring him down. Desco took down a lot of the minions, Sixer froze up the whole house. The others provided support and tied it all together.”

“Who are the others?”

“A group called TRGT and.. someone that looks a lot like Crow, but isn’t him.”

“Huh?”

“Multiverse stuff.”

“Oh.” Osamu sighed. “He’s gonna have to get used to all this malt-tea-verse stuff now isn’t he?”

“Yep,” Ichisada laughed, playfully shoved him. “Don’t sweat it, you’ll get used to it. If I can do it-- there’s no reason you can’t either.”

“Hmmmgh.... okay, if you think so Nii-san.” Osamu groaned. 

Ichisada laughed and patted Osamu on the head. The siblings once again sat in silence for a bit. 

“...Hey, you know what’s cool about this place?” 

“No, what is it?” Osamu tilted his head.

“This place likes me, it likes me a lot.” Ichisada stood up. “So much so that it’s given me powers.”

Ichisada snaps her fingers, and a small portal opens up above her hand and a pencil drops out from it.

Osamu’s eyes immediately light up like stars. “Woaahh! Nii-san, you have powers now?! That’s so cool! Can Dr. Osamu have some powers too?!”

“I dunno. Maybe. We’ll have to see how this place feels about you.” Ichisada tosses the pencil back into the portal. 

“Dr. Osamu wants healing powers! Glowey sparkly healing powers that come out of his hands!” Osamu holds his hands out. “Please special placeee...Dr. Osamu wants healing powerssss....”

Ichisada laughed and sat back down. “It doesn’t work like that here, buddy. You gotta be patient, you earn the powers.”

“Erghh... fine. He still wants healing powers though.” Osamu pouted. “...He still doesn’t know why we have to be here though.”

“Ah yeah that..” Ichisada rubbed the back of her head. “Miya-- Atsushi sent people and they kinda... trashed our house.”

“What?!”

“I know! It fucking sucks!” Ichisada threw her hands up into the air. “I don’t wanna deal with that, and I know you don’t wanna deal with it either. So we’ll stay here for a bit until I feel a little better... then we can spend a day to clean up.”

“Ah... okay..” Osamu nodded slowly. “So... the scorpion?”

“Oh yeah, that used to be Miyamoto’s pet. I figured they’d have a better home with us.. or a rescue shelter, if I can find one.”

“Ooouhhh..” Osamu nodded again. “Dr. Osamu’s gonna be the coolest kid on the playground now. He doesn’t think anyone’s got a pet scorpion!”

“You know what else is cool? Time moves differently here, you can stay here for a day-- and only a few minutes pass by in our world.”

Osamu gasped, eyes lighting up once again. “Dr. Osamu can get so much homework done!”

“That’s... that’s one way to look at it.” Ichisada smiled. “So.. you’re okay with this? Being here for a week or so?”

Osamu looked around the special place. “Yeah.. Dr. Osamu doesn’t mind being here... what do we call this place anyways?”

“It’s called the Inter-dimensional Bar-- or IDB for short.”

#booze babe; (ic) #little boy blue; (ic) #can it kasy; (drabbles) #[ARC]; Cruel Devotion #basically a post skimmin through the discord event!

[lacrossepapi]

Trials and Tribulations

This was supposed to be @mysenia prompt but it somehow turned into accidental child acquisition and mys’ maze prompt so here we are lol. I hope you still enjoy it and maybe someone else will go about the maze in the way you intended!  Ao3:Link                            Chapters: 1/1           Words: 5113

“Don’t touch him.” Stiles’ voice cut through the various sounds of demons and wolves clashing.

This demon lord had been in town for three days and Stiles was sick of the fear, of the blood, of the lonely nights filled with nightmares. The bastard had kidnapped Isaac, declaring that the wolf would be his mate and rule his kingdom in hell by his side. Personally, Stiles didn’t think that sounded too bad. They were all going to hell anyways, so why not get an early ride in exchange for being a king? He could fuck a not that bad looking demon lord for eternity in exchange for not being tortured. Nobody else saw it that way though.

The demon hummed, a thrilled, intrigued sound as his red eyes turned to Stiles.

“This one has power. You smell divine little mage.” The demon lord unceremoniously dropped Isaac from his clawed hands and gave Stiles his full attention.

All Stiles had to do was distract him long enough for Scott to get Isaac and Derek to round up the rest of the puppies, he could definitely do that.

“So you’ve finally figured it out? Yes, I am a mage. What does a mage have that a demon lord would want?” Stiles did not flinch when a clawed hand reached out to him, to caress or maim.

When his dark tipped fingers brushed an invisible wall the demon lord’s eyes widened with surprise and a bit of awe, a smile stretching across his inhuman face.

“Interesting. You’re stronger than you appear if your shield does not wither under my touch. You would be an excellent king, my love.” Several angry growls rose from behind Stiles making the man grin, a wicked thing full of teeth and malice.

“Best to watch yourself, my pack does not take those threats lightly.” The demon grinned back, the thrill of a chase seen clearly on his features before Stiles spoke again, “Now I am done with your flattery and your slaughter.”

He rose slightly off the ground, black veins bulging from under pale skin and silver eyes bright in the night, “Leave now, Abraxas, before I turn your demon horde to ash and your bones to dust.”

Stiles’ voice echoed through the clearing leaving no question as to if he could indeed burn a demon horde to the ground and take their lord with them.

The demon lord Abraxas watching Stiles for a moment longer before nodding, “I will remember you Stiles Stilinski and when you are killed I will claim your soul for eternity.”

“Well then if I die I’ll see you then. Now get out of my town.”

Where once there was fifty demons slobbering and drenched in blood there now only stood their lord, who gave one final wink before disappearing himself.

Stiles turned back to his pack, acutely aware that Kira had been gravely injured in the fight and did not heal as fast as the wolves. As he reached for her, hands glowing with healing light he took note of the rest of the pack. Erica and Boyd were huddled around Isaac, all three bleeding but fine. Scott and Derek were debating how to clean up the mess, while Allison and Lydia were watching Stiles with a look in their eyes he wasn’t ready to address. Cora and Malia were arguing about who took down the most demons, like the bad asses they were. Peter was leaning against a nearby tree trying to hide the fact that his arm was hanging half off his body, never one to admit to an injury. Stiles found himself chuckling despite the screaming girl beneath him, his pack would never change and he would always be here to take care of them.

Magical healing was never pretty nor relaxing, often being excruciatingly painful and all around a horrible experience. Stiles tried to only make them suffer through enough to keep them alive while their own healing kicked in, but with the less sturdy pack members he had to finish the job despite their screams and thrashing bodies. He hated it.

Stiles let Peter hide his injury until he could get the older wolf alone, knowing he’d never let the Scott or Derek see him so weak.

“Alright Zombiewolf let me see your arm.” Stiles demanded as he walked beside the older man at the end of the pack.

“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about, dear Stiles.”

“Oh really?” he knew it was a shitty thing to do, but if Peter was going to be difficult then so would Stiles.

He lifted his hand and grinned at Peter, “Give me a high five.”

“No thank you.”

“Alright, how about a low five?”

“How juvenile. I expected more from you.”

Stiles rolled his eyes before stepping in front of Peter, making the older man come to a stop, “Peter, let me help.”

The werewolf sighed before offering his injured arm to Stiles.

“I put a silence charm around us so feel free to scream, cause this is going to hurt.”

-

Weeks passed with no missing citizens, no dead bodies, and thankfully no new monsters. The city of Beacon Hills was finally peaceful, and Stiles was bored. No fighting meant that Stiles was forced to face how broken and unhappy he truly was.

The end of the school year meant the pack was graduating and Stiles would have to say goodbye to the only people who’d ever really known him. He’d begun dreading the date as it slowly crept up on him.

A tan bear with a pink nose was spotted multiple times in one week, but since there was no dead bodies or missing persons it took awhile for Stiles to hear about the sightings. He quickly started interviewing the witnesses trying to understand why such an animal would be in Beacon Hills. He’d finally gathered enough information to definitely say a Canadian spirit bear was in Beacon Hills and most likely was a shifter, and brought his conclusions to the pack.

“What do you mean it’s a shifter?”

“How could you possibly know its a spirit bear?”

“What if it’s just a sick brown bear?”

“How do you know it’s a shifter?”

“Did you actually see it?”

Stiles’ frustration was rapidly increasing by the second until he finally snapped, “I know it’s a spirit bear because I used the process of elimination. I know it’s a shifter because when anyone tries to get a picture of it the eyes shine so bright it ruins the picture. And also the whole, spirit bears only live in the Canadian rainforest.”

Someone, most likely Peter, chuckled at his irritation.

“Okay. I believe you. Derek and I will go meet the shifter and see why they’re here.” Scott said with a grin, as if that would soothe the hurt of having to over explain himself just for the pack’s trust.

“I want to go. I love spirit bears and I’m pretty sure this one is a child.”

“It’s not safe for you to meet an unknown shifter. If it’s a child the parents could be coming at any moment.” Derek’s words made Stiles spin around to face the other alpha.

“Neither one of you knows jack shit about children and none of you know how to approach a bear without angering or spooking it.” Stiles demanded.

“I have a younger sister, Stiles.”

“How do you know how to approach a bear?”

Stiles sighed, dejected and aware he’d lost the fight regardless of what he said.

“Whatever. Just go and help the poor thing.”

The alphas nodded and took their leave, the loft suddenly becoming uncomfortably quiet.

“I remember taking hunter’s safety with you. The lesson on dangerous wildlife was always the best part wasn’t it?” Erica’s voice reminded Stiles he couldn’t dissolve into an angst puddle because the rest of the pack was still around him.

“And I remember you getting off the bus at the daycare every afternoon despite the fact that you were too old to be there.” Boyd offered, placing a hand on Stiles’ shoulder.

Stiles smiled at them, “Thanks guys. It’ll be fine.”

A quiet moment of tension before he shrugged, “Probably.”

-

The two alphas weren’t able to speak to the bear or get it to shift back, which won Stiles twenty bucks from Isaac. They decided to try again the next day, but Stiles couldn’t let the little thing spend another night alone in an unknown forest. After his father left for work Stiles stepped outside and started up the grill. He grilled salmon so the smell of fish would permeate the air around his house and played a recording of a black bear he’d found on the National Geographic website.

Stiles’ thought that he could lure the cub to his back yard was proven right when he heard the distinct sound of heavy paws approaching, his wards telling him a shifter was entering his yard. A pink nose pushed its way through the bushes, followed by a large blonde head with yellow eyes. The rest of the bear cub was larger than Stiles had been expecting, but still small enough he knew the poor thing was still growing.

Stiles averted his eyes and spoke clearly, “Hello. My name is Stiles, this is my house and you are safe here.”

He tossed a salmon to the bear, watching the cub quickly devour it. Stiles had feared the cub was straying near town because of a lack of food in the preserve, and his fears seemed justified as the cub quickly devoured a second one. Stiles started tossing the salmon closer and closer to his spot on the porch, coercing the cub to come closer. When the bear was close enough to touch Stiles slowly sat down and turn his head so that his eyes were down cast and his neck bared. A cold nose was shoved against his neck after a moment of silent tension. Another moment of crucial silence passed as Stiles kept his heart rate as slow as possible with a bear’s snout against his throat.

“Mama!” the voice suddenly crying out in Stiles’ ear made him jump, but didn’t surprise enough to stunt his reflexes as he quickly caught the toddler.

Stiles hushed him and rocked them both side to side as the little boy cried. They stayed like that for a long time, until finally the child stopped crying and seemed to have fallen asleep.

Stiles carried the little boy up to his room and held him close through the night.

-

The next day Stiles woke to a child snuffling against his neck.

“Good morning, little cub. Did you sleep okay?”

“I  miss mama.” the cub whined pathetically before nuzzling under Stiles’ chin.

“Do you know where she is?”

“Big, big bear tried to get us but mama said I had to run so fast and I did!” He smiled at Stiles.

“Yes you did little guy. I’m so proud of you. Have you seen your mama since?”

“No. She said to run until I found papa, but he was mean and didn’t like me, so i just kept on going.”

Stiles’ brow furrowed for a moment as he tried to connect the pieces. Did he just run away from a fight or did his father actually not want him?

“How did you know papa didn’t like you, buddy?”

“He told me I was never ‘posed to let my fingies and toesies come out. He talked real bad about mama too.” Stiles hugged the little boy closer.

Stiles held him tight until the little boy wormed his way out of his arms and asked, “Can I have more fish?”

“Yes you can! What’s your name little cub?”

“Jesse!”

After eating a real breakfast, which included more salmon, Stiles told Jesse all about each pack member and how nice and amazing they all were so the little boy wouldn’t be scared of them.

“You have to come here because I don’t have a carseat. How am I supposed to get a toddler to the loft in my Jeep without a carseat?”

“No she’s not a deathtrap, thank you very much.”

“Just hurry up and get here. He wants to meet you guys.”

Stiles sighed heavily.

Jesse hopped up into his lap, content to play with his hoodie strings until the pack arrived.

-

Scott was the last to arrive, already grinning as he took his helmet off.

“I told you we could totally get the cub safely!” Scott cheered, his hand high waiting for Stiles to slap it.

“Yeah man. We did it.” The high five that followed was weak.

Lydia crossed her legs and tossed her hair back before speaking, “Really Scott? Stiles is the one that helped Jesse. Not ‘we’. Him.”

Stiles shot her a grateful look as he scooped Jesse off of his leg.

“Okay guys so this is Jesse. He’s a spirit bear shifter and he’s been traveling alone for a long time. He’d got nowhere else to go and he’s going to be staying with me from now on.”

He hadn’t been consciously aware of the decision until he had spoken the words, but Jesse absolutely was going to stay with Stiles and his father. He’d seen the look on his father’s face when he’d introduced them that morning.

Scott spluttered “You can’t just adopt him like it’s nothing.”

“He’s a shifter Stiles. He need more than you can give.” Derek demanded.

“Well I raised your pack pretty well on my own.”

Derek glared, while the other snickered.

“What about when his parents come looking?” Peter inquired, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“I’ll tell you why they won’t when he lays down for his nap in a bit.”

“No nap!”

“Yes nap.” Stiles said plainly, lightly pinching the boy’s cheek.

“No! Nap!”

“You want to go nap right now?”

“No.” This time the words were more subdued.

“Anyways, Jessop Stilinski will be officially adopted by the end of the day. And I don’t care about any of your opinions.”

He’d expected to see angry faces ready to argue, but was greeted by the sight of his friend’s grinning faces.

“You’re such a dad. How did we not see it?” Malia laughed.

“I thought it was a good idea from the start. He shouldn’t be out there alone.” Cora said, reminding everyone that she’d once been in Jesse position.

“I can’t wait to see you in a fanny pack, darling.” Peter leered, reminding Stiles he needed to finish his pop culture and fashion lessons with Peter.

“Stiles. No. You aren’t strong enough to protect him.” Derek pleaded.

“Seriously man, he’s not safe here.” Scott added approaching Stiles as if to take Jesse from him.

Jesse whimpered and ducked his head into Stiles chest, no doubt feeling Stiles’ rage through their fledgling pack bond.The sound of his cub being scared and unsure broke something in Stiles and suddenly the two alphas were on the ground, struggling under the pressure of Stiles’ magic. He ignored the defensive wolves at his back, scared and threatened by the sight of their alphas on the ground but in control enough to not interfere.

Stiles felt his feet rise from the ground and the ends of his hair lift from his scalp as wind tore through the house, swirling quickly around Stiles and Jesse. He knew his eyes had changed to the silver that came with his magic and that his veins had once again turned black, he did not like what he looked like when he let his magic course through him this strongly, but he would not let them take his child from him.

“I am the strongest member of this pack.” The words filled the living room as if they to were made of magic.

The wolves behind him whimpered and submitted, but he did not care about them.

“Okay! We were wrong! Stiles stop this!” Scott shouted, still being crushed into the ground.

“Stiles!” Derek cried after a long moment of Stiles’ continued silence.

Stiles sighed, releasing his magic back into the ground and freeing the wolves he’d trapped.

Both rose quickly, angry and embarrassed.

“Do not ever do that again.” Derek spit the words, Stiles would undoubtedly be pushed against a wall if he hadn’t been holding a laughing toddler.

“I can’t believe you man.” Scott muttered before following Derek out the door.

Stiles didn’t move as the rest of the pack filed out after their alphas, a few saying goodbye to him and Jesse.

“That was fun!”Jesse cheered pulling on Stiles’ hoodie strings excitedly.

“Yeah, and now I’m ready to take a nap. How about you buddy?”

“No nap!”

-

Stiles didn’t answer the pack’s messages or attend any pack meetings for a month. A month of taking care of Jesse and picking a college close enough to help if anything happened, but still a good criminal justice school. It was a month full of frustration and fighting with a four year old.

Eventually Scott texted and demanded what they could do to show that they value him and need him in the pack, which sparked an idea in Stiles’ head that ran rampant over the next few days.

He replied, “Prove it.” and sent his location to the pack group message.

He was currently sitting in the exact middle of the preserve surrounded by eleven doors, most of which he knew would never open. He didn’t realistically expect any of them to open.

He had transformed the preserve into a giant maze with eleven entrances, each one spelled to only allow one person to enter, and many chambers filled with tricks, traps, monsters, and riddles. He was sick of the pack pretending to value him, it was time to see who actually did.

Stiles practiced the alphabet and counting to ten with Jesse while he waited, the four year old would be starting school in the fall and needed to catch up to the kids that hadn’t been a bear for over a year.

The first one into the maze was Malia though she was not the first to lose, that honor went predictably to Isaac. The first chamber had two tunnels, one tunnel had Scott’s name over it, the other had Derek’s, but both were correct. Both wolves were caring alphas who had their own faults, neither was the better alpha. Isaac could not pick which alpha he was more loyal to in his heart, the ground opening up from underneath him for hesitating too long.

Stiles snickered as Jesse loudly counted his fingers and Isaac fell to the bottom of a pit.

Malia turned out to be the second to go, charging straight past the riddles and warnings Stiles had spent forever thinking of and falling straight into the moss covered pitfall, joining a grumpy Isaac. Stiles smiled at her roar of fury but couldn't help feeling disappointed that she hadn't even though to read the engraved signs he'd placed in easy eye level.

Stiles smiled in delight as everyone was approaching halfway, he had not expected most to make it very far at all. The pitfall warnings we're closer to riddles and he thought he'd made them difficult to understand.

Poor Allison lost in the chamber Stiles had spelled to show them a lost loved one. Crying for the mother her memories had conjured up, a cold woman who despite her coarse words had genuinely loved her daughter. It was a nasty trick, but Stiles constantly had his mother’s death thrown in his face every time a bad guy smelled his magic. He’d thought that chamber would get Derek or Cora since they’d lost more than anyone, but both were hardened by their grief and were able to smell the magic on the mirages, which was not something he'd anticipated and quickly rectified for one specific chamber.

Cora dropped in the chamber Stiles had placed a singular joystick, she did not know the song of time despite Stiles setting it as his ringtone and the motions as his password to everything. He couldn’t really fault her for that though, but this maze wasn’t about picking favorites or feeling guilty it was about the pack proving which of them genuinely knew Stiles and proving that while alone they could only go as far as their individual weaknesses allowed. Hopefully they'd understand why he'd targeted their weaknesses by the last chamber, that is if anyone actually reached it.

Scott and Derek were breezing through, but Stiles had something saved for them towards the end so he turned his attention to Erica and Boyd.

Erica lost in the chamber of wendigos, swarmed by the realistic illusions before finally dropping into the pit that held her pack mates. Stiles had fought a coven of wendigos last summer on his own and no one had realized how close he'd actually came to dying. Now they'd understand.  Boyd continued passed to the chamber with four levers and four Hogwarts houses, pull the right lever and he’d pass. Unfortunately Boyd pulled Gryffindor, and into the pit he fell. Boyd had had a tendency to put Stiles in a heroistic light ever since sophomore year when he'd dragged Erica and Boyd out of that basement with his bare hands, unable to much with his magic at that point and scared that he'd get them all killed if he'd tried.

Lydia was fearless as she screamed wendigos into oblivion and narrowly avoided picking the wrong house, but as she'd moved to pull the wrong lever she seemed to realize it didn't matter what she thought of him this was about what he thought of himself. She did not make it passed the mirrored chamber, sadly.  Surrounded on all sides by mirrors and a singular sign that read “How do you know you’re you?” she crumpled shouting, “You’ll never need someone else to tell you who you are Stiles!”, unable to solve the riddle from Stiles’ perspective before the pit opened up beneath her.

Kira had shouted, “In a dream you have extra fingers!” before charging through the closest mirror, confident in her answer. The next chamber took Kira down unfortunately. All she had to do was keep control of her shift while six golem approached slow and menacingly. She couldn’t keep her kitsune in, her aura exploding out around her and she shouted, “Stay back!”

Derek and Scott had both just arrived to the second to last chamber. Inside was the illusion of a human woman, this time spelled to smell only human. She asked for their help, tears streaming down her face as she approached and a knife dripping in kanima venom. She took Scott down while he asked her what had happened. Derek faired better, incapacitating her quickly and without real harm.

Jesse gasped beside Stiles drawing his attention away from the monitors he used to watch each pack member. Standing before them covered in blood was a very exhausted Peter Hale.

“Really Stiles? Mirages and illusions the whole way, but the last chamber has a real creature?” the werewolf inquired as he approached a shocked Stiles.

“I gotta keep ya on your toes Creeperwolf.” Stiles grinned, expecting Peter to lightly cuff his head.

Peter smiled at him before placing a gentle, loving kiss on Stiles’ stunned lips. The werewolf promptly passed out after, collapsing at Stiles’ feet.

Stiles looked up just in time to see the pit open up into the last chamber where Derek was fighting the hydra. The pack leapt out of the pit together and took down the hydra quickly. They entered the sitting room Stiles and Jesse had inhabited for the passed couple hours and looked at Stiles expectantly.

“Did we pass then?” Isaac sneered.

“Yes. But only in the end. I was just trying to show you guys that alone we are weak but together, using everyone’s strength we are a pack and as a pack we can overcome anything.”

Stiles winced.

“You’re also a vindictive little monster.” Malia huffed.

“That too.” Stiles shrugged.

“And Peter?” Derek asked, pointing to the collapsed form of his uncle.

“I had not counted for Peter’s unwillingness to work together or lose.” Stiles grinned.

He had not accounted for Peter, that was for sure. He touched his lips for a moment in thought.

“Dinner time yet, ‘Tiles?” Jesse whined more than asked.

Stiles nodded and snapped his fingers, the room and the maze around them disappeared in an instant, the nine hydras returning to their stomping grounds in Greece.

-

“Peter stop eavesdropping. I know you're awake.” Stiles had been monitoring Peter’s heart rate and healing factor since the moment he’d passed out and knew that for the last ten minutes the older man had been listening to the pack yell at Stiles.

“Guilty.” Peter replied with a smirk as he sat up.

Stiles turned back to his angry friends and motioned for them to continue.

“How could you make Allison face her mother’s ghost?”

“How was anyone supposed to know there would be a giant hole in the middle of the pathway?”

“You know I’m scared of wendigos, Stiles!”

Peter finally joined the pack in the kitchen, but chose to stand by Stiles and face the pack, “No one was supposed to win. Stop being angry that he knew your weaknesses when you also know his. Pack is about catching others when they stumble, and not only have you all been stopping him from lifting you up, you’ve been ignoring his own pitfalls.”

The pack sat in silence for a moment as they thought about how they did actually know Stiles’ short comings and weaknesses and how he’d used theirs to show them that a pack is a unit not a group of individuals working towards their own goals.

“Well the test was subjective which means it cannot be used as an adequate grading system.” Lydia huffed.

“Someone did win. You did, Uncle.” Derek reminded them.

“That’s because I have no weaknesses.” Peter replied with a smirk.

“Or he forgot about you.” Scott mumbled.

“Or, I forgot how ruthless Peter is when he’s not being a dick and using it against us.” Stiles shrugged.

The mage’s eyes lit up for a moment before he turned to Peter completely, “How did you defeat the Hydra alone?”

“You mean you weren’t watching?” Cora asked, the Hale family eyebrow look morphing her features.

“Jesse was trying to count to twenty and Scott was being stabbed by a crazy woman, so no I wasn’t watching.” Stiles sniffed, crossing his arms defensively.

Peter turned his body towards Stiles too, as if they were speaking only to each other and the rest of the pack was no longer in the room, “I simply set it on fire.”

“I didn’t know you could kill them with fire. Peter, you’re a burn victim.” Stiles said in awe.

“Two times over. I’m aware of my weakness and do not let it stop me.”

“If you’d tried to fight it the pack would have came to your aid.”

“Would they have?”

Stiles glanced at his friends guilty faces before stepping closer to Peter.

“I wouldn’t have let you die.”

“I will never die again, darling.”

“No. You won’t.” Were Stiles final words on the subject.

He turned back to his friends and smiled, “So who’s ready for dinner?”

“Me!” shouted Jesse, Malia, and Erica.

-

Stiles was glad to see the pack working as a unit more in the aftermath of the maze. Derek stopped patrolling alone, Stiles and Deaton had started working with Kira on her control, Peter started teaching Erica how to fight Wendigos specifically, and over night almost as if my magic the fireplace in the loft had disappeared and the stove had changed from gas to electric. They’d started training together more, often times training separately but still together.

Jesse was acclimating to pack life easily, romping around training sessions and tackling his alphas in literal bear hugs. He still clung to Stiles when the betas growled or nipped at each other, tempers flaring easily between teenagers, but on the whole he was adjusting well. He was especially fond of the Hales, most likely due to the fact that they too were born shifters and were more intune with their wolves. The Hales were also fun to hang on and crawl all over if Jesse’s shrieks of glee as he ran and leaped onto Peter’s back were anything to go by.

“Stiles.”

He hummed, looking up from his latin notes and into Peter’s amused, yet exasperated face.

“You’ve been sunbathing long enough, your skin burns too easily, love.”

Stiles nodded silently, his mind still running through phrases and definitions.

“Up you get.” Peter spoke quietly, lifting Stiles off the blanket he was sprawled across in the grass.

“Don’t forget my books, Peter. I need to figure the summoning ritual out. Gotta reverse engineer it.” Stiles mumbled, his body and mind made soft by his time focusing in the warm sun.

“I won’t forget them. Let me get you to bed and I will come back for them.” Peter reassured him.

“‘Tiles! Papa is taking me to the park!” Jesse yelled, racing down the stairs and almost colliding with the very wombly mage.

“That’s amazing, sweetie. Remember that Papa isn’t as strong as you and the wolves so you gotta be gentle with him okay?”

Jesse huffed, his little foot stomping the ground, “I know how to play with Papa, ‘Tiles! I’m not a baby!”

“You know he didn’t mean it like that, cub. Don’t be mean.” Peter spoke calmly, but even Stiles could feel the reprimand in the man’s aura.

Jesse crossed his arms, his eyes turning away from Peter and Stiles as he mumbled, “Sorry Pe-ya. Sorry ‘Tiles.”

“I’m sorry too, cub. Have fun with Papa today.” Stiles tried to smile at his adopted son, but his face felt so heavy it was more of a flash of a grin than a genuine smile.

He ruffled Jesse’s hair as he passed the four year old and headed for the stairs.

“Hey Peter?” Stiles asked as he laid back onto his bed, immediately burrowing into the blankets.

“Yes, love?”

“Why do you only call me ‘Love’ now?”

“Because I love you, Stiles.”

Stiles was well on his way to being asleep, but his heart lurched at the admission.

“I love you too, Peter. But you should still call me the other pet names too. I like them.” His last words were mumbled into Peter’s chest as the older man joined him in his bed.

Peter ran his hand down Stiles’ back and whispered, “Anything for you, darling boy.”

#steter #peter/stiles #peter hale/stiles stilinski #kyla creates #kyla writes

[wovenstarlight]

god i love bnha but youve all already seen the posts which are like “bnha had so much potential it couldbe been a story of how you dont need to fit in and have quirks like everybody else, you can still be a hero, but the mc just got a superpowered quirk and now its just your regular old shounen” so i wont go on about that

but anyway like. the idea of quirkless hero deku. if he had become a hero as is..... -it couldnt have happened with him still living where he did, growing up where he did with the surroundings he had. we already know how that played out in canon. if he’s to become a hero while being quirkless, he needs some kind of change in environment, yeah?

and like. i cannot pass up the chance to have him be friends with hatsume mei. imagine izuku growing up friends with her, he’d be enabled to live to full chaotic neutral potential with his eerily precise quirk analysis and her ridiculous machines and devices

im thinking that when izuku was about to go into middle school, maybe inko got some kind of job (promotion if shes already working) that had her be transferred to another area, which just so happens to be near where hatsume lives. izuku is so, so hopeful that these new folks will be kind, but then they learn he’s quirkless and three of them corner him outside after school and his hopes shatter like fragile glass as one of them uses their quirk to paralyze him and they all laugh-

and then this, this pink haired girl with weird glasses ducks under one of their arms and reaches into her pocket and pulls out, holy fuck is that a stun gun? and she zaps the bullies and grins very wide and they run yelling and izuku’s like “you saved my goddamn life” and pink-hair says “i saw your notebook! seems like youre pretty insightful, i wanna work with you” and thats how mei and izuku meet and become ride-or-die friends

they’re over at each others houses pretty much all three years of middle school. hatsume couldn’t care less that he’s quirkless- as long as he can hand her her tools when she needs them and tell her when she’s doing something wrong, she’s fine with him. and it’s so very refreshing for izuku to have this reinforcing presence who actually looks past his quirklessness. he picks up tinkering and whatnot, working on the software portion while hatsume irons out the physical kinks in her support devices, and she gives izuku all sorts of cameras he uses to record fights and analyze quirks afterwards. they talk quirks and robots together and mei comes up with so many new devices, half of them brought to life by izuku’s hyperactive imagination

when it comes time for entering high school, they both already know they want to go to yuuei. and izuku’s no idiot, he knows that hes disadvantaged by being quirkless. he’s been building up strength by helping mei in her workshop and learning to fight in martial arts courses, with the wholehearted support of inko and the hatsume family. even so he’s likely not got the simple advantage of Having A Quirk that everyone else does.

“if you don’t have a quirk,” mei wonders idly as she tightens another screw. “i mean, if you don’t have the biological power, then why not use an artificial one?” she puts down her screwdriver and pats the grip-strengthening glove she’s finished. “just use some of my babies.”

“oh,” says izuku, and he applies for yuuei and submits half a dozen equipment applications for the exam alongside.

lord but what about the exam... if he bumps into uraraka again he wouldn’t be so nervous, he might drop a gadget he’s carrying and ask her brightly about her quirk and they talk quirks and gadgets and heroes excitedly all the way into the building, izuku carefully steering the conversation away from his own quirk. he doesn’t get scolded by iida because he’s trained himself to scribble down his thoughts rather than mumble them (because he can hear mei’s eccentric additions better than way). besides, he’s too busy checking on his proto-jetpack and his electric pulse bombs(?) and his extendable staff and making sure they’re undamaged and usable

he’s a quick runner from all his training, so when he walks into the exam field he’s quick to seek out robots and throw his pulse bombs at them (press once for an electric stunner that’ll throw off a human for a few seconds, press twice for a larger pulse that’ll disable any machinery). he racks up points quickly, and then the zero-pointer comes out. izuku goes “ah, fuck!” when he sees uraraka lying prone and bolts to grab her, yelling for the students running away to help him get her to safety. this tall purple-haired student comes running back, visibly nervous at how close the bot is getting.

“uraraka-san, i know you’re exhausted, but use your quirk on me,” izuku says urgently. uraraka clumsily slaps him and he grins, instructing the purple haired kid (”ah, my name’s shinsou,”) to piggyback her as far away as he can get. then he jumps up using his jetpack to fly up to the ‘head’ of the zero-pointer, and tries a pulse bomb on its surface. all it does is make a panel pop off, but that’s enough for izuku- he grabs a handful of the exposed wires and rips them the hell out. the zero-pointer slows to a stop, and then- the wires start sparking oddly, and izuku remembers that all the damaged robots flared with electricity soon after being broken. he shoves himself off the bot just in time, because the wires in front of him explode, and izuku’s blown back by the force of the explosion. it’s okay, he thinks, he can just jetpack himself to safety- and then he starts falling

down on the ground, shinsou looks worriedly at uraraka on the verge of passing out. they’ve had to keep stopping because she’s feeling so sick. he knows she won’t be able to release her quirk if she’s unconscious, so it’ll probably continue to take a toll on her. when he looks around, he sees iida nearby, teeth gritted as he desperately wars with himself about running away. “uraraka-san?” shinsou asks. “yes,” uraraka says, and then her eyes go glassy. “release your quirk,” shinsou orders, turning to the sky and spotting izuku almost immediately. shinsou turns back and yells to iida, making his voice sound desperate: “please! my friend here’s about to pass out! can you get us to safety?” iida looks over, startled: “oh, of cou-!” “i need you to catch that guy,” shinsou tells him, pointing at the falling izuku. “jump and knock him out of his trajectory, it should stop him from landing too hard.”

and that’s what happens: izuku is falling, uraraka on the ground panics, but then brainwashed iida zooms past them and jumps and grabs izuku. they both hit the ground hard, izuku grunting as his hatsume-reinforced shoes bite into his heels. iida gets knocked out of the brainwashing as soon as he slams into izuku, and is on the verge of turning and yelling at shinsou for manipulating him like that, but shinsou runs over and starts worrying quietly over izuku and uraraka and iida gets distracted. they all ask after izuku’s quirk, and he hesitates- “ah, thats...” when recovery girl shows up, ready to heal izuku’s twisted ankle.

later, izuku walks into class 1-a, and four different students bolt to their feet. “you-!“ yell uraraka, shinsou, iida, and bakugou katsuki. izuku freezes as uraraka continues, “you’re that guy with the electricity quirk! the one who took out the zero-pointer- you saved me, you-”

“deku,” bakugou whispers, panic leaking into his voice. “you’re- deku? you’re... you’re quirkless, what are you doing here?”

cue panic. after the initial shock and mild awkwardness about his quirklessness, uraraka, iida, and shinsou all band tightly together with izuku, quickly becoming his closest friends after mei. eventually todoroki joins their little group, and everyone learns not to underestimate the quirkless kid. all might does offer one for all to izuku at some point, but he hesitates and turns him down. “it’ll mean too much to the quirkless kids, you see,” he explains. “to have a quirkless hero. i can’t take that away from them. and besides, being quirkless- it’s part of me. i don’t want to throw that away.” and all might nods, understanding, and offers his limited guidance instead. even if he can’t give this kid power, he can lend him a hand while he fights through the world.

im hungry and havent eaten yet so i havent given thought to the rest of this story yet, but at some point in the future quirkless hero deku kneels in front of an indescribably happy and crying quirkless kid, and he hugs them and tells them they can be anything they goddamn want and damn it, deku’s gonna help them get there.

#bnha #midoriya izuku #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #star.txt #lord i typed more than i expected to

[marshmallowmalfoy]

Tag // Draco Malfoy // Pt. 1

Type: Lowkey smut. REAAALLY lowkey. Will get fluffier if you guys want more.

A/N: I’m so incredibly sorry for not writing for so long, I’ve had some pretty serious family issues going on that are starting to resolve so I should be able to start writing more regularly again. Sorry its so long

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A PART TWO!!

Summary: Stoner y/n collides with Draco like two stars slamming into each other. It’s extremely rare to witness, but they create the brightest, most beautiful light, but they disappear once its over. Draco fights it.

Female Reader

Warnings: WEEED! Lots of weed. Drugs. Much drugs.- ment. of alcohol - Swearing. Much swearing. - Anorexia/Bulimia. - Sexual references/activities and such (slight) and shit moves fast.

I AM IN NO WAY PROMOTING EATING DISORDERS

Herbology. How boring. Herbs this, herbs that, herbs that heal, herbs that kill. The only herbs that Y/N was really interested in we’re the kind that help you escape your trouble. The ones that you take into you, and with every breath out you become more one with the world. Most pure bloods had no idea what it was, but the muggle-born that she was, born to two parents who grew up in the grunge scene, she knew everything there was to know about the drug. Weed, pot, marijuana, call it what you will, say what you want about it, but it quelled her anxiety, and it helped her see light in the world. This sick, fucked up world. At night she would sneak out of the dorms, down to the black lake where she would sit against the trunk of an old willow tree and breathe in the earth. No one knows that the smell really is, majority of them have never heard of it. It wasn’t a big deal, but she hears the whispers that she’s the girl that “smells of the earth” simply because they don’t know how else to describe it.

She sat and listen to the professor, not giving a rats ass about the words coming out of her mouth. The little Weasley girl sat beside her, though the Y/H wanted nothing to do with the red haired girl. The professor left them to their work, and Y/N got right to it, dipping her quill in the ink and bringing it’s tip to the parchment before her. A list of deadly herbs and poisons.

”Mudblood!” A familiar voice hissed from behind her. She ignored him, and kept at her work. “Dirty mudblood you better not be ignoring me.” He hissed again. She kept to her work.

Lunch time. She wasn’t hungry. Her body told her that food was the enemy. At least when she was sober. It was either not eating for days, or shoving her fingers half way down her throat to get it out again. Eating made her feel heavy. It made her feel dirty. She just didn’t need it. Her legs were thin. She had a thigh gap for days that could only be explained by her disorders. Her hips protruded. Her breasts were nearly gone. Her body was eating itself because her brain told her no. Too many people didn’t understand that. She couldn’t tell anybody. They simply would think she wishes to be skinnier. She hated the way she looked. She wanted the curvy body she once had. The little bit of jiggle on her belly, the strength she had in her butt. She’s sticks now. Sticks.

She sat and watched others eat. She just watched. She gazed into nothingness. Without realizing it her gaze found its way to the impish boy named Malfoy.

He noticed. A shiver ran through him. You were ghostly. A force to be reckoned with. He prodded at you anyway. He was curious as to what you were capable of. There was power swirling inside you. You didn’t see it. But he did. He had tired everything.

“Draco darling!” Pansy slid onto his lap. “You’re spacing out again love.” She slid her hand down his cheek, shimmying her hips against his subtly.

Then it hit him.

He hadn’t tried everything.

It was nearly 3 in the morning. She had yet to sleep. She now sat on the edge of the black lake with her knees to her chest. Her bare toes set lightly in the cold, October-bitten water. The moon was orange tonight. Blood moon. Her eye fluttered closed, but she was restless. She laid back, she let her legs straighten. the back of her lower thighs felt the water. The top of her shins were submerged. The silence was nice. The howling wolves. The Creeping spiders. The hoots of the owls and scurrying of mice. She felt as though she could hear it all. She pulled her joint out of her messenger bag. She flicked the lighter and inhaled. Her first hit of the night.

Its not like they make it out in T.V. shows and art. Getting high isn’t seeing rainbows. It’s not things being distorted.You almost always remember what happened. You are in control the whole time.

The real danger is bad dealers. People who lace it. People who are fuckers.

She looked up at the stars and a small smile cracked her dried lower lip.

She was just laying there as he watched her bring something to her lips continuously. Her breath came out white. Sometimes in circles. Sometimes in big clouds. Sometimes you would blow it out and suck it back in. It wasn’t cold enough for her breath to be that white in the air. He watched his own breath to confirm that. She twirled it between her middle and pointer finger.

He slowly approached careful not to make any sounds. She only saw him when he was feet away from him, because she was looking at the stars. She sighed and smiled. Her eyes were ever-so-slightly red. If the moon hadn’t been so big and bright he wouldn’t have noticed.

“What do you want Malfoy?” The words spilled out of her mouth so beautifully. She wasn’t annoyed. She wasn’t sad or mad or frustrated. She was happy. She seemed to be displaying genuine curiosity. In fact, he couldn’t recall a time that she had said that many words to him at a time.

“What are you doing Y/N? Were you crying?” He pointed directly to her eye, referring to the slight pink irritation they held. She chuckled and patted the ground next to her, inviting him to sit down. He did. He couldn’t help it. He was intrigued. She lifted the joint and motioned it in his direction. “What is that?” He asked, taking it between the tips of his thumb and finger.

“Weed.” She pulled her legs out of the water and sat cross legged facing him. He gave her a confused look. “Its like...” She giggled, “...A muggle delicacy.” She chuckled again, her tiny frame shaking as she did so. The jewelry hanging from her neck jingling as she did so.

Draco took a hit.

Fuck. She’s so pretty. Why haven’t I noticed she’s this pretty before? Look at those lips. Those eyes. Just look at her. What had he been doing all this time.

They were walking down to the quittich pitch. She had begged him to see the inside of the boys locker room. She’d only even seen the inside of the girls room, back when she was the best beater of her house. He just chuckled. She was such a curious person.

For some reason, the fuzz in her head let her see how much tension was between them. She wanted it. She wanted it so bad.

They arrived in the locker room, he held the door for her as they slithered in like snakes hunting prey.

In both their heads, they were wondering why they never saw this in each other. It was as though this drug wasn’t making them high, but the time with each other. They’d never had a solid conversation before that night. But once the ball started rolling, it built up so much inertia that even a cosmic explosion could stop it.

“Is this your locker?” She asked him, as she pointed to the locker with the Slytherin symbol on it, and just above that, in green letters Captain. He chuckled, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. She pulled a bobby pin out of her hair. With surprising ease she had the lock picked and locker open in seconds. It made him wonder. Who was she actually?

Wordlessly, she peeled her shirt off. Skin and bones. It disappeared when she pulled his jersey over her head. He watched her. He held it together. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. It was just supposed to be flirting. It was supposed to be teasing and glances. He held it together as best he could.

And then he didn’t

It was skin.

Mouths.

Hands on throat.

Two bodies.

One.

A few weeks went by after that night. Draco hadn’t had as good of a night sleep than that night since. Draco remembered everything. And apparently so did Y/N. She’d been avoiding him. Usually she just ignored him, but now she would go out of her way to not have to walk past him in the hall. She would do her best to slide discretely in and out of the classes they had together, sure to keep her back to him.

Did she regret what happened between them?

Did he?

He couldn’t tell anymore.

He didn’t at first. He wanted to talk to her in the halls. Work with her in class. The things she told him that night. It was the first time he saw her with her guard down, and she didn’t hold back.

She told him about her flaky, alcoholic parents who think she’s at boarding school. She told him about when she stopped eating. She told him about her older sister, the perfect university grad engaged-to-be-married sister. The light of her parents life. Her little brother and sister. She was terrified to leave them with her parents every year. Her fear of heights. Her hatred for Seamus Finnigan because of that one time in third year that he lifted up her skirt on a dare. The places she goes to get high when she needs to.

As every day passed that she was consistently avoiding him made him doubt himself.

He couldn’t let it get to him today. He had the biggest quidditch match of the year today. He couldn’t let it get to him.

The Slytherin locker room was bustling, the members of the team getting increasingly excited and nervous as they geared up. They’d had a good run this year. But some questioned if it was good enough. Including Draco. He arrived late. His lock was still undone. He smiled sadly at the sight.

What had gone wrong after that? Or during that?

He shook the thoughts out of his head and opened his locker, sliding his jersey on. It smelled like her perfume. It sounded like her moans as it crinkled. A locker slamming sounded like their bodies together. The tap on his shoulder felt like her hands scratching his back.

He turned around.

“Dude what the fuck I’ve said your name like twelve times.” Blaise said as they came face to face.

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” Draco muttered, pulling the rest of his gear on.

“We need you focused today. What the hell is going on? You’ve been out of it for-.” Blaise’s voice faded as he looked beyond Malfoy. “What... is that?” Blaise chuckled and pointed into the pale boys locker. Draco’s face burned red as he turned and saw Y/N’s lacy panties dangling from a hook in the locker. He slammed his locker shut and shook his head.

“Nothing.” He choked out. “It’s nothing.”

“Oh hell no.” Zabini chuckled, “Everybody!” He shouted, getting everyone’s attention as vice-captain of the team, “I am proud to announce, that after years of no action. Our beloved captain, Draco Malfoy, has GOTTEN LAID!” The locker room erupted in cheers and pats on the back and millions of questions. He dismissed it all. It was game time.

He seemed dazed. He wasn’t paying attention. The snitch would dash in a different direction and he would stop, having a hard time finding it again. She was in the front row, but she didn’t jump to her feet when a goal was scored. She didn’t cheer names or chant house names. She sat. She sat and watched him. She never came to these games. Too much energy. Too much “pep” and “spirit”. Too much bullshit. She crossed her arms and sat back.

She was there. She was there and she was watching him. She watched him as his hand closed around that snitch and win the game. She watched him as his team praised him. But when the official announcement was made, she was gone. Like smoke in the wind.

This weird back-and-forth game was killing him. She was illusive. But he had an idea.

He wasn’t being creepy, he reminded himself over and over again as he carefully tailed her that day. She hadn’t smoked in a week. If you asked him how he knew that, he wouldn’t tell you. But in reality, he’d followed her for 6 days before this. He would go to class late, and leave every class early to make sure she was just around the corner from her classes. It wasn’t creepy. He was sure of it.

It was today though, that she didn’t stay in her dorms long. He waited out until 10 to see if she would come out. She didn’t. At least thats what he thought when he turned to leave. But then the door opened. She stepped out. This time she wasn’t in her uniform. No. She wore her pajamas, and little slippers made to look like bears. Her hair was braided half-up-half-down and her face seemed more blemished than usual. Her eyelashes weren’t as long, her lips weren’t as ruby red. But her messenger bag was still by her side.

He followed her, this time to the potions room. She told him no on would doubt her if she was caught in there it large glass objects with herbs jammed into them. She sat right down at Snape’s desk and pulled a long, hallow glass object out of her bag, filling it partially with water.

He took his change before she took a hit.

He threw the door open and she jumped in the chair she was sat in. Her face went pale and her eyes opened wide. She stood once she processed what was happening and grabbed her stuff hurriedly.

“Y/N” He said firmly. Not moving from his spot in the threshold. She froze and looked up at him. He closed the door behind him, locking it. “We need to talk.” 

#Draco #Draco malfoy #Draco malfoy imagine #draco malfoy smut #draco malfoy fluff #drugs #weed #hogwarts #Harry #Harry potter #Malfoy #Potter #Marshmallow Malfohy #Imagine #Smut #Fluff

[jess-the-vampire]

Tom Vs The Forces Of Evil (Au), Chapter 16

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School over, Summer begun, and free time to spare, Marco watched Tom's room through he mirror, waiting for Tom to return from....wherever he was being dragged off to today.Technically it wasn't even Marco's shift at this time, it was Janna's, but he didn't care.

Marco had been working the nerve to speak to Tom for awhile now, Tom knew he was watching him from this end and could hear him. However, Marco hadn't said anything to him yet, it's all been from Star, Janna, and Jackie who pitched in. Perhaps it was because he wanted to save it for when they saw each other in person again, or maybe he was just scared.

Tom seemed the same way too, he seemed very happy to be able to talk to his friends again, but was very quite when it came to Marco save for a few mumbles.

Star had been fussing that Marco needed to talk to him again, and how much they needed to speak to each other, but neither had spoken up. Although then again maybe both were worried Janna, or more nervously for Marco, Jackie, would drop into the conversation.

Marco counted down the minutes for his shift, hoped like he always did that Tom was ok.

He wanted to visit him, but Star said going through his mirror and through the Cat was a one-way trip as the bowl broke after it, and that only made the boy frustrated. Tom healed himself with magic, sure, but that wouldn't make all the pain he was feeling in his mind go away.

Marco's alarm set off and by this point Janna was on her break and Marco was to watch Tom's room for anything he could use, or to speak to the boy. Tom wasn't back yet though, making Marco's watch a lot less intense then one would expect.

He grabbed from his plate of nachos, and took a bite, sighing before Tom finally walked in. Tom fell with his backside against the door, he took off his hat and threw it on the bed and covered his face with his hands, another tough day and he was forced to stay in his room until further notice or till whatever was next for him.

Tom looked over at the cat, probably wondering if his friends were even watching him as he couldn't see them from his end. He sighed, talking to them through a weird magic device was nice but it was clear he wished they could be with him in person.

Marco sighed, and decided to finally speak up, better now then ever.

"T-Tom? C-can you hear me?"

"Marco?", Tom looked up and Marco could see him light up for a bit, the mewman got up from his spot and made his way over to his bedside table, looking at it like he hadn't seen it before. "M-marco? is that really you? I-I thought maybe...y-you didn't want to talk to me or-", Tom said softly, before stopping and deciding it was stupid.

"Tom no....I um...", He looked for the right words," I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner.....I-I just...I was worried....I mean, It's my fault you're in this mess....that you're still stuck with your dad and why your dad has you trapped in your room like a prison....".

"Well, I though you were upset that I left...that I left without much of a goodbye and that you would feel responsible for my mistakes.....", Tom's eyes drifted off to the side for a bit, "I just...what do you say to someone you thought you'd never see again? It's....weird..".

Marco let out a meek laugh, "Yeah...weird..".

Tom paused, "I wish I could see you...."

"Trust me, My face is nothing special....", Marco said, "Plus I was such a mess before we did this plan....y-you wouldn't have enjoyed my stench and messy hair....I doubt i'm too much better...". Tom pouted, "Marco, i don't care what you look like, a friendly face...would be nice to have here...".

"You're right....", Marco watched him through the mirror with awkwardness, "I-I....I really miss having you here, I mean I knew I was going to, It's just now that it's happened and under the circumstances that it did everything just feels weird....".

"Imagine how weird it is for me..", Tom mumbled, "I haven't been home in awhile...and now everything's changed and i'm a prisoner in my own home....either i'm trapped here, or out doing tasks and using my magic to "Unlock" my stupid inner powers and being hurt in the process....".

"Doesn't anyone there think forcing you to get angry is a bad idea to unlock anything? I mean, all your servants just let this happen for generations?", Tom rubbed his face and eyed the door to the hallway outside, hoping no said servants were sneaking by.

"Well, you don't argue with tradition here....and most of my ancestors....

willingly

did this stuff to become the next king. Me on the other hand....sorry i'm not interested in being put into uncomfortable situations and being hurt to become an ideal king...", Tom sighed and ran his hand through his hair fro any bumps, "I Think my Dad, just assumes i'm difficult, that i'm stubborn for not tolerating this and making it easy for him.....and uses it as an excuse to punish me till I do it right....".

"Oh...".

"I-I don't like him...but...I-I think I pity him more...", Tom eyed a crown, his crown, presented on another table against a wall, "We're all.....just the result of our sick traditions and need to overpower other creatures, and in result....we just become like this...m-my dad wanted to be the perfect king, did everything he was told, felt everything he was supposed to feel....a-and..i'm just a shadow on his former glory..".

"Tom..."

"I just can't believe i'm just another prince to them, it's not like i'm Tom, no I'm supposed to do this this way and do that that way and i'm supposed to feel this all the time because if i don't i'm a disgrace....I'm just a blank sheet they can write all over!", Tom was almost yelling now but he stopped, not wanting to give his father the satisfaction of getting to him.

"I'm really sorry Tom...."

"I'm not gonna be able to rule Mewni how I want Marco....not like this, not by being restricted or hurt.....everything's wrong Marco, and no matter what I do people are gonna try and stop me and i'm not even sure if I can handle it..."

Marco calmly looked at Tom and although Tom couldn't see him, he tried to look as confident as he could, "Tom, people are always gonna try and stop you when fight for something, but...if anyone can push through it..you can, you can prove them wrong...".

"You make it sound like I have the ability to do that, Marco i'm messed up and you know it....I-I almost blasted you in my anger....even if I become king and try to push for this stuff, i'll just end up getting angry and emotional and forces people into it and....I don't wanna do those things...". Tom pulled at his hair, "I used to feel so confident things could look up once i became king but now all I see is me as my own dad and I can't get over it because that's exactly as they want me to be and are forcing me to be..."

"Tom, this isn't your fault, i'm not upset with you for it because you can't help it....you can't help getting angry and upset!! We all do and say bad things when we get angry!! The matter is you didn't let your angry destroy you, and that's what makes you better then them....then all of them!!", Marco exclaimed, "They're idiots!! They think this is the only way to be a true king? Well then they don't know squat then! You're not like them and you're going to be the best king Mewni ever gets!"

"You're right Marco, I'm not like them.....and that's why i'm stuck here...", Tom sighed and rubbed his eyes, "If I was just born right i wouldn't feel so miserable.....and you wouldn't have to go through all this trouble for me...". Tom rubbed his face, "I shouted at him!! I stood up for myself and it didn't mean anything!!!".

"Tom, I promise when we get you out, things will feel a lot better....it's getting to you,

he's

getting to you..you know none of that is true!!", Marco almost felt like he was shouting , and in result he toned his voice down. "Tom, be strong....please be strong, you won't be there forever...".

Tom made some small sniffing noises and nodded, "Fine....fine...I'll just...whatever....".

"Don't let him get to you Tom, at least you still have us...we're all here for you!!", Tom looked at the screen and calmed down, "Yeah, I guess....I mean, I just thought I wouldn't see any of you again...even If you tried to help...you'd get caught or...you'd forget about me...".

"Some friends we'd be if we forgot about you and let you stay there all by yourself Tom....", Marco needed to find a way to cheer him up, he heard some squeaks going on from Tom's end and smiled. "Your rabbit sounds like he wants something? How is he?", Tom looked behind him and walked off to get his rabbit.

He brought the pink creature back to Marco and showed him off, "He's ok, I think he recognized your voice...I'm glad dad didn't take him away or anything, I think he just wanted to make sure I had at least someone to talk to....me going insane won't exactly do me much good....or maybe he thinks having a rabbit will somehow help me I dunno...".

"Hello Marshmallow!!", Marco waved to the mirror even though neither the mewman or rabbit could see him, the rabbit made some more little noises and that got a slight laugh out of Tom. Tom put him on his lap and pet him for a bit to help him feel a bit better.

"I-I wish I could've stayed for the rest of my own party....", Tom said softly, "Was it still fun without me?".

Marco shook his head, "No, the party was not fun at all without you, you were the guest of honor, and you didn't even get to see Love Sentence perform for you either!!". To this comment Tom's eye brows pricked up and he was blushing, "Y-you guys got

Love Sentence

to play on my birthday!?".

"Well, we

did

...", Marco sighed, "But you weren't there and the party was called off early and we're gonna try again

when

you get back ok? and I mean WHEN, not

if

.". Tom smiled warmly, "That's really nice of you guys....I wish I could've seen it...".'

"You will.....and I also saved you some cake too, I hope it'll still be good when you get back...", he was trying to get Tom's mind off his current situation for a bit, and it seemed to be working. Tom bit his lip, "Hey...I know you read your chapter...in my book, I-I uhm....sorry that was awkward...I just...I figured it'd be the better place for you to find it...".

"No no, it's...a lot less awkward since I already knew you liked me. It's just....kinda cool hearing it come from you..you don't really talk much about me..in that way..", Tom covered his reddened face with his own hands, "Well, it was in a BOOK for a reason! Saying that stuff to you...would be weird, and awkward...and painful...ugghhhhhh...".

"Would it make you feel better knowing my diary has an entry about how cute you looked during the Blood Moon Ball?", Marco asked, trying to break the tension.

"You thought I looked cute?", Tom teased, "Wow, we're both bad and awkward at flirting....".

"That's why we're friends...", Marco teased back, "Two dudes just being terribly awkward together because well, at least with each other it feels less embarrassing...". Tom laughed, "Yeah, we're both kinda sappy, but it's fun with you, It makes me want to laugh at myself....instead of feeling embarrassed that I can't court anyone...".

"Hey, i'm no better, and you know it...", Marco remarked.

Tom paused and bit his lip, "Hows Jackie? If it's ok to ask? I mean...I know she's helping watch me but....she hasn't said anything to me...". Tom gave a guilty expression, "Is she ok? I mean I don't want....cause I know you still like- And...".

"She's fine...", the earth boy replied, "Right now, I'm more worried about getting you back before....one problem at a time...".

Tom nodded, "It's uh....I missed you....a lot...I just....I miss school, and I miss video games, and I miss watching those weird karate movies with you, and family dinners, and nachos....I even miss you doing my make-up sometimes, I know i left my eyeliner and stuff there....".

"Yeah I saw...", Marco scanned Tom's face, his messy hair and his eyeliner-less eyes, "You almost look weirder without it...I wish there was a system where I could send you thinks, I could send you nachos, and your cake, and all the stuff you left...".

Tom bit his lip, "I'd use the scissors we had, but Dad confiscated them, just like everything else that looked suspicious....I'm sorry about that, I-I just didn't want you to follow me here and get hurt...". Marco sighed, "No, it's ok....I understood....We'll figure out something.....we always do.". Tom nodded and  took a seat on his bed, "Thanks for talking to me Marco, I needed this....I...REALLY needed this....I-I'm glad we're still friends....".

Marco smiled from his end, taking another bite from his chip and blushing at the boy who was trying to hide his own red face.

"Me too...".

-

Marco knew he was spending too much time watching Tom, even when it wasn't his shift, but he couldn't help that his stupid mother instincts kicked in and he wanted to make sure Tom was ok. Tom felt better talking to him, even when he was hurt, it's what kept him going and what made everything bearable.

Tom had partially a job too in this plan, and it was to talk about everything that happened with his father when he left the room, and if he left any marks Tom had to show them off a bit for evidence, and afterwards he'd heal them so he didn't have to deal with them anymore.

It wasn't fun but the more evidence they had the better, they had to expose this for what it was.

Marco usually left out much unpleasant conversations when they talked, and that included stuff he would ask Tom about when Tom was safe, like the bond. sometimes ever Star, Janna, and Jackie joined in a bit from their ends, and Tom had to shush everyone to be quiet so anyone in the halls couldn't hear them.

Days went by a bit easier for Tom, he started to look more forward to returning to his room and even the harsh treatment he was getting was affecting him a bit less then it did although it was clear it was taking a toll on him each day.

It was about a week later and Tom was being called for another day of training, he got dressed and said goodbye to his friends with a wave as he grabbed his wand and was escorted out.

Tom was always nervous when he left his room to be "Trained", being trained to get angry was the opposite of everything he was trying to fix about himself. Now, he was being forced back into it and it clearly made him very uncomfortable to be put in these situations.

But as long as his Dad was satisfied enough, things would be fine, he promised to obey him after all.

And Tom did, so far, well....aside from speaking to his friends behind his back but that was for good reason. Yeah he got hurt a lot, but if his Dad was satisfied that was all that mattered, it kept him from being suspicious and it kept him away from Marco.

Tom was escorted to a dark room with a single chair in the middle of it, the door was closed behind him and Tom sat on the chair to await his fate for today. His father walked in the room shortly, conjuring himself a chair to sit in front of Tom.

Tom sat up straight and made eye contact with him despite how little he wanted to.

"Morning Thomas...", his cold voice made Tom shiver, but Tom refrained from looking pathetic in front of him. He hated seeing Tom look like that after all, although Tom couldn't help but feel like it made him feel secretly more powerful.

"Hello....", Tom replied, most kids were greeted by their parents in the morning while eating a nice breakfast together, Tom on the other hand was greeted in dark rooms while anticipating what kind of torture he'd be receiving from his "Family". Tom and his father looked each other in the eyes, the king then proceeded to brush his outfit and calmly spoke to the prince. "So Thomas...we've tried many things since you've returned home, and it's sad to say none of our methods are working...you just seem to be...invulnerable..".

"Well, I've grown up...a lot..", Tom replied simply, "And isn't it good for the next king to be unbreakable?". Although we was speaking out of line even the king had to admit the boy wasn't wrong, his eyes narrowed and he moved on to today's schedule.

"So Today, we are not going to be doing any of our practices as we did before, In fact, I'm no longer going to be the one helping you anymore....", Tom's eyebrows pricked up, he was becoming very suspicious of what his father meant by this.

"Clearly I cannot make you act the way you should, I need an expert....to be able to make you react the way you are required.", He made a summoning motion with his hand and a dark figure stepped forward, "Thomas, this is Mr Kreaton, he used to work at the St Olga's prince school....".

The dark figure said nothing.

Tom tried his hardest not to look even the slightest bit nervous as the figure seemingly examined him, he was tall, very tall, it was hard to see his face but Tom could make out red eyes that he swore were glowing. He didn't like where this was going, "B-But you promised I wasn't being taken there, it was part of the deal!".

"And you're not, that's why I said "

u

sed"

to work there", he replied, " But now he is happy to work here on your case to "Fix" you. You'll be undergoing his own methods to turn you into the heir we need, and find out what makes you tick, then it should be easy to have you dip down from then on...".

Tom couldn't help but shiver a bit in place, there were times he had nightmares just about the princess school, and especially what they did to Marco there. Noe all he was imagining was being strapped down and undergoing the same treatment, or being cut open, or everything else he used to see in his nightmares.

"B-but...", Tom started before the faces of the two shut him up in a gulp, Mr Kreaton walked around Tom like a vulture as Tom sweated nervously at practically being prayed upon. This was worse, SO much worse then before, the stuff he took was painful with his dad, but the school's methods were very different then his father's. At least he knew his father wouldn't kill him since Tom wouldn't be much good to him dead, he knew NOTHING about this guy though.

He wanted to move but couldn't, leaving the room without being dismissed lead to punishment. He just sat there, waiting to see what they'd do next, desperately wishing he was back in his room and talking to Marco, he needed to get out of here soon, those schools were horrible but they had great results.

"Today he's getting set up...", The king explained, "So you will officially start once he's done, and hopefully this matter will finally be solved....". Tom was dismissed and shooed out of the room, and the walk to his bedroom never felt longer in his life.

Tom ran to the Cat Bowl once the door was closed behind him and the halls were empty and pulled it to his face hoping whoever was on the other line was paying close attention. Tom's breathing and panicked expression certainly got a lot of attention since multiple voices from the other end were now asking him if he was alright.

Tom felt like throwing up as he tried to reply.

"You guys gotta get me out of here, soon!!".

-

"We need to see the high commission,

now

.....we can't waste any more time...", Marco argued, "Who knows what they'll do to him!! Tom doesn't need to be "fixed", he's great just the way he is!!". Everyone was crowded in his bedroom, Jackie, Janna, and Star, all staring at him with worried expressions. They also eyed the mirror, where Tom was missing, as he was at dinner tonight with his folks to "Celebrate" their new employee.

"What if they change more then just his emotions?! what if they make him stop liking boybands, or the color pink, or anything about him they don't like!!?? I was locked in a room and forced to learn proper etiquette for hours!!! i couldn't stop saying those lines for days!! ". Marco was pacing back and forth, panicking, "We need to talk to them and get them out of there before they do something, Tom's messed up enough putting up with all those bruises and pain and now they're just gonna mess with his mind!!".

Jackie stood up and put a hand on Marco's shoulder, stopping him, "We're not leaving him Marco... we'll get him out as soon as we can...right guys?". She turned towards the girls, and they exchanged look and nods, "W-we gotta try don't we? I mean....we don't have much of a choice..".

Star stood up, "I can show my Mom....everything, the Journal, and videos, she at least knows how to reach them, and if that's not enough I can bring my mirror and let her see Tom for herself...". She started getting her stuff, and Marco handed her the journal wishing for it's safe-keeping.

"Bring that back...ok? Just.....please get help...", Marco took her hand and looked at her straight in the eyes, "We need to help get him out of there.....". Star nodded and pulled Marco for a hug, "Wish me luck ok?", she vanished in a blink of fire leaving the humans left.

Marco dropped onto his bed, rubbing his face and sighing. "I can't believe they hired someone from St Olga's to work on Tom! Tom's dad is horrible, I know he is, but at least Tom is still Tom...I Don't....I don't know who he'll be if he endures those methods for a few days....". Jackie took a seat next to him and patted his back, "I'm sorry Marco.....anything me and Janna can do..?". Janna gave a look but Jackie shot her a look back and continued to comfort Marco.

Marco tried to clam down, taking deep breaths, when did he become Tom? "I know...I know, I need to clam down and relax....I just can't help but freak out, It wasn't even that long ago that we were just sitting here hangin gout and now he's just.....he's...", Marco ran a hand through his hair, "I need to clam down, Star's got the evidence, we'll get him out....I just can't help it.".

"I think it's good you care about your best friend so much...", Jackie said, "Can't say I know many friends of mine that would go through so much trouble to keep me safe from a bad king, and Tom's pretty strong himself to take all this for you as well...".

"Thanks Jackie...", Marco said, blushing, "I really think I needed to hear something like that right now, I've just been so distracted and worried about Tom and I think it's making me paranoid all the time because It's not something I can control....".

Marco looked around at his room, "Me and Tom are best friends, someone should have his back and If I'm not there i get worried, I was worried at the ball, and i'm worried now. I don't know what we're gonna do if we can't get any help for Tom....", Marco stood up and took a look at the mirror and the empty room it showed, "He needs me now, he needs us.....all of us.".

Janna fixed her boot, "I can't wait to head to mewni and punch some bug people in the face....".

"Well, all we can do now Is wait....", Jackie said, also now looking at the mirror, "You want me to stay here? I don't have anything to do for the rest of today and you shouldn't be alone during all of this....". Marco looked at her and pricked an eyebrow up, "You...want to stay here and watch for Tom with me? Won't that be kind of boring?".

"Boring or not, I don't want to leave you here by yourself.....you look miserable dude, we can wait for him and for Star to reply together....", She smiled and Janna looked between the two of them before smirking, "I'll stay too, except i'll be checking out the kitchen....you two have fun...".

She zipped out before Marco could protest about her doing such and slammed the door in front of him, he grumbled for a bit, then awkwardly turned to his crush and nodded with his reddened face. "Yeah, I mean....I guess..If you want...".

She took a seat on his bed and he took an awkward seat next to her, they were alone in a room together and it partially reminded him of that time at the party were he and Tom were sitting on the bed together awkwardly. They were staring at a mirror and Marco wasn't sure what to say at all to her.

Jackie didn't look nervous though, in all she seemed rather calm and even during this scary situation with Tom was keeping her cool that things would turn out well soon. He admired that about her, he was a nervous wreck right now and he was sure if they reversed roles Tom would be fuming.

"You have a crush on me....don't you?"

Marco felt his heart drop at her words, he was beat red and although he wasn't looking at Jackie she could probably tell he was as well. Marco wasn't sure what to say next how to respond to this sudden question, was he supposed to deny it or go through with it?

"I-I.....", Marco searched for words to say in his embarrassment, but to his surprise Jackie laughed at him awkwardness. Marco managed a slight laugh with her unsure if she was laughing at him or with him, "You...Uh, How-?".

"Marco, we've been hanging out awhile, after spending time with you....and noticing how you act, It was a bit obvious....", She bit her lip, "You get all nervous and you talk weird and not to mention your red face....it's cute, you just...have you had this for very long?".

Marco's brain was all fuzzy, "Well...I-I uh....I've uh...had a crush on you since kindergarten...And I-I....uh...". Jackie didn't looked disgusted, in fact, she seemed to be taking it pretty well, she let Marco talk and take all the time he needed to try and clam down. "Marco, It's ok, I think it's cool you like me....It's not weird or anything...", Jackie patted his head, "Dude, it's nothing to be embarrassed about...you have a crush on me, and you have a crush on Tom....that's not weird".

Marco blushed harder, "What? I-Uh.."

Then Jackie suddenly got embarrassed at Marco's response," I-Uh...Mean, unless you

don't

and I kinda said that without knowing any better and made things kinda weird between us now...". Marco put his arms out in front of him, "No, No......I Uh..It's just..I...don't know, I don't know if i have a crush on him.. lately I've been focusing so much more on helping him that I've just kinda...I've been putting that off to the side a lot until we can actually talk about it."

He turned to look at her, "What's up with everybody thinking me and Tom are dating or that I like him and-?". Then Marco face palmed at them embracing at the party as well as giving Tom his hoodie, not to mention how they held each other in public sometimes, he also had a feeling Janna also had something to do with it.

Jackie laughed, "Hey, it's ok!! Nothing to be ashamed of! You two can figure things out when he gets back!". Marco gave her a funny look,"You're....taking me liking you and maybe liking Tom really well....I just...I'd worry you'd think I'd choose between you guys or-".

Jackie patted his head, "Dude, we're friends....first and foremost, just like you and Tom are....friends get crushes on each other sometimes, it's nothing new. I'm totally fine on you having crushes if you want on other people, it's not like we're dating or anything right now...".

"Yeah, that's true...", he said quietly," I-I'm sorry you found out that way, I wanted to tell you sooner that I liked you but...It's just...It's not easy to talk about that stuff to their face.". Jackie pulled him in for a one-armed hug, "It's ok....I wanted to bring it up, because I had a feeling it's been why you took so long to call...".

"Maybe a little..", he admitted, "Tom likes me, and I'm not whether to return his feelings or what, I can't make a choice because every turn could be the wrong one....". Jackie gave him a sad smile,"Having a Marco moment?". Marco nodded and she rubbed his back, "Don't worry about it too hard, we're all still kids after all, you have time to figure this out later...".

"Yeah...yeah...you're right, thanks....that means a lot to me...", Marco smiled at her and then a noise got them to focus back on the mirror where Tom just now entered. He was dressed all fancy but looked very nervous and upset as he approached his bed, Marco didn't hesitate to speak up.

"Tom!! We're gonna get you out, Star is getting help and it shouldn't be much longer!", Tom looked towards the screen, he looked sad, but he nodded without really looking at him. Marco looked concerned, "Tom? Did something happen at the dinner?".

"No...it's....what if I never get out of here Marco? What If no one's coming for me?", He looked towards the cat bowl, "What if they erase my memory or who knows what to me and you guys are never able to help me escape? Or worse, they get you too!!?".

"Tom, it's going to be fine you don-"

"Marco, this has been happening for ages and no one has ever done squat to help anyone in my line before!! You think I'm gonna be any different?", Tom almost yelled into the bowl, "What If they don't come? What if i'm not worth it?".

"Tom.....what did they say to you at dinner?", Jackie asked calmly, Tom was taken aback by her voice coming from the other end as well, but continued to speak. "They.....look I just feel so small, I don't have any say in my life and i'm not...they have my life planned out for me ok? After they finish molding me they know who i'm going to court and i'm....I'm worried.", He grabbed his wand and rubbed it against his face, "I'm not confident guys...I feel like they sucked a lot of the juice out of me...".

"It'll be ok Tom....", Marco said softly, "Even If they don't help, we'll still save you..".

"Marco, I left to keep you guys safe...", he replied,"I promised to obey and listen all for you, what if none of this works? If they can't help me you guys sure can't! I have to rely on everyone to save me to be free and you guys could die and-".

"Tom, what brought this up?"

"You guys shouldn't come after me.....", Tom said, "I should've pushed Star away when she brought that bowl and stuff, I was just so excited to see her again and speak to you that I forgot why I left in the first place!! I don't want you guys risking your lives for me!!".

"Tom, we can't just let you stay there!!", Marco argued, "You're my best friend and you deserve so much better!!". Tom shook his head, "I chose my own fate Marco, I did it for you, I knew what I was getting into when I came here and now....ugh....".

"Tom....".

"You guys shouldn't have come back for me....", He admitted, "You guys should've just moved on with your lives and let me accept this, tomorrow they're gonna start on me and who knows how i'll be after everything, if i'll even remember you...". This must have been what happened at dinner, they were talking about all the things they were going to do to Tom, "Tom, we're going to save you, you would do the same thing for me and no one is getting left behind..".

"Marco, my fate is sealed, I'm nothing more then a danger to you....you're safer staying away......", Tom mumbled, "I almost zapped you, I scare you when I get angry, people mock you because of me, It was nice to see you again...and talk to you...but you're not going to save me Marco...i'm never going to be free from all of this..".

"Tom...how long have you been feeling like this?",Tom sighed, "Since we started talking again, Marco I'm not confident in this plan, and I don't think I ever will be....you guys are not worth dying or getting hurt just to save me...if I have to live my life like this..".

"You deserve a choice Tom...everybody does, you just want to be yourself and do whatever you want....you should not have to live the rest of your life like this at all, you should be able to live on earth if you want to and rule as who you are.". Marco closed his eyes, "Tom, i'm scared too....i'm terrified, but you're my best friend and we're a team....t-the blood moon bonded us together, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Tom blushed hard, "Look It doesn't matter what bond we have, no bond is stopping me from making a choice!!". Jackie was now looking between the two of them in question, Marco looked to be a bit heartbroken at Tom's response and he was glad Tom couldn't see his face for once. "Tom...it's not that I don't want you to be making your own choices, but...what about us? What about us hanging out together? Don't you want that? To come back to earth...?".

"Oh course I do Marco....but...If there's nothing you can do....then i'm not coming back...", Tom said, "You're gonna have to let me go....you can't keep pushing for something that'll never happen...". Marco argued back, "No, Tom listen to me, we

will

save you....we're not leaving you behind...

I'm

not leaving you behind!!!"

Tom was about to say something when he heard footsteps running down the hallway, he closed his eyes and furrowed his brow and much to Marco's terror, pointed a wand at the cat bowl. "Tom, please don't do anything crazy...this is our only way of talking to you and....Tom please...".

"Give me one reason not to!!"

"Because I LIKE YOU TOO!!!", Marco practically shouted into the screen, Tom's eyes widened and so did Jackie's. Tom lowered his wand and Marco sighed in relief, until he noticed Tom smiling in a wicked manner, much to Marco's terror Tom was transforming, he grew taller, older, and scarier.

Tom's dad.

"Hello Marco...", He said coolly, Marco furrowed his brows and the tears flowed freely. "Where's Tom? What have you done with him?", Marco could hear Marshmallow squeaking in fear in the background as the king stared at him. "I knew something was suspicious about Tom, why he looked so happy to return to his room, why he seemed to talk to himself in here.....I have to admit, I was NOT expecting to learn so much when we got Tom to confess....he almost blasted you? He's such a softie that even I didn't think he'd turn on you..".

Marco was at a loss for words, his mind traveled to the worst thoughts to where his best friend could be and none of them were were pleasant in the slightest. The king smiled, "I wasn't sure if when we finally got Tom to talk if he was even remotely telling the truth or not about a talking cat or being bound to a mortal...but looks like you've cleared that up for me, making you less useless then I thought...".

"Y-you..."

"Tricked you into revealing you were planning to break my son out? Got you to admit you and my son were closer then I thought? I'm not an idiot Marco, when I heard Princess Lucitor made a visit around the same time those little monsters did, I had a feeling something was up...", He crossed his arms, then proceeded to play around a bit with Tom's wand, "Tom seemed so hopeful you know? His choice to leave was noble of course ...but part of him hoped there was a chance things could change....".

"You're sick!!!!", Jackie said much to Marco's surprise.

"I'm just doing what's

best

for him, he will get eaten alive out there without learning to harness his anger and grow strong from it. He needs to learn it when he's young, he would've died at that one assassin's hand if he hadn't used his magic...", Marco flashed back to the first time he saw Tom get angry but shook it off, "Don't try to act like your actions were good!!! Tom wouldn't be so messed up if it wasn't for you!! He's only a kid....can't he grow up like one? Grown up and be his own king instead of your stupid clone?"

"A good king doesn't let the prince conspire against me like this,  he broke his promise....there's no reason I shouldn't just go to you right now and finish this...", Marco shuddered, "This is the last warning I make to you Marco Diaz...stay away from us....or you'll be sorry..".

"WHERE'S TOM??!!", Marco shouted again.

The king said nothing before his eyes and cheekmarks started to glow a bright green, and that was the last thing they saw before the mirror broke into a bunch of pieces and the two had to duck behind the bed for safety. Marco was breathing very heavily, he looked over himself, and then to Jackie.

"Are you hurt?".

Jackie showed a slight cut on her arm, but other then that she was fine.

"What are we going to do now?", She asked, ignoring the pain and choosing to focus more on the fact that Tom was interrogated during dinner and he could be anywhere by now being tortured. Marco wasn't sure how to reply until he heard his phone buzz and Janna burst through the door with a mouthful of chips.

"Yo Star called!!"

Marco quickly made his way to his phone to she the text clear as day on his phone, tears falling onto the bright screen.

We got help, when do we start?

Marco looked between the bleeding Jackie and the confused Janna who was staring at the broken mirror and quickly typed a reply into his phone.

Now.

#star vs the forces of evil #svstfoe #svtfoe #tom the demon #marco #marco diaz #tomco #star butterfly #jackie lynn thomas #janna #Tom Vs The Forces Of Evil #fanfiction #fanfic #my art

[anerdinallherglory]

Approaching Sun (4)

Author's Note: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait! I have exchanged my full-time school schedule for a full-time summer job, so I have not been able to update as frequently as I had hoped. You’ll be glad to know that I have been spending more time developing this story’s plot, connecting it to the novels and manga, and lots of research in order to make this a better story over all!  

Happy SasuSaku Month everyone!!

P.S. I mentioned last time that I enjoy the challenge of writing as closely to character as I am able. For those of you want a quick developing romance with unrealistic scenarios, I’m sorry to disappoint you. It will happen, but realistically and through proper plot progression! As always, let me know what you think!

(Chapter 1) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3)

*This fic is tightly adapted to the Sasuke Shinden and Sakura Hiden. Please read the novels or refer to the summaries. I'm tired of waiting for their story, so have decided to write it myself. (______signifies time lapse, and . . . . signifies transitions between p.o.v.)

Pairing: SasuSaku

Summary: After 2 years, Sasuke returns to the village where friends anxiously await him. Still troubled by the mysteries of Kaguya and his personal guilt, Sasuke is split between friends and his journey. One specific pink-haired individual has perhaps waited for him with far more dedication than anyone else. Troubled by rising casualties and international dependence on her abilities, Sakura is torn between her love for Sasuke and her duty to her village.

 Chapter 4: "Walks with Ninja"

 Sasuke remained silent as they walked together towards her home. Sasuke wasn't sure where Sakura was living these days; he knew she probably didn’t live with her parents anymore, at least. He let her lead the way.

Sakura also didn’t talk and it annoyed the Uchiha to no end. He could tell she was on the verge of saying something, but just as she was about to, she pursed her lips together. She had spoken to him this morning, but now she seemed hesitant. There was a part of the Uchiha that was glad she was quiet, leaving a formality between them. However, there was a part of him that wished she would speak to end the tension that hung over their heads.

She had never been as loud or boisterous as Naruto, but this unsuspecting quiet was beginning to bother him.

He shook his head at the thought. It had been awhile since he had last seen her; there was bound to be a stiff silence.

As Sakura stumbled along, he noticed again how tired she looked.

"You work long shifts at the hospital," the Uchiha said awkwardly, turning away from her redirected gaze.

Offering him a small smile, she replied, "Yes, they often run together."

When she didn’t elaborate, Sasuke asked, "What do you mean?"

"There are a lot of demands, lately," she explained. "A team of medical ninja was sent to Kumogakure so I've been a little short staffed at the hospital."

He recalled his more recent conversation with one of the Raikage's right hand men. Sasuke had travelled to Kumogakure when he discovered their missing shinobi on an island in the Land of Water. C had told him that a Konoha medical team was sent to Kumogakure to help assist them in removing Chino's foreign chakra from their shinobi.

He remembered the acute sting in his hand when he reached into the pool of red, the chakra swirling within it cutting at his skin, trying to enter his body. The red pools in Hell Valley were where Chino had kept the ninja as she turned them into human bombs. He wondered if extracting the foreign chakra caused pain for the medic because of the chakra's nature.

"You might be wondering where Naruto is," she offered and Sasuke blinked in surprise. "Tsunade, Hinata, and He are accompanying the medic team to Kumogakure. The Byakugan can see the chakra and after helping me discovering how to remove it, Hinata was an asset to the team. After showing Tsunade how I was able to extract the chakra, she was able to improve upon the method and went in my place."

Sasuke raised his eyes in surprise. She had been the one to discover how to extract the chakra? When C had told him that Konoha had developed a way to do so, he didn’t imagine Sakura being the one responsible.

"Naruto wanted to see B, I imagine," she added quickly, interrupting his thoughts.

Ah, Sasuke thought. That made sense. It was odd, knowing his closest friend was now in Kumogakure, just days after having been there himself. He pictured the large Octopus-Bull eight tailed beast and his jinchūriki. He began to recall the battle he had with the self-proclaimed rapper, Killer B. He smiled at the thought of the world's two most obnoxious shinobi as being friends.  

Glancing over at Sakura, he thought more carefully about what she said. "You stayed," he said, matter of factly.

"Yes," she replied, "I chose to stay behind, this time." She looked away shyly and Sasuke wasn’t sure why. He looked away from her and remained silent.

After a few quiet seconds, Sakura stated, "Kirigakure and Kumogakure have their own set of victims from the exploding humans incident, but so does Konoha. I stayed behind so that I could research and develop a burn solvent that helps speed up the healing process in patients without the necessity of extreme chakra depletion on the medic's part."

She exhaled tiredly and glanced down at her arm. Sasuke snapped his attention to the direction of her gaze and noticed large circular scars running across the bottom of her forearm. His eyes widened as the realization hit him. It was shocking to make the connection between Sakura and the extent she was willing to go to. He recalled other moments of her fearlessness. Most prominently, Sasuke remembered the faces of three Oto chunin applicants terrorizing the girl who fought so desperately to save Naruto and himself. More recently, he could recall her unexpected efforts in the war. She was no longer the teammate who relied on her partners to defend her in battle. Instead, she was becoming a shinobi the ninja world relied on. The Uchiha in him had always admired power and this capable Sakura was beginning to grow in his acknowledgements and respects.

Looking back at him, Sakura offered another tired smile at his silence.

He shook his head and replied lamely, "So not much sleep then?"

"No. Not much."

They stopped at a small little apartment located in a tight alley between the left corner of the hospital and the connecting path that would eventually take you into the Uchiha compound. She reached in her pocket for the key and fumbled to unlock the door. Sasuke wanted to ask her why she had chosen to move so far across the village, but his conversational ability seemed to be exhausted.

"Thank you, again, for walking me home, Sasuke." She turned towards her door to enter but stopped short and turned to face him once more. "Can I see you again, tomorrow? I know Naruto isn't here, but maybe you, Kakashi, and I could go out for ramen like old times and catch up."

He frowned automatically before he could catch himself. He knew he wasn’t afraid to be involved anymore, but a rendezvous with his old team wouldn’t help the situation at all. They both knew he wasn’t home for good. Perhaps this was why she hadn't asked him how long he had been planning on staying. He didn’t want her to get used to his company again only for him to leave so quickly. Through his travelling, Sasuke had decided that being home meant bringing danger to the village; in other words, he aimed to eliminate the risk by searching for the biggest threat to the current peace.

If Sakura knew this, she would be devastated.

"I have to continue my training, tomorrow," he said bluntly. It was better to put a limit on their interactions with one another. It would be the best thing he could do for her.

She looked away at his answer, then gave him a small smile. "Maybe another time, then."

He nodded silently and turned in the direction of the Uchiha compound. For some reason, as he walked away, the Uchiha raised an arm in farewell. He supposed Sakura wasn’t the only one who had changed. He needed Naruto to hurry up and come back so he could return to his mission and let his friends move on with their lives.

______________________________________________________________

Sakura didn’t see Sasuke the following day, or the next, or even the next. In fact, she didn’t see him for the first week that he was here. She wanted to seek him out, to tell him he was being unfair by keeping his distance from those who cared about him. Had she not waited, waited, and waited for him to come home? And now, he was here and she was just about sick of waiting.

Sakura shuffled the papers on her desk into a neat pile and pushed them to the side. It was mid-afternoon and contemplating about Sasuke hadn't helped her get as much paperwork completed on her break like she had planned. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Sakura began working again. The pink-haired medic had scheduled checkups for all her burn patients today which had kept her very busy. Working on these select patients within a shorter time frame allowed her to compare results between patients more quickly. Her main objective was to evaluate her burn solvent's short-term efficiency. A week wasn’t long enough for severe burns to completely heal, but she wanted to make sure the herbal cast was holding up for her patients.

The first patient was a young kunoichi named Hoko who had suffered third-degree burns across her right shoulder and up her neck and face. Unfortunately, the woman's right eye had been completely disintegrated due to its direct connection with the explosion. Sakura had barely managed to save her left eye and had spent a large amount of chakra trying to heal the rest of Hoko's face. Once Hoko had finally stopped screaming, Sakura had wrapped the right side of her face and kept a medical patch over the left eye, returning later to apply the solvent to her burns. Even though the kunoichi's former face was impossible to return to its previous state, the healing solvent paired with Sakura's chakra was working miraculously. Her skin showed little redness and the ointment was helping the skin regeneratre without major scarring. Hoko's left eye was restored while her exposed right eye socket was now almost completely covered with a layer of puffy skin.

"Does it look bad?" Hoko asked with a hoarse and broken voice, reaching up to touch the newly applied bandages. Her good eye was uncovered now and she was able to move her lips which Sakura was relieved to see.

"It looks better than I originally thought it would," Sakura replied, stretching out her palm to rest on the girl's hand.

The girl frowned despite the good news. She understood why a young kunoichi would be upset and Sakura knew she couldn’t offer any heartfelt words that would genuinely make her feel better.

After a long minute, Sakura finally said, "What you did for your village was honorable and brave. I am thankful that we can rely on shinobi like you to rush out onto the battlefield." The girl looked away from her and Sakura reached over and grabbed a mass of blue from the side table next to her.

Placing the forehead protector into Hoko's hand, Sakura said, "You may not have a right eye anymore, but in its absence, I see a badge that declares your bravery in battle and dedication to your village. There's no one more worthy of wearing this headband."

For the first time since the incident, Hoko's lips tilted upward at the edges.

"I couldn’t have said it better myself," came a voice from the doorway. They both turned to see the Sixth, displaying the white and red of Hokage. He entered carefully and presented himself to the ninja and took his hat off. Hoko tried to stand but Kakashi raised a hand and she sat back down, offering a small bow from her seat.

"Lord Hokage," Sakura interjected on Hoko's behalf, "what a surprise. We were not expecting you."

Sakura's former sensei turned and nodded in her direction, "Yes, well, I wanted acknowledge these fine ninja."

Hoko looked down respectfully when he turned back to her. The Sixth proceeded to thank her for her assistance in the fight against the exploding humans. She was going to be publicly honored along with the others if she gave her assent. Kakashi offered her a masked smile when she nodded slowly to his question.

This is how it went for the rest of her shift. Kakashi followed her to all her appointments, recognizing each ninja individually and lifting their spirits by honoring their efforts in the battle. Sakura smiled as her former teacher went above and beyond to interact with these ninja. To this day, he continued to surprise her with his performance as Hokage and in this moment, Sakura couldn’t help but feel an extreme admiration for this man who once had to drag around three ignorant little ninja who thought they knew so much.

Sakura could honestly say she missed the days where the four of them were a team, Naruto and Sasuke at each other's throats, constantly trying to outdo one another; Sakura feigning after Sasuke and yelling at Naruto; Kakashi hiding in a tree somewhere, ignoring their squabbling altogether as he read Icha Icha Paradise. How much had the three of them really changed?

"Sakura?" Kakashi asked, a few minutes after the last patient walked out the front doors. She just realized he had asked her a question and she had been too lost in pleasant memories to hear him.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something Kakashi sensei?" she asked, turning to face him.

Shaking his head, Kakashi stated, "I asked if you needed an escort home."

Sakura smiled, shaking her head and waving her right arm. "There's no need. I'm sure the Hokage has more important things to--"

"Oh nonsense," he interjected quickly, motioning towards the door. Honestly, Sakura felt obligated to stay for the night shift. She had taken on the most of the day's work herself, but they were still short on staff.

"Come on now," Kakashi called out to her. "Hokage's orders!"

She scowled at him. She hated when he used the "Hokage" card on her.

After being reassured by her apprentice, Kirai, who took charge in Sakura's absence, the pink-haired kunoichi joined her former sensei.

The streets were lit by the glow coming from the many shops and markets who hadn't quite reached closing time. It was hard to escape the attention of many who recognized the Hokage. One marketer even rushed out onto the street to offer the "Honorable Hokage" a free dango, to which Kakashi tried to politely refuse but the kind merchant wouldn’t take no for an answer. Kakashi thanked him and smiled largely.

As the two of them walked farther away from the village's center, the night time bustle began to fade behind them. Once they were out of sight from the kind merchant, Kakashi put the sweetly smelling dango in Sakura's hand. She smiled, taking a bite from one of the brightly colored dumplings on the stick. Her team had always known her weakness for sweets.  

After a minute, Kakashi removed his hat from his head, allowing it to rest on his back. He inhaled the fresh air loudly and Sakura noticed his usually fixed posture relax slightly. Seeing him this way made the young kunoichi think of the past again; back to the days where Kakashi wasn’t in charge of the village. She couldn’t imagine the stress he dealt with.

After giving him a few minutes of uninterrupted silence, Sakura asked, "What's this about Kakashi? Why are you walking me home?"

"Hm?" he asked, dropping all previous formalities. "Can't your former sensei assist you home, on a dark and scary even--"

"Let me guess," she interjected, pointing an accusing finger in his direction. "You're trying to get out of more paperwork, aren't you?"

He laughed and waved his hands innocently and Sakura knew she had hit the nail on the head.

"That's not my only reason," he defended himself, then placed a palm on the back of his hand as they continued to walk down the darkening path. "I actually wanted to talk to you."

"To meh? 'Bout what?" Sakura asked, just having taken the last bite of her final dumpling.

His former playfulness turned solemn as he asked, "Are you getting the rest you need?"

Rest? Why was he asking her about that? She couldn’t just come out and tell him she hadn't slept much since the medic team left for Kumogakure. Not only was she responsible for maintaining the hospital, but ever since Sasuke's return, she had arrived home feeling exhausted but restless thoughts of him kept her from sleeping. It was all she could do to spare the chakra to erase the dark circles from her eyes every morning.

When Sakura didn’t reply, he continued, "I understand that your load is heavy right now at the Hospital, but you need to make sure that you are taking care of yourself, first."

"Who told you I wasn’t?" she asked, giving him an innocent smile.

The ninja beside her switched from Kakashi to Hokage as he said, "Actually, I have been keeping an eye on your situation since the departure of the medical team last week. I checked your hours and confirmed them with your staff this morning. I can say for certainty that you are not resting."

Annoyed at his snooping, she glared at him, pointing her now empty dango stick at him. "Look, they need me, and I know my own limits."

He didn’t look properly chastised. In fact, he gently took her left arm and pulled down the sleeve of her lab coat to reveal her circular scars. "If you knew your limits, these would be properly healed by now."

She pulled her arm away and tugged her sleeve back down. "Look, I'm doing what I have to. My patients need me and I don’t have the extra chakra to spare at the moment."

"And this is why I have arranged for you to have the next couple of days off." After seeing Sakura's gawking silence, the Hokage seemed to change back into his sensei persona as he smiled and walked a couple steps in front of her, knowing he had bested her.

"But!" Sakura implored, "What will they do without me?"

"It's all been arranged," he replied coming to a slow walk as the two of them approached her little apartment nestled into the side of an alley.

She inhaled to come up with an argument, but Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder and offered her a tired smile. "So take some time off and leave the rest to me. You do too much, sometimes" he spoke from behind his mask.

As she watched her sensei begin to leave, she called loudly after him, "What am I supposed to do?!"

"Sleep!" he called back, "And, uh, maybe go visit a friend!"

A friend? She didn’t have to ask who Kakashi meant. After the white haired ninja disappeared into the night,

Sakura turned her head to look down the opposite path, the narrow one that eventually wound its way towards the Uchiha compound.

#sasusaku #sasuke and sakura #approachingsun #sasusakumonth #Sasuke Uchiha #sakura haruno #sakura hiden #sasuke shinden #ssfanfiction #naruto fanfiction #Naruto Shippuden #naruto

[sad-trash-writing]

Who’s The Hero of Your Story?, Ch. 10

AO3 Link

The next day, Jemma headed back to the coffee shop. She had mixed up the compound she made from Raina’s sample with some general antiseptics and moisturizers and made a cream out if it to give to Daisy. Whatever got into the wound from Raina would hopefully be blocked by it and allow the scratches to heal. 

Daisy’s scratches looked even worse today. Hopefully this worked. 

Without a word, Jemma held the tiny jar out to Daisy. 

“Thank you,” Daisy said, taking the jar with a smile, “What exactly is it?” 

Jemma shrugged. “Just a little something I came up with in the lab.”

Daisy snorted. “So you’re getting a PhD in making face cream?”

“Biochemistry, actually. Mostly focusing on the various uses of genetically altered plants,” Jemma replied. 

“Huh,” Daisy muttered inspecting the jar, “How do I know your lab experiment won’t kill me?”

“I guess you just have to trust me.”

Daisy smirked. “Alright, I’ll give it a try. I know where to find you if I suddenly start sprouting leaves.”

Jemma blanched. “I’m sorry?”

Daisy waved the little jar in the air. “This has mutant plants in it, right? If I turn green, I’m gonna be annoyed.”

Jemma huffed out a nervous laugh. “Right, well, that shouldn’t happen. I, uh, have to meet with someone in the lab. Bye!”

Jemma scurried out the front door and took a few deep breaths. She thought for a moment she had blown her cover and Daisy figured out who she was. Telling Daisy about her research was probably a bad idea. She would be able to figure out who was behind the super villain who had a mutant plant attached to themselves if she really thought about it. 

Jemma’s phone dinged with a new email. It was from Raina, requesting a meeting in two days to discuss 'her next extracurricular project.' Jemma took another deep breath. She could only hope that they had changed their minds about killing Quake and this would be a meeting about a symposium for her to attend. 

Jemma rolled her eyes at herself. As if her life could ever be that normal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jemma checked back in with Daisy the day of her meeting. She made sure to go in the lull between the morning rush and the lunch rush so she would have time to grill Daisy on the compound she gave her. That was definitely the only reason she was checking in today. Not because every time she talked to Daisy, her chest felt fluttery and her vines started doing a weird, wiggly dance. 

Still, Jemma had to wait in line behind a lady with an expression like she had just bit into something sour berate the manager while Daisy stood next to him and texted, looking thoroughly unimpressed. 

When the lady was finally satisfied with her yelling and moved on, Jemma sidled up to the counter.

“Well, you’re looking much better,” she commented, noting Daisy’s scratches. In the two days since she had been in, the red, inflamed cuts had faded into tiny pink lines across Daisy’s cheekbone. They probably wouldn’t even scar at this point. 

“Yeah, whatever you gave me was magic,” Daisy replied. “What was in that, by the way?”

Jemma shrugged. “Just a bit of general antiseptic and some experimental extracts. Nothing too mysterious.” 

“Huh. Strange.”

Jemma frowned. “Why?”

“Well, at first I thought I was having a bad reaction to it, because it felt really weird and tingly.  And then for awhile I couldn’t use my…arms. They just kind of felt weird, but it wore off pretty quickly,” Daisy said with a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Then, Jemma saw the purplish bruises up Daisy’s arms and gasped. “What happened? That didn’t happen after you used the compound I gave you, did it?”

“What? No!” Daisy tugged her sleeves down over her hand. “Well, yes technically, but it didn’t cause it. I, uh, took a kickboxing class the other night and got my ass handed to me.”

Jemma eyed Daisy. Maybe the compound blocked her powers as well as whatever got into her scratches from Raina. Maybe the blocking of Daisy’s powers directed them back into herself as opposed to out, causing the bruises. 

“Well, at least your cuts are healed, so you don’t need to use it anymore. I didn’t realize there would be such strong side effects,” Jemma muttered. 

“Hey, it worked. I can’t complain about the side effects too much,” Daisy said. “Maybe you’ll let me buy you a drink sometime as a thank you.”

Jemma smiled, in spite of everything inside her saying don’t encourage her. “I—“

Her phone chirped a reminder about her meeting with her advisors in ten minutes. And she was an eight minute walk from the campus. 

“Shoot, I’m going to be late for my meeting. I—I have to go, I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you later?” Jemma called on her way out the door. She didn’t pause for Daisy’s reply. It was probably best she didn’t see Daisy’s expression because she was sure Daisy would just think Jemma was blowing her off. 

Unfortunately, she would have to worry about Daisy later, because, if she was late, her advisors were going to kill her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jemma skidded into Raina’s office with two minutes to spare. She got a raised eyebrow from Quinn, since normally, Jemma was a solid five and a half minutes early. Since Garrett still wasn’t there, no one commented, though. 

Garrett sauntered in three minutes late, earning him a glare from Raina and an exasperated eye roll from Quinn. Great, so everyone’s in a good mood already.

“Now that everyone has elected to show up—” Raina shot another glare at Garrett, who seemed unperturbed, “—we have another issue to attend to: Quake is still alive.”

“You don’t have to remind me of that,” Garrett grumbled. Jemma noticed then that he had a black eye and bandages wrapped around the half of his arm that hadn't been amputated. 

Jemma fidgeted in her seat, before she realized that none of them were looking at her. 

“Apparently, our initial try has failed somehow, so we’re back to the drawing board,” Raina growled. 

Jemma frowned. “I’m sorry, but what was the initial attempt?” She knew she wasn’t included in all the trio’s plans, but since she was originally given this task, she figured they would have let her know if there was a change of plans.

Raina sighed. “One of the only good things to come out of my thorns is that they’re tipped with a low-potency venom. Anything I scratch, within a few days, will burn, itch, and eventually, shrivel up and die. Somehow, Quake got scratched, but didn’t get affected, as Garrett learned last night.”

Jemma’s stomach sank as Garrett recounted his latest altercation with Quake. She didn’t realize that those infected scratches were part of a conscious attempt on Daisy’s life. When she thought of Daisy’s bright smile every morning, Jemma found it hard to feel guilty about interfering. Unfortunately, they weren’t having this meeting just to talk about one failed attempt. 

“Simmons,” Raina spoke up, interrupting Garrett’s graphic story. “You know what this means?”

Jemma gulped. She had a feeling that she did. 

“Good. You’re Option Two and we’re running out of time for more options. We’ve got big plans coming up and we can’t have Quake getting in the way before we’ve gotten started,” Raina finished. 

Jemma was tempted to ask about the 'big plans,' but her throat felt like it was closed up and her mind was reeling with what they were asking her to do. 

Quinn spoke up. “You have one week.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently, her advisors didn’t trust her to come up with a plan in a week, since, two days later, Jemma got a notice of another meeting. Also, a 6-inch long dagger mysterious appeared in the lab with a holster that would snap perfectly onto the belt Fitz built in to her bodysuit. 

Jemma quickly tucked it into a drawer and tried to forget it was there. The next day, she went up to Quinn’s office. The whole trio was present, but Raina was, unusually, sitting off to the side with Quinn, giving Garrett the run of this meeting. Garrett laid out a blueprint of a government building downtown that would be their (Jemma’s) stage. 

With a marker, he drew X’s all over the building’s access points and security checkpoints, as well as where valuable documents were stored. She wasn’t actually going in to take anything; she was just causing enough panic and noise to summon Quake. 

“—And then, once you barricade the door, she’ll Supergirl her way to the roof and BAM!” Garrett slapped the table dramatically causing Jemma to nearly fall out of her seat. “If you’re lucky, maybe a news chopper will be there at that point to catch the finishing blow on camera. Then, no one will ever mess with us again.”

Jemma felt sick. Like she was about to be physically ill. She was sure if she looked in a mirror right now, she wouldn't be able to distinguish the color of her face from her vines. 

To disguise this fact, she just nodded along to what Garrett said without a word. Her mind raced through thousands of possibilities of ways to get out of this whole arrangement. All of them ended in death: hers, Fitz’s, her family’s, hundred of stranger’s. 

Quake’s. 

She couldn’t. But she also had to. 

This was the point of no return. So far, she had only robbed a few people and caused some destruction of property. But murder? That was something she could never come back from once done. She would be a super villain now and always. 

She eyed the framed diplomas on Quinn’s wall. Was it worth this? Jemma knew if she backed out of this and somehow didn’t end up dead, there was no way she could start another doctorate anywhere else. She would be blacklisted from every school in the world. How would she continue to do her research, to solve problems? 

To make the world a better place. 

That was why she wanted to go to this school in the first place. She wanted to solve problems in the world in whatever way she could. Her research was supposed to minimize bad things in this world. How could she do that if she was working for people who aimed to create so much bad?

“We’re really counting on you for this, Simmons,” Raina piped up. “We’ve got big things in the works and we can’t put them off anymore.”

This was the second time Raina had brought up their 'big plans.' If Jemma wasn’t already staring at the blueprint of the most abhorrent thing she could think of, she would be inclined to ask what her role would be in those plans. As it was, she couldn’t stomach knowing who else was getting hurt or robbed or killed while she sat back and did nothing. 

She thought of Fitz down in their private lab, pounding out as many projects as he could. She thought of the burly security guards that led them to the lab the first day and knew, despite Garrett’s assurance, that they could access the lab whenever they wanted and do whatever they wanted with no witnesses. 

She thought of Daisy. A virtual stranger to Jemma, but another good-hearted person just trying to make the world slightly less evil. 

She didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but Jemma suddenly realized that she was sitting in the lowest chair in the room. Garrett towered over the desk in front of her. Raina was now leaning against the doorframe. Quinn was hovering by the windows.

All eyes were on Jemma and all exits were blocked. She was physically and metaphorically trapped. 

“So?”

“I’ll do it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The designated day finally showed up. Jemma spent the day frantically testing and retesting her plants, hoping that maybe they wouldn’t actually be ready and The Plan would have to be postponed. 

Unfortunately, the one time she wanted failure, Jemma got success. Her plants were responding perfectly to everything she wanted them to do. She wondered if she could get away with lighting them on fire and pretending it was an accident. 

That afternoon, the two plants were carefully transferred to nondescript containers and transported to the roof of the building Jemma was supposed to infiltrate. 

She spent the rest of the day avoiding contact with anyone. She didn’t want to see Fitz because he would ask for updates on Jemma’s super villain activities and Jemma didn’t think she could manage lying to him right now. 

She briefly considered making a stop at the coffee shop, but that thought was quickly thrown out. She knew if she had to make polite conversation with Da— with her target— the last bit of her resolve would crumble.

Jemma camped out in her apartment until it was nearing dusk and then suited up. She slid the dagger out of the sock drawer she had moved it to once the plan came together and snapped it onto her belt. It wasn't overly large, but the weight of it suddenly felt like it would drag Jemma into the ground. 

She tugged on a hoodie and sweatpants over her suit and slid out the fire escape toward the roof. 

Right on time, Quinn’s helicopter appeared and hovered low enough that she could grab on and pull herself up. 

The first of many horrible plans of this evening happened right away. As soon as they approached the building, Quinn handed her a rope that was tethered to one of the handles in the interior of the helicopter and given a three-second countdown. 

On three, she jumped. 

Keep your feet straight out as soon as you jump. If the rest of your body hits the window first it’s gonna hurt, Garrett’s voice echoed in her mind.  

She clung to the rope with all her might as she swung through the air. In the split second before she hit the window, she looked toward the ground a dozen stories below her. She didn’t have time to worry about the height before her feet were crashing through the nearest window. 

Entering the building on one of the middle floors will limit the amount of security you have to bypass and shorten the distance you have to cross to get to the roof. 

Jemma let the rope slip out of her hands as she tumbled through the window. Jemma hissed as she felt a sharp sting in her hands. A thin cut stretched across her palm from landing on all the broken glass. She was pretty sure she felt a matching one on her cheek. This was one of the many ways Jemma could tell this plan was entirely concocted by Garrett; he was more concerned with style than what was considered practical. Yet another reason why this was the worst plan Jemma had ever been involved in. 

Outside the window, Quinn’s helicopter sped away. At the other end of the hall, Jemma heard panicked voices and the thunder of footsteps rounding the corner. 

Before they made it into her line of sight, Jemma pulled out a device stolen from Fitz and slapped it on the keypad on the nearest door. It whirred angrily until the keypad flashed red and the floor’s alarm sounded. That ought to attract some attention. 

The first group of guards was small, only having three. Jemma lunged towards them, landing a punch to the first one’s nose and knocked him back a few paces. The other two spread out as much as they could in the narrow hallway. The second tried to grab her wrist, but she slipped out of his grasp and kicked him in the knee. The third managed to get behind Jemma and loop his arms under hers to try to immobilize her. One of her vines snapped around his neck and squeezed just tight enough that he panicked and released her to try to claw it off. Once free, she ducked down and flung him into the second guard and knocked them both out cold. 

The first guard made a lunge for Jemma again. She jumped over the unconscious forms of the other two guards and snapped a vine around the first’s wrist before he could move. 

Quake monitors police dispatch in her free time. That’s how she always knows where to find us.

“Change your radio to the frequency of the police dispatchers,” Jemma commanded. The guard’s eyes went blank and he reached for his radio. “Now, call for backup.”

“This is Officer Jones of the Federal Building, requesting immediate backup—“

“Sound a little more distressed,” Jemma whispered. His voice was rather deadpan and didn’t sound too urgent. 

“—requesting immediate backup.” the guard’s voice kicked up an octave. “There is a powered intruder, repeat: powered intruder.”

Once the call went out, Jemma pulled off the guard and he fell to the ground. She found the stairs to the next floor up and sprinted up them. 

She only had one more floor to ascend before reaching the roof and this one had a larger guard presence. Still, Jemma’s intense training with Scarlotti seemed to be holding out and she managed to disarm them long enough to slip into the next stairwell. It helped that she had around 20 limbs to work with. She barricaded the stairwell doors and headed to the roof. There was only one access point to the roof and it was through this door, so she shouldn’t have any unwelcome intruders. 

Once she passed through the door to the roof, she snapped another one of Fitz’s devices to it to instantly weld the door shut, like it had at the bank. Now, all she could do was wait. 

The sun was just setting on the western horizon, casting everything in a purple and orange glow. The clouds shifted slowly, giving the impression of a watercolor painting coming to life. She could see the entire city and even some of the outlying suburbs. Jemma would have admired the view if she wasn’t focused completely on what she came here to do. 

She saw plants 3.1 and 3.2 tucked into boxes the same color and shape of the vents on the roof. If she didn’t know what to look for, she would have been none the wiser that they were even out of place. 

Jemma fished out the tiny electrodes she designed and stuck them to her temples. She concentrated on experimentally moving the vines of the plants across the roof from her. It was much more difficult than moving the ones on her back, which acted more like an extra set of limbs. These new ones were more like moving puppets with strings made out of slinkys. 

When she was confident they were obeying her thoughts, Jemma tucked them back away and waited. 

The distant sound of police sirens was all Jemma could hear from this height. All the security guards were still stuck a floor below her, so she couldn’t hear what they were doing to try to break down the door. Jemma hoped that maybe Daisy would be taking a night off from being Quake and wouldn’t show up. It wouldn’t be Jemma’s fault if she couldn’t complete her mission then. Unfortunately, fate was not on Jemma’s side and she saw a shadow streak up the side of the building. The roof trembled as Quake slowed her descent. She landed and her eyes found Jemma straightaway. 

Quake frowned slightly, more in confusion than anger. “Really? You graduated from jewel thief to, what, stealing people’s mortgages?” 

Jemma rolled her eyes. Just a few more feet. 

“So, where are the rest of your cronies? I thought you were all in this together?” Quake teased. She strolled a few steps forward. Just a little closer. 

“They’re taking the night off,” Jemma replied. “This job is only for me.”

“Really? Surprised they trust you that much. They don’t seem to give you anything important to do. It’s almost like they don’t treat you as part of the team,” Quake said. 

That much was true. Except in this instance. Quake took a few more steps. Perfect. 

“So, what are you really here for?” Quake asked, sounding bored. 

Jemma locked eyes with Quake. “You.”

Plants 3.1 and 3.2 snapped to life. Vines coiled around Quake’s elbows. Next, they wrapped around her knees, locking them together and forcing Quake to her knees. A sick part of Jemma’s mind thought she liked Daisy in this position, but she pushed it away. 

“Impressive,” Quake murmured. She scrunched up her face in concentration and then hissed in pain. She flexed her hands and glared in confusion. 

“They’re coated with a compound that temporarily blocks your powers. I wouldn’t try to use them or you’ll just hurt yourself,” Jemma informed her. She was hoping to sound aloof and in charge, but she genuinely didn’t want to cause Daisy any pain. She would be doing enough of that shortly, anyway. 

Quake suddenly looked concerned. “Okay, that’s new. At least this gives me time to talk to you without having to beat you up first.”

Jemma narrowed her eyes and sauntered across the roof towards Quake. A distant boom drew both Quake’s and Jemma’s attention. A few blocks away, a cloud of smoke was clearing from another skyscraper. Police cars swarmed the area below it and, above, Jemma recognized the Quinn helicopter that dropped her off dangling a rope down for the forms of Raina and Garrett to climb. Garrett appeared to have a large bag of something tucked under his arm. Jemma could practically hear his maniacal cackling from here. 

Jemma frowned. They hadn’t mentioned doing another job tonight. They said they would be on standby to come swoop in early in case anything went south for Jemma. Instead, they were using her as a distraction, to both temporarily and permanently get rid of their nemesis. 

Daisy growled and squirmed against the vines restraining her. She snorted when she saw Jemma’s face. “Wow, must be rough to not be included in the big plans. They’ve really got you in the minor leagues still.” 

Jemma glared. Daisy continued when Jemma didn’t stop her. “Listen, if you’re trapped or you don’t want to work with those guys, you don’t have to. I work with an organization that helps people like you and me. They can help you and protect you from whatever you’re caught up in. You have a choice.”

Jemma paused. That was surprising. She always pegged Quake as the solo vigilante-type who never needed help from anyone. Though this ‘organization’ she mentioned could just as easily be the police. 

Something nudged Jemma’s hand, but she ignored it, wanting to hear more of what Quake had to say. Quake very obviously noticed it, though, and her eyes went wide. 

Jemma looked down. One of her vines had retrieved the dagger from its holster and was helpfully trying to press it into her hand. Jemma rolled it into her palm and stared at it. 

Quake noticed the glint of the metal now in Jemma’s hands and started struggling harder. 

“Okay, seriously, you don’t have to do this,” Quake pleaded. “I can help you. We can help. You can use your powers to do something good.”

Jemma took a few steps closer to Quake. She had to do it. She couldn’t go back now. Her advisors would go after her family, her friends, anyone she loved. She had to do this one thing for them and then could worry about squirming out of their grasp. 

Quake was visibly panicked. Jemma didn’t think she had ever seen so much fear in her eyes. “Okay, I know you said I don’t know what kind of person you are, but I know you’re not a bad person. I can see it in you. You haven’t hurt anyone yet, and that’s not an accident. Quinn, Raina, Garrett. They’ve hurt hundreds of people, but not you! Because you’re a good person!” 

Quake--no, Daisy was practically begging at Jemma’s feet. Jemma tried to tune out her words. It was only making it harder for what she had to do. 

Logically, it was so easy. Aim for the heart, the guts, the throat. Jemma knew the human body like the back of her hand. It would be so easy.

Emotionally, Jemma couldn’t separate herself from the person in front of her. Quake was trapped and at her mercy, but all Jemma could see was the friendly barista who flirted with her and gave her free snacks. Beyond that, Jemma could see the superhero, whose only crime was trying to make things a little less dark and to help people. Even people who had a knife pointed at her. 

Jemma gripped the dagger a little tighter and glanced towards the building her advisors had just robbed. The helicopter had disappeared into the distance and not reappeared. Quinn was supposed to circle back and pick Jemma up once ‘the job’ was done, but it appeared she was on her own. 

She looked back at Daisy. She had given up trying to squirm free and was staring at Jemma with wide, pleading eyes. 

Jemma wondered if Daisy was right. Was she a good person? Does a good person compromise their entire moral compass for the approval of three terrible people? 

Does a good person use their scientific mind and research to commit terrible crimes?

Jemma’s eyes fell on her plants, the ones she worked tirelessly to create for months. They were still tightly squeezing Daisy’s arms together. Was this really their intended purpose?

Jemma felt her resolve crumble into dust. This wasn’t her. No degree or fancy lab equipment or even a lifetime of charity work could make this go away if she went through with it. 

The dagger slid out of her hands and clattered against the roof. 

She turned and ran. Jemma sprinted towards the back side of the building and jumped. 

There were no police cars on this side, as expected. The city’s police department really needed to work on their siege tactics. 

But there was a gutter. Jemma shot out a vine and wrapped it around the gutter. She yanked herself closer to it and grabbed it tighter with her hands and all her vines to slow her descent. 

Her hands burned from the friction, but she held on as tight as she could. She hit the ground just slightly too hard to be comfortable, but immediately jumped to her feet and scanned the back alley. Her eyes found a sewer cover. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do for now. 

She hoisted the cover, slipped into the sewer, and swung herself onto the concrete ledge. 

Jemma slid to the ground and tried to catch her breath. Her hands were still shaking and, once her weight was off them, her knees felt wobbly too. She peeled the electrodes off her temples and tossed them into the scummy water rushing by. Hopefully, the plants would relax now and Daisy could get out of there before the police broke through to the roof. 

Jemma buried her face in her hands and tried to breathe deeply. She was so screwed.

#skimmons #bioquake #jemma simmons/daisy johnson #Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #who's the hero of your story fic #superhero au #supervillain au

[yourswordship]

10-10-10 Tag

I was tagged back by @crossroadsred and @sweatersonlambs

(I was gonna do two separate posts, but I was tagged a while ago by both of them and I know if I don’t do them both right now I never will! So you guys are getting a two-fer!)

@crossroadsred ‘s questions:

1. If you could travel to any time period, which one would you choose?

I wanna say something a little less cliche, but probably the 20′s in New York. Or maybe Ancient Greece. You know what, I think I’m liking the idea of Ancient Greece more. Like there’s so many questions! There’s so many gaps, things we don’t know about them. And the things we do know are pretty damn cool. So yeah Ancient Greece. Though I’d love to have my own Midnight in Paris type thing too.

2. If you could travel to any fictional world or universe, which one would it be?

I feel like a lot of the shows I watch are in places that I really wouldn’t want to ever find myself in (*cough cough* Game of Thrones). I think the the world in Avatar The Last Airbender would be pretty cool though! Especially if I had cool bending powers too!

3. What does your dream house/apartment look like? Where would it be (city, countryside, etc.)?

I always go back and forth with this. Part of me wants to live in a cozy apartment in a city. I just love the accessibility and energy of cities. But another part of me really likes the idea of living in the countryside in a small cottage type house, you know? I feel suffocated and get overwhelmed pretty easily. I guess I don’t really know what my dream house or apartment would be. Or even where it would be. But regardless I think it’d be cozy. I don’t that’d I be happy in a huge mansion. Just more to clean. I tend to have a favorite nook or room and never leave that area anyways, so yeah definitely small and cozy for me. Oh and this is a bit random but, I love fireplaces so my dream place would definitely have one. And a garden too.

4. What’s your favorite possession?

Would it be really materialistic of me to say my laptop?

5. If you had to eat or drink something for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Lemonade! I was obsessed with it when I was a kid- like my mom would buy me the powdered packages of pink lemonade so that I could make it at home easily. Like just buying a jug of it wasn’t enough. And yeah, that obsession never really went away, though it did tone down a bit.

6. If you had the opportunity to turn a book into a movie or tv show, which would it be? Would you prefer a movie or a tv show? Who would you cast?

I used to have an answer for this- 13 Reasons Why. It was one of the few books I actually read once I got to middle school age, and I really liked it and connected to it. Obviously it’s a Netflix show now, but I think it’s still a valid answer cause I didn’t really love it. I think it would’ve made a much better movie. I get the whole 13 reasons, so let’s do 13 episodes thing. But it was too drawn out. And they changed a lot. I know why they did, but I didn’t think it was necessary. They just tried to squeeze too much into it.  I don’t really have anyone in mind to cast either. One thing I did like about the show is they cast a not well known actress for the lead. I’d like to do that as well if I were to make it into a movie.

7. What’s something that you’ve always wanted to learn (language, skill, subject, etc.)?

Languages for sure! All of them. I took Italian all through high school and even a bit in college, but I swear I cannot speak a word of it. I think I’d like to be fluent in all the romance languages. I also took a Latin class in a recent semester and I actually loved it. 

8. Pick three characters. Which one would you want to be partnered up with for lab? Which one would you want to be stuck in an elevator with for an hour? Which one would you want to be stuck on a deserted island with?

Partner for a lab: Kala from Sense8. For obvious reasons. But also I relate to her so much, so I think it’d actually be a good time.

Stuck in an elevator: Jake Peralta from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He’s super funny so we’d have no problem passing the time. And also he’s a police officer so he’s good in emergencies too.

Deserted Island: Rey from Star Wars. I just like her, okay? And she’s pretty crafty so she’d probably find a way to get us home.

9. Name something good that’s happened to you this year. It can be anything.

I got a job after having to take a year long medical leave from school. Making money and feeling like I’ve accomplished something has really helped me through the sort of detour I’ve taken with my education. I also got promoted after a month at said job. And yeah, that felt pretty good. I still have a lot of self doubt for sure, but I don’t feel like a complete failure anymore.

10. What’s a weird fact you know?

In ancient times, there were professional mourners. Women were paid to mourn- like hardcore bawling, screaming, clawing at their face type mourning. (I definitely have better ones, but this is what I got for ya right now.)

@sweatersonlambs ‘s questions:

1. Pitch me a movie you wish you could write.

Okay I actually started writing this a million years ago, but here it is: Death tracks down a teenage girl who has the power to heal people, even those inches away from death. But Death doesn’t want to get rid of her- they want to work with her. Death is going rogue. They’re tired of collecting people’s souls and having no control over it. They’re basically the world’s most infamous garbage man. But is the responsibility of choosing who lives and dies too much? And who’s decision is it their’s or the girl’s?  

2. If you had a podcast, what would it be about? Basically, what could you talk about for an hour every week?

Make up? I'm not sure. I don’t really listen to podcasts, so I’m not sure what would work or not. I mean are make up podcasts a thing?

3. Talk to me about your pets! If you don’t have one, I want to hear about the pet of your dreams.

I don’t have a pet unfortunately. And shockingly, to myself and everyone who knows me, I think I’d want a dog. I used to be a cat only kind of person, but dogs have really grown on me. When I was a kid, I was terrified of them. I’m not anymore. And in a way getting a dog would be like the final step of overcoming that. Though I suppose that’s a very selfish reason. Really I just want cuddles. And all I want is a pet who wants cuddles too. So dog, cat, or stuffed animal, I think I’ll be happy. I do envision myself with a gentle giant type dog for some reason though. Maybe a Saint Bernard or even a Great Dane.

4. When did you feel the most proud of yourself?

Most recently in getting and keeping my current job. I’m taking a medical leave from school and honestly I wasn’t sure I’d be physically able to devote the amount of time and energy into this job. But I have. And I have had obstacles, hospital stays, getting sick at work, etc. But I haven’t quit. And that feels good. Cause sometimes I feel like that’s all I do. It’s not always my fault, I know. But the point is I feel somewhat normal. And even though I’m fighting hard behind the scenes for what comes naturally to so many others, I’m fucking doing it.

5. What are you looking forward to next week?

I don’t think I have any real plans yet. So 1) sleeping. And 2) going outside. It’s starting to actually feel like summertime and I really want to be present this summer.

6. Tell me about your favorite dessert. I want all of the details.

Oh god, the hard part about this question is picking just one favorite. I’m gonna go with the comfort food choice. Monkey bread. And I’m talking homemade. Gooey cinnamon sugar goodness. 

7. Who is your favorite drag queen on “RuPaul’s Drag Race”? If you haven’t seen the show, please explain why.

Okay so I haven’t actually seen her on the show cause I don’t really watch it to be honest. But I’m definitely a fan of Shangela’s. She hosted the drag show my university did and she was just perfection. She ended the show with this routine to a mash up of Beyonce hits and it was BREATHTAKING.

8. What is your favorite thing to watch on TV while hung over?

Cartoons probably. Usually Avatar The Last Airbender. 

9. Please share your favorite animal fact.

That snakes (the common ones people own at least) are the chillest pets in the world. The ball python got it’s name because it curls into a ball when it’s nervous or threatened, rather than attacking. Not really a fun fact necessarily, but I was a bit stuck on this one. I’ll think of something way better right after I post this, just wait.

10. What would you bring to a potluck? In other words, what is your favorite thing to cook for friends?

Chocolate chip cookies. I’ve perfected the recipe. Okay it’s from a Martha Stewart cookbook, but I have altered it a little over time I swear. At one point I was making these so often I had the recipe memorized.

So I’m not writing any questions since I’ve already done this tag. Though I was tempted to, this tag is fun!

I am however tagging anyone who wants to do this! Anddd you have two different sets of questions to choose from! Both @crossroadsred and @sweatersonlambs brought their A game with these questions!

#words #tagged #personal