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iwishiwasbatman · 2 years

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Masked Love (Part 7)

Pairing- Jason Todd x OC; Dick Grayson x Platonic!Reader

Warnings- violence, bombs, guns

Summary- Trust is broken between teammates as Elana and Dick attempt to discover Crane’s next move, and Elana tries to clear up her relationship.

Word Count- 4,554

“Elana!” a hissing whisper came from the dark of my bedroom. I shot up initially, ready to defend myself, but relaxed when I recognized Jason creeping in through my window. I threw off the covers and sat up. “We need to talk.”

“Okay,” I nodded. Crap. He knew. “Let’s go to the kitchen.” I threw on one of my sweatshirts and led him into the kitchen.

“Did I wake you up?” he asked.

“No, I couldn’t sleep,” I shook my head. I sat down on a kitchen stool and he leaned up against the counter with a conflicted look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“You didn’t tell me that Crane sent Lady Vic after you? Or dosed you with a form of fear toxin?” he asked, clearly annoyed. I sighed and looked down. “Why didn’t you say anything? You can always come talk to me.”

“I know,” I groaned. “I was just trying to figure things out on my own.”

“You don’t need to do that. I’m here to help you. Do you not trust me or something?”

“No, it’s not that at all. I trust you completely, I just- I don’t know. I thought

you didn’t need to worry about,” I said.

“Elana, you do this a lot. I don’t know if it’s in your head from the League that you don’t need help ever, but that’s not true.” I pursed my lips. “God, Elana. You could’ve been killed.”

“You really think that blonde idiot could’ve killed me?” I scoffed.

“If not her, than the toxin. When you had your nightmare, it wasn’t actually a nightmare, was it? What did you see?”

“Nothing,” I lied.

“Elana, listen,” he sat down next to me. “I’m trying to help you. Just tell me so that I can help.”

I sighed. “Good moments and bad moments from my entire life. My time with the League, coming home, meeting you, joining the Titans, my parents deaths, us breaking up. I could barely watch it,” my voice got small.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of about that. You watched some of the worst moments in your life replay in front of you. Most people wouldn’t be able to handle that. And you said it wasn’t all bad,” he offered a smile. “Next time, you gotta tell me, though.”

“Yeah,” I said softly. A grin spread across my face. “How was Lady Vic after her encounter with me?”

Jason laughed before responding. “Limping, bloody, bruised. It was a fairly interesting sight.” I chuckled.

“I did warn her,” I said.

“Yeah, after that, she hightailed it out of the city. You scared her off.”

“Good.” We sat there in silence, looking everywhere but each other until I finally looked over at him.

“Well, since that’s cleared up, I should let you get some sleep. You need it.”

“I feel like that was a secret message that I look tired,” I laughed.

“Hey, even tired, you still look beautiful,” he smiled.

“Aw, Jay, how romantic of you,” I snickered.

“Yeah? Don’t let it get out,” he stood up. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me gently.

“Are you staying?” I asked after we broke the kiss.

“I wish, but I’ve got places to be,” he sighed.

“You do remember my offer about the Bahamas, right?” I put on a fake serious face.

“Maybe when all of this is over I’ll take you to the Bahamas,” he laughed.

“Fine,” I sighed dramatically. “I guess than you have to make this business stuff quick.”

“I guess,” he smiled.

“I’ll see you later, then?”

He planted a quick kiss on my lips. “You know it. I’ll be painfully waiting to see you again,” he said dramatically.

“I’ll miss you,” I laughed.

“I’ll miss you more,” he said, climbing out the window. I shook my head with a smile on my face and headed back into my bedroom.

—————————

I was woken up to the sound of a ringing phone. I groaned and answered the call, not even bothering to look at the caller ID.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Crane and Jason’s drug hit the streets and attacks are skyrocketing,” Dick’s voice came through.

“Yeah and?”

“Since when do I need to spell it out for you?” Dick scoffed.

“Since you woke me up,” I shot.

“You were asleep?” he sounded surprised.

“Why do you say it like that?”

“You don’t sleep. I’m impressed you actually did. Now get to the Cave. We have work to do.” He hung up on me. I groaned and put my phone down. I hate Dick.

“Drug’s been out for two hours. Crane and Red Hood were only doing a trial run,” Dick sighed. I sat on one of the tables, listening closely and watching the disturbing footage on the monitor.

“Crane is weaponizing anyone willing to take his drug,” Kory said. “It’s turning people into violent psychopaths.”

“That’s what he did with Jason,” Gar spoke up.

“Thank you,” I nodded.

“Jason’s gone. He’s Red Hood now. It’s time we all except what he is,” Dick looked at Gar, then focused his gaze on me. I knew what he said wasn’t true and honestly, I thought Gar was right. “Now Crane has the multiplier and is using it to produce his drug.” Gar looked over at me and I shook my head.

“This was the damage after three inhalers,” Kory said.

“Imagine what happens with thirty thousand,” I scoffed.

“Gotham‘ll tear itself apart,” Gar said.

“Did you do the scans on the machine yet?” Dick asked Gar.

“I tried to trace the multiplier’s heat and power signatures, but so far nothing. It’s like he’s hidden it.”

“Keep looking,” Dick said. He began to walk away, but I stopped him.

“Where are you going?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“There’s another computer at the GCPD, does this sort of thing,” he looked at me with a ‘I hate to say this but I will’ look. And I knew what he meant. My mouth dropped open in surprise. “Better hardware.”

“Why haven’t we been using it?” Kory asked.

“Because it’s illegal,” I sighed. I got up and followed after him out of the Cave.

—————————

Dick and I walked up to Babs who was talking with an officer. Right as we got it her, the officer walked away.

“Hey,” she greeted. Dick echoed her. “Any luck?” she asked. We began walking toward her office.

“That SBM machine Crane stole is part of a city-wide ramp up. He’s in production,” Dick said.

“So is that hundreds or dozens of doses?” Barbara asked.

“Thousands,” I smiled sarcastically. “On the streets by tonight.”

“Jeez,” Babs breathed.

“That machine has a searchable heat signature, but the Batcomputer can’t see it,” Dick said. “We need something that can see a little deeper.” Barbara knew exactly what he was referring to.

“No,” she said. “Don’t even ask.”

“Babs, look,” I started. “Oracle’s our only hope.”

“She’s right. Bruce couldn’t stop Scarecrow until he used Oracle,” Dick added.

“And then the NSA slapped an injunction on us and I don’t really feel like going to jail,” Barbara hissed.

“They’ll never know,” I said in a sing-sing voice.

“That sounds like something Bruce would say,” she sighed.

“If we don’t use it, more people are going to die,” Dick said. “We all know that.”

“I just promised myself I wouldn’t,” Babs looked down.

“You didn’t get rid of it, did you?” Dick asked. “Why not?”

“Because I imagined a moment in the future so terrible that we might need it,” she sighed.

“That moment? It’s here,” I said. She exhaled and began wheeling toward the elevator. We followed her down into the elevator and into a dark room. The Oracle room. A pad at the entrance scanned her eyes and a automatic voice spoke up.

“Access verified,” it said. “Gordon, Barbara.” A huge eye-looking thing, Oracle, lit up multicolored in front of us, turning on all the other lights, too. “You have company,” Oracle said. “Identification requested.” A scan moved over me and Dick in the blink of an eye. “Identify. Grayson, Richard John. Queen-Lance, Dinah Elana Moira,” Oracle recited.

“I hate my name,” I mumbled.

“Hello, Dick and Elana,” Oracle greeted.

“Hello, Oracle,” Dick said.

“Sup,” I added.

“My condolences for the loss of Mr. Todd, and Mr. Hall, and Mr. Wayne’s sudden departure.”

“I see you’ve updated your data systems,” Dick sighed.

“As is my program upon activation,” Oracle said.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Barbara and Dick turned to me with alarmed looks. “If you know everything, did Liam Nells break up with Blaine Hall?”

“Really?” Babs asked.

“What’s wrong with you?” Dick scoffed.

“What? I need to know and they both kinda disappeared,” I shrugged.

“Liam Nells has currently dropped out of college and broken up with Blaine Hall,” Oracle answered me.

“Ha, suck it,” I snickered.

“Okay, back on topic,” Dick said.

“Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Grayson?” Oracle asked.

“The three of you like some time alone?” Babs asked.

“Command search, Dr. Jonathan Crane,” Dick ordered, answering her question.

“Of course, one moment,” Oracle said. It turned blue. “Public communication, negative. Would you like to search private communications?” Dick said yes at the same time Babs said no. I snickered. “Invalid answer.”

“Yeah,” Babs mumbled.

“Yes,” I said.

“Of course, one moment.” A second later, a jumble voices came through the speakers. There were arguments, curses, and everything else you could have a conversation about. In the mess of noise, I was able to pick out Crane’s voice.

“That’s Crane,” Barbara said.

“Good. 6328 Bolingjer Avenue. I’ll be there in six minutes,” Crane said.

“On my way,” the other man said. Dick began to walk away.

“Dick, wait,” Babs tried.

“I’ll tell you what I find,” Dick said. Babs looked at me and I shrugged, hurrying after Dick. We got in the elevator and as the door closed, Dick called Conner to meet us at the address. He hung up the phone and looked over at me. “Let’s end this.” I nodded.

—————————

Dick and I pulled up to the address that Crane was supposed to be at and found a red van. Conner sped up near to us only seconds later.

“Crane?” he asked.

“Maybe,” Dick said. “Can you scan it?” Conner stepped forward, using his X-ray vision to look into the van.

“It’s covered in lead. I can’t see through,” he said.

“That’s not ominous at all,” I mumbled. “All right boys, knuckle up. You two take sides, I got head on.” I began walking toward the van. We snuck toward the car and whipped the door open to find a man with duck tape over his mouth. Next to him on the wall was written ‘Save me Dick Grayson’.

“He knew we were coming,” Dick breathed.

“Because why can’t anything ever be easy?” I threw my hands up. Dick got into the van next to the man and pulled back his jacket. There was a bomb strapped to the man’s chest. The same type of bomb Hank had on his.

“Oh, crap,” he mumbled. “You’re gonna be okay,” he tried to reassure the man. I got Hank flashbacks and had to shake my head to refocus. “Defuse it,” Dick said to Conner. Conner looked at it with his X-ray vision. “Conner?”

“It’s been modified,” Conner said. “I can’t defuse it. You two gotta go.”

“What?” Dick asked. I looked at the man with sympathy.

“Conner, we can’t leave him,” I said.

“There’s no time,” Conner insisted. The man tried to talk through the tape, but couldn’t.

“What are you talking about?” Dick asked.

“There’s no time!” Conner shouted. Out of no where, Conner threw Dick backwards. Before I could process, I was thrown back, too. The van exploded right as I rolled out of the way. I looked into the fire for Conner, but he was alright. The other guy, not so much. Jason would hear about this later.

“That van was a trap,” Conner walked through the fire, toward us. “Who gave you this address?”

“Someone I should’ve known better than to trust,” Dick sighed.

“Got that right,” I mumbled. Dick pulled out his phone and called Barbara.

“Crane is in Oracle,” he said. “He tried to kill us. It was a setup. I don’t know how he got in.”

“But he got in,” I said into the phone. “We can use this.”

“You could’ve died!” Babs exclaimed.

“Yeah, but we didn’t,” I pointed out.

“We’ll talk about it more in person. We’re on our way,” Dick said, then hung up.

“Thanks Conner,” I said to him before following after Dick who had began to walk back to the car. Once we were in, I tried to text Jason to yell at him. He didn’t respond.

“Who are you texting?” Dick asked.

“An old friend,” I lied. “From Star City.”

“That’s weird timing,” he said.

“Yeah,” I nodded. He looked at me weirdly, but put his eyes back up front and started the car.

—————————

Dick, Barbara, and I sat in the Oracle room, staring at the now inoperable computer.

“It’s completely inaccessible?” Dick asked.

“Yeah,” Babs said. “To us and to Crane. He hacked the system. He knew that we knew. So I decided that any attempt to manipulate this situation would be pointless.”

“We could’ve manipulated Crane using Oracle. It was right there in front of us, but you had it destroyed,” I sighed. “Why?”

“He tried to kill you!” Barbara exclaimed. “I was afraid that he might actually be successful next time.”

“We don’t need you to protect us,” Dick said. “Be stronger than that.”

“Excuse me?” Babs scoffed.

“Your fear of this machine cost us the one lead we had. If you can’t keep your emotions in check, you can’t help me,” Dick said.

“Emotions?” Barbara scoffed. “You are working with someone who let her emotions get out of check and might be endangering this entire operation.” Barbara looked directly at me.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“What does that mean?” Dick asked.

“Before I shut Oracle down, I did what you asked me to,” Babs said.

“What is she talking about, Dick?” I asked him. He looked down. “What?” I demanded.

“He had me check your phone to see who you have been constantly talking to,” Barbara told me.

“You bugged my phone?!” I shouted. My heart skipped a beat.

“Why have you been talking to Jason?” Babs asked. Dick’s head snapped toward me.

“What?!” Dick exclaimed.

“That is none of your business,” I hissed.

“It very well is. We are going up against him and you’ve still been talking to him. Since when?” Dick demanded.

“Since before Hank,” I said. Dick laughed scornfully and ran a hand through his hair.

“Are you nuts?!”

“How was I supposed to know?!”

“And you kept talking to him after?!”

“I haven’t told him anything at all. We only talk about us. The only reason I was able to turn myself around from the League assassin I was, was because I had someone who believed in me. I’m trying to give that to Jason. I’m trying to get him back. Better a friend than an enemy,” I said. “Which, I guess, is what you’re trying to make me now.” I got right in his face. “All I’m trying to do is help. So stay out of my business before I keep you out of my business.” I spun on my heel and headed to the door.

“Hey! You don’t get to walk away in the middle of a conversation!” Dick called after me.

“That conversation was over when I walked away.” Both him and Babs called after me, but I ignored them and stepped in the elevator.

—————————

A knock at the door of my apartment made me groan. “Go away, Dick!” I shouted.

“It’s not Dick. It’s Gar,” they shouted back.

“Come in, it’s open,” I called. The door opened and he walked in. “Hey,” I greeted.

“Hey,” he sighed. “You good? Dick said that you’ve been…” he trailed off.

“Talking to Jason? Yeah, I have,” I nodded. “I assume he didn’t tell you how he figured that out?” Gar shook his head. “He bugged my phone using an illegal computer.”

“I don’t get it,” Gar said. “You didn’t give him any information. You wouldn’t do that. Why is Dick so mad?”

“Because Dick’s a drama queen,” I snickered. “But I think you have the right idea about Crane manipulating Jason.”

“That’s what I’m here about.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Do you know a Molly Jenson?”

“Yeah, she was one of Jason’s friends from before Bruce took him in. She helps kids without homes,” I said.

“This is a letter from her saying that she wants to help Jason. It’s from not long before he died, and I thought maybe she could help us.”

“I say we try it,” I nodded. “She knew Jason before I did and he kinda disappeared on me for a while until three days before he died. If she had seen him, she could add something we haven’t figured out yet.”

“Yeah,” Gar said, though he looked like he was thinking about something else. “Today, at the van, you almost died. There’s no way Jason purposefully tried to kill you.”

“That’s what I was thinking. It would make sense if Crane was manipulating him. He used to freak out if he gave me a bruise in training,” I laughed to myself. “I doubt he would try to kill me. He knows that Dick and I usually do detective work together, so if he was going after Dick, he would do it differently. And he wouldn’t let Crane do anything that could hurt me. You should’ve heard the lecture I got this morning for not telling him about my encounter with Lady Vic.”

“You fought Lady Vic? Jason came here this morning?” Gar asked.

“Yes and yes,” I nodded. “Don’t tell Dick.”

“Got it,” Gar nodded. “We’re gonna bring him back.”

“That’s the spirit,” I smiled. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out.

“It’s from Dick. Says they found the location of Crane’s operations,” Gar told me.

“You go ahead. I’ll be there eventually whether Dick likes it or not,” I said. Gar nodded and headed out the door. I groaned and sat up. My phone started to ring and I checked who it was. It was Dick. I thought about not answering, but I decided he was probably calling to beg for my help.

“You have thirty seconds,” I answered.

“I need your help,” Dick sighed. “We found where Crane is operating out of. If we can stop him here, we can end this now.”

“Can you trust me enough to fight at my side?” I said with sass in my tone.

“Elana, I trust you with my life, I always will. I shouldn’t have asked Barbara to use Oracle on you. I’m sorry. You don’t have to forgive me, but the Titans need you now,” he pleaded.

“Where is it?” I sighed.

“Snowy Cones,” he answered.

“I’ll be there.” I hung up. I stared down at my phone I shook my head. “I should’ve said no,” I mumbled.

—————————

All of the Titans were hiding in the rafters of Snowy Cones, watching and waiting. I had brushed Dick off earlier while we were getting inside. Our plan was simple; ambush. It worked every time.

Dick dropped grappling hooks down into some of the guards and I shot arrows into the pipes, sending gas spewing out into the room. The guards yelled and moved around frantically. In the cover, we dropped out of the rafters.

“Over here, fellas,” Dick said. They all turned toward us.

“Shoot ‘em!” They all began shooting at us, so we separated. I went to the left toward four guys, who were still searching for someone to shoot at.

“Hey, boys,” I drawled. They all turned to me right as I launched myself at the closest guy. I landed a kick to his chest and then punched him in the throat. He was off balance, so I kicked him into his partner next to him. The other two guys began to shoot at me, so I had to pull the dazed guard I had just kicked off the ground and in front of me. I threw a dagger into the hand of one of me attackers, making him drop the gun and cry out in pain. I threw my still-dazed human shield at the other guy. I forced their heads down on the ground, knocking the three of them out.

The second guy I took out stood back up and tried to throw a punch at me, but I dodged it. I caught his fist and pulled him forward, slamming my head into his own. He stumbled back. I finished him with a kick to his head.

A large explosion made me look over to see Kory standing in front of the now-flaming machine. I smirked to myself. I ran up the catwalk where some guards stood. I came up from behind two of them and pushed them over the edge. The third guy turned his gun on me, but I was able to grab the barrel and throw it to the side. I kicked him in the stomach. Using the gun, I swung him into the bar of the walkway, then shoved him over.

I took off in a run down the catwalk when people from the ground started shooting up at me. I got toward the end metal walkway and saw a group of men waiting for me at the bottom.

“Huntress!” Dick called from below. He threw one of his escrima sticks up. I picked up my pace and jumped off. I flipped and caught the stick midair. I landed in the middle of the guards and spun in a circle, escrima stick out, hitting all the men. The fell to the ground, electrocuted. “Nice,” Dick walked up to me.

“Yes it was,” I said and handed him his weapon back, continuing to walk past him. He sighed in defeat. Joined by Kory and Gar, Dick, and I ran into the main room, but Crane and Jason were nowhere to be found.

“All clear,” Dick sighed. “Check the exits, they’re on the move.” I moved forward toward the chair in the corner of the room, Gar behind me. I noticed the duck tape on the chair arms and I furrowed my eyebrows. Gar looked at me with a questioning look and I shrugged, pointing to the tape.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find Jason,” Kory said.

Gar and I shared one more look before hurrying out.

—————————

I was sitting in my room at the Manor when a knock came from my door and Dick peeked his head in.

“Can we talk?” he asked. I set my glare on him. “Please?”

“Why should I?” I crossed my arms.

“I just want to explain myself.”

“If I don’t like it, I’m stopping you,” I sighed. He came in and sat on the bed next to me.

“I’m sorry, Elana. I realize that I shouldn’t have asked Barbara to do that. I get why you don’t want to talk to me. What I did was a huge violation of your privacy. I’d really prefer if you didn’t talk to Jason just because I don’t trust the influence Crane has over him, but I know better than to try to stop you.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, I was just worried about you.”

“Worried about me?” I asked.

“The way you were disappearing reminded me of the League of Assassins. I thought maybe you were somehow being manipulated by them again,” Dick explained.

“Well, it’s good to hear you care,” I smiled tightly.

“Can you forgive me?” Dick asked.

“I guess I’ve forgiven worse,” I sighed. “But, you gotta do two things for me. You owe me an entire case of Capri Suns.” Dick chuckled. “And you never again even consider betraying my trust.” Dick nodded.

“I can do that,” he said. “Now that that’s cleaned up, I’m supposed to tell you that everyone’s downstairs celebrating our small victory if you wanna come,” he offered.

“Sure,” I shrugged.

“Thank you,” he smiled.

“Always,” I returned it. We got up and I followed him downstairs.

“Hey, Elana,” Barbara greeted.

“Hey,” I gave a small smile.

“Look, about earlier-“

“It’s fine,” I cut her off. “Just don’t ever do it again.”

“I promise,” she nodded.

“Now that that’s over with,” Kory laughed.

The rest of the night, were all laughing and drinking. Well, I was drinking my eighth Lemonade Capri Sun because I was a responsible child who didn’t drink underage.

“One more?” Dick asked Babs.

“I think one’s my limit,” she answered. “I think so.”

“Okay,” Dick nodded.

“30,000 nebulizers destroyed tonight,” Conner said.

“This whole operation and dozens of Gotham’s mobsters in jail,” Blackfire added.

“And a few in the hospital thanks to Krypto,” I laughed. “Not a bad night.”

“It’ll be better when we bring down Crane and Jason,” Dick spoke up. “They’re on the run now. They’re getting sloppy. That’s when we win.” We all looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Good work,” he raised his drink to us.

“Cheers,” we all said.

“Congratulations. I’m gonna hit the road,” Babs said. “Back at it tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you out,” Dick said.

“Oh, I know the way. It’s okay. You kids have fun,” she smiled. Everyone said goodbye to her.

“Bye, Babs!” I called after her as she wheeled out. Dick waited a second, but then followed after her. I laughed and shook my head.

“This might sound insane, but I am dying for some ice cream,” Kory said.

“Did anyone think to grab some when we were at Snowy Cones?” Blackfire asked.

“Maybe doordash a couple of gallons of Rocky Road,” Kory suggested.

“I can beat doordash,” Conner said. He sped out.

“Thanks, Conner,” Kory said.

“Hey, Gar, could you come help me with the, uh, thing?” I asked. He looked at me in confusion, but then realized.

“Oh, the thing. Yes,” he nodded. “See you guys.” I grabbed his arm and led him out of the room.

“I got Molly’s home address,” I said once we were out of earshot from everyone else. “Figured we should go now because it’s past midnight and she might be gone in the morning.”

“You want us to go knock on her door at three in the morning?” Gar asked.

“Yep,” I popped the “p”. I led him to the car and we hit the road.

—————————

We walked into the East End apartment complex and down to the end of the hall. I looked at Gar and gestured to the door to Molly’s apartment. He gave me a look, but knocked on the door. He looked back at me when she didn’t answer and I shrugged. He knocked again. The door opened slightly and a gun pointed out at us.

“It’s 3am. Who the heck are you?” Molly, I assumed, demanded.

“Hi, um, Molly? I’m Gar Logan,” Gar started. “You might know me from the Titans.”

“You wrote this letter to Jason Todd saying you wanted to help him,” I took over. “So do we. My name’s Elana Queen. Jason was my-“ I stopped myself. “He was my friend.” The gun was pulled back inside and the door was opened.

“I know who you are,” she said. “Come in.” Gar and I looked at each other with a knowing glance and walked in.

#batfam #batman #dick grayson #jason todd #hawk and dove #jason todd x oc #red hood #titans dc #barbara gordon #beast boy #gotham #starfire #superboy #red hood x oc #scarecrow #oracle

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silverlulus · 3 months

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Hola and welcome!

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I thought it be about time to do about me /info post incase anyone is intrigued ✨

First off is about me -

I draw, have been since I was 10, started with traditional, I do digital work mainly now though, I use clip Studio and wacom tablet.

I do tend to use a lot of references because I struggle and more so with carpal tunnel at this current time.

But I make sure to remember to given credit or what was used, if it's missing please do not be afraid to let me know!🌟

- I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to 80's stuff, mainly will notice as I collect G1 mlp stuff, and I just love the general vibe of 80's.

- I draw safe and non safe work

- adore puzzleshipping and few other ships in ygo

-sucker for mer aus

- I own a fair amount of ocs, but main one is Elana

There are other things but will leave it for now or feel free to ask ~

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Now onto the "think before you post" to me

- I do not tolerate harassment

- I do not accept criticism on any of my works

- I no longer do "fictional vs reality" wars, it's a waist of time and air and is not a real world problem, I have been attacked and dumped over this "monkey see monkey do" tripe and I'm burnt out with it all.

Any attempt to try will be ignored and blocked.

- I do not tolerate witch hunts over a simple matter.

-i try to stay clear of certain dramas due to my depression and anxiety.

- my rq are closed

- I do not talk much about the current situation with A/I, so please don't expect much out of me with this, I muck around with the tool now and again or put human touches on it, but I still do original art as I have done for so long despite using bases on a rare occasion or screenshots edits for past examples.

- if you are here to just look for trouble then leave, you won't find anything here, the older I get, the more tired I become with people who refuse to look at themselves first.

- any attempts to police my account will be blocked and reported (there is no reason to do this, I ain't killed ye dog, so chill)

-video edits / meme edits I do are not free use

-if you have a problem you wish to talk about is please dm me straight away, don't leave it for months on end or make a unnecessary scene out of it.

It's better to talk first, and if things don't work out is block and carry on.

-I no longer join groups at the moment, this is due being attacked and being lied to with "it's a safe zone" so my trust issues are in space for now, so please don't invite me to any groups unless I say otherwise.

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That's about it for now, I'll update if things change and so forth, but again, hope this helps! ❤️

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missmvrder · 6 months

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@autumnwritcs - elena & zeus

This had been a nightmare, nothing short of it. Elena would wake up from it, Mila would be healthy and her secret only buried deeper. Except that it was all real, her worst fear coming true right before her eyes. She had lost Zeus years ago, Elena knew that but she had lost him because she had left. Now she was losing him all over because of herself, her actions, what she had done. Who she was, the worst person he knew. As for Mila, this could be the beginning of Elena loosing her entirely and she wouldn't blame her. The little girl was barely awake when she had seen her mother enter the room with Zeus and yet, she had known who he was right away. How could she not, they looked so alike.

Elena was exhausted but somewhat relieved. Her life had been turned upside down since the hospital, but Mila was home and getting better. Meningitis. It could have been fatal, the infection coming on so quickly they were lucky to have gone to the ER so soon. Now there was a whole new mess to figure out, one created by herself entirely. She had been fretting all day, incredibly nervous to have Zeus come to her place. It was the first time a man would ever set foot in it, one that wasn't there for rent or repairs. The place was small but it was enough for them and it had a small yard, which Mila could play in and Elana have a garden.

"She's sleeping," Elena said as she went ahead of Zeus and opened the door before he could knock. "She's better but still tires quickly. She'll be very happy to see you when she wakes up." There had been so many questions about Zeus and request to see him, to spend time with him that Elena had been almost thankful the little girl was not at her best, otherwise Elena would not have been able to contain any of it. "Your lawyer called a few times, I hope everything I sent over was okay?" There had been no opposition coming from Elena and she was trying to help was much as possible while dealing with a sick child. It probably helped that his name was on the birth certificate, even if he hadn't know about it. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?"

#━━ ✦ 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐀 #━━ ✦ 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐀 & 𝐙𝐄𝐔𝐒 #autumnwritcs

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sardonicnihilism · 2 years

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Missing

By Me

Chapter 4

The car ride back to Hector's was a quiet, miserable experience, thick with an oppressive tension that crushed any willingness or need to reach out to the other. Grief, anger, bitterness, fear all swirling together in a toxic, soul killing poison. It simultaneously kept them apart yet refused to let them separate. Even when they pulled up to his house, they both just sat there, unable to move, unable to talk.

Elana eventually reached for the door when Hector spoke. "You should have told me," he said in a quiet, angry, accusatory voice. "I should have been there. Kids need fathers, too."

Elana slowly turned to him with contempt radiating out of every pore in her body. "Yes, you should have been. So why weren't you?"

Hector snapped his head around, ready to unleash all his pain upon his ex. "Because you wouldn't allow me to! You shut me out, kept me away from my daughter! It wasn't enough for you to hate me, but you had to make sure she did as well!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Elana fired back, ready for battle, needing to do battle, "was I shutting you out when you were laying in the bars? Or going to bed with any two bit punta you could pick up? I never knew if or when you were coming home on Friday or Saturday nights. That's why I stopped making dinner for you. I was tired of seeing it grow cold and having to throw it out!"

"I was working all the time! Two, three jobs sometimes! Paying for our house, your schooling, our kid, our familia! I would work and work and work, and then I'd come home to you, my wife, and you would shut me out! A man has needs! He needs release! You weren't available!"

"I wasn't avaliable?! I wasn't? You ever think I was tired, too? I was going to school, cleaning the house, cooking the meals, looking after Lucia, and working a part-time job as well! You ever think maybe I needed 'release'? I wanted, I begged you to just stay with me. Hold my hand, do the dishes, let me rest un poco minuto, but all you wanted was me to lay down under you. I was your maid, mother, and whore, but never your partner, never your wife."

"And what was I, Elana? A paycheck, a security guard? What role did I have in your world? I wanted to hold your hand. I also wanted you to hold mine."

"The only thing you wanted me to hold was your cock," she said in a low, broken voice.

"I only wanted you to love me," he replied quietly, leaning against the car seat.

"Then why did you leave?" Elana asked with a cold fury.

"You divorced me, remember?"

"Hector, you left us long before I ever filled," Elana said with quiet resignation. She was spent too drained to continue this endless back and forth of blame and anger. She opened up the door, got out, went to her car, and drove off.

Hector just sat in anger, rage, despair, shame, regret, and a thousand other emotions whirling and slamming against his brain and heart. Eventually, he forced his way out and into his house. As soon as he entered, he looked all around his living room. Everything was so neat and tidy. Nothing was out of place. It was the home of a self-made man, a man who crawled from the lowest lows to achieve success. This was his home, his story, his testimony.

A primal scream slowly built in his stomach, rushed up his throat, and erupted from his mouth. He grabbed a coat rack and threw it as hard as he could at no place in particular. He rushed around, knocking books from shelves, pictures, and nick nacks, any and everything he could get his hands on, he sent flying or down to the ground. He tossed over chairs and flipped tables. He tore a clock off his wall and punched a mirror, which caused glass to explode everywhere, lacerating his face and hand. Blood poured from the wounds as he collapsed to the floor on all fours.

He panted like a mongrel, lolling his head back and forth, reduced to the most base and animalistic level. Then, something caught his eye, and he was snapped back to sentience. It was a picture, now broken and torn, of him, Elana, and Lucia when she was about 2 years old. They looked so happy, so much like a family. He reached out and picked it up, his blood staining it further. He started to both laugh and cry at the same time.

He rolled over on his back, shards of glass stabbing him in the back, but he was indifferent to them. To the night, to the sky, to the universe, God, Karma, ancestors, anyone, or thing that might be listening and take pity on him, he screamed, "LUCIA! LUCIA! LUCIA!"

**********************************************

Elana walked into her house and was greeted by a deafening silence. The house just didn't seem to be empty but was an engulfing, negative space. She didn't so much walk in it as she was sucked through a cosmic sea of nothingness by an invisible black hole.

As though pulled by some perverse hand, she found herself in Lucia's room. She sat on her daughter's bed, looking out at the night sky. The room and the outside world seemed to exist in parallel dimensions, side by side, neither touching or affecting the other. This was her world now, a world apart, separate, a world of silence and darkness. It was a world without Lucia.

Elana broke down, weeping in the way only those who have experienced the most profound of loss could recognize or understand. When it was done, she would play the blame game, ask herself the tough questions, rip herself apart upon the hooks of guilt, but for now, all she could do was cry.

#fiction #dark #cosmic horror #lovecraftian #drama

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mitiyou · 4 years

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Rundown of the Blackout Crew- The (self-proclaimed) best thieves in the galaxy:

The Engineer- Hira Tunari: A pink Twi’lek who is the most energetic and fiery member of the crew, who clawed her way up from nothing into a brilliant engineer. Who debates on killing them every single time someone manages to destroy something on her ship, Spitfire. She also has a small repair droid unit, nicknamed Temo (T3-M0), that is basically her child.

The Pilot- Ja’ek “Trip” Kiret: A Togruta that is almost as calm eating dinner as he is piloting through an asteroid field. Is generally straight-faced but will goad the other more chaotic members into doing stupid things for the fun of it. Slowly becoming as chaotic as the others, and it might have something to do with being friends with Kalei for way too long.

The Leader- Kalei Shara: Constantly tired, and constantly on edge, Kalei is the brute force as well as the leader on missions. She’s impulsive and quick-witted, but after so many years of working in the underground she’s built up a reputation for herself as one of the best in the business. She wants to keep it that way.

The Strategist- Elana Taro: Is she constantly coming up with new plans? Yes. Will anyone ever follow them correctly? No. She’s the only voice of reason in the entire team, (Trip almost counts, but he likes the drama) and is usually the one forced to clean up their messes. And even though no one ever follow her plans “exactly”, none of them ever say they aren’t ingenious.

The Sniper- Darin Caia: Of all the people you expected to be a deadly sniper, the man who laughed for at least five minutes after he saw Elana walk face first into a door, was the least likely candidate. He’s cheerful and relaxed and he can and will put a bullet into whatever threatens any of the other members. Stays far far away from Temo (he isn’t on great terms with them since he kicked them across the ship “accidentally”).

The Spy- Miri Wren: The newest member of the squad, who was picked after managing to pickpocket Kalei without her knowledge. She’s kind, almost too kind for this kind of business, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t good at being undetectable during missions. From low-level thief to big-time criminal Miri is in way over her head and loving every minute.

#welcome to the heist boys who motto is: something will go wrong so why not just to it yourself?#heist boys #elana is so so tired #star wars #star wars ocs #my writing #miti’s ocs #blackout #the blackout crew #ocs #my ocs

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uppastthejelliclemoon · 3 years

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Uppast's Cats Tour Comments: Act 1

note: i'm referring to the cats by their show names, however I may use the actor's name for a specific comment!

Overture

They did this SO well! I definitely missed seeing the cast in the aisles, but they projected the green eyes onto the stage, and it was the perfect amount of creepy/weird/hypnotizing.

I absolutely love the lights slowly being raised while shining all the spotlights, it sets the vibe PERFECTLY

also saying this now: the orchestra was incredible!

Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats

right off the bat, we’ve a super sweet Demestrap moment, with Munkustrap checking on Demeter after the car! It was adorable!

Devon's voice is SO good for Munkustrap, also the man is TALL OH MY GOD

Tugger didn't get his "can you say of your bite that it's worse than your bark" line, which I was a little disappointed about. However, Zach as Bill Bailey is absolutely 10/10.

Brianna… the babiest Sillabub… so precious... so small...

There were some Victor and Gus moments, with them either standing near each other or sharing looks/touches, so if anyone ships them, y'all got your rarepair moment!

THE BOOT WAS SO LOUD LMAO

They use the set so well!

The Naming of Cats

creepy, wonderful, everything I want from this number

A handful of the cats got right to the edge of the stage where the lighting was, so they were all glowing, and it was the BEST vibe.

Taylor was staring into my soul during the last verse so now I can say I've been vibe-checked by Coricopat.

Invitation to the Jellicle Ball

Hyla is the PERFECT Victoria!!!!! She's so incredibly graceful, she had the sweetest expression on her face, and ugh it was flawless.

Paul is also just an amazing Mistoffelees.

Munkustrap had literally the sweetest moment with Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer and I almost started crying. Right before Jennyanydots' song, when everyone's getting into place, Mungo and Rumple immediately went to Munkustrap and were cuddling his legs, and he gave them pets, and just oh my god T_T

Gumbie Cat

OKAY SO I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THE KITTEN SQUAD SO MUCH MY HEART

When everyone's setting up for Jennyanydots' song, after the nuzzles, the lights start to switch, and the kitten squad was trying to catch the lights on the ground while Munkustrap was looking at them with the fondest expression and i swear i cried a little bit over how cute they were.

SKIMBLE LOVES HIS WIFE SO MUCH AND WAS HELPING HER GET THE KITTENS INTO THEIR MICE COSTUMES

Plato, Alonzo, and Mungojerrie were great cockroaches, 10/10

The Gumbie Trio was so good! Their voices sounded amazing together, and they were all just having so much fun!

SO MUCH MAMA JELLY AND SON TUMBLE I FEEL SO HAPPY

I'm going to go more in-depth in my Kitten Squad post!

Rum Tum Tugger

The way Zach said "Who will it be?" was absolutely amazing, i loved it, 10/10 character introduction.

Jennyanydots stomped off when he interrupted her accolades, she was very upset.

Zach and Devon nailed Tugger and Munkustrap's sibling dynamic PERFECTLY, Devon was the best Tired Older Brother Munkus.

Yeah, this number pretty much confirmed Zach as my favorite Tugger.

Mistoffelees and Cassandra did some lounging together in the background on the car.

Chelsea's Bomba is absolutely *chef's kiss*, I adore her

Obviously Tugger and Mistoffelees did their little dance, and it was wonderful. I'm not sure if other shows had Mistoffelees do this, but he went between Tugger's legs at the end of his little solo and Tugger was just vibing.

MY FAVORITE MOMENT THOUGH had to be near the end of the song, Munkustrap was 100% getting into it, and Tugger went over to him and was teasing him, poking him, and it was the cutest brother interaction.

They did have the camera! Zach did some very Tugger poses, and it was great.

Grizabella the Glamour Cat

haha Tugger went to hide behind the metal bars on the furthest side of the stage away from Grizabella, I'm in ✨pain✨

Sillabub goes to touch Grizabella, Grandpa Skimble pulls her back and starts scolding her, I want to hug the baby.

No, but I did really love that moment. It's off to the side, but you can see him giving her a talking to, and she's trying to say something back, but he's very firm.

Mungojerrie egged George on to scratch Grizabella, George sweetie don't be mean.

Taylor has such a perfect voice for Grizabella, and I loved her look!

OKAY SO LAUREN AND CHELSEA'S VOICES

Lauren's voice is so smooth and suave, and Chelsea's voice has a little growl that almost made me pass out, like ma'am i'm in love? But their voices mixed together, as well as how slightly different they are was such a great choice, and I kind of hope that other future productions take note and have two actresses with vastly different vocals for Demeter and Bombalurina.

Bustopher Jones

Mistoffelees and Victoria go to great Bustopher together and it was the cutest thing, they were so excited to see him!

Munkustrap immediately grabbing Mungo and Rumple by the necks and steering the gremlins away from the Very Important Cat.

Tugger was keeping watch so Munkustrap could be silly with everyone else during Bustopher's number, and that's not something I'm forgetting. Usually, obviously, Munkustrap's sort of in the background, standing, watching, and not really interacting. But Tugger switched places, and was up on the scaffolding watching, and it was CUTE!

My Tuggandra crumbs, thank you Zach and Lexy, I'm indebted to you both.

Tugger literally was just lounging on the car during the end of Bustopher's song, just waving his arms around, and I love him.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer

Elana (Teazer for this show) had the PERFECT Rumple giggle!

They're so silly, I love them

They made the best facial expressions, especially when Mungo "stole" Rumple's pearls.

Very dramatic gremlin twins, jumping all over the place, not caring about anything!

They were so confident at the end of their song when they went to walk off, and immediately went into "oh shit" mode when Munkus, Plato, and Alonzo came out.

Run through the legs of Munkus! See Munkus, this is why you need to not stand with your legs apart when you're attempting to control kittens.

Old Deuteronomy

Saying it again, Devon and Zach are SUCH a good Munkustrap and Tugger.

The babies were so excited to see Old Deut! They could barely contain themselves, and then got cuddles! (Also Tanto was with the kittens and i love that for her, let her be a kitten!! I definitely got "big brother Cori/little sister Tanto" vibes)

Everyone's getting Deut nuzzles!!

Tugger did a VERY dramatic shimmy at his dad, and Deut laughed, and I cried.

Tugger and Munkustrap standing on either side of their dad!!!! He's so proud of them!!

Jellicle Ball

Sillabub was hiding on top of the oven before the Ball, sweet baby T_T

George got to sing with Old Deut!! Happy boy!!

TUMBLE FLIPS TUMBLE FLIPS TUMBLE FLIPS

Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks being the Supervisors!!

There was a really sweet Jellylorum and Alonzo moment (def going to talk more about it in the Alonzo post), but my "Jellylorum is Alonzo, Tumble, and Pounce's Mom" hc is feeling SO VALIDATED TONIGHT

I've said this so many times, but I adore that Plato and Victoria get their own little solo before their Big Solo. It's so sweet, and Hyla and Adam have wonderful chemistry!

Tugger chases Bomba offstage before The Moment, and I love that for them

CUDDLE PILE!!!

Munkustrap and Demeter cuddled together in the corner away from the pile and I want to sob because they were just so sweet, her head was on his shoulder, and he was holding her, and literally everyone in this show has such good chemistry with each other.

Tugger looks up with the psychic twins during Grizabella's reveal, once again making me think that Tugger and Munkustrap have magic like their brother.

OH AND TUGGER DID THE STUPIDEST LITTLE DANCE WHERE HE WAS SHAKING HIS BUTT AND HAVING FUN AND MUNGOJERRIE LAUGHED AT HIM AND THEY HAD A MOMENT AND IT WAS GREAT

Memory

ouch ouch ouch

Jennyanydots blocks the stairs up to Deut's tire so Grizabella can't go to Deut, my heart

steering the babies away from Grizabella even though Silla wants to give her a hug.

Taylor you hurt me in the best way possible

I always get emotional over Grizabella's dance before her song, it's such a telling moment, but unfortunately I don't think everyone understands that it's supposed to be a serious moment and not funny.

Deut sits on his tire the entire song and it's HEARTBREAKING

At the very end, Grizabella does the reaching back, and Deut reaches forward, and if you're sitting in the right spot it looks like they're touching and i'm NOT OKAY

#cats the musical #cats us tour 6 #uppast's cats tour comments

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melodyofthevoid · 2 years

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8 with Siren (*winks in "asking for lore*)

"I'm never going back"

Loathe as Elana was to admit it, the dingy bar on the far side of the city made for a welcome place. Almost a home, though calling it that meant giving it meaning, importance.

A luxury she’d lost some time ago.

Any sentimentality aside it provided steady enough income to get back on her feet, one gig becoming a regular appearance, which became a lifestyle of going into the main city for deeper pockets. No matter where she’d wander to fleece more money from the wallets of those who could afford to give it, she always returned though.

The company made it that much easier.

Here, she could bitch and complain about the “oh so perfect hero” without suspicion or doubt, even sometimes getting a hearty cheer from someone who’d been on the wrong end of a fight once or twice.

Never in a villain capacity of course. Those people never really came out the other side the same, if at all. She was no exception. If there were a quality about Atlas that she, at gunpoint, could say she admired, it was his thoroughness. Still, fuck him though.

Not wanting to rally a riot tonight, Elana kept the songs quiet and lower key, too tired to feel anything other than a cold bitter acid in the back of her throat whenever the bartender flicked the channel and his face flashed by for only a second. The night dragged on and she wrapped up for the evening, muttering a soft farewell into the mic before spotting a familiar face by the bar. Simon. Not a friend by any means, she wasn't in the market for those. But a dependable acquaintance.

That she could take.

"Simon, how're you? Glad you made it eventually, was thinking I'd have to get someone else to pick up my tab for the night."

The older man rolled his eyes, gesturing to the bartender who simply nodded and went to prepare a mug of warm water and lemon.

"Because you rack up one doozy of a check with all that water huh? Right. But hey, where else would I go? This is the only decent entertainment for miles."

Ever the comedian, huh? Like an uncle at a family reunion. She laughed, shaking her head at his ribbing.

"And here I thought you stuck around because of my delightful company. I'm hurt."

“Well that too, that too. But I do mean it. You’ve got a hell of a voice, you could probably make it if you really wanted to, Siren.”

“Hah- there’s nothing for me there. Not really.”

Despite the confidence in her answer, she shrunk away as Simon examined her, searching for… something. Well, searching Siren for something, which reminded her, she’d need a more effective mask in the future. There were no guarantees that he’d have forgotten her face so easily. A power could be common, the use of tricks and machinery in some cases. Better safe than erased.

Again.

“You sure? Fuck, you could be a hero if you really put your mind to it-“

“I’m never. Going. Back.”

“Okay then… well it was a good show tonight. Need some fresh air after that?”

“Couldn’t hurt, it’s a nice night and I’ve made my fill for the night. Quinn can call me if they want more.”

The side alley wasn’t exactly the most pristine spot for some relaxation, but Elana didn’t mind all that much. Worst came to worst, the knife hidden at her side would come to good use.

Simon pulled out a pack from his pocket, holding it out in offering.

“Care for one?”

“Ah,” Elana swallowed, “No- no thank you. I’ve had my fill of smoke.”

He shrugged.

“Suit yourself.”

Sparks lit the corners of Elana’s periphery, and the air was gone, all was fire and ash and he couldn’t know she was still there, still alive, don’t speak, don’t cry, don’t move- don’t-

Simon flicked the lighter closed.

“If it bothered you that much you could’ve said something. I won’t ask, we’ve all got something down here.”

Oxygen filled her lungs and Elana buried her face in her hands. The rough texture of the brick as she slumped back, pulled at the scars along her skin even through her jacket, real, if somewhat painful. She’d need to tamp down on this if she ever hoped to actually facing him again. Simon went to lift a hand to place on her back, but she shook her head, heaving the last dregs of panic out of her system, nerves still on high alert.

“Y-yeah? Well- excuse me for not being around fire enough to know that’s my reaction. Fuck. Guess I'll need to work on that, for later. Christ. Well, mark that down on the long list of shit I'm going to kick his ass for."

"You know that you've got our support. Just don't do anything too stupid."

Well, given that her current plan involved forming an entire supervillain persona? Might be a touch on the stupid side. But she had nothing up in the city because it was taken. And she'd make them remember.

#melody rambles #my writing #not my best but hey #I'm getting used to doing more than just doing animatics in my head of them #fjkdfsk

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baubeautyandthegeek · 2 years

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Here And Now (All She Needs Is You) - Elana Barth/Elizabeth Donnelly

Warnings: Mentions a Gunshot Wound Summary: Set post Surrendering Noah. A lot of fluffy feelings and Donelly being soft for once. Written for part of @sweetprentiss ‘s Spring Has Sprung Celebration Bingo.

It’s quiet when Elana settles into Elizabeth’s bed, quiet and clearly considering her answer to what Elizabeth has asked. Wanting Elizabeth to stay isn’t a good enough reason for Elana to ask her to stay when the woman has a full day in court. She wants her to stay though, the shooting has left her tired and fragile… but she’s still not sure she’s brave enough to ask. “I’ll be fine, just go…” She means the words, even as she curls herself deeper into the sheets and soft pillows, thankful the wound is healing even if it hurts enough she can hardly sleep. She survived, it’s more than some people managed. Johnny D’s death is a small comfort. Elizabeth, however, looking down at the smaller woman, how tiny and delicate she seems, sighs. She can’t just leave her, even if she knows she should. Elana’s sea-colored eyes are full of exhaustion and the way her soft copper hair is mussed and tangled shows she isn’t doing so well. “No… they’ll have to put them off, or Lena can take the cases. I’m staying.” She moves away before Elana can complain, not seeing the small if reluctant smile that crosses Elana’s lips. It’s easy to put off several less significant cases onto family court and other courts, the rest are added to Lena’s load, Lena having had a light day before she called in. Elizabeth is quick to undress again, settling behind Elana in a simple sleep shirt, smiling softly when Elana shifts to tug her arm around her, letting her lips brush Elana’s shoulder, then ear. “Sleep Elana, I’m here now.” Elana shifts in her sleep several times, Elizabeth content to just watch her sleep, then, when Elana’s body shifts to she’s settled almost on top of her, she shifts to brush a soft hand over Elana’s back, waking her gently as her breathing hitches. “Hey… he’s gone babygirl, I’m here now.” They get up later, Elana smiling shyly at the sight of the soft sweats and t-shirt, accepting Elizabeth’s help to dress, following her downstairs slowly, content to curl into her sofa, noting Elizabeth’s smile and returning it softly. She’d always been terrified to admit how she felt, but she had run straight to Elizabeth after the shooting, needing to feel safe. She always felt safe with Elizabeth there. Lena comes by, late, bringing food and supplies, her smile soft at the sight of Elana curled into Elizabeth’s side. “I heard some a-hole shot my little one… you okay Elana?” “I’m fine.” Elana’s smile is softer still as she adds. “Liz is actually a pretty good carer, despite how tough she seems…” “Tell that to Novak…” Elizabeth’s voice is husky and Elana sighs softly. “She forgave you years ago… sometime around finally getting a ring on Cabot’s finger. You know that.” Lena’s smirk speaks volumes even as she excuses herself, kissing Elana’s cheek softly before leaving. “No more getting shot young lady, not if you intend to stay with our Liz…” Elana blushes but nods and smiles, letting Liz close the door before finally leaning up to kiss Elizabeth properly. “She’s right you know…I should stay… forever.” Elizabeth’s smile is softer and warmer than usual but she half-shrugs. “If you really want an old wreck for a wife…” “Hey, don’t talk about my fiancée like that… I love her and I won’t let you call her names. She’s perfect.” Elana’s smirk is gentle even as she adds. “Besides, we have a wedding to plan.”

#iv's spring writing challenge 2022 #law and order svu #elana barth #elizabeth donnelly #barthelly #elabeth #I wasn't kidding #my ships are wild

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warpriest-writings · 3 years

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Red eyes on Grandmother's grave.

Sticks broke under her feet, running as fast and hard as she could but it felt like running through jelly, her feet caked in heavy mud.

“Someone! Help me!!! Please!” She cried out but couldn’t hear her own voice.

Before her was the pair of sharp, red eyes out in the middle distance. She couldn’t make out a face; she wasn’t even sure if the eyes were attached to anythin, just floating there, haunting her. Those hungry, starved eyes that wanted to devour her. The eyes just hung there as she sat there frozen.

“What do you want!?” she screamed out, but again her words came out silent.

The sharp, red eyes narrowed, then rushed towards her as a hand reached out at her.

With a difficult, almost pained, inhalation of breath, Patsy woke with a startled jump, accidently knocking her kitty out of bed.

She gasped, “Bean! Come here. Mweh, mweh.” She made kissy noises to her large Maine Coon. Rubbing her fingers together as she did so attempting to soothe Bean and entice her to come back into the bed. Not that Bean needed much convincing; no one in the Desoto household could remember a single night that cat hasn’t slept in Patsy’s bed. By the time she got Bean back in bed and started petting her, Patsy had almost entirely forgotten her nightmare about the...was she running? Regardless, after several minutes of kitty snuggles, she checked her phone, loathing to discover that it was 5:53, merely thirty minutes before her alarm would have gone off anyway.

Of course, she wouldn’t have been lucky enough to wake up from her scary dream at a reasonable 1:17, or even a moderate 3:32. Good, god given times in the early morning a girl could go back to sleep too. Patsy sighed and entered an anxious state of contemplation, debating getting in the shower now and getting that out of her morning routine or laying there, blissfully enjoying the time before she had to get up for real. An absolute miserable time that went on in her head until her alarm went off. Ah, yes, neither productive nor relaxing. Thank you, Anxiety.

Getting out of bed with a less than encouraging groan, Patsy began her morning routine. Feeling emotionally and mentally exhausted by 6:45 AM, Patsy walked briskly down the stairs while putting her long and bouncy kinky hair into a ponytail.

“Morning, Mom!”

Her mom, Elana, looked back at her as some toast popped out of the toaster, “Hey, Sweetheart!”

Joseph, her dad, poured two cups of coffee before handing one to his wife as she handed him the plate of now buttered toast. “Hey, Pats. Finished your homework last night?” Giving Elana a quick kiss.

“Course, Dad,” she said, silently beaming that her parents were still happily married after nearly sixteen years; it was more than could be said about several of her friends at school.

Her mother was the manager at a local small diner, it was a nice little place, near enough to her school that Patsy would usually walk there at the end of the day and hang out with her friends or finish her homework before her mom’s shift ended at six when the night manager came in. Her father worked from home, and studied. Technically, he was still a student at the University of Illinois, but he worked a lot of sub contracted programming and coding jobs on the side. Once she asked him why he was still in college and his reply was, “Sometimes people are just...nervous about getting out there, and sometimes you just so happen to be very good at filling out grant applications. Your momma has a steady job that takes care of us, and my work on the side makes sure we stay in the green.”

“Need a ride to school today, Pats?” her dad said, snapping Patsy out of it.

“I’m good; I kinda want some time to just think,” she told him.

“It’d be nothing, it’s getting colder out and I love driving my babygirl to-”

“Joseph,” her mother interrupted.

He backed down, “Alright, alright. Letting Pats be all independent.”

“Thanks, Dad. I think I’ll have breakfast at school today, I’m going to get going,” Patsy said.

Joseph began reaching into his pocket, “Need money?”

“I’m good, I still have twenty from helping out at the diner.”

“Now hold on, that’s your money. It’s our job to feed you,” he said, and offered her a five, “Take it, and make sure you grab an apple or an orange or something those school food scientist freaks can’t turn into half-baked prison sloop."

Patsy nodded, “Okay, okay.” She took the money, then gave her dad a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, “Love you, mom. Love you, dad.” Then grabbed her backpack from a kitchen table chair and made her way to the door, only partially catching what her dad was saying about Patsy being braver than he was for voluntarily eating school food.

From her house it was roughly a twenty-minute walk to school. Normally, she would have jumped at the opportunity for a quick ride to school, but her mind was still preoccupied by that dream. Most of it was lost, faded just beyond her consciousness’s reach. Those red eyes; Patsy could still see them crystal clearly in her mind. She could almost feel them on her back now. Patsy shuttered at the thought.

As she walked she barely heard the wizzing of bike tires until they were right behind her, lost in her thoughts Patsy made a sound reminiscent of an “Eek!” and jumped off to the grass beside the sidewalk. The biker slowed to a stop, “Miss. Pascala, are you alright?”

He knew her name? Patsy looked at the biker, as she had been largely looking at her moving feet up until that point and the fact that from her perspective the biker was right in front of the morning sun, she had to squint and couldn’t really make out his face, “Uh, yes. I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Hmm?” he took off his helmet, revealing quite the head of curly locks, “Miss. Pascala, a little out of it this morning?”

As her eyes adjusted she suddenly realized, “OH! Mr. Morales, sorry. It was all sunny, and I was kinda lost in my thoughts, and I’ll just stop talking now.”

Her history teacher looked at her with a bit of a raised eyebrow, “I shall see you in the third period, Miss. Pascala, have a pleasant walk. Homework is due by the end of class.” He awkwardly coughed and rode off, quickly moving into the bicycle lane of the road.

Sometime later, after what is by all rights and definitions a poor excuse of a breakfast that would send Mr. DeSoto into a rambling state of disbelief that this was the best that taxpayer money could do for feeding America’s youth, as well as Patsy’s first hour math class (math first period of the day, she was convinced that the school gods hated her) and her second period economics class where they learned..something, Patsy was sure of that. She remembers taking notes and everything. There was a presentation with slides and everything, so they must have learned something...So after econ was her history class with Mr. Morales.

She liked Mr. Morales, more than her math teacher that’s for sure. “Math is the language of the universe.” She was taking English and French and frankly didn’t feel like she had time for a third language course. Mr. Morales was different, he got swept away with the subject sometimes and seemed to have a real love for it.

“We can learn much from history, but the people who made it weren’t trying to teach morals, and they weren’t thinking about just how important that what they were doing took place in 1776, or during the first or second half of the twelfth century. The past is made up of the actions of people who were concerned with living their lives, and if what they were doing was the right thing to do, or the right thing for them.” Mr. Morales said on the first day of school. He was also just a bit odd. His thick curly hair, a trait he described as indicative of his strong greek heritage, was peppered ever so slightly. Otherwise he held onto his youth remarkably well. looking closer to mid twenties rather than late thirties.

After the class ended, Patsy went up to her teacher, “Uh, Sir, excuse me.”

Mr. Morales looked up from his tablet from which he often powered through novels, “Hmm, yes, Miss. Pascala?”

“I was just going over that pop quiz you handed back today and I would have gotten one hundred percent if you didn’t mark my answer for question two wrong.” She said,

He set his tablet down, “That is usually how people do not get full marks. Allow me to double check that.” He held his hand open.

Patsy handed him the paper, “You see, I’m certain the correct answer is B and I’d like to get full credit.”

“Third century B.C. Yes, you are correct. I’ll be sure to update the gradebook and parent portal to reflect this. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Miss. Pascala, I imagine I marked everyone else who answered as you did as incorrect as well.”

He handed her back the quiz after remarking her score and immediately wrote a note he then stuck to his computer monitor.

She excused herself and left with a bright smile, making her way to her next class, and then on and so forth with her day. As she was heading towards her computer typing class after lunch (which was not notably better than the breakfast, it is a wonder that these children survive long enough to eat microwaved ramen in college dorms.) She accidentally bumped into the Principle as she was turning a corner.

“Ooft!” She said, feeling like she walked into a lumpy brick wall.

Principal Robertson cleared his throat and looked down his nose at the young lady, “It is not becoming to run down the hails and blindly around corners.”

He had been the principal at her school for well over fifteen years now, and he seemed to live for it. Participating in school spirit events and playing along with the dress up days, at least he did last year. No one wanted to really mention it but over the summer he lost a lot of weight and his skin got paler...greyer was almost more accurate. Hushed rumors said he was diagnosed with some cancer or another but refused to stop working while on chemo and Patsy wasn’t sure what to think of it all. Looking down at her now she wasn’t feeling very comfortable.

“I, uh, I really need to get to class.” Patsy said

The sickly Principal sighed a heavy breath, “Just slow down.”

“Right, of course. Thank you Mr. I mean, Principal Robertson.” With that she took off, carefully walking not-to-quickly.

Passing around the next corner and with her computer lab in sight Patsy let out her own sigh of relief. The bell ringing just steps away, “Whyyyyyyy?” Patsy said in a hushed, exasperated tone.

She quickly rushed into the room and to her seat, hoping maybe she wouldn’t be marked late. The class lesson began and she got to work with her typing program.

“Hey, Patsy,” Her friend Abby said, “Think your mom would give me a ride home after her shift at the dinner?”

“Course, Abbs.” She replied, “You getting anywhere with these?”

“Not really, my hands know the keyboard but my words per minute is garbage.” Abby said.

“My words per minute is fine, but I have to force myself to type the way that we’re supposed to. It doesn’t help that at home I always just type with my pointer and middle fingers.”

“You type a lot at home?” She asked, “Are you writing something?”

She nearly jumped out of her skin, “No! of course not...I just look up a lot of random stuff when I’m bored.” She must never know.

Abby raised an eyebrow, “Mhm, right.”

Over the intercom the school receptionist called out, “Pascala DeSoto to the Principal’s office, Pascala DeSoto to the Principal’s office.

Abby winced, and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

She tried to return it, her thoughts were racing. Surely she wasn’t being called down to the Office for accidentally bumping into the Principal in the hallway was she? Why wouldn’t he just take her there right after she did it then? Maybe it wasn’t about anything she did at all. Oh God...what if her dad accidentally started another grease fire trying to make home fries? What if Mom got into an accident on her way to the dinner? Her mind was a beehive that someone just punted halfway across a football field.

The receptionist must have noticed the worry on her face and gave her a very sweet smile, “Don’t worry about it too much, Sweetie. Just keep your chin up and remember none of this will matter in ten years.” Reassuring words, either her parents were fine or she was just as unsure why she called down Patsy as she was herself.

Bracing herself mentally, Patsy opened the door and pushed it to the magnetic door stopper that held it open.

“Closer the door behind you, Miss. DeSoto.” Principal Robertson said.

Her stomach did an uncomfortable flip, she wasn’t sure why she was feeling so destressed over this. She hadn’t done anything as far as she could remember or mentally justify. She closed the door, getting a last glimpse of Mrs. O'Riley, the nice receptionist.

Run! Every nerve in her body screamed out but she moved forward to sit in the chair opposite Principal Robertson at his desk anyway. He spoke up; she only saw his lips move, the words not landing correctly in her ears.

“I’m sorry, Sir. Could you say that again?” She asked.

His brow furrowed, “I do not care for repeating myself, Miss. Desoto.”

She sank in the chair. “Sorry.”

“And do not mumble. Speak clearly or not at all!”

Patsy sat back up in her seat in shock, “Principal Robertson, I don’t think you’re allowed to speak to me like that.”

“Do not speak back to me, you’re the one in trouble here.” He said venomously.

Trembling she stood up, “I need to go.”

He got up as well, “I think not, DeSoto. You’ve been hiding really well, tricked everyone but not me.” He licked his upper lip.

A full body chill ran through her entire being and oddly, in retrospect she felt, Patsy really wanted her kitty Bean there. She said, “Principal Robertson, you can’t be serious right now!? Think….think about your wife!”

Robertson frowned hideously, “That bint isn’t important.” He smiled, which was so much more disturbing to the young lady, “not like you, DeSoto, you have been worth all of my effort and patience.”

He reached out for her when the door opened, “Principal Robertson,” called out an all too reassuring voice, “I was wondering if you had the chance to look over those field trip papers I….” His hand less than two inches away from her, Patsy’s whole body was trembling but she couldn’t make her legs run.

Mr. Morales stood in the open doorway, his eyes moving quickly from Patsy to Robertson. “Miss. Pascala, behind me.” He said putting himself between them.

The Principal scowled in frustration, “I’m not entirely sure what you think you are doing, Linus. You are acting like I am some sort of threat to the girl.”

“This doesn’t look good, James.” Mr. Morales replied.

Robertson scowled deeper, and Patsy in that moment of fear and confusion thought his scowl pulled unnaturally at his skin.

Mr. Morales raised his hands defensively, “What are you?” Striking a serious tone with his voice that she had never heard from her history teacher before. It was a cold voice that set her skin on edge almost as much as Principal Robertson had.

Before her eyes the late fifties Principal of clear declining health grabbed Mr. Morales and threw him against a glass case containing various trophies for academic and sports accomplishments. Patsy left out a loud scream and Mrs. O’Riley’s own scream wasn’t far behind.

Later the police officers that responded to the Receptionist's call would ask Patsy what happened next, and she told them the truth. It all happened so fast she wasn’t sure what exactly happened. Mr. Morales, who had bruised ribs, and some cuts from the glass but was thankfully otherwise alright, shouted something that didn’t make sense to her at Robertson and the Principal ran off. She didn’t get to hear what Mr. Morales told them but they questioned him for a good long while.

School was cancelled early and parents were furiously calling the school board and the district for answers. There was a warrant issued for Robertson, and some people were threatening to pull their kids altogether. No one wants their kids to go to the school where the principal threatened a fifteen year old girl and assaulted a teacher.

Superintendent Wilkens sent a parent portal wide email that a warrant was formally filed against Mr. Robertson and the police had opened an investigation. In addition to Resource Officer Thomas three more Iron county police officers would be stationed at the school for security and rest assured that school would be open again Friday.

“No, no...this is ridiculous. My daughter was threatened by that man.” Patsy’s dad said to the Superintendent’s secretary. “Don’t put me on hold! ….Yes, I believe that you do have another call coming in. I….” he sighed heavily, and tossed his cellphone into the living room sofa.

“Sweetheart.” Elana said, putting her hands tenderly on Joseph’s shoulders.

“We worked with that man in the ice cream socal last year, Laney.”

Just out of their sight, sitting against the hallway wall Patsy hugged Bean. Now more than ever the tridactyl kitty gave her some comfort. She kept replaying it over in her mind, Robertson’s face looked so...uncanny valley. Elana had tried to reassure her that it was just her mind playing tricks on her, wanting to think that he was somehow less than human because of how he was acting.

Her phone buzzed, touching the wall it tapped rapidly and loudly and Patsy reactively tried to grab it before her parents noticed.

“Pats? Babygirl, I thought you were laying down.” Her dad said, walking over to her, flipping the hallway light on. “Well, I thought you were scrolling through your phone, pretending to be laying down.”

She gave Bean a little squeeze like when she was littler, “I tried, but I couldn’t take a nap.”

“It’s okay, Pats. How'bout I make up some of my famous root beer floats?”

She slowly nodded, “That would be good.”

“Come on, Patsy.” Elana said, “We can sit at the table while your father makes us a feel better treat.”

She got up and walked over to the kitchen table, Bean closely trailing her like always. “Hey, think I could maybe sleep in your guys' bed tonight?”

Elana quickly glanced at her husband, the pair of them sharing a whole conversation in a moment.

“Of course, Pats.” Her dad said, “I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”

“It’ll be like when you crawled in my bed when you were little after a nightmare woke you up.” Elana said.

Her father was scooping ice cream into three tall milkshake glasses as Patsy pulled Elana into a hug, “Thank you for being my mom.” she said softly.

Elana returned the hug, remembering the first time Patsy told that to her and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She was Pascala's mom, there wasn’t any doubt of that. She didn’t give birth to Patsy though. Her birth mom and Joseph’s first wife passed away when she was less than six months old, an oncoming driver didn’t stop at the red light as she was going through the intersection on her way home from work. Elana was her birth mother’s best friend and Patsy’s godmother. After the funeral she just kept helping Joseph out with Patsy, eventually moving in with them. Joseph and Elana married when she was seven, but she had really always been her mom.

As frustrated as he was with the situation, Joseph did his best to cool down and help Patsy feel better, telling his corny dad jokes he spent hours and hours looking up at his computer desk.

He spent almost a half hour that night checking and double checking that every door and window was locked that night, as well as making sure their security system was armed. Unlike Patsy, who almost couldn’t sleep without Bean snuggled next to her, Elana found the heavy cat overly warm but she gritted her teeth through it for Patsy’s sake.

The next morning, Thursday, the day after her high school Principal threatened her, assaulted a teacher and just disappeared. She woke up to the smell of her dad making eggs, over cooking them. Elana always made them a little runny. Everything seemed to run by a little slowly. Like she had been jerked out of a deep daydream and couldn’t pull herself entirely out of her own head.

Around noon she and her mom were watching a cartoon as Joseph entered the room on the phone, “I see, well, thank you, Linus. Yes? I’ll ask her now, we were planning on going to the diner for lunch anyway.” He pulled the phone slightly away from his face and turned to the pair on the sofa, “Pats, Mr. Morales is out of the hospital. He asked if it would be alright if he met us at the diner today.”

She let out a huge sigh of relief hearing he was out, that meant he was okay, “Yeah, that sounds good!”

Joseph put the phone back to his face, “She’s okay with it. We’ll see you there at one. Yep, bye, it was good hearing from you too. And...thank you, Linus.” he hung up and put his phone into his pocket. “He said the superintendent pushed the school’s opening back to Monday, I guess we angry few can make a difference.”

Elana pulled her legs onto the sofa and sat cross legged, turning towards him, “That’s great! I think that’s what WIlken’s should have done from the start, but hey. So we’ll be eating with Patsy’s english teacher?”

“History teacher.” Patsy said, correcting her.

“Linus is also one of my work associates, but yes. He just wants to check in with Pats.”

She nodded, “Alright, I’m going to take a quick shower before we go.”

She gave Joseph a quick kiss on the cheek as she left the room, her husband replacing her spot on the sofa.

Patsy gave her dad a big hug. “So Mr. Morales is alright?”

“Some cuts and bruises but he sounded alright, he didn’t talk about himself much.” Joseph said.

Before long they were sitting down as Margret, one of the servers at the diner, was bringing over a pot of coffee for Joseph and Elana and a Shirley temple for Patsy. “Hey, Patsy.” the retirement age waitress said, “How’re you holding up?”

“I’m okay, Margret.” She said, putting on a cheerful voice.

“That’s the spirit, I’ll be sure to bring you over the biggest slice of cake.” She said

“Yay cake!”

Elana laughed a little, “We’re going to wait to order, Margie. We’re waiting on another person.”

The older waitress nodded her head slightly, “Sounds good, Laney. I’ll be back in two shakes with your refreshments.” With that she was off to serve some of the other customers, or guests as corporate would like they be referred to.

The three of them chatted while they waited for Mr. Morales, while they did Patsy’s thoughts drifted to the bizarre notion that when you see someone you only ever see at school, or school related events that when you see them out and about in everyday life the person is suddenly almost unrecognizable. Like in those children sitcom shows where someone says “Wait, you mean teachers don’t live at school??” or something else mildly insulting to the audience about their perceived intelligence. Still, Patsy wondered if it was going to be super weird seeing Mr. Morales not just outside of school, but on purpose outside of school. He normally dressed in clean but not ironed dress pants and some sort of long sleeved shirt, either a button up or a sweater; would he be wearing a rock and roll band t shirt and shorts? What if he wears his curly hair in a manbun outside of work? The horror.

It was almost a disappointment when Mr. Morales showed up in tan dress pants and a blue sweater, as well as a sling that held his left arm, some bandaging on his cheek with some purplish bruising around its edges.

“Linus,” her dad said, “Glad you could make it.”

“We’re both just so grateful for what you did yesterday.” Elana said as her husband scooted further into the booth, making room for him.

“Oh, I only did what any good samaritan should have in the situation.” Mr. Morales said, sitting down. “Ah!” He smiled at the pot of coffee sitting on the table, “May I? I’m afraid I skipped my usual morning cup...come to think of it, skipped most of my usual morning routine today.”

“Go ahead, refills are free.” Patsy said.

“Are they?” He asked with a smile, awkwardly pouring himself a hot cup.

Margret returned, prompting her mom to say that they’ll probably need a few minutes for Mr. Morales to decide what he wants.

“Oh, go ahead.” The teacher reassured, “ I know what I want, a short stack of pancakes, and two pieces of bacon on the chewier side.”

“Oh, alright!” Elana said, “Brunch it is then, I guess we’re ready to order. Patsy, you go first.”

Patsy put in her order, a belgian waffle with strawberries and a lemon poppyseed muffin. Her father ordered the same as Mr. Morales, but he wanted his bacon crispy. Elana ordered two sunny side up eggs and some toast to dunk in the yolk. With that Margaret took off again.

“It just seemed so...out of nowhere.” Patsy said, suddenly.

Surprised, Elana reactively gave her a side hug, “No one ever expects these sorts of things to happen, Sweetheart. All that matters is that you’re safe.”

“Principal Robertson wasn’t...normal, right?” She asked, addressing her teacher.

Mr. Morales avoided her gaze, looking down into his coffee.

“Pats, Robertson wasn’t the man we thought he was, or he changed or something messed up.” her dad said.

“You saw his face too, right Mr. Morales, you asked him what he was.”

Her parents, worried for Patsy, then looked to the teacher they invited out.

“Miss. Pascala, I don’t know what had gotten into him, or what had become of him. That certainly wasn’t the man I have worked with for over two years now, but rest assured. He wasn’t some abnormality, he was a man, a man who revealed himself to be quite the monster.” Mr. Morales said finally, just as their food arrived.

To her parent’s relief, Patsy dropped the subject. They ate and her dad asked Mr. Morales how she was doing in his class.

“She is an ideal student” he told them, “Attentive, curious, she has a mind for nuance, and seems to genuinely want to understand why people did what they had done in the history lessons.” Which unfortunately made her quite uncomfortable, like she was in a parent-teacher conference all of all of a sudden.

As Patsy began to withdraw into herself, Elana asked her, “So, Patsy, is there anything else you’d like to do in town today before we head home?” She hoped to bring Patsy back to the surface of her own mind.

“Huh?” Patsy asked, she heard what her mom said, but her brain hadn’t really processed it yet. Something it usually would do about a split second after someone repeated what they said to her. “Oh, uh...well I was hoping we could go swing by grandma’s grave?” She stated her request with the inflection of a question. Her grandma wasn’t buried very far from where they lived. However, she knew that her dad always had a hard time going. He stayed in the car when they visited her grave a couple weeks before school started.

Joseph swallowed hard, but nodded, “Of course, babygirl.”

Mr. Morales raised an eyebrow, “I didn’t realize you had family buried here. I was under the impression that your family moved here from Louisiana.”

“We did, but Joseph is from here originally, we moved back here after his mother got sick.” Elana explained.

Mr. Morales turned his gaze back to his coffee, “I see.” Patsy could see his eyes darting swiftly like he either realized something or was thinking very swiftly. She felt like she could relate. “Miss. Pascala, Joseph, Elana. Please do not take me for overreaching but I’m not sure it is safe for the three of you to go to a location like that right now. If Robertson is following you it would be quite the place for an ambush.”

“Linus, don’t speak like that in front of my daughter.” Joseph said, something of a warning in his voice.

“No, dad, it’s alright.” Patsy said, “Mr. Morales, do you really think it’s a bad idea to go to the cemetery?”

Mr. Morales looked to Joseph, who wore an expression that clearly said “Be careful how you say things.” He looked back at Patsy, with a small sigh, “I think, perhaps you should at least wait under after school starts up again Monday? Thank you all for this lovely meal, but I think I should be going. This should cover my food.” He swiftly got up and pulled his wallet out and with just his right hand awkwardly pulled out some bills. Leaving forty dollars on the table as he took off.

“I think you scared him.” Elana said simply, pouring herself another cup of coffee.

They ultimately didn’t go to the cemetery, to both the annoyance and relief of her father. In fact they stayed in for the rest of the day. Watching TV, playing a popular kart racing game which Joseph began quite smuggly. Only to lose to his daughter because of an npc driver launching a nuclear option that blasted him back to third place less than half the track away from victory.

Patsy told her parents that she felt comfortable enough to go to bed in her own room that night, and Elana made chicken parm hero sandwiches. All in all the day drifted by quickly after their lunch with the odd Mr. Morales. It was almost 10 at night when she finally told her parents she was going to bed, and they reaffirmed their own tiredness from the day and wouldn’t be up much longer themselves.

Of course, Patsy wasn’t really going to bed.

She stayed up for hours, just to be sure they had actually fallen asleep. Her dad. Patsy disarmed the security system and left the house, heading straight for the cemetery. She had to see her grandmother’s gravestone. Something about how Mr. Morales reacted just didn’t sit right with her. It had to be around 1:20 in the morning now and it was very dark and while it was brisk out during the day her fingers quickly started going numb and she could see her breath.

The ground of the cemetery was hard and bumpy from thawing into wet muddy ground under the sun during the day. Patsy walked through the cemetery at a brisk pace, wanting to get to her grandma's grave and back before her parents could wake up to find out she snuck out of the house...or worse she was taken by Robertson. The made her stomach clench up, and she began regretting this whole idea. There was a rustling in the bushes and she began to sprint, she felt like running home and forgetting all of this but she was painfully aware she was heading right towards the grave.

She came to a quick stop, looking down at the engraved stone. Ellinore DeSoto, 1961 to 2017. She knelt down, tears building in her eyes. Deep down she knew coming here now was a mistake, her grandma wouldn’t want her sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night, especially not under the current circumstances.

She sniffled, alright she got to the gravestone and proved exactly nothing. Time to get home as fast as she possibly could and swear off stupid impulsive decsions forever.

The wet smacking of lips that made her skin crawl.

“Pr.principal Robertson?” She tentatively asked, standing up and turning towards the gross sound. Her eyes widened in grotesque terror as she looked at the swollen thing that only scarcely held the appearance of her principal, the purplish grey skin stretched uncomfortably tight as the creature smiled wider than nature as she knew it allowed.

“Pascala Desoto,” It still spoke with Principal Robertson’s voice. “So courteous of you to come to me, now we may continue your...disciplinary measures, young lady.” The creature stuck out it’s purple tongue which extended down past its belly.

Patsy wanted to run, scream, anything, but her legs refused to move. Her body frozen. It walked up closer to her, and it’s foul breath was like a thick miasma that made her lungs clench up and burnt her throat, she couldn’t even tremble in fear.

“Speechless, DeSoto?” It leaned in and inhaled deeply by her hair, it chucked out as it spoke, “Yeeheeehesss. Your flesh will do, your form will do.”

Over the creature’s shoulder Pascala saw another, and the ghoul’s smile turned into a scowl. Apparently it noticed him as well. It wrapped it’s unnaturally large hands around her, its index finger on her shoulder and its pinky on her waist. Turning to face him it snarled out, “This is my Witch, get your own.”

The man stepped out of the shadows into the moonlight, the beams catching on his glasses, “Let her go, Corpse eater.” He held a revolver in one hand, and an old medieval looking sword in the other. His arm wasn’t in the sling anymore and he didn’t look injured at all.

“Morales, I knew I should have crushed your throat when-”

Her teacher cocked the pistol and aimed it right at his head.

“G...go ahead. I am not something you can kill with a bullet.” The ghoul said smugly.

“In your state it will hurt, it’ll be a whole world of agony.” Morales said, calling the monster’s bluff.

It took a slight step back, balking out a grunt in some fear. “We can split her! I don’t need her blood!”

Patsy’s eyes widened at the suggestion.

“Don’t worry, Miss. Pascala. This thing won’t harm you...and survive.” His voice was cold again, and she couldn’t help but feel an intense fear. Maybe from the slight tremors she felt through the ghoul’s hand, but somehow she knew that this thing that used to be her Principal was terrified.

“I can’t go back to the corpses people bury, they poison them, and every time I feed I whimper in agony for years, only to need to feed again, the cycle is torture! Have mercy!” The ghoul begged.

“You do not want my mercy, Corpse eater. It is at the end of my sword.” He began walking forward.

The ghoul released Patsy and pinched her throat, “Another step and I’ll break her neck!”

Reactively she reached up at the monster’s finger’s “I don’t want to die!” she sobbed, were she in a more clear headed situation she may have realized she can move again.

Mr. Morales paused, scowling back at the hellish beast.

“That’s right! You...you have a fondness for her, your student, HAH! So long as I have her in my grasp you won’t risk harming her.” The ghoul grinned hideously in it’s little victory.

Her history class teacher inhaled sharply, then said, “If you are going to do something, now would be the time!”

Principal Robertson the ghoul frowned, “What are you playing at?!”

Out from the bushes a large orange cat ran up much faster than Patsy had ever seen in her life and pounced on the ghoul’s forearm, clawing and tearing at it. The ghoul released her and she dropped, quickly and frantically crawling into an upright sprint several yards away from the monster.

Bean used the ghoul as a springboard and sprinted over to Patsy. The Ghoul was screaming and clutching the wounds the cat had left on it, as Morales lunged forward and with a clean swift strike cleaved the monster’s head from it’s shoulders.

Patsy’s breaths were short, and she pulled Bean into her arms as she tried to calm down. Morales wiped his blade off on the grass before sheathing it and steeping over to his student as he holstered his gun.

“I’m sorry, Miss. Pascala.” He said, “Are you alright?”

“What, what was that!?” She asked, looking at the ghoul’s limp body.

He paused, like he was unsure he could answer, “...Is there any world where you could accept that this was all a bad dream?”

She shook her head, “No, I have nightmares all the time, this is real.” Patsy looked at her teacher and gasped, she tried to step back but only fell backwards. “Those eyes!”

Mr. Morales sighed, and pulled his glasses from his face. His eyes were a hungry deep red. “Please, Miss. Pascala, I mean you no harm. You have my word, my oath as a man who has spent his very long life guiding the minds of the youth, and protecting everyone who I find in need of help.”

She tried to steady her breath, with Bean in her arms she felt much bolder and confident, “Those eyes, I’ve seen them in my nightmares, I trusted you and you’re another one of those things!” She pointed to the ghoul.”

He was taken aback, and gestured at his face, “You’ve seen these eyes in your dreams? Miss. Pascala, I assure you I am not a corpse eater.” He grabbed his lip and pulled it up, revealing a long and sharp fang. “I am a vampire, and amazingly you seemed to have augured my presence in your dreams.”

She stared at the fang with wide, slightly horrified eyes. “...Huh.”

“Huh. That...is a first.” The Vampire said, “I imagine you have questions, and you deserve answers. Especially if you refuse to accept this night was just a bad dream.”

She nodded, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to, trust me I’m trying. Still here, next to my vampire history teacher.”

“Very well, Miss. Pascala. This ghoul was hunting you because you are a Sorceress, and whoever gave you that cat was as well. Seeing as how that animal is a Familiar, your Familiar.” He said, “Monday, come to my class after school, and I will tell you more. For now just go home, you’ll be safe there with the cat. I need to clean this up before anyone comes by and finds it.”

It was be a difficult thing to believe that Patsy would just accept things at that, that she would just go home and enjoy her long weekend with her folks, and she could just scratch Bean behind the ear knowing she was some magical protector her Secret Sorceress Grandma had given to her as a little kitten. That she could be nearly eaten and just go back to bed. All that can be agreed upon is that Patsy got out of bed the next morning around 10:30, that she took a shower and had slightly runny scrambled eggs for breakfast. Another thing that can be certain is that Patsy would never doubt what happened, what she saw and what she heard, and that the story of Pascala DeSoto, The Sorceress of Illinois had only begun.

End Chapter

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#Red Eyes on my Grandmother's grave #wip #paypal

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iwishiwasbatman · 2 years

Text

Masked Love (Part 1)

Pairing- Jason Todd x OC; Dick Grayson x Platonic!OC

Warnings- death; Joker being Joker

Word Count- 2,949

Summary- After a devastating loss befalls Elana and her friends, she attempts to strike back.

Ignore typos and spelling mistakes… this is my first fanfic :)

I walked down the stairs toward the shouts from Jason that had echoed up to the clock room. He sounded incredibly excited about something, but I couldn’t tell what.

“Loud and clear, boss,” I heard Jason say sarcastically as I got to the end of the staircase. He sighed, annoyed, as he tapped his phone, which I assumed meant he hung up on whoever he was calling. I went up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my head against his back. I could feel him tense up at first, but relax once he realized it was me.

“Hey, babe,” Jason greeted.

“Hey.” I smiled to myself. I let go and he turned around to face me with his normal Jason smile on his face. “Were you fighting with Bruce again?” I asked.

“No,” he lied. I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms over my chest. “Okay, fine. Maybe I was, but it’s fine. You don’t need to worry about it. Got it?”

“I guess, but I’m still gonna worry anyway,” I told him.

“Are you done with patrol already?” he changed the subject.

“It was a slow night.” It was true. I had to stop one mugger and that was it. Aside from that, I sat there for five hours. Just sitting there. Doing nothing. It was horrible.

“Tell you what. Why don’t you go upstairs and set up the living room for a movie,” Jason said, putting his hand on both my shoulders. “We can have popcorn and candy and I’ll even let you pick the movie. I’ll be up in an hour tops.”

“Are you really so eager to get rid of me already?”

“No, no. That’s not what I’m doing. You’ve had a long week and you’re tired and as your boyfriend, it is my job to fix that.”

“Okay, big guy, I believe you, but if you don’t get done in an hour, I’m gonna find you and hit you with a chair.”

“A chair? Why a chair?”

“Like you said, I’ve had a long week. And it’s fun to hit people with chairs.”

“I love you, but you scare me.” He pulled me in for a quick kiss.

“Love you, too, Jay.” I grinned, heading back upstairs to get the movie set up.

—————————

I was sitting on the couch of Wayne Manor, biting my nails and bouncing my knee, staring down at my phone. It had been an hour past Jason’s promised hour and I couldn’t find him anywhere. I had texted him, called him three times, and checked the Cave, but he was nowhere to be found. It was really unlike him to disappear without saying anything to me.

While I was still waiting for a response, I flipped through the channels on TV to try to take my mind off things. I’ll tell you now, it did not work. I flipped past the news quickly, but something caught my eye. I flipped back. What I saw made my heart skip.

The headline read, “Robin Found Dead”.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” I whispered to myself. I frantically dialed his number as I ran to the grandfather clock, not even bothering to read the rest of the TV. “Come on, Jay, pick up,” I mumbled as I opened the passage. Down the steps I went, but froze when I heard the ringing of a phone. I started to move again, only this time slower as I approached the table.

I picked up Jason’s phone delicately, declined my call, and set it back down, trying to catch my breath in the process. I leaned on the table to stabilize myself. This could not be happening. He was here only two hours ago, perfectly fine. It was impossible.

I looked down at the computer screen and went into shock. There were files pulled up on the Joker and Amusement Mile. Everything shut off. I completely stopped working. I didn’t even feel myself hit the floor. I felt like crying but nothing came. It seemed like someone had reached inside my chest and ripped out my heart.

He had gone after the Joker and gotten himself killed. How had I not seen it? He was trying to get me to leave so he could finish finding the monster. If I had just pressed him for what he was hiding, I could’ve stopped him. If I hadn’t been lazy, he wouldn’t be dead. I didn’t get to cry or mope, I had to go do something.

Taking a deep breath in, I pulled myself up using the table and settled into the chair. I got onto the computer and looked up the exact details of how Jason was found and when. That led into a search about Amusement Mile, where I found security footage. I clicked on it.

The footage played, showing Jason walking into the park, only to get startled by an animatronic clown in one of the ticket stands. That’s where the Joker got his jump on Jason by hitting him with a crowbar. I shuttered and closed my eyes. I went to open them again, only to see something that would haunt me forever. Jason getting repeatedly hit with the crowbar. I hurriedly clicked out of it, trying my best not to actually look at the screen.

I pulled at my hair and set my head down on the table. How could this happen? How could’ve I let this happen? This was on me. The Joker killed him. The Joker did it. He took Jason away from you, a voice in my head whispered maliciously. I looked up, glaring at the screen where a clown smiled tauntingly back at me. The Joker was to blame for this, too. Going back to Arkham was barely a punishment. He was gonna feel the same pain Jason felt.

But it would have to wait until tomorrow morning’s visiting hours.

—————————

I pulled into Arkham’s parking lot and stepped out of my car, intent on my mission. I marched into the lobby of the asylum and right up to the front desk.

“Do you have an appointment?” the woman at the front desk asked boredly without looking up.

“No, but I have a feeling you’ll let me in,” I said sweetly.

“Why’s that?” she sighed, finally looking at me.

“Elana Queen, Queen Consolidated. I need to speak with the Joker,” I told her, whipping out my badge. She dropped her pen.

“The Joker? Why would you want to speak to him?”

“He messed with a Queen Consolidated employee last night. That employee was working on a secret project for the company and it was quite a coincidence that the Joker would attack him. I’m here to make sure it’s merely that,” I lied.

“Well, sweetie, I’ll get someone for you right away.” I thanked her and took a seat in the waiting chairs. Only three minutes later, a man in a lab coat came up to me.

“You must be Ms. Queen,” he greeted.

“That would be me, yes.” I stood up.

“You can follow me so we can get you set up with the… Joker,” he hesitated at the end. He led the way down the hall. “If you don’t mind me asking, why would they send you specifically to talk to this madman?”

“I am the CEO of the company, and just because I’m young doesn’t mean I can’t handle myself. And I went to school for psychology for a little while,” I answered.

“Very well. Right this way.” He gestured me into a room. “We’re bringing up the patient, but before you can go in, we need to check you for any suspicious material. Please don’t be offended, this is mandatory.”

“It’s fine,” I assured him. Another man, who was already in the room, quickly patted me down, finding nothing. He grabbed one of those handheld metal detectors and began waving it over me. It beeped when it got to my head. “I’m sorry, that’s just my earrings. Do I need to take them out?” I asked.

“No, you’re fine.” The man shook his head. “You’re good to go.”

“Thank you,” I said. He nodded and walked out of the room.

“The patient is ready for you, but I must warn you; he’s very dangerous just with his words. He knows how to pick a person apart,” the man in the lab coat warned me.

“I’m aware. I believe I can handle myself, thank you.”

“Very well, Ms. Queen. We will be watching from a camera just as a precaution.” I nodded before he pointed to the door across the room. “Through there will be a table. There’s a chair for you on one side and he’ll be on the other. Good luck.” I headed off to the door, took a deep breath, and walked in.

“Well, well, well. Who might you be?” I internally cringed at the sickening voice. I messed with my earring, which wasn’t an earring at all. It was a small device that allowed me to tap into the cameras and control them. Right now, I had it playing a fabricated video of mine and the Joker’s conversation.

“My name’s Elana Queen and I have an issue to settle with you.” I sat down.

“So do many people, girly. What makes you so special?” he cackled.

“Because unlike most of those people, I have ways of getting what I want.” I folded my hands, staring challengingly into his maniac eyes.

“You’re here about the boy wonder, aren’t you?” He leaned forward.

“Was that your goal when you went out last night? To kill him?”

“Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.”

“Answer the question,” I said cooly. With the Joker, you had to fake being completely unfazed by him to get anywhere, which, as I was finding out, was harder than it looked.

“Lemme guess, you were his best friend. No, no, no, sister. Wait, no, I got it, his girlfriend.” He laughed crazily. “That’s hard to picture. Robin and a girlfriend.”

“Enough.” I grabbed his collar and yanked him closer. “You killed him and waited for the cops. Why?”

“I gotta remember, blondie. The old mind ain’t what it used to be.” He grinned. I slammed his head down into the table.

“I’m not here to play games, clown.”

“Did it break your heart seeing that good, old bird boy was dead?” I punched him in the face. Just then the door swung open.

“What the heck are you doing,” Dick hissed. I quickly reset the camera and stood up. Dick marched in, grabbed my arm, and pulled me out of there. After stomping past the man in the lab coat, who I muttered a thanks to, Dick dragged me outside.

“Are you insane?!” He ran a hand through his hair.

“He killed Jason!” I exclaimed.

“So what, you were gonna kill him?!” he shot back.

“I don’t know!” I shouted.

“What do you mean you “don’t know”?!”

“I saw the footage! I saw him bash my boyfriend’s skull in! Jason is dead because I couldn’t stop him from going after that man!” my voice broke.

“Elana,” Dick said softly, reaching out for me. I shoved away from him.

“He’s dead because I’m too stupid to recognize emotions! He’s dead because of me!” Tears were streaming freely down my face. Dick grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug. “It’s all my fault,” I sobbed quietly. And for the first time since Jason’s death, I cried.

—————————

For the majority of the day after the morning incident, I trained. Hours of training without a break. Working myself so hard that I wasn’t sure if I would make it back up the stairs. This wasn’t new, I did it after my parents died, too. It was my coping mechanism. I only stopped after Dick came down to the Cave and told me Barbara was coming over. He did lecture me about not overworking myself, but I ignored half of what he said. Barbara showed up right after I had gotten cleaned up.

“So then Jason corners the Mad Hatter and starts swearing at him, like, going off. And Hatter stands there, stunned that Robin is cussing him out. And then Bruce came in.” Barbara looked at Bruce. “Do you remember what you said to Jason?”

“What?” Dick asked, amused.

“Watch your language,” Bruce answered. We all laughed together, me for the first time since the last night. I took a sip of my Capri Sun and leaned back into my chair. It felt good to be in the company of these people. They were the ones that knew me best. “I heard you found another body today,” Bruce spoke up. I groaned and laid my head back. Way to go, B, you ruined the moment. “That makes eight in as many weeks. Any clues to the identity of the killer?”

“You never stop, do you?” Barbara asked, looking down. “Can’t we just have a drink? No new clues… yet. But I’ll be sure to turn the signal on if we need you.”

“Your father and I had better communication when we were fighting this war.” Bruce took a sip of his drink. I looked across at Dick, who looked scared and annoyed like me.

“War? You still call it a war?” Barbara scoffed.

“Guys,” I groaned, but no one acknowledged me.

“It is a war. For the soul of this city.” Bruce had a point there, I’ll give him that.

“I don’t know, Bruce. Calling it a war feels like trying to justify all the lives that have been lost,” Barbara used her passive aggressive voice.

“Your father knew protecting Gotham required serious sacrifice,” Bruce argued back. I swear, he was a man-child. Dick and I looked at each other again with knowing glances.

“My father died from a heart attack after being frozen in a block of ice by a man wearing a refrigerator suit,” Barbara went off.

“Mr. Freeze,” Bruce said calmly. He was not helping himself here.

“I know who he is,” Barbara snapped. I watched Dick shift uncomfortably. “That’s how you see my father, isn’t it? As a sacrifice? You dragged him into this insanity, just like you did Dick and Jason.” I bit my lip and looked down. It was only yesterday, yet the topic still hit home.

“It was a long time ago,” Dick spoke up.

“You know what he did to you, Dick. You almost lost yourself because Bruce weaponized your grief,” she went at Bruce again. “And Jason,” she scoffed, “you took another kid who was lost, and angry, and alone, and convinced him that he’d become invincible if he put on a mask.” I didn’t say anything, but this conversation was having an effect on me that I didn’t like at all. Trying to reroute my energy, I started tapping my heel. “No more Robins, Bruce. I chose to put the cowl on. To go out there as Batgirl. When the Joker shot me,” I cringed at her words, “it wasn’t your fault. But you drove Dick away.”

“We worked it out,” Dick tried to defend Bruce.

“Wether you’ve forgiven him or not, he drove you away and put Jason in the ground.”

“Barbara!” I snapped. Dick and Bruce looked at me, but she ignored me.

“You would think that after everything that the Joker’s done to so many people, you would’ve found a way to keep him locked up. But part of me, a big part of me, believes that you want him to escape so you can keep hiding from yourself behind that mask. You’re as crazy as the Joker.” I ran a hand through my hair as Dick sighed. Barbara set her drink down and wheeled out. I let out a long exhale, thinking about her words, then got up and walked downstairs.

—————————

I was sitting in the living room of the Manor, going through old pictures of me and Jason on my phone when I heard a loud bang down the hall. Slowly, I got up and headed toward the sound. I was ready to put up a fight if I needed to, knowing Dick was asleep and Bruce was out. As I got closer to where the sound came from, I heard voices from Dick’s room.

“It’s all a game I should have stopped playing a long time ago,” I heard Bruce say somberly. “It’s over for me now. It’s over.” I stood in the hall, leaned against the wall and looked at Bruce from behind. “You see things I don’t. You saw that Jason was in trouble, that he was involved in something. Because you cared more than I did.” My interest level went up. What did Bruce mean? “The city is yours now. You save it. Do what I couldn’t. Be a better Batman.” My eyes went wide with shock. Bruce turned and walked down the hallway toward me, Dick shouting his name from the bedroom. He stopped right in front of me and put a hand on my shoulder, taking in my dumbfounded expression. “Save this city,” was all he said before walking off.

Dick jogged up to me. “He disappeared,” he sighed.

“Dick, what is happening?” I demanded.

“I… I think Bruce killed the Joker,” he ran a hand through his hair.

“What?! There’s no way.”

“He dropped a bloody crowbar in my room,” Dick pointed back. I peered over his shoulder and sure enough, there was a crowbar laying on the floor.

“I-I did not expect that,” I blinked.

“You and me both.”

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about me sleepwalking to Arkham and snapping the Joker’s neck,” I offered. Dick gave me a flat look. “Gotham needs Batman. What happens without him?” I asked.

“It means it’s our turn to save this city.”

#jason todd #titans dc #dick grayson #batman #batfam #the joker #batcave #please be nice #first post #i tried #typos everywhere #barbara gordon #jason todd x oc

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oloreaa · 4 years

Text

Vencuyanir Ch. 9 - The Medcenter

Summary: Their first conversation about what happened. A deal. Some first time parenting together thrown into the mix

Words: 8.0k i KNOW

Warnings: descriptions/treatment of wounds, allusion/inquiry about sexual assault, (past) child abuse, sick and distressed child, hospitals (please let me know if I missed something)

Notes: Hi, hello my friends!! I am overwhelmed by all of the feedback and responses I´ve received, and I want to thank you SO MUCH for it. You are all amazing and I am SO grateful to you. HUGE thanks at @adikaofmandalore for all of the logic suggestions and @over300books for going over the chapter with me and being endlessly patient.

▪ Previous ▪ Masterlist ▪ Vencuyanir ▪ Next ▪

……………

They were in hyperspace, moving towards some planet that the Mandalorian was steering the Razor Crest to. Elana stood in front of the mirror, examining the bruises on her face and arms, covering her skin, and tried to make sense of everything.

Facts first.

She and Bean were captured by the Mandalorian on Arvala-7. Bean was the actual bounty, for which he got a camtono of beskar. He took the payment and got himself a whole new armour made with that beskar. The Mandalorian risked his life to go back and get them away from the Imperials he had originally handed them to.

Speculations second.

The Mandalorian seemed to have taken a liking to them, in some way or another. He also seemed to have regretted giving them away, going to great lengths to rectify that action. He had risked everything in his job in order to rescue them, and now all three of them were probably wanted by the Guild.

Coming to a conclusion.

The Mandalorian, Bean and Elana were stuck together for an indeterminate amount of time, and even though she wanted nothing more than to never see that blasted beskar helmet again, she had to be realistic. If not for her own life, then for Bean's.

Elana knew that she was not suitable to protect Bean. She could not fight, she had nowhere to go, and no one who could help her. The only thing she would be able to do was to pick up jobs and earn enough credits to keep them afloat. But that was something that she could only consider to do for the rest of her life if there was not the issue with Bean being wanted by remnants of the Empire.

Thus, their best chance was, once again, staying with the Mandalorian.

Elana sighed deeply, staring at herself in the mirror. The bruise on her cheek where the stormtrooper had hit her was deep purple, the skin bloody. There were small scrapes all across her face, hopefully they would heal over the next few days. Her skin looked pale, the shadows underneath her eyes almost as dark as the bruises on her face. Gently using the water in the sink to wash away the grime on her face, Elana rubbed the dried and crusty flakes of blood out of her hair line, running her hands carefully through the tangles in her dark strands when she was finished. When she was satisfied with how her wounds were relatively clean, she unscrewed the bacta jar and smeared the cool substance onto her face and her wrists, careful with the sensitive skin. After she was finished, she stepped out of the fresher and saw the Mandalorian sitting on a crate, methodically cleaning one of his blasters. He looked up, and she squared her jaw.

"I think we need to talk," she said, shoulders tense.

The Mandalorian nodded.

"I don't think that I need to tell you what I think of your actions," Elana started off, picking her words carefully, "And you can obviously guess at what happened in that warehouse."

He met her gaze through that impassive beskar helmet, and she felt herself becoming furious.

"Why?" Elana did not care that she had asked this already. She wanted to hear it when he was not trying to constantly brush her off. The Mandalorian was quiet for a long time. "Is this because you want-- my offer?" Her mouth tasted like ash, jaw clenching at the thought of him cashing in the favour of yesterday.

His head whipped up. "No," he said quickly, voice hoarse, "Never that." He sounded so earnest that a part inside her relaxed, but she still could not help but stay wary, arms crossed in front of her chest defensively. "The job had felt off from the beginning," the Mandalorian sighed, a slight shift in his posture the only indicator for Elana that he was uncomfortable. "And when I saw that the bounty was the baby--"

Elana interrupted him, "You did not seem to mind when you dragged us away."

He was quiet again.

"I don't want a full on apology, Mandalorian, though Maker knows we deserve it," she spat, "I want to know if you will give us away again."

"Not to them," he said, voice low.

Elana scoffed slightly. "What a relief."

"I went back because it was wrong. The job, the payment, the bounty were all wrong. I had to go back."

Stepping a bit closer to him, staring down into where his eyes should be, she started to speak, fury burning in her. "You owe me, Mandalorian," she said quietly.

"If you want to be specific, it was me who saved both of you," he pointed out weakly, voice tense.

"Well, think again, tin can, whose fault was it that we needed to be saved?" Elana snarled, "It would have been something entirely different if you would have only turned me in."

His helmet tilted up.

"If it was only me, an adult, it would have been something entirely different," she repeated, "But the actual bounty was Bean. A baby."

The Mandalorian dropped his head down, and she hoped with all her heart that it was shame that crushed on him. She hoped that it would haunt him forever.

"So, I want a deal for you to make up to this." Elana hesitated at that, and turned the points, the logical points over in her head, chewing on her lip. "Isn't there a saying about you bounty hunters? You make the best deal for yourself and survive? Take what you can and make the best out of it?"

The Mandalorian nodded, voice grave, "Yes."

"I'm aware that I am not a fighter," Elana started off, "I am simply a hired caretaker, nothing more. But the only thing I can say about me, that I'm good at? I am a damn good caretaker for that baby." She pointed at the sleeping Bean. "Do you know how abused and neglected that child was when I arrived on Arvala-7? How quick he latched onto me because I would hug him? I will not let him fall into the hands of the Empire because that, that exact thing will happen again."

Elana breathed hard, tears starting to gather in her eyes, but she fought furiously against them. "Bean deserves a childhood, all right? He deserves to have his parents back, deserves to grow up without abuse, deserves to be on his home planet, wherever that is! But I cannot give it back to him. So the only thing I can give him is my love, and I will die before letting Bean become that scared child again. He has already seen too much violence in his life," Elana's voice was becoming thick now, the words coming out raw and jagged, pushed out between shuddering breaths as she tried her best to not simply fall apart in front of the Mandalorian.

Choking off a sob, she pressed a palm onto her face, turning away slightly from the bounty hunter who was watching her silently. "I'm sorry, I--" Elana automatically started to apologise for her outburst, before cutting herself off, squaring her shoulders. She did not owe him anything, she thought viciously, eyes burning, and she gritted her jaw, taking a deep breath to stabilise herself.

"Ever since we left the encampment, we've been dragged around, barked orders at, and I am tired of feeling helpless and looked down upon. So, I want a deal," Elana said, going back to her original point, "I want you to protect us until that Empire business is taken care of." Turning sharply to face him, she cut off what she assumed was protest, "You're a good fighter. You have a ship, you have weapons. And you owe us, both of us," Elana enunciated, "Get us onto some planet, help us find a way to get rid of the bounty on Bean, and then you can kark off again to wherever it is that you came from."

Staring straight at his visor, she could not help her tiny sneer as she gestured at his armour. "I think you've received enough payment to make us worth your while." He said nothing, only clenched his hands into fists.

"Make the best deal, right?" Elana said, knowing that she was looking right into his eyes, "Well, Mandalorian. I'm making the best out of my situation. Looks like my best deal is you."

The Mandalorian exhaled, his modulator crackling. Then, he replied, voice impossibly low: "Deal."

They stared at each other, neither of them willing to look away first, fists clenched at their sides, and only the sound of Bean stirring made them break eye contact.

The little baby sat up, big ears backlit by the light in the cubicle as he frowned at them. With horror, Elana watched as his face scrunched up, and he started to cry, ears almost grazing the floor for how low they hung. Hurrying over to him, leaning into the cubicle and putting him in her arms, Elana shushed him gently, swaying from side to side. All she felt from him was fear, sharp and sour, and images started to flicker across the bond. Of the doctor, of Elana being dragged away, of a huge needle poking into his side, him thrashing around until it got dark.

"Shavit," she whispered, before straightening and frantically pushing up the little one's robe, "Shavit!"

There was an injection point right above his elbow, the flesh swollen, a slightly darker shade than his surrounding skin, the band-aid on it loose from him squirming around.

"Get bacta," Elana heard herself say, voice shaking, "get bacta, now."

She dimly realized how the Mandalorian sprung into action, but she was occupied with checking Bean for other injuries, aware of the way he still sniffled and curled into himself. Tracing her fingers over him gently, Elana did her best to keep thinking happy thoughts at Bean, trying to calm him some.

"Mwa," Bean cooed, looking up tearfully, button nose twitching, and he clutched at her arms. She could feel that it was not something that actually hurt him. It was not an open wound, but it still stung a bit, which made him panic. Elana sighed in relief when it became clear that he was more scared that it would happen again than that he actually felt pain.

"Oh, honey," she murmured at him, "you're such a brave little boy, aren't you?"

The bacta jar appeared in her peripheral sight, and she grabbed at it, unscrewing it as fast as she could. Feeling the Mandalorian hover behind her, she ignored him, and started to carefully peel away the other band-aid. "Get new ones, please," she said on autopilot, fingers already covered in bacta, spreading it out on the green skin of the baby, carefully rubbing it in. Bean had not stopped sniffing, but he was watching her with big eyes now, quieter than before.

He was still scared.

"We're away from that place, okay, honey?" Elana started to say, hoping that her voice would soothe him some, "That nasty doctor can't poke you again, all right?" Huffing out a watery chuckle as he grabbed her arm and pressed his face into it, Elana traced his ears gently with her fingers.

Bandages appeared, and she nodded in thanks without taking her eyes off Bean. Quickly wrapping the wound up, she pressed a peck against the bandaged spot, and smiled at Bean, unable to hide how brittle it was. "You're all fixed up now, sweetpea," Elana said, and pulled his robes down again, scooping him up into her arms, "You don't have to be scared, okay?"

Careful of his arm, she positioned him so Bean could lay his head on her shoulder, a hand on his back, backing away from the Mandalorian who was still hovering behind them. "Thank you," she told the bounty hunter, her cheek pressed into the top of Bean's wrinkled head. Bean started to sniffle and whimper again, and shook, fear still in his limbs and lingering in his head.

"You're all right, honey," Elana told him, whispering it into his large ears, pressing kisses wherever she could reach, while never stopping swaying comfortingly.

Turning to look at the Mandalorian, she sighed deeply.

"I still have things I've got to say," Elana said quietly, mindful of Bean, "There are things that still need to be addressed."

He nodded. "That's understandable," he said, his voice rough.

Elana continued: "If we are going to be travelling together until we're on a safe planet, I need boundaries. There will be some general rules we need to establish otherwise this won't work."

"Of course," he agreed, voice so soft she had difficulties picking it up through the crackle of the modulator.

"I'm not looking for a fight, and I do not want to associate with you longer than I have to, and I'm pretty sure that the feeling is mutual," Elana said quietly, looking at the Mandalorian. "I'm only doing this for him," she added, bopping Bean gently for emphasis, and he nodded.

"Can I help?" The Mandalorian asked, surprising her. She blinked in bewilderment. "Uh, if you could set up the cot…?"

If there was a record for how quick a Mandalorian got the cot propped up for them, then he probably just broke it. As soon as he was finished, he pulled himself up in the cockpit with a "Be right back".

When Elana settled down on the cot, the Mandalorian reappeared, dropped down from above and landed quietly. There were dark blankets tucked underneath his arm, and he handed them to her.

"For Bean," he said, and she took them, biting her lips in uncertainty and looked away.

"If there is something like a crate or anything we can use as a makeshift pram? Do you have anything like that?"

"Wait," was all he said, before he moved around her, grabbed the smallest crate in the hull, and took out the tools that were in there before. Putting those into another crate, he presented it to her.

She took it, put it on the floor, and started to methodically pad it with the blanket. Using the leftover flaps to tuck Bean in, she set the crate right next to the cot, and turned to the Mandalorian.

"Would it be all right if we could get to a market in the next few days?" Elana asked before hesitating, "There are things that Bean would need, and I'm not sure if the Crest has all of them."

The Mandalorian nodded. "Sure," he said.

Bean was starting to slip into sleep now, but some sniffles still escaped him, and it was with a heavy heart that Elana traced his little face with a careful finger, using the bond to wrap him in a bundle of warmth, able to draw actual comfort out of her knowledge that they were safe now. They were actually safe for the moment. The bounty hunter hovered around in her peripheral vision, and Elana turned around, facing him, Bean's eyes now closed and his breaths even. The two of them stared at each other for a moment.

Elana hesitated, before adding what was lingering in her mind, resting on the tip of her tongue. "Thank you," she whispered, blinking fast as she felt herself tearing up again, "Thank you for coming back for us."

His head whipped up, body language showing his incredulity. It was quiet between them, and even though Elana did not regret her words, for he actually deserved the thanks, since he had risked everything by rescuing them, and it could not be taken back now. The words hung in the air, fragile like a silk thread, exposing more of Elana than she would have liked.

"... You're welcome," the Mandalorian finally said, and she was astonished at how wrecked he sounded. Maybe he truly regretted it. Maybe it was eating him up inside. A part of her wished for it. Another part was too tired to care.

"I think I'll get some sleep now," she mumbled, leaning against the edge of the cot, "That stuff from before... I don't know what it was."

"I can take you to a medcenter if you want to," the Mandalorian offered quietly, "Then you can also get a checkup for Bean."

Elana nodded, resisting the urge to sigh heavily. "That would be brilliant," she heard herself say, tilting her face so she could look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," he then said, before he dropped to one knee, head lowered while Elana stared at him in astonishment, eyes wide, "For everything. For how I treated you." The voice of the Mandalorian was so soft that she had difficulty picking out the words, but they struck something in her that she had no time to analyse while he was in front of her.

"I don't deserve forgiveness," he continued, words coming out haltingly, the edges jagged, "What I did on Arvala-7-- on Nevarro-- there are no excuses. But I'm sorry." His head was still lowered, the sound crackled through the modulator, and she could not decipher if it was his voice or his vocal filter that made it crack like that, "I'm sorry."

Elana felt her bottom lip wobble, and with horror she realised that her eyes were stinging with tears. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath, and clenched her fists, feeling her nails dig into her palms. "We can talk about this tomorrow," she managed, voice thick, "I can't-- I can't think right now."

"All right," he whispered, "Take your time."

Elana swallowed and looked away, heart clenching and she felt as if she could not breathe properly.

The Mandalorian said nothing, just nodded once, before standing up stiffly. As he lingered for a moment, she could hear the leather gloves creak, him flexing his fingers, but then he left without a word, pulling himself up into the cockpit.

Elana stared behind him, feeling uncomfortably, inexplicably conflicted. She sat down on the cot, the baby starting to snore quietly, and just closed her eyes, resting them for a bit. Whatever it was that the Imperials had given her was still in her system, but other than sleepiness and limbs that were starting to become impossibly heavy, nothing seemed to be out of place. She could only hope that it would be the same with Bean, that whatever they had injected him with would not make him sick afterwards. It was still too early to see if it had any lasting effects on the baby. Elana found the backpack with her clothes where she had put it last, luckily having forgotten to take it when they arrived on Nevarro. After tugging out a comparatively clean set of loose clothes and putting it on, she laid down on the cot and pulled the blanket over herself. It was not long until she fell asleep, but the apology of the Mandalorian rattled in her brain for as long as she was conscious.

Something was making noises next to her, waking her up. Elana blinked groggily, turning her head towards the noise. It was Bean, she realised, standing in the crate in front of her, arms outstretched towards her.

"Honey?" Elana whispered, and the baby scuttled closer. Bean gave a low whine, and she frowned, sleepy. Reaching out with an arm, she pulled him onto her cot, letting him crawl into her side. He snuggled into her shirt, and whined again, sounding pitiful. "Honey," she murmured, "what's wrong?"

When Bean climbed up on her chest, and pressed his face into her neck, she was instantly wide awake.

He was burning up.

"Bean?" Elana asked, heart suddenly pounding in her chest, "Oh no."

Carefully sitting up, a hand on his back to support him, she inspected the little child. Elana felt her heart drop as she looked at his glassy eyes and droopy ears, the usual green colour of his face looking faded. The tips of his ears, where the skin was usually pale pink, was a slight yellow instead. Across the bond she could feel him having a headache and a hurting tummy.

"Baby, sweetpea," she whispered, tilting him against her chest, slightly bouncing him, hand splayed across his back. Pressing his nose into her collarbone, he whined again, and Elana looked up, up to the ladder leading to the cockpit.

Should she?

If Bean's temperature rose too high, it could be dangerous for him, and with how bad he looked and felt over the bond, it would not be long until he needed immediate medical attention. Medical attention she could not give him.

Searching her feelings, knowing that she did not have any supplies, she felt her heart starting to race. Should she ask the Mandalorian? Listening to the child's whimpers, her decision was quickly made. Not even bothering to make herself more presentable, she clutched Bean close to her and climbed up the ladder with one hand. Walking around the opening, barely visible in the dim orange emergency light, towards the captain's quarters, she stood in front of the closed door. Elana hesitated again, staring at the grey durasteel.

Even though there was not any reason now to fear him, it was basically hard wired into her at this point. Rationally she knew that he would not go through all the trouble to rescue them and then kill them now, but emotionally she was still terrified of the bounty hunter, no matter if she talked back sometimes or put on a brave face.

But when she felt Bean starting to cry into her, little body trembling, she knocked resolutely at the surface. It was quiet at first, so she knocked again. Recalling how he had slammed her into the ground when she had tried to lift his helmet on Arvala-7, she figured that she should not barge into his quarters where he was likely sleeping without it.

"What?" The Mandalorian's voice sounded from inside, slurred from sleep.

She knocked again, more urgently, biting her lip as she shifted the baby in her arms. "Mandalorian?" Elana asked, face close to the door as she tried to listen to what was happening inside the room.

There was a low groan and some mutterings before steps sounded towards the door. When it opened with a hiss, Elana flinched back when the helmet basically appeared inches away from her face, the Mandalorian hunched down to stare at her smaller frame.

Even without the full beskar armour strapped to him, he had the same commanding presence, and his gloves and boots were clearly tugged on while he was half asleep, tiny bits of skin poking out here and there. "What is it?" he asked, stance intimidating but his voice soft.

"I need your help," Elana said, staring imploringly at the visor, "Bean is burning up."

It was as if a switch was turned, and his scrutiny shifted to the small child whose face was buried in her shoulder, and he gave off a pained whine just in that second. The Mandalorian's posture loosened some, even if the tension was still thick enough to cut with a knife.

"What's wrong with him?" The Mandalorian inquired, still sounding a bit rough from sleep.

"He has a fever, and he's in pain. I think whatever the Imperials have given him is making him sick," she said, shifting Bean up on her body again as he wriggled, unsatisfied with that position. Looking down at him in worry, she noted that his eyes were brimming with tears, and his face started to scrunch up, a pathetic wail tearing out of his little lungs.

"Do you have a medpack? A fever shot?" Elana asked the Mandalorian who was leaning in the door, watching them, clearly tense and uncomfortable.

He was quiet, the only sound between them Bean's sobs, before he sighed. "Let me check," the bounty hunter said, pushing past her, and starting to climb down into the hull of the ship. Elana stayed where she was, swaying on the spot, whispering and humming into Bean's petal soft ears. She gently rubbed his back as he cried, becoming louder by the second. "Oh, honey," she whispered, pressing a kiss on top of his forehead, biting her lip anxiously.

He sobbed harder, pressing his face into her shoulder while she did her best to stroke him across the back, hoping that the gesture would comfort him some. After a few unbearable minutes, the Mandalorian appeared again, pulling himself up to their level.

"I only have a med pack for open wounds," he said, voice tense.

Elana closed her eyes, and exhaled in dismay. "Shavit," she muttered, a frown on her face.

Studying her, the Mandalorian tilted his head, and sighed deeply. "Hold onto him," came from him, and he moved into the cockpit, the door opening with a hiss. She trailed after him, confused, feeling the wet patch in her shirt where Bean's face was buried growing. The pain that was projected over the bond did nothing but to make her more anxious.

The Mandalorian sat down in the pilot's seat and started pushing buttons, reaching up to flick some switches. Continuing rocking Bean, she sat down in the left seat, holding on as they dropped out of hyperspace, the sudden motion making Bean cry out. The Mandalorian did not waste a moment, looking at the navigation system, and punched in some coordinates.

"I'm taking you to a medcenter," he said, voice low, skillfully swerving the ship around to another direction, and entering hyperspace once again.

At the shift in the G-force Bean whimpered, and Elana held him close, cradling the back of his head as she gently positioned it onto her shoulder. As soon as the ship was stable, the Mandalorian stood up and disappeared again, dropping down into the hull with a loud bang. Looking after him, the twist of her body made Bean unhappy, so she quickly turned back, humming gently at him. He was exhausted but still kept crying, feeling too uncomfortable to rest.

Sleep, she told him over the bond, but he whined in protest, the unnatural warmth making him feel dizzy. Sleep, Elana repeated again, more firmly, and to her surprise, he actually fell asleep. When the Mandalorian climbed up again, he handed her an ice pack wrapped in a washcloth, and she accepted thankfully, gently pressing it against the burning forehead of the little child.

Both of them looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms, heartbreakingly pale.

"We'll be at a medcenter soon," the Mandalorian said quietly, and she looked up, right into his visor, and clenched her jaw.

"Okay," she whispered, giving him a serious nod. Only when he stepped away and sat down into the pilot's seat she realized how close he had been, and her hold on Bean tightened.

"Drop out of hyperspace in fifteen minutes," he announced after a while of staring at the navicomputer, pressing some buttons, "Put on some warmer clothes."

With those words, he stood up, and made his way into the captain's quarters, presumably to strap his armour on. It was terrifying how he still looked as broad and tall without the armour as with it. Getting down into the hull carefully, and placing Bean into the pram for the time being, she quickly braided her hair, keeping it out of the way, putting on actual clothes. As she tied the laces on her boots, Bean started to cry again, not yet waking up but right before it. Scooping him up, she climbed into the cockpit and settled into the left seat again, rocking Bean while she hummed a low tune.

The Mandalorian appeared after a while, his new shiny beskar armour glinting in the light, and he carefully approached them, checking on Bean from where he was resting his head on her shoulder. It was quiet for a beat. "He looks a little pale," the Mandalorian pointed out, sounding tense, "Has he showed other worse symptoms yet?"

"No," she whispered, eyes on the worrying yellow-looking baby, "I hope it stays that way."

Dropping out of hyperspace, a station appeared in front of them, and she let out a sigh of relief, noticing that there was not too much traffic. The less people there are, the less likely that there are other bounty hunters. Even though it had not even been a few hours since Nevarro, she did not think that it was paranoid to already look for potential hunters after Bean, and she was sure that the Mandalorian would agree if she asked him.

He maneuvered the ship into the right lanes; it did not take long until the Razor Crest was landed safely.

"Come on," the Mandalorian said, powered the ship off, and turned towards her. Moving quickly, he went past her, and was already halfway down the ladder when she stood up. Reaching his arms up at her, he motioned for Elana to reach Bean to him. She raised a brow at the Mandalorian.

"Give him to me," he said, and motioned again. Hesitantly, she extracted Bean from her shirt, and reached him down, the Mandalorian gently wrapping his hands around the baby, holding him securely. As she descended the ladder, he held Bean in his arms, and the little one whined, pressing his face against the beskar plate.

An idea came to her. "Use your armour to cool him down some," she told him, quickly grabbing a satchel, stuffed a blanket and the water bottle into it, "Do you have credits with you?"

"Yes," he answered, looking a bit bewildered with the baby in his arms, a cheek smushed against his chestplate. Elana nodded determinedly, and pressed the button to lower the side ramp. "Let's go," she said.

They quickly left the ship, and went into an open foyer, the cold light of the sterile place uninviting. Making a straight line to the receptionist's desk, she stopped in front of it. A Cerean male held up a finger at her, gesturing for her to wait with a small perfunctory smile, and finished up his call. "Good day, welcome to Naamel medcenter, how can I help you?" His tone was bored, and he did not even look up.

"We have a sick child," Elana said, "He has had a fever for a few hours now."

"A nurse will come to you in a moment, please go to the waiting room down the hallway, and register yourself."

The Mandalorian stepped closer, and stared down at the receptionist. "No identification," he said. The Cerean looked up, and then did a double take, eyes widening at the sight of the warrior.

"Of course, sir," he was quick to stammer, his eyes darting between the Mandalorian, Bean and her, and he pressed a button on his desk connected to a visible comlink.

"We have a high priority case, please get to it as soon as possible," he spoke into it, before giving them a nervous smile and pointed towards the room they were supposed to wait in. The Mandalorian stalked past the desk, Bean in his arms, and Elana was quick to follow after she shot a polite parting nod at the receptionist.

"That was the fastest response I've ever seen at a medcenter," Elana told him as she caught up to him, a slightly wry smile on her face.

The Mandalorian huffed. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Mwa," Bean said, stretching out a hand towards her as they entered the empty waiting room. Elana stepped close to the Mandalorian, both of them working together in transferring the baby from his arms into hers. In no time at all Bean was resting his head on her shoulder again, a big frown on his face, eyes teary, "Eh?"

"It won't take long now, okay?" Elana reassured him, patting him on his back, "A few minutes at most, sweetpea."

The Mandalorian was tense, and every time someone walked past the room his hand twitched towards his weapon holster.

"Keep your hand off your blaster, for Maker's sake," Elana hissed at him through clenched teeth, his behaviour setting her off, pacing around the sterile room. The only reprieve for the cold white paint was a potted plant in one corner and a framed painting of an underwater garden on the wall.

"No," the Mandalorian told her, fingers curling around the weapon. Elana took a deep breath in annoyance and glared at him.

"This is a medcenter, so: Keep your hands off."

"He's still being hunted," he said, looking at her.

"Bean getting treated is more important now, and I don't think the staff would treat him if you insist on being trigger happy," Elana said, voice dry. As if to help her point, Bean sobbed loudly, and she started rocking him gently again, pressing kisses against his forehead, not liking how yellow he looked at all. "Honey, just a bit, okay? You're such a strong baby," she told him, swaying from side to side, "We're gonna get you fixed up in no time at all."

"Mwa," he said, burying his button nose into her soaked shirt.

A Mirilian nurse came in, a med droid on her heels. The Mandalorian tensed instantly. "No droids," he told the nurse without preamble, and Elana's head whipped around to him. Was he being serious? Not only was that rude, but they could not afford being difficult. The nurse stared at him, clearly tired from a long day and dealing with difficult patients.

"Look, sir," she said, sighing heavily and kneading between her eyes, "We are understaffed as hell, and if you want a check in, you'll have to accept the droid."

Elana stepped closer to him, face set in a frown.

"We are not leaving until Bean gets treated," she hissed at the Mandalorian, before pushing past him and talking to the nurse herself, effectively ignoring him.

"Excuse him, miss," Elana said, "We need a check up, and something to lower his fever, I'm worried at how fast he got this bad."

The urgent words were underlined by Bean whining and starting to wail again, his sobs heartbreaking.

The Mirilian raised a brow at the Mandalorian, disapproval in her eyes. "I mean no disrespect, sir, but you're in no position to be picky about the staff. If your child looks as bad as this, I would suggest listening to your wife and letting a droid handle this."

"She's not my wi--" The Mandalorian started to say, while at the same time Elana injected: "He's not my husba--"

The nurse raised a brow, and held up a hand. "That's unimportant. You have a sick child, so let Bee-Two take a look at the baby."

Elana gave the Mandalorian a nasty look. "Yeah," she drawled, voice venomous, "Let the droid look at him now."

He sighed heavily. Bean was still crying.

"Ma'am, please go down that hallway, Bee-Two will accompany you to room A4," the nurse directed and turned around, hurrying to another patient.

Elana smiled at the med droid. "Thank you very much," she said, ignoring the annoyed huff of the Mandalorian.

"Please follow me," Bee-Two said, and started to walk towards the room the nurse had assigned them to.

"What is wrong with you?" Elana asked the Mandalorian, brows furrowed and daggers in her eyes.

"I don't like droids," was his short answer.

Elana scoffed. "Yeah, kriff. I can see that."

"Cut it out," he snapped at her, voice low, as tense as a springboard.

"You cut it out," she snarled, her last bit of patience snapping, "Stars, get yourself together."

The med droid led them into a small, brightly lit room, and gestured to the examination desk in the middle. "Please put the baby on this. I will perform a scan," it instructed, and Elana quickly did as it said. Bean whined as she set him down, claws outstretched to her, bottom lip wobbling. "Mwa," he called out with a sniffle, "Mwa."

Reaching over the bond, she wrapped him in a warm bundle of love, hoping that it would calm him down some. Letting him hold onto one finger, she looked up at the med droid. "Please step back. You can let him hold onto your hand," the droid said, and took out a big complicated looking scanner.

Something clicked ominously behind her, and when she turned her head, Elana saw the Mandalorian, blaster in hand.

"Stop that," she told him, this close to ringing his bell so hard he would have a concussion.

Bee-Two scanned Bean with a blue light, and then switched to a red light. "He has increased temperature that is above the normal range of his body," the droid announced, "Can you tell me what species this child is so I can make a better prediction of his recovery? Or is he a hybrid?"

Elana shook her head. "I don't know what he is," she answered, biting her lip.

"Very well. Going by the symptoms and readings of other humanoid species, then." With a whirr, it ran a diagnostic.

"Quite an amount of blood had been extracted from him, but it's nothing to be worried about. He will be fine in a few days with some rest. But there are substances I cannot identify accurately in his bloodstream," the droid said, and it was as if an icy hand wrapped around her heart. She stared at the droid, feeling her stomach drop.

"Are they dangerous, though?" Elana got out, sounding choked.

"From what I can tell, no. They do not bind to cells or are actively destroying them."

"Could you run a deeper scan?"

The droid whirred again, cocking its head in an uncanny way, before nodding once. "Very well," it said, "This might take a few minutes." Rolling towards a large, white device, it started to press buttons and prepare it while Elana and the Mandalorian watched anxiously. Bean whimpered, claws digging into her shirt, ears hanging low. She gently smoothed over them, hoping that soft touches were calming for him.

As soon as a green light started to blink, the droid turned around, and held its hand out towards Bean. "May I?"

Ignoring the Mandalorian behind her who audibly tensed, she placed the child into the droid's arms, and even though it hurt her heart to see the little child stretching his little arms to her, whining loudly, Elana knew that it was necessary.

The droid rolled over to the device, beeping in a soothing manner, and placed him onto the scanner. Glancing over her shoulder to the Mandalorian, her lips pursed as she saw that his hand was still hovering over the blaster. Giving him a look and a sign to put it down, Elana turned around again, and crossed her arms while waiting for the results of the scan.

"Why are you so tense?" Elana asked the Mandalorian in a low voice, "Because of the med droid?"

He said nothing, but tilted his helmet slightly.

"Are you serious?" Looking at him, not trying to judge, but understand, she furrowed her brows. "Why?"

He stepped closer, and it sounded as if he spoke through gritted teeth when he said: "Droids are unpredictable."

"Droids are helpful," Elana pointed out as Bee-Two beeped happily, probably having some toddler-appropriate programming installed in its software, and finished the scan.

"The substances are non toxic and should not cause any more damage than the fever," Bee-Two explained, "Once the fever is down, he will be completely healthy again."

"Thank the Stars," Elana exhaled, feeling like a weight had dropped from her heart.

"I can administer a fever shot so he will be able to sleep, he is not in a critical stage but with small children it can change rapidly."

"Do it, please." Chewing her lip, Elana watched as the droid left the room, presumably going to collect the shot.

Moving towards the table where Bean was lying on his back, Elana reached out a finger for him to grasp, and smiled at the little one. Mumbling encouraging praises and promises at him, the toddler was calmer than before, looking at her with big, dark eyes, the depth in them stunning.

Bee-Two rolled back, holding a tiny syringe, and it administered the shot to Bean quickly, the baby whimpering at the prick. "You can pick him up now. The procedure is complete," the med droid said, and she flashed it a thankful smile as she scooped Bean up.

He immediately clawed himself into her shirt, snuggling into her and burying his face in her shoulder. A quiet "Mwa" came from him as his fingers tightened to a point where it was almost painful.

"Shh, honey," Elana whispered and pressed a kiss on his left ear, "You can sleep now."

"Can you check on her as well?" Her head whipped around when she heard the Mandalorian voicing his request through gritted teeth.

The droid beeped once, before strolling over to her.

"Hand the child to your partner, please, I will give you a check-up," it said, and after a quick look at the bounty hunter, she placed the sleepy Bean into his arms. He instantly curled against the silver chestplate, ears turned to the back. She could feel the way Bean's mind slowly got fuzzy as the shot started to work, the fever lowering. The Mandalorian gave her a nod.

"Take your time," he said, somewhat awkwardly, "I'll wait outside."

Elana did not want to leave him completely alone with Bean, but she figured that it would probably be fine. If he bolted, Bean would bite him for her, she reasoned with herself, and since there was nothing to be done about it, she gave him an accepting nod.

The Mandalorian moved outside through the door that hissed open, and she could hear how Bean sleepily babbled at him.

Elana turned and faced the droid, before sitting onto the examination desk, her legs dangling on from the height. Bee-Two started to look over her, and its eyes focused on her cheek first, and then her wrists.

"Have you been recently freed?" It asked, and to be honest, she could not even blame it for the question. Elana was very aware how she must look like an escaped slave, especially in the Outer Rim.

"Something like that," Elana said, looking away.

"Do you have an implant?"

"Only standard ones, no trackers," she admitted.

"Have you been injured?" Bee-Two asked, its voice kind, "Are you in need of any specific testing, such as pregnancy tests?"

"No, none of that sort," Elana said, feeling a lump in her throat at the thought, slightly nauseous. Thank the Stars that the Mandalorian had never made any kind of advances on her, and that nothing had happened in the safehouse, probably due to Dr. Pershing.

The med droid beeped, and nodded. "That is pleasant to hear. I will run a scan on you now, and determine the extent of your wounds." Elana held still as it performed the procedure, and listened to it as it listed her various bruises, scrapes and wounds, commenting on the treatment that she had given herself already.

"I will administer a bacta spray on your wounds, they will heal you in a matter of hours. Be warned, older wounds might scar even with the treatment." Elana looked down at her wrists, and suppressed a sigh. There were worse scars to have, she told herself, and gave the droid a nod.

The bacta spray was cool as it misted her skin, and it smelled sharp and sickly sweet. Her skin tingled as the spray set itself onto her wounds, starting to become numb. Sitting up straight, Elana let the droid handle the cuts and scrapes that have already been looked after, letting it apply a new layer of bacta on her skin. Some of the bruises on her back the droid could reach better than she did, and it was a relief to have those treated as well. It did not take long until Bee-Two finished with a happy beep, and rolled back.

"All finished up," it told her with a little whirr, and the eye pieces moved in a way to indicate a smile. Elana automatically smiled back, and she stood up from the desk, her wrists fully numbed. When she peered at it, she could already see skin rebuilding itself. "This is amazing," she whispered, an awed smile on her face.

"Should I call your partner back in?" Bee-Two inquired, and Elana wanted to sigh, but it would be too much of a hassle to correct the assumption, so she nodded.

"Thank you," she said, and tugged on her sleeves, rolling the fabric down. The door opened with a hiss, and she could see how the Mandalorian had been standing right in front of it, arm curled around the little child, hand hovering over his blaster. He turned his head towards them, and his shoulders dropped with an exhale. Elana gave him a hopefully reassuring smile as she moved towards him, standing straight.

The Mandalorian stiffly thanked the med droid and placed some credits in its hand, Bean almost asleep against him. Before she knew it, he had pressed a hand between her shoulder blades in a not-so-subtle way to get her to move again. Elana glared at him, but chose not to comment, and when he pushed her down the hallway, she turned her head and called out a "Thank you!" to Bee-Two, who beeped back, his robotic hand waving in goodbye.

"We're going back to the ship," the Mandalorian said, and pushed a bit more.

She threw him the dirtiest look she could manage. "I can walk by myself, don't touch me."

He immediately put his hand away, but was still using his body to crowd against Elana, forcing her to walk faster, clearly wanting to get back to the Razor Crest as soon as possible.

On their way back, Bean quietly sniffed from time to time, but he was regaining some of his usual colour. After a short transfer of the baby from his arms into hers, Elana pressed her lips against the little one's temple to take his temperature, and was satisfied when he did not feel as hot to the touch as before. Elana held him close, the warmth and the weight of the baby comforting, and the relief of him being better making her feel giddy. Arriving at the port after a quick check-out, they made their way to and ascended the ramp of the old gunship.

As soon as they were safely inside, and the lock of the ship hissed, the Mandalorian disappeared into the cockpit to start the ship. The Crest lifted shortly after, and it was not long until the jerk and sudden roar of hyperspace alerted her to them being out of reach of the station.

Bean was sleeping now, his adorable snores soothing her frayed nerves, cooing at whatever dream he had behind those closed eyelids. Smiling at him, she gently stroked his little cheek, and felt her own exhaustion of an interrupted sleep set in. The Mandalorian dropped down again, but she was too tired to even flinch at the sudden movement.

"He's all right?" The Mandalorian asked, voice gentle, and he motioned to Bean. Not bothering to actually answer, she just made a "mhh" and nodded, her eyes starting to slip shut. He offered a folded blanket to her which she took wordlessly with a nod. "He will sleep like a rock," she said, and shot him a small smile.

"Good," he said, and tilted his helmet at her, "How are you?" His voice was unexpectedly gentle.

Elana glanced down, and was surprised to see that most of the redness had receded, the wound still steadily closing. "Looks nice," she said, her lips curving up once again, "Thank you for taking us to the medcenter."

"It was nothing," the Mandalorian said quietly, helmet downturned, and he took a step back, giving her space.

It wasn't, though.

And both of them knew that.

……………

Thank you for reading!!❤

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movedyourchair505 · 3 years

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Non Mio (Napule Nights)

Had this idea with Elana ages ago, Alex telling Jade about how he stole somebody’s girl back in the day. Smut warning.

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His hand was resting on her thigh, steady, spread out, squeezing every now and then when he shifted, the heat of his palm a constant against her skin, and as much as Jade tried to focus on the back and forth between Alexander and the man sat opposite them on the other side of the table, it also hadn't escaped her that he was more smug than she was used to during meetings, a dark chuckle escaping him unsolicited, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly with amusement as if there were something he knew that no one else did, and while he did not seldom exude this vibe, she'd noticed it to a different level, anticipated a beneficial outcome of the meeting for him as much as its conclusion.

She didn't miss a word, nor an exchange of glances, had noticed too how the other man's gaze had lingered on her in a way that she knew would only fuel Alexander's possessiveness, as well as hostility towards him, and she was relieved when finally, he closed the deal with a quick handshake.

“Pleasure doin' business wif yeh,” Alexander drawled. “Feel free teh stick 'round 'n 'ave a drink. 's on meh,” he declared.

The man raised his eyebrows, nodding slowly, oblivious to the exaggerated politeness he was being offered, as Jade could tell more so than ever that none of it was genuine, and that her husband had absolutely no respect for the other man. “Very kind,” he said. “But my girl's waiting for me.”

Alexander's eyes widened, his gaze following the man towards the bar once Helders opened the door for them to exit the small room. “Oh,” he said with a small chuckle. “Reyht.” Followed by his security, he steered Jade to approach the bar with his business partner, his hand on the small of her back possessively. “I remember 'er.”

“Oh, you do?” the other man asked. “Right. Right, she came to a meeting with me a while ago.”

The brunette looked up when she noticed them approaching, looking from the man that kissed her cheek for a greeting to Alexander. “Mr Turner.”

“Alreyht, luv?” Alex drawled, giving a pointed nod. “Nice teh see yeh again.” He licked his lips. “Didn't realise yous was still an item.” A small smile spread across his face. “Luvleh.”

Jade watched him from the side, now convinced she was missing something, and eager for the couple to leave so she could investigate her suspicions, so she took it upon herself to dismiss them. “It was a pleasure,” she said, holding her hand out, which the other man took and shook briefly.

“And you, Mrs Turner,” he said.

She smiled, had in the last couple of months not grown tired of hearing her name said back to her out loud, nor reading it on countless documents. She gave a nod to the woman, waited for Alexander to give a dismissive nod to both of them before they turned and walked towards the exit, Cook following until they reached the doors.

Before she could speak, Alexander was facing the bar, had ordered two more drinks. “Cigarette, pupa?”

She reached to draw the thin gold case from the top pocket of his suit jacket, placed one between his lips as he parted them. “Alexander,” she said, watching them flame dance steadily for a moment, then lighting his cigarette for him, watching him take a slow drag as he trapped it between his fingers. “What was that?”

He tilted his head to the side, shifting to sit back on one of the stools. “Wha'?” he asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly as he regarded her with his now full attention.

“You know what,” she said, taking a drag as he held out his cigarette to her. “What's the story with that loser?”

He chuckled. “Fookin' joke, weren't 'e?” He took another drag, blowing the smoke away from her. “I mean, I done business wif 'im before, and 'e 'ad 'is bird wif 'im. Tha' bird tha' were joost wif 'im. Were a mess of a meetin' then. Pissed meh reyht off.”

“And you kept doing business with him? Why was he here today?” she asked, her brows furrowed and she reached for her glass as the bartender placed their drinks in front of them. “Grazie.”

“Might've gotten sum compensation,” he shrugged, pursing his lips.

She watched him slick back his hair, instantly missing his touch. “Compensation?” she questioned skeptically.

A smile played around his lips again, conceited, and he took another drag from his cigarette, followed by a sip from his whisky. “Yeh. I asked 'er if she wanted t'stay for a drink. Fook knows why 'e let 'er. Maybe 'e thought it would 'elp business.”

“And it did. We just had a meeting with him,” she stated.

“Per'aps. It were more me own personal fun though. Got a bit of satisfaction. I mean, sheh were luvleh. Yeh saw 'er. Pretteh fing.”

She was wearing a dress that didn't leave much up to imagination and Alexander hadn't been able to keep his eyes off her, hadn't tried to, she looked exquisite, and definitely too good for the man she was sat with. He cleared his throat as the man turned to leave, beating him to speaking. “Would yeh like teh stay for a glass of the whiskeh I joost 'ad brought in?” He directed his gaze onto the pretty brunette clad in leather. “Bella.”

Her eyes widened. “Mr Turner...” She looked over at the man by her side.

Alexander hadn't quite expected success with his offer, knew that if the man knew anything about him, about his reputation, he'd take his girl straight home, but there was hope, a challenge, and he was bored, wanted to rise to it, had felt disrespected despite the man's low status, and he did not want to leave the encounter the way it had been. He'd won in business, he wanted to win personally. “Yes, luv?”

“I... well...” She glanced back between the two, biting her lip when the man that had brought her gave a hint of a nod.

“You have a drink. I'll wait for you at my place. Turner gets the best liquor.”

A small smile spread across Alexander's lips. He'd hoped the man would believe the only thing he could offer to his advantage, that it would help business if he used his girl as bait. He just had no way of knowing what Alexander had in mind, nor did he know much about his nature. And that simply fuelled his satisfaction.

“Alexander...” Jade shook her head. “You could've just not done business with him.”

“It were a good deal, even if it were below me standards,” he shrugged. “And it were fun, I tell yeh. Sheh were great companeh tha' night... and the fact that 'e dun't know after all this time... fookin'ell...”

She slowly began to comprehend his complacency throughout the meeting they'd just been in. “I think maybe their thing is just quite open...”

“Wha'? For this long?” he asked, shaking his head. “Nah, not wif 'im. There ain't no good reason why she'd beh wif tha' clown still.”

Jade pressed her lips together, nodding slowly.

“Yeh ain't jealous, are yeh, doll?” He reached to cup the side of her face, angling her head towards him until their eyes met, his thumb pressing into her skin just below her chin for control.

“It was years ago,” she stated, pursing her lips. “And you're just getting off on your power high.”

“D'yeh not fink the fact tha' 'e dun't know is... amusin'?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I suppose so,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I mean, it's not like I'm surprised you succeeded, Alexander...”

He tilted his head to the side, watching her take a sip of the drink he'd had poured for her. “So,” he hummed. “'ow's yehr man treat yeh?”

She swallowed. “Well...”

“I mean...” He held his hand up to elaborate. “All I'm sayin' is... yeh can do better...” He took a sip of his own. “Stunnin' girl like yeh...” He'd watched her shift closer to him, tucked her hair behind her ear, his thumb dragging slightly over her cheek for a moment. “If yeh ain't comfortable 'ere... yeh could come back wif meh to me place. Been told the view from me apartment's stunnin'.”

Jade shook her head. “You're impossible,” she said.

“I fink I were fair,” he shrugged innocently, crushing his cigarette in the ashtray, then snapping for one of the girls that walked past and gesturing towards one of the rooms. “Get tha' readeh for us, yeh?”

“She couldn't help herself...” she said, eyeing him closely, the way his lip stretched as he spoke demandingly, how his eyes softened slightly once they were back on her. The top buttons of his white shirt were unbuttoned as usual, offered a view of his sun-kissed chest and chain that matched his rings, his tattoos on display too. He'd just gotten his hair trimmed that morning, the sharp edges of his face accentuated, especially in the flattering low lights of the bar.

“'s gettin' yeh, eh?” he teased, a dark chuckle following.

“Alexander,” she huffed. “You are too full of yourself.” She had no doubts about his power, not now and not then, though wondered how far he'd taken it, why exactly he'd been so amused, and she couldn't suppress her curiosity as he nodded for her to finish her drink, then led her to the room he'd requested, the one they usually got when he didn't feel like being watched by everyone, didn't want everyone to watch her, and she was eased when the heat of his palm met her lower back again. “Did she fall for it? The view?”

“The view at me old place were stunnin',” he muttered. “Dun't quite compare to now, but...” He tilted his head. “I weren't lyin'. Birds loved it.” He led her inside, sat back in the cushions of the large sofa instantly, his arm stretched out over the back, his knees pushed apart. “C'mere.”

She lowered herself onto his thigh, his hand instantly on her hip to keep her there, and she looked at him, waited impatiently.

“I bet yeh're wearin' summat luvleh under tha' dress, darlin'.” He pressed his lips together as he watched her stood by the window, taking in the view of the city. “I mean, I kno'... not intended for meh, but... I gotta say... I do like fings tha' aren't s'posed t'be mine.”

The more time passed and the more he saw of her, the less he could suppress his lust, fuelled by the greed of not letting the other man getting away with securing a deal that he didn't deserve. Alexander had worked hard, and he knew he deserved more, that the deal was below him and the standard he'd acquired. “'e buy yeh nice fings?”

“Sometimes,” she said, nodding slowly, taking another sip from her drink, her eyes now on him. “He used to more...”

He hummed, nodded understandingly. “Rehyt. Anehfin' else yeh wish 'e did?” he asked, stepping closer to her. “Yeh can tell meh,” he added. “Joost between you 'n meh.”

She shifted into his palm despite the surprise of his touch on her hip, met his eyes, had evidently fallen victim to his charm that she'd been warned about, her fingers clutching on to the cool glass in her hand when he drew his other hand from his pocket and he was right there, her knees weakening further from the look in his dark eyes, and then he was forcing her lips apart with his, his intensity irresistible, and she found her body arching into his beyond her control, his hand sprawled out and pushing against her lower back.

Jade swallowed, watched his mouth caress the words as he spoke, his top lip stretching.

“Sheh needed it,” he declared. “Clearleh.” He pushed his tongue into his cheek, lifting his gaze to her. “Yeh want meh teh continue?”

She nodded, reluctantly, torn between not wanting to give him the satisfaction and admiring his unconditional power.

“Yeh make meh feel good then, eh?” he hummed, nodding downward. “C'mon,” he added, shifting backwards and sighing contentedly as she undid his belt buckle without another word, obeyed instantly and started stroking him once she'd freed him from the restriction of his shiny pinstriped suit trousers.

“Mm...” He hummed with satisfaction as he drew back. “Luvleh...”

Her eyes widened, her hand coming down flat on his chest, but he spoke first when she parted her lips to.

“Dun't worreh,” he drawled. “'s our secret, doll.” A deep sense of reassurance filled him when she leaned in for more and he was only too happy to comply, angling her head to kiss her harder, keep her where he wanted, chuckling when she drew away for breath sooner than he'd have liked. “Yeh sure this is wha' yeh want?” he hummed.

She swallowed, though nodded instantly, completely drawn in by his manner of absolute control and unshakeable confidence.

“Yeh stay 'ere, doll, 'n I'll... take vereh good care of yeh.” He let his hand wander lower, closing over her ass and ready to push up her dress. “Might beh a lot, but... I promise I am vereh nice.”

“I want to stay,” she stated confidently. “Mr Turner.”

He hummed, a flick of his wrist and her dress was pushed up around her waist, in no time he had her pinned to the window, stood behind her with complete control. “D'yeh need a safeword, luv?” he asked, his lips brushing against the side of her neck.

“N-Not usually,” she whispered, felt his hand coming over her mouth the moment she'd spoken the words, the other dragging her thong to the side.

He reveled in the way her breath hitched in her throat, her voice shaky. “Are yeh usualleh this wet?” He chuckled as she instantly bucked into his touch, rolled her hips back so his fingers instantly sank deeper inside her with a soft gasp that made the glass fog. “D'yeh like the view?”

She tightened around his fingers instantly, had him humming, seemingly pleased. “Good girl,” he drawled, pushing his fingers into her mouth. “Relax into meh.” Her lips sucked around his fingers instantly when he started fingering her simultaneously, her body compliant. “Mmm, yeh, tha's it, sweet'eart, joost give in...” he hummed. “Tha's me favourite.”

He could feel her giving in further with each push of his fingers, appreciative of the way she sucked obediently on his fingers while she took what he gave her, the promise of her lips soon too much to handle as she started drooling around his fingers, too tempting to not take. “D'yeh wanna taste me cock, doll?” he drawled, his breath against her neck. “'s alrehyt if yeh do.”

“Jade,” he snapped. “Enouf of tha'. On yehr knees.”

She was surprised by the sudden change in tone, the abrupt demand, but needed no telling twice, lowered herself to her knees between his legs, hardly had time to comply when his hand was already at the back of her head, fingers wound into her hair and he pushed her down on him, making her gag with how deep he pushed his cock inside her mouth, a long drawn out moan of relief leaving his lips as he threw his head back and she mewled around him, her eyes wide, watering, but she swallowed needily around him when his eyes met hers.

“Fookin'ell,” he drawled. “Yes.”

While he'd been careful before not to overstep any boundaries to achieve his goal, he was now sure he had her, could tell from the look in her eyes when he was no longer touching her and she clearly wanted him to, ready to follow his every command. “Sure yeh'll beh luvleh on yehr knees, doll,” he declared. “Yeh wanna show me?”

He watched contentedly as she knelt in front of him and he took her chin between his fingers, smiling down at her. “Keep yehr 'ead up... good girl,” he drawled. “Look like a girl tha' knows wha' sheh's doin'...”

She parted her lips, blinking up at him.

“Pretteh lips...” he hummed, dragging his thumb across her bottom lip, tilting his head to the side expectantly. “Open wider for meh.” He groaned as she sucked him into her mouth instantly. “Relax yehr throat,” he snapped, his voice trailing off into a moan when his tip hit the back of her throat. “Oh, wha' a good girl...” he hummed.

She moaned around him, tried to keep him there as he gripped on to her hair, clearly not finished yet, his undivided attention on her as she choked on him momentarily.

“Beau'iful,” he remarked. “Sooch a luvleh girl.” He hummed as he dragged her off him, licking his lips as he watched her clear her throat, her eyes shiny. “More than yeh're used teh, eh?”

Before she could catch her breath, his grip tightened again, forcing his cock down her throat and she tried her best to comply, eager for more of his praise.

“Thaa's it, sweet'eart,” he drawled as she swallowed around him again, stayed where he held her. “'ow wet's yehr cunt rehyt now, eh? Get off feelin' me cock in yehr mouf?”

He could tell she was struggling, took mercy on her and letting her catch her breath, stroking back her hair. “Vereh pretteh,” he hummed, drawn in by her swollen lips. “Would yeh like teh sit on me cock?” He tilted his head, surprised when she leaned into the touch of his hand. “Or d'yeh like teh joost beh used? Lie yeh down 'n I'll give yeh a nice fook?”

Even if she'd found her voice, she wouldn't have known what to say to him, too absorbed in his promises, everything he offered, had during the meeting gotten the impression he was all business, that the warnings of him were focused on the threat rather than the temptation of him, but she wondered now how many of his glances she'd misinterpreted, realised more and more that his mind was filthier than his manners when conducting business suggested.

“Yehr eyes lit up,” he remarked. “Like bein' pushed 'round? I could do tha', doll... yeh joost relax 'n do nofin'... joost take me cock...” He watched the excitement in her eyes. “Might beh sore 'n for a couple of days, but... promise yeh'll beh properleh fooked 'n taken care of.”

“Mr Turner...”

Jade gasped when he let her come up for air, had mostly let her suck his cock at her pace as he'd gotten lost in his story, though then refused to let her draw back, forced her down again and made her struggle so blissfully that the look in her eyes was worth it when she stared back at him. “Alexander...”

“Yehr mouf is fookin' luvleh...” he drawled. “Sooch a good girl...” He brushed his fingers through her. “Keepin' me cock wet while I tell yeh the storeh... yeh like tha', dun't yeh?”

She took his hand when he held it out for her, let him guide her into his lap. “Was she able to handle it?” she asked. “You fucked her?”

The sound of her voice had him almost losing control, as much as he enjoyed telling her the story, he really just reveled in her admiration. “Sit down on me cock, doll.”

“Alexander.” She blinked back at him, whining when his fingers closed around her throat.

“I fooked 'er,” he stated, squeezing lightly. “Overestimated 'erself though... 'ad teh stop meh at sum point... insisted teh suck me cock though, kept fankin' meh for takin' care of 'er...” As proud as he was, he was now speaking impatiently, watching her closely, an edge to his voice when his voice cut through the silence again. “On me cock. Now.”

Her grip tightened on his shoulder and she shifted her hips instantly, her head dropping down on his shoulder as his hand pushed down roughly to push her down in his lap and he filled her mercilessly, all at once and demanding to be felt, groaning loudly at the way she squeezed him in trying to adjust, her fingers digging into his shoulder. “Yesss,” he hissed. “Tha's me girl...”

“Alexander,” she whimpered breathlessly, the friction of his cock dragging against her walls too much, too blissful. “I-I... I love you.”

He stroked his hand down her back, possessively pressing down on her lower back to arch her body, to fill her deeper. “I luv yeh, Jade.”

The look in his eyes took her breath away, the depth of them, the intensity and devotion, and he pulled her in with his fingers still wrapped around her throat, capturing her lips in a deep kiss, consuming and with an overwhelming passion, the bitterness of smoke and whisky demanding to be tasted, the spice of his cologne intoxicating, the heat of his body forceful, his words slurred against her lips irresistible.

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