#he DID automatically raise the gun up for a sec

[n0maku]

no thoughts only deimos clowning . sanford looks so done here

#madness combat #madness combat deimos #nomakuposts #gifs #madness combat sanford #sanford pointing with his hook here is so amusing to me. #'take that OFF and pick hank UP' #MAN it's a good thing sanford didn't automatically shoot though gah #he DID automatically raise the gun up for a sec #nice how sanford gets to have expressions with his eyebrows unlike most others. #like the annoyed vibes come across even without the brows but it adds something #alright that's one more gif down from the pile i've stocked up #see yall tomorrow

[sweetyyhippyy]

Part of You. Spencer Reid x OC! Character. Chapter 7.

(not my gif)

Summary: Bridgett’s life gets turned upside down with the news that her sister is missing. The team travels to her home town to help find her.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x OC! Plus size character, Bridgett Mendez

TW: Mentions of rape throughout this whole chapter (If this makes you uncomfortable, do not read or engage), underage dating (17 year old and 26 year old), mentions of a gun, talk about death, finding a dead body, language. If i missed anything let me know.

Word count: 5.9k

A.N.: This chapter has a very dark and heavy story line, if you don’t feel comfortable reading the chapter with all of the trigger warnings up above, please do not read. This is mid season 6 Spencer (pre Emily’s “death”).

~ ~ ~

“You do!” Spencer laughs, his hand resting on Bridgett’s knee, his thumb slowly going back and forth against her knee cap.

“I do not! You’re the one that snores in my ear when you’re sleeping behind me and spooning me.” Bridgett teases back, shoving his shoulder playfully.

“Just when I’m extra tired.”

“Oh so that would be all the time.” Bridgett laughs, touching his cheek with her fingers. “What do you want to do this weekend? Hoping we don’t have a case interrupting it.” Spencer moves his hand up Bridgett’s thigh, staring at her intensely.

“You.” Spencer says quietly. Bridgett smirks at him, taking his wandering hand and holding it in hers.

“Is that so? Well I think that sounds like a pretty busy weekend.”

“Yeah I think it will be.” Spencer replies, making her heart flutter a little bit, taking her hand and kissing it.

“Bridgett, I need to speak with you. My office.” Hotch says, whizzing past her toward his office.

Bridgett and Spencer look at each other with wide eyes.

“You think he noticed?” Bridgett asks, hopping off Spencer’s desk onto her feet.

“Yes he noticed! I was basically 2 seconds away from making out with you!”

“But why didn’t he call both of us in?”

“You have to separate the suspects in order to get the full story.”

Bridgett glares at him, walking away quickly up to Hotch’s office. When she walks through the doorway she sees Rossi sitting in as well.

“What’s going on? Am I in trouble for doing what I was doing with Spencer?”

Rossi raises an eyebrow, glancing over at Hotch, now wondering what she was doing with Spencer.

“No. Shut the door and sit please.”

Bridgett shuts the door carefully, the walk over to the chair seeming like a mile away.

Hotch sighs, “When was the last time you spoke to your sister?”

Bridgett furrows her eyebrows, her mind instantly swimming, “On Sunday evening. We always call each other then. Why are you asking about her?”

“When was the last time you spoke to your parents?”

“I don’t.”

“When was the last time you had any contact?” Rossi questions, flipping through a folder in his hands.

“My mom called me about,” Bridgett pauses, thinking back in her mind, “A year and a half ago. She left a voicemail about how she was leaving my dad because he got another woman pregnant. But I’ve heard that so many times and I don’t care to speak to her anyway so I didn’t call her back. What’s going on?”

“Celeste is missing. Your parents reported her missing an hour ago. We just got the call about 20 minutes ago.”

Hotch hands her the missing person’s flyer, her sister’s senior picture with all of her information on the side. Bridgett’s heart drops into her stomach, staring at the paper in her hand. She automatically dissociates from the situation, everything in the room going dead quiet, tears welling up in her eyes.

“When?”

“Your parents last saw her Monday morning on her way to school.” Rossi says.

Bridgett comes back to reality, eyes flickering between Hotch and Rossi, her blood boiling. “Wait, wait. She’s been missing for 4 days and they just barely reported her missing? They haven’t seen her in fucking four da-“ Bridgett laughs in disbelief, rubbing the middle of her forehead in circles.

“We’re taking the case on. Your sister isn’t the only young girl missing. 3 other girls, ages 18-20 years old were reported missing within the past month.”

“Were any of them found alive?” Bridgett questions.

“Bridgett, we don’t know if they’re connected.” Hotch says trying to get her to calm down.

“I know I’ve been a cry baby every day of my life since you’ve known me, but I’m a big girl, I can handle the truth. I know you know if they’re connected.”

The two men give each other a look before turning back to look at Bridgett.

“It’s not for certain but we do have reason to believe they’re connected. And no, none of them were found alive. But that doesn’t mean your sister isn’t alive. We want you to do the briefing on the jet. I’m going to tell the team wheels up in 20.”

“Can I have a minute before we go?”

“Of course. We’re going to find her, Bridgett. I promise.” Hotch says, making a point to look into her eyes.

Bridgett gives him a small smile, trying to keep her tears at bay. As soon as both of them leave Bridgett breaks down, tears falling down her cheeks onto the paper still in her hand. She didn’t have to be as smart as Spencer to figure out who Celeste was with. She just hopes that she ran off with him and it wasn’t a violent end.

**** Bridgett sits by herself in the back of the jet while everyone else was up front talking. Spencer tried to ask what was the matter, but Bridgett just told him that she needed to be alone for a few minutes. He knew she was upset, but he couldn’t tell why, and he couldn’t hold her to make her feel better.

Hotch walks up to Bridgett, handing her the case file. She stands up and walks to the rest of the group, her hands shaking and her heart pumping fast as everyone gives her a questioning look as to why she was about to brief everyone and not JJ.

“Umm, so, we have 4 missing women in Erickson, Texas. Ages 17-20. Makayla Weber, Vanessa Davis, Elizabeth Jensen; all of whom have been found dead. Signs of rape before being choked to death and dumped at random… and my si-“ She pauses, sighing shakily, “My sister… Celeste Mendez was reported missing this morning.”

Everyone’s faces are a mix of shocked, horrified, sympathetic.

“My parents barely reported her missing a few hours ago even though she’s been missing since Monday night. And I didn’t tell you this back at the office, I’m sorry, but I know who the unsub is.”

Hotch raises an eyebrow, Rossi still stone faced.

“How do you know?” Derek asks.

“Garcia, can you search the name Joshua Wolfe please? E at the end of Wolfe.”

“Okay give me a sec… no criminal record, a few speeding tickets over the past few years, but nothing serious.”

“Are there any newspaper articles written about him? From high school?”

“Yes, star football player, quarterback, got The Erickson Tigers to state championship 3 years back to back, multiple offers from different schools for full ride scholarships for football.” Penelope says, listing off all of the “great” things written about him.

“Yeah he was all of those things. But he’s also a pervert. He’s dating my sister. He’s her soccer coach and when Celeste came to visit me 4 months ago she told me that they were seeing each other. I flipped, told her how disgusting it was, that it’s illegal, she didn’t care. She was ‘in love’ with him.”

“How long have they been seeing each other romantically?” Emily questions.

“Since early July, so about 7 months or so. She was 16 at the time. She kept saying that because the age of consent is 16 that it wasn’t illegal, but she doesn’t understand because she’s blinded by what she thinks is love but is just him manipulating her into falling in love with him and thinking he loves her back. It’s all part of his game. He makes you feel special, and good, and then he…”

“What? What does he do?”  JJ asks, giving Bridgett a comforting hand squeeze.

“The thing to know about Joshua is that because he was a star athlete, he of course, got all the girls. He was handsome, athletic, popular, but he didn’t take kindly to being turned down from sex… I would know.”

“What do you mean?” Emily asks, her face reading that she already knew where this was going.

Bridgett looks at everyone’s eyes, all of them knew without her even saying the words. And worse of all, Spencer knew too, and she had to admit to her boyfriend in front of all their friends that one of the worst things that could happen to anyone, happened to her.

“My senior year, everyone was at the homecoming game, and I was a part of the student council. We helped set up concession stands, announced the homecoming court, all that. And when everything was all done and we had cleaned up for the night, my parents weren’t answering the home phone, and I had told my friends that I didn’t need a ride home so I was stuck. But Joshua saw me sitting in the parking lot, and asked if I needed a ride home. Of course I took it because it was Joshua Wolfe, all the girls wanted him, he was a charmer, handsome, had it all. So he drives past my house to this look out of the town, everyone goes there on dates to have sex, and I knew what he was trying to do, but I didn’t want it. He kept trying to kiss me, and stick his hands down my pants. So I got out of the car and tried to walk away, but he pulled a gun on me… told me if I didn’t get back in the car he was going to shoot me. So I got back in. Told me to get undressed and go to the backseat or he would shoot me. So I did. And then he forced himself on me. I told him I didn’t want it, but he didn’t care. He… he raped me. Then he pretended like nothing happened, threw my clothes at me and told me to get dressed. He took me back home. I told my mom what happened… and she had the audacity to tell me, that if I really didn’t want to have sex, I would have fought him off harder. That I should have made him get off me. So I called a friend and she took me to the police station. I talked to the sheriff and he said he didn’t believe me. That if what I was saying was true, that reporting it would be damaging for Joshua’s future career opportunities. I didn’t even get sent to the hospital for a kit. He got away with raping me. It got around at school that I reported him raping me, one of the girls I went to school with, her dad was an officer, so she told everyone. And it wasn’t hard for the rumor to circulate. But then Joshua came up with a story that I was drunk, kept making moves on him, he felt bad because I was crying that nobody would ever have sex with me because I was fat, and had sympathy sex with me. Of course that was the story everyone believed. I was the girl who cried rape and nobody ever let me forget it. I hated him, I have never hated a person as much as I hated him. And it was like he got off on me hating him, seeing me get taunted, and crying about the shit people did to me and said about me. People would follow behind me in the hallways and scream ‘rape’ at me, thinking it was funny. None of the teachers ever did anything about it.”

Bridgett couldn’t even look at them after the story, she couldn’t stand to see the sympathy in their eyes. She didn’t even want to know what Spencer’s face looked like right now. The jet was oddly quiet, everyone processing the last few minutes. Bridgett finally sits down, tears dripping down her cheeks remembering all the shit she went through the last 7 months of high school. JJ gets up out of her seat and hugs her tightly.

“Oh my god, Bridgy… honey I’m so sorry.” She whispers.

“You think he preyed on your sister to get back at you? He ruined your life in high school, maybe he knew how close you and your sister are and it was just another jab at you.” Spencer asks, finally saying something.

“It could be possible, yeah. It wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Did your sister know about the rape?” Rossi asks.

“No. She was 10 at the time and it was never something we talked about in the house because it was my fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault, you know that right?” Derek says quietly, placing his hand on Bridgett’s knee.

“I know that now. But 17 year old me didn’t. I believed my mom. I know Celeste is with him. They probably ran away together or something, I’m just scared that if he is the one that killed the other missing girls, it could happen to Celeste. Has he been at school?”

“Records show he was at work on Tuesday but hasn’t been back since. I have the last known address and am sending it to you now.” Garcia interjects, Bridgett looks up at the computer screen, Penelope had tears in her eyes as well.

Hotch hands everyone the case file before everyone goes off to read up on it. Bridgett stays sitting in the chair she had been, zoned out, not noticing Spencer coming to sit next to her until she felt a tight grip around her body. Bridgett relaxes into him, letting tears flow freely into his chest. They don’t speak to each other, Spencer respecting that she needed to let it out, he holds her head gently, slowly going down her hair to comfort her.

*** The team sets up at the police station, getting all the information they needed from the sheriff, the same sheriff that she reported her assault to years ago and didn’t take her seriously. Bridgett stays back from him, not confident in herself that she wasn’t going to yell at him.

“We’re heading out, checking out Joshua’s house. Reid, stay with Bridgett.” Hotch says. Rossi and Derek leave out of the doors.

“I wanna go.” Bridgett demands, standing up from the chair she was sitting in.

“You know you can’t go. We’ll keep you updated when we know anything.” Hotch replies.

Bridgett slowly walks over to Spencer, he pins the map of the town on the board in front of her. She wraps her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. His heart breaks because he knew how lost and upset she was, and he really couldn’t do or say anything to help her. He turns around to face her, her eyelids were red and puffy, she looked exhausted. Spencer cups her cheeks in his hands, kissing her forehead twice, he didn’t care if the rest of the local police saw.

“I’m glad you talked about what happened. Probably not the setting you wanted to talk about it, but still glad. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, sweetheart.” Spencer speaks softly.

“I’ve wanted to tell you, but it’s so hard for me to talk about. That was the first time I ever got through it without crying a lot.”

“It’s okay. It’s hard talking about traumatic experiences. Have you ever talked to anyone about it?”

“A shrink? No. I probably should but I don’t know, it’s nerve racking.”

“Bridge, your parents are here.” JJ says, stepping into the room.

Spencer let’s go of Bridgett’s face, letting her walk out of the room into the hallway. “I wanna go in there.”

“Are you sure?” JJ asks.

“Yes I’m sure. They’re not going to talk to anyone else. They don’t like cops. I have a better shot at getting them to say anything.”

JJ sighs, finally nodding her head. “If you need to step out, we’ll be in the next room. Don’t let them get to you.”

Bridgett nods her head, walking to the interrogation room door, stopping before grabbing the door handle. She takes deep breaths, wiping her face with her hands to try and look less of a mess. She counts to 10 slowly before walking into the room.

“Mom. Dad.”

They both look up at Bridgett, her dad staying stoned face while her mom’s face softened.

“Hi mija.”

Here we go.

Bridgett sits down across from them with a sigh, opening her case file and pulling the missing persons report out of the folder, sliding it across to them.

“Why would you wait 4 days after your daughter is missing to report it? She never came home from school Monday and you didn’t think it was the slightest bit weird?”

“No. The past few months it’s been happening.  Her leaving and not coming back for a few days. It’s mostly her leaving Friday morning and not coming back home until Monday night after school. But we called her on Wednesday and she didn’t answer her phone. She had a game Tuesday and she wasn’t there.” Her mom explains.

“She never missed a game.” Bridgett mutters. “And do you know who she was leaving with on weekends?”

“You’re the one that talks to her all the time, you don’t know?” Her dad snaps, hitting his palm on the table.

Bridgett stares him down, “Do you know every single detail about all of your kids? I bet you couldn’t name us in birth order. In fact, you couldn’t even tell me the color of my eyes. I’m there for Celeste since you guys clearly aren’t.”

“Bridgett.” Her mom saying her name in a warning tone. “You still need to respect your father.”

Bridgett laughs, “I need to respect him? He doesn’t know the meaning of the word respect! Look how he treats you! And the way he’s been treating you the past 24 almost 25 years!” Her voice raised in volume quickly, her voice ringing through the room. “Let me tell the ‘Parents of the Year’ something, she’s been having a sexual relationship with Joshua Wolfe, her high school soccer coach. She told me about it when she came to Virginia a few months back.”

Her dad gets up from the chair, making it fall to the floor and walking out of the room. Bridgett turns back toward the mirror, motioning for someone to go get him. She sees two of the local police follow after him as Emily walks in, sitting down next to Bridgett.

“Why does that name sound familiar? Joshua?” Her mom questions.

“Really? You don’t remember that this man raped me and you told me that it was basically my fault! You victim blamed me! And then the people you’re supposed to go to for help tell me that I’m going to damage his career if I cry rape! Nobody believed me and I had to emotionally and mentally live with the fact that I never got any help for my sexual assault! I warned everyone about this asshole and nobody believed me! And now my sister, my whole life, is missing and he needs to be suspect number one! I don’t give a fuck if he was a football star and a good kid, I know he has Celeste and you couldn’t even pay attention for 5 goddamn seconds to know something in your own child’s life!” Her eyes were cloudy with tears, her voice breaking and hoarse.

Emily stands up, trying to pull her out of the room. “Bridgett, you need to walk away.”

“Oh this shit again? He wouldn’t do something like that, Joshua is a respected person. It was so long ago.”

“And I’m still traumatized! Maybe if you paid an ounce of attention to your kids, one wouldn’t be missing and the other wouldn’t live states away to get away from you!” She yells, walking out of the room.

Spencer meets her in the hallway, enveloping her in a hug. He shushes her, stroking her hair. “Come here. It’s okay, you did good.”

“That’s the reason I left. That’s why Celeste was planning on leaving after graduation. I shouldn’t have ever left her.”

“It's going to be okay. We’re going to find her.”

“I’m taking her back to Virginia. She’s not staying here anymore.”

“Guys, we gotta go,  they found Joshua.”

***

Bridgett automatically recognized the white vintage pickup truck parked in the driveway, the same one he had that night. Rossi, Hotch, and Derek were waiting across the street at the other house, a few other police cars parked in the street. Everyone hops out of the car, walking over to the other half of the team.

“He’s in there. We don’t know if Celeste is in there for sure. He’s saying she is but he won’t come out. Rossi’s trying to talk to him, coax him out.” Derek explains.

“He wants Bridgett.” Rossi says, moving the phone away from his mouth.

“No.” Spencer says from behind her.

“What do you mean no? I’m going in there.” Bridgett says, checking her vest and gun to make sure everything was in order.

“I agree with Reid, it’s too risky. Especially with how emotionally impulsive you can be.” Hotch replies.

“Bridgett might have the best shot of getting him to tell us where Celeste is. One of us will follow behind you and stay by the door outside, and we’ll be listening in.” Derek says.

Bridgett looks around at the rest of the team, waiting for the okay from Hotch, even though everyone already knew that Bridgett was going to do what she wanted.

“Morgan, stay with her, but fall back just enough where you won’t be seen. We don’t know what’s going to set him off. Bridgett, say the word and we’ll move in.”

“Got it.” She says, walking up to the house with her gun drawn out in front of her. Once she gets to the door she knocks on it, seeing Derek duck out behind an overgrown bush off to the side of her. The door opens, Joshua standing behind the screen door. He still looked the same as he did in high school, a 5 o’clock shadow on his face.

“I knew you would come running to be your sister’s savior. Look at you, filled out since the last time I saw you.”

Bridgett looked at him in disgust. “Where’s Celeste?”

“Why don’t you come inside and find out?” He asks, opening the screen door. She follows behind him, keeping her distance. Bridgett looks around the house, everything was neat and tidy, not a pillow, picture, or knickknack out of place.

“You need to answer my question. Where is she?”

Joshua sits in a chair, his arms laying flat on the arm rests.

“How much is it killing you inside to know what your sister and I do? That I had both you and her. And at the same age.”

Bridgett draws her gun on him, walks toward him slowly, “Where. Is. She? You have 15 seconds before I shoot you right in the middle of your goddamn forehead. Tell me where she is Joshua!”

“Well if you shoot me how are you going to find out where she is? Sit, talk to me a while. Let’s catch up.” Not so much as a blink coming from him when Bridgett drew the gun on him.  

Bridgett rounds the corner of the couch, sitting across from him, gun still drawn on him. “You want to sit and chat? Let’s sit and chat, Joshua.” She spits, narrowing her eyes at him.

“She loved me. Loved all of me.”

“Mother fucker. Where is she? I’ll fucking kill you myself!”

“Got both the sisters on my scorecard.”

“Fuck you! Your piece of shit. Where the fuck is she? You don’t get it. My team has my back, just like all the boys on the team did after you assaulted me. They’ll vouch that you pulled a weapon on me, I’ll shoot you, clean shot. I’m the best shooter on this team, I don’t miss. Tell me where she is!”

The door opens behind her, the team flooding in, all of their guns drawn on him.

“Drop the bull shit, Joshua. Tell us where you have Celeste.” Derek yells, stopping next to Bridgett.

“Celeste found out about the other girls. She realized that she wasn’t the only one in my life, figured out what I had done to them. She threatened to call her big bad big sister, and I knew what I had to do.”

Bridgett drops her gun, her patience officially running out and charging him, kicking his legs from under him, his whole body hitting the floor with a thud. Bridgett climbs on top of him, wrapping her hands around his throat.

“Tell me where she is!”

“44th and McLeary. The Stephenson's old house.” He chokes out, his whole face cherry red. Bridgett holds her hands against him for a few more seconds, watching him struggle for air. Derek picks her up off of Joshua, handing her off to Spencer.

“Cuff him. I’m going.” Bridgett runs out of the house to the car, jumping in the driver seat. She sees Spencer slide in next to her in the passenger seat. The back doors open, Rossi and Hotch in the backseats waiting for her to floor it.

*** Bridgett presses on the brake pedal firmly, the whole SUV stopping suddenly. She puts it in park, not taking the keys out but jumping out. Hotch and Spencer block her path, stopping her in the middle of the driveway, both of them holding her back.

“Wait here. Do not let her in yet. We need to clear the house.” Rossi says, Hotch following behind him with their guns drawn. Bridgett watches them walk into the house. Spencer holds her against his chest, trying to get her to relax.

“I wanted to kill him. I looked in his eyes when I was choking him… and if Derek would have let me, I would have killed him.”

“Trust me, you’re not going to have to worry about him again. He’s not going to hurt you or your sister anymore.”

“We found her…” Rossi’s voice rings in their ear pieces.

“Celeste! I’m coming.”  Bridgett runs into the house, her heart beating fast, a new wave of adrenaline coursing through her body. She goes to the back of the house and sees both men standing in the hallway.

“Bridge wait, she’s not… she’s gone”  Rossi says, holding her arms. “You don’t want to see her like this. You don’t want that to be the last memory you have of her.”

Tears instantly started flowing down her cheeks, her whole body going numb. She gripped onto Rossi’s arms, collapsing against him. Bridgett sobs into his shoulder. He whispers ‘I’m sorry’ into her ear over and over again, trying to hold her up.

“No, I need to see her. I need to see if it’s her.” She cries.

Rossi looks at Hotch, waiting for his approval. Once he nods his head Rossi let’s her go. Bridgett walks forward, staring at her sister lying lifeless on the floor.

Celeste was left in just a tank top and underwear, her tan skin was now pale, her lips dry and a hint of blue on them. Her cheekbone had a purple bruise on it, one long bruise around her neck as well, dried blood under her nostril. There was a pool of dried blood surrounding her body. She drops to the floor next to her, moving her hair out of her face. Holding Celeste’s hand, crying over her body.

“No! Oh my god no. Celeste, baby come on, wake up. You can’t go. Call a medic, she needs help.” Bridgett calls out behind her, frantically looking to the three men behind her. Spencer drops down next to her, rubbing her back in comfort.

“Bridge, she’s gone.”

“No! Not my baby. Not my sister. I’m so sorry, Celeste. I’m so sorry. Baby I’m so sorry. Please. Please come back, Celly, please.”

Bridgett falls into Spencer's chest, clinging to his button up shirt and screaming in agony. Bridgett kept repeating Celeste’s name, screaming for her to come back. Spencer held Bridgett like you would hold a child, trying to keep her head against his chest and trying to shield her eyes from Celeste.

A few minutes passed, the rest of the team arriving at the empty house and heading to the back, Bridgett still inconsolable in Spencer’s arms.

“Bridge, Bridgett, honey your parents will be here any minute, we gotta get you up” Emily says, bending down to be eye level with Bridgett. Bridgett shakes her head, the rest of her body shaking against Spencer as she tries to catch her breath.

“I know you don’t want to be here when they come to see Celeste. We’ll just go to the backyard, get you calm, cleaned up, and then we’ll head over to the station.”

“Come on, babe, let’s get up.” Spencer says softly, looking down at her.

“Don’t leave me. Please?”

Spencer wipes the tears from her face, kissing her cheek. “I’m not going to leave you. I’m right here.”

Bridgett finally sits up, Emily helping Bridgett to her feet, giving her a big hug. Once she looks around the room she sees the team standing back in the hallway, their faces reading sympathetic. Bridgett clings onto Spencer’s arm as they walk toward the back of the house to the sliding doors to the backyard. Bridgett sits on a tree stump off to the side of the yard, Spencer sitting right behind her. She couldn’t form thoughts, focus on anything around her, stop crying, it was like she wasn’t in control of her body or mind.

“Bridgett?” Spencer calls her name, shaking her shoulder softly.

“Hmm?”

“Emily asked if you wanted anything to drink.”

Bridgett looks up at Emily standing above her. Trying to figure out if she had been standing there the whole time.

“Just water, please.” Her voice was frail and hoarse from all the screaming.

Emily nods her head, walking back inside the house. Spencer hugs her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. Bridgett rests her arms on top of his, stroking his knuckles absentmindedly. Spencer wanted to say something, but it needed to be better than just “I’m sorry.”

A few minutes later a piercing scream travels through the house and out of the back door to where Spencer and Bridgett were sitting. Bridgett picks her head up and looks through the window into the house, seeing her dad make his way out of the hallway and dropping to his knees. Both of them could hear her mother’s gut wrenching screams come from inside. As much as Bridgett hated her parents, they shouldn’t have to bury their child. No parent should.

“Hey, let’s go to the car.” Spencer says, trying to distract her.

“No. I wanna be here when the coroner picks her up.”

“Why don’t we go to the front yard, we can wait in the car, in the air conditioning, and you can see when they get here? I don’t want you to pass out from being in the sun and crying. Not to mention you haven’t eaten since before we left Quantico.”

Bridgett agrees after a few seconds, shakily standing up and walking with Spencer to the front of the house, sitting in the passenger seat next to Spencer, the cool air blasting against her warm face. Spencer handed her a granola bar, Bridgett rejecting, there was no way she could stomach food right now.

“Bridgett, I know you’re upset, and your world just stopped, but that doesn’t mean you can stop taking care of yourself. You need something in your system.” Spencer says, opening the wrapper for her and handing it back. Bridgett takes it, breaking it in half and taking a bite.

“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult, I just don’t know how to process this right now.”

“You’re not being difficult. You’re mourning. I want you to know you’re not going through this alone though. Okay? I’m right here, baby.”

“I know, thank you for being here, Spence.” Bridgett whispers, touching her hand to his face.

They sit in the car in silence, watching police walk in and out of the old worn down house. Finally the coroner’s van pulls up, a man and a woman stepping out. Bridgett steps out of the SUV, watching them take the gurney out of the back of their van. Spencer comes up next to her, holding her close to him. It felt like forever before they came back out wheeling her sister’s body in the white sheet, out of the house. Bridgett’s tears start back up once again watching Celeste be removed from the last place she was alive. Her parents followed after, they were holding each other and crying, her father and Hotch on both sides of her mom escorting her out of the house.  

“Once we get back to the morgue you’ll be able to come in and identify the body. Your parents said that you’d be the one to identify her.” The man says in passing to Bridgett.

“We still have to identify her even though we know it’s her?”

“For our records, yes. We need a signature that you identified her. I am very sorry for your loss, ma’am.”

“Thank you.” She says quietly.

“Come on, I’ll drive.” Spencer says from behind her, enveloping her in a tight hug.

***

It had been hours since they found Celeste. Bridgett had to identify the body at the morgue, which mentally drained her even more. She couldn’t believe that her sister was gone, it didn’t feel real even after seeing her on the table with the blue sheet covering her.  

Spencer opens the door to her hotel room, letting her walk in first. Bridgett slowly shuffles in, stopping in the middle of the room, staring at the floor. She feels Spencer’s hand on her shoulder.

“Bridgett, you should lie down. It’s been a long night.”

She shakes her head, not moving her body from its place. “Why is this happening? Why her? Why did he do this?” Tears start to flood her already sore eyes, her heart feeling empty. Her hands fly to eyes, pressing her palms against her eyes to prevent more tears from falling.

“I know there’s nothing I can say or do to make this feel better, but I am so sorry, Bridge.” Spencer towers over her, hugging her tightly. Bridgett breaks down into his arms for the 10th time that day. Her whole body convulses against him, violent sobs coming deep from her chest. Spencer rocks her back and forth, letting her get everything out.

“I-I should hav-ha-ve never left her. I should have stayed h-home until she was done with school. That way I could have protected her.”

“Don’t do that to yourself. It’s not your fault. None of this is. Hey, look at me, baby.”

Bridgett lifts her head, Spencer taking his thumb and swiping it across her tears.

“I’m not going back to Virginia until you go back.”

“Why? No Spence, the team needs you.”

“They’ll be fine. You need me more. I told Hotch about us and that I want to be here with you to help you through the planning process and everything after. I don’t want to leave you alone and have you deal with your parents alone.”

Bridgett sniffles, trying to compose herself. “You told them about us? Why now?”

“I dunno. I figured it’s time. Especially since I’ve been by your side the entire day. Is it a problem that I told them?”

“No. Not at all. It’s actually one last thing for me to worry about whenever we do go back home. Thank you for wanting to be here with me.”

“I’m always going to be here for you, Bridge. I always have you.”

#Spencer Reid #spencer reid fan fiction #spencer reid series #spencer reid x oc character #spencer reid fan fic #spencer reid x original female character #spencer reid fluff

[missfluffywriter]

Purple Irises I Mafia Park Jimin x Reader

Author’s note: Hello everyone! God I feel like I’m always screwing up the update schedule. But I have an offical schedule now!! I now update every Wednesday at around 1:00 pm PST. Oof, okay sooo we’re reaching the galaaa I’m so excited. That’s like the part I’m most looking forward to not gonna lie, lol. Oh an I’ll be uploading the masterlist sometime today. Anyway that’s it for me. Happy readings! 

Word count: 9.9k

Genre: Mafia au, doctor au (kind of), florist au (again kind of but not really)

Paring: Park Jimin x reader

(Series) Summary: You were supposed to be delivering flowers, so how did you end up in an operation room digging a bullet out of a mafia boss’ shoulder?

Purple Irises: Royalty and wisdom

Warnings: Guns, violence, language, not much really. 

 Previous chapter I  Next chapter I Masterlist

“Good morn一 Oh? Well, good morning everyone,” You paused mid greeting as your eyes met the seven men scattered around Jimin’s bedroom. Shelty energetically bounds over to the silver-blond mafia boss the minute her eyes land on him. And said silver-blond was more than happy to reciprocate the affection.

Striding to the first-aid box still seated on the table across the bed, a chorus of ‘good morning’s and ‘morning’s resound throughout the room as you sit beside Jimin on the sofa. The mafia boss automatically removes his shirt and turns to give you better access to the bandage clip.

“We got you breakfast,” Jeongguk chirps, directing your attention to the strawberry parfait and the vibrant fruit platter beautifully decorated, on the clear glass coffee table.

“Thanks you guys,” Humming in approval of the healthy breakfast choice, a smile of gratitude curves on your lips as you unwrap the last layer of gauze from the young mafia boss’ shoulder. Your smile widens when you examine the used gauzes. ‘Good, the drainage is lessening,’ The white gauze was nearly stainless, though there were specs of red, the discharge was mostly just a faded yellow stain on the gauze, which meant the wound was healing well.

Carefully cleaning the healing wound with alcohol wipes before applying the antibiotic ointment on and around the bullet wound. Then quickly wrapping Jimin’s shoulder with fresh new gauze and bandage before clipping on the bandage clip.

‘I should show this to Jin,’ He had been wanting to learn the ways of medical science. And what better way than to learn first hand.

Softly calling his name you beckon him to your side whilst putting away the ointment and leftover bandages. “Look, you see this?” You show him the used gauze.

“Uh, yeah?” His answer sounded more like a question, his eyes flickering to dirtied items in your hand then to you.

“You see the light yellow-ish marks on the gauze?” Gesturing to the smudge of yellow on the mostly white piece of cloth. “It’s called a serosanguineous. Serosanguineous is the term used to describe discharge that contains both blood and a clear yellow liquid known as blood serum. Most physical wounds produce some drainage, it’s a sign that the wound is healing,”

“Wait, hold on, hold on. Give me a sec, I need to write down,” Jin scrambles to find any sort of writing tool and surface to write on. With a soft chuckle, you assure the man that he did not have to write this down as everything you had just said was covered in the textbooks you had yet to give him.

You lift the gauze up with both hands for the rest to see when the youngest gives you a curious glance, leaning in from behind to catch a glimpse of what you were talking about. Jeongguk looks inquisitively at the gauze before raising his to meet yours, silently asking you to continue.

Lowering the gauze to sit beside you, a soft smile stretches across your lips, gratefully accepting the cup of parfait Jin hands you. Bringing a spoonful of granola and yogurt to your mouth, you hum, savoring the tart and sweet flavors of the breakfast parfait before diving into a medical lesson. “When you first get a cut or when you bleed after getting a wound that’s called Sanguineous drainage, it is the first drainage that a wound produces. It is the fresh red blood that comes out of the injury when it first occurs. This drainage occurs when a wound is in the first stage of healing, known as the inflammatory stage. It thickens as the blood starts to clot. Though Sanguineous drainage may last longer in deeper wounds.

However, if Sanguineous drainage or drainage that is mostly blood occurs later on in the wound’s healing process that may be a sign of further damage to the tissues in the area. And that’s no good.

And then there is Serosanguineous and that is a different kind of discharge that may happen with larger wounds that require the bandages to be changed regularly, like Jimin’s wound. It’s the clear yellow-ish stuff I talked about. These types of drainage will usually appear in the first few days of a wound’s healing process and then disappear as the wound scabs over. Oh, but that’s for wounds that don’t need stitches or sutures. Sutures like Jimin’s are different, they don’t really scab.

So you see Sanguineous and serosanguineous discharge are all a part of the wound healing process. They help the wound stay lubricated to make healing easier.” You explain, taking breaks between sentences for a bite of your parfait.

Jeongguk looks at you with wide confused doe eyes. As you shifted your eyes to the other six men in the room, they each held a similarly perplexed expression. “You lost me at ‘starts to clot’,” The youngest rapidly blinks, trying to recall any of which you had been speaking of.

“It’s fine,” Chuckling you wave him off, finishing the last spoon of yogurt, granola, and fruit. “So, what are we all here for today? I’m assuming we aren’t having breakfast together just to have breakfast together,” You ask as the men finish their own parfaits.

“Do you remember what Guk said yesterday?” Jimin speaks, shifting to better face you.

“Something about a mafia party?” You ask, recalling the memory from the day before.

“It’s more of a gala or a ball than a party,” Namjoon corrects.

“Yes, and it is the biggest event in the mafia community. Larger mafia families take turns hosting the party each year. This year it is being hosted by the Mae family,” Jimin further explains, crossing one leg over the other.

Raising a questioning brow, you ask, “And you want me to go?” The silver-blond beside you nods, resting his weight on the sofa arm. “I’m sorry, why? I’m your doctor, why would you need me at a party?”

“How can someone be so perceptive yet so dense at the same time?” Jeongguk’s flat tone resounds throughout the room and you could sense the face-palm energy reverberating throughout the room, hearing each man sighing in agreement with the youngest’s statement.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Grumbling, you pulled your legs into your chest, holding onto your ankles.  

“You’re going with us because I said so, do you need a better reason?”Jimin voices as he watches you toy with your socks.

Yes “No,” You mumble your response, still not sure as to why they wanted you to attend the ball. A few beats of silence and the thought you had been meaning to bring up returns to you.

“Jimin?” The mafioso hums at the call of his name. “I was thinking, now that the Yeong know we have control over the prison house. That we should probably bring Jiyoung’s family here. Or at least let him see them,”

“Ah yes, we're actually already on that. As a matter of fact, he will be reuniting with them later today,” Namjoon answers your question before someone else pipes up.

“Well then, we need to get her ready for the party,” Hoseok speaks, coming to stand behind Jimin.

“Get me ready?” Blinking, you question the man in charge as you process the abrupt topic change.

“I guess we could start with self-defense, then firearms training, and etiquette and all that jazz will come afterwards. Oh, and I guess we need to get you an outfit,”

“I need to learn what now?” Jimin ignores your question as he announces the day’s plans.

“We’re going shopping after this,” Casually sliding his hands into his sweatpant pockets, a smile curves onto his lips which was honestly more of a smirk.

“We are?” A breathless response comes from you before Jimin is shooing you out of his room.

“Yes, so go get ready,”

~

“Question,” Your index finger raised. “Why are we standing in front of a Louis Vuitton store?” You ask, taking in the storefront of the luxurious brand. It wasn’t as though you had never seen the building, as a matter of fact, this was a very familiar place, being two blocks down from Kabloom flower shop you had passed this store multiple times on your way to your previous job. But never had you imagined actually going into the place unless it was you were delivering flowers.

“To get you an outfit obviously,” Taehyung says, his forehead scrunching at your question.

“We’re not going in there!” You exclaim, accusingly pointing to the store.

“And why not? Where else are we going to get you an outfit?” Taehyung asks, hands on his hips, trying to understand the reason as to why you were rejecting the store.  

“I don’t know a normal boutique. I can’t afford anything from this place!” You shriek an explanation, the pitch of your voice rising as you spoke.

“You are not going to be, we’re paying. You just pick out what you want,” Jimin calmly speaks as he turns to you.

“I’m not letting you waste money on me,” Eyebrows furring in disapproval, you return the mafia boss’ gaze.

“(Y/n), I’m not asking,” He concludes sternly. Your eyes fell to the floor at the silver-blond’s tone, most would not have caught it, but you could hear the anger or at least annoyance laced in his voice. 

Jimin himself wasn’t exactly sure as to why his temper flared. It was true that he was known to have a short fuse, but this was nothing to be angry about. But for reasons unknown, he felt his anger blaze at your words. ‘Waste money on me,’ He couldn’t help the scowl that made it’s way onto his face.

“Bu一”

“No buts, you heard the boss, now come on. Let’s go in” Jin excitedly tugs into the store, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jeongguk on your tail.

The store was luxurious to say the least. The soft golden hues of the ceiling lights reflected on the polished white marbles. Leather round sofa-chairs strategically scattered around the space as seating areas for each section of the store. Handbags and clothing artistically placed around the room. The space was immaculately clean and employees dotted every corner of the store, interacting with the many customers. Though the store wasn’t exactly bustling, quite a few shoppers were roaming the vicinity.

Immediately as you step into the lavish store, you are greeted by a tall man dressed in a navy blue suit. “Ah, welcome Park Jimin-ssi, how may I help you today?” He bowed, his eyes flickering to you then back to the young mafia boss before him.  

“We’re looking for the finest dresses for this young lady here,” Jimin replied, gesturing to your form.

“Of course, please follow me,” The man nodded, leading the group up the staircase that came into view the minute you stepped into the store. Up the curving staircase, he led you to a dressing room separate from the main store.

A large floor to ceiling window allowed natural light to pour into the room. A plush beige carpet beneath your feet as the entire floor was carpeted. There was another door adjacent to the wall you had entered from. Most likely a dressing room for you to try on the dresses that would be picked. You took in your surroundings as and even within the room handbags and clothing were on display around the sofa that sat directly in front of the ceiling to floor window. “Do you have a dress in mind you would like madam?” He asks you as the four men accompanying you sit on the sofas in the room.

“So (Y/n), what kind of design are you looking for?’’ Taehyung asks.

“I don’t know,” An honest response, you had barely ever been to regular parties and when you did you opted for a comfortable pair of jeans and sweatshirt, never really bothering with the way you dressed. Which also meant you weren’t exactly sure as to how you were supposed to dress for a gala.

“You don’t know? Like color preference? Style? I don’t know, glittery? Flashy?” Taehyung throws out options.

“Oo, no glittery. Something simple, but nice,” Your face contorted as you tried to explain what you liked.

“Simple but nice, great description (Y/n),” Jeongguk scoffs with a flat voice.

“Well, something elegant, nothing too frilly or flashy, but not a maxi dress either. Oh, and definitely a long dress. Something simple but elegant,” Your voice quieted towards the end. “And uh… nevermind”

“No, go on,” With an upward tilt of his head, Jimin urges you to continue.

“It’s nothing really,”

“(Y/n),” His voice deep, a warning in his tone.

“Well um, if it’s not too much, I uh, I like soft fabrics. So it would be nice of the dress was made of the something soft,”

“A long dress, simple but elegant, and made of a soft fabric. We will have all dresses matching the description sent here shortly. Until then please, enjoy some champagne,” The man in the navy suit smiles as another employee, a woman, serves glasses of champagne.

“It’s so weird seeing you without Shelty, why couldn’t just bring her with us?” The youngest whines, his bunny face scrunching as he thought about your adorable companion.

“We can’t bring a dog half your height into a store,” Jin counters the younger male, sipping his champagne.

“As much as I miss her, Jin’s right. We couldn’t bring her here. You have to remember that to other people Shelty is basically a wolf. And I don’t think the employees would be very happy if we tried to bring a wolf into a store they are responsible for,” Chuckling, you watch as the brunette grumbled.

Your eyes drifted throughout the room as the eldest and the youngest launched into another banter while the other two had their eyes glued to their phones. As your gaze continued to roam the room they halted when they landed on a particular handbag that sat just behind a large tote bag.

It was a solid black, rectangular handbag that featured a display of leather-wrapped LV Initials on the upper edge of the handbag. The bag had a top handle as well as adjustable straps. It had a clean crisp design, simple yet elegant. Truly a gorgeous bag, and though you weren’t necessarily interested in collecting overpriced leather boxes, this particular bag stirred a strange want within you. Nibbiling the inside of your lip, you examined the exquisite bag, your focus so intent that you couldn’t feel a pair of honey-brown orbs that were keenly observing your every reaction. You hadn’t realized you had been staring, until a well-dressed woman entered the room, a rack of colorful dresses in tow, and you tore your eyes from the bag to her.

“Simple but elegant and made of a soft fabric. I brought all the dresses that matched the description,” The woman wheeled the rack to where the dressing room door was.

“Well then?” Jin cleared his throat. Though not understanding his gesture, you continue to owlishly blink at him. “Go on, try them on,”

“O一oh, okay,” Stammering out a reply, you quickly make your way towards the clothing rack.

Up close, you counted five dresses in total. And from what you could see, at least three of those dresses fit the criteria you had given near perfectly. The dresses were simple but elegant and incredibly soft to the touch.

An excited smile curved on your lips when you felt the texture of the clothing. Never really having had the opportunity to try on so many beautiful pieces of garments, and never having truly shopped with any other intent than the utility of the product. You couldn’t help the small bounce on your heel as you looked to Jimin, who wore a satisfied smile, nodded for you to go ahead.

‘Why’d I do that?’ You paused, eyelids fluttering as you realized you had asked for Jimin’s permission before doing anything else. You knew he wouldn’t have minded or even cared if you had jumped straight to trying on the dress, but the action was so natural. Your mind had automatically thought of making sure Jimin approved of what you were doing before anything else. And your body moved accordingly.

You didn’t exactly like the feeling of asking permission from someone before doing something, but for now, you shake off those thoughts and return to the most important matter at hand. And that was choosing your gala dress.

“Which are you gonna try on first?” Taehyung asked from his position beside Jimin.

“Oo, try on the black one,” Jeongguk eagerly suggests.

“Why not?” You indulge him, entering the dressing room with the black dress.

The dress was a floor-length, v-neckline ball gown dress with silver beading on the neckline, and black tulle around the skirt. It was a lovely dress, really it was, but it just didn’t fit the simple criteria. Viewing yourself one last time in the mirror you walk out for the men’s opinion. A giddy laugh escapes your lips as you did, you were starting to enjoy yourself.

“How do you think she’ll look?” Taehyung asks, gulping down his second glass of champagne.

“Beautiful,” An almost immediate response comes from the man he least expected to come from.

“What?” He blurts, dumbly stares at his frozen boss as he thought his ears betrayed him. He looks at Jin and Jeongguk, who both held the same shocked expression. So his ears didn’t betray him.  

“Did you just一”

“Yes, and?” Jimin cuts off Taehyung. He hadn’t meant to answer. His mouth had moved before his brain did. Although he didn’t exactly regret those words, nor did he really wanted to take them back. He was speaking the honest truth when he spoke those words. Whatever you wore you look absolutely lovely in, whether it be your oversized hoodie you seem to adorably drown in or a thousand dollar dress.

A grin explodes onto Taehyung’s face, a grin that could only mean mischief. Jimin narrowed his eyes at the male. “Not a word,” He warns the chestnut-haired mafioso. The mafia boss’ eyes narrow further as a knowing smile stretches across Jin’s lips, before being ripped from his chain of thoughts by the slow opening of the dressing room door.

All his anger and aggression, forgotten the instant you stepped out of the dressing room. Bashfully walking into the room, you tuck your already tucked hair.

“So, uh, how do I look?” You ask, shyly averting your gaze from a certain silver-blond. You weren’t precisely sure as to where your sudden shyness rose from, but you couldn’t help as your heart thumped powerfully in your chest. And hearing no response from the men, you took their silence as a ‘not very good’. “I一I’ll go try on something el一”

“You look beautiful,” Jimin interjects before you could scurry back into the dressing room.

You didn’t think it possible but you felt your heart pump even faster at his words. A soft red dusted your cheeks as a face splitting grin spread across your face. “Thank you,”

“But, I don’t really think this is my style. So uh, I’ll go try on the other dresses,” You say a little shaky from the rapid pulse in your throat. Hurriedly grabbing another dress from the rack you scamper back into the small dressing room, shutting the door behind you.

Jimin bit back a grin as he watched your back disappear. He didn’t understand the strange warmth that flourished in his chest. He couldn’t express the sheer happiness and satisfaction he felt when he saw the jubilant glimmer that sparkled in your bright orbs and the elated grin that burst onto your lips when you heard his complement. Jimin’s fists clenched as he tried futilely to calm his thundering heartbeat.

“Yong Moon, add that to the cart,” The silver-blonde gestured to the handbag you’d been eyeing minutes prior.

“Of course,” The navy suited man responded, giving a light bow before reaching for the bag, handing it to the woman that had brought in the clothing rack. The woman exited the room with the bag.

Jimin ignored the questioning brow that rose on Jeongguk’s face, and the stupid grins on the faces of the other two. The youngest looked questioningly at his elders, who simply dismissed him with a shake of their heads.

Exhaling a jittery breath you lean against the closed door. ‘He called me beautiful’ You inhale deeply, trying to get your racing heart under control. And even the pain from biting into your lower lip couldn’t suppress the giddy smile that refused to leave your lips. It was a simple compliment, more of an obligatory complement, and yet this inexplicable warm, fluffy feeling had erupted in your chest.

‘I wasn’t even looking when I grabbed this thing,’ Looking down to the dress in your clutches. Your breath hitched as you took in the garment you held. And you hurried to slip into the dress.

‘She’s taking a lot longer than before,’ Jimin shifted in his seat as his gaze bore into the dressing room door.

‘He stares any harder and he’ll burn holes through ‘em,’ Taehyung deadpan expression spoke millions as he watched his boss cross and uncross his legs every few minutes. And the chestnut-haired male could practically feel the moment Jimin forgot to breathe.

“I think I found the one,” In a shy, soft voice you speak as your mirthful eyes excitedly meet theirs.“So uh, what do you guys think?”

The dress was a deep wine red off-shoulder neckline that came together in a v-shape at the chest. A high split in the ball gown skirt that gracefully flowed behind you, making a sort of train. The smooth satin material gently kissed your skin as the dress elegantly hung on your form.

“You look amazing,” Jin is the first to speak up, followed by words of agreement from two other men.

You bashfully thanked the men for the compliment they were showering you with. Although there was still one more that had yet to speak. Jimin hadn’t uttered a single sound since you had entered the room. And the silence was stirring your anxiousness, what if he didn’t like the dress you absolutely adored? Though you doubted he would deny you from choosing what you wanted. You had hoped he would have liked it as much as you did.

“Well then Jimin, don’t you have something you want to say?” Jin cleared his throat as he prompted the young mafia boss to speak.

“Absolutely stunning,” His words flowed straight from his brain to his mouth. Whatever filters he may have had were left useless at that moment. As his cerebrum was far too occupied imprinting the sight before him into his memory. The most gorgeous woman he had ever seen stood before him, shyly asking him for his opinion, technically you asked everyone  his mind simply short-circuited itself. As he drank in your form, his face scrunched into a frown when he saw your expression sadden. He didn’t like that, a frown didn’t suit you in the slightest.

But when a wide smile exploded onto your face at his words, the pure joy and happiness that you held in your smile, he couldn’t help the blood that rushed straight into his cheeks. He cleared his throat bringing his hand to his lips and face, in some effort to conceal his rosy cheeks.

“Thank you!” Your own cheeks flushed a brilliant crimson.“And I think I know the one I want” You declare, looking down to the skirt of the beautiful gown, heart still beating a mile a minute.

“Are you sure? There are three more dresses you could try on,” Jin askes, his gaze flickering from you to the clothing rack then back to you.

“Uh-huh, I want this one,”

“That’s fine, but don’t you want to try another one?” Eyebrows furrowed, he asks, coming to stand beside you. And you shake your head as a ‘no’ 

“But yo一”

“If that’s the one she wants then that’s the one she gets. Yong Moon, please add that to the cart,” Jimin interjects, his gaze shifting to the navy-suited man. “Now for shoes,”

“Jimin-ssi, we thought that the miss would take a liking to that particular dress. So, we brought shoes we thought would go perfectly with it,” His response is immediate as another employee walks in with a pair of black heeled callback sandals. The insoles were a fawn-brown, it had a strap where the vamp of the shoe would have been. And an adjustable strap around the ankle with golden letters spelling “Vuitton”.

A smile curved on your lips as you admired the heels, they had picked this particular pair with your requests in mind.

“Well then, try it on,” Jin urges you.

Snapping your gaze to the older male then back to the shoe, you nod, striding across the small room to where Jin had been sitting.

Delicately you slip on the heeled sandals, adjusting the straps to fit your ankle before standing. Hurriedly tottering to stand before the men, then spinning, giving them a three-hundred-sixty view of your completed outfit.

A quiet hum escapes Jimin’s lips as he watches you twirl, contentment washing over him in waves. He felt a sense of achievement and fulfillment seeing the joyous smile he had brought you. Taking in your form he noticed the bareness of your neck, originally he had all intentions to point out the fact but that was before he had his genius idea, and so he kept his observations to himself.

“Do you like it?” Jimin muses though he was fairly certain of your answer. He simply felt the need to hear it from you. And the shy nod of your head was more than enough for him. “We’ll be taking both,” He says to Yong Moon.

“So uh, how much did it all add up to?” Slinking to where Jimin and Jin were seated, you ask. Considering the fact that you had your dress chosen, you assumed the other two had left to fetch the car.

“The tota一”

“Don’t worry about it,” The young mafia boss cuts off Yong Moon’s answer, waving you off as he signed the receipt.

“Come on, I was just wondering was all,” A frown folds onto your face as you follow them down the stairs and out of the store. “Jimin, please, I don’t see why I can’t know how much you spent on me.” Stepping into the short limousine you had arrived at the store in.

Sighing in defeat, he silently hands you the receipt. Your eyes scan over the piece of paper before landing on the “total” line. A loud gasp left you lips, eyes blowing wide, you snap your head to look at Jimin.

“You did not just spend nearly twenty-five-million won on me!” Voice booming in the car you stare at the mafia who simply shrugged at your words. “That’s like twenty-thousand dollars! Just how much was that dress?!”

“I think the guy said like about twelve-million won,” Taehyung replies thoughtfully, amusement laced in his tone.

“Twelve一 what?! That’s like four times my rent!” You exclaimed. “And the shoes were what? Eight-million won?!”

“You can’t just go around spending millions of won just like that! How could you spend so much! Oh my god, you should’ve told me! I would have picked something cheaper!” Jimin chuckled at your reaction, and this was the reason he hadn’t wanted to let you know of the price.

“That’s exactly why we didn’t tell you,” Jeongguk quips as your brain processed the fact that these crazy nut jobs had just bought you a dress that cost more than your house rent.

“(Y/n), it’s a gala, you have to dress nicely,” Jin laughs, attempting to bring your energy back down to a three.

“Oh my god you guys,” You grumbled, bringing your sweater covered palms to cover your eyes. Your eyes stung as your throat tightened. It was never in you to get emotional over something so trivial as clothes but, this was the first time someone had gone out of their way for you. Sure, it was for the gala, and they wanted you to look presentable, but they didn’t have to.

The smile on Jimin’s lips dissipates when he picks up the soft sniffles that left your throat. “(Y/n)? What’s wrong?” Immediately on alert, anxiously waiting for your answer.

“I’m sorry, it’s一 it’s just… no one’s ever done something so nice for me. To go out of your way, to spend your hard-earned money on a basically a stranger,” You say as tears threaten to fall.  

“What?” Jimin’s frown deepens. You weren’t a stranger, not anymore anyway. 

“You see, I’ve never known my parents. I grew up in the foster care system. And it’s just, I knew, I knew everything they did, they only did because they had to. I knew they never cared, no one cared, and that was fine. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible anyway,” You explained. “That was actually one of the reasons I joined the accelerated program. So I could move into the dorms as soon as I finished high school. Sure, I had friends through college but we were just never close. And I just… I don’t know,”

“Just, thank you, you guys,” Jimin’s breath caught in his throat when you lowered your hands onto your lap, giving them a teary smile.

How strange, thanking the men you should be hating. The men that ruined your perfectly mundane life. And yet here you were thanking them for even you weren’t sure what.

“It一 it’s ah, don’t mention it. Hey, hey don’t cry (Y/n),” The youngest stammers, rubbing the back of his neck. The other men stuttering out similar responses, not entirely sure what to do with the information that had just been handed to them.

Seeing your expression Jimin wasn’t sure as to how he should go about comforting you. Or if you even needed to be comforted. Though his dilemma had been put on hold as his phone binged with a notification. Reaching into his pant pocket he pulled out his phone. Eyes running across the text on his lock screen. He cleared his throat before addressing you, “Ahem, (Y/n),” You hummed at the call of your name as soft sniffels leave your lips. “Most of the things you ordered will be arriving tomorrow,”

“Oh? That’s good I’ll start organizing everything as soon as I get them,”

“I don’t think so,” Jeongguk interrupts.

“Huh?”

“Your training with Hoseok officially starts tomorrow, so I’m afraid you’ll be busy with that all day,” Jimin explains, his gaze meeting your confused ones.

“My what?”

“Training,”

~

Excruciating pain shot throughout your body, muscles burning and aching having pushed well past their limits. Gasps leave your lips as you struggle to get adequate amounts of oxygen, your lungs working on overdrive. A sheen of sweat layered on your skin as you pushed yourself farther.

“Come on (Y/n), we’re almost there,” Jeongguk encouraged you as he jogged backwards in front of you. ‘Fit bastard,’ You glowered at the male, barely making it back to where Jimin, Jin, and Hoseok were seated on the lawn. 

It wasn’t as though your own cardio vascular health was poor, it was just, running a lap around the entier back gardens were more than any normal human could handle, especially in sweltering sun, well,  aside from Jeongguk apparently. 

“No one一 ha, no one said一 no one said we were running!” Your voice boomed throughout the otherwise peaceful gardens.

“Cardio is very important (Y/n),” Hoseok smiles, throwing you a bottle of water. Which you barely caught before collapsing onto the grass.

“I’m dying,”

“You’re not dying, now get up,” The youngest chuckles, gleefully running his palm through Shelty’s soft fur.

“Excuse me, are you the doctor or am I the doctor?” Thundering at the male you continue, “That’s right, I’m the doctor. I decide when I’m dying. And right now I’m dying.”

“Alright, alright, time to get serious,” Hoseok claps, helping you stand. “How much do you know about self-defense?”

“Honestly, not much,” Sighing, you answer honestly, huffing as you shift your weight from leg to leg. “I’ve never really had to do much self-defending,”

“Have you ever learned any self defense or did you carry a taser or pepper spray or something?” Hoseok asked.

“No, I didn’t really have to carry anything,” Your gaze drifted to the seventy-pound puppy rolling around on the grass. “Whenever I had to work late into the night, I just brought Shelty to work with me. And well, she’s basically a wolf to everyone who doesn’t know otherwise, and no one really wants to test their luck against a wolf half their size. Besides, I already lived in a good part of the town, so there weren’t many threats, to begin with. So yeah,”

“I see… then let’s start with something simple like disarming someone with a knife,” He says before grabbing one of the wooden knives he had brought with him. “First, always try to use your opponent's movements against them,” He explains.

“Wait, uh before we start anything, can we send Shelty into the house, or can Jeongguk or someone take her for a walk or something?” Running your fingers through the soft black fur of the wolf-dog, you ask the men. You could see the confusion in their expression, but their confusion dissipates into understanding as they recalled the incident with Haewon.

“Right, uh, I’ll take her inside,” Jin offers, standing from his seated position. He dusts off his butt before calling your puppy to him.

Shelty looks at you, and you give her a smile, prompting her to go with Jin, “Go on,” And that’s all she needs to gallop over to the eldest, right after showering Jimin with slobbery wet kisses.

“Here, try attacking me with this knife,” Hoseok calls for your attention, throwing you the wooden knife, he stands in a guarded position.

“It’s alright, I’ll be fine,” Hoseok assured when he saw you hesitate. And your eyebrows furrowed at his words. Of course, he’d be fine, he had been doing this for much longer than you ever had. And it wasn’t him that you were worried about, you were more concerned that he wouldn’t be able to hold back properly and you’d end up getting hurt.

“It’s not really you, I’m worried about,” A flat chuckle leaves your lips.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be holding back,”

“Oh you better,” Huffing a laugh you charge towards him with the knife outstretched in front of you.

“Now you see, when someone is coming at you with a knife, pivot on your foot,” He pivoted on his right foot, letting you pass him. “Then grab the hand with the knife and the back of their neck, twist the wrist until they let go of the knife,” He tightly took hold of your wrist, twisting it out of your grasp. “Bring their arm behind them, push them to the ground with the attacker’s own momentum then pin them to the ground using your weight,” He explained, pinning you on the ground with his knee on your back.

A yelp left your lips when the pressure from his knee became a little too powerful. “Oh god, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” He jumped off of you, then helped you to your feet.

“I’m fine,” Giving him a reassuring smile, you stand.

“Are you sure? Do you need a break?” Another voice pipes in from the sidelines. Turning your head to see the owner of the familiar voice, your smile softens when your gaze lands on a worried-looking Jimin, who was already half on his feet.

“I’m fine Jimin, really. And honestly, a break would be lovely right now,” Jimin opens his mouth to speak, though you cut him off before he could make a sound. “But, if I do take a break I know I’ll never get back to it because I will find some way to escape this. So… let’s just... get started,” Although still not fully convinced, he sits back, letting you continue.

Leaning your weight on your left leg you chuckled, the mafia boss had been, in his own way, oddly clingy with you, staying by your side whenever possible. ‘How adorable,’ Shaking your head you turn back to Hoseok.

“Alright then, we’ll start slow motion, then as you get used to it, we can speed up. Okay?” Nodding to his words you throw him the knife. “Okay, here we go. Remember everything I told you,”  

He moved slowly with the knife in his right hand. ‘Pivot, twist, grab, pin,’ Recalling his instructions you pivot on your left foot, grabbing his wrist and twisting it. You weren’t exactly sure whether you had made him let go or if he had willingly let go, most likely the latter. Before pushing him, for now gently, onto the ground, then using all your weight you pin him to the ground. Though it was more of you sat on him while you held his arm to his back.

“Good job. It was close, but not quite,” He says as you stood, helping him up as you did. “Don’t just sit on me. If the attacker is trained, and most of them are they’ll be out of your hold before you know it,” He teaches you, and you make mental notes. ‘I should really be taking notes,’

“Instead, apply all your weight onto one of your knees, while kind of standing on the other. So if you need to, you can jump away from the attacker quickly,” He explains while you nod in understanding. “Alright, let’s try it again,”

And the process continues, you practiced that one move again and again, though each time the attack speed quickens till the point it was almost at full speed. There were moments where Hoseok would pause the training to give you extra pointers and tips.

Deeming your knife disarming skills decent, he moves on to teaching you to block and dodge attacks, though he says to stick solely to dodging if all possible. The afternoon passes by practicing dodging punches, kicks, and jabs. He also taught you to anticipate the movements of the enemy and to move accordingly.

“Alright, now how about you use everything I taught you and come at me?” Hoseok challenges with a tilt of his head.

“Just go easy on me,” Charging towards him, you stop dead in your tracks right before. Hoseok’s eyes widened, unsure of what you were planning. ‘Here we go,’ Using that fleeting moment of surprise, you throw a punch barely missing his face. He effortlessly dodges, but that was exactly what you wanted him to do. As he lightly leaned backwards, taking a step behind him to balance himself. ‘Now!’  There was always this brief instant before someone balances themselves that they are the most vulnerable to a pin-down.

Just as your fist comes to its destination, placing your other hand onto his upper chest, at the base of his neck, you launch all your weight off the pads of your feet. Almost jumping while running straight into him. And the momentum is more than enough to push him down and just as he taught you pressed your right leg onto his torso, effectively pinning him down. ‘I never thought I’d ever have to use this,’ On your way down you balled your hands into fists, as soon as you landed on the ground, using all your weight grinding your knuckles into his chest right on his ribs.

A sharp cry of pain leaves Hoseok’s lips before he flips you, switching your positions, he pinned your hands above your head and his knee painfully digging into your stomach.

“Hoseok! That hurts! Ah, Hoseok!” Screaming in pain, you call out his name. You shriek when he doesn’t hear you and applies more pressure to his knees. At your howl, the two men standing by jumped to their feet, both calling out the older male’s name.  

“Hoseok!”

“Hoseok hyung!”

“Huh? Wha?” The call of his brothers broke him from whatever trance he had been, as he breathlessly blinks when he looks down and sees you orbs glazed with tears, he immediately jumps off you. “(Y/n)! I’m so sorry! Are you alright?!” He asks you, gently helping you sit up.

“(Y/n), are you okay?” Jeongguk asks, worry enveloping his voice.

“What the fuck happened back there?!” Jimin’s voice thunders as he rushes to your side, pulling you into his chest. Groaning, you wrap your arms around his waist, burying your head into the nape of his neck. Your body in too much pain to register your actions, but instinctually curling around Jimin’s warmth.  

“I一 I don’t know,” He stammers, his eyes flying in all directions as he tried to figure that out himself. “I一 I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry (Y/n), I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just, I’m sorry,” His head lowers.

“It’s okay, I’m fine. It just hurt at the moment was all. I’m fine now,” Your voice, shaky partly from the pain and partly because of the adrenaline coursing through your veins. Jimin’s hold tightens when he hears your shaky assurance.

“Well, make sure it never fucking happens again!” The mafia boss harshly chides the older male.

“I’m sorry (Y/n). I didn’t mean to hurt you,” He apologizes for the umpteenth time. “But uh, what was the move?” He asks, barely meeting your eyes.  

“Oh, I should be apologizing to you too, I’m sorry, it probably hurt didn’t it?” Still tucked underneath Jimin’s head you speak to the older male. And Hoseok nods a ‘yes’ to your question. Not bothering to move from your position you explain to the men where you had learned that move. “It was something I learned during my residency,”

“One time a prisoner who had apparently fainted without reason was brought into the ER, I wasn't stationed there or anything. I was just leaving the hospital when they brought in the prisoner and that’s when one of the ER doctors did what I did to the prisoner,” You say, “It turned out the prisoner tried using fainting as a means to escape, and I guess the doctor knew he was faking it and used that move on him. The prisoner jumped, yelling in pain. So, yeah, that’s where I learned it,”

“Wow, seriously,” Jeongguk’s eyes wide in amazement. 

Jimin relaxed ever so slightly when a soft chuckle left your lips. “Alright, let’s go inside, you’re done for today,” He declares, looking down to you.  

“I’m fine, really. How about a quick break instead?” You suggest.

“No, you’re fucking done for the day, you can get back on it tomorrow, but for today you’re done” The silver-blonde male repeats himself, his tone lower in a warning.

“Fine,” Grumbling, you comply with the male. Hissing in pain, you slowly stand with Jimin’s support. ‘Oh, that’s definitely gonna bruise,’  

“Come one let’s go inside,” The mafia boss calls to the group, already gently leading you towards the house.

“You did really well for a first-timer (Y/n),” Hoseok praises, as the group makes their way back into the house. Thanking him for the compliment, you followed the three men into the living room through the glass door that connected the gardens to the living room.

“So, what do you want fo一”

“(Y/n)! (Y/n)! Where is she?!” A panicked voice booms throughout the room.

Your head snaps toward the direction of the distressed voice. And a distraught Jiyoung comes barreling into the living room with a little girl limp in his arms, followed by an equally distraught woman behind him.

Seeing the motionless child in Jiyoung’s arms, the doctor within you vaults into action, the aches of your muscle forgotten as you attend to your patient. “Put her on the sofa,” You instruct, taking her pulse and feeling for her temperature. Her pulse was much slower than what was deemed normal for a child especially at rest. Her face was flushed and you could see slight swelling on the apples of her cheeks and eyelids. ‘Is this?’ Acting on a hunch you gently examine the skin around her arms and neck. And sure enough, red angry hives dotted her flushed skin.  

“She’s having an allergic reaction. Is she allergic to anything, foods or insects or something?” You ask the two adults that had brought her in.

“I一 I was showing them the gardens and she got stung by a bee. But she was fine right after that, she was crying but awake,” He explained. “And we were heading back to treat the sting when she suddenly collapsed,”

“Is she allergic to bees?”

“Not that we know of,” The woman answers.  

“So, she’s never been stung before?” The parents shake their heads ‘no’.

Then suddenly strangled breaths came from the little girl and you realize the situation had just nose-dived straight into hell. ‘Anaphylaxis’ All the symptoms put together strongly indicate anaphylactic shock.  

“An epipen, I need an epipen,” You say. “Jimin, the order. It was supposed to arrive today, right?”

“Uh, Yes,” He answers, eyes fluttering almost as though he were breaking from a trance.

“Where is it? There should be epipens with them,”

“In the doctor's room, everything you ordered was placed in there,” Jimin responds, his honey-brown orbs flickering to the room up the stairs then back to you.  

“Do any of you know what an epipen looks like?” You ask urgency laced your voice. “Alright, plan B. We’re moving her to the OR,”

“OR?” Jeongguk parrots, a confusion dancing on his expression.

“The doctor’s room,” Clarifying your words, you instruct Jiyoung to carry Min-cha up to the OR. “Okay, we have to hurry but try to be as gentle,”

“Why? What’s wrong? Is she gonna be okay?” Heiran asks you could hear the dread and fear twisting her voice.

“She’s going into anaphylactic shock, it’s a sever form of an allergic reaction and if it’s not treated as soon as possible it can be life-threatening in some cases,” The woman’s face pales at your words. “But we have the medicine needed upstairs, so let’s move her up there okay?”

She gives a hasty nod and you see the panic in her eyes. “Look, I’m going to do absolutely everything I can, okay?” Sucking in a breath she follows as Jiyoung swiftly yet tenderly carries his daughter into the tiled room. The older male muttered soft reassurance to the unconscious child in his arms, and to himself.

“Put her on the table,” You command. “Jeongguk, Jimin, Hoseok help me look for a box of thick, orange pens with a blue cap like thing on one end. It should say epipens on the box,” You instruct the mafiosos as you rush to the four large boxes scattered on the OR floor and try to rip open the cardboard flaps of the boxes, only to fail.

“Here, let me,” Hoseok offers, guiding you away from the box, he pulls out a knife from his back before using it to cut open the duct tape sealing the card boxes shut.

You give a brief ‘thank you’ before the cardboard flaps fly open and you are digging through the box in search of the medical instrument. ‘This is why we always keep epipens close by,’ Hissing to yourself you sift through the container as quickly and as delicately as your hands would allow.

“Did anyone find anything?” You project your voice steadily and calmly. You really didn’t want to waste time calming down two panicking adults.

“I一 I think I found it,” Jeongguk speaks up and your attention snaps to where he stood, a bright yellow box in his hands.

“Good job, Guk!” Hurrying to him, you ruffle his chocolate-brown locks before tearing the box and dumping out a yellow auto-injection, you hand the box to Jimin before hastily returning to Min-cha’s side.

“Hold her still,” Pulling off the blue safety of the epipen, you instruct the parents.

Pushing the pastel-pink summer dress to slightly expose her thighs, you press the orange end of the epipen into her thigh until you hear a soft click then holding the pen there for the next few seconds.

“The medicine should start taking effect in five to ten minutes,” Easing away from the table you inform the group, taking hold of her wrist to keep track of her pulse. And sure enough within five minutes of administration Min-cha’s tense expression relaxed. You could feel her breathing even and her pulse rising to normal levels. The hives along her upper arms weren’t as angry or irritated as before, and her complexion had returned to its natural shade.

“Alright, I think we’re good,” You see her parents visibly slump at your words. “You can take her back to your room, though I suggest taking her in for an allergy test soon just to be safe. But, for now, just keep an eye on her,” A tired smile curves on your lips as you step back from the family. But Heiran’s soft hold on your hand halts your movements.

“Thank you, thank you so much,” She gives you a teary smile, pulling you into a brief hug.

“Of course,” Nodding to her, you stride to the three men leaning against the cupboards.  

“Oow” You wince as you make your way to the men. The adrenaline wearing off from all the excitement, pain shoots through your abdomen. ‘Better grab the ointment now,’ Pulling open the cupboard, you reach for an ointment for bruising.

“Good job,” Jimin praises you, wrapping an arm around your waist as you rest your weight against the cupboard as well.

“Hmm, thank you,” You hum, watching Jiyoung and Heiran leave the room, Min-cah in her father’s hold “We should get going too,”

“That was way too much excitement for one day,” Huffing, you placed the first-aid box on Jimin’s bed.

“You think that was too much,” The mafia boss snorts, slipping off his simple beige sweatshirt.

“Oh? And what exactly is so funny?” Scoffing playfully, you unclip the bandage clip and unwrap the bandages.

“You’ve been in a shootout, made a deal with a yakuza head, not to mention held at gunpoint on multiple occasions and you think today was too much?” Jimin retorts, and you chuckle alongside him.

“Hmm, I’d say a few more days and we can take out the sutures,” You say thoughtlessly, wrapping the fresh gauze around his newly cleaned wound.

Exhausted from the day’s training and the whole incident with Min-cha, you don’t notice the way Jimin’s eyes darken when his chuckle faded.

“You know, we should really get allergy tests done on you guys,” Closing the first-aid box, you put it back where it had been. Jimin simply hums at your suggestion, his honey-brown orbs strangely distant, lost in thought.

An odd discomfort twisted in your chest seeing the somber distance in his usually vibrant eyes. You wracked your brain trying to figure out what could have caused this abrupt change. He was fine just minutes ago, but his mood seemed to sour for reasons you couldn’t name. And try as you might, not a single incident came to mind. Was it something you said or did?

Sighing you decide it’d be best to leave him be for the time being. “Well, good night,” Turning on your heel you intended to speed out the door. But a strong hold around your wrist paired and a gentle yank, pulls you back down onto Jimin’s bed.

“What’s wrong?” You whisper, feeling it inappropriate to raise your voice to anything above that.  

“Your injury, what about your injury?”Jimin says softly, his warm breath on the back of your neck.

A tender smile curls on your lips as you shift to face the silver-blond. “Don’t worry about it. It was just a light bruise, the pain’s almost gone anyway,” You assure him.

“But一”

“I’ll be fine Jimin. The absolute worst that could happen is that it might get a little sore tomorrow, okay?” Moving on pure instinct, you cup his right cheek, delicately running your thumb across his impossibly soft skin. “Okay?” You ask him.

“Okay,” Mumbling, he leans into your touch.

With a quiet chuckle, you part from him, “Good night, Jimin,”

“Good night (Y/n)”

Mindlessly staring at the dark ceiling of his bedroom, Jimin replays his words in his head. ‘Held at gunpoint on multiple occasions, huh?’ It was true, you had been at the end of the muzzle of a gun in many circumstances. As a matter of fact, he himself had held you at gunpoint the first time technically the second time he had met you.

He had held many people at the receiving end of the gun more times than he cared to remember. And more often than not those at the receiving end of his bullet, usually received the bullet. Back then he had been fully prepared to do the same to you, but now he couldn’t even imagine you with a small cut.

When had this started? When did you become someone to him? When had he started caring about you? Was it when he showed you his mother’s garden? When he made lemon balm tea with you? Or was it when you had fallen asleep in his room?

Wetting his lips with his tongue Jimin thought back to the time when Haewon had put a gun to your temple. He recalled the burning rage and the bitter-cold fear that flowed throughout his body, like molten lava and fridge ice both running through his veins at the same time.

His exact memories of the event were fuzzy and hazy, aside from the image of Haewon holding a gun to your head, everything else was nothing more than a blur, moving color in the background. He remembered his brain was working a mile a minute, thinking of any and every way of getting you out of the situation safely, unharmed. He didn’t remember breathing the whole time you had been held captive.

He couldn’t explain it, these inexplicable rushes of emotions. The elation and contentment he felt whenever he would see you happy. The sheer satisfaction he felt when he was the one responsible for the smile on your delicate lips, just as it did when your expression lit up after he had complimented you. This unsettling feeling that twisted his gut when you were upset, like the time you thought you wouldn’t have rose hips for your tea. That brutal fear that ran across his body when you were captured had been the main reason why he had you learning self defense, so you would know how to handle yourself, so he wouldn’t have to feel that fear again. But those weren’t the only incidents of strange feelings. Like today, he recalled the unadulterated rage he felt when Hoseok had brought you pain, a similar kind of anger he would feel if someone were to hurt one of his brothers but somehow different, this was hotter, brighter .

Turning to his side, Jimin clutched at the pillow beside him, resisting the sleep that was threatening him. And though he hadn’t done much, he felt waves of exhaustion crashing into him as he lay in bed. ‘Just what the hell is going on here?’ His last thought resounded in his head as sleep finally pulled him under.

~

“Not bad, (Y/n). If you keep that up, we could probably even start you on firearms training,” Jeongguk comments as you tried to catch your breath.

“Tell me something,” The younger hums acknowledging your words.

“If we had a training room with air conditioning and mats all along,” You say, “Then why haven’t we been training in here?! Why didn’t we train in here yesterday? Or the day before that? Or the day before… the day before?” You raise your voice, not enough to cause a commotion, just enough to get a point across.

“Because,”

“Because?”

“Because it’s good for you,”

“So Hoseok had me running in that kind of blistering heat and was throwing me around on the grass because it was good for me?” Your voice, calm as a peaceful river. Or an ocean before a storm.

“Yeah…” The brunette sweats as he quickly changes the subject. “A一anyways, are you excited for the gala,”

“Hoseok’s a better teacher than you,”

“Why you,” Jeongguk growls as he tackles you into the ground before softly brushing his fingertips along your sides.

Immediately you regret your taunt as Jeongguk mercilessly tickles you. Your laughter resounds throughout the room as you beg for the chocolate-haired male’s forgiveness.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please stop,” Shrieking a giggle you plead for his mercy. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please. Ha, ha,”

Jeongguk relents with a giggle of his own, moving off of you, he gives you a mischievous bunny smile. As you wipe tears from your little fit, returning his smile with a grin of your own.

“So,” Sitting up you speak. “What are the galas like?” Brushing your hand though your hair, your question.

“It’s nice, I mean the food’s actually really good. And since a different family hosts the gala each year, it became kind of like a competition of who has the better venue and better food,” Shuffling to where you were seated, he plops down beside you.

“Oh? That sounds kinda fun,” You muse, criss-crossing your legs.

“It is,” He continues. “I mean the foods great, it’s the company that’s shit,”

“The company?” A questioning brow rises on your face as you gesture him to continue.  

“Yeah,”. His expression transforms that of disdain. As forgotten anger churns in his gut as he remembers the wench of a woman that had managed to ruin nearly all events Bangtan attended. “Her name’s Hae Seulgi,”

“Does she bother you or something?”  

“No, well, yes. It happened a year ago or so, her and Jimin hyung, well, they used to… have an unofficial relationship,” He pauses to find the appropriate words.

A soft pang stabs at your chest as you listen to the younger male speak. ‘He was in a romantic relationship... Of course, he was in a relationship  Like any normal person in their early twenties. Obviously,’ Nibbling on your lower lip you ignore the sharp prick you felt.

“So like dating?” Running your fingers through your hair you ask. The younger male’s bunny nose scrunches as he thinks of better words to explain their situation.

“Uh, no. It was more, well…” Pausing once again, he says,  “Physical,”

“Friends with benefits?” The pain spreads, like a sunflower blooming at dawn

“Uh, I guess, something like that,” Jeongguk wasn’t entirely sure as to how he would fully explain their somewhat complicated relationship. And technically both parties did benefit, in more ways than one.

“I see, is it like awkward with her or something?” You question, your gaze never fully meeting him. Jeongguk scoffs at your question. He’d be a happy camper if it were so simple.

“No, she’s just a bitch,” His voice flat as he explined. “And clingy, so clingy,”

“Even though hyung ended things.She basically latches onto Jimin hyung every chance she gets,” Making exaggerated movements with his arms, he enthusiastically tells you about this Hae Seulgi character.  

“Oh?”

“Yeah! And she has the gall to order us around like she’s the boss,”

“Well then, seems like we’ll have to give her a present,” An impish grin curls on your lips. If she had caused so much anguish to her dear friend, then it was only right to return the favor, and you had to do it in a way even those who were looking wouldn’t be able to catch.  

“What?” Jeongguk’s head snaps to your direction, and an equally wide grin curves onto his face. “I smell mischief,”

“Oh? I smell flowers,”  

#bts mafia au #Mafia au #Mafia Boss Jimin x reader #Mafia jimin #mafia jungkook #Mafia Yoongi #Mafia Jin #Mafia Namjoon #Mafia Hoseok #mafia taehyung #Purple Irises #Doctor reader kind of #BTS #Jimin x reader #Park Jimin x reader #mafia! jimin x reader

[fablesrose]

Of Kings and Shadows XII

Chapter XII

Description: Y/n, a girl who seems to have found her calling. Being a SHIELD agent is like a dream come true. With a friendship starting to form with the Avengers, she’s the Queen of the world! What could go wrong?

Pairings: Avengers x reader, Loki x reader (eventually)

Notes: On Wattpad –> Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I always had hope that it would be more fun than the last time.

News flash: it wasn't.

Tony dragged me with them to the club. They said I needed to loosen up, and they needed a break. I agreed, but I already knew I wasn't going to be drinking. I've always been the self-proclaimed designated driver. Alcohol never appealed to me and I couldn't stand someone driving when they weren't supposed to.

We arrived together in one of Tony's cars and while we walked to the door, the boys surrounded me and Natasha. It was kinda fun feeling like I had my own security team. I could barely see through the wall of broad shoulders and biceps since that's about where my line of sight ended.

The bouncer made sure to check everyone's IDs... Except for Tony. He was upset, to say the least.

"Hey, Loki. Do you even have an ID?" The thought had only just occurred to me.

He raised a card at me, "Whoever said it had to be legal?" Right before my eyes, it fizzled out, disappearing in a flash of green.

I smirked, of course, he would pull something like that.

As we entered the club, the music was blaring, lights flashing, and the smell of sweat and alcohol was thick in the air. The room was packed, and before I knew it, my group was separated and out of sight.

I just wandered around for a bit, occasionally dancing when a song I knew came on the loud speakers. I was glad that I had worn pants instead of a dress. With so many people, it was easy to get uncomfortable,  even more so with more skin showing like in a dress.

What would you do to seduce and murder that man across the room?

I had to freeze for a moment. The man in question I had never seen before, he had a man-bun on top with shaved sides and back. He was alone, drink in his hand. I noticed the worn denim jacket and started a plan to get close, maybe take him home, and then leave him dead in an ally way en route.

I quickly shook my head, Noxy, don't be like that.

Of course, she didn't answer, because she's me. Call me crazy for naming the intrusive voice in my head. I call myself that multiple times a day, but it helps me sort it all out.

I must have been tired because she kept at it. I got bumped so many times, I was sure I would wake up with bruises. I finally got fed up and Noxy spoke up.

Nobody would bump into you if you took a machine-gun to the whole joint.

I sighed. I took a moment to calm myself, drowning out the noise and the dark voice in my head. As I opened my eyes again I felt my gut twist noticeably.

Someone was staring.

Which honestly I shouldn't be surprised, who wouldn't stare at these hot curves? I decided to see who it was, turning slowly. My eyes locked with an average looking man across the room. He seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where. He smiled and waved at me with a look that said he knew me. I cautiously waved back, praying there wasn't someone behind me. He started to weave between people expertly towards me. I took a couple of steps towards him through the crowd but didn't make too much of an effort. When he got closer it finally clicked where I knew him from; I didn't fully recognize him with glasses on.

"It's Henry, right?" I asked once he was in front of me.

"Yeah, Henry Arnold." He paused and smiled, then decided to expound on it, "We met at the coffee shop, with Laime."

I smiled awkwardly, "Uh, yeah, I remember."

"That was interesting how not very many moments after I saw you in the crowd you just automatically saw me too. It was... It was like..."

"A sixth sense?"

He laughed, "Yeah I guess you could call it that."

"My friends say that too. Eyes in the back of my head I guess!"

I couldn't help but notice he smiled like he knew something I didn't which made me a little uneasy.

He continued the conversation, "So, still in the automotive department in the patent office? Or did they transfer you over to Laime's department."

I chuckled that he remembered, "Uh, no. I'm still at my old job. They figured I was the most help there. Thank you for asking."

"Well, that's good," he swirled the drink in his hand, "oh! I should get you a drink, what do you want?"

I quickly waved my hands, "No, no, no. I- I'm okay. Thank you though."

He tilted his head slightly and twisted to face me again, "Okay..."

What if you had a drink and someone spiked it with roofies or something.

Noxy, that's why I'm not getting one from him and why I'll be careful if I do get one.

"Well, I had better go and find my friends," I turned away from him toward the bar, "It was nice to see you."

"You too, Y/n. You look like a queen by the way."

If only I knew.

I turned to flash a smile at him before carrying on my course.

I fought through the crowd to the calmer area closer to the bar. I looked around to find Natasha and Clint signing at each other at the bar. I approached to see Clint didn't have his hearing aids in. I didn't blame him since it was so loud it wasn't worth the headache if you couldn't hear what people were saying anyway.

"Oh hey, Y/n, we got separated. Are you having fun?" Natasha offered me a seat at the bar next to her.

I took the seat, "Uh, not as much as I would have hoped, but I'm not having a horrible time." I had made sure Clint could see my lips so he could be part of the conversation.

They both nodded, "That's how it is, especially with Tony."

Clint started to sign, looking at me, but I didn't catch on quick enough to understand. He stopped and signed slower for me to read, [Drink?]

I fumbled with my hands, but I was learning. [no dd]

Clint rolled his eyes teasingly at me. I could nearly hear him saying, 'you're no fun.'

Natasha took a swig of her liquor as Clint gulped his beer. It was fun to see them act so similarly. They were so in sync on and off the field.

"You should stay hydrated though. It's hot in here" Nat nodded at the bartender. "Get something non-alcoholic, water, a virgin something, coke. He probably has everything back there."

I thought it over for a minute, "Maybe a bit later."

We chatted for a couple more minutes before Tony sauntered over to us, he looked a little tipsy, but you could only tell if you knew him. He had way too much experience in hiding it.

"So we finally got everyone gathered up in a booth if you want to chat, have some fun." He pointed toward a corner booth with the rest of the team chatting together, drinks in their hands.

This might be trouble getting them home.

"Yeah sure" Nat and Clint stood up.

"Just a sec, I'm gonna grab something to drink before I head over." They nodded and walked with Tony to the group.

I waved the barman over, "Hey do you have any ginger ale back there?"

He nodded, "You want a mixed drink with it?"

"No, no alcohol," he nodded and walked to where he had it stored, "put it in one of your fancy glasses would ya?"

He smiled and nodded again.

I watched him like a hawk. He opened the can and poured it into a glass, grabbing an umbrella and popping it in as well. I didn't notice any sleight of hand which I was hoping I was as good at noticing as I thought. Every girl has heard too many horror stories.

I took it with a thank you and a smile and headed towards my friends. I kept one eye on my soda and the other on where I was going. I finally fought my way through the crowd without spilling my glass. I slid into the booth squeezing into the end next to Nat.

"Okay Y/n, you're the last one here, you have to ask the first question." Tony leaned around the others to see me.

I blinked at him, "What?"

"You know, like get-to-know-you questions. What's your favorite carpet or something."

Everyone laughed at the bizarre example.

I thought for a moment, "Okay, okay... Uh... I guess if you could have any superpower other than your own, what would it be?"

"OOoooohh that's a good one."

"I have to actually think for this one..."

"I actually, already know what I would want," Bruce swirled his water hesitantly.

"Do tell."

"Immutability."

There was a moment where everyone wrapped their tipsy heads around it before they all commented nice things.

"That's cool!"

"Interesting choice."

"Never would have thought about that."

Tony took a big gulp of his drink and slammed his glass onto the table, "Okay, I'll go next. If I had to have another superpower, I would be invulnerable. BECAUSE!" He said to not allow anyone to interrupt him. "While my mind is nothing short of spectacular, it is not considered a superpower, SO I can still blow shit up in my suit while not being banged around getting migraines every day."

Clint spoke up first, well tapped his fingers on the table purposefully and signed, [That was way too thought out.]

Tony just shrugged, tapped his temple and waved a waitress over to get a refill.

Nat nudged him, "Well I think that means you're next. What would you do arrow boy?"

[Easy, invisibility. Don't see anyone? Good! Arrow there! Arrow there! Dead everywhere! Perfect assassin...]

Natasha was translating mostly for me as he got excited and signed extra fast. She also quipped, "No, you just want it so you can steal food whenever you want."

Clint's hands twitched for a response, but couldn't find one except for a sheepish smile. After a couple of elbows to the ribs, he pointed at Nat for her to answer. I guess I don't know much about deaf people, but it seemed like if he was drunk he relied more on signing than talking, especially without his hearing aids even though I knew he could talk just fine. I don't know how I would deal without being able to hear my friends' voices, or listen to my music. I know hearing aids help and all the tech is improving, but it's such a big part of my life, it would scare me. Clint honestly just amazes me, I'm so glad I got to befriend him.

Nat rolled her eyes at his insistence, "I always thought night vision was cool." She signed as she was talking and I tried to use it as practice.

Everyone nodded their heads, seeing the usefulness of that power.

Nat looked around the circle, trying to decide who would go next, "Steve, you go."

He nervously twisted a strange-looking jug that matched Thor's and Loki's, "I haven't really thought about it..."

Tony spoke up, "I call bull Steve."

Clint mirrored the statement with his hands.

"Come on Steve! What would you desire to have?" Thor reached over Bruce and Loki to punch Steve's shoulder.

"Fine, Fine! I would take telekinesis? That's that thing where you move stuff with your mind right?"

I confirmed his question was right.

"Loki next!"

He rolled his eyes, "I... " He looked at everyone with a look that said he didn't understand why we were doing this, "with much the same reasoning as Stark, would have omniscience because if I knew everything, I would also know how to use my magic with the added benefit of everything else." He smiled with a spark in his eyes that told everyone to beware if he got that superpower.

[That would suck if you had omnish-- omni-- that.] Everyone chuckled at Clint's struggle to spell the word. He even watched Nat sign it for him since it was a difficult word to lip read.

"Thor's next!"

He leaned back and rested his arms along the top of the booth behind Tony on one side, Bruce and Loki on the other side, he looked relaxed. "I always thought being able to fly and controlling the weather would be fun," he started nonchalantly, but by the end of his answer, he had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Oh, come on!"

"Thor, that's lame!"

There were a couple of groans that accompanied it.

He didn't give any other answers, so everyone looked around the table. I took a sip of my ginger ale, finding pleasure in swirling my tiny umbrella.

"We haven't heard from you, Y/n."

I looked up to see raised eyebrows and I felt my face heat up a little. I looked back down at my little tropical umbrella before answering, "Well, I read once about this concept... The ability to manipulate probability."

Most looked puzzled, while Tony was squinting his eyes in thought, so I hurried to elaborate, getting a little more confident since it was such a cool concept, "well, what's the probability of that chair over there," I pointed at an empty table and chairs, "getting up and walking out of here of its own free will?"

They looked even more puzzled.

"Next to zero. Bam," I waved my finger at it, "one hundred percent. What's the chance of me becoming a gorgeous mermaid right now?"

"Zero."

I squinted at Tony, "I don't know if I should be offended right now..."

He shrunk back with a sheepish smile.

"Anyway, bam! One hundred percent." I looked around the group, them starting to catch on. "What's the chance of Loki falling in love with a low life mortal? Next to zero. Bam! Eighty-five percent."

"Why not one hundred?"

I let out an amused huff at what I was about to say, "well, for one, I think he would be too stubborn for me to do that."

They roared with laughter, Loki did not look amused.

"And for two, that would be really cruel..." I paused getting my thoughts together, "What if those Odinsleep things happen more often than not? Weeks after the wedding, he feels one coming on, takes a long nap, and when he wakes? He has a child running around the house, the next time, the kid is graduating college. Next thing Loki knows, grandkids are knocking on his door. He goes to sleep next to his finely aged spouse, and when he wakes the next morning, the bed is empty, so he assumes they're running errands since he woke up late. They don't come home and he's informed  they've been buried three miles away for a while..." I looked at the now solemn faces, "that would hurt..."

I smiled, "besides, I would make him fall in love with some bookish warrior from one of the other eight realms or whatever." I bobbed my head side to side as I said, "someone to keep him on his toes."

Clint tapped me to look at him, [someone like you?]

I waved my hand at him before attempting to sign while talking, "No, what'd I say? It's cruel."

Nat nudged me, "I didn't hear any other complaints!"

I shrugged easily, "Well yeah, I mean, he's a decent guy, he hasn't tried to kill me yet..." I deadpanned, "Oh wait."

"OOOOOHHHHH"

"That's a burn!!"

Someone was hissing like a sizzling pan, it was fun. I made sure to smile teasingly at Loki to make sure he knew I meant no hard feelings.

He gave me a nod that said, "That's fair."

We continued to ask questions to each other, some weird stuff like what's your favorite semi-aquatic plant?

Or Bruce went basic with favorite colors.

I kept drinking ginger ale and everyone else, except Loki, got slowly more drunk as the night went on. Bruce didn't have much, but he's a lightweight, sipped water throughout the night and was still pretty wasted. Natasha seemed fine, but the way her eyes darted around and she started talking cryptically told me she was under the influence more than she would admit.

"Uh, Loki?"

He looked at me.

"I thought Thor and Steve couldn't get drunk? And why are you not if they are?"

He raised his jug-like thing, "Asgardian mead and ale, I'm being careful. Hate for you to haul them all back by yourself."

I raised an eyebrow, "Or are you just saving yourself the hangover?"

He chuckled, "I don't get hangovers, but yes my motives are more selfish."

I shook my head dismissively, not really caring as long as he would help. "Alright, I think it's time to go." I looked at the time and sighed, "I'm glad I don't have work this morning."

Loki grabbed Steve, Thor, and Tony while I rounded up Bruce, Clint, and Natasha.

"Okay, Bruce? I'm going to have you grab onto my belt loop right here okay?" I hooked his fingers into the loop on my hip, making sure he didn't get separated from us. I had to keep my focus on Nat and Clint so they didn't wander off. I held their hands and made sure there was an occasional tug on my pants so I had all three of them. Clint kept trying to talk with Natasha and rip his hand from mine, but I wouldn't have it until they were all sitting in the back seats of the car.

"I'm fine, I'm not drunk." Tony was waving Loki away once he got outside next to the car.

I sighed and walked over, knowing full well that he was drunk. "Thanks, Loki, I've got him."

Loke went to stick Thor and Steve into the van and left me with Tony.

"Okay Tony, where are the keys?"

"I'm driving"

"Fine," I decided to pull a foolproof trick on him. He still had a glass in his hand, this is essential, "Up high Tony." He willingly gave me a high five. "Okay, you hit it right on, so go drive us home."

He nodded seemingly sound logic. He pulled out the keys from his pocket.

"Tony, you've got to do the down low."

He fell for it, swinging his hand down to give me a low five, but I swiped the keys from his hand.

"Too slow, go get into the back."

"Hey!"

I ushered him towards Loki before he could try and take the keys back. I got into the driver's seat sighing when it was nearly a brawl in the back, Steve and Bruce half asleep, almost crying. Loki got into the passenger seat next to me, looking equally as tired.

"Let's get these guys home Your Highness."

He leaned back against the headrest, eyes closed as I put the van in gear. "It's Loki."

"'ight"

We got to the compound and guided the ones semi-conscious to the common room. The rest we hauled up, leaving the car in the driveway. I made sure they had a glass of water before they passed out, the ones I could get to take it anyway. I made sure they were mostly comfortable but didn't put a bunch of effort into it.

"I'm going to bed Loki, see you in the afternoon."

He chuckled as he set off for his own room, "Good night Y/n."

I headed to the guest bedroom they set aside for me when I spent the night. I had it stocked with a pair of old pajamas and three or four spare changes of clothes. They were pretty grungy since I wouldn't miss them, and I could just go back to my apartment to change if I needed the next morning.

As soon as I changed into the soft with age PJs I collapsed onto the bed, glad the night didn't end up as a worst-case scenario.

Tag List:

@nightrose64

#loki #loki x reader #loki fanfic #Avengers #avengersfanfiction #avengers x reader #clint barton #natasha #Steve Rogers #bruce banner #tony stark #thor #club #superpowers #drunk #Of Kings and Shadows #chapter 12

[badmcuposts]

A New Favorite Thing

No warnings

Good ole irondad and spiderson as suggested by @dantedeletes

Set like, a week or two after Civil War this is very very very early in their relationship.

Tony wants to learn how this slightly annoying snot-nosed kid from queens manufactured webbing that a genius billionaire can’t replicate for the life of him. In the end, he learns the slightly-annoying-snot-nosed-kid-from-queens is actually a miniature version of himself, and decides to keep him.

-

All Tony wanted was to find out how the kid designed that stupid webbing.

He had spent five-no-six days holed up in the lab over this, and nothing. Pep was getting concerned, rightfully so, that he hadn’t just asked Peter to show him. But how was he supposed to do that? ‘Oh hey buddy can you teach me how to do the thing i have multiple phds in because you’re smarter than me at 12?’ The whole thing was god awful embarrassing.

Which would be exactly the reason as to why Tony was about to burn the whole tower down if she pulled something like this again. Inviting the kid herself like she owned the place. Well, she did, but that wasn’t the point of it all. He didn’t even know what to do with an annoying little kid!

It wasn’t that Tony didn’t trust Peter in his lab. He had seen the kid’s grades. It was more or less worrying about what he was supposed to do in the highly unlikely event that the kid wasn’t as trustworthy as he seemed. If they got in there and Peter couldn’t hold his own, he would be at a total loss to keep control in the lab. There were so many questions, so many worries in case something went wrong.

Was he even old enough for the energy drinks? What else was in the minifridge up in the lab? Bagels? Did he like bagels? What if Peter got scared up in the workshop? Would he fit into Tony’s spare safety goggles? What if he didn’t like the way the workshop was organized? What if Peter didn’t want to be around Tony after this and got himself hurt?

And this would be why Tony really hadn’t contacted Peter, huh? His own insecurity about how he was supposed to continue on with his relationship with a something-year-old child after no doubt traumatizing the poor thing in a battle and then embarrassing him via benching halfway through.

He’d read the countless articles in old newspapers, seen the police files involving the kid. The Parker boy was a ticking time bomb, no doubt about it. If Tony didn’t keep him in line and make sure not to hurt him any more, those special abilities might turn into weapons of mass destruction. And he really didn’t want to start planning for the kid to go to the dark side.

But, it was time to man up and face the music. Or, rather, the child standing three feet away with the most worn duffle bag to ever grace the eyes of someone with the Stark name. Tony gently smiled, raising his hand for a polite shake that Peter took with innocent eagerness and aptitude. God, this kid is definitely gonna break something up there.

“Peter, nice of you to join me. I’d love to talk a bit about that webbing we discussed before.”

Peter’s smile faltered a little, but returned within the second.

“Yeah, Miss Potts said to bring my stuff. Though, if you wanna do me a favor, let’s not break any of it. Technically, I’m borrowing it from the school labs.”

“You don’t have your own equipment?”

Tony was honestly shocked. Where had Peter been making all of this? He couldn’t have been using public school half-ass production level equipment this whole time, could he?

“No, sir. I just make the web fluid during chemistry when the teacher turns around.”

Well, that answers that question. How smart was this kid? A few years of straight As indicated intelligence but, at this rate, shouldn’t he have skipped a few grades?

“Well then, looks like it’s time to get down to business, isn’t it?”

Peter’s breathing managed to begin to replicate the tune of “I’ll Make a Man Out Of You”. This kid...

“Yessir.”

And as they reached the elevator, Friday automatically carrying the pair of nerds to floor 79, Tony finally said it.

“Stop calling me sir, you make me feel older every time you speak than most people do when they remind me that my father was young and spry in the smack dab middle of World War Two.”

“Only if you start referring to this stuff as “web fluid”, Mr. Stark. It’s very important to repect scientific nomenclature in the form given by the original scientist.” “How much of that was a the answer to a science class pretest?” “The whole thing.”

Fair enough, you little-

The elevator came to a halt (smoothly, of course. It’s stark tech) at the workshop. Luckily for Tony, he had plenty of extra space so Peter would feel comfortable. He pointed to a desk a few feet from his own and briefly stated “Set your gear up over there, tell me what chemicals you need.”

Peter, however, didn’t seem to willing to let his host take the lead.

“Oh no, sir, I brought my own stuff. Midtown is loaded with spare bottles. They won’t notice.”

Two could play at that game, couldn’t they? Well, there was always one way to find out.

“Yeah, and you’re gonna leave them in the bag and put them back tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow’s saturday.”

“Monday, whatever. My cabinet has a billion variations of every science-related doohickey known to man and it could use some more use. No point wasting all the money that school probably spends with the intent of it being used in class, huh? And what did I say about calling me sir?”

“Sorry, sir.”

The kid was smirking. What did Tony do to deserve such cruel treatment from the universe?

Peter tossed his bag onto the desk with enough force to make any non-enhanced teenager look like they were about to throw a tantrum. But, Peter merely glanced at his hands, sighed, and checked that none of the gear had gotten damaged.

Right, super kid. Not a normal intern. Not an intern at all, technically. Unless...

Nope. Later, Tones.

Tony quickly assisted in the set-up, hoping he could rush this and memorize the formula as quickly as inhumanly possible. And that’s when he noticed, Peter’s notes were in the back of his chemistry notebook. How in pointbreak’s name had nobody figured this kid out yet?

Pushing his lack of faith in humanity and all of its company, Tony unlocked the cabinet of infinite chemicals.

“Alright can you grab me some... uhhhhh.... Salicylic Acid, Touline, Methanol, Carbon Tetrachloride, H-Heptane, Potassium Carbonate, Ethyl Acetate, Hexate, BHA, Sodium Tetraborate, and why not just jump the gun and grab the Cactivator Activated Silica Gel now instead of waiting until later?”

Jesus christ this might as well be a liquid bomb with how little he trusts a child with any of these products. Especially silica gel. Don’t kids get high off of that stuff? No, no, Tony, be a good mentor-figure-thing. Now was the time to let the kid have a little room to make mistakes. Let him blow up the lab now instead of later. Sounds responsible.

“Gotcha, Wiz Kid.”

“First off, if I was a sim, my childhood aspiration would be Rambunctious Scamp.”

Tony deadpanned at Peter for another three minutes and twelve seconds before finally responding.

“I literally have no idea what you are talking about, ever.”

Well, ain’t that the truth. However, if Tony was being honest with himself, a little back and forth did wonders to calm his nerves. Maybe the kid wasn’t all too frightening. More like a kitten in the freezing rain.

“What’s next?”

Peter grabbed the worn notebook and examined the page closely.

“Uhhhh, now we add activator degas for 30 minutes, I think. Or is it 45? Wait a sec, I’ll find it somewhere in my notes.”

“You don’t have it memorized?”

“Well, usually I don’t have an audience.”

“Touché.”

Time continued on like that for the next half hour. Back and forth, quip after quip, each remark from the thir-fif-twe-si-fourteen year old “August 10th, 2001, the day the world wishes had never happened. No, it’s a joke Mr. Stark. More of a gen z kind of thing.” reminding Tony of himself. Perhaps, in another world, he could have been as amazing as Peter Parker was proving to be.

He even introduced Peter to the bots, who immediately decided they had a new brother to play with and went hog wild trying to play ball with the kid who was far more interested in marveling at their hotwiring. To Tony, their designs were juvenile and messy. However, to the teenaged dumpster diver next to him, they were beautiful.

And once time slowed, they finally went back to work.

“Now we need to heat it, slowly! Don’t hurt my baby, Mr. Stark!”

“Your baby?”

“You literally just called a little robot your baby but I’m the weird one, ok.”

“Dum-E has artificial feelings, your super glue wouldn’t care if you magically turned to ash.”

Ok, too far. But the kid took it as a joke, no doubt. He snorted the whole way through his laugh. Snorted.

“How slowly is this supposed to be anyway?”

“For the next 24 hours.”

“24 HOURS? What are we supposed to do until then?”

“I dunno. I can swing over tomorrow and we can finish it up then.”

“Yeah, yeah, sounds good.”

Tony helped Peter load his equipment back up, hoping the kid wouldn’t get caught stealing school property.

“Heck, maybe make it a tradition. Lab days until one of us explodes from too much science.”

And Tony smiled. The brightest, most genuine smile he had ever given in his lifetime.

“You got it, kiddo.”

Yeah, Lab days.

He could get behind that.

It might just be his new favorite thing.

#tom holland #peter parker #avengers: infinity war #spiderman ffh #spiderman: far from home #robert downey jr #tony stark #sm hoco #spiderman far from home #spiderman: homecoming #spiderman #irondad #irondad and spiderson #irondad fic #spiderman fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #captain america cw #spiderman: hoco #spiderman homecoming #irondad fluff #irondad and spiderson fluff #rdj #iron man #ironman #ca cw #sm hc #sm ffh #far from home #peter benjamin parker #my fics

[solei28]

Coffee, Pie, You-Chapter 4

Your eyes went wide as Tony Stark came up to the counter. Holy shit! It’s Ironman and Captain America and Falcon!! What were the Avengers doing at your little kiosk?

Tony gave you that signature smile. “Hello, dear. It would seem you're the reason the Manchurian Candidate here has put on a few pounds.”

“I have not!” James protested standing up.

Tony didn’t even look behind him. He just waved his hand dismissively. “ Anyway, do you have a menu I can browse?”

You nodded your head, mouth slightly open and handed him a menu from behind the counter. You were at a complete loss for words. What does one say to Ironman, anyway?

Tony was enjoying the look on your face. “Is everything alright, dear? You haven’t said a word since we got here.”

You closed your eyes and shook your head. “I-I’m fine. I just- I mean, your Ironman, I mean Tony Stark, uh, Mr. Stark,” you stammered.

“Yes, I am. And, you can call me Tony,” he said sticking his hand out.

“Y/N,” you squeaked shaking his hand.

Tony’s smile grew wider. “I’m sure you know who these 2 are.” He gestured at Steve and Sam.

You nodded. Steve came over to you first and shook your hand. “Pleasure to meet you,” he said with a boyish smile.

“It’s an honor, Captain,” you managed in a normal tone.

Steve laughed. “Please, just call me Steve.”

Sam shook your hand next. “Can I just say how excited I am to finally try one of these treats?”

You tilted your head confused. “Why?”

“Because Bucky refuses to share,” Sam said glaring at the man.

This made you laugh. “Is that so? Hogging all the treats for yourself, eh, Buchanan?”

Steve gave his friend a smug look. “Buchanan has been selfish.”

James went red and he hid behind his long locks. He mumbled under his breath and sat back down. “Hurry up and order something so you all can leave.” He began shoveling food into his mouth.

“Um, is that the only seat, Y/N?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. Sorry, I don’t have anymore,” you said frowning.

“It’s fine. We’ll bring our own next time.” Tony was making sure to press all of James’s buttons.

James looked up at him, eyes intense, his mouth a thin line. “There won’t be a next time, Stark,” his warning was low.

“You are very selfish, Buchanan,” Tony emphasized his name with an evil smirk. Looking back at you, he said, “Can I have a bacon, egg and cheese, dear?”

“Coming right up!” you beamed at him.

James was annoyed at the fact that they were there, but seeing the way you lit up was well worth it. Cooking made you happy and happy looked so damned good on you.

Steve came over to stand by James and looked at what was left in his plate. “Whatcha got there, Buck?” he asked with genuine interest.

James told him what it was. “It’s really good. Never had an omelet like this before.”

Sam had taken the menu from Tony and was looking it over. “Hey, I don’t see that on here.”

“It’s part of the secret menu,” you teased over your shoulder. “Only, frequent customers get access to it.”

Steve was wearing that smug look again. “Looks like we gotta come here more often.” He chuckled at James’s face. “Stop being selfish, Buchanan.”

“Stop calling me that, punk,” James mumbled. He got up and walked over to the counter with his empty plate and cup. “Hey, doll. Can I get a refill?”

You turned smiling at him. “Of course. Just give me a sec.” You took the cup and plate from him. You turned back and finished up Tony’s sandwich. “Order’s up.”

Tony sauntered over to the counter. “I’ll have a cup of coffee, too. Cream, 3 sugars.”

“Sure. Small, medium, or large?” You ask as you made James’s coffee.

“Medium should suffice.” Tony looked at Sam and Steve. “Are you 2 gonna order, or what?”

Sam made his way to the counter first. “Yeah. Can I have the Curious Breakfast? That sounds interesting.”

“Sure thing.” You were handing James and Tony their coffees when you looked at Steve. “What would you like, Cap?”

“I wanna try what Bucky had, but it’s my first time here, so,” Steve gave you puppy dog eyes.

You threw your head back and laughed. They may be Avengers, but they definitely acted like children from this display. “I’ll let it slide since you’re an Avenger.”

Steve smiled widely. “Thank you, Y/N!”

Tony took a sip of his coffee. “Wow, this is great. Best coffee I have ever had,” he said astonished.

James nodded his head in agreement. “Wait till you try the food.” He winced at the thought. Now, they’ll be here all the time and that upset him. This had become a safe haven for him. He just wanted to spend some time with you after the Siberia mission. It had left him feeling uneasy and his nightmares had gotten worse since they got back 2 days ago.

⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻

As they got off the Quinjet, James tried not to think about how unsettling being back here was. He scanned the area for any possible immediate threats. Nothing seemed out of place for the most part.

“Stark, can you hack the door?” Steve asked.

“Just you try and stop me,” Tony said approaching the electronic lock. After a moment, the door opened. “Piece a cake. You, does your secret lover make cake to, Barnes?”

James rolled his eyes. “Focus on the task at hand.”

“I am while also focusing on cake. It’s called multitasking,” Tony said sarcastically.

“Guys, I picked up 4 heat signatures heading the door,” Sam said over the comms. He was in the air, scanning for outside threats with Redwing.

“Any outside?” Steve asked.

“None so far,” Sam answered.

James lifted his gun and aimed as he followed Steve through the door. He could hear the footsteps getting closer. He took a deep breath when they were only steps away.

“It has to be ready by tonight. I don’t care what it takes, just get it done!” a man’s voice echoed through the corridor.

American? James thought as 2 people came into view. Just as the 2 men noticed Steve and James, Tony shot them with tranq darts. They went down like a sack of potatoes. Tony shot out 2 more darts and hit the 2 men that were behind them.

“Sam, keep an eye on the door. We’re heading down,” Steve said over the comms.

“Gotcha Cap. Watch yourselves,” Sam said.

James continued to follow Steve to the elevator. He quickly scanned the unconscious men on the ground as the walk passed them. One was American, but the other 3 were German. What was the American doing here?

Tony had FRIDAY run a scan on the men to see what she could find. The A.I. informed him it will take a little while and she’ll update him soon. They got into the elevator and made there way down.

“Tony, picking up and heat signatures?” Steve whispered as the elevator slowed down.

“Yeah, a dozen spread out in the chamber ahead,” Tony confirmed. “Only 4 have visible automatic rifles. 2 at the entrance and 2 where Zemo locked himself in.”

Steve nodded and looked at James. His face was stern, but his eyes gave away his concern. “Ready, pal?”

“Ready,” James said, his voice even. He put his gun up and walked out of the elevator on Steve’s left.

They made quick work of the 2 guards at the entrance to the chamber. Tony tranqed the other 2 quickly before they could raise the alarm. The rest of the people there were scientists.

From the looks of it, they were working on a new serum. The scientists were terrified and surrendered themselves immediately once they saw who they were. One lady’s eyes were wide with terror when she saw James.

“Please, don’t kill me, Soldat. I was forced to work on the serum. They have my family,” she pleaded with him.

James’s mouth twisted into a snarl when she called him that. “Don’t call me that.” His face softens a bit when he saw the tears in her eyes. “I’m not here to kill you. Tell us everything about what’s going on here.” He hated when people looked at him like he was still the Winter Soldier.

She told him about the advancements that were made to the serum. Now, a person who survived the procedure would heal at a much faster rate than before. Their body didn’t need to intake as many calories as James and Steve’s did anymore. It could survive off of a third of what a normal body intake would need. They were much stronger, faster and agile than Steve and James also. It was much easier to brainwash them. The serum destroyed their brains, erasing all memories before regenerating ready to be filled by HYDRA’s lies.

“Have they used it on anyone, yet?” James demanded.

The woman nodded her head slowly. “Yes. On a woman a few months ago. She lived through the procedure and they moved to her another facility.”

“Which facility? Where?” James was sickened that HYDRA had claimed another victim.

“I don’t know. We aren’t privy to that information. We are just here to continuously produce the serum and enhance it. We aren’t even the ones who administer the serum. There’s a special team of doctors that do that.”

“Damn it,” James breathed.

Steve pulled him to the side. “Tony should be able to hack the system and find out more. I called Fury. SHIELD can handle this until a lead comes up.” He sighed heavily. “So, they found a way to make their victims more obedient on their quest to make the perfect weapon. We’re going to end their game once and for all.”

“We have to. There’s no telling what this woman will be capable of when they’re through with her,” James said. He shook his head and looked to the side, eyes falling onto the chair. His chair. The pain and torture he went through made him clench his fits and tighten his jaw. “HYDRA will be destroyed for everything they’ve done.”

“You sure about that, Soldat?” The woman’s voice was much deeper than before. When they looked at her, she a sinister smile on her lips. In an instance, it clicked. “You’re the woman.”

She smiled wickedly at them. “I’m the woman.”

James lifted his gun and shot at her, but she was too fast. She dodged out of the way and slammed into Steve. He flew back into the wall a few feet behind him. She turned and ran back at James, grabbing the barrel of the gun and bending it upwards.

He quickly let go of the gun and swung at her. She blocked it and punched him in the ribs, breaking 2 of them on impact. He spit up blood as he dropped to one knee. Her leg was coming around towards his face. He blocked her kick and swung her around into a table.

Tony shot 2 tranq darts at her, but again she was too fast. She jumped out of the way seconds before they hit their mark. “Damn, she’s fast.”

She ran at Steve, throwing punches he was having difficulty blocking and avoiding. James ran at her to help his friend. Even with 2 super soldiers attacking her, she was holding her own. They hardly landed any hits and each time she connected, slowed them down significantly.

James saw an opening as she was throwing a haymaker at Steve. He quickly wrapped his metal arm around her throat while stopping her fist from connecting with Steve’s face. She elbowed him in the ribs she broke earlier, only making him to tighten the choke hold he had her in. She grabbed his arm and started pulling it away. Steve grabbed her arm and she kicked him in the stomach. It hurt like hell but he didn’t let go.

“Tranq her, now!” Steve shouted.

Tony shot out 2 tranquilizer darts that hit her in the chest. It wasn’t enough, however. She was still struggling, kicking wildly trying to get the 2 men off of her.

“What is this woman made out of?” Tony asked bewildered before letting off 2 more shots. Her movements slowed, but she was still trying to fight them off. “Should I hit her with another dart?”

“Do it,” James said through gritted teeth. “She’ll survive.”

Tony sent one more at her, but just as it was going to hit her, she turned abruptly using James as a shield. The dart hit him in the neck. “Shit! I’m sorry!”

“Just shoot her again!” James said whirling her back around.

Tony did as he said, this time hitting his mark. She finally stopped flailing and her arms fell to her sides. James felt her breathing slow down before releasing her. Her body fell down to the floor and she let out a moan. She wasn’t completely out, but she couldn’t fight anymore.

James took the dart out of his neck. He felt a bit sluggish nothing more. He looked at the woman on the ground. Her eyes were glassy and she was mumbling incoherently. “We need to tie her up before the serum purges the tranquilizer out of her system.”

Steve started looking around. He knew there had to be some type of restraints lying around somewhere. HYDRA would be prepared for resistance from their subjects.

“How are you feeling there, Barnes?” Tony asked eyeing the woman on the ground.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured him. He looked over to where his now useless gun laid on the floor a few feet away. “I really liked that gun.”

⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻

“Alright, fellas. Order’s up!” You handed Sam his plate while Steve made his way over to get his. “So, how do you take your coffee?” Sam told you for both of them and you quickly put it together. “Enjoy,” you said handing them their cups.

James had stood at the counter and let Steve sit down to eat. You both stood, watching eagerly at their reactions after taking the first bite.

Sam’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Y/N, this is amazing! No wonder you’re always here, Bucky.”

Steve’s eyebrows almost touched his hairline and he moaned loudly. “This is delicious! What else is on the secret menu?”

You laughed. “I’ll print one out for tomorrow night.”

James shot you a look. He really didn’t want to encourage these fools to come back. Especially, so soon.

Tony took a bite from his sandwich and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. “I didn’t think a simple sandwich could taste so damn good. Y/N, I’m getting you a restaurant.”

Your jaw dropped. “Wh-what?”

“I’m getting you a restaurant,” he repeated nonchalantly. “If you can make food this good out of a kiosk, I can only imagine what you can do in a real kitchen.”

You opened and closed your mouth like a fish trying to process what Tony Stark was offering.

James looked at you and smiled. “You alright there, doll?”

“I’m just.” You shook your head. “Thank you, Mr. Stark-um, Tony, but I have to respectfully decline. I chose this spot and this kiosk for a reason. It’s how I give back to those who help others. The customers I get are doctors, nurses, EMTs, officers and the like. I can’t just leave.”

James felt his chest swell. You turned down an amazing opportunity so you could continue giving back. If wasn’t falling you before, he definitely was now.

Tony beamed at that response. “I respect that, Y/N. If you ever change your mind, though, just tell Frostbite and I’ll make it happen.”

“Thank you, Tony,” you said with sincerity.

“No problem, dear.” He looked at the array of baked goods under the counter. “So, what do you recommend?”

You smiled and began picking out some treats for them. They lingered around for about 20 more minutes before Tony paid for everything and they left. James was relieved they were finally going so he could spend time alone with you.

“So, the Avengers are made up of 5-year-olds?” you teased.

“What?” he asked you confused.

You giggled. “The way the lot of you interact with each other screams 5-year-olds. Just as an observation I made.”

James shook his head. When he thought about it, you were right. They did act like children. “Maybe. But, they started it.” Your laugh made his heart speed up. He loved that sound.

You looked down the street and saw some scrubs heading your way. “Ah, the hungry approach.”

James looked to where they were coming from. He was a little upset he was being interrupted again, but this was your job. He sighed and looked back at you.

You were busy making him a fresh cup of coffee. You knew he would be going now, too. You always sent him off with coffee and a treat. It was your way of thanking him and trying to express how much you enjoyed his company. You were hoping he would get the hint that you liked him. You couldn’t seem to work up the nerve to tell him. If only you knew that he felt the same way.

James walks into the apartment. Steve sitting at the kitchen table enjoying the cheesecake he got from Y/N. James: How's the cheesecake? Steve: Amazing, of course. James, smiling like an idiot: Just like her. Steve laughing: She really is something. I'm happy for ya, Buck. James: Thanks. I just wish I knew how to tell her I like her. Steve choking on cheesecake: Wait! You spend all that time together and you haven't to her you like her. What the hell is wrong with you!? James, flipping him off: Shut up, punk, eat your cake and mind ya damn business. Steve, exasperated: But, how have you not told her yet!!? James going into his room and slamming the door: Shut up, punk.

So, there might be another part to Siberia but I'm not entirely sure as of yet. Would really love to know what you think about it so far. I didn't plan this story at all. I'm just letting it flow. I hope you guys enjoy it.

#writing #fanfiction #creative #creativewriting #Avengers #bucky x reader #bucky barnes #ao3 fanfic #soleizcreations #writer #creativewriters #steve rogers #tony stark #sam wilson #fun

[honestgrins]

Slasher || Klaroween

There's a killer on the loose, and Caroline really needs better friends. (For Klaroween Bingo: "Let's walk through the graveyard at midnight, she said, what could go wrong, she said.")

"Thanks for driving me home, 'Lena," Caroline said, letting herself into the house. "It's a literal lifesaver since the mechanic won't let me pick up my car until daylight tomorrow. Stupid town curfew. Do you have plans for tonight? My mom has been super strict about the curfew, too, so she's been stocking up on food to keep me here. We can have a movie marathon…"

Checking her phone, Elena shrugged. "Sure, Stefan told me he and Damon got caught up in something and didn't want me to hang out tonight."

A little miffed at being a consolation prize, Caroline faked a smile. "Great! What do you want to watch?"

They bickered over options while they gathered chips and sweets, eventually settling on the couch to watch a Harry Potter marathon. Only an hour in, though, a news alert took over the screen. The anchorman's face looked grim.

"The serial slasher has once again struck Mystic Falls."

Caroline's gaze felt frozen on the TV, blindly reaching for the remote to turn up the volume as they cut to a field reporter.

"Another body was found in Mystic Falls tonight," the reporter said, her hair whipping in the wind. "Though still unidentified, the woman's remains were discovered by a pair of boys on the grounds of the old Fell's Church just north of town. Police refused to name the young men as they are minors, but Sheriff Forbes did disclose they were attempting to stage a Halloween prank in the abandoned ruins when they found the victim. Multiple sources believe this to be the work of the same killer that took the lives of Vicki Donovan, Sheila Bennett, and KVGN's own Andie Starr. It has been a week since authorities established a town curfew to protect the public, and when contacted for comment, Mayor Lockwood encouraged all residents to take extra safety precautions."

"Oh my god," Elena whispered. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she pressed a hand to her mouth in horror. She looked over to Caroline. "I don't think we should stay here by ourselves."

Frowning, Caroline couldn't look away from her mother's face as the reporter interviewed her. "Where else would we go? The house is locked up and we have guns. My mom will come home as soon as she can. We're as safe as we could be with a crazy murderer on the loose."

But Elena shook her head, frantic. "I want to go to Stefan's."

"That's clear across town!"

Elena shrugged, already reaching for her discarded purse to rifle for her keys. "I don't care, the boarding house is-"

Caroline raised her fingers point by point. "Creepy, isolated, a bajillion years old with who knows how many secret entrances for killers to get in," she listed. "Oh! And Damon is the worst, so no."

With an offended sniff, Elena stood anyway. For reasons Caroline didn't want to examine too closely, her friend always had a peculiar soft spot for Stefan's older brother. Having grown out of an ill-conceived crush over him herself, she was happy to recite his worst qualities on demand, but they'd long since stopped working on Elena. All the bad vibes he gave off did nothing to harden the girl's all too open heart against him. "I'm worried about them."

Her eyes rolled so hard Caroline thought she might have finally damaged them permanently. Seriously, Stefan had to be blind to miss the signs - and deaf, because Caroline had definitely pointed them out on several occasions. Still, she shoved herself off the couch to race Elena toward the front door. "You can't go by yourself."

"Then let's go." Elena plowed past her, pointing her key fob at the car sitting outside, only to frown when nothing happened. Caroline tried to keep her in the house, but she just kept walking. "The locks aren't working," she said, annoyed when Caroline seemed hesitant to follow.

Caroline gave a half-hearted shrug. "Maybe it's a sign we should stay here."

Sending a snotty look over the car, Elena manually unlocked her door. "Or maybe it's a sign I need a new battery for the keys. I'm going. Are you coming with me or not?"

Torn, Caroline glanced behind her and wondered if Elena would wait for her to grab one of the pistols from the safe. Her mom hadn't taken her to the range for nothing, and she had a really bad feeling in her gut. "Give me a sec-"

"Now, Caroline!" Elena snapped as she lowered herself into the driver's seat.

Caroline groaned, only taking the time to lock the door before running to the car, glad to at least have her phone with her. Elena reached across to unlock the passenger side so she could clamber inside, quickly locking it back. Annoyed and on edge, her bad feeling had only grown worse since leaving the house. "What are you waiting for? Start the car!"

As she turned the key in the ignition, over and over, Elena's breath started coming in shorter pants. "It's not working. Something's wrong."

Her gut twisted, and Caroline felt a spike of adrenaline as she forced herself out of the car. "We're going back inside."

"No!" Once Elena made it back onto solid ground, she started walking in the opposite direction from the house. "I need to make sure they're okay, even it means I have to run there myself."

"Hello, call them like a normal person!"

But Elena refused to listen and kept going. For a long moment, Caroline considered letting her go. At best, she would just be a nervous wreck until she heard from Elena or Stefan that she made it safely to the boarding house. At worst, her friend would be caught and killed by the serial- "I'm coming with you," she bit out as she chased her down the road. "I swear, if you get me murdered, I'm going to haunt you."

And so they traipsed around the ring of town, avoiding patrol cars and jumping at every noise. Caroline muttered at every decision Elena made along the way, her hair standing on end out of nerves when they crossed underneath the wrought-iron gate of the cemetery. "Let's walk through the graveyard at midnight, she said. What could go wrong, she said. You're nuts, you know that?"

"You're paranoid," Elena countered as they picked their way around headstones and crumbling memorials. "It's peaceful here."

"Yep, such a peaceful place to die." Leaves rustled, and Caroline's head whipped toward the sound. "Did you hear that?"

With a helpless shrug, Elena pushed on. "We're almost there, just-"

A twig snapped behind them. Barely holding back a shriek, Caroline shoved them both into a nearby crypt to hide in the shadows. Sure enough, footsteps weren't far behind. Slowly bending down, she picked up a hefty rock and waited. When the gravel crunched around the corner of the crypt, she raised her arm and jumped out - though a hand firmly took hold of her wrist before she could bring the rock down on the stranger's head.

"Caroline!"

Oh, not a stranger. "Klaus?!" Caroline clenched the rock, not quite willing to drop the handy weapon despite the familiar, incredulous face of her ex-boyfriend. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Klaus looked up to the see her tight fist, brow furrowing. "The dog ran away, I promised Henrik I'd find him." Glancing over to Elena, his expression hardened. It seemed he hadn't quite forgiven that it was her interference that led to Caroline breaking up with him. "What are you all doing here?"

Elena scoffed and continued walking. "That's none of your business. Come on, Caroline."

But Caroline hesitated, her hand lowering until she could safely drop the rock. "I'm sorry about Wolf. Still, there's some crazy killer on the loose. You shouldn't be out here."

"I could say the same for you, sweetheart. Let me guess, this begins and ends with Elena?"

Rolling her eyes, Caroline turned and headed after her friend. "Shut up," she spat as she stormed away.

So what if she cared what her friends thought? If she didn't give weight to their opinions, then she had no business calling them friends. When Elena pointed out that Caroline was spending a lot more time with Klaus, then, that she was considering changing her college plans after a decade of it being written in stone, she took the warning to heart. She didn't want to lose herself for some boy - if only it didn't mean losing Klaus instead. There was a deep longing that she fought down as she went about her life, ignoring his attempts to talk to her at every chance.

"No, I'm tired of shutting up," Klaus groaned, his heavy steps falling behind her as he followed. "Caroline, please. At least let me say my piece."

"What?" she asked, though she didn't break stride.

Sighing, Klaus seemed intent on keeping pace with her. "I don't know why you let Elena come between us, and I'm not sure I'm prepared to hear the exact words said against me. What I do know is that some part of you must have agreed, because the Caroline I l-" He cut himself off, and Caroline's breath caught at what he might have said. "Well, you're far too stubborn to let anyone tell you what to do."

The vicious retort she'd been keeping on the tip of her tongue died at the hint of reverence in his tone. She did always love how much he seemed to see her when others failed.

"Is that why you're defying your mother's curfew?" he continued, none the wiser as to her sudden doubts. "Hardly a smart decision, love."

"Shut up," she said again as she threw an elbow into his side. "You're out here, too."

Klaus shrugged. "At least Henrik will appreciate that I tried to find Wolf. Can you say the same for Elena?"

"Care!"

They hadn't noticed Elena slipping away from them as they argued through the woods, and Caroline's heart dropped at her pained cry. Almost automatically, her hand reached for Klaus as she ran forward, his fingers lacing tightly in hers as well. Breaking through the tree line, they found Elena sobbing on her knees. Caroline felt sure she'd found another body, perhaps Stefan was strewn across the lawn in a bloody mess. Maybe the killer had found her instead, and it'd be Elena getting carved up with them serving as unfortunate witnesses and next victims.

Caroline felt blindsided, then, when Elena's face appeared etched in shadows as blue and red lights flared too bright in the darkness, bouncing off the bricks of the Salvatore boarding house.

Police cars swarmed the driveway, their lights flashing. Deputies that were like a second family to her looked too grim, some disgusted. Caroline stared open-mouthed as her mother led Damon through the front door with his hands cuffed behind his back, her stony face damning when she tucked him into her car.

Liz caught her eye over the roof and called out to one of her officers before coming their way. "You're supposed to be at home," she told Caroline sternly, her brow furrowing as she looked down to where Klaus was still holding her hand.

"What's going on?" Elena asked, her voice frantic and choked by tears. "I don't- Where-"

With a deep and regretful sigh, Liz knelt down to meet Elena at eye level. "Stefan is okay," she assured. "A little beat up, but nothing an ice pack can't help."

Caroline blinked, wondering at the implications. "Did he do it? Damon?"

"Officially, I'm not at liberty to discuss an open investigation." But Liz pressed her lips together as she stood, reaching up to cradle Caroline's cheek. "I'll have one of my deputies take you all home. We can talk in the morning."

She didn't quite manage to let go of Klaus's hand until they were at his house, and even then, she didn't want to. "If you want some help looking for Wolf tomorrow-"

Klaus ran a tired hand through his hair. "Caroline, you don't have to-"

"I know," she said, silently hoping he wouldn't make her say it. "I'll see you tomorrow."

His lips quirked up in a small grin as he nodded. The deputy drove away before he made it inside, but Caroline looked back to make sure. Elena was still crying on the seat next to her, staring at the window. "Are you okay?"

"No," Elena answered miserably. Caroline pulled her into a hug, happy to remind her that Stefan was fine and life could get back to normal without the murder mystery hanging over the town. "I can't believe they arrested him, he must be so scared."

Cringing, Caroline pulled away in horror. "You can't be serious." If anything, Damon being the slasher made too much sense and she had little doubt he enjoyed every minute of the infamy. "He could have killed your boyfriend tonight!"

"He wouldn't do that." Elena's teary voice had turned fierce. "Stefan confronted him after Vicki died, and Damon didn't kill him then, even when he threatened to go to the police."

Caroline blinked. "Stefan knew? You knew?" And to think, she almost followed Elena right into the lion's den. She gulped at how close she might have been to dying; Damon probably didn't mind the others, but his secret wouldn't have been safe with her.

Suddenly, Elena looked scared and ready to cry again. "No, no! That's not what I meant. You can't tell- Caroline, you can't tell anyone!"

Eyes sliding to the deputy that was obviously listening to their every word, Caroline's expression turned incredulous as she stared at Elena's wide eyes. "Seriously?!"

She cuddled up on the couch, lifting Klaus's arm to make herself more comfortable as they watched the news. "Today, the district attorney announced that only Damon Salvatore would face charges linked to the serial slasher case. As the main suspect for the brutal killings of four women, Salvatore is likely the more prominent target for the state despite both his younger brother and the brother's girlfriend possessing some knowledge of his crimes."

"I can't believe Stefan didn't do anything," Klaus sighed. He once believed the world of his friend.

Caroline pressed a kiss into his shoulder. "I can't believe Elena is actually visiting Damon in jail," she scoffed. "Actually, yeah, I can."

Shrugging, Klaus tightened his hold to kiss her forehead. "At least she's proven her judgment isn't worth holding in high esteem," he pointed out. "Personally, I'm glad you don't listen to her anymore."

"Shut up," Caroline answered with a roll of her eyes - even if she agreed with him, privately.

Read and review: AO3 and FFnet

#klaroween #klaroween bingo #bingo: let's walk through the graveyard at midnight she said what could go wrong she said #klaroline #bingo!

[lollercakesff]

Time & Again 7

Onto part 7? Already? AO3

Though her recovery was progressing well, they’d kept Joyce overnight to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn’t have a concussion. It had been a simple suggestion then that Hopper and El move into the Byers home until Joyce was released from the hospital and back on her feet. Staying with Lonnie wasn’t an option and someone had to care for the boys, so he figured it might as well be him.

“I thought I would never get out of there,” Joyce sighs from the front seat as Hopper slides in beside her. He’d made sure the kids got off to school and had stopped by the hospital before heading to the station only to be surprised by the news that she was free to go.

“Are you sure they said you could leave?” He asks again, looking her over carefully. He’d helped her up the step into the truck, her grunts of pain making him question the doctor’s decisions even though she’d insisted she was fine.

“Yes, Hop, I promise.” Shaking his head, he turns the engine over and inches his way out of the parking lot, careful to avoid the potholes and bumps as best he can. “I’m not going to break. You can drive normally,” she chides when they’re halfway down the street moving at an achingly slow place.

“Don’t mock me, Joyce, I’m trying to take care of you,” Hopper grumbles in return and spares a glance her way. She smiles back at him, her hand coming to rest on his thigh.

“Thank you,” she mumbles as his hand comes to cover hers.

“You had me scared,” he admits quietly when they finally round onto her street.

“What do you mean? You saw it happen, it wasn’t like I was going to die or anything.” Her words are flippant and he can only shake his head in response.

“I’m not talking about that.” Hopper doesn’t want to bring it up, but the unfinished conversation has him rattled and he can’t stop thinking about it.

“Then what are you - oh…” He looks over at her as she pauses mid-sentence, her eyes widening. “Hop, I didn’t fall off the ladder on purpose!”

“I didn’t think you did - but we never did finish it talking about us, did we?” He smiles as he says it, pulling into her driveway and putting the truck in park. Turning to her, he takes his hat off and sets it on the dash, a hand fitfully running through his hair. “Look, Joyce, I’m still going to help you out regardless of what you say because we’re friends and that’s what friends do for each other, but I need you to talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking because if we don’t talk about this I’m going to drive myself insane thinking about it.”

He finishes with a flourish, his body shifting in the driver’s seat anxiously. Joyce tries to suppress a laugh, this strong man seemingly coming apart at the seams before her.

“You weren’t letting me finish what I was saying at the store. I was trying to tell you that I didn’t know how to say that I wanted you without sounding like a desperate fool but you just kept assuming the worst and - “

“Interrupting - “

“Yes, interrupting,” she holds up her good hand, a finger raised to silence him. “I wanted to tell you that I want you in my life, black hole and all. And I want El in my life and you in my boys’ lives. I want to try this stupid thing because we’ve messed it up already before and we deserve to try it now when the time is right. But I didn’t know how to tell you that without - I don’t know - fucking it all up. I want you but I didn’t have the words - “

“Then no more words,” he interrupts again only this time she doesn’t mind because his hand is on her cheek and his body is leaned into hers. The kiss is light, unassuming, and when he pulls back he can’t stop grinning as he takes in the sight of her eyes closed and her lips left slightly ajar.

His mind is spinning as he slips out of the driver’s seat to come and open her door. Helping her down from the truck, he keeps a hand on the small of her back as she tries to stand. When she can’t manage the crutch and the sling at the same time he chuckles under his breath and scoops her up into his arms, her small frame easy for him.

“Never thought I’d do another bridal carry in my life,” he jokes as he pushes their way through the front door with his mood flying high. She laughs and then moans, her bruised ribs aching with the movement.

“I want to go lay down. I’m still tired,” she says when they pass through the living room.

“Got it,” he grunts and moves towards her room. Setting her on the edge of the bed he pulls back the covers until she can scoot underneath them, his hands gently tucking the blanket around her. “Can I get you anything else?” He asks lamely as he squats down next to the bedside table. Automatically, his mind’s eye recalls when they’d last been here just after Bob’s death and he has to force the thought out of his head - that was the past and they had to move forward.

“Do you have to go to the station?” Joyce asks as she tucks her face against the pillow, the bright white of the cast tucked under her chin.

“I’m supposed to - why? Are you in pain?” He shoves his hands into his pockets and pulls out the pills he’d grabbed from the pharmacy before they’d left the hospital. Mid-instruction reading, her hand comes out and tugs at his shirt, pulling his attention back to her.

“The medicine they gave me before I left - it makes my mind do funny things. I don’t want to be alone.” Her whispered words are tentative and embarrassed, her honesty putting her rare vulnerability on display for him.

“Joyce,” he leans forward until he’s on his knees, his torso leaning over the bed as his fingers run along her chin. “You’re safe here. Tucked in bed and all bandaged up. Nothing can get you now.” She nods and pulls the blanket closer into her chest. “There’s my strong girl,” he sighs as she sucks in a shaking breath and laces her fingers with his.

They stay there like that until his knees ache and he has to get to his feet again, careful to pull away and not disturb the light sleep that Joyce has been able to slip into. Heading for the hallway, he stops in the kitchen and lifts the phone to his ear before dialing the station.

“Hey Flo, yeah look - Joyce was released today so I’m going to stay here and help her - Yeah, I know. Look, can you have one of the guys bring over the paperwork on my desk? Great - thanks.” He finishes the call and turns to make himself some lunch.

Setting himself up on the couch with the folders, he starts pouring over his work as he finishes his food. It’s just after one when he hears the cries from Joyce’s room, his body reacting like a bullet from a gun as he comes to shake her out of the nightmare. When she settles back down, he decides that it would be easier to just setup here and retrieves the files from the living room before climbing onto the empty spot on the bed. For another few hours he reads and stands guard, ready to bring her back from the bad dreams that plague her after the past year’s horrors.

It’s nearly the end of the school day when she comes back to, surprise and confusion mixing as she lifts her head from Hopper’s lap where she’d curled up to sometime over the afternoon. He doesn’t move, a slight snore emanating from him as she notices he’s fallen asleep too. She debates waking him but chooses instead to watch him sleep, the relaxed look on his face one she rarely gets to see anymore. When he startles himself awake not too long after, her pained laugh makes him jump and he looks down with a grimace.

“The kids will be home soon,” she says as she slides to the edge of the bed. He helps her to the kitchen where they settle themselves at the table and share a cigarette, the action familiar and comforting to them both. When the boys and El spill through the front door, Joyce forces herself to her feet and attempts to greet them. Hopper can only watch as she ends up leaning against a wall, the pain visible on her face while they surround her for light hugs.

They slip into their evening routine easily after that, Jonathan getting dinner started as Will and El work on their homework together in the living room. It happens so quickly and seamlessly that Joyce finds herself at a loss as she watches from her place at the kitchen table.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she says later, the painkillers starting to kick in again and make her woozy. Hopper helps her to the corner of her bed, opening her drawers and pulling out pajamas for her. She takes them and breathes them in, closing her eyes in the process. “Home. These smell like home.”

“You are home, Joyce,” he replies lightly. “Are you okay to handle this on your own?” She looks up at him with a shy smile and he shakes his head, colour filling his cheeks.

“I can try,” she laughs and grabs for the edge of her shirt, pulling it up without a care.

“Joyce, geez, one sec.” He has to stuff his laughter back inside as he steps to the door and closes it silently. Without a doubt her painkillers are working as he watches her body sway slowly side to side. Hopper knows he should give her privacy - leave or close his eyes or do something, but he can’t look away when she reaches back to try to release the hooks of her bra.

“Dammit. The nurse helped me this morning and I can’t - Hop, help me!” She groans, her fingers wiggling in their cast uselessly. Shoving his selfish need away he moves back towards the bed and kneels down behind her, his hands making quick work of the hooks. Determinedly he pulls the pajama top from the pile and pulls it over her head so as to not give himself a chance to take in any more than he has to, trying with all of his focus to maintain a semblance of privacy for her.

Though he wants to see her - to see all of her - he wants it to be when they’re both participants and not when she’s flying high on painkillers.

“These too?” Joyce says as she turns slightly, her eyes looking over her shoulder as she holds up the pajama pants. Hopper swears internally, swallowing his words back as he moves to stand in front of her.

“Okay, up you come,” he instructs and lifts her up against his chest. She sways for a moment but manages to lock her knees and stay upright, thankfully allowing him to move his hands to her waistband. As he pulls the fabric down over her cast he finds himself face-level with her belly button, his shoulders being used to stabilize her above him. Taking the pants from her hands, he grins up at her from his place on his knees and taps her good leg lightly. “This will be easier if you sit down,” he sighs and she flops down dramatically.

Holding in his laughter, tightening the reigns on his desire, he navigates the fabric over the thick cast around her leg and tries to ignore the burst of want that streaks through him when her uninjured foot lifts to play at his shoulder. When finally he’s able to move past the cast, he grabs at her free ankle and jerks it towards him, her torso jolting upright with a shocked look on her face. They watch each other, a playful glint in his eyes as Hopper’s hands move over her calf, his beard dragging and catching against the hairs on her leg as he slides the fabric up and over her knee.

“Last part,” he whispers, reaching for her hand and helping her stand again. His hands make quick work of sliding the pants the rest of the way up her legs but when he’s finished he doesn’t move right away, instead looking up at her from his knees. The moment stretches out as their gazes lock, all playfulness from earlier fading as his arms wrap around her waist and he presses his forehead into her waist.

“Hop,” she sighs, her fingers running through his hair as he presses a kiss to her bellybutton over the fabric. When he does eventually pull away she loses her balance and falls back onto the bed, her body overwhelmed by the buzz from the drugs and the mix of his scent surrounding her. “Thank you for helping me,” she adds as she shifts the blankets, turning to look at him as he stands above her.

Hopper can feel himself falling quickly and forces himself to step back, his hands coming to rest on his hips as he watches her. He knows he should leave, but his feet are frozen, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

“Do you want - “ She pauses and looks away from him for a second, her tongue coming out to smooth over her lips. “Will you stay here tonight?”

“Yeah, of course,” he answers quickly, automatically. “I’ve figured out the comfortable spot on the couch. El is using the pull-out. We’re here as long as - “

“You know that’s not what I meant,” she interjects and looks pointedly up at him, her eyes searching his. “Hop - “

“You’re on a lot of meds right now, Joyce. I don’t want you to make a choice - “

“I’m not - “

“You are! You’ve hurt yourself and you’re not thinking straight and -”

“Stop making my decisions for me, Jim,” Joyce finishes and struggles to sit up in the bed, hissing at the pain. “Come here.” She pats the bed beside her and waits patiently until he comes to sit down. “I remember telling you earlier that I don’t want to waste time and yet here you are, holding out on me again.”

“I’m not holding out. I just don’t want to be something you regret,” he admits with a shrug of his shoulders. The honesty of his words speaks volumes and causes her to turn towards him slowly.

“Nobody would regret choosing you,” she whispers and entwines her fingers with his.

“They do though. I’m fucking cursed. I’ve got a black hole around me that just sucks everything in. It already took Sara and Diane and you…”

“I’m right here, Hop. It didn’t take me.” He shakes his head and looks at her then, seeing the beautiful woman who had been through more than anyone should have to go through and come out on the other side. “I want you, James Hopper. I have since we were fifteen and it seemed impossible. But look at us now - we’ve been through hell and back and somehow you’re sitting here on my damn bed. It isn’t the drugs talking right now, it’s me, only me, and I’m not going to let this - “

Leaning towards her in a rush, he presses his lips to hers until they’re falling back on the bed, a mess of limbs crashing together. Somehow her words have transfixed him, reminding him that there’s still time to be human and that he doesn’t need to think through every worst case scenario every time. Sometimes he just has to live through it.

When her fingers find their way into his belt loops he follows their lead and rolls until he’s cradled between her legs, his body tight and hovering above hers as he tries not to aggravate her injuries. She won’t stand for it though and sighs before chastising him.

“I won’t break,” she whispers as his nose nudges along her jaw. Her good hand pulls at his hip until he collapses onto her, breathless at the contact and relieved when he doesn’t immediately pull away. It’s minutes - maybe hours - before her hiss of pain as his hand slides against her bruised ribs forces him to sit up on his knees, his gaze measuring her through a haze of want.

“When I’m all healed up, I’m going to jump you,” Joyce laughs weakly, her eyes closed as he leans down to press kisses along each rib.

“You won’t need to. You can have me whenever you want. I’m yours,” he mumbles as he moves to stand by the side of the bed, pulling his shirt over his head. In a moment of uncertainty he looks down at her while his hands fiddle with the button on his jeans, pausing. “This is okay, right? Me staying here, tonight?” Her returning smile makes his skin hot and he wastes no time shucking his pants and crawling back down beside her, their bodies curling together as the drugs pull her under.

#jopper #jopper fanfic #joyce x hopper #hopper x joyce #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #time and again

[minimin1993]

B/L 42

Warning: Violence. Character death.

“All right. The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?” Rocket asked putting on the final touches on the new gauntlet.

“I'll do it.” Thor said walking over.  

“Excuse me?” Scott said.  

“It's okay.”  

“ No, no, no, whoa. Stop. Stop. Wait a sec. Hey, hey…” Everyone started to come up to Thor  

“Wait, wait, wait, Thor, just wait. We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet.” Steve said.  

“I'm sorry. What, we're just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?” Thor said.  

“We should at least discuss it.” Linda said  

“No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty.” Thor defends himself.  

“It's not that..” Tony want to talk but Thor continues shushing Tony while tearing up.  

“It's... stop it! Just let me. Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something great.”  

“Look...It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition.” Tony said.  

“What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?”  

“Cheez Whiz?” Rhodney joked making Thor glare at him.  

“Lightning.”  

“Yeah.”  

“Lightning won't help you, pal.”

“How about me?” Linda offered causing Steve and Clint to both yell “No!”  

“Why not? I am able to absorb energy and can regenerate.” Linda crosses her arms pouting.

“Because It's gotta be me. You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive.” Bruce said.  

“How do we know you will?” Steve asked.  

“We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma.” Bruce said, taking a good look at the gauntlet. “It's like...uh...I was made for this.”  

“Good to go, yeah?” Tony said watching Bruce take the gauntlet.  

“Let's do it.”  

“You remember... Everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just brought them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years.” Tony explains.  

“Got it.”  

Everyone stands in position suiting up.  “F.R.I.D.A.Y., do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol. Will you?” Tony asked.  

“Yes, boss.” Friday answered with the facility going into lockdown.  

“Everybody comes home.” Bruce said preparing to put on the gauntlet which automatically expands to fit his hand. Everyone watches as the power surges overwhelms Bruce making hum grunt in pain.  

“Take it off! Take it off!” Thor shouted.  

“No, wait. Bruce, ``Are you okay?” Steve said holding his hand up watching Bruce grunt louder.  

“Talk to me, Banner.”  

“I'm okay. I'm okay.” Bruce said fighing through the intense pain coursing through his body and manages to snap his fingers. The moment he snaps his finger   though Linda grabs her chest falling on her knees her mind fogging up.  

“Bruce! Linda!” Steve said holding Linda up.  

“Don't move him.” Tony said referring to Bruce  

“Did it work?” Bruce asked  

“Worth a shot. It's over. It's okay.” Thor said.      Scott walks towards the outside windows and sees plants and birds. Clint hears his phone ringing and sees it's his wife calling.

When Linda's mind was finally cleared she heard a voice she never thought she would hear again.    “Linda? My love are you there?” Bucky's voice rang through her mind lighting her face up brightly as she nodded speaking loudly.   “Yes James, I am here. I miss you so fucken much.” Linda answered tears of joy ran down her face as she reached into her pocket pulling out the now brightly lit Soul Crystal.    "I know my love.”    “ Honey. Honey.” Clint answered his phone unable to control his own excitement.    “Guys... I think it worked!” Scott said seconds later rockets hit the tower destroying it all to rubble trapping everyone under it.  

“Fuckkk, Steve?” Linda shouts from under the rubble.  

“Oh thank Odin, you are alright.” Thor said helping Linda up pulling the steel rod out of her thigh for her body to regenerate.  

“What happened?” She asked looking around until Thor led her out of the rubble staring at the Thanos sitting there, minutes later Tony and Steve walked up behind them.  

“What's he been doing?” Tony asked.  

“Absolutely nothing.”  

“Where are the stones?” Steve asked.  

“Somewhere under all this. All I know is he doesn't have them.”  

“So we keep it that way.”  

“You know it's a trap, right?”  

“Yeah. And I don't much care.”  

“Good. Just as long we are all in agreement.” Thor said eyes glowing, thunder cracks, he stretches out both his hands and summon Stormbreaker and Mjolnir. His   ragged clothes transform into his armour and cape, with his beard getting some braid treatment. “Let's kill him properly this time.”  

“With pleasure.” Linda said when the four of them walked over to confront Thanos.  

“You could not live with your own failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me. I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me that’s impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist.”  

“Yep. We're all kinds of stubborn.” Tony said  

“I'm thankful. Because now, I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then...With the stones you've collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe.” Thanos continued standing up putting on his helmet.

Thor readies his weapons while Linda eyes turned black as night conjuring her 2 whips ready for attack.    “Born out of blood.” Steve said  

“They'll never know it. Because you won't be alive to tell them.” Thanos said, the 4 of them charges towards him attacking him every which way, being thrown every which way.    Tony opens up his new weapon system pointing it at Thanos. Linda whips both her whips effectively wrapping them around both Thanos wrist spreading them.  “Thor, hit me.” Tony said receiving a lighting bolt from Thor into his suit blasting at Thanos. Thanos pulls his arms together twirling Linda around before whipping her toward the rubble when a metal rod punctures from her back out of her stomach.  

“Why does this always happen to me?” She grunts trying to yank the rod out of her stomach breathing hard since that area regenerates a lot slower using a lot of her energy. Thor throws his hammer at Thanos hitting Tony sending him crashing into the rocks knocking him out. Steve runs over trying to attack Thanos only to get knocked down as well leaving Thor to charge toward Thanos, Thanos practically whips Thor around like he is a rag doll beating him senseless pinning him down. Thor summons his Stormbreaker over to him when Thanos catches it shoving the blade side down to Thor chest. Linda struggles to get up and watches Thor attempt to push the blade away when Steve stand up lifts up the Mjolnir tossing it at Thanos knocking him off Thor before returning back to him.  

“I knew it.” Linda and Thor whisper under their breath with a smirk on their face seeing Steve wield the hammer. Linda watches Steve twirl the hammer swiftly bashing it into Thanos face knocking him around like a doll, he summons lightning blasting it toward Thanos knocking him down, jumping in the air about to bring the hammer down on Thanos face but he moves out of the way grabbing Steve by the neck slamming him down. Steve rolls away standing up when Thanos picks up his sword swinging it multiple times toward Steve before stabbing him in the leg. Linda grunts standing up ignoring the pain still radiating from her stomach slowly limps over Steve as Thanos practically chips away at Steve shield knocking him away landing next to Linda.  

“Steve?” She bends down helping him up.  

“I’m ok.” He said when both of them turned to look at Thanos.  

“In all my years of conquest...violence...slaughter... It was never personal. But I'll tell you now... what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet... I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much.” Thanos said when a ray of light comes down summoning the Childrens of Thanos, Chitauri, Outriders. With a fierce determination, Steve tightens his broken shield to his arm, Linda conjures her whip looking over Steve with the look ‘fight till the end’ and stands against Thanos' giant army until a crackling comes in on their communicator.  

“Hey, Cap, you read me?” Sam voice rang through the com making Steve and Linda look around. “Cap, Grey. It's Sam. Can you hear me? On your left.” Both of them turned to look behind them to see a portal open up on their left side. Three figures step through; Okoye, Shuri, and Black Panther, fully restored and ready to fight. Steve and T-Challa share a look when Sam zooms in from above in his Falcon armor. As he does, dozens more portals opening up all around the battlefield with the rest of the fallen soldier coming out of them, Linda smiles looking around watching more and more heros arrive from all corners of the universe, all backed up with forces of their own until she felt a tug in her heart turning her to look at her right smirking Bucky walking out of the portal winking at her readying his gun.  

Linda giggles turning back at Steve giving him a new look now before turning around.    “AVENGERS!” Steve yells calling for his hammer, Linda holds out both her hands feeling rejuvenated both glowing brightly ready to attack with everyone by their side.   “Assemble.” He said when everyone yells in war cries running full speed toward Thanos army. Linda raises both her arms conjuring the biggest blast jumping up and smashes through the Chitauri Leviathan killing it instantly dropping it down to the ground killing every enemy underneath it. Everyone works hand in hand killing everything that stands in their path.  

“Miss me doll?” She hears Bucky in her mind when she turns seeing him kill the enemy before running over to him smashing her lips to his, the moment their lips touch a blast of energy surrounds them killing everything around them strengthening their bond for each other once again.    “I love you so much.” She said pulling away looking into his eyes.    “I love you too my love, now let's end this. I still have a promise to keep.” He said as they work side by side needing to be close to one another fighting the enemy.  

“Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?” Clint said refering to the gauntlet.  

“Get those stones as far away as possible!”  

“No! We need to get them back where they came from.” Bruce said.  

“No way to get them back. Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel.”  

“Hold on! That wasn't our only time machine.” Scott said shrinking down to normal pulling out a remote activating a funny car alarm.  

“Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?” Steve asks.  

“Yes! But you're not gonna like where it's parked.” Valkyrie answers after spotting its location.  

“Scott, how long do you need to get that thing working?”

“Maybe ten minutes.”  

“  Get it started. We'll get the stones to you.”  

“We're on it, Cap.”

“Phi need your help right about now.” Clint said through the com saying Linda code name for when both of them went rogue.  

“On it.” Linda replied looking over at Bucky who nodded at her to go. She took off seeing Clint hand it over to T-Challa who started to run toward the Van only to get wacked down by Thanos boomerang sword. When Thanos was heading toward T-Challa when Wanda jumps in front of him with vengeance in her eyes.  

“You took everything from me.” Wanda said to Thanos eyes glowing red.  

“I don't even know who you are.”  

“You will.” She said with her power she picks up some debris throwing them at Thanos when he activated Rain fire sending missiles down onto the ground.  

T-Challa sees this opportunity trying to grab the gauntlet when Ebony Maw uses his power to lift the gauntlet up just as T-Challa reaches for it.    “I got it.” Peter Parker said swinging in catching the gauntlet with his web landing on the ground with outsiders attacking him. “Activate instant kill.”  

“Behind you kid.” Linda said jumping near him wiping her whip around killing all the outsider getting near him but there were too many of them.  

“We got this. We got this! Okay, we don't got this. Help! Somebody, help!” Peter yelled when both of them were getting swamped with outsiders.  

“Hey, Queens. Heads up.” Steve said throwing his hammer which Peter caught flawlessly with his web pulling him away for Linda to blast out a charge killing everything around her before running after Peter again who gets knocked off Steve hammer only to be picked up by Pepper.  

“Hang on. I got you, kid.” Pepper said flinging him onto Valkyrie's Pegasus.  

“Hey! Nice to meet you--- Oh, my God!” Peter said as Pegasus attempts to dodge the fire missiles but gets clipped sending them to the ground destroying Peter   suit. Peter attempts to grab the gauntlet when too many missiles come crashing down.  

“I got you kid.” Linda said jumping down on top of his conjuring a forcefield around them holding off the missiles when all of a sudden nothing rains down anymore.  

“Whaatt?” Peter questioned looking up in the sky, seeing the ship firing into the sky.  

“What the hell is this?” Sam said flying in the air confused.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., what are they firing at?” Tony asked.  

“Something just entered the upper atmosphere.” Friday answered when a bright light of thundering energy comes surging down; Carol Danvers flies through the ship destroying it instantly.  

“Oh, yeah!” Rocket yelled excitedly watching the ship explode.  

“Danvers, we need an assist here.” Steve said.    Carol flies down toward Linda and Peter, Linda and Carol both turned around looking at Peter seeing him hold onto the gauntlet like his own lifeline making Linda smirk at him.  

“Hi. I'm Peter Parker.” He said looking at Carol.  

“Hey, Peter Parker. You got something for me?”  

“I don't know how you're gonna get it through all that.” Peter gets up looking at the upcoming Thanos army handing her the gauntlet.  

“Don't worry.” Wanda said flying over with Valkyrie; Linda winks at Peter hands glowing blue ready for battle.  

“She's got help” Okoye said as Pepper, Mantis, Shuri, the Wasp, Gamora, and Nebula arrives next to them before all of the women charges through the Outriders and Chitauri helping Carol.  

“Need a lift?” Valkyries asked flying above Linda smirking at her making her chuckle.  

“Just like old times sister.” Linda said grabbing onto Pegasus leg flying into the air for her to wrap her whip around a Leviathans burning through its neck. Gamora   takes out a gorilla, while Okoye takes out Corvus Glaive. Wanda and Valkyrie destroy the other two leviathans. Carol then starts flying towards the van with the Gauntlet, flying past enemies and going through enemy blockades that are in her way with ease. Thanos, seeing this, starts running to Carol Danvers, but is stopped by Pepper, Shuri and The Wasp, who blast him backwards. Thanos, after seeing Carol fly past him, throws his double sword at the van, destroying it and the quantum realm tunnel, throwing Carol Danvers backwards and losing her grip on the Gauntlet falling onto the ground near Tony who was able to move Thanos enemies aside seeing the gauntlet.

Tony runs over to get it the same time Thanos does, Tony tackles Thanos away from it but gets smacked away by knocking him out. Thanos runs for the gauntlet again when Thor arrives with Stormbreaker and Mjolnir trying to go for Thanos head, Steve jumps over both of them now trying to help Thor but Thanos was able to overpower them both and knocked them out. Thanos then scrambles over picking up the gauntlet, Carol arrives punching Thanos left and right while he holds onto the gauntlet. She keeps punching him but Thanos grabs her by the arm and flings her away and was able to put on the gauntlet, screaming in pain from the gamma radiation from the stones flows through his veins, he lifts his arm up about to snap his fingers but Carol arises again stopping him in time keeping his hand open. Thanos then tries to headbutts her, but it does nothing. Just as Carol was gaining the upper hand by rising up and forcing Thanos onto his knees, Thanos pulls the Power Stone out of the Gauntlet and uses it in his free hand to hit Carol away putting the power stone back yelling again from the radiation until Tony makes one last attack on Thanos, pulling on the Gauntlet before Thanos punches him away.

“I am... inevitable.” Thanos said snapping his fingers but nothing happens except a metal ‘clink’. He turns the gauntlet around noticing the stones are missing until he turns to Tony how now has the stones in his own gauntlet the gamma radiation flowing through him.  

“And I... am... Iron Man.” Tony said snapping his fingers with a blinding white light surrounds everything. Once the light passes all the hero's watches in exhaustion Thanos army turns to dust. Thanos collapses in defeat mourning watching his army turning into dust until he too follows.  

Tony watches knowing they had finally won stumbles around for a bit before his body collapsed beside a pile of debris. Rhodey  flies in and goes up to Tony to see his long time colleague and friend fading away. He bows his head, knowing the damage was done. Peter soon flies in and sees Tony collapsed on the ground.  

“  Mr. Stark?” Peter said running over to Tony, “Hey... Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark... We won, Mr. Stark. We won. You did it, sir. You did it.” Tony was unresponsive causing Peter to break down and hug him. “I'm sorry... Tony…”  

Peter is gently led aside to grieve when Pepper sits in front of the fading Iron Man.  

“Hey.” She said staring at her love, Tony barely able to move his head, but manages to look Pepper in the eyes  

“Hey, Pep…”  Tony said, Pepper places her hand on Tony's Arc Reactor and Tony rests his hand on hers    “  F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” She said  

“Life functions critical.” Friday answers as Tony smiles with tears in his eyes.  

“Tony. Look at me.” Pepper said making sure Tony gets a look of her smiling face. “We're gonna be okay. You can rest now.”

A/N:FUCK YOU THANOS!!!!! OMG WHEN I WATCHED THE MOVIE I CRIED SO GOD DAM MUCH FROM THIS DAM FUCKEN SCENE. GOD DAM IT!!! WRITING THIS SCENE I HAD TO RE-WATCH THE DAM MOVIE AND GUESS WHAT I CRIED AGAIN!!!.....

#bucky x reader #james buchanan barnes #sebastian stan #sebastian x reader #steve rogers #the first avenger #originl character #chris evans #original character #winter solider x you #winter soldier #captain america #infinity war #avengers #endgame #marvel

[cryptnus-blog]

Security Token Offerings – The Next Big Thing In Crypto?

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/11/security-token-offerings-the-next-big-thing-in-crypto/

Security Token Offerings – The Next Big Thing In Crypto?

If you are not familiar with security token offerings (STOs), maybe you should be.

With regulators gunning for initial coin offerings (ICOs) and now going after decentralised exchanges (DEXs) too, industry players are looking at news ways of raising money.

Changing the name to “token generation event” doesn’t cut it with most regulators and, in and of themselves, neither do simple agreements for future tokens (SAFTs).

According to CoinShares chairman Daniel Masters, STOs will be the next big thing in crypto.

Speaking as part of a panel at a breakfast briefing organised by Dow Jones media outlets Financial News and MarketWatch, he identifies a third wave for crypto.

According to Masters, Bitcoin ushered in a “new era in value transfer”, with the second wave led by Ethereum with its “frictionless way to globally form capital” and today a third wave of security tokens “with particular advantages for assets that have historically remained in private hands”.

CoinShares sponsored the event and is the company behind the XBT Provider Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange traded notes. Trading in the ETNs in the US was temporarily suspended in September because of confusion over the difference between ETNs and exchange traded funds (ETNs are unsecured debt securities).

Untapped value of privately held assets

Some of the largest companies in the world are privately held, such as Cargill for example, valued at more than $109 billion that dominates agribusiness or Koch Industries, which straddles sectors encompassing consumer goods and oil. It is valued at $100 billion.

Many are of course valued much less loftily. These companies prefer the freedom of movement that staying private allows but if they did come to public capital market for funds there values would rocket because of the simple fact that there are more participants in those markets – it’s all about liquidity.

Now think about a whole host of other privately held assets, such as classic cars, art, stamps, gold and so on. All of these assets could be tokenised and in so doing, their valued enhanced.

It could open up a world typically hidden from view behind the private equity and venture capital shutters, where mere mortals are forbidden to tread.

“Legacy financial institutions will not be able to avoid the tokenisation wave,” insists Masters.

He expects a “magnetic force” to pull them towards these possibilities, regardless of their aversion to all things crypto.

What went right and what went wrong with ICOs

Briefly, let’s go back to the second wave to see how we get to this claimed third wave in the evolution of the crypto space.

Initial coin offerings have been hugely successful. For the first time in human history it was possible for any one in the world with access to the coding skills to solicit for investment capital from contributors potentially at any locale in the world with internet access.

It is estimated by ICOData.io that $13.3 billion has been raised by ICOs since 2015. By any measure that has to be seen as a success.

But this year the story is different with investors sitting on losses of ninety per cent or more. Far from offering diversification, many of the tokens have turned out to be worthless as the projects and the services they aimed to provide closed.

As Chris Burniske from placeholder.vc pointed out last week, many of the projects involved in ICO fundraising concentrated almost exclusively on bring in investment capital but not on how to deploy it as productive capital (such as getting the consensus system up, running and growing).

Put that another way, contributors to ICOs/TGEs effectively stuffed the bank accounts of the founders and team members with ETH and were left with no control over how the investment capital was used and no claim to a share of company capital.

Contributors to ICOs are paying for access to network services. Some investors may have confused that with a share that gives the bearer legal ownership of a portion of company capital. But ICOs are not initial public offerings of the equity markets, despite the deliberately confusing designation.

ICO investors it is assumed were mostly aware of this crucial difference between tokenholder and shareholder, but invested anyway; indeed they continue to invest in ICOs although at a much reduced rate, in the expectation that the value of the native “utility” token will rise.

The problem with all that, from a regulator’s stance is that ICOs look very much like securities when judged against the Howey Test used by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

For that reason many ICOs began to exclude US investors from their fundraising efforts, with hubs developing in Switzerland, Singapore and Malta, where no such stipulations were applied, although reputable projects will still require anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) rules to be adhered to.

ICOs are not just a problem for regulators. They are also obviously a problem for consumers caught on the wrong side of the fraudsters.

The open decentralised and largely unregulated nature of ICOs, or TGEs if you insist, means they attract scammers to the space, and that of course worries both individual investors and regulators alike.

Although there are still plenty of ICOs launching, the days of billion dollar fundraises, such as seen with EOS’s $4 billion, are over, at least for the near-term.

Enter the Security Token Offering

But with the SEC and various US states starting to clampdown hard on ICO promoters for not registering as sellers of securities and abiding by the appropriate securities laws, with other jurisdictions likely to follow in their footsteps, the days of the ICO may be numbered.

That’s where security tokens come in. Instead of trying to fight the regulators there are those who seek their warm embrace.

Cypherpunks and others wedded to hopes of decentralised disruption of the banks and other financial intermediaries, may well be suspicious of security tokens. Are they not merely another vector – such as putative bitcoin exchange traded funds – for the takeover of the crypto space by the mainstream?

However, supporters of STOs such as Masters, whose company has a foot in both the old and new world, see the advantages. On the one hand there is the regulatory safe harbour for project developers and on the other  a huge opportunity to “make securities liquid, transferable and transparent” and opening a wide vista for “arbitrage between private and public capital markets”.

The most successful STO to date is from tZERO, which raised $134 million for its trading platform and then there was electric scooter company SPIN‘s $125 million raise.

tZERO’s investors were required to have a “fully funded signed agreements for future equity (SAFEs) prior to the August 6, 2018 close of the company’s Security Token Offering (STO)”.

tZERO is a subsidiary of Overstock.com, the publicly traded online retailer that accepts crypto.

Another start-up, Securitize, was involved in transferring the first security over blockchain:

“Today we did the first transfer of a security on a public boockchain.” With @airswap –@carlosdomingo

— Securitize (@securitize_io) November 2, 2018

The compliant token was issued by SPICE Venture Capital Fund on Securitize and transferred over decentralised exchange AirSwap.

With the SEC recently fining EtherDelta $400,000 for running a securities exchange without registering with the authorities, the question of compliance with security law is something crypto projects could do without.

Add to that access to much greater liquidity and the attractions of STOs grow further.

Securities on blockchain

Speaking on the panel alongside Masters was Myles Milston, chief executive of Globacap, which is creating securities on blockchain.

The company is in the fourth cohort of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory sandbox.  This provides the regulatory safe harbour for fintech startups to build products without the handicap of having to worry about infringing regulations.

Globacap describes itself as “a platform that is simplifying, streamlining and widening access to global capital by creating securities in blockchain”.

Milston explained the company’s approach: “Bitcoin is the most secure database we have on the planet right now. Apply that to securities. The ledger automatically updates, for example when a security trades –  it’s a complete digital securitisation… We are the first in Europe to do tokenisation of equites.”

He added: “The ICO second wave is like 1850s in the US with railways.” It seemed then that almost anyone could set up a corner shop selling shares in some railway company or the other.

Masters makes a similar observation in a different way: “Ethereum made the crypto space turn from mono-dimensional to multi-dimensional.”

Milston again: “What we are doing fits into existing securities legislation.”

Just as stablecoins could be one of the key on-ramps for financial institutions looking to invest in the crypto asset class, so too could security tokens.

“A smart contract could link to a share registry. We could to see a lot of the unnecessary work in the public markets taken out,” Masters says .

STOs could also be attractive to regulators.  “A security framework is going to be a win for regulators.”

STOs a threat to decentralised capital raising?

So perhaps instead of viewing STOs as a threat or a way for regulators to curtail the open decentralised fundraising model, a less adversarial stance should be adopted by the crypto community.

Joe Oehmke from global consultancy Promontory Financial Group and specialists in regulatory strategy, supports that view.

Promontory Financial Group is owned by IBM and Oehmke wrote the IBM whitepaper on blockchain and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which came into force in May this year.

“Regulators are not necessarily the adversary. It’s about how we can foster innovation,” says Oehmke.

Oehmke advises firms on blockchain and US financial regulation among other things.

“There are certainly challenges when it comes to crypto assets, such as fraud and volatility,” he continues.

“There are plenty of illicit uses by bad actors so states and the general public have an interest in curing.”

Not surprisingly, perhaps, he doesn’t think crypto is “a cure-all for what ails the financial system”, but recognise that “regulation is inherently backward looking so always playing catch up”.

Although he didn’t offer an opinion as to whether STOs were the best way forward for crypto startups looking to raise capital, he lauded the FCA’s regulatory sandbox approach and noted how it has been adopted by other jurisdictions, notably by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which is the City state’s financial regulator and central bank.

Oehmke admits “it is a challenge to think about regulation on a global level. Even just in the US it is a problem aligning the laws of 50 states.”

Common sense approach

Notwithstanding that, he sees how STOs could have a valuable role to play for regulators and the regulated: “Crypto is here. Common sense approaches of how to deal with the world as it is,” says Oehmke.

Stepping back a little, if there are a multitude of STOs and digital securitisation chains, how do they work together in the absence of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)?

Masters thinks the answer is obvious. “Bitcoin can be the transport rail and settlement currency for securities.”

Many in the audience – a mixture of journalists, analysts and fund managers – took issue with that assertion.

Patrick Byrne, chief executive of Overstock, was not present at the briefing but would presumably agree with Masters given his comments a few days ago:

“When people start getting into it is when their own financial systems collapse. So yes, given that I think the entire modern financial system is a big Keynesian, magic money tree Ponzi scheme, I do expect that the day will come when people turn to crypto.”

So the next time you look at your portfolio of near-worthless utility tokens that generate no dividend income and have no claim on the company capital, think about how it could all have been so different if you owned a real security.

The sad truth of the ICO second wave of crypto was that, more often than not, they were money-making machines for the financial insiders who bought in the private pre-sale at much lower prices, and the founders who squirrelled away the ETH but failed to invest in productive capital to maintain and support the crypto network envisaged in the whitepaper.

Globacap’s Milston sees massive growth to come for STOs.

“There is a huge amount of money in private assets that is currently untapped. In 10 to 12 months we will see an explosion.”

Ok, we would expect him to say that, given his companies mission, but he could be onto something as regulators circle and crypto grows up.

The briefing was moderated by Duncan Mavin (pictured left at the top of the story), managing editor for news operations and standards, Dow Jones Media Group.

[oldguardaudio]

Assault Rifle news -> BREAKING: Army 7.62mm Rifle Program CANCELLED – ICSR is No More

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[fundedjustice]

Help threatened whistleblower. Free speech lawsuit

I. Introduction:

Please hear me out. I spent 2 weeks making the video. I use parody and visuals to raise awareness for serious issues that affect us all. I ask for help; and it will protect your future by preventing abuse. The gov retaliates against watchdog citizens. It's a national issue affecting millions – even another person on this site.

I'm a whistleblower and victim of government crime, who's been retaliated against many times for reporting racketeering schemes. I teach online and protect people's rights with filings in High courts.

Recently I testified in my court. I proved that DA #1 lied to many judges, and retaliated against a witness. I proved that Police & DA #1 committed perjury and concealed evidence of racketeering (theft from State = millions of tax payers affected).

But the judge said he found “no fraud.” I also filed a criminal complaint against DA #1. Then she laughed while reading it in court, and planned retaliation. This was after she and Supervisor #2 failed an entrapment attempt, while 3 judges and Supervisor #1 ignored my public complaints.

Then I reported crime to the elected “District Attorney” and their “special investigation” unit. So DA Supervisor #3 (not elected) charged me for “wiretapping” – 11 months after the alleged event.

But: I didn't “tap” anything.

I didn't violate “confidential communication.” It's regarding phonecalls and voice messages that I exchanged with Police in California. But they had no expectation of privacy during public work hours. And they know that because I told them I was conducting an investigation pursuant to public accountability law [Cal. Constitution Article 1, section 3].

The CA Supreme Court already settled this issue; and recordings of public officials do not count as “confidential” when I am a party. The problem is that the DA, Police, and County judges – ignore established law.

If anything, Police need to be charged with “wiretapping” and violating my privacy. They recorded me, then passed recordings to others – to mock and harass. DA #1 has proof of what Police did – she even gave me a copy of their recordings! I've been framed, and she's trying to get me killed.

All charges are victimless:

I'm a peaceful person and did not commit crime. Police retaliation started when I reported crime to protect others. But modern police do not enforce law – they look for ways to profile or steal. That's why I teach rights – to save you.

II. Why the DAs are retaliating:

The moral of the story is if you know the law and have evidence to prove gov crime – then they will use your tax money to bully & jail. This is why we need stronger whistleblower protections, and why more people need to know their rights – so it's harder for the gov to abuse us.

3 motives to retaliate:

DA #1 & Supervisors retaliated with the “wiretapping” charge – 11 months late because:

1) I reported crime by DA #1 (ignored by the court & Supervisor DA).

2) I now reported to the elected DA, and asked to sanction the DA/City/Police for evidence concealment.

So they ambushed with the retaliation charge when I appeared for the motion hearing. They tried to jail and steal my legal work. The judge made me pay $25K to stay out of jail and present the motion – instead of letting me present it first.

The judge set bail without reading the full complaint to establish probable cause. He refused to tell me the exact date, accuser, or describe the alleged crime (so I can't defend myself or prepare) [violation Cal. section 14 and 6th amendment].

He gave me a date range which proves that calls involve ~3 Police – not private individuals. This proves that the judge is personally involved since I already proved to him that these police had lied, but he found “no fraud.” Then he denied an automatic recusal procedure that I filed. He has a personal interest to stay on my case.

3) They wanted an unfair advantage in my first case – by preventing me from playing voicecalls for the jury (i.e. the only evidence that could defeat police perjury – since the City/Police concealed evidence).

The punchline:

1) Judges aided estoppel entrapment months earlier. They told me to provide discovery and transcripts of the calls. When I gave transcripts, the Prelim judge said I couldn't use them to impeach the police liar. But the DAs used it for the false “wiretapping” accusation.

2) DA #1 is the only person I gave discovery to ~4 months ago – which means she is the source of the leak and retaliation charge – after I filed a complaint against her.

3) DAs/Police had their own recordings for half a year. But they waited til the eve of trial (Case 1), to make the ambush charge when I appeared in court. So I am being punished for trying to tell the jury the truth, for seeking monetary discipline against abusive officials, and for defending myself with evidence.

The DA cannot prove how I got discovery. But the calls or transcripts prove that Police blackmailed me over the phone. Then Police lied about the calls in reports – to falsely start Case 1. The Deputy Chief even lied to the court about what he told me over the phone when I asked why Police harassed before the arrest. Me: “I'm in fear for my life.” Chief: “Nothing to be worried about.”

Each call was made to a single person at Police HQ. But 2 Police confessed in reports that they listened to recordings (proving they recorded me). They even mocked me for invoking my rights (i.e. I have the privacy complaint – not them).

I reported police crime to the mayor & Police Chief, so they retaliated more. Police asked the DOJ, who told them to NOT arrest me. But these Police don't enforce law, and were desperate to silence me. So they planned retaliation.

I obtained an email that proves Police were told to stalk me without a warrant. The DA/Police are concealing other communications that prove they lied and setup with false arrest.

Case 1:

Then Police stalked me, threatened with a gun twice, and arrested without a warrant. They disabled my camera and threw it on the ground. They cut me, said hate speech, and destroyed a recording. I told Police that I could not feel my circulation, and asked for help. So they cruelly turned up music in their car to conceal my pleas (evidence).

At the station, Police threw my property & told me to shut up. They denied a lawyer, a supervisor, and denied telling me the exact charge. Why? Because it was fake – it didn't apply to me. (Police do a trick to arrest you with a fake charge to get bail – then add the real charge to double bail).

Police confessed they had no warrant, and kicked me out of the interrogation room when I cited the law in my favor and said that police blackmailed me. (Now the City refuses to give surveillance video).

Police took me to jail without a warrant, and I was denied a hearing for 5 days – so that I couldn't tell the judge that I was held with the wrong charge. They violated Cal. sec. 14 and the Riverside Supreme Court ruling (persons arrested without a warrant must get a hearing within 48 hours, and weekends do not count as a reason to delay). [Riverside v. McLaughin, 500 U.S. 44 (1991)].

Relatives sacrificed to bail me out. I represented myself because I could not afford counsel, and my Public Defender refused to defend using Constitutional law or evidence.

The DA gave me discovery that proves the DOJ told Police to NOT arrest me. Then during the Prelim, DA #1 objected to me introducing it as evidence because it wasn't “certified.” But she is the one who gave me the non-certified copy, and I had no way to obtain it myself. (She gave me ~4 pages from the DOJ. All were stamped with certification – except the one in my benefit = planned fraud.)

So you can see that this is a deliberate coverup of Police mistakes. DA #1 is using the fake “wiretapping” charge to prevent me from introducing recordings – as the only other way to impeach police liars.

And who pays for these mistakes and false prosecutions? You. So the DA is committing a public crime against you – by denying your right to see evidence that Police lied for profit, then retaliated for me reporting to the public.

I taught you law to raise awareness and stop this abuse. I'm in fear for my life based on articulatable facts. There have been threats & repeat harassment for 11 months. Police even harassed my witnesses and relatives in court/at home.

I know that DA Supervisor #3 is personally involved in retaliation, vexatious litigation, and crime. They are using government resources to bully and violate law – for personal reasons that help them, not the public. They are trying to silence me and I need help.

III . Why urgent help is needed:

I *request* donations for 3 reasons:

1) To hire a lawyer (get a Federal injunction & start the protection lawsuit).

2) To go towards bail and save my life if they try to silence me again (bail costs $25K – 70K: see update below).

3) And to get basic witness protection and security.

(The court refused to process my criminal complaints or give me a victim advocate. The Attorney General refused to act – and told me to tell the DA, who is involved in retaliation. And the Police Chief ignored me for 11 months – while concealing evidence.)

This is witness retaliation so I need professional help.

I can't face 23 bullies alone (~6 DAs, ~10 Police, & ~7 judges). I'm poor, lost my job, and have nothing left. (Relatives sacrificed ~$100K in bond to save my life. Now we're out of money.)

Update:

Now DA Supervisor #3 made two more threats to my liberty – to revoke bail without a lawful reason – after I again reported crime to the court. (There is a list of charges that allow revoked bail – mine isn't included. But the DA lies, and the court helps retaliate against self represented Defendants.)

Please don't let them put me back in jail, they will kill me.

You know there is something wrong when inmates are nice (group together) – and it's the guards who treat us like cattle (think North Korea).

The jail neglected human needs, denied medical treatment, denied a supervisor for 5 days, and their phone system wouldn't let me make calls for days. The court ignored a Writ of Habeas corpus – there's no way to get help inside.

They are trying to prevent me from defending myself with the truth, or from showing you evidence of gov crime. I reported because it's the right thing to do. Abusive officials are using your taxes to fund racketeering schemes.

IV . Some of the racketeering schemes:

1) There's a loophole in the California Constitution that says the State will pay Police to enforce certain legislation – even if it's unconstitutional [Cal. Constitution Article 13B, Section 6].

(This waste is “policing for profit” – i.e. police are forcing you to pay them to violate neighbors' & your rights).

2) Police are hiring civilians to violate rights by impersonating officers inside Police HQ. (I.e. police are required to swear an oath to enforce the Constitution. But these civilians are not.)

3) Police/DA/Court violate CA law and due process – by arresting with a fake charge, but without a warrant or court hearing (required in 48 hours). Then they add the real charge ~5 days late – so you have to pay double bail for only 1 charge [violation Cal. sec. 14, and the Riverside Supreme Court].

4) Judges/Court reporters are involved in racketeering. They deny your right to record public hearings – to make you pay for transcripts of a public record [violation Cal. sec. 3].

But even when I got a free transcript order, they still refused to give it – so that I can't properly report to disciplinary agencies or the public. It's a critical issue since lack of transparency led to abusive judges who violate everyone's rights (“Commiefornia”).

V. Why you should help:

The real crime is that Police are enforcing unconstitutional “codes” that do not legally apply to me and other innocent citizens.

Why should you care about California?

Because Police in all States enforce “policies” and corporate “code” for profit (it is not real “Law”). This created dangerous gangs in the government that care more about pursuing victimless crimes – instead of protecting our rights (i.e. Constitutional “Law”).

Together with your funding and my facts, I can file a lawsuit to get an injunction, and end the problem in my State. This will raise public awareness to help your people get the same justice. E.g. stop tax wasting; stop retaliation against whistleblowers who investigate government crime; and set modern precedent that we can record public officials in any media (transparency).

Let's be honest, have you ever swept your street? Probably not, since we pay the gov to perform this service.

But who is paying to clean our gov regularly?

Think of how dirty it gets if we don't invest 1 day to clean or discipline bad employees. We own the government, and our Forefathers said it's our civic duty to watch over it.

I understand that people don't have time, or may not know how. My point is that whistleblowers do! They collect evidence or swear complaints – so that the information gets to you. Then you can believe and can act on it (by demanding gov corrections). This is why we must protect whistleblowers and victims of gov crime – because they are standing up to stop problems from happening to you.

In my video, I showed 3 whistleblowers who have already been murdered. You may not know their stories, so listed names to honor their sacrifice – while giving you a way to learn more.

We must become the media.

We must protect our public heroes and support each other – so that the gov bullies do not outnumber us.

Think of why the U.S. was founded – to gain freedom from British abuse. Think of what happens if we do nothing to stop U.S. gov abuse – we'll become like North Korea: no freedom, no transparency, no life!

VI. How you can help:

Thanks for your investment in society. I lost my job and I'm in poverty due to a 6 year government attack (false claims). I learned my rights the hard way, and now teach you.

1) You can voice protection by donating for the Federal lawsuit that gets issues professionally settled. Your donation also helps me get temporary protection so that I'm not murdered or kidnapped. There have been threats & harassment for 11 months.

2) You can also help by sharing this video, spreading the word, and demanding protection for victims / whistleblowers of government crime.

3) If enough of you donate and inquire – then I will have the public backing that can save my life. And I'll post the public police number that you can call to voice a simple complaint:

“It has come to my attention that someone reported abuse, police impersonation, and racketeering. I as a citizen, want the retaliation to stop.”

VII. Why is a lawsuit needed?

We need a lawsuit to set protective precedent for whistleblowers, and to enforce your right to record gov officials for transparency.

And I need a lawsuit to get an injunction and stop the unconstitutional prosecution / retaliation.

(I have no other remedy since officials refuse to act. And the trial court ignores or denies all motions & civil protections. I filed an emergency Writ of Prohibition in the Appeals court. But so far no protection.

And in general, the gov does not enforce correction unless it costs them. Thus a lawsuit is needed, while raising national awareness. A Federal lawsuit also helps convince governments in your State to stop abuse.)

Q: Why is recording public officials so important?

A: We need to set precedent that you can record public officials in any medium because: officials lie, waste tax money with false reports, and ruin lives.

My story can happen to you. And it does happen to millions of people that you don't hear about – because people are afraid to record officials due to harassment. This is why we need to make clear with a lawsuit: that we the People, as owners of the government, have the right to record/watch our employees during work hours. This is to make sure they are not abusing power or wasting time.

Problem Summary:

The gov doesn't want recordings of their abuse to go viral. But the People need mass awareness leading to call floods – since the gov won't listen if only a few of us complain.

In the olden days, there were only hundreds of people in a City, and they were closely connected. It was easier to spread a message. But now there are 3 modern problems that are solved with “recording.”

1) There are millions of people – thus you need to reach more to gain a majority.

2) Modern people don't read newspapers or watch network news as much.

3) And the gov passed a law saying that #fakenews can tell us propaganda. This proves why the People need their own way to spread the truth.

Solution summary:

Modern people can reach millions at a time – by using the internet, social media, and viral video – to convince enough voters to act and say no to gov abuse.

Now you understand why electronic recordings are IMPORTANT to convey info in the modern age.

Now you understand why the gov is ATTACKING it (to prevent us from exposing their crime).

And that is why you should join me to DEFEND our modern transparency tools.

Corporations and politicians spend millions on tv ads – to convince you to do something. But we can't afford that. So your group donations and a Federal lawsuit – are the cost effective way to get a national correction for the People.

I have put my life on the line because I have no choice, and to help people like you. So let's defend each other and focus on the cause. Thank you!

(You can donate without reading below. Then come back. Or if you need more convincing, then see why donation issues are so important.)

VIII . Q & A:

Q: The NSA, Google, and phone companies automatically record us without permission. So why would we need permission to record government employees, when it's our job to hold our gov accountable?

A: We don't need permission to record officials because it's our inherent right [made into law with Cal. Const. Art. 1, sec. 3, etc].

This means that public officials already had notice that they may be recorded, when they accepted the job. Thus they have no “expectation of privacy” while working for the PUBLIC.

Q: Do wiretapping and privacy laws prevent you from sharing phonecalls made with a government employee regarding a public issue – even if the call was made only to you?

A: No, and a Federal lawsuit will settle the issue for all States.

In California, 2 party consent is needed to record audio. BUT California is wrong in its application of audio-recording/listening charges. (The Penal Code even has a built in exception for communications with the gov. But the bully DA ignores common sense. I did not break in or physically tap a wire. Police called me and I returned calls regarding a contract/threat that needed to be on record.)

A phonecall with police is an “interaction” – just as a physical meeting is. There is no question that you have the right to film police in person, which includes audio.

So why is the DA criminalizing recordings of virtual “interactions” with the gov, but not physical “interactions” ?

If a call, email, or Facebook message involves a government employee/issue – then it classifies as a “public interaction,” which is subject to transparency law. Thus if YOU are a party and choose share (e.g. record a call or broadcast it on livestream) – then you should not be punished for whistleblowing.

It is your right to do this for the common good of the People (i.e. to protect yourself from gov lies, or to raise awareness for an issue that affects tax payers) [Cal. Const. Art. 1. sec. 3].

In other words, if the gov recorded your calls without consent – then that would violate your privacy and the 4th amendment. But privacy laws were made for individual citizens, not public workers. Thus the government has no expectation of privacy; thus 2 party consent is not needed when you are the party and make the choice to share.

Q: If Police lie about you during an “interaction,” how do you convince a jury or judge?

A: California passed law saying that police can give hearsay testimony – but you can't – which proves why you need recordings as the only way to impeach liars and enforce your other rights.

Q: If you call a State Rep about Police abuse, and they ignore – how do you convince your community to protest?

If you call a DA/Clerk and they hang up or refuse to give public service – how do you provide evidence to get them fired?

A: All these problems are solved with “recordings.”

Governments often have the worst service compared to private businesses – because there is no Yelp for the government. And it's harder to accuse a government employee of misconduct since their supervisors are often in on the abuse, or the public might not believe you.

Thus recordings are needed to whistleblow to the public. Then we gain a majority over the bullies – by using indisputable evidence.

Q: How do you hold the gov accountable in the modern age, when everyone is busy doing their own thing?

A: “Recordings” is the answer again. Newspapers are outdated. The internet and social media form the modern “town square” where people meet to get public news.

Youtube, Copwatch.org, & PINAC.com are how people learn about police abuse. Seeing a video or recording invokes an emotional instinct to take action – because you can believe it with your senses (as opposed to just reading about it).

Q: What if I work in the government and support your rights, but don't want to be spied on at home. Will the lawsuit weaken my privacy during non-work hours?

A: No. The lawsuit will not weaken your privacy – only prevent the gov from exploiting privacy laws for the wrong reasons.

Wiretapping and privacy laws were made to protect private citizens – not to punish citizens for exercising their right to watch over the government. (E.g. gov employees have privacy at home – but their interactions with the public during work, are open to transparency).

Q: I donated to another cause and don't have a lot of money. Why should I invest in your cause?

If you can only afford $20, then that is better to invest instead of paying $25K in legal costs – if you were falsely accused or profiled. Gov abuse affects us all. So let's get the problem solved together with your $20 donation, instead of forcing you to pay $25K later, for a problem we all face due to policing for profit.

Q: I willing to make a large charitable donation. Why should I become a benefactor today?

A: Human rights organizations, Philanthropists, and Celebrities multiply public awareness!

If you can give more than $1,000, then it's a great investment for you to subsidize this lawsuit. It raises national awareness, it protects millions, and even you (since wealthy people are also targets of police profiling).

Then if police ever harass you while driving an expensive car – you will have self-aware citizens who are not afraid to pull out their phones and record for your protection! Or if police ever blackmail you over the phone (knowing you have money to pay) – then you can confidently record them as self defense.

Q: What if I can't make a donation, how else can I help?

A: Every person counts! I don't have social media and can't show my face due to threats and government defamation.

1) So you can energize this cause by sharing this link with 10 friends.

2) Post on reddit, voat, or forums.

3) Post my video on youtube and other sites. You have my permission to re-upload with 3 conditions: Please include a link to this donation page; delete any comments that harass or give out my private information; and give me a link. Thank you.

Q: Why should I bookmark this page after donating, and check back in a few days?

A: To encourage public support, I will add new info or teach about a law subject when $1,000 or more is donated in a day. Information is free, but again this is to encourage public backing to protect my life, while giving you something in return. I can't do this alone. Thanks!

Q: What crime have you reported or whistleblowed about?

A: See Section IV, above. I also reported on:

1) In 2016, the BLM (Fed gov) blackmailed ranchers and stole land. Politicians wanted to sell it for mining rights. Ranchers like the BUNDYs and LAVOY FINICUM, were punished for whistleblowing on live tv, about abuse by the Fed gov.

The FBI setup a blind roadblock, then chased LAVOY into it – while he and others were on their way to report to a Constitutional Sheriff. The FBI murdered him and arrested the BUNDYs.

2) The FBI retaliated against other patriots and cameramen with unconstitutional charges. The female FBI agent who made the criminal complaint, was practicing law without a license in that state (i.e. the charge was void).

3) SERENA SHIM was an American reporter in Turkey, who was murdered for telling the truth about ISIS and Turkish connections.

4) A government ignored Federal law and exploited kids for money, and made tax payers pay for it (not tied to #pizzagate, but similar).

5) A government used civil forfeiture to steal from innocent people, and raise money for police equipment. They used it to commit more abuse. Civil forfeiture is not legal, no matter what they call it.

6) High ranking judges are involved in racketeering and allow police crime. They use unwritten or unequal “rules” to prevent brave attorneys or pro se – from exposing crime.

Q: Why did you use memes and parody, it seems inappropriate?

A: My goal is to reach mass demographics – since everyone needs to know and defend our rights. I use unconventional teaching to reach people who may not be interested in law, or may not see a reason to learn. Thus I use hints of things they like, to peak interest while teaching in a fun way. My court filings are more technical and may be too boring for some.

Funded Justice

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Bittersweet Future: Chapter Twelve

Summary:

A battle of bitter enemies...

Battle Royale: Part I

In the irony that has become my life, saying that time stood still would be icing on the cake, but it wouldn’t be a lie. For the first time since I entered this wacky universe, I really got how much everything is fucked up. And you know what the crazy part is? The crazy part is it took seeing my Dad ordering my death via the Guys in White reject squadron to do it. Personally, my original bet was on seeing Vlad married to my mom, but hey, sometimes life is full of surprises…like the troops shooting at me for instance…

The reaction after that single command was immediate. The troops settled on the ground around Vlad’s ghost shield began opening a volley of blasts, hoping to either cut off their escape, or more favorably, destroy the shield all together. The loud booms in the background picked up in speed and volume as the GSU Air Ships hastened to drop off their cargo of men and vehicles. The jets circling over-head in a holding pattern joined their brethren strafing the outside of the shield with a combination of bullets and missiles. All of the GSU went into full attack mode.

Vlad quirked his lips in annoyance at the ecto-weapons currently nipping at his now near red colored shield, before turning away from the troops in front of him and back towards his family. “Alright, I need you all to listen up, I don’t have time to repeat this again,” he yelled over the din of the explosions of battle. “Jasmine, I need you to load up the Hover with everything it can carry, you know what’s most important, just get it done quickly.” He paused to make sure she’d understood before moving on. “Danny, I need you to take the twins and Lizzie over to the RV. Se-”

“What! Wait, why am I on baby-sitting duty? I can totally-”

“Snicker-doodles Danny, don’t you dare back sass me right now! Do exactly what I say, no questions.” The eldest halfa stared him down until he was sure he would listen. “Now, you get them over to the RV, set up the shield, full power, don’t turn any other systems on, and then wait for a break in the fighting. When you can jump out of the RV without being bombed by jets, head over to the Hover and give your sister some help.” Vlad flicked his eyes down to the youngest members of the group. “You three,” he pointed down when he realized the explosions were growing louder. That shield won’t hold much longer...“Don’t leave the RV for any reason. Do you understand me?” He waited a moment longer to watch them nod, before turning to his wife.

“You want me to take the ground troops or the air platforms this time?” She asked, her eyes shining with apprehension for the upcoming battle.

A loud shattering sound echoed throughout the valley as the outer shield broke under the relentless assault of the jets circling above the valley floor. The squadron waiting above the one that just broke the shield dive-bombed for the group’s position, hungry for blood.

“I’ll leave that decision in your capable hands Love.” Vlad tossed a look to his eldest son, “come on Daniel, let’s see if we can’t remind these underlings why you shouldn’t mess with us.”

“Very much agreed.” Daniel announced; a smirk already firmly planted on his lips. He passed a glance in Danny’s direction before turning his back ready to transform. Why did he call Jasmine your sister?

With that the group split in separate directions, determination set on their faces.

“Can’t you run any faster?” Nate complained from his position a few feet in front of Danny, racing towards the RV.

“Hey! I’m the one making the ghost shield, and carry Lizzie. The least you can do is not whine at me.” Danny panted while stopping behind a crate for cover. Another blast from the surrounding troops slammed into his shield, earning a grunt.

“Yeah well, the sooner we get to the RV-”

“The sooner you can stop working so hard.” Nick finished his brother’s sentence was a slight glare. He peered over the top of their current hiding place, judging the distance to the RV. They were within a 200 yard sprint, but interspersed between them and the RV was an advancing line of troops. Not good. “Hey so Danny, you have ghost powers right?” He couldn’t hide the nervousness in his voice.

“Well I don’t know Nick, why don’t we ask the ghost shield he’s making.” Nate responded with a roll of his eyes.

“Shut up!” Nick snipped back. “What I’m asking is you can transform right? Cause I don’t see any other way around that,” he paused to point out the now 50 feet closer line of soldiers, “group of GSU dorks.”

“Well yeah,” Danny screamed over an especially loud boom in the background, “but that’s not going to help much. The only reason they haven’t just rushed our position is because they can’t get a good read on my energy.”

“No way dumb butt. The reason they haven’t rushed our position is because they don’t know how strong you are. They already know-”

“-Where we are. That’s why they are shooting over here.” Nick finished before rolling his eyes in concert with his brother.

“Duh.” They both announced before a large blast from a bigger ecto-gun cracked Danny’s shield.

Lizzie gripped Danny’s shirt harder and shouted to be heard over another explosion. “Stop fighting! It’s not helping at all.” She jumped when another large crack appeared on the shield. “Can’t you make it stronger?” She asked, a slight tremor of fear wavering her voice.

Danny leaned over the top of the crate and sighted the troops heading for their position. “Yeah in a sec. I think I know how to get through those troops.” Danny narrowed his eyes at the weak point in the line advancing towards them. They had to avoid an obstacle soon, which meant breaking ranks, after that, he’d be able to throw an attack or two, and make a hole big enough for them to run through with much less resistance. He held Elizabeth a little closer and stood on the balls of his feet. “Ok everyone get ready to run.” He announced, slipping one hand out from under the youngest Master.

“What are ya’ going to do?” Nate asked before moving around behind him. He winced as another crack showed up on the shield, Danny obviously focused on something else.

The time traveling teen bounced up from his position behind the crate, firing several small blasts into the ranks of the GSU grunts. To his satisfaction, the troops parted just like he wanted. He waited a few more microseconds before turning to the boys behind him. “Come one run!” He leapt the crate and rushed ahead, charging the shield anew as he made for the line of currently disorganized ghost hunters.

Before the taken aback group of hunters could react, the shielded group ran through the large hole in their ranks. “Fire damn it!” The commander of the group demanded, raising his own weapon to send a few shots the hybrids’ way. His shots bounced off the bright green shield without even a crack showing up. He hissed into his communicator, “This is Agent O. I’m on the rear of the valley attacking a group of hybrids; I need back up out here!” He turned his sights back on the retreating group of kids, dropping his radio in his haste. He never heard the responses from the rest of the commanding officers, screaming for back up of their own.

Danny could hear his heart whooshing in his ears louder than the discordant booms of the unloading troops and the jets bombing every ghost signature or shield they saw. He groaned when another blast hit his shield, realizing the troops behind them had finally reorganized. That’s going to make this much harder. He mentally groused. “Nick…how do we know…that the RV…will even be…in one piece?” He panted out from in front of the other boys.

“The shields on all the vehicles went up automatically when the outer shield fell.” Nick replied.

“Yeah, it’d take nothing less than a nuclear bomb to break through those things with none of the other systems online.” Nate added, much less out of breath than Danny.

“If those shields are so good, then how come the outer shield fell?” Danny asked stopped behind one final crate he was using for cover. He shifted the squirming girl in his arms into another much less tiring position while he waited for an answer and the perfect opportunity to run the last few feet.

“It was spread over a much larger area, and it has more than one function! Besides what’s that matter now?” Nate huffed back, sparing a glance behind them to the troops catching up.

“I was just wondering, what made these shields so different, because if they were the same, I’d take my chances with my own.” Danny took a deep breath and prepared to just sprint through the lines of men guarding the RV when a loud crackling sound resonated throughout the valley. It was followed by a thunderous boom near instantaneously, sounding much more like actual thunder than any of the previous explosions in the valley. He swiveled his head left and right, looking for the source of the noise before something tugged on the back of his hoodie.

“Don’t worry about that one, that’s from our side,” Nick explained with another tug. “Come on; let’s get out of here while they’re distracted.” He pointed ahead of the crate to the men running towards the middle of the valley, to the apparent source of the last boom.

The oldest member of group waited another few seconds, to make sure the men had cleared out enough to be safe for them to run. Without another moment’s hesitation, Danny bounded over the top of the crate making a beeline for the RV doors. A few half hearted shots bounced off his shield before they made it to the edge of the dome being maintained by the RV.

Nick and Nate ran straight through the shielding, happily rushing ahead of Danny, before reaching up for the door to the RV.

“Uh hey guys?” Danny asked nervously to get their attention.

The twins’ attention returned to the outside of the shield, where Danny was sending them a look that was a combination of confusion and worry. “What’re ya’ still doing out there?” Nate mumbled mostly to himself, walking back to the inner edge of the shield. He reached his hand through once before returning it back inside. He frowned at the predicament as his twin got the door to the RV open.

“It’s the shielding technology Nate. Dad installed DNA recognition into it, so the GSU dorks can’t get through remember?” Nick rushed up the few stairs to the driver’s seat of the RV. “Now get in here and help me turn it off for a few seconds so he can get inside. I don’t remember which panel it is…”

Danny set Lizzie down and pressed her through the shield. “Don’t worry about that. Listen, just get in there and set the shield to 100% or something. I need to go help Jazz out and you all are safe inside the shield already, so I’m gone.” Just then another thunder-crack rang through the air, only this time the ground shook as well; he leaned against the shield for balance and glanced back towards the main battle taking place in the middle of the valley. He shifted back around to scream, face nearly flat against the shield, “And what the hell is that?”

Nate leaned out the still open RV door, as his younger sister bounded up the steps. “That is the sound of our Dad kicking butt.” Another crack and earth shaking boom rattled the area. “I sure hope those GSU dorks packed another pair of undies, because they’re going to need them.” He said with a playful grin plastered firmly over his face. He screamed something lost in the sounds of battle back inside to his siblings before looking back at Danny. “Hey, I thought you said you were leaving? Get going already!”

Great. I’m getting bossed around by ten year olds. Danny turned and nearly lost his footing as another earthshaking boom went through the valley floor. He glared lightly in the fight’s general direction before starting off in the direction he thought the Hover had been. You think Vlad would hold back on the…whatever it is he’s doing.

At the center of the chaos Vlad and his eldest son were giving the world’s finest ghost hunters a run for their money. He’d already destroyed a few air platforms they’d tried to set up, and while Daniel was busy dealing with the pesky jets still bombing the area, the faster boy had volunteered, so Vlad was blasting the levitating engines out from under the remaining platforms. The sooner I get these destroyed the better.

The platforms were a launch pad for the GSU’s small single person hover vehicles. And while a single one wasn’t anything to worry about, each platform could hold nearly 100 of them, and the GSU had brought ten platforms to the battle. They made for an annoying piece of machinery, and could overwhelm with sheer numbers. Worse, both the platforms and the flyers they carried, among other supplies, had been ghost proofed. While that didn’t make them indestructible, it meant it took a lot more fire power to destroy any one Levitator or platform than it should from the construction materials; at the very least with spectral energy creating the destructive power.

The result had Vlad using one of his most powerful attacks, not wanting to waste time or extra energy; he’d thrown a few well placed bright red lightning bolts into the platforms in the position to take several of them out with their failure.

The plan had moderate success, with one of the floating platforms already fallen, and another failing at that very moment. Unfortunately, the GSU had moved all of the remaining power in their shields to protect the remaining engines from further attacks. The shields were strong enough to blunt some of the damage away, and made it necessary to use more than one shot to take out a single engine. At the moment, they’d stabilized the third one from falling, and were launching their smaller single person crafts off of its bow.

Vlad cursed under his breath as the first wave of flyers made for his position. He didn’t have time for this nonsense. The group of craft zoomed towards his location before a large chunk of flying metal slammed into their formation. It took out half of the machines before ramming into the earth, straight into a contingent of troops on the ground, crushing several of the men beneath it. He looked over towards the area where the metal chunk had started from with interest. “What took you so long?” He questioned blasé in the face of the mounting chaos beneath him.

“Hey, next time you can take the baker’s dozen of fighter jets and I’ll throw energy attacks at the stationary targets.” Daniel flew to a stop next to his father, surveying the damage his last attack had done. For the last few minutes, he’d been out-maneuvering the pilots of the GSU’s Air Division. While they might have been the best fighter pilots in the country, nothing beat having the natural sense of flight that came with being able to do it yourself. They also had a much less responsive and larger system to work with, so he’d made quick work of the first three planes without breaking a sweat.

The next ten had come with more difficulty. The pilots suddenly woke up and remembered they could coordinate their attacks, and had done so. Using one group to try and pin down or herd him towards another group firing at him with bullets.

Not like that helped them all that much. Daniel noted smugly. He’d been able to pit them against one another, using their weapons to take out other planes, or just plain ran the jets into each other. Finally, with only two or three planes left, they had begun to retreat until more reinforcements arrived from the still disemboweling Air Ships. The hybrid had grabbed the closest plane and ripped a wing off, watching the now broken plane crash into the ground below. With a good piece of metal to work with, he’d tossed it back towards the main part of the battle, hoping to take out some more troops with it. The plan worked beautifully, the repurposed wing crashing into the first wave of Levitators like a freight train, before coming to a rest on top of some of the GSU’s ground troops. 

“Yes how about that? I’ll scare off a bunch of incompetent GSU pilots and you can try and get past their level nine shields.” Vlad raised one of his own as a group of missiles from the platform closed in on his position. They exploded against the dark pink dome, not even making a dent, clouding the immediate area in near black choking smoke.

“Whatever. What do you say I take the ground troops and you blast some more easy targets?” Daniel offered setting his sights on a group of men trying to reinforce the troops already headed towards his mother. Without waiting for a response, he dove out of the smoke cloud and fired a few green blasts at the troops below.

“I thought you wanted the easy targets this time Daniel?” Vlad teased at his retreating form before taking stock of the situation around him. He looked behind him towards the edge of the fight where the RV was sitting. Good, the kids are safely inside and Danny is running over to help Jasmine. Though God knows why he hasn’t transformed yet. The smoke was clearing, and he needed to move now if he still wanted to use surprise to his advantage. He shot straight out of the remaining smoke headed for the advancing group of Levitators, wanting to cut them off before they reached any further into the valley.

Meanwhile, Daniel was hovering invisible over the group of men currently continuing to his mother’s position.

She was, as usual, single-handedly holding off a contingent of soldiers, but that was likely to change if the rest of the men heading towards her position got there.

Daniel frowned at the number of men rushing to her position, and decided to get a little creative. He hadn’t tried to use these powers on someone in months, and it hadn’t gone so well that last time, but at the very least it would delay the arrival of the newer GSU grunts. He closed his eyes and concentrated on sending his energy into the space around him. He would have to drop invisibility in a few more seconds, so he made use of the extra time to center his thoughts. The buzz of the humid summer air faded as the much larger signatures of the men below him took over. He mentally reached out for the warm thrum he felt coming from them, opting for the much more tired group of men already fighting his mother. Daniel took a deep breath and grabbed at the person shaped coalescence of water in his mind…

She’d been giving their opponent as much hell as she could when she felt something ice cold wrap around her body. She knew instinctively from years in the GSU that it was spectral energy; she just didn’t know where it was coming from. The oldest hybrid was engaged with the Levitators, the mysterious one they had tracked this far hadn’t even shown up, and 2nd Priority had disappeared from the battle after scaring the first wave of fighter jets back to base. Moreover, the energy felt like it was coming from inside her. But that’s impossible. She concluded, and tried to lift her gun to shake off the energy around her, only to find she couldn’t.  Now panicking, she struggled to move her legs, shake her arms, to do anything but stand frozen stiff -when did I stopped moving-; to no avail. She shot a glance to the men next to her, her eyes the only thing she did have control over, and found him surrounded by a deep red aura. He was just as frozen in place as her, and from the look in his eyes, he had no idea what was going on either. Her mind went numb with fear as her limbs began moving of their own accord, hoisting her gun back into a shooting position from hanging limply at her side. To her dismay, the rest of her squad members did the same, falling into a single file line behind an outcropping of crates, backs turned to their original target. She had just enough time to pray her shots would miss, before everything went to hell.

The approaching group of fighters settled onto their haunches as a sudden volley of bright green fire halted their advance. “What the hell?” The commanding officer growled as another quick set of shots was fired towards their position. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think they were our own weapons firing at us. He looked towards his three o’clock where the Plasmius creature was tearing through their air support, before facing forward again. “Agent Q I need you to radio for more air support, I need some eyes over the back of that section of debris. I want to know what’s firing at us!” He screamed as several of his men were taken out by well placed shots. Abruptly, the firing stopped and a group of GSU soldiers rushed his position. He grimaced when they weren’t deterred by weapons’ fire, and ordered his remaining officers to shot to kill. If that red light is any indication they’re as good as dead anyway.

The last few minutes had been terrifying. Despite having no control over her actions, she’d fired into her own reinforcements and watched as several of her men were gunned down for refusing to follow orders. Worse, she had no sense of pain, so the injuries she was taking didn’t even slow her, or the other controlled GSU soldiers down. She finally reached the edge of the incoming line, and pinned the other commander below her. She had her blaster point directly at his skull, finger twitching over the trigger. It was taking everything she had to resist pulling it. She knew the man below her; they ate lunch together every day. She could hear his officers screaming for her to drop her weapon. If only they knew how much strength it took not to shot him…

“Sorry Kate, I’ll send your stuff to Jim when we get back.” He lifted his bazooka to her chest and squeezed the trigger, blasting a hole clean through to the other side. He shifted her corpse off of his body, and sent a fierce glare to the creature that had all but killed a good friend of his. “You’re dead you piece of spectral shit!” He raised his weapon, flicked it to full power, and sent a large green blast Daniel’s way.

Daniel had just enough time to register the power behind the attack before it closed on his position. He closed his eyes and teleported a few feet away, the blast had been close enough to singe him despite missing by a few feet. That was close… “Well someone looks a little upset.”

“Shut up you-”

“-Though if I were you,” Daniel interrupted, “I’d be more concerned with my original target.” Daniel watched as the commanding officer’s face scrunched into a confused frown before a hail of ecto-weapon blasts zipped into his group of men. He smirked as his mother dove back into the fight, easily routing the surprised and distracted GSU men, taking several more out before they could even re-group. “You’re welcome!” He screamed down at her when he saw her wave, before shooting off to take care of the new jets flying towards the valley from right over the edge of the mountains. And I was going to give Jasmine some help too. I hope that kid knows what he’s doing…

By this time Jasmine was almost finished loading up the Hercules Hover with the needed supplies. She wasn’t sure how they were going to get it out of the valley, someone would have to fly it, and with all the jets around that wasn’t advisable, but she trusted her father to figure it out. The majority of the GSU men had been occupied with chasing down either her parents or Daniel, considering they’d been making the most “noise”, but a few had come her way when they realized what she was up to. The red head was currently fighting off a new team of men, the other group having fallen to her sharp shooting and the shield around the Hover. This group, however, was proving more difficult to fight, and worse, there was another one coming up behind them. All in all, although she was nearly done with her task, she could use a little backup herself. Jasmine groaned as another one of her weapons signaled the batteries were running low. The majority of the replacements or chargers were already packed away, and she needed some guns to defend herself. “Come on Danny, the least you can do to make up for all of this is show up when I need you.” She didn’t blame the kid for not being so forthcoming with all of the details of his life. Despite the fact the GSU was the biggest threat to either of their lives, her family had in short order pointed enough weapons at him to give any sane person pause about sharing intimate life details. Like why you’re a half ghost or how you know who our parents are. She grimaced as she slid the last charged battery into place. Any time now…She thought firing a few volley shots over the top of crates she wasn’t planning on packing up. To her surprise, a much larger shot was fired in between both groups, shocking the GSU out of returning fire. “Took long enough!” She exclaimed as Danny settled in next to her.

“Yeah, you’re welcome.” He answered looking around behind him at the stuff scattered around the Hover. “How much more of that stuff do you need to pack?” He wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible, mostly because everyone around him was acting like this was a war zone, shooting to kill, tossing grenades, and everything betwixt. He risked a glance over the edge of the crates, and quickly ducked down when several large green blasts headed his way. He didn’t mind fighting; he spent most of his day at home stuffing ghosts into the Fenton Thermos, but the way everyone else was fighting had him worried. I’m not killing anyone. He determined. If he was honest, that seemed to be the only way to fight back against the GSU at the moment.

“Just two more crates, but they are back over the line where the soldiers have entrenched themselves. I need you to force them back so I can get those crates and we can get out of here.” She explained while firing two more shots over his shoulder.

“Hey! Watch where you aim that thing.” Danny complained while rubbing at the warm spot in between his neck and shoulder where the energy had zipped though. He passed one more glance over the crates, to gage the closeness of the GSU line, before turning back around to Jasmine. He caught her eye and counted back from ten on his hands, mouthing off each number as he went.

Three…a blast took out the top half of the crate.

Two…Danny turned to block any other incoming attacks, shielding Jasmine with his body.

One…Jasmine turned and ran for the safety of another set of boxes, the one they’d been standing behind of had been completely destroyed.

“Ma’am, the mysterious hybrid has just appeared on our radar!” Jillian heard squawk out of her radio. She halted her groups advance with a hand over her shoulder and pressed a button on the radio integrated into her lapel. “Where is it?” She demanded harshly into the hi-tech walkie talkie. “It appeared over in the northern quadrant, next to where the troops were engaging Jasmine Fenton.” The second in command mulled over the information for a few moments longer before turning to motion her men towards the mystery hybrid’s position. They needed to capture him most of all. While the other hybrids were on record, at the very least they knew how they came to exist, that one’s appearance was more than a slight crimp in their knowledge base. Jillian turned to follow her men over to the area when a voice caught her attention above the din of the battle. Interesting…I’m sure my men can handle the girl while I worry about her mother.

The former ghost hunter was making progress against her section of the GSU troops. She’d already taken out several of their Levitators, and a few dozen troops on her own. Unfortunately, it looked like they’d come prepared for Armageddon this time, so no matter how many troops she knocked down, it seemed like five more showed up to replace them. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her retractable bo-staff, medium sized ecto-gun balanced in her left hand. Luckily enough, she shot with her off-hand almost as well as with her dominant hand. She popped three approaching GSU soldiers in the chest before depressing the button to extend her favorite melee weapon. Come to momma boys. Maddie slung her gun onto her hip before griping the staff in both hands, ready to whip it around into a few skulls. To her surprise, her opponents had stopped advancing, eyeing her with a wary expression on their faces. She took the reprieve to spy her husband and eldest son. Vlad’s keeping the majority of the Levitators at bay and Daniel is fighting off another squadron of jets. I hope Jasmine’s almost done. She settled into her stance and eyed the still stalled GSU drones. Suddenly, the reason for their hesitation became clear. “Oh, so what happened to last time has gotten around has it? Well don’t worry; I’ll be gentler this time.” She leaned off of her heels and onto the balls of her feet, ready to spring at the first person who twitched wrong. Someone to her left wriggled, shifting to reach for another weapon, so she took a step in that direction and swung…

He hadn’t meant to set off the virtual martial arts bomb in their midst, but all it took was one twitch and they were as good as bruised in any case. He’d reached for a knock out grenade, hoping to end the fight before it started, only to have it inadvertently begin.

She’d knocked out two of the people standing around her before they could even raise their guns. To even the odds, she’d planted her staff into the earth and catapulted herself over the top of the circle, being surrounded would make the fight much harder. A few of the fighters had woken up and fired a shot or two in her direction in the air, but she’d already nearly landed by then. She landed on one leg, and pivoted, settled her other leg into the ground right when her weapon made contact for full effect. She heard a satisfying crack, as the soldier’s firing arm was taken out, and moved into a defensive stance. Everyone had recovered from her first strike by then, and turned to fire at her. The shots bounced off of her reinforced ecto-steel staff as she twirled it to make a shield against the blasts. Maddie dived forward during a slight break in the firing pattern and caught one closest GSU member under the chin. She turned and used the other end to smash the person closest to him in the gut, before twisting to catch a final person across the back of the neck, knocking her out instantly.

Six down, six more to go. She thought determination reading in her every feature. The mother of five was back on the defensive, easily deflecting the blasts off her weapon, sending several back to the men who were firing. Opting to use their weapons’ fire against them further, she concentrated on reflecting the blasts back towards their targets. Four blasts zipped back to their sources, and she was left with only the commanding officer and one of his underlings. The brazen girl rushed at Maddie, baton from her belt raised to counter her staff. The former hunter effortless parried and disarmed the soldier in one move before catching the back of her skull behind her ear with the other end of her weapon. Her opponent crumpled to the ground in an unconscious heap while she faced off against the commander. At the last second she sensed a blast headed for her back. She twisted out of the way and the shot slammed into the officer’s chest instead of hitting her. She continued through the motion, drawing her gun off of her opposite hip, pressing it to full power, using the heavy staff to balance her shift in motion.  

“Maddie.” A cold calm voice rang through the sounds of battle. The world around her had faded away ages ago to her. Almost as soon as she’d seen the other woman fighting, the rest of the world no longer mattered. She held her weapon solidly pointed at the chest of her opponent, willing the woman to so much as blink so she could fire.

“Jillian. How long has it been?” She inquired gun pointed directly over the other woman’s heart, staff still balanced in her right hand.

“Too long Madeline, too long.”  

Nate and Nick watched with a grin on their faces while the GSU surrounding the RV tried to break through the shield, this time with a rocket launcher. The projectile bounced off of the shield; detonating only a few tenths of a second after that. The grunts outside tried to send several grenades at the shield at once. This only earned a loss of more ammunition and a set of rolled eyes from the twins.

“You’d think they’d stop trying by now, and go reinforce somewhere else where they can actually make a difference.” Nick noted pressing his face against the glass to distort it into a funny taunting face.

“Yeah maybe, or maybe these are all of the rejects that are too stupid to be of any use anywhere else.” Nate watched in muted humor as another rocket was sent into the shield. It also deflected off the shield and exploded; he passed a glance to the power panel for the shield. Still 100%. This is so boring.

Nick pulled his face away from the glass long enough to say, “Whatever, I just wish everyone else would hurry up. I’m sick of sitting around doing nothing. Hey, doesn’t this thing have cameras?” He moved away from the glass as another grenade hit and walked over to another set of panels at the front of the RV.  

“Yeah? But so what?” Nate asked while joining his brother in the front seat. The front of the RV looked a lot more like high tech monitoring station and less like a car.

“Because then we can send out the cameras, and see how close everyone else is to getting their butts back over here.” Nick depressed a few buttons on the largest control panel, in no particular order, trying to get the set of mobile cameras to release. He was only rewarded with the windshield wipers turning on, followed by the headlights, and then the weapon’s system coming online.

“Wait stop!” His brother screamed when the weapons highlighted on the main display screen in front of him. He scrunched up his face in concentration trying to pick out what he wanted. He thought the cameras might be in this section of the computer.

Nick caught onto the other boy’s antics, but instead selected a pair of large missiles. “How about these?” he offered while pressing down on the touch screen.

Rocket Launchers activated. A computerized voice said from the console in front of them before two medium sized rockets shot from the top of the RV. The projectiles flew through the shield and directly into the midst of the surrounding GSU. The flying bombs had the designed effect, quickly blasting and throwing earth out of the way of their detonation. GSU soldiers dove left and right out of the blast zone.

“Oops. I didn’t think the screens were that sensitive.”

“Whatever. Let’s find those cameras before those GSU dorks recover.” Nate responded hitting another set of commands into the control panel. The weapons section shut down and was replaced by the communications section. That was swiftly followed by the espionage section, filled with hacker’s codes and eavesdropping technology, as the boys clicked through the RV’s systems.

“Wouldn’t the mobill cameras be with the spy stuff?” Lizzie offered from the mid-section of the RV.

“Hey great idea!” the twins enthusiastically answered before switching back over to the “spy” section to look for the mentioned equipment. In a flash, they had zeroed in on the flying recorders.

They popped out of the top of the RV, floating for a second as the video processors came online, before racing off onto the rest of the battlefield.

“You think four of those things will be enough?”

Nate frowned over his brother’s question before answering, “Yeah why wouldn’t it be?”

“What if some of them blow up?” Lizzie suggested.

The twins shared a look before watching the cameras fly off towards the platforms at the other end of the valley. They started broadcasting their findings back to the RV’s display system. The intensity of the fighting wiped any worry of destroyed property from the kids’ minds.

“Yeah whatever, just as long as they last long enough to show us what’s going on I don’t care…Hey look! There’s mom.” Nate pointed to the screen, where the second of four cameras had pinpointed one of the main fights.

Maddie shifted to the left, settling her feet and centering herself for the battle ahead. In that instant, the fight had begun. She continued the motion, sliding to the left to avoid the ecto-weapon fire heading her direction. The green blast soared past her where her shoulder had been as she returned fire, to keep her opponent on their toes. She knew from experience Jillian was too fast and smart to be pinned with energy attacks, even from close range, but it did give the other woman something else to break her concentration, and for that she was grateful. Jill was one of the few people Maddie had ever fought that was actually a challenge, and with nearly a half an hour of intense fighting under her belt already, she needed the extra edge the distracting fire provided.

Jill cart wheeled to the right, out of the range of the coming bright green blasts before reaching back and taking out another weapon. The second in command knew that while her adversary was a good shot, though not an ace unlike herself, she preferred melee combat against human opponents. Worse, she was one of the best at it; so her greatest chance came in making her keep her distance and using her superior shooting skills to her advantage. Better than that, she had back-up all around her, so all she had to do was hem her into another group of GSU and the fight would be over. However, that’s easier said than done. Jillian concluded as another of her well-aimed shots deflected off of Maddie’s staff. The other woman had taken to blocking her shots with one hand and shooting her own with the other. Damn it…It was time for a change of tactics.

The former ghost hunter narrowed her eyes and charged her opponent’s position, wanting to close some of the distance that had developed between them. Space only served to give Jill an advantage since it made using her bo-staff for anything but blocking impossible. Her feet bite into the dirt, and she deflected several shots as she charged. She quickly cut the length of space between them in half. Dodging around another fiery green shot she couldn’t deflect, Maddie slid into a fighting stance that would more easily take advantage of her greater melee skills. Her eyes narrowed when she caught her opponent raise her other hand to fire and chose to block the burning hot blast with her own gun, sacrificing it to avoid giving up ground. She swirled her staff around her body to give it a good amount of force, and slammed it into Jillian’s arm, knocking her un-raised weapon clean out of her hand.

Cursing and bring her unharmed arm to bare, Jillian fired a series of shots on the run, already twisting away and to the right to avoid being hit by the staff a second time. She watched Maddie hiss as a shot grazed her shoulder at close range and another barely missed her left thigh. Her opponent rolled and bounced back into a defensive stance, ready to avoid anymore coming ecto-weapons fire. The blonde woman steadied herself for the rest of the fight, watching her foe closely as she took stock of her injuries. Some small bruises and burns from close calls. But the main problem is that hit to the arm, I think she may have fractured my forearm with that one, but I know for sure my wrist is broken. Jill frowned as the new information flitted across her mind. A fractured forearm was no big deal, she could set and stabilize it in a few minutes if given the reprieve during battle, but a broken wrist would take that entire side out of commission when it came to weapons wielding. It wasn’t like she was in poor shape there, she could shoot equally well with both hands, but she’d rather have two guns to point at Maddie than one. She passed a glanced around the space immediately around her; the area where they were fighting was conspicuously empty. A look to the sky answered her question why, when she spotted both of the oldest hybrids giving the troops closest to them hell. Looks like 2nd Priority finished with those jets again, my time is almost up. Her troops would need reinforcement and her guidance soon, she didn’t have time to waste on this fight for much longer. Why isn’t she attacking? Jill wondered before bringing up her remaining gun to restart their clash.

Maddie for her part had taken the few seconds pause to take mental stock of her family’s positions. Vlad, fighting off the last of the Levitators, and he’s knocked down another Platform. Daniel’s giving him some help with the ground troops. From the sound of it the twins and Lizzie are safe inside the RV. So that leaves Jasmine…Her thoughts trailed off as her wrist began to ache and throb. She hadn’t taken the shot directly, but having the gun wrenched out of her hand like that still hurt. Despite that, it was likely only a bad sprain, and she needed to focus if she was going to keep the other woman so tied up that she couldn’t help the other GSU fight. She took a deep breath when she saw Jillian raise her gun; it would be harder to use her staff with a stiff and sore wrist, but she’d manage. She blocked the first shot, and the fight resumed.

The GSU officer backed away from Maddie’s approaching form, running backwards nearly as fast as she could forward, to preserve the space needed to keep her weapon’s fire effective. She decided to move the fight closer to the rest of her men; so she spun on her heel and raced towards the rest of the soldiers, opting to show her opponent her back to make up for it in speed. Jill heard the other woman scream something from over her shoulder and dropped to the side with just enough time to avoid the blast. It sailed uselessly to her left, not even singing her clothing. She stopped and refaced Maddie, having gained a nearly fifty yards with her short sprint. Still, it wasn’t close enough to draw the attention of her subordinates or to really close in on the other fight, so she was on her own. Ok, you want hand to hand combat honey? You got it. Jill decided before rushing the other woman’s position full speed.

Startled by the abrupt change in tactics, Maddie skidded to a stop as Jill closed the last of the space between them. She had just enough time to plant her feet before a solid punch was sent her way. She blocked it with the middle of her staff and pressed her advantage, moving the staff to the other side of her arm and pushing it away, hoping to throw the other woman off balance. To no avail, as Jillian only moved with the parry, grasped a hold of the staff, and brought one of her legs up for a body shoot against her. Thrown off balance she had no way of blocking the attack. To compensate, she rolled with the kick, reducing some of the effect by following the motion.

The two of them, still conjoined by their hold on the staff, rolled to the right landing back on their feet, staff still in hand. They fought over control briefly before it landed level between them both around chest level.

Jill glared over the top of staff and into the auburn haired woman’s eyes. “Give it up sweetie; I’ve got five years of youth and ten years of expert training on you.” She hissed as the weapon was twisted from her grasp, arms crossing uncomfortably, when Maddie flipped to the left still holding the staff. The ghost hunter settled back into an offensive stance and prepared to charge her again. I have to get that staff out of her hands. The GSU officer raced forward once again, only this time she stopped on a dime, avoiding the other woman’s attack. She ducked underneath it, crossing into the space between her body and the staff, and destroying her weapon’s defensive capabilities. She placed as much force as she could behind her next attack, bringing her elbow across into the now open space, and heading directly for Maddie’s head. She nearly screamed in frustration as the woman before her dropped back; falling down onto her back as the blow meant for her temple sailed cleanly through the air. Jill grunted as her opponent’s feet planted against her unguarded stomach, leaving her breathless, and tossing her a few feet away onto her back.

Maddie continued through the motion, flipping back onto her feet, using her hands to help back hand spring back into a standing position. She’s barely landed before she was taking off fleet footed for the last place she’d seen the other woman land, trying to press her advantage to the fullest. She landed on top of the still prone woman, pressing the staff into her neck as she struggled with her on the ground. “Dear, if you’ve been trained by the GSU for ten years it might explain a few things, though certainly not the crows’ feet, and you were calling me old. Come on hun, are these digs really necessary? Or maybe you’re just still upset about Amity four years ago.”

“Shut it Madeline. You know as well as I do that this,” Jill paused to press her palms against the staff with more gusto, forcing the other woman back into a sitting position over her, “is all your fault.” She grit her teeth and planted her feet into the earth, forcing Maddie off of her. “If only you realized what you had, then none of this would be necessary.” The second in command rolled to the left, listening to the whistle of the staff as it stung the dirt where she had just been laying. The next attack came quickly, and the one after that with even more speed. Oh she’s pissed now. She realized with glee.

“This is not my fault. I’m not responsible for how Jack chooses to take things, nor am I responsible for his obsession with killing every ghost he comes across.” Maddie whipped the staff around once more, one handed, as she reached for another weapon, this time an ecto-gun. She openly glared into the space her opponent left in the wake of her expert dodging. If only she would stand still long enough to land a hit, she’d show her what she really thought about her baseless assertions. “Besides, I’d say your dislike of me is more personal. What’s the matter honey? He still not biting after all these years?” She asked aiming the small ecto-gun at Jill’s constantly moving form.

“Oh and I have you to blame for it, if that’s what I was actually after. Congratulations, between your own children and my commanding officer it seems you have a knack for creating monsters.” She cheered internally as the other woman’s face flushed darker with anger and defensive pride. “Oh but don’t take my word for it, sweetheart, just take a look around you. Most mothers would be terrified and disgusted by the thought they gave birth to something non-human but apparently, just like with Jack, you relish the idea of making something so perverted. I mean honestly, I don’t know what’s more disturbing. The fact you left a good man for a heartless twisted inhuman monster, or the fact you weren’t satisfied until the man you left was just like him.” Jill screamed as a well aimed blast caught her along her already injured forearm.

“Shut the hell up.” Maddie closed in on her injured quarry, ready to end this fight right then. There was one thing she couldn’t stand, and that was anyone talking about her family. Just as the gun whined and whirled, ready to blast a hole clear through her opponent’s skull, the air began to buzz. She gasped as the space around her filled up with energy she could recognize in her sleep. There was a subtle red hue in the air wrapped around what she realized was the humidity in the atmosphere around her. Maddie snapped her head around to where she heard a large rush of water coming from. Daniel! She only took her attention off of her opponent for a moment, but that’s all it took…

Jillian rushed the other woman standing over her the instant she took her focus off of her. She reached up and grabbed the gun pointed at her, and began struggling with her for it, trying to at least throw the older woman off balance. She succeeded in firing off a few shots in the fight over the weapon before she noticed what had distracted Maddie so effectively herself. There was a veritable twister of water headed for the last of their floating platforms! The red tinged water moved like a natural water spout, building as it went; adding water to its size from seemingly nowhere. Jill refocused her attention on her opponent only to find her more interested in the sky near the quickly growing twisting wall of water. What are you looking for? The ghost hunter wondered as she wrenched the gun away from Maddie’s body. Jillian watched as the older woman withdrew another of her weapons and pointed it up towards her. Too slow…She was about to fire, when at the last moment; she spotted what Maddie had been searching for. Is that what you were so concerned about? She realized with a piece of wicked intent coiling in her belly. She’d take care of him after his mother.

The two of them stood stock still in a reoccurrence of the Mexican stand-off from before, with each of them now more interested in the water raging now only a few hundred yards away than each other.

Jill waited for the woman in front of her to shift her attention back towards the teenaged ghost floating not too far off, before she made her move. She fired a blast that forced Maddie to block with her staff and retreat as well. “Boys, that’s 2nd Priority making that attack, shot him out of the sky!” She barely had enough time to send that command through her communications link before she was tackled to the ground. And from the look in the mother’s eyes, she’d just made a command she’d be paying for in blood.

Across the valley, Jasmine had just loaded the first of the last two needed crates into the Hover. Unfortunately, her back up was having trouble fighting off the GSU grunts at the moment. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t strong enough to make a dent, it just seemed to her that Danny was holding back for some reason. It’s like he actually cares what happens to these bastards. You would think being shot at and nearly killed three times in two days would convince him to stop pulling his punches. Jasmine ducked behind another set of boxes, just feet from her final goal. She just needed to move forward a just a little more, and for once it looked like luck was on her side; Danny had forced the soldiers back a just enough to make sneaking to the last box possible. Let’s just hope he can keep them up there. She catapulted over the top of the boxes; her landing blending effortlessly into a hard sprint. The red haired girl wrapped her hands around the outside of the crate and hoisted it up preparing to race with it back to the Hover when something caught her eye and her ears.

The same twisting wall of water that had caught Maddie and Jill’s attention had now grown to twice its original size. The roar it was creating was audible over even the loud blasts and explosions of the raging battle around the valley floor. Several groups of GSU men had stopped to gaze at it in a combination of awe and fear as the water barreled towards the last of the floating platforms and the rest of their backup.

Jasmine managed to put the ghost hunter’s distraction to good use; running right past the stock still officers and back towards the Hover; already having discerned the origin of the impressive sight. I hope you know what you’re doing little brother. She saddled up to the door of the Hercules beetle shaped flying tank and hopped inside to set the last of the crates inside when she heard something rather large slam into the outside of the shield.

“You almost done in there?” A frantic voice shouted from the other side.

“That’s the last of it! I just need to signal that I’m done, and you can escort me back to the RV.” Jasmine stuck her head back out of the door to answer before doing a last check of the inside of the vehicle to be absolutely sure she had everything she needed. With a decisive nod, she stepped out of the Hover and turned to shout for Danny to take her back…only to spot Daniel being shot out of the sky. “NO!” Without even thinking about it; she dove back inside the flying contraption for a weapon.

“What?” Danny questioned pressing himself back against the shield. His lack of ability to pass through them was beginning to wear on his nerves.

The eldest Masters’ sibling stopped in her tracks and turned back around to the still open Hover door. “Danny! Those GSU bastards just hit Daniel with a huge blast. I can’t get to him as quickly as you can. I need you to go over there and give him some back up.”

“But what about you? There are agents everywhere!” Danny sent another medium sized ecto-blast into the charging line of GSU men, trying to wave them off a few moments more.

“I’ll be safe behind the shield. I’ll wait until you get back with my brother, now go already!” Jasmine huffed and pointed back towards the forested area of the valley where she’d seen her brother land.

Danny was about to argue otherwise when several more large ecto-weapons blasts bounced off the shield effortlessly. “Alright! But I’m coming back here right after that…” He conceded with a frown; heading as fast as he could fly towards Daniel’s likely crash site.

Wow my head hurts. I mean, I’m sure it didn’t hurt this much a few minutes ago, when I…when I was…um…what was I doing actually? Daniel wondered holding his still whirling head in one hand while pushing himself into a sitting position with the other. A moderate sized boom snapped him out of his dazed revere as he remembered the battle at hand. The teenaged hybrid hissed as he forced himself into standing. His middle felt like it was on fire. Bruised, badly, but nothing that’ll kill me. My head is scraped up pretty bad, but no fractures…and I’m just about out of energy. Great. By the time Daniel finished taking stock of his internal injuries and reopened his eyes he found himself encircled by at least 15 GSU soldiers. No I’m wrong, it’s fantastic. “So, I’m guessing you’re not here to play field medic?”

“2nd Priority ecto-entity Daniel Masters, you are under arrest by order of the Government Spectral Unit Field Branch. You have the right to submit quietly and to avoid most pain and discomfort.” The acting ranking commander declared with a self indulgent smile planted firmly on his lips.

“Might I suggest instead, you all taking a stroll through Hades? I hear it’s wonderful this tim-” the rest of his sentence was cut short by jumping to the right of the first of a flurry of blasts. The ghost powered teen tried to rush through the line of men and into the bushes directly on the other side. To no avail, the three men immediately in his path shouldered together and were able to withstand even his ghost strength enhanced attempt to tackle through them. Before he knew it, they’d thrown him back onto the center of the circle where he was forced to erect a hasty green toned shield. Oh this is not good…Daniel panted under the strain of keeping the shield up against the constant weapons’ fire.

Suddenly, one of the low ranked underpaid grunts got an idea. He lobbed a grenade from his belt towards the ghost hybrid in the middle of their group. “Fire in the hole!” he cried as he and his comrades dove out of the way of the resulting explosion and for cover. The grenade had been primarily designed to harm ghosts, but a small amount of the raw blow back from the blast was still dangerous to humans.

The last of Daniel’s strength gave out under the assault of the ectoranium laced explosive and his shield fell with a loud crack like the shattering of a dozen mirrors. His head spun with renewed vigor as the exertion only exasperated what was likely a bad concussion. Hs formerly pain glazed eyes hardened diamond sharp; turning icy at the sight of the barrel of the gun pointing right at his forehead.

“I gave you an opportunity to come quietly ghost. Now, according to every procedure, I’m authorized to use any force necessary to subdue you. And, well, you are the second most dangerous ghost in existence.” The acting commander hissed out with a sadistic grin, as deadly as the weapon he welded, on his face. “I’m thinking I should take out your legs first. You know,” he paused to laugh, “in case it tries to run again.” He addressed the rest of the sentence to the men around him. He pointed the gun down towards his newest target, the ecto-entity’s right leg. “Now, let’s see if your blood really is green like the rest of your-” A pained cry cut off the rest of his sentence as he, and some of his men, was tossed half a dozen feet from in front of the hybrid.

Before anyone could react, someone flew down into the center of the circle, and another much brighter green ecto-shield went up around Daniel. “Looks like you could use some help.” Danny suggested hand out in a perfect mirror of the other hybrid a few hours ago.

“Wow. Anyone ever tell you that you have perfect timing?” Daniel pondered with a grunt as he struggled his way to his feet with Danny’s help. He leaned over trying to catch his breath, hands placed firmly on his knees. The sound of his tired pants was so loud he almost missed the other boy’s question. “I’m fine. I’ve just been fighting too much today. I mean I think I killed about 20 jets, a couple dozen ground troops. I even took out a tank earlier back at the mansion. I’m bushed!”  He paused to catch his breath and center his thoughts. I need to summon up enough energy to fight a little while longer. Then I can collapse for at least a week. The weakened fighter heard Danny’s voice again above the ringing in his ears. “I’ll be fine just give me a minute or so to make some more energy and we can get back to kicking these losers back to Mordor. Cool?” Daniel transformed and ignored the jag of pain shooting through his chest. He didn’t really listen to the other hybrid’s reply having turned his focus to the process of temporarily increasing his core’s energy production.

Danny for his part concentrated on maintaining the shield against the barrage of attacks the soldiers were now lobbing at it. He had a lot more energy than his other worldly twin, however, so the task was much easier than it had been for him. Still, the GSU members seemed to be signaling for back-up and with another group of nearly a dozen soldiers having just arrived Danny wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up. “Hey I hate to break your concentration or something, but how much longer is this going to take?” I’ve been asking that a lot lately… Another dozen shots slammed into his shield before the halfa had even finished his sentence forcing him to refocus his attention to holding up the shield.

“Just another few minutes…I’m more drained than I thought.” Daniel distractedly answered. “Just make the radius of the shield smaller.” He concluded simply before working on gathering the last of his energy up for the rest of the battle.

“Oh yeah sure; I’ll just do that while two dozen Guys in White rejects continue to throw bombs and shots at us. Yeah that’s no problem at all.” Danny replied with the tone of someone rolling their eyes.

“God and my family calls me sarcastic. Ok wise guy I’m finished.” Daniel took one more deep breath before opening his eyes and preparing to fly off at top speed. He glanced over the tree tops and spotted a bright red flare glowing off towards the main part of the battle. “Hey,” he elbowed the other boy in the ribs to get his attention. “That flare is from Jasmine. It means the Hover’s ready, so that’s where we’re headed after we lose these guys. So on the count of three drop the shield and get over there as fast as you can.”

“You know, I’ve been taking orders from people like my age or younger all day, and I can honestly say I’m getting sick of it.” Danny chanced a moment to act childish and lighten the mood by sticking out his tongue at the other hybrid inside the shield.

“Yeah, well Rule Three remember? In case of a battle, I’m in charge. So get used to it.” Daniel tossed back. He passed a look over his shoulder at Danny and started counting down until he caught sight of a large missile headed for their position. “Never mind! Just go now!” he ordered surging as fast as he could away from his last position.

Danny quickly followed suit, zooming away in close to the opposite direction even faster to avoid being turned into spectral slag. He looked back just as the missile rammed into the earth several hundred yards away from his current position, searing the ground and his retreating form with the heat. Woah that was close! Good thing he spotted that bomb before we got turned into burnt up pancakes. “Hey Daniel!” He called into the settling air around the blast zone.

“Over here,” he responded with a small blue flare to cut through the still kicked up dust. He surveyed the events of the rest of the battle with a critical eye. The twins and Lizzie are still inside the RV messing around with things. Well as long as they don’t get out it’ll be fine. Jasmine is surround inside the Hover, but the shield is stable, no need to rush off there right at the moment. Mother is…is that Jillian Castle? Oh I’m definitely leaving that alone. And father finished off all but one of the platforms, but it looks like the first round of tanks are just about through the edge of the forest leading to the valley floor. We need to leave.

“So, how about we go rescue Jazz from being stuck inside that shield?” Danny asked while settling next to his pensive looking doppelganger. When that didn’t seem to get his attention, he floated in front of him. “Hey dude, are you still in there?” the time traveling teen crossed his arms in frustration.

“Yes I hear you; give me a second. I’m trying to figure out the easiest way to get Jasmine back to the RV safely. Oh and she abhors being called ‘Jazz’ so don’t do it around her.”

“Oh yes your majesty.” Danny rolled his eyes and continued, “Dude why don’t we just swoop in, grab her, and fly her back to the RV? That’s simple-”

“-And probably going to get her killed.” Daniel interrupted. “As soon as we fly over there, every GSU fighter wannabe is going to fire at us, and if you thought it was hard before, it’ll be impossible after that.” He frowned and looked directly at the other ghost powered teen, “so unless you’d like to offer yourself up as bait-”

“Is that all? No problem, so let’s get over there!” At the surprised and skeptical look he was receiving from the other boy he explained further. “Dude I’m one of the fastest most agile ghosts I know. Trust me; if they can hit me then I deserve it. Now let’s go!” Not wanting to waste another moment, Danny shot towards the Hover’s position like a piece of black streaked lightening.

Daniel sighed and charged after him, hoping to cut him off before he did anything especially stupid or dangerous. And considering this entire situation is his fault to begin with, I likely have no idea the depths he can sink to. He caught up with Danny just as the top of the Hover’s shield came into view. The fact the other teen was still floating around the outside of the shield, dodging weapons’ fire, surprised him until he remembered the shield technology’s newest feature.  Daniel stopped next to the other ghost powered teen above the very top of the dome. “Hey you keep them busy while I go grab Jasmine. I mean, since you volunteered to be the bait and everything, I’m sure you don’t mind holding the fort.” With that said he dived inside the shield and landed in front of the opening to the Hercules Hover. “So need a lift?”

“Thanks, but I’m more concerned with how Dad is going to-Dad!” Jasmine cut herself off as a large pink blast threw the line of advancing GSU men back over 100 feet. She bounded out of the craft and to the edge of the shield, trying to get a better look.

“Saw your flare, and figured it was about time I made an appearance. Is everything ready to go?” He said through the energy wall of the shield, eyes warily searching the area for any sign of enemy combatants.

Jasmine smiled and thumbed over her shoulder in the direction of the open hovercraft. “Yeah we just need to move it. I’m not sure how that’s going to happen though, with all of the jets and soldiers everywhere.” She leaned around his floating form when she saw a bright green flash go off. Oh, well at least he’s being useful. I’d expect him to be completely freaked out by now. Where did he learn to fight? She wondered before refocusing on her father drifting through the shield and landing on one side of the Hover.

“Daniel and I are going to teleport it. Now the shield is going to disappear with it, so be ready to defend yourself when that happens. Also, Danny,” he paused and raised his volume to get the other halfa’s attention. “I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but defend Jasmine. We’ll only be otherwise occupied for a few minutes, but plenty can happen in that time.” Vlad ended his warning by placing his hands on the Hover. “Ready Daniel?”

“As I’ll ever be.” He replied while watching his sister step out of the protection of the energy shield, gun in hand. Be careful. He thought before placing his palms against the cool smooth metal and concentrating…

You know, I’m beginning to think offering to be the distraction/bait/ghost hunter sacrifice wasn’t the best of ideas. In fact, I’m not sure what possessed me to volunteer to be the living ecto-weapons’ fire “pin” cushion. Danny dodged another in the increasing volley of GSU green colored blasts. It was getting harder for even him to avoid the shots, but stopping and erecting even a small shield would only make himself a bigger and more easily fatigued target. He glanced down to where his sister was fighting through the horde of men with expert marksman like shots. Oh yeah definitely bizarro world. He concluded after getting a chance to see her much improved aim in action. He risked another fleeting look away from the battle at hand to the pair working behind him. Ok their energy is all around the flying metal bug thing, so they should be done in a minute or two. Not so bad…

Just then the Hover, ghost hybrids and all, dissipated into a puff of red smoke. The shield disappeared only tenths of a second afterwards, leaving Danny and Jasmine alone in wake of the Hover’s departure.

Danny took his mind off the battle for only a second, distracted by the teleportation, but it only took that much for him to miss a shot heading straight for Jasmine on the ground. The sound of her pained and surprised cry was what got his attention. “Jazz! Hold on I’m coming.” He shot down towards her like a rocket, stopping just in front of her and creating an ecto-shield large enough for them both. “Hey are you alright?” the younger halfa asked gritting his teeth against the rapid patter of the attacks against his shield.

“I’ll be fine.” The other girl hissed back at him through her pain. “Just give me a sec to wrap this up and I’ll be back to the blasting action.” She tore through a strip of fabric on the ruined sleeve of her injured arm, making a quick tourniquet. Other than a slight tremor from the pain, her arm was otherwise still useable. Good. She concluded before setting the second ecto-gun back onto her injured side and standing up behind Danny. The red haired girl began to take stock of new situation when a ripple went through her system. They were about to be completely surrounded, and worse, she couldn’t really shoot as well on her right side now.

“Hey Jazz do me a favor.” Danny stated while lowering his arms and taking a deep breath.

“Sure thing if you don’t call me Jazz ever again.” She replied with a slight scowl in her tone.

“Stand behind me, and cover your ears.” He planted his feet and deepened his stance, he didn’t really have the room to go anywhere else, and this attack had a habit of throwing him backwards if he didn’t really brace himself. Danny took one final deep lung filling breath, closed his eyes, and…

If she had been thinking of keeping her arms up in favor of defending herself when Danny’s shield dropped, that thought left her mind immediately after his attack started. Even behind him, where the sound was at its least powerful, it was overwhelming. Jasmine dropped to her knees behind him; trying to bury her ears in a combination of her hair and hands to block out even more of the sound. It was so loud she couldn’t even think. She opened her eyes and was suddenly glad to be on the ground already, since the whole of it looked to be waving back and forth in time with the bright green waves of piercing howling sound pouring from Danny’s mouth. Just when she thought she couldn’t stand another second, he stopped and bent over panting with his hands on his knees. She saw his transformation rings start up before they fizzled out. Her ears were still ringing, but even so the silence was palatable. “What was that?” She shrieked at him, still nearly deaf from the attack.

“Ouch! My ears still work you know?” Danny complained while rubbing the one that had been closest to her auditory assault. “You like it? I call it my Ghostly Wail. That thing will demolish anything.” He stood back up and surveyed the damage. Well the first few rows are definitely down for the count; their equipment too. The closest troops to us look too shell shocked to do much but lay there for the next couple minutes and the ones across the valley will take a good while to get to us, which is perfect because we are heading to the RV.

Jasmine flit her eyes over the prone men and women of the GSU with a small smirk. “Well it certainly packs one hell of a punch, but I don’t suppose you can do that more than once or in the air can you?” She sighed when he shook his head, and noticed the much dimmer glow around his ghost form. “Well let’s get-”

“Macaroons! What in the world did you two do? We were only gone a minute or so…” Vlad trailed off as he took in the destruction of the area around the two teens.

“Wasn’t me. Danny did this sound attack thing, and it was like a ghost powered freight train. It just knocked them out.” Jasmine shrugged her shoulders and clipped her gun back onto her belt.

“Oh yeah, it’s like my trump card; it’s destructive, could cause a bunch of collateral damage, but it never fails to get rid of whatever I’m fighting. Hey wait,” Danny scrunched up his face as he eyed another very Vlad looking ghost a little farther off. “How long have you had a duplicate over there fighting?”

“Since I started trying to teleport the Hover with Daniel. I needed to keep-” the rest of Vlad’s sentence was lost in the slew of spectral grenades carpeting the area and bouncing off his hastily created shield.

“So there’s the real you Plasmius. I’d wondered what hole you’d slithered off into.” A deep voice mocked from a vantage a little above the protected group.

“What’s the matter?” Vlad asked as his recently destroyed duplicate dissolved back into his system, bringing its memories along with it. “Feeling a little neglected Jack?” He asked sending a tone of mock concern back.

Jack sent out a low whistle and shifted on the Levitator to get a better shot at the creature below. “Oh little ole’ me? Why ever would I feel lonely when you have the family you stole from me? I-could you all hold on a moment, I’m trying to fix these G-bombs onto your spectral energy signatures, and you just keep moving around. Naughty little ghosts. How am I supposed to kill you if you don’t stand still?” The Head Commander finished his ramble with some more fiddling on his supersized weapon. “Ah right there it goes, now where was I?” He questioned rhetorically as he took aim in the general direction of the group below him. “Oh that’s right I was explaining how I’m not lonely, because I’m not you see, I’m actually just furious, you know for the life destroying and all, but I’m not lonely; I have all my soldiers to keep me company.” Jack flicked a button on the top of the weapon to take off the safety.

“You kids head back to the RV; I’ll take care of Jack.” Vlad ordered while waving them back towards the defended vehicle’s position.

“But father, I can help-” Daniel barely finished the sentiment before staggering to the left when he tried to take a step forward.

“You’re exhausted. You can help me by staying out of this and getting your butt back to safety. Thanks for your help with the Hover earlier, but I’ve got this one on my own.” He sent a light glare in the kids’ direction when they looked ready to protest, and an especially large one in the more rebellious Danny’s direction. “And don’t tell me you’re not tired either Danny, that last attack wiped you out. Just…do as I ask alright?” He didn’t wait to hear their replies but instead rushed up towards his opponent, wanting to cut off the next attack before it was even fired. To his luck, he made it just in time…

#Danny Phantom #Danny Phantom Fanfiction #Phandom #Bittersweet Future #Balshumet's Fanfiction #Balshumet's Baragouin #Chapter Twelve