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imasimpforshanks · 3 years

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Heyyyyyy hiiiiii hope your having an awesome day drinking that water getting hydrated 😗. I was wondering if you could do a Law Angst alphabet please. But only if you feel up to it and have time. If you don’t feel free to ignore or do it later here now have a cookie 🍪 because your awesome 😊

Angst Alphabet - Trafalgar Law

a/n: HI HI!!! thank you for your kind words!! I hope you are looking after yourself <333 here is the law angst! Please enjoy 🥰

A-Accident (would they blame themselves if you died in an accident?)

He would only blame himself if any of his actions led to the accident that caused your death (we’ve seen him blame himself for that very reason about Rosinantes death). If his actions weren’t directly correlated to your death in any way then he would not blame himself, though he would kick himself for not being able to help you in time. Other than that, Law is painfully aware of the harsh reality that is life.

B-Break up (How would they break up with you?)

Law would break up with you in a seemingly emotionless way. He’d mask his true feelings, while telling you a whole bunch of excuses why the two of you could no longer be together. He doesn’t believe any of them, but he’s got to do what he’s got to do.

C-Crying (how would they make you cry?)

I feel like I’ve used this one in a few other character alphabets but it really applies to Law too. He would cause you to stress and panic so much over his health and wellbeing. He’s a literal doctor. He should know to take better care of himself, but he just doesn’t seem to care about himself the same way you do. So it isn’t until you’re crying in front of him, spilling your heart out about how concerned you are for his safety that he realizes his health is important to more than just himself.

D-Death (how would they react to your death?)

My god, if Law was to lose another person that he loved, he literally would never want to let himself get close to anyone ever again. Your death would be it for Law. He’d basically be on the verge of giving up himself. What other reason does he have to go on.

E-Emotion (what is one emotion they would try to hide the most and how would they do it?)

He tries to hide every emotion. Law doesn’t like to be too open, out of fear of people using it against him or it simply being too much of a sign of weakness. So, very rarely does he let his emotions show. He also tries to divert attention away from himself in hopes that people won’t focus on him or his emotions for too long.

F-Fight (do you two ever fight? How big are the fights? What do you fight about? Etc.)

This was covered in his fluff alphabet! But here it is again:

Your fights tend to be pretty short lived resulting in forgiveness and apologies from both sides relatively quickly. He really doesn’t like to stay mad at you for too long – he’d much rather have you two on the same page.

Most fights are caused by stress and concerns of health and safety, so Law does a lot of eye rolling and using his title as a ‘doctor’ as justification that he knows what he’s doing so you just need to chill – but like I said these fights are very short lived.

G-Guilt (what is the biggest thing they feel guilty about?)

Law will never forgive himself for Rosinantes death. He will forever feel responsible for his death – it was all his fault. If only he hadn’t given that note to Vergo, then Rosinante would still be alive. He died because of Law’s incompetence (at least that’s what he tells himself).

H-Heartbreak (what would cause them pain in the relationship? How would they deal during a break-up?)

During a break-up Law would act pretty normal. He wouldn’t behave any differently until he’s left alone. Only then would he let himself go and truly feel that heartbreak.

I-Injured (how would they react if you are badly injured?)

Thanks to the doctor in him, Law is able to remain calm. He can keep his composure until he administers whatever treatment necessary. That’s not to say he isn’t worried though. He’s just capable of focusing on the injury right in front of him.

Only once he is certain that you are stable does he (or potentially his crew) go and hunt down the cause of your beating.

J-Jealousy (what do they do if they are jealous?)

When Law does get jealous (which is rarely), he gets quiet. His fists clench a little more, and his frown deepens. He also speaks less than usual (which is already pretty hard to beat). He only gives you short snippy replies until he eventually gets over it.

K-Kill (would they kill for revenge?)

Law would kill for revenge, yes. He literally wanted to kill Doflamingo as revenge for Rosinante. However, it was in Law’s plan that Kaido would be the one to kill Doflamingo (after they fought) – so I believe that is how he’d kill for revenge as well. He would devise a fool proof plan (okay maybe not fool proof, bc if the straw hats are involved who knows what could go wrong).

In short, yes. Law would kill for revenge.

L-Loss (what is their greatest loss?)

This poor man has suffered so much loss in his life that it’s actually really difficult to choose which would be his greatest loss. He lost his entire family as a young boy while also having a shortened lifespan himself. Losing his family, and the realization that he only had a few more years to live, really made him lose his will to live a good remainder of his life. Young Law literally became a pirate.

However, he did meet Rosinante (Corazon) and he gave him another reason to live. Furthermore, Rosinante actively sought out a cure for Law so that he could continue to live a long life. Basically, Rosinante became a father figure/older brother to Law. So, losing him – another ¬person he loved so dearly – would have been beyond devastating.

M-Mistake (what is the worst mistake they ever made with you?)

There was one day where he spent the entire day ignoring you. It was completely unintentional. His mind was swarming with plans and all this other information that has just come in. He got so immersed in it that he didn’t talk to you or tell you what was going on for a whole day.

N-Nightmares (how often do they have them? What are they about? How do they deal with it?)

Nightmares are one of the many reasons Law hardly ever sleeps. He’s haunted by his family’s and Rosinantes deaths. His nightmares get particularly bad around the same time each year (that is, around the time of year that they died). He wakes up trembling and on the verge of tears (but he never lets them fall). Instead of even trying to go back to sleep, he’ll make himself a nice hot cup of coffee and immerse himself in a book or work of some kind – anything to avoid going back to sleep and risking a re-run of that horrible nightmare.

O-Outrage (how and why would they get mad at you?)

Sometimes his exhaustion catches up to him and other times its all the stress building up that finally he snaps and all the emotions are too overwhelming that he just directs it to the nearest outlet, which just so happens to be you.

P-Past (what has happened in your relationship that changed the way you saw each other?)

You walked in on him absolutely breaking down over Rosinante. One evening Law retreated to his room while you and the rest of the crew were eating and drinking. He didn’t think you had noticed him leave, but soon you were following after him. You opened the door and found him breaking down in the middle of the room. You completely forgot that it was the anniversary of Rosinantes death. It was the first time you had seen him this distraught and it broke your heart.

It really cemented into your brain that no matter how tough he may look, he still suffers (probably more so than anyone). But, you were also grateful that you were able to see him like that, as it allowed him to start relying on you a little more.

Q-Quality (what is their most dangerous/toxic quality?)

His inability to openly express his emotions. Sure, now he will share with you how he is feeling, but that is with you and ONLY you. He still insists on keeping everything else bottle away from the rest of the world which is a really unhealthy way to deal with things. It’s not that you dislike being there for him, in fact, you appreciate how trusting he is with you. It’s just, what if there comes a time where you aren’t around and he’s in desperate need of someone to confide in?

R-Rejection (how would they react to you rejecting their confession (or the other way around)).

Law would wait until he was 100% certain you returned his feelings to confess to you. So, if you were to reject his confession he would be really confused for a while. He’d let it go because well, everyone has their own reasons – its not his place to tell you how you feel. All he can do is tell you how he feels and then the rest is up to you.

S-Scars (battle or self-inflicted)

He has no self-inflicted scars, and to my knowledge he has no battle scars either. But, his arm did get cut off and then reattached during the Dressrosa arc, so it actually is likely that there is a remaining scar from that (although I’m not certain).

T-Trust (have they ever broken your trust?)

Nope not at all. In fact, the only instance in which he would possibly break your trust, or lie to you, about is when he went to Punk Hazard and sent his crew to Zou. Some would assume that he wouldn’t tell you his plan out of fear of your safety, but that’s not true. He had to tell you. You taught him to be open and honest, and to trust. So that’s exactly what he did.

U-Urge (how badly do they want to see you after you guys separated?)

Law has gotten so comfortable around you that whenever you aren’t there, he gets unbearably anxious. Your presence is soothing, even if he can’t see you, even if he can only hear your voice echoing throughout the Polar Tang, it’s enough to put his mind at ease. So, if you are separated for a while… oh boy does he want to see you badly.

V-Vicious (what do they do when they lash out on you?)

He tends to yell at you. He tells you to “piss off” and that “you’re only being a nuisance right now”, despite you only wanting to help him.

W-Weak (what makes them feel weak how do they try to avoid it?)

Not being able to control things makes Law feel really weak. Weak may not be the right word, but it definitely makes him feel unprepared. He doesn’t like when things are out of his control and he can’t account for things. Which is usually why he always does extensive research and preparation before constructing a well thought out plan.

X-X-ray (what do they hate and show it most obviously?)

Well, I mean other than his obvious hatred of bread, Law also really hates when he works extremely hard on formulating a plan only for it to be completely thrown out of the window by a reckless straw hat wearing captain and his entire crew. (and somehow everything still ends up working out!!! That is the part that frustrates Law the most HAHAH).

Y-Yearn (what is one thing that they want but can’t have?)

One of the only things he’s ever really wanted was for Doflamingo to be taken down. He’s been partially successful in that sense, seeing as Doflamingo is in prison now. However, he wants more than that. He wants Doflamingo to suffer the same way he has.

Z-Zero (what do they do/say in your dying moments?)

It may seem a little out of character but… I believe Law would be borderline desperate/inconsolable. There would be a lot of clinging on to you, begging you not to leave him like everyone else he’s ever loved. He can’t handle another person leaving him, it’s too much. It’s far too much.

He wouldn’t cry (just yet), but his voice would tremble, and his hands would be shaking. His mind would be racing with all sorts of theories and possible ways he could save you. How could he possibly prevent the inevitable?

#one piece #one piece x reader #one piece headcanons #one piece imagines #trafalgar law #trafalgar d law x reader #trafalgar d. water law #angst alphabet #one piece alphabet

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thebadboyfanclub · 4 years

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Protect The Queen Pt.1 (Geralt x Reader)

This is just becoming addictive at this point, I love writing about this cause there are so many different scenarios and possibilities you could write about. Also there might be a part two for this so please let me know if you would be interested in it. Enjoy!

She looked at herself in the mirror once more, it was almost time for her to take her future in her own hands, to rise to the occasion and take back her life. Her gaze fell to the ring she was wearing, it was passed on to her when she married the king of Orkney, she barely had taken a step into womanhood at the time her parents announced her marriage to her, such a shame that she spend such youthful years in a castle with a man that didn't even think about her, it was pure and also embarrassing for (y/n) to look back at her naive and selfless younger self.

“Oh, you are awake”

“I was waiting for you my dear”

She answered to her husband, her voice dripping honey for the first time in years. Their marriage was far from happy, (Y/n) had thought since she was to become his wife he would treat her with kindness, unfortunately that was not the case, he saw her just as a vessel for his children, when that seemed to not happen he fell to the arms of concubines and commoners, making her become this cold, distant wife he deserved. Sometimes she would wonder if maybe she had given him the heir he craved that maybe his behavior would change, that however was crushed by gratefulness she felt for her womb for not bring a child in this loveless household. She would have never forgiven herself if she raised a child that did not see their parents share at least one hug.

“What’s the cause of you lingering in our room (y/n)?”

“To celebrate, here my king”

She offered him the glass of wine she was holding on her left hand, it was filled with his favorite wine. Her husband took it and gave her a puzzled look, whenever he would sleep in the same room with her- which wasn’t often- he would find her asleep.

“What are we celebrating?”

“My birthday dear”

He was left confused at her smile and statement. It couldn’t be, they held a public celebration for her birthday every year, it was protocol for the queen to allow the public in the castle for her special day. The clink of the glasses echoed around the room, she brought the glass to her lips and took a light sip

“Come on dear, drink up. You were never one to shy away from a glass of wine”

She pushed the glass from the bottom up to his lips. He did not understand the cause of all this, yet whatever the case was she was right, the moment he tasted the delicious wine he took three gulps and the glass went from full to half empty.

“Excellent, I’m glad you enjoyed the wine my king, careful,.. the choking will probably start any minute now”

“My queen, we have been waiting for you to... rise for so long”

“Perfection takes time”

She answered to her most trusted confident,her coronation was something that would remain in history for centuries, she was adored by the public so when she inherited the crown after her last husband, everyone knew they were in safe hands. That does not mean the rumors did not arise to the situation, the late king was a healthy young man, it was very suspicious how he fell to darkness overnight.

She meant what she told him when she mentioned her birthday, that day she shed away her foolish acts and was reborn, a woman that stood strong in the field of womanhood, ready to take what’s hers whether people liked it or not.

She looked around the room, seeing her people enjoy their night and drink to her name felt so natural to her, she was meant to lead.

“Excuse me just for a moment, I want to get closer to my people”

“As you wish my queen”

As she started going around at a slow pace she did her best to observe her people, they seemed to enjoy themselves, they acted like the king never existed, like the soil on top of him had been thrown decades ago, she smiled at herself while thinking that she acted in a way her people wanted, pleasing them and herself with just a few drops of that special liquid.

It was then that she noticed the back of a tall man, his long white hair and his armor stood out from the others, she also took note that he was accompanied by a much smaller and probably younger man that was holding a lute. It couldn’t be? The infamous white wolf and his barb at her coronation?

“What are we doing here Jaskier?”

“Celebrating the queen officially getting the crown after her husbands oh so sudden death”

Jaskier was fascinated by her history, a princess known for her noble nature and beauty, he reminisced of the song he had heard about her, she was the master of horses, the late king had met her when she rode the most stubborn and difficult horse in the royal stable, married to the king at her prime and failing at giving him an heir.

He was surprised she got to kill him first before the late king did, not only that but she is now the one sitting on the thrown after the kings death under some suspicious circumstances.

“sudden death? hmm, I believe the king found out that his destiny was a woman in a harsh way”

“Every mans destiny is a woman.... Witcher”

As he heard the voice from behind him he turned around to see to whom it belonged to. Jaskier’s mouth formed a big “O” when he was met with the queen, Geralt figured out who she was by the crown sitting on her head. The first thing she noticed was his yellow eyes, she found them so captivating, unique, she had never seen a witcher from up close, it was also just her luck that brought her the most handsome one.

Geralt didn’t know what to say, he was at her celebration, talking badly about the queen herself, he knew the consequences he just didn’t know if the queen would choose torture or immediate death as the penalty

“Queen (y/n), my apologies, Geralt has had a bit too much to drink, please spare him”

Jaskier might be a bit overly giddy at the wrong time, however that did not mean that what Geralt ha implied could make the queen want his head right then and there. As Jaskier bowed at her, she only let a small smile appear on her lips, softening her features towards the men that both looked distressed, she had to admire that she felt a bit of pride of making the witcher eat his words, judging by his reputation that did not happen every day.

“It’s alright, I know what the people are saying about me, it’s understandable”

“Understandable? Shouldn’t the queen rush to protect her reputation?”

“That’s what kings do when they feel their ego getting bruised, look around you Geralt, what do you see? The same people that have spread those accusations are dancing and yelling “long live the queen”, if anything my new found reputation is more promising”

Geralt was immediately interested, it wasn’t often that a queen would be alright with rumors and of such kind being passed around, as well as taking it as an advantage and being pleased about it.

“Elaborate please”

“The kings of other towns will hear those rumors, now who would dare come and threaten the woman that killed her own husband for power? Only a mad man would risk coming to my home”

She was smart, cunning. Geralt had met people of royalty and understood exactly what she meant when she talked about fragile egos. On the contrary, she stood tall and proud, took advantage of the people that gave her a new source of power without them even knowing it. The essence of her as a human being could only be described as being royal, a woman of luxury that men would probably kill for just a glimpse of her naked skin

It only made him question the late king, how could he have wronged such a woman? was maybe her standards that were two high? or was it an act of revenge? Geralt felt the need to puff out his chest as an act of bravery, she was a quite tall woman and if you match that with the way she carried herself, it was a death mix, the late king was already one of the victims of it

“You mean that you are going to become other kings destiny?”

“I don’t believe in destiny, what destiny is varies depending on the people you ask, for my parents my destiny was to become an obedient queen and give birth to the heir, a child that shared the same blood with my late husband”

She said mildly disgusted, as a widower she would probably have to grieve, linger in her room and cry behind close doors at the loss of her love. It seems like nobody even noticed how she did none of that, like it was normal for her to through a celebration a few weeks after his death in her name, not only that but the people seemed to love it. Geralt gave her a smirk at her smart and a bit intriguing answer.

“Then what do you think is your destiny”

“To be in charge of my and my peoples future, destiny and fate are nothing in front of the power of a woman”

The way she talked about destiny showed how she truly embodied confidence and stability, she feared nothing, not even her future self, she only relied on her power. As she talked to him he couldn’t help but let his eyes look mostly towards her lips, her painted lips that moved in such hypnotic way, he felt compelled by her.

Jaskier just stood there watching the two people talk like they are long lost friends. The queen so many people felt uneasy just by her presence was now having a casual conversation with the witcher. Geralt was slowly but surely gaining respect for her, she was a woman of power, a woman that used her brain and situations to her advantages and held herself accountable for her future, she was a true queen.

Geralt smiled at her genuinely, he had met her late husband in the past, he recalled him being stubborn and stuck up, raising his nose at others that he thought were less than him. If he was alive there was no way he would find him walking around commoners

“hmmm, Well queen (y/n), I am sure your people will be safe with you leading this land”

“I hope that in the future I can count on you for aid”

“About what?”

“Danger of course”

She took one step closer to him, still keeping eye contact with Geralt. As he took in a deep breath he could smell the scent of lavender off of her, her hair shined underneath the light of the flames and her eyes glistered with confidence and pride, she was the definition of strength, just her look brought Geralt into defense mode, waiting for her words and thinking how should he respond correctly to her before she even opened her mouth.

The skill of demanding attention and respect so silently was one that the very few of people that did had it were considered blessed, even though he was aware of that skill, still he had yet to meet one... until he met her.

“Loneliness can be an awfully dangerous thing”

She whispered just loud enough for only him to hear, as the other villagers laughed and sang around them, not even noticing that their queen was standing a few inches away from them, as well as being promiscuous to a witcher.

“I would be honored to protect the queen”

“I’m glad you feel that way, I’m sure you could be a great ally for me, geralt of rivia”

PART 2

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Ultimatum”

Welcome back, everyone! We had an unexpected break last week due to the horror going on in Texas. I'm glad we did. Not because of any salty "RWBY is bad right now yay free Saturday" feelings, but because keeping to a schedule for a fictional webseries should never take precedence over peoples' safety. I can't believe I need to type that sentence out, but it's true! Over the last seven days I've seen fans who are not merely disappointed by the mini hiatus (understandable) but outright hostile towards the crew because they... were ensuring everyone survived during an unprecedented emergency? Yeah. Given the highly critical nature of these recaps — including today's! — I want to be clear that my thoughts towards Rooster Teeth's creative choices are distinct from any thoughts about the crew itself, including the most basic forms of compassion like, “I sure hope everyone is okay over there.” In an age where it has become horrifically common to harass creators and even send them death threats over stories, it has likewise become necessary to remind people: Don't do that shit. Never do that shit. If I can teach anyone anything at all, let it be that!

Anyway, dark fandom reminders out of the way, let's dive straight into our delayed episode. It was certainly a doozy. Titled "Ultimatum," we open on a trigger warning for flashing lights. Good on Rooster Teeth for including that, though I do wonder if creators shouldn't be including time stamps as well? Or perhaps a note that you can find those time stamps in the credits, avoiding any (minor) spoilers for everyone else? I'm not photosensitive myself, so I certainly don't mean to speak for that group, but my first thought was, "So how would I watch this episode if I was? Hand on the pause button, hoping I stop fast enough as soon as the lights start?" Hard to do given the surprise nature of the scene. Really, my answer would be, "Wait for the fandom to post warnings of their own, likely including where it happens so I know when to skip" which is perhaps an indication that this information that should be included from the get-go.

But I am glad the warning exists, regardless. The episode itself begins with a shot of Ironwood looking down at the kingdom. He's used his windows as a vantage point since Volume 7, so that's nothing new, but something about this particular shot reminded me of Ozpin, looking down from his tower. I'm sure the response from many would be simply, "Ah yes, the two power hungry dictators watching over their victims," but I think there's a much more nuanced reading here about leaders being expected to fix the literally unfixable and what that responsibility does to an individual. Of course, it's a nuance that is absolutely obliterated by the episode’s end, but the implication existed for a hot second!

Two other soldiers are in the room with Ironwood, reporting that Cinder has helped Watts escape. They try to soften this with news that they still have Jacques in custody, but receive only a, "I don't give a damn about Jacques Schnee." Which, fair. He's pretty useless at this point. It's when Ironwood learns that both Qrow and Robin escaped too that he really gets mad, something his subordinates have been expecting given their scared expressions.

Now, I'm treading lightly here because I realize how this is going to sound given the end of our episode, but I still want to note that outside of that ending... this is a weird take? Just hear me out. Since Volume 7 the show has worked very hard to make Ironwood seem scary and unstable — bad setup for what we end with today — but the problem is that none of it works in context and it certainly doesn't work when compared to other characters' actions. They are literally in the midst of an unwinnable battle and thousands of his people are dying. If the audience wants a human being — who also just lost a limb and was betrayed by half his allies — o remain perfectly poised and polite during that, sorry, but that's not how human beings work. But even beyond this, what’s the message here? Ironwood raises his voice, so does Yang. Ironwood hits his desk, Qrow hits a child. If we're going to examine how Ironwood handles his stress and anger, he often handles it better than many of our heroes. Namely, by continually taking that anger out on inanimate objects. I kept waiting for him to attack his subordinates or attack Winter this episode, especially given where we end up, but it never came. Ironwood always has enough control to break the desk or punch the wall, not the person in front of him. Which, of course, would not be a good thing in the real world. I want to be clear given these sensitive subjects that if someone is breaking things in your presence that's a major problem to address. But this isn't the real world. This is a fantasy world in the middle of a war, populated by other characters who express their anger by punching people, slamming them into walls, or screaming at them until they run away. The story wants us to fear Ironwood long before he makes his objectively horrific choices and it tries to achieve that by showing us characters who are clearly terrified in his presence, by giving us a string of broken objects in his wake. But those details don't land well when we compare them to other instances of stress. In the same volume I have watched Ironwood take a deep breath to calm himself down when things have gone horribly wrong. I've also watched Weiss start a conversation by threatening her defenseless brother. So again, what’s the message here? It can’t be that acting violently towards someone = villainous behavior because, as established since Volume 6, that’s common for the heroes. Why are these subordinates terrified about Ironwood slamming his fist on a table, but Whitley has no problem hugging the woman who threatened him? Obviously there is a HUGE difference between our main group and Ironwood when it comes to other actions (cough-bomb threats-cough), but these day-to-day moments don't match up. The show wants to use violence as a way for us to easily identify the Bad Guy while ignoring all the times when our heroes do the same thing.

All of which isn't meant to be a defense of Ironwood. As we'll see in a bit, there is no defense for what he's done. Rather, it's a way of acknowledging just how badly he's been written. Why does a man who consistently reins in his anger and takes it out on objects suddenly shoot a councilman for literally no reason? Why does a man defined by wanting to save as many people as he can suddenly threaten to bomb his city? Ironwood's characterization is all over the place, in the sense that they keep writing him as the morally gray, sometimes harsh, but ultimately compassionate man he started out as... up until they need a villain. Salem isn't here yet, so Ironwood can shoot Oscar. Salem isn't attacking yet, so Ironwood can shoot the councilman. Salem is currently reforming, so Ironwood can threaten YJR and Mantle. He's the B-plot villain whenever Salem is out of commission, which is a problem for both their characterizations. This filler doesn't make sense for Ironwood and it severely undermines the threat of Salem. You finally introduce the Magical Big Bad and our heroes are facing more of a threat from a guy with a broken army and three loyal allies left? Hmmm.

The tl;dr is that Ironwood's arc is a disaster and, frankly, it's gotten old reading simplified takes of, "It's just a realistic look at what white U.S. men will do in power sweetie :) " RWBY does not have the context capable of conveying that sort of critical take because our world is not besieged by literal monsters and an immortal witch, to say nothing of how real life good guys do not get deus ex machina canes that fix the problem instantaneously. Ironwood is not an example of anti-U.S. imperialism, he's an example of writers who don't know how to write.

Anyway, I'm getting severely off topic. Obviously Ironwood is a major part of this episode, but the problems demonstrated here are two years in the making. This is the culmination of things I've been discussing for months across hundreds of posts... so I should probably stop trying to summarize it all in a few paragraphs lol. Perhaps when RWBY is over — or Ironwood has died — I'll do a single meta on his character, try to pull everything into one, unified argument.

For now though, we have an episode to analyze.

While Ironwood is receiving this news we get flashbacks to Qrow and Robyn. Qrow attacks a soldier in his bird form, which is hilarious. Someone GIF that please. It does raise some interesting questions about this magic though: does Qrow retain his aura and strength in this form (something I thought given his choice to transform during the explosion), or was that soldier just so shocked at being attacked by a crow that he went down easy? We'll never know, because that would require establishing concrete rules for this world. The point is Qrow is going feral in his freedom, throwing punches left and right — did he kill that guard? — while Robyn watches it all from under a rock. They're apparently still somewhere in the facility since all the exits are guarded, but that's not the good thing Ironwood seems to think it is. After all, Qrow is out to murder him. He wants to be there.

We all see where this is going, right? The show is going to ignore Qrow's crazy belief that Ironwood got Clover killed in favor of a "Qrow saved Mantle by murdering Ironwood"/“Qrow got revenge for Mantle by murdering Ironwood” ending. Who cares why Qrow wanted to kill him in the first place now that Ironwood has his finger on the trigger? If RWBY is good at anything, it's writing moments that encourage you to ignore everything that came before it. We'll be seeing more of that in just a bit.

"Damn it!" Ironwood yells, because the show is leaning into its cursing. He orders that the subordinates not return until "you have Qrow Branwen in custody." Here we have another great example of the show conflating what the audience knows with what other characters know. See, we know Qrow has a vendetta against Ironwood. We know their relationship is the important one to the story and that Robyn is incidental. Ironwood doesn't know that. There's no reason for him, as a character, to specify that they only bring Qrow back, but it makes sense for the audience who has the whole, thematic picture. Our understanding of the situation is influencing Ironwood's dialogue, which is... not great.

This entire scene we've had creepy music to hammer home just how evil Ironwood is. Except, as said, he takes a breath to calm down and the music fades. Instead of flying into a rage, hurting someone, or doing anything the music suggests he might, Ironwood calmly calls in for an update — which is when the explosion hits.

It's MASSIVE, seeming to originate from a lightning strike, which is weird, since it's coming from inside the whale, but whatever. The animation is very dramatic and pretty, as we've come to expect of RWBY, but the actual plot is lackluster at best. It's funny though because I thought for a hot second, when Winter and the Ace Ops were caught in the blast, that RWBY had actually done something exciting. I mean, holy shit! There are the deaths we expect from a battle like this. My god, what is everyone going to do when they realize that Oscar's needless attack took out five characters, including Weiss' sister —

No wait, never mind. They're fine.

Let's talk about that "needless" descriptor for a moment though. Do you all remember, two weeks ago, when I went, "Hey, why isn't anyone telling Oscar that that Ace Ops are approaching with a bomb? They're on a time limit! If someone would just mention that Very Important Information then Oscar wouldn't keep standing around to fight Salem." See, at the time I was frustrated because of how the plot was needlessly allowing Oscar to put himself in danger (especially when the whole point of this mission was to rescue him). Now, I'm frustrated because that same plot needlessly wasted the most powerful weapon the group had. There was no reason for Oscar to use literal lifetimes worth of stored energy when the heroes already had a bomb to do the same job! What was the point of that? I guess he took out the other grimm too, but without the whale that still would have been a challenge with a finite end, one Ironwood's army and the remaining huntsmen should have been able to handle. It doesn't feel justified to have Oscar use a weapon kept on the bench for lifetimes when there was another option literally minutes away.

There's so much wrong with this I need another list. So:

Ozpin's cane supposedly stores kinetic energy, which may contradict what we've seen from it before. Regardless, we’ve never heard about this. The all powerful weapon comes out of nowhere

It also begs the question of why Ozpin wouldn't use that power at Beacon and why he wouldn't insist that they try to get their cane back while captured. You had an out this whole time! But we’re going to ignore that because Oscar is a little hesitant?

Which makes YJR's presence even more useless than it originally was, which was already pretty useless. Oscar essentially rescued himself

This kinetic energy miraculously doesn't hurt any people or buildings, just grimm

So what is the point of Silver Eyes? That's been their MO since they were first introduced. Sure, Silver Eyes can be used far more often than Ozpin's cane, but it still feels like a let down to learn that the Big Secret behind this weapon is... the exact same thing Ruby has been doing for years

Like Ruby, Oscar likewise didn't need any practice or training. He just set off this massive attack perfectly and without issue

We have now eliminated the biggest threat to the cast instantaneously — the whale and the other grimm — with no effort from the rest of the heroes. Like the Hound, the stakes are obliterated with no satisfying work on the part of our protagonists

Instead, as said, the actual plan already in place never happened. The bomb just... goes back. Kind of like how Cinder attacked and then just went back to Salem. Penny woke up and then just got knocked out again. We continue to go in circles

This is because no one took two seconds to tell Oscar, "There's a bomb on the way"

Because this threat is gone the show needs a new one, hence Ironwood randomly threatening Mantle with said bomb

The one way we might have justified Oscar blowing up the whale instead of Winter is if he did it to save Hazel, but Hazel is implied to be dead

Maybe he's alive, but if he's not that happened off screen and we're not sure how. It couldn't have been because of the blast itself — everyone else is fine — so what, Salem somehow killed him before she was blasted to bits? While he was holding her?

And there's no body?

Salem was torn apart multiple times during that fight and reformed instantaneously, yet now, conveniently, she's taking her time

None of the characters mention the issues above. None of them admit that there was no reason for Oscar to waste LIFETIMES worth of power when they already had a solution in the works. Fantastic

I need to take a moment to acknowledge that so far this recap feels... bad. Disjointed. Bit all over the place. Which makes a certain amount of sense because that's where my thoughts are at. There's so much going on in this episode — so much wrong with it — that I don't know how to boil it all down into a few, neat claims. This episode is a mess! We're barely a few minutes in and the combined issues of Ironwood's characterization and Oscar's choice have left me reeling. So if you're still reading this, bless your patience, I think we'll both need it for the rest of this journey.

Let's snag a neater plot-point to discuss. Amidst all the chaos Neo literally skips away with the Lamp, clearly thrilled at how her own life is going. Later in the episode she'll text Cinder with the obvious: Salem is going to be pretty pissed when she realizes this is gone. “If you want her name you know what you owe me."

So wait... what is Neo leveraging here? Is she agreeing to give the Lamp back so Cinder doesn't get in trouble with Salem? Give Salem the password she's been looking for? Or give Cinder the password to use the Lamp for herself? What would Cinder even want the Lamp for when she's after the Maiden powers? I'm confused about what Cinder is being blackmailed with. Regardless, she needs the lamp for something and presumably what she "owes" Neo is Ruby. We get a cut to her just to hammer that home.

(Side note: both pictures of Neo are hilarious.)

Before that though, back at the whale, everyone is taking stock of the situation when Marrow cries, "Hey, they were still in there!" I feel like this is another scene meant to make him look like the one good guy in the group — he cares about YJOR while the others can’t be bothered — but as always, that reading doesn't fit well with the situation as a whole. The others have barely had time to realize they're alive. I don't think it's a moral failing that they didn't instinctually worry about four betrayers, one of whom attacked them, while they're still checking that they have all their limbs intact. Besides, why does Marrow assume they're dead? The Ace Ops were caught in the blast as well, yet miraculously came out unharmed. They clearly didn't set their own bomb off, so it's logical to assume that YJOR did something themselves. It feels weird to have a "Marrow mourns them and Winter is the only other character who cares" moment when everyone is recovering from bomb shock and no one even knows if the others are dead. But, of course, the show is out to portray only two of these characters as good people, so ignore the logic and run with the emotion of the scene.

All of which is bolstered by Elm pulling away when Vine puts a hand on her shoulder. Why is she acting cold towards him now? Because they're not friends, remember?

While we get more ridiculous relationship dynamics, Ironwood calls in and congratulates them on the bomb working, but tells them to get back because they have another problem in the works. That would be Qrow and Robyn. Winter decides to tell him about the bomb in person.

We cut to Watts and Cinder watching the remnants of the blast from a rooftop. Cinder has tried calling, but no one answered. Unsurprising, given that Salem doesn't have any other allies left. Cinder says that the plan hasn't changed, she's still going to take the Winter Maiden's power for herself, and Watts can help her by bringing Penny here. He explains that he doesn't have full control over her. Rather, he implemented a virus that is setting her on a single path: open the vault, then self-destruct. Cinder, as one might expect, is furious.

She snags Watts by her grimm arm and threatens to toss him over the side of the building. Thus begins the best part of the episode, hands down. Despite the danger he's in, Watts throws common sense out the window in favor of dragging Cinder in the most satisfying manner possible.

“You think you’re entitled to everything just because you suffered, but suffering isn’t enough. You can’t just be strong, you have to be smart. You can’t just be deserving, you have to be worthy! But all you have ever been is a bloody migraine!”

It's true! You know what else is true? This speech could apply to our heroes as well. Accusations of entitlement and reminders to be smart as opposed to just strong hit hard, considering those are the same flaws our protagonists are struggling with. The difference is that Cinder, miraculously, listens, pulling Watts back to safety and going to cry by herself. That moment is simultaneously more growth than Ruby has gotten and more sympathy than Ironwood has gotten. The woman who murdered Pyrrha is treated more kindly by the narrative than one of our initial heroes and our very first villain has taken more time to reconsider her choices than our title character. You know a show is falling apart when excellent choices are applied to the worst possible character.

So Cinder is crying while Watts looks guilty and we cut back to YJOR's group post-blast. Yang is finally able to answer a call from Blake who is obviously overjoyed to see her. Weiss gives them directions to the mansion and they ask what in the world they'll do with Emerald, currently on her knees, mourning Hazel.

Thus begins the third most frustrating part of this episode. See, on the way back the group continues the conversation about what to do with Emerald, with Yang and Jaune distrusting her vs. Ren and Oscar encouraging cooperation. I can't believe I'm saying this after's Ren's speech and Oscar's entire existence... but I'm team Jaune and Yang here. Look, what Oscar and Ren say — the literal words coming out of their mouth — is nonsense. Ren goes, “We can’t let all of our actions stem from fear," as if Yang and Jaune are being ridiculous for mistrusting Emerald, one of the established villains, after years worth of harm from her. It’s weird that Yang points to her arm as something Emerald is responsible for, rather than being framed or the deaths at Beacon, but the general sentiment of, “She’s done horrible things!” is true. Ren’s perspective is the same simplification that was applied to Ironwood last volume, wherein everyone acted as if he was crazy for fearing an attack on his kingdom... post an attack on another kingdom and pre an attack on his kingdom. Putting generic lines in Ren's mouth about not being afraid makes him sound willfully ignorant, as if choosing to believe that someone is good will magically make them so, to say nothing of thinking it will erase all the harm they've already done.

Oscar at least acknowledges the difficulty here, but then follows this up with, “You don’t have to forgive her… just give her a second chance."

Oscar, honey, that amounts to the same thing in this situation. Allowing Emerald a second chance means working with her, which means trust, which means emotionally reaching a point where these characters can put aside the harm she's done them in an effort to give her that chance in the first place. This actually ties into a post I saw last night, one I've come across before, that claims redemption arcs don't require any suffering on the part of the person who has done wrong. I agree in theory, that prolonged suffering doesn't help anyone, but the problem is that people tend to conflate suffering with consequences and someone who has done this level of harm should face consequences for their actions. The problem with redemption arcs is not that the bad people suffer too much — emotionally and physically beating on them as a form of revenge — but that the people they've harmed are put into situations like this one. If Yang and Jaune let Emerald go like she suggests, they are agreeing that she doesn't have to face any consequences for the damage she's done (which, keep in mind, involves multiple deaths, not including all the lost lives here in Atlas). If they agree to give her a second chance, they are forced to jump straight to some level of forgiveness. We might claim they don't have to forgive Emerald to work with her, but from a practical perspective how are they meant to function, especially during a warzone? Anything she provides them with — information, watching their back in a fight, undertaking missions, etc. — requires trusting her enough to allow those things to happen: working with that info, letting her protect them, allowing her that responsibility. It's all about trust, trust she has yet to earn. In order for a redemption arc to be successful, the power has to be in the hands of the victims. They need to be able to see some justice for what was done to them, be offered some proof that the person in question has truly changed, and have the ability to walk away if they decide no, I don't forgive you, glad to hear you've improved, but please stay out of my life. Jaune and Yang have none of that. There are currently no systems in place for Emerald to face consequences for her choices, she has offered them no proof of her remorse or true motivations, and the other half of the group is pressuring them to give her that second chance without closure or reassurance. None of that makes for a good redemption arc and reducing that to, "So you want to see poor Emerald suffer, huh?" ignores the suffering she has already caused. The group are her victims and they are under no obligation to give her a second chance, particularly under these circumstances, which makes the story's choice to have Ren and Oscar act like Yang and Jaune are being stubborn or inconsiderate a problem. The conversation boils down to, "Give the woman you know to be a liar, manipulator, murder accomplice, and servant of our enemy a second chance based entirely on unfounded faith. If you don't you're letting yourself be ruled by fear."

RWBY's touchy-feely themes really don't sit well within its realistic, morally gray premise. We cannot continually have these characters go through hell one moment and then have others accuse them of being paranoid the next. The fact that all of this is wrapped up in the group trusting Robyn, Emerald, and Hazel over their established allies remains beyond frustrating.

Because yeah, you know how Oscar finishes his speech? “I’ve already gotten a lot of help today from someone I don’t exactly trust right now." Meaning Ozpin.

The story is trying to compare Emerald and Hazel to Ozpin.

"Oh hey, I kept a secret from you after lifetimes of watching that secret lead to betrayal and death. I keep apologizing for my mistakes while ignoring that I had no reason to trust a bunch of kids with such world-shattering information and also that you tore it from me in the most traumatic way possible."

"Oh hey, I willingly joined our world's version of the devil and helped her destroy your school, leading to numerous deaths including your friend and headmaster. It was his death that put Oscar in this position in the first place! I then continued to attack your group, leading to another near death of a friend, and a kidnapping, and the destruction of Amity, until I became scared enough to make a run for it."

Which one of these characters is granted an instant second chance? You'll never guess who!

And I do think the word "instant" is important here because just like Jaune and Yang have the right to have distance and justice from Emerald, they had that right with Ozpin too. The difference is they got it. They had the power in the situation, as evidenced by their use of the Lamp and physically attacking him. Ozpin heard what they needed from him — leave us alone — and did that without complaint. They were given months to come to terms with the secrets he kept. They were offered apologies and acts of service to demonstrate intent: saving them in the airship and continually saving Oscar. I don't believe Ozpin ever needed a redemption arc, but even if we think he did, he had it. After three volumes of material Oscar's perspective is still "I don't exactly trust [him] right now" but Hazel and Emerald have earned at least the same amount of trust in a matter of hours? They're really having my boy look at the guy who has tried desperately to do right by him despite unimaginable circumstances, and the guy who tortured him to get information for Salem, and went, "That first guy. He's the one we need to watch out for."

To make things even worse, Oscar tells the others that Ozpin took on all the torture so he wouldn't have to. So he did that and they still don't trust him? If you had told me back in Volume 6 that two years later the group would still be hostile towards Ozpin, while simultaneously urging one another to trust Emerald, I would have said you were lying. RWBY has its problems, but it's not that bad. Yet here we are. I suppose the one silver lining here is that Ren smiles when he realizes Ozpin is back? So at least one of them isn't prepared to draw their weapon at the mere mention of his name.

Both these moments raise more questions though. How in the world did Ozpin take on that torture when we clearly saw Oscar getting pummeled for a good portion of the kidnapping? Is that a weird merge thing the story hasn't bothered to explain? I wouldn't be surprised, considering Oscar said last episode he didn't want to use magic because it hastened the merge, he uses the biggest explosion of magic we've ever seen, and nothing has changed. Ozpin is still in the back of his head, thanking him for the tinniest shreds of decency they get. Ren, meanwhile, seems to be back to mindreading. How in the world does he know that Ozpin is back? I assume it has something to do with his semblance, but we don't know what. They could have shown us Oscar from Ren's perspective, perhaps with two distinct emotions swilling around to imply that he sees two different people now, not a useless shot of Emerald with purple flower petals, whatever purple means.

Oh, but no, we shouldn't have gotten either of these scenes. Remember that Ren's aura broke a very, very short time ago? Is it back already? Can he use this part of his semblance without it? Considering it was near impossible to see Ironwood's aura breaking in the Watts fight and we were then mistakenly told he used his semblance in the office, I'm going to go with, "The writers forgot."

Oscar explains that the cane had "lifetime after lifetime" of power in it and though there's still some left, "we have to be careful with how we use the rest." He says that Ozpin trusted his judgement and of course he did! Ozpin also didn’t know that there was a bomb on the way. Yet funnily enough, no one else mentions that, whoops, your choice made in ignorance was a waste and that's due entirely to us prioritizing hugs over basic mission information.

Also, all these explanations take place in front of Emerald. Half the group doesn't trust her, but they'll freely discuss their powers and limitations here. Remember how the group once wanted to talk about magical relics in front of the old lady they'd just met? Yeah, they've learned nothing.

Combine all this insanity with the fact that Ozpin's magic saved the day before Ironwood's bomb could do the same... while Ruby sat in a mansion drinking tea. Who's our hero again?

So things are a hot mess, to put it lightly. Their conversation finally ends when they hear voices and round the corner to find all the Atlas citizens huddled in the subway. For once the show actually writes them in a sympathetic manner, emphasizing how terrified and helpless they are. This image doesn't lead the group to any revelations though, certainly not anything that would tie back to Ren's earlier speech in the snow. No, once again the justified criticisms here are ignored as we hear that “However this fight ends, we could really use someone like you, [Emerald.]” That's it then. Discussion over. We knew as soon as it started that blindly trusting her was being presented as the "right" thing to do and now here we are, deciding that conclusively, despite Jaune and Yang's complaints. By the time the group reaches the mansion, Oscar is defending Emerald from Ruby. We're supposed to just accept that she's a part of the group now, only minimal pushback allowed.

Before that though we return to Ironwood getting news that their bomb never went off. He briefly wonders who else could have done that, but puts the currently unanswerable question aside for what he does know. They still have the bomb and it could be "useful." See, this moment — like shooting Oscar and the councilman — is when Ironwood just randomly goes off the deep end. One minute he's talking about what they've lost and cradling his new arm,

the next he's saying that he should have tortured Qrow to get Penny to obey him! Which doesn't even make sense since I'm pretty sure Penny hasn't ever spoken to Qrow. She wouldn't want anyone to suffer, true, but it's not like Ironwood had a close friend like Ruby to use as leverage. Qrow is just Some Guy to her. Regardless, he thinks Yang, Jaune, and Ren are decent replacements, despite Penny also having no relationships with them. This is what happens when your characters only start breaking up their teams eight years into the story, the response to Ironwood wanting to torture Ren to hurt Penny is, “Does Penny know Ren exists?” But, you know, torture is torture, right? Maybe. Probably not. I mean, if they're going to turn Ironwood into a cartoon villain, they could at least keep him smart.

Because all of this is just the height of stupidity. Ironwood wants to torture people Penny barely knows to make her listen (so just grab some civilians? It would do the same job...). Ironwood wants to shoot down empty ships, even though no one, including us, knows where in the world those ships would have gone. Ironwood wants to destroy an entire city to try and save another city. He wants to use a bomb meant for a comparatively small whale and acts like that alone will take out the majority of a kingdom. None of it makes sense! And I know the easy comeback for that is, "Well yeah, Ironwood is crazy and evil" but he's not. I mean he is. Threatening torture and bombings is obviously evil, but he's never been insane, or stupid. As said before, his arc (or lack thereof) is an absolute disaster. The fandom assumes so many things about Ironwood given the opportunity — the whale is a suicide mission. He expects the Ace Ops to die on his order — and the writing hints at so many things that never happen — he's going to hurt his subordinates, attack Winter for disobeying him — and every time what we actually get is a far more compassionate, level-headed character... until he randomly does a 180 and goes, "Let's murder a whole city now!" I never wanted Ironwood to be the bad guy, but they could have at least given me a persuasive decent into this level of horror.

So... yeah. Ironwood has got to die by the end of the volume, yeah? Between Ruby warning the whole world about him and him going into full villain mode, there's no coming back from this.

Neo sends her text to Cinder and the group makes it back to the mansion. Remember Yang's criticisms of Ruby's leadership? The ones she conveniently forgot about when Ren started to agree with her? Yeah, those are entirely gone as the sisters hug it out and, presumably, forgive one another for... daring to admit that things are bad? Look, I'm not going to deny that Ironwood's scene with Winter was creepy as fuck,

but I'm not of the opinion that the heroes are any better when it comes to the theme of obedience. They've attacked one another, screamed at one another, and any dissent from Ruby's leadership results in the questioner being left behind in the snow. We'll accept you again when you fall back in line. I used to adore the relationships in this show, but watching them now is just discomforting. The show might be 100% more obvious with Ironwood, using creepy music, a smile, and that hand on Winter's shoulder, but the concept of, "Sorry I dared to question you before! We won't ever do it again :)" isn't healthy either. The fact that the show keeps erasing theses problems with hugs — Weiss hugs Whitley now, Yang hugs Ruby, someone will probably hug Emerald soon — doesn't make the circumstances any less uncomfortable.

None of this even gets into the Blake and Yang hug. First of all, why is Blake acting like they had a fight and Yang might not want to see her? She's hiding inside rather than rushing to greet them, ears down in a devastated expression until Yang touches her. Combine this with Yang's "Do you think she's mad at me?" and it feels like the writers cut a fight in the final script and then didn't bother to remove the fallout from that. Seriously, where did any of this come from? You can't just have characters act like they've been fighting when they haven’t.

Also, can't forget this.

At this point there's nothing more I can say in regards to RWBY's almost-queer baiting. Is touching foreheads more intimate than the hugs Yang gave the others? Absolutely. Is that an appropriate stand-in for overt representation? Absolutely not. This would have been a perfect time for them to kiss. Take out Blake's nonsensical fear and replace it with them both reuniting after their first separation since Volume 5, working under the knowledge that either one could have been killed, finally admitting their feelings. Hell, they don't actually have to kiss. Not all girlfriends are interested in kissing! But they could use the terminology that makes things unequivocally canon. Another forehead touch when we got that in Volume 6? It's not enough, especially not when our straight couples have all been allowed their rep.

Ren at least wants to know where Nora is. He's presumably told what happened off screen as Oscar tells Ruby that Emerald is their friend now.

Then an emergency call from May interrupts the reunion and the group learns that Ironwood is bombing the Schnee ships. “Those ships… they were going to save people” Weiss whispers. How? Tell me how they were going to save anyone. Where were you going to take these people where they would be safer than where they are now? RWBY continually asserts things without explaining them, meaning there is precisely zero emotional weight here. Again, Ironwood is far past the point of defense, but I'd be a whole lot more critical of this particular action if I had a better sense of why it's bad. He appears to be endangering the people given May's shout to run — falling debris? — but the further implication is that Ironwood has doomed the people of Mantle by denying them these ships. It's that part that makes no sense based on what we've been told.

Which finally comes to the ultimatum of our episode title: Penny opens the vault, or Ironwood bombs Mantle. Great! So glad this plan is wicked smart and works well for his characterization. It's definitely not a nonsensical, unfounded, overblown change that feels like it belongs in a child's cartoon, complete with dramatic spotlight. Nope. Excellent writing choices all around.

Our final line of the episode is, “I hope you live up to the title I gave you," referring to Penny's job as the Protector of Mantle, and you know what? That line could have been very cool if it was delivered by an Ironwood with a persuasive fall and a halfway decent plan in place. I love that we've twisted the concept of a protector and turned the title into a horrifying, rather than honorable responsibility... I just hate everything surrounding those details.

So, usual RWBY fare.

(At least we get to see that Nora is awake!)

Will things get better over the next four episodes? I doubt it. We're still expecting the rest of the Ace Ops + Winter to ditch Ironwood, someone getting the vault open, the fall of Atlas, now the potential destruction of Mantle, and none of that includes Salem who should reform at any moment. Frankly, I'm not looking forward to any of it. The final leg of a season should make its audience excited to see how everything turns out, not dreading it. I've heard from multiple people that this is the volume that finally got them to drop the show and honestly? I'm not surprised.

As a final (happier?) note: we've finally got a bingo! I completely forgot our board last time, which was a terrible oversight, but we can update it now.

Our army of grimm can't kill anyone now that it got KOed by Oscar (that is the third one hit defeat of a major enemy we've seen this volume. Yes, I'm including the Hound considering it was obviously on its last legs after Ruby's eyes.)

I'm likewise including "Ozpin apologizes for everything including his existence" because he's done nothing but apologize since he came back. The emotion is there even if the literal words are not. Oscar reminded everyone of how untrustworthy he is, but kept the group from jumping them again. And Ozpin thanked him for it.

Neo didn't literally backstab Cinder (shame), but the Relic still counts.

So a triple bingo! Is that how bingo works? Idk, I've never played. I feel like I should have thought up some sort of humorous prize, but sadly I've got nothing. If you think of anything, let me know lol

That’s all then, folks. Until next week! 💜

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #rwby ultimatum #rwby recaps #mymetas

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maxineswritingcenter · 3 years

Text

You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 28

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By the time we got back to the Stilinski house, Nicholas was awake. Uncle Noah had been sitting with him at the kitchen table for breakfast when we walked in. When he saw us, Nicholas scrambled down from his chair and onto Uncle Noah’s lap, hiding his face in his shoulder. I looked back at Derek, seeing that he looked disappointed.

“It’s okay. I’ll talk to him.” I said softly. He nodded, smiling sadly. I walked over to the two, taking Nicholas upstairs into my room and sitting with him on the bed.

“Mommy,” Nicholas looked up at me with his large green eyes, “Why is the bad man here?”

“Well, sweetie, he’s not a bad man. He just did a bad thing yesterday by scaring you. He came to apologize.” I wanted to give Derek the opportunity to explain himself. Hopefully in a way that Nicholas would understand.

He still didn’t look convinced, hugging his little wolf plush tight.

“Nico...” I kissed his forehead, “Mommy is going to be right there besides you the entire time. I promise you that he isn’t going to hurt anyone. He’s not going to hurt grandpa or Uncle Stiles or Uncle Scott.” I intentionally left Michael out. I wasn’t too convinced that he wouldn’t hurt Michael. “I have known him for a very, very long time. Longer than Uncle Stiles.”

“Really?” He asked.

I nodded, “Really.” I paused, “He used to have a big, big family. But they all got taken away. So, he has a lot of anger built up and sometimes that comes out in bad ways, but he doesn’t mean to and he didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Who took his family?”

“A really bad lady.” I stood up, setting him down on his feet, “He apologized to me and he wants to apologize to you. Is that okay?”

Nicholas blew air out through his nose and hummed as he thought about it. He hugged Puppy dog tight to his chest and looked up at me, “Okay, mommy.”

“Thank you.” I held out my hand to him, “You ready?”

He took my hand, “I can do it. I’m brave.” I grinned brightly at him, walking with him down the stairs and into the living room where we found Derek sitting on the couch.

DEREK

To say that Derek was nervous would be an understatement. He was a wreck. He had gone over in his head multiple times how he would talk to his son. A few of those situations involved him flying to Scotland and stealing both of them away from the Lunar Circle. Well, less them and more Michael. He hated that Michael was living with them, playing family when he knew that Derek couldn’t be there.

After (Y/N) went upstairs with Nicholas, Scott and the Stilinski’s had gone outside to give them some privacy. Michael stood in the corner of the living room, arms crossed over his chest and staring him down.

Derek sat on the couch, cracking his knuckles, bouncing his leg at an unmeasurable rate. He hadn’t felt this vulnerable in a long time, not because of the ass-hate in the corner of the room. If that little boy, his little boy, didn’t like him? Well, what was he going to do? His dream for (Y/N) and himself was to have a family, he had known this since he saw her again.

2011

After finding Laura, he knew there was a new alpha in the area. His first thoughts went to revenge. New alphas were just as weak as a beta like him... or omega now. The deer that had brought both of them back to Beacon Hills had been found in the woods outside near the apartments at the edge of town. He had been waiting there since the early morning, hoping to find something. He had searched the woods and found nothing. Now, he was standing in the parking lot of the building, thinking over and over again about finding Laura. He should have come with her, she shouldn’t have come alone. He should have insisted. But she told him she would be fine. Nothing was fine.

The worst part of this situation was that he could still smell the smoke coming from the (Y/L/N) house. He had driven by on his way to the woods and it made his stomach lurch. Kate got what she wanted, all of the werewolves out of Beacon Hills. He hated (Y/D/N), he hated him from taking his best friend away. And because of Kate, he lost his whole world. He didn’t even get a chance to see (Y/N) again. He’d never see her again except for a picture in the obituary.

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and leaned against the passenger door of the Camaro.

“HELP! HELP ME!” He heard the shout coming from behind him, accompanied by two sets of hurried footsteps. He turned quickly and his heart almost stopped. He tried to keep expression neutral but his heart was beating rapidly.

It was (Y/N). She was alive. Behind her was Michael, chasing her with a knife.

“Help!” She shouted as she crashed into his body. She looked up at him with those beautiful (Y/E/C) eyes. There seemed to be a spark of recognition, but nothing like before. She still couldn’t remember.

“Please help me.” (Y/N) gripped tightly onto the lapel of his jacket, “Please.”

In that moment he had a vision of what the future could be. Both of them together. Smiling and laughing like they used to. Holding hands. Kissing. Starting a family. The last image was her smiling face, triskeles in her eyes.

Derek didn’t know what his future with (Y/N) would look like, he wanted to be with her, he loved her too much. But at this moment, Nicholas was the only one he had on his mind. Today was going to be life changing. He was either going to be a father or his son could reject him.

Derek stood up quickly when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He hoped that he could somehow word what he needed to say in a way the four year old would understand.

Then in walked the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Nicholas was walking hand in hand with (Y/N) into the living room. He looked... like Derek. His knees gave out, taking him to the floor to be at eye level with his son.

“He’s so beautiful.” Derek whispered. (Y/N) grinned, stopping a few feet in front of him and coming around to kneel beside him. Derek could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He was... Perfect. From his dark hair to his nose and little toes.

“If you get nervous, just look at me.” (Y/N) said softly, “I’m right here.” Nicholas nodded and looked straight into Derek’s eyes, right into his soul.

(Y/N) put a hand on his shoulder, breaking him away from his trance. He sniffled and wiped his eyes quickly.

“Introduce yourself.” She nudged him with her elbow.

“Uh, yeah.” He smiled, “Hi Nicholas.” He swallowed thickly, “My name’s Derek. Derek Hale.” He held his hand out.

His son glanced at his mother before reaching out and taking Derek’s outstretched hand and shaking it, “I’m Nicholas Hale.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you.” Derek hesitantly pulled his hand away and motioned to the wolf plush in Nicholas’ hand. The little wolf plush that he had sent all the years ago, he still had it, “Ya know, I sent that to your mama to give you.”

“You did?” His eyes widened. Derek had just now noticed that he had a little accent, probably from his upbringing across the pond.

“I did. What’s their name?”

Nicholas held up the toy for Derek to look at, “His name is Puppy dog. He’s a Lunar Circle wolf with Lachlan and Mikey. He eats bad guys.”

“Oh wow. Little tough guy, like you.”

Nicholas looked down towards the floor, shifting on his feet, “He almost ate you last night.”

“I...” Derek sighed, shaking his head at his behavior from yesterday, “You’re right. I was being a bad guy last night. I shouldn’t have been fighting your mama. It’s just that...” How was he going to explain this?

Thankfully, (Y/N) spoke up, “What he’s trying to say, sweetie, is that Derek wanted to see you so badly that no one could get in his way. And that got to his head too much.” She reached out, running her fingers through Derek’s hair.

“Why?”

"Well, Nicholas, because... Because I'm your father." It was out. He looked a little confused honestly.

“Derek and I are mates, like you learned about in daycare.” He nodded along to his mother’s words, “And we loved each other so much that we wanted to have the perfect little boy.” She poked his stomach causing him to giggle.

“How come I never got to see you?” He asked, “All I had were mama’s pictures.”

“That’s because I was here, taking care of all the bad monsters so that it would be safe for you to come home.” Derek glanced at Michael, “And whenever I tried to call, there was no connection.”

“Oh...” Nicholas looked between, “What should I call you?”

“You...” Derek cleared his throat, “You can call me anything you like.”

Nicholas grinned, “Sour Wolf!” He giggled. Derek’s jaw tightened. From outside he heard Stiles laughing. He’ll get him later. He could hear (Y/N) snort, but keeping a straight face.

"Maybe a different name." Derek said, giving his son a soft smile.

"Uh..." He hugged the wolf tighter, "Daddy."

"Yeah," His voice cracked, "That sounds good."

Nicholas smiled, strapping forward and wrapping his arms around Derek's neck, hugging him tight. He felt like the air had been taken from his lungs. He slowly wrapped his arms around the little boy, swaying back and forth. He glanced at (Y/N), seeing tears making paths down her cheeks to reach her smile.

Derek reached out, adding her into their first hug as a family. His family.

(Y/N)

For the most part, Nicholas took it very easily. It was a smooth transition for him. Probably because he's just a little kid. But the hardest thing for me to comprehend was what Derek was asking me at the moment.

"So would that be okay?" He asked.

I shook my head, "Let me get this straight. You want to take Nicholas to meet Cora and Scott and whoever else is in the new pack who I certainly haven't met in person. Skyping is a poor sense of character."

"And Peter."

"And whom?" I asked as if I didn't know who his psycho uncle was.

“I want him to meet him and Malia."

"Why? Why would I want my-our," I corrected myself when he got the grumpy look on his face, "Our child to be exposed to the same man who tried to Jafar me."

His eyes narrowed, "What's a Jafar?"

"Remind me to make you watch Disney movies with your child. Gonna have to get used to it. A lot of Disney movies out there, he’s seen almost all of them." I walked out of the laundry room where I had been folding laundry before I was interrupted by Derek asking me to take Nicholas on a day trip. Yesterday had been about father-son bonding, taking him to the park, getting ice cream, playing games. Today he wanted to introduce the whole family.

"And it's not like he doesn't know who they are.” I added, “He knows Uncle Scott and Aunt Cora and Aunt Malia and Uncle and Aunt whoever else."

"Are you telling me that he's met his family before he met me?" He somehow managed to get in front of me. He's really pushing the boundaries and the alpha instincts were telling me to beat his ass. But I didn't, that was rude.

"They answered the Skype calls, Derek. You weren’t able to." I walked into the kitchen and started making breakfast for Nicholas. He was probably still sleeping after staying up passed his bedtime with Derek. I would have usually been pissed but seeing them together was enough to make me melt. I got the eggs and bacon out of the fridge and watched him lean on the threshold of the kitchen and shove his hands in his pockets out of the corner of my eye.

“They never tried to defend me?" He asked. I put down food and walked over to him, cupping his scruffy cheek in my hand.

“They did, Der-Bear. I just didn’t believe them." I patted his cheek and turned back to the food. He scoffed and walked up behind me, turning me quickly and picking me up and setting me down on the counter next to the stove.

“Excuse you, sir.” I poked his nose, then, just like always, I got lost in his eyes. Derek always had this way about him that if he just looked at me, I would be memorized for who knows how long. And he knew it too. He was smiling softly, like all the years of heartache and pain were over and he was back to the boy I remembered. Kind, shy, soft.

“Been a while since you called me Der-Bear."

"Been a while since I was twelve, Der-Bear." He grinned, his eyes sparkling. He slowly slid his hand behind my neck and pulled my head forward for our forehead touched ever so slightly.

"This brings me back..." I whispered softly, sliding my hands behind his neck and lacing my fingers in his hair.

"Yeah, it does." He hummed and leaned forward.

"Mommy. Daddy." We both jolted a part and looked for the little voice. We found it at about three and a half feet tall and wearing dinosaur footie pajamas."

“Well hello, sleepy head." Derek bent down and took the boy into his arms, "Mama and I were making you breakfast."

He looked at us both skeptically, "It looks like-"

"A really intense staring contest, sugar." I combed his hair out of his eyes, "And mama won."

Derek rolled his eyes, then he smirked, "Hey Nico, after breakfast, you wanna go see the Pack?" Nicholas gasped, his eyes sparkling. He had been intrigued by a pack since he was told what it was. He talked about how excited he was to run with his own pack someday, even if he hadn’t turned yet.

“Yes! Can we go, Momma? Pwease!?" He laced his little hands together, begging. Derek knew I couldn't say no to him, not when it came to pwease.

"Fine. But I'm going to." Nicholas raised his arms in the air and cheered.

"Thank you!" He grinned with his little baby teeth.

"Yeah, thank you mama." Derek said, setting the boy down on his feet, "Now go wash your face and hands before breakfast." He said, utterly surprising me with how he just parented. I... I had imagined him with our kids before but... I don't know, it was weird seeing him this gentle.

“I think I like parent Derek.”

Derek smirked as he took the bacon and got a pan out from the cupboard, starting to cook the bacon. In that moment, I realized that seeing him like this did make me love him again, just as much as I loved him when I saw him alive on that hilltop all those years ago. Domestic father Derek was the Derek I never expected, but couldn’t live without. But this was just regular Derek. He wasn't afraid right now, he wasn't being hunted. He was just at home making breakfast for his family. He had a family and that's all he's ever wanted.

"You alright?" He asked, seeing that I was just staring at him with two eggs in my hands.

“Yeah, I just love you a lot.”

Derek leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek, “I love you.”

"Breakfast!" Derek's loud booming voice called through the house. And down the stairs came Nicholas with his wolf toy in hand, Michael, Uncle Noah, and Stiles. Derek and I had set the table like a cute couple does and were starting to serve out food to the family. Then of course, everything had to be ruined.

I sat down in a chair next to Nicholas, whose face was clean and so were his hands, with an empty chair next to me that Derek took. Michael looked like there should have been smoke coming out of his ears.

"Hey, Derek, why don't you trade with me?" He said calmly from across the table. Uncle Noah just started eating his food, trying to ignore the tension as best as he could with eggs.

Derek, being Derek, grinned and took his silverware in both hands, "I'm alright."

"I really think you should move, Mutt." He spat the word. That's when I stepped in, I knew Derek was being a little shit right now, but there was no need for that kind of language, especially in front of a four year old.

“There will be no use of that word at this table and if you would like to sleep here tonight, I suggest that you stop talking." The rest of breakfast went without incident, until Uncle Noah and Stiles had left the table. Uncle Noah headed off to work and Stiles went outside to avoid the situation.

"Why do you keep sticking up for him?" Michael asked. I sighed and looked at Nicholas, he was putting his last forkful of scrambled eggs in his mouth.

"Hey honey?” He looked up at me, chewing, “Why don't you ask Uncle Stiles to play soccer with you?"

"What's soccer?" He tilted his head to the side.

"Football, honey.” Forgetting briefly that he had been raised in Europe, “The American football is like rugby, they call football soccer here."

"Oh, okay, mama." He hopped down from his little chair and out the front door.

Once he was gone, Michael spoke again, "You keep standing up for him and I won't have it. We've talked about this so many times, darlin. How am I supposed to just sit by with him nudging his way into our lives? Lives where we were perfectly fine without this mangy mutt and his family." He stood up and glared down at us both. Derek stood and was prepared to say anything and maybe do anything, but I stopped him by putting a hand on his forearm.

"Sit." I ordered. Derek sat. I took his place standing and inhaled, ready to give a harsh blow.

"You can't control who I chose to side with. Frankly, I’m not choosing a side at all. You also can't control who my family is, because it's mine and mine alone. Derek is my mate and he is the father of my child and you need to learn how to respect that. Do not ever get so self righteous with me. We aren't together, Michael, we haven't been since high school and I refuse to be treated like some little housewife. I am not a housewife, I am an alpha werewolf and I will be treated with such respect." I refused to look in his eyes, instead looking at the bridge of his nose which had started to scrunch up in anger.

“What about, Nicholas, huh? What about him? What's he gonna say when he sees his mother and this new person acting closer than us?"

"He's a smart boy, he’ll understand. And if he doesn't then he can talk to me, his mother. Because it seems like the other mature adult in his life is having a temper tantrum over a girl."

"You're not just some girl, (Y/N). You're min-"

"I belong to no one!" I barked, "I am no one's girl or wife or thing. I am my own person, I belong to me." I stood up and looked at Derek, "Come on, let's bring our son to meet his family." I grabbed Derek's hand and practically dragged him outside. Stiles was in the front yard, passing a soccer ball to Nicholas.

“Nico, honey, let's go." Nicholas, whose little cheeks were so red from running around in the cold weather, nodded and grinned.

“Crap, I forgot," I whispered, remembering that I forgot his coat inside, not really wanting to go back in to get it.

"Don't worry, dad's got it." Derek walked past me with Puppy dog and jacket in hand. Nicholas ran up to him and held his arms out as Derek helped him put on his jacket, he insisted that he do the zipper by himself.

"Is Mikey comin'?" He asked, looking back at me, hugging Puppy dog tightly to his chest.

"No, he's busy doing Lunar Circle stuff." I lied. Derek smiled at me, knowing that he was winning between him and Michael, took Nicholas into his arms.

“Hey, buddy, let's get in the Camaro." They both cheered and walked towards Derek's car.

Stiles walked up next to me, hands on his hips, "Is everything alright?"

"Probably not." I said before giving him a weak smile, then I looked towards the boys, "There better be a booster seat in that car, Derek Hale!"

MICHAEL

"Hello, thank you for calling Praetor McLeod’s office, how can I direct you?" The receptionist’s chipper voice crackled over the line. Michael gripped onto his phone, grinding his teeth together.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Put him on, Shawna." From the tone in his phone, she let out a small yelp and switched the lines.

"McLeod speaking." Lachlan’s voice boomed over the phone.

"I got him." He growled.

"Michael, is that you?"

"I got Derek Hale. He's living at the Stilinski house."

“Michael, he isn’t a person of interest. Hale hasn't caused any trouble in the last five years." He said calmly, but Michael wouldn't be deterred. And he didn't mind lying either.

“He kidnapped (Y/N) and Nicholas. He took them, he's claiming that Nicholas is his son and he took (Y/N) hostage."

"So you're saying a beta took an alpha and her son hostage?" He sounded bored.

“Lachlan! I'm not screwing around, he's crazy!" He tried to put his point across, "He's a bloodthirsty monster and he took my son!"

"Listen, you're not thinking clearly. I know what this is about, you’re jealous that Nicholas is with his father after you’ve had that role. And from (Y/N)’s report, Derek has been fine, it's you who’s been acting differently. Now you better start acting like a man and get your act together before I have to do something drastic." He said sternly and hung up. Michael slowly took the phone from his ear and gripped it hard. The glass shattered, digging into his hand.

Well, if the Praetor won't do anything... And (Y/N) won't do anything. Then it looks like he was going to have to take matters into his own hands.

-----------

Read part 29 here!

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#derek hale x reader #derek hale fic #teen wolf fic #teen wolf x reader

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moonbearmeliox · 4 years

Text

The Kids

Pairing: BAU Team x Reader; Spencer Reid x Reader

Summary: The BAU team get a case to track down an escaped serial killer, but things take a turn for the worst when two members go missing

Warnings: kidnapping, depictions of violence, stabbing, descriptions of torture

A/N: Whoo! I’m glad to have this out, I loved writing this. Criminal Minds have been added to my Request Guidelines, so if you have any Criminal Minds Requests send them. Hope you enjoy.

Request Guidelines

Another day, another case and you once again found yourself sitting in the meeting room. Most of your team was already here but while you waited for the others, the topic of the team’s dynamic came up.

“Ok, but us as a unit is basically a family and if anyone is the big brother, it’s Morgan.” You said before taking a sip of your coffee.

“And why’s that?” Morgan asked.

“The amount of times you’ve refused to let me go in before you when we’re busting an unsub just proves you’re the big brother.” You told him

“But he also likes to kick down doors and he can’t do that if you’re in front of him.” Emily said. Morgan let out a small chuckle.

“While that is the main reason, I also don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Awww. You’re proving my point even further that you are in fact the team’s big brother.” You said.

“Alright. What about everyone else?” Morgan said.

“Hotch is the team mom.” You stated

“Why would you say that.” Hotch said, walking into the meeting room. You almost spit out your coffee, not expecting him to hear that.

“You’re always looking out for us but not in the dad way that Rossi does. You’re also stern when it comes to things we do. We’re basically your kids.” You told him.

“The only kid I have is my son Jack. But if you’re talking about the dynamic of the team, the kids would be you and Spencer.” Hotch deadpanned, but you swore you saw a hint of a smile as he referred to you and Spencer as kids.

“C’mon Hotch, me and Spencer are in our 20s. We aren’t kids.”

“(Y/N), you keep a box of juice boxes under your desk.” Hotch said

“Which Emily steals, but I don’t hear you calling her a kid.”

“We got a new case!” JJ said as she entered the meeting room with the file in hand. You and the team dropped the conversation to give JJ your attention.

“Two people in West Virginia have been murdered.” JJ said, displaying the image of two dead bodies. “Taryn Klien and Polly Neal. Both were severely tortured before being shot in the head.”

“The police would usually call us in after more than two deaths. Why call us in when there’s only two?” Morgan asked.

“Because the police think that it’s the work of the serial killer named Mark Sutthers. He escaped from prison last week and this message was left at the crime scene of Polly Neal’s murder.” JJ displayed a picture of Mark Sutthers and the message that was left on the screen.

“Punishment will come to those that put me away.” Reid read the message out loud.

“After Garcia did some digging she found that Taryn Klien was the judge at his trial and Polly Neal was the prosecutor.”

“He’s doing this for revenge. Going after the people that put him in jail.” Rossi said

“Which means he’s either going to go after the people that were in his jury or the police that made the arrest.” You inquired.

“Let’s hope it’s the latter. Police can protect themselves better than civilians. If he goes after the police it will give us more time to see who was on his jury and try to warn them but let’s hope we can catch him before he hurts anyone else.” Hotch said

“Didn’t we help with this case?” Spencer asked.

“We did. So we need to pull everything we have from that case so we can find something that will help us catch Sutthers. Garcia should pull information on everyone in Sutthers’ jury. Morgan and Prentiss I want you to go down to the West Virginia police station and see who was on the Mark Sutthers case. Reid and (L/N), I want you guys to go over everything we have on Sutthers. Me and JJ will check in with local authorities to see if there’s been any sightings of Sutthers.”

It wasn’t until late in the evening when you and Reid decided to call it quits for the night. The two of you had gone over everything about Sutthers and had been able to piece together enough information to have a rough prediction where he’s going to strike next but by then most of the team had already left and you had to wait until tomorrow to present your findings.

“Hey Reid, can you give me a ride home? My car’s in the shop and the buses stopped running thirty minutes ago.”

“Yea, sure. Your place isn’t that far away from mine.” The two of you packed up your things and made your way to Spencer’s car.

“I still can’t comprehend how you can listen to classical music while you drive.” You said once you and Spencer were on the road.

“Today’s music just isn’t my style. Plus with classical music, you can’t get distracted by the lyrics because there are none.” Reid explained.

“Is that your argument?” You asked. Reid looked over at you.

“Maybe. But I still think classical is-”

“Reid!” You pointed and Reid turned his attention back to the road to see someone standing directly in the path of his vehicle. Reid couldn’t hit the brakes in time, as the person was struck by the car and rolled a few feet away. The two of you were stunned for a second, making brief eye contact with each other before quickly getting out of the car to help the person.

“Oh my god. Are you ok?” The two of you ran towards the person. It was a man, who looked to be in his thirties. He was unconscious.

“(Y/N), there’s a first aid kit in the center console of my car. Can you go grab it? I'm going to call 911.” Reid said. You ran back to the car and dug through the console until you found the white plastic box with the first aid supplies.

“Found it!” You said, turning back to the scene at hand. But you found that it wasn’t the man on the ground. It was Reid. You were going to call out to him but there was a sudden electric jolt to your neck before everything went black.

Reid woke up in a dimly lit room, sitting in a chair. His brain not fully awake, Spencer thought that he was having a nightmare, that he's back in the clutches of Tobias Hankel. It wouldn’t be anything new, he had those nightmares a lot. It wasn’t until he tried to move did Reid know that he was not having a nightmare. His hands were restrained behind him. With Spencer's eidetic memory, he remembers everything about his encounter with Hankel, he remembers that his hands were restrained in front of him, not behind. With that realization, Spencer became more alert.

He had hit a man with his car on his way to drive you home. That’s what he remembers. He told you to grab the first aid kit from his car so he could check how badly he had hit the man and call 911. But the man had a taser, it was unexpected and the man had tased Spencer before he could warn you. You. Did the man take you too?

“(Y/N)?” He said. He didn’t want to call attention in case the man came to wherever the hell they were but Spencer hoped you were in the same room as him.

“Spencer?” He heard behind him. Reid turned around the best he could and saw you in the same predicament he was.

“Are you ok?” He asked.

“Yea. Are you?”

“Yea. That man I hit with my car. He had a taser.”

“And used it to knock us both out.” You said “Now the question is why?”

“My message should have been obvious.” Spencer and you turned to see a man standing in the doorway, holding a knife. You and Spencer recognized that man. After staring at his picture all day you knew that it was Mark Sutthers.

“Mark Sutthers.” You said.

“I knew it wouldn’t take long for the FBI to be called in to investigate my murders.” Mark said, walking closer to the two of you. “Let me guess, you thought I was going to go after the police that arrested me?”

You and Spencer didn’t say anything.

“I thought about that. But I knew that it would lead to my capture too quickly. No, I said punishment will come to those who put me away. And that includes the FBI.” Sutthers squatted down to be eye level and pointed the knife at Reid.

“You, the genius who picked apart the trauma of my life,”He said, before pointing the knife at you, “and you, the forensics analyst who pieced it back together to lead the police and the rest of your team to arrest me and keep me in a cage for three years. Special Agent (Y/N) (L/N) and Doctor Spencer Reid, your punishment will come.”

Hotch should have known that his own team could have been one of Sutther's targets. Spencer had even said that the BAU worked on his case, but Hotch was certain Sutthers was going to go after the police or jury first before he even thought about going after his team. He was wrong and now two members of his team were missing, the only proof that they were alive was printed photos and a note saying “This is your punishment.”

“Do we have any idea where Sutthers could have taken them?” Morgan asked. Ever since he found out about their abduction, he looked into everything about Sutthers, pressing Garcia for everything she could find. (Y/N) was right about Morgan, he was the big brother and to him (Y/N) and Spencer were like his younger siblings. Knowing that they were being held captive by a serial killer made him distraught and angry.

“Garcia’s been looking into Sutthers records to see if there’s any property that he owns or has owned in the past, but so far she hasn’t found anything.” Prentiss said. This didn’t please the team. From the moment they found out they haven’t done anything but try to find you and Reid.

"I just got something.” JJ said, rushing into the meeting room. “A local landlord said he rented a small warehouse to a man matching Sutthers description. Garcia just sent us the addresses.”

Sutthers was true to his word about punishment. You and Reid were tortured the same way the previous victims were. Various cuts and wounds littered your bodies, enough to do damage but not enough to cause you to bleed out. There was one small comfort in the gratuitous toruture the two of you faced. Sutthers had placed you back to back with just enough room for the two of you to squeeze each other's hands as the pain went on.

“You know…” Sutthers said as he plunged a knife into your chest. You let out a pained scream and clenched Reid’s hand. “This has been fun.”

Sutthers got up, leaving the knife embed in your chest.

“Torturing people is how you get off. Of course you would have fun.” Reid said. He was doing better than you but even with the absence of a knife in his chest he was in a world of pain.

“Is that what you profiled about me, Doctor? You think I get high off of hearing your screams.” Sutthers stood in front of Reid.

“I think you’re a psychotic monster who’s going to pay for what he’s done.” Reid made direct eye contact with Sutthers, who punched him in the face.

“You’re right on both accounts.” Sutthers moved over to a table and wiped the blood off his hands. “Like I said, this was fun. But all fun things must come to and end.”

After the blood was wiped off, Sutthers moved to stand in front of you. You mustered all the energy you could to look at him, and wished looks could kill because Sutthers would have dropped dead at the hatred in your eyes.

“I planned this out the whole time I was in prison. No mistakes or slip ups. This has gone perfectly. Once the two of you are dead, I’ll skip town and wait until the heat dies off before I go after the rest of your team.” Sutthers pulled out a gun from his back pocket and pointed it directly at your forehead. “Hate to ruin such a pretty face.”

"There's one key mistake you made in your plan!" Spencer exclaimed. This piqued Sutthers interest.

“Really? And what’s that? Everything has been going perfectly. I caught you off guard by not going after the police. It was easy to target the weak links of the BAU. It will take your team too long to find me. Even with the photos I sent.”

"Yes, you caught us off guard by going after the BAU instead of the police like we thought. You struck at reasonable enough time so that you could get a few hours of tourture in before anybody knows we are gone and you went after what you consider the two weak links of the team.” Spencer explained “But there is one key mistake you made.”

“And what is that?” Sutthers asked.

“You went after the kids.” Hotch placed his gun to Sutthers’ head. “Lower your weapon and get on the ground.”

To say you and Spencer were relieved was an understatement. Your team stood in the entrance way, bar Hotch who was directly behind Sutthers. Their guns were raised and you inferred they would shoot Sutthers if given the chance because they looked pissed.

“Drop your weapon and get on the ground.” Hotch said calmly. Sutthers was hesitant. He lowered the gun away from your forehead and dropped it. He then slowly began to kneel but suddenly wretched the knife out of your chest and went to take a swipe at Hotch. Your eyes were closed due to the erupt knife pull but you heard six gunshots. Opening your eyes, you saw Sutthers lie dead in front of you. You kicked his head for good measure. He was dead. Without hesitation, the team was on you and Spencer in seconds. Rossi and Morgan went to help Spencer, while Hotch and Emily assisted in uncuffing you.

“I knew you and the team would come for us.” You told Hotch.

“I wasn’t going to abandon my kids.” He said. You smiled. They got the cuffs off and the team led you and Spencer to the awaiting paramedics so the two of you could be taken to the hospital. Morgan rode with Spencer to make sure he wasn’t given any painkillers while you got Hotch.

“You were right, you know?” Hotch said.

“About what? You being the team mom?”

“That we’re a family. Once you and Spencer were taken, the only thing we could focus on was finding you two. The team had the energy you only find when someone hurts your family. And what Sutthers did, he hurt two members of the family.” Hotch explained. You didn’t know if it was because your injuries were catching up to you or Hotch’s words but you felt tears begin to roll down your eyes.

“Are we really your kids?”

“Of course you guys are.”

#criminal minds x reader #spencer reid x reader #aaron hotchner x reader #bau x reader

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authorialarcanist · 3 years

Text

It Seems I'll Never Understand (Kagerou Project)

Genre: Angst

Rating: Mature

Pairing(s): Tateyama Ayano x Kisaragi Shintaro

Summary: "...Hey, Shintaro. Why'd you do it? I mean... You could have stayed out of it. It wasn't your fight."

In a world where Shintaro Kisaragi was the one who killed himself on that fateful august day two years prior, Ayano isn't sure what she can do with her life. Living in fear of the Snake of Clearing Eyes, all she can do is think back on the past, and wonder - why it was that her best friend took her place when she's sure he must have hated her, and when was it that it all went wrong.

Shinaya roleswap with a focus on making it work with as few changes to canon as possible.

---

It’s late - late enough that it’s gotten truly dark out. I’m walking along the road to my home, a boy next to me. The bridge we’re crossing seems to stretch out endlessly into the distance, illuminated only by the moon and the street-lamps we’re passing by.

I fiddle with my scarf absentmindedly as I steal a glance at his face. I’m so glad… I was finally able to become friends with him. Or, well… maybe ‘friends’ isn’t the right word just yet. To him, I’m sure I’m still just that stupid girl who made him tutor her for hours after class.

Still… I tell myself that this is the most important first step. Mm-hm. Now that I’ve introduced myself, I’m sure that we’ll be friends - real friends - in no time at all.

“You really saved my life! I never would’ve been able to finish that problem set on my own.” I grin weakly as my babbling inevitably turns to self-deprecation. Ah, well… after my terrible performance back there, trying to act cool for my new friend was a lost cause already. Well, if this was a manga, at least this might be the part where the aloof genius breaks character to reassure me that I can do it?

“Even with my help, it took you way too long…” He sighs. “Geez. I only came here to get my wallet, too. I must be really unlucky.”

—Yeah, right. I’ve only known this guy for a few hours now, but it’s pretty obvious that tender support isn’t his strong suit.

“I really am sorry…” I shrink a little under his criticism. “But! I promise, I won’t forget about today!”

“What are you saying? Didn’t you just say you forget things no matter how much you study?” Ow… I guess I did say that, but… he really has no faith in me at all, huh?

But he just doesn’t get it! Not quite panicking, I redouble my efforts to explain myself. “Today’s special! I’m going to try extra hard not to forget, so it’ll be okay!”

He hums in contemplation and stares away into the distance. And then—

—“Liar.”

I recoil from the sudden accusation. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“You’ve broken your promise already, haven’t you? You can’t even remember my name.”

He picks up his pace, and though I try to follow, I can’t seem to move forward.

“Huh? Of course I can!”

“Really? Then why haven’t you said it?”

“Why are you so focused on that all of a sudden?”

“Say it, Ayano.”

“Stop it!”

“Say my name.”

“I— You’re—“ Tears spill from my eyes. I’m trying to say it. Why — why is this happening? Why couldn’t we just keep walking together, chatting about nothing important, like friends do?

“…Yeah. I thought so.” He stops walking, and for some reason, I freeze as well. I have no choice but to watch his back as he speaks. “I guess it’s not your fault, though. Sorry.” He shakes his head. “But… Try to remember, okay?”

He turns to face me again.

His eyes are red.

“If you can’t remember soon, then—“

——

Knock. Knock. Knock. Three hesitant raps on my door.

The sound wakes me from my dream. Already, it’s growing too hazy to remember. All I can say for certain is that hewas there.

He’s always there in my dreams. Maybe it’s some cruel balance for the fact that he’ll never be there again in real life.

“Ayano?”

At the sound of the voice calling for me, I turn over in my bed and bury my face in my pillow, trying not to make any sound to indicate that I’m awake.

“Ayano, please, I know you’re in there. I just want to talk.”

I don’t respond. My father is dead. That’s the best way to think of it. The safest way to think of it. Even when the snake lets him out, it’s only in the hopes of getting me to snap.

“Ayano, I’m sorry. I know I haven’t been the best father to you, since your mother died. But please, I just want to know what happened. What happened to Shuuya and Tsubomi and Kousuke. Why you won’t talk to me. Ayano, please.”

My hands clench against the pillow. I force myself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

“Ayano…”

In.

Out.

“…Just… think about it, okay? I’m here, if you’re ever ready to talk. Even if you need another two years, I’ll still be here.”

A lie. Dad won’t be here. Just the snake.

“…I love you.”

I stay silent, waiting until the sound of footsteps fades from my hearing. No matter how many times I go through this, it never gets any easier. But… I can’t talk to him.

Even if the snake wasn’t privy to his every thought, I can’t bring myself to speak with the man who sold my world.

“…Is… he gone?” A tinny voice whispers from my computer’s speaker.

I listen for a moment. When nothing happens, I nod. “Yeah.”

My computer monitor lights up as it exits sleep mode, and a girl in blue peeks out from her hiding place behind a browser window. “…I still don’t understand why you don’t leave here, Ayano-chan…”

I shake my head. “I… I just can’t. I’m sorry, Ene.” Ene… that’s what this girl calls herself. About a year ago, she popped out of an email and decided to stick around. She tried to put on this sassy, hyper front at first, but it fell apart pretty quickly.

I’m pretty sure I know who she really is, after all. And she knows I know. I just haven’t been cruel enough to push the topic.

It’s not like she has much of anywhere else to go, after all.

“…Okay. I get it.” She looks down at the taskbar and pokes her index fingers together. “Just… hang in there, okay, Ayano-chan? Do your best.”

“Like my best has ever mattered,” I mumble, and sit down at my computer chair. To be honest, my activities since dropping out of school two years ago have been nothing, nothing, and a heaping dessert of nothing. It’s not like I have any sort of online life to speak of, even. It’s just that… ultimately, there’s nothing else to do when I’m living under the same roof as my father. I can’t risk going outside at the wrong time and having to face him. At least he respects the boundaries of my room; and the snake finds it convenient to leave me a sanctuary under his supervision for as long as he doesn’t have any need of me.

“…So, um… Ayano-chan?” Ene glances up at me, a little shyly. “Can I ask about whether…”

Ah. That. I shake my head. “…I’m sorry. I’ve tried talking to him while my father was away, but Konoha really doesn’t seem to remember anything about us.” Konoha… the white-haired boy the Clearing Eyes took in really is just another reminder of my failures. Still, I know that’s not hisfault, and I can’t really blame Ene for being too scared to check up on him herself. Talking to him hurts badly enough for me, and I still hadn’t been quite as close to Haruka as she was. Honestly though, whenever I’d felt safe enough to slip out and check on him, Konoha had seemed pretty nonresponsive. Forget remembering me and Ene; he didn’t seem to remember anything, not even basic things like rain.

“I see…” Ene droops. This happens every time she brings up Konoha; as much as she’s tried to be around for me, I don’t have the first idea how to comfort her when this topic comes up.

Well, honestly, I don’t think I’m in a place to be comforting much of anyone. Back when I tried all those years ago, it only ended in pain.

In the end, I go with the tried and true method of pretending I didn’t see anything. When there’s nothing you can do, acknowledging the problem only ends in more tears, after all. I pass the day mindlessly browsing the web and making more paper cranes for the army that chokes every available surface in my room. Occasionally, I can’t help but fantasize about what things might be like if I had Paper-Animating Eyes. Sending an army of little origami birds to get revenge on the Clearing Eyes… it’d definitely be a more efficient way of getting a wish granted.

Ah well.

At least my father has work during the day and the snake has better things to do than waste time in this lonely house during the nighttime, so I’m able to check on Konoha and grab something from the kitchen for lunch on most days. That’s particularly important, because dinner can be much more spotty, depending on whether my father is in a “bury his problems in work” mood or a “try desperately to be present to make up for selling his soul to an evil snake” one. Well, okay, I really don’t know how much he’s able to retain about what the Clearing Eyes does when in control of his body, but if he really is oblivious about everything that might actually be worse.

Unfortunately he seems to be in a “try to atone” cycle right now, so I’m running off of a single meal when the knocks return once again.

“Ayano.”

Ene hides behind the browser window again, and I click off of the tab showing a video of a mongoose taking down a snake.

…What? Look, I have to deal with the spite somehow.

“I know you’re in there.”

I stay silent.

“I’ve got another mission for you, Ayano. You know the deal by now.”

I freeze. This isn’t dad.

“I trust I don’t need to spell it out for you?”

It’s the other one.

“I’m waiting.Or is this some pathetic attempt at rebellion? If so, I have to applaud. It’s the most pointless one yet.”

I finally find my voice. “I-I understand.”

“Heh. Good.” The snake chuckles. “Two children are coming to stay in this house soon. Your father’s sister-in-law, and some hanger-on. When they’re here, you’re going to be the model of a big sister, understand? Get them to trust you, and then make sure they’re in a certain place on August fifteenth.”

I shrink in on myself. Children? Please, no…

“I said, understand?You know what’ll happen to your family if you refuse…”

“N-no!” I shoot to my feet in panic. “No… I understand…”

“Good.” What should be my father’s voice drips with malice. “See? Wasn’t that easy? Goodbye, Ayano.” Saying the last two words in an odd sing-song voice, the snake leaves. I collapse back into my chair, hugging myself.

“A-ayano-chan…” Ene peeks back out from her hiding spot.

I turn to her with wide eyes.

“Ayano-chan, you don’t have to do this. Please, we can fight back. I’ll help you.”

…If only. But no, I know it’s hopeless.

I can’t fight the snake. All I can do is delay the inevitable.

I shake my head, and start disconnecting the speakers from my computer. If Ene tried to do something brave, and the Clearing Eyes found out…

“…Ayano, please…”

I pull the plug on my monitor. Ene may still have access to the inside of my computer, but the most she’ll be able to do in the house is open and close the CD drive.

“…sorry…” I whisper quietly to myself, even though I know she can’t hear me.

God, how did things turn out this way?

——

I have many precious memories, moments I’ve spent these past two years trying desperately not to forget. Reading storybooks at bedtime with my mom. Meeting my little siblings for the first time. The way my dad’s face used to look when he’d play with us, long before everything happened.

If you were to look through those treasured days, flipping from one to another as though they were files secreted away in a lockbox, one might still stand out from the rest. Perhaps it’s laminated, or hidden behind a false back. Not because it’s more precious than the others - I wouldn’t trade my family for anything - but because it’s unique nonetheless. A moment elevated in its rarity, and in the pain it brings me - not the dull ache of my mom’s face, nor the stabbing betrayal of my father’s failures and mine, but a gaping void of ‘what if’s.

The first time I ever got to see Shintaro smile.

It was during our second year of middle school, a couple months after the day I finally introduced myself. The last test I’d gotten back had been my lowest score yet, and with exams rushing to meet me, I was honestly in a panic.

But then, Shintaro’d spoken up. For the very first time, he gave me a totally unprompted offer to help me study.

“Thank you so much,” I’d sobbed. “I don’t know what I was gonna do…”

“Ugh, don’t be annoying about it!” He’d refused to meet my eyes as he grumbled. “I just know that if you failed your exams I’d somehow get dragged into helping you catch back up. It’s just easier to get this over with this early, alright?”

Whatever his stated reasons, I still felt like I’d been saved when he stuck around to help me pound the latest lessons into my skull. And I don’t know if we finished faster than usual, if something good had happened to him at home, or if his guard was just down that day for some other reason, but one way or another, he decided to stick around and chat for a bit afterwards.

I can still picture it clearly. That sunny classroom, me perched on my desk to bask in the light from the window, him leaning his chair back as we killed time… and the glint of light that drew my eye to the spine of a book just peeking out of his bag.

“Hm? Hey, Shintaro?”

“What?” He glanced lazily back at me.

I tilted my head to read what I could from the spine. It rung a bell; I’d overheard some of the other girls in our class talking about it from time to time. “Isn’t that ‘Let’s Fall In Love’?”

“HUH?” I winced at the sudden crash as Shintaro lost his balance and fell in a heap.

“Ah! Are you okay? I’m sorry!” I rushed to help him up, but he just scrambled back until he was pressed against the wall.

“W-w-w-what are you talking about? I-I don’t, I mean, that’s not—“ Shintaro grabbed suddenly for his bag, but his hand missed its mark and sent the contents spilling out as it toppled over instead. The book landed face up, its cover proudly displaying a drawing of a boy and a girl standing together in a very shoujo-esque artstyle. Emblazoned above the picture was ‘Let’s Fall in Love ~ by Yumeno Sakiko.’

“Umm…”

“I mean! It’s Momo’s! Yeah! My little sister wouldn’t stop pestering me, so I picked up her copy for her, uh-huh! I definitely don’t read shoujo manga!” His stuttering picked up pace as he scrambled for excuses, and I couldn’t help it - some part of me kinda wanted to watch him squirm for a little longer.

So, I grinned slyly and searched my memory of my classmates’ conversations. “Uh-huh? You know, with how Mamiko and Oze were talking in the latest chapter, don’t you think there might be a chance they’ll—“

“THAT’S HERESY!” Shintaro slammed his hands down on the ground, and I winced at the sudden spike in volume. “Mamiko and Suzuki are meantto be together!” He clenched his fist and held it to his chest. “I can’t imagine how anyone would think otherwise after that moment in volume 7! And anyways, Oze and Waka may be having a fight right now, but everyone… knows…” He trailed off as my control failed me and I started to giggle. “…Fine. You caught me. Happy now?”

At the sight of him forcing down a pout and struggling to regain a serious expression, I laughed even harder.

“…So I like shoujo manga. Is it really that funny to you?”

“No, no! I’m sorry!” I did my best to get myself under control. “It’s not that, honestly. You just looked so earnest, and then you kept trying to hide it… If reading that sort of thing makes you happy, then I think that’s a goodthing! It’s actually kinda c—“ I suddenly realized what I was about to say, and blushed heavily. “—I mean, it’s kinda cool! Yeah! You shouldn’t worry what other people will think about your interests, you know?” Oh yeah, that was an absolutely stellarsave, Ayano. Absolutely nobody was gonna suspect that you almost called your classmate ‘cute’ without thinking. Aside from, I dunno, people with eyes.

Thankfully, all of that intelligence must have come out of Shintaro’s perceptiveness instead, because he let it pass without comment. “So…” Shintaro seemed to be looking anywhere in the room other than my face, which might have helped the whole ‘not noticing my face doing a bonfire impression’ thing. “Do… you also read it, then?”

“Huh?”

“Y, you know! ‘Let’s Fall in Love’!”

“A, ah! Right!” I snapped out of my thoughts. Right, let’s just pretend that slip never happened for now, and I can unpack whatever the heck it meant on my own time, when I won’t make my one school friend think I’m even more of a weirdo than he already does. “Ehehe… Not really, actually.” I scratched the back of my head and grinned sheepishly. “I was just parroting something I overheard. I’m more into the shounen stuff, you know? Hot-blooded super sentai fighting to save the world, and all that.”

“Really? But they’re so formulaic. You can see everything coming from a mile away. And how do those guys get through posing dressed like that and not die of embarrassment?”

Well, I couldn’t just sit there and take that. “What? Hold on a moment, like your mushy stuff is any better! Aren’t they all just ‘boy meets girl, cue nothing happening for the rest of their school lives’?”

“Wh— they are not!There’s nuanceand relationship growth and everything!” Woah. Shintaro was looking about the most fired up I’d ever seen him! At that thought, an idea clicked in my head.

“Hmm… Alright, then!” I grinned at him and gave a sharply enunciated chuckle, heh-heh-heh. “Why don’t you tell me more about this series, and if you manage to change my mind I’ll give reading it a try? And then, in return, you’ll watch an episode of Engine Sentai Go-Onger with me, and we’ll see how you feel about heroes after that!”

Shintaro rose to the challenge. “Fine! Come on then, I’ll teach you about why Yumeno-sensei is a master! I mean, her portrayal of Mamiko’s inner struggles alone touches the heart, even for a boy like me! There’s this moment in chapter 12 when she…” He lit up as he talked, gesturing wildly with the plot points. I’m a little ashamed to say that I actually stopped paying attention after a few moments, because my focus suddenly seemed drawn to his face. He was grinning - actually grinning, the first genuine smile I’d seen from him in, well, ever- as he opened up about his interest.

I can only remember thinking two things as we walked home that day.

The first was, ‘What a pretty smile.’

The second was, ‘…oh. Crap.’

…So, yeah. It looked like I maybe had a teeny little crush. That was okay! It was fine! It meant I was finally starting to grow up, right? Anyways, whatever Shintaro’s romance manga said, I was pretty sure that people were supposed to get a lot of those with time. They didn’t have to mean anything, or, y’know, gamble their only real non-family friendships on the chance that someone who was really smart and cute would still want to hang out with a dumb girl they barely tolerated helping out if she asked.

Not a problem! I’d just go about my life as normal, and it’d fade in time. Eventually, I’d probably look back on this day and laugh.

…And if in the meantime, I wanted to see him smiling like that again? Well, that could be my little secret.

——

Of course, let nobody accuse me of being a good planner. Obviously, the darn thing only seemed to get stronger with time. Wanting to see Shintaro smile because I wanted him to be happy slowly morphed into wanting to be the reasonhe was smiling like that. Hoping that maybe, if I could be the one to make this lonely boy smile, that’d mean I was actually worth somethingreally the hero I pretended to be.

Mom died, and I had to be the strength for the whole family as dad seemed like half his world had gone missing, but no matter how much I needed comfort of my own, I wasn’t ready to tell him.

We met Takane and Haruka, and one friend turned into three, but even though I’d only be gambling 33% instead of 100, I was still too scared to tell him.

And then I found out that dad had changed, what the thing in his body had planned for Haruka and Takane and my siblings, and suddenly my stupid little feelings didn’t seem so important. I had to research the read eyes, and I needed Shuuya to cover for me, and in the end I didn’t have the attention to spare for my friend my crush my…

…for Shintaro. Maybe that’s why I didn’t notice our growing distant. Why I didn’t notice things growing strained.

Why I didn’t notice that I really was just burdening him with my own expectations.

Didn’t notice until a hill at sunset, a hand snatched away, his back receding into the distance while I stood alone.

After that, I wondered about a lot of things. How much had been genuine, and how much really had just been putting up with me. How much of my motives had been pure, and how much had been that dark little thrill of seeing him down and feeling like I was still needed.

How cruel it must have been, to plan what I was planning and still try to hold onto his hand until the last minute.

So I didn’t try again. I delegated as much school time as I could to Shuuya (and carefully didn’t wonder why his face was growing more stressed, why his own time seemed to draw thin.) I withdrew further, and dedicated everything I had to my lonely mission. August fifteenth came all too soon at last, and I shoved my responsibilities onto Takane, told her to be honest with her feelings even as I swore that my own were better ignored. I wrapped my scarf around my neck, the colour of a hero, I steeled myself and turned to mount the stairs, and I was interrupted.

“Shuuya? What are you doing?” My little brother had arrived in front of me, hands on his knees as he gasped for breath.

“N, neechan, please!” Panting, Shuuya raised his eyes to meet mine. They glistened with tears. “You have to— you have to stop Shintaro-kun! He’s about to do something really stupid!”

“Huh?” I was taken aback. “What are you talking about?”

“He’s already gone to the roof! I couldn’t do anything! Neechan, please!”

“The roof?” I still didn’t understand, but I burst into a run anyways, leaving my brother behind. Why was Shintaro even here today, when he didn’t need summer school? Why did Shuuya know about it? What could he be doing on the roof, other than…?

He wasn’t involved. God, please, he wasn’t involved, why was he here?

I took the steps two at a time, ignoring the pain shooting through my lungs, and had no choice but to stop for breath and lean against the wall for a moment when I finally reached the door leading outside.

My father’s voice filtered in from outside. No - not my father. The thingwearing his skin. “Honestly, kid.” He sounded mildly exasperated, like my dad did whenever a student had turned in a particularly baffling answer on a quiz. “You think that you’re gonna be the big damn hero? You really think there’s a single thing you can do here to beat me?”

“No.” Shintaro, this time. “Honestly, it’s a stupid plan. Totally useless in every way. But hey.” A dark chuckle. “Objectively speaking, the life of a rotten boy like me is just worthless enough to make it worth trying.”

I’d finally caught my breath, but at that it caught in my throat. Did he mean—

I burst through the door, screaming, “Shintaro, NO!” The roof was empty except for two people. My father, standing on solid ground looking mildly vexed. And Shintaro, clad in that red jersey I’d said I liked, the color of a hero, sitting perched half-on the fence around the edge of the roof and half dangling over open air.

His eyes met mine, and no matter how hard I try I know I’ll never forget the way his face clouded over, the way his eyes darkened, or the words he said to me at that moment.

“…Oh.

“Ayano.

“The very last person I wanted to see.”

His final curse delivered, he leaned back. The world distorted around him, horrible discordant red tearing open fangs in the sky.

And he fell.

I must have screamed, but it’s a blur. I just know that by the time I came to, I’d fallen on my knees, and the thing that took my father was laughing.

Laughing.

“Ha! You kids never fail to surprise me, you know that? I never once would have expected that depressing little thing to get up off his ass and do something like this!” He paused. “Well okay, I guess I would, but the part where he tried to stand up to me was still new.”

Before I even knew what I was doing, I’d jumped to my feet and was tackling him. “SHUT UP!”

“Whoops!” Somehow, my father’s body stepped out of the way before I could react. I found myself impacting concrete and rolling on the roof, scrapes all over my body where I’d fallen. “Come on, brat. You’re a big girl now, you should be used to hearing swear words by now. Or wait, are you angry about the boy?”

With a wordless scream, I threw myself at him again, but this time he casually stuck out a leg and tripped me.

“You might still have time to save him, you know. Throw yourself off the roof after him, and maybe you could convince him to come on out and bring me that snake he stole.” He sneered. “Of course, it’d mean making this whole little sacrifice play all for nothing. And this guy” he tapped the side of my father’s head, “might even willingly help me kill the brat if you did! Oh, now thatdespair would be delicious to see.”

I swallowed the pain as my fists clenched, scraped raw though they were. “…Shut up. You… you’re just trying to convince me because you know your plan’s finished. You can’t gather the snakes now. There’s no… no more reason to kill Takane and Haruka, or the others.”

*snrk.* The monster covered his mouth with a hand.

“What’s supposed to be so funny?”

“Ha! Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just… you think this kid managed to save your friends? Please.” He rolled his eyes. “He was too late. They’re already dead.” He shrugged and continued in a sing-song voice. “And anyways, the boy was a goner already. You should be thankingme; this way, at least he has a chanceof living for another year or two.”

“W…what…?” I slumped, the fight draining from my veins. No. It couldn’t be. Takane and Haruka… they were gone, too?

My “father” walked up to me and rested a hand on my shoulder. To anyone watching, it might have just looked like a father comforting his daughter; but I could feel his fingers dig into my flesh in a vice grip. “Still, working this all back out from the top is going to be a pain. And that’s not even counting all of the cleanup I have to do! It’s one thing for those other two kids; I’d made preparations for them. But spinning the sudden disappearance of this brat, too? No, that’s far too much work.” He crouched down until he was level with me, a too-wide smile on his face. A shiver ran down my spine. “So, Ayano.I’m going to have you do me a little favor, alright? And before you consider trying to do something brave, consider just who it is that has your family’s life in his hands, hmm? Don’t say anything; just nod.” I nodded, stricken. Everything I’d planned had come to nothing in a few short minutes. “You’re going to find Shuuya for me, and you’re going to have him go make himself look like this guy -“ he waved vaguely at the empty edge of the roof - “’s body for me. A suicide should be easy enough to explain away. Especially when the victim was as gloomy-looking as this asshole here. Honestly, people’re gonna think it was a miracle he lasted as long as he did.” My fists clenched again at relentless slander, but there was nothing I could do. I was totally and utterly defeated. “You got it, Ayano? Do this, and I’ll let the people you care about live a little longer.” He chuckled. “…Well, what’s left of them, at least. Hahahaha!”

How could I have ever thought I could be a hero? All I’d managed to do was arrive too late to save either of the snake’s intended victims, and drag a bystander to his death in the process.

In the end, tears streaming down my face, all I could do was nod.

——

“Neechan!” Shuuya rushed up to me the minute I exited the school. He grabbed my hands - I didn’t resist - and gasped at the scrapes all over them. “What happened to you? Where’s Shintaro-kun?”

“Shintaro— He’s—“ My voice caught.

“Nee…chan…?” I could see the exact moment Shuuya caught on. His eyes widened and his face fell, all in one motion. “Dammit! And just when the guy starts to convince me he’s not all bad, he has to go and do something like this…” His hands tightened involuntarily around mine, but I couldn’t even find the energy to wince.

I spoke in a flat voice, forcing myself to put one word in front of the next. “Shuuya. There’s something very important I need you to do.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“You need to use your power to turn into Shintaro. Let somebody discover ‘his’ body, so there’ll be a record. If you don’t, then… then he’ll…” My voice caught again, but I forced myself to continue before Shuuya could ask any questions. “And then there’s one more thing you need to do. I need you to take Tsubomi and Kousuke, and go away. Go somewhere far away from here, and don’t— don’t tell me anything about where you’re going. You can’t contact me at all, okay? I can’t have any way to find out more about you.”

“W—what?”

“It’s the only way that you’re going to be safe. I… we can’t stop the Clearing Eyes. He can have you all killed in a moment.”

Shuuya must have been able to see the seriousness in my eyes, because he didn’t try to debate the point. “Okay, but… Why can’t you come with us? We can all run, that’ll be safer!”

I just shook my head. “…No. He… he’ll find me, somehow. He knew how to respond to everything that I tried. Anything I do… no matter what, I’m sure he’ll…” I hugged myself and started slowly walking towards the path home. It was clear to me now. I was nothing more than a puppet dancing on the Clearing Eyes’ strings.

“W-wait, Neechan! Come back!”

“Goodbye, Shuuya. Please don’t forget to do what I told you. Consider it… My final request as your sister.”

“NEECHAN!”

——

“…Hey, Shintaro. Why’d you do it?”

I lie on my back, staring at the empty ceiling as I talk to the air.

“I mean… You could have stayed out of it. It wasn’t your fight.”

The cranes crowding every surface above me seem to swirl and distort, like a heat haze.

My head keeps playing his final moments on repeat. Even as the happy days grow dimmer and dimmer, I can’t seem to forget his last words no matter how hard I try.

‘The very last person I wanted to see.’

“If… if you hated me so much, why didn’t you just let me be the one to jump? Why take my place?”

I wonder… if I’d been the one to jump that day, would he have been able to do what I couldn’t? I indulge in a brief fantasy of Shintaro, red jacket flapping behind him, standing tall with my siblings as they face down the Clearing Eyes together.

…Somehow, I just can’t see it. Sorry, Shintaro.

‘The life of a rotten boy like me is worthless’

“…Did you hate yourselfthat much? Were you so sick of life that you grabbed the first excuse you could find?”

…Maybe. But… somehow, as much as he tried to shut the world out, I can’t help but see Shintaro as someone who was brimming with life underneath it all. At the very least, whenever he talked about his sister, he didn’t seem like he’d want to leave her.

The thought of Momo-chan makes me wince. Another memory, this time of her crying and screaming at me when I’d tried to comfort her.

When I’d broken down and sobbed that it was all my fault.

I can’t blame her for hating me. To be honest, I wonder if it wasn’t what I was secretly hoping for.

Just another case where Ayano’s self-satisfaction came before actually doing her job.

My alarm clock rings. I’d set it instead of my phone, to make sure Ene couldn’t try and be a hero. (I can’t help but hope that she’s given up on me, and found her way to somebody who’ll be a better friend.) It means that the children…

…my victims…

…should be arriving soon.

I push myself to my feet. In the end, even blaming myself is just pointless self-satisfaction. I’ve made the choice to play this role; I made the decision that these two children were worth less than the family I know and care about.

It doesn’t take too long to get myself presentable. I choose an outfit that looks like its owner hasn’t been in hiding for the last two years, and glance at my scarf, hanging wrinkled and dusty on a hook.

My hands shake.

And I turn away without touching it. I don’t deserve to wear that color.

Not when red is the color of blood.

“Sorry, Shintaro. Guess you made the wrong trade, in the end. Even a genius like you makes mistakes, huh?”

With that snide remark, I turn my back on his sacrifice and walk out into the house.

…Still, a thought flits across my mind.

—Ah, I would have liked to see that smile, just one more time.

The doorbell rings. It’s time.

I hide my feelings behind a smile, painting it from ear to ear.

And I open the front door.

#kagerou project #tateyama ayano #kisaragi shintaro #fanfiction #shinaya #suicide cw #angst #i promise future fics for this series will be happier once i'm ready to write them #happy kagepro day!

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zaikaglow · 3 years

Text

Umbrageous Part 4

Pairing: Hange x Reader, Eren x Reader, Erwin x Reader (soon to be Levi x Reader)

Summary: Erwin is out and leaves you under Eren’s watchful eye to keep you out of trouble but when he gets called into the office on a Saturday what is a girl to do to entertain herself while plotting her next move of her office conquest

Content Warnings: Step dad! Erwin, alcoholism mention, size kink, cheating, pseudoincest

This chapter is the longest yet but I decided not to break it up for cohesiveness (if its to hard to read I may break it up if I get that request)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

You were laying in bed wrapped under the covers when you felt a hand touch your foot, Erwin you assume. A smile spreads across your face even while it's buried into the pillow, you feel happy knowing Erwin couldn't resist you so badly he was sneaking into your room while your mother slept off her hangover upstairs. But it's still only 7am and you're tired so you just tug open the covers as an invitation to slide in next to you. Instead of feeling a warm Erwin sliding in next to you to wrap you up in his big arms you're jolted as someone jumps into the bed and a nose starts to nuzzle behind your ear and under your jaw. “Eren”??? You exclaim as you sit up in bed looking bewildered that somehow this boy had gotten into your room. He’s laying down, head propped up on one hand, his elbow digging into the pillow next to yours. “Your dad told me to come and wake you” he says smiling ear to ear “uhh what are you doing here? On a saturday?” you reply still confused as to why he’s here. His eyebrows raised a little, seeming almost a little hurt that you seemed more confused than excited, the poor boy was so down bad for you at times you almost felt a little bad that he was a pawn in your deprived incestous game. “Mr.Smith told me he had an event to go to today and that I should come hand out to keep you company today, he’s making breakfast downstairs”. You place a hand onto his cheek rubbing your thumb in circles in an attempt to placate the saddened look on his face. It works and his smile returns and he takes your hand in his “let's go downstairs”.

Erwin is at the stove wearing a white tee shirt and his old plaid pajama bottoms, so simple and yet he looks oh so handsome especially when he turns around and smiles “Thanks for getting y/n out of bed Eren”. You both take a seat at the table Erwin places plates of pancakes in front of you and Eren and the dark haired boy slides his hand onto your thigh. “So are you and mom going out tonight or something” you say, still confused as to why Erwin would have invited the “Jaeger boy” into your house and then sending him into your bedroom. Erwin now sits down with the two of you at the table “Yes we have an engagement for her work this evening but we’ll be leaving soon. I figured your friend Eren here could keep you company while we're gone. Keep you out of trouble” He says with a wink. “I'll do my best Mr.Smith” Eren says mouth full, he’s lucky he’s hot otherwise that would have been utterly repulsive.

A few hours later and your mom and Erwin had left, they were probably going to be staying the night at some Inn since the event was so far away but Erwin had made sure to tell Eren that while he was to keep you company today he shouldn't be staying the night and that he’d be checking in. You and Eren were sitting on your bed, you laying down feet propped up against the headboard scrolling through your phone ignoring a text from Jean asking how you were doing over break and asking if you wanted to hang out once the break ended and that he missed you.. Like he missed his other friends of course (him trying to cover up his feelings only making them more obvious. Eren is sitting at the foot of the bed rattling off things that you could be doing. He wanted to prove to you that he could show you a good time, hopeful that after you both went back to school that you’d still want to see him. You two had been at the same campus this past year and you had never even known he existed; he worried about how easy it would be to forget him after the winter break ended. “Well we could go sledding? I have some old ones back at my place and there's this hill right in town I think that will be fun? Would you think that would be fun?” Eren was rambling when suddenly his phone went off and his eyes went wide “Mr.Ackermen? No it's okay, yeah I can help. Uh actually I was supposed to watch Mr.Smith's daughter today can I bring her? Oh really? Okay I guess that works out” he hangs up the phone. The words coming out of his mouth are so fast they almost blur together “Uhh y/n Im really sorry but Mr.Ackerman’s client had a problem come up and I know it's saturday but I have to come in a help but also the client is there and they're pretty cool i've met them so do you want to come with me? You could hang out with Hange or something. I'm sorry” he looks so nervous that you're about to get mad or upset but his face relaxes as you turn your head and just say “sure” right as you send a text saying the exact same thing to Jean.

It feels strange being back at the office on a saturday the normal bustle of people gone but also you were excited this felt like a way to get your foot in the door or zipper? Of Mr.Ackermans pants. You still knew that this would be the best way to get under Erwin’s skin and force his hand, but you hoped you could do it without Eren finding out it would break the poor boy's heart and he was a pretty good lay in the meantime besides you’ve never even seen Mr.Ackerman for all you knew he was an ugly old guy. You werent even sure if he’d be someone you could tolerate fucking for pure revenge yet.

But that fear was quelled when you saw him, surprised a little by his height he was tiny and you’d have to look down to meet his eye but he was beautiful. His undercut raven hair makes his stealy eyes look exceptionally blue. He was so perfect and little it was almost like he was a doll. And you were surprised at yourself, you mean you had laughed at the jokes about short guys before using the word “manlet” but you couldn't help but notice the tingling in between your thighs thinking about how hot it would be to be towering over him tilting up his perfect little chin to look you in the eyes as you pinned him down with your thighs.

“Eren, when you said you had to watch someone I figured it be a child” Mr.Ackerman said raising an eyebrow

“Yeah well my dad seems to think I’m one” you replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. The corners of Mr.Ackerman’s lips lifted and he let out a small chuckle “I’m Levi, you dad's business partner” he says extending his hand. You give it a slight squeeze to his hand shake admiring how delicate his hands were. “Im y/n it’s nice to finally meet you”. Eren steps out from behind you “So does this mean I can call you Levi now?” Eren chimes in “No” Levi replys rather flatly. It looks like he’s about to say something else when suddenly you see someone emerge from Levi’s office “Leeeeviiii is that your little friend whos here to help? Oh Eren it's nice to see you again!” you're a little surprised how this stranger is also very attractive, you were so used to messing with boys that you were a little caught off guard by just how attractive this feminine presenting person was. What the fuck was in the water in this town. Instead of walking around the couch that was placed by the office door they clamored over it, Levi wincing as their feet touched the cushions. “Hi, I’m y/n” you say extending your hand the stranger grabs it with both of their hands “I'm Hange Zoe, it's nice to meet you” they say with the most endearing smile. “Hange I told you to keep your goddamn feet off my couch!” Levi exclaims, still holding onto your hands Hange replies ``oh relax, you're so uptight I know you’d make everyone take their shoes off in here if you could”.

“Absolutely I would. Eren we have work to do, Hange try not to bore y/n to death” Levi says before closing the office door behind him. Hange pulls you back onto the cough they had previously just climbed over and asked you how you felt about science. “I like it, I'm actually majoring in biology right now” you say Hange’s eyes light up. They tell you about how they owned a small biotech company that was undergoing a merger and that was what brought them to Levi and Erwin’s business. They went on for a few hours about the intricacies of what they did when suddenly they stopped noticing you staring “Im sorry am I boring you? I’m told I have a habit of droning on” they say apologetic looks in their eyes. “No you're not boring me, I just noticed how beautiful your eyes are”. That's when they invited you back to their hotel, you had both been there so long, Eren and Levi were still working and it would be a while so why not? They popped in to tell the men they’d be giving you a ride home and that when you found yourself sitting on a queen sized bed drink in hand when Hange tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“I’ve never done this before, had sex with someone who’s not a man” you say shly Hange is kissing up your neck when they make it to your ear they whisper “youre a scientist” they nip at your earlobe “consider it a sort of experiment” they kiss you tasting sweet tang of their drink on your mouth. You bite your bottom lip sliding your hand up their thighs “will you teach me?” Hange bends down to kiss your ribs over your shirt their hands starting to move towards the button of your jeans when you place your hands over their harms running them up till you meet their jaw and pull their face back up to meet yours “you first” you mutter before dropping to your knees your head now between theirs. Your fingers make quick work of Hange’s button down and when you get to their chest you notice they weren't wearing a bra under their shirt. You kiss by their navel dragging your tongue up till you reach their nipple swirling your tongue around it before latching your lips to it. With how soft they felt in your hand and the way they moaned, threw their head back and gripped at the bed sheet you could feel your own panties getting soaked. You start to move your head back down kissing along their stomach until you get to their waistband you look up at Hange while your delicate fingers start to unbutton their slacks ``you're going to tell me what to do right?” their hand brushes your hair back, their fingers massaging through your scalp “of course my dear”.

Hange’s hands are pressed to both sides of your face “hhmm thats it, keep circling just like that” you have 2 fingers inside their tight cunt moving in and out making sure to use your knuckles to hit that sweet spot at the top just like Erwin does for you. You keep your pointed tongue moving in quick circles around their clit pausing every few strokes to wrap your lips around it and suck, until finally the fist your hair in their hands as you feel them start to clench around your fingers “good girl, now your turn”. They take your arms pulling you up as they lay down bringing your core right above their mouth kissing your slit over your panties hand running down your thigh, trailing their finger down the crease of your thigh and and core until they reach around the fabric pulling it to the side before dipping their tongue inside you. Your thighs squeeze around Hange’s face as they drag their tongue out of you and up around your clit. Fingers starting to run up your body making their way to your bra. Instead of unclasping it they pull down the cups letting your breasts spill out, fingers tweaking your nipples. It's all too much as you reach back to undo the rest of the bra you feel yourself getting closer as their tongue is back and forward from your dripping slit to your clit and you throw your head back in ecstasy as you ride out your orgasm on their thick tongue.

Laying back in bed Hange has their hands folded behind their head while your sitting cross legged blankets are pulled up to your wrist but your chest is still bare “hey Hange this may not be the best time for this.. But uh is that Levi guy single?” you say playing with fabric between your two fingers too embarrassed to look at the person who just fucked you into oblivion about another. A smile breaks across Hange’s face as they sit up and prop their head up under their fist “Levi?? You're interested really?” you look over at them trying to contain the nervous smile you feel tugging at your lips “yeah I think I am”. They laugh “That little hardass he seems tough but I know he’s lonely he’d appreciate attention from someone as delectable as you”, they tilt their head to the side “I'll introduce you to him again, I know how to warm him up”

Tag List: @thestrugglesofateenagedirtbag

#hange x reader #hange zoë #eren x reader #erwin x reader #aot x reader #aot fanfiction #aot smut

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delusionalteenagewhispers · 4 years

Text

Get Away Driver

Fandom: The Devil All The Time

Pairing: Arvin Russell x Reader

Part of a Series: Yes or No

Warnings: Spoilers! Don't read if you haven't watched the movie!/Lots of Angst/Some fluff/Mentions of death/Blood/Murder/Mentions of abuse/Mentions of Rape/Cussing/Gun Violence/Mentions of suicide/Mentions of baby death

Disclaimer: "The Devil All The Time" is not mine, Credit to lovely Creators. GIFS are not mine! Credit to owners!

A/n: HI! I just watched the movie and it is fucking awesome! And I love Tom Holland and now I’m in love with another character he plays, Arvin Russel! Also, I don’t know if they gave a name to the cop who gave Arvin the news about Lenora being preggers but his name is Howard I’m pretty sure, I had looked it up. If I am wrong don’t come after me. Also I think he was in his very early Twenty’s and he was semi friends with Lenora, Arvin and Y/n. Please do not read if you haven’t watched the movie! I hope you like it! Thank you for reading!!

Summary: Y/n knew the young Russels all her life. She knew Lenora the day she was born, courtesy of both their mother’s being great friends. She met Arvin the day he moved there. Y/n loved Lenora like her own sister and Y/n loved Arvin. So when Lenora took her life and Arvin avenge her going on some type of murder spree, she went after him. To help him.

Main Masterlist -> Here

Request List -> Here

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“ God damn-it Howard, just tell me what yah told the sheriff. Tell me where the fuck yah think he is. And don’t bullshit me either,” Y/n said staring the deputy down with a hard stare, trying to get much needed information out of him. To find her best friend’s brother, to find her friend, to find the stupid boy she was in love with.

“ I can’t tell yah that Y/n, yah know that..”

“ And yah know me, and Arvin. And yah knew Lenora too. Arvin was only doing what he needed to do to protect ‘er, to avenge ‘er,” Y/n knew Howard had always liked Lenora but she was too wrapped up in god and running away from the boys that would torment her at school to notice. Sure, Y/n was using that to her advantage but she needed to use all that she had if she was gonna find Arvin.

“ Don’t yah use that on me, look I care about yah guys. I know Arvin wouldn’t hurt nobody that didn’t deserve it. But I can’t tell yah where he is, and the Sheriff’s got it handled. He can take care of Arvin by himself, he don’t need a girl such as yourself getting in the middle.”

“ But he don’t know Arvin like I do. And that sheriff don’t use ever use his god damn head. I should know with how handled mah daddy,” Y/n and the Sheriff from Knockemstiff weren’t too friendly with one another. Back when Y/n was nothing but youngling, only 13 at the time, Sheriff Bodecker blew the head off her Daddy. Bedecker did protect her and her Mama that night. But Bodecker wasn’t there to help them. He was there for money her father owned him, and the man just wouldn’t give it up. So just seeing the man hit his daughter gave him enough reason to kill him and get his money. Y/n didn’t like how it went down, she’d seen the whole thing. All the yelling and the big shot gun. Got stricken across the face and then, her Daddy being shot.

“ I just know that Sheriff is gonna do somethin’ to sent ‘im off and Arvin might do somethin’ he gonna regret. Please just tell me where yah think he is. I need to find ‘im Howard. I need to find him before he does somethin’ stupid again. Please.”

Howard sighs, looking at the young girl in front of him. She was a good friend, he knew that much and he knew her since they were young. Arvin and him weren’t the best of friends, but they knew each other and that was enough. He knew Arvin cared for Lenora deeply and he’d do anything to protect her. And he knew Arvin loved Y/n, the two were so enamored in the other that they didn’t even know they held the same feelings. But with their feeling, he knew that Y/n was the best bet to help Arvin out of the hole he’s dug himself into.

“ Alright, alright I’ll tell yah. But don’t get yerself killed, Kay?” Y/n nodded happily.

“ We think he went back to Knockemstiff. Where he used to live as a kid, to his old house or somethin’... Now git, and don’t you tell nobody I to-” He was interrupted by the young girl hugging him tight.

“Yah won’t regret this, thank you.” And then she ran to her truck and made her way to knockemstiff, hoping she wasn’t too late to stop Arvin from taking another life if he felt he had to.

----

Shit is a word that Arvin repeated over and over again in his head as the Sheriff pointed his shotgun at him, yelling like a mad man. I mean, Arvin would have done the same thing if his sister was killed and in a way he had when he killed the Preacher. The sick fuck had deserved to die.

The Sheriff continued speaking, angry and drunk. Wanting so bad to kill the man who killed his sister. So when he finally found his hiding spot, he tried to shoot him wanting the bastard to die, wanting Arvin Russell to die. But sadly, he would not be getting his drunken revenge. The sheriff shot, trying to shoot the young boy only to shoot the fallen tree protecting Arvin and to get shot himself by the German Luger in Arvin’s hand.

Arvin’s whole body felt shaky after he shot him, he hated the thought that he killed another person, another man. Someone who had family, who had a life unlike the other three he shot and killed. This man was a lawman, and the law would have his head for this. Arvin pulled out a small picture, it was of Sandy Bodecker holding a dead man in her arms. Arvin showed him, so that the Sheriff could see why he had to kill her because if he didn’t, he might’ve of been killed himself. So he sat there as the man died just a few minutes later even though it seemed like hours. Arvin stood up, exhausted and went to grab his Jacket to get ready to take off when he heard his name being shouted by a voice he knew all too well. It was Y/n.

“ Arvin! Arvin Russel! I know yer out here!” Before Arvin could think, he scrambled behind the fallen tree, hoping she’d go away. He didn’t want to pull her into this, hell he’d left a letter for her too. Hoping his Grandmomma would have given it to her. The letter was all about her staying away, but she couldn’t even do that. Arvin knew Y/n was too stubborn to listen when she had her mind set. Y/n never listened to reason when she got her mind set on something else. Which in this place was running after him after he said not to.

“ Arvin please come out! I don’ts got a gun on me or anything. I have money and a truck, I even gots some clothes. I want to help yah. That ol’ sheriff is gonna be here any minute to get yah and I need yah to come with meh.” Arvin realized that she didn’t know the Sheriff already came, and that he shot him. He felt like shit that he was pulling her into this, that she was in this. This mess that he created.

Arvin knew he couldn’t just sit there, expecting that she’d think he wasn’t there Y/n always knew. Arvin always suspected that she knew him better than she knew himself. He spoke, just wanting so badly for to leave him be so that maybe she could be safe,“ Y/n, I need yah to leave. I uh, I’ve done shit things and I don’t wanna pull yah down with me. Please don’t be stubborn for once in yer life and listen to meh.” He heard Y/n sigh, which meant she was close.

“ Arvin, I ain’t leaving. So get your ass up outta whatever place your hiding in before I make yah.” He sighed, he knew he wasn’t gonna be able to do anything to make her leave. He stood up slowly, time seemed to slow down as tears filled her eyes upon seeing him, running at him and hugging him tightly. Arvin wrapped his own arms around her and rested his head onto her shoulder.

“ Yah big, dumb, idiot you...” She said quietly, hugging tightly like he might disappear if she lets go. Arvin sighs, feeling a strange sort of comfort in her arms. It reminded him of the comfort he used to have with mother, when she’d hold him or sing that old song ‘Bessie’. She pulled back before looking down to see the dead body, Sheriff Lee Bodecker.

He heard her sigh,“ Where the Luger?”

Arvin was surprised by how calm she was, seeing a dead body right in front of her. But then again, he knew Y/n. She’d seen things that even he hadn’t seen and he saw his pet dog being crucified and his Daddy taking his own life with a god damn pocket knife. Arvin looks down at the ground, where he buried his poor dog and his Daddy’s gun,“ I buried it.”

“ Good, we don’t need nobody else dying cause yer trigger happy.” Arvin nods his head, not really having anything to say.

“ ‘Kay, go git into the truck, I’ll be up there soon. I need a few minutes to send a few prayers for the man and such.”

“ Look Y/n, yah don’t have to do thi-”

“ Go git in the truck Arvin. We’ll talk in a few. Just go git in the truck.” Arvin sighed, nodding before making his way up the hill to Y/n’s old black pickup. He opened the door and sat in the passengers seat. He knew he could’ve probably dipped out on her, tried to push her away so that she doesn’t get involved in this mess. But he knew no matter how hard he tried, she would just pop right back. Because she loved him, it was clear to him now that she loved him the same way he loved her. I mean, what kind of girl would drive all that way to knockemstiff just to pick up a boy she knew murdered several people. Girls in love.

----

Arvin and Y/n sat in silence in the truck. Silence reminded Y/n of her Father. How her and him would sit in his black pickup truck, the same one she now drove in. They’d drive in complete silence, to a place where he could have his way with her when she was nothing but a child.

Y/n thoughts started to wonder, wondering if that's what the preacher did to Lenora, took her to a place in his car where he could get what he wanted, blinded by his sinful acts. She’s seen him do it to the Reaster Girl and he once tried to do with her. But she wasn’t stupid enough to get into a car with a man she just met, with a man that reminded her of a man she longed to forget but always stayed ingrained in her brain.

Men like that are always blinded by sin, no matter how much they say they are a man of god, they are just the devil in disguise using god's name to cover up their tracks for what they do. She thought Lenora would've been safe, but that sadly wasn't god's plan. Arvin stared ahead, trying to keep awake as he tried to figure out something to say when Y/n spoke up," I do this cause I care about yah and yer all I have left. I donts got any family no more. At least nobody in coal creak. Your all I gots left.", the girl had started, causing Arvin to wake up a little. And he looked at her, watching as she gripped the steering wheel, so focused on the road but also focused on making Arvin know her reasons for helping him. For a helping a boy who's killed.

"We aren't blood related but we're friends, we're close enough to be family. Lenora was mah friend, but she was mah family. And what that preacher did, he deserved to die. That man reminded me too much of mah Daddy. I knew he was trouble from the start. I could see the way he did things, it was the same type of things mah daddy did. Those type of men, they always have a pattern. Mah Daddy did, and so did the preacher."

Y/n didn't speak of her father often, sometimes it was too painful to talk about. About the things he did to her and her mother. He'd beat them, and he'd use them in more ways than one. Using them to show off to the world what a man of god he was as the Father of a small Church. Or to use them as servants for his house to be picture perfect, not a thing out of place or there would be a price to pay. Or, he'd use them in the most sinful way of all, through lustful acts. And not just his wife, but his daughter too. Lenora had saved her most times, sneaking her into her home late at night or sometimes in early morning or during the day. And Y/n helped her with the boys at school, trying to get them to leave Lenora alone. It never worked, both Lenora trying to keep Y/n away from her Daddy and Y/n trying to keep Lenora away from the horrid boys at school. But they both tried, and for just that Y/n saw Lenora as family and Lenora saw her as family too.

" Lenora didn’t deserve what happened to her. She was such a bright girl, she my best friend. She always helped, no matter if it was gonna hurt her in the end. She always helped.” Y/n paused, a small memory forming in her head and then into words.

“ Remember how Lenora used to hide me from mah Daddy? She'd sneak me in the window and yah'd hear it and come running to tell us to shut up before we woke up Grandmomma. Then you’d proceed to act like yah didn’t want me there, only throw one of yer shirts at me telling me it wouldn’t be the greatest thing for meh sleep in mah day clothes,” Y/n spoke, a small smile and chuckle leaving her, Arvin watched it. Watched how a memory with not good things embedded into it made her smile. Arvin never understood how Y/n could get so happy just by a single memory. Even memories that weren’t the greatest. Arvin thought it was probably because she didn’t have many good memories, only a few but they always had some type of her hurt in them but she still cherished them as much as she could. Mostly, all memories she had was her trying to save herself and her depressed mother from her Daddy, so not too many were happy. And because of all those no good memories, Arvin rarely ever did see her smile like that, smile with really happiness and not just something phony so no one will worry about her. But Arvin knew, he always did.

He hears her sigh," I wished she would've recognized the signs of a man like that. Of a man like mah father, she knew ‘im, we both pledged to stay away from men like that. But sadly, they always tend to get us one way or another. No matter what their relation is to yah, they always get yah." She pauses, thinking about Lenora for a minute, thinking about how she didn’t deserve that kind of abuse, about how she didn’t deserve to die, to kill herself.

“ What I’m trying to say, is who yah killed, they deserved to die, not the other way around. And thats why I’m helping yah, because yah don’t deserve whatever’ punishment the law’s gonna inflict on yah. You were Lenora’s brother and in a way she was my sister. So I’m looking out for yah, for her.”

Arvin looked down at his hands, the same ones that held a gun, his Daddy’s gun,“ But aren’t I like those men, aren’t I turning into them? I’ve killed, Y/n. Not just the preacher. I’ve killed another man and a women, I’ve killed the Sheriff.”

“ And why did you kill ‘em?”

“ They were gonna kill me. T-the man had a gun, so did his wife. I shot ’im before he could shoot me and I shot his wife too. I had begged her to put down the gun. B-but she wouldn’t. And the Sheriff, he was gonna kill me cause the wife was his sister. ”

“ See, yah only killed to get rid of the horrible people who only intend to hurt yah. Yah killed with reason, not just cause yah were blinded by sin. And that Sheriff, sure he was a lawman, but he was a bad one. He deserved it as much as his sister. So no, yah aren’t like ‘em. That’s why I love yah, stupid. Because yah aren’t like them.” Arvin looked at her, all she did was stare straight ahead, focusing on the road. Arvin knew she had hard times with saying love. Even just saying love to people who were just family or friends. Love scared her, he knew that. It scared him too. Love to kids like them was a scary thing, because it didn’t come often and when it did it was ripped away from them. Slowly Arvin put his hand on her leg, to give her at least some sort of comfort, some sort of touch and maybe he needed the touch as much as she did too.

“ I love yah too, yah know.” He said as he looked out the window.

“ I know.”

-----

“ Put these on.” Y/n spoke throwing a black t-shirt and Jeans at him, the clothes landing on his head.

“ Why?”

“ Cause, they already know what yer wearing. If yah wear something different it’ll be harder to find yah, plus it’ll be better for yah to wear somethin’ cleaner.” Arvin sighed grabbing the clothes Y/n threw at him.

“ Also, I got somethin’ for yah. Here.” She then throws a pack of cigarettes at him. The pack hitting him square in the face making Y/n laugh.

“ Yah know, yah could always just hand me the stuff instead of throwing it at me.”

“ Well where would the fun be in that?” Y/n said with a smirk and wiggling her eyebrows in a goofy way. It was dark out and Arvin sat in the open back of the truck while Y/n threw stuff at him that she’d packed. Arvin was surprised about how prepared she was. She packed all the necessitates. Like blankets and clothing, even food and water and even money. Arvin was grateful and lucky Y/n came after him, he would’ve been completely lost without her.

“ Now git dressed. I’ll look away, don’t yah worry.” Then made a show of slowly turning around and putting her hands over her eyes. It made Arvin chuckle, he liked when he saw Y/n like this, all goofy and just plain smiles. It reminded him of Lenora, it reminded him of his mother.

“ So where did yah get these clothes anyway? They look like mine.”

“ Yeah, I raided yer drawers. Grandmomma helped me too.”

“ She knew yah were going after me?”

“ Yeah, she does. She wanted me to find yah and to make sure yer safe. She said I’d be the only one to keep yer ass in line out here.” There was a moment of silence between the two.

“ I’m done getting dressed.”

“ Finally, I need some well deserved sleep and you are taking up our bed for the night. We’ll find something better tomorrow though.” Y/n hopped on the makeshift bed with all the blankets she had piled onto one another to make it more comfortable than it was on the back of the pickup truck. She laid down and looked up at the sky, a small smile on her face.

“ Yah aren’t gonna change either?”

“ Oh, uh I uh, I forgot to bring a change of clothes. I was so focused on getting shit for yah and finding yah. I forgot some clothes for myself. But it’s fine.”

“ No it ain’t. Here, wear one of my shirts yah brought, I bet wearing that dress isn’t too comfortable.” Y/n raised an eyebrow at him.

“ Is this just yer way of getting me to wear yer clothes. Cause yah could always ask.”

“ Oh shut up and put on the clothes.” Arvin said with a little red starting to creep up on his cheeks, he was thankful it was dark out so she couldn’t see. Y/n laughed as she grabbed one of Arvin’s shirts, it was his white button up church shirt. Y/n had always wanted to try it on, it seemed comfy to Y/n, and it was. When Arvin could finally look, his eyes wanted to pop out of his skull, and in a way they were. There she was, in just undergarments and his white button-up. Arvin always hated that shirt but right then, he loved it.

“ Alrighty, now it’s time for sleep. We got a lot of driving to do tomorrow cause we are going all the way to Cincinnati.”

“ What’s in Cincinnati?” Arvin asked as Y/n climbed in the back and laid down.

“ My Uncle lives out there. I gave him a call at one of the phones while you slept in the Truck. He’s gonna keep us for awhile, he’s got an extra room and he’s gonna let us stay until we are able to leave and make a life for ourselves without the cops coming after yah.” She laid down looking up at the sky as she spoke. She never saw her uncle anymore, the man used to live with her and her parents when she was young. But one fateful day at age 10 he moved to Cincinnati and never really kept in contact. Y/n knew his number, always wanted to call him. There were multiple times where she wanted to call and beg him to take her away from her small house in Coal Creak. But she never did. When she called, the man was ecstatic when he heard her voice. He offered her to stay with him before she could even ask. It made her wonder how a man who obviously wanted her to be in his life never kept contact for many years of her life. But she already knew it was probably cause of her Daddy. The man never liked how his brother looked at her Mama and how she looked at him. How he seemed to act like more of a father to Y/n then her own was.

“ You have an Uncle?”, Arvin asked popping Y/n out of her thoughts as he propped up on his elbow so he could look at her. As he looked at her, he started thinking about how beautiful she was. Even in the dark and with the dirt and the few stray leaves in her hair and even wearing his horrid old church shirt. He still thought she was just plain beautiful.

“ Yeah I do, he used to live with me when I was younger. He’s a good man.”

“ And does he know what I did?” Arvin asked nervously.

“ I told him, he said it wouldn’t be any different if yah were in the war. Don’t worry, we gonna have a place to go. Yer gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay. I got it handled,” Arvin couldn't explain how he felt in that moment, as he stared at her, knowing how Y/n was always there. Even when they were just kids and he was just plain lonely and to now where she's helping him get away from the law after killing. But all he knew, in that moment, was that he loved her and he wanted to tell her in the best possible way. Love to kids like him and her was a rare thing, so he decided he was gonna act on it. So he kissed her.

From his propped up position he was able to swoop down and touch his lips to hers as she laid there looking up at the stars. Y/n was surprised at first, not knowing what was happening when realization hit her. Arvin Russell, her best friend growing up, the boy she loved was kissing her. So she kissed him back. Their positions changed through the kiss. Y/n now straddled his lap and her arms circled around his neck, one hand running through the back of his hair. Arvin sat below her, one hand on her hip and the other grasping the side of her face gently. Both putting all their love and passion for one another into that one kiss. They both finally pull away, both of their lips being swollen but big smiles on both of their faces, even Arvin who rarely showed smiles. But that just made Y/n appreciate them that much more.

“ Arvin...,” Y/n started, looking at him with so much love.

“ I love you’ Y/n. And not just as a friend or any of that shit. I love yah, I love you as someone I want by me like my Daddy wanted my Mama.” Y/n looks at him as if he just moved the moon.

“ I love yah too. Always have, always will,” She speaks, with lovey, dovey tone to her voice before leaning down and kissing him again. Both got aroused fast from their positions and soon they both had one of the best nights of their lives. The lost of both of their innocents. Both of them were each others first and will also be their last.

-----

It was sunrise when Arvin woke up, Y/n laid upon his very shirtless chest as her naked body stayed hidden under the blankets. The memories of what happened last night circles around in his brain, making him smile. He and Y/n had both lost their innocence last night in the back of her Black pickup truck. Arvin couldn’t remember a time of being so happy and feeling so loved like he was last night. Both knew it was a sin in god’s eyes, but they both hoped he’d forgive them since even though it was before marriage, they were still in love and in their eyes its not any different.

Arvin looked down at her, entranced by how beautiful she looked, how pure she looked just sleeping all sprawled out on his chest, her hair all messy and a light pink dashed across her cheeks from the cold. He sighed, wishing this type of peace could last forever. That the two could just stay like that in the middle of the woods in the back of the truck just enjoying one another’s company. But he knew thats not how life always worked.

Y/n started to stir, her eyes starting to slowly open as she let out a small yawn. Her nose scrunched up as she yawn, it reminded Arvin of a small Kitten. She was his little kitten.

“ Mornin’,” Arvin spoke in his deep southern voice as he looked at her. She looked up at him, a small smile gracing her face.

“ Good Mornin’, so yah ready to take off for Cincinnati with meh? You know you ain’t getting rid of me now?” Arvin smiled, swooping down to give her a gentle and soft kiss the lips before pulling away.

“ And I wouldn’t change it for the life of me, Darlin’.”

#arvin russell #arvin russell x reader #arvin russel x y/n #arvin russel x you #the devil all the time #Emma Russell

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bloodfromthethorn · 3 years

Text

Friendly Fire

Mac tries very hard not to make mistakes, because whenever he does, people always, always get hurt. An army days fic.

Part thirteen of the July of Whump 2021 prompt challenge.

Also on AO3.

Despite what a lot of people seemed to believe, Mac did make mistakes. It didn’t happen all that often because he was viscerally aware that a lot of what he did was dangerous to more than just himself and that meant that you goddamn checked your working, but he wasn’t infallible. When he’d been younger, those mistakes had usually been small things, like falling out of a tree because he’d misjudged the distance between two branches or not picking up on his father’s mood quickly enough to avoid a lecture, but there had been some big blowouts too. The football field was probably the crowning example, but it wasn’t the only one.

Then he’d joined the army and been sent into the desert and suddenly the idea of making a mistake went from ‘possibly dangerous’ to ‘will almost certainly cost lives’. It was around that time that he started triple checking his working, just to be sure.

Which made it all the more horrifying when he did finally screw something up badly enough to get someone hurt. And, just in case that wasn’t punishment enough for his own stupidity and hubris, of course that someone would be Jack. Of fucking course.

He dug through the rubble like a man possessed, tearing open a gouge on his hand as he did so but not faltering for even a single second.

“Jack!” He didn’t dare raise his voice too high just in case any hostiles had survived the blast, but he needed his Overwatch to answer him. Since the wall had come down, he hadn’t heard a peep. “C’mon Dalton, you’re not going out like this. You do not get to die on me.”

He scrabbled for a moment against a chunk of sundried stone just a little too heavy for him to comfortably shift, then was rewarded with the smallest sliver of desert camo. More carefully, he tossed aside some of the smaller bricks, uncovering a gloved hand to go along with the arm he’d first seen. From there it was the matter of moments to clear the rest of Jack’s body, quietly thankful with each new revelation that at the very least he was still in one piece. Bruised and bloody, but whole.

And still not waking up. Maybe Mac wasn’t so relieved after all.

“Jack? Dalton? Can you hear me?” He felt for a pulse, gusting out a pained sigh when he finally found it – a little too fast for his liking, but strong all the same. “Thank god,” he breathed quietly.

There was blood around Jack’s eye from a gash on his forehead, with more dripping from a split lip, but otherwise he looked remarkably alright. No doubt his combat gear and dust coated skin was hiding a multitude of bruises and possible broken bones, but at the very least he wasn’t in danger of bleeding out. Or- well. A thought suddenly occurred to Mac and he spent the next ten seconds wrestling with Jack’s vest to get at his stomach to search for any signs of severe internal bleeding, not relaxing until his search turned up nothing more than unbroken skin.

“Okay,” he said more to himself than his unconscious partner. “We’ve got to get out of here. Stayed too long as it is.”

A glance around didn’t turn up anything he could conveniently use as a litter. He was thoroughly unwilling to leave Jack’s side while he was so defenceless, particularly when hostiles might be closing in, so that meant they were doing this the hard way. He started by untangling Jack’s rifle and making sure the safety was on before setting it carefully on the ground beside him; Jack would be giving him hell for messing with it, but if that was an argument he wanted to have then he was just damn well going to have to wake up and have it, wasn’t he?

Next came the man himself. Even though Mac was technically classified as a non-combatant, he’d still had to go through Basic with all the other recruits, so he’d done plenty of fireman’s lifts before. None of them had really prepared him for the added weight of responsibility he felt as soon as Jack was on his shoulders. He’d always considered their partnership to be two-way: Jack protected Mac and Mac protected Jack right back. It had never really felt this literal before though. Normally his protection came in the form of defusing a bomb before it went off, not bearing the man’s limp weight as they moved through hostile territory when at any minute a bullet could come their way.

But now wasn’t the time to be frozen by indecision and fear. Certainly not when he had to contend with the not inconsiderable weight of Jack and his gear, and then had to juggle his rifle in his free hand. Now was the time for action.

Without stopping to overthink it, he hitched Jack up a little higher and took off in the direction of their Humvee.

No doubt he made a hell of a scene pulling into camp and skidding the vehicle to a stop beside the medical tent, but by that point he was far too wound up to care. Jack hadn’t so much as stirred once, and while his breathing and heart rate were holding steady, Mac could feel his skin crawling with the awful sense that maybe something was critically wrong after all.

As soon as the Humvee came to a stop, he was on his feet and shouting, summoning the random assortment of medical staff who happened to be both in earshot and available. On the other side of the ‘road’, a handful of signalmen poked their heads out of the communications tent to see what was going on. Mac barely spared them a glance – all he cared about was getting Jack inside and to help as quickly as humanly possible and then finding somewhere quiet so he could have a breakdown in peace.

To that end, he hauled Jack back up onto his shoulders and met the medical staff halfway, breathlessly explaining what had happened. A gurney was unceremoniously shoved in front of him and he carefully tipped his charge down onto it. The second Jack was down, the staff were pulling him away, whisking him off for an examination inside. He took half a step to follow, but was immediately blocked by one of the nurses.

“Sir, are you injured?”

Mac barely spared the Private a glance, trying to push past but getting stopped by a firm hand on his chest. “No, I’m fine, but he’s my Overwatch, I have to-”

“Specialist,” the nurse said sharply, moving with him to keep him from getting past. “Your partner is getting the best care he can. If you’re not injured, you’ll need to report in. Only medical staff and patients are allowed past this point.”

A prickle-hot wave of frustration raced through Mac at being denied access to his partner, but it was almost immediately chased away by a wash of cold when he properly registered what the man had said. ‘You’ll need to report in.’ Of course that’s what he needed to do – standard protocol and all that. Theoretically he was already in violation of his orders by not having turned on his heel the instant Jack was in the hands of the medical staff, although he was pretty sure he could be forgiven in this particular instance.

But even then, he needed to report in. He had to walk up to his commanding officer and explain that because of his own stupidity and carelessness, he might just have gotten his own partner killed. Jack wasn’t well liked by the Brass, exactly, but he was certainly well respected and now Mac had to walk up to the Major and explain just how badly he’d fucked up. And then, assuming that didn’t get him transferred or demoted or fucking arrested, he was going to have to walk into the barracks filled with Jack’s friends and hope that none of them decided revenge was a dish best served hot. The Brass might not like Jack too well, but the men sure did.

Well, at least he had one thing going for him: since they were in the FOB and not the main operating base, he wouldn’t have to report directly to the Colonel. Small mercies.

“Specialist?” The nurse was saying, apparently alarmed by his sudden freeze. “Are you injured?”

“N-No,” he managed when he finally managed to find his voice again. The nurse didn’t look convinced, so he repeated himself more firmly. “No, I’m fine. You’re right, I need to report. Just- Look after him, okay?”

The nurse’s severity and concern fell away under a blanket of reassurance, his expression turning soft. “We will, don’t you worry. I’ll make sure someone lets you know when he gets moved to the ward, okay? You’ll be able to visit him then.”

Barely clinging to the present moment, all Mac could do was nod. The nurse gave him an appraising look, but whatever it was that Mac was projecting apparently passed muster because he nodded sharply and backed off, giving him one last glance before ducking into the tent and disappearing. For a long moment, Mac just stared at the spot where he’d been in the hopes that if he waited long enough, his brain might kick into gear before he had to face the Major.

Of course, it didn’t happen.

In a daze, he backed up from the entrance to the medical tent, glancing about in sudden self-awareness but finding himself mostly alone. The few people he could see appeared to be going about their days as normal, not paying him the slightest bit of attention.

Right. Things to do. No matter what had just happened, he was still on duty. He had work to be doing.

With a firm mental shake, he forced himself to climb back into the Humvee and drive it over to the much more suitable parking lot. He procrastinated for a few minutes then, sorting out his and Jack’s stuff and making sure the equipment he’d collected earlier that morning was still secure. It already felt like a thousand years ago. That done, he checked the vehicle in with the mechanics and headed to the command tent to face his fate.

Mac had never had much cause to interact with Major Torres beyond receiving the occasional direct mission brief or having to give an in-person report when a mission went sideways. Both cases usually ended up being pretty stressful affairs, either because there was a lot on the line or because Mac had to own up to some hare-brained scheme that would probably have gotten him court marshalled twenty times over if his skillset hadn’t been in such high demand. The result was that almost all of Mac’s recollections of the Major were coloured in shades of concern and unhappiness, despite the man himself having never done anything particularly bad to Mac himself. On the contrary, the man had been ridiculously forgiving of some of the shit Mac had tried to pull in the past.

Nonetheless, as he stood in front of him now, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly small.

“So you arrived in Sakini at 1300 hours?”

“Yes sir.”

“What was the situation on the ground?”

“At first, quiet. There were a couple of locals around, but they didn’t appear armed and they didn’t visibly react to our presence at all.”

“At first?”

Mac swallowed, willing himself to keep his thoughts in the right order. The last thing he needed was to add ‘filing an inaccurate report’ to his list of transgressions. “Jack – Sergeant Dalton – went out to do a survey of the area. I stayed back in the vehicle. When he deemed it was clear, he called me out while he set up on the roof of a building in- the town square, I guess.” He pointed at the appropriate place on the map, well aware that the handful of buildings hardly constituted a town, much less one in possession of anything resembling a square, but the building Jack had chosen had good sightlines and that was the main point.

“You went looking for the IED.”

“Yes.”

“Did you encounter any resistance?”

“No. The locals all kept out of my way, but not so much so I thought they were actively avoiding me. More like they just didn’t want to get involved in our business.”

“But you did find a device?”

“Yes sir, but not for an hour or so. It had been tucked into the gap between two buildings and blocked off with crates. Just getting to it took longer than it should have done.”

Torres’ expression twisted in something that might have been sympathy. Two US soldiers alone in possibly hostile territory for over an hour was never the start of a happy story.

“Once I did get to it,” Mac continued, bracing himself, “I was able to disarm it pretty quickly. The device was well hidden, but not particularly well built. It had a single failsafe, but compared to a lot of what we’ve been seeing recently, it was surprisingly basic.”

Evidently, his opinion was not welcome; the Major’s face darkened. “If that’s the case, then why is one of my men in the infirmary following an explosion, Specialist?”

He ducked his head on instinct, shame and fear washing over him afresh. It didn’t matter; what had happened, happened, and beating around the bush now wasn’t going to change that.

“Because I messed up, sir,” he said honestly. “The device was successfully disarmed, but before I could pack it up, Sergeant Dalton alerted me to hostiles closing in on our position. One of them must have been watching Sakini in case we showed up. There were too many of them for Jack to safely deal with alone and they were between us and our transport, so I came up with a plan to funnel them into a small space, and then trigger the explosion. It seemed like our best shot of taking them all out at once, so Jack agreed.”

Torres nodded, but didn’t interject with his own opinion.

Mac cleared his throat. “I needed a minute to rearm the device, and we needed to make sure they all got into position, so Jack acted as the bait. He took a few pot shots at them to get their attention, then made a run for it. Thankfully, they followed. I planted the device at a weak point on the building’s exterior, armed it, and retreated.”

“Dalton didn’t have time to clear the building?”

If Mac had been a little more dishonest – and perhaps less certain that he wouldn’t immediately get caught in the lie – he might have said yes. It still put him on the hook for blowing up his Overwatch, but it still felt a little less like a crushing failure on his part. But that wasn’t who Mac was, and even if it had been, it certainly wasn’t who Jack was, and the second he woke up he’d be asked to give his own account of things. The only way forward was the truth, no matter what it might be.

“Actually, he made it out okay. Things appeared to have gone perfectly but… I wasn’t watching my back, sir. I thought that all the hostiles had entered the building and I wasn’t careful enough. One of them managed to flank me. He was yelling something – I don’t speak Arabic – and dragging me back towards the building – I fought him, but…”

The memory flashed back to him, a warm hand painfully tight on his arm, the hard barrel of an assault rifle jabbing into his ribs, and neither of those things as scary as the IED he was being hauled towards. He’d tried to say something, tried to struggle, but the man had been huge even if he hadn’t had a gun to back him up. Mac hadn’t stood a chance.

Fortunately, Torres seemed to read into what he wasn’t saying. “Dalton doubled back to help you.”

“Yes sir.” His voice sounded small even to himself.

“And he got caught in the blast when he came too close to the building.”

“Yes sir.”

A pause. “Were you hurt in the explosion?”

Mac blinked in surprise, caught off guard. In truth, once Jack had gone down and stopped answering his radio, it had never occurred to Mac to even think about himself. “Uh, no sir. The man holding me was – he was between me and the device, so he caught the worst of it. Knocked him out, I think.”

“You think?”

“I- uh. I knew Sergeant Dalton was hurt. I was more focused on getting to him and getting him out than I was about the hostiles.” He knew it sounded bad even as he said it. He tried his best to look sheepish, but all he really felt was bone-deep weariness. He wanted this to be done. “I’m sorry sir.”

The Major shook that off, unconcerned. “With your Overwatch down, Dalton should have been your priority. EOD aren’t trained to be combatants.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but Mac was hardly about to argue with the man. Besides, he doubted it had escaped notice that he wasn’t wearing his sidearm; he’d been given one as part of his kit and told to carry it with him whenever he was in uniform, but after about a month of working with Jack, he’d felt safer leaving it in the Humvee instead. He wasn’t confident that if there was a hostile in front of him he’d be able to shoot them anyway, so carrying around a loaded weapon was more of a liability than anything. Jack didn’t agree, but he hadn’t pressed the issue.

“What happened next?”

“I found Jack buried in the rubble. He had a visible head wound and he was unconscious. When I couldn’t wake him, I carried him back to our vehicle and came straight here.”

Torres nodded slowly. “Do you have anything else of note to report?”

“No sir.” He held still, waiting for his verdict. He could personally point out about twelve different things he’d done wrong, and every single one of them added up to Jack in a hospital bed. If it really was anything worse than a concussion…

If it came to that, there wasn’t anything the Major could do to Mac that he wouldn’t deserve.

“Alright,” the man said, his voice heavy and drawn. “I take it you know that I’ll have to report this up the chain. Circumstances aside, catching your own teammate in a repurposed IED blast isn’t going to look good and that’s before we even get to you getting ambushed.”

“Yes sir.”

Torres sighed, looking momentarily softer than he had any right to after the shitshow he’d just heard about. “For now, the most any of us can do is wait for Dalton to wake up so he can give his own report. We’ll go from there. In the meantime, I’ll send some men out to Sakini to work on clean-up; you go get washed up. You’re off rotation until your Overwatch is back on his feet.”

The very idea of having a shower and going to bed felt utterly heavenly – just thinking of being gifted such a reward after what he’d done made something in Mac balk. He straightened up, trying to make himself look firm. “That’s not necessary, sir. I’m still fit for work.”

Torres paused in surprise, then gave him a quick look up and down. “You’re asking for another Overwatch?”

Mac hesitated, but didn’t back down. “Not permanently, sir. I know Sergeant Dalton’s tour is conditional. But while he’s in recovery, if there’s work that needs doing then I’m happy to do it.”

The Major didn’t look entirely thrilled by the idea, but he wasn’t turning him down cold either. Mostly, he seemed thoughtful. “It sounds like you were pretty close to an explosion yourself. You’re sure you’re in good shape?”

“I mostly caught the blowback, sir. Made my ears ring, knocked the wind out of me. Nothing serious, nothing permanent.” It was true, too. He really had gotten off incredibly lightly given the severity of the situation, and he could mostly thank the man who had been trying to kill him for it. He’d ended up acting as a surprisingly effective human shield, in the end.

Slowly, Torres nodded. “Okay. I’m going to ask you to get a medical check-up to confirm you’re as okay as you say you are, but if that comes back clean, you can keep working. As it happens, one of our other EOD techs – Garcia – is shipping out in the morning, and his Overwatch doesn’t have a new partner yet. You know Corporal Lee?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. You can stick with him until Dalton’s back on rotation. Check in with him directly to get your instructions, clear?”

“Clear, sir. Thank you.”

“Good. Now, go get that check-up and find out what’s become of your partner. You know he won’t be happy about you working with someone else.”

Torres said it lightly, sharing something of an in-joke that Mac was only half party to. Jack had never properly explained the nature of his deal with Torres – and the Colonel above him – to extend his tour with some provisos, but he’d got the impression that there had been a lot of shouting involved. Honestly, he’d been glad to steer clear of it. Apparently, though, it wasn’t too much of a sore point with Torres anymore and Mac was grateful; he’d hated to know that Jack had put so much on the line for his sake.

With a clear dismissal, Mac saluted, then turned on his heel and headed back to the medical tent. He avoided the emergency area this time, electing instead to go into the space just beyond it that was set aside for the standard check-ups that active soldiers were routinely subjected to.

Stupidly, it wasn’t until he was gestured towards an unoccupied booth that he realised his palm was still coated in dried, flaking blood. In everything that had happened, he’d completely forgotten about the minor wound. Not that there was anything to be done about it now. It wasn’t like he could hide it and besides, it really was only very minor. It shouldn’t pose any threat to his ability to work.

When the doctor made it round to him, he suffered through the indignity of the exam with little grace, too worn out and drained to make small talk. Fortunately, the doctor seemed to understand his mind was elsewhere, because he maintained a solid professional demeanour throughout and didn’t prod when others might have done. He cleaned out the slice in Mac’s palm, agreeing that it wouldn’t need stitches, and carefully checked his torso for any signs of major damage. Finding none, he signed off on Mac’s duty form and gave him back his shirt.

“You’re Dalton’s partner, right?” He said, just as Mac finished getting dressed again.

Mac’s eyes snapped up to look at him. “Yes. Is he- Is there news?”

The man shot him a reassuring smile, flapping a hand to soothe his obvious concern. “Everything’s okay, calm down. He took a hell of a knock to the head, but there’s no signs of critical damage. We’ll be keeping him in for a few days for concussion and cognition checks and the like, but from what I’ve heard, he got off remarkably lucky. He’s sedated at the moment, but I think they’re planning to bring him around in the next hour or so – you can go and sit with him if you like?”

He made a vague sweeping gesture in the direction of the main ward, an obvious invitation, but despite his desperation to see that his partner really was still in one piece, Mac hesitated.

The last time Jack had been injured – a bullet graze over the meat of his shoulder that he seemed annoyed by more than anything – Mac had planted himself at his partner’s side and refused to budge. It had felt like the right thing to do; Jack had always made a point of sticking around whenever Mac was ill or injured, and the least he could do was return the favour. Besides, sitting and chatting with him was a lot better than continuously replaying the moment when the bullet had caught him, his cry of pain and surprise. Jack had certainly seemed to appreciate the company while he waited out the required bedrest portion of his recovery.

But that had been then, when Jack had been wounded by a bullet Mac couldn’t possibly have done anything about. Now, he was laid up with a head injury because Mac hadn’t been smart enough to watch his own back for all of five minutes and had ended up luring his partner into an explosion he caused. On every possible level, Jack’s injuries were his fault.

There wasn’t the slightest chance that the first thing he would want to see when he woke up would be Mac’s face.

He became distantly aware that he’d frozen in place and the doctor had started to eye him critically, so he slapped on what he hoped looked like a relieved smile.

“Nah, that’s okay. I don’t want to disturb him if he needs the rest. Besides, I’m knackered too.”

To his credit, the doctor managed to keep whatever he thought about that off his face. Instead, he offered an obliging smile. “Of course. You’ve had a rough day too.”

Mac nodded, then a thought occurred to him. “Can you let me know, though, if- If something happens?”

No matter how much Jack might not want to see Mac, the only way Mac would be able to not bear seeing him is if he knew that the man was going to be okay. He needed to know that his own stupidity hadn’t done worse than what he already knew about.

“Of course. You’re set up as his base contact anyway, so you’re supposed to be kept in the loop.”

He hadn’t known that Jack had done that, though in hindsight it made sense. He’d done the same the day after Jack had decided to stay on after all. Still, the very thought of it now, when Mac was just about the one person in the entire FOB who Jack shouldn’t be relying on to be there in times of trouble- It stung.

He buried the sensation as best he could under a wave of fatigue and hopped down off the examination bed. If he was going to have a breakdown over this, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be here.

“Is that everything?” He asked the doctor, wanting to be done and away from here.

He smiled. “That’s everything, Specialist. You make sure you get some rest before shipping back out tomorrow, okay? I don’t want to see you back here any time soon.”

“Sir yes sir.”

With that done and a form confirming he was ready for active duty clutched tightly in one hand, he scooped up his and Jack’s packs, as well as Jack’s rifle which he still hadn’t had time to return, and marched back out into the blazing sunlight.

The first few times Jack woke up, he spent the few minutes of consciousness he had in muddled confusion. There were bright lights and lots of sound, then pale blue moonlight and muffled voices, then light again – through all of it, he couldn’t have said where he was or what was happening. Everything was too distant and vague to grasp, and fatigue had sunk its claws deep into his mind, dragging him back whenever he dared to try to push ahead.

He couldn’t give up though. He might not know what was going on, but he was sure that there was something he was forgetting, something important. Whatever it was didn’t matter – all that did, was that Jack needed to wake up and get to it.

It wasn’t until he finally blinked himself properly awake that he was able to put some logic to the flashes he’d caught before. He was in a hospital bed, with the slowly undulating fabric of a tent above him – the FOB. That certainly made sense, given that he felt like he’d been hit by a truck, but it didn’t really explain the why of that whole situation and no memories seemed ready to spring forth from the depths of his mind to enlighten him.

Christ, what the hell had happened to him?

He crawled his hand over the scratchy bedding, searching for a call button and ending up surprised when he actually found one. Any higher tech than the stone age was normally reserved for the MOB, and since he was in a tent then he clearly wasn’t there. Shrugging it off as unimportant, he hit the button and waited.

A nurse appeared between the screens around his bed less than twenty seconds later. “Sergeant Dalton? Back with us this time?”

“This time?” He muttered, then regretted it when his throat rasped horribly over the words. Clearly he’d been out for a while.

Understanding brightened in her face, and she stepped closer to retrieve a cup of water from his bedside table and present the straw in front of his face. Uncomfortable as he was, he was pretty certain he could have held the cup himself, but it hardly seemed worth the argument when she was willing to do it. Besides, having a beautiful woman feed him by hand was hardly going to be the low point of his day.

When he was done, she returned the cup to its place and pulled out his chart. “Can you tell me how you’re feeling? Any pain?”

“Headache. Feels like I got run over. What happened?”

Her eyes flicked towards him, measuring. “How would you rate the severity of your headache on a scale of one to ten?”

“Four. It’s fine. What happened?”

She pulled a penlight out from the pocket of her scrubs and leaned in to examine his pupils. He let it happen with increasing impatience, long since aware that trying to rush medical staff when they were intent on checking him over was a losing game. Better to let her get it out of her system before pushing too hard for answers.

“Pupil response is normal,” she said after a moment. “It looks as though your concussion is clearing up nicely. Unfortunately you’re still in what we would consider the danger period for head injuries, so you’re going to be staying with us a few days yet for monitoring.”

That was annoying as hell, but with no idea what was wrong with him, he had no scale of what was reasonable. “Sure, fine, whatever. Can you please tell me what happened? I don’t remember getting hurt.”

Truthfully, he didn’t remember much of anything.

She hesitated, but she must have seen the determination in his eyes because she folded without further argument. “You were hit by falling masonry following an explosion. I don’t know the details beyond that. Your partner brought you in.”

His partner-?

Mac!

A rush of memories suddenly hit him, so sharp and fierce that he actually sucked in a hard breath in surprise. The IED in Sakini, hostiles closing in, an utterly insane idea from Mac that just might be crazy enough to work – and it did, right up until he heard a scuffle over the radio, Mac’s voice tight with stress saying, let go of me, we can’t go in there, there’s a bomb-

He hadn’t hesitated for a second to race back in the direction he’d come.

“My partner-” He said wildly, coming to life all of a sudden as cold terror rushed through him. “Mac- Is he- What happened? Where is he?”

Something had to have gone wrong. If he was alright then he would be here, teasing Jack for being so muddled and letting him see with his own eyes that he was unhurt. That was what they did.

The nurse’s hand pressed down firmly on his shoulder, forcing him back down from where he’d tried to jackknife upright. “Sergeant! Please, stay calm. Your partner is completely fine. Specialist MacGyver, right? He’s okay. No injuries.”

Jack’s wild eyes found hers and latched on, seeking truth. “He’s okay?”

“Yes. I promise you. When he brought you in, he wasn’t injured. He had a physical to clear him for duty and came up clean. You’re the one we’ve been worried about.”

There was a lot there that he needed to process, and most of it seemed beyond his exhausted mind, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. Mac was okay. That was- well, honestly, that was far better than he had any right to expect given the nightmare situation they’d been in, and the fact that apparently Jack had just checked out and left the kid to deal with it, in hostile territory no less. God, he owed him a beer.

But if he’d been sought medical clearance, then that meant… “He’s back on duty?”

The nurse nodded, evidently surprised by the question. It was standard practice for uninjured soldiers to rotate as needed around their teammates’ injuries, and if Mac really wasn’t hurt then there was absolutely no need for him to be sitting around the FOB twiddling his thumbs. But, then, ‘standard practice’ had never been their way of doing things. Thanks to Jack’s very carefully worded agreement with the Brass, the pair of them should have been free to turn down any requests for temporary reassignment.

Then again, Mac didn’t seem the type to pass on a call to duty, particularly if there were lives on the line.

He nodded slowly, letting that knowledge settle inside him. Mac was alive and uninjured, if not exactly safe. Jack was – apparently – alive and relatively okay. A win all round, really – so why did he feel like something had gone horribly wrong?

“Okay,” he said slowly, then again more firmly. “So, doc. Give it to me straight: how am I doing?”

Jack had kind of assumed that Mac had been absent when he woke because it was clearly the middle of the day, which logically meant that he was off-base somewhere. That was perfectly understandable and given the circumstances, Jack could understand why he’d done it – Mac hadn’t known that Jack was finally going to wake up after all and since he’d apparently been in and out for three whole days, it wasn’t surprising he’d not elected to sit around, bored out of his mind. Still, that logic fell apart just a little bit when night fell and no blond bomb nerd appeared at his elbow.

He knew that Mac was his contact, which meant he must have been informed that Jack was awake and talking and yet- He went to sleep that evening with no visitors.

He slept in the next morning, unintentionally, so if Mac had stopped by before heading out then he would have missed him. He almost wanted to ask one of the staff, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the kid hadn’t been by at all and that… That didn’t feel right.

It wasn’t that Jack thought he was owed Mac’s time or attention or anything like that, but he’d kind of thought that he’d get it anyway. The last time he’d been stuck in the hospital ward, he hadn’t been able to shake Mac off for more than a few minutes at a time, no matter how much he’d pleaded with him to go back to the barracks and get some proper sleep. Any time one of the staff had tried to chase him out, he’d planted his feet and refused to be moved. It had been touching, in an odd kind of way, a clear demonstration of Mac saying ‘If you’ve chosen me, I’ve chosen you too.’

Now- Now it was different, and Jack was pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing.

Some careful questioning – and an outright demand for an explanation from Major Torres when he showed up to get Jack’s report – had brought some things to light, but made others even murkier. For one, Mac had actively requested to remain on duty. After what had happened last time, that was a big red flag in its own right. He did at least have Lee watching his back, someone who Jack knew to be a crack shot and clever with it, so he probably wasn’t getting himself into too much trouble, but still.

Torres had also made it clear that their failed mission was not being received particularly well by the higher ups. When pressed, he’d alluded to the fact Mac had – apparently entirely willingly – painted himself right into the corner and placed the blame directly on his own shoulders. Jack hadn’t been able to keep himself from swearing aloud. Goddamn self-sacrificing idiot. He’d tried to make it clear that Mac hadn’t been to blame for what happened, and Torres seemed inclined to listen to him, but the details of his report did match up squarely with what Mac had said. The only difference was that Jack wasn’t about to start playing the blame game.

All signs pointed to something being very, very wrong with his partner.

When that evening rolled around and there was still no Mac, Jack had been about ready to climb out of bed himself and hunt the git down. In the end he was spared the trouble by a surprise visitor – just not the one he’d been expecting.

“Jackie! You’re looking- well, a bit shit, honestly, but much better than before.” Corporal Lee – Ryan, to basically everyone who had known him for more than five minutes – stuck his head through the break in the screens and offered him a wide, toothy grin.

“Thanks,” he shot back, grimacing at him then stopping when it pulled at the colourful array of bruising he knew was adorning his face – and most of the rest of him, come to think of it. “What are you doing here?”

Ryan slipped through the screens to stand beside him, casting a careful eye over his injuries even while he waved a careless hand in dismissal. “Your boy got a splinter that I’m making him get checked out. Thought I’d stop by to see you since I’m already here.”

White, electric panic shot down Jack’s spine. “Mac’s hurt?”

“No, no, he’s fine! Yeesh, calm down. It really is just a splinter, I promise, cross my heart. If he was anybody else, I wouldn’t have made him come here but I swear to god, someone needs to teach that boy he’s not immortal.”

The words were clearly meant in jest, but Jack felt the pit of worry in his gut that had opened when he woke up without Mac beside him suddenly yawn wider. Mac had never been particularly good at putting his own safety on his list of priorities, and if he really was blaming himself for Jack’s injuries, then there was a good chance he’d be acting downright reckless.

“He’s been giving you a hard time?” He asked, just to make sure.

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Honestly man, I have no idea how you do it. I’ve been driving myself hoarse telling him to keep his goddamn head down and I’ve only been working with him a few days.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” he said, hoping his levity covered the ice crawling through his chest. Goddamn it Mac, you don’t get to do this. “You two have any trouble?”

“Nothing worth reporting on. More IEDs than I ever wanted to see in my life but that’s kinda par for the course, right?”

“Tell me about it.”

“But other than that, it’s been pretty quiet. Word got around that your boy took out ten hostiles on his own, so maybe the T-men are all too busy trying to stay out of his way. I sure fucking would if I were them.”

That did actually pull a smile out of Jack, despite everything. The situation was definitely FUBAR, but it was about time someone other than him realised the sheer elemental force that was a pissed off Angus MacGyver. For a skinny little bomb nerd, he packed a surprising punch.

“You haven’t seen the half of it yet.”

“You have no idea how horrifying that is to hear, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Hey, you said he was here, right? In medical?”

Ryan rolled his eyes, smiling. Clearly he wasn’t distracted by Jack’s meek attempts at feigning disinterest. “Yes, he’s about twenty metres that way, and yes, I will tell him to come and see you as soon as that pretty blonde nurse stops flirting with him. I thought he was gonna come yesterday, but he ended up just crashing. Not sure he’s been sleeping all that well.”

The last was said with a quiet, gentle concern, the type of tone that made Ryan one of the most popular soldiers on base. He might be a devil in a firefight, but he was genuine and he cared about the men he served with well beyond what he was officially required to do. Jack was, not for the first time, very glad that this was the Overwatch Mac had been transferred to.

“Who does, in this place? Can you remember what your twenties were like? I’m glad I didn’t spend mine in this hellhole.”

Ryan shuddered. “I don’t think I was ever that young.”

“Me neither.” They shared a look of weary amusement as Ryan patted a warm hand to his shoulder and kicked off from where he’d been leaning against the bed.

“I’ll go make sure your boy doesn’t escape without saying hello. You take care man, okay? We’ve missed you in the barracks.”

“Not sure anyone’s ever missed my snoring before,” he shot back with a smile, then sobered. “And hey, thanks man. For watching out of him. There’s no one else I’d trust more.”

“Don’t sweat it. You’ve pulled my ass out of the fire before. You just rest up and let me take care of your bomb nerd for a bit.”

Mac knew that Ryan had only really been making him come to medical to prove a point and that it was all in service of trying to watch out for him while Jack was laid up, but he still found himself pissed off by it. He wasn’t a child in need of someone to pull out his splinters – he’d been perfectly capable of doing that since he was five. Besides, Ryan hadn’t even tried to pretend it wasn’t payback for Mac ignoring his warnings earlier that morning and momentarily ducking out of his sightline to check out a suspicious rock pile.

There hadn’t even been anything buried under the rocks – it was just a false alarm. He’d been back under the protective watch of Ryan’s scope inside of a minute.

All of this to say, he was pretty sour about the whole experience. The nurse was incredibly patient with him, raising an eyebrow at Ryan when he cheerfully explained the problem like he was a parent dropping a kid off at daycare. The attitude had not helped matters. Regardless, she’d sat him down and pulled out her disinfectant and tweezers, and hadn’t reacted at all to Mac’s stormy expression.

It was a waste of his time, and more importantly hers. There were soldiers here with real, actual injuries that needed tending to and here he was taking up space and resources for a ‘wound’ he had scarcely even noticed. Still, he was here now and it wasn’t like Ryan wasn’t going to give him shit for it if he didn’t stick around, so he stayed where he was, feeling worse with every passing minute.

The splinter was hardly difficult to find, in inch long fragment of wood sticking haphazardly out of the inside of his wrist. Too shallow to cause any real damage, but long enough to itch something fierce. It had taken all of Mac’s willpower not to scratch himself raw on the drive back. The nurse hummed in sympathy when she saw it, but didn’t take the opportunity to make a comment that would so visibly have been unwelcome. She simply disinfected her tweezers and got to work.

The process hurt, but it was superficial. More frustrating was the agonising amount of time she spent examining the wound, trying to make sure she’d removed every last bit of debris before she let him go. He knew that it was literally her job to thorough and that he’d live to regret it if there was something nasty still lurking under his skin, but he couldn’t help his own impatience. He’d done everything he could to avoid the medical tents in the last few days and now he was stuck here, no doubt metres away from his Overwatch.

The urge to give in and seek Jack out was almost overwhelming now that he was actually here.

He’d been told that he’d woken up and didn’t appear to have suffered any neurological effects from his injuries or from his extended sedation, but Mac couldn’t trust that until he saw it with his own eyes. If he hadn’t been so sure that Jack wouldn’t want to see him, he’d have been at his side as soon as he heard the news. As it was, Jack hadn’t asked for him so he’d stayed clear.

Ryan reappeared just as the nurse was smoothing a dressing down over the small gash. “Dalton’s a tough son of a bitch, huh?”

Mac’s head snapped up to look at him. “You’ve been to see him?”

“Yeah. And, as it turns out, I think he’s pretty surprised that you haven’t.” Ryan raised his eyebrows pointedly, somehow both a question and a condemnation. Mac was in no mood to answer either.

He shrugged. “I’ve been busy, and he’s been sleeping.”

“He’s not sleeping now.” Mac bit his tongue to clamp down on his response to that. Fortunately, Ryan didn’t seem to need one, because he continued, “He’s asking to see you. If you’re done here?”

The nurse, packing up her things, nodded amiably as an answer, then bid them both goodbye and left. Mac somehow felt more exposed with her gone and nothing else to distract Ryan’s attention.

He wanted to refuse. The only reason Jack would be asking after him is if he wanted to tear him a new one for being so uncompromisingly shit at his job that he’d nearly killed his partner, and Mac just didn’t think he was solid enough to take that right now. But, really, that didn’t matter. If Jack wanted to chew him out, then it wasn’t like it was anything Mac didn’t one hundred percent deserve. He’d have to face the music sooner or later and he stubbornly refused to be a coward about it.

“Okay,” he said instead of trying to find an excuse. “Lead the way.”

Brave face or not, apparently he was a coward in the end anyway, because he hesitated at the very last hurdle; it had taken Ryan physically pushing him forwards to get him past the screens surrounding Jack’s bed. The view that greeted him was- not unexpected, but hardly a pleasant one either.

Jack was awake and blinking at him, which was a vast improvement on the unconscious slump he’d worn the last time Mac had laid eyes upon him, but his face was also a patchwork of blues and purples, softening to a sickly yellow at the edges. He looked – well. He looked like a wall had been dropped on his head.

He opened his mouth with absolutely no idea what was about to fall out of it, but it didn’t matter because Jack immediately cut him off.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

It brought Mac up short. “I- What?”

“Me getting hurt. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Jack-”

“No, shut up, listen to me. I know you and I think I’m finally getting some idea of what’s going on in that idiot head of yours because you told Torres that you were to blame for all this. Isn’t that right?”

“Well. I am.”

Jack huffed, visibly annoyed, and Mac had no idea what he was supposed to do in this situation. He’d expected anger, shouting, not whatever this was. “Goddamn it kid. This isn’t on you, of course it isn’t. Why would you even think that?”

He’d apparently meant it as some sort of rhetorical question because he blanched when Mac put up a hand to count his mistakes on his fingers. Jack spoke before he had the chance to start.

“No, don’t actually answer that. Forget I asked. Look, whatever moon logic you’re using to blame yourself for this? It’s nonsense, man. And no one else is going to tell you that because they don’t know, but I was there, okay? I was there the whole time. And I’m telling you right now that you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Distantly, Mac felt his body trembling. This wasn’t what he’d expected.

“We were in a shit situation, and your quick thinking is what got us out of it. I’m the one who was stupid enough to run towards an active IED even when I knew it was about to blow. And even after that, when the person who’s supposed to be watching out of you was out for the count, you kept your shit together long enough to get us both home without any further injury.”

Mac blinked at him.

“You saved my life, man.”

That was too much. He hissed, flinching at the absurdity of it. “I nearly killed you.”

“Nah, I did that. My mistake, not yours. And besides, I’m fine – couple of bruises ain’t nothing.”

“You were coming back because I was in trouble. Because I couldn’t look after myself for three minutes.”

Jack was shaking his head and Mac wished he’d stop because it looked like it hurt, and he couldn’t bear any more of Jack’s pain right now. “We were surrounded by hostiles Mac. It’s my job to keep an eye out for them so you can keep your eyes right where they need to be, and even I thought they’d all gone into that building. Anyone outside of that was trying to keep out of sight and you had no way of knowing you needed to be watching for that kind of threat. That’s what I’m here for, remember?”

Unable to find words to refute him, Mac just shook his head adamantly.

His Overwatch’s gaze turned soft. “Hey, man, c’mon. You’ve got to know that you didn’t have any control over what happened, and the bits you did, you did great. You got me out of there all by yourself. So what’s going on man?”

Mac hesitated, feeling torn open and raw, but somehow still entirely safe under Jack’s eyes. When he said nothing further, Mac felt himself deflate. “I’ve never-” He stopped, retried. “I didn’t come out here to hurt people,” he managed quietly. “All I’ve tried to do is disarm IEDs and limit the destruction and then this time…”

“This time you were the one setting the bomb.” Jack’s voice was level, understanding and without judgement.

“Yeah. And, of course, not only do I manage to-” He bit off the end of that sentence, his breathing ragged. “I also nearly killed you.”

He was aware that there were tears welling in the corners of his eyes, but he honestly couldn’t have been sure what emotion they were trying to convey. He just felt overwhelmed.

Jack put out a hand, setting his fingertips lightly on Mac’s elbow, the only part of him he could reach where Mac was keeping his distance. “That was the first time you killed someone,” he said calmly.

Wordless and bereft, Mac nodded. One of the tears slipped free.

“Ah, kiddo,” Jack breathed, leaning over a little further to grab Mac’s arm properly and pull him closer. Laid up as he was, he couldn’t offer much of a hug, but he was able to settle for tucking Mac into the curve of his arm and settling him there. “You didn’t do anything wrong, you hear me? I’m so sorry that you were in that situation at all, but you did everything right. Those men- They would have killed you and me and everyone in that village without hesitation, okay? I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you were protecting people Mac.”

Exhausted, overwhelmed, and with no way of voicing any of it, Mac just clung to Jack with a desperation he’d be self-conscious about if he was anyone else. Jack shushed him softly, running his hand up and down his back, and it was only then that Mac realised he was crying.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled wetly, not sure himself if he was apologising for Jack’s injuries or his own meltdown.

“Ain’t got nothing to be sorry for.”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t. I’ll keep telling you as long as you need to hear it hoss, but this wasn’t your fault. None of it.”

They stayed like that for a long time. Mac felt himself starting to come together again just a little, still raw and hurting but able to breathe again. It was imperfect, but it was still somehow the best he’d felt in days. When he pulled back his head to look at Jack, he found his Overwatch smiling at him.

“There you are. Had me worried for a moment.”

“Sorry.”

Jack snorted. “If you insist on apologising, you could at least have the decency to do it for something that actually deserves it. Like, say, driving Ryan up the wall with your reckless behaviour?”

Mac’s eyes dropped, flushing. Jack just laughed at him, warm and relieved, absent of any actual anger. That part would probably come later, but it was obvious to anyone who looked that Mac wasn’t going to be able to withstand that sort of attack right now.

“Damn it kid. You’re okay though, right? Not hiding any injuries or something?”

“No. I should be asking you that. You’re the one who nearly died.”

“I’m not that easy to kill, brother. And besides, I had you watching my back. I knew you’d get me home safe.”

Mac’s brow furrowed. “I don’t think unconscious counts as safe.”

“I’m awake now, aren’t I?”

“Jack.”

Unable to help himself, Jack ruffled a hand through Mac’s mop of hair, laughing when he chirped in alarm and rapidly backpedalled out of reach. “I’m going to be just fine Mac. Quit worrying about me. I’ll be back on duty and driving you crazy over the radio in no time at all.”

When it came, Mac’s smile was a careful thing. “Can’t wait.”

“Me neither kid. Me neither.”

#MacGyver #angus macgyver #jack dalton #sandbox #whump of july 2021 #fanfiction #my fanfic #fanfic

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yarrowleef · 4 years

Text

Read Darkness Within all in one sitting last night and then passed out so here are my scattered thoughts i wrote down as i read, (afterthoughts in parenthesis)

Darkness Within Spoilers, obv

UGH GOD THE SECOND HAND EMBARRESMENT FROM SQUIRREL FAKE FLIRTING WITH ASHFUR IT HURTS

Just remembered Sandynose died and got a small boost of happiness (will Hawkwing and Plumwillow ever be allowed to talk again now? I mean probly not b/c they aren’t protags and non-protags don’t rly have friends but I can hope. Sorry, Hawkwhing and Plumwillow’s short-lived friendship in Hawkwings Journey was one of the last times I felt something)

Ghost fleas lol

Mothwing: i’m rude now. (but more importantly, Fuck Tigerheartstar for forcing his son to be around the cat that hurt him so badly, like he HAS to know how upset everyone is regarding Shadowsight and his accidentally helping the imposter, and he’s making him be the sole one to tend to him??? There is NO REASON Puddleshine couldn’t have done it. You think Puddleshine is going to try and murder someone?? )

Oh no don't make this a traveling book, and a ROOTBRISTLE traveling book this is going to be insufferable

BACON AND EGGS

Lightleap Is Good (Hey didn’t Shadowsight have another sister? lets be real we all knew Pouncekit was going to end up as the forgettable 3rd one)

Bristlefrost’s crush continues to feel unnatural to me. It’s like she’s grasping at straws romanticizing the most generic things.....wow....I love how ur just so...bare minimum competent....being polite to the loner we came all this way to ask for help like any somewhat reasonable person would....How admirable...I love the way you just *clenches fist* exhibit some basic traits of loyalty and skill that literally every warrior has (I s2g I’m this close to head canon-ing Bristle as a clueless aromantic who doesn't understand what romance is actually suppose to feel like so she just looks at feelings of low-bar admiration and assumes “oh I guess this is that “romantic attraction” everyone’s always talking about? guess I must be in love???” because both her crushes have felt out of nowhere and like. Idk fake/forced sounding like she’s just telling me that that she’s In Love Now while I continue to not actually feel it at all from her end. I know it’s just that I hate the way Erin’s write female characters in love but this head-canon makes me laugh)

Got scared because I thought they were going to villainize Spotfur for not wanting kits for a minute, but also excited at the concept of maybe exploring a female character that doesn’t want to be a mother, but it turns out she was just pulling a Sparkpelt and actually DID want the kits all along and was only hesitant because she’s sad. Shrug oh well. (the only female character in warriors that was distinctly upset about pregnancy and motherhood was Lizardstripe and as we all know she was eeeeeevil and abusive and “overly ambitious” because why else would you not come around to being happy about motherhood?? YES I’M STILL SALTY ABOUT YELLOWFANG’S SECRET, BAD BOOK) Whatever it’s fine so long as Spot doesn’t lose her rebel leader spirit forever and default to “soft mom” personality for the rest of her life, I gotta have hope because I actually like Bristle and Spot’s current relationship. Also I am actually very grateful they never made Bristle resentful at Spot for getting with her crush, as lots of middle grade/YA media has a very bad habit of demonizing female romantic “competition” and its super gross, so I rly do like that Bristlefrost is so protective and caring towards her instead. )

This series is trying to tell me that Rootspring is actually Big but I refuse to accept that. he has dumb scrawny bitch energy and we all know it

Sunrise: “Thunderclan may be better with a new leader” lol go off (i mean........they right tho...It’s unfortunate that the tension in this whole plot is a bit dampened by the fact that i DO in fact want bramble to die v badly. I don’t even have special hatred for him, I’m just bored of him.)

Yes Lionblaze beat the shit out of Ashfur

*HOLY SHIT THAT’S FUCKED!!!! (I wrote this in reference to the ghost summoning scene, this was all I could manage at the time, that scene was WILD and I am VIBING WITH THE HORROR OF IT ALL)

* Brashfur: Oh yeah? Could Ashfur fake THIS? *stands up with slightly better posture* Shadowsight: oh damn you got me there...... (asdfhhfhhgh im sorry that was really funny, how did that prove anything?? ONLY A ~REAL~ WARRIOR COULD STAND UP STRAIGHT WE ALL KNOW ASHFUR IS INCAPABLE OF GOOD POSTURE!)

End of the book: *LAUGHING NERVOUSLY* WHAT THE FUCK??? (I thought he was just gonna kill Squirrelflight right there holy shit can you imagine the RIOTS that would ensue in the wake of all this Squirrel/Bramble discourse I was so scared for a second.

But it’s fine, she just....went to super hell instead......Warriors has come so far lmao WHAT IS HAPPENING

Final Notes:

*On Mothwing, I don’t think her behavior struck me as “CHARACTER BUTCHERING” as much as it did for other people? I mean.....Warriors fans will say that literally any time a character does ANYTHING less then perfectly nice I think her actions just seemed that much harsher because we are reading from Shadowsight’s POV, and Shadowsight is taking everything 10x more personally right now (understandably so, but Mothwing isn’t inside his head) she wasn’t trying to hurt him. Also... like... Shadowsight DID get his name too early. It’s not Mothwing’s job to put his feelings above everything else, she’s not even his mentor, Puddleshine on the other hand, as his main mentor, I don’t understand what his deal is ignoring Shadowsight, that’s not how you help an apprentice but I suppose I chalk many of his mistakes up to also not being the most experienced medicine cat (he barely even had his own mentor.) Maybe he’s distant because he feels guilty and actually blames himself for not guiding Shadowsight better?? the two of them haven’t communicated about it yet so idk

any way I give Mothwing a pass to be a little short tempered right now as a cat who has had her abilities periodically questioned all her life no matter how hard she works or how much experience she has, just because she doesn’t vibe with the spiritual cult side of the clans, I can understand why she’s a bit defensive of being questioned and frustrated watching so much hurt happen Yet Again due to reliance on StarClan visions over common sense, and I for one still stan her for slandering StarClan and refusing to accept Mistystar’s bullshit banishing like everyone else. Sometimes a character is at the end of their rope and can’t manage to be 100% nice 24/7 and that’s maybe not inherently bad writing? idk just my hot take. At a certain point we all gotta reckon with the fact that our perception of most popular supporting characters in heavily colored by fanon and we can’t always get mad at the authors for not adhering to it

*The sisters magic shit is my fav worldbuilding warriors has had in AGES, I love the way it’s described and it actually feels like it adds something to this world. I love this horror imagery with the ghosts, very excited for that.

*still won’t be thrilled if Ashfur is working alone, because his motive doesn’t make sense right now. I mean the trying to get Squilf thing, sure, whatever, but the “I will make everyone pay for what they did to me”???? cause like?? Who??? they didn’t do anything to him?? Ashfur’s grievance was very specifically JUST Squilf. He has no other cause for revenge, he had no other beef or complaints about the clans to my knowledge? The cat that killed him is dead, and she’s like, the only other one that I could see as having “wronged” him?? I guess he also didn’t like Firestar much according to Graystripe’s Vow (and on account of how willing he was to kill him w/ Hawkfrost) but Firestar is ALSO dead. I don’t understand his angle. Will have to see last 2 books to judge i suppose.

*All in all I am interested to see where this is going!! but also the pacing as I feared is becoming a major issue. It’s better then ending the main conflict on book 3 like Vision of Shadows did, but omg. Hardly anything happened in all these pages. I realized I was over half way through and nothing about the situation had actually CHANGED or advanced at all in all that time. Similar to the past 2 books which I believe could have been combined, this plot felt like it should have been the first half of a book. Discussing whether or not to kill the imposter isn’t much of a standalone plot, it’s just the set up to a plot. Finding the sisters didn’t need to be a whole long thing, the debates about the Imposters fate didn’t need to be repeated 10 times, all those chapters illustrating that “Shadowsight is sad” were also drawn out, repetitive, and interchangeable, we probably only needed 2 or so chapters showing his struggles to get the necessary information across. It felt like a lot of padding, it was really slow and I did a lot of skimming. I am still very interested in the overarching plot and mystery behind the ghosts so that kept me reading but man this “will they won’t they kill him” plot did not justify it’s own whole book. Alas this is a persisting issue that will never be resolved while they continue to force 6 books into 1 series that doesn’t need 6 books. I’m sure the writers are doing the best they can with these unfortunate constraints but still, it’s a wonder this slow padding isn’t more of a detriment to their younger readers that the books are supposed to be marketed to.

#warrior cats #the broken code #darkness within #the darkness within #darkness within spoilers #wc tbc #tbc #is that enough tags #yarrow speaks #wc criticism #long post #the broken code spoilers #warrior cats spoilers

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kiddoryder · 3 years

Text

Times to Heal

For @wombatking enjoy! Thanks for commissioning me!

Anne was in her room just laying down in bed. She was happy that she and her frog family were able to get back to Wartwoods, find Sasha and even freed Marcy. However, they all had to go into hiding due to King Andres now trying to find them. Anne was not only worried about that, but she was looking for a bit down and saw a picture of her, Sasha, and Marcy. She had mixed feelings about it. It's like she had good times with them, but yet, she felt like it was nothing but lies. She was about to rip it but couldn't bring herself to do it. The strange thing is Anne didn’t know why she couldn’t do it.

“Anne you, okay?”

Anne - Huh? *Turns her head and see Sprig standing next to her* Oh yeah, I’m okay.

Sprig - *concerned* “Are you sure? You can tell me.”

Anne - *sighs* “I don’t know, I mean I feel like the picture is based on lies.”

Sprig - *confused* “What picture?”

Anne shows him the picture of her, Sasha, and Marcy. Sprig was surprised because he didn't think Anne would still have the picture after everything that happened between her and Sasha. However he can see that Sasha is still important to Anne.”

Sprig - “Oh yeah.”

Anne - “I just don’t know if our friendship is a lie or not. I mean Sasha not only tried to have Hop Pop executed for his crimes, but also tried to kill us at the Toad Tower.”

Sprig - “I know…”

Anne - “I know I tried to save her when she was about to fall, but I just have a feeling she hasn’t changed at all. I’m glad Marcy is still the same but not Sasha…It's like she is just using me and Marcy as puppets just so she can get what she wants. Maybe she doesn’t care about us…”

Sprig: (*feeling bad for Anne*) “I’m sorry what you’re going through Anne.”

Anne - “It’s okay, I just wish she could be a good friend for once. I feel like I was so blind being friends with her.”

Sprig - “Yeah…But at least you have me. I know I would never do any of that to you.”

Anne - *smiles* “Yeah. That’s true.”

Sprig - “You even have Hop Pop and Polly.”

Polly - *dirty and running away* “You will never take me alive! I would rather die than get clean.”

Hop Pop a *chases her* “Polly, get back here! You’re cover in mud and other stuff I do not want to know.”

Polly - “Never!”

Anne and Sprig laugh at the two. She knows that Sprig is right because despite losing Sasha, she still has the Planters and Marcy at her side.

Anne - “Well, whatever happened, at least I got you guys.”

()()()()()()()()()()

Meanwhile Sasha was in her room looking at pictures of her Anne and Marcy. She sighs Grimes came in.

Grime - “Ah Sasha! You’re just in time to hear about my latest plan to- *noticed how she is looking down* What's wrong with you?”

Sasha - *sigh* “it’s nothing. I was just looking at my photo of my friends.”

Grimes - *annoyed* Ugh again? You look at that photo almost every day! It’s just a picture.”

Sasha - *mad* “Hey, it's not just a picture! They're my friends, and I’ll do anything to get them back so we can go home. But lately, they don’t trust me. Especially Anne.

Grime - “Well we do need their trust if we want to do the invasion. I think the only way is to proof that you change. That way we can go through with our plan.”

Sasha - “Yeah that’s true. Because honestly, I didn’t expect Anne and Marcy to change this much. I guess it’s my turn.”

Grime - “Yeah. If you don’t fix this now, our plan to attack the King would never work.”

()()()()()()()()

Anne - *panting* “Man…That was brutal.”

Sprig - *panting* “That was…One of the toughest battles yet…”

Hop Pop - *panting* “Yeah but…It was…Worth it!”

Polly - *pouting and clean* “Ugh…Stupid bath. What it ever done for me?”

Sprig - “Keep you clean and not smelly.”

Then they heard a knock on the door.

Polly - “I got it!”

Polly moved herself to the door and try to reach the door. But due to her height, she couldn’t really reach it.

Polly - “Hmm stupid door. Good thing I have old Betsy.”

Hop Pop - *terrified* “Oh geez not old Betsy!”

Anne - *confused* “Wait, who’s Old-“

Then Polly took out a big mallet and began pounding the door. She kept pounding and pounding until the door was broken into dust.

Sprig - *whispers to Anne* “Polly is more brutal with Old Betsy. She even uses it on the carriage when it got stuck in the mud*

Anne - *equally terrified* “Yeah I can tell Polly love that thing.”

At the broken door there was Marcy. Marcy was holding a letter.

Marcy - “Hey Anna Banana!”

Anne - *happily* “Mar Mar!”

Both girls hugged each other, and Marcy said:

Marcy - “I got a letter for you and Me.”

Anne - “Really? Who’s it from?”

Marcy looks at the letter and her eyes widen in Surprise.

Marcy - “It’s from Sasha!”

Anne - *surprised* “Really? *confused* Wait, why would she write us a letter?”

Marcy - “Well we are hiding from King Andres. She probably wants us to be safe.”

Sprig - “What does it say?”

Marcy - “Sasha wanted to talk to us, Anne. She said it’s really important.”

Sasha - *uncertain* “Are you sure we should go?”

Hop Pop - “I think you and Marcy should go.”

Anne - “What? But what about you guys?”

Sprig - “Don't worry about us. We will be okay. Beside we got our weapons *take out his sling shot*”

Polly - “And if that doesn’t work, we still have Doris!” *Take out Doris the rolling pin*

Anne and Marcy chuckled, and they left to go meet up with Sasha.

()()()()()()()()

Anne - “Hey Mar Mar, did Sasha say why we have to meet her at the lake?”

Marcy - “Well lakes are one of the most relaxing places. Sometimes even swimming in them can help calm the mind.”

Anne - “Do you really think Sasha changed?”

Marcy - “I believe so. I mean she help battling the king and even freed me.”

Anne - “True…But she lied so much I can’t tell what’s she saying is even true anymore. Sometimes I even wonder if our friendship is nothing but lies.”

Marcy - “I say we give her a chance. I mean she did risk her life for us.”

Anne - “Yeah but-“

Sasha - “Oh you finally came!”

Anne and Marcy saw Sasha waving at them near the lake. Anne was surprised that Grimes wasn’t there with her. Grimes is always with Sasha and not seeing him with her is weird. Then again, it could be a sign that Sasha really did change.

Marcy - “I’m so glad that you are okay Sash!”

Sasha - *scoff* “Oh please. Andres' army is nothing compared to mine and Grimes.”

Anne - *uncomfortable* “Uh yeah. So why did you tell us to come here?”

Sasha - “Because this is one of the safest places to be right now. Listen what I got to tell you is very important. You see I-“

Then all of a sudden, they heard the lake rumbling. The lake bubbles, and then a giant water snake comes out. The water snake monster then saw Anne, eyes widened and made a loud ferocious roar. It tried to attack the girls, but they all jump out of the way.

Sasha - *freaked out* “Since when can snake swim?!”

Marcy - “There are actually snakes who live in water!”

Anne - *scared* “And that snake definitely wants revenge!”

Marcy - “You know that thing?!”

Anne - “Last time I saw it, Sprig nearly burn it organs!”

The snake roared again. It also tried to attack, but the girls dodge it again. Anne realizes that the snake looks stronger, yet in tongue is badly burnt.

Anne - “Okay guys I have a plan-“

Sasha - *determination* “I got this!”

Anne - *worried* “No Sash wait!”

But Sasha didn’t listen. Sasha took out her sword and tried to stab the snake, but the snake pushes her away. Sasha landed on her feet and tried to attack again but the snake went underwater. Sasha looks frustrated and jump on the lily pads hoping to find the snake but didn’t see anything.

Anne - “Mar Mar we gotta help her!”

Marcy - “On it!”

Both Anne and Marcy jump on the lily pads and use their hands to paddle where Sasha is. Sasha was still looking for the snake.

Sasha - *growls* “Come on out you stupid snake!”

Marcy - “Sasha, some snakes can swim really fast!”

Then Marcy looked down at the water and saw the snake swimming. She tried shooting her bow and arrow in the water hoping it could stop the snake. The snake came out and had arrows in his body, but it didn’t affect him at all. It just stood inside like small toothpicks. Marcy was about to shoot again but this time aiming for the eyes, but then Sasha jumped in front of Marcy.

Sasha - “I got this Marbles!”

Marcy - “No Sasha! It’s too strong.”

Sasha - “I handle worse things than this.”

Anne - “Sasha listens!”

But Sasha didn’t listen. Instead she did a high jump and landed on the snake’s head. She tried to stab the giant snake monster, but the snake monster roar and kept moving around trying to shake off Sasha. Sasha tried to hold on tight but was slowly losing grip. Then the snake did a headbutt to make Sasha loose grip and use its tail to smack Sasha away like if she was a fly. Anne and Marcy watch in horror seeing Sasha got smack and land hard. Sasha did a painful scream and felt pain especially around her ankle. The pain was too much and the last thing she heard was her friends calling her name.

()()()()()()()()

Sasha moaned and felt a dull pain. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed she was on a couch. Then something was on her chest and saw Polly looking at her in the face.

Polly - “Hello! Hey! Everybody, she's awake!”

Everybody went to see Sasha awake with Polly on her chest.

Hop Pop - “Good job Polly, you earn a cookie.”

Hop Pop gave her a cookie and Polly happily eats it.

Sasha - *confused* “Guys? Where am I?”

Anne - “Back home. We got away from the snake monster just in time.”

Marcy - “We told Hop Pop what happened, and he had a doctor help you.”

Sasha - *touched* “Oh…Thanks.”

She was about to get up, but wince in pain. She looked and saw how her foot was now in a cast. And noticed that there were some drawings on it.

Sprig - “Anne said when a person broke a bone, they wear a cast.”

Sasha - *shocked* “Wait what?”

Hop Pop - “You broke your ankle there Sasha. Told you that lake too dangerous. Sometimes I feel like these people don’t listen to me! I might of well speak their language to understand them.”

Sasha - *shocked* “I broke my ankle…”

Marcy - “But don't worry! It will heal in a few weeks.”

Polly - “Hey! I know you’re upset about the whole ankle thing. Trust me, I would be upset too if I broke my ankle. I mean now with these babies, *pointed to her legs* I can fight much faster!”

Sasha - “What do you want?”

Polly - “Anne told me with something like this happens, you draw on the cast! So here’s one of my best artworks!”

Polly began to draw on the cast. Then she finished and look proud of her work.

Polly - “Ta da! It’s you are fighting the snake and if you got eaten by it!”

Sasha - *creeped out* “Uhh….Thanks.”

Anne - “Uhh guys? Can you leave us alone for a minute? We want to talk to Sasha.”

Hop Pop - “Well alright then. We will be in the kitchen if you need us.”

Sprig - “And we will let you know if any of Andres goons come!”

The planters went to the kitchen to give Anne, Marcy, and Sasha some privacy. Sasha was shocked that she broke her ankle. She is Grimes second in command…She felt like she had to be stronger and not get hurt. She felt like a failure because not only she got hurt, but probably felt like she blew her chance.

Anne - *worried* “Sasha what we’re you thinking?! You could have been killed!”

Sasha - “I’m sorry Anne…I just felt like I had to do it.”

Marcy - “But we could have done it together.”

Anne - “Do you realize how worried we were about you?!”

Sasha - “Look I- *realize something* you were worried about me?”

Marcy - “Of course we were! We didn’t want you to get killed.”

Sasha - “But…Why did you save me? After the horrible things I did.”

Anne - “Cause Sash, yes you did horrible things, but not even you deserve death. But why did you want to fight that thing alone? We could have done it together.”

Sasha - *snapped* “Because I wanted to prove it to guys!”

Marcy - *confused* “Proof what?”

Sasha - *sighs* “That I really changed. Ever since coming here, and…That day Anne ended our friendship.”

Anne - “Well it was temporary.”

Sasha - “It doesn’t matter. When Anne called me a horrible person it made me realize she was right…I really was a horrible person.”

Marcy - “Oh come on Sash-“

Sasha - “Marcy don’t you get it?! I tried to kill Anne's friends, I tried to take over innocent frogs' lives, and worst: I didn’t care about yours or Anne’s feelings. I just cared about myself and the stuff I wanted. Even when Sprig called me a bully, it made me realize that: I hated when other people bully you, but I was doing the same thing. I kept telling you guys what to do and what not to do like if you were puppets. At this point I feel like maybe I don’t deserve to be your friend and instead be friends with death.”

Sasha had a few tears slip her eyes. Anne and Marcy look concerned and worried. They had never seen Sasha cry before. Seeing Sasha cry and how she truly felt made Anne realize Sasha instead truly did change for the better. For once, Sasha feels truly guilty about her selfishness and how it affects others. Then in a Surprised moment, Sasha felt being in a tight hug.

Anne - “Sasha…I’m really sorry for what I said…You're not a horrible person. Yes, I’ll admit before, you were bossy, but you actually did prove to me and Marcy that you truly do care about us.”

Marcy - “Yeah. I mean you save me from Andres. You help us fight him and get the music box. You always protect us from bullies and other horrible things. Plus your leadership and bravery is awesome.”

Anne - “We care about you Sasha. We always have.”

Sasha had more tears in her eyes. But this time they were tears of joy. Sasha hug Anne and even Marcy tightly because she finally got her friends back. Then they felt more hugs and this time it was by the Planters. They didn’t mind one bit.

()()()()()()()()

Sasha was struggling with her crutches. She never used her crutches before, and it was hard. It was like learning how to walk with new legs. Then she felt two hands helping her. Sasha looked up and saw it was Anne and Marcy smiling at her.

Marcy - “You need to put them under your arms.”

Sasha then put the crutches under her arms, and they felt comfortable.

Anne - “And put the crutches first then yourself.”

Sasha did what her friends told her, and it work. Sasha smiled and said:

Sasha - “Thanks guys. Uh how did you know how to use crutches?”

Marcy - “I use to have these a lot whenever I had an accident.”

Anne - “And I use to have this one time when I sprained my ankle. After that skateboard incident when we roll down the hill.”

Sasha - *surprised* “Really? I didn’t know riding that hill would hurt you. I thought it was because you trip over that huge rock.”

Anne - *rubbing her head* “Yeah I kind of lied about that. I didn’t want to make you feel bad.”

Sasha - *sadly* “Oh…I’m really sorry about that.”

Anne - “Hey it doesn’t matter now. What matters most is making you better.”

Sasha - *smiles* “Thank guys.”

Marcy - “And I find different ways to train you.”

Sasha - *surprised* “Really?”

Anne - “Yeah I mean we can teach you different sword techniques.”

Marcy - “And plan out different ways of Andres weakness.”

Anne - “The three of us can do this to defeat Andres and save the world.”

Sasha - *smiles* “Yes. Together we can do this.”

They put their hands together and smiles.

Marcy - “Oh! One more thing.”

Marcy and Anne took out a maker and drew on Sasha’s cast. Sasha looked and smiled. It was a drawing of the three of them doing fighting poses along with the Planters and Grimes. Sasha is deeply touch on how her friends will be on her side and fix the relationship with them.

A few weeks later Sasha’s ankle was all better. After recovering, she began practicing her fighting, new tactics, and even being a better friend to Anne and Marcy. Then it was the day of the final battle with Andres.

Sasha - “Okay. We can do this. All of us. It’s a battle to defeat a so-called King.”

Marcy - “If our plans work, we can defeat Andres once and for all!”

Anne - “And we can all do it! We can do this!”

Their army cheered and they all began to walk. Sasha first walk by herself but then saw Anne next to her. Then she saw Marcy, Sprig, Hop Pop, Polly, and Grimes by her side.

Sasha - “Hey Anne? Thank you for everything.”

Anne - “No problem. Now let do this.”

Hope you like it!

#amphibia #drabble #fanfic #commission

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nobodyfamousposts · 4 years

Text

BURN THE WITCH! Part 4

It took more time than it should have to lose the akuma and her followers. Partly because of the shoes and the disguise as a whole doing more to slow her down than it did to protect her. Mostly because of just how many people were currently after her—and wow, was it a lot!

But she had managed to not only escape with life and hair intact (despite the attempts of the damn hairnet), but also find a place to hide until the akuma was dealt with.

From what she had observed, the akuma’s effects were carried by hearing her speak from that scroll of hers. Almost immediately after spouting off something else from the “list”, anyone within earshot would join the increasing number of minions, even if they had just been trying to run away moments prior. It was like the akuma could incite anger in anyone…self-righteous anger, and all of it specifically targeted at Lila.

She was going to have words with Hawk Moth about this. If he had an akuma able to enthrall people like this, why hadn’t he given it to her? She could have made much better use of it than Rose, of all people. Now he had an akuma solely focused on revenge instead of the masterpiece Lila could have been. Honestly, she would have Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated by now!

As it was, Lila had to survive. And to do so, she had to make do with her own skills.

Fortunately, the akuma’s reach—while growing—was only as far as people could hear her. Which made the boat at the Seine a perfect place to hide out.

Especially since the old woman and her son living there were easily drawn in.

“It’ll be all right, lass. You’re safe here.” The woman said, reassuringly. “We’ll man the gunnery if any of those fools try anything. They can’t get to you here.”

“Thank you! I just…I just don’t know why this would happen.” Lila gave another well timed but ultimately fake sob into her hands.

“Don’t worry.” The guy—a teenager, and not a bad looking one, either—rested a hand on her shoulder. “Ladybug and Chat Noir will fix this soon enough.”

Lila forced herself to smile. “I hope they do.”

If only because this was the one akuma she didn’t want to see win. Otherwise, she would fully be cheering for their demise. Possibly with popcorn.

Assuming she wasn’t the one doing it herself, of course.

“Luka, keep an eye out in case someone followed her here.” The woman ordered.

“On it.” Luka, apparently, guided Lila to the couch to rest before he moved to another part of the room. The woman took a pair of binoculars to one of the windows, trying to peer through them to see further into the distance.

Lila sighed and was preparing to finally relax.

“Why is the akuma after you, anyway?” He asked while grabbing something from the corner.

To her credit, Lila did acknowledge that Marinette had at least tried to help her. And surely the girl who helps everyone would want to continue to be of use. Even if she wouldn’t necessarily like what Lila was currently using her for.

But in Lila’s defense, Marinette DID shove her in a closet.

“I was helping with a friend’s charity work and some money went missing. There was a huge fight over it today and one of my classmates tried to blame me for the loss.”

“That’s horrible.”

“I know!” Lila continued, hiding a smile. “Rose is kind, but she is so forgetful that she could have lost the money anywhere. Then Marinette took advantage of the opportunity to claim I did it.”

Luka paused at that. “What?”

Lila nodded, mournfully. “She’s been against me from the first day I started school.”

Technically true.

“She’s been bullying me, calling me names, trying to convince everyone I’m a liar.”

Also technically true.

“I’m sure she was happy to paint me as the villain today, and everyone believed her.” Lila proclaimed with a little sob. “Nobody would even listen to me! Then Rose got mad and became an akuma, and Marinette left me to perish!”

“That doesn’t sound like Marinette.”

Immediately, all thoughts halted as she realized her mistake.

These two knew Marinette.

Okay, no big deal. She can just spin it.

“That was what I thought, too. But she showed her true colors when I tried to make friends with her! I even offered to help her with her crush on Adrien. But she’s just so jealous.” Lila insisted, laying on the charm and tears. “She’s been telling everyone such horrible things about me.”

Luka’s frown only increased though.

“She hasn’t mentioned you to me.”

She shook her head. “Then I’m sorry, but it seems you don’t know her that well.”

“What are you talking about?” The mother demanded, confused and annoyed. “That girl comes over here all the time. She’s a wonderful girl and a wonderful friend to our daughter.”

Wait…daughter?

The boy narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion.

“Where was Juleka in all this, if what you’re saying is true?”

“She wasn’t there.” Lila said, thinking quickly. Better not to implicate their daughter or try to throw her under the bus if they were getting suspicious already. “I know if she had been, things could have worked out. She’s such a good friend, and would never think badly of me.”

But Luka only looked angrier. He held up a remote.

“Then why is she with the mob?”

Lila spun in surprise at the sudden blast of sound. It turned out that the thing he had grabbed before was the remote to the television. Which was on—if muted during Lila’s story-telling.

On the screen, the akuma was standing in front of the Eiffel Tower reading from her list. The video showed Witch Hunter and her followers in full detail. Including Juleka.

Juleka, whom Lila was now realizing had to be the daughter and sister of the two in the room with her.

“She’s been influenced by the akuma! It’s her power.” Lila explained hastily.

But Luka chose to ignore her in favor of unmuting the television, which showed the akuma speaking and reading more of Lila’s crimes from the list. The scroll almost seemed to glow momentarily before she started to read.

“This just in! The Witch just tried to turn two innocents against Marinette and even their own family member. She lied about the cause of the fight! And this is after she already tried to sacrifice Marinette to save her own skin!”

Both mother and son froze at that.

“WHAT?!”

And as if it couldn’t get worse for her, the news proceeded to play a video from earlier. One that Lila had not realized was being recorded at the time.

It showed in full detail the inopportune moment where Lila shoved Marinette out from behind their shared hiding space and attempted to direct the mob’s anger onto the clumsy girl.

Slowly. Slowly…they both turned on her, furious.

“It’s not what it looks like!” She tried to claim. “She was already part of the mob and I was trying to get away from her. I was in danger!”

The two glared at her, clearly not buying it.

It seemed Lila had made a miscalculation as to the limits of the akuma’s range of influence.

Or perhaps it was just that she hadn’t counted on her would-be rescuers being family to one of her classmates.

The woman glowered at her. Without even looking, she grabbed a sword off of the mantle and pointed it at Lila with a ferocity she hadn’t seen before. In that moment, she appeared every bit the pirate she had previously been pretending to be.

“Make her walk the plank!” She yelled.

“We don’t have a plank, mom.” Luka growled, seeming downright disappointed by the fact.

“Then throw her overboard!”

It seemed her sanctuary was short-lived.

_____________________

“Kettle corn! Ready-to-cook over a fire kettle corn!”

Marinette sighed. “Master, not you, too.”

The man cheerfully sold a container to a customer, completely disregarding the problem as well as Marinette’s presence.

“Master Fu, please! The akuma is influencing everyone! Even Tikki is affected! And if I don’t do something soon, they’re going to burn Lila at the stake!”

The man gave her a blank stare.

“And what part of that is supposed to be the problem?” He asked.

“See? He gets it!” Tikki chirped.

“Sometimes, Marinette, an infected bud must be pruned for other flowers to grow.” Fu stated calmly as he imparted his wisdom.

“But flowers aren’t people!”

“It’s a metaphor.”

“Flowers don’t scream when you prune them!” Marinette shouted.

Tikki floated up to her chosen, trying to calm her. “Marinette, sometimes an akuma can actually be a good thing! Remember Bubbler?”

Marinette just gave her a dry look. “You mean when you lectured me for stopping Chloe from kissing Adrien, said it was an abuse of my powers, and emphasized doing the right thing? Remember that? The right thing? The moral choice that involves NOT letting people die just because you don’t like them?”

“This girl has been an obstacle to you and an ally to Hawk Moth.” Fu pointed out. “Would it not be better to simply let her be removed?”

She moaned. Honestly, it annoyed her when Tikki or Fu lectured her and had to be the voice of reason and morals she was pushed to adhere to rather than the support she needed in the moment. But this wasn’t support. It was just life throwing more temptation at her by having two of the people whose moral compasses she trusted pushing her to not care!

Give her a break, life! She’s having a hard enough time as it is!

"No!” She insisted. “I need the Dragon miraculous to stop this akuma! So please, help me!"

"Another time perhaps, now is the time for popcorn!"

Marinette glared, put off at the way Fu ignored her to sell another container of popcorn to a customer.

Might as well try to take advantage of the situation though. While Fu was distracted, Marinette attempted to reach around him for the gramophone.

Fu slapped her hand.

She grabbed her hand in surprise before looking at him with a pout.

Master Fu didn’t even react.

She growled.

“Okay, that’s it!”

Later, Marinette decided as she picked up one of the pans, she would let herself feel bad for this.

Much later.

#ml fic #witch hunter #lila sucks #marinette dupain cheng #tikki #luka couffaine #anarka couffaine #master fu #poor marinette #marinette is done #rose lavillant #is there anyone sane left?

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