#i did finish chapter 15 but i need to do more of 16 in order to keep my buffer

[sasukimimochi]

my heart: but what if you don't write rn and draw COI wangxian cuddling. or just any of the wangxians- i want to see lwj on wwx's lap having a nap and being just content.

me, who needs to finish like 2-3 more chapters this week than usual so i can avoid continuation errors and clean on top of that for a visit this saturday:

i... i need a responsible adult to tell me no

#despite me also being an adult sobs #spoiler alert my heart is winning i am caving #i rly wanna draw just for the sake of it #but i have so much to do #help #i did finish chapter 15 but i need to do more of 16 in order to keep my buffer #then i need to start writing the xicheng spinoff so i don't have to worry about continuation errors #bc there are events in the story between those two that have passed already #i really need to get those going #BUT CUDDLING #GOD I NEED MORE CUDDLING IN MY LIFE #I just want them being domestic and soft sobs

[1lostsoul0fishbowl]

annual writing self-evaluation 📝

Many thanks and muchas smooches to @justhere4thevibez for tagging me! 🥰

1. List of works published this year (in no particular order):

chapters 56-84 of With a Little Help From My Friends (completed 5/15/23)

Next Time I Fall (24 chapters, completed 12/19/23)

Lost and Found and Turned Around (7 chapters, completed 11/16/23)

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

I’m incredibly proud of all my works, but I think probably I’m most proud of Next Time I Fall. I created a brand new rarepair, shaped a beautiful fluffy love story for them, and persevered through extreme personal difficulty to finish the fic despite the temptation to abandon it.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

There are a couple of chapters in Little Help that I feel aren’t as strong as they could’ve been. 64, 73, and 81 in particular. I don’t know what I should’ve done to make them better; I just know they needed more.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I’ll pick one little snippet from each fic…

Little Help:

Wayne waited until she’d finished her tiny blueberry slice and was debating over which to try next. “Actually, sugar,” he said quietly to Max, “I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“About what?” she asked, puzzled. “About gaining weight? That was a joke.”

“No.” He watched Eddie let Lucy lick a tiny smear of pie filling from his finger, despite Chrissy’s protest that sugar wasn’t good for cats. “About staying with us.”

A chill ran through her. “It’s still okay, right?” she said hesitantly. “My mom’s getting out of the rehab next week, but Claudia said I could stay longer if I needed to. But if that’s changed…” She trailed off, swallowing hard.

Wayne patted her shoulder. “Naw, sugar, that ain’t changed. You can stay long as you like. Fact is”— he rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly bashful— “fact is, what we really want is to keep you for good.”

~~~

Next Time I Fall:

Gareth couldn’t imagine having to grow up without his mom and dad. He thought of the way Janie held so tightly to his mom every time they hugged, and a lump formed in his throat.

“They never found your parents?” he whispered. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”

Honestly, he hadn’t even thought before speaking, he’d just blurted that out. But somehow it had been the right thing to say; Eddie and Chrissy’s tense expressions melted into something that looked like relief, and Janie’s crushing grip on his hand finally relaxed a little. Gareth laced his fingers through hers, giving her hand a little squeeze, before gently turning it to examine the small number tattooed on the inside of her wrist.

“Is that where this came from?” He lifted her hand to his lips, softly kissing the tiny 011. “Did they do that to you in the Lab?”

She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “It was my name,” she murmured. “That is why everyone calls me El. El is short for Eleven.”

Fucking hell. Gareth felt tears running down his cheeks, too.

~~~

Lost and Found:

“Jane, you need to wake up!” Kali tried unsuccessfully not to shout. “You really are naive! They can always take you if they really want you. You need to face facts. Your policeman cannot protect you, you have to be able to protect yourself. Are your friends helping you with that? Is your boyfriend? No, they just want you to be ‘normal’. They want you to suppress your gifts instead of using them, and they want you to forget who you are and where you came from. And if I stay here they’ll do the same to me. Putting on their hypocritical smiles as long as I convert to their idea of normal. I don’t want to hide who I am, and neither should you, Jane. You can’t heal by hiding. The only way to heal is to face up to the truth, confront and conquer your past.”

“Stop calling me naive,” Jane snapped, “just because I am trying to accept my past instead of confronting it. I confronted Papa face to face, and then I let him die, and it did not change anything. All your revenge has not changed you either.” Just as quickly as her anger flared up, it dissipated again. Her voice softened, her entire demeanor settling into something more gentle. “You talk a lot about healing, but you are still so mad, Kali. I think I am more healed than you are. Maybe if you stayed here, as part of my family, maybe that can heal you like it did for me.”

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received:

I love every single comment I get, truly I do. But I think the ones that made me smile the most this year were the few on Next Time I Fall that basically said ‘I never would’ve considered El and Gareth together but your fic made me ship them’. Is there any greater compliment? 😄

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Basically the last eight weeks have been awful. I got covid, and had barely recovered from that when a family emergency happened and I was thrown into the role of caregiver, and since then just more and more stuff keeps going wrong. I’m exhausted and honestly in a pretty dark place, mentally and emotionally, right now.

And yet. In spite of that I finished both Next Time and Lost and Found. Neither of them seem to have made any great impact— I barely even got any comments on either finale— but it was a goal of mine to finish them both and I’m still proud I managed to achieve that.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Kali, in Lost and Found, was so much fun to explore! I rewatched “The Lost Sister” before I started writing this fic, and I realized that I still hated her obnoxious friends but Kali herself was a super interesting character with a lot of potential. I had a lot of fun digging into what might possibly make her want to reconnect with El, and what would make her feel drawn to Steve. Also it surprised me how much I ship Stali now!

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I learned that my stories come out better when I write them the way I want them, instead of “taking requests” and pushing the characters in directions I wouldn’t have chosen if left to my own devices. I feel like certain parts of Little Help suffered because of this, so I resolved I’d stick to my own plans for Next Time and later Lost and Found, and I think those two fics came out better for it.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

Next year, if I write any more, I want to somehow learn not to be so obsessed with stats. Stop comparing my kudos/comments count to other fics and feeling sad and inadequate. I have no idea how to accomplish this, but it’s where I need to be if I’m going to keep writing.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Oh it’s 1000% @pearlypairings — she’s been all of the above for me and so much more! Lost and Found would never have happened without her, and Next Time would likely have been abandoned unfinished.

11. Anything in your real life show up in your writing this year:

Lots of things, yeah, I don’t think I can help adding little bits and pieces of myself to my stories. I write the kind of world I’d like to see, and populate it with characters I either want to be like or wish I’d had in my own life.

A very silly specific example, though, is that I made Eddie adopt a kitten because I lost my cat last year and I missed her so much.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Um. Not really? I don’t think I’m good enough yet to be passing on wisdom to others!!!

13. Any new projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I have a couple fun ideas jotted down in my Plot Bunnies folder, but no definite plans to start anything new right now. I gotta get out of this awful headspace before I can even think about new projects.

14. Tag three writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read:

@sokkas-first-fangirl @bratanimus @slowandsteddie

#losty writes #annual writing self evaluation #writer games #dash games #ao3 writer

[lesbitorte]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Hii @mostmagical thank you for the tag!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 3!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3,710 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just ml at the moment!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Well, I don't have many so I'll list them in most kudoed order

Tangerine (135 kudos)

Trying to remember how it feels (to have a heartbeat) (57 kudos)

we'll say Hallelujah (you're home) (34 kudos)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Because i like replying, also I think it's right since they decided to have words about my writing and i love to reply to show that I appreciate what they think about it

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's Trying to remember how it feels (to have a heartbeat)

To be fair i try to write more on the comfort side despite my last fic being somewhat heavy on the topic

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Tangerine! It's just wholesome moments for the core four and Adrien pining

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not the i know of xD

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Maybe 👀

Yes, i do but ehhhh haven't posted any yet because i never finished them and there's some monsters, and crack and straight up sin AUs in there xD

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Nope!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'm working on a rewrite in Spanish for Tangerine

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Have not entirely but we did try to start one with @asti-doodles and @halfahelix, it's just a lot of brainstorming and lose scenes

(I don't remember if you guys have posted fics or I just read the snippets you shared but you are welcome to join the game!)

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Love square, they have almost complete reign of my braincells.

And percabeth!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My chlolix fic, i want to finish it but words never want to come out.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I have no idea, but I got some people talking about the way i do dialogue feeling natural

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I say multi chaptering and writing the in-between scenes of the important bits of the story, like how do you get from point a to point b and from there to point c kinda thing

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

10/10 if it makes sense and is relevant to what is happening. Gotta think like that being bilingual myself xD

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Does it count as fandom if i was a kid and not in social media? Because if it does it's The Fairly OddParents, BUT if not it was for One Direction.

All of that has been deleted from existence tho

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

we'll say Hallelujah (you're home)

That's a fic that i think will forever be my favorite because it's not only something that i think needed to be explored about Adrien but because it's something i deeply resonate and relate about him. Some stuff in that short fic is stuff i think Adrien could have gone through specifically and some others are my actual experience regarding it.

Thank you again for tagging me!

Tags (NO PRESSURE): @victorian-platence @wackus-bonkus-maximus @redundant-lava @bittersweetresilience @coffeebanana @ck2k18 @asukiess @ladyofthenoodle @heartfulselkie @torvalvt

basically most of the writer littlebugs and people I'm comfy tagging xD

#tag game #tagged

[lokisprettygirl]

The Night Screams at The Slumber Island (Loki x Female Reader) (Horror Romance) (Dark) (Au) (18+)

Read Chapter 15 here //Series Masterlist

Chapter 16

Summary : Loki isn't afraid to suffer for you

Warning: Steamy stuff, 18+, discussion of rape, discussion of threesomes and poly relationships, sexual abuse, gaslighting, cheating, mention of Suicide, discussion of mental illness, therapy, imprisonment, god kink has a potential here, please read carefully. If something triggers you please don’t read it

"What made you come here, mother" Loki smiled as he spoke, but the smile was less from the happiness of seeing her and more from disdain. His mother, Frigga walked towards him and leaned down to caress his head, she never wanted her child to ever see this place. 

"You weren't responding to my calls, my child?" Loki snickered as he grabbed her hand and pushed them away from him very gently. 

"You got what you wanted, I am banished from Asgard and for your sake I'm willing to spend years here just so someday I could home to you again, what else do you want me to do?" She got visibly upset as he said that.

"I never wanted this Loki. Will you ever take responsibility for your crime? For breaking the order?" She snapped at him as she stepped away, her heart broke, seeing her child all chained up and in such darkness, all lonely. She never wanted this.

"Breaking the order? I saved a mortal's life, all this power and for what?" He snickered before he continued to speak, he was so angry and disappointed from his own kind, his own people "Those foolish people down there worship us and what do we do? We ignore their pleas and pretend to be otherworldly just so our existence will remain spiritual, so they will never know that we are just like them. The only difference is they do not possess the longer life, they don't have the immense power but everything else is the same, they lie, they cheat, they murder, they watch innocent people get hurt and do absolutely nothing. Just like us" 

Frigga's eyes teared up, if Loki would decide that he didn't want to go through the punishment he'd forever be exiled from Asgard and he could never get home again, he couldn't have survived on earth either for a long time because the moment he decides to reveal his identity to more of them mortals, he'll be stripped off his godly status and taken away for execution. 

"What is so special about this mortal that you're willing to lose everything here? I know you visit her now and then, you know that is only making the punishment longer" She raised her voice and he nodded,

"She needs me mother, I gave her my word, and I am not going to betray her, I would leave this place whenever she'd truly need me but do not worry, I will come back here and spend my due time in solidarity, you want me to come home? I will" He said to her and she sighed.

"The more you visit earth to see her the longer you'll have to be here, why don't you understand that?" Her eyes teared up as she spoke and it did hurt him but there was nothing he could have done to console her. If Loki would have spent a few constant years in this confined space and finished his sentence, he would have been released soon, but he decided to revolt instead, he went to you whenever you needed him because he promised to be there and he won't allow you to suffer anymore by the hands of other mortals even though he very well knew that the more time he spend with you, his cruel punishment will only extend here, but he didn't care now. He was willing to take the risk.  

"I do understand that, I understand it really well but I'm not going to leave her alone, to answer your question, there's nothing special about her, she's not any different from most of the mortals but.." his eyes teared up and he took a deep breath before he spoke again. She's mine. That's what he wanted to say but he did not, nobody needed to know how deeply he has come to feel for you "She is kind mother, her fate continued to bring her down but enough is enough, if I am able to keep one sweet mortal protected under my care all her life then I would die happily, that feeling would be much more fulfilling than my life on Asgard could ever be" 

Frigga wiped her tears, she had truly lost her son, Odin and Thor asked her to not come here but she wanted to convince him one more time.

"You could have just brought the mortal to Asgard like Thor did" 

"Bring her against her will to an alien planet? Of course mother, not that it would have been absolutely barbaric of me to do so" 

"It's not cruel for a god to choose a mortal, it's our birthright and it is nothing short of blessing for those vain mortals" 

Loki chuckled as he heard that, he very well knew that gods treated their one mortal pass as an exotic sex toy and nothing more. They were not allowed to tell anyone about their godly status so lies, deceit and plain brute force were used to bring them to Asgard. 

"We are not allowed to tell them anything, remember? You know how Thor got himself one" 

"So what? he gave Trisha a good life on Asgard for as long as he needed her"

"And then she was thrown into a cell somewhere as she got older, isn't that right mother? Chipped away slowly until the end of her time" Loki yelled at her and she sighed.

"You could not have wished for him to form a union with her" She tried to reason with him even though she knew she could never change his mind, he always was different from the rest of them.

"Why not mother? She was lovely and you know fairly well that we both possess the power to give them a long healthy life just like us then why not?" 

"Because they are beneath us Loki, they will always be" 

"Fair enough mother, now that you are done, I would like to be left alone" her eyes teared up more at his indifference.

"Have you fallen in love with her, Loki? That mortal of yours?" She asked him curiously and his eyes teared up too as he thought about you. He spent all his day for the moments he'd get to see you and be close to you, he very well knew the feeling and what it meant, but his mother had lost the right to know him so deeply now. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to go through this punishment any longer for her but did he have any other choice?

"You cannot survive with her Loki, you know once you reveal who you are to more mortals such as hers, we will come for you and we will take your life to preserve ourselves. Do you think she would be able to keep a secret like that? Do you think she'd choose to live with you in solidarity and leave behind everything? She will never do that"  

Next morning you woke up late, your alarm didn't ring for some reason and it frustrated you, the ferry was about to leave in 10 minutes and you saw James on the couch sleeping, 

"Wakeee up" he fell down the couch as he heard you yelling, he looked at the time and he knew he was going to miss the ferry. And he wasn't wrong.

After half an hour he came back and you couldn't have been angrier, you just wanted him to leave this place and be done with him, you also missed Loki and you craved his touch, you missed his face and his voice, you felt as if it has been ages since you had seen him last, even though it was just yesterday. 

You couldn't help but wonder where he was and where he went to whenever he disappeared. In the past month you never asked him how he was doing and whether he felt okay, it was always about you. You called the school and told Clint you won't be able to come as you felt sick, talking to him made your stomach twist but you had to pretend as if you still didn't remember anything. They can't know just yet.

While James was in the bathroom you prepared breakfast and as you were making tea, you missed Loki again. 

"Lokiiiii" you whispered his name but you didn't see him around and then something clicked.

"I need you please" You felt a presence next to you as you said that, it was hard to miss, he had his back against the counter, his arms were crossed and he had a smile on his face, you turned your head to the side to look at him and your eyes teared up. You have truly missed him. 

"Can you see me even when you're not here?" You whispered in a hushed tone, you didn't want James to hear you even though he was in the bedroom's bathroom.

"If you want me to, I can, I wouldn't want to disrupt your privacy" he whispered softly and it made you smile.

"I have missed you" you confessed to him and his eyes teared up..

"I felt the same darling" he grabbed your small dainty fingers and you felt his thumb rubbing over your skin softly, the touch fired you up and you wished you could have kissed him and done more, you really wanted to. 

"He's still here" 

"I know..it's Monday, no evening ferry I assume" 

You nodded as he said that, There was no ferry from the island to the mainland on Monday's so you knew James will have to be here tonight as well. 

"You smell good" you smiled as you slipped your fingers away so you could pour the tea in the cup.

"Thank you, so do you" he was glad you said that, he cleaned himself up always before he visited you, in the beginning when he was living in the house next to you, house that he had made, he had enjoyed the showers, he enjoyed it more than baths. They didn't have showers in Asgard.

You passed him the cup so he sipped on it quickly but then he gave it back to you, James was about to come out soon and he could sense that. 

"When can I see you again lo" you placed the cup to the side and grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him closer, he gasped at the sudden closeness, you weren't the only one missing him when he was away, he felt the same all the time, he cupped your cheeks and tilted his head down to reach your level, his lips were so close so you wanted to kiss him but he continued to pull away a little everytime you leaned into him. He also loved the little pet name you had given him.

"Whenever you need me, I'll be here my love, whenever and however you need me, just call out to me" he whispered softly and his voice sent tingles down your spine, you haven't felt such electricity in a long time, it's been years, it was there in the beginning of your relationship with James but it didn't last for long. 

"I'll pray to you Loki..I'll pray to you God but I want you to know that–" his lips latched onto yours before you could finish your words, there was nothing more he wanted than to have you as his, to have you belong to him but it seemed impossible, not with the conditions he had to live with now and he wasn't sure if you wanted to be with him forever just yet, you didn't know him that well. 

"I have to go, he's coming, keep me in your thoughts" he pecked your lips softly before he disappeared, you sighed in disappointment, a faint smell of his cologne still lingered in the air and it made you want to clutch onto him again. You wanted to tell him that you'd be there for him too if he needed you, you knew there was nothing you could have done but be there for him, he was a god, he didn't need your help but you wondered if he was alone and needed your company as much as you did his? 

As James stepped into the living room you glared at him, he was supposed to be gone. 

"Look you didn't wake me up either so it's your fault too, just saying" you rolled your eyes at him and put down the breakfast on the table in front of the kitchen. 

"Who's shirt is that on your bed? Looks like it belongs to a man" He asked you as he munched onto the omelet you had made.

"It's none of your business?" Your voice had a sassy tone to it so he smiled.

"Was just curious, I'd be happy to learn you're opening up again after..you know " you glared at him so he looked away but he couldn't stay quiet for long, for some reason he was extremely chatty, as if that would make you forget what he had done.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked you so you hummed in response.

"Don't you feel scared here, all alone at night, especially after ..you know..what happened with Nat" you sighed as he said that, yo didn't think you would have survived this place without your own special guardian angel.

"I do feel scared but it is what it is" 

"Why do you still want to be here now that you remember everything?" 

"I like the quiet and peace, stop asking questions please" 

Can you see me? I wish you could see me Loki. You mumbled in your head and then you felt his intoxicating smell lingering around you. James did too. You could tell by his expression but you were glad he didn't ask any question. 

It was unreal how badly you missed his presence, it felt like a torture to be without him, you felt as if you were on a withdrawal of some sorts. At night after dinner, you asked James to set the alarm for 9, you can't have him staying here for one more day. You were about to go to your bedroom when the power went out and it made you both gasp.

"What's happening?" You heard his voice and moved around in the darkness, there was a set of candles somewhere in the living room.

"It happens sometimes, here, try to light up the fire place..it's getting cold anyways" you gave him a candle and a box of matchstick.

"This place is straight out of a horror movie you realize this right?" He said to you and you couldn't disagree, the wind made the continuous howling sounds and it made everything so much worse, you said goodnight to him and went back to your room. The candles made the atmosphere eerier but you didn't feel scared because you knew Loki would be there whenever you need him.

After showering you put the night dress on but you couldn't stay still. You missed him, and you wanted to see him, you wanted to talk to him and you wanted to sleep next to him. But then you started to feel overwhelming, the last thing you wanted to do was drive him away with the constant neediness.

Your eyes fell upon the shirt so you picked it up and walked towards the mirror, your breathing hitched as you looked at yourself, then you pulled the straps of the night dress down your shoulder slowly. 

"See me Loki..god see me please, I want you to see" your voice came out all shaky, the action made you feel so naughty but it didn't feel wrong, you wanted him to see you undress and it excited you to know that he might be there watching you. His cologne hit your senses and it made you gasp, was he right behind you? You couldn't tell, you couldn't see him. 

Shuddering breaths escaped as you pulled the night dress down slowly and it pooled around your legs, your own reflection stared back at you, since that horrifying incident and the effect of it had killed any desire you had felt for the opposite gender but Loki was different, he wasn't like those men, he was a god and you knew he'd never hurt you like that, you believed in him. You knew you won't be able to go all the way even if you wanted to, you knew something would trigger you and ruin it for you, but this was nice, it felt safe, being able to desire a god who you knew only wanted to keep you safe felt arousing. He also made you feel desirable too.

You put his shirt on slowly, hoping that he was still there watching you adorn his fabric, you could smell him around you still but you weren't sure. 

As you laid down in the bed and got under the covers you took a deep breath.

"I am here too Loki, I just want you to know that I'm not selfish, that if you need me I'd be here too, I promise" you mumbled softly, your lids felt heavy as the sleep came for you soon, you haven't felt such peace in a long time and you didn't think it would have been possible without him. 

 Loki gasped as he returned to the darkness of his reality, the image of you standing half naked was burned in his memory now, you called him, you wanted him to see you like that and he felt blessed, he knew none of this was easy for you and he has been so careful, he didn't want to hurt you more then you have already been hurt.

The sight of your ragged breathing and quivering body made his hand grip his aching hard flesh as he pumped himself up and down slowly, he had never done this before, he used to feel dirty even though he desired every inch of you but you had given him the permission today by showing yourself off for him so brazenly, he wasn't expecting it but norns he'd be lying if he said he wasn't in literal heaven right now, he didn't crave anything anymore but only the burning need to have you on top of him and fill you up slowly with his cock. He wanted to be surrounded by your warmth in every way.  

He thought of your plump bosom and your bare skin glowing amidst the candlelights, he pictured you on the bed in his clothes and his hand worked faster, he needed a release, it's been so long and he has been on the edge every time you touched him, kissed him and every time you were on top of him with your hips rolling against him. Then he heard your words as you promised to be there for him, he didn't need it, it wouldn't have changed his feelings for you at all, but they warmed his heart and made him feel wanted too, he felt cared for after a long time. 

He cried out your name as the dam broke, a smile formed on his lips as he tried to level his breathing back to normal. He wished he could have been there with you right now, he wished he was sleeping in that warm bed with you instead of this dark lonely cell. He didn't answer when his mother had asked him that question but he wasn't afraid to say it now, he didn't want to deny it either.

"Oh dear mother, to answer your query now, Yes, I have fallen for her, truly and madly" 

#loki x female reader #loki x reader fluff #loki x reader smut #loki x reader #loki x reader insert #loki x reader fic #loki x you #loki x reader angst #loki horror romance #loki alternate universe #dark themes #loki au

[thaliaisalesbian]

i get myself twisted in threads

Chapter 20: when you see it's me

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21

Nancy’s stuck in her head at lunch, but Jonathan knows he is, too. His grades have never been the highest—his average is probably a B, honestly—but with everything going on he’s let them slip a little more. He’s been pulled aside by both of his teachers today so far.

He needs to pick up his grades again, or he might not get a scholarship like he needs to in order to go to NYU for photography.

He doesn’t try too hard to draw Nancy into conversation; he managed to get a couple of extra credit assignments, and he’s going to be doing make-up points on a test tomorrow. He can get his grades back up, and then when he’s going into exams he won’t have to worry as much about getting an A in order to keep his Bs in his classes.

If he wants As, he’ll have to try a little harder.

He hadn’t realized that all the time he’s been spending with Steve had been affecting his schoolwork this way. Given how much time Steve has been spending on his own schoolwork, he probably should be doing better.

“What time did you want to leave today?” Nancy asks, as they’re walking out.

“I’ll be in the dark room,” He says. He hadn’t had a set time in mind. “Just whenever you’re done, I guess.”

“Okay. I’ll try not to take too long.”

She walks away, like she’s got a plan in her head; at least more of one than she’d had this morning.

It’s then that Jonathan realizes he hadn’t even asked her how her test went.

finish on ao3 or under the cut

He’s got a lot of film that he needs to work on, with all of the pictures from the other Saturday, and a few that he’s taken for his portfolio.

It doesn’t help that he hasn’t been in the dark room… probably since before Steve went missing. He hadn’t had any pictures to develop and look at like he had when Will had gone missing.

He’ll have to remember which ones he needs to make multiple copies of, too.

It’s nice to fall back into the easy rhythm of processing the negatives; he’s practiced enough at it that he can almost zone out as he works.

By the time Nancy knocks on the door, he’s got a couple rolls of film hung up to dry. Since he booked the room for the night, no one’s going to disturb them, so he leaves them up. He’ll get them in the morning before he goes to class.

“Your mom won’t mind me staying for dinner?”

“Never, you know that.” She’s got a little crease between her eyes. “Find anything?”

“A little. Our best bet is still probably talking to Steve, though.”

“Should we stop at the public library?” It’s a lot bigger than the one here, and it might have something else.

“No, by the time we get back to your house it’ll be dinner time anyway.”

Will and Mike are at the table when they walk in; that probably means that Steve is in his room.

“Mom called and said she’ll be home soon.” Will pauses the conversation to tell him. “And I already put dinner in the oven!”

“Good job, Will.”

“I was just following Steve’s directions. He’s in your room, he was out here but when Mike came over he left.”

“Thanks, Will.” Jonathan ruffles his hair, just to annoy him. Mike’s making a face at him, but that’s nothing new. He stopped being cool as soon as he started dating Nancy, apparently. 

He wonders what Mike would think if he knew that Nancy was dating both him and Steve now. He knows that Mike had had more than a few things to say about Steve at first. He’s cooled off now, which is probably for the best.

Steve’s got some of his work spread out on Jonathan’s bed; he doesn’t look up when they come in.

“Hey,” Mom probably won’t say anything with Mike here, so he shuts the door. “Anything fun in there?”

“No. Is there ever?”

“Probably not.” Still, Steve’s gotten almost all the way through his make-up work. Jonathan would have taken the year off, but he knows that Steve doesn’t want to hear it again. He just thinks it’s really impressive, how much work Steve has gotten done.

“I have bad news for you, Steve.” Nancy sets her bag down and pulls a folder out. “They gave me more work for you today.”

“I’m not even done with everything they gave me last time!”

“You’re pretty close, though.” Jonathan sits next to Steve, careful not to disrupt his papers.

“You want to talk about last night.” Steve guesses, before either of them says anything. “I don’t know why it happens, it doesn’t happen a lot, and I can’t control it. I wasn’t ignoring you, Jon, I wouldn’t do that on purpose. I just… couldn’t talk.”

“I looked a few things up.” Nancy launches into what Jonathan’s sure is going to be a long description, filled with psychological terms, more clinical than personal.

It’s what she tends to do, when she’s worried or scared. He doesn’t know how to talk to her about it.

“Nance,” Steve stops her after a few minutes. “Thanks for looking that up, but it’s all going way over my head.”

“Steve, I’m trying to find an explanation!”

“I know you are.” Steve soothes, and Jonathan doesn’t think he’s seen this particular side of Steve and Nancy before. “It’s nice that you want to help.”

“I can help! We can figure it out and we can stop it, or make it easier for you. We can have a plan for what we’re going to do when it happens again, a signal or something.” She looks like she’s about a second from stomping her foot on the floor. If this weren’t supposed to be a serious discussion, Jonathan would laugh at her.

“And we can do that. But, Nancy, come on. We don’t need a reason why it happens, we don’t need a bunch of fancy words right now. We can have a plan without those.” Steve holds up a hand before either of them can say anything, taking a breath and letting it out slowly. “Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s just a trauma thing. It’s not, like, tied directly to anything happening, but sometimes everything’s just too much and I shut down.”

That… could be right. It’s the best explanation they have, at least. Or at least it’s part of it.

“You did this before the Upside Down, Steve.” Nancy accuses, like that really matters. “You can’t just brush it off like that!”

“I’m not brushing anything off. We can come up with a signal or something, for when it happens, but I don’t think you need to be looking into that much.”

“What if we can stop it? What it’s something we can fix?” Her voice cracks on the last word, and Jonathan looks between Nancy—arms crossed tight over her chest, fingers twitching, and tearing up because she’s so frustrated—and Steve—sitting straight up, very stiff and still, and with an eerie blankness in his face.

He feels like he’s just learned something, about both of them, but he can’t describe what it is.

“I’m not a project for you to fix, Nance.” Steve says softly, shaking his head, and there’s a little warmth in his voice, breaking the frozen image.

Inexplicably, Jonathan’s fingers itch for his camera.

Nancy visibly stops herself from saying something. “I just want you to be okay, Steve.”

“I know.” When Nancy sits on Steve’s other side, not as careful of his work as Jonathan was, Steve pulls her into his side and then reaches for Jonathan to do the same. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier, Jon. I didn’t think it would happen.”

“It’s okay.”

“How long do we have until Will and Mike come looking for us?” Steve leans in a little. “We could clear off the bed, and it’s not like your door is open…”

“Steve.” Jonathan says. “No, my mom is coming home soon.”

“Not even a little making out?”

“No.” Besides, Jonathan’s not sure why Steve wants to do anything right now; while he’s healing, they’ve been told very firmly by Owens, Irene, Mom, and Hopper (that one had made Jonathan want to crawl into a hole and never come out) that until Steve’s cleared for more vigorous activity, they can’t try anything.

“But it’ll be a good distraction!”

“From what?”

“Homework.”

“We can be distracted from our homework and not be making out.” Nancy rolls her eyes, looking at him for backup.

Steve also looks at him, but he’s doing an exaggerated pout, and somehow it doesn’t even look all that funny on him.

Jonathan does want to kiss him now, actually.

“I don’t know, Nance, Steve might have a point.”

“Not you too!”

“But it’s fun, Nancy! Don’t you like kissing us?” Steve must poke her side from the way she jumps.

“That’s not the point! We have things we need to be doing, and talking about, and two little brothers just outside in the living room!”

“Your brother being in the house has never stopped you before, Nance, don’t pull that card. Holly being in the house hasn’t stopped you, at least Mike knocks thirty percent of the time.”

“Will knows how to knock, and you really think he’d let Mike come in without knocking?” Jonathan says, just to get a rise out of her. It works.

“If you don’t want to kiss, that’s okay.” Steve tells her, leaning a little more into Jonathan’s side. “Jonny and I can entertain ourselves.”

Nancy buries her face in her hands and mumbles something. Steve laughs, close enough now that Jonathan can feel his breath on his face. It’s just a light kiss, at first, but when Jonathan pushes a little harder, Steve follows his lead.

When he needs to breathe, he pulls back just a little; he can’t even really see much of Steve’s face.

“What was that, Nance?” He knows he sounds just a little breathless; it’s what he was going for.

“You’re going to kill me!” She says, looking up at the end of her sentence, right in time to see them kiss again.

Jonathan feels the bed shift as she moves, but he’s more focused on pressing Steve down into the pillows, carefully settling his weight over Steve’s hips.

They’ve just gotten comfortable with it—he doesn’t think he and Steve have actually kissed quite like this before—when Nancy steals a pillow and whacks him with it.

“I thought you wanted to do homework?” He asks, a tad too innocently. “What’s with the pillow, babe?”

“It’s my turn.” She’s got her arms crossed again, but’s a little looser than it was earlier.

“With who?”

“I don’t know! Both of you! Move, Jonathan.”

“If you don’t know, why does he have to move?” Steve gets hit this time. Jonathan would kiss him again, but Steve’s laughing too hard for it to work.

“Mom’s home! She says it’s time to eat!” Will calls through the door, and Nancy huffs.

“Do you think she’ll let us eat in here?”

“No, not when Steve and I look like this.” Jonathan says, and Nancy’s eyebrows draw in as she gives them both a once-over. Steve’s hair is more of a mess than usual; he hasn’t been styling it lately, but it’s noticeable, and Jonathan’s sure his is too.

“My turn, then. I mean it.” She kisses him first, and he lets her take the lead.

Before they’d started dating Steve, Jonathan had never gotten her wound up like this on purpose. Probably couldn’t, not in the same way, at least. But god is it fun.

She doesn’t shove him off of Steve, just lays down so she can grab his face and turn it towards her.

It’s probably a good thing that his mom knocks when she does. 

“Don’t make me open this door, I know you heard Will. You’ve got five minutes.” She says sternly, but underneath it she’s laughing a little.

Maybe they can get her to tell a story about her teenage years tonight. Jonathan doesn’t know much about what she was like at his age. 

“Coming, Joyce.” Nancy pulls away to answer. “Fix yourselves up, boys.” She says it like she’s not red in the face either, her lips a little swollen.

“Oh, shut up.” Jonathan tells her, if only because he can’t think of anything else to say. 

Jonathan climbs off of Steve, and he sits up a little too quickly if his wince is anything to go by.

“You good? Do you want your crutches?” Steve’s hardly been using them, even if he’s still supposed to. “Nah, I’m fine. Hey, how much footsie do you think we can get away with under the table?”

“Don’t even start, Steve.” Nancy warns.

“Well, yeah, we’re not at the table yet.”

“Steve. Jonathan, control our boyfriend.”

“I dunno, it sounds fun to me. Mom won’t care. Unless we kick her.”

“I am going to sit far away from you. I’ll sit next to Mike.” Nancy threatens, but Mike would probably kick her if she did that and she knows it.

“No, you won’t.” Given that she beats them to the table, she easily could have, but instead there’s a spot for Steve across from her and a spot for Jonathan next to her.

Will makes a face at him behind Mike’s back, and Mom gives him a look, but other than that, no one says anything.

The air around the kitchen table feels lighter than it has in a long time.

It almost feels like it did during the kids’ sleepovers, before the Upside Down stuff started.

Jonathan doesn’t know much about psychology, but something about it feels a little like healing.

<;- 19 21 ->

#stranger things #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #stoncy #stranger things fic #nix writes #fic update #wip wednesday #i get myself twisted in threads #hurt steve harrington #fluff #whump #whump fic #whump writing #ao3 fic #st fic #stoncy fic #stonathan #ao3 #kissing #boys kissing #joyce byers #will byers #mike wheeler #st2

[hellishere7980]

IMW Chapter 7

Marinette just stared at the Kwami.

She could have change her suit?

She could have more equipment than just a yoyo?

She didn't have to have worn that skin tight, relieving suit for the last 3 years?

"Tikki..." staring straight into Tikki's eyes "run" Marinette proceeded to chase after Tikki for a good 30 minutes before she was able to catch the Kwami. Jumping over the couch jumping off the walls as Tikki dodge, dived and phased throw the walls and household objects. Finally catching the Kwami in her hand Marinette looked at her dead on with her most serious look she could muster, whilst shaking her. "So you mean to tell me I have been fighting against akuma's with nothing more than a yoyo because you forgot to tell me I could change my suit after Stone heart?" Marinette asked the kwami. "yes" was all the reply she got as the Kwami was to busy trying to stop the world from spinning as Mari stopped shaking her. "Tikki.." Marinette said looking at the kwami once she got her sense back "No chocolate chip cookies for you for the next 2 weeks as punishment for forgetting something so imported. Is there anything else you need to tell me" "Yes Guardian" replied Wayzz from the kitchen where the rest of the kwami's were watching from after they finished cleaning up.

Marinette gestured to the kwami's to move this to the couch so they did. Once everyone was settled, Wayzz began. "As you know Guardian, since you began training with Master Fu and later myself and the others, we have mostly been teaching you magic theory because you had yet to awaken your magic. Which for a Miraculous holder is normal. Even the magical protections here had to be activated by us kwami after you, yourself wrote them. For normal magic users the younger one is more beneficial, it is to awaken early whereas miraculous holders and Guardians tend to awaken when they are older because the strength of their magic is far stronger than they need both strong mind and body. This is the main reason why the Order tended to take their disciples around the age of 3-5 because they would have years to train them in everything from martial arts to magic theory, usually they start with martial arts because it trains and strengthens the body and meditation and other types of training trains the mind.

It was considered normal for disciples to finish, to have become a master in the martial arts by age 10 to 12 and then they would have 3 or so years to learn the more advanced magic arts before their awakening. A guardians awakening would be from ages 12-15 A holder's awakening would be from ages 13-16 for holders who were a match for class 2 miraculous and below. And a true holder like yourself or a holder of any class 1 miraculous and above tend to have their awakening between ages 17-21 once the body has fully grown." "So I had my awakening because in a Guardian?" asked Marinette but the kwamis just looked at each other. "No, Marinette that's no how it works" replied Tikki "You shouldn't have been able to awaken your magic until you were at least 17 or if you were in a life and death situation, because you were a holder first before you were a Guardian. There can only be a few reasons why you were able to do so but the most likely is because of your exposure to almost every miraculous in the mother box except the butterfly and peacock. You were able to wear 16 miraculouses and transform with 4 of them and show no symptoms of physical or mental drain after Kwami-buster, which could only mean you were already physically and mentally mature enough for your awakening by then, you just needed a trigger."

"So, I have magic now? Super cool" Marinette said happy, she had been waiting to finally be able to use magic, so many plans where now possible.

"Yes, now you have many new powers like you can transform with no time or power limit and full access to all the powers that come with the domain of the kwami. And only a full fledged guardian can unlock miraculouses restrictions to that point. And finally when transformed you will be able to communicate with us within your mind meaning we can help you come up with plans and use your powers.

There are also other benefits like being able to meet, train and interact with past holders in your mind but also past guardians, so they can teach you what you can't or don't know."

A new world is waiting at the horizon.

Marinette was in her safe room with the secret compartment where she kept the miracle box. It was like instruction manuals were just appearing in her head, strange but not unwelcome. Finishing reciting the spell in the guardian language and the box was sealed. Now there was only 2 ways to take out a miraculous, through her yoyo or for her to unlock the box. Walking back into her room heading for the bathroom for a quick shower, she had already laid out what she was wearing underneath the transformation. She would be teleporting straight to the president. Most of the government had moved outside of Paris to make sure top secret information stayed out of Hawkmoths hand so the president no longer lived at the Elysee palace, but had moved about 2 towns over out of range from akuma's and Hawkmoth but close enough to help with military intervention if necessary. They had moved most of the government to some of the old forts from the French revolution.

Marinette thought and a way of red overcame her and she was in her new suit, pausing briefly to look at her reflection getting her first close look at her new suit and its weapons. At least now she would be able to use some of the staff techniques Sabine had taught her years ago. "Tikki, Kaalki, unify" and Lady Foal now stood, her suit had added black accents and a leather look. Not bad if she said so herself. "voyage" dropping through the portal, the room exploded Lady Foal merely raised her hands and said, "i'm Ladybug hero of Paris and I have come to meet the president of France to discuss the Shadowmoth situation" Lady Foal looked directly at the president sitting at her desk. "Kaalki dismount" after the light died down Ladybug stood head held high. "stand down" was all the president said gesturing for Ladybug to take the seat in front of the desk "what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" asked the president Taking the offered seat Ladybug sat down looking directly at the leader of her homeland. "I have discovered the identity of Shadowmoth and his allies madam." Gasps were heard from all over the room. The president merely put on an serious face and went for her intercom, "have the prime minister in my office immediately, code: scarlet maiden" after about 15 minutes of which the room sat in silence, the prime minister arrived with a few offers. After everyone was seated in the chairs Ladybug in the one closest to the door so she could see everyone. Marinette recognised merely everyone in the room. Ministers of defence, finance, home security and even the minister of foreign affairs. Everyone she needed for her plans was here. The president pressed a button under her desk and the room went into lockdown metal shutters and everything. "please proceed, Ladybug"

Ladybug simply nodded "As I said when I arrived I discovered the identity of Hawkmoth now known as Shadowmoth and his allies. So far my investigation has revealed that his influence doesn't reach beyond Paris boarders both as Shadowmoth or his civilian identity. However when his identity is revealed to the public it is highly likely to cause mass unemployment and 30 percent of Paris's economy to collapse that will result in a financial collapse not seen since the great repression in France. "

"His civilian identity is?" asked a minister.

"Gabriel Agreste"

#alfred pennyworth #bruce wayne #jason todd #maribat #marinette dupen chang #hellishere7980 #dick grayson #miraculous fanworks #miraculous incorrect quotes #miraculous lb #adrien agreste #lila rossi #bio!dad bruce wayne

[lbhslefttiddie]

Could you talk a bit about how you plan out your longer fanfics? I’ve have a long fic I’ve been wanting to write, but I’m not sure how to plan/outline it, and I’d love to hear what your process is!!!

Mouse and the Thorn and Into This Wild Abyss had some very different things going on in the planning stage—it really came down to what kind of story i was telling and what was important for executing that!

(longish sowwy)

ITWA, from the moment i conceived it, revolved around sqq going through a largely preordained plot, and so i created a longass bullet list of all the major plot points and moved them around into the general order i felt it was best for them to happen. I generally kept the points brief and without flavour, lest it mess with the writing of the scene itself or I get bored of it before i even start. There was some variance in the writing stage, partially because i (cough) forgot to add several plot points in the originally planned spaces (see: xin mo), and partially because that's just sort of how it goes when you're actually feeling out a chapter, but the outline was like a guide that i would be able to pull back towards if i strayed too far, and allowed me to keep the end destination in mind, and keep track of important details. All told, the core aspects laid out in the outline didn't change much in the finished product. Frankly, it was huge relief to have that outline!! It definitely saved my ass many times. Truly a revelatory experience for me.

MotT, on the other hand, doesn't so much have a hard plot—lbh is currently 13 years old, before even the beginning of scum villain, so even the plot that comes built into this universe is a very distant thing. We basically just have a core cast of a few inextricably connected characters who are constantly influencing each other, and the "plot" is really just who is going through what character arc at this particular point in time.

Trying to create an outline would, to me, feel horribly rigid, when a lot of flexibility is necessary for something like this. Instead, i have a handful of cool scenes in my head, a general sense for where each character is at and where they're going, and it's just a matter of passing the mic around in a way that feels balanced for whatever arc we're in.

............It's worth mentioning that the way i've written/am writing MotT, while i think is for the best for this project, is also way fucking harder than how ITWA was planned and written. I've mentioned this before in passing i think, but on multiple occasions, i'll have written entire scenes out, and then need to push them back or move them around way more than anticipated because Something Else Needs To Happen First. (this also reflects in my art; the files are listed by date rather than chapter, and so some clusters of art are actually in backwards order--i did the art for what became ch 16 before 15, and 15 before 14)

It's not necessarily a problem, and I'm certainly enjoying myself, but this messy and fluid way of putting a story together straight up would not be possible if i did not already have a solid sense for pacing and balancing emotional elements. I'm absolutely certain that even a few years ago i would not have had the skill to write this fic without writing myself into a corner or rushing everything in a forced way or losing something important to the core of the story; i would go so far as to say this story is only possible because I wrote ITWA first.

I definitely would not recommend this strategy for your first longfic, personally. obviously, do what feels right for yourself, etc, and at the end of the day you should never let concerns of skill or experience stop you from writing the stories you want, but i think this process could, uh. Cause headaches. If you're out of your depth

#asks #beyond the plotting and pacing aspect mott is also generally a more difficult story to write in terms of character nuance #like its easy to say that someone else is not writing sj with the complexity his character truly merits #but i think this sentiment does not give enough credit to how fucking difficult it is to write a character like this #looking unflinchingly at the worst parts of someone and still finding ways to portray them as loveable #showing the tender and tragic and wronged parts of someone without making it into an excuse #becoming a better person when you're all twisted up and wrong inside is not an easy or pleasant thing #for him OR me (who has to drag him there kicking and screaming) #its like being locked in eternal combat with someone you hopelessly desperately love #wow sorry thats quite the aside #i have a lot to say about mott because there's a LOT going on in the background for that motherfucker #also considering where we're at so far and how long it is already #i suspect mott is going to end up being longer than itwa #............very possibly a LOT longer

[wingsofescape]

20 questions for writers

I was kindly tagged by @alighted-willow for this (thank you friend, you know how much I love these!)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2 for now, but I have ideas for many more I keep shelved in order not to get distracted from my main project.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

88,706 (but 82k are from one fic)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far FMA 2003, but I did attempt a Yugioh fic a decade ago that luckily never saw the light of day. I started watching Detective Conan so maybe there will be a fic from that one day, depending on what my brain will decide to rot on.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I only have two fics published, soooo

in the cracks of light - 87 kudos

there'll be happiness after you - 32 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always! I love discussing observations and mutually scream with my readers. Also I really appreciate when someone takes the time to comment so the least I can do is return the favour. Equivalent exchange, if you will.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's complicated? there'll be happiness after you seemingly ends well, but since it's a prequel and shit unfolds in in the cracks of light... it's a fake happy ending and a prelude to loads of angst *kicks reveal chapter under the rug*

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I haven't finished it yet, but itcol will be getting a happy ending! I know it seems unbelievable now, but I promise it's a fix-it and it will end happily.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't gotten hate per se, but I've had some... disagreements over the genre and some "I expected [character] to react [a certain way] because that would rush the story along" where I'm like "it's called a narrative choice that I have fully analysed and can justify, what's your problem", but other than that...

Although there is a certain very divisive topic I'm handling in my fic which could lead to hate, but I've explicitly stated I would be very liberal with the block button if someone left hate, so I guess the haters know how to stay silent.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes! I'm actually sitting on a sex scene that was written two years ago and I can't wait to unleash it when the time comes (get it? Okay I'll see myself out).

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Nope, but I would be tempted to maybe do a HTTYD/FMA crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I sure hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but if anyone would like to translate a fic of mine, feel free! I'm a translator and editor by profession so if you would like a fic translated to either French or Danish let me know and I will do my best.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! Me and two friends did have an idea two years ago but we never developed it to fruition.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Do I even need to say it... CoS Edwin all the way.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

As long as I finish itcol, I'm happy. It's more about wips I want to write but haven't started yet.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've gotten the most positive feedback on characterisation and relationship building, as well as metaphors. I also think that for a first time mystery writer I didn't do too badly with plot twists and red herrings and kept people guessing till the end.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I overthink a lot and will get stuck until something is perfect. I overwrite a lot and I think my sentences can get clunky, and I really struggle with describing internal sensations and will overuse body language related to the eyes. Working on it, but urgh.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I speak four so it wouldn't be a problem, but I also know it can take a reader out of their experience, so I try to stick to just a few words.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Unpublished, Yugioh. Published, FMA 2003.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

It has to be in the cracks of light. That fic is my baby, it rekindled my love for writing and gave me the best community I could ever ask for. I'm really proud of myself for still being on this story even after two years of working on it and I love its plot and of course giving Ed and Winry the happy ending they deserve (and I like to stick it to the CoS director).

Tagging with no pressure @asthmaticbee @woahpip @darkpersonapeace @maples-pages @wickedcriminal and anyone I forget who would like to do this!

#in the cracks of light fic #tag games #ask and ye shall receive #thank you for tagging me

[slusheeduck]

Fic Writer Interview

Nabbed this from @thana-topsy, and I'm tagging @im-fairly-whitty and @sheepwithspecs!

----

How many works do you have on AO3?

42

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

670,970

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

In reverse order:

The Liberties You're Taking - my prequel fic for Coco

Duty-Bound - A Victuuri royal arranged marriage AU I wrote out of spite

Casual Banter - My fictober/one-shot anthology for BG3

Puppy-Dog Eyes - A missing scene one-shot of how Hector and Miguel entered the music contest

The Way You Keep Me Guessing - The Coco Teacher!AU I wrote with @im-fairly-whitty

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Sometimes! Depends on my mood--I get in "I need to say thank you to every comment or I WILL die" moods sometimes, and then others I don't respond to anything unless there's a question/comment that bears responding to.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I've got a good few--I'm a sucker for a good bittersweet ending. A lot of times, like with Liberties and Time and Circumstance, the angst factor comes from knowing how the story ends in canon. Probably the angstiest writing was And Therewithal I Cut My Hair.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Probably Teacher AU. Literally everything tied up neatly for the happiest ending possible.

7. Do you write crossovers?

The Ruy stories (from Villain AU, which I worked with Wit on but he ultimately wrote) were a crossover with PatF, but otherwise not really. I think about it sometimes with various fandoms tho.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Uhh, not really unless you count my pre-AO3 days when a guy gave me a dressing down over a fic I was begging people to read when I was 13 and didn't know what I was doing. (Grateful to that guy, in the end! I learned how to format properly out of spite.) I did have one person come in to all my Frozen fics and rewrite them in the comments on ffnet, though. Not hate, but...strange.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I just wrote my first full smut scene in a fic and I'm still recovering.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not stolen, but one person did rewrite a fic I've written to be more angsty.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I...think someone translated Teacher AU, but I can't remember fully.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Oh just a few.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Honestly, at the end of the day, probably Victuuri. I've had other ships, but the 30 day challenge I did for them was one of the most fun things I've written.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Oh, I don't know. Probably my Gravity Falls fic or my Iduna/Agnarr Frozen backstory. I still have those guys percolating in my head and periodically want to come back to them, but I have so many other projects.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue dialogue dialogue. I thrive with that, and my stuff frequently ends up being people sitting and talking for a whole chapter. No one's complained yet tho.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Endings. I always struggle with ending things, and there's a few fics where when I reread them (because I'm a big fan of reading my own fics, since that bitch writes exactly what I want to read) that I just straight up do not read the last chapter because I hate it so much.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I do this with reckless abandon and I do not apologize ever. Sometimes I translate, sometimes I leave it to context clues.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Nightmare Before Christmas

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I'd love to write some Bloodweave one of these days, but alas, it would have to be for an ask or something.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

My favorite fic is always the one that I'm currently working on, so currently it's this one. But for long-term staying power, probably these ones (in no particular order):

The Liberties You're Taking

And Therewithal I Cut My Hair

The Merchant And The Toad King

Reset

Like Daylight Fading As Dusk Spreads

[fanstuffrantings]

About to ramble for a bit about a different series I read a bit, fell off of, and recently fell back into:

Now from the title I know people are going to be giving it a sideways glance, far. I will warn that in the second chapter someone attempts to sa the female lead, nothing happens, and nothing like it happens again. But I do want the warning there in case someone is surprised by it.

But also it's so insanely good I need to talk about it. Long ramble under the cut:

So the story follows Reinhardt Lincke only child of a Marquess who loved her unconditionally. She's in a marriage of convince to her loathsome husband, the crown prince, who she'd been engaged to since they were kids.

However following him making decisions to please his mistress that cause a rebellion, he disobeys the order from his father the king to go and quell the people. Instead commanding Reinhardt's father in his place, her father going with the agreement that once things finish, the prince will ask for a divorce. Her father dies in the war and while sobbing over her fathera casket the prince asks for the divorce he promised.

For 15 years the female lead agonizes over the loss of her father and her anger at her ex-husband, vowing that if time were to rewind she would get revenge. So when time resets to the moment she heard the request for the divorce, while the prince tries to negotiate what she'll get, she simply does what anyone would do:

When asking for that doesn't work she takes the next best course of action:

Obviously she gets imprisoned and eventually banished to her mother's old territories after having her father's stripped from her. Something done with orders from the king because he's aware of what mess his son has brought.

To the north she goes where she meets with a much younger, much more unintimidating, future knight of her husband who was known as a mad dog. Limited on staff she decides to help him shape up into a more useful tool for her and her revenge. She's not a warrior herself, but she'll use every other warrior she can.

Now to note: the male lead is 16 when they meet, the female lead is 24. There's a lot of mugginess when it comes to romance. It's messy, questionable. And I'm about to get into spoilers but if you go into this, know no one in this comic is a good person. I do beg you to read it though because it's so very very good. You can read it officially on tappytoon.

More art:

So first, the female lead actively avoids a romantic relationship with him, most of their time is spent apart when he gets separated and sent to war for 3 years after a handful of months knowing her. But the male lead has an obsession with earning her love. He'll do anything for her and she needs that type of person following the death of one of the only people she had left.

The manga is dark. The romance isn't sweet or cute, the female lead only agrees to a romance because she feels like she messed up the male lead so badly that she owes it to him to give him love at first so that someone could love him. He doesn't tell her that, in fact he's fine how he is and simply is happy to exist the way he does, but she believes she's the reason he ended up how he did. The male lead views her like his goddess and he's willing to dive into the pits of hell and be utterly depraved, hurting himself if it means she would even deign to think of loving him.

She wants the head of her enemy, and he is willing to bring it to her.

And never once are we given a moment to want her to have mercy on the prince, but it also doesn't feel like it's forced. We feel sympathy for the Mistress, even if she's a terrible person we understand she's a victim who hurts others.

Now for current spoilers:

It's also revealed the male lead has gone back in time, he has memories of being used and abused by the Mistress of the prince who becomes his second wife. He loathes her and wants her dead so his interests align with the female lead. He even still manipulates her and pledges his loyalty to the royal family just to win back the body of fl's father.

He brings her the body of her ex-husband after he dies and goads her into mutilating the body because he came to love her after finding out how much brutality she could have in her.

And then immediately following this she sleeps with him for the first time while still covered in the blood of her ex-husband.

This series is dark, twisted. Everyone in it is some brand of horrible and we know that. But it never pretends it's anything different. From chapter 1, you are aware the female lead is willing to destroy.

#i tamed my ex husband's mad dog #molten rambles #like #please read it if you enjoy dark/morally questionable content #its so well done #the characters are horrible people who are willing to be horrible

[fiveisnumber1]

The Worst Isn’t The Worst When I’m With You - A “Remembering The Past/Fixing The Future” Side Story

Timeless Fanfic Main Story Parts:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35

Hi everyone! Sorry that it's been a bit since I posted. I've been focusing very hard on finishing my master's degree, but now that I know I am officially graduating I will have plenty more time to write. To make up for things though here is a side story that I have slowly been working on in between portions of my final paper. I will be getting back to the main storyline and start working on the next chapter sometime next week. I'd also like to thank my trans bestie Georgia for her assistance on the last section of this side story, her advice and input were very much appreciated.

Thank you all for your patience, and much love <3

Warnings: Mentions of physical abuse (section 1/Lucas) and deadnaming/misgendering (section 7/Viktoria). If those topics are uncomfortable feel free to skip them.

_____________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Lucas Alexander Klein. Born June 16th, 2001 at 1:37 am to Austin and Meredith Klein. With two older siblings, Jackson and Katherine, he was the youngest and last child of the Klein family. From the outside life in the Klein household looked as golden and shiny as the hair on all their heads, but inside it was much darker. Rules and standards were engrained into the family structure and stepping outside those bounds led to one thing. Punishment. Physical punishment. But in the house, those rules were arbitrary and ever-changing. What was fine one day was wrong the next and it was entirely at the discretion of Austin Klein. He was an abusive man who relished the power he had over his children and his wife Meredith felt no need to step in as she idly let him parent the way he did.

Their children however were completely unlike them. Jack, Katie, and Lucas stuck together doing their best to keep each other safe rather than leaving each other alone to face things themselves. They were kind and empathetic to each other and other people because none of them wanted others to feel the way they felt. None of them wanted to be like their parents and did everything they could to make the world a better place, from activities, to volunteer work to just helping random people because they all knew how terrible it could be sometimes. Being the oldest, Jack took the brunt of the punishment in order for his siblings to face less. But when he turned 18 he knew he couldn't stay any longer. No matter how much he loved his siblings, for his own sake, he had to go, no matter how much he wanted to take them with him. And so he left.

Lucas was 12.

It was then that Katie tried to step up to protect Lucas just as Jack had done for them but as Lucas got stronger he instead stepped in to protect Katie even if it meant he got hurt more. But that didn't last long as two years after Jack left at age 18, Katie did too. She cried the day of her birthday as she packed her bags to leave and go live with some of her friends. She wanted to take Lucas with her, she told him she'd find a way to get him out, but Lucas refused. Jack had tried the same thing and Lucas remembered how their parents made his life a living hell until he stopped. Lucas, still trying to protect his sister, told her that he was strong. Strong like Luther Hargreeves, his hero and inspiration. Strong like he was in all the comics she and Jack gave him since he was six. He didn't want her life to be difficult because of him and he would be okay. And so she left.

Lucas was 14.

And so Lucas was all alone, with four years left til he too could leave and never look back. But until then he was stuck in his shitty situation. He stayed away from home as much as possible to try and minimize his time in his father's presence. Between school and sports and activities and friends he managed to stay away for the most part but not entirely. And it was on those days that he was stuck at home with no excuse or got home before his parents went to bed that times were tough. Very tough. But he never told anyone, not even his closest friend brushing stuff off as a thing he got from football or at the gym or being clumsy. Except for one night, when he was 16 and he finally came clean to one person. You.

June 16, 2017:

Today was a good day celebrating Lucas' 16th birthday.

Your friend group had a tradition of always saying yes to whatever people wanted to do for their birthday. It made for the best celebrations and always made the birthday person happy. And for Lucas, he decided he wanted to get away and go to the beach. And so you did. Getting up early everyone had piled into Dean's car and driven to Rockaway Beach. Together you swam in the warm salty water, collected shells on the sand, and even indulged Lucas in an impromptu game of capture the flag. You soaked in the sun and watched as Dean used a toy shovel to scoop up a tiny crab and fling it toward Kenny. It was hilarious. And once Lucas was satisfied with his beach day you moved on to the next thing.

And so after washing off in the bathrooms at the beach, you piled back into the car once more before coming back to the city and going to your favorite comic shop. You all scanned through all of the vintage comic collections looking for more Umbrella Academy comics for Lucas to take home and add to his collection, especially the ones that focused on Luther. Lucky for him you were able to find one, which of course you and all of your friends paid for him.

And then finally to end the day you went to the local arcade pizzeria to eat shitty pizza and play overpriced and definitely rigged games. And as you sat cramped together in a booth you presented your birthday gifts to Lucas. He loved every single one of them but you knew he really liked yours. You had gifted him an astronomy book that had Luther's signature in it. Granted, all you did was steal the book from Luther's room, but it's not like he was using it anytime soon and it made Lucas happy so what was the harm? As the day ended you had all gone your separate ways but you knew that you had given Lucas the best birthday you could. But as the night drew on, and you wrote about your day in your journal for Five to read one day, your phone began to ring.

Looking at the caller  ID you saw it was Lucas. It wasn't odd that he was calling you but the timing was. It was 11:18 pm. The latest he had ever called you before was 9 pm. Picking up your phone you could hear his voice on the other line.

"(Y/N)?" He questioned

He sounded out of breath and clearly upset.

"Lucas? Are you okay?" You asked concerned

"Can you come to the park?" He asked quickly "To the sitting area by the pond."

Something was off. Something was very off. You had never heard Lucas sound so panicked. Your heartbeat began to pick up its pace as you worriedly asked,

"Lucas, what's going on?"

"Please," he begged, "Please just come to the park."

He sounded like he was crying. There was no time for questions. Something was wrong and you needed to get to him. Immediately, you sprang from your seat and quickly replied,

"Don't move. I'll be there soon."

You could hear Lucas whimper a tiny sound of acknowledgment before the call ended. Rushing to your closet you quickly threw on a pair of shoes and a jacket before dashing out of your room and towards Reggie's office. Entering you looked around before finding the key to Hermes, the car the academy used to drive around in. Everyone was asleep at this point so no as was going to stop you from taking them. Running out of the office you transported your molecules outside and into the car. Placing the keys in the ignition you turned on the car and peeled out of the driveway behind the academy and onto the road toward the park. It took you practically no time and if Eudora had seen your reckless driving she would've been highly disappointed but the urgency was needed. Parking the car you immediately jumped out of it and ran down the pathways to the area he had told you to meet him. The park was dark and empty and your voice echoed throughout the area as you called,

"LUCAS? LUCAS?"

As you neared the area by the pond you could see a figure stand up and look your way.

"LUCAS!" You shouted

Quickly you spatial jumped over toward him but as you regained your focus and looked up at him the sight you saw shocked you. His face was wet with tears, streaks of dried blood ran from his nose and he had the beginnings of a black eye.

"Oh my god, Lucas what happened?!" You asked panicked

But instead of saying anything he just hugged you and began to cry. Wrapping your arms back around him your heart broke as you heard him sob into the quiet night. Just a few hours ago you both were having an amazing day together with your friends, what happened to make it go so wrong? Pulling away from the hug only slightly, you guided him over to one of the tables and had him sit down. Gently, you placed one of your hands over his black eye and made it colder in an attempt to quell the swelling and bruising. You could feel the wetness of his tears on the palm of your hand as he placed one of his hands over yours and pressed your cold hand against his eye more.

"Lucas, what happened? Who did this?" You softly asked

Lucas tensed up for a second. The fear of being honest was so ingrained in him that even the mere thought of opening up scared him. What if he was found out? How screwed would he be? But then he let out the breath that he was holding in and his shoulders dropped. He called you for a reason.

"M-m-my dad..." Lucas stuttered out "He did it."

His dad did this? Why the fuck would he do this? What reason did he have to harm his son like this? Not that any reason would be acceptable in the slightest but you needed to know what happened so you could help.

"What? Why?" You questioned more urgently

"Because I apparently got home too late." Lucas answered

"He did this because you were home too late? You've gotten home later before though." You mentioned

"I know...I- he's always changing his mind on what's allowed and not. It's always been like this..." Lucas responded sadly

Even with one eye covered, you could see his thousand-yard stare. You recognized that stare not only because you had caught glimpses of it on him before but because it was the same one you would get when you thought about the pain of your past. When he said it's always been like this he didn't just mean his dad changing his mind, he meant this. The injuries were not new. And that's when it clicked. The long sleeves in summer, the last-minute canceled plans, the way he would occasionally flinch if you approached him from behind or called his name too loud.

Your brain felt like it was running at a million miles per hour. Sadness and anger filled your system with adrenaline as you sprang to your feet and began to pace back and forth. You needed to help him. He didn't deserve this. Nobody did, but especially not your friend. Especially not when you could help.

"Oh my god, Lucas. We- we need to tell someone about this. We can go to Eudora, she's a cop-" You ranted your thoughts

"No- I-" Lucas tried to interject

"I mean I know the whole department. The detectives, the chief, the district attorney. They all like me and would be willing to help." You stated

As you paced past him Lucas grabbed your wrist catching your attention. You stopped and looked at him, tears in his eyes and the hand that held you visibly shaking.

"(Y/N), please. No." Lucas begged, his voice trembling "I can't go through the hell Austin put Jack through."

Jack was Lucas' older brother. You had met him a few times before he had moved out of Lucas' house but it was never for long. He was nice but also stand-offish, wary of people, and very protective of Lucas. But now it all made sense. You had no clue what type of hell Lucas was talking about but if he was begging you not to do anything you would put the subject aside for now. Even if you hated the thought of doing so, Lucas came first.

Relenting you sat down next to him once more, his hand still shakily gripping your wrist. And with a question nagging at your mind, you quietly asked,

"Dean is your best friend and Addison is your girlfriend so why did you call me?"

"Dean and Addison would be on a war path the minute I told them my dad did it regardless of whether I wanted them to or not." Lucas explained quietly "But you- I know you can keep a secret."

You looked at him confused and slightly concerned. How did he know you kept secrets? Did he know the truth and hadn't said anything?

"What makes you say that?" You asked

"When you talk about your past, you choose your words carefully so you don't lie, but I know you also don't tell the full truth. You have habits with seemingly no explanation like how no matter how old you are you insist on only 8 candles, the way you start to panic when it snows unexpectedly, or the way you grab onto people tightly if they walk too far ahead of you. Without fail, you refuse to leave the house on November 22nd every year but won't tell anyone why. Certain topics cause you to have a 1000-yard stare and I know on occasion you've hidden power-related injuries from the group." Lucas explained

You were taken back. He had seen all of that? You knew some of the things he mentioned were things you were actively hiding but you didn't expect him to notice. It seemed like none of your friends had noticed. And then there were other things you never realized you did. You grabbed onto people if they walked too far ahead? You would stare off blankly occasionally? He had noticed these things the whole time?

"You noticed all of that?" You questioned

"I did. Because it reminded me of myself." Lucas replied "And I don't know what it is and I don't expect you to tell me, but I know that whatever it is, it's something you feel you can't talk about. So I felt like...I felt like you would understand."

You did understand. Maybe not like how Lucas had experienced, but you held a lot of pain within you that you felt you couldn't talk about. You didn't know how people would feel or what they would think if you told them, especially your friends who knew the bare bones of your past. And for the people who knew a bit about your situation, like Diego, they already had their own biases so you'd never be able to have a true discussion with them. It was tough keeping all of your pain to yourself. You could feel tears come to your eyes as you somewhat understood how Lucas felt. How he was probably feeling now. Gently pulling your wrist out of his hand, you then took his hand in your own.

"Whatever you need, I'm here for you." You stated

"I just need you to hold on to this for two years. I'm used to it, I have strategies and I can get through. Once I turn 18 and get out there's nothing else my dad can do. And he never bothered Jack or Katie once they left and didn't bother him." Lucas explained "I don't know how he's going to react when he has no children to directly control but we'll get there when we get there. And if he does pull some shit I promise I'll let you get involved then."

"If that's what you want, that's what I'll do," You replied softly "But if you ever change your mind before then I'll help. Whatever you need I'll be here to support you."

Lucas looked at you. There was sadness in your eyes and the light of the lamp illuminated the tears that were beginning to form. There was something about seeing the pain reflected in your eyes whether from calling you out about your own secrets or finally admitting his that made him feel overwhelmed. He tried to hold it back, to not worry you further but sadness washed over him as he began to cry once more.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Lucas apologized through tears

"What are you sorry for?" You asked confused

"F-for crying and making you s-sad. For being scared an-and waiting this out. For not being st-strong enough to deal with i-it now." Lucas cried

Without even thinking, as those words left his mouth you let go of his hand and pulled him into a tight hug. You loved your friend dearly and to think he thought he needed to apologize for wanting someone to be there for him, for someone to let him be vulnerable, it broke your heart. He didn't deserve to feel this way. He never should've had to feel this way. You couldn't go back in time to change it, as much as you wish you had the power to, but you would do everything you could to help him now and going forward. As his head rested on your shoulder and tears stained your shirt, you stroked his hair gently trying your best to calm him. He wrapped his arms around you tightly once more, his body vibrating from the weight of his emotions. You had trouble breathing from the strength of his hold but it didn't matter. What mattered was Lucas.

"Lucas, you have no reason to be sorry." you cooed "You're the strongest person I know."

The strongest person you knew? Lucas couldn't believe it. There were way stronger people than him. He could think of a few but especially, one. Pulling back from the hug to look at you Lucas quietly questioned,

"As strong as Luther?"

"Stronger." You stated firmly

Now Lucas was especially confused. Not only was he the strongest person you knew, but he was stronger than Luther Hargreeves?

"How?" He asked

"Because even through all the unjustified malice you've faced you still choose to be kind." You answered softly "And there's a lot of strength that comes from still trying to be good even when everything seems so bad."

"I just don't want anyone to feel the way I feel or experience what I do." Lucas explained

"I know and if it means anything, you're doing a great job." You mentioned

"It does." Lucas replied before slumping against the picnic table and remarking "What a way to end my birthday, huh?"

You watched as he looked up at the dark sky above. The vast expanse of space covering the sky, but no stars to be seen with the lights of the city surrounding you. And then an idea hit you. Looking at the clock on your phone you saw it was 11:51 pm. You still had time. Quickly standing up, you exclaimed,

"Come with me, I have something to show you."

Lucas looked at you surprised but stood up anyway. Grabbing his hand, you ran off towards the hill at the center of the park, Lucas keeping pace with you. As the hill got closer you called back,

"Run to the top and look at the sky."

Lucas nodded his head and when you both got to the base of the hill he began to run up it. But when he saw you weren't following he stopped.

"Aren't you coming?" He questioned

"No, I need to be here." You quickly replied

You saw as Lucas still hesitated. Checking the time once more you saw it read 11:57. You were running out of time.

"Lucas trust me." You told him

Seeing the pleading sincerity in your eyes Lucas finally turned around and ran up to the top of the hill and looked up at the sky like you asked. Rushing over to the closest lamp post you dropped to your knees and phased your hand through the locked electric plate at the bottom. Placing your hands on the wiring inside you hoped you could recreate what you had done once before by accident. Looking at the clock once more you saw it said 11:59. It was now or never as you focused on the electricity inside the wires. Taking a deep breath you closed your eyes and then-

It was dark.

Lamp by lamp, building by building the lights shut off.

Lucas saw as the sky grew brighter and brighter. New stars became visible by the second as the world above illuminated with twinkling lights. It was so bright. It was so beautiful. He had never seen anything like this before except in pictures from his space books. Never did he think he would get to experience a sight like this let alone on his birthday. And as he watched a shooting star fly across the sky emotion overcame him again. A smile came to his face and tears welled in his eyes once more, not from sadness, but from joy. Closing his eyes, a few tears of joy ran down his cheeks as he made a wish on the shooting star above. When he was done wishing he opened his eyes and looked towards you, his friend who gave him the greatest gift of all.

Hope.

It would take time but Lucas knew from small moments like these, with the love and support of his friends, life could get better. No. Life would get better.

"(Y/N)!" Lucas called

You looked toward him trying to keep your focus on suppressing the city's electricity. It was taking all of your efforts, and you knew you couldn't hold it much longer.

"Make a wish!" He shouted excitedly pointing at the sky

Looking up you saw the same shooting star that Lucas had wished on and made a wish yourself. Closing your eyes, you wished that one day all of your friends would be with you and that they'd all be happy. Truly happy. As you finished your wish, you opened your eyes and looked up the hill toward Lucas.

"Happy birthday Lucas!" You shouted back

Lucas smiled. And as the lights of the city began to come back he knew that today was still a good day and with you as his friend, he knew no matter what every day after could be too.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Decano Francisco Sebastián Hernandez. Born December 4th, 2000 at 9:26 pm to Sebastián and Liliana Hernandez. With older brother Antonio and younger brother Matías, Dean was the forgotten second son. Although his mother attempted to show him he was remembered, he still did everything he could to try and climb into his father's graces and earn his praise. But as time went on Dean realized that praise would never come nor would his family fully remember that he was around. And even on the rare occasion they did, it was never as special as Antonio. He would always be second best.

He tried his best to accept it. If Diego Hargreeves from the Umbrella Academy could be number two and still be cool then he could too, right? He could still be a hero and make a change without his family's approval...no matter how much he wanted it. And so he worked and trained every day he could. His combat skills were much more than the average citizen, his knowledge of law, history, and mechanics was impressive for someone of his age and his archery skills became unmatched. But even with that he still compared himself to his older brother. Dean had far greater skills and knowledge but Antonio only had to exist to be number one. It felt unfair. He hated that he had no family to notice him.

That was until you came around. You noticed him. You noticed his skills, his knowledge, his talents. You saw it all and you praised him for it. The praise he had never gotten before. It was amazing. You were the closest thing he had to actual family.

No. You were his family.

You never rejected him, you never ignored him, you never not cared for him. You were his sister and he was your brother and together you were an unstoppable twin duo even if you weren't actually related. If neither of you had anyone else, you'd always have each other. Dean would protect all of his friends with his life, they were the family he chose, but especially for you. And especially after The Incident.

March 23, 2018:

School was boring today. In early March there's not much going on and today was no different. Typically, a slow school day with no tests or quizzes, or presentations was desirable, but after having days like this for the past 3 weeks it started to become mind-numbing. Dean was just itching for something to happen. But today was Friday which meant that he and the rest of your friend group had time to go off and do something exciting and he had the perfect idea.

For seven months at this point, your friend group had been going out across the city fighting crime just like the Umbrella Academy did. Just on a smaller scale. Dean and the rest of the group had received more in-depth training from you and they all learned how to work like a team. Each of you playing up each other's strengths and filling in the gaps where there were weaknesses. Together you ran like a well-oiled machine of seven highly competent fighters all under the direction of their talented and super-powered leader, you. And so like many other days as the final bell rang and your group of friends met up by the front doors of the school Dean proposed,

"So what do you guys say we take a little cruise around the city today? See what's up?"

Most of your friend group perked up with excitement at the thought. They loved going out to fight crime just like the Umbrella Academy did. They felt so cool and like their heroes. Hell, they didn't just feel like heroes, they WERE heroes. Even if nobody knew so besides the seven of you.

"That would be awesome!" Kenny exclaimed

"I've been dying for an adrenaline rush." Addison added

Dean felt excitement grow within him. Finally, the action that he had been looking for. He had heard rumors from some guy at his MMA club that there was some seriously shady business going on at the abandoned warehouse downtown. That would be the perfect place to shoot some arrows, fight some criminals, and get him out of this slump. Looking at the group as they all walked toward his car he shouted,

"Alright, the seven of us taking on the town once more!"

While the rest of your friends cheered for the adventure they were about to have, you gave a wary smile.

"What's that face for sis?" Dean questioned

"I don't think that's a good idea..." You mentioned reluctantly

"Why not?" Bren questioned confused

"I'm really tired." You replied

It was true, you were very tired. For years you had been working on some theories on how to use your powers to manipulate space-time. You had been tweaking one specific idea for the past 8 months now and you thought that you had gotten it to a workable place. All last night you had been trying to rip molecules apart in a specific fashion that would open a wormhole without creating a black hole. Over and over you tried again with no results, but then you started to get the hang of it and for one instance you could actually see something forming. It had been working up until the moment it snapped back closed causing a huge burst of energy and sending you flying into a wall knocking you out. When you woke up, your alarm for school was going off, your head hurt, and you felt mentally exhausted and physically tired. It was as if that burst of energy had knocked all of the energy out of you. You felt weak in a way you never had before. Granted, you had never pushed your powers to the point you did last night but you knew that you didn't have it in you to fight today. You had a regenerative nature to you so you knew that a day to relax and sleep in would fix you right up and you could go out fighting tomorrow, but today you just couldn't.

"I can't protect you guys as well as usual if I don't have the energy to." You added

"C'mon Ringmaster you've been training us constantly for eight months and we've been killing it every time we go out." Lucas reminded

"Yeah, but-" You began to say

"But nothing. We're practically professionals." Dean interjected

"If you want to take it easy this time when we go you can do that. I'm sure we can handle it." Viktoria suggested

As you all made it to Dean's car you stopped and stood in front of your friend group. It felt like they weren't listening to your concerns or what you were saying at all. You didn't have the energy to fight and you could not guarantee their safety like other times. The last thing you wanted was for something to go wrong because the outcomes were disastrous. Look what happened to Ben...

Most of the group was already his age. Hell, Bren had turned 17 nine days ago and Kenny had nine days until he turned 17. You were all around that age and it just put a bad taste in your mouth to have your concerns ignored.

"It's not about me wanting to take it easy. It's about me being at the power capacity to keep you safe." You emphasized, "We're not the Umbrella Academy."

"No, we're not the Umbrella Academy because we'll never be as cool as them." Dean stated, "But we sure are close!"

The rest of your friend group nodded ecstatically at Dean's sentiment as they all opened the back seat doors and slid into the car. Opening his door Dean looked at you as he asked,

"You coming?"

Letting out a reluctant sigh you knew you weren't getting out of this. You were just going to have to pool your strength as best you could and hope that you couldn't find any trouble around. Nodding your head you watched as Dean got into his seat before opening the passenger side door.

"They weren't even that cool..." You mumbled to yourself as you got in the car "They were lonely dorks who just happened to have powers..."

As you closed your car door Dean turned on the car and began to drive out of the high school parking lot. Speeding down the city streets he made his way toward the downtown sector of the city. And specifically toward the old abandoned warehouse that he had heard stuff about. If the rumors he heard were true there was some type of group or organization that was utilizing the warehouse to hide and guard something. As he approached the building, he slowed down and parked the car behind a dumpster. The anticipation built in him. Something big was going to happen he just knew it.

You however weren't excited about being here. From the times that you had spent in the police precinct waiting for Eudora to get off of work, you heard that there was some "underground" organization moving into the downtown area of the city. It was recent, so they didn't have enough evidence to confirm and were waiting on warrants to go investigate places such as this abandoned warehouse. You didn't feel right about being here but obviously, that was not the sentiment of everyone else.

You watched as they reached into bags and pockets pulling out the masks you had given them months ago and placing them on their faces. One by one, they got out of the car pumping each other up for what came next, but you lingered in your seat. Pulling Five's mask out of your bag you held it in your hands and stared at it. If he was here would he agree with this? Would he tell you to deny your gut feeling?

You knew the answer.

"You coming, Ringmaster?" Dean asked

You snapped out of your trance and looked away from the mask. To your right you saw your brother leaning over, the passenger door open, looking at you from behind the mask. Looking back at him you thought,

Dean, I don't know about this...

You don't have to come but the rest of us are going to go

From behind Dean, you could see the excited looks on your other friends' faces. Looking down at the mask in your hands once more you pushed your concerns down. Perhaps it would be alright. You had trained your friends well and they were competent in their abilities and working with each other. They were your friends and you trusted them with your life. Looking toward Dean you relented,

"Yeah. I'm coming."

Getting out of the car you closed the door behind you and placed the mask on your face. Things were going to be fine. Everything was going to be...

Fine.

And so you were off as you had done many times before. Going in solo, you scouted the building invisibly before reporting back.

"12 guys in total. Two are guarding the doors and the rest are inside. 8 in total are armed, the two at the door and then 6 more inside. Three of the men inside are arguing so tensions and adrenaline are high but it might give us the element of surprise since they're distracted with each other." You explained

"Not too bad," Bren mentioned

"We've definitely faced more guys before," Addison added

"So what's the plan?" Lucas asked

"Marksman and I will take out the armed guards swiftly and quietly. Once that's done I will sneak you all through the walls and to safe places to ambush. The first objective is for me to get the guns away from those that have them and then it's business as usual for everyone." You replied

And with the nodding of your friend's heads acknowledging your plan, you headed off. Taking Dean's hand you transported the two of you behind a parked car. A pinching feeling ran down your spine as you bit your tongue to keep yourself from making a sound. Peering very slightly through the windows of the cars you turned to Dean.

On my call, we take them out. I'll take left, you take right.

Dean nodded his head back as you shifted yourself closer to the front of the car while he stayed behind the trunk. You took a moment to center your self and then you thought,

Now.

Both you and Dean popped up from behind the car, a knife and arrow immediately flying from your position across the alley towards the two guards and lodging in their hearts. You watched as the men collapsed to the ground, their guns dropping from their hands. Using your powers you swatted the guns out of their reach if they were even still alive to reach for them. And once more the shooting pain you felt a minute ago raced through your body and caused you to stumble for a second. Regaining your balance you rushed towards one of the men on the ground and pulled your knife from his chest while Dean ripped his arrow from the other one. Tapping the one next to you with your foot you saw there was no response or reflex. Two fewer guys to worry about.

With the coast clear you waved the rest of the group over to you. Carefully, they snuck over and arrived at the doors with you and Dean. Grabbing onto Kenny and Bren's wrists you flashed them inside and behind a large boiler of sorts quietly making hand motions to signify for them to stay there and keep quiet. Returning back to the front door, you stumbled a bit as you materialized in front of the group, your knees feeling slightly weak. Grabbing onto Lucas and Addison, you repeated the process for them as well, placing them behind a pallet of crates and giving them silent instructions before going back and repeating the process once more for Dean and Viktoria.

With all of your friends in place, you moved yourself to a different location behind the group of gang members and hid behind a pillar out of view of everyone. You leaned up against it for support and you could feel your stomach begin to churn in such a way that you were becoming nauseous. Pressing your back against the wall you slowly slid to the floor and your arms wrapped tightly around your waist. As you sat there waiting for your gut to settle you could feel the sensation of something running down from your nose. Wiping your nose with the back of your hand you could see a slight trail of blood. Great. A bloody nose. Using your powers you slightly cauterized your nostril which did get the bleeding to stop but it also made your stomach jump. You just wanted to get this over with so you could rest for a while.

Peering around the corner you could see the few men from before talking as the others stood by. Closing your eyes you took a deep breath as you focus on the guns in the room. Most of them were holstered either on the hip or inside a jacket except for one man who held his weapon in his hand. One by one you used your powers to melt the holstered weapons to the point that they would be unusable. You knew that the molten plastic and metal were going to hit the skin of the men with holstered guns very soon so, to cause a distraction you finally melted the gun that was being held directly in hand. Poor guy decided on an all-metal one though. Oh well. The gun immediately turned into molten metal that had a bright orange glow. The man who held the gun cried out in pain as the others became distracted and turned to look. The action of the turning spilled the molten liquid from the other guns onto the men carrying them while the 6 unarmed men looked on in confusion.

As you tried to stand up a searing pain ripped through your thigh causing you to stumble back down, before finally forcing yourself up. You leaned against the wall you hid behind as you could feel your other nostril start to bleed and pain stab in your side. Taking deep breaths you tried to concentrate on the task at hand and push past your physical pain. And it was at this point with all of the men distracted that the rest of your friends sprung into action.

Quickly, Dean shot off two arrows taking out two of the men and causing them to drop to the floor. Addison had convinced a guy to run away from her only to be surprised picked up by Lucas and slammed into the concrete ground below. Viktoria had found some type of pipe and slammed it against the kneecaps of one of the men sending them to the ground before cracking it against their skull. The sounds of clanging metal and crackling of bone rang through the air like a loud soundwave. Kenny went back and forth fighting with one guy before finally managing to grapple him and bash his head repeatedly into the ground while Bren use his whips to grab and snap the neck of two other guys. In a matter of a few minutes what was once a room of ten men was dwindled down to three.

You finally stepped out from behind the pillar as you became more aware of your surroundings and the damp humidity of the space making itself known. It gave you an idea. Looking at one of the men left standing you pulled the water molecules from the air and redirected them into the body of the man before you. Slowly the water molecules began to fill his lungs as he gasped for air finding none. You pulled more moisture from the air and into his body as he began to drown from the inside. You watched as he doubled over pressing on his gut and trying to cough up water but it was no use as you began to fill the rest of his organs with water. His body began to swell from the fluids as foamy blood ran from his nose and mouth. And then he collapsed. Dead.

As he dropped though, so did you. You fell to your knees as you felt a tearing pain rip across your right forearm. You couldn't see what had happened though as your jacket covered the skin and before you could get a chance to tug it up you saw a man rushing towards you. With a flick of your hand, you sent him crashing into a nearby pillar, his head and neck crunching against the concrete, but you could feel a tearing sensation rip across your collarbone as you did so. You grunted in pain as you reached a hand up to touch the area, only to be met with the sight of blood as you pulled your hand back to look at it. You stared blankly at the red on your fingertips. This had never happened before.

But then you heard the sound of fleeting footsteps. Looking up you saw as the last man began running towards an exit, Bren quickly pursuing him. You watched as the man slowed slightly as he passed a large gas tank and everything that came next felt like it was in slow motion. You saw as the man pulled out a lighter and tossed it into the tank that Bren was about to pass. You didn't even notice as you pushed yourself up from the ground, your body reacting on instinct as you shouted,

"BREN!"

Flashing in front of him you pushed him to the ground behind you before turning your body towards the tank. Mustering all your strength you forced your powers to work overtime blocking the explosion from harming your friend. Energy coursed through your body as you tried to redirect the explosion and flames away from him. Searing pain ripping across multiple parts of your body until all you could feel was the sensation of your body being torn apart. You could feel the energy of the explosion dwindle and as you looked back, you caught a glimpse of Bren's terrified face before the world went blurry and then completely back.

From across the large warehouse floor, the rest of the group heard the sound of an explosion and a blood-curdling scream, and then...

Nothing.

There was of course the crackling of some flames but nothing else except haunting silence. Dean looked around before seeing Bren across the room kneeling in front of something. Concern shot through his body. What if it wasn't a something? Taking off toward Bren, Dean's heart raced but as he approached he was met with a horrific sight. There he saw the corpse of the last man burnt to a crisp, but that's not what terrified him. It was seeing Bren frozen in fear as he kneeled in front of a separate body.

Yours.

Rushing toward you, Dean dropped to his knees by your side as Bren remained frozen. Blood ran from your nose and seeped through parts of your clothing as you lay still on the ground, the area surrounding you and Bren blackened and charred. Your mask had fallen from your face only to reveal your eyes were closed. Grabbing your shoulders he gently shook you calling,

"(Y/N)?"

But when he received no response he shook you harder. This wasn't funny. You needed to get up now. Harder and harder he shook trying to wake you, but it wasn't working. His heart began to race and he could feel his hands shake as he held your face in them.

"C'mon sunshine, open your eyes." He begged, his voice cracking "Open your eyes please. I need you to."

The rest of the group found their way over to you as Kenny and Lucas saw the scene first. This wasn't good.

"Oh shit," Kenny said turning on his heel to go grab his medical bag from the car

"Don't look." Lucas exclaimed quickly pulling Addison and Viktoria in towards him shielding their eyes from the sight

Dean picked your motionless body up and held you tightly in his arms as he sobbed. This was all his fault. You told him you were uncomfortable and he let his own wants outweigh your concerns. And now here you lifeless in his arms. He was a failure of a brother. He promised himself he would keep you from getting hurt and yet he was the one who caused you to get hurt.

"I-I killed her." Dean cried, tears streaming down his face and leaving behind messy streaks "It's my fault I killed her."

The rest of the group recoiled in pain hearing those words. No. You couldn't be dead. They needed you.

Rushing back over with his med bag Kenny dropped to his knees next to Dean.

"Dean I can help. Let me help." Kenny stated trying to pull you from Dean's arms

"Back off!" Dean shouted pushing Kenny away

Kenny knew Dean's emotions were getting the best of him. He wasn't thinking straight and it was actively preventing you from getting help which is the opposite of what you needed right now. Kenny hated to do it, and he knew he would face Dean's ire at some point for it but he didn't care. You were his main concern right now. Looking back at Lucas, Kenny commanded flatly,

"Grab him."

Lucas hesitated for a second but saw the seriousness on Kenny's face. Stepping away from Addison and Viktoria, the two girls grabbed onto each other for support as Lucas wrapped his arms around Dean's waist and pulled him away from you and Kenny pulled your limp body from his arms.

"No No No!" Dean yelled, "Let me go!"

"I'm sorry." Lucas apologized pulling Dean further away from you

"LET ME GO!" Dean shouted

He needed to get back to you. He had to be there for you. You hated being alone. He wasn't going to let you be alone. He promised you so. Kicking Lucas in the shin, Lucas momentarily loosened his grasp enough for Dean to break free, but as began to run back toward you he was tackled to the ground. Lucas held his body against the floor, his face pressed against the cold concrete. And from where he laid he could see you. With one arm that he was able to get free, he reached out to you even though he knew he was too far to reach.

"THAT'S MY SISTER!" Dean cried out "GET OFF ME! THAT'S MY SISTER!"

Tears silently fell from Lucas's eyes as he held his best friend down. he knew how much Dean cared for you and he hated having to hold him down like this. Dean's shouts and cries were filled with heartbreak and pain that all of them were experiencing and it only made him feel worse for not allowing Dean to have the comfort of being near you.

"She's our friend too, Dean..." Lucas said, his voice cracking as he spoke

Dean did not respond and continued to cry out for you, but Lucas knew Kenny wouldn't be able to work on you if Dean wouldn't let him get close and so all Lucas could do was keep Dean tackled and hope that maybe he would calm down.

"I'M SORRY (Y/N)! I'M SO SORRY!" Dean wailed, his pleas echoing across the room

Kenny tried his best to tune Dean out as he was distracting him from providing you medical attention. Pulling out a stethoscope Kenny placed it in his ears and put the flat portion against your chest. Dean was wrong. You weren't dead. You had a pulse, but it was low. Very low. Same with your breathing. It was shallow. But you were still alive. Kenny had been in plenty of high-stress situations before in terms of medical crises, but this was different. This wasn't some stranger, this was you. His friend. Nevertheless, he had to put his emotions to the side and think of something quick. He couldn't let it get any lower or else there would be severe complications. Quickly wrapping up the cuts on your collarbone, arm, and waist he now needed to get your heart rate up. Flying by the seat of his pants he reached into his bag and pulled out a syringe and a vial of epinephrine. Pulling the syringe out of its sterile packaging, he placed it within the vial and pulled out 0.6 milliliters of epinephrine into the syringe. The standard dose in most cases was 0.3, but you were not a normal human and therefore he believed that following most standard procedures was not going to be beneficial. Pressing the depressor he made sure all the air was out of the needle before taking a deep breath and lining up the needle between two of your ribs and pressing it down directly into your heart.

Was it the best plan? No. Was it the standard? No. Did it present risks that would not come up in a typical case? Yes. But you were different. Unlike most people, you had a quickened regenerative factor, and he believed that as long as he could keep you alive your body would do the rest.

As he released the epinephrine into your system, he slowly pulled the needle back out, placing it back in the sterile packaging and into an empty pocket of his bag. Placing the stethoscope to your chest once more he could hear your heartbeat pick up its pace more and your breathing steadied out. With your vitals seemingly stabilized, for now, Kenny began to figure out the severity of your unconsciousness. Pulling out a mini flashlight he lifted up each of your eyelids and shined it into your eyes but found that your pupils were not responding to it. Kenny tried to get the limbs of your body to move but the only time they would do so was through intrinsic reflexes. And on top of it, even if unconscious there was no reaction to the needle he had just put in your chest.

"Oh, that's not good." Kenny said to himself

Slowly Bren, who had been kneeling there silently the whole time, looked over and asked,

"What's wrong?"

Kenny could see the look on Bren's face. Kenny knew his best friend since birth better than anyone else and it was evident that he was completely broken by this sight. Bren was blaming himself and while Kenny wanted to comfort his best friend he couldn't confidently reassure or comfort him until he knew you were okay.

"She's not just unconscious. She's comatose." Kenny answered trying to mask the concern in his voice "But I have some old medical equipment that my job let me take to practice using at home."

Standing up Kenny turned on his heel to face the rest of the group as he stated firmly,

"She's alive but we need to get her to my house now."

Lucas finally stood up which allowed Dean to spring to his feet and rush over toward where Kenny stood, the rest of the group quickly following behind.

"I'll drive." Dean stated, pulling his keys out of his pocket

"You're not driving." Kenny rejected

"It's my car!" Dean shouted

"I said you're NOT driving!" Kenny yelled back "You are in no condition to drive now give Lucas the keys!"

Dean grasped his keys firmly in his hands. Why didn't Kenny get it? He needed to be the one to do these things. He needed to help somehow to make it up to you. This was his fault. He was the one who caused this and now he had to try and figure out a way to fix it and he wasn't letting him.

Seeing how Dean was not relenting, Addison stepped forward and put herself in between Kenny and him. Grabbing his face she made sure that he was looking her directly in the eyes.

"See that fire? It's spreading, this place will come down on us if we don't leave including your unconscious sister and I can bet that police are probably headed this way due to the sound of an explosion. If we don't leave we're going to have more than a medical emergency on our hands so give Lucas the keys NOW." She commanded

Dean attempted to look away and tried to fight the urge to listen to her but he just couldn't seem to do so. She was too persuasive and he never knew how to not do what she said. Tossing the keys to Lucas, Dean looked behind Addison at Kenny and said,

"At least let me carry her."

"Fine." Kenny replied urgently "Now, we need to go!"

Placing your mask in his pocket, Dean scooped you up in his arms as he quickly carried you out to his car with the rest of the group with him. Lucas slid into the driver's seat while Addison and Viktoria shared the passenger seat and then Bren, Kenny, and he sat in the back seat with you laying across their laps. Lucas, who was typically a more responsible driver than Dean was, actually sped away from the warehouse and back to Kenny's house. Dean carried you inside and placed you on Kenny's bed as he and the rest of the group stood by and watched as Kenny pulled out some medical machinery and hooked it up to you along with putting a clear tube in your arm that dripped some clear liquid into it.

"What is this stuff?" Lucas asked

"That's an EKG heart monitor machine and this is a pole for the saline drip so she doesn't get dehydrated or lose important nutrients while she's unconscious," Kenny responded as he fiddled with the saline drip bag

"How did you get this stuff?" Viktoria asked

"My job just upgraded the stuff we had, and it's still functional so I took the old machines. Just in case." Kenny explained

"And the saline?" Addison questioned

"You can buy medical grade saline electrolyte solution in bulk on Amazon. I sometimes like to saline drip myself as I sleep after a night out 'cuz it diminishes the hangover the next day." Kenny added

As Kenny finished up and moved away Dean pulled up Kenny's desk chair next to the bed and sat in it. Brushing a strand of hair from your face, he looked down at your unconscious form and quietly asked,

"How long will she be like this?"

"Some people wake up in a few hours. For some people, it takes.....longer." Kenny responded quietly

"Well, then I'm gonna wait here until she does," Dean replied

"I don't know I think someone else should take the first watch, Dean." Kenny mentioned

"No." Dean retorted "I can't let her be alone. She gets scared when she's alone."

"Okay, so we'll rotate so she's not alone," Viktoria suggested

"No." Dean rejected once more

Lucas could see how poorly Dean was doing. He had stopped crying but he had sadness in his eyes and his tone was filled with worry. Placing a hand on Dean's shoulder, Lucas looked down at his best friend and tried to comfort saying,

"Dean it's not your fault. We couldn't have anticipated it."

"But it is my fault." Dean replied, "I'm the one who pushed going when she said we shouldn't."

"Dean, we all encouraged going," Addison stated

"And if it's anyone's fault it's mine." Bren mentioned quietly "I was the one who was in harm's way and if I didn't pursue that guy it wouldn't have happened."

"But I'm her brother." Dean stated, "I should've listened from the start...and now this is my karma...and I'm going to stay by her side no matter how long it takes."

The rest of the group knew there was no convincing him otherwise. Dean was Dean, loving yet stubborn. Seeing as nothing was going to change anytime soon the rest of the group knew that the only thing they could do was sit and wait.

"Okay, if you need us we'll be in the den, I guess." Lucas replied as he walked out the bedroom door with the rest of the group

And with the door shut, Dean took your hand in his as he said quietly,

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

Hours passed and then days as your friends waited worriedly hoping for you to wake up. No one left Kenny's house, and instead, they resorted to sleeping in different places. With Kenny's mom away on a business trip, Lucas and Addison slept in her bed. Viktoria took the air mattress and Bren and Kenny each took a couch. Kenny would go into his room to check on you at regular intervals and make sure you were still okay and each time he did so Dean's eyes would watch intently hoping for any sign that you were waking up. The rest of your friends would rotate in every once in a while they had the emotional capacity to do so, but Dean never left your side except to go to the bathroom. And he'd only ever do that if someone else was there. With each day he became worse for wear as he forced himself to stay awake in case you woke up and needed an explanation. But exhaustion is something that can only be fought for so long and Dean had fallen asleep. But on Monday morning, three days after the events at the warehouse, Dean who had fallen asleep was woken up by his alarm on his phone of Heat of the Moment by Asia. But as his, eyes opened he could see yours open too.

You put a hand over your eyes to cover them from the bright light of the morning sun pouring through the window.

"What the fuck..." You mumbled

"You're awake. Oh my god, you're awake!" Dean exclaimed sitting upright

"Are we late for school?" You asked slowly sitting up

Tears welled up in Dean's eyes seeing you with your eyes open. You were here now. You were okay. Moving from his seat he immediately went to hug you as he replied choked up,

"We're not going to school today. I'm just so glad you're awake."

It was then that you began to remember the events that had occurred. You and your friends had all gone out to "save the day" and Bren almost ended up getting hurt. You had jumped in front of him and then after that, it was all black. You had told them it wasn't a good idea and you were about to say so when you smelled a pungent stench of body odor

"Dude, when was the last time you showered?" You gagged

"Three days ago." Dean replied still hugging you tightly

"Gross." You remarked, gently pushing him away

Seeing more clearly, you could see how red and puff his eyes were, shiny lines where tear streaks had run down his face, and his messed up appearance. Knowing your brother, you knew he blamed himself for this. He was taking on all the blame for you getting hurt even if that wasn't the case, and you could only imagine how many times your friends had tried to tell him the same. You let out a soft sigh as you took your brother's hand in your own.

"I'm okay now." You whispered

"I'm sorry." Dean replied quietly, his gaze turned away from yours

"You don't need to be sorry we couldn't have known, but if it makes you feel better I forgive you." You replied

Dean turned his head back to look at you as he gave you a small smile. Things were going to be okay. As you held your sibling's hand you could hear the door open as Kenny exclaimed,

"(Y/N)! You're awake! Guys (Y/N) is awake!"

Immediately the rest of your friends ran up the stairs and into the room as you were flooded with chatter and hugs from them all.

"Oh my god! you're okay!" Addison exclaimed

"Yeah, yeah. I just needed a power nap." You joked sarcastically "But next time you fuckers listen to me when I say no, I can't today."

"We will." Dean stated, "I'll make sure of it."

"I know you will." you replied giving him a smile "Because you're a good brother."

Dean gave a small smile. He was a good brother but this was never going to happen again, not if he could help it. He was going to be the best brother.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Addison Pheobe Evans. Born July 27th, 2001 at 10:13 am to James and Taylor Evans. Everything was just perfect in their life. Their marriage was perfect. They had been college sweethearts and met during their orientation college tour. They dated all four years and then got married soon after. And then they bought a perfect home. A large two-story house with high ceilings and white walls. A high chandelier in the entranceway, rigid beige furniture, and decor that was curated for the current trend filled the rooms. And then they had their perfect family. One older son Caleb, and a year and a half later a younger daughter, Addison. They had the perfect nuclear family in the perfect picket fence house in the perfect gated community. There was not one thing out of place and there would never be anything that wasn't perfect in the Evans household.

Including the people.

From day one the standards were set high for Addison. You MUST be perfect. You must get perfect grades. There was no room for laziness in the Evans household. You must look presentable at all times. If you did not look like you could host guests at the drop of a hat then you were not up to the dress standards for the Evans household. You must excel in any activities you do and those activities must be respectable. People had to see how talented and successful the children in the Evans household were. You had to make others jealous of how perfect life was by being an Evans because if you weren't perfect you weren't anything.

She had seen the shitstorm her older brother Caleb had to deal with when he brought over his girlfriend, whom her parents did not vet, to see if they were permissible to be with him. Apparently, she was perfect in terms of grades, activities, looks, and manners but the only issue was that her family lived in an apartment. Addison knew it was superficial, but because that girl wasn't perfect to her parents she wasn't good enough for Caleb.

Addison had to have her friends be interviewed to see if they could go over to her house to hang out, but the only people she felt confident would be acceptable to her parents were you and Viktoria. She was right but it was awful to put you both through an interrogation just to have you enter her home. And when Lucas asked her out she said yes but told him that he'd have to go ask her parents first before they could officially go out. Fortunately enough he passed in their eyes but the standards of perfection made her life a living hell.

The only times she felt she could be herself were when she was out of her parents' view. She preoccupied herself with being anywhere but home. They were the times she was happiest. But still, she wished she could be like Allison Hargreeves, have powers to make everything she did perfect without the effort by just speaking it into existence. Life would be so much easier.

It was immense stress on her but Addison managed to be "perfect". She did everything her parents expected of her, but it made her nervous. She was constantly worried, looking over her shoulder for the time that she would not be perfect. The time when she would fail at being an Evans.

July 30, 2015:

It had been three days since Addison's birthday, and three days since her parents had told her that they had enrolled her in Aria Cadence's Music Performance Camp. Addison was so excited at the prospect of going to the camp and she had told everyone in your friend group about it. And when she found out that Viktoria was going as well her excitement grew even more. The performance camp was one of the most renowned summer programs in the area and the ability to go to it was an honor.

But as she was planning for a month of music and theatre and performing her skills, her parents had given her a condition in terms of her participation in this camp. Get the leading role in the camp theatre performance or else they would pull her from the camp. The excitement she had felt for the past three days had drained in an instant as anxiety filled her brain. Wanting the comfort of someone with her she invited you over and you sat on the floor scrolling on your phone as she slowly packed her bags for the camp. As she stood in her closet you asked aloud,

"You still excited about your camp?"

Addison paused. She used to be excited, but now all she was was a bundle of nerves. She wasn't going to say no though. She wanted comfort but she didn't want to get into the details of why.

"Yeah, it's a month-long of musical fun." Addison answered, "At least that's what their website says."

"I mean, you'll have Viktoria too so even if it somehow sucks at least you've got a friend." You remarked

"True." Addison replied turning to look at you, "I still don't get why you don't want to go."

You looked up from your phone and gave her an expression that was a mix of annoyance and disgust. You hated rich kids. Granted, you too were rich and always had been. You were at the level of having fuck you, fuck around, and find out money but your parents taught you that someone's wealth was not as important as their character. What mattered most was how a person treated others, the good they put in the world, and the value of their character and beliefs.

"What? And be surrounded by a bunch of pretentious, talentless, rich kids whose parents bribed their way in?" You complained "Yeah no thanks. You know how I get around other rich kids."

"Aggressive," Addison commented

"Hate them." You stated firmly

Turning around the face you, Addison looked at you confused. You had never explained your reasoning behind disliking other rich kids and anyway, the more she got you to talk about yourself the less likely she'd have to talk about her own issues.

"Why?" She asked,

"As you know before I transferred to Argyle Public Middle School I went to Argyle Academy from kindergarten to seventh grade. I was surrounded by pretentious assholes who bullied me for being nice and quiet and smart. After a while of that, you develop a certain attitude toward those types of people." You explained

"Right, well it looks like you're not getting a rich boyfriend, huh?" Addison teased

You rolled your eyes at her statement. Money was the last of your concerns when it came to getting a boyfriend. Your first concern was hoping he came back...

"I don't care how much money a potential partner has or makes." You retorted "Love is not about money, it's about mutual respect, dedication, and connection."

"That's true." Addison replied, "But still when are you going to get a boyfriend?"

"When he falls from the sky, Addison." You remarked

It was a highly unlikely scenario that the "perfect" guy would just fall from the sky and become your boyfriend and Addison knew that. How was she ever going to do cute couple things, like double dates with you if you didn't have one?

"But (Y/N)!" Addison whined, "I want to go on a double date."

"I'm not gonna date just anyone so you can have your double date." You replied, "No one around is my type."

"Well, it's going to be hard to find a dark-haired, smart, sad boy with daddy issues and a good heart who might also have superpowers." Addison explained, "Who also really likes their girlfriend."

"That's not my type..." You mumbled looking away

It was absolutely your type though. How she peered into your mind and described Five without mentioning him by name was intimidating and you didn't like how she understood your own psychology better than yourself. It was a scary power to have. Granted, the only part she got wrong was the really liking his girlfriend part. Yeah, you were a girl and his friend and he liked you but it wasn't like that...

"Oh really?" Addison questioned sarcastically "Tell that to the numerous fanfictions you have open on your phone of redeemed Zuko, Robin from Teen Titans, and Spider-Man."

"I don't like being put on blast like this."  You snapped back

And then somehow, in the middle of your frustration, it hit you. You had asked her about camp and she somehow deviated that conversation into your non-existent love life. She was deflecting. And when she deflected, something was wrong.

"Wait! You're deflecting onto me." You remarked, "You always do this when you're worried about something."

Addison's eyes when wide as she realized you saw through her conversational ruse. Shit.

"No!" She exclaimed

"Yes!" You shouted back before asking "What is it?"

Addison paused. She knew she wasn't going to be able to deflect again because now you were on notice about it. Letting out a defeated sigh she quietly mentioned,

"I'm worried about the camp."

"Why?" You asked, "It's the camp you've been begging to go to and Viktoria is going to be there too so what is there to worry about?"

"My parents." Addison answered

"What about them?" You inquired

Addison slumped down in front of her dresser, sitting defeated on the floor as she looked over at you. Her head fell into her hands as she explained,

"My parents told me that if I don't get the lead in the camp's musical performance they're pulling me out of it because it would be embarrassing for the family for me to be at such a prestigious camp and not have a worthy role."

Anger began to form within you as you heard that statement. How dare they. How dare her parents present her with an amazing opportunity as a fucking birthday present, A GIFT, and then dangle it over her head like a carrot if she doesn't live up to some pre-determined standard.

"That's bullshit and you know it." You snapped

Addison didn't say anything though. She didn't even lift her head from her hands to acknowledge that you had said something. Her parents had such a grip on her that she was now obviously reeling from this. You needed her to recognize the truth though, this was bullshit.

"Addison look at me and tell me you know that's bullshit." You stated

Slowly, Addison lifted her head. It took her a moment, but quietly she spoke,

"I know it's bullshit..."

"Your parents are so superficial and egotistical that even Narcissus would pull his gaze away from the water to tell them to chill." You ranted

You were right. She knew you were right, but god it was hard to say so. She was so nervous. Her parents' judgment loomed over her just as it had for her entire life. What if she couldn't do it? What if she failed and became an embarrassment to her family name? Her parents still held things Caleb had done wrong over his head, and she saw how it hurt him. It was wrong, she knew so, but she also didn't want to be next.

"I just- what if I don't get the role? What if there's someone better?" Addison questioned

"Addison Pheobe Evans I don't know anyone as talented as you are." You reminded

"Really? Look at yourself, you can sing and dance and play the piano." Addison retorted frustrated

"Yes, but those were my parents' interests that they introduced me to and I just so happened to fall in love with them too." You mentioned "But theatre? You chose that. That's all you, Addi."

"It's never enough..." Addison complained looking away from you, "I do everything to make them happy and it's never fucking enough."

Letting out a small sigh, you got up from where you sat on the ground and walked over to where Addison sat before crouching down in front of her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, as nicely as you could make it sound, you said,

"Addi, I say this with so much love for you, but your parents don't love you."

Addison's head turned to look back at you hearing your statement.

"Huh?"

"Your parents don't love you, Addi. They love the idea of you." You elaborated gently "They didn't want children to raise them, they wanted children for show purposes to fulfill society's expectations of what the perfect life is. Your parents don't care about your happiness, they care about how they look to others and treat you and Caleb like decorations to make themselves look better."

Your words hurt. She knew you were only telling it how you saw it and you had never been wrong about things before, but it wasn't something she wanted to hear. For so long she at least believed that her parents' love could be conditional even if she believed conditional love was wrong. But now you had presented her with reality. A reality that she had been trying to avoid.

Her parents didn't love her.

They had no capability to love her, only themselves.

"It's not fair." Addison complained, "I wish I had Allison's power so I could rumor myself into a better life."

You were not surprised by her reaction to your words. The anger made sense, but you were taken aback by her statement. Allison's power, just like any power, was not something to be taken lightly. There were serious consequences if they were misused and the ability to control a person's mind just with one simple statement was a slippery slope that could lead to dangerous places if a person was cautious. One simple request could quickly turn into a series of more controlling ones.

"You don't want that." You replied firmly

Ugh! What did you know? You thought you were so knowledgeable on powers just because you had them. Standing up from the floor she began to angrily pace across her floor.

"I do!" She shouted "If I could rumor people I could make my parents actually genuinely love me and my brother! Or I could rumor the camp director into giving me the leading role so my parents don't throw a hissy fit and pull me out. I want that ability to control my life, make it better."

Addison was being ridiculous. She didn't know what she was talking about. You knew that she wanted to become successful in her parents' eyes and in her own but she was never going to accomplish that with the mentality she was having right now. You needed to get her to truly see what she was suggesting. Standing up you looked at your pacing friend and in a serious tone stated,

"Well, I guess you'll never be successful then."

"What do you mean?" Addison questioned, "Of course, I would be successful."

"It is really success if you never earned it?" You suggested

Addison paused.

"I- I mean-" She began to stutter out

"Because the way I see it if you had Allison Hargreeves rumor power, and you rumored people into giving you what you want you're not earning it, you're forcing it to be given to you." You explained

"But-" She tried to interject

You didn't let her though as you wanted to finish getting your point across to her. You felt bad as what you were doing was a bit harsh but she needed to hear it before she continued to bemoan the fact that she couldn't force people into doing what she wanted solely because her hero could do so.

"You will have proved nothing in terms of talent and any 'success' you have will always be hollow." You remarked "And one day you'll look back and realize nothing you got was actually yours and you will never know if it could've genuinely been yours."

Addison stopped. Once again you were right. God, she hated how you were always right, but you were. And if she had Allison's rumor ability, and made people give her roles to appease her parents' ideals of her, she would never be earning the parts. Just taking them. Why did life have to be so difficult? Why couldn't it just be easy and perfect? Allison's life was easy and she was perfect. Why couldn't she have that?

"I just wish I could be perfect like her..." Addison whispered looking down at the ground disappointed

You placed a reassuring hand on your friend's shoulder. As much as you wanted to explain to her how that was most likely wrong you didn't want to accidentally make things about yourself by talking about your past. This was about Addison and no one else. And so the best you could do was be supportive and work around the topic.

"I can promise you that she is not perfect. No matter how good it looks from the outside everyone has something going on. And with powers, I can only guarantee that fact because this shit," You said creating a small ball of flame in your hand "Only complicates life more."

"But her life looks perfect and I want mine to be too," Addison replied bringing her gaze to meet yours

"Addison, your parents want a 'perfect' life, is that really what you want? The same thing as your parents?" You questioned

"I don't know..." She replied quietly

"Removing your parents from the equation what would you change about your life?" You asked

Addison thought for a moment. If she excluded her parents there wasn't anything she could think of to change. She loved her brother, her friends, her boyfriend, and her life as it existed outside the realm of her parents' judgment. She loved it as it was.

"Nothing." She replied

"Then your life is already exactly how you want it to be." You responded kindly "You don't need to try and copy someone else's or have a superpower to make it any better."

Addison smiled as you brought her into a tight hug. You didn't want your friends to doubt themselves or try to change because of what their parents thought. That didn't work out well the first time and you weren't going to let it happen again. History would not repeat itself because you loved your friends and you were going to make sure they knew they were amazing and loved as they are.

"I believe in you, and all you need to do is believe yourself the same way." You said as you hugged her "You're perfect as you are and anyone who actually loves you can see that."

"Thanks, (Y/N)." She replied as she held onto you

After a moment, when it felt like Addison no longer needed a hug, you pulled back and gave her a wide smile.

"Now c'mon, you have a camp to pack for." You mentioned heading over to her closet "You're gonna need to look like a star after all since you're gonna get that leading role."

Addison smiled as she followed you to her closet to pick out clothes once more. You were a good friend and she was glad she had you to talk sense into her and keep her grounded. God only knows what kind of mess she'd put herself into otherwise without you here. Addison's life was great as it was, and with your reassurance, no one could tell her otherwise.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Kenneth Dearil Wagner. Born April 1, 2001 at 11:49 pm to Oscar and Clarissa Wagner. As an only child, he should've been his parents' focus. Unfortunately, that was not the case with his parents constantly arguing throughout his childhood. The shouting only stopped once his father walked out when he was seven. The screams still haunted him though. Like ghosts in his head.

During the day he was perfectly happy, especially when he was with his best friend and next-door neighbor Brendon Young. But when the sun set and it was time for bed the sound of those terrible fights returned plaguing his mind. If he tried to sleep he would have night terrors beyond compare and if he didn't he would experience severe insomnia for days. Seeing this his mom attempted to fix it by getting him a body pillow with an image of his hero Klaus Hargreeves in his Umbrella Academy uniform on it. She would tell him that Klaus would fight all the "ghosts" in his head as he slept. And when he was younger it really worked. He had Klaus to fight the ghosts and his mom down the hall to keep him safe.

But when he turned twelve his mom got offered a better-paying position at her job. The issue was that it was the night shift. Of course, she didn't want to leave her son, but she was a single mother and needed to make sure she could provide all that her beloved baby boy needed. Deciding that it would be better to have more money to take care of her only son she took the promotion and began leaving Kenny alone at night. If anything happened the Youngs were right next door anyway. But being alone in that empty house only made things worse for Kenny. While he still had Body Pillow Klaus, he was now completely alone. His night terrors got more terrifying and his insomnia grew worse. He was struggling and even his best friend Bren couldn't fix it, so he found a different solution.

He had overheard an eighth grader talking about how he had stolen some weed gummies from his older brother and had them in his backpack. Kenny had taken a drug prevention course in his health class and knew the possible outcomes of using weed. But honestly, at this point, he would give anything a try to get out of his own head, and without even thinking he very sneakily snuck the gummies out of the eighth grader's backpack and into his own. That night when bedtime came around he hesitantly took one, and for the first time since he didn't know when he actually felt at peace. His mind was calm and he was able to sleep well and from then on he never turned back.

The edibles helped him sleep at night and drinks from his father's abandoned alcohol stash kept him calm during the day. Granted he didn't let it affect his school work or his friendships, and he was always already a few days sober on the days he did his volunteer EMT job but together both items made life easier and helped him really open up with who he truly was.

But even though he had a supportive group of friends he needed more. He was still at home alone every night haunted by the ghosts of his past that hid around every corner. He could still hear the screams of his parents arguing even though both of them weren't present. He wanted to feel wanted. And so he went to parties. Became practically a king of the party scene and experimented more with some good results and some bad results. But at one party trying to forget his last few insomnia-ridden days he experienced one of the worst times he had so far.

May 22, 2016:

With his mom always working the night shift, Kenny was home alone a lot. But that lack of supervision turned out to be a blessing because it meant that whenever he wanted to, or more so needed to, he could just leave for a party. No questions asked, no lying necessary, just freedom to come and go as he pleased. And tonight was no different. He needed to get out of his house and needed to get out of his own head. And so, to a high school party hosted by one of the school's basketball players, he went. Consuming jungle juice, smoking what he knew to be sub-par weed, and making out with the Graves twins, Jasper and Jade, from the grade above him he was getting his mind off of things.

He had barely been sleeping, insomnia causing bad memories of the house he lived in to resurface. The shouting and screaming, the sounds of doors slamming, and the deafening silence when all was said and done. He could hear and see it all in his head even if it wasn't actually happening in front of him. But compared to the other times he had gone to a party to free his mind, this time, it wasn't working as well. And so he drank more jungle juice and smoked more sub-par weed. And the more he did so the more clouded his mind became. At first, it was a great feeling and he was having a good time, but as the night went on and he consumed more and more he began to feel ill.

Getting up from the couch he pushed his way out of the grasp of the Graves twins. As he walked away attempting to make it to the bathroom his view of the world doubled. It looked as if everyone had a twin. The world around him was spinning and the voices of the people he pushed past sounded muffled and distant. Kenny bumped into people and walls trying to find some type of support to keep him moving forward. As he finally found his way to the bathroom he saw no one inside. Thank god. Using that last bit of energy to push himself forward, he entered the room shutting the door and locking it behind him. But as he turned to approach the sink his legs could no longer hold him up. Falling towards the ground he hit his head on the side of the tub and everything went black.

Coming to, his eyes shot open and he sat upright, a chill running down his spine. But then all the feelings he had lacked laying cold on the floor flooded him at once. His head was pounding just like the distant sound of music playing outside the door. His vision was still blurred and seeing double. His muscles felt like jello and made him feel nervous to stand.

"You done fucked this time, Kenneth." Kenny said to himself as he leaned against the wall next to the toilet

He needed to get home, but there was no way he was getting home in this condition. The thought of standing up, let alone walking, was enough to make him nauseous. He needed help. Pulling his phone from his pocket, the screen lit up brightly causing searing pain to rip through his head. Quickly, turning the brightness down he struggled to type in his password but managed to do it before it locked him out. Tapping into the messages app he looked through the blurry names of the people he talked to who could help. He had his mom, but if he asked her to come get him he would never be able to leave the house again. Lucas, Addison, and Viktoria were definitely all asleep, and even if they weren't, they wouldn't be able to sneak out if they tried. Dean was probably asleep and wouldn't pick up because he's such a deep sleeper, while Bren was probably awake and although he would come to get Kenny there would be a whole lecture on the way home. Of course, the lecture would come from a place of care given that Bren was his best friend, but Kenny already knew his head could not take the talking to. At least not in this condition. Narrowing all that down, he was left with one option. You. With shaky hands, he tapped on your text conversation and tried his best to type out a message. Hitting the send button he watched as the blue bubble of his text popped up on the screen before placing his phone down on the tile floor. Resting his head back on the wall again, he closed his eyes as he tried to keep his head from spinning.

You however were looking at a wall of complex math in front of you in another attempt to figure out how you could use your powers to manipulate space-time. Matter and space-time were intrinsically intertwined so there had to be a way to get your abilities to work like that. There had to be...

Hearing the text chime of your phone from behind you, you looked away from your work for the first time in god knows how long. Seeing the time on your screen you realized it was 2:36 in the morning. Thank god it was a weekend or else you would be screwed in terms of sleep before school. Looking at the text on your screen you saw it was from Kenny. As you read it though, your head cocked to the side a bit confused.

pleade c0me hwre

It only took a few seconds to see that what the intended message was supposed to be was Kenny asking you to go to his location. Opening up the text you tried to figure out what was going on and replied:

Are you okay?

You waited a bit before seeing the bubble with three dots appear in the chat and then a blue message show up.

In bqthroom nedd hekp plz

He was obviously not okay. Looking at the find my friends app you saw his location pinned at a house that definitely wasn't his and you could only assume he was at the party that the Graves twins had been talking to him about. You looked back over at your work. You had been at it for hours, postulating and formulating some kind of theorem to work with. But at this moment faced with the choice of which problem to solve, the choice was simple. You needed to find Kenny now. You didn't even know if the other wanted to be found.

Turning on your heel you walked away from your work and toward the window across the room. Stepping out onto the fire escape you made your way down before hopping on your bike and using your phone to navigate your way to Kenny's location. After about 20 minutes you had made it to the house. Muffled music and the sounds of dozens of voices could be heard outside and only grew louder as you approached the door. Places like this weren't really your scene, but you put your feelings aside to get to your friend. Opening the door, you walked your way through the crowd of people drunkenly dancing and shouting their conversations over the blaring music. Looking around you tried to find where the bathroom would be located and after a bit, you saw a closed door that seemed like it would be one. Walking over you tried the doorknob but finding it locked you decided to just walk through the door. Everyone here was too drunk or high to comprehend or probably even remember you doing so. And there you saw Kenny leaning against the wall by the toilet. Walking over, you crouched in front of him and shook his shoulder a bit. You watched as he opened his eyes and looked confused for a moment before he finally smiled and said,

"Hey (Y/N), you came."

"Yeah, you said you needed help. What happened?" You asked

"I've been having a rough few days and went a little bit overboard." Kenny explained "I couldn't get home myself like this."

"It's gonna be okay. I'll get you home." You reassured before asking "Can you stand?"

Kenny looked at you for a moment before placing his arms on the ground and trying his best to push himself up. For a moment it seemed like he was going to be able to do it but then his arms gave out from beneath him and he slid back to the ground.

"No can do, buckaroo." Kenny groaned back

When he said he went overboard, he really meant it. You had been around Kenny when he was drinking or having a few edibles before but he had never gone off the edge. He knew his limits, which you could admit were high, but nevertheless, he typically stuck to those limits. You didn't like seeing him like this. You were going to figure out what was rough enough to make him forget his limits but first, you needed to get him home safe first.

"Okay, give me your hands." You replied extending your hands out

Nodding his head, Kenny held his hands out. Taking them in your own, you helped Kenny to his feet before throwing one of his arms around your shoulder to help him stand and walk. Once you knew he was stable you made your way toward the bathroom door but as you did Kenny planted his feet in place.

"I can't leave through the crowd." He mentioned

"Why not?" You asked

"I'll look like a quitter." Kenny answered, "It'll mess up my party king reputation."

Now, it was established that you hated the party scene but you weren't going to put your biases in front of your friend's desires. If he felt that it would affect him negatively, you'd find another way. It's not like you needed to walk through the house anyway. Turning to face the blank wall in the bathroom you said,

"This is gonna feel weird just for a second, okay?"

And with that, you walked you and Kenny straight through the wall and to the outside. The night sky above as you quietly made your way over to your bike. And then you realized there was no way you could get Kenny home on your bike in the condition he was in. That's it, next time something like this happens you're just stealing Reginald's fucking car. No license be damned. Looking around you saw a large child's wagon and a jump rope on the next lawn over and you got an idea. Sitting Kenny on the grass, you went over and grabbed the two items to bring next to your bike. Picking Kenny up again, you helped him into the empty wagon. He didn't quite fit as his legs hung out of the wagon but it was better than nothing. Tying one side of the jump rope to the wagon's handle, you tied the other side around your waist. Giving each side a tug, you made sure they stayed in place before getting on your bike and peddling away. As you peddled, you used your powers to make Kenny lighter making it easier to move. And with that, you were well on your way back to his house. The ride was relatively quiet besides Kenny's drunken ramblings from behind you.

"Y'know, I met god in that bathroom." Kenny stated

"Did you now?" You asked intrigued

"I did!" Kenny exclaimed before explaining "They were a little girl on a bike in a dress and floppy sun hat. She told me I wasn't supposed to be there but invited me for tea anyway. We had a good chat and she called me her silly clown creation before telling me that she was going to wake me up because I'm part of her earthly entertainment."

"So heaven is real?" You asked

"It's called The Void and it's just a place after death." Kenny answered

"I see...." You replied unsurely

He sounded very confident but Kenny sounded very confident a lot of the time. On top of it, he was highly intoxicated. And you were the type of person to like empirical evidence. It's not that you couldn't believe it, but you'd rather see it to believe it. Hearing the wariness in your tone however Kenny exclaimed,

"It's true!"

"Okay Kenny, whatever you say," You playfully relented "How about you tell me about that Lego Ninjago show you love so much."

Kenny's ears perked up at the name of his favorite show.

"Oh believe me, I'll fuckin' tell you about Ninjago." Kenny commented

And so for the rest of the ride back to Kenny's place, you listened to him explain the lore of Ninjago, his complaints about the writers adding Cole as a love interest for Nya, and his theories on what he thought would come next. As you pulled up to his house you rode your bike up the sidewalk path to his front door before untying the jump rope around your waist and getting off of the bike. Going round to the wagon you extended your hands out to Kenny and helped him up once more. As he stood he found his own balance without the need for you to support him. A proud smile came to his face as he proclaimed,

"Y'know I think I'm feeling better."

"Really? That's gr-" You began to say

But alas, you were cut off by Kenny leaning over and puking in the bushes in front of his house.

"Gross." You finished

Gently, you rubbed circles on his back as you let him finish emptying his guts into the bush. After he was done, he stood up straight once more and gave you a thumbs-up with a weak smile.

"C'mon buddy let's get you inside." You cooed guiding him toward the door

Letting you guide him, he reached into his pocket and handed you his keys. And when you got up the steps to the front door, you opened it and let both of you inside. Bringing Kenny over to the couch you sat him down before heading off to get some items to help him feel better. shuffling through the cabinets and drawers of the kitchen you find what you're looking for and collect the items. Coming back to Kenny you handed him a glass of half water and half Gatorade, a plate of some saltine crackers, and two ibuprofen pills. Taking the glass, Kenny grabbed the two ibuprofen and took them before grabbing the plate and beginning to pick at the saltines. Sitting down next to him on the couch you looked at him with concern as you questioned,

"So are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"I told you. I went overboard." Kenny answered curtly

"But why?" You pressed

You weren't going to let this go, were you? Granted, he couldn't fully blame you for pressing the issue, since he did call you in the early hours of the morning and you found him on the floor of a party bathroom incredibly unwell. The only person who had ever known about his insomnia and night terrors was Bren though. It was the reason he would've gotten a lecture if he had called Bren for help. While Bren understood the reasons Kenny did what he did, he thought they were destructive. He thought that Kenny would push his boundaries if things got bad and he would spiral. As his best friend, Bren was concerned, and perhaps he was right. If Kenny learned anything tonight it's not to push his boundaries again because the outcome was pretty shitty. Letting out a sigh, he looked up from his plate of saltines to you and explained,

"I've had really bad night terrors and insomnia for most of my life. I have some healthier ways to deal with it like melatonin and a um- specific body pillow to comfort me,"

"Yes, I've seen Klaus before." You interjected

"But they haven't been working and the night terrors were getting worse so I went to the party tonight and drank more than usual, had some shitty weed that was definitely more on the THC side, and made out with the Graves twins a lot to help me forget." Kenny finished

"You realize the Graves twins just use you as an incest buffer right?" You mentioned

"Whatever they do at home is their own business, all I know is they're both hot and are good with their tongues," Kenny remarked

"Didn't need to know that." You replied before adding sincerely "But you needed a distraction. I understand."

Kenny's head cocked to the side confused at your admission. You understood? How?

"You do?" Kenny questioned

"Mhmm. I have night terrors too." You admitted "And the occasional hallucination. Although those are much less frequent than they used to be."

Night terrors? Hallucinations? You never gave off the impression that you dealt with those things. You always seemed so put together. Even with the stuff you had told the group about your life before meeting them you still seemed like you were always on top of everything. How had he not seen it?

"I never knew..." Kenny whispered looking down at his plate of saltines

"I wouldn't expect you to." You explained "Only my mom, older brother Diego and his girlfriend Eudora know."

"I feel like I should've noticed though." Kenny replied still disappointed he never knew

"I hid it pretty well." You replied honestly "Never wanted to worry anyone."

"I'm sorry." Kenny apologized

"Don't be. I should've noticed what you were going through too." You stated

Kenny turned to look towards you. If he had never noticed you were going through these things then maybe you knew how to cope with them better than he did.

"How...how do you get through it in such a healthy manner?" He questioned

"I wouldn't call it healthy," You remarked "Just different than yours."

You were damaging yourself, just in a different way than Kenny was. You constantly were keeping yourself busy and even going so far as to sometimes stay up late until your body literally collapsed from exhaustion so you wouldn't have any time to think about the past. At least not in the way you didn't want to. You looked back towards Kenny, meeting his gaze.

"While you use whiskey and weed I just throw myself into learning. Books and theories and power training constantly so that anytime I'm alone I'm never without thought." You explained "If I distract myself I don't dwell as much and if I don't dwell I don't have nightmares."

"Does it work?" Kenny asked curiously

"Not all the time, but enough to justify doing it still." You answered

It wasn't the answer Kenny was expecting to hear but he understood it. While he numbed his mind to forget his past, you filled your mind to do the same. Kenny coped by making himself incapable of thinking properly about his trauma while you coped by making sure you thought of everything but your trauma. Kenny nodded his head slightly understanding your words.

"Yeah. I get that." Kenny replied trailing off "I get that..."

There was silence for a moment. A heaviness loomed in the air at the admission that both of you were far more broken than you let other people know. Of course, there was a feeling of solidarity but it stemmed from your unspoken sorrow. Kenny was okay with the silence. Honestly, it was nice to not have his head fill it in with the echoes of his parents screaming all those years ago. But looking over at you he could see the way you shifted uncomfortably. You must hate the silence. Trying to change the mood, Kenny put his cracker plate down on the coffee table before turning and laying down, his head now resting in your lap. Gently you stroked his hair, running your fingers through his dark curls. For someone with such a strong personality, you were always so gentle. Looking up at you he joked,

"We've got pretty messed up heads, huh?"

"Yeah," You commented looking down at him "But we have each other now and I think that makes them a little bit better."

You gave him a smile to which Kenny reciprocated with one of his own. But even so, as he tried to bring up the mood, he wondered,

"Why did you come for me?"

"Because you're my friend and you needed help." You responded

He would've accepted that answer outright if he couldn't see that it seemed like you had more to say. Your answer was a response on its own but it felt like you were holding something back.

"And?" He pressed

"And what?" You asked

"There's more. I can sense it." He replied

You let out a sigh. There was more. There was always going to be more because no matter what everything connected back to your life pre-time jump. It would forever influence who you are no matter how far in the past you wanted to put it. But you knew Kenny wasn't going to let this go and at almost 3:30 in the morning you had no reason to lie. Your voice dropped low and you spoke softly as you began,

"Before I lost my parents and had to move to my new house, I had a different group of friends. And I loved them so so much. They were the first friends I had and I did everything I could to have them know how much I cared for them but..."

"But what?"

"But I guess it wasn't enough." You lamented

Your eyes looked off at the wall ahead of you instead of at your friend. Your gaze tuning into a 40-yard stare as you rambled on,

"I thought maybe even though I left they still knew how much I cared and it would be enough to make sure they stayed okay...but that didn't happen. Last I heard, things went bad for all of them. Some came out better than others but none of them are okay and I fear it was my fault for leaving that they turned out the way they did."

"But you couldn't have known what would happen." Kenny tried to comfort

"I know..." You whispered before stating "But knowing what I know now, I swore to myself that if I ever made friends again I was going to make sure that there was never a doubt in their mind how much I loved them."

Kenny knew how much you loved him and the rest of the friend group. You made it known every day through your words and actions. Both explicit and implicit. You were an amazing loving person and none of them could've asked for a better friend.

"If it makes you feel any better I feel very loved right now." Kenny mentioned

"Good. You are." You said softly

"I hope you know that you're loved too." Kenny reminded "I love you. We all love you."

"I love you all too." You replied

There was silence again as you looked at each other. This time however it felt more peaceful. Nevertheless, Kenny didn't want you to get uncomfortable with the silence, especially after discussing something that you probably didn't want to linger on too long. Giving your brain something else to work with, he requested,

"Hey, will you sing that song I like? The one with the funny lyrics. I can't recall the name but the quiet kind of bothers me."

"Of course." You responded

You were happy to sing for your friend. You'd do anything to help make them feel better and loved and singing a song was not a difficult request to do. Gently as you continued to stroke Kenny's hair you softly began to sing,

I was scared of dentists and the dark I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations Oh, all my friends are turning green You're the magician's assistant in their dream

Kenny closed his eyes, a small smile coming to his face as heard you sing while stroking his hair. Taking your free hand in his, he held it close and placed it over his heart.

Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ah-ahh-ah-ah And they come unstuck

Opening his eyes back up, he saw you looking down at him softly and he smiled wide. You were an amazing friend, and after tonight he was never going to let you forget that. Joining you in the chorus together you filled the quiet house with song and the bond of your friendship.

Lady, running down to the riptide Taken away to the dark side I wanna be your left-hand man I love you when you're singing that song And I got a lump in my throat 'Cause you're gonna sing the words wrong

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of (Y/N L/N). Born October 1, 1989 at 12:00 pm to (M/N L/N) with the man who would become your dad, (F/N L/N), present at the birth. Raised in a loving home with parents who would give you the world you had all you could ever need. Your parents did everything they could to make sure you were raised happy, healthy, and with a good and caring heart. They tried their best to help you when your powers developed but that however came with a caveat. Nobody could know.

And for years nobody did until you became too curious about the house you were forbidden to go to across the street. And it was there that you met Five and soon after the entirety of the Umbrella Academy. For a while things were great, you had friends and family and there was nothing wrong in your life. Of course, that was until Five ran away through time, accidentally dragged you with him, and the rest was history.

You knew the story of what happened, you were the one who lived it. The one who was currently living it. But nevertheless, you picked yourself up off the ground, tried to brush away the pain as best you could, and move forward. The last thing you wanted to be was alone. You hated the feeling of being alone and so you started over, filling the spots where others used to be. Not intentionally of course, but it still managed to happen. And through that life got better. You returned to a sense of normalcy in a new fancy home, going to school, with six new friends Lucas, Dean, Addison, Kenny, Bren, and Viktoria. And while you saw all of your friends as family, Dean became like a brother to you. Which was perfect because someone had to take over the brother spot since you had subconsciously filled in the father figure role.

And of course, that unintentional father figure role was filled by none other than your older brother, Diego. He watched over and took care of and loved you just like your dad had! And his lovely girlfriend Eudora filled in perfectly for your mom. The world outside saw you as a happy little family and while you had never said it aloud, you did too.

The three of you did so much together. You took plenty of day trips to do fun activities, you would go out for meals, and you even would spend time at Eudora's house playing games or watching movies or just being all together. And at Eudora's house, you had your own room right across the hall from where she and Diego slept. When you had nightmares of your past they were immediately there to comfort you until you felt better. They would drop you off at school as many days a week as they could and they would always make time to see you perform at your activities. By the time you were fifteen, they were already discussing what colleges to take you to go visit and when you turned 16 they threw you a wonderful sweet sixteen party. You could still remember clearly your "father-daughter" dance you had with Diego and Eudora wiping a few happy tears from her eyes on the sidelines.

They reminded you so much of your parents. So happy. So loving of you and loving of each other. You just knew that you three would always be together and happy. Right? No. The thing was no matter how much you wanted them to be your parents, no matter how much you subconsciously thought of them as that, they weren't your parents.

Granted for a very long time things were good but a little after your sweet sixteen things went downhill. Eudora was getting further into her career and Diego had been kicked from the police academy and refused to stop or slow his vigilante work no matter how many times Eudora asked. And one night that all came to a head, but the one thing they never expected was you finding out that night.

November 4, 2016:

After a long day of school on a Friday, most kids would've headed home when the final bell rang. But you however were not one of them. For you, you had been working with Dean on your history presentation after hours in the library. It was only assigned one day ago and you had a week and a half to finish it but you both decided it was best to trudge through and get it done as soon as possible so you didn't have to worry about it anymore. After about 3 hours of research and work to put it together you finally had your slide presentation done. You had made it a challenge to finish it by the time you did because when you were finally done the school library was going to kick you both out anyway as extended hours were finished and it would be closed for the weekend. Packing up your things the two of you walked outside to the now dark and empty parking lot of your high school. Feeling accomplished and ready to relax Dean turned to you and asked,

"Hey, do you wanna come over to my place? It's the weekend after all. We could play Mario Kart."

You however had other plans.

"Nah, I was planning on surprising my older brother Diego and his girlfriend Eudora at her house since they haven't made plans with me in like 2 weeks." You replied

"You know you don't have to keep reintroducing who they are. I know their names and their relation to you." Dean mentioned, "Also I've met Eudora, just not Diego."

You kept your friends separate from Diego and your mom Grace and relatively separate from Eudora so it sometimes slipped your mind that they already knew their names and relation to you through your mentions of them. Perhaps it was because you weren't ready to explain your past more so you established who they were over and over as a boundary that was not meant to be crossed yet.

"Oh right. Sorry." You mentioned, "And good, you don't need to meet him."

"Pfft, he shouldn't meet me because then he'd see how much better I am than him." Dean jabbed

You smiled as you playfully shoved his head and jokingly replied,

"Shut up, loser."

"Anyway do you want a ride to Eudora's?" Dean asked

"No thanks. I rode my bike to school today, so I'll just ride it there." You said gesturing to the only bike left on the bike rack

Dean knew you were completely capable of riding your bike to Eudora's safely. You were the most indestructible person he knew, but that didn't mean he didn't worry about you getting there still.

"You sure? I can just put it in the trunk of my car, it's pretty dark already." He pressed

"It's nice out right now. I think a bike ride would do me some good" You replied, "And anyway Eudora's is in the opposite direction of your house."

Dean was still a little wary, but he trusted you. You were right that the houses were in opposite directions and if you wanted to go surprise them then riding your bike would be a much better option than having his only semi-familiar car drive up outside a cop's house when it's dark out.

"Alright, well, if you're sure then I hope you have fun."

"Thanks!" You exclaimed

Walking over to your bike you unlocked it from the bike rack, putting the lock in your backpack before gently riding up next to Dean.

"Hey call me when you get there," He requested before adding "And be careful, the weather app says it's gonna downpour sometime in the next hour."

"Yeah yeah sure." You rushed as you began to ride away calling back "See ya, Dean!"

"Call me!" You heard him shout back

You waved him off as you continued to ride away as if to signify your same sentiment of yeah, sure, whatever. The streets were relatively empty with a car passing by here or there, and the fall air was crisp as you rode your way to Eudora's house. Like you had told Dean, it had been two weeks since you saw either Diego or Eudora. It was understandable if they were busy, but both of them typically made an effort to see you at least once a week individually, if not together. It was odd. They had never done this before. But then again, they had adult schedules and lives, and you were a sixteen-year-old who could do pretty much whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. So this situation was okay with you because now you could surprise them! You smiled as you pedaled your bike along the roads taking your time to just enjoy passing homes and the rising of the moon.

And soon enough you could see Eudora's house in the distance. Her and Diego's cars were parked in the driveway and there were lights on behind closed curtains signifying that both were inside. As you pulled your bike up you gently placed it on the ground and pulled out your phone to call Dean. Tapping his contact image and then the call button you let it ring as you walked toward the front door, but as you did so you could hear what sounded like yelling. Getting closer to the door Dean's voice came through the phone,

"Hello?"

You didn't recognize it though as you stayed silent trying to hear if the yelling was truly coming from the house. Getting even closer to the door you could hear loudly hear the shouting of two familiar voices. Through the phone, Dean became more worried as he didn't get any response from you and could also hear shouting although it was muffled for him.

"(Y/N)? Are you there? Are you okay?" He asked concerned

But instead of getting a response the call ended. You had inadvertently ended the call as your hand fiddled to force your phone down into an undersized pocket on your jeans. Damn women's pocket sizes. Trying to find out what the shouting was about you turned yourself invisible and quietly phased through the front door, only to be met with a shocking sight. The living room was a complete mess as it seemed police files were scattered all over the floor. Diego and Eudora stood by opposite sides of the couch their faces filled with an emotion you had never seen before.

Anger.

"I'm trying to make the world a safer place!" Diego shouted

"No, you're trying to relieve your glory days and play hero because you don't know what else to do." Eudora yelled back "If you really wanted the world to be a safer place you would let the police department do its work."

"We both know that the police department isn't making those changes fast enough." Diego retorted "I'm stopping the problem at the source!"

"You're being reckless and disregarding the law." Eudora remarked, "What kind of example are you trying to set for (Y/N)?"

Oh no. They were arguing. You had never seen them argue before. Perhaps a playful banter but this wasn't that. This was serious. And to make matters worse it seemed to be that they were arguing about you. At least in some capacity. Quietly, you took a few steps closer.

"One in which she recognizes that if given the opportunity to make a change to do what's right, she should," Diego responded firmly, his arms crossed over his chest

"She is not like you, Diego!" Eudora snapped as she took a step toward him "Just because she has powers does not mean she should be inclined to save the world or whatever. I'm trying to raise a law-abiding citizen who can make positive changes in her own way. Not your way."

"I don't know what you're talking about! We both want the same thing!" Diego jabbed

Your bottom lip started to quiver and it felt like your heart was breaking in your chest. You knew it was. You had felt it break like this before, almost three years ago. Why? Why would they be yelling at each other? You had never seen two people who were supposed to be in love argue like this. Argue with so much anger and vile in their voices. Is this why they had been avoiding you these past two weeks? Because they were fighting so much? Your heart began to clench in your chest as tears formed in your eyes. And as much as you wanted to you couldn't look away from the situation.

"No Diego, we don't." Eudora scoffed "The hero schtick was charming at first but we're adults now. You need to grow up."

"I am grown! I make my own decisions and I'm tired of you telling me what you think I should do!" Diego spat before jabbing "Constant criticism isn't attractive."

"Neither is breaking the law! Or unnecessarily putting yourself in risky situations! OR NOT LISTENING TO YOUR PARTNER'S FEELINGS!" Eudora exclaimed

"This is who I am and if you don't like it then maybe I should just go!" Diego yelled stepping closer to Eudora

"Maybe you should!" Eudora retorted getting in his face

"No." You said quietly

After you realized what you had done you placed your hand over your mouth, not only as a reaction to you accidentally speaking but to hide the cries that you could feel forming in your throat. You could feel the way it tightened and clenched as you tried to hide any more sounds of the surmounting sorrow you felt. However, your one sad little no was enough for Diego to snap his head in your direction.

"Did you hear that?" Diego questioned more quietly

He looked at the area of the room where you stood. You knew he couldn't see you. You were invisible, but the look on his face made you think that maybe he knew you were there. His expression softened just enough for you to notice it and it almost seemed as if he was going to walk toward you. And for a moment, you wanted him to. You wanted him to find you, to realize that you had been there the whole time, and perhaps the two of them would tell you that they were alright. That it was just a one-off argument and they hadn't been hiding this from you for a while. But that one moment was short lived as Eudora remarked sarcastically,

"Oh, what? Is that the sound of another mission for you to leave me to go on?"

And so you watched as Diego's face contorted back into anger. His gaze whipped back toward her as he complained,

"You know what? I don't fucking need this and I don't need you."

"Fine by me!" Eudora shouted as she pointed to the door "Get your shit and leave my house."

"It'll be my pleasure." Diego sneered getting in her face before storming off upstairs

And there it was. The complete and utter heartbreak as you realized that this was the nail in the coffin. Just as you thought life was truly getting better it came back to slap you in the face again. Your hand pressed against your mouth harder as a few tears began to roll down your face. Maybe you were never meant to be happy...

Carefully you walked backward and phased yourself back out the front door before taking off toward your bike at the front of the drive. Hopping on your bike you immediately sped off. For a moment it sounded like you could hear the shouts of your name echoing in the distance but you couldn't dare turn back. It was too late. It hurt too much. The night was dark as storm clouds had gathered in the sky blocking out the moon and the air that felt crisp earlier now chilled you to your bones. Rain began to fall from the dark clouds above but you didn't stop pedaling. You had no clue where you were going. You had no direction. You just kept riding as far as you could away from the pain.

But it was unavoidable. It lived inside you. Your pain was like a cancer. One that you thought you had fought, but the truth was that it sat benign for years only to become malignant out of nowhere and taking over your being once more. Your scars from the heartbreak of being pulled to this time were carved open with the sharp pain of this new discovery. And just like that, all that you had built up came tumbling down. Tears spilled from your eyes as the rain picked up. The dark sky opening into a downpour drenching your clothes completely. The raindrops fell at a furious pace just like the tears from your eyes, both of them blurring your vision ahead. For a moment you lifted up your soaking-wet sleeve and wiped your eyes in an attempt to clear some of your vision but as you looked back up you saw the bright flash of oncoming headlights.

Quickly swerving out of the way your front wheel hit the street curb sending you flying forward off your bike. The left side of your face scraping roughly against the concrete sidewalk. Your body ached from the impact almost as much as your heart did from what you saw. Rolling onto your back you stared up at the dark sky as the rain beat down on you. Your head raced with all that you had suffered, all the pain and trauma you had endured in such a short time.

And you screamed.

You screamed into the void of the night, a harrowing sound of heartbreak cutting through the downpour. There was nothing you could do. Nothing you could say, that would stop this pain. You were forced to feel it no matter how it tore you apart and broke you down. And all you could do with it was scream. Scream the pain into the world just as the world had forced tragedy onto you. And when you could no longer scream, when your lungs ran out of breath, you just laid there on the sidewalk letting the rain fall down on you as you cried, wondering what you had done to deserve this. Closing your eyes you drowned out the world around you as you wondered if you could just sink into the earth and hide away from it all. But then you heard a voice shout,

"(Y/N)!"

Opening your eyes, you sat up and looked toward where the voice came from. And there you saw your brother standing there. He stood behind his open driver's side door, an umbrella in his hands as his eyes looked at you worriedly.

"Dean...?" You called weakly

Hearing you call back his name, he immediately stepped out from behind his car door, slamming it shut as he raced over to you. Still standing he held the large umbrella over you two as he got a better look at the condition you were in. Your clothes were fully soaked by the rain as blood ran down your face from the scrape you had gotten. And even though the only light was that of his headlights it was obvious your eyes were red and puffy from crying. Dropping to his knees to be at eye level with you he questioned panicked,

"Oh my god (Y/N), what happened to you? You hung up abruptly and I got worried. What happened?"

Tears began to well in your eyes once more as the events of earlier began to replay in your mind. You tried to speak but it felt like the words were stuck in your throat. You pushed yourself to speak, your voice wavering as you stuttered out,

"Th-they were screaming and fighting- an-an-and-"

But then you stopped. The words caught in your throat once more as you began to get choked up. They were so angry at each other. Their words were so full of malice. Every jab they threw at each other was another jab to your heart. And as much as you tried to keep it together, which was barely, you couldn't. You fell apart. Your body shook both from the chill of the rain that had fallen on you and from the strength of your emotion.

"Screw the umbrella." Dean said letting go of it before wrapping his arms around you "Come here."

Dean held you close as tears spilled from your eyes and you cried once more. Your sobs muffled as you buried your head into his shoulder. Dean held you tightly as he stroked your wet hair. He didn't even care that it was raining. All he cared about was figuring out what happened and what he could do to help.

"Hey it's okay, I'm here now. I'm here." He cooed

"They broke up, Dean. Diego and Eudora broke up." You choked out "I watched it happen."

Oh no. That's why they must have been avoiding you for so long. Because they didn't want you to see them fight...

"Oh, (Y/N) I'm sorry." Dean apologized

He had nothing to apologize for though. He had done nothing wrong. In all honestly, he was the only one doing something right currently. You didn't know why things always ended so fucked up for you when you least expected it. Things like this always ended taking you by surprise. You hated it. You hated it beyond belief. It was so overwhelmingly infuriating that you were stuck in this shitty cycle of loss and heartbreak. Pulling back from Dean you angrily shouted,

"It's not fair! Everything I love I lose!"

But just as quick as the wave of energy that caused your anger came on, it went away just as fast. Your shoulders slumped and you looked down at the sidewalk as you quietly repeated defeated,

"Everything I love I lose..."

"Hey look at me." Dean softly called, gently taking your face in his hands

As he tilted your head to look up towards him you could see the concern but also care in his eyes. You didn't know why he was here with you, getting completely drenched by the rain, but you appreciated his presence.

"Remember what you told me?" He quietly reminded "When you have no other family, you will always have me. Always."

You didn't know what to say, so you didn't say anything. All you did was lean back into your brother again and held him tightly as if the world was going to take him away from you too. Dean held you once more, his hand rubbing your back as he rested his head on top of yours and comforted,

"You're not alone. I'm going to take care of you."

After a quick moment, Dean stood up taking your hand to help you stand as well and although it didn't really matter at this point he held picked up the umbrella and held it over the two of you. Walking you towards the passenger side of his car he opened the door saying,

"C'mon let's get you out of the rain. I don't want you getting sick."

Sliding into the passenger seat Dean closed the door after you before heading back to grab your bike and put it in his trunk. Closing the trunk he closed his umbrella and threw it into the backset before getting in the driver's seat and turning on the car. He turned the heating on to keep you both warm as he turned around and drove the two of you back to his house. The ride was quiet. You weren't in a mood to talk and Dean wasn't going to force you to either, but at least you had stopped crying for now. As you got back to the house Dean parked his car in the garage before getting out and heading over to the passenger side to get you. The two of you walked together toward the door inside the garage that led inside the home. Taking your shoes off first, you entered the door that led into the laundry room, Dean closing it behind you. And right as Dean finished shutting the door, you could hear his mom call from inside the house,

"Decano? Has vuelto?"

"Sí, Mamá," Dean called back "(Y/N) también está conmigo."

"Oh (Y/N)!" She exclaimed

You saw as his mom rounded the corner into the laundry room, an excited smile on her face until her eyes landed on you. Her smile turned to an expression of shock as she quickly made her way over taking your face in her hands and turning your head side to side to look at you.

"Ay, dios mío! What happened?" She questioned

"Lo siento aparecer aquí en tan malas condiciones." You apologized before explaining "I was riding my bike over here and it started to rain. I couldn't see and hit the curb causing me to fall and scrape my face."

"Oh don't apologize mija. I'm just glad you're safe." She cooed

"Mamá, can (Y/N) stay the night?" Dean asked

"Stay the night? She can move in if she wants. We'll give her Antonio's room in the basement." Dean's mom responded before mumbling under her breath "...entonces tal vez finalmente le proponga matrimonio a su novia y se mude..."

You watched as Dean's mom turned to grab a towel from a stack of them before turning back and handing it to you.

"Here mija, take this towel and go take a hot shower since you must be cold from the rain. Dean will grab you some fresh clothes and can help with your cuts when you're done." She explained gently "And I'll make some hot food for you to have."

"Gracias Señora Hernandez." You thanked

"Te lo dije, llámame Liliana," She replied with a smile before walking out of the room presumably to the kitchen

"I told you my parents like you more than me and my brothers." Dean mentioned "If any of us came home in this condition solo we'd get hit with the chancla for sure."

"I'm surprised you didn't realize that when they asked to throw me a quinceañera last year because they had no daughters." You commented back

"No, I did. I'm just glad you convinced them to make it a joint party for us." He replied "The look of envy on Tony's face as we got a huge celebration and he didn't warmed my second-son heart."

"You're welcome for that by the way." You remarked

"Whatever man," He dismissed before recalling the task his mom set him to "I'll go find you some dry clothes, okay?"

"Okay..."  You responded "I'll go take a shower. Just leave whatever clothes you get outside the door."

With a quick nod of your head, you walked out of the laundry room and down the hall toward the bathroom. Turning on the hot water to the shower you stripped off your drenched clothing and got in. The heat of the water helped to warm you up and remove the chill you felt in your bones from the cold rain but it also stung the scrape on your face. You didn't mind it though. Honestly, the physical pain of the scrape helped to numb the emotional pain of the night a bit. It provided a distraction even if it necessarily didn't feel good. You had no clue how long you stayed standing there but when you felt the hot water start to become lukewarm you realized that it was probably time to get out. Turning off the water you grabbed your towel and dried off, wrapping it around you once you finished. Opening the door just slightly you saw a plastic shopping bag hanging on the door handle with clothes inside. Grabbing the bag, you closed the door once more as you used your abilities to dry your undergarments and put them on before changing into the baggy t-shirt and gym shorts that Dean had provided you. Hanging your towel up on the rack next to the shower you went and opened the door to the bathroom. Stepping out, you saw Dean walking down the hall from his room in your direction also wearing some new dry clothes. Catching sight of you, he came up and asked,

"Hey, how you feeling?"

You shrugged your shoulders. You weren't sure yet how you felt.

"Understandable." He replied adding "I hope the clothes are okay. I know they're probably still kinda loose but since you're smaller than I am, I tried to find stuff that I'll probably outgrow soon that would fit you better."

"No they're great, they're comfy. Thank you." You reassured

"Oh good." Dean replied

Dean then again recognized the cut on the left side of your face. Fortunately, it had stopped bleeding but it could get infected if it stayed uncovered and untreated like it currently was.

"Here uh- let me help you with that." Dean said gesturing back into the bathroom

With a nod of your head, you stepped back in and sat on the sink counter as Dean looked underneath the sink for the tiny first aid kit his family had. Finding it, he stood back up and placed it on the side of the counter away from you pulling out some antibiotic ointment and a very large bandaid. Placing some of the ointment on his pointer finger, Dean gently spread it over your cut making sure to get it evenly spread across your forehead and upper cheek on the left side of your face. When he felt he had done a thorough job he placed the tube of ointment back in the kit as he washed of his hand.

"That's gonna be a nasty scar, huh?" Dean commented

You looked behind you in the mirror as you saw the large abrasion that ran across the upper left side of your face. It was pretty bad, but you weren't one to scar. Any time you got hurt, the signs of an injury would disappear faster than most people's would. At least it did so for minor ones.

"Don't worry it'll be gone by morning. Like it never even happened." You replied quietly

Dean looked down at the first aid kit as he brought out the large bandaid he found. Gently he questioned,

"And the internal scars? What about them?"

"I don't know..." You murmured "I still haven't figured that out from the last time something this upsetting happened."

Turning back towards you, Dean tilted your face toward him so that he could get a better view of your cut. Opening the bandaid, he took the protective backing off revealing the adhesive part. Carefully, he brought it up to your face and placed it over your injury making sure to avoid getting adhesive on any of the scratched parts. After taking a moment to look his work over, his focused his gaze on you as he replied,

"That's alright. We'll figure it out together."

"Promise me." You said sticking out your pinky finger for a pinky promise

Wrapping his pinky around yours he gave a gentle shake as he promised,

"I swear."

"Okay." You spoke, the slightest hint of a smile on your face

"You hungry?" Dean asked as he put the first aid kit away under the sink

"Yeah." You answered

"Good. My mom made you a whole pot of soup." Dean stated

Giving him a nod you hopped off the sink counter as you walked out of the bathroom and to the kitchen, with Dean following closely behind. The two of you sat down as Dean's mom served you a bowl of fresh made pozole before then giving a bowl to her son. You ate your soup quietly only really talking when you asked Liliana for a second and then third bowl of soup. You didn't realize how hungry you were until you had started eating. But of course Dean's mom didn't mind and was in fact delighted that you wanted to have more than one serving. As you finished your third bowl, you got up from the table and walked over to place the bowl in the sink. Turning toward Liliana you asked,

"Would you like me to help wash the dishes?"

"Oh (Y/N), that's not necessary. Dean will do them, you should rest." She responded

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping him." You replied "I mean it's the least I could do to thank you for the food you made."

"You are so thoughtful, but it seems you've had a rough night and you are a guest. I'll get Matías to help him." Liliana explained before shouting "MATÍAS VEN A LIMPIAR LOS PLATOS AHORA."

You watched as Dean's younger brother ran into the kitchen, a frantic look on his face before stopping as he noticed you.

"Oh. Hi (Y/N)." He said

"Hey Matt." You replied

"What happened to your face?" He asked confused

"I fell off my bike and cut it up." You answered

"Aren't you a little old to be falling off a bike?" He asked condescendingly

Jeez. It was pretty harsh to hear that from a 10-year-old after the day you just had. But just as quick as it hurt, you immediately felt better as Dean's mom smacked the back of his head.

"No seas grosero!" Liliana chastised "Ve a limpiar con tu hermano."

You smirked as Matt walked past you grumbling under his breath before helping Dean with the dishes. Sitting in the living room you waited for Dean to be done with the dishes but as you rested on the couch you could feel yourself growing a bit tired. Once Dean was done with his chore he came to find you and the two of you walked down the hall to his bedroom, shutting the door behind you. As you looked at the room you saw a sleeping bag rolled out on the floor next to the bed. Turning to look at you Dean said,

"You can stay in my bed, I'll take the floor."

You were about to nod your head but then something in you just felt the need to check the bed more thoroughly. And instantly you regretted it. Granted, you were happy to now have this information due to your powers but you were also grossed out that there were...bodily fluids...in the sheets. You weren't surprised, he was a teen boy and teen boys tend to jerk off occasionally. But your lack of surprise did not mean you wanted to stay in that.

"Um- I don't want to take your bed from you." You politely declined "I can sleep on the floor."

"No, you should have a comfortable place to rest after tonight and anyway my mom would kill me if she found out I let you sleep on the floor." Dean insisted

"I've slept on a floor before, it's totally fine." You tried to persuade

"No absolutely not." Dean rejected "The bed is yours."

This was not good. He was not letting up and you worried about what to do now. Your mind raced with various thoughts about what to do in this situation because you had never been in this predicament before.

Oh god. How do I insinuate that I know he's jacked off in his bed and that his sheets are gross? 

Dean's head snapped toward you. You didn't speak...but he somehow still heard you. He thought for a moment that perhaps he was losing it from the stress of worrying about you but then he could hear your voice in his head speak once more.

Do I just keep denying sleeping in the bed until he caves? Can I somehow make UV light and not give him radiation poisoning by being so close?

You watched as Dean walked past you back to his bedroom door. Stopping at it he looked back toward you as he stated,

"I'll get new sheets."

Your eyes went wide as you began to question,

"How the fuck-"

I don't know you tell me.

Taking a step back your eyes went wide just as Dean's had done a moment ago. Did you just hear his thoughts? Could he hear yours? You knew the two fo you were close, but what the fuck.

"Oh- oh that's fucking weird." You retorted "We are NOT dealing with that tonight."

"Whatever you say, but I think it's cool." Dean replied before leaving his room

It only took a few moments for Dean to return with a new set of sheets, stripping the old ones and putting the new ones on. As he walked out of the room once more to bring his old sheets to the laundry room, you sat down on the newly made bed and looked out the window. The rain still in a torrential downpour. The door to Dean's room opened and closed once more as he made his way over and sat on the bed next to you.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Dean asked

"I don't know..." You responded, your eyes still trained on the rain outside

"That's okay," Dean responded "I'll be here either way."

There was a moment of silence between you two. Neither saying a word, just existing side by side. But after a bit, there was something you wanted to express. It wasn't specifically about what happened but you felt you needed to tell someone.

"It just feels like every time things are going well something goes wrong, and it always feels like my fault..." You sighed "Maybe I'm just a rain cloud on my own life..."

"Well if you're a rain cloud then I must be a thunderstorm because to me you're a ray of sunshine." Dean mentioned

"You think so?" You inquired

"I know so." Dean responded "My life was never as bright as it's been since you came into it."

You looked away from the rain and toward Dean, the corners of your mouth lifting up briefly into a small smile before falling back into a neutral position. It might not have been much, but it was a start. Leaning over you rested your head on Dean's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around you and rested his head on top of yours. You both stayed quiet for a moment, but then you could hear as Dean quietly sang,

Eres mi sol Mi único sol Me haces feliz Cuando el cielo esta gris Nunca sabrás, querida Cuanto te quiero Por favor no me quites mi sol

As he finished his song he turned his head only slightly to kiss the top of yours. There wasn't much he could do to change what had happened but as long as you knew he was there for you and he loved you he felt that was enough for now. You were his sister, his favorite sibling, his closest family and if he could help it, he would never let you suffer alone.

"Thanks Dean." You whispered

"It's been a long night, how about you get some rest?" Dean suggested

You nodded your head before pulling away from Dean as he also let you go. Dean slid from the bed onto the floor and climbed into the sleeping bag he set out as you got yourself comfortable in the bed. Turning off the lamp on his nightstand you both lay there in the dark as the rain poured outside but after a few minutes, you rolled over to look down toward your brother on the floor.

"Dean?" You called quietly

"Yeah?" He replied

"Will you hold my hand?" You asked

"Of course."

Sliding one arm off the bed you reached down toward Dean as he took your hand in his own. It felt comforting to know someone was there and you always slept easier knowing someone was nearby. As the waves of tiredness began to wash over you and your eyes began to get heavy you mumbled one more request,

"Please don't ever leave me."

Holding your hand just a little tighter, Dean looked up at you and quietly replied,

"I wouldn't even dream of it."

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Brendon Mal-Chin Young. Born March 14, 2001 at 7:51 pm to Alistair and Adeline Young, Brendon would be the only child that the Youngs ever had. He was the only child they would ever expect they would need. But things didn't turn out quite how they wanted. When Bren was born, it was in the middle of his parents setting up their consulting business and therefore he got just enough of his parents' care for him to survive, but not enough to nurture him. And when he became a toddler that needed more supervision, he was placed in the care of his next-door neighbor Clarissa Wagner who was so happy to give her son Kenneth a friend to play with. Especially since they were only about two weeks apart in age. The two boys became inseparable and the Wagners became more like family to Brendon than his own parents did.

This would go on for years until his parents' business was settled enough that they were comfortable being home more often, but by that point, Bren had already formed his connections and bonds. There was a strong disconnect between him and his parents as when it really mattered most they weren't around and now the people he cared about most were Kenny, Kenny's mom, and Ben Hargreeves of the Umbrella Academy.

Bren was introduced to Ben Hargreeves as Kenny was discussing how cool he thought Klaus from the Umbrella Academy was. And together when they would hang out, Clarissa would read all the comic books to the boys and would even make sure to pick up two copies when new ones came out so that Bren could take on home. Bren admired Ben because he was like him. He looked like him and even though he was kind of in the background of his family he still had people who noticed him.

Ben was his hero.

But then tragedy struck. When Bren was just about to be six years old the Jennifer Incident occurred and Ben Hargreeves tragically died. It was unexpected and it absolutely shattered Bren. His hero was gone. No, no. He couldn't let that happen. Ben couldn't just be gone. Ben was like him and he was like Ben so Ben needed to be remembered. He didn't want to be forgotten, he didn't want his existence to be left behind by the people around him. And this incident put more space between him and his parents at a young age. They didn't understand why he was so despondent all of a sudden but never sought a solution.

And as he grew up his parents seemed to forget him more and more as they sunk themselves into their work because Bren wasn't turning out the way they wanted him to be. It was not that he wasn't successful, he was just successful in the wrong way. He played an instrument but it was the guitar. He was excellent in his English courses and was a stellar writer but he mainly put those skills into solitary reading or writing lyrics for songs. He had a physical activity that he was great at but it was focused on using two whips for some reason. It never made sense to them.

It hurt that his parents put him so low in their priorities. He wanted someone to remember him and love him as he was. Granted, he had his friends and of course, they loved and remembered him, but he wanted more. And when he was seventeen, that love would walk into his life in the form of Juniper Lee. But unfortunately, Juniper was not the miracle he was hoping for and the tragedy of that would hit him hard.

August 12, 2018:

Around two weeks ago, Bren announced he had gotten a girlfriend. Your group of friends was incredibly surprised by this fact since he had never even talked about liking anyone prior but nevertheless, you were all happy.

Well almost...

You did not like Bren's new girlfriend Juniper. Juniper was a recent transfer from Argyle Academy, the fancy K-12 private school in the city. The fancy private school that you would've continued to attend had Five not pulled you to the future. The fancy private school that you knew was filled with rich assholes who, one, bullied you in your youth, and two did not care about anyone but themselves. The fancy private school that had a strict honor code and a "one strike and you're out" policy. Already you knew this girl was bad news. But your opinion grew worse as you spent time around her.

She was in the English class you shared with Bren and Kenny, and she began sitting at your table at lunch. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but you tried to be cordial with her so you could be supportive of your friend. Juniper however exuded red flags. She was very controlling of Bren even if she tried to portray it as being playful. She never compromised with him even on little things. She was very critical of your friend group, but especially you since your cordiality didn't hide your disdain. And you had a strong assumption from the way you could feel her heart race with your powers that she was lying. A lot.

But on top of it, you could see how she was changing Bren, for the worse. He would brush off plans with your friend group to go be with her. He was becoming more critical of you all just like she was. But the biggest thing was he was becoming a real dickhead. Sure he could be a jerk sometimes, just like everyone can, but this wasn't that. He was acting out of character being super pretentious and all high and mighty for no reason. It was like she was completely changing who he fundamentally was.

And you despised her for all of that. You had a terrible feeling in your gut about her, but for Bren's sake, no matter how much you hated her or how he was acting, you kept your mouth shut. That was until you had ridden your bike to the local shopping center to pick up some new running shoes when you saw Juniper, Bren's girlfriend, making out with a guy in an Argyle Academy uniform.

The AUDACITY of that bitch.

You saw red as you pulled out your phone and took a photo of her before turning your bike around and riding like the wind to Bren's house. Enraged adrenaline pumped through your veins as you dropped your bike on his lawn and flashed into his room. Materializing in front of him, Bren looked shocked for a moment, and taking in your upset demeanor he questioned,

"Are you okay?"

"I need to show you something." You stated firmly

Pulling out your phone, you pulled up the picture from your camera roll before turning your phone towards him and showing him the image. Bren took the phone from your hand, examining the screen for a moment before looking up at you and asking confused,

"What am I looking at?"

"That's YOUR GIRLFRIEND making out with SOMEONE ELSE." You emphasized

"How can you be sure?" Bren questioned, "That picture is far away and it doesn't really look like her to me."

"Are you fucking insane?" You blurted him in disbelief

He had to be joking right? That was obviously her. It was clearly, unequivocally, 100% her. And he didn't believe it was?

"What?" Bren asked confused

"I have photographic evidence that your manipulative bitch of a girlfriend is cheating on you and you don't believe it?" You ranted pointing at your phone "It's right there!"

"Hey, you don't get to fucking talk about her like that!" Bren yelled

You honestly wanted to start laughing you were in so much disbelief. This was crazy. You felt like you were being pranked. Was he really this blind or was he being willfully ignorant? Either way, it was fucking stupid.

"Wake the fuck up, Bren! She doesn't love you!" You exclaimed "She. Is. Using. You!"

Anger welled up within Bren as he heard you hurl insults and accusations at his girlfriend. What did you know? You weren't part of their relationship. They were happy. They were in love. They were a power couple as Juniper liked to call the two of them. You just didn't get it.

"You know what, I'm starting to think Juniper was right about you." Bren snapped

"Oh yeah? And what did she say, huh?" You taunted sarcastically

"She said that you were jealous." Bren stated matter-of-factly

"Jealous?" You repeated with a shocked laugh "Jealous of what?"

"You and I were the last two people in the group to never had been on a date but now that I have Junie you're the last one and you're jealous of me being in love." Bren explained, his tone obviously demeaning toward you

Were you the last one to never have been on a date in your group now? Yes. But you had your reasons and you were fine with that. However, you were not fine with Bren, someone who is supposed to be your friend, demeaning you for your choices. You were not jealous of his relationship in the slightest because you would never get in a relationship with a lying, manipulative, cheater.

"I'm not jealous of you in the slightest." You remarked flatly

"And there you go denying it." Bren spouted "You've hated my relationship since the start because now you realize how alone you are! But that's not my responsibility and it's not my fault you've never loved anyone-"

Before he could fully finish his rant the sound of a smack resonated throughout the room. One of your hands was held up, frozen in place as the other held tightly around your locket. As Bren held his one cheek with his hand he turned to look at you. Shock and anger on his face as he questioned,

"Did you just fucking slap me?"

Tears pricked at your eyes and your voice trembled as you spat back,

"Fuck you, Brendon. I wish-"

You paused. Standing up straight Bren removed his hand from his cheek. Stepping toward you, he stared you down, his face getting in your own.

"What?" Bren asked, his voice low "What do you wish, (Y/N)?"

"I wish I never met you." You answered

Bren pulled his face back from yours and for the first time, throughout this whole argument, his expression contorted from anger into hurt. But it only lasted a moment as his anger returned and doubled. All of this just because you don't like his girlfriend. You were ridiculous and needed to get a grip on reality. You were lying to yourself. Just like Juniper said, you were jealous and you were wrong.

"Get out of my house and leave my relationship alone!" Bren shouted

At this point, you had resigned though. Your heart hurt from Bren's words about never loving anyone as your heartbreak over the only boy you ever loved washed over you again. The tragedy of letting him go and losing him to time still pained you to this day and you weren't going to deal with someone who obviously didn't care about hurting you. You stared at him blankly as you bluntly replied,

"Goodbye, Brendon,"

And with that, you flashed out of his room, picked up your bike, and rode back home with no new running shoes, one less friend, and a re-broken heart.

September 3, 2018:

It had been three weeks since your argument with Bren and things had noticeably changed. Besides English class, where it was impossible to do so, you actively avoided Bren. If he wanted you to stay out of his relationship you would make it easier and stay out of his life altogether. The rest of your friends noticed this change the day you started doing it and asked for an explanation. You showed them the picture, explained what happened, and told them that you did not want them to feel like they had to pick sides, and they were free to still be around him, just that you would not.

Of course, after explaining that, Dean immediately picked a side. Yours. You being his sister apparently mattered more than Bren being his friend. Nevertheless, if he wanted to stop talking to Bren that was his decision but you weren't making any of your friends choose. Which of course left the rest of them in an uncomfortable position. They saw the photo and were on your side, but if they just emotionally cut ties like Dean did it would only push Bren closer to Juniper. And so the rest of them continued to be awkwardly cordial with Juniper and try to still be normal around Bren in an attempt that he would hopefully come to his senses. But the confused tension was palpable.

Bren of course noticed the changes too. Most of the friend group was still around and talking to him, but any time Juniper was around they got weird. And if he ever showed up when a conversation where you were a topic was happening, the group immediately stopped and switched gears. Then of course there was Dean who Bren obviously knew was making a point to show he was mad and ignoring him. But the biggest change was you. You were never around anymore except for in English class where you didn't talk or look at him. You used to talk to each other all the time. English class was the time when you would jot down potential song lyrics into the margins of each other's notebooks that you could use for your band. Now the margins were empty. Lunch was when you would all be together with the group chilling before classes started again, but now you sat in the library for lunch with Dean. You didn't read any of the few messages he had sent you since your argument. Granted, none of them were apologies but he didn't need to apologize. Even so, it was as if he didn't even exist to you. As if he as a ghost in your life. When you said goodbye, he didn't think at the time that you would mean it.

But that was the way things were, and you settled into this routine over the three weeks. But as you were biking to the shopping center before it closed at 7, to finally go purchase new running shoes you got a phone call from Kenny. Braking, you pulled your bike over to the side as you picked up the phone.

"Hello?" You spoke

"(Y/N)?" Kenny replied, "I need you to do me a huge favor."

"Yeah, what do you need?" You asked

"I know you probably aren't going to want to do so but I need you to go to Bren's house," Kenny begged on the other side of the line

"Why?" You questioned annoyed

"Because you were right and he's upset." Kenny explained "He had gone over to Juniper's house and caught her in the act with some other guy. He called me heartbroken but I'm at work and can't go be with him."

"But why me?" You pressed "I mean Lucas is a ray of sunshine and positivity and Addison is the one who's good at manipulating people's psyches."

"Because you're the only other person besides me he'll listen to," Kenny replied "And I know you love your friends more than anything."

Damn it. You hated it, but you knew he was right.

"Fine," You sighed "I'll go."

"Thank you." Kenny expressed relieved

Hanging up the phone you let out a sigh as you once again were not going to get your running shoes. Getting back on your bike you turned around and after one quick stop along the way you made it to Bren's house. Laying your bike on the grass, you could see that the house looked empty. His parents' car was gone and the lights were off. Taking a deep breath you walked up to the door and into the house before making your way upstairs toward his room. As you approached his door you could hear the sounds of muffled crying.

Phasing through the door you could see him sitting on the edge of his bed, his face in his hands. Gently, you walked over towards him, but as Bren heard footsteps he looked up expecting to see Kenny, but instead finding you there. His eyes were red and puffy and his face was obviously wet from tears. His eyes narrowed at you as he snapped,

"What are you doing here?"

You knew he was upset, and there was a strong chance he was redirecting his pain toward you because one, he didn't know where to put it and you were the closest, and two, you did warn him three weeks ago about this. But no matter what he said, you knew he was hurting and you weren't going to let him be alone anymore. Walking to stand in front of him you looked down at him with a soft expression as you answered quietly,

"Kenny called. He told me what happened."

Of course, he did. When Bren had called him and Kenny said help would be over soon, he thought it was going to be him. Not you. Why did you even show up anyway? Probably to rub it in his face that you were right. Standing up he looked at you angrily, although his eyes were still filled with pain as he shouted,

"Well go on then, say it!"

You didn't respond. You didn't know what to say and instead, you just looked up at him with a sad, soft expression. Your lack of response, however, didn't ease him as he tried to get you to say what you came to say.

"Say it (Y/N)! Say I told you so!" Bren shouted once more, his voice breaking "Tell me that you were right and I was wrong and stupid!"

But you didn't respond to that either. You weren't here to berate him or shame him. You were here to try and help him begin to work through this pain. Quietly, you stepped forward and wrapped your arms around Bren, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry." You whispered, "For everything."

Bren froze for a moment as you held him. He was expecting you to brag and taunt him about how you had warned him of this and he didn't listen, but instead, you apologized. You apologized for all that had occurred. You were sorry for fighting with him, you were sorry for not talking to him and you were sorry for what had happened to him today. And with that, all the anger that Bren was trying to feel and push onto you went away as he could feel the pain of this situation return. His chest clenched and his knees grew weak and began to shake. His legs gave out beneath him bringing the two of you to kneel on the floor. Gripping onto your jacket tightly, balling the fabric in his hands, he rested his head on your shoulder as he began to sob. He gasped for air between his painful cries as the memory of what happened played in his head over and over again.

Gently, you ran your fingers through the back of his hair trying your best to comfort him as he processed what happened. You quietly stayed there with him and let him cry as long as he needed because what else could either of you do?

"I got you. It's going to be okay, I'm here." You reminded

As his sobs turned into sniffles, Bren lifted his head from your shoulder and looked at you as he quietly asked,

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend, and I'm not going to let you suffer alone." You answered sincerely

"Why did you ignore me then?" He questioned

"You told me to leave your relationship alone." You explained, "I was never going to be supportive of her so I thought it was best for me not to be around at all."

Bren nodded his head before slowly letting go of you and sitting on the floor leaning against his bed. He took slow deep breaths after crying so long and his pulse began to steady. And as you quietly sat next to him he leaned and rested his head on your shoulder. You had apologized to him, and he knew that he had to apologize back to you. The things he said were wrong and you deserved to know so.

"I'm sorry for what I said." Bren apologized "It was wrong of me to say you were jealous and it was worse of me to claim you've never loved anyone. You're a very loving person."

"Thanks." You replied

"You hit me hard though." Bren commented, "So I kinda feel like I have to ask, who was he?"

You paused for a moment as you stared off into the distance. One of your hands instinctively went to hold your locket as you thought about the boy you loved. Your beloved Five. It had been years and yet in your mind, you could still hear his voice calling your name and see his smile as he looked at you. A bittersweet smile rose to your face for a moment as you reminisced.

"He was my best friend and I would've done anything for him." You explained "He had a shitty home life, and I thought- well I thought I was doing enough to mitigate that. But he still ran away and left me behind to deal with the fallout."

Ben tilted his head on his shoulder to look up at you. There was a slight smile on your face but there was deep pain in your eyes. Your voice was wistful as you spoke but there were tinges of sadness within it. This boy had broken your heart.

"He sounds like an idiot." Bren commented

"No. He was wonderful." You corrected "He was sweet and caring and smart and he knew me better than anyone else did. And he made me happy. So so happy."

Lifting his head from your shoulder he looked at you as he asked,

"You still love him, don't you?"

You looked towards Bren, an earnest yet melancholic expression on your face.

"With all my being." You answered, "It's been four years, and every day I still hope it's the day he comes back to me."

"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." Bren quoted

"Wiser words have never been uttered." You responded, nodding your head

"Thanks but those aren't my words." Bren said with a slight chuckle "They're from the poem The Coming of the Ship by Kahlil Gibran." Bren replied

A small smirk came to your face as you joked,

"Flexing your literature knowledge I see."

"Well, I've got to now since my ex hated it so much," Bren remarked

"I told you she was a bitch." You mumbled

"And there it finally is ladies and gentlemen. The I told you so!" Bren exclaimed to his empty room

"Yeah, yeah. I had to say it at least once." You laughed before adding "If it makes you feel any better though you'll never have to see her again because the only places she's going now are either juvie or a psych ward."

Bren's head snapped toward you as he heard you say that.

"What did you do?" He questioned

"Don't worry about it." You replied

He thought for a moment about the extent of your abilities and what you could have possibly done to get his ex either sent to juvie or involuntarily committed. But then he remembered how she was a cheating bitch and he honestly couldn't care.

"You know what? I won't." He stated proudly

"Good. Now go take a hot shower and put on some comfy clothes. I'll order us some comfort food and we can break out a bottle of wine to watch some shitty reality dating show with." You explained, "Be a pair of lonely broken fucks together."

Bren liked that idea. Shit still hurt but it hurt a little less with you around.

"Okay." He replied, a small smile on his face

You ruffled his hair a bit before standing up and walking out the door. And as he watched you walk away, he was happy to have you back in his life and there was no one else he'd rather be a lonely broken fuck with than you.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Viktoria Rodya Petrov. Born January 12, 2001 at 6:08 am to Vincent and Anastasia Petrov, Viktoria knew who she was from a young age even if others couldn't see it yet. She loved dolls and stories of princesses and dressing in her mother's clothes. Viktoria would profess how she was the prettiest girl in the world and would correct others when they told her otherwise. She hated when her hair was cut short and didn't like dressing in the clothes that her parents bought her. It wasn't right. It wasn't her. And she knew that.

It was not until her younger brother Maxim was born that her parents began to understand. As she grew older her parents could see the differences between her and her brother and the way they behaved. She and Maxim were quite different even if they looked the same. Viktoria's parents had their concerns about how the world would view Viktoria but in the end, it wasn't the world that mattered it was their daughter. And so they did all that they could to support Viktoria as she was and to help her feel as comfortable in her skin as possible. They stopped cutting her hair, they let her pick her own clothes, and they even went to specialty doctors to discuss how to make sure future Viktoria was just as happy as current Viktoria.

But even though her family was supportive of who she was, some of the kids in school weren't as nice. It wasn't all the kids, but the ones that weren't nice didn't understand and bullied her because they didn't get it. It made Viktoria sad and she became isolated, even from the kids who were nice to her. She wanted to be included, but it was easier to just pull away and be alone. If she remained in the background, just passing by, perhaps things would be easier. And they were, but it was a lonely existence.

Viktoria wanted people to see her as extraordinary. As someone who was allowed to be around other extraordinary individuals. But she wasn't sure how to do that. Until one day, she was watching the news on TV and saw the famous Umbrella Academy doing a press conference after stopping some French supervillain. While most kids would've focused on the superheroes Viktoria noticed someone off to the side. There in an Umbrella Academy uniform was someone who looked just like her holding some kind of string instrument. Viktoria didn't know who they were but they had to be part of the Academy. They had the uniform and all! If that person could look like her and be part of the Umbrella Academy they had to be extraordinary. And if they were extraordinary then Viktoria could be too.

Immediately, Viktoria begged her parents for a strong instrument like she had seen on the TV and was gifted a viola. She began taking lessons and excelled at her craft. This is how she would get the world to recognize her. Just like that Umbrella Academy member she would craft beautiful music and become extraordinary. But even with her skill and enthusiasm, it was going to take a while for the world to see her as extraordinary.

December 15, 2014:

Today was the day that Viktoria had been preparing for all weekend. The results of solo auditions were finally going to be announced. The high school orchestral band's winter recital was in a week and for months they had been preparing for the performance. It was going to be a spectacular night but what everyone was interested in was who would be getting the solos. Mr. Lennox the band instructor only handed out one solo to each instrument section. One for percussion, one for brass, one for strings, etc. The solos were completely coveted and for months Viktoria had been determined to get one. It would be an honor to earn one as a freshman and so for months she had rehearsed the solo piece over and over again until it was second nature for her. And when audition day came last Friday she put her heart and soul into the performance. And after spending the whole weekend anxious about what the results would be she finally was going to be able to see if she had gotten the solo or not.

Walking toward the entrance to the band room Viktoria could see you leaning against the wall outside the door. She gave you a nervous smile and a wave as she approached.

"Hey." Viktoria greeted

"Hi," You responded before saying "Results for solos are out today! You excited?"

"Kind of..." Viktoria replied warily

"What do you mean kind of?" You questioned

"I don't know, I'm just kind of nervous to see if I got it or not. They don't usually give solos to freshmen." Viktoria responded, "I mean you'll definitely get one since you're amazing, but I don't know about me."

Viktoria's anxiety always seemed to get the best of her, even when she was feeling somewhat confident in herself. It was always what if this, and what if that. She wanted to be perfect at her craft and for everyone to see so but sometimes it was difficult when her feelings were getting the best of her.

Seeing that Viktoria was obviously nervous, you placed a hand on her shoulder and reassured her,

"Well, I for one think that you are the best viola player out there and you will 1000% get that solo."

Viktoria gave you a small smile as she replied,

"Thanks, I needed to hear that."

"And hey, y'know what?" you mentioned "If I get a solo and you don't I'll tell Mr. Lennox that I pass on mine because it would be crazy if you didn't get one."

"Don't do that!" Viktoria exclaimed

It would be ridiculous for you to pass on a solo opportunity just for her. How could you even think of doing something like that?

"We have four years of high school and there's only one other piano player and they're a senior. I think I'll be okay." You stated with a shrug of your shoulders

You were so nonchalant about the whole ordeal. Viktoria wished she could have your level of confidence about things.

"If you say so..." Viktoria mumbled

"I do." You replied before asking "Now, you ready to go check the solo postings?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Viktoria remarked

With a nod of your head, you entered the band room, Viktoria trailing closely behind. She could feel nerves of anticipation begin to build within her. Viktoria wondered if she should take her anxiety medication out of her backpack as her palms became clammy and her heart began to race. She slowed her pace as she looked back at the door to the room wondering if she could just escape and go to the nurse. She was prone to giving herself a stomach ache from her anxiety so telling the nurse she was unwell would not be a challenge.

You however had noticed her demeanor and the way she stopped. Viktoria had a tendency to get in her head about a lot of things. She wanted to be noticed and accepted but she was also concerned about being too noticeable. You tried your best to reassure her and support her but you weren't in her shoes, so you could only do so much. Seeing the results sheet hung on the wall just a few steps away you turned to look back at her and asked,

"You coming?"

"You go first. I'm scared." Viktoria responded

You hesitated for a moment but then nodded. If this is what she needed then you would oblige.

"Okay." You said turning to walk over to the paper

Viktoria watched as you walked over and stood in front of the results postings. Your hand lifted up as your pointer finger ran down the paper looking for your name or lack thereof. Your finger tapped a spot on the paper three times before Viktoria saw you turn around. She looked at your face to see your reaction but was met with an expression of neutrality. She couldn't tell if you got the solo or not and was now concerned about figuring out how she was supposed to react. Slowly you walked back to stand in front of her your face of neutrality fading away as a smile appeared and you exclaimed,

"I got it!"

A wide smile came to Viktoria's face as she threw her arms around you wrapping you in a hug. Of course, you got the piano solo! There was no reason to ever doubt you!

"I knew you would! Congrats!" Viktoria cheered

Pulling back you looked at Viktoria, a smile on your face as you already knew the results of what came next. Stepping out of her way you gestured toward the paper on the wall as you replied,

"Thanks but now it is your turn."

Viktoria gave you a nervous look. Right. It was...her turn.

"Okay...here I go," Viktoria said warily as she took a few steps forward

But then once again she stopped. She couldn't bear to look at the paper. She was too nervous. It felt like she was gonna puke.

Rolling your eyes, you put your hands on the back of her shoulders as you pushed her forward toward the paper remarking,

"C'mon Vi."

Viktoria closed her eyes as she felt you push her closer and closer to the wall. When the two of you stopped walking forward she could feel as you grabbed her hand, pointed her pointer finger, and placed it somewhere on the paper.

"Open your eyes Viktoria." You requested

Taking a deep breath, Viktoria nodded her head and slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze landed on where her finger was pointed and it took her a moment to process what she was seeing. That was her name. Right there on the paper, it said Viktoria Petrov. Her jaw dropped. She did it. She got the solo. You both got solos as freshmen.

"Oh my god! I got the solo!" Viktoria shrieked "I got the string instrument solo!"

"I told you!" You stated excitedly

You knew Viktoria had gotten the solo when you looked at the page but you wanted to offer her the same excitement she had for you. She had worked so hard practicing the piece she would need to play and her efforts had paid off. She was a master at her craft and you were so happy she was being recognized as so. She deserved this.

"Looks like Mr. Lennox is running late once again." You stated, "Wanna go to the instrument storage to get your viola and hang til he gets here?"

"Oh definitely. A soloist is only good if they have their instrument." Viktoria replied confidently

"Yeah, I suppose that's true." You commented as you walked toward the instrument lockers

The room was relatively empty already as most people had gotten their instruments and headed into the band room so for the most part it was just you and Viktoria. Mr. Lennox had a habit of running 15 minutes late for class. The rumor going around with music department students was that he and the theatre director, Mr. Bardot, were hooking up before class since they both had a free period then. Nobody could confirm it of course, but Addison told you how she had seen Mr. Lennox's from one day tie sticking out behind the notorious theatre couch so you were inclined to believe it. Whatever the case was, it gave you and Viktoria more time to chat. The two of you went back and forth excitedly talking about your solos next week and how you would be inviting your families to come watch you perform when the sound of someone calling the name Viktor could be heard. Neither of you really paid it any attention until the voice entered the instrument locker room shouting,

"Viktor Petrov!"

Viktoria froze in place. She hadn't been called that name in a very long time and it wasn't a name she wanted to hear.

Viktoria was born Viktor Petrov and while she never hid the fact that she was trans she also wasn't making it known to everyone either. If someone she felt safe around asked her about it she wouldn't lie, but for the most part, she just laid low and kept it to herself and the people close to her who knew. It wasn't that hard to lay low either as her parents had started helping with her transition when they realized how serious she was in her identity around the age of 8. She started dressing like she wanted to, grew her hair out like she wanted to, and she finally was able to change her name to Viktoria. And fortunately, the schools she went to integrated that with ease. Her parents even went so far as to find a doctor who specialized in gender-affirming healthcare who assisted in her getting on puberty-blocking medication six months ago since she wouldn't be able to start hormone replacement therapy for at least two years when she was sixteen with her parent's written consent. Doing so helped with the dysphoria she was beginning to experience and kept the way she looked on the outside on par with who she was inside. She stayed small, petite, and with softer features and a lack of body hair. All of it helped her to feel more like her but it also helped in her ability to pass with relative ease. She had been presenting as herself for so many years that a majority of people didn't know and wouldn't have guessed otherwise.

But that didn't mean there weren't assholes. One of those was the voice calling out her dead name Ronan Jeffries. Ronan Jeffries and her had only crossed paths once before when she was in 6th grade and he was in 8th in the middle school band. Ronan was a violin player and therefore in the same section as Viktoria. Both of them were good players of their instruments but Ronan always seemed to have some kind of vendetta to be better than her. She never figured out how he had found out about being transgender but at some point he did and he made her life a living hell out of it. No matter how many times he got detention for calling her the wrong name or purposely misgendering her he still continued to do so. Apparently, her misery meant more than his record because halfway through the year he was forced to transfer to another middle school because he had gotten expelled from all his detentions. After his departure, Viktoria had pretty much forgotten about Ronan and his harassment marking it as a bad experience from her past. But hearing his voice now shouting a name that was not her own sent a frightful shock through her system.

Viktoria didn't move. She didn't even know he went to this school, in the months she had been here she had never seen or heard about him once. Her body froze as she tried to think of what to do or say but she couldn't come up with anything. But there was time to think of anything as a hand harshly grabbed onto her shoulder turning her around. There stood Ronan much taller and angrier than he was when she was in 6th grade.

"Who the hell do you think you are coming in and taking my solo Viktor?!"

"Ronan, what are you doing?" Another boy called from behind him "Why are you so mad at her?"

"Stay out of it, Sawyer." Ronan retorted "And they're a boy. His name is Viktor."

The boy behind him, Sawyer, looked confused at the entire ordeal. You however had a completely clear mind and a reaction time that could rival formula one racers. Immediately you pushed Ronan away from Viktoria, putting yourself in between the two. You didn't know who this guy was, or how he knew Viktoria but you weren't going to put up with his disrespect of her.

"Hey, hands off asshole." You snapped "I don't know who you think you are but she's a girl and her name is VIKTORIA. Now, I know you're not in our band class so why the hell are you here?"

"I don't need to be in the band. It's beneath me. I audition for solos as an individual player and for three years all the strings solos have been mine."

Oh, so not only was he a bigot he was a pretentious bigot. If there were two things you were known for not liking it was disrespect and pretentiousness. And this motherfucker decided to be both. If he didn't leave soon you knew he was going to have a very bad time.

"Get out of my way, I'm not here for you. I'm here for him." Ronan stated trying to push you aside

You planted yourself firmly, making yourself denser so that it was impossible to move you. He was not getting past. Not without a fight that is. He looked confused as to why he wasn't able to force your small frame out of the way but all you did was scowl back at him. Your eyes filled with rage as you replied loudly,

"HER."

"Are you blind?" He asked maliciously

"No, but you'll be when I rip your fucking eyes out." You threatened

Viktoria had her back against the wall of instrument lockers as she watched the two of you go back and forth. She could feel her hands shake as her heart raced. She was scared and backed into a literal corner. Even if she had you defending her, all she wanted to do was get away. Maybe if you two went into the actual band classroom he wouldn't follow. Then again, he didn't seem the type who would be afraid to cause an even larger disruption in front of more people. He would probably relish it. Perhaps you two could just run into the hall and then you could make both of you invisible. She didn't know, but it would probably be safer for both of you if you disengaged. Her hand still shaky, she placed a hand on your shoulder as she quietly said,

"(Y/N), let's just go..."

"Oh, so he's confident enough to steal my solo but too much of a coward to face me about it," Ronan remarked

"It's not your solo. You didn't get it." You corrected through gritted teeth "And stop calling her that, she's a girl."

And for the first time in a while, the confused boy, Sawyer spoke up and contributed,

"Yeah dude, I'm pretty sure that's a girl."

Ronan's attention looked back towards his friend, who obviously had no clue what he was talking about, as he snapped at him,

"Shut the fuck up, Sawyer."

Turning his attention back, Ronan looked over your shoulder. His gaze dead set on Viktoria. There was malice in his eyes and vile in his tone as he spoke,

"Mr. Lennox might think you're special but you're not. You're just an attention seeker who doesn't deserve that solo Vik-."

Before he could finish his sentence though you had shoved him into the instrument lockers behind him. The back of his head smacked against one of the closed wood doors. His eyes became trained on you as you looked back at him taking a step closer. Anger radiated off of you and adrenaline was pumping through your system at a rapid pace. You were done with his transphobic bullshit and you were going to put this to an end.

"Call her the wrong name ONE MORE TIME-" You threatened

"Or what?" He retorted

"Or I'm gonna ruin your life." You stated firmly

If he made just one movement, any movement, it would be game over for him. You watch as he scowled at you, clenched fists at his sides that began to raise slightly as he moved forward away from the lockers behind him. Your eyes kept focusing on his hands as he commanded,

"Shut up you freshman bitch."

And with that, you felt the impact of a fist colliding with your gut sending you doubling over. All the air in you felt like it was pushed out of your body, but you held your composure. You had taken a hit before this was nothing new. But then just as quick as the first punch came a second one flew towards your face making direct contact. You could feel the ring on Ronan's finger cut across your cheek.

"Oh my god (Y/N)!" Viktoria gasped

"Ronan what the hell are you doing man!" Sawyer exclaimed

Ronan looked down at his hands, one of them now covered in your blood. He stared at them, flipping them over back and forth, as shock and confusion appeared on his face.

"What the fuck..." he questioned under his breath

With him distracted, you stood up wiping your face with the back of your hand. Bright red blood coming from your nose and the cut on your cheek from his punch. You bared your teeth at him, anger burning in your eyes as you shouted,

"YOU FUCKING CUNT!"

Kicking him in the crotch you watched as he began to drop to his knees, his hands now covering where you kicked and he groaned in pain. Before he could fully hit the ground though, your hand roughly grabbed his hair slamming his head into the wooden lockers behind him twice. With one hand still gripping his hair you placed your other hand on his shoulder pushing him to the ground. As he landed on his side you kicked him in the gut hard enough to cause him to roll onto his back. As he groan out in pain again you dropped to your knees and began swinging at his face just as he had swung at you.

"THIS. IS WHAT. YOU GET. YOU BIGOTED. PIECE. OF SHIT!" You yelled as you punched him repeatedly

"Holy shit," Sawyer said in total shock

"(Y/N)!" Viktoria exclaimed

She didn't know what to do. This asshole deserved what you were doing to him and she knew she would've never been able to do it herself, but she didn't want you to get in trouble on her behalf. She knew you probably didn't care, but she didn't want you to have a bad reputation nor did she want herself to somehow end up with a bad reputation either. She wanted to be liked and accepted. The situation was hard enough already and it was only the first half of freshman year. The last thing she wanted was for people to look at either of you differently because of this. As Viktoria stood there panicking on whether to stop you or get help, Mr. Lennox finally showed up bursting into the instrument locker room. He looked disheveled and shocked as he frantically shouted,

"Miss (L/N) stop that right now!"

Bending over he pulled you off of your knees and away from Ronan who was bloodied and in pain on the floor. Carefully, Mr. Lennox let go of you as you caught your breath. Your hands and clothes were splattered with red, but you didn't care. You watched as Ronan slowly stood up from the floor but leaned himself against the wall away from you. Unconsciously, you took a step in front of Viktoria to block him from her.

"Someone tell me what is going on here?!" Mr. Lennox questioned loudly

"He punched me!" You shouted angrily "He physically and verbally harassed Viktoria and when I told him to stop he punched me."

"No, she beat the shit out of me!" Ronan exclaimed back

"Yeah after you hit me!" You yelled, "I was trying to defend myself and Viktoria, Mr. Lennox!"

"I didn't punch her, I swear!" Ronan denied

Mr. Lennox looked between the two of you noticing distinct injuries to your face and bright red on Ronan's hand.

"Ronan, there is blood on her face and blood on your hand. You really want me to believe you didn't hit her?"

"I didn't do it myself!" He bellowed

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Mr. Lennox turned toward Viktoria looking for answers. You and Ronan were going to do nothing but shout, therefore he needed an actual witness.

"Viktoria, did Ronan punch (Y/N) just now for the reason she stated?"

What you said was true but you had been much more vague in your description of events. Perhaps you were having trouble finding the words through your anger or perhaps you were worried about outing her to Mr. Lennox and that kid Sawyer. Either way, Mr. Lennox already knew and Sawyer seemed a little too dense about it all, so after taking a moment to herself Viktoria spoke up,

"Yes, he did. He grabbed onto me harshly and continuously called me the wrong name and pronouns. And when she verbally told him to stop he hit her."

"Twice. He punched her twice." Sawyer added

Viktoria could see the seething rage appear on Mr. Lennox's face, but he forced it down and tried to keep his composure. Turning slightly, he faced Viktoria and Sawyer as he said in a steady but serious tone,

"Thank you for that information, you two."

"Sawyer, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Ronan yelled, "Whose side are you on?!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Sawyer yelled back "You punched a fucking freshman girl over a high school solo that some other girl got."

"He's not a girl!" Ronan exclaimed

Quickly rushing away from Mr. Lennox, you decked Ronan in the face once more sending him sliding down the wall. Turning back towards the others in the room you stated firmly,

"I'm sorry Mr. Lennox that one was on my own accord. I refuse to tolerate his bigotry."

"I understand, I really do, but you can't keep hitting him. We just-" Mr. Lennox sighed obviously overwhelmed by the situation "Ronan you're coming with me to the principal's office. Your words and actions are unacceptable. The rest of you stay here."

The other three of you in the room watched as Mr. Lennox went over to Ronan picking him up and carrying him out of the room, most likely toward the principal's office. Sawyer, the confused boy, then looked over toward Viktoria. He had an awkward look on his face as he nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"I know my words probably don't mean much but I'm sorry for what happened. I don't know what he was going on about. I've never seen him act like that before but you don't look anything like a boy to me." Sawyer apologized before adding "I'm gonna go away now but uh- congrats on your solo."

"Oh...thanks." Viktoria responded quietly

As Sawyer left the room and closed the door behind Viktoria let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. A wave of emotion began to overcome her as the embarrassment, sadness, and fear from the situation caught up to her. Seeing her body begin to tremble you walked over to her, gently taking her hand in yours as you softly said,

"Hey sit with me."

Viktoria could only respond with a slight nod of her head, and the two of you sat down on the ground, your backs leaning against the door of one of the lockers. You watched as she closed her eyes and breathed in and out deeply, her hand gripping yours tighter and tighter. Tiny tears fell from her eyes making her pain visible and leaving streaks down her reddening face.

"You okay?" You asked leaning closer to her

"I've been better." She whispered

Viktoria rested her head upon your shoulder. Her eyes still closed but her breathing became calmer and her hand now held yours a little looser. The room was quiet. You were trying to let her go at her own pace but after a few minutes, you decided there was something you wanted to say.

"I wish I could tell you that everything is going to be okay. That it was a once-off occurrence and this will never happen again. But we both know the world is full of assholes." You tried to comfort "What I can tell you though is that so long as I'm alive I'm not going to let anyone hurt you for being yourself. Or anyone else for that matter."

Slowly Viktoria opened her eyes, her breathing finally steadying as she looked up at you. Her hand holding yours tighter once again as she asked,

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do Vi. You are beautiful, you are talented, you are amazing just as you are," You explained with a smile "And I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. Just as you are."

Tilting your face, you placed a kiss on her forehead. You never believed that physical affection was strictly a romantic act and your friends, who were like your family, deserved to feel loved too beyond just saying so. Wiping a few of her tears away with your free hand, you held the one in your other a little tighter as you stated softly,

"You are exactly who you are supposed to be."

Viktoria gave you a small smile. Thank god she had you with her for this.  Your love and reassurance helped her to feel a bit better even if she was still slightly shaken up. She could feel that you meant what you said and what you said meant a lot to her. There was another silence, the two of you just sitting there once more, but then just like you, Viktoria felt inclined to speak.

"I can't believe Ronan punched you." She joked, her voice croaky

"No, he didn't." You replied nonchalantly

Viktoria's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What did you mean? She saw what happened to you.

"(Y/N) I literally just watched you take a punch for me. TWICE." Viktoria stated

"Well, he didn't do it himself." You remarked with a shrug of your shoulders

"(Y/N), your face got cut by his ring. Your nose is bleeding. What do you mean?" Viktoria asked for clarification

A smirk came to your face as you used your powers to drag Viktoria's free hand off to the side. Gently of course. Her eyes went wide as Viktoria finally realized what you meant.

"Oh my god!" Viktoria exclaimed in a hushed tone "You made him punch you?"

"Well I knew I could take it," You stated matter-of-factly "And I couldn't call it self-defense if I threw the first hit."

"You're insane. Completely insane." Viktoria replied

"Perhaps, but there was no way I was going to let him get away with what he said to you." You mentioned, "Nobody is going to talk like that to someone on my watch but especially not one of my closest friends."

"I cannot believe you," Viktoria said still trying to process everything

"Well, you better. If we weren't at school where I've got to hide my abilities I'd send that prick same-day shipping to hell." You explained, "Full-scale combustion comes quite easy these days."

Viktoria blinked her eyes at you a few times not quite sure what to say. She didn't know how serious you were since your tone was so upbeat but honestly, it didn't really matter to her either way. You sure were one of a kind though. She had never met another person like you.

"You are...something else (Y/N)." Viktoria commented

"Yeah, but you Viktoria Petrov are amazing." You replied with a smile "And everyone at the upcoming concert is gonna think so too by the time you're done with your solo."

Just as you had finished your statement though you saw Mr. Lennox walk back into the instrument storage room. The look on his face was serious as he stated,

"(Y/N), the principal would like to see you, and the people listed under your emergency contact info are on their way."

"Oh no..." You said under your breath

This was not good. Diego and Eudora were not going to be happy about this. They both had the day off today, so they were going to show up together. God, they were probably in the car figuring out how they were going to lecture you already. You looked a mess too. Ronan's blood was on your hands and your blood covered your face and shirt. When they saw you they were going to flip and you had no clue if it would be at you or the kid who started it. Well, it was too late at this point and it's not like you regretted your actions either. You just had to face the music for what occurred. Letting out a heavy breath you stood up from where you sat on the floor. Looking down at Viktoria you remarked,

"Well wish me luck. I'm either gonna get my ass chewed out by Diego and Eudora for fighting in school or I'm about to watch two 25-year-olds beat the shit out of a 17-year-old."

Turning away you walked to the door to be escorted by Mr. Lennox to the principal's office. Viktoria watched as Mr. Lennox stepped out of the doorway allowing you to follow him, but before you could get too far Viktoria called,

"Hey (Y/N)?"

"Yeah?" You answered stopping to turn back and look at her

"Thanks," Viktoria said

A smile came to your face as you kindly replied,

"Anything for you Vi."

December 22, 2014:

It had been a week since the altercation that had happened in the instrument locker room occurred and with each passing day the anticipation of the winter concert continued to build until it was finally here. The auditorium was completely filled with students and family members coming out to see the show. The way the program worked was unconventional compared to how Viktoria was used to it in middle school. Typically, all the band would come out at once and perform and the soloist would stand up and go to the front of the stage when it was their turn. However, at the last minute, Mr. Lennox had been presented with a new format idea by Mr. Bardot and decided to go with it. Now the entire band would perform their group songs together, then once finished the entire band would exit, and then the soloists would come from off stage and perform well...solo. And unfortunately, with that new format, it meant that Viktoria would be the last performance of the night, on stage, in front of the packed auditorium, alone. 

As the soloist before Viktoria performed their song, Viktoria held the neck of her viola and bow tightly in one hand as she fiddled with the fabric of her clothes with the other. This is not what Viktoria had planned for and she felt extremely concerned about the whole thing. 

"You ready?" You asked leaning against the concrete wall of the stage left wing

"Yeah, I think so..." Viktoria replied pulling nervously at the skirt of her dress

You could tell that Viktoria was nervous. Between the change of format and the huge crowd, she was becoming extremely anxious and her anxiety was not going to help. Trying to ease her nerves you encouraged her,

"You're going to do great and I'm gonna be right here cheering you on." 

"Thanks. I'm glad you were allowed to be here." Viktoria replied before adding "I'm still sorry you can't participate and lost your solo though."

"Eh, don't worry about it. There's always the spring concert." You mentioned unbothered "Anyway, losing my solo and four days ISS is worth you getting to perform and that asshole kicked from school."

You didn't let Viktoria in on all the details of what went down in the principal's office last week but apparently when Diego and Eudora arrived to see you covered in blood things got pretty heated and things got even worse when you had explained why you looked that way. You told her you were disappointed nobody got into a fistfight in the office, but somehow the issue was resolved by Ronan being expelled from school, and you having in-school suspension all of last week plus losing the ability to perform at the winter concert. Viktoria appreciated all that you did but now the annoying irrational little voice in Viktoria's head wondered if Ronan was right. What if she wasn't actually good enough for the solo? What if she screwed up? Ugh, why did she have to be the last performance? Anxious thoughts plagued her mind and as she could hear the soloist before her beginning to wrap up their performance Viktoria blurted to you,

"I can't do it."

"What? What do you mean?" You asked confused

"I- I just can't." Viktoria stuttered nervously

She was getting into her own head too much and you needed to pull her back out. Taking a few steps over to her you gently placed your hand on her shoulders and turned her to look at you. 

"Viktoria, look at me." You stated softly but firmly "You practiced for months for this, you gave your all in your audition to earn this and now you are going to go out there and show everyone why this is your solo."

You were right. Of course, you were right. This was her solo. She worked hard for this. She fought for this. This was her time to shine. Her time for everyone to see her and know how amazing she could be. This is what she was good at, this was her passion and she was going to perform.

"Okay." Viktoria replied, "I'll do it."

The sound of clapping could be heard and soon died off as Marissa Syddel walked by shooting you a smug smile before meeting some of her friends and laughing. 

"Laugh it up Syddel," You berated "Just remember you got that solo by default because I beat a 17-year-old half to death."

You an Viktoria watched as Marissa and her friends immediately stopped laughing and quickly scurried off until they were out of your sight. You relaxed your shoulders as you turned back to your friend and gave her another reassuring smile.

"Y'know people are intimidated by you now." Viktoria mentioned

"Good. I'm not looking to make more friends." You stated 

Viktoria watched as Mr. Lennox stepped out from the opposite stage wing and walked to the center of the stage. Picking up a microphone he looked over to Viktoria before looking back toward the crowd and announcing,

"I'd like to welcome our final soloist to the stage, performing a rendition of Halo by Beyonce on the viola, Miss Viktoria Petrov."

There was the sound of clapping again as Viktoria looked over to you one more time.

"This is your moment." You reminded "Give 'em the performance of a lifetime."

"I'll try," Viktoria replied

"You will." You reassured, "I know you will."

Viktoria nodded her head at your statement and then walked out onto the stage. Glancing over to the side she could see the rest of your friend group sitting on the front row clapping and giving her thumbs ups and her parents and younger brother a few rows further back smiling and waving at her. Viktoria gave a shy smile as she made her way to center stage and turned to face the large crowd. The clapping faded as she lifted her viola up and rested it under her chin before lifting up her bow and placing it upon the strings. Taking a deep breath she held it for a moment reminding herself of all the positive things you said. She worked for this. She earned this. This was her solo.

And nothing and no one was going to take that from her.

Letting out her breath, she remembered what she had worked so hard on and began to play. And just like that, the crowd faded away and all that was left was Viktoria and her viola. With each note, she became more entranced in her performance. The music flowed from her as if the sound was already part of her, to begin with. Her soul poured out into the piece as melody filled every part of the room. A smile played on her lips as she got lost in her own performance.

This was her moment.

Just like the crowd, you watched intently from the sidelines. The music was so entrancing and you had no doubt that this was always going to be the outcome of her performance. She was an amazing musician just as much as she was an amazing person. A small smile came to your face as a few tears welled in your eyes knowing everyone here would get to see your friend in her happiest and truest form. She deserved this. The joy, the recognition, the praise. She deserved it all and you couldn't be prouder. She was her, and she was happy, and everyone could see so. And that was beautiful.

As her song ended, Viktoria slowly lowered her viola and bow and looked out into the crowd as people began to clap. She could see her parents standing up as they clapped for her, her dad lifting her 7-year-old brother up so he could see her better. And looking down at the front row she could see your group of friends as they stood up cheering and clapping up a storm. The love and support from her friends and family meant a lot but it was to be expected. However, what wasn't expected was the way people besides her friends and family began to stand. Person by person, row by row, the auditorium stood as they clapped for Viktoria.  Viktoria's face lit up with pride and her mouth lifted into a smile as she looked out across the sea of people giving her a standing ovation for her performance. This is what she worked for. She worked hard to have people recognize her and her talents and now they were. Not just her friends or her family. Everyone. And if this was her starting point it could only go up from here. After a few more moments, Viktoria gave a curtsy to the crowd before turning away and walking backstage toward you. Her head held high at the accomplishment she just did. When she was sure she was behind the curtain once more she rushed over toward you into a hug.

You held her tightly, beaming with pride at your friend. She had done such an amazing job and there was no better at playing the viola than her. As Viktoria pulled back from the hug, she looked up at you with bright eyes and a wide smile and asked enthusiastically,

"How did I do?"

You smiled at her knowing there was only one way to describe her performance,

"Extraordinary."

______________________________________________________________

Taglist: @xplrreylo @joebob15274 @insatiable-ivy @fruitsaladtree @angelpeachamber @academy-umbrella @lizziel1410 @ir3neeee @faith-quake @aliens-with-colas @sunsetcurve-1995 @lady-celeste25 @im-dead-and-hurting @nerdypinupcrystal @cherry-ki-d @anapocalypseinmymind @vicassa @2cuteforyourlies @taylorsmakingfuckingmacandcheese @n1ghtsh4d3-67 @cheshire-salvatore-mikaelson @shadowycreationcupcake @emily-hargreeves @metor-showers1994 @fivehargreevesforthewin @rinko-san @supernovavision @cicilisthebest @flickbix @hi-v-juice @magykal-777 @zosiaduda @thethirdwheelfriend @mysticracoon @isnt-it-loverly @officiallydarkgeek @lady1505 @always-the-very-worst @tinypandagirl @libidinexx @lemongrabbuns @itwasallred @deadandoverit @shlokage @keksi249 @theoriginalkat @we-stan-fiction @bi-idiot-fanfics @annnagennnie @izzyjojo4 @megasimpleplan4ever @flowertoty @grabthemoneyandletsgo @itsametaphorbriansblog @vanillacaramelhoney @satvaldiva @disaster-magician @margotsfandoms @emily-b-m @bluechildrenlickmytoes @soft-slytherin-sweetie @oceanspray5 @im-here-for-fanfics @thebloodrobin @freestarlight @starcurrent @lilacs-lavender @moatsnow @give-the-boy-a-hug @narikyuwu @whenyouregrungeaff @gabriella-aesthetic @xxtwizztedxx @instabull @emma-jopeth @justsomecreaturewandering @wifeofcamillamacaulay

#the umbrella academy #tua #umbrella academy #five hargreeves x reader

[rgrdsalxndra]

20 Questions: Fanfiction Author Edition

Tagged by the wonderful miss @cicinicole-14

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

187.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,610,309

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Law & Order SVU (and OC)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Getting to Know You

Mastaba

Love You Still

In Treatment

Meet the Parent(s)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I generally do try to respond to all comments. If you take the time to write me more than "Update soon!" or "I love this" I will respond in kind. Not that I don't appreciate the "I love this" comments, but the "Update soons!" on a recent chapter kinda drive me a little crazy.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

One that both lives and dies in my drafts. I don't know if I could have the heart to publish something that doesn't have a happy ending. There's too much of that in the world already.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Love Sometimes Steals Into A Heart

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Sometimes.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yes. I try to branch out into various kinds.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

With another fandom? I have a Addison Shepherd/Olivia Benson ship that I haven't shared with the world but in glimpses in "Neglected Spaces"... and I did write that one crossover with Chicago.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think I have... but if I have, I'm relying on my friends to tell me so I can report it. People pour their hearts and souls and creative blood into fics and if you steal it, you're the scum of the earth.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes. I love working together with another creative mind and weaving words together. It's fun and sometimes makes you glance at things from different angles.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Currently? It's EO. (ElliotxOlivia) but I've got to say that Burzek is a close #2 but they need more fics.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

It's my goal to finish ALL WIPS before I fade into oblivion one day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at putting you there in the moment. But honestly? I think half of everything I write is shit, but I love writing so I selfishly write the stories that I want to read (and don't read them after they're finished).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I CANNOT WRITE A ONE-SHOT TO SAVE MY LIFE.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Only if it's because they're travelling somewhere and communication in the other language is absolutely necessary but I'd want to find a fluent speaker to double-check.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

It's a split between these three: Call It Bittersweet

Christmas Ghosts: An EO Christmas Carol

and DEAR YOU, LOVE ME

I'm supposed to tag people. But I hate tagging others. I never know how many times they've been tagged.

#Fanfiction Questions #20Questions #S.VU #Authors Say

[viharistenno]

Thanks for tagging me @lilolilyr this certainly is a surprise, but well. I am a fic writer, my contribution to fandoms are just... Let's say a bit less than yours :D

1. How many works do you have on ao3? 4 as of now, I do have wips I don't put up, my one wip looks so sad there anyway. You may check them out here if you want.

2. What’s your total ao3 word count? 9541

3. What fandoms do you write for? In order of birth, Bering and Wells (Warehouse 13), Bechloe (Pitch Perfect), Avatrice (Warrior Nun)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? Ava got 36 kudos! I was quite proud of that :) The others have 25, 18 and 9.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Sure, I love talking in the comment section :)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? The first one on Ao3, The insecurities of a Warehouse agent - I mean, this is B&W what would you expect? :D

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Okay, so just to counter myself, the other B&W fic if I ever finished it.

8. Do you get hate on fic? No, although they don't have much hits.

9. Do you write smut? Not in these but the wips are promising, and my old fics that I wrote in my mothertongue have smut so...

10. Do you write crossovers? Not yet, but there are always possibilities for crossovers or AUs :)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not by someone else, but I did translate two to English. One is very old, the other is in the wip pack and I had a problem deciding which language I should write it in. Maybe it's part of the problem I never finished it.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but I might

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? Why would you ask this? :O Okay, so this is about writing. There is no ship that's all-time, moods for dynamics, characters and well, background. I need the connection and the feeling to write. That is why it's hard for me to finish something longer because once I loose the connection, that's it. Hard to get it back.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t? Never say never ;)

16. What are your writing strengths? I am very good at capturing emotions or an emotional state in quite few words. (I guess that is why I usually write poems.) Short scenes. My longer wips are basically that but with more scenes :D I think I should treat them like this, maybe that would help.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Longer ones. I just loose the momentum at one point and then it's UGH.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? 2 parts: 1. English is not my own language, so it's basically another language in itself. I got better at that in the last few years. It's not easy, but you just have to practice. 2. I speak multiple languages enough to understand a lot of times what is going on but I prefer when I don't have to google all the stuff. I'd just put it in the notes at the end of the chapter.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Sailor Moon ;) Jupiter/Mercury, I think it's called Makoamy these days. It was like 15 years ago and that is the one I translated back then.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? I should reread all of them, but I think overall it's Enough.

Thanks for tagging me, I hope you enjoy this, it was interesting to think about these questions :)

#tagging game #fic writers on ao3 #about my writing

[highwaytothedangerzone502]

India Lima Yankee - Chapter 35

Pairing: Rooster x Female OC

Word Count: 2567

Warnings: Mention of death

Summary: Juliette Kazansky discovers Maverick is back in town for a special training detachment, but she's more than a little blindsided when Rooster arrives too. Having not spoken to him for almost ten years after their less than amicable break-up, Juliette can only imagine how the next few weeks are going to play out when she remains head over heels in love with him while he wants nothing to do with Juliette other than to forget her.

Or so she thinks.

Notes: Chapters in italics are flashbacks. Also I know I used See You Again in another chapter but I couldn't resist using it for this one too.

Chapter Songs: Stand By You The Champion

Chapters: Chp 1 Chp 2 Chp 3 Chp 4 Chp 5 Chp 6 Chp 7 Chp 8 Chp 9 Chp 10 Chp 11 Chp 12 Chp 13 Chp 14 Chp 15 Chp 16 Chp 17 Chp 18 Chp 19 Chp 20 Chp 21 Chp 22 Chp 23 Chp 24 Chp 25 Chp 26 Chp 27 Chp 28 Chp 29 Chp 30 Chp 31 Chp 32 Chp 33 Chp 34 Chp 35

Juliette stared at the admirals, unable to comprehend the words that had sprouted from Cyclone's mouth, let alone form a coherent sentence. What did he mean she wasn't done with the mission? Unless...

"Told you she'd be speechless," Jack said, coming up beside his sister with Joey and Sarah, the latter carrying Iceman's duffel bag. It appeared to be stuffed with belongings. 

Joey smiled understandingly at his sister. "I called Cyclone yesterday morning to see if there was any way to get you aboard that carrier so you could finish the mission with your pilots to the very end. Turns out Dad was one step ahead of me. He apparently initiated the process to give you permission to be aboard the carrier as soon as you knew about the mission. He recognized he wouldn't be able to go, so he chose to send you in his place."

"Dad also isn't the only Kazansky in the Navy with favors to cash in," Jack added cheerfully and proudly. "Joe and I called in a few of our own to make sure the orders got pushed through in time for you to go. It was a close call, a.k.a. it literally got approved at five a.m., but it happened."

"But I don't have- Raptor and Lightning need-" Juliette's mind raced so fast with the bombshell dropped on her that although words were forming, they weren't making sense. There was so much she had to take care of that there was no way it could all be done before the ship left port!

"I'll take care of Raptor and Lightning while you're away," Sarah promised, handing the duffel bag to her daughter. "It'll be nice to have them around. I also helped your dad pack his bags enough times that I could pack one for you. You should have all the essentials plus a few extra comforts."

"We've also informed your company that you'll be taking an extended break due to your required presence for critical government business," Warlock added, "so there's no need to worry about your job either."

"Thank you," Juliette breathed, although the words hardly sufficed for her gratitude for everyone surrounding her right now. Instead, she launched herself at the closest person to her, which happened to be Jack. 

"Can't... breathe!" He gasped, causing Juliette to release him from her hug. Joey and Sarah were next to be tackled. Juliette vibrated from excitement and anxiety, and partially, too, because she wanted to hug Warlock and Cyclone for allowing this to happen. Noticing this, Warlock broke into a smile and nodded, giving her silent approval. Juliette didn't hesitate, embracing the admirals whether they wanted to be or not. She'd practically grown up with them, though, so it wasn't out of the norm for her to do this. Not to them.

Juliette wiped the tears from her face, now ones of happiness, and joked, "God, I'm so glad I had the foresight to wear waterproof eye makeup."

"Yeah, I was wondering how you weren't looking like the Winter Soldier after all your blubbering," Jack replied impishly.

Juliette glowered at him. "If you hadn't just helped Joe get me on that carrier, I'd hit you right now."

"I know, and I'm absolutely going to milk it. Go see your future husband and-"

"How'd you know about that?!" Juliette demanded, her voice rising an unnatural amount of octaves. Neither she nor Rooster had said anything about it to anyone. They weren't going to until the ring was on her left finger.

Jack's face contorted into confusion, along with everyone else's. It was Joey who gained the ability to speak first. "Did you and Rooster get engaged?!"

"Uh, kind of? Unofficially, I guess," she admitted, nervously twisting Carole's ring. 

"How can you be unofficially engaged?"

"Well, he asked me to marry him last night, and I told him to ask me when he returned home."

"Why would you do that?" Sarak asked, tilting her head curiously.

Juliette wrung her hands, wishing they weren't having this conversation right now. "Because I wanted to make sure he wasn't asking me because he wasn't overthinking the fact that he might die on this mission?"

"Maverick's told you he's chosen him?" Cyclone queried, sounding mildly surprised.

"No, but I know he's going up. Woman's intuition."

"Can we get back to the part where our sister is engaged?" Joey demanded, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Unofficially," Jack and Juliette said simultaneously.

"Whatever."

Juliette grimaced. "Look, no one knows. No one was supposed to know until after the mission. I'd like to keep it that way, so could you please keep quiet about this?"

"We're absolutely letting go of our cool when you two get back," Jack said matter-of-factly. "It's been too long since we've had a wedding in our family."

Sarah Kazansky smiled through her unshed tears and hugged her daughter. "I'm so happy for you two! I can't wait to celebrate when you get back!"

"Thank you, Mom. I'll see you soon." Juliette took a deep breath and shouldered the duffel bag. "Joey, take Rooster's keys and drop his car off at my house. I promised I'd take care of it while he was away, and I don't trust Jack to drive it."

Jack threw his hands up in protest. "Hey!"

"Last time Bradley let you drive his car, you nearly caused a five-car pile-up."

"It's not my fault the ladies couldn't handle seeing me shirtless!"

"Joey's still driving." Turning to Cyclone and Warlock and ignoring Jack's continuing protests, Juliette said, "Admirals, lead the way."

Bidding her family goodbye, Juliette followed Cyclone and Warlock down from the parking lot and to the carrier. As the admirals navigated the monstrous ship, Juliette ogled the impressive size while ignoring the weird looks she received from the soldiers she passed. She could imagine their puzzlement. Here was a random civilian- dressed in black skinny jeans, black wedge boots, a tank top, and a high-ranking admiral's bomber jacket with her hair and makeup absolutely out of U.S. Navy regulation- being escorted by Cyclone and Warlock. Yeah, she didn't belong here.

Yet, here she was.

Juliette tried to memorize the route to her sleeping quarters but discovered it impossible with all the doorways, passageways, stairs, and turns. 

Cyclone opened a door that had 'Admiral Kazansky' on the front. They stepped inside, and Juliette realized this was her father's cabin, the place he would've stayed had he been able to attend.

"Your dad decided since you would be taking his place, you deserved to have his stateroom," Cyclone stated, nodding at the room. "I know it was last minute, so in the event your mom forgot to pack anything, I'm sure there are a few spares in here, or we can find some on the ship."

"You could've made me sleep outside on the flight deck, and I would've accepted it if it meant I could be here," Juliette responded softly, setting her duffel bag on the bed and scanning every inch of the room.

"Are you all right, Juliette?" Warlock asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Yes, sir. It's... it's a lot to take in right now. It's been a morning, to say the least. That's all."

"We understand. You're where you belong, though. You've earned this."

Cyclone nodded. "Agreed. The pilots are prepping to launch once we're underway to the destination, so you'll be able to see them later. In the meantime, once you've settled in, I want you to head to the Main Hangar Deck. Maverick should be there. He's preparing for tomorrow, and I think he'd like your input."

"Yes, sir. Uh, one thing: how do I get there?"

Warlock smiled. "We'll send someone to escort you there. They'll be waiting for you outside your door when you're ready."

"I appreciate it. I know I don't know much about being on an aircraft carrier, but if there's anything I can do to help you two out, just let me know."

"Helping Maverick and the pilots is your mission," Cyclone replied. "That's all you need to do."

"Yes, sir. I'll see you soon. And thank you again."

The admirals bid her goodbye, and Juliette sank onto the edge of the bed, looking around the room. It had nothing of her dad's in it, but being in here, she felt close to him, almost like he was here with her. "Even in death, you're still looking out for me, huh, Dad?" Juliette spoke quietly, looking up as if she could see him in the heavens. "I miss you, and I promise I will do everything I can to help Maverick and the pilots. I don't know what I can do, but I'll do it. I won't let you down."

Juliette took a deep breath and glanced down at Carole's glittering diamond ring, the weight of its history and meaning heavy on her finger. She still couldn't quite believe Rooster had proposed to her last night. Even though it'd happened less than twelve hours ago, the memory remained surreal, like a dream. 

An incoming call broke Juliette out of her reverie. Picking it up, she saw it was Maverick. "Hey, Mav. What's up?"

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you got home okay," he replied. "You were pretty upset earlier, and I know it can be hard to drive like that."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Juliette said, unable to help herself with what she jokingly said next. "Mostly because I said 'screw it' and snuck onto the carrier. I'm currently hiding in the admiral's stateroom as a stowaway."

Maverick laughed good-naturedly. "Glad to see your humor is still intact."

"Don't worry about me, Mav. Worry about yourself and our pilots. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon, Jules."

They hung up, and with a bounce in her step, Juliette changed out of her jeans into a pair of cargo pants and exchanged her wedge boots for combat boots. Then, tossing her hair into a ponytail and patting her pockets to confirm her phone and room key were on her, Juliette stepped outside into the hallway, hoping her escort was already there. He was, and she was thrilled that she recognized them.

"Hondo!" she exclaimed, beaming.

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Juliette! You're the special guest?"

"I am! I only found out-" Juliette dug her phone out of her pocket and checked the time- "less than half an hour ago. Pretty much the moment I got to my car. No one knows except Cyclone, Warlock, and now you. I told Maverick just now, but he thought I was joking."

"He's going to be shocked to see you. Happy, but shocked." Hondo clapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go see him."

The two set off through the maze of corridors. Once more, Juliette tried to memorize the way to the Main Hangar Deck, but like the first, she failed miserably. "Hondo, if not for you, God knows where I'd find myself."

He chuckled. "Yeah, it takes some getting used to, but you'll figure it out. I'm sure anyone would be happy to escort you to and fro wherever you need to go."

"No, no, you all have enough to deal with. You shouldn't have to babysit me. I'll figure it out."

Hondo stopped outside a door and said, "He's in there. I'll see you soon, Princess."

Juliette returned the sentiment, then stepped foot into the Main Deck Hangar. F-18s lined the back, but in front remained some empty space in which Maverick resided. He braced himself against a table, staring intently down at papers scattered in front of him. 

"What are you working on?" Juliette asked, strolling up to him.

Maverick's head nearly snapped in two he looked up so fast. "Jules, what-"

"Dad's final orders," Juliette interrupted, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Came in right after I said goodbye to you and Rooster. I promise I didn't actually sneak on and become a stowaway."

"Oh, thank God," Maverick breathed, shaking his head in amusement. "I don't know how we could've kept that a secret. So, Ice ordered this?"

"Yeah. It sounds like Dad knew he wouldn't be well enough to make the journey himself, so he placed the orders to send the second best thing to fill his shoes."

"You mean the next best thing, which is equal to his own presence," Maverick corrected, beaming at her as he approached to hug her. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too, even if I feel like a fool for blubbering like an idiot only to be put on the carrier about ten minutes later."

"Hey, you didn't know, and it's never easy to leave those you love, especially knowing what you did about what we were shipping off to do."

"Speaking of which-" Juliette maneuvered herself to the table, scanning the papers spread across the surface. They turned out to be the reports and results for each pilot on all their training courses. Juliette braced herself against the table. "Who do you have in mind so far?"

Maverick came to stand beside her, staring down at the documents. "I have an idea for my Foxtrot teams. It's my wingman and the spare I'm having trouble deciding. I-"

Juliette looked up at him when his sentence cut short. Following his line of sight, she noticed it rested on her ring. Maverick cocked his head, recognition flashing on his face. "Jules, that's- that's Carole's ring."

Juliette's cheeks heated up. Standing straight, she fiddled with the sentimental piece of jewelry and said, "Yeah, it is. Rooster, he, uh, he gave it to me last night... when he proposed to me."

Maverick raised his eyebrows, her words processing slowly in his mind. Finally, after a few moments of stunned silence, he replied, "I-I think it's on the wrong finger."

"That's because I didn't say yes. Not outright, at least."

"You said no?!"

"Technically. I told Rooster to ask me again when he returned from the mission because the last time he made a decision about us when emotions were running high, he regretted it for years. I didn't want the same thing to happen with this. I didn't put it that way when I told him my reasoning for declining now, but he knows I'll say yes if he asks me again. The ring is his promise to return to me." 

Juliette noticed the flurry of emotions cross Maverick's face when he glanced down at Rooster's results on the table: excitement, surprise, and dread. He didn't need to speak for her to know what was going through his mind.

"If he's your choice for your wingman, don't change it because of the news I just gave you," Juliette told him gently. "He and I both knew the risks of getting emotionally involved before this mission, and if he's who you think is the best suited for Dagger 2, then name him that."

"Jules, you may never see him again if I send him. You've lost your dad. If you lose him too-"

"I'll be okay. I always am. We need to do what's best for this mission, and Rooster will have you up there. You'll protect him, which somehow both lessens and worsens my anxiety over this mission. Come on. Talk me through the pros and cons of each pilot, and I'll put in my two cents, and we'll work from there to form the team." Juliette motioned at the papers. "Shall we begin?"

***

Tags: @lgg5989 @shanimallina87 @polikszena @summ3rlotus @souslesyeuxde @gleasonmalfoy @icemansgirl1999 @supernaturaldawning @thedarkinmansfield @lyannaforpresident @lapilark @getmyprettynameoutofyourmouth @simpofthecentury @shadeops21 @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @double-j @picklejuicesposts @bradshawsandbridgetons @majdoline @jakexfmc @catsandgeekyandnerd

#top gun #maverick #rooster #hangman #phoenix #bradley bradshaw #iceman #jake seresin #bob #top gun maverick #top gun 2 #pete mitchell #india #lima #yankee #romance #angst #fanfiction #fanfic #fanfics #fighter jets #coyote #payback #fanboy #sad #tom kazansky #sympathy #grief #love #family

[asgoreandbud]

Here’s the finished Chapter! :3

Chapter 2: snowy❄️

You put on your coat and walked through the ruins doors…the forest ahead was quite chilly…you walked on but you couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was following you…you walked for what felt like ages…you heard footsteps behind you…you looked behind you…but no one was there…you kept walking as Chara led the way silently…you came across a large branch and quickly hopped around it…you kept walking…how long would this path be? You eventually heard footsteps coming closer, you looked back and saw a shadow approaching…you quickly turned around and tried to flee but you couldn’t move…you felt the cold air on your face as you waited in fright. Suddenly the monster began to speak…”Human…don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” “T u r n  a r o u n d…a n d  s h a k e  m y  h a n d. . .” You followed his instructions but he threw a bone attack at you before you could react…he started battle…

“W-who are you?” You asked. The monster introduced himself

“I’m sans…sans the skeleton, listen pal i’m just doing my job…he said shrugging his shoulders

*Sans attacked you! (Btw you don’t need to check in order to get the monster’s description)

*Atk 1 Def 1 this monster has quite the bone to pick with you…watch out…karma has its consequences…(at Lv 1 you’ll take 1 damage with just 1hp drain)

💚Plead

*You asked sans not to hurt you, he seems to be deliberating something…(15/17 hp)

[Act] 💚Mercy

*You spare sans…

“Buddy, i’m sorry for this…But i’ve made a promise to the royal guard, they want your SOUL and i’m just doing what i have to…”

(11/17 Hp)

*ok…that’s what mom meant…*

💚Talk

“Sans…” you said…“But…”

*you couldn’t come up with anything else to say*

“…look. I’m sorry for attacking you out of nowhere, and i can see you haven’t killed anyone…yet…”

💚Talk

“But…i’m not hurting anyone…i have a friend who-“

*you get hit from bullets from behind…you turn around, Flowey signals you to stay quiet*

*Sans looks puzzled*

(3/17 Hp)

*You ate the monster candy…very un-licorice like…(13 hp)

“Monsters have decreed to take human souls…your a human, we need your soul…capiece?”

*Better be careful with your words…that pesky flower might attack again…*

💚Talk

“What if there’s a way to break the barrier somehow?” You asked

*sans doesn’t seem to believe you…

“There’s no other way kid (Figure of speech)…there’s just no other way…” (9/17 hp)

*sans isn’t buying it, but still…

💚Talk

“…i know it’s hard to believe and my friend doesn’t want to me to know about his plan, but we can only try…”

*sans’s expression softens…(attacks go much slower)

💚Offer

“i’m new here and i’d love to see the rest of the underground…if my friend’s plan doesn’t work i’ll still try to help as best as i can…i promise not to leave the underground until were all free…” you said

*sans closes his eyes and shakes his head*

“Alright pal…i don’t want to hurt you either…i’m not exactly pining to scoop souls around here, you seem to be sincere so i’ll make an exception for you. Now buddy i’ll show you mercy…”

*Sans is sparing you

💚Spare

*sans flings attacks (which are mostly unavoidable but stop when your at low hp) (3/17 hp)

*your hurt but despite that…

💚Spare… *you still spare him* *You won! You earned 0 exp and 0 gold…

“Thanks kid…” said sans. “I’m glad you saw past my attack”…he

“Thank you sans…but why did you still hurt me?” You asked. 

“Listen…there have been humans down here who’ve hurt monsters, some more, some less…and i couldn’t fully trust you…but i think you’ve proven yourself…” said sans “here take a Niceicle, it’ll heal your bones”. He offered “You ate the Niceicle…it’s a melt in your mouth treat!* (16/17 hp)…” “so…who are you?” You asked. “I’m sans…i’m a sentry here, i don’t do much work in the human hunting department but i do my job well, dont’cha think?” *You nod, your martyrdom is absolutely mad* “Either way this is snowdin forest, it’s pretty safe here other than the canine unit here…however folks aren’t feeling friendly since the last human came…she killed quite a few monsters…” said sans… *you gave a pained look*

“Aww…pal don’t look so blue…there’s also my brother papyrus here. He’d be real excited to see a human…he wishes to capture one but he’s too nice to do any harm. I think you two would make great friends…” he said walking past the woods. “C’mon i hear footsteps coming…if you want you can hide behind that lamp…” you quickly hid behind the conveniently shaped lamp…you heard Papyrus’s footsteps and peeked from the edge of the lamp

“sup bro” said sans. “What is up brother? Have you recalibrated the puzzles?” Asked papyrus (note this is before frisk fell down so it hasn’t been long enough to make him impatient) “nope too busy sleeping…i’m BONE tired” said sans winking toward you. “Argh…sans…try to finally change the japes next time…you never know when another human may fall here…” said papyrus. “C’mon paps we’ve all worked a ton…a skele-TON” said sans. *despite common sense you giggled at the pun* “listen sans! We must find a human! Undyne will be so proud…I’ll be adored…admired! I’ll bathe in a shower of kisses every morning!” Exclaimed the tall skeleton proudly. “Maybe this lamp will help with that shower…” said sans. “Wait a moment! What was that sound of amusement coming from that lamp?!” Questioned papyrus. You decided to finally reveal yourself. “It’s me…” you said. “i’m a human…” you said. “Really…?” Asked Papyrus. “Mhm!” You replied nodding. “Wowie! Guess that’s settled!” Said Papyrus. “Human! be prepared to be enamored by my puzzles! You’ll undergo trials and traps…not to mention my lovely home cooking!” He posed proudly “You may have to undergo some capturing but i’m sure you’ll be alright…and sans keep an eye out, alright?” ‘k” said sans…”Good…we’ll have lots of fun! Nyeh-heh-heh!” Papyrus waved goodbye and marched forward.

…before popping in again “Heh!” “Hey buddy” sans beckoned you. “Yea?” You asked. “C’mere i have something to tell you…” said sans. “Listen papyrus is a good guy, he won’t do any harm, and snowdin is relatively peaceful compared to the rest of the underground…either way i’ll try to keep an eye socket out for you here but do you have any questions?” He asked

💚Who are you?   

“Me? I’m a sentry…I’m officially part of the royal guard but my brother’s in training…

💚but why did you attack me?

“Kid…i’ve seen my fair share of dust from previous humans…someone asked me to protect you…but i just couldn’t keep that promise…however i’ll do my best to keep you safe here…

*somehow…perhaps by intuition you knew what he meant by dust being spilled…*

💚is there any way i can help?

“Sure…well it would be really nice if you played along with paps. He’s been pretty lonely recently and i think deep down he might see you as a potential friend…

💚Anyone else here?

“Well there’s quite a few monsters who hang around such as the canine unit. Also quite a few teens like to spend time after school hours here. And then there’s Albert…he’s a new member of the guard…i heard he’s hoping to impress ASGORE…” (*you blushed…not knowing why…hearing his name made you feel something warm inside…nostalgic almost…i do not know how to react to you having a crush on my dad-“) “hmm…you got feelings for the guy also? Don’t worry i’m sure there’s someone out there for you…like maybe a really sexy bearded goatman”…*that was a little on the nose, wasn’t it?..* said sans smiling at you. You smiled back. “Alright human i’ll see you around” he said walking back…you walked onward…*The thought of true love and conveniently shaped lamps fill you with kindness…hp fully restored

Lv 1 hp: 17/17 Mar 7 💚Saved

“Greetings!” Came a voice from behind you. You turned around to see a tall blue bunny in a set of armor greeting you. “Hello” you said. “Howdy…” he said in a western accent. “I’m Albert…you may know me as the nice cream guy…oh wait…your a human…aren’t you…?” he said. “Listen…i don’t really wanna hurt you…but i gotta do what i gotta do…” he said scratching his head nervously…”i’ll see ya around at some point but umm…either way you have good taste…Asgore is quite-Umm!-i mean your a great human!” He said getting flustered…a-alright i’ll see you!” He said. “Say hi to papyrus for me!” He walked on forward… (Chara: what. Just. Happened?) *The faint memory or ASGORE fills you with kindness

Lv 1 hp: 17/17 Mar 7 💚Saved

You walked on forward and you heard a rustle…A snowy monster glared at you ”Human! Stop right there!” “I’ll finally make my dad proud…with your soul!”

*Snowdrake attacked you…Atk 12 Def 5 this teen comedian is eager to gain an audience…

[Act] Joke…*You shared an ice pun with snowdrake…he seems unimpressed…”lame…” he said attacking you (14/17 hp)

💚Wait…*you stand there waiting for him to make a move…

“Well…ice to meet you” he said. (11/17 hp)

💚Laugh *You laughed at his pun…snowdrake seems happy…

“See laughs! Dad was wrong!” He said. Snowdrake seems to be thinking about something…

💚Ask… you ask Snowdrake what he means, apologizing in advance for intruding…typical…

“Alright human…i’m not much younger than you and i don’t want blood on my hands…my dad’s a comedian and we’ve disagreed on a lot of things, some of the pettier being jokes and puns. In the end I ran away..but i’ve been hoping to finding a way to prove dad wrong…”

💚Talk… You tell Snowdrake that it’s alright…you tell him he’s very mature for realizing that. You tell him that hopefully you can both find a way to help him reconcile…snowdrake seems relieved…

*You won! You earned 0 Exp and 14 gold…but you gave it back anyway…*

“Thank you human…i think i’ll have the courage to talk to my father…” he said. “See you around! And don’t get beaten up!” He said waving goodbye…(you feel glad…)  

“Why are you being so…nice to them…? Asked Chara…

“…” you looked down sadly…you so badly wished to speak but just couldn’t…Chara also looked down, a shadow across her eyes…

You looked back…the SAVE point disappeared…you remembered Flowey’s words…*when you lose your ability to SAVE…*

(Chara: It seems that you found it hard to hold on when remembering something…*

*it’s probably best to move forward…)

You breathed in…and walked forward…

You overheard Papyrus “So sans…” “ya bro?” He replied. “I’m so excited to meet the human…I need to look my sunday best! Or at least my Tuesday pretty good!” He said. “No kiddin’…but don’t you only have one outfit? Wait a moment I think the human is coming right now” said sans…you waved. “Greetings human! It is I the great Papyrus! I have many things to share with you! Japes! Puzzles! Cooking-wait…I told you that already…haven’t I…? He said pensively…”Listen…I shall capture you…many trappings will transpire…and many refreshments will be served…press on forward…but only if you dare…!” *you listen intently and smile at his offer…you can definitely understand the need to impress…even future inmates…

“Wowie…you’ve actually listened to my shpeel! Do you really want to be my frien-…? …wait a moment human! I have some thinking to do…” Papyrus left…”Heya pal…Papyrus seems to be pretty happy…doesn’t he?”

💚i think so    No way on earth…He’s compensating

“I think so too…And if you keep going this way…i’m sure you’ll have lots of fun…at least with my terrible puns and everyone else’s shenanigans… 

*You walked past sans who went the opposite direction…Strange how he manages to get ahead…*

(Picture of bud walking towards doggo’s shed)

*Absolutely no moving!* suddenly you heard the sound of heavily armored footsteps…it was Albert…He backed away slightly shocked at your sight…”Err…hello human…Nice to see you again…” he said. *you stood there waiting for his monologue to continue* “Well long time no see…or at least the past five minutes it’s been…heh heh…” said Albert anxiously. “Wait…a human!” Cried out a voice behind the small sentry station. A dog monster popped it’s head up. “Where? Where?! I can’t see non moving things…” Albert remained silent “…” “Human wherever you are…I’ll attack!” (Cue battle) *Albert blocks the way!…as well as doggo

Albert Atk 18 Def 18 (data 9) …he seems too nervous to fight you

Doggo Atk 12 Def 10 He can only see things that move…

💚Pet…You pet doggo. He looks around suspiciously…

*Albert throws some snowflakes but they dissipate when the blue attack reaches the end of the board, giving enough time to dodge

“What? I’ve been pet?!” Said doggo confused…”pet pot pat pet…?” 

He mumbles as he attacks once more. 💚Mercy…(Doggo was spared…he jumps back into his sentry station)

(14/17 hp)

💚Blush

You ask if he knows anything about ASGORE…you both blush at the thought of him…

(12/17 hp)

*Smells like crushes

💚Mercy

*You spare Albert…he seems reluctant to fight…but still…

“Human…i…i have to take your soul…”

(8/17 hp)

“I’m a member of the royal guard…this is my job…” he said remorsefully. “But…” you said…

💚Sans

You try to tell him about your past battle with sans…he seems swayed…

“…look, even if you did survive Undyne would hurt you quite bad…and with ASGORE…i can’t bear to see him have to live with the guilt…” he said. 

💚Asgore

“Who…is ASGORE…?” You asked confused…

Albert broke out in a nervous sweat…you immediately apologized “i’m so sorry!…i just have a faint memory of him…and…” Albert interrupted you…

“…it’s fine…i’ll be going now…” he said. “Bye bye!” He said on spur before fleeing…

*That was strange…* said Chara. You looked around…Chara was to the right of you this time. “Umm…Chara…?” You asked. “Yea…?” She answered curtly. “Do you know anything about the underground?” You asked. “…you currently have no use talking to incidental company” said Chara cryptically. “Who are you…and please…i’m so confused…who’s Asgore?…and what about mom…?” You asked. “i…care about everyone here so much…and why don’t i remember ASGORE?…and why do i feel so…connected to him?” You pleaded. “…you have better things to do” narrated Chara…looking away from you. “Please…?” You asked. “You have better things to do. All you can do is move forward.” Narrated Chara again. “…” you looked down disappointedly. 

“Burnt dog treats.”

“Old sentry station. No use checking again.” 

“Footprints.”

(Chara’s currently feeling more (spoiler) because of her memories of (spoilers) and realizing (spoilers) which is why her item descriptions for a bit will be shorter and more abrupt…

*bud walks into the next room…*

You saw sans and he waved toward you. “Hi sans!” You said. “Heya pal…” he said. “I got a little tip for you when fighting monsters…” “…what is it?” You asked. “Well…when a monster uses a blue attack it’s a signal for you to stop. If you don’t move your soul around, you won’t take any damage…y’know how stop signs are red? Well a blue attack is like a stop sign,next time you see a blue attack, think of blue stop signs”. (bud nods his head). You saw a small ice patch, you tried to walk across it but you slipped next a small sign. 

“West: ice 

North: ice

South: ice

East: Snowdin town…and more ice…”

You saw a snowman to the north of you. “Hello human…i am a snowman…a snowman who cannot move…i have just one request to make of you…”

Will you listen?

💚Yes      i’ll pass

“Please human…i wish to see the rest of the world…if you could by any chance save a piece of me to carry around, i would greatly appreciate it…”

Accept the snowman’s request?

💚Yes      No

“Thank you human…maybe one day i’ll see you around…” you bid farewell to the snowman…”Why…?” Chara asked…

”?” You turned around

“Why do you keep helping them…?!” Asked Chara…”Why aren’t you doing what any other human i’ve known would do?!” Asked Chara…

”…” you didn’t know what to answer…

“i…i’m just trying to be kind…” you said…”i’m not any kind of saint…honestly i’m not sure if i’m that good of a person…i’m only being kind to be loved…and…to at least FEEL like a good person…” you said morosely. “…” Chara didn’t say anything back…

“I-i’m sorry…i didn’t mean to bother you…i’m just unsure if i really am a good person…” you said…”and…also…who are you?…you asked. “It’s better to keep going…” said Chara cryptically. “No…please…who are you…? And who’s Asgore…? I’m so confused…” you asked. “…you have realized talking to people who don’t wish to answer is futile…”. “Alright…” you said…”i guess i’ll keep going…”

You looked back one more time before you headed forward…looking back you realized something…you hadn’t called Toriel ever since you left the ruins…you decided to try to call her. *ring ring*…

*there’s no response…* Chara lead the way as you two walked ahead… you paused and continued the previous conversation. “Can you answer me please? Your being really cryptic…” you said. “I told you. My name is Chara.” She said impatiently “I don’t know why I’m even here and I don’t wish to talk to you about this. Alright? I’ve known you for barely more than a month! I have no more of a clue what’s going on here than you do. Last thing I remember was my mom and Dad divorcing over something and being taken to the ruins…no one told me anything about ASRIEL or even what was going on. Ok?!” “. . .i’m sorry. . .” You said. “I don’t need worthless pity, just stop apologizing…” said Chara. “. . .” “i’m sorry for saying…” “sorry…” you said. You smiled. “Your just like him…your…just…like him…” said Chara. Chara laughed…they laughed and they laughed…but it wasn’t funny…you went up and hugged them again……”you really are…like…him…” said Chara…you kept walking forward where sans and papyrus where standing around ten feet away from you. “Your so lazy!” Scolded papyrus to sans. You were napping all night!” Said Papyrus. “i think that’s called sleeping…” said sans. “Excuses excuses!…Oh-ho! The human arrives! In order to stop you…my brother and I have created some puzzles! I think you will find this one…quite shocking! For you see this is the invisible electricity maze! When you touch the walls of this maze…the orb you will hold will administer a hearty zap! Sound like fun??? Because the amount of fun you’ll have…is actually rather small I think. Ok you can go on ahead now. Papyrus walked over to give you the orb but he got zapped from the electric current and fell on the floor. “Are you ok?” You asked worriedly. (Running through the maze anyway) Papyrus brushed himself off and coughed. “I am perfectly fine! The shock I received was only minor!…” “wait a moment…” exclaimed Papyrus…”it seems like you skipped my puzzle…but only to help me!” “Worry not human as more fun awaits! Next time you will surely be confounded! Nyeh heh heh!” He said walking off. “Hey thanks…” said sans. “My brother seems like he’s having fun…i know these puzzles can be tedious.” He said. “It’s alright he really makes the experience fun.” You said. “Well it’s true…” he said. “By the way did you see the outfit my brother was wearing? He made it a few weeks ago at a costume party. He hasn’t worn anything since. ‘Keeps calling it his battle body…man isn’t my brother cool?”

you kept walking forward where sans and papyrus where standing around ten feet away from you. “Your so lazy!” Scolded papyrus to sans. You were napping all night!” Said Papyrus. “i think that’s called sleeping…” said sans. “Excuses excuses!…Oh-ho! The human arrives! In order to stop you…my brother and I have created some puzzles! I think you will find this one…quite shocking! For you see this is the invisible electricity maze! When you touch the walls of this maze…the orb you will hold will administer a hearty zap! Sound like fun??? Because the amount of fun you’ll have…is actually rather small I think. Ok you can go on ahead now. Papyrus walked over to give you the orb but he got zapped from the electric current and fell on the floor. “Are you ok?” You asked worriedly. (Running through the maze anyway) Papyrus brushed himself off and coughed. “I am perfectly fine! The shock I received was only minor!…” “wait a moment…” said Papyrus…”it seems like you skipped my puzzle…but only to help me!” “Worry not human as more fun awaits! Next time you will surely be confounded! Nyeh heh heh!” He said walking off. “Hey thanks…” said sans. “My brother seems like he’s having fun…i know these puzzles can be tedious.” He said. “It’s alright he really makes the experience fun.” You said. “Well it’s true…” he said. “By the way did you see the outfit my brother was wearing? He made it a few weeks ago at a costume party. He hasn’t worn anything since. ‘Keeps calling it his battle body…man isn’t my brother cool?”

—

You saw a stand with Albert in a casual outfit waiting. As you walked closer to it he noticed you. “Hello human…” he said awkwardly. “This is my nice cream stand…the frozen treat that warms your heart! Would you like a nice cream for 15g?” He asked. 💚Yes  No

“Thank you human…lately business has been slow and customers have been coming less and less…recently the only customers here are kids and one man who comes here every month and donates some money here…y’know i can spare you a free nice cream. How about that?”

💚Thank you!  I’m full

“Here you go!” He said. “Umm…human…” he said while you ate your nice cream. “Hm?” You replied. “You know that eventually I will have to fight you.” He said. “i know…” you replied…”but why…?” You asked. “…I’m a member of the royal guard…times have been tough ever since the last few humans fell down here…and monsters here wish for freedom more than ever…” he said. “Livin’ down here has taken a toll and monsters are getting impatient and willin’ to fight…ending up with waterfall and hotland being especially dangerous…” he said. “And…I have my own reasons for joining the guard.” He said. “But…” “You can call me Albert” he said. “But Albert…” you said. “What if there’s another way to open the barrier?” You asked. “Sans already told me about that…but i’m not sure about your plan. Whatever it is it’s a known fact that you need seven human souls to break the barrier…” he said…”I’ll be my post later in Snowdin but if you want to talk some more I have time a plenty”. He said. “Alright!” You smiled

But i really don’t want to fight (old)

💚Who IS Asgore?

Why were you so easily flustered by my question earlier?

Do you wish i was dead?

“…” Albert paused for a moment. “Asgore’s the king of the monsters…” he said. “Strange that you didn’t know that…” he said. “All the other humans that fell heard o’ him even before they met anyone who knew him directly.” He said. “Well i kind of did get a bit of amnesia after falling down…” you said. “But…what’s he like…? And…his name sounds so familiar” you said. “It’s almost nostalgic…” you said. “W-Well…” he said flustered. “I guess he’s the kind of guy that invokes…those feelings…” he said nervously.

Question 3 replaced: 💚Do you have a crush on him?

“I…prefer not to talk about that” he said. “Oops”…

💚Do you wish i was dead?

“No” said Albert. “I don’t want to hurt you…” he said. “It’s just that…alright i’ll say it. I’m trying to impress ASGORE…Even though in the end I’m not sure if he’s the right person for me…and-“ he paused nervously. “I’m not sure if i’m really doing the right thing…” he said. ‘Oh. You finished your Ice cream? Guess time does fly bye quick…” he mused. “Well human…I’ll be seeing you…” he said. “I have to get back into uniform…and hopefully when this is all done…I can go back to being happy again…” he said…

And so you walked through the next few puzzles and pacified more monsters…and even enjoying Papyrus’s spaghetti along the way. Eventually reaching the X and O puzzles…

“Hello human! Your already here? And did you fall for my trap? He asked. Referring to the plate of spaghetti he left out for you earlier to lure you…

💚Ate it AND Left it    …

“Wowie human! You fell for my delicious cooking? And left some for me? I am truly flattered…” he said. You smiled. “Well…you have made it past my first puzzles but the next one is more difficult…” he said walking forward to the next puzzle. “If you need any help you can ask me for hints, ok?” “Alright” you said. You walked past all the buttons without touching them twice on your first try, all the while twirling around and having fun at it, solving the puzzle “Wowie human! You solved it all by yourself! And to think that someone would be so passionate about my puzzles…” Papyrus said. “Human…I must say…you’ve really got a knack for these…it’s as you’ve almost done them before…” he said. “…these puzzles do look familiar…” you said. “But they are really creative…”. “Of course they are!” Said Papyrus. “Thanks to my skills, these traps and mazes are my specialty!” He said giving a bow. “Well human, I shall be seeing you! And be prepared…” he said before running off.

*You continued onward toward the next room and completed the color tile puzzle with sans and Papyrus, eventually moving on where you saw lesser dog, whom your encountered earlier building many snow sculptures* 

lesser dog barked and ran up to you as you petted it. You felt a feeling of joy as lesser dog ran off to build another snow sculpture…and your save point appeared once again…

*Seeing lesser dog’s artistic talent fills you with kindness…

💚Saved  3/7/2027  Lv:1 Hp: 17/17

There was another monster who was commenting on each of lesser dogs snow portraits…”These sculptures are quite beautiful aren’t they?” They mused. ‘Mhm!” You smiled looking at a fully detailed statue of lesser dog…”it’s adorable” you looked in admiration having the urge to pet the cute snow dog. “This dog has truly mastered the exquisite art of expression…it’s intelligence must stack up to the equivalent of an expert dog trainer…” murmured the monster deep in thought. “Human!” Called out a familiar voice. “Papyrus!” You greeted him. “Hello human…-Oh my gosh!” He gawked in surprise. “Did you create such exquisite masterpieces?” Asked Papyrus.

💚Lesser dog did     I did

“Oh…how humble” said Papyrus impressed. “Wowie human! I never knew you were an artist…perhaps after we finally get this capturing done with we can work on a new project together…” Suggested Papyrus. “Thank you…” you said bashfully. “But it really was lesser dog who built it…i guess he felt really excited.” You said. “But i’d love to try snow creating with you!” You smiled. “That…is fantastic!” Papyrus beamed. “In fact I am so proud I will even help you with my next puzzle! Come along now human!” He said leading the way. And so you arrived at the final X and O tile puzzle.

“This looks more difficult than usual…” narrated Chara…something did seem off about it. Like the tiles were supposed to be in another place, despite the puzzle being completely solvable…you and Papyrus skated on the first tile ahead clicking the button like usual. And then to the second and the third…however just as you both were about to skate to the fourth puzzle you both slipped on the edge falling a few feet on the snow below. “Human! Are you okay?” Asked Papyrus helping you up. “Yea…” you said a little dazed. (15/17 Hp)

Before Papyrus could respond you saw Flowey pop up. “Flowey!” You exclaimed. “Oh hello there bud!” He grinned. “It’s been a while since we’ve met…you didn’t forget about your old friend, didn’t you?” He asked. “Oh-of course not!” You said. Flowey looked toward Papyrus. “And your Papyrus…arent’cha?” Flowey inquired. “Why yes I am!” He said proudly. “Oh…well hello Papyrus” said Flowey. “Me and my friend would like to talk a little bit…would you mind to go on ahead and maybe work on your other puzzles? I’m sure Bud would love to see the other puzzles you prepared.” Flowey said. “Alright!” Said Papyrus. “Well then! I will go on, see you soon human! Nyeh heh heh!”

“Now then…” said Flowey. “Howdy human! It’s been such a long while since we’ve had a heart to heart…” he exclaimed. “So…How has your journey been?…still making friends?” Asked Flowey. “Yup!” You replied. “That’s great” he said . He then abruptly looked at your hand which was scraped from your fall. “Aww…are you hurt? Here, why don’t I heal you up?” He said giving you a green pellet. *Your Hp was maxed out* “There…that’s all better….” you then remembered what Flowey did during your battle with sans. “Flowey?” You asked. “Yes?” He answered. “Umm…why did you hurt me when i mentioned you earlier when sans attacked me…” you asked. “Well…” said Flowey. “I’m just a poor lil’ old flower…and I couldn’t trust that guy. ‘specially since he attacked you for no reason…I wouldn’t want to risk our safety…” he said sympathetically. “I guess that makes sense” you smiled. “Thanks flowey”. “Your welcome pal, anytime…” he said. “Now Bud I’ll see you in waterfall by the piano. It’s up north from where a certain monster named Shyren usually hangs around. Until then have fun!” He winked before popping back into the ground. “…”

“I still don’t trust that flower…” said Chara. “He’s being way too friendly and not to mention his actions aren’t even matching his words” Chara muttered to themself. “No really.” Insisted Chara reading your thoughts “He hurt us, I can’t trust him. And how will he break the barrier anyway?” Asked Chara…”well…he said there already six human souls…” you thought. “There’s no human souls down here! No one else has fallen here besides you and me-…” Chara paused… “no one else…” paused Chara. 

(Flashback to toriel’s words)

Every human who falls here meets the same fate…

They come…

They go…

They die…

You naive child, if you leave the Ruins

They…

ASGORE…

Will kill you…

(End of flashback)

“Oh…” said Chara…walking forward. “I guess there are human souls down here after all…” vaguely finishing there thought…

(Bud: “…”)

You climbed back up and completed the final puzzle undecorating a now relieved gyftrot and eventually reaching a row of snowpoffs…along with a tiny dog house

*it’s a snowpoff*

*…it’s another snowpoff…*

*Surprisingly it’s another snowpoff*

*snowpoff…*

*Behold! Another Snowpoff!*

You checked the second to last snowpile in the room…

*Eh? What’s this? There’s 30 gold inside here…*

You picked up the coins and kept walking forward, reaching the last snowpoff…it suddenly began to move! You heard a little bark…

Suddenly a large dog in a even bigger suit of armor emerged!

*Lesser dog blocks the way! Atk 17 Def 8, this enthusiastic canine confuses battle for play…*

💚Beckon

*you called the greater dog over. It rushed over flecking slobber on your coat*

(13/17 hp)

💚Pet

*Greater dog, searching for affection came closer to you, you pet it gently. Greater dog seems excited*

Greater dog: Excited barks*

💚Play

*You take a ball of snow and play fetch with it…Greater dog returns the ball and gathers all the snow around it…now dog is very sleepy…*

(9/17 hp)

💚Pet

*you pet Greater dog with tender loving care…pet capacity is at 40 percent*

*Greater dog is looking for more affection…*

💚Pet

*you pet Greater dog decisively…it seems contented*

You won! You earned 0 Exp and 40 Gold*

The greater dog jumped out of it’s armor and licked your face one last time before jumping back into it’s metal coat and walking off farewell…

“Awww…” you said…Chara didn’t say anything…

You suddenly remembered…you dropped your backpack when you fell during the last puzzle…”wait a moment!” You said to Chara. “I lost my backpack…i have to go get it back!’. You went back to the previous puzzle and carefully treaded down to where the snow papyrus was standing…you forgot about it in the excitement of your fall…

*You picked up your backpack*

You went and slid through the ice,walked back past the snowpoffs,

And made it right before the place you saw greater dog…

“That was a minor inconvenience…” said Chara. You agreed.

Suddenly you heard metal footsteps approaching your direction…it was Albert. He walked up closer to you.

“Howdy human…” he said solemnly. “Hi…” you replied. “So…this is the fourth time we’ve met…is it…”

“Y’know despite how little you’ve been here I’ve enjoyed the time you’ve spent down here…and the fun we’ve had together…”

“And the time you’ve spent with everyone…Those puzzle’s with paps. The fun times you’ve had playin’ with the dogs, even those times when you talked into the air…as if someone was sayin’ stuff right back to you…”

“I’ve had fun too…”

“And maybe in another time we could’ve been good friends…and I really am sorry for what I’m about to do…”

“…”

“Don’t be so sad human…if you don’t make it past me the others won’t have to see you fall down…and when this is all over…I’ll take your soul to the king…wouldn’t that be nice?”

*you felt so too*

*cue battle*💚

“It’s a nice day outside. Isn’t it? Snow is fallin’. children are playing…and anyway…isn’t this the perfect time to say goodbye?

(Chara’s flavor text: *I don’t know him…I don’t know him…)

Albert starts battle!

Atk 18 Def 18

A battle of hopes and tears…

“…”

(Albert attacks with orange snowflakes which make you unable to stop moving)

“Forgive me human…” Albert murmured…

(14/17 hp)

*Albert prepares his weapon

💚Spare

“I’m sorry human…” said Albert. “But we must free monsterkind…”

*Albert prepares a spell hesitatingly

💚Spare

“When the barrier is broken…we’ll be free to live on the surface…the king will be happy again…”

(11/17 hp)

“I’ll be honest with you human…I’m doing this for Asgore…Y’know…it’s funny how hard it is to hide your feelings for someone…”

*you feel butterflies in your stomach…

💚Spare

“I don’t want to hurt you…and I’ve never thought I’d ever try to harm someone, but…”

*…But what?

💚Spare

“But I’ve seen how the king’s been recently…he tries to keep a cheery facade…but he’s been really downcast lately…I can’t just watch him suffer…with hope so close…”

(8/17 hp)

*…*

💚Spare

“It’s just that…I love him…” *your defense went down*

(4/17 hp)

*you ate the nice cream. Is it as sweet as you? Your Hp was maxed out…(17/17 hp)

“…”

(13/17 hp)

💚Open up

“i love him too” you said softly. The words almost came out of your own accord…you blushed shyly…not knowing why you said that…

“I know…” said Albert. “And it would probably hurt him more if he had to deal with another death…but I still have to try…” said Albert

(9/17 hp)

💚Spare

“And…I’m not even sure if he would be the right person for me…” said Albert. “I’m losin’ the will to hurt you…” Albert said, casting his gaze away. 

💚Listen

“I can’t say goodbye to you now…and i think in doing so…it would hurt us both in the end…and even if I was so selfish I wouldn’t even be getting what I want in the end” mused Albeft. “y’know, your a young one with a great life ahead of you…i’m sure you’ll find your soulmate here…” finished Albert

💚Talk

*you laughed* “Your not much older than me…and even if you were…” you said. “That won’t stop you from finding the one meant for you…” you reassured him. Albert smiled.

*Albert is looking forward to his future

💚Listen

“{muffled} really would be {muffled}…” Albert said to himself.

💚Listen

“Either way human.” Said Albert. “I’ll stop fighting here…and can I ask you one last question…?” he asked.

💚Sure   No

“What’s your name?” Albert asked.

“You can call me bud…” you said. “Alright bud…” said Albert. 

“I guess I’ll see you in Snowdin town…” he said

*Albert is sparing you

💚Spare

“Whew…that was nerve racking…here bud take another nice cream…” he offered. “Thank you” you said appreciatively. “Your welcome…” said Albert “and stay safe out there alright?” He said before leaving…

*you ate the nice cream, your hp was fully restored*

“Whew! I really did it…” you said relieved. 

“I guess to his credit he didn’t really want to hurt me in the first place…” you thought.

“…not a lot of other humans would be so arrogant…Said Chara sarcastically. “Alright” you admitted “i guess i should give myself a little more credit…” “That wouldn’t be inaccurate.” Said Chara, they sounded a bit better since your last conversation… “I’m still trying to process the fact that your fangirling over my d-…I mean Asgore…” Corrected Chara. “Wait…Asgore was your father…?” You asked. “Yes…” admitted Chara, reluctant to reveal anything about their past. “i’m so sorry!” You apologized. “I’m not judging you…and either way if my parents are really divorced as I remembered…it would probably be better for my Father not to be alone…” replied Chara opening up slightly. “…i don’t even know how long it’s been since I died…” said Chara. “That’s so sad…what happened?” You clasped your hands over your mouth. 

“I don’t wish to share my story now…”

And It would be better if i was forgotten here…” said Chara. “Please don’t say that about yourself…” you pleaded. “If you done what I did you would say the same thing about yourself…” said Chara. “…” “Let’s just keep going” Continued Chara. “It would be better if we could find out what happened anyway…” They said. You wanted to help Chara but you could feel they didn’t want to talk anymore, so you went onward…either way Albert and Papyrus were waiting for you…

You walked forward across a long bridge where you saw Papyrus and sans standing on the other end…Papyrus called out. “Human! This is my final trap…” he said with flair. He snapped his fingers summoning a plethora of deadly obstacles…”I present to you the gauntlet of deadly terror!” He exclaimed. You stepped back a little. “This will be your hardest challenge of all! When I activate this flames will burn! Blades will slice! Dogs will bark! You will have only the slimmest chance of getting through!”…”Now I will activate this puzzle…” he said. He stood there. “this puzzle doesn’t look very activated” sans chimed in. “Well it will be! Very soon…” insisted Papyrus. You considered either running back to the forest or through the course before it deployed but those options didn’t seem like a good idea…you could already see the town right by and Papyrus wouldn’t do anything to hurt you…wouldn’t he? “Any minute now…” continued Papyrus. “Are you sure?” Asked sans. “Well…this puzzle may seem to be too dangerous for our friend here…” Papyrus answered. “It wouldn’t be any fun to capture them here with such a difficult trap! But worry not! This is just another decisive victory for Papyrus! Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh heh!…heh?”…Papyrus walked off toward the town ahead…you walked across the bridge and talked to sans. “Hey kiddo” greeted sans. “Hello” you smiled. “I just saw your battle with Albert back there…and you seem quite experienced with blue attacks…” he continued. “But i have one last word of advice for you…” he said. “Just make sure you and Papyrus are alright…okay?” 

💚Ok    …

“Good…now bud…i’ll see ya soon” he said, teleporting away…

You finally made it to the welcoming village of Snowdin town…you saw an inn and a shop right ahead of you, before going to rest however you saw the same shining star you saved by previously…and so…

*The friendly atmosphere if this town fills you with kindness…

💚Saved Lv: 1 hp: 17/17 Mar 7 Saved

After Saving you quietly walked into the shop as not to disturb anyone, the bell jingled and you saw a bunny like monster waiting for customers…The shopkeeper turned around and noticed you…            Hello, traveller! Come sit here, how can I help you? She asked. You sat on the barstool in the warmly lit shop as she presented a few of her wares…   

“So…What would you like to buy?” She asked. You saw a couple of toasty cinnamon buns on display. 

“Cinamon bunnies…heals 22 Hp. It’s her own recipe” narrated Chara…

“can i get three cinnamon buns please?” You asked. “Coming right up! That’ll be 75 gold!” She answered. You paid her the money and she gave you a small bag to put your items in. “Thank you for your purchase…”

*this is the shop dialogue* 💚Talk

“Care to chat?” [Say hello] *Hiya! Welcome to Snowdin!  

*I can't remember the last time I saw a fresh face around here.  

*Where did you come from? 

*The capital? 

*You don't look like a tourist.

*Are you here by yourself?

“Umm well…i’m a human…” you said. “Really? Are ya sure? Well don’ worry hun, I’m not gonna do anything to ya. If anything it’s the royal guards business…anyway be safe once you go…

(Chara: phew…)

[What to do here] *You want to know what to do here in Snowdin? 

*Grillby’s has food, and the library has information... 

*If you're tired, you can take a nap at the inn.

*It's right next door - my sister runs it.

*And if you're bored, you can sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing.

*There's two of 'em... 

*Brothers, I think.

*They just showed up one day and...

*... asserted themselves.

*The town has gotten a lot more interesting since then...

[Town history] *Think back to your history class...

*A long time ago, monsters lived in the RUINS back there in the forest.

*Long story short, we all decided to leave the ruins and head for the end of the caverns.

*Along the way, some fuzzy folk decided they liked the cold and set up camp in Snowdin.

*Oh, and don't think about trying to explore the RUINS...

*The door's been locked for ages.

*so unless you're a ghost or can burrow under the door, forget about it.

(Chara: So what’s mom been doing there for so long?)

[Your life] *Life is the same as usual.

*A little claustrophobic...

*But... we all know deep down that freedom is coming, don't we?

*As long as we got that hope, we can grit our teeth and face the same struggles, day after day...

*That's life, ain't it?

“So need anything else?” Asked the shopkeeper. “No thank you” you replied. “Alright. Bye now!” She said. And so you left the shop and walked into the inn to rest…

“Hello and welcome to our premier hotel, Snowed inn!” Said the shopkeeper’s sister. There was also her child standing next to her…“Hewwo human!” He said. “Hello to you too!” You smiled “Did you know that sleeping can restore your health? It also makes your soul have up 10 more hp!” 

💚Nice!    …

“Tank you!” Said the little rabbit. “Awww…aren’t you the sweetest thing!” Said the rabbit’s mother. 

“Y’know I’ll even give you a discount for a stay! How about 20G?” She offered…

💚Yes   No

“Alright, sleep well!” She said. You walked up to your room and got into your pajamas (from inside your bag) and lay under the covers, eventually falling asleep…(hp 27/17)…

(Chara: and so bud fell asleep…It’s been a odd journey so far, even as unfamiliar monsters are to humanity already…To be completely honest I’m still bewildered…

Mom hasn’t answered the phone ever since we left…

and no one is really talking much about Dad and Azzy…

And this human here has been putting on a goody two shoes act since we’ve got here! 

And now they apparently like my Dad…

This is absolutely non-sequitur! (Such a Chara thing to say `u`)

But regardless…I’m beginning to feel less cynical about bud…it’s surreal, Following someone through their journey, being a ghost linked to them only because they fell upon my grave…and even if they are seemingly kind…

I’m hesitant to open up to the same kind that betrayed me again and again…but I’m feeling possibly hopeful in the first while…

at least since the time I died however long ago that was…

And either way…as odd as the idea sounds…

It wouldn’t to bad to have another friend along the way…

Maybe we’ll get to see Asriel once we reach my home…

I guess I’ll rest now…)

you woke up the next morning and went downstairs. “How was your rest?” Asked the Innkeeper. “It was really great, Thank you so much!” You said. “Your welcome! And have a good day!” She said bidding farewell. You left the inn (after getting dressed back up in your coat of course) and walked through the rest of Snowdin town, more monsters were outside since it was morning (or at least seemed to be) so naturally…

Snowdin dialogue! (It’s pretty similar to the original so it’ll be written like the original dialogue script…)

Cinamon girl: Isn’t my bun-bun just the cutest?

Rabbit kid: That girl…something about her is mildly disturbing…who puts their little brother on a leash?!”

Gift bear: Why am I putting presents under this tree? Well some teens were tormenting gyftrot in the woods by decorating it. (In reaction to bud’s face) Don’t feel bad…

We made it up for him that we all put presents under the tree for him…and now it’s become a tradition!   

(Chara: That was never around when I was here…)

Monster kid: Heya! Your a grown up, Arent’cha? I can tell cuz your not wearing a striped shirt. 

Well I’m gonna play with my friends now…see ya!

Politics bear: Yea…we have no mayor in town…but don’t worry about it. If there’s any problem a skeleton with tell about it to a fish lady…

Thaaaaat’s politics! (Chara amused: …)

And either way…if I owned Grillby’s over there…would it be called ‘bear’s restaurant?’ Seriously by the game…it deserves so much more love ^^

Rat in scarf: Everyone is laughing to forget there troubles…

dreariness, crowdedness,lack of sunlight

i would join but i’m not that funny (Chara: it’s not funny)

Smiling monster: We all know this place has problems but we smile anyway, 

why? 

We can’t do anything so why be morose about it? (Chara: …) (Bud’s thoughts: i…really get it…)

Slime kids: Lets play monsters and humans!

You aren’t gonna make me be the human again, right?

Slime papa: Ah to be young again where the world feels boundless…isn’t it a wonderful experience?

Presumably slime mama after knocking the door: What a beautiful knock! 

Maybe If i don’t answer i’ll hear it again (Chara: Maybe you should knock again…)

*knock knock*…ah! My patience rewards me

The Ice wolf is too busy to talk

(Entering the library) Librarby

Librarian:  Welcome to the library! 

And yes…We know the librarby is misspelled

Loox like monster: That look in your eye…you’ve killed 0 people so far (Chara: how in the world did he know…?) (Bud: i…have no idea)

News worker: I love working on the paper, theres nothing i have to write

Newspaper lady When i was younger my teachers gave us word searches instead of assignments

 i thought they wasted time but look at me now! i’m the number one word curator!

(Red Book)

(It’s a school report about monster funerals.)

Monster funerals, technically speaking, are cool as heck.

When monsters get old and kick the bucket, they turn into dust.

At funerals, we take that dust and spread it on that person’s favorite thing.

Then their essence will live on in that thing...

Uhhh, am I at the page minimum yet?

I’m kinda sick of writing this.

(Blue Book)

While monsters are mostly made of magic, human beings are mostly made of water.

Humans, with their physical forms, are far stronger than us.

But they will never know the joy of expressing themselves through magic.

They’ll never get a bullet-pattern birthday card...

(Bud: aww…i was wish i could do something like that…)

(Yellow Book)

(Here I am... Writing this book.)

(A person comes in and picks up the book...)

(They start reading it...!)

(Orange Book)

Because they are made of magic, monsters’ bodies are attuned to their SOUL.

If a monster doesn’t want to fight, its defenses will weaken.

And the crueler the intentions of our enemies, the more their attacks will hurt us.

Therefore, if a being with a powerful SOUL struck with the desire to kill...

Um, let’s end the chapter here...

(Light Green Book)

"MONSTER HISTORY PART 4"

Fearing the humans no longer, we moved out of our old city, HOME.

We braved harsh cold, damp swampland, and searing heat...

Until we reached what we now call our capital.

“NEW HOME”.

Again, our King is really bad at names...?

(Dark Green Book)

Love, hope, compassion...

This is what people say monster SOULs are made of.

But the absolute nature of “SOUL” is unknown.

After all, humans have proven their SOULs don’t need these things to exist.

(Chara: and that’s why all the humans in my life were so…)

*It’s papyrus’s mailbox…it has a few letters…Asgore…Undyne…Albert…Sans…it’s nice that he has mail this time…it’s as if it was supposed to be empty?

*it’s a overflowing mailbox-

wait a moment a envelope slips out…

This letter reads…*

“Oh sansy~ how I love you so! I love your handsome skeletal frame my sansy wansy poo~ if only I could marry you a Skele-TON of times as we set sail romantically upon the grease of grillby’s…i’ll send smooches to your doorstep…and if you don’t respond you might get dunked on! 

Love your #1 sansy wansy fangirl (Bud and Chara at the same time: yeesh…)

Grillbys

(Dizzy bunny: no matter where i go, it’s the same menu, the same people…Help! I wamt new drinks an’ hot guys!!…i guess the bartender is kind of hot)

(Teeth: hmmm…Isn’t human food different from monster food? It does things like spoil. And when you eat it it passes through your body…disgusting. I’d love to try it sometime)

(Dogaressa: were sentries, but we never get any respect, I wish those skeletons would throw us a bone. We love bones)

(Dogamy: You better watch where you sit…because that dog will jump into your lap and give you lots of love and attention)

(Doggo: i’m thinking of getting a spiked collar to show off my personality, it makes a statement like ‘attach a leash and take me on a walk please’)

(Greater dog makes a noise and lesser dog is playing poker against itself and losing…alas the ‘fire exit’ is blocked)

(Fish: i put out a line for girls today…someone told me there plenny of fish in the sea, well i’m takin’ that seriously, I’m literally going to make out with a fish)

(Bird: those dogs are part of the royal guard, an elite military group run by undyne. She’s rude, loud and beats up anyone in her way…it’s no wonder kids wanna be like her when they grow up!)

(Horse: the capitals getting pretty crowded so i’ve heard they’re going to start moving here…hmmm i don’t wanna see the erasure of our local culture, but I definitely want to see some city slickers slip onto there butts!)

*The jukebox is broken

Grillby said he’d offer a glass of water but he doesn’t touch the stuff…

(Grillby: ………………)

Tombstone: Rest in peace dear Rudolph…199x…(You left a cinnamon bunny next to the flowers…)

Albert: Heya bud! How are you doing? 

💚great!

“That’s nice to hear! Well see ya around! And good luck!

“Thank you…” you smiled…

And eventually you reached the med of Snowdin where Papyrus stood…He seemed much more serious

“Human…” he declared formally

allow me to tell you about some complex feelings…

feelings like…

the joy of finding another pasta lover…

the admiration for another’s puzzle solving skills…

the desire to have a cool smart person think you are cool…

these feelings are what you must be feeling now! I can hardly imagine what it must be like to feel that way…

after all I am very great. 

I don’t ever wonder what having lots of friends is like…I pity you lonely human…

but worry not, you shall be lonely no longer!

I the great papyrus will be your…

no…this is all wrong! I can’t be your friend!!! 

You are a human! 

And i must capture you! 

Then, I can fulfill my lifelong dream!!! 

Powerful! Popular! Prestigious!!! 

That’s PAPYRUS!!! 

The newest member…of the royal guard! *battle starts*

*Papyrus blocks the way! 

Atk 20 Def 20, he likes to say Nyeh heh heh!

💚Flirt   Insult   Talk 

*You playfully wiggle your hips in front of Papyrus…

“F-flirting?…” Exclaimed Papyrus flabbergasted… “Well it seems you have shown your ULTIMATE FEELINGS…However I am a skeleton with standards! Let’s see what you can do!

I can make spaghetti      💚I have zero redeeming qualities

(Chara: But you can cook…)

“Oh…my…the humility!” Said Papyrus. “It reminds me of…Myself! Let’s date later…” (Attacks)

*Papyrus is thinking about what to wear for his date…

💚Spare

“So you won’t fight…how about I show you my fabled blue attack!” He said. A wave of blue bones came toward you…you stood still and didn’t take any damage…suddenly…your soul turned blue, now you could only jump over attacks…

“Your blue now! That’s my attack!” Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh!

(14/17 hp)

💚Spare

“Hmmm…what should I wear for my date?” Mused Papyrus…

*Papyrus applies bone cologne onto himself

💚Spare

“W-what?! I’m not thinking about that date!” Sputtered Papyrus…

(Bud: what did I just rope myself into…?)

*Papyrus dabs marinara sauce behind his ears…

💚Talk

*Papyrus is too busy fighting to talk…

“Your tough! But don’t make me use my special attack!”

(Chara: he seems completely absorbed in this battle…and I thought he was just becoming friendly with us…)

*Papyrus dabs MTT brand bishie-cream behind his ears…

💚Spare

*I can almost taste my future popularity…

(8/17 hp)

*Papyrus sprinkles anime powder behind his ears…

💚Spare

“Papyrus, head of the royal guard!” He announced proudly

*Papyrus pours cute juice behind his ears…

💚Spare

“Papyrus, unprapalled Spaghettor!

(4/17 hp)

*Papyrus dabs attraction slime behind his ears…

💚Item

*You ate the Nice cream, illustration of a hug…

your Hp was maxed out!

“Undyne will be so proud of me!” Papyrus monologued…

*wait…undyne?

*Papyrus dabs beauty yogurt behind his ears…

💚Talk

*Papyrus is still too busy with his speech to listen

The king will trim a hedge in the shape of my smile!

*Your blush by your ears…which Papyrus realizes he doesn’t have

💚Spare

My brother…well he won’t change very much…

(11/17 hp)

*Papyrus is rattling his bones…

💚Spare

“I’ll have lots of admiration…but…”

*Papyrus prepares a bone attack

💚Spare

“Will anyone like me as sincerely as you?”

*Papyrus is considering his options

💚Spare

“After all…Someone like you is really rare…”

*Papyrus remembers a bad joke sans told him and frowns

💚Spare

“And dating may be kind of hard…”

(4/17 hp)

*Papyrus is trying to play it cool

💚Spare

“After your captured and sent away…”

*…

💚Talk

“Papyrus…” you said. “What is it?” He answered. “I’m willing to be your friend…” you said…

“…But what about Undyne? Or Albert? Or everyone here…? I want to be popular as well…” Papyrus said

💚Talk

“I don’t really know about your friends…but I know Sans and Albert really like you…and honestly…I think your really cool…” you said.

“Really?” Asked Papyrus. “Mhhm!” You nodded…

“Well…I guess I can accept my failure here…human! I will now offer my mercy! Now’s the time to SPARE me…”

💚Spare *battle ends*

“Thank you human…I’m glad to have a new friend…I’m quite relieved now…” said Papyrus…

“Well now that our battle is over you can come over anytime to my home to have that date…” said Papyrus…

“But you must want know how to reach the barrier, don’t you? Well…you will have to go east and eventually you will reach the kings castle…”

“The king is…well he’s a fuzzy pushover! Everyone loves that guy! I’m sure if you say “excuse me Mr.Dreemurr can you show me the way home?” He will go right ahead and walk you to the barrier!”

(Chara: that’s Dad alright…)

“For now, feel free to come visit! Nyeh heh heh!” Offered Papyrus as he walked back to Snowdin town…”

“i guess i’ll go visit!” You thought to yourself…

“You are absolutely ridiculous…” said Chara

(The house and mock date is pretty much the same as in the original game so here are the options bud chose…sorry for not writing this part 3:

*bud wore the faded ribbon for the date

Did bud want to date paps from the very beginning?

*Yes (as a joke)

Did bud like his ‘cool’ outfit?

*Yes

Did bud open the gift?

*Yes

Did bud eat the Spaghetti?

*No)

You walked outside to Snowdin town where you decided to call Papyrus for the first time from your new phone number he gave you…*ring ring* “Hello? This is Papyrus’s hotful helpline…just describe your location and I will give you some hot tips!

Oh…your in Snowdin! The home of Papyrus…That’s the town Slogan, right? *end call* 

“Heya!” Said sans. “Wanna hang out?” He asked

💚Sure 

“Alright…let’s go i know a shortcut…”

…(gosh i don’t know how to write the pacing here…)

Chara pov: *And so in summary I followed the human through Snowdin town. As they solved Papyrus’s puzzles. Befriending monsters with some injuries between. And even enjoying the aroma of The former’s home cooking…you didn’t know how to feel about the human. Weren’t humans supposed to be cruel…? Why was he being so nice?…I watched him somehow spare Albert…and they even managed to have a heart to heart…I would never be able to do it…

(If this was a comic it would cut to the next panel with sans and bud talking)

“everyone has there own strengths and weaknesses…” said sans. Taking a bite of his burger. “But i feel like a goody two shoes…it’s kind of hard to feel like a good person…almost arrogant.” You said. “i get it…my bro goes through that sometimes…but ya need to love yourself more, after all you can’t give compassion without having it for yourself, can’t you?…” he said. “I guess so…” you smiled. “And if it makes you feel better…you are extremely needy” said sans. “But look on the bright side kiddo…you’ve made so many friends and you know…i’m really proud of you…c’mere pal…” he said offering a hug. “thanks sans” you said. “I gotta go now. I have lunch duty, but remember, keep at it…cuz someone out there really cares about you…” he said before leaving off. Lesser dog, whom you battled earlier licked your face before you walked out of Grillby’s.

You walked past where you fought Papyrus and approached waterfall…however there was a guard blocking the way…

“Human! You shall not pass through Waterfall!” Said Doge, the first guard standing in front of the entrance…”Undyne is not on duty and we shall not risk having your presence here!” Said Doggerel…”Now scram! If you don’t we will fight with kibble and sword!”

*Fight the guard dogs?

💚No    Yes

*You stepped back and walked the other path instead…

“Good human…now stay away…” said Doge…and so you walked until the Snowy scenery around you turned into spring as you walked toward grasslands…

“Bud…” said Chara. “Yea?” You answered…”I need to tell you something…” said Chara…” you listened… “I just want to tell you that when I was alive…I hated humanity, after everything they’ve done…why wouldn’t I?…but now…I feel bewildered…your putting on a goody act to feel loved…or maybe it is genuine…

“But either way I can’t imagine a human just being kind…” said Chara

(Insert bud listening empathetically and using listening cues uwu)

“But…what did they do…?” You asked. “…They’ve sealed monster’s underground…They started this war…They’ve made my own life hell…

“My parents…hated me…I knew I was worthless…I knew I belonged to them…a mere pawn in their hands…I couldn’t take it anymore…So one rainy day I climbed the mountain…to disappear…” said Chara.

“Oh my g-d…that’s so sad…” you said. “…” Chara once again said nothing…

They paused… 

(Chara thinking to themself…never mind…why was I so foolish? Just telling this human my sob story? Their not Asriel…Their not even my sister…(this’ll come in much later))

“I can read your thoughts too…as much as you pretend now…we both haven’t had the best experience with humanity…continued Chara

“…” you knew they were telling the truth…you didn’t say anything…

“But…I’m beginning to think…maybe your not so bad after all…” said Chara. “If I’m stuck with you anyway…I’ll help you throughout the underground…” said Chara…

“Let’s go on…” they said…

You walked past the door leading to grasslands and…

UNDERTALE: kindness

Original game by Toby fox and Temmie chang

#undertale #undertale: kindness #Undertale: kindness #sans #papyrus #asgore #asgore and bud #asgore x bud #ask asgore #ask bud #ask chara #chara #ask sans #ask papyrus #narrachara #undertale oc #toriel #flowey #undertale au #undertale anniversary #snowdin #nice cream guy #grillby #undertale x reader #undertale kindness #bud #asgore dreemurr #asgore x reader #undertale pacifist #pacifist route

[thedumbguywithaheart43]

A spark of hope chapter 16 story 1

Response

1. Everything was a blur for Twilight for a moment. She had started running back towards town. She hadn't even stopped to think an realize she could have just teleported.

2. But her adrenaline was spiking up until she slammed her door shut. She breathed heavily not realizing that she wasn't alone.

3."darling are you alright? Your mane is out of control!"she turned and recognize the voice of rarity. Along with the other members of Harmony with the exception of Fluttershy surrounding.

4. Despite the recognition she had trouble calming. Her breaths were quick an rapid. Her body shook.

5. Applejacks went up to her grabbing her in a tight hug in order to calm her."sugar cube it's all right we're here. Now tell us what happened."

6. A few minutes went by as twilight tryed to regain her thoughts. When she was finally able to breathe she retold her tail.

7."Me and Sparks were walking back from Fluttershy when he pinned me down."there was a awkward pause before rarity interjected with her own statement.

8."how bold of him~"despite her panic Twilights ears and cheeks went a deep shade of red."not like that rarity he pushed me out of the way of an arrow. I think someone tried to kill me."

9. This caught everyone's attention an sent everyone on alert. Rainbow in particular had her wings flared."we're the fuck is this bastard I'll make sure he can't walk!"

10. Twilight couldn't help but smile at how protective her friend was."there's no need last I saw Sparks...he..... I don't know how to explain it but he-"

11. Before she could finish explaining something large dropped at her feet. The assassin from the before was on the ground, unconscious, and smelling like burnt flesh.

12. Everyone went silent as they looked over to the form of Sparks standing over the body. Rainbow couldn't help but notice his wings were free having snapped out of their restraints.

13."what Twilight was going to say was that I went after the fucker. In my rush I missed the first attack I made sure I hit the second time."

14. His voice was cold as he spoke. But then rain began to slow. He then locked eyes with Twilight."and I might have also blew up a tree."

15. Obviously this left the girls confused unsure of what ment nor how he could have done that."what do you mean by that?"Applejack question.

16. Sparks took a deep sigh."I have a few I guess you can call them talents. I'm not really sure where they came from nor really how to explain them. But let's just say this guy deserved what he got."

17. There was a slow but understanding nod between everyone although he knew he was going to have to explain more to Twilight. In the meanwhile Applejack began to restrain the assassin with a rope.

18. Next few hours went by quickly as the guards and a few medical officers came in and collected the unconscious killer. Beyond that statements were collected but little was really said.

19. Even once was said between Sparks and Twilight. Both deciding to turn in early. Meanwhile Spike was busy hunting in the woods. Unaware to the current events.

20. Upon returning home he was quite surprised to see everyone had already turned in for the night. Yet despite that he had an feeling something was wrong.

21. He made his way to spark's tower an knocked knowing the Pegasus rarely slept. Sparks opened the door but remained mostly quiet.

22. In truth he was tired but he couldn't sleep. Even if the nightmares would allow him he was too worried about what Twilight was thinking.

23. Spike immediately noticed the somber expression he held. He place a calw upon his friends shoulder."Did something happen spark? You know you can tell me."

24. Spikes question and reassuring tone did wonders for his mental state. if there was someone he could open up to it would probably be him.

25. He sat down an placed a hoof back on spikes shoulder to let him know he was aware of him. Sparks then spoke in response.

26."today I stopped someone from hurting Twilight. I'm not going to go to in the details that's twilight's right not mine. But I have a lot of explaining to do."

27. Spike nodded understanding the serious tone. The Drake then pulled him into a hug."if you need help you know I'm here for you."

28. Sparks couldn't stop himself from smiling. He wasn't sure what was going to happen the next day. But as long as he kept his faith perhaps he could hold on.

29. Little was said after that with spikes simply explaining his training for the day. And with that he then left to rest himself And Sparks laid awake restless,scared,and hopeful. A very strange combination

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