#i feel like everyone has me at the furthest arms length

[defiantly-ageis]

.

#i feel like everyone has me at the furthest arms length #just waiting for me to not be a mess #but i cant #im broken at this point #im so scared of the future #its all rotting and falling apart and i cant fix it anymore

[espresso-lessdepresso]

i8

fluff

t/w: Distrust/Suspension, descriptive kiss and make out.

a/n:....so im alive and my exams didn't kill me ^^. but it did take me half a month to actually post something soooo~ anyways, I hope everyone is doing well and enjoy! This has been sitting in my drafts since November I feel like it could still be better but i don't know how T-T

Away from the chaos and social ramble of the Christmas gathering, Schlatt escaped into a faraway room on the second floor which happened to look like a small study. The walls adjacent to the door were lined with ceiling-length bookshelves, deep mahogany in colour, and in between one of the shelves was a fireplace. Dividing the room into two, there was an area for sitting, with a couch and coffee table in front of the fireplace, and there was an area for writing which had a large desk opposite to the couches. The balcony was visible through the sliding glass doors, it had upon it a thick layer of untouched snow.

It was easily brought to Schlatt's attention that even this room was not safe from holiday decoration; garlands lined the tops of the bookcases and alternating green and red stockings hung on the deck of the fireplace. The centre coffee table was decorated with for-show gift boxes wrapped in various colours. Even the scent of sugary Christmas treats and savoury snacks managed to sneak into the room. 

Quietness filled the room, for the most part, Schlatt could only hear the low chatter of everyone speaking downstairs since most of it was drowned.

Though the holiday season was joyous and everyone gathered happily to mingle with one another, Schlatt found himself standing alone in the room farthest from everyone. There seemed to be a recurrence of Schlatt's tight-lipped frown and furrowed brows. 

Standing turned into pacing.

And with pacing followed the feeling of uneasiness and doubt.

Schlatt was thinking, once again for the nth time this month, about you. 

Your sly flirting and paying special attention towards Schlatt had not gone unnoticed. Your attempts had planted a seed of curiosity in him which slowly but surely blossomed into fondness. He himself was pleasantly surprised by this. Flattered even to the point of catching himself smiling like an idiot at the prospect of what could happen and where it could lead. 

But these thoughts were short-lived as his mind too quickly was plagued with distrust.

Schlatt was deep in thought, trying to detangle his pasts from his present while staring out into the heavy snowfall. The wind carried the snow in fluffy white swirls. The door handle turned and he wasn't sure if you were the last person he wanted to see or the first. His thoughts were like a ball of yarn that fell prey to Jambo's paws. 

"Hey." 

Schlatt only nodded back at you, taking notice of the two mugs that you were holding and carefully walked in with. 

"Not liking the party?" You asked, handing him a red mug of hot chocolate. The mug was piled with marshmallows and he distinctly remembered that there was a shortage of marshmallows in the kitchen. You must've saved some for him or gone to the extent of going out and buying some. Schlatt's fingers ever so slightly grazed yours and you wanted to make it last as long as you could, taking a step towards him... but within a split second, he retrieved his hand back awkwardly. He averted his attention to the books on the shelf.  

Schlatt was wearing his usual clothes; a black sweatshirt with beige pants and white sneakers. He looked the furthest from having a festive spirit. His chestnut hair never failed to look soft, even when going through another phase of change.

Your gaze on him was gentle, done without realising it. Every time you looked at him, his features would captivate your attention; the way he’d fold his arms, furrowed his brows or the way his bottom lip would pout sometimes. Though it is impossible, you would admire him for hours if you could. Schlatt had somehow gotten used to it, the feeling of your eyes trained on him. He could almost always tell whenever you were looking at him. "What are you trying to do?" he asked, breaking the quiet.

Giving him a questioning look, your brows knit as you slightly shook your head. "What am I trying to do?" 

"You know," Schlatt turned, "Your advances. Your sudden change in behaviour and your particular attention to me." 

"Are they… unwelcomed?" 

His face felt warm at the question. Schlatt huffed out in what seemed to be annoyance, "And that. All that endless teasing or whatever it is."

"I thought I was a bit more subtle with it but I guess..." You said more to yourself than him, shrugging in slight embarrassment. You placed your mug of hot chocolate down on the table and took a step closer to him. With the balcony to your side, you felt the slight chill of the weather passing through the glass doors. "So? Are you going to do anything with that information?" 

The small curl of your lips made Schlatt's eyes narrow. The gaze they held- or rather the glare, was broken for a split second, looking away from you to the side. When his eyes drew back, you first thought that you saw anger in them but you quickly found it to be frustration. Indecisiveness even. "A fling? Like, is that what you're looking for?

"I'm actually not." You said, taken aback by his words. But not shaken. Have your actions not written everything out by now? You leaned on the glass door with your shoulder, the cold pressing through your sweater. "You think I'm a fling type of person?" 

Schlatt again looked at you, between your eyes from left to right and back. Really searching for something. "I'm just...being careful." 

"I'm looking for a lot more than just a fling." Sighing, you felt dejected. "I was." You tried to approach him slowly and revealed your likeness by one small fraction at a time. But for whatever reason, his walls seemed to only stand taller and guarded heavily. Looking down, your hope was slipping. With now a cold shoulder, you leaned off of the door to leave the room as well as Schlatt. 

But catching you by surprise, Schlatt stepped in front of you. Not only did he block your path to the door but he had you standing between the glass door and himself, leaving as little as a few inches between you two. Schlatt raised one hand towards you and instinctively you took another step back and bumped into the glass. His fingers brushed against your hair as he plucked something out of it.

The absolute closeness and the tension of it had your nerves. Be it the way he looked at you or the pent-up longing you had harboured for him, words escaped your lips before you could stop them. "My feelings for you are genuine Schlatt. They," Your heart was beating up your throat "... are as exactly as I've shown them." 

Held between his index finger and thumb was a red berry. You get caught off guard by it. Schlatt looked up and you followed his gaze. There were green branches, adorning long thin leaves and ruby red berries. Tied to the frame of the balcony door by a shimmering red ribbon was a small bouquet of mistletoe.

Without taking your eyes away from the berry caught between his fingers, you spoke, "Do I still have to say more?"

Your anticipation silenced and the distance between the two of you finally closed. His lips on yours were gentle. They barely even pressed down on yours. The timidness showed through as his hands remained where they were, even though they wanted to lace with yours or hang around your waist. It was as though he was testing the waters- making sure you were okay with this. Making sure he was okay with this. Schlatt looked for signs of discomfort, whether you wanted to stop, step back, or perhaps rethink your likeness of him. But you didn't. Eyes closed and hand moving to his chest on its own accord. You kissed him back, just as gently as he did.

Soft.

His lips were unusually soft. Yes you had imagined that they would be so but to actually feel them for the first time, your mind had stopped working. All you would focus on was the pressure of him on you. 

Schlatt, having initiated the kiss first, was also the first to pull away. His habit of staring at you- into you, did not seem to cease. Looking into your eyes, looking for something- anything that could possibly hint or prove his suspicions to be true. But staring back at him was just you. You and your dilated pupils drawn on him showed only trust and honest intentions. 

“If you try anything-” Schatt started.

“-Nothing you wouldn’t like.” your small voice retorted before he could finish. Your teasing once again brought out the redness of his face, along with your own this time. In a swift motion, Schlatt’s hand moved to flatten against the door with a thud. With his hand right next to your head, you felt even more enclosed than before. You had a way of getting on his nerves, without even trying

There was another beat of silence that filled the room. Schlatt remained in the same position, and so did you. Standing in each other's space, you were almost sharing the same breath. You had not realised but this single small kiss made your chest heave. You continued to heaven as you stared into Schlatt’s eyes. With such closeness, you swore they were a type of brown you had never seen. Unique and so deep, you felt being pulled into them.

Just then, slicing into the thick silence, a voice called out from you. One of your friends was looking for you and you could hear their footsteps in the hallway from inside the room. They were looking for you to help them with something.

Your attention diverted, you were about to call back to the voice, saying that you’ll be there just in a minute. But before you could do so, your lips were drawn and sealed with Schlatt’s. Again. What was different this time was that he did not hold back. That timidness he showed before had gone… It was replaced with some sort of fire.

The voice drifted away.

Schlatt pulled at you. Your voice of surprise was muffled by the way he kissed you. Your noses pressed into each other's faces. Taking another step forward, Schlatt had your back pressed on the glass. A shiver crawled up your back and you pushed away from it, in turn pressing into Schlatt’s broad figure. The hand beside your head cupped your face and his other hand finally got to hang on your waist. Your own hands were sitting on his shoulder and the nape of his neck. The way he led the kiss showed no signs of timidness. He led it with intention, lacking no passion.

A sort of fire kindled within him. 

The heavy snowfall settled and the wind ceased to howl. Outside, past the glass doors of the balcony, the night sky was sprinkled with stars and the ground below, a blanket of white snow layed untouched. The weather would continue to be crisp and cold, but with what you ignited within Schlatt, you would be kept warm throughout your winter.

++++++

Engage and let me know if/how you like the writing. Reblogging/Sharing is much appreciated.

masterlist

#jschlatt #schlatt #jschlatt fanfic #jschlatt fanfiction #schlattfanfic #schlatt fanfiction #jschlatt fluff #schlatt fluff #jschlatt imagine #schlatt imagine #jschlatt x reader #schlatt x reader

[thomasshelbydrabbles]

The Spy (5/?)

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Adeline Taylor (OC)

Warnings: period typical sexism, series typical violence, period typical views of PTSD, period typical racism, blood and gore, angst, sexual situations, infertility, loss of child

Summary: Adeline is unprepared to return to Birmingham, but anything is better than France.

**Note: This is a series, so you should read The School Teacher and The Messenger first if you want to understand everything.*

Word Count: 2740

Author’s Note: I have no idea why this chapter took so long, but eeeep!! Okay, here’s one you’ve been waiting for.

Calais, 1924

Another reason to hate fucking France, not that she needed one, stood a couple of feet away from her. Sidney it seemed, couldn’t help himself and allowed his eyes to travel the length of her, lingering on her tits and her eyes. Adeline hadn’t taken her eyes off the woman either, but unlike Sidney, fucking her was the furthest thing from her mind. Fucking Russians. At least she wouldn’t feel bad about killing this one. Although, it would have to wait. Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna was a favored niece of Grand Duke Leon Petrovich Romanov and her untimely death would cause more problems than Adeline could deal with. Fucking Russians. 

“I’m prepared to seduce him, if that is what is required to gain his compliance.” 

Adeline couldn’t have held in her laugh if there’d been a gun pointed to her face. She ignored the irate glare Sidney shot her because the woman’s statement was ludicrous. Oh, she knew this woman with her manicured nails, seductive hip sway, and diamond crusted neck could very likely seduce Thomas Shelby - at least as far as getting him naked and fucking her. As to gaining his compliance? Well. That was another matter entirely.

“Sorry, Princess,” Adeline managed between laughs. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a cigarette, lighting it before looking back up at Tatiana. “It’s just such a terrible idea, and we’d been told you Russian’s had this whole venture planned so precisely that one deviation could mean death.” 

“According to my uncle, seducing Thomas will give us an advantage.” 

Adeline nodded her head. “Aye. I’m sure that’s exactly what your uncle told you, and for many men, such a ploy would be quite successful. You are a beautiful woman willing to spread her knees for a cause - ”

“Our survival - ”

“Of course. Survival.” Adeline pulled a lungful of nicotine into her lungs. “I’m no blushing virgin, Princess, and it’s of little concern to me whose cock you have inside you, but if it’s Mister Shelby’s compliance you’re seeking, I’d use something other than your cunt.” 

“You’re quite direct.” 

Sidney glared at Adeline. “Too direct.” 

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not wrong.”��

“You know Mister Shelby,” Tatiana stated as though confirming something for herself. “How would you approach him?” 

“You’re ill equipped for my methods, Princess. Much to soft, too delicate.” 

“I am Russian.” 

Adeline’s eyes narrowed. “Exactly.” 

“Ladies,” Sidney interjected, weariness in his voice. “We still have time before we depart for Birmingham. Let us enjoy the evening. We can devise a strategy tomorrow when everyone has a cooler head.” 

She felt the glare sent in her direction. Adeline shrugged her shoulder. “Whatever you say, Sidney.”

“Yes. I am tired from the journey, and have acted in poor taste. I’m sure we will all have better temperaments tomorrow once we’ve rested,” Tatiana said, voice pitched in a meek, apologetic tone. 

For all that she wanted to hate her, and part of her did, Adeline had to admit the princess was good. Just enough of an apology to sound good, but not enough to assume blame for the interactions. Adeline smirked at the woman as she ground the stub of her cigarette beneath her shoe. 

Arm low around her waist, Sidney led Adeline into the manor house. As she prepared to push him away, Adeline noticed a gleam of understanding enter Tatiana’s eye. Damn. Plastering a smile on her face, she pushed herself ever so slightly closer to Sidney, rested her hand against his chest, thumb absently stroking the material of his vest. Above her, Sidney’s head shifted, no doubt a look of quickly masked confusion on his face. Thankfully, he didn’t call her out on her strange behavior. As she’d hoped, he allowed himself to indulge in her softness. For the many mysteries surrounding Sidney, she could always count on him to take advantage of such moments. His lips pressed a tender kiss to the crown of her head while his hand shifted up enough to graze the underside of her breast. She allowed a small intake of breath at the contact. Lowering her eyes as though embarrassed, she glanced around. Tatiana’s face had a pinched, sour sort of look to it. Good. A small, but genuine, smile curled her lips. 

“Whatever game you’re playing with the Duchess,” Sidney began as the door to their room closed behind him. “Stop.”

Adeline pulled herself from his arm.

“She’s reckless and dangerous.” 

“Qualities I’d assumed you’d admire.”

“Aye, I do, but not when they’re set against us.”

Sidney smiled as he poured them each a glass of whiskey. “Us?”

Adeline scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself. Right now you’re the lesser of all evils, which you should take as quite the compliment. I don’t know exactly how you embroiled yourself so spectacularly in this nightmare, but thanks ever so much for dragging me into it. While you’re strategizing with the princess I’ll be working out a plan to get us out alive, because as loath as I am to say these words out loud, you’re my best hope right now.” 

He held the glass out to her. She took it with a frown and knocked back its contents. “Damnit, Sidney.” 

 Birmingham, Two Weeks Later

Adeline shadowed her eyes with her hand, blocking the midday sun from her face. At least, as much sun as England permitted in Birmingham. The stone building in front of her stood tall, imposing. Water tracks in the brick told its age. She wanted to reach out her hand, trace the path, feel the water against her fingertips. As a child, her mother had regaled her with the strength of men like Paul and Silas, who sang praises to their God after being flogged and thrown into prison in Philippi. But, her favorite story had been from the Old Testament. The three men were thrown in the fires for refusing to bow to a gilded statue of King Nebuchadnezzar. Even as a child, she appreciated the backbone it took to defy a king, knowing you’d die for it. She’d wondered if when she had occasion to stand before a king, the blaze of a fire behind her - would she be brave like those three? Defy the king, and walk into the fire? 

Two men stood at the gated entrance. One from Scotland Yard, a hard face and bald head. The other a man of the cloth. Glazing up at the priest, Adeline knew she’d burn before debasing herself before someone as contemptible as him simply because of a title. Titles changed. Kings died. And, if what her mother told her about the bible was accurate, even priests would be judged. Adeline’s lip curled as she took stock of him. From the way the robes swished around his ankles, to the way the hat sat upon his head, she hated him. Another thing she blamed her mother for. 

“Is he afraid?” the priest asked. 

The man from Scotland Yard shook his head. “No.”

Nodding, the priest turned to face Sidney and Adeline.

“You’ve been sent to ensure there are no more…mistakes.”

“I’ve found that killing traitors is hardly ever a mistake,” Sidney offered. 

“The distinguished men of Section D are unaccustomed to deviations from their plans.”

Adeline rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. This one made the hairs on her arms stand on end. She knew a snake in the grass when she saw one.

“In that case, Father Hughes,” Sidney said as he removed an invisible piece of lint from his jacket, “The distinguished men of Section D should do the work themselves.” 

“They're the hand that guides. Visionaries.” 

Adeline scoffed, but bit it back when Father Hughes turned his dark gaze on her. She offered him a biting smile. Oh how she wanted to shove a blade deep into his stomach. Some preferred the heart, but Adeline figured a man this corrupt might be contagious, best go for the stomach. Or the groin. A curiously pleasant grin spread across her face as she wondered what it would be like for him. Would he remain conscious long enough to see the whole penis removed from his body? 

“What has you so amused, my dear?” Sidney whispered against her neck, lips brushing the shell of her ear. 

Damn him. She shuddered as a pleasurable tingle raced through her body. Still. 

Turning her face to his, their noses glancing against each other as she whispered in his ear. “I’m having a bit of a wager with myself. I want to know if the pompous priest would remain conscious long enough to see his cock removed from his body and shoved down his throat.” 

She could feel the way her words affected Sidney. His hand gripped her hip tightly, fingers pressing against her flesh. “Even when you hate me, you say the sweetest things to me.” 

He pressed a tender kiss to the hollow below her ear as they drew apart from each other. She blinked. For a moment, she was back in France and more than a little overwhelmed by the man standing in front of her. Damn his charm. Damn the way his darkness caressed her own, teased it - fed it. 

“He’s just in here, sir,” the man from Scotland Yard said with a gesture towards the door. 

Breaking away from Sidney, Adeline noted how the copper from the most feared police force in the country trembled around this priest, how sweat beaded his brow. Just as she’d always thought - cowards with more ill-gained authority than sense.  

“Yes, yes,” Father Hughes snapped. “You’re free to leave. I have all I need from you. There’s more to be discussed before we address Mr. Shelby and his errant ways.” 

Adeline felt the blood drain from her face, and for possibly the first time in her life felt thankful that Sidney still had his arm around her because without it she knew she would’ve slid straight to the ground. 

“That’s right,” Father Hughes said, a slow smile on his face. “The whore knows the gangster. I, of course, feel this is an unwise decision, but as ever, I am the humble emissary for those of a higher purpose.” 

Sidney’s fingers dug into her, no doubt leaving bruises, but it kept her from acting foolish and stabbing Father Hughes in the eye with the key she gripped in her hand. Oh how the blood would flow, the soft pop of his eye as she pushed the tip of the key in deeper and deeper. Yes. Eyes first, like a good Blinder. The cock could wait.   

“It is Churchill’s belief that their prior dalliance will be a better way to ensure compliance, and avoid more…mistakes. The carrot - ” Sidney pointed to Adeline. “And the stick.” He pointed to Father Hughes. 

Bait. She’d been reduced to bait. Of course, she had no idea if she would be appropriate bait for this particular trap. Two years had passed since she’d laid eyes on Thomas Shelby, and not a word between them since. And, the man wasn’t known for being forgiving. Regardless of the greeting she’d receive, it didn’t make much sense though because other than Thomas Shelby, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill any of the men involved in this idiotic Russian chess game. There had to be more to this plan, something she couldn't see. But, Thomas, who held what remained of her heart, waited for her inside that prison. Whatever moves Section D intended to make would reveal themselves in time. Wait. Listen. Alfie. She’d see Alfie again soon. 

Distracted by her thoughts, she didn’t see the blow coming. She felt it though. Understood the way gravity worked as she impacted the ground. Bringing a hand up to her face, she felt the blood dripping from the cut on her cheek, knew it was swelling. The boot to her stomach had the air leaving her lungs as she sucked in a breath. 

“For a whore, she’s a quiet one,” Father Hughes said. “Most would have at least cried out once, offered a prayer.” 

Adeline spat blood from her mouth. “For your sake, I hope your faith is stronger than your punch. You’ll get no satisfaction from me, priest.” 

“She’s stubborn, but the blood and bruises will do the work we need,” Sidney said, stepping between them. 

He held out a hand to Adeline. Wary eyes, she took it and stumbled to her feet. Faster than she would have anticipated for a man of the cloth, Father Hughes reached forward and tore the sleeve from Adeline’s dress. Sidney secured her hands behind her back, and bound them with rope while Father Hughes used her own dress to gag her. Instinctively, she thrashed, feeling the rope bite into the skin around her wrists. She glared up at Father Hughes; she’d enjoy killing him. 

“I’ll speak with Mr. Shelby alone first,” Father Hughes said as he hauled Adeline inside the prison. “I’ll call for you when it’s time to bring her to see him. I’m sure they’ve been long awaiting their reunion.” 

She’d start with his toes, Adeline decided. Tear the toenails from his feet before lifting the skin and peeling it like a grape. He wasn’t human, so what need did he have of his mortal flesh? In a way, she’d be doing him a favor. Bringing him closer to his God by allowing him to suffer. She’d be the true test of his piety.  

Feeling herself passed to Sidney made her feel like a sack of potatoes, and about as useful. At least Sidney handled her with a bit more care. Not that she wanted to be grateful to him, but she’d been working on not lying to herself. Sidney only appreciated violence against her when it was directed by his hand. He’d be tender with her now, if only to demonstrate the safety he offered. As though she needed the reminder. Bastard. 

She stood silently with Sidney as Father Hughes and a large doberman went into the cell. Smiling around the gag, she wondered at the priest’s thinking. Didn’t he know anything about the Shelby's, about Thomas? As though a dog would serve to intimidate him. Straining her ear, she tried to pick up the conversation, but to no avail. The stone walls kept the noise contained, and Father Hughes undoubtedly kept his voice quiet on purpose. 

“Don’t do anything foolish, Arke,” Sidney warned. “Play your part and I’ll be able to keep you safe. These are dangerous men.” 

Adeline rolled her eyes. She’d been surrounded by dangerous men for so long now it had become her new normal. Many years had passed since she’d gone more than a month without someone’s blood on her hands. 

The door opened on squeaky hinges, and Father Hughes’ voice carried out to the hallway.

“It’s true. It’s true we do need you alive.” 

Adeline could hear the disappointment in his tone, and smiled around the gag in her mouth. 

With rough hands, now that there was a show to put on, Sidney yanked Adeline down the hallway and shoved her in front of him. Arms bound behind her, she stumbled, only to be caught and pulled upright by Father Hughes. She growled around the gag, imagined spitting into his smug face. Even knowing he’d simply wipe it away before slapping her. Her grin felt feral. It would be worth it. 

“We can reach anyone,” he said. His hand landed on her head, petting through her hair before fisting it in his hand and yanking her head back sharply. Another smile spread across her face as she watched Father Hughes’ jaw tighten. If he expected a damsel in distress reaction, he should have hired an actress. 

Without her permission, her eyes immediately sought Tommy’s. 

Everything stopped.

The only sound was her racing heart, the blood pumping through her veins. 

His eyes assessed her quickly. Lingering on the bruise on her face, tracking the blood. She saw his jaw tense, watched the way his eyes darkened. 

Tommy looked up at Father Hughes, a single eyebrow raised. 

“Don’t be coy, Mister Shelby,” Father Hughes said as he shoved Adeline to her knees. “We know this woman is your fiancée. Comply with each and every one of my orders without question or deviation, and she’ll remain safe. Do well, and I’ll see she’s returned to you when the job is completed.” 

Tommy leaned back, a small bitter smile on his face. “See, that’s where you’ve made your mistake. I ‘ave no fiancée.”

Part 6

Master List

Tag List: @stevie75  @muhahaha303  @highgardenrosexx @mootiemoose​ @polishcrazyone​

#peaky blinders #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fanfiction #tommy shelby #thomas shelby #tommy shelby x oc #thomas shelby x oc

[watchyourbluesturngolden]

all this time

omg so i have not written in forever but then the bestie @goldensonlyangel did a writing challenge (CONGRATS ON 800!!!!!!!!!) and i got inspired so here we are :) I know it's not super long but i like how it turned out!!!

as always, if you don't like the dress i linked, just imagine something else! that's just the visual I had in mind :)

warnings: none

word count: 1.8k

"Macy, I don't have anything to wear," you sighed, holding the phone between your ear and shoulder as you poured a bowl of cereal. "You can borrow one of mine! Or i will literally buy you one. I'll do whatever it takes, you have to come!" "Why?" You whined. "I always feel so awkward. You know I love you, but everyone couples off and it's just weird." "But Harry's going to be there," she crooned, and you had never been more grateful that she couldn't see your face. Your face that was currently flaming hot at just the mention of him.

"I don't care," you lied. "He clearly doesn't like me, so I don't even want to try anymore." "You're wrong," she insisted. "We can all tell he has the biggest crush on you." "I don't think so," you said, even though your heart was fluttering at the idea. "Okay, I'll come. But you have to go shopping with me." "Of course!" She exclaimed. "Can we go right now?" "Give me an hour, and then I'll come pick you up."

-----

"How about this?" Macy asked, holding up the shortest dress you had ever seen. "That's basically just a shirt," you rolled your eyes. "Harry would love it," she grinned. "Harry won't care, because he doesn't like me," you said, trying to keep your voice level. You told yourself a long time ago that there was no point in getting your hopes up about him. You could never have him, so why hurt your own feelings? She shook her head, but seemed to get the hint that she should drop it for now. She pulled another dress off the rack, this time one that was much more your style. Your eyes lit up at her selection. "I like that one," you nodded. "I think it would look really good."

-----

"You look amazing!" She beamed, pulling you out of the changing room to stand in front of the full length mirrors. You couldn't help the smile that grew on your lips as you examined yourself in the mirror. "I do," you agreed. "Harry- I mean, everyone's going to love it," she said, blushing slightly at her slip up. You had to give her credit: she didn't give up easily.

-----

"You're here!!!" Macy screamed, rushing to the door and pulling you into a hug. "Of course I'm here!" you said, trying to match her energy. It wasn't an easy task; she had clearly had quite a few drinks tonight. She pulled away, holding you at arm's length to inspect your dress. "And you look amazing," she grinned. "Who helped you pick out that dress???" You smiled, shaking your head lightly. "I need a drink," you said, pulling back a bit more. "Of course!" she chirped. "Everything's set up in the kitchen. If you need anything else just find me!" Then she was off, pushing through the small crowd of people and right into the middle of the living room turned dance floor. You made your way to the kitchen, deciding you were much too sober to join her. You pushed open the door, hoping you would maybe see Bella, or Charlie, or any of the other girls you hadn't had the chance to catch up with lately. Instead, you ran directly into a broad chest belonging to none other than Harry, the man you'd had an unrequited crush on for years. "Oh- I'm so sorry!" you rushed out, grasping at the front of his shirt to steady yourself. He gasped slightly, reflexively gripping onto your arms to keep you from toppling over. "You alright?" he asked with a small smile. "I'm fine," you said, keeping your eyes on his chest as your face heated up to an almost painful degree. "Sure?" He asked one more time, ducking his head to meet your eyes. "I'm good," you said with a nervous laugh. "You can, um-" you glanced down to where his hands were still on your arms. "Oh!" He exclaimed, eyes going wide as he realized he was still holding onto you. "Sorry," he said, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks as he stepped back. "No, it's okay," you said quickly, not wanting him to feel bad. "I'm just- I'm gonna get a drink." He laughed, running a ringed hand through his hair. "Good idea. I think I need one too." He moved to stand next to you as you browsed the large selection of alcohol on Macy's table. "I think she might have a problem," you joked. "We might need to stage an intervention," he nodded very seriously before his face broke into a smile. "But," you said, reaching for a bottle of tequila, "She keeps us stocked for parties, so I can't bring myself to care too much." "Agreed," he grinned, reaching for the vodka. There were a few moments of silence as the two of you poured your drinks, and then Harry spoke again. "You look lovely tonight." His voice was soft, and he sounded almost nervous. "Thank you," you smiled. "I'll be honest, I didn't really want to come. Macy said I had to." "For once, I'm glad she's so pushy," he laughed lightly. "If she wasn't, I wouldn't have gotten to see you." Your heart sped up at his words, and it took you a second to fully process what he had just said. "I'm glad too," you said softly. "Why, um..." He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Why didn't you want to come?" "It's always just a little weird, you know?" you said, keeping your eyes on the drink in your hand. "Everyone pairs off by the end of the night and I kind of feel like a... seventeenth wheel." "I know what you mean," he nodded. "Like, I'm happy all our friends have found love, or whatever, but I also hate them juuuust a little bit." He pinched his fingers close together, squinting at you through the tiny gap. "Just this much." "Well, I'm glad it's only that much," you laughed. "But wait, since when are you not part of a couple? I thought you were with Ellie?" "No, we were never really together," he said, looking down at his drink as you had earlier. "I mean, I liked her, but apparently she didn't feel the same. She went off with Paul." "Oh," you said quietly, not sure how to respond to that. "Paul. What a skank." "Such a skank," he agreed, breaking into a laugh again. The warm feeling in your chest was probably partly from the alcohol, but you knew it was mostly Harry. Seeing him so happy, being the one who made him laugh... there was no better feeling. The two of you lapsed into a comfortable silence again,

sipping on your drinks every so often. By the time you finished, the music from the other room had quieted considerably. It was now a slow song, and you had no doubt that when you left the safety of the kitchen, you would find couples wrapped up in each other, too in love to care about anyone else. Just the idea of it was enough to kill your slight buzz, and you sighed involuntarily. Harry didn't appear to notice. He seemed to be deep in his own head, thinking about something. Before you got the courage to ask him what was on his mind, he stood up straighter and cleared his throat. "Y/N... can I have this dance?" He held out one hand to you, the other sweeping behind his back in a formal gesture. You giggled at his attempt to act prim and proper, when you both knew that was the furthest thing from his real personality. "I would be delighted," you said, copying his tone as you put your hand in his. He led you out of the kitchen and onto the makeshift dance floor. Just as you had imagined, most of your friends were with their significant others, swaying slowly to the soft music. Harry pulled you close, resting his free hand on your waist, his fingertips brushing the skin of your back. You shivered at the feeling, reaching your other hand up to rest on his shoulder. "You know... I had a dream about you last night," he said, continuing to sway the two of you in a slow circle. "Oh yeah? What about?" He hesitated for a minute, looking into your eyes. "It was just like this," he said quietly. "Only better." "How was it better?" Your voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "Because you were mine," he breathed. "I finally got my head out of my ass and asked you to be mine." You could barely breathe at this point. Your heart was pounding out of your chest, and you were sure harry could feel it from where his hand rested on your side. He didn't say anything though, he just keep his eyes on yours. "You want... you want me to be yours?" You asked, voice shaking slightly. "Would you?" He seemed just as nervous as you were. "I- yeah," you nodded, still staring at him. "I would." He breathed a sigh of relief. "I really like you," he admitted. "I have for a long time." "You have?" you asked in disbelief. "I've liked you for a long time." "Really?" He seemed just as surprised as you were. "We're really stupid, aren't we?" You laughed, dropping your head against his chest as you nodded. "We are." You felt him inhale deeply, and then his fingers were brushing your jaw, tilting your face back up to look at him. "Can I kiss you?" he asked softly, gaze flitting down to your lips before he met your eyes again. "Yes, you can," you said breathlessly. "Please?" He smiled, leaning closer and pressing his lips against your cheek. You nearly melted at the contact, brain short circuiting at the realization that Harry, the man you had loved for so long, felt the same way about you, and was standing here in your arms, about to kiss you. His lips lingered against your skin for a few seconds before he pulled away slightly. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this," he sighed, giving you no more time to think about it before his lips were on yours. Your eyes slipped closed as his hand moved to your back, pulling you closer to him. He was gentle, his lips moving softly against yours as you pressed your fingers into his shoulder. He pulled back after a few seconds, resting his forehead against yours with a breathless laugh. "Can't believe i waited so long to do that," he sighed. "Neither can I," you said softly, turning your head slightly to kiss his cheek. "I'm glad you finally went for it." "Me too."

#harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles x reader fanfiction #harry styles/reader fanfiction #harrystylesxyou #harry styles x you fanfiction #harrystylesxreader #harry styles/reader #harry styles/you #harry styles x you #harry fanfiction #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles/you fanfiction #goldens800fics

[starshipsofstarlord]

Omg thank you so much for writing my request for tom :) Can I ask for a part two where you try not to read the comments, but end up doing so, and most are good, so it's fine. Until you post a picture of you on your account, and tom's fans start calling you names, and tom's so tired of all that happening that he posts on his account a whole paragraph about how his personal life it's no one's business?

Posted

This is part two, find the first part here

Summary | previously Tom had accidentally posted a picture of the two of you, exposing your relationship. And so, you decide to purposely do the same on your Instagram, though the response is much different than what his post had received.

Warnings | hate comments, some angst, swear and demeaning words

Quick link to my masterlist, if you’re interested in reading more of my crap 😬

Tom was asleep beside you, his head tucked into the crook of your neck, you were able to feel his gentle, slumbering breathing against your skin, and it caused goose bumps to prickle upon the outer layer of your flesh.

The two of you had vastly fallen asleep upon the couch, and your phone was on the coffee table, and to say that you were itchy to reach for it was an understatement. There would be comments on the picture that Tom accidentally put online, and you were hungry to see them, whilst simultaneously nervous.

Tom was a big actor, known for his presence in the marvel cinematic universe upon many other projects, and some of his fans, whilst proven during Comic-Con panels, were borderline crazy. They’d snap if they even so much as saw something that they didn’t like, and this time, you would be on the receiving end of it.

Being motionlessly captured, with your face on show, was certain to bring much attention. You too were within the acting department, but there had been no correlation between the pair of you until now, most of the world weren’t even aware that you knew each other. And not to mention, your span of reaching an audience was smaller, although, certainly not non existent.

You had reprised fame during your appearance on Modern Family, as the friendly neighbour of Phil and Claire, and a classmate of their eldest daughter, and not to mention Luke was crushing hard on the character you played, though, with that said, your character laughed his efforts off due to the age difference, yet still found his pining weird and often uncomfortable.

Another role that you were becoming known for was your character in Netflix’s Irregulars, where you met Harrison Osterfield, Tom’s best friend. Through filming the show, you were introduced to the Spider-Man actor, and the pair of you had hit it off almost instantly, if you didn’t include Tom keeping his amorous distance, wary just in case there was something going on between you and your mutual friend. To his relief, there wasn’t.

And thus, when he received that confirmation, he was far more forward, yet respectful at the same time with his intentions. That was how you had ended up here, as he half used you as a pillow, his arms wrapped around his ribs, and his soft peaceful snores filling the void in the air.

Stretching your arm at its furthest length, your fingertips wrestled with the side of your phone, padding it closer to yourself, so that you could slide it across the small living room table, and closer to yourself. You were victorious in your efforts, and so on you unlocked your screen, going to your camera app, and leaning sideways so that you could snap a few pictures of your predicament with your loving and sweet boyfriend.

Looking at the images that you had captured, a smile arose upon your face; you truly did love this man, and you wanted the whole world to know how much you adored him. You wanted them to see that you cared about him, and that he was in good hands with you, to cool off any of his fans that were processing their hurt feelings for seeing Tom with another woman, show him that he was getting the love that he deserved.

Extreme courage coursed through your veins, focusing within your fingertips as you opened insta, gulping as you readied to post the image. There was no editing required, it was perfect just like him. And so, the caption was something to think about, you didn’t want to make it too obvious that you were dating as the online community already assumed, the priority was to show them that you cared about him.

‘He’s taking a nap, and crushing my hip a little, but I don’t mind 😌’ you typed, your finger hovering over the post button as you chewed your lip. It was easy to press your digit down, and so, taking a breath, you did just that, encouraged by the previous and kind comments on Tom’s earlier post.

Within a matter of minutes, your phone was blowing up, and you were too tempted not to glance at the growing comment section. There were various accounts, some supporting your confidence to show such a domestic version of yourself with Tom, you assumed that they were your followers, and the ones that weren’t so light hearted were those that intently watched anything on the media that involved Tom.

‘He’s too good looking for her, she should be dating someone within her league. Tom is clearly taking pity on this hoe.’

‘Aw look at him, and ew, look at the state of her. He could do sm better 😔’

‘Why doesn’t she look like his exes, they were hot af, and now he’s with some rando that is after his fame and money. Maybe she should just take better roles if she wants to get noticed so bad.’

Your eyes kept reeling through the intentionally hateful words that continued to come through beneath the image. Tears began to fall from your eyes as you tried to stifle the movements and the sound of your gentle sobbing, as to not wake Tom. Quickly, your fingers raced through the social media, and you, knowing that there would still be presence of the image somewhere online, you deleted it, muting notifications and shuffled back into Tom.

The man stirred, tugging you closer by your waist, pressing a kiss to your locks as he awoke. He noticed however the way that you refused to face him, and so he rolled you over with a gentle grip on your shoulder, frowning when he saw the recognisable redness beneath your eyes, and the sad expression floating within your eyes.

“Princess, what’s going on?” He wiped his thumb beneath your bottom lashes, collecting your tears as he worriedly looked down at you. His brown eyes searched every inch of your face for an idea, but found nothing but your broken hearted expression.

“It’s nothing Tommy.” You tried and failed to convince the man, wincing half heartedly as he sat back on his thighs, gripping your hips so that he could pull you up with him, giving him a clearer view of your face. It was clear that he did not believe you, and he hummed, trying to make you give in. Eventually, after much concerned staring, you gave in, slumping your shoulders as you tucked your arms around the back of his neck. “I posted a picture of us, the response wasn’t great.”

Instantly, Tom’s brows uplifted, surprised by your action, though he had a strong inkling of a feeling that the reaction that you had earned was not complimentary. These were not tears of joy, instead they were stricken rivers of anguish and insecurity running down the length of your face.

“Let me see.” He spoke, softly to you, but his intents towards defending you strong. You shook your head lightly, tracing circles upon his knees as you gulped, flickering your guilty gaze up to his watchful eyes.

“I deleted it. I just couldn’t deal with knowing that the longer that it was up, the more hate would be directed at me. I’m sorry.” Tom grasped your face by your tense jaw, his fingers stroking your chin as he sadly stared at you.

“Never be sorry. Now send me the picture you used so that I can give everyone a piece of my mind.” Reaching for your phone, you sent the image to him, and in a second his device pinged, revealing that it had successfully sent to him.

“Cute.” He described the picture, his hands furiously typing away on his phone, his constant unsettling of his rabidly moving fingers drawing anxiousness from you. “And some.” Tom finally breathed, closing his phone as you went to his account, checking what he had posted publicly.

‘This may concern some people, who keep sticking their noses in where it does not involve them. I appreciate you all, the support, the love, everything. But one thing that I do not stand for is people coming at my girlfriend just because they don’t approve of our relationship. If you check mate, I never asked for your opinion, I love y/n, and some online hate, that needs to stop otherwise you are not someone I want to be calling themselves a fan of me, needs to stop. It makes no one happy or feel healthy with spreading such toxicity around the internet, if you don’t like something, then keep your blood mouths shut, this has nothing to do with you, it is just me and my girlfriend. I’d think you’d want me to be happy, because I want the same for all of you, so can people please give my partner some respect, she’s done nothing wrong but bravely chose to reach out to you all, and she had that spat back in her face. It’s not on, and I want this to stop now.’

“Tom...” you were shocked by the paragraph, it came across as aggressive, and very over protective. His action, that could affect how he was cried by people that put him on a pedestal, and that made you feel guilty that he had reached out to them in such a way.

“It’s okay baby, I’d do anything for you, and you know that. No one messes with my girl.” He put his arm around your shoulders as he pulled you close placing a kiss upon your forehead. Not only was he your boyfriend, but he was your protector, your knight on a shining cell phone.

#tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland one shot #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you #tom holland reader insert #tom x reader #tom imagine #marvel actors x reader #mcu actors x reader #imagines #imagine #xreader

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

My dearest bouncey! I have a prompt for you if you like: Witchers as a 90s/2000s boyband 😂🤷‍♀️💖💖💖

Ellie, darling, this started as 500 words and turned into like 3.2k words and also a piece of art so... thank you so much. also shout out to my amazing art pal @mawbwehownets for the little comic!!

this contains lots of 90′s/early 2000′s nostalgia so there is also that

tw: hornyish, smooching, perilous music video situations (corny)

---

“Do I have to?” Geralt groans, letting his forehead thud down against the linoleum surface of their tour bus’s shitty dining table.

“Yes,” Vesemir says. His tone leaves no room for argument or whining. “But what if I let you pick the winner personally?”

“There have to be like fifteen thousand letters to go through! How will I manage that in less than two days?”

“There were a few more than fifteen thousand applications, Geralt. There were probably closer to five hundred thousand.”

Lambert wolf whistles and Aiden claps.

Geralt grimaces and keeps his face hidden against the table, releasing a slightly muffled: “Fuck.”

“Language,” Vesemir frowns. He tugs gently at Geralt’s loose ponytail and the singer lifts his head up from the table again, looking at his manager with beseeching eyes. “Anyway, we’ve narrowed it down to about fifty. You can go through those and choose whichever person you’d like to play your love interest. But you have to give me an answer by Friday. The shoot is in three weeks and whoever wins this stupid competition will need time to make arrangements.”

“I thought we were footing the bill for their food and their hotel room,” Geralt raised an eyebrow. “What would they need to arrange?”

“Not everyone can board their pets at the flick of a wrist, dude,” Lambert scoffs from his seat on the couch. Aiden lies draped across his lap, as usual, and the two of them are halfheartedly watching The Lion King. They can only watch movies when the bus is stationary, otherwise the VHS player might move too much while running and damage the film inside the cassette. Even taking advantage of such a rare opportunity, Lambert and Aiden still seem more interested in each other than Jonathan Taylor Thomas’s voice acting. 

“Lambert has a point,” Vesemir sighs. He scrubs his hand over his lightly whiskered face like a tired grandparent and sighs again, more heavily. “It’ll be good for you boys to have a normal person around for a few days. Maybe they’ll be able to put some things into perspective.”

Geralt can only roll his eyes a little bit and thank his manager regardless of his own feelings; he and the rest of TW5 owe the seasoned musical expert their entire careers. Without Vesemir’s help and mentorship they would never have made it past their first disastrous record deal. They certainly wouldn’t have reached the heights they’re at now, enjoying international fame and recognition. 

The begrudging frontman accepts a heavy plastic bin of file folders from Vesemir and sets them down next to his bunk. “Are these organized in any particular way?”

“Nope.”

“Cool.”

Geralt digs his hand into the pile and pulls out a piece of pale-pink stationary, eager to get started and, by extension, get finished. He can already tell that it’s going to be a long couple of days.

---

“I want this one, please, Ves.”

“Huh?” Vesemir looks up from his palm-pilot. Geralt is standing in front of him and trying to hand him something. 

“I want this guy to be in the music video with me.” Geralt holds out the letter again, fingers trapping the accompanying polaroid headshot with great care. A pair of bright blue eyes stares up from the photo, highlighting the subject’s bright smile and unruly mop of messy brown hair. Vesemir tries to hide his amusement; totally Geralt’s type, if the big oaf could admit to having one.

“Alright. I’ll get everything in order. We start shooting in two and a half weeks so get your asses to the gym, please.”

“Yes, Ves,” all five young men chorus. 

“Tomorrow,” Coen mutters a moment later than everyone else, not glancing up from his composition notebook. Vesemir nods in understanding. Coen is the best lyricist of the lot and it’s easier to let him work when inspiration strikes than beg him to focus when he can’t get a solitary idea to stick.

“So why’d you pick that one, Ger-bear?” Lambert drawls. Aiden nods and leans against Lambert’s side. Geralt can’t help the mild jealousy that overtakes him every time he sees his bandmates touch each other with such casual affection. He wants that intimacy, that softness behind the veneer of famous indifference. He wants someone to hold. 

“Yeah. What drew your attention to that poor unfortunate soul. Was it the floppy hair, the big blue eyes, or the dopey grin?” Aiden smirks.

“Hmm.”

“Fuck you,” Eskel sighs, looking between the two troublemakers with the tired gaze of an eldest sibling, “Fuck you for even asking in the first place and expecting a straight answer.”

“Straight is the furthest thing from his answer,” Lambert chuckles. He is promptly smacked in the head with one of the couch’s hideous throw pillows. The youngest member of the band rubs the side of his face and chuckles, “Alright, I deserved that one.”

---

“Holy shit!” Jaskier practically screams. “Holy motherfucking shit!”

“What!?” Yennefer comes flying around the corner. “What’s wrong!?”

“Nothing is wrong, Yenna! Everything is awesome! Everything absolutely fucking rocks!”

“Did you get hit on the head by a falling branch between here and the mailbox or what? You were whining about your finals work not five min-”

“Look at this!” Jaskier shoves an open envelope into her hands and cuts her off. Yennefer reads the watermarked documents once. Twice. Her eyes almost pop out of her head when the words and their meanings finally sink in. 

“Are you fucking with me right now?”

“No, I am absolutely not!” her giddy roommate cheers, bouncing up and down in place. “I did it! I won!”

“Holy shit.”

“I know! I get to kiss Geralt deRiv!” he practically cackles. Then freezes. “Holy fuck I get to kiss Geralt deRiv.”

“You said that already,” Yen teases. She shoves the paperwork back into his hands and grabs a takeout menu from the junk drawer near her hip. “Since you won the makeout lottery, you get to buy lunch. Lucky bastard.”

---

“So this will be your dressing room,” someone’s underpaid PA says, ushering Jaskier into a small, bright room. “Priscilla will be here shortly to get you into hair and makeup.”

“Oh, uh- thanks!”

“Yup.”

And with that, the young man disappears back down the hallway toward the sound stage. Jaskier jogs his leg anxiously as he waits for Priscilla to arrive, nervous and otherwise totally alone in the huge grey building. As the minutes tick by and his heart rate rises, Jaskier’s intrusive thoughts make an unwanted appearance: What if they forget about me being here? What if there’s been a mistake and they accidentally hired two love interests and I just sit in here for hours all alone while-

“Hi!” a bright, peppy blonde woman flies through the door and startles him back to reality. “Nice to meet you, I’m Priscilla! You can call me Priss; I’ll be doing your hair and makeup for the video this week!”

“Oh… hi. I’m Julian, but I prefer Jaskier.”

“Lovely! Well, Jaskier, is your hair naturally this color?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Perfect! I don’t want to mess with such a lovely shade of natural brown, but do you mind if I give it a bit of a trim? I have a few ideas for styles right here in my book- How do you feel about some feathering back here? I think-” she fluffs a few of the hairs around the nape of Jaskier’s neck “-I could really bring out the curls if I adjusted the length a bit and used some product.”

“Just, uhm, go for it, then! Feel free to make me as pretty as possible!” Jaskier declares. He’s committing to this experience wholeheartedly, determined to allow himself every opportunity for positive change. He wants to really let himself enjoy it, and he needs a haircut anyway. Priscilla spends an hour washing, cutting, drying, and styling his hair into a lovely fringed sweep across his forehead. It ends just above his brows, giving his face a slightly softer shape than usual. He grins over his shoulder, “I love it! I’m going to miss you when I’m back at Oxenfurt. Good stylists are so hard to find.”

Priss blushes and nudges against his shoulder, “Oh, you little charmer.”

“I mean it,” he says, examining himself in the mirror. “I look like I could really be worthy of a heroic rescue! This is going to be such a fantastic memory, and I appreciate it. Thank you so much.”

Priss bites back a genuine tear and smiles, “Now that your natural prettiness has been mildly enhanced, let’s get you over to wardrobe, shall we?”

“Wardrobe? Do I have, like, a costume? What’s the music video even about?”

“They didn’t tell you any of this when you got here?”

“Not… not really.”

“Well, my darling, I think you’re really going to like it; they’ve got you in Versace for the first scene.”

“Versace!?” 

Then Jaskier is being ushered into a bright, colorful room full to bursting with grim-faced, middle-aged women and he loses track of his only braincell for the rest of the morning.

---

“You must be Julian!” Lambert declares, bounding up to him and grinning. It’s a feral, animalistic grin and Jaskier resists the sudden urge to take a step back.

“I prefer Jaskier, if you don’t mind too much,” Jaskier corrects him quietly. Lambert rolls his eyes in a long-suffering kind of way and throws a meaty arm around the shorter man’s shoulders, completely ignoring the wardrobe technician’s wincing as he wrinkles the expensive silk jacket. 

“No need to be quiet and polite around here, my dude. We’re just a bunch of rowdy idiots, aren’t we, guys?” 

“Hell yeah!” Aiden calls back. Eskel sighs like the put-upon nanny in a Victorian Redanian comedy. 

“Speak for yourself,” Coen barely lifts his frosted tips up from his book long enough to speak. Geralt is-

Holy motherfucking Britney Spears on toast.

Geralt is the hottest thing Jaskier has ever seen in his short, unfulfilled-until-right-now life. Forget Ralph Macchio. Forget Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet and Winona Ryder. This man is… Geralt deRiv is… he’s the picture of perfection. And he’s right there, standing in front of an elaborate party set with his thick, beautiful arms crossed over his chest and his eyes trained on the floor, as if willing it to swallow him whole. Jaskier realizes that he probably didn’t have any choice in the matter; maybe this was just as awkward and uncomfortable for Geralt as it was for Jaskier. 

“Ger-bear!” Lambert whoops, yanking Jaskier closer to the brooding frontman. If only he were brave enough to struggle for escape; alas. “This is your boy-toy for the week. Goes by Jaskier, apparently.”

“Nice to meet you,” Geralt manages to grunt. “How did you like the script?”

“I haven’t uh- I haven’t actually seen it?”

“Shit. Fuck. One second,” Geralt huffs, disappearing into the crowd of technicians and machinery operators and PAs. Jaskier loves him already, for real. Sure, he was pretty in the music videos and promo material, but the way he said fuck like it was the noblest word he could think of… Geralt interrupts his train of thought by coming back with a sheaf of papers clutched in his hand. He shuffle-shoves them into Jaskier’s arms immediately. “There you go.”

“Thank you!” Jaskier smiles. It’s genuine and shy, more tenuous than his usual goofy grin. He flips through the pages, glancing between the script to his expensive suit, “So I’m guessing we’re at a party for this scene? Or something?”

“This is… where we meet. This is where… you and I uh…”

Jaskier’s eyes scan the page as Geralt’s ability to speak slowly leaves him. 

Lover ENTERS LEFT, dressed to the nines. Lover adjusts their tie/boa and takes a look around the room. S/He looks sad and a little hopeful. PULL BACK to Geralt, who approaches slowly. Their eyes meet. HOLD SHOT. PULL BACK as they move towards each other. Geralt pulls Lover into his arms and they begin to dance.

“Oh, wow.”

“I hope it’s okay! If you’re not comfortable with that kind of thing we can-”

“I’ll be alright, thank you. I came here to put my acting chops to the test. Well, that and meet my favorite band, of course. Thank you again, by the way. It’s been wonderful so far and I really appreciate you allowing me to be here.”

“Allowing? Psh. Geralt ha-” Lambert is cut off by Aiden, who elbows him sharply in the side. “Ow! What the fuck, babe?”

“I knew it!” Jaskier crows, distracted. “I knew you two were an item!”

“They’re not exactly subtle.”

“They never confirm anything either,” Jaskier retorts. Geralt shrugs his acknowledgement and moves back towards the set. Jaskier follows after the taller man like a lost puppy, eyes flicking from one thing to the next, hungry for detail even in his anxiety ridden state. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and he doesn’t want to waste a solitary second of it. “This is incredible, really just...wow. You guys do this all the time? You get to make tiny little movies for already great songs that you get to perform for millions of adoring fans? And you get paid!?”

Geralt hadn’t ever really thought about it like that. He’d been raised in the industry. He’d signed to Kaer Morhen Records as an early teen because his mother was a member of the Board of Directors and he’d been making music ever since; an outsider’s perspective to things was… new. A little strange. “Yeah, I guess that is pretty much what we do.”

“Wow.”

“It’s not that exciting, I promise.”

“Have you ever written a fifteen page paper about the history of lute-string design and manufacturing?” 

“No.”

“Then kindly shut the fuck up about what I should consider exciting,” Jaskier grins. Geralt is immediately and irrevocably smitten. Fuck. It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes! “So, which door am I entering from?”

“Left,” Geralt points. Jaskier skips over and begins to introduce himself to the sound and lights crew. His smile seems to be as infectious as his cheer and soon the entire set crew is smiling at one another. There’s been a literal shift in the atmosphere; if he didn’t know any better, the TW5 frontman thinks Jaskier might be some kind of magical creature, because he can’t just be human. Geralt is well and truly fucked, and everyone in the band already knows.

---

“What do you think?” Jaskier asks, slipping anxiously from behind the changing screen. The Versace is gone and in its place are a pair of tight, high-waisted blue pleather pants and a billowing white shirt, which has been strategically ripped in several places to reveal slivers of the lightly tanned skin that lies beneath. He looks like he’s in desperate need of rescuing. He looks like every fantasy Geralt has ever had about the perfect guy. He looks like a fucking dream.

“Nice,” he says.

Lambert and Aiden wolf-whistle and cheer as they approach. Aiden claps twice, loudly, and shoots Jaskier a set of finger guns, “Hot damn, baby. You single? You lookin’ to mingle? Because I am bi and spoon like a Pringle.”

“First of all, babe, I love you but that was the most horrific combination of words yet known to man. Second of all, yeah, I’d dump Aiden for you for sure,” Lambert adds. Jaskier is at a total loss for words. His mouth hangs open and his breath comes in uneven little gasps for a moment.

“Uh… I- Thank you?”

“Oh god, Eskel! Eskel, he’s short circuiting, do something.”

“You absolute-” Eskel groans and makes his way over to the gathered group. He tugs Jaskier away and over to the other end of the set, where a comically huge rocket/bomb (Jaskier can’t tell) is standing at the center of a vaguely science-themed room. A laboratory, maybe? Or like, a really weird spacecraft? A hospital run by rocket scientists? It doesn’t matter, it’s the Evil Lair of the Villain and that’s where Jaskier is being held captive. “Here, Cameron and Elise will help you get set up for the next scene. I’m sorry about the boys they’re... gay?”

“I understand,” Jaskier nods sagely and Eskel relaxes. Then for comedy’s sake he adds an equally dramatic, “I too am... gay.”

The set dresser, an electrician, and a few specialists (likely a rope rigger among them) come over and tie Jaskier to the bomb/rocket/villainous mechanism, ending his conversation with Eskel, who is now in a much better mood than he was before. 

Jaskier is told to make sure his hands are crossed behind the small of his back and the director instructs him to wiggle back and forth “as convincingly as possible without actually getting loose or moving the ropes too much”. Which is manageable, he supposes. 

“Then, when the chorus comes up, we’ll get a few shots of the boys dancing in front of you,” the director continues to explain. That’s… kind weird, but okay. I’ve seen weirder. “Then we’ll do the action shots, with Geralt rescuing you. Are you okay to do the kiss, or would you rather not? We have dynamic shots with or without, so it’s totally up to you.”

“I’m fine with that,” Jaskier smiles shyly. “I consent to be smooched.”

“Adorable,” Lambert calls. Jaskier blushes and the director shoots Lambert a glare. 

“He’s already pink enough, don’t make me change my gels you little shithead!”

“Sorry, Pierre!”

“Fucking sorry my ass,” Pierre grumbles beneath his breath. Then he smiles at Jaskier. “Do something nasty to him for me, will you? Not too nasty but… just a little?”

“I’ve got your back,” Jaskier winks. 

“No plotting! Not fair!” Aiden whines.

“You have a team,” Pierre retorts. “Now I have a team.”

“Rules are rules,” Eskel sighs. “Now can we please shoot this damn video?”

“Right,” Pierre claps, getting everyone’s attention. “Places!”

---

Geralt races up the stairs, trying to keep the long sleeves of his black mesh shirt from catching on any of the set pieces. The solid black t-shirt he’s wearing underneath makes his arms and back look bulkier than normal; it’s a visual technique to make him look larger than Jaskier, whose billowing white shirt will hide how wide his shoulders actually are. Fuck, those are some nice shoulders. And the smattering of dark chest hair that peeks from the front of the college student’s shirt? Geralt wants to bury his face in it.

Okay, focus. 

He reaches the top of the set and rushes towards Jaskier, ripping the ropes from around his torso and pulling him close. He cups the back of Jaskier’s head with his upstage hand, framing the slightly smaller man for the camera and making him seem even shorter, another trick of angles and body posturing. Geralt plays Jaskier like an instrument, bending him back by placing his downstage arm around Jaskier’s waist, pressing their mouths together and holding them still for as long as it takes the director to yell, “Cut!” with a satisfied tone of voice. 

Geralt’s suspicions are confirmed when Pierre laughs and claps some more and cries, “Print it, lads! That was a one-take wonder!”

He tries to ignore the way Jaskier’s shoulders slump as if disappointed. “Good job,” he manages to say.

“You, too.” Geralt wishes he could keep a picture of Jaskier smiling in his back pocket forever. No other sight could light up the world so effortlessly. “Thanks for being gentle.”

“I’m trying to sweep you off your feet,” the singer shrugs. Jaskier wiggles his eyebrows and follows Geralt down the narrow set stairs.

“Are you, really?”

“Is it working?” Geralt asks, turning to look up at Jaskier. The student pauses to look at him and his foot catches on an uneven board. He topples forward with a short cry of surprise and seems surprised when Geralt reaches out to catch him. “Jaskier!”

“Oh my god!” Lambert races over, Aiden hot on his heels. “Are you okay, dude?”

“I’m fine,”  Jaskier laughs, a little breathless. “Just a little shocked.”

“You should take him to get a snack or something,” Eskel says, nudging his shoulder against Geralt’s. “He’s been busy all day and hasn’t even been to craft services.”

“You haven’t eaten?” Geralt asks, honestly baffled. Jaskier shakes his head, face heating once again. He wishes he could stop blushing, but Geralt’s presence seems to make it impossible. He wraps one arm around the younger man’s temptingly slender waist and leads him towards the food carts. He shoves a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of punch into Jaskier’s hands, not giving him a chance to argue. “Here, I’ll have something, too.”

“Thanks,” Jaskier smiles, understanding that he is, in turn, being understood. They sit comfortable folding chairs off to the side, food spread across their laps. Jaskier laughs and chats around his mouthfuls, pulling things from Geralt like his favorite color and his least favorite nicknames. Songs he liked and dances he disliked. 

“You made it fun again, today,” the singer smiles. “Thank you for that. I wish you could be here for every video shoot.”

“Looking for another member of the band?” Jaskier jokes, doing some half-hearted jazz hands. Geralt shakes his head and laughs. 

“I wish we were,” he sighs. “But I guess five is the magic number.”

“Makes the dances look cooler,” Jaskier nods. “I agree with whoever made that decision. I wouldn’t dare ruin the aesthetic.”

Geralt laughs again and Vesemir turns to look, honestly shocked at the volume of the sound. 

“Plus, you can’t be the frontman if there’s no front.”

“Shut up,” Geralt chuckles, still grinning broadly. 

Vesemir makes a phone call.

---

2 Weeks Later, Backstage in Kaedwen

---

“He’s been sulking like this ever since Jaskier went back to Oxenfurt,” Lambert whines. “C’mon Vesemir, do something.”

“What do you want me to do, make Geralt’s boyfriend appear out of thin air?”

“Not my boyfriend,” Geralt growls, stomping past his bandmates and manager. He can’t help but feel grumpy. Jaskier had been like the sun, bringing light and wonder to everything he touched, and without that joy around it doesn’t seem worth the extra effort to smile. So he’s been moping. 

“Fucking hell,” Vesemir sighs. “Thank goodness I thought ahead.”

“What do you mean?” Eskel asks, joining the little group in the hallway outside the dressing room. “What did you think of?”

“Three,” Vesemir smiles, glancing at his watch. “Two… One…”

“Boooooys,” echoes a high tenor. “Where’s my welcome wagon, Vesemir?”

“Jaskier!” Aiden practically screams, leaping out of the dressing room and flying down the hall. Lambert follows at a sprint and Vesemir hears the resounding oof oh fuck of both giddy musicians hitting their mark. 

Geralt comes back down the hall at a jog, eyes searching frantically. “I thought I heard-”

“Geralt!”

Vesemir’s heart clenches in his chest at the way Geralt’s face lights up. At the end of the hallway, surrounded by spilled luggage and apologetic boyband members, is Jaskier. Geralt floats to him, it seems, like he’s dreaming the whole thing. Jaskier takes his hands and then releases them and wraps his arms low around Geralt’s hips instead. 

“I missed you the most,” he whispers, just for Geralt to hear. “Couldn’t sleep without listening to your CD. I know it’s silly but I really like you.”

“Jaskier,” Geralt whispers reverently into his shaggy brown hair. “What are you doing here?”

“I was going to do my thesis on pop culture’s relation to music history,” he says. “And then the manager of TW5 called Oxenfurt and offered me the opportunity to do some… first hand research while I worked on finishing the paper.”

“R-Really? You’re going to be here… every day?”

“Do you… do you not want me he-”

Geralt kisses him before he can even finish the question. It’s a stupid question anyway, of course Geralt wants him here. Wants him right here, kissing him silly. The singer presses his lips desperately, crushingly against Jaskier’s; he never wants to part from this man again. He never wants to be without that glorious laughter and contagious liveliness. Who knew that life could be so full of delight and happiness if he only let it? 

He kisses Jaskier for all he’s worth and more, pouring his heart and soul into it. When they pull apart, both gasping for air, Geralt asks, “Stay with me, Jaskier? You don’t have to do anything I just-”

“I’d love to be the big spoon,” Jaskier winks, whispering again. “Thank you, Geralt, for the rescue.”

#geraskier #bouncey's buddies #prompt fill #geraskier fic #geraskier ficlet #geraskier fluff #getting together #boyband au #geraskier boyband au #the witcher five and their hit song 'please lambert stop farting on the bus' #ellie has the braincell #thirsty jaskier #thirsty geralt #soft geralt #protective geralt #clumsy jaskier #soft boys content #bouncey's endless au collection #bouncey's endless getting together fics

[btsqualityy]

Assuage: Chapter 16

Yoongi x Reader

Genre: ABO (Alpha/Beta/Omega) dynamics, angst, fluff, smut, enemies to lovers

Warnings: Brief mentions of war and of loved ones passing away.

Waking up the morning after your heat ended was like a breath of fresh air. You weren’t sweaty anymore, the previous cramping that had made itself at home in your abdomen over the last three days was now non-existent and best of all, getting a knot was the furthest thing from your mind. 

When you opened your eyes, it just so happened to be at the exact same time that Yoongi was walking back into his bedroom. You smiled sleepily as you watched him move over to the dresser to rummage through it, no shirt covering his firm chest and jogging pants slung low enough on his hips that you could see the band of his boxers as well.

Ok, so maybe a knot wasn’t the furthest thing from your mind after all. 

“Hey, good morning,” Yoongi smiled once he had turned around and saw you looking at him. He then walked over to the bed, taking a set on the edge closest to you. 

“Good morning,” you replied, moaning softly when he bent down and gave you a gentle kiss. 

“How are you feeling?” He wondered and you paused in order to take quick stock of your body.

“Ok,” you began slowly. “The cramps are gone but my head hurts a little and I’m pretty sure that I’m super sore.”

“I can get you something for the headache and for the soreness, do you want to take a bath?” He offered. 

“Oh, that sounds amazing,” you sighed dreamily.

“Good thing that I already filled the bathtub then, huh?” he smirked.

“How’d you know?”

“Baby, I knotted you at least 11 or 12 times over the last three days,” he told you. “I know you’re Prime and everything but I’d be a little concerned if you weren’t sore.”

“Shut up and carry me to the bathroom already,” you demanded, making Yoongi chuckle.

“Yes ma’am,” he smiled. After picking you from the bed and carrying you bridal style into the en suite, Yoongi set you down on the ground so that you could work on taking your clothes off while he checked the temperature of the water.

“You hungry?” He asked as he turned to look at you over your shoulder, his breath hitching in his throat a little when he saw that you were already naked. 

“Starving,” you nodded, grabbing onto his outstretched hand and gripping onto it as you stepped into the tub. The hot water enveloped you as you sat down and you instantly sighed in relief. 

“Feels good?” He wondered and you immediately nodded.

“Amazing. Get in with me?” You asked.

“Sure,” he nodded, quickly taking off his own jogging pants and boxers before climbing into the tub as well, settling down behind you and allowing you to scoot back so that your back was pressed up against his chest. 

“Mm, thank you,” you said as you sunk down further into the water.

“It’s no problem baby, you don’t have to thank me,” he replied. “I wanted to do it.”

“I know but still,” you huffed. “I didn’t say or do anything weird during my heat, did I?”

“Your memory still hazy?”

“A little,” you admitted.

“Well, you didn’t really do anything out of the ordinary,” he began. “Lots of begging, lots of you demanding that I knot you right then and there. I think you even cried once.”

“Ok, that’s all normal,” you shrugged.

“You also, uh,” he started, not knowing if he should really bring it up or not because he was sure that you didn’t remember and he didn’t want to embarrass you.

“I what?” You questioned as you looked at him over your shoulder.

“You asked me to bite you,” he revealed and even though he couldn’t see you, your eyes widened. 

“I didn’t,” you groaned loudly.

“You did,” Yoongi confirmed. “I knew that it was just the heat talking though, so I told you no.”

“Thanks for not actually doing it,” you muttered softly. 

“Hey, I’d never forcefully bite you or anyone else for that matter without express consent,” he assured you. “I know what mating means to you and I’d never take that away.”

“I know,” you sighed. “Kind of speaking of that, I have a question.”

“What?”

“Did you mean what you said last night?” You asked. 

“If you’re referring to when you told me that you loved me and I replied that I loved you too, then yes,” he nodded. “I meant what I said. Did you?”

“I did,” you responded as you carefully turned over, so that your chest was pressed against his. “I know that we’ve only officially been dating for like a month and didn’t really like each other at first, but I do. Love you, I mean. I just don’t want you to think that it was the heat talking, like with the whole bite thing.”

“You were pretty lucid last night so I figured that you were being honest,” he chuckled. “And the length of time doesn’t matter to me. All I know is that you make me feel a way that no one else ever has.”

“Ditto,” you giggled happily, pressing your hand against his chest in order to crane your neck up and kiss him firmly. His hands automatically came down and gripped your hips, pulling you closer to him so that you were able to feel his semi-hard cock against your lower stomach.

“Say it again,” Yoongi grumbled against your lips and you pulled away in order to look into his eyes.

“I love you,” you told him seriously. 

“I love you too,” he smiled and as he kissed you again, you couldn’t help to to think that you wouldn’t mind waking up to that smile everyday.

.......................................

After spending some extra time in the tub together, you both finally got out, got dressed in more leisure clothes and moved into the kitchen where the two of you worked on making breakfast together. 

Just as the two of you moved to sit down at the small table once breakfast was finished, there was a loud knock on Yoongi’s door. 

“Who the hell is that?” He mumbled, not really liking the prospect of anyone else coming around you with their scent so soon after your heat was over.

“It’s Tae,” you announced and Yoongi looked at you in surprise. “He’s my brother, I could recognize his scent anywhere.”

“Even through the door?” He wondered with a chuckle as he walked over to the door. 

“I’m Prime asshole,” you reminded him and he just shook his head as he pulled the door open.

“Hi hyung,” Taehyung greeted him, his nose promptly scrunching up afterwards when the scents from inside of the house floated out. “What the fuck? Did you drown my sister in cum hyung, or what?”

“You’re disgusting,” you spat as you came to stand next to Yoongi. 

“I definitely did not miss your bravado,” Yoongi huffed.

“Oh please, I’m your best friend hyung,” Taehyung smiled brightly. “You know you love me.”

“Tae, why are you here?” You wondered.

“Oh! Joon hyung called a meeting about the rising tensions between packs,” he said.

“Pack wide?” You asked.

“Elders and high status only,” he told you, which made you eyes widen because that meant that it was serious. “So him, me, you, Hobi hyung, Jungkookie, a few others and some of the elders.”

“No Hyo?”

“Since she’s literally due any day now, Joon hyung doesn’t want to worry her,” Taehyung explained. 

“And just what reaction does he think she’s going to have when she finds out that he called a meeting with only the elders and high status members of the pack?” You demanded to know, only receiving a shrug from Taehyung. 

“Look, if you want to curse him out about that later, that’s between you two,” Taehyung said. “I just came to see if you’d be able to even come to the meeting.”

“My heat only ended just last night,” you revealed. “If I walked into the Head Hall right now, I’d probably send every unmated Alpha into an early rut.”

“I know,” Taehyung sighed before looking over at Yoongi. “Maybe hyung can go for you?”

“Oh, would you?” You asked Yoongi as you turned to look at him as well. 

“Should I?” Yoongi questioned. “If it’s only between trusted members of the pack, then I don’t know if I’d be welcomed. Plus, I’m not even high status within the pack, at least I don’t think.”

“You’re dating Y/N-ah now, your status has definitely risen,” Taehyung smiled.

“Everyone knows that we’re together and besides, you’re just going in my place since I can’t so it should be fine,” you told him. 

“I don’t know,” Yoongi sighed.

“Please baby?” You whispered as you moved closer to him, wrapping your arm around his. “I would really appreciate it and I’ll make it worth your while tonight.”

“Fine,” he relented, smiling in spite of himself when you leaned over and kissed his cheek. “When’s the meeting?”

“In about an hour,” Taehyung replied.

“Well, I’ll have to eat and get dressed in actual clothes so why don’t you join us for breakfast?” Yoongi offered, making Taehyung grin. 

“Thanks hyung,” he said excitedly. You turned around to walk back into the kitchen while Yoongi stepped aside and allowed Taehyung to walk in as well, shutting the door behind him.

“Oh and by the way, you’re so whipped for my sister hyung,” Taehyung smirked.

“Shut up,” Yoongi grumbled, stalking away from him and into the kitchen. 

.......................................

Once they finished breakfast, Yoongi followed Taehyung to the Head Hall, where they were quickly intercepted by Jungkook. 

“Hey,” Jungkook greeted them, giving Taehyung a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to look at Yoongi. “What are you doing here hyung?” 

“I��m here in Y/N-ah’s place,” he explained.

“Uh, I don’t know if Namjoon hyung is gonna let that slide,” Jungkook grimaced.

“Why not?” Taehyung wondered.

“He’s frazzled Tae,” Jungkook said. “And it’s freaking me out because as long as Namjoon hyung has been Pack Alpha, I’ve never seen him being anything but cool, calm, and collected.”

“Oh shit,” Taehyung sighed. “Has Hobi hyung said anything?”

“Namjoon hyung put him under a gag order so he couldn’t,” Jungkook replied. “This might be some serious shit.”

“Well, maybe we should actually go in there and find out instead of working ourselves up out here,” Yoongi interjected. “And I don’t mind leaving if Namjoon wants me to.”

“Hyung’s right,” Taehyung nodded, reaching out and wrapping his arm around Jungkook’s. “Let’s go.” Yoongi followed behind them as they all stepped into the large assembly room, which was almost shaped like a small amphitheater with a stage that was shaped like a half crescent in the front and rows of chairs surrounding the outside.

Taehyung led them down one of the aisles towards the front, sitting down in the very first row and pulling Jungkook down to sit next to him. Yoongi sat on the other side of Taehyung, waiting patiently as other members of the pack began to file inside as well. 

After about 5 minutes, Namjoon finally walked into the room with Hobi following close behind. 

“Hyung!” Taehyung called out, waving his arm and Namjoon walked down to the front where the three of them were sitting. 

“Hey Tae, Kook-ah,” Namjoon nodded at them before turning to look at Yoongi. “What are you doing here Yoongi?”

“Y/N couldn’t make it because her heat just ended last night so she asked me to come in her place,” Yoongi explained. 

“Did she?” Namjoon sighed heavily.

“I can always leave,” Yoongi offered. “From what Taehyung said, this seems to be very serious and I wouldn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, least of all you.”

“No, you’re fine,” Namjoon assured him. “Your status has changed anyways with you dating my sister so that's not an issue. It’s just...other than you reporting back to Y/N-ah, I trust that you know that anything that’s said in this room stays in this room until I say otherwise?”

“Of course,” Yoongi nodded. 

“Alright,” Namjoon said before turning and walking away, climbing the steps to the small stage. He waited until Hobi was standing next to him and until the room had quieted down before he began to speak.

“I’m sorry to pull you all out of your warm houses for this meeting, and with such short notice at that,” Namjoon began. “But we have an issue that has been brewing for some time and I feel that now is the appropriate time for me to let you all know.”

“It’s about the tensions between packs, right?” An elder woman, Boa, spoke up and Namjoon sighed before nodding.

“That’s just the thing, actually,” he said. “Those tensions that everyone knows about are escalating, and escalating quick.”

“Escalating in what way?” An elder man named Jinki wondered, and Namjoon turned to look at Hobi.

“Hobi,” he whispered, motioning for him to step forward and Hobi did so before speaking up. 

“I’ve caught four lurkers on the edge of the pack’s territory over the last three days,” Hobi revealed and there was the immediate buzz of chatter that filled the room. Namjoon then held his hand up, which caused the chatter to die back down. 

“How do you know that that has anything to do with the tensions between the packs?” Jiyoon, another elder woman questioned.

“That’s the thing, we weren’t sure at first,” Hobi started. “These lurkers had no type of pack marker, no similar pack scent, and they all swore that they didn’t know each other.”

“But to be on the safe side, I decided to do some digging and contact our brother packs, the Im pack and Choi pack, in Busan and Daegu,” Namjoon added. “Turns out, they both have had a suspicious increase of lurkers on their properties as well.”

“Well, who do you think it is?” Jungkook wondered. 

“I think it’s the work of Seo-hyun,” Namjoon confessed and the gasp that radiated through the room at that name was loud enough to send shivers down Yoongi’s spine.

“Fuck,” Taehyung whispered.

“That piece of shit is still causing trouble!” Yoongi heard a familiar voice shout and when he turned to his right, he saw Kibum standing up out of his chair. 

“Let me finish,” Namjoon called out and the room settled back down. “Now, we have no official confirmation yet but between the lurkers on our properties as well as the properties of our allies and the fact that Seo-hyun’s pack has been the main pack resisting any and all attempts of easing tensions, I’d be highly surprised if this wasn’t all his doing.”

“Why don’t we try sending some representatives over to Seo-hyun’s territory to try and make peace ourselves then?” A younger Alpha named Baekhyun suggested.

“You guys know his history,” Namjoon stated firmly. “Whoever I’d send, he’d smell their pack scent and kill them right then and there just to spite me and I won’t gamble with anyone’s life other than my own.”

“So where do we go from here then?” Boa demanded to know.

“The best thing we can do for right now is to be on guard,” Namjoon said. “It is very possible that he’ll try to come in and stage a coup so we need to be ready just in case. Also, if any of you see this man,” he paused to hold up a photo that Hobi handed him, and Yoongi felt all of the blood drain from his face. “Then you come get me, Hobi, or even Jungkook immediately. Do not engage, because this man will not hesitate to kill you.”

“There will also be an increased amount of people doing patrol duty so if you do it, please see me after this meeting for the new schedule,” Hobi added. 

“And remember, this stays in this room until I can gather more concrete information,” Namjoon reminded everyone. “Alright, meeting adjourned.”

The chatter immediately started up again and Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jungkook stood up when Namjoon and Hobi stepped down off of the stage to walk over to them.

“You couldn’t have given me a trigger warning before showing that picture hyung?” Taehyung mumbled and it wasn’t until then that Yoongi noticed how pale Taehyung’s face had become. 

“I’m sorry Tae-ah, but I had to do it,” Namjoon apologized.

“Want me to take you home?” Jungkook asked Taehyung as he wrapped his arm around him and Taehyung nodded numbly before allowing Jungkook to lead him out of the room. Once they were out of ear shot, Yoongi turned to look at Namjoon and Hobi again. 

“Why’d he react like that?” Yoongi wondered.

“Seo-hyun is the man that killed our parents,” Namjoon revealed. 

“And that tried to kill my mother,” Hobi added angrily and Yoongi knew that in that moment, he probably looked as pale as Taehyung had before Jungkook led him away. 

.......................................

After staying behind to talk with Namjoon and Hobi for a while longer and receiving the new schedule for patrol duty, Yoongi made his way back to his cabin alone. When he unlocked the door and stepped inside, it was dead silent and Yoongi almost thought you had left until he saw your jacket and shoes still in their places by the front door. 

Once he pulled off his own jacket and shoes, he walked down the hallway to his bedroom, pushing open the door and glancing inside. You were laid out in the bed, tangled up in the blankets that Yoongi had bought for you as you slept soundly. Smiling to himself, Yoongi stepped inside and paced over to the bed, sitting down on the edge next to you.

“Y/N-ah?” He whispered, reaching out and setting his hand on your lower back. “Baby?”

“Yoongi?” You murmured sleepily as you opened your eyes, yawning loudly afterwards.

“Hey,” he replied. “Sleep good?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “I washed your bedding and the blankets and I just couldn’t resist them when they were so warm straight out of the dryer.”

“I get it,” he chuckled. 

“Get in with me?” You requested and Yoongi nodded, waiting for you to scoot over before he laid himself down, laughing when you immediately snuggled into his side and wrapped your arms around him. 

“You still feeling alright?” Yoongi checked. “Not too sore?”

“No, the bath earlier helped a lot,” you told him. “Tell me what happened at the meeting.”

“Oh, well Namjoon was telling us that Hobi caught multiple lurkers on the pack’s territory while you were going through your heat,” he started.  

“Seriously?” You gasped. “Do they know who they are?”

“They aren’t sure but Namjoon did some digging and he said that he thinks it’s Seo-hyun,” he said and he didn’t miss the way that your breath hitched when you heard that name. “Namjoon told me who he is and I’m sorry Y/N-ah.”

“No, no, it’s ok,” you sighed. “I just didn’t expect that. So what did Namjoon say that he plans on doing?”

“He’s increasing the amount of people on patrol duty at any time and basically just told us to be looking out just in case,” he finished. 

“God, I really hope that it doesn’t escalate into another war,” you groaned. “I don’t know if I’d be able to go through that again.”

“Well if it comes to that, I’ll fight for you,” Yoongi told you and you just looked up at him, smiling softly. 

“Aren’t I lucky?” You giggled as you pushed yourself up a little, giving him a gentle kiss. When you pulled away and snuggled into him again, pressing your nose to his scent gland, Yoongi couldn’t help but to try and figure out how in the hell he was going to tell you the truth. 

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Tag List: @jikook-enthusiasts @veryuniquenamegoeshere @seolarsyj @littlrmills14-blog @preciouschimine @kt-rny @copenhagenspirit

#bts #bangtanarmynet #bts reactions #bts abo #bts suga #bts yoongi #yoongi x reader #suga x reader #min yoongi #yoongi smut #yoongi angst #yoongi fluff #suga smut #suga angst #suga fluff #bts smut #bts angst #bts fluff #bts x reader

[lacontroller1991]

Someone To You (Daryl Dixon x Reader)

Summary: Reader gets jealous of Daryl and Carol’s relationship, feeling like he is neglecting her for Carol, so she avoids him and he confronts her about it

Author’s Note: Can I talk about how much I can’t stand Carol in season 10. She was so selfish and for what? I mean I still love her, but season 10 Carol wasn't it. ALSO ANGSTY AS FUUUUCCC, also Daryl is a bit of a dick in this

Warning: Language

You didn’t know when you and Daryl had become a ‘thing’ so to speak, but you did know when you started to really notice his relationship with Carol. It was the first night at the prison when they were on watch together and you were walking the length of the gates for something to do when you heard Daryl say ‘I’ll go down first’ and Carol shouting back ‘even better’. You knew deep down that they were probably joking with each other, it still stung. You shook it off, knowing that Daryl had stated explicitly multiple times that he and Carol were just friends. 

Then Lori died and Carol was missing. Daryl was a mess. You tried consoling him, ensuring him that she was fine, that she wasn’t dead, but he turned a cold shoulder, lighting a cigarette and releasing a shaky breath. You walked away from him, expecting him to call out to you, but he didn’t. Deep down you knew they were more than just friends. 

When Carol showed up in Daryl’s arms extremely dirty and almost passed out, you stood there in shock as Daryl brushed passed you and placed her in her cell. What really got you questioning his loyalty was that he wouldn’t leave her bedside. 

“Can I get you anything?” You asked softly as he shrugged his shoulders, not even glancing at you. Walking away, you saw Rick look at you with sorrow. Offering a small smile, you went down to get some food that you had cooked for everyone. Getting a bowl, you poured the stew and grabbed a spoon, heading back to Carol’s cell, hoping that Daryl would eat something.

“Here, you need to eat something babe,” you stated softly, handing him the bowl gently as he took it and stared at it before throwing it at the wall next to you, getting stew all over your clothes and hair.

“What they fuck Daryl? I’m just trying to help!” You exclaimed in frustration as he looked at you with that infamous Dixon temper.

“Yeah, we don’t need yer help. Get outta here,” he yelled as you stood still, taking in the ‘we’ more than anything else, “go!” Running out of the cell, you passed Maggie and Glenn who looked at you in shock before turning back to each other.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Maggie suggested as Glenn nodded his head. Running after you, Maggie exited the prison to see you sitting on the floor in sobs. Placing a hand on your shoulder, she took a seat next to you and rubbed circles into your back.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it sweetie,” she whispered as you sniffled, looking at her through bangs before wiping your tears away.

“What does she have that I don’t?” You asked as she sighed and looked at the clouds in the sky as if searching for an answer.

“He just needs space.”

“Well, he can have it. I’m done looking after him while all he does is mope in her cell,” you stated harshly, grabbing one of the metal pipes before heading down to the fences.

You avoided Daryl and Carol like the plague. You even went as far as sleeping in an empty cell, away from them, trying to collect your thoughts. It had been a week since Carol has been up and running around. She would offer you smiles but you would never return them, always getting food after everyone else so that you could avoid the pity talk and avoid them. You laid in your cell, backed in the furthest corner but you could still hear everything happening outside. Your ears immediately perked up at the mention of your name.

“’ave ya talked to her? She won’t talk to me,” Daryl commented as you heard Rick sigh, blocking the entrance to your cell that you were almost certain that Daryl didn’t know about.

“Look, you messed up. I would even go as far as saying that you fucked up,” Rick replied, and you could image what they looked like. Rick with his hands on his hips and Daryl leaning against the wall.

“’ow the fuck did I fuck up? Carol wasn’t ‘erself.”

“I don’t know, brother. But throwing a bowl of stew at (Y/n) when she was just trying to help isn’t the greatest thing in the world.”

“I did what?” The surprise in his voice shook you. How could he not know what he did? Wasn’t he explicitly clear that he didn’t want your help just days before.

“She was bringing you food, you threw it at her,” Rick stated as you leaned closer in without making a sound.

“Shit,” was all that Daryl said before his heavy footprints walked away, leaving Rick at the entrance to your new cell. You stared at him as he walked in, taking a seat on your bed next to you.

“You should talk to him,” he suggested as you shook your head.

“No, I’m done talking to him. I don’t want to be a second choice to anyone. If it were me or Carol, he would choose her every time. Guarantee it.”

“No he wouldn’t.”

“Yes he would, Rick. You saw him. All he did was sit there in her cell, holding her hand and spoon feeding her. It was a mistake joining the group,” you whispered, trying to push the tears down, “maybe if I had never joined the group then I wouldn’t have fallen in love with that jerk.”

“Don’t say that, you belong with us and you know it. You contribute just as much as anyone else does, we all appreciate you and want you here.”

“I don’t know. I should just leave. Take my chances.”

“I can’t stop you, but if you ever decide to come back, you are always welcomed.”

“Thanks Rick,” you offered him a smile as he pulled you in for a side hug.”

“Of course. Although can you take watch tonight?” He asked with a smile as you laughed and shoved his arm playfully.

“Yeah, I got it.”

The breeze from up in the guard tower blew your hair across your face. You leaned against the rail, not paying attention to the door opening and who was coming in.

“Don’t leave,” a gruff voice said, causing you to spin around to see Daryl standing there as awkward as ever with some flowers and food in his hand. Your heart skipped a beat, urging to go back to him and forgive him, but you ignored the feeling and turned away, going back to look out at the empty field. 

“Not your decision.” He sighed, placing the flowers down and walking over to you, offering you the bowl of stew. Taking it from him, you copied him and threw it at the door.

“Guess I deserved that,” he commented as you shot him a glare.

“Ya think?” He moved to stand next to you.

“I know I fucked up. Please don’t leave, we need you here.”

“We? You gotta be kidding me.” You spat out as you avoided his stare.

“The hell is yer problem girl?” He asked, his temper flaring up as you looked at him in disbelief.

“My problem? My problem is you and Carol. You care for her more than you do me. You couldn’t even look at me when she was down, all you could do was just sit in her cell. My problem is you. And here you come, with flowers asking me not to leave. Because you guys need me here. Not you. The truth is,” you whispered out the last part, wiping the tears away, “I fucking love you Daryl. But you love her more than me, and it really shows. I want you to pick me, choose me, love me.”

“That’s what ya think?”

“It’s what I know.”

“Then yer an idiot,” he whispered, pulling you into him, kissing your lips with passion as you stood there, gradually returning the kiss before he pulled apart, “I care for her. But I love ya so much it ‘urts. If ya decide to leave, it will kill me. I need ya here. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep ya here. Hell, I’ll even stop talking to ‘er.”

“Don’t do that.”

“But I will.”

“I just want to be someone to you,” you whispered, hugging him, tightly wrapping your arms around his waist as he held you close to him.

“Yer my everythin’.”

Author's Note: AHDHEJWbfoewhfNEqoHFEP, think this might be my favorite fic I’ve ever written. In no way would I ever beg on my knees for a guy to choose me over another chick, but if it were Daryl Dixon I would make one helluv an exception. 

Also Peep Grey’s reference

Also poor Rick, he has to deal with their shit when he just lost Lori. RIP

#daryl x reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon #reader #reader insert #Female reader #the walking dead #the walking dead imagines #twd #rick grimes #Maggie greene #Glenn Rhee #Maggie Greene x glenn rhee #norman reedus

[forasecondtherewedwon]

3 Simple Rules for Dating a Centenarian - ch. 3

Fandom: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Pairing: Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes Rating: T Chapters: 3/3

Read chapters one and two on Tumblr.

Chapter three summary: Sam and Bucky take a breather from Sharon’s party in High Town.

Sam walks back into the room from before. The one that could be a high-end boutique, or the lobby of a shady but untouchable law firm, or the backdrop for a photoshoot featuring an Avenger who wanted their surroundings to exude enviable elegance and expensiveness without at all detracting from their presence. Not to name names, or speak disdainfully of the dead.

Shrugging off the brown leather jacket Sharon leant him, Sam tosses it at the couch. Yeah, technically it’s on a collision course with the back of Bucky’s head, but since Bucky dodges without turning to look, he figures he can claim poor aim. Which Sam would normally never do, especially to Bucky, but he has downed a few drinks tonight. Sharon wanted them to blend in at the party; Sam couldn’t see an easier way to blend than by doing his bit to deplete the contents of the event’s bar. He sure as hell wasn’t going to stand there pumping his arm to the beat like that motherfucker Zemo. Sam doesn’t know exactly what to blame for the Baron’s excruciating dance moves, he’s just glad he got away. Being near enough to Zemo for people to assume they were acquainted? Come on. That’s just insult on top of injury.

Bucky’s head swivels to follow him once Sam tracks into his line of sight.

“Where’s Zemo?” is the first thing he says.

Sam avoids his gaze until he’s good and comfortable on the couch at his side. It’s closer than he meant to be, since the damn thing has a curve to it, but the chairs don’t look comfortable. Unless, he supposes, you’re a percher, like Sharon. Sam doesn’t perch.

To cover for the fact that he picked his seat without thorough reconnaissance and is, with his inhibitions a little lower than usual, both far too nervous and not nearly nervous enough, Sam spreads his knees to take up even more of the couch, draping his arms along the back. Finally, he glances at Bucky.

“Sharon’s doing her shift as babysitter,” Sam says.

“Hasn’t she done enough?”

“You wanna go back down there and spell her, be my guest.”

“Nah,” Bucky says, “I think I’m good.”

Bucky’s jacket is gone too, Sam notes, moving his own from where it landed to the chair opposite. Briefly, he lets himself be curious. Why does Sharon have a wardrobe of men’s clothes in enough sizes and styles to reasonably clad himself, Bucky, and Zemo for the evening? Are these things expensive? Are they valuable, like the Monet he saw on the way in? Maybe the clothes on his back belonged to some celebrity and are set to be sold off to the highest bidder. If that weren’t a selling point before, it could be now—everything itemized and tagged as having been worn by Sam Wilson, the Falcon, the Man Who Wouldn’t Be Captain America.

In the short silence, Sam feels himself beginning to frown, but he’s just the right side of buzzed to prevent those thoughts from dragging him down. He’s a cheerful drunk. Always has been. A hugger, a giggler, a piggyback ride-giver in his younger years.

“Do you think she’s doing alright?” Bucky asks, forever ready to be morose. “Sharon?” Sam wants to stick his finger in the indentation between Bucky’s eyebrows and wiggle it until the seriousness drops from his face. He wants to smooth his thumb over Bucky’s chin, wipe out the memory of Zemo’s touch when he offered Bucky to Selby like a thing instead of a human being. “I know she took your deal, a favour for a favour, but I’ve been trying to work out what my debt to her is. My notebook—”

“There’s no math for it, Buck,” Sam says. Though his tone is lazy, his words are certain. “Who owes what to who. We just have to make it right.” Mildly annoyed that he’s been drawn back into a heavy conversation, he sighs and slings his foot up to rest his ankle on his opposite knee. The movement bumps Bucky’s thigh momentarily. “Think I might owe Sharon a little less now that she made me wear a turtleneck to that party.”

Bucky snorts a laugh. Sam turns his head and gives him the finger, though he’s also smiling.

“I’m laughing at what you said,” Bucky claims, “not the shirt. You coulda picked something else.”

“It’s black and doesn’t have a pattern. After that Smiling Tiger getup, I felt like being inconspicuous, ok?”

“Ok. You don’t need my approval.”

“You’re damn right I don’t,” Sam agrees, still grinning.

“Suits you,” Bucky half-mumbles.

Sam huffs from his nose, all his laughter in that puff of air as he faces forward again, then tips his head back to check out Sharon’s high ceiling. With nothing but night through the tall windows and the room under-illuminated by the two lamps either left on by their host or switched on by Bucky, the ceiling’s dark grey instead of white. Shadowy. Unlike the menacing shadows that seemed to stretch after them on the streets of Low Town, sending an unpleasant tickle up the back of Sam’s neck, these are soft. It’s a surprisingly peaceful end to the day, considering what the past 24 hours have encompassed. Suddenly, Sam feels as though he’s been awake a long, long time. Doesn’t mean he’s ready to sleep yet.

“So,” he says, “downstairs. Why’d you leave? Most date-like thing we’ve done yet and I tear my eyes away from the trainwreck of Zemo’s dancing to find you gone.”

“The noise, the crowd, Zemo,” Bucky emphasizes, “like you said.”

“You brought him.”

“I know, I just…” Bucky slumps forward and hangs his head, hands clasped between his knees. He turns pained eyes on Sam and Sam moves his hand from the back of the couch to Bucky’s shoulder. From there to his upper back. From a grounding pressure to a gentle rub. Just a couple times, but he doesn’t pull away, perennially touchy when less than sober. “I don’t want him to control me.”

“He doesn’t,” Sam says firmly. “You were yourself at Selby’s.”

“His version of me. I don’t like the reminder. I don’t want to find out if I’d do it again, in that crowd of people, attack someone just because he told me to.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. I’m trusting you not to.”

“Is that smart?” Bucky asks, expression raw. Sam can feel the heat of his back through his shirt.

“It’s not totally smart. Can’t be, with you involved.”

Bucky rolls his eyes and smiles and Sam wants to cheer.

“I don’t know about that date,” Bucky says lightly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he leans back into the couch once more. It was a t-shirt under that jacket of his and Sam’s gaze slides to his arms, trying to look without looking. Only because the Vibranium one isn’t on display a lot. That’s all.

“Oh, here we go.”

Sam’s amazed at how his complaint sounds in this room, in this light, on this couch. Like the ceiling, it’s soft.

“It was too loud.”

“The last thing you called a date was a fight on the top of a truck speeding down a highway. Wasn’t exactly quiet.”

“Well,” Bucky tries again, “there were too many people.”

“Again, extra people weren’t a problem last time. Half a dozen Flag-Smashers, as I recall.”

“That was fun and all—”

“Which part?” Sam asks, smiling. “The part where you got hurled into a windshield by the woman you’d assumed was a hostage? Yeah, that part was fun for me too.”

“Can it.”

Bucky accompanies the words with a look that Sam could pick out a mile away as fake-grumpy. It cracks him up and he lifts his hand from Bucky’s back to shove his arm as he laughs.

“You called tonight a date,” Bucky says suddenly.

“No, I said… I said…” Sam squints at nothing as he retrieves his words in his mind. “Date-like.”

“Zemo got in my head and I got in yours.”

Instead of saying this miserably, Bucky looks quietly smug at his joke. Sam needs to set him straight; of course he didn’t think tonight was a date. With a massive bounty on their heads at the other end of Madripoor? With Zemo the third wheel always only an arm’s length away? And the current circumstances are beside the point because, fundamentally, Sam doesn’t know whether or not Bucky’s been joking from the start. Intentionally wrong-footing him, messing with him, like they’ve been doing as long as they’ve known each other.

“You’ve definitely done something,” Sam volunteers.

It’s his fourth drink talking, or maybe the fucking pickled snake organ he forced himself to swallow earlier. His jaw clenches fleetingly at the memory. Sarah’s gonna laugh her ass off when he tells her. Should be enough to balance out whatever ire she’ll be sending his way for that dumb shit he said about laundering money. Although she’ll get that he only said it to avoid getting shot (he won’t tell her how narrow that success was), she still won’t be thrilled that he made himself out to be a criminal. It’s the furthest thing from the kind of people the Wilsons are. He could always point a finger at how Bucky behaved—dropping everyone who ran at him with icily efficient twists and kicks—but he knows how Sarah would look at him, what she’d be thinking. That he and Bucky aren’t held to the same standard, externally or internally. That he talks about Bucky too often, so often that if he let his sister in on this stupid running joke they have about their ops being dates, she’d take it all wrong, think this was something serious and inevitable.

Sam swallows and laces his fingers together in his lap so he won’t reach out for Bucky again.

“I know I should’ve let you in on the plan to spring Zemo from prison,” Bucky says. Oh, he thinks Sam’s words were a subtle criticism, not an admission. That’s… good.

“But?”

“No excuses,” Bucky promises, stretching his neck from side to side. “I shoulda told you. Once I explained it, you would’ve seen that I was right and agreed with me.”

Sam gives the side of Bucky’s head a hard stare until he catches the smirk hiking his lips up on one side.

“Wow,” Sam says dryly, “that was almost you taking responsibility.”

“I take responsibility all the time.”

“The notebook, right?”

“Yeah. Can’t believe Zemo put his fuckin’ hands on something so private, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“I get that it’s private,” Sam assures him, “but you can tell me shit. If you want.”

Bucky’s folded arms loosen and he shoots Sam a sideways glance that scans all over his face, measuring, cataloguing, computing with that cyborg brain Sam teases him about. Sam blinks back. He means it, and he meant it before when he said he’s trusting Bucky.

“Feels a little one-sided,” Bucky says.

“That’s because you won’t come home with me to meet Sarah and the boys. You already got your invitation into my personal life, you just haven’t used it.”

“We’ve been a little busy, Sam.”

Sam sighs loudly and pushes his sleeves up his arms against the warmth of the room.

“You can make time. Once we’re not on Zemo’s schedule.”

“He was supposed to be on ours,” Bucky mutters. “I don’t know how that happened.”

“It happened because you’re an idiot who didn’t tell me the plan.”

“It’s my fault we keep getting shot at.”

Sam ignores that, the happy looseness surging up inside him battling the gravity of Bucky’s self-pity.

“It’s your fault if you didn’t like the date,” he counters. “You got Zemo out of Germany, Zemo brought us to Madripoor. Low Town, Selby, Sharon—all that happened as a consequence. You didn’t like tonight’s date? That’s on you.”

“Date-like,” Bucky corrects with a sly smile. “The noise and the fighting last time were fine—”

“Were they?!”

“—I just thought the next date should be different.”

Sam laughs softly because this isn’t the first time Bucky’s made this sound like more than a joke, but it is the first time he’s done this at night. And without Sam’s sister and nephews in the next room, or the potential for anybody to drive past them on a country road that runs alongside untidy fields, but when they’re truly alone.

“How so?” Sam asks, heart pumping like the bass in the basement, where the party’s carrying on without the two of them.

Bucky loosens his arms even more, until his forearms rest on his thighs, until—when he rocks to the side, repositioning to face Sam—he can rest one on the back of the couch where Sam’s used to be. His hand hangs down and his fingers skim Sam’s shoulder.

“More private,” Bucky confesses.

“I didn’t know that’s what you wanted,” Sam says with an easy laugh because Bucky’s face is still a little too stern, but that could be self-consciousness. “Tell me how to get more than four stars, man.”

“And you’ll do it?”

“Depends. Try me,” he blurts.

He watches Bucky’s face pinch in then relax, going especially slack at the mouth, which gets closer when Bucky angles into his space. Sam’s fingers release and his back straightens as he shifts to square his body to Bucky’s. They’ve done something like this before, locked into stubborn, confrontational posture when Bucky makes Sam’s life difficult by refusing to go along with what he says, but not this. Not this exactly.

Sam doesn’t stiffen or jerk away, so Bucky keeps coming.

“Are you…?” Bucky asks, eyelashes fluttering as his lids raise and lower, looking from Sam’s eyes to his lips. “Is this…?”

Always talking.

Tilting his head and closing his eyes, Sam stamps his mouth to Bucky’s. He goes to break away after a few stunned seconds, but then Bucky’s hand lands on the back of his neck—warm; not the metal one—to hold them together. Sam meets Bucky’s seeking tongue with his own and feels scruff against his face as their mouths test and react to each other. Reflexively, Sam grips the front of Bucky’s tight, black t-shirt. The kiss is quick and feverish and, when Bucky’s fingers untense on his neck, Sam rests his face against Bucky’s.

He wouldn’t say he’s scared to move, but he’s wary. He can’t tell if they’ve fucked up their whole dynamic or taken it, at last, to a level it was always going to reach. Raising a hand to pat the side of his head and check that his goggles are in place, Sam stops, remembering he won’t feel the strap because he’s not in the air. It’s been a while since he felt lightheaded on the ground.

He clears his throat and draws back. Bucky starts to remove his hand from Sam’s neck, but Sam reaches up to keep it there. He juts his chin out challengingly as he holds Bucky’s eyes, thinking, for a second, of their joint session with Dr. Raynor.

“What’s the verdict?” Sam demands.

Bucky stares back solemnly.

“Four and a half.”

“I’m leaving you here in Madripoor,” Sam declares, pointing a finger down at Bucky’s abruptly and broadly grinning face as he pushes up from the couch.

He strides over to Sharon’s crystal decanters, laughing to himself and looking for water. There isn’t any, but she does have an insulated canister of dissolving ice cubes. Sam scoops a few into a tumbler and turns back to look silently at Bucky. He cups the base of the glass in his hot palm. Slowly, the ice starts to melt.

#my writing #tfatws #tfatws spoilers #The Falcon and the Winter Soldier #Sam Wilson #Bucky Barnes #Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes #sambucky

[kimjihyun-archive]

daybreak | jihyun kim

WARNINGS: i'm rotting your fucking teeth with this one baybee, hugging i guess??, my willingness to put my life on the line for jihyun kim?? it's evident i'll tell you that

WORD COUNT: 1357 (more length??? god i'm so good at this)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: that's right everyone i'm coming out as a v apologist. it's 2:46 am and i have an ap psych class in five hours my brain is so fucking big. n e ways v stans please unite this is objectively my best fic of all time i love this man with all of my being.

“These are gorgeous, V.” She sat on his couch with his camera in her hands and a cup of earl grey resting between her knees. Her fingers clicked clumsily through his photos, and as much as he insisted that this particular set wasn’t his best and that she was ‘under no obligation to look through all of them,’ she continued studying every one, curiosity spread wide across her face.

“I mean it.” She looked up at him, brows raised. He hadn’t responded to her in the first place, rather choosing to watch as her eyes lit up with each image, but if he had to assume, she could simply see it on his face.

Her ability to read him was… immeasurable to say the least. Whether it be the slightest change of expression, or the subtle hitch in his breath, or even so much as a glint in his eye, she always seemed to know exactly what it meant. From the moment they met, every part of him that he wished to stay hidden had spread itself out in front of her. The allure of being V—the mysterious pseudonym, the whispers in the chatroom, the secrets he painstakingly tried to keep—she saw straight through them.

And surprisingly enough, he was happy to show her.

“You are much too kind,” he finally replied. She laughed—soft and warm and everything that made his tiny apartment feel like home.

“I think you’re just too hard on yourself.” Her legs stretched out from beneath her, reaching across the couch as her ankles cracked in relief. One tucked back under her so her knee could support the weight of the camera, and the other dangled over the ground, just barely hanging above his own.

V hummed, not caring to debate his own self-depreciation in a moment so peaceful, and placed a hand on her calf as he sipped from his mug.

Her presence had become a welcomed piece of his home rather quickly. The gentle buzzing of her morning routine was, from the moment it first occurred, something that felt undeniably right. He’d listen to her place the kettle on the stove and slice the fruits she’d gotten from the market and settle into the couch just in time for him to slip out of bed and join her.

“You’re up early,” she’d said the first time.

“Too much light,” he replied, slipping onto the couch next to her. “It can be a bit… overwhelming.”

He comforted himself in the fact that he wasn’t being entirely untruthful. Watching the world develop from blobs of color to definite shapes again was a tremendous change. He’d been able to see before, but this seemed different. The sun seemed much brighter.

“V,” she placed the camera down on the coffee table in front of them, holding her mug between her fingers. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” he replied.

“Your work,” she gestured towards the table with her elbow, her brows raised. “Why do you choose to remain anonymous with it?”

“Ah,” a smile tugged at his lips, though it seemed to be more out of charity than joy. “Privacy, I suppose. I’ve watched the media tear people like Jumin apart for such simple things, I guess I wish to stay a little selfish—to keep what goes on in my world to myself.”

Truthfully, the idea of spending his days in the public eye seemed rather sickening. He’d much rather see his work in tiny museums throughout the country than on the front pages of magazines.

“I wouldn’t call that selfish,” her words were nearly reduced to a hum, but fell from her mouth with such a gentle lilt that his heart stuttered. “Jumin has thick skin. And not to say that you couldn’t handle the public eye, but your value of privacy, it’s perfectly reasonable.”

She reached over, giving his wrist a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m glad you think so.” She smiled. It was small, but heartfelt nonetheless.

“You… said you had more?” She gazed down at the camera again and he chuckled.

“I do,” he began to stand up. “But there’s something I’d like to show you first.” He held out a hand to her, and though confusion had contorted her features, she took it, trusting him to pull her to her feet.

V led her down the hallway, making sure to keep the steaming mug in her spare hand in mind with each tug.

“Your studio?” She asked as they reached the furthest door in the apartment. He’d never kept her from it, but she hadn’t gotten around to entering either, often labeling it a space that was only his own.

“Yes. I’d like you to see it.” She beamed at him as he opened the handle, her lips stretching into another smile.

Sunlight spilled across the floor of the room as he led her inside. Canvases lined the walls, often propped against the hardwood as they bathed in the orange hues of the morning sun. Most of the room seemed to be covered in a soft layer of dust, clearly lacking use after V completely lost his vision.

“I haven’t been in here in quite a long time, so I figured it would be best to enter with you.”

It was funny to him, the way her presence never seemed to be an intrusion. He kept this room locked away for as long as he could remember, embarrassed of the paint that splashed the canvases and the piece of himself he’d put into them. But with her—he wished to show her all of it. Every canvas, no matter how insignificant, every splatter of paint. She’d already seen so much of him, why not give her the rest?

“This—” her fingers traced the line of one of the canvases, completely dumbfounded by its presence. “This is beautiful, V.”

He followed her gaze to a painting in the corner of the room—one that mimicked the colors of the rising sun. Before he knew her, when he woke before the sun had fully settled in the sky, he would sit in the studio, watching colors bleed throughout the air. He guessed he got more painting done on mornings like those than he ever had before.

“I’m honored to show you. It’s been a terribly long time since anyone other than me has entered this room, and it was about time for you to see it. It needed some of your charm.” She laughed as she placed her mug on a table in the corner.

“I wouldn’t call it that.” She reached out, holding his hand between hers, tracing lines into his knuckles. “Maybe irrefutable clumsiness might be a better term.”

“Don’t sell yourself so short,” he replied. “This apartment would no longer be the same without you.”

“V,” she mused, her voice small as she spoke. “You’re remarkably lovely, you know that?” He laughed.

“I’m only telling the truth. You’ve made this place feel like home again and I thank you for that.”

She hugged him.

He stiffened as her arms wrapped around his neck, but quickly settled into her, holding his mug outward from both of them. Warmth spread throughout his chest, an overwhelming amount of tenderness between the two of them beginning to seep through to the surface of his skin.

They lingered for a moment. Too long to be a hug of gratitude, too long to be an exchange between friends, too long for well, anything. He pushed the thought of what such a gesture could possibly mean to the side for the time being. That, he decided, would be too much for now.

Instead, V pressed his lips to her forehead and pulled away slowly to drink from his tea, a smile spreading haphazardly across his lips.

“Would you like to try…?” His hands shifted towards the array of brushes stacked on the counter and her eyes lit up.

“I would love to,” she replied quickly. “Would you be willing to help me?”

A breathless little chuckle escaped V’s throat as he placed down his mug, reaching for one of the brushes.

“Of course.”

#jihyun kim #v x reader #v mystic messenger #jihyun kim x reader #jihyun kim x mc #v x mc #mystic messenger #mystic messenger fanfic #i still have no clue how to tag this shit #i don't know tumblr help me out #if this fic flops and the jumin fic didn't i might have to start screaming #n e ways plays enjoy

[vinylhazza]

okay but how would gray be if ur just being a bitch to him when he’s trying to snuggle w u at night... 😳

“off.”

the third time you’ve said the damn word and his arm is still hooked around your waist securely. but you, God you just wanted to sleep on your respected side of the bed and be mad at him for the night. that’s all. you just wanted to wallow in your scorn and then maybe have a conversation with him tomorrow about your troubles. but apparently that wasn’t enough. not one moment of blissfully hot anger. 

“grayson i said get the fuck off of me.” harsher now, hoping he knows that you mean what you say this time. this isn’t pull me closer i don’t really mean it i want you to work for it this time. this is get the fuck off or i’ll punch you square in the jaw, “i’m not in the mood.”

if he wanted to cuddle so damn bad maybe he should have thought about how it would feel on your end to be ignored while some skanky waitress in a tiny black dress flaunted herself right in front of him and you. 

did he turn her down? yes. did you see his eyes flicker down her lengthy fishnet covered legs for just a second? also yes. did it piss you the fuck off that he cleared his throat the moment she walked away as if to compose himself? fuck yeah it did. did it make you feel like a potato in a sack in the dress you spent days picking out for the date? also yes. did he hear a word you said while you explained in detail that your parents would finally be moving to LA after a year of begging and convincing them to? no. he didn’t hear a damn word. which then resulted in you running over the same story that once excited you, but then felt cold and stale leaving your lips.

it was the disrespect and complete lack of regard for your feelings and trust in your relationship right in front of you that bothered you most. how could he honestly not know the issue by this point? how could he think you wanted him to tug you to his chest when he’d made eyes at another woman in front of you? made it a point to make you feel second best? for someone that had said countless times you were the prettiest girl in the room, he sure made it feel like bullshit. sure you might be being difficult and not outright telling him that him running his eyes over a waitresses long sexy legs hurt you but...common sense plays no part here?

but then, a kiss on your shoulder blade, then another just below there, then across the expanse of your upper back and to the furthest spot he could reach before he hit the pillow. he just wanted to sweeten you up so it would be easier to forgive him. that had to be it right? 

“please don’t be upset with me baby,” he’s whispering all soft. the special way he does when he knows deep down he hurt you in a horrible type of way, “just tell me what i can do.”

why do men even have ears if they don’t listen? did he even hear himself? please don’t be upset with me? after making you feel like a piece of garbage in a dress? after ignoring every single piece of exciting news you had stacked up just for date night? it felt like you’d been slapped in the face with the reality of the situation. whether it was you going into a full fledged panic attack or not, you wanted his hands off of you and to be as far away from his soft honey eyes as possible. 

“you can get off of me like i’ve said five times now. i just want you to stop and leave me alone for tonight.”

that sounded more convincing in your head. damn it. 

maybe it was the way you whispered the last part instead of spitting it out with fire on your tongue that shocked him the most, enough to lean back like you’d been asking to all along and turn you onto your back. he really thought you’d been joking, just being a brat and playing hard to get. but with the way your shoulders are curled in, your arms pressed close to you, your knees raised up...he’d finally starting to realize the joke is over. now that you’re facing him face to face, he can see the pain and agony swirling in those pretty eyes he fell for on a Wednesday afternoon in spring. 

a kiss to your cheek, then your nose, “tell me please.”

“grayson-“

“i hurt you and i want to know how,” he explains, fully aware of the hurt expression contorting your face. you wore that same expression when he forgot about the reservation for your mothers birthday dinner - she flew in all the way from West Virginia, away from her simply happy life, just to see you for a weekend in celebration of growing one year older in a city that never stops. The least he could have done is remembers to put his plans on hold for just one night for a woman that always made sure to include him in her own plans. he had apologized for days to both you and your mother, he couldn’t believe he had been so thoughtless. you’ve grown tired of making excuses for the ways that he hurts you. you let it slide for long enough. 

when his mouth opens once again to talk - you’ve beat him to the chase, pushing against his chest so you can sit up and stare at him hard and stern. he needs to hear how serious you are. if he wanted the reason, he could deal with the truth and take it for what it was. if you wanted him to hear you - really hear you, you knew the best way was to put it in the simplest way. 

“I don’t like the way you looked at the waitress tonight right in front of me. I don’t like the way it made me feel, and I don't like that you were so comfortable in disrespecting  me that you’re choosing to pull the clueless card right now. I don’t like that I'm once again making an excuse for your actions like I always seem to be doing and I don't-” you stop to raise a finger when he attempts to cut you off, probably with more excuses, “let me talk-” you snap, the fire stoking somewhere deep in your stomach. 

you swore you’d never be the girl that got walked on like a rug, and you intended to keep that promise. you owed it to yourself. 

“-I don’t like the feeling that you’re looking for a better option even if it’s a waitress in a restaurant. it doesn’t matter to me that you were just looking. it's the message you send to me and to everyone around you. it’s the way you have shown over these past couple of months that you don’t care as much as you claim you do. and I'm tired Grayson,” you stop abruptly to choke on the tears, already feeling your throat closing with the anticipation of a sob, “I'm so fucking tired.” 

his shocked face tells you everything you need to know. that he was blind to what he’d done and he truly hadn’t seen anything wrong with his eyes scaling down the length of her legs right in front of you.

“y/n...it wasn’t like tha-”

holding your hand up flat was enough to stop him.  

no, you didn't wait for some half-assed apology. no you wouldn’t lay in bed when you’re so sickeningly hurt by the innocent gleam in his eyes and the way he’s touching you lovingly when he’d done something so careless. you wouldn’t stay in this bed tonight with your heart feeling like it could break any moment. you would hold your ground and wait to fight this battle tomorrow, when you’re not so emotionally torn apart and scared to lose someone you’ve dreamt of marrying many many nights. you wanted to call your mom first, have her tell you to take some deep breaths...that he loves you...that he has some sort of reason...just help you understand how you got here and how to forward. you needed the night to yourself. 

so with your head held high, your hoodie bunched around your small frame, you push yourself out from underneath him - your feet hitting the cold wooden floor with the shudder up your spine. you made your way out of that bedroom and hadn’t looked back to see his face that always softened you right up. grabbing a blanket from the hallway closet, you made your way to the couch you’d picked out together, another memory that would surely make you cry just that much harder later when you’re over analyzing the entire relationship on a constant loop. 

you had the right to be mad, and you wouldn’t let him weasel his way out it this time. he wouldn't cuddle it away. it was time to stop making excuses and show him that you demand respect and loyalty. even if laying on that couch feels like more of a punishment than a lesson for him, and even if you appreciated him knowing not to come out and invade your space like you almost expected him to. you had to stand your ground and stick up for your heart that had been tampered with enough to last you a lifetime.

-

a/n: wtf? am I okay? this is random and I'm very sure it’s not the direction you were thinking but here we are. 

#asks #gray!concepts #grayson!concepts

[andrewologist]

Can’t Get Control of the World

first full length fic I’ve posted in over a year and it’s batlantern. I’m not sorry.

thank you @emmajeancoco-deactivated20001027 for editing this for me even though you had no clue what the fuck was happening <3

tw: blood, mild gore, panic attack

also on ao3

--------

The mission went bad.

Spectacularly, woefully, bad.

There were a lot of casualties. The intel the Oa received was outdated. The Lanterns were outmatched. The planet they were supposed to be protecting was in ruins.

1,009,953,907 casualties. Too many of them children. Hal had done the math in his head over and over. and over. and over. and over. From the end of the battle to the debrief on Oa to the flight home. There was nothing that Hal could have done to stop it, to change it.

It wasn’t his fault.

And yet.

He could still smell the awful stench of burnt flesh.

He could still see the terrified face of the child, who looked uncomfortably human.

He could still hear the screaming and, god, the pleading.

The Watchtower was the furthest he could make it without collapsing.

He doesn’t know whether he should be relieved or disappointed that the halls are empty when he arrives. He makes a bee-line for the locker room, thankful that no one was there to talk to him but still hoping that one man, in particular, would stop him.

His hair is covered in dust, and his face is speckled red from the minor scrapes he gained from falling debris, but the rest of his body is relatively clean.

Except for his arms.

Despite their purple skin, the Vraissol still have red blood. It’s thicker than human blood, but it looks damn near the same.

And Hal’s arms were covered in it, from his fingers to his elbows.

The dust washes away, the scrapes sting under the hot water, but they had stopped bleeding hours ago.

But the blood wouldn’t get off his hands.

Between the debrief and the trip home, it had dried and hardened into itchy, red cement.

No matter how hot Hal makes the water, no matter how hard he scrubs with the stupid high-tech expensive decontamination soap, it refuses to come off in more than tiny flakes.

The longer it stays there, the longer Hal has to look at the almost-black blood, the sicker he feels.

The harder he scrubs, the more he remembers.

All he can see is the family of Vraissols trapped under the ruins of their home, the child cowering in fear from him because it didn’t matter that he was trying to help; he had brought destruction with him. He can still see the blood seeping through his fingers as he tries desperately to stop the bleeding; he can still hear the explosion nearby. His brain had telegraphed every moment of the rubble crashing down next to him right where the family had-

The door to the locker room slams open as Hal’s knees give out from under him, and it’s the thunder of the battle raging overhead, reinforcements exploding-

“Hal!”

Someone is calling his name; he can hear it, but it’s miles away, and he’s not there. How could he be here?

Footsteps pound toward him, and it’s bullets raining down-

“Hal, it’s Bruce. Breathe with me.”

The room goes quiet - someone turned the shower off - and all there is the sound of exaggerated breathing in front of him as he desperately tries to get control of the air around him.

“That’s good, Hal. Can you look at me?”

Hal wants to snap back and tell Bruce to stop treating him like a child, but he opens his eyes to see Bruce crouched down in front of him, dress pants soaked and shirt sleeves rolled up, towel in hand and fear flashing in his eyes for a split second before he gets control of it.

Hal is hit with just how much he missed Bruce. One kiss before an emergency Lantern call, and he missed him like a limb.

“Hal, what happened to your hands?”

Hal swallows and gets a grip on his breathing before responding.

“Not my blood,” he says, startled by how even and hollow his voice sounds. Bruce sucks in a breath and motions him forward as he unfolds the towel.

If it were any other day, Hal would’ve laughed in Bruce’s face. If it were anyone else, Hal would’ve been angry.

But he’s too tired and hollowed out to protest.

So he lets Bruce wrap him in a towel. Lets him search through his locker for an extra pair of sweatpants. Lets him hold Hal steady as he steps into the legs of the sweatpants one by one. He lets Bruce guide him to the bench. Watches as Bruce putters around the locker room in silence, opening and closing a few cabinets. Pretends not to notice Bruce glancing over at him every three seconds.

He stays silent as Bruce sits next to him and takes Hal’s left hand in his own, so gently that Hal momentarily forgets that those same hands could tear down all of Gotham. So gently that Hal is reminded that Bruce is a father before anything else, despite what he tells himself and everyone else.

Hal looks away from his hands. Stares anywhere but down.

“I didn’t think anyone was here,” Hal says, just barely above a whisper.

I didn’t think anyone would see me like this.

“I got an alert as soon as you returned,” Bruce responds, just barely below a whisper.

You don’t have to hide from me.

Hal turns to look at Bruce. His gaze is focused as he works at the blood on Hal’s hands. Whatever he’s doing is working. Hal is starting to feel the air on his skin again, but it still feels like lead.

Bruce’s features are pulled tight in an expression that Hal would have once read as anger and frustration. Now Hal knows that it means that Bruce is throwing himself into a task to try and forget the worry and fear at war in his head.

“We were outnumbered,” Hal says, still not daring to break the quiet of the air. Bruce pauses, and his eyes flicker across Hal’s face, calculating. Always calculating.

Hal looks away. Bruce continues.

“The intel was wrong. Somehow. They had more firepower.”

Hal is silent as Bruce finishes his left hand. He switches to his right hand, carefully removing the ring and setting it aside.

“Even with ten of us defending that planet, we weren’t enough.”

Bruce works at his right arm steadily.

Hal doesn’t look down until he pulls away. 

His hands are raw and numb. There’s a section of his left arm that is significantly worse than the rest. He realizes it’s because he had scrubbed at it until he broke the skin.

Bruce holds out his ring, and Hal takes it. Holds it in his hand.

“1,009,953,907 Vraissol. And they were all terrified.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Hal. You did what you could.”

Hal’s head whips around to look at Bruce, his eyes meeting Bruce’s for the first time in too long. It’s not pity he sees in the other man’s eyes. It’s understanding. Concern. Pain. It makes Hal feel incredibly small and infinitely old.

“But that’s the worst part, isn’t it? There was nothing I could do. Not a goddamn thing.”

Bruce takes Hal’s hand again, takes the ring from his palm, and slides it back onto his finger. Hal doesn’t take his eyes off of Bruce for a single moment.

Bruce meets Hal’s gaze, places his hand on Hal’s face.

“Sometimes our best isn’t enough. But you tried. You can’t save everyone, but that doesn’t make you any less good. There is good left in this world, Hal Jordan. You are proof of that.”

Hal is silent, but his eyes are searching Bruce’s face, his hands trembling, his whole world unsteady.

He can see the weight that Bruce puts on his own shoulders; can feel the weight on his own.

The weight of a thousand worlds on their shoulders and Bruce washed the blood off of Hal’s hands.

#batlantern #halbruce #hal jordan #bruce wayne #hal jordan/bruce wayne #hal jordan x bruce wayne #how many different ways can I tag that lol #also yes this is based on a bilmuri song leave me alone #my stuff #my writing #fuck how do I tag things again

[waywardnerd67]

The Symbol of my Soul

Summary: Everyone has a mark on their soul chosen according to their destiny and imprinted upon their soulmate to reveal who they are. In a world of superheroes and villains, (Y/N) wore the one man’s symbol she has ever loved proudly across her chest paying no mind to the symbol over her heart. Until her world collides with one of unsung heroes and monsters. Will she stand by the side of America’s greatest superhero or walk the path of destiny to the world’s bravest hero? Characters: Dean Winchester, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Reader Pairing: Dean x Reader / Steve x Reader Warnings: Angst / Fluff / AU / SPN & Marvel Crossover Word Count: 3220 A/N: This is for @carryonmywaywardcaptain​ A Supernaturally Marvelous Fic Challenge Prompts (bold): Soulmates AU / “I can’t stay away from you. I’m tired of trying.” A/N: This is for @negans-lucille-tblr​ bees 6k roll the dice challenge (however I went over her word count… sorry) Prompts (bold): Ever thought of calling when you’ve had a few? Because I always do / Isn’t it messed up, how I’m just dying to be him?

(Y/N) stood in front of the mirror deeply breathing in the steam from her shower. The faded mark above her heart aching sighly. She thought nothing of it since her sparring match with Cap and Bucky had resulted in her making a trip to the infirmary. That was over a week ago and now she was beginning to wonder if it meant that her soulmate was coming soon. She swallowed hard pushing that thought to the furthest parts of her consciousness.

There was only one man she wanted to stand by and she proudly wore his symbol across her chest daily. Looking back at her uniform, the dark navy, crimson red and striking white star were the colors of American Hope in which he had worn for decades. It was not until her mentor, Agent Carter, had passed that she took on his mantle. That had been several years ago and now the world knew her as Lady America.

“You gonna stand there all day or can someone else maybe use the mirror?”

Sam’s snarky tone made her smirk as she grabbed her uniform, “Oh, by all means, please admire yourself for a few hours. I’m so sorry to be in your way, Feathers.”

His dark eyes narrowed on her then brightened as he laughed, “Always count on you for a quick wit back, M’Lady.”

Walking past him, she made her way to her room. Turning the corner her smile widened seeing the man whose side she wanted to stand by always. Steve Rogers was the picture perfect man, in her humble opinion, with his  short, clean cut blond hair, chiseled jaw set in a firm line and bright blue eyes. He looked up seeing her walking towards him in a towel. His cheeks flushed making her giggle.

“Hello Cap, anything I can do for you?” She opened her door leading into the small dorm room that was located within the Avengers Headquarters.

“(Y/N), I wanted you to accompany me on a mission. Strange energy source is coming from a small town in Lebanon, Kansas. Tony seems to think it’s nothing but I want to make sure.”

He focused on a few pictures she had of family and friends on her walls. She caught him several times glancing over to her, his eyes traveling the length of her body. The mark on her burned hot for a moment before going back to a dull ache.

“Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll meet you in the garage.”

Steve gave her a short nod before hastily exiting her room. She quickly put on her suit combing her hair back fixing it into place and took one last glance in the mirror. Once again, the mark burned into her chest to the point she rubbed the spot with her hand. Dread filling her heart knowing that soon everything could change for her.

When you are born, everyone has a Soul Mark on their body signifying who your soulmate was in this world. When you would eventually meet them then the mark would fade into the skin until it vanished. The mark was meant to lead you to your soulmate but it was up to you to choose to be with them or not. Steve and Peggy bore each other’s marks until he was frozen and she passed away. From the times she had seen him get stitched up, Steve no longer had a Soul Mark on him.

(Y/N) hurried to the car where he was waiting for her. His new midnight blue and silver suit fitting him perfectly as he leaned against the car. Ever the gentleman, he opened her door for him with a soft smile. They took off from upstate New York making the twenty plus hours drive to Kansas. As they drove through the small town, she had never seen Steve so content before watching the townsfolk milling around the store fronts. A few waved recognizing him from afar and for a few minutes he stopped at the one signal light to sign autographs for a few kids.

Eventually, they made their way to an abandoned electrical warehouse. As they stopped in front of it, (Y/N) groaned from her mark throbbing and stomach churning.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, concerned, filling his voice.

“This stupid Soul Mark is aching.” She looked up at him, “I’m trying to ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. You know, Tony’s way of doing everything.”

He chuckled, “Your soulmate must be nearby. Maybe you should stay here.”

Before she could respond a black car pulled out from a side street with two men inside. The moment she saw him (Y/N) knew he was the one. At the same moment they both instinctively grabbed their chests rubbing the spot over their hearts. Steve had noticed it as well, his lips in a firm straight line.

She straightened up, “We should follow them.” Looking over to him, her heart ached seeing the disappointment in his eyes, “They could have the power source with them.”

Steve nodded following thirty yards back as the black car cruised through the small town. They followed them for hours heading east until they reached a suburb of Chicago. They finally stopped at a shady motel with a diner attached to it. Her mark was bothering so much that she undid the top portion of her uniform to make sure it was not literally burning.

It was hideous with jagged lines forming a backwards F over her heart. Steve glanced over seeing that it was glowing bright red seemingly searing into her skin. With tears in her eyes, she looked up seeing sorrow shining in his.

“You know there is only one way to take care of that.” He whispered as she buttoned up her front again looking over to the black car.

The taller of the two men had long, chestnut hair and stood nearly three inches over the other man. He had one hand on the other’s shoulder presumingly making sure he was okay. The other man was rubbing his broad chest, his handsome face scrunched in pain. He had short, light brown hair and even from the distance they were at the setting rays of the sun shine over his vibrant green eyes.

Without even a second thought, (Y/N) found herself getting out of the car and walking towards the two men. Her mind completely blank except for the one thought running through it.

Home.

“Who are you?”

They looked up at her as her own hand clutched at her chest. The taller man stepped in front of the other protective before realization flickered in his hazel eyes.

“Holy crap, you’re Lady America…”

“Yes, I am and the man in the car is Captain America. Now, answer my question…” she grunted from the pain at the same time the other man did, “Who. Are. You.”

She reached her hand out passing the taller man and grasped the other man’s shoulder. Immediately, searing pain spread throughout her chest and her heart hammered within her. She felt Steve’s hand grab her shoulders trying to pull her away but the man held onto her forearms.

“Dean!” The man yelled as the other man’s olive eyes bore into hers.

“Sammy, I can’t let go…” Each word was a puff of air as he spoke.

Steve wrapped his arms around her waist and wrenched her out of his grasp when she cried out, “NO!” He immediately dropped her and stepped away.

She tore at the buttons of her uniform until she could pull her tank top down revealing her red hot soul mark. He sucked in a breath seeing her mark then pulled his own t-shirt down revealing her star over his heart burning red as well. Their eyes met briefly before the world went black.

(Y/N) could hear voices murmuring around her focusing on the only familiar one, “This is more complicated than I expected.” She groaned opening her eyes to find three men staring down at her.

“W-What happened?” Flashes of searing pain and heat made her heart ache then it all came back to her.

She shot off the flimsy mattress staring at Steve as his eyes averted from hers to the man sitting on the bed next to hers. His head was in his hands and her body lurched forward to go to him.

“(Y/N)...” Steve calling her by her name stunned her enough to refocus, “You need to hear their story first before making any decisions.”

She watched as Steve left the room his silhouette imprinting on the window as he stood outside. She moved to the end of the bed running her hand through her hair trying to ignore every inch of her body telling her to move to the man beside her.

“Start talking. Quickly.” She groaned.

“My name is Sam Winchester and this,” he patted the man sitting on the bed, “is my brother Dean. We’re hunters.”

She chuckled, “So you kill bambi?”

Dean scoffed before Sam continued, “Not exactly. We hunt monsters.”

“Monsters? Really?”

Dean stood up facing her for the first time, “Yes sweetheart, monsters. We’re really no different from you except we don’t destroy cities or have millions of fans to dote over us.”

“Dean…” Sam warned as she stood up anger overwhelming all other feelings coursing through her.

“We’re heroes! We’ve saved the world more times than you could even count! We risk our lives everyday to keep this world safe from all kinds of villains!”

He squared his shoulders getting in her face, “So do we. We’ve saved the world so many times that it would make you superheroes look like amateurs. We’ve taken on the devil himself and God. So what, if you take out a few aliens.”

“Stop. Both of you.”

Steve’s voice had her backing away from the man in front of her. How could she be destined to be with this neanderthal. How was her destiny tied to his?

“(Y/N), we have a file back at headquarters on hunters and one particular on the Winchester brothers.” He showed her the files on his phone, “They are what they say they are.”

Dean threw his hands up in frustration, “I don’t even believe in this destiny crap. Sam, what happens if we choose not to embrace this ridiculous soul mark?”

Her eyes glanced away from the phone trying not to react to the harshness in his tone. Everything he said felt like a personal attack on her and it was taking everything within her to not show any reaction to him. Her eyes were stinging from holding back tears and her stomach was flopping like a fish out of water.

“From everything I’ve ever read if you choose not to follow through then you wander through life aimlessly. Always having that void within you until it finally consumes you.” His eyes softened looking between the two of them.

“Well, Captain USA here looks fine.” Dean pointed out and (Y/N) heard a small growl from Steve’s chest.

She pressed her hand against the star on his chest but he snapped at Dean, “That is because I was frozen until 2011 and my soulmate had no choice but to move on.” He stormed out of the room.

“You don’t have to be rude. None of us like this, but this is how it is.” (Y/N) narrowed her eyes on Dean who visibly flinched then she went after Steve.

She found him sitting on a bench outside the diner. His hands running down his face before clenching into fists. She sat down beside him, looking into the diner windows seeing they would start drawing a crowd soon.

“Let’s get out of here before people start pulling out their cell phones and Tony lectures us.” She gestured towards the people within the diner staring at them.

Silently they walked back to their car where Sam and Dean were standing, “Where are you going?”

(Y/N) felt a tug on her heart as if someone pulled a string attached to it, “We need to leave before we gather too much attention.”

“You can stay with us.” Sam offered.

“What?” She and Dean spoke in unison as they stared at him.

He sighed looking to Steve, “We have a secure bunker in Lebanon. It’s the safest place on Earth, well maybe besides Avengers HQ. There are plenty of rooms and when can figure out our next step is.”

She looked to Steve who nodded, “As good of a plan as any. We’ll follow you.”

The drive back to the abandoned warehouse was silent. Both Steve and her lost in their own thoughts. Her heart anxious and torn between wanting life to go back to the way it was versus heading towards what she could feel was her destiny. The uniform she proudly wore for years now making her squirm. She unbuttoned the front, slipping her arms from the sleeves leaving her in just a tank top. She took a deep breath letting it out slowly.

The moment she stepped out from the car in the underground garage the same thought that ran in her mind repeated itself over and over.

Home. Home. Home.

Sam showed them around telling the story of how they were legacies of the Men of Letters, an organization she had heard of before. The connections between her and the Winchesters become clearer. Steve and Sam stayed in the library swapping stories as she went in search of Dean. She found him sitting at a desk within a room labeled 11. A glass tumbler in his hand filled with amber liquor.

“So, what do we do now?”

He looked up from the leather journal and photo within it, “My parents were marked together. He was meant to be a Man of Letters and she came from a long line of hunters. They were the merging of two worlds fighting evil in the world.” He paused looking back at the picture, “I can’t help to wonder if that is not what is happening here as well.”

She stepped inside looking around what she presumed was his bedroom. Weapons of all variety hung on the walls. A record collection that would impress anyone along with a proud displayed and alphabetized porn collection. (Y/N) could not help the soft chuckle that escaped her lips. She sat down on his bed the overwhelming comfort it brought to her was startling.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

He sighed before downing the rest of his drink, “This life, hunting or being a superhero, the end is all the same. It’s bloody.”

He did not need to say more, “Then it’s decided.” Without another word she walked out of his room.

The trip back to headquarters was silent except for the soft playing music Steve had turned on. (Y/N) stated she was tired crawling into the backseat and lying down. She was awake for the whole trip quietly crying as each mile placed between her and Dean ripped open another crack in her heart. With time, her heart would become numb and she would carry on like she was supposed to because she was an Avenger.

Days turned into weeks that turned in months. She accepted every mission sent her way and performed her duties as she was taught. Everyone around her could see and feel the difference in her, but she ignored it knowing if she dared thought about him she would break.

(Y/N) was in her room writing up her reports when Steve knocked walking in, “(Y/N) could I talk to you for a moment?”

Her heart thumped hard as she turned to him, “Is it about another mission?”

He nodded, “Yes. A very important mission.”

She was expecting to follow him into the conference room or his office instead he led her out to the overlook of the river that ran along headquarters. He sat on the bench patting the spot next to him.

She shook her head crossing her arms over her chest, “This isn’t about a mission and whatever it is about I don’t want to hear it.”

Turning to walk back to her room his raspy voice stopped her dead in her tracks, “Isn’t it messed up how I’m just dying to be him? You’ve been by my side all these years and I’ve been blinded by my own mark still burning within my chest for Peggy.”

(Y/N) closed her eyes willing the tears to stop pooling beneath her lids as he continued, “I can’t imagine what you must be feeling knowing he’s out there and knowing you two belong together.”

“Stop. Please stop.” She begged turning to him with tears running down her cheeks, “I can’t talk about it or think about it. He made his choice and I’m sure he’s not thinking about me.”

Steve held up his phone hitting play a voice recording. Dean’s deep voice coming from the speaker.

“Lady America saves a little village in Costa Rica. Lady America rescues a herd of horses from barn fire. Lady America takes on Enchantress in super sexy downtown fight. Huh.”

“Steve…”

He held his hand up as the recording continued, “Wonder if Lady America has a cell phone? I wonder if she’s ever thought of calling when you’ve had a few? Because I always do… but at I guess she isn’t going to be listed under Lady America.” Dean sighed heavily, “She truly is beautiful even with her hair a mess and dirt smeared across her face.”

Steve stopped the recording, “You both are miserable. You need to go to him and I will send you missions via your phone.”

He stood up walking past her just as she reached out to him, “Steve, I truly felt something for you. You do know that?”

“I know, but I can’t stand in the way of your happiness even if it means breaking my own heart. Natasha is waiting for you with the jet to take you to Lebanon. Goodbye, (Y/N).” He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head before walking away.

Tears flowed freely down her face but only a few were with sadness. Rushing to her room, she found her bags packed and ready to go for her. Her dorm room was bare and figured he enlisted Bucky and Sam to help. Walking onto the jet she found Natasha sitting in the pilot’s seat.

“Ready Lady?”

She nodded wiping the tear from her face, “Yes, I’m ready.” She took one last long look at headquarters spotting Steve’s motorcycle leaving a trail of dust behind him as he raced down the path.

“He’ll be okay. I promise to smack him around for you.” She smiled at Natasha before closing her eyes as the jet took off through the clouds.

Knocking on the heavy door, (Y/N) looked down at her worn jeans and plaid shirt tied around her waist. A surprised Dean opened the door staring at her.

“I can't stay away from you. I’m tired of trying.”

Dean scooped her up into his arms hugging her tightly. Finally, (Y/N) let out a sigh of relief knowing that now she was officially…

Home.

From that moment on, a new branch of the Avengers started saving people, hunting things and assembling Earth’s mightiest heroes.

If you enjoyed this story then check out my Masterlist!

For fanfic updates please follow #waywardnerd67fics

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[thenewlarislynn]

No Time For Regret

Pairing: Sokka x Reader

Request: Can you do prompts 18 and 33 with Sokka, from list #1

Prompts: “You’re freezing, Jesus!” and "Sometimes I just want to cuddle, okay? Is that so bad?”

Word Count: Approx. 1.6k

~~~

Sitting on the bank of the river, you sighed wearily. It was your turn to keep an eye out for the Fire Nation Navy and there had been no activity so far. You knew your job was important in keeping the others safe, but it became so tedious after a while. 

Absentmindedly, you began playing with some pebbles that were laying on the shore. Using your earthbending, you tossed them up and watched them careen back to the ground. It wasn’t much, but it helped to pass the time. As you sat there, you began to think back on the last few months. 

When you started travelling with the group, you never expected to become this close with all of them. Least of all a certain water tribe boy who you couldn’t seem to keep out of your thoughts. You knew you couldn’t say anything about it, all that would do is create needless drama. Besides, even if he felt the same way, starting a relationship during a war wasn’t exactly the best idea. Losing a friend would be hard enough, losing a partner was enough to break someone.

Shaking the thoughts away, you returned to your task. Standing up, you walked along the embankment, looking for the tell-tale signs of smoke. When you were satisfied there was no threat, you turned and walked back towards camp. 

The others were still busy with their tasks when you arrived. Sokka was helping Katara prepare dinner while Toph went over training routines with Aang. Walking over to the fire, you warmed your hands. Night was setting quickly and it was growing chilly. 

Sokka joined you, smiling as he sat down. “Any news from your watch?”

“Well there were two intruders,” you replied seriously.

He leaned forward, waiting to hear about the threat. “What did you do? Were they Fire Nation?”

“No,” you said shaking your head, “I don’t believe they were with them. And all I did was give them some bread.”

“Why would you give intruders bread,” he exclaimed.

You finally cracked a grin, “They were just turtleducks,” you said with a laugh. 

“Oh very funny,” Sokka replied, rolling his eyes.

“I mean, it is kind of funny,” Katara said, joining you next to the fire. She turned towards Aang, who was now reaching the fire with Toph following close behind. “So, how was training?”

“It’s going well,” Aang answered. “I’m still learning, but I’m doing a lot better than before.”

“That’s great,” you replied encouragingly. “I patrolled the river today, no sign of Fire Nation troops.”

“We still need to be on the lookout for land patrol,” Sokka reminded you. “They could always launch a sneak attack against us.”

“Right,” Katara answered sarcastically, “I’m sure the Fire Nation is going to hike through the dense forest to track us down.”

“Well, you’ve seen the lengths Zuko has gone to,” you pointed out, “so I don’t think it’s that unlikely.” 

“See, I’m not paranoid. I just want to be cautious,” Sokka said with a smug smirk.

Katara shook her head, “Alright, well let’s hope these determined soldiers don’t interrupt us during dinner.” Using her waterbending, she poured soup into each of your bowls. 

Toph took a slurp from her dish. “Are we planning to stay here? Or are we moving on in the morning?”

“I think we could stay one more night,” Aang shrugged. “It would be difficult to travel tomorrow anyways.” He looked up at the clouds gathering overhead. “We could always waterbend the rain, but if there’s lightning it would be too dangerous.” 

“Although I hate to stay in one place for too long, Aang has a point.” Sokka glanced around at the group, his gaze lingering on you for a second before looking back at the fire. “Flying during a storm is risky, and nobody is getting hurt on my watch.”  

Once dinner was finished you helped set up the tents. The plan had been to sleep under the stars, but the impending storm ruled that option out. As you put the tarp over your tent, you sensed someone walk up behind you. 

Turning, you saw Sokka leaning against a tree waiting to talk to you. “What’s up?”

“Well,” he began, “I have this bad feeling. I can’t explain it, but I feel like something bad is about to happen. I know you patrolled the river earlier, but it’s been a while since then. The navy could have shown up since then.”

“Do you want me to go check it out with you? That way we’ll know for sure.”

He looked relieved, “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all. Besides, it isn’t safe to go alone at night. Let’s head out.” 

Walking along the muddy shore, you shivered. The night kept growing colder, and standing near the river did nothing to help. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” you answered with a shaky smile. “Just a bit cold is all.” 

He reached out to touch your exposed arm and immediately recoiled his hand. “You’re freezing, Jesus!” Shrugging off his jacket, he handed it to you. “Here, put this on, it’ll warm you up.”

“No,” you shook your head, “you keep it. You need it more.”

“I grew up in the South Pole,” he said with a smile. “Trust me, I’m used to the cold.”

Finally accepting the jacket, you smiled. “Thank you.” A strong gust of wind almost knocked you over, and you began to lose your footing, sliding towards the river. Sokka reached out, grabbing your hand and pulling you towards him. You fell into his arms and blushed as his arms wrapped around your waist to steady you. 

“Sorry,” you blushed, “I’m such a mess.” you said with a laugh.” Making an effort to smooth out your hair, you glanced over at him. “Does my hair look okay? It always gets so unruly.”

“It looks fine. Besides, you always look beautiful.” He paused, having a moment of realization. “I mean, you know, you’re um, very cute and,” he stuttered, trying to gloss over what he just said. “You’re very pretty.”

“Oh,” you replied. You weren’t sure if it was possible to die from blushing too much, but you were sure you were about to find out. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” he said, not looking in your direction. Instead he pretended to be very interested in the nearby trees.

Before you had a chance to say anything, Toph ran up behind you. “There’s heavy vibrations coming from the forest,” she explained breathlessly. “It’s the army.” 

You ran back towards camp, lungs burning, Katara greeted you, “We already have everything packed up, all we have to do now is leave.”

Aang was saddling up Appa, and you all stood nervously, ready for takeoff. A loud crash came from the forest and you glanced over, seeing a group of Fire Nation soldiers burst through the treeline. 

Stomping your foot, you sent a wave of rocks hurling towards the enemy. It gave you just enough time to climb on Appa’s back. With a quick “Yip Yip,” you were off. 

As you climbed in altitude rain began to fall. A boom of thunder shook the skies and you stiffened. “Oh no,” you whispered. “This is bad. Very bad.” Something bright caught your eye and you glanced over to see a fireball fly past. “They’re firing at us,” you called to Aang.

“I noticed,” he responded. “Everyone hold on, we’re going to have to do a zig zag to dodge them.” As he turned, a loud cracking sound startled you. Turning to look, a bolt of lightning struck right next to Appa’s head. The sky bison turned abruptly to avoid it, causing you to lose your gripping. 

You cried out as you plummeted towards the ground. Someone called your name and you could barely make out Sokka leaning over the edge of the saddle, hand outreached as if to catch you. But it seemed he was too late this time. 

It seemed as if time slowed. The ground was growing ever closer. Fifty feet away. You took a deep breath, letting a tear slip out of the corner of your eye. Forty feet. You braced for impact, knowing it wouldn’t matter anyways. Thirty feet. You tried to bend the ground so it would be softer, but to no avail. Instead, you whispered a silent prayer to the spirits. Twenty feet. You whispered a farewell to the others and closed your eyes. But instead of falling, you felt someone grab your wrist. 

Your eyes shot open, and you saw Sokka latched onto your wrist. He yanked you up over the saddle and pulled you into a hug. “I thought I lost you,” he whispered. You could tell he was crying, and you curled into him, your own tears falling. 

“It’s alright, I’m here. I’m here.” You looked into his eyes, now rimmed red from the tears, and knew it was now or never. Not being in a relationship didn’t stop any of the pain, it just caused more. You leaned in and pressed your lips to his.

He was shocked for only a second before kissing you back. When you finally broke apart he smiled. “I never knew you felt the same way.”

“I have for a while now, but I never wanted to say anything. I always thought that being in a relationship would make fighting this war harder. But when I almost died just now, I realized that regret is what causes the most pain.”

With that, he pulled you closer for another kiss. You wiped the tears from his cheek and smiled. Fear had held you back, but you were done being controlled by it. Life had no time for regret, and as you kissed Sokka you knew, regret was the furthest thing from your mind. 

Toph cleared her throat, “Look guys, I know you’re having a moment, but it’s a bit awkward for the rest of us.”

You chuckled and Sokka shook his head, “Sometimes I just want to cuddle, okay? Is that so bad?”

Laughing, Toph answered, “When the rest of us have to be present for it, yes.Yes it is.”

~~~

Requested By: anon

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Do I have a headache? Yes. Is it because I wanted to relive my childhood and stayed up until 3 AM watching Barbie movies? Maybe. Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist and as always, likes and reblogs are appreciated! Love you all! <3

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[bugabash]

Hold me while we Fall

Miraculous x Attack on Titan au

Fear was a complex that almost everyone within the walls grew to have as second nature. No one had seen a titan besides the scouts since the walls were erected, and the schools taught the children about the monsters beyond the wall in few details. But to Marinette it wasn’t the creatures that fascinated her, it was the world beyond. She had studied books on the wonders outside. But they never taught it in school, and she was chastised for bringing it up. So, the young girl kept it to herself, only sharing it with her sister. She feared the titans beyond the walls, everyone did, it was drilled into them from birth that they were the cattle to the wolves outside, but her family always made sure it was the furthest thing from her mind.

But that was before, and now everything has changed.

Next

AO3

Chapter 1: Marinette Dupain-Cheng

The year was 845 withing the walls of the Shiganshina district. Marinette Dupain-Cheng stood in her room that resided in her home above her father’s small bakery. She was eleven and a half, the half especially important to her when she defended her size to others. She was small, always hiding under her long dark hair that fell to her waist. But despite this her personality always shone through, making her extremely well liked with her peers. And with this came a very protective nature from them over her, feeling the need to shield her from everything, even from some of the stories of the Titans. But no one protected her more than her older sister, Tikki.

Tikki was fifteen, tall, beautiful, her long dark hair constantly in perfectly placed high pigtails, never a strand out of place, reaching down to her waist. She had bluebell eyes just like Marinette, freckles decorating her nose like an artist had painted them on her. She carried their mother’s feature more prominently than Marinette did which she embraced with pride. She was the definition of beauty. She was loved by all, known for her cheerful spirit and, well, being good at almost everything really. She was smart, charitable and all together a good person. She protected her sister from everything, determined to let Marinette grow up without the fear she had grown up with.

Marinette stood in front of her small homemade mannequin with her mauve dress she had been working on for a month now resting on it. Tikki was draped on her bed across their shared room, chattering away about her latest teachings from one of their father’s friends. Marinette was so used to it now, she just focused on her fingers as they threaded the needle through the fabric, counting the last few stitches in her head.

Four, three, two, one.

“It’s done!” She squeaked, interrupting her sister and causing her to jump and sit up, staring at Marinette with a confused expression. “It’s done! It’s d4one! It’s done!” She pulled it off the mannequin and spun around, her hair fanning out around her. Tikki laughed and stood up, jumping around excitedly and ran over. Marinette held it up to show it off to her big sister proudly, this was her first dress she did completely by herself.

“Wow! That’s so pretty, Nettie!” Tikki complimented, smiling proudly at her, “wanna try it on? You can show it off while we go to the market later!”

Marinette gasped and nodded, wriggling out of her current dress and threw it aside, standing in just her thin, white petty coat. Tikki helped her and soon she was in her dress. It was knee length, the red stitches standing out delicately against the mauve fabric. It was long sleeve with white ruffled at the cuffs, a lace like pattern around the neck and a tied up back. She spun around and squeaked with joy, it wasn’t perfect, but it was hers.

“Oh, Miss Marinette, you are the most beautiful ladybug in the land!” Tikki exclaimed with a playful curtsey, using her pet name for Marinette with a cheeky smile.

“I’m the prettiest Ladybug in the world!” Marinette giggled, jumping up and down, “let’s go show Papa!” She grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her along, running downstairs into their home, she knew he would be downstairs in the bakery. She opened the door leading to the bakery and skipped down.

“Papa!” She called out excitedly, her father turning and smiling at her, “I finished my dress!” She spun around showing it off before running and jumping into her fathers strong arms. He laughed and picked her up with ease, hugging her tight.

“You look exquisite my little love bug!” Her father praised, beaming happily at both of them, “it looks amazing! Did Tikki help at all?”

“Nope, she did it all by herself!” Tikki replied with a smile, “little Ladybug, I need to go into the market, do you want to show off your new dress around town?” Marinette smiled broadly and jumped out of her father’s arms. “Ok good, go put on your boots and a coat.”

“Okay, now you be careful girls, okay? Please be home before the sun starts to set.” Their father warned as he turned back to his work. “You know the rules.”

“Yes Papa, we will be back soon, promise.” Tikki nodded, walking over and kissing his cheek before putting her own coat on.

“Papa, can we have the special bread with dinner? To celebrate my dress?” Marinette asked as she hopped around, trying to put her one boot on.

Their father chuckled heartedly, “of course, anything for my main girls. Now, could you please pick up this today.” He handed Tikki a small list and some money, giving her the same look he did whenever they went out, Marinette never knew what it was but it looked like a serious look. She was still too young to be told much, which she hated. She felt old enough.

“Yes Papa, we will be back soon.” Tikki smiled and pocketed the note in her thin fabric bag slung over her shoulder.

“Bye papa!” Marinette yelled and hugged him tight, kissing his cheek too before letting go.

He waved them off, laughing at how Marinette did one last twirl around a customer before leaving. They stepped out of the bakery and Marinette smiled, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth on her face, the wind blowing through her hair and the sound of the birds chirping around them. She opened her eyes and looked around at the world around her. Everyone was busy, children playing with others, mothers working with their babes on their backs, men working hard for their families. Life was hard, but it was happy, simple, peaceful. She loved her town, loved her life really. She had amazing friends and an amazing family. She looked up at her chatting sister, smiling.

As they walked Marinette looked out at the huge walls that protected them. She wondered if the monsters would ever get in, or if one day she could go beyond the wall. She knew it wasn’t possible for humans to live outside, but she still wondered. As her father and Tikki liked to tell her she was destined to meet someone and raise a family. Contribute to the town and survive. She wasn’t too sure on it all, but she did as she was told.

They reached the market soon enough, and something caught their eye, Tikki grabbing Marinette and pulling her off the road into the crowds. Marinette gasped, eyes wide.

The scouts, she had seen them many times before, saw their wounded and saw the families that grieved. Their neighbour lost three sons just last month. She remembered the blood curdling scream, her father had told her that the sons were most likely eaten by the Titans, explaining that that was why she must stay within the walls and stay away from the military.

Today they looked exhausted, almost defeated, the blood standing out on their clothes. Tikki gripped her tight, pulling Marinette against her body.

“Those poor men and women,” She whispered, Marinette looking up at her then back at the soldiers, “Marinette, always respect anyone who wears that uniform. They have given up everything to protect us. Do you understand?” Marinette nodded, looking back at them.

She caught the eye of one young man who was on horseback. His hair was pure black, the top of his hair long and in a bun, shorter pieced falling out here and there, while the underside was shaved to a fade with what seemed to be a haphazardly shaved pawprint on the side. He looked over at them, he must have spotted Tikki, she always caught peoples’ eye. He had green eyes with small pupils, he was handsome but looked young to be in the scouts. His jaw was covered in blood, his cape missing and his uniform stained, though it didn’t stand out much against his black t-shirt. He raised a brow, and tilted his head curiously, examining them. Marinette blinked before she waved, smiling pleasantly. This caught him by surprise, blinking a few times before he smiled and waved back. He had a peculiar smile, his canines looked almost catlike with the small extra length of them and it made her smile more. He was different, just like her and her sister were. Not to the extend but still. He seemed to find it amusing and winked at Marinette, laughing to himself before he turned his attention back to the front.

They watched them leave, the crowds whispering between themselves, Tikki’s grip never letting go of Marinette. Tikki quickly herded Marinette away, “let’s go.” She whispered.

“Did you see that scout?” Marinette asked as she walked, looking down at the stone she had started kicking. “He looked different, like us.”

“What?” Tikki asked, taken aback with a raised brow.

“His smile, I think he looks like he has teeth like a cat.”

“A cat?”

“Yeah, didn’t you see? I like his smile, its unique like us.”

Tikki stayed silent and eyed Marinette before looking forward again, “you know why we are unique, don’t you? Papa said he discussed it with you.”

“Yeah, because we are half Chinese, or oriental as he said.” She answered honestly, “he said we are rare and that there aren’t many of us left. That’s what makes us so special.”

“Well yes, but that is also why we must be extra careful and why we must not be out after sunset.” Tikki explained, her brows furrowed. “You know about the people that could harm us?”

“Yeah, I know, but I don’t think everyone is bad.” Marinette replied with a shrug, she hated these conversations, she didn’t like to think about all of that… of mama…

“I know, but there are bad people out there.” Tikki said before stopping and looking around. The world had almost gone quiet, the wind dropped, and the birds stopped singing. Marinette blinked and looked around too.

“Marinette…” Tikki whispered, grabbing her sister’s shoulder.

Marinette bit her lip and looked around, “what is it?”

Tikki looked like she was starting to panic and pulled Marientte aside. She crouched in front of her and held her shoulders, looking her in the eye. “Okay, I need you to listen to me. Never put yourself in danger, got it?” Tikki stopped and held onto Marinette’s shoulders tighter. Tikki’s blue eyes looked scared. “There are more scary things than the people who could take us. I have done everything to protect you from the reality of this life, but please, if anything happens, ever, you run, you hide, and you do whatever you can to survive.”

“Tikki… What- what are you talking about?” Marinette asked in confusion. She may not know much but she wasn’t an idiot, she knew there were dangers beyond and within the wall. But what was she talking about?

“Trust me, okay? Just listen to my words.” Tikki cupped Marinette’s face, “you are the most important thing to me, and I promised mama and papa that I would protect you from everything, let you grow up but something… something about those soldiers. I can’t lie to you anymore.” She sighed, Marinette felt tears in her eyes at the mention of her mama, “listen to me, if ever something goes wrong, you look after yourself before anyone else, okay? I know it sounds awful, but I need you to survive.” Marinette shook her head, that was an awful thing to say. “Life is survival, it’s not survival of the fittest anymore, its survival of the smartest. You are small, but strong, you’re smart, you use that big brain of yours, and you survive.”

“I-I don’t understand.” Marinette said with a frown, “why are you telling me this? Why can’t I help people if there is danger?”

“I…I….” Tikki looked away, biting her lip, Marinette felt her pulse through the hands on her cheeks. “I just… Promise me!” Tikki looked more serious than she ever had.

Marinette looked at her in confusion, where had this come from? This was so out of the blue, it was like Tikki knew something she didn’t. But what? “Tikki, I don’t understand.”

Tikki opened her mouth but she was interrupted when a crack of thunder echoed, a yellow strike of lightning appearing just beyond the wall. Everyone froze and watched, she had never heard silence like that. Tikki stood up and grabbed Marinette.

What was happening? She saw the huge hand on the wall and gasped. No… It couldn’t be… The wall was over fifty metres tall, no titan was ever that big.

“Oh god… no…” Tikki gasped, Marinette looked around, everyone was still, eyes on the wall. She turned her eyes to the wall and covered her mouth, her blood ran cold. A sweat overtook her body and she started shaking. That was when she saw the face appear. It was all muscle, even from this distance she could make out the eyes and teeth. “Marinette, run!” She heard her sister scream before a gust of hot wind overtook them, rubble flying everywhere then a loud bang. They were flung back into the air, her grip on Tikki gone as she screamed. She didn’t know how long they were in the air but when they landed it was hard and Marinette landed on someone who wrapped their arms around her. She had hit her head, she knew that much from the pain and the wetness trickling down her face.

She had the wind knocked out of her, her vision going white and a pain in her side stifled her scream. She heard screaming around her, and when her vision returned, she was on her back lying on another person who had their arms tightly around her. Dust was everywhere, people running around them and she could hear someone screaming her name. Wait, she wasn’t on Tikki?

“Hey, are you okay?” She heard a young boy’s voice ask under her in a yell, “Hey, can you hear me? Listen to me!” She coughed and struggled against the arms, he let go of her and she rolled off. She rolled onto her knees, her dress was torn slightly over her left side from their impact and blood was dripping onto the white lace around her neck She felt hands on her face and looked up, meeting green eyes. Time stood still and she stared at him in silence. He looked around her age, big green eyes, a cut under his left eye and short blonde hair. He looked so groomed he could be from the inner walls. He looked her over before grabbing her under her arms and pulled her up to standing, grasping her hand and pulling her away from the chaos towards who was screaming her name.

She let him pull her along, her body moving on its own as she stared back from where they came from. Boulders lay on top of people, blood everywhere, limbs lying across the road. Marinette gasped and her eyes widened. She felt her innocence shatter, felt everything of her being shatter. She had been so sheltered, and now…

“Hey, come on, you need to run, I cant carry you, please!” She heard the raspy voice yell in a panic, turning her attention to him with wide eyes. He saw them and gasped, looking past her and saw what she had just seen, pulling her behind a wall and hiding her against the cold stone. Realisation had hit him on what she had just seen, and so he pulled his cloak off and wrapped it around her, pulling up the hood. “Don’t look, I have you, I promise!” He grabbed her hand again and they were running again. Marinette gripped onto the boy for dear life, tears streaming down her face.

They’re dead… The titans, they were in. She didn’t know what was going to happen! Where was Tikki?

“Where are we going? Where is my sister?” Marinette screamed, she was half running half being dragged, but then she tripped up on her skirt with a scream and caused them both to fall, scraping her knee in the process as they rolled away, hitting a wall and stopped. The boy had his arms around her again as he kept her close to his chest as them stampede of people flew past, panting heavily.

“Are you okay? Can you still run?” He asked softly as he looked down at her, blinking when he saw her wide, terrified eyes. He frowned and tilted his head back, looking to where she was looking and froze, 50 feet away from them stood… a titan.

“No… How is that possible.” The boy whispered, sitting them up and pulling her back against his chest, being held close to him as she sobbed quietly. They were frozen, his grip on her tight around her, ruffling her dress between his fists. “A Titan…” Before them stood a huge humanoid creature, his grin ear from ear filled with large teeth, his hair long and black, his tall body muscled. Marinette started kicking her legs, trying to get away and grabbed at the arms around her, screaming for help. “I got you!” He cried as she struggled in his arm before lifting her up with a grunt, shifting her onto his back and began running as Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, gripping onto his shirt for dear life as he hooked his hands under her knees.

Marinette looked ahead and saw Tikki between the terrified crowds, she was with the scout from earlier, he had Tikki over his shoulder and was looking around as if he was looking for someone. She was kicking and screaming, eyes falling on Marinette and she stopped struggling, screaming for her with her hand outreached, causing the scout to look back, his eyes widening.

Marinette screamed out, “Tikki!” She gripped onto the boy tighter who had a determined look on his face, his eyes focused on the scout. “Tikki! Help-” before she could finish her sentence a titan grabbed them out of no where, causing them both to scream and grab onto each other, the boy twisting and pulling her against his chest. The boy started punching the giant fingers around them, his other arm holding her tight against him, Marinette never let her eyes look away from the toothy grinned giant staring at them in hunger. “Tikki!” Marinette screamed.

“Marinette! NO!” Tikki screamed, Marinette looked over at her to see her fighting the scout who was yelling something at her. He didn’t have his gear, Marinette noticed, her heart sinking as she turned her attention back to the monster in front of them. He was raising them up, the grip getting stronger, the air being squeezed from them. The boy yelped and looked at her in fear. She looked back, tears streaming down her face. They stared at each other before he smiled at her small, lacing their fingers together and keeping their eyes locked.

“Just keep looking at me, okay?” He said softly, she nodded and gripped onto his hand, sniffing and wiping her nose on her arm as she cried. “It’ll be okay, what’s your name by the way?”

“M-Marinette.” She whispered in reply, shaking and stifling a scream as a big hand started to reach for them, the boy squeezing her hand more, the other arm around her tightening, pulling her so her face was against his chest, resting his head on hers.

“I’m Adrien.” He replied, he was shaking as well, tears falling. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.” She shook her head, eyes starting to turn towards the hand that was so close now she could feel the warmth, her eyes widening. But Adrien wasn’t having it, tightening his arm again and making her look back up at him. “Keep looking at me or hide, just don’t look. I got you.” He whispered.

The grip on them tightened and her eyes shot open as fingers grabbed the cloak fastened around her, lifting her out of the hand, she screamed for dear life as Adrien tried desperately to keep his strong grip on her. “Adrien!” She screeched, gripping his hands for dear life. He was screaming for her, desperate to get her back. “NO! NO! ADRIEN! TIKKI! PAPA!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, her grip being pulled from Adrien’s her heart stopping and her eyes widening. She locked eyes with the terrified boy, he looked like he was about to be sick.

She wasn’t sure if it was because he had lost her, or because he was next but the boy started screaming and hitting at the hand again. She looked at the titan as it held her up to his face, staring at her with empty, dead, hungry eyes. She was hanging from the cloak, it was slowly pressing against her neck, making it harder and harder to breath. She was sure she had wet herself, feeling warmth go down her legs. This was it; this was the end. She watched as he opened his mouth, the stench was rancid, making her gag and cover her mouth with her trembling hands. She started screaming for help again, kicking at the Titan, she didn’t want to die.

She felt time move in slow motion as she was lifted up higher, closing her eyes and hugging herself. She heard Adrien screaming for her desperately, but her hearing left her, a soft hum taking over. Was her body getting her ready to die? She had read something about it, a fight or flight within the body, protects you from the trauma or the pain to come so to speak. Adrenaline, was it? But she wasn’t sure it was true until now.

Then suddenly she wasn’t being held up as air filled her lung from the loss of pressure on her neck, feeling the air from falling overwhelming her. It’s over… It’s over… But instead of being bitten in half or feeling the wetness of a tongue, she was hit by another body, eyes flying open to see the ends of blonde hair as she was suddenly going another direction. Reality set in and the haze faded quickly, she wrapped her arms and legs around him as he did to her, burying her head in his neck as she braced for impact. And boy was it a hard one.

They hit a corner of a wall, spinning in the air and slamming into the floor, both gasping and coughing for air. She opened her eyes wide as she took a deep breath and gripped the boy that lay on top of her, covering her from danger. She looked back at the Titan to see it was missing his hands, swiping at the soldier who had appeared. She saw the roses and knew exactly why they were there. She didn’t have much time to think after that as the boy got up and pulled her up, grabbing her and flinging her on his back, running as fast as he could. He was limping as he ran, his groans while he panted telling her that he was injured just like she was.

By the time Marinette could register what was going on fully she was pulled off his back despite her screams of protest to be met by a tight hug. She blinked and looked up, “Marinette!” Tikki… She found her! Marinette broke down and hugged her tight, her sister hitched her up and held her close to her body, and they were running again, Marinette clung on for dear life. She opened her eyes and saw the dark-haired scout behind her, the boy draped over his back. He looked exhausted but still clung to the young man, Adrien’s head hung over his shoulder.

They ran in the screaming crowds, avoiding the many titans that were eating everyone they could. But Marinette kept her eyes on the boy, he had risked his life for her, a stranger. Why did he do that? After what her sister had said to her earlier, she was confused to why he had risked his life to save her?

After what seemed like ages they suddenly stopped, the older teens panting heavily. Tikki shifted Marinette with a grunt and she could feel that Tikki was wet from sweat. “Marinette, I need you to run, okay?” She whispered, placing the girl down who stood on shaking legs, nodding and looking back at the scout who didn’t look like he was struggling as much, but the boy on his back fought against him and jumped to his feet, running to Marinette and took her hand, eyes fixed on her and full of something Marinette had never seen before. She gulped and looked at their clasped hands before she looked around fearfully.

The scout didn’t look pleased but grunted, Tikki looked at the scout who just frowned and started running. The boy pulled Marinette with him, Tikki running behind them. Marinette looked around as she was pulled along, people were being eaten, trampled, crushed, there was nothing but death and despair. How could they survive this?

After not too long they were approaching the main gate in wall Maria, Marinette looked around desperately for her father, but never saw him. They all slowed down, gaining their breath back slowly. They joined the crowd, heading slowly towards the arch. The one flaw of the districts that lay outside the wall was there was only one exit. She remembered her father complaining about it constantly. She looked back at her sister, seeing Tikki was next to the scout who Marinette had figured out his name was Plagg. They were arguing in hushed voices, she wanted to ask Adrien what was going on but she didn’t know if she could speak yet.

Did they know each other? The way they were arguing and their body language spoke a thousand words. But she had never seen this man until today. But then again here she was clinging to the boy next to her, their fingers interlocked and her other hand gripping onto his arm for dear life. He didn’t seem to mind, looking up at him and saw he was looking around with a serious expression. Now that things had slowed down, she got a proper look at him.

He was taller than her by maybe a few inches, his face young and his green eyes bright. The right side of his face was covered in blood, his cut dirty and deep under his eye, another cut on his forehead. She didn’t think she looked any better, feeling the dried blood on her face and the pain from her cuts. She looked down at his dark green shirt and saw red over the side they had hit the corner of the wall on, her brows furrowing. He was injured, and he still managed to carry her out of there.

“He’s my brother.” Adrien spoke softly, turning her gaze back up to his face, he was looking down at her now, smiling small, “Plagg, the one talking with your sister, Tikki was it?” Marinette nodded, looking at the two arguing teens, “he’s a scout, the only reason he’s in Shiganshina is because of me.” He looked down darkly, his eyes looked sad for some reason. “But, hey, that meant I was there to catch you.” He looked at her and smiled sadly.

She blinked up at him, she didn’t know what to say, her whole mind felt shattered. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Why couldn’t she speak? Was she really that weak?

He seemed to understand and nodded, “hey, it’s okay. We have been through a lot today, you don’t have to talk. I’m just glad I could help even one person.” She again blinked, he was so kind, probably the kindest person she had ever met. Why save her?

They both looked up when Tikki turned to them, “stay close, we need to get onto the boats, but there are a lot of people in front of us. You stay by us no matter what, okay?” They both nodded and she sighed, eyeing their clasped hands before turning back, Plagg whispered a comment that caused Tikki to hit his arm, telling him off again.

“Plagg, we need to get them away from here.” Marinette heard her sister say, eyeing her curiously. Tikki’s hair was ruffled, her pigtails messed and some hair had fallen out, framing her face. She had a small cut on her cheek. But what stood out the most was that she looked terrified.

“Yeah, yeah, I know that, sugarcube.” The scout replied with a scowl, “what do you think I’m doing exactly?”

“Well, so far my sister was almost eaten, let snot even bring up the state of them, and my dad is probably dead!” Tikki yelled back at him, pouting as she glared.

Suddenly they heard the footsteps, freezing and spinning around. Their eyes wide. Adrien gasped and pulled Marinette close, his eyes wide and his jaw clenched. In the distance they saw a huge titan sprinting towards them, his arms flinging around him, his jaw slack. Marinette screamed and was suddenly pulled to running by Adrien, turning her gaze forward the saw Tikki being pulled along by Plagg.

They had got out! How were they in danger again! This couldn’t be happening! She looked back just as the titan hit the ground, gasping as she saw the rubble heading towards them she looked at Adrien and saw he hadn’t seen it, his eyes focused on the road ahead. HE had saved her all this time, and if that debris hit them he would be hurt or possibly die. She looked back and gasped, she had to do something! She let go of his hand, causing him to gasp and look at her. She didn’t hesitate and shoved him hard, causing him to yell her name and fall to the side just as the debris hit her. She was hit hard, being smacked back, tumbling until she skidded to a halt, her body limp.

All she felt was pain, her vision went white, and she felt her dress suddenly getting wet. She tried breathing but it was laboured, and she heard gargling a bit. Her body was shaking, the pain coming from her left side of her face down to her shoulder. What was wrong with her? Was she dead? Was she dying? What about Adrien?

Suddenly she felt hands on her neck, she heard her sister far in the distance and then strong arms were carrying her and she was bouncing in them, the wind blowing over her. She heard others yelling and the whiteness started to fade. She was staring up at the sky, her mouth hanging open slightly, gasping for breath. Why did it feel like she was drowning? Was she drowning? No that was silly, she was in someone’s arms.

She felt someone had her hand, a soft voice speaking to her until they finally stopped. She felt hardness under her and suddenly her sister’s face was above her and she felt pressure on her neck, cheek and shoulder. She looked around without moving her head, Tikki’s tears catching her attention. Tikki? Why was she crying? What was wrong with her?

“Marinette? Oh god, oh shit, please, don’t die, no, please don’t die!” Tikki was saying, crying softly. “Plagg, do something!”

“Do what exactly? Do I look like a doctor? I’m doing everything I can!” The young man hissed back, he tore the bottom of Tikki’s skirt and started wrapping it around Marinette’s neck. “Just keep pressure! She’s lucky she’s even fucking alive!”

“Why did she do that?” She heard Adrien, he sounded distressed.

“She was saving you, if she didn’t do that you would be just as bad, possibly worse. She has some guts, I will give her that.” Plagg replied, leaning over her and looking into her eyes. She looked back, examining the dark green eyes, his small pupils getting even smaller as he frowned. “Just shut up and keep her calm!” She must have looked like she was panicking because suddenly Adrien’s face appeared as Plagg’s disappeared and looked down at her.

Marinette tried to speak but it sounded gargled, she felt him take her hand and her eyes darted toward him, seeing the dark faced boy. She should have spoken up earlier, now she can’t speak. She can’t thank this boy. A complete stranger who risked his life, who was covered in both his and her blood, banged up from protecting her. And she couldn’t even thank him. Adrien… He saw her panic and smiled sweetly, kissing her knuckles. She suddenly felt tired, darkness taking over quickly. “It’s okay, we got you, we are on the boat heading to Wall Rose, we are-“ Before he could finish his sentence there was an explosion and Plagg dove over Marinette, shielding her.

“Fuck!” He cursed and sat back up as Adrien took over his place, shielding Marinette, turning towards the wall and they all stared in silence. Marinette wanted to see but the pain was too bad so she gripped onto Adrien’s shirt. He looked down at her with an expression that scared her. She felt her eyelids flutter and darkness slowly took over, the last thing she see was Adrien’s face, his hands suddenly flying to her neck as he started yelling something. And then… nothing.

oOo

When Marinette first awoke she felt groggy and sore, her eyes barely opening. She groaned, lifting her hand and felt the rough bandaging from below her nose down to her breasts. Her mouth was covered so she couldn’t speak. She blinked a few times and looked up, expecting her sister or even Adrien’s face, but she was met by golden eyes under big, framed glasses. She blinked in surprise and stared at the dark-skinned girl standing over her, she had a heart shaped face and had fiery, long hair in a high pony, pieces framing her face. She was in a nurses uniform, but she looked the same age as Marinette.

“Hey girl.” The girl spoke chipperly, “you’re okay, don’t try to speak though. You’re in Troste district. You got badly banged up, but you’re safe now!” She smiled at her and picked up a clip board examining the paper.

Marinette felt the sheets under her hands, they were rough and they smelt funny. She realised she wasn’t on a bed but the floor, a sheet between her and the hard wood. What happened with the titans? Why was she in Troste?

“Marinette, is it?” She hummed and walked around Marinette, Marinette watched her with a raised brow. “You have internal damage, a big nasty cut from your cheek to your shoulder, some cuts on your face and torso, and some bruising. You really fought for your life, didn’t you?” She looked at Marinette with… admiration? “You’re like those scouts, you’re a superhero!” She dropped to her knees and grabbed Marinette’s hand, Marinette’s eyes widening. “That’s so cool!”

Cool? Marinette didn’t think it was cool. She had just experienced the worst day of her life and she couldn’t do anything right, needing others to save her. She felt like a fool, she felt like a dumb child. Why did no one ever tell her how bad they really were? She felt so naive. She looked away from Alya and pulled her hand away. Alya blinked and looked at her with a concerned look, her smile falling. Marinette didn’t have the energy to help the girl with her feelings, she was dealing with her own. Her eyes were empty, the sparkle gone, her innocence gone. Hell, everything she thought she was now seemed pathetic. She noticed she wasn’t in that stupid dress she had spent a month or so on, how frivolous it seemed now. She was glad she wasn’t in it, she didn’t want any reminders. Reminders of them, of the death, of how she was useless.

She couldn’t even protect herself, she had to have others save her, protect her, carry her. She was weak. She was worthless. She needed to get stronger, she had to. She would never let anyone suffer because of her again. The only good thing she did today was push that boy out of the way.

“Hey,” Alya dragged her from her thoughts, looking back at the girl. She looked concerned, “you’re safe now. I promise.” She placed her hand on Marinette’s. Marinette wanted to believe her, but she didn’t know what the truth was anymore. “I’m going to stay here with you tonight, okay? Your sister isn’t far, she will be here soon. But I promise, I will stay with you.”

Marinette blinked up and her, tears filling her eyes. She realised then she had been trying so hard to keep it together. Alya smiled and did a quick examination on Marinette, chatting away about how she was helping her mom who was the head nurse here. After she was done, she shuffled under the sheet with Marinette, lying on her back and staring up at the roof. Marinette felt comfort in it. She couldn’t speak but that didn’t matter right now.

Alya stayed with her that night, describing her childhood, telling her everything about herself. Marinette hung on every word, by the time she passed out from exhaustion and pain she felt like she had known Alya since she was a child. She felt at peace in a way, but she felt different. She felt like she was changed forever, the girl she was the day before was gone now.

---

It took Marinette a long time to heal, Tikki hardly leaving her side and eventually becoming a nurse herself so that she was close to Marinette. Alya spent every night with Marinette, making sure Marinette felt alone and comforted her whenever she was sad. The worst night was when she climbed into the sheets and hugged her friend while she sobbed after finding out her father was dead, and soon every night she slept next to Marinette. She didn’t care that they slept on the floor, she refused to sleep anywhere else without Marinette. They were inseparable.

It was a few months before Marinette was asked to speak, the bandages finally removed and the deep sensitive scar standing red and angry against her pale skin. She was used to the dull pain in her jaw, the now scar didn’t hurt as much as when it was a cut, but the pain was still there.

“Okay Marinette, we need you to try to speak.” Tikki said softly, Alya was next to her, she had stolen a mattress from her home and had made herself comfortable next to Marinette, concerned eyes on her best friend.

Marinette gulped, it felt weird not having her mouth covered, She had only had her mouth uncovered to eat or drink, so it felt weird to be completely exposed. So she felt naked sitting there without the bandage, in the baggy green shirt she had found at the bottom of her bed months ago, a small cut on the side. It was Adrien’s, he had washed it and brought it for her. She knew it was, no one knew for sure but she knew in her heart it was his. She chewed her lip and looked at her sister. It took some time but finally the words left her mouth, “where is Adrien?”

Tikki blinked in surprised and furrowed her brows, “Who?” She asked, “wait, the boy?” Marinette nodded, Alya watched her in confusion, “He’s okay, he isn’t here anymore, he’s with his brother with the survey corps, I think. He’s okay.”

Marinette nodded and looked down at her hands in her lap, she had thought of him almost every night but even now his face was blurry. She tried so hard but she couldn’t make out his face clearly. All she saw was the blood, the titan ready to eat her, felt the warmth down her leg as she pissed herself, the chaffing after as she ran for her life. She was destroyed by the experience, but maybe she could do some good from it. She lay back down, rolling over, pulling the blanket over her mouth as comfort. The others looked at her sadly, knowing she needed space. Alya sighed and lay down next to her, hugging her tight.

"Marinette, I promise he is okay. He was here for a little while and he visited you a few times when you were asleep." Tikki said softly, stroking her sister's face. Marinette hid her face, Tikki knew this side of Marinette too well now. She sighed and got up, "okay... I will come back later."

Alya stayed silent as Tikki left before she whispered, "Marinette?"

Marinette looked back at Alya, "yeah?" She replied in a whisper, it felt amazing to be able to speak again.

"Who's Adrien?" Marinette realised her best friend had no clue about what happened to her, she had been silent for months and now it was her turn to use her voice to let Alya know her.

"He's a boy that... He saved me." She croaked, rolling over so they were facing each other. "He gave me this shirt, I know it. He was wearing it." She covered her mouth with the neck of her shirt, looking down. "Do you want to hear about what happened?" And with that Marinette spoke about the worst day of her life for the first time since it happened. The words fell from her lips and a pressure lifted off her chest. By the end she was sobbing, Alya's eyes were wide in horror, her mouth open in shock. That night they fell asleep holding onto each other, Marinette having her first night without any nightmares, and she could make out Adrien's eyes. So she focused on them, holding onto the image for dear life.

---

More months passed and Marinette was now fully healed, or as healed as she was going to get. It had been over a year since the break of wall Maria, Tikki and Marinette were now living with Alya and her family. Marinette’s wounds had healed but she now wore a pale pink, jagged scar from the far left of her cheek down her neck all the way to her collar bone. Because of this she was stared at constantly and they whispered about how she was a survivor. Her hair had grown longer since the fall of Shiganshina so she used her hair to her advantage, hiding under it yet again, and rarely speaking. Tikki constantly told her she was worried about Marinette, but Marinette ignored her. She didn’t want to talk about this stuff with Tikki, she knew she had her own problems and Marinette didn't want to put more on her.

The person she was, the cheerful, talkative girl was completely erased, as if she never existed. She now was quiet, subdued and emotionless. Alya was the only one who got anything out of Marinette, she even managed to make Marinette laugh, a sound Tikki hadn’t heard since the day of the attack. It wasn't that she had no personality anymore or anything, she just didn't have a reason to be cheerful or talk much anymore. Especially with her giant, ugly scar that she hated. Her scar was like a giant sign that read 'I survived the fall of Shiganshina, stare at me please'. She hated the stares but she was used to it now.

The only person she spoke to was Alya, they lay in bed together at night and whispered to each other. Marinette told her of her plans to join the military the coming weeks. Alya argued with her, saying that it was suicide, stating Marinette has only just recovered from her last experience with the titans. Alya wasn’t impressed but eventually promised to come with her to Marinette’s surprise, stating they were in it forever now.

“Alya, we could die.” Marinette whispered, lying on her side looking at her best friend who mimicked her, a frown on her face.

“I don’t care, look at you, I am not letting you go anywhere without me.” Alya retorted.

Marinette frowned, “I don’t need protection. Don't join the military just to keep an eye out for me, you could die!"

“I’m not coming to protect you, I’m coming to support you.” Alya sighed.

“I can do it alone.” Marinette frowned, looking away. She didn’t need anyone else getting hurt for her. "I don't want you to get hurt or end up like me."

“I know that, girl.” Alya replied softly, “but there is nothing wrong with others helping you. And we are in this till death, right?”

Marinette looked at Alya and sighed at their promise, linking their pinky fingers, “Till we die.”

“Till we die.” Alya repeated, grinning. “So when are you going to tell your sister?”

Marinette sighed and played with the string of her shirt, her mind drifting to Adrien again. “I don’t know, but she isn’t going to be exactly happy.”

“That’s the biggest understatement of the year.” Alya snorted, taking her glasses off and placed them aside. “All I will say is good luck, girl.”

Marinette sighed, watching as Alya blew out the candle, she knew she was right, telling Tikki was going to be hell. "You say that but you're the crazy woman following me to our deaths."

"Nah, it's only being crazy if I thought we would die." Alya replied, "which we wont, we are gonna be badasses."

Marinette chuckled and shook her head, "sure."

“Don’t worry about it tonight though, okay? Let’s just focus on getting some sleep tonight.” Alya smiled and got comfy, Marinette smiled, feeling the tug of her scar. She never smiled now because of it, but she never felt shy or like she had to hide from Alya. She could be herself.

"Yeah... Let's see what happens." She said before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

---

Tikki stared at Marinette like she had grown two more heads, her blue eyes wide with fear. “You… no, I… You WHAT!?” She screamed. They were sitting at the dining table in Alya’s house, the two girls sat on one side while Tikki and Mrs Césaire were on the other side. Tikki was standing up, her hands in fists. She looked like she could jump across the table and bundle Marinette up and hide her forever. She was in her nurse’s uniform, they had chosen to tell them now before their shift happened so that they could pack their bags. “You are barely twelve years old!”

“I’m thirteen soon, I am old enough, I’m joining.” Marinette said calmly. She watched her seventeen year old sister look shocked at her words. Marinette looked at her emotionlessly, being stuck in a bed for months not being able to speak and being stuck inside your own head makes you extremely good at handling emotions and stay in control.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tikki slammed her fists on the table, “it’s a suicide mission joining the military! Do you want to die?”

“No, I don’t. I want to make a difference. I almost died because I was weak, I don’t want to be weak anymore.” Marinette didn’t flinch as Tikki slammed her fist down again, her eyes fixed on Tikki.

“You can’t even comprehend or understand enough to join the military!” Alya gulped next to her, chewing her lip, her own mother staring her down but not saying a word. Tikki wasn’t staying silent.

“Respect anyone who wears that uniform, Marinette.” Marinette said softly, “Remember you said that to me?” Tikki blinked in surprise, stepping back. “I remember you said that minutes before we ran for our lives,” Tikki’s eyes widened and she gasped, “before I was almost eaten by a titan, before I got this.” She pointed at her scar, her brows furrowing. “So don’t tell me that I don’t understand or that I cannot comprehend death or what being a soldier means. I am well aware. I have the scar as a souvenir.” Her eyes darkened, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest.

Tikki stared at her in shock, holding the same look she always had when looking at Marinette recently. The look of not knowing who Marinette was anymore. Tikki turned to Mrs Césaire, “Marlena!” She cried, “say something! I can’t be the only one who doesn’t want this to happen!”

Mrs Césaire sighed and dropped the hand that was covering her mouth. “Alya, have you thought this through?”

“Yes mom,” Alya replied, straightening her back with confidence.

“You aren’t doing this to follow Marinette?”

“No ma’am.” Alya insisted, shaking her head, “I want to bring honour and pride to our family. I want to help with the war on the titans and get our world back.”

Mrs Césaire nodded, thinking for a minute before she stood up, wiping her eyes and walking over to Alya, pulling her to standing and engulfed her in a huge hug. She hugged her back, burying her face in her mothers chest. “We are already so proud of you, and you have already brought us honour by joining. I know you will be amazing.”

“What!?” Tikki was shocked, Marinette looked back at her with a raised brow, Tikki looked bewildered. “You are allowing this? They’re children!”

Mrs Césaire let go of Alya and frowned at Tikki, “they have experienced more than most adults. Especially Marinette.” She replied calmly, “if they want to join the military to make a difference we should be proud of them and their sacrifice! The men and women who are fighting this war against the titans are giving up their lives for us!”

“Exactly, giving up their lives!” Tikki yelled back, “I don’t want my sister dying at the ripe old age of 17 when she graduates!”

“I won’t die, and if I do it would be for the greater good!” Marinette stood up and yelled back.

“No it wont! You will die with your guts hanging out, piss down your leg and you will be crying out for a loved one begging not to die! I forbid this!” Tikki walked over and grabbed Marinette’s shoulders. “You are too weak!” Marinette gasped and stared at her sister in shock. “You will die!”

“Marinette isn’t weak!” Alya yelled, she looked ready to attack. “She is the strongest person I know!”

“The last time you saw a titan you almost died! You are too small, you won’t make it!” Tikki shook her shoulders angrily. Marinette frowned and pushed her sister off her, glaring at her.

“You can’t tell me what to do! You aren’t my mother and you aren’t my guardian.” She growled, “I can do whatever I like, and if anything Mrs Césaire is in charge of me.” Tikki looked surprised. “And I am not weak. If you don’t like it that’s not my problem. You can either support me or you can stay out of my business.”

Tikki glared at her sister before she grabbed her head scarf off the table and stormed out, slamming the door behind her. Marinette sighed and sat down, dropping her head on the table with a grunt.

You are too weak… you will die…

Her sister’s words echoed in her head, she was expecting the words to hurt her but they didn’t, they made her more determined. She was going to make it, she just needed to prove everyone wrong.

“Ignore her, Marinette. She doesn’t know who you are, who you really are. You will prove her wrong.” Alya reassured her, resting a hand on Marinette’s back.

Marinette sighed and stood up, pushing the chair back and walked through to their bedroom, walking to the window and looked out. She saw the garrison soldiers on the wall, they were running drills today, she watched them swinging across the wall and felt a pang in her chest. She wanted to be up there, she needed to be up there.

She sighed and turned away, leaning against the wall and slid down to the floor, dropping her head against the wall. Her mind went to Adrien again, looking over at the green shirt draped on the bed. It was a year and a half since the fall of the walls, and his face was almost all but blurred. She remembers how he held her like she was the only thing that mattered. She remembered his voice, and all she could see were those green eyes. She felt her scar with her fingers, drawing her knees to her chest, staring at the crinkles in her skirt.

Where was he? Was he safe? Did he get badly injured? She had so many questions that were most likely never going to be answered. And that sucked. He was the reason she was joining the military, she was spared and he saved her life, a stranger’s life. She had a debt to pay, and she wanted to be good. Not just a good person but a good soldier. But that wasn’t the important thing now. In a few weeks she will be a recruit and will start her training. She needed to focus on that and get through. Her eyes travelled to the shirt again, sadness taking over and the tears came. She had been through so much, yet these moments came very rarely, and when they did she embraced them with open arms. Just happy to feel something.

---

“Tikki I will be fine.” Marinette stared at the uniform in front of her. The cadet badge standing out against the tanned jacket. Her last conversation with her sister the night before echoing in her head. “Just… don’t die, okay?” Tikki had helped her cut her hair and gave Marinette her red ribbons much to her surprise. Now they were tied in her short, low pigtails, the ribbons floating down her back. Something of her sister to keep her safe.

She gulped and started to strip, pulling her new uniform on proudly. She wore her dark green top underneath her jacket, her dark brown sash around her waist fit perfectly and then her white trousers. Everything was custom made for her she figured, because it fit perfectly. She sat down and pulled on her knee-high boots, determination filling her.

Soon they were on the courtyard, in their formation at attention. Marinette looked around, she hadn’t met anyone yet, Alya standing next to her. She finally made it, she was finally here. She clenched her fists and looking to the side at her friend, smiling small at her before her face went hard. She was going to prove everyone wrong; she was going to join the survey regiment and she was going to make a difference. She looked forward, the horrors she saw flashing in front of her eyes, taking a deep breath and relaxed her fists. She had made it, now she had to actually do it.

#ahhhhh #its finally here #who needs sleep when you can do this #attack on titan yelena #Miraculous x aot #miraculous attack on titan au #hold me while we fall #my writing #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrinette #alya #alya cesaire #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #crafts #cat noir #tikki #human tikki #big sister tikki #plagg #human plagg #big brother plagg #tikki is a nurse #plagg is a scout #they in looooove #mlb #ml #mlb fanfic #ml fanfic

[apocalypseornaw]

Ending/Beginning

For the enemies to lovers square on @girl-next-door-writes make me feel bingo

Inspired by the show revolution (sort of) y'all I'm nervous AF to post this cause it's reader x OC but i hope y'all like it

Word count: 10,247 it long

Warnings: Cursing, violence

The apocalypse, the end of the world. Everything as it was known coming to an end. No matter how you wanted to describe it that time was now. You never would’ve dreamed that the end of the world wouldn’t have been fire or ice. No the world ended a lot quieter than that. No dead rose, no monsters crawled out of hell. Electricity simply went away, all the power sources that ran everything went off grid. You watched as the world slowly plummeted into turmoil. You had your group, all of you would fight to the death for each other, you believed that somehow humanity could survive the problem was not every group believed as yours did.Good and evil, things that at one time had clearly been black and white were now washed in shades of grey.

You were on guard duty, walking the length of the walls that surrounded the compound you called home. A team had left a few days before and had yet to return. You were getting more anxious as the days drug on. You finally spotted movement towards the east and ran quietly along the wall so as to not bring any alert to anyone walking below. When you spotted the group missing some of its main members breach the treeline you felt the knot in the pit of your stomach double in size.  “OPEN THE GATES” you screamed quickly climbing down the ladder running the moment your boots hit the dirt to meet the horses as they came inside. “Where are they?” you asked Sam before he ever got the chance to dismount. Your eyes flicked across the group that were with him clocking the injuries on each person, Sam included. You’d grown up with the Winchesters brothers, all three of you practically being raised by Bobby They were the closest thing to family you had and Dean’s absence along with Charlie’s and Garth’s was glaringly obvious to anyone. 

“We were ambushed. They took them and left a message for Bobby” he explained coming to stand next to you before handing his horse off to someone else so they could see to it that the animals all of you had come to rely on was taken care of. “Which is?” you pushed but he glanced around at the growing crowd “Not here, come with me” you followed him through the compound not falling behind despite his height advantage on you. You had a feeling what fate had befallen your friends and the rage gnawing at you was growing larger every second that passed. 

When Sam grabbed your arm and pulled you into Bobby’s quarters he glanced up from cleaning a gun and smiled when he saw the two of you but his face quickly fell when he realized Dean was not in tow and that Sam had visible injuries. “What happened?” he asked and you cut your eyes at Sam silently echoing the same question. “Kaper’s men. They found out about the power core” “SON OF A BITCH” you growled kicking a chair across the floor. 

Josiah Kaper was about the furthest you could get from Bobby as a leader went. Where Bobby was trying to push for a way for humanity to somehow dig itself out from under the shit show that had developed in the world Josiah wanted nothing more than to find a way to benefit from it. 

He had three sons David the oldest who from your run-ins with him honestly didn’t want to be associated with his father’s name he’d even helped you out of a tight spot years back when everything started falling apart in the world. Then was the middle son Jonah who was ruthless and heartless. You had a scar running the length of your left arm from the only run-in you’d ever had with him. Had Dean not been so quick on the trigger you wouldn’t have walked away, a few members of your group hadn’t. Dante the youngest son who was closest to your age you’d never had any run-ins with but this attack was personal. Bobby wanted the power core to develop a better hospital system. You’d lost a few people simply for the fact that without any power source the doctors you had didn’t have the equipment they needed to perform some surgeries. Not to mention having to stay off the radar of the militia, didn’t want any of them getting it in their heads that your group had anything they may want.

Dean had figured out a few alternatives but even the best mind couldn’t solve everything on it’s own. Josiah on the other hand, you could only imagine what he wanted with the core. 

“Give me a team, we’ll get them back without having to deal with Josiah” You spoke without a second thought. Either of the three they’d taken would come for you so you owed it to them. “What’s your plan?” Bobby asked so you shrugged “They know I’m one of yours, same as Sam and Dean. Makes a bullseye on me so I play decoy while my team locates and releases Dean, Charlie and Garth” “And if they manage to get their hands on you too?” Sam questioned so you shot him a wink “Oh ye of little faith. Don’t worry Sammy they’ll never get close enough to lay a finger on me” Bobby stared you down for what felt like an eternity before nodding “Ok but sweetheart do me a favor?” “Yes sir?” you asked so he half smiled “Make it back in one piece”

"I'm coming with you" Sam spoke and you shook your head motioning to the visible marks on him "No you're gonna go to medical and get checked over. I'm going to go poke around and see if the ones I have in mind for this are up to it, I have no doubt they will be but I still give them the courtesy of asking" 

------

You knew Alicia and Max would be at the front of the line to volunteer to go as soon as word spread. They had long since been your best friends and considering Charlie was Alicia’s girlfriend there would have been no leaving the twins behind even if they hadn’t been on your top pick to go. 

Kevin and Claire were easy picks as well. Kevin, that damn kid you swore could blow up a mountain with some baking soda and vinegar. As fair as for Claire there hadn’t been a lock you met she couldn’t get through fast and easy.  Rounding out your band of misfits as Bobby so lovingly called you all was Benny. He was a big dude, a damn good fighter and not scared of a lot. 

“So what’s the plan?” Sam asked looking at the map you’d spread out across the table in his and Eileen’s quarters. “I know Kaper and I know Dean. If they’re managing to actually hold him, Garth and Charlie, it's gotta be here” you pointed to a building near the northern wall of Josiah’s compound. “The problem is where as we as a group try to steer clear of the militia, he supplies them with pretty much anything they want to look the other way on him pilfering anything he can from the old power sources that’s been uncovered where the rest of us are barely scraping” “So you’re looking at the possibility of heavy firepower” Eileen guessed and you nodded glancing up to make sure you were facing her as you spoke “That’s where I come in. I draw their fire so to speak here” you pointed to the end of the compound furthest from the building you suspected your people were being held in. “By yourself?” she questioned and you knew she didn’t like your plan anymore than Sam or Bobby had. “I’ll be fine Eileen. I promise. By the time they realize I’m there everyone else will be in position. Once they have our people I’ll draw them out further and chunk a few of Kevin’s presents out amongst their ranks just to stir some fun up”

“And if something happens to block your path back around to meet up with everyone else?” Sam asked so you shrugged nonchalantly “Well I can honestly say I will make em earn it and I fully expect the lot of you to give em hell in return” “You’re insane” Eileen reasoned and you smiled at her “That, my dear is part of my charm!”

-------

Kaper’s compound wasn’t set up much differently than the one all of you lived in, the only difference being where when your compound was first established you went for the comfort of the many while it was clear Josiah went for the comfort of himself. His people had well enough living quarters but the building in the center was twice as plush as everyone else’s and while there were guards on their walls the same as yours he also had guards in front of his quarters.

The cement building against the northern corner of the wall was where they kept prisoners. There had been more than one scouting mission around Kaper’s compound to have a basic understanding of what was where. Luckily for your group there was a series of caves not far from the compound that could offer you shelter off the main road while you strategized one final time before actually putting your plan into action.  

------

You tied your horse Helios at the head of the cave then walked deeper in where Benny had built a low fire. He was crouched down looking at the map you’d gotten Alex to sketch out. “Tell me this plan one more time” You could feel the twins and Claire watching you when Benny spoke. Kevin was doing some final touches to his part of the plan so he was preoccupied. You squatted next to Benny and pointed towards the prisoner quarters. 

“That’s where they’ll have Dean, Charlie and Garth” he nodded so you then pointed towards the eastern gate that was closest to Josiah’s quarters “I’m going to get their attention here, draw the main guards out. I’ll use a few of Kev’s low grade toys so as to cause more chaos than actual loss of life, just enough to make everyone look at me. In the meantime all of you will head in over here” you pointed towards where the western and northern wall met “There’s a weak spot unless they’ve fixed it in the last month which I seriously doubt. Even if they did, Kev has a corrosive to make a hole big enough for all of you to slip in, find our people and get the hell out” “Promise me one thing though darling?” he asked so you tilted your head to look at him “Name it Lafitte”

“If something goes south where you’re concerned wait for me at the gate because the moment Dean finds out I agreed to let you do this I won’t be far behind”  You offered him a small smile “Oh come on now he won’t kill ya” he raised an eyebrow that was clearly a nonverbal way of disagreeing but Kevin walked over about that time and handed you a canvas bag “The pipe bombs won’t cause a lot of damage but if you get in a tight spot grab a few of the round ones and chunk em. They’ll take out anything within a ten foot blast zone” You thanked him then stood up and glanced around. Claire held your gaze for a moment while both twins gave you a sharp nod “I’m not one for rousing speeches so I’ll just say wish me luck and remember if all else fails give em hell and make em earn it” 

Claire rolled her eyes “Christ Y/N, Dean gives better pre-fight speeches than that!” you shrugged “And that is why I’m going to get him back” 

------

You stopped at the perimeter of the treeline that was your last bit of cover before the guards would spot you. You and Benny had agreed on a five minute mark to make sure they were in place. You pulled the old wind up pocket watch out of your jeans and glanced to see it had been exactly five minutes. Well now or never.

You clicked your tongue and Helios trotted forward. The guards spotted you the moment you left the cover of the trees and hollered “STOP THERE. WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS?” you stopped but slid your hand into the canvas bag “I CAME TO DELIVER A MESSAGE” you lit the first pipe bomb and chunked it over the wall. It landed at the first guard’s feet causing him to topple backwards down to the dirt.

The guards and inhabitants of the compound went into a flurry of motion so you rode down the wall throwing just enough pipe bombs over to ensure every guard was paying attention to the “threat” at the eastern wall and not the rescue party at the northwestern wall. 

Once the gates opened and guards started pouring out, some on foot but most on horseback you lit one more pipe bomb and threw it in their general direction before hollering “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN ASSHOLES” then clicked your tongue again gently kicking Helios' sides as she took off at a gallop for the trees hearing the shouts of the guards following you. ‘Good keep all your eyes on me’ you thought to yourself as you leaned down closer to Helios to avoid limbs that were threatening to whip across your face as you rode deeper into the woods.

------

Benny and Claire had told you they didn’t need longer than eight minutes to get in, find your people and get out. Of course playing a game of solo mouse versus about twenty guards who were the cats was easier said than done.

Helios went around a tree and muscle memory alone was the only thing keeping you on her back. You fumbled for the watch again and saw six minutes had passed. Christ you still had two more minutes to keep them close enough that they would stay in pursuit but far enough that they couldn’t catch you. 

You were getting close to the lake that was nearby so you headed in that direction. You had two pipe bombs left in the bag and two of those round ones for a tight spot as Kevin had put it. When you got close to the water’s edge you slowed her enough to let the guards catch up slightly and muttered a prayer under your breath before throwing one of the round ones into the water’s edge then kicked her sides again. She tore out in a gallop and you could feel the water from the blast hit your back followed by a lot of cursing. From the sounds of it you hadn’t killed anyone but you’d discouraged their chase and hopefully disoriented them enough that by the time they got back to the compound the smoke would have cleared. 

------

Dark was falling and they’d never attempt to go after all of you once it fell completely. You had the advantage, your people were more used to the dark than Kaper’s because you only used the power sources you had sparingly. Your plan was to double back around to the caves where everyone was waiting for you. Benny was under strict orders that if you weren’t there within ten minutes of them arriving to knock Dean out if need be to make him leave you behind.

You didn’t expect to see a lone rider waiting not far from the lake. You thought your eyes were playing tricks on you when the large black horse first moved, thinking it was a trick of the light and a shadow. A horse that size shouldn’t move that quietly.

You clicked your tongue and tugged the reins in the opposite direction but when Helios pitched the other way the black horse simply gave chase. Shit who the hell was that? You could hear your heart beating in your ears. You had no choice but to lead whoever it was away from your people. There was no telling the shape everyone was in considering if they managed to keep those three contained they may have even gone to the extent of drugging them.  

You had to slow when you got into the thicket of the woods because in the lowering light you could barely see where you were going. You felt something hit your left shoulder hard a half second before you were falling from Helios trying to brace yourself against the shock of the fall. You grunted when you hit the dirt then rolled to be in more of a defensive posture. You could hear the other horse slow before the sound of boots hitting the dirt hard met your ears.

You clicked your tongue trying to get Helios to circle around but before you could get back onto her you heard someone say “I’ll be damned, a woman did all that?” you spun to face the voice and cursed when you saw the gun pointed loosely in your direction. He was a couple inches taller than you, nice athletic built and clearly a fighter. There was still enough light you could make out the bit of stubble gracing his jaw line and the way his eyes held you made you fight the urge to look away. There was something vaguely familiar about him.Hell had he not been pointing a gun at you and from Kaper’s group you would’ve called him attractive but at the moment he simply had a target on him for you to figure out how to get out of this spot with both of you still breathing. 

“And to think we’re called the weaker sex?” you replied with a defiant tilt of your head despite the fact that his gun was out and pointed and yours was still resting at your lower back. He chuckled slightly “You’re one of Singer’s. Y/N isn't it?” you smiled and held your arms out “How can you say that for certain that I'm not just simply a thief that happened along at an opportune time?” “Because I know for a fact that Dean Winchester along with two more of Singer’s group was in our grasp”

It suddenly hit you why the man across from you looked vaguely familiar “You’re Kaper's other son” he nodded slowly “Dante Kaper at your service sweetheart” You narrowed your eyes at him “Stow the sweetheart bullshit. I’ve got a scar from your brother and I was one of the lucky ones that day. I know the type of man you are” He nodded then motioned to his horse with the gun in his hand “Well in that case why don’t you hop on up there?”

“Kill me first, that’s the only way” He reached out to grab your arm and you let him because you knew getting close enough was your only chance of getting free. He pulled you back against his chest “I don’t want to hurt you but the same way that your people hate mine, you just blew up half our wall and knocked most of my guards on their ass” “Oh well” you muttered before throwing your elbow back as hard as you could at his midsection and was rewarded with the sound of his gun being dropped to the dirt as a grunt left him “Should’ve known it’d be a hand to hand thing”

You  spun around to face him and narrowly avoided his return blow. You swung on him but he caught your arm then swept your legs out from under you when you went down you managed to kick your leg out as soon as your back hit the dirt and it connected with his leg. “Son of a bitch” you groaned, pushing yourself to your feet. You started to make a run for it but Dante recovered faster than you would’ve hoped. He was on his feet and grabbing you before you could make it two steps. 

The moment he spun you around to face him you swung and connected a solid punch to his jaw. He staggered just a moment then kicked out and managed to connect with your stomach. You went with the blow letting your own momentum take you down. You were counting on his arrogance being his downfall and that proved to ring true when he came to stand over you “Guess you can’t hang with the men huh sweetheart?” “Don’t you wish” you replied, kicking out hard to catch him dead center in the crotch.  The moment he went down to his knees you took off running and whistled for Helios. She came running up so you hoisted yourself onto her back “Let’s go” she galloped away and you could barely hear the hollered curses from Dante as he faded from your sight.

------

When you got closer to the caves you checked the time that had passed and cursed under your breath. God if they had to knock Dean out to get him to leave you behind it was going to get really messy when he came to. 

You slowed Helios down to a trot and whistled the tune you and Benny always used when you were on the same team. After a few seconds you heard the whistle repeated so you urged her forward.

You hopped down at the head of the cave and saw the other horses tied up. You tied her next to Claire’s horse then walked into the cave entrance. The moment you came into view you were snatched into a hug from Charlie. “Y/N!” you couldn’t help but smile at seeing her mostly unscathed. There were clear signs of the fight when they’d been taken but beyond that it appeared as though Kaper hadn’t attempted to torture them. You’d gotten there before that point. 

Once she released you Garth was there slapping your hand in a high five “Now that’s what I call a rescue mission ma’am!” you winked at him but your smile quickly fell when Dean stepped away from the corner where he’d been talking with Benny. Your eyes skimmed across him clocking the cut over his eye, the bruising on the side of his face and just how bloodied his knuckles were “I call that insanity. What the hell were you thinking?” you grimaced slightly at his tone bracing yourself before saying “I call that pulling your ass out the fire, same as you’ve done for pretty much all of us” 

He studied you for a second before a grin split his face and he pulled you into a hug “Kid you are completely insane but damn I would’ve loved to see Kaper’s face when those pipe bombs started going off” you touched your stomach where you caught a boot from Dante and Dean tracked your movements with his eyes “What happened?” Benny who had been silent stepped up behind you and when he touched your left shoulder it was only then that you realized the branch that had knocked you off Helios had torn through your jacket and shirt. “I officially met Dante Kaper”

“Did you kick his ass?” Max asked and you shrugged “I’d have to say that meeting was fifty, fifty. I got away from him because he underestimated me and got kicked in the family jewels as a reward for it” Alicia covered her mouth as she laughed “In that case I’d say you won it” You glanced around eyeing the lot of them. Out the rescue team from the looks of it none of them had even been in a fight. Benny’s knuckles weren’t even bloodied. Kevin was a little windblown but that was because he’d been at the forefront of any explosions they’d set off. “All of us are in one piece and can make it home. I call that a win” 

Ninety percent of the time you tried your best to abide by what few rules were in place. You as one of Bobby’s surrogate kids had to be on your best behaviour to show everyone else in your compound that all was treated equal but when a meeting was being held to arrange an escort to Denver for a supply run to the encampment there and you weren’t invited it more than pissed you off.

You stood in front of the meeting room door for several minutes trying to talk yourself out of what you were about to do. It didn’t work of course. You started to walk away then said screw it and shoved the door open. Bobby,Sam, Dean,Benny and Jody were sitting around a table marking the route off. “Took her longer than I thought it would” Benny admitted with a nod to Dean.

Jody raised an eyebrow at you “Y/N? Bobby said you weren’t feeling too well” you cut your eyes at Bobby who shook his head “Don’t even start kid. You know you can’t go on this run” “Why not? When have I suddenly become persona non grata?” “When you went a few rounds with a Kaper” Dean answered for Bobby.

You barked out a harsh laugh then drew the chair from next to Sam and sat down “Then I guess you nor Charlie nor Garth is going on this run either then? Because while they didn’t see the crew that busted you out they know you got out” 

Sam sighed and turned slightly in his chair to face you “Still turns back around to you Y/N. Since they in fact didn’t see the crew they probably assumed you set some sort of timer to bust the whole in the back wall before getting their attention on the front. Them taking the three of them goes against the agreement set forth by the militia so they can’t exactly report it but they more than likely have a grudge against the person who blew half their wall up and knocked most of their guards and one of Kaper’s sons flat on his ass”  You leaned forward on your elbows and glanced around the table.

Dean and Benny immediately shared a look from the expression on your face and Bobby closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh before you ever spoke “So you’re telling me that lil ol me gets the credit for pulling off a rescue mission, destroying their over the top wall that wasn’t even very functional to begin with and kicking Dante’s ass all on my own. Hmm sounds to me like I need to go along Kaper’s men may think twice about messing with the crew if they spot me with them”

“If we don’t let her go we all know either she’ll saddle Helios and follow us anyways or get into something worse” Dean finally said and Jody winked at you “Well you boys may need some backup” “Don’t encourage her!” Bobby groaned then waved a hand at you “Go grab your gear. Dean will round up everyone else” you stood up and winked at Jody before walking out.

------

You were riding behind Benny towards the back of the wagon. It would be left with the encampment so the trip back would be cut by a day. Everyone was talking to whoever was closest to them or just keeping an eye on the surrounding area. Once the supplies were handed off and inside walls the militia weren’t as prone to mess with them but out here in the open it was a more free game.

There was a reason why you, Alicia and Max had spent weeks mapping out the natural caves along any routes all of you took. If you couldn’t find an old building with a garage area for the cart you would park it inside of the cave then make camp outside of it where anyone looking to steal would have to go past whoever was on guard at the moment and everyone sleeping.

“Benny you got this for a minute?” you asked and he cut his eyes at you and nodded “Yeah I got this darling. Guess you’re gonna poke at Dean a lil bit?” you grinned and clicked your tongue so Helios headed in the direction you pointed her which was the head of your group where Dean was looking as stoic as ever while keeping an eye on his surroundings.

He barely acknowledged your presence but you knew that he knew you were there. “Are you really mad at me for getting you out?” you asked and he shook his head. 

You knew he wasn’t but you were going to make him say the words out loud. “I’m pissed off at you for putting yourself at risk like that. What if those guards would’ve caught up with you? Or what if Dante would’ve actually won that fight?”

“Then you would’ve come and got me. It would’ve gone a lot bloodier than my method but I have faith that worse case scenario you would’ve made Kaper regret the day he was born” Dean was quiet for a moment before finally looking at you “Y/N..dammit you’re in the same category as Sam. I can survive losing a lot. I don’t know if I can survive losing either of you. Before you say it I know you’re plenty capable. I’d rather have you at my back then most men I know but that doesn’t change the fact that if you would’ve gotten killed saving my ass..I would’ve slaughtered every man in that place” “What about the women on his guard?” you asked and he narrowed his eyes “Don’t be a smartass just say you see my point” 

“I see your point but that’s the same reason why I couldn’t leave you there. Dean you almost killed Jonah. If I hadn’t been bleeding that bad you would’ve. You’re a high value target for Josiah so I’m not gonna attempt to lie to you I’d do it all over again but I do honestly see why you got pissed at me so can we call truce now?” he nodded and held a hand out so you shook it with a laugh “Glad we got that settled now let me get back to my post before Benny starts talking to his horse again”

------

Your group was about two days away from the Denver encampment. You’d stopped to make camp for the night. There was an old housing development that got abandoned when the end happened so it was a bunch of half built houses that had been mainly reclaimed by nature. There was one at the end that only had a few finishing touches to the place so that was where you picked for the night. The cart was parked in the garage so everyone made beds around it. All of you had slept in worse places.

“Y/N you and Sam take first shift then wake me and Benny up for second shift” Dean announced so you nodded in agreement as you pulled your jacket onto your shoulders “Aye aye Cap” then nodded at Sam “C’mon Samuel” he shook his head with a laugh but followed you out the side door of the garage that led back outside.

------

The full moon was nearly bright enough you could read by it. You were on your third trip around the house keeping an eye on the perimeter. Every time you’d pass Sam one of you would tell the other some stupid joke or random fact to pass the time. There was only another hour left of your guard shift then you could take over Dean’s bed to catch a little sleep before finishing the last leg of this trip.

Once the cart was dropped off your group didn’t have to take the main road home and weren’t as high value of a target for the militia or the road bandits. Even in this day and age you had people that would rather steal then even attempt to provide for themselves in a halfway honest way.

It was a bit disappointing that the one thing you could still count on was that mankind could still be major douches regardless of the time. You were thinking of another weird fact to tell Sam considering your fact of what raccoons could fit inside of made him swear to sleep on his back from here on out every time he slept outside would make you laugh for a week.

A movement towards the woods a few houses down caught your eye. You weren’t quite sure what it was but actually hoped for bandits versus Militia or any of Kaper’s men. You knew Sam would be coming around the corner of the house in a minute and if you mentioned it to him he’d want to check it out with you but you couldn’t leave the house completely unguarded.

You whistled one sharp note and Sam whistled back before coming around the corner quickly “What’s wrong Y/N?” you nodded towards the treeline “I think I saw something. I’m gonna go check it out. Don’t leave guard post unless you hear me scream then feel free to tell on me to Dean and bring everyone running deal?” He followed your line of sight then looked back at you “You’ve got exactly two minutes” you grinned at him “I only need one Samuel” then headed towards the treeline being careful to make your footsteps as quiet as possible.

You reached for the knife at your side. You had your gun tucked at your lower back but if it turned more into a close quarters deal the knife would be a better option. The moment you stepped into the shadows of the trees you felt a hand grab you and you were slammed backwards into a tree. Before you even focus to try to see the assailant you had your knife at their throat.

You realized you were looking up into none other than Dante Kaper’s dark brown eyes “You know you’re something else Y/N” he grunted flinching slightly from the pressure you had on the blade. “Been called worse by better Dante” you replied putting as much venom as you could in your voice and he smiled despite the fact that you were nearly drawing blood “You need to move your people. The militia is headed this way. They’ll be through before daylight”

“How do I know this isn’t a trap to make us move so your people can attack us down the road?” you asked and his grip on your arms tightened slightly “If I wanted your people dead I could’ve shot you and Dean's brother then burned the garage to the ground besides I kind of like having someone around to give me a run for my money. Makes life a lot more interesting”

“And why do I tell Dean we need to move? Can’t exactly say a Kaper said so” you replied easing the pressure slightly on his throat. He glanced down at the blade then slowly released your arms “You’re a resourceful woman. I’m sure you’ll think of something” you stared at him for a few breaths before putting your knife back at your side “If this is a trap you better hope they kill me fast because I’ll make sure you regret it” he had the audacity to wink at you before saying “See? Now comments like that make me want to keep you alive just because that much fire deserves to be fed”

He disappeared into the woods and a few seconds later you heard his horse moving away and cursed yourself for not clocking that big of a beast. “You bastard” you whispered to the night then realized the two minutes had more than likely passed so you quickly breached the tree line again to be back in Sam’s line of sight before he could wake Dean up.

He ran to meet you halfway “What was it?” you shook your head “I don’t know but we need to move. We’re close to a few caverns we can make it to one and still rest a bit before hitting the road again” he stepped in front of you before you got your hand on the door leading into the garage “Woah Y/N if it was nothing why are you hell bent on moving?” you met his eyes and took a deep breath “You trust me right?” “Of course” he answered a quick reply built on years of both of you trusting the other’s instinct. You hated lying to him but something told you Dante was being honest and you didn’t want to chance the supplies that were desperately needed in the Denver encampment being confiscated. 

“Let’s get them up then” you finally added so he stepped to the side and simply followed you into the garage.

------

Surprisingly enough when you woke Dean to say you felt like your team needed to move he didn’t even attempt to question you. He simply gave out orders and the lot of you moved silently through the woods to the caverns you’d pointed out on the map.

Once everyone was settled back down at the cavern though you noticed that Dean and Benny both had pulled Sam to the side of the group and the three of them kept throwing glances in your direction. What were you supposed to tell them if they questioned you further? That you were taking an enemy at his word because why exactly? You weren’t even sure yourself why you’d believed Dante besides the fact that he was indeed telling the truth that had he wanted any of you dead it would’ve been simple enough to do.

You pushed the thought out of your head and curled up next to Helios for the night. By the time the sun was peeking out onto the ground your team was already on the road once again. 

------

“So successful drop off done now for the trip home” you said riding between Sam and Dean. Dean glanced over your head at Sam and nodded once. You watched as Sam fell off and matched his pace with Benny instead no doubt giving you and Dean room to talk or rather Dean room to question you.

You remained silent for a few moments before saying “Well get on with it” he cut his eyes at you then looked back ahead of him “Get on with what exactly Y/N?” you sighed running your fingers through Helios’ mane “Asking me why I moved us in the middle of the night” “And why exactly was that?” he questioned and you felt a knot in your stomach start to form. On one hand you didn’t want to lie to Dean about anything but on the other hand you’d done the one thing all of you had sworn to never do..you trusted a Kaper. Even as far as David Dean simply avoided.

You shrugged “I just had a bad feeling. Best case scenario we ride back through and nothing is touched meaning I overreacted to a bad feeling” “But if we ride back through and proof that the militia has been through is there I’ve got to explain why you’ve either suddenly grown psychic powers or why the little birdies flying around have decided to start conversing with you” 

You were stunned into silence simply because you’d never actually had Dean accuse you of anything. It was a strange feeling but you also became acutely defensive “What exactly are you accusing me of?” you asked and he turned fully to look at you trusting his horse to remain on the path he’d been pointed “Someone was in those woods last night when you went to check it out. You can lie to Sammy but you can’t lie to me. Who was it?” At your silence he cleared his throat then looked back at Sam who came up to join the two of you yet again “Sam you and Benny take lead. Me and Y/N are gonna fall to watch the rear and have a little chat since she’s apparently now being shy of groups”

You cut your eyes at Benny when he came up to take your spot at the head of the group “You good darling?” you nodded once then clicked your tongue to get Helios to follow Dean. 

Once the two of you were at the rear of your group with no possibility of anyone over hearing a conversation Dean got his horse close enough to Helios that had the two not been around each other for so many years they never would’ve willingly rode that close “Now talk to me.You know I’ve always backed you up but I need to know who told you we should move?” you sighed and refused to meet his eyes but answered “Dante” you barely looked in his direction but saw his jaw clenching and unclenching “Please don’t be mad at me Dean. I had my knife to his throat but he had a point. He could’ve fucking sniped me and Sam then barbequed the rest of you if he had wanted to!” 

“So? What are you trusting him now?” Dean’s voice was sharper than you’d ever heard it pointed at you. He reached across the space between the two of you and snatched your jacket off your left arm to show the thick jagged scar that started at your wrist and disappeared underneath the short sleeve of your shirt “His brother did this! I found you nearly dead. Sam held you in his arms the entire ride back to our doctors and you know what? I heard him pray Y/N! Who the hell he was praying to in all of this I don’t know but we thought we would lose you. We lost Jo, Ash and Rufus that day! A Kaper did that! Out of every possible enemy in this world the god damn Kapers have been a thorn in our side for longer than anything! You really think you can trust him? Even David is only passable because he got away from Josiah and we haven’t heard anything from him since. Dante went back to his daddy’s compound and probably reported that Bobby’s girl was stupid enough to trust him!”

You felt hot tears spring to your eyes at his words. You turned your head stubbornly so he wouldn’t see them and took a few deep breaths before replying “I don’t trust him Dean but I had to weigh the options and protecting all of you was the most important thing” your voice broke slightly as you shrugged your jacket back up on your arm. Dean reached as if to touch your shoulder but you flinched away from him “Not right now Dean. I know you just want to protect me but I just can’t right now”

“Chief, are we checking it out?” Benny called from the front nodding towards the path that would take you back out to where the housing complex was. Dean looked at you then announced “Everyone wait here for a few. C’mon Benny” you watched them ride off then locked eyes with Sam. The look on his face alone was enough to ask if you were ok. You gave a sharp nod.

Within a few moments Dean and Benny were rejoining your group. You didn’t look in Dean’s direction when he came back to ride at your side but he still offered “For what it counts the militia destroyed it and left their mark” “Why did he warn me?” you asked honestly shocked that Dante’s warning had rang true. “That’s the question isn’t it?”

The moment Bobby heard that Dante had reached out to you and in fact actually told the truth about the militia coming through you knew that would be the end of you being allowed out on any day to day tasks. You had no idea why he’d even been in that area that night or how he’d located your group let alone why he’d want to actually protect your group. Hell you’d fought him the first time you met him then that knife had drawn a line of blood from his throat while he gave his warning. It was a predicament to say the least and and left you feeling like a fucking leper considering only Sam, Dean and Bobby knew so to everyone else they simply say you sticking close to the compound with no good reason as to why.

You were helping Donna and Jody in the armory trying to simply keep your head down until Bobby and the boys forgot about it and let you out again. “What exactly did you do?” Jody asked sliding more shells across to you since the three of you were currently making more bullets. You shrugged knowing that you very well couldn’t tell another soul that a Kaper had saved your necks. You absentmindedly scratched at the scar on your arm and Donna covered your hand with her own “You know that’s a bad nervous habit sweetie” you shot her a small smile “I think I’m just going a little stir crazy. Even just to take Helios out to stretch her legs I’ve got to take Benny or Max and Alicia with me” “Whatever happened those three will get over it soon enough kid. Just keep pushing they love ya” Jody added with a wink.

------

It went on for a while until you were on guard duty one day walking the length of the wall when Xavier, a rider for a nearby compound which happened to be where your hospital set up was, came riding up to the gate. “LET HIM IN!” you hollered climbing down the ladder to meet him.

When he saw you his eyes flicked around nervously “Y/N.. Dean or Sam around?” you shook your head “No but what’s going on Xavier?” he swallowed hard “They’re on the way to do a walk through of our compound. We don’t have the power core completely buried yet” “Shit.Dean,Benny  and Sam aren’t due back till dark” his eyes looked like they very well may pop out of his head “We have an hour tops” you knew that if you came out on the other side you’d never hear the end of it and that was the best case scenario. 

You nodded to his horse “How fast can it move with two riders?” “Fast enough” he replied. As you were swinging your leg up behind him you heard Max holler your name. Xavier glanced back at you but you simply shook your head “Ignore him. Let’s go” you rode out of the gate motioning for it to be closed behind you already planning in your head a dangerous route but if it came down to it you would do what was necessary to save the most amount of people.

------

Dean was seething with anger and underneath that was the fear. The fear of being too late this time. The fear he’d find you dead. Dammit why did you have to be so fucking selfless? When him and Sam had met up with Max on the trail back he knew something was wrong then when Max told him the last he’d seen of you was you riding off on the back of Xavier’s horse he knew the worst was yet to come.

He rode up to the gate of the compound that housed the hospital set up “OPEN THE FUCKING GATE!” He didn't slow down and rode directly up to the door before climbing off his horse and nearly took the door off the hinges as he stormed inside with Sam and Benny close behind. 

He spotted Micheal the doctor that was over the place “Where is she? What the fuck happened here?” The place was a mess but most of the equipment appeared to be whole. There was evidence a fight had happened and your presence or the lack thereof was a sore thumb along with the puddle of blood in the center of the room.  “Dean you got to know I tried to stop her! I told her to stand down but she refused. She was determined to draw their attention from the power core” the shorter man was clearly scared and for good reason. Benny knowing Dean how he did managed to catch him before he broke the good doctor’s nose “Dean brother we need to hear what happened before we kill him” 

Micheal looked at Sam who shrugged “They’re not gonna kill you” When Micheal almost looked relieved Sam quickly added “But we may make you wish you were dead cause you’re probably gonna have to put yourself back together if we find out you hid while they took Y/N” 

Benny let go of Dean and had a hand around Micheal’s throat in the blink of an eye “Now doc me and you ain’t never had an issue but that girl is like a sister to all three of you. What the hell happened here?” “Jonah was with them” Micheal breathed out and Dean felt his blood run cold.

They never planned this to be an inspection. Josiah and Jonah both knew the one way to get at Bobby, Dean and Sam was to go after Y/N. “Son of a bitch. They were probably watching when we left. He planned the walk through to draw her out knowing she’d never stand by”

Benny dropped Micheal unceremoniously to the floor. “Go over what happened and don’t leave a word out” 

Everything hurt.You knew the moment you’d spotted that chestnut horse amongst the inspection crew that it had all been a lie. You’d been lured out and played directly into their hands. “I’LL KILL YOU” you growled diving at Xavier. You’d trusted him and he’d betrayed all of you. “Sorry Y/N they gave me a better offer than being an errand boy”

You had your hands around his throat when the door was kicked in and you heard a gun cock “Y/N let him go or I’ll kill them” you looked up to see a gun pointed towards Micheal the top doctor and Erika the top field medic. You slowly stood off of Xavier eyes never leaving Jonah’s masked face. “Good girl” he cooed then the moment Xavier was on his feet he put a bullet between his eyes. At your look he shrugged “He’s a rat. Don’t need any rats now do we?”

“Gonna take that mask off and let me see Dean’s handy work?” you taunted eyes flicking towards Micheal and Erika. “Are you going to be nice and come quietly or do my men need to beat you in compliance?” he replied so you squared your shoulders and planted your feet “If you plan on taking me you might as well throw your hat into the ring too darling cause this is gonna be one hell of a fight” 

You ended up coming back to consciousness in the newly reinforced cells of Kaper’s compound. You were certain you had a few broken ribs and the entire side of your face was slick with your own blood. You’d held true to your word. You’d given as much damage as you’d gotten and that was at an extreme disadvantage. The last thing you remembered was Jonah’s boot connecting with the side of your head hard. If you survived this you would make sure you were the last thing he ever saw and you had the comfort of knowing if you didn’t survive that Dean would be the last thing Jonah ever saw.

You had managed to push yourself into a seated position with your back against the wall when you heard boots coming in your direction. You were in pain and it would likely be a task to stand on your own but regardless you braced yourself for what would more than likely be another fight. 

When the footsteps stopped you looked up to see Jonah was standing at the door leading into the cell. He had his mask in his hand and the light from the torch on the wall flickered across the burns the corrosive had left behind on his face. “Damn you’re even uglier than you were before. At least the exterior completely matches the interior now” you grunted holding an arm around your hurting ribs as you forced yourself to stand up despite the pain radiating through you that moving caused.  “Keep talking you little bitch. Even now our group is already at your compound. Singer will be given seventy two hours to either deliver the power core or be delivered your corpse” “Bobby knows you’ll never keep your word. You’ll take the power core and kill me all for daddy dearest to make a play to be over the shambles that’s left of this country”

“But the thing about Bobby and the Winchester boys they don’t think with their heads a lot. They let their hearts do the thinking and you’re family. That whole group is insane enough to risk it all by coming after you. How many more will die this time for you to walk away?” “That wasn’t my fault. It was yours” you threw back and he smiled “And yet here you still stand having survived what? Seven years after them?” “You’re gonna kill me why not just finish me off now?” you asked and his smile turned sinister “Oh but why kill you quickly when I can make you beg for death?”

He pulled a key out of his pocket and slid it into the door when he stepped into the cell you took a deep breath before falling into a defensive posture. Whatever he had planned it wouldn’t go over easy on him.

“There’s not even an option. We hand over the fucking power core” Dean spoke from where he stood at the edge of the room. “How do we know they won’t kill her anyway?” Benny asked and a silence fell over the room because everyone was thinking what Benny had just given voice to “Well what the hell do you suggest Benny? Let them kill her with no qualms?” Max’s voice was laced with anger. Anger at himself for not being able to stop you from leaving and anger at the situation in general.

“We’re already at the eighteen hour mark since they took her. We need to do something and do it now!” Alicia cut in but before another word could be spoken Claire came running into the room “DEAN, SAM” both brothers turned to look at the blonde who was out of breath “The front gate! We need you!”

------

Most of the residents of the compound had been temporarily relocated rather to other areas or the caverns to get the non combatants out of harm’s reach which made it easier for moving around. Erika had bought her supplies and came back to help as well.

When Dean and Sam made it to the front gate they saw that Erika, Alex and Eileen were all three crouched around but couldn’t make out what until they got close enough to see you cradled in Dante Kaper’s arms while the three women worked to triage your wounds.  

“What the hell?” Dean demanded and at his voice you opened your eyes weakly “Don’t hurt him Dean” then your head rolled over to the side. “She’s ok. She just passed out. Dante get her up and let’s get her inside”

------

Erika had kicked everyone out of the room besides Eileen and Alex to work so that left Dean and Sam alone with Dante in the hall outside the room you were in. “Is that her blood?” Dean asked, pointing to Dante’s shirt. The other man glanced down almost robotically “Not all. Some of it is Jonah’s” 

“Excuse me?” Sam asked to ensure he’d heard right. Dante raised his eyes and Dean saw a fire there that almost made him want to like him “I killed him to save her life. I wasn’t there when they took her but the moment I got back to the compound my father called me into his quarters to brag. I found Jonah in her cell he planned to do worse than torture her…” his eyes had found their way back to the door that held you on the other side “I killed him without a second thought. I took her out the back and bought her here where I know she’s safe then I’m gonna go back and kill my father and everyone loyal to him”

“Is she worth that to you?” Dean asked, needing the answer before he allowed himself to give a Kaper even a sliver of trust “Why wouldn’t she be?” Dante replied and Dean gave him a sharp nod “Ok then. Want some help?”

------

You came to again when Eileen was washing the blood off of your face. “Eileen?” you whispered but she saw your lips move and looked up to your eyes and smiled “Thank god. What do you remember?” “Jonah..a blade slicing through him...a horse ride..Dante’s coat being around me and telling Dean not to hurt him”

She nodded “Good no concussion then” you looked around slowly “Where is everyone” you signed a bit sloppy but she got the point. “Waiting for you to wake up” “How long have I been out?” you asked and she grimaced which told you it’d been a while “A week” 

Before you could have a complete freakout the door cracked open and Alicia poked her head in “You’re awake!” “It appears” you groaned trying to sit up before her and Eileen moved to help you. They shared a look then Eileen signed “I’m gonna go find the boys”

Once she walked out you looked over at Alicia who’d sat next to you “What happened while I was napping?” she laughed “Oh a revolution?” “Huh?” you questioned and she shrugged “Bobby can explain it better but just know our lives are going to be a lot more peaceful” “Where’s Dante?” you asked worry for him suddenly hitting you like a blow to the gut. “He’s fine honey. That’s one of the boys Eileen went to find”

------

You were sitting up with your feet curled under you nursing the glass of water Alicia had gotten you when the door opened again and Eileen walked in, trailed by Dean,Bobby,Sam,Benny and an unsure looking Dante.

Your crew all hugged you then you locked eyes with Dante and shared a small smile “You killed your brother for me” “He was an asshole anyways” he replied which caused a light laugh to spread across the room. “What happened while I was out?” you asked looking at Bobby who smiled “Long story short? Josiah is dead. David is back and over the civilians proven to not be under Josiah’s rule. The militia is being cleared out of dirty members as we speak and we have doubled the side of our hospital set up in the last three days”

You cut your eyes at Dante “What are you gonna do now?” Dean slung an arm around his shoulder and winked at you “Well Y/N not to put words in his mouth but I believe he was hoping to stick around and get to know you a bit better now that you’re not sworn enemies anymore” “If that’s good with you. If not I can always head home now that David is over it?” he offered and you smiled “I think I’d like you sticking around a bit”  His smile told you that was the answer he’d been hoping for.

@girl-next-door-writes

@littlemessyjessi

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