#i think his sister would be stuck between wanting to kick his ass and being like he needs me to be cool rn things r so dire. she does hit

[horseshoegirl]

Damn Those Dog Tags: Part 12 - Blue Healer

📜... so... about Sadie... 🫣👀

I just want to thank you again for all the support on this story. It's so strange to believe we are halfway to the end! Thank you to each and everyone one of you who take the time to read, comment and reblog!

Also, It's my b-day tomorrow! 🥳So this one is a little longer!

❗+18, strong language, godmother reader/original female character, original child, shitty family dynamics, hospital settings, hurt child, Angst, conversations about grief, this is a sad one!

#7k Words

Part 11 | Masterlist | Part 13

Jake had been standing in his kitchen, counting down the minutes before he could pick you up for your second date, when he had the sudden urge to call Janet.

She answered on the fourth ring. 

"What's wrong? You never call me."

"Well, hello to you too, Janet.

He could hardly blame his sister for the greeting. Whenever he called, it was usually only to tell her he was still alive or if he was being stationed. The last time they spoke, Janet had called to chew him out for not letting her know he had returned home.

"Who did you murder, or where are they sending you off next?"

Jake smirked into the phone. "Can't I ask my pregnant sister how she is doing?"

"Fine," she replied shortly. "Pregnant. Putting up with our shitty family."

She sighed loudly, continuing, "What's happening in your world, Little Brother? Still kicking ass up there?"

"Damn straight," he remarked. "How's the Bean?"

"Due any day now, Thank god. My bladder has shrunk to the size of a pea.

Jake shook his head fondly. "You still don't want to know?"

"Nope, absolutely not," her voice was firm. "Ma keeps coming up with baby names, and the hell-bringer thinks we are naming it after him because he brought me into this world," she made a gagging sound. "This way, they can't convince the hospital of whatever name they want."

"I wouldn't put it past them," Jake said aloud, leaning against the wall beside his fridge.

It was an unspoken rule between himself and Janet that they wouldn't refer to their father as anything other than 'the Hell-Bringer." Janet had started calling him that one day out of the blue, and it had stuck ever since.

"When is Bean going to have an aunt to go with their new uncle?" she whined. "Janet," he sighed.

"What?" she cried out. "You're my last hope. George can't even hold a relationship, and Melaine will have no interest once this thing is born."

Jake grimaced. "He and Stacy didn't make it past the three-month mark?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Stacey? He was with Sarah."

"Oh," Jake replied, sensing he knew precisely what happened in that regard, Janet catching on with a disappointing sigh. "Dammit, George."

There was silence on the other end, and Jake decided it was time to admit the reason behind his call.  "Actually, I might be seeing someone."

Janet drew in a sharp breath. "Seeing someone? As properly dating seeing someone? Not the bed them and ditch them the type of dating?"

"Janet."

"Oh my god, you know I joke about it, but I cannot believe someone actually decided to date and put up your annoying ass," she remarked.

"I could say the same about you and Ian. He practically had to force the ring on your finger."

"We aren't talking about my love life here, Jacob," she challenged. "Now, tell me. Who is she? Is it Elizabeth?"

Jake remained silent, his hand coming up to stroke the back of his neck. "Shit," she gasped. "You finally made your move. God help her."

"Janet."

"I can't believe you did it."

"What makes you say it's Liz?"

She scoffed. Jake could picture her standing in the farmhouse kitchen, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. "I'm not an idiot. I know my brother. You've never spoken about anyone the way you do about Elizabeth. And her niece."

He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit it each time Janet called. He almost always spoke about you and Sadie. And Janet would press and ask her questions. Looking back on it now, she probably knew something long before he did.

"It's early days, Janet."

"I'm happy for you, Jake," he could hear her smile through the phone. "I really am."

"Can you not.." he started to say before Janet interrupted him, calling out, " Do I want to see you killed? Absolutely not. Who do you think I am?"

Before Jake could reply, another voice on Janet's end startled him."What's this I hear about little Jakey getting himself a girlfriend?"

Jake thumped his head against the wall. "Fuck, is that George?"

"When I leave the front porch to take a phone call, it clearly means I want to be alone, George."

George's voice was muffled through his phone speaker as Jake caught his reply, "How long do you think it will be before she dumps him? I give it a week."

"Not your circus, not your monkey, asshole!" Janet called out.

"Come on, Janet. The black sheep of the family doesn't date. I might have to fly out to California and see this mystery woman with my own eyes. Or has Jakey's imaginary little friend from middle school come back?"

There was a scuffle on the other end of the line, and Jake thought he heard George yell out pain before he suddenly shouted, "Fuck Janet, let me go!"

Jake knew what she was doing to him. He had been on the receiving end of it countless times enough to know George would be bent over, Janet with a tight grip on his ear and tugging down hard. He couldn't help the grin on his face.

"You say anything about this to Ma or the hell bringer or even think about flying down to California, I will personally make sure you'll get a pitchfork up your ass," he heard her seethe at him. "You ruin this for him, pregnant or not, I will do it."

There was no way in hell Jake would ever entertain the idea of George visiting him here, let alone meet you or Sadie. It wasn't that he didn't trust you, you clearly could handle yourself, and Sadie was no different.

But George had a way of tainting everything good in his life. He had been compared to his brother for things he should have done better for most of his life.

Despite his words, Jake couldn't help but tease his brother, knowing he could hear him. "I'd listen to her, Georgie. Janet and pregnancy hormones ... not a good mix."

"I'm just teasing him, Janet."

"I dare you to say that one more time."

"You know as well as I, Ma and Dad won't be thrilled about him dating some girl they've never met."

"So shut your trap, never speak about this, and get your ass to the barn. Ian needs help with the haybales," she fumed.

There was a scuffle, and then Jake thought he heard the ranch back door close shut before Janet sighed into the phone. "Some days, I wonder if he really is our brother."

"Jan, if he tells them..."

"Forget about what's happening back home. I'll take care of it," she said, trying to calm Jake down. "When are you seeing her again?"

"Tonight. I've got something planned, but I don't know how Liz will take it." If he timed everything perfectly, as he had discussed with Maverick, the two of you should make it just before sunset.

"Don't tell me my fearsome navy pilot brother is nervous?" she teased him. When Jake didn't reply, Janet took pity on him. "It's cause you like her, you idiot. It's a good thing."

Jake let out a soft chuckle.

"Let me know how it goes, okay?"

After saying their goodbyes, Jake picked up the keys Maverick loaned him and decided he might as well arrive early and wait with you.

Little did he know it then, it was a good thing he did.

---

This small hospital waiting room had clearly never seen the likes of an entire squad from Top Gun gracing its mismatched seats. They were used to this, sitting in uncomfortable chairs, the long-standing hours of hearing no news, the apprehension of slight dread hanging over their heads.

This was different from those situations, though. Not the 'No New, is Good News' kind of thing. Some of the Squad's faces were etched in worry, others stoic as they tapped nervously on the armrests of their chairs.

Jake didn't pay them much mind, wanting to punch something or pace the room. You hadn't said a word to him when he placed Sadie into your arms, kneeling next to you, still mindful of putting pressure on her head. Or when the paramedics arrived, and you forced yourself to hand her over, when he pulled you back into his arms as they worked. Or when you climbed into the back of the ambulance.

"Please tell me you at least got one punch in," Rooster asked, head in his hands as he sat across from Jake.

Jake didn't bother looking up, hunched over in his chair, knowing Bradley was referring to the state of his face. The bruises had set in, the cut on his lip still undressed, and even the nurses at the front desk were urging him to be admitted.

"One," he admitted after a second before sighing. "But not with Sadie watching."

Bradley nodded absentmindedly. While he was pleased with the answer, deep down he wished he hadn't let Tyler go. Jake sat back in his chair, his mind pondering what you told him.

"Tyler ran her sister off the road during that storm."

Sitting next to Jake, Nat sharply turned her head at the mention of Ridley. "What?! He killed her?!"

Jake nodded. "Liz wasn't specific, but putting the pieces together, Tyler's father is running for some electoral bid."

Bob pipped up from his seat beside Nat, filling in the gaps. "So the attempt to kidnap Sadie was some PR save?"

Nobody replied to him. It was obvious his question was rhetorical. And nobody wanted to say out loud what had transpired. Knowing Sadie was somewhere in this hospital fighting for her life was enough. 

Mav came and sat next to Bradley, sitting in the empty chair next to him. "I called Cyclone. He's calling in a few favours."

"Favours?" Bradley asked. Pete nodded, pocketing his phone. Penny placed a hand on his shoulder from her spot next to him. "He knows an admiral where Tyler's father is running for office."

"God. Cyclone is getting involved," Fanboy remarked from behind Pete. Coyote leaned forward, inquiring, "Why?

Maverick shook his head, not bothering to offer an explanation other than, "When I asked, he said it's Sadie."

Everyone agreed. It was Sadie. And if anyone could have won Cyclone over, Sadie would have been the one to do it. But Jake didn't join in on the conversation, too caught up in the realization even as he fought hard on that beach, he had failed the second Sadie fell. 

Unknown to Jake, he was currently the focal point for Rooster's stare, watching every move he made, every facial expression as each thought and emotion crossed his face. Bradley opened his mouth, ready to ask the question that had been burning in the back of his mind since they had arrived until a voice interrupted him. 

"I'm assuming you're all here for Ms. Beck?" 

 Everyone in the room turned to face an older nurse holding a clipboard. Penny was the first to launch herself out of her chair and step forward to ask, "Is she okay?"

The nurse looked at everyone in the room before glancing back at Penny, "Are all of you family?"

There was no hesitation in the way everyone in the room nodded. The nurse paused before announcing, "Sadie's still asleep but stable."

Everyone collectively sighed at the nurse's words. Then she added, "Elizabeth asked for Sadie's uncle to join her."

Nobody protested when Rooster started to stand. But then the nurse asked, "If I could have Mr. Seresin follow me, she's just back here."

Jake's headshot to the nurse, eyes wide. There was no way you'd want him there, not after she got hurt.

He had been too late.

"Are you sure you got the right person, mam?" he said, looking pointedly at Bradley, who had sat back down in shock and anger. She peered down at Jake from over the top rim of her glasses, a slight smirk on her face. "She said the blonde one."

Jake didn't bother looking back at the group when he stood. He could hear Rooster sputtering when he walked through the back doors and under flickering fluorescent lights. She led him through countless archways and winding halls till she stopped at the door, a police officer stationed just outside in a chair. He gave a tense nod to Jake before returning to his paperwork.

"Stay as long as you'd like," the nurse told him softly. "Your niece is one lucky girl."

He didn't hear her, too focused on your back through the crack in the door. He pushed it open, forcing himself to face you finally.

There was a sombre stillness in the room, Jake hesitating as he stood behind you. Sadie's small figure was engulfed in stark white sheets, multiple different wires snaking around her body. She was pale, and her head had been wrapped in a thick white bandage.

And you, not even turning your head as he came into the room, too focused on counting her breaths and watching the steady beep of her heart rate monitor. Jake couldn't see your face but could tell you were trying to hold in your tears.

He slowly gripped the back of a nearby chair to pull it closer to you, sitting down and placing his hand on top of yours that was squeezing Sadie's hand lightly.

"She has a concussion," you said, still not looking up. "And she lost a lot of blood."

He didn't say anything, deciding to stroke the back of your hand with his thumb.

"They say it could have been worse," you sniffed, wiping at your nose. "Had you not gotten there in time, it probably would have."

You tilted your head back, eyes closed, finally allowing yourself to take your eyes off Sadie for a moment before turning your chair towards Jake without looking up. The thread hanging from a rip in his jeans seemed more interesting than facing him.

But Jake carefully reached up to gently press lightly at the bruise on your cheek. You tilted your head into his touch, the action releasing the pent-up anxiety and emotions you had kept at bay for Sadie since you saw her in Jake's arms. He reached for your waist, pulling you close to the edge of your seat as the first sob crawled up your throat.

"He hasn't been around since Ridley found out she was pregnant. We made sure he couldn't get to Sadie," you sobbed, burying your face in the fabric of his shirt. Jake held you tightly as you cried, "Did I fail her? Did I fail them both?!"

"Don't go there, Liz. You couldn't have stopped him. This is all his doing, not yours."

You opened your eyes to a stain of dried blood near his shoulder, Jake standing on the beach in your peripheral vision coming to mind.

Sitting up sharply, you took in his face, small gasps escaping your lips as you trailed your fingers lightly over his lip, then the darkening bruises. He caught your hand, bringing your fingers to his mouth, "I've had worse."

Lowering your hand, he kissed your swollen wrist delicately. You sniffed, stroking the buzz-cut strains of hair behind his ear. "That doesn't mean you should."

With one glance back at Sadie, you urged him to stay as you stood, quickly going to the bathroom. Her nurse had tried to convince you to let them look at your face. You had vehemently refused, not for one second leaving Sadie alone if you could help it.

Despite your stand-offish attitude, she was kind enough to leave a makeshift first-aid kit, not really knowing the extent of your injuries, in some blind hope, you would take care of yourself. Damping a cloth, you picked up the plastic bag and returning to Jake.

He protested when you reached up with the cloth to dab at his lip. You shot him a look that instantly shut him up. Pressing it lightly against his skin, you urged, "If I don't do something, I will lose it, Jake. Let me take care of you."

Whether it had been bar fights or something else, Jake wasn't used to somebody else taking care of him, flitching as you tried to wipe at his lip, shushing him each time gently. He let you clean up the cut in silence, knowing his eyes were fixed on you as you worked.

And it bothered you, thinking his stare was pity or judgement. But the thing about Jake was you never felt like you had to hide around him. That you never had to put the mask up. But with everything that had happened, with Sadie lying hurt on the bed next to the two of you, with learning Ridley was murdered and Tyler was still out there, you were on the verge of caving hard. 

"Thank you will never be enough, Jake."

His shoulders sagged. "Don't. Not yet," he spoke, turning his head towards Sadie. Your fingers trembled as you worked to peel back the wrapper of a Steri-Strip. 

"I thought you would hate me. Me leaving you like that and Sadie..."

Biting your lip, you carefully placed the strip over his lip before flexing your fingers to take his face into your hands. "How could I hate you, Jake?" you whispered concerningly. "You put her first."

"She still got hurt, trying to stop him." 

It didn't surprise you; Sadie was more courageous than anyone you had ever met. 

"It's not your fault, Jake. It's mine," you stated, nodding your head. "I should have done more. I should have realized sooner it was Tyler. I should have gone to the police and fought harder. Realized that white fucking car was more than paranoia." 

Jake shushed you, placing his forehead onto yours. "You couldn't have prepared for any of this, Liz. Tyler, Ridley... Sadie here and now. You couldn't have known." 

You let out a sob as Jake said, "It's nobody's fault but that asshole's." 

Then you heard it.

"Uncle Jake?"

The both of you shot up from your seats, coming to sit on either side of her bed as she tried to force her eyes open. You shushed her, cupping her cheek as you said, "Sadie? Sweetheart?"

And just like that, she opened her eyes.

You wanted to sob.

"Where am I?" She said to the ceiling before looking at you and closing them again. You tried to hide the tears from your voice as you told her, "You're in the hospital, Bug. You hit your head."

She wiggled on the bed, a groan escaping her lips as she weakly reached up to touch the bandage on her head. "I did?"

Sadie pinched her brow as everything came back to her. The glass breaking, her running, and then the panic she felt at seeing her uncle pinned to the sand.

She cried out in a panic, her eyes opening and shooting towards you, "Uncle Jake! Where is Uncle Jake?!"

"I'm right here, Bug."

She turned to glance at him, her mouth dropping open in shock as she saw the patches of blue and purple covering his face. Then she looked back at you, taking in the darkness of the skin around your eye, making her bottom lip quiver.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, her body starting to shake as she began to cry. "I'm so sorry!"

"Sadie, what are you sorry for? It's not your fault."

But she shook her head, her face riddled in pain as she exclaimed, "He hurt you. The both of you. Because of me."

"No bug, please don't think that," you whined. "It's mine. I should have protected you better. It's never, never your fault. "

You felt Jake place a hand on your back. "Don't play the blame game, Liz. It's not your fault either." 

Sadie's face softened as she absorbed Jake's words. She gasped, trying to control her breathing. "Then it's his fault then. The one who hurt all of us." 

She said it so simply, so child-like, you were scared you couldn't own up to the answer- to an unspoken promise. Yet, you swallowed, nodding with a tense smile. 

"Are we going to be okay?" 

"Yes," Jake answered Sadie's question for you. "I'm going to make sure of it." 

"I'll go get the nurse," you said softly, stroking her cheek one last time before getting up to walk out the door. Jake watched you leave before sliding himself forward to hold Sadie's hand. She smiled at him, squeezing his hand before weakly murmuring, "I heard you."

"What?"

"When you picked me up, I heard you."

"Sadie..."

" I don't care what you're going to say," she croaked. "I'd do it again."

"I can take care of myself, Bug. I'm the adult who needs to look out for you. You don't need to look out for me."

"This is why you have trouble making friends," she pointed out. Jake smiled softly at her before saying, "You're my friend."

"I'm your wingman. We made a promise."

"I don't think we were facing Ursula this time, Bug."

Sadie yawned, turning her head into her pillow as she faintly murmured, "This time, it was the loch ness monster."

"Really?" Jake chuckled lowly, still holding her hand. "Another Sea Monster?"

"You're the one that flies over the ocean. I'm just sticking with the theme."

---

Once Sadie had been given the all-clear, Jake asked if he could bring her anything from home. You handed him your key, too worn out to protest, asking if he could grab the Navy Teddy bear from the fair off Sadie's bed and her overnight bag from Penny.

Each Dagger made the trek to her room, one by one, seeing for themselves that she was alright. Sadie tried to stay awake for each one, fighting off the threat of sleep, till Bradley decided to stay with you in Jake's absence.

Like you, he couldn't stop staring at her as she breathed, only occasionally glancing at the door. Even with the police officer stationed outside, Bradley was acting like a guard dog, always standing between you and the door at all times.

She passed out the minute she was able to, and you couldn't help but worry about what tomorrow would look like when you'd get to bring her home.

"Why was Jake there?" Bradley asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

You regarded him momentarily, wanting to tell him the real reason. But you weren't prepared nor ready for the emotional blowout. And it wasn't the right time or right the place. So you shrugged. "It's the Hard Deck, Bradley. Why do people go to a bar on a Friday afternoon?"

He didn't say anything, his face hard like he was lost in concentration, watching the rise and fall of Sadie's chest. And why you had the urge to suddenly ask him the following question, especially now, of all moments, you had no idea.

Maybe you knew Bradley would be honest with you here and now and wouldn't try to pass you off or find a way to escape it. Or perhaps it was your way of forgetting the weight of all the information you learned today. So in a moment of bravery, you asked, "Why do you hate him so much, Bradley?"

He went to say something, lurching forward with effort, but you interrupted him, "And don't tell me it has to do with some Navy rivalry about who is the better pilot. I know that's not true."

"I am the better pilot," he mumbled under his breath, falling back into his seat.

"You are both equally as good as each other. You just have different means of doing it. But that's beside the point."

He stared at the floor, his eyes wide, as he thought about his answer. Not that you were feeling any better, but Sadie waking up had eased the burden and allowed you to ask somewhat playfully, "Please tell me you don't have a crush on me?"

Bradley's eyes shot up to yours before he made a gagging sound. "Oh, good lord, no. You're like my little sister." His shoulders shook as if a chill had shot down his spine. "Please don't ever put that image in my head again."

You stuck your tongue out at him before looking down at Sadie, a small smile gracing your lips. He shared your smile, not that you noticed, before admitting quietly, "It's Sadie."

You raised your eyebrows at him. "Sadie?"

"Remember the mission we keep talking about? The one that brought us all together?"

You nodded.

"He said something about my dad."

"He told me he did," you admitted, taking in Bradley's pensive stare. "He regrets it, not that it means much after the fact."

His father had always been a sore subject. Sure, he talked about him from what he could remember. Their shared love of music, playing the piano, and the same taste in vacation dad t-shirts. But he always clammed up regarding the accident, his reason for joining the Navy and wanting to fly.

"Jake does not regret anything he's done," Bradley snorted. "You don't know him like we do, Liz. Sooner or later, he's going to do what he does best and leave the two of you out to dry, and I don't want to see you or Bug hurt." 

"Roo," you said softly. He's just proven he won't do that to Sadie." Or me, you wanted to add.

"You have so much faith in him."

You paused, sliding your hand over the blanket on Sadie's bed before replying, "I have faith in all of you. But Hangman, it's different with him."

"How?"

You didn't want to bring it up, especially now. But something in your gut was telling you it was the only thing that would get Bradley to ease up.

"Did I ever tell you why Ridley wanted to become a nurse?"

Rooster shook his head, resting his elbows on the edge of Sadie's bed.

"She believed everyone deserved a chance. That people cared," you said quietly. "Who would I be? What type of guardian would I be for Sadie if I didn't continue that? If I didn't give Jake the same curiosity?"

"I'm just worried you're going to put your faith in someone who will let you down."

"I don't know Jake as you know him. I don't have that history. But Bradley, he just went to bat for Sadie. His face is a walking mosaic. Don't tell me he will leave her, or me, out to dry after that?"

You reached out across her bed, fingers stretching out. Bradley lifted his hand from his lap to hold yours.

"Can you live with the idea that if that happens, it's my mistake to make?" you squeezed his hand once, trying to hide the quiver from your voice as you added, "The world is not perfect, Bradley."

He gave you a sad smile. "Do you want to talk about it? About Ridley?"

You swallowed hard, recoiling your hand back from his touch. "I can't. Not now."

"Liz, you need..." But he was interrupted by a knock at the door. Jake appeared, Sadie's bag in hand and her Teddy bear in the other.

"How is she?" he asked, coming around to your side of the bed and dropping the bag next to your chair.

"Sleeping," you replied softly, watching as he placed the teddy bear in her arms, Sadie curling around the stuffed animal.

A furrow formed between Bradley's brow as he watched the look on Jake's face as he glanced at you. Everyone loved Sadie, there was nothing wrong with the way he had approached her. But you, there was something in Jake's eyes that told him there was something else. 

Jake's eyes met Roosters, a flicker of apprehension flashing across his face, fearing his suspicions had been laid bare. But Jake didn't notice, instead nodding at him, a drawl of "Bradshaw" escaping his lips. 

Bradley stood, ignoring Jake, his eyes lingering on you as he asked, "Can I have your key? I'll run a few errands to make sure your set when you bring her home."

Jake dropped your key into the palm of your hand as you replied, "Bradley, you don't have to do that."

"Liz, just let us help you." 

You placed your house key into Bradley's hand, a reserved look on your face. He looked at you briefly before nodding, walking to the door, pausing, and turning to Jake.

"Hangman."

Jake's eyes followed Bradley out the door before looking back at you. 

"Jake, you don't have to.." You started to say before you caught the stern look on his face, instantly shutting you up. Honestly, the last thing you wanted was to be alone in his hospital room.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not when he can still get to you both."

Every hour a nurse would come by to wake Sadie up. For the first two, you didn't want to do anything but stare at her, unmoving from your chair. Jake was beginning to worry, watching you fight off sleep, swaying forward occasionally only to catch yourself.

The nurse had kindly brought a 'father' bed from the nearby maternity ward and placed it in the corner of the room with a pillow. You hadn't looked in its direction once or even thought about sleeping.

"Liz," he said softly, trying to arouse your attention. When you said nothing, Jake stood, touching your shoulder. You jolted awake, slightly shocked, until you realized it was him. "You need to get some rest."

"She's perfectly safe, and nothing will happen to her."  You shook your head, barely managing to gather the energy to speak. But Jake persisted, trailing his hand down your arm to grasp at your hand. You let him pull you up.

"I can't..."

"You can. She's not going anywhere. Don't worry. I have my eye on her." Jake led you to the corner of the room, making you stand in front of the pullout. He let your hand go to sit down. 

"Come here," He laid back against the backrest, holding out his arm as an invitation for you to join him. You might have fought him more, but you needed comfort with everything that had happened.

But once you settled into his arms, Jake asked you softly, "You want to talk about it?"

You shook your head against his chest, hiding your face. Jake had read you like a book.   "Elizabeth, you can't keep burying your grief."

Your reply was muffled against his chest, "It's not that easy."

"I never said it was easy, but dwelling in your sorrows won't change anything."

Something in the way he said that hit you in your chest, sitting down with no intent to move. The smell of antiseptic making your stomach turn. The longer he sat there with you, the shock of everything reached its boiling point. 

It was too much. 

"What's wrong with me?!" you wailed. "She's been gone almost a year, and I can't even..."

You drew in a shuttering breath at the end of your unfinished sentence. You didn't need to continue, Jake had seen it repeatedly - in the way you would shelter yourself from any conversation to do with her to gripping your arm. Or to how Sadie remarked you hadn't been happy since her mom had passed away.

"I made a promise," you sniffed through your tears. "That the both of us would be strong for each other while we dealt with everything. That we wouldn't cave. But she struggled when I brought her home, and I had to be strong for her. She needed me to be strong for her. She wanted to be strong, and I needed to do the same."

"Sadie isn't going to love you any less because you can't be strong around her. None of us will."

You whimpered at his word. Suddenly, the dam burst open. "I tried. I tried to read the book, I tried talking about her with everyone, with you. Believing I'm fine when I'm not. Saturday nights with everyone, only to run into the kitchen the first chance I get because she's not there." 

You sobbed into his chest. "It's so hard, Jake. Knowing she's not here. That he took her away from us." 

"I know," he spoke into your hair, gripping the back of it. "Healing isn't linear, Darlin'. It's messy, and it takes time."

Something was validating in hearing his words. Something that no longer made you feel like a self-pity dealer. That it was okay for you to feel like this. That there was no mask needed in any given situation. 

Jake, whether he knew it or not, was giving you the permission you so desperately needed to know it was okay to be sad. 

And he let you. He let you cry it out, rocking you back and forth in this hold until you sniff, wiping at your eyes. "When did you get so wise, Jake Seresin?"

“Wise?” He scoffed. “No, darlin', I'm experienced. There's a difference."

Even with your tears, you rolled your eyes. "Why did that sound more sexualized than it should have been?"

"You're the one that went there. I'm just stating facts," Jake grinned. You huffed, pulling yourself closer to his side as a yawn coincided with your quiet laughter.

"Enough with the heavy. You need to sleep." He adjusted his hold on you, fingers threading themselves through the hair at the back of your neck, pulling you deeper into his chest. "I'm watching her."

You snuggled into his side, your hand making a fist gripping his shirt and the ball chain of his dog tags through the fabric. But you were still tense despite your exhaustion, causing Jake to shake you a little in encouragement.

"Relax, I'm not going to bite," He said before softly pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "Not unless you ask me to."

You groaned sleepily into his chest, "Jake."

You fell asleep listening to him chuckle.

---

Jake had driven you both home once the doctor had given Sadie the all-clear later in the evening the next day. Sadie made a beeline to the couch, a long-standing ritual with her whenever she felt poorly, the second she walked through the door. 

 This left you and Jake standing in your kitchen, the moment making you think back to that first Saturday night when Jake had followed you inside with the dishes. The night before the Daggers were deployed.

You could never have thought this would be your future, holding yourself tight, leaning up against your counter, Jake filling your kettle with water, rummaging around in your tea cupboard. You pressed your forehead to his shoulder as he placed it back on its stand, turning to hold you and pressing a kiss to your forehead, not saying anything. He let you take what you needed from him.

The both of you eventually joined Sadie on the couch, watching as she held the remote to the TV, staring at the black screen. For a second, you were scared she would ask to watch Pride and Prejudice. Instead, she asked, "Can we put on The Princess Bride? I know I can't watch, but I'd like to listen."

To any onlooker, the group of you would have been a sight - Sadie with her stitches across the back of her head. Jake with his bruised face, split lip and marked-up knuckles. And you, with your black eye.

Yet, you couldn't have felt safer than huddled on your couch here with them. 

Halfway through the movie, you found yourself with your head lying against Jake's leg. Sadie had migrated from the other end of the couch to in front of you, head buried in your shoulder as she used your arm as a pillow. Even with the knowledge Tyler was still out there, waiting for the next chance to strike again, you passed out knowing there wasn't anywhere else you wanted to be.

It was around 3 in the morning when Jake woke you up, silently urging you to go to bed. You tried to figure out the best way to move without disturbing Sadie until he stood, kneeling next to the two of you and carefully hooked his arms under her body. In her sleep, Sadie snuggled into Jake's chest once he stood.

"Go get ready," he murmured softly. "I'll get her to bed."

You stayed on the couch for a second, watching as he carried her off to her room before sighing and getting up. You forced yourself not to look out your window as you passed it by. 

The bruise around your eye was an unwelcome sight in your mirror as you washed your face and got ready. You found yourself sitting on the edge of your bed, staring at the book on your nightstand, wondering if Jake was going to seek you out.

And then he appeared in your doorway, watching you dangle your legs back and forth. 

"Jake," you said quietly, shame in your tone. "I don't want to be alone."

He pushed himself off your doorframe, kneeling in front of you, between your legs and hands resting on either side. He slid his whole hand up the outside of your thigh, stroking back and forth, attempting to comfort you.

"What do you need, darlin'?" he hushed. "What can I do?"

"Don't leave me?" it was a quiet plea.

Jake reached for your hips, sitting up to press his forehead to yours. You took it one step further, sliding off the edge of your bed and down to the ground in front of him, arms wrapping tightly around his neck. He hugged you tight, head pressing into your collarbone before grabbing the back of your thighs to stand. You clung to him, legs tightly clinging around his waist.

He was next to your bed in two steps, one arm still clutching you while the other swept your covers down. You weren't sure how he could sit down with you hanging on to him, how he turned while holding the covers up and siding underneath them. You never let go as he settled you on top of him, hand stroking up and down your back. 

Then you found yourself seeking out his lips, lightly grazing yours against his. There was nothing overly sexual in how you lightly pressed into him and grazed your nose along his, how you sought him out, lazily kissing him.

You were mindful of his injured lip each time, content to simply be here and now with Jake in your bedroom, his warmth and smell willing you to calm down. There was no objective, no end goal in your actions - after everything that had happened, you needed the assurance, the comfort, him.

From Tyler. From you feeling like a failure as Sadie's guardian because you couldn't prevent outside forces from coming after her. From the burdening grief of losing Ridley, the one you kept shoving aside only for Jake to crack wide open.

And yet, all you could think about was that it might be time to take that first step - even if it is just turning that one page on Pride and Prejudice on your nightstand.

---

Jake woke in the early morning to a rattle from your bedside table. He had let you sleep, doing Sadie's two-hour checks, used to the lack of sleep. 

The both of you had moved, your back pressed tightly against his front. His arm was wrapped securely around your waist, and his nose was buried in your hair. Rolling over, he reached for his phone and spied the unknown caller ID, bringing it up to his ear as he answered.

"Seresin."

"It's about time you answered the phone."

Jake quickly shot you a look over his shoulder before getting up and walking into your hallway, shutting the door gently behind him.

"Wouldn't have answered had I known you were on the other end," he spat, continuing to your kitchen so you wouldn't hear his conversation.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Always taking the easy way out, just like when you joined the Navy. Flying around, pretending to be important while accomplishing nothing of substance."

"I'm assuming you didn't call to put down my choice in career, though that would have been preferable for someone like you." Jake said sarcastically. 

"No, it's not," Jake's father replied snarkily. "I've heard you've been playing house with some girl."

Jake's grip tightened on his phone, anger bubbling beneath the surface. "And how would you know, seeing as you've never taken the time of day to call before now."

"Melaine."

Of course, Melaine would be the one to spill, Jake thought. Always telling other people's secrets and stories so she could watch the chaos afterwards.

"Didn't know my love life was the only source of entertainment down there," he remarked, leaning up against your island.

"Spare me the sentimental crap. A man like you shouldn't be saddled with someone else's burden."

Jaked laughed lowly. "Don't expect me to apologize for my life not fitting into your narrow-minded definition of what a man should be."

There was a monetary pause on the line. Jake's father let out a bitter chuckle. "Oh, so you're a saint now, huh?" he replied mockingly. "Trying to play the hero? Just like your grandfather, right?"

Jake didn't say anything, staring down at your floor. 

"You think you can be that kid's uncle? You're wasting your time on a woman who can't give you anything real."

Jake saw his opportunity, smirking into the end of his phone, as he answered, "I'd rather be a fool for choosing a noble idea than be somebody who settled for mediocrity. Tell me, Dad, how's the ranch life working for you?"

"Don't test me, boy!" he seethed. "I'm not the one showboating in some plane over the fucking ocean."

"Better than shovelling shit every day."

His father growled, clearly agitated. "You've always been a rebellious one. Thinking you can defy me, defy tradition. No man wants to be raising her sister's kid, son. She's nothing but trouble and damaged goods. I won't have her ruining the Seresin name."

Rather than react to the dig towards you, Jake scoffed. "Yeah, sure, Keep talking like your opinion matters that much anyway."

"End it. Or I'm sending George up to California to end it for you. At least he knows how to take orders like a good son."

And then the line went dead.

Jake gripped his phone, tossing it harshly to your kitchen island. The conversation stung, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. Even in California, miles between him and his home state, his father still tried to influence his life.

Needing to seek you out for comfort he returned to your room, pausing after he opened the door. You had turned in your sleep without him there, a hand stretched out to where he once was. The morning sunlight casting a beam through your drapes to the spot next to your head on your pillow. Sliding back beside you, Jake carefully lifted your arm as he placed it on his chest. You pulled yourself to him, head content to lay on his shoulder as a sigh escaped your lips.

"Jake," you murmured sleepily. "Is everything okay?"

"Go back to sleep," he replied, kissing your forehead hard. "It was just a wrong number."

Sadie's fine!!! 🥰 I'm not THAT heartless...

Tags:

@blue-aconite @tinytotontheoversizedpony @djs8891 @caitsymichelle13 @startrekfangirl2233

@mayhemmanaged @ereardon @dempy @shanimallina87 @teacupsandtopgun @daggerspare-standingby

@phantomxoxo @formulapierre @eli2447 @fulla02 @blckgrl-sunflower @mizzzpink @ohgodnotagainn

@bubblegumbeautyqueen @sarahsmi13s @desert-fern @lynnestra44 @memoriesat30 @penwieldingdreamer @mxlanciia

@bradleybeachbabe @bobby-r2d2-floyd @lavenderbradshaw @roosters-girl @lovinglyeternal @genius2050 @gigisimsonmars @dakotakazansky

@keyrani

Part 13 - Sons and Daughters coming soon

Wickett ;)

#Spotify #jake seresin fanfiction #jake hangman fic #jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin imagine #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman x reader #jake hangman x you #jake seresin #jake seresin fic #jake seresin imagines #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin x oc #jake seresin x y/n #jake seresin x you #hangman top gun #top gun hangman #top gun fanfiction #top gun fanfic #top gun maverick #hangman x oc #hangman fanfiction #hangman #hangman fic #hangman fluff #hangman seresin x reader #hangman x reader #hangman x you #hangman seresin #controlled chaos squad

[jamespotterthefirst]

You & I (2/3)

Book: Open Heart, beyond

Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Lilac Allende-Ramsey)

Word count: 1.3K

Rating/ Warning: Teen/ Language

Series: You & I | Part 1

Premise: Her husband’s colleague seems a bit too interested in him. Dread sets in when they have to go on a work trip together. Determined to fix things, Lilac decides to surprise him in New York. 

Note: Thank you so much to everyone who read and supported Part 1! This is based on a really old anon who asked: “has anyone every come between Ethan and Lilac?”

“He said that?” asked an outraged Laurel, flying from her seat. “I’ll kill him.”

“While I appreciate the solidarity, I don’t want you to make me a widow,” Lilac replied quite calmly. “And besides, Ethan is on an airplane right now, safely out of your reach.”

“He’s landing soon,” Laurel challenged menacingly.

“What are you going to do? Drive to New York just to kick his ass?”

“I’ve done it before. Just ask Griselda.”

Despite the somber tone of the previous conversation, both sisters stared at each other, then snorted with laughter. They dissolved into a full fit of body-wracking laughter that rang around Laurel’s tiny apartment. Surely, Mrs. Hart, her sister’s grumpy neighbor, would have a lot to complain about. By the time they sobered up, they both had tears in their eyes.

As their humor evaporated like a wisp of smoke, her sister surveyed her quite seriously.

“All joking aside, are you alright?”

Lilac sank back into the plush backrest of the armchair.

“Not really,” she confessed. “I feel like a total idiot for even bringing it up to him. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Lilita, stop.”

“I'm serious, Lau. After he left, I just felt like I overreacted.”

“You're not overreacting. You're actually being very level-headed about this all.”

“I'm trying to be. It's just that…  this Heather person gives me a bad feeling. Not just her remarks, or the way she acts around me… It's also the way she looks at Ethan. I even heard one of the nurses at Kenmore tell her she was Ethan's 'work wife'. Heather laughed and looked like she loved the title.”

“What?!”

The word rang out around the apartment with all her outrage.

“Ma, are you okay?” A concerned Diego asked from his room.

“I'm fine, baby. Just talking to your tía.”

They could hear the music of his video game resume.

“I know the 'work wife' thing is a playful thing people do at work—”

“Fuck no!” Laurel was on her feet again, face bright pink with fury by now. “That's not okay! Even if it's a playful thing— if someone said that about Tobias at work, they would find out real fast that I don't play like that. Does Ethan know?”

“I don't know. I didn't want to bring it up since I already felt crazy and like a stereotypical jealous wife. I hate feeling this way.”

Laurel, noticing her sister's anguish, relaxed and sat next to her.

“Bullshit,” Laurel supplied. “He’s your husband. You’re allowed to talk to him about these things, even if you have no proof. Even if all that comes from it is him listening to you vent.”

Lilac nodded, feeling reassured. “That's all I was trying to do. He could tell something was wrong and I was just being honest.”

“Exactly! He shouldn't blame you for being open or make you think it's all in your head. I don't know why he was being such a—” Laurel stopped, searching for an adequate enough word to describe Ethan’s behavior. “— such a pendejo!”

Lilac allowed a small smile.

“I laid it all out minutes before he had to catch his flight. If anything, I think we just needed more time to talk it out. And now we’re stuck in this weird limbo.”

Her sister considered this, nodding slowly as though deep in thought. Then, her eyebrows shot up the same way they did any time she had a brilliant idea. Over three decades of experience assured Lilac that said brilliant idea would veer on the side of recklessness.

“New York is a drivable distance away…”

“Yes, we went through that when you threatened to rip my husband’s head off.”

“What if we go?”

The silence that followed was so long that Lilac could hear Mrs. Hart television through the wall.

“Are you—”

“Hear me out,” her sister offered, on a mission now. “We go and surprise him. You’ll get your chance to talk things out after all of his boring doctor conferences. Then, when all is said and done, you can have amazing make-up sex and a little vacation.”

Lilac considered the idea. It was spontaneous and a bit outlandish, but it sounded a hell of a lot better than sitting around, agonizing and counting down the hours for Ethan’s return. A long sigh announced her acquiescence.

“Fine,” Lilac agreed. “But don’t think you’re fooling me. You also want to go because Tobias is there.”

“Getting mind-blowing sex is only a bonus, little sis. My priority is you.”

“Thanks,” Lilac said dryly. “If we’re doing this, we should head out soon. It’s almost four hours to New York if we’re lucky.”

Laurel winked. “I’ll get us there in three.”

As it turned out, Laurel was not exaggerating in her estimated arrival time. Once they dropped off Diego, Laurel's son, with a close friend, they hit the highway at borderline illegal speed. Laurel zoomed around traffic with the confidence of an LA driver and the brazen abandon she was starting to learn from what they called "Massholes." It wasn’t until the unmistakable and breathtaking New York City skyline loomed closer that Lilac finally relaxed.

“What hotel are they in again?”

“The Hard Rock on 48th.”

Laurel nodded diligently and started their trek through the city traffic. Predicting the journey would be long and arduous, Lilac took out her phone to text her husband. To her surprise, three dots bounced on the screen indicating he was already writing to her.

The flutter of hope that his messages catalyzed turned into sickening anxiety as they pulled into the hotel's valet parking. Her sister, ever the mind reader, reached over and squeezed her shoulder with a reassuring smile.

“You two will be alright,” she told her. “You always are. You'll fix this one way or another.”

Lilac gave her sister a small nod before they climbed out of the car and entered the luxurious lobby of the hotel. A charming man, dressed in an elegant black suit, smiled at them as they approached the counter. When Lilac gave him Ethan's name, his smile turned knowing.

“Ah, yes, Dr. Ramsey,” he said, looking at his screen. “We just received the request to accommodate you in your husband's suite.”

Lilac frowned. Beside her, Laurel looked equally puzzled.

“Did you tell him you were coming?”

“I told him I was sending a surprise to his room.”

Laurel snorted. “Then he figured it out. You forget you married a genius.”

After receiving her room key from the attendant, they found the assigned rooms with ease. Luckily for Laurel, Tobias's room was on the same floor. Lilac, on the other hand, wasn't convinced that was a good thing.

“Don't worry,” Laurel teased when Lilac expressed this. “You won't see us all weekend.”

Lilac rolled her eyes as they stepped out from the elevator.

“Do you need me to help you find Ethan's room?”

“I got it,” Lilac assured her. “You can go and change into whatever you brought to surprise Tobias.”

Her sister gladly accepted the dismissal. With one quick and enthusiastic hug, Laurel headed the opposite direction. Ethan's room, as it turned out, was only a few doors from where the sisters parted ways.

With a final deep breath, Lilac inserted the key into the lock. The tiny machinery rumbled to life, the light flickering on and settling on red. She tried it again, only to receive the same error.

“Dammit.”

As she grew more and more frustrated, she decided her card must've been too close to her phone in her purse, deactivating it. With a small growl, she gave up, dreading the trip downstairs to reactivate it. Before she could move a muscle, however, the doorknob moved from inside the room.

Lilac barely had enough time to consider that maybe her husband was back early, when the door opened.

It was not Ethan.

Not even close.

“Ethan, I've been waiting for hours. You'll never believe—”

The words died, replaced by a surprised little gasp.

There, staring back at her in shock clad in nothing but a towel, was Heather Finnegan.

Note: See you guys next week with Part 3!

Also, yes, the title You & I is the 1D song lol 

Thank you so much for reading! 

#open heart #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #playchoices

[criminallyvenomous]

Fighting Leads To Fxxking

Masterlist

Chapter Eleven - You're On Your Own, Kid

Word Count - 1,113

Tw - Alcoholism, Mention of Drugs, Fighting, Drunkenness

Plot - Stark! Reader get stuck watching Loki after the events of 2012. Moments of weakness and bad decisions involving the world's most hated man lead to the worst possible outcome, pregnancy.

"I know, Mom. I just can't believe I was so stupid. Of course he would recognize me."

"It's not your fault. Can you just come home?"

"Has he drank today?"

"He hasn't put a bottle down since you left."

"Then I can't come home. I'm sorry." You hung up the phone as you inserted the key into Natasha's door, Thor following behind you with his arms full of bags.

"Are you okay?" He asked as you hunted through Nat's kitchen, looking for something to fulfill your craving.

"My dad saw a photo of us in the news and he thinks you're the father," You explain, grabbing a box of saltine crackers, "Does she really only order in?" You mumble.

"Isn't that what you wished for? To keep my chaos-filled brother in the dark?" You offered a sleeve of crackers and he raised a brow before opening it.

"I guess, I just didn't want it to happen outside of my terms."

"Completely understandable. I apologize for drawing attention in the city." He tried a saltine and smiled a bit at the taste.

"It's not your fault, Thor. You were being a good Uncle." You ate another cracker.

"It was my intention to care for you and it turned out to harm you."

"It's still better than him finding out it's really your brother." You shrugged. He had finished the entire sleeve of crackers and you chuckled at his speed.

"Oddly tasty for a Migardian cuisine." He smiled.

"What do you normally eat for a snack on Asgard?"

"A lot of grapes really." You laughed with him.

You showed Thor different shows and he was fascinated by the American taste in humor.

"What is this one called? I am rather fond of the foolishness."

"Catfish. It came out this year. I can't stop watching. People are stupid." You laughed.

He couldn't keep his eyes off the screen, constantly asking questions in order to understand the slang and behaviors. A knock on the door interrupted you both. You tried to ignore it but it persisted, followed by a voice.

"I know you're in there, Y/N!" It was your father.

You paused the TV and exchanged looks with Thor, careful to not make a sound.

"I heard the TV." He pounded. He was slurring his words, drunk as a skunk.

"I will answer, Sister. Go into the bedroom and don't come out until he's calmed down." Thor told you and you listened, making a b-line to the bedroom. You were apprehensive, but you trusted Thor. He had centuries of de-escalation training.

"Open this fucking door, right now." Tony yelled.

"Hello, Stark." Thor answered, opening the door, taken aback by his disheveled appearance.

"You must have some fucking nerve." Tony growled as he entered.

"Must we argue? Can we simply have a civil discussion? We aren't enemies, there is no need to brawl." Thor reasoned.

"I don't think so, you fucked my daughter, Pointbreak." Tony stumbled, Thor leaned in to steady him.

"How much liquor have you ingested, Stark?"

"None of your business."

"Did you drive here?"

"Stop asking me these stupid ass questions." He sighed, shaking his head.

"No, I wont, I care for you. No matter your thoughts about me, I think of you as family, and soon we will be." Thor tried to extend an olive branch.

"That's it." Your father puncher Thor in the gut.

"Dad, stop!" You entered, yelling.

"No, you don't get a say. He took advantage of you, knocked you up, and left the fucking planet. I get to kick his ass." You moved in between your father and your pretend-lover. Thor was still clenching his stomach. He may have been a god, but he wasn't ready for that.

"Move." He yelled, trying to find you.

"Stop! You're drunk, dad. Think about this, do you really want to lose me and mom again?" You felt a tear fall and you were quick to wipe it, hoping your father was too inebriated to notice.

"I don't know what I want." He retorted, seemingly noticing the pain he's caused, to you emotionally and to Thor physically.

"You always talk about how you missed out on the first years of my life, do you really want to miss all of your granddaughters?" You couldn't hide your emotions anymore. You were becoming undone. Thor stepped forward and placed his hand on your shoulder and you looked behind to see him staring at you, desperately trying to make sure you were okay.

"Don't you dare threaten me." He pointed his finger.

"I think it might be best to table this conversation for when you aren't intoxicated, Tony." Thor tried once more to reason.

"You don't know what's best for me, or her." His face was turning red, you didn't know if it was from the alcohol or his mood.

"All I want is to be there for your daughter, to show her that she is loved in this trying time. I want to be there for her child, to be by her side as she grows up." He smiles at you. You gave him a teary but heartfelt grin.

"Dad, I'm gonna call Uncle Rhodey to pick you up. I can't talk with you when you're like this." You pulled out your phone and stepped away to call your uncle, he had always been there for you and Pepper when it came to the downfall of your father.

"Stark, let me get you a water." Thor walked and grabbed a bottle from the fridge and handed it to him.

He was overwhelmed with emotions and he was too drunk to understand any of them. He hated you right now, but he loved you too much to lose you. So, he took the water and looked for his phone in his jacket, he just wanted to call Pepper. He wanted to apologize for what he had said to her when he saw the press. He felt remorseful. He wanted so desperately to make this work, he just didn't know how.

Something fell from his jacket as he pulled out his phone.

"You dropped something," Thor picked up the item and looked at it closer, "Wait, what is this?" He asked, now holding the bag of white powder.

"None of your business." Tony grabbed it as fast as he could, but not fast enough for you to not see it as you reentered the vicinity.

"Are you kidding me? You're using again?" You finally broke. You weren't feeling sorrow anymore, just pure anger.

"No, I swear I haven't used, I just- I keep it with me, as a reminder."

"Get the fuck out."

im trying my best to write the next chapter so u guys dont have to wait too long. i started posting this with eight chapters pre-written, so now we're all caught up with my work. i hope u guys are liking the story! pls leave comments as it makes my day. don't choke my little guttersluts - kat.

#marvel #loki #loki x stark! reader #loki imagine #loki x reader #loki fanfic #mcu loki #stark! reader #tony stark #iron man #thor odinson #thor #loki odinson #marvel x reader #pepper potts #pepper #natasha romanoff #black widow

[ben-the-hyena]

Y'ALL REMEMBER THIS DREAM I HAD ONE YEAR AGO ?

Well during my hiatus out of NOWHERE I had another dream taking place in the SAME HC continuity. One year ago I had a dream that had the black feathered one be the brother of Beaky's mom and the brown one be Beaky's dad who has just a fling with her, and for being useless parasitic hunters she had kicked out both. Hence why they starve and also why they don't look like friends even before trying to eat each other, as if they were stuck together

In it, it made sense. The 2 buzzards obviously are fake friends (aside frol the fact despair and hunger have them try to eat each other, they have no hesitation or regret and are happy to try to do so it's not tragic as it would be if they liked each other, and even before resorting to canibalism they obviously did not like to share abd fought and argued) and were most likely stuck together. Well the dream established they are in laws. The brown one, Joe, had a fling with Mama Buzzard (and making sense she is taller and buffier given she is a female bird of prey !) which resulted in her hatchlings among thel Beaky. She is kinda pissed that got her gravid since he is not a mate she selected for being well an actual mate, and sees Joe is a terrible hunter so doesn't want to include him in the family not to influence badly her "killers" given how much of a loser he is to her (and ironically Beaky is kinda like him) so he doesnt get to see his kids often

But at the same time she kicked him out, she kicked out her brother, the Jimmy Durante-like black feathered vulture, who was a parasite lying around ib her nest who was hypocritically criticizing him (as well as kind of protective glaring at him like "SO YOU GOT MY SISTER GRAVID...") and ecnouraging her to kick him away while he was just as useless as him in the nest life. So both found themselves alone together that way because she wants excellence and doesnt want to feed 2 adults or badly influence her more capable kids, hence why they are starving and trying to eat each other now. She didn't cut ties either, she tolerates them occasionnally

Well it was weird, like a HC I never made myself but my brain thought of while sleeping, and it was silly enough. Plus in that first dream logic, there was no explanation why her Jimmy Durante-like bro had an American accent and she an Eastern European one, so I figured cartoon logic since unlike him she is menacing and a capable huntress

BUT during my hiatus I had another dream taking place in that universe ! (Animaniacs have both Looney Tunes and Hanna Barbera in the same world. HB also has MGM cartoons. So they all make sense to be in the same universe !)

It is foggier, but I dinstinctly remember the 2 guys trying in vain to hunt, and the Durante one chilling with his sister in a nest a day they could tolerate each other and it seemed like for once Joe was with his kids. And that dream GAVE an explanation why the siblings have a different accent ! Both come from Eastern Europe and Durante-like buzzard just has a better ear than her and mimicked the way he heard the local accent. HOWEVER the dream established that despite him having a very very good level to the point you can think he is American, there is a few modern slang he takes literally. Cues him wanting to say that so far he and Joe are happy, so he says, chilling "yeah Joe and I are gay" and his sister SPITS OUT HER DRINK. She still sees from his face and knowing him something must be wrong so she holds in a laughter and begins trolling him and ask questions which out of context are hilarious and he doesnt even realize and anzwers with assurance... until the end he realizes "HEY" and she laughs her ass off

And only a few days later I HAD ANOTHER

And this one depicted Joe STILL into her and struggling between trying to survive, see his kids he wants to see as not very responsible as he is, and trying to awkwardly win her back despite how they never were more than a fling because he likes them tall and buff like her (and as much as she denies it and calls him everything she is not unsensitive about it), all under his in-law uncaring eye

It was weird how in one year I had THREE dreams of a same headcanon a dream had created and not my own conscious self, and developped it more than I would !

It used to be a side thought, now I really headcanon it XD

#tex avery #looney tunes #moi #link #dreams #what's buzzin' buzzard ? #joe buzzard #mama buzzard #love is here #i ship it ! #i ship it as exes #that's no friends #beaky buzzard #crossover #parents and children

[hazbincalifornia]

Change of Heart

Chapter 45: Blitzo tries to explain himself.

Ao3 link

“You what?” Stolas’s fingers stilled against Blitzo’s cheeks, staring down as if Blitzo had grown a second head. Blitzo could feel the thin hands start to shake as the owl’s expression twisted, beak stretching across his face before dropping back into a worried expression as he cleared his throat. “Blitzo, I- what- I don’t understand. What do you mean you want to keep her? I thought-“

“I thought too, okay?” Blitzo’s eyes dropped down. “I didn’t want to fuck them up and didn’t want to do this shit solo, but you’ve been at least here, and- and- fuck, I don’t want her thinking we’re abandoning her, okay?” He could practically see bars springing up in one of the fancy little windows in between the peeling heart decals that could flutter to the ground at any second.

Stolas’s fingers brushed down and settled on Blitzo’s shoulders, squeezing almost as if he was trying to ground himself. His tail flicked up and down, and Blitzo could hear the puff of air as Stolas took a breath before replying. “We wouldn’t be abandoning her. I know that I’ll be down here as much as possible, and I imagine you will be too if you’re worried about that.” Stolas knelt down in front of Blitzo, and Blitzo’s heart skipped as one thumb gently traced back up to his cheek. “I- I don’t know what brought about this change of heart, but I hope Aamon didn’t say something that upset you-“

“He told me to piss off and figure it out myself, you were right there next to me, but that’s not it.” Blitzo’s hand rested on the bump again. “I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of days. I don’t know if this is all going to be one big mistake I’m going to have to set myself on fire for, but I want to keep her. I want to get to see her grow up, to be a dad she could be proud of and not hate the guts of for making her exist, and I don’t want her choking on one of those shitty lacy collars in the pictures hung up in the hallway.”

“She wouldn’t hate you,” Stolas murmured, resting his forehead against Blitzo’s. Still, Blitzo could feel him trembling where they touched. “You want what’s best for her. No matter what that is.”

Blitzo let out a breath, feeling the heat and moisture thicken the air. “Yeah, I’ve heard sinners keep up a way too fucking ironic little ditty about good intentions, so that’s not it either, alright? I’m a selfish bitch. Little birdie grew on me too much and now she might get stuck with me just because I can’t lose any more fucking family, and I don’t want to inflict even worse abandonment issues on her.” He kicked at a slight hump in the heart-splattered rug, shifting it just a bit further along the wool. “When I was a kid, we saw enough rich fuckers who begged to get their pockets picked that only came to the circus to avoid their shitty personal problems, so money can’t buy everything, right?”

Stolas’s face turned to the side, and there were a thousand words in the little of his eyes that Blitzo could see. “It... no, it can’t.” He paused before looking back. “That was how we met in the first place, darling, I-“

Blitzo raised an eye at that. “My point exactly. I was too much of a dumb kid to notice much, but I still felt a little bad for the fact that you didn’t seem to have anybody and I don’t want that for her. I know how much being lonely sucks fucking ass, and I had a sister and a best friend living with me.”

Stolas waved a hand, trying to brush the past away. “If you- if I- if this is really-” He cleared his throat again, voice crackling with so much emotion Blitzo could drown in it and never come back up for air, and that made his guts twist. Distraction, he needed a distraction or he was going to start bawling too and that would just be way too fucking much right now. Stolas’s feathers ruffled as he leaned in ever-so-slightly closer. “If this is what you want, then I’ll be behind you no matter what, darling.”

Blitzo’s tail wound up behind him, heel bouncing against the floor. “You have to promise not to pull out ‘I told you so’, or I’m changing my mind and handing them over out of pure petty spite, got it?”

Stolas’s eyes widened and he let out a confused hoot that sounded almost like “What?”, and Blitzo couldn’t help a muffled snort.

“That’s a joke, Stolas.”

“Oh, oh yes!” He flushed a little, and it brought a half-smile to Blitzo’s face.

“Then if I’m doing this, I’m doing this. I don’t know how this whole shitshow is gonna work, I dunno if she’s going to get to pop over to your place on weekends without getting her throat slit and I don’t know if I can even do this with a baby without dropping her in the fucking trash compactor, but I want her. I want to get to see her laugh and cry and be a stupid baby until she grows up into somebody that better be better than me because I can’t- she doesn’t- I can’t lose any more family.”

He barely breathed as it all spilled out, spitting out words like machine-gun fire and running over the confession with even more. “I am two fucking inches from puking, but I can’t tell if that’s the mortal terror or the adrenaline or just her trying to claw her way up my esophagus with her bare hands instead of her magic this time.” He met Stolas’s eyes, focusing hard on the miniature white dwarf burning in them to let everything else fall away, to strangle the heart about to explode in his chest. “If you’re in, then I’m never going to stop annoying the fuck out of you about baby shit, got it?” Tar slid between the neurons in his brain for a moment but he mentally shook them off, keeping his attention instead on the tiny vibrating light in Stolas’s eyes.

There was no sound but their breathing for a few moments before Stolas’s arms snaked around him, practically crushing him as he was spun around with beaky kisses peppering all over his face. “Of course I’m in, Blitzy!”

“Hey, watch it, you don’t want to turn her into mashed fetus before she’s even got the chance to slide out!” Blitzo yelped. His legs kicked for a moment before he gave in to the affection and squeezed Stolas back, legs wrapping around his waist. “You finally got what you wanted, big boy, happy?”

“Ecstatic,” Stolas replied, nuzzling his cheek fiercely against Blitzo’s like he was afraid one of them might disappear. “I can’t believe this, she’s really going to be ours! I knew that you would be a wonderful father, I just- I didn’t realize you wouldn’t think the same at first.”

“You still should have fucking told me upfront, would have saved us a lot of goddamn headache,” Blitzo grumbled, but something fizzy and warm rushed through his chest nevertheless, sticky-sweet like fountain soda and just as filling. “I’ve got some practice with Loonie and I used to have to babysit a lot of little brats way back when, I’ll just need to fine-tune it is all.”

“You’ll do fine, I promise.” Stolas brushed his thumb against Blitzo’s cheek, just the right amount of warm. “When you say all in…”

“I’m keeping the kid. You put the kid in me, so you’re going to help.”

“I wouldn’t dream otherwise, dear, do you really think so little of me?” Stolas huffed a little as he cradled Blitzo in his arms, and the slightly condescending princely tone paired with the pet name and earnest affection soaked through the words still made the bubbles in Blitzo’s chest pop, syrup dripping down his chest and into his guts in a way that was almost nostalgic. “But does that mean that we-”

Blitzo held up a finger. “We are going to figure out an answer to that later, I’ve already got one emotional crisis that I’m in the middle of and I don’t want to snap the brat in half with too many emotional chemicals swirling around in there.” He paused, and the way Stolas’s eyes turned down at the edges made him groan before he yanked him down into a kiss. It was clanky and messy and both of them were still shaking a little, but when they pulled back Stolas was flushed in a good way again, and Blitzo stroked his cheek in return. “If you’re a good birdie then I think we can work something out, and I want baby to know her second daddy. Everything else we can figure out as we go, got it?”

Stolas nodded slowly. “Does that mean that we’re…?”

“We’re something. Fuck if I know what ‘fuckbuddy parents before boyfriends’ would be, but there’s got to be a greeting card for it somewhere.”

Stolas stared down at him before smothering his lips in another kiss, and Blitzo let one hand rest draped over his middle while the other tangled in sweaty feathers. It was just as messy as the last one, but it was a promise.

When he pulled back, it was with fingers slick with oil and sweat. “You want to tell nerd-bird the deal is off or should I?”

“We can do it together,” Stolas said, straightening up and setting Blitzo back down before brushing a few stray feathers off his shoulders.

“And he won’t be pissed?”

“Based on how he avoided your question, I think he may have suspected this as a possibility.” Stolas glanced over at the door. “I had wondered why he accepted my plea so quickly, but-“

“-But he knew he wasn’t going to have to do jackshit except see my pretty mug one time and watch me squirm?” Blitzo crossed his arms. “Fucker.”

“Yes, well, hopefully it means he’ll be understanding enough.” Stolas turned and started walking, and Blitzo stuck close to his side, both hands resting atop his stomach. “He has mused about wanting a child before, it was part of why I came to him.”

“So what was the deal with him, anyway? How come he wasn’t married off? I thought it was a royal rule you all had to get shacked up.”

“Oh, he lost his fiance in an Extermination. They were only a few weeks from marriage, and she didn’t have a child beforehand. It’s easier to arrange marriages when there were more options back when we were children, so he just never got around to doing it again, I suppose.” Stolas sighed. “I don’t know how much they liked each other, but he said she was at least tolerable. I suspect he gets along fine considering where he lives.”

“Ah. Just hires hookers now and then?”

“Something along those lines,” Stolas said as they neared the tearoom again. “I try not to pry.”

“Well, as long as he doesn’t strike me down with lightning for snatching her back, it doesn’t really-”

“Ah, there you are!” Aamon had been talking to the hellhound that had brought them in before he spotted them, swiveling around. “I wasn’t sure if we should start a search, I would hate for something unfortunate to happen.”

“Well, I have news,” Blitzo said, and Alexis glanced at him before scurrying off, the soft thumpy pitter-pads of her feet on the floor reminding him far too much of Loona. (Loona. That was going to be… a discussion. Whoof. Problem for later-Blitzo.)

“Good news or bad news?” Aamon asked, tail flicking as he looked between the two of them. “I hope your water didn’t break in one of the rooms with the nice carpet, I picked it out special.”

“Psssh, no, I’ve still got a few weeks unless she feels like really being a bitch.” He waved his hand through the air dismissively at that, although his man-cave did give an unpleasant twinge at the thought of having to shove the kid out. ”No, I-” The word caught in his throat, and he cleared it. “I wanna keep her.”

“Oh!” Aamon’s eyes widened, hands going up to his cheeks in surprise. “You don’t want me to have her, then? What changed your mind?”

“A lot of little things,” Blitzo said, fingers tightening on his shirt. “You didn’t shake hands or whatever with Stolas and tie her little meat-baby soul to you, right?”

Aamon shook his head at that. “No, it was an informal agreement. I always wanted to talk to you first- you’re the one carrying her, after all, and we could have drawn something up later.” He paused. “Stolas said you reacted fairly… badly to the idea when he suggested it. How do you feel now, then?”

Blitzo considered for a moment. His ankles were sore, he didn’t like how the shirt buttons dig into his skin, the air was just a touch too chilly even with the humidity that hung throughout all of Lust like a thick hide, and his chest was thick with a mix of about a dozen different things (anxiety, giddiness, terror, some confusion, and a fuckton of adrenaline) but…

“Good.” He rolled back and forth on his heels, a grin spreading across his face and stretching his cheeks as he looked up at Aamon. “This is probably going to go up in a bunch of fireworks, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to see it through to the bitter fucking end.“ His hand rested on his middle as his eyes dropped back down. “Nobody can fuck you up better than family, but we’ll try to keep it to a minimum, kid. I promise.”

#one time #daddy blitzo #helluva mpreg #shadow writes stuff

[meltherebel22]

Star Wars Tag Game

Tagged by my favorite local Star Wars lesbians @thestarwarslesbian

1. Ride Or Die Ship (Your OTP): Codywan or literally Obi-wan/Clone Troopers

2. Most Annoying Ship: Rexsoka (I see them as siblings, sometimes with Ahsoka being the little sister). Also this is just me but Obitine, they bicker and fight like siblings to me.

3. Second Favorite Ship: Codex or Cody/CCs like Fox, Wolffe, etc.

4. Favorite Platonic Relationship: Plo & Ahsoka or even Plo & every clone (his children), I also like Obi-wan and Quinlan

5. Unrated Ship: Wooley/Cody or Wooley/212st. I’ve since some amazing fanfics of this and it’s incredible, Wooley is literally the baby submissive that sometimes bites back. And also Quinlan/Ventress, I felt like Obi-wan and Bant would kick his ass then accept him.

6. Overrated Ship: I feel like Obitine is kinda overrated bc it’s kind of a toxic relationship. Also Tech/Phee, I don’t really think Tech would be comfortable in any type of romantic relationship but that’s my opinion. And maybe Foxiyo, no hate towards the ship but I just feel like Riyo is gay for some reason, idk.

7. One Thing I Would Change In Canon: Fives dying bc I think he would be sick in TBB and kick ass, I also want Waxer and Boil to return to Numa.

8. Something Canon Did Right: Tales Of The Jedi, I loved seeing Obi-wan and Anakin again. Favorite episode is where Anakin trains Ahsoka against 501st.

9. A Thing I’m Proud Of Creating For The Fandom PLEASE BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF I WANT TO SEE/READ YOUR ART: I guess my fanfiction story called Tiger Lily Hysteria

10. A Character Who Is Prefect To Me (Wouldn’t Change A Thing): I’m stuck between Omega and Cody, also Rex and Ahsoka. I feel like they were made prefectly.

11. The Character I Relate Most To And Why: I felt like I can relate to Tech bc I’m terrible with people and social cues. Also with Obi-wan bc of his kinda toxic relationship with his master Qui-gon, I see it has father & son and I have a bad relationship with my dad.

12. Character(s) I Hate The Most And Why: Everyone hates Krell and so do I bc of obvious reasons and for some reason I just hate Bo-Katan. I can’t tell you why bc I don’t not know why I hate her.

13. Something I’ve Learned From The Fandom: Be a mandalorian, have morals that you can live with, also if you see someone alone within the age range of 0-200 years old, they are free to adopt.

14. Three Tags I Seek Out On Ao3: Hurt Obi-wan or hurt Fox, blind or mute obi-wan. I just really love blind obi-wan fanfics.

15. A Song I Strongly Associate With My OTP/Favorite Character: Children Of Machine By DAGames & CG5. I love it for any clone, imma nerd out about this song now.

——————

Lyrics (These are how I see the lyrics, I’ll show you two verses):

Verse One:

He lives on through us (Jango Fett)

Born from darkness, born from lust (Literally born for war and created by money/lust)

'Cause when we reach the end

We do it all over again (I see it as them willing to die for each other again and again)

Versus Two:

Follow me, we are children of the machine (Literally bc they were made my machines)

Barely human in a city built on broken dreams (Barely human bc they are seen and looked at like replaceable machines. Broken city relates to either Kamino or Coruscant, Kamino is all about money and experiments, Coruscant is literally about money and politics. They both probably had dreams at one point but now they forget how to be people so they are broken dreams)

Follow me, we are children of the machine (Uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)

Barely human in a city built on broken dreams

——————

There is more versus’s and lines I like but these are my top favs. I also like the beat bc it sounds like foot stomps and I just immediately them marching down a hall.

——————

NPT: I’m Really Friends With Anyone But Here & Nobody Will Probably Reply But That’s Okay 👌

@oonaluna-art @mandowords @zinzinina @alamogirl80 @izzyovercoffee @necrophatic @commander-sunshine

[with-ink-and-quill]

Writing Prompt - Murder

“Katya!”

Nikolai’s call was met with quieting echoes from the buildings and an owl hooting in the night. He pulled his shawl tighter around his shoulders, puffing into his hands as he padded down the alleys. It was cold and he was miserable and Katya was late home. She was very, very, alarmingly, late. It made his stomach knot. His tail lashed behind him as he rounded another corner, lifting a hand up to call again.

He froze, her name stuck in his throat. Two men were squeezed side by side, the reek of alcohol almost forcing him a step back. He would have been amazed they were on their feet at all if he hadn’t spotted the small child between them. Katya was between them. One of them had her horn in his hand, pulling her upwards and he could see the tears in her eyes. Her tail was wrapped around a leg, out of reach of the other drunk, though his hands were preoccupied with propping himself up against the wall and a last bottle of drink.

“S’like a goat! With the, uh… th-the hornsh.” The man pointed at her with the bottle. “D’you think they can jus’ pop off?”

“Bet they grow back if’n we did.” His friend sneered, lifting her higher. “Dirtblood could grow lotsa things back. Want’a carve ‘er up like a hog and see what happens?”

Nik’s body was washed with a cold, empty feeling and he knew it wasn’t from the weather. His mother had warned them that there were people in the world, in their town, who hated tieflings. People who would happily kill them because they just didn’t think tieflings worthy of life. He hadn’t wholly believed her.

“Taking a life… it’s hard and it’s awful and so very rarely right. I pray the gods never subject you to it, but if you follow in our work it’s a very real possibility. Do not do it out of malice, or revenge, or anger. Never do it unless all options are exhausted.”

His hand formed a fist at his side as he strode forward, the other reaching for the man holding his sister.

“I’m only teaching you how to fight a little to stay safe, okay? People can be worse than any monster walking this plane and then some. This is so you can defend yourself and nothing else, don’t forget that or I’ll kick your ass myself.”

The man turned at the tapping on his shoulder and caught the lilac fist full in the face. He went reeling backwards with a choking curse, Katya tumbling to the ground. Nik pulled back for another strike. His face was flat, eyes filled with a cold fury. And then he was bent double, broken glass flying and alcohol stinging his eyes and nose. He staggered, blinking away stars as the bottle’s shrapnel tinkled to the cobbles. The drunkard was still leaning on the wall, laughing as he teetered.

“At’ll teach ya to hit ma mate!” He guffawed, dropping the bottle’s jagged neck to point at Nik as he straightened to glare at the drunk with fangs bared. “Oi, Edd! I t’ink he stills wants more! Looks like a pissed mutt, ah hah!”

His laughter ended in a heavy woop as Nik thrusted his shoulder into the man’s chest. The drunk went sprawling, limbs flailing hilariously. With a huff of satisfaction, Nik shook his beer soaked bangs out of his eyes. His world suddenly tilted and rushed upwards as his legs were pulled out from under him, his head cracking against the cobblestone. A humming filled his ears and he blinked stupidly before he felt himself being dragged backwards. His hand bumped against something cold as he slid, fingers wrapping around the bottle the drunk had dropped.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the man he had punched, with a nose gushing blood, baring his teeth in fury. Nik flailed, bucking in Edd’s grasp and trying to dislodge his legs. It only managed to stop the backwards movements so he twisted hard, planting his back on the ground and sending his attacker’s shoulder into the wall. Pulling his chest to his knees, he sliced at the man’s arms. Red spattered the cobbles and the humming grew louder.

The two humans had treated his sister like some animal they could cut and mock. They treated tieflings like subhuman garbage and it caused his lips to curl in a snarl. They wanted to pretend they were so high and mighty? So pure and deserving? He would put them in their place, in the dirt and mud, in unmarked graves. He would kill them and no one would mourn the loss. He certainly wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

The man had reeled backwards with a howl, cradling his slashed arms close to his chest. Nik unhurriedly regained his feet, glanced down at the glass dripping blood, and turned his cold eyes back on the human. It was a crude weapon, but then the human was a crude existence. Poetic, in a sense.

“Dirtblood, hm? If I slit your throat, I think we’ll see what that truly looks like.”

His voice was quiet, the smile more fangs than glee as he advanced, broken glass very pointedly held at his side. The man backpedalled, letting out a high pitched whine as his back hit the alley wall. Nik’s head tilted innocently to the side, shaking as if he were looking at a small child. With a shrug, he brought his makeshift knife up to the man’s throat. And then small hands grabbed his wrist, arresting his movement. He blinked, the humming suddenly cutting off as he heard sniffling.

“D-don’t, Nik.” Katya pleaded, “You’ll get in a lot of trouble! A-and mum and dad would be really angry!”

His lips quirked into a light frown before he dropped the glass, crushing it with a bootheel. “Well, we can’t have that.”

He took her hand in his, leading her out of the alley and back into the crisp night.

#nikolai zepar #my dm gave us some writing prompts forever ago and I only wrote for two of them but! #they set up Nik's life before he left home and they're easier to share than his journal lmao #he hadn't killed anyone before hitting the road so this prompt was more the time he almost did a murder #dnd #warlock #tiefling #writing

[spideyanakin]

Monaco

Charles Leclerc x Gasly (F1 driver)!Reader

synopsis - Pierre doesn't know you and Charles have been dating. So when Charles wants to marry you, you realize it's finally time to tell him.

requested by - anon // Could you please write a story about Charles dating Pierres sister and asking him for permission to propose her?

Masterlist 🧚🏻‍♀️

Charles Leclerc Masterlist 🌻

"Do you think they're dating?" Pierre wondered out loud as he kept scrolling through instagram.

"Who?" You raised an eyebrow, looking up from your book to look at him from the other side of the couch.

"Charles and Charlotte?" You wanted to bite back a smile. Your plan had worked.

"Charles and who?" You played dumb, flipping a page of your book.

"You know, Charlotte! You met her at that party last year. Look." He handed you the phone to see a picture of Charles talking to Charlotte at a brunch in Monaco. He was sitting in front of her, at a big table surrounded with a few familiar faces and some people you'd never met before. They seemed to be laughing at something funny one of them had said. "The whole of the internet is going mad over it."

"Oh yeah- I remember her." You nodded along. "Well maybe? Why don't you ask him?"

"I will. Its weird he hasn’t told me anything. He usually likes to brag about his dating life" You had to do everything to hold back a laughter at what had just gone out of his mouth.

"Yeah... weird." Sarcasm filled your tone and you were glad he hadn't noticed.

In all truths, it had been a planned ruse so that the media would get off Charles's back about his dating life, and it was working perfectly.

Another silence fell in between the two of you. He continued scrolling through his follower's recent posts, and you continued reading; enjoying the quiet time you never got to have with your brother.

"Aaawwwww look." He smiled as he handed you the phone.

"Oh my god." You chuckled as you admire the picture.

You remembered this as being one of the first real races you won. You were in the middle with a big grin on your face. Charles and Pierre had finished second and third, and their arms were wrapped around your shoulders, big smiles on their faces with all your trophies raised in the air. "It’s when I started kicking your asses!" You chuckled before handing the phone back to Pierre.

"Yeah, yeah"

Suddenly he moved a little in his seat and his expression had changed, you could tell that picture had brought something back to his mind.

"This reminds me... Can I tell you something?" he sighed as he dropped his phone to the side.

"Yes?"

"Remember back before we were in F2?" You nodded along, clearly not knowing where he was going with this. "Well there was this period of time, well I- um, I thought you and Charles liked each other." That was enough to make your entire body stiffen, and your breath stuck in your throat.

"Oh-" You squeaked.

"Yeah- Like he wouldn't stop flirting with you, and sometimes he was looking at you- or you were looking at him like- well... Exactly how you'd look at someone you'd like to date."

"Pierre, where are you going with this?" You awkwardly shifted on your spot.

"Well- after you got that mysterious British boyfriend." You winced when you remembered that. It was a cover, all a cover for when you and Charles started dating. "And I just remembered feeling so relieved-"

"R- relieved?" All words died in your mouth.

"Well yeah. I kept thinking how weird it would be. Like we're a trio you know? and if you had started dating him- well like, I'd just be the third wheel in the background. It would have been you and him all the time, you would have ditched me to go on dates and the next thing I know I would have to pick up the pieces of your broken heart and would have to stop talking to my best friend for your sake."

You couldn't speak. Instead you gulped and slowly nodded.

"So, what I'm trying to say is I'm glad you never acted upon those feelings." He smiled.

"Y-y-yeah..."

"Oh well I've got to go" He looked down to his watch and smiled. "I'll see you after my diner?"

~

"Bye!" the door closed behind your brother. You couldn't have been more grateful that he was leaving for dinner with some old friends from your home town.

When he was out of the door and you heard his car leaving the grounds, the glass of water you were holding slipped away from your hand - and a sob you'd been keeping escaped your lips.

"Fucking hell." you whispered as you leaned on your kitchen isle, kicking it with your foot in anger. "owww, fuck" You clenched your foot in pain, now if anything was broken you were going to be in serious trouble with your team.

"AAGGH" You screamed. You had enough. Enough of you and Charles having to hide, the fact that Pierre wasn't making this easy on you, the pressure and comments Redbull and the press was putting on you about being a better pilot then Max, the guilt building up; both about taking Pierre's seat and the constant putting off of telling him about your relationship. You wanted to scream. You wanted to take your F1 car and crash into everything and everyone.

"Sweetie what's wrong?" You heard your mom's voice as she made her way down the staircase.

When she walked into the kitchen, she found you with your head agains't the counter; sobbing.

"Everything." You wanted to scream but tried to keep your voice to a minimum. "AGH." you tugged at your hair in frustration.

"Did something happen with Charles?" She placed a hand on your shoulder as her eyebrows went into a frown. She looked down at the shattered glass and the pool of water on the ground before looking back up to you. "talk to me."

"Everything is fine with Charles, more than fine actually." You wiped your eyes and sniffed. "It's Pierre."

"Oh, what did he do?" She crossed her arm at the mention of your brother.

"He gave me a speech about how much he was grateful Charles and I didn't start dating a few years ago." Your mom couldn't help the laugh that came out of her lips.

"It's not funny!" This time you were the one with a smile on your lips. "You don't understand! He realized we liked each other, at the exact moment where we got together. And now he's giving me an entire speech about how he's SOOOO happy we didn't get together! Right when we-" The rest of your sentence didn't leave your mouth. Instead, you looked up to her and took a big breath in. "Right when we decided to tell him, because Charles wants his blessing..." You thought she was going to die of excitement right there.

"BLESSING?"

"sshHH." You whined. "He's going to ask dad as well, but he wants Pierre's too." You leaned your hip on the counter and crossed your arms.

"Well that's amazing, honey congratulations!"

"Mom- he hasn't even asked me yet! We just talked about it..." You looked at the living room where you and Pierre previously had your conversation. "But if Pierre doesn't approve then..."

"Then you can't break off your relationship just because your brother said so."

"But-"

"I approve and you don't need anyone else's approval to be with the one you love."

"But mom it's-"

"Sh." She put her hand up for you to spot talking. "Now you're going to tell him next week-end after the race in Monaco." She eyed you. "Wait until he's had a few drinks and just slip the fact in."

"You can't be serious?" You chuckled.

"You bet I am."

~ About a week later and you were in Monaco.

Charles had convinced Pierre that the two of you should stay at his apartment, that it would be more entertaining then staying at some random fancy hotel.

So he obviously agreed. What could be better than a fun week between 3 best friends?

You gave Charles a wide smile as you dropped your suit case in the living room of his apartment, coming to give him a hug.

"How are you?" You chuckled into his arms, instantly missing the feeling.

"I'm good." He smiled.

"I promised my mom we were going to tell him this week-end" You whispered as you lingered the hug, and Charles raised both his eyebrows mouthing an 'are you sure?' once you pulled away.

You nodded, "After the race"

"What's after the race?" Pierre walked into the apartment with his suitcase, loudly dropping it before throwing himself on Charles's couch.

"A party. On a boat."

"Oh yeah- I remember getting the email." He sighed as he closed his eyes. "Im drained."

"I can see that" You smiled and shot a funny glance towards Charles.

"I'm going to go take a shower" He suddenly sat up and looked towards Charles to ask him a silent question.

"I put towels in the guest room." He replied before he could even voice his request. Your brother nodded before heading out of the living room.

The second the bathroom door was closed, and you heard the shower running, Charles rushed to wrap his arms around your waist.

"I missed you." he grinned.

"I missed you too." You smiled before pecking his lips, but instead of letting you pull away - he brought you closer to kiss you again, tightening his grip on you.

"I can't believe you're in my apartment and you're going to share a bedroom with your brother instead of being with me." That made you chuckle.

"Maybe on Sunday after we tell him." You fixed his hair. "I'm terrified he's going to be mad" You looked at the bathroom door with a worried look.

"We never know." He rested his forehead agains't yours, bringing you closer to him so he could kiss you again. You felt your entire body melt into the kiss. To say you had missed him was an understatement.

You were about to say something but his phone rang.

"Are you kidding me." He whispered with a sigh of defeat. "I get five minutes alone with my girlfriend and someone decides to call me"

"Just take the call, Charles."

~

Practice had gone well the next day, and qualifying the next too. You had gotten second, behind Hamilton, and you were more than ready to attack this next race.

Monaco was like home to you, this was your turf.

The whole Sunday had flashed before you, and before you knew it you were standing on the podium as a race winner. Accepting the trophy from the royal family, and proudly raising it as the whole Redbull team cheered.

You giggled as you pulled a Danny Ric and did a shoey, Lando and Max not so happy to be drinking from your shoe but going along with it anyways. Redbull had done a 1,2 - you couldn't let that slide without a shoey, especially in Monaco.

Next thing you knew you were partying on a boat. You had one drink too many; the champagne at the race, the champagne when they asked you to jump in the famous Redbull pool, cocktails in between. The whole day was a blur, and now you were fully drunk as you stood with some fellow drivers on the last party of the night.

You laughed at something Lando said, then you didn't know how you got there but you were talking with Lewis Hamilton about beating his ass as world champion, you even vaguely remembered talking to Max during the night and next thing you were talking with Charles and Carlos, and then Carlos was gone leaving just you and the love of your life in the middle of the crowd.

Charles was probably as drunk as you were and had an arm wrapped around you, placing it dangerously low. You thought Pierre was as drunk as most people at this party, and he probably assumed the same. But, what you didn't know was that after your victory, Pierre decided to stay sober and be make sure nothing happened to you.

"Oh, well I see your sister is getting friendly with the enemy." Someone from the Redbull crew pointed out with a grin on his face as he pointed behind Pierre.

The Alpha Tauri driver raised and eyebrow before turning around to face something he'd never thought he'd have to ever see. His whole face went white and he thought he was going to collapse right there.

You were making out, with Charles.

You were making out with his best friend, right in front of him.

The glass that he was holding ended up shattering in his hand, making his company chuckle.

"I think you just made a mistake by pointing that out mate." Lando stiffened when he saw the way Pierre was reacting.

"Pierre let them be!" The poor guy who didn't know what he had just done tried to keep the driver from walking up to you, but too late. He was already halfway across the room, walking right the couch you were sitting on.

He wanted to throw up, burn his eyes out of his head, anything to get this image out of his mind.

"What the heck are you two doing?" He almost screamed but it came out muffled with the music.

You pulled away when you felt a hang on your shoulder.

"Oh hi!" You giggled and he wanted to face palm.

"Oh Pierre, you’ve already met my girlfriend right? Y/n." he introduced you to him as if you were strangers, making a burst of laughter escape both of your lips.

"That’s a good one." You chuckled and leaned in to rest your hand on Charles's shoulder. "Af is I don't know him." you rolled your eyes which made you laugh even more.

"Girlfriend?" He squeaked and his eyes went wide.

"Well yeah." Charles rolled his eyes. "We've been dating for like ages."

"Ok, Im getting your drunk asses back home." He pulled the both of you by the arm.

"Hey!" You whined as you tugged your arm back. "Who said I wanted to go home!" You stomped your foot on the ground.

"Me. I did." He pulled you again and Charles just followed along with the tugging of his arm.

"But- Pieerrree, your not funny" you pouted.

To exit the boat that luckily for him was still on shore, he had to pass by the same group he was sitting with prior and they were all laughing their asses off at the situation.

"You’re leaving already?" Lando smirked when he saw the state you were in. Pierre was basically dragging you and you kept stumbling into Charles who was laughing as you seemed to be exchanging jokes with him.

"Yes." Pierre grumbled at the mclaren driver in front of him. “I feel like their baby-sitter"

"I’ll help you take care of them." Lando knew how much Pierre knowing about your relationship meant to you, and he feared the worst. If it was going to end up in a fight between the two Gasly siblings, he had to be there to reason Pierre.

"Thank god, it’s a miracle im not the only sober one." Pierre suddenly felt relief flow from his shoulders as he handed Charles arm to Lando. "You sure you don't mind?"

"Nah, don't worry."

After a short walk that felt way too long, Pierre fumbled with the keys and sighed of relief when he knew you were finally safe in the apartment.

"Now sit here." He told you as he placed you in a chair and turned around to grab some water from the fridge.

You watched as Lando made Charles stumble in a chair that was a meter away from you, and placed your eyes back to your brother, giggling for no reason.

"I'm so drunk right now." You looked at your hand and brought it closer and further.

"Care to explain?" He handed you a water bottle, and gave one to Charles and Lando.

"Explainnn whaaat?" You chuckled - but then suddenly panic passed through you and your face fell. "PIERRE WHERE IS MY TROPHY- PIERRE DON'T TELL ME YOU FORGOT IT!" You were tapping yourself around as if your trophy might have been in the imaginary pockets of your dress.

"Me?" His eyes went wide.

"Pierre that was my trophyyyyy." You felt your eyes starting to water. "My Monaco trophy!" Now you were fully crying.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "If you left it there, I'm sure they'll find it tomorrow." He looked around the apartment to see it sitting on the coffee table behind you.

"MY TROPHYyyYYy. My Mooonacoo Trophy, I hate you Pierre! You lost my troophy" You cried.

"Yeah Pierre, her trophy!" Charles whined and Lando couldn't help the laugh that came out of him.

Pierre shot him a look before making his way around to the living room, grabbing your trophy and almost slamming it in front of you.

"MY TROPHY!" Your face lit up and you went to hug your brother but instead fell to the floor at a poor attempt of getting out of your chair.

"Jesus Y/n" He placed you back on the chair.

"Ok I'm going to be serious now. Can you please, care to explain?"

You laughed, water still in your mouth and spilling some all over you.

"What's so funny?"

"You're funny when you're serious."

"Pierre" Charles pointed to him with his water bottle. "I want to marrrryy her." Charles pointed to you with his water bottle as well. "And I need your blessingggg-"

"What he said." You pointed to Charles and Pierre's brain started to malfunction.

"We've- We've been dating for ages" You giggled as you found that funny for no reason at all. "Like you knew we liked each other. When- that was when we started dating." Pierre was stunned for a second.

"What?"

"You should see your face," You laughed as you hugged the table. You wanted to say something else but you suddenly felt ill and ended up stumbling out of the chair and running to the bathroom to throw up.

Pierre stared at Charles who was starting to get drunk-tired. He looked at him in disbelief, trying to make sense of the little information that he was getting.

"You knew about this?" He turned his stare to Lando who shrugged his shoulders.

"Suspected it." He lied. He knew, he even helped the millions of times where you met Charles without Pierre knowing a thing.

"I-" He sighed in defeat and silence had taken over the room.

What felt like hours later, you came back, feeling more sober then you were a few minutes ago.

You grabbed your water bottle and leaned agains't the wall.

"Why didn't you tell me anything?" Pierre stared at you, he knew you, you couldn't hide behind the drunk facade because you had clearly sobered up enough to explain.

"Because of what you said last week Pierre. The 'I'm so relieved you've never dated' speech?" You felt anger bubble up inside you.

"Y/n you know how important what you've been hiding to me is? You've been dating my bestfriend - and you never told me a thing?"

"He's my best friend to! And no! No, because I was terrified of how you were going to react!"

"Well how did you think I was going to react after you've been hiding this from me for YEARS? How selfish are you Y/n?"

"Selfish? Selfish? me? Do you know how much guilt I have!? Do you know what it was like living a lie for years. Every day I wanted to tell you but every day I chickened out, because I didn't want to hurt you! Me? Selfish? Do you know how guilty I felt when I took your seat? Do you know how guilty I felt when it was me in that Redbull winning today?" You felt tears build up and quickly wiped them with the back of your hand. "Do you how guilty I felt every time I had to lie to you about where I was going just so I could see Charles for the week-end?"

He stayed silent and took your words in.

"Here! You don't approve? Fine! Go ahead. But just know that we love each other! You want proof we love each other? You're scared we're going to break up and then our trio will be ruined? Here's proof! Here's everything you missed! Take it as a 'Keep up with the Gasly sister and Leclerc'" You angrily turned around towards the shelf and grabbed the box Charles used to hide all his pictures and souvenirs of you when Pierre visited.

You shoved it in his arms, and it was a miracle you didn't stumble with how drunk you still were.

"This too" Charles mumbled as he raised his head, too tired to even think. As if to add to the argument he fished around in his coat pocket and placed a small velvet box on the table.

Your brother literally wanted to faint on the spot.

Your heart skipped a beat - you didn't even know he had already bought the ring.

"I told you I wanted your blessing." He mumbled before taking another sip of the water in front of him and placing his head back in his hands as he tried to focus.

Lando didn't know where to put himself. He awkwardly stood in the background twiddling with his thumbs as he watched the soap opera-like moment. Way more entertaining than the party they were previously at if he was being honest.

"Well... I'll let you figure what you want to say next. You can sleep on the couch" You turned around, and walked into the guest room, slamming the door to leave a dumbfound Pierre behind.

It took a second for him to come back his senses. He saw that Charles was falling asleep and sighed before turning to Lando.

"Help me get him to his room?" He nodded.

Once both sober drivers were back in the living room, they crashed on the couch and Pierre was stoic, frozen from the mass amount of information he had just received.

"Don't get mad at me." Lando mumbled. "I've known ever since I joined F1."

Pierre wasn't even mad, he shook his head instead.

"She was that terrified of telling me?" Lando nodded as an answer. "How the heck did I miss this if they've been together for so long." He looked up to the ceiling.

"They became masters at hiding I guess. Both from you and the media." He shrugged. "You know they're actually really cute together?" He gave Pierre a weak smile. "Like really cute. The type of couple where you know they've been through hell and back together. Like you can see they're best friends, but there's something more there. It would be stupid if they broke up because of you..."

Lando's words seem to affect him a little because he slowly nodded.

"God, I'm too tired for this."

~ The next morning you woke up with a huge headache - and no memory of anything that happened after the race.

You vaguely remembered the podium, shoey's, jumping in a pool, max's face as he cheered for you - and then the rest was a blur. Which meant you had completely forgotten your plan of telling Pierre - which meant you'd have to do it today.

You had no clue how you got home, or what even happened for Pierre to not be in the room, asleep. You didn't even know what happened to Charles, you just hoped he was home too.

You shifted, trying to adjust your eyesight. You spotted water and aspirin on your bedside table and let out a grateful sigh. Chugging a pill down with as much water as you could in one breath.

You tried your best to stand up, having to hold on to the wall next to you to be able to walk straight. You realized you were dressed in a pretty blue dress that you remembered buying specially for the after race party.

You changed into something more comfortable, before stumbling out of your room. You flinched when the light of day hit your eyes. grumbling as you tried to stumble towards the kitchen, quickly realizing it smelled like pancakes.

When you arrived, you were met with an odd sight.

Pierre baking? Pierre baking... pancakes?

It took your brain a second to register, but when you accepted the fact you sat at the kitchen counter, eyeing him with a weird look.

"Morning."

"Well, you look good for someone who partied last night." You wondered as you poured yourself some orange juice.

"I stayed sober last night. Someone had to take care of you and that Monegasque idiot." You snorted at his use of nicknames, Pierre smiling with you.

You didn't seem to remember the drunken rant you had pulled last night, which warmed his heart a little.

"What happened last night?" You groaned as you rested your head in your hand, trying to remember as many bits as you could.

"What do you remember?" Pierre questioned as he handed you a pancake.

"I remember you being shit at baking before this morning."

"Very funny. I learned how to make pancakes as while ago Y/n/n. May come as a surprise to you."

"It does indeed." You grabbed what ever topping your hand found its way too, accompanied with a knife. "I remember winning." You recalled. "I remember drinking champagne, going on the red bull boat, jumping in the pool, and then having cocktails, talking with Max I think- and then I'm over."

"Really?" He hadn't realized you had been drunk for that much of the day.

"Oh- I remember coming back here to get ready for the party, but like its vague."

"Hmm, so you don't remember the party?" He wondered and you shook your head no. "You don't remember me dragging you home?" You squinted your eyes.

"No." You brought your stare back to your pancake and started eating. "I need to know why this is so good?"

"Y/n, how is it so hard for you to understand that I just know how to make pancakes?"

"I'm sorry." You whined. "It's really good."

The two of you stayed quiet for a few minutes as he continued flipping pancakes and adding them onto a plate. He grabbed himself one and then continued baking.

You were about to grab your second one until a thought came back to your mind. You had screamed at Pierre last night. You had gave him a speech along the lines of your relationship and the guilt you held. You swallowed before looking around and seeing the box of pictures on the coffee table, your eyes scanned the few pictures that laid next to it, and next to the box was - the ring. Butterfly came to your stomach at the thought of that ring soon resting on your finger. You turned your head back towards your plate and glanced at the fridge. There was a magnet of you that Charles had definitely been removed before you arrived.

"Oh god" You dropped your fork and dug your head in your hands as you made an unknown noise, making Pierre laugh. "Pierre I'm so sorry." You sighed in your hands.

"Hey it's ok" He replied as he flipped a pancake.

"No- no it's not I-"

"Y/n" His voice was surprisingly calm. "I think it's my turn to talk now." There was no anger in his voice, it was light, almost like he was about to crack a joke.

"Firstly, I'm going to admit, I was jealous when you got my seat." You barely managed to look him in the eyes. "I was so mad- at you, a-and at myself. I kept thinking 'how the heck is my little sister better than I am?', I wanted to hate you for it." He sighed. "But you're my sister. I could never be mad at you. So I was mad at myself instead. Every time you won it was harder and harder to take. And- and I thought you were happy about it. I thought that you didn't care about me, I thought that you were the happiest person on earth taking that seat. But you made me realize that It was also hard on you."

"I-" You wanted to say something but he continued.

"I'm sorry for calling you selfish yesterday, even if you probably don't remember. It's no ones fault. You were meant for that Redbull - I just wasn't" He gave you a small smile. "We're both great pilots but, i'm not made to pilot that car, and I'm sorry it had to weight on you."

He gave you a tight smile before flipping a brand new pancake on your plate, you wanted to say more - reassure him, but he continued.

"And for-" He was about to say Charles but as if on cue the door of his room opened and he limped towards the kitchen.

"What the heck happened last night." He groaned as he took a seat next to you.

"More than you realize." Pierre smirked before handing him a plate with a pancake.

"Since when do you bake?" He looked at the pancake as if it was an extinct animal.

"Why does everyone think I can't bake?" Pierre whined.

"Because you've never baked for us!" You chuckled.

"I wanted to say, you have my blessing." Pierre did everything he could to stop smiling at Charles who choked on his pancake.

You patted his back as he tried to cough and chug down some water.

"You told him?" He screeched.

"No, it apparently slipped out last night - how did you figure it out?" You turned to your brother.

"You two stated making out at that party, and then we started arguing and that's where you told me everything."

Both your faces went red with embarrassment.

"You're telling me we were dumb enough to do that after like 4 years of hiding our relationship?" You laughed to yourself. "A- and you're not mad?"

Pierre shook his head. "I was at first, but I realize that this wasn't about me. I'll just need some time to get use to it, I guess. And just saying" He pointed to Charles with his spatula "if you break her heart, I will crash that Ferrari of yours"

"Oh, what a menace." You mumbled.

"I won't break her heart, I promise."

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#Charles Leclerc #Charles Leclerc x reader #Charles Leclerc x you #Charles Leclerc x y/n #Charles Leclerc imahine #Charles Leclerc fan fiction #f1 #formula 1 #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 x reader #Charles Leclerc x Gasly! reader #Charles Leclerc x F1 driver! reader

[itsapeterthing]

Lovers’ Quarrel || Bucky Barnes

pairing: bucky barnes x rogers!reader

summary: when you married your brother’s best friend in 1941, the two of you had always promised to stick together and you did just that- even following him to wakanda where you trained alongside the dora milaje. When you find out that bucky’s released zemo from prison behind your back... needless to say you’re pissed.

a/n: okay i absolutely loved this request so much @missroro​. reblogs and replies are super appreciated!

word count: 2.4k

warnings: swearing, reader and bucky fighting

masterlist || request || taglist

You were pissed to say the least.

You couldn’t understand why your husband would keep something so big such a secret from you. You had spent seventy years in ice for those you loved. You had become a super soldier for those you loved. You had spent two years off the grid in hiding for those you loved... and your husband couldn’t even tell you the truth? You would have tried to understand- helped him even- but he had chosen instead to keep you in the dark, leaving you to find out about his actions second hand from those who felt just as betrayed as you.

As you stood in the threshold of the room, spotting the five men, you could feel almost nothing but rage coursing through your veins. The tension was so thick in the room, you swore you could cut it with a knife... but you decided that a spear would do.

Throwing your arm back and tossing the spear forward, you watched as it stuck itself into the column between Sam and John Walker- the man posing as your brother.

When the spear collided with the wall, everyone’s eyes immediately snapped onto you and you could of sworn it almost felt good to watch the fear in your husband and Sam’s eyes when they spotted you, knowing just by the look on your face that they had messed up... and you weren’t one to let things like that slide.

“Y/n-” Bucky began.

With a straight face you turned your head to the side, unable to look at him, instead turning your attention to the Dora Milaje as they entered the apartment.

“Even if he is a means to your end... time’s up.” Ayo spoke in Xhosa before switching to English. “Release him to us now.”

You could feel Bucky’s eyes burning into you, but you remained steadfast, watching the scene unfold in front of you.

“Hi. John Walker.” The new Cap attempted to introduce himself. “Captain America.”

Although you were enraged beyond compare upon finding out that the government had chosen a new man to take your brother’s place, you almost wanted to laugh at how poorly he was handling the situation.

When neither of the two women in front of him said anything, he continued.

“Well , uh.” John said. “Let’s put down the pointy sticks and we can talk this through, huh?”

God, he was handling this poorly, wasn’t he? You would find it funny if he wasn’t so incredibly ignorant.

“Hey, John, take it easy.” Sam said looking between you and the two other women in the room. “You might want to fight Bucky before you tangle with the Dora Milaje.”

“The Dora Milaje don’t have jurisdiction here.” John insisted.

“The Dora Milaje have jurisdiction wherever the Dora Milaje find themselves to be.”

Rather than standing to the side and allowing the group of skilled warriors to take what- or rather who- they wanted and leave, Walker couldn’t help but instigate.

As soon as his hand landed on Ayo’s shoulder, you knew he would regret that decision.

Immediately the two women began fighting- one taking on John Walker and the other Lemar. You had known the women long enough to know that they could handle the situation themselves without breaking a sweat. Still standing in the doorway, you crossed your arms watching as one began choking Lemar with her spear, the other sticking her spear into Steve’s... John’s shield.

Quickly glancing over to the other men, you caught Bucky and Sam staring at you on the sidelines, whispering to one another. As soon as you caught their line of vision you glanced away, focusing once again on the fight taking place in front of you.

Right as Ayo held her spear above John, fear written all over his face, Bucky stepped in, pulling Ayo back. Recalling why you were there in the first place, you immediately uncrossed your arms, striding over to the other side of the room, able to feel the rage flowing through your veins.

Pulling your spear from the wall, you marched up to your husband pulling him away from Ayo.

“Y/n,” He eased. “Let’s talk about this.”

“Oh you want to talk about it?” You asked, shoving him backwards with the spear. “That’s funny, Buck.”

Dodging your blows, not wanting to fight you, Bucky continued backing up and reaching for the spear to keep the metal from meeting his skin.

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you!” He exclaimed.

Pushing harder with the spear, you grunted, kicking him to subsequently shove him back against the counter.

You asked yourself if he really thought saying ‘sorry’ would work. You knew your husband wasn't dumb enough to believe that there would be no consequences for breaking Helmut Zemo out of prison- a man who not only caused the split of the Avengers, but also killed the king of Wakanda- a place full of people who had shown you and your husband nothing but kindness. They had given Bucky a new chance at life and had given you the opportunity to train among the most expert fighters you had ever met- the Dora Milaje. They had given both of you more than you could have asked for when your life went sideways eighty years ago. So when you had received the call that Bucky had broken Zemo out of prison you could barely believe it.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, Buck!” You shouted.

Knocking him back one last time, you recalled what they had taught you back in Wakanda when Bucky had first received his new arm- a trick you had hoped never to have to use, but as you stood there fighting your husband, anger fueling you in a way you had felt only a few times before, you didn’t see another way.

Moving your hand in the exact pattern you had learned years ago along where his shoulder met his chest, you listened as the the metal clicked and watched as his vibranium arm fell to the ground beside him, Bucky looking up at you with his eyes wide.

You had to shove back the part of you that felt your heart break in your chest watching the look of betrayal in his eyes. Recalling why the two of you were in this position in the first place, you stood up straighter, clearing your throat.

“You are sleeping on the couch tonight, Mr. Barnes.”

Holding the spear straight beside you, you turned your attention to Ayo who opened the doors to the bathroom, only to find Zemo missing. Instructing the other warrior to drop Cap’s shield, the two women left, leaving you behind with the four remaining men in the room.

Shoving past your husband, you dropped your spear onto the ground, making your way over to Sam and smacked him across the back of his head.

“Shit!” He exclaimed. “What was that for? Don’t get me involved in your little lovers’ quarrel.”

“Lovers’ quarrel?” You asked him, laughing. “I’ve been Mrs. Barnes for eighty-two years, Sam. I’ve put up with a lot of shit, but don’t act like you two didn’t just break a criminal out of prison. A criminal who- need I remind you- tried to brainwash Bucky and killed King T’Chaka.”

“Don’t look at me.” Sam said, throwing his hands up in the air. “That was all Bucky.”

Immediately your eyes snapped back to your husband who was standing across the room, attaching his vibranium arm to his shoulder once again.

“Thanks, Sam.” Bucky grumbled.

Before any of the rest of you could say anything, the voice from the other side of the room caught your attention. Following the voice you saw John Walker huddled against the table, his friend reaching his hand out to him.

“They weren’t even super soldiers.” He mumbled, staring off into the distance.

Despite the fact that you still didn’t approve of the ‘new’ Captain America, you felt your heart tug in your chest as you watched the man break down over to the side. You felt sorry for him. You knew better than any other living person the weight the shield and legacy carried being both the adopted sister of Steve himself and the wife of his best friend.

Although you were pained watching a new man undermine your brother’s legacy, you couldn’t help but pity him.

Making your way over to John you reached out your hand to him. Looking up you could finally see the recognition in his eyes, realizing who you were. Immediately he took your hand, pulling himself to his feet.

“You’re-” He started.

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Walker.” You said, before making your way over to the couch. “No one wins a fight against the Dora Milaje. I got my ass handed to me every day that I trained with them.”

Despite the fact that you were telling the truth- you lost to each one every time you fought- you enjoyed every second of it. It was a relief.

After discovering that your husband, Bucky, was still alive after decades apart, you couldn’t stand to let him out of your sight again. When Steve had brought Bucky to Wakanda with the hope of clearing his brain of the programming he had endured under Hydra, you followed him there. Despite the fact that your husband was in your arms once again, you couldn’t help the thoughts that took over your mind every day- everything that you all had lost, the memories of what you had endured and the worry that Bucky would never be the same again.

The pain of being knocked around by a member of the Dora Milaje’s spear was almost therapeutic.

Rather than replying, Lemar pat his friend on the back, nodding to the rest of you within the room before guiding his shaken friend out the door of the apartment.

“You’re being too friendly with him, Y/n.” Bucky said.

Snapping your head to the side you glared at your husband.

“What are you? Jealous?” You asked.

Rather than answer you, Bucky crossed his arms.

“I just think you’re being a little too nice to the guy that’s ruining Steve’s name-”

Before he could even finish his sentence, you pushed yourself off of the couch, striding over to your husband, shoving your finger into his chest.

“Don’t tell me how to feel, James.” You told him seriously. “He was my brother. I wouldn’t have chosen that guy to take on Steve’s name either, but don’t get mad at me. You’re the one who fucked up and lied about going on this mission with Sam. Do you know what it felt like to get a call from Ayo to find out that you not only lied to me, but you betrayed the people who have been nothing but kind to us?”

Staring at you, he could tell how not only angry you were, but also distraught. The both of you had gone through hell and back and Bucky was thankful every day that even after all these years he was able- by some miracle- to still find you eighty years after the two of you had supposedly died. He had suffered through so much and done so many things he could barely look at himself in the mirror for, but at the end of the day you continued to not only be there for him, but to love him anyway.

A part of him felt awful for not telling you- he hated lying to you and you had every right to know- but after your brother had left the two of yours’ lives, he didn’t want to put any further strain on you than you had already endured.

He knew once he freed Zemo that you would find out, but as you stood in front of him he almost wish he hadn’t so you wouldn't be feeling this type of way.

“I’m sorry, Y/n.” Bucky said. “I didn't... after everything with Steve I didn’t want to get you involved. You deserved a break, doll.”

Relaxing your shoulders, you sighed, resting your hand on his bicep.

“And what about you, Buck?” You asked. “Don’t you deserve a break?”

“That’s different, Y/n.” He said. “I need this. You know I do.”

You knew he did. You had been there while his guilt kept him up at night, waking him up after only a few hours of what you could barely call rest. You knew that his past had been eating away at him, especially since Steve left, and that doing something wholly good might bring him some semblance of peace.

“I know.” You said, meeting his eyes. “So I’m going to help you. We’re in this together, Buck, okay?”

Despite the fact that he wanted to keep you as far away from danger as he could- something he could never manage considering you had been fighting alongside the Avengers since before he had even gained his memory back- he knew he couldn’t say no to you.

“Alright.” He agreed.

Gently squeezing his arm you gave him a soft smile.

“Glad to see you guys are good.” Sam quipped. “Incase you forgot Zemo’s now on the loose and the back of my head stings like hell.”

Smiling and turning to, Sam, you playfully swat his arm.

“Please.” You laughed. “Big, strong guy like you? You barely felt that.”

“Listen I’m not a super soldier like you two.” He said, pointing between you and Bucky. “Remind me not to mess with your kids some day. Last thing I need is getting knocked out by some kid with two super soldiers for parents.”

“We should go find Zemo.” Bucky said clearing his throat, changing the subject.

“Yeah.” You agreed. “He couldn’t have gotten too far. Let’s go.”

Not one to argue, Sam threw his hands up in the air, leading the way out of the door of Zemo’s apartment. As your foot was about to cross the door, however, you felt Bucky’s hand wrap around your arm, pulling you to the side.

“So do I still have to sleep on the couch tonight?” Bucky asked in a hushed voice.

“Oh honey,” You cooed, patting the side of his cheek before laughing. “You’re not getting out of this one that at easily.”

Watching from his spot on the steps as you picked up the pace to catch up with Sam, he crossed his arms smiling to himself. Steve was right when he said that he was going to be okay... as long as he was with you, how couldn’t he be?

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes oneshot #bucky barnes imagine #Bucky Barnes drabble #bucky barnes blurb

[therealpussybangs]

When you find out the Haikyuu boys cheated.. Pt. 2

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Starring:    Timeskip!Aone, Goshiki, Kita, Lev                                                          

A/N- Tw: Cheating, crying, yelling, fighting, mentions of sexual-    intercourse, swearing, please let me know if i missed anything!!  

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Aone-

                Today was supposed to be your 4th year anniversary with your amazing boyfriend Aone. However, that date idea had quickly turned to shit when you see your boyfriend at a booth with some other chick.

You didn’t want to jump to conclusions, because you were exceptionally early to this date, so you walk over, hoping it was a sister or some other relative. 

But when you finally made it over to the table, your boyfriend looked like he had seen a ghost. Pale, scared, and he looked sick. The thing that hurt the most was the guilt swimming in his eyes. Eyes that were once only for you. Eyes that were always warm and welcoming, the eyes that felt like home. His once beautiful and bright eyes were now dulled, guilty and scared.

Aone felt like he couldn’t move. He was stuck in his chair when he saw you. 

‘Our date isn’t for another 20 minutes... how could this happen...?’ He thinks to himself. Then he remembers what you had said earlier about being early for the special today. He curses under his breath and opens his mouth to make excuses, but that’s when he hears a sniffle.

He reluctantly looks up to see you crying, and swiping at your eyes wildly. His heart shatters and sinks to the floor and he immediately knows he shouldn’t lie, it’ll only make it worse.

“Baby i’m so sorry....” He looks down, not ready to hear your reply.                     “Was i not good enough..? What should I have done differently..?” You say in a small, hurt voice.

“No! I-” He was cut off by the other girl sitting in front of him.

“Bubs who’s this ugly little girl? She a friend of yours? Or what..she kinda smells a little..” She says in a squeaky, bratty voice.

“Oh, haha; i’m actually his soon to be ex-girlfriend! So nice to meet you!! And so nice to leave you ‘bubs’!” You say with a fake smile, and filled with sarcasm. 

“Babe- do-” Aone started quietly, he always was so quiet and reserved. But he seemed so talkative with this new girl....

“By Aone! Bye bitch I don’t know!” You say oh so confidently, until you go to itch your eyes. ‘oh... tears..’ You began to cry harder as you realize you just left the one thing you loved most.

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Goshiki-

 You and Tsutomu had been pretty distant after a fight you two had, and you wanted to go over and apologize to him because you realized you were in the wrong. 

However, what you did not expect was to see another car parked outside of your shared home.

This fight you both had was because of some silly coworker jokingly hitting on you. You had known this person since you were little, so it was nothing new. They were also fully aware of the fact that you were in a committed relationship with Tsutomu. 

So, who could be at his house? Was he really hurt enough to call a friend or relative for help/advice? Now you felt really bad, so you quickly make your way up the steps to your shared home and push past the door. 

What you did not expect to hear, were muffled whimpers and Goshiki’s smooth, calming voice. ‘Wh-what?’ You think maybe it was something else, maybe it was Goshiki whimpering and sniffling and someone else sweet talking him. But once you walk into your bedroom....you shut down.

“B..baby,,?” You ask, voice small. You were shaking and trying your best to keep your cool and hold back the tears threatening to spill. “Whats going on..?”

Goshiki immediately whips his head around from where it was buried between someone elses thighs. But when he sees your hurt eyes and sad features guilt pools at the bottom of his stomach. He was with someone else, on your shared bed, in your shared home. This realization suddenly hit him like a brick, and he immediately shot straight up. “I-I can explain!!” 

“Explain what? The fact you were pleasuring some random whore on our bed?? What else is there to explain Tsut- Goshiki?” You yell back, the tears from before finally breaking the barrier and streaming down your face.

Goshiki just stood there, shaken up and regretful, not daring to say a word, knowing it will make things worse. But you persisted and asked him again why he did it and he started to get annoyed with your yelling. “I was angry with your stupid fucking co-worker for flirting with you and smacking your ass and always eating lunch with you!! I wanted you to know how it felt!!” He yelled back, without thinking. Bad idea.

You were speechless to say the least. He did not just compare cheating to harmless banter between friends...did he? He didn’t just call your absolute bestfriend stupid...did he?

“Get out. Both of you.” You say, your tone stone cold.

“What..” Your ex says, his voice small and shaky, almost as if it was any louder it would shatter you.

“GET OUT!! NOW!!” You say, now yelling as warm, fat tears stream down your face. You were furious, deflated, tired, and so, so done. You thought you were going to be sick. You had trusted him, and here he was, with a beautiful woman, probably 10x better than you. And to think you were going to apologize to him.

“Baby... we can fix this! right? Move forward!” He says, not so confident or angry this time.

“What, so you can go off with some other bitch as soon as the going gets tough again? No. We’re over. Goodbye Goshiki, please don’t try to contact me, i’ll have someone come get my stuff.”

And with that, you slammed the door and walked out of the place you one called home. 

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Kita-

Kita was a simple man. He wanted 2 things in life: A family with you, and his rice fields to do well.

However he did not take it very well when you said you were not ready for a family, and he stormed out on you. That night you cried yourself to sleep, thinking about how you could be better.

The past month and a half, you and Kita have been pretty distant, and you have been preparing yourself for a family in any way you can. For example: Finishing the last of your extra studies, learning how to make extra delicious meals, even though Kita wasn’t ever there to try them, and you even started looking into parenting books. You just wanted to be the perfect wife for him.

So one day you waited for him to come home, ready to tell him the big news; you were ready to start a family. So when he finally got back, you told him!

“Babe! I think i’m ready for a family! With you!” You said happily and confidently. But when you saw his eyes widen in surprise, you didn’t expect them to also be oh so regretful.

“Y-you are..?” He asks, suddenly shaking. His stomach drops to the floor while his heart breaks simultaneously. You... you prepared yourself all on your own, just for him. And he knows he fucked up, getting some other girl pregnant, but he was so angry and sad he just.... it just... happened.

Just then, he gets a call, from the one person he really did not want to talk to. The other woman he got pregnant. He was so scared to pick up the phone, so you did. He froze. ‘No..! You cant pick that up...it will ruin us..’

“Hey! Shin! The baby just kicked! I hope its a girl.... Shin..?” The girl says on the other end, happy and excited.

“wh..what?” You say, confused. “Who are you..?”

“I’m his girlfriend! Who are you silly?” She says, still bubbly.

“I-” You start, and then hang up. It could not be. He did not get another woman pregnant, he was your baby, no one else...right? You slowly look over to Kita, hoping you didn’t just hear what you think you did.

He looks down, guilt and shame washing over his built figure.

“I’m so sorry... it wasn’t supposed to happen, but it did and I can’t just leave her by herself..” He says, voice gradually getting louder.

“So.. you couldn’t just wait a little longer huh...it’s okay, I hope you two will be happy.” You walked away after that, and just then was when Kita realized he was loosing you. He panicked, and reached out for your hand, but you were already gone, into the bedroom you both shared, presumably packing.

But it’s when he sees you walk out the door, tears streaming down your face, and sobs wracking you body, that reality finally shifted. You were leaving, and he was now responsible for a child that wasn’t yours. He was mortified to say  the least.

“Bye Shin, i’ll always love you y’know.. I hope your child is as beautiful as you.”

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Lev-

Today was your birthday! And you were so excited to spend it with your beanpole boyfriend! But he hadn’t answered your texts yet, and your calls either. You understood he had a photo-shoot, but it was over hours ago, even his manager didn’t know where he was. So you decided to check his snapmap because you were genuinely worried??

But when you saw his bitmoji at an unrecognized address, you freaked out and drove there immediately.

When you got there, his car was parked in the driveway, and the lights were on inside. You could also hear the faint hum of soft music. 

Lev was always so gentle with you, and he never raised hid voice or got angry with you. You loved that about him, how soft he was. When you guys first met, he was willing to take things slow, and wait until you were both comfortable with eachother. 

He was always so patient, or so you thought. You weren’t ready for anything intimate other than kissing, and he said he was okay with that. But horny men will be horny men. 

But you at least thought he could wait a little longer for you, his girlfriend of 11 months. At least those were the thoughts that flew through your head as you walked into the mystery house.

It was Lev, laid out on a bed with silk sheets, rose petals scattered everywhere, and Champaign on the nightstand next to him. 

Well, more like next to the other woman in bed with him, dressed in red lacy lingerie and pretty makeup. The candle-light makes them both look so majestic, well they would if they both didn’t have shocked/guilty expressions on their faces. 

Lev got up immediately and tried to grab your arm, but you shrugged him off.

“I trusted you, and I loved you, I still love you! But here you are, with another woman, on my birthday. Happy fucking birthday to me i guess.”

He stood there dumbfounded as you walked out, your confident facade breaking as tears slip down your rosy cheeks. Then, you drive away, knowing things will never be the same...

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Annnnnd it’s finally out! Not proofread i’m sorry </3 Kita’s hurt the most smh

ALSOOOO don’t forget you are fucking gorgeous and ilysm pls take care of your gorgeous self!

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#haikyuu x reader #lev habia #kita shinsuke #goshiki tsutomu #aone takanobu #haikyuu!! #haikyuu #angst #haikyuu angst #anime #cheating au #pls this hurt

[wlwmarvelenthusiast]

Babysitting Duty

Summary: while Scott and Clint are away on a mission, you and Wanda are stuck with babysitting duty

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Warnings: some harsh language

Word Count: 5,117

"Your asses had better not leave the yard, got it?"

"Please don't swear at the kids."

"They're being little shits!" You insisted.

Wanda glared at you from where she was sat on the couch, cradling two-year-old Nathaniel, who had fallen asleep in her arms a few minutes ago. You scowled back at her as you moved to the other seat, closer to the open window, so that you could see and hear Lila and Cassie running around in the backyard. Lila ducked into the shed for a moment, re-emerging with a soccer ball. She kicked it toward Cassie.

Clint and Scott had taken up an offer to go on a mission with Natasha across the country. You didn't pry as to why she needed them specifically. Laura was in Los Angeles visiting some family, meanwhile Maggie and Jim were taking a vacation in the tropics. That had left Scott and Clint in need of a babysitter, and you'd been volunteered for the job. Now, you and Wanda were stuck at Clint's farmhouse for a few days until Laura got back. You were only in charge of Cassie, Lila, and Nathaniel, with Cooper having gone to stay with a friend while his parents were out of town.

"Why don't you go put him down?" You suggested to Wanda, the scowl on your face replaced by a soft smile.

Wanda shook her head. She didn't even bother to stand, instead simply laying him down on the couch they were sitting on. He whined a little as he left her arms, but after she'd stroked his head a couple times, he settled as soundly as he had been. She stood and crossed the room, sitting down next to you. Your arm moved around her waist and she leaned against you, legs curling up to her chest. You kissed the side of her head as you glanced out the window quickly to check up on the girls.

"What do you think about what Tony said?" She asked quietly.

You turned to stare at her. Her light green eyes flickered up to meet your gaze. It put a smile on her face. Her hand reached for yours, taking it and intertwining your fingers. You played with her hand.

"One day."

After getting the babysitting gig, you hadn't exactly been ecstatic. You were an Avenger, not a babysitter. Anytime Clint and Scott weren't around to hear, you'd repeat those words to whoever was close enough to listen. Most of them got that. They thought the same. It's why everyone had tried so hard to avoid the two men for those few days. When you'd gotten stuck with it, Natasha had even gone so far as to laugh at you.

You were good at avoiding. You'd practiced it all your anti-social life. So, it wasn't your fault that you'd be assigned babysitter. It was Wanda's. Clint had managed to corner her one day. Their relationship was a strange one. He'd cared for Pietro, and Pietro had cared enough for Clint to give up his life for him. Now, the surviving Maximoff and the archer had some sort of bond. That bond had made it impossible for her to say no to babysitting the toddler that was named after her brother.

Stuck with two kids anyway, you figured you might as well take care of Cassie at this point. Once you'd been nominated babysitter, though, Tony had taken it upon yourself to never leave you alone. It seemed, for those few days after you'd agreed to take care of the kids, Tony was around every single corner. You wouldn't have been surprised to learn he had been using the security cameras to keep track of you, because no matter how hard you tried to hide from him, he was there.

He was teasing you relentlessly about your having to babysit. Unlike the rest of them, Tony wasn't teasing you because you, an Avenger, were stuck with a 16-year-old high schooler's job. He was teasing you because you were stuck at a nice little home in the country with three kids and your girlfriend. He insisted, every time he saw you, that this was going to be good practice for your future. Wanda had blushed furiously the first time he'd said it. You'd shooed him away.

As much as you hated dealing with the billionaire and his stupid smirk when he'd approach you to tease you about practicing for your own kids, you would deal with it. Wanda would always turn away with a tomato-red blush burning on her cheeks, and so you would always find a way to give her an escape to stick around and take Tony's taunting yourself. Mostly you just ignored him, but he was persistent if nothing else.

Tony had driven you absolutely mad with his stupid suggestive tone and heckling comments. That was undeniable. Sometimes, you even wanted to take him down to the ring just for a reason to drive your fist into his gut. But after a long day of work and having to hear him go on and on, you'd climb into your bed, or sometimes Wanda's, fall asleep for the night, and dream up the pictures that he'd painted into your head.

There were two or three kids. One of them was always a boy. You were just getting home from somewhere, and Wanda was in the backyard of your house, watching the children play. The boy would be with one of the other kids, but when you approached Wanda and slid an arm around her waist, he'd run up to you. You'd ruffle a hand in his hair, and he'd giggle, light green eyes casting up to look at you. He had Wanda's eyes. You'd reach down and pick him up, kissing his cheek as he continued to laugh.

"Hi, Momma," he'd say.

"Hello, Pietro," you would reply every time. "Were you good for your mom today?"

Then he would nod and squirm a little, desperate to get back to his brothers or sisters. You'd set him down on his feet and he'd dash back to the others. You would lean into Wanda, then, kissing her softly. She would kiss you back, just as gently and lovingly as she did in your waking life. No words would be exchanged as you guided her to the bench swing, pulling her close and smiling as you both turned to watch your children laugh and play together.

It was just a dream, and it was entirely Tony's fault, you were sure. He'd put the idea of a family into your head and now you couldn't get it out. You'd always known you wanted kids and, even though you might not have known her all too long, you knew it was Wanda you wanted them with. She was your everything and you wouldn't want anything without her. Your future didn't exist without Wanda Maximoff.

"I've seen those dreams you've been having."

That honestly didn't surprise you too much. She'd seen your dreams on occasion. You'd learned that when you'd woken up absolutely drenched in sweat one night after a particularly inappropriate dream involving a particular witch. She'd watched your eyes open and immediately straddled your waist, promising to make your dream come true. You hadn't gone back to sleep that night, and it was clear as day that she had seen every single detail of that dream.

She was a mind reader. It wasn't hard for her to see just what was going on in your head; conscious or not. So, as you slept, she was able to see those images of you and she with your cozy little house and little Pietro smiling up at the both of you. It didn't surprise you, but it did make you a little nervous to know she'd seen them. You didn't want to seem like you were rushing into things at a pace that she wasn't ready for. You would wait forever for her.

You'd talked about it with her before. It was nothing too serious. It had been a simple conversation, the two of you discussing where you thought you might be five or ten years down the road. When you'd talked about it, the two of you hadn't been dating yet. You'd just been friends, both wanting to be more. It had been a quiet night, and you'd wanted to take her mind off Pietro, who had died only four months earlier.

Wanda pictured her future as a quieter life. She wanted a nice home on a quaint little street where she wanted a family, someone to love and maybe a couple of kids down the road. She'd told you she wasn't sure yet, if she wanted to continue being an Avenger. She hadn't always been fond of the sort of action you guys saw, but she knew she had the power to help people. Her heart was good. She couldn't just ignore that fact.

Your vision had been a little different. You were absolutely sure that you wanted to continue being an Avenger. You were a hero through and through. You couldn't imagine a life where you weren't doing what you did now: keeping people safe. You wanted to stay in New York, but maybe moving out into the suburbs in the outskirts of the city. You, too, wanted to start a family someday. Avenging could be a day job, you'd assured.

Then you'd gotten together. You'd admitted your feelings, you'd gone on some dates, and quickly, you'd fallen deeply in love with her. That dream of a future was still one you had: An Avenger by day and a wife and mother by night. At some point, though, that woman you saw yourself having that family with had become Wanda. Suddenly, you couldn't see it any other way. For a long time, you'd kept that from her. Now, though, she knew, and you were glad she did.

"What do you think of it? The dream," you asked carefully.

Wanda didn't answer right away. Her eyes had cast out the window to watch Cassie and Lila run through the yard, passing the ball between each other before Cassie turned and kicked it into the net. They both cheered loudly, raising their arms in the air, smiling widely, and high fiving. Their excitement made Wanda smile too. Her gaze turned back away from the yard and back to you, searching your face carefully. You let her study every detail of your eyes.

"I think it's beautiful."

Any life with her would have been beautiful. Anything with her was beautiful. You were absolutely sure Wanda Maximoff was the most beautiful thing in the world and there was nothing that could have changed your mind. The Avengers teased you sometimes. Natasha had teased one day, that you looked at your girlfriend as if she were the most exquisite piece in an art museum. You'd only assured her that no piece of art ever held a candle to the Sokovian.

"Would you..." You trailed off and took a breath, trying to figure out just what you were asking. "Would you consider it one day?"

Wanda didn't hesitate a millisecond. "I don't have to consider it. One day, Sweetheart."

That warmed you to your very soul. You put your hands on your cheeks and turned her face toward yours. You pressed your lips together, the feeling never failing to make your eyes flutter shut. You savoured the so familiar taste of her against your lips as you let your hands slide; one moved to the back of her neck to hold her close, and the other came to rest on her thigh. It wasn't a long kiss. It didn't need to be. It only took a few seconds to convey to her something words never could.

"How many?" She asked.

You laughed. "Two or three? What do you think, Baby?"

"Three," she hummed softly.

You couldn't believe that Tony was fucking right. Here you were with the woman you loved so dearly, babysitting your coworkers’ kids, and imagining having ones of your own someday. You had to admit, you did like it. They were a bit of a handful, that much was for sure, but you loved it. You loved watching their smiles, watching them play and laugh, and joining them in their fun and games. You loved seeing how Wanda would sit with them, cradle Nathaniel close, and read the girls bedtime stories. The thought of having this with her made your heart swell.

"Alright, where would we live?" You asked with a soft laugh.

"We'll stay near New York," she assured. "My big strong Avenger."

You laughed when she teasingly squeezed one of your biceps. You flexed a little, pressing the muscles against her hand. At this, the touches to your arm weren't so teasing. Her fingers traced the lines of the defined muscles that lay beneath your skin. You breathed out a quiet laugh, grabbing her hand and gently kissing against her knuckles. Her hand hesitated at your mouth as she ran the pad of her thumb across your bottom lip.

"Port Washington?" You offered. "Maybe a little way outside the city or in northern Jersey? I know you want to raise a family in a small town and New York City isn't exactly that."

She pressed her lips against your neck for a moment. "I love you."

You breathed out. "I love you, too."

She pulled away, moving to touch your knee instead. You put a hand over top of hers, turning to check on Cassie and Lila again. They'd taken to sitting in the grass, leaning against a tree trunk, and talking quietly. You weren't sure what about, but you were just glad that they seemed to still be having a good time. You slid Wanda's hand off your knee so that you could stand up.

"I'm just going to grab a snack for the girls," you kissed her cheek. "When I'm back, you can let me know if you've got any more ideas for this life of ours, huh?"

Wanda nodded.

You moved into the kitchen, opening up the pantry and putting together a couple of PB and Js, cutting them in half and setting them on the counter. You then mixed a few glasses of lemonade, put everything on a tray, and headed briefly back to the living room to hand one glass to Wanda, before heading out the back door. You whistled merrily, catching the girls' attention. They both smiled at your approach, and you settled into the grass beside them.

"For you."

They thanked you repeatedly, taking a plate and a glass each. You took your own glass, sitting back and sipping it as the cool breeze blew through your hair. You crossed your legs, watching their girls bite into their sandwiches. You tried to think back to what you'd been talking about at their age. You'd been in grade school and had often been in the schoolyard with your friends talking about boys. Well... they'd talk about boys and you would hesitate and make something up because you didn't know who the hell you liked.

"So, what are we talking about today, girls?"

"Lila was just telling me about a boy named Sam."

"Cassie!"

"What?" Cassie defended. "She's not gonna tell!"

You nodded. "Cassie is right, kid. I'm the best secret keeper probably ever."

Lila seemed to ponder this for a moment. It was a blatant lie, though. Every secret that was told to you was also told to Wanda, but it didn't go past there. You couldn't keep things from her. It was like she could pull anything from you with just a simple gaze from those light eyes. Even if you didn't tell her, she was a mind reader. Either she'd hear it from your lips, or she'd hear it running through your brain at one point or another.

Lila seemed to be contemplating this. "Okay. Well, there's this boy in my class. His name is Sam. I really like him."

"Oh, yeah?" You asked, sipping your lemonade. "So why don't you tell him that?"

"No! I can't tell him."

"Why not?" You scoffed. "What's the worst that could happen, Li? He either likes you back or he doesn't."

You'd always had trouble with your own advice. If you admitted your feelings to someone and they told you they didn't feel that same way, you felt awkward for months after that. But you were an adult. Lila was eleven. Even if kids these days were growing up way faster than you did, you knew that things were a lot more complex when you were a little more grown up. In a year or two, then she'd start realizing that.

"What about you, Cas? Any boys in your class you've got an eye on?" You winked.

Cassie didn't seem to find this very amusing though. Suddenly, it seemed, her sandwich wasn't very appetizing, and the lemonade had lost its sweetness. Her gaze moved to somewhere no one could meet it, locking to the ground as her fingers began playing absentmindedly with the grass. You tilted your head to the side curiously. You glanced over at Lila, but she didn't seem to know the reason for this either.

"Lila, could you give us a minute?" You asked the older of the girls. "Why don't you go see what Wanda is up to?"

Lila nodded and scampered off. She ran to the house and in the back door, and you watched in the window as she appeared beside Wanda. You saw her explaining something to the Sokovian, likely just trying to express that her friend was upset. You turned your focus to Cassie, who was busying herself by pulling a few blades of grass out of the ground. You didn't try to stop her, the fidgeting obviously calming her anxiety.

"What if..." She took a deep breath as she trailed off. "What if I think I like like a girl?"

Cassie Lang was ten years old. That's around the same age you started wondering what the other girls saw in boys. You hadn't realized as young as she did that you'd liked girls, but you knew something about you was different. At that age, you'd thought maybe something was wrong with you. It had taken you a few years to realize you weren't broken, just different. It had taken you even longer to realize that was okay.

You knew Cassie probably felt more comfortable asking one of her babysitters this question than anyone else. She trusted her parents and her stepdad, and she loved them, that much was clear. With them, though, she watched a man love a woman. With you, she watched you love Wanda the same way Scott loved Hope. She watched you do something she was feeling in herself. It made everything seem a little more normal and a little more okay. You knew that much from experience.

"Cas, look at me, Sweetheart," you said gently. Cassie looked up at you. "You can like whoever you want to like, and you can be whoever you want to be."

"But at school, all the girls like boys and I don't. Why don't I? I just want to be the same."

"Because not everyone is the same, and that's okay. You don't think there's anything wrong with me, do you?"

"No."

"No. And I love a girl. Isn't that okay?"

"Yeah."

Maybe it was a bit of a guilt trip, but it got Cassie to look up. You watched as her eyes travelled from you, to Wanda, and back. There was no longer any trace of nerves or anxiety on the young girl. It had instead been replaced by curiosity. It seemed your little pep talk had actually worked. She seemed more at ease after assurance that she didn't need to be normal. You knew that wasn't it for those nerves, you even got them yourself once in a while, but you were glad to have put her at ease for a while.

"Kiddo, are you going to talk to your mom or dad about this?"

As honoured as you were that you'd felt to be a safe person to come out to, you weren't really the person that she should be going to for support. Her mother and father would give her that. You didn't know Maggie well, but you knew Scott. He would be unconditionally supportive and wouldn't hesitate to reassure her if she ever felt like this again and if there were someone who didn't, he'd make sure to immediately remove that person from their life.

"I think I'm gonna talk to my dad when he gets home. Can you talk to him for me?"

"I can give him a little heads up, but you're going to have to be the one to actually talk to him."

She took a deep breath but nodded. "Okay."

You smiled proudly.

You sat with Cassie for a little while longer in that spot. Following your conversation, she seemed to be feeling better. She was eating and drinking again as she told you a little about this girl she was sweet on. You didn't comment too much, smiling and nodding along as she told you stories about the schoolyard. Soon enough you were once again trading places with Lila. The two girls resumed their gossiping in the grass, and you moved back to sit with your girlfriend once more.

When you sat down next to Wanda, glancing at a still sleeping Nathaniel as you moved, you immediately turned to the window. The two preteens had already regained that same calm expression they had been sporting earlier. Satisfied that they were both alright, now, you turned back to Wanda. She was watching you carefully, eyes flickering down to peek at the smile on your lips. You beckoned her to come back against you like she had been before you left.

"You and Cassie seemed to have quite the heart-to-heart," she hummed quietly as she leaned back against your side and your arm snaked around her.

"She confessed she might have a crush on a girl."

Wanda raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Well, I see why you were a safe person to confess that to."

You chuckled and kissed the side of her head. "Yeah, I do, too. I gave her a little bit of reassurance before telling her she should really talk to Scott or Maggie."

Wanda nodded in agreement. She reached out to the table to grab the glass of lemonade you'd made for her, sipping it quietly. The cool glass pressed against your arm when she lowered it, sending a shiver throughout your body. She seemed to notice this, as she laughed, moving the cold cup up to your cheek. The condensation that coated it transferred onto your skin and you frowned, pushing her hand away. She laughed a little harder.

"So, what did you come up with?" You asked her. "I seem to remember asking you to come up with some more details."

"You did. So, I wondered what Pietro's siblings' names might be?"

You froze. That was from your dream. You knew she'd been seeing it, but you still got a little curious when she brought up the more minor details. You turned to look at her, curiosity burning in your chest. Pietro was her brother, not yours. You wondered briefly if she even wanted to name any children she might have in the future after the brother she'd lost.

"Pietro," you repeated softly. "Is that okay?"

"Fuck, Honey."

Wanda rarely swore, so when she did, you knew she was feeling something strong. You were assured it was a good feeling, though, when she grabbed you and pulled you toward herself roughly. Your lips connected and you felt the intensity in her kiss. You didn't dare be the one to pull away from this, letting her show you how she was feeling through the intimate touch. When she finally did, her hands were immediately in yours.

"Thank you. He meant the world to me and you mean so, so much to me, too and... thank you, Honey."

"You don't have to thank me, Baby. He deserves it," you assured, a hand on her cheek. "But did you have other ideas too?"

She nodded. "I did. We'll obviously discuss more when the occasion arises, right?"

"Right," you agreed with a laugh. "So?"

"I like the name Tommy. It's cute, don't you think?"

"I do think so," you hummed.

You don't know what it was, but something had you so drawn to her in this moment. You wanted to pull her close and never let her go. Granted, you wanted that most of the time. Right now, though, the thought of releasing her from where you had her flush against your side, her head resting so softly on your shoulder, made your heart feel a little weaker. As if she could feed that absolute need radiating off of you, she kissed your shoulder and put her hand into yours, squeezing tight.

"Any girls' names you like?"

Wanda stopped to ponder. "Violet."

"That's cute too," you smiled at the thought of your family. "You're pretty good at this, my dear," you paused for a moment. "So, Pietro, Tommy, and Violet Maximoff?"

She hesitated at hearing that. Her head moved off your shoulder, and you immediately missed the lack of pressure. You had to suppress a quiet whine as you glanced over at the curious eyes that were peering at you. You cocked your head to the side, in the movement, willing her to tell you what was going on inside her head. You felt as though her eyes could see into your very soul with the way she was watching you.

"Maximoff," she finally said.

"Yeah. I like it," you told her. "And doesn't my name sound so good with your last?"

You didn't even have to say the name aloud. Just hearing it in her own mind had a shiver running through her body- something you felt it against your own. She didn't have to say aloud, either, that she loved the idea. You knew she did. You both did. It was something that made you entirely hers. You were entirely hers. You belonged to Wanda Maximoff and her last name attached to your first would prove that to anyone.

"One day," Wanda said, repeating the words you'd spoken earlier. "One day you'll be my Mrs. Maximoff."

It was your turn to hesitate at those words. You were both talking about this as if it were inevitable. As far as you were concerned, it was. You couldn't even picture a life that didn't have Wanda in it. You didn't want to. You wanted to be her wife and live in a small house in the suburbs and raise children with her. You wanted all of it so bad you could hardly fathom it. You turned to her, making sure to catch her eyes.

"Did we just get engaged?" You teased.

You hadn't, but you had. All engagement was, was a promise to be each other's and to get married. There was no time limit on that. In the last little while, you'd promised that to each other. You had both promised each other this entire life that you could see laid out before you. Neither of you had been discussing it as if it were a possibility, but more as an inevitability. That sure sounded like a promise to you.

"I don't know," Wanda admitted. "We agreed we'd get married one day."

"Yeah," you agreed. "We definitely did."

Then you decided to make it less of a question as to what had or had not happened. You slid away from her and stood up off the couch. You took a knee on the floor, bringing her hand into yours. Your heart was thumping so loud in your chest that you had to wonder whether or not she could hear it from where she sat. Judging by the way her eyes widened, though, you thought that maybe her own heartbeat was drowning it out.

You didn't think this was how you'd do this. Sure, you'd many times thought about how you'd one day propose to Wanda. In none of those scenarios was she sitting on the couch in Clint's living room whilst Nathaniel slept ten feet away with Lila and Cassie's giggles floating in through the window. They were usually a lot more romantic than this. You couldn't find it in yourself to care. This was the moment. You could feel it.

"So let me clear up the confusion," you offered, eyes not leaving hers. "Wanda Maximoff, I cannot picture my life without this little suburban house and these sweet little kids and you, my love. I will walk to the ends of the Earth and back for you. I'd give you my heart and my soul in an instant if you wanted me to. Will you marry me?"

Wanda didn't seem to be able to find her voice. Her expression was one of shock. Her jaw had dropped a little, and her eyes were wide, watering a little. You wanted more than anything to reach out and wipe those tears away and to kiss her cheeks, even if they weren't tears of sorrow. But your knee was glued to the floor until she gave you an answer. She seemed to collect herself, then. Her hands wiped at her eyes, her lips curled into a smile, and then, finally, she nodded.

"Yes. Of course, yes."

She pulled you back onto the couch. It might have been a little far, with your knees on either side of her waist. The two girls could have walked in at any moment. But you were so completely happy that there was absolutely nothing that would have stopped you from resting your arms on her shoulders, linking your hands behind her neck, and kissing her like you needed her more than you needed oxygen in your lungs. You supposed you might have. She finally pushed you away.

"I love you."

"I love you, too, beautiful fiancée of mine," you teased. "I guess Tony was right then, huh? The babysitting gig was good for us."

She laughed and then buried herself in your embrace. You held her there, not a single care in the world, knowing she was yours and you were hers. One day you would have a life a little like this one. You and she together with a family of your own and so much love around you.

It was all thanks to the stupid, stupid babysitting gig.

#wanda maximoff #scarlet witch #wanda maximoff x reader #marvel #mcu #wlw #lesbian

[toomanyrobins2]

Those Four Words Pt. 1

Summary: an escalating fight between Jason and his girlfriend leads to a tense two weeks in Wayne Manor

Pairing: Jason Todd x Reader

Word count: 2.1k

Warnings: language, mentions of sex and excessive drinking, mentions of character death

masterlist // next part

Jason Todd was in a terrible mood, having just got into an argument with Bruce. He decided to go up to his girlfriend’s studio to get away. She had been hard at work the past couple of days and he was getting needy. He came up behind her on the floor and pulled her into his lap. She tried to wiggle out of his arms. “Jay, I'm trying to do something right now.

He tried to snuggle closer to his girlfriend, “I deserve some of your time too.

“Deserve? You’re especially demanding today. What did you do?” Jason scoffed and pulled away. “What has crawled up your ass?”

“You did.”

She managed to escape and turned to look at her boyfriend, “I did? Huh, I think I would’ve remembered such a disgusting journey into your body.

“Dammit, Y/N! Enough with the sarcasm! You know what I’m saying.”

She sighed at Jason’s attitude, “I don’t understand what you’re doing right now, but you are starting a fight just for the sake of an argument. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you what you want right now.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” Jason was standing over his girlfriend, his whole body tense, “From any of you.”

“Why are you being like this? What happened?”

“What? You thought the minute we started dating all of our problems would magically disappear? Are you really that naive?”

Y/N put her brushes down and stood. She tried to walk closer, but he matched each step, moving away from her. “Jason, where the hell is this coming from? I thought we had got past this. Even you and Bruce are in a better place.”

“You think I'll ever forget you abandoned me. You all did!”

“Abandon you! What have you been smoking? We thought you died!”

“You replaced me!”

Now, Y/N was angry too and it was rare that anyone saw her this way. She was deadly calm, but the fire was roaring in her eyes, “I did not replace you.”

“That’s right, you were too busy whoring yourself around Gotham to even think about me.”

“That is not fair and you know it. I mourned you. We all mourned your arrogant ass. I never stopped missing you.”

“I saw the articles, Y/N! Don’t pretend you were mourning me. You were too busy whoring yourself around Gotham.”

Her mind went back to three years ago. Jason had died in an explosion set up by the Joker. She was sixteen and her best friend had died, and she hadn’t handled it well. What started as a way to get out of the house with friends, had led to this wild, secret life. Y/N had snuck out at night and used Bruce’s name to get into clubs. She drank anything she could get her hands on and had gone home with multiple men, trying to forget her pain. Once, Bruce had found out, her world had imploded. He sent her away and finally got her the help she should have received when her parents had passed. The only reason Y/N had moved back to the manor was that Jason had been found. She couldn’t believe that he was trying to use her moments of weakness against her, “How dare you throw that back on me. I was just trying to numb the pain. It wasn’t like I was celebrating the fact that you were gone.”

“Yeah, it really looked like you missed me.”

“God Dammit, Jay!” she stamped her foot, knowing it was childish, “If you would just listen to me!”

“Oh fuck off, Y/N! If I had known I was ever going to be stuck with you and your nagging, I wouldn’t have come back.”

“I wish you hadn’t!” The minute the words left Y/N’s mouth, she gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth. Jason’s emotionless mask slammed into place, and suddenly he was as blank as the day Bruce had found him. He turned to walk out and Y/N chased after him, “Jay, wait! I’m sorry!” He jumped onto his motorcycle and was out the door before she could stop him. She slammed her fist into the wall and cursed in frustration and pain. No one would see either of them for the rest of the day. Y/N stayed in her studio, wondering how they got to the point of shouting such hurtful things at each other.

The next day, they had both shown up for Friday night dinner, as was expected of them. Neither spoke, and the tension was too thick to be cut with a knife. Y/N had tried to pull him aside and apologize after dinner, but he had shot her with a cutting glare and stalked away. The other could tell that something had happened, but no one had the details. Tim wandered into the library after patrol that night, to find her in a chair tucked into the corner. “What are you doing here (Y/N/N)? Isn’t it a movie night with Todd?” He noted the tear tracks down her face but knew she hated showing weakness, so he said nothing about them.

“I wasn’t feeling up to it, so I canceled. I think I’ll head to bed now. Night, Timmy.” Y/N went to her room and cried herself to sleep, the guilt overwhelming her as she played the argument over in her head. If only she had just taken a break, maybe the whole situation could have been avoided. She woke up multiple times in the night, crying out Jason’s name after seeing him and the Joker over and over again. Finally, around 3 in the morning, she gave up on sleep and went to the kitchen to pour herself coffee. She decided to keep busy and started making breakfast for the family.

Alfred was the first to appear in the morning, as usual. Y/N tried to pretend that everything was normal, but nothing could be hidden from the family’s butler. He noted the dark circles under her eyes and the tremors in her hands from over-caffeination. The boys slowly started to emerge, and Alfred started to bring out all the food she had made. She made two plates out of habit and headed for the dining room. Y/N started to hand Jason his breakfast as she had every morning for a year, but suddenly she remembered and pulled her hand away. Jason didn’t even bother to look at her, and her heart clenched. She placed the plate on the table and walked back into the kitchen. “Sorry, Alfred, I’m not hungry. I think I’ll go paint.” She placed the plate she had made for herself on the counter and left.

Y/N’s studio had been a safe space since she had first moved into the manor. She had hidden away when she first arrived at Wayne Manor, unused to such an active family. Bruce had called workers to the manor and redid the room when she had told him she liked art. Now, after years of work, canvasses filled the room on all sides. Some paintings, others photos, she had accumulated in the three years. They hung on the walls and were laid across the floor. She flooded the room with Swan Lake, her sad music, and started to mix her colors. The music she played had become an easy way for the others to discern her moods since she hadn’t spoken to anyone except Fallon, Bruce’s wife, when she first came. Bruce and Dick had installed a speaker system in her studio to drown out the noise when she was overwhelmed, and everyone in the Manor could hear it if she turned it on loud enough. When the first notes hit their ears, all eyes in the dining room turned to Jason. He refused to look up and make eye contact, instead, he stared at the breakfast that had been abandoned on the table. Once everyone had averted their gaze, he pushed away from the table and disappeared.

This led to one of the most uncomfortable weeks in the Manor ever. Y/N barely left her studio and no one saw Jason for three days before he returned. When he did, he started to act as if nothing had happened. The music had eventually stopped playing altogether, so they had no idea what kind of mood she was in. Finally, Damian was the one to gather everyone else together, “Y/N/N has not come out of her studio in a week. Since Buckethead has just decided to pretend nothing has happened. We need to fix this.”

Bruce spoke up first, “Jason and Y/N are both adults. They are both being immature, and it will eventually work itself out.

“How can we fix this when we don’t even know what happened?” Tim looked up from his laptop, “I’ve been checking in on Y/N on the cameras. All she does is paint, and the most she’s slept in days is when she falls asleep accidentally. That never lasts long, and she cries. A lot.”

“Why did Fallon have to leave! We need to fix this, or the family vacation is going to be the worst!” Dick collapsed on the couch. Fallon had finally convinced Bruce that the family needed a vacation, but two weeks before they were supposed to leave, her sister had had a baby. She decided to go help her out and just meet them at the resort. They now had a week left, and it was not looking good. No one wanted to bother their mother since she very rarely took time for herself and was enjoying time with her family. They decided Alfred would be the one to try and convince Y/N to leave the studio at least and eat something.

He appeared in the doorway and watched silently as Y/N worked on a large canvas. He walked over and saw that it was a portrait of the family. “This is beautiful, Miss Y/L/N.”

“Thank you, Alfred,” her voice was hoarse from disuse.

“What is the plan for this one?” Alfred sat down next to her on the floor.

“Everyone hates photos, but Fallon wanted a family portrait for the sitting room. Since no one can sit still long enough I decided to paint one and give it to her for her birthday,” she slowly sucked in a breath, “Plus they only have the old one, and J--some people-- are missing from it.” Tears started to well up again in her eyes. Alfred wrapped an arm around Y/N and just sat with her for a moment.

“I’ve kicked the boys out of the kitchen. Do you think you could come down and eat something? For me?” She only nodded and they both stood. Y/N sat on a stool and silently ate the soup Alfred had laid out for her. She barely tasted anything, and she was starting to feel dizzy. Her vision started to blur, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up on the floor and had five heads floating above her.

“Hi, guys. Thought the floor looked lonely.” She tried to sit up but was cut off.

“That is it,” Bruce spoke firmly, “You are going to bed, and you are sleeping. I thought you were mature enough to deal with this but I see I was wrong.” He picked Y/N up and noticed she had lost weight. He carried her up the stairs and before he had reached her bedroom, she was already asleep again. Bruce turned to the boys. “At least one of you is staying in here with her and making sure she sleeps.”

Tim volunteered for the first shift and settled into her desk with his laptop. Y/N had barely been asleep an hour before she woke up from a nightmare of Jason dying. She shot up and shouted out his name, before bursting into tears. Tim -- being the awkward person he is -- was ill-prepared to deal with the crying Y/N. The only solution he could think of was to climb into bed with her and pull up a movie. She slowly fell asleep again and clung to Tim like a starfish. When Dick came to relieve Tim and saw that he was unable to leave, he climbed into bed with the duo. Anytime Y/N would start to become distressed, they would calm her down. Eventually, Damian and Titus joined the cuddle pile, the former somewhat reluctantly, grumbling about how he was only doing this for Y/N. Little did the Bat-Family know, Alfred had called Fallon and told her about the situation and she had rushed home.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #jason todd #batfam #batfam imagine #batfam x reader #tim drake imagine #dick grayson imagine #bruce wayne imagine #damian wayne imagine #batfamily #toomanyrobins #red hood #red hood imagine #red hood x reader

[fruitcoops]

Hi!! I was wondering if you could do another fic involving jules and coops together? Just like sweet moments between the three? I loved the baby sitting series you did and could not stop thinking about it❤️❤️ Thank you!!

Yeah, of course! I love writing my boy at any opportunity. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove, but the relatives are my ocs!

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sirius asked under his breath as Remus finally—finally—appeared from the mass of people.

“It’s fine,” Remus said around a forced smile to a middle-aged man across the yard.

Sirius hid his mouth by pretending to look down at the nearest casserole dish. He didn’t even know what was in it; nobody had bothered with labels, and everyone’s dishes were the same basic florals in different colors. “I love you, Re, and I totally get the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing, but this is a bit much if I’m being honest.”

“Honey.” Remus’ shoulder pressed against his own. “I’m sorry you’re not having a good time, but my Aunt Jen would skin me alive if I didn’t bring the man I’m marrying to the family reunion. We can leave tomorrow if you really hate—oh, no.”

“Remus!” a shrill, excited voice called. Sirius felt his fiancé straighten up as a tall, redheaded woman in star-painted jeans hurried across the grass with three other women in tow. She reached up and gave Remus’ cheeks a squish, then leaned in a planted a lipstick-stamped kiss to his forehead. “How are you, my duckling? Was your flight alright? Make sure you stay away from the salt or else your feet will swell.”

“Hi, Aunt Jen,” Remus said, grimacing a little at her rib-crushing hug. “I’m doing well, and our flight was fine. How are you?”

“Peachy keen,” she assured him. Dark brown eyes lasered in on Sirius half a second later and he felt his fight or flight kick in. “And who are you?”

“Aunt Jen, this is—”

“It was rhetorical, honey,” Jen interrupted with a pat to Remus’ arm as she stepped closer to Sirius and immediately hauled him in for a hug. She was as tall as Remus, but broader in the shoulders and hips; he had never felt so engulfed by someone. It was a strangely enjoyable feeling.

“Aren’t you a handsome one?” the shortest of the group cooed, as if she was talking to a particularly small dog in a purse. “Our Remus always knew how to pick them.”

Remus furrowed his brows. “Aunt Lisa, this is the first boyfriend I’ve—”

“But he’s not just a boyfriend!” Jen trilled, giving Sirius’ cheek a pat. “He’s a fiancé, something I learned from your mother. Not from your father—oh, I gave him a talking-to about that—and not from you, duck.”

Sirius bit back a laugh at the nickname and spared a glance to his left, where Remus had gone pink all the way to his ears. “Sorry.”

“Introduce us!” the shortest insisted, taking the other two by the hands as pulling them forward with an eager smile.

“Everyone, this is Sirius Black, my fiancé.” Remus gestured between them, and the four women beamed at him. “Sirius, this is Aunt Jen, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Allison, and Aunt Mary, my dad’s sisters.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Sirius said, holding a hand out.

“No need to be so formal,” the brunette grumbled with a teasing grin. “We have heard so much about you from Lyall. After those damned pictures—”

“Allison,” Jen hissed.

“—after the damned pictures,” Allison repeated with a pointed look. “I was about ready to drive up to Gryffindor myself and give that lousy son of a bitch a piece of my mind—”

“Allison!”

“—but Lyall talked me down and I have been waiting to meet you ever since.” She finished with a soft huff and gave his arm a quick squeeze. “Remus is a lucky boy to have you. It’s very exciting to see you in person at last.”

Sirius’ heart gave a happy little ka-thump and he smiled. “I’m glad to be here. Thank you for having me.”

“He is so polite,” Lisa said to Remus out of the corner of her mouth with a wink and a thumbs-up. “Good choice.”

“You know what I just realized? We haven’t said hello to Jules yet. We’ll see you in a few, yeah?” Without waiting for an official answer, Remus wrapped an arm around Sirius’ waist and practically carried him away from the table. Once they were out of earshot—and the aunts had busied themselves with one of the younger Lupins—Remus relaxed with a slow exhale. “I am…so sorry.”

“For what?”

“I had no idea they were going to corner you like that. I mean, I did, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be for another few hours. They tend to move in a pack at reunions, like sharks. Or wolves.”

“They’re really sweet.”

“They are,” Remus said grudgingly, though Sirius could read the affection dripping off him like his favorite book. “My dad’s the youngest of five, and I was the first nephew. You can imagine how that went.”

“Baby of the baby?”

“Exactly.”

“Can I ask one thing?” Remus nodded, visibly confused, and Sirius found he couldn’t keep his grin down any longer. “Duckling?”

“I hoped you didn’t hear that,” he groaned as they headed toward the kids’ play area beneath a large oak. “Long story short, it involved five-year-old me, a pond, and a sinus infection that made me sound like a duck when I sneezed.”

“Oh my god,” Sirius laughed, earning himself a light elbow to the ribs. “And the name stuck?”

“Considering she was the one that had to stay with me while my folks were working, she could call me whatever the hell she wanted. Please don’t ask her about it unless you want a thirty-minute TED talk about the ins and outs of my sinuses.”

“She’s a doctor?”

“No, she just overshares.”

“Sirius!”

Sirius looked up and saw a herd of small children racing toward them, led by his favorite person under the age of eighteen; Jules crashed into his legs and squeezed him tight around the waist. “Hey, I missed you!”

Jules propped his chin below Sirius’ sternum and stared up at him with the classic hazel-gold eyes that were far more common than Sirius believed before they arrived in the Lupins’ backyard. “I missed you, too! How’s the team? How’s Harry? Is he still super small or did he do that weird thing that babies do where their legs grow and the rest of them still looks normal? How was your flight? Did you have turbulence?”

Sirius thought for a moment. “Good, also good, growing normally, and yes.”

“Sweet! Come play cornhole with us!” Jules grabbed his hand and dragged him along the grass at the closest thing he could manage to a sprint with Sirius’ added weight—the pre-teen years had lent him gangly legs, though he didn’t seem quite sure how to use them yet. He looked more like a foal than a sixth-grader.

“What the hell is cornhole?” Sirius muttered as the flock of kids ran ahead to grab armfuls of beanbags.

Remus grinned. “Something I’m about to kick your ass at.”

------------------------------------

By the time the sun set, Sirius was exhausted. He had been introduced to dozens of people who looked just enough like Remus to be eerie, as well as plenty who seemed to have been acquired by one Lupin or another over the course of their life. Jules fluctuated between laminating himself to Sirius’ side and disappearing for an hour at a time, only to return more grass-stained and rumpled than ever as he begged Remus to swing him around by the ankles again. His ass had been thoroughly kicked at cornhole and freeze tag; it was a true miracle he hadn’t already passed out into a food coma. For all of his earlier griping, Sirius couldn’t think of a time in recent months when he had been more content.

“You’re a brave soul,” Remus remarked as they sat in the grass together and watched the fireflies wake. Though it was a warm night, it seemed the citronella candles littering the tables were doing their job of chasing off mosquitoes.

Sirius leaned his head on Remus’ shoulder. He smelled like grass and summertime and sunbaked warmth. “Am I?”

“Mhmm. I’m sure most people would have run screaming by now.”

“I like your family.”

A beat of silence passed; Remus rested his temple against the top of Sirius’ head. “I’m really glad to hear that. They’re weird and loud, but I love them.”

“And I love you.”

“Are you saying I’m weird and loud?”

“On occasion.”

“Asshole,” Remus laughed, giving him a nudge that hardly qualified as more than a gentle sway.

“Language, there are eight million kids around.”

“They’re busy.”

Sirius watched as small group run by in a wave of giggles, all clutching mason jars of fireflies with their names written on masking tape. “Thank you again for asking me to come with you.”

“Like I said, Aunt Jen would—”

“Remus.” He fell quiet. Sirius didn’t remember the last time he said Remus’ full name aloud. “Your family loves you so much. They’re everything I ever wanted growing up, and it means the world that you wanted to share them with me. All they want is to see you happy. It was amazing to finally meet them.”

“They really, really love you,” Remus said softly, his voice a little thick. “I had about twenty people tell me how wonderful you are. They all thanked me for bringing you, and not a single one mentioned the celebrity thing. Even my Uncle Jay didn’t say a word about hockey.”

“He was the one in the jersey?”

“I’ve known him for my entire life and I’ve never seen him without one.”

“Huh.” Sirius tucked his face closer to Remus’ neck and let the sound of the bullfrogs in a distant marsh lull him. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven. The adults will be up for a while, but the kids will start crashing soon.”

Footsteps on the cool grass rustled to their right and Sirius looked up. “Who wants pie?” Aunt Allison singsonged, breaking their quiet bubble with paper plates and utensils. “This one is blackberry, but we have peach, pumpkin, and a few others on the table if you’re still hungry.”

“Just a small piece, please,” Sirius said.

Allison paused and cocked her head, then burst out laughing. “Oh, you’re funny!”

“I am?”

“Don’t fight it,” Remus whispered.

“You are a growing boy,” Allison said as she cut a thick slice and plonked it onto his plate. “And there’s no such thing as too much pie.”

I’m 26, Sirius wanted to say, though he held it in. “Just a small one for me, as well,” Remus said.

“Ha!” Allison snorted. “You’re already too skinny. Eat your pie or you’ll end up a string bean like your father. The NHL might have given you muscle, but it’s useless if you don’t enjoy some of your favorite aunt’s—”

“—woah, hey now—”

“—pie once in a while.” Allison kissed the tops of their heads once both plates were secure and bowing in the middle. “I’m going to make sure the kids aren’t poking around in the river again. Sleep well, you two.”

Sirius stared down at his plate as she wandered away. “I’m honestly going to die if I eat this.”

“Yeah, please don’t make yourself sick on pie. You really don’t have to eat all of that. The aunts and uncles are convinced that none of us are eating properly once we turn eighteen.”

“Really?”

“I wish I was kidding. You’re going to sleep so well tonight, though.”

As if on cue, Sirius stifled a yawn with the back of his hand and cuddled under Remus’ arm again. A familiar shadow bounded over not two seconds later and he barely held down a groan. “Hey, can I join you?”

Remus shrugged. “ ‘course.”

“Sweet.” Jules settled himself across their laps, staring at the sky with his head pillowed on Sirius’ thigh. “Did you have fun? I’m really glad you could come.”

“I had a great time,” Sirius answered honestly. Now please move on so I can take a nap.

“Mom and dad and me got here yesterday, and Aunt Jen kept checking the door for you guys even though she knew you weren’t coming until today. She was worried you wouldn’t like us, I think.”

“That was never an option, Jules.”

“Yeah, I know.” A devilish grin flickered over his face. “Remus is the weirdest of all of us, and if you want to marry him—”

“Get off,” Remus grumbled, shoving Jules’ legs onto the picnic blanket. “You know, you were a lot nicer before you turned eleven. Can I return you and get a new one? I have the receipt somewhere.”

“Nope.”

“That’s all a birth certificate is, right?” Sirius raised his eyebrows. “If you bring it back in good condition, I hear they give you a ten percent discount.”

Jules scowled. “That’s so not true.”

“How do you think I got Regulus?”

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Remus asked with a pointed look. “Run along, problem child.”

“Of the two of us, I’m the least problematic.” Despite his words, Jules clambered to his feet and dusted his hands off over Remus’ head. “I’m not the one that got a secret boyfriend and got engaged in a year. I’m so easy. Mom and dad want two of me.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Remus sighed as he stretched out on the blanket. “They had a second kid because they wanted two of me.”

“You’re adopted.”

Remus cracked one eye open in disbelief. “No, I’m not.”

“How do you know?”

“Because—y’know what, go to bed. Or go find the stampede, I think they’re by the river.”

Sirius whistled lowly as Jules scampered off again. “That was impressive. Isn’t your aunt over there?”

“Yep.”

Realization clicked into place. “She’s going to make him go to bed.”

“Yep.”

“You’re brilliant.”

Remus smiled without opening his eyes, and tugged Sirius down by the sleeve to lay next to him. “You’re just figuring that out now?”

The stars were brighter than anywhere Sirius had ever seen; for a moment, he was struck speechless by the endless rivers of sparkling white overhead. He stared until his eyes burned from dryness, then put his head on Remus’ chest and kept on looking. There was no way he could tear his gaze from it. A few shooting stars streaked across the clear sky and he felt his heart skip a beat in pure amazement when he realized there was nothing else he would wish for in that moment. He could listen to Remus’ heartbeat and the sound of his new family talking against a backdrop of the night, relishing in a full belly and cool wind, and simply stay there for as long as he liked.

#sirius black #remus lupin #julian lupin #coops #lupin family #sweater weather #lumosinlove #my fic #fanfic #family reunion

[study-coffee-chicago]

Seasons of Med: Season 4 and Seasons of PD: Season 6: Of Loss and Letters (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister! Imagine)

As always, I do not own any quotes from Chicago Med 4x02.

Y/N's age: 17

Jay's age: 31

Will's age: 33

You sat in your English 11 class and wrote and wrote an essay for your test. Your hand was starting to cramp. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw someone's phone light up from the phone caddy.

Yes, that's right. Your high school now had a phone caddy where students had to put their phones every class. Each student was assigned a number and then that's where they put their phone during that hour. Some teachers didn't care and let you keep it on you, but some did.

Your phone lit up again. You so desperately wanted to look at your watch that was connected to your phone, but you knew that doing so would look like you were cheating, so you decided against it. And, you turned your attention back to your test.

It lit up again and this time your teacher had had enough and stood up to grab your phone.

"Sorry to interrupt your tests," she started, "but how many times do I have to tell you guys to put your phones away with the screen facing the whiteboard. That way it's not dis--" She sucked in a breath as a text came across your screen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one word: hospital. And, this caused her to read the text. "Y/N, please come with me."

You stood up, utterly confused, and then left the room.

"Firstly, let me say I didn't try to read your texts. I just saw it out of the corner of my eye and...it's important."

You believed this teacher. She was young, pretty fresh out of college, and one time when you came in for a review session, she made all of you guys brownies to snack on while you worked.

She handed you your phone. It was a text from Jay.

Dad's in the hospital.

Your breath caught in your throat. Was it something with his heart? Had he started drinking again?

"Can I--"

"You can go, Y/N. I'll call the office and have someone bring your books down there after class so you can pick them up there when you come to school later. Drive safe."

"Thank you."

You practically sprinted down the hallway and to your locker as another text came in from Jay.

If you don't answer in the next ten minutes, I'm calling school to get you out.

You finished shoving stuff into your backpack and then started on your way to the office. You went to sign out when one of the secretaries stopped you.

"I've got it, hun. You just take care of yourself." Your teacher must've called down.

"Thank you," you choked out and then left the building, dialing Jay's number as you walked.

"Jay!" you exclaimed when he picked up on the first ring. "What happened to Dad? I was taking a test and then my phone started blowing up. Is he okay?"

"Y/N, there was a fire at his apartment. He's in the ED at Med. Will will fill you in more when you get here." You could tell by the tone of his voice that it wasn't good.

"Jay, you can't just tell me that! There's gotta be more!"

"Y/N, you're about to drive. You'll be at Med in twenty minutes. I don't need you to get in a car accident. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?"

"Please." You got in your car and then turned your phone on speaker and started your car. "Can you tell me stories on my way there?" you asked Jay. "I need something else to focus on."

"Focus on the road."

"I mean listen to. I need something else to listen to."

"What kind of stories?" he asked.

"Can you tell me how Mom and Dad met?"

"You know how they met: it was at a White Sox game. Dad saw Mom stand up to buy some popcorn and said he fell in love with her at first sight. He must not have been a pain in the ass then. And, his favorite pastime probably wasn't yelling at people like it is now. Probably smiled more, too."

"Technically, he doesn't yell at me," you said. "Except when he was drunk before you started taking care of me and he finished the twelve steps."

"Oh, right. I forgot. I'm his favorite person to yell at," Jay said sarcastically. "He wasn't always an ass, though. He was actually excited to have a daughter at first. And then, his asshole buddies in construction changed his mind and made him think that women weren't his equals."

"Dicks," you muttered. "What did you and Will do when you found out that Mom was going to have me? Were you mad you weren't going to be the youngest anymore?"

"Nah, I was happy I'd have someone to pick on like Will picked on me."

"Hey!"

"Obviously I didn't follow through with that line of reasoning," he laughed. "Mom was telling us how we'd have to play tea parties with you and all that girly stuff. Me and Will obviously weren't too thrilled about that."

"Well, you're lucky I'm not a girly-girl then and didn't really play tea parties."

"That's because I taught you how to kick a soccer ball the minute you could walk. Shocked you didn't play that in middle school and now in high school," he added.

"I'm not competitive enough for that."

"Oh, believe me, we know. That's why you didn't play goalie: because one game you were goalie, you just sat down in the goal and started playing with the grass."

"Goalie was boring. And, you don't get a break; you don't get to sub-in. My favorite part of kiddie soccer was the snacks and juice boxes at the end."

"Don't forget those few times you scored goals during the games," Jay pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess that part was kinda fun."

"See? You had fun."

"Not really. But, I'm pulling into Med now. I'll gonna park and then I'll be in the ED."

"Okay, make sure you remember where you parked."

"Don't worry, I will."

You parked and then made your way into the ED waiting room.

"Miss, I'm going to need you to take a seat and wait to be seen," a nurse you didn't recognize said.

"Oh, no," you started. "I'm not hurt. It's my dad. He was in the fire and my brother called." You looked down at your feet, finally realizing the gravity of the situation. "My brother called and said he's in the ED. Um, one of my brothers is Dr. Will Halstead."

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey. Go right on in." She gave you a sympathetic look.

"Thank you."

You hustled into the ED and looked for Maggie or one of your brothers. You spotted Maggie first.

"Maggie where's--"

"Your dad's in Treatment One." She pointed you in the direction of the room and you made your way over there.

You entered the room at the same time as Dr. Rhodes. "You guys wanna fill her in?"

"What's going on?" you asked, worry evident in your voice.

Your dad started coughing and spit some bile into a bin, causing you to wrinkle your nose in disgust.

"Dad tried to play hero," Jay started to explain, "He forgot he was in his 60s with a bum ticker."

"Yeah, well, this is your fault to begin with," Pat Halstead said.

"Me?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, you stuck me in that fire trap."

"Please, can you two just not fight for once?" you complained.

"Pop, stop talking," Will urged.

Dr. Rhodes started doing an EKG and then ordered some tests, finally shutting your dad up...and saving you from another argument between Jay and your dad. Then, after he was done, he got called out to consult for Dr. Choi.

"I don't need all this," your dad complained once Dr. Rhodes had left the room.

"Calm down," Jay told him rudely. "You're getting yourself all worked up."

"What do you know? You're no doctor."

"Dad," you said.

"You had no right to sell my house!"

"You wanna talk about this again?" Jay practically yelled. "It was a wreck. You couldn't take care of the place."

"You just wanted my money!"

"Hey!" Will yelled, but it didn't stop the two...nothing ever did.

"You don't have any money you thankless old prick!" Jay yelled and then started to walk out.

"Jay!" Will yelled as you started to follow him out, hoping to calm him down. "Y/N, stay here," Will told you.

"Why?"

"I know you're gonna try to calm him down, but he needs to cool off by himself right now."

You huffed. "Fine." You turned back to your dad. "I don't think he really meant it. He was mad. Both of you say things you don't mean when you're angry. You two are a lot alike that way. Like when you said he wasn't a son of yours."

"Yeah, you should apologize for that one," Will agreed.

"Not until he apologizes for what he just said to me. Only then will I--"

Alarms started sounding and lights starting flashing. Will hit a button on the wall and two nurses rushed in.

"Will, what's happening?" you screamed. "What's happening to Dad?"

Will lowered the bed and then put his fingers to your dad's neck. "No pulse. Bag him."

"Wait, he's your dad," a nurse, who you recognized as Monique, said. "Shouldn't another doctor run the code?"

"You got one handy?" Will asked as he started chest compressions.

"Will, what's happening?" Jay asked as he re-entered the room.

"Jay, I need you to take Y/N out of here. Now."

"No, I wanna stay. What's going on?"

"Jay, now," Will stated again.

Jay placed on hand on your back. "Y/N, c'mon."

The alarms were still sounding, the lights still flashing.

"No!" you yelled.

"Y/N, I need room in here," Will told you. "The best thing you can do for Dad is to leave this room."

"No! I wanna stay!" you yelled again.

Jay looked at Will and he nodded. Then, you felt yourself being lifted off the ground by Jay.

"Put me down! Put me down!" You started kicking and swinging your arms, but he didn't budge. "Let me go back in there!"

Once safely out of the room--and having drawn the attention of most people in the ED--did Jay finally put you down. You tried to run back towards the treatment room, but Jay scooped you back up.

"Nope. We're going outside," Jay told you.

"Fine. But, once we're out there, I'm not walking with you."

You crossed your arms in frustration. After that little stunt he pulled back there, there was nothing he could say that made you want to be around him.

"That's fine. Just keep your phone on you."

***

As you kept walking down the sidewalk to the right--Jay had went left as soon as you walked outside because you didn't want to be around him--you spotted none other than Kelly Severide sitting on a bench, looking like he was currently throwing himself a pity party.

"Hey," you said as you walked up to him.

"Y/N? what are you doing out here?" he asked as he looked up.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Well, have a seat. You look like you've been crying."

"So do you," you pointed out.

"Stella's in the ED," he admitted. "She had a nasty inhalation injury. They uh, they might not be able to save her lung...which means she wouldn't be able to be a firefighter anymore." He looked back down.

"I'm sorry, Kelly. But, Stella's a fighter."

"Yeah, I know. She left home when she was eighteen and she didn't have the best home life before that either."

"She told me."

"She told you?" he asked, looking back up at you.

"Yeah, when she helped me get ready for homecoming, she told me that she gets it. She gets what it's like not having a mom to help you get ready for dances."

"Dude, we have a problem," Will said through the phone to Jay.

"Which is...?" Jay asked.

"Nat got called in. We don't have anyone to help Y/N get ready for the dance."

"Shit," Jay cursed. "Yeah, that really is a problem. Let me make some calls."

Jay hung up the phone with Will and then scrolled through his contacts. He thought about asking Hailey, but he wasn't super close with her yet, so she was off the table.

Then it hit him: Stella.

But he didn't have her number.

But he had Kelly's.

"Please don't be on shift, please don't be on shift," he muttered as the line started ringing.

"Hey, Halstead," Kelly answered.

"Hey, man. Listen, I've got a huge favor to ask you. Well, actually, it's more you asking Stella for the favor."

"What do you want me to ask her? She's right here."

"Well, it's Y/N's homecoming dance tonight and Nat was gonna come over and help her get ready and she got called into work. I was wondering if maybe Stella could come over and help Y/N out."

"Okay, I'll ask her."

He heard mumbling which he guessed was Kelly talking to Stella. "I'm gonna put her on," Kelly said after a minute.

"Okay."

"Hey, Jay," Stella said into Kelly's phone.

"Hey, Stella. Kelly explain everything to you?" Jay asked.

"He did. I'll be over there in an hour. Unless you need me sooner, then I can make it half an hour."

"An hour works great. Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver, really."

***

Jay had left to run to the store and had told you that Stella would be there in an hour. So, when someone knocked on your apartment door twenty minutes later, you were utterly confused.

You got up from the couch and looked through the peephole in your apartment door, seeing none other than frick and frack...otherwise known as Adam and Kevin.

"What are you two doing here?" you asked as you opened the door. "If you're looking for Jay, he went out to run some errands."

"No, we're actually here to see you," Kevin said.

"Me?"

"Yeah," Adam confirmed. "Aren't you supposed to be in a dress or something?"

"I'll put it on after Stella dose my hair," you told them. "Sorry, c'mon in."

The two entered the apartment, but you were still confused as to why they were here, and why they were here for you and not your brother.

"I guess we can teach her like this," Adam said.

"Might be better, too," Kevin started. "That way she won't rip her dress when we're first teaching her."

"Uh, excuse me. Right here, guys. What are you planning on teaching me?" you asked, annoyed that they were talking about you like you weren't even there.

"We are here, little Y/N, to teach you how to fight," Adam answered.

"First of all, don't ever call me little Y/N again. Second of all, no you're not. What's the real reason you're here?"

"That's it," Adam laughed.

You raised an eyebrow, so Kevin decided that he needed to clarify. "It's just for self-defense. Just in case a horny teenage boy comes up to you and starts grinding on you at the dance, so you'll know what to do."

You were still skeptical about this, but they did have a good point. You had to give them that.

"Okay, so what do I do? And, did Jay put you two up to this?" you asked.

"He didn't," Adam answered. "We came of our own free will. First thing you need to know about throwing a punch is doing it with a closed fist." You closed your fist. "Perfect. Now, when you throw the punch, make sure your arm is locked out."

You did as he said and your punch was a little flimsy, but you worked on it.

***

"Is this the right color you think? I tried my best," Jay said as he met Stella in the elevator on their way up to his apartment. He pulled out a sparkly black bottle of nail polish. Stella had asked if your nails were done, and when he said no, she asked if he could pick up some nail polish while she packed up all her hair stuff and makeup to help you get ready. He had reluctantly agreed. By looking at the picture of your dress he had on his phone--it was a two-piece dress where the skirt portion was long enough that it covered your belly. The skirt was white with a floral design and the top was black with sequins--and used that to figure out what color nail polish to pick. Stella told him to keep it simple, so he just picked up a black bottle with some sparkles.

"Perfect!" Stella exclaimed as she looked at the color.

They got off the elevator and then walked to your and Jay's apartment. When Jay opened the door, he was met with one of the weirdest sights he had seen in his life: Adam was rolling around on the floor in what looked to be pain and you were jumping up and down and celebrating and then giving Kevin a high five.

"What happened here?" Jay asked.

"Oh, hey bro," Kevin said.

"Hey, Jay," Adam gritted out from his spot on the floor.

"We were teaching Y/N self-defense in case someone grinds on her at the dance," Kevin supplied. "And, we got to the kneeing part."

"So, she kneed him where the sun don't shine?" Jay laughed.

"Yeah," Kevin confirmed.

"Good job, Y/N. Adam, I'll get you ice and a beer. Kev, you want one?" Kevin nodded and Jay handed the small bag containing the nail polish to Stella.

"So, here's the deal," Stella started. "Natalie got called into work, so you're stuck with me helping you get ready. I've got some nail polish that your brother so generously went out and picked up for you, a straightener, a curling iron, tons of bobby pins and little hair ties, and tons of makeup. Just tell me what you want and we'll get the ball rolling."

You helped Adam up off the ground and then started towards your room, Stella following close behind.

***

"You know, I never had a mom to help me with this kind of stuff either," Stella confessed as she was twisting your hair.

"You didn't?" you asked. "Who helped you?"

"My mom was in and out of my life in high school, so usually one of the nice neighbor ladies helped me with my hair. The makeup was all me."

"So, you know how it is. I feel like it's harder for me than for Will and Jay because they both had Mom for over twenty years. I only had her for nine."

"Well, if you ever wanna talk about girl stuff, I'm your girl. Now, anyone special you wanna dance with? Or are meeting him at the dance?" Stella asked.

"Well, there is someone." You blushed.

"Girl," she dropped your hair. "You can't just leave me hanging like that. Who is it?"

"His name's Caleb. He's really good friends with my friend, Andrea." Stella knew who this was. She knew that you had saved her life during the shooting half a year ago. "He's really cute. Tall, Brown hair. Blue eyes. One of the star players on the football team," you told her wistfully.

"Ooh, you got it bad," Stella laughed.

"I got what bad?"

"Your crush on this Caleb kid. You are crushing on him so hard, Y/N. Can't say I blame you. The popular kid is always the way to go...as long as he's not a douche."

"He's actually not. He's actually really nice."

"Well, does Caleb have a date to the dance?" Stella asked.

You sighed. "He does. Her name's Sasha and she's a total bitch. Excuse my French."

"Well, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: sooner or later, the dude sees his girl's true colors."

"I, uh, I thought about asking him to dance. I remember Jay saying when I was like four and he was going to his senior prom, that if he wasn't dating Allie and a girl asked him to dance, that he'd dance with her because it takes guts to ask someone to dance. But, since Caleb's got a date, that probably won't happen."

"Hey, if he's dancing solo and a slow song comes on, you gotta ask him to dance. Shoot your shot, girl."

"You're right. I'm gonna ask him to dance. I will ask Caleb to dance."

"That's the spirit! Now, we gotta get you looking extra hot so he falls in love with you when he's staring into your eyes while you two are slow dancing the night away."

You laughed and Stella returned to your hair.

***

Later that night, a slow song came on and Sasha was nowhere to be seen with Caleb. But, he was on the dance floor, near the back wall, all by himself. So, you asked him to dance. He said yes, and after, he even gave you a hug. Best dance of your high school career so far.

After you texted Andrea to tell her that you danced with Caleb because you had no idea where she was, the next person you texted was Stella. You knew she'd be hella excited for you.

You crushed on Caleb for a few months after that. But, then he got a new girlfriend and ended up cheating on her with not one, but two different girls. Needless to say, your crush on him died the second you found out this information.

"She loves you, you know," you said to Kelly.

"She told you this?" he asked.

"She didn't have to. Every time Stella sees you, or even when she talks to you, her face lights up."

"She's good for me. That's for sure."

You paused. You knew Kelly didn't have the best relationship with his dad and neither did Jay, Will, or even you. You also knew his dad had died a few months ago, around October and it was currently February. "Did you ever get mad at yourself?" you asked.

"About what?"

"When your dad died. You knew he wasn't the best person, but you were still sad."

"I'm sorry, Y/N. I don't understand where you're going with this," Kelly apologized.

"I know my dad wasn't the best person, hell he was neglectful and unfit to be a parent, still is. So, why do me and my brothers still see him? Why do I still feel sad and scared that he might die?" you asked. You knew this was something you should be asking your school counselor--you had started seeing her a lot this past year because of the shooting--but Kelly was here now. And, maybe he'd understand because he didn't have a very good dad either.

"It's because you remember how he used to be," Kelly said. "You, Jay, and Will all remember when he was a better person. When Benny died, I didn't feel like I was grieving current Benny. I was more grieving for the Benny I knew when I was five years old when he was a good dad. And, I never gave up hope that he'd become a better father as I grew up. When he died, I knew it would never happen. You're grieving the dad you used to know and the hope you might lose of him becoming a better man."

You nodded because you really had no idea what to say. You thought Kelly was right; maybe that was the reason why you were sad and fearful about the possibility of your dad dying. You two sat in silence after that, finding comfort in each other's presence, each hoping for the best, but trying to prepare yourself for the worst.

***

You walked into the ED, to be met with Jay storming out and Will quickly following after him. You ran after them.

When they finally stopped, you made your presence known. "Okay, someone wanna tell me what the hell's going on?"

"Dad's brain dead and Will, Will doesn't want a second opinion and just wants to let Dad die," Jay spat.

"A- Are you sure he's brain dead? Maybe you read it wrong?" you asked. There had to have been some kind of mistake. Your dad couldn't be brain dead; he couldn't be a vegetable.

"Y/N, I know this is a lot of information to take in, but the EEG, the thing that reads brain waves, showed that Dad's brain dead. Dr. Abrams read it and he's our top neurosurgeon."

"I still want a second opinion," Jay restated.

"Abrams is our top neurosurgeon, Jay. The opinion doesn't get any better than that," Will told him.

Jay scoffed. "So all your degrees, all that money, all those years in school, this is the best you can do?"

"Jay, Dad almost died two years ago. He's been living on borrowed time."

"Abrams didn't say Dad had no chance!" Jay protested.

"One thousand to one is no chance."

"So you just want to give up?" Jay clenched his fists at his side.

"I've seen a lot of patients in his condition--"

"There goes that doctor voice."

"I'm sorry, but I am a doctor," Will retorted.

Jay scoffed. "Yeah, we got that message. And Dad knew you thought you were better than us. We always came in second. Hell, Y/N came in second because you were away at med school! Who was looking after her when Mom was dying? Me and Dad. Who took her in because Dad's a shitty parent? Me. You weren't there, and now you wanna decide what happens to Dad?" He stepped closer to Will.

Will took a step closer to Jay as well. "You know that's not true, Jay."

"Yes, it is!"

Will opened his mouth and started to say something, but you weren't listening, you were too busy stepping between your brothers because you sensed a fight about to break out.

"Enough!" you yelled. Both Will and Jay looked down at you, shocked at your outburst. "Dad's fucking dying in there and you're fighting about old shit! Don't you see that it doesn't matter? Do you really want to spend your last moments with Dad fighting? Because I sure as hell don't."

Then, you moved away from them and made your way to the bathroom before you started bawling. You really didn't want to do that in front of the other people milling around the hospital.

Jay sighed and put his hands behind his head as he watched you walk off towards the bathroom.

"I never thought I'd say this," Will started, "but she's right. We can't be fighting right now."

"Yeah, I guess we shouldn't be doing that," Jay said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it."

"Guess me and Dad really are alike. Stubborn and quick to yell things we don't mean."

"I'm pretty sure all of us got the stubborn gene, even Y/N."

Then, The COO of the hospital, who Will introduced as Ms. Garrett walked up to them and told them that they had the full support and all the resources that the hospital had available to help their dad. This didn't seem like her at all, so Will excused himself to go talk to Ms. Goodwin. And, Jay figured this was as good a time as any to see how you were doing, as he hadn't seen you leave the bathroom yet.

***

Jay popped his head into the bathroom and since he only saw one stall in use and saw your shoes in that one, he entered the bathroom and locked the door.

He heard a sniffle. "Short Stack? You okay?" He paused, mentally kicking himself. "Stupid question, of course, you're not okay. I know you're in here," Jay said gently.

"Go away," you said through your tears.

"Y/N, you know I can't do that."

"I just wanna be alone...and for you and Will to stop fighting."

"We made up. Me and Will are fine. Can you please come out?"

You swallowed and frantically wiped your tears away and the snot that ran from your nose. Then, you walked out of the stall and immediately over to Jay and hugged him. "I'm sorry," you mumbled into his brown jacket. "I'm sorry for yelling and swearing. I just wanted you guys- I just wanted you guys to stop."

"I know, I know. Neither of us is mad at you. You had every right to be pissed at us."

"It's just- It's just... nevermind. It's stupid."

"Y/N, it's not stupid. Just tell me. I promise I won't laugh."

"You promise?"

"I promise," he confirmed.

You sighed. "I didn't get as much time with Mom as you two did and now I'm not getting as much time with Dad. You guys had both of them--" You drew in a shaky breath. "You guys had both of them at your high school graduations. I won't have that. I won't have that, Jay."

And that's when you crumbled and you just sobbed into Jay's jacket. When you were nine, you never really comprehended the number of things your mom wouldn't be there for, like your first high school dance, your first date, your first kiss, your high school graduation, your college graduation(s), your wedding, your possibly having a kid and her possibly having grandkids. Granted, your dad wasn't the best dad or even the best man in general, but now you'd have neither parent at any of those things, at any of those milestones.

Jay just held you as you continued to sob about all the things your parents wouldn't be there for, holding you just as your mom would hold him whenever he cried when he was younger.

***

You and Jay sat next to each other by your dad's bedside, the sounds of the vent that was currently keeping him alive were the only sounds that could be heard. Will came in and motioned for Jay to meet him outside the room.

"Be right back." He placed a hand on your shoulder.

"Be right outside," Will promised.

Outside of the room, Will explained that the reason Gwen Garrett wanted to keep your dad alive was that his bypass was 29 days ago. And that she just wants to keep your dad alive for one more day just so the hospital didn't take a hit.

"You think Dad would want this?" Will asked. "To stay alive just to buff some numbers?"

"No, no he wouldn't. But, me and Y/N talked while you tried to figure out what that Garrett lady wanted. Uh, Y/N didn't get as much time as we did with Mom and now she's getting less time than we are with Dad."

"Because she's a lot younger than us. What are you trying to say, Jay?" Will asked.

"I think Y/N should decide. She should decide whether or not we keep Dad on the vent because she had the least amount of time with him. She should get to decide whether or not she gets more time with him."

"Jay, I'm not trying to argue with you, but do you really think that's a good idea? Her decision could cause her a lot of trauma down the road if she ends up thinking she made the wrong choice in the future," Will pointed out.

"We could tell her our opinions and what we want, but tell her that ultimately, she gets to make the final decision. That way, she doesn't feel like it's totally on her," Jay suggested.

"And if she doesn't want to make that big of a decision?"

"We decide between ourselves."

Will sighed. Jay did make a good point. "Fine. But if she feels like shit for months, I'm blaming you."

"Add you to the list of people blaming me for bad shit in their lives."

"Are you lumping me together with criminals you put away?"

"Basically."

Will and Jay re-entered the room. "Why does it feel like he's squeezing my hand?" you asked.

Will sighed. He didn't want to crush your hope of your dad coming back, even though he knew it wouldn't happen, but he also knew that he couldn't give you false hope; he knew he needed to explain this to you.

"Those are just reflexes," Will answered. "I'm sorry, Short Stack, but they don't mean anything."

"They don't? He doesn't know I'm here?" You sniffled.

"He doesn't know," Will confirmed.

You nodded and continued to hold your dad's hand.

"Y/N, we have something to tell you," Jay started. You tore your eyes away from your dad and up to your brothers. "Me and Will decided that you should decide whether we keep Dad on the vent because you got the least amount of time with him."

"You- you guys want me to decide whether Dad lives or dies?" you asked.

Will nodded. "If you don't want to, me and Jay can decide between ourselves, but you can still tell us what you'd prefer. If you want to decide, we can let you do that. Or, if you want our opinions before you decide, that's fine, too."

"What do you guys think? I don't want to decide all by myself," you practically whispered.

And so, they explained to you how Garrett just wanted to keep your dad alive for one more day just to buff some numbers and how they didn't think he'd want to be alive just to do that, just to save the hospital from liability.

You also knew that there were one thousand to one odds against your dad coming back and that those weren't odds at all. He'd need a miracle. And, if there was one thing you knew about your dad, it was that he didn't believe in miracles. He believed in hard work, not miracles.

It was for these reasons that you said what you said next: "Let him go."

***

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber," Will started when you and Jay arrived at your dad's apartment a few days later to go through his stuff. Surprisingly, most of it had been spared during the fire. "You went after the person responsible for the fire, didn't tell anyone, and ended up getting shot."

"You got shot?" you yelled as you walked in.

"Nice going, man. She didn't know," Jay said, annoyed. He turned to you. "It hit the vest. I'm totally fine. I just have some bruising on my chest. Nothing to worry about."

"And you two tell me to be careful," you mumbled. "I should be telling you that."

"It's no use, Y/N," Will said. "I tell him all the time. He just never listens."

"You know you're not a cat, right Jay? You don't have nine lives."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Where are we starting?"

***

Jay looked down at the pictures he was going through. He always thought that his dad didn't make it to his police academy graduation. But, the photo in front of him proved him wrong: there, in his hand, was a picture that his dad took of him on stage, getting his badge pinned to his chest when he had graduated from the police academy with the date written on the back.

He put a hand over his mouth to stifle his sobs and keep you and Will from hearing them. But, he didn't know you were on your way to find him.

"Jay, Will's wondering if you want us to order pizza? You good with--" You stopped talking when you saw Jay sitting on the floor, staring at a photo with silent tears streaming down his face. "What's wrong?" You knelt down next to him.

Jay frantically wiped his tears away using the hand that wasn't holding the photo. "Sorry, yeah, tell Will he can order pizza."

"Jay," you said sternly. "What's wrong? And, don't you dare say nothing. Because you wouldn't let me say nothing, you'd bug me until I told you. So, if you don't tell me, I'm going to keep bugging you about it, just like you'd do to me."

Jay chuckled. "I really screwed myself over by using that parenting tactic, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did. Now, what's wrong?"

Jay sighed. The Halstead stubbornness was starting to show more and more now that you had been living with him. And, because of this, Jay knew that you wouldn't let up.

"I always thought Dad never went to my graduation from the academy." He set the picture on the floor between you guys. "But he did."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "You didn't know that?"

"Why would I? Did you know?" he asked, turning to look at you.

"Yeah. He had to leave early because he had to make sure he was home when I got home from school. That's why he couldn't congratulate you after. He never told you?"

"No, he didn't."

"You know the first thing he said to me when I walked inside?" Jay shook his head. "He said: your brother's a Chicago police officer. I'm proud of him. And your mother would be, too."

"He- he said that?" Jay asked, getting choked up once more.

"He did. He might not have said it, but he was so proud of you, Jay. So proud."

***

Will opened a cabinet to grab some paper plates for you three to eat your pizza off of. As he was grabbing them, his hand brushed up against something leaning up against the back wall of the inside of the cabinet. It wasn't one something, but multiple somethings. He furrowed his eyebrows and took out the entire stack of paper plates, causing the multiple somethings to fall to where the paper plates had previously been. Then, he took the mystery things out of the cabinet.

He gasped when he read the first one.

In his hand, he held six letters, two addressed to each of you, one from your mom and one from your dad.

"Will, what's taking so long?" Jay asked as he flipped open the pizza box. "Food's getting cold."

"I think the pizza's gonna have to wait, guys." Instead of grabbing the plates and bringing them to the table, he brought the letters instead.

"Those don't look like plates to me," Jay pointed out.

"Because they're not." He set the pile of letters on the table. "They're letters. Addressed to each of us."

"But, that's Mom's handwriting," Jay said, flabbergasted.

"What do they say?" you asked.

"Only one way to find out," Will said and reached for the two addressed to him.

You and Jay did the same.

You swore you could hear a pin drop as each of you slowly ripped opened the yellowing envelopes. The seals were easy to open because, since they had been sealed for so long, some of the stickiness was gone.

Will first started with the one from his dad.

Dear William,

I know I said a real man goes right to work. And, I know I was mad at you for doing what you wanted to do and becoming a doctor. But, I guess I just have to think of med school as on the job training...that you pay a ton of money for. You will never hear me say this out loud to you because you know as well as I do that I am as stubborn as they come and I hate admitting I was wrong. But, you did good, kid. Both you and Jay did.

I'll keep this short because, if you're reading this, that means I'm gone and I'm assuming you, Jay, and Y/N are busy with the arrangements. But, just know that even though I don't say it a lot, I love you and I'm proud of you, son.

Love, your father,

Pat Halstead.

Will wiped below his eyes. His dad did say he was proud of him when he was out of surgery two years ago. And, Connor had told him everything his dad had said about him before he went under the anesthesia. But, it was nice to have that in writing because it would be there forever.

It was like all three of you had the same idea to open the letter from your dad first. Your logic was that you figured your mom's would make you cry more, so you figured you'd open that last.

Jay fought to keep his eyes dry as he read the letter from his dad. He regretted the last words he had said to him, now more than ever.

Dear Jayson,

I know you think I hated you for going into the military straight out of high school. But, I didn't. I was just scared, scared I was going to lose you. One thing you don't know is that I tell everyone I work with that you're a war veteran. I love bragging about you and telling people about your accomplishments. They always say I should be so proud of you. And, I'm sorry I never tell you that, but I am proud of you, really proud of you. You fought for our country and saved countless lives over there. Just keep saving the innocent, Jay. That's what you seem to do best...and fight against the people who tell you that you can't do it, just like how you fought against me when I told you not to join the military.

I'll keep this short because if you're reading this, that means I'm gone. But, always remember that I am so proud of you and that I love you so much.

Love, your father,

Pat Halstead.

His dad was proud of him. And now he had a reason as to why his dad didn't want him to join the military: he was scared. And, Jay told himself that if he had his own kids, he'd probably do the same thing because he had seen the horrors of battle and he wouldn't want any of his kids to go through that.

Finally, you read yours. And, as you read it, you were crying more than your brothers. You really didn't care, though.

To my daughter,

As I am writing this, you are nine years old and want to be a doctor. I don't know how that will pan out or if you'll change your mind on what you want to do. But, I am here to tell you, don't let anyone or anything stand in your way of what you want to be. Don't let Will stand in your way and don't stand in his shadow if you become a doctor. Strive to be better than him. Compete with each other if you end up going into the medical field; a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. Be smart and keep your brothers in line because Lord knows they're both as stubborn and as reckless as they come.

Love, your father,

Pat Halstead.

So, Jay was right: Dad wasn't always a sexist pig. And, Kelly was right as well: you missed your old Dad, the one who believed you could do anything, not the one who you knew when you were 13 to now, who was drunk, unfit to parent, and sexist as hell.

Then, Will opened the letter from his Mom.

To my first baby, Will,

First of all, let me say that I love you so much, more than you can ever imagine. I know you'll be a great doctor. Just, be smart, and try to be a little less stubborn because I'm assuming you're going to have to work with other doctors. Find it in you to compromise. I don't know what to say in this because me and your dad agreed that you and Jay and Y/N will get these letters when he's passed as well, so I don't know how far into the future you'll be seeing this. So, I figured I'd leave you with some life tips.

Mom's life tips to Will:

1. Never, ever lay your hands on or disrespect a woman. If you do, I will come down from heaven and smite you myself. This goes for Jay, too.

2. Make sure you help your girlfriend or wife with the household chores, like cleaning and cooking. You never leave all it to her. Again, same goes for Jay.

3. I'm sorry to say this, but never grow out a long beard. You have red hair and if you grow out a beard, you'll look like an overgrown leprechaun. Sorry, sweetheart.

Love,

Mom (Amelia Halstead).

PS. In this envelope you will find $500. This is to help you with med school loans, malpractice insurance, or if you're reading this way into the future, to help you with bills, and your own little family.

Will let out a small chuckle as he read the last life tip. And, thankfully, he had never decided to grow out his beard. And now he never would.

Jay looked down at his mom's loopy cursive handwriting and began to read.

To Jay, my second baby,

First of all, I love you more than you can ever imagine. And I am so, so proud of you for choosing to serve your country. I don't know whether you'll decide to stay in or leave the rangers, but I'm sure you'll be amazing at whatever it is you choose to pursue. And Jay, please keep in mind that you only have one life. Don't be crazy and reckless out there. I don't think you will be, but I'm just reminding you because I'm your mom and that's what moms do, they nag you and they worry about you no matter what. And, if you're reading this, that means your dad has passed away as well. Don't take this the wrong way, but please go see a therapist. You've fought in a war and seen terrible things overseas (I know because you once had a nightmare at home. I just didn't tell you that I knew this) and you've lost both of your parents. You should talk to a professional, sweetheart. But, always remember that I will be with you when your nightmares get rough. And, if Y/N wants to follow in your footsteps and go into the military, talk to her about it, but don't fight her on it like Dad did to you. Finally, I will leave you with some life tips.

Mom's life tips for Jay:

1. Never, ever lay your hands on or disrespect a woman. If you do, I will come down from heaven and smite you myself. I already wrote this in Will's letter as well.

2. Make sure you help your girlfriend or wife with the household chores, like cleaning and cooking. You never leave all it to her. Again, this is in Will's letter, too.

3.  I know you want to save everyone, Jay. And, you have a big heart, but you also take things personally. Just know that you can't save everyone and that is okay. Be kind to yourself and think of all the people you did save as opposed to those who you couldn't. It's okay to grieve for them, but don't let your grief last forever.

Love,

Mom (Amelia Halstead).

PS. Also in this envelope is $500. Use it towards therapy. But, if you already made the leap to go to therapy, one I am proud of you, and two, use it for something else. Donate it to veterans in need maybe. Or, use it to help pay off loans if you decided to go to college if you ended up leaving the military. Or, if you're reading this way in the future, use this money to help with bills and your own little family.

Maybe Jay would start therapy again now. He had gone a while ago, but after his meds stabilized his nightmares again, he stopped going. Maybe he'll go again because as he always said, his mom was a smart lady.

You were ugly crying as you opened the envelope and read the first few words that your mom had written.

To my baby girl,

Y/N, I love you so much and you will always be my baby girl no matter how old you get. I know I only got nine years with you, but know that I will always be with you in your heart no matter where you are. I was so excited when I found out I was having a girl and I'm so sorry we didn't get as much time on earth together as we should have. Continue doing what you love. Don't let your brothers take Beary from you. And, don't take no for answer when someone tells you that you can't do something just because you're a girl. Us girls are strong. As for the future, sweetheart, you have the kindest little personality right now. Never lose that. But, at the same time, don't let anyone take advantage of that. Stand up for yourself and stand up for others in need. I am going to leave you with more life tips than I left your brothers because they're older and should know a few more things than you at the moment...and they aren't girls.

Mom's life tips for Y/N:

1. And, don't laugh at this, but it works. When shaving down there, apply deodorant down there after. It helps to keep razor bumps and itchiness at a minimum.

2. Don't go for the first man that says I love you. You need to make mistakes before you fall truly and madly in love.

3. Girls can be cruel in middle school and high school. It's okay if you only have one or two true friends because having a few super close friends is better than having lots of distant ones.

4. Don't depend on any man for anything. Before moving in with your boyfriend and/or getting married, make sure you are financially stable all by yourself. That way, you will be able to leave him if things go south.

5. When you do get married, always keep money hidden away or have a secret bank account that your husband doesn't know about. That way, if things get really bad really fast, you can get out of there as fast as possible.

6. Finally, and I'm assuming Dad, Will, or Jay has already told you these things, but if they haven't, here they are. When drinking, watch the bartender make your drink. Don't take drinks from anyone. And don't leave your drink unattended.

I love you, sweetheart.

Love,

Mom (Amelia Halstead).

PS. Also in this envelope is a $20 gift card to Build-A-Bear. If you are too old to use it, save it for your kids. Or, if you have kids, give it to your kids. There is also $480. This can be used to pay for dresses for school dances, for college, and if you're reading this way in the future, to start a stash of money that your husband doesn't know about, or to help with bills and your own little family.

All three of you were in tears. But, you always knew that both of your parents would be with you and that they were so, so proud of each of you and that they loved each of you more than the world itself.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Leave a comment if I made you cry! I got a request of Kevin and Adam teaching Y/N how to punch, so I incorporated it into this imagine. To the anon who requested that, I hope you liked it! Anyway, please reblog/like and comment to tell me what you think! As always if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I’ll add you! Finally, liked the imagine? Buy me a coffee here. 

taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88​

#jay halstead #will halstead #chicago med #chicago pd #jay halstead imagine #will halstead imagine #jay halstead fanfic #will halstead fanfic #will halstead fanfiction #jay halstead fanfiction #halstead sister #halstead sister imagine #halstead brothers #halstead bros #chicago pd imagine #chicago pd fanfic #chicago pd fanfiction #chicago med imagine #chicago med fanfic #chicago med fanfiction #writing #my writing #writer #fanfiction #fanfic #imagine

[professorrw]

Truth or Dare

Pairing: gn reader x Wanda Maximoff

Requested: Yes

Warnings: smut, 18+, intoxication, thigh riding, fingering, big sister dynamic Natasha

A/N: Requests are open for one-shots, headcanons, imagines, and drabbles for My Hero Academia, Harry Potter, and Marvel! My taglist is open so if you’d like to be on that just tell me! Please like, comment, and reblog!

Liking someone, especially your friend, is hard. It isn’t hard to like someone, it’s hard to tell them. Wanda was a goddess in your eyes and you had a serious crush on her. Natasha gave you hell over it. She was like a big sister to you. 

You joined the Avengers when you were pretty young and she immediately took you under her wing. After being with them for a year she was basically your family, along with the rest of the Avengers. When Wanda joined you were glad to have someone closer to your age. It was refreshing to have a girl to hang out with other than Natasha. Not that something was wrong with her.

That friendship changed to something more on your end, or at least you thought it was only on your end. The part that Natasha found so funny was that you were so oblivious. It was obvious she liked you back but you didn’t seem to think so. But since Natasha knew and neither of you would act, she took matters into her own hands.

“Okay, let’s play a game guys!” she shouted.

“Oh how swell! A game!” Thor responded.

Clint groaned as he came out of his room and sat down on the couch with the growing crowd. You made a circle, some of you on the couch and some on the floor. You and Wanda were on the floor next to each other with Natasha sitting beside you.

“Okay so what’s the game?” Tony asked.

“Truth or dare, a simple kids game.”

“I can’t believe you think I’d play this sober. Wait I’ll be right back,” Tony said before he ran off to the kitchen. You all waited for him and he came back to the living room with bottles of alcohol and glasses. Clint was in the same boat as Tony. He sure as hell didn’t want to say or do anything and remember it. He was the first to take a glass and fill it with whiskey.

The rest of you followed and the game didn’t start until everyone had at least downed a whole cup.

Natasha started the game and it soon kicked off. The game of truth or dare started innocently and you more or less just made fun of each other. That was until Nat dared Thor to take off his shirt and then Tony thought he just had to take his shirt off too. 

The game quickly became more and more scandalous after that, more people taking off clothes, including you. All kinds of stuff was being dared at that point. Tony dared Bruce to take a shot off of Clint’s stomach and he was so wasted that he actually did it. It seemed like the only people not completely drunk were you, Natasha, and Wanda.

You didn’t want to do something you would regret so you laid off after two glasses. Wanda wasn’t big on drinking so she only had a cup. But Natasha was staying as sober as possible for the scheme she was working up.

Multiple rounds went by and it was Natasha’s turn again. She tapped her chin and looked around the group before her eyes landed on you. A mischievous grin spread on her face as she asked you, “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.”

“Okay… is it true you like someone in this room?”

Your mouth dropped open before you answered. “Yes.”

And even though the group was drunk and intoxicated this got their attention. They knew you were bisexual so it could be any of them. Wanda immediately turned to look at you. Out of everyone she was the most shocked. Her stomach fluttered, partly from hope and partly with stress. Of course she hoped you liked her but she also knew you could like any of the other hot people you hung out with.

“Who is it?” Wanda asked.

“You have to wait your turn! Right now it’s Y/N’s,” Natasha said.

Your face was hot and you were rushing to get the attention off yourself. “Wanda truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Um… have you seen Pietro naked?”

She did a half scoff, half laugh at your dumb question. “Yes I have, he’s my brother. Though it wasn’t pleasant, I'll tell you that.”

“Come on now. I’m sure I have all the ladies falling for me,” Pietro retorted.

Natasha’s plan was working wonderfully and she was shaking with anticipation for Wanda’s turn. She knew Wanda and she also knew that if Wanda found out Y/N liked someone she would have to know who it was.

“Wanda it’s your turn. Pick someone.”

“Y/N truth or dare?” Wanda asked.

“Dare.”

“I dare you to kiss the person that you like.” Wanda had to pull herself together for this one. There was a possibility that the person you would be kissing wouldn’t be her. She watched you with unabated attention as your face flushed even further. It took you a minute to, what she assumed, gather your courage.

You turned to her and cupped her cheek. The kiss was fast. You were already embarrassed and scared but it melted away when Wanda pulled you back in. The group around you whistled and cheered as their teammates made out right in front of them. Natasha sat back with a pleased smile. Her work there was done.

When you parted you were both out of breath. All you could do was stare at Wanda. You were relieved and filled with joy. She didn’t outright say it but you could tell from your kissing that she reciprocated your feelings.

“Okay guys I think this game is done!” Nat shouted. She was met with multiple boos but you gave her a grateful look. She winked back at you and ushered you out of the room. “Go! You two have things to talk about.”

You sheepishly smiled and looked at Wanda, who was positively beaming. You walked to your room and flopped onto your bed. Maybe if you closed your eyes you would wake up and find it was all a dream. Wanda sat on the bed next to you and giggled. You opened your eyes and found out that it wasn’t a dream.

You really kissed Wanda and she kissed you back. What a day. After that you two talked and made your relationship official. It was an understatement to say that you were giddy with excitement. You gushed to Natasha constantly about how much you loved Wanda and after months of you two dating it died down. Being with Wanda was so natural it just felt right.

You were closer than ever, not just mentally but physically. A bonus of your relationship was that you had free roam of your gorgeous girlfriend. You waited a few months before you had sex together. You didn’t want to rush anything and Wanda was okay with that. She was content with kissing you but when you had been dating for four months and you started making moves she was excited.

You had been sitting on the couch together by yourselves and your hand was rubbing Wanda’s thigh. With each stroke you got closer and closer to her pussy until you were actually brushing a hand on it. Her breath hitched and you looked at her for confirmation. She nodded and you were quick to pick her up and take her to your room.

You set her on your bed and dissolved into kissing her. Your eyes were closed but you could hear the lock on the door clicking and assumed Wanda had shut the door with her powers. You smiled against her lips and she let out a little breathless laugh. You left her lips and traveled down to her jaw. Her nimble fingers threaded into your hair and she tilted her head back to give you better access to her throat.

Your hands were at either side of her body and one of your thighs was in between her legs. She scooted further down until she was rubbing against your thigh. You realized just a second later and quit kissing her neck.

“Lay down,” she said. You did as she asked and switched spots with her. She was on her knees just out of reach of you. She slid her shorts and underwear down and your breath caught in your throat. She looked so absolutely beautiful it was like nothing you’d ever seen before. She stayed in that same position, shorts pulled at her knees while a hand snaked down to her cunt.

She swallowed thickly and suppressed the need to touch her. You would get your time, right now she was getting herself ready. From what you could see Wanda was fingering herself, and doing a good job of it too. She was biting her lip and her eyes were shut. Her face could be described as blissful. You still thought she looked like a goddess, like a painting.

She quit sucking on her lip and let it go with a pop. Your whole body was tingling and your mouth was open in a trance. Every part of you wanted her, to make her feel good.

“Wanda come here,” you whined.

She smiled and pulled her hand away from her vagina. She crawled on top of you, cunt hovering over your thigh. You held her steady with hands on her waist. She was holding onto your headboard that was a few inches above your head as she lowered herself. She moved back and forth on your bare thigh and it soon had your girlfriend’s natural juices on it.

You raised the hem of her top and stuck your head underneath the fabric. You planted a line of kisses from her belly button to her cleavage before you pulled her bra down so her nipples popped out. You took one of the hard buds in your mouth and sucked on it. Wanda moaned above you and started moving faster.

She was grinding against you and you were sucking on her sensitive boobs, both actions working her into a frenzy. You kept on sucking and gently biting, even taking a hand and cupping Wanda’s ass with it.

While your mouth was attached to her chest your hand was attached to her butt, kneading and squeezing the plump flesh. You were still suckling when you heard her moan out, “I’m about to cum.”

You took your head out of her shirt so you could see her when the moment came. “Come on, cum for me darling.”

Her face twisted and then smoothed when you felt the slick, sticky cum on your thigh. She slid against you once more, wiping the cum off of her. When she was off and laying next to you you gathered it on your finger and popped it into your mouth. The savory taste filled your mouth and you made a long mmm sound when you were finished.

You pulled Wanda close to you and she rested her head on your chest.

“You taste good,” you whispered.

She giggled, “I love you.”

#wanda maximoff #wanda #wanda maximoff oneshot #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x you #scarlet witch #scarlet witch fanfiction #scarlet witch oneshot #scarlet witch x you #scarlet witch smut #gender neutral reader #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral fanfic #marvel #marveloneshot #marvel one shot #marvelsmut #marvel fanfiction #marvel fluff #avengers #avengers fluff #avengers fanfiction #avengers smut #avengers x reader #avengers x you #avengers x yn

[yikesharringrove]

Egg the Cat

Chapter 1

Read on Ao3

-

“Egg! Dinner!” 

Steve shook the container of dry food. The sound usually had Egg sprinting into him, yelling loudly through the house for her food. 

But she wasn’t coming. 

“Eggy!” He shook it again, heading out of the kitchen to see if maybe she couldn’t quite hear it. 

But still, no screeching, no pattering of little paws. 

“ Egg! ” He was beginning to feel, not good. 

She always came. Usually didn’t even let Steve out of her sight. 

He put down the container, racing up the stairs. 

He tore apart his bed, hoping to find big eyes staring at him, hoping to hear disgruntled mewing. 

“Egg, where are you girl?”

-

Billy kicked at a rock on the side of the road. 

The sun was beginning to set as he meandered down the main street, looking at the pitiful downtown. 

They had arrived a few days ago, spending all that time unpacking the moving truck, setting up their little house. 

Fuck Hawkins. 

He hated being landlocked. 

Hated being stuck in a shitty town. 

Hated that three days in, three days, and his dad has already taken his keys, has already slammed him against several of the walls in that house, has already kicked him out for the evening. 

He kicked the rock as hard as he could down an alleyway. 

He was met with a fucking scream. 

“Uh, hello?” It sounded like, like a kid was down there.

He was cautious, squinting into the shadowed alley. 

There was another shriek, and then yellow eyes peering at him. 

“ Oh .” 

It was a cat, a tiny little black cat. 

It yelled again.

“Loud baby, aren’t ya.” He crouched down, let the cat sniff around him. It had a collar on, and Billy got a look at the name. Egg Harrington. 

“Okay, who names a fucking cat Egg .” The cat looked at him. Meowing softly. 

He scooped it up, setting back down main street. 

-

“Egg!” 

Steve didn’t give a fuck anymore. 

He had his head sticking out his driver’s side window, driving slowly through town with his headlights as bright as possible, yelling her name. 

He was far beyond panicked, he had settled nicely in losing his shit. 

He needed to find her, needed to find her before someone else-some thing else- found her. 

He pulled over abruptly, parking his car. His baseball bat was tucked in his backpack as he set off on foot, armed with two flashlights and lots of batteries. 

The sun had set, and Steve was out here, looking for a black cat in the dark. 

“Egg! Please just come here. Come home with me, Honey, come on!”

He looked down each alleyway, shouting his head off like a fucking lunatic. 

But he had to find her. 

He had called Nancy to help him look, nearly in tears over the phone, begging for her to come out with him, only to be met with a flimsy excuse of watching her sister after dinner. 

He couldn’t really fault her, as he had to get out and search for his girl. 

He slumped against the diner wall, itching for a cigarette. But he had promised Nancy he’d quit, hadn’t had one in months. He settled for coffee, pushing his way into the diner. 

The waitress smiled brightly at him. Her name was Sylvia. She’d worked here since Steve was a kid. 

“Just you, Hun?”

“Yeah, Sylvia. Thanks.” She led him to a booth, tucked back in the corner. 

“Weird to see you here before midnight. You gonna actually get some food tonight?” The all-night diner had been Steve’s go to sanctuary for coffee after a particularly shitty nightmare. 

Which meant he was in there a few times a week. 

“Probably not. I’m just out looking for-”

His heart fucking stopped. 

He heard her. 

He heard his Egg.

Her yells were unmistakable, and he whipped around, saw her wriggling and writhing in some guy’s arms. She was looking right at Steve with those big yellow eyes, pupils wide and round.

Steve didn’t even register himself moving, just slid his arms around Egg, and held her close to his chest, burying his face in her fur. 

She purred loudly, relaxing immediately against him. 

“I take it you’re the fucker that named him Egg .”

Steve blinked slowly, finally registering who he had stolen his cat back from. 

“Named her Egg.” The guy just raised one sharp eyebrow. 

Yeah, Steve has never seen this guy in his life. 

He’d remember if he had. 

“Still a dumb name.”

“I was a kid, okay?” The guy just studied him for a bit, before his face cracked, smirk settling on his lips. 

“She’s cute.” Steve smiled back, settled himself in the booth opposite. “Loud as all fuck.”

“Yeah, she’s always been a yeller.” Steve leaned over the table, holding out his hand. “I’m Steve Harrington.”

“Billy Hargrove.”

Billy shook his hand. 

Steve Harrington. 

Billy liked his name. 

Well, honestly, he’d probably like any name as long as it was attached to this guy. Billy shook his head. 

None of that here. 

“Thanks for taking care of her.” Steve was looking down at Egg, scratching between her ears. 

She was perched on his lap, looking up at him like he was the whole world. 

It was the softest shit Billy had ever seen. 

“She’s sweet. Lost her damn mind when she saw you, though.” And then warm brown eyes were back on Billy, and it was genuinely difficult not to cow under them. 

“We’re very best friends.” Steve’s smile was sunshine. Just as warm and bright as his stupid fucking eyes. His stupid cheeks had a smattering of moles on them. Billy could see them dotting his neck too. 

He wrenched his eyes away from them. 

“That’s a little bit lame there, Harrington.” Billy couldn’t bring himself to call him Steve. 

He’s not allowed to be on first name basis with this guy. 

Steve raised one eyebrow, pursing his perfect pink lips-

Fucking come on, Billy. Don’t look at the fucker’s lips.

“How very rude of you. I’ll inform you, I used to be hot shit at the old high school.”

“You graduated?”

“No, I’m a senior. Just, you know, not hot shit anymore. Cold shit.” Billy barked a laugh, the cat looking wildly at him. 

“Fuckin’ cold shit .” He shook his head, fiddling with the laminated menu in front of him. “I’m gonna be a junior. Just like, by the way.”

“You new in town?” Steve smiled brightly at the waitress as she poured him a cup of coffee. Billy wrinkled his nose as he proceeded to dump sugar into it, rounding it off with four creams. 

Billy just kept his plain. 

“Moved here a few days ago. From California.”

“Jesus, why ?” Egg was currently staring back at Steve, pawing at his stomach. 

Billy’s heart nearly fell outta his asshole as Steve lifted up the hem of his sweatshirt, Egg tucking herself close to his body as he pulled it back down. 

He had smooth pale skin. Had even more fuckin’ moles, and sweet God, the fucking hair. His happy trail was dark, sinking down into the waistband of his jeans. 

Billy’s mouth was dry. 

Egg meowed softly from under his sweater. 

“My, uh, my dad remarried. He wanted to have a fresh start, or whatever.”

“No, I just mean, why here? This town is a shithole.”

“Yeah, I could see that.” Steve kicked him under the table. Billy ignored the way his stomach flopped. 

“Don’t be rude .”

“You just said it was a shithole.”

“I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m allowed to say that.” Steve broke off a small piece of one of Billy’s strips of bacon, holding it down the collar of his sweater. 

Egg meowed at him, no doubt taking the bacon. 

“Besides, you didn’t answer my question. Why here ?” Billy shrugged. 

He doesn’t really think telling Steve the truth would completely fly. 

After all, his dad’s a lot smarter than Billy has ever wanted to give him credit for. 

“Something about small towns having nice communities.” Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, they’re nice until everyone talks shit behind your back.” He picked off another piece of bacon, dropping it down his sweatshirt as well. His tone had shifted, his body slumping forward a little bit. The cat in his sweatshirt squirmed a little. 

“You say that like you know from experience.” Steve shot him a glare. 

“Remember how I said I’ve lived here my whole life?” He rolled his coffee mug between his hands. 

“That bad, huh?” Steve shrugged. 

“Might be better for you.”

“Doubt it.”

Steve’s sweater gave a sharp mreow. He put one hand against her, jostling her like one would a baby.

“I should get her home. She needs dinner.” He pulled out the neck of his sweater, smiling at the cat in there. “Thank you for taking care of her. Scared the shit outta me when I realized she was gone.” Billy’s breath caught in his chest when Steve looked back at him. “Let me pay for your dinner.”

Billy had the no ready on his lips, but Steve was already digging into his wallet, pulling out a crisp twenty, placing it under his mug. 

He stood up, holding beneath the lump still in his sweatshirt, cradling Egg close to him as she curled tighter. 

“Thanks again. I really woulda lost my shit if anything bad had happened to her.” And he gave Billy another smile, one so sweet and full of fucking sunshine it only made him fucking ache for California. 

Billy just nodded at him, pointedly didn’t look at his ass as he walked away. 

Because his dad uprooted the whole family to deposit them here. Where Billy would probably be hunted like Frankenstein’s fuckin’ monster by an angry mob of villagers if he let himself look at other boys’ asses as they walked away. 

He just finished his food. 

Left the bacon Steve had picked pieces off of for last. 

#i did it! #egg the cat #here she is #this whole ass fic about a fictional cat of a fictional character thanks #yikes writes #steve harrington #billy hargrove #harringrove #nice