#jason and hazel (both got brought back to life at one point. close the doors of death and poof.. bye guys 😔)

[silima]

ok new ask game: if u rewrote hoo and had to kill four of the seven (sticking with the rule that only 3 get to survive the quest), who would u kill

#personally i think: #jason and hazel (both got brought back to life at one point. close the doors of death and poof.. bye guys 😔) #frank (cuz the stick thing. seriously how did he survive this many books) #and i guess leo too lol since he sacrifices himself or w/e. #txt #tbh this would be a lot more fun if the seven swaps out percy&annabeth for reyna&nico just bcz percabeth has mega plot armor

[donttouchmeimwriting]

Argo ch. 2

Friday the 13th - Friendship/Romance - Jason Voorhees/OC M/M ship

2084 words, 3rd person POV

I love to hear feedback on my fics so please don't be shy! You can also tell me your thoughts on anon if you don't want your name on your comments!

Cross-posting on FFN under PyroTheWereCat

...

Meeting Lijah face to face threw off Jason's rhythm for the rest of the day, and for the entire day after. He had no idea what to do with himself. He could go home, but his mother would want progress by now and he did not want to try to explain how he let Lijah go when even he didn't know exactly why he did it. He could start planning the killings of the other counselors, but he couldn't focus long enough to think about that. His mind was stuck on Lijah, and he determined the only way to get unstuck was to see him again. He had to know why he wasn't afraid and treated him so kindly. There had to be some sort of motive.

Darkness fell over the camp that Friday night, and Jason patrolled the outskirts until every last fire went out and all noise had subsided. His blood was on fire, and he could not rest until his curiosity was sated. He quietly crept to the counselor cabins, searching for number five. Would Lijah be alone? Was this a good idea to come here at all? Jason berated himself internally for his interest in this person. This was stupid. Why was he here? He could easily just kill them all and return to his mother as usual. What was different this time?

There, a little distance from the other cabins, Jason saw a large number 5 painted on the side of the building. The lights were off, save for one room where the soft yellow glow spilled out into the woods where Jason stood. He steeled himself, prepared to fight if an ambush awaited him. Not quite ready, but ready enough, he approached the window and peered inside.

Lijah's bedroom was relatively tidy, minus the small heap of dirty clothes in one corner, and some posters with ragged edges and some tears that were taped to the walls. A dresser stood on the right side of the room next to the door, a small radio and some books resting atop it. Above the dresser hung a simple mirror, and it reflected Lijah's slim legs as he lay on the bed on the opposite end of the room. Jason turned his gaze to the left, seeing Lijah in a thin t-shirt and boxer briefs, reading a book on his bed. Was there ever a time he did not look so at peace?

Jason contemplated simply letting himself in, but he felt compelled to avoid scaring Lijah as long as he could. He sighed heavily and knocked on the window, hoping this wasn't the worst decision he could possibly make. Lijah gave a small start at the sound and turned to see who had made it. To Jason's surprise, Lijah's eyes lit up and he smiled as he set the book down and hopped off of the mattress. He lifted the window open and stepped aside for Jason to climb through.

"Hey!" Lijah greeted cheerfully, "I was hoping I'd get to see you again!"

Jason awkwardly clambered into the room, his size proving troublesome for the space provided by the window. He grunted as he heaved himself through, but he managed without Lijah's offered assistance. He closed the window behind him and turned back to Lijah, the closeness of the walls and ceiling emphasizing just how much of a height and width difference there was between them.

"Have a seat!" Lijah insisted, patting the bed, "Make yourself at home. I was just reading a few chapters to make myself tired enough to sleep, but I can stay up to hang out with you."

Jason sank into the mattress, watching Lijah the entire time. Was something wrong with him that he didn't perceive a threat from Jason? Or maybe he was just leading him on and tricking him into trusting him, and then he would turn against him later. Lijah stepped over to his dresser to retrieve one of the books. Jason saw that it was a spiral bound notebook with a pencil jammed in the binding. Lijah brought the notebook to the bed and climbed up to sit next to him, folding his legs underneath himself.

"I figured since you don't talk, this might help if you want to tell me something about yourself or ask me questions," Lijah explained, "Are you comfortable with writing?"

Jason shrugged. It had been a long time since he had written anything, not counting his own name in the dirt yesterday. He was able to read, but he wasn't confident in his spelling or handwriting. He accepted the notebook anyway, having some questions for Lijah that he could not express through body language.

"cant rite good. ELijah college?" he wrote, needing to spell the full name and crossing out the 'E' to get it right.

"Do I go to college?" Lijah checked, and upon Jason's nod, he elaborated, "Yup, I'm on break right now, but I'm going back in the fall for my senior year. I'm studying psychology and sociology. I'm hoping I can get into social work or therapy or something and help a lot of people."

Jason's frustration increased at this declaration. There was no way he was this good. There had to be some dark side to him somewhere.

"What about you?" Lijah asked, "Do you live around here? And, I don't mean to be rude, but how old are you?"

Jason nodded and returned to the notebook.

"live with Mother by camp. im 23."

"Oh, nice, you're only two years older than me!" Lijah commented, "Do you get along well with your mom?"

Jason nodded and pointed to Lijah as a means to ask him the same question.

"I don't live with my parents anymore," Lijah answered, his tone changing very slightly to hint at some discomfort, "They're good people, but I couldn't live in that environment anymore once I started college. I've pretty much been living either at school or at summer camps for the past few years, but I'm looking into apartments for myself so I can have a place to live after I graduate."

There was the lead. Something must have been wrong with Lijah's family life to force him out on his own, and the implication that he didn't have friends to stay with made the mystery all the more enticing. He remembered the female counselor from the day before who had asked to go with Lijah before he and Jason had met.

"frends?" Jason wrote, "girl frend?"

Lijah laughed, and Jason felt a shiver at the sound for some reason.

"I get along with everybody, but I don't really have any close friends," he said, "I haven't dated anyone for a while now either. I've been focusing on myself and getting through school, though also the people I tend to date are...not the best for me."

From what Jason had seen of Lijah from afar, he seemed like he had lots of friends and was close with many people, but now it seemed he was just as alone as Jason himself. He stared at Lijah for a moment, trying to figure him out. It was then that he noticed some tiny details about Lijah's face that he hadn't seen in the woods yesterday.

Lijah had freckles on his nose, and his eyelashes were long. His eyes were a greenish hazel, and crinkled at the corners when he smiled. His usually fluffy brown hair was somewhat damp looking, possibly from a recent shower. Jason couldn't explain it, but Lijah was rather pleasant to look at.

"So you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but I'm a little curious," Lijah prompted, snapping Jason back to reality, "Why do you wear a hockey mask? Is it good for keeping bugs out of your face?"

Jason tensed. He didn't want Lijah to see his face under the mask. That would surely scare him and make him hate him like everyone else. Jason shook his head and tried to think of an excuse to write down, but all he could think of was,

"i like it."

Lijah nodded upon reading this.

"That's a good, solid reason for anything," he agreed, "I should start living by that a little more, honestly."

Jason relaxed at this, relieved that Lijah accepted that answer. He wasn't sure why, but he was beginning to want Lijah to like him. It was almost like when he was a child and wanted to be friends with the other kids at camp, but this felt different somehow. Lijah didn't have friends of his own either, so they would only have each other if this worked.

Jason did not even think about possibly killing Lijah at this point. He was far too invested in who he was as a person, as well as excited at the possibility of having a real friend, to remember what his mission was. Mother wasn't expecting him back until August. It should be fine.

"Alright, Jason, I'm gonna tell you something and I don't want you to get upset," Lijah began, scratching the back of his head, "But I figure if you wanted to, you could have easily killed me a few times by now, so I think I'm safe. I honestly thought you were gonna kill me yesterday in the woods - we've all heard the stories of the Killer of Crystal Lake or whatever; they warned me of the history of this place when I was hired - but I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and treat everyone the way I'd want to be treated. I figured if I died, I would die putting my best foot forward, and, wouldn't you know it, I did that literally."

Jason blinked. Was that really all he'd needed to not kill people? Someone being nice to him?

"For the record, and I'm sure you know this already, but I'm not scared of you now. People don't have to look a certain way to be good or bad. And, hey, if you helped me out and came to visit me like this, you can't be all bad, can you?"

Either Lijah was too naive for his own good or he was very good in the field he was studying. Perhaps both? Jason wasn't sure. He picked up the pencil again to write,

"can i see u more?"

Lijah read this and nodded.

"I'd love that!" he enthused, "Please, come see me this time of night any night you want. I've got lots of books to read, I've got food in the fridge, you can shower here if you want to...I'm the only one who uses this cabin, so really, I don't mind you being here and making yourself comfortable."

Jason wasn't an expert at body language or understanding people in general, but it was clear to him that Lijah desperately wanted a friend. He felt a twitch at the corners of his mouth, a small smile breaking through. Whatever this was between them, they both wanted it, needed it, and Jason looked forward to exploring an actual friendship with someone his own age. Maybe he could bring Lijah back to Mother and show her that there was someone special in the outside world, someone who cared about everyone.

It was a nice thought, but nice thoughts never lasted long.

-------------------------------------------------

Jason and Lijah spent several hours that night getting to know each other. Jason could not believe how easy it was to communicate with him and even more so how easy it was to let his guard down. He found himself having fun, something he couldn't remember the last time it happened. Lijah did grow quite tired after midnight, however, so Jason excused himself through the window to allow Lijah to sleep.

He returned to his temporary campsite in the woods to get some rest as well, wanting to have plenty of energy tomorrow to spend more time with Lijah. He wondered if he had tried to approach the counselors he'd killed differently, if he had a more approachable mask and cleaned up the rest of his appearance, would he have been able to befriend them too? He doubted that notion the instant it materialized in his mind; those counselors weren't like Lijah and would have been afraid of him either way. Lijah was special...Jason could feel it deep within him. Just a few hours with him made Jason reconsider killing anyone this summer.

He hoped Mother would approve.

#friday the 13th fanfiction #friday the 13th #jason voorhees #canon/oc #slasher fanfiction #slashers #argo fic

[dopescotlandwarrior]

Bluegrass-Chapter Nineteen

                 A special thanks to @statell​ for your help and wisdom

Previous chapters at AO3

Chapter Nineteen

Claire was unprepared for the public support of Runner after winning the Preakness. The moral of the country was at an all-time low as people were divided by the two factions of government, neither of which could get anything done. Misinformation was the norm and people lost faith in the evening news, Washington, the president, everything. Finding something to believe in had become impossible. The crown races were an American favorite with historically high viewership. When Runner won the first two crowns, America had a new hero to root for, and he was dubbed the People’s Horse.

There were seven horses in the past thirty-seven years that won both crowns, but all had failed at the Belmont Stakes. The hope for a triple crown winner swelled and moved across the country.

Jamie’s phone rang the instant he put it down as people called with good wishes, just wanting to talk to someone directly involved with the famous Runner. It was getting impossible, so he hired Lulu to answer the phone during her summer break. Lulu was five foot five inches with natural platinum hair cut into a pixie. She wore cut off shorts and cowboy boots with a loose-fitting button-down that was never tucked in. Her face was dominated by large round Hazel eyes that sparkled under heavy lashes. She was delighted with the job because it paid very well, and her secret crush was always nearby. If Claire had not been so preoccupied with interviews and the upcoming race, she would have noticed the way they gazed at each other.

After workout one morning, Claire asked Michael what she should say to reporters about her background, and how she came to be Runner’s rider. She wanted to uphold her promise to let Michael tell the story, but she was getting boxed in by questions. She, Michael, and Jamie met to discuss the talking points and decided unanimously to answer truthfully. Claire had a glass face that would give it all away if she tried to lie. She was very relieved.

Nosh, the reporter from Sports Illustrated left multiple messages for Claire. Lulu added them to the stack while she smiled coyly at Jason peeking into the office. When Nosh could not get a call back, he made a bold move and drove to the countryside to find them. He brought large framed pictures of Runner and Claire, hoping to delight her enough to agree to an interview.

Jason recognized Nosh from their brief meeting in the stall aisle at Aqueduct when Runner lost the Wood Memorial. He shook his hand with a big smile and looked at the pictures. Claire was doing her afternoon workout and Jason invited Nosh to watch. Seeing the horse breezing up close made his heart pound. He looked at Claire’s determined face, all business, no emotion. After an hour watching the duo together, Claire handed Jason the reins and went to speak with Nosh. She felt so comfortable with him, he was like what a beloved uncle would be. Because of her desperate desire for such a thing, Nosh was able to set her at ease.

The reporter sensed immediately that she was not like other jockeys that were full of themselves, with practiced answers that sounded rehearsed and boring. This girl was open and honest, and he pressed for the interview.

“I am done for the day. Would you like to come to the house and do the interview now? I have to start dinner but that won’t get in the way.”

“I would be thrilled, Claire. I can get the story into next week’s publication before the race. It will be fantastic timing.”

Claire had a sudden spark of apprehension and begged off for a minute to find Jamie. She called Jason and Runner over to entertain the reporter. When she peeked in the office Lulu was picking up the phone immediately after each call and rolled her eyes when she saw Claire.

When she found Jamie, her heart jumped into her throat watching him with the mares and their babies. He leaned against the bars separating two of the stalls. One baby was searching his jeans for the smell of treats, in the other stall, the baby was chewing on his shirt. The mares were pressed so close to him Claire almost missed him.

She watched him in his element, spending time with the future kings of the racetrack and the dams that would bring future generations to the world. This was so different from the actual track. The sport of kings required jockeys, trainers, grooms, and an unsung hero that made the matches, toiled year around, hoping for a miracle horse to drop its wet body into the hay. He worked very hard and he loved them, all of them. She could hardly take her eyes off him until he startled her calling her name.

“Come Sassenach, and see the beautiful babies we have this year.”

Claire opened the stall door and walked directly to him, wrapping her arms around his waist she looked in his eyes and kissed him.

“I love you so much, Jamie. I can’t wait to start our life together after the race next week.”

Jamie looked like he had just received a promised gift and pressed his forehead to hers, holding her hand to his lips.

“So, this is what you do all day. Play with baby horses and hide out in the dam’s wing?”

“Something like that.”

He was taking control of the kissing until Claire remembered the reason for finding him. She explained and Jamie went to meet Nosh. They agreed to do the interview in their kitchen while Claire and Jamie prepared a lovely dinner for three.

Nosh was very impressed with the house that Jamie built and toured the two levels while Claire pulled steaks out of the freezer and started cutting vegetables. Nosh was a pro, undaunted by the continuous movement of his hosts as they prepared dinner. When the grilling steaks reached his nose, he realized it had been too long since his last meal. So far he found out Claire was a veterinarian, who had saved Jamie’s horses on her first visit to the farm. During the sumptuous meal, he heard about Claire cutting the colt out of the dead dam in time to save him and Jamie hand-feeding the orphan for months until he was weaned.

Nosh looked at Jamie, impressed with his commitment to saving the colt’s life. It was no small task to play mommy to a growing colt and no one to help. Nosh laughed hearing about the FBI meetings with Runner pressed into Jamie’s side.

“Yep, he would come into my office and run to my side pressing his face into me, hungry and scared. When the dams rejected him, I knew I was in it for the long haul and didn’t expect he would ever run bein raised by a human.”

Nosh was so engrossed in the story he would just stare at Jamie for several minutes like he was trying to wrap his head around it all. Jamie took him through the impossible weaning and the next year of letting him grow into the monster he is now.

“Did you help Claire?”

“Me? No, I didn’t see Jamie or the colt for two years. When Jamie put him into the training program it was clear that Runner didn’t have a clue he was a horse. Jamie called me to help and to be honest, I thought Runner was a lost cause. I walked out to the round pens and saw two beautiful yearlings running on the lunge line while Runner was giving kisses to his handler.”

Something in Nosh went boom, boom, boom. He stared at Claire with his mouth open. “This would have been three months before his maiden race?”

“Yes, three months.”

“How did he learn to race then.”

“I taught him. I had to make it a game and told him I would beat him. He made it very difficult to keep my line in the dirt until I stood with my arms crossed fuming at him. When I took off for the finish line, he didn’t ge…”

“Wait, wait, wait. You raced him on foot? Runner. You ran on the track and he ran too?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Jamie sat back, enjoying Nosh’s face as the story unfolded.

“Just you…and Runner?”

“Yes. Jamie had to hide in the equipment barn so Runner wouldn’t see him. Otherwise, he would want kisses and wouldn’t work. Poor Jamie had to hide for the whole first month.”

Nosh shook his head a bit and flipped through the pages of his notebook. He wondered if they were playing him because a human doesn’t ordinarily teach a horse to run. What was happening here he wondered?

“Let’s talk about your training Claire. Did you always want to be a jockey?”

“Never wanted to be a jockey, had no jockey training, and was scared shitless of him the first time I mounted him.”

Nosh held his hand up, “wait.”

“You are a veterinarian with a completely green horse that has tossed every person off his back. Why would you get into the saddle?”

“Teaching him to love winning a race meant I had to be very pissed off when I lost. I played it up until he got it. He wanted to win every time and showed us speeds that blew us away. He beat me every time and told me I would be a winner if I got on his back.”

Claire’s voice started to quiver remembering his promise and her tears flowed down her cheeks. “He promised I would be a winner, like him, so I got on him and held my breath.”

There was the emotion Nosh was looking for, but he hardly noticed in his confusion. He stammered for a coherent question feeling like he just busted through the heart of the story.

“How did he tell you that?”

“I can’t tell you anymore. I’m sorry. Our trainer agreed to work with Runner for first rights to the story. After he is published, I can tell you the rest. I’m sorry, I promised.”

Nosh was feeling woozy from the disclosures and requested just a few more questions about general racing.

“Why do you hand ride? I have never seen you use your whip?”

“He doesn’t like the whip.”

“He what?” Nosh took a deep breath, “Alright, I have enough for a pre-race article. Thank you for talking with me on such short notice, and thank you for dinner. I believe Runner is a horse in a million. I also believe you will win at Belmont next week. I cannot wait to hear the rest of the story.”

Claire smiled at the reporter and they showed him out. As she rinsed dishes her eyes lost focus as she stared at nothing, thinking about the long race ahead. It was like Nosh had injected Claire with the reality of what was ahead. She read the papers, the industry magazines, and read through the messages coming into Jamie’s phone. The swell of support from the public had taken her mind off the actual dirt and grit of the one and a half mile race that was still ahead. She swallowed hard and felt the anxiety building in her stomach.

She spent time alone with Runner, always in the predawn hours when the cold bed would be noticed by Jamie. He would come and get her, pulling her into his warmth with the promise to love her forever, no matter what.

Claire and Michael spent hours each day watching video of the other horses they would be racing. When night came, Claire would become anxious and moody because another day was behind them. A day she should have found some peace. Jamie could only watch her helplessly and coax her to bed where she would promptly leave him in unconsciousness. He prayed for her strength as the pressure was beginning to take her apart. He prayed for himself, that life would become a new normal, full of love and enduring commitment. Win or lose, that is what he hoped for.

Finding Claire pacing in front of Runner’s stall, a day before they flew to New York was Jamie’s undoing. He gathered her in his arms and fought to keep her there as she tried to break free.

“Sassenach. There are two of ye racin in a couple days. Runner here looks calm, if not tired from bein up all night with ye. You, my love, look like yer ready to crumble. I’m worried about ye lass. Are you gonna fall apart and lose the race for him?”

Claire wanted to slap him at first. She was the one who rode his exercise every day, she is the one who risked life and limb in the races, she is the one who coached Runner. How dare he ask if she would throw the race. When he wouldn’t let her go, she quickly tired from trying to break free and the energy had to go somewhere so it came out in sobs. Deep, gut-wrenching sobs that broke his heart. He let her cry for several minutes until she wrapped her arms around his waist and told him how tired she was.

“Suppose we ask Runner how he feels about the coming race. Does he know why you are so wound up? Sassenach, does Runner know how important this next race is?”

Claire was lost in her thoughts for several minutes. “No, he doesn’t know. I didn’t want him loaded down with pressure.”

Jamie pulled Claire into Runner’s stall. “I think it’s time ye told him lass.” Claire looked up at Jamie’s face, so confident and knowing. “He can handle the truth of it.”

Claire reached shaking hands to Runners cheeks. She could talk to him now, but he often misinterpreted her words, so she spoke with her mind and showed him how important he was to the world at this moment. Several times he nickered, several times his muscles bulged with his understanding, but he never moved his head, the story was too important.

You are one in a million Runner. A miracle, to enchant the world and give hope for a hero. I know you can do this; I know you are faster than any other horse alive. Don’t be afraid. Just run like you own the world, as fast as you can. Now sleep, dearest boy, and know how much you are loved.

Jamie saw him relax into Claire’s hands and close his eyes. It was done. Runner knew the magnitude of this race and Jamie knew the level of difficulty they were facing. One and a half miles. Long enough to cause all his predecessors to tire and lose. He was running without an experienced jockey to hold him back and signal when to increase his speed. Jamie feared they were both running head-long into failure and didn’t know how to advise her. Claire now felt the calming effect of the truth and Jamie stopped sleeping all together.

By the time they landed in New York, Jamie had not slept a wink the night before. Dark circles under his eyes gave testament to the pressure he felt, and he glared at the world for making such a big deal out of this horse. Michael tried to talk to him and calm him down, Claire tried to coax him to sleep, but nothing worked. He was in it for love now, the gains they would reap no longer entered his thoughts. He loved Claire and he loved Runner, and he wanted them to win.

Sports Illustrated published Nosh’s article about Claire saving the colt, Jamie raising him, and Claire teaching him to run. Claire’s lack of jockey training and Runner’s choice of who would ride him made the pair seem unreal. The country doubled-down with their support.

At Belmont Park, the crowds pushed into the stands. Seasoned betters paced with anticipation and Runner lovers were in force to scream him to victory. Jamie walked the track trying to relax. He saw entire families pressed into the rail. Parents and children were there, not to bet, but to watch their hero horse win the third crown. He wanted to shout at them to go home. They could lose this race like so many double crown winners had done in the last thirty-seven years. He tried to remember them all. Superstars going into the race, soon to be forgotten when they lost. It was too much for him to deal with, so he went back to the shade of the stalls and by some miracle found Runner alone.

Jamie leaned against him and told the story of how he came to live in this world. He knew Runner couldn’t understand him, but he went on with the story of hope. He told him, no matter the outcome of the race today, it was his once in a lifetime pleasure to know him. When Jamie hugged his neck, Runner brought his head down and embraced him. Jamie couldn’t hear Runner asking if it was time to go, could they please go now, where is Sham, he wanted to race and show them all. When Jason approached loaded down with tack, he saw the two of them and gave them a moment before Jamie staggered out of the stall.

Claire was in new silks with “Highland Brothers Farms” emblazoned across the back and down the arms of her jacket. She was all smiles in front of Runner and the crew while she searched for Jamie. By some miracle, he had alleviated her worry and taken it upon himself. She was very worried about him.

The pre-race parade was starting, and Jamie lifted her to the saddle. She felt his arms shake with the effort and her worry deepened. She looked down at his haggard face and told him not to worry.

“I will see you in the winner’s circle, love.”

When she was ponied to the gate she twisted in her saddle and gave him a dazzling smile. The colt stood quiet, waiting to load into his number one post position. He was in his warrior stance looking ahead at the track while Claire told him to relax. He had looked at the stands during the parade. All the smiling faces calling his name were even more incentive to win. Claire reminded him it was the longest race and he should pace himself.

When the gate slammed open Runner leaped out and to the rail, no waiting for the other horses to break. Right from the start he and Sham were running nose to nose as they came through the first turn, changing lead position several times while the crowd roared. It was him and his nemesis battling it out in front of the world. They had gained a five-length lead on the rest of the horses and seemed to be in their own world. Running the backstretch, Runner was ahead by half a length until he moved forward, engaging his power. Claire felt the spike in energy as he stretched into each stride, moving ahead of Sham steadily. And the crowd lost their minds watching the widening gap between Runner and Sham.

Michael, Jamie, and Jason gripped the rail and pressed their chests into it to see the horses coming out of the second turn but they only saw Runner. Michael was going crazy, yelling about his speed, shouting that he couldn’t sustain it and would crash and burn. Jamie said nothing, moved not at all. If not for the tear that slid down his cheek he might look like a statue. He watched as Runner increased his speed yet again and widen the gap. He watched every stride hit the dirt as Claire tucked tightly and didn’t seem to move. Michael was holding his head, shaking it back and forth.

“He’s going way too fast! He is gonna have a heart attack or fade quickly to last place. They have a quarter-mile to go, he’ll never make it!”

That sentiment rippled through the crowd as every trainer, owner, and handler anticipated the worst. Jason shouted that Claire broke the track record for the quarter-mile, Michael was yelling at no one in particular. Jamie watched Claire and Runner, in his silence, he prayed for them both.

When Runner came out of the turn Claire felt him dig in and accelerate. She knew he was running too fast and they had a quarter mile left to the finish line. It felt like he continued to accelerate, and Claire just tucked and cleared her mind. He was running his own race as she promised. She heard the announcer’s voice sounding incredulous, calling the lengths between Runner and Sham and she heard the crowd going wild. She felt Runner dig in again and increase his speed, right about where the experienced horsemen in the crowd expected him to collapse or fade. He just ran faster, and the world watched an incredible athlete in the home stretch increase his speed again.

Claire could see the finish line and knew they were far ahead when her deafness crept in and she tucked tighter, keeping her mind blank, all she heard was Runner’s breathing and her own.

The sound in the stands, if she could hear it, was deafening. Runner was too far ahead to be beaten and was still accelerating. Jamie continued to stand stock-still and watch them run the race. His tears fell because he knew they couldn’t be caught. She won the Belmont. She won the Triple Crown. Michael grabbed Jamie and shook him, it didn’t matter, he couldn’t take his eyes off them.

Claire saw the finish line ahead and couldn’t resist looking behind her, but she was alone. She felt Runner accelerate again and knew he was showing the world just how fast he was. When his front legs crossed the finish line and the camera lit up, the noise of the crowd came rushing back and she heard the magic.

“Midnight Runner wins the Belmont by thirty-one lengths! He wins the Triple Crown!”

Claire worked hard at slowing Runner while she gushed that he did it. He won the hardest race. When she could stand in her stirrups her crop was raised above her head and the crowd went crazy. When she came around the turn, she saw that Jamie was surrounded by cameras and reporters, but with his extraordinary height, he could see her clearly and the kiss she blew.

Jason held the reins while people surrounded Runner and Claire. It felt surreal with the cheering fans that were weeping and holding their arms out to them. Claire took off her helmet and saluted the crowd only to have the deafening sound get louder. She dropped her upper body down on Runner’s neck and told him he was the king of horses, never to be forgotten.

It was thirty minutes before they made it to the winner’s circle where Claire leaned down to kiss Jamie.

“Ye alright, love?”

Claire nodded and smiled before Jason led them to walk in front of the stands to let people see Runner one more time. When he led them back, Claire was finally able to dismount, right into Jamie’s arms. When she looked into his beautiful eyes, she said the first thing that came to mind.

“Does this mean we can go on vacation again?”

“If we can call it a honeymoon, we can stretch it to a week, maybe more.” He kissed her and heard her answer seconds later.

“Is tomorrow too soon?”

[thedoctorcried]

Runaway - Part One

~Masterlist~

Concept: Hazel Richards is a twenty-year-old woman living in London. When she meets a mysterious time-travelling alien known only as the Hunter, she’s thrust into a world of wonder she could only have imagined.

Warnings: swearing, follows S1 of Doctor Who.

"Haze?" A familiar voice echoed down the phone, far too loud for the girl's liking.

"Shut the fuck up, Jace!" Hazel hissed. "I'm close, okay? Mike said he'd meet me in the basement."

"Sorry," the man apologised, much quieter now. "Do you have your switch?"

Hazel rolled her eyes, connecting her Bluetooth earpiece. "Come on, J, when have I ever left my switchblade at the flat?"

Jason sighed. "Fair point." He paused. "Which one's Mike again?"

"Mikey the Pikey, you dipshit." Hazel froze as she heard a creaking behind her, and flipped her switchblade open. "Shut up a minute." Her call with Jason dissolved, leaving only static in its place. "Jace? Jason?" She cursed, hanging up, and looked around warily.

Hazel had been supposed to meet Mike in a stockroom in the basement of Hendrik's Department Store, but there was no sign of the man amongst the plastic display dummies. Instead, she could hear creaking from all directions, with no sign of what was causing the noise. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind her, and she ran over to it, trying to pull it back open, to no avail. "You have got to be bloody kidding me." She turned as the noises seemed to get closer. "Is someone messing about? Who is it?" A male shop dummy turned to look at her, then began approaching with a stiff, awkward gait. "Yeah, you got me. Very funny. I've got the joke." More dummies started moving towards her, and her breath hitched in her throat as she raised her blade threateningly. "Who's idea was this? Jace? Mike? Is this you?" She swore again as she was backed against a wall. "Gotta be you. Ain't no one else gonna mess with the Sorceress."

Suddenly, someone grabbed the wrist of her knife hand, and Hazel looked to her right to see a ginger-haired impish-looking woman staring at her. "Run," the woman ordered, before dragging Hazel off out of the way of the dummies.

As they sprinted away, Hazel noticed that the mysterious ginger was wearing a green bomber jacket over a white shirt, paired with black jeans and brown riding boots. She gasped a little as she was shoved into a lift. One of the dummies managed to wedge its arm in the doors as they closed and the woman rolled her eyes, before bracing one foot against the door and pulling the arm off, letting the doors close as she regained her balance. "You pulled his arm off," Hazel stated, unable to think of anything else to say.

The woman seemed to expect this response, and barely rolled her eyes as she threw the plastic arm to the girl. "Yes. It's plastic." She eyed Hazel's right hand. "Nice switchblade."

Hazel looked down at the knife. "Yeah. Who were they, then, students? Is this a student thing or what?"

"Why would they be students?" the ginger frowned, looking almost - almost - confused. Hazel noticed she kept her expressions minimal, as if hiding her emotions. She wondered if she'd been trained to do that, or if it was something she had picked up, the way Hazel had learned to pick pockets.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

The ginger raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Well, you said it. Why students?"

Hazel blinked. "Cause to get that many people dressed up and messing around, they gotta be students."

"That makes sense." The ginger gave a brief, polite, distanced smile. "Well done."

"Thanks."

"They're not students."

"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police," Hazel shrugged, closing and pocketing her switchblade.

The ginger looked at her, eyes narrowed. "Who's Wilson?"

"This old geezer who works in this place," Hazel replied. "Electrician or something."

The doors pinged open, and the ginger walked out briskly. "Wilson's dead."

Hazel narrowed her eyes at the woman's unaffected expression. "That's sick!"

"Hold on. Mind your eyes." The ginger pulled out a strange pen-like device and pressed a button on it, illuminating the lift controls with a blue light. After a couple of seconds, they sparked, shutting down, and she put the pen back in an inside pocket of her jacket.

"I've had enough of this now," Hazel grumbled. "Who are you? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?"

The ginger sighed as she opened the back door, letting Hazel out, and stood in the doorway as she explained. "They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." She brandished a small bomb she'd made before putting it back in her pocket. "So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." She closed the door, before opening it again. "I'm the Hunter, by the way. What's your name?"

"Hazel," the girl replied, her eyes wide. She was so shocked it didn't even occur to her to give a fake name.

"Nice to meet you, Hazel. Run for your life!" The Hunter slammed the door shut again, and Hazel obeyed, still holding the plastic arm as she crossed the road, narrowly avoiding a car. When she reached the opposite side, she turned back - just in time to see a huge fireball blow out the upper floor windows of Hendrik's.

***

Later, Hazel had met back up with Jason at the poky old flat they shared, and he had called Mike to try and find out why he hadn't been there.

"She's lucky to be alive!" Jason was stressing, handing Hazel a cup of tea before plonking down next to her on the sofa. "Where the hell were you?"

Hazel could hear Mike on the other end. "I was in the basement but then this ginger chick came up, looking proper street like, told me the bleedin' police was comin'! What was I s'posed to do?"

Jason groaned. "I could kill you. You took advice off some woman cause she looked 'proper street like'? How useless can you get? I'm telling you, it's aged Haze. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now, you'd think she's my mother." He grunted as Hazel whacked him in the stomach.

"Look, man, I'm sorry," Mike apologised. "I gotta shift though, Sammy says there's some easy pickings down on Bloxom Road. You want me to, uh, pick you up anything?"

"Oh fuck off," Jason scoffed, hanging up. He put his arm around Hazel's shoulders, sighing. "You sure you're okay, Haze?"

The girl sighed, sipping her tea. "It takes more than an explosion to scare me, Jace. I'm fine, I promise."

"What happened?" Jason wondered.

"I don't know," Hazel lied, shaking her head.

"What was it though? What caused it?"

"I dunno," she repeated. "I wasn't in there when it blew. Pikey weren't there so I left. I was outside. I didn't see anything."

Jason eyed her, sighing. "You sure tea's enough? You don't need something stronger?"

"I'm all right," Hazel told him, content to fall asleep on the couch.

"Come on, you deserve a proper drink. We're going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it?" Jason offered.

"Is there a match on?" Hazel asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Nah, I'm just thinking about you, sweetheart," Jason insisted, his eyes wide and imploring.

"There's a match on, ain't there."

Jason winced. "That's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Go on, then. I'm fine, really. Go. Get rid of that. I don't know why I brought it home with me." She threw him the plastic arm. He leaned down to hug her, kissing her cheek.

"See you later, sis."

"Bye, Jace."

Jason pretended like he was being strangled by the arm, then left.

***

The next morning, Hazel sloped into the kitchen at around half nine to find Jason cooking bacon in a shirt and boxers as usual. "Morning, Haze."

"Hey." She rolled her eyes at him. "Are you ever going cook while wearing trousers?"

Jason rolled his hips as he put some bacon on a plate for her, handing it over. "Nope. But you love it."

Hazel sighed. "I don't think I could find it in myself to care that much."

"Sounds like you," Jason admitted, smirking. Something rattled at the door.

"Jace! I told you to nail that cat flap down," Hazel groaned. "We're gonna get strays."

"I did it weeks back," the man protested, following her out into the hallway only to go into his bedroom instead of helping her investigate. "I'm gonna shower."

"Useless," she said quietly, rolling her eyes, before approaching the door. The cat flap screws were on the floor, and suddenly, the flap moved. Hazel flinched back for a second, before sighing at herself, opening the flap. On the other side, a familiar ginger woman peered through, frowning, before standing up. Hazel did so too, and opened the door.

The Hunter looked at her oddly. "What're you doing here?"

Hazel scoffed. "I live here."

"Well, what do you do that for?"

What the hell kind of question is that?  "Because I do," Hazel shot back.

The Hunter shook her head. "I must have got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?" She rapped on Hazel's forehead. "Nope, bonehead. Bye, then." She made to walk off, but Hazel grabbed her arm, pulling her into the flat.

"Who is it?" Jason called over the sound of running water.

"Friend," Hazel yelled back.

There was an indistinct snort. "Didn't know you had any of them."

Hazel rolled her eyes, dragging the Hunter into the living room. "Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?"

The Hunter nodded, her expression guarded still. "Might as well, thanks. Just milk."

"News says we should go to the police," Hazel stated as she went into the kitchen, her voice still audible as she put the kettle on, snagging some of her bacon to eat. "Both of us."

Not listening in the slightest, the Hunter looked at a copy of Heat magazine on the coffee table and smirked fleetingly. "That won't last," she muttered. "He's gay, and she's an alien."

"I'm not blaming you," Hazel continued, "Even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong."

The Hunter picked up a paperback and flicked through it quickly, raising an eyebrow. "Huh. Sad ending."

"They said on the news they've found a body," Hazel called through, not noticing she wasn't getting any replies.

The ginger saw an envelope with a handwritten name and address on it. "The Sorceress. Hazel Norton." The Hunter frowned. "Why 'The Sorceress'? Well, I can talk, I suppose." As she replaced the envelope, she caught a glance of herself in the mirror, and blinked. "Well, could have been worse. Ginger, that's new."

"All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke," Hazel was saying. "Anyway, if we have to go to the police, I want to know what I'm saying, you know what I mean? I want you to explain everything."

The cat flap rattled, and the Hunter narrowed her eyes. "What's that? You got a cat?"

Hazel frowned at the sudden change of subject. "No." She didn't see it when the plastic arm grabbed the Hunter by the throat, doing its best to strangle her. "We did have, but now they're just strays. They come in off the estate." She came into the room carrying to mugs of coffee, and placed them on the table, rolling her eyes as she saw the Hunter furiously trying to pull the arm off her. "I told Jace to chuck that out. Didn't think you were that kind of person. You're all the same. Anyway, I don't even know your name. You said, uh, Hunter?"

With great effort, the Hunter managed to throw the arm off. Mid-air, it stopped and grabbed onto Hazel's face. The girl yelped, and the Hunter leapt over to pull it off, using her strange pen-like instrument to subdue the hand. As the room quietened, they heard a hair-dryer, meaning Jason had heard none of it. "It's all right," the Hunter assured Hazel as the plastic fingers stopped flexing. "I've stopped it. There you go, you see? Armless."

Hazel made a face, smacking her arm with it. "Do you think?"

"Ow!" the Hunter complained, getting up and leaving the flat, Hazel on her heels.

"Hold on a minute," she called. "You can't just go swanning off."

The Hunter raised her eyebrows, smiling sarcastically. "Can't I? I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I'm doing right now. Bye!"

"But that arm was moving!" Hazel exclaimed. "It tried to kill me."

"Well, you can tell your optician I gave you a ten out of ten for observation, can't you." The Hunter didn't stop walking down the stairs, and Hazel ran to catch up with her.

"You can't just walk away," she protested. "That's not fair. You've got to tell me what's going on."

"No... No, I don't," the Hunter replied, shrugging.

"All right, then," Hazel sighed as they left the building, stopping still. "I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I start talking."

The Hunter turned to look at her, a small smirk on her face. "Is that supposed to sound tough?"

"Sort of," Hazel admitted, a little crestfallen.

"Doesn't work," the Hunter told her unapologetically.

"Who are you?" Hazel questioned.

"Told you. The Hunter."

"Yeah, but that's not a name."

"Course it is, it's my name!"

"What, the Hunter? People call you the Hunter?"

The Hunter raised an eyebrow. "People call you the Sorceress?"

Hazel blinked. "But I have a name too. Do you not have a name?"

"Of course I have a name, everybody has a name."

"...so?"

"Why would I tell you my other name?" the Hunter asked. "I've known you for less than a day, and already you've assaulted me with a plastic arm!"

Hazel bit her lip. "Sorry." The Hunter didn't reply. "Come on, then. You can tell me. I've seen enough. Are you the police?"

"No. I was just passing through," the Hunter excused as they started walking. "I'm a long way from home."

"But what have I done wrong?" Hazel demanded. "How comes those plastic things keep coming after me?"

The Hunter rolled her green eyes exaggeratedly. "Oh, and suddenly the entire universe revolves around you." She snorted. "You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all."

Hazel blinked. "It tried to kill me."

"It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is cause you've met me," the Hunter explained.

"So what you're saying is," Hazel smirked a little, "the entire universe revolves around you."

"Pretty much, yeah," the Hunter agreed.

Hazel shook her head, smiling. "You're full of it."

The ghost of a smile danced around the Hunter's lips. "Pretty much, yeah."

"But, all this plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?" Hazel wondered.

"No one," the Hunter replied.

Hazel frowned. "What, you're on your own?"

The Hunter sighed. "Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on."

"Okay." Hazel nodded. "Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?"

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut of the signal, dead," the Hunter stated.

"So that's radio control?" Hazel guessed.

"Thought control," the Hunter corrected. She narrowed her eyes as Hazel looked down, her eyes wide. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Hazel lied. "So, who's controlling it, then?"

The Hunter raised her eyebrows. "Long story."

Hazel seemed to have expected that answer. "But what's it all for? I mean, display dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?"

"No," the Hunter said, rolling her eyes.

"No."

"It's not a price war," she quipped, before going serious again. "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?"

Hazel snorted. "No way."

"But you're still listening," the Hunter pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Really though, Hunter. Tell me, who are you?" Hazel inquired.

The Hunter stopped still, and Hazel followed suit. "Do you know like how the Earth's revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth." She smiled, just slightly, taking Hazel's hand and the girl's eyes widened as she started to feel it too. "The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go?" She let go of her hand, and Hazel swayed a bit as the feeling drifted away. "That's who I am. Now, forget me, Hazel Norton. Go home." The Hunter took the plastic arm from Hazel and started walking off towards an old blue police call box.

"Wait! Hunter!" Hazel called. The woman turned around, raising an eyebrow. "How did you know I use Jace's surname now?" The Hunter just winked, before turning away again, going into the blue box.

Hazel made to go back to her flat, but she heard a rush of wind and a strange noise. By the time she had looked back, the blue box had disappeared, as had any trace that the Hunter existed. Hazel shook her head, making her way back home. That woman was incredible.

***

"Hey, hey, there's my girl!" Mike grinned as Hazel walked into his flat.

"Oh, shut up, Pikey," Hazel teased, before hugging him.

"Coffee?" he offered.

Hazel nodded. "Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?"

"Yeah." Mike smirked. "Any excuse to get into the bedroom." There was a pause. "Don't look at my history!"

Hazel rolled her eyes, going onto the internet and typing in 'Hunter'. Over seventeen million results came up. She bit her lip, before trying 'Hunter Living Plastic'. Fifty five thousand results this time. "Hmm. How about...?" She typed 'Hunter Blue Box' into the search bar, and just under five hundred results popped up. The first one read 'Who is the Hunter? - Do you know this woman? - If so, contact Clive here'. Hazel clicked on the site, and a fuzzy picture of the Hunter appeared on the screen.

***

"Listen, you're not coming in," Hazel told Mike as he drove her to Clive's house. "He's safe. He's got a wife and kids. Besides, I've got my switch. I'll be fine."

"Yeah, and who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say," Mike stressed. "If anything happens to you in there, Jace'll kill me!"

Hazel rolled her eyes, getting out of the car. "Whatever." She ran over to a house across the street and knocked on the door. A young boy answered. "Hi, I've come to see Clive? We've been emailing."

The boy turned and yelled into the house. "Dad! It's one of your nutters!" Hazel made a face.

A man came up to the door, smiling genially. "Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Hazel. I'm Clive, obviously."

"Uh, I'd better tell you now. My mate's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill me," Hazel joked.

"No, good point. No murders." Clive waved over at Mike, who nodded tersely.

"Who is it?" a woman asked, coming down the stairs with a basket of laundry as Hazel entered.

"It's something to do with the Hunter," Clive told her. "She's been reading the website. Please, come through. I'm in the shed."

"She?" the woman repeated, closing the door. "She's read a website about the Hunter? She's a she?"

***

"A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive," Clive said as he ushered Hazel into the shed, which turned out to be full of evidence of the Hunter's existence. "I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean. If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Hunter keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just the Hunter. Always the Hunter. And the title seems to have been passed down from mother to daughter. It appears to be an inheritance. That's your Hunter there, isn't it?" He showed her a picture of the ginger woman.

"Yeah," Hazel nodded, wondering absently what the Hunter would think of being called 'hers'.

"I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year," Clive stated. "The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original..." He grabbed a less zoomed picture, that showed the Hunter as just one face in the crowd as JFK drove through Dallas. "November 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?"

Hazel frowned. "It must be her mother." The faces looked awfully similar.

"Going further back, April 1912," Clive nodded. "This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and friend. This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. And here we are, 1883. Another Hunter. And look, the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded." Clive shook his head, sighing. "The Hunter is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, she's there. She brings the storm in her wake, and she has one constant companion."

"Who's that?" Hazel wondered, intrigued.

Clive looked up at her. "Death. If the Hunter's back, if you've seen her, Hazel, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger. If she's singled you out, if the Hunter's making house calls, then God help you."

"But who is she?" Hazel inquired. "Who do you think she is?"

"I think she's the same woman. I think she's immortal. I think she's an alien from another world," Clive replied, utterly serious.

***

Hazel rolled her eyes as she got back into the car with Mike. "All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win!" She frowned. "Are you hungry, cause I'm hungry. I fancy a pizza."

Mike grinned, his skin shiny like plastic. "Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!"

"Or Chinese," Hazel mused.

"Pizza!" Mike insisted, and started driving, weaving off down the road.

***

"So, I was thinking maybe I should do A-levels. Get an honest job, rather than the shit we do," Hazel sighed, picking at her pizza. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Where did you meet this Hunter?" Plastic-Mike asked abruptly.

Hazel raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?"

Plastic-Mike ignored her. "Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was she something to do with that?"

"No," Hazel lied.

"Come on," Plastic-Mike urged.

"Sort of," she admitted.

"What was she doing there?" Plastic-Mike demanded.

Hazel sighed. "I'm not going on about it, Mike. really, I'm not, because, I know it sounds proper daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think she's dangerous."

"But you can trust me, sweetheart," Plastic Mike stated. "Babe, sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Hunter and what she's planning, and I can help you, Hazel. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart."

"What're you doing that for, you pikey?" Hazel frowned.

A waitress walked up to them. "Your champagne."

"We didn't order any champagne," Plastic-Mike stated irritably. "Where's the Hunter?"

The waitress turned to Hazel. "Madam, your champagne."

Hazel shook her head. "It's not ours. Mike, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to find out how much you know, so where is she?" Plastic-Mike demanded.

The waitress sighed exasperatedly. "Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" Hazel froze, recognising that voice.

"Look, we didn't order it." Plastic-Mike looked up, to see the Hunter glaring at him. "Ah. Gotcha."

The Hunter started shaking the bottle vigorously. "Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" She released the cage, and the cork flew into Plastic-Mike's forehead. After a bit of chewing, he spat it out.

"Anyway." He stood up, turning his hand into a chopper. Hazel screamed, grabbing her switchblade from her pocket and opening it up as Plastic-Mike smashed the table to pieces. The rest of the customers started to panic, even as the Hunter grabbed Plastic-Mike and yanked his head off. "Don't think that's going to stop me." The plastic body started flailing around blindly, and Hazel ran to set off the fire alarm.

"Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!" she yelled. The Hunter grabbed her arm, yanking her off to run through the kitchens as the headless body followed them. Hazel ran out the door, past that blue box to the end of the alley, which was secured with padlocked gates while the Hunter sealed the restaurant door shut with that pen-like device, still carrying the head. "Open the gate!" Hazel exclaimed. "Use that tube thing! Come on!"

"Sonic screwdriver," the Hunter corrected.

"Use it!"

The Hunter snorted. "Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here." She unlocked the box and walked in, leaving the door open.

Hazel made a noise of exasperation. "You can't hide inside a wooden box! It's going to get us! Hunter!" There was no reply. When the headless body smashed through the door, she made up her mind, and ran into the box, shutting the door behind her. "It's going follow -!" She cut herself off, seeing she was standing in an impossibly huge room centred around a large cylindrical column and a control panel surrounding it, littered with buttons and switches and levers.

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute." The Hunter was connecting Plastic-Mike's head to some wires that lead into the console. "You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." She turned around, leaning against the console with her arms crossed. "Right. Where do you want to start?"

"Er, the inside's bigger than the outside?" Hazel's eyes were wide with awe.

"Yes."

"It's alien," she assumed.

"Yeah," the Hunter confirmed.

"Are you alien?" Hazel asked.

"Yes. Is that all right?" the alien questioned, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah," Hazel agreed hurriedly.

The Hunter nodded. "Good. She's called the TARDIS, this thing. T A R D I S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." Hazel burst into tears, and the Hunter blinked. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

"Did they kill him?" Hazel asked. "Mike? Did they kill Mike? Is he dead?"

"I don't know," the Hunter replied simply. "Probably they need him alive to maintain the copy. If he's alive, we'll find him, Hazel."

Hazel looked past her. "What if he melts?"

"Melts?" The Hunter followed her gaze, and her eyes widened. "No, no, no, no, no!" She started pulling levers and pushing buttons, and the TARDIS shuddered and whirred.

"What're you doing?" Hazel cried, her tears all but forgotten as she clung onto the railings for dear life.

"Following the signal," the Hunter replied. "It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there, almost there... here we go!" The TARDIS landed, and she ran for the doors.

"You can't go out there, it's not safe!" Hazel shouted. Her eyes widened as she followed the Hunter out into... Westminster?

"I lost the signal," the Hunter groaned, looking out over the Thames. "I got so close."

"We've moved," Hazel breathed. "Does she fly?"

"Disappears there and reappears here," the Hunter stated shortly. "You wouldn't understand."

Hazel frowned. "But if we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose."

"It would've melted with the head." The Hunter narrowed her eyes. "Do all humans talk this much?"

"Are you sure Mike's okay?"

The Hunter sighed. "The longer we stay chatting here, the less chance of him getting out of this alive. Just saying."

"What's a police public call box?" Hazel asked, eyeing the TARDIS.

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s," the Hunter answered. "It's a disguise."

"Okay." Hazel took a deep breath. "And this... this living plastic stuff. What's it got against us?"

The Hunter raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the... the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth equals dinner!"

Hazel nodded. "Any way of stopping it?"

The ginger held up a vial of blue liquid. "Anti-plastic!"

"Anti-plastic?" Hazel repeated, her eyes wide.

"Anti-plastic," the Hunter affirmed. "But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on, hide what?" Hazel asked, joining the woman by the riverside.

"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal," the Hunter explained.

"Well, what's it look like?"

"A transmitter." Hazel rolled her eyes. "Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing." The Hunter sighed. "Must be completely invisible." Hazel looked behind her at the London eye, and her eyes widened. The Hunter narrowed her eyes, looking back. "What? What is it?" Hazel just kept staring, wondering how the hell the alien could be missing it. "What?" Eventually, Hazel nodded at the structure, and watched as it dawned on the Hunter. "Fantastic," she said, giving one of her rare smiles.

***

The Hunter and Hazel ran across Westminster Bridge hand in hand as the alien explained what would happen if they failed in stopping the Nestene Consciousness. "Think of it. Plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The display dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables -"

"The breast implants," Hazel put in, just to see the Hunter's face.

Predictably, she frowned. "You're weird. I like it. Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

Hazel looked over the parapet of the Eye to see a large manhole entrance at the bottom of the steps. "What about down here?"

"Looks good to me," the Hunter shrugged. They went down to it. "How'd you know it was there?"

"I've hidden here before," Hazel replied, opening up the hatch and dropping through.

When the Hunter came down, she lead the way through a door and down a flight of steps into a multi-level chamber. She leaned against some railings, looking down at a gooey plastic liquid in a vat far below. "The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

"Well, then." Hazel shrugged. "Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go."

The Hunter shook her head definitely, narrowing her eyes. "I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance." She took a flight of steps down to a balcony overlooking the vat. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The plastic flexed in its vat, and she nodded. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"

Hazel gasped as she saw someone lying on a lower level, and ran down to him. "Oh, God! Mike, it's me! It's okay. It's all right."

Mike coughed, hugging her tight. "That thing down there, the liquid. Haze, it can talk."

"You're stinking," Hazel complained, before looking up as the Hunter descended past them. "Hunter, they kept him alive."

The woman tilted her head. "Told you so." She continued down to a floor level with the edge of the vat. "Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest possible respect, that you shunt off?" A face formed in the plastic, and the Hunter scoffed, dropping her polite act. "Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." The plastic made to interrupt, but the Hunter was one step ahead. "I am talking!" she snapped. "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."

As Hazel looked over the railings to see how she was doing, she noticed something the Hunter hadn't: a pair of display dummies creeping up on her. "Hunter!"

She was too late; the dummies grabbed the Hunter, and one of them took the vial of anti-plastic from her pocket. "That was just insurance!" she protested, squirming in the Autons' arms. "I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy! I swear, I'm not!" The plastic flexed, and she frowned. "What do you mean?"

A door slid back to reveal the TARDIS, and Hazel swore. "Oh my God," she muttered, holding onto Mike.

The Hunter's eyes had widened too. "No. Honestly, no! Yes, that's my ship, I -!" The plastic roared, and she blanched, her eyes pained. "That is not true!" she shouted, slumping in the dummies' arms. "I should know, I was there. I fought in the war! It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"

"What's it doing?!" Hazel screamed as the plastic roared again.

"It's the TARDIS!" the Hunter yelled, glancing back at her, and Hazel was shocked to see real emotion on her face for the first time. "The Nestene's identified her superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Hazel! Just leg it, now!"

Her eyes wide, hazel whipped out her phone and hit her number one speed dial. "Jace!"

"Oh, there you are," he replied. "I was just going to phone. What do you want for tea? Burgers or pasta?"

"J, where are you?" Hazel demanded, wincing as the Nestene continued to roar.

"I'm in town," Jason answered, sounding confused.

Hazel cursed. "No, go home! Just go home right now!"

She heard Jason laugh a little. "Sweetheart, you're breaking up. Listen, I'm getting both. I'll see you later!" He hung up.

"J? Jace?!"

The Nestene Consciousness started throwing around bolts of energy. "It's the activation signal," the Hunter cried. "It's transmitting!"

"It's the end of the world," Hazel whispered, her eyes wide and terrified.

"Get out, Hazel!" the Hunter yelled, struggling against the dummies. "Just get out! Run!"

"The stairs have gone," Hazel realised as she tried to get herself and Mike out. They ran to the TARDIS instead. "I haven't got the key!"

"We're going to die!" Mike wailed.

"Time Lady," the Nestene Consciousness growled.

Hazel looked down at the Hunter, then ran around the chamber to a rope holding a chain to the wall. The first word she'd heard from the ginger had been 'run'. She wasn't going to let it be the last too. "Just leave her," Mike shouted. "There's nothing you can do!"

"I've got no A levels, no job, no future," Hazel told him, grabbing an axe. "But I tell you what I have got. People who need me. I can't let them down." She chopped through the rope and took a firm grip of the chain, before running and swinging  out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two Autons into the vat, and therefore the anti-plastic. The Nestene screamed as it started to turn blue.

"Hazel!" The Hunter caught her as she swung back, letting her to the ground. The pair shared a small grin. "Now we're in trouble!" They ran for the TARDIS, which the Hunter unlocked, and then she, Hazel and Mike stumbled inside. The TARDIS dematerialised as the room disappeared in explosions.

***

Mike sprinted out of the TARDIS on the Embankment, terrified, and Hazel followed him out at a more leisurely pace, calling Jason to make sure he was okay. She rolled her eyes as she received a lot of panicked babbling from the man, smiling, and hung up, reassured. The Hunter stood in the doorway of the TARDIS. "Fat lot of good you were," Hazel teased.

The Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Nestene Consciousness? Easy."

Hazel shook her head. "You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me."

"Yes, I would," the Hunter nodded, her gaze softening for a moment. "Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, uh, I don't know." She shrugged. "You could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. She goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."

"Don't!" Mike shouted. "She's an alien! She's a thing!"

The Hunter looked at him the way you might look at a small annoying dog that wouldn't stop barking. "He's not invited." She looked back to Hazel, whose eyes were wide. "What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go..." She paused. "Pretty much anywhere."

"Is it always this dangerous?" Hazel wondered.

"More or less," the Hunter allowed.

Hazel sighed. "Yeah, I can't. I've er... I've got to go and find Jace, and someone's got to look after this stupid pikey, so..."

The Hunter's expression didn't change. "Okay. See you around." She went back into the TARDIS, and she dematerialised.

"I can't believe I just did that," Hazel muttered, shaking her head. As she turned to  go find Jason, the TARDIS rematerialized behind her. The Hunter poked her head out.

"By the way, did I mention she also travels in time?" she asked, before going back in, this time leaving the door open.

"Thanks," Hazel whispered, glancing down at Mike.

"What for?" he asked, frowning as he stood up.

"Exactly." She kissed him on the cheek and ran into the TARDIS.

~~~

Please like and/or reblog if you enjoyed, and consider helping me out by donating to my Kofi (https://ko-fi.com/thedoctorcried)! Thanks for reading :)

#doctor who #doctor who fanfiction #oc insert #series #thedoctorcried #gxg #lgbt

[thaliagrayce]

it took a long time, but it’s also almost 5k? I got super into this one, whoops. I reread the chapter for this, so a good deal of the dialogue is directly from canon. I tweaked it, tho. hope you like it :)

Jason hadn’t been expecting the man to turn into the wind, but he was too used to life at this point to be surprised by it. He could track where he went—barely—and started pursuit, gesturing to Nico to follow him. He tried not to let the prickling feeling of Nico’s eyes on his back distract him too much.

He still wasn’t sure why, back on the ship, he’d agreed so quickly to Nico’s logic when he’d said that the two of them had to make this stop alone. Piper had offered to come along mostly for his benefit, he knew, and he was grateful to his friend for looking out for him, but he couldn’t deny that he almost felt relieved when Nico had shot her down. He’d told himself that it was because he wanted an opportunity to figure his newest teammate out for himself instead of relying on Hazel’s familial loyalty and Percy’s cautionary tales.

The truth was more complicated. Since he first made contact with other Romans, people who had met him before, he’d grown more and more uneasy with how different their memories of him were from the person he felt at his core. His gut told him that something didn’t add up, even from the start. By now, he only remembered bits and pieces of his time in Camp Jupiter—a few interactions with Reyna, parts of senate meetings that all blended together, hours spent training both with his cohort and by himself—but it was enough. His gut had been right. The loyal Roman Jason hadn’t fit in as well as everyone thought; no matter the place, Jason hadn’t ever felt comfortable with the weight of expectation that seemed to follow him around. He learned to trust his intuition when it was saying things about his past, even if he didn’t have the memory to back it up yet.

He was nervous around the son of Hades in a way that he wasn’t around most people. He would almost feel ashamed about that if his gut didn’t tell him that he had a good reason to be—a reason entirely separate from Percy’s stories. He had no memories to back it up yet, but something told him that this wasn’t the first time he had met Nico di Angelo.

The crumbling pink wall of Diocletian’s palace rose in front of them. The man made of air had gone inside without worrying about the ticket booth several blocks away. Or doors, for that matter. They had to get inside before they lost him.

“Hold on,” Jason said. He ignored the swoop of his stomach and the buzzing in his fingertips and wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist, then willed the winds to boost them up over the wall.

Nico made a noise that on anyone else, Jason would describe as a yelp, but that seemed too… Nico di Angelo wouldn’t yelp, even if he threw his arms around Jason’s shoulders and held just over the threshold of too tight. The sound was muffled in part by his own sleeve and part by Jason’s chest as he buried his head in between the two of them.

Nico pushed away as soon as they landed back on solid ground, face pink. Jason felt the loss of warmth acutely and missed it, despite the heat of the day around them. He filed the realization into the mental drawer labeled “things to figure out later” as soon as it crossed his mind.

“The peristyle,” Nico said. “This was the entrance to Diocletian’s private residence.” He scowled at Jason and turned away from the sun, throwing his face into shadow. He might have done that on purpose. “And please, I don’t like being touched. Don’t ever grab me again.”

Jason tensed with the implicit threat underlying those words. His heart tugged—he was a very physical person, but he should have known that not everyone appreciated casual touch as much as he did. In fact, something told him that he should have known that Nico, specifically, didn’t like people touching him. For half a second, the Nico in front of him flickered with the scenery. One moment he was looking gaunt and sweaty in his aviator jacket in the ruins of Diocletian’s palace. The next, he was standing a few inches shorter outside of the senate building in New Rome, wearing an inky black toga and matching scowl, half-hidden in shadows.

Confirmation, then. The memory was only a flash and contained almost no new information, but Jason was absolutely certain that he had met Nico before. He couldn’t tell how he felt about that, and by the time he blinked away the image and the feelings it brought completely, Nico had already started to move on. He was heading to a staircase in the corner that led down into the darkness.

Jason jogged a few steps to catch up. He held his hands up, palms out, when Nico turned to look at him. “Got it, no touching. I’m sorry.” Nico blinked at him curiously, but thankfully didn’t mention Jason’s lapse in presence.

Nico looked like he might have been about to speak, but cut himself off suddenly as a breeze rushed past. In front of them, at the entrance to the steps, a single rust-colored feather floated to the ground. The two boys looked to each other, hands subconsciously reaching for their swords.

Nico’s face broke out into a grin, and Jason noticed for the first time—or, maybe, for the first time that he could remember—that his teeth were a little crooked. It was humanizing on this mysterious, dangerous boy. Jason couldn’t figure out the feeling that jumped in his chest at the sight, so he ended up settling on “unsettled”.

Underground they went.

Several things about their journey to the palace of Cupid stuck out to Jason. The sudden appearance of Favonius, of course. His horrible story about killing the mortal he loved. The sensation of being turned into the wind instead of just riding it. Nico’s obvious discomfort that started when he figured out who Favonius was and only grew as they went on. Now, finally back on solid ground, Jason had the urge to reach out and grab Nico’s armor his shoulder or something, help steady him. He glanced at Nico’s hands, white-knuckled and shaking. He wanted to take one of them, just as a reassurance. He didn’t, though. Nico didn’t like touch, they weren’t there yet. Maybe someday.

He had to do something, though. Nico was even paler than when they first got him out of that jar, dark eyes wide. He could say something—

SO.

Or he could help actually complete the task at hand and help return to the ship as fast as possible. Right.

YOU COME TO CLAIM THE SCEPTER.

Nico was at his back now, and Jason could only barely feel the warmth of his body through the waves of unearthly chill that he was radiating. Jason tried his hardest to put out comforting vibes, but he seriously doubted that was anywhere close to a Jupiter kid power.

“Cupid!” Jason squinted around the ruins to no avail. The voice seemed to come out of thin air. “Where are you?”

Without warning, some invisible force slammed into him and sent him flying down a crumbling set of stairs. He landed hard in a cellar and coughed at the cloud of dust that billowed up around him.

YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN PIN ME DOWN WHEN YOU DON’T EVEN REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE? YOU ARE NOT WORTH MY ATTENTION AS YOU ARE, JASON GRACE.

Nico scrambled down the steps through the haze of dust that Jason had inadvertently kicked up. “You okay?”

Jason noticed that some of the dust clung to Nico’s dark hair as he took the offered hand and pulled himself up. There was a bit of something stuck in his thick eyelashes that had to be driving him crazy.

“Yeah,” he said instead of pointing that out, dropping Nico’s hand to dust off his jeans. “Just got sucker punched.” He spent a little to much time looking at his hands after he was done. Cupid was right, Jason barely knew who he was between his Roman life and his Greek one—but somehow he didn’t think that was all Cupid was talking about.

A laugh answered them, and Jason felt the air ripple for half a second. He threw up his gladius on instinct, just in time to deflect a three foot long monster of an arrow that would have pierced Nico’s chest.

Nico grabbed his arm and raced back up the steps and out of the basement. Two seconds after they were out, a limestone column collapsed over the entrance.

Nico growled in frustration. “We just want the scepter! We’re trying to stop Gaea. Are you on the gods’ side or not?”

Another arrow flashed toward Nico’s feet and he stumbled away from it, seeming to forget that he was still holding on to Jason’s arm.

LOVE DOESN’T PICK SIDES, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT.

Jason stumbled after him, his vision swimming. Another flashback—Nico in the principa as the legion prepared for war games. His hair was shorter, but Jason could remember that it seemed long back then. He had thought it suited Nico. He had… He had been trying to convince Nico to join the war games, to practice with the legion and teach them a thing or two. He was the first child of the Big Three Jason had ever met, aside from himself. Hazel would be a fearsome ally and opponent, he could already tell, but she was still a new recruit and could barely hold a sword correctly at that point.

A strand of hair fell into his eyes, and the memory of Jason clasped his hands behind his back to keep himself from reaching out and tucking it behind his ear.

“It could be fun, you know. Probably wouldn’t even last that long, if we were on the same side.”

Nico had looked up at him then, and Jason’s heart stuttered—both in the memory and in reality. His eyes were as dark as his sword and shone with just as much hidden strength and promised danger.

“Than you for the offer, but I don’t pick sides, Praetor Grace.” Memory Jason felt disappointment in his gut as Nico moved closer to the shadows, letting them reach out for him. “I’m just here for Hazel, you know that.”

He did, and was hoping for something else anyway.

Current Jason snapped back in place as he tripped over a broken column, nearly pulling Nico down with him. Nico finally realized that he was still holding on and dropped Jason’s arm as if it were too cold to touch. It made Jason’s stomach swoop in the same way that it had been since they left the ship, but Jason was beginning to understand that it probably wasn’t because the boy creeped him out. Maybe Cupid really was talking about more than just memory.

The air right in front of them rippled again, and Jason was still too dazed from his sudden memory to be able to figure out what it meant for them. Nico cried out in pain as an arrow materialized in his sword arm. He reached up for the shaft and the whole thing dissolved, leaving a jagged hole in his jacket and absolutely no blood. His face shone with rage.

“Enough games!” Nico growled. “Show yourself!”

IT IS A COSTLY THING, TO LOOK ON THE FACE OF TRUE LOVE.

Jason had to jump back as another limestone column came crashing down, this time cutting him off from Nico entirely. He could see the other boy through the rubble and the cloud of dust, and made a jerking motion with his thumb—he couldn’t get over the column unnoticed, but maybe he could sneak around the god. He started creeping forward as Cupid launched into a monologue about his wife.

His mission drew him further away from Nico than he was comfortable with, and the realization of that sank into him gradually. At the start of the mission, he had convinced himself to go in order to gauge Nico’s trustworthiness, to see whether he was as shifty as Percy seemed to think. By now, he was reluctant to go more than fifteen feet away from him.

In a stroke of both luck and great misfortune, Cupid appeared to have been completely serious when he said that Jason wasn’t worth his attention earlier; luck because it allowed him to sneak around to a point where he was fairly certain he could get a clean shot without much trouble. Misfortune because all of the god’s attention was solely on Nico, who was looking more harried by the second. Jason felt a twinge of guilt; he had left Nico on distraction duty with someone who clearly liked toying with people’s emotions. He reminded himself to apologize later, but for now, he just needed the god to say one more thing and he would have him as good as pinned.

“I’ve been to Tartarus and back,” Nico snarled. “You don’t scare me.”

I SCARE YOU VERY, VERY MUCH.

Gotcha. Jason thrust his gladius to the sky and tasted copper. He closed his eyes against the blinding flash, but could do nothing against the energy that raced through his blood and set his nerves on high alert. When he opened his eyes again, there was a smoking crater about thirty feet from Nico, where Jason had placed Cupid. All sound had died in the aftermath of the thunder clap.

Jason met Nico’s eyes across the arena and it was like looking in a mirror; he could see the same incredulous hope in Nico’s eyes, their chests heaved in tandem. It almost felt a little too easy.

OH?

A force like a battering ram hit Jason in the chest, shoving him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. His sword skittered across the broken paving stones and came to rest around three feet outside of his reach.

PERHAPS I WAS WRONG. YOU LEARN QUICKLY, JASON GRACE.

He heard a menacing crack off to his left, and rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the wall that crumbled into the space he had been occupying. His muscles trembled from a combination of exertion, adrenaline, and lack of oxygen. His chest heaved for air but came up empty.

YOU MAY BE WORTHY OF MY ATTENTION AFTER ALL.

He tried to force himself to breathe with his powers, but abandoned the attempt midway through as a microwave-sized chunk of limestone flew at his head at a speed that would make major league pitchers jealous. He threw himself to the right as much as he could from his position, which still left him close enough to be pelted by tiny shards of broken floor. Darkness started to creep in along the edges of his vision. His arms gave out on him and he fell back to the ground. He needed air.

“Stop it!” Nico stepped into the space between them, lips curled back in a snarl. “It’s me you want. Leave him alone!” His chin tilted up, defiant, and a gust of wind whipped around him, fluttering his hair and his jacket and—

Air rushed into Jason’s lungs again. He breathed in until he was lightheaded, staring at the protective image Nico projected. Nico was so wrong, Cupid wasn’t just here for him. Jason wanted to punch the god in his monstrously beautiful face, as soon as he stopped shaking.

THEN FACE ME. BE HONEST.

“Just give us Diocletian’s scepter! We don’t have time for games!” Nico snarled.

GAMES? Cupid struck, slapping Nico sideways into a granite pedestal. LOVE IS NO GAME. IT IS NO FLOWERY SOFTNESS. Nico was tossed backward as if he weighed no more than a kitten, and he landed in a pile of rubble hard enough that Jason could hear the clattering of stones. IT IS HARD WORK—A QUEST THAT NEVER ENDS. IT DEMANDS EVERYTHING FROM YOU, ESPECIALLY THE TRUTH. ONLY THEN DOES IT YIELD REWARDS.

Jason shoved himself upright, desperate to get over to Nico. He looked angry, struggling to get out of the rocks he had been thrown into. There was a scrape on his forehead, dripping down into his eyes, and—

Jason’s head rushed and the world tilted around him. He dropped to his knees as quickly as he could and sucked in a breath, shaking as his vision cleared out.

Fine. So he wasn’t completely recovered from getting the wind knocked out of him, standing was a bad idea. He could still crawl.

He got about five feet closer to Nico before a column toppled in front of him—one that he could have sworn wasn’t even there before. He reared back to avoid being hit and looked up to see Nico dive out of the way of a flying rock, tucking into a roll and coming up smoothly onto his feet.

Jason turned to go around the end of the column, but he didn’t even get a foot away before something else came crashing down in front of him. He looked urgently to where Nico was fighting against something he couldn’t see, and was hit with two realizations: he wouldn’t be able to get to him in any helpful capacity, and he was absolutely desperate to be next to him.

“Nico, what does this guy want from you?”

TELL HIM, NICO DI ANGELO. TELL HIM YOU ARE A COWARD, AFRAID OF YOURSELF AND YOUR FEELINGS.

Nico looked more furious than Jason had ever seen him before. Every shadow in the ruins of the palace gravitated toward him, like hands reaching out, desperate to touch him. The stones at his feet rumbled and cracked as if something was moving in the earth beneath, trying to push its way through. His eyes were tinged with red, and for a second, Jason thought he might have some wild new aura of power going on, until he saw the way his eyes shined more than usual. Jason’s heart relocated to somewhere around his knees. He had never seen Nico cry before, he didn’t need all of his memories to know that. A skeletal hand clawed its way out of the dirt next to Nico’s boot.

WILL YOU HIDE AMONG THE DEAD, AS YOU ALWAYS DO? Cupid was taunting him. Jason snarled at the laugh he heard in the booming words.

Nico let loose a guttural scream and the rocks at his feet crumbled as whole skeletons dragged themselves out of the dirt, carrying ancient weapons and clad in tattered remnants of their time. Jason had enough time to see three of them move in the same direction before the first wave hit him hard enough to leave him gasping.

The intrusion of memories that weren’t his own felt like his mind was a bookshelf, and someone had just shoved something too big for the space allowed into it. Pressure built up between his ears as images of a different life flashed through his mind. He saw from Nico’s perspective, standing next to a girl who had the same dark eyes and olive skin as Nico. Percy Jackson stood in front of them, Riptide drawn, brown skin glowing in its light, keeping them safe from a manticore. He’d been the first demigod that Nico had ever seen in action, Mythomagic brought to life.

Later, at camp, Percy took Nico’s arm as he promised to keep Bianca safe. Jason could feel Nico’s conviction, the absolute unshakable certainty that Percy was trustworthy. He was a hero, and heroes couldn’t be wrong. He had looked into Percy’s green eyes and felt a fluttering warmth in his chest. The pressure in Jason’s head turned into pain, and his stomach turned. He wasn’t so sure the two things were related.

He saw the moment Percy returned to tell Nico that Bianca was dead, felt the raw anger and grief firsthand as Nico screamed. The betrayal felt larger than anything else Nico had ever felt, but he still couldn’t leave Percy to the skeletons. He’d created a chasm to send them back to hell before they could hurt Percy, then felt nauseous at the amount of power that took, the amount of power he had inside him. He glanced at Percy once more and ran.

Jason saw dozens of other scenes with Percy, each full of intense emotion. His skin felt clammy, and he was only marginally aware of what was going on in real life—the summoned skeletons had latched onto something invisible and were wrestling it to the ground—but the images in his head took all of his attention. Percy smiling Nico’s way, showing his dimples, before Nico realized that Annabeth was behind him. Percy holding on to a piece of blue cake on a fire escape in front of some brick building, surprised to see Nico, inviting him in. A glimpse of Percy coming out of the canoe lake at camp before Nico looked away. Jason’s head felt like it was going to burst. His own chest was a mess of pain and longing, caught up in Nico’s memories.

The pain in his head stopped abruptly and the scene in his head shifted. He was in the stands of the training arena in New Rome, looking down at a practice fight on the main grounds. It was Nico fighting, he realized with a start—this was his own memory. His opponent was Hazel, and Jason could see the smile on her face even from this far away. She circled around him until her back was to Jason, and Jason could see Nico’s face clearly. He looked happy, genuinely happy, for the first time since Jason had met him. His hair was half tied up, the other half not long enough to fit in the ponytail. He was smiling. Jason’s heart tripped over itself. This was the first time Jason had ever seen Nico smile, he realized. His teeth shone and it was a little predatory, honestly. His eyes were darker than anything Jason had ever seen, and like this, they glinted with something close to mischief. His smile carved little lines in his face next to them. He was in a well-guarded stance and even though he was clearly distracted by whatever Hazel was saying, it was equally clear that he wouldn’t be caught by surprise if she lunged. He was an excellent swordsman, he was powerful, he was…

He was beautiful. Jason’s throat felt a little dry. Nico di Angelo was beautiful right now, with sweat sticking some escaped strands of hair to his forehead. He was beautiful when he was sitting across from Jason in senate meetings, somehow managing to look both bored and respectful at the same time. He was beautiful on the rare few times Jason had caught up to him walking around New Rome, sunlight catching the planes of his face and the depths of his eyes. Jason was sure that there was so much more to Nico than the face he put up in public. He was the only other person who might understand the deep loneliness in Jason, the isolation that came from being his father’s son. Jason realized he didn’t want to get close to Nico just because of the Big Three solidarity.

In that moment, thirty feet away from Nico as he laughed and fought his sister, Jason would have given anything to be noticed by him, to be seen. To be loved.

The laughing Nico of his memory melted into the present version of him, still clutching his sword and facing an opponent, his mouth pressed firmly into a line, his eyes ringed with red. His face was caked with dirt save for matching tracks trailing down both cheeks.

“I…”

His voice cracked, and Jason’s heart cracked with it. He looked to Jason, fearful, and Jason realized that he wasn’t scared of Cupid, not really. He was scared of Jason. He was scared of the reaction. Jason swallowed the spring of hurt.

“It’s okay, Nico.” He tried to force a smile onto his face. “I get it.”

Under the pile of skeletons, Cupid became visible. He was handsome, yeah. Jason didn’t care. Cupid was watching Nico with an expression that Jason interpreted as smug.

“I had a crush on Percy. That’s it, that’s the big secret.” Nico glared at Cupid with every ounce of venom in his body. “Happy now?”

Jason busied himself with finally, finally getting to his feet. He felt like he was intruding on something. He focused on dusting himself off and tried to tune out the exchange in front of him.

“Jason Grace.” He looked up to see Cupid’s plastic-heart-red eyes staring right at him from a foot away. He hadn’t heard the god approach. Nico was clutching a scepter back where they were before, glaring at his own feet.

“You surprised me.” He tilted his head and Jason felt like he was under inspection. He fought the heartbreak and anger in his chest to keep a straight face. “Learn from this.”

The god reached out his hand to clap Jason’s shoulder, but he jerked out of his way. When Cupid looked back at him, surprised, Jason let just a little bit of his Wolf Stare seep into his expression. He couldn’t shake the image of Nico crying out of his head.

“Have you said what you need to say?” Jason swallowed down a sneer. “Sir?”

Cupid had the nerve to grin. “You’re a very quick study. Good.” He winked once at Jason before dissolving into nothing. Static electricity crackled at Jason’s fingertips. He shook out his hands and his head. This wasn’t about him, he wasn’t the person who had been targeted by this. He vaulted over the toppled column to get to Nico.

Nico was looking straight up when Jason got to him, blinking rapidly. He decided it might be a good idea not to mention the crying. Nico held a staff about three feet long with this marble globe on the end of it—Diocletian’s scepter. Mission complete.

“If…” Nico broke the silence and Jason almost jumped with the suddenness of it. “If the others found out—”

“If the others found out,” Jason interrupted, “you’d have that many more people to back you up and to unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble.” This was… familiar. He believed the words with his whole being, but they didn’t feel like his own. For a moment, he heard Reyna’s voice in his head, saying almost the same thing. Something told him that this wasn’t the first time he’d had a conversation like this.

It might have been the first time he was on this side of it, though.

Nico frowned. Jason could still feel the anger and resentment rippling off of him.

“It’s your call, though,” Jason added. “Your decision to share or not. Nobody should be outed like that.” Nico looked up at him, surprised. “I can only tell you that you’re not alone.”

Nico tilted his head, considering, before looking back down at the scepter in his hands. They both stood there for a minute, alone in the crumbling ruins of an old palace, listening to the winds.

“I don’t feel that way anymore.” Nico cleared his throat. “I mean… I gave up on Percy. I was young and impressionable, and I—I don’t…”

His voice wobbled and he cut himself off, blinking too much. Jason’s heart sank. Nico’s words weren’t very convincing, but that didn’t matter in the long run. He had already been through so much, years of isolation and hordes of secrets in his wake. How long had he been keeping this one to himself? It must have been unthinkable to share in the 1940’s, and Nico’s life hadn’t gotten much happier since then. Jason felt certain that he’d had support in his life—in this regard, at least. Reyna’s smile flashed through his mind. Nico didn’t need someone to sweep him off his feet right now, and Jason doubted that he would want it, either. What he needed was a friend.

“Nico,” he murmured. “I’ve seen a lot of brave things. But what you just did? That was maybe the bravest.”

Nico looked up uncertainly. Jason smiled.

“We should get back to the ship.”

#this is the one that deleted an entire 3.5k when my power went out #rip what could have been but like i like this version too #rick riordan hire me to rewrite hoo #hoo #jasico #pjo #jason grace #nico di angelo #my writing #mj talks #anon i hope you're still here #sorry it took so long

[waywardnerd67]

Terrified

Summary: One fateful night led Dean Winchester on a romantic whirlwind with (Y/N). As the years pass, she is ready to settle down where he is seemingly always running away. Until fate has to step in to guide him towards the right path. Characters: Dean Winchester, Reader Pairing: Dean x Reader Warnings: Fluff/Slight Angst Word Count: 1879 Song Prompt: “Terrified” by Katherine McPhee & Jason Reeves (Lyrics in bold) A/N #1: This is for the amazing @atc74​ Angelina’s Duets Reboot Challenge A/N #2: As always this is unbeta so all mistakes are mine. Likes, comments and reblogs are splendid and I will love you doubly for them! Enjoy!

Dean Winchester rolled his head to rest against his aching arms he was hanging by. How the vampire got the drop on him, he would never know. All he was trying to do was figure a way to get out of the predicament he was in and get back to the one person he should have been with from the beginning. The mere thought of her had his eyes welling up from the stupidity he displayed the last time they were together.

Four Days Earlier

(Y/N) was standing by the end of her couch as he slipped on his boots. Her arms were crossed over her chest as her piercing (Y/C/E) eyes bore into him. She was mad and with good reason since he was leaving again.

“Dean will you just tell me the truth, please.” she said as he stood up.

He sighed heavily, “I’m telling you the truth sweetheart. I have to leave for a business trip, but I will be back in a couple of days.”

Everything he said was true just not the whole truth. In the three years they had been together, Dean never once told her about his real job. Just that he ran the family business with his brother that required a lot of traveling. Omitting the truth versus straight up lying was a step in the right direction of having a normal relationship.

“Bull. We were laying there and I brought up moving in together. Like every time I bring it up something comes up that you have to leave. So cut the shit out and just be straight with me. Is this going anywhere?” she asked her voice faltering at the end.

Dean stepped closer to her running his hands over her plaid covered arms, “Of course it is (Y/N). When I get back we will sit down and see how the next part of our lives will look. I promise, but right now I have to go.”

He kissed her cheek reaching to grab his jacket off the back of the couch. Just as he reached the door she called out, “This could be good, it's already better than that and nothing's worse than knowing you're holding back. I could be all that you needed if you let me try, Dean.”

A sharp pain spread throughout his chest as if she had just taken a hot knife to his heart. He turned towards her, “Sweetheart, I only said it 'cause I mean it. I only mean 'cause it's true, so don't you doubt what I've been dreaming. 'Cause it fills me up and holds me close whenever I'm without you. I promise we will talk about everything in a couple of days. I love you, (Y/N).”

Dean walked out the front door to Baby backing out of (Y/N)’s driveway. He looked back at the front door seeing her standing there wiping her eyes with the back of her shirt sleeves. He hated leaving her and knew the time had come for the truth to come out.

Present Day

Dean looked to the IV draining his blood slowly into mason jars surrounding his feet. It was only supposed to be a couple of vamps running a muck in the town next to (Y/N)’s. He regretted telling Sam he would be fine but did not want to interrupt his long weekend with Eileen. When a couple of vamps turned out to be a nest of six that had trapped him, Dean was overpowered by them.  

“I really thought there would be more to the famous Dean Winchester. I have to say, I’m slightly disappointed.” The vamp leader, Jess, ran her long, pale fingers down his arms as she spoke.

“I still have a few tricks up my sleeves you undead bitch.” he spatted straining against his restraints.

She smiled cockily, “I can’t wait to see them, but until then it’s dinner time.”

Dean watched as she picked up a few jars filled with his blood. He was starting to lose strength and today was the first day he felt lightheaded from being drained. He did not have much longer and suddenly the pain within his chest became unbearable. Closing his eyes, he thought back to the night he met (Y/N).

Three years ago

Their lips smashed against one another as she pushed the door open to her house, “I… normally don’t do this…” she mumbled in between kisses.

Dean smiled against her neck as he pinned her against the door to shut it, “Glad you decided to try something new with me.”

The small whimpers and moans escaping her lips were driving him wild. He scooped her up wrapping her legs around his waist as she directed him to her bedroom. Never before had Dean wanted to spend hours worshiping a woman’s body but (Y/N) pulled something out of him that he never knew he was capable of. When they were both blissfully sated curled up by his side he looked down at her as the moonlight hit her beautiful face.

“You by the light is the greatest find in the world full of wrong. You're the thing that's right finally made it through the lonely to the other side.” he whispered his heart seized with fear and yet bursting with hope at once.

The next morning he found himself making a hearty breakfast for her and spending the entire day with her. When Sam called him about the case they were working, he looked over to (Y/N) curled up in a blanket next to him and did not want to leave her.

“Sweetheart, I have to go. My business partner just called to say he needs me for something.” he said pulling his boots on.

Disappointment flashed before her face before she nodded walking him over to the door, “Well Dean this was definitely the best twenty-four hours I’ve ever had. Maybe if… you know are in town again we could…”

Usually, Dean would have made empty promises of coming back to see her but he found himself writing his number on a receipt in his pocket.

“Text or call me so I have your number. Maybe we can go out again next week.” the words left his mouth made his skin crawl with nervousness.

However, his whole body relaxed seeing the breathtaking smile on her face, “Absolutely, you’ll hear from soon.”

The last thing he saw in his rearview mirror was (Y/N) standing against the door frame clutching his number to her chest.

Present Day

Dean was barely holding on as he went into his fifth day. He could no longer feel his feet and the ropes holding up his arms were cutting into his wrists. His lips were painfully dry and cracked as he ran his tongue over them. His vision blurred in and out as he tried to stay awake. Closing his eyes briefly, he saw (Y/N)’s beautiful face smiling at him. Her eyes vibrant shining brightly up a him and her cheeks slightly pink.

“Let go.” She whispered to him.

Just as he was going to a loud commotion came from the next room. Dean tried to open his eyes but they were just too heavy for him. (Y/N)’s voice floating through his ears again.

“Let go.”

“Dean! Dean open your eyes!” his cheek stung as something hit it hard making his eyes snap open.

He was met with the familiar hazel eyes of his brother Sam catching him as he fell limp into his arms. He felt Sam pick him up as he watched Eileen take out Jess with ease. They had come for him without even knowing where he was going to be. As Sam laid him in the back of the Impala he began mumbling.

“(Y/N). I need to see her. Tell her everything… (Y/N)...” everything went black just as he felt Baby taking off.

Dean slowly opened his eyes, feeling like his body had been put through a meat grinder. He looked over to see Sam sitting in a chair next to him with Eileen sitting across his lap. A small smile came on his face as his brother gently woke the woman he loved up pointing towards him.

She signed that she would be right back getting up and leaving the hospital room. Sam leaned forward his brow furrowed in worry, “I thought I lost you, man.”

Dean tried to talk but his throat burned as he squeaked out, “No way.”

Getting up to get him some water, Dean felt something squeeze his hand to his other side. Looking down, a raspy gasp escaped his lips seeing (Y/N)’s forehead on his hand. He quickly looked to Sam who was smiling from ear to ear.

“You kept repeating her name before you passed out. I looked her up in your phone as they wheeled you back into the emergency room. Dean…” Sam paused guilt passing over his eyes, “I had to tell her everything.”

He took a sip of water then said, “Good. Give us a few minutes.”

Sam squeezed his shoulder before leaving the room. Dean took a moment to just look down at her before running his other hand over her soft hair. (Y/N) looked around confused and then her eyes landed on him immediately filling with tears.

“Dean.” she whispered as he pulled her up next to him on the bed.

“Shhh.” he said as he held her while she cried again his chest.

“I thought… I thought I lost you.”

He swept her hair behind her ear shaking his head, “Never.”

“Dean, why didn’t you tell? What if your brother hadn’t gotten there in time?” she asked her voice frantic.

He pulled her lips to his before whispering, “My heart's in motion. Every word feels like a shooting star. I'm at the edge of my emotions watching the shadows burning in the dark and  I'm in love. And I'm terrified. For the first time, in the last time, in my only life.”

She bit her lip as she reached up running her fingers through his hair, “Dean I’m terrified to. Falling for you was like a whirlwind that I had only read about in books. I was scared that you were going to leave me at any moment. Now…”

“I only said it 'cause I mean it. I only mean 'cause it's true. So don't you doubt what I've been dreaming. 'Cause it fills me up and holds me close whenever I'm without you. You kept me alive and I can’t live my life without you. I’m terrified you won’t be able to handle my life and I’m terrified I won’t be able to give it up.” His heart monitor was going off the charts as he finally confessed what he had been holding back.

A nurse came rushing in, “Mr. Campbell, what is wrong?” she asked checking his vitals immediately.

Dean chuckled as (Y/N) had moved so the nurse could do her job, “I’m in love.”

He looked over to (Y/N) who wore a beautiful smile on her face then they both looked to the door where Sam was standing with Eileen, “About damn time!”

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My Nerd Herd: @waywardbaby @ladywinchester1967 @akshi8278 @ericaprice2008 @deans-baby-momma @spnbaby-67 @dean-winchesters-bacon @carryonmywaywardcaptain @-lovepeacenhope- @destiel745 @carribear31 @srsllydunnodoncare @whimsicalrobots @thisismysecrethappyplace @starstruckzonkoperatorbat @adoptdontshoppets @mrswhozeewhatsis @bella-ca @drakelover78 @imascio08 @pisces-cutie @dwgrl1903 @mannls @the-salty-asian @winchesterprincessbride @xostephanie @superromijn @witch-of-letters @time-travel-bouqet @screechingartisancashbailiff @myinconnelly1 @sister-winchesters99 @thekatherinewinchester @babykalika2001 @maddiepants @tumbler-tidbits @sandlee44 @destielhoneybee @jerkbitchidjitassbutt @thefaithfulwriter @stoneyggirl @supernaturalginger @emoryhemsworth @baby7879 @wednesdayismyfunday @team-free-will-you-idjiot @atc74

#angelina’s duets reboot challenge #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester fanfic #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester #supernatural fanfiction #Supernatural fanfic #fluff #angst

[bumblesimagines]

Dangerous

Part 4

Fangs opened his eyes, squinting when he looked at the lightbulb. He was in some type of interrogation room.

"He's awake." Fangs turned his head, looking at the blonde. She glared daggers back at him. He looked at the two men that entered. He recognized the redhead. Clifford Blossom. A pretty rich and scary man.

"Fangs Fogarty? What an interesting name." The blonde man sat down.

"Where am I?" Fangs asked.

"We should introduce ourselves first. I'm Clifford Blossom and this is Hal Cooper." Fangs looked at Hal.

"Bettys dad?" Hal nodded.

"You're in the building of our company, Fangs. We brought you here to discuss a friend of yours. Does the name (Y/N) (L/N) ring a bell?" Cliff asked.

"I don't recognize the last name." Fangs replied. Hal chuckled.

"Right. Typical (Y/N)." He nodded to the girl. She placed a file in front of him and opened it.

"Do you recongize him?" Cliff asked. Fangs nodded slowly.

"Great. We're his bosses." Hal said as he leaned forward to watch his reaction. Fangs finally took notice of the tightly knit rope around his wrist and ankles. His heart started racing. Did they do the same to Lukas or was his death quick and painless?

"Why am I here?"

"Usually we take care of distractions but since your friend took the bullet for you, we decided to switch things up. I'll leave Hal to take over. It'll only be a matter of time before the police arrive." Cliff said, leaving the room.

"Before anything.. I wanna tell you about (Y/N). He's our best worker. Awfully handsome too, right?" Hal stared at him, leaning back in his seat.

"I'm sure you were told about Lukas?" Fangs nodded.

"Then you know that he was (Y/N)'s target as well. You know... Lukas was sent in undercover by some cops but ended up falling for his enemy and brought (Y/N) down with him. We allowed their relationship because we thought Lukas was just another kid until Polly here found out the truth. By then they were already engaged." Hal let out a pity sigh. Fangs frowned.

"We gave Lukas file to (Y/N) and he took care of his target." Hal said calmly.

"What?" Fangs breathed out.

"Tell me, Fangs... What do you know about (Y/N)?" Hal asked. Fangs swallowed, thinking back on their chats. The only thing he knew about (Y/N) personal life was that his fiance had been killed.

"You didn't even know his last name." Hal reminded, sliding the file toward himself. He looked down.

"(Y/N) was born in Greendale but moved here some years ago. He was recruited and became our best worker." Hal said, closing the file.

"He's had past lovers... All buried six feet under. Maybe you'll be the last. Depends on Polly." Fangs glanced at the girl as Hal stood.

"Good luck." Hal said, amused. He left the room as Polly sat on the table.

"Does he even love you? Why would he distance himself once he knew you were in danger? He never told you about Lukas death. Then again, he didn't seem to care much." Polly placed a recorder down on the table. She pressed a button and Fangs heard the conversation (Y/N) had with Cliff and Hal the day he was targeted.

"He wants money... Not you. He even called you a nobody. Ouch..." Polly watched Fangs looked down, slightly shaking.

"Are you gonna cry?" She asked, tilting her head as she placed a hand on her baby bump. Fangs sent her a teary eyed glare. Polly hummed.

"Of course you're crying. You're weak. You're disillusion if you ever thought that (Y/N), an expert, would ever love you." Polly giggled. Fangs looked back down, wiggling his wrists. He could feel the burn but ignored it as he heard sirens and loud thumping. He felt the ropes loosen enought for him to slide them out. Polly looked at him.

"Hey-" Fangs pushed the table, causing Polly to squeal when she fell off. Fangs quickly got to work on the rope around his ankles, standing up only to hear a click. He looked up. Polly kept her gun pointed at him, eyes flickering towards the door when it opened. Her eyes watered.

"Jason?" She whimpered.

"Lower the gun, Polly." He heard a male voice. She slowly lowered the gun and dropped it, rushing past Fangs. He turned around looking at the redhead who kept his arms around Polly.

"Fangs?" Toni peeked over Jason's shoulder. She breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him.

"We were so worried when you disappeared. Your friend, (Y/N), told us the location after the doctors treated him." She explained as she pulled him out of the room. Sweet Pea hugged him once he was out of the building.

"Both (Y/N) and Joaquin are okay?" Fangs asked. The two nodded as they walked with him to the ambulance. A paramedic treated the burns on his wrists. Fangs traced the bandages, looking up.

"Can we go to the hospital?" Fangs asked. They nodded.

Fangs entered (Y/N)'s room. He looked at the woman.

"Eat the food or I'll force feed you!" She pointed at (Y/N). Fangs recognized her accent and voice. He cleared his throat. (Y/N) looked at Fangs, his amused smile dropping.

"Evie, that's Fangs." He mumbled to the woman. Evie smiled, approaching Fangs.

"Evie Rousselle. You're (Y/N)'s boyfriend, oui? The one he came to me almost crying about."

"Evie..." (Y/N) groaned. Fangs glanced at him, shoulders slumping a bit as his anger at (Y/N) slowly washed away. Evie glanced back at him.

"What? Just telling the truth." She grinned, satasfied that she embarrassed him.

"I'm gonna go get a snack." She said, grabbing her purse and leaving the room. (Y/N) looked at Fangs as the tan male approached him.

"Sorry I got you into this mess." He mumbled, glancing at the bandages.

"They told me about Lukas. That you were the one who killed him." Fangs stared at him. (Y/N) frowned.

"Of course they did. It's half the truth. I was gonna kill him but couldn't bring myself to do it."

(Y/N) stared into Lukas soft light hazel eyes. He was unfazed by the fact he had a gun pointed at him.

"Why aren't you afraid?!" (Y/N) cried out. Lukas smiled, his dimples making (Y/N)'s heart swoon.

"This isn't the first time you've pointed a gun at me." He said softly, stepping forward and pushing the gun to the side. Lukas wrapped his arms around his fiance.

"I love you. Even if you might be the death of me."

(Y/N) sighed.

"The next morning I found his apartment trashed. He was dead in his bedroom." (Y/N) looked at Fangs. He looked at the tv as the news about Hal and Cliff came on. Cliff had apparently hung himself and Hal was shot by police.

"You should join the Serpents." Fangs said, looking at him. (Y/N) frowned.

"Why? I won't fit in." Fangs shook his head, leaning in and kissing him. (Y/N) smiled, gently pulling him closer.

"You'll fit in just fine. You helped us catch murderers." Fangs mumbled against his lips.

"You say that after kissing a murderer." (Y/N) chuckled. Fangs laughed softly and pulled back. He smiled, taking his hand in his.

"So, you almost cried when talking to Evie?" He asked. (Y/N) rolled his eyes.

"I was sad but I didn't cry." (Y/N) huffed. Fangs hummed.

"I'm sure." (Y/N) gently pushed him.

"Mind seeing what's taking Evie so long?" He asked. Fangs nodded, walking over to the door and peeking out into the hall. He saw Evie rolling her eyes at something Sweet Pea said. He chuckled and closed the door.

"Sweet Pea's flirting with her." Fangs said, walking back over to him. (Y/N) snorted.

"If only he knew that she's a lesbian." (Y/N) mumbled, picking up the jello cup. FP entered the room.

"The police wanna ask you a few questions." He told Fangs. (Y/N) glanced at Fangs.

"I can't go anywhere so..." Fangs chuckled, pecking his cheek. He followed FP to the two officers.

"Fangs Fogarty?" One cop questioned. Fangs nodded.

"Alright. What's your connection to (Y/N) (L/N)?"

"Boyfriend." He replied, almost smiling.

"Do you know if he was somehow connected to Hal Cooper and Cliff Blossom?" Fangs played with his rings.

"He said they wanted to recruit him but he didn't want to join them." Fangs replied. One officer nodded.

"That answers the next question." He mumbled.

"Alright. That's all for now." The other officer said. She nodded to him and FP before walking away with her partner. FP looked at him.

"You must really love this guy to lie for him." FP said quietly. Fangs looked at him.

"You touch your rings when you lie." FP pointed to his hands. Fangs glanced down and sighed.

"Yeah." Fangs nodded, smiling. He walked back with him to the room and entered, going to (Y/N) and laying down with him.

"I'll take you out on an actual date once I fully heal." (Y/N) mumbled. Fangs looked at him.

"Where?"

"I heard Pop's makes the best burgers around."

#x you #x reader #x y/n #x male reader #riverdale #riverdale x reader #riverdale x you #fangs fogarty #riverdale southside #riverdale x y/n #southside serpents #riverdale x male reader #x male!reader #fangs forgarty x reader #fangs x reader #tw hanging #fangs x male reader #fp jones #toni topaz #sweet pea

[privpro]

Beard Love

Written for & inspired by @joleanart​‘s art post here

If there was one thing that Jason could say about college, it was that it was a fucking ride. Growing up the son of the world’s most prominent (and arguably most arrogant) businessmen and getting sent off to a prestigious boarding school practically the minute he could talk, Jason thought he had it all down. He was self-reliant, studious, charming, a natural leader and so, so unprepared for public school.

Lupa Capitolina Military Institution and Jupiter Preparatory Academy were both excellent for breeding youths of character discipline and strength. Most of Jason’s former classmates were now off attending law, business and medical school or prepping to take over their parent’s companies. Jason, meanwhile, had opted to attend NYU and was studying the Classics – partially out of rebellion to his father and stepmother and partially because it actually interested him. His friend Frank recommended the school after applying there himself for International Studies. Aside from occasional run-ins with Frank in the history building, however, Jason found himself almost completely alone.

Enter, Greek life.

Greek life had simultaneously become the most wonderful and most terrifying thing Jason had ever experienced. Practically the moment his last midterm was over, Jason’s roommate, one randomly assigned Perseus Jackson, literally dragged him across campus to one of the frat houses. Jason doesn’t remember half of what happened that night, but he’s pretty sure it changed his life. He woke up the next morning with a standing invitation to pledge to Chi Eta Beta and possibly a girlfriend. As it turned out CHB and Piper made the rest of his freshman year a lot more enjoyable than, well, pretty much his entire school experience up to that point.

Fast forward two years and Jason found himself with a room in CHB’s row house, a fantastic group of both wild and studious friends and, somehow, a beard.

And okay, a week prior all of the brothers were sporting facial hair in honor of no-shave-november (and because it was hilarious to watch some of the younger pledges try to grow facial hair), but by now the only other person who’d kept their beard was Beckendorf, who’d had a beard almost the entire time Jason had known him. No one had brought it up until now, when Percy – still Jason’s roommate finally broached the subject.

“So is the beard gonna be a permanent thing now?”

He asked, his own face baby smooth since Annabeth Chase informed him it was no longer November, during their 9am lecture on December 1st. Said face was currently pulled into Percy’s signature lop-sided smirk as he plopped down on the couch beside Jason and stole some of Leo’s popcorn, despite the fact that he’d only gotten up in the first place to get more snacks.

“Hey!”

The Hispanic protested, leaning over to try and snatch the snacks back and nearly rolling off the loveseat in the process.

“Here,” Piper said, nimbly snatching the unopened Doritos Percy had fetched from his other side and tossing them at Leo’s head. All of this gave Jason time to pretend to finish reading his page and internally freak out.

The thing was, Jason might be keeping the beard because it was easier to take care of than shaving his face daily – like Charlies claimed. Or, he might be keeping it because two weeks ago at their “fratsgiving” Percy got wasted and spent an hour rambling about how hot beards were. While the other male was distracted, Jason sent a silent plea for help in Piper’s direction. When she caught the glance, his girlfriend (ex-girlfriend? “On a break for Jason’s emotional and sexual discovery” friend?), she just smiled encouragingly and shrugged. Thanks Pipes.

With nothing particularly elegant or solid enough to really satisfy Percy’s curiosity, Jason followed his ex’s example and simply shrugged when the native New Yorker turned his attention back to him. He carefully kept his eyes glued to the book in front of him rather than looking at Percy’s reaction when he deflected.

“Why?”

Percy returned the shrug but then leaned back into the couch and wrapped an arm around Jason’s shoulder. His smirk then went from mischievously friendly to deviously enticing.

“Well, you see,” he started, his voice pitched lower like when he fake flirts with Piper. “If you get anymore handsome, then I’m gonna have to fuck you.”

Once again, Jason was saved from immediately answering by an outburst from Leo and he used the time to decide how he wanted to reply. On the one hand, it was completely possible that Percy was just messing around and had only platonic (or, as Leo liked to call it “bromance”) feelings towards him. On the other hand…well, they might have told everyone they were taking a break because Piper needed to spend more time studying this semester, but the actual reason was because Jason had confessed his confusing feelings for his roommate and she’d encouraged him to try and figure things out for himself without any pressure – and shared that her own preferences had nothing to do with gender and were also open to multiple partners.

Currently, Piper was texting and therefore no help at all, but Jason found that maybe he didn’t need it. There was really only one way to figure out if Percy meant it or not. So, before either Percy or Leo could get too worked up defending his “handsomeness” v. “masculine dignity” (yeah, he wasn’t going to touch that with a ten-foot pole), he gave his own reply as nonchalantly as possible.

“I guess I’ll have to swear off shaving forever, then.”

The living room quieted significantly after that, with only the sound of the Hallmark channel filling the air. Next to Jason, Percy seemed to have stopped breathing, let alone moving, but the blonde very deliberately forced himself to actually finish reading his page before he looked up.

When he did, Piper was still texting, Leo was frozen half off the loveseat with his mouth open, and Percy was sporting one of the deepest blushes Jason had ever seen. It was Leo who spoke first.

“Wha – what is happening?”

His tone was level, but his voice cracked slightly out of either shock or disbelief. Thankfully, Piper chose that moment to finally look up from her phone.

“What’s happening,” She said plainly, standing up from the couch and then pulling Leo up as well, “Is that I’m going to study with Annabeth and you’re going to tell the Stolls that they owe me fifty bucks.”

“Fifty bucks? Oh! Right, the bet!”

Leo puzzled and then practically shot up with excitement. This, it seemed was also enough to finally pull Percy out of his stupor, though Piper and Leo were halfway to the door before he could fully form his sentence of outrage.

“Hey, wait! You’ve been betting on if we’d get together? What kind of friends are you??”

“Not if,” Piper corrected with a grin, shoving Leo out of the door. “How.”

And with that, she too exited the house, leaving Jason and Percy alone inside.

Percy fish-mouthed at the closed door and then all but collapsed back onto the couch next to Jason.

“I can’t decide if I’m more upset that they set up a betting pool, that apparently everyone else saw our feelings before we did, or that the winning bet was only worth $50.”

He groused, rubbing a hand over his face before thumping his head back against the couch and closing his eyes. Jason, no longer feeling insecure, just smiled and turned so that he could lean over and kiss the boy. At the first press of their lips, Percy jolted like he’d completely forgotten the reason their friends were making bets in the first place. He very quickly got over the shock of it however, and started reciprocating.

Jason found that while it wasn’t better or worse than kissing Piper, making out with Percy was certainly different. For one, Percy treated the kiss like he was some kind of underwater explorer, trying to discover and coax out as much as possible and only coming up for air when absolutely necessary. For another thing, Piper never tasted like an unholy mix of leftover pie and Doritos, nor did she ever spend quite as much of her time appreciating his beard. The biggest difference, of course, came in the way that Percy levered him onto his back across the couch so the brunette lay atop him and then started grinding their hips together with practically liquid rolls of his hips.

It was so much sensation that neither of them noticed when the front door opened again until Hazel’s voice filled the air.

“Oh wait, Frank! Nico just texted. He said that Percy and Jason are –.”

There was a pause, one that both boys were now very well aware of given that they’d pretty much frozen themselves.

“Uh yeah, doing that.”

Jason cracked an eye open and felt rather embarrassed as Frank let out a sigh and then pointed behind him back at the door. Percy, for his part, had taken to burying his face into Jason’s chest as if that could hide him.

“Yeah…we’re just gonna go be…literally anywhere else. Uh, have fun?”

He sounded about as awkward as Jason felt, even though he was clearly well-meaning. Percy turned his head towards them just in time to see Hazel wink and shoot them a double thumbs-up before following her boyfriend out. Jason stifled a laugh as Percy weakly returned the gesture, his face going tomato red once more. In the silence that followed, the pair heard her ask “How much money do you think Nico won from the betting pool?” Percy groaned and buried his face in Jason’s neck.

“What did we do to deserve such terrible friends? Using our emotional turmoil to yield a profit. I feel so betrayed.”

Jason laughed and stroked his hand through Percy’s hair because, well, because he could.

“Yield a profit?”

He asked, amusement in his voice. Percy nodded against his skin.

“I may have just finished my econ essay at 4:00 this morning.” The blonde smiled at that and thought suddenly how glad he was that despite the big change between them, all of the little things had stayed the same. They were still Percy and Jason, and out of the things that had changed well…

“Hey,” he waited for Percy to look at him. “You wanna keep complaining about our friends, or do you wanna make good on that promise you made earlier?”

At that, Percy shot up so quickly that he nearly smacked his head on Jason’s jaw and he did elbow him in the stomach. Momentary pain aside, Jason found himself grinning the whole way up the stairs.

#not sterek #jercy #jason grace #percy jackson #college!au #tumblerfic #my fic #pjo

[dyde21]

The Pathfinder Crew

@anxiouspineapples has officially ruined me in the best way. I’m rereading the PJO and HoO series, and I’m currently waist deep in Mass Effect: Andromeda and loving every minute of it. So many emotions and feelings are being brought up by both series. Here’s hoping to add my little two cents to the ME:A AU for PJO that Meg is crafting with @suchastart. They’re both amazing, check out their blogs if you get a chance! :D Anyway, here’s a short little story, the rest under the cut! Enjoy!

XxXxXxXxX

Percy was honestly a little surprised by how easily his crew had fallen into place. He had never expected to end up becoming pathfinder, but life didn't seem to care what he planned. It seemed even escaping the milky way galaxy wasn't enough for trouble to stop finding him. Setting down his cup of coffee, he looked out the large window, watching stars float by. It was hard to think it had been over 600 years since he had last been on earth. It felt like just months. But, his old home was gone.

Now here he was. Stuck on a new ship, with a title he never asked for, and a crew he never expected. Thousands of people looked to him to lead them. Him. The boy that got kicked out of six schools in six years. Now he was responsible about calling the shots that could make or break the very chance of survival in this new harsh galaxy.

Now normally Percy could brush off most things, keep going with a witty joke and a smile. But, to say he was scared as hell would be the understatement of the century. He was in way over his head. Dropping his head to the table, he let out a long drawn out sigh. He was screwed, but he couldn't back down. Too many people were relying on him, he had SAM, and he had already established a settlement. Backing out now would only sow chaos and cause the already dangerous situation to deteriorate even more. Whether he wanted to or not, he was stuck with the job.

Gently he drummed his fingers on the cold metal table, his head still pressed against it. At least... at least he knew he wasn't alone. He had a hell of a crew, that was for sure.

Piper was their resident negotiator. That Asari had a way with words, and had even earned her the nickname “charm speaker.” She could convince anyone to do anything with enough time. Now, often times Percy had to take the lead and act up as Pathfinder, ensuring first contact went smoothly. But when it came down to negotiations, Piper took the lead. She could keep tensions low, smooth out situations, or just find them the supplies they happened to need, for a reasonable price. She also had a habit of convincing others to do her work around the ship for her, without them ever knowing. Especially poor Jason.

Not that Percy thought Jason minded. The Turian was close to Piper. Perhaps even romantically, but Percy was never the best at that kind of stuff. He just knew they worked well together, and when in doubt they were safe to pair up on missions. Jason was perhaps one of the most reliable crew members he had. Level headed, determined, and honest to a fault, Percy had mad respect for him. Unfortunately, he also had a habit of butting heads with him. Both of them were a little... strong willed, and when they disagreed, or they got competitive, it usually took Piper and Annabeth to calm them down before it escalated. Don't get him wrong, Percy trusted Jason with his life and saw him as a brother, but man, that Turian could get under his skin. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

Frank was their resident Krogan. With a surprisingly calm temperament for a Krogan, Frank more than made up for it in raw combat ability. Even where Percy surpassed Frank with his SAM-enhanced body, Frank just seemed to be a bundle of potential, always moving forward. Percy also valued him as a friend as well. The usually level headed Krogan could be counted on for advice, tactical or personal. Percy knew he could send him on any job and Frank would get it done efficiently, without a word of complaint. At least, aside from the few times he had seen Frank get mad. When Frank got mad, it was borderline terrifying. Krogans were scary enough when upset, but Frank just seemed to be out to prove a point. Nothing stood in his way when he found his temper lit. But those moments were few and far between, Hazel usually intervening before it could reach that far.

Hazel was their Angaran Envoy. Having been sent with them when they first made contact, Hazel and Frank had quickly fallen in line together. Percy wasn't quite sure what it was between those two, but they clicked. Perhaps in a different way than Piper and Jason did, but clicked never the less. It just seemed natural for them to be together. Like they had been waiting their whole lives to meet, and it was almost to be expected. Hazel was powerful with her own electromagnetic charges her race naturally had. Perhaps one of the most adept that Percy had met in their brief time together. She was also one of the most level headed on the crew. Perhaps due to being older than many of them, though still young by Angaran standards, she mothered them a bit. Many of the up-keeping duties were handled by her, with Frank assisting. Percy couldn't quite put it into words why, but with her around the place felt more like a home than a military vessel in the stars.

Perhaps on the opposite end of the spectrum was Leo. Another human like himself, Leo was their mechanic. Handy-man. Demolitions expert. Basically anything that could involve fire, usually would, and Leo would be at it front and center. Percy was amazed Leo hadn't been burned with the amount of fires that started around him, he would swear up and down that he was immune to it. His personality was just as bright, always cracking a joke, and easing the tensions that came with their tense mission. Even with his chaotic plans, Leo always managed to pull through for them in the end. That didn't even touch on the constant upgrades he made to their equipment, making their life easier and easier. At least until one goes a little haywire and they end up with a coffee stain on the ceiling that they just can't find a way to remove. He was also the reason the message board no longer allowed images after he started a meme war that ended up taking too much of their focus. Despite all the chaoticness, Percy trusted Leo with his life. He was like an annoying little brother to him, one that Percy wouldn't trade for the universe.

Pushing the mug away from him, he stared at the logo on an owl printed onto the gray mug. His thoughts turned towards his last crew member. Annabeth. It was her mug after all, she had taken his a while ago so he had returned the favor and was using hers.

Annabeth was... perhaps what kept him going, if he was honest with himself. He had known her since his time at the academy. Originally they were always bickering, but slowly they had grown closer. Percy couldn't really pinpoint when they had started getting attached at the hip, but it must have happened at some point considering they were recently made “official”, as Piper put it. They realized they had too much at stake, too much could happen, to let time pass them by. Percy had worked up the courage to ask her out, and a month later he couldn't be happier.

Annabeth was the person he relied on most in the crew. Her brain was as good as SAM's in his opinion. She could form a battle plan in a heartbeat, and could read people like a book. Aside from the fact she could hold her own in a fight just fine, she could give Percy the advice he needed, or give the team a plan to ensure their victory. He couldn't even count the number of victories against the Kett Annabeth had given them with her strategies.

Originally it had been just suppressed comments about his waking order, or research goals. When someone asked him plans about settlements, it was impossible for Percy not to notice how much advice she wanted to give, yet tried to hold back on out of respect for his new title. Percy approached her one night, asking her if she would like to take charge of planning out settlements. He could still see the number of architecture and urban development books he knew lined her room. Annabeth had agreed all too eagerly, only pausing to ask if he was sure.

Now Percy kept her at his side on all his missions, not wanting to be separated from her, and trusting her judgment completely. He knew if he was going to make it through this mission with his head on his shoulders, it would be because of her. Then again, it wasn't like he could convince her to stay behind even if he wanted her too. They had been separated while exploring an ice planet. A large Kett attack party had ambushed them, and Annabeth had been knocked out cold. Desperate to save his partner, he had managed to blow up one of their cargo ships, and run off on his own to lure their attention. He knew they were after the pathfinder more than his crew and his plan had worked.

Perhaps a little too well.

Percy had found himself stranded near a dying heat lamp, the cold slowly freezing his body. He had been just about to pass out when a familiar voice reached his comms, and he saw a suit running towards in the distance. When he had woken up, it had been a few days later in the infirmary, to an upset looking Annabeth and a relieved looking Piper. It had taken him a while to hear the story of Annabeth's conquest for him once she had woken up and realized he had been missing for three days before they found him.

Shaking his head from the thoughts he let out another sigh. Maybe Annabeth should be pathfinder after all. Surely the universe would be better in her brilliant hands.

At the sounds of his door opening, he tensed. His back muscles shifted, as if to lift him up, but his will power failed him and he let his head remain on the cold metal. “Yes?” He asked, really not in the mood to talk to anyone but knew duty was probably calling, like always.

Whoever had entered made no noise, but he heard a soft sigh. A few footsteps. Then a plate being placed on the table next to his head. A familiar hand wound it's way through his hair, gently massaging his scalp as shivers shot down his spine.

“Hey.” Annabeth's voice was gentle, a far cry from it's usual teasing, playful tone.

“Hi.” He mumbled, rolling his head so he can look up at her.

Annabeth wore a soft, amused smile as she continued to play with his hair. “Are you okay?” She asked patiently.

Percy paused, looking her deep in her stormy gray eyes. “I am now.” He mumbled, a unable to suppress the small smile that crept on his face.

Annabeth just laughed. “Here, I brought you cookies, now talk.” She said, sliding the plate towards him.

Sitting up finally, Percy was surprised to see a plate of blue cookies, with blue frosting. He felt a warmth in his chest as he looked at them appreciatively, before looking back at Annabeth. Leaning forward, he quickly gave her a chaste kiss before grabbing a cookie and digging in. “How did you know?” He asked between bites.

Annabeth just shrugged. “Cause I know you. I had a feeling you could use these today.” It was true, Annabeth wasn't quite sure how she knew. Just after all the time she had spent with her seaweed brain, she had a sixth sense for something being wrong with him. She was glad she had stocked up on supplies during their last trip to the Nexus. Being in a new galaxy meant getting a bit creative with recipes, but with enough research she had managed to find a reliable way to make cookies, and perhaps more importantly, blue food dye. “So what's wrong?” She asked again, gently pressing the issue.  

Percy sighed, finishing up his cookie. He looked at Annabeth, determined to brush the issue off. However, her concerned gaze pierced through his walls as his shoulders sagged.

“I just... do... do you think I'm okay being the pathfinder? I should just let you do it...”

His head dropped as he stared down at the table. “I know you wanted the job before I ended up with it...”

His fist clenched on the table. “There's so much at stake and I...” Percy paused as he felt a hand cover his, slowly smoothing out his fist and unclenching it. She took it in her own, entwining their fingers gently. “Look at me.” Her words were soft, but firm.

Glancing up, Percy saw her staring back at him with fierce eyes. They almost looked... angry. But he could tell concern was hidden in them as well.

“You can't say that Percy. Everyone is looking to you, because they trust you.”

“That's the problem! It's not me they should trust. Piper's the one who can keep the peace, Frank is the one smashing the machines. Jason could probably do the job better than I can, I just have it because I'm human. You're the smart one. I would be dead in a snow-pile without you. I shouldn't be leading you. I-”

He was cut off as he felt her hand cover his mouth, her gaze hardening. “Don't say that!” She snapped.

Annabeth felt a lump of frustration building up in her. How. How could he be saying all of that.

Annabeth was aware of the pressure that came with the title of Pathfinder. She was always afraid of the pressure getting to him, and was determined to do what she could to buffer it. She made an effort to filter many of the angry Nexus messages to the ship, and ran interference with the frustrated people of the Nexus who couldn't see that Percy was trying to carry the whole initiative on his shoulders. But the job was still his, and she would never get in the way of that. In fact there was no one, including herself, who she trusted more to fill the shoes of Pathfinder.

“Percy, you've done more for this universe than I could have imagined. You introduced a brand new race into the Nexus. You've settled planets, letting life begin on these otherwise lifeless rocks. You've pulled our crew together, and you lead us day in and day out.” She explained, feeling the words bubbling out of her. Annoyingly, she felt tears beginning to build up in the corner of her eyes despite herself. “You almost threw your life away to save mine on that God forsaken ice planet.” She managed to keep her voice steady, despite it's almost need to shake.

Annabeth's mind flashed back to that night she had woken up in the infirmary. She had remembered seeing the wave of attackers coming in, and she had ducked behind cover. What she had failed to notice in all the snow though, had been the grenade that had landed on the other side of the crates. When it blew it had sent them flying, clubbing her in the back of the head and knocking her out cold. When she had woken up she had found out she had also been shot during the scuffle, though the wound was minor. When she had looked for Percy, determined to make sure he wasn't guilt tripping himself over her injury, her heart had stopped when she had found out he wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere.

Piper had physically restrained her to keep her from running out into the snow in her casual clothes.

The second in command, Annabeth had brought the full force of the weight of the pathfinder's name in finding Percy. They had called in reinforcements for their search party, and Annabeth had went for two nights without sleeping as she scoured the snow for him.

When they had finally found him, half frozen to death, she hadn't left his side until he was up on his feet.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts of that horrific day, she looked at Percy. “We choose to follow you Percy, because of who you are.” He might not see it himself, but she saw him for what he truly was.

Their pathfinder was their hero. Kind, and empathetic to a fault, he had a way of bringing everyone together. Piper may be more skilled in the actual art of negotiations and speaking, but Percy's air around him drew people towards him. His bravery and courage kept her heart fluttering whenever she saw him taking charge on a mission, his usual goofy demeanor being replaced by a serious, surprisingly mature, leadership. Whenever she formed a plan that made her pause, always being afraid of the risks and unwilling to endanger any of her friends as may be needed, Percy always immediately took the job and plunged forward without hesitation. He'd take on the dangerous job as if it was natural, seemingly glad to do so as his friends wouldn't be in danger. This spoke nothing of his actual strength. She knew SAM was helping him out in that regard, but his skill on the combat field let her devise more strategies with such a powerful tool in her arsenal.

She wasn't quite sure which smirk, goofy smile, or carefree laugh had won her heart over, but she knew it hadn't taken too long to warm her heart again.

Getting up, she moved over, sitting on his lap and draping her arms around his shoulders, lacing her hands behind his neck. “Percy. You're doing a wonderful job. You've guided us farther than I allowed myself to hope for. Besides, you're not alone. We're here for you. I'm here for you.”

Percy couldn't hope to fight the grin that crept all over his face. “I wouldn't have it any other way.”

He paused, his head drooping slightly. “Thank you. Seriously. I... I need you by my side, Wise Girl.”

Annabeth just leaned forward, nudging his head up with hers before she kissed him. After a moment she rested her forehead against his. “I need you too, Seaweed Brain. Never forget that.”

Shifting off his lap, Annabeth reached for a cookie and sat munched it happily, sitting next to him and staring out into space.

Resting his head on her shoulder, Percy ate another cookie himself. He still had doubts about being pathfinder, but he trusted his crew. He knew that with all of them by his side, he would find a way to get it all done. He that with Annabeth at his side, he could make Andromeda his home. Looking over at her, seeing her lit up by the soft lights from space, he felt a warmth in his chest. That was wrong. He knew that with Annabeth at his side, he was home.

#percabeth #PJO ME:A AU #percy jackson #annabeth chase #anxiouspineapples #Piper McLean #SO MUCH #I love this AU #The more I play through ME:A the more I enjoy it #jason grace #Leo Valdez #frank zhang #Hazel Levesque

[rosyredlipstick]

Rental Love* (1/?)

(*Read Terms & Conditions) - Male/22/Long Island N.Y.C. Tired of showing up stag at holiday events? Want your family to stop thinking there’s something wrong with you? Just want some arm candy for a work event? Look no further. Your solution is here! I will attend holiday events with you as your paid date. Accepting all genders as applicants. Email [email protected] if interested. Interview & application will be set up there. - Nico di Angelo has been telling Hazel Levesque about his boyfriend for weeks. The bad part? Nico doesn’t have a boyfriend, the holidays are coming up, and not all of Jason’s ideas are horrible. They’re all a bit surprised about the last one.

It, like most things in his life, started as a joke.

And it, like most of the problems in his life, was completely Jason’s fault.

“It’s...an ad.” Nico declared, handing back the other boy’s phone. “Is that what you were all excited about? Showing me some weird Craiglist showing?”

Jason nodded, still excited despite Nico’s dull voice. “It’s an ad for a date!”

Nico paused, his arm hanging in the air. He finished shelving the book before turning on the other boy. “Jason, are you attempting to find me an escort?”

Jason choked, now clenching onto the plastic and metal of his phone. “No! No, it’s not bad or anything.” He brought up the ad again, shoving it in Nico’s face. “Listen, you’ve been telling Hazel you have a boyfriend right? To get her off your back about not dating?”

Nico took the phone once again. “Yes?” He agreed, because yeah, yeah he had, but his voice was unsure.

Jason nodded eagerly. “Yeah! Well, listen - this guy’s entire job is to come to your holiday event and pretend to be your date. So like, you could bring him home and introduce him to your family as the boyfriend you’ve been dating for a few months. It’s perfect to go along with what you’ve been telling Hazel!”

Nico was already shaking his head, handing the phone back a second time. “I’m just going to tell her we broke up or something. It’s less messy that way.”

Jason nodded once again, and he was nodding so much that Nico feared he would get a crick in his neck and, an even bigger fear, that Nico would have to hear about it all night. 

He continued speaking, his hands coming up to gesture excitedly.“No, but listen – Hazel will only get worse if you tell her that. Remember The Percy Thing?”

They both winced at that. It wasn’t a topic of casual conversation. But Nico nodded because he did, in fact, remember The Percy Thing. Clearly. Vividly. Usually before bed when he was reflecting upon the most cringe worthy moments of his life.

Jason continued nodding, “She went totally overboard trying to set you up and get you back out into the dating scene, didn’t she?”

Nico nodded again, now unsure. Hazel went completely overboard, with half the time strange men showing up at he and Jason’s apartment, expecting a dinner and date. It got so bad, he and Jason had simply lamented a polite note for the door and called it a day.

Jason continued, “Okay, so instead of just making up this sob story that’ll get Hazel all teary for the sake of this nonexistent relationship that ended just before the holidays, you –“ Jason held up the phone in excitement, the ad still glowing bright on his phone. “Hire a date for the holidays! It’s perfect. You guys can ‘break up’ –“ He did this with finger air quotes, “after Christmas on the down low, and Hazel won’t be nearly as broken up about it.” He shrugged, “She was just telling Piper and I how excited she was to meet this dream guy.”

Nico bit his lip, thinking it over. He never wanted to disappoint his sister, especially right before Christmas.

It wasn’t the worst of Jason’s plans, and Nico had gone along with far less.

“It’s not his worst plan.” The bundle of blankets on the couch declared his exact thought, causing Nico to jump and probably lose a few years off his life.

Piper stuck her head out of the bottom of the bundle, her messy braid falling to the ground. “It could actually kind of work.”

“What could work?” Asked the over side of the bundle, and it only took another moment before Leo’s head was poking out of the top, shaking his curls out.

“How many people are in there?” Nico exclaimed.

“Three if you count Leo’s left hand as a person. He does most nights.” Piper declared, crackling in glee as Leo attempted to push her off the couch. But, as the dumbass didn’t consider, they were both still incredibly entwined in the blanket burrito, and they both fell to the ground in a cursing, messy heap.  

Nico rolled his eyes as Jason cracked a smile and went over to help untangle them.

“You should do it.” Piper told him, finally free from the tangle of blankets as she pulled him down on the couch with her. She picked up Jason’s phone where he had tossed it when he went to help them and unlocked it. “Anyways, he’s hot like burning. You should go for it.” She told him this as she turned the phone around to show him the attached picture.

Sure, the guy was attractive. Grinning at the camera, blond with a wicked grin and golden curls. He was wearing a sleeve-less shirt, his tan arms shining in the sun.

Nico has always had a horrible weakness for a good pair of arms, and the smirk on this guys face seemed to know that.

“He is hot.” Leo’s voice told him, much much too close to his ear. Nico jumped, pushing the other boy away from over his shoulder where he had been examining the photo. Leo grinned and continued, bouncing out of the way of Nico’s flailing hands.

“I’m an arsonist and I have experience with hot things and I can tell you. That guy?” Leo snapped his fingers, shooting finger guns at Nico. “He’s scalding.”

“Where did you even find this?” Piper asked, scrolling up on Jason’s phone. Jason choked out and tried to grab back his phone, unsuccessful against her attempts as she held it out of his reach.

“Craigslist? Really?” Piper shot Jason a look as Leo popped his head over the side of the couch, his eyes dancing. She rolled her eyes, more affectionate than anything else. “I thought we agreed he wasn’t allowed on Craigslist anymore after he found the ‘free pets’ section.”

“It’s just, it’s just so sad they don’t have homes!” Jason choked out, holding his phone to his chest.

“Yeah, and we’ve adopted seven of them.” Nico gave him a dull look, gesturing to their apartment. It was three fish, two cats, a hamster, and a stray dog seven pets worth, but Jason was always looking to up that number.

“Back to the subject at hand.” Leo pointed towards Jason’s phone. “Are you gonna hire an escort for Christmas?”

Jason sighed, “It’s not an escort! It’s a date for hire!”

As Leo loudly whispered to Piper does he know what an escort is? Nico’s head fell onto the back of the couch, actually considering it.

“Fine.” Nico sighed, pulling out his phone. “I’ll contact him.”

“That’s good because I’ve already emailed him as you.” Jason informed him with a small grin, ruffling his hair, “Your interview is tomorrow.”

Nico cracked a smile at that. “And if I’d said no?”

Jason shrugged, “I would have cancelled it. No problem.” Jason tapped away at his phone and only a second later, Nico’s phone dinged. “That’s the info. You’re meeting him at noon. Apparently he has meetings all day so, like, make a good impression.”

“What’s his name?” Nico asked, opening the text. Leo, at their feet, was leaning against Jason’s legs, looking up at them with a grin.

“Will Solace.” Piper read off the glowing screen of Jason’s phone, now curled around Jason like an octopus that he was only too content to let her do.

Jason flashed him a grin, “I think you’ll like him.”

Nico rolled his eyes, fond despite everything. “Whatever you say.”

Getting ready to meet your hopefully fake date for hire was harder than he thought.

But that might have had more to do with his audience.

“Turn.” Piper demanded, spinning her finger in the air. Nico did as told, sighing.

She nodded. “The jeans are good. I don’t really like the shirt – Leo?”

“Wear that jacket you wore to Annabeth’s birthday party over the summer.”  He advised, balancing a large bowl on his knees, talking through the food in his mouth. There were a few shiny popcorn kernels in his curls, but he didn’t even seem to notice. Nico didn’t tell him.

“What are you even doing here? You don’t even live here.” Nico paused, cocking his head to the side. “Wait. Do you live here?”

“You wish.” Leo stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth, most of it missing his face entirely and landing in his lap.

“Jason, what do you think?” Piper asked, still eyeing his outfit.

Jason, his face buried in Nico’s comforter, lifted his head to sleepily eye Nico. “Nice pants. Different shirt.”

Piper threw her hands in the air. “That’s what I said!” She pointed towards his closet. “Go. Pick out something new.”

Nico sighed, turning back to pick out something new. He found the jacket Leo recommended and a dark maroon shirt, one of the only instances of color in his entire closet. He stripped, knowing full well Leo and Piper were both eyeing him with interest, and dressed quickly.

“That’s it.” Piper declared with glee. “That’s the outfit. There’s no way he can say no when you’re wearing those painted on jeans and that leather jacket. It would be just –“

“Impossible.” Leo agreed. “Now, what are you doing with your hair?”

Nico shrugged, beginning to throw back all the discarded clothes into his closet. “Probably this? Whatever?”

“Put it up.” Leo, Piper, and surprisingly Jason, ordered him at once. Piper flicked a hair band off her wrist towards him, her eyes a glare.

Nico blinked. “Um. Okay? “ He did as told, as most the time it was earlier than arguing with them, and glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get going – I’m almost late.”

Jason had texted him the address of a local coffee shop they both frequented often where Will was holding the interviews, and Nico was relieved that it was so close to their shared apartment.

They all wished him good luck – Leo’s wishes in the form of several loud kisses and a piercing wolf whistle – but Nico managed to escape quickly.

The weather was nice for December – the heavy snow new enough that it was mostly white, not yet gray sidewalk sludge, and was also happy to note the low number of occupants in the shop. Usually, especially on a weekend, the shop was overflowing with peppermint-mocha deprived customers, each seemingly needing to bump and crowd into Nico’s space.

He grabbed a quick cup of coffee – black, two creams, five sugars – and glanced around the nearly deserted shop.

The head of golden curls was a familiar sight, and the online photo seemed only to dull the true shine of them. Nico swallowed, pulling on the end of his scarf – stolen from Jason - and beelined towards the other boy. Should he sit down, or talk to him first? Make sure – even though Nico had basically memorized the photo of the other boy already – that he was even the guy Nico was looking for?

“You’re late.” The boy declared, deciding for Nico, not yet looking up at Nico as he arrived at the table.

Nico almost raised an eyebrow at his hostile tone. “By two minutes.” He raised his cup up, even though he hadn’t yet looked up from his notebook. “Got coffee.”  

The guy shrugged, still focusing on writing in his notebook, and Nico slowly took a seat.

“There’s a contract, application, and a down payment that has to go through before I notify if you’ve been chosen.” The boy told him, sliding a folder across the table. Nico picked it up, leafing through it. “If I choose not to accompany you for your holiday event, a full refund will be issued within one to three business days.”

“There’s an application process?” Nico questioned. The boy - Will – finally looked up to him, and the pause in his actions and the hitch in his breath was only noticeable to the boy himself. Nico blinked a few times, meeting Will’s eyes, and was a bit startled by the blue blue blue that stared back at him.

Will shook his head, just a bit to shake himself back to reality, and continued on. “Of course. I have to make sure you’re not completely crazy. It’s mostly necessary information about family members I’d need to know, along with a few pages of personal. I’ll need a few references as well.”

“Completely crazy?” Nico raised his eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes, “You are attempting to hire someone as a date to convince your family you’re well adjusted. So. Certain amount of crazy.”

Nico nodded slowly, already accepting that yeah, this wasn’t a normal situation. He took a slow sip of his coffee, peeling off his jacket, and laid out the paper in front of him.

“Do...you get a lot of business?” Nico read the first few lines of the contract, a bit surprised at its formality. He’d have Reyna read it over later, get some use out of her pre-law degree.

He nodded, “Thanksgiving and Christmas are the busiest, but I’ve also done weddings and a few birthdays. It’s not that uncommon.”

“Have you been doing it long?”

“Since I was 19.” Will nodded, taking a bite of a muffin and talking through it. Nico hoped he would have better manners in front of his family. “Four, five years now. Now. Enough questions about me.” He flipped a page in his notebook. “Some questions about you. Name?”

“Nico di Angelo.” Nico, almost without noticing, let his faint accent wrap around his words, a habit he only fell into when he rarely flirted. He bit his lip, hoping the slight dusting of color on his cheeks could be blamed on his steaming drink.

Will seemed to make no notice of it. “How old are you?”

“22.” Nico answered, playing with the ring on his finger as Will wrote it all down in his notebook

“What is the date of the holiday event?” Will sucked the syrup off the tips of his fingers before grabbing a pen to scrawl down some words. Nico had to glance away.

Nico took a deep breath. “I would need a date from the 21st to the 2th.”

Will hummed. “The 21st and the 2th? What times?”

“No...uh, the 21st through the 2th.” Nico rubbed the back of his head at Will’s surprised look. “Uh, my family kind of goes all out for Christmas. We, um, go back to our childhood home and stay there.”

“That’s...almost two weeks.” Will told him, as if Nico didn’t know that very fact.

Nico nodded, “Yeah. I know.”

Will blinked a few times, considering, and apparently just deciding to go back to the interview. He asked a few more questions before jumping into the rules, handing Nico his own handout.

“You get three instances of PDA. No tongue unless the moment calls for it, no longer then five seconds.”

“Last question.” Will glanced up at him for this one. “Why do you need to hire a date?”

Nico had prepared for this one. He sighed, “I kind of told my sister I’ve had a boyfriend for the past few months. She…worries.” A fond smile crossed his face in an instance. “She’s the best, but she feels better knowing I’m not alone. I’d tell her me and this ‘boyfriend’ just broke up but I don’t want to, I don’t know, upset her right before the holidays. So yeah.”

Will was still observing him, his face neutral. “Seems like you screwed up.” He finally offered.

Nico nodded, hanging his head a bit. “I’d need you to come stay at my family’s manor for the time and, uh, interact with my family I guess.”

 Will nodded, making a note of something, before meeting Nico’s eyes, narrowing a bit. “This is what I usually charge for a one night event.” He scrawled a pair of numbers down on a napkin, sliding it over. He pointed to the number next to it. “This is what it will be for a two week job.”

Nico barely glanced at the number. “Money will be no problem. I’d pay for your traveling fees as well.”

Will’s eyebrows furred together. “Traveling fees? It’s not in New York? Where even is this event?”

Nico bit his lip. “My family’s manor.”

“Your family has a manor?”  Will looked truly at loss with this. “Like, a mansion?”

“Um, a few actually. We’re visiting the Chicago one this year.”

Will blinked a few times, “A few?”

“In California, mostly.” Nico finally told him, chewing on his lip. “I grew up near Los Angles.”

Will’s eyebrows shot up, “Really? You’re a California boy? With that pale skin?”

Nico took offense at that, a flare of irritation flaming up – not only at the other boy’s dismissive, patronizing tone, but also the slight insult in the words. “Not all of us are the embodiment of a surfer dude.” He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’m guessing you have the brains of one too?”

“I’m actually pre-med.” Will sneered, breaking his neutral face for the first time since Nico sat down, “What are you studying, the history of My Chemical Romance? The evolution of Hot Topic?”

Nico almost gasped in offense. “I’m a literature major.”

He seemed almost amused by this. “What, did Edgar Allen Poe totally speak to your soul or something?”

Nico rolled his eyes at that, completely aware of how quickly downhill this interview was going. “Better then a Grey’s Anatomy wanna-be.”

Will’s jaw dropped, “First off, Grey’s Anatomy is a total inaccurate portrayal of the medical field and –“ His jaw snapped close, his eyes narrowing. He flipped his notebook close, gathering his notebooks. He sneered again, “Email me your application by the end of tomorrow. We’ll be in contact if I’m interested.”

He stormed off leaving Nico bitterly, a bit angrily, noting how nice the other boy’s ass looked in a pair of jeans.

Nico tore his gaze away, wondering if he should just call Hazel right now and lament about his break up.

Well…that didn’t go great.

The email was short, direct, and to the point.

“He...agreed to do it.” Nico stared at the screen in surprise. He blinked a few times, making sure he just wasn’t seeing things. “He said he’d actually do it.”

“That’s good, right?” Piper took a bite of her leftover noodles, giving him a look. “That’s what you wanted?”

“I mean…” Nico licked his lips, shaking his head. “He said that Christmas is one of his busiest seasons, and he can usually only take on two or three clients and I’d need him for such a long time…”  Nico blinked. “All we did was fight at the end of the interview, like, what?”

Piper shrugged, stuffing her chopsticks in her mouth and turning back to her DS. “Stranger things have happened. Maybe he’s into that. He probably took one look at your hot ass and checked the fuck out of that ‘yes’ box. He’s gay, right?”

“Bisexual.” Nico corrected her, “But yeah, no, it’s definitely not that.”

She looked at him systematically, “If it’s not that then it’s probably the fat ass check you agreed to write for him.”

Nico blinked a few times, still staring at his glowing phone. “Yeah. I guess.”

She shot him an amused look, “Looks like you’ve got packing to do, di Angelo. Don’t forget protection!”

He flipped her off, not really paying attention to her crackling laughter in response, and focused back on his phone.

Nico carefully tapped out a reply, a confirmation he was still interested in Will’s services, and pulled out his rugged suitcase.

It seemed like he had packing to do.

“When are you meeting Will?”

Nico zipped his suitcase close with a sound of triumph, Leo echoing the sound in response from where he was laying across Nico’s bag, successfully pushing down the contents. 

“I’m meeting him at the airport.” Nico pulled out his phone to click out yet another passive aggressive text to the number Will had sent him, aggravated at the lack of response. And, when Will actually bothered to respond, it was always littered with multiple grammar errors and half spelled words, always an indecipherable jumble. Nico vaguely wondered if he was doing it on purpose.

Jason was grinning from the kitchen, a few sandwiches in process of being assembled in front of him. Piper’s disgusting tofu-lunch meat was on display, and Nico had to wrinkle his nose in response to the sight.

“Gross.” He only said, ducking around Jason in their small kitchen to grab a water bottle from the fridge. Gods, he hoped Jason would actually remember to clean while he was gone. It was a long shot, definitely, but that didn’t stop the heavy persistence of Nico’s prayers. He slipped the bottle in his bag,

He swung his backpack over his shoulder, making sure he had the last of his items. Wallet, charged phone, headphones, plane ticket, a pack of pills in case the airplane got too much for Nico, a favorite book  – the essentials – and wandered back into the living room to stare at his somehow-zipped bag.

Piper was laying on the couch, a Playstation controller in her hands, today apparently not the day for a shirt. Nico glanced at the screen just in time to watch several zombies blow up on screen, a mess of gore, and had to glance back to Piper, her bored face showing no emotion. There was a stain of mustard on the front of her sports bra, no concern in the world except for the wave of zombies attacking on screen.

He sighed, shaking his head. “See ya later, Pipes.”

She saluted him, still focused on her game and honestly, Nico could respect that.

Leo and Jason both grinned at him from the kitchen as he gathered his bags, Piper throwing him a thumbs-up from her spot on the couch.

“See you guys later.” He told them, rolling his eyes. Honestly, ever since Nico woke up his morning it had all been smug grins and low laughs, and the convenient ‘lingering’ around that hardly took place on a weekend.

“See you New Years!” Their unison voices would have been creepy had Nico not known they probably rehearsed it the night before. They were all a bunch of co-dependent dorks.

His phone finally – Jesus Christ finally – buzzed with Will’s response just as Nico shut the door behind him. He glanced at the message, groaned loudly, and called an Uber.

He wasn’t even on the plane yet and he could only tell how long of a ride it was going to be.

“I hate planes.”

Will didn’t bother looking up from his notebook. “Planes are perfectly safe.”

“I feel like toothpaste. Toothpaste that is about to die.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“The concept of planes is ridiculous. Who thought of this? ‘Let’s put people in metal tubes, launch them through the air without wi-fi, and charge them hundreds of dollars’. It’s horrific and ridiculous and we’re going to die.”

Will huffed out a sound of irritation. “You’re being absolutely ridiculous. Just – try and focus on something else or something. Put in your headphones and take a nap.”

“I can’t.” Nico clenched his teeth and took a deep breath. “My ears are popping and I forgot my gum.”

Will sighed again, tucking his magazine for a second to ruffle through his backpack. He flipped a pack of gum towards him, turning back to his entertainment like it was his lifeline.

“It’s grape.” Nico wrinkled his nose, “I hate flavored gum.”

Will rolled his eyes so hard, Nico feared he would get stuck that way. Nico was not showing up with him in tow if that happened.

“Then don’t chew it and let your ears pop to death.”

Nico studied the horrifically purple pack of gum, and how the memory of it always tasted gross and rusty, but also took a moment to focus on the painful bursts happening in his ears.

He popped the piece in his mouth, making a face, and threw the pack back to the other boy without a thank you. Hazel would be ashamed at his lack of manners.

Nico glanced around the plane for a moment, already bored and looking everywhere but the few open windows around him, before turning back to his annoyed companion.

“So, how did we meet?”

“Through mutual friends.” Will told him, now looking up.

Nico was already shaking his head, “That won’t work – Hazel and I share the same friend group, she’d want details.”

“Hazel’s your sister? Dating Frank?” Will clarified. Nico nodded, and he continued, “Okay, then we met through a study group, that’s easy.”

“I don’t do study groups. Anyways, you’re pre-med and I’m English lit, we wouldn’t have any overlapping classes.”

Will rolled his eyes. “It can be a Gen-Ed, I don’t know. We don’t need to figure out every single little thing, Nico. Some details can be glossed over.”

“Hazel will want all the details.” Nico shook his head, “We have to clear the story up now or she’ll get suspicious.”

“Fine.” Will blew a breath of hair up into his frizzy bangs, and Nico kind of hated how cute that was. “Um, we met in the library. We were both studying after lunch and I offered to buy you coffee and it’s been magic ever sense.

Nico wrinkled his nose. “Magic? Really?”

“Pure, perfect magic.” Will repeated, his voice still a breeze.

It was Nico’s turn to roll his eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Yeah, well, you’re paying this ridiculous to be your company for the next 11 days.” Will gave him a smug grin, “So this is all on you.”

Nico leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. “I should have just bribed Jason along. Hazel wouldn’t have bought it but I bet we could make it convincing for everyone else. Jason likes to drunk-make out with everyone, he would have sucked it up for me. We totally could have done it.”

“Shoulda done that then.” Will flipped his magazine page. Jerk. He got the window seat and wasn’t even bothering to use it. Even though Nico wouldn’t have taken the window seat if it was literally the last seat available in the world, Will could be bothered to glance out every once in awhile. Jerk.

“We should go over the details again.” Nico bit his lip, still a bit nervous. Hazel would flip out if she found out the truth, and that wasn’t a Christmas present Nico wanted to receive.

Will huffed out a sigh. “We know enough for the first day, it’s fine. I know everything important.”

“What’s my favorite color?” Nico challenged.

“Black.” Will answered promptly, not even looking up from his magazine.

Nico blinked in surprise. “How’d you know? We haven’t gone over personal info yet.”

Will did look up at that, rolling his head to the side to give Nico such a dry look, he was feeling a bit thirsty. He lowered his eyes down obviously to Nico’s outfit before speaking, “Nico, you’re literally wearing the entire Matrix crew ensemble at once. I’d be surprised to hear that whatever Hot Topic you walked out of to buy that outfit was still open from the amount of stock you bought out of it.”

Nico stared at him, his mouth a bit open. “You’re gonna come after me for my outfit?” Nico scoffed, “Okay Hollister. Did you just see a hipster on the street and decided that’s how you were gonna live your life?”

“I’m not a hipster!” Will protested.

Nico rolled his eyes, “Says the guy wearing a beanie and flannel.”

“It’s cold!” Will bit the side of his cheek, seemingly in annoyance. “It’s better than you Mr. Fingerless gloves. Who does that even benefit? Gloves at meant to warm your hands and you’re literally choosing to not follow that simple task.”

“It’s so I can use my smartphone, dumbass.” Nico bit out, despite his full knowledge of how ridiculous his gloves actually were. Sure, they looked pretty cool but that didn’t change the fact that 90% of the time his fingers were freezing.

Will huffed out an annoyed breath. “They literally mass produce gloves with that exact purpose. They’re sold everywhere. Gas stations. Convenience store lines. Amazon. Everywhere.”

“I’m not going to buy gloves when I already own a perfectly able pair.” Nico rolled his eyes instead.

Will rolled his eyes but didn’t respond, instead pulling out a pair of headphones to completely ignore Nico even further.

That’s how the rest of the ride was - Will ignoring him while Nico flipped through the personal files on both of them. Nico was almost used to the routine hell he went through around every holiday – the two hour or so ride that he could blur out with the help of an old audiobook or paperback. The turbulence was – thankfully – at the minimum, save for the quick instance of bumpy panic Nico had at their landing, a jump that had Will loudly snickering into his sleeve, not bothering to hide it. 

After getting off the plane, Will apparently decided he was done ignoring Nico. They grabbed their bags, each rolling their eyes at the others bags – Will’s an ugly bright yellow and orange plaid, Nico’s black leather with gold – when Will turned to him as if something just occurred to him.

“How are we even getting to your mansion in the middle of nowhere?”

“It’s a manor,” Nico corrected, “And my chauffer is picking us up.”

Will’s eyes widened. “Your family has a chauffeur? What the hell? How rich are you guys?”

“Jules-Albert isn’t our chauffeur, he’s my chauffeur. We have a different one for the family.”

“You have multiple chauffeurs?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Yes, Will. Keep up.” He scanned the crowd, knowing Jules-Albert would never be late, and grinned when he spotted the deadly pale man leaning tall over most of the crowd.

“There he is.” Nico declared, fully for Will’s benefit as he headed towards the other man.

Jules-Albert was as straight faced as ever, his face blank, but Nico barked out a laugh at the white board held up in his hands as Nico got closer.

“A skull? Really?” Nico grinned,

“I thought it to be a proper distinction to draw your attention.” Jules told him, his French accent thick, and took Nico’s luggage with a practiced air. He spotted Will at Nico’s shoulder, and gave Nico the dullest look Nico had ever seen.

“You’ve brought a guest?” Jules stated the obvious as a question, “And you hadn’t thought to warn me? Or even introduce him?”

“He’s my hired date for the holiday.” Nico shrugged, ignoring Will’s surprised expression at their secret being spilled. He began following Jules towards the parking area, enjoying the familiarity of the older man’s presence.

“Nico!” Will hissed, annoyance passing over his face, “Are you literally unable to keep a secret?”

“I am able to be discreet, don’t worry.” Jules reassured him, pausing a moment to shift Nico’s luggage over to expose a hand.  “I am Jules-Albert, Master Nico’s personal chauffeur. I imagine if you two will be venturing out of the household for any period of time this holiday, I will be the one to guide you.” He shook Will’s hand quickly, nodding, before continuing.

“Jules won’t tell anyone.” Nico shot the older man a fond look, “He’s kept secrets before.”

“If you are referencing your Prom event of Senior Year, I assure you that I have remained most careful on the subject.”

“See?” Nico grinned, already feeling more confident, more calm, in the familiar man’s presence. He and Jules had gotten close his high school years, always a willing and able confident.

They approached the limo, and Nico was half-tempted to slide in the front seat – like old times – to force Will to sit the long back by himself. Jules glanced at him, his gaze hard as if he was already guessing Nico’s thoughts, and opening the back door for both of them.

Nico sighed, doing as he was told, and slide across the leather seats as Jules threw their luggage in the back and Will climbed in after him. Jules started up the limo shortly after, pulling into the city traffic with easy practice.

Will was still staring at the limo, his backpack clenched in his arms, and gave Nico a surprised look.

Nico was never one to flaunt his wealth – too many years as a kid without anything near it – but hell, there were expectations for everything.

“Maybe we should have gone over the personal info.” Nico gave him a smug smile, enjoying how wide Will’s eyes were, “Maybe then you’d know about Jules and Beatrice here.”

Will rolled his eyes, probably not catching how Jules was mumbling about how his vehicle was most certainly not named Beatrice, and returned back to his earlier mood.

“I should have guessed it – what, with your multiple manors and such. What, are we going to be taking the horses out for a race while we’re here? That’s what rich people do, right?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Will.” He paused, willing the emerging grin off. “Horse racing season doesn’t start until April.”

Will sputtered, probably about to start another round of one-liners and sneers, when Jules-Albert spoke up.

“There are refreshments in the backseat, please do feel free to help yourselves.”

Nico grinned in victory, turning to dig through the small cooler build into the side. Jules-Albert continued, his voice pitched a bit higher so Will could hear. “I do hope your chemistry will improve before Sir Hades is introduced to the both of you.”  “I’m not worried about Hades.” Nico popped the tab of the soda, enjoying the fact that Jules had picked up his favorite kind.

He saw Jules glance at him through the rear view mirror, his gaze knowing. “Lady Hazel, I’m assuming?”

Nico groaned, “Yes.” He rubbed his eyes, his smug grin sliding off easily at the mention of her name. “If anyone’s gonna see through this, it’s going to be her.”

Jules hummed, clearly in agreement, and that nearly sealed the deal.

“I’m regretting this already.” Nico groaned into his folded arms. “Jules, take us back. We’ll tell Hazel the plane crashed or something.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Will repeated for the second time that day. Jules, the traitor, kept driving with his small smirk still in place.

“You’re ridiculous.” Nico shot back.

Will buried his hand in his hands. “I just – 11 days. I’m going to be doing this for 11 days.”

Nico tilted his head against the window. He’d always enjoyed the short ride home with Jules from the airport. This, again, was proving itself to be an exception. A few low songs played out – definitely Jules’s personal picks – and wondered how long it would take for Will to break the silence.

Not long apparently – barely ten minutes it seems.

“You know, I take pride in my ability to get along with my clients and their families. I’m easygoing and charming. I don’t get in fights, it’s like a thing.” Will seemed to be evaluating his entire existence from Beatrice’s backseat, his backpack still clenched to his chest.“It’s my thing.”

Nico hummed. “Apparently not.”

Jules-Albert pulled up to the front of the manor, and Nico wasn’t surprised to see how well done the yard was trended, even through the thin layer of snow. Persephone always had a knack for those kinds of things. Will, leaned forward beside him to see through the window better, went still again, probably at the extravagance Hades liked to throw together during the holidays.

Even Nico, who had thankfully become mostly immune to it after living with him for several years, could admit Hades had gone a bit overboard.

“Thanks Jules!” He called out, rushing out before the car had even fully stopped, mostly just so he could have a moment of peace.

“Be careful!” Will scowled from the open door, following him after a moment. “If you twist an ankle, I’m not getting paid to nurse you back to health.”

Nico huffed out a frustrated breath, “Don’t worry sweetheart, I wouldn’t trust your pre-med knowledge with anything more complex than a paper cut.”

Jules-Albert, coming out to help with their luggage, was laughing lowly into his sleeve. Nico cut a glare towards him, close to actually calling him out on the fact but decided he liked actually living more. Jules waved them off, letting Nico and Will start walking towards the entrance.

Nico turned to Will as they stood on the doorstep, eyeing the other boy with barely hidden distaste. “We can’t bicker in front of my family.”

“We won’t have to bicker in front of anyone if you’d just act mature.”

“Oh my god.” Nico hissed, pounding on the front door, probably with too much force.

The door swung open so quickly, that the opener must have been waiting since they hit the drive way. Which, knowing his dad, he totally was.

“My son.” Hades greeted, pulling him in for a too-tight hug. Mid-squeeze, Hades paused, apparently looking over Nico’s shoulder. “And my…other son?” Hades questioned, pulling away from him.

Nico huffed, suddenly a bit nervous because, um, the situation was happening and one-too-many annoyed remarks would blow it all. “He’s not your son. That’s my, um, boyfriend. He’s my boyfriend. Um, Will Solace.”

Hades beamed suddenly at that, “You have a boyfriend? And we haven’t spoken of this earlier?”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “You thought you might have had another son that would show up on your doorstep without prompt?”

Hades shrugged, still blissfully happy as he drank in the sight of Will. “The eighties were an odd time, my son. And my other-not related son!” Hades pulled Will in for the same-too tight hug that Hades was infamous for. Will’s arms, pinned to his side, were unable to return the gesture, but he immediately put on a face of charm as Hades pulled away.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. di Angelo. I’ve heard so much about your family from Nico here.” Will gave him such a genuine smile, Nico paused for a second. He…hadn’t considered how good Will might be at this.

Hades held the other boy at arm’s-length, his hands still around Will’s shoulders. He looked close to tears. “Oh, Persephone will be ecstatic. Oh, and your sister!” He nodded, “Hazel, he’s here!” He yelled over his shoulder, causing Nico to wince. He turned back to them both, “You know sometimes I feel like we’re in a little club, Persephone and I. All we do is sit around with tea and worry about you two.”

Nico sighed, not really that annoyed. “I’m fine. We’re fine.”

“Perhaps we’d know that if you bothered to call or visit at all.” Hades told him, still holding Will like a teddy bear, now under his arm. Will, the perfect actor, seemed to find nothing out of the ordinary about this.

Nico sighed, but his mood immediately shot up at the sound of pounding steps down the staircase, and Nico turned just in time to find himself with a face-full of wild curls.

Hazel squealed his name as he pulled her in, his arms tight around his sister as he buried his face into her neck. Her perfume was familiar, some vanilla sugar spray Persephone always bought her, but Nico had missed it.

“You act as if we haven’t seen each other in months rather than days.” Hazel mumbled into his jacket, despite hugging him just as hard. “We see each other almost once a week.”

“It’s been almost two weeks.” Nico told her, not even embarrassed. He caught Frank’s eye from his place over Hazel’s shoulder and gave him a small grin. He waved back, looking amused at Hazel’s octopus imitation. “I had to cancel lunch on Sunday because of finals, remember?”

She hummed, tightening her arms around his waist. “That makes this a bit more acceptable then.”

Will laughed then – either at Hazel’s mumbled comment or whatever Hades was going on about – and that had Hazel freezing and pulling away from his arms.

Hazel’s face lit up, more than it had when she saw Nico, he noted a bit jealously. Not very jealous, just a little. She was his sister anyways.

“You must be Nico’s boyfriend.” Her voice was filled with glee as she turned on him. “I’d say I’ve heard a lot about you but Nico here has been surprisingly tight lipped.”

Will laughed at that, “You know Nico.” He told her, his voice fond as if he actually did know Nico. “Anyways, the treatment hasn’t been the same on my end – I’ve heard so much about you. Nico can’t stop talking about you.”

Hazel beamed up at him at that, and a seed of guilt began to bloom in his chest at her expression. She looked so happy at this lie. She leaned in close to him, her voice only loud enough for him to hear.

“He’s cute.” Hazel looked ecstatic at this fact. “Like, he’s really cute.”

“I agree.” Hades grinned, whispering back, apparently close enough to hear as well. “He’s hot.”

Nico groaned at that, loudly and completely embarrassed. He shoved his face into his hands, turning away from both of them. Hazel – the traitor – was giggling into Frank’s shoulder.

“What?” Hades voice was a barely hidden laugh, “Is that not what the kids are saying?”  “Leave the children alone, Hades.” Persephone said as she entered the room, a poinsettia under her arm. She beamed at the sight of them – all still gathered in the entrance.“Nico, it’s so good to have you home.” She said, kissing him on both cheeks quickly. She frowned as she pulled away, grabbing onto his elbow with her free hand. “I’d say it’s nice to see you.” She declared coolly, “Except you’re absolutely bone-thin. Have you not been eating? I’ve been sending fudge once a week, is that Jason eating all of it?”

Nico smiled, soft and true. “I’ve gotten all of it, yes. And Jason’s only eating the separate container you care to send for him. So thanks for that.”

She nodded, looking a bit more satisfied. “You’re going to be eating nearly everything while you’re home.” She informed him.

“He will be eating something delicious.” Hades butted in with his own laugh, thankfully drawing the attention away from Nico. Hades nodded towards a slightly-blushing Will, speaking and grinning along with Hazel, and winked at his wife.

Persephone immediately passed off the wildly grown poinsettia to Nico, turning on Will with such intensity, he stopped mid-sentence to stare back at her.

“You must be Nico’s boyfriend.” She declared, staring at him.

Will nodded, trying for a kind smile. It came out more nervous, despite his best efforts. Will was a good actor, but Persephone could be slightly terrifying at homes. Nico knew.

“I am, yes. Will Solace.” His eyes flickered over to Nico’s, and his smile took on a more gooey aspect that must have been practiced. “Four months now.”

He could almost feel Hades beside him, holding in the ‘awwww’ that was definitely passing through his mind.

Persephone cocked her head to the side, coming up closer to Will to study him. “Wouldn’t you rather spend the holidays with your family?”

Nico knew what this question was – Persephone was never one for being subtle. Her eyes were sharp, catching on the worn areas of his jeans, and the loose button on his flannel, and the thinness of his cheeks.

She was always looking for more children to mentally adopt, and Nico could already see the mountain of sweaters and food that would be pushed onto the other boy. Good. Better him than Nico.

“My sisters don’t get back into town until the fifth so we’re putting off Christmas.” He shrugged, still a soft smile in place. “They’re always traveling during the holidays.”

“And they do not invite you along?” She frowned, leaning forward to smooth down Will’s collar.

Will let out a small laugh, probably used to the mother-henning after all the families he’s met. “They do.” He reassured her, “And I usually go, but after hearing about how wonderful Nico’s family was –“ He shot a warm smile to everyone in the room, and there was almost a literal sigh that passed through the air, “I just had to meet you all.”

Persephone melted at that, her shoulders dipping down in happy surrender as she pulled him into a hug. “Well, we’re just so happy you could join us.”

“I’m so happy I could be here with you guys.” Will’s voice was strong and genuine, so much so, that Nico shot him a curious look. Had Nico not spent the entire trip here bickering with the other boy, Nico might have believed it himself.

Persephone clapped her hands over her face in joy, shooting Hades a gleeful look that he only returned with a ‘yes I know!’ nod. She took her overgrown plant back from Nico, calling Hades out into the green house to help her with it, probably just so they could gossip about them in peace.

“We have to decorate the Christmas tree now that you’re finally home!” Hazel jumped up, grinning as they left. “Frank and I already carried all the boxes down from the attic but we were waiting for you guys to start. Hades and Persephone totally won’t mind if we get started with getting everything out.”

“That sounds fun.” Will grinned, looking totally up for helping with a bunch of strangers Christmas decorations.

Hazel turned to him, beaming. “You can help me organize the ornaments.” She decided, taking his arm. “It’s a lot of fun, I promise.” She turned to give him and Frank a look, amusement across her features. “Will and I will be requiring sustenance for our task. The hot chocolate and eggnog are in the kitchen.”

She lead them both of out the room, Will’s ringing laugh trailing them.

Frank and Nico were quiet for a moment.

“Did we just get ditched in favor of your boyfriend?” Frank asked, a little blank. He blinked a few times, clearing the confusion off his face.

Nico nodded sympathetic, already turning to the kitchen. “Sorry to break it to you Frank, but that’s totally what happened.” He smiled, just slightly, at the twin bells of laughter drifting from the living room. “Now c’mon, they’re expecting famous di Angelo hot chocolate and it’s best to not keep them waiting.”

The tree, of course, was ridiculous.

Much, much too tall – although he wasn’t sure if it was to blame more on Hades or Persephone. Both, probably. They both had such a draw to the extragence, it was a wonder there was even space in the over-decorated parlor for them to sit in.

Nico set down the steaming mugs, Frank behind him with a handful of peppermint sticks and a plate of cookies, one of which was immediately swiped by Hazel herself.

She stuffed the cookie whole in her mouth, grinning around the treat, as she began unloading the surprisingly dust-less boxes.

“Awwww.” Hazel cooed as she pulled out a worn box, a few crumbles flying out with the action.

Nico recognized it immediately and groaned. “I thought we agreed not to do the embarrassing elementary school photos this year.”

“I’d never make that promise and you know that.” She told him, pulling out a particularly bad school photo – seventh grade. Nico cringed, wanting nothing more to grab the entire set of photos and dump them into the active fireplace.

“Nico was very into hair dye that year.” She told Will, a satisfied grin on her face. “Although I personally think that green is just not his color.”

“I hate you.” Nico declared instead, taking a smooth sip of his drink, attempting nonchalance.

Will was staring at the photo in pure glee, his grin wide and real as he laughed. Nico filed away the warm feeling in his chest for later, not really willing to examine it in at the moment.

 Nico gestured for him to hang the horribly made construction paper piece, rolling his eyes in fond amusement. He caught Hazel's eye, a happy expression content on her face as she watched them interact. 

Hades and Persephone joined them shortly after, bringing along plate of cookies. Persphone gave him a stern look, dropping a few cookies into his lap, apparently already making good on her promise. Hades boomed out a laugh as he pulled out the few ones from Hazel's childhood, her beaming, young face giving them all a crooked smile. 

Will seemed to actually enjoying himself, sipping on a cup of eggnog Hades had shoved in his hands. Someone had put on holidays music - Frank, probably - and the air was still warm with the heat and scent of fresh cookies. 

They put up the rest of the ornaments - Nico glancing over at Will every so often, a bit impressed with the other boy's acting. Hazel was just putting up an old family photo piece - glitter and glue galore - when she glanced at Nico, a bit unsure, her gaze darting back to the box.

And Nico knew that look. He stood, his movements easy, and took a small breath.  

They were quiet as Nico lifted the last shoebox from the ornament box. It was plain, worn, with a small hole in the side. He set it on the table, the mood shifting a bit, and edged off the lid slowly. If he turned, he would see Will shifting in confusion at the mood change, not understanding and unwilling to be the one to break the silence.

Nico smiled slightly as he pulled the first item out. “Do you remember this one?” He asked his father, not looking away from the item. “She was so upset when it broke.”

“And you spent the rest of the night gluing it back together to surprise her the next morning? Of course. She was so happy.” Hades added on, taking another delicate ornament out of the box. He tsked, “I remember this one. Dreadfully ugly. I am completely sure that she picked it out on that sole fact.”

It was truly ugly – Hades wasn’t exaggerating for once. A mess of neon green and pink, with dashes of yellow feathers on a grinning bird ornament.

“She totally did.” Nico laughed, “I was there. She wanted to see if you’d actually put it on the tree.”

Hades sighed, the sound showing laughter. “On my professionally decorated tree, no less.”

“You did.” Nico pointed out with a small smile.

Hades, now standing next to Nico, grinned slightly at that, ruffling his hair. “What we do for our kids, yes?”

Persephone, her shirt flowing color across the pale carpet, held up a paper ornament with a faint smile. It was one of their school made projects, her picture messingly glued to the construction paper snowman, the standard school photo small and neat despite the glitter and sequins attached. Nico grinned, setting it carefully on one of the higher branches.

“Oh!” Nico smiled, picking up a cloth wrapped piece, “This one was from mom!”

Hades peeked over his shoulder, his grin widening. “Oh yes, she bought that after we were married.”

It was a simple piece – clear, perfect glass making up the shape on an angel, wings extended. Along the bottom, neatly engraved, read famiglia di Angelo.

He let Hades hang that one, his gaze heavy with the memories Nico only had brief flashes of – soft hands smoothing Nico’s hair back, soft eyes edged with humor, pale cheeks filled with rosy color – and let Hades have a moment then, his fingers smoothing over the glass slowly as he hung it. 

They pulled the rest of the ornaments out slowly, exchanging familiar stories and remarks as tradition. Hazel and Persephone – along with Frank, and oh, yeah, Will this year – always kept back for this part, satisfied with watching them.

There was a moment of silence after Nico hung the last one, the low crackle of the fireplace being the only placeholders.

He turned back, their eyes on him, and began collecting empty mugs, mostly for just something to do.

“I’ll get refills.” Nico gave them a weak smile, already knowing about the thin layer of worry they felt for him around the holidays. “Any requests?”

There were none – all for hot chocolate – but it did surprise him when Will jumped up, volunteering his help. He was committed to the job, Nico guessed, as Will followed him in the kitchen.

Nico set the tray on the counter, the collected mugs clacking together as Nico took a moment, a quick, brief moment, to take a breath.

Will’s eyes were heavy on his back, and Nico wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole situation. Barely two hours ago, they were counting down the days till it was over and rolling eyes and sneering with snapping words and now…Nico was taking a deep breath, his mind still stubbornly lingering on the young sharp photographed grin and the vague memory of his mother’s dark hair.

“Your sister…” Will seemed to be struggling with it.

“Dead. 17, car accident.” Nico shrugged, carefully hiding all the familiar tension that came with the subject. His voice was quiet, no chance of being overheard.

Will ducked his head, “I….I didn’t know.”

“We should have gone over personal information.” Nico shrugged again, making the stiffness out of his limbs to start pouring the drinks.

Will was quiet. His eyes were on the title, his hands shoved in his pockets, and when he finally did speak, his eyes flickered up.

“Need any help?” He asked.

Nico observed him for a moment, deciding. “Sure.” He finally said. “Grab the whipped cream. Hazel likes it sweet.”

“And you, what, like it bitter and steaming?” Will was grinning slightly, nothing like the mean sneers they had been tossing around earlier. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your plain black roast coffee in the shop. What, does frilly coffee ruin your punk vibe?” 

“Whatever you say Hollister.” Nico rolled his eyes, his voice somehow not as mean as it was this morning. He'd...have to work on that. 

Nico paused, his eyes too-easily catching on the strong lines of Will's shoulders, lingering on the thin bit of skin that was exposed as Will reached to grab the milk carton. He swallowed. 

Well. 

Fuck. 

Notes: Yeaaaaah...this was suppose to be done by christmas....it's two months late, clocking in at 15k, and still remains unfinished. But my lil shipper heart is working on an angst piece and I NEED fluff sooooooo B) It's almost done - should be updated soon! Thanks for reading - please review if you enjoyed! I live and breath on reviews tbh they keep me going. - Rosy

#solangelo #fic #Nico di Angelo #Will solace #fake relationship #enemies to friends to lovers #banter #holiday fic #Percy Jackon and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #trials of apollo #fanficiton