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oikawaplssteponme · 3 years

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locked lips

pairing: Pro Hero! Izuku Midoriya x fem! reader

ratings/warnings: NSFW 18+ MINORS DNI [please im literally begging you], swearing, legal consumption of alcohol, slight praise, fingering, use of the name ‘baby’, deku being a little bit of a cocky jerk, unprotected intercourse, make-up sex

genre: ex’s to lovers, smut, aged up characters, fluff/angst (?)

word count: ~2.2k words

synopsis: You broke up with him on impulse. That doesn’t mean you stopped loving him. Now you’re back at his place, at a party you planned, with him looking just so desirable. What else were you to do?

a/n: hi hi! alright friends, this being my first nsfw post i cannot stress enough how important it is that minors don’t interact. if i catch any minors interacting with this post, ill delete this post and block them, which i obviously don’t want to have to do. just please respect these rules :)) anyway, reblogs are greatly appreciated and enjoy xx

You scrolled through your phone, mindlessly. You tried your best not to double tap on any of the pictures on your screen. The last thing you needed was for him to know you were stalking his page.

“You should start getting ready,” said Uraraka. You looked over at her, cocking a brow.

“Uh I'm not going?” you huffed. Uraraka sat down beside you.

“Don’t be like that Y/N. You still have to go tonight, regardless of Deku.”

“The party is at Deku’s house. I’d look like a total idiot showing my face there after we broke up.”

You sat up and crossed your arms. Ochaco sighed. She grabbed your shoulders.

“Y/N, you are gonna go to the party and make Deku regret his entire life. Anyway, I’m bringing you as my plus one, so you have to come!”

You sighed. “Fine, but I’m staying with you the whole night.”

Ochaco smiled and gave you a quick hug. She got up and began scanning through her closet again.

You had been staying with Uraraka since you and Izuku had broken up. It was a blow out fight. You yelled at him for caring about work more than you. He shouted at you for not being understanding of his career. The words you meant mixed with the words you didn’t, and chaos erupted between you and him. So, you packed a bag and left. You didn’t want to, but you were done.

While you and Deku were still together, you helped him plan an event for him and his fellow Pro Heroes, as an opportunity for them all to get together. Now, you would be attending that same event. Only, not with him.

“Who would’ve thought there’d be a day where I’d have too many clothes to choose from,” laughed Ochaco. You smiled.

“You should wear that pink dress Iida bought you for your birthday. I don’t think you’ve worn it out yet.”

“You think? It’s not too much…”

“Of course not! You’ll look hot,” you teased. Ochaco smiled.

“Alright alright I’ll wear it. But then you have to wear this!” She pulled out a bag from her closet and handed it to you.

“Please don’t tell me you bought me something…”

“I had to! All your clothes are still at his place...and I wanted to make sure you felt good tonight.”

You gave Ochaco a nudge and pulled out the tissue paper. You felt the soft material in between your fingertips, pulling it out from the bag.

“Uraraka...”

“No need to thank me. You’ve been through hell and back these last few weeks, the least I could do is get you a pretty dress.”

You jumped towards your friend, engulfing her in a hug.

“Thank you.”

“Hey now, let’s get ready! The limousine will be here in just a few hours!”

You sat in the back of the limo with Ochaco as you were on your way to Deku’s party. You looked like a million bucks. A little part of you hoped someone would take notice.

The estate where Izuku lived was gated off. Once you were let inside, you could see the beaming lights from the top of the hill. You felt your stomach clench, nerves building inside of you. You wanted to see him, but you also didn’t want to see him doing better without you. You haven’t even been apart that long. A month maybe? Certainly not long enough for him to be over you, because you certainly weren’t over him.

“Oh wow, Deku went all out!” cheered Ochaco. You looked to see the endless decorations and glamor that surrounded you.

“Yeah, these were my ideas,” you mumbled. Ochaco placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Don’t stress about it. Let’s just have fun, okay?”

You exited the vehicle and began to make your way inside. Champagne fountains and blasting music greeting you. His house was just as extraordinary as you remembered it. Nothing less than perfect for the No. 1 Hero.

“Uravity! Y/N!”

You turned to see your friend Iida, plus others from your old days at UA.

“You two are looking stunning tonight!” smiled Kirishima.

“Why thank you, it’s all thanks to this one,” you chuckled, giving Ochaco a nudge.

“I honestly didn’t expect to see you here tonight Y/N,” said Shoto. You shrugged.

“Well, I was invited after all. So Mr. Number One Hero can deal with it,” you huffed.

“Sounds like you could use a drink.”

Kaminari handed you a glass of champagne, which you took happily. You clinked glasses with your friends before dousing the beverage down.

“It’s gonna be a long night,” you mumbled to yourself.

You found yourself on the living room couch of Izuku’s large complex. You watched as Pro Heroes danced mindlessly with far too many drinks in their systems. You chuckled. At least they’re having fun.

You hadn’t seen Izuku all night, which was strange considering this was his party. You looked over to the glass staircase, knowing more than well that his bedroom was upstairs. You knew the layout like the back of your hand, after all, you lived here for a year.

You knew all your stuff had to be upstairs. You only had time to pack a small bag the day you left. Surely he wasn’t awful enough to throw your things away. You got up from the couch and quietly made your way up the stairs, hoping no one saw you sneak away from the action of the party.

His bedroom was at the end of the hallway. The doors were closed. You placed your shaky hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly. It was unlocked.

You stepped inside. The smell of his cologne filled your senses, causing memories to flood in as well. His room was neat, as if no one had been sleeping in it. You turned to the closet. All your clothing should be on the right side.

“Sneaking around?”

You jumped, removing your hand from the closet handle. You turned around slowly.

“Just wanted to make sure you didn’t burn my shit,” you huffed. Izuku chuckled. He took a few steps towards you, opening the closet.

“Don’t paint me as a villain Y/N. All your things are safe and sound.”

Your side of the closet was just as you left it. Exactly how you left it. You looked back to Izuku.

“Perfect. Then I’ll be taking it with me when I leave-”

“I’m surprised you came at all. I figured you’d want to be as far away from here as possible.”

“I didn’t come for you, I came for Ochaco.”

“Oh right.”

Deku took a step back, placing his hands in his pockets. That devilish smile stared you down, causing your face to burn. You could see the outline of his muscles through his white button down.

“You look incredible by the way. New dress?” he smirked. You rolled your eyes.

“Well since all my clothes were here, yes.”

“Well serves you right for leaving out of nowhere.”

Your eyes widened and you clenched your fists.

“I didn’t leave out of nowhere, I left because you cared more about your job than me!”

“That’s not true-”

“To hell it is! I was tired of being second to everything so I left!”

Izuku took a deep breath and stepped closer to you. He placed his hand under your chin, having you look at him.

“I didn’t want to break up.”

Your breathing got heavier without you even realizing it. You also didn’t realize that Midoriya had you pressed against the closet door.

“I-I didn’t want to either…” you whispered. Izuku smiled.

“Then tell me baby, why did we?”

“B-Because I didn’t know what else to do…”

Izuku brushed his thumb against your cheek, then took a step back.

“Look, I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted was to make you feel under-appreciated...but-”

Izuku moved closer to you again, pinning your arms to your sides and pressing his torso against you all in a swift motion.

“-I can think of a better way to prove it to you.”

You tried to catch your breath. All you wanted was him at this exact moment. Was that a good thing? Of course not. Did you care? Of course not.

“Then prove it to me.”

Izuku wasted little time in moving you onto his California-king. He pinned you down onto the mattress and instantly kissed you. You felt the rush of butterflies swarm your stomach. You hated how much you had missed this.

Deku let go of your wrists and you began to unbutton his shirt. With little patience, he helped you from out of your dress. He dived back down, locking lips with you once more. You dragged your nails down his back, listening as soft groans escaped his lips. He moved down to kiss and suck on your neck.

“Fuck~” was all you were able to get out. Izuku’s hands grazed your burning body, feeling the skin that he had been craving since the day you left. He snaked his hand to your back, unbuckling your bra easily.

“I’ve still got it…” he teased. He threw the bra to the floor and gave you little time to breathe before kissing you again. You ran your fingers through his fluffy hair, pulling him impossibly closer.

“Izuku...please…”

His puppy dog eyes stared back at you.

“What is it?”

You panted heavily, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“I need you.”

A smirk creeped onto his face. Izuku kissed your cheek.

“I promised I was gonna prove it to you, wasn’t I?”

Izuku sat up, unbuckling his belt. He slid off his pants and boxers. You caught a glimpse of him, causing your body to feel on fire. Midoriya placed his head in between your legs. He teasingly kissed your inner thighs, keeping his hands glued onto them. The anticipation was practically killing you.

“Izuku-”

“Patience baby...I’m in no rush…”

He moved up to your underwear, biting onto one of the strings and pulling it down. They were practically soaked already. Same with your bra, he tossed them to the floor.

He continued to kiss and nip at your thighs, inching impossibly closer to you. You couldn’t take it anymore.

You grabbed Izuku up and kissed him feverishly.

“So eager baby~”

“Please just fuck me,” you whispered. Izuku chuckled. He licked his lips.

“As you wish.”

Izuku spread your legs apart, dipping one of his fingers inside of you with ease. You arched your back, letting out a moan, and gripping onto his arm tightly.

“That’s it baby~”

Midoriya slipped another finger in, stretching you out even more. You clenched around him as he added more pressure.

He removed his fingers and better adjusted himself above you. He held his cock in his hand before slowly pushing it inside of you.

You didn’t remember him ever feeling this good.

Izuku began to thrust into you, slow at first before building in speed. You could feel yourself clenching around him, sweat forming on your skin. Midoriya groaned with each movement as he pushed even deeper. He kissed you as he fucked you, though you were such a mess you could barely keep up.

He knew exactly how to get you worked up.

“Oh god...I’m c-close,” you mumbled.

“Not yet…”

Midoriya moved his hand down, taking his thumb and rubbing your needy clit. You gripped onto him even harder, digging your nails into his skin as he pushed you over the edge.

“Oh fuck-fuck-”

“Fuck baby, I-I love you-I’m sorry-” he stuttered out.

“I-I love you t-too. Fuck Izuku- I’m gonna cum-”

“Cum with me baby-”

Izuku went even harder as he reached his climax, following you. You let out a pleasure filled scream as you let go. Izuku laid on top of you, catching his breath as your body shook below him.

He looked up at you, brushing his hair back.

“I love you,” he repeated, in case you didn’t believe him the first time. You smiled.

“I love you too.”

You had forgotten all about the party that was occurring below you. As you got redressed to head back down to meet Ochaco, you felt Izuku grab your hand.

“What is it?” you asked him. Midoriya took your other hand as he stood before you.

“I really am sorry. I don’t want you to leave again,” he explained. You sighed. You ran your fingers through his hair, kissing his cheek.

“It’s okay, I won’t.”

You walked downstairs with Izuku, his hand interlocked with yours. You watched as Ochaco’s jaw dropped at the sight of you.

“Oh so that’s where you were for the last hour and a half?” she huffed. You chuckled nervously.

“Yeah sorry…”

“Well the limo is here to take us back home, or are you staying here?” she asked. You looked up at Midoriya.

“I’m staying.”

Soon the Midoriya residence was quiet, just you and him remained. You curled up with him on the couch, his arms holding you tightly as he kissed your head.

“You wanna know why I didn’t get rid of any of your things?” he said. You laughed.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I knew you’d be back.”

•

reblogs are greatly appreciated <3

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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dreamer213 · 3 years

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Broken Machines: Lights the Dark

Chapter 3 Evening in Atlas Part 2

Penny was stunned, of all the things she thought he was going to say she never would have guessed it would be THAT. A party? Their mission was at a party? One that requires formal attire and an luxurious vehicle. Just how? Why? What reason could there possibly be for her to go with General Ironwood to a formal party? This just didn’t make any sense at all! Penny tried and tried to comprise some sort of answer but every time she does she just circles back to where she started. Why in Remnant was this happening to her!

Penny: Um I’m sorry General but could you please explain to me why we are going to a evening party.

Ironwood: In all fairness we aren’t going to a normal evening party. We are going to an Altas evening party at the largest estate in the region.

Penny: I see, that still doesn’t answer my question.

Ironwood: The reason we are going is to gather some info before we begin our formal investigation or in this case your investigation.

Penny: I’m sorry what?

Ironwood: I’m rearranging your schedule and assigning you to an undercover investigation.

Penny: A-and what exactly am I going to investigate?

Ironwood: A week or two ago you witnessed one of the supply truck carrying materials for “the project” get hijacked, correct?

Penny: Yes. I tried to go after them but I had to rescue the security detail they injured during their escape.

Ironwood: Well, there’s been several more incidents since and it’s put everything behind schedule and we can’t afford any delays. Not right now. So we been investigating and have some clear suspects but we still haven’t been able to apprehend them. Every time we get close they spring a trap or find an some sort escape route and get away. We’ve done everything we can to tighten up security but they’re always one step ahead. Is as though they have information on the shipping schedule, the security detail, the layouts of the facilities, and facilities security systems. I believe that there’s a spy who’s been feeding the thieves this information.

Penny: I understand that but what does that have to with me attending an Atlas evening party?

Ironwood: You see, we’ve already done a thorough swipe of all the military personnel involved with “the project” and every single one was cleared of all suspicion so the spy isn’t from our end. Which means it has to be someone from factories or shipping companies and due to the classified nature of most of this intell it has to someone in a very high position in one or both companies. The only ones with that type of authority in either would have to be an Alas elite. The listed of possible suspects is still too large to focus in on any one specific and a public investigation will just raise more suspicion and give the spy a chance to flee hence the need to do this incognito.

Penny: But why me? Out of the numerous soldiers you have at your disposal why did you pick me?

Ironwood: I would do it myself but given my status as both a general and a member of the council showing any interest of any kind towards someone in high society will just raise more questions. As for the soldiers I could send most would be so obvious either in appearance or behavioral that they could never maintain their cover. And anyone who could maintain it already has some sort of of connection with Atlas that would just further complicate things. So that leaves you, Penny Polendina, with your innocence appearance and skill set you’re the perfect person to go undercover without raising any alarms.

Penny: I understand what you’re saying Sir but there’s still a large flaw in this plan. While it’s true I appear the most non threatening there’s still the matter of my mechanical nature. I just cannot believe people wouldn’t be suspicious of an android with more firepower then several military grade tanks attending formal events.

Ironwood: Your right they would be very suspicious of you if they knew.

Penny: If? They don’t……..How? How is this possible? All of Vytal saw me get ripped to pieces! The tournament was live! It was viewed around the world! How could anyone not know?

Ironwood: Tell me Penny, has anyone asked you about the tournament since you’ve been Mantle?

Penny paused for a moment, looking back no one had said anything about the Vytal Festival for as long as she’d been in Mantle. In fact she had explained her capabilities to several people after they witnessed her heroics the first month she was stationed there. Even then many had a hard time believing it was true. Was this really not public knowledge? Was this really not as well known as she thought? Had her terrifying near death experience really gone unnoticed?

Penny: How? Please just tell me how?

Ironwood: While your tragedy was televised across the globe it occurred so close to the fall of Beacon that it was quickly forgotten amongst the chaos Beacon’s tragedy caused. That and after global communications were lost all footage of the tournament was lost to.

Penny: But there were still witnesses. People still watched it happen.

Ironwood: Not in Alas.

Penny: Huh!

Ironwood: Atlas has always been a sort of world of its own especially amongst the elites. To them if doesn’t effect their cash flow it isn’t worth talking about or remembering. Your destruction may have been a hit to the military but to the city of Atlas it was non existent.

Penny: So from the perspective of the people at this party I’ll just be-

Ironwood: A girl from Mantle with a military background. A perfectly nobody, that’s your cover.

Penny: I see.

Ironwood: As to why we’re going tonight, this event is a very special one. Every politician, business mogul, and wealthy family in Atlas will be in attendance so is the perfect opportunity to make your induction into high society. I was hoping to brief you on the case and get you some etiquette lessons before you go in but this chance was to good to waste. We’ll go over everything properly in the morning but for tonight all you need to do is introduce yourself and try and make some connections.

Penny: …Yes Sir.

Ironwood: Remember Penny this isn’t for the sake of a military project. It’s for the sake of Altas as a whole.

Penny: Yes Sir.

With that everything was out in the open, all they could do now was finish the ride in silence. After a while the limo arrives at flying ferry, the only way to get passenger filled cars from Mantle to Atlas safely, once the limo is loaded on they’re into the air and soon they are greeted by the beauty that is the Atlas skyline.

Welcome to the city in the sky

The party’s going well, after the initial greeting and welcomes Jacques makes the announcement everyone’s been waiting for. In a long winded speech Jacques expressed how “sad” he was that his daughter had lost herself to the thralls of war to the point that he had to throw her out of the house for everyone’s safety and so now. He ends his “heartbroken” speech by announcing that his youngest child and only son Whitley was to be the new heir of the Schnee Dust Company. With that said he hands Whitley the microphone, prompting him to make his speech.

Whitley: Thank you Father, ladies and gentlemen I would first like to say I am so sorry about the circumstances that has brought us here tonight but never the less I’m grateful to all of you for gifting us with your presents. I never expected to be given this title especially not this way but I’m grateful to both my father and to all of you for believing in me capable of holding this new position. I promise I will do everything in my power to become the best heir I can possibly be. And one day I will take charge of our family business, continue our great and glorious legacy, and insure that it will carry on for many generations to come.

Whitley hands the mic back to Jacques whose now holding a glass of champagne. Jacques raises his glass, the guests follow. He points the glass towards his son and makes a toast.

Jacques: A toast to the new heir. May he grow to be strong man capable of doing what’s best for the Schnee Dust Empire and for the great city of Atlas! To Whitley!

“To Whitley” the crowd shouts back. Once everyone’s downed a bit of their drink Jacques and Whitley return to the ballroom floor and back into the awaiting crowd. Soon Whitley was mobbed by a sea of people all wanting to make conversation. Scores “ Congratulations” and “I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful heir!” and of course many “ It’s pity about your sister.”. Every word out of their mouths is like sugar drenched poison. Alluring on the surface but bite into it and the toxicity of their true intentions are strong enough to kill eight full grown men. This was not group happy guests but a flock of vultures looking to pick at the fresh meat that is a young elite’s pride.

Whitley: This is going to be a very VERY long night.

As the limousine gets closer to their destination Penny grows anxious, she had handled many missions before but those were all Grimm related she’d never had to socialize outside of saying hello to Mantle citizens or issuing warns to known criminals. Her anxiety only grows worse as she spots their destination out the window. They’re heading towards a ginormous mansion, longer then most of the government building, it’s pearlescent, grand, and overall screamed “High Class”. Penny was feeling completely out of her depth in this situation and very unsure of how to handle it. She looks over to Ironwood and asks for a little guidance.

Penny: Sir, May I ask what exactly am I supposed to say to these “Altas elites”?

Ironwood: That easy. Just give them you’re name, that you’re here with me and you’re one my highest ranked soldiers. That should be enough to get them talking.

Penny: Alright, I’ll do my best.

The limo finally come to a stop in the manor driveway behind several other more expensive looking limousines. The driver opens the car door, Ironwood get out first he extends his right arm her to grab. She tries reaching for his hand but he corrects her and places it on his bicep instead. He lifts her out of her seat and onto the sidewalk. Once Penny’s out of the car she gets a full view of the manor, and it’s almost overwhelming with how regal it looks. A castle like structure with high towers, ornate windows, and beautiful woodwork, a true masterpiece of a building. They head inside and by the gods it’s as though they step into a fairytale! The marble floors, the gorgeous walls, there’s even statues and big chandeliers! Things only get more dazzling as they enter the ballroom, it’s just as amazing as the entrance and there’s a sea of well dressed people socializing inside. Once again Penny looks to Ironwood but before she can say anything someone rushes up to greet him and soon people start gathering around him!

“There’s the man we’ve been looking for! General Ironwood get over here this instant! “

One man shouts bringing even more attention to Ironwood as the now mob of people get closer and closer. Most look to be business men and wealthy middle women and they’re all thanking for saving them at the charity gala and asking to get him a drink. They’re almost surrounded when Ironwood finally speaks up.

Ironwood: Penny, Why don’t you go take a look around. I have some people I need to talk to.

Penny: But General-

Ironwood puts his hand up to ask the crowd for some space then gets down to Penny’s level and whispers to her.

Ironwood:(whisper) I can handle things here, you go and cover more ground.

Penny: Yes Sir!

Penny unlinks her arm from his and heads off while Ironwood starts chatting up the crowd. Penny looks around hoping to find someone to converse with but everyone seems to be engrossed in their own conversations. As she goes deep and deeper into the ballroom she picks up a really nice smell, not like the perfume or cologne of the people around but more like the smells of the food stands and restaurants in Mantle only nicer! Penny knows she shouldn’t get distracted but temptation is just too great and there was still time to figure out how to complete her mission so would it really be wrong to take one quick little break? Penny follows the smell to a line of tables and it’s glorious! It’s a buffet! Full of fresh seafood, a carving station, an assortment of vegetable dishes, and some many food she’s never even know existed! There’s even a fancy dessert station! Penny’s beside herself trying to figure out how she should to go about this.

Penny: It all looks so good I want to try everything! But I can’t just eat all I want my stomach has a capacity. And I know Dad must have a plate saved for me at home. So I’ll just get one plate and fill it with a little bit of everything that stands out to me so I don’t overeat. Yeah that should work.

Penny grabs a plate and goes down the buffet line. She picks up a small lobster tail and a couple shrimp, a small piece of wagyu beef, a bit of garden salad, some truffle pasta, and a tiny chocolate soufflé for dessert. Once she’s got her plate filled she can’t wait another second and takes a bite from the first thing she can stick her fork in. It was the lobster and it’s delicious. It’s so savory and sweet and buttery. It’s so soft it’s practically melting in her mouth. So good.~

She keeps eating for bit until she notices a shadow looming over her. She looks up from her plate to see a group of upper class women in beautiful dresses each in different colors. This is great Penny could finally start on her mission! She was about to greet them but a woman in a red dress spoke first.

Woman in red: Oh my look at that plate! It looks you’re really enjoy yourself. The food must absolutely delicious.

Penny: Yes, it is. Good evening my name is Penny Pole-

Woman in red: I mean it must be, why else would you be stuffing your face so eagerly.

Penny: What.

Woman in blue: Uh Young lady I think you might want to slow down a bit. Surely you wouldn’t want to fill out that dress of yours, though you do have plenty of room in the hip area. Maybe you should try hit the gym or look for a good surgeon.

Woman in yellow: Oh don’t forget about the color! I’d never be so bold to wear lime green to an evening party. And with those freckles and such pale skin Dear you look a little spotty glow stick.

Penny:(quietly) I thought it looked nice.

Woman in indigo: Now girls don’t be so cruel, she’s just a little girl isn’t she? Poor thing can’t be more then 12 with that silly hair and those fat cheeks. Come on where’s your mommy and daddy? Do you need help finding them?

That’s it! Penny couldn’t take anymore! This wasn’t the first time she had been insulted. Be it by drunks, criminals, or generally rude people Penny had been insulted, screamed, and even cursed at while on patrol. But none of that had ever made her feel like this! Nothing had ever made her feel like this! These women may have said things that were far less graphic than what Penny was use to hearing but the way they said was just so awful it made her feel so tiny and pathetic. She couldn’t listen to anymore and walked away as fast she can as they laugh behind her. She kept going until she found an uninhabited section of tables next to a balcony. She sits at the table closest to balcony and starts eating her food again. It’s gotten cold and don’t taste as good for some reason. What was she going to do? If this was how the elites treat what they believe to be a helpless teenage girl how could she possibly investigate and find the spy! What was she going to do?.

Whitley had been on his feet all night. His father had left to go rub elbows with some politicians in his cigar room leaving Whitley to do the lion’s share of hosting the party. He’s spent hours spitting out fake compliments, making small talk, and apologizing on behalf of his sister to the point he feels like a broken record. After finishing yet another pointless conversation Whitley excuse himself to get something. Once he’s gotten out of view of the guests he heads towards a secluded balcony in the quietest part of ballroom passing by a woman picking at her plate.

He steps on to the balcony, he takes a moment to take in the cool night air, he walks forward to the railing turns around and leans backwards on it looking towards the ballroom floor. This was the only way he could try to relax at events like these. Go to a quiet place a little far from the guests but still close enough that he could run back in if his father came looking for him. Ugh Father.

Whitley: I’ve been doing his job all night while he runs off to smoke with some famed narcissists. Though that is what they say about birds of the same feathers, still hosting an event to apologize for your child’s behavior then leaving the actual task of hosting up to your other child can’t possibly reflect well on you. But it’s not like I’m only doing his job. How many times have I apologize for Weiss tonight? How many excuses have I made for Mother while she’s off drinking? How times have I had to redirect a conversation when someone asks about what Winter’s been doing? I do all that and more for what? Why is this how I live? Why am I stuck constantly cleaning up after people who don’t seem to give a damn about me just to survive? I mean I keep hanging on trying to keep things calm until I obtain the power I need to finally put an end to this nightmare but honestly what am I even trying to save? A mother who’s spent the last decade a drunken mess, an older sister who seen hell but still throws tantrums like a child, an even older sister who acts like her precious perfect baby sister is her only family regardless of who else cared about her, and manor full of people who would only see me as a way to maintain their incomes! Gods Am I really that alone?

Whitley internally sighs, he throws his head up to the stars bathing in the heaven’s light. The stars were one of the only things that could ground him when he starts feeling this way. Looking up at them always made him feel like he was floating in heavens, far away from all his problems free and safe. He leans back further to get a better view, spacing out as his mind begin to calm. Until he moves back a little too much and loses his balance. He tries to catch himself but he ends up flailing and slips. Time seems to slow down as his about tip over into a two story drop he screams.

Whitley: AAAAHHHHH! Crap! This is bad! Father’s going to throw an absolute fit when he see the mess this makes.

He closes his eyes hoping it’ll be quick but before he goes into free fall he stops. He opens them and sees a freckled hand wrapped around his forearm.

Penny: Hang on, I’ve got you!

He looks up and makes eye contact with his savior. It’s a girl who’s face he’d never seen before. She no older then him, wearing a bright green dress with fiery red hair in soft ring like curls and big beautiful green eyes.

Penny was still pondering what to next when she heard a scream and commotion coming from balcony. Knowing a cry for help better then anyone Penny dashes towards the sound. She’ll almost too late when she gets out the door and she see half the person’s body is already over the railing but she manages to close the distance just in time to grab they’re arm. She yells to get they’re attention and let’s them know she’s got ahold on them, in this moment they made eye contact and she finally gets a real look at the person she just saved. It’s a teenage boy and he’s…just…beautiful. That’s the only way Penny could describe it. His skin was so pale if she hadn’t felt the heat coming off him she would’ve sworn he was made of porcelain, his hair was so white it looked like snow and it looked so soft and shiny it could’ve been mistaken for silk. And his eyes gods his eyes, they were this deep blue that somehow looked like the sky right before twilight, a endlessly deep sea, and bright like a brilliant shining jewel. Now Penny had seen plenty of handsome men before, she knew nature could make many gorgeous creatures but this, this was the first time anything had made her this awestruck. She couldn’t move she couldn’t think all she could do was take in the beauty of the young man before her.

Whitley: Ummm Excuse me miss? Could you please pull me up?

#penny polendina #whitley schnee #broken machines #james ironwood #jacques schnee #rwby fanfiction #fanfic #it is here

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chronicbatfictioner · 3 years

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Exchanges & Compromises - Chapter 14

The ride to the Wayne Manor the other day was uneventful. That is unless one counted the times where Damian had peeked at Tim's tablet and saw the financial report, and suggested that Tim let the Algol Enterprises acquire Drake Industries.

"No thanks, I'd rather have full control of it," Tim said.

"It will be more beneficial for a good size of masses if you have larger capital." Damian reasoned.

Tim glared at him. "But then I won't have full control, will I? So no. I'll keep your offer in mind, but not now, thanks," he replied.

"Am I the only one feeling strangely inadequate here?" Dick quipped. "I mean, we have two minors discussing business, and we, two adult men, looked on not even understanding what they're talking about."

Jason had to stifle a laugh at that.

"Do not worry, Grayson. Once I get into the WE books, Jason or I shall explain to you the intricacies of running a multi-national and multi-faceted business." Damian remarked. Jason bit the inside of his lower lip at Dick's nearly imperceptible eye-roll.

Dick glared at Jason with a betrayed look, "You understood what they were talking about??" he demanded.

Jason shrugged slowly, "I'm his legal guardian, dude. I didn't get hired just because I looked pretty!"

"While I am certain Drake would not mind to hire you just to look pretty, Grayson, I do not understand why you must insist on presenting yourself as a dumb oaf..." Damian commented.

"That's part of his charm," Tim replied, snickering. "That, and his ass. For the record, I didn't hire him for his brain."

"I'm a security guard at the Drake Industries' owner's home," Dick replied haughtily.

"Technically, he's the receptionist of my apartment building. But everybody else thought of him as my bodyguard because he's ripped." Tim explained.

"Ripped?"

"Muscled," Jason explained. Damian was not one for slang just yet. "Most people who got hired as security guards would be fat ex-cops or really skinny juvenile halls graduates, yeah? Does it still work that way here?"

"Unfortunately. That's why most people thought he's like, an 'ex-special forces' security guard for me to keep me from getting kidnapped like my parents." Tim elaborated.

"That would've been a hoot." Dick quipped. "Even without me present, I'd really like to see people trying to kidnap you."

Tim threw him a feigned-hurt look. "How cruel. I've been nothing but facetious and kind to all. Why would they want to kidnap me?" he deadpanned. "Plus, they'll have their respective faces shredded to bits by Mama. Right, ma?" Tim added, calling out to the front of the limo.

Catwoman - without her costume, turned out to be a woman named Selina Kyle - was driving them there, clad in an official suit and jacket and hat of a limo driver. How and why Jason did not know. But given the fact that Tim's parents were kidnapped while in a private jet, he reckoned that Tim would have had rather more rigorous security set up for himself. While Jason was yet to be sure what kind of relationship Tim has with Catwoman - similar costume notwithstanding; he was quite certain that said relationship would have been pretty close and public.

"Nobody gets to mess with my kitten and get away with nary a scar," she replied through the opened divider. "Now, we're half a mile out, because you pretentious rich folks have to make things difficult and far, far away from anything logical. You boys better are on your best behavior, yeah?" she added, referring to the fact that although they had come from Drake House right next door, 'next door' consisted of a few miles of long and winding road between each properties' gates.

She sounded like a mother preparing her sons to meet the Sunday school teacher, and something ached in Jason's heart. A flashback of his own mother, came to fore - Catherine Todd. She might have died succumbing to her own heroin addiction, but she was not a bad mother to start with. She tried to raise him with good values - values often mocked by their own neighborhood. Good manners that didn't matter much around the block, at least until Talia found him and brought Jason to her home. Also, the unshakable faith that there were still good people in the world, and there were people trying to make it better for them.

He wondered how is it that Tim could be so lucky with having two 'mother' figures like Catwoman and Oracle, complete with a biological mother who nearly had it all - especially when it comes to funds. He briefly wondered what it would have been like if his mother was rich.

Then he looked at Damian, sitting up straight in his seat, pretending not to notice the gates opening in front of them. He inhaled slowly, realizing that if his mother had been rich or had lived, things would have been much different - and much worse - for Damian. He mentally braced himself, running all of Tim's schemes briefly through his mind, until the car stopped in front of the Wayne Manor's front door.

The door was opened by a butler, a tall old man with a pencil-thin mustache and grey hair. For an untrained eye, Dick seemed to be the only one out of place, as he looked around and gawked over the extensive driveway and majestic fountain, the regal oak door, and the as-regal butler right in front of it.

For Jason, he knew that Dick was scoping the area, remembering the layout and/or cross-checking it with images that Tim had shown them.

"We are here to see Mr. Bruce Wayne," Tim introduced, formally handing a business card to the valet.

"The formality is quite unnecessary, Master Drake," the butler replied. Jason thought he could see a hint of amusement in the butler's otherwise stoic expression. "I know who you are quite well."

"Ah, but this is not just for me, Alfred," Tim replied, smiling. "The card is his," he presented Damian. "the other two are his minders. I'm just here to introduce them." While Damian, Jason, and Tim knew that to enter a 'high society' family home one cannot simply just walk in through the gates; Barbara was a little surprised at this, and Dick had snickered unabashedly.

'Alfred' accepted the card and read it, and now Jason was sure that there was a slight uptick on the man's eyebrows. "Mr. Damian Al Ghul. I see. Kindly enter, gentlemen, I shall consult the Waynes." Alfred intoned, stepping aside to allow them in.

They were ushered to the foyer, and left to wait there as the butler went to fetch whichever Wayne might be at home. So far, so good; Jason thought. Tim already ascertained that Bruce, the walking-disaster who was said to have broken his leg a few days ago while playing polo, would be home. So would Bane. Dr. and Mrs. Wayne were in the Alps, somewhere. As a common societal norm, Alfred should call for the master of the house - and that should be Bruce Wayne.

It took a few minutes, but Bruce Wayne came hobbling down on a cane - followed by Bane.

"Bruce," Tim greeted him because of course, Tim would be on a first-name basis with him; that 'high-society' boy.

"Tim Drake, in the flesh. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Bruce Wayne chirped, shaking Tim's hand as if it was a pump-handle. Tim's face didn't even change, but Jason could see a scowl beginning to form on Damian's face.

"Well, I reckon this should be a blood-family issue. They came to me because, as you might have heard, I have had some dealings with Algol Enterprises." Tim said. "There has been a tragedy, apparently."

"Oh yes, I've heard. Ra's and Talia... who would have expected them to be in such tragedy... I am sorry for your loss, son," Bruce leaned a little toward Damian with an expression of most-sincerity. Yet Jason observed the scowl on Bane's face, followed by Tim's stealthy, nearly imperceptible eye-roll.

"My thanks for your condolence, and am as sorry for your loss, father." Damian retorted, cutting straight to the case.

Jason would swear that he could hear a single surprised chirp of a bird somewhere in the vast area of the manor in the silence that followed. Broken only by a guttural roar.

#Tim Drake #Jason Todd #Dick Grayson #Damian Al-Ghul #Selina Kyle #Alfred Pennyworth #Bruce Wayne #Bane #JayTim #batless!au

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clairecrive · 4 years

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“Chaos”- Bane x OC [Requested]

After a long therapeutic writing session, I’m back with some Bane goodies as promised! this was requested a long time ago by a girl on wattpad but idk why I never had enough ideas/inspiration to finish it until a couple of days ago. And so here it is. It’s been a while since I’ve written so I’m hoping this isn’t that shitty lol. Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Tag list: @mollybegger-blog, @br0ck-eddie, @of-love-and-of-the-sea, @evelynshelby, @shadow-of-wonder, @deaflikehawkeye, @innerpaperexpertcloud, @fandom--0verdose, @sopxhiea, @fuseburner (let me know if you wanna be added or removed)

Blending in the shadows had always been the accomplishment Ace was the proudest of. Throughout the years, she had mastered it to the point of perfection, so much so that even the man who claimed to own the shadows hadn't been able to spot her. She wasn't there to spy on them so she'd eventually come forward and make her presence known. Only when the time was right though. For now, she had to listen and observe.

When she heard the mercenary give the last instructions to his men and was about to dismiss them, Ace decided it was time to come forward.

"That's an excellent plan indeed, except that it will fail." Emerging from the shadows she walked into the room with confident strides. As soon as they saw her, the men pointed their guns at her. However, she didn't pay them any mind. Ace's eyes and focus were solely on the burly muscular man standing at the centre of the room. He was in control, that much she knew, alas the men wouldn't move a muscle without his permission.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, did I?" Straightening his posture, his hands landing on the straps of his vest, Bane quickly shut the intruder up.

"Nevertheless, I gave it to you. Now, you should be wise and take it because I'm right." Standing in front of him, Ace held her head high for better holding his gaze. From this position, she could see how he was able to instil fear in everyone. However, Ace acted as if the difference in height was nothing more than a fact. Like he was a man and her a woman.

"And why would you know anything about strategies and plans?"

"Does this mean that you don't recognize me then?" Pouting, Ace twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers. To be fair, Ace was pretty known in the underworld. Being the right hand of a mass murderer and a sociopath will do that to you.

"Should I?" Ace knew it was his way of minimizing and mocking her but she only mirrored his smirk. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Well, no matter. You should know though that I'm pretty good at this stuff. Me and my partner were quite famous."

"I don't entertain myself with gossip." Was his simple answer almost as if he was explaining to a little girl that no, he didn't play with dolls.

"Anyhow, I don't need my reputation to speak for me. Hear me out, let me be a part of your plan and then you'll see why he called me Ace." She proposed feigning confidence. To be fair, she knew that putting herself in the mercenary's dent could be extremely dangerous. Bane had the power to end in her life with just a snap of his fingers. However, Ace was sure of her abilities and she knew that Bane was a good strategist so he'd be able to see that.

"Ace up my sleeve?" He arched his brow at the not so subtle wordplay. What could you expect from a clown, Bane smugly concluded.

"You get the point then, great. I'll admit that I hated the name at the beginning. I'm more than a plan B, even my partner knew that. It was just for show. The only difference between men and women is cultural, after all." This was a fight Ace would always advocate for. Hell, her whole existence and the role she played were a testament to that. Of course, since the very first moment she started, Ace knew that in a predominantly male business she'd have to deal with a lot of sexism and belittling. But she was ready, she'd endured it all and now she'd mastered the art of shutting them up exposing their ignorance.

"Plato." He noted. Would you look at that. The notorious Bane, infamous mercenary and revolutionary, was familiar with the classics to the extent that he could recognize whose quotation it was. Remarkable.

"I'm surprised you know." She had to give him that. One had to give credit where credit is due.

"I know plenty of things." Well, now he was just being cocky. He could afford that, sure, but that didn't make it less annoying.

"Of course you do," she replied with a smug smile, "So what about that plan you were talking about?"

"You realize what you're getting into, don't you?"

"And you'll realize who you're dealing with because apparently, you don't yet."

"Very well." Nodding, he mutedly allowed her to join him. Returning to the map he was previously looking at, he moved so that there was enough space for her to stand next to him.

"Let's hear your idea then," he prompted her and she could feel the challenge in his tone. One she gladly took.

Once she offered him her plan, a better plan, that highlighted the weakness of the previous one, Bane valued his options and at the end, without any reservation, admitted that hers was indeed the most practical and efficient one. They were now all shackled in a van, armed to their necks, ready for the mission. She was sat in the backseat behind Bane who was sat in the passager seat, arm in her hands. They weren't the only one in the car, there were at least other five of Bane's soldiers but the only sound you could hear was the ones coming from the streets. Maybe it was because she was used to working with someone who couldn't shut up to save his life, but the silence was growing to be deafening.

"So, are sitting in front of us because you're big as a mountain or because you're the boss?" Her voice cut through the quiet vehicle. The men around and behind her didn't move a single muscle to show that they had heard her. However, Bane turned around slightly, now the sound of his mask hissing was louder and clearer. If looks could kill, Ace would at least have been cut by his.

"You should stay focused. This mission is extremely important. I won't tolerate any incompetence." He admonished her like a father would a little girl. And while Ace wouldn't mind that comparison in another context, wink wink, she also wouldn't mind if he was a bit looser.

"Please," rolling her eyes she leaned against the back of his seat, her mouth next to his ears since his face was still turned to her, "you really don't know anything about me, do you?" Feigning offence, her dark red painted lips pouted, Ace quickly wondered if he was just messing with her or if he was really clueless. Bane struck her as a quite thorough person, he'd have certainly done a background check on her by now. No matter, she decided, he's going to know soon either way.

"I'll just have to show you how I got my nickname, then," The pout had now shifted to a smirk and she leaned back to her seat. Her attention back out of the window while Bane's eyes lingered on her face a little longer before he turned back, imperceptibly shaking his head. This woman could either turned out to be a blessing or a curse. Now it wasn't the moment for such thoughts though, he had a mission to accomplish.

Since traffic hadn't been that bad, they had gotten to their destination quicker than expected. The van they were in pulled right outside the building they were going to sack, Gotham's bank, while the other vehicles and consequently Bane's men, parked on a secluded street right where the back exit of the building was. Those people were literally never going to see them coming. Before climbing out of the car, they assessed the situation, controlling that the information they got, on which they were basing the success of their plan, was still correct. Ace could only wait 'till Bane had finished his check-ups since she was sitting behind him and it was one of those cars where people in the back had to climb out through the reclined seat in front of them. The men were busy with their tools and electronic devices to notice that a slight change in plans was going to be needed.

Ace watched as a black limo neared the building and eventually stopped in front of it on the other side of the street. Whoever was in the car had to be someone important, not only because of his expensive choice of cars but also because he wasn't travelling alone. When a suited man stepped out of the car, he was immediately followed by a group of bodyguards as he made his way inside. Ace hadn't recognized the man, she hadn't even had the chance to look at his face but she knew that he wasn't supposed to be there. Her and one of Bane's hacker had studied the schedule for every single employee working that day and also the manager's one too. He wasn't scheduled. That also confirmed her theory of him being someone somewhat important along with wealthy since everybody knew that there was at least a one-month waiting list to be received by the bank's manager. And here he was instead, this mystery man who had put a glitch in their operation, that calmly strolled over the security checks like he owned the very ground he was walking on. Ace hated men like that. Here was another thing she had in common with Bane.

"He shouldn't be here." Bane's voice met her ears. Without turning to him, her eyes still in front of her trying to assess the number of the armed men, Ace simply nodded to let him know that she'd heard him.

"We'll have to use a different approach." She pointed out as the layout of a new plan was slowly forming in her mind.

"We should wait for other of my men to join us. We're not prepared to face such a number." Bane huffed, annoyed for the delay that this hitch was going to cause.

"Nonsense," Ace disagreed facing him, "I have an idea." A smug smirk formed on her face as she explained what her plan entailed. She was just going to need two men with her while Bane and every other man were to enter from the back. This was they were going to sneak up on those snob men up there and get what they came here for.

"Have you failed to see the van parked right there, which holds at least ten fully armed men? How are you going to hold them off with just two men? I was not aware you were suicidal." The patronizing tone in his voice was evident but Ace tried to ignore it. He doesn't know what you're capable of, she told herself. Not yet, she concluded.

"That's because I'm not. This is the second time you underestimate me, Bane. However, I won't take it personally since you've yet to see me in action. I assure you I'm more than capable of what I'm telling you." Her face now void of any smugness, her eyes solemn as she spoke, Bane wondered if she was too full of herself.

"What is the other name others call you?" He asked, knowing it had everything to do with her choice now that he saw her infamous smirk making a comeback.

"I'm the Lady of Chaos, oh great Bane. Whenever I go, that's what I bring and that's what I leave as a trail," sure of herself, Ace elaborated and in front of her confident façade, Bane could do nothing other than believing her.

"For your sake, I hope you deserve that title," he observed before he signalled to his men that it was time to move. While they silently climb out to make it to the back entrance unseen, Ace and the two men Bane chose, walked to the bank's entrance. To avoid drawing unwanted attention to them, she tried to make small talk with them. Attempted to tell a lame joke either, just to sell the idea that they were a group of friends and not some mercenaries on a mission. Despite the sketchiness of their clothes, they somehow managed to walk in without catching the eye of the mystery man's security.

As soon as they stepped in, the two security officers gestured for them to walk through the metal detector. That won't sit well with the two gun Ace was wearing but that won't be a problem. Not a second after the loud alarm of the detector was heard, Ace drew the gun shooting some warning bullets in the air before pointing to the officers that had stepped near her. Just like the two men behind her did. Understanding that they were greatly outnumbered, the officers hold their hands up letting their arms go.

"Now now gentlemen, would one of you be so kind as to show me your office?" Taking the piss out for men was Ace's favourite thing. She nodded the men to walk in front of her while the two mercenaries guarded the entry door.

She didn't have to walk long since their office was near the security check. Both men walked in and waited for Ace to instruct them what to do. She saw them glance at each other causing her to roll her eyes, she knew what was going through their heads.

"What a big of a fool do I have to be to have wondered away alone with two strong me like yourself, you must be wondering. Am I right?" She waited a bit before speaking again. Not that she was waiting for them to answer, merely for the theatrical effect. "But of course, because after all women are not that strong, are they?" Lowering her guns, she walked in front of them.

"I have taken upon me to prove everyone who would think that wrong," she foretold hinting at what she was going to do. But of course, they were too idiot to take the hint and so the same ease one would steal candy from a baby, Ace knocked them out with her guns. With the right amount of strength, one hit was all it took.

Chuckling while admiring her work, she felt oddly reworded. Men, she thought shaking her head. Taking her eyes away from their bodies, she looked around the room to look for what she needed.

"Ah," reaching for it she pushed the button that would ensure their plan could be carried out with any more surprises. The front doors of the bank automatically locked while a bulletproof gate quickly lowered, keeping out the inconvenience that was those armed men. Hearing the noise, Bane knew it was his signal to proceed. And so he did, swiftly and quickly making his way inside the building and the floor where he knew his target was.

In the meantime Ace that was soon joined by Bane's men, was making sure that all the people on the floor understood perfectly what they had to do and what will happen to them if they didn't obey. Once she was certain the situation was under control, she strolled to the floor where Bane was. He had been there for almost 15 minutes now, he should be about to finish by now. The two men that she had left behind knew that they had to join them in about five minutes so that they could leave unnoticed through the back entrance.

She reached the highest floor and was pleased to see that bane's men had subdued the guards and the bodyguards of the mystery man who had got caught in this. Smirking she saluted him as if to say "well done". It wasn't hard to spot the room where Bane was. Yes, it was the only room on the floor, right at the end of the hallway. But the screams coming out of it were a dead giveaway too. The mystery man was putting up a fight and causing problems, hence the screams.

Stepping in the room and assessing the situation, Ace could see that Bane was having no problem at all in dealing with the manager. The smug look he sent her way, confirmed that thought letting her know that he was almost done. So she turned to cause of such ruckus and noise.

"What's got your panties in a twist dear?" Using a patronizing tone, she crunched to be at his eye level.

"Of course he has a whore at a hand. What is your problem, lady? Don't you see he's a fucking beast?" Struggling in the mercenaries' grip, the man barked outraged. Ace couldn't stop herself from laughing in his face. Men.

"Haven't you heard? Behind a beast, there's a prince." Roughly patting his face, Ace readied to deliver the last blow. She had nothing against this young man. Well, apart from the fact that she hated everything he stood for and the city herself. Now, however, things had gotten personal. She hated misogynistic men, and even more misogynistic slurs.

She smiled sweetly at him, the gestured in sharp contrast of the movement of her hand. But that's what she wanted. Messing with his head so that he wouldn't be able to see her blow coming. And, as a matter of fact, he didn't. And that alone gave Ace immense satisfaction. Even more than seeing the red print of her hand on his cheek.

"Oh, and another thing," she feigned to have just remembered something, "don't ever refer to women you don't like as whores, okay? For future references." She added smiling with her lips in a thin line. "Good boy," stretching her legs she lifted from her position and moved aside knowing that now it was Bane's turn to deal with him.

Since he wasn't supposed to be here, Ace didn't know if he had been one of Bane's targets or if he had just become one. No matter, she knew that Bane would either let him leave to tell the tale and warn others or if he'd just kill him to avoid any further inconvenience. As the masked man walked toward them with long calculated strides, Ace knew. The man wasn't going to get the chance to put her advice into practice. And it seemed that the man understood that too and showed that he hadn't understood his lesson since he started begging her, thinking her as the weak one.

"Don't you have a heart?" The man pleaded to try to appeal to her humanity but it only made her laugh.

"Isn't it funny that people always assume that you're heartless?" She pondered out loud looking at Bane, "instead of facing the fact that maybe it's this wicked world we live in that made us who we are." Finishing her thought, she bent down so that her mouth was close to the man's ear.

"I wasn't born without a heart nor with all these scars, neither of us were." She whispered like it was a secret but really, was it so hard to understand? Quickly glancing around her shoulder, she made sure that Bane knew her next move. He slightly nodded. She had his approval.

"We are a product of the circumstances of our lives, Bane." Finishing the man off, she stood up rubbing the dirt off her hands and turned to the masked man. "We're not so different, you and I."

"While I'm not sure about the accuracy of that statement, I wouldn't mind having an ace up my sleeves." The wrinkles around his eyes became more evident as he recalled the wordplay she had used during their first meeting. But that wasn't his style. "Or you could be my Lady of Chaos, my Persephone." He added displaying once again his knowledge of the classics, unaware that it was the perfect way to appeal to her. After that and after seeing the way he worked, the way he had treated her, with respect, like they were equals, she didn't need any further convincing. She was sold. Taking the hand he was offering her, she sealed the deal. He could be the Hades to her Persephone. Both roles unexpectedly fitted them perfectly. Content for the successful outcome of the mission and the allegiance that had just been sealed, they both walked out without rush knowing that they were in control. Useless were the police sirens that were approaching. They didn't stand a chance against them. And while they didn't know it yet, as Bane and Ace glanced at each other once they were sat in the car, she knew that everyone was going to know it pretty soon. Very soon.

A/N: for anyone who doesn't know the name Persephone means "the one who brings chaos", so I thought it was extremely fitting Ace.

#bane #bane dcu #bane imagine #bane x oc #bane fic #bane one shot #the dark knight rises #TDKR #tom hardy bane #tom hardy imagines #bane fanfiction #i missed writing for him

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marvel-redemption-omega · 5 years

Text

The One

A/N: This is my entry for @softhairbarnes' writing challenge! I’m so excited to have participated and can’t wait to read the other entries. I hope you guys enjoy and feedback is appreciated! This is the first story I’ve written -and completed- in quite some time! I’m proud of it. I don't know how to do the Keep Reading tab, sorry. If anyone can help it'd be much appreciated. //Reposted to tag host of the writing challenge!//

Summary: Reader gets sent on an un-knowingly false mission. When they return, Tony sends them on a wild goose chase before they get to settle down and actually start to unwind with their Avenger family.

Pairings: Reader-x-Everyone; Reader-x-OMC

Prompt: “You're still the one I love, the only one I dream of//You're still the one I kiss good night//I'm so glad we made it, look how far we've come my baby” -- Prompt is at end of story

Word Count: 6634

Flight time estimates:

Bahrain to LAX 21hr flight: 1000 departure; 0700 arrival next day

Hour layover

LAX to NY 5.5hr flight: 0800 departure; 1300/1330ish arrival same day

Looks like we made it

Look how far we've come my baby

Six weeks. Six weeks spent in Bahrain just to find out that the drug and human trafficking ring were non existent and just rumors of the military in an attempt to draw out the buyers. It was infuriating enough to be sent on the recon mission alone, but to have no communication with your team back home, well it rubbed you the wrong way.

You give an annoyed growl at the thought as you pack your suitcase.

“I think I’m gonna kill Tony when I get back,” you murmur to the open air. You had been lucky enough to snag a room at the NGIS building on base, paid for courtesy of Tony Stark. “I can’t wait to get back to my baby,” you add as the thought crosses your mind. A smile adorns your face as you sling your duffel bag onto your shoulder and make your way to the check out desk; the mere thoughts of holding him clears any and all negativity.

I forgot how much I absolutely LOATHE airports.

The check in line is backed out the door (thankfully you were already checked in) and there’s luggage everywhere. Security was packed as always, even for such an mid Saturday morning flight and the walk to the terminal had been pretty long too.

Why couldn’t I have a quinjet again? Ugh… You try to focus on the positive things and pop in your ear buds, setting your music to shuffle.

I’ll be home soon. I can beat up Tony soon. I can take a week off. I can sleep in my own bed. I can ask Sam for his bomb-ass waffles. Ahh, movie night with the team! I wonder who I can convince to make a blanket fort with me this time. Clint did last time, so I won’t bug him again, unless he offers then all bets are off.

Yep. The positive things, like a blanket fort. Who said you had to grow up just because you’re over the age of eighteen? Because you are an avenger or S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? Bitter adults unhappy with their life choices, that’s who. Best to not be like them.

You look at your ticket, tilt your head up just a bit, and count the people in line waiting to board the same plane. Nine people in front, many more behind, most with small toddlers or babies. A few not-quite-toddlers but not adolescents are here too.

Unaccompanied.

Crowded plane. Noisy kids. Body heat. Body odor.

You don’t know which is worse, honestly. They are all pretty bad. With a sigh you settle into the aisle seat, glad your seat-mates happen to be a quiet couple. In their late twenties most likely. You close your eyes, put your headphones back in to ignore the flight safety brief -something you knew by repetition-, and smile to yourself as you reminisce while your playlist shuffles some rock songs from the ‘80s before switching to some late ‘90s country. You subtly nod along to the beat, foot tapping softly, and you silently sing along to Kenny Chesney.

We mighta took the long way

We knew we'd get there someday

“Y/n! You and (S/o/n) look so cute! How could you not tell us you two were together?!” Your friends swarmed and congratulated you.

“We just wanted to try first, see if it went anywhere.” It was a shy admittance, more for them or yourself, you weren’t sure. You glanced over at your significant other. They had been dragged away by your family. It was a family barbecue after all. You should have known it would happen. They met your eyes as you shared uneasy and apologetic glances respectively.

Your friends would wait until your family approved before they’d all have a go at interrogation before they gave their approval. You rolled your eyes at the small group. They were extra sometimes, but they were your family. Blood or not you knew they’d have your back in an instant.

The relationship only lasted a short while but it had been nice. The two of you broke it off mutually and agreed to always be there for the other. You still loved them regardless.

Time passed and things changed. People came and went from your life, some good, others not so much. There was one who was there to stay forever though. You wouldn’t change anything for the world and you hoped he knew it. He meant the world to you. Some of your friends said he was a mistake and would ruin your life. You chose not to listen. How could he when he was the reason you could smile again?

Most of your friends had left, their lives pulling them in different directions. Some to college, others to military, some even settled down and got married. Family became distant with the exception of your parents and siblings.

You got a call asking you to come to a coffee shop, him included, for a job interview. Although you had been skeptical, your parents convinced you to go. How bad could it have been if they were inviting him too? How often does that happen, they had asked.

Fury had been intimidating at first glance. Then you noticed he had a cat with him. The cat, he called Goose, took high interest in you and him. You’d laughed before giving Fury your attention, though you watched Goose sniff at the male beside you then purr and curl up in his lap. His smile was contagious as he beamed at you.

After leaving the strange interview, you went home. Though the thoughts of what the “Avengers Initiative” was, really left an itch. An itch you just had to scratch.

Curious as you were, you had no intention on meeting with Fury again. He made you uneasy, although not in a bad way. You just knew something was off and knew he wouldn’t say unless you agreed. But you could try and find the answer on your own anyway.

Fury proved you wrong in seeing him when he slipped you an invitation a few weeks later for a party. It had been a brief meeting. A run in at the grocery store. The address was to a nice place in New York. Your love agreed to go with you on the promise of exploring the city after the party. After all, a trip to New York from Colorado was a trip to remember.

You drove instead of flew. It took a day and a half to reach the destination. Traffic hadn’t been bad until New York itself. But you had planned to be there a few days early to explore before the party. Your love had agreed to the change of schedule and made a list of things he wanted to see and do. Coney Island was at the top of the list.

It was always hard to leave when you went on missions. He missed you and you him, but you know why you did it. You worked as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent now. Fury had seen the spark in you that you had tried to bury long ago.

Consider the itch, scratched.

Thoroughly.

You were called by Fury as you were getting out of a bath. Your boss wanted to show you something. He wouldn’t say what, only that an Agent by the name of Coulson would be picking you up in the morning. When you told him, his smile and excitement couldn’t be contained at the thought of you working with elite agents.

That was three years ago.

They said "I bet they'll never make it"

But just look at us holding on

We're still together still going strong

Your eyes snap open as the shift in speed jostles you awake. With a frown and a yawn you look out the window to see the familiar layout of the LAX airport. Shooting a message to Tony to let him know you made it, you start to gather your trash and lone duffle from under the seat in front of you.

Kinda wish I would have bought one of those suits or something while I was there. At least have something to show for my half year work-cation. At least I will be able to say I’ve traveled outside the states, even if it was for work.

Tony’s reply is lightning fast, something about a surprise pick up waiting for you. You roll your eyes at the million thoughts running through your mind as you debark slowly. The exit seems like forever as you wait for the people in front of you to creep forward only to stop after eight steps. Everyone is shuffling awkwardly and trying not to hit someone else; stopping for others to slide out or get their bags from the over head storage.

Finally, oh my gosh. That took FOREVER.

You make a face at yourself.

Yikes. Guess Tony really has sugar-daddied us. Yeesh. I guess I owe him a thank you. Nah. He made me fly commercial.

You snort at your inner rambling and almost miss the female yelling at you.

“Y/n!”

Your head snaps to the familiar voice and you can’t help the grin even if you want to, arms open as she meets you halfway and you both squeeze tight. Unconsciously you place a kiss on the top of her head as she laughs against you.

“My brother and I have been waiting for you! Come on! We have such a long trip back, even with our jet. We can catch up over some real food first,” she explains quickly and pulls you out of the terminal and to the arrivals pick up.

“Shuri! Calm down. I’m not going anywhere, you can let go of my arm,” you laugh and rest a hand over hers and she relaxes her grip a little. She gives a smile and nods.

“Sorry. I’m just excited! There’s still more!” She squeals and points to the car that’s pulling up. You raise a brow but smirk as the too-dark tinted window of the limo rolls down to reveal T’Challa in the backseat.

“Hello, King Panther,” you tease and slide in beside Shuri. He rolls his eyes playfully but leans over his sister for a partial hug regardless.

You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life

(You're still the one)

Breakfast at Waffle House comes and goes all too soon; with no calls or messages from Tony other than a brief text saying he’d see you in several hours, you get anxious. None of the others had messaged you and you wonder if they’re on missions or maybe are on their way back too. T’Challa and Shuri do a good job of distracting you on the plane to New York.

When the young princess goes to check on her brother, you take advantage of her absence and put her side of the bench seat to good use. You sprawl out with a yawn and smile up at T’Challa as he walks back. He takes in your posture and can’t help when his lips twitch up.

“You look comfortable,” he comments and lifts your legs to take the seat. He lays them over his lap and pats your shins in good spirit. “I’m sorry we did not think to bring a pillow or blankets with us.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like the jet has freezing a/c and I have a hoodie in my bag if I really need it. So far the sweatpants and T-shirt are keeping my temperature balanced. Besides, I could just cuddle the great Black Panther if I get cold,” you jest, eyes gleaming with mischief. He eyes you warily, wondering if you are actually going to pounce on him. You smirk and tilt your head before shaking it at him, answering his unasked question.

“Did my sister tell you there are more surprises for you?”

“After being picked up and private jetted to New York after some good home-feeling breakfast, I honestly don’t know what could be better,” you admit with a thoughtful look. His deep brown eyes meet your gaze and you grin. He lets out a chuckle as you squirm and pull your legs from his lap and pull your bag into your own lap and unzip it as he talks.

“Oh but I think Tony has more planned than he let us in on. You know how he likes to party,” he reminds and you pause in your rifling to glance at him with a grimace.

“That’s one thing I didn’t miss. All his damn parties and charity balls and galas and whatever else he calls them,” you mutter, toss aforementioned hoodie over your shoulder, and zip your dufflebag closed again. You retrieve the article of clothing and sit by T’Challa before leaning against his side. He glances at it but doesn’t say anything when you use it as a pillow.

The silence is comforting to say the least.

You're still the one I love

The only one I dream of

You're still the one I kiss good night

You don’t remember falling asleep but the hushed tones and loud shush-ing brings you out of your peaceful nap. You immediately glance up from where you had, probably, fallen along the seats. Your eyes meet familiar, warm brown ones and the twinkle in them doesn’t go unnoticed. Neither does the soft strokes against your scalp.

Is it improper to fall asleep in a King’s lap? Oops, oh well. Too late now. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission anyway.

“You could have woken me up, T’Challa,” you yawn, stretch, and sit up in your seat.

“You looked like you needed it. Besides, Shuri was just telling me about a new project she’s working on and would like your opinion on it,” he shrugs. His sister shoots him a glare but beams when she turns her gaze turns to you.

“So you need a new weapon right? I was thinking we could make something small like a gun, or whatever you prefer, and kind of do how I did with his suit. Put the technology in a bracelet or watch or something for you so you can be armed and no one is the wiser. I spitballed the idea with Tony and he agreed it would be cool. He’s actually working on an AI for you as we speak.” She rambles as you watch her rock back and forth on her feet in excitement.

You can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. She is like a little sister to you, just how Peter’s like a younger brother. They’re both so beyond their years that you can only pray and hope they stay safe and innocent forever, though you know it won’t happen, you still hope. She grins at the affirmation you give and punches the air.

It was only another ten minutes before you were bouncing on your own feet, standing behind T’Challa as he lands the jet at the compound. Your nerves kick in as the door opens and ramp lowers.

You’re home. After six long months. You are home.

Ain't nothin' better

We beat the odds together

I'm glad we didn't listen

Look at what we would be missin'

People always asked why you never date, when there were so many eligible candidates for you to chose from. Especially with your new job alongside the Avengers.

You would always answer the same. ‘I have someone who has already stolen my heart, why do I need another who might break it?’

He was the one who was always there for you. He had been for the longest time. He was the one you hope would always need and want you.

It was nice to be needed. It made you feel complete. Whenever you felt lonely and hopeless you would just remember he was there, waiting for you to come home to him.

He never let you down and always seemed to know when something was bothering you or if you needed hugs and cuddles. You missed him so much when you were away and you loved him so.

You just hope he never forgets it and never takes your for granted.

They said "I bet they'll never make it"

But just look at us holdin' on

We're still together still goin' strong

You don’t even have time to register who jumps you, but that doesn’t stop you from wrapping your arms around them and stumbling back to steady yourself. Bubbly laughter pulls your gaze to them and you smile brightly down at Wanda. She’s got her arms wound about your neck, hugging you tight.

“Hello to you too,” you chuckle and rub her back while she mutters something incoherent into your neck.

“Y/n! You won’t believe what I did while you were gone! There so much that’s happened! Tony’s got a plan to have a party tonight for your return-” she drops from her hold on you and shakes her head at your ringing phone, pouting.

“Tony? What’s up?” You give an apologetic look to Wanda as said billionaire strolls out the front doors of the compound and ends the call without answering you. You refrain from rolling your eyes and move into his welcoming arms. “How rude. Call me then not even answer and hang up.”

“I didn’t realize you were here already. Do you think you could go pick up Peter? I know Queens is a bit of a drive but,” he holds up a small access card, “your choice of ride if you say yes.”

“Bribery won’t work on Y/n, Tony. You know that,” Shuri chides.

“He doesn’t know I’m back, does he?” You inquire and snatch the card from Tony before he can decide giving you open freedom to his cars is a bad idea. With a shake of his head in response, you start walking to the garage with the others trailing behind.

“I might have told him I’d be by to pick him up for a Spider-Man thing this afternoon. Lunch is on me too. Wherever you want,” Tony bribes and offers you a small, plastic card with his name on it. It’s a deep, bright blue color and doesn’t look to have been used.

“You sure you want to give me that? I can make you regret it you know,” you tease and grab the card from him, slipping it into your pocket for safe keeping. The fear and slight panic that crosses his face causes you, Shuri, and Wanda to break out into laughter and T’Challa to grin.

You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life

(You're still the one)

You glance at the facility before giving a small nod, a mental pep gesture or yourself, and turn to face the quad following. They all give you reassuring smiles and await your response patiently. Well, except Tony, who keeps fiddling with his watch.

“Right, well, Friday will be available in the car for directions if you need them. It’s something I’ve added to all my vehicles since you’ve been gone,” he clears his throat and changes the subject.

Smooth, Tony. What are you hiding?

You give him a curious brow raise but he waves you off and ushers you into the garage and over to his line of expensive cars.

“Keys are all here,” Tony opens a lock box on the wall to reveal rows upon rows of various keys, “they’re numbered like the vehicles. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to call Pepper and Happy and let them know that there is a slight change of plans since you’re picking up Parker.” And just like that, Tony leaves you with your friends.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that very few of y’all knew I was coming back today. Wanda, think you can do some snooping and see what our hot-shot billionaire is hiding from us?” You inquire and run your hand over the keys until they stop on the third row down, seventh from you.

“I can come with if you want company,” offers Shuri after a glance at her brother. They share a silent sibling argument and you chuckle at them, wishing you had a sibling to be best friends with.

“It’s alright. You guys go relax. I guess I’m going to surprise Pete at school and bring him back. See if y’all can convince the playboy billionaire to get Mexican or Shawarma for dinner?” You inquire as you snag the key from the hook labeled “23”.

“That can easily be arranged,” Wanda grins and motions for Shuri and T’Challa to follow her back into the lounge area of the facility. You nod and give a small wave as they disappear inside. A smirk splits your face and you make a beeline for the car.

You're still the one I love

The only one I dream of

You're still the one I kiss good night

“Friday, can you play “Backstreet’s Back” please? And crank it up loud?” You request, windows rolling down while you slow to a stop out front of the school.

“Of course, (title) (Y/n),” the disembodied voice -you so dearly missed- sounds almost pleased to be of service. You smile, pat the dash, climb out, and walk to the passenger side where you lean on the front, patiently waiting for the bell to ring. When it does, you scan the crowd of people, searching for the few familiar ones.

“Peter! You’re coming to practice tomorrow right? We could really use you on the decathlon team this year,” MJ calls from behind the young avenger.

He looks up from his phone, a text from Tony mentioning he needs to come over right away and Happy had an appointment so someone else was picking him up, and nods back at her, lips curling up in a bright smile.

“Yeah. Text me the info and I’ll be there!” He agrees. Ned smacks Peter’s arm and gasps, pointing to the parking lot where you are. MJ, having joined Ned and Peter, nudges the latter with a smile of her own.

“Maybe you can skip the first one,” she proposes. When he doesn’t answer, mostly due to shock, she takes his silence for her answer.

“BACKSTREET’S BACK, ALRIGHT!”

“Haha! Okay, Friday, you can turn it down now. I have their attention. Thank you,” you laugh at the faces of your unofficially adopted kids as the music lowers drastically.

Peter nearly drops his phone, recognition flickering in his eyes, as he breaks from his friends in a sprint, reaching you in seconds. Much like Wanda, he throws himself at you. This time you’re ready for the impact of a human and wrap him up tight.

“What?! How?! When did you get back?! You’ve been gone for months!” He shrieks; he pulls away and sends a quick glance to his friends who are standing nearby. They have matching grins on their faces, almost as if they knew you would be picking him up.

“I know. Tony flew me in. I think I spent at least a full day flying,” you explain. Letting him go, you move around the car to the driver’s side. “Come on. I think Wanda got Tony to buy dinner. He owes me anyway for making me fly economy after being on that fake mission for half a year.”

“Yeah that’s a valid point. I see Mr. Stark also let you borrow one of his cars,” he quips, eyes scanning the blue Audi R8 spyder. He says goodbye to his friends and ducks into the passenger seat, you in the drivers.

The ride back contains playful banter and generalities; simple conversations about school, missions, and flights are tossed back and forth. You lean back in the seat, content and more than happy to be back. Beside you, Peter glances at his phone at the silent message from MJ.

Enjoy the weekend, don’t worry about the decathlon meeting this weekend. We have plenty of sessions later in the semester you can come too.

No one is found when you get back. Everyone seems to have abandoned the facility. Peter frowns at the lack of people and the uneasy feeling he’s getting. He fidgets and tilts his head.

“My spidey-sense isn’t alerting me to anything. So I don’t think anyone is in trouble, that’s good,” he utters and his eyes sweep through the common area. They stop on a small mess on the coffee table to their right. He walks over to investigate and huffs at the realization.

It’s a note, addressed to you, stating that the girls (Pepper, Wanda, Nat, and Shuri) have gone to the mall to pick up pretzels for you; the guys (T’Challa and himself since everyone else happened to be on missions) went to get actual food. It was a surprise but it was one of your favorite places to eat. Tony had signed it and added two hearts interwoven after his signature.

Sappy dork.

“Mr. Stark just sent word that traffic is bad and that it might be awhile before they get back. Would you like to watch a movie while you wait?”

The disembodied voice of Friday makes you and Peter jump at the sudden break in silence. You glance at each other and nod, taking deep breaths to calm down. He recovers only just before you and picks up the note that he dropped when startled.

“Tell him bullshit; I was just driving through it. But thanks, Friday. I think I’ll go get a shower instead. Pete, you have a room here right?” When he nods you motion at him. “Go change and get comfortable then. I have a feeling that we’re going to have a long wait ahead of us. We can catch up and start a Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit marathon.”

The way his eyes immediately brighten at the mention of a dorky movie marathon pulls a laugh from you. He looks so much like a kid in a candy store that you can’t help but instigate his childish side. Mischief makes itself known in your own eyes as you turn toward your old room, vacant for half a year.

The joy from thoughts of watching some of your favorite movies with your half-sibling-half-adopted-son gets doused the moment you step out of the shower. You button your jeans and grab your shirt from the bed and slip it over your head, hair still slightly damp.

“Mx. (Y/n)?”

“What’s up, Friday?”

“Pepper regrets to ask, but wants to know if you can check in on a couple of new Avengers in safe houses? She says that you might know one of them? Doctor Stephen Strange?”

“Yeah, he’s an old, uhh, an old study buddy from college,” you shrug. A sigh passes your lips as you purse them, pinching the bridge of your nose. “I don’t even wanna know what kind of trouble he is in to be in a safe house. Who else?”

“A cat named Goose; according to Tony it’s Nick Fury’s cat and someone needs to make sure there’s still food and water out. The other is a former CIA agent; she helped Steve rescue Bucky, Sharon Carter. I can have everything sent to your phone if you’d like?”

“Yeah that’s fine.”

You nod to the intelligence before pausing, head tilted slightly to the left.

I wonder…

You glance up at your tv and then to the ceiling.

“Hey, Friday, I know you’re an Artificial Intelligence, but did Tony make it so you can see what we’re doing? Or I guess, respond to certain sounds or video waves? Does that make sense? Like, do you have a sense or some kind of knowledge of the actions or activities that any one person happens to be doing when you talk to them?” You ramble as you try to find the right words to make coherent sentences. There’s a bit of a pause on the AI’s end while you wait for an answer with baited breath.

“Yes and no. While I am not human and cannot deduce anything myself, Mr. Stark programmed a way for me to tell if someone is busy, for instance in the shower or bath; if two people are fondue-ing, as Mr. Stark says Steve calls it; or if someone is asleep.”

You scrunch your nose at the mention of fondue, not keen on knowing that you had been watched; even if it was by an artificial creation. You huff, grab your phone, and make your way to the living room where Peter is waiting.

“Sup, Kid? I guess I gotta go check in on some people in safe houses, want to come with?” You offer and watch as he shifts almost anxiously on the couch. You note he changed into some sweatpants and a hoodie.

“Umm, no. I’ll stay here and get everything set up for when you come back. It shouldn’t take too long, right?” He politely declines but sends a small, reassuring smile your way. You give him one in return and pick up the keys as you head out.

“Text me if you need anything or if something happens,” you call over your shoulder and pause at the door. Something didn’t seem to be adding up but you didn’t want to press Tony. You just assume that he is planning a big party like he had for your birthday. Peter’s voice is muffled by the distance but you hear the sarcastic, playful ‘yes, Mom’ of his response.

You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life

(You're still the one)

You stopped by Sharon’s safehouse first. She’s in one just a few blocks away and answered only when Friday gave her word. You end up staying for an hour and some change when she ensnares you with talk of Steve; what could you say, you are a sucker for gossip. Especially if the stories are of old friends.

From there you go to Fury’s safehouse and are greeted with a happily purring cat. Your lips twitch up when you bend down and pet the adorable tom cat. He curls around your legs and you click your tongue. He follows, jumps onto the counter, and meows at you while you work on opening the new bag of food for him. You decide to spend an hour with the cat, if only to make sure he ate and give you time to clean out his litter box. Anywhere you move, Goose follows. You begin to question if he knows that you are there to help him. You don’t mind the company and you have a text saved as a draft, asking if you can keep Goose or at least cat-sit for Fury. You might have froze the last second before pressing the send button, deciding it was better to ask in person; though it didn’t stop you from thinking of cat-napping the poor, isolated baby.

Leaving Goose the cat at the safe house is harder than you expected. You have to promise him that you will be back with treats in a few days before he stops blocking your path and trying to trip you up. You smile, say goodbye to him, and leave with full intent on keeping your promise to him.

After dislodging yourself from the house full of happy memories, you have Friday send Tony a message saying you’re finishing up the check-in with the doctor. No more than a minute goes by before your phone goes off, signaling a call. You answer with a smirk.

“‘Bout damn time, you asshat. Sharon’s good albeit a little lonely. You should help a girl out,” you chastise. You can hear his smirk when he replies, something about you needing to help the doctor and get back to the compound since they were there with food. You can hear people in the background and sounds from the tv.

“Just hurry up and get here before your food gets cold,” he sasses and you chuckle at him before agreeing and hanging up. The drive to Stephen Strange’s house takes the longest. Granted it’s only ten miles more, but it’s the farthest from the new facility. Between your driving and the car you borrowed from Tony, you make it to the last location in record time.

Strange is standing on the porch when you exit the car. He’s grinning ear to ear as you approach and you halt any forward movement. His eyes glint with secrets and you slowly approach him warily. He grins and opens his arms for a hug before pulling you into the house. You scan your new surroundings with wide eyes and gasp audibly when you see his red cape sitting on a chair. The fabric raises a corner and waves as you pass. You nod and give a small wave back, completely at a loss for words at how much your old college friend has changed.

“So why exactly do I need to check up on you? You’re a whole grown-ass man,” you tease and lean on the door frame between the kitchen and living room. He smiles, holds out a cup of tea, and motions for you to sit. Glancing around, you take a seat on one of the recliners and pat the open seat next to you when Stephen shoos his cape out of it’s spot. It gratefully accepts the position beside you.

“It’s not that I need you to check up on me, but more that I need to keep you distracted,” he gives you a Cheshire Cat grin. Your eyes bulge out and you jump to your feet, tea abandoned on the side table.

“I swear to fuck-- you and Tony are in cahoots aren’t you!” you accuse with a growl. The cape floats behind you, sides folding and raising like hands resting on hips. Stephen barks out a laugh and you catch a faint orange glow before he disappears.

“Just get back to the new compound and you’ll see what awaits you,” Strange’s disembodied voice rings in your ears. The cape follows you, much like a stray dog you think as you search for the keys in a frenzy.

It had taken you nearly an hour to get the keys. Every time you would spot them, they’d ‘mysteriously’ disappear and reappear elsewhere in the house. You finally got fed up and yelled at the cape to help. It managed to snatch the keys before they moved again and it dropped them in your hands.

The lights were dim and Friday had stopped answering your questions; even Tony, Pepper, and Peter wouldn’t answer their phones. The cape drapes over your shoulders as you wander the seemingly empty halls of the compound.

Faint blue-glow illuminates the walls ahead and you follow it until the familiar sounds of Hercules fills your ears. You peak around the corner and freeze. Your eyes widen at the sight; blanket pallets scattered about the living room floor, furniture pushed aside; a blanket fort partial caved in on one side.

Natasha and Bruce are curled up on the couch, both asleep and snoring softly. Clint is curled up half in and half out of the collapsing fort. Steve, Bucky, and Sam are slumped against each other, looking as content as they’ve ever been together. Tony is stretched out on one side of one of the L-shaped couches, Pepper curled with him, their hands intertwined; Wanda and Vision are in a similar position on the other side of the same couch as Iron-Man and his wife. Stephen is leaning against the couch by Tony and Pepper, head rolled to the side as he slept. T’Challa is in a recliner, soft snores coming from him.

Movement draws your eyes to the bean bag pillow where Peter is unconscious and holding onto said moving thing. Shuri is leaning against his shoulder, breathing even as she slept. The blankets fall away from the youngest Avengers and a four year old pops up from Peter’s lap. Big brown eyes lock with your own eyes and a grin breaks out across his face. You quickly bring a finger up to your lips and drop to your knees, arms opening wide, inviting the child. The Cloak of Levitation slipped from your shoulders to give you a moment with the boy.

He stumbles over the mass of tangled limbs and blankets and into your arms, eyes brimming with tears. You quietly sooth him; hands rubbing his back, as his little arms tighten around your neck and his tears stain your shirt.

“Shh, my child. It’s alright, Zaza’s here,” you whisper and hold him close. He sniffles and pushes away, hands moving up the sides of your face, resting on your cheeks. You turn your head and press kisses to his little hands and arms. “Zaza is here, you’re fine, Baby.”

“Miss Zaza. No more work?” he questions, voice innocent and quiet. You smile and nod, tearing up a little yourself. You stand with him cradled to your chest, hand firm on his back. His hands move to the collar of your shirt, twisting and playing with the hem of it.

“Yeah, Baby. No more work for awhile.”

“Pwomise?”

You can’t hold back anymore. Hot tears roll down your cheeks as he asks you to stay home with him for cuddles and a Disney movie marathon.

“Promise, my Love. No more missions or work for awhile my sweet Dax,” you concede and kiss his cheek. He giggles at the sensation and you can barely make out the soft pleas of “stop” and “Zaza tickles” from him.

Natasa glances up, eyes heavy with sleep. It takes her a minute to register what’s going on, but when she sees you with your son, she smiles. Feeling as though you were being watched, you turn and meet her gaze. A silent conversation is had between the two of you and you tip your head forward in a thank you. The assassin’s eyes close once again and Dax curls against you.

You're still the one I love

The only one I dream of

You're still the one I kiss good night

I'm so glad we made it

Look how far we've come my baby

“You're still the one I love, the only one I dream of,” you softly sing and sway as you make your way up the stairs, Dax in your arms.

“You're still the one I kiss good night.” You place a kiss on your son’s head when you gently place him in the middle of your bed. He gives you a sleepy smile, eyes heavy as he tries to fight against the sleep threatening to take him.

“I'm so glad we made it, look how far we've come my baby,” you coo and climb into bed with him. He snuggles close to you, hands in little fists against his chest as he faces you.

“I love you, Zaza,” he whispers, eyes finally closed.

“I love you too, Baby. Get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up,” you promise and settle down for the night. You stretch out on your back and your son moves so he’s tucked into your side, head resting on your chest. You gently rub his back and continue to hum the tune of Shania Twain’s “You’re still the one” until his breathing evens out. Once you’re one hundred percent sure that he’s asleep, you let it take you as well.

#shb3000wc

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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fluffy-marshmallow-heart · 5 years

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Drake's Diary ch.23 -The Billiard Room

The Royal Romance canon from Drake's POV

Drake x MC (Emma Rose)

Words: 3020

Warnings: NSFW

After the opera, Drake and Emma head out to play an innocent game of pool...but is it really so innocent?

Later the next night is the opera. Drake did everything he could to arrive separately from everyone else. He made sure he was running late, he made a big deal about where his white shirt was, he couldn’t find the right shoes, his pants didn’t look right. Finally, Maxwell left him alone and Drake breathed a sigh of relief. There’s no way in hell he’s sitting through hours of screeching voices. He had a headache just thinking about it. The only thing was…Emma would be there. She would definitely be there looking all glamorous and beautiful, and also confronting Queen Mother Regina about her role in the plot to destroy her reputation. She needed him tonight, and he would never let her down. When he finally managed to arrive at the opera house, all was quiet. Everyone was inside. Using that to his advantage, Drake slipped inside Emma and Maxwell’s limousine.

Good place as any to hide. Don’t want to run into anyone during intermission. And oh look, Maxwell stocked my favorite whiskey. Damn right he did that, it’s the least he can do to make up for hiding my sister from me.

After a couple glasses, Drake started to doze off. Sitting alone in a limo is so boring. I should have just stayed on the damn train. It’s not like she won’t return to the train after. Unless…unless she goes out with someone after…someone like Liam. He mentioned Madeleine wouldn’t be here tonight.

When he finally saw guests leaving, he exited the limo and went inside the opera house. Walking into the house atrium, Drake couldn’t help but feel a bit in awe of it. It was a gleaming chamber of elaborate marble and gold. There was large ivory staircase, the kind that took up an entire room it was so big. The atrium is alive with activity. Servers buzz about, holding trays laden with wine and champagne. Emma, Hana, Olivia, and Maxwell cluster at the base of the stairs. He debates on going over there, but he really doesn’t feel like dealing with Olivia. So, he went to the bar and he waited again, getting more impatient by the minute. Finally, his opening arrives. As Olivia departs, Drake approaches the group, drink in hand. “Finally, she’s gone.”

Emma looked at him in surprise. “Drake, I didn’t know you were here. Where were you in the audience?”

“I wasn’t. There’s no way in hell I was going to sit through that. I’m just here for the free drinks.” He raises his glass as if making a toast, then takes a sip.

A slow smirk started to cross her face. “Drake does that mean you were just sitting out in the limo for the last three hours?”

He sputtered “What? No! I was…you know, walking around. And stuff.”

Damn it! Why didn’t I do something? I should’ve known she’d bring it up!

Hana looked at him curiously. “Walking around the opera house?”

“Neither seen nor heard?” Maxwell piped in.

“Almost certainly scowling and brooding?” Hana continued.

Oh no, what did I just walk myself into? “I have a feeling this is going somewhere I’m not going to like….”

Waggling her fingers towards him, Emma announced, in what Drake guessed was her ‘spooky’ voice, “I guess you say he’s like… a Phantom of the Opera.”

“Ugh, no.” He rolled his eyes. I knew it. How does she manage to come up with this stuff? She literally has some kind of response for everything.

“Come on, Drake, you can’t deny it. The Phantom of the Opera is there…inside your mind.” She teased.

And then she doesn’t know when to stop. Because she always manages to come up with even more. And damn it, how does she know I’ve seen that? “I’m…going to grab another drink.”

“Ooh! I’ll join!” Maxwell exclaims.

Drake levels him with his stare until he finally slunk back.

“…I mean, I’ll go write down the plot for my breakdance opera before I forget. Promise you won’t tell anyone my idea, though, okay? I don’t want someone else to get there first…”

“Cross my heart!” Hana promised.

“And hope to die before you force me to watch it.” Drake finished, departing in the opposite direction of Maxwell, leaving Emma and Hana alone.

He stood at the bar, watching as Emma left the opera house and walked outside. He sighed. You idiot. You didn’t even ask her how her talk went with Queen Mother. He started walking after her. At least she’s alone and not with Liam or Hana, or even worse, Maxwell.

Back at the train…Emma is about to reach her room, when she runs into Drake heading in the opposite direction.

“Hey Rose.”

She rose an eyebrow. “Where are you headed? It’s nearly midnight.”

“Eh, I couldn’t sleep after I got back to my room.” Except I didn’t make it to my room and instead found myself walking towards yours. “Thought I might as well have some fun.”

“As in have a drink?” She guessed.

God I’m so predictable. “I do have other hobbies besides whiskey you know. Like pool.”

She looked at him excitedly. “There’s a pool room on this train? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Heh. As if anyone would want to play on a moving vehicle. I’ve been frequenting this hotel a few blocks from here, and it has a private game room. It’s quiet, it’s open late, and no one bothers me.”

Her face fell a bit. “That must be your idea of paradise. Solitude, a few drinks, a manly game of billiards.”

“Heh. It’s close. Although to be honest, playing solo gets a little boring after a while…” He trailed off. I do want to spend time with her…but we always end up kissing and we really shouldn’t. But then again…it’s too late to go back from it now anyway. “Do you want to come play a game or two? Some competition would make things more interesting.”

She broke out into a slow smile. “Oh, I see. You’re looking for a rematch after our game last night”

He tried to hide his own smile. “….Maybe.”

“You’re on.” She full on grinned.

He couldn’t help but grin back. “Alright but be warned. I won’t go easy on you.”

“If you did, I’d be disappointed.”

She follows Drake out of the train car, and a short walk brings them to a modest-looking hotel. Drake leads her through the lobby to a back room where the doorman bows and waves them both inside.

Emma laughed. “Wow, you must be a regular.”

“Well…When I told Liam about finding this place, he spoke with the owner to make sure I’d be taken care of.” He told her sheepishly.

“I think I could use a private getaway like this.”

“You do have a private train cabin.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Er…doesn’t everyone? Don’t tell me you’ve been sharing a bunk with Maxwell.”

Drake scowled. “He calls us ‘best friend roomies’, and I’m very close to throwing myself off the train.” He walks over to the pool table and begins setting up the game as she looks around.

“So, have you been coming here every single night?” She asked.

“Only a few times. Whenever I can’t sleep.”

She catches his eye. “What’s keeping you awake? Is it…scandalous thoughts about me?” She flirted.

He meets her gaze for a moment, saying nothing, only giving a hint of a smile before he turns back to the pool table. Now there’s an obvious question with an even more obvious answer. “I didn’t come here to talk about my sleeping habits, Rose. I came here to show you up at pool.”

“Bold words, Mr. Walker.”

He finishes arranging the balls in the rack and pulls it away. They pick up cue sticks. “Are you up for some house rules?” He asked.

She shrugs. “That depends on the rules.”

“Okay. After the break, we each get one shot per round to sink a ball into a corner pocket. Each ball gets you one point. Best of three rounds wins.”

“I think I can handle that.”

Drake steps aside, gesturing towards the table. “Then go ahead and break.”

She picks up the cue and faces the triangle of pool balls at the center of the table. With one strike from her pool cue, she sends the balls scattering across the table and bouncing off the sides. After a few moments, they roll to a stop.

Huh. Impressive. “Good break.” He studies the layout of the table before striking the cue ball. It glances off a purple ball, which rolls neatly into the corner pocket.

“That’s one.”

“Smooth! Where did you learn to shoot like that?” She asked.

He blushed a bit. He can only imagine what she’ll say to this. “From my mom. She taught me and Savannah all the tricks she knew.”

She dramatically pressed her hand to her heart. “All those lessons must’ve been adorable. Baby Drake trying to hold a cue stick…”

“Adorable probably isn’t the word my mom would use. I was a handful.”

“And teaching you to play a game with giant sticks made that…better?”

“Eh, it kept me occupied. And it made me pretty damn good at pool.”

Emma smirked. “That remains to be seen.”

Drake steps back from the table, giving her room to line up her first shot. She looks back at him, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Do you mind giving me a hand with this?”

He looked at her doubtfully. “You want me to help you win?”

“Just give me a few pointers?” She asked, innocently.

Mmhmm. Pointers. Right. I’ll be pointing something but it’s not going to be a cue stick. “…oh, fine.” He stands behind her and gently wraps his arms around her, so he can place his hands on the cue stick. “You’ll want to hold it here and here.”

“Like this?” She deliberately moves her hands away from where they should be, and he couldn’t help but smile at how obvious she was being.

He presses into her harder and moves one of her hands slightly closer to the end of the stick and the other back towards her. The callouses on his hands linger a moment on hers, until he feels his cock stirring against her ass…and he pulls quickly away.

“There.”

Following his lead as she aims, she uses the cue ball to send another ball spinning into one of the corner pockets. “Yes!”

“There you go.” Drake leans on his cue stick as he squints at the table, visualizing his next shot. Then he steps up and takes aim…knowing he’s going to nail this shot.

Her voice cut in. “You know, you get this little wrinkle in the middle of your forehead when you concentrate. It’s cute.”

“Wha-“ His shot goes wild, the cue ball rolling around the table without knocking any others into a pocket. Well played, Rose. Well played. “I…that was a freebie for you, Rose.”

“I thought you weren’t going to go easy on me.”

“Maybe I’m feeling charitable.”

“Hmm, there’s that wrinkle again…”

Drake rubs his forehead, not quite meeting her eyes. “You’re up.”

She lines up her shot…and easily knocks a ball into a center pocket, but Drake chimes in from behind her.

“Hey, center pockets don’t count! Remember, house rules!”

She frowned. “Oh. I totally forgot. Can I try again?”

Yeah right, I already gave you a freebie. “Sorry, Rose, but that’s it for this round. Which means it’s my turn.” He slowly begins lining up his shot…

Slowly, she begins stripping down to her underwear. First her shirt, then her pants. Drake glances up from his shot and his eyes go wide. “Rose, what…what are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

Drake swallows hard, still staring, as she removes her bra next, her eyes never leaving him.

“Tick tock, Walker.”

He shakes his head and leans back down over the table, lining up the shot. His eyes keep wandering over to her as she sways her hips around the table, one of her fingers grazing the felt as she went. He fumbles with the cue stick, and the cue ball rolls to a stop without sending any other balls into a pocket. “Damn.”

“You’re supposed to watch the ball, Drake. Isn’t that like billiards 101?”

There’s a longing look in his eyes as he studies her. Wow, that body…her breasts…she’s so perfectly made, she’s exactly what I’ve wanted my whole life. “Guess I got distracted. Last shot, Rose.”

An idea formed in his head. If she’s going to play dirty, so am I.

She studies the table, and just as she begins sighting along her cue stick, Drake starts unbuttoning his shirt. She stares as he discards the shirt, drops to the floor, and begins doing push-ups.

“Uh, Drake? What are you doing?”

“Oh, nothing. Don’t mind me. Just gotta get the rest of my nightly workout in.”

“Shirtless?”

“Just borrowing a page from your playbook.” She turns back to the pool table, but Drake switches to one-handed push ups, smiling to himself that she can’t help glancing at him as she lines up the shot. The cue ball bounces off of a green-striped one, but it doesn’t quite make it into the pocket.

She pouted. “No fair. I was trying to concentrate over here.”

He smirked in satisfaction. “Sorry. Couldn’t skip the nightly workout.”

She sighed. “I guess that’s the game. Which means…” She counts up the points on her fingers. “It’s a tie.”

He nodded. “You’re pretty good at this, Rose. I don’t tie a lot of games of pool.”

“Maybe you should play with other people more often.”

“Heh. I’ll consider it.” If it’s you and you keep stripping…abso-freakin-lutely

“But right now, we need to decide what we both won.” She continued.

What? There’s no prizes for a tie. Who the heck has she played with in the past that allowed this rule? Oh no…no I get it. This is exactly like the last time we were in a bar. “For…a tie? This is starting to sound familiar…”

Emma laughed. “Drinking game, pool game. Where’s the fun without any stakes? I say the prize is…a kiss.”

Son of a… “Are you trying to torture me, Rose?”

She sauntered up to him until she was only a breath away. “Is kissing me torture?”

He brushes his thumb across her lips…and then leans in to kiss her, gently pressing his lips against hers. When he finally steps back, his voice is slightly hoarse. “The kind I’ve been hoping for all night.”

She smiled softly. “Then why didn’t you kiss me sooner?”

“You know why, Rose.”

“We’re alone, Drake. How often does that happen?”

Drake’s breath hitched. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you could kiss me again. If you want to.”

If I want to? In what universe would I not want to? He hesitates only an instant, then pulls her close to him. His lips find hers as his hands tangle in her hair. “I always want to.” He murmured.

She kisses him again, pulling him back against the pool table. Slowly and deliberately, he towers over her, kissing and nipping down her neck. He shivers as she wraps her arms around his waist. He’s only in his boxers, and he grinds himself against her panties, letting her feel how hard he was for her. He felt a bit of wetness penetrate through and he moaned at how soaking wet for him she must be. He starts trailing his hand from her hair, massaging her breast, then lightly continuing towards her center. He was dying to touch her in the most intimate of ways, then wanted to kneel before her and fuck her pussy with his tongue. He needs to taste her, needs to make her fall apart around him. His other hand gripped her skin harder with his thoughts and she arched her back with a moan, realizing where he was heading and encouraging him along.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door to the room. His hand froze just above her clit and he sighed in frustration, yet knew it was for the best to stop. After another lingering kiss, he pulls himself away with obvious effort. “That’ll be the staff letting us know it’s closing time. We should head back.”

“Are you sure you want to?” She questioned breathily.

Hah. Literally the last thing I want.

“No. But I’d rather end tonight on a high note, and getting tossed out by the closing security shift would be a low.”

She bit her lip, contemplating. “Not exactly the ending I had in mind.”

He leaned forward and took her bottom lip between his teeth, biting it gently. “Watch what you do around me, Rose.”

She looked at him seductively. “Trust me, I’m well aware of what I’m doing around you.”

He groaned and reached for his clothes. They both get dressed and quickly tidy up the pool table. The hotel’s doorman gives them a slight bow as they leave. Drake walks Emma back to the train, and when they reach the door to her cabin, he stops outside.

“I had a good time tonight.” He admitted.

“Me too. Next time we should go on a real date.”

His jaw dropped. “That wasn’t…I mean, not that I wouldn’t, but…Wait. You’re teasing me, aren’t you.”

She chuckled lightly. “Only a little. Be honest. If we’d called it a date, would you have taken me anywhere else?”

“Tonight? No.”

“How about on another night?”

He smiles slightly, shaking his head. “We’ll have to see. Sleep well, Rose.”

“Goodnight, Drake.”

Waving, Drake heads off toward his own cabin, hoping Maxwell is nowhere around so he can relieve his throbbing cock, realizing again he didn’t ask her about Queen Mother. Oh well. I’m sure she’ll tell me, if Maxwell doesn’t beat her to it. She’s so damn distracting, I can’t think clearly around her. I can’t believe we stripped down together. I can’t believe I was so close to tasting her. Fuck me, I gotta get under control.

@annekebbphotography @carabeth @gardeningourmet @eileendannie @dancetothestoriesinyoursoul @alesana45 @thequeenofcronuts @zigortega4life

@hrhdes @drakewalkerisreal @akrenich @feartheendlesssummer @moonlightgem7 @i-miss-trr @noey718-blog @snyggflicka @rhymesmenagerie @i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction @crookedslimecreatorpasta

@notoriouscs @agent-bossypants @flowerpowell

#drake's diary #drake x emma #drake x mc #drake walker fanfic #drake walker #the royal romance fanfic #the royal romance #choices the royal romance #trr fanfic #trr drake #choices trr #trr #playchoices #choices stories you play #choices fanfiction #fluffy-marshmallow-heart #sorry this is late #ns*w

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holdyourbreathuntilyouseelight · 5 years

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The Bodyguard - Chapter 1

Summary: Magnus is a dancing popstar sensation whose popularity continues to climb. Alec, an ex-Secret Service agent, is hired on as a professional bodyguard in charge of Mr. Bane’s personal security by insistence of Magnus’ manager. Despite their initial differences, Magnus finds himself falling for Alec the more time they spend getting to know each other and relies on him for more than physical security as his safety gets threatened. Loosely based on the 1992 film The Bodyguard.

Rating: M

Genre: AU, Everyone is Human AU, Celebrity!Magnus, Bodyguard!Alec, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff, Friendship, Romance, Eventual Smut, Mutual Pining

Author: holdyourbreathuntilyouseelight

A/N: Sorry for the delay - ended up wanting to flesh out the beginning more than the original chapter I wrote. I promise things will get longer and MUCH more interesting next chapter.

Can also be read on AO3.

Previous chapter (Prologue) - read here.

Chapter One

Unsurprisingly, Alec deduced that Magnus was not a fan of his presence in his home.

Raphael had been much more accommodating, though not overly friendly, but Alec figured that was his nature. He could understand that—he acted much the same himself.

Alec had given Raphael a list of concerns about the home's entry points – namely the unregulated entry allowances at the front door, the low, easily-opened-from-the-outside windows and the lack of accountability for people coming and going through the house. If someone wanted to sneak in, it would be all too easy. And with Magnus' popularity across the country, there was a large amount of people who wouldn't hesitate to get closer to the star if given the chance.

So Alec got things ordered through Raphael a few days prior and installation began on a Thursday. Security cameras were aimed around the property and inside towards potential access points. An alarm system was put into place, with a panic button in Magnus' bedroom in case of an emergency.

They were preparing the alarms on the upper windows so Alec made his way to the backyard to observe. He kept a close eye on what was being done in case he could pick up on any vulnerabilities, and an annoyed voice pulled him out of his calculating thoughts.

"Alexander, that racket is severely cutting into my sparse relaxation time. Can't you have them do this another day? Like… never?" Magnus said, treading water in the middle of the pool.

It was a large yard with a deep pool overlooking a natural drop off. Magnus also had a greenhouse and expansive patio that had been the host of plenty of parties over the years. It even had a built in bar that Magnus apparently manned himself during more intimate gatherings.

It was beautiful, and, in another world, Alec wouldn't have minded relaxing in the pool alongside him. But he had a job to do.

"Alec." He corrected automatically. "And no. The sooner we get some safety measures in place, the better."

"I don't know what has you so panicked." Magnus grumbled, pulling himself out of the pool and dragging a towel over to start drying his dripping hair.

Alec bit his tongue. He was tempted to tell the man about the main reason he was hired, but now wasn't the time. "It would not hurt for you to be more concerned about your personal safety."

"Who says I'm not? I told you—Raphael is overreacting. I can take care of myself. And I already have people who would jump to my defense if I needed it."

"Luke Garroway's bartending experience is not equivalent to someone trained to protect and serve."

"Ooh, is that your way of saying you would die for me, Alexander? In the line of duty?"

"Yes." Alec replied without missing a beat, and Magnus blanched.

It was the first time Alec had managed to catch him off guard. He tried not to smirk at the victory.

"You're just as dramatic as Raphael." Magnus muttered before sauntering back towards the house.

Alec had to wonder when he would ever see Magnus fully clothed. It seemed the man rarely wore a shirt, or at least a full one, and if he was wearing clothes, they left nothing to the imagination.

He refocused his attention back to observing the changes being put in place.

The next area was the garage on the side of the house.

Alec stepped through the room, eyes narrowed as he reviewed the layout. Thankfully Magnus wasn't obsessed with cars like some celebrities, so he only had his main limo for events and then a sports car for his own driving.

He slipped the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, testing the buttons on the fob and then laying on his stomach to look underneath. He was tapping at different pieces when another voice joined the mix.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Alec craned his neck to look at the newcomer. "Checking the car for tampering. Like car bombs or cut brake lines."

"Really?" Luke asked, face contorting in surprise.

It seemed catching people off-guard was the theme of the day.

Alec sat up. "Yes. I can show you what I'm looking for if you want."

Luke paused before nodding and followed his lead as Alec moved around the room, pointing to different areas on the vehicle and talking him through the chronological exam.

"People actually use car bombs? That's not just something that happens on Criminal Minds?"

Alec nodded. "Unfortunately. They're extremely easy to make, since they're all accessible materials, and the gasoline in the car makes for a larger explosion. It's minimal effort for maximum damage."

"Damn. And you think someone might do that to Magnus?"

Alec shrugged. "I'd rather be sure they won't by finding it before it gets detonated. But fans these days, especially with social media giving them an all access pass to a peek into their idol's life, can't be trusted to keep boundaries. And all it takes is someone believing they are owed more than they're given to get desperate to make a mark."

Luke nodded. "Wow. Raphael knew what he was doing when he hired you."

Alec smiled gratefully. At least someone appreciated his work.

Alec was cursing the ridiculous size of the house by the end of the day.

The installers were done for the day and Alec was testing out the new equipment, checking the camera views on the iPad as he walked through the house to ensure there were no blind spots in important areas.

Raphael came in the room and walked over when he spotted him.

"Mr. Lightwood. I have the list you requested." He handed him a multi-page document. "I tried to be thorough, but it's hard given Magnus' busy and social life to be able to recall all of the people he has come in contact over the years. I did include a current and past staff list like you asked."

Alec nodded. "I never expected you to remember every single person Magnus has ever interacted with. I only hoped you would be able to mainly compile the staff lists, including any badly ended employee contracts, and any long-term romantic or platonic relationships that had falling outs that you're aware of. Something that might point a finger towards a specific person that may mean Mr. Bane harm."

"You would likely get better information from the source." Raphael reminded him.

"I know. I figure he won't be as forthcoming with information if it is me asking." Alec said as he scanned through the names on the list.

"You're probably right. But he's upstairs on the balcony doing his usual cool down after rehearsal if you want to try." Raphael said before sweeping away.

Alec crossed the house to head to Magnus' balcony. It stretched out across the back of the house, giving a great view of the drop off.

Magnus was practicing Tai Chi, a regular de-stressor for the star.

Alec automatically went into soldier's pose, hands knotted behind his straightened back, as he waited for Magnus to finish his routine.

The corner of Magnus' mouth quirked at the sight of him in his peripheral and he finished a long stretched pose before grabbing a water bottle.

He pivoted on the balls of his feet to turn to Alec, smiling devilishly, and took a swig of water.

"If you wanted to see me with my clothes off, Alexander, all you had to do was ask. First the pool, now my balcony… I'm seeing a pattern. We can share a shower if you like?"

Alec felt the heat travel from his neck all the way up his face. Damn this man for being so good at getting under his skin.

"I… Uh, I actually came to ask you for some information."

Magnus wiped his face on the towel he grabbed off the railing, and Alec kept his eyes focused on his companion's eyebrow to stop his eyes from wandering down his barely clothed body.

"What do you want to know?"

"Raphael provided me with a list of people that have come and gone from your life. Past employees, old friends, that sort of thing. He said he wasn't able to give an accurate picture as he only saw so much, so he suggested I speak to you. Especially about your past romantic relationships." Alec said, looking down at the note Raphael wrote underneath a couple names that said 'Ask Magnus?'.

Magnus smirked. "Yes, well, Raphael doesn't tend to care much about that part of my life, so of course he's rather oblivious. But I'm afraid my memory is not impeccable. And frankly, I didn't ask every single person I've slept with for their social insurance number so I may not be much help either."

"I don't need every name of every person you've encountered – I just want to have an idea of anyone who may feel slighted or wronged by you. Anyone who may pose a threat, even down the road."

Magnus eyed him carefully. "You sure you want to know? I take it one look at the list I can come up with, just those that immediately come to mind, and I may send your prude little self into shock."

Alec tried not to sigh. "I am not here to judge you, Mr. Bane. Just protect you. My personal life or opinions should not concern you."

"Bit rich coming from someone invading my home and personal history, don't you think?"

Alec gave a nod. "Fair point. But remember I'm not doing this for my personal benefit or interest. I am trying to keep you safe."

"You could wrap me in those gorgeous arms of yours? Clothing optional of course." Magnus said cheekily and Alec tried not to flush at the visual.

"Magnus."

"I knew I could get you to say my name. Different context than my ideal but I won't give up hope yet." he said with a wink.

Alec glowered at him. "You're relentless."

"And charming." Magnus added, grinning.

He rolled his eyes. "When you get a chance, the list? Please?"

Magnus nodded. "I'll do what I can."

"Thank you." Alec said before exiting the room, trying not to feel self-conscious about Magnus' eyes following his every move.

#malec au #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #shadowhunters #shadowhunters fic #malec fic #the bodyguard fic #bodyguard!alec #celebrity!magnus

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countess-rosegold-blog · 5 years

Text

One Broken, One Lost

Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader

Category/Warnings: Angst, sad!Tony, sad!Reader

Word Count: 1,438 (got carried away)

Note/s: I just read this challenge last night but as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to join. So here’s a little something. (If you liked this and want to read more about the characters here, let me know! Maybe they could connect to the other prompts for further exploration.)

Prompt: Day 1: Re-encounter after 3 years from @ibwhellospring ‘s Spring Short Story Writing Event

Jane Foster gives you a pointed look as you stare back at her in the back seat of the limo. It’s dark in here but a burst of colorful lights from the building in front of you illuminate her features.

“We’re already here, Y/N. There’s no point in backing out. We talked about this.”

You shake your head in resignation. “I know. Doesn’t make it less awful.”

“If Erik doesn’t smack you in the head for that, I will.” Jane says. “Remember, we’re here for him.”

You grumble. “Alright. Better get it over with then.”

You take everything in as you enter the massive foyer. The place evolves as it usually does during these affairs, the staircase transforming into an elegant welcome of lush carpet and golden decor.

You and Jane ascend the stairs; every step familiar and different at the same time. There was a time, a long time ago, when climbing these stairs was the best part of your day--done with the mission, finally home. But those days were gone now.

The full blast of the festivities greet you as you reach the top. A sea of unfamiliar faces weave through the floor and for the first time since the ride over, you feel relieved. Maybe this night wouldn’t be so bad after all. With your worry slowly dissipating, you finally appreciate the music thumping in the background. As long as we encounter strangers all night, I can just make it through.

Echoing your thoughts, Jane murmurs beside you. “Okay,” she says through deep breaths. “So far so good. We don’t know these people and they don’t know us.”

You nod, grateful that despite this being her idea she feels the same. “Now we just have to find our old man.”

“I’ll call him,” Jane says, already dialing.

You steer her towards a less crowded space when you freeze. You realize your mistake as soon as you get a view of the expansive bar.

“He’s not answering,” Jane says beside you, confused, and instead taps a text message.

“Uhm, Jane?” You say looking ahead as you make eye contact with the blue-eyed, blonde god across the room, recognition in his eyes. His jaw drops as his gaze travels from you, then Jane.

“He just called me on our way over, how can he not be answering now?” Jane whispers through gritted teeth as she continues texting away, oblivious.

You grip her arm in panic as Thor makes his way to where you both are.

“What?” She asks, but Thor is already closing the distance until he’s right in front of her.

“Jane,” he speaks, reciting the name full with emotion. She looks up at him, dumbstruck. You feel her skin turn cold under your touch and you let go.

Thor turns to you for a while. “Y/N. It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah, good to see you too,” you reply, voice barely above a whisper.

He looks at you meaningfully--pleading--but a quick glance at Jane makes you stand your ground. “Sorry, Thor. If Jane doesn’t want to be alone with you then I’m not leaving her side.”

He nods in understanding, but there’s agony in his eyes. “It’s been so long since we’ve last seen each other.” He takes a step back. “But I respect your wishes.” He looks at her, pained, and turns to walk the way he came.

“Wait!” Jane croaks. She clears her throat. “Thor.” Thor is back before she could say his name. Jane glances at you with a nervous expression but says, “It’s okay, Y/N. I’ll meet you later with Erik?”

You nod. “Sure, Jane. You got it.” You turn to Thor. “Would you happen to know where the elusive Dr. Selvig is?”

Thor scrunches his face. “Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen him this evening yet. Either he’s still working, in which case you can find him in his office.”

“Yep, that’s more like him.” You nod at the two of them. “See you guys later.”

A strange feeling washes over you as you take the lift to the floor of the offices and the labs. Once upon a time, this was the same route you took.

The hall is deserted when you reach the floor and the lights have been dimmed. For a bit you regret having come up here, but sensing that there’s no one around, you settle that this is a better option than mingling with the people at the party below.

You walk left and trace the dark corridor. If he hasn’t changed offices then he’d probably still be at the far end of this stretch. A soft glow coming from the very last door gives you hope. Predictable. “Who ditches a party thrown for them?” You mutter to yourself. “Oh, that’s right. Probably the same guy who’d run around naked at the Ston--”

You’re cut off by what you see embossed on the door on your left.

Y/N Y/L/N

What? That’s… You step closer, peering inside the dark office. You strain to see but as soon as you get a faint glimpse of the layout, you know. Wha--They haven’t touched any of it?

Suddenly, there’s a tightening in your chest and you’re having a hard time breathing. You don’t want to be here anymore. You continue three doors down to where Dr. Selvig’s office is and find that the glow you saw was indeed from one of his table lamps.

The door opens as you try the knob and you step inside. Though the lamp is on, you can see that all monitors are shut off. No sign of Dr. Selvig. No sign of life. Until someone speaks.

“I never thought you’d come back.”

You gasp, startled, and by instinct takes a step away from where the voice came from. No no no no no… This was a bad idea. I never should’ve…

Your heart pounds in your chest and you feel cold when he steps out of the shadows. He looks the same, really, if not a bit older. But something’s different. He’s dashing in his suit--always dressed for the party, you think--but there’s nothing in his eyes. It’s as if it’s empty. But maybe that’s just the dark.

You want to run, run very far away from here and never look back, but you’re frozen in place, unable to think, unable to speak. It’s like chains, the way he’s looking at you, and you’re captive.

“Y/N.” He says simply but the way it rolls in his tongue brings back a lot--the smell of his cologne, of metal and oil, blood and tears in your mouth, memories, of begging No, please, God no, clutching soft fabric in your hands for days feeling nothing--and it’s too much.

“Tony.” You’re surprised you’re even able to say it, say his name that meant a lot--used to in a far away dream--then a name you’d latch on every bit of anger you felt.

“How long has it been? Three years?” He asks.

“I don’t know, I didn’t keep track.” I did. And none of those years eased the pain.

A sly smile dominates his face but there’s no humor there.

“Right. My bad. I forgot how none of us meant to you.” He laughs to himself and it’s nothing like you’ve ever heard before. “How I meant nothing to you.” He almost spits the words out.

Anger boils deep down your chest and you know you promised to keep your cool, to leave everything behind, but you didn’t count that seeing him would mean this much, still.

“You and I remember the past very differently, Tony, so let me refresh your memory. You and I always meant nothing to each other.”

His jaw clenches and his facade crumbles. Hurt and betrayal burn in his gaze, the fire fueling your own.

You stare each other down, hearts out in the open, one broken and one lost forever. The world stands still and the silence rings in your ears.

Then the sound of rushed footsteps in the hall shatters the moment.

Surprisingly, you don’t cry, at least not where he can see.

The footsteps, closer now.

You turn just in time to see Jane, Steve and Bucky fill the room.

“Y/N,” Jane’s voice quivers as she looks at you and the man who has haunted your memories for the last three years.

You want to cry and breakdown and let it all out. But you know you’d kill yourself first before Tony sees you shed even a tear in this place.

“I want to go home,” you tell Jane.

#ibw: hello spring 2019 #ibwhellospringday1 #tony stark #tony stark x reader #mcu fanfiction #thor odinson #jane foster #thor x jane #steve rogers #bucky barnes

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lawful-writing · 5 years

Text

the death van

“No dude, come on. This concert is gonna be sick!” I don't really know the guys who are joining me on the Volkswagon. I'm aware that 2 of them are new to this… strange town, while the other 4… I only know that they are referred to as “The Transporters”, I suppose it’s because they willing drive kids to concerts, all you have to do is pay for your ticket once we arrive. The whole scenario is a bit sketchy to me. I’ve only heard rumors. I’m a bit hesitant on getting in a van with a bunch of strangers.

One of the 2 new kids finally caves saying, “Fine!” while hoping in the back door of the van.

“Atta boy Jeremy!” says one of The Transporters, then glances at me and the other girl. I shoulder a look at her, she still looks very uneasy, I hear my mother chime in, “Don’t get in cars with strangers” from memory. I ignore this and reluctantly get in the car.

“Wicked,” is the solitaire reply. The final girl climbs in almost directly after me.

“We knew you’d come, Gen,” The Transporter who had been persuading us says, entering the van with one other Transporter. 1 of the 2 gets in the driver seat while the last climbs in the passenger seat.

The back of the car has an interesting layout. It’s like we were in the back of a limo. There were seats lining the walls, only leaving room for the hatch-like doors on the sides. Though there is not too much space in-between the two far ends of the van, if I stretched out my legs they would probably touch Gen’s, who is sitting across from me.

I’m seated between Jeremy and one of The Transporters. Jeremy has a buzzed head of brown hair, a single piercing on his right ear, and a ring on his lip. He’s wearing a very simple, thin, silver chain with a pendant of a noose on the end hanging between his collarbones. Edgy. Gen across from me seems quite the opposite. She has thick blonde hair that is clearly taken care of, her makeup is done almost to perfection but it doesn't hide her very accentuated dark circles. My eyes travel to her hands, her knuckles are covered in sores in calluses, but her hands are shaking a bit more than they should be. I put this information in the back of my mind and focus on the road ahead of me.

About 10 minutes into the trip, Gen riffles through her knapsack and takes out a orange pill bottle. She shuffles 4- maybe 5 pills down her throat dry. I look at her concerned and begin to open my mouth to say something but suddenly The Transporter next to me bumps my thigh and attempts to make awkward small talk. I continually glance over at Gen through the conversation. I see her begin to nods off a few times but wakes herself up. I can’t stop talking to The Transporter though, he gives off such an alluring and welcoming presence, the more we chat the calmer I feel.

Jeremy and Gen keep getting quieter and quieter. Looking over to Jeremy, I see that he’s having a more and more difficult time breathing. This strikes me as strange because not only is he gasping for air but his face is reddening. I attempt to open my mouth to ask him if he’s okay but it comes out as a coughing fit. For the next moments, it becomes increasingly difficult to breathe. It feels as if my nostrils are plugged and like my feet are filling with cement. I look anxiously at The Transporter next to me and he looks at me, which instantly lowers my fear level substantially but not completely.

“Chillax dude, nearly there.” I fumble for my phone from my pocket but open up the camera, I automatically see that my face is in hues of blue and violet. I accidentally drop my phone due to my entire body trembling, and see it shatter in front of me.

“Oh, that won’t matter anyhow, ha!” The Transporter chuckles ominously. I look up to Gen and see her shove another handful of pills, swallow them, then look around.

“Hey, hey! Where am I? Where are we going?!” she says confused, and with an emergency. The Transporter placed next to her puts her hand on her shoulder then mumbles words it seems only Gen can understand. I try and say something but I’m just gasping for air.

The Transporter next to me turns to me, more serious than the previous times and says,

“Seriously, man, we’re here.”

I look next to me and see Jeremy's face is now completely red and he seems uncomfortably stiller. Gen’s body is convulsing. I look up through the windshield and see that instead of approaching a concert hall, we are arriving on a seemingly endless parking lot? Now, why the hell. All of the spots are filled with VW’s that look identical to the one I am riding in now. I can’t see through any of the windows, not even the windshields.

The Transporter driving parks the van in an empty spot. Since Jeremy, Gen, and I are all immobile, The Transporters open the door and pull up 3 near-by wheelchairs, so that is either very convenient, or they do this a lot? They pull us into the chairs and position themselves on either side of us, backs to the van just as ours are. I look around at the vast parking lot but everything is under a blueish tint, and swelled, almost as if everything is engulfed in water.

A tall man approaches us in a long black lab coat, black latex gloves, with a black plague doctor mask covering all of his face and a top hat covering his hair. The only part of him that is semi-visible is his eyes, behind the goggle-esque part of the mask. Underneath, his eyes seem to be engulfed by his pupils, as they are solid black. I begin to doubt as he gets closer to me that he is a man.

He stops in front of me and holds his checkboard under his long, leather, crow beak and simply says,

“Well hello, welcome to Hell, just lookin’ at ya, I’m gonna go out on a limb, and say… Drowning?” as he says this, he tilts his head like a lost dog. “Hm, well, I assume you wouldn’t know, huh… Well according to- Ah yes! Here it is,” he says flipping through the clipboard, “You drowned yourself up there, wowza. Want me to read your letter? Well, I suppose you wouldn’t.” He covers one side of his beak like he's going to tell me a secret but says in his full voice, “ Not in front of all these folks, bit embarrassing.” I’m not sure what to think but my recurring idea is relating to the number of times he says “well”.

“Well, I’ll send you off to your little-personalized hell hole. Goodbye, for now. I’m sure we’ll see each other again around here. Kinda run the place. Oh! You might have heard of me up there, though I kind of have a pretty bad reputation. Anywho.”

The wheelchair and wizzes me away from the group. We pull up to a Volkswagon just like the one we just left and the door slides open and out drops, a ramp for the wheelchair then closes behind us I hear a robotic female voice seemingly coming from all around me, but muffled by water.

“Hello! You will be provided with 30 minutes supply of oxygen. Keep calm.” The voice simmers out and the entire van begins to fill with water. I look around in emergency and try to prevent the inevitable from happening. I can’t talk, I can’t scream, I only have 30 minutes of air.

No this can't be happening. It can’t. No. I didn't kill myself. I’m not dead. I'm not dead! IM NOT DEAD!

“Congratulations. You have used all of your oxygen supply. Enjoy eternity.” The voice dies out and my throat tightens and it feels like the car ride but on steroids. No this can’t be it. I’m not dead. WHY AM I IN HELL? “Enjoy eternity” rings in my ears as my vision fades to black.

It’s almost as if my soul leaves my body because my view starts panning out. I see the white top of my van. Then the white tops of the surrounding vans. Then what has to be the white tops of 50 vans. Then 100. Then- I zip back down to my van and see myself screaming. And it all fades to black again.

#writing #fantasy #original work #small name writer #sorry im new to posting my work #what am i doing lmao #please give me feedback #short story

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coffeekaspbrak · 6 years

Text

Pictures of you- chapter one

For proper spacing visit my ao3 chapter 2 is already up there!

Eddie climbed the stairs to his apartment with dread weighing heavy on his body, that and the water that soaked his clothes. It had been a long day of driving and dealing with passengers, all while trying to navigate New York City through the rain. Getting his limo app service off the ground proved to be great for business, but not so great for his sanity. On the way to pick to one of his ever so gracious customers, he’d been rear ended by some asshole going 50 in an area with a speed limit of 30. He couldn’t slow down fast enough for a red light and ended up hitting Eddie’s limo. Eddie had jolted forward, his chest hitting the steering wheel. His breathing became short and rapid as his heart raced, the signs of an oncoming Asthma attack. He reached for his inhaler in the glove compartment and pulled on the trigger with a shaking hand. He was so stunned for a minute or so, he couldn’t get out of the car. Until the man who had hit him came out of his car; shouting and banging on Eddie’s window, saying he should’ve seen him coming.

As ridiculous as that accusation was, the man was reasonable enough to exchange his information with Eddie. The incident hadn’t caused any lethal damage, but the bumper of the limo was now wonky and dented. It wasn’t too terrible, but appearance is very important in his business. Presentation is important in every aspect of life, his mother had often told him. Eddie had it hauled away to the nearest auto shop and opted to walk home in the rain rather than give his money to one of those big cooperate car apps. He was too prideful for that, if nothing else.

He scaled the final step, a little bit winded, and pushed the key into the door of his apartment. It’s not too small. The realtor had described it as, “Cozy for a couple.” But the shades of paint and furniture they’d picked out for the space made Eddie feel like he was being suffocated. He took in his surroundings with a small sigh. Despite its comfy couches and cabinets filled with his clothes and belongings, Eddie always had to make some what of a mental effort to establish it as his home. Slipping off his shoes and shaking his jacket off, he heard the faint sound of weeping coming from the living room. Softly, he tip toed over and ducked his head into the room,

“Myra?” He asked with caution. “Oh Eddie!” She jumped to her feet, voice screeching in it’s high pitch, “thank god!”

She wrapped herself around Eddie in a death grip that would rival that of cobra’s. His hands sat at his side stiffly before his better judgment kicked in and he moved them to rub circles on her back. She untangled herself from him after a moment, “Where were you and why weren’t you answering your phone?” Her was voice demanding and whiny, Eddie cringed at the sound.

“You know I can’t have your notifications on while I drive, sweetie. It’s bad for business.”

This only caused Myra to pout more, “You’re supposed to pull over to text me every hour Eddie! We talked about this!”

“Yes,” he mumbles, “but-“

“No, Eddie!” he didn’t think her voice could get any louder, “I could’ve had heart attack! I thought you might’ve died! And there was an emergency!”

Eddie’s heart stopped how the fuck does she know already? Oh Christ almighty, she’s not going to let you go anywhere now. Good fuckin goin, Kasp- “Eddie!” Myra ran back over to him again, wrapping a large arm around him, “I’m sorry baby, I didn’t mean to scare you! Where’s your inhaler?”

Eddie hadn’t even noticed that his breathing had become heavy while his brain was spiraling. She reached a hand into his pocket and fished out his inhaler, holding it to his lips. Eddie took a puff, as his fiancé continued rambling on. “I should’ve known not to use that word with you, I know how delicate you are. But it really was, something really bad happened.”

“Is that why you were crying?” Eddie asked, knowing his fiancé has the tendency for the dramatics. He can never gauge how serious the problem is just from her reaction. She nodded, “Oh Eddie, it’s so horrible! I could cry even more!”

“No!” His shouted a little too quickly, “No, just tell me what happened, Marty.” “I got a call from the photographer.”

“And?” Eddie could see that she’s starting to tear up again, but she blurts out the words before they can fall. “They pulled out of the wedding! They said they had something else booked that day. I don’t know how that’s even possible! We scheduled this months ago!” She exclaimed, hugging Eddie tightly again and crying into his shoulder. He let her sob for a while before attempting to reason with her, “I know. It’s okay, hey, it’s alright. We can get a new one, they are plenty in the city.”

“That’s no excuse! They should’ve had it together! And where are we going to find a photographer that will work on such short notice? Oh it’s all falling apart, Eddie! This is a disaster!” She shouted, too close to Eddie’s ear. “No! Hey,” he met her eyes, red and puffy from crying, “We’ll find one, I promise. We can go and look tomorrow.”

“Eddie! I have a dress fitting tomorrow!”

“Alright, Myra calm down. I will go and look tomorrow, I can’t drive the limo anyway.”

Shit.

“What’s wrong with the limo?”

“Oh just needs an oil change and some other tune ups you know. I gotta give the riders the best treatment, right?” He felt bad for lying, but he would feel worse telling her the truth. She worries. And he worries about what will happen to him if she worries any more than she already does.

She nodded into his shoulder.

“Okay, why don’t you go to bed and I’ll meet you there?”

“I love you, Eddie-bear,” she mumbled gently.

Eddie doesn’t think about his response, he learned not to long ago.

“I love you too, Marty.”

Myra releases him and walks over to their bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Eddie sighs deeply once she is out of sight, running his hands over his eyes. He lets the oxygen reach his whole body before plopping down on the couch, defeatedly.

He just sits exhausted there for a while, before rising and walking to the bathroom to shower. He lets the warm water comfort him and lets it run maybe a bit too long as he stands underneath it.

He exits the shower and heads for the medicine cabinet. He finds the melatonin, (among a heap of other things) and pops a few into his mouth. The stress of planing a wedding had been taking its toll on his sleep. Ever since the night of the engagement, Eddie hadn’t gotten a full night of rest. Even in times of relative calm, restlessness plagued him as he tossed and turned in his bed. Tonight was no different.

He lets his eyes find his future wife taking up more than her side in bed, and crawls in warily beside her. He stared up at the ceiling a long while, thinking about everything and nothing.

He is woken up several times during the night, not to his surprise.

Eddie wakes up the next morning to find a note on the kitchen table, Off to the fitting! Only 62 more days! Love you! -Myra

That number sat heavy in his chest as he made himself coffee and opened his laptop to begin looking for a new photographer. The first page on google was companies with enough money to afford to put ads there. He figured they’d all be booked and when he calls, that suspicion is confirmed. One man even laughs into the phone obnoxiously when Eddie tells him the date of the wedding.

That’s how he spends majority of the morning, hunched over his laptop as concern pulls on the lines of his face. He nearly pulls all his hair out while on the phone with countless photography studios. All booked that day.

He’s on the fourth page of google, sporting a defeated expression when something finally takes. Richie Tozier Photography. There’s a number on the website header and Eddie calls without a second thought, not expecting much.

It rings twice before someone, groggy sounding, picks up. “Hello?” A scratchy voice asks. Eddie isn’t sure he’s got the right guy.

“Um Hi, I might have the wrong number is this Richie Tozier?”

“As you live and breathe,” the voice, Richie apparently, answered. Skeptical, he attempted to clarify, “The photographer?”

“Yeah huh,” He responded causally.

A bit too casually for Eddie’s liking. But he A bit too casually for Eddie’s liking. But he didn’t have a whole lot of options at this point. Fuck it, he thought, this might be all there is. The guy’s just gotta show up and take pictures right? With a sharp inhale Eddie asks, “Do you have any availability June 5th? I know it’s pretty soon.”

The other line hummed for a moment, “What’s the occasion?”

“My wedding.”

“Damn. Guess you’re not a planner then huh.”

“Excuse me I’ll have you kn-“ The voice chuckled, “I’m just messing with you, man. What’s your name?”

“Eddie Kaspbrak,” He hummed again, “Well, I might have somethin open just for you Eds.”

“That’s not my na-“ “Do you have a venue?”

Eddie scoffed, frankly sort of offended “Well, yeah of course,”

“Can you text me the address?”“Yes bu-“

The man on the phone clicked his tongue, “Mkay, cool. See if you can schedule something there so we can meet and I can check out the lighting and stuff.”

Eddie was a little dumbfounded at the gall this “Richie” seemed to have. “Um, okay,”

“Alright, see ya around then, Eddie spaghetti,” and before he could say anything about the nickname, he heard the phone click ending the call. Eddie sat in the wake of the phone call, a little disoriented to say the least. His laptop still had Richie’s website open and there was tab labeled “portfolio” on the top of the page. He clicked it reluctantly.

It was a layout of three pictures per row, and there were several rows. It was similar to an instagram feed, you could click on each picture to enlarge it and scroll. The first picture struck him: it was a girl with short red curls laying in a field, one hand across her chest and her eyes closed. She had a flower tucked on her ear, a white carnation, complementing a splattering of reddish freckles on her face. The golden light of the sunset behind her highlighted her long, reddish brown lashes. She looked beautiful. Eddie scrolled to see more.

A boy, muscular and tall, sitting inside a coffee shop, the picture being taken outside of it. It struck Eddie as a little weird if the photographer didn’t know this guy, but it was an amazing photo none the less. The background seemed faded as the man stared straight ahead out the window. The photo caught light of the man’s eyes; he was clearly pondering something as he peered longingly at something unseen to everyone but himself. He scrolled through several more of the photos, more featuring those two subjects. There were a few that looked to be graduation parties or other gatherings of the sort, but no weddings. That made him a little anxious, but clearly this Richie guy had some skill with the camera.

He was intrigued if nothing else.

Tag list: @white-duvet @beep-beep-eds @takealottodragmeawayfromreddie @kat-ships @jalenrose1122 @fandoms-caused-my-death @addimagination @richieshawaiianshirts @reddie-boi

(Let me know if you want to be tagged in the other chaps!)

#reddie #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #it 2017 #losers club #eddie kaspbrak x richie tozier #reddie fanfic #reddie fanfiction

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vicccwrites · 6 years

Text

The 9Spies Heist

Part 2 - Previous Part / Masterlist

(A/N: Whoo finally!! Sorry for the wait, but at least this chapter is on the longer side ^^ This week is finals week, so it might be another little bit before part 3 is out,,,, Anyway, I hope you enjoy nonetheless <33)

Linong opened the limo door and slid gracefully into a seat in the back. The driver, a short male that didn’t look too much older than Linong himself, raised a thin eyebrow.

“Chen Linong?” He nodded at the driver. “Congrats on getting into 9Spies. I’m You Zhangjing, resident hacker and communications extraordinaire. You’ll probably be added to my team, so it’s nice meeting you,” he said with a small smile.

“It’s nice meeting you too, Zhangjing-ge,” Linong replied politely, wanting to make a good impression on his new teammate, especially since he didn’t know much about the agency or how it was run. He was pretty much just going off of the snippets of information he had been able to glean from his conversations with Kaihao, which wasn’t a whole lot. Zhangjing laughed at the response, a cheeky grin appearing on his face.

“You can lighten up a bit! Don’t worry so much – I can see it in your face – you’re going to do great. Tingting’s going to just love you, Kunkun and Ziyi too…. Anyway, my point is that you’re going to fit in fine, so you can just relax!!” Zhangjing rambled, his easy-going nature making Linong feel more at ease. The two managed to fill the silence with small talk, and before Linong knew it they were pulling into a huge modern office building.

“Woah…” Linong breathed. In front of him stood a huge tower, so tall that it was practically a skyscraper, complete with floor to ceiling mirrored glass windows. If he didn’t already know that it was an office, he would have guessed that it was a high-class hotel. It certainly looked expensive enough to be one.

“Welcome to 9Spies HQ, the center of the agency – and to some extent the center of the whole spy industry!” Zhangjing introduced, giggling at Linong’s awestruck expression. “Pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Linong just nodded his head dumbly, briefly wondering how many surprises the day would bring before shaking his head and following his new teammate out of the limo and into the building.

He trailed after Zhangjing through a maze of corridors, trying to commit the names of the various rooms to his memory as the shorter of the two rattled on a seemingly endless list of locations. How many computer labs and libraries did this place have? Not to mention the twenty or so weaponry storage rooms and gyms that seemed to be around nearly every corner, and the ridiculous amount of people Linong met in the span of his short “tour” of the building. 10 minutes, 45 rooms, and over 30 introductions later, he was more than a bit confused.

“Ok, so this is the conference hallway, and Zhang PD should be waiting for you… Aha! Room 929, here you are.” Zhangjing said before gesturing to a doorway. “I have to head to the common room now, but PD will probably lead you there after he answers any questions that you might have about 9Spies. See you in a bit!” The elder waved goodbye, and just like that he was off in another direction, leaving a hopelessly lost Linong in his wake. Common room? PD? What on earth was Zhangjing talking about? Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Linong took a deep breath and opened the door to the conference room.

Just through the doorway sat a man who Linong recognised at once - Zhang Yixing. Head of 9Spies and more than an accomplished agent in his own right, he was known by virtually everyone in the industry. Despite the fact, however, he specialized in disguise and was rumoured to be the best infiltration spy in the whole of China. Linong stared, slack-jawed. Zhang Yixing – THE Zhang Yixing – was going to be his boss. Forcing himself to return from his thoughts, he knocked lightly on the door, alerting Yixing to his presence.

“Hello! You must be Chen Linong. I’m Zhang Yixing, CEO and founder of 9Spies Agency, though you can refer to me as PD or Zhang PD if you would like. It tends to make me seem less intimidating. Please, take a seat.” Zhang Yixing – no, Zhang PD – smiled warmly and motioned to the chair across from him at the conference table. Linong returned the greeting with a smile of his own before moving to sit as directed.

“You must be really excited to meet everyone and get settled in properly, so I’ll keep this brief. But first, I believe congratulations are in order!! I’m really excited that you decided to accept our invitation, and I hope you will enjoy your time as a 9Spies agent as much as I’m sure we’ll love having you! I’ll just go over some of the basics and then we’ll head over to Nine Percent’s – that’ll be your team, by the way – team common room, which is basically just a hangout and work area for when you aren’t in the labs.

“Right, so as I mentioned, you’ll be part of our latest spy team, Nine Percent. The team consists of 8 other members – Cai Xukun, Fan Chengcheng, Huang Minghao, Lin Yanjun, Zhu Zhengting, Wang Ziyi, Wang Linkai and You Zhangjing. You’ve already met Zhangjing, and you’ll get a chance to get to know the others in just a bit.

“Your role within the team will be to act as “the brain” – which mainly involves gathering intelligence on missions, along with helping out the others with field work. You also have quite a bit of experience with strategy and planning, so you could probably help out there too. There tends to be quite a bit of overlap between the roles, just help out where you can as a general rule of thumb.” Zhang PD informed Linong. “Any other questions?”

Linong was just about to shake his head when Yixing abruptly started talking again.

“Oh, also – we do have fully-furnished dorms available for all agents under our name, and while they were originally intended for late nights in the middle of tough cases, many of our agents do choose to live there 24/7 for convenience’s sake. They’re connected directly to your common room, so in that sense I guess they would be more of mini-apartments? Anyway, just something to keep in mind. It’s completely understandable if you would prefer to live at home and choose to commute here for missions.”

Linong didn’t know if he would really want to live in this building for the foreseeable future, especially since he couldn’t drive and didn’t know the neighbourhood at all; but his inner nerd could definitely see the appeal in living in, what was essentially, geek heaven. There was literally state-of-the-art technology everywhere here, a stark contrast from his beat-up laptop at home that would barely start up! Besides, he needed any advantage he could get, with his other teammates probably having way more experience than him and all.

He nodded at his boss’ words, more intrigued and excited than ever to officially be a 9Spies agent and explore the HQ that seemed to be full of secrets. First, however, Linong had a question to ask, “Do I need to sign any paperwork? I would prefer to have a contract drawn up through the proper channels instead of just a verbal agreement if that’s not too much of a hassle…”

Zhang PD immediately perked up at inquiry. “Of course! Sorry, I’m a bit all over the place at the moment. Here you go.” He replied smoothly before sliding over a stack of papers, which Linong accepted with a quiet say of thanks.

Scanning over the document, Linong couldn’t help but nod his head. Professionally worded to a tee, as expected from the high-profile company that 9Spies was, the contract was reasonable and fair. A quick but thorough read proved that just as he first thought, the terms were very clear-cut, and way more lenient than the slave contract he had feared. Show up, complete missions, and get paid – 9Spies will take care of the rest. From chauffeur services to access to document databases – heck, even to provided dry-cleaning, they really covered the complete spectrum of ‘the rest’. No wonder Kaihao-ge had done nothing but sung the company praises!

Without a single doubt in his mind, Linong went ahead and signed his name on the contract. There were no loopholes (at least from what he could tell), and he figured that there was no reason why he shouldn’t trust this deal, other than the fact that it almost seemed too good to be true. Looking up, he shot Zhang PD a radiant smile and handed him back the paperwork, which was promptly filed away into a briefcase.

“Ok, now that the admin stuff has been taken care of, why don’t I give you an official tour of HQ? I’m sure that Zhangjing probably went over the basics, but the layout can be pretty confusing when you first start out… or even after you’ve been here for a while,” Zhang PD empathized. Well, if what his teammate had gone over was just the “basic” portion of the layout, Linong was fairly sure he’d never learn his way around this building. Mentally preparing himself for what was sure to be an onslaught of information, he stood up and followed his boss out of the conference room, into the maze of hallways that made up the office.

“The building has 25 floors above ground, which are the resource and lab floors; and an additional 10 basement floors where the common rooms and dorms are. For each of the top 25 floors, there are 3-digit room numbers assigned to each room. The first digit is the floor number, and the last 2 digits are the numbers that give the rough location of the room. For example, we were just in room 929. That’s the 29th room on the 9th floor. I get it’s really confusing, but the room numbers are engraved above every doorway, and they’re arranged numerically, so you’ll eventually sort of get the hang of it - hopefully. To be honest, I have no clue why the architects set it up that way, but it makes this building way more secure since any potential infiltrators will never be able to navigate it properly.

“Now as for the basement floors, they’re thankfully a lot simpler. Since Nine Percent will be 9Spies’ biggest – and hopefully best – team, you guys will have a whole floor to yourselves whereas the rest of the floors house 2-3 teams each. Each floor has its own password that you enter into a keypad in the elevator, which by the way is behind a secret door and separate from the main elevator set – have I mentioned that this building is insanely complicated? Because it definitely is, as you’ve probably already figured out for yourself—Ah! Here it is, pull the third book from the right and it should open up the doorway,” Yixing rambled on to a bewildered Linong as he somehow managed to open up a passageway that led to yet another hallway from what looked to be an inconspicuous bookcase. Yeah, Linong was never going to learn his way around HQ, better-than-average brain or not.

The pair stepped into what Linong could only assume was the second set of elevators at the end of the hall, seeing as there was a keypad where one could input their “password”, and it was, well, an elevator.

“The password to your common room is ‘Nongfu Spring Vitamin Water’, and before you ask, yes, it’s named after the drink. Why Minghao would do that, I don’t know. Then again, when it comes to that kid, you can never tell what he’s thinking. You’ll see what I mean in a moment,” Zhang PD explained with a resigned sigh as he keyed the password in. The elevators started moving and Linong fervently hoped that the rest of the day wouldn’t be as hectic as it had been so far, because he wasn’t sure how much more it would take before his brain would be sent into overdrive.

#nine percent #nine percent scenarios #idol producer #idol producer scenarios #chen linong #cai xukun #nine percent fanfic #nine percent fic #justin huang #huang minghao #justin #fan chengcheng #lin yanjun #zhu zhengting #xiao gui #wang linkai #wang ziyi #you zhangjing

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champion-fitness · 3 years

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Best Mercedes-Benz Ever Made

The all as well renowned Mercedes-Benz has been around for quite some time, and it has actually developed quite a track record in the vehicle globe. The brand name's motto, "The best of nothing", says a whole lot about the superb vehicles generated by the German car manufacturer. Also, people who are not interested in the specifics of different auto brands can confirm that Mercedes is one of the most reputable ones worldwide.

With numerous automobiles constructed in 129 years, Mercedes-Benz constantly has one of the world's most recognized and best-selling vehicle brand names, combining German-built high quality with impressive styling cues and premium features.

In the following blog post, we have actually tried to select the very best Mercedes-Benz versions of perpetuity, however as you could anticipate, it was quite hard to limit this checklist to simply 10 designs. These cars ought to give you a concept of why this brand name has actually garnered such widespread popularity with time.

1. Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gull-Wing Sports Car Introduced back in 1954, the legendary 300 SL was the first iteration of Mercedes' SL-Class, which represents Sporting activity Light. At that time, the 300 SL was the fastest production automobile on the planet, efficient in reaching a top speed of as much as 263 km/h or 163 mph. It was additionally an auto racing champion; however, the real elegance came from its unique gull-wing doors and impressive layout, which transformed it right into an ageless traditional as well as a demanded vehicle for enthusiasts to today.

The gull-winged 300 SL was followed by a roadster variation three years later on, however, every person still liked the 2-door sports car and its breathtaking doors. This car was also the very first manufacturing version on the planet to feature a fuel-injected 3.0-liter fuel-injected engine, a straight 6 system that was capable of creating 215 hp. Excellent numbers for the 1950s, right?

2. Mercedes-Benz 300D Adenauer The 300D Adenauer was specially designed to be on the very same degree as the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, appearing like a much more modern-day variation of a conventional limousine. It was dubbed Adenauer after the very first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, who commonly utilized this version.

The initial Mercedes-Benz 300D was released back in 1960 as well as it's still excellent for those that want to ride in vogue without being overly fancy. This automobile looks very elegant from any type of angle you try to appreciate it. Even though it was smaller sized in dimension compared to various other limos around, it still verified to be a huge hit.

3. Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren It's no surprise that this collective version between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren made it to our list because it took the world by the tornado with its unique style and raw power. Launched in 2003, the SLR McLaren pleased everyone with its large 5.4 L supercharged V8 engine, which might deliver 617-horse power. And it got even more extreme with the 722 variations.

This monster had a five-speed transmission with three hand-operated settings and it was most likely a dream for any auto enthusiast around. The SLR McLaren was really called one of the "most qualified supercars ever before made," and for a car that's virtually 20 years old, it could quickly take on a few of the most recent supercars these days.

4. Mercedes-Benz G-Class Initially established as an armed forces lorry, the G-Wagen was launched in a civilian variation back in 1979. The 4 wheel drive deluxe SUV has progressed a whole lot in these last couple of years, however its renowned, boxy form hasn't transformed a lot throughout the years. The G-Class quickly ended up being a staple for several stars and also rap artists, thanks to its showy layout as well as the high-end it offers.

It is most certainly an SUV that draws attention with its tough style and also a strong option of shades. However, despite the fact that the outside looks rather rough, inside the cockpit, this SUV radiates opulence and performance. Besides, it was first designed to be a military vehicle, but it was soon adjusted to be the best private SUV.

5. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG The spiritual successor of the iconic 300 SL gullwing coupe, the Mercedes SLS AMG was originally released as a limited manufacturing supercar, with the same trademark gull-wing doors. The SLS means 'Sporting activity Light Super' as well. This car was certainly incredibly cool, with a lightweight, lightweight aluminum chassis and a body covering that were hand integrated in Germany using nothing but the finest materials.

Powering up this beauty was a huge normally aspirated 6.2 L V8 engine, that could create 571 horsepower. This engine was the globe's most powerful normally aspirated manufacturing collection engine, and as you might anticipate, its efficiencies were ridiculous. The SLS AMG was actually created by Mercedes AMG together with previous F1 vehicle driver David Coulthard.

6. Mercedes-Benz 190SL It's extremely difficult replacing a tale, as well as this cars and truck, had to do specifically that, as it adhered to the incredible 300SL. But the Mercedes Benz 190SL was likewise a dazzling vehicle, and it was highly appreciated due to the fact that it maintained the great looks influenced by the 300SL and also it was also a lot more affordable.

Mercedes-Benz realized there's a lot of need for an SL that would certainly be less costly, and also although the 190SL wasn't as effective as its precursor, it was equally fun to drive as well as it had a great deal of new attributes that made you forget the differences in power and extreme speed.

7. Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Although it was first developed to be a racecar, the CLK GTR promptly made its means onto routine roads soon after its launching in 1997. Since race automobiles are quite different from trams, this beast needed to be adjusted and also toned down a little to make it safe for road use, yet it still looked amazing, and its performances were off the charts.

The street variation of this car was valued at a trendy $1.55 million, which included much more to their exclusivity as well as allure. They have an incredibly effective 6.9 L V12 engine, which makes sense, since they were originally developed to be used on the racetrack.

8. Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Sports Car Introduced in 2008, the C63 AMG transforms the C-Class right into an actual car. The latest C63 AMG is powered by a handmade 503 HP AMG 4.0 L V8 Biturbo engine that can go from 0 to 60mph in 3.8 secs, just to get a concept. And since it's still a C-Class at its heart, the layout of this model is rather streamlined. It's a bit more aggressive than the conventional model, yet it's still fairly stylish.

Given that this is a modern Mercedes version, you can find components for it, unlike various other designs that have actually been around for years. You can locate the original components you need for any type of model merely by browsing through a Mercedes Benz component brochure, even if you have an older car and truck.

9. Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster The 540K Spezial Roadster was developed in 1936, and also it was always among the finest cars and trucks of its time, specifically because it included a massive 5.4 L180hp engine. Available as both a two and four-seat cabriolet, this traditional production was discontinued in 1940.

Even though you will certainly not discover it on the roads, owning this automobile is the desire of numerous auto fanatics. Although automobiles today have more to give up the engine and acceleration categories, this version remains among the most effective in Mercedes' background.

10. Mercedes-Benz 500E The 500E, frequently called the 'four-door Porsche,' is generally the enhanced version of the 300E, which Mercedes really felt lacked a certain oomph. Mercedes tried to develop the ultimate high-performance E in the 90s as well as took inspiration from the 1990 Porsche for the 500E. The vehicle was in fact, built along with Porsche, thus the nickname.

This article written by jijiautos.

#benz #mercedesbenz #usedcar #car shipping #jijiautos

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thezeekrecord · 3 years

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Now You’re Thinking With Portals, Gordon! ch5

[index/summary]

True Purpose

One minute, Gordon had been falling into a seemingly bottomless pit with an overwhelming sense of impending doom looming over him. The next, he was lying in a shallow puddle, staring up at the sad remnants of a broken elevator that hung dangerously from a thick cable. Gordon jolted upright in a panic, leaping to his feet and immediately collapsing onto his backside. He groaned and rubbed his temples as everything that happened the past few hours flooded back to him.

“Ah! Gordon, you’re awake!” Coomer said, stepping in front of him and holding out a hand. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Uhh, yeah, I guess so.” Gordon replied, accepting Coomer’s hand. Coomer pulled him up to his feet with ease. “How long was I out?”

“Well, you passed out at the start of our fall, and you remained that way as we looked for VOX, so...I would say about 10 minutes.”

“Do you know how hard it is to rearrange everyone while you fall just so the bastard who passed out wouldn’t die?” Bubby complained, holding Tommy as he made his way over the wreckage to join Gordon and Coomer.

“I saved you with my robot body!” Coomer boasted.

“Oh god, that really could’ve been it for me.” Gordon breathed, putting a hand to his head.

“Now, we’re all trapped in...wherever this is.” Bubby griped.

“This is the condemned section.” Tommy informed them with a worried look. “Nobody’s supposed to be here, anymore. It’s too dangerous.”

“Well, I don’t know, it seems calmer down here than it was up there.” Gordon pointed out, picking through the debris and peering down what looked like a path. “Did you find VOX, by the way?”

“I’m here.” VOX replied. Coomer scooped him up from behind a chunk of concrete, revealing shards of metal that had buried themselves into his core.

“Damn, that doesn’t look good.” Gordon winced.

“It’s not.”

“Are we really going to take him with us?” Bubby questioned. “He did try to kill us.”

“I am incapable of doing anything in this state.” VOX pointed out. “Not to mention I have valuable information about the facility’s layout. You will certainly need my assistance getting back up to the modern section in order to take control back from Benry.”

“I mean, what about Tommy? He seems to know plenty about this place.” Gordon suggested, looking to Tommy in Bubby’s arms.

“I only know a little bit about why it was condemned.” Tommy admitted sheepishly. “I think VOX is right. We’ll probably need his help.”

“Is there even a way back up to the facility? Other than this...broken elevator?” Gordon asked.

“There are two entry points to the true condemned section that I am aware of. If we make our way to the topmost entry point, it is possible we will be able to return to the modern section of the facility.” VOX explained. “I presume it will take a long time to get ourselves there, though. Time we may not have.”

“I feel like we’ve been beating the odds of survival pretty much all day already. Call me crazy, but I think we might just make it out of this one.” Gordon said, leading the way down away from the elevator.

“Statistically improbable.”

“Hey, if you’re gonna commit to the bit about us needing you to get out, you should at least try to be positive about our chances, dude.”

“...Improbable, but there is a slim possibility.”

“Yeah, that’s the spirit.”

As they moved through the wreckage of the facility, Bubby passed Tommy off to Gordon to create paths for the group with his portal gun. At first, Gordon would have thought the wreckage was caused by the tremors above them, but thick layers of dust coated everything in sight. Large chunks of rusted metal and drywall that might have been part of walls and pipes were scattered all over, some half-buried in the dirt beneath their feet. Soon, after squeezing through many awkward paths, they entered a clearing blocked off by an automatic gate. Gordon jiggled the gate before turning to a large switch next to it. When he flipped it, several lights above boomed to life to reveal a massive circular vault door at the end of the clearing with two little box rooms on opposite sides of the vault. Upon investigation, they found each room contained a button labeled “HATCH RECLUSION OVERRIDE”—after some bickering, Coomer passed VOX to Gordon, who struggled to hold both him and Tommy as Bubby and Coomer split off to the separate rooms. Once the buttons were pressed simultaneously, the hatch unlocked, an ear-splitting siren sounding as the door was lifted out of the way by cables. Gordon squeezed his eyes shut, unable to plug his ears as the siren blared for what felt like several long minutes before everything finally fell silent. He opened his eyes, finding the only thing behind the vault had been a couple discarded chairs and an underwhelmingly normal door.

“This is it.” VOX announced. “Once we enter, we will be in the true condemned section. I am not fully aware of what is waiting for us in here. We will need to be careful.”

Gordon steeled himself and pushed the door open. Beyond that was an even larger clearing, similar to what Gordon was used to seeing above in the space between test chambers. Huge, broken structures towered above them, mostly indistinct in the darkness of the cavern; as another distant tremor hit, small bits of rock splashed into the water surrounding their little walkway. They maneuvered into a small, cramped hallway, where Gordon threw another switch to open an automatic door leading into a smaller section of the cavern. As the doors slid open and Gordon led the way in, lights blinked on, and a booming, proud voice echoed around them with triumphant music.

“Welcome, gentlemen, to Aperture Science.” The voice began. Gordon recognized it in an instant—he’d never met the man himself, but he practically haunted the facility through old promotional videos and pre-recorded messages that were regularly played for the current Aperture employees. A Pavlovian dread response filled Gordon as they proceeded further into the chamber. “Astronauts, war heroes, Olympians—you’re here because we want the best, and you are it. So, who’s ready to make some science?”

There was a brief pause in the recording before another familiar voice spoke. “Oh—me!”

At first, Gordon couldn’t even place where he’d heard the voice before. He just squinted as he listened closer, struggling to process the words over the echo.

“Now, you already met one another on the limo ride over, so let me introduce myself: I’m Cave Johnson. I own the place. That eager voice you heard is my assistant Tommy. Rest assured, he has transferred your honorarium to the charitable organization of your choice. Isn’t that right, Tommy?”

“...Yeah.”

Gordon looked instinctively down at Tommy, who stared up towards the ceiling blankly as Cave rambled on briefly about how without Tommy, Aperture wouldn’t be what it was today. The recording ended shortly, leaving the entire group in silence to watch Tommy’s reaction.

“...Huh?” Was all Tommy said.

“Dude, was that you?” Gordon finally asked, glancing between the two cores in his arms.

“...I don’t...n-no, that couldn’t have been me.” Tommy denied, looking down with a perplexed expression. “I can’t—I don’t remember that. I never met Cave Johnson, he died before I was created.”

VOX looked to Tommy, like he was ready to say something, but they stopped as a smaller voice called from somewhere above them. “Hello? Who are you?”

Gordon looked up to what appeared to be a pedestrian entrance further into the facility built into a high part of the cave wall, the walkway leading up to it long broken. At first, he thought it must have been another version of Coomer—but as he looked closer, he found the round head set in the center of his body was a core with a deep orange eye.

“Is that...” Bubby started.

“Darnold?” Coomer finished.

“What are you all doing down here?” He bent over and grabbed something by his feet, throwing it over the handrail—a rope ladder with metal hooks tied to the ends. He attached it to the rail carefully before simply jumping over it, landing easily on his feet to meet the group.

“We thought you were incinerated!” Bubby said, approaching Darnold. “What happened to you? Why are you in one of Coomer’s bodies?”

“Well, it’s an interesting story.” Darnold began before his eye locked with VOX’s. “Buuuut...is that...VOX?”

“Darnold.”

Darnold paused for a long time before simply turning to the rope ladder and beginning to scale back up.

“Wait!” Gordon called out. “I think maybe you can help us!”

“I’m fairly busy at the moment, actually, Mr...”

“Freeman.”

“Yes, I’m rather busy right now, Mr. Freeman.” Darnold continued, already halfway up the ladder. “I’ve been extremely busy being very much alive down here. It takes up a lot of my schedule, you see, and I’d like to get back to that.”

Gordon hurriedly redistributed VOX and Tommy to Bubby and Coomer before running to join Darnold on the ladder. “Wait, at least hear me out! Do you have any idea what’s going on up there?”

Darnold reached the top and swung himself expertly over the handrail, looking down in disappointment at Gordon as he climbed up. “No, I don’t. I haven’t been up there in a very long time.”

“The facility is gonna blow up if we don’t fix Tommy!” Gordon explained, clumsily pulling himself over the handrail. “Some guy told me that Tommy was supposed to run the facility. He told me a ‘condemned AI’ could help me find a USB that’s supposed to fix him. You’re an AI in the condemned section, you must be the one he was talking about, right?”

“Well, I don’t know about all that.” Darnold said uneasily. “This is the first I’m hearing about any of this. I mean, I know about Tommy already at least, that all makes sense...”

“It does not.”

“You were an engineering sphere, Darnold!” Coomer called to him. “Wouldn’t you say you have the ability to fix Tommy?”

“Ehhhh...I mean, I could look.” Darnold offered tentatively. “But I don’t think I’m gonna be much help. That sounds like it’s a little out of my expertise, and I haven’t done any work on cores in a while. I’m a little rusty, if you’ll forgive the pun.”

“I won’t.” Bubby said.

“But I don’t know how comfortable I am with VOX knowing where I stay.” Darnold went on, crossing his arms defensively. Another tremor hit above them, shaking layers of dirt from the ceiling into Gordon’s hair.

“Darnold. We are in a hurry. I would like to get back to the upper facility, and I am unable to do that on my own, leaving me at the whims of Gordon Freeman. Please do what he says so I can return to my facility.”

Darnold didn’t look swayed by this. Gordon let out a frustrated sigh.

“It’s okay, he’s not gonna get control back.” Gordon comforted. “He’s right, though, we kinda have to hurry, or Benry’s gonna destroy the facility.”

“You put Benry in charge?” Darnold asked incredulously. “Well, no wonder the facility’s in danger. He’s a corrupted core, he can’t handle that kind of responsibility.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m seeing that.” Gordon said flatly. “Listen, could you please just try? I kinda don’t wanna die, and it sounds like you don’t, either.”

“Ohhh, alright.” Darnold caved, motioning Bubby and Coomer up.

After maneuvering everyone up to the platform, Gordon took Tommy again, and Darnold led the group inside an old waiting room that must have been very comfortable back in the day—unlike the waiting room for testing that Gordon had gotten accustomed to seeing. As they passed through, another pre-recorded message from Cave Johnson filled the room. He prattled on about the mechanics of his pre-recorded messages and a few old tests they must have been running at the time.

“Ugh. Sorry about him.” Darnold grumbled. “I can usually turn him off, but if the power gets reset, he turns back on automatically. I’ve heard these recordings about a million times. Listen, he’s about to say something about mantis men.”

As promised, Cave announced a new project for the test subjects—fighting an army of mantis men. Gordon stopped at an old framed painting of Cave Johnson. He was young in this portrait, probably in his late 30’s, with a proud, hopeful smile on his face. Tommy looked at it wordlessly.

“You sure you don’t remember any of this?” Gordon asked him. “That really sounded like you.”

“No, Mr. Freeman, there’s no way.”

Gordon jogged to catch up with the group, and they continued down various paths that Darnold seemed to have set up himself between the wreckage. He moved with ease as Gordon picked his way through carefully, slowing the group down significantly.

“So what happened to you?” Bubby asked Darnold again as they walked.

“Well...” Darnold cast an uneasy glance at VOX. “I had been fixing broken versions of you two for a long time, among other things. It was the same thing every single day. I fix you up, you go to a test chamber, you get smashed to pieces, I fix you up again, and the cycle repeated. It got pretty boring.”

“Yeah, for you. ” Bubby muttered.

“I was doing my usual maintenance when one of the Coomers came through. I guess something went wrong with one of the laser tests. He was just burned clean in half.”

“That’ll happen.” Coomer said solemnly.

“The core part was totally fried, so he qualified to get recycled. The rest of the body was fine, though.” Darnold continued, leading the group into a room with three massive pipes extending into the ceiling. He motioned them up a makeshift metal ladder that looked like it had been welded to the bottom of a broken catwalk. “I got curious how easy it would be to make my own body out of it. My rationalization at the time was that it would make it easier to work if I had my own hands, but really, I just wanted something else to do. I succeeded in attaching myself to the Coomer body, but VOX wasn't a fan.”

Gordon looked pointedly at VOX, who remained silent. The group moved into an old workspace with three separate consoles with switches.

“I think he was trying to incinerate me, but instead, he sent me down a pit that landed me here.” Darnold finished, stopping to look at the group with what looked like it could be an excited smile. “And this is where I found my true purpose.”

Darnold turned to the switches, throwing them all in quick succession. Mechanical whirring filled the room as the pipes came to life. Darnold enthusiastically urged them all to follow, leading them out to a wide open space where the remnants of what seemed to be an old test chamber sat. It was too destroyed to show what they had been testing for, leaving just a floor and chunks of wall that had been partially ripped away, but there was a mess of what looked like hardened blue, orange, and white paint caked over every available surface in it.

“This is what flows through the pipes.” Darnold informed them, squeezing through a bit in the wall that had been torn out to provide access into the chamber. “Go ahead, try it out.”

Gordon stepped in tentatively as Tommy looked around in dismay.

“This isn’t supposed to be used, anymore!” He said worriedly. “It was left behind with the condemned section! It’s too dangerous to work with!”

“But this much more fascinating than lasers or portals!” Darnold argued. “See? Watch!”

Darnold leapt onto a patch of blue and shot high into the air. He bounced a few times this way before landing back on a patch of white, looking quite pleased with himself.

“Whoa, that was nuts!” Gordon gasped. He hesitated for a brief moment before trying it himself. He laughed loudly as he bounced several times, quickly joined enthusiastically by Coomer, who was currently holding VOX.

“This is a waste of time.” VOX reminded them. “This technology was left behind for a reason. We must move on if we are to survive, Gordon Freeman.”

Gordon landed heavily onto a patch of orange, excitement draining from him as he remembered their responsibilities. “Right, okay. Yeah, Darnold, this is cool and all, but there’s still the crisis up there.”

Darnold looked heavily disappointed. “Alright, my lab is just over here.” He sighed.

As Gordon moved to follow, he thought for a moment he must have been shoved by someone—he took one small step forward, but he practically launched across the chamber. He skidded to a stop on the white, looking down to the patch of orange in shock.

“Oh, yeah, that’s the propulsion gel.” Darnold explained as they exited the chamber the way they’d entered. “There’s the propulsion gel, repulsion gel, and conversion gel, which allows you to shoot portals on any surface you cover it with. Then, of course, there’s another special little somethin’ I’ve been working on.”

Darnold explained the science behind the gel extensively as they headed towards a box room high above them, placed beside another suspended chamber. He directed them up through his maze of makeshift paths until they reached an office space, currently occupied by Darnold’s projects. Laid out on one of the desks were several containers with various liquids, the largest one filled with a thick, purple gel. On another to the right, there was a fairly modern computer—modern by Gordon’s standards, at least—with what appeared to be a jury-rigged receptacle to plug cores into.

“How long have you been down here?” Gordon asked, eyes landing on a tarp that covered a pile of what he assumed to be the old supplies that originally occupied the room.

“Oh, a good few years.” Darnold replied casually. He held out his arms towards Gordon. “I’ll take a look at Tommy, but like I said, no promises.”

Gordon passed Tommy to him, who was then plugged roughly into the receptacle. Tommy’s eye glowed brighter, blinking a couple times while Darnold typed away at his computer. He squinted his eye as he navigated through several windows, leaning in close to his screen with a perplexed look. Seeing this was going to take a while, Gordon glanced around the room, spotting hints of a chair underneath the tarp. He eagerly pulled the tarp up to unearth it, dragging the chair out carefully before something caught his eye further in. He glanced back at Darnold, who was still fully focused on Tommy, so he pulled the tarp away to extract a large frame out from the mess of old office supplies.

“What do you have there, Gordon?” Coomer asked as Gordon flipped it over.

Gordon stared at the painting. It was another portrait of Cave Johnson, much older now and sat at his desk, but standing behind him with his hands clasped in front of him was a white man in his late 50’s. His jet black hair was neatly groomed back, and he wore a long white lab coat with a blue button-up and striped tie. Gordon thought for a moment the man looked familiar, but quickly dismissed it as he read the golden plaque at the bottom: “CAVE JOHNSON & TOMMY COOLATTA”.

“...Another portrait.” Gordon answered, turning to show it to Coomer.

“Ah, the founder and CEO of Aperture Science.” Coomer identified with a nod.

“Yeah, but look at the guy with him.” Gordon pointed at Tommy. “Do you guys know anything about him?”

“No, not really.” Bubby replied, glancing back at Tommy. “We don’t come equipped with a full history of Aperture Science, Gordon.”

“What is it?” Tommy asked from the desk.

Gordon nudged past Bubby and Coomer, watching Tommy’s reaction over the top of the portrait. Tommy stared at it for a long moment before there was a large zap , and his eye immediately went dark, closing tight as smoke billowed from him and the receptacle.

“Wh—Tommy?!” Gordon exclaimed, setting the portrait aside.

“Aw, jeez.” Darnold groaned, pulling him from the receptacle and turning him over. “I guess he got overwhelmed and shorted out.”

“Is he gonna be okay?” Gordon asked, leaning in to look at Tommy.

“Yeah, he should be alright.” Darnold reassured him, setting him down on the desk. “I can’t actually access his program, though. I tried, but I kept getting errors.”

“Do you think it’s an issue with your computer?” Gordon suggested.

“Well, let’s see.” Darnold reached out for VOX. Coomer handed him over without hesitation.

“Do not get into my program.” VOX commanded.

“I’m not gonna, I’m just checking if I can.”

“Do not. Do not. Do not.” VOX repeated as Darnold positioned him over the receptacle.

Darnold stopped and pulled him away. “Alright, alright. I’ll just test it with myself.” He handed VOX back to Coomer and unlatched the face of the receptacle, setting it aside. He pulled out the pin that plugged into the back of the core, connected to a wire that snaked around the desk. He blindly reached to plug it into himself, and his eye glowed slightly brighter, just the same as Tommy’s had. He turned to the computer again, pulling up programming files with complex lines of text. “Well, it’s working just fine for me.”

“...Huh?” Tommy spoke suddenly. His eye was open only halfway for a moment before he opened it fully, looking at everyone around the room. “What happened?”

“You shorted out.” Darnold informed him. “Tommy, is there a reason I can’t access your program?”

Tommy was quiet for a moment, looking as though he was still catching up before he spoke. “Oh, yeah...I remember now...there’s only one receptacle in the facility that lets you do that.”

“And you didn’t think to mention it?” Bubby questioned flatly.

“It’s been a long time since anyone’s needed to access my files.” Tommy said. “It was only before we phased out human employees that it ever came up.”

“Well, that doesn’t bode well for you guys.” Darnold commented as he disconnected himself and replaced the cover on the receptacle. “I could try to bypass it, but I get the feeling it might be faster to just get you to the right station and do it there.”

“No, I...I think we’re missing something.” Gordon shook his head, leaning on the desk. “The guy didn’t say you’d be the one to fix Tommy. He said we’d come down here, and you’d give me something that helped me find the USB drive.”

“Who even is this guy you’re referring to?” Darnold questioned doubtfully. “No offense, Mr. Freeman, but I don’t think the problem is so simple, it could be solved with whatever’s on a tiny little USB drive. That’s not how that works, you know. If the issue is processing power, that’s more of a hardware issue than anything else.”

“I don’t know!” Gordon exclaimed, burying his face in his hands. “I don’t know who the guy was, I don’t know why a USB is supposed to help, but things have lined up so far! He said Tommy was supposed to run the facility, which makes sense, and he said we’d find you after I disconnected Tommy. And it’s not like I know of anything else to do, here.”

“You could give me back my facility.” VOX suggested.

“Bro, you know that’s not happening.”

“Hmmm.” Darnold put a hand to the face of his core thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t know about all that, but you’re welcome to look through some of this old stuff I’ve collected. There might be something useful in there.”

Darnold indicated back to the pile of old supplies. Gordon headed over and started picking his way through, followed quickly by Bubby. The pile mostly consisted of old office supplies like Gordon had initially thought; he was ready to give up when Bubby suddenly dragged something out that looked very much like it did not belong in the pile. It was a massive, shelf-sized black console that had been facing towards the wall; there was a black screen and several buttons with a dial, looking almost like an arcade cabinet with a weird hose with a nozzle on the end hooked on the side.

“What’s this thing?” Bubby asked, holding the nozzle up for Darnold to see.

“Oh, that thing?” Darnold approached, looking at it closer. “I’m not sure. I saw it lying around here, but it didn’t have anything to do with the gel, so...you’re welcome to try it, though.”

Bubby found a place to plug the machine in and stood at the controls, clicking a few buttons experimentally as Gordon hovered over his shoulder. The screen blinked to life, reading “SELECT A TARGET” in green text against a black screen. Bubby immediately turned to point the nozzle at Gordon.

“Hey, hey, don’t test it on me!” Gordon yelped.

Bubby didn’t respond, simply watching as the screen changed. There was a long, green line graph now; as Bubby clicked the dial to the side, a time and date displayed at the top. It only changed by day-long increments, but as Bubby scrolled way back, there didn’t seem to be a limit on how far back it could go.

“I think this is what you were looking for.” Bubby said thoughtfully. “This might be able to send you back in time.”

“What? A fucking time machine?” Gordon asked incredulously. “There’s no way in hell we made a time machine and, like, survived. Aperture wouldn’t just drop a project like that, right? We would’ve sold it to the public for a fortune by now and had all time wiped out by people, like, trying to save the Titanic or whatever.”

“Well,” Darnold began, but he was cut off by a massive flash of green light, similar to when he’d been teleported by the man in the suit. Gordon blinked several times and shook his head, his eyes taking a few seconds to readjust. He was in the same room as before, but he didn’t find the man in the suit like he had expected—in fact, nobody but him was there now; it was all arranged just like a normal workspace he would come to expect from Aperture. Gordon peered out the window, down at the old remnants of the test chamber they’d just been in. It wasn’t half destroyed, he found—it was half built, with construction workers milling about below. Gordon gripped his chest.

“Oh, fuck.”

[previous | next]

#zeeks hlvrai #zeeks portal

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evieshook · 7 years

Text

come back home

pairing: harry/evie rating: g word: ~4200 a/n: for the lovely anon who requested this. it got longer than i expected, even though you asked for something short haha. i hope you do enjoy this! (tbh, there’s quite a bit of malvie in this xD) prompt: Can you do a short fic about harry x evie and how instead of evie being good she goes back to being bad with harry and there like the badass couple on the isle while her friends try to save her but she’s to inlove with harry that she rather stay with him?!!!!!! Sorry there’s barley any harry x evie fics out there:(

“Evie! Listen to me,” Mal pleaded, arm reaching out to grab hold of the girl’s arm before she could walk away. “You have to come back, come home with us.”

Evie turned around, lifting her head to stare her straight in the eye. What Mal saw however wasn’t the Evie she remembered. The way she held herself, while more poised, was definitely colder, more arrogant and her eyes lacked the warmth she had had even back when she first grew up in the Isle. She looked like a carbon copy of her mother, and it was only then that she was reminded who Evie really was. Daughter of Snow White’s greatest foe, and notorious for her overwhelming vanity, Evie was truly descended from the Evil Queen.

“Like you said before Mal, this is home,” she said almost spitefully, the girl almost wincing at the familiarity of the words. “You can take the girl out of the Isle, but you can’t take the Isle out of the girl. Just leave Mal, enjoy your life with Ben while I enjoy mine.”

Mal’s bright emerald eyes narrowed. “But—”

She shook her head. “Just go Mal. Please,” she had said the word so softly that for a second she thought that Evie, her Evie, had come back. But it was quickly replaced by that aloof front she had shown earlier, unreadable expression masking her inner tumultuous emotions.

She held her gaze for a second before she finally relented, seeing that though this wasn’t the time, this definitely was not the end. “This isn’t the end Evie. I’ll come back for you again, but next time you’re coming back with me,” she declared firmly, giving her one last look before turning on her heel, straight to where the limo had been waiting.

As she watched the girl depart, Evie felt herself instantly deflate, the clenched fists at her side finally relaxing. She almost slumped forward, until she felt a hard body pressed warmly against her back. Almost immediately, she sunk straight into his chest, allowing him to wrap his comforting arms around her waist and letting his familiar scent of the crisp sea air draw her in. Evie felt him rest his chin on her shoulder as his eyes followed the direction of her gaze.

“Just a little while longer Princess, I promise,” he muttered, Evie saying nothing as she snuggled closer to him. Just a little while longer, and things could go back to the way things were. She just needed a little patience.

It was only after a mysterious missive that had arrived three days later that the gang was sent packing, immediately piling into the royal limousine to travel back to the Isle. While Mal wanted to go back as soon after she had left, Ben had told her to give Evie space, noting that the right opportunity would present itself. And it had, in the form of a letter detailing the exploits of a familiar blue haired princess that had been the source of the recent havoc on the island. It had mentioned an accomplice, but they didn’t pay any heed as to who it may have been, too preoccupied with the goal of getting Evie back.

And if it hadn’t been for the urgency of the situation, they would have all been more than impressed at what they had happened in the short time she had been away. Evie may have an Auradon girl, but she was born and raised on an island of evil, and the apple never did fall too far from the tree.

As they drove back over the bridge connecting Auradon with the Isle, they all couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. What exactly was holding Evie back? They knew better than anyone that Evie had always dreaded going to the Isle, and at times hated it. Despite readily acknowledging it as her birthplace, they knew her insecurities of perhaps never having truly fit in. After all, out of the four she had been the one who had taken most quickly to the Auradon way of living, especially after having been raised in a similar fashion as her royal peers, expect with more villain involved. And as much as the girl appeared to love her mother, she had always seen her true family in Mal, Carlos and Jay, gladly choosing them over her any day. Yet with them still on Auradon, and Evie going back to the Isle alone and willingly, they couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else pulling her back.

What that was, neither of them knew.

But they intended to find out. Whatever it was, they hoped that their familial bond would be enough to overcome whatever strings held her back.

When they had finally reached the Isle, it didn’t take too much searching to find out where the source of the commotion was coming from. Walking through the tunnel that led to the docks, the three remained as quiet as possible as they peered from the inside, pausing just before the exit. What they saw however, left them shellshocked.

Standing in the centre of the Lost Revenge was Evie, except she was under not threat and definitely not alone. Rather, she was nestled in the arms of one Harry Hook, both of whom seemed to be enjoying the sight around them as they observed the chaos the pirates had incited upon the citizens nearby.

Mal was almost ready to go charging in to claim back her best friend and skewer the pirate alive, until she felt Carlos’ hand grab her to hold her back, telling her to wait so the could observe some more.

Evie appeared to laugh at something Harry had said as he continued whispering sweet nothing in her ear, almost making the three gag at how affectionate he was being. They all knew he was a big flirt, and tended to get up in your personal space closer than necessary, but they had never seen him so tender. If it hadn’t been for his notoriousness as an established enemy of theirs, they would’ve almost admitted that the two looked rather cute. Almost.

They watched as Evie leaned her head back against chest, twisting her head up before pulling his head down to meet hers, capturing his lips for a kiss.

This time they all had to turn around, truly unable to stomach the sight before them. It made them shudder in disgust.

“This is why she wanted to stay back? Because of him?” Jay exclaimed incredulously, the two sharing his utter disbelief. To think, Evie and Harry? Where did that even come from?

“I wasn’t aware they even knew each other,” Mal said with derision, feelings of betrayal washing over her. She was supposed to be her best friend, and as her best friend, there were no secrets between them, none. And yet Evie had withheld what was perhaps the biggest secret of her life.

“This is all wrong,” Carlos declared. “Evie would never hook up with Harry out of her own free will. He must’ve done something.”

As much as they wanted to believe him, they knew it wasn’t possible. “Like what? Put her under a spell? Harry may be clever, but he’s still a pirate. Evie’s the witch, not Harry, and going by your logic, she would’ve done the spell casting on him.”

“Why would Evie want to charm him?” Jay asked, still repulsed.

Mal shrugged. “Wouldn’t we all like to know.”

“We still have to get her. We’re not leaving her here, especially with him.”

“Of course not. But now that we know the truth, maybe we can finally knock some sense into her.” They all nodded. Sometimes you had to listen to your head over your heart.

Carlos was still skeptical however. “But how are we even gonna pull this off? The ship is practically surrounded. Who knows how many pirates there are, and where Uma could be lurking.”

Jay and Mal shared a look. “Just follow our lead.”

It wasn’t easy, but after years of practice in disposing of some annoying little pirates, they had become nothing short of experts. Uma’s crew had been dealt with within minutes, and as the three made their way onto the ship, no more pirates nor Uma in sight, they set to searching for their lost friend. It turned out Evie and Harry had left just shortly after they had spotted them kiss, so neither knew of their presence back on the Isle.

It really hadn’t been that hard to guess where Evie was likely to be, but to find where exactly where that was was a challenge on its own. Being unfamiliar with the layout of the ship, and with no map in sight, it took a while before either one of them stumbled upon the doors of the ship’s first mate.

Quickly gathering around the door, they silently exchanged looks, nodding that on a count of three they would barge in and grab Evie the moment they saw her. When they counted down, Jay took to kicked the door down as the trio stormed in, ready to grab Evie yet what they found sent them almost backtracking. It appeared that Harry and Evie had taken their little activities inside, and while Harry was the only one with skin exposed, they had no doubt that had they waited any longer, it wouldn’t have been that way for long.

Harry almost fell off the hammock in shock at the rude interruption as Evie scrambled to her feet, glaring coldly at the new visitors. Her hands were at her sides, enclosed in fists as Harry took to grabbing his shirt to slip it back on.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded frostily, Jay and Carlos sharing an unimpressed look. Mal wasn’t kidding when she had said that Evie had changed, and not for the better.

“We’re here to get you. I told you that the next time I came, I wouldn’t be going back empty-handed,” Mal told her, stepping forward to match the girl’s glare with a frigid look of her own. If looks could kill, everybody around them would have fallen flat in less than half a minute.

“Looks like you’ll have to break that promise this time. You can’t get everything you want Mal,” she said derisively, spitting out the girl’s name with such repulsion it was as though they were enemies and not best friends.

Mal raised a brow, unfazed. “Oh, is that so? And who’s gonna stop me?”

Evie smirked. “Me.”

Before things could get out of hand, Carlos stepped in, knowing that if they didn’t the girls would most likely get into a physical fight. He glanced at the amused pirate beside warily before returning his gaze back to Evie.

“Okay, enough. Evie, please, whatever you’re doing here, enough’s enough. You need to come back home with us.”

She scowled at him. “I am home.”

Harry nodded beside her, slinging an arm around her shoulder that the three almost winced. “That’s right. Since when was Auradon her home?”

Jay shot him a dirty glare. “Nobody asked you Harry.”

The male only grinned, enjoying the irritation he had evoked from the three.

Mal glanced at him before looking back at Evie accusingly. “Oh, and speaking of Harry, since when Evie? What is this?” She motioned to the couple, who had shared a small look.

“Why do I have to tell you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, because I’m your best friend?”

Evie scoffed. “Not anymore you’re not.”

Harry looked between the two amusedly, before gesturing to the door behind them. “Well, if we’re all done here, ye should all be taking yer leaves. Bye bye,” he said, giving them a little wave.

He felt three pairs of eyes shoot glares at him. “We’re not done here Harry, not by a mile.”

The pirate only raised a brow in annoyance. “What part of ‘bye bye’ did ye not understand? The princess wants you all gone, so ye should do as she says and leave. It’s that simple.”

Mal stepped forward. “It would’ve been simpler if she had come back with us,” she replied, reaching forward to grab her wrist before Harry slapped her hand away.

Evie glowered at her. “I told you, I’m not coming back.”

“But why?”

“Because!”

Mal huffed. “Because what Evie? Because of him? You’d abandon us, your family, who you’ve been with for your whole life, for him? He tried to kill us all last time!”

The girl was clearly miffed but remained composed, Harry tightening his arm around her. “I don’t care.”

“And why not?” The unrelenting look on Mal’s face was enough for her to finally snap.

“Because I love him!”

The room was struck by a deathly silence as they stared at her wide eyed at the admission, including Evie who couldn’t believe she had let that slip. She hadn’t even told him yet, and now she was shouting it to the whole world.

Harry, who was just as shocked as she, was the first to finally react as he pulled her closer to him, kissing her lightly on the temple. It was this action, with Evie sinking into him in relief, that finally broke the three out of their initial shock as they stared at her incredulously.

“Love? I thought you loved Doug!”

Evie shook her head as Harry’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “That was before, but my feelings have changed, I’ve changed. That’s why I’m not going back to Auradon. I’m not leaving him. Not ever.”

Mal blinked. “I—”

Evie couldn’t take it anymore as she looked away from them, not wanting them to see her watery eyes. “Go! Just go.”

Harry, who had seen her tears, tightened his hold at her as he looked at the trio, nodding to the door with a glare. “The princess wants you out so shoo and leave us alone.”

His gaze held no room for question as Carlos and Jay shared a look before nodding in agreement, Jay pulling Mal back. She eyed Evie, who seemed determined not to look back at her before sighing, eyes downcast as she let Jay drag her away.

When they finally left, Evie let out a small sob against Harry’s chest as he led her back to the hammock, both falling into it. She curled up against him as he held her tightly, rubbing circles on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

“Don’t worry Princess. They’ll understand,” he muttered softly, feeling his heart break for her.

She looked up at him, eyes red from the tears streaming down her cheeks. He wiped them away with his finger. “But I was so horrible to them. What if they don’t?”

He kissed her on the forehead. “If they’re anything like ye say, they will. Otherwise, I’ll just hook them until they do.”

Evie let out a small giggle as Harry sighed in relief, happy to know that at least he had made her smile. “You’d have way too much fun with that.”

“I know Princess, I know.” He looked down at her as she closed her eyes, head nestled against his neck. I really don’t deserve ye Princess.

Several days had passed since their last encounter until it was almost one and a half weeks later without Evie that something very unexpected happened. When the three were called to meet the Fairy Godmother and Ben at her office, they couldn’t help but be mildly suspicious yet also downtrodden, still affected by what had happened back on the Isle. Had it really been that long without seeing her? It had taken Ben having to have security guard his limo and the remote confiscated to stop them from going back again. He knew she would come back eventually, but she needed to do it on her own terms, and the three going back there would only make it worse.

When Mal, Jay and Carlos arrived at the office, there were nothing less than surprised at who they found waiting for them, frozen in their spots and unable to move.

“Evie?”

“Harry?”

“What are you doing here?” They had all said in unison, Carlos having to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. But he certainly wasn’t because they were both still there, as real as they had been when they had last seen them.

Harry still had his arm clasped tightly around Evie’s chest as she leaned into him, the both of them watching them with an unreadable expression. When they had first seen them, Evie looked as though her eyes may have watered again, Harry having to give her a gentle squeeze to assure her that everything would be alright.

Evie did not speak, instead letting the figure from the corner make himself known.

“I brought them here.” Three heads turned sharply to find Ben walking diplomatically toward them, Mal looking at him in a mix of shock, disbelief and slightly betrayal.

“Ben, what?”

Seeing that she was about to yell at him, Evie stepped in, walking in between the two with Harry close behind. “Don’t blame him Mal. This was all me.”

Her eyes narrowed at her angrily. “You’re damn right it was. What is this all about? Why aren’t you back on the Isle? And why now? After everything you did, why now? Did you think we were gonna welcome you back with open arms?”

Noticing Evie flinch, Harry stood in front of her, slightly blocking her from view. “I know yer mad at her, but listen to her. It’s all my fault, so don’t blame her.”

Mal glared at him in ire. “I knew you were a bad influence on her!”

They two were pitted in a heated glaring match, and unable to stay silent anymore, Evie pulled Harry back, stepping front of him. “Harry! Mal! Okay, enough. Let me explain.”

She eyed her in distrust, but couldn’t help the burning curiosity and the need to have her friend back from blindsiding her from hearing a decent explanation. “So explain.”

She went silent, the blue haired girl breathing deeply to collect her thoughts. She felt Harry slip a hand in hers, gently squeezing it before she finally opened her mouth. “The reason I went back to the Isle was because of Harry.”

“We know that.”

She shook her head. “No, you don’t. Truth is, I’ve been seeing him for a while, and before you ask, no I was not dating him the same time I was dating Doug, and no he wasn’t the reason I broke up with him. Anyway, I only went back because he wanted me to meet his dad.”

Mal raised a brow. “Captain Hook?”

“Is there anyone else?” Harry asked sarcastically, irritated by her reaction. Before Mal could say something, Jay interrupted.

“What does Captain Hook have to do with all this?”

Evie looked at him. “He’s the main reason I stayed back for so long. You see, when he found out about Harry and I,” they could hear Harry growl something along the lines of 'Gil’, “he demanded I go see him, so I did. But that meeting fell through and he was left unimpressed.”

“The old fart wanted someone more 'rough 'round the edges’ and 'more evil’, not some 'prissy princess’ as he called E here,” Harry said calmly, barely reigning in his anger. The pirate looked absolutely murderous as he spoke, making the boys almost shiver as they knew what he was like when he was angry. It was not pretty.

Mal scowled in offence. “She’s not prissy.”

“Ye think I don’t know that? But because he didn’t approve of her, he wanted me to dump 'er, which of course I refused to.”

Evie nodded. “So I decided I would stay back in order to impress him.”

Carlos raised a questioning brow. “Why need his approval?” It was true; they didn’t really care about what their parents thought anymore, knowing they were too far gone for any of them to ever really be proud of them. Seeking approval from their parents was not something they lived to do anymore.

“Because I just do. After the falling out I had with my mother, which only grew worse when she heard rumors about me and Harry, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted what everyone else at Auradon had, a supporting family who backed up whoever you loved. See, Ben’s parents love you Mal, as do Lonnie’s with you Jay. And I know that Fairy Godmother warmed up to you already too Carlos, but who do I have? It was either my mother, who refused to accept anyone that wasn’t a prince, or Harry’s father who I thought was less particular about whoever Harry was dating.”

The way she had spoken, they could finally understand why she did it. After lacking the parental support they had wanted their whole, the family their respective lovers gave to them made up for that and more. But with Evie dating another VK, it was unlikely she would ever receive the same support they had. All they wanted now was to engulf her in a hug and never let her go, but they knew Harry wouldn’t allow them to until she finished speaking, or anytime really.

“But why cut us out?”

Evie walked over to Mal, gently grabbing both of her hands as she looked her in the eye. “Because I knew you’d try to talk me out of it. It was the only was to let you guys leave me there, because I knew you’d stay with me back on the Isle but this was something I needed to do on my own.”

She grew teary, but pushed them down until she could hear her finish. “So what happened?”

Harry stepped beside Evie, wrapping an arm around her with a proud smile. “She won him over of course. Impressed the fart until he started eating his words.”

Mal looked to Evie in confirmation, who nodded with the happiest smile on her face. “CJ wasn’t too happy when Captain Hook gave us his blessings.”

This time, everyone started grinning in pride, wishing to have seen the look on the girl’s face when she found out. “And Ben knew all this?”

They all looked to Ben, who looked slightly guilty. “Sort of. Evie told me she was leaving but I didn’t know specifics. She told me not to tell you anything and to keep you here until she was done, but know that I wanted to tell you so badly. I just couldn’t betray her trust. Besides, I wanted to invite Harry, Uma and Gil to Auradon Prep but Evie told me Harry wouldn’t come unless she was here.”

Mal went silent at his explanation as she glanced between the three contemplatively. Her silence obviously went for a little too long when Evie walked up to her, slightly unsure. “Please forgive me?”

“It wasn’t her fault,” Harry backed up.

Her gaze flickered between them before she shook her head, Evie deflating and Harry almost ready to pounce when Mal suddenly engulfed the girl in a tight hug, shocking them all before Evie returned the hug wholeheartedly. “Of course. Just don’t do that again. Next time, tell me everything. We’re best friends remember?”

Evie smiled. “I never forgot.”

Carlos, seeing that Harry was itching to get Mal away from Evie, decided to distract him as the girls had their moment. “So you’re an Auradon prep boy now?”

Harry bristled. “So are Uma and Gil.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Great, just great.”

“I told ye it would work out,” Harry said, after things had finally winded down. It took a few hours, with him having to endure the presence of both Jay and Carlos as they skilfully kept him away from Evie and leaving the girls alone, arguing that he had 'had her for a week’. If he had it his way, he would have her company forever and without them breathing down his neck every time he tried to grab her attention.

Evie smiled up at him, squeezing his hand tightly. “I should’ve believed you the first time.”

Harry shook his head. “Ye were too scared of what would’ve happened. I don’t blame ye Princess, but I really don’t deserve someone like you.”

She frowned, turning to look at him so their eyes were levelled. “Look at me Harry. I meant what I said earlier, and I do love you. I really do.”

“But ye really shouldn’t Princess. I almost made ye lose yer best friends, for what? To live with me back on the Isle? Ye belong on Auradon.”

“Just as much as I belong on the Isle, with you there too Harry. I don’t care what anyone says okay. And don’t blame yourself for all this, it was all on me.”

He smiled warmly at her, lifting a hand to brush the hair out of her face. “I really don’t deserve ye.”

She opened her mouth, ready to retort when he shushed her with a sweet kiss, pulling away only moments later. Evie was left breathless as she stared up at him, still never getting used to the gravity of his kisses, no matter how chaste they were.

“But I love ye too Princess.”

#hevie #harry x evie #descendants #harry hook #evie #evie descendants #mal #carlos de vil #ben #jay #m: fic #mine #he: fic #request filled

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