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anika-ann · 3 years

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Attached: The One Word

The Three Times Steve Didn’t Get to Hear the One Word He Wanted and the One Time He Did

Type: series, modern-college-professor Steve AU… aka the wrong attachment AU ;)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader Word count: 7700 👀

Summary: In which Steve really, really wants to ask you the question, but the odds are always against him – absurdly so. Maybe it’s fate and he shouldn’t ask. Or maybe the universe just hates him and punishes him for tainting a girl like you and wanting you all for himself officially.

Warnings: lots of swearing, crack-ish, briefest smut so 18+ only please, sickness and fluff

A/N: I say this to you, my friends – I do not at all envy men in a heterosexual relationship for being expected to pop the question. I would chicken out every time, I’m sure of it. Enjoy!

Story masterlist

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Steve liked to think important things through. He liked planning. He liked to have all the facts and view things from different angles before making a decision.

Therefore, wanting to marry you was something he was perfectly certain of and two months after he received your mother’s blessings – two months of slowly reducing costs, preparing to lower incomes, not that they had ever been glorious ever –, Steve had a feeling that the time was finally right and that he was ready to pop the question. He was.

The only problem was that the universe started plotting against him.

Big time.

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Palmeri was a relatively new restaurant, but quickly gaining reputation. Steve had heard Carol talking about taking her girlfriend there for the fun of trying a new spot and getting a taste of fancy Italian. Clearly that had a good time; the moment he learned, he started considering it. Two days later, he had to make a reservation for a week later, because the word of the delicious food travelled fast.

That was fine with him, even if he felt like he was about to jump out of his skin before the date finally arrived. Still, he advertised the fact to you that he would like to celebrate your early wrapped up exams already foreshadowing that you would obviously slayed the one you were supposed to have a day prior Friday.

When you heard the name of the restaurant, your eyes twinkled like fairy lights, a squeal of delight escaping your lips before they swiftly found his to kiss him crazy. Steve’s heart thundered in his chest as you ran off back to your books with newly-found motivation, his nerves mingling with the satisfaction that you appreciated his idea – even if you couldn’t have no clue about what he was about to do.

He could only hope that you’d be as delighted at him sinking to one knee.

But he would have to get out of this fucking interfaculty meeting FIRST!

“Seeing as the satisfaction of the students apparently took a nose dive according to the university poll last month…” Fury continued rambling, his serious and mildly snarky voice carrying through the conference room, as if mocking Steve who anxiously eyed the clock, again.

The reservation was for seven thirty.

It was five to seven.

Half an hour ago, Steve hated the idea of not taking a shower and looking his absolute best while proposing to you.

Now? Every option looked better than this. He would arrive to the restaurant all sweaty and catching his breath if he took off right this moment. And even that seemed impossible; president Fury, that son of a bitch, was nowhere close to ending the meeting.

51 weeks. 51 Fridays Fury could have called the meeting.

Nope, that bastard picked this one, the one Friday Steve was planning on sweeping you off your feet and asking you to be his for the rest of your lives.

Fucking asshole.

“Got anything to add, Professor Rogers?” a gruff voice asked him and Steve jumped in his chair and nearly dropped the phone he was pulling out of his pocket to text you with his deepest regrets – but he had to, otherwise you’d already be on your way.

Best if he saved you the embarrassment; best if you stayed home at least, all dolled up and pretty and smiling for him to show off.

Goddammit fuck.

Steve’s eyes snapped to Fury, meeting a glare that seemed even sterner with only one functioning eye.

Steve gritted his teeth and determinedly gripping his phone.

“No,” he shot back, biting his cheek when Fury’s eyebrow rose at his snappy tone. “I mean… I need to make a phone call. If you’d excuse me, it will be just a minute.”

Likely story. He would have to be apologizing for at least three minutes straight and then crawl on his knees when he finally got back home; not because you’d be so unforgiving and angry, but because it would be the right thing to do after disappointing your precious heart.

He was about to make you sad. He fucking hated making you sad.

“Make it three tops,” the president grumbled, but luckily didn’t pry what was so important for him to leave the room.

“Stevie!” your bright voice greeted him from the speaker and Steve’s heart seized in his chest, his fist automatically clenching in anger. He was about to crush you because of a dumb-ass useless meeting. He brought the fist to his mouth to stop himself from greeting you equally delighted way and fleeting the university grounds. “I’m just about to take off! I was getting worried you wouldn’t make it. Did Fury give you a hard time? … Steve?”

Steve, much to his horror, found his eyes prickling with tears of frustration as his name on your lips sounded suddenly unsure.

Fuck. This.

“Hey babygirl,” he said finally and the roughness of his voice must have been everything you needed to hear to understand.

“You can’t make it.”

Steve wanted to tear his hair out at the defeat in your voice. Talk about a nose dive of your mood. He was gonna fucking scream.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered instead, the apology so pathetic in comparison to what he wanted to say.

But that was the irony – you couldn’t even begin to guess how much it sucked for the two of you to not being able to go to the damn Palmeri. You didn’t know the main tragedy, only a part of it. You didn’t know he had been about to propose.

Silence stretched between the two of you and Steve tilted his head back, blinking against the sting in his eyes, his stomach sinking to his feet.

“It’s not your fault,” you sighed eventually, sounding as if you were trying to convince him as much as yourself.

Steve could imagine precisely the disappointment on your face, the fall of your expression, pretty features no doubt having been accented by make-up just the right amount twisting. He could see clearly how your lips made for smiles turned downward, lower lip maybe even trembling a bit.

Steve was gonna murder Fury.

“But it is. I’m so sorry, I know how excited you were and so was I and— I’m just really sorry.”

“I know, Steve,” you breathed out weakly and he could hear the attempt of a smile in your next words. “Come home soon, yeah? I’ll wait for you.”

Steve’s heart grew in size so rapidly it actually hurt.

“I love you, sweetheart. I know--- I know you might not wanna hear it now and that it doesn’t mean much, but I really do,” he creaked.

“It does. Bye, Steve.”

Steve’s fingers clutched at the phone, eyes falling shut in defeat.

You were nice about it, sure, but the fact that you didn’t say I love you back didn’t escape him as didn’t the switch from Stevie to Steve; the subtle hints sat heavily in his gut as he returned to the room.

He met Bucky’s compassionate gaze – of course Buck knew about why Steve was distracted during the assembly – and quickly looked away, once again excusing himself for the interruption even if there was nothing sincere about his words.

His chest ached for the rest of the meeting – and would for the rest of the night.

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He did not come home soon – in fact, it was nearing eleven when he finally opened the door, trying to make no sound when he found the apartment plunged into dark. He grimaced, jaw clenching; you were already asleep.

A fresh surge of anger shot into his veins; the university hated him, he was certain of it – and the other way around. He had missed his shot because of a meeting that was literally about nothing. Fuck his life.

He grumbled, the only sound he allowed himself to make when moving around the apartment, switching the dimmest light he could as not to wake you – because disappointing you was enough, the least he could do was not to disturb your sleep.

Frustrated, tired and hungry, he tiptoed to the kitchen to grab a bite. He was starving and even though he was exhausted and craved nothing but to wrap his arms around you and sink into the cushions, he knew hunger would wake him up a few hours later if he went to bed with an empty stomach.

Upon opening the fridge, a surprise welcomed him; a ham & cheese sandwich ready on a plate, a small Tupperware box with pieces of tomatoes and cucumber on side, a sticky note simply reading ‘Stevie’.

His breath got stuck in his throat, heart hammering in his ribcage – that was how moved he was by your gesture. He knew that you must have been as upset as you had been excited to have the fancy dinner with him, but here you were, pushing your sorrows and anger aside and preparing him food, a possible olive branch.

The sandwich was nothing fancy by any means; but God, Steve loved you just a little bit more at that moment for he didn’t have to move a finger to eat so late and you even took care to set his vegetables aside, because you knew how much he hated when the bread got squishy with the juice.

Gratefully biting into his late-night meal, Steve swore to himself he would spend the rest of his life spoiling you rotten.

When he finally got to cautiously cuddle you from behind – eyeing the absolutely stunning dress you were supposed to wear hanging outside the closet as if there to mock him – you stirred at the dip of the mattress.

Lazily blinking your eyes open, you welcomed him with a raspy hey and he had a half mind to just take the ring from the safety of its velvet box and slip it on your finger right there.

“I’m sorry, babygirl. I’m so so sorry,” he whispered, tentatively wrapping his arm around your midsection, unsure if he wasn’t in disgrace after all. You just hummed and rolled over to face him, burying your face in his chest, heavy limbs wrapping around him as if you were an octopus – the most adorable, precious, beautiful and perfect octopus in the world. His octopus. “I love you so much. I promise to make it up to you.”

“Uh-huh. Looking forward to it. Now sleep,” you mumbled to Steve’s sleepshirt, half-grumpy half-sounding as if not caring for what he was saying at all, causing him to feel warm all over.

Oh he was so going to show you just how he could make it up to you. He would marry the shit out of you.

Just you wait.

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Because of a water incident, Palmeri closed three days after Steve’s first failed attempt – and assumptions were that it would remain so for a month, because they needed to redecorate.

That meant a new plan for Steve, because he could not wait that long. Out of question. He needed to hear you say yes as soon as possible. Yesterday had been too late.

So, he asked Sam for a recommendation – casually, he believed – and somehow ended up with the man looking at him for a few seconds before realization dawned on his face.

“Oooooh, I see how it is! Need something real nice, huh?” Sam whistled, a teasing grin on his face as he patted Steve’s shoulder for support. “Relax, I gotcha, man. All you need; cosy atmosphere, but classy, white table cloths and everything. The right place to take her to in order to butter her up and make her all putty.”

Steve didn’t manage to quite hide his embarrassment at being so obvious, but he knew that Sam was a friend and all his shit-talking was good-natured, always knowing where the boundaries were; he wasn’t a counsellor for nothing.

And Steve had to give it to him – the place he recommended was just what he promised it would be and exactly what Steve needed.

You were all smiles and some giggles, little tipsy on the second glass of the wine, eyes shining in the dim lights, somehow lighting up more whenever you caught him staring at you. It was the perfect display of all the good things you were, ones he adored about you, the light of his life and gazing at him as if he was yours too.

Downing some of the liquid courage himself and with you so gorgeously giddy, Steve felt his confidence building up during the night and was just about ready to get on one knee once you finished your shared dessert.

“This is good!” you gushed, digging the fork if into the cake to get another bite and Steve grinned, unable to help himself as he agreed.

“Uh-huh, sweet. But not as sweet as you.”

You stopped mid-chew, eyes meeting his and he felt his face burn hot with embarrassment at such cheesy comment.

You swallowed, gaze still fixed on him as he busied himself with the sweet treat, and then you chuckled, causing his face to turn entirely red.

“You, Steve Rogers, are so corny sometimes,” you mocked him lightly, but when he looked up, sheepish and with his confidence bruised, he found you all starry-eyed still, watching him adoringly as if he hung the moon – and he would, for you – and Steve felt himself settle again. “But I still love you. Maybe even more for that.”

It was a wonderful opening, things really going his way – but he hesitated a second too long, like an idiot, and the next thing he knew, a string quartet, a damn string quartet, walked straight to the elderly couple two tables over, one of the group congratulating them to their thirtieth anniversary and at that moment…

Well. At that moment, Steve really fucking hated them.

Who fucking cared they were a sweet elderly couple?! Steve could only dream about you two becoming them one day as of now, because they ruined just another of his fucking shots!

He couldn’t believe that he missed his window again.

And what more, you cooed under your breath, a silent aww falling from your lips and Steve knew that anything less than a string quartet accompanying a marriage proposal when delivered in a restaurant was a no-go.

So scratch that one off the list.

All guests clapped their hands, more of awws coming from different directions and you proceeded to take his hand, gentle fingers stroking over his knuckles and Steve knew one thing with absolute certainty; he needed to propose tonight otherwise he might burst.

At home then, he would ask you at home. Who even wanted something as cliché and public as he had planned? Lame. You were a private pair, some people still judged you upon seeing you together; a little intimate proposal in your home after a fancy sweet dinner would be just the thing.

Steve just had to figure how exactly and at what moment to ask. He’d be fine. You’d say yes. Right?

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts and plans that he barely noticed you growing skittish during the taxi ride, but he certainly noticed when you started practically jumping by his side as he was unlocking the door to your apartment, confused by your antics.

The second Steve opened it and stepped inside, he found himself being shoved back-first towards a wall, your hands on his chest, sliding up and down his coat and blindly undoing the buttons as your mouth assaulted his, a soft mewl vibrating against his lips, wandering hands appreciative when they slipped under the lapels of his coat and jacket.

Steve’s head spun at the display of desire, a sudden pleasant dizziness overtaking his body, all rational thoughts vaporizing as you rocked against his crotch, his cock twitching in excitement at the friction and at the way his tongue had to fight against yours. His brain grew foggy at the faint taste of wine and the cake you had shared, his hands automatically grabbing your waist to keep you close, fingers squeezing your hips and ass to urge you closer when he rolled his hips against yours, eliciting needy moans from your lips-

You withdrew for just a second to catch your breath, lips skimming over his jaw, revelling at the feel of his beard on your skin he knew you loved, hasty words whispered into his flesh.

“Dammit, Steve, you look so fucking hot in this suit--- oh Stevie,” you whimpered when his hands slipped under your backside to tease your clothed weeping core, the sensation setting his blood on fire, the delicious friction and your dirty mouth everything that mattered in the world. “Let me suck you off-“

Steve nearly choked on his own spit upon hearing that, almost losing his balance with his legs turning into jelly and all his blood rushing into his dick.

Yeah, Steve might be a professor but he was a simple guy.

When his girl, in those stunning hot as hell dress begged him to let her get on her knees to blow his dick and his mind, he really couldn’t find himself refusing, the coil in his belly searing hot by the time you looked up at him from under your eyelashes, so pretty, doe-eyed, lips kiss-swollen and willing and so fucking devilish as you freed his cock and licked the drop of precum already forming there.

“Fuck, babygirl, what’s gotten into you-“ was all he managed to ask before all he could think off was the velvety heat of your mouth, taking him all in and making him see stars, the jewellery box in the pocket of his coat long forgotten.

And fuck was also his first coherent thought in the morning, when he realized that once again, the proposal attempt ended up being an utter failure.

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Steve had established after his two and half failed proposals that he wouldn’t make any reservations in some dumb restaurant. Just no. Privacy it would be; something personal, accompanied with a simple and yet big enough gesture, him doing something just for you, following with words of you being his world or something.

Yeah.

And for once, it seemed that the universe that had seemed to hate him, finally started playing in his favour.

The weather was going crazy, sun and spring in a middle of February and Steve had a revelation – he was going to take you out for a picnic. It was going to be perfect; he’d take you outside the city, find a quiet corner, just you and him, nothing in your way and more importantly, in his way to pop the question.

Steve was certain that you’d prefer this to anything else anyway, loving when he made an effort to create something for you. He still remembered when you first discovered he enjoyed drawing and you practically melted into a puddle when you found drawings of yourself too, allegedly displaying you prettier than you were – as if.

So, picnic it was.

Except on Friday, the day before THE DAY, Steve woke up with a splitting headache, his whole body hurting, nose full and lungs as if stuffed with cotton wool. He blamed the crazy weather, but it didn’t really matter where this sickness came from – he felt like shit.

He groaned and downright punched the alarm on his phone, startling you awake.

With bleary gaze, he registered you rolling over in his arms, squirming at him sleepily as he let his eyelids slip shut again.

“Steve, hun, are you okay?” you asked him softly, voice husky as he loved to hear it when you woke up, too adorable for him to keep his hands off you.

He sure as fuck wasn’t thinking about sweet and filthy morning loving now; he would have coughed out his lungs if he tried to move too much and some parts of him might fall off judging by how much everything hurt.

“Yeah,” he rasped, throat scratchy at the single word and as if from a distance, he heard a noise of sympathy, your palm instantly finding his forehead, gentle touch soothing against his burning skin.

“You’re absolutely not okay. Stevie, you’re burning up,” you whispered compassionately and Steve blinked his eyes open, the little light in the room causing him to snap them close again immediately. Ouch.

“Fuck my liiiiife,” he groaned, prolonging the last syllable, which proved to be a wrong thing to do, sending him into a couching fit due to his scratchy throat.

Your hands roamed his shoulders and back as he rolled over to his side from you, hoping to suck in some air to continue coughing.

“Oh Stevie, I’m sorry. I’ll bring you some medicine when I’m back from school, yeah? And I’ll make some soup,” you assured him kindly, dropping a kiss to his shoulder before your pleasant warmth disappeared, leaving him too cold and hot at the same time.

Seriously. FUCK HIS LIFE.

Grunting, he fell to his back, exhausted by one stupid coughing fit, whole body heavy; and he must have fallen asleep too, because the next thing he knew, soft lips were touching his forehead, tender fingers brushing messy strands of hair away. He stirred, forcing his eyes open to be greeted by a sight of that angelic face of yours, complete with a halo of light around you.

“I already called Bucky. He’ll sort out your classes today, alright? There’s a tea on your nightstand along with some last Tylenol we have.”

Steve squinted in the direction of the piece of furniture you mentioned and sure enough, there it was, everything you said it would.

What a pretty dutiful nurse you were. God, he loved you.

As he eyed you then, deep sense of longing settled in his swimming stomach, more so as he didn’t miss the gorgeous thermo leggings and long sweater hugging your figure, reaching your mid-thighs.

All Steve wanted was to pull you back to him so he had a human furnace in bed with him, the soothing smell of your shampoo to comfort him – even though he probably wouldn’t be able to smell it. But his hands would still be able to explore your delicious body, grope and hold it close to his and you could maybe ramble about everything and anything, lulling him to sleep.

But no, you were leaving to school, leaving him alone in the apartment.

Just him, himself and his fucking flu.

He eyed you wistfully, lips pursed at your concerned expression.

“When you’ll be back?”

The wrinkle between your brows smoothened, a smile playing in the corner of your mouth.

“I have class until eleven. I see what I can do. I’m gonna have to hit the pharmacy and make some shopping,” you explained patiently, casing Steve to groan. Too long. So so long… Your smile widened, another kiss landing on his temple this time. “But I’ll be back before you know it. Get some rest, Professor Rogers.”

Your teasing tone made him growl, the action effectively sending him into another coughing fit and through glassy eyes, he saw you disappear from the room with one last glance over your shoulder.

Steve closed his eyes and breathed in deeply – oh, the delicious air – and then buried himself in the covers, praying that a decent sleep would make him feel better.

It didn’t, not quite. What did make him feel much better was the Tylenol and the sirup you brought along.

The absolute best was when you were there for him to cuddle you to sleep in the evening; somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that he was being a giant baby and was being utterly ridiculous, but God help him, this was all he needed the whole day.

He sighed blissfully as he hugged your midsection while you were sitting propped on the back-rest, soft light from the nightlamp illuminating the pages of the book you were reading. You were warmth, the gentle kind and Steve felt you seeping into him, fingers of one hand raking through his hair; he felt himself getting high on your loving care and cough sirup.

“I love having you here,” he muttered into the fabric of your pyjama, feeling you shift in your position a little, probably as you looked at him.

“Yeah?” you asked, sounding as if you were smiling, maybe even laughing at him; but he couldn’t care less, already drifting off to sleep, just content to have you.

“You’re warm and nice… and the prettiest nurse. And I love you. You’re my everything.”

“Oh Stevie,” you cooed sweetly, kissing the crown of his head and he preened at the sensation, smiling lazily. “I love you too.”

His heart skipped a beat as he nuzzled into your flesh and heard you gently toss the book away, your other hand now caressing his cheek.

“Yeah? Will you always be here? I want you to always be with me,” he admitted sheepishly, drawing a soft giggle and earning a kiss on his forehead.

“God, you’re adorable like this…”

Steve grunted, discontent with your reaction. “Not an answer.”

“I’ll always be here if you want me to, Stevie,” you answered dutifully, causing warmth fill his chest even if your body was shaking with hushed laughter; he felt it, but didn’t care. For your words however, he did; phew, as if he ever wanted something else, as if you had the right to question that!

He really needed to propose soon… just not tomorrow. You’d probably say no if he asked you, blaming his request on the fever. Naively.

“I wanna,” he mumbled, trying to squeeze you tighter. “Mine. My pretty girl. My babygirl. Forever.”

“Forever is a long time,” you noted, smile once again lacing your voice, along with an emotion, oh so soft one, he didn’t have the capacity to identify anymore. “But that’s what it’ll be if that’s what you want.”

Finally satisfied and with determination in the back of his mind, Steve let your love bridge him over to the dreamland, distantly aware of your fingers still playing with his hair.

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Steve’s mother used to say his that flu lasted a week under a doctor’s care; and seven days without it. Of course, when he was younger with many health issues, it was more complicated than that, but he got the message.

Under your care, he felt considerably better after five days, only a mild case of a runny nose remaining. On a Thursday morning, he even found himself awake before you did, before your alarm went off.

Contemplating whether he should stay in bed with you or get shit done, he lazily scooped away a bit and propped himself on his elbow to feast his eyes on his pretty nurse.

Your hair was a messy halo around your head, your brows were lightly crooked as if you were having an unpleasant dream, your lips parted just a fraction, the softest snort escaping you.

Steve felt himself grin, a love-sick lift of the corners of his lips.

You were so freaking cute.

And seeing you, relaxed, but clearly catching up with sleep to beat your exhaustion to which he abundantly contributed, he knew he couldn’t stay in bed; in fact, he had to make you breakfast to bed, for all the troubles he put you through and for the attentive care you lavished him with.

Sure, when he was getting overly needy and whiny or cranky, you weren’t shy to call him out on his shit – which only made him love you more – but otherwise you were admirably patient.

As if he hadn’t already known that you were a keeper before that; this only solidified his conviction. If everything about you didn’t scream put a ring on it, then he wasn’t Steven Grant Rogers.

Hell, he had a half-mind to propose you just at that moment, all domestic atmosphere and sweet gesture like breakfast in bed, but he wasn’t certain it wouldn’t look like the past few days were what pushed him over the edge. That would only be a half-truth--- quarter-truth?

Shaking his head at his own dumb thoughts, he gathered the pancakes, yogurt, various pieces of fruit and obviously, a coffee, laying it on a tray he had nearly forgotten he owned and tiptoed to the bedroom, honestly surprised that you hadn’t woken up yet with him fumbling around.

He stopped dead in his tracks when you sighed and stirred, rolling over and stretching out a hand as if in a search for him, only to find the space empty. Something between a hum and a damn meowl fell from your lips and Steve had to remind himself what it was he wanted to do besides trying his best to find out how exactly he could make you repeat that sound.

So precious. Absolutely adorable. Beautiful. Tempting.

You clutched the empty sheets, but didn’t wake and Steve crossed the distance to the bed, carefully setting the tray on the nightstand as he went to sit on the bed next to your waist, a dopy smile on his face.

Laying a hand on your thigh, he squeezed a little, attempting to wake you gently; he knew you got jumpy when something tickled your face, so this was the safer option.

You stirred once again, but didn’t wake, your eyes only fluttering open when he called your name a few times, alternating with your favourite term of endearment.

You squinted at him, appearing confused and groaning. Steve grinned.

“Morning, sunshine,” he hummed, finally allowing himself to run the pads of his fingers from your forehead to your cheek and jaw, leaning into drop a kiss to your lips.

He froze, his brain on alert as he registered how hot your face felt.

The faint snoring. Squinting against light. Not waking up sooner than him. Your face pretty much burning to touch.

Oh no.

“Babygirl… are you feeling sick?” Steve whispered hesitantly, met with a bleary gaze and a pout.

“Wasn’t feeling great even yesterday evening…” you said, voice hoarse – whether from sleep or the flu Steve had managed to infect you with, he couldn’t tell.

But he certainly felt guilty, even if it was inevitable, really; with all you sweet care and constant proximity, it was only a matter of time. Not that it made him feel any better.

“Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry-“

“Not your fault-“

“Kinda is-“

“Steve dammit!” you hissed, your eyes flying open fully and Steve knew what was coming; still, he grimaced as you coughed. “Shit. I hate flu.”

“Tell me about it. You think you can eat something?” he fussed, snapping into his nurse mode right away, ready for your roles to reverse.

You hummed and tried to sit, your gaze falling on the nightstand for the first time. Your expression, having been twisted in a grimace, softened instantly. As you turned to him, he suddenly felt sheepish. Was he acting like a love-sick fool?

“You made me breakfast to bed?” you cooed, snuggling into the covers before gesturing for him to help you sit up. “You’re the best.”

“I’ll be better if I make you some tea to go with it… and bring cough sirup… and stuff, yeah?”

You smiled like a loon – well, you tried, the result kinda faint, a testimony to your exhaustion – and Steve quickly rose to his feet.

“You’re the best.”

“Nope, that’s you. Eat your breakfast, babygirl.”

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Steve could tell you still didn’t feel exactly alright and the idea of eating wasn’t thrilling to you, but the pleaser you were, you tried your best for him to see that you appreciated his effort to make breakfast. When he brought you the tea, the medicine and water to down it, you were hallway through the pancakes, even though you seemed to force yourself into every bite.

“You don’t have to make yourself sicker just because you feel like you have to eat this, you know,” he hummed nonchalantly, causing you to grimace and take another two bites before sighing and pushing the tray away.

“It’s really yummy though… I think,” you stated, a wry smile playing in one corner of your lips. “Thank you.”

And you sounded so honestly grateful, clearly attempting for the smile to look real even with your eyes blazed and your features undeniably displaying tiredness, that Steve had to chuckle as he handed you the pills.

“Glad you liked it, sweetheart.”

You went to drop a careful kiss to his cheek when a coughing fit took you by surprise, starling him and resulting in you clutching both your chest and head, wide hurt eyes looking up at him as he smiled, tight-lipped and compassionate; he knew exactly how you felt.

And you were still kinda adorable, pouting a bit, looking at Steve as if he could save you from the evil flu monster.

“I hate flu… but I really like you. Thank you for taking care of me,” you said sincerely, emphasizing your point with an obviously unplanned sneeze.

Steve lips twitched, but so did his heart. His hands went to caress your hair, earning a pleased hum.

“Just returning the favour.”

“Uh-huh. Don’t think I was that nice.”

“You were,” he assured you, feeling need to add a little piece of important information, just to show how much he meant it. “Just made me fall in love with you all over again.”

“Sweet-talker. I bet that’s all gone now, seeing me about to go through a box of tissues a day,” you chuckled weakly, nearly sinking into the cushions.

Steve wasn’t sure what was it he was suddenly overcome with; how or in which exact moment it sneaked into his conscience, a crazy insane thought and the untameable feeling in his gut that nudged him to do it.

To do it right now. To tell you, truly and from the depth of his heart, how much you meant to him. How much he was sure you always would.

“No, it’s not. I want to take care of you,” he whispered, hesitantly taking a hold of your slightly clammy hands and gently squeezing. You reciprocated the action, even if weakly.

“I want to take care of you and I want you to take care of me. I want to have you by my side every day, in our home, in our bed,” he continued, for once not talking only about different ways of making you moan his name when mentioning a bed. “I want to kiss you stupid whenever I get the chance, I want to laugh with you when you’re happy and hold you when you feel like crap. I want us to fight the whole world if they tell us that our love is wrong, because I know there’s nothing more right than me loving you and you loving me.”

The words spilled from his lips without much thinking, just one following other, somehow making sense, he hoped.

The strange buzz of nerves in his ears was so loud that he barely registered you breathed out his name.

“Steve-“

His eyes never left your face, watching it crumble under the weight of his declaration, already glassy eyes turning wetter, breathing ragged almost as much as his was from the rapid fire of words. Your lips parted in beautiful awe, that beautiful awe he had seen before, whenever you seemed to be shocked by how deep his need for you ran.

There was no questioning what should come next. Only half-aware of doing so, Steve had already prepared the ground.

“Stay right here,” he blurted out, giving your hands another quick squeeze before straightening rapidly and nearly tripping over his feet as he rushed towards his desk, opening the third drawer. Your voice, laced with both confusion and overwhelming emotion, followed him.

“I- I’m not going anywhere. What’s-“

“Sh-shh,” Steve hissed distractedly and took a deep breath as his fingers finally met with the box, gripping it tightly and his palm covering it as he stalked back to the bed, heart hammering in his ribcage.

This was the right moment, right? It seemed ridiculous, but god, so so right.

“You’re lucid, right?” he asked just to make sure, wavering only for a bit; you might be sick, even have a headache maybe, but you certainly appeared lucid enough a moment ago. But maybe that would be the reason you’d say no?

Shit, he felt like teenager about to ask his first crush to sit with him at lunch.

“I—I think? I’m just hella confused…“ you stuttered, causing his already wild heart to skip a beat upon hearing the nerves in your voice.

Your eyes, wide with confusion and yet slightly narrow because light hurt, watched Steve carefully as he dropped to his knees by your bedside and he didn’t think he ever saw you looking more endearing.

Steve had never been more certain of the fact that he wanted you to be his wife; and yet, and maybe precisely because of that, a lump formed in his throat. He took a deep calming breath, bracing himself.

“I love you. I love your mind, your body, your soul and everything that’s you and I—I think you’re the most wonderful woman I have ever met and had the luck to fall for. So I…”

With another heartskip, loud pounding in his head and maybe a tiny bit of a shake to his hands, he rose to only one knee, not missing your expression turning into a picture perfect of shock when he held out the box he had been thinking about for too long.

“Oh my god, Steve-“

“Please let me do this,” he whispered, barely audible, mostly because while you seemed absolutely stunned, you didn’t look angry or horrified, so he sensed a chance.

“I’m running a fever, my nose is running too and I’m--- ew all over-“ you protested weakly, a tear actually running down your cheek, but then you chuckled, a hand flying up to cover your mouth and Steve felt his confidence rise.

“You’re not, and even if you were I wouldn’t care. You’re my everything and wish nothing more than to make you mine officially.” Unable to wait any longer under you attentive and entirely adoring gaze, he opened the box and said your full name, nearly choking on it under the overwhelming joy of the moment – because he already knew. He knew what you were gonna say; you had it written all over you face. “Will you marry me?”

Steve knew. He was so sure that he knew--- and yet. Yet. As the silence prolonged, lasting seconds, minutes even – hours, it must have been – Steve felt the nervous coil in his gut twist painfully.

He watched you with torturous anticipation as you were; semi-sat up on a bed, hurting, probably beginning to sweat through your pyjama and drinking chamomile tea to get rid of the bug you had caught from him, and here he was, proposing.

In sickness and health indeed; and in some absurd way, this all made perfect sense to him… well, it had, a minute ago.

You looked like a million thoughts were racing through your head, and Steve felt his heart sink to his stomach. What if you truly were thinking he was crazy-

“Yes,” you said at last and Steve released the breath he was holding, endlessly relieved, the heaviness weighting a ton finally falling from his shoulders. Oh Chirst, thank fuck—he really had been getting worried- “Yes, I-“

Relief blended into delight as he heard you speak the beautiful word again.

Yes. Yes, you wanted to be his wife.

Yes, you wanted to marry him!!

An incredulous chuckle spilled from his lips and he tossed the box on the bed, swiftly moving up and grabbing your face to kiss you stupid as he wanted and had said that he always would.

You made a startled noise, but you giggled too, grasping onto his shoulders and his nape and kissing back with all you got—and then you were pulling away, fighting for breath, because flu, duh, he needed to be careful with you, but-

You agreed to marry him!

Keeping you as close as possible while allowing you to breathe, his eyes happily roamed your face, so pretty and adorable and the knowledge of him being able waking up next to that face for the rest of his life sent his heart into frenzy, sparkles of pure joy filling his chest.

“I love you! Thank you, babygirl,” he exclaimed, kissing you once more, a short but intense encounter of lips that caused you to giggle again—but he didn’t give a shit if he was being ridiculous. Your eyes, even if tired, seemed to glow now, happy twinkles dancing in your irises, telling him you were just as excited and delighted as he was. “Thank you-“

“You’re so crazy-“ you mumbled, dropping a kiss to his shoulder as you still shook with laughter and Steve simply climbed on the bed fully, wrapping you in his arms tightly.

He could sing at how you fit into his arms.

“I am. For you.”

“I can’t believe you proposed to me while I’m lying sick on a bed,” you mumbled over his shoulder, sounding as if you were complaining a little.

“In sickness and health?” he offered nervously, holding you tighter just in case you were going to back out now. Which was not an option.

He had to physically put the ring on your finger. Right now. Then you wouldn’t be able to change your mind.

In the back of his brain, an annoying voice told him that this was not how it worked, that there was no guarantee. But Steve shushed that voice and withdrew only enough to reach for the box and with a grin so wide he could feel his cheeks hurt from the strain, he took a hold of your left hand, slipping the ring on.

He didn’t miss the way your breath caught and he didn’t think the flu was to blame for that; the ring looked lovely on your hand. And Steve was a smidge proud of how he managed to make it fit perfectly.

“Steve… the ring-”

“You don’t like it?” he worried in an instant as he detected a new emotion in your voice.

You went to lightly slap his shoulder, rolling your eyes – an action you apparently regretted by the silent groan that followed; just another reminded of your sickness.

“Shush, you dummy. It’s--- breath-taking, but-“ you bit down on your lower lip, clearly hesitant to speak your mind and Steve didn’t find it at all comforting that you said you did like then ring. Not with the but. You sounded almost guilty, which was… strange. “But must have been so expensive and we still haven’t really-“

Oh. Oh.

Steve felt his lips spread back into a smile.

His sweet, sweet girl, responsible and perfect. He hated the reminder of your father’s behaviour, of the fact that you were ashamed on his behalf and felt guilty.

Steve didn’t want that.

“If I tell you it wasn’t, will you be mad?” he offered, watching carefully for your reaction, and your thoughtful expression turned into a confused one.

“Wasn’t?“

“I just had it cleaned and re-sized.”

You blinked, eyelids heavy, and tilted your head in bewilderment—melting into a brief panic and Steve realized what must have crossed your mind.

His stomach clenched in horror at you even considering it. You might have thought it was meant for another woman from his life.

Which it was, but not the way you thought!

“It was my ma’s!” he blurted out in panic, causing you to flinch a bit in fright of his suddenly louder voice. Steve shook his head – he was so messing this whole proposal thing up – clearing his throat, he observed your face, now full of emotion he couldn’t read. “…is that okay?”

There were tears prickling in your eyes, no words leaving your mouth as he had managed to render you speechless and he could punch himself for making you feel whatever you were feeling.

He had to fix this, fast.

“We can absolutely pick up something else if you don’t like the idea!” he was quick to offer, his heart speeding up when you still didn’t say a word. But you didn’t seem… that mad. What was happening in your head though, that was a mystery to him. “It’s just… she always told me that it was the second most precious thing she had left after dad, right after me, and that she wants me to give it to-- please don’t cry.”

Yes, he made the tears spill. There were a few rolling down your cheeks and Steve… he was starting to recognize the emotions playing in your expression, but he couldn’t entirely put his finger on it.

Honestly, he couldn’t tell whether you were so touched by the whole inherited ring gesture or if you were hating him with your very being for ruining some picture-perfect proposal you had been dreaming about since you were five; angry and disappointed that he didn’t even have the decency to buy you your own ring.

Probably a bit of both.

“Steve, you romantic idiot, come here,” you choked out, by a miracle not coughing for once and before he could even react and let the relief sink in, you grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled hard.

You had a surprisingly a lot of strength for someone coming down with a flu – actually, being down with a flu.

He landed on you, barely catching himself before he could crush you, a surprised laugh spilling from his lips, delight once again lighting up his world.

“I love you, Steve,” you whispered, pecking his lips, fingers sinking to his hair and that moment, Steve was in heaven. “So much.”

He grinned wide, wrapping his arms around you and holding you to his chest as tight as he could, feeling both his own heartbeat and yours, tumbling happily and together.

“And I love you… future Mrs. Rogers.”

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Tied to you (next in timeline)

S.R.masterlist

Attached masterlist

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Not gonna lie. Thought of posting this in four parts of maybe at least two (3 and +1), but then I thought, screw it, let’s post 7,7k words at once. I hope you made it through all of them.

What’s coming next? I have no idea... maybe it’s who’s ‘coming’ next 👀

Thank you for reading!

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sokkisky · 3 years

Text

~i’m not your enemy~

Want to make a request?: https://forms.gle/NyZgUcqkCPzHRvVn6

Discord: https://discord.gg/4H3m4vjMBZ

Rating: SFW (Neutral)

Pairings: Bakugou x Y/N

Warnings: Cursing, a bit of smut near the end, but not much.

A/N: Hi milk buds! Okay so this is another request because writer’s block is still going strong. Love that (eyeroll). Either way this gives me the perfect opportunity to answer requests and OMG you will not believe how happy this makes me. I was thinking about maybe posting two posts a day, but I’m not sure right now. We might make a poll on that later on. Daily posts are still going of course! Also thank you thank you thank you, for all of your sweet messages. They make me so happy! Our request for today read.

Bakugou enemies to lovers au

A Y/N who has a pretty similar personality to Bakugou (but a bit more tamed compared to him and more sleep deprived, like a lot more sleep deprived). They clash at first, but they get to know each other later and start to get close 😌. And if its alright, can Bakugou be the one to catch feelings first 🤭. (@choochoobells3)

@choochoobells3 This is so cute! Thank you so much for your request you beautiful being. I absolutely adore this. I think I’m going to make this into a tiny series meaning there’s probably going to need to be a part two. Speaking of part twos if you ever want a part two to something, just ask. I don’t mind. It could be literally anything, if you want a continuance, just ask me

Remember guys to TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES. You are beautiful, you are worth it, and you are loved. Heck I love you! And I hope you enjoy it!

“Ha! Typical Bakugou, slow as ever.” you mocked, preparing yourself for another attack.

Bakugou snarled at you, angrily eying you. The two of you were training together thanks to Aizawa.

Ever since you came to UA, the two of you have butted heads. You both were super strong and had a similar personality. Everyday though it seemed that you were the furthest people on the earth. You always had small arguments, although you could keep your cool. You calmly riled him up as he yelled, shouted about whatever nonsense the two of you were arguing about.

Once class ended and everyone went back to the dorms you started feeling a bit light headed. You were walking with Bakugou, Denki, Mina, Kirishima, and Sero. You walked, the dorms coming closer in your view when you started to feel a little dizzy. Mina turned to you, noticing something was off.

“Hey you okay?” she asked before your nose began to bleed. Your hands moved to your nose, trying to stop the blood. “Omg! What happened?” Mina said seeing the blood pooling in your hands. Kirishima, Denki, Sero and Bakugou turned.

“Woah what happened?” Kirishima asked, coming to your side. You shrugged and Bakugou chuckled a little. “It’s the universe punishing you.” he joked before walking off.

You sighed as Mina took you to the dorm bathroom to clean up.

Once the blood flow stopped you hurriedly walked to your room. You still felt dizzy, the numbers and words on the door looking slightly scrambled. You walked into your dark dorm room and thought you were just getting hot.

You pulled off your shirt before the door opened. You quickly turned, still feeling lightheaded.

“What the hell are you doing idiot?” Bakugou shouted from the door, his face beet red. You blushing holding your shirt in front of you. “Get out of my room!” you shouted. Bakugou stood in the doorway confused. “Are you stupid?” he shouted back. “Get out of MY room!”

You looked at him confused before walking up to the doorway and peaked at the door card.

This wasn’t your dorm room.

You squeaked a little, turning to Bakugou and hastily pulling your shirt over your head while stammering out “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” over and over again. You stumbled around, running into the doorpost ad hitting your head. You tripped backwards until you felt two strong hands grab you. You finally got the shirt over your head and looked up at a red faced Bakugou.

He quickly helped you to stand up cursing you as he steadied you. He gripped your shoulders staring at you. “You dumbass! Be more careful!” Bakugou shouted, examining your face. “You could’ve gotten hurt.”

You sighed, smiling a little. “What’s this, Bakugou worried about me?” you teased smiling at him.

He stood up smacking the back of your head. “Don’t be an idiot.” he mumbled walking into his room. “You’re just a classmate.”

He slammed the door as you walked to your dorm room. You giggled to yourself a little, unaware of how fast Bakugou’s heart was beating in his chest. How assured he was that you were okay, you had absolutely no clue.

To be continued...

#mha bakugou #bakugou #bakugou hcs #katsuki bakugou #katsuki bakugo imagine #bakugou katsuki #katsuki bakugo x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki #my hero headcanons #my hero academia #my hero x reader #my hero fanfic #boku no hero fanfic #boku no hero academia #boku no hero headcanons #boku no hero x reader #milk buds #milky army

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fuckingthefictional · 4 years

Text

Secret Shelby.

Finn Shelby x Reader

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays or happy-whatever-you-may-celebrate.

Here’s a crap fic that’s way too long, and half of it is probably gibberish- but hey enjoy!

“Where the fuck is Finn?”

The clock ticked teasingly- it made Arthur more annoyed. By waiting around they were losing time that could be spent working. Or more importantly, getting drunk.

The air was thick with tension. And all of the Shelby’s and the rest of the Blinders were growing increasingly impatient with the youngest brother. He had yet to make an appearance and it frustrated the eldest Shelby to no end.

If there was one thing that the Shelby family expected with the business they owned, it was to be on time- everyone knew that the Shelby’s hated tardiness and the fact that Finn hadn’t shown up was pushing them all into a state of annoyance.

“I said where the fuck is Finn?” Arthur asked again, not particularly asking anyone directly.

“I’ve not seen ‘im.” Isaiah replied from the column he was leant on.

Tommy took an inhale of his cigarette and swilled the whiskey around the glass it was contained in.

“If Isaiah doesn’t know Arthur, then I have no fuckin’ clue. If you’re that bothered about the lad then go and find him.” Smoke blew from his mouth, “Until then, we’re going to talk business like real businessmen.”

—

That same morning on the other side of Small Heath, Finn Shelby was tucked up in bed. His arms wrapped around his loves small frame.

You were still fast asleep-you were tired what from being up most of the night in discomfort.

Finn, however, found himself marveling at his girl’s belly, the skin was stretched taut over the swollen bump. It cradled the baby that had yet to be born.

The young Shelby rubbed a circle into the skin with a rough hand across the top of the bump. The movement obviously had caught the attention of his unborn child because soon after he could feel the small jolts and jabs against his palm.

The action brought a smile to his face but subsequently caused you to groan and hiss in pain.

He’d forgotten how sensitive your belly had become in the weeks leading up to delivery. The doctors had said, that because of your small, adolescent frame- it gave the baby less room to move around comfortably.

Finn knew you’d do anything for your baby to be comfy and safe within your body though, so you had proclaimed that if it meant a few days of discomfort and pain then so be it.

“You okay?” Finn mumbled into your messy hair, “do you need anything love?”

You had to smile at his offer. Ever since you’d become pregnant, Finn had been home a lot more. You hadn’t expected it (not that you weren’t thankful and grateful for it), you knew how much family meant to him- how much the business meant to him. How much proving himself to his brothers meant to him.

When you brought it up with him though, he just claimed that “You’re my family now. You and our little bean.”

“Love?”

You were brought out of your thoughts to see Finn looking worried.

You caressed his cheek, “just hold us.”

He slowly pressed a long kiss to your hairline and then proceeded to wrap his arms around as much of your waist as he could reach.

“What do you think they’ll look like?”

The thought caused you to smile softly, “I hope he looks just like you. With your curly red hair and freckles.”

Finn chuckled into the crook between your shoulder and neck, “so it’s a he huh?” I stroked the bump lovingly, “I think it’s going to be a little girl- a spitting image of her mother.”

The idea of the baby being here made you both sick with nerves but also full of joy and excitement.

Pregnancy was a new concept for both of you, especially considering you were both only 17.

But you were so glad that Finn had stuck with you for the duration of your pregnancy.

He never missed an appointment and constantly talked to the small baby that grew inside of you. He’d even tried to take up knitting, Finn had managed to make a scruffy looking bobble hat for when the baby arrived. It looked crap- but you appreciated it all the same.

Children, however, were a different story. Finn had obviously been in charge of looking after his nieces and nephews in the time when his brothers were abroad fighting.

And he still occasionally did it whenever Esme or John needed a spare hand.

And you were known to babysit and tutor children around Small Heath. You were one of the few genuinely liked people in town.

You weren’t judgemental and were willing to help others- and as much as the Small Heath inhabitants didn’t want to admit they were thankful.

The idea of your own bundle of joy was different. You’d both held and cared for babies that belonged to someone else- and the idea that this child growing inside of you was your responsibility made you anxious.

But you and Finn and soon the baby had each other and that was all that mattered.

“Mum?” The soft knock from the entryway of the office caused Polly to look up from the books she had been poured over minutes previously.

Micheal walked in and took a seat in front of his mother.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

Micheal frowned slightly, he didn’t know whether he was reading too much into this.

“I’m worried about Finn.” His face conveyed serious stature though as his mother looked up at him from behind thick lashes.

“And why is that?”

“Because I haven’t seen him in days.” He licked his lips, “He hasn’t been at the betting den, or the garrison, his apartment is empty every time I check. For fuck's sake he hasn’t even shown his face at the family meetings.”

Micheal shifted in his seat, “Him not showing up to family meetings is not normal. When has Finn ever missed out on a chance to prove himself?”

Polly stubbed out her cigarette into the ashtray, she looked as if she were thinking hard for a solution.

“I’ll bring it up with Tommy, truth be told I’m worried too. Finn has never been gone this long without calling, writing or even just visiting.” Her hand brushed some stray hairs out of her face, “I agree, it’s not like him.”

You didn’t understand how you had grown so big in the last week. You knew you were entering your 38th week and that you were coming into the area of potential delivery dates.

Finn had put you in bed rest and was adamant that it would stay that way until the baby arrived.

Some of the ladies from around town had been keeping you company, their children presenting you with hand-me-downs from when they themselves had been babes.

Staying in bed was nice for the first day or so- but then your pregnancy hormones kicked in and you couldn’t help but feel smothered and miss the absence of using your muscles.

You hated bed rest- but you knew it soothed Finn knowing that his two loves were tucked up and safe in bed.

You knew Finn had been avoiding his family like the plague, he still did jobs that paid the bills and kept money coming in. But whenever he saw his brothers- he’d only speak a few sentences around them.

He’d gotten a right bollocking from Tommy, saying that he needed to prioritize his family over whatever he had been so occupied with.

So that’s what he did, he focused on his new family. He still spoke to his Aunt Poll and occasionally Micheal and Isaiah.

But you were beginning to get frustrated with your boyfriend. You knew that his absence in the Shelby family was hurting them, and doing more harm than good.

It hurt Finn as well as much as he didn’t want to admit. These were the brothers that practically raised him. The boys that taught him everything he knew. The boys that shaped him into the person he was now.

And that had been why you’d persuaded him to go out to the Garrison for the evening- just him and his family (plus Isaiah).

At the time you’d thought it was a great idea, you just forgot one detail. You were heavily pregnant and due anytime soon.

And of course, the baby chose the only time that their father was out to try and make an appearance.

—

Finn walked into the pub, the smoky air and rowdiness of the patrons made Finn feel at home.

Considering he had been coming to the Garrison since he was a young lad, he had become used to the behaviour from the drinkers that spent their time in the pub.

He shouldered the door to the private room, and there sat his brothers, cousin, and Isaiah.

“Oi, Oi who’s this?” John’s cocky voice chirped from the corner of the booth.

“I don’t know mate,” Arthur shot back, “looks like a stranger to me.”

“Shut up.” Finn grumbled back, rolling his eyes.

Finn sat down next to Isaiah, who in turn passed over a cigarette.

The next hour was spent playing cards, they were all completely aware of how uncomfortable the youngest Shelby was. Finn kept looking towards the door, tapping his foot anxiously.

Tommy finally spoke up, “Where’ve you been then, aye Finn?”

“Y’know out and about.”

Tommy and Arthur shared a look, “You know that’s not what I meant Finn.”

Finn was glaring at his older brothers now, he knew that they wouldn’t give up until they had every piece of information.

That was until Harry knocked on the hatch and claimed that there was a phone call for Finn

He abruptly rose from his seat and slammed the door upon exiting.

He picked up the receiver that the barman was holding for him.

“Hello?”

“Finn!”

“Y/N- what’s wrong?”

There was a pause and he could hear your harsh pants through the line.

“Y/N/N?”

“The baby-“ there was more wincing from your end, “The baby is coming.”

“Shit.”

“Just get fucking home now! For fuck sake.”

With a last few reassurances, he put the phone back onto the holder. Finn turned only to see a small crowd comprised of his older brothers.

Finn started to push past them but was stopped by hands on his shoulders.

“I need to go.”

“Not until you tell us where you’re going.”

He was starting to get angry, “For fuck's sake Tommy- let me go!” He broke free and started to break into a sprint.

His lungs were on fire and his legs burnt but Finn continued the pace all the way back to where his girl was waiting.

What he failed to notice was his brothers tailing him in the family car.

—

You were hunched over panting harshly, grasping onto the mattress with white knuckles.

You knew labour was bad- but you didn’t expect it to be this bad. The rippling pain was intense and you hadn’t expected the process to be this quick.

The ladies at the hospital had said that a first-time labour would be a slow process- evidently, that wasn’t the case.

“Come on baby, work with me- at least wait for yer father, yeah?” You mumbled to the empty room.

Another contraction struck your body causing you to yell out in pain.

“Y/N/N?”

It was Finn.

“Bedroom!” Was the only reply you could muster.

A few seconds later your boyfriend rushed into the room, he immediately knelt down to your level and slowly kneaded the bottom of you back.

You let out a few more groans- your belly felt tight. It was almost as if the contractions were seizing your entire body and you could feel a harsh pressure urging you to push.

You found yourself grasping Finn’s shoulder, “I need you to check...I can feel something.”

Finn just gawked at you, speechless. However seeing you in pain, he did as he was told.

And low and behold there was what looked like the top of a head.

“Baby’s coming now, love.”

You grunted in response, as he helped you up onto the stripped mattress.

And then the door flew off of its hinges, and in strolled the Shelby brothers.

Finn seemed to be in as much shock as you were.

His shouts of anger rang out, as you groaned again and again.

At this point you were in a lot of pain and all you wanted was privacy and rest. And to have this fucking child out of your body.

“Did you invite the entirety of fucking Birmingham to witness this!” You screamed, hands finding their way to the metal bed frame which was situated behind you. The men just stared on- seemingly speechless.

“GET OUT!”

They scarpered from the room, saying something about “fetching Aunt Pol”

You didn’t care anymore, you’d given up trying to be rational and following the instructions that had been given at the hospital to you months prior.

If your body wanted to push, then you’d bloody well listen.

Finn had placed warm water, towels and a blanket on the bedside table. He then proceeded to climb behind you and press soft kisses to your sweaty brow.

“Finn I need to push.” You announced, “this baby isn’t waiting for anyone else.”

You could feel him nod behind you, “what can I do to help?”

The words would have been sweet if you weren’t too busy pushing a human out of you.

“Hold my knees back.”

He complied, and you felt your knees raise up to your chest.

And then- you began to push.

It felt like an eternity, but then you felt a release and heard it. You heard a high pitched scream, and a kick to your thighs.

The baby was here.

You looked up at Finn, who was teary-eyed and slowly reached down where your hands met the small body of your daughter.

By the time you sat back up with the baby cradled in your arms, Finn had a pair of scissors in his hand, he cut the cord and then began to clean the baby with the towel that was previously laid out.

You reached for the soft blanket that had belonged to Finn as a baby and wrapped the newborn up carefully.

“She’s perfect.”

You nodded in agreement, “she has your nose.” You smiled widely and stroked the small baby’s nose gently. The action caused the baby’s face to scrunch up- which in turn caused the young parents to laugh and smile in awe.

Finn softly kissed your temple and whispered sweet nothings to you, as you just leant back into his embrace.

The birth was finally catching up with you. You were so tired, and you soon felt yourself drift off into a deep slumber.

Finn took the baby into his arms and gently lifted her down into the bassinet, she mewled in protest to being put down.

The thought made him smile, the fact that his baby was already attached to his parents.

He proceeded to lift the sheets and blankets over your body, giving you warmth while you slept.

Finn then once again enveloped his baby girl into his arms, as he held her up against his chest.

He didn’t know he could be so capable of loving someone like this.

The quiet bliss was soon broken as Polly and Ada burst into the room each of their arms held bags.

“Aunt Pol?”

“What’s the bloody hell is going on?” Polly ranted on, “Your brothers said-“ The older woman stopped mid-sentence as the baby let out a little squeak. Almost as if she were announcing her presence.

“Aunt Pol, Ada- I’d like you to meet the newest member of the Shelby family. this is Theiadora Elizabeth Shelby. Theia for short.”

Polly looked close to tears and the younger of the two women gasped.

“You named ‘er after mum?”

Finn nodded in response.

“And this,” he motioned to your sleeping figure, “is my girl, Y/N.”

Finn just looked towards the two most important people in the world. He softly stroked his child’s face as he bent down to kiss her face.

“Welcome to the Shelby family, Theia.”

—

It was a few days later, both you and the baby were doing good. Finn barely put Theia down, it was evident that even at a few days old- she was a complete daddy’s girl.

Which you found completely unfair considering what your body had put up with for her to even be here.

But you soon got over the minor bitterness that you had felt ,when you woke up to the sight of your boyfriend cradling Theia’s small body and vowing to always protect her.

You’d gotten close to the Shelby ladies in the past few days too. Polly brought fresh food round every few mornings and usually stayed for a cup of tea if Finn was around.

And then there was the Shelby sister, though you had only known Ada for a few days, she’d become your biggest supports next to Finn.

She’d try and come over everyday, bringing her son, Karl with her.

You were thankful for her presence and she made you feel reassured, like you actually knew what you were doing.

Finn had told you that it was because Ada had been in the same boat as you, that she too had been a young mum.

But you knew it was only a matter of time until you were officially introduced to the Shelby family. So when Ada turned up to you and Finns home, you were understandably taken by surprise.

“Ada, is this really necessary?” You asked as you cradled the small baby in your arms. Theia was snoozing and even at a few days old she produced little snores like her father did.

Ada just continued to pin back your hair, “Yes, you have to meet my brothers. So does little Theia.” She paused, sensing your uneasiness, “It’ll go smoothly Y/N, Finn would never put you or Thee into harms way.”

Her words soothed your queries about this introduction. She was right. Finn had promised to protect you both from harm.

And you knew he wasn’t one to break a promise.

—

Finn had already gone to Polly’s house to help set up for dinner- as he knew that the others wouldn’t.

It also gave him time to explain to Polly about why he had kept his girls a secret (Which she had been quite furious about.)

“Why didn’t you tell me? This family does not keep secrets.”

Finn didn’t have an answer to that, he just shrugged.

“How long have you been together”

“Nearly two years.”

The questions kept coming

“Where did you meet?”

“She was tutoring Katie with Maths, I walked into the kitchen and found ‘em doin’ algebra.”

This went on for some time, until Polly finally asked.

“Do you love her?”

“More than anything.”

The sweet conversation was interrupted by the boisterous banter between his older brothers.

John grinned at him, seemingly proud that he finally knew the secret that his younger brother had been keeping to himself.

“How’s fatherhood treating you, Aye Finn?”

Polly smacked her nephew around the head, “Mother and baby are healthy- If you must know.”

“And what are their names?” Tommy’s cool, calculating voice queried from the stairwell.

“The-“

“Theia Elizabeth Shelby.” A female voice beat Finn to the answer. Looking up he saw you holding the baby in your arms, Ada and Karl next to you. “And I’m Y/N Y/L/N.”

You walked over to where Finn was situated and he wrapped his arms around your middle. The tiny baby in your arms was snoozing, and like her father when asleep, had no intention of waking up for a while.

The other Shelby’s looked on as Finn doted on his girls, making sure that they had made the trip safely and asking about other minor details that Tommy, John and Arthur would never have thought to ask their ladies.

“You look familiar.”

You looked over to see who had spoken, John sat on one of the rickety kitchen chairs, starring inquisitively at you.

“Where’ve I seen you before?”

Ada smacked her brother across the back of his head, this caused a yelp to arise from the man.

“‘the fuck was that for?”

Ada just rolled her eyes, “She’s not from a whorehouse if that’s what you’re thinking John.”

The comment didn’t go unnoticed by Finn, who’s face had flushed in anger at the idea of John possibly trying to call the mother of his child a whore.

You laid a hand on his shoulder, “I used to tutor some of your children. Help ‘em with school work or any stuff they may have missed out on.”

Tommy spoke up from his spot in the kitchen, “so you’re a teacher, aye?”

You blinked, “No, I just tutor and occasionally look after children from around the area.”

“Is it good pay?”

You were once again taken aback, “Pardon?”

Tommy repeated himself, “I said is it good pay?”

You couldn’t quite see what the outcome of this conversation was, but you could see the cogs moving in his head.

You cleared your throat, “I don’t get paid Mr Shelby, I do it all voluntarily.” You stared at him blankly, “A lot of the families around Small Heath don’t have the money to pay me for what I do. Besides I’ve always said that support from others shouldn’t come at a price.”

Polly and Ada nodded approvingly, while Finn just looked at you with adoration.

“‘ow old are you then.” John popped up this time.

“I’m-“

“She’s 17, seven months younger than me.” Finn quipped, curling a few strands of your hair around his fingers.

“And how long ‘ave you been with our Finn?”

“Just over two years.” You answered the questions.

“Where’d you grow up, I don’t recall seeing you around Small Heath?”

“I-“

“Bloody Hell boys,” Ada huffed as she set Karl down on the small armchair in the corner of the room, “What is this? An interrogation?”

You shot Ada a thankful look, the questions were beginning to make you feel slightly overwhelmed and out of your depth.

The slumbering babe in your arms began to squirm around, as she started to awaken. Theia let out a small series of yawns, before her face scrunched up and her eyes slowly opened.

The whole room fell into a hushed silence as they watched in awe.

“She has your eyes Finn, lad.” Arthur spoke from his position by the mantle.

“Yeah, she’s pretty perfect.” He replied.

Tommy stepped forwards glass of gin in his grasp, “Aye well let’s say a toast to the newest Shelby!”

They all raised a glass and together chanted in tandem, “to the newest Shelby.”

You looked up to the Shelby you had fallen in love with all those years ago- he pressed a kiss to your lips.

Life felt good- life was good.

#peaky blinder headcanon #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinders #peakyblinders #finn shelby #finnshelby #finn shelby x reader #pregnant!reader

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bicepsie · 4 years

Text

Rainbow Scavenger Hunt

Day 1: Related to Pride

@buddiefirstkissweek

Relationship: Buck & Eddie

Word Count: 2700

“I need 2 volunteers to do the scavenger hunt with the kids.” Cap tapped a pan against his clipboard as he looked around the room.

“Eddie and I’ll do it!” Buck raised his hand.

Cap nodded, writing down their names.

Eddie stared at the side of Buck’s head, waiting for him to turn his head. After a few moments, Eddie grew impatient and he nudged Buck with his elbow. “Why’d you do that?”

“Would you rather be on cleanup duty?”

“Good point.” He definitely didn’t want to clean after a bunch of kids and their parents. Or taking down decorations. Eddie shuddered.

***

Kids ran around the station, yelling and laughing, chasing each other. A few stuck with their parents, mostly the smaller ones. The grown ups, mostly parents and a few grandparents, observed from the distance. They stood in pairs or groups talking and enjoying the pastry the local bakery so generously donated to the fire station.

Cap stood by the door, looking around the station with a small smile.

Buck spotted Eddie leaning against the wall by the fire extinguisher and he sauntered over. “I love Pride!” He leaned against the wall, his biceps touching Eddie’s.

“Yeah.” Eddie smiled and gently elbowed Buck.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet balloons floated on the ceiling, their rainbows strings hanging just low enough for grownups to reach them. A huge LGBTQ flag hung from the balcony, next to each color He had written down its meaning white capital letters.

His eyes landing on Christopher, his smile brightened up the whole room. He was talking to a boy his age, gesturing wildly.

“Who’s Christopher talking to?”

“Ben, his new friend.” Eddie glanced toward Buck.

“Why haven’t I heard about this new friend?” Buck frowned. “Can he be trusted?”

“He’s 9.” Eddie shook his head. “He goes to the same school as Christopher. They really hit it off.”

Buck stared at this Ben kid, he looked normal. But so did most serial killer. “What do you know about the kid?”

Eddie chuckled. “His parents just moved here, they’re both in the military. Christopher’s been talking about him all week. He’s so excited to have a close friend.”

“I don’t trust him.” Buck crossed his arms. Who just moves somewhere and instantly makes friends? “Maybe I should talk to him, find out what his intentions are with Christopher.” Buck pushed away from the wall and took a step forward.

Eddie grabbed his forearm. “Aren’t you overreacting? I should be the one worrying.”

Buck narrowed his eyes at Eddie. “Why aren’t you?”

“Because he’s 9. They’re just kids. Besides, I’m just glad Christopher made a friend.”

“He’s got friends.”

“You don’t count.”

Cap got their attention from across the room and waved them over.

“I wasn’t talking about me.” Buck pouted as they walked toward Cap.

Fire truck sirens blared around the station. Kids and grown ups stopped what they were doing and stared at the truck with flashing lights.

Cap turned off the sirens then jumped out of the fire truck. He greeted everyone, welcoming them to Station 118 Rainbow Scavenger Hunt 2020. Rainbow Scavenger Hunt would have been enough. Everyone knew this was station 118 and the year was 2020. But when Buck had proposed they shortened the name to Rainbow Scavenger Hunt, he was outvoted. And now a huge banner, which he had to paint, hung above the fire station entrance.

Cap instructed the kids to pair up for scavenger hunt and hold their partner’s hand. Ben grabbed Christopher’s hand right away. What if Christopher wanted to be paired with someone else? This Ben kid was very presumptuous, Buck had every reason to be suspicious.

Leaning in Christopher whispered in Ben’s ear, making both boys laugh loudly.

“Don’t worry,” Eddie clapped Buck on the shoulder, “you’ll find another partner.”

“I thought I’d be me and Chris against you.” It was a perfect plan. Buck would help Christopher win. And they’d both make fun of Eddie for losing.

Eddie chuckled. “Well, seems like you’re stuck with me now.”

Glancing around the station, Buck noticed everyone was already paired up and Eddie was right, he was stuck with him. Not the worst person to be stuck with. Buck’s lips stretched into a soft smile.

***

“I’m RED and big with 4 wheels.” Eddie read from the first clue card.

“Uh…” Buck scratched his head, putting on a show for the kids standing next to them. “Eddie, what’s red?”

Eddie spun around, seeing a few of the older kids already searching around the fire truck. “I don’t know. Flowers? A car?”

“It’s the fire truck!” A little boy yelled and ran toward the fire truck.

“A fire truck!” Buck hit his forehead and frowned.

While the rest of the kids ran toward the fire truck, Eddie stayed behind. “Did it hurt?” He smirked, watching a red palm print appear on Buck’s forehead.

“When I fell from heaven? Yes.” Buck winked.

Eddie shook his head. Buck was a giant kid himself. He’d be a great dad someday.

Joining the kids, Buck and Eddie searched around the truck. Buck crawled on top of the truck while Eddie circled around it, checking all the sides for any hidden clues.

A girl with rainbow bow in her blond hair pulled an orange card from behind the wheel. She sprinted to her partner and grabbed her hand, pulling her away. They whispered and giggled as they tried to hide their orange card.

Buck jumped from the truck and stood next to Eddie as they watched the rest of the kids pull orange cards from behind the truck’s tires.

***

I’m an ORANGE fruit. The next clue read.

Kids quickly figured out the answer was orange, but they had trouble finding them. Buck and Eddie let them run around for a few minutes, searching for oranges.

A boy and a girl stood next to the ambulance and stared at their card. The girl stomped her foot and crossed her arms. “There are no oranges here!”

“Psst.” Eddie leaned over the hood of the ambulance. “Wanna work together? We can’t find any oranges also.”

Buck peered from behind Eddie. The little girl glanced to her brother who had a giant smile on his face and was nodding enthusiastically.

“Fine. But only for this clue.” She jutted out her chin.

When Buck had children of his own, he wanted his daughter to be just like this adorable little girl, strong-willed and fearless. And his son to be like Christopher. His eyes sought out Christopher. He was standing by as Ben looked around the gym equipment. A kid who thought to look for oranges in the gym was definitely not good enough to be friends with his Christopher.

“Where do you think they’re hiding the oranges?” Buck asked the girl.

“You’re a firefighter, shouldn’t you know that?” the little girl stared at him.

“Right.” Buck looked at Eddie with wide eyes. “Eddie, where do we keep oranges?”

“With the rest of the fruit?”

“Where’s that?”

“Kitchen!” The siblings yelled at once.

“That’s right!” Eddie shouted and pointed toward the stairs. “The kitchen’s that way.”

The kids ran, Buck and Eddie forgotten.

“That’s the thanks we get. I’m never working with them again.” Buck crossed his arms and stomped his foot.

Eddie chuckled and patted his back. A brief touch, but Buck felt the heat of Eddie’s palm on his back a long time after Eddie pulled away.

“I can’t believe we keep oranges in the kitchen!” Eddie said louder than necessary as they walked past a groups of kids.

***

Follow the suns.

This one was easy. Kids had no problem following the sun stickers on the floor.

Hen did amazing job with leading the kids all over the upper floor, through the kitchen, around the couch, and all the way to the balcony where Hen and Maddie waited to help the kids slide down the poll.

“Need any help getting down?” Maddie smiled at Buck.

Buck jumped on the poll, saluted, and effortlessly slid down

“Show off.” Eddie muttered.

“Come on, Eddie. What’s taking so long? We’ve got a scavenger hunt to win!”

So cocky. Eddie shook his head, smiling. He grabbed the poll and swung onto it. “See you later.” He slid down, his feet landing on the concrete floor with a loud thud.

“Great job. 10 out of 10.” Chimney clapped.

“Hey! Why does he get a 10 and I got a 6?” Buck brushed against Eddie’s arms.

“Perfect landing. You fumbled yours.” Chimney pulled a green card from his pocket. “Your next clue.”

“But I slid down with only one hand. I deserve extra points for that!”

“Better luck next time, Buck.” Chimney pushed the card toward them.

Buck and Eddie reached for the card at the same time, their hand brushing for a moment before they pulled away and the card sailed to the floor.

***

GREEN GREEN grass.

By the time Buck and Eddie got outside, the kids were already picking up envelope size paper LGBTQ flags from the lawn and waving them around.

Christopher and Ben sat on the grass huddled together, laughing. They held pride flags in each of their hands. Christopher looked up and when his eyes met Eddie’s, he waved.

Eddie nudged Buck and nodded toward Christopher.

“I still don’t like that kid,” Buck waved back.

“Let’s get a flag.” Eddie walked forward and it took him a moment to realize Buck wasn’t following. He turned and spotted Buck marching toward Christopher and Ben.

“Buck!” Eddie hurried to catch up to Buck.

“Hey,” Buck smiled down at Christopher, ignoring Ben. “How are you doing? Got all the clues, yet?”

“Almost.” Christopher slowly got up and Eddie had to stop himself from reaching out to help. Ben handed Christopher his crutches.

“Buck this is Ben. He’s my best friend.” Christopher smiled up at Buck. No one could resist that smile, especially not Buck.

“Best friend, huh?” Buck stared down Ben for a moment before he smiled. “Nice to meet you, Ben.”

“You too, sir.” Ben stood straight and shook Buck’s hand.

Buck looked at Eddie with raised eyebrows.

“Ben’s dads are soldiers. That’s almost as cool as firefighters.” Christopher said.

***

Look for the man with BLUE umbrella, he’s hiding somewhere inside the station with your next clue.

“Last one!” Cap held out a blue card as Buck and Eddie walked inside the locker room.

Grumbling under his breath, Buck snatched the last card from Cap’s hand. “This is stupid. If you’re gonna hold an umbrella, at least do it outside. Who needs an umbrella inside?”

Cap closed his umbrella and laid it on the bench next to him. “Not me, anymore.” He walked out.

Buck put his hands on his hips. “Umbrella? Inside? That’s just… no.” He stared at the blue umbrella with pure hatred.

Eddie laughed. “And this is why I went with Chimney’s suggestion to have Cap in the locker room.”

“Wait...” Buck narrowed his eyes. “It was you! I lost that by one vote!”

“No.” Eddie snorted. He tried not to laugh, but it bursted out of him and he doubled over.

“You were supposed to have my back,” Buck said, smile evident in his voice.

Looking up, Eddie was shocked to see Buck right in front of him. “I’ll always have your back.”

Buck stepped closer to Eddie until Eddie could feel the heat of Buck’s body. He stopped laughing, mesmerized by the softness in Buck’s eyes.

“You should laugh more often.” Buck said quietly and reached toward Eddie’s face with his right hand. “Even if it’s on my expense.”

“There you are!” Chimney barged in and Buck jumped back. “Cap’s waiting for you.” Chimney looked between Buck and Eddie. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” they said at the same time.

***

If I was a VIOLET balloon where would I be?

“Next year, we need harder clues.” Eddie tore the last clue card from a string tied to a violet balloon. He let go of the string and the balloon flew into the sky.

Buck hasn’t said a word since they left the locker room, he hasn’t even looked at Eddie once. Eddie hated it. He wasn’t sure what happened back there. One moment they were talking, teasing each other as they normally did, and the next Buck was looking at him like he wanted to kiss him. That couldn’t be right. Buck didn’t want to kiss him. If he did, Eddie was sure, he’d knew about it. No, Eddie was imagining things, he was projecting his own feelings onto Buck.

“You two are the last ones.” Hen walked up to them. “I think they’re hard enough.” Hen smirked.

“That’s not nice,” Karen smile. “They did their best.” They walked away, holding hands and laughing.

“You two are hilarious.” Eddie deadpanned.

This was what Eddie wanted. He wanted someone to always be on his side, someone he could have fun with, someone to hold hands with as he walked down the street. He glanced toward Buck, wishing that someone could be him.

Eddie held up the card. They didn’t have to read it, they knew what it said: Congratulations! You won! Get your prize from the Captain.

Each kid got to pick their own prize. There were toy fire truck with rainbow stickers, toy firemen wearing rainbow helmets, dolls with rainbow hair, and rainbow teddy bears. If Eddie got to pick his toy, he’d pick the fireman with a rainbow helmet. Maybe if he was lucky, one would be left and he could take it home.

Eddie turned, wanting to ask Buck which toy he’d choose, when Buck rushed past him and marched into the station.

Frowning, Eddie looked around. What just happened?

***

Eddie followed Buck, half his attention on Buck’s tall form, half on all the kids running around and playing with their toys.

“She’s got rainbow hair!” The girl with rainbow bow in her hair thrusted a doll in front of Eddie’s face.

Eddie jerked to a stop and sidestepped her. “She does. She’s really pretty. Almost as pretty as you.”

The girl blushed and hugged her doll to her chest. She looked at him from under her eyelashes. Then ran away. With a smile on his face Eddie watched the girl run to her mom.

Standing on his tiptoes, Eddie tried to find Buck. Where did he go? He only talked to the girl for a few seconds, and apparently that’s all it took for him to lose sight of Buck.

Spotting Maddie and Chimney by the refreshments table, Eddie rushed toward them. “Have you seen Buck?”

“No.”

“Aren’t we suppose to ask you that? You two are joined at the hip most of the time.” Chimney bit into muffin, crumbs falling from his mouth and rolling down his LAFD t-shirt.

“Is everything alright?” Maddie tilted her head, looking at Eddie.

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, I just lost him for a second and…” Eddie looked around the station, still not seeing Buck anywhere. He excused himself, avoiding any more questions.

He checked half the station before he made his way up to the second floor. It was quieter up here. With the scavenger hunt finished there was nothing worth seeing up here so everyone prefered to stay downstairs. All, except one. Buck.

“I’ve been looking for you.”

Buck’s back stiffened as Eddie approached him. He pushed away from the table and stood. “I’ve been here.” He walked around the table toward the kitchen. “Do you want water?”

“Sure.” Eddie shrugged and followed Buck into the kitchen.

Buck pulled two water bottles from the fridge and thrusted one toward Eddie, still not looking at him. Instead of reaching for the bottle, Eddie grabbed Buck’s hand, making Buck finally look at him. “What-”

“I can’t do this!” Buck pulled his hand away, the water bottle dropping to the floor. “I…” Buck blinked several times, he looked at Eddie’s lips, then eyes, then back to his lips.

Stepping over the water bottle, Eddie got closer to Buck. “You?”

Buck blinked and turned his head to the right. He pressed his lips together and stared at the closed fridge door.

Reaching up, Eddie cupped Buck’s cheek. “Me too.”

Buck turned, finally looking at Eddie. Eddie smiled, he leaned forward and tilted his head then gently pressed his lips against Buck’s. Buck stilled for a moment before kissing Eddie back, capturing Eddie’s top lip between his.

Eddie slid his hand from Buck’s cheek to his neck, pulling him closer, his other hand resting on Buck’s waist. Buck melted into him and wound his arms around Eddie’s shoulders.

It was just them, everything else around them disappeared.

With a groan, Eddie pulled away. His eyes closed, he leaned his forehead against Buck’s. “Wow.”

“Yeah… Wow.” Buck said breathlessly.

#buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddiefirstkiss #fic #mine #I don't write #I read #why did I think I could write #there are grammar and spelling mistake I didn't find #I wanted to change a few thing and add things #and I did neither #because of the whole ryan twitter drama #and I'm just writing tags #so I don't have to click post #😨

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sicklybanjos · 4 years

Text

ye oldeee snzfic

okay so i don’t pretend to be a writer now, but damn i was convinced of it in middle school and hs. i was cleaning out an old computer and found this relic of the past, my (probably) first snzfic from when i was FoUrtEEn and had just come across SFF and wanted to create my ~own~ for a fandom i liked, with a self-insert character ofc lmao. it’s bad. it’s cringy. it’s fecking hilarious (imo). gooood luck, with my avalon high sicfic omg:

Miles went to Wendy's house, like he always did before school. Usually Wendy was waiting for him on the steps, either reading or editing something for the newspaper. But today she was no where near the steps. Miles assumed she was still getting ready, so he went up and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Cross opened the door and welcomed Miles, and then told him, "Sorry Miles, Wendy's sick in bed and she's not coming to school.""Oh and is she exactly taking this news well?" Miles asked. He knew Wendy could be stubborn at times, and that she wouldn't take something like this easily. Mrs. Cross laughed, "Of course not. If you want, you can go upstairs and try to talk sense into her.""Okay thank you Mrs. C." And with that Miles headed up the stairs. Miles heard Wendy before he saw her. HCISH HCSXU. He knocked on the door, and strolled into her room. Wendy was in bed, with a mountain of used tissues in the trashcan next to her. She looked terrible; her face was pale, except for the slightly flushed cheeks and pink nose. She sneezed again and blew her nose loudly before she noticed him. "So Wendy, you're looking peachy.""Shud up Biles. KHSIXI. TSCHU." Her voice was hoarse and extremely stuffy. She blew her nose again, and Miles awkwardly shoved his hands in his pockets. "Do you need me to take your homework home? I mean Allie and I could, since we're both in your classes. Well combined that is..." He trailed off. "Doe I'b goig to school. Deres a dewspaper beetig ad I have to be dere ad-"Miles cut her off, "Wendy you're crazy. You're too sick to go; Allie and I'll take your work home. It's fine, Wen.""But were od a deadlide! Sobeode has to lead the beetig, ad I'b the editor. It's by job, Biles." She sneezed several times more and blew her nose harshly. "I'm not letting you go to school, or lead that meeting.""Why dot? I'b fide, really.""First of all, no you're not. You're too sick to get out of bed, much less go to school. Secondly, I can't understand half of the words you say, since your voice is too scratchy and stuffed up. And if I can't, then a room of noisy high schoolers definably won't be able to. Speaking of," He handed her the tissue box, "Blow. Dr. Miles' orders."She did as she was told, and blew her nose for nearly a minute. "Better?" He asked, smirking. "Sobewhat, I guess." "That's my girl. And so you don't worry your head off, I'll lead the meeting. No objections.""But you dod't doe how to lead a dewspaper beetig. You should cut it short or baybe I should just..." She began to sit up, looking fazed for a second, then fine again. Miles hollered out, "Mrs. Cross! Wendy's being ridiculous and trying to get out of bed." Se glared at him, "Whad did you do dat for?" He smirked, "Because your crazy and I need back up.""Wendy sweetie don't be ridiculous, you need rest." Mrs. Cross came in with a small basket, which contained a large box of tissues, cough drops, cold medicine, and some other things. "Here Miles, can you put this on her side table?" Handing him the tissue box, "She goes through them like crazy." "Bob!" Wendy exclaimed. "Relax. Now I'll be downstairs doing the laundry, holler if you need anything." Then she turned to Miles, "You should probably leave in a few minutes to still make it to school. Make sure you wash your hands before you leave, though." Turning back to Wendy, "Get some rest sweetie." And then she left and closed the door halfway. "I should probably head to school, but first, I, Merlin, will lead the newspaper meeting, under the supervision of Lady Wen, via phone." She giggled and then broke it broke into a coughing fit. "Secondly," he started as he headed to the door, "Feel better, Wen. Get some rest, and Allie and I'll bring your work after school, okay?""Fide. Have fud at school. Tell Allie I say hi. And plead dod't ruid by dewspaper beetig. " He pointed to the tissue box again, and as she blew her nose they waved each other off. "Geez Miles what took you so long?" Allie exclaimed when he walk/ran to homeroom, a minute before the bell. "We thought you were gonna be late. And where's Wendy?" "At home, probably regretting letting me run her precious newspaper meeting." Seeing his friend's confused look, he added, "She's sick. And by the way, you and I are taking her work home.""Sure and all, but shes actually letting you run the meeting? How sick is she?" He laughed, "Not on a deathbed if that's what you mean. It's just a flu bug, at least that's what Mrs. C said.""She must really like you to trust you with her precious meeting." He happily sighed before Allie continued, "Do you actually know how to run a meeting, Miles?""No idea but I'll figure it out. It can't be that hard, can it? I can take the finished papers to Wendy, and she's already let the staff that I'm running it, and that it'll be cut short, but it can't go too wrong." Miles cleared his throat, "So I um, officially call this meeting to order?"A freshmen raised her hand, "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?""Not a clue. So what am I supposed to do next?""Take attendance." The younger girl said, pointing to the clipboard next to Miles. "Riiight. Um Clara?""Here.""Karen?""Present.""Marco?""Here you nitwit.""Righty then. Wendy's absent, so Lilly?" He continued down the list, and only two people didn't make it. "Okay so now what?" He asked the freshmen girl, Clara. "Well most off us are done with our articles already, and there's no need to pick new topics yet; so the people who are done can turn theirs in to be edited, and anyone else can ask questions." And with that, more than half of the members stood up and handed their papers to Miles, and then left. Clara was in that line, but volunteered to stay to help guide Miles. "Next, these people either need to ask a question, rent out a camera, or are just waiting for you to dismiss them." One person had a question about if he could create a poll to answer a question, and Clara nodded a yes, and them the question asker left. "Wendy likes visual aids, if they're usable with the article."Two people needed to rent out the schools cameras, and the other two just needed dismissing. Afterwards Clara congratulated Miles for not doing too badly, and then told him to let Wendy know that she hopes Wendy feels better soon. After the meeting, Miles packed up his stuff and Wendy's homework and headed to her house. When he got there, he knocked on the door, and then went up to Wendy's room. "Feeling better?" He asked. "Sure I'b fide. How was the beetig? Did id rud sboothly? Did you doe whad to do? You did't call so I wasd'd sure if you dew whad to do. Ad- ad- HIXCH TIXCHU ad did adyode turd id deir ardicules? Ad-"He handed her a tissue, "Calm down, Wen. It went well, most people turned in their articles, and I didn't call because you needed your rest.""But how did you doe whad to do?""One of the freshmen girls, Clara, kinda told me what to do.""Okay well dats be- be-HICHC KIXCHU TSCHX bedder." Miles frowned. His girlfriend sounded miserable, and still all she cared about was the newspaper. "Here Wen," He said as he handed her the tissue box, "I really want you to feel better.""Trusd be, I do doo." Then she blew her nose twice and added the used tissues to the ever growing mountain of tissues in the trashcan. "Whad did I midd id school?"He handed her another tissue, "Um we just took notes in a lot if classes. You can copy mine when you're better. Oh! Mr. Neal announced that next week we'll be learning about the printing press. I think you'll like that especially." He smiled. "Really? I cad'd waid! Hobefully I'll be bedder th- ACHXU thed." She reached for a tissue, and it was the last one in the box, "Adother box ebpty. Guess I'll go ged a dew ode."Miles shook his head, "No way. I'll get one. Be right back." He went down the hall and asked Mrs. Cross if he could have a tissue box to take to Wendy."She finished the last one? Oh poor girl, I don't remember the last time she was this sick.""Yeah she sounds so miserable and stuffed up. When do you think she'll be better by?""Good question, Miles. Probably sometime next week. She has the weekend to recover though, and that'll be good for her." He took the tissue box to Wend's room, and when he arrived, she was already fast asleep. He put the tissue box on her side table, pulled the blankets up to her chin, and went home. The next day Miles went straight to school, since he knew he shouldn't wake Wendy up. He met Allie before the bell, and they chatted for a bit.

#the formatting got so messed up and honestly i couldn't care less about fixing it #i know there was more?? like another chapter?? lost forever to the void ig

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gamerwoo · 5 years

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EXO: X.O. (Part Nine)

Characters: EXO x reader (gender neutral)

Genre/warnings: dating sim au, interactive au, horror au, kinda angsty???

Tag list: @fullsun-donghyuck @hyungjunjpg @chanxyeollie @baekwell–tart @mntax @baek-byunies @withoutanyconfidence @exo-chan-kai @squishy-yamdumplings @linophobia @changbinasmr

a/n: lines in italics are what’s in the game! also love how the last part was early and this part is late :)))) I’m a mess excuse me

Previous | Next | X.O. Masterlist

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With how the game had been going, you were a little nervous to have another choice to make. For all you knew, the game could crash or glitch again, and it wasn’t necessarily something you wanted to deal with. You just really hoped another character didn’t go missing out of the blue, because you were still having trouble explaining how that happened to yourself.

But even with all of those worries in mind, you picked Kyungsoo.

_____: I think our grade matters more than us having fun. I think we should go with one of Kyungsoo’s suggestions.

Kyungsoo’s plush lips spread into a proud grin, happy that I agreed with him over the taller boy.

But Chanyeol pouted before he turned his head away from me. I could only hope he wasn’t silently glaring at Kyungsoo. If they were going to bicker again, I knew just the way to make them both shut up.

_____: I’m gonna go grab some snacks now. I’ll be right back!

The game had yet to do anything odd which was good. It did freeze for about five seconds, but that could’ve been caused by anything. It was normal for games to occasionally freeze or lag, so you carried on.

It wasn’t until your character was supposed to go back to the bedroom that you realized something had gone wrong. Just like last time.

The only character that showed up on screen was Chanyeol. His smile was what you referred to as his “default smile” because it was more casual, and the expression the characters usually wore other than their resting faces. But he wasn’t even supposed to be smiling! Him and Kyungsoo were supposed to be bickering about the project.

Looking even closer, you noticed even the background was different. One of the posters -- although the background was a little blurry since the focus was on the characters -- had a large, red “F” written over it. And somehow, that freaked you out more because it meant now the background files were being messed with, too.

Your eyes continued to stare at the screen, studying every inch of it as if you could get some sort of clue as to what was going on. You were completely ignoring the text at this point, eyes sweeping over the monitor multiple times like you would be able to find something new. Like the answer was for some reason in the background of this bedroom scene.

“Where the fuck did Kyungsoo go...?” you muttered to yourself as you intently searched for the answer.

And somebody did answer you: Chanyeol. His model changed ever so slightly to one where he was smirking instead, and the dialogue box changed. But it changed without you clicking, and it changed to an answer that sent chills down your spine.

Chanyeol: Who is that? _____, are you feeling okay?

His answer was almost like it was directly answering you. Not your character, but the one that came out of your own mouth. But how could he do that? He couldn’t do that. It was impossible for that to happen. But you also couldn’t make any sense of it or why or how it happened.

At this point, it seemed like you only had to options: restart the game and see if it fixed anything, or just keep going.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

TAKE THE POLL HERE!!! The poll will close today (10/11) at 8pm EST.

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thdorkmagnet · 4 years

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Light of the Sun and Stars Chapter 35: Believe in Babs Part 1

Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

Chapter Synopsis: Who is Babs? And what is she planning? That is just what Buff Frog and the others seek to find out.

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Index

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.

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Buff Frog was getting close. He could feel it in his bones. It was only a matter of time before the liar played her true hand and then he would have them right where he wanted them. Pretty soon Rasticore would be in no position at all to harm his child, in fact, he would be behind bars (or frozen in crystal or whatever punishment he and the Mewmans agreed on) and whoever his boss was would follow suit. Marco and Star would be safe and the world would be down and out another vile villain. He just had to be patient, any day now and he would have what he needed.

After the incident with the Assassin's Guild, Buff Frog had regrouped his efforts, this time focusing on learning as much as he could about the girl in the picture he found. It was their only lead and he wasn't going to squander it. Thankfully, it hadn't been too hard to track her down, the rats actually recognizing this one (in fact many of them seemed quite hostile toward her image when he showed them it) and they had guided him right to her doorstep. Which, much to his horror, turned out to be right in the middle of Butterfly Village.

Buff Frog was absolutely panic-stricken at this new knowledge, that a possible spy of Rasticore's was living right under Star and Marco's noses and they didn't even know it. But as terrifying a thought it was, it did make sense. How else could the assassin get so close to the kids without someone on the inside? Even with his specialty-made chainsaw that managed to bypass the anti-portal generators, Rasticore had still had enough knowledge of the area to move around without getting caught, not once, but twice. And that seemed almost impossible unless he was getting help from someone who knew the area better than he did.

This conclusion had only increased Buff Frog's desperation and so for the past few weeks, he had fully dedicated himself to finding out as much information on the young-looking Mewman as he could. He had even enlisted several of the Monsters to help him, all of them just as eager as him to expose the possible traitor and protect Marco from further harm as he was. Buff Frog had put the spying skills he had learned from his time working under Toffee to good use as he and his fellow Monsters followed her around everywhere she went, absorbing as much about her life as they could.

Now several weeks later Buff Frog had learned just about everything he could ever want to know about his target as her identity began to come to light. Her name was Babs (her last name somehow still a mystery to him) she had lived in Butterfly Village for almost ten years now, staying in a modest home in a cozy and quaint neighborhood. She kept pretty much to herself, speaking to only a few people who seemed more acquaintances than friends and with no real family to speak of. She mostly stayed at home with her startlingly large number of cats, which explained the rats' negative reaction at least. Apparently, her home was a deathtrap that had claimed one too many rat lives.

Despite her appearance, she was much older than she looked, probably in her late thirties at the most. And she also seemed quite prone to illness, not a single day had passed so far without her suffering from some sort of ailment, from a simple runny nose to pink eye to even things as serious as the Mewni-flu. Buff Frog had honestly never seen anything like it, he didn't think it was possible for someone to be as regularly sick as Babs was. He would almost feel bad for her if he didn't suspect she was partially responsible for his baby boy's life being in danger.

And that was the biggest thing, Buff Frog knew there was more to her than she was letting on. Though she kept herself guarded, he could tell there were secrets just waiting to be exposed behind her closed doors. He had picked up on her sneaky behavior, though at first, it was very subtle, a quick glance over the shoulder there, a short text message when she thought no one was looking here, but it was there, Buff Frog saw it. He was not just being paranoid and he knew it, he had spent 14 years around the emotionless Toffee, he had learned to pick up subtle clues like this. Yes, this Mewman was hiding something... something big and Buff Frog wouldn't stop until he found out exactly what it was and what connection it had to their missing assassin.

And now Buff Frog was closer than ever. Sure there had been a few setbacks along the way: like him having to, unfortunately, draw some of his time and attention away to focus on his tasks as leader, like helping out the mayor of Hydra's Point when he informed him about Ludo's search party, or Lobster Claws getting mauled by one of Babs' cats (a particularly vicious thing with a scar over its left eye) which had nearly gotten them exposed right then and there. But these hadn't deterred him, he had managed to stay strong through all of them...

And then there was Marco.

He hadn't seen the boy in a couple of weeks now and that seemed to be really affecting the boy. Not that he could blame him, his son was a pretty affectionate child and the lack of attention would naturally upset him and make him crave it all the more. Buff Frog felt terrible for this, but it couldn't be helped. He was doing this for Marco and his girlfriend, after all. To keep them safe. There was no need to get them involved in what could prove a dangerous situation. Not when he had it handled on his own. As much as he hated having to avoid his son, he knew he would understand once all was said and done... at least, Buff Frog hoped he would. If Marco ever blamed him for something like that... well, Buff Frog would rather not think about that. The bad part about it, though, was Marco already seemed to be growing suspicious, the last time they had talked on the phone the other night, his son had been extra questioning, asking him what exactly he had been up to and why he was so busy working, even asking if there was something he could do to help (which had just broken the frog father's heart). Buff Frog had done his best to deflect, but it hadn't been easy, lying to Marco made his stomach turn and brought up uncomfortable memories to a time he would rather forget.

Just a few more days, he kept reminding himself. And then it will all be over.

The frog's thoughts were interrupted as a childish whine came from next to him, Lobster Claws asking for probably the sixth time today alone, "Are we done yet?" The frog had to fight to restrain the annoyed sigh he felt creeping its way up his throat, reminding himself that his friend was just as stressed and worried about Marco as he was.

"No, not yet," the Monster leader said (again), doing his best to keep his calm, but the grumble that followed was beginning to make his nerves wear thin. His Monsters were far less patient regarding the whole affair than he was, that much was clear. While the amphibian understood that these kinds of things took time, the others didn't seem to quite grasp this, all of them wanting to forgo the slow-and-steady approach and just run over there and slap a pair of handcuffs on her wrists.

"But why do we have to wait? Why can't we just expose her for the spy she is?" the crustacean pressed, leaning back against the poll he was hiding behind.

"Because, I don't want expose her, I want her lead us to Rasticore," Buff Frog explained from his position kneeling behind an empty cart, fighting to keep his voice calm, his eyes never leaving their target as she got her usual order of catnip from one of the cart sellers in town. It was her errand day, where she would venture outside the safe confines of her house to purchase the necessities she needed to get by. It also happened to be the best time to observe her, since her subtle gestures became more obvious when she was intentionally trying to hide things from people.

There was an unintelligible grunt from next to him, Buff Frog recognizing it as coming from Potato Baby and the amphibian patiently waited for the translation, keeping his gaze focused on Babs. "Potato Baby wants to know how much longer we're gonna have to wait," Lobster Claws explained for his friend.

"As long as it takes," Buff Frog said simply, his eyes narrowing with determination.

"Uh okay, that's fine and all, but can we at least break off to go get something to eat? Cause I've got like... three stomachs to feed and all of them are growling right now," Spike Balls asked, his voice slightly muffled by the trash can he had placed over his head as a 'disguise'. It was clear that it was doing nothing to hide him at all but it was better than nothing. Even with Star's new law allowing Monsters to come and go much more freely, Spike Balls still stood out like a sore thumb.

In hindsight, Buff Frog knew bringing the biggest and most distracting Monster on his team with him to help spy probably wasn't the best idea but, as Spike Balls himself had argued, it wasn't fair that some Monsters got to go on more missions than him just because of his size. So Buff Frog had decided to let him come on the condition that he really try and keep himself hidden, a decision the Monster leader was fast regretting as it clearly wasn't Spike Balls' strong suit.

The Monster leader let out a long breath, thinking over the request for a moment. He admitted it was tempting, he was beyond hungry at this point, but he couldn't allow himself to get distracted. Someone had to be there to watch Babs, after all. Then again, Buff Frog's stomach reasoned with his mind. Maybe he could send the others to go get some food while he kept watch, that could work. Just as the amphibian opened his mouth to agree, the four froze hearing a very familiar sound, one that the Monsters would know anywhere.

A laugh. And not just any laugh. A laugh that could only belong to one person, too light and bouncy to be anyone else, too full of joy and infectious energy to be mistaken for a stranger. A sound that, under normal circumstances, would fill them with intense joy but at the moment only left them all in a panicked frenzy to not be seen. And as Buff Frog broke off his stare from Babs to look in the direction of the sound, his heart somehow both dropped and lifted at the sight of his adopted hoodie-wearing son Marco. He, Star, Jackie, and a red-haired girl Buff Frog didn't recognize were walking their way, talking amongst each other with bright smiles on their faces. His son's hand was intertwined with Star's, while his other was holding a big thing of yellow cotton candy almost the size of his head. The girls all had the same treat, though with various sizes depending on how many bites were missing from it, and all of them seemed to be quite enjoying themselves.

"Oh no, it's Marco, what do we do?" Lobster Claws hissed in fear.

"Do not panic, my friends, we still hidden, if stay quiet Marco and friends might pass by and not notice us," Buff Frog said, keeping his voice at a hushed and subdued tone. The Monsters watched silently as the four teens approached, all of them holding their breath as they came to within earshot and listening in to their conversation.

"Come on Higgs, it isn't that bad," Jackie said with a roll of her eyes, a playful smile on her lips as she turned to the red-haired girl.

"It's terrible," Higgs stated in a hard tone. "I mean corn-flavored cotton candy, who even thinks up this kind of stuff?!"

"Yeah it's definitely not for everyone," Star agreed.

"Well, I love it!" Marco exclaimed, before taking a giant bite out of his tasty treat. Once he swallowed, he quickly added, "It's like eating a cloud... made of sugar!" The boy's already wide eyes, somehow grew larger with the next bite, as his cheek marks turned into spinning circles that seemed incapable of stopping as he exclaimed in sugar-filled ecstasy, "It's literally the best thing ever!"

Despite the situation the Monster all couldn't help but smile from their hiding place, finding the boy's childlike innocence as endearing as ever.

But it seemed Higgs wasn't as amused as she just sighed in over-exaggerated annoyance, asking herself, "Why did I even let you guys talk me into this?"

"Because you love us?" Marco suggested, his eyes full of hope as he smiled at his friend.

"Please, if anything I tolerate you," the redhead scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

"Then because you had nothing better to do," Jackie said and Higgs shot her a glare.

"I'm a very important and prestigious knight," Higgs said proudly, puffing her chest out some as she spoke, something the Monsters got the feeling she did a lot. "If I wanted to I could be off right now stopping a war or slaying a dragon or something way more interesting than eating snacks and wandering around town."

"Well if you aren't having fun, you can always go back, you know," Star pointed out and Higgs predictably shouted, "No!" She cleared her throat the blush obvious on her face as she said in a composed manner, "No, that's okay, Your Highness. I'm... having fun."

The three teens all gave her knowing looks and smiles, which the redhead pretended to not notice, focusing her attention on the cotton candy as she took a large bite out of it, before nearly gagging at the horrible flavor. "Ugh, gross. Seriously this stuff should be illegal," she groaned in disgust, her entire face cringing as she fought the urge to spit the terrible tasting stuff out of her mouth.

This caused the others to laugh at the ridiculous face she was making, much to Higgs' annoyance, the girl growling under her breath and turning her face away to hide her blush once more. At this point, the group of teens were now directly next to where the Monsters all hid, Buff Frog and the others holding their breath as they waited for them to pass.

"Ah man, too bad Janna didn't want to come," Marco voiced once the laughter ceased, a sad expression crossing his face. "She's missing all the fun."

"Yeah, what a shame," Higgs sarcastically commented under her breath, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She still had her suspicions about the creepy teen and the less time she spent around her the better.

"It was pretty weird of her to say no," Star admitted, her stomach twisting slightly with uncertainty toward her friend. "Usually she's always up for stuff like this."

"She's has been acting pretty strange lately," Jackie agreed, her normally cool, radiant eyes flashing with worry for a second. "Ever since we got back from that peace mission, she hasn't really seemed much like herself."

"Do you think we should talk to her about it?" Marco asked, his own eyes filling with concern.

"I don't know," Star thoughtfully replied, biting her lip. "You know how much she hates being asked personal questions."

"Good point," the skater muttered. "That might just make things worse."

"So what do we do?" the hooded teen questioned, looking between his two friends for an answer.

Suddenly, Higgs let out a loud huff coming to an abrupt halt, drawing the others' attention onto her. "Who cares?" the young knight argued, her face full of unbridled frustration. "That girl is the very definition of strange. If she is acting weird, it's probably so she can hide her latest evil scheme or something." Then, without warning, the girl just chucked her half-eaten cotton candy at the nearest trashcan, not even bothering to turn in its direction, before crossing her arms in front of her chest.

What the girl had failed to notice was the fact that this particular 'trashcan' happened to be the very one Spike Balls was hiding inside and rather than landing inside it, it simply bounced off the Monster's large form before falling at his feet. Spike Balls, without thinking, reached down and let the sticky substance attach itself to his oversized hand before extending it over to the still scowling Higgs.

"Here, you dropped this," he said politely, while the other Monsters just face-palmed at their friend's stupidity.

But Higgs didn't seem to notice, her focus and attention still on her friends and she simply snatched it back without a second thought. "Thanks," she said quickly, before raising her voice as she prepared to go into another rant. "And if you ask me-"

Suddenly, realization struck, as the girl froze on the spot, her gaze slowly turning to the large 'hidden' form next to her, her eyes narrowing in a threatening way. Star, Jackie, and Marco just looked on with expressions ranging from fear to confusion, staring wide-eyed at the large, unknown figure next to them. "Uh, who are you?" Higgs asked in a deadly serious tone, a fist slowly raising as she readied herself for a possible attack.

Spike Balls seemed to have realized his mistake as he nervously muttered, "Um, no one. Just... an ordinary trashcan, nothing to see here. Just go on about your business."

Marco's face lit up with recognition as he gasped out, "Spike Balls?!"

The Monster, knowing he was caught, slowly lifted the trashcan off his head, shooting the boy a sheepish grin as he greeted hesitantly, "Hey Marco."

"What are you doing here?" the hooded boy asked, his brain spinning as he tried to make sense of this strange new development.

"And why do you have a trashcan over your face?" Star added, her voice full of skepticism.

Higgs, upon realizing her friends knew this Monster and he posed no immediate threat, allowed her body to relax some, her tight muscles untensing as she lowered her fist back down, but she continued to keep a wary, vigilant eye on him just in case.

"Uhhh, well you see," Spike Balls stuttered out, clearly unsure how to answer them, his eyes darting around, looking for an escape. "I'm... not allowed to tell you."

"What? Why not?" Star asked, an eyebrow slowly raising and the Monster gulped at the accusing looks he was receiving, sweat beginning to drip down his face.

"Because I told him not to," a voice said behind them and they all turned to see Buff Frog come into view, along with Lobster Claws and Potato Baby. Spike Balls sighed in relief, glad he didn't have to keep up the charade any longer and could let his boss handle things from there.

"Dad!" Marco exclaimed in joy, racing over to hug his dad. Despite the confusing situation, he was still as happy as ever to see his father, feeling beyond starved for his attention. Buff Frog couldn't help but smile down at his child, as he gave him a gentle squeeze back.

Star, meanwhile, was still trying to make sense of it all, putting her hands on her hips as she asked in slight exasperation, "Okay, can someone please explain to us what's going on? Why were you guys hiding from us like a bunch of creeps?"

"It is... a bit complicated," Buff Frog admitted, shooting the blond royal a sheepish smile.

Marco gasped as an idea came into his head and he pulled away from his dad, looking up at him with shimmering eyes as he asked, "Was this a surprise? Are you here to surprise me with a visit?"

Buff Frog felt his heart clench and for a moment, but knew he couldn't hide the truth from him any longer and so replied honestly, "No. Sorry, my son. We weren't here to surprise you."

"Oh," the boy said, slight disappointment on his face. But it quickly disappeared as he cocked his head to the side and (as Buff Frog predicted he would) curiously asking, "Then what are you doing here?"

"We here on business," the Monster leader replied, purposely dodging the question as he still hoped from getting the kids involved unless he absolutely had to.

"Business that requires you to sneak around and hide from us," Higgs skeptically pointed out, shooting the amphibian a look that clearly said she wasn't buying a word of his story.

"What's going on, Buff Frog?" Star questioned, her tone serious and demanding and the frog faltered some under her intense gaze.

"Is nothing to concern yourselves with," the amphibian tried, still grasping onto the futile hope of keeping them out of this. "Everything fine."

"Really cause it sure looks like you're up to something," Jackie pitched in, shooting him her own doubting stare.

Now it was Lobster Claws who spoke up, chuckling awkwardly as he said, "What? No way! Whatever gave you guys that idea?"

Suddenly Boo Fly appeared, flying in out of nowhere, calling pleasantly out to his leader, "Hey Buff Frog, I tried to zzneak into the targetzz houzze like you azzked but I couldn't get inzzide." Suddenly he took notice of the others, his many eyes darting between them all before turning to the amphibian once again, a sheepish expression now on his face. "Izz thizz a bad time?"

The four teens all turned to Buff Frog with accusing looks, except Marco who just gave his dad a worried expression, softly asking, "Dad? What's going on?"

Buff Frog let out a sigh, knowing it was time to come clean. There was no point in denying it now. Although he knew the kids would want to help if they learned the truth, he also knew they wouldn't stop until they got an answer from him. So he gave them each a long look, taking in there confused but determined faces, his gaze freezing on his son as he told them all straight out, "Very well, I tell you everything." His eyes darted around cautiously for a second before he added in an even softer tone, "But first, we need go somewhere private to talk."

…

The group of Mewmans and humans all followed silently behind Buff Frog as he led them to his temporary base in Butterfly Village, the teens all beyond curious at this point as they were led along, but decided it was best to just wait for the amphibian to explain the situation in his own time. The rest of the Monsters had stayed behind, only Buff Frog breaking away from whatever he was busy doing to talk to them, informing his team to keep him posted if there were any 'new surprises' while he was gone, whatever that meant. Finally, they seemed to reach their destination as the frog came to a sudden halt, holding up a hand to signal the others to stop. "We're here," he said softly.

Higgs didn't look convinced though, as she stared at the broken-down shack before them, looking like it might topple over at any second, and said crossly, "You can't be serious."

"Am very serious. No one think to look for us here," Buff Frog replied, no hesitation in his tone.

"Yeah because no sane person would go in a rundown place like this," the knight commented under her breath.

Buff Frog just ignored this though, as he slowly lifted up the thin, torn sheet that acted as the entrance inside and turned to them, saying, "Now quickly, young ones, inside."

Star, Marco, and Jackie didn't hesitate as they all piled into the small hut, all too desperate for answers to argue. Higgs, however, didn't seem to feel the same. "There's no way I am going into that deathtrap," the girl argued, standing firm and unmoving from her spot.

"Please," the Monster leader pleaded, his eyes full of urgency. "Must hurry, before someone sees us."

"Why? Because then everyone will know you're sneaking around the village," Higgs snapped.

"Come on, Higgs," Marco insisted, giving his friend a begging look. "He's my dad, we can trust him."

"Fine," the girl grumbled under her breath, as she finally walked into the small space with a cocky, overly-confident stride. She did pause to shoot the Monster a dirty look as she passed him by, adding sharply, "But I do have half a mind to report you to General Skullnick, you know."

Buff Frog gave her a shocked look and the girl smirked proudly to herself, only to freeze seeing the inside did look a bit nicer than the outside, at the very least it looked less like it might fall apart if you breathed wrong. It was clear that the Monsters had taken some time to fix it up a bit, giving it a lived but welcoming (almost cozy) feel. "Huh, this isn't actually so bad," she muttered without realizing it.

"Da, almost as if you shouldn't judge places based on appearances," Buff Frog commented as he passed her by, giving the redhead a knowing look which caused her to frown.

"Touche," she whispered under her breath, low enough she was fairly sure he hadn't heard her.

Star, Marco, and Jackie's attention, however, was less on the actual building and more on what looked like hundreds of pictures and pieces of paper that had been plastered to the wall in an almost haphazard manner. Thin pieces of string were everywhere on the wall, forming a massive array of scattered lines, loosely and confusedly connecting the many, many bits of information together. The three teens all shared confused looks, unable to make any sense of the odd display, before turning to the Monster leader for help. "Okay, Buff Frog time to start explaining," Star said, doing her best not to sound outright demanding to him, keeping her tone as light as she could despite her frustration.

"Yeah, what's going on, dad?" Marco asked, his brown orbs filled with worry. "Why are you sneaking around and hiding from us?"

Buff Frog took in a deep breath, massaging his forehead with his fingertips for a second before admitting, "Sorry to keep all of you in dark, but didn't want get you involved unless I had to. Is very dangerous mission and want to keep you kids from getting hurt."

"Does this have something to do with Rasticore?" the hooded teen guessed. Judging by his dad's grave tone of voice and his secretive behavior lately that was really the only thing that made sense. What else would make him feel the need to not only not tell them, but keep them as far from the truth as possible? Which was why Marco wasn't surprised when the amphibian nodded in reply, though he did feel his heartbeat speed up a bit.

"Da," Buff Frog said and the girls all let out collective gasps, Marco feeling Star's grip tighten on his hand protectively. "Me and Monsters been trying to track him down for weeks now."

"And is he here in town?" Jackie asked, her voice remaining steady but her normally radiant eyes were full of fear. "Is that why you're having to sneak around?"

Buff Frog shook his head. "Not exactly," the frog said vaguely while reaching over to the picture-coated wall and pulling off a slip of paper. It was small, looking like it had been ripped in half, Marco noticed, as his dad walked over to them and held the picture up for their view. "This all we manage to find on assassin."

The teens all stared intensely at the photo, each with questioning, inquisitive frowns on their faces as they observed every inch of the seemingly unknown stranger. That was until Star's eyes lit up with recognition and she exclaimed, "Wait, I know her!"

"You do?" Buff Frog asked in surprise.

"Um, well kinda," Star corrected herself, still giving the image a thoughtful expression. "She was one of the people me and Jackie interviewed. Or at least we tried to." A sour look crossed over Star's face as she remembered how harshly she had been rejected the moment she had mentioned her commission.

"Oh yeah, the one with all those cats," Jackie pitched in, remembering the young-looking Mewman now. The skater turned to the blond, their eyes locking as she added, "No wonder she didn't want to answer any of our questions."

"So is she a spy or something?" Higgs asked, scanning her target with a grim frown, taking in every detail she could as she attempted to memorize the image. Her previous cocky nature had vanished in an instant replaced only with cold, unrelenting determination as her trained instincts began to kick in. The only thing she focused on now was the mission, all she saw was her target, her mind consumed entirely by it as she pushed out any other thoughts or emotions, just like she had been taught to do.

"We don't know," Buff Frog admitted, giving them all sheepish looks. "All we had to go on was photo." His voice hardened some as he added bitterly, "But have my suspicions."

"So what's the plan, then?" Star asked and the frog instantly recognized that tone, it was the kind of tone Star only took when she was dead set on getting involved, doing everything in her power to resolve the situation herself, and from the look his son was giving him, Buff Frog had a feeling Marco felt the same.

"No, I don't want you kids involved," the frog father said firmly, giving them each a hard stare that only a master parent could perfect, hoping to dissuade any further arguments.

Marco recognized this look and knew what it meant, but he still couldn't stop himself, he didn't want this to all fall to his dad. He wanted to help. "But Buff Frog-"

"No, my son," Buff Frog said firmly but gently, his eyes trying to convey the love and concern he was feeling to his child. "Rasticore almost hurt you twice. I know you can take care of selves, but I don't want put you at any risk."

"But isn't having a possible spy living in our village putting us at risk, already?" Star pointed out. Buff Frog said nothing to this.

"Yeah come on, Buff Frog, let us help you out," Jackie pushed, a confident smile on her face. "There's no sense in letting you do this alone."

Buff Frog seemed to be contemplating this, whispering under his breath, "Welllll..."

"Besides, we'll all be safer if we're working together," Star reasoned, hoping to convince him to change his mind with some sound logic, while Marco went a different approach, hoping to appeal to his heartstrings instead.

"Please let us help you, dad," the hooded teen begged, putting on the widest and saddest puppy-dog pout he had in his arsenal, making his eyes shimmer and his lip quiver in the cutest way he could.

Their words seemed to be breaking through to Buff Frog, his expressions showcasing his weakening resolve as his face flooded with uncertainty, finding himself torn between his parental instincts or his job as leader. There was no doubt capturing Rasticore would be much easier with help from Star and her friends but at the same time, he couldn't help but worry of what dangers he could be willingly exposing them to if he said yes.

The Mewmans could tell the Monster needed a little extra incentive if they were going to get him to agree, which was why Higgs figured now was a good time to try her approach: blackmail.

"Plus, if you don't let us help you I'm telling General Skullnick and you know how she can be," she said, betraying no emotion with her voice.

This seemed to do the trick as the Monster leader looked between each of the pleading, persuasive faces before him, his gaze softening as he seemed to have reached a decision. He finally let out a deep sigh as the last of his resistance died out, pinching the bridge of his nose as he said in a regretful tone, "Fine. You may help."

"Yes!" the group cheered, taking a moment to share high-fives, momentarily celebrating their victory. Finally, Marco turned to his dad, reassuring him, "Don't worry, dad. We won't let you down."

Buff Frog gave him a tight smile, still unsure he had made the right choice or not but ultimately decided his son deserved the benefit of the doubt and so told him in the most enthusiastic voice he could muster, "I'm sure you won't."

The four all shared joyful smiles before they seemed to get serious once again, Star clearing her throat, before asking the frog in her 'princess' voice, "Okay so what's our plan of action?"

"Well at moment, we simply been following her around, waiting for her to get in contact with Rasticore," Buff Frog explained.

"Didn't Boo Fly say something about trying to sneak into her house, though?" Jackie pointed out and Buff Frog gave her a surprised look, impressed that she had been perceptive enough to remember that.

"Da, I hoping to find more evidence inside but, unfortunately, we unable to figure out way in."

"Well that should be no problem," Star spoke up. "We do have a master lock pick on our side, after all."

"Oh yeah, we can totally ask Janna to help. That's a great idea Star," Marco complimented her, shooting her one of his signature smiles, which caused the blond to blush slightly.

"Thanks," she said, giving his hand a small squeeze while staring deep into his chocolate brown orbs.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Higgs commented and the others turned to her with questioning looks.

"Why not?" Marco asked, cocking his head to the side in curiosity.

"If this is because you still don't want to trust her, then-" Jackie started to argue feeling a need to stick up for her friend, only to be interrupted by the redhead.

"No, it's not," she stated firmly. "Well okay I don't," she added honestly, before quickly explaining, "But you guys said yourselves she's been acting weird lately, right? Are you even sure she's gonna say yes, after all, she made it pretty clear she wanted to be alone today."

Star, Marco, and Jackie all shared looks of concern at this. They hadn't considered that. Janna clearly was working through some things at the moment and needed the time alone. Could they really ask her to ditch everything just to come and help them?

"Yeah, you're right, Higgs," Star agreed sadly. "I'm not sure involving Janna is a good idea right now."

"So, how are we gonna get inside than without Janna?" Marco asked, his voice shaking some out of both concern for his friend and the hopelessness that was beginning to fill up his chest.

"Well y'know, I could give it a shot," Jackie offered and the others went slack-jawed, staring at her with looks of pure shock.

Star was unable to keep herself from muttering in astonishment, "You, Jacks?"

The skater shrugged, giving them a calm smile, "Yeah, why not? I mean, I've seen Janna pick thousands of locks before, so I got a basic idea of what to do. And the rest shouldn't be too hard to figure out."

Higgs raised a skeptical eyebrow, while Marco flashed her a trusting grin. Star and Buff Frog's faces flashed with doubt for a second, before they buried it, the blond hesitantly saying, "Wellll, if you're sure..."

"I'm sure," Jackie said, her radiant eyes filled with unwavering confidence as she pointed to herself. "I can get us inside that house, no problem."

"Very well then I leave job in your hands, but take a few Monsters with you for protection," Buff Frog suggested keeping his voice light but serious.

"I'll come with, feel like it's gonna be less boring than just sitting around and waiting for something to happen," Higgs volunteered and Jackie gave her a playful smirk.

"You know that sounds like something Janna would say," the skater teased and the young knight shot her a death glare.

"Don't compare me to her. Ever," the girl growled in a warning tone.

Jackie just shrugged and let the subject drop there, but the knowing smile never once left her lips, much to Higgs's annoyance, who began to huffily ignore her existence.

With that out of the way, Buff Frog turned to Star and Marco, telling the young couple, "I guess that means you two will be with me."

The two nodded, Star doing a salute as she said confidently, "Yep, Star and Marco at your service!"

The boy quickly reciprocated his girlfriend's actions, his whole body beginning to shake with excitement as his eyes twinkled with possibilities. "Oh man this is so exciting!" he exclaimed. "We're gonna be real spies, Star! Just like in that Mackie Hand movie, 'The Spy Who Punched Me', remember?"

Star held back a giggle as she told the boy sweetly, "Yes Marco, I remember."

"This is gonna be so awesome!" the boy cheered, pumping his fists into the air, forgetting one of them was still intertwined with Star's so that hers was forcefully thrown up, as well.

Buff Frog gave the blond royal a questioning look, asking "What is this... Mackie Hand?"

"He's this old action movie actor Marco really likes. We watched a bunch of his movies during our last date night."

"Hey Star, remember the one where he kicks that bad guy so hard they exploded!" the hooded teen suddenly shouted.

Star and Buff Frog locked eyes for a moment, the Monster with a fearful look, clearly concerned about what it was his son was being shown, and Star just shrugged sheepishly. "Um, it wasn't as violent as it sounds."

"And then remember when he ripped out that one guy's spine!" Marco continued and Star quickly slapped a hand over the boy's mouth to keep him from saying anything further.

"Shhh, Marco," she whispered to him, before chuckling nervously over to the concerned father, who's eyes were wide with terror. "They're actually way better movies than you might think."

…

It wasn't too hard to find the Monsters once again, the group camped outside a pet store (where Babs presumably was inside) keeping themselves at a safe enough distance away they didn't have to worry about being considered conspicuous. They sat on (or around in Spike Balls' case) a bench at a relativity quiet corner of Butterfly Village, only getting the occasional odd look from Mewmans passing by that had just become accustomed to any Monster within the kingdom's boundaries. When the Monsters spotted Buff Frog and the teens approaching, Lobster Claws waved over to them with a goofy grin but kept silent so he didn't attract unwanted attention. The moment they were close enough, Lobster Claws asked, "Hey guys, did you bring us anything to eat?"

The frog responded by pulling out a bag of food he had picked up on the way back and the Monsters quickly snatched it up and went to work gulping its contents down their starving throats, the group of teens just watching with a mixture of disgust and intrigue. "Anything happen while gone?" the frog asked, wanting to get the important business out of the way as quickly as he could.

The others just shook their heads, Spike Balls saying with a mouth full of food, "Nope, she's been in there pretty much since you left, boss. Lobster Claws peeked in there earlier and saw her arguing with the owner about something."

"That good to hear," the frog Monster said with relief.

"So what about you guys?" Lobster Claws asked, unable to contain his curiosity anymore as he turned his attention to his boss. "Did you tell them everything?"

Buff Frog nodded, informing them all, "Da, and we have come up with new plan to put stop to Babs and whatever she and ally are planning."

The Monsters shared confused looks at this. "But I thought we didn't want them involved," Spike Balls pointed out and the frog leader let out a deep sigh.

"That is correct. But they made good points, so I agreed to let them help us," he said simply, but not without shooting the kids a scolding glare as he did and all of them gave him sheepish looks except Higgs, who was unaffected by the attempt.

"Yeah and it's a good thing too," she commented smugly. "It's pretty obvious you needed the help since Buff Frog told us you can't even do something as simple as break into a house."

"Hey, give uzz a break, it'zz pretty heavily guarded," Boo Fly whined, crossing his arms huffily in front of his chest.

"By cats," the girl added with a scoff.

"Really vicious cats!" Lobster Claws defended.

"Didn't you use to kill people?" she asked, slowly raising a critical eyebrow.

The Monsters had no reply to this, simply avoiding her eye as they all went completely silent.

"Listen, my friends," Buff Frog spoke up, gaining control back on the situation. "Boo Fly will stay with me, while rest of you go with Jackie and redheaded girl so they be safe getting into Babs's home."

"Wait, you want us to go back there?!" Lobster Claws exclaimed in fear.

"Why afraid you might get scratched by a kitty cat," Higgs taunted.

"Well, yeah," the crustacean quickly said. "I mean have you seen that one with the scar, it's evil!"

"But, Lobster Claws, you have a shell," Jackie pointed out.

"Well yeah but it's not the pain that's the problem, it's the surprise!" the lobster Monster argued, his voice a hurt whine, as he seemed to be fighting back tears now, Potato Baby patting him gently on the back to calm him.

"Oh brother," Higgs muttered under her breath.

"Don't worry Lobster Claws," Marco spoke up, shooting the crustacean a reassuring smile. "Higgs is a knight and a really good one too, I'm sure she'll be able to protect you. Won't you Higgs?" The boy gave her an expectant smile and she felt pride surge up through her at the level of trust her friend clearly had toward her.

"Sure, I'll make sure nobody gets emotionally scarred by a bunch of house cats," she said, trying to sound sarcastic but it came out halfhearted.

"See you guys are in good hands," Star added, her voice full of admiration that only increased the feeling the redhead had. "Higgs was almost Marco's bodyguard, after all. She can handle a few stray cats."

Lobster Claws sniffed, wiping his nose with his oversized claw, his eyes now full of hope. "In that case, I'd be honored to help!" He quickly stood and saluted, Potato Baby letting out an agreeing grunt as he did the same.

"Me three," Spike Balls said, standing up far too quickly and almost knocking over a hanging lantern in the process, his circular hands fumbling to grab it to keep it from falling.

"Okay then, let's get going," Jackie said, pointing over her shoulder off in the direction to Babs' house.

The Monsters nodded in agreement and began following the girls, Jackie leading the way since she had been there once before. Star and the others watched them go until they were out of sight before the hooded teen turned to Buff Frog and asked, "Alright dad, what do we do first? Fight some ninjas, defuse a bomb, oh how about we break into a secret underground lair!"

Star and Buff Frog just smiled at the boy's precious naivety, the frog father trying to hold back his laughter as he told his son, "No Marco, don't think we need do any of that. Probably only going to follow Babs around for while and try not to be seen."

"Oh... that's fine too," the boy said in slight disappointment. Star, seeing his disheartened face, couldn't quite hold back the giggle as she put an arm around her boyfriend's waist bringing him closer to her so she could cuddle him. "Aw, Marco you're adorable!" she sighed lovingly, rubbing her cheek up against his, instantly cheering him up as he blushed and grinned ear to ear. "Sorry we can't do any of that stuff."

"Nah, it's okay," the hooded teen replied cheerfully, his upbeat attitude returning full force. "It may not be as cool as something Mackie Hand would do but it's probably for the best, I'm not sure I was all that comfortable with punching a ninja."

Boo Fly just looked between them with confusion, unable to understand a word for the last minute now, until he finally turned to his boss, hoping he would help make sense of it all. "Uhh, Buff Frog, what izz he talking about?"

…

Jackie, Higgs and the Monsters arrived at Babs' home, the young knight on high alert as she surveyed the exterior. It was a pretty nice place, she observed, modestly sized and still in good condition despite the occasional claw mark or scratch in the wooden frame. The house was only one story and by the looks of it was one bedroom. Higgs counted a total of five exits out of the house, three windows and a front and back door (because there was always a back door) and the knight was confident they could get in and out without trouble. The yard was also fairly big and clearly well taken care of, the grass cut to perfection with a white fence built all around it, most likely to keep her cats from running away. That or to discourage people from coming around, Higgs thought. She quickly scanned the neighboring homes around them and was relieved to see that the streets were currently empty and devoid of life. Perfect. Now they could go about their mission without having to worry about attracting unwanted attention, after all, it wouldn't be fun explaining to General Skullnick why she was reported breaking into an innocent Mewman's home with a bunch of Monsters.

Speaking of the Monsters, they all seemed jittery and nervous as they cast fearful eyes around the yard, clearly unnerved to see many of the 'dreaded cats' sprawled out on the grass napping in the warm sunlight and Higgs had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the ridiculous sight. Come on, how lame could they get? They were Toffee's old right-claw Monsters after all, who knew what horrors they had seen and carried out in the last decade and yet a couple of cats had them almost petrified with fear. It was honestly just pathetic to watch.

Jackie took the initiative as she stepped up to the gate and moved to undo the latch, but stopped upon hearing the audible gasp behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see the Monsters giving her panicked expressions, and she asked in a whisper, "What, what's wrong?"

Lobster Claws just pointed with his namesake over to the snoozing felines, his eyes somehow widening even more as he let out a nervous whine. Jackie looked over in the indicated direction before shooting them a confident smile, her radiant eyes helping sooth their nerves some, as she told them all gently, "Don't worry. I promise I'll be quiet."

The Monsters seemed to relax some, allowing her to lift the latch and push the gate open without any objection. The skater made sure to keep her movements slow and careful, not wanting to disturb or wake any of the cats, but this seemed to be wearing on the young knight's patience as Higgs let out an obnoxious, exaggerated sigh. Clearly, she found the Monsters' apprehension annoying and pointless, but Jackie knew better. Buff Frog's group was definitely odd, there was no denying that, but they weren't cowards. If they were afraid of these cats than they had good reason. Or at the very least there was some merit behind it and the skater would rather not find out what it was if she could help it.

Once the gate was wide-open, the girl began tip-toeing toward the front door, careful to avoid any tails or fluffy bodies on her way, until she finally reached the entrance. She, just to be sure, tried the knob but found it locked tight. No surprise there, but it had at least been worth a try.

She turned back over her shoulder and waved the others over, the Monster moving at the same cautious pace Jackie had, all except Spike Balls, who waited outside the fenced area, acting as their lookout since his large form wouldn't be able to fit inside the small home anyways. Higgs, on the other hand, didn't even bother trying to avoid any of the felines, just striding cockily and carelessly across the yard in a few short steps and the Monsters looked like they all might have a heart attack due to the girl's far-too-fast pace.

In a manner of seconds, she was at Jackie's side, plastering on a mock shocked expression as she said sarcastically to both the skater and the Monsters, "Well look at that, I walked to the door and nothing went wrong. How shocking."

Jackie just ignored her, pulling out the small hairpin she kept on her in case of emergencies, a habit she had picked up from Janna. She silently thanked Janna for this, even though honestly she wasn't sure how she should feel knowing Janna of all people was starting to rub off on her."You should be more careful, Higgs," she scolded, while her fingers fiddled with the hairpin, feeling around inside the intricate locking mechanism of the doorknob. "We're still trying to avoid danger, remember?"

"Yeah, and these cats are way more vicious than they look, y'know," Lobster Claws added via nervous whisper.

Higgs scoffed, leaning back against the wall, before saying, "Oh whatever, I already said I was going to protect you, remember? So, therefore, you've got nothing to worry about. Besides, the only danger we're in right now is getting caught breaking into someone's house." She then turned to Jackie with a knowing look, asking impatiently, "Speaking of which, think you could speed this up a little bit before we end up getting busted."

The skater kept her focus on the task at hand, her fingers struggling to get the lock open, finding no angle or movement was quite doing the trick. "Just hang on a minute, okay. I've never done this before." She stuck her tongue out in concentration, still trying to get a feel on what exactly she was needing to do to get the stupid door open. "I think I owe Janna an apology, this is way harder than she makes it look," Jackie commented staring at the doorknob with disbelief. After several more minutes of trial and error, the skater felt something give and heard a noticeable click inside the mechanism. She pulled the hairpin out, her face lit up with pride as she said, "Got it!"

"Great, can we get inside now?" Lobster Claws asked eagerly, he and Potato Baby casting nervous glances over their shoulders, fearful the cats would wake up at any moment.

"Wait," Higgs said, taking control of the situation again as she moved protectively in front of Jackie, the serious frown returning to her face. "Gotta make sure it's safe first," the young knight continued, her tone emotionless and robotic and her movements the same as she pressed her ear up against the door frame, listening for a few seconds for any sounds of breathing. Once she was confident there was no ambush waiting for them on the other side, she pulled away and began to slowly turn the knob, her body tensed and ready in case there were any booby traps. The young knight pushed the door open and took a cautious step inside, surveying the home for any form of danger but it seemed to just be a normal house, save for the cat hair and claw marks that covered every inch of the place. The furniture was torn to shreds, it's remains lying scattered all over the floor and small cat houses and seemingly unused scratching posts were all over the living room area.

Higgs turned back to the others telling them, "Okay, guys, everything seems fine so you should be good to-"

The knight didn't even get a chance to finish her sentence as Lobster Claws and Potato Baby rushed inside the empty house, pushing Jackie in with them, before hurriedly closing the front door and letting out relieved sighs. "Oh thank goodness, I thought those cats were gonna get us for sure," Lobster Claws said, wiping his forehead with the back of his pincers looking relaxed for the first time since they got to the house.

Potato Baby mumbled something to his friend, the incoherent grunt sounding to Jackie's trained ear like an agreement.

Higgs just rolled her eyes, snapping at them, "Hey, stay focused. We're here for a reason, remember? This is no time for goofing off." She didn't give them a second to respond as she turned to Jackie and said, "Jackie you and me are gonna search the bedroom. If she is keeping secrets that'd be the most likely place she'd hide them." Her gaze snapped back to the two Monsters, who flinched at the sudden action. "You two are gonna check the other rooms in the house. If you see anything suspicious let us know."

The two saluted waiting until the redhead had turned her back to them, her and Jackie already heading off in the direction of the bedroom, before they shared a knowing look, her bossy, aggressive nature reminiscent of someone else they knew. Potato Baby mumbled something again and Lobster Claws nodded, holding back his laughter as he agreed, "Yeah, she does act pretty similar to him." The similarities were scary similar, in fact, all the girl needed was a beard and some antlers and they would be impossible to be told apart.

But the two pushed these thoughts aside, getting back down to business as they surveyed the destroyed living room, Lobster Claws asking his friend, "So where should we start looking for clues?"

The potato-like Monster pointed over to the shredded couch and the crustacean smiled at the suggestion, putting a claw on his companion's shoulder. "Good idea. People are always losing stuff in there."

Meanwhile, Jackie waited until they were out of earshot to tell the young knight in a reprimanding tone, "You know, you could try and be a little nicer to them."

Higgs just scoffed, before jabbing a finger behind her. "Why? Did you see the way they were acting back there? Oh wait, I know you did because you kept encouraging them the whole time. Honestly, Jackie, I expected more from you, but you're just as bad as they are."

Jackie gave Higgs a firm look, calmly telling her, "Look, Higgs, I know you think they're just being paranoid and weird but you haven't known them as long as I have, they aren't ones to just freak out over nothing. If they are really sure something is that dangerous than I trust them and so should you."

"I never said I didn't believe them. I'm just making sure they get over it and stop acting so afraid. It's called tough love, Jackie."

"Did Dex teach you that?" the skater asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, my mom did," Higgs replied, with her typical sharp tongue. But her voice grew soft and almost hesitant as she added, "She taught me a lot of things, actually."

Jackie looked over at the knight sadly, telling her, "Yeah, mine too."

The two were silent for a moment as walked side by side down the hallway, avoiding each other's eye as they stared down at their feet. They entered into what they presumed to be Babs' bedroom and it was just as creepily cat-themed as the rest of the house. Her bedspread was in the shape of a giant purple cat head, small figurines of cats cluttered her desk, and her wall was coated with probably unhealthy amounts of pictures of her prized pets. The two girls looked around stunned, before Higgs slyly commented, "This lady realllly needs to get out more."

Jackie nodded in agreement, her green gaze searching for any clues toward her possibly traitorous nature. "We should start looking for clues."

"On it," Higgs said, her cocky nature vanishing in an instant as she switched over to her duty-bound side, and it was still as startling to Jackie as all the other times. It was as if someone had flipped a switch and turned her into a different person. What did the knights brainwash her as part of their training?

The skater watched for a few seconds as the redhead rifled through the dresser drawers before Jackie went to work too. She began a pretty thorough search of the room, looking underneath desks and in small spaces where it would be the easiest to hide something, she checking behind curtains and inside the tiny closet, even taking a moment to look under the bed though she figured that would be a lost cause, Babs was just too smart to hide incriminating evidence there. She let out a long sigh, before standing back up, putting her hands to her hips as she looked around the room, wondering where she hadn't thought to search yet. That's when it caught her eye: a small plush cat. It was sitting in the corner of her room, a few odd pieces of clothing and junk laying on top of it, clearly trying not to attract any attention and go unnoticed by any prying eyes, but ironically that was exactly what set off all kinds of alarms to the skater. This woman almost worshiped cats, why would she leave it forgotten in the corner instead of on full display like everything else remotely feline was in her room?

Jackie approached the toy, nothing escaping her keen eye as she studied every detail of its worn fur and glass eyes. She leaned down, brushing the loose cloth aside before lifting it up off the floor, the skater taking note that it was much heavier than it should be, considering it was presumably filled with plush and not bricks. She flipped it over and found her suspicions were correct as low and behold, there was a zipper on its belly. Jackie smiled, turning to the redhead and calling to her, "Hey, I think I found something."

Higgs dropped what she was doing and quickly rushed to the light-haired girl's side, a skeptical eyebrow slowly raising as she spotted the plush in her hands. "A stuffed cat?"

"Yeah, I think this is where Babs is keeping her secrets," the skater explained, showing her the zipper on the plushie's stomach.

"Well considering who we're dealing with I wouldn't put it past her," Higgs said in disgust, looking around at the feline shrine that was Babs' room.

Jackie didn't waste any more time as she slowly zipped the toy open, revealing the hidden stash within. It was everything they were hoping for and more, a series of paper slips which had been folded up and stuffed inside (which when inspected closer were from old missions she had been assigned), a large wad of cash which was no doubt her many payments over the years of being a world-class assassin, a small knife with what else but a cat head on the handle, a vial of what looked to be some sort of poisonous mixture, and the most incriminating of them all was the finished photo of what appeared to be a group of assassins.

And standing next to the small cat lady was the tall, menacing form of none other than Rasticore Chaos Disastervane.

Jackie frowned, reaching down and picking up the picture, studying it closely as she muttered, "This is the same picture Buff Frog showed us from before."

"Guess that proves it, then," Higgs said with a victorious smirk on her face. "Our traitor is exactly who we thought she was. Nice work, Jacks." The redhead gave the skater a hard pat on the back while shooting her an approving and impressed grin. "Now all we gotta do is show this evidence to the general and have this traitor thrown in... 'the Tower'." Higgs's voice grew intense as she mentioned Mewni's highest security fortress and prison in the entire dimension. It was well known for having the most evil of evil criminals Mewni had to offer (save for those who committed magic offenses since those fell under the MHC's jurisdiction).

As the young knight went to take the plush from Jackie's hands, the skater swiftly moving it out of reach from her swiping hand and holding a hand out to prevent any further attempts. "Wait," Jackie told the confused and slightly annoyed Higgs. "That's not the plan, remember? We're trying to catch Rasticore not expose Babs." Higgs still looked skeptical about this so Jackie quickly added, "Besides, don't you think Skullnick is gonna be way more impressed if you bring in Rasticore and Babs?"

This seemed to peak Higgs's interest, as her eyes lit up with possibilities, already imagining the status she could get if that were to happen. But she quickly buried her joy, hiding it behind her typical layer of disdain, "Ugh, fine," Higgs agreed.

Suddenly there was a loud, panicked shout from the other room and the two shared a quick look before taking off running to go check on the Monsters, the skater making sure to zip the plush back up as she did. "Guys, what's wrong?!" Jackie called to them, as she and Higgs ran the short stretch of hallway, before entering into the living room area where the girls came to a sudden stop, looking around with disbelief. The living room was somehow an even worse disaster area than it was when they left, furniture upturned and cushions were thrown about all over the place as the Monsters had clearly been busy searching in and underneath them.

But this was quickly forgotten as the two turned their attention to the Monsters who were shivering in fear, clinging to each other as they stared ahead with terrified expressions. "Lobster Claws, Potato, what's the matter? What's going on?" Jackie questioned and both Monsters just raised shaking claws up as they pointed to the door leading into Higgs' small kitchen. The skater and knight followed their intended direction, only to gasp in shock. Their eyes widened immensely upon spotting the large white cat standing menacingly in the doorway, poised and ready to attack, casting a ferocious look at them with its cheshire-like eyes. There was a scar over its left eye and part of its tail was stripped of any fur and one look at its sharp nails was enough to know that this cat was not to be messed with. Jackie felt a spark of recognition as she remembered Babs warning not to pet the cat, Warrior because he was 'a biter'. But it seemed to Jackie that there was a bit more to him than that, as a low yowl seemed to be building at the back of Warrior's throat, which only added to its sinister and unnerving appearance.

Higgs, meanwhile, was left speechless as she stared deep into the feline's yellow eyes. She could feel her heart beginning to pound away in her chest, which a part of her didn't understand. After all, she was a knight. She had been trained to face threats far worse than the one standing before her, heck she had been prepared to take down Toffee for pete's sake. But even with all those lessons, even after years of grueling training meant to rid her of any form of fear or weakness, even after all that, as she looked into the dark, sinister eyes of the house cat before her there was no denying that she... was afraid.

...

Half an hour later, time had begun to drag for Buff Frog and the others, as they all just sat on a bench, staring at the barren walls of the pet store with growing boredom. Nothing had happened at all since they split off from the others, there had been no sign of Babs yet, leaving things agonizingly slow and quiet as they just waited for the small Mewman to emerge from the store. She had been in there for a total of an hour and a half, but to Star and Marco, it felt like a year had passed, as they just sat with their heads propped up on their elbows, their eyes slowly glazing over as they fought the urge to fall asleep. Star's frustration finally grew too large for her handle as she roughly rubbed at her tired eyes, growling in anger, "Ugh, what is taking her so long?! She's been in there forever! What does she live there now?" Star quickly sat back on the bench, crossing her arms huffily in front of her chest.

Marco let out a deep sigh, before adding, "Yeah, I kinda thought spying would be more fun. The movies made it look way more action-packed than this." The boy turned to his frog father, before asking, "What do you think she's doing in there, dad?"

The amphibian's eyes narrowed as he continued to watch the store vigilantly, his eyes darting between the two windows on the building's front, hoping to spot any sign of the tiny redhead. That had just been what he had been wondering. It was unnerving not being able to see what the possible traitor was up to and the frog had begun shifting uncomfortably in his seat, growing more and more agitated by the second. Who knew what she could be doing while out of their line of vision and with every second that passed Buff Frog's questions only grew more frequent and panicked. Had she figured out they were watching her? Had she snuck out the back so she wouldn't be seen? If that was the case, she could be long gone by now and have already met up with Rasticore, free to discuss their plans to be rid of Star and his son.

The frog shuddered and told Marco in a tight voice, "Don't know. But need to find out."

He turned to his bug companion that was currently resting on his shoulder and said, "Boo Fly, please check and see what target up to."

"Again?" the fly whined, this was the fifth time in the last half hour his boss had asked him. "But I juzzt checked like a minute ago."

"Yes, but need to make sure nothing changed," the frog said sheepishly. He knew he was being ridiculous but not being able to see Babs himself was driving him nuts.

Before Boo Fly could move though, Marco jolted upright with a start, a bright smile on his face as he informed them all, "Wait a minute guys, I think I see her coming out."

Star, Buff Frog, and Boo Fly all followed the hooded boy's gaze in eager anticipation and sure enough, a small form was exiting the pet store, a sour look on her face and her empty arms crossed tightly in front of her chest.

"Bout time," Star mumbled under her breath.

The small Mewman began walking speedily down the sidewalk, purpose in her steps as she headed off to her new destination at a far faster pace than was expected for someone her size. Buff Frog jumped up from the bench, saying in a panic, "Quickly, must not let her get away."

Star and Marco were up in a second as they followed after the muscular Monster, making sure to stay close behind Buff Frog as he kept them at a safe distance while they tailed the Mewman, close enough they could still follow her movements but far enough away they didn't look too suspicious while doing so. For the next several minutes they watched as Babs went from cart seller to cart seller, staring at their trades for a few seconds before moving on without a word but with a clear, disappointed look. And as the minutes began to drag while this continued, it became apparent to Star that the cat-lover was looking for something in particular. And as luck would have it, she finally seemed to have found the item of her dreams. She was lazily scanning over the cart she was at with dull, uninterested eyes when something captured her attention, her pupils widening and her cheek marks glowing a bit brighter than before. Star watched as Babs leaned closer to the object, but from her position hiding around the corner of a nearby alley, the blond couldn't see exactly what it was the Mewman was looking at. But whatever it was, it seemed to make Babs very happy as a smile lit up her face and her eyes shimmered with intrigue and joy, a look Star didn't think she had ever seen on the small Mewman before and it genuinely caught her off-guard to see.

Babs looked up at the cart owner, who was reading a newspaper and not meeting her eye and she quickly cleared her throat to gain his attention, the man looking down at her with slight annoyance. "How much for the collar?" the cat lady asked and the man just rolled his eyes and said, "I'm sure it's much too expensive for your allowance, little girl. Now, why don't you run along to your parents and quit wasting my time."

Babs grit her teeth at the man, her eyes flashing with a dangerous look as she snapped, "I'm not a kid!"

The man looked back down at her with a judging, raised brow, as he rudely commented, "Well, there's no need to raise you're voice at me, young lady. Just because you're upset you aren't a grown-up yet is no reason to take it out on complete strangers."

This only seemed to infuriate Babs further, as her eye twitched with barely suppressed rage as she let out a groan of frustration. "For the last time, I'm not a little kid. I'm a grown adult and I don't appreciate being talked down to by a pompous, mediocre salesman," she growled at him, trying to keep her shaking fists at her side.

"Mediocre!" the cart seller shouted, attracting a few weary glances from people nearby, wondering what the fuss was about.

"Yeah, you heard me!" the small Mewman continued, unheeded by the now watchful eyes around her. "Half this merchandise is just useless junk anyway and the one and the only thing that is even remotely worth my time doesn't seem worth it after the way 'your snootiness' is treating me!" The girl did a mock impression of the man as she called him the insult and this only seemed to make the man even more agitated with her as his voice raised some in pitch.

"Well, I never!" he shouted, in such a loud, squeaky tone that it caused Star and the others to cringe. The princess didn't even know someone could make their voice go that high. "Perhaps, if you weren't such a rude individual I might consider selling to you, but since you insist on being a nuisance, I'm afraid I'm going to have to kindly ask you to leave!"

Babs let out a loud huff, turning her back on the seller. "Fine! I was just going anyway!" The small Mewman began stomping away, loudly complaining as she went, her entire face filled with rage. "Geez, this is exactly why I don't like coming here! Everybody's just a bunch of stuck-up, judgemental jerks who don't know when to leave well enough alone! Well if they don't want my business then that's fine with me! I should never have come out here in the first place!"

Star, Marco, Buff Frog, and Boo Fly all shared looks of concern, the hooded teen saying nervously, "Uh, guys I think she's going back home." Star had noticed this too, but hearing it out loud made her heart leap into her throat.

"But the otherzz are zztill in there," Boo Fly pointed out unnecessarily.

"Must do something. Now!" Buff Frog exclaimed, looking beyond panicked. The whole mission was in jeopardy. If they didn't stop Babs from leaving it was all over and Star knew she couldn't let that happen. Buff Frog was right, she had to find a way to stall her until the others finished their search.

"Like what? What do we do?" Marco asked, pulling at brown locks of hair as he desperately tried to think of an idea on how to keep the small Mewman away from her home. His breaths were coming in short and sharp as he began the earlier stages of hyperventilating, while next to him, an idea finally came to Star.

It wasn't a great idea, she knew that the second she thought it up, but it was all she had to go on and she didn't have any time to think it over. And so she just wordlessly grabbed Marco's wrist and began running over to Babs, dragging the hooded teen behind her. She ignored the almost muted gasp from Buff Frog and Boo Fly who no doubt thought that she had lost her mind, keeping her focus on the Mewman in front of her. That was until Marco spoke up. "Star, what are we doing?" her boyfriend asked in surprise and confusion and the blond merely turned over her shoulder for a second, whispering honestly to him, "I'm not really sure yet. Just follow my lead, okay?"

The boy nodded, putting his trust in Star as he picked up his pace to match hers and the blond royal couldn't help but smile at her Marco, his loyalty really did know no bounds. But fueled by the knowledge that her boyfriend was backing her up, Star turned her attention back on Babs. She sucked in a deep breath, letting her face completely drain of all emotion before she plastered on a smile and yelled in the most friendly tone she could manage, "Oh hey, Babs!"

The cat lady came to an instant stop, her body tense as she slowly turned to face the two, her face the picture of perplexed as she gasped out in confusion, "Princess?"

Star now caught up with her, waving enthusiastically, keeping the bright (and hopefully not forced) smile on her lips as she said, "Oh wow, it's so good to see you here. It's been forever!" She quickly gestured over to Marco, saying, "Oh and since you've never met before, Babs this is my boyfriend, Marco."

"Hi," the boy said shyly, giving her the tiniest of waves and the most uncomfortable of smiles.

This only seemed to baffle Babs even more, the friendliness in the girl's tone throwing her for a loop as an eyebrow slowly raised, her eyes darting between the two as she tried to make sense of it all. "Okay, what gives, princess? Why're you being so nice to me?" Suddenly, her eyes narrowed in anger as she asked accusingly, "Is this some kind of trick to get me to answer your little questionnaire?"

"No, not at all," Star said smoothly. "Actually, I just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings about that." The royal felt her hopes rise as Babs' cold features softened slightly. "Look I know we got off on the wrong foot..."

"Yeah, you were pretty pushy," Babs rudely commented and it took every ounce of willpower Star had to keep her temper under control. She felt her hand clench slightly around Marco's, who gave her a small squeeze back to let her know it was okay, and one of her eyes twitched against her will, but other than that, she was able to completely suppress her frustration as she kept up her friendly demeanor.

"Which was why I was hoping maybe we could start over," Star said, her voice betraying her as there was just a hint of frustration in her tone. But she tried to quickly cover it up as she added extra cheerfully, "I'm sorry I made you feel I was forcing you into something. Let me make it up to you. Please?" She then gave the woman a begging smile, Marco quickly doing the same, copying his girlfriend's expression exactly. But Babs seemed unaffected by the two's attempt to persuade her, merely rolling her eyes and telling Star, "Look, princess, I ain't interested in becoming friends with you. I'm just fine on my own, got it?"

The Mewman, once again, turned to leave and Marco gave Star a lost look, clearly having no clue what to do while silently hoping his girlfriend had one more trick up her sleeve. Luckily, Star did. In fact, Star was quite certain that her secret weapon was guaranteed to work. So, without wasting another second, the blond royal calmly called out to Babs, "What if I told you I could get you that collar you were wanting?"

Babs came to an instant stop, slowly turning back toward the two, her face blank but her eyes full of mischievousness and the promise of revenge. An eyebrow slowly raised as she said, "I'm listening."

Star grinned victoriously, knowing she had the small Mewman right where she wanted her now. She had this hook, line, and sinker. "Well I couldn't help but overhear your argument back there and I wanted to help out. After all, I'm pretty sure he isn't going to refuse to sell to the princess of Mewni."

Babs gave her a suspicious glare, asking, "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch," Marco blurted out, following his girlfriend's lead. "Like Star said, she just wants to make it up to you. You are going to let her do that, right?" He gave her a cute, inquisitive look and Star silently commended the boy for his skills. Who knew Marco was such a master at manipulation?

This seemed to finally break through the last of Babs' barriers as she shrugged nonchalantly, clearly still trying to sell the whole cold and unfeeling act but the excitement in her eyes betrayed her again, as she said in barely suppressed joy, "Sure, why not? Not like you can make it any worse?"

"Great, then let's go!" Star said, pointing behind her, before the three slowly started back toward the vender, the grown Mewman following along after the eager teens. The blond royal did a quick check over her shoulder, making sure Babs was out of earshot, before turning to Marco and asking, "Wow, Marco, I'm impressed. Since when did you get so good at lying?"

The boy smiled proudly, puffing his chest out some. "Oh, that was easy. I just did what Mackie Hand did in 'Hand to Hand to Hand', y'know when he was trying to break into that underwater compound and he tricked the guards into..." Star joined in with him as they said at the same time, "Giving away their secret codes before knocking them out with his signature Tiger Kick!" The two shared a giggle, as they remembered one of their favorite parts of the movie, happy they had one more thing in common to share.

Buff Frog and Boo Fly, who had watched the whole scene from a nearby bush, shared a surprised look. At first, the two Monsters had been paralyzed with fear as they watched their youngest getting willingly dragged over to the possibly dangerous criminal and it took all of Buff Frog's willpower to keep from chasing after them. But he finally was able to smother his parental instincts and allowed the two teens to handle the situation, though every muscle in his body stayed tensed in wait the entire time, ready to jump to their rescue if need be. But it never came to that as Star and Marco (with some effort) managed to coax the girl into staying, making up some kind of lie about wanting to get to know her or something like that. The Monster leader had been sure Babs wouldn't agree to anything they said, but to both his and his fly subordinate's shock, they stared open-mouthed as the small traitor actually followed the two back over to the cart from before. "Well, would you look at that," Boo Fly commented in amazement. "They actually pulled it off."

"Yes, they did," Buff Frog agreed softly, his mind torn between feelings of both pride and fear for his son and he wasn't sure which was stronger at the moment. He just hoped that the kids knew what they were doing. "But is not over yet," he added grimly.

When Star and Marco reached the seller, they weren't too surprised to see the man's face buried back in his newspaper, seemingly unaware of their presence. Star cleared her throat to gain his attention and his eye lazily moved over to the two before darting open with recognition. He gasped, quickly tossing his forgotten paper away as he formally shouted, "Princess Star! It is an honor! What can I, as one of your humble citizens, do for you today?" He tried to bow, despite sitting in a chair, only resulting in him awkwardly tilting his head slightly downward.

Star put on the most regal voice she could as she said, "Well actually, I'm here cause a friend of mine wanted to-"

"Ah yes!" the man interrupted, his eyes landing now on Marco, who flinched at the sudden attention as the seller continued to drone on in an overly-cheery tone, "This must be the great Marco that everyone has been talking about! My, my such a handsome young man, no wonder you chose him, Princess Star. He must make you very happy!" He winked over at the now blushing teen, his cheek marks glowing a deep red to match his face.

Marco tried his best to reply to the man but he felt the words catch in his throat as his shy side resurfaced and he looked over to Star for assistance. The blond caught his begging gaze and quickly said, "Yes he does, but that's not why I'm here." Now the cart seller gave her a quizzical gaze, but Star ignored it and continued. "See another one of my friends was interested in buying one of your items earlier but there was an... issue."

Now Babs came into view with a knowing and triumphant smirk on her face, as she stood purposely next to the blond royal, clearly showing off her status to the flabbergasted Mewman. "Th-This is your friend," the man squeaked against his will, his eyes incapable of growing any wider.

"Uhh, yeah, she's totally a friend of mine," Star said with just a tiny bit of force.

"Yep, you could even say that me and the princess are best friends," Babs added with a smug look. Marco's eyes filled with hurt for a second and Star put a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head to tell him that wasn't true and he quickly calmed down, the smile returning to his face.

The cart seller was now beginning to sweat as he stuttered nervously, "Oh my, well I apologize for my rudeness earlier. I-I-I had no idea I was speaking to a friend of the princess."

"Yeah, you should be sorry," the small Mewman began, but Star quickly interrupted her, moving so she now stood between her and the seller, leaning against the side of the cart with a bright smile.

"That's okay." the princess said, hoping to get through this conversation with as little difficulty as possible. "No hard feelings. Now if you wouldn't mind allowing me to pay for my friend's collar then we'll be on our way." She looking down at the cart only to realize there was a pretty wide selection of collars being sold and, it suddenly occurred to Star, she didn't know what the one Babs was wanting even looked like. She swallowed, trying to look relaxed and play it cool while silently hoping she wasn't asked any questions she knew she couldn't answer.

Luckily, she didn't have to as the man simply told her, "Of course, Your Majesty," with another awkward bow. The blond nearly sighed in relief as the man reached down and picked up one of the collars, Star taking a moment to study it closely. It was bright red, with a shimmering layer of gold crystals all around it, which seemed to gleam with magical energy, an indented lightning bolt hanging from the front. Star tilted her head at the object, not understanding what the small assassin wanted with it so badly and she couldn't help but wonder if there was some ulterior motive for it she just couldn't see. Still, despite her worries, she didn't hesitate to hand over the payment to the man, still wanting to stay on Babs' good side and hopefully even gain her trust. The cart seller gave her a wide smile as he gave the blond royal her purchase, saying chipperly, "Thank you for your business, Your Highness. I hope to see you again sometime."

"Um, yeah, maybe," Star replied politely, before turning to leave, Babs and Marco following her lead, the small Mewman shooting one last superior grin to the cart owner who scowled back angrily now that the princess's back was turned.

Once they were far enough away, Star stopped quickly handing the collar over to the small Mewman, who eyed it giddily. "Here you go, as promised!" the blond said with a wide grin she hoped would win over the cold cat-lover.

Babs's gaze slowly shifted away from the collar and on to the smiling teen, then back to the collar, her face for once devoid of any animosity or harshness which both Star and Marco took as a good sign. But the Mewman seemed to get ahold of herself, hardening her features as she loudly cleared her throat and said in a formal, businesslike tone, "Well, I suppose that was quite impressive what you did back there for me. So for that, you have my thanks."

"Sure, no problem," the blond royal said, trying to keep up the smooth, lighthearted tone despite Babs' attempt against it.

"What's it for, anyway?" Marco asked curiously, his eyes shining with intrigue as he stared at the collar in the girl's hands.

"Oh just a little something to tame one of my cats, Warrior," Babs explained. "He is a feisty thing and lately I've been having trouble keeping him under control. Hopefully, this collar will help calm him down some. See," the woman help up the collar for them to examine, pointing at one of the golden crystals. "These magic crystals are said to be able to soothe a pet's mind, but man are they rare and hard to find."

"Neat," Star said brightly, putting her hands on her hips. "Well, glad me and Marco were able to help you out."

Babs said nothing at that, silently tucking the collar into her pocket, though she seemed deep in thought about something. "Well I better get going..." she muttered softly, turning to leave but was stopped by Star's sudden shout of, "Wait!"

The blond royal wanted to slap herself for the screw up as the small Mewman turned to her with a suspicious and questioning gaze, knowing she had just thrown their whole plan in jeopardy due to her outburst. Beside her, Marco could only gap at his girlfriend wide-eyed, the panic in his eyes the same as the ones Star was currently suffering from as she tried to think of a way out of this mess, but her brain had turned into a puddle of mush. "Why?" Babs asked in a questioning tone, her searching eyes burning into Star's skin.

"Um, wellll, because..." the girl began, but found herself unable to think of anything else to add, turning to her boyfriend for help.

Marco, catching the desperate, pleading look she was sending his way, quickly swallowed, before saying the first thing that came to mind, "Because we want to take you out to lunch!"

"What?" Babs and Star said at the same time before the blond caught herself and quickly added, "-a great idea, Marco!"

She put an arm around the boy and pulled him close to her so his head was now resting on her shoulder. "I was wanting to ask you myself, of course, but I wasn't sure how to bring it up. But good ol' Marco here, always speaking his mind." She chuckled awkwardly for a second, while the boy gave a very thin smile.

Babs, once again, seemed to be having an intense inner debate, the two teens almost able to see the gears turning in her head as she weighted out her options. Until finally, after what felt like a lifetime, she shrugged and said, "Ah, why not? I'm certainly not going to say no to free food." She turned on her heels and began walking off in the opposite direction, causing both teens to let out a silent sigh. "And in that case, we can go to my favorite place in town. Come on."

The two watched her walk away for a moment, before sharing victorious smiles and a quick high-five, Star whispering excitedly, "Nice work, Marco. Our trap is set."

"Yeah, just like in 'The Spy Who Fought Me' where Mackie Hand lures the enemy spy-" Marco began and Star quickly joined in, the two exclaiming as one, "-into that one sushi restaurant with the ninja chefs!" The young couple just shared little gleeful squeals as they reminisced about one of the coolest parts in the movie.

"Are you two coming or not?" came Babs' irritated yell up ahead and the two immediately shouted back with blushes on their cheeks, "Coming!"

They looked over their shoulder only once, spotting Buff Frog and Boo Fly watching them from inside a bush, the look of worry on the frog father's face unmistakable. The teens shot him a wink and a thumbs up to let him know they had it under control before running off after Babs. Buff Frog had to clench his claw into a tight fist to keep from reaching out to them and pulling them back to safety. But he couldn't now, not without jeopardizing all their hard work. As the Monster leader, he had no choice but to just wait and see how things played out. Still, he didn't like this, not one bit. It was one thing to try and converse and act friendly toward Babs, it was another to willingly follow said assassin to some undisclosed location that had shockwaves of panic coursing through Buff Frog's bloodstream.

"Zzooo, what do we do now, Buff Frog?" Boo Fly asked his leader, all hundreds of the small bug's eyes staring at him questioningly.

"What else?" Buff Frog muttered softly, his eyes never leaving his son's retreating form, his muscular chest clenching as his urge to protect his child and his duties as leader clashed violently within himself. "We follow and be ready to fight."

…

Jackie stood as still as a statue watching the ferocious cats every movement, as it continued to growl under its breath, its piercing eyes flicking between each of the intruders in its home. Its long, sharp claws were drawn and ready, digging into the soft carpet, ready to start tearing into the group at any second, none of whom seemed to be holding up very well as they waited for the inevitable attack. Lobster Claws and Potato Baby were almost paralyzed in fear, just continuing to cling to each other while shivering uncontrollably, letting out small moans of worry every few seconds. Higgs didn't seem to be faring much better (though she doing her best to hide this fact) the redhead's eyes wide and staring forward unblinkingly, while her body had tensed up to the point it looked painful as she tried to fight to keep her own shivers under control, but most troubling of all was the sweat slowly dripping down her face as her breathing became heavy and labored, sounding like she was on the verge of passing out.

Jackie realized that her friends would be of no help at the moment and so decided to take control of the situation herself, sucking in a breath to calm her nerves before saying in the softest, most non-threatening tone she could, "Nice kitty, good kitty. We aren't here to hurt you." She spoke slowly and calmly, hoping to convince the cat that they weren't a real threat to it or its territory. She grabbed ahold of Higgs' arm and began moving them over toward the front door, keeping her movements to a minimum so as to not startle the feline. "We're just going to go and leave you alone, okay?"

Warrior didn't respond, merely flicking his tail and lowered himself even more toward the ground, his hind legs now completely tucked up underneath him as he just continued to eye them curiously.

"Okay everyone stay calm," she told her friends in the same reserved voice, still trying to shuffle herself and Higgs over to the exit. "Let's all just move very slowly over to the door and-"

"What? I'm not running away!" Higgs suddenly exclaimed, apparently recovering from her shock all at once as she ripped her arm away from the skater. "I'm a knight and we don't back down from anything!" the girl growled, jabbing a finger over at herself, before turning to aim it over at Warrior. "Least of all some mangy feline!"

"Higgs wait, stop," Jackie tried, reaching out to grab her but the redhead was already on the move, storming over to the two Monsters as she now positioned herself between them and the dangerous cat. The light-haired girl could only face-palm and hope the young knight's ego didn't end up ruining their mission.

"We can take this stupid cat, guys! Let's show it who's boss and that we aren't gonna let it terrify us anymore? Who's with me?!" she asked turning to the two Monsters for an answer. But both of them just shared nervous looks, Lobster Claws shakily replying, "Um, yeah actually me and Potato are just gonna hang back a bit."

Higgs just groaned in annoyance as she buried her head into her hands, running them slowly down her face. "Oh come on guys, it's just a dumb cat! How bad could it really be?" Her voice cut off as Warrior suddenly struck, leaping off the ground and latching onto her arm sinking its sharp claws into her skin. It yowled and hissed at her, holding on for dear life, as the young knight screamed in terror and pain, all her training forgotten in a heartbeat as she just shook her arm around wildly as she tried desperately to dislodge this ferocious feline from her arm. "Ah, get it off! Get it off!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, while the two Monsters hovered around her with worried expressions but never got too close, out of fear of receiving Warrior's wrath themselves.

But they weren't spared this as the cat, with all the grace of a trained predator, leaped onto the girl's shoulder before launched himself toward his next target, which happened to be Lobster Claw's face. The crustacean Monster let out a high-pitched scream that put all of Marco's to shame as he began running around the room in a blind panic, knocking everything in his path over in the process. Potato Baby, desperate to help out his best friend, waited until the right moment when Lobster Claws was close enough for him to throw a punch toward the cat, hoping to knock it off the crustacean. Unfortunately, Warrior released his grip at the last second and fell to the floor, landing easily on his feet, causing the potato Monster to accidentally hit his friend hard in the face, knocking him to the ground, unconscious. Potato Baby let out a small garbled apology before he too was attacked by Warrior, who began clawing at his face, while he let out unintelligent yelps of pain.

Jackie could only watch in stunned silence, as one by one her friends were taken out by the crafty and unrelenting cat, before rushing over to help them, dropping the stuffed cat on the floor before running over to try and pull the vicious feline off of Potato Baby. "No, no, bad kitty!" she scolded as she struggled to get ahold of the hissing cat, finally managing to get Warrior to release the Monster before dropping him to the floor to check on her friend. "Potato! Are you okay?!" she asked in worry.

The Monster slowly raised its head, garbling something tiredly to her, giving her a thumbs-up, before falling limply to the floor, barely avoiding crashing into the skater. "Hey, give that back!" came a sudden shout from next to her and she turned to see Higgs running straight toward Warrior, who had the stuffed cat in its mouth, shooting them a malicious glare all the while. Jackie regretfully left the two Monsters to give chase to the feline, both girls struggling to keep up with his sporadic and smooth movements, trying to outmaneuver and corner him. But Warrior was one step ahead of them, leaping up on bookshelves and off of every piece of furniture in the room as he easily avoided capture. Finally, after Higgs tried dive-bombing the cat and ended up crash-landing into one of the home's many scratching posts after Warrior scampered out of the way at the last second, the young knight slammed a fist into the ground, angrily proclaiming, "Ugh, this isn't working?!"

"Then we need a new strategy," Jackie stated while helping her friend to her feet, searching around the room for an idea, her eyes lighting up a second later as she let out a small gasp. "And I think I've got it," the skater said confidently, a radiant grin brightening on her face. "Keep him busy!" she shouted, before rushing off to set her plan in motion, leaving Higgs alone to deal with the vile cat.

The redhead, knowing now was not the time for questions, turned back to her opponent only to freeze up as she saw Warrior now perched on the open window to the living room, staring at her with the same superior, unnerving eyes from before. "Don't you dare," Higgs growled under her breath in warning, readying herself to rush over and grab the cat before it could escape.

Warrior only let out a low yowl, before spitting the toy out on the windowsill next to him, much to Higgs surprise and slight elation. But this was short-lived as the cat suddenly let out a loud meow and an army of cats it seemed leaped through the window and into the living room, now surrounding the young knight and the unconscious Monsters. Higgs took a hesitant step back as hundreds of pairs of cheshire eyes trained in on her, getting a sudden flash to the image of a large, similar-looking eyeball that seemed to be consuming the darkest corners of her mind, whispering back her own failures, regrets, and fears and allowing them to echo and fester in her head. The girl choked on a gasp, stumbling backward as she struggled to regain control of her thoughts, clutching her head tightly and gritting her teeth in an effort to push out the dark memory.

Meanwhile, the group of cats began to craftily lower down on their hind legs, ready to pounce on the girl and exact their revenge for ever disturbing their home and messing with their stuff. That was until a voice called from the doorway to the bedroom, "Oh kitties!" Every last cat's head swerved over, only to greedily eye the small mouse toy hanging loosely from Jackie's outstretched hand. "Do you want the toy?" she asked simply, smiling as every last cat seemed to be taking the bait, moving away from Higgs and over toward her. "Then go get it!" she shouted, throwing it into the next room, an outcry of meows and hisses followed as the group of cats chased after it, rushing into the next room, Jackie moving out of the way to let them pass. The moment they were all inside, the skater slammed the door shut, trapping the felines within. She let out a sigh of relief, before looking over to check on the others, Lobster Claws and Potato Baby slowly coming to and Higgs angrily swiping an arm across her face.

"Everyone okay?" she asked, panting a bit after the intense encounter. The two Monsters nodded, though the scratches all over their body said otherwise, Lobster Claws simply stating, "I think I'm a dog person now."

"Yeah, me too," Jackie agreed, shooting him a smile before focusing her attention on Higgs, who had grown unnervingly silent.

"Are you alright, Higgs?" the skater questioned, expecting the young knight to grow defensive and cockily proclaim that of course she was okay. But instead, the girl almost acted like she hadn't even heard her, only slightly shrugging her shoulders in response while crossing her arms in front of her chest in a move that somehow seemed to make her grow suddenly smaller. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said bitterly, but lacking even a trace of emotion.

"Really, cause you don't look okay?" Lobster Claws pointed out.

This seemed to bring a fire back to the redhead as she snapped, "I said I was fine, can we just drop it already?"

Jackie noticed the girl wasn't meeting her eye and could tell something was bothering her but not wanting to push her any more than she was comfortable, simply told her, "Alright, Higgs, whatever you say."

She turned over to the two Monsters, telling them both, "Now c'mon, guys, let's get out of here."

"But what about our evidence?" Lobster Claws asked and Potato Baby nodded.

"Oh actually me and Higgs found all the evidence we'll ever need," the skater explained brightly to the two. "Right over-"

The girl's voice cut off as she saw the Warrior still standing in the windowsill, the toy cat in it's grinning fangs. "What, no way?!" Jackie exclaimed in disbelief. How was this same cat still here? How had her plan not worked? The cat made a move to leap out the window and Jackie ran forward, hoping to snatch the stuffed animal back in time, but found it was already too late, Warrior's body already halfway out the window before a single foot was off the ground.

Jackie felt the disappointment and hopelessness grow as time seemed to slow, watching their only chance at catching Rasticore escaping. Until, a sudden pair of spiked, circular hands snatched the cat out of mid-air, before lifting him out of Jackie's sight.

The skater came to an abrupt stop, her and the others standing there completely dumbfounded for a second, before they all raced to the doorway, Jackie throwing it open without hesitation. The four could only watch in stunned silence as Spike Balls held the hissing and thrashing Warrior suspended above the ground, keeping the fussy cat out at arm's length to avoid getting scratched, his eyes clenched shut as he cringed at every annoyed and irritated meow that came from the feline, the stuffed cat laying forgotten at his feet. "Spike Balls, you did it!" Jackie exclaimed, running over to snatch up the toy before anything else could happen to it.

"Did what?" the large Monster asked in confusion, his focus entirely on the increasingly agitated Warrior who was still squirming in his grip, digging its nail into his impenetrable hands.

"You helped us get back our evidence," Higgs explained, her tone still strained and off. Jackie held up the stuffed cat for them all to see.

"Oh really," Spike Balls gasped, eying the toy in disbelief. "I didn't even realize the cat had that. I just saw it about to escape and grabbed it up without thinking."

"Well it's a good thing you did," Jackie said brightly, quickly unzipping it to make sure everything was inside. "Cause without this, all of this work would have been for nothing."

Spike Balls beamed proudly at that, before jumping at receiving another loud hiss from Warrior. "Um, what do I do with this little guy?"

The others all shared a look and then a shrug, Jackie saying, "Just put him back in the house, I guess."

After the cat had been properly sealed inside (the doors and windows now closed and locked) the group could only listen in shocked silence as they heard violent scratching from the other side of the door, Warrior trying to fiercely claw his way through to reach the group and exact his revenge. All five shuddered at the strange, but traumatizing experience, Jackie wiping the sweat off her brow and Lobster Claws even letting out a relieved sigh, even Higgs looking genuinely agitated by what had happened, her eyes full of intense emotions and her hand twitching at her side.

"Well glad that's over with," Lobster Claws commented and the others nodded in agreement.

"Okay, now come on, guys," Jackie said, taking control of the situation as she gave them all a serious look as she held out the stuffed cat once more. "Let's get this back to Star and the others."

"Right," the Monsters said as one, even Potato Baby saying the phrase in his garbled language, all three doing a quick salute to the skater. Jackie's eye met Higgs but she froze as she saw the girl now looked like a ghost of her former self and Jackie couldn't help but feel her insides squeeze at the redheads instant compliance. What was going on with her?

"Alright then, let's... get going," Jackie said awkwardly, before the group left the empty lawn and started back toward the way they had come, never once looking back at the cat-infested home they were leaving behind. None of them able to completely relax until the loud hissing of the most ferocious cat any of them had ever met, finally faded into the background.

#Star vs #Star vs AU #My Writing #Light of the Sun and Stars #Starco

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makeste · 5 years

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BnHA Chapter 192: The Only Path Forward

Previously on BnHA: Dabi confronted Endeavor and Hawks following Endeavor’s victory over the High Brow Noumu. But then my girl Miruko the rabbit hero showed up, so Dabi fled the scene courtesy of some very familiar black ooze warping. We then cut to the League’s mysterious hideout, where MOTHERFUCKING HAWKS was meeting up with Dabi after the fact to complain that Dabi pulled some bullshit with their AGREED-UPON SECRET PLAN by attacking in the middle of a city with an experimental Noumu. Dabi in turn accused Hawks of playing games because he failed to mention Endeavor would be involved, and he also managed to prevent even a single casualty during the resulting chaos. So neither of them fully trust each other, but in the end Dabi sent Hawks off and agreed to call on him again. We then learned that Hawks is actually working undercover at the request of the police, who need eyes and ears within the League to prevent another disaster like Kamino. Hawks agreed to this knowing it would mean he’d have to make some hard decisions and turn a blind eye to some of the League’s antics. It’s implied he’s feeling guilty over what happened to Endeavor, so I have completed the adoption papers and had them notarized. Oh yeah, and speaking of guilt, for some reason Dabi is standing out looking at the night sky and being weirdly sentimental. So yeah, I basically have no idea who is on whose side at this point, but I’m fucking living for it you guys.

Today on BnHA: The world moves on from this latest incident of high profile villain destruction. Recovery Girl heals Endeavor and Hawks accompanies him to the train station while the two of them discuss the suspiciously coincidental appearance of the Noumu. Hawks manages to dismiss Endeavor’s suspicions, and Endeavor bids him farewell, but not before suggesting that Hawks should find somebody to help him with his investigation. We get an extremely intriguing Hawks flashback and learn that he was groomed to be a hero from childhood due to his talent, but that he never wanted it and longs for the day when society doesn’t need heroes anymore. We then cut to the Todoroki house, where Endeavor greets his three Children With Known Whereabouts and has an unpleasant confrontation with Natsuo, who hasn’t forgiven him despite his seeming change of heart and lets him know that in no uncertain terms. Shouto thoughtfully says that “Endeavor the hero” is amazing, but as far as Endeavor the person goes, his feelings are in line with Natsuo’s. However he wants to see what kind of dad he’ll become from here on out. Endeavor realizes that his new purpose is to secure a good future for his children, and that the only thing he can do is continue to move forward. That night we cut to Deku, who finds himself in a strange dream with his body is covered in black smoke. Shimura and the other OFA users are there as well. And then all of a sudden he’s watching a scene from the past -- All for One standing against his younger brother, the first OFA user.

This chapter is so fucking good and this recap is so fucking long you guys lol. because it’s just so good ahhhhhhh.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 212 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

Izuku got the cover of Jump on account of the BnHA movie premiere! congratulations Izuku

and young All Might is in the upper right hand corner looking like a vintage Ken doll as always and weirding me out

I still like young All Might, but idk you guys, there’s just something about the black sclera that just cranks it up to 11 for me. really is a shame that only happens as a result of his injury

and there’s a page with some blurry clips from the movie, and then this awesome color spread celebrating 4 whole years!

it just hit home that I have less than 30 chapters left until I’m all caught up oh shit

fourth popularity poll! YOU CHUCKLEFUCKS BETTER SHOW MIRIO SOME FUCKING RESPECT THIS TIME AROUND YOU HEAR

I see Bakugou is wearing a clip-on tie here. for fuck’s sake you’re sixteen years old learn to tie the damn thing already

what the actual fuck is happening with Todoroki and Deku’s pants. and for once, not Bakugou’s. like seriously what the hell, this is unnerving

okay guys, poll time: which of these hand gestures indicating the number four is most valid. is it Deku’s, even though he’s doing it with both hands and thus arguably indicating the number eight instead? Ochako, who has the opposite problem and is going for a 2+2=4 thing? or Jirou, who opted to be asymmetrical and do three on one hand and one on the other?

why do only the girls have hats. and did Deku really insist on wearing his trademark red sneaks even though they clash so fucking horribly. why did the others allow this to happen

(ETA: you know what, given the outfits they wore during the A Band performance, they probably did not give one single fuck)

anyway, I love this page from the bottom of my heart, but we came here today to learn more about Dabi’s weird angst and to find out how screwed Hawks is and exactly how hot Endeavor is going to be once that scar heals over. so let’s get to this

so now it’s two days later and Endeavor is all healed up thanks to Recovery Girl! the perks of being a U.A. alum and the number one hero whom everyone now loves

oh mama

okay guys but I need someone to tell me right the fuck now how this man still has an eye. and an eyebrow. you’re telling me they could heal the eyeball just fine but not the rest of his face

(ETA: I actually got an ask explaining this, but I haven’t gotten a chance to take another look at the scene where he gets wounded yet. but thank you anon!)

it looks like he actually did lose half of his mustache though omg

anyways I fucking knew he was going to come out of this just unfairly hot. and just fucking look at him. smdh

as for Miruko, she just fucked right out of there to continue doing her thing afterward. lol I’m glad they bothered to tell us but honestly I wasn’t that curious, that’s basically what I assumed already

son of a bitch

dsflhlk okay JUST STOP, Horikoshi. who the fuck do you think you are making Hawks apologize so fucking casually even though we now know that in truth, he actually is responsible on a level Endeavor has no clue about, and actually has some grounds for feeling guilty even though he wasn’t to blame. like, here he is slyly making it out to be an apology for calling that meeting where they got attacked, even though in reality WE KNOW THE TRUTH

speaking of that meeting, I wonder if Endeavor has put the pieces together yet that Something Was Not Quite Right About That

also what the fuck is in this giant wheely suitcase. is it his suit?

anyway, so he’s telling Hawks that his injuries are his own responsibility

and Hawks is all “ooh that’s a good response, can I use it next time I’m injured”

ah here we go

look, Endeavor may be a lot of things, but he’s not stupid

Hawks is all “lmao fuck my life”

well you’ve had two whole days to come up with some kind of story so let’s see what you got. if it were me I’d tie it in to your investigation

he says that they were bound to draw some attention as the #1 and #2 heroes, and they probably just caught the villains’ eye

and he’s thinking to himself that that’s the whole reason why he drew so much attention toward them while they were out, so he’d have an excuse

this sounds considerably less plausible when you just got attacked by a goddamn Noumu though you know. and clearly a new breed of them no less

now Endeavor’s telling him to be careful with his investigation

don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here trying to figure out whether this has a double meaning

probably not -- I did say he wasn’t stupid, but I doubt he’s that smart to have figured the whole thing out either. still, this gave me pause lol

(ETA: yeah, on my second readthrough this just reads to me like “if you ever need backup, call me before you go and do anything stupid.” tsundere affection from someone with almost no prior experience in showing that he cares. I don’t think he has any idea what Hawks is really up to, but I think he has an inkling that there’s more going on than meets the eye, and he wants him to be careful.)

Hawks’s reaction is interesting too

and now he’s grinning in that you-like-krabby-patties-don’t-you-squidward way

he just cares about you and you’re young enough to be his son so he’s looking out for you

SPEAKING OF HIS SON are we gonna get to that anytime soon. is that where you’re headed off to now Endeavor? to be with your family? oh to be a fly on the wall during that meeting. oh wait, we’re reading a manga and I’ll literally get to read all about it in just a couple of pages, probably. fuck yeah

so Hawks says that he’ll be back on the job once all his feathers grow back

“it’ll probably be another day or so” holy shit. that’s some crazy fast recovery time

and now he’s bidding Endeavor farewell

...did Endeavor just adopt Hawks too

(ETA: he sure did. this is not a man who just waves at people. this is a dad wave. it’s weird you guys, it’s so fucking weird, but that’s what it is though! at least that’s how I read it)

don’t tell me I’m gonna have to co-parent this in-over-his-head too-smart-for-his-own-good bird child with the world’s second worst dad (yeah, Overhaul’s still got that #1 on lockdown for the rest of eternity though)

now we’re flashing back to that meeting with the cops when they first told Hawks about the undercover assignment

they’re calling it a “proposal” and Hawks is mildly objecting to that term

(ETA: “despite knowing I can’t possibly refuse.” oh my god I have so many feels for this boy. he has no choice in any of this. I just want to wrap him up and keep him safe and just let him rest and chill out and play video games and eat tacos and not have to worry about villains and secrets and keeping his damn guard up all the time and being discovered or killed or getting someone else killed. HORIKOSHI. PROTECT HIM!!)

the woman says she won’t deny that Hawks coincidentally not being in Kamino worked out well for them

oh shit! now we’re cutting to a car accident scene, and at first I thought ‘oh so is this why he wasn’t in Kamino, was he saving these people’ but no!

so this woman basically sponsored him to be a hero then? interesting

holy shiiiiit

so he genuinely does want that, what he was talking about before. but it’s because this is all he’s been doing for his whole life, and it’s simply because he felt obligated to do it because he had the talent and was pushed into the “with great power...” mindset

like, he didn’t really have a choice, is the vibe I’m getting from this? it was the right thing to do and it’s what everyone wanted and he was good at it. but that doesn’t mean it’s what he wanted. but because it’s what was needed, he went ahead and did it

jesus christ. no wonder he can’t muster any genuine starry-eyed enthusiasm for the profession the way all of the other hero characters seem to do. it’s not his dream. it’s his burden

(ETA: yeah so. imagine saving someone’s life when you’re still just a child. being put on the spot and acting without any training, but doing your best because without you these people would die. and imagine that as a reward you’re told you have an obligation to take up the most dangerous occupation there is, and sacrifice your freedom and potentially your life in order to serve the greater good. and having no choice, because you are a good person, and so you can’t just refuse, knowing that there are more lives that you could save.

and as far as everyone else is concerned, you’re a prodigy, young and bold and gifted and living your best life. living a life that many others would envy. but the reality is you’re trapped, with no possible escape in sight other than the precarious hope that one day things will be good enough that your services will no longer be needed.

ladies and gentlemen, if I may hit you up with a blast from the past for one moment, please consider this quote from All Might all the way back in chapter one:

Hawks may have never been much of an All Might fan, but as it turns out, the two of them may have more in common than he ever realized.

yeah, so needless to say I’m watching you very closely Horikoshi, and if you so much as sneeze in a way that looks like you might be considering doing our lost little Icarus any harm, you and I are going to have words.)

and now we are cutting to the Todoroki home!

look at these sweet angels

Endeavor how did it take you so fucking long to realize what you had. you had it so fucking good, dude. these kids are all beautiful and smart and kind and talented and yet you either ignored them or treated them like absolute shit. god, man, you fucked up so bad. this is a second chance that you arguably didn’t deserve! but here you have it anyway! do not fucking waste this, dude

also loving that the Todorokis have such a traditional house but they still have the big flat screen TV right there. because they may be traditional but they still like to watch the cooking channel while they eat

so Endeavor is cautiously saying “long time no see” because you gotta start somewhere, huh

OH MY GOD

AIZAWA DROVE HIM HERE. AND THEN WHAT, JUST STAYED OUTSIDE TO WAIT?

(ETA: because who the hell would want to go and talk to Endeavor when you could stay outside and play with a cat instead)

DID THEY HAVE A MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION ON THE WAY OVER. OR WAS IT QUIET AND AWKWARD. PROBABLY A LITTLE OF COLUMN A AND A LITTLE OF COLUMN B. OH MY GOD. someone better have written fic about it!!

OH MY GOD

TODOROKI SHOUTO IS THE SASSIEST FUCKING CHARACTER IN THIS ENTIRE GODDAMN SERIES CONFIRMED. PACK IT UP BOYS. AIN’T NO ONE EVER GONNA OUTSASS THAT

ENJI I LOVE YOUR FUCKING KIDS SO MUCH YOUR FAMILY IS PERFECT YOU DON’T DESERVE THEM GODDAMN YOU

“JUST BECAUSE YOU HATE HIM”

oh shit Natsu’s getting to his feet and apologizing to Fuyu and saying that he just can’t do this

and he’s walking out the door, but Endeavor’s putting a hand on his shoulder as he leaves and telling him that if he has something to say to go ahead and say it

YOU GO AND PREACH IT, NATSU. YOU DESERVE TO GET IT ALL OFF YOUR CHEST AND HE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND JUST HOW BADLY HE HURT YOU OR YOU ALL ARE NEVER GONNA HEAL

and I mean, damn. if he didn’t even know Shouto’s favorite food was soba then that basically means he never so much as spent five minutes together with his little brother. Shouto fucking loves soba in the same way Deku loves All Might. it’s probably the purest love in the entire series

yet again the series gives us a glorious scene of Shouto eating food during a time of serious discussion. hungry boi Todoroki Shouto. Todoroki “are you going to finish that” Shouto

and Natsu’s thinking back to what Rei said about Enji trying to face his past and his family head on

but he’s not that forgiving

OH SHIT!?!?

TOUYA. THE FINAL TODOROKI CHILD. AND JUST LIKE WE SUSPECTED, HE IS THE OLDEST

and I get the feeling that whatever happened there is the real reason why Natsu has so much rage built up toward his dad. not that the rest of it wouldn’t be more than enough to make him feel that way, mind. “mom screaming and Shouto crying” holy shit. this family has so many fucking demons

this child needs some hugs people. not from you Endeavor. but maybe Fuyu can go comfort him later. you are valid Natsu and this rage is completely justified. 100%

oh my god this scene, though

this, right here, is the difference between redemption and forgiveness. I’ve essayed about this before. but here it is, vividly on display. Endeavor is actively working toward redeeming himself now, and yet he may never actually be forgiven. he can’t change the past and he can’t erase the hurt emanating from his son. pain that he himself caused. Natsuo may never forgive him, and he’s justified in hating him

but at the same time the only thing Endeavor can do is try anyway to be a better person. he came to all of these realizations much too late, and the damage was already done. but it’s not too late to do whatever he can now. and he clearly is trying to do that

just, it’s such a sad situation, and some really poignant writing, honestly

anyway, Natsuo’s just sarcastically screaming “oh, is that so?” and then storming out and tossing a belated apology over at his sister and thanking her for the food

wonder if he’ll run into Aizawa on his way out. Aizawa will no doubt be in for another interesting conversation with Shouto on the way home. someone write this fucking fic. if they haven’t already. holy shit

now Fuyu is holding her head frustratedly and saying that she was hoping that somehow they would finally able to become a proper family after all this

hey. don’t put this all on Shouto. he has even less reason to forgive Endeavor than Natsuo does. don’t pressure him, let him sort out his own feelings goddammit

...

Todoroki Shouto are you honestly a robot though

now the TV is suddenly cutting to the news and talking about Endeavor! what a fucking coincidence!

and it’s showing all these people giving their opinions after the most recent battle

the newscaster is all, “as you can see, the voices of anxiety haven’t changed”

but! “on the other hand...”

oh my god, Endeavor’s awesome fan now has his own fans. GOOD FOR YOU, CAN’T-YA-SEE-KUN

oh my fucking god

we have reached the point of in-universe memes. this is amazing. this kid’s face is plastered all over the BnHA universe’s version of tumblr. he is the new must-use reaction image. people post their faves struggling followed by “CAN’T YA SEE?!” and they get 100,000 likes. oh my god. this is magnificent

do you all realize what this means. there are memes in the BnHA universe. that means that there is a good likelihood that a number of the U.A. kids, who as we all know have risen to quite the level of fame and prominence themselves in a very short time, have their own memes

the sports festival was broadcast on national fucking television after all. you guys. what is the likelihood that broken-arms Deku became a meme (similar to the way he is in real fucking life). or chained-to-the-podium Bakugou. Bakugou would have been the perfect reaction image for any number of “I don’t want to be here” memes. “when your girlfriend wants to introduce you to her parents but you don’t want to go.” “when you’re in the car and your friend puts on a song you hate and you can’t change it because you don’t have the aux.” “when you’re streaming something and the 30-second ad break comes on and you can’t skip it”

oh my god. Bakugou Katsuki is famous for all the wrong reasons you guys

his mom probably saved all of her favorites and spams him with them constantly

anyways. gotta refocus here lol

so the interviewed people are continuing to gush about the battle. they’re hyped not just about Endeavor, but also Hawks and CYS-kun. “everyone was like, in unison, ‘let’s cheer him on!’ it was crazy!”

so here at least is a little bit of comfort for Endeavor. maybe some broken things can’t be mended, but at least he’s finally learning what it means to be a hero! AFTER TWENTY FIVE YEARS Y’ALL. LATE BLOOMER OR WHAT

-- oh my god!?

he can’t make eye contact while saying it. but he still said it. oh my god

and yet the fact that he made a point of clarifying that he was speaking of Endeavor the hero and not Endeavor his father implies a “but” coming on

yep

what kind of dad. can you become a good dad. you’re finally starting to figure all this shit out, but now here comes the biggest challenge of all

also Shouto is so fucking pure and precious, holy shit. “I haven’t forgiven you for how you tormented mom.” not himself. his mother. he doesn’t even bring his own abuse up. even though he has every right to point out that Endeavor specifically made his life a living hell from the time his quirk developed until the time he went off to high school

and is it because forgiveness for that is not even on the table? or is it because he’s already forgiven him? or is it just that he doesn’t even want to think about it because he’s not ready yet? and I sure hope it’s not because he doesn’t realize just how bad it was, though

just, oh man. so much to unpack here as usual with this family

oh my god Shouto

ENDEAVOR YOU SON OF A BITCH YOU DON’T DESERVE THIS GENTLE, THOUGHTFUL, COMPASSIONATE ANGEL OF A SON

and it’s clear he has no idea what to say in response to that, so he’s just standing there while meanwhile Fuyu is tearing up and telling Shouto she’ll bring him some more soup

holy shit we’re getting Endeavor’s first person thoughts now oh my god

like I said, all of this was brought on by him finally achieving the thing he’d sacrificed everything to achieve, only to come to the stark realization that it wasn’t worth it. at all. so a pretty painful catalyst, all things considered, but if any asshole ever needed that kick in the pants it was this fucker right here

oh fucking shit, fuck me if I’m not getting Endeavor feels oh fuck

“for what reason”, All Might asks. and Endeavor realizes: for our children

oh fuck oh fuck

okay so while I so far have very much liked the delicate way this whole process has been handled as far as his children go, when it comes to his wife that’s a whole nother story. that’s going to be even trickier to pull off, and just. oh boy I’m nervous now

(ETA: still nervous tbh. but I guess we’ll see)

so he’s turning to leave, and Fuyu is like “DAD NOW YOU TOO??”

-- and holy shit, he’s apologizing

for everything

bastard finally got those words out. I can hardly believe it

OH DAMN

FUCK ME IF THAT ISN’T EXACTLY WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME?

holy shit. holy fucking shit this is too damn good and I love it

oh fuck and now we’re cutting back to Heights Alliance. this may just be the one and only time I’ve ever been slightly disappointed to cut back to 1-A and their antics

and we’re cutting back to Deku, who’s wiped out from the day’s training and promptly collapsing into bed upon returning to his room

HOLY SHIT WHAT THE

WHAT THE HELL KIND OF SPOOKY FUCKING DREAM IS THIS. DEKU COVERED IN SOME KIND OF MYSTERIOUS BLACK FIRE??

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHIMURAAAAA

HOLY SHIT, IT’S CLEARLY HER. AND DEKU HAS NEVER SEEN HER FACE BEFORE AND YET THIS IS UNMISTAKABLE

IS THIS THE PAST AVATARS SHIT AGAIN AT LONG LAST?? HOLY SHIT?

OH MY GODDDDDDD

IS THAT ALL MIGHT!?!?!?

and he’s remembering that he’s seen this before. and of course we all recall back during his fight with Shinsou when this happened and he was suddenly able to activate OFA and break Shinsou’s mind control

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HOLY SHITTTTTT

I HAVEN’T CLICKED TO THE NEXT CHAPTER THIS FAST SINCE FUCKING DEKU VS KACCHAN PART TWO. HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!! I’M NOT EVEN GONNA FUCKING ANALYZE ANYTHING, FUTURE ME CAN FUCKING DO THAT. I’M JUST HYPED!! YESSSSSSSS. DEKU’S DAD VS HIS UNCLE LMAO

(ETA: well, future me isn’t going to add anything either, since this recap is long enough as it is. but this really is a great ending to an outstanding chapter you guys)

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