#on a conference call another time (this one was with cass because she was there for a WHILE since cass was taking her time in coming out so

[caitlynmeow]

i can’t remember if you’ve said anything about this yet but i’m picturing ur cass going into labour and. how is girl surviving this once let alone THREE times when she reacted to PUBERTY like THAT 😭 just from the sheer panic alone

omg anon i haven't talked about this but it's Cassandra okay girlies is a MESS during all three times 😭😭😭

From way before giving birth, like soon after Alcina knew that Cass was pregnant she had a private meeting with wife and was very clear about making sure Cassandra goes for an epidural and there shouldn't be any of the no drugs option. Wife looked at Alcina and said seriously "What makes you believe your daughter is going to brave this one out?" Because she's known Cass for a few years and can tell that this will never be something to think about. Alcina has no reason to assume that Cassandra is going to do this because she's the kind of person who would cry over a paper cut. So giving birth without medication is not on the table.

And yes, wife is there to keep things under control to the best of her ability. Because as dramatic and out of control Cassandra can be, her wife can maintain calm and be the voice of reason during many situations. She’s not complaining at all, the dramatics are part of Cassandra’s charm that she fell for and she won’t have her any other way. As long as she knows Cass is okay and not in any real pain, she can take whatever comes her way.

Cassandra on her end was doing just okay until about 25 weeks into her pregnancy, then it downed on her and she started to actually panic every time she thought about it. She’d constantly tell herself: “People give birth every day, literally I WAS BORN!” And still get a tight chest because of all the anxiety.

She also was convinced that she was going to die, so it felt more like a countdown to that instead of having her baby because is she going to survive a human coming out of her? Not likely. She was ready with a speech to her wife, mom, and sisters.

When she was at the hospital, Cassandra was in full panic mode because she simply wasn't ready. But since it's time to give birth, the matter is out of her hands but she isn't known for giving up quickly. She was in no pain, physically. Her wife did ask her if she was in any physical pain, to rate it from 0 to 10 which Cass answered truthfully and said that it was at a zero. "Emotional pain?" Wife knows she needs to check on that because this is what's making Cass so anxious and distressed. "200" Cassandra answered as she burst into tears.

That wasn't the end of it. Since she couldn't feel anything, Cassandra's brain convinced her that she could keep this up for probably another day or two. And since she is absolutely not ready to give birth just yet, she decided that wants to leave and come back the next day when she's better prepared. But of course, there is no way she can leave while in active labor and contractions being so close to one another. But then again, she was feeling very panicky and overwhelmed and she wanted her mother because she wasn't going to do this and no one could make her do it.

There is no way wife is going to leave Cassandra's side and go get Alcina, so a nurse has to be sent out for the task. When Alcina saw the nurse approaching, she panicked thinking that something bad had happened. But the nurse told her that everything was okay but her daughter needed her.

When Alcina got into the delivery room, Cassandra thought she finally had an ally and that her mother was surely going to stop this madness and make her go home (she's persistent like that and also very delulu) but Alcina wasn't on her side, and told her that it's too late for that now. She will go home in two days anyway.

"I can't do this! I don't know how," Cassandra confessed, she was openly crying by that point and it broke Alcina's heart to see her like this. She always hated seeing her daughters in pain, and she knows that Cassandra is not in any pain but she is scared and getting very emotional because of it. Alcina hoped for a way to help ease her daughter's distress, but unfortunately, this was one of those things that her daughter had to do alone. "You don't need to do anything, draga. Your body knows what to do, and it's already pushing your baby out on its own," Because at that point, the baby's head was already out and this entire thing will be over very soon.

Sure enough, a few minutes later the room was filled with the baby's cries. And just like that, it was over.

Alcina did get to see her granddaughter as soon as she was born because she was right there providing all kinds of support to her daughter who was finally registering what had happened. Though she was pouting and tearful still, she did complain that no one listened to her, especially her mom and wife because they were supposed to be on her side. But she was soon distracted by her baby and forgot all about labor a few hours later.

Even Miranda wasn't mad that they only called her after Aurelia was born because she knew that Alcina was definitely going to be busy with Cassandra. Miranda called it first and suggested they have an OR on standby just in case this one granddaughter refused to give birth for whatever reason.

Donna was also frantic, knowing how near impossible it was and for once she sided with her mother. But Donna was in favor of them forgoing the whole delivery and going straight to c-section because 'there is no reason to torture the little doe,' as she put it.

It took a lot of coaxing, a very long process, and lots of tears (for no reason, really) but Cassandra did it eventually (with the support of both her mother and her wife and a very patient medical team).

#cassandra dimitrescu #resident evil village #bela dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu #donna beneviento #mother miranda #house dimitrescu #resident evil 8 #alcina and wife were stressed tf out okay #Alcina could have sworn it almost felt like she was the one giving birth not Cassandra with how worried she was #Alcina had 3 daughters with no problems or complications so she knows how easy it is. all three and she was reading one time #on a conference call another time (this one was with cass because she was there for a WHILE since cass was taking her time in coming out so #mama did some work while baby decided whether to come out or not #nothing for dani because when alcina's water broke dani was born literally only two hours later her youngest has no patience in her at all #yet despite that being in the room with cassandra while she was giving birth was the most stressful #she was just worried because cassandra is not built for this #she's like a wet noodle when it comes to these things she has the whole family worried about her because 'how is SHE going to go thru this' #like everyone KNOWS #then there is cass waltzing home 10-11 months later announcing she is pregnant again #like woman can u NOT #and yes she was also dramatic the next time and the third time #she just does it differently every time because girlie really does overthink a lot and gets herself worked up #plus she's actually a delicate baby princess and def not made for this kind of thing #but she wants kids so :// #wife and mama will have to suffer with her #second time at the hospital alcina joked 'do u need me this time too?' and cass nodded tearfully 'yes i can't do this omg' #so it was round two of the same thing #like alcina was more stressed during those times than she was during her own time giving birth #she's too old for this but cassandra insists on putting her mama through it #cass can do it but she needs someone to hold her hand throughout the entire process

[drgnrder82]

The Choices You Make (BH6 Fanfic) Chapter 1

(See all archive TW on Archive of our own, Link below)

"Hey ya, kiddo." Aunt Cass beamed as she brought Hiro's breakfast plate. 

Lucky Cat Cafe was as bustling as always. New customers and so many regulars coming and going. Aunt Cass kept the catering service going, though she'd slowed down when Hangry Panda began malfunctioning. It was another item on Hiro's ever-expanding to-do list. But between office hours as S.F.I.T., his doctoral thesis, teaching, and inventing on the side (which he tried and failed miserably at managing, just like his relationship). 

"Aunt Cass, I'm 19. You don't have to call me 'kiddo.' Thanks for breakfast." 

“You doing ok?” 

"Yes?" He had his laptop out and was grading lab reports. They'd been due back to the class yesterday, and he was only halfway through grading them. He was already on thin ice with Granville, and she knew him so well that there were few excuses he could use. Of all his choices after undergrad, Hiro chose to stay at S.F.I.T. for his doctoral work to stay close to Aunt Cass. 

"Sweetie," Aunt Cass took a rare moment to sit with him at his usual table, placing a hand over his. "I heard what happened." 

Oh.

“Aunt Cass, it’s not a big deal. Karmi and I have broken up before.” 

“You were pretty angry.” 

“You heard?” Damn. He’d thought ‘beat poetry night’ would have covered the argument. 

“Sometimes…” 

Here it comes. 

“Two people aren’t meant to be. That’s ok. And maybe it’s for the best.” 

If Hiro was being honest with himself, he'd known that for a while. Their relationship started long distance, and he'd stupidly continued with the secrecy about his alter ego. But even after he and the rest of Big Hero 6 retired, it wasn't any better most of the time. 

Yesterday, Karmi drove in for a conference, and they just happened to both be free for a date… to the conference banquet. Like every other time, Hiro could think of, when Karmi came into the city, she put work first. Or he had deadlines, or to help Aunt Cass, and him and Karmi spending time together came second. 

And then it became a cycle. They'd break up. It didn't matter who initiated the breakup. They'd spend a few weeks apart, then one of them would inevitably find the other at an event they were each attending separately. And then… back to the honeymoon phase.

Deep inside, Hiro knew Karmi loved him, and he loved her. But… there was a fundamental difference between them. During the 'honeymoons,' they overlooked the differences. When they got to their daily lives, the clashing in what he felt were core beliefs led to tears, pissed off words, and general anger at everything. 

Last night, it had come to a head when they stopped home for him to change, late for the conference banquet because he’d gotten lost in his research project (which was also failing).

Read the full chapter here on AO3.

#big hero 6 fanfic #fanfic #hiro big hero 6 #big hero 6 #bh6 fanfic #bh6 hiro #hiro hamada #aunt cass #5 years later #archiveofourown #ao3fic #ao3 fanfic #ao3

[incorrectbatfam]

Any headcanons about the Batfamily making prank phone calls?

Kate’s favorite activity during boring galas is to hide behind potted plants and do a conference call that sets off a bunch of people’s ringers at the same time

Dick sent twenty-five pizzas to Titans Tower and it kind of backfired because... Wally

Steph likes to prank call restaurants so much that most of the ones in Gotham blocked her number, so if she wants to place a legitimate order she needs to use another phone

Jason pranks people over the comms when patrol is slow. One time he sent everyone on a wild goose chase that wound up in Tim taking a dip in the harbor, Bruce digging through a dumpster behind the stadium, and Roy coming all the way from Star City

Cass doesn’t actively prank call, but when telemarketers call her she’ll hit “answer” and just sit next to it and do nothing except breathe like a lurking demon

Harper and Cullen are prank texters, but while Harper sends fake-serious texts that make people freak out, Cullen just spams memes and confuses the heck out of everyone

Tim is the go-to guy for pranking Wayne Industries because the employees think that he’s giving actual commands

Carrie prank calls other family members and everyone knows it’s her because she’s the “is your refrigerator running” person, plus she won’t stop giggling. They still play along to give her the satisfaction. Secretly, that’s Alfred’s favorite gag

Kate is super difficult to prank because she catches on almost right away. The one person who managed to prank her was Babs, who convinced Kate that she was locked in the Batburger bathroom

Duke did a similar thing with Bruce, convincing the latter that he was locked in his school, forcing Bruce to leave in the middle of an important corporate meeting

Bruce’s one and only prank call was to the Justice League, convincing them that their kids were doing something really bad and that they needed to stop them right away (the only person who didn’t fall for that was Diana, because Donna and Cassie were right next to her)

Damian’s idea of a prank call is dialing Jon and putting Titus on the phone. Jon’s response is always to put Krypto on and let the dogs have a conversation

Alfred successfully prank called the Queen

#ask #anonymous #batfamily #batfam #batclan #batman family #dc comics #headcanon #tw food mention

[chcherrybomb99]

Emeralds Gleam

A missing necklace, a mysterious woman, and a mischievous god. When a beautiful necklace is stolen under the nose of the government, the avengers are tasked to get it back. They just don’t have all the tools needed to complete the mission.

Loki x female!Reader (also culturally French but skin tone or ethnicity is not described)

Warnings: slow burn, alcohol, swearing, that’s it I think (let me know if I missed anything)

Part 1/?

1366 words

The clicking of heels grew louder in the marble-floored halls of Stark Tower. The avengers' hushed voices silenced as the heavy frosted-glass door opened to reveal the source of the clicking. There in the doorway stood a stunning woman, the dark sapphire dress she wore clung and draped across her curves accentuating her nearly shimmering skin. She plucked the wide, dark sunglasses from the tip of her nose and tucked them into the large white leather bag perched in the crook of her elbow. Her observant eyes peered at each of the avengers in turn. Steve fidgeted under her gaze while Natasha steeled her already rigid posture and Clint set his calming hand on her knee.

“Y/n y/l/n! It hasn’t been long enough, darling!” Tony cried slightly uncomfortable when their eyes met. He opened his arms for a hug as she stepped towards him, her clicking heels echoing in the silent room.

“Ahh Monsieur Stark, you haven’t aged a day,” she said with a thick French accent. She clasped his shoulders and kissed each of his cheeks. As they let the other go, her ruby-colored lips split into a Cheshire grin. “I see my arrival is a bit of a surprise to everyone,” she said as she took the seat directly across from an incredibly suspicious Loki. He leaned back in his seat, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes, well, I wasn’t sure you would actually come,” he rubbed the back of his neck, flushed. “We didn’t quite leave on the best foot last time.” The avengers all turned their heads to Tony who was looking quite sheepish. The attention snapped to y/n when she let out a trilling laugh.

“You mean because you attempted to leave a bug in my home or the fact that you threw up on my one of a kind, custom, Louis Vuitton canapé?” She cocked her head like a confused puppy. “Have I grown a second head, Mademoiselle Romanoff?” She snapped when she caught Nat glaring daggers at her.

“Of course not, Madame Babineaux,” Romanoff responded silkily. Loki looked between the two women in curiosity. There was clearly bad blood between the two. Y/n’s eyes slid to slits when she spoke the name.

“You know as well as I do, that is no longer my name mon puce,” Y/n growled, she crossed her legs and set her dagger nailed hands on top. A long dead name; the whole group knew it. It was the name of her first husband. Mourand Babineaux was an incredibly rich old man, whose family they say was descended directly from Marie Antoinette. That however was not the most phenomenal thing about his family. He was once the head of the largest crime family in France. Now that he is dead, by mysterious means, Y/n holds all the connections from her awful husband.

“Ladies! Ladies! Ladies!” Tony tried to relieve the tension that was steadily building. “We have better things to worry about, like the reason that I called Ms. Y/l/n in to help us,” he motioned towards the holographic display in front of them as the lights dimmed. A beautiful diamond and emerald necklace set in dazzling yellow gold. “This is what we need to find. It was taken from the British Royal family while they were on a state visit to the White House. S.H.I.E.l.D. has been asked to find it and Fury decided to give this stupid assignment over to us. The latest intelligence we have heard is that the necklace has been passing hands in the French black market.” Tony concluded as the display lowered and the lights came back up in the room.

“Is that why you called me here? You plouc! Casse-toi! How dare you. My people have nothing to do with this. I don’t need to steal jewelry that I can afford, sous-merde.” Y/n rattled off as she started to stand from her seat, her accent growing thicker as she pronounced her indecencies. Just as she was turning to storm her way out of the conference room, Steve spoke up.

“Y/n” he barked “we don’t think that you are the one responsible for the theft, we need your help infiltrating the group that did,” he was standing at the head of the table with his arms crossed.

“You need my help? Infiltrating a gang? That is all you want from me? I don’t believe it,” she stated flatly, not bothering to turn back to the group. “You have Monsieur Stark and all the connections that he has, you do not need me.”

“We need more than connections,” Natasha said, lowering her head from where she sat. “Hydra is the one responsible for the theft, they plan on selling it at an auction one week from now. They are going to invite you. Not Stark. Madame.” She continued to say in an effort to get the woman to stay. Y/n stalled in her movement towards the door. She looked over her shoulder at the group and made eye contact with Loki.

“Do I at least get to keep the necklace?”

After the briefing, the group headed up to the living floors of the tower. The tense meeting had left the whole party famished. Stark offered to order escargot to welcome the new company but was quickly vetoed by the woman in question.

“I may be french, Stark,” she laughed melodically, “but l’escargot is just a vehicle for butter.” After a filling meal the air surrounding the people quickly lightened. Stories were being shared as Y/n filled glasses for everyone from a bottle of Cabernet.

“I sent this bottle of wine to Tony after one of his visits to France,” she was saying, “he showed up to my home drunk and asked if he could come talk business with me. Well, the business talk never happened because he walked into my den and promptly threw up his dinner all over my brand new custom canapé, or um, sofa, after that I threw him out of my home and made him stay in a hotel for the rest of his time in Paris. Once he returned home I sent him a little gift. This bottle of wine and the price tag from the sofa that he ruined.” The group busts up into a fit of laughter when Y/n spun around with the price tag in her hand. The beautiful lady gracefully handed a glass to each person in the dining room. Tony, Steve, and Wanda all took theirs gratefully while Nat, Clint, and Pietro were a bit more resigned in their thanks and Loki took his glass with a sniff.

“I don’t know what kind of alcohol they serve on Asgard Loki,” she grabbed the glass back from his nimble fingers and took a small sip, leaving red lip marks on the rim of the glass. “But this is,” she closed her eyes as the alcohol danced across her tongue, “simply divine.” Loki slipped the glass back into his grasp. He silently took a sip and looked back at the woman across from him. He inclined his head and took another silent sip, never breaking eye contact.

“Y/n you do have amazing taste in wine, thank you for sending it to me. But I will not apologize for the couch since it was your bar that I got drunk at,” Tony said to keep the conversation going. Y/n just laughed along the rest as the night turned into stories spurred on by the stories before until slowly the group disbanded. The last few at the table, Stark, Wanda, and Loki said their goodbyes to Y/n and went to their respective rooms. After a few turns with Loki behind her, Y/n began to notice his presence.

“Are you following me?” Y/n questioned.

“Of course not, I am simply on my way to my room, my lady,” Loki defended, raising his hands in submission. Y/n cocked an eyebrow at him and went along her way. When she reached the room she was staying in, she paused in the doorway.

“Goodnight Loki.”

#loki x reader #Loki #tony stark #wanda maximoff #pietro maximoff #captain america #femme fatale #loki x you #loki x y/n #female!reader #first fic #I’m kinda scared to post this #hope you like!

[argylemnwrites]

Some Definition

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x MC (Cassie Vanderfield)

Book: Open Heart (post book 2)

Word Count: ~2000

Rating: PG

Summary: Cassie is done being the “cool girl.”

Author’s Note: Well, I know a ton of the fandom is looking forward to OH3 coming out later this week, but I’m just... not. I hated the majority of OH2, and I just don’t have faith in PB to write OH3 in ways that I don’t find wildly frustrating. So, I’ve decided not to read it. I think I’ll be a lot happier not having to rationalize why Bryce and my MC haven’t defined their relationship, why my MC is consistently asked to care about Ramsey’s personal problems, and why Bryce’s residency is only four years when in should be five (or seven, if he takes research years, hahaha).

So, from here on out, I’m just going to be writing fic that is canon-compliant through the end of OH2. I had assumed that Bryce and Cassie would be in a committed relationship at this point, and I really don’t have interest in their dynamic if they aren’t committed to each other after two years (and a near death experience, smh at you, PB). So, everything I write that is set after the end of OH2 will just ignore whatever nonsense PB gives us, and this little fic serves as my personal break point.

Written partially out of frustration with the direction PB took this series, but also for Day 16 of the @choicesfebchallenge - Confession.

Cassie sat on the edge of Bryce’s bed, twisting her fingers around in her lap. She was supposed to be getting undressed. At least that’s what Bryce had hinted she should do when they got back to his place while he grabbed them both glasses of water. But she couldn’t. Her conversation with Elijah from Ines’ housewarming party earlier was stuck in her mind.

“Needless to say, my parents were pretty thrilled when I said I was looking at U of Chicago and Northwestern for fellowship. What about you, considering heading back to the Midwest?”

“Oh! Umm, I don’t know,” Cassie said, her eyes jumping to Bryce over by the keg before she could stop herself.

Elijah followed her gaze and let out a little sigh. “Well, you’ll have to make some choices pretty soon.”

His words haunted her for the rest of the party, worming their way into her thoughts over and over again. He was totally right. Not just career choices, but personal choices. Because after two years, she and Bryce still weren’t anything defined or official.

She’d tried to be cool about it. She’d tried to just enjoy what they had. But she was going to be applying for fellowship very soon. And she knew that if she made decisions about where in the country she was applying because of a guy who she couldn’t even legitimately call her boyfriend, that would make her so foolish.

The door swung open, revealing the man in question, taking a swig of water from one glass and carrying another. He did a little double take when he saw her just sitting there, placing both glasses on his dresser once he finished his drink.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, crouching down in front of her.

“Bryce, what are we doing?”

“What do you mean?”

Cassie closed her eyes. “I need to know...” she took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, before opening her eyes and continuing, “I need to know what we are.”

Bryce frowned, coming to sit next to her on the edge of the bed. “Cassie, you’re so important to me,” he said, grabbing her hand, tracing his thumb over her knuckles. “You mean so much to me.” He leaned over, tracing his thumb across her cheek, leaning in and briefly pressing his lips to hers before pulling back. “I care about you so much.”

It would be so easy to give in, to let it stand at that. But the fact was that those words, as heartwarming and flattering as they were, didn’t really answer her question. So instead of getting swept away, she scooted further down the bed, shaking her head as she pulled her hand from his.

“I know you do, Bryce. But that wasn’t what I asked.”

“Where is this coming from? I thought we had a good time tonight?”

“We did.”

He stared at her, obviously trying to read her, trying to figure out what he was missing. “I don’t get it, Cassie. What’s wrong?”

She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to stay steady and calm. She didn’t want to come across as some pathetic, needy girl whose happiness was dependent on some guy. But she also was coming to the realization that if Bryce didn’t want an actual relationship, it was probably time to end whatever they had. Spend her last year at Edenbrook just focusing on her career, getting some papers published, going to conferences, that sort of thing.

“I guess I just need to make some decisions, with my fellowship application coming up soon.”

Bryce nodded, “Yeah, I get that. But trust me, you’ll have your pick. Every diagnostics program in the country is going to want you.”

She smiled at that, but she knew it was a hollow one. Sure, she had her fears about the whole process, but fellowship match was so much less stressful than residency match, at least in diagnostics. Her worries were so much more personal. “And what if it’s a program in Georgia or Texas or Washington where I end up?”

“If you want ‘em, you’ll match there. I’m sure of it, Cass. You are brilliant, and your CV is a perfect one for diagnostics. All the other applicants are going to hate you.”

Cassie had to close her eyes, not wanting him to see the tears starting to pool there. He looked so eager and hopeful and joyous and pretty, sitting there, a giant grin on his face. He was so supportive, but it was clear that her being close to him wasn’t a priority for him at all. And after two years, after everything they’d been through, it stung. Badly.

“I think I’m going to get going,” she choked out, pushing herself off the bed, not chancing opening her eyes until she was facing away from him. Tears were already starting to track down her cheeks, and she needed to get out of there before she had a total meltdown.

“Cassie!” he called out. She heard rustling behind her and felt his fingers grasp her wrist, but she kept going, knowing he wouldn’t actually physically stop her. Sure enough, those same fingers peeled away the next instant as she didn’t slow down. She swiped her hand under her eyes as she bolted through the living room towards the front door of his apartment. How she was going to explain this later she had no idea, but she needed to get out of there, get a grip, and start to move on with her life.

Suddenly, Bryce appeared in front of her, his hands gently resting on her shoulders. “Cassie, what’s wrong? We can fix it; I promise.”

His eyes were so wide and earnest, he looked so determined and sure, but all it did was break her heart more. She just shook her head, even more tears flowing. “I don’t think-” her voice cracked, so she took a breath before she continued, “Please just let me go home, Bryce.”

Bryce stared at her for a tense second. “Is that what you really want?”

She shook her head as she swiped away more tears with the back of her hand. “It’s what I need, Bryce.”

He dropped his hands from her shoulders and ran one through his hair as he stepped back. He looked so lost and confused. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Obviously, I upset you. I’m not sure how, but clearly I did. So, I’m sorry.”

Cassie shook her head. “You don’t need to be sorry. You’ve never led me on or anything. I guess I just hoped that maybe… But, it’s fine. You did nothing wrong. You aren’t obligated to care where I end up for fellowship or anything.”

“Cassie, of course I care where you end up!”

“Right. As a friend. But you don’t care if I end up near you.”

“I shouldn’t be-” he took a breath and started again, “What matters is your career, Cassie. That’s what you should consider. Not me. I’m not a factor here.”

“I know,” she shook her head, wiping her eyes yet again, wishing she could stop crying, wishing she’d been able to hold it together a little better. “I just wish you wanted to be.” She gave him a little watery smile and shrug before heading to the door. There was nothing left to say.

“Cassie, wait!” Bryce cried out, brushing past her and standing in front of the door. “I promise, I’ll let you go,” he said, holding his hands up in front of his chest. “But you need to know it’s not that I don’t want to be a factor. I’m just not gonna be so selfish that I ask you to make me a factor.”

She paused for a moment, trying to figure out if what he was telling her mattered at all or not. “Bryce, I… Even if that’s true, I can’t keep doing this. Just rolling along, being a cool girl, pretending like I don’t need to label anything.”

Bryce was quiet for a second, so Cassie moved to step past him, but he shook his head, stopping her in her tracks. “Why didn’t you say anything?” His voice was quiet, subdued. He didn’t sound like himself. 

“Bryce, I confessed that this meant something to me over a year ago. I wasn’t going to drag you into a relationship you clearly didn’t want.”

“Didn’t want? Cassie, I didn’t want to burden you.”

“What are you-”

“I’m a mess, Cassie. You know that. I just figured you would have the good sense to not want to get involved with my drama beyond some fun.”

“How are you a mess?”

“Well, my parents-”

“-You aren’t them. You distanced yourself from them.”

“And my sister-”

“-Is a teenager you took in and did your best to help raise and support and love. Your relationship with Keiki is wonderful, not a downside at all.”

Bryce smiled briefly, glancing down at his feet, but kept going. “I’m a workaholic.”

“I don’t think there is a way to be a resident and not be a workaholic, Bryce.”

 “I couldn’t even make pasta, for god’s sake!”

Cassie couldn’t help but chuckle at that, a few more tears spilling out even if she had largely stopped crying by this point. “Alright, I’ll give you that one. But you learned, Bryce. You learned and grew, and that’s enough.”

He shook his head, his eyes still locked on the ground. “Last time I was someone’s boyfriend, I was pretty bad at it. And I don’t know if you’ve picked up on this, but I don’t do well when I’m not excelling at something. I don’t like being mediocre at things.”

Cassie stepped forward, linking her pinkie around Bryce’s. He glanced at their hands before making eye contact. “I don’t need perfect, Bryce. I just need… more. For you to at least try. And for the record, I think you were probably better at being a boyfriend than you give yourself credit for.”

He shook his head. “Nah, you know me. I’m not exactly shy about my strengths. It was bad, Cassie.”

She shrugged. “Well, then work on it. Get better. You learned how to cook. You figured out how to provide stability for your sister. And although you might try to deny it, I am pretty sure you weren’t born a surgeon. You learned how to do those things. This doesn’t have to be any different.”

He stood there, but he didn’t say anything for what felt like an eternity. Cassie felt her cheeks growing warm as embarrassment settled in. He was probably just being polite, and she had to go and corner him, make things awkward. “Of course, if you don’t want to, I understand. I just-”

Her words died as Bryce turned his hand and fully interlocked their fingers, tugging her close and kissing her. After a few seconds, he pulled back, sliding his free hand to her cheek. “Only an idiot wouldn’t want to be your boyfriend, Cassie.”

A strange little chuckle bubbled out of her at that. “So, are you saying…”

“That I want to be your boyfriend? Yeah, I want that. Do you still want that? I’m not exactly off to an auspicious start here, what with making you cry and then after that making you console me and give me a pep talk and-”

It was her turn to cut him off, kissing him soundly, placing her hand behind his neck and holding him close. After what could have been seconds or minutes or hours, she pulled back, her eyes flickering up to his face, please to see a wide grin and pure joy in his eyes.

“Do you still want to go home? Because I would love to show off my relatively new-found breakfast making skills for my girlfriend in the morning.”

She felt her cheeks grow warm as she was able to genuinely smile for the first time since her conversation with Elijah. “I’d like that,” she said, looping her arms around his waist and relishing the feeling of him pulling her into a hug. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Good,” said Bryce. “Me too.”

Permatag: @choicesficwriterscreations @walkerswhiskeygirl  @octobereighth @kimmiedoo5  @mom2000aggie

Open Heart: @mskaneko @omgjasminesimone @debramcg1106

Bryce x MC: @weaving-in-words  @anotherbeingsworld  @chaotichuman0090 @fortunatelywaywardsandwich   @dreaming-of-movies  @choicesarehard  @srta-give-me-my-jax-rl  @sunnyxdazed​

#choicesfebruarychallenge2021 #choicesfebchallengeday16 #bryce lahela #bryce x mc #open heart fanfiction #choices fanfiction

[pl-panda]

The vines that bind us - Chapter 9

Chapter 1 || Previous || Next

------

She opened the window and picked a pencil. With deadly precision she tossed it. The wooden tool sailed through the air until it hit the binoculars and broke one side of them. She huffed and closed the window before pulling the curtains closed. How rude.

Jason cursed under his breath. Any other day he would probably avoid the projectile, but it caught him completely by surprise. By all accounts, it was physically impossible to use a pencil with such precision and force to destroy military-grade night-vision binoculars. At least the memory card was safe so he could give it to replacement later on for analysis.

Still in bad mood after having his gear ruined, Jason zipped to Dupain-Cheng’s window and gave a light knock. No response. Another knock. Still no response. Finally, after the third knock, the blinders opened and the window itself followed, revealing a very angry girl. Jason finally had a chance to get a better look at her. She did, in fact, have blue hair and now that he’d seen it close, he would bet half his paycheque that it was somehow a natural color. The purple too. She must have had her hair dyed for the first day of work. Her eyes were another part that he memorized. They were blue and iridescent green at the same time, giving a slight unnatural aura. Or maybe it was just that she looked ready to murder him.

“Are you done staring?” She asked, clearly annoyed. “You are not my type and much too old. And the stalker routine is plain creepy. Get lost old guy.”

She was about to close the window when he started speaking.

“I actually came to apologize. I did not ‘stalk’ you, thank you very much. I was just checking on you, miss. You do realize that you single-handedly kicked Riddler’s ass and got quite a bit of publicity.”

“Suuure. You do that for every brave citizen?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and a small grin. “You would be really short-staffed. I hope that overgrown furry does pay you for the overtime.” Any traces of amusement disappeared from her face. “Now get lost before I sic Chloe on you. She recently started dating Damian Wayne and the two seem to bond over ruining people. I’m sure you would make a decent target.” Without further ado, Mari closed the window and put the blinders back in place, completely cutting him off. 

Jason didn’t protest. He was too busy processing the fact that Demon Spawn apparently started dating someone. Oh, he would have so much fun teasing the little menace. 

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

When the motorbike entered the Batcave, Jason expected to meet perhaps the Replacement or Demon Spawn. He definitely did not expect to see the entire family sans B and Alfred. 

“Do you want to perhaps explain why dad received an angry call about ‘some idiot in red bucket’ stalking her through the window?” Barbara asked. frowning deeply. 

“Or at least why were you stalking her?” Dick added.

“Or where you hid my coffee?” Tim joined.

“Timothy!” Several of them shouted.

“What? It’s important!”

“Back to the matter at hand.” Dick turned back to Jason. “What exactly were you thinking?!” He screamed.

“Geez. You thought about joining some opera?”

“Tt. Answer the question.” Damian interrupted.

“That reminds me. Did you know Demon Spawn got himself a girlfriend?” Jason asked, trying to deflect. He really did not like how they jumped at him.

“Not… important.” Cass stared daggers at him. “Talk.”

“Fine!” he threw hands in the air. “I followed a hunch. And I was right. She is a meta!” He procured his destroyed binoculars. “There is no human way to destroy military-grade equipment like that with just a pencil.”

Tim picked it up and quickly tossed it onto the table nearby. A blue light scanned the products and the bat-computer started to display the scan plus introductory analysis.

“Well, he is right. There is no way that a simple pencil could destroy it.” He pressed some buttons and recording from the last seconds of the item’s life played. They could clearly see her throw a pencil at it and then everything went black. “Or I was wrong.” Tim started to do a series of calculations. 

“Bucket-head might be onto something. With her muscle mass, it would be impossible to throw a pen with enough force. Actually, it’s almost impossible to make that throw. Not with human muscle density…”

Barbara rolled over to him and the two started to work side by side. “But that’s also not probable since the body is not…” 

“She would probably…” 

“Plant fibers have a similar structure, but she would…” 

“Maybe… Unless she is not strong and instead…”

“Um… earth to nerd corner. Can you explain?”

“Jason might have hit the bullseye.” Tim grinned and several groans could’ve been heard. “She is definitely a meta. It still doesn’t explain why you stalked her.”

“Is that not reason enough?” Red Hood asked. He immediately regretted it when Duke stared daggers at him. 

“You do realize, that metahumans are not as rare as it was believed at the beginning?” Tim asked.

“What?”

“Roughly ten percent of humans are born with dormant meta-gene and the number is increasing each year. And about one in twenty people have an active meta-gene. They just don’t go around wrecking everything or don a cape and run around beating people.” Tim spoke in a matter-of-factly tone. 

“What?”

“Yeah. Eidetic memory, or perfect recall for our uneducated bucket-head,” Tim snickered while Jason grumbled.

“I hate that name.”

“I think it will stay for a while.” Stephanie was smiling. “She does have a way with nicknames. First an overgrown furry, then red Buckethead…” She was on the verge of laughing. “I wonder what she does next?”

“As I was saying,” Tim regained the control of the conversation, “eidetic memory is actually one of the earliest forms of registered active meta-ability.”

“What?”

“The gene tends to activate under extreme duress, but, as we learned, the definition of extreme duress varies from person to person.”

“So what? A guy afraid of failing an exam might accidentally unlock super memory?” Jason dismissed it.

“More like if someone lived in years under pressure and is about to crack.” Dick pointed. “I mean there was even this large awareness campaign about four years ago led by Beast Boy. Where were you?”

“Dead.” Jason deadpanned. “I was dead.”

“Oh… I guess you didn’t see Garfield’s movies then?” Steph asked, being the first to break through the heavy atmosphere.

“She is still a meta.” Jason tried to fight, but his arguments were wavering. 

“Which changes nothing. You will go to her tomorrow and apologize.” Tim said categorically. 

“Ugh! Fine. But I got one more interesting fact: Demon Spawn got himself a girlfriend.” He grinned and turned to Damian. Everyone followed his gaze.

“Tt. I have no idea what you are talking about Todd.” 

“That blonde! Charlie saw you two sitting and eating pastries together! She is the new intern!” Dick had a big fat smile on his face and his eyes were almost glittering. “Who is she? How did you two meet?”

“Blonde?” Tim suddenly paled considerably. “There is only one blonde intern. Please tell me you aren’t dating Chloe Bourgeoise of all people!” He squeaked.

Damian wanted to deny it further, but seeing the Replacement’s reaction he changed his mind. The grin that formed on his face was borderline malicious before turning back to the emotionless mask he wore every day. “Yes. She finally admitted that I was not at fault for the cake incident. She is actually tolerable now.” 

“What cake incident?” Steph asked, smelling some juicy story about her ex. That kind of story was the best.

“Tt. When we were at this gala in Paris two years ago, Replacement attacked me and we fell into the birthday cake.”

“It doesn’t sound…” Dick started, but Damian interrupted him.

“The cake had six levels and was about as tall as I am now. Mayor Bourgeoise was not happy that we ruined his precious princess’s birthday.”

“So that’s why we no longer go to Paris?”

“Tt. No. That’s because Jason almost trashed the Louvre.” 

“Right…” Tim mumbled while his eyes closed. In just a moment, he was snoring away on the chair.

“Damn. I thought it would work faster.” Barbara complained while peeling the near-invisible sticker away from his neck. 

-----

Thursday actually passed without any trouble for Marinette. The class finally got it through their collective single brain cell that she had the power to end their trip with two words. She was slowly getting the grip on the work and after some talk with Penny, where the woman practically forced Mari to listen to some additional advice. She was actually offended that the girl didn’t call her immediately. 

She did have to practically drag her barely conscious boss to a meeting in the afternoon, but he didn’t put up much of a fight after she gave him a Tikki Special Coffee. The small goddess giggled inside her pocket the entire time as the boy begged on his knees.

After work, she and Chloe went to the Gotham Zoological Garden. At first, she wanted to go to the Botanic Garden first, but their class was supposed to visit there after work, so the girls went to Zoo instead. Gotham had a much broader collection of birds than Paris did. And the less chance of running into their classmates, the better.

“...He did what?” Chloe asked louder than necessary, but nobody paid the two girls in smart outfits any attention.

“Yeah. But don’t worry. I gave him a piece of my mind.” Mari dismissed it.

“It’s still creepy.”

“I know. That’s why I sicced the police at him.”

“That’s my girl!” 

“Well, I threatened to send you and Damian after him, but I decided it would be too cruel.” She smiled. “Besides, I’ve seen that Red Buckethead is trending already.” She pulled out her phone and showed a post there was a picture of Red Hood next to a reversed red bucket.

FashionMari @QueenGoldie Someone in a red bucket was stalking me. I was torn between calling the police and criticizing their fashion choice. In the end, I did both. 

“Only you Goldie. Only you…”

--------

Friday was press conference day. For once, Mari woke up earlier and got dressed in record time. Chloe watched from the side-lines as the girl moved around like a tornado, preparing everything and triple-checking all arrangements. She changed outfits four times before finally the blonde grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to sit down. 

“Goldie! You know I love you and I would kill for you,” She started, “but if you don’t calm down I will tie you up and leave you here for the day.”

“But…!” Bluenette tried to protest, but Chloe cut her off.

“No buts. We are only sixteen. I for one came here to learn a bit and maybe meet someone. You are supposed to be learning. Nobody said anything about getting a full-time job.”

“The deal…”

“So what if they fire you?” Chloe raised her hands over her head. “Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous! You have Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeoise fighting over who will get you while Jagged Stone is willing to fly over half the world just to give your references in person. You run a very successful flower shop and even more successful boutique.”

“But…” She tried to muster a weak protest, but Chloe’s angry gaze made her wither. 

“I will not let you run yourself dry!” The blonde stated firmly. “So either you take a step back and breathe or I will call your uncle.”

“Not uncle Jagged! he already banned me from drinking coffee!”

“So you will behave?” Chloe asked with a smirk. 

“Fiiiinneee!” Mari couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Queenie. I needed this. I’m glad I have you as my friend. And sister.” 

“Well of course you needed me! Everyone needs me!” She huffed before her expression became more gentle and she pulled Mari into a hug. 

Downstairs the class was waiting for them. Probably they finally gathered the courage to confront her about Alya’s fate. The girl shouldn’t have lied while filing for promotion. Mari and Chloe stormed past them not even sparing them a glance. Outside, Adrien was already waiting inside the limousine with Gerard at the driver’s seat. 

“I’m glad your driver is finally here.”

“Me too!” The blond boy was practically beaming. “I’m free from Lila’s clutches.”

“Could you drop us at… No. 2 Twine Street?” Mari asked the gorilla, who only grunted in response.

“Um… We should be going to Wayne Tower.”

“Nope.” Mari popped the ‘p’. “You,” she pointed at Adrien, “are an intern in PR. I asked for you to be present at the press conference to help move stuff around and so on.” 

“And me?” Chloe asked. “If you expect me to…” 

“You’re there to support your boyfriend. He was the one that practically demanded that I get you there. He hates publicity.”

“Oh… Good then. Let’s go.”

“Boyfriend?” Adrien asked curiously. “You mean Wayne?”

“Yeah. Apparently Chloe found herself a partner in scheming.”

“I bet that their dates are filled with planning to take over the world.”

“We could’ve taken the world over by lunch if we wanted.” Chloe looked almost offended. “The question is what way would be the most suitable one.” 

All three of them broke into laughter as the car rode through the city of crime.

----

About fifteen minutes before the press conference was scheduled to start, Tim Drake was still not there. None of the Waynes were there in fact. She sent about fifteen angry messages to Mr. Drake and he was still not here, which only fueled her stress and anger. 

The press had no idea so far and they were eagerly awaiting whatever news the company wanted to present. She bit her lower lips. Chloe was on the phone, trying to reach her boyfriend.

“If that idiot doesn’t get here in the next ten minutes, I’m going to consider stabbing him.” 

“Damian?!” Chloe shouted into her phone. 

“Tt. What do you want?”

“First of all, that’s not how you talk to your girlfriend. Second of all, where in the world is your excuse of a brother?! Mari is an inch from going ballistic!”

“Tt. He’s asleep.” Damian answered in an impassionate tone.

Mari leaped over and wrestled the phone from Chloe. “You go to him right this moment or I swear to all that’s holy and…”

“I get it.” He interrupted her, showing signs of irritation. There were some static and the camera blurred for a moment from the fast motion. When it returned, she saw barely awake Tim Drake wearing blue onesies. 

“wah…”

“Get yourself cleaned up and into a suit in the next three minutes!” She shouted. God bless the soundproof backstage.

“Um… But I will never make…”

“I’m certain you have a great webcam somewhere in this big mansion of yours. Set it in the library and call me in the next few minutes. I so hope you were not supposed to be the model because gods help me…” She took a look at his terrified face. “Of course you were…” 

“In my defense…”

“Shut up. Get going!” She hanged up and turned to Adrien and Chloe, who were looking at her with a mixture of fear and awe. “What are you waiting for?!” She tossed a package to the boy. “You get dressed in the new product.” She pushed him outside and into the janitor’s closet on the other side. “And you’re coming with me!” She dragged Chloe toward the main room. The blonde was sent to the technics room to get the feed started while Mari stepped on the scene. The chatter died quickly and all reporters turned to her.

“Hi. Please forgive us for the slight delay. We have minor technical difficulties that are being solved as we speak. In the meantime, you are free to take the seats. The conference is about to start.” 

Behind her, a screen slowly descended. She saw Adrien leaning from the doors leading backstage and smiling at her. 

“Without further ado, I present you Tim Drake, CEO of Wayne Enterprises.”

The image of the teen with black hair appeared on the screen and he waved everyone. He was holding a red cup of coffee with black polka dots, the same Tikki summoned for him the first time. 

Satisfied with herself, Marinette allowed herself a moment of rest. The conference was going well and after a minute of silence for the dead in the recent attack, the presentation began. Adrien was a natural model so it all went great. Wayne Tech in co-operation with Gabriel brand was introducing a new line of ‘smart’ fabric that could withstand medium stress and was almost impossible to dirty or stain. She had to admit it was quite amazing. Apparently, it was partially how Mr. Agreste got her class internship. Granted, Adrien was not supposed to be the model but you don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth. 

Everything was going great until the doors to the room were kicked open and several goons barged in, followed by none other than Two-face. Everyone immediately fell onto the floor. Mari couldn’t help but sigh exasperatedly. Why did it have to go wrong at every turn?

Ignoring the terrified stares, she stormed toward the intruders. “Excuse me, sir?” She asked with an emotionless face.

“What?” The man looked clearly irritated.

“I don’t see your name on the guest list. Did you remember to call in advance?”

“Of course not! Do I look like…” The criminal was clearly angry. 

“Then I apologize, but I must ask you to leave now.” 

“Do you have any idea who I am?” Two-face pulled his gun.

“I’m sorry, sir, but if you are not on on the list, I can’t let you stay.” She said in an emotionless voice. Mari was honestly too tired to care at this point. Maybe at least the evening would be better.

“I’m not sure you get the situation, miss. I’m not here for the interviews. Everyone pull out your wallets and drop them in the sacks!” He shouted while his men started to walk around.

“Hm… That won’t do.” She said. After muttering something under her breath, Mari tossed her clipboard. The spinning board hit one of the mooks in the head, knocking him cold, before bouncing and hitting the next one. After that, it returned to her hand. 

That was enough for Two-Face. He aimed his gun at her, but she moved faster than he anticipated. Within seconds, she grabbed his wrist and pushed it up so he was aiming at the ceiling. She squeezed it hard enough to make him drop the gun right into her other waiting hand. The girl let go of his wrist and disassembled the gun into pieces in what could become record time. 

Now irritated, Mari grabbed Two-face by his tie and pulled him down until they were at the same eye-level. 

“I was trying to do it peacefully sir. I am now ordering you to leave. Otherwise, I will actually have to hurt you.” She leaned closer until she was able to whisper. “And don’t make mistakes, Dent. I can and will hurt you.” For a moment her eyes lost the blue coloring and became entirely iridescent green, glowing slightly. 

Harvey Dent rarely felt fear. His life was more often than not guided by the toss of a coin. Now though, he stared in the eyes of Poison Ivy, except ten times scarier. He was already afraid of that woman after she almost fed him to her ‘precious’.

“I… I am deeply sorry madame.” He spoke carefully. “Men! We are moving out. Leave the bags!” And with that, they were all gone. 

Most of the reporters gave Mari big applause. There was only one angry old man that stared daggers at the girl. 

“You let that scum go away!” He shouted. “He was a criminal.”

“Sir. You are free to go after him if that’s your wish. I’m at work and my job description never included chasing after criminals.”

“But… But…” 

“Anyway, we were in the middle of the press conference if I’m not mistaken.”

-------

NEXT

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous lb #batman #BatFam #maribat #marinette dupain cheng #BAMF Marinette #Mother!Ivy #redeemed!chloe #Good!Adrien Agreste #dc #MLB #mlb x dc

[tired-college-student-writing]

#WaynesAngel

The Maribat AU by @ozmav and @maribat-archive is all I can think about atm, so enjoy more of this

Summary- After Grayson posts a video on the wrong twitter, Damian feels like he should lose his social media privileges, and possibly his hand.

Part 1

Part 4

Part 5 (HERE)

This was a impusle write as I was trapped in a car for over 50 hours in three days. Please do not ask for another chapter. 

_________________________________________

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Why is it weird that I’ve never met a Bat before? It’s not like Damian or the Waynes have ever seen Ladybug or Chat Noir or the Miraculous Team in Paris, and they’ve been in Paris a lot more than I’ve been in Gotham #confusion #AMERICAEXPLAIN

Jason Todd Lives @BestTodd

@FashionInGotham Whomst the Fuck is Ladybug and Chat Noir?? Also, Miraculous Team Sounds like some magical girl anime Cass watches

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd 🖕🏼

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve They’re the Paris superheroes, they showed up almost five years ago to fight the little bitch of a villain, Hawkmoth and his stupid peacock assistant, Mayra.

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve @ FashionInGotham WHAT?! Paris has heroes??

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve @ FashionInGotham @AFlyingGrayson Oh yeah, I forgot that the mayor was trying to keep it a secret from the rest of the world #MyB But yeah Ladybug and Chat Noir have been there the longest but there’s also Abeille, Viperion, Ryuko, Pegasus, King Monkey, Bunnyx, and Badulf

Chloe raised an eyebrow at her friend as she saw the tweet thread that was quickly going viral, “You realize my dad is going to flip about this.”

“He deserves it,” Adrian pipped up from where he was painstakingly painting Kagami’s nails a deep burgundy.

The other teen heroes hummed in agreement as Chloe huffed.

“Well Yeah, but I was hoping to do it with a little extra flair than a twitter thread.”

Alix snorted as she finished up Kim’s banana yellow toes, drawing a crude smiley face on his big toe with bright blue, “She’s dating the youngest kid of the most influential family in the world and has like 100 million followers. Plus she called Hawkmoth a little bitch and it already has 90k likes. I call that flair.”

It was a surprise when Nathanial had had his freak out during his second battle,  against a Crimson Peacock event no less, and had called her Lady Marinette in front of the other temporary heroes, but had lead to many nights like the one they were having now. Onesies of each other’s heroes’ identities donned as they lounged around Chloe’s room, simply enjoying each other’s company after a long patrol. Chloe and Adrian had demanded they have a spa night, which is why everyone was either giving or receiving mani-pedis while they waited for their face masks to finish. It was nice, to have so much support outside of the masks, especially as they entered their final year in Lychee.  

Marinette rolled her eyes, “It’s only 98 million, Alix, and plus I figured four months after I made this account was long enough to make the slip up seem genuine. We need to catch Hawkmoth soon, or else this entire mess will get a lot more complex.”

They all frowned as they realized the truth behind her words. They were all facing hard decisions if they couldn’t pin the man down, not like they hadn’t already sacrificed so much to continue the battle. Max had already turned down graduating early and a full ride to MIT, citing his desire to graduate with his friends before moving across the globe. Luka had been invited to tour with Jagged, only to politely decline, telling the pouting rockstar that he wanted to do some soul finding first. Kim had given up a summer training camp with the French Olympic team. Alix had given up going on an expedition with her dad and brother, missing out on the chance to explore the dunes of Egypt. Marinette had turned down three internships at this point, one from Audrey Bourgeois, One from Raven Baxter, and lastly and most devastatingly, one from Edna Mode.

They needed to end this, before the overwhelming feeling of their futures slipping right between their fingers got them akumatized.

Tim Drake Offical @TJDrake

Seeing the demon spawn panic when he realized @FasionInGotham isn’t any safer from maniacs in Paris then she is in Gotham is strangely endearing and vaguely terrifying #whyismyfamilylikethis

Duke of Hazard @DoneWithTheRich

@TJDrake Like you and Barb aren’t frantically searching for anything you can find on the Miraculous Team and these weird-ass butterfly dude.

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich Bugout.com, It’s in French but informative.

Tim Drake Offical @TJDrake

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich @CainYouBelieve How did you find this before Barbs and me????

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich @CainYouBelieve @TJDrake Alfred.

The news swept up the story in an instant and suddenly the whole world was demanding to know what the Parisian Mayor had been thinking and why the Justice League hadn’t been involved.

It wasn’t long until the entire Miraculous Team was seated in front of the Louvre. Countless new agencies from around the world were present, eager to hear the story of the sickeningly young-looking heroes, but the one video that received the most views was the shaky camera videos that were uploaded to Marinette’s Twitter, as they shortened the two-hour-long Press conference into manageable clips that highlighted the most important points.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

Full Lineup, Damn. Haven’t seen that since the last time we had a Scarlet Moth incident. For those who need context, this is like seeing the entire founding Justice League together to us Parisians.

The clip attached showed A panning shot as they introduced all of the heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir sat in the center of the long table flanked by Vipirion, plucking his lyre absentmindedly, Abeille, glaring down her nose at the reporters, a beaming King Monkey waving excitedly, and an eerie serious Bunnyx sitting as still as a statue to their right, on their left was fierce-looking Ryuko looking ready to slice anyone who got too close, the calculating Pegasus, mumbling under his breath, and lastly the timid Badulf, struggling to keep his red bangs out of his eyes.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

LMAO RYUKO #DRAGONQUEENSLAY

Don’t question Paris’ Heroes like that, they’re feisty.

The clip showed a British reporter demanding to know why the heroes hadn’t contacted the Justice League previously to gain their assistance in taking down the dangerous threat that was Hawkmoth.

You could Ladybug’s eye twitch at the condescending question, but before she could answer Ryuko leaned forward to the mic situated in front of her with a glint in her eyes.

“I apologize for my English,” She started, “I am not as versed in the language as some of my teammates. To answer your question on why we haven’t had the League’s help is because Green Lantern is a fuck.”

Silence filled the gathering before Chat, King Money and Bunnyx burst into giggles, the rest of the heroes struggling to keep a straight face. The media was staring at them dumbfounded until Ladybug finally leaned forward.

“I’m sorry for the outburst,” She started, lips still trying to twitch upwards, “But as Ryuko said we did ask for help. About five months into our heroship Chat and I received an answer from the League after trying for three months to contact them. The ‘help’ came in the form of Green Lantern coming and assessing the situation. Unfortunately for us, Hawkmoth is smart and when the neon green monstrosity of a hero flew in he laid low instead of attacking when a Leaguer was present. Without an attack and no physical damage present as one of my powers allows me to restore all damage done to Paris or its citizens, He decided we were powered children that were trying to get in the spotlight.”

“Getting lectured on wasting the League’s time and resources before he flew off really put a damper on us asking again,” Chat added in, toxic green eyes narrowed and laser-focused on the reporter, “So we handled it ourselves, gaining our own allies as we needed them. But please continue telling us how the League could have helped sooner if only we had asked for help.”

Clip after clip, ten of them total were uploaded into the thread. Explaining the worst battle the heroes had ever faced, the strength of their enemy, what the villain and his assistance could and would do, the worst attacks, the easiest wins, the ways that Ladybug and Chat chose their allies, but the last two clips seemed to get the largest reaction out of the audience, both at the press conference and the internet.

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Not gonna lie, seeing my tormentors get put on blast by all of the Heroes is very vindictive #IsthatMean? #MaybeSo

“You’ve seemed to have shifted your support away from one local blog, to another over any official news agency,” One of the nicer reporters at the events said, “Is there a particular reason? And why the sudden shift two years ago?”

Chat’s face was strangely pinched, “Oh you mean why we switched from giving exclusives to the LadyBlog to BugOut? It’s quite simple. We go to the news sources we trust to take the information we are willing to give without worrying about ratings as their top priority. We tried going to Nadja Chamack at first, the local news anchor that we all hold a great deal of respect for, but the producers threatened her to get a ‘highly-rated’ interview. It led to her asking questions Ladybug and I thought were counterproductive to the reason we were invited to the interview and was trying to turn us into celebrities instead of allowing us to do the jobs we needed to. It was a similar reason we stopped going to Alya Cesaire, the Ladyblog editor.”

Ladybug took over here, “Miss Cesaire has the ability to be a very good journalist, but as her blog grew in popularity, so did her need for highly viewed content, this caused her to not only start posting more rumors and speculation than anything we’ve ever said but also to stop fact-checking with us things she heard. Even after talking to her about removing the content that was blatantly untrue and was told no due to the high ratings it had received we realized that we simply couldn’t work with her anymore.”

Abeille piped up in a low regal voice that was dripping with venom, “It really didn’t help that when we started interviewing with Aurora Beaureal from BugOut, shortly after my introduction, Miss Cesaire began a smear campaign against her, claiming she was faking her sources and videos publicly on her blog. Luckily we were able to shut that down quickly enough but it didn’t stop Miss. Cesaire from running into battle to distract us, and frankly, harass us for answers even after we told her no. It’s lead to more than one incident where she, other civilians, and even ourselves have been hurt.”

“Either way,” Chat took over again, “We want to support local news sources but only when they are willing to listen to our boundaries and work with us instead of trying to push issues.”

“Does that mean that info we found on the Ladyblog is not to be believed?” Another reporter called out.

“I would take anything after the first post about Lila Rossi with a grain of salt,” Ladybug said, only for King Monkey to snort and lean towards the mic.

“Yeah and if Lila Rossi is mentioned at all in the post just assume everything in that post is fake. Miss. Rossi is a known liar and problem for us.”

“Can you give us an example?”

Ladybug sighed before explaining, “The first time I heard of Miss. Rossi was an interview on the Ladyblog of her claiming to be my best friend. Now I very much value the secrecy I and my team have created for ourselves because it protects our friends and families, but even a lie about knowing me in such a public setting is dangerous because Hawkmoth and Mayra have proven that they aren’t above underhanded tactics to try and get the upper hand in our fights. I went looking for the girl to explain why she can’t say such things for her own safety, only to find her telling a boy that she possessed the Fox Miraculous in a public park. I will admit I called her out in a way that wasn’t very nice but either claim was enough to put her in danger, but both were painting a target on her back and it scared me that someone would do something to impress a boy. After that, she was akumatized for the first time and since then it has gotten even worse despite me apologizing the second I cured the Akuma. Some of her lies are enough to count as Slander if any of the celebrities she lied about knowing saw the posts, but no amount of persuasion seems to get her to stop.”  

Wayne’s Angel @FasioninGotham

Watching their powers without the looming threat of an Akuma/Amok is a blessing. They look so cool! #Love #Miraculous

The clip started with the heroes standing in front of the table, grouped differently than before. Off to one side King Monkey, Viperion and Bunnyx stood, Viperion holding a microphone.

“While we would love to an demonstrate our powers as requested,” He explained, “Our powers are not really good for demonstrations. Mine is known as Second Chance.”

He raised his hand and pulled the slider across his bracelet as he named it, a flash of pale teal light admitting from it, “When activated like I just did, it allows me to return to the point of activation at any time before I detransform in fifteen minutes as many times as I wish with only myself remembering the previous changes I have made.”

Without even acknowledging the startled whispers from the crowd, he handed the microphone to King Monkey, who offered a cheeky smile.

“So my power is called Uproar. It allows me to create a toy-like object that when it comes into contact with someone causes all of their abilities to malfunction.”

He goes to pull his staff from where it was strapped to his back only for Vipirion to stop him. A silent exchange passed between the pair before the taller hero nodded and handed the microphone off to Bunnyx.

“Viperion and I have a similar reason for our powers being hard to show off, only his is a little more versatile,” She started in a voice devoid of any emotion, swinging her pocket watch slightly, “I have the power Burrow. It allows me, and anyone I chose to take with me, access to a pocket dimension where I can travel to any point in time or space that I chose, past, present, or future. While you might see me fight during any battle I can make it to, my power is a last-ditch effort, as I would have to travel back in time to change the past if I do this assume the future is unsavable.”

The hush that falls over the crowd was quickly broken by Ryuko tapping her group’s microphone to draw attention to the opposite side of the stage where she stood with Abeille, Badulf, Pegasus, Chat, and Ladybug.

“I believe it’s best to not dwell on any one of our powers,” She told them, “Our powers are scary and knowing that they can be taken from us at any time and used for nefarious purposes keep all of us up at night, but we ask you to trust us to use them only for good.”

She waited a moment for the crowd o calm down before giving her own explanation, “My ability is known as the Three Dragons, the Water Dragon, the Wind Dragon, and the Lightning Dragon.”

She handed off the microphone to Pegasus, before calling forth the Wind Dragon and bursting into a group of clouds that swiftly blew around the stage before traveling over to the Louvre Pyramid and watching as the heroine reformed at the top, offering a small wave before the call for Water Dragon could be heard and a large dome of water formed over the entire courtyard.

Before she could call for her last form the snake hero grabbed the microphone, “Lightning Dragon is a bad idea, Ryuko.”

The heroine didn’t even question him, instead, vaulting off of the pyramid, the crowed gasped only for her to effortlessly land next to Bunnyx in a crouch, brushing herself off as she rose and turned her gaze to the horse miraculous user, who quickly explained his power before calling forth Voyage.

His cry caused blue light to circle his arm and he sent it towards the top of the still-present water dome, with a controlled flick of his arm.

The heroes didn’t even blink as the crowd filled with cries as the Eiffel Tower fell through the portal, Ladybug’s yoyo whipping out to direct it’s decent, the entire courtyard shaking as the 10k ton structure landed.  

“I’m up next!” Chat called out with a large grin, while the reporters didn’t seem to know if they should pay attention to the moved monument or the hero. His explanation was short since they were many videos of him using it but that didn’t stop the international reporters from screaming as Cataclysm swirled around his hand eating away at the Eiffel Tower, leaving a pile of rust in the crater

“Is-Is this much property damage necessary?”

Abeille shrugged, “No, but once we get to Ladybug, it’ll make more sense. Either way my turn.”

An unpleasant chill went up the world’s spine as she demonstrated how she could freeze all voluntary movement of her target on Chat Noir, who was still as a statue the second her stinger touched him.

Ladybug quickly took the mic and began explaining her powers. The world watched in amazement at her pulling a red and black spotted camera from thin air before she launched it into the air with a cheer of “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Suddenly a glowing swarm of ladybugs formed and tore through the air, covering Chat Noir, releasing from Venom, before healing the crater and rust from nearby, dissolving the water dome in the same instance.

If there hadn’t been so many people present the world wouldn’t have believed that so much damage was just repaired in the span of ten seconds, but staring at the unimpressed Parisians around them the world finally seemed to grasp the reality of the situation.

These children were past what one would even expect from metas, from aliens and superhumans like they had seen around the world already. These were heroes that were harnessing the very forces that made up the universe and fighting them at the same time. Bunnyx wasn’t exaggerating when she mentioned that sometimes there would be apocalyptic endings to their fights.

Instead of letting the knowledge stew Badulf step forwarded, twisting the microphone as he explained his power of illusions for the reporters.

With a short tune on his flute suddenly the group of heroes was gone, All that remained was a Sign thanking them all for coming.  Even after the illusion faded the heroes were nowhere to be found, having used the final demonstration as the perfect cover to sneak away so that no one could follow them.  

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

I must say I was not expecting such an outpour of love for all of Our heroes but damn am I pleased by it. Ladybug is our big name but the others are honestly way underloved in Paris, especially Chat who’s been there since the beginning. #MiraculousTeam

Quick Poll Who’s your favorite, everyone? Mine’s Chat Noir

Ryuko (19%)

Abeille (12%)

Ladybug (14%)

Bunnyx (8%)

Viperion (12%)

Chat Noir (15%)

Pegasus (5%)

King Monkey (5%)

Badulf (10%)

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@FashionInGotham I like Badulf, he’s the newest correct?

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @CainYouBelieve Yup! He’s only been around for four months, but he’s a pretty great fox!

Tim Drake Official @TJDrake

Fun Fact: I just heard Alfred swear for the first time while watching the press conference and it was to call Hawkmoth and Mayra an arsehole FLOB and his fucking Slag.

Never been more terrified,

Based on the faces around me neither has any of the other Waynes #AlfredisTerrifying

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Why am I the go to person for everything Mircualous Team? BugOut.com is a great source if you want more info.

Still Queen Bee @BuzzBuzz

@FashionInGotham Probably cause you're most famous Parsian? Or cause you were a miraculous user once?

Jason Todd Lives@BestTodd

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz IM SORRY?? DID YOU JUST SAY MARIGOLD HAD ONE OF THOSE MAGIC FUCKING GEMS???

Wayne's Angel @FasionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz @BestTodd That didn't come up in the conference did it? A few of the old users of miraculous got outed as heros so LB doesn't call on them anymore, but keeps tabs on them since HM and Mayra will try and emotionally malipulate them into getting akumatized. A few of us bonded over it.

Still Queen Bee @BuzzBuzz

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz @BestTodd @FashionInGotham Its common knowledge in Paris, Mari, me and our other friend @NotaModel all had miraculous at one point, but HawkBitch found out so we can't ever use a miraculous again sadly. I had the Bee, Mari had the Mouse and Ari had the Snake

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

Why is Damian staring at a wall and not responding? What broke him? #Help???

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

@AFlyingGrayson Nevermind #HecouldnthaveanormalGF? #HolyShitMari

Wayne's Angel @FasionInGotham

So I can no longer say I've never seen a Bat before, just saw Signal and Red Robin, I think???

Gonna be real tho, I was expecting to see them in Gotham, NOT PARIS #wtf #Whyaretheyhere????

Marinette had barely sent the tweet before her phone was ringing.

"Are you being serious?" Adrian asked, in lieu of a greeting, "At least two of the Batfam is here?"

"Yeah," She whispered a bit numbly, eyes still focused on the roof she had watched them disappear from mere moments ago. It was far enough away that if she had been a normal human she wouldn't have heard them, but she wasn't a normal human, "Hey Adrian, Don't tell the team what I'm about to say, okay?"

"Are you okay, bugaboo?"  

"Questionable," She didn't even bother rebuking the nickname, "I think I might be dating a Bat."

______________________________________

Taglist: @kceedraws @northernbluetongue @starry-bi-sky @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @lexysama @vincentvangoose @theatreandcomicfreak @vinerlover @calvin1394 @interobanginyourmom @imanerddealwith @aarushi-03 @rikku052 @fantasticfourintraining @clumsy-owl-4178 @two-faced-biatch @celestiacq @vgirl-10123 @peculiarlylostdreamer @tinybrie @treebrosha @sam-spectra @zalladane @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @7-sage-7 @blue-peach14 @nataladriana9 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @xxmadamjinxx @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @i-identify-as-a-mango @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay @vixen-uchiha @face-of-lazyness @lunar-wolf-warrior @derpingrainbow @drama-queen-supreme @vivilakitty @mystery-5-5 @synnesstra @ijustwannabecanadian @sharksharkbb @lysslovsanime @zazzlejazzle @corabeth11 @ur-average-reader @virgil-is-a-cutie @paradoxal-occurance @dur55 @this-is-vander @cowardlygaydinosaur @phantomneow12 @numbuh-7-knd @slytherinhquinn @celerystick045 @silvergold-swirl @dzcile @lordsmeldingtonthethird @asabella1224 @miraculous-simmer7 @god-is-dead-and-so-am-i @kuhakuanon @st0rmy-w1th1n @littleredrobinhoodlum @todaylillypads @screechingflapbiscuitpeach @a-complete-fool @urbanpineapplefarmer @woodland-queer @miraculousl4dybug @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @imanerddealwith @seraphichana @literalfantrash @zebrabaker @captainmac6 

#miraculous ladybug #batman #marinette dupain cheng #Damian Wayne #maribat #Adrian agreste #chloe bourgeois #luka couffaine #alix kubdel #max kante #kim le chien #Kagami Tsurugi #nathaniel kurtzberg #Tim Drake #duke thomas #cassandra cain #Jason Todd #Miraculous Team #lila rossi is the worst #lila rossi takedown #alya bashing #press conference #Alfred Pennyworth

[itsthestutterforme]

Back Home (BAU Team + Blair Redford)

The case that the team was working on was in Atlanta, Georgia, Y/N's hometown. Y/N's ex still works in Atlanta PD and cannot keep his eyes off her. Rossi believes that Y/N has some unfinished business with her ex and encourages her to stay after the cass.

Characters: David Rossi, Blake, Jennifer Jareu, Aaron Hotchner, Blair Redford

--

"Well, well, well, isn't Miss Hotlanta," Morgan teases as I hop on the jet. "Here we go," I say, sitting across from him. "How do you feel about heading back home?" Morgan asks. "Well, I wish it was under better circumstances. But I never get tired of heading home."

"Your entire family are cops, right?" Reid asks. "Yes," "Yeesh, I could only image what what going through your date's head when he found that out." Rossi says.

"Oh my dad made sure of that I didn't have one," I say, making everyone chuckle. "I would be the same way if I had a daughter," Hotch states. "So.. how did you do it?" JJ asks. "Do what?" "Sneeks boys in,"

"A magician never reveals her secrets," I say, crossing my legs with a small smirk perched on my face. "Y/N, you sly dog." Morgan teases. "Oh? Would you like to reveal your tactics, Chocolate Thunder?" I taunt.

"Hey, only I call him that!" Garcia says over the computer. "Simmer down, baby girl. I'm yours and only yours." Morgan flirts. "You better be," she snaps with a smile. "Alright, let's get started." Hotch starts

After the jet lands, the team drives to Atlanta PD. Y/N and the team walk into the Atlanta PD when balloons started popping and horns blew all at once. "Well Back, Y/L/N!" They welcome and Y/N could help the big smile plastered on her face.

Y/N started out as a rookie cop for a decade before applying for the BAU team. Everyone she used to work with swarmed her with hugs and kisses.

Blair, Y/N's ex, introduced himself to the rest of the team while Y/N was occupied. He showed them a room to set up and watched as Y/N smiles widely. She slide herself out of the swarm of people with some garlands wrapped around her neck, a shiny black hat and red lipstick marks on her cheek.

"Blair," Y/N greets as she approaches him. Blair wastes no time lifting Y/N into his arms. "Hey, baby," he belows, his voice vibrating both her chest and his. They hold each other for a moment or two and they both closed their eyes in relief.

"It's been too long," he says as he pulls away from me hesitantly. "Tell me about it,". Y/N tucks her hands in her back pockets and Blair adds, "You look great." "Likewise. You've definitely been hitting the gym." Blair was at a severe battle of wills.

Y/N and Blair ended on a good note but there was so much potential left untouched. Blair was pining after her since high school and nothing has changed. "The team needs me. We'll keep you posted." Y/N says touching his arm once again before leaving.

"There some cupcakes and ice cream in the break room for ya. Courtesy of Jill," "Gotta love Jill, am I right?" "Thank you," Y/N adds before walking into the conference. "Looks like someone was missed," Morgan says, referencing her gettup.

"You talking about her co workers or her ex that is obviously still in love with her?" Rossi asks. "Mmm, both." "Let's just focus on the case, please." Y/N says, sitting down and keeping the garland and hat on her body. Two days later, they catch the unsub and Rossi calls Y/N back for a moment.

"What's up?" "I think you should stay here for a day or two?" "Wh-- are you sure? What if we're called in for a case?" "We'll handle it," "Is Hotch okay with this?" "Yes, you clearly have some unfinished business. Don't let us hold you back."

"But--" "No buts," Rossi interrupts. Everyone packs up their things and Hotch says, "See you in two days." "Call me if you need anything," Y/N calls after them and Rossi says, "We won't!" Y/N huffs as she places her hands on her hips.

She takes a cab to the hotel and checks out before taking her things to her house. Her family greets her with hugs and kisses and of course they bring up Blair. "So have you seen Blair? He looks pretty good, huh."

"Yes, he does." "He's the reason why you stayed, isn't it?" "No, my coworker insisted that I stayed because he claimed that I have unfinished business." "I like this co worker of yours," Mom says.

"I think you should visit Blair," Y/N's sister suggests. "Of course you do," Y/N says, rolling her eyes. "He's always asking asking about you." "Why?"

"Come on, Miss Profile. He's loved you since he knew what love was. Just stop by, that's all I'm asking." Y/N's sister states. "Ugh, fine." Y/N stood up from the couch and walks up the stairs to take her shower. Her sister harassed Y/N as she got ready, I guess that was her special way of saying I missed you.

"You look amazing," Mom says. "Thanks, you don't have to lie tho." "Oh stop," Mom says, nudging Y/N's arm. They embrace one another in a long hug before Y/N leaves to go to Blair's.

Y/N's POV

I walk up the steps and raise my hand to knock on the door and it flings open. Blair rushes out of his house and stumbles right into me. My heels get caught on the first step and I could feel my entire body launching backwards. Blair catches me and pulls me into his chest.

"Y/N, what are you doing here?" "I just wanted go come by and say hi. Where are you going in a rush?" "Uh, the gym. The boys are waiting for me." "Oh, right. I'm sorry, I should- I should've called first." "No, no, I can cancel. It's not every day that I have the Y/N Y/L/N at my door." I couldn't help the blood rushing to my cheeks in embarrassment.

"Are you blushing?" he taunts, taking full advantage over how physically close we were. "No," I bite my bottom in nervousness. "Tsk, tsk, you were a bad liar then and a bad liar now." He tucks a few hairs behind my ear and traced his index finger along my jawline. He pulled my lip from underneath my teeth with his thumb.

"What are you doing?" "What I've wanted to do for years," he says against my lips. "Take me inside first?" Seconds later, he lifts me up and wraps my legs around his waist. He carries me inside and kicks the door closed.

My back is pressed against the door as he attacks my neck with kisses. He sucks on the nape of my neck and pulls away to take off my dress and bra in one swift motion.

I cross my ankles behind his waist to make sure I don't fall. He cups my breasts into his hands and rub the sensitive buds with the pads of his thumbs. I rest the back of my head against the door as my mouth falls open.

My back archs as he takes one nipple into his mouth while rubbing the other with his thumb. I pull his head away from my chest and press a series of kisses on his lips.

Our lips move in perfect sync and my body became warmer with every kiss. He carries me into his room and he gently sets me on the bed. He nudges me on my back and settles himself between her legs.

I could feel his bulge pulsating against my thigh and when I reach down to touch him, he holds my hand. "My focus is on you right now, baby." "But--" "No buts," he presses painfully slow kisses down neck.

He moves down to my chest and slides his hands into my underwear. He moans as he feels my dripping folds. "Fuck, Y/N," he sinks two fingers into me and my hips lifts from the bed. He fingers matches the pace of his kisses down my body, painfully slow. "Oh come on, baby, please move faster," I beg as I buck my hips against his fingers.

"Don't tempt me. You know what happens when I lose control," "Yeah, it was the best sex I've ever had," "You also had bruises all ov--" I wrap my hand around his throat and lean in go press a hot kiss on his lips. "Fuck me like you hate me or I'm leaving," I whisper against his lips.

His eyes pierce into mine and my heart races with excitment. "Go get the rope," he commands.

**

The elevator dings as I reach the first level of the BAU. I walk with an uncontrollable pep as I sip on my coffee that I put in my thermos. I had to wear a long sleeve turtleneck for obvious reasons.

Blair's favorite chain that he gave me, perches on my chest. I walk up the steps to the conference room and all of the conversations came to a halt.

"Don't stop on my account," I say as I sit down between JJ and Blake. "You look vibrant," JJ starts. "Interest choice of words," I say. "Oh look at that, she's glowing," Garcia says.

"Oh my God, guys, please," "You should to Atlanta more often," Morgan taunts. "So help me, Morgan." "I knew it was a great call to convice you to stay." "You know you're never going to live this down, right?" Morgan states.

"Right," I repeat. "Let's get started," Hotch says as walks into the room. "Y/N, glad you could make it." Hotch says with a small smile tugging at his lips. "No, not you too." "Now I know exactly where to send you to.. unwind," he adds. "For the love of God,"

#blair redford #blair redford fanfiction #criminalminds #bauteam

[hope-faith-love-abide]

I haven’t been keeping up with Heartland season 14 updates the past few months, but I decided to catch up on some of it since the premiere date is coming up and the teaser trailer was released recently. And I noticed some interesting speculation about what might happen in the new season, and I have...a lot of thoughts about it, haha. I think I need to write it out in order to really sort out my thoughts and feelings on it, but I think it might get kinda long since it’s pretty major, so I’m going to put it under a cut. 

[NOTE: This post was written approximately a week or so ago, and I’ve been just sitting on it trying to decide if I wanna post or not. But having watched the full trailer for Season 14 now...I’m like 95% certain that this seems to be the route that the season is going. Still have about 5% doubt because trailers can be misleading and I could just be reading into it. We won’t really know for sure until we see the first episode, and I’m so torn between being somewhat excited just because I want to know for certain and nervous because I know I will still be sad if it’s true.

Either way, I wanted to get my thoughts down before the season premieres so here it is I guess lol]

So...it’s actually possible that Ty might die/be dead when this season begins? Which is utterly bizarre to think about because I never would have considered this to be an actual possible situation for the show. Even when there was that summary that leaked earlier this year, I still didn’t think it was a real possibility. I thought for certain that was fake, because this is Heartland. It’s one thing for a side character to disappear from the show or to be killed off, but a main character? A main character can be hurt, injured, and on the verge of death, but they won’t actually die. Especially not a character who is in one of the two major ships on the show.

Until now?

Of course, if this does happen, I don’t think it’s something anyone on the show wanted, not even the writers. In an ideal world where every actor wanted to be in every episode of the show, I imagine they’d be perfectly happy continuing to write that story.

But in cases where an actor no longer wants to be a main character on the show -- well, obviously I can’t say definitively that this is the case, because as far as I know he has never specifically said this in an interview, but from an outsider’s/fan’s perspective, it feels like that is a possibility. I don’t know the reasons behind it though, and I’m not going to go that far into speculation.

But let’s go with this scenario hypothetically. Because it does sometimes happen with television shows, where an actor for one reason or another no longer will be part of a show. 

What do you do with that character?

The character could be recast, I suppose, but I don’t think that would work in a show like Heartland. How would we explain in-universe why Ty suddenly looks different when everyone else is still the same? Even if you can find an actor that looks similar enough, we know what Ty looks like after 13 seasons, and I don’t think anyone would be fooled into thinking it’s the same guy. I guess it could be explained with the trope that he got into such a bad accident that they had to reconstruct his face, but that feels cheap and too much like a soap opera. 

So that’s a no.

The character could be written out in other ways. Ty could just be off screen somewhere...all the time. He’s at the clinic, he’s spending the day with Lyndy, he’s at a vet conference, he’s gone back to save wolves from poachers again, he’s gone back to Mongolia for the third/fourth/fifth/ten billionth time. 

That, honestly, would be frustrating. It’s maybe the least painful short term option, but long term, it’s not very enjoyable. It’s like when important side characters suddenly disappear from the show, occasionally mentioned but never seen on screen again, only 10 times worse.

Or he could be written off by...y’know, breaking up him and Amy. Which, frankly, is the absolute worst option in my opinion. It would immediately, retroactively, destroy the entire show, past, present, and future. Ty and Amy aren’t the only important part of the show, but they are a major part of it. The show has spent 13 seasons building up this relationship (with obvious ups and downs throughout, but I’m not focused on analyzing their whole relationship in this post), so to suddenly turn around and have them divorce would be an absolute trainwreck. 

What would even be the reason? Even with some of my disagreements in the writing of certain decisions the characters have made (*coughtheMongoliaplotcough*), I don’t think those are reasons enough for these two characters to break up over it. So something new would have to be invented, and it would likely be something completely ridiculous and out-of-character for them both and also likely ruin their character development from past seasons. 

Which leads us to yet another option: Ty dying. A year ago this was something I never would have considered for the actual show (or any of those other options, frankly). It could be interesting to explore in a fanfic, but on the show? No way.

But...things change. Reality sometimes gets in the way of a television show’s ideal storyline, which is one of the difficulties of the medium, especially a live action one. And just because one actor hypothetically doesn’t want to be on the show anymore doesn’t mean it should be derailed for all the other actors and crew who are on board.

So you get rid of the character. It isn’t hard to do. Probably the hardest part will be the very first episode when it’s revealed to the audience. How did it happen? Did it happen before the season begins, or does it happen in the first episode? Or if it happened before, do we get any flashbacks? 

Is it due to complications from the gunshot at the end of season 13? A freak car/motorcycle accident? An accident during a vet call? Depending on what it is and the context of it, it can be a strong final note on the kind of person Ty has become. If during a vet call/because of an animal, it happens while he’s doing what he loves, taking care of animals. If from the end of S13, it’s from him protecting his wife. If a car accident, maybe he was going to pick up Lyndy to spend time with her after leaving a vet call, because he’s a loving father. All of those are inline with Ty’s character and still support the growth that he’s had from the first episode to now. 

And then there’s all the story potential and character growth that it opens up for all the other characters. Because this is something that majorly impacts the entire family. And the description of season 14 that was put out does talk about a “life-changing challenge,” particularly for Amy for obvious reasons.

How does she deal with losing her husband? They’ve been together for so long, not just as romantic interests but as best friends. What does her life look like without him in it? How does this affect her work? Is her work with horses a comfort for her, or does it remind her too much of him? How does she guide Lyndy through this? 

And then the rest of the family. How does Jack deal with his loss? Considering Ty became like a son to him and “officially” joins the family when he marries Amy, how does it affect Jack to lose him? Especially if it was in something like a car accident, similar to Marion. How does it affect Jack and Lisa’s relationship? 

Not to mention Lily, and Lou, and Georgie, and Tim, and Caleb, and Scott, and Cass. Ty was a huge part of all their lives, so this will affect them in major ways too. 

Again, it’s not ideal. But I do feel like this option provides the best story opportunities without ruining the characters in the process the way certain other choices would. 

And, of course, this is all purely speculation. We won’t really know what’s going to happen until the season actually airs, and it’s entirely possible that the “life-changing challenge” will be something completely different, and Ty will be fine. And if so, that’s okay with me. 

But if Ty is gone...I think I could learn to be okay with it. Though it does still depend on how they handle it. Like if everyone’s sad about it for one or two episodes, but then everyone immediately moves on and everything’s fine, then I wouldn’t be happy with that. We don’t need a whole season of everyone crying all the time, but we also don’t need this to be something that’s swept under the rug. We, the audience, will need time to grieve along with the characters. Because this is a main character that we could be losing here, not just a minor side character like Mr. Hanley for example. So I hope we get to see all of the characters going through the stages of grief and processing their loss in their own ways throughout the season.

Anyway, it was nice to write through my thoughts on this. It’s kinda funny thinking about how not that long ago, I would’ve been completely 100% against this idea ever happening in the show, but now I’m like almost on-board with it. Maybe it’s the effect of 2020 or something lol

#brigette's rambles #heartland

[animemangasoul]

We Parted Ways A Long Time Ago

Summery: Lucius Fox is Tim's emergency contact number.

In which Bruce and Tim have drifted apart and Bruce doesn't realize it until it's a little too late

Chapter: 2/4

Bruce didn’t know for how long he’d been sitting in his office, slowly going through article after article about the Wayne Enterprise CEO.  

What had originally started off as a casual information gathering had slowly turned into an unhealthy obsession.

Scanning his eyes over the latest article, Bruce almost clenched his fists, brows furrowing as his eyes rested on the smiling image of his son. The article was talking about some kind of project meant to help low-income students around the poverty stricken areas of Gotham and while honest pride bloomed in his chest knowing that his son was carrying on the work he’d started long ago, any sense of joy he got from the praising words were promptly swallowed up by the man standing next to Tim.

Lucius Fox had an arm around Tim shoulders, smiling brightly at the cameras as he for all intent and purpose looked at home next to his son. The pride radiating off of the man torturously close to what Bruce had feeling not even a second ago.  

Breathing in deeply, he clicked out of it. Hesitating only slightly before typing both names in Google and clicking on images and....

Swallowing down the bile suddenly rising up his throat, Bruce carefully eyed the many stills of his son next to Lucius. From charity meetings, press conferences to less formal events such as a park outings with the rest of the Fox family or a dinner at that fancy restaurant Bruce vaguely remembers Tim raving on about; subtly needling him to take him there sometime. ‘Doesn’t this place look great Bruce! Wouldn’t it be nice to go there sometime?’    

They never did.  

Stomach lurching at the sight, he quickly skips through the restaurant pictures, fingers almost shaking... almost. Because... Tim looked so happy. Face open, eyes glowing and in every other captured moment he is invading someone’s space. Whether he’s leaning into Lucius calming touch or resting his head on Luke’s shoulder trying to get a glimpse of whatever he was doing on his phone or smiling amusedly at Tam.

There were so many tender, intimate moments between his Tim and Lucius family and it made Bruce grit his teeth.  

Fists finally clenching till crescent moons marred his skin.  

It... he didn’t understand. Tim didn’t like being touched. He was always so distant and withdrawn. Always stiffening at the slightest brush of skin. He was such a lone wolf. Everyone knew that, so why.... why did these ‘moments’ look so natural to him. It was as if Tim was relishing in the attention, practically soaking in the close proximity of the Fox family, and how could that be in character?

It didn’t make any sense.

Tim was....

Tim was....

But then he remembers Dick.  

Remembers how his oldest had always managed to draw out those special little smiles out of his younger. Remembers how Dick was allowed to hug Tim. Was allowed to wrap his arms around him and how Tim melted into the contact. Dick had called it hug therapy. Practically flinging himself on the shorter teen every time he saw him till Tim was naturally reciprocating the affection instead of freezing up.

Dick was the one to bring Tim out of his shell.  

And for the longest time he’d been the only one. Even Bruce, with all the years he’d had with Tim hadn’t managed to make his son comfortable enough to let down all his guards. Sure he saw glimpses of who Tim could have been whenever he was too sleep deprived to pretend he didn’t need anyone, but while those moments were precious, they occurred very rarely.  

But here Tim was, being basically Tim’s version of attached and it made something ache within Bruce that he couldn’t quiet put into words.

Was it so easy to win over his son?

Shutting off the screen abruptly he breathed deeply and closed his eyes.  

Leaning back, Bruce rubbed at his forehead, trying to banish the throbbing headache blooming at the back of his mind.

What time was it even?

Gaze drifting to the grandfather clock by the corner he sighed.  

Still a bit left to go before he could go get his son.

The itch prickling under his skin didn’t seem to get the memo though, because all Bruce wanted to do right now was drive over to that lonely apartment near crime alley and bring his son home.  

This wasn’t just about dinner.  

Sure, that’s what he told Tim. But Bruce knew one dinner wasn’t going to salvage what had been broken in their relationship. He needed to reopen the doors of communication and he couldn’t do that with only one measly dinner together.

The pitfall stretching wide and deep between them may have been partly Bruce’s fault, but Tim wasn’t without his fair sheer of blame either. If his son had just reached out to him. Sought his companionship like he used to. Talked to him, connected with him, Bruce was sure he would have welcomed him with open arms.

But Tim.... Tim had chosen to be swept away into the shadow of someone else’s family and Bruce just.... he didn’t understand.

Tim was his son. His son. Lucius didn’t have the right to.....

Sighing, he ran a couple of fingers through his hair. It didn’t matter now. Bruce was the parent. He was the only one who could fix this. Tim just needed someone to tell him that he still had a place here, beside him, and Bruce could do that.  

He’d done it for Jason and Damian and Dick. Cass hadn’t needed him to, but if she had, he would have done the same for her.

That’s why this dinner wasn’t just a dinner. If Bruce planned this just right, he was sure he could convince Tim to stay the night. He’d already asked Alfred to prepare Tim’s old bedroom for him and....

The way the old butler's eyes had lit up, face almost breaking into a smile, before nodding hastily and walking away. “Everything will be ready for when the young Master arrives,” he’d said in parting. “Make sure to inform him that I have prepared his favorite coffee cake. God knows that child needs to gain a bit of weight back.”

Alfred hadn’t made any such thing. But he would. For Tim.

Alfred most have missed him too.

Couldn’t his son see what he was doing? Didn’t he understand that just because everyone had been busy, it didn’t mean they didn’t care?

Rubbing a tired hand down his neck, Bruce finally let his eyes rest on the picture frames decorating his desk.  

The first one was of him and Dick when his oldest was just the tiniest little thing. The adoring smile his son was directing at him; arms wrapped around his neck as Bruce was in the process of swinging him around warmed his heart. He’d framed the picture the minute Alfred had handed him the envelop and it remained one of his much-cherished possessions, where it stood next to the picture frame of his parents.  

Next to the two was the one taken after Jason’s adoption and after that, well, at least twenty more that were taken in the span of the next couple of years were added to the mix.

All of them gifted to him by Tim.  

His son having captured so many precious moments between him and his children. Hell, there was even one of him and Steph. The girl explaining something excitedly and him smiling down at her; lips quirking up in amusement.

Running a finger over Damain’s adoring face, Bruce couldn’t help but smile at his youngest. How Tim had caught Damian off guard without the other noticing him Bruce would never know. But he would forever be grateful.  

As he silently observes each and every memory framed physically in front of him, his eyes slowly start to shift from side to side. A tiny frown pulling at his lips and then he’s leaning forward, picking up one frame after the other; pushing a few aside to get to those at the back but.... nothing. There isn’t one.

Tim isn’t in any of these.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

He was in two of them. But one was taken shakily by what appeared to be Cass’s phone as the girl pressed her cheek into Tim’s hair; both of them grinning up at the camera. And another of her and Tim yet again but this time his son was sleeping and Cass nestling into his side as she took the picture.

Both of these photos had been given to him by his daughter. She’d quietly stepped into his office weeks ago. Bruce could distinctly remember it now, now that he was trying to recall the details. She’d placed two new frames on his desk, kissed his forehead and left.

He hadn’t thought much of it.... but....

The fact that Tim wasn’t in any of these..... The fact that there were so many and Tim wasn’t in any of them.

Bruce was sure Dick had a couple of photos of him and Tim, right? He was sure. The oldest loved taking pictures of the three of them back in the day. He was constantly in need of capturing ‘cute’ things, so he had to have some.  

Yes, he most have. Tim and Dick might not be as close as they used to; mainly because his younger was always too busy and Dick had his hands full with Damian, but they were still close so Dick surely had endearing pictures of his son.

“I’ll ask him tomorrow,” he muttered to himself, leaning back and standing up. It wasn’t right that out of the twenty so photos on his desk only two contained Tim. It.....

Freezing as an idea struck him, Bruce sat back down and turned on the computer screen.

Six minutes later he’d printed out a picture of him and Tim. Both in business attires and sure Bruce was wearing his Brucie mask, staying in character for the media, but Tim was leaning into him for support in this picture; face almost mushed into his side as his son was fighting against sleep and..... his heart twitched at the innocence.

It was just after he’d come back, Bruce remembered. Before life swept him away.  

He’d gone to the company needing Tim’s help to reorganize his case files and he’d found his son half asleep across the floor.

He’d been so incredibly endeared, because, it had just struck him then that no matter what changed, certain things would remain the same. Certain things being Tim and his workaholic tendency.  

So he’d picked his kid up, helped him into his coat and lead him out the building. Of course they’d been met with flashes of cameras and shouted questions but his son had been none the wiser, leaning even closer to his body heat, muttering nonsense under his breath and shoving his face into his chest.

Bruce chest ached at the memory.

Reaching into the left drawer; eyes refusing to leave Tim’s face, he fumbled until his fingers wrapped around a pair of scissors.  

Cutting away the unnecessary corners he gently put the photo down before picking up a frame, staring at it for a second, eyes drinking in the picture of him sitting between Dick and Damian, both boys prattling on about something while he indulgently smiled at them.

Sighing, he pulled it out of the frame, carefully putting the picture to the side and inserting in the new one. Satisfied he put the photo next to the others.

It wasn’t exactly as informal and familial as the others. Hadn’t been taken with warmth and love but it showed warmth and love didn’t it?

That should be enough.

It was enough.

Standing up he looked at the picture one last time and then stepped past the desk and walked out the door.  

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

“Where are you going father. Pennyworth says that dinner is in ninety minutes.”

Bruce paused at the entrance. Hand resting on the doorknob.

“I’m picking up Tim. He’s going to stay with us for a while.”

A pause and then.... “Why?” Bruce slowly turned around. He’d wanted to leave without creating any fuzz; knowing that he’s youngest would be the least happy about this new arrangement, but alas, there was no avoiding this conversation now.

“He’s sick and needs to rest. Spending some time here at the manor might do him some good.”

Damian crossed his arms; nose scrunching up in displeasure. “Can he not do that at his own apartment? Why most he come here?” Glaring petulantly, he clicked his tongue. “We don’t need a useless person taking up space father.” Bruce frowned.  

Sure Damian had mellowed out the past couple of months, but unfortunately Tim still managed to bring out his more.... childish side.  

Briefly Bruce contemplated telling him off.

Wasn’t this what Tim had been complaining about? His reason for not wanting to stay with them? But then again....

Shaking his head Bruce sighed. “The manor is big enough for all of us,” he said softly, giving his son a meaningful look. “There is no need to worry about space.”

Dick had told him how fragile Damain’s confidence was.

His son being afraid of facing rejection if he committed the slightest misbehavior. Bruce hadn’t seen it, but Dick knew his son so well and “Insults are the only way he knows how to express himself,” his oldest had said shrugging helplessly. “And it’s how he checks whether we lash out at him or not. And we can’t do that to him Bruce. We can’t take away the only form of self-expression he has. He's scared we’ll get tired of him or think he’s too damaged to fit in with our family so whenever he speaks out, we..... I’m just grateful he’s willing to open up to us.”

“What about the replacement,” Jason had asked. Lounging in the chair next to them, raising a thin brow of bemusement. “Cuz that’s who the kid always targets.”

“Tim is older,” Dick had answered. “He understands. We talked about it and he agreed with me that Damian needed to feel comfortable and accepted.”

Jason had snorted, popping out of his chair and walking away. “Sure he did,” he said, dragging out the words. “Sure he did.”

Shaking away the memories Bruce smiled down at his son; just a tiny flick of the corner of his mouth, but Damian immediately straightened out, his own lips quirking up in turn.  

Perhaps Jason had a point, perhaps not. But Bruce had come so far with Damian. Dick had come so far with Damian.  

He refused to be the one who stunted his son’s growth and he was sure Tim must have felt the same. His second youngest having always had a way of understanding others that most of the others lacked.

And Damian never meant much harm with what he said; most of his comment coming from his own insecurities, so Bruce hoped Tim would eventually be able to get over it too and begin to accept Damian for who he was and not for who Tim thought him to be.

“Your leg healed up?”

Startling back, Damian took a second to just stare up at him before nodding jerkily. “Yes father.”

“Good,” Bruce said, turning to face the door. “You can resume your nightly activities with me tonight.”

He doesn’t wait for the kid’s excited reply before he’s out the door and making his way down to the garage.  

He needed to get to Tim’s apartment

It was time to pick up his son and Bruce had to make sure the kid packed enough to stay over for at least a couple of days. If he planned it right, Tim would be settled in enough that he wouldn’t find the need to move out again and Dick or Jason could pick up the rest of his things afterwards.  

Tim just needed time to readjust to the manor and if Bruce played his cards right, Tim would be settled in before he even knew it and then.... Then they could be a family again.

It lightened his heart knowing that all his children would finally be under the same roof.

The end

@miss-choco-chips Bruce out here raising so many red flags. He is so possessive while ignoring Tim’s feelings and opinions. 

@throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen next chapter be here!!!!

#bruce wayne #Tim Drake #Damian Wayne #Batfamily Fanfic #batfam fic #batsiblings fic #red robin fanfic #batman #robin #batfamily #happytim au

[adragonhoardingstories]

Daminette Soulmate AU Headcannons (3)

Damian was not worried. He was just going to introduce his literal soulmate to his friends and allies to the superhero community. That was the whole reason for this brunch. 

It was just that Marinette should have been here already but he hadn't heard a word from her.

Ya Amar, where are you? Jon is getting rather impatient for my surprise.

Sorry Habibi. She seemed out of breath. Emergency. Final battle. Paris. Damian didn't usually get scared, it had been trained out of him, but…

It's being covered live. She added for his benefit and that was all that he needed to bolt downstairs. 

"Out of my way." He snapped at Superman, pushing past him and making a bee line to the room with the giant television.

Jason and his friends were there. He snatched the remote out of Roy's hand just as he was about to hand it to his daughter and changed the channel. 

Normally he would get shit for this and normally he knew better than to behave like this around a kid but he felt like his behavior right then was justified. 

He ignored his father who had stormed in after him demanding he apologize to Kal-El as well as Roy insulting him.

Thankfully, Jason seemed to understand that something was wrong, he just turned his attention to the T.V. and just in time for him to find the right channel. 

"-been raging for over five hours. It has been the longest duration of time for which Hawkmoth has been sighted. It seems like our heroes are fully determined not to let him get away this time."

His father had shut up, finally understanding his behavior. He placed a hand on Damian's shoulder and another on Jason's, "She'll be alright."

"We're aware of that." Damian snapped as the room started filling in with other heroes. 

"We don't need you to tell us that." Jason was as tense as he was. 

"I'll fly to...Paris isn't it, and help." Clark said. 

Damian clenched his knuckles. 

"The fuck you will!" Jason growled. "Sit your ass down and don't move."

"You will only hinder her work. No outside help until she requests it or don't you think we'd have been there already." 

Both Jason and Damian loathed the fact that they couldn't be there fighting by her side but she had forbade it and as much as he hated it, her reasoning was sound. 

"But we can't-"

"Kal-El," His father thankfully spoke up. "Shut up before my sons make you. I've approved this. She'll be fine, I'll explain later." More people were filling into the room, curious if what they were hearing. 

The camera panned to the different heroes. "There has once again been a mass akumatization and the the battle seemed to reach a decisive point. Draka, Viperion and Queen Bee have successfully held off Hawkmoth, Mayura and Volpina as Ladybug purifies the akumatized civilians and now Lady Noir is back in the fight."

The camera shows as the teams flawless change their position so that Hawkmoth is left for Ladybug, Mayura being taken care of by Vespa and Draka and Volpina by Viperion. 

However, Volpina as always did not play fair. Somehow, all three ended up away from the fight with her while Hawkmoth found a partner in Mayura against Lady.

It was impressive, the way she shifted her fighting styles and even her alter egos, going from Lady Bug to Lady Noir in a matter of seconds to counteract their attacks. She kept up wonderfully well for having two such skilled adversaries.

But they had been fighting for hours and it was very clear to Damian that the Kwamis wouldn't be able to keep doing this. 

He was so glad at that moment that there was a bunch of superheroes in his house. If needed be, Marinette would get the whole Super community as backup if she asked. 

However, she was still outnumbered and soon she found herself in a dead end with both Hawkmoth and Mayura caging her. 

"That's it." Jason cursed. "We're going."

Damian wanted to agree with him but he felt her determination, her decisiveness and he smirked. 

"No wait." He pushed his brother back to sit. Jason turned to look at him like he was crazy which soon turned into confusion as he saw his expression. He knew Jason still had some trouble adjusting with their bond.

"She has a plan." He confided. "She has them right where she wants them."

Jason stared at him for a few more seconds before he turned back to the screen. 

"Give me your Miraculous and I won't hurt you." So predictable. Damian almost rolled his eyes. 

His soulmate slowly raised her hands up, trying to seem as a non-threat, which is why they were taken by surprise when she extended her baton so that it slammed into Mayura's stomach. 

Immediately after she vaulted over her fallen villian, letting her transformation roll off. She rolled on the ground, to hide her face and brought a hood and a mask that hid her mouth and nose up. 

"Is that your league uniform?" Jason asked Damian. 

"It's based off of it." He replied. "She liked it so she made one for herself in parallel with my new one."

"So you have a fancy costume, doesn't mean you can beat me now. It reduces your chances actually."

Even through the mask Damian could see her annoyance. 

Mayura charged at her. She was clearly the smarter one of the two villains, her doom came with the fact that she listened to Hawkmoth. 

Marinette seemed to see that too because she whipped out a gun. 

"Did you give her the gun?" Damian asked amused. 

"Of course, I did." Jason seemed smug that she was actually using it. 

Before the villians could react, she made a perfect shot, aiming at Hawkmoth's Miraculous. 

Of course, a normal weapon wouldn't hurt a transformed hero, where their skin was covered but momentum was more than enough to make his butterfly brooch fall, letting the transformation off and revealing Gabriel Agreste to the world. 

Before he could do anything else Marinette threw a bola at him, incapacitating him. It was rather funny seeing him wriggle around like a worm. 

"I gave her the bola too." Jason informed the room. No one was surprised. 

That left Mayura. She leapt in front of Gabriel, intending to take him away but Marinette threw something, once again with terrifying precision that ended up with the peacock Miraculous pinned to the wall and one unveiled and frozen Natalie Sancoeur.

The camera panned to the object and showed it as a batarang. 

"I gave her that one." His father informed them, he didn't need to look over to know that he was smirking or that the other occupants of the room were staring at them in total confusion. 

Meanwhile, Marinette had already recovered both of the Miraculous. 

"How-" Natalie asked as Marinette walked to her. She didn't seem interested in fighting anymore, she seemed too shaken up.

 Marinette simply smirked, not that it was visible to anyone. "The sincerest compliments from the Batfam." Then she decked Natalie knocking her unconscious, right in time for the other heroes to land on the roof.

Dick and Stephanie whooped and Tim and Cass laughed. Damian hadn't noticed when they came in.

"Good job." Draka said, throwing Volpina down. 

"Likewise." She stepped back and out the gun back in it's holster on her thigh. 

"Spots on."

Ladybug crouched next to Volpina, and took her necklace and crushed it, a dark butterfly coming out of it. 

She made quick work of purifying it, leaving Lila Rossi there. 

The heroes each grabbed a villain and made the way to the police as Ladybug summoned her lucky charm to fix the city. 

She had a smile on her face and Damian could feel how at peace she was in that moment as she followed her teammates to the police. 

The camera went closer to her. "Ladybug." The voice that was reporting and that he had tuned out, called out.

"Hawkmoth has finally been defeated, how are you feeling?"

"Definitely relieved." She smiled before Turing serious. "But it's not over yet, Gabriel Agreste and Natalie Sancoeur will pay for their crimes."

"And what do you think of Paris' Golden Child, Adrien Agreste involvement in this affair?"

"Well now that they have been defeated, I can say this. Adrien Agreste is a hero. Our victory today has been possible because of him. After finding out who his father is, he came to me and together we decided on the safest course of action which was to send him away incognito." An outraged what could be heard in the background. "He will be returning to Paris shortly and will have a press conference to clarify everything. I ask of everyone in Paris to not judge a son for the sins of his father. Adrien is a hero in his own right and has suffered enough through this debacle."

"That is some shocking news. I understand that you have to deal with the police now, I won't hold you for much longer. We've noticed that you've used a batarang in your fight if I'm not wrong, and you mentioned the Batfam. Is there anything you'd like to say to them?"

"I suppose." Ladybug laughed, then she turned to the camera and winked. "Sorry for missing brunch. I'll be there as soon as I finish dealing with this."

"Damian." His father said and the whole room which consisted of almost all the heroes in the world turned to look at them. "Tell her to invite her teammates as well, I think they deserve a celebration."

Damian nodded his eyes turning blue, on the screen they could see Ladybug's eyes turning a familiar shade of green. 

"Uh, are you alright?" The reporter asked. "Your eyes turned...green."

 She smiled reassuringly. "Nothing to worry about, that was just my soulmate." 

"What did he say?" A voice asked and the three other heroes were seen coming back into the frame. 

Ladybug smiled that one smile that promise chaos. 

"Oh this is going to be good." Tim had become an admirer of her schemes. "That's the smile she gives before she's about to wreck havoc."

"Oh, not much" she said innocently, "Just that you've all been invited to brunch."

All three of them froze, while the red clad heroine looked like she was having the time of her life. 

"The brunch you were supposed to be at right now?" Viperion asked. 

"With the entirety of the Justice League, Young Justice, Teen Titans, the Outlaws and basically every other hero in the world." Draka continue. 

"Uh huh." She smirked. 

"I don't know what to wear." Vespa muttered. She seemed...in shock.

There was an enraged yell heard and Ladybug sighed. "Alright, break time is over. Let's go."

"B-but-" Vespa muttered. It was so different from the confident, sassy hero Paris knew. 

"You can take something of mine." Ladybug said. "That goes for both of you as well. Now shall we get to work, or else we'll never be finished in time."

They all turned to her for orders. "Viperion, Draka you are guard duty, I also need you question them all they know about Emilie's Agreste situation."

It was clear to everyone in the room that while she was talking to her team, she was fully aware of the camera still recording her and made sure to phrase her orders in a way that the people watching would have an idea of what was going to happen next. 

"I am heading to Agreste mansion to contact Adrien and find Emilie and after talking to them both I'll be reviewing the crimes Gabriel, Natalie and Lila are being charged with."

The other heroes were pleasantly surprised at how professional and organized she seemed. 

"Vespa, you are going to talking to the Mayor and the police, submitting all the evidence we have against them and liasing with the Italian Embassy about Miss Rossi. Send them the evidence we have of her willing working with Hawkmoth. Also, get her parents before you do anything, because she is ultimately still a minor."

The heroes dispersed and the reporter started giving a rundown of everything that had happened, was happening and would happen. 

Meanwhile, in Wayne Manor, Barry asked the question every other non-Batfam member was asking themselves. 

"Okay so who the hell are they and how did we not know of them before?"  

@persephonebutkore @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @satans-favorite-homo @mystery-5-5

@abrx2002 @clumsy-owl-4178 @daminett4life @18-fandoms-unite-08 @bluerosette23 @dawnwave16 @imanerddealwith @heldtogetherbysafetypins

@st0rmy-w1th1n @northernbluetongue @chez-pezeater @thebananathatwrites @black-streak

@ghostcryptid @zerotosiki @krispydefendorpolice @dur55

@weird-pale-blonde-person @casual-darkness @maude-zarella

@sonif50 @zalladane @dast218

I tried to get everyone in the tag list, sorry if I missed someone

#maribat #daminette #soulmate au #final battle #badass Marinette Dupain Cheng

[slapshot-to-the-heart]

Flatbush & Atlantic: part ix

part i part ii part iii part iv part v part vi part vii part viii

And here we’ve got part ix! This will be the second-to-last part of the series, I’ve got some thoughts also running around for a possible epilogue if that’s something anyone would be interested in reading. As always, there’s literally nothing writers love more than hearing from you all, so don’t be afraid to come and tell me what you think - my inbox is open, comment on the post, reblog with your thoughts!

part ix

April 27 (tues)

Mat’s mind was racing. If he was honest, he hadn’t been able to concentrate worth a damn since Cass had dropped the news about her job offer. Hong Kong? He knew she was brilliant, knew that her skills could and should take her anywhere in the world she wanted to go; the thought that she might leave New York, leave him, was still terrifying. Becoming more worried by the minute, he pulled out his phone, dialing the first person he could think of that might be able to help. 

Tito answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, Tito. What’s up?” Mat asked nervously. 

“What’s wrong, Mat?” He immediately asked. Mat cursed under his breath; even over the phone, Beau was always able to read him like a book. 

Mat grimaced. “That obvious, huh?”

“Mat, we see each other pretty much every day. Not to be a jerk or something, but you don’t really call me unless something’s wrong. What is it? Did you and Cass have a fight?” Mat could imagine him crossing his arms on the other end. 

“Not exactly,” he said, scratching his head as he wandered aimlessly around the park. “She got this job offer, and it sounds like a really exciting opportunity, but…” He trailed off. 

“But?”

“It’s all the way in Asia. It’s in Hong Kong.” 

Tito sucked in a breath. “Oh, wow. That’s a big one. Big move. Has she said if she’s going to take it?”

“Not really, she hasn’t decided.” Mat shook his head, not realizing Tito wouldn’t be able to see. “We talked through it a little, they’re offering a really good starting salary and she likes the company values, but it’s such a huge jump that she’s not ready to make the call yet.” 

“Did you talk about what it would mean for you as a couple?”

“A little, though not as much as we probably should have,” Mat admitted. “Neither of us would want to break it off just because it would be long distance, but logistically it would just be a nightmare. It’s something like a 15 hour flight from New York, so it’s not like either of us would ever be able to make that more than once or twice a year. Did you know that it’s a twelve hour time difference from here?”

“No,” Tito said, “and it’s obviously not like I know exactly what you’re going through. Paige is a kindergarten teacher, so it’s not exactly like her job would suddenly pick up and move to another country. But it’s obviously a different story with me.”

As distracted as he was, Mat felt compelled to respond. “You know they’re going to resign you, right? It would be a terrible move for them if they didn’t.”

“Yeah, I mean that’s what I’ve figured,” Beau responded. “And my agent told me to expect negotiations to start in the next month or so, but still. I could be sent to Winnipeg or Phoenix or Vancouver pretty much without notice, and I wouldn’t want to ask her to just pick up her whole life and follow me. So, I get the feeling.” He paused for a moment. “How do you feel about it?”

“Mixed feelings,” Mat answered honestly. “I’d never want to hold her back from anything, that’s not the kind of person I am and it’d be a dick move regardless. She’s her own person and deserves to be able to make her own decisions. And I would never want her to grow to resent me if she decided to stay for my sake. That would almost be worse. I just..I really love her, Tito, and I would hate for us to never be able to see eachother because of her job. Or worse, for this to mean the end of us because the distance was too hard to deal with.”

It took Tito a minute to respond. “I know you love her, Mat. It’s pretty obvious. You look at her like she hung the moon. But if they all say that things will work out if you love each other and talk it through, then what are you so worried about?”

Mat took a deep breath before answering, trying to gather his thoughts as best he could. When he spoke, his voice wavered. “Because I’ve never been this gone for a girl, Tito. What Cass and I have...I don’t even know how to describe it. I’d stop the Earth turning if it made her happy. It’s just...she’s it for me. I’m done looking. And the idea that I could be 13,000 kilometers away from her isn’t even something I had considered. I wouldn’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”

“Wow. That’s...that’s big, Mat. You serious?”

“As a heart attack,” he replied. 

“When do they need to hear back by?” Tito asked.

Mat looked down at his watch, checking the time. “Not for a few weeks. She’s got some time to decide, which is almost worst.”

Tito hummed sympathetically. “Just talk it through. I can’t pretend like I know what’s going to happen, but I have faith in you. It’s going to work out.”

“I hope so.”

 May 13 (thurs)

 It was nine days before Cass graduated, and if she was being honest, her time may have objectively been better spent studying for her finals, the first of which was Monday. But this was Mat, and this was the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and she supposed that her studies could wait for a night while she spent her evening at Barclays. It was Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final, and there was no way she was going to miss her team’s chance at the Wales trophy. The tone in the arena was tense from the moment she stepped in; ever the optimist, Cass liked the Islanders’ chances, but the fact remained that they were down 3-1 in the series after a 4-0 rout by the Lightning in Game 4. The series had started off with forward momentum after winning the first game at home, but the three-game losing streak had done little for the fans’ hopes and even less for the team’s morale. 

The only bright spot, if she could call it that, was Mat’s return to the ice. He knew as well as anything that the recovery time was for his own good, but he wasn’t made to be cooped up in his apartment for nearly two weeks straight, save only doctor’s appointments and short trips to the complex gym. Per his usual dramatic fashion, Mat had been cleared in time for Game 7 of the second round, returning to raucous cheers and scoring two goals in the eventual 4-2 win over the Capitals. She had caught up enough on her work to be able to make the game, and it was one of the great joys of her life to be up in a box surrounded by her friends when the love of her life scored the goal that sent the Islanders to the conference finals for the first time in nearly thirty years. 

That kind of a dramatic win had made the losing streak that much harder. Game sevens are always exciting, especially with someone coming back off of injured reserve. While the win hadn’t made the team cocky by any means, the confidence had carried over into something more closely resembling complacency. They won Game 7, they won the first of the next series, so some of the team — mostly the younger players who hadn’t yet cut their teeth in the league — had made the mistake of assuming that the rest of the round would be smooth sailing. They should have known better, Cass thought ruefully as the Lightning scored two minutes before the first intermission to even the score at 1-1. Why couldn’t this be the round before, filled with confidence and coordination and laser-focused passing on every line? Why couldn’t it have been the celebration after? 

---

May 3 (tues)

 Winning a game sometimes called for going out. Winning a series almost definitely called for going out. And winning a series in Game 7 that sent your team to the conference finals for the first time in recent memory called for going out, and going out hard. As much as Cass would have loved to get as hammered as the rest of the group, especially considering the stress she was under with finals and graduation and her job offer piling up, they didn’t want a repeat of the afterparty from the All-Star Game, and Cass still had school the next day. So, she had committed to limiting herself to three drinks. “I want to be tipsy, not shitfaced,” she had explained to Paige on the drive over. Tito had driven his car over, Paige volunteering to DD so the boys could let loose and everyone could let off some much-needed steam. 

Someone had already opened up a tab for everyone by the time their car had gotten there, and it wasn’t ten minutes before they had claimed a few couches in the corner and Cass had a caipirinha in her hand. She was a little worried that Mat’s tolerance had tanked in the past few weeks; he hadn’t really drank since before the concussion and it was their first time at a bar in a few weeks regardless. Mat noticed her nervous glances out of the corner of his eye. “I’m fine,” he reassured her. “I specifically asked the doctors if I was good to drink at my last appointment and they said I was in the clear.”

Cass giggled, sipping her drink. “You asked your doctors if you could drink alcohol?”

“What can I say?” Mat shrugged. “I wanted to go out and get lit with friends, can you blame me?”

Cass’ giggles had evolved into full-on belly laughs. “Lit? What are you, sixteen?”

Mat’s cheeks reddened in what was probably a combination of alcohol and embarrassment. “My cousin said it once.”

Cass headed back over to the bar a few minutes later for another drink, leaving the boys to talk amongst themselves with the occasional interruption from an excited fan. On a high from the win, the team were more than happy to take photos and have quick chats with anyone who stopped them, and thankfully weren’t mobbed by the crowd inside the bar. For the most part, Cass and her relationship with Mat had been able to fly under the radar — well, as much as she could being Mat Barzal’s other half. Her Instagram hadn’t been private since college, and while a fair few fans and fanpages followed her, it had all remained mercifully low-key. Waiting at the bar, she resigned herself to scroll through Twitter for a few minutes, knowing it would be a little while before the bartender got to her. 

“Are you Cassidy Shaw?” Cass’ head turned slowly towards her right, where a short blonde girl looked at her with a shocked expression. 

“Cabrera Shaw, but yes?” She answered slowly. 

“Sorry!” The girl apologized, “I didn’t mean to be weird or anything. I follow you on Instagram, it’s just so weird to finally see you in person.” Cass gave a nervous laugh. She had fans? On Instagram? Who were excited if they met her in real life? 

“One Southside and whatever your favorite IPA on tap is, please,” Cass said to the bartender who had just leaned over the counter to get her order. “Thank you? You’re welcome?” Cass smiled awkwardly.

“I just wanted to say that I think it’s super cool how you’re not a typical WAG or anything. My name’s Sierra, I’m a junior at St. John’s. I’m applying for law school next year. It’s just, like, awesome to see a woman being successful in her own right apart from her partner, especially when they’re in such a visible position and it’s not what’s expected of them. I’m sorry — I’m rambling, aren’t I?” 

Cass laughed, a genuine one this time. “No, you’re totally good. Don’t worry. That’s really sweet of you to say, thanks a lot!” She sipped the Southside the bartender had just handed her, sliding Mat’s beer over. “Yeah, I have so much respect for the other women who choose to do more philanthropic work or be stay-at-home moms, but that’s not what I feel pulled to. Right now, at least.” 

“Right, totally,” Julia said, grabbing what looked like a rum and coke from the other bartender. “Anyways, I should let you get back to the celebration. Tell the team congratulations, it was a great game to watch!” 

Cass picked up the other glass, nodding. “I will. Thank you for your kind words, that was sweet of you to say.”

“Anytime!” Julia chirped happily. 

Cass walked carefully back over to the group, keeping an eye on the drinks. She handed Mat’s beer to him. He looked up curiously, taking a sip. “Something hold you up at the bar?”

She shook her head, then nodded, then shook it again. “Kind of? I think I just had my first fan encounter.”

He laughed, leaning over to plant a kiss on her cheek. “Comes with the territory, babe.”

---

The game was scoreless through the second period, which didn’t help the tension in the stadium or Cass’ blood pressure. She and Paige had decided to get actual seats for the game, which Mat and Tito were more than happy to arrange. The Islanders were doing well through the first half of the third period, other than a little bit of messy passing the lines were good. But good wasn’t good enough sometimes, good wasn’t close enough to score and give them the lead. Cass’ heart sank as soon as one of the defensemen, she wasn’t sure who, made a turnover in the neutral zone to give the Lightning the puck. Kucherov picked it off, skating past the defenders and around the goal while the rest of the line nearly tripped over themselves trying to skate back in time. 

She was on the edge of her seat as he wrapped around the goal, silently praying that Varlamov would somehow be able to get a piece of the puck with his blocker or that it would have one of those one-in-a-million deflections off of the post. You could hear a pin drop in the stadium as everyone waited for the shot; tall of the sudden, time seemed to move like molasses. And then the puck went in, the red light went on, and the scattered sections of blue-and-white clad Lightning fans threw their arms up in celebration. 

Cass allowed herself exactly ten seconds to hold her head in her hands. There was still seven minutes, thirty nine seconds left. There was still time. Then there was five minutes, forty-two seconds left, and Maroon got two minutes for tripping, and that was their chance. That was supposed to be their chance. But then the penalty came and went, and it was three minutes left. Two minutes left. They pulled Varlamov at one minutes fifty-eight seconds left, and then it was the last shift. Forty-nine seconds left, and it was time for a Hail Mary. Out of habit, Cass’s lips began moving in the prayer. Hail Mary, full of grace...It was a holdover from her lacrosse days, when they were down in the last quarter with seemingly no hope in sight. It didn’t always work, but it sometimes did. It didn’t work that night. It didn’t work because the clock ticked down to zero, the score was still 2-1, and the Islanders had lost. They were out of the playoffs. Fans began shuffling out of the rink, shoulders slumped and heads down, as Cass bit her lip and tried not to cry. The team had worked so hard for this. God, they had worked so hard. And if she was taking it this badly, if it was affecting her this much, then she couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was like for the guys on the team. 

Paige turned to her after a few minutes, when there were only a handful of people still left in their seats and the Zambonis had come out to resurface the ice one last time. “We should probably get down there, do you think?” She asked softly. Cass nodded. She was referring to the tunnel, outside the locker room where everyone usually got to greet their partners with kisses and hugs and words of congratulations, but where the mood would be profoundly different on that night. Cass grabbed her bag and straightened out her jersey, squeezing Paige’s hand. Neither of them really knew what the environment was going to be like after such a devastating knockout; Paige had started dating Anthony the summer before, and Cass obviously had even less experience. They had dealt with losses, they had dealt with disappointments and losing streaks and points droughts, but this was something new entirely.

They rode the elevator in silence before walking down the corridors to the room, where the rest of the WAGs and other family had congregated. Kerry rubbed her shoulder sympathetically as Lauren walked over. “We in the Islanders family have a lot of experience with getting knocked out of the playoffs,” she said with a weak smile, trying to crack a joke, “so here is how it usually goes. The guys should be coming out in a few, it takes longer than usual because the media typically has some end-of-the-season wrapup questions and Trotz and Anders will probably make speeches or say something. Some others might too.” The two women nodded. “Don’t treat it like just another loss, but it’s also no good to hover too much. It’s obviously a real disappointment, so it usually takes a week or so before most of them bounce back to being their normal selves. They know what coping mechanisms work best for them. Most will hit the gym more, read or cook if they’re into that, something to get their mind off of it. Obviously they’re still players and still want to know how they can get better, so they might want to go over tapes of the games and make notes of where they went wrong. That’s fine, but don’t let them beat themselves up about it too much. This was a hard series, and Mat especially,” she gestured towards Cass, “tends to be more than a little bit of a perfectionist.”

“I’ve noticed,” Cass said. 

“One last thing,” she continued. “Let them process, let them cope, but a loss not an excuse for them to treat you any worse, any less kindly. Be understanding, of course. But don’t take any crap from them, regardless of the circumstance.”

“Thank you,” Paige said gratefully. Cass echoed her sentiment. The next ten minutes were filled with checking emails and making half-hearted conversation before the team started to trail out of the room. Embracing their partners and families, most couples exchanged no more than a few words before turning down the hall that led to the players’ parking lot. Paige left with a squeeze to her shoulder and a promise to get coffee the next week before grabbing Tito’s hand and guiding him towards the cars. 

Unsurprisingly, Mat followed right behind. He hadn’t combed his hair after his shower, the top button of his dress shirt was undone and only haphazardly tucked into his pants. Mat had been on the shift when Kucherov scored, and if there was anything she knew about her boyfriend, it was that he’d take it personally. He dropped his bag on the ground as she embraced him, and the thud against the concrete floor felt as if it could echo all the way across the Long Island Sound. 

“I’m so proud of you, Mat. So, so proud. I know this didn’t end how you wanted it to, but you worked so fucking hard to get here, and that’s what I see. That’s all I see,” she whispered. 

Mat wasn’t crying, but his breathing was labored nonetheless. “I just feel...I feel like I let everyone down. I wasn’t supposed to be that far up on the ice, and if I hadn’t, maybe I would have gotten back in time to steal the puck, or check him or something, or…” He trailed off. 

Cass sighed. “I know, chou, I know how you feel. But just try to remember that this is a team sport. You win with the boys, you lose with the boys. Do you get mad at Tito when he makes a bad play? Or Jordan, or Anders?” Mat shook his head. “It’s the same way with you. They don’t stop being proud of you or think you’re any less of an incredible player because you made a bad decision. Bad decisions get made all the time, and it doesn’t have to reflect on the person who made them. It’s a hard game, love, but you did your best and that’s all anyone ever has a right to ask of you.” 

Mat’s thumb rubbed against the small of her back. “I know I’ll be fine, eventually. I mean, we’ve all dealt with this before. It just seems different this time, because we were so close to actually making the finals. It seems kind of silly to say since I know I’m only 23 and I know I’ve got so much time left to play, but,” he took a shaky breath, “I look at all the veterans, all the amazing players whose entire careers have gone by without ever having gotten the Cup. Lundqvist and Thornton and Marleau and all of these legends. And it sounds kind of selfish and naive, but I don’t want to be one of them.” 

They stood like that for a few more minutes, just holding each other, before either spoke again. “Do you want me to stay with you tonight?” Cass murmured to Mat as she carded her hands through his hair. She felt a tiny, almost imperceptible nod against her shoulder. Her bag had her laptop, books, and chargers. She had a whole drawer in Mat’s room by then, a combination of stray shirts that were his-turned-hers, a few pairs of leggings — they took up an entire drawer of their own back at her apartment — and balled-up socks from her one unsuccessful attempt at doing the laundry in his building. She had a spare box of tampons in his bathroom, her floral shampoo next to his 2-in-1 Old Spice. No matter how hard she pushed, Mat remained oblivious to the benefits of having separate shampoo and conditioner. 

He pulled away, reaching into his pocket and handing over his keys. “Do you mind driving?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. Whatever you need.”

The ride back home was about forty minutes, and it was almost halfway through before either of them spoke, the lull of the 80s rock channel filling in the silence. “Where’s your head at, Mat?” She asked carefully. 

He was looking out the window, distracted. “Hm?”

She repeated the question and he tensed slightly, leaning back into the passenger seat. “Just feeling kind of...confused about the whole thing. Seems like I’m being pulled in a thousand different directions one day, but then all of the sudden something like this happens and I’ve got nothing. It’s overwhelming. I know I have a life outside of hockey, I know it’s not all of who I am, but sometimes it seems hard to believe that when it seems like that’s all I’m recognized for.” Keeping one hand on the wheel, Cass reached over to cover his hand with her own. His fingers held onto hers like a lifeline. 

“You’re right, you know?” She said as they passed into the Queens-Midtown tunnel. 

“About?”

“Being so much more than people perceive you to be. I get that, it’s like that for me too sometimes. And Mat, you are so much more than ‘just a hockey player.’ You’re a good son and an amazing brother to Liana, and an awesome friend to Tito and the guys on the team and everyone back home. And,” she added, cracking a smile, “you’re a pretty good boyfriend too.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Just pretty good?”

“I didn’t want to fluff your ego too much,” Cass said. “But seriously, Mat. You’re incredible entirely on your own merit. You care so deeply for the people in your life and you love so hard, and it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to witness that firsthand.” 

Mat bent down to the center console, brushing a kiss over her hand. “How do you do it?”

Now it was her turn to question. “Do what?”

“Always know the right thing to say.”

“I don’t,” Cass admitted. “And sometimes I get it wrong. But I know I love you, and I don’t want to see you hurting if there’s anything I can do about it.” The car exited the tunnel into the dotted lights of a Manhattan evening. 

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “if there was an Oscar for pep talks, I���d have to give it to you, hands down. No offense to any of the guys on the team.”

She laughed, stopping at the light. Right on red wasn’t legal in New York City, a rule she found out the hard way two months after moving. “I’m glad it helps.”

“It does,” Mat said softly. “It means the world to me that you care enough to do it. You mean the world to me.”

Her cheeks heated. “You sure know how to flatter a girl, eh, Barzal?”

“I meant every word.”

---

May 20 (thurs)

 She was done. After three years, six semesters, dozens of classes, and hundreds of hours studying, Cass had just finished her last final of law school. Her classmates stumbled out of the lecture hall, not entirely believing that all of their tears and heartache and hard work had come to a head in such an anticlimactic fashion. Turning on her heel, she walked south. It was just before seven, and her friends had a group reservation at some ridiculously extravagant French wine bar. It was Les’ idea, who had a penchant for all things expensive and who had made the reservation months prior because “you never know, John Mayer could book the whole place up and as much as I love dollar slices, we don’t want that to be our only option for what’s supposed to be a very prestigious celebratory dinner.” Les, Fiona, and Samaira were coming, along with Daniel, another editor on the law review, and Robin, one of Cass’ friends from first-year criminal law and the president of the Women’s Law Association. She had initially been wary about inviting Mat; it wasn’t that she didn’t think he’d get along with her law school friends, but she didn’t want him to feel out of the loop. After Les had announced that he was bringing his boyfriend, Xavier, Cass had extended the invite to Mat as well. 

It was only a ten minute walk, and the hostess directed Cass to their table, where she realized that she was the last one to arrive. “Don’t worry,” Robin said, “we’ve just been interrogating your man.” 

Cass scooted in next to Mat, kissing him quickly before rolling her eyes. “I hope you haven’t been too hard on him.”

Mat smiled. “Nah, they’ve been good. But being questioned by six lawyers who all seem very adamant that I don’t deserve you —”

“You don’t,” Samaira cut in, though it was clear she was joking. 

“Was more than a little intimidating,” Mat finished, handing Cass the menu. 

“Order whatever you want, I’m paying,” Daniel said as he flicked through the wine menu. “Well, technically, my parents are.” Daniel came from money; his mom was a partner at a firm in Chicago and his dad was a law professor at the University of Chicago. “If they’re going to insist on sending me to law school and sheltering me my whole life, the least I could do is take advantage of their generosity,” Daniel said, plunking his credit card onto the table. Fifteen minutes later, the group was sharing plates of escargots, crab tartine, and roasted cauliflower; twenty minutes after that, entrées were served. Mat had recognized the waitress’ accent and was chatting to her in French in between plates. Cass sipped on her wine, a pinot noir, and took a moment to look around the room, a moment to relax. Two more days, and she graduated. Everything that she had worked so hard for was finally coming to fruition. She still had to pass the bar in July, sure, but for one night — for a few days, really — she was going to let herself finally rest in the ability of her accomplishments. 

Dessert was maple bourbon crème brûlée with Sauternes, and Mat may have had a little too much fun breaking the caramelized sugar. Cass was full of good food and conversation; after everyone was done it was after nine. Les, Daniel, and Xavier had decided to get drinks, but Robin had barely slept at all that week, Samaira was going to watch a movie at her boyfriend’s, and Cass and Mat had to wake up early to get her grandparents from the airport. Mat took her hand as they walked towards the subway station. He had parked a few blocks away and offered to drive Cass back to her apartment, but she didn’t want him to go out of his way and all things considered, taking the subway at night had become something of a routine for her. 

They walked down Manhattan Avenue, resting in the kind of comfortable silence that only came with being with someone who really gets you. Cass had decided not to take the Hong Kong job the week prior. It was just too much distance from her family and Mat, and while the job seemed interesting enough, it wasn’t the kind of position she thought she could really be happy in long-term. “Have you figured out what you’re doing yet?” Mat asked as they turned the corner. “I’d say you should just move in with me and become a full-time housewife, but something’s telling me that’s not exactly the kind of opportunity you’re searching for.”

 Cass laughed, bumping him with her shoulder. “Tempting offer, the housewife thing, but I think I’m going to have to pass. Plus that would necessitate you wifing me up.” 

Mat kissed her head. “All in due time, pretty girl.” “But anyways, about the job search.” Cass said, a smile playing on her lips. “I was going to wait until graduation to surprise you, but since you asked…” She paused for dramatic effect. “Chris offered me a job. Permanently.” 

Mat stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Chris? Like Islanders Chris? Lawyer Chris?” 

She giggled. “Yes. Islanders lawyer Chris. You’re looking at the new Associate Counsel for the New York Islanders, Mat.” Mat damn near hollered in celebration, picking Cass up and spinning her around before pulling her into what was very possibly one of the best kisses of her life. Cass barely took notice of the tourists watching them from the side or her own public display of affection. It was New York City. They had seen weirder. 

It felt like a weight had been lifted off of Mat’s chest. He was being honest when he said that he wouldn’t have done anything to get Cass to stay, it just wasn’t his place. But he also would have been lying if he had said it would be anything but heartbreaking to see her leave. It was like he told Tito. Not even giving the future a chance to work itself out would be worse than a breakup. And with any luck, they’d never have one of those either. They rounded the last corner, steps down to the subway in sight, when Mat remembered what he had wanted to ask her but had been interrupted by her news. Her incredible, perfect news. “What would you think about spending some time in Canada this summer?”

Cass, seemingly oblivious, answered, “Oh? Like as a vacation?”

He shook his head. “No, like in Coquitlam with my family.”

“You want me to spend the summer with you and your family?” Cass asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah, only if you want to, of course. And I’m not sure when the job with the team starts, or…” He looked down.

Cass smiled. “I’d love to, but are you sure it isn’t too much? I don’t want to feel like I’m intruding on family time, I know you don’t get a lot of time with them since you’re here most of the year. I don’t want you to feel like you’re obligated to bring me around just because we’re together.”

They stopped by a lamp. Cass leaned up against the post. “Cass. My parents have made it very clear to me that you’re family, and that they’ll have my head if I’m ever dumb enough to let you go.” She snickered. “Just so we’re clear, I don’t intend on ever letting that happen. My family loves you, my sister thinks you’re way cooler than me.” 

“She’s got good taste,” Cass said, tilting her head.  

Mat laughed. “She does. She told me you guys were texting the other day about the guy she’s interested in, giving her advice. Sure, it was my idea to invite you, but they were so on board from the moment I mentioned it. Plus, my friends back home are getting annoyed with me because they haven’t met you yet with how often I talk about you.” 

She bit her lip. “How long were you thinking of staying?”

Mat shrugged. “Leave in a couple weeks, I usually stay two months or so, so until sometime in August?”

“I’d have to fly back to take the bar in July, and I’d still need some time to study while we’re over, but my contract doesn’t start until the end of August, so…”

“You’ll come?” Mat smiled hopefully.

She nodded. “I’ll come. I’ve never been to Canada before, did you know that?”

He shook his head, leaning in and brushing a kiss on her hairline. “You’re going to love it.”

#hockey imagines #nhl imagines #hockey smut #nhl smut #mat barzal #hockey #hockey writing #hockey imagine #nhl #nhl imagine #nhl writing #mathew barzal #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal imagines #New York Islanders

[regolithheart]

Love In The Time of Coronavirus: Chapter Five

Summary: One pandemic, one lake house, and two people who loathe one another. Will they be able to survive the outbreak...and each other?

MASTER LIST

Read on AO3.

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

CHAPTER FIVE:

Cassian shuffled through his dresser to find clothes to change into. It would be so easy to throw on a pair of clean sweats, but he didn’t want to resort to that. It was only day two of their self-isolation and if he wasn’t careful, it would be a slippery slope. Besides, he could just imagine the look of distain on Nesta’s face to see him walking around in pajamas in the middle of the day. 

His phone buzzed on the bed behind him and picking it up, he saw Rhys was on the other line. Cassian grinned as he accepted the FaceTime call.

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Good morning!” He heard Mor’s voice calling back although out of view from the camera and distant but cheerful.

Rhys shook his head. “It’s 4:30pm here.”

Leaning back against his headboard, Cassian shrugged. “Sorry, I’m not on Parisian-time. Seeing as I’m in Sonoma right now with a woman who hates my guts. Have I thanked you recently for that?”

Rhys gave him a wry smile. “You can take your grievances up with France and the U.S. government. Do you want Macron’s number?”

Cassian snorted. “Yeah, text it to me.” He wouldn’t have been surprised if Rhys really did have the French President’s personal number.

There was a moment of silence before Cassian raised an eyebrow.

“So….to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” 

The corner of Rhys’ mouth quirked up, but there was no amusement on his face. He opened his mouth, but before he could answer, Cassian held up a hand to stop him.

“No. If you’re going to give me bad news, I want it from one of the girls or Az. At least then I can take comfort from their beautiful faces. “

Rhys rolled his eyes, but again, he was interrupted. 

Cassian watched the phone shuffle between hands and caught a glimpse of the ceiling of Rhys and Feyre’s pied-à-terre and the blue Parisian sky beyond. Soon, he was looking at Feyre.

“Hey.” Her smile was too sweet and she had drawn out her vowels for too long. 

Cassian’s reply was cautious. “Feyre. What’s up?”

Her eyes flickered to someone off screen before smiling even wider at Cassian. “So listen. I just got off the phone with Elain and she and Graysen are actually staying in L.A. for the time being.”

Cassian dragged his free hand down the length of his face, groaning. 

If there had been any saving grace in his current predicament, it was that Elain and her boyfriend were on there way up. At least then Nesta would have been appeased and he’d have more people to talk to. It was hard to strike up a conversation with someone who only answered in single word sentences or told him to eat shit half of the time. 

He had even been prepared to make friends with Graysen—who was maybe the most boring person Cassian had ever met. 

Graysen. Was that his name? Why did he think it was Gregory?

Cassian shook his head. “I gotta tell you, Feyre. You guys are really screwing me over, here.”

“I’m sorry!” Her voice was pleading. “If there was any other way—“ 

“I know, I know. It’s fine.” He knew they weren’t doing it on purpose, but it still didn’t stop the bubble of irritation that was building in the pit of his stomach. “Just tell Rhys that he better be prepared to sell this house at half it’s market value because there’s a good chance your sister is going to murder me in my sleep. I’m leaving all of my records to Az.”

“Hey!” He heard Mor object in the background. 

“You can also tell your fiancé that he has surrendered his entire booze collection and I remember seeing a bottle of McCallan 1926 the last time I checked.” Cassian was starting to feel better just thinking about the prospect.

Rhys shoved his face into view. “Cassian, don’t you dare.”

“What? I can’t hear you over my emotional distress. Gotta go drown my sorrows in a fancy bottle of whiskey.”

“Cassian,” Rhys threatened again. 

But Feyre had elbowed him out of the frame and looked at Cassian one more time. “There’s one more thing.”

Cassian raised his eyebrow.

“Elain is giving Nesta the news any minute now and you might want to avoid her for a little while.”

“This is why I’m not going to feel bad for drinking the McCallan.” 

“I’m sorry, Cass.” Feyre’s smile was weak.

“Yeah. I gotta go find a hiding spot now. If I don’t make it out alive, it was nice knowing ya.”

He saw various arms waving at him and a received a chorus of goodbyes before he hung up. 

Shit, shit, shit. 

Abandoning the idea of a shower, Cassian tip-toed out of his room and threw a glance down the hallway. Nesta’s bedroom door was closed and he didn’t hear her angry voice coming from the other side. Quickly, he snuck downstairs and headed towards the gym. 

He figured he’d be safe in there.

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

After ninety minutes in the gym and sauna, Cassian decided it was safe to come out. He had heard Nesta’s angry footfalls on the stairs fifteen minutes earlier, but it had been quiet after that.

As he passed the door to the office, he heard the scrape of a chair against the wooden floors, a thud, and Nesta cursing.

“Damnit!”

Cassian was all too happy to ignore the commotion, but before he got to the stairs, he heard the sound of something falling to the ground with a thud and Nesta’s long, defeated sigh. 

Running a hand through his hair, he sent a silent apology to his future self and turned around to knock on the office door.

“What?” Nesta’s answer was curt. 

He opened the door slowly, allowing himself a peak into the room in case Nesta felt like throwing something at him. He still remembered the day Pictionary was banned. 

“Do you need some help?”

Nesta was on her knees. Her work bag was laying on its side, it’s contents scattered across the floor.

Cassian picked up a highlighter that had rolled to his feet. He began picking up random pens and markers on his way closer to her. She took them silently from him and stuffed them into her work bag, not sparing a glance his way. 

“I can’t find the wifi password.”

He was amused for a moment until he realized he didn’t know what the password was either. They had set up the lake house’s internet years ago and everyone had saved it on their devices and promptly forgot it. Come to think of it, he really should update the password and run a security check on the house’s connections. He made a mental note to himself.

“Did you check the back of the router?” He had warned Rhys not to leave the password taped there, but wouldn’t have been surprised if his friend ignored his advice.

“Of course I did.”

“And?”

“And I wouldn’t be talking to you if it had worked, would I?” Nesta crossed her arms over her chest.

Cassian ignored her scowl and marched over to the desk to take a look himself. Sure enough, there was a sticker with the default password stuck behind the router. They couldn’t have been that lazy, could they?

“May I?” Cassian asked, gesturing to Nesta’s laptop opened on the desk.

“Sure. Go ahead and waste my time.”

Cassian ignored that too and punched in the password. A error ping sounded followed closely by a snort from Nesta behind him.

Drumming his fingers against the wooden desk, he searched his memory, trying to recall if they had ever written the password down. He began pulling out the desk drawers and shuffling through its contents. Not that there was much to look through. He would have been surprised if Rhys did any actual work in that room. 

In the drawers Cassian found a stack of business cards, a letter opener, an empty leather bound notebook with gold gilded pages, a cigar trimmer and two cigars still in their plastic sleeves, but no sign of a wifi password. 

He could image Nesta rolling her eyes at him, but when he looked up, he found that she wasn’t paying him any attention at all. Instead, she was on the other side of the room, looking at the framed pictures on the bookshelves and running a delicate finger across one of the photos, lost in her thoughts. 

And that’s when Cassian finally remembered. 

He reached over to the black and white photo of a woman and teenage girl, both with thick dark hair and  matching brilliant smiles. The silver frame was heavy and well-polished. Turning it over, Cassian unlatched the back and revealed a yellow sticky note with Rhys’ tiny, yet neat handwriting. 

“All set,” Cassian said, setting the photo back in it’s place on the desk.

“Who’s that?” Nesta asked as she watched him. 

He hesitated. “Rhys’ mother and sister.”

Nesta was silent. Feyre must have told her what happened six years ago and he was glad he didn’t have to. It still made his heart ache just thinking about it.

Cassian cleared his throat and stood up to leave. Before closing the door behind him, he heard Nesta say, “Thank you.”

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

Nesta splashed water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked pale and the smudges under her eyes showed just how tired she really was. Sighing, she redid her braid and pinned it back in its usual crown, smoothing the flyaways down with her damp fingertips. 

There. It wasn’t much, but it was an improvement. 

She had escaped to her room for a moment after getting off a two-and-a-half hour conference call where the majority of it was taken up by Devlon and their client’s anecdotes about their second day of self-isolation and lamenting the fact that they were going to be missing a lot of golf. She had gritted her teeth through the whole thing, but remained silent. 

Her only saving grace was the little satisfaction of knowing she was billing the client for this meeting and the more he droned on about the eighth hole at Pebble Beach, the more he was being charged. 

She took a deep breath and began making her way back downstairs, to the long list of unread emails she had ignored all day. 

Cassian’s bedroom door was ajar again.

God, did he ever close it?

Slowing down, she chanced a peak inside. His laptop sat open on the otherwise orderly bed, but he was nowhere to be seen. 

When Nesta got back to the office, she crossed her arms and looked suspiciously around the room. 

Next to her laptop, sitting on a coaster was a gin and tonic. 

She glanced down at her watch. It was 5 o’lock on the dot and she wondered if Cassian had been waiting to hear her footsteps coming down the stairs. She didn’t see him in the living room or hear him in the kitchen and that annoyed her. 

Pushing the drink away, she was even more annoyed when she saw that it was exactly how she liked—with a twist of lemon and an extra slice for good measure. She didn’t want to think about what it meant that Cassian knew her favorite drink, or how he knew it. 

Instead, she focused on her mountain of emails. Half of them were office-wide emails, reminding everyone to be safe and to reach out to their clients to let them of their new Work From Home procedures and all of the additional spreadsheets and reports that they needed to keep up to date now that people were no longer in the office. It was exhausting to shift through. But then an email from Devlon made her pound her fist on the desk.

The ice from the gin and tonic tinkled.

She dialed Devlon’s number, nostrils flaring at every ring. He picked up on the fourth one.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Devlon’s voice was even-toned. “I had no choice.”

“But, Eris? I said anyone but him!”

“You do remember that I’m your boss, right?”

Nesta didn’t reply, just seethed. 

“Listen, I know it’s not ideal. I wouldn’t have put him on the Carver project at all but…” he sighed. 

“Tamlin put a hold on Rose Hall and I’m in a staffing bind.”

“Can’t you shift some other people around?”

Devlon was not amused. “I need to find projects for eight people.”

“I’ll take Amren.”

“Good. Then you have to take Eris, too. He’s the only one on the viz team that’s available and can do the work.”

Nesta huffed. “Fine. But he needs to be reminded that I’m the Project Architect and he answers to me.”

“Don’t we all?”

Nesta hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair, still annoyed. She was glad Amren was now on her team, but she wasn’t looking forward to babysitting Eris. 

Looking up, she saw the photo of Rhys’ mother and sister smiling at her. She averted her eyes. 

She hated that room.

For an office, it was surprisingly lacking. She had only been able to find one single pen in the whole entire room and it was a Mont Blanc fountain pen. Judging by the weight, no doubt it was made of platinum.

The rest of the room was more of a treasure chest of knick-knacks, travel paraphernalia, and photos. So many framed photos. 

She had perused them earlier that day when Cassian was looking for the wi-fi password and her eyes had snagged on a photo sitting in a simple wood frame. It was all of them: Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, Mor, and Feyre. 

Nesta had not been able to tell where the photo had been taken. Judging from what they were wearing, they could have been anywhere at any time. To anyone else it would have just been a typical photo of a group of friends, but it had struck Nesta to see how happy they all were, especially Feyre. Rhys’ arm was around her waist, but Feyre’s head was leaning on Mor’s shoulder. And her sister’s arm was stretched behind the blonde, her hand clasping Cassian’s.

Nesta couldn’t recall if she, Elain, and Feyre had ever a photo similar to that one. Maybe they did before, but certainly not after their mother…

She snapped her laptop shut, revealing the gin and tonic she had nudged aside earlier. The ice had began to melt, but she finished it in three gulps.

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

Nesta found Cassian in the kitchen. Not that she had been looking for him.

She was returning her glass and he just happened to be there, pulling items from the fridge. The sound of ice clinking against the tumbler made him look up. 

He raised his eyebrow, but his smile was soft.

“Looks like you could use another.”

Given the day that Nesta had, she agreed.

Cassian held out his hand and Nesta placed the glass into his awaiting palm. 

She was surprised when he put the dirty glass into the sink and watched as he deftly prepared her a new drink in a clean one. She was even impressed when he managed to carve the perfect sliver of lemon peel with the large chef’s knife in his hand and gave it a delicate twist before nestling it into the ice and handing her the drink. 

Nesta took a sip. It was perfect.

“Thank you.”

Cassian made a noise in the back of his throat. “So are you going to be eating dinner tonight?” His tone was casual and he didn’t look up at her as he organized the food on the counter.

She hesitated, but he was being nice so she could at least try to be civil. “What are you making?”

He finally looked up at her, his grin wide, canines gleaming as he held up a parcel wrapped in butcher’s paper. “Steaks!”

“Isn’t that a little extravagant?” 

“You’ve never heard of steak night Wednesday?” He grinned at his own joke. “We’re celebrating.”

“What are we celebrating?”

There was that grin again and Nesta blamed the heat rising in her chest on the two gin and tonics she’d had. 

“We’re celebrating the fact that I just broke into Rhys’ prized whiskey collection.” He nodded to a bottle that other than the color of the liquid—a deep, dark caramel—and the label that said Years 60 Old, didn’t look like anything special to Nesta. 

Cassian could tell she was unimpressed. “That is a $75,000 bottle of Scotch.”

Nesta laughed. “You’re shitting me!”

“I would never joke about McCallan.”

Nesta picked up the bottle to examine it further. It was heavier than she had expected it to be. The label was thick and had a beautiful texture that was imprinted with a gold border, but she still couldn’t believe that she was holding a bottle of alcohol that was worth a year’s salary.

“So what do you say, Nesta Archeron? Have dinner with me tonight.”

She looked at him. At the checkered button down with the sleeves rolled up, and his hair which was half pulled back in a knot. His smile was easy and the light from the setting sun streaming into the kitchen made his eyes glow amber.

He cleaned up nice. It wasn’t the first time Nesta had noticed, but it always took her by surprise. 

“Okay,” she said and took a sip of her drink—an excuse to avert her eyes. 

“Great! You can start on the potatoes.”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“The potatoes.” Cassian repeated, pointing to a bag of small yellow potatoes. 

Nesta started backing away from the island. “No. No one said I had to cook.”

“Boiling potatoes isn’t exactly rocket science.” Cassian looked amused. “Just grab those potatoes, wash them, fill that pot with water, and wait.” 

Nesta eyed the potatoes. “How many?” 

Cassian shrugged. “Ten? Eleven?”

Nesta grabbed the bag and pulled out twelve golf-sized potatoes. 

Eleven. What kind of maniac was he?

When the pot was on the stove, Cassian tossed in two healthy pinches of salt into the water. 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“That’s it? How long until they’re done?”

Cassian looked at her incredulous. “Have you really never boiled potatoes before?”

Nesta didn’t answer. It wasn’t as though she had never boiled potatoes before, but the few times she deigned to cook, she always followed a step-by-step recipe to the tee. 

“When the water starts boiling, poke them with a fork. If they’re soft, they’re done and if not give them a couple more minutes.”

She nodded.

“In the meantime, turn the oven on to 400 and relax.”

Nesta let her shoulders drop. She hadn’t realized how tense she was. 

When the potatoes were done, Cassian strained them and dumped them all onto a sheet tray. 

“Now here’s the fun part,” he said, grabbing a wooden spoon. “Take this spoon and press it into the potatoes like this. Really smash it.”

He demonstrated and Nesta watched as the potato flattened under the pressure of the spoon, it’s edges splitting into craggy fissures. 

“Your turn.”

Nesta took the wooden spoon from Cassian and tried to mimic his technique. 

“Come on, Archeron. You can do better than that. Really smash it. Pretend it’s my face you’re crushing.”

Nesta hid her smirk, and pressed hard. It was oddly satisfying.

When she was done, Cassian tossed in some herbs, a couple of crushed garlic cloves, a few glugs of olive oil and told Nesta to mix it up with her hands. She did as she was instructed, but cringed the whole entire time. As soon as the contents of the tray were mixed, she rushed to the sink to wash her hands. 

That was one of the reasons why she didn’t cook. But aside from getting gross oil fingers, thirty minutes later they were sitting at the dining table with the most amazing smelling dinner in front of them, and Nesta decided it hadn’t been too bad. 

 Cassian held up the bottle of McCallen 1926. “Can I tempt you?”

She wasn’t a whiskey drinker in the least, but she was curious to see. When she nodded, he poured her two fingers’ worth.

Nesta twirled the liquid in her glass, trying to determine if she could spot how special it was just by looking at it. It looked pretty ordinary to her. She glanced at Cassian before taking a sip. 

It was much more sweet than she had expected it to be. There were hints of dried fruit—figs, maybe. And as the liquid rolled over her tongue she picked up a bit of vanilla and something warm and nutty. Cinnamon? It was definitely familiar. When she finally swallowed, the aroma hit her. Christmas. This tasted like Christmas. Warm and comforting and…special.

She cleared her throat. “It’s okay.”

Cassian simply shook his head, torn between amusement and disbelief. He took his own sip and Nesta watched his face closely. It was subtle—almost imperceivable—but she saw his discovery mirror her own. 

When he opened his eyes, his voice was awed. “It’s incredible.” He grinned. “I am never drinking anything else, ever again.” 

Nesta rolled her eyes and he winked.

“Well, lets eat!”

Everything tasted as amazing as it looked and Nesta felt a flash of pride at how wonderful the potatoes were. They had baked them in the oven and the edges were crispy and fragrant. If that was all Nesta was allowed to eat for the rest of her life, she’d be happy. 

“These potatoes are incredible.” 

Cassian grinned. “They’re the easiest thing.” 

“I never learned how to cook.” The words slipped out of Nesta’s mouth before she could stop them. 

Cassian looked up, surprised. “Really? Then who taught Feyre? I thought…” He stopped himself from finishing that sentence. 

Nesta looked away. She hated how he became quiet. Probably because he knew the truth about what happened all those years ago. Sometimes it felt like a lifetime ago. Sometimes, like at that very moment, it felt all too fresh.

She cleared her throat and straightened. When she turned back to him, her face was neutral, calm. 

“How did you learn to cook?”

Taking her cue, Cassian’s smile came easily. “I used to be a line cook,” he answered, popping a piece of steak into his mouth.

For the rest of the dinner, Cassian told Nesta of all the jobs he had had growing up. First as a dishwasher, then a line cook. There was the summer in high school when he was a life guard at the public pool but had to quit because all the moms were hitting on him. 

Nesta rolled her eyes at that story, but then laughed when he told her about his stint as a dog walker. She almost choked when he told her about the time he baby-sat a nine-year-old. 

“You were a manny?!” 

“Yeah.” His grin turned into a scowl. “But then I was fired because the kid was failing math! I was only supposed to pick him up from school and made sure he didn’t break his neck until his parents got home. I didn’t sign up to teach long division.”

Nesta had to brush a tear of laughter from her eyes as Cassian cleared away the dirty dishes. 

She smoothed her hair back and saw Cassian leaning against the kitchen counter, watching her. 

“Wanna watch a movie?”

She sobered quickly. “I…um…no. I have to get back to work.”

He raised his eyebrow. “It’s 8pm.”

She stood up. “I have a lot of emails to get to.”

They held each other’s stare long enough for Nesta to feel uncomfortable, but then Cassian shrugged his shoulder and moved towards the sink.

“Another time then.”

Nesta watched him for three more seconds, then turned and left. 

#acotar #nessian #nessian fanfic #nesta archeron #cassian #cassian archeron #feyre archeron #elain archeron #rhysand #azriel #morrigan

[welcometophu]

Into the Split: Reinforcements 4

Twinned Book 3: Into the Split

Reinforcements 4

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By the time breakfast is over, the room is more than full. Cats, dogs, mice, birds, lizards, and any number of other animal life line the room. Dayton has been replaced by a tawny lion, curled on the floor at the foot of the chair of one of Rory’s bandmates. Clan taking their animal forms has helped squeeze more people in, but it’s still crowded and standing room only around the edges. Nikolai and Seth give up their seats and take up space by the wall, Nikolai standing with his arms wrapped around Seth from behind, anchored in his stability and warmth.

Nikolai only recognizes some of the people in the room, although he suspect he was introduced to others along the way. He hopes it doesn’t matter that he can’t put names to most of these faces. At least he knows that someone thinks they’re important to what they’re trying to achieve.

Alia sits with Pawel, Alaric, Sera, Del, and others that Nikolai isn’t sure he recognizes. When Alia stands, much of the room falls silent, the rest following in the wake. She smiles tightly. “We shall begin. I do not expect that we will meet like this often, but I thank all of you for taking the time to travel here to Haverhill, to come together in a meeting of Talent. I hope that in the future we will be able to continue to work together to achieve a peace our world has not yet seen.” She glances at Pawel.

He rises quickly enough to knock his own chair over. While Alaric reaches to right it, Pawel moves out from behind the table. “I’ve knocked my computer off the podium while teaching. Probably better for me to get somewhere a little more clear,” he says, his voice raised and clear, easy to hear throughout the room. His hands move as he speaks, although Nikolai isn’t sure the gestures exactly match the words. “I know that everyone here has heard some version of this story, that everyone has some pieces of information, but I want to make sure that we begin from a clear starting line today, and that we can easily map out where we are going. I don’t want to bury us in detail, but rather, I want to give an overview of the important facts. We are working together—Clan and Mage, Lineage and Emergent—to try to eliminate a threat against all Talented people from the Shadows.”

On one side of the room, Mattie coughs loudly.

Pawel ignores her. “We have determined that our world is not the only one, and that there is one other world which is tightly connected to our own, and that may share a fate with ours. That world has already been overrun by Shadows, threatening Talented and non-Talented people alike.”

“There was a third one,” Del interjects, leaning forward on the table where she still sits. “It collapsed.”

Pawel’s attention shifts abruptly as he gives her a sharp look. “What?”

She gestures at the rest of the room. “Do you want me to talk about the Dreamscape, or do you want to keep explaining?” she asks. “Because it sounds like you’re enjoying the explaining. You like teaching.”

Del flinches, and Nikolai gets the feeling that someone kicked her out of sight, but her gaze at Pawel doesn’t waver.

Pawel turns his back on Del. “We have determined that the Talents of Traveling and Dreamwalking have something in common, as well as having aspects in common with Shadowwalkers. The Dreamscape lies between all of the worlds, and Dreamwalkers are able to all reach the same Dreamscape. But they are not able to exit it into other worlds, except in unique situations. Within the Dreamscape, we were able to identify our correlation to another world.”

“Two worlds,” Del says, her voice low, but carrying.

Pawel gestures at her, and she smiles slightly, sitting back in her chair.

“There are three paths,” Del says. “There’s a point where they diverge, and I remember that when we first saw them, Carolyn and Kit said that one was right, one was almost right, and one was very, very wrong. It’s turned out that the one that was almost right is a world parallel to ours, but they have Shadowwalkers actively trying to hunt them. The third one was already overrun, and badly. The path’s gone now. It was there, just a few days ago, and now it’s just not there at all. And the Shadows continue to encroach along the edges of the paths, and it’s getting harder and harder to get to the other world.”

The way home is growing blocked. Nikolai’s fingers curl against Seth’s stomach, and Seth covers his hand, squeezing lightly. Nikolai exhales, tries to center himself.

“We’ve been working on creating a network,” Del explains. “We went from a dozen Dreamwalkers to well over a hundred. My meadow’s been invaded and isn’t peaceful any more.” She sighs heavily. “It’s a price to pay. There are more coming in, and we have Dreamwalkers all over our world and the other one. We can work together to create a Ritual in the Dreamscape that would affect both worlds.” She glances at Pawel. “Once we have an idea what that Ritual is.”

“Dreamwalkers can’t work together,” someone says from the far side of the room.

“There are three in this room,” Nikolai replies. He feels the weight of the attention levied on him for that statement, and he’d take it back if he could. “Dreamwalking requires education. Training. I’ve had Seth with me since we were kids, and he’s my anchor. But we aren’t interacting, so you know it’s possible. Del’s right there, and Nikita, and me. Dreamwalkers can work together. Just because they haven’t in your world doesn’t mean they can’t.”

He takes an involuntary step back at the sudden buzz of sound and lets Pawel and Del handle the explanations of exactly who he and Seth are. There’s a weight in the room when they’re done, as if the people he doesn’t know are staring at them.

It’s not comfortable.

Seth’s calm washes over him, envelopes them both in warmth, and Nikolai focuses on that rather than the regard of too many strangers.

“Yeah, sure.” Sera pats Pawel on the shoulder, then climbs onto the table to stand on it. The ink on her hands is crawling up her arms, creating new designs as they watch. “I’m Sera, and I’m a Technopath, which is a really fancy name for an Emergent Talent that has something to do with technology. Some of us interface with technology natively, some of us have it inside of us. Me, I absorb it, and thanks to that I’m kind of always online, like a human interface to the internet at large. Anyway. Pawel put me in charge of creating chat rooms and a space to gather online and bring together information in secure databases.”

She makes a face, nose wrinkling. “And in some cases to get into some other secure databases that do not belong to us. Technopaths are sometimes born hackers, too. Which is a legal grey area that we are going to ignore because we managed to get some information that you guys are going to really be interested in.”

She hops forward, ending up sitting on the edge of the table, her feet kicking. “So, we’ve established our own network. We’re encrypted and secure, and we’re currently hosting the Dreamwalker spaces online. Carolyn and Pawel have also started to curate a ton of information about Talents, which is great, since it lets us get a better look at data. But security is a huge thing, because what we also found is that we aren’t the only secure repository of data about Talents out there. And the other one is owned by the government.”

Silence.

Sera raises her hands. “So. If you’ve ever thought hey there’s a government conspiracy about us, you were right! There is an organization within the government named Sigma Delta—yes, the sum of change. They’ve been gathering information on us for decades. Lineage information. The percentage of normal people who Emerged in an average year prior to the Emergence, and the same information for the years since. And Rituals. They have databanks of information about Rituals, but not information on casting them. Information on what happens when they’re cast. We haven’t managed to crack all the files we’ve found, and to be honest, we’re trying not to let them know that we’re rooting around in their data.”

“They know.” Mac blinks into existence as she speaks, reaching out to touch Pawel’s shoulder, grabbing him to yank him close enough to whisper in his ear. Pawel holds up a finger and Sera stays silent while Pawel and Mac confer quietly. When they separate, Mac takes a step closer to Sera and stands, legs slightly spread, and hands clasped behind herself.

“Sigma Delta is a special program for Talents being trained for the military,” Mac says. “I began training with them as a teen, just after the Emergence. After all, they knew I’d be exactly what they wanted, and it wasn’t a secret that I’d Emerged. From what I know, they already had a lot of people in the program prior to the Emergence. I heard a bit about it before I was formally involved, back when my dad was just starting to date my mom.” She hesitates, adds, “My stepfather. Senator Delwin Palmer. He’s highly involved in the project. It’s a top security, eyes-only kind of thing, and I’m breaking a lot of oaths by talking about it here.” Her gaze shifts, finding someone on the other side of the room. “But given what I’ve managed to put together, and what Sera’s said, I think we need to talk about it.”

Cass stands up, a chair falling down behind her, and pushes through the crowd, heading for the door.

“The government’s been involved in our lives since before the Emergence,” Mac calls out. “And it’s still trying to find more of us. Trying to make us do their—” She cuts off, disappearing from view.

She doesn’t reappear anywhere inside the room, and Cass is already gone.

“Well then,” Sera says. “That wasn’t part of my speech, but… I’ve actually got more for you, and what I have is even worse. From what we found, we think they may have caused the Emergence. Probably accidentally, but what they were trying to do wasn’t any better.”

Her feet kick slowly as she holds one hand out, three fingers up. “Once upon a time there were three separate Lineages: Soulstealers, Deathstalkers, and Shadowwalkers. Sigma Delta decided they wanted to create a controlled heavy duty government weapon. They collected a group of latent Deathstalkers—people who were of the Lineage but had never manifested the Talent. These particular Deathstalkers also happened to have Shadowwalkers in their Lineage. Then they unleashed the few Soulstealers they had managed to find, allowing them to feed on these Latent Talents while they set a Ritual in place. The Ritual was meant to make anyone who had a shred of a forgotten Lineage to Emerge. I don’t think they expected it to go global the way it did.

“So it had two effects. The Emergence started, and it hasn’t stopped. There’s something different about our world now, and people are more likely to Emerge. And it created the kind of Shadowwalkers we know now out of those people who were part of the Ritual. Starving. Soulless. Split between the Dreaming and the darkness.” She glances at Mattie. “Able to be healed and become Shadowwalkers of the traditional, legendary variety. If you can find their soul.”

Conversation erupts throughout there room and Nikolai can’t piece it together. Too many threads, too many voices saying too many different things.

“So,” Seth murmurs to him, turning so that they face each other, forehead to forehead, cocooned in their own quieter space. “When they did the Ritual here, it somehow affected us as well.”

“Maybe because our worlds were so close,” Nikolai muses. “Maybe because of people like Alia and Valentine, or even like Nikita and me, or you and Heather.”

He wonders what happened in that third world. He wonders why they died so quickly, and where the Shadows from that world are going now.

It’s not a good thought.

“Can we reverse this Ritual?” Someone who was an eagle only moments ago asks. “Can we undo what the Mages did to us?”

“It is the Mages fault,” someone else says.

Alia slips into the form of a lion and roars, the sound echoing off the walls before she returns to human. “This is not about Clan versus Mage,” she says sharply.

“Clan were there, too,” Sera says, feet still kicking where she sits. “There are Clan in the government organization, and there are Mages, and there are a whole host of other kinds of specialized Talents. This isn’t about what kind of Talent anyone has. This is about some people,” she emphasizes the words, hard and sharp, “deciding to try to gain power through any means possible. And what they did opened us up to the potential for being destroyed.”

“In our world, that’s exactly what’s happening,” Seth says, his voice cutting through the commotion around them. “In the third world that Del talked about, that’s probably already happened. Just because it’s not that bad here yet doesn’t mean it won’t get that way. It wasn’t bad in our world, at first. We were able to hide. Then more and more people started dying, and fear is an amazing thing: it changes the world overnight.”

Alaric stands abruptly, shoulder to shoulder with Alia, looming despite not being the bear. “This is not about Clan versus Mage,” he growls, the words resonating throughout the room. “This is not about Talent or non-Talented people. This is about making sure that the Shadows cannot have our world. This is about undoing the damage that has been done, here and elsewhere.”

The woman who was an eagle takes another step forward, hands on her hips. “Can we reverse the ritual?” she asks again. “Can we undo it? Make the Shadows go back to being whatever they were before, and keep them from hunting us?”

“We don’t know,” Pawel admits. “I’ve been talking to the folks who’ve come down from Burlington, and we’ll be spending more time in discussion once we can include all available Mages.”

“We have a blended community. Our Mages would be happy to work with you,” a pregnant Clan woman calls out, and Pawel nods to acknowledge her, motioning as if to have someone from their table join him as well.

“The problem is, we don’t know how they did the ritual, just that it happened,” Pawel says. “And one concern is the amount of energy that was involved. Did they leverage using the Soulstealers to take the energy from willing donors? Did they use unusual Talents as a battery source, or possibly the energy from the mass Emergence that began around the world? Did they somehow use something from the Dreamscape, and that’s why it became so intrinsically tied to this situation?” He spreads his hands. “We know a lot more than we used to, but what we don’t know is still an abyss, open and yawning in front of us. And worse yet, the things we don’t know could kill us if we make an attempt to do something without more information. Magic will make do. If a ritual is cast, the energy has to come from somewhere, and I suspect that when the original ritual was created, that wasn’t accounted for.”

“And that’s why it went horrifyingly wrong,” Sera says, her heels thunking back on every word. She hops down from the table. “That’s all I’ve got for you right now. We’re working on identifying the cabal  behind that original ritual, and seeing if we can use that to get more information. The Technopaths are kind of having a blast right now trying to see how deep they can get before they’re discovered.” She holds up her hands. “Not me, of course. I’m making sure that I keep my Talents in totally legal places.”

That’s the signal for everyone to move, apparently. The group breaks up, people moving between tables, some leaving. Nikolai stays where he is, with Seth close by. He’s not sure what happens next, or how he’s going to be involved in it, but for the first time, it seems like they have a direction. He’s just not certain it’s a good one.

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#welcome to phu #welcometophu #into the split #phu twinned #twinned #its reinforcements

[batfamily-trash]

A Little O.D.D

I was wondering if you could write an imagine with batsis!reader based off of O.D.D. by Hey Violet? Extra angsty pretty please? Like the reader has trouble in school and no one really likes her? 

Warning: Deals with death, angst, language, nightmares, mentions dying

Part 1 of 2

You usually had nice and peaceful dreams, dreams where your life was perfect. Like tonight, it was just you and your mom eating ice cream while taking a walk in the park. Enjoying the scenery. Then it changed. Your mom was under a car while you were on the side of the road trying to crawl towards her. You tried to shout but you couldn’t. No sound would come out of your mouth. The closer you got the further away she moved. Just when you thought you could reach her, the car exploded.

“L/N WAKE UP WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE!”

You woke up in a start. You were gasping for air as tears rained down your face. You glanced at the door then at your alarm clock which was playing your favorite song. You turned it off and got off your bed wiping off your tears.

“L/N!”

“GODDAMMIT DAMIAN I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME!” you shouted at the closed door. You couldn’t deal with Damian’s personality, and he couldn’t deal with your whole existence. He hated you with a burning passion. He thought you were just a person trying to get in the way of his family. He didn’t like you at all.  And he was going to use every single minute of his life to let you know.

You stomped to your closet and pulled out your uniform and shoes and stomped to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After getting changed and fixing your hair you glared at your reflection. You had bags under eyes from not properly sleeping and your scars from the car accident were still visible.

You dreaded waking up every morning just to go to a school where they make fun of you for no reason other than the fact that you were the product of a one night stand and that you were a charity chase. You ran out of the bathroom and quickly grabbed your phone, headphones, and backpack. You put your headphones in and put on the first song that came up on your playlist.

I was raised by a mom

who told me I should never listen to another voice But my own

You hummed along to the lyrics as you pushed Damian out of your doorway and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

“Tt, why do you always take so long?” Damian complained. Now I’ve grown up, now I know That when I’m tryna be myself it isn’t so simple Anymore

“Well, I didn’t want to see your ugly ass face this early in the morning,” you retorted.

You saw Damian clench his fist from the corner of your so you took off running before he could throw the punch.

Some days I wake up I just wanna hide under the covers

If only that were possible you thought… ‘Cause no matter what I do I’ll never be like all the other

You grabbed an apple from the counter and sprinted the driveway before anyone could strike a conversation with you.

“What’s up with her?” you heard someone ask. You sighed and opened up the front door. Life wasn’t going to get any easier, was it?

I’m a little O.D.D Most people really don’t get me

All the way to school Damian wouldn’t stop glaring or complaining about you. Honestly, you were too tired to care. Once you were in school you made a beeline for your first class. You really didn’t hang out with anyone. All your friends were back home in Keystone. Once in your class, you walked to your sit in the back far corner of the room, your head hanging down.

I’m the girl in the back of the class

Blank stare, don’t care, don’t ask

Your classmates were annoying as hell. If they weren’t bugging you they were talking about you, and if they weren’t talking about you then you get the gist.

I’m a little O.D.D

And I see the way they look at me

This is your third month in this putrid school and you haven’t gotten used to the stares or whispers.

I can hear it when they talk that trash

Saying “Any minute she gon’ crack”

“So Wayne, is it? How’s life? I heard about the fight with Xavier,” April the school star said.

“April,” you started, “what do you need?”

“Can’t I try and make friends with you?”

“No, you insulted my mom and my friends. You ruined the one thing I still had of her,” you said.

“Ok, who’s gonna want to be friends with this sell out anyway,” she said walking back to her desk. You glared at everyone who was staring at you before laying your head down on the desk. Just when you thought your day couldn’t get any worse someone dumped water on you.

“Oops, sorry.”

Oh

My sister, bless her heart

She was the only one who had my back when everyone

Else did not

Cass was the only person who would check up on you at all. If she saw you in distress she would help you. If Damian was being a prick she would stop him. She was an angel among idiots.

Looking back, it’s crazy

I almost turned into the person people told me I

I should be

Your mother taught you to be humble, be nice to everyone. If it weren’t for Cass you would probably be in even more trouble than you were now.

“You’re failing the majority of your classes,” your ‘dad’ told you.

“I’m sorry but how am I supposed to deal with school if I’m still grieving and the idiots I call ‘classmates’ won’t stop talking about me.”

“Ignore them.”

“As if it were that simple! They’re on my ass all day! y/n this, y/n that! y/n you should just go kill yourself. y/n are sure you’re even Bruce Waynes daughter?” you shouted, “I’m done! I can’t do this anymore!”

You ran out of the study bumping into your adoptive brothers.

Some days I wake up I just wanna hide under the covers

Another day, more problems. This time though you did hide under the covers. Same dream, same nightmare, different outcome.

'Cause no matter what I do I’ll never be like all the others

Because—

You stayed in bed not wanting to get up. But your brother’s had other plans.

“Get up lazy we’re going out,” Jason said barging in your room.

You groaned in annoyance and kicked at them. “Can’t I be alone with my thoughts for one second?!?!”

“No.”

I’m a little O.D.D

Most people really don’t get me

I’m the girl in the back of the class

Pink hair but I’m wearing all black

What your brothers didn’t tell you was that they were all going to a press conference.

can hear it when they talk that trash

Saying “Any minute she gon’ crack”

“Miss Wayne! What can you tell us about your mother!”

“Is it true what they say?”

“Was the accident staged?!?”

All of the press were on you like bees swarming a beehive. The audacity. Bruce gently pushed you forward and told you to not answer any questions. So many personas for one man. You could barely keep the one you had up.

I’m a little O.D.D

And I see the way they look at me

You glanced at your brother as Bruce answered questions. Dick, Jason, and Cass looked at you with pity. Damian had a smirk on his lips. And Tim looked distracted. What was going on?

I can hear it when they talk that trash

You listened as Bruce answered a question directed towards you. Apparently, while you suffered in silence something had happened. You saw Jason whisper something to Dick who quickly looked out into the crowd, you followed his gaze. You stiffened in your place. You caught a glimpse of the person Jason was talking about. Tears formed in your tears.

“Mom?”

Saying “Any minute she gon’ crack”

#batsis #batboys #batsis x batfamily #batfamily #batfamily x reader #a little odd

[wildflowerirwin]

Fight For You - v - c.h.

Previously

Summary: Cassie has never gotten along with her boss, not unless their clothes are off OR CEO!Calum who does some questionable things

Tag List: @calumculture @kinglycalum @rosesfromcth

wanna be added to my tag list?

The following day, Calum got into work right on time. He rode up in the elevator with a few members of his marketing team, but no one said a word. He arrived at his floor and walked to Cassie's desk right away. He set a cup of coffee on her desk and furrowed his eyebrows when he found that she wasn't in yet. "Bailey, where's Cassie?" Calum asked, looking at the young blonde boy that sits behind Cassie.

"I don't know, sir. She hasn't come in yet." Bailey shrugged. Calum bit his lip nervously and walked into his office.

"Give her another hour. She'll be here." Calum thought to himself. He rubbed his face and sighed, leaning back in his chair. He tried to start on his work, but he found himself glancing at Cassie's desk far too often. After an hour and a half had gone by, he was officially worried. He picked up his phone and dialed her number.

"Hi, this is Cassie. I can't come to the phone right now, leave a message after the beep." Her voice rang through the phone.

"Damn it, Cass. Where are you?" Calum sighed. He grabbed his binder and turned to the last filled page, looking at the number of the warehouse he sent her to yesterday. He dialed the number and waited for an answer.

"The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please try again."

"What?" Calum ended the call and redialed the number. The same automated message played back. "No, no, no. This can't be happening." Calum shook his head and sent a text to his group chat of CEO's.

Meeting at my office. Immediately. We've got trouble.

He got up and walked to his filing cabinet and pulled out the bottom drawer, lifting the false bottom. He pulled out a gun and tucked it into his pants, covering it with his suit jacket. He closed the drawer and made his way to the conference room. The boys showed up within the hour.

"What's going on?" Luke asked, sitting at the table with Michael and Ashton.

"She's missing." Calum said, bringing a picture of Cassie onto the screen. "I sent her on a delivery yesterday and she hasn't come back. No one has seen her since."

"You sent her on a delivery? Does she even know about us?" Ashton asked, looking at Calum.

"No, but she's done actual deliveries before. I figured this would be the same." Calum shook his head. "I know Richard is behind this." Calum sighed and looked at the picture of Cassie on the screen. She was laughing at something, her eyes crinkled and her smile wide. Calum's heart beat faster as he looked at her. "I need to get her back."

"Okay, where was the delivery sent to?" Michael asked.

"GreenHill." Calum stated. "I called the number they gave me, but it doesn't exist."

"What was the address they gave you?" Ashton asked, pulling Calum's laptop over to him.

"4266 Levenworth Drive." Calum watched as Ashton typed.

"You were right. The property belongs to Richard Davis." Ashton looked at him.

"Oh, my God." Calum put his face in his hands as he sat down. "I sent her into a trap. She could be dead."

"Hey, you need to think positive." Luke rubbed Calum's shoulder. "I'm sure she's just fine. You've got nothing to be worried about."

"Yeah, maybe she's not even there anymore." Michael shrugged. "Maybe something else happened to her."

"Can you track her car?" Ashton asked, looking at Calum.

"No. I'm not you, I don't put tracking devices in my employees' cars." Calum rolled his eyes. "Cassie doesn't know what we do, and I never wanted her to find out. It's too dangerous for her."

"You really care about her, don't you?" Michael asked softly.

"Excuse me?" Calum looked at him.

"You like her. Romantically." Michael raised an eyebrow.

"No, I don't like her romantically. She's my assistant." Calum crossed his arms.

"Your assistant you have romantic feelings for." Michael smirked slightly.

"Just because I'm fucking her regularly doesn't mean I have romantic feelings for her."

"You're fucking her?" Ashton looked at him. "Calum, you can't be fucking your assistant."

"Hey, I own this company. There are no rules against it." Calum defended.

"Okay, well, you're putting her in danger by fucking her." Luke added. "If Richard knew you two had ties like that, he'd use her against you."

"And, if he knew you liked her, you'd be even more screwed." Michael explained.

"Okay, I get it. Thank you." Calum rolled his eyes. "If she dies, it's my fault." He sighed and rubbed his face again. "I'm going to the warehouse. I need you guys to look into Richard and figure out how he was able to order a delivery."

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Luke asked.

"Yes. If something were to happen, I don't want you guys getting hurt, too." Calum stood up. "If you don't hear from me in 72 hours, that's when you come looking for me."

"You got it, Boss." Michael saluted him. Calum shook his head and walked out of the room. He walked into the parking garage and to his car. He got in and hooked his phone up to the car's navigation. He pulled out of the garage and began his journey to the warehouse.

#5sos #5 seconds of summer #calum hood #ashton irwin #michael clifford #luke hemmings #my writing #5sos writing #5sos smut #imagines #imagine #fanfic #fic #5sos fic #5sos fanfic #5sos imagine #calum fic #calum imagine