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chicgeekgirl89 · 7 months

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Fandom: 911 Lone Star Summary: When Carlos receives a late night call from one of his sisters who is worried about the health of his nephew, T.K. doesn't hesitate to jump in and show the entire family why he's worthy of Carlos' love. Thanks to @carlos-tk, @thisbuildinghasfeelings, @whatsintheboxmh, @lemonlyman-dotcom, @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut, @strandnreyes, @carlos-in-glasses, and @bonheur-cafe for the WIP Wednesday tags. I hope you will accept this instead, belated as it is! A/N: This is my 100th fic on AO3!! 🍾🍾🍾 (Not my 100th fic ever, many of them never made the transfer from ff.net, but still!) I've been sitting on this one for a while and seeing T.K. shine feels like it's worthy of being #100. Also Adriana and Francesca weren't supposed to be in this one, but they literally barged through those hospital doors and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I couldn't love them more!

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“Sooo…never again, right?” Carlos asks.

“Oh my god never again,” T.K. agrees fervently. “Why were the plates so weird? Some of them weren’t even plates at all. And the food was…bad.”

“So bad,” Carlos says. “Tiny and bad.”

“Three hours. We were there three hours,” T.K. says in disbelief as he slows down at a stoplight. “Why did we have to wait like thirty minutes between courses?”

“The menu said it was to give us time to renew our digestive energies and be more present in the dining experience,” Carlos says.

“I didn’t know my digestive energies needed to be renewed.”

“Me neither.”

It had taken them months to get a reservation at the trendiest new restaurant in town and they’d both been excited for the occasion. The menu promised a foodie paradise with unique dishes, creative presentation, and an emphasis on sustainability. They’d gotten dressed up and ready for a fun date night out only to be disappointed the moment they’d walked in the door.

The place had been crowded, they were practically elbow to elbow with the tables next to them. Carlos had learned the intimate details of one couple’s fertility issues and another couple’s trouble with their neighbors.

Then the food had started coming and been a complete disaster. Carlos considered himself something of a foodie, and T.K.’s New Yorker palate had sampled a number of cuisines over the years, but this had been the worst food Carlos had ever eaten. He hadn’t been able to identify a single item on any of his plates and his tongue longed for something with even a hint of flavor. The plate that held a single, lukewarm radish had nearly been his undoing.

Overall it had been three hours of bland food, awkward company, and not at all what either of them had imagined.

“I’m starving. Can we please pick up something on the way home?” T.K. asks, his stomach letting out a gurgle as if to affirm his statement.

“God yes. I think Chu’s is still open, right?”

Carlos pulls out his phone, but it lights up with a call before he can check to see Chu’s hours. “Why’s my sister calling?”

T.K. glances over at him. “Which one?”

“Lucía,” Carlos says. It’s not typical of his sister to call at this hour out of the blue and he feels his internal warning bells activate as he picks up the call. “Luci? Que pasó?”

“Hey Carlos,” she says, sounding tired and stressed. “Sorry for calling, I know it’s late.”

“It’s okay,” he says. “We’re just on our way home from dinner. What’s going on?”

“I don’t—I’m probably overreacting,” she says. “It’s just that Justin is out of town for work and I’m—“

Now he’s really worried. “Lucí, it’s okay. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Sebastian woke up sick a couple days. I didn’t think it was a big deal, both boys are sick all the time from daycare and school, but he wasn’t any better today, so I took him to the doctor. They said he’s fine, likely just a virus or something, but…his fever won’t break and he keeps saying his belly hurts.”

Carlos can hear the deep seated worry in his sister’s voice and it rocks him to his core. His sister is an amazing mom, fearless and sure. To hear her so uncertain is throwing him off.

“I didn’t know if maybe T.K. could just give me some advice or something?” she says, ending it like a question.

He looks over at his fiancé. “What’s going on?” T.K. asks,.

“Sebastian’s sick,” Carlos says. “Do you mind?”

“No, no, put her on speaker,” T.K. says immediately, turning his eyes back to the road as the light changes.“Hey Lucía,” he says loudly so she can hear him.

“Hey T.K.,” she says. “I’m so sorry, I know people probably ask you for medical help all the time.”

“It’s not a problem. Tell me what’s going on,” T.K. says.

“He won’t eat, he’s barely drinking. His fever had been holding steady at around a hundred, but it just spiked up to one oh two. I’ve given him medicine, done cold washcloths, I don’t know what else to try.”

“And the doctor said what exactly?”

“That it’s probably a stomach virus,” Lucía says.

T.K. mulls that over for a minute. “Aren’t we like fifteen minutes from their place?” he asks Carlos.

Carlos nods.

“Okay, Lucía we’re going to swing by, all right?” T.K. says, flipping his blinker on to get them turned around back the way they’d just come.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that—“

“We’re coming Luci,” Carlos says. “We’ll be there soon.”

“Okay, thank you,” she says, relief flooding her voice and loosening the knot of fear in Carlos’ chest.

He hangs up and looks at T.K. “It’s probably just a stomach bug.”

“Probably,” T.K. agrees. “But if it makes her feel better to have someone give her advice it’s worth going over.”

Carlos’ heart goes soft at those words. He’d never imagined he’d be with someone like T.K. Someone so kind and good, someone who would drive to his sister’s house at nine o’clock at night just to assuage her fears. It’s beyond his wildest dreams.

They pull into the driveway of the ranch style home about ten minutes later, T.K.’s ambulance driving having shaved a few minutes off their time and a few years off of Carlos’ life. At least they’re not driving the Camaro tonight so Carlos didn’t have to fear for the safety of his baby as they sped through yellow lights and weaved in and out of traffic.

Lucía opens the door before they even knock and the relief Carlos felt a few minutes ago evaporates at the sight of her worried face. She was holding back on the phone; in person she looks even more terrified and exhausted than she sounded. “Hey guys,” she says. “I’m so sorry to drag you all the way over here.”

“Stop apologizing,” Carlos admonishes her immediately as they step inside. “That’s what family is for.”

Sebastian lays on the couch in the living, looking younger and tinier than his six years, his face pale and drawn. There’s an episode of Paw Patrol playing on the television mounted above the fireplace and he has a blanket pulled all the way up to his chin. Carlos can see Fuzzy, his comfort bear, peeking out over the top.

“Hey buddy,” he says, crouching down and giving his nephew a smile. “Tummy bothering you?”

Sebastian nods but doesn’t say anything, another sign that something is wrong. Usually he’s a chatterbox, happy to talk about school or his friends or soccer. Carlos smiles wider, despite the worry swirling in his gut, trying for calm and reassuring uncle. “Do you remember my boyfriend T.K.? From the party at Abuela and Abuelo’s house?” Carlos asks and Sebastian’s eyes move over his shoulder to where T.K. is standing behind him. He gets another nod.

“He’s going to take a look at you, okay?” Carlos says, standing up and moving back to where Lucía is anxiously hovering behind the couch so that T.K. has space to work.

“Hey Sebastian,” T.K. says as he takes Carlos’ spot. “You know I’m a paramedic, right?”

“Yeah,” Sebastian says, his voice small.

“Do you know what a paramedic does?”

“Help people feel better?”

T.K. smiles and nods. “That’s right. So let’s see if I can help you feel better, sound good?”

“Mhmm.”

“Awesome. Okay, I’m going to pull down the blanket and take a look. You tell me if anything hurts, all right?”

He gently pulls down the blanket and places his fingers on Sebastian’s wrist, looking at his watch while he does it. He pulls out a stethoscope he had in the car and listens to the little boy’s lungs, then takes his temperature with the thermometer Lucía has on the coffee table. He narrates quietly the entire time, letting Sebastian know what he’s doing as he does it.

“Okay, let’s see that belly,” he finally says with a smile.

He pulls up the top of Sebastian’s Power Rangers pajamas, talking to him softly while his hands palpate his abdomen. “You like Power Rangers huh? Which one is your favorite?”

“Red,” Sebastian says immediately. “He’s the head guy.”

“He is,” T.K. says. “I always liked the Green one though.”

Sebastian winces and makes a noise that breaks Carlos’ heart in half. T.K.’s hands immediately immediately stop. “Sorry buddy,” he says. “That hurt?”

Sebastian nods and T.K. gently puts his pajama shirt back into place. “I’m going to go talk to your mom and tío. You stay right here and make sure this couch doesn’t go anywhere, okay?”

He gets to his feet and nods toward the hallway where Carlos and Lucía follow him out of Sebastian’s earshot. “His pulse is a little fast and there is some tenderness in his abdomen,” T.K. says quietly. “That coupled with the fever and the lethargy is definitely concerning.”

Lucía puts her hand on Carlos’ arm and he covers it with his own in an attempt at reassurance. “So what should I do? Wait until the morning and see how he is? Give him more meds?” she asks.

“Considering his symptoms, I would recommend you take him to the ER,” T.K. says gently.

She blows out a breath as Carlos’ stomach drops. “Okay,” she says. “Okay um, okay. I’ll just wake up Nicholas and…”

“No, no, no,” Carlos says quickly. “No I’ll call Mom and ask her to come be with Nicky. I’ll stay until she gets here.”

“And I’ll go with you to the ER,” T.K. offers. “I can walk you through all the paperwork, field questions from the doctors, whatever you need.”

“Seriously?” Lucía looks teary eyed. “You’ll come?”

“Of course,” T.K. says. “Why don’t you go grab whatever might help keep him calm while we’re there? iPad or a book maybe. It could be a long wait.”

“Okay, right. Yes. Give me like five minutes and I’ll be ready,” she says, rushing off to go gather supplies.

“What are you thinking?” Carlos asks immediately.

T.K. has his neutral paramedic face on, but Carlos has learned to read between the lines. “I’m thinking it could be a number of things,” T.K. says. “Just a stomach bug maybe, but even if it is I think he’s dehydrated. And given his symptoms and the decline, I’m also worried about an impacted or perfed bowel or maybe even appendicitis.”

“How worried?”

T.K. blows out a breath. “Worried enough that I wouldn’t wait until the morning to try and get him some treatment.”

His words unlock a whole new level of fear that Carlos has never experienced before, and it takes a lot for him to stay calm as he calls his mom and explains the situation. Lucía returns with a tote bag full of supplies and T.K. scoops up Sebastian, carrying him out to the car with Lucía on his heels.

“Mom says she’ll be here in fifteen minutes. I’ll be right behind you,” Carlos promises as T.K. sets Sebastian gently in the backseat, pillowing his head on Lucía’s lap.

“Can you call Justin?” Lucía asks, looking like she’s barely holding it together. “He knows Sebby’s sick but I want him to know we’re heading to the ER.”

“Yes,” Carlos says. “I’ll call him as soon as I’m back inside.”

“Hey,” T.K. catches his eye as he climbs into the driver’s seat. “I’ve got them, okay?”

“I know you do,” Carlos says and then the door is shut and they’re gone, leaving him standing in the driveway, his heart in his stomach.

He trudges back into the house and sinks onto the couch, eyes glued to Nicholas’ sleeping form on the baby monitor. He’s not a parent, so why does this feel so awful?

It takes him a minute to emotionally prepare for this phone call and he has to take a deep breath before tapping Justin’s name on his screen.

It rings and rings and then sends him to voicemail, so he tries again. And again. The third time, Justin finally picks up.

“Dude, if this is a butt dial I’m going to kill you,” his brother-in-law says groggily.

Carlos forgot that it’s nearly midnight on the east coast right now. “Justin,” he says, trying to keep his voice steady.

“What’s wrong? Are Lucía and the boys okay?” Justin immediately sounds more awake now that he’s heard Carlos’ voice.

“Everyone’s safe,” Carlos tells him quickly. “I’m at your place with Nicholas because Sebastian’s feeling worse. She and T.K. are on the way to the ER with him.”

There’s a pause, Carlos can practically feel Justin’s panic through the phone. “Okay, um, okay,” he finally says. “Shit, I’m in Atlanta. There won’t be any flights for hours…”

“My mom’s on her way here to stay with Nicholas,” Carlos says. “I’ll head to the hospital and keep you updated, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, um, thanks Carlos,” Justin says, sounding a little hoarse. “Please um, please tell them I love them, okay? And that I’ll be on the first flight out I can get.”

“I will.”

He hangs up just as the front door opens and his mom comes in. “Carlitos,” she says softly and he immediately gets up to hug her. “How is Sebby?”

He shakes his head. “I’m not sure. They probably just got to the ER, it could be hours before we know anything.”

“And Lucía?”

“She’s worried,” he says.

“As are we all,” she says, empathy all over her face. “T.K. went with her?”

“Yeah, he said he’d help with things there.”

She smiles softly and touches his face. “You picked a good one mijo. Not every man would drop everything to help his boyfriend’s family.”

There’s a lump in Carlos throat and he struggles to speak past it. “I know.”

“You should get going.”

“Okay. Nicholas is asleep in his crib. I called Justin, he’s working on getting a flight back.”

She nods. “Keep me posted.”

“I will.”

The drive to the hospital is so lonely and silent that it makes each minute feel even longer beneath the glow of the streetlights. How on earth did he go from having dinner with his boyfriend to taking his nephew to the ER? It’s ridiculous. They should be home right now, cuddling on the couch or the bed, watching some stupid show that neither of them really cares about because what they’re actually interested in is making out with each other.

Instead he’s about to spend hours in a hard plastic chair praying that a six year old he loves dearly is going to be all right.

He’s so anxious to get there that he doesn’t realize until he’s through the doors that he has no idea where he’s going. Or even if they’re gong to let him stay. Surely they’re not going to let three adults hang out in the ER in the middle of the night when one would suffice.

He forgot he has T.K. Strand in his corner.

“How can I help you?” the nurse asks when he steps up to the counter.

“I’m here for my nephew? Sebastian Bryant? He came in with my sister,” Carlos says, feeling awkward.

“Oh you’re Carlos,” she says immediately. “T.K.’s boyfriend.”

“I—yeah,” Carlos says, surprised by her familiarity.

“I’m Stella. It’s so nice to finally meet you, although I wish it wasn’t because your nephew’s in here. T.K. talks about you all the time.”

“He does?”

“Oh my god, try getting him to stop. Carlos this, my boyfriend that, and now I see why. You two are gorgeous together,” she says, flashing him a smile. “Here come with me. I’ll take you to them. Darlene? Can you cover the desk?”

Stella takes him down a hall, past the general area of the ER to a more closed off section. It’s not a room, but it’s quieter here, and Carlos can hear T.K.’s voice even before Stella pulls back the curtain to reveal him.

“Found someone who belongs to you,” Stella says.

T.K.’s eyes find him, soft and relieved. “Hey, I was just about to text you an update. Thanks so much Stella.”

“No problem. I’m going to check and see where we’re at with the tests and then I’ll be back.”

“How’s it going?” Carlos asks quietly.

Sebastian is asleep in the bed, an IV in his arm and Fuzzy tucked in beside him. Lucía is sitting in a chair next to him, his little fingers curled around hers.

“They’re going to take him for a CT as soon as one opens up,” she says quietly. “He was crying when we got here, but they gave him some pain medication and he fell asleep like ten minutes ago.”

“Good,” Carlos says in relief. It feels so much better to know that there are people actively working to help Sebastian. “Nicholas is with Mom, he was still asleep when I left. And Justin’s getting on the first flight he can in the morning.”

“Okay.”

Lucía’s face crumples and she immediately puts her hands over her mouth to stifle a sob. T.K. looks at Carlos. “I’m going to go grab us some coffee,” he says, slipping discreetly out of the room.

Carlos squats down by his sister’s chair and puts a hand on her knee. She immediately covers it with her own and squeezes. “I’m sorry,” she says. “He just—he’s so little. He was so scared when we got here, it’s so bright and they put in the IV and he cried and I just, I need Justin to be here, because I am not strong enough for this.”

“He’s coming,” Carlos says. “He’s coming as fast as he can. And until he does I’m here, all right? I’m here with you and Mom is with Nicholas. Sebastian is going to be fine. He’s scared, but you’re taking such great care of him. You are an amazing mom. You’re doing everything right.”

She nods a couple times, clearly trying to internalize his words before taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes. “You know um, T.K. is pretty amazing too,” she tells him, wiping at her eyes. “I thought we’d be here for hours before we got answers, but he called ahead in the car and that nurse, Stella, was waiting for us. As soon as we were in the door they were drawing blood and starting tests. It’s like they rolled out the red carpet.” She nods toward the doorway. “Not everyone would do that kind of thing for someone they barely know.”

“That’s T.K.,” Carlos says, warmth blooming through his chest at her words. “He’s…incredible.”

“You know, I already liked him a lot, but now…” She quirks a smile. “You’d better hold onto him.”

Carlos nods, heart fluttering away in his chest. “That’s the plan.”

T.K. comes back with coffee right about the same time someone shows up to take Sebastian for his CT scan. He’s unhappy to be woken up, but mollified when Carlos promises to take him for ice cream once a week for the next month.

The nurse is incredible, telling Sebastian he’s going to go on a ride in a spaceship, although that does nothing to help Carlos’ heart when they start the sedation and he watches Sebastian’s eyelids flutter shut, his body going limp in a weirdly unnatural way. He’s gone for over an hour, all of them sipping tepid hospital coffee in a desperate attempt not to fall asleep as the clock ticks later and later.

When the orderly returns with him he’s completely zonked out and Carlos hopes he’ll stay that way. It’s not long after that an ER doctor shows up and informs them that the CT scan is indicating appendicitis, despite Sebastian’s slightly atypical presentation of symptoms. Lucía takes the news better than Carlos thought she might, she’s clearly relieved to have an answer and a defined course of action, even if it does mean a surgery they’re told is being scheduled for the early hours of the morning. Someone will be by soon to get them admitted and transferred to a room for the night.

“You guys should go home” she says. “You’ve done more than enough, really. He’s just going to sleep until it’s time for surgery and they’re not going to let you come into the room with us anyway.”

“Don’t worry about them kicking us out,” T.K. says immediately. “If you want us to stay that won’t be a problem.”

She smiles at him. “You’ve done more than enough tonight. I’ll be fine. I promise. Go home and get some sleep.”

Carlos is reluctant to leave her, but she’s right. There’s no point in staying when it’s so late and nothing is going to happen until morning anyway. The moment of crisis is past and now there’s nothing to do but wait.

“I’ll come back in the morning for his surgery,” Carlos says.

“You don’t have to—“ She must catch the look of determination in his eyes because she cuts herself off and nods. “Okay. Thank you.”

He stands and she meets him with a brief hug before she turns to T.K. “I really can’t thank you enough. I don’t think I would have made it tonight without you T.K.,” she says.

“Yes you would have,” he says graciously. “But I’m glad I could help. If anything changes in the night you have my number, don’t be afraid to call.”

“I will.”

Carlos can’t help but notice that T.K. gets a slightly longer hug than he did and the warm feeling in his chest only intensifies. He reaches for T.K.’s hand as they head out into the hall and T.K. gives him a tired smile in return. “Oh, hang on one second,” he says as they pass the nurses station, letting go of Carlos’ hand. “I’ll be right back.”

He jogs over and flashes that winning smile again at the nurse who’s there, not Stella this time, and chats with her for a minute before returning to Carlos’ side. “What was that about?” Carlos asks, interlacing their fingers together again.

“I just wanted to make sure they put Sebastian in a private room,” T.K. says. “They have the space, Natalie says it won’t be a problem.”

“Natalie huh?” Carlos says as they exit the automatic doors and head for the darkened parking structure. “She also falls victim to your beautiful eyes and charming smile?”

“Victim?” T.K. scoffs. “No one is a victim. I have paid for these hospital perks with dozens of coffees and donuts and muffins and even the occasional Target run. This is just good natured southern kindness being returned.”

Carlos laughs out loud. “Right. Not a single bit of it has to do with your innate charm and that smile that brings people to their knees and makes them feel like they’re only person you’ve ever cared about.”

“I mean, it had to start somewhere,” T.K. says, flashing him that exact smile. “But we’ve come a long way since then.”

“Well thank you,” Carlos says, meaning it from the bottom of his heart. “I honestly I don’t how to say thank you enough. My family is…they’re so important to me and I…”

“Hey.” T.K. tugs him to a stop and meets his gaze under the half light of the parking garage. “They’re important to me too.”

The drive home is blessedly short and they fall into bed exhausted at around midnight only to wake up again at five to head back over to the hospital. Carlos tells T.K. he doesn’t have to come, but the look he gets shuts him up immediately. T.K. is clearly invested.

They stop for coffee on the way, real, decent coffee, and some bagels, plus a cake pop for Sebastian after surgery.

He gets a text update as they’re pulling up to the hospital again; Justin is on a flight and should get there by the time the surgery is over. It’s a relief to know his sister will have her support to lean on again in the near future.

Once they arrive Carlos sits back and watches in wonder as T.K. works his magic. Someone shows up to give Sebastian not one, not two, but three different stuffed toys along with a coloring pack and some Hot Wheels cars. T.K. sits down on his bed and explains the whole surgery in terms a six year old an understand, and when the time comes, Sebastian is whisked off without a single tear.

He’s seen T.K. at work before, but this is an entirely different level of incredible. He knows almost every nurse, every doctor, every orderly that they see, and if he doesn’t, by the time they leave he’s made them feel like an old friend. People can’t seem to do enough for him.

Justin gets there about twenty minutes after the surgery starts, exhausted and haggard looking, his collared shirt buttoned the wrong way and his hair looking like he didn’t even comb it. T.K. somehow procures fresh, non-cafeteria coffee for him, whispering something about the doctor’s lounge, as well as a banana and a granola bar.

Everything goes exactly as expected and soon enough the doctor is back to let them know that Sebastian was a champ during surgery and they expect a quick recovery. Lucía and Justin head back to wait with him until the sedation wears off, while Carlos and T.K. continue hanging out in the waiting room until Sebastian can have more visitors.

When Carlos hears a loud commotion behind him, he knows without even looking that reinforcements have arrived. Adriana and Francesca have shown up with more balloons than a circus, a gigantic stuffed bear, and several bags of god only knows what else. “Oh my god, Cesca don’t let them float away,” Adriana is saying as they try and get through the automatic doors that keep closing before all the balloons can make it through.

“I’m not!” Francesca snaps back. “It’s the stupid doors! You could like try to help!”

“With what hands?” Adriana cries, her arms full of stuffed bear.

“Ah, perfect,” Carlos says weakly, looking at T.K. who is already smiling at his sister and cousin’s antics.

“Carlos! Get over here!” Francesca barks and he stands with a sigh, going to help her get in the doorway.

“Hello, good morning, how are you guys doing?” Carlos prompts as he grabs the brightly colored strings and yanks them inside, the balloons bopping along behind and nearly smacking an elderly woman in the face.

“I mean you’re both awake and have coffee, so I assume you’re fine,” she tells him as she plonks into a seat across from T.K.

“Yeah, geez, way to make our nephew’s surgery about you,” Adriana says with a roll of her eyes.

Carlos doesn’t bother to remind her that technically Sebastian is a cousin to her, not a nephew; labels other than “familia” ceased to have any meaning to them long ago. “So what’s the deal? Is he okay?” Francesca asks.

“The surgery went well,” T.K. says. “Sebastian’s appendix didn’t rupture, so the chances of infection are low. He should be able to head home in a day or so.”

“Phew. Poor little dude. This sucks,” Francesca says.

“But he’s okay,” Adriana says. “That’s what’s important. Everyone is okay. And all his friends are going to be very jealous when he gets back to school.”

She opens one of the bags and pulls out a tray of something that immediately fills the air with the scent of tomatoes and cheese. “Why do you have tamales?” Carlos asks. “It’s ten am.”

“Because Mom told us to go by the house and bring them over,” Francesca says. “She doesn’t, and I quote, ‘want anyone eating that hospital garbage, it will rot their stomachs.’”

“Sounds like your mom,” T.K. says with a cheeky smile as he reaches for one of the tamales.

“We also have…taquitos, mac and cheese for Sebastian, and…arroz con pollo,” Francesca says, checking the other bags.

“Your mom just had this all on hand?” T.K. asks, his mouth full.

“Tía Andrea always has everything on hand,” Adriana says.

Despite his initial scoffing, by the time Justin comes back an hour later to tell them Sebastian is up for visitors, Carlos has eaten three tamales, half a dozen taquitos, and a plateful of arroz con pollo. Apparently hospitals make him hungry. They’ve also fed four nurses and an orderly that T.K. knows, and they haven’t even put a dent in what’s there.

Justin looks a little less of a mess now, he’s clearly spent some time in front of a mirror and his shirt is buttoned the right way now. He’s smiling in spite of the tiredness in his eyes, which widen in delight at the sight of the food. “Oh thank god for Andrea,” he says, immediately reaching for a taquito.

“Hey, how do you know it wasn’t us?” Adriana asks, clearly offended.

Justin fixes her with a look and she shrugs. “I mean, yeah it was Tía Andrea, but we’re the ones that brought it over here,” she says.

“Thank you for your service,” Justin says around a mouthful.

“How’s Sebastian?” Francesca asks.

“Better than Lucía or me,” he says. “He says it barely hurts and he’s very excited to have a cool scar.” He looks at T.K. “Apparently you’ve really made this hospital experience feel like a vacation T.K.”

“I’m just glad he’s doing all right,” T.K. says.

“Can we see him?” Carlos asks.

“Yeah,” Justin says. “Lucí sent me to get you all.”

“Well then let’s get this party moved!” Francesca says, closing up the tupperware with incredible speed built from years of cleaning up house parties and hiding the evidence before their parents got home.

They make quite a parade marching through the pediatric wing of the hospital with balloons and bears and food galore. But then, the Reyes clan usually does. They’re not exactly known for being a calm and quiet bunch.

Sebastian is sitting up in bed eating a popsicle, looking like the happiest human alive even with an IV in his arm and stitches in his side. “Sebby!” Francesca says happily. “You’re looking good there buddy!”

“You brought me balloons?” he asks as Lucía quickly rescues his popsicle, which is in danger of falling to the floor.

“We brought you balloons and a bear and macaroni and cheese from Abuela,” Adriana tells him.

“Can I have mac and cheese right now?” he asks Lucía.

“Let’s maybe wait until after the doctor comes by again,” she says.

“But then I can have it? And the ice cream Tío Carlos promised me?”

It gets a chuckle from everyone in the room.

The women start to fuss, setting up the balloons and bear in the best possible place, but Carlos’ eyes are on T.K. who is not-so-subtly checking out all the monitors and lines, ensuring that things are exactly as they should be. God, he loves this man. He loves him more than he thought he could ever love a human being.

“Well this looks like a party!” A man whose name tag identifies him as Dr. Nguyen, comes into the room, iPad in hand. Carlos assumes this must be the surgeon. “Sebastian who are all these fine people who came to visit you?”

“This is my Tía Cesca and my Tía Adriana. They brought me balloons,” Sebastian says, pointing to them in turn.

“Well that’s very nice.”

“And that’s my Tío Carlos,” Sebastian says.

“Oh, is this the Tío you were telling me about? The one who’s a paramedic and helped you feel better?”

“No, my Tío Carlos is just a police officer,” Sebastian says. “My Tío T.K. is the one who’s a paramedic.” He turns his head to look at where T.K. is standing next to his IV pole. “Paramedics help people feel better. Right Tío?”

T.K. freezes for a second, his eyes locking with Carlos’. “Um, yeah,” he says finally. “Yes, that’s right. Paramedics help people. And then doctors help them even more.”

“Yeah, Dr. Nguyen took my appendix out,” Sebastian says. He looks the doctor square in the face. “My mom says you have to tell me if I can have mac and cheese or not.”

Dr. Nguyen laughs. “I can do that. Let’s give you a little check up and see.”

“We’ll give you some privacy,” Francesca says, which is hilarious given that she hasn’t let anyone have a single minute of privacy since the day she was born.

They step out into the hall, Adriana and Francesca immediately abandoning T.K. and Carlos to go look for hot doctors. Carlos runs a hand through his curls and looks at where his boyfriend is leaning up against the wall. “Well I guess we know who his new favorite tío is,” he says.

T.K. looks up, uncharacteristically nervous. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that. You’re not just a police officer.”

Carlos chuckles. “Oh I’m sure he meant it exactly like that. Tío Carlos is just a tío who wrestles and gives him ice cream. Tío T.K. saves lives. You made an impression.”

T.K. blushes. “I’m glad I could help.” His gaze softens. “I can’t believe he called me tío.”

And despite the fact that no one in the family has ever referred to T.K. that way before, Carlos isn’t surprised in the least. “Is that okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” T.K. says quickly. “Yeah I—as long as you and your family are okay with it. I don’t…I wouldn’t want him to be confused.”

“He’s not confused.” Carlos’ words are soft and he reaches down, intertwining their fingers. “I don’t think anybody is confused anymore about why you’re so important to me.”

T.K. meets his gaze and Carlos feels like he can see all the way into the vulnerability at the core of this man who came here so broken and lost, and is just starting to figure out how vital he is to everyone around him. Carlos leans in and their lips meet, soft and sweet. It’s not enough to really say thank you, he’s not sure he can ever truly find a way, but in this moment he knows he’ll try. Everyday for the rest of his life if he needs to.

The door to Sebastian’s room opens and Carlos reluctantly pulls back, keeping their hands firmly clasped even when T.K. starts to pull away a little. “Bad news,” Lucía says. “Mac and cheese is off the table until tomorrow. T.K., he would like to know if you have any connections that can get him jello instead. But only the red kind. Not the green.”

“Absolutely,” T.K. says, already pulling out his phone to send a text. “Red jello coming right up.”

Carlos shakes his head and smiles as they reenter the room, Sebastian’s face lighting up when he sees T.K. again. Carlos has always thought T.K. seemed like magic. And now everyone else can see it too.

#911 Lone Star #Tarlos #911lsfic #Tarlos Fic #The Reyes Family (My Version)#Adriana and Francesca #Whump of a minor #Appendicitis #Family #Competent T.K. Strand #T.K. shows off his paramedic skills

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html-nae · 1 year

Text

T R A P S O U L

42!Miles x fem!OC

Part 2 of the 42!Miles x fem!OC series

WC: 1277

Nonviolent communication.

Nonviolent communication is based on historical principles of nonviolence.

The natural state of compassion when no violence is present in the heart.

It reminds us what we already instinctively know about how good it feels to connect with another human being.

It was just another night. Another fight for Miles’ attention.

But what do you do when you’re falling and you can’t find anything to hold on to?

Nothing.

It was also the night of Jefferson Davis’ promotion party.

‘For Aaron’, he would say. Anytime someone congratulated him on his accomplishment. ‘It’s all for my family and my brother. May he rest in power.’ Anyone could tell he missed his brother. Did he know Aaron was the prowler? Maybe. But he still loved him. So, in honor of him. He worked hard to become captain and provide for his family.

Miles promised to walk Harmony to the party.

So she got ready. A whole three hours before the party even started. She wanted her makeup to look good, she wanted her hair to look good, she wanted her outfit to look good.

Harmony wanted to look good.

For Miles.

Everyday she screamed for his attention. Sometimes it went unnoticed and sometimes it didn’t.

So she learned to count every blessing. There was no promise for tomorrow so she counted every second he dedicated to her. Even if it was small.

Harmony finished getting ready at 5:00.

The time Miles said he would get her.

Perfect.

5:10.

No Miles.

Soon 10 minutes turned into 20.

And 20 into 40.

And 40 into an hour.

And he still never came.

She decided to swallow her pride and not text him. Harmony wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe something came up, she thought.

Instead of saying anything, Harmony grabbed her bag and did a once over in the mirror before leaving.

The sun was setting and the city was alive. There was the well known traffic as well as the bright neon signs being turned on. Food merchants were still out, eager to sell whatever was left in stock before calling it quits for the night. Groups of friends walked past Harmony giggling about whatever joke was said as they passed her.

The fast life she was used to living was all going in slow motion. She got to appreciate the beauty of the city. By herself.

And she enjoyed it.

When Harmony arrived at the party everyone was there.

Except for Miles.

“Hey manmi mwen regrèt anpil mwen an reta.” Harmony said once she found Rio. (Hey mom. I’m so sorry for being late.”

Rio turned her head towards the girl with a bright smile adorning her face. She loved Harmony like the daughter she never had, always eager to speak to her and find out what was going on in her life.

“It’s no worries hija. We’re just glad you were able to make it.”

A smile made its way on the Haitian girl’s face, her eyes scanned the party hoping to find the Morales boy. Rio was quick to notice.

She knew. She knew the girl in front of her was crushing on her son. She also knew that her son was stringing her along. Rio scolded him about it many times, but each time she was met with a ‘It’s nothing mami. Honest’, and each time Rio would sigh and shut the door.

“We don’t know where he is. We checked his room and he was missing.”

The Jones girl nodded in response as the upcoming Captain slotted himself into the conversation. His glasses were slightly askew from the dancing his family dragged him into, but other than that he looked pristine. As always.

Conversations and congratulations were shared between the two, before they drifted off into Harmony’s studies and how her father was doing.

Then Miles came. With someone else.

Gwen.

Harmony watched them distance themselves from the rest of the party. She saw the way Miles looked at Gwen.

He never looked at me like that.

All the years I’ve known him. He never looked at me like I was everything to him.

“Who’s that?” Jeff questioned looking at the new girl that was hanging around his son. She was different. He knew about Harmony’s infatuation.

Everyone knew.

So he was just as confused as the next person when a new girl showed up with his son while he stood next to someone that would put their life on the line for him.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Her heart was racing. She was here. Next to him. And he looked happy.

Content.

He’s never looked this happy before.

Because it was Gwen. The girl that filled all the pages in his notebook. The same girl that he could spend hours talking about. The same girl that Miles was infatuated with.

Gwen Stacy. Not Harmony Jones

The two parents made their way towards them and ended up dragging Harmony with them.

The whole interaction lasted at least fifteen minutes. And the whole time

Miles never looked at Harmony.

He acted like she wasn’t there.

Even when Gwen dipped off and had to leave.

He never talked to her. His eyes were trained on where the blonde once stood.

Harmony finally met the girl that plagued her best friend’s mind. And she was right. She was the complete opposite of her. They shared absolutely nothing in common except for Miles.

But Gwen had Miles more than Harmony did. So they were back to square one.

Having nothing in common.

Because Harmony had to face the facts.

She couldn’t even say that they both had Miles.

Only Gwen had him.

The only thing Harmony had were distant memories that Miles probably didn’t even remember.

The Morales boy left long before the party was over. He went to follow Gwen.

Much to Harmony’s dismay.

This is what happens when Harmony thinks about him. Too caught up in her feelings. Reminiscing.

Next time I’ll be different.

She thought. She would wait on a sign and then come to the idea that it was time for a different prayer that somehow still revolved around Miles.

A boy that didn’t even see her the way she saw him.

She didn’t like being alone, but that’s exactly what happened when she went home. Thoughts of ringing his line flooded her mind as she laid down on her bed staring at her phone. Wishing that he would come home.

To her home.

Harmony wanted to balance her space. Protect her space. But Miles made it hard.

He gave her just enough to stay attached and hold onto him.

The Jones girl didn’t need the pain but with it stemming from Miles Morales, the hero of Brooklyn. She didn’t mind it all that much.

What’s left of us?

She remembered when Miles would tell her everything. When he was her best friend and would find comfort in her for anything. Now he makes promises that he doesn’t live up to. He ditches plans that he makes for them and says nothing but a mere apology if she gets one.

The same dorky kid that got humiliated on the first day of school. Is the same dorky kid thats humiliating Harmony without trying to.

He let her fall first while he stood dreaming wide awake.

And she’d do anything to be the person on his mind.

Harmony was in over her head and she couldn’t hold herself to be mad at Miles.

Because let's face it.

It was nothing but a state of nonviolent communication.

The natural state of compassion when no violence is present in the heart.

Taglist:

@urmotherswhor3 @not-aya @ihavenousernamewhyy-2 @erensbbg @reneuv @notsaelty @blackwxdo @bajadotcom

#spider man #miles morales x reader #across the spiderverse #earth 42 miles #earth 42 miles x reader #miles molares #miles x reader #gwen stacy #miles x OC #across the universe #across the spider verse spoilers #spiververse #spiderverse oc #spiderman

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latinashepard · 3 years

Note

okay but im brazilian and really want to learn more about argentine history, do u have any websites/ youtube videos to recommend? I do know spanish so it doesn’t matter what language it is in

hey! of course, it's my pleasure, everyone is welcome to learn. okay, so i gather you want audiovisual stuff; i got documentaries and video essays, and i'm glad you know spanish because the majority of these are in spanish.

hour of the furnaces (subtitles in english) it's a militant film from 1968, regarded as 'paradigm of revolutionary activist cinema' (really selling it to you here lol) and it exposes argentina as a dependent nation in its economy, culture and society. there's three parts, all of them together last about four hours, i haven't made it all the way through tbh but i do highly highly recommend watching the first part 'neocolonialism and violence', it actually breaks my heart how present these problems still are today.

what is peronism (in english) this guy is a white australian who's been living here for a couple of years, and i think this video is the closest anyone (on youtube!) who's not argie has gotten to explaining what peronism, the most popular political identification for the past 75 years, actually is (in video form! there are so many videos on peronism by gringos and they're all awful). he's done his researchhhh, goes back all the way to colonial times to make his points. (i hear the guy's kinda controversial so i only vouch for this one vid and this one on the argentine dictatorship, i don't know him)

so. there are two beautiful gorgeous platforms where you can watch a tonnnnn of argentine documentaries, films and series for free, you only have to register with your email and it's done. go crazy go wild because there's just so much.

the first one is cont.ar, this one mainly hosts documentaries. my faves so far are: "Acá estamos. Historias de nietos que recuperaron su identidad" where children appropiated by the dictatorship, now adults, tell their stories | "Archivo de la memoria trans" telling the stories of the trans women who've donated their photographs and memories to the trans archive | "Argentina también es Afro" afroargentine history!

the other one is cine.ar, hosts mainly films. "Juntas" tells the story of the first lesbian couple who got legally married in argentina | "El puto inolvidable" a film about carlos jauregui, an argentine gay activist | "La memoria de los huesos" documentary on the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, that does the hard work of identifying the bodies of people disappeared by the dictatorship in Argentina and in similar circumstances all over the world

these are only a few, hope you find something you enjoy and learn to your heart's content!

#canal encuentro my beloved #ask #arg tag

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gifted-burnout-archive · 4 years

Text

The Other Side of Hollywood

Part Eight: The Finale

Word Count: 8.6K+

Author’s Note: thank you for reading my nonsense. Tuly, thank you.

Warning: the usual.

If this is the first post you’ve seen, links to the rest of the story (+ masterlist and moodboard) are as follows:

- One - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six - Seven - Masterlist - Moodboard -

Los Angeles, California. 1995.

“Good morning City of Angels, this is Josh Fern at 106.7, bringing you your daily dose of pop tunes and the week’s biggest hits! We’ve got your sunshine while the clouds stay over our hometown, though they should be gone by the weekend. The time is 6.31, and this is our fan favourite of this week, Waterfalls by-”

The voice was cut out with a bang, a hand coming from under a mess of pillows and comforter to shut off the radio alarm clock. The nails were short, partially bitten away and partially trimmed, the fingers tips calloused and the black nail polish on them chipped away. The arm that followed had a collection of bracelets and wrist bands around it, a catalogue of the last year of events and gifts from friends. It disappeared back amongst the fluffy warm of the grey sheets, its owner hoping for another half hour of sleep.

A loud clatter sounded from just beyond the door, and the bed’s inhabitant sat right up, jumping out of bed, and slipping on a pair of fuzzy blue slippers before running to their door.

“Shit, shit…” A voice muttered outside, and the door was swung open to reveal their mom, trying to clean the fluff off the bacon and eggs she seemed to have dropped on the way to their room. Orange juice pooled on the breakfast tray, and their mom looked up quickly. “Oh! Honey! Y/N, baby. I’m sorry, I tripped over my shoes… This was supposed to be breakfast in bed for my birthday girl.”

“Oh, mom…” the pair embraced over the mess of spilled breakfast, sharing a smile as they began clearing it up together. “Well, why don’t I get dressed, we go to Ruth’s before the breakfast rush?” Y/N suggested, taking in her mom’s appearance. She was already in her scrubs, hair pinned back and her badge hanging from her pocket. “When’s your next shift start?” She asked, and her mom pressed a kiss to her forehead before picking up the tray.

“Cathy is covering me for the next two hours, and I should be back around 4.” Her mom said quickly, walking down the apartment’s hallway and quickly binning the dusty bacon and eggs, running the tray under the sink to stop it becoming sticky. “You get ready, Ruth’s sounds great.” She assured, and Y/N jumped back to her feet, rushing down the hallway after her mom and pressing a kiss to her cheek from behind while grabbing a damp rag and a bottle of carpet cleaner from below the sink.

“I’ll get the orange juice out the rug first.” She smiled, walking back to the stain of yellow on the cream carpet, dropping to her knees to quickly scrub it out of the flooring before it became permanent.

“Are you taking the cello to school today? I can drive you in if you are.” Her mom called the offer down the hall as Y/N brought the last of the OJ out of the carpet, walking back down the hall to store the cleaning products away.

“That would be great. Mr Johnson wants to restring it for me, I’ve been playing so much he’s worried they’ll snap any day now.” Y/N smiled at the thought, and her mom rested a hand on her cheek, rubbing her thumb on the rosy skin.

“You know, I’m so proud of you sweetie… I tell you, I never thought I would be lucky enough to have a daughter like you.” Their foreheads pressed together. “Just think, next year you’ll get me as your college roommate!”

“I still need to audition for USC mom. I’m not going to college yet.” Y/N reminded with a smile, glancing at the wall clock. “I’ll go get ready, could you take my cello down to the car?” She asked with her hands clasped, her mom laughing.

“Of course, birthday girl. Go, get ready. Leaving in 15.” Her mom called after her as Y/N ran and swung herself round the doorframe into the bathroom, quick to jump in the shower and wash herself, and even quicker to rush back to her bedroom and get herself dressed. By the time those 15 minutes had passed, Y/N was grabbing her backpack and Walkman, clipping the latter to the waistband of her tartan skirt as she rushed out the door, double checking she had everything she needed for school as she hurried out to her mom’s car.

“And I am right on time.” Y/N said with a heavy breath as she sat down in the passenger seat, her mom pulling out their parking spot, the car’s clock reading 6.59.

“I phoned ahead to Ruth’s; she’s got your pancakes already cooking.” Her mom replied, letting out a happy sigh as they turned onto the main road, turning on the radio as Y/N slipped on her headphones, quickly opening her Walkman to identify what CD she had on before closing it and pressing play, the pair enjoying each other’s silent company as they headed for their favourite diner.

They arrived a few songs later thanks to LA traffic, Y/N jumping out as her mom parked up to find Ruth, the diner owner, setting out her and her mom’s meals on the bar counter: pancakes with syrup and banana, and a strawberry and vanilla smoothie for each of them, plus a cup of black coffee by her mom’s usual seat.

“There she is: the birthday girl!” Ruth came round the counter, pulling Y/N into a tight hug that forced the breath out the girl. Ruth was an older woman, about an inch shorter than the teen, and stout, but stronger than three of Y/N combined, with her greying hair in curls and tucked under a soft blue hat that matched her waitress uniform. “Now I know we shouldn’t talk work, but can I ask you to come in Sunday morning?” Ruth asked Y/N as she ushered her to her seat, and Y/N’s mom came through the door.

“Of course. Mom, will you be working Sunday?” Y/N asked as they both took their seats, Ruth walking back round the counter. Y/N stopped for a moment, appreciating the ‘17’ that had been made with banana slices on top of her pancakes.

“Got a double at the hospital. Why? Ruth got you working overtime again?” Her mom raised an eyebrow at Ruth, who just cackled.

“Sami, sweetheart, that girl’s my best waitress.” Ruth scolded Y/N’s mom, who shook her head with a smile before starting on her breakfast, and Y/N did the same as Ruth walked further along the countertop to help another customer.

“So, what’s the schedule for today?” Sami asked her daughter, who looked up with half a pancake hanging out her mouth, causing them both to start laughing.

“Well…” Y/N started, swallowing down her food as her mom sipped on coffee. “School, then the pier with Rosalee and Evelyn. Then home, cake… And my bed?” She suggested, earning a roll of the eyes from her mom.

“It’s your seventeenth birthday, Y/N! You need to be out having fun, maybe finally decide to join Rosalee’s band?” He mom suggested with a wiggle of her eyebrows, earning an elbow in the side. “Hey! Girls in rock bands are the new super models. You’ll have all the rocker boys at your feet.” Her mom teased, and Y/N went bright red. “Speaking of which… Happy birthday.” Her mom reached into her hand bag, pulling out an envelope and sliding it along the counter.

“Mom, I thought we said no presents this year…” Y/N reprimanded her, but her smile was too bright to be angry.

“It’s a joint present. Rose and I, nothing too expensive, though that girl will have gotten you something else as well, no doubt.” Sami explained as Y/N licked her knife clean and slotted it under the envelope flap, slicing the paper open.

“No… No way…” Y/N muttered, shaking two concert tickets from the letter, covering her mouth as her eyes watered a little. “Mom…”

“You’ve been raving about those boys for the past year now, Y/N, and with Rose’s discount to Orpheum shows… They’re playing in a few months, we couldn’t resist.” Her mom said with a smile, and Y/N jumped from her seat, wrapping her arms around her mom, happy tears staining her mom’s scrubs. “Hey, hey, it’s alright.” Sami lifted her daughter’s face to wipe away the tears. “You’re my little superstar, Y/N, you deserve some time off.” She informed Y/N, who nodded. “You finish up, you can finish the milkshake in the car, and if you decide to cut school today, just make sure you’re not missing anything important… Knowing Rose, she’ll drag you out before you can get a word in edge wise.”

The pair were conscious of the time, finishing up quickly and bidding goodbye to Ruth as they hurried for the car. LA traffic always had to be accounted for, but they managed up the beach front and reached Los Feliz High with ten minutes to spare. Y/N quickly kissed her mom’s cheek, grabbing her bag and pulling her cello from the backseat, waving her mom off to work as an arm rested across her shoulders, another set coming around her waist.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Evelyn and Rosalee shrieked into Y/N’s ears, causing the girl to jump and try and wriggle away as her cousin and best friend, respectively, pressed kisses to her cheeks and locked her in an embrace.

“Jesus! I swear you both want to kill me.” Y/N recovered quickly with a nervous laugh, her cousin taking her cello for her as Rosalee pulled her closer by the shoulders, Y/N’s hand coming around the taller girl’s waist. “But thank you. For the yelling and the tickets, Rosa.” She directed the second half to her friend, having to pause for a moment to blow her friend’s hair away from her face, the dark curls tickling her nose.

“Hermosa, it was the least I could do. You’ve been in love with them since last year’s homecoming. Lo juro, fue el regalo más fácil que he comprado.” Rose promised her friend, the pair walking after Evelyn into the school building, headed for the music department.

“So… I took the liberty of checking your class schedule.” Evelyn spoke up as they reached Mr Johnson’s classroom, Y/N’s cello, and piano, teacher. She rapped the door twice, turning back to her little cousin and Rose. “None of us have anything major to do today, we have friends and study partners in all our classes willing to share notes, and your cello is out of use all day.”

“Indeed it will be.” Mr Johnson spoke up, the girls glancing down the corridor at the older teacher. He was a cheery looking fellow, maybe about fifty years old, with a round belly and a love of suspenders. He was also the best teacher Y/N had ever had. “I need to restring and tune and break it in for use, you’ll get it back Monday. Now, I hope you girls aren’t planning on skipping school for Y/N’s birthday, as a teacher I could never condone such a thing…” He said as he unlocked his room, beckoning the three in, the trio following. “Of course, if you were to leave, you should be going through that fire escape at the far corner of my classroom, and heading to the bus park. No teachers patrolling there this time of day...” He winked, and Rose took it as a sign to run over to the door, Evelyn following quickly. Y/N waited behind for a second, taking a step towards Mr Johnson’s desk. “Y/N, you deserve a day off. Happy birthday.” He said with a kind smile, opening his desk and pulling out a small, thin box. “For my brightest student, and for a life of signing autographs. The past five years of teaching you have been my privilege.” He prefaced as she opened the box to find a white marble pen, her name engraved along the side.

“Thank you, Mr Johnson…” She smiled softly, closing the box over once more and putting the present into her backpack.

“Go, be safe, be stupid to the limit of safety… I don’t need my student breaking her wrist a month before her USC audition.” He warned, and Y/N nodded fast, turning on her toes and starting for the door Rosa and Evelyn had left through. She broke into a run as she headed for the bus park, quickly catching up to her friends and falling into step with them, headed for Sunset Boulevard.

The girls often found themselves on the strip, and on days like that one they could walk all the way to the coast line and back, window shopping as they went. While it was colder than usual for LA, the thick cloud layer blocking out most of the sunshine, the whole strip was alive that Friday.

However, it seemed like Rosalee and Evelyn had a plan for Y/N, each looping their arm with Y/N’s as they started on a march down the strip, headed to an undisclosed location. They didn’t stop to window shop as per the usual, didn’t stop for smoothies from the place Evelyn got discounts in because she flirted with the cashier, they didn’t even hesitate when passing the cineplex the three frequented at the weekends when they weren’t all working or studying.

Instead, Rosalee and Evelyn stopped on the other side of the road from Rose’s job, at the Orpheum.

“I thought that concert was a few months away, Rosalee.” Y/N said with a raised eyebrow, not sure what her friends were up to.

“Oh, no… That’s our second stop…” Rose turned Y/N’s head slightly, focusing on a building two down from the music venue. “We’re going there first.”

“Tattoos?” Y/N’s eyes widened, looking over at Evelyn to see if it was real, but by the smile on her cousin’s face, they were serious. “Ev, your mother will kill you. Auntie is far from… Tattoo-friendly.” Y/N reminded, and Evelyn shook her head.

“Oh, I know. But Aunt Sami? She’ll be thrilled you’re doing something stupid. I’m pretty sure you being the clever one in that house isn’t fair.” Evelyn said with a grin, and Rose leaned over.

“We cleared it with her, you’re all good to go… So, you’re getting a tattoo, Y/N…” She said, and with a glance to Evelyn, the pair locked their arms tight around Y/N’s and marched her across the road and for the tattoo parlour.

“Guys! Guys! This is ridiculous, you realise that?” Y/N asked with a nervous laugh, gulping as they pushed her through the door, Rosalee pulling a slip out of her leather jacket’s pocket.

“Hello there. We have an appointment booked for today at 10?” Rosa asked at the desk, Y/N looking back at Evelyn, who winked: the pair had planned this a while ago, she could tell.

“Parental consent is required?” The receptionist asked, Rosa handing over the slip of paper. The employee glanced over it, shrugging and nodding. “What’s your name kid?”

“Y/N.”

“Well, Y/N, we’ll get you set up in the chair. Do you have a design in mind?”

“Actually, we’ve picked something out for her.” Evelyn spoke up, pushing Y/N further into the shop and sitting her down on the tattoo chair. “I emailed it over last week, to Francis?” She asked, and the name caused shuffling from behind a curtain.

“Evelyn, right?” A beautiful woman, probably a few years older than the girls, came through the curtain. Her arms were covered in tattoos, shown off by the cut tank she had decided to wear, the band on it matching the one Y/N’s shirt repped. “Ah, so this is my rock child kin. Francis, you can call me Fran.” She introduced herself with a hug, first Evelyn, then Rosalee, and finally Y/N, each girl hugging back. “So, ladies, do we want the tattoo to be a surprise?” She asked, and Evelyn glanced at Rose then Y/N, both nodding.

“I mean, why not?” Y/N conceded, to the grins of her friends and tattoo artist, who took her dominant hand and flipped it over, rubbing down her wrist with sterilising solution. Y/N was nervous, sure, but the excitement was dulling the worry a little.

“Y/N, can I get your Walkman?” Rosa asked, quickly unclipping the device from her best friend’s waist before given an answer, and removing the CD. She walked over to the front desk, chatting with the guy who had greeted them as Fran set herself up, making sure her needle was inked and working well. Y/N gulped at the whir of the tattoo gun, the anxiety rising up…

When a familiar song came over the shop’s stereo, and she let out a laugh.

“Go on, you know you want to.” Evelyn encouraged, Y/N’s favourite band beginning to play and sing on the radio.

“It’ll help you relax… Go for it.” Fran said with a nod, slipping on a pair of gloves and her glasses, the tattoo gun whirring up again, and coming in contact with Y/N’s skin. The pain was sharp, and sudden, and she gasped, deciding to follow the advice.

“… ‘til we blast open the top. Face first, full charge, electric hammer to the heart.” Y/N called out, her eyes squeezing shut as she sang and laughed through the pinching on her wrist. “Clocks move forward but we don't get older, no. Kept on climbing till our stars collided. And all the times we fell behind were just the keys to paradise.” She began to sing properly, the pain seeming to dull when she focused on it, Rosalee and Evelyn watching on in awe. Her voice was so unique, so special, something Rose had been trying to convince Y/N to use for years. “Don’t look down, cause we’re still rising up right now. And even in we hit the ground, we’ll still fly. Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever, but living like it’s now or never!”

Y/N sang her way through the seven songs on the demo album twice through in that tattoo parlour, Rosa and Evelyn joining in on the catchy choruses: it made sense why Y/N liked the band, they only hoped she would like the tattoo.

“My masterpiece is finished.” Fran announced, prompting Rosa to run over and shut off the CD player, collecting Y/N’s disc and slipping it back into the girl’s Walkman. “Do you wanna look?” Fran asked her, removing her glasses and gloves with a smile, and Y/N sat up, looking down at the tattoo on her wrist.

“A sunset?” She whispered, glancing up at her friends with a smile.

“My idea, would you believe?” Evelyn said, Y/N getting off the chair and pulling her and Rose into a tight hug. They quickly bid goodbyes to Fran, heading back outside onto the strip, this time with the destination of the Orpheum.

“So, best birthday ever?” Rosalee asked Y/N, who nodded, still admiring the tattoo. It was a reference to her favourite band, her friends knew her well, and reflected their logo quite nicely. “Well, since we’ve been amazing to you… I’m going to ask again.” Rose said as they entered the Orpheum, and Y/N smiled ruefully.

This was their thing, her and Rosalee. Every week, Y/N would once again be asked to join her best friend and her cousin in their band, Rose and the Petal Pushers, and every time they asked she said no. She was a classically trained cellist and pianist, she was auditioning for the USC conservatory program in a month, and even if Rose had been the one to encourage her into playing again after the one time when Y/N was 10 and embarrassed herself at a concert so bad she refused to touch her cello for three weeks, Y/N couldn’t see why a girl rock band needed her in it. Evelyn, Rose and the girls were quite phenomenal without her.

“Why do you need me?” Y/N decided to ask this time, instead of just refusing, a bit more open to ideas since it was her birthday. Rosa and Evelyn shared a glanced, shocked, before pulling her through to the main concert space and jumping up onto the stage, dragging Y/N along with them.

“Have you ever heard a cello in a rock song?” Evelyn asked her, the three looking out at the space, standing in the places where legends had stood before them.

“Not really… No.” Y/N admitted, looking over and fixing one of the butterfly themed clips in Rosalee’s hair.

“That’s exactly why we need you, Y/N. Diversify the genre, bring classical technique to punk rock!” She pitched, taking her friend’s hand in hers. “Plus, you can sing, you can play piano… You have a gift that needs to be shared with the world, Y/N.” The words gave Y/N reason to pause, to consider. She had, after all, done crazier things before, she had done crazier things that day, the ink on her wrist catching her eye. “Go on… Sing something, see how it feels.” She urged, and Y/N sighed, entertaining her friends as her eyes closed.

“God!” Y/N let the note hang for a moment, and Rose grinned: it was something she had written, that Y/N had overheard her practicing at school the week before. “God only knows, what I’d do… If I, if I couldn’t love you…” She sang softly, her eyes opening to look out, to feel the rush of adrenaline hit her. She bit her lip as she smiled, understanding exactly what Rose meant. “If I do this…” She began, cut off and Rose and Evelyn hugged her tight, squealing in delight, jumping up and down with her.

“That’s a yes! You finally said yes!” Rose cheered, and Evelyn jumped down from the stage and rushed over to the bar, pulling out a small box she and Rose undoubtedly store there the night before, sat atop it a party hat.

“To celebrate your joining the band…” Evelyn opened the box, a frosted cupcake inside, and handed it to Y/N while fixing a party hat onto the girl’s head.

“Ah! Ewan!” Rose called as a kid around their age walked in, ready for a shift that night. He was a year older than the girls, had gone to school with them, and knew far too much about all of them thanks to Rose. “Can you get a photo? Y/N’s finally agreed.” She explained, pulling a disposable camera from her school bag and handing it over to him.

“You really agreed?” He asked Y/N, who was eating her way rather quickly through the cupcake: though to be fair, it was her favourite flavour. She nodded in response, earning laughs from her three companions, and she just shrugged as she swallowed.

“After… Two years of pestering, it seems only right that I final give in. Rosalee sure wasn’t going to be defeated.” Y/N laughed, taking one last bite of the cupcake before wiping her mouth, swallowing the food as Rose and Evelyn wrapped their arms around her.

“Say… Petal Pushers!” Ewan called, taking a photo as the girls laughed through the words, a smile on his own face as he handed back the camera. “You guys really ought to leave before the boss gets back.” He reminded, gesturing to the side door, and the three girls took a second before nodding, rushing out the side exit as the staff started filing in for the night’s events.

Y/N didn’t feel the eyes on the back of her head as she left the Orpheum, barely registering the whisper that passed by her ear, planting the first seed in her mind of something terrible.

That night, after cake with her mom at the apartment and plans made with Rosalee and Evelyn to meet the rest of the band that night for their first practice, Y/N began travelling towards the address Rosa had given her earlier that day, a hum on her lips as she stepped of the bus near the coast line, near her favourite place in the world, one her and her mom found years ago.

She had wrapped up warm, unusually cold air had set in that night, prompting her to borrow her mom’s thickest jacket as she left the apartment with calls of ‘I love you’ shared between a mother and daughter.

You’ve got nothing to lose…

The words floated in Y/N’s head for a moment, and she shrugged, deciding a five minute detour to the beach wouldn’t do her any real harm. It would be nice to have a few moments alone, to soak in the day so far, before she went on to that night and the upcoming festivities.

Her feet hit the sand, whisperings of a song floating through her head, a shadow of a man in formal wear further along the sandy shores…

Suddenly, morning, and Y/N was woken up at her favourite spot on the beach front by a scream. She shot up, rushing to see what had happened, no time to register her lost memory from the night before.

Only the scream wasn’t on the beach front. Y/N turned to find her mom and Rose holding one another, over a body, dressed just like Y/N.

“Mom…” She asked, looking down at the girl who lay on the rock, by her side.

Looking down a face so familiar to her, though she wasn’t sure why. The body was rigid, washed of colour, lips that should have been red a tinged purple blue.

And then, Y/N screamed…

Los Angeles, California. 2020.

They all came back at once, a barrage of information filling Y/N’s head, finishing its upload to her brain in an instant. Of a life she never got to live, of a mom who loved her so dearly, of a father who never appeared, of friends who loved her unconditionally and guardians who wanted nothing more than to see her thrive.

Of that man on the beach, of the songs she had sang for 25 years by his side…

A distinct memory of Caleb calling her death a recruitment, of him asking her to play for his house band once he found her, of him becoming furious at her upstaging him on her first night at the club... It all finally made sense to her:

She was dead because of Caleb.

And she had lost music, family, everything, because Caleb took it from her.

Y/N’s eyes stung with tears as she pulled herself to her feet, the pain of the jolt still coursing through her and forcing her to lean against the wall as she made her way to the stage side. She watched as Alex, Reggie and Luke played for Caleb, who sang and scatted his way through their third song of the night. None of the guys looked happy, of course they didn’t… They were enslaved by a man who wanted their musical talent and nothing else, just like he had wanted Y/N’s 25 years ago.

As the song came to an end with a drum solo by Alex, Y/N managed to muster up the physical strength to walk onto the stage, steely-eyed as a plan began to form in her head.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please let me welcome Y/N Y/L/N to the stage!” Caleb was quick to notice her, sending a smile and the audience’s applause her way as she walked along the band stand, taking a seat at the piano without a word said, without another person looked at. Her fingers spread over the keys, the sheet music for one of Caleb’s songs in front of her, but instead her hand moved down and hit a different chord.

She let it sit in the air, holding it over the whole room, getting everyone’s attention, including Caleb, including the guys… Including Luke. She had to do something, anything, and her mind travelled back to that night at the party, when she had spent hours resting against Luke, flicking through his song writing journal as the room shared jokes, shared anecdotes… Her memory focused on one moment, when she had scanned over the chord progressions and lyrics to a song Luke had asterisked and labelled ‘ANTHEM-WORTHY’ in his near illegible handwriting.

The idea quickly formed, Y/N getting the gut feeling to hold off for one more moment before pressing down on the chord once more, and beginning to play the melody and bass line of the song she remembered on that page with as much emotion as she could.

“Don’t blink, no I don’t wanna miss it… One thing, and it’s back to the beginning.” Y/N singing wavered a little, her voice taking a moment to come into its own… But she remembered now, what she was good at, what she was capable of… What she was able to create with Luke wasn’t a fluke, it was real. It was the girl who wanted to study music, who wanted to join her best friend’s band, who got a tattoo and played cello and loved her mom with her whole heart.

For the first time in 25 years, Y/N knew who she was, and didn’t shy away from it.

“Cause everything is rushing in fast. Keep going on never look back.” She continued, the boys quickly realising what was happening, knocked out of the daze they had found themselves in. Alex was the first to join in, taking on his drum line with a smile to Y/N, a thank you, that warmed her heart. Then Reggie, getting used to the bass strings again, no longer feeling the urge to play what Caleb demanded.

“And it one, two, three, four times that’ll I’ll try for one more night.” Y/N went on the harmony line as another voice filled the room, startling the audience and performers with its power, its beauty. Some sort of connection had been made, just like when Y/N had played with Luke the day before, and Julie’s solo performance from the Orpheum was being broadcasted to the room as Y/N played, and Reggie and Alex played. As her hands left the piano, Julie’s own playing taking over, her eyes looked up at Luke, slowly coming to from his own trance. “Light a fire in my eyes, I’m going out of my mind.” She sang along, a smile on her face as Luke’s eyes cleared of the fog that had settled in them, and his hands began to play.

“Stop it! Stop them!” Caleb yelled as the crowd started to cheer, to dance along, Julie’s voice filling the room and drowning out any shouts Caleb tried to make as the chorus came into play.

“Whatever happens even if I’m the last in it I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall. Whatever happens even when everything’s down, I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall.” Julie sang, the boys playing along, all of them visualising the Orpheum, where they were supposed to be as waiters came up onto the stage and grabbed Y/N, pulling her away from the piano. “I gotta keep on dreaming, cause I gotta catch that feeling. Whatever happens even if I'm the last standing I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall.” The damage was already done, Alex and his drum set disappearing into thin air, leaving a gap in the stage. He could still be heard however, now playing with Julie from the Orpheum.

“Right now I'm loving every minute. Hands down can't let myself forget it, no. Cause everything is rushing in fast, keep holding on, never look back.” As Julie continued, Y/N wrenched herself from the waiters, Reggie disappearing as she made her way across the stage. “And it’s…”

“Y/N.” Luke called to her over the music, his eyes worried as he watched the staff grab her arms and pull her back again. He began to fade, starting to disappear and join the band where he was meant to be, at the Orpheum, but then having to leave Y/N behind as a result. She would be facing off Caleb, alone. And after she saved him, saved everything, how could he let it happen?

“See you on the other side, Luke.” She shouted back, a smile on her face as she was pulled away by the waiters, a nod of her head promising everything would be ok. He vanished, his eyes opening as he finally appeared in the Orpheum, smiling over to Julie as he finally materialised.

“I’m going out of my mind.” Luke sang, earning a cheer from the crowd. “Whatever happens even if I'm the last standing I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall.” He sang, a wave of relief flushing over him when he didn’t flicker again, Julie dancing alongside him.

“Whatever happens even when everything’s down, I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall.” Julie joined in, Luke switching to the harmony line. “I gotta keep on dreaming, cause I gotta catch that feeling. Whatever happens even if I'm the last standing I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall.” Julie beckoned Reggie over, the pair walking to the front of the stag, surrounded by the crowd as they went back to back. “Like I'm glowing in the dark. I keep on going when it's all falling apart. Yeah I know it with all my heart. Ooh, ooh.”

“Never look back!” Luke called out with a final strum, looking back at Alex as they were left with only Reggie on bass.

“Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing, I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall.” Alex stood up as he sang, earning screams and cheers.

“Whatever happens even when everything’s down, I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall.” Reggie continued, nodding to Julie, who harmonised with him.

“Stand tall.”

“Stand tall.” Luke and Alex joined in.

“Stand tall!” A final voice sang out, the familiar high and airy sounds of Y/N harmonising perfectly with the band, holding a high harmony line as they went into the last chorus.

“Whatever happens even if I’m the last in it I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall. Whatever happens even when everything’s down, I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall.” The five voices sang together for the final chorus, Julie leading Luke down to the front of the stage with her mic as the paired shared. “I gotta keep on dreaming, cause I gotta catch that feeling.” Reggie and Alex followed them down to the front of the stage, mics in hand as Luke played them out. “Whatever happens even if I'm the last standing I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall.”

For a moment, as they held that last note, Julie and the Phantoms could see Y/N amongst the crowd, before she disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving the band to take their final bow together.

It was only once Julie and the Phantoms had finished their last performance that the club went quiet, all eyes focused on a smiling Y/N, who had sung alongside the band in their closing lyrics. The arms that held Y/N back were replaced with a single hand on her shoulder, Y/N following the arm up to look at Caleb, who looked at the band and with a flick of his hand, had them playing again, performers dancing, waiters serving food like nothing had happened.

“You and I need a little chat.” He said softly, leading Y/N towards the bar, the pair sitting on bar stools, and the waiter placing down two glasses of champagne. He was silent for a moment, taking a sip of the cool beverage as Y/N watched on: she wasn’t able to wipe the smile off her face. She could hear them in her head, she could see them performing, she could see Flynn and Ray and Carlos watching Julie with love she held for her own family. “Was this your plan all along?”

“No.” Y/N responded honestly. “But after I fulfilled my side of the deal, once I got the boys to the club, I got my memories back. Willie was freed… And now you have nothing over me, but I know who you really are Caleb.” She took a sip of her own glass, the pair setting them down at the same time.

“Oh? And who am I, Y/N?”

“A collector… A narcissist… The person who killed me. Take your pick.” She said softly, and Caleb’s face fell. She finished her glass, passing the crystal back to the bartender before getting up, running a hand through her hair and shaking it out into waves.

“I don’t lose Y/N… You know that. I will destroy you.” He reminded, and she glanced back at him with a smile.

“I’ve been dead an awful long time, Mr Covington. I’m going to die knowing I saved my friends, knowing who I am… That’s all I need. I have my redemption.” She replied, thoughtful in her words before walking towards the exit.

“So be it.” Caleb smirked, another jolt running through Y/N’s body as she vanished, leaving the echo of pain in her wake.

When Y/N opened her eyes, she was back on her beach, on her boulder, the waves crashing around her and the night sky full of stars. She collapsed, a delayed reception of the jolt administered, only this time the pain didn’t fade like usual. Instead, it radiated through her, settling as a dull numbness through her body.

She pulled herself to her feet, trying to envision Julie’s house in her head, knowing she needed to find Willie, to explain the boys got to cross over, that they were safe: to tell him she was sorry. However, every time she tried, her head became heavy, foggy, and after a few attempts and another jolt coursing through her, Y/N saw no choice but to walk.

It was slow going, the girl having to stop every few minutes as another jolt hit, the pain building up with each blow she took. She decided at about the halfway mark to ditch the heels she had been wearing all night, and by the time she reached the Molina residence, she fell to the patio, the sound of Julie’s dad pulling in to the house welcoming to her ears.

“Y/N?” A voice asked from the shadows, Willie emerging from his hiding spot and rushing over at the sight of his friend curled up on the concrete, holding her stomach as another jolt hit her.

“Willie I…” Y/N coughed, groaning in pain and taking deep breaths. Before she could continue, Julie rounded the corner, having heard the voices from the front door, stopping in her tracks at the sight. “Julie.”

“Oh my God, Y/N…” Julie rushed over, her and Willie sharing a glance, a mixture of confusion and worry: there was the question as to why Julie was able to see the skater boy Alex had been falling for, when the night before she had watched Alex, Reggie and Luke discuss plans to air, but it wasn’t the time for it now.

“I’m so sorry. For everything, everything I did to you both…” She tried to pull herself up, Willie quickly helping her to her feet and holding her upright. “Willie, I didn’t have a choice, I swear and…” Y/N’s words turned to sobs, and Willie held her tight to him.

“Hey, hey… I know you did right by me…”

“And the boys too… They crossed over.” Julie added, Willie looking over at the lifer with an eyebrow raised.

“How?”

“Y/N.” Julie just answered. “She sent them to me… Now can I ask the question of what we do to save you?” She directed her question to the girl in green, who shook her head quickly. “My mom wouldn’t want you dying again.” Julie said, leaving Y/N confused until she pulled a photo from her jacket pocket, Y/N’s eyes widening at the memory.

“Rosalee…” She whispered, a tear rolling down your cheek. “Your mom… Oh my God…” She muttered, the realisation tinged with an overwhelming sense of grief: not only had they all lost the guys, but Y/N had only just remembered her best friend, and now had to discover she had passed on as well.

“What do we do, Y/N?” Willie asked, receiving a shake of the head from his best friend.

“I’m ok… Going like this. I just wanted to say goodbye… To see you one last time… To be somewhere happy.” She whispered, and Julie wiped her eyes.

“Then we’ll say goodbye together… All of us.” Julie decided, beckoning Willie to follow after her as she walked to the studio doors, walking into the space with Willie and Y/N coming to either side of her. “I…” She stopped, swallowing for a moment. “I know I already said this but, uh… Thank you guys.” She said softly, looking to Y/N, their hand reaching out and passing through one another as they looked on the dark space with Willie to their left, a final goodbye appropriate for sending them off properly.

“… You’re welcome…” Reggie’s voice came from nowhere, followed swiftly by a groan from Alex, and Julie rushed to turn the light on. With the flick of a switch, the three boys were revealed in a pile on the floor.

“Dude…” Luke groaned, blinking a few times to adjust to the brightness of the room as Alex got to his feet, Reggie sitting himself up. “Y/N…” Luke’s eyes focused on the girl, who had gone back to leaning on Willie for support.

“I… I. What are you doing here? I thought-” Julie started, cut off as a jolt ran through the boys and Y/N, her eyes welling up. “No… No! I thought you crossed over, why didn’t you cross over?”

“I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business.” Alex muttered, looking up to see Willie, the worry etched on the happy boy’s face sending aches to his heart. With a nod from Y/N, who found herself a comfortable leaning position against one of the support beams, Willie made his way over to Alex, their hand linking as the blond found his footing.

“Point Caleb.” Y/N muttered with a painful laugh, waving her fingers over to Reggie, who smiled weakly and waved back.

“We wanted you to think that we crossed over, so we pretended to.” Luke explained. “We just… We had nowhere else to go.” He shrugged.

“We thought you’d go straight to bed.” Reggie added, leaning himself against a chair.

“Yeah, well,” Alex started, holding on tight to Willie for support. “I knew she was gonna come out here, but nobody listens to-” Another jolt ran through the four, earning a chorus of groans and whimpers.

“You have to save yourselves, all of you… Go to Caleb’s club, we can make this right, you can play with him… It’s better than not existing at all.” Julie pleaded, looking around the five ghosts, hoping her pleas might work. “Please, please just go! Poof out! Do something… Please, do it for me.”

“We’re not going back there.” Reggie shook his head, and the others knew why: compared to being free, a life at Caleb’s club felt like becoming a shell of yourself.

“Julie…” Y/N spoke up, smiling at the girl who had become her friend, whose mom had been like her sister. “No music is worth making, if the Phantoms aren’t making it with you.” She said softly, and Julie turned back to the room as Reggie and Luke got themselves up from the floor.

Julie couldn’t stand it, couldn’t imagine life without them, and in a moment of desperation, she threw her arms around Luke and Reggie hugging them close, a final goodbye. The boys held her tight, arms wrapping round her back, around one another, as they shared the moment.

“I love you guys.” Julie whispered softly to them, Alex holding on to Willie as they and Y/N watched the scene unfold.

And then it dawned on them all that Julie wasn’t meant to be able to touch them, and Julie pulled away to see Luke and Reggie both glowing.

“How can I feel you?” She asked softly, holding onto one of their hands each, so used to seeing her body pass through theirs. Neither of them could answer, but it gave Julie and idea. “Alex, Willie, Y/N… Come over.” She beckoned, Willie helping Alex over as Luke walked past Julie to hold out a hand to Y/N.

Y/N glanced at it for a moment, looking up at Luke to make sure he was certain: he had barely been within six feet of her since the party. Luke took her hand, helping her to her feet and leading Y/N back to the group formed in the room’s centre, the six joining together in a hug.

Suddenly, the glow that covered Luke and Reggie spread to the other three too, Julie’s grip on Y/N’s back beckoning firm, the dress fabric smooth and soft against her fingers.

“I feel stronger…” Luke muttered in disbelief, the group breaking the hug to look between one another. Suddenly, they all looked healthier, happier, brighter.

“I… I don’t feel as weak anymore.” Reggie agreed.

“Me neither.” Alex added, clearing his throat when he glanced at Willie by his side. “Not that, you know, I was ever that weak.” The six shared a laugh, Y/N lifting up her wrist as it began to tingle, the boys quickly feeling the same thing.

Just like what had happened at the club with Willie, the stamps lifted off their wrists, breaking apart in a small beam of light before vanishing completely.

“What does this mean?” Julie asked, looking up at the guys, who shared a smile.

“I this this means the band is back.” Luke said with a grin, the group pulling close again for another hug.

Aster a minute or so of jumping and tears of relief as they all held one another, Willie pulled Alex to the side, and in a split second decision, the pair locked lips, Willie’s hands holding Alex’s face as the blonde’s arms pulled the skater closer by the waist. It was quick, both coming out blushing as three faces smiled at them when they came back from their moment in heaven, the fourth set of eyes still focused on her wrist.

Y/N watched in awe as the final remnants of Caleb’s stamp dispersed from her wrist, 25 years of servitude broken with a single hug, and in place of the stamp a tattoo appeared: the tattoo she had gotten the day she died.

The five other eyes watched for a moment, hearts swelling to see the pure joy on Y/N’s face, their own quickly turning to disbelief when the tattoo came into full view.

“Y/N…” Luke said softly, the girl’s eyes darting up. “The reason you don’t like Trevor Wilson?”

“He…” She stopped, looking down at the tattoo the three boys had their eyes fixed on, and back up at Julie, who had a smile on her face. “He stole all his songs from my favourite band… Sunset Curve…” She explained, and Reggie let out a yell, throwing his arms in the air as Alex let out a laugh alongside Julie, leaving Y/N looking at Luke for answers.

“Maybe we should step outside, Y/N…” He suggested, holding out a hand to her and, after their fingers had interlocked, leading her out onto the patio, lit up by soft string lights and the stars above.

“Am I missing something here?” She asked with a worried voice, and Luke nodded quite seriously, closing over the studio doors for some privacy: though it didn’t stop Willie, Alex, Reggie and Julie from watching through the windows.

“This Sunset Curve… You never saw them perform live, did you?” Luke asked, running a hand through his hair, and Y/N nodded in agreement with his statement, trying not to focus on the guitarist’s flexing arms: for all of Caleb’s many faults, he had styled Luke perfectly, showing of his arms with a sleeveless tux.

“I had tickets for their show at the Orpheum, my friend… Julie’s mom, used to work there.” Y/N smiled at the memory captured by Julie’s photograph. “I died before I got to go. And when they had played the homecoming dance, I spent most of the night listening to the from the bathrooms because my cousin ate a bad hot dog… And then I got to the afterlife, and despised Trevor Wilson for no reason I… I figured it out when my memories came back: he stole my favourite band’s songs…” Luke let her ramble on, unable to contain the smile as she slowly found her way to a conclusion. “You know, he even stole a song called ‘My Name is Luke’, which was written by the band’s lead guitarist, in fact he wrote all their… music…” She slowed, and Luke took a step closer.

“Dreaming like we’ll live forever, but living like it’s now or never.” He sang softly to her, Y/N covering over her mouth in shock.

“You…” She began, laughing at her own stupidity. “You, and Reggie and Alex… You were Sunset Curve… How…” She took a few steps back and laughed again. “How is it possible that I accidentally like the same guy dead that I had a crush on alive?! How does that work? I swear this is Rosalee’s twisted way of finally getting me to that conce-”

“So you do like me, then?” Luke interrupted, Y/N falling silent, her cheeks tinted pink from the heat rising to them. “You know, I was kind of getting mixed signals with the whole working for the bad guy thing.” He took a step closer to her, and another, until their toes were inches apart.

“Was Crooked Teeth about Reggie?” She asked, giggling after hearing the bassist shout ‘hey!’ from the other side of the door, which cause Luke to chuckle and nod in response. “Sorry about the whole bad person thing… I haven’t been myself for… The past twenty five years?”

“You know… If you aren’t otherwise engaged.” Luke smiled. “I think the band could definitely use another Phantom.” He offered, their eyes travelling to the windows to see Julie and the guys vigorously nodding in agreement.

“Do you really want me around?” She asked, hearing ‘of course!’ being shouted from inside, and she grinned. “If I said yes…” She began, but she already heard Julie cheering, and knew the decision had been made for her, not that she minded. “Luke?” She asked, looking up into his eyes as he smiled down at her.

“Yes, Y/N?”

“Do you want me around?” She asked, this time referring to Luke instead of the band.

In response, Luke pulled her close by the waist and pressed his lips to hers gently, answering her question quite definitively. Her hands pulled him closer by his shirt, rising to her tiptoes to meet his lips. As they broke the kiss, breathing heavy for a second, Luke lifted her up in his arms, pressing his lips to hers again as she laughed, the pair spinning the warm glow of the patio string lights.

As Y/N and Luke were joined by their band mates and Willie under the stars, and as Julie hugged, really hugged, Y/N for the first time, everything felt right in the world again. They all knew this was only the first hurdle they’d face, all aware that danger lurked around every corner. The group’s trials were far from over, but that night, it didn’t matter.

Looking up at those stars, knowing somewhere Rose was watching down on all of them, they all knew that no matter what came their way, they would face it together rather than alone. As Alex pulled Willie close, as Julie and Reggie hugged each other, and as Luke’s hand laced itself with Y/N’s, it became clear that whatever was waiting for them next...

They would face it as a family.

Tags: @im-a-writer-right @elioelioeli0 @jenjen889 @walkingonshunshine @parkeret @lolychu @leahstypewriter @j-mar-memester @sunsetcurve-h @musicconversedance @gracefulpenguin @shae-is-not-ok @talksoprettyjjx @smol-book-nerd @lord-of-the-fried @siennanoelle01 @deadpoolgirl23 @theatricalfangirl @deepsleepnat @hhyunj1n @lovesanimals @oswin05 @ifilwtmfc @crappy-unicorn @eries45 @noncannonships @tenaciousperfectionunknown @theorangestofjuices @oopsiedoopsie23 @elephants-bubbles-brachosauruses @aesthetic-lyss @voguesir @michellebarista @caitsymichelle13 @bellero @marinettepotterandplagg @delicatelukepatterson @avengersgirllorianna @cordeliascrown @wtfkie @aberette13 @xpolinax @kaylinfayezink @carleywhittaker @mightnight-dream

#luke patterson #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson x y/n #jatp luke x reader #jatp luke #jatp #julie and the phantoms #fanfiction #fanfic #jatp au #reader insert #the other side of hollywood #luke patterson fluff #fluff #fantom

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twisted-in-wonderland-jay · 3 years

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Confession time! Please make this happen.

I want Rook Hunt to fuck me in the middle of the woods.😏

He’s a dream really! I saw your profile pic on insta and here and knew you were the one I wanted to write this.

I’m kinda sick right now enjoy this till I’m better

OoO this is the first time I’ve written something like this... Sorry it took so long and thanks for the request. Glad to see a Rook lover after chapter 5

The fast thud of shoes and the wind blowing against the bushes was present, but you couldn’t think straight and all you knew was to run and fast. You brushed against the brushes at a rushed turn, without paying attention you could feel the burn from the friction. You cursed to yourself and slowed down to a stop against a tree. You looked around and sniffed around, looking around cautiously. Bugs jittering and birds chirps were all that sounded to your ears outside of the sound of your heart. Was he far enough away he wouldn’t see? He did have good eyesight… You heard bushes move. Your heartbeat fastened, you didn’t know if it was just an animal or if it was him. You hoped it just was an animal you spooked, and it was just a little rabbit.

“All clear” You silently thanked Vil for creating this potion, it heightened your senses, (he hadn’t made it for you) so you had a fair chance against the Predator who was chasing you. “Damn why did I agree to this...I’ve been running forever.” You stood up from the tree and walked out a couple of steps to see if you could see the end of the forest from where you were. The goal was to make it the hour...You heard a break in the wind.

An arrow flew pass you only three centimeters from your head. “t'as trouvé, papillon.~” You looked behind to see an awful (Charming) smile. Time to run! “Run all you want. No matter where you hide, no matter how fast you run. No man or creature can escape me.”

“You almost killed me!” You yelled not looking back to address the one you were talking to. You couldn’t hear running or breathing behind you but you weren’t about to make the same mistake you had just made. As you ran further and further you could faintly hear a voice,

“Je ne manque jamais, I wasn’t aiming for you~” After running for so long your legs tired and you grew dizzy.

Not paying attention, with a thud, you had fallen as something grabbed your foot. You look black to your foot and turn over to release it.

“A TRAP!” You assumed he has set it...But that wasn’t fair! With a small rustling of the brushes next to you, out of the bushes came he.

“Rook” You scooted back but the trap still had a hold of you, you went to release yourself before to looked up to see where Rook was he was kneeling right in front of you like a prince. You jerked back in surprise, you were also relieved that the trap, was just that a trap and didn’t hurt you in the slightest. He threw his bow back, with his quiver.

“No-no-no. Papillon,~ You seem to have fallen” Rook was now crawling towards you and gently grazed your leg with his gloved hand. He was right up to your ear and said, dragging his hand up your leg till he got to your chin, “Je gagne, mon prix ... Je t'emmène, mon petit papillon”. You hadn’t a clue what he said other than the little French he taught you. With the smirk and kiss of your neck, you quickly pieced together the French he spoke ‘Win. Prize. You.’ That’s all you knew. You shivered, but you didn’t know if it was because of his smile, or excitement.

“Let me help you.” Rook released the trap and as you moved to stand, Rook, looked back up at you with a smirk. “Hmm did you think I would just let my prey go?~” Rook picked you up swiftly over the shoulder his bow was opposite of. You haven’t a clue where he was taking you, only that he knew where he was going. The forest got darker and darker till it suddenly got bright. As you looked around he put you down. I saw a pond, and beautiful blooming trees, this was so peaceful who knew that this existed...

There didn’t need to be any words. He stared with a closed big smile and narrowed eyes glinting. He closed his eyes, shaking his head. His feather on his hat following softly. “Putting your jacket on a tree was clever,” he opened one eye smiling more at you. “Les règles sont les règles. One hour, but only three minutes too soon.” he took his hat off, setting it on your head as he moved to unbutton his shirt. “The hunter’s main key to succeeding on capturing the prey is patience, waiting for the prey to fall into their doom” Rook spoke.

Now shirtless and his gloves still on, crawled onto you smirking down at you and eyeing you up. He booped your nose then cupped your cheek softly. “Laisse moi t'embrasser mon papillon?” You nodded as Rook started peppering your face in soft kisses and trailing down to your neck as he moved to unbutton your uniform.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited,” he said into your ear. You squirm underneath him as he slides his knee between your legs, “Est-ce que ça fait du bien”.

“Are you willing you give me my prize?” Once again you nodded. Soon after you crumble as he slipped his hand down your underwear touching you. You let out a small moan unable to speak as he moved to take your pants, and underwear off. He unbuttoned his pants and took them off. He shifted your position to lay you on your back while he held your thighs up He grinding against you, “Tu fais merveilleux,”.

He leaned forward kissing the top of your head while you clutched him. Rook held your hips with his hands. Finally having a taste of the prey before him. He worships your body, kissing every spot that he can reach. Then Rook slid his cock in slowly, letting you get adjusted. His breath hot in your ear as he nipped your ear. Rook grinned down at the sight of you, face flushed, kissing you until you thought you’d run out of air. Going slow and deep. Moving your hips with Rooks as best as you could even in your tired body from running. He gave a last few deep thrusts as he kissed your collarbone. He swore he could hear your heartbeat. He gave a few slower and deep thrusts before cumming inside you, feeling you cum on his cock he couldn’t go any further either.

Panting as he pressed a quick kiss to your lips as slid his cock out.

Je t'aime, petit papillon

#twisted wonderland #pomefiore #rook hunt

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a-bang-for-your-bucky · 3 years

Text

Playin' With Fire

Summary: Dani has moved in with Will and Benny Miller. One night they throw a party and she finally gets to meet the final Special Ops teammate, Frankie. There is an obvious connection between the two, but what happens when life throws a roadblock in the way of them being together?

A/N: So here it is. My first ever Frankie fic, my first ever Pedro Character fic, my first ever fic that has all the parts completed. I would like to say a BIG thank you to @221bshrlocked for the mood board because hers is TEN times better than any of mine were. Each part will have their own warnings. Translations will be at the end of every chapter, let me know if any of them are wrong. Also let me know if I've missed any warnings. Y'all forgive me if my writing is crap.

Warning: Explicit language, mentions of someone getting handsy, um dirty dancing?, mentions of sex.

Word Count: 4,205

It was a warm summer day, Benny’s birthday to be exact. Will had decided to throw a party at their house for him. Will had mentioned that their childhood friend, who they called ‘Tequila’ just moved in with them. Frankie had shown up early to help Will assemble the new grill he had gotten. He never expected for his entire life to be flipped upside down.

He knocked on Will’s front door three times before it swung open and there she stood. Dirty blonde hair that hung just below her breasts, eyes so blue it put the sky to shame. He was sure he looked like a damned fool, mouth agape, probably catching flies. Then she smiled, and Frankie’s heart beat faster than ever thought possible.

“Hey, you must be Catfish. Will told me he was expecting you.” She greets him and her voice sounds like a fucking angel. There was no way that she wasn’t messing around with Benny. She looked just like his type.

“I’m Dani, Will and Ben’s roommate, but everyone calls me Tequila.” Frankie groans internally, he was so screwed. She opens the door a little more and moves out of the way. “Will’s in the backyard.” She points through the house.

Frankie hurried past her and mumbled a “Thank you”. Frankie’s eyes were trained to the floor as he briskly walked toward the kitchen and out into the backyard.

“Fish!” Will bellowed with a huge smile on his face. “I guess Tequila let you in.” The two men embraced in a bro-hug. Frankie nodded, moving over to where Will had the grill pieces laid out.

“She did. You never mentioned your new roommate was a woman and hot.” Frankie responded, looking over the directions. “You know man, you pay like fifty extra bucks and they put this shit together for you.”

It took Frankie and Will three fucking hours to put the grill together. By the end of the last hour, Frankie was cursing Will, telling him he’d never help him do something like this again; Although, they both knew that was a lie. The two men walked into the kitchen, where Dani was prepping the steaks for dinner. “Finally done, boys? I threw a couple of buds in the fridge for y’all.” She chuckled as the back door opened.

Frankie knew he shouldn’t, but walking up to the fridge, he couldn’t help but steal a gaze at her back side. The shorts she was wearing left almost nothing to the imagination. Her tanned legs seemed like they went on for days. Her feet clad in converses, which made Frankie laugh, because who wears those any more.

Dani heard the laughter and turned around, seeing Frankie looking at her feet. "My shoes funny to you, Catfish?" She asked, with a playful smile on her face.

Frankie's head shot up. " No, no. I love Chuck Taylors as much as the next person. It just surprises me that people still wear them." He explained himself, hoping she didn't catch him staring at her ass, too. Frankie opened the fridge and grabbed two beers, before asking her if she wanted one. She shook her head, stating she doesn't drink beer. Frankie wondered what that meant, and handed the other beer to Will who watched the scene unfold in front of him with a smirk on his face.

There was about an hour to kill before everyone showed up to celebrate Benny's birthday. "The steaks should marinate for at least another half hour." Dani explained to Will, "And make sure you don't burn 'em this time, Ironhead." She teased him, and he threw a hand over his heart, feigning that it was broken. The two went about the kitchen prepping side dishes for the night.

Frankie was outside, trying to figure out why the grill wouldn't light and he was sure Will fucked something up. He couldn't help but wonder what Tequila and his friend were talking about.

Dani turned to her best friend, "So, what's Catfish's story?" She asked, twiddling her fingers. Will looked at her with a raised brow.

"Frankie? Why?" Will questioned her teasingly. Blush covered her cheeks and she averted her eyes to the floor.

"I dunno. He seems sweet." She replied and Will smirked, giving her a knowing look. "Will, stop it. All I said was he seems sweet." She playfully smacked the other blonde.

"Well, Ironhead. I figured out what you fucked up." Frankie's voice boomed as he opened the back door. He noticed that the two were talking and apologized for interrupting.

"It's fine, Frankie." Dani smiled, "What did this dumbass do now?" Frankie realized that was the first time she said his real name, and it was the greatest thing he has ever heard.

Frankie turned to Ironhead. "Maldito idiota. You forgot to connect the gas line. The whole place could have gone up." Will's eyes almost popped out of his head.

Tequila turned to Ironhead. "What the fuck, Will?!" She screeched. Will threw his hands up in defense.

"I'm sorry. I got distracted." He tried to save his ass. "I swear I connected it."

Frankie and Tequila rolled their eyes. "Well, I hope your girl of the week knows she almost killed us." Tequila groaned and walked outside, knowing exactly what was keeping Will distracted. Frankie just shook his head and followed her.

"Hey," he started as he walked up to her at the cooler. She gave him an acknowledging nod as she pulled a bottle of tequila out. "Oh. Is it time for the hard stuff,already? Una chica después de mi propio corazón." The spanish rolled off of Frankie's tongue and Dani could have fallen over.

She would never admit it to anyone, but she had a thing for languages. Or maybe she just had a thing for Frankie and his Spanish. She wasn't sure which. "Yeah, well after finding out your best friend almost killed you for a few nudes from his fling of the week, tequila seems appropriate." She forced a laugh. Frankie definitely caught on that she described Will as her best friend and that he was having flings.

Frankie nodded in agreement. "So, is this why they call you Tequila?" He tried to change the subject, pointing to the bottle of Patrón. She shook her head 'no'. Before she could tell him, Will stuck his head out the door, yelling that Santiago was here.

"Santi!" Tequila squealed, rushing to the door, and she missed the look on Frankie's face. It was a mix between hurt and confusion. How did she know Santiago when Frankie had no idea she existed? Frankie groaned and walked toward the house to greet his friend.

Dani had already made it inside and was wrapped in an embrace with Pope. “Fuck,” Pope groaned with a smile as Dani jumped into him. “Hey, Tequila.” He hugged her tightly.

“Look here, jerkface,” She said as they separated, “Next time you hook up with one of my friends and leave me to deal with her crying, I’m kicking your ass.” She poked him in the chest to get her point across.

Santiago just hung his head and mumbled a “yes ma’am” before Frankie caught his eye. “Lo que hasta hermano” He greeted one of his oldest friends. He looked at Dani and mouthed “help me” to Frankie, earning another poke from the blonde girl.

“Estás solo, hermano. Ella da miedo.” Frankie smiled, pointing to Tequila. She huffed and crossed her arms.

“Oh, fuck you guys. I’m fluent in Spanish. Deja de hablar mierda de mi.” The words rolled off her tongue with ease and Frankie almost lost his shit right there. Lucky for him, Will broke up the tension.

“Benny just texted me, he will be here in twenty. Tom is bringing Molly and will be here in about fifteen.” Dani excused herself to go get ready, claiming she wasn’t presentable for a party. If it had been up to Frankie, she wouldn’t have changed at all. He found himself excited when she came back about fifteen minutes later in the same shorts, shoes, and a cropped Guns-n-Roses t-shirt.

The party was in full swing. The seven of them were gathered around the fire pit. The group was too many drinks in and knew they would be crashing here. Thankfully Benny and Will had the room.

“So, Dani. Why do they call you Tequila?” Molly had asked and Will and Benny started laughing. Dani just shook her head. Benny answered before she could.

“Because Dani can knock you on your ass with one good shot, just like Tequila. Trust me, I know.” He explained, speaking from experience. Molly looked at her with wide eyes and she just shrugged.

“I bartended my way through college. Sometimes an asshole would get too handsy. It paid off to have two protective guys who taught me how to throw a good punch. Plus, I really like tequila.” She winked at Frankie, referencing their conversation earlier in the day, taking a sip of her tequila sunrise. She made a face, realizing it had watered down. “I’m going for another, anyone else need one?” She offered and everyone raised an empty bottle.

She got up from her chair and turned toward the house. Frankie got up too, “I’ll help you,” he offered, ignoring the whistle Santi let out. He was clearly feeling good. Frankie flipped him a quick bird and continued into the house.

Inside, Dani was already grabbing bottles out of the fridge, mumbling about how they have already almost finished off their stock. “Oh, here” Frankie started, leaning on the counter. Dani closed the door, turning her attention to the man beside her. “Let me help.” He said, taking the bottles out of her hands, seeing her struggle to hold them all. “Can I ask you something?” Frankie gets the words out before he changes his mind. She hmms in response.

“How have we never met? I mean you obviously know Santi.” He takes his hat off to run a hand through his hair. Dani smiled at the sight of his hair all disheveled.

“I’ve been asking myself that all night. You do seem to be the better of the bunch.” She flirted, hoping he would return the gesture and he did.

“You are definitely not what I was expecting when Will said they had a roommate.” He smiled, leaning a little closer to her. Dani noticed and moved closer herself. Before they could cross that line, they were startled apart by a very inebriated Benny.

“Tequila!” Their drunk friend slurred, “Wha’re you ‘n fish doin’? Cat, you hittin’ on my girl?” He tried to be serious, but Benny stumbled over his own feet into Frankie.

“Woah, Benny. Careful.” Frankie caught him and set him up right. Dani laughed, he always was a lightweight.

“We were just about to bring the drinks out.” She says, grabbing the bottles off the counter, leaving a couple for Frankie to carry.

Back outside, Dani and Molly danced to whatever music Will had playing. “Yeah!” by Usher came on and Molly squealed that she loves this song. “Dance with me, Tequila!” She pulls her closer and Dani lets her, the alcohol clearly gone to her head. The two girls are all but grinding on each other. Tom quickly gets up, knocking his chair backwards. He takes Dani’s place dancing with Molly, grumbling something she would never repeat in public.

Frankie wanted nothing more than to join her now that she was dancing alone, but Santi beat him to the punch. “Baila conmigo, cariño.” He whispered in her ear and she giggled. Frankie wished it had been him to get that noise out of her. Dani shook her head and pushed Santi away.

“Solo en tus sueños, playboy.” She responded and it was Frankie’s turn to laugh. Dani walked away from Santi over to where Frankie sat. “Dance with me, Frankie?” She asked sweetly. How could Frankie say no?

He followed her just as a Def Leppard flowed through the speakers. She began moving her body to the beat of “Pour some sugar on me”. Frankie did his best to keep up with her, but he kept losing concentration, especially when her ass connected with his crotch one to many times. His hands instinctively went to her hips and pulled her closer. “Joder, princesa. Tienes que parar antes de que pierda el control.” He groaned into her neck where only she could hear him.

She turned to face him, throwing her arms around his neck to pull herself closer. “Tal vez eso es exactamente lo que quiero.” She purred in his ear.

The sun beamed through Dani’s window way too early the next morning. She groaned and rolled away from the penetrating light. As she turned, her hand hit a warm body and it elicited a groan. “Too early.”

Dani’s eyes shot open, trying to see who was beside her. Looking around, she realized that she was not in her room, but instead in Will’s. “Will?” She questioned, berating herself for going this far with her best friend. The other person threw the blanket off their head and Dani let out a sigh of relief. Seeing Frankie took the weight off of her shoulders.

“Hermosa, did you just call me Will?” Frankie asked, sleep thick in his voice. Dani was so embarrassed.

“Sorry, fish. I opened my eyes and saw that we were in Will’s room. What the fuck happened last night?” Dani questioned the man beside her as she sat up to assess the room. She looked around for any indication that something transpired between them last night.

“Trust me, Tequila. You’d know if we slept together.” Frankie sighed, as he swiped a hand over his face. Cocky much, Dani thought; However, he was right, she didn’t feel like she had sex. “I need coffee.” He griped, throwing his legs off the bed and standing up. Dani caught him out of the corner of her eye. He had on sweats and no shirt. She turned her head, shamelessly checking him out, before he pulled his shirt on. “Take a picture, Teq.” He laughed and she threw a pillow at him.

Dani forced herself out of the bed too, happy to see her drunk self had put on decent pajamas. The two padded into the kitchen as quietly as possible. They had passed Santi and Ben passed out on the couches.

“Where are Molly and Tom?” Dani whispered to Frankie and he just shrugged. Frankie rummaged through the kitchen searching for the coffee. “Teq, where are the filters?” He yawned, holding up the coffee can.

“Shit, we might be out.” Frankie whined at her answer. “Come on. There’s a coffee shop within walking distance.” She continued, heading towards her room. She opened the door and found out where Molly and Tom were. “Holy shit!” she gasped and immediately turned around. Frankie heard her outburst and rushed over to her, seeing the same sight as her, Molly perched on Tom’s lap, moving in an obvious way.

“Jesus,” Frankie said, covering his eyes.

“I’m just gonna borrow some clothes from Benny.” Dani said walking away and closing her door. Once in Benny’s room, they found Will sound asleep. Dani quickly picked up some sweats and a tee from Benny’s drawer. “I’ll be right out.” She told Frankie as she entered Benny’s bathroom.

When she emerged, she had dressed and her blonde locks were haphazardly thrown into a bun. Frankie loved this look on her. She was just as beautiful as she was last night, and this looked more natural on her. “You’re staring, Catfish.” She teased him, “Let’s go get coffee before anyone else wakes up.”

The walk to the coffee shop was a pleasant one. It was about 7am and the North Carolina humidity hadn’t set in yet. Frankie and Dani chit-chatted the whole way. She had learned that he had met the guys while in the service. He joined right after high school, just like them. He was their pilot. His favorite color is black, and that is exactly how he likes his coffee. He drives the same chevy he got on his 18th birthday, and has no intentions of getting rid of it because “she still purrs like a kitten”.

He learned a lot about Dani, too. Her favorite color is purple. She likes her coffee with just cream. She met Benny first, since they were the same age. She is an only child, so Ben and Will are basically her older brothers. She just finished her residency at the county hospital and is getting ready to take her boards. She absolutely loves 80’s hair bands and country music, but has a soft spot for R&B and rap.

They were nice enough to get coffee for everyone, even though Tom and Molly seemed to have enough energy this morning. “I have to buy a new mattress now.” Dani cringed at the thought of what Molly and Tom were doing.

They got back to the house to see that everyone was now awake, and fully clothed. Dani gave Tom and Molly a dirty look and they both apologized, confusing everyone else in the room. Frankie started handing out the coffees, getting mumbled “thank yous” from the group.

“Are those my clothes?” Benny asked, gesturing to Dani. She nodded and proceeded to tell everyone why she had to wear Benny’s clothes.

“Holy shit. You need a new mattress now.” Will snorted, his face drawing up in disgust.

Dani laughed, “That’s exactly what I told Frankie!” Molly’s face was beet red and Tom just hung his head. “Awh, come on, guys. We’re just kidding. Although, I do need a new mattress.” She tried to lighten the mood.

Frankie quietly sipped his coffee, trying to figure out if he should ask Dani out on a date. They’ve only known each other for a day and Frankie can’t imagine his life without her, even just as a friend.

What seemed like hours passed and the group slowly trickled down until it was just Benny, Dani, and Frankie. Benny was the next to leave, loudly saying he was going to take a nap and for Frankie to behave himself. Frankie just shook his head at his friend.

“I guess I should be heading out soon.” Frankie sighed, not wanting to leave. Dani nodded, trying not to look disappointed.

Frankie scooted closer to where she was sitting on the couch, lifting her outstretched legs over his. The two sat in silence, purely enjoying each other’s company. “Fish,” Dani started, “You wanna get dinner sometime?” She asked, biting her lip nervously. Frankie looked at her, shocked, that she asked first.

“I would be damn stupid to say no.”

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. Dani and Frankie had become best friends. Even through all of the flirting, they never crossed that line. Dani was working at the hospital, and Frankie was back on rotation at the airport. He was gone most days, but he was due to come back for a short time.

Frankie was ready to be back home. He loved flying, but now he had something worth being on the ground for. He had called Dani before his last flight left, telling her he would be back by 9am the next day.

Like clockwork, Frankie was knocking on the door at the Miller Party House™ by 9:30am. Dani begrudgingly dragged herself out of bed and threw on her robe. She scurried toward the door, pulling it open to reveal Frankie with a bouquet of sunflowers. Frankie laughed, “No need to get dressed up querida, it's just me.” He teased her.

Dani pulled him into the house and hugged him tight. “Fish! I can’t believe you’re here.” She said sleepily. Frankie smiled at her tiredness. She just looked so damn cute in her fuzzy robe and bed head. “Give me thirty and I’ll be ready.” She yawned as he released her from his hold.

He watched her pad her way down the hall to her room, his smile never leaving his face. He made his way to the kitchen, knowing where everything was, he started a pot of coffee. Even though they were going for breakfast, he knew she would want a cup to-go.

True to her word, thirty minutes later, Dani emerged from her room, dressed in distressed jean and a black T-shirt. Her hair was thrown into a messy bun, her signature go to. She walked into the kitchen where Frankie just finished making her cup of coffee.

“Just the way you like it.” He promised with a wink, as he handed her the cup. She happily accepted the hot beverage. Taking her first sip, she moaned at the heavenly taste.

“You are the best, Cat.” She murmured, walking past him, only stopping to place a sweet kiss to his cheek. She all but inhaled the drink, before she slid her feet into her trusty converses. The two made their way outside and climbed into Frankie’s Chevy.

The drive to their usual diner, Luanne’s, was a short one, but it was filled with laughter. Frankie was at his happiest when Dani was with him. They pulled into the parking lot, Frankie backing his truck into ‘his’ spot. He hopped out of the cab, rushing to the passenger side, so that he could open Dani’s door.

“Who says chivalry is dead?” She joked as the door opened and Frankie held out a hand for her to take. She gladly accepted it and slipped out of the truck. The two walked hand in hand to the door. Frankie pulled it open to see Luanne standing behind the counter.

“Well look what the cat dragged in! I ain’t seen you two in a hot minute.” She greeted them, not bothering to get menus because they always ordered the same thing. “Your usual booth is open, go on and take a seat. I’ll get the coffee.”

Frankie and Dani mumbled a “thank you” in unison as they moved toward the back of the restaurant. Just as they were getting comfortable, Luanne walked up with a thermal carafe and two coffee cups. “What have y’all been up to?” she asked, sitting down the coffee and some cutlery.

“I just got back into town.” Frankie explained, “Had to drag this one out of bed.” He laughed as Dani stuck her tongue out at him.

“Well I’ve been taking extra shifts at the hospital. I think I’ve earned the right to sleep in.” She shot back at him with a smile.

“Y’all are the cutest. What are we getting today? The usuals?” She didn’t need to ask, she already knew. They nodded. “ Alrighty then. Coming up darlin’s.” Luanne walked away, leaving them to each other.

“So, extra shifts at the hospital?” Frankie asked her as he poured coffee, sliding her a cup.

“Yeah. Residency is kicking my ass. I’m trying not to fall behind.” she told him. “I take my boards in a week and I’ve logged almost no time in neuro.” She sighed. She didn’t want to go into neurosurgery, but she still needed the hours.

“You are going to be the best damn trauma surgeon Memorial has ever seen.” Frankie promised her, “And if they can’t see that, then fuck 'em.” He smiled at her. Luanne brought them their breakfast and they halted their conversation.

When they were done eating, Frankie insisted on paying, telling her she could get it next time. They left the diner and went back to Dani’s place. “You have me for the day, hermosa. What do you wanna do?” Frankie asked her. Dani tapped her pointer finger to her chin, pretending to think.

“I believe we have a show to catch up on, Morales. Seeing as I can’t watch it without you.” She teased him. “You grab the snacks, I’ll get the drinks, and get Hulu up.” He nodded in agreement and they separated.

When Frankie entered her room, she had blankets and pillows set up in a mock fort on the bed. How she did it so fast, he will never know, but he isn’t complaining. The two settled down and turned on ‘Sons of Anarchy’.

The show was gruesome and Dani hated watching it without Frankie. “Hey, fish?” She started, “Doesn’t Jax look a lot like Will? I mean, if he had long hair?” She asked, and Frankie studied the screen.

“Nah, I don’t see it.” They laughed and continued watching. She wasn’t sure how many episodes they watched, but she looked over and Frankie had fallen asleep. She closed the laptop, moving off the extra pillows, and covered Frankie with a blanket. His signature hat was falling off his head and she set it on her nightstand.

Dani sat there on her bed, looking at her best friend sound asleep. He looked peaceful. His face smooth of the worry lines he normally sported. His curly hair in disarray. She couldn’t help but smile. In that moment, she knew there was nowhere else she’d rather be. She curled herself up in the bed next to him, where she drifted into a relaxing slumber.

Translations:

Maldito idiota - Fucking Idiot

Lo que hasta hermano - What’s up brother

Estás solo, hermano. Ella da miedo - You’re alone, brother. She’s scary.

Deja de hablar mierda de mi. - Stop talking shit about me

Baila conmigo, cariño. - Dance with me, honey

Solo en tus sueños, playboy - In your dreams, playboy

Joder, princesa. Tienes que parar antes de que pierda el control. - Damn it, Princess. Stop before I lose control.

Tal vez eso es exactamente lo que quiero - Maybe that’s exactly what I want.

Hermosa- beautiful

Querida - Dear

#kat writes #triple frontier #frankie morales #frankie catfish morales #santiago garcia #santiago pope garcia #pedro pascal #oscar issac #frankie x ofc #santiago x ofc

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fandomnetworks · 4 years

Text

MILK RUN

PART 1

Summary: As you’re getting used to your new apartment, our favorite DEA agents are assigned to check up on you from time to time. Only, one of the DEA agents is nicer than the other.

Pairing: Javier Peña x Reader

Word Count: 2K

Carrillo knocked on the open door that led into your brother's office, the president's office. He stepped in without pausing for a reply, you lingering behind him.

Your brother sat behind his desk while two towering men hovered over him. One of them was a tall white man with a mustache, his left hand running through his air. The other man was tanner; a distinct mustache also cemented on top of his upper lip. The three seemed to be entertained with papers across the desk.

All three gazed towards the door. First, they saw Carrillo, his broad body obstructing your view. But then you pushed to the side, "Y/n!" Cesar stood up and dumped the papers that were in his hands. He passed Carrillo and gave you a lasting hug. In return, you hugged him but not as lovingly, irritated at him since he had you caged in like a bird.

Once he let go, he glanced back at both men who were staring at your interactions, "Muchahos, this is my sister, Y/n." Cesar made his way to his desk.

Both men acquainted themselves as Steve Murphy and Javier Peña. You noted that both men were handsome, but Steve had a band occupying his left ring finger.

"Hi," You timidly smiled at both men, feeling all eyes on you, "can I talk to you?" You directed Cesar, not knowing what else to say.

"First, I need to settle some things," He motioned for the four of you to take a seat in front of his desk.

Once settled, Cesar began his speech, "As we all know, Escobar's men have been abducting high ranking women for a while now. My sister is one of them." You rolled your eyes and achieved a chuckle from Murphy. "But now that Escobar is in prison, I think it time to loosen the chains."

You liked where this was going, "Wait, you're saying I ca-"

Your brother lifted his hand, trying to silence you, "I have made some arrangements, and with an empty apartment in the same building as these men. Noonan agreed that the two of you" he looked at the DEA agents, "should check up on Y/n from time to time."

His words were music to your ears.

Freedom.

Freedom to an extent, but it was still freedom.

Some rules were laid out, but it was nothing you couldn't manage. One of the main things that stuck out was that you couldn't go out in the evening unless Peña or Murphy took you or one of Carrillo's men.

Standing up, you went over to your brother's desk and hugged him, a little more festive than when you had first entered, whispering a heartfelt thank you.

In the interim, the other men stood up and discussed among themselves while you wrapped up your conversation with Cesar.

It had been a week since you relocated into the new apartment. It took approximately three full days to unpack and furnish your new home. Steve had been the only one to come check up on you every night before he went to his apartment to Connie. Connie had become a close friend of yours. Multiple times a day, you would both visit each others' apartments. The two of you would chat about life back in America, what you missed the most, and really just talking about anything. Her adoptive daughter, Olivia, had taken a liking to you as well; she'd give you her toys whenever you'd go over.

Tonight you knew for a fact that Connie and Steve were going out on a date, and Steve wouldn't be doing his daily routine to come check up on you.

You hadn't seen Peña since you last visited your brother, and you didn't expect him to be coming. You and Connie had gone earlier to get some sweet bread, but as the night rolled in, you noted there was no milk to go alongside.

No one would notice you left your house at 8, right?

You picked up your purse and keys and walked out of the building, only going to the convenience store down the store. You'd grab milk and some eggs for tomorrow's breakfast, and slip back into your apartment as if nothing happened.

You passed by a few stores and restaurants in order to reach the convenience store.

----

Javier Peña sat at a bar, drinking away his thoughts, a beautiful woman on his right. He and she knew well how the night would end. She would be in his bed by midnight and be gone before sunrise. He should be ashamed of these habits, but in reality, he found comfort when there were women in his bed. For just those few hours, there was nothing but the lucky lady and him.

Peña happened to look up towards the bar's entrance, see your face passing by, and your hair flowing behind you. He didn't think much as he stood up in a fury. He and Murphy did not just spend a whole week trying to keep you safe, only for you to break one of the only rules your brother put in place.

Peña laid some money on the bar and walked off, apologizing to the woman for the abrupt absence.

He silently followed behind you, making sure to make no noise. He noticed you were walking with a light step to your feet. The creamy silk blouse that wrapped around your back was loose as it swayed with the soft wind of the night. He was gaining ground, and now he was just a few feet behind you. You were oblivious to what was happening behind you, which only made Peña even more enraged.

He was three feet away...then two...he was just inches away now.

----

You felt someone push your body up against the brick wall, your face being slapped onto it, and your hand being twisted behind your back. A sharp yelp left your lips, and your heart didn't know how to handle the adrenaline. It was beating as fast as it ever had, and you felt like it would collapse at any minute.

"What are you doing out?" A gruff voice asked as he leaned against you. His face near your ear, giving you goosebumps. You could smell alcohol in his words.

You recognized the manly voice but from where?

"Answer." He tighten his grip on your forearm, waiting for a reply.

Then it hit you, "Peña?" You tried turning to look at his face, but only until he loosened his grip could you entirely turn and look at the man. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" You shoved his chest to try and get some space between the two of you.

He was quiet, waiting for your reply to his previous question. His nostrils flared and his eyes fixated on you/

You huffed and walked away, not wanting to deal with the DEA agent.

Peña followed you silently, not uttering another word.

You passed a few more stores before reaching the desired one and walked in, Peña a few feet away. Going straight towards the refrigerators at the end of the store, you went to open the door, but Peña beat you to it. His body was brushing up against yours as he grabbed the handle, opening it for you.

"Uh, thank you." You reached for the milk, turned behind, and realized how much closer he was then you expected.

Due to the nervousness you felt being watched by Peña so closely, you forgot about the eggs and went straight to pay. You placed the pint of milk on the counter and pulled your purse towards you in order to pay but were surprised to see Peña pull his wallet faster and handed the change to the elderly lady.

"Mira que bonita pareja! (Look, what a lovely couple!)" The lady said, handing Peña the change.

"No seño, ni me gusta. (No ma'am, I don't even like him)" You tried laughing the awkwardness off and looked at Peña to see an emotionless stare looking back at you. He picked up the carton and thanked her before walking back to the apartment.

During the walk, Peña led in front of you, waiting for you often when your short steps couldn't catch up to his long strides. The walk was so silent; you swear you could hear the faint music of a party that was going on, on the other side of town.

In a few short minutes, you were back in the building and heading up the stairs. You expected Peña to depart to his apartment next to yours or go back to whatever hellhole he climbed out of. But to your astonishment, he remained behind you as you fumbled with the keys until you obtained the right one.

Once inside, Peña set the milk on the counter and looked at you. "You went out for some fucking milk?" He bombarded, letting what he had inside out. "You risked your life for fucking milk?" His long steps reached you, where you still stood at the doorway.

"Fuck off." You stepped to the side and walked into the kitchen.

"Y/n!" He grabbed your forearm for the second time that night. You hated to admit it, but his cologne alongside the sweat he had accumulated throughout the day gave off the best odor you have ever smelled your whole life. If it weren't for how rude he was, you would have leaned in closer to get a better smell.

You took a second to question your thoughts. You just admitted to yourself you would smell Peña. What the fuck were you? A dog? Maybe you should ask Carrillo to formally invite you to work alongside the canines during a raid.

Plus, you would not be thinking about him like that.

"Are you even listening to me?" You jogged your train of thought back to the present and saw a red-faced Peña standing in front of you.

"I wanted milk, sorry." Your sarcastic tone did not help ease Peña's anger. "Why the hell do you care so much, anyway?" Going to one of the cabinet's you got a cup and filled it with the milk.

He gave a heavy sigh and began to walk towards the door, "Just don't go out again, ok?"

You offered him a tight grin and watched his body retreat towards the door.

Just as he was about to leave, a voicemail on the receiver was left,

"Listen, little girl, next time you leave me waiting like you did tonight, I will kill you. Do you understand? I will fucking kill you."

You closed your eyes shut, hoping in God's name Peña was too far to overhear it.

"Who the fuck is that?" Peña came striding into the room again, his face fixated on anger, his jaw tighten as he waited for a reply. His eyes were tired but thoroughly scanning your face for any sign of distress or upsetness.

You opened your eyes and made eye contact with Peña, but soon looked down shamefully. You twirled the cup of milk in your hands, "He's someone I used to go to school with, back in la prepa. I thought I'd give him a second chance." You went digging inside the paper bag that contained the sweet bread. "Turns out, he's still a prick." You looked up to see his eyes trained on you, hoping you'd elaborate.

For a few seconds, the two of you just stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

Breaking the silence, his first question was, "Does he know where you live?" His voice was laced with less anger this time.

"He knows where my last apartment was. I highly doubt he knows I'm here now."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" There he goes, raising his voice for the millionth time that night.

"He's a nobody, that's why. He's just doing it for attention. We met up a few days ago, but I realized he's the same guy as before. He hasn't changed. When he asked me on another date, I felt bad to say no, so I agreed. But I never planned to go." You took your bread and milk in your hands and walked towards the dining table. "I guess I pushed the wrong buttons."

PART 3

lmk if you want to be added to the list:

luvzoria

#Javier Peña x reader #Javier pena x reader #narcos #narcos imagines #Pedro pascal x reader #Pedro pascal #horacio carrillo #Horacio carrillo x reader

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pairofmelaninkweens · 3 years

Text

La Loteria: Hinata ShoyoxBokuto KaturouxSakusa KiyoomixOC BY: Aztec Brujeria

CW: Gagging, Strapon, Multipartner, M/M/M/F, Polyamorous, Double Penitration, Oral

Please pay heed to the wanings of this page...Minors DNI!

Introducing New OC Ava

Ava, MSBY team physican, had planned to lift and prepare for her powerlifting competition when she ran into her friend Kit. Seeing that Kit wanted some alone time with Atsumu Ava took the boys of her hands. A sleepover fueled by a game of shots and strip loteria leads to an eventful night...

Ava was winding down in her office and putting the last touches on the MSBY team travel health records for their away games next week. Vaccines for the pandemic? Check. Updated physicals? Check. Submitted reports to the visa office for the team? Check. She stretched her arms overhead feeling relief when her lower back popped, “I still need to lift tonight...I’ve got a competition in a month.” She walked around her desk to hang up her lab coat and stethoscope and collected her bags, “I’ll record notes at home tonight I guess.” She pushed her large glasses up her nose and blew a tendril of black hair out of her mismatched eyes, one blue and one green encased in thick raven lashes, that had escaped the messy space buns she always wore. She was five feet tall and curvy with caramel-colored skin and thick natural red lips. She competed in powerlifting for fun outside of work and always had a good time out lifting Kotaro, “Stay calm Bo...remember you get a prize.” She grabbed her keys and jacket and headed out the door. Humming to herself she locked the office and turned to head to the locker room to change and get her quick workout in.

She ran into Kit chewing the boys out when Ava smiled wide and called out, “¡QUE PASO!” Kit turned and smiled, Atsumu following behind her, “Hey pendejo, Hermana, what are you chewing out the boys for?” Kit had a small vein of annoyance pop out of her head, “I’m trying to have some quality time with Tsumtsum, but the boys have other plans.” Ave looked around them and saw Bo kicking his toe at the ground, Shoyo talking to Omi, and Omi uninterested looking directly at her. “Ah, I can see that, tell you what...WHO WANTS HOMEMADE MEXICAN FOOD AND TEQUILA?!” Ava watched as Kit’s eyes lit up and Tsumu just dumbfounded. “I’ll take them off your hand’s chica! I gotcha.” Bo bounded down the hall and came up to Ava and bear-hugged her and picked her up, while Shoyo and Omi joined in asking for tacos and arroz, “Doc you’re gonna cook fresh tortillas right?” Ava giggling, “Only if you help me. I always get stuck by myself cooking...I should call Samu…” Ava looked at Atsumu dead-eyed and wiggled her eyebrows, he groaned next to Kit, “Hurry before my brother shows up, peaches.” Kit laughed and hugged Tsumu by his waist, “Alright let’s go...you sure you’ll be okay?” Ava being shaken like a rag doll by Bo smiled wickedly, “I’ll be fine...I’ll send ya pictures.” Kit turned with Atsumu and whispered to him, “I’m not gonna lie...Imma need you to be sober to help me in the morning...How she passed and with top marks out of Med school I’ll never know.”

When Ava and the boys finally made it back to her place with the groceries they set to helping her make dinner. Ava snapped a picture of the three beefy boys in her small kitchen mixing dough and rolling tortillas out was a sight to behold, Bo in her little Mexican embroidered apron from her Abuela made her heart squeeze. She set the table and had them sit around and watched as they poured shots out and ate the food they prepared together, “You know boys why don’t we just have a sleepover?” With a full mouth and double fisting tacos Bo lit up and nodded his head in agreement, Shoyo practically jumped around, “Ooo sleepover with our dulce!” Omi took a shot, his cheeks were starting to warm up, and looked at Ava with a smirk, “What game are we playing, Naníta?” Ava smiled wider, showing her small gappy teeth, making her look demonic, “Why La Lotería of course...unless you think you’re going to lose querido?” Ava filled her shot glass and knocked back the tequila dead ass looking at Omi. It was going to be an interesting night when he followed suit and she could feel the competitive tension between the two of them.

As the hours rolled by they had cleaned up and started their game of Lotería and just like she thought Omi was a sore loser. He sat there with Shoyo and Bo in nothing but their boxer briefs and what a sight to behold with all of them chiseled and cut to perfection from them being pros. “Well, well, well...are we ready to play for higher, hiccup, stakes?” Ava had at some point lost her space buns, her thick long wavy hair surrounded her shoulders, she lost her shirt and skirt and sat in her thong and lace bra and thigh-high stockings held up by her garter belt. She lost count of all the texts she sent to Kit but she didn’t care, “What’re higher stakes than this Naníta?” Ava grabbed another shot, these men could never out drink her, “I want to dick down Bo with a ball gag and have you and Shoyo pound me into him...make me cum several times you two.” Ava knocked the shot back like a pro staring down Omi across the table. Bo looked at Ava and his mouth dropped and Shoyo immediately had a very large erection that could not be hidden by his boxer briefs, I thought he was packing, I knew it. With her mismatched gaze and reddened cheeks, she just smiled with a cocky grin, “Well? Are we doing this or not ese?” Omi went to play his hand and already knew when Ava smiled at him hungrily he had lost. He looked at Bo, “I’m so sorry...but you’ll get to cum...many times I think.” Bo blushed and he cried out as Ava grabbed him for a kiss, “Oh we’re going to have so much fun!” Ava squealed like an excited sorority girl pledging.

Shoyo shot up from the table, “Daddy’s ready to play mi pequeña dulce.” His voice dropped three octaves and Omi just stood up and headed to Ava’s bedroom. Bo picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, slapping her ass and groaning as it jiggled by his face, and followed behind them. Ava grabbed her phone luckily and sent another photo to Kit as she was over Bo’s shoulder... I did tell you I’d take them off your hands for the night….HELP!! Once in the bedroom Bo threw Ava upon the bed and watched as she bounced and giggled, “Bo, Daddy owl, I don’t think so.” Ava got on her knees and grabbed Bo by his shoulders and brought him down for a kiss. Their lips meshed and melded together, tongues devouring each other, Bo whimpering brought his arms around her as she moved to get off the bed. Shoyo stopped her by putting his thick body behind her, she felt his cock in her ass, as he brought his hands up to cup her breast, growling in her ear, “Daddy thinks you need to take this bra off.” He undid the clasp in between her heavy breast, watching as her tits sprung free catching the glint of her piercings, and guided the bra off her shoulders. His hands came up to cup her tits and began to massage them and pinch her darker tan nipples between his fingers, Shoyo was entranced with her piercings that made her more sensitive and began to tease her nipples, while he left bite marks down her throat and shoulders grinding harder into her ass making her slicker by the second. Ava moaned at the sensation that sent ripples of pleasure through her body as Omi crawled across the bed and waited for Bo to release her lips for him to get a taste for himself, whispering in her ear, “Do you like being the center of attention Naníta? Hmm, do you like when you drive us MSBY men crazy?” Omi reached up and took hold of her chin before he brought his lips towards her. Shoyo had traced his fingers down to the top of her lace thong and slipped his fingers underneath to circle around her aching clit. She gasped into Omi’s lips and he growled as he devoured her moans. Bo was behind them stroking his cock and pinching his nipples enjoying the sight of Ava being coaxed to life by his teammates, “Yeah, baby owl, You look so fucking hot like that, hnnn…” Ava growled into Omi as Shoyo sinfully slipped in his middle finger into her drenched sex grinding more and more into her, reaching up and grabbing Omi by the throat, she broke the kiss and bit his bottom lip. “Now, now, you know I won the game...It looks like Shoyo is going first since you must have forgotten.” Omi groaned as she reached down and stroked his twitching cock through his boxer briefs, “Oh, are you drenched already? You haven’t even played with my pussy yet...Jefe.”

Letting go of Omi she reached down and stilled Shoyo’s hand torturing her fluttering slick walls, turning and kissing him, she slipped out his arms and headed towards her closet. “Bo, Daddy owl, in the nightstand will you pull out the lube baby.” Bo groaned and walked to the nightstand, rock hard and aching, and pulled out the lube. “Baby owl, do I have to wear the ball gag?” Ava poked her head out of the closet and smiled, “Daddy owl, you lost the game, I want my prize.” She stepped into her strap and adjusted the harness walking out with a large-sized dildo, still wearing her garter belt and thigh-high stockings, she heard the boys moan at the sight of her as she braided her long hair and flipped it over her shoulder. She shivered in anticipation and walked toward Bokuto. She took the lube out of his hands and kissed him, snaking her hand up to the back of his neck to pull on his hair forcing him to expose his neck, “Be a good boy now for your doña and present for me baby.” He whimpered and turned around to get on all fours on the bed, “Ah, ah, ah, I’m a shortie remember...on the floor Daddy Owl.” He did just that and looked at her over his broad shoulders with lust-blown eyes. Shoyo and Omi finished stripping and stroking lazily watching the power of their little dom making Bo present for her, Omi bucked his hips slightly in his own hand and moaned at the sight of her spreading Bo’s knees. “Fuck, Shoyo, I could watch this all night.” Shoyo moaned out loud as he squeezed his fat cock so he could edge himself, “She sure knows what she’s doing.” She turned her attention towards the other two, “Okay boys, let’s play.” She held out the gag and had Omi take it, “Make sure to put it on him right, jefe, I want to see him drool in the mirror.” She caressed her hands over Bo’s thick ass and down his back before bending over him and whispering in his ear, “I want to hear you cry out as you cum from us, baby.” Bo groaned at the sultry promise from Ava

Ava stood behind Bo and watched as Omi walked in front of Bo and bent down to take his lips in a quick sultry kiss before making him open his mouth to place the gag in and strap it behind his head. “Oh, Bo, look at you so handsome like this for our Doña. You are such a good boy.” Ava watched as Bokuto shivered in ecstasy with the praise. She took her fingers and was taken by surprise when Shoyo came up behind her to slide his hard cock between the crux of her thighs, “Daddy can’t wait for too much longer Dulce.” Shoyo groaned into Ava as he bit her shoulder thrusting slowly to make sure his dick was wet with her arousal, “Fuck, I need you please.” Ava turned and took her fingers and shoved them in Shoyo’s mouth, “Get them wet daddy I need to open our good boy up.” With brown eyes rolling in the back of his head he sucked and lapped at her fingers as she let the drool coat her digits. When she pulled them out she gave him a quick kiss, “Thank you, daddy.” Ava turned her attention to Bo’s perfect ass and slowly slid her wet fingers to coax him open, first her middle finger, Bo moaned against the ball gag and Omi whispered praises in his ear while stroking his dick. When Ava felt her need becoming greater and greater she watched for the first string of drool that escaped from Bo’s obstructed mouth. She slipped her index finger in his tight ass and felt him begin to relax as she scissored him open slowly to take her strap. As his moans became louder and the pool of pre began to soak her clean grey carpet below. “Oh, daddy owl, are you ready for me baby?” She guided her strap to the entrance of Bo’s ass and slowly sank in letting him take her inch by inch; crying out against the gag and drooling more.

Ava finally bottomed out and pulled back to thrust inside of Bo before she set the pace, letting him get used to her inside of him. She gripped his hip before reaching to fist his hair and thrust into him, hearing Bo moan against his gag and seeing his eyes roll into the back of his head made Ava groan. “Shoyo...Daddy...Fuck us.” Ava heard Shoyo growl as he gripped her hip and guided his aching tip into her swollen opening and thrusted in. Ava cried out as she got used to Shoyo’s girth and length stretching her plush walls to their limits. “F-FUCK AVA!!!” Shoyo didn’t want to wait and picked up a brutal pace, slapping his heavy balls against Ava’s ass. Every thrust caused Ava to thrust harder and harder into Bo causing him to begin to cry. Omi fucking moaned the loudest as he stroked his aching cock to the sight of Bo drooling. Ava pulled harder on Bo’s hair and forced him to arch his back, “Fuck S-Shoyo!! DADDY!” Shoyo dug his fingers into her hips and knew she'd come out with bruises. “Omi please...want, hnnn, you inside, Omi!!!” Shoyo pulled out and waited for Omi. He gripped the tip of his cock and groaned as he edged himself, “Omi i'll take her ass if you take her tight pussy.” Ava kept thrusting into Bo, his moaning causing him to become more of a mess. When Omi got underneath both Bo and Ava.

Bo’s knees were on each side of his shoulders and Ava above, “Fuck, sugar plum, you look absolutely drenched,” he brought his digits to pump inside of her making her head fall back, “Your wet cunt sucks my fingers in so greedily plum.” Ava made Bo get on his knees and held his broad chest against her own as Omi guided himself into her and slowly stretched her. Shoyo cursed at the sight when he watched Omi take in Bo’s heavy sack and sucked on him while slowly thrusting up into Ava, “Your tight ass is gonna be filled now too, Baby.” Shoyo knows how to take his time and hears you whimper as he reaches in front to circle your clit exposed by the strap buried deep inside of Bo rubbing against his spot. When she felt the fat head of shoyo enter her ass she cried out at the sensation of being double stuffed by thick volleyball players. “FUCK YESS!” Shoyo finally bottomed out inside of Ava, giving her a few moments to adjust, and began thrusting. Omi reached around and took Bo’s leaking heavy cock into his mouth and began to suck on him as he felt Ava forcefully thrust into his ass harder touching his pleasurable spot, making the drool flow from his mouth. Ava was close, Shoyo was beginning to twitch inside of her and throb, “Fuck, fuck, I’m-I’m gonna cum, I-“ Shoyo thrust one final time in Ava’s tight ass and emptied himself inside of her. Omi cried out with his thrust hitting Ava’s Soft spot and she threw her head back screaming as Bo followed suit emptying into Omi’s mouth. “DADDIIESSS!!!” Ava felt herself convulsing around Shoyo and Omi while Bo shook against Ava’s body. When she finally came down she reached and undid the ball gag and slowly slipped the strap out of Bo.

Omi, after having caught his breath and waiting for Ava to let her gorilla grip on his cock relax, got up from under Ava and Bo and walked to the bathroom to grab a couple of warm washcloths. He tossed one to Shoyo who lay on his back with wide eyes, letting them uncross, “Hey, shorty, you good?” He chuckled when Shoyo took the warm washcloth and cleaned up, hissing with his sensitive tip. He found Bo hugging Ava’s midsection letting her praise him and kiss his forehead, “How is our boy doing?” Ava looked up and smiled a thousand-watt smile at Omi, “He’s a good boy, he did so good, didn’t you daddy owl.” Bo snuggled in more and inhaled Ava’s scent of jasmine and clean linen, “Mommy, I liked it so much.” Omi bent down and reached between Ava’s thighs and cleaned her up while taking her lips for a languid kiss. “Thank you, jefe, I needed you three tonight.” Ava then took her the other washcloth and cleaned Bo up. When Bo was cleaned up he stood and picked up Ava bridal style and took her to bed with Omi following behind and Shoyo sleeping on top of her midsection. The next morning she was surprised to find Ushi at her bedroom door smiling wickedly as she stirred awake, “Honey...looks like you had fun without me. I’m going to have to feed you and teach you a lesson later mi amor.”

#haikyuu hinata #hinata smut #hinata shoyuo #katurou bokuto #bokuto smut #hq sakusa #sakusa kiyoomi #haikyū!!#haikyuu!!#haikyuu smut

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scribble-blog · 4 years

Text

Soulmate AU part 5!!

First • Previous • Here • Next

Tim growled as he kept searching. There were no messages sent from Paris in the last five years in the League’s database. There weren’t any mention of a Hawkmoth, a Ladybug, or a Chat Noir in any news site. As far as he could tell, the girl had been lying to him almost entirely.

Except that she was Damian’s soulmate. And there was no faking the sheer exhaustion in her eyes when she spoke about Paris being besieged for the last four years.

And his gut was telling him to keep looking.

After an hour, and switching his location so he appeared to be operating out of France, he finally found two leads- one, a juvenile blog that had some questionable information interspersed with straight up tabloid trash, and the other an app, which he eagerly downloaded to his phone, waiting.

Finally the app popped up, showing a little Ladybug icon, and he clicked it. LadyBugOut! Sprung to life on his screen, and he perused the small icons. Small and stylized animals, a ladybug, a black cat, a bee, a turtle, a fox, a snake, a dragon, a peacock, and a butterfly. From what he remembered of his chat with Marinette, one of the heroes was Ladybug, so he clicked it.

It showed him a long line of posts, mostly videos. The girl in them was short, with dark blue-black hair and bright blue eyes, and a glaringly red and black spotted suit and mask.

“Salut, Paris! Back again with an update and a few things to address regarding the recent akuma, Lady Silence.”

He flicked to the next one.

“Salut, Paris, I’m here with Reine Abeille today,” the camera moves to another hero in yellow and black, blond hair in a high bun as opposed to Ladybug’s pigtails. “You’ve all sent in quite a few questions, and we wanted to take the time to respond today!”

“Salut, Paris! Just a quick update, I know many of you have been wondering about the recent addition to our team, Viperion.”

“Salut, Paris. I’d like to start this video with a moment of silence and recognition for the 73 lives lost in the recent attack by-“

Tim pauses it. A team of four, possibly more heroes? Perhaps nine to match the icons? A publicly revered and loved hero, to the point where she does question and answers with them. A villain that caused a death toll of seventy three people less than a month ago.

How in the world could they have missed this?

“By Evilutionist. We ask that if you know one of these victims you reach out to them and offer a hand, a hug, or even just a smile as they go about their days.”

He leant back in his chair, bewildered. Lives lost, but still there to be comforted, and going about their lives?

He got up to go find another cup of coffee. He was starting to understand how long his night was going to be.

Before he started watching through the whole long list of posts, he checked the other tabs. The black cat had a map that was currently inactive, but also logs of past maps detailing a red line, a purple line, and a larger area shaded in grey. They were labeled accordingly, Ladybug’s Path, Akuma’s Path, and Area of Attack/Destruction.

There were hundreds of maps logged.

The Bee contained large organized lists of homes and businesses that had registered as safe shelters during akuma attacks, a compilation of helplines and websites where you could learn more about staying safe during an attack, how to stay prepared and aware, and what necessities to keep stocked in cases of longer term akuma attacks.

The Fox seemed open to the public, where they could present their own posts alongside Ladybug’s about good, happy things.

The Turtle was a series of videos and posts about relaxation, meditation, coping, and self-care that could build the emotional strength to resist akumas.

The Dragon was a series of videos featuring another superhero- he assumed it was the Dragon themed one- and Ladybug, demonstrating self defense techniques and other strategies for avoiding, outrunning, fighting, or otherwise protecting yourself from akumas.

The Snake was, to his surprise, just a series of playlists, seemingly cultivated by each hero.

The Peacock held another map, also inactive, until the app chimed loudly. As he watched, a notification popped up, similar to an Emergency Alert System notification, that said in all capitals, AKUMA ATTACK.

He pressed the X on it, and watched as the Black Cat symbol seemed to glow green. He switched back, and the map was now accessible, a purple dot glowing near the Eiffel Tower. It started moving, and the shaded grey filled in around it, following the dot. He turned back to his computer and started searching frantically for some sort of news coverage. After a minute, he found a Facebook profile and opened it, and someone’s livestream was rolling.

He looked back at his phone to see that the red Ladybug dot had appeared near the edge of the grey, closing in on the purple dot. The livestream drew him back. It showed an apartment view of the Seine, and the road of broken detritus that trailed behind the akuma’s path.

“-Quel connard ne passe pas une bonne nuit alors, je suppose, mais honnêtement, cela ne devrait pas être mon problème.” The camera flipped to the face of a tired woman. “J’ai du travail en quatre heures et je ne me suis endormi que trois heures plus tôt, mais un trou du cul supersonique fait voler en éclats les fenêtres de gauche et de droite.” The camera flipped again, showing not the view but the clearly broken window. “Baise ça, mec, j'essaye de DORMIR,”

-some asshole isnt having a good night then, i guess, but honestly that shouldnt be my problem. ive got work in four hours and i only fell asleep three hours ago but some supersonic asshole is shattering windows left and right. fuck this, dude, im trying to SLEEP,

The feed went silent as the akuma lunged back into view down by the water. It was a large red woman, with wires that sprouted from her and trailed along like muscles, enhancing what seemed to be the speakers that her body was made of.

He could see her open her mouth and roar, right as a smaller red figure bounded in, dodging the concentrated sound blast and grabbing something from around her neck and snapping it in half.

The woman on the street reverted in a flash of light to a more normal appearance, and Tim watched awestruck as Ladybug tossed her yo-yo into the air and shouted something.

The wave of light that spread outward was dazzling, lighting up Paris’ night sky. In front of the camera, as the light washed over the holder, their window was suddenly whole and unbroken again. The street beneath was clean.

“Merci, Ladybug,” the tired narrator muttered. “Bonne nuit.”

The camera shut off.

Tim stared, awestruck.

“She fixes it all,” he breathed. “That’s why she was talking about people being alive after they die, they come back to life. She fixes all the damage. It probably destroys most records of the damage as well.”

The app was accessible because of her direct part in making it, he would assume. He saved the video.

Time to get Bruce.

TAGLIST:

@the-fusionist @rebecarojas07 @lowandco @kotaleartzu @resignedcatservant @alenee13 @mystery-5-5 @ladybug-182 @actual-disaster-human @loysydark @rumbelle18 @magic-miraculous @vixen-uchiha @athena452 @mochegato @ash-amg @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thestressmademedoit @sassakitty @doriebell @toodaloo-kangaroo @myazael @theatreandcomicfreak @mer-mel @dahjokester @northernbluetongue @abrx2002 @area51qt @jessigurl-design @renscorpio @cici-schnee @multplelifes @redscarlet95 @razzledazzle247 @rosep16 @emotionalsupportginger @kceedraws @tired-butterfly @kuroko26 @catthhay @moonystars14 @shamefullove @shreky-boi @imanerddealwith @chaosace @captainmac6 @purple-people-eaters-productions @crazylittlemunchkin @weird-pale-blonde-person @bigpicklebananatree

#maribat #daminette #daminette soulmates #soulmate au #fanfic

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gravelyhumerus · 4 years

Text

Criminal Minds College AU - Chapter 3

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Title: “I may just take your breath away”

Relationship: Jemily

Summary:

It's midterm season and Emily runs into JJ at the library, they decide to study together.

Slow-burn Jemily college AU where they live across the hall and despite all odds, the universe pushes them together. AKA they’re silly gay babies who pine after each other for months.

Read it on AO3

Tumblr: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, (bonus scene), Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Epilogue

There were no seats left in this entire goddamned library. Not a single one. Emily was on her second lap on the third floor, desperate for somewhere to sit down and have some peace and quiet to study for her test. She should have assumed this would happen. It was midterm season and the libraries were packed with students around this time each year.

She quietly made her way through the stacks and came upon a long, rectangular table near the back window. It overlooked a dark parking lot. The books were gigantic tombs of old academic journals that no one had probably even opened in decades.

There were eight seats and seven people, with one selfish asshole storing their backpack on the empty seat. Well, could be saving it for their friend, but with it being midterm season, those rules really shouldn’t apply anymore.

Emily braced herself and, with a smile, tapped the boy on the shoulder.

He had a large pair of headphones on. He lifted one side off his ear in a gesture of: ‘what do you want.’

“Is anyone sitting there?” She whispered, as quietly as she could, pointing to the seat next to him.

“Oh sorry,” he said, somewhat reluctantly, moving the coat and bag, inviting her to join him. She smiled in thanks and sat down.

Carefully unpacking her laptop and books, Emily tried to avoid disturbing the other folks at her table, the silence making each noise she made boom through the library. She settled down and pulled out her thermos, taking a sip of her coffee and bracing herself for a long night.

Her core classes for psychology were brutal, filled with endless memorization of terminology, stacks of mandatory books to read and countless essays.

At 8:30 the next morning it was her Introduction to Clinical Psychology midterm, worth a whopping thirty percent of her grade. She spent the entire day, between classes, at the Starbucks on campus, drinking her way through her student funds in coffee form and making endless flashcards.

She already had a stack of almost one hundred cards and she still had a couple hours of work left.

Just returning from dinner at the cafeteria, Emily had decided that she needed the relative quiet of the massive campus library to focus on the memorization period of her evening.

She flipped to the right page of her textbook: page 315, with a large header reading “SEXUAL DISORDERS” in large caps. Emily sighed, it was a strange thing to spend her time learning but at least it never failed to be interesting.

At least she wasn’t in Statistics this semester.

Emily took another sip of coffee, then rummaged through her bag for her wireless headphones, connecting them to her phone in order to play her studying playlist, which was mostly movie soundtracks, interspersed with Emily’s favourite classical music and of course, some lo-fi hip hop beats. She could not listen to music with words when studying, she would get too distracted and get nothing done.

Emily began gnawing at her thumbnail, focusing on writing down the definitions.

After around two hours of writing, Emily finally finished her flashcards. She stretched her back, closed her textbook, and went on her phone for a short break.

A Snapchat notification popped up on her screen.

Cheetobreath98 added you as a friend.

Emily frowned. Who on earth was that? Emily clicked on the profile, revealing the familiar face of Jennifer Jareau.

JJ had added her as a friend! On snapchat no less! That was at least three steps more intimate than Instagram.

Woah. Slow down there Em. She told herself. Don’t make it something it’s not.

They kept running into each other. JJ was probably just being friendly. She probably just wanted to say thank you for the cookies or send her funny snaps of the other students on their floor.

She has a boyfriend, a boyfriend she is having trouble with, but a boyfriend nonetheless. You can’t go around thinking about intimacy and Jennifer Jareau in the same sentence.

Emily accepted the friend request. Did that make them friends now? Emily hoped so. They could be friends.

As Emily stared at their chat, a new snap from JJ came in. Emily couldn’t help herself, she opened it immediately and she was met with a photo… of herself.

Emily’s head shot up looking around. She looked back down and it was clearly a photo of Emily, hunched over the desk with her head resting on her chin, staring down at her phone, taken from somewhere to her left.

JJ waved at her from between some books. Emily shot her a surprised smile in response.

She closed her laptop, stood, and walked over to her.

“Creeper,” Emily whispered with a giggle.

JJ had a large textbook and some notebooks in her arms, and a backpack hanging off one shoulder, and leaned in towards Emily to speak quietly, which let Emily catch the light, fruity smell of her perfume, blending nicely with the earthy smell of the old books around them.

“Guilty as charged,” JJ smiled.

“What are you working on?” Emily asked, gesturing at her heavy load, she leaned and took a peek at the title of the textbook.

“French,” JJ said, “It’s hard to bullshit that when you don’t know it. I’ve got a midterm tomorrow.”

“Bien sûr,” Emily replied confidently in French.

JJ blinked.

“Tu parles Français?” JJ’s French was shaky and uncertain, with less of an accent than Emily would expect.

Emily coughed quietly and tried to clear her throat.

“I do,” she replied in French, “I’ve been told that when I was a toddler, I was speaking it more fluently than English.”

JJ glanced down, seeming to be translating her words for a brief moment before replying, slowly, clearly excited to use Emily for practise.

“Are you French?”

“No,” Emily said, “My mom wasn’t around much when we were living in France and the nanny didn’t speak English.”

“Ton nurse?” JJ asked, not knowing the definition of ‘nanny’ in French.

“Oh uh,” Emily replied in English, “My nanny, the lady who watched me when my mom was working. She’s an ambassador.”

JJ nodded, then switched to English. She didn’t ask about Emily’s dad, which Emily was grateful for.

“My family is French, originally I guess,” JJ said, “Hence Jareau , the French name. I remember my grandparents speaking it when I was growing up. I only learned a few words from them so I thought I’d take a course here. I need language courses for my communications degree anyways.”

“Your French is good!” Emily assured her. “Honestly mine is getting rusty, I have no one to practise on.”

“Well,” JJ said between coughs, “you could tutor me?”

Emily smiled. An opportunity to spend more time with her? She would take it. She nodded.

“Mais oui!” Emily replied in her most dramatic accent that she could manage, sending both girls into a fit of giggles.

“Shhhhh!” Someone at Emily’s table hissed.

The two girls made eye contact, then burst into another fit of giggles.

“I have a study room booked for nine,” JJ said, “If you want to join me.”

“Absolutely,” Emily replied, “I have a midterm tomorrow as well, so I’ll be here for awhile.”

“Allons-y!” JJ whisper-yelled.

Emily collected her things and followed JJ into a room down the hall, tucked behind the stacks. Inside, was a desk, a couple of white boards and a small window facing into the quad. It was small, with only two chairs. It was shocking that JJ even managed to snag that, the booking system filled up days in advance during midterm season.

“I hate whispering,” Emily said at normal volume once the door was shut.

“Libraries are supposed to be quiet,” JJ said.

“I’ve never been good at quiet.”

JJ laughed.

Emily sat down next to her, stealing a glance at JJ while she was distracted: she had a pair of track pants, with a loose fitted t-shirt on top, a pastel blue which complemented her skin tone well. On top, she had her varsity hoodie unzipped, with their school’s crest on display. She looked good, as always, despite being in basically athletic sweats looking ready to go to the gym at any moment.

Emily placed her books down next to JJ at the table, stacking her flash cards neatly next to it. JJ’s eyes widened at the sight of the pile.

“You don’t have to help if you don’t have time,” JJ said, “Honestly I would just appreciate the company.”

“Nonsense,” Emily replied, “I’d be happy to help. I’ve been working on these flash cards all day, I need a break anyways. How ‘bout we work through your practise sheets, then you quiz me after? What’s your test on?”

“Conjugation,” JJ replied, flipping her notes open to a page full of irregular verbs and their conjugations.

“Oh sweet,” Emily scanned the notes, “Present tense, I can do this.”

Emily leaned back in her chair, pulling her feet up to sit crossed-legged.

“I was worried you were going to ask me the difference between plus-que-parfait and subjonctif or something.”

“I don’t even know what that is.”

“Lucky,” Emily said.

JJ then reached into her bag, pulling out a small case and revealing a pair of glasses—reading glasses—and put them onto her face. They were gold rimmed, round framed, and made her eyes slightly larger with the magnification.

“You-” Emily stuttered, her brain feeling like it was short circuiting at the sight of JJ, “Have glasses?”

“Yeah,” JJ muttered flipping through her notebook, “I don’t really need them but I’ve been staring at screens all day and my eyes are tired.”

“Nerd,” Emily fake-coughs. JJ’s draw drops and she hits Emily playfully with her notebook, whacking her on the arm lightly.

“You promised to help me, not mock me for my bad eyes,” JJ huffs.

“Ok fine let’s conjugate… hmmm… ‘voir’ to start,” Emily jokes, spinning her pen between her fingers.

“I know you’re kidding but I actually don’t know that one.”

Emily grins and begins explaining to her how to conjugate ‘to see’ in French.

“Now,” Emily says, “If you want to talk about how I can see, and you can’t—because you’re blind—you would write: Emily voit. Emily sees.”

“Elle voit? V-o-i-t?”

“Oui, et, Jennifer ne voit pas!” Emily giggles, “Jennifer does not see!”

“Ha-ha,” JJ says, not laughing.

“Sorry, I’ll stop now,” Emily says, picking up the worksheet and reading it over.

“Basically,” JJ says, “I need to just memorize this list of common irregular verbs by tomorrow. I already have the regular er, ir and re verbs down.”

“Cocky girl,” Emily said. “I like it.”

“Ok what verb should we start with?”

“Vouloir,” Emily said, “to want.”

The deeper meaning of this was not lost on her, even as she said it. Emily was far past the point of denying it to herself, or Morgan when he teased her, Emily wanted JJ.

“Start with je,” Emily continued, unfazed by her own internal monologue. “What do you want?”

“Je veux… un biscuit,” JJ said, sticking her pen in her mouth. She was so cute when she focused, chewing distractedly on the cap, with her glasses falling down her nose.

“Now what would I want?” Emily prompted, trying to focus back on the worksheet and not JJ in profile, gazing at the gentle slope of her nose, her pink lips that would probably taste like chapstick.

“Tu veux du thé?” JJ grinned, evoking their previous late-night hang out.

“Oui,” Emily smiled, “I could definitely use some of your tea right now. Stuck with coffee for now though. I need the caffeine.”

They continued through that verb, moving down her list and covering aller, mettre, venir, before cycling back to the most important ones to make sure JJ had them memorized. Covering lots of ground, the two girls spent almost two hours straight working through her midterm prep booklet.

“Thanks so much for helping,” JJ said. “Maybe you could tutor me again sometime.”

Emily grinned. Maybe it was just tutoring but that meant hours alone with her and her pretty face and her laugh and the way she smelled like warm vanilla.

“Whenever you need me!”

“Je suis excité!” JJ said, in French, which was definitely not what she aimed to say.

Emily began to laugh. Hard. It started as a giggle but the sheer ridiculousness of her situation made it so much funnier. Her crush just looked her in the eyes and told her she was horny.

“What?!” JJ demanded, nervously laughing at Emily’s reaction.

“Oh gosh I’m sorry,” Emily tried to calm down, to hold in her laughs. “In French we never say excité. It does not mean excited.”

“What does it mean?”

“JJ you just said that you were horny,” Emily made out between laughs. It must be the lack of sleep that made the simple mistake so much funnier.

“Emily!” JJ laughed, “don’t laugh at me I didn’t know!”

Emily’s laughter was infectious and before long the two girls were lost in a fit of giggles.

“You should say: ‘J’ai hâte!’” Emily said eventually, “it means I can’t wait. Like: J’ai hâte d'étudier avec toi. Or Je suis ravi. Or impatiente. Just don’t go around telling people how horny you are.”

“Fine,” JJ said, with a slight pout, “ J’ai hâte. ”

Emily nodded.

“I guess I can say I learned something today,” JJ murmured, “I guess it really is the language of love.”

Emily didn’t say anything, taking a sip of her cold coffee to muffle the squeak threatening to come out of her throat

“So,” JJ changed the subject, “gimme your flash cards. What are you learning?”

Before Emily could earn her, JJ flipped over the first card which read: ‘SEXUAL DISORDERS!’ in Emily’s messy script.

“On the same theme,” JJ murmured.

And so for the next hour, JJ and Emily made their way through her psychology flash cards, slowly making sure that Emily had the endless serious mental health disorders, personality disorders and other terms memorized before her midterm.

Luckily, In the process of writing them down, and due to her religious commitment to attending lectures, Emily had already retained most of them. Studying with JJ did help, because it forced her to explain some of the concepts in plain language, which, she found, furthered her understanding.

Moreover, JJ had brought snacks. Which made studying every more doable when she could award herself with an m&m for each correct answer.

The thing was, half way through Emily’s stack of cards, and as the night crept on, JJ’s energy crashed as the girl’s body decided that it was way past her bedtime and that she should be asleep.

Unlike Emily, JJ was clearly not a night owl.

Eventually, Emily finished up her studying alone, discovering that the blonde was just about useless, as she read out gibberish and expected Emily to understand her. JJ finally fell asleep sitting up at about one-thirty in the morning. Emily decided to leave her be as she still needed to jot a few things down.

“JJ?” Emily murmured after a few minutes, poking the other girl with her pen. “JJ? Wake up.”

“Mm?” JJ murmured, her eyes still closed shut, her head heavy resting on her hand. She was adorable.

“I’m calling it,” Emily said, closing her textbook. “It’s almost two. We’ve studied enough.”

“Mmm… yeah I don’t know if I can fit any more French in my brain,” JJ rubbed her eyes.

“I think you’ll do just fine!”

They packed up their things, bundling up against the cold fall air. JJ went through the motions with her eyes half shut, allowing Emily to guide her out of their study room, down the spiral staircase and into the lobby.

Unfortunately, as they stood just inside the library door, the clouds broke, sending rain pouring down onto campus. Sighing at their poor timing, they pulled their hoods over their hair in an attempt to stay relatively dry.

They walked home, laughing as it rained down onto them.

JJ seemed to wake up and her prior drowsiness seemed to fade into the night sky. She giggled as she splashed in a puddle, and her yellow jacket lit up under a street lamp.

Emily grinned, feeling elated in her exhaustion. How lucky she was! Splashing in the rain with JJ, which was a strange yet pleasant ending to what had promised to be a dredge of an evening. JJ waited for a moment, letting Emily catch out before grasping onto Emily’s hand and holding on, pulling her through the rain.

They tore through the torrential downpour, their hands clasped together, unbothered by the cold as the fiery feeling of JJ’s hand in her own had her full attention. A warm feeling filled her chest as she thought about how it was JJ who wanted to hold Emily’s hand.

Not caring whether it was just a friendly hand hold, or if it meant more, Emily’s heart soared.

JJ’s hand was smaller than hers, and their fingers fell together perfectly, comfortably linked like they were built to do so.

They only let go once they reached the door to their building, as Emily fumbled with the wet metal key ring in her pocket, unlocking the front door and offering the two relief from the rain.

They lingered in the hall, both damp, looking at each other as the tiredness returned and settled into their bones. Emily could see the bags under JJ’s eyes, the exhaustion clear on her face. Her cheeks were flushed from running through the rain and her blonde hair wet and tangled from the wind.

A voice in Emily’s head demanded that she reach out her hands, firmly grab the sides of JJ’s perfect face and kiss her then and there. It would be so perfect, their lips would meet and JJ would rest her hands on Emily’s hips. She would pull her in close and their bodies would crash into each other, fitting together perfectly. Emily’s tongue would graze against JJ’s lips, and their kiss would deepen until finally they would pull apart and-

“Goodnight, Emily,” JJ said, smiling at her sweetly, “Get some sleep before your midterm.”

Emily was brought crashing back into reality.

“Oh,” Emily said, “Yeah you too, you need it.”

“Thank you for helping me out,” JJ continued, “I was having a really bad day and you really made me feel a lot better.”

JJ looked down.

“Yeah, uh, this morning I broke up with Will. Or maybe he broke up with me. I don’t know,” she admitted, “and with the midterm… then the home game tomorrow afternoon...“

She sighed.

“It was a long day and I’m grateful for your company.”

Kiss her, the voice in her head screamed, do it!

“I’m sorry about your break up, either way,” Emily said sincerely. “I feel the same way. I mean, I enjoyed your company. I think I’m going to do well on my midterm too.”

She smiled at JJ who returned it sleepily. Emily kicked herself for the awkward phrasing but blamed the fact that it was late at night and she was processing the fact that her crush was single. Single and had held her hand.

“Bonne chance demain,” Emily said with a wave, wishing JJ luck.

They looked at each other for another moment, before turning and unlocking their individual rooms. That night, Emily dreamt of Paris, cookies and the girl across the hall.

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someplace-that-is-else · 3 years

Text

‘Until We Meet Again: The 100′s Final Season--Wasted Potential or A Fit Ending?’

Editor’s Note: Spoilers for the last season of The 100 as well as past seasons.

I was surprised.

In the closing hours of the sixth season of The 100, the CW announced that it would be getting a seventh season. They also announced that it would be the final season.

What? FINAL season? Really?

The fifth season was a great season for the show with the six-year time jump, ending in another time jump that spanned 125 years and a new planet. The sixth season was an intriguing new world and storyline. It had been a while since it went hardcore sci-fi…A.L.I.E. in the divisive third season…the sixth season did it with ripe possibilities, plot twists, and…as was usual for this show…actual death. Labeled Book 2, I had been curious to see where the creator Jason Rothenberg and the writers would take us given Book 1 took 5 seasons.

But now? Would main characters Clarke and Bellamy (aka Bellarke) end the show together? Would humanity learn any better given they have survived at least TWO apocalypses? Would Octavia (my favorite character who had gone from the girl under the floor to Grounder to Skairippa to lethal Red Queen) get a happy ending?

With 16 episodes announced, there was plenty of time. Plenty of time to close out the story. My co-worker who was a big fan of course was worried. She grew moreso the closer it got to the time when the CW usually promoted. And…NOTHING.

A sign of things to come…or just paranoia?

What’s the Endgame?: The 100’s Serpentine Final Season Plot

I’ll say this much. I was intrigued.

At the end of last season, our main characters revealed to the people of the new planet Sanctum that the leaders they worshipped as gods were not. They used technology to transfer their consciousness into ‘willing’ people. After being that way for centuries, how would these people go on when their belief system had been revealed to be false? Some people were angry at being deceived. Others felt mad at Clarke and friends for revealing the truth, destroying their system of living.

Meanwhile we had Clarke and the others still dealing with the truce between them and the Eligius prisoners that were part of their crew now. Their leader Diyoza was missing, leaving the Eligius adrift. And due to the end of Season Six, Clarke’s own crew were on a slippery slope, thinking her ‘daughter’ Madi was still the Commander.

Four different factions. So many possibilities. They were possibilities that the writers appeared to want to touch on. And there was the question of…could they all get along? Be greater and better than the sum of their parts? Or was the last of humanity doomed to be in constant conflict?

Then there was the disappearance of Bellamy…

Ah! Bellamy. After being a co-leader with Clarke basically for most of the seasons, Bellamy found himself at the center of a new mystery. Moments after his sister Octavia disappeared into mist after being stabbed by new character Hope, Bellamy was full of questions about what had just happened. What he got was knocked out, dragged across the ground by people unseen, and then vanished into the Anomaly, a circle of light that was a mystery left over from last season.

What followed was several different stories. There was Echo, Bellamy’s girlfriend, on the hunt for the vanished Bellamy. There was the mystery of what happened to Octavia. There’s Clarke and Friends chasing after her as well as getting to the bottom of the Bellamy mystery. Meanwhile, there was Madi left behind, dealing with her duty versus a desire for a normal life. There also was the growing tension between the Eligius prisoners and the natives of the new world.

Because that was not enough, there were curveballs. Oh…that crazy Commander from the Flame, the symbol of the tribes united under Clarke? He possessed one of the last False Gods on this world. You had one of Clarke’s group Starscream-que Murphy and his lover Emori…also pretending to be Gods themselves due to a plot thread from last season. Diyoza and Octavia’s whereabouts revealed the origins of new character Hope…and a whole other world Bardo. And behind Bardo…was a loose plot thread that was seeded all the way back in Season Four. Oh, and did we mention there was a lot of time jumping, one prequel tale (aka a backdoor pilot), and world travelling a la SLIDERS.

It was not unusual for The 100 to throw so many ideas at the audience. But so many ideas…INCLUDING THE KITCHEN SINK? In the FINAL season?

Yes, a few of the ideas were intriguing. On their own. But all of them…together?

I could not begin to describe how many times I felt like I needed a cheat sheet to keep up with everything. And even then…there would be weeks where the viewers never saw a set of characters or a plotline. There was one case when one character was gone for weeks aka a long stretch of episodes. Worse given how important that character was to several characters, no one noticed they were missing.

Or the time jumping. There would be a plotline with a plot twist. Then the show would jump back three months. Then it would move a few weeks ahead to show another angle. Or when it decided to explain the whereabouts of Bellamy, it chose an episode where time passed and then it jumped ahead to the present, picking up a storyline from another episode. It was the very definition of whiplash.

At the start of the season, the writers pondered an interesting question. Was the last of humanity doomed to constant conflict…or could they be better than that? While the Bardo plot thread tapped into that theme, the show became style over substance. And that style…was smoke and mirrors. I thought that theme was being tackled with the four factions on Sanctum. Now? The writers gave up on it. Sadly.

By the time the writers revealed the whereabouts of Bellamy, most of the season was over. Worry kicked in. Was there still time to resolve the characters’ stories…or would it be…a rushed ending?

Speaking of which…

The Girl Under the Floor: The 100 and Natural Ends

Clarke. Octavia. Indra. Echo. Madi. Miller. The names go on and on.

Throughout six seasons, viewers have gone through the highs and lows with these characters. Viewers saw Clarke kill her first love Finn. Viewers saw Indra take Octavia under her wing, giving her a mother figure that she missed in her own life. Viewers saw Madi lose her mind. The Conclave. Praimfaya. Mount Weather. A.L.I.E. Characters had been known to go through it on this show. Things happened. People changed.

So near the end of The 100’s run, viewers wanted to know…how would their favorites end up?

What they got…AGAIN…was smoke and mirrors.

The writers appeared to be more focused on new characters than the characters that viewers had gotten to know over six seasons. In some cases, like Bardo native Levitt, it worked because he became involved with a character viewers cared about. In this case Octavia. Others like that Diyoza-lite chick had no connection to the faves, other than being annoying no matter how sympathetic she was written. Or worse, they were like Hope. A rapidly aged child of Diyoza, Hope was more whining annoying brat than a fighter like viewers expected her mother to be. Given more time, she might have become likable, but…there was no time.

And speaking of time…what of the old timers? The characters the audience cared about. So many characters have come and gone. Finn. Lincoln. Lexa. Jaha. Jasper. Clarke’s own mother Abby. Only a handful of the original 100 were left along with well developed supporting characters. With this being the last season, were they coming to a natural end?

Octavia was being dealt with efficiently as the writers highlighted the fact that she was on a path to redemption after two seasons of darkness and introspective healing. But what about Clarke…THE MAIN CHARACTER? After doing what she had to do for her people, what would her happy ending be…at peace with Madi, finding a new love, and/or finding a way for all humanity to live peacefully in such a way that the sacrifices were worth it? Or what of Indra…what end does she deserve as a warrior? What of Madi…would she choose a normal teenager’s life or the life of being a commander of her warrior people?

Off the top of my head, there were two characters who had quite a nice end. First there was Octavia. After the horrors she committed as The Red Queen and trying to make amends, she discovered redemption through the eyes of others who saw her through a different and fresh set of eyes. First, Hope who looked up to her as a mother figure. Then through the eyes of a complete stranger in Levitt who found her inspiring. She found the one thing that she had been looking for throughout the whole series: belonging and acceptance.

The other character was Murphy. The cockroach. From the ‘Starscream’ of the group to showing some sense of right and wrong. And along with Emori, they were the ultimate scheme team. Slowly, but surely there was love. Posing as false gods presented a new challenge for them…what happens when a scheme team is given actual responsibilities for people. And through this challenge, the viewers learned exactly how much Murphy had grown through the series as well as explored layers to Emori that we did not even know she had.

That was not the fate for all the characters we knew and loved.

Madi started off alone in the series, discovering love through her motherly bond with Clarke. And the constant debate of teenage life vs leader life has been a constant with her a la BUFFY lite. She was finally given a taste of what it was like to be a teen…then the plot arc of the Bardo people ended that. Abruptly, I might add. In fact, her fate felt like shock value for value sake given some of the other stories for characters.

Gaia appeared posed to be a long overdue love interest for Clarke. Not to mention that the writers were exploring more of her relationship with her mother Indra. Instead, she became the character who vanished for the majority of the episodes. Worse, NO ONE noticed she was gone.

There were several more instances of this (can we talk about the fact that while Raven got moments, she did not really have ANY endgame developments?), it was the main narrative characters who appeared to get the worst of this.

And nowhere was that clearer than with Bellamy Clarke.

Bait and Switch, or the Strange Case of Bellamy Clarke

I had always heard that you could tell how a TV show felt about a character/actor by how they were written out of a show. A recent example that came to mind was Charisma Carpenter’s character Cordelia Chase during Season 4 of ANGEL by way of a coma when all fans knew she was the heart and soul of that show.

Another example was the character of Professor Maxmillian Arturo (played with wit, humor, and intelligence by John Rhys-Davies) on the sci-fi show SLIDERS. Not only was he stabbed with a syringe that rendered him dumb, but he was shot and his body left on a planet that exploded. All IN THE SAME EPISODE. Yeah, no love lost between the actor and the people in charge during that show’s third season.

Which brings us to Bellamy Clarke…

Bellamy Clarke had been with The 100 since the beginning. A reckless bad boy except for when it came to his sister Octavia, Bellamy went from that to being a frenemy to other main character Clarke to being a good friend and co-leader (birthing the ship name Bellarke) to a capable leader in his own right. Along the way, he made so many mistakes. Bellamy clashed often with others. But he grew. And the time jump saw him get a capable girlfriend in Echo. His bigger drama would always be with his sister Octavia as they clashed as only siblings could clash, but there was always love there. So it made sense that he would want to know the mystery of Hope and how it tied into his sister turning into mist and vanishing.

But…he vanished himself. For the first half of the season, the mystery of his kidnapping was a plot. And then…during a shootout involving Octavia, Bellamy appeared to be blown up in an explosion. Granted, The 100 did not shy away from killing off a main character (Lincoln, Lexa), but it was so jarring to see it happen.

Just as bad as seeing Bellamy later…as a disciple of the Big Bad on Bardo. After a bottle episode involving a man vs nature theme (a theme I do not like and did not like in this case). And time jumping. AGAIN. Can we say whiplash?

And then…Bellamy was SHOT. BY CLARKE. Body…left…bleeding…on…the floor.

Can we say DOUBLE whiplash?

I was aware thanks to the co-worker who got me into The 100 that there was some off-camera drama going on. And because of that, the actor had asked for some personal leave time. So his filming was very, very limited. HOWEVER, I know enough after years of watching tv shows (the situation with the two actresses on THE GOOD WIFE for example) AND soaps to know two things. One…if a writer had an actor for a limited time, you wrote a complete arc. You also filmed as much as possible. And if you needed said actor back at the end of a show and was not sure if they would be available…go ahead and film a scene to insert in the last episode. It was what the fans that have followed a show for years deserves. PERIOD.

Two…the fate of Bellamy could have been written better than that. In fact, the writers were better off having Bellamy die in the Bardo explosion while trying to save his sister. That at least was true to his character and his complete arc on the show. If they had to do the disciple arc at all, there had to be some conflict over his loyalty to Clarke or his loyalty to Bardo. Allow the other characters to be conflicted, something the writers normally did not shy away from. Show, don’t tell the struggle. If Clarke had to shoot Bellamy, it had to make sense.

From what was shown, there was plenty of time for Clarke to get the book of Madi’s memories. There was time to just simply knock Bellamy out. And if Bellamy had to be shot, there was time to write in the fate of his body. To fans’ knowledge, Bellamy’s body was still laying there on the floor, bleeding out. To add insult to injury, FakeRussell…who was in the same scene…was in the next episode with no Bellamy mentions.

So let’s review. Bellamy was blown up in one episode. Bellamy was left on a world to fight nature on another. Bellamy was turned into a brainless disciple on another episode. Finally, Bellamy was shot dead by his best friend (who happened to be his wife IRL. How meta.).

Shows what the writers and creator feel about the actor, don’t you think?

May We Meet Again…?

Regardless of the management of the character of Bellamy, The 100 had another main character to deal with. Clarke Griffin had been the main protagonist since Episode 1. She had lost her first love, lost a great love, and made quite a lot of serious choices for someone so young. And given that the theme of the last season was about humanity and its way of living, it was a sure thing that Clarke would have to make another major decision. But…would Clarke get a happy ending?

Well…this show would not be this show…and Clarke would not be Clarke if she wasn’t put through it. My problem was that up until the end, Clarke was basically a cameo in her own show. That itself was an oddity given that she was the one focused on the hunt for Bellamy.

There was potential. From what to do about Madi to how she was coping with her mother’s death to some vibes between her and Gaia, Clarke had several things spinning in her orbit coming into the last season. And what was surprising was NONE of it was touched on.

And then…Bellamy was shot by her and Madi turned up brain dead in the service of the Bardo arc.

In the end, Clarke was with her friends. And she was happy. But…she was not with her daughter though Madi did wind up in a better place. She was not with anyone though a cameo from the actress who played Lexa in the early seasons was nice. And her mother’s death was not touched on…though that actress also made a cameo in the last episode.

Does Clarke deserve a happy ending? Debatably yes. But this season a happy ending did not at all feel earned. And it would be one thing if there was another season. However, this was the LAST season. Worse, was the central theme of this last season…a main theme of the show itself…answered? Did humanity learn to be better, or would they stay in constant conflict?

In the end…humanity DID learn to be better. Interestingly it took Octavia and Raven going to bat for humanity to make that happen. And that was after Clarke had again failed after making a near fatal decision for the rest of the group. After watching Clarke grow into a capable leader, I was saddened to see that in the end she felt like a footnote. As did Bellamy.

Well…I guess I could look on the bright side…Octavia got a happy ending. And a complete arc. So did Murphy. Raven proved she was also an important character akin to the many times that Bonnie Bennett had to save all the characters on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES constantly, usually at great sacrifice to herself. But Clarke and Bellamy…the actual main characters…well…

For a show to be told they got 16 episodes to wrap up plots that had been going on and characters that have been developed over 7 years, I would say it went out with a whimper. Given other shows with notice like HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER and THE MAGICIANS went out with just about everything wrapped up fittingly and just about all characters serviced almost correctly if not outright perfectly, The 100’s last season looked like patchwork in comparison. Like the writers threw everything at the wall to see what would stick. Or worse…they got so distracted by what was shiny and new, they forgot about the characters that viewers cared about.

In the end, I guess the last season was like a sandcastle. It looked nice, but once the waves come in, it went away. So much potential…washed back into nothing.

#the100 #cw #bellarke #jasonrothenberg #octavia #finalseason #bellamy #clarke #sliders #charismacarpenter #angel #johnrhysdavies #arturo #starscream #buffy #whiplash #thevampirediaries #howtogetawaywithmurder #themagicians

#the 100 #cw #bellarke #jason rothenberg #octavia #finalseason #bellamy #clarke #sliders #charisma carpenter #angel #john rhys-davies #arturo #starscream #buffy #whiplash #the vampire diaries #howtogetawaywithmurder #themagicans

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josefavomjaaga · 3 years

Text

Some more letters from March 1814

March 1814. The French empire has four more weeks to go. Murat weather forecast for Northern Italy: still unsettled and changeable.

From the memoirs of Colonel Maceroni, Volume II:

On the occasion of Lord Bentinck's applying to Murat for the cession of Leghorn and Pisa, as above stated, it was through the remonstrances of the Austrian Count Mier, and of other diplomatists of the allied powers, that Lord Bentinck withdrew his demand, and appeared quite reconciled, friendly and respectful towards the king. This induced the latter to give implicit faith in the victories of Napoleon recounted in the bulletins, and exaggerated by the French officers who still remained in our army, and about the king's person. The king having now had so many evident proofs of the insincerity of the allies, which it is not necessary for me to recapitulate, now made a last attempt to join with Prince Eugene. He therefore deputed to him the Marquis Livron and Colonel Desmolands, but the Prince, more influenced by his personal animosity towards Murat, than by a desire to serve the Emperor, who has since said so much about his fidelity, not only refused to listen to the proposal, but found means of acquainting Marshal Bellegarde with the occurrence!

***

From DuCasse, Memoirs and Political and Military Correspondence of Prince Eugene, Vol. 10

Eugène to Murat, Borgoforte, 3 March 1814

Sire, Your Majesty is informed of the setbacks recently suffered by the corps of General Nugent; they are considerable.

This is the moment when I desire more than ever to know the definitive intentions of Your Majesty. I must adjust my movements accordingly. I therefore beg Him to tell me what I have to hope or to fear from His army.

I will not permit myself to put before him the reasons which he has for declaring himself frankly for the cause of the Emperor, I limit myself to asking him to be so good as, at least, to have his army take positions which do not impede my undertaking for the interests entrusted to me.

A certain number of troops belonging to Your Majesty have been found in Parma. I ordered that they be treated well and that they be set free; they were to be sent back to you the same evening.

The three divisions which operate on the right bank of the Po have orders to put themselves in communication with me through Borgoforte. I flatter myself that Your Majesty will want to put no obstacle in the way.

I hope for a favourable response from Him. I dare to ask for a precise answer. The estrangement with the Austrians must finally allow Your Majesty to listen to his interests and his heart and to reveal himself as that which, I have no doubt, he has not ceased to be.

***

From DuCasse, Memoirs and Political and Military Correspondence of Prince Eugene, Vol. 10

Murat à Napoléon (sans date)

Sire,

Votre Majesté court des dangers ; la France est menacée jusque dans sa capitale; et je ne puis défendre ni l'un ni l'autre, je ne puis mourir pour vous! et l'ami le plus affectionné de Votre Majesté est en apparence son ennemi! Sire, dites un mot, et je sacrifie ma famille, mes sujets; je me perdrai, mais je vous aurai servi, je vous aurai prouvé que toujours je fus votre meilleur ami. Je ne demande dans ce moment autre chose, pourvu que le vice-roi vous fasse connaître ma conduite... Les larmes qui remplissent mes yeux m'empêchent de continuer ma lettre. Je suis ici seul au milieu d'étrangers; je dois cacher jusqu'à mes larmes; cette lettre vous rend entièrement, Sire, le maître de mon sort. Ma vie est à vous. Aussi bien avais-je fait le serment de mourir pour Votre Majesté; si vous me voyiez et si vous pouviez vous faire une idée de ce que je souffre depuis deux mois, vous auriez pitié de moi.

Aimez-moi toujours. Jamais je ne fus plus digne de votre tendresse; jusqu'à la mort, votre ami.

Murat to Napoleon (undated)

Sire,

Your Majesty is in danger; France is threatened even in her capital; and I cannot defend either of them, I cannot die for you! and the most affectionate friend of Your Majesty is apparently His enemy! Sire, say a word, and I sacrifice my family, my subjects; I will lose myself, but I will have served you, I will have proved to you that I was always your best friend. I do not ask for anything else at this moment, provided that the Viceroy makes my conduct known to you... The tears filling my eyes prevent me from continuing my letter. I am here alone amongst strangers; I must hide even my tears; this letter makes you, Sire, the master of my fate. My life is yours. If you could see me and imagine what I have been suffering for the last two months, you would feel sorry for me.

Love me always. I was never more worthy of your tenderness; until death, your friend.

This is heartbreaking. And I fear, Napoleon did not get it at all. Judging from his reaction below, he probably assumed Murat was faking it.

***

From DuCasse, Memoirs and Political and Military Correspondence of Prince Eugene, Vol. 10

Napoleon to Eugene. Soissons, 12 March 1814

My son, I am sending you a copy of a most extraordinary letter I have received from the King of Naples.

At a time when I and France are being assassinated, such feelings are truly inconceivable. I also receive the letter which you write to me with the draft treaty sent to you by the King. You can see that this idea is madness. However, send an agent to this extraordinary traitor, and make a treaty with him in my name. Do not touch Piedmont or Genoa, and divide the rest of Italy into two kingdoms. Let this treaty remain secret, until the Austrians have been driven out of the country, and 24 hours after its signature the king declares himself and falls upon the Austrians. You can do everything in this sense, nothing must be spared in the present situation, to add to our efforts the efforts of the Neapolitans.

Afterwards, we will do what we want; for, after such ingratitude and in such circumstances, nothing binds. Wanting to embarrass him, I gave orders that the Pope be sent, by Piacenza and Parma, to the outposts. I let the Pope know that, having asked as Bishop of Rome to return to his diocese, I have allowed him to do so. Take care, therefore, not to commit yourself to anything in relation to the Pope, either to recognise him or not to recognise him.

I assume this undated letter by Murat also is the »note« Eugène was so furious about in an earlier letter, when he called Murat “totally nuts now”, but which he still sent on to Napoleon. Apparently, it did not go over too well with that one either.

***

From Helfert, »Joachim Murat«

Mier to Metternich (postscript)

Bologna this 6th of April 1814.

My Prince! I have been informed by a reliable source that about mid-March the Viceroy had made proposals to the King of Naples for an arrangement between them concerning Italy.

The King listened to them but took no action on them. Some Neapolitan generals, who had taken it into their heads to reunite Italy and put the King of Naples at the head of the Italians, continued to haggle and used all possible means to get the King to adopt their plan. They argued that for its realisation it was necessary to come to an agreement with the Viceroy.

Things remained as they were until Bentinck arrived in Livorno. A few days before the King had received a letter from Campochiaro announcing the refusal of England to accede for the moment to our treaty of alliance, and the difficulties of Russia and Prussia on the same subject. His whole report was so stitched as to inspire H. M. with great distrust of the views of the Allies in His regard. At the same time His Majesty was forced to ask Marshal Bellegarde to recall and replace General Nugent in the command of the Austrian division, in order to put an end to the continual gossip and harassment.

This unfortunate combination of circumstances, all designed to annoy His Majesty, was not lost on the Viceroy, and he rightly considered the moment favourable to renew his proposals. Bentinck's conduct served him wonderfully, and the King, pushed to the limit, believing himself to be sacrificed, decided to enter into talks with the Viceroy. The Duke of Gallo spoke out strongly against this step, but he was not well supported by the other people surrounding His Majesty. M. Generals Carascosa and Livron were sent on several occasions to the Viceroy's headquarters. In this time I had been near Marshal Bellegarde; we were not unaware of all that was going on. Lord Bentinck maintained by the positive data of the bad faith of the King of Naples the necessity of treating him as an enemy; but Marshal Cte Bellegarde knowing the position and the state of our army, foreseeing the unfortunate consequences which would result if we had the Neapolitans against us, and not wanting and not being able to take upon himself the decision of an affair of such importance, was firmly opposed to it, and we decided that it was necessary to prevent by all possible means that the King should throw himself on the side of the French.

The arrival of General Balascheff to sign a treaty of alliance, the reassuring statements Lord Bentinck was authorised to give in writing to the King about the British Government's feelings towards him, of which he had hitherto made no use, and more than all this the certainty I had that the Queen, whom I had warned of the turn affairs were taking here, would make up her mind to come and rejoin the King, gave me hope that S. M. return to himself, return to his commitments and duties, and that everything would be arranged amicably. The state of the Queen's health and the position of affairs in the kingdom of Naples did not allow her to come to Bologna, but she sent two persons of confidence to her august husband with letters and verbal declarations so firm and energetic, threatening Him to leave Him, to separate His fate entirely from hers, and to make the Neapolitan government take the course which its true interests required, if He ever dared to dishonour Himself by failing to keep His engagements with Austria (which would bring upon His kingdom inevitable misfortunes), that they produced all the effect that could be hoped for. The King acknowledged His wrongs, was ashamed of them, cut off all communications with the Viceroy and declared himself firmly unwilling to hear any more about them.

From that moment on things took a different turn here, and it is to be hoped that all will go well. On the 7th of this month the King will have an interview with Marshal Bellegarde at Revere, where the plan of operation will be discussed and decided. He is in the best of spirits; I hope that this time we will be able to make the most of it. For more than a month I have been endeavouring to persuade him to hand over the command of his troops to Marshal Bellegarde, and for his own sake to return to Naples. It was the only means of putting an end to all the mistrust, all the cabals, of ensuring us of Him to provide a unity to the operations of the two armies. I had asked the Queen to assist me in this respect. She entirely approved my project and made it agree to the King who is decided to give the command of His troops to Marshal Bellegarde as soon as the Viceroy will have been forced in his position on the Mincio. Once the King is in Naples, under the supervision of the Queen, we can be at peace about His conduct. I have the honour etc.

Mier.

Calling in the cavalry on the cavalry general: Caroline. Not trying to be disrespectful but Mier does sound a lot like a nursery school teacher running out of steam and patience with a toddler in his care. »That’s it. I called his mom.«

#italy1814 #napoleon #joachim murat #eugene de beauharnais #caroline murat #helfert murat

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araminakilla · 4 years

Text

Didn’t see that coming… again!

A Tadeo Jones long one-shot fic that merges the events of the first movie, some history about the Spanish Conquista and my own headcanons regarding Mummy.

Warning: Has angst but ends with a happy ending. There are some sentences in spanish so you better get google translator.

Mummy’s POV (Kind of?)

“Shoot you? This is not a weapon it’s a…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence as he was grabbed by the neck. His attacker? No other that the intruded, the invader, this mortal soul who was seconds ago powerless. The human didn’t waste his time and tossed him aside.

The Inca didn’t know if the human wanted him to fall to his “double death” or not.

The only thing he knew was that he was hanging for his eternal life and couldn’t get back to safety.

How could this happen!? He was clearly winning! He had the power, the other was a stranger who doesn’t know all the place.

Wait a minute.

Why that sounds very familiar?

———————————————–

Tahuantinsuyo, November 1532

“Sir, we have some news about the strangers who came from the seas” said a chasqui, a messenger that ran many kilometers just to deliver a very important message to a very important person.

The person in question was a young Inca dressed in royal robes, had a gold crown and spoke in a royal tone. This particular inca was one of the many sons of the ex Sapa Inca Huayna Capac, best know for expanding the empire more. He was beloved by his people and respected by his enemies. There was no greater honor than to be a descendant of him.

Unfortunately, he passed away along his son and official heir to the throne, Ninan Cuyuchi, under mysterious circunstances.

All the people cried over the death of the Sapa Inca and the Auqui and wondered who could rule the Tahuantinsuyo now.

Cue Huascar and Atahualpa.

It was decided that Huascar would rule the capital of the empire (Cusco) and Atahualpa the north part of the empire (Quito). Things went well.

For a short time that is.

It went down when Huascar decided to murder some of Atahualpa’s messengers and the ruler of Quito was very offended. He declared a civil war and many people were affected.

In the end Atahualpa ended up killing many of his half brothers with the help of his best generals who were, ironicaly, his half brothers who swear loyalty to him.

The young Inca who is the protagonist of this story was still alive because Atahualpa didn’t consider him a threat. By the contrary, the last time they encounter each other the young one swore he saw the prince… smiling at him?

He didn’t remember well, he was just a baby or a toddler when that happened.

Now he was the leader of a small group of soldiers who made sure all the gifts for Inti were in his place. Believe it or not, there was always one of two idiots who would try to steal some of the gold. And the consequences of that actions were to DIE FOR.

The new self proclaimed Inca was celebrating his victory over Huascar in Cajamarca when suddenly a chasqui informed him that those pale faced, shiny strangers were coming to meet him.

Other chasquis were sent to inform the other sons of Huayna Capac about the arrive of the people of the seas… including him.

“You got some news, chasqui?” Said the young one “well, what are you waiting for? Tell me”

“Their leader wants to have a meeting with your half brother, the Sapa Inca Atahualpa”

“And what was his opinion?”

“He agreed to meet him in Cajamarca”

For a moment, the young royal froze, but the retained his composture.

“Well, I’m sure whatever plans my brother has, it’s going to benefit all of us. The worst that could happen to the sea people would be if they become slaves. Could you imagine?” the inca said with big eyes and a big smile “My own personal slave! And a stranger from an unknow land no less! How exotic”

“But sir, the meeting is actualy a peaceful one. No one is going to carry weapons”

“Oh? Well that’s weird. But I understand my brother pretty well. The news about those creatures were present in the time when Huayna Capac was alive. He and Ninan were making some plans for their arrive but…you know” he said in a sad tone while not making eye contact with the chasqui. He quickly returned to his optimistic and royal behavior “this situation is a BIG deal and Atahualpa was always a curious person. It’s something we have in common. I’m sure everything will be fine. We are after all the sons of Inti. We have his protection and his eternal light. And nothing will change that”

“That’s true my lord” said the chasqui more confident than before “So, are you going to be present in the meeting?”

“I have many things to do” said the half brother of the Inca “but I will try to be present in the last hours. THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT! I CAN FEEL IT!”

———————————————–

No.

No, no, no, NO!

Just… how could this happen!?

He was on his way to the meeting when he saw many people running in the opposite direction. They were so scared that didn’t had time to explain what happened. Then suddenly the same chasqui who he encountered days before appeared before him. He was bleeding which was odd because he didn’t have a mark of a spear or an arrow in him, just a small hole near his chest. Still he could mutter some words.

“Strangers…lied….brought weapons….shoot fire….thousands of deaths… our people gone… Atahualpa….”

“What?” The young one was desesperate when the messenger began to close his eyes and collapsed in the ground “What!? WHAT DID THEY DO TO MY BROTHER? WHO DID THIS? SPEAK!”

“They kidnapped Atahualpa…Pizarro” and with that the chasqui stopped breathing.

The inca was in total shock. But he didn’t have time to mourn the man. He had to find his brother for Viracocha’s sake!

He ran as fast as he could to the place of the awful events. He ignored the people who were shouting and begging him to not go there.

He had to go there! His brother was in danger! True, he ordenered the death of his other half brothers and had a inferiority-superiority complex but that aside, he couldn’t forget the smile he gave him years ago. It was just…brotherly, something he didn’t obtain from his other half brothers, not matter how much he tried, he was always viewed as an oddball and an outcast. But Atahualpa, he changed that. He made him feel he was still part of the family. A very big, disfuctional family, but a family at the end.

He finally arrived at the place when he saw them. Shining bodies, pale faces, some of them had different eye colors. Under other circunstances, he would admire them and even try to touch them even if his other brothers tell him to stop doing that or facepalming at his weird and excitable little brother.

But now…

“Atahualpa! ATAHUALPA! MANA ATAHUALPA!”

There were two strangers who held him by the arms and shouting things he didn’t understand.

“Cállate indio, fuera de aquí!”

“Mejor lárgate de aquí si no quieres que te meta plomo por la cabeza!”

But the young man was still shouting for his brother.

“WAYQE WAYQE! WAYQE ATAHUALPA!”

One of the stranger had it.

“Te lo advertí indio, ahora sí te voy a…!”

“Deténgase ahí soldado!”

A voice with authority was heard, the three persons looked at one man with a shining helmet with some fluffy feathers, grey hair in his head and on his face (how!?) and strange looking clothes. He was accompanied by… what it looked to be one of the people from the Tahuantinsuyo only that he wore the strangers’ clothes and spoke in their language too.

And they called me the weirdo.

“Señor Pizarro” said one of the brutes while freeing the young inca “Disculpe esta conmoción pero este joven de aquí no para de gritar el nombre de Atahualpa. Será otro seguidor suyo”

“Posiblemente” said Pizarro (why the name sounded familiar?) “Pero es mejor resolver esto de manera pacífica y cortés”

Again, he didn’t understand a word of this old man but by the way the odd-looking inca who was at his side looked at his left and then back to the old man with a deadpan face that screamed “Really?” something was very off about the whole situation.

The young inca looked where the weirdo looked before and… he wished he didn’t look at all.

Corpses.

There where corpses everywhere. And more strangers and some odd looking animals too.

The thing that scared him the most was that there wasn’t a corpse of a stranger laying. Not a single one. As if they were too powerful that they were not affected in the battle.

Was there even a battle to begin with?

He soon realized that the two strangers and mister Pizarro himself were covered in blood.

His people’s blood.

Posibly Atahualpa’s blood as well.

The young one gritted his teeth and was about to charge at the old man furiously when he was held back by those two brutes.

One of them even took off one of his gold earrings while muttering “Qué bonito”

This of course made the young one be even more furious. How DARE!?

“Tranquilo, no queremos pelear más” said Pizarro in a calm tone “Dime muchacho… Acaso conoces a Atahualpa personalmente? Eres familiar suyo?”

Wow, that man has to be really stupid to believe he magicaly will understand everything he just said. He just only understood the word Atahualpa and began to panic.

“Felipillo” said the old man looking at his inca “Mejor tú dile qué acabo de decir antes que a todos nos de un ataque de pánico”

The odd inca began to talk in his language (quechua) and our protagonist, more calmly since he could understand him, replied back, looking at the old man intensely.

Felipillo spoke, looking rather sad.

“Dice que es su hermano menor de sangre”

Pizarro’s eyes widened. The others were surprised as well. The old man then gave a nod to one of the brutes and this one freed the inca to carry his weapon that breath fire with both hands.

“Señor NO!”

That was the last thing the young man heard from Felipillo when he felt a great pain in the head and everything became blurry and then black.

———————————————–

Turns out they only hit him in the head with the weapon and didn’t shoot him.

The events after that hit where blurry in the memories the now Living Mummy leader of Paititi.

But the events before that hit where enough to make him cry (or at least sob, as he didn’t have corporal fluids).

He was alone. He felt alone. He didn’t like when others see him cry or even sad.

He is supposed to cheer them and tell them everything is going to be fine.

Except for the fact that… nothing is going to be fine. At all.

All his brothers and sisters were dead. Gone in horrific battles against the spaniards. And Atahualpa, he died the worse death of them all.

Because it was a death that could be prevented.

But because the Inca was overconfident in his role as a ruler, everything fall, quite literaly.

Overconfidence

Who knew that was one the reasons the Tahuantinsuyo fell? One of the reasons that cost them thousands of lifes that day and many more in the future.

Sure, the Sapa Inca was a proud individual. He was the son of the sun after all (Wasn’t he? He wasn’t sure now) but they always knew the tables could turn if one wasn’t very careful.

His father, Ninan Cuyuchi and others before him knew that very well.

Atahualpa… not so much.

Resigned, he was going to return to his usual spot to protect the idol when suddenly, the earth above him began to crack and many bats flew to freedom.

Inmediately he looked at the light spot very carefuly.

It’s been centuries since the last time they felt the warm touch of Inti. They were still mad at him for abandoning them all this years ago but…they still missed him.

He felt that whoever was up there dropped something. Mummy saw that strange thing fall and took it, only his hand in the soft light while he retrieve it slowly.

This could only mean one thing.

Invaders. Humans. Danger. He had to prepare himself for the massacre. After all…how could this group of puny mortals be different from the ones who went to Paititi before them?

The battle was at his favor…right?

———————————————–

Oh… that’s why.

Overconfidence: the Inca’s worst enemy.

It wasn’t the chankas, or the spaniards or the so called “progress” that the conquistadors talked about when trying to justify the destruction of his culture.

It was just… overconfidence. Quite simple.

But for the love of Viracocha how it HURTS.

Curiosity wasn’t the only thing he had in common with his fallen brother after all.

Oh, Atahualpa…what have I done?

This could not end like this.

He could NOT end like this.

There has to be something he can do to fix his mistake…

“Not so fast!” A voice of another person echoed in the place.

Mummy didn’t know who he was. He was sure it wasn’t another mummy. He knew the voices of all his subjects very well. He had 500 years of experience.

Who was he? And what are his intentions?

“Get lost Tad Stones!” The human who threw him said in an annoyed tone.

So they are enemies. Great, he could get help from this “Tad”. All he had to do what set his pride aside and ask for…

“Help! HE-HE-HELP!”

He was so surprised the stranger actually came to him and asked:

“Are you alright sir?”

Well, of course he wasn’t. He was hanging for his inmortal life! He had a very exhausting patrol routine that is meant to continue forever. He and his people suffered a lot at the hands of the spaniards and his allies.

But the simple fact that one stranger asked him if he was alright set that all aside.

Maybe things weren’t so lost after all…

Suddenly a long bang! was heard and he knew that the bad stranger has took control over the golem, having learned rather fast how to control it thanks to him.

Talk about irony. Gime me a break!

“Too bad he’s already DEAD!” said the dark haired individual.

But Mummy wasn’t paying attention to him. All he saw was this Tad guy who was rescuing him from a long fall. He was very different from the first stranger in every aspect. He wouldn’t have guessed this is the man who wants to stop the bad guy, as he screamed like a girl the first time he saw the monster.

But hey, he also screamed and ran away. Who was he to judge?

He saw the confused man who was helping him with a newfound admiration. Something he didn’t felt for a long time. He hasn’t be this happy since he became a mummy.

No, since the Spanish arrived.

No… since Atahualpa smiled at him warmly.

That was it. He made him feel he mattered, that he was someone.

That he was loved.

After this Tad spoke about an object that he was wearing, all Mummy had to say was something he didn’t think it was possible for him to say again in such an optimsitic and happy tone.

“Thank you”

‐————————————

Author’s notes:

I know Mummy didn’t say something in that moment in the english dub, which is a pity because he said that in both the latinoamerica and spanish version and was very heartwarming.

This idea was born when I read the ramble of @tammyhybrid21 of why Mummy had an idiot moment when dealing with Max, and one of the videogames confirmed that the reason was that Mummy became too confident in the situation. Initialy it was just going to be a long reply to her post but BOOM BABY this fic was born.

If you want to know how Mummy looked when he was alive, you can go to @shields-and-depthgauges-oh-my there’s a really good interpretation of how he looked as a human

The spanish parts are many that’s why I recommend using a translator. But here are the meanings of the quechua words:

Inti: Sun god, very important god in the incan pantheon.

Viracocha: The creator of everything, father of Inti.

Sapa Inca: Great Ruler. Used for describing the rulers of the Tahuantinsuyo.

Auqui: The official heir to the throne. Usually a first born son of the Sapa Inca.

Tahuantinsuyo: The four suyos. A suyo was a division of the land that was conquered by the Sapa Inca. It is NOT an empire but I didn’t know how to call the place since the accurate word is to long.

Chasqui: A messenger. Used to ran kilometers to deliver news of the four suyos.

Mana: No

Wayqe: Brother (from a man to another man)

Chanka: Another group coming from the Andes who were the Inca’s most recurring enemies. Many of them allied with the spaniards to take down the Inca Empire and be free of them. It backfired in the most epic fail way.

Real life people used in this story:

Huayna Capac: The last official Sapa Inca before the civil war began. Father of Huascar, Atahualpa, Ninan Cuyuchi and more than one hundred sons and daughters had with his many concubines. He loved to be in Quito (actual Ecuador) so he made it a part of his “empire”. That’s the place where Atahualpa ruled. It is believed he and Ninan died for a european disease that spread from the north.

Ninan Cuyuchi: Not so much is know about this auqui except for the fact that, had he been alive, the events of the spanish conquista would have been VERY different.

Huascar: A son of the Inca who was Atahualpa’s half brother. He tried to became the Sapa Inca as he ruled Cusco, the capital of the Tahuantinsuyo. It isn’t very clear if he was murdered after Atahualpa was captured of before that. Anyway, his death was one of the many things that were used against Atahualpa (fraticide) in a kangaroo court composed by an all spaniard group of people.

Atahualpa: Even if he doesn’t appear in this story, his presence and decisions are what sets Mummy’s and the other Incas’ destiny. He was too overconfident and curious about the spaniards that he ignored his most trusted generals’ pleas to attack them in Cajamarca. He regreted his decision later.

Francisco Pizarro: El hombre. The man. The “Great Conquistador of Peru” as he was called years ago. An old explorer cousin of Hernán Cortés who was more of an invader. He wasn’t evil, he just had daddy issues. Issues that he tried to compensate wiping out a civilization and declaring himself the owner of the new “discovered” land. Wrong move, buddy.

Felipillo: A native of the new world who learned to speak spanish and began to hang out with the conquidtadors as his official translator. The thing was… most of the things that were told to the spaniards were made up by him in an attempt to drag Atahualpa and his followers deep down. So yeah, he a traitor.

Thank you so much for reading this story. And remember, seach for the true history of your country. You might get surprised :)

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