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the-wlw-cafe · 4 years

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Supercorptober 2020 - Day 10: Ice

Read it on ao3 here!

TW: discussion of the possibility of rape (no rape takes place), major character injury, implied terminal illness. This one is bittersweet y’all!

Lena couldn’t feel her legs. It was an improvement over the searing pain she’d felt in the first two hours of fighting her way through the four feet of snow covering the plains. Back then, breaking though the frozen layer at the top and feeling the solid, sharp edges cut along her skin had felt like knives slashing at her with every step, but now there was nothing but numbness. She wasn’t sure how she was still walking, or even why. The chances that she’d make it were grim, and they became darker with every minute that passed, every moment closer to sundown.

Sundown was of course a relative term, she hadn’t seen the actual sun in years, always covered by an impenetrable layer of dark grey ash that the bombs had spewed into the sky. But it’s absence could still be felt, and without the light of the moon or the stars the nights had become black as tar, making it impossible to see the hand before your very eyes.

She’d come past several abandoned houses and smaller settlements, most of the buildings long since collapsed from the accumulated weight of the ash and snow on their roofs. There’d been no sign of people living, or even just passing by there. Maybe she should be glad about that. Lex had told her all manner of horror stories about the people outside the city walls: bandits, murderers, cannibals. All of them out for their their wealth, their lives, their house and home, and Lex was the only one who could protect her from the wastrels outside. He’d built an empire out of nothing, just to keep his little sister safe.

His concern for her safety only extended as far as she was willing to obey him, and the moment she’d stopped believing the lies that spilled from his lips whenever he opened his mouth he’d been more than happy to sentence her to exile. Death would probably be a more apt description of her punishment, but Lena could see why Lex wasn’t overly fond of it. It did sound a lot less civilised.

“This brings me no joy, Lena”, he’d announced to the tribunal, “but justice must be served.”

It sure didn’t seem that way when he’d gleefully recounted all the things the outsiders would do to her should they get their hands on her – he’d gloated that if she froze to death in the plains she should count herself lucky. Lena was inclined to agree.

She wasn’t sure whether it was the exhaustion that made the corners of her vision darken or if dusk was already approaching. There was a coppery taste in her mouth, she assumed she must have bitten her tongue with how bad her teeth were chattering. She was stumbling now more than she was walking, and she hoped it was only the dwindling daylight that made the tips of her fingers seem darker than the rest of her skin.

She fell.

Thrashed her way out of the snow.

Got up.

Took a step.

Knees buckled.

She fell again.

It dawned on her then that this was it. She tried to get her muscles to obey, but try as she might, they wouldn’t. All that was left for her to do was to curl into fetal position there in the snow, close her eyes, and wait.

At least she didn’t feel the pain anymore.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when she saw the light. It was flashing brightly behind her closed lids, and the scared 4-year-old catholic girl inside her she’d tried so hard to repress believed for just one second that it might be the light of heaven.

Then, through the sound of her chattering teeth, she heard voices approach.

“Kara, holy shit, there’s someone there!”

Rapid footsteps were approaching her now, her panicked mind sent into overdrive with visions of her brother’s hateful sneer as he raved about rampant disease and savages driven mad with hunger and breeding stock. It imbued her with a last burst of adrenaline-borne strength, as she crawled backwards, away from the light.

“Is she...is she dead?”

“No, she’s moving!”

Trying to get away was an exercise in futility. They’d quickly caught up with her, two figures looming over her, barely more than silhouettes as the flashlights they were holding were the only source of light. One of them took a step closer, knelt down beside her, and Lena squeezed her eyes shut again.

“Please”, she whispered in a voice barely louder than the rustling of fabric as the outsider pulled her into a sitting position, not in a terribly rough manner. What she was pleading for she couldn’t say, perhaps mercy, perhaps a swift death. Whether her pleas were heard she never found out, because as the outsider tried to help her to her feet with the help of the second figure, the world spun on its axis as she lost all sense of up or down, and she sunk into a deep, deep darkness.

She drifted in and out of something akin to consciousness. There were disjointed memories, she was unsure which ones were real and which ones her mind made up for her, pushed beyond its breaking point. She could remember someone lifting up her hand and holding a cold glass of water to her lips, tilting it ever so slightly as to only let a couple of drops wet her lips at a time, there were voices around her, footsteps, the smell of burning wood and acrid smoke.

The first time she truly woke up, she thought herself back in the city. It had always smelt of fire there, of the furnaces beneath the earth ever hungry for more sustenance.

“She’s resting, Kara, and you looking over my shoulder constantly won’t make it better. Please, go outside. Go help Mike clear the path to the outhouse since you both completely skimped on ice duty after you found our guest.” The voice was female and somewhat gruff, she sounded like she was speaking through clenched teeth. She was also totally unbeknownst to her. Her pulse quickened as it fully occurred to her that she was in the hands of a group of outsiders. They hadn’t killed her yet, and from what she could feel her body had been deposited on a somewhat soft underground, maybe an old, stiff mattress. She was alive, she’d been kept alive, at the expense of precious resources, so they wanted something from her.

“She was dying, Alex!”

“Kara! Outside!”

Hurried footsteps disappeared off somewhere, and Lena assumed the woman called Kara had left the one called Alex to her devices. Lena kept her eyes shut and breathed slowly, hoping to overhear more, maybe getting a solid idea of what these people wanted from her, finding out what she had to do in order to stay alive. But Alex remained silent at her side, until she heard the rustling of fabric and the touch of the woman’s hand on her forehead, startling her into foolishly letting out a gasp.

“Awake, huh?” Alex asked. There was no use in denying it. She opened her eyes and turned to face the person currently taking her temperature. She was a young woman with short cropped auburn hair, a stern crease between her eyebrows. As Lena let her gaze sweep across the room, she found herself in a large hall of some sort, some kind of factory, if she had to guess. The walls were tall and grey, the only light filtering in from tiny windows near the roof. There were several mattresses strewn across the floor, she could see about half a dozen from where she was lying but she supposed there were several more hiding behind the shoddily made privacy screens of wood and cardboard that intersected the room at regular intervals. The middle of the room gave way to a makeshift fire pit, probably the only source of warmth in the night.

“Do you want some water? We couldn’t get you to drink much while you were out.”

Lena nodded, gratefully, not quite trusting her voice not to tremble if she tried to speak, and she didn’t dare show any sign of fear or weakness, not when she didn’t yet know what the outsiders needed from her. She needed to grip the glass of water with both hands as to not let it slip from her weakened grasp. She noted that both of her hands were wrapped in bandages, but they worryingly, they were still somewhat numb. The liquid felt warm on her lips, probably not quite cooled down from boiling just yet.

“You were lucky Kara and Mike found you when they did. They were the last ones out for the night, and you definitely wouldn’t have made it until the morning. It was pretty stop and go as it is, my mom and me took turns watching over you.”

Lena nodded absently while forcing herself to drink in small sips as not to make herself sick, while her mind raced again. Alex had mentioned blood relatives, so this was a familial community, and they cared for their sick, even if they didn’t belong to them. They didn’t seem to be nomadic either, if the structures they’d erected were anything to go by. She allowed herself a sigh of relief. It could have been much, much worse. At least she didn’t have to expect to be used for their entertainment and be abandoned after the novelty had worn off. What duties awaited her in this commune she didn’t yet know, but she was certain wanton cruelty was not one of them. The sound of footsteps quickly approaching dragged her back to reality.

“Alex, the path to the outhouse is clear, Mike was almost done by the time I arrived, so I – you’re awake!”

It was Kara, the woman Alex had sent away previously. She was wrapped up in a thick coat that was covered in snow up to the waist, half of her face hidden behind a red woollen scarf that covered her mouth and nose, only her blue eyes and some strands of blonde hair that had come loose from the fur-lined hood were visible. When she set eyes on Lena, they seemed to widen in something Lena hesitated to call joy.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, almost bowling Alex aside in her eagerness to sit down next to her mattress.

“Right”, Alex said, “you keep an eye on our mystery guest, and I’ll fetch mom and let her get a look at her injuries too.”

She stood up and vanished behind one of the privacy screens, leaving Kara to plop down gracelessly into a cross-legged position at Lena’s side.

“I’m Kara”, she said, “I was the one who-”, here she paused, pulling a face, wrenching the scarf away from her face and turning away from Lena to spit something out.

“Sorry, got lint in my mouth”, she grinned sheepishly, her cheeks and the tip of her nose adorably pinkened by the cold.

“Anyway, Mike and me found you out in the snow.”

“I know, Alex told me”, Lena replied, and found her voice hoarse with disuse but otherwise steady.

“Oh, Alex is going to be so glad to see you awake too!”

That gave Lena pause. Alex didn’t seem hostile in any way, but she also wasn’t exactly jumping with joy to see her on her feet again.

“Why’s that?”, Lena asked. The suspicion must have been clear in her voice, as Kara lifted her hands in a placating gesture.

“Well, when we brought you in, we didn’t exactly have an unoccupied sleeping place lying around, so I left you mine, which meant I had to bunk with Alex like I used to when we were kids – she’s my sister – and...well, all I’m saying is that she’ll probably be glad to have some privacy with her girlfriend again.”

Lena couldn’t disguise the way her breath hitched at the word girlfriend. It seemed impossible to her, utopic even, to have a relationship built from love with another woman and have it be recognised by others. Lex had always been obsessed with progeny and the triumph of the human race. He hadn’t ostracized her for her attraction to women, yet he’d always been convinced that eventually, she’d move past what he called selfish desires and marry a man for the sake of the greater good.

“So where do you come from?”, Kara asked. “We’ve had contact with a few nomad groups moving south, trying to find warmer climates, but since Brainy says it’s a futile effort because the ash clouds must cover at least the entire northern hemisphere we’re staying put where we are.”

Lena couldn’t tell her the truth. She knew the city’s walls were guarded, and up until now she’d been complacent in the shooting of the folks who came too close to the gates, too cold and hungry and desperate to heed the guard’s warnings. She knew that through years of keeping quiet and living in fear of her brother’s retaliation there was more blood on her hands than she could ever hope to wash off.

Kara must have caught her hesitation, because she backtracked at once.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’m only asking because if there are still friends of yours out there, we can probably put together a little search party.”

Lena shook her head. “No, there’s nobody out there. I’m alone.”

“Not anymore”, Kara said, reaching out to touch Lena’s shoulder affectionately, making her heart race. Lena would have laughed at herself if she wasn’t so stunned. Were she came from, affection had never been freely given, it was a reward for when she’d acted according to Lex’s designs, the carrot as opposed to the stick of forced labour down below, keeping the furnaces roaring. It was almost terrifying to be awarded it now, even though she’d done nothing to deserve it, in fact, the opposite was the case as she’d clearly refused to tell Kara the truth about where she’d come from. And yet, she couldn’t help but lean into the touch.

“I’m Lena”, she told her instead, offering at least some amount of information to appease her. The answering smile she received was brilliant.

Their moments was over when Alex returned, and older blonde woman she assumed to be her mother in tow. She introduced herself as Eliza, and asked Lena all manner of questions about her health, whether she was having difficulty breathing, and whether she was experiencing any localised numbness. When Lena told her about the numb feeling in her fingers, she frowned, but didn’t seem to distressed.

“Listen, Lena, I know this might be hard to hear, but when we found you, the frostbite in your fingers, especially in the pinky and ring finger of your right hand, had progressed very far. We didn’t want to risk necrosis, as we don’t have the proper equipment to fight a sepsis, should it come this far. I’m sorry we couldn’t involve you in the decision, but you were unconscious, and time was of the essence.”

Eliza spoke in a calm and patient manner, but it did nothing to lessen the impact of her next words:

“We had to take off the pinky and ring finger of your right hand.”

Her words were enough to turn Lena’s stomach, and she found herself senselessly clinging onto denial. “No”, she whispered, “no, that can’t be true, I would know…”

“Phantom sensations are a very common occurrence -”

Lena couldn’t hear her anymore, she’d started tearing at the bandages around her hands, despite Alex’ and Eliza’s protests because she needed to show them, needed to prove them wrong…

She retched on an empty stomach when she’d pulled enough layers aside to see it was true, two of her fingers were just gone, two short stumps under the reddish brown stains on the bandage where they should be. She knew she was hyperventilating, distantly chastising herself to get a grip, but the nausea and panic made it impossible, her breath coming more and more shallow until -

She faintly realized someone was holding her. She was being cradled in strong arms, someone was holding her hair from her face, and as she tried to force her panicking senses to zero in on the touch she realised it was Kara’s voice murmuring into her ear, telling her to breathe slowly, in one two three four, out one two three four five. Eventually the attack abated, and Lena sunk heavily into Kara’s arms, not even having enough strength left to feel humiliated at her display.

She didn’t pass out again, not physically, but her mind certainly checked out of reality for a time. When she became aware of herself again, the noise of people talking reached her ears.

“Brainy checked the fuses and I had a look at the cables, and there’s nothing wrong with them, so the problem has to be with the turbines, and we need to get them back online ASAP or the growbeds are going to pay the price.”

“I can do that”, Lena murmured before anyone had the chance to interject. She opened her eyes and realised with an embarrassed flush that Kara was still holding her. The blonde let her go when she started to squirm away.

“I can do that”, she repeated. Whoever had controlled the electricity in the City had controlled the power, quite literally, so she was raised to know her way around all kinds of sources of electricity. And it was high time to prove to the community that she was more than just a mouth to feed, that she could pull her weight, that she was worth the trouble they’d gone to to keep her alive.

“Are you sure?” Alex questioned with a raise of her eyebrows. “You just woke up today, you should rest some more.”

“I’m sure”, Lena said, projecting all of the certainty she didn’t feel into her voice. “I can do it.”

Nobody fought her on it, even though Kara looked like she was about to.

The issue, as it turned out, was once again the frost. Lena was told that the community had taken refuge in a hydroelectric power plant, one they’d actually gotten up and running again after the bombs had dropped. They had to regularly send people out to stop the formation of ice on the river that powered it in order to keep it operational, but since Kara and Mike hadn’t finished their duty last night it seemed some leftover water inside the turbine had frozen and expanded, wrenching key parts of the mechanism out of place. Nothing seemed to be past saving, thankfully, and Lena went to go about the tedious work of instructing Brainy, who they’d referred to in case of trouble with the turbines on how to fix them. To be perfectly honest, Lena had no doubt that Brainy would have proven just as capable to handle the problem as she was, but he didn’t complain. Lena was just glad to have found an area to prove her worth. As she watched Brainy work on the turbines, the exhaustion caught back up to her, and she had to sit down on the hard floor propped up against the concrete wall, just to take a little break, to close her eyes for just one second…

When she opened them again, she found herself back on the familiar mattress again, blue eyes staring down at her in concern.

“Lena! Don’t you dare scare me like that again, gosh, we all knew you weren’t ready but you seemed so sure!”

“Did it work? Are the turbines back online again?”

Kara just made an exasperated noise, like it was Lena who wasn’t making any sense at all.

“Yes, it worked”, she finally cried, gesturing around them. Lena now realized that the area was now illuminated by floodlights now. “But Lena, you passed out again!”

So what, Lena thought, and noticed only at the scandalised gasp Kara let out that she’d said the words out loud.

“Okay, I think we need to put some ground rules down.”

Lena almost breathed a sigh of relief. This was territory she was familiar with. Maybe this community would start making more sense to her as soon as she knew whose authority to respect, which places were off limits and at which times she was expected to speak or hold her tongue.

“Rule number one: If you feel at all sick, or weak, or if you’re injured, you tell Alex and Eliza and you let someone else take over your chores for the day.”

This wasn’t at all what she’d expected, but she nodded anyway. Even more confusing was that, despite this rule being titled rule number one no more rules seemed to follow, and Kara seemed placated with her response.

“Dinner will be ready soon”, Kara said, the abrupt change in topic almost making Lena choke on thin air. “Hope you like turnips!”

There were more, unspoken rules, but they were baffling all the same. Rule number two she found out about very quickly, when Kara asked her, blushing and stammering adorably, whether she’d be alright with sharing a mattress.

“You can say no if you want to, I can just stay with Alex, I’m sure she won’t mind...much.”

“It’s fine, Kara, it really is”, Lena said, despite an unexplainable surge of nerves. She’d never shared as much as a room before. It was the novelty of sharing a bed that made Lena’s heart beat out of her chest as they lay next to each other, stiff as boards. She didn’t dare entertain any other reason as to why her skin tingled with electricity in the places their skin touched.

Rule number two was that she was expected to speak her mind. Lena really wasn’t keen on finding out how far this rule extended, and what the exceptions were.

She lacked the common sense to know that rule number three was more of an in-joke among the outsiders as it was law. A young man named Winn, who was more or less the authority when it came to the growbeds where they grew turnips, potatoes and carrots, showed her around the greenhouses as soon as she was well enough to take on some duties.

“Welcome”, he said, swinging his arms like windmills in an excited gesture, “to my secret grow operation. Don’t narc.”

“Please laugh at his jokes”, a young brunette whom Lena remembered being called Nia stage-whispered. “He gets so mopey when they don’t land.”

Nia, as it turned out, was very easy to work with. She was the youngest in the group, and she’d also joined the community the most recently, and she was overjoyed to no longer be the newest member. She didn’t talk about the circumstances of her joining much, and Lena didn’t pry – it would be very hypocritical of her to expect the truth from others but hide her own. She soon became very fond of Nia, she easily made her feel welcome, and she had a way of intuiting whenever Lena needed a break but didn’t dare ask for it. She still was overcome with spells of nausea and dizziness, especially when she caught a glimpse of her mangled hand while working.

“I don’t actually remember much of it”, Nia blurted out one day as they were clearing the growbeds of weeds. It was astounding, really, how weeds seemed to thrive even in these conditions. “I was very young, and very sick. My family were moving south, like a lot of people did, and my sister dragged me here because my parents had heard there was a doctor living here. Eliza and Alex took me in, and helped me get better, and when they went to find my family again, they’d already up and left.”

There was a long pause in which they silently worked side by side.

“I don’t remember much, but I know that my parents wouldn’t have left me behind, not if they believed there was still hope.”

There’s an accusation in there somewhere, but Lena doesn’t comment on it. What would she have said anyway? Siblings can be like that sometimes? My own brother abandoned me to die alone? She just reaches out to place a hand on Nia’s shoulder, like Kara did with her once, and she hopes her smile conveys more than she has the words to say.

The change in their sleeping arrangement happens gradually, so gradually that Lena doesn’t even notice until she finds herself one evening with her head resting literally on Kara’s chest, with Kara’s hands running idly to her hair. She forces herself to breathe calmly as soon as she notices, as if Kara was a very shy deer she ought not to disturb. Was this strange? Was it wrong? It couldn’t be. She felt more at peace than she’d been in a long time, and her sleep was more restful than it had ever been behind the walls of the City. She didn’t dare bring it up, for fear of calling attention to it meant Kara putting a stop to this unspoken ritual of theirs.

Not everyone in the community welcomed her with open arms. It really didn’t bother her all that much, she couldn’t imagine trusting a perfect stranger that had washed up in the middle of their tight-knit group either. There was Kara’s cousin Clark and his pregnant wife Lois, and while Lois was perfectly civil towards Lena, there was no disguising the look of distrust in Clark’s eyes whenever Lena so much as looked in his wife’s or Kara’s direction. Nor could James, whom Kara claimed to be an old family friend, hide the way his eyes followed Lena’s every move. But it was fine, it was to be expected. At least that’s what Lena told Kara, after she’d had a fight, a proper shouting match with the two about getting to know Lena for who she is and not who they expect her to be. At least whoever plans the chores has the common sense not to put them in the same group.

Lena really doesn’t mind the judgement, but what she does mind is Mike’s constant advances on her. “He gets...excited when there’s someone new in the group”, Alex explains with a frown, as if there’d been similar problems with him before. Lena isn’t quite sure whether she should reject him. Sure, the thought of being with him made her stomach turn, but Lena wasn’t sure whether she could let the chance to establish a proper foothold in the community. She needed the security, just because she was liked by Kara and Nia, and tolerated by Alex and Eliza, didn’t mean that she’d be safe should it come to infighting. So she endured his flirting, and smiled politely to cover up the urge to cringe whenever he would touch her arm in a manner that was to frequent to be truly accidental.

Kara, of course, read her like a book.

“I’ll beat him up for you if you want to”, she’d said, the determination in her voice bordering on scary. “I mean it.”

Lena didn’t doubt that for a single second. She smiled patiently.

“I don’t mind his attention”, she lied effortlessly, “I think I might come to like him some day.”

“But that’s not what love is supposed to be about!” Kara cried. Love – what a cute concept. It was all very Kara.

“It’s not about love”, Lena tried to explain. “I want to stay here.”

“Then stay!”

As if it was that easy.

“You shouldn’t have to force yourself to like him”, Kara said. “You can just tell him to back off.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’d love that.”

“That doesn’t matter! It’s your choice, and if he doesn’t like it, that’s his problem. If he makes trouble, I’ll beat him up, as I promised.”

“Kara-”

“No, Lena. Your right to stay here doesn’t depend on who you date. And if anyone tells you anything different, they can have a word with me.” Kara squared her shoulders demonstratively, and Lena had to swallow. She’d never really noticed how muscular her friend was, but now that she knew, it was difficult to take her eyes off her straining biceps.

“I’ll always protect you”, Kara whispered, and Lena was glad the blonde took this exact moment to take her into her arms, because it meant Kara couldn’t see the way Lena had to dig her teeth into her lower lip to stop it from shaking.

Mike didn’t take it well. He pouted and made passive-aggressive remarks, he threw her nasty looks over his turnip stew and demanded to no longer be assigned chores alongside Lena, which Lena was rather fine by her. He got over it eventually. He had nowhere else to go, and in a community that had no choice but to rely on each other there was no place for long-held grudges. They got along because they had to. He actually managed an apology for his behaviour some weeks later, hands buried in the pockets of his worn jeans and eyes stubbornly averted. Lena took it, because it was the best she was going to get from him, and she couldn’t afford to have an axe to grind.

Rule number four was basically common sense: You don’t go onto the ice alone. Ice breaking duty was always assigned in pairs, to have someone to call for aid should something happen. It was a necessity Lena soon became all to aware of when she shared ice breaking duty with J’onn, one of the eldest members besides maybe Eliza. She’d been there when she saw him lean heavily on his icepick, and, moments later, collapse into a heap out on the ice, his breath coming shallow, moaning in pain. She’d called for Alex and Eliza while dragging him inside to safety. The other’s soon helped carry him to his assigned bunk, where Eliza immediately started tending to him.

“Is he sick?”, she asked Alex, but before she could answer J’onn emitted a sound Lena first thought to be a dry cough, but soon she understood that he was laughing, a pained, horrible laugh devoid of mirth.

“Four atomic bombs dropped over North America, and she asks me if I’m sick”, he coughed. “We’re all dying of something out here.”

The words shouldn’t surprise her, but they hit her like a ton of bricks as the words echoed in her mind, and they continued to do so whenever she saw Kara struggling for breath after completely mundane activities, when she saw how tired Winn always looked no matter how much sleep they got, when she saw how little weight Lois was gaining despite being pregnant.

They sent out hunting parties too, sometimes. They seldom brought home more than a meagre rat or a squirrel if they were lucky, but they went out anyway. Lena suspected it was more to avoid cabin fever than to find a sustainable source of food. She’d come to look forward to these moments, as Kara always volunteered to be her partner. She’d come to adore the quiet out there, no matter the cold, and she’d become addicted to the way Kara’s hand found hers almost automatically whenever they walked next to each other.

On a day like this, clearer than most she’d seen, she noticed it: On the horizon in the distance, one large column of acrid black smoke was rising into the clouds above.

“The City”, Kara explained, and Lena closed her eyes at the assault of memories, the empty-eyed workers shuffling down to the furnaces under threat of exile, the air that hurt to breathe and the sneer of her brother.

“It seems so close”, Kara remarked.

“Don’t worry, they don’t leave their walls”, Lena said quickly in an effort to calm her friend, then quickly tacked on: “So I’ve heard.” She cringed at how bad she’d gotten at lying ever since she didn’t really need to do it on a daily basis.

Kara regarded her with an unreadable expression for a long time. Then:

“We all know, you know? That you’re Lena Luthor.”

Lena stared at her, wide-eyed. “But how...why”, she stuttered, suddenly forgetting how to form complete sentences.

“Most of us are exiles ourselves. It’s why Clark and James have such a hard time trusting you, because they were suffering and they can’t see you were suffering under Lex as well.”

Lena stood there, dumbfounded. Whenever she thought she’d found a system of rules to operate by, Kara came along to uproot her view of the world.

“How can you even look at me, after all my family has done to your family?”, she whispered.

“Because I know you”, Kara stated, as certain as one could be about anything. “And I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too”, Lena murmured, resting her head on Kara’s shoulder, and Kara’s answering smile was so bright she almost didn’t notice the sunshine that had landed upon Kara’s features. When she did, she couldn’t help the soft gasp that escaped her.

“Kara, look!”, she squealed with abandon, pointing towards the crack in the clouds that let a singular ray of sun escape to dapple the frozen ground with light. They stood there, shadowing their eyes with their hands and staring directly into the sun like a pair of idiots, huddled closely together.

“Maybe this will be the last long winter we have to see”, Kara said, her eyes teary, not only from the brightness of the sun.

“Yeah, maybe”, Lena answered, closed her eyes, and hoped.

#supercorptober2020 #kara danvers #lena luthor #supercorp #supergirl fanfic #10 for 10 and my laptop won't connect to the internet for more than three minutes at a time the amount of times i tried to post to ao3 #is unreal #i cried so many tears of frustration

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sergeant-donny-donowitz · 4 years

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Cliff’s Kid

Trigger Warnings: Homophobia

OC character: Diana

A/N: ik the bi pride flag wasn't until like the 90s, but like...let's pretend it was a thing then ;-;

@tealaquinn @frozenhuntress67 @juxt4p0siti0n @kwyloz

Requested by: @i-do-not-know-what-my-life-is

Let me know if you wanna be added to the IB or OUATIH taglists :)

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Cliff, your estranged, clueless dad, gets a call when you get arrested at the Stonewall riot, while he’s in Italy. _____________________________________________________

She had her issues...but you loved your mom. You didn't remember her as much, but you knew she loved you. Did she love your dad? Maybe not... Did he love her? He tried... But goddamn did he love you. You were his kid. And as much of a tough guy as Cliff was, he had a major soft spot for his kid. You were the one thing in the world he loved. And your dad? Well he was your hero. That much you remembered. No matter what the magazines and tabloids said, you knew he didn't kill her. But that was years ago. You were just a kid, then. You didn't understand it at all. But you knew he didn't do it. Now, people weren't so sure. That included the judge. So, Cliff lost his custody over you. You were going to New York, with your aunt. Your aunt was frigid. She she wasn't much of an affectionate person. That only got worse as the years went on. Really, that judge sentenced both you and Cliff to loneliness. Being in a completely different city, where it snowed and rained, where the people were loud and angry...well... It was just the exact opposite of the home you knew in sunny California, in the shade of Hollywood sign. Cliff did his best. He tried to be around as much as posible, but you cried whenever he called. Your aunt didn't know how to handle it. She started to hide Cliff's letters to you. She'd answer the phone, tell him you were alright, and you weren't home, or you were at soccer practice, you were with friend, Gina. At one point, he confronted her. You didn't play soccer. You liked to surf. You never mentioned a friend named Gina. But you had a friend named Sarah. How was it that you were never home? You were a shy kid. Your aunt leveled with him. "You're just not the best influence, Cliff. You don't have a stable job, you live in a trailer now! You have nothing to offer to her, you can't even put Y/N through college. You are a terrible influence on her. She’s upset whever you talk to her, and it’s a damn headache. Yes she misses you, but...it's just better this way, don't you think?" And after that...he never called again. Because, he thought she was right, Maybe you really were better off without him. You asked your aunt about the letters. He used to draw things on the margins to make you laugh. You got those letters twice a week. You looked forward to them...and they suddenly stopped coming.

Being so young, you thought maybe he stopped thinking about you. Eventually, as you got older, you wondered if people were right about him. Still, you never had a warm place to call home. Yes, you had a roof over your head, and you had everything you could ever ask for...but you never had anyone you thought cared. Your mother was gone, your dad stopped talking to you, and your aunt...welll... She had this thing she would whisper to other adults, just loud enough for you to hear. "She's not like the other kids." She snapped one day. Why? You found love. You weren't allowed to have a boyfriend yet. That was ok. Because...yes, you'd liked guys before. But... her name was Diana. She was a senior, you were still a junior. You found her, you knew you loved her, and you fought for her. But no matter what you said, to your aunt, it was "wrong." And...you were locked in your room. You weren't allowed to go anywhere but from home to school and back. No excuses. And that was no way to live. So, like any other girl in love, you found a way: The fire escape. It was rusty, but it was steady and reliable enough. You lived your way. You did it your way. You fought for it. You snuck out, and lived your life the way you should. Happy, as yourself, with whoever you wanted. You went to parties, snuck into clubs with your friends... with Diana.

You were a fighter, and you did things your way. You were like your father in that sense, even if you didn't really remember.

Even if you did it your way, the world wasn't ready for you. But that didn't matter. Because you weren't invisible. Not anymore. You existed. You loved. Nobody could take that from you, or anyone else that was there, or anyone else that would live through the same thing as you. You were there. The cops came in. Diana slipped her hand into yours. You were done hiding. Everyone was. You were there (with a fake id). But you had to be. You were there when that shotglass hit the mirror. You weren't afraid anymore. Stonewall was just the beginning. ...well.... you got arrested. You weren't scared...but it didn't help that you were there with a fake ID. Your aunt...well...that's what scared you most. "She’s gonna kick me out..." Diane was sitting on the ground in front of you, "Baby, it's ok. We're in this together..." "It's not...not that easy." "No one said it was. Hell, that's why this started. It's gonna get better. It has to!" You smiled. Somehow...she was always so positive. She took your hands in hers, looking at you, "Even if it's not so smooth, you know I'm stilll here with you, all the way." You smiled softly, and she gave you a soft, reassuring kiss. She sat by you then, wrapped her arms around you, and rested her head on your shoulder. "Dee?" "Yeah, hun?" You sighed, "I know...this isn't the best place...but...You did say you wanted to go out and celebrate."" You could hear the smile in her voice, "I did say that, didn't I." "Yeah, but you never told me why we were celebrating." "Oh! Well..." She giggled, a little embarrassed. She didn't have the best memory, but she had a big heart. You chuckled. Somehow, her laugh made it all a little better. She reached in her back pocket, and pulled out a folded up envelope. "I got in!" She held up a folded up acceptance letter from UCLA. Her dream school.... All the way on the other side of the country. You squealed in excitement, as you held her, "Baby I'm so proud of you!" You held her as you rocked side to side. Then...it hit you.... The other side of the country... You were absolutely proud of her. It was her dream school, and it was not an easy school to get in to.... but you didn't want to say goodbye. She knew that... "Hey...look at me, babe..." She held your face up, "I'll call you every day! I'll send you stuff in the mail, postcards, pictures! I'll fly out and visit every chance I get!" You smiled, and nodded, though, you'd heard those things before... And it stung you... Still, you nodded. You trusted her. "I know, baby. I know..." Then...you heard the sound of heels echoing down the hall. "Aunt Lena-" She cut you off. "You're just like your father. Absolutely disgusting. I'm not bailing you out of here. You’re not coming back to my home. Drinking, and...and..." "Don’t." You gritted your teeth. "Sinning. You're staying here, with this, this wh-" "Say one word. Say one word about Diana, and I will-" "What? Kill me? Just like your father killed your mother?!" You had enough. You clung to the bars, "SAY ONE MORE THING ABOUT HIM, AND I SWEAR I'LL-" "You belong here.” She scoffed, “You're proving me right, dear. You're not my problem anymore." She turned her back on you. Your knuckles were white, still gripping the bars, until Diana pulled you away. ***************************************** It was 8AM. Rick was hungover, but he knew his best friend. "C'mon ol' buddy. What's wrong?" Cliff shook his head, "Wrong? Nothin’s wrong." "You've b-been dipping that piece of celery in your bloody mary f-for twenty minutes." "Yeah..." "C'mon Cliff, w-what's the matter?" Cliff sighed. "Y/N's in trouble." Rick's mouth dropped, "Y/n? Sweet lil Y/n?" Of course, the last time he saw you, was the last time Cliff saw you. After the trial. You were just six years old then. That was eleven years ago...and it was easy to forget how quickly time moved. "Yeah." "Trouble? What do you mean?! Trouble?! Y/n?!" He was absolutely shocked. "Trouble, like grounded-trouble? Or t-rouble, like, we're f-flyin into New York right now to kick somebody's ass-trouble?" "We?" "S-sure!" Rick meant it. You used to call him Uncle Rick, and it melted his heart. Ten years may have passed, but he'd be damned if he ever let anything happen to you.

Cliff sighed, "See, I don't know either. All Lena said-" "Lena...The wicked witch of the east?" Cliff laughed, "That's the one, partner." "Wel, what'd she say?" "She's givin' up custody over Y/n." "So...you're getting her back?" "Yeah...and..." "And?" "Y/n got arrested and Lena won't bail her out." Rick gasped. "ARrESTeD?! It caN"T BE.! Why?!" Cliff shook his head, "She didn't say. All she said was that Y/n's a 'damned degenrate,' and 'just like me.' " Rick shook his head, "Hey. This...this is all a misunderstanding! How bad can it be? I mean-" "I never shoulda let ‘em take Y/n from me. I swear to God, If I see Lena..." "How could she say that about Y/n?!" "I fucking hope I don't see her, no one talks about my kid like that! And...” It was like he had a revelation. He stood up, “My baBY IS IN JAIL, WHAT AM I STILL DOING HERE, RICK?! I NEED TO SEE THAT SHE'S O-FUCKEN-KAY. IS SHE GETTING ENOUGH FOOD? IS SHE COLD? IS SHE SCARED?! I NEED TO-" For once, Rick wasn't the one in hysterics... and normally it would have freaked him out, but ths was Cliff's kid they were talking aout. He was acting like any dad should. "Bring her home. Y-you need to bring her h-home, buddy." "I...we're in Italy...I can't take care of her..." Now, the tables had really turned. Rick scrambled for the right words, but he gave it his best shot. "Look, I-I remeber the w-way that kid used to l-look at you. You're n-not just a fucking war hero, you w-were her hero." Cliff's heart sank... "You're her-her old man. She's got n-nowhere else to go. Her home is w-wherever you are. D-don't matter wh-what that judge said t-ten years ago. You're s-still her dad, y-you love that kid, no m-matter what, right?" Cliff nodded. Rick slipped something into Cliff’s hand. It was a a couple hundred dollars. Enough for a couple plane tickets, and enough to bail you out. "Rick, you don't have to-" "I miss that kid, Cliff. And if I fucking m-missed Y/n, I can't even imagine what t-the hell you felt. Take the money." "You're a good friend, Rick..." ****** "Y/n..." The first thing he did, was give you a hug. He couldn't give back the ten years you didn't have together, but it was a start. "Y/n, what's going on!? All Lena said was that you were-" he cut himself off. He didn't want to hurt your feelings, "In trouble. All that cops say you were at a protest, but...what? What happened? Are you hurt? Are you-" You couldn't believe it... He seemed like he really cared. "Dad?" "Yes? I'm...I'm sorry...I'm here now, I know I haven't been, I know you probably hate me, but...Lena told me you didn't want to hear from me, you didn’t need me... and I thought maybe she was right. But...she wasn't..." "She told you what?!" "Oh. Shit!" Your aunt had ruined everything without you realizing, all along. "Dad, that's not true... She just." "She wanted the best for you, I know-" "She kicked me out. She wouldn't bail me out because she kicked me out." "What!? Why?! Y/n, what’s going on?!" "I..." He sat in front of you, his hand on your shoulder, like he used to do when you were a little kid. "Y/n, you can tell me anything. It's ok." "Dad...I..." You wanted to hide it, but you had no where else to go. Whatever he said, you weren't cahnging. "I'm bi." You shut your eyes, and flinched, having no idea how he’d react. "Y/n. 3,994 miles between us didn't stop me from lovin' and misin' ya. Whoever you love and miss won't either. You're my kid, Y/n. It doesnt matter to me." "Y...you're not mad?" You opened your eyes, and found him smiling softly, like he always had. “Mad?" He raised an eyebrow. How could he be mad at you? "You got arrested at a riot..." "Because I was at a gay bar..." He shook his head, "Becase you fought for what you believe in...I was a little older than you are now, but I fought for what I believed in." "You're a war hero, it's not the same." "I know. I had half the world on my side... You don't..." His heart broke, realizing it wouldn't be easy, "You don't....but you're not done fighting." He was still proud of you. "Some day, things will be better... You might not have a goddamn army, you may not have much, but you're not alone. You have me." You smiled... you felt like you could cry. Those were words you needed to hear all your life. You threw your arms around him, and he hugged you back. When you finally let go, you asked, "Can I...say goodbye to someone first?" He nodded, and then looked where you wre looking. "Is that her..." He smiled a little, "My kid's a regular Casanova, ain't she?" You sighed, "Dad!" He chuckled, "Alright, alright. Sorry...Go on, now, I'll wait outside." You smiled, "Thanks dad..." So...you said goodbye to Diana. A little sooner than expected, but, "YOU'RE GOING TO LA TOO?!" She bounded up and down, and wrapped her arms around you, "YES!" She squeezed you so tight, you thought you'd break a rib. But...you were ok with that. "We'll be in Italy for a while, but we'll be in LA in August, right around the time you move in!" Diana smiled softly, "Baby, I told you, it gets better." You nodded and smiled, "I know, Dee..." "Go on, tell your dad I said hi. That's him, right?" You turned around, to see him behind the glass door, giving you a thumbs up with a grin. You couldn't help but face palm. Diana smiled, "Hey...I'll see you in two months, ok?" "Ok," You smiled, and you kissed goodbye. You went your ways, her parents bailed her out a few hours before you. You looked back, and he was now giving you two thumbs up. It was a bit embarassing...but it was everything you wanted. **************** You arrived at the airport in Rome, and there he was. Uncle Rick. "Hey kid..." He smiled, his eyes a little teary. You smiled back and hugged him, "Hey Uncle Rick" He was a bit like Diana, and gave you a hug that was too tight, but still welcome. You laughed a little, "I missed you too!" And you spent the rest of the day with them, exploring Rome. The next morning, they brought you to the set, and while Cliff was getting into his costume, you unng out with Rick. "Ya know, he never s-stopped thinking about you. Talked about y-you a ton." "Really?" "Yeah. Mostly you need to g-get him really drunk. Guess it hurt a lot." You nodded, "I know..." Rick was a little nervous of messing it up, stepping into something he shouldn't, but he wanted you to know...

he was still the cool uncle. "S-so you got in trouble, huh?" "Yup." "How come?" "I got a girlfriend." "And?" "What do you mean 'and’?" He shrugged, "C'mon Y/n. I got to Hollywood parties. I live in Hollywood. There's so much worse things. Li-like hippies." "Hippies?" You raised your eyebrow as you laughed. "Yeah. And some illegal things. Like murder...I-I mean, its a nice place to live!...You'll be fine.” He hoped he wasn't blowing it, "What's her name?" "Diana." He saw the smile when you said her name. "Oh my God...you love her!" You blushed a little, "I do..." He shrugged, "Don't be embarassed. You know, some things are w-worth getting in trouble over. You know what you shouldn't get in t-trouble over? Drugs... well....maybe.... But you didn't hear it from me." "Oh my God." "But love? Always w-worth the trouble." You knew he was trying his best, and you smiled, "Thanks Uncle Rick." "Don't mention it, kiddo. S-serioisly. Don't t-tell your dad wh-what I said about drugs!" "I know, I know." You chuckled, as you walked out of the trailer, and he called out as a last ditch effort, "Say no to drugs!" ********************* A few months later, you were finally going back to LA. He told you, he didn't have much. Just a trailer, and a dog. But, he'd told Rick that he was using the money from their time in Italy to get a small apartment big enough for you, him, and Brandy. So, you were there with them, as they said their goodbyes. You decided, maybe they needed some time alone, so you went with Francesca and Brandy for a while. After a while, she smiled, "You know, you're just like your father." "Why does everyone keep telling me that?" She laughed as you sat together on the ground, magazines laid out as she showed you the latest in fashion in Italy, as Brandy sat by, while you petted her. Your first night in LA was...well...one to remember. You ended up throwing a paper weight into a hippie's nose, effectively breaking it. Cliff would go on to say 'Kid's got an actual killer aim.' And after that, you'd never hear the end of people saying you were just like him... Which you were coming to learn wasn't so bad. "You're a good friend, Cliff." "I try."

The ambulance drove away, and Rick had promised Cliff he'd keep an eye on you while he was in the hospital. "Well, wh-what’d I say? S-say no to drugs." "That's your takeaway from this?" You furrowed your brows as you looked up at him, and he laughed. But, the night wasn't over. You ended up going over to meet Sharon Tate, and Roman Polanski. Your first night in LA was... well, unforgettable, to say the least. Days passed. Things started to look up. Rick started getting interviews, and casting calls left and right. Meaning...he and Cliff were back in business. You were happy, really, and you liked going to visit him at the hospital in the meantime, but, he knew something was on your mind. Ten years may have gone, but he knew that when you held your right wrist with your left hand, you were thinking about something. "Y/n? What're you thinkin' about?" "Well...Diana's moving in to her dorm today. Can I go help her?" Cliff smiled as he laid back in the bed. "I'll be ok, Y/n. You go and help her. It'll give you some practice. When I get out, you can help me move our stuff into the apartment." You rolled your eyes and smiled, "Yeah, I know, dad." He sat up, "Hold on, before you go, I didn't have the chance to give this to you." He held out a little box. You opened it, and saw a bracelet made from blue, pink, and purple beads. "I bought it from a hippie in Santa Monica....Don't tell Rick about the hippie."" You smiled, and looked at him... You hugged him. He smiled, and hugged you back. "Alright, go help Diana. I'll see you tomorrow, kid." You smiled, "See you tomorrow, dad."

#Cliff Booth #dad #cliff booth would be such a sweet dad #im so sorry this is long #rick dalton #rick is trying his damn best yall #Once Upon A Time In Hollywood #OUATIH

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saiilorstars · 4 years

Text

Stars Dance

Ch. 6: Vampires of Venice

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 11th Doctor x Original Female Character

– Previous chapters here –

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Chapter summary: Avalon is furious with the Doctor and Amy. And at the end of the day, when all is said and done, the Doctor has to ask himself...does Avalon actually hate him?

Rory Williams was at his stag night, trying to leave a very lovely message for his fiancee while blocking out the heavy noise of the room. "Hey...! It's me! Hello! How are you? The reason for this call is because I haven't told you for seven hours that I love you, which is a scandal, and even if we weren't getting married tomorrow, I'd ask you to marry me anyway. Yes, I would, because you are smashing."

Behind him, a large cake was being wheeled while a rather interesting song played, named 'The Stripper', in the background. One of his friends tapped him on the back, making him turn to see the cake.

"Oh... Oh. Oh, blimey. I've... I've... I-I-I... I'll see you tomorrow," Rory quickly hung up and turned to the cake.

"Out! Out! Out!" everyone began shouting and even clapping.

And out popped a head from the cake alright...with some very ginger hair...

Rory's mouth half-opened when he saw Avalon inside the cake. The woman was trying not to look as pleased as she was. "Okay, that was really cool," she admitted, allowing herself to laugh for a moment. "Can cross this off my bucket list."

"What are you..." Rory pointed, completely flabbergasted with the woman's appearance. Sometimes, she was just too much. "...how did you...I thought...you were on a date!"

"Big things have happened Rory," Avalon declared in an irritated expression when she remembered the reason she'd gotten into this mess in the first place. "Someone help me out!" she shouted and quickly two of Rory's friends came up and pulled her out of the cake. "Thank you," she waved them off and met Rory in a quick rush.

Rory's gaze was still switching between Avalon and the cake but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a logical answer. "What are you doing here? How did you even get inside the cake?"

"Took all the money in my bag," Avalon nodded. "I mean, it was fair since Lucy did deserve to get paid either way."

"But why-"

"We have a problem Rory," Avalon covered his mouth with her hand, "And no, I didn't do anything wrong this time. I know you blew your money on me from the last time..." she looked to the side in guilt. "I'll pay you back eventually."

"You and Mels promised me you'd stay out of trouble," Rory pushed her hand away, "Where is she?" he half expected the woman in question to turn up drunk or something. That's usually how things got started.

"I haven't done anything this time!" Avalon exclaimed at the same time she heard the doors opening, "Oh, you made it? You didn't stay behind kissing Lucy too?" she glared at the Doctor who slowly walked to them.

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor whisper-demanded from Avalon. He should've known she'd beat him to Rory. She was completely furious with him after all.

"Talking to my brother, thank you very much," she snapped.

"What's he doing here?" Rory pointed at him, already beginning to feel a headache coming along. The last time the Doctor popped in things had gone crazy.

"Well, Doctor?" Avalon crossed her arms, "Care to take that one?"

"I cannot believe you took the cake job," the alien said instead, "That was mine."

"Did I upset you?" she asked innocently.

"Yes!"

"Good," she spat.

To say she was angry was an understatement. She was fuming! She and Lena had been told, by the Doctor himself, of what had happened with Amy and while Lena was shocked...Avalon had just slapped the Doctor straight across the face...twice.

The Doctor could understand that the news was highly upsetting but he did want to point out that he had not initiated anything with Amy. He had never given Amy an indication that he was interested in her beyond friendship. He would like a chance to explain himself even if he didn't really have a fault...but Avalon wouldn't hear it. Lena had and she seemed like she wanted to help him. Thank goodness for his baby sister because...he might have been thrown out of his own TARDIS. The box once again proved that she truly liked Avalon a lot since she practically backed Avalon up after she made the threat to throw him into space.

He felt utterly betrayed by that box. It still kind of hurt, actually.

Avalon, for her part, thought she wasn't reacting angry enough. Rory was like her brother and she loved him very much (platonically of course). She knew that Rory would never hurt someone even if he was furious; it just wasn't him. But she could and she would, and she did. She was furious at Amy for what the woman had done to her fiancee, a man who earnestly loved her to bits and pieces. She couldn't even look at Amy and yet Amy seemed upset with her. Amy had the audacity to be angry with her and that only served to agitate Avalon even more. Avalon was in the middle of debating how she'd make it another hour without killing Amy or the Doctor.

"Uh, hello?" Rory waved a hand, reminding Avalon and the Doctor of his presence. They seemed like they were in a huge argument which begged the question of how long they'd even been together since the last time the Doctor was around. The man was a time traveler so...it could be far more time than Rory was thinking. "Explanation, please?"

"Right, Rory, we need to talk about your fiancee," the Doctor began, ignoring the scoff Avalon gave beside him. "She tried to kiss me." He winced when everyone in the room gasped. "Tell you what, though. You're a lucky man - she's a great kisser." Someone dropped their glass, again making the Doctor wince. Wow, he was really bad at this. He side-glanced Avalon with an expression bearing resignation. "I have another one coming, don't I?"

Avalon nodded. "Oh yeah."

Rory opened his mouth to ask once again what was going on, "Um, excuse me, what exactly-"

But Avalon slapped the Doctor again and it sounded hard. Rory, as well as his friends, all collectively winced at the loud smack.

The Doctor rubbed his newest red spot on his face and moved his jaw to wear out the pain. "You are freakishly strong, do you know that?" he looked at Avalon and swore he'd be feeling the echoes of that slap for days.

Avalon's face was straight when she nodded her head. "Yup. Usually, I reserve those slaps for lying boyfriends but I'm making a special exception just for you."

"I feel so special," the Doctor muttered to himself. She completely outranked all the angry Moms that'd slapped him before, including one special Donna Noble slap. "So, um...TARDIS?" he motioned the door to her and Rory.

"Oh we will," Avalon took Rory's hand and marched off with him, ignoring Rory's mumbles of questions.

~ 0 ~

There was an unbearable awkwardness inside the TARDIS that no matter how infinite she was, there weren't enough rooms to make the awkwardness go away. It was for that reason that the Doctor had gone under the console to 'fix' some parts of the box. He felt that maybe if his face wasn't in the same room as Amy and Rory, they would have an easier time reconnecting. But just in case they needed a bit of help, he started to ramble on and hoped that it would inspire them to actually talk to each other.

Amy was pacing about nervously, biting a few of her nails while Rory stood beside the console with his eyes scanning every last part of the box. They hadn't really said much to each other.

"Oh! The life out there, it dazzles. I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I've seen it devour relationships and plans..." the Doctor was saying, giving occasional glances above through the glass floor. Rory flinched at the sound of a small explosion underneath and looked below to the Doctor, "Ohhh! It's meant to do that! Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then go back, it will tear you apart. So...I'm sending you somewhere. Together."

"Whoa! What, like a date?" Amy had stopped pacing and looked below.

"Lena chose a wonderful place for you two, actually," the Doctor shot out of the seat and rushed up to the console. She had sounded excited which meant the talking with Rory would start soon. "It's very nice, amazing, and romantic," he grinned, "My baby sister's a genius."

"Woah, hold on, did he just say Lena?" Rory looked between the two. His eyes couldn't get wider!

"Oh that's right, he doesn't know..." Amy made a face. She herself forgot that to Leadworth, Lena Reynolds had been missing for 2 years.

"Know what? What else is there now?" Rory raised an eyebrow. Not only did he just discover his fiancee and best friend were time travelers, his fiancee had kissed another man, an alien, but now they were speaking about Lena as if she was...she was...

"I'm ready!" Lena dashed out of the corridors in a 16th century pink dress. She gave a big, dramatic spin so that her dress would twirl like in the movies. "How do I look?"

"Wonderful!" the Doctor praised and she rushed to give him a hug. Lena Reynolds was the only one he could trust in right now.

"I love, love, love, love your wardrobe! It's endless!" Lena beamed as she stepped back, "Endless options to wear!"

"Lena? Lena?" Rory's mouth fell open.

Lena gasped as she saw Rory, "Oh! Hi Rory!" she quickly gave him a hug, "Oh it's been so long, I missed you!"

"But...b-b-but, you're...you're not..." Rory sputtered as he hugged back the woman, "...how are you...the police..."

"Time travel," Lena chuckled as she stepped back, "Little mix up. See, after the Doctor saved us from that whole Prisoner Zero thing, he took me into the TARDIS for a quick jump start...only our two hours was two years for you guys. For me, it's really only been a couple months since I've last seen you and the planet Earth."

"So all this time, you've been here?"

She nodded, "Aha."

"Your family has been going crazy over your disappearance! Avalon quit her job to search for you..."

Lena nodded silently, her eyes looking down as she recalled all the doings her twin had done to search for her, "I know. And I'm so sorry for that. I never meant to make anyone worry, much less lose their jobs."

"It's okay, cos you're here and you're alive," Rory half-smiled and went ahead and hugged her again, "Avalon must have been so happy to see you again."

"Mhm, she wouldn't let go of me."

"Speaking of, where's the feisty Ava?" he pulled away and searched for the missing ginger.

"I chose a dress for her," Lena giggled at her doings. She thought she found the perfect dress that her sister could wear. The TARDIS seemed to agree with all the hums she gave them after Lena pulled out the dress.

"Oh that's a sight I have to see," Rory laughed. If the wardrobe was as big as Lena mentioned, then Avalon was sure to be in paradise.

"Avalon!" Lena called.

"Come on out, Ava!"

Amy looked to the side in irritation. They had been talking about a date and now suddenly here goes her date talking about Avalon...

"I'm not doing it," Avalon emerged from the corridors with her arms crossed. Much to Lena's and Rory's disappointment, she was wearing her modern-day clothes. She wore a light brown dress that reached above her knees with brown boots to match. She wore a dark blue, long-sleeved, jean jacket with a thick hot pink scarf around her neck, both parts dangling down her chest. Her ginger locks fell freely down.

"Aww..." Lena pouted, "It was a nice dress!"

"Sorry, Lena. I'm not in the mood for it," Avalon looked at Amy and the Doctor with glare.

"Did I mention we're going to Venice?" the Doctor tried, trying not to fidget under the woman's glare. He really disliked the cold look in her eyes that he knew were meant for him...

"Oh that's lovely," she put on a sarcastic smile, "You planning on kissing anyone there?"

"It's a date for Rory and Amy," Lena clarified, moving beside the Doctor, "And you're being rude again."

"Excuse me for being upset my best friend was cheated on," Avalon moved beside Rory to show her solidarity, not that she hadn't already.

"It's okay, Ava," Rory assured her, even though it kind of wasn't. Knowing her, she had to have had a go at the Doctor and Amy. On a level, it was nice always having her support.

"No, it's not. And I know you won't say anything so I will. I'm your voice."

"Thank you, but it's okay..." he looked over at Amy and half-smiled, "So...a date?" Maybe a date, something normal, was what they all needed to go back to normal. Besides, Amy looked like she liked the idea so that had to mean something, right?

"I'm kind of done with running down corridors," she nodded and moved closer to him, pulling him away from Avalon ever-so-discreetly.

"Venice, here we come!" Lena cheered.

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of a busy market place, no one taking notice of people piling out of a small box.

The Doctor came out first with his arms open to the city, " Venice! Venezia! La Serenissima! Impossible city. Preposterous city! Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world. Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding... constantly... Just beautiful! Oh, you gotta love Venice. And so many people did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova. Oooh, that reminds me," he checked his watch in concern, "1580. That's all right. Casanova doesn't get born for 145 years. Don't want to run into him. I owe him a chicken."

"You owe Casanova a chicken?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Long story. We had a bet."

"This is Venice?" Lena gasped as she looked around, "Oh m god, it's beautiful!"

"Glad you like it, baby sister," the Doctor tapped her head. He looked back and saw Avalon barely coming out of the box, cautiously closing the doors and moving slowly around, "And you, Avalon? Impressed?"

She looked at him for a minute then turned to the side, "Hm."

"Bad temper," Lena whispered the reminder to him.

"I've noticed," he patted on his cheeks which were still sore.

Suddenly, an official dressed in black stepped in front of Avalon, making the ginger stumble back in surprise, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."

Avalon blinked rapidly, still a bit surprised by his sudden approach. "Oh...um..."

"Watch me go and save your bad-tempered sis," the Doctor smirked and headed off, Lena giggling to herself and shaking her head, "There you go fella," he held up his psychic paper for the official. The man took the paper and read it, "All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."

Avalon, in amusement, smiled as the official deeply bowed, "I am so sorry, Your Holiness. I didn't realize."

"Holiness?" Avalon repeated, swaying her head as she considered the idea. "Yeah, alright."

The Doctor took back the paper, "No worries. You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens, visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"Oh, that's nice," Amy shook her head, "Lena, you brought us to the plague?"

Lena raised her hands in surrender, "Oi, I gave the location, the Doctor chose the time."

"Don't worry, Viscountess," the official said to Amy. The ginger nearly nodded, taking the role, while Rory stood beside her, looking between the man and her in shock and confusion, "No, we're under quarantine here, no-one comes in, no-one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri," the official pointed to a crest on a box he carried.

"Hold on, the plagued died out years ago," the Doctor remarked.

"Not out there. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."

"Did she, now? Ever picked up a history book?"

Rory reached for the psychic paper from the Doctor while the official moved on to someone else.

"By the way, I didn't need your help," Avalon informed the Doctor before heading off.

"A simple thank you would've been nice," the Doctor mumbled as he followed after her, consequently making the rest follow.

"Or a slap!" she called and he immediately froze, letting her go on a bit farther. His cheeks could not take another slap.

Lena laughed and took his hand, "It's okay, she probably won't do it anymore."

"Probably?" he shot her a concerned look, his free hand going up to his face.

"Wouldn't count on it," Rory moved ahead, walking backwards with Amy beside him, "She once beat up a boy for an entire week because he put play-dough in her hair."

"Oh, yeah," Amy sucked in breath through her teeth at the reminder, "Poor Mark. I liked Mark."

~ 0 ~

Two lines of young women dressed in white gowns of different designs stepped onto the cobblestone ground outside the Calvierri school. An older woman, Rosanna, walked to the head of the procession, "Veils down, girls," she ordered.

The girls lowered their veils and started walking, everyone else stopping to watch them. The group stopped across the canal and also watched.

A man, Guido, ran up to the line and started lifting each girl's veil.

"What do you want?" Rosanna demanded.

"Where's my Isabella?"

"What are you doing? Get away from there," Rosanna tried shooing him off.

"Isabella! Isabella!" he finally lifted the veil off the correct girl, his daughter, but

she backed away at the sunlight, "It's me!"

One of the other girls came forwards with a hiss and showed off her mouth of two rows of fangs. Guido fell to the ground in shock as the girls re-took their positions.

"Girls, come along!" Rosanna ordered again, everything continuing like nothing.

A younger man, Francesco, pressed his boot on Guido's chest, keeping him down as the girls left, "She's gone," he informed Guido and left with a swirl of his cloak.

"Isabella! It's me!" the man cried out as two guards lifted him from the ground and dragged him away.

"What was that about?" Amy frowned as the spectacle finish.

"He's gone, Amy," Lena informed with a small sigh.

"I hate it when he does that!" Amy shook her head.

~ 0 ~

As Guido walked along a passageway, the Doctor crossed behind, leaping onto the bottom step of a stairway before calling to the man, "Who were those girls?"

Guido stopped and looked back at the Doctor, slightly confused of the man's wardrobe choice and lack of knowledge of the practically highlight of Venice, "I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school."

"My first day here," the Doctor stepped down, "Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion. So, why are you trying to get her out?"

"Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face... like an animal."

The Doctor put an arm around Guido's shoulder and thought for a minute, "I think it's time I met this Signora Calvierri."

~ 0 ~

Amy and Rory were walking through a narrow passageway, Rory still a bit confused from all the sudden news. He couldn't believe that the girls had been away for months and nobody bothered to tell him anything! "Are the twins okay, here? Lena's got her inhaler, right? Avalon knows the city rules?"

Amy, with arms crossed, rolled her eyes and heaved a small sigh, "Yes, they're alright. Would you quit worrying about them? This is our date!"

"What have you been doing, lately? Hm?" Rory shot her a small look.

"Well... running. And fighting. I've been scared. More scared than I thought was..."

"Did you miss me?"

"I... I knew I'd be coming back," Amy rubbed the side of her neck as she looked away for a minute.

"He was right. It blots out everything else," Rory started heading off. He never really got angry per say but this time he was beginning to really feel it. Amy hadn't even bothered to think about him?

"Rory... this is our date!" Amy managed to catch him by the arm. "Let's not do this, not now! Please?"

Rory took a look around as he heard the fluttering of wings overhead and half-smiled. Damn Amy got him to do whatever it was she wanted. "I guess...we are in Venice and it is 1580."

"I know!" Amy laughed.

Together, they walked off arm-in-arm and passed a stairway where Francesco was lounging above. He noticed a young flower-seller stopping by two other women to offer them poseys. One of them, a brunette, took them while the ginger walked ahead of her. Once the flower seller walked away as well, he started coming down.

~ 0 ~

Amy posed in front of a doorway while Rory knelt to take her picture with his phone, and then hey heard a piercing scream.

~ 0 ~

"Lena!" Avalon screamed and bolted back from where she had come from, bumping into Amy and Rory. She then saw a man over her sister, lifting his head to show blood on Lena's neck. Quickly, the man bared his fangs and ran off as Avalon dashed to her sister, "Lena!? Lena!? Please wake up! Lena, oh God!" Rory ran over to help and check for vitals while Amy dashed after Francesco.

"She'll be okay," Rory said Avalon who quickly cradled her twin in her arms, "Amy, where are..." he saw the second ginger gone, "Where'd she go!?"

~ 0 ~

Guido approached the guards of the school of Calvierri where two guards stood by the doors, "You have my daughter. Isabella!"

"You're not coming in, stop there! We've told you..." one of the guards began to say.

Meanwhile, the Doctor snuck on the side of the building unbeknownst to the guards.

"You have my daughter. Isabella! I demand you let me see my daughter," Guido continued.

The Doctor hopped onto small steps in front of the canal gate and used his screwdriver to open it up. He quickly made his way down stone steps and into a chamber. He noticed a mirror on a wall and sauntered up to it, "Hello, handsome," he straightened his tie out and checked his teeth.

"Who are you?" he heard several women's voices.

He turned to face a group of young girls dressed in white standing around him. He looked back and forth to see them invisible in the mirror, "How are you doing that? I... am... loving it. You're like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter - will be shorter. I'm rambling."

"I'll ask you again, signor. Who are you?" the girls questioned.

"Why don't you check this out?" he flashed his psychic paper...or his library card with a picture of his first incarnation, "Library card," he put it away as he remembered, "Of course, it's with... He's..." he mimicked once again a large nose, "I need the spare," he faced the girls again and studied them, "Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in...," he glanced at the mirror which remained clear of their reflections, "Am I thinking what I think I'm thinking? But the city. Why shut down the city? Unless..."

"Leave now, signor, or we shall call for the steward... if you are lucky."

"Ooh!" he had a hint of a smile but it immediately vanished when the girls showed bare fangs and advanced on him. He ran to the doorway but turned back for one request, "Tell me the whole plan," he demanded but the girls ignored, "One day that'll work! Listen, I would love to stay here. This whole thing... I'm thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas!" he cheered like a boy and ran up the stairs with the hissing girls behind him.

~ 0 ~

Later that day, in the night, the Doctor and Amy met up across the canal from the school, both utterly excited for some reason.

"Doctor!" the ginger exclaimed.

"I just met some vampires!" he informed.

"We just saw a vampire!"

"And creepy girls and everything."

"Vampires!"

Together, they jumped in their excitement. Though the Doctor stopped when he saw Avalon and Rory walking slowly towards them with a groggy Lena between them, "Woah, hey, that's not good..." he ran over to them, "...baby sister?"

"There are freaking vampires here!" Avalon spat, "One of them bit her!" she motioned to the dry trail of blood on the side of Lena's neck.

"I feel okay, though," Lena informed them quietly, "Just probably sit down for a good moment would be good for me."

"Right, so we should all come to my new friend's house," the Doctor offered, "Cos we still have to figure out how to get back in there somehow," he nodded to the school then checked over Lena's 'bite' with his screwdriver.

"What?!" Rory gaped, "Back in where!?"

"How do we do that?" Avalon demanded, glaring at the school. Oh, they'd have something coming to them after what they did to her twin.

"Ava!" Rory frowned.

"No, she's right," Amy joined them.

"NO!"

"Yes," the two gingers reiterated, both crossing their arms with looks of doom.

~ 0 ~

Guido brought out a map of Venice to the table of his house where the Doctor, Avalon and Amy looked over it. Rory sat back among some barrels while Lena took rest on a small bed against the wall.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in. The House of Calvierri is like a fortress," Guido was saying, "But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside," Amy nodded.

"No," the Doctor immediately said as he looked over the map.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"We pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in."

"Oh," Amy looked to the side and mumbled, "So you know what I was going to say."

"Are you insane?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"We don't have another option."

"He said no, Amy. Listen to him," and before Avalon opened her mouth he wagged a finger, "And no to your volunteering as well."

"They took my sister!" she reminded.

"Don't care," he pointed again before she opened her mouth, making her quiet down.

"There is another option," Guido spoke up and pointed in Rory's direction, "I work at the Arsenale. We build the warships for the navy."

The Doctor moved over to the barrels and sniffed them, "Gunpowder," he set a hand on Rory's shoulder, "Most people just nick stationery from where they work." Slowly, Rory slid away from the barrels and backed away into a dead rabbit hanging by the fireplace. "Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive," the Doctor said.

"What do you suggest, then? We wait until they turn her into an animal?"

"I want to go," Avalon declared but Amy shook her head.

"It was my idea," she reminded.

"I don't care, they hurt my sister and no one hurts my sister."

"I would like to point out that I am just fine," Lena raised her hand from her spot, "I'm not sparkling or anything and I don't want blood."

"Always the peacemaker, eh?" the Doctor sat down beside her with a small smile as she nodded.

"I don't like arguments."

"Look, in three or four hours tops I'd have the door opened," Avalon insisted.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go."

"I can go," Amy reminded, shooting a small glare at Avalon. It was her idea and she was not going to let anyone take it from her! She wanted to do this!

"Avalon, I don't want you to go," Lena said quietly, "Please don't."

The Doctor took a breath and sat back on the wall, "I have to know. We go together. Say you're my daughter," he looked at Amy, respecting his baby sister's wishes.

"What?! Don't listen to him!" Rory nearly shouted.

"Your daughter? You look about nine," Amy scoffed.

"Brother, then," the Doctor shrugged.

"Too weird. Fiancé."

"I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé," Rory pointed at Amy.

"No. No, you're right."

"Thank you."

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor. You should do it."

"Me?" Rory blinked.

Avalon shook her head behind Amy, was she really going to do this?

"Yeah! You can be my brother," Amy rubbed Rory's head in a playful manner.

The Doctor smiled while Lena giggled, the only ones not amused being Rory and Avalon.

"Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's OK?" he demanded from Amy.

"Actually, I thought you were her fiancé," Guido spoke up as he pointed at the Doctor.

"Yeah, that's not helping," the Doctor mumbled.

"SHUT UP!" Avalon suddenly shouted, "All of you just shut up! Now-" she stepped between the group, dead serious, "-here's the thing, I'm not asking if I can go to that school, I am informing you I'm going to the school. Now, if any one would like to help me then by all means, go right ahead. I will not send a friend of mine to that school when she doesn't know how to even fight," she covered Amy's mouth before the second ginger had remarked on it, "Amy, it's been two years and you and I both know who's more qualified to be running about and smacking people. Now please," she looked between them all, "I'm really trying hard not to kill you or the Doctor and so right now your best, and possibly safest, option, is to send me into the school so I can kill the man who bit my twin. Got it?"

"You are mad, Ava," Rory sighed, shaking his head.

Avalon took her hand off Amy and turned to the Doctor, "You owe me, remember? The gun from the Angels? I'll exchange it for this."

"Don't do it," Lena said to him, "Please?"

"We don't even know if they're vampires," he quietly told Avalon as a warning.

"So?"

"It's dangerous."

"What else you got?"

"Your twin is asking you not to go."

"And I love her, but I'm in a foul mood and I'd really like to blow off some steam. Besides, I trust you'd keep her safe?"

"Of course."

"You're not actually going to let her, are you?" Amy questioned, feeling a bit hurt that her plan had just been stolen from her.

"I think I am," the Doctor nodded, "Content, Miss Reynolds?" he looked at Avalon.

"Oh I will be after I get done with them," she crossed her arms.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and Rory stood as petitioners in front of Rosanna, both wearing clothes from the period.

"So, basically, both of our parents are dead from getting the plague. I'm a gondola... driver... so... money's a bit tight... so having my sister go to your school for special people would be brilliant," Rory slowly said as he looked around, "Cheers."

Francesco showed an interest in Avalon, vaguely trying to recall her appearance as he moved in front of her, "Have we met?" he asked her.

"I have one of those faces," she spat, her eyes narrowing as she recalled this being the man over her sister with blood, "Yours is so pretty though, a shame if anything happened to it..."

"Such a tongue for such a lady," he remarked and stepped back.

"Impressed?"

"Not in the least," Rosanna informed from her chair, "Carlo, explain yourself," she looked at a servant, "Why have you brought me this imbecile?"

Rory had to grip onto Avalon's arm before she stalked over to the woman in fury.

"Signora, they have references from the King of Sweden," the servant explained.

"What?" Rosanna blinked, "Let me see," she held her hand out and Rory walked over to hand her the psychic paper. Rosanna took one look at the paper and half-smiled, "Well, now I can see what got my steward so excited," she handed the paper back to Rory, "What say you, Francesco? Do you like her?"

Francesco was circling Avalon who was trying her best to not snap right there and then and strangle him, "Oh, I do, mother. She has attitude that I like."

Avalon winced at the tone, even Rory wanting to take a good punch at the man for his implication.

"Then we would be delighted to accept her," Rosanna looked at Rory, "Say goodbye to your sister."

Rory gave Avalon a hug, "Be careful of him," he whispered as he was pulled away.

"Tell my lovely aunt Amy and uncle Doctor I'll see them very soon," Avalon called, no fear in her tone, "And our sister, please. I'll be just fine."

Rory glanced back from the doorway and saw the fangs Francesco bared behind his best friend, "A-Ava!"

~ 0 ~

Carlo led Avalon up the stairs of the school and into a large room she shared with other girls, "There are clothes on the bed. Get changed and wait here."

Avalon nodded and looked up at the opulent, domed room, "Sure."

All the other girls left the room with Carlo except for one who remained sat on her bed. Cautiously, she moved over to the girl and spoke quietly, "Hello, I'm Avalon. What's your name?"

"Isabella," the girl remained looking ahead.

"Right, so, um, listen, we're going to get you out of here, but I need you to tell me what's going on. What is this place? What are they doing?"

"They, um... they come at night. They gather around my bed and they take me to a room... with this green light and a chair with... with straps, as if for a surgeon."

"And what happens in there?"

Isabella's eyes half-widen as she realized, "I wake up here. And the sunlight burns my skin like candle wax."

"Right, best stay away from green light, then," Avalon stood back up and looked around, hearing a bell tolling above.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor, Rory Guido (who was dressed in Rory's clothes) were inside a gondola that went along a canal driven by Guido. Much to Amy's irritation, she'd been tasked with looking after Lena back at Guido's house, the brunette still a tad weak from earlier. The Doctor had even suggested Rory stay back with them but the man was adamant he'd go and help get his best friend back. It was clear Rory despised the plan of Avalon being inside that school as much as he would've been if Amy had gone in instead.

He knew Avalon was more than capable of taking care of herself, apparently, since she was some future human as explained by Lena before leaving them. But, Avalon was always like a little sister to him or an equal aged sister that he loved dearly, platonic of course. He had always shared a special relationship with Avalon, ever since they were kids. They'd met as kids when he thought Avalon was being bullied by some boys and he was about to go help when all of a sudden the small ginger haired girl started shouting at the boys, driving them off with threats only a child could make. Afterwards, Avalon simply brushed the boys off like nothing happened and noticed Rory staring at her. Rory was intrigued by the girl, she had just driven away a group of boys with the foulest of moods but now she was practically a ray of sunshine. The ginger girl was just so excited to have "made a new friend on her own" that they actually spent that whole day together, playing any game Rory wanted. So, from there, he'd actually met Amy, Lena and Mels. He had his friends and his love because of Avalon, and he would never finish thanking her for that.

"She'll be fine, you know," the Doctor spoke quietly and brought Rory out of his thoughts.

"You can promise me that, can you?" Rory shot him a small look, "Avalon can do all the talking she wants but I know when she's afraid and right now she is afraid."

"Well, I wouldn't know how she feels because most of them time she's yelling at me," the Doctor informed, trying not to sound as hurt as he actually was about that fact. It seemed like no matter what he did or said, it was always the wrong thing.

"What? She doesn't hate you," Rory made a loud scoff, "If you only knew."

"Know what?"

"We're here," Guido declared as he stopped the gondola stopped in beside a small gate with a narrow passage of stairs up to another door.

The Doctor and Rory got out of the gondola and stepped onto the ground. The Doctor carried a lit torch and warned Guido to wait for them on the gondola.

They stopped at the stairs where the Doctor took a breath, "Right. OK, I'll go first. If anything happens to me, go back..."

"What happened? Between you and Amy?" Rory blurted, "You said she kissed you."

"NOW?! You want to do this NOW?!" the Doctor went up the steps towards the door

"I have a right to know," Rory went after him, "I'm getting married in 430 years."

~ 0 ~

Avalon, carrying a lamp and dressed in a white school dress, had entered a courtyard and hurried up to the well in the center. She set her lamp down and released the bars locking the grate. Once done, she picked up the lamp and turned to see Carlo.

"Oh no you don't!" she used her lamp and whacked it over the man's head before making a break for it.

However, she only made it a few feet into a corridor when she bumped into Francesco and two more guards.

"I knew I recognized you from somewhere," Francesco smiled wickedly.

"Oh I hate you!" the ginger declared and slapped him across the face with all her might, "That was for my sister!"

The man put a hand on his face and glared. Without a word he bared his fangs and lunged on the ginger girl who immediately screamed.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Rory walked through the narrow passage with only the torch lighting up their way.

"She was frightened, I was frightened, but we survived," the Doctor was carefuly explaining to Rory, "And the relief of it... and so she kissed me."

"The twins were there," Rory reminded, "Didn't hear anything of Lena or Avalon kissing you."

"Well, um, well, Lena's my baby sister...so ew?" the Doctor crinkled his face. He didn't want that image in his head, like ever. "And Avalon shouts, remember? Poor Amy was left."

"And you kissed her back?"

"No. I kissed her mouth."

"Funny," Rory rolled his eyes.

"Rory..." the Doctor stopped and liked back, "Rory, she kissed me because I was there. It would have been you," he tapped Rory on the chest," It should have been you."

"Yeah..."

"Exactly. That's why I brought you here," the Doctor had just faced ahead in time to feel a gust of wind blow against them and end their only source of life from the torch, "Can we go and see the vampires now, please?" he fearfully whispered in the dark.

~ 0 ~

Half fighting and half awake, Avalon struggled against the two guards forcing her down the stairs into a chamber bathed in green light. "Get your hands off me!" she shouted.

"Psychic paper. Did you really think that would work on me?" Rosanna questioned in amusement, until she saw the trail of blood oozing down on the ginger's neck, "Francesco?"

"She slapped me!" the man cried.

"You bit my sister!" Avalon snapped, "Did you really think I was gonna let that slide?"

"Enough, sit her down," Rosanna ordered.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor pushed open the grate Avalon had opened earlier and climbed out, using poor Rory as a ladder, "Push..." he got out then reached down to pull Rory up, "There we are," he turned to the room, "Avalon?" he whispered, "Where's Avalon? I can't see a thing."

"Just as well I brought this, then," Rory pulled out a small pencil torch from his pocket.

The Doctor pulled out a longer torch from under his jacket, "Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight."

Rory frowned, "Yours is bigger than mine."

"Let's not go there," the Doctor countered and walked about.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna circled around Avalon who was now sat down in the wooden chairs with tough wrist straps locking her down, "Where are you from?" she demanded from the ginger, "Did you fall through the chasm?"

"Mother this is pointless. Let's just start the process," Francesco sighed.

"Hold your tongue, Francesco! I need to know what this girl is doing in a world of savages with psychic paper," Rosanna looked down at Avalon, "Who are you with? I scarcely believe your idiot brother sent you," Francesco set a hook into an eye socket above the chair, "What are you doing in my school?" one of the girls attached an IV bag to the hook.

"Mm, how about you fix this," Avalon tilted her head to show them her blood on her neck, "And then we'll talk."

Rosanna laughed at the girl, "You're funny. I don't like funny."

"And I don't like you so we're good" Avalon snapped. Francesco held her head from behind, "Get your hands off me!"

"Oh, make sport of me, will you? Tease me as if I were your dog? Well, this dog has a bite, girl," Rosanna showed her fangs.

"You think you scare me? Ha," Avalon breathed rapidly in and out, "I'm Avalon Reynolds and I don't get scared of some silly vampire."

"You think we're vampires? Oh, now that is amusing," Rosanna chuckled.

"You let me go right now!" Avalon tried twisting her head but remained locked in the position as Rosanna made her way over, "No!" she screamed as the woman bit her neck.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor opened up a chest on the ground to reveal skeletal remains, making Rory stare in horror, "What happened to them?"

"They've had all the moisture taken out of them," the Doctor took a feel of a...fingertip?

~ 0 ~

Rosanna pulled away from Avalon and stood straight, licking her lips with satisfaction. Meanwhile, the rest of the girls left the chamber. Avalon blinked slowly as she tried to push through the icky, weakness spreading across her body.

Francesco leaned down beside Avalon and ran a finger along her neck where the puncture wounds were located. Avalon flinched at the contact and made the attempt to lean away from him, her face scrunching with disgust.

"Mother... where you drink from her, may we share? I'm so thirsty."

"Of course, darling," Rosanna motioned for him to go ahead.

"N-n-no-" Avalon gasped when she felt the same disgusting teeth plunge her skin.

~ 0 ~

"That's what vampires do, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own," Rory was saying, really trying not to freak out as much as he really was at the moment.

"Yeah, except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies,"the Doctor clarified.

"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?"

"Maybe not everyone survives the process."

Rory walked away in frustration then stopped and pointed at the Doctor, "You out of all people should not put Avalon in danger! You make her even more dangerous to herself!"

"Let me remind you that she volunteered to go here," the Doctor stood up, frowning, "She doesn't listen to me, I don't have control over her!"

"You have far more influence on her than you think!" Rory snapped, "And if testing her temper isn't enough, you bring Lena into danger she has no business being in. The girl is ill for god's sake! And let's not forget Amy, you make her want to impress you. and risk her own life just so she doesn't let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."

But before the Doctor had time to comeback the girls of the school had gathered again under each archway and spoke in unison, "Who are you?"

The Doctor held the ultraviolet light up to them as they got closer," We should run. Run!"

The two ran from the courtyard with the girls right behind them.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna stood in front of Avalon in the chair, "This is how it works. First, we drink you until you're dry. Then... we fill you with our blood. It rages through you like a fire, changing you, until one morning you awake and your humanity is a dream... now faded."

Francesco chuckled, "Or you die," he moved a lock of her away from her neck, "That can happen."

"And if I survive?" Avalon weakly asked as she looked between the two.

"Then there are 10,000 husbands waiting for you in the water," Rosanna opened her arms.

"Yeah, sorry, I don't do marriage with vampires," Avalon kicked Rosanna on her side, making Francesco restrain her back.

Rosanna stumbled back and gasped as she felt the electric hum of her technology strapped onto her. She flipped back part of her dress to the device clipped to her dress. Avalon watched with wide eyes as Rosanna's human image flipped to one of an insectoid creature and then back to human. Suddenly, they all heard the running and voices from above and Rosanna and Francesco quickly ran off to go see about it, leaving Avalon alone. She groaned and tried to make her escape from the stupid chair.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Rory ran along a corridor and stopped when they encountered Rosanna, Francesco and even Carlo (the servant). The Doctor looked around nervously, "Cab for Avalon Reynolds?"

~ 0 ~

Avalon screamed again of terror when another hand reached onto her straps.

"It's okay! It's okay! It's just me!" Isabella exclaimed.

"Sh-she-she - they bit me!" Avalon cried as she looked around, swallowing hard.

The girls of the school appeared from the other end of the corridor, blocking the Doctor and Rory's escape. Rosanna, with a smirk, and looked back at her son and servant, "This rescue plan, not exactly watertight, is it?"

The Doctor brandished the ultraviolet light to hold off the girls, "Ha-ha!"

Avalon and Isabella ran in from an intersecting hall, "Rory!" Avalon rushed straight to him, clinging onto him in terror.

"Oh, Ava," Rory stumbled back with her.

"Quickly, through here!" Isabella ran back from the way they'd come in and the rest followed her.

"Seal the house," Rosanna ordered.

~ 0 ~

"They're not vampires!" Avalon exclaimed as they made their way down the underground stairs.

"What?" the Doctor used the sonic on the door for their freedom.

"I saw the, that woman. She's not a vampire, they're not vampires they're aliens!"

"Classic," the Doctor chuckled.

"That's good news?!" Rory cried and looked at Avalon, "She has blood dripping down her neck and this is good news!?"

"I'll be fine," Avalon swallowed.

"Oh don't lie to me, Ava," Rory shook his head. He could see the fear she was desperately trying to push away.

The Doctor quickly pushed them forwards into a new passageway, "Come on, move!" Francesco led the way with a torch and the Doctor used his own as a weapon and made them lash back, "Keep moving! Come on, guys!"

Once at the door of the canal, Isabella opened it up and ushered them out, "Quickly. Get out. Quick!" once she tried stepping out she hissed at the sunlight and shielded her eyes.

"Oh..." the Doctor hurried back to help her out, "Come on, run!"

"I can't!" Isabella cried as she was dragged back inside by the rest of the girls.

The door was shut and when the Doctor pounded on it he was electrified. He fell to the ground, stumbling down the steps and flat on his back on thee ground. Rory and Avalon ranj back to him where Rory checked him.

"Is he alright?" Avalon gasped.

"He's breathing," Rory said.

Avalon looked back at Guido who stood near the lower gate, sorrowful for the man as his daughter would probably not be coming back...

~ 0 ~

Rosanna walked into her throne room to find the Doctor sitting on her throne.

The Doctor tapped his fingers on the chair's armrest, giving a small wolf whistle, "Long way from Saturnyne, aren't you... Sister of the Water?"

Rosanna studied the man of confidence and lightly gasped, "No, let me guess. The owner of the psychic paper. Then I take it you're a refugee, like me?"

"I'll make you a deal. An answer for an answer. You're using a perception filter. It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank... hence no reflection."

"Your question?"

"Why can we see your big teeth?"

Rosanna laughed, "Self-preservation over-rides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain."

"Where's Isabella?"

"My turn," she reminded, "Where are you from?"

"Gallifrey."

"You should be in a museum," she sarcastically gasped, "Or in a mausoleum," she smirked.

The Doctor shot her a small glare, "Why are you here?"

"We ran from the Silence. Why are you here?"

"Wedding present..." he thought for a minute, "...and impression," he added, "The Silence?"

"There were cracks. Some were tiny... some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people and through others we saw silence... and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours and the crack snapped shut behind us... and Saturnyne was lost."

"So Earth is to become Saturnyne Mark II?"

"And you can help me. We can build a new society here, as others have," Rosanna took a step forwards, "What do you say?"

"Hmm," the Doctor stood up and walked up to her, whispering, "Where's Isabella?"

"Isabella?" the woman blinked, completely clueless.

"The girl who saved my er-friend," he really did not know what to call Avalon at this point. When she wasn't angry with him, she was in danger and vice versa. For now, and for Rosanna, Avalon was a friend...yeah.

"Oh, deserters must be executed. Any general will tell you that," Rosanna casually informed, seeing irrelevant of the matter, "I need an answer, Doctor. A partnership. Any which way you choose," she stepped closer to him.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you? I'm a Time Lord. You're a big fish," the Doctor whispered, crinkling his nose, "Think of the children."

Rosanna frowned, "Carlo! she called and the servant came forwards, "You're right. We're nothing alike. I will bend the heavens to save my race, while you philosophize."

"This ends today. I'll tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone," the Doctor warned when Carlo placed a hand on his chest to get him moving, "Take your hands off me, Carlo," he snapped and walked for the door, stopping only to look back, "And you know why? You didn't know Isabella's name. You didn't know Isabella's name!"

~ 0 ~

Avalon, now changed back to her modern day clothes, sat on a chair inside Guido's house with the Doctor beside her, examining her bites with his screwdriver. She tried her best to not to flinch whenever the Doctor's fingers accidentally touched her skin. It just felt too similar to the...no, she didn't want to think about it.

"Can I kill them?" she muttered to him.

"Um, no."

"But they bit me...several times," she swallowed at the reminder, growing silent as she remembered the awful moments.

"You okay?" Lena knelt down beside her, taking her sister's hand.

Avalon quickly blinked and smiled, "Yup, just fine," she looked up at the Doctor, "How are those readings?"

He nodded, "Fine," although he could tell it was the complete opposite of what she was feeling, "Here, open wide," he slipped a candy into her mouth, managing to get a small smile out of her.

"So...what now, exactly?" Lena stood up though remained by her twin's side.

The Doctor, frustrated, paced, "I need to think. Come on brain, think, think. Think!" he plopped down at the table, "Think!"

"Well, if they're fish people it would explain why they hate the sun," Amy offered as she took a seat beside him.

He covered her mouth with his hand, "Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."

"It's the school thing I don't understand," Rory said.

The Doctor placed his hand over Rory's mouth as well, "Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."

"I say we take the fight to them," Guido shrugged.

"I'm with him," Avalon frowned.

"Ah!" the Doctor shot them both a look.

"I got it," Lena said before covering her twin's and Guido's mouths.

"Thank you baby sister," the Doctor nodded at her, "So, Rosanna's planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time, and end up here, then she closes off the city and, one by one, changes people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. Then what? They come from the sea, they can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do? Unless she's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable... She said, "I shall bend the heavens to save my race," he moved Rory's and Amy's heads in a nod as he spoke, "Bend the heavens... Bend... the heavens... She's going to sink Venice."

Guido removed Lena's hand from his mouth and blinked, "She's...she's going to sink Venice?"

"And repopulate it with the girls she's transformed."

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory reminded, "You need... blokes."

Avalon took Lena's hand from her mouth and sighed, "Which she's got...and lots of them."

"Where?" the Doctor asked her.

"In the canal. She said to me, "There are 10,000 husbands waiting in the water."

"Only the male offspring survived the journey here. She's got 10,000 children swimming in the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends," he crinkled his noise at the thought, "Ew. I mean, I've been around a bit, but, really, that's... that's... Ew."

Suddenly, there was a loud clattering from the floor above which made everyone look up at the ceiling.

"The people upstairs are very noisy..." the Doctor remarked slowly.

"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido informed.

"I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"

The wood creaked if someone walked across the floor.

"Is it the vampires?" Lena questioned.

"Like I said, they're not vampires. Fish from space," the Doctor said.

"Yup, makes that a whole lot better," Avalon shook her head.

A loud thump and glass breaking made everyone jump to their feet as the converted girls entered the room, more of them outside the windows. The Doctor brandished the ultraviolet light on them as Guido crossed himself.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" Rory asked, vaguely remembering that.

The girls at the window broke the glass and the Doctor continued using the light to keep them back. He used his screwdriver next to show their true form.

"Oh my god, what's happened to them?" Amy blinked with wide eyes.

"Get them out!" Avalon shuddered a breath, already backing away.

"Ava..." Rory looked back, never seeing her best friend actually showing some fear.

"There's nothing left of them," the Doctor answered Amy's question, "They've been fully converted. Blimey, fish from space have never been so... buxom. OK..." he switched off his screwdriver, "Move. Come on."

They quickly ran down the stairs where Guido lingered behind, "Give me the lamp," he took the ultraviolet from the Doctor and used it on the girls.

The group burst from the entrance doors and rushed out, the Doctor being the last one, "Go, go, go, guys! Keep moving, go, go, go!"

Guido stopped at the door before closing it and locking the others out, "Stay away from the door, Doctor."

The Doctor turned back and rushed to the door, pounding on it, "No! Guido! What are you doing?! I'm not leaving you! What are you doing?!" he took out his screwdriver and used it on the lock but to no avail.

~ 0 ~

Guido lured the girls into his rooms where more barrels were, "Come on. That's it... Come on."

~ 0 ~

"Guido!" the Doctor yelled but received no answer.

~ 0 ~

Guido pocked up a candle with his free hand and grew closer to the barrels, "Come on. Come on. Come on!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor, now realizing what Guido's plan was, backed away and started running from the house.

~ 0 ~

"We are Venetians!" Guido raised the flame and set it on one of the barrels.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was thrown to the ground as the house exploded. Upon hearing the explosion, the rest of the group ran back to see the destroyed house.

"Oh my stars..." Lena breathed.

Lightening struck across the sky as the sun was suddenly blocked off and a storm was began.

"Rosanna's initiating the final phase," the Doctor said as they heard the commotion from the other Venetians

"We need to stop her. Come on!" Amy exclaimed.

"No, no. Get back to the TARDIS. All of you," he eyed every last girl and Rory.

"You can't stop her on your own," Avalon reminded, "And I don't follow orders from anyone."

"We don't discuss this! I tell you to do something, and you do it," the Doctor shouted, both gingers flinching, "I've had enough of that! Now go!"

Avalon angrily stormed off.

"Good going," Amy muttered and followed after her friend, much in the same angry manner.

The Doctor sighed and looked at the remaining girl, "Baby sister..."

She raised her hands in surrender, "I know, I know, go back to the TARDIS," she gave a small smile and walked away.

"Thank you, really," Rory nodded and followed after Lena.

"Yeah... You're welcome," the Doctor mumbled. He heard the screams of people and quickly ran off.

~ 0 ~

The human group stopped across the canal from the Calvierri school, Amy looking up at the sky, "Oh, my God! What is going on?"

Francesco, standing across the canal in front of the school, recognized Avalon Rory.

"The sky, it's like it's boiling," Lena remarked, "We should get out of here."

Francesco removed his bat and cape as he watched the group move on before diving into the canal.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had walked directly up to Rosanna's throne chair to examine it. He pulled opened the back of it and saw the circuitry and took out the screwdriver.

Unbeknownst, Rosanna had walked in quietly, "You're too late. Such determination... just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"The girls have gone, Rosanna," the Doctor informed her calmly.

"You're lying," her smile faltered.

"Shouldn't I be dead? Hmm?" he gestured to his very alive self. He sighed when the woman walked away from him, "Rosanna, please, help me. There are 200,000 people in this city."

"So save them," Rosanna waved him off, dearly hoping every last one of them died.

~ 0 ~

Amy, Rory the twins were walking through the streets when suddenly they found their way blocked by a soaking wet Francesco. Avalon gasped and jumped back, the mental images of the biting and the blood and...

She shook her head and pulled back, for once she was actually, truly afraid.

Rory picked up some candlesticks and held them up in the form of a cross, "Run!" he ordered the girls as Francesco swiped the candlesticks away and moved towards the girls, specifically Avalon.

"Stay back!" Amy ordered, moving in front of the twins as the man grew closer to them.

"This way, you freak!" Rory also called from his spot, "Don't! This...this... this way, you big, stupid, great... SpongeBob! The only thing I've seen uglier than you is... your mum!" and then Francesco stopped and turned back, "No..."

"Did you just say something about Mummy?" Francesco raised an eyebrow.

Rory picked up a broom and brandished it like a sword...and then Francesco pulled out an actual sword making poor Rory question his choice of weapon. Francesco used the moment to attack but Rory blocked him with the broom's handle.

"Careful, Rory!" Lena gasped and looked back at Avalon who actually stood behind her, "Avalon?"

But the ginger watched in terror as her best friend fought the big fish from space.

"Rory, this way, bring him this way!" Amy pulled the twins to a small passage and gestured to Rory to follow.

Francesco sliced Rory's broom's handle and thrusts his sword through a hanging drape. Rory used the opportunity to wrap the man in the drape and backed away.

"Ew! You stink of fish," Rory crinkled his noise and backed away into the next courtyard where the girls had run to.

Francesco rolled his eyes as he followed, "Well, I'm hardly going to smell of cheese and biscuits."

Rory tripped and fell backwards on the ground, even hitting his head. Francesco leaped and changed to his original form, landing on top of Rory.

"Hey! Mummy's boy," Amy called from the stairs. She held a compact mirror in her hand and used it to reflect light onto the alien, making him explode.

"Ha!" Lena cheered as she and Avalon poked their head from under a passageway under the stairs, "Good going, Amy!"

Rory groaned as he wiped the dust of the alien off him, "Oh...oh that's gross."

"That was lucky," Avalon remarked, clearing her throat as she gathered herself up.

"Why did you make the sign of the cross, you numpty?" Amy questioned Rory as he made his way up the stairs to meet he.

Rory rolled his eyes, "Oh, oh, right! I'm being reviewed now, am I?"

Amy shook her head and pulled him to her for a passionate kiss, the twins looking away.

"Ahem, now we go help my big brother?" Lena coughed awkwardly, keeping her eyes away.

Rory, hazed after the kiss had stopped, looked around, "Rightio."

~ 0 ~

As the Doctor entered the throne room from the bell tower, the human group ran inside, "No, get out! I need to stabilize the storm," the Doctor waved them off as he ran up to the throne.

"We're not leaving you," Rory shook his head.

"Right," the Doctor walked back to them, 'So one minute it's, 'You make people a danger to themselves,' the next it's, 'We're not leaving you!' But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets..."

But the ground shook violently and cut him off as it sent everyone to the floor, bits of the ceiling falling down around them.

"What the hell was that?" Avalon coughed as she lifted her head up.

"Nothing. Bit of an earthquake," the Doctor jumped to his feet.

"And earthquake?" Lena stood up and helped her twin.

"Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes. But don't worry about them."

"And why not?" Amy looked around, really seeing lots of things to worry about.

"Because you should worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake," the Doctor faced the throne again.

"Big brother you always know exactly what to say," Lena sighed.

"Anyways, Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the program, so tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything," he headed up to the throne and checked the wires, "We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor worked on wires in the bell tower, the wires connecting the control of the throne's device which created the storm. He ran closer to the tolling bells and held his hands over his ears with such a loud noise.

~ 0 ~

Meanwhile, the human group were pulling all the wires from the throne, causing sparks to fly here and there.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor held the clapper on one of the bells, "Shut up! Shut up!" when it became still he jumped down and sighed in relief, "That's better."

He then went on to tug one of the cables only to see it didn't budge. He climbed onto the rail, gripping the column and nearly slipping from it due to the rain pouring down. He regained his balance and began his climb up.

~ 0 ~

The human group ran back out and looked up, "There he is!" Lena pointed, horrified to see the Doctor climbing up the bell tower, "He's mad!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor climbed to the top reached a giant sphere at the pinnacle, currently whirring about. He stopped the sphere and saw the actual device causing the storm. He began checking it over and over for some type of clue of how to turn it off...and then he saw a simple toggle switch.

Upon flipping it the rain stopped and the clouds cleared, giving Venice the bright sun and the chirps of birds.

He closed the sphere and looked down at the joyful crowd in the street, giving a little happy wave.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna walked the quay to the large pool-like room, trying to turn off her perception filter but instead the device just died. She pulled off her gloves and stripped down to her chemise. As she grew nearer to the water, it bubbled with all the male Saturnyne creatures sensing the 'human'. She started walking along the plank just as the Doctor came to find her.

"Rosanna!"

Rosanna looked back with teary eyes, "One city to save an entire species. Was that so much to ask?"

The Doctor slowly walked towards her, cautiously, "I told you, you can't go back and change time. You mourn but you live. I know, Rosanna, I did it."

She looked back at the water and shuddered a breath, "Tell me, Doctor... can your conscience carry the weight of another dead race? Remember us. Dream of us," she took the final step and fell into the water.

"No! No!" the Doctor ran up the remainder of the plank but the water had stopped its bubbling. He sighed and slowly stood up, certainly feeling that weight of a brand new species lost because of him.

"I don't think it was your fault," he heard Lena's voice from behind. He looked back to see her standing at the threshold, "She did that by her own choice. You had already given her a choice before this."

He gave a faint smile and walked back to his 'baby sister', "Look at you being so wise."

"It comes and it goes," she nodded and the two walked off to find their friends.

~ 0 ~

Near the TARDIS, the townspeople were busy cleaning up after the storm. The group emerged from a turn of a corner and were heading towards the box.

"Now, then, what about you two, eh?" the Doctor looked at Amy and Rory, "Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away."

"It's fine. Drop me back where you found me," Rory sighed, knowing Amy wouldn't want to return back to Earth for a long time, "I'll just say you've..."

"Stay..." Amy moved beside him, linking her arm with his, "...with us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay."

Rory opened his mouth but looked at the Doctor for his words, "Fine with me," the alien shrugged happily.

"Yeah? Yes, I would like that," Rory nodded.

"Look what I've got?" Lena came with Avalon, the brunette waving a small posey in her hands, "And I did not get bitten this time."

"What's going on?" Avalon noticed the sudden happy looks of everyone.

"Your best friend is coming along...apparently," Rory declared with a grin.

"Really?" she gasped. Immediately, she encased him in a tight hug, "Oh that's great!"

Amy's smile faltered slightly at the action and headed for the TARDIS doors instead, "So, I'll pop the kettle on, then?"

Lena chuckled, "Look at us, the little friends who were neighbors now traveling in a blue box. All we need is Mels and we're set."

"Oh that'd be interesting," Rory laughed as Amy went inside, him tugging Avalon behind him.

"Do I even want to know?" the Doctor asked Lena as they followed.

"No, don't think so," Lena stepped inside.

Just as the Doctor was about to go in he stopped as he looked back, "Lena? Do you hear that?'

"Hear what?" she frowned, "All I hear is...silence," she shrugged and went inside.

The Doctor remained in place and looked out at the now-silent city, recalling Rosanna's words...

~ 0 ~

Avalon gasped and sat upright, breathing heavily as she looked around with rapid blinking eyes. She saw she was in her TARDIS room on her bed, just the place she had excused herself to earlier. She was still dressed in her day clothes as she rarely got sleep nowadays, but somehow this night she'd managed to sleep...only to have an awful nightmare.

She jumped out of her bed and pressed her dress down, tugging her jacket closer as she walked towards her door and opened it up. She could still feel her heart beating quite fast from the nightmare but decided to push away those memories and simply try and find her twin's room. Lena was never the one to have a bad night, despite her condition. She slept like a baby nearly every night. Perhaps, being in the same room with her twin would help her calm down and actually try and sleep a little again.

But as she walked endlessly through the corridors, she couldn't find Lena's room. She recalled the Doctor saying that when the TARDIS liked someone, it would keep the person walking and walking through its infinite corridors and rooms to entertain.

Avalon sighed, "Please, TARDIS, I really need help. I feel awful, won't you please give me the room with the one person who can help me?" she looked around, hearing the hums of the box in response. She sighed again and began walking, "Okay, I'm just going to translate that as 'yes Avalon I'll give you the room'," she nodded.

This time, however, no doors appeared on either side, only agitating her even more, "C'mon, box. Please show me the dang room..." she frowned as she entered the console room, "This isn't funny!" she stomped her foot.

"What's not?" she heard the Doctor's voice call, a bit distant.

"Um...nothing, where are you?" she walked forwards.

"Down here - AH!"

Avalon winced as she heard sparks underneath, "Right, now I get why the TARDIS can't help me. She's busy prying you off her wires."

"I would like to point out that I am indeed okay," the Doctor, sulking almost, walked up the small stairs to meet her, "In case you were wondering."

She shrugged and turned to face him, "Actually I was wondering why your box won't help me find Lena's room?"

"Is she okay?" he quickly asked. He learned quick that sometimes Lena would wake up having an asthma attack. But, Avalon nodded and eased his worries, "So why do you need her room?"

"Um...I'm...I wanted to...check up on her?" Avalon quickly nodded again, "Plus I asked for some help and Lena's always the one that helps me...but your box doesn't want to aid me..." she sent a small glare at the rotor.

"You asked her nicely to give you the room?" he wondered genuinely, "You have a very..." he tried wording his sentence carefully. He was always on her bad side and perhaps telling her of her bad attitude would put him even farther down her friend list, "...intriguing attitude..."

"That's just a lame way of telling me you think I have a bad attitude," she crossed her arms, making him wince, "You're right, I do," she shrugged casually, "But yes, I did ask nicely. I asked for help in a polite manner."

"Well maybe she sent you the place she thought you'd get help," half-smiled, "What do you need help with exactly?"

"It's nothing," she quickly turned away, her hand reaching up to her neck as she remained quiet for a minute. Suddenly, she turned to face him, "Can I go home?"

He raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the sudden question. Had he finally angered her so much she actually wanted to leave her twin? "Avalon, I'm...I'm sorry," he sighed.

She frowned, "For what?"

"Look, it's no secret you don't like me but I don't think leaving your sister is a good idea for either of you."

Avalon tilted her head, replaying his words in her mind, "Hold on, you think I don't like you?"

He nodded, "It's pretty obvious. I know hate when I see it."

She opened her mouth and raised a finger...when she thought of a better idea. She crossed her arms, "Can you take me home, please?"

"But Avalon-"

"Doctor, take me home please," she gave him a sharp look.

With no other option, the Doctor went to the console and started putting in the coordinations.

"And can you make sure it's not too long after you first picked me up?" she moved beside him, "Like an hour or two later? Don't want my Dad or brother popping in just as I'm coming out of this box."

The Doctor silently nodded, "Hang on," he mumbled and pulled down the lever.

Avalon did as told and clung to the console as the box shook in its violent ways. Once the box stopped she scampered over to the door and opened them up, poking her head out to see the dark living room of her home, even glancing at the clock on the wall striking twelve, "Perfect," she looked back at the Doctor, seeing him dejectedly flipping about some controls over the console, "Oi? Fairy tale man, you coming?"

"For what?" he gave her a small glance.

"Cos I need to show you something," she stepped out to the living room, always facing his direction, "So c'mon."

"It's not a wedding dress is it?" he asked as he started walking towards her, already looking weary.

"Nope," she shook her head, "Or..." he immediately froze in place, "Just kidding! It's only my maid of honor dress. But don't worry, I won't kiss you or anything. Promise," she raised her hands in surrender, "But there really is something I need to show you."

"What is it? It's not another slap is it?" he stepped out and closed the TARDIS doors.

"Nope," she put her hands behind her back and started walking into the hallway, flicking on a light as she walked by.

"Or a scream?"

"..no," she said as she headed up the stairs.

"Or a threat?"

"No," she silently stopped by her bedroom door and looked back at him, "Do you think I hate you?"

"No...kind of - er, well..." he rubbed the side of his neck.

"Doctor, do you think I hate you?" she questioned again, dead serious.

He sighed and nodded, "Yes."

"Right," she looked away and grabbed the doorknob, feeling awful. Of course he would think that considering she had the worst attitude. Normally, she could care less if people assumed things about her...but she couldn't deal with it if it was the Doctor. She admired him and she needed for him to know what she truly thought about him.

She turned the knob and opened the door to her bedroom, walking inside first, "Fourteen years ago I once told a man who dropped from the sky that I loved fairy tales but that I only loved the modern ones. He said I should go back and read the classics because he was sure I would love them," she turned the light switch of her room and headed for a wall with three large bookshelves, all stacked with books to the brim. She turned to face the Doctor and smiled softly, "He was so right. They're incredible."

The Doctor looked from one bookshelf to another, a pointing finger at them as he spoke, "Are those all..." she nodded to his unfinished question, but he was so stunned that he didn't see it and went ahead and finished asking, "...they're all...fairy tales?"

"I love them, I absolutely adore them!" she spun around like a true princess and motioned to all her perfectly kept books. It took her a while to have this vast type of collection, but it was so worth it. "But it all started with this one," she walked up to a specific bookshelf and got on her toes to reach up to the highest shelf. She pulled out a thin, pink book and turned back to the Doctor. "La Belle au bois dormant," she pronounced the French title perfectly, contrary to the last time she'd attempted to say it as a child. "Like my French?"

He smiled and took the book from her. It seemed well kept for a book a child had gotten, but Avalon probably took great care of it and all the other books in her possession. "You took my advice," he commented, sounding a bit surprised that the ginger who did not follow orders had actually listened to him.

"I loved the story and I figured if that princess had to wait a hundred years for her prince to come, then I could wait a couple years for the fairy tale man to come back and take us aboard his ship. Although, I didn't expect you to take twelve years but..." she pretended to still be upset over the matter but shot him a smile in the end.

"Explains the not-hitting-me-with-a-cricket-bat greeting," he made a face as he remembered Amy's greeting when he'd returned.

"Oh give her some credit, you were late! Plus, no one really believed her that you were real. Lena and I were lucky, our parents were from New Earth where you saved their ancestors. Of course they believed us, but we couldn't very well backup Amy in her stories. We'd out ourselves in the process."

"So...you don't hate me...?" he asked cautiously, as if there was something else that was coming.

"I'm sorry," she began, heaving a small sigh, "You're right, I have a very bad attitude. I'm snappy, I'm rude, and I do and say things I don't mean...most of the time. I haven't been very nice to you and I'm really sorry for that. But I've never hated you. Yes, you've irritated and angered me in the past but I can't hate you. You saved my grandparents, you saved my sister, you saved this planet, and you've saved me. Plus, you made this," she pointed back at her bookshelves.

"Me?" he frowned.

"Yes, you! I was content with the modern fairy tales but then you came along and told me to go back and read the older, original versions. Look what you did," she gestured to the several piles of books on the floor beside the book shelves.

"I'm gonna let that blame slip because you told me you don't hate me," he handed her back the book.

Avalon laughed. "Your my fairy tale man! How could I ever hate you!?" she moved over and encased him in a hug. The Doctor smiled so widely it could have possibly cracked his face. He hugged her back and put away any doubts he'd ever had about her. "You better soak this moment up because I'm terrible at words so you won't be getting another moment like this."

The Doctor laughed and pulled away to gesture to her bookshelves. "Oh, I think you are very good with words. I am stunned by this room."

"I shocked the Doctor? Okay, now I've accomplished everything," Avalon stepped back and allowed him to take another look at his room. "See, all this time you've been trying to impress me but in the end, I impressed you!"

"Yeah, try again," the Doctor rolled his eyes distractedly. His eyes were still roaming over her bookshelves. He wouldn't be surprised if he opened the closet and an avalanche of books fell on him. Still, her room was pretty nice. It was definitely Avalon.

She had a soft pink colored canopy bed with cream colored drapes. There were star string lights at the top, all turned off for the moment. Her light brown duvets were neatly made, a sign that she had never come back to sleep. There was a medium-sized Tinkerbell cushion placed in the middle of her two white pillows propped against the headboard. She had one bed stand with a small lamp, an alarm clock, and a picture of herself and Lena. On the opposite end of the room was a vanity desk only a few feet away from her closet. The desk was sprawled with all types of make up. It looked like she'd been in a rush for something.

She had a date, the Doctor remembered soon and crinkled his nose. He didn't quite like the guy. He made Avalon cry and that just wasn't nice. Despite her challenging personality, she didn't deserve to cry for somebody who didn't understand her need to find her sister.

There was a bigger, solid, white wooden desk set near the bedroom door. It had a few drawers below and a hutch that had one glass vase of poseys in the middle and two frames on either side of it. The Doctor could spot Amy and Rory in few of them, along with a dark-skinned woman. There was a laptop sitting on the writing surface and a few papers threatening to fall at the corners. There was a small bucket - which the Doctor assumed she'd made as a child due to all the fairy and princess stickers on it, as well as the doodles only a child could make - full of colorful pens. Save Me the Waltz was left over the laptop with a bright green bookmark sticking out.

"Oh that's a book I definitely have to take with me," Avalon said once she saw where the Doctor's gaze had gone to. She moved to her writing desk and picked up her book. "I was almost finished with it."

"You like Zelda Fitzgerald?"

"Mhm, I love her! I think she had such a tragic ending when she had this beautiful, complex mind that her husband just...sucked dry," Avalon frowned. "Makes me madder cos his writing was really good too. I guess I just identify with Zelda. She liked doing things her own way, like me, and people didn't like her because of it...just like me. And when she wrote this-" she waved the book, "-her husband made her revise it because it was too much like his. He plagiarized her and he had the audacity to make her change all her words." Her gaze only softened when she looked over the cover. "You know she wrote this while she was at a psychiatric ward? They called it a hospital back then. Writing was part of her treatment and her husband didn't support her until she had changed it to the way he wanted it. Only then he approved."

The Doctor only listened to her passionate argument in favor of Zelda Fitzgerald. Part of him sympathized with Avalon because he'd gone through something similar in regards to being unliked by people. "I didn't know you liked her work so much, considering she only wrote one book."

"Well that's just the thing!" she exclaimed. "She had all these other drafts, short stories, that were lost. Who knows what else she could have written if her work hadn't been lost and she hadn't died. And you know, I admire her too because despite everything that happened to her, she kept writing. I may never know what she wrote besides this-" she gave Save Me the Waltz a gentle smile, "-but I know that it had to be amazing."

The Doctor's smile had also turned gentle as Avalon got lost in her thoughts of Zelda Fitzgerald. He hadn't really seen Avalon being her and now that he had, he wanted to see more of it. She was a whole other person when she wasn't constantly bickering with him or trying to keep Lena safe or running from the danger they bumped into.

Maybe she had a beautiful, complex mind too.

#11th doctor #doctor who #dw imagines #ocappreciation #ocapp #11th doctor imagines #11th doctor fics #11th doctor x oc #doctor who imagines #doctor who fics #amy pond #rory williams #oc: Avalon Reynolds #oc: Lena Reynolds #fic: stars dance #noblecrescentedit

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supervalor · 4 years

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Lose You To Love Me [Fanfic, one shot]

Title: Lose You To Love Me

Pairings: None (implied Karamel, mentioned Kelly/Alex)

Summary: Lena crosses a line and Kara realises that their friendship isn’t what she thought it was. Warning: Though Lena is in character, she doesn’t get redeemed. The writers did say it was a Luthor/Superman story.

Lose You to Love Me

“You got off on the hurting when it wasn’t yours”

“This dance was killing me softly, I needed to hate you to love me”

Lose You to Love Me – Selena Gomez

Kara knelt on the floor, crippled with pain from the kryptonite cage that she was currently trapped in, courtesy of her former friend Lena Luthor. Oh how she had wanted to believe that the CEO had been misguided, that she was blinded by the pain from Kara’s betrayal. She wanted to think it was just a blip, a stumble that Kara could save Lena from herself from before it was too late. Now she knew she was wrong. She had so badly wanted to save her friendship, save the woman that she had been so close to previously but now she was finally being forced to accept that Alex was right. Lena was beyond her help now. Still, she had to try to get through to her at least one more time or she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

“Lena, stop…you don’t…have to do this”, the blonde panted through the agony.

Cold green eyes glared at her from where she stood by her machine that was filled with an altered version of myriad. Of course myriad would never affect Kara which was why, as Lena had explained to her earlier, she had made a trap to keep Kara from preventing the launch. “I’m saving the world. You should be grateful. I’m a hero, Kara. I’m not hurting anybody, I would never do that”.

The worst thing was that Kara knew that Lena honestly believed what she was saying. But from everything she knew about her older brother, Lex had been the exact same way. In his own mind, he was the hero. “Please, Lena. Mind controlling the world, stripping people of free will, their ability to make their own choices…it’s slavery, it’s not saving the world, it’s imprisoning it”.

“People’s ability to make free choices has led to violence and death and pain and betrayal. I’m saving people from themselves” Lena snapped. “I’m removing those urges. They will be honest, kind, good…there will be no more evil, no more crime, and no more war. The world won’t need Supergirl anymore”, her dark painted lips twitched upwards into a smirk as though the idea of making the heroine obsolete was pleasing to her.

“And you…are you going to be part of this mind hive?” Kara winced as she stumble into the kryptonite infused bars and crumpled over.

“Someone has to make sure that the control holds. I made myself immune to the process”.

Kara forced herself to pull herself up despite her pain and look her once friend in the eyes. “And…what will you do about me? You can’t control me, myriad doesn’t work on me and I will never allow you to get away with this. I know you think this is for the best but making the world into your own mindless drones, taking away their ability to think for themselves, their imaginations…you’re going to strip away everything that is good about human beings!”

“You raise a good point”, Lena ignored the rest of Kara’s speech and sat down on a stool in front of her work station. “I…I don’t want to hurt anybody, that was never my intention. I made it a point to not kill a single person. Heroes don’t kill after all. However…if I let you be, you’ll figure a way out of that cage…I know you will. I’m not Lex, I’m not stupid enough to underestimate you. And then you will get in the way. That makes you a bad guy. You want to prevent world peace…I’m going to have to do whatever it takes to stop you”, Lena mused out loud, a gleam coming into her eyes and Kara’s heart dropped to the floor. “You have to die. It’s the only way”.

“You’re going to kill me? After everything?” tears filled Kara’s eyes as it settled in once and for all that her friend was gone. In front of her was a Luthor, one just as dangerous and delusional as Lex. There was nothing Kara could do to stop her. She had been pleading with her for hours ever since she fell into her trap, trying to get through to her. It hadn’t worked. And no one knew where she was to save her. They were in a secret underground lab that Lena had borrowed from her brother.

A somewhat apologetic expression came over Lena’s face. “It’s the only way. I don’t want to kill you but I have to. If you would only stand down…but then again, I couldn’t trust that you would mean it”. The black haired genius walked over to a vault in the wall and typed in the code. She pulled out a black case and put it out on her work station. Opening the case, Kara saw a gun and a green bullet. Her heart began to beat rapidly as she realised what it was.

“Good thing that Lex always keeps one of these in every one of his secret locations”.

“Lena, please!”

“I’m doing this to save the world. It’s the only way”, Lena lowered the bars of Kara’s cage but Kryptonite remained in a circle around her, preventing her from trying to escape or fight Lena. Kara remained on her knees, pain flooding every single cell in her body. Her blue eyes landed on the gun that her friend turned murderer was holding and the way it was pointed straight at her head. In that moment, Kara knew that she was going to die. She closed her eyes, not wanting the image of Lena, the person she thought was her best friend, holding a gun at her to be the last thing she ever saw.

BANG! A shot rang out but Kara felt no pain, to her surprise. She opened her eyes to see the gun on the floor, the green bullet in pieces and Lena on her knees. “Alex!” Kara exclaimed, shocked to see her sister in front of her with a rifle in hand. The red head gave her sister a worried look before glaring back down at Lena as DEO Agents filled the room, fully armed.

“How did you know to find me?!”

“We got a note from the future with these coordinates, warning us that you were gonna die tonight if we didn’t come”, Alex glowered at the unrepentant Luthor glaring back at her.

Kara blinked in confusion. “Wait…what?”

“The note appeared out of nowhere, unsigned but I recognised Mon-El’s handwriting. Thank goodness he sent us that or you…you’d be dead by now. Lena was going to kill you”, Alex’s eyes filled with tears. “I nearly lost my sister”.

“I’m sorry Alex. You were right. I thought…I thought I could get through to Lena…but the friend I knew is gone…if she ever existed in the first place”, Kara looked one last time at Lena but the woman wouldn’t meet her gaze. Alex helped her out of her restraints and removed the kryptonite so she could stand before turning back to their former friend.

“Lena Luthor, I’m placing you under arrest for kidnapping and the attempted murder of Supergirl. You are also under arrest for conspiracy to harm billions of civilians with stolen technology”.

Kara looked away as Alex cuffed the L-Corp CEO and handed her over to a team of agents. She watched as Lena was led away, feeling a large lump form in the back of her throat. All this time she had been feeling this helpless sense of guilt, taking the full blame of Lena’s decisions and actions onto her own shoulders but now she knew that it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t force Lena to do any of these things. She had been doing shady stuff behind her back for years, long before she felt betrayed by her. The only thing her finding out she was Supergirl had done was force her dark side into the light.

“I’m sorry, Kara. I know you didn’t want it to come to this”, Alex swung an arm around her shoulders as tears began to leak out.

“I didn’t but you were right. All of Lena’s actions are Lena’s, I didn’t force her into any of it and all this guilt will do is weigh me down and affect the decisions I make and I don’t want to live like that anymore. I mean I broke the law for her because I felt guilty and wanted to make it right. I should never have done that. It’s time that I accept our friendship is over and Lena is not the person I thought she was…I hoped she was”.

“You did what you could. You’re the paragon of hope, remember? You held out that same hope for Lena. Don’t ever lose it. It has made a difference, it has saved the world even and though it couldn’t help Lena it’s one of the best things about you. It’s your greatest super power”.

“Thank you, Alex. I needed to hear that”, Kara held her sister tightly before flying them both back to the DEO to write down their reports of what had occurred…or almost occurred.

Three Years Later

It had been a while since Kara had seen her. As she stood outside of the large prison, she took a deep breath. Quite a lot had changed since their showdown where Lena had almost managed to kill her. Kara’s long blonde hair had been chopped into a wavy bob, the fringe was gone and she had left her job at Catco. Alex had married Kelly and the two of them were talking about adopting. Kara was happy for them and she hoped that she would be able to come back and visit her niece or nephew at some point.

She was officially leaving National City. At least National City of 2023. Superman would be taking over full time with the justice league as the resident heroes of Earth 38, present time and she was heading to the future to help the Legion since they were down a few heroes and there were too many threats for the team to manage on their own. And besides from that…she wanted to be with Mon-El. He had been coming back for visits sporadically ever since the note he had sent had saved her life and they had reconnected. She was looking forward to giving them a real chance.

But first…she needed to see Lena one last time. For the past few years, Kara had been harbouring feelings that came dangerously close to hate. After all, she had been stabbed in the back, used and gaslighted into thinking she deserved it several times by someone she cared for and found out that the woman was willing and capable of killing her. Kara had struggled to get over pain and hurt that had lingered and now she was ready to just put it all behind her and move on.

Kara went into the prison, gave them her ID and was led to a visitor’s room. A little while later an orange clad Lena was brought in and seated across the table from her. “Supergirl…what do I owe this visit?” she smirked at her sardonically with a perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised. “It’s been a while…”

“I came to tell you that I’m leaving National City” Kara replied calmly. “I know you are due to be released in less than two years but I’ll still be around for visits. And then there’s the Justice League and Superman…they will be keeping an eye on you when I can’t…but what I really want to say is that I have hated you for a while now”.

Lena barely blinked at this admission. “You did more than just betray me with lies, Lena. You tried to kill me, you physically and emotionally hurt me and all while I thought we were friends. But I realised that holding onto hate isn’t doing me any good. I’m better off without you, I realise that now, but I also don’t hate you anymore. You don’t get to have that power over me. I forgive you for everything that you did but I’ll never forget and I would never trust you again ever. I just don’t want to be burdened with these feelings that are just holding me back in every way”.

“Are you done?” the other woman asked, coolly, not moved in the least.

“That’s all I came here to say”, the superheroine confirmed as Lena looked at her curiously.

“Where are you going? I thought National City was your home”.

“National City is my home. Just not in the right now. I’m going where I’m needed”.

“Will I ever see you again?”

To Kara, it almost sounded like Lena cared but it was a little too late for that.

“I hope not”.

With that said, Kara stood up and walked out of the room, not looking back even once.

#fanfic #my fanfic #supergirl #supervalor #karamel #anti Lena Luthor #alex danvers #danvers sisters #kara danvers

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beingtitan · 4 years

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Corona, Blogging Corona

It is a nightmare isn’t it? Staying home all day, wondering how someone thousands of miles away eating a pangolin can screw up your foreseeable future? Or jeopardise the lives of your family, or the world as you know it?

I have met several men and women who have cheered for acts of wars far away from home. Well this is how wars are, this is what curfews are like. This is the uncertainty each soldier feels with their lives on the line. One slip, and you are dead. And dead are the men in your command. This, is lesson number one. A knee-jerk reaction to self-isolation, because we have grown up in world where we never had the time to understand and accept the most important person: us. For all those who hate their own company: I have been there, I know what it’s like.

It slowly dawned to me how human centric the world still is: even after the tech revolution, virtual venting of emotions and lives far away from home, people still matter. You still feel safer around known faces, your cell phones have failed you haven’t they? I see this is as an expression of a basic instinct coded in our DNA: roots. No matter how far you drift, no matter how easily the external world might seduce you, the cure to your anxieties and identity crisis is home.

Lesson three is a silly one but I will tell you anyway. Hollywood lies. Gulp it down with some warm water (it’s Flu season). You grew up masturbating to sci-fi which portrayed apocalypse as alien invasions, or as giant rocks from faraway corners of the solar system hitting the earth, or the resurgence of giant reptiles chewing away anything in sight. And here you’re, losing your erections over a flu virus you can’t even see. APOCALYPSE IS BORING. Trump won’t start a World War, and we will have to see the world end with Pakistan as an independent sovereign nation (yepp, hurts me too). Maybe.

The next lesson is but a verification of a very commonly known quote: common sense is not very common. You don’t have to be Tony Stark, or you don’t have to be Uri’s Vicky Kaushal, or some Allah sent fanatic to save the world. Staying at home, not touching your face and staying away from sick people will make you a hero anyway. But as you read this, you are shitting all over this aren’t you? There, proved my point.

The one plus side to all this, for me, has been self-connect. I used to read as a kid, maybe too much. I later on started writing too. I had a rich connect with music, and I used to think out loud with people worth floating those ideas. How much of this have I done lately? Nothing. The last good jam session was at a bar, few drinks down. Yes, the Indian Air Force posters on my bedroom wall also show me the depressing side of self-connect. But some goals are so worthy that it is glorious even to fail (as long as you don’t remember it later). I connected with my childhood, and maybe the next few months will help me re-dig the hero (Ending passand nai aayi? Badal dete hain.).

This is also a chance to repent. Not as individuals but as a species. We have done what all children have been known to do: promise our mothers a better life and then drifting away from her in search of our versions of ‘better’. And as a species, our version of better is a shithole. A bachelor apartment of a home (pardon me my bachelor friends, I know its hard to hide alcohol if the rooms are clean). If udta teer gaand me lena was a person, it would be us. Choking on the air we ourselves breathe, poisoning the waters we ourselves drink and killing species we evolved from. I am also pretty sure things will be business as usual once things return to sanity (is it the right word to use?). But I wish if we take away positives from this pandemic, we might as well reset how we live our everyday lives and how we treat life around us.

As we will see more and more of this disease unravel around us, we will see a divide, a natural one. Not Hindu-Muslim, not capitalist-communist or vegetarian-non-vegetarian ones. A more subtle division – of character. As the crisis grows and our systems will break and fall apart, people will start going back to the basics. Some of them, mentally weak and passive, will kill, loot, hoard and make everyday life one big riot. The other half (are there enough to be anywhere close to half?) will get out on the streets and fight this disease, looking out for those who can’t look out for themselves. People will forget their identities and new songs on unity will emerge as long as there is a strong common enemy (yeah I have been living on this planet long enough to see a pattern). And of course there will be chuts claiming Allah has given them natural immunity, or singing Go karuna karuna go will lead to the destruction of corona rakshash or that Jesus will take all our infection on him and save us. And I am sure if God exists, he would not even accommodate them in hell.

The last lesson is real power. It’s the power of ripples, nudges and small efforts if done together and done in the right direction. The faster we comply to these lockdowns, these safety measures the faster we might return to normalcy. It’s very easy laid out like this, but not easy doing it. The power of belief when a billion people (minus the street festival chuts) stood in solidarity with the country’s emergency services was a trailer of what a collective of democratic resolve can achieve. I wish we all can extend the same belief and efforts towards tackling poverty, hunger and climate change whose effects are not very drastic as say terrorism (effects are short term but drastic – so more funding to buy weapons).

It would be unfair to end this post without talking about solutions. We as engineers, entrepreneurs, doctors and other pillars of the society love to see and provide solutions. And I am not going to talk about quantum entanglement or how a neutron star can collapse under its own gravity to form a black hole. The most effective solutions are simple. Social distancing, planting more trees, buying only as much as you need. Staying hygienic. Staying in sync with nature. Managing stress. Kindness, empathy. Want to live up to the tag of ‘most intelligent species’? We might as well focus on simple acts we can do every day. Discover the hero/shero inside of us. One day at a time, in the isolated corners of your rooms, you might feed that hero and come out brighter and with better perspective.

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ruffiorocks · 5 years

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Winn and how he is underrated but a true hero! Not all heroes wear capes!

Soooo moving away from my negativity for a while 😅. (well almost!) I began to realize that Winn is such an underrated character.

We spend all our time usually talking about Kara and Lena, or Kara and Mon El. But not many people talk about Winn.

Let's take a look:

Winn was there from the very first episode. He's basically everything you expect James Olsen to be but better!

Kara instantly trusted Winn and told him her secret. He must have already proved to be an amazing best friend for her to trust him with that!

Winn thought Kara was coming out as gay to him, (now ignoring the fact he said that must be why she wasn't into her 😑) he was like 'that's great news!'

Winn immediately started to help Kara get started with becoming a hero.

Winn has mad sewing skills and started to make Kara different costumes. (Even if the first one was a little provocative, don't tell me you weren't looking at Kara's abs like Winn was! )

Winn found a way to listen to police scanners and even helped Kara start out with small car chases.

Winn set up an unused room at CatCo so the Superfriends had somewhere to do their super stuff.

Winn hacked the DEO serves to help Alex find out what happened to her father, even though he wasn't thrilled about it and the consequences it could have.

During the earthquake in season 1 and Kara lost her powers, Winn managed to get the CatCo servers up and running and managed to get Cat on a live feed to give people hope.

Winn saw how close Kara and James remained even though Lucy was back. He did have a go at Kara, which wasn't cool. But he was right in how she shouldn't have still been acting so close with James, and vice verser.

Winn was able to disable Indigo with a virus while she was chocking him!

Winn did all the technical sleuthing that the others couldn't. Discovering things about Maxwell, when Cats emails were released etc.

Even though Siobhan was a bitch, Winn still tried to comfort her after she was fired. He even stood by her and took her to the DEO to find out more about her powers. Even when she became Silver Banshee he didn't stop trying to convince her to stop or offering his support.

Winn did act butt hurt when Kara rejected him, but he got over it really quickly and made up with her and he moved on like a grown up.

When Barry turned up, Winn was so excited to learn about the Multi Verse and help him get home. Unlike a certain someone who was jealous, oh and Winn instantly saw that jealousy.

Winn put himself between Sliver Banshee and Cat when she came to get her from Cat Co.

Alex asked Winn to come and help at the DEO, he proved himself and was formally invited to join.

Winn made Kara and Clark Anti Kryptonite shields for their suits.

Mon El did manage to convince Winn to leave the DEO against Jonn’s orders, but Winn was a good friend to Mon El, one he defiantly needed! Even if he did teach Mon El a few phrases that led Mon El to call Kara’s mum a babe! Mon El needed another friend who wasn't Kara trying to tell him how to live his life!

Winn found out that James was being a vigilante, instead of telling on him, Winn confronted him at CatCo. After hearing James’ lame excuse about needing to be a hero, Winn initially reused to have anything to do with it because James would just get himself killed. Unfortunately, because ‘reasons’ Winn changed his mind.

Winn and Lena always worked really well together.

Winn refused to take any s**t from an over demanding James and gave him a right talking to!

James wasn’t capable of fighting crime without Winn as the ‘man in the van’.

Winn didnt want to hide the fact that he and James were fighting crime from Kara, but James told him they should because she would stop them.

When Guardian was framed for murder, Winn said they should stop! But James said they shouldn't.

Winn really is talked out of doing the right thing by James and his peer pressure. That is until he finally caved and told Alex. Even though she threatened him, that was probably an immense relief that someone responsible and with actual credibility now knew what these two fools (yes Winn to) were up to.

When James let a criminal get away from him, Winn, even though he had no suit or protection jumped out of the van to stop him! This was both brave and stupid. But this here is the mark of a true hero, albeit a foolish one. Winn was severely traumatized, something James didnt really acknowledge. Later Winn had to go to another planet to help rescue Kara and Mon El. He was TERRIFIED and he told Alex why but he had his orders and went anyway! He even managed to win a fight and get the portal working while scared to death. This right here is true heroism!

Winn wanted to tell Kara, he kept getting more and more traumatized but James still said no. Winn, even though he was stressing the f**k out with all the pressure still didnt betray his friends trust.

Kara recognized that Winn was a hero long before he started to be ‘the man in the van’. She even told him this when she learned hat he and James had been doing.

Winn was able to keep up with Brainy and even figure things out that he couldn't.

Winn was the one who figured out the footage of Lena with Kryptonite was in fact doctored footage. Even though he was initially convinced there was nothing wrong with it (regrettably so) he still kept working on it at Kara’s request.

Winn taught himself to read Kryptonian because he was bored!

Winn managed to fix Mon El’s suit when he came back from the future.

Winn has no issue in showing his obvious crush on Superman.

Winn is a fab singer!

Winn has absolutely no issue with women saving him. Kara, Alex and Lyra.

Winn had no issue dating an alien who didnt look altogether human.

Winn made Alex a suit (without her having to ask or demand i might add!) because he thought it was unfair that Kara and Jonn could do things Alex couldn't and he wanted her to be safe and have a better fighting chance!

Winn is damaged and had an awful home life, but he managed to find a new family. He has a papa bear, two sisters and a brother now.

Alex Danvers was so heartbroken Winn was leaving that she burst into tears!

Winn was so smart and had such a rep in the future that he was asked to join the Legion and go to the future.

There is probably loads more i could add but i think this sums it all up. Winn is under appreciated. He is the one who does basically all the tech work, comes up with the weapons and the suits and figures out most of the mysteries that need to be unraveled.

Without Winn, Kara would have been lost and screwed. The DEO would ave taken much longer to figure things out. James would never have been able o become Guardian (oh no what a shame ) Cat Co would never have been able to get up and running to give people hope. Oh and in the future Winn is curing fatal epidemics.

Winn helps save the world, helps keep the DEO agents and Kara,oh and James safe, and he does all of this while wearing a shirt, tie and a cardigan! No cape or super suit for Winn! You dont need those things to be a be a hero. Playing to your strengths, using what you have, that is what makes a hero. Winn doesn't even push to join the DEO, he’s invited. He has a messed up family background, but he manages to find himself a new family he would protect till the end. He is severely traumatized but he still goes and does the on thing that scares him the most so he can save Kara and Mon El.

Winn is probably the most selfless character on the show (accept brainy). Nothing he does is to grandiose himself, or put himself in the spot light. He doesn't feel he has the right to put on a cape and act like a prat because everyone else around him is. He supports his friends, even if what they are doing is stupid, but he has the sense to tell them its stupid. He even went the extra mile to support his girlfriend up until the point she became bad, but even then he kept trying. Winn had no way to fight Silver banshee or Livewire, but he still placed himself in front of Cat to protect her. Winn was the sensible friend who pointed out that flirting with someone who has a girlfriend, or being the flirt with the girlfriend was a bad thing to do! He uses his free time to create new devices and suits to keep all of his friends and the world safe from harm. He does all of this without asking for anything, other than if the DEO has a dental plan!!

Winn is a true hero!!

#winn shott #supergirl #kara danvers #anti james olsen #alex danvers #jonn jones #mon el

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zarcake-writes · 6 years

Text

Is This a Dream?

Alright so I’ve thought about this for a loong time, and after talking to @prettyfunkyunorganized and reading her’s I decided to write mine. And omg it’s a lot longer than I thought it would be and I’ll be honest, it’s pure fucking Reaper x reader trash. I’m shameless and thirsty af, don’t judge me. But, I hope you all enjoy this.

Warnings: there’s smut at the end

You had, no idea how this happened. The last thing you remembered was playing a few rounds of Overwatch, getting play of the game with Reaper and then going to bed. You woke up in a room you didn’t recognize. At first you thought it was a dream, so you explored the bare room and then walked out.

“This is a really vivid dream?” you muttered to yourself. The walls of the hallway looked familiar, well at least the paint job did. The paint was old and chipped, the hall itself was cold and you wish you were wearing something warmer instead of you shorts and tank top.

When you heard footsteps and voices behind you, you turned and your mouth fell open. Two men were standing at the end of the hallway. You recognized them instantly. Jesse McCree and Soldier: 76. Both men froze at the sight of you. You and the two men stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.

“Fuck, I need to chill it with the Overwatch,” you muttered to yourself. Memories of you shutting down a McCree came back and you smirked to yourself.

“Who the hell are you?” yelled Soldier. His voice was as gruff as ever, you jumped and saw he was stalking up to you. You never realized how tall he really was. Or how broad shouldered he was. He towered over you and you felt so small, smaller than usual.

“Ok, this is a dream. Wake up dammit,” you said, closing your eyes. Usually your dreams about video game characters were… different. They were pleasant or sexual. Not like this. Soldier 76 never towered over you and yelled at you.

“Darlin, this isn’t a dream.” Came a voice beside you. You opened your eyes and found yourself looking up at McCree. He wasn’t as intimidating as Soldier, but his hand was on his gun and the look in his eyes was enough to tell you the truth.

“This cannot be real. None of you are real. What kind of joke is this?” you asked. You looked around frantically, panic rising in chest. This was a fantasy world, this cannot be real!

“It’s real kid. Now, who the hell are you and why are you here?” Soldier asked. He shifted so he wasn’t as intimidating, but you were shaking out of fear and the cold in the hall. You covered your chest and hunched your shoulders.

“You… you two better get me somewhere where we can sit down,” you said. Jesse and Soldier looked at each other, then back at you. They nodded their heads and you swallowed thickly.

A little while later, you were sitting at a table with Soldier and Jesse, both men were giving you an annoyed look. You told them the last thing you remembered was going to bed after playing a video game they were in. You explained they were a video game and they also had comics of them.

“Cut this shit kid, how did you get in this base?” Soldier growled.

“I’m telling the truth! Why would I lie?”

“Maybe because you’re a spy! Got to admit, using the whole a young girl and having her in pajamas is a good way to throw us off,” Soldier said. Jesse was behind him leaning against the wall.

“I’m not a damn spy! Does it look like I can do spy shit? I can’t even run a damn mile!” you snapped.

“That doesn’t mean anything. Now who sent you?!” Soldier yelled. You jumped at his voice and sunk lower into yourself, tears pricked your eyes. You never thought Soldier: 76 would be yelling at you with Jesse McCree behind him.

“I’m telling the truth!” you yelled back.

“Prove it then,” Jesse said.

“You’re Jesse McCree, you were in a gang called the Deadlock Rebels. Before you got that prosthetic arm, you had a gang tattoo on it. You were in Blackwatch with Gabriel Reyes and Genji Shimada, Gabriel Reyes gave you a second chance,” you said wiping your face. Jesse gave you a surprised look.

“Anyone could know that,” Soldier spat.

“Your real name is Jack Morrison. You were Strike-Commander of Overwatch but something happened and there was an explosion, I’m not sure what happened. But you were in Dorado, Mexico and you’ve been taking out a gang called Los Muertos. You saved a little girl from an explosion.”

“That true Jack?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah. How… how do you know that?” Soldier was looking at you, behind his visor his eyes were wide and his mouth was opened.

“Because I saw a short about it. I’m telling the truth, where I come from you all are fantasy. You’re not real,” you replied. You wiped your face again and held your arms, you were cold and scared and shivering.

“Jack, we should take her to Winston. Maybe he can make sense of this,” Jesse said.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Jack said. You stood up and followed both men out of the small room. Jack saw you were shivering and he placed his jacket on your shoulders. The thing was like a dress on your but it was warm and it smelled like him. You couldn’t help but think one of your friends would be so jealous right now.

When you met Winston, he took your fingerprints and asked Athena to check any records for you. She found nothing, which proved your story and made the three men worry. To further prove your story, you told Winston about his encounter with Reaper and how he sent out the recall.

“Shit, what do we do?” Jesse asked.

“We should call everyone together. I’m sure we can think of something,” Winston said. He patted your shoulder and gave you a friendly smile, you smiled back.

The three took you to a conference room where all the other character, or real people, eventually joined. Everyone showed up, minus the Talon agents. Your mind went to Reaper and you were relieved you showed up here and not at a Talon base. You might be dead… or being experimented on by Moira. That wasn’t a pleasant thought.

Everyone was looking at you and you were glad Solider let you wear his jacket. Winston explained the situation and you told them your story, most laughed or gave you an annoyed look. But when you began saying things about them, things that you shouldn’t know, they all shut up.

“Wait, we’re a video game?” Hana asked.

“Yes. I know, ironic huh?” you said. She snorted and nodded her head.

“But, we’re real people. How can we be a video game?” Angela said.

“I don’t know. I woke up here,” you said.

“Winston, maybe she bounced around like I did,” Lena said.

“I was thinking the same thing. I’m going to run some tests and see if maybe we can get her home. Mei, I would like your help,” Wisnton said.

“Of course, Winston,” Mei said. She gave you a sweet smile and you smiled back.

“Until then, what are we going to do with her? She knows too much about us, she could be a liability.” Hanzo exclaimed angrily. There were a few nods around the room and you got a bad feeling.

“Oh my god please don’t kill me. I don’t know that much, there wasn’t much lore available to us and most of the stuff I found have been fan theories or ships. Please don’t kill me,” you said. You looked up at Winston and Soldier who looked surprised with your thought.

“We’re not going to kill you,” Winston reassured you.

“Christ, what did you three tell her?” Angela exclaimed. She came up to you and pulled you into a hug. “If either of you brought out your guns when questioning her, I’m will smack you with my staff.”

“I might have done that,” Jesse said. Angela fixed him with an angry look and he gave you an apologetic look.

“Sorry darlin, you just scared me is all,” Jesse said.

“It’s ok,” you replied. You couldn’t blame him.

“Wait, wait, wait. Everyone just stop,” Hana said. Everyone, including you, turned to the young woman, “Did you say there were ships of us?”

“Yes,” you said with a smile. Her eyes went wide, Lucio smirked and you saw Genji shake his head. The others looked a bit confused.

“Tell me them all!”

An hour later, and with many laughs and blushing faces, Hanzo bolted out of the room with Genji on the floor dying. Jesse was yelling, or singing, after Hanzo. Jesse thought singing a horrible version of Josh Turner’s “Your Man” to Hanzo was an amusing thing to do, an arrow that whizzed past the cowboy’s head told him otherwise. You were sure Hanzo would never speak to you again.

After that, you were given a room and handed Soldier his jacket back. Angela and Fareeha gave you some of their clothes, since you were still in shorts and a tank top. Winston gave you a communicator and Dva and Lucio showed you how it worked. Ana and the other supports offered you a place to talk, especially when you were feeling home sick and overwhelmed. You knew deep down you were stuck here. No matter what Winston did, this was your new home.

There was one day you got lost on base and after almost having a panic attacke, Hanzo appeared and calmed you down. He was surprisingly kind to you, even after the whole McHanzo explanation. Once he calmed you down and helped you get your breathing under control, he helped you get to Angela’s office. You made sure to compliment his piercings and his haircut, he only gave you a small smile.

“I always wanted a septum piercing, but I was always scared to get it,” you shrugged.

“Well, if you ever wish to get it done, I can take you,” Hanzo said.

“You would?”

“Yes.” Hanzo smiled at you and you couldn’t help but smile back at the man.

Another time, after being with them for a month, you asked Jesse to take you out to a bar. Being thrown into a fantasy world was exhausting and had you craving a drink. The man almost threw you over his shoulder in excitement. That was the first night you got officially drunk, Jesse and you stumbled back onto the base at three in the morning with tacos in hand.

Soldier was there waiting for you and began scolding you both, you mentioned how he had a great ass and Jesse snorted loudly. Jesse and you stumbled away, but Jack had to guide you back to your room. The next morning Soldier made sure to be extra loud around you both, Genji took pity on you and took you to Zenyatta’s room. The omnic let you rest in his room.

Despite you being there and your world ending, their world kept going. They would go on missions and come back bruised and battered. You often worried about them and always showed up to visit them if they were in the med bay. They had secret meetings and debriefings about missions and you were usually stuck wandering the base alone at that time. You grew bored and found yourself going through old files they had and reading anything you could find. Ana offered to train you and you told her maybe once you get used to this world, who would pass up an opportunity to be trained by Ana Amari?

Even though you were around all these heroes, there was only hero- or villain- you were constantly wondering about. Reaper. You didn’t tell the other’s you always played Reaper and how much you had a crush on him. You wondered what he was doing. If you met him would he kill you? Yeah, he probably would, you thought glumly.

Every night in your room, you would look up anything you could find about Gabriel Reyes and reports of Reaper. Athena gave you access to old training videos of the ex-Blackwatch Commander. You marveled at the pictures of him in his uniform and at the way he fought and how stunning he was. The videos of Reaper were terrifying. He moved so quickly and took out anyone he saw as a threat. The smoke that billowed around him was beautiful and horrifying. You were tempted to ask Jesse and Genji about him, but you thought better of it. You were content with the material you had.

The day finally came when Hana asked who your main was. You couldn’t admit it was Reaper, they might think bad of you or think you’re a spy, again. You told her and the other’s around the table two other mains, Pharah and Symmetra.

“Not me?” Hana asked. She looked offended but there was a twinkle in her eye.

“I was never good at playing you. Usually I play Orisa as a tank.”

“What about me sugar?” Jesse asked with a wink.

“I sucked at you. But if I played as Mercy, I would follow you around and increase your damage just to hear you say, ‘that’ll do fine’,” you admitted. You knew it was a mistake when Jesse gave you a grin.

“Really? Well darling, that’ll do just fiine,” Jesse purred in your ear.

You squeaked and went beet red. Everyone laughed and you had to hide your face, Jesse patted your back and you gave the man an angry look. He only seemed more amused by the angry look.

“I always blush at that line,” you muttered.

“Who else do you find attractive?” Lena asked.

“What, you gonna play matchmaker?” you snorted.

“Maybe,” she winked.

“Please don’t. But if you must know, Genji and Hanzo are fine as wine. Jesse is, well you saw what just happened. Soldier’s hot, he’s got the body and a sexy voice. And…” you wanted to say Reaper. His Blackwatch skin is your favorite. “Satya’s pretty, and Fareeha is fine. I would let them both punch me.”

Lena snorted at your last comment and Hana gave Lucio a look. Jesse ruffled your hair and you hid your face in embarrassment.

“Oh darling, you’re surrounded by a bunch of hotties, will you ever stop blushing?” Jesse asked.

“No. I will die of embarrassment,” you muttered.

Several hours later and you were sitting alone on the roof near the Gibraltar tower. Once you got the layout of the base down, you began to spend time alone. The other’s new you wanted and needed time alone, so they let you be. You found the roof of a small building to be quiet and you had a great view of the ocean and the setting sun. You took a deep breath and smiled at the smell of the salt water. You were so focused on the water you didn’t notice someone else was up there with you.

“So, you’re the newest addition to this little group?” asked a deep voice that you knew instantly. You turned around and saw Reaper standing behind you. He was in the shadows, smoke billowing off him, and his white mask as intimidating as ever.

“Oh my god, you’re… You’re Reaper,” you said standing up. Your heart was pounding and you were on the verge of a freak out, whether it was a fangirl freak out or freaking out because he could kill you, you weren’t sure. This was the character you loved the most, he was your crush and… oh my god he might just kill you.

“I am. And who are you? You seem to have everyone’s attention around here, and I was wondering how?” he stepped towards you. His footsteps were heavy, smoke billowed out from beneath his feet. He was just as intimidating as you imagined. “You never train and you don’t have the body of a soldier. In fact, you look quite soft.” His clawed gloved reached out and poked your stomach.

“Hey, I know I have a soft tummy. Leave it alone,” you said. You covered your stomach with your arm and stared back at the masked man.

“Feisty, interesting. So, who are you and why are you here?” he growled. He stepped towards you again and you found yourself being backed up against a wall.

“I- I’m no one,” you said. He was so much bigger than you thought. Tall with broad shoulders, shotgun shells strapped to his body. He put a clawed hand against the wall beside your head, you looked at the claws and swallowed. Fuck they looked sharp.

“You must be someone,” he growled.

“Are you going to kill me?” you asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. He grabbed a strand of your hair and held it between his claws.

“Of course. Great, my main kills me. Course that would happen to me.” you said bitterly.

“So, you’re telling the truth about you not being from this world and us being a video game?” Reaper asked.

“Ho- How do you know? Have you been watching us? Oh my god is your team here? Please don’t torture me and don’t kill the others, please,” you said.

“I’m here alone. And yes, I’ve been watching you. I just slip through the vents and listen, you talk a lot to Genji and Jesse about the game. And you look up a lot of information about Gabriel Reyes, and you watch every video you can find of me. Why?”

“Why do you care?” you asked. You were gazing up at that mask, his body was so close to yours. Why was he so close?

“I’ve heard you in your room, wondering out loud about me. Looking at videos of who I was. Why are you so curious?” he growled. He somehow got closer to you.

“You’re my main, and I was hoping you were alright.”

“Really? Why? Does it have something to do with my, as you said, ‘Amazing legs and ass’?” he asked, he was smiling behind his mask. Your face went red and he chuckled.

“Why are you here?”

“I was gathering intel originally, but upon hearing you talk and finding out none of this is real, what’s the point? I figured I would talk to you, find out more about you. You seemed to enjoy looking up information about who I was. So, tell me, what do you know about me?”

“You’re Gabriel Reyes, ex- Commander of Blackwatch. Moira experimented on you and your turned into this. You blame Soldier for something and you seem hell bent on taking out Overwatch,” you whispered.

“Interesting. In this game of yours, you play me?”

“All the time.”

“Really? You know a good amount about me, yet I know nothing about you. You’re not in any system, you’re not registered in anything. Hell, there isn’t even a missing person’s report for you from your time,” Reaper said. He brought his clawed hand up to your face and trailed a clawed finger over your cheek. His clawed thumb trailed over your lips and down your chin, the tip of his claw pulled your bottom lip down gently. You let out a noise as he touched your face. You had wanted this, it was a fantasy back in your world, and now that it was happening… oh god your knees felt weak.

“You’re not going to kill me?”

“No, I like you.”

“What?” you choked out.

“Yeah, I like you,” he said. He stepped closer to you and leaned down a bit, you were so close to his mask you could lean up and kiss it. You wanted to. You began to move your face up but froze when you heard someone calling your name.

“It’s Hana,” you said.

“I’ll meet you in your room tonight. Keep me a secret for a little longer hermosa,” he said. His voice was so raspy it made you dizzy. You barely nodded before he was smoke and he was gone. When Hana got up to the roof, you were sitting in your spot like nothing happened.

Later that night you were finally in your own room. It was hard not to think of Reaper, his voice and the way he touched you. There were several times someone had to repeat a question until finally you couldn’t take it anymore. You excused yourself and went to your room. Hana and Lucio followed, worried you were getting overwhelmed. You just said you needed some time alone and thankfully they left you alone.

In your room, you sighed and sat on your bed. Almost immediately you were surrounded by smoke and Reaper appeared. You gazed up at him. He pulled off his coat and his clawed gloves.

“You seem distracted,” he said.

“You distracted me.”

“Me? How did I?” he chuckled. He sat beside you.

“With the way, you touched me and you being so close to me.”

“Close? You mean like this?” he growled. He pushed you down on the bed and was above you. One of his hands was beside your head while the other was touching your face, his hands were cold and rough. They still felt nice on your face.

“You were closer to me earlier.”

“Like this?” he growled. He situated himself between your legs, making sure they were wrapped around his waist. He began to slowly trail his thumb over your lips. You whimpered at his touch. “Should I stop?”

“N- No. That was a good whimper.”

“I see. I want to hear you do it again,” he growled. Reaper moved his mask partly and kissed your lips, you kissed him back, his facial hair felt like everything you imagined it would. Soon you were lost to his touches. The feel of his rough hands on your skin, the way his cool smoke felt against your body and the way it felt when he bites you sent a chill through you.

“Oh Reaper,” you moaned.

“Ah, you know my real name. Use it.”

“Gabriel,” you whispered.

“Yeah, there we go,” he moaned into your neck.

You were soon naked and trembling beneath the man above you. The way he touched you, the way it felt when he kissed you, the things he did to your body that no one else has ever done drove you insane. You were moaning into your pillow or his neck or his mouth most of the night. He took you like he was a dying man and you were his salvation. He moaned your name and whispered things in your ear that had you blushing and trembling. He groaned when you came on his cock, it’s been so long since he’s been with a woman.

When you were both spent, you were laying on his chest, his hands were trailing across your body and down your back. You looked up into his face, scars covered his face and his red eyes were bright in the dim light of your room. He had torn off his mask in the middle of the fucking, once the mask was off he had you face down into the pillow and only the pillow could hear your moans and grunts.

“That was amazing,” you said. You just fucked Reaper, you felt Gabriel freaking Reyes inside of you. You knew several girls back home who would be so jealous, you wished you could tell them about this.

“I know. I felt when you came,” Gabe chuckled.

“What happens now?” you asked.

“I don’t know. But I was thinking of staying around here with you. You said this world is a video game, so everything we’ve done is pointless. I’m tired of being with Talon. I can only stand so much of them, and I’ve reach my limit. Also, I find you interesting.”

“You’re not going to kill me, right?” you asked.

“If I was going to kill you, you would already be dead.”

“That’s… comforting,” you muttered.

“It is,” Gabe said. He rolled you off his chest and onto your side. He adjusted himself and was now facing you. “Go to sleep. I’ll be here in the morning.”

“What about Soldier and Jesse? You want to kill Jack. Are you going to kill him?”

“No. I’m… tired of all this. I’m tired of it all,” he sighed. For a moment, he looked so much older than before. You scooted closer to him and he pulled you into his arms. You fell asleep in his arms, he watched you sleep until he too drifted off.

#reaper x reader #gabriel reyes x reader #gabriel reyes #Reaper #jesse mccree #soldier 76 #angela ziegler #genji shimada #hanzo shimada #dva #winston #overwatch x reader #reader insert #self insert #my writing

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