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toyybox · 4 months

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Spiderwebs #23: Exit

Masterlist

content: lab whump, captivity, immortal whumpee, escape attempt, discussion of suicide

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It occurred to Jackie that he wasn’t as good at tracking time as he once thought. One month at most, he’d once believed. One and a half, if you insist, but it hasn’t been that long. Knowing the truth was disorienting. It also occurred to Jackie that nobody had found him for over sixteen weeks. One hundred and twelve long, lethargic days. And counting.

He tried hard not to be upset and failed miserably. But he was often miserable, even before all this, so the feeling wasn’t anything new. In general, nothing new happened for a long time. They were getting into the swing of things now, and he was getting used to his new life. He didn’t act out, or behave too aggressively. He still complained, just to prove that he wasn’t okay with this, but he was otherwise compliant. He ate whatever pills Heather gave him. None of them were as bad as the thermoregulator, the one that had given him the awful fever. Heather stopped testing the paralysis drug on him, eventually. He re-read Oliver Twist for the third time. The spider on the wall had disappeared, at some point or another. He slept a lot. Waited a lot. What for, he didn’t know.

The results of her experiments were mixed. Sometimes the pills would do nothing at all. Sometimes they’d give him a mild high, or knock him out completely. One of the drugs gave him an allergic reaction. Sometimes the effects weren’t visible, but instead in his blood and flesh, a code which apparently Heather knew how to read but was lost on Jackie.

None of it mattered to him, of course. As long as he wasn’t in excruciating agony. As long as she didn’t bother him too much. It was all the same. A great, gray slush, a homogeneous accumulation of time, every hour clumping together to make days on end of absolutely nothing. Just time to kill.

It was hard to find hope. To find meaning, or a purpose. He found some pleasure in annoying Heather, and other times in her company, but she was not a very receptive companion. It was a passive way to live—she toyed with the limits and reactions of his body, and he waited. Anybody would be upset. Anybody would want something more. Later on, he would begin to miss the safety of these dull days, but he hated his situation at the time. He found it hard to think of escape. How long would that detective take to arrive? Where was that police officer now? Where was that kind neighbor, that helpful citizen? And where were his supposed quick wits, his Houdini magic against all odds? Nowhere to be found. Gone with the summer winds, buried under the concrete walls. They had died alongside the dandelions and warm-weather birds.

Something had to change. Something had to be done, he decided. He thought of this often, but he never actually came up with a plan. He kept waiting, and in the meantime: another drug, another test, and another day thrown out with the bathwater. But Jackie had to put his foot down eventually—today, he would do something. He’d push this easy existence out of balance, out of swing. Something would change.

“What are you thinking about?”

He turned to Heather, putting the effort into his voice, putting a smile into his expression. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

They both sat on the bed, which was where they usually sat together, seeing as there was only one chair. Jackie used to find this uncomfortable, but it was normal to him now. As normal as being kidnapped and drugged on a regular basis; as normal as the concrete walls and carved bed frame.

“If you say so.” She continued to scrawl something down, the results of her latest test. It was another one of those drugs that resulted in no effect. It came in an injection, pressed into his shoulder. For breakfast, there had been an apple. Jackie had tried to fold a paper airplane, but he couldn’t remember any of the steps. Heather was wearing a powder-green sweater, which he thought was mildly amusing. She tended to wear gray or black. Just another day which would come and go.

He leaned over to try and read her handwriting. What could possibly be so fascinating, to make her fill in a page and a half?

Heather pushed him away. “No. This is my journal.”

“Oh, so you can have your own private book, and I can’t?”

“Stop being so irritating.” She snapped the journal close. “Go sit somewhere else, if you can’t mind your own business.”

“Fine.” He walked over to the writing desk and sat there. There weren’t many seating options in that room, unless one was okay with resting on the floor. Jackie did sit in the defunct bathtub once, just for the hell of it, but that wasn’t very comfortable or sanitary.

She opened the journal and continued writing. Now that Jackie had nobody else to talk to, she became the main subject of his aimless examinations. She became the axis of his days, the pulley-and-chain from which he swung from. He wondered a lot about her. Where was she born? What did she like to eat? How did one go about becoming a scientist? Did she have a degree? A doctorate? Those things took years to complete, as far as he remembered. How old was she, anyway?

“How old are you?”

She put the journal down for a moment. “That’s rude to ask, you know.”

“Why?” He leaned over the back of the chair to face her. “You’ve asked me that before.”

“Yes, but you’re—” She gave up on arguing and continued to scribble. “Never mind.”

“Wait, let me guess. Are you… thirty? Thirty-one?”

She clicked her tongue. “Close, but I’m not that old.”

“Twenty-one?”

“I’m glad you think I look twenty-one.”

“I'm just guessing.” Jackie stared down at the ground. There was a dried-brown stain of blood, a tiny dot of it, still on the floor. He glanced up at the ceiling. Nothing interesting. It wasn’t textured, speckled, or covered in cracks, just a smooth plane devoid of character or imperfect charm. The same view as always. If he was bored before, then he was utterly agonized by apathy now. Maybe he could ask Heather for another book. Jackie was coming around to Oliver Twist, but he certainly wouldn’t mind something new.

“Alright.” Heather was done writing, it seemed. “That’s all for today.”

He didn’t bother to look back at her. “Oh?”

She stood and stuffed her things back into her book bag, which she usually had slung around her shoulder. “I’ll be busy this weekend, so there won’t be any experiments until Monday. Do you need anything, before I go?”

“Yes.” He would put a plan into motion today. He would find something to shake up all this gloom and doom. “Can I take a shower?”

"Alright. Follow me.”

He asked this fairly often, and Heather usually said yes—her dislike of filth extended to him, too. It got him out of the basement for a while, and he liked the way her soap smelled—orange blossom, according to the packaging. His requests to go outside again had all been denied, to his eternal dismay, but at least he still had the dignity of a shower. Sometimes, you needed to find peace in the small things, even if they were just bare human necessities. He could have been kidnapped by an absolute pig, after all. At least he had soap and hot water.

They walked up the hallway, to the upstairs bathroom. Heather watched him go into the room—this made him uncomfortable, the first few times, but now it was normal—and closed the door. Her footsteps echoed behind it, as she walked off to occupy herself with other, more interesting activities.

Jackie twisted the lock. It snapped into place. Jackie waited. As he so often seemed to do.

He turned to the mirror. His reflection stared back at him with a somewhat startled expression. His eyes, his jaw, his mouth—the same as ever. But his hair was a bit longer. A vague familiarity, his face. Like a song you couldn’t quite name.

If he was truly immortal, would he ever grow old? Or would this be the same face ten years from now, even a century from now? Jackie had aged so far, of course. He wasn’t an infant, clearly. He’d gotten taller. He’d seen those old photographs of a younger boy, all wide-eyed and wary before the camera lens. He couldn’t remember what it was like, being a child. The past was a distant dream.

He couldn’t imagine living a normal life again. Where could he go, after all this was said and done? He had no money, no home, no family or friends. It was possible that nobody remembered him at all. The person in the mirror only existed as a brief flicker. Like a fleeting candle-flame, or its shadow on the wall. He was a ghost.

He turned the water on, but he didn’t take off his clothes. He watched the water pour. He stood against the wall opposite the tub, watching it all go to waste.

He was raised better than this. Wasting water, on a spiteful whim? How uncouth. It was immature to throw a fit, and wasting Heather’s money would do nothing in the long run. Somewhere, at some point, he had the idea of frugality ingrained in him. By who? His mother, or a teacher, or his foster parents. But he was no longer a child, and those lessons had lost their clarity.

He had tried to die once, when he was younger. Just to get away from it all. Just to make it stop. Any means of escape were appealing. It was excruciating to stay awake, but he was too afraid to commit and follow it through. You could want something very badly and still be afraid of it, he learned. Stupid fears ruled over everything. It wouldn’t have made a difference, anyway. He would have lived regardless.

Heather had a medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Behind the mirror. Jackie thought this was so funny, that a cabinet could be built behind a mirror. There were bottles and bottles of pills, some recognizable ones like Aspirin and Panadol, and other names he could scarcely pronounce. Benzodiazepines, codeine, dilaudid. Also a few unlabelled ones, probably her own creations.

Whole bottles of pills, piles and piles of them, like a landfill, with all those artificial-sounding names. Oh, there was a pill for everything. To numb the pain, to ease the fever. This one would make you sleep, this one made you entirely unable to. Curse all biochemists, who played with the body like a dog with a chew toy. Maybe there was a pill that could end all this. A pill to cut the bear trap from his leg. A pill to trigger the curtain call, put him under that eternal and dreamless sleep. If only.

The shower would overflow if he kept it going. He turned the knob to the left, and the water sputtered to a stop. Steam clouded the mirror, so he could barely see his own face. Water still dripped from the faucet—drip-drip, a delicate twin heartbeat.

When Jackie usually left the shower, Heather was often nearby. In the kitchen, in the living room, or whatever was upstairs. He hadn’t prowled around her house yet, mainly because she always arrived too quickly for him to try. The bathroom door was very creaky, unfortunately. Hiding behind the lock wasn’t an option, either. If he stayed in the shower for too long, she’d threaten to take the door off its hinges and waterboard him in the bathtub, which normally got Jackie to hurry up. But it was different today. Heather hadn’t knocked on the door yet.

He unlocked the door and eased it forward. It whined as expected, likely alerting anyone within a ten-mile radius to his location. He winced, despite himself. Stupid fears. Freedom was an eternal want, and its cost was an eternal dismay. But nobody came forward to greet him. Even after a long, bated-breath pause, Heather was nowhere in sight.

Today’s the day. He took in a deep breath, held it in his chest, let the tension and weight of the air steady him. Houdini’s big show. Come one, come all.

He hadn’t thought of escape in a long time. But it always lingered in the back of his mind, grazing his thoughts. The exit was just down the hall. It was right there. Hypothermia was nothing to an immortal. If he collapsed in the snow, then he’d crawl on all fours. If his hands went black from the cold, he’d bite his tongue and drag himself by the elbows. It would all be worth it once he escaped.

He stepped out of the bathroom. Nothing happened. There was no landmine blowing up in his face, no captor to jump out from the corner and catch him red-handed. He thought of closing the door, but it would make too much noise. He needed to do this quick, do it clean.

Down the hall. He treaded lightly, though his boots landed louder than he liked. Into the living room. The window was padlocked, he noticed. The telephone seemed to have been misplaced. He glanced around, but it was nowhere to be seen. The room was otherwise unchanged, aside from a few big spiral-bound journals on the coffee table. Probably her notes. No time to look for new reading material—she could have returned at any moment. Around the corner. The door. The exit. Stage left. Curtain call, finally. It was over.

Sadly, Heather did not overlook such an easy path of escape. There was a lovely new addition below the doorknob: a big, black lock. It had a thick body, inlaid with glinting metal, a mass that could only be split by a sledgehammer. Maybe not even that—maybe a drill, or a blowtorch with some time and luck. But Jackie had nothing, neither time nor luck to waste.

He came closer to examine its build. It was a ridiculously elaborate thing. Attached to the black body was some kind of keypad, a rectangle with numbers you had to punch in. He’d seen this kind of lock before. There was a numerical password he needed to enter. His best bet was playing the guessing game, then. How many were there—was it in the hundreds? Thousands? Millions? He stepped back with a resigned sigh.

And he knew this would not work. Put your hat down, Houdini. Let go of that pretty white rabbit and get back to the bathroom. But something had to happen. Fine, the door was locked. But he could try finding the telephone again. Yes, that was a plan. It had to be somewhere in the house. He’d call the police and explain everything, and even if Heather found out afterwards they’d be able to come and rescue him. Now, he just had to—

There was a thump behind the door. Before he could react, something clicked in the lock, and the door swung open. And there was his captor.

Ah ha ha. He froze. This is bad.

She somehow managed to look ticked off and unimpressed at the same time. Had a lot of practice, he guessed. She was holding several plastic bags of groceries, which she set down to cross her arms. He could see the sharp outlines of packages, boxes, the tips of some lemons and a carton of blueberries. They sagged on the doorstep. Snow still stained the world. The air was stiff, and cold enough to make him shiver.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted on instinct.

"I'm sure you are."

She did not come over and make him regret it, this time. Perhaps she could tell that he was upset enough already. Instead, she just grabbed his wrist and dragged him back inside.

“This looks very incriminating, Jackie.” She marched him back towards the basement. “Do you know what incriminating means?”

“Yes."

“Then you should know that I expect an explanation.” They stopped in front of the basement door. “Go on. Give me your list of excuses. I’m sure this will be entertaining.”

“How is this entertaining to you?”

“I asked you a question.”

“You already know the answer.” He tried to wrench his wrist free from her grasp, to no avail.

“I suppose you’re right. You were trying to escape. I would have done the same thing, if I were you. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”

“Are you going to…”

“What?” she asked loftily. “Kill you? Torture you? Nail your hands to the wall? Peel your skin off with a potato peeler?”

He glared. “That’s not funny.”

“Oh?” She didn’t sound too remorseful. “I’m exhausted right now, anyway. But I am going to punish you, because I don’t want to encourage this kind of behaviour. I’m not letting you out of your room for the next week.”

“I hate you.”

“I know.” She opened the basement door, spilling a bar of light onto the stairs. “Of course I know. That’s normal, I think. But this is what you get for misbehaving. Don’t do it again.”

That was it. His great escape, with a rather anticlimactic conclusion. He went back into the basement, then spent the next week in restless inertia. And he remained just another weight on the axis, just another chain on the pulley. Still a rat in a cage.

He tried, and he tried, and he tried again to make things better. To find hope in that hellhole. But what did he have to show for it? Another day wasted and another punishment, and his life completely unchanged. I’ve got to get out of here, he thought. But how? How? Where was his exit? Where was that glowing, neon sign? How could he make it stop?

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Taglist:

@theelvishcowgirl

@lthrboy

@whumpy-wyrms

#whump #whump writing #whumpblr #lab whump #immortal whumpee #Spiderwebs toyybox #my writing

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inariter · 2 years

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Stay With Me-4

Masterlist:

Stay with Me-1

Stay with Me-2

Stay with Me-3

Stay with Me-4

Stay With Me-5

Stay With Me-6

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Trigger Warning:

sexual assault/violence, domestic abuse

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“Please tell me she’s fine.” OA asked as soon as he barged through the hospital doors. The lead they had didn’t seem to equate to much of anything, not unless they wanted to go to a list of hundreds and find a crimson red flag among the others. Considering the shop wasn’t always true to its nature. And for now, they were left fishing for other leads, sifting through hours of camera footage to find something. And hearing the news, he couldn’t be anywhere else but here at this moment.

Because if it were the last, and he wasn’t here, OA would have never forgiven himself for it. Not in a million years.

“OA, you should calm down before I tell you anything.” Terrence said, leading OA to a nearby chair. It was the best Terrence could do before OA before getting down to the details. It was what he always did. “Look before you go accusing this or that, we did everything we could. We’re all family here at this hospital and we would move heaven and earth to make sure (Y/n) would come out alright.”

“Just tell me already, Terrence. I have to know.” OA braced himself for the bad news to come. He found it almost funny since he always thought the roles would be reversed, that it would be him on death’s bed while his friends broke the devastating news to his family...and of course (Y/n).

“(Y/n) had lost a lot of blood by the time she came in. She was loosing more by the second and though we were lucky the bullet didn’t do too much damage. While we were able to stop the bleeding, the damage had already been done and she slipped into a coma. We’re doing what we can for now, the rest all depends on (Y/n).”

“What are her odds?”

“Well, from a medical perspective, it’s hard to say. The chances are a bit low but we both know (Y/n). We both know how much of a fighter she is, I’m sure you remember that bar fight. She won’t back down ever and if I was placing bets on who could get out of this, it’s (Y/n).”

OA cracked a small smile but honestly, he wasn’t sure what to think.

“If word changes, you’ll be the first to know. But in the meantime, if you need anything just call.”

“Who is her power of attorney?”

And for once, Terrence grew silence, the smile that he once had faded. OA had a feeling Terrence knew something he didn’t. Something about (Y/n) that she had yet to unpack for him.

“That’s a bit more complicated. Because the last person we have on file, it’s not someone I want to call up.”

“Who is it?”

“(Y/n) always meant to tell you about him, OA. He was a bastard of a man who almost ruined (Y/n)...he almost destroyed her chances at ever being in a relationship. Well to ever be her happy self again, he tore her apart piece by piece until here was almost nothing left.” OA could feel his blood begin to boil even hearing this vague description. Wanting nothing more than to hunt down the man and punch him square in the face for even daring to hurt the kind hearted woman. But he knew it was best saved for another time, when lives weren’t in the balance. “ And then, you came along OA. I wasn’t sure at first about the whole thing but I saw the way (Y/n) looked at you and you looked at her. I saw how you lit up her world every time you stopped by the hospital or when you texted. You showed her that it was alright to open herself up and love again. You showed her how to be happy again. I’m as grateful for you as (Y/n) is.”

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Beep! Beep! Beep!

Her eyes fluttered opened to a scene before her. It was early morning, the sun’s rays flooding through the blinds casting light into the room. There she lied, a smile adorned, as she took in the sight before her: OA sound asleep by her side, soft snores escaping his lips. He looked so peaceful...so handsome and perfect, she could barely even fathom being here. Despite in the sounds of a car going on, nothing really could break this moment.

(Y/n) reached her hand eye, her thumb tracing his well defined features. Shaping the sculpture of a man that laid before her.

“How did I get so lucky?” (Y/n) murmured, planting a kiss on his forehead. Only to hear a small chuckle.

“I should be asking the same thing.”

The two giggled before embracing one another, their lips gently meeting as they danced in harmony. Their hearts skipping a beat in unity as they cherished this moment forever. A memory imprinted on their minds, like they framed it up high. They never wanted to leave this room, they never wanted to leave this moment since it was simply perfect.

Her lips curved into a smile as they parted ways but as she opened her eyes, hoping to see OA, they only opened to see him.

“Hello darling.”

And the heart that once beated so fast, now stopped. A cold chill ran up her spine as panic began to rise. She could feel her trembling hands trying to push him away, trying to get him off her.

“Now, now, we’re just getting started. You’re the one who wanted this after all.”

“N-No. P-Please s-stop.”

“You can’t deny me, darling.”

Goosebumps rose as last night’s leftovers threaten to rise. Feeling her shaking hands bound over her head, feeling as his other hand explored her every inch, she just wanted it to stop. Yet despite her pleas he continued as he pleased.

Just like he had done over and over again.

It wasn’t always like this. It wasn’t always like this toxic push and pull, there were once happy times. They were both happy once upon a time. Until those darker parts began to show and take over. She tried to leave numerous times but it first began that he promised to stop but when it didn’t, when she was serious this time, things turned ugly. Leaving her trapped in a place she once called home, unable to call for help even if she could.

Only hoping that soon someone would realize that something was wrong...that they would come crashing through that door soon.

But it never came.

“Stop crying already!” (Y/n) could feel the burning sensation before his hand even made contact with her cheek. Tears streamed steadily down her face as she cried out for help that would never come. “Come on, (Y/n). I can’t be the only who’s trying to make this work. We were happy.”

“Then you changed.”

“I’m...I’m not the bad guy! Stop painting me as one.”

“Stop acting as one. You think the man before me is the man I fell in love with. You think he’s the one I wanted to marry, where I would say ‘I do’ a thousand times over, because he’s not.”

Another hit made her neck twist uncomfortably as sobs escaped her lips. Especially feeling him beginning to push in without a care of what she felt. And if that wasn’t enough, she felt his hands tighten around her neck, squeezing more and more tightly until breath could longer come in.

“This isn’t my fault.”

Feeling her life begin to drain and she so desperately clawed at his arms and face. But it was only grabs to keep on living in this miserable reality.

If only that would have happened, seeing this was his tactic again and again. And by the time she came to again, he apologize continuously, taking care of her like he did back then.

“(Y/n)!”

Hearing that voice, hope returned as she tried to shout with all her might. But her guardian angel found her with trying, punching her shell of a husband without hesitation while cradling her ever so gently.

“It’s going to be alright. Don’t worry, I’m going to take care of you. And that bastard won’t ever lay his hands on you again.”

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“So after all these years, she finally needs me again? Funny how things work out, huh?”

OA held his tongue for now but hearing the way he talked about (Y/n), like she was still his...like he belonged to her despite everything. OA wondered how he even managed to get a woman like (Y/n) in the first place. Better yet why he would even think about harming even a hair on her.

“Warren, so help me God, one wrong comment and I’ll beat your ass again. Put your that massive ego aside and do something good for (Y/n). You owe her that much after all the hell you put her through.”

“Hey now, I still love her as much as I ever did.”

“Then prove it. Make the right decision, make sure she survives. Better yet, after she does survive, let her wake up to you finally signing those divorce papers. She deserves to finally be happy, Warren. So make the right decision.”

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Hey everyone! Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it. I wasn’t even sure about posting this story but it’s hard not to seeing the idea just wouldn’t stop running through my head. Anyway, I do try to post as often as I can but I do have another story on this platform and I have other stories on other platforms to keep up with. Not to mention school, work, and other things, I’ll try my best though! Same to replying to others as it depends on when I check here. Anyway I hope you all are doing well and I have a few others to tag for their support:

@mrspeacem1nusone @thegreat-annamaria @masset-fotia @mjaudrey

#fbi #OA Zidan #oa zidan x reader #Maggie Bell #Jubal Valentine #isobel #angst #romance #Scola #tiffany #fbi x reader

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fives-lover · 4 months

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Chapter 17: Disobey

Masterlist | Previous | Next

Ahsoka went straight to Ari’s and Rasha’s room, apparently upset. She looked devastated when Rasha opened the door for her.

“What’s wrong, Ahsoka?” She asked, concerned.

“… I, I failed…” Tears threatened to spill from Ahsoka’s eyes.

“What happened? You were nervous but pretty excited when you went down to the hangar after breakfast earlier.”

“I was supposed to lead a squadron of fighters against that ship,” She crossed her arms around her stomach and looked down, “I lost so many of my pilots, it was almost the whole squad,” She looked up after a long pause, “Please don’t sound like Master Skywalker and tell me it’s the reality of command or whatever, I already heard all of that from him…”

Rasha watched her pace. She tugged Ahsoka’s arm, dragging her to sit on the bed. “I wasn’t going to say any of that.”

Ahsoka looked up still teary-eyed but grateful as she pulled Rasha into an awkward hug.

“I was going to ask how you’re handling it, but I think I’ve already got that answer,” Rasha chuckled, “I’ve lost a lot of soldiers when we’re on the ground and I know you have too. I also know commanding them out there in those fighters isn’t quite the same, but you need to take a deep breath…… Good, keep breathing slowly like that,” she reached over and grabbed some water, “I also know they were your friends- “

“This isn’t really helping, Rasha,” Ahsoka chuckled.

“I wasn’t finished! But at least I got you to smile a little!” Rasha squeezed Ahsoka closer into a side hug, “but sometimes, there’s nothing you could’ve done in the long run; other times, you think about what you could’ve done after everything’s finished,” she looked down at her with a sad smile, “everyone makes mistakes, especially in the heat of a battle, Ahsoka, but you can’t go back and fix them. You thought you could do it and you wanted to prove it; not just to the General and Admiral, but to yourself too…”

Ahsoka looked up at her wondering how Rasha could know that. “I was like that in school and during my training after I graduated from university,” Rasha chuckled and played with her necklace with her free hand, “Hell, sometimes I still do it. You’re a good leader either way; I know the clones think that. Sometimes, they annoy the crap out of me when they talk about you when we’re back up here after everything is said and done,” she chuckled.

Ahsoka looked up again, “really? What do they say?!”

“Nothing bad, I promise,” Rasha smiled, “they just keep telling the same stories a hundred times as if I wasn’t there or that I haven’t heard it already!” Both of them laughed, “Those men are loyal and trust you with their lives just like I know you trust them with your own. Everyone watches each other’s backs out there. Just think about how you and Anakin are whether you’re in battle or not. You could even think about other people like Rex and Cody; or how Kix, Coric, and I are, on the ground or not as well... But back to what I was saying. You’re a great leader, and that inspires greatness in others; win or lose. Okay?”

Ahsoka looked at Rasha quizzically, “I am?”

“One of the best I know. ‘Course, there haven’t been very many, just…” Rasha brought her hand up to her chin, copying Obi-Wan in a horribly fake thinking expression as she slowly counted on her fingers, “There’s been 1… 2… no, no he was at 100”

Ahsoka giggled, sniffling, and wiped the tears that had spilled over earlier.

“I’ve already lost count! It’s at least a couple thousand at this point! Dang it! I’ll just have to make some tallies on some flimsi later! Let’s get you back down there in the meantime though, all right?”

Just then, Ahsoka’s comm started beeping. “Ahsoka here.”

“Good I was hoping you’d pick up. Or I’d have to send Rex after you.” It was Anakin on the other end, “I need you to come down to the hangar again.” He ended the call before she could answer.

“I’ll walk you down there.” Rasha gave her one more squeeze before standing up.

The two made their way through the maze of hallways quickly. Rasha went with her to the fighter Anakin was tinkering with as he asked his astromech, R2D2, for another tool. She gave Ahsoka a smile before walking away to give the two some privacy. “Come find me if you need to talk some more.”

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Ahsoka went to the med bay after her talk with Anakin ending with him telling her to go to her quarters to cool off. She wanted to see how badly injured Admiral Yularen was after her little “mission” went wrong before going to her room.

“Where's the Admiral, Ari?” She asked timidly.

“He's down there," she pointed toward the back of the room while keeping her eye on one of the troopers' vitals. "You, okay?” Ari asked, concerned after turning to see Ahsoka ready to cry again.

“I’ll be all right… Where is he?”

“C’mere,” she gave Ahsoka a hug, “he’s over here.” She looked back at the trooper, "I'll be right back." She led her to a bed in the back. “He’s stable for now. He hit his head pretty hard, but he’ll be okay.” The two looked down at the man laying there with most of his head wrapped in gauze. “Here’s a seat if you plan to stay for a little bit. Let me know if you need anything.” Ari gave her another hug, like Rasha had done earlier, and went back to the man she had been looking over earlier.

“I’m so sorry Admiral… I thought I could do it,” Ahsoka put her hand on top of his. “I should’ve listened to you,” her voice cracked as she held back more tears, “I should've listened to Master Skywalker. I’m not cut out for any of this. I shouldn’t’ve even taken the mission. I’m so sorry. They’re all gone…” She squeezed his hand tightly for a few seconds before standing to leave. She gave him one more look before walking away completely.

He opened his eyes shortly after, touched by her apologies.

---

Rasha headed for the mess hall, knowing at least one of her boys was in there stuffing their faces full of whatever slop was being served for lunch even though she wasn’t hungry. She just wanted someone to sit with.

The second she entered; she saw a hand waving her toward them. “Rasha! Come sit with us over here after you get your food!” Jesse yelled across the room.

She went over and sat with the group; all of her boys were sitting there. Fives and Echo had already scooted over, making room for her. The two always seemed attached at the hip. “Not hungry. Just didn’t wanna sit alone while Ari’s up in the medbay. Didn’t really wanna go up there either.”

“Something wrong?” Echo quickly asked after noticing her solemn expression.

“Nothing really wrong with me. It’s Ahsoka.”

The group looked back at their food. “Yeah, we heard…” Fives said. “Ax was a good guy. They all were. I’m sure she’s not taking it too well.”

She shook her head and sighed. “Not really. I tried to cheer her up though. Only seemed to work a little bit.” Rasha shrugged.

“You cheer everyone up as soon as they see you, though. I’m sure that’s all you had to do,” Five said, giving her a gentle slap on the back and a big grin. The group exchanged knowing looks, receiving a warning glare. Rasha felt left out of some big secret but decided it was best not to ask right then.

Alarms started blaring as an announcement said everyone was to evacuate the ship. Everyone looked confused but headed to the hangar to help Anakin before their transfer to the Resolute.

Anakin was standing on a crate giving orders, watching the controlled chaos. “let’s go, let’s go! Come on! We don’t have all day!” He yelled as clones ran around conducting their given tasks. He saw Ahsoka enter the hangar shortly after Rasha and the group she had been sitting with. He explained the plan to Ahsoka and Rasha, “Attention! Everyone! Attention!” He waited to continue until everyone had stopped. “Alright, listen up. I’m taking over the Defender, and I’m leaving Commander Ahsoka in charge.” She grimaced, looking up grumpily as Anakin stepped off the crate.

Ahsoka made her way to the bridge on the Resolute as her heart began crawling further up her throat with every step. Rasha had decided to join her for some support. Rex and a few other troopers were already surrounding the holotable on the bridge waiting to be briefed on the plan.

Rex had some protests immediately after, “I have to say this plan is questionable. The droid commanders would be taken out only temporarily. And we still would have General Skywalker to find in all that mess. I really wish he had discussed this plan with me beforehand. The odds are very much against us.” He seemed to be ripping Ahsoka apart with every comment.

Rasha interrupted his protests, “Rex, this wasn’t completely her idea. Skywalker only told us what he was planning to do and then left Ahsoka to handle it on her own. The odds are almost always against us anyway if you hadn’t noticed yet. Give her a break.”

“Yes, sir.”

The other clone at the table spoke up after a brief pause, “In our first attack we had three, fully armed cruisers, and we failed,” he had been addressing Rasha rather than Ahsoka.

“Don’t look at me, Corporal. She’s the one in charge.” She gestured to Ahsoka before crossing her arms again.

He turned to address Rex instead, “yes, but normally we have General Skywalker to lead us, and- “he stopped himself abruptly, realizing what he had almost said, “I meant no offense, Commander.”

Ahsoka looked back to the table, looking more upset, “none taken,” she sighed.

“Sir, even if Skywalker is successful in destroying that battleship, and we find him in that mess; how would we be able to defend ourselves against the coming onslaught afterward from the remaining frigates?”

Ahsoka looked back up, “I thought about that, and I’ve got an idea,” she hesitated before looking at Rasha for reassurance, receiving an encouraging nod.

Ahsoka pressed several buttons on the table, explaining her plan. “If we took the Resolute’s hull and angled it like this,” The image of their ship moved, “The bridge and hangar deck would be relatively safe from the attacks from the incoming frigates,” Ahsoka pointed to where the bridge was on the image. “Draw them in, then use the bomb to outflank them. It’d be too fast, and they’d be trapped.” She pressed a few more buttons and the images of other ships moved closer to theirs while a circle, representing the bomb, shot out, taking the smaller ships out.

Rex watched, thinking about Ahsoka’s plan, “I’m not sure about this, Commander. If we were certain the shields would hold…”

The other man thought about the plan as well while Rex had been talking,” Perhaps a different strategy. We need more time to plan.”

Rasha was about to step to get them to stop giving her such a hard time when Ahsoka slammed her hands on the table, “No! We don’t have more time. Master Skywalker needs me now! He needs all of us now!” She gestured around the bridge.

Another voice rang out behind everyone. They turned around to look, seeing a tall man with his head covered in bandages; it was the Admiral. “The Commander is right. The strategy is very bold, but a lot of Skywalker’s plans have been in the past and have worked out. These circumstances call for drastic measures.”

Ahsoka looked shocked as he walked in, but he seemed to make her more determined as he stood next to her, knowing she had his support as well.

“The strategy will work then, sir?” The second man asked the Admiral rather than Ahsoka.

Yularen stood tall, looked around the room, pausing at Rasha to give a curt nod, knowing she was only there for support, before looking down at Ahsoka. “Well, will it?”

She looked up, smiling, “Yes. It will. When those ships collide, there will be chaos and debris everywhere. We’ll need to use that time to find Master Skywalker’s pod and pull him into the tractor beam before the frigates start attacking. I’ll command the fighter squadron. You’ll need to wait for my signal to begin our attack.”

“Yes, sir.”

---

Ahsoka stepped out of the room, taking a deep breath before she walked down to the hangar with Rasha following. “How do you think I did?” She sounded uncertain again, looking for approval.

Rasha placed a hand on Ahsoka’s shoulder. “You did great. It was rocky at the beginning, but that was really just Rex not listening to you right away. He doesn’t even listen to me or the General sometimes, so it’s not completely your fault.” She looked down, giving a kind smile, “You did start out kinda nervous though, but that’s all right. I get like that too, ‘course I don’t really give briefings. You just gotta breathe and stand your ground when they try to run you over. I guarantee you did better than I would’ve if I had to give one.”

“You sure about that, Rasha? I’ve seen you on the ground with us.”

“That’s just when I’ve got all that adrenaline going through me and I’ve got a job to do; keep those men alive. So, I just gotta make do with what I’ve got with whoever's around me. If I fail, it’s not a pretty sight…” Rasha shrugged as they approached Ahsoka’s fighter. “Good luck. You’ll be able to handle it” She gave her a light smack on the shoulder and returned to the bridge to watch everything play out.

Everything went according to plan with a few hiccups and small protests from Admiral Yularen that she confidently countered and pushed through.

“Commander, the invasion fleet is coming out of hyperspace,” Rex informed once Ahsoka made her way back to the bridge.

Obi-Wan came across the communications system, “Ahsoka, this is Obi-Wan. May we begin our landing?”

“Yes, Master. You’re cleared for the ground assault.”

“I won’t even ask where the rest of Anakin’s fleet is,” he paused, “Or why he’s in an escape pod surrounded by debris…”

“That’s probably for the best.” She turned to Rex, “That reminds me, we need to go get him.”

Let me know if you want to be added to a tag list for future posts!

@cdblake1565

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singsweetmelodies · 9 months

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Oh my godddd!! Kiss fic anon here.. I wasn’t trying to be mean but I’m sorry if you felt like i was😭 😭I’m always checking my bookmarked fics n I saw both of your fics there and idk it made me sent that ask.. I didn’t even reread the mesg. Tbh I’m very bad at putting whatever is on my mind into words😅

Anyways, you take all the time you need dear🤗. For me also these last few weeks were really hectic. I was trying to relax a little bit with ao3 you know 🫢 I’m really sorry if I was a bit harsh, it wasn’t intentional.. still, made me smile when I saw your reply 😁

hey anon! thank you so much for clarifying ❤️ you're all good! i did not read your initial ask in that way - although i do think it's crucial to tread very carefully with this kind of ask.

to be clear, this is not an attack on you personally, anon. not at all. but it is true that many writers (myself included) have unfortunately had bad experiences with this sort of thing, so i do want to just take a moment to explain why many of us might react badly to an ask along the lines of the first one you sent.

the thing is: writers on AO3 do this all for free, and we do it while also balancing our real lives. we do it because we love it and we love our readers, yes, but that doesn't mean it's always easy. writer's block and any number of real-life problems and reasons can come up at any time.

the problem comes in when we get an ask or a comment that doesn't seem to understand that. now, i do understand that this is often not the intention behind that comment, but it is all too easy for tumblr asks/comments asking for fic updates to seem like they're pressuring the writer.

it's like... i have written over two hundred and fifty THOUSAND words for this fandom, and i have done it completely for free, and in my own free time. now some person i don't know at all comes to me and basically DEMANDS that i do even more, on their schedule and not mine.

from a writer's perspective, it's easy to feel frustrated and/or demoralised by "when are you posting the next chapter" type comments. even if it is tempered by "i love your writing," as a writer it's easy to feel like you're not being appreciated for what you've already done. and, you know. we're humans too, not perfect writing machines who always stay exactly on schedule with everything. it's just nice to be treated like humans, y'know?

again, i understand that in many cases, none of the above is the intention of the ask/comment at all - which is why i think that phrasing is SO vitally important. instead of "when is the next chapter coming out? i miss this fic" it just feels kinder, to me at least, to say it more like "i love this fic SO MUCH... and i am so excited to see what happens next!! i will be here cheering you on for the next chapter (and rereading all the others in the meantime!!) thank you so much for sharing ❤️"

(istg just lost my entire ability to write a coherent comment when trying to do an example here 😭😭 but i hope you see what i'm trying to get at?)

speaking as a writer, one of THE best feelings in the world is to get a comment from someone who loved your story as much as you loved writing it. someone who's as excited for more as you are!! in my opinion, a good way to keep up this positive energy all around is simply to not ask the writer for a timeline. this is often impossible for us to provide - because like i said, we are HUMANS. life happens. writers can't predict it any more than you can.

just be excited with us. cheer for us and cheer WITH us. rather than demanding exact dates and putting pressure on a writer to try and create content faster when they might not be able to - just be there for the process, support us, and make us smile as much as our fics made YOU smile!!

... ah, wow, this has gotten to be quite a long reply 🙈🙈 i got on my soapbox a little bit, but this is something i feel quite passionately about, so i do hope it all makes sense! i also hope that you don't think i'm mad at you, dear anon who sent this - i'm not, not at all. i just wanted to take the opportunity to make things as clear as possible for everyone who might need to read this ❤️ thank you ever so and cheers to you if you've made it this far!! i appreciate you taking the time out of your day/night to give this a read 💙

#asks & answers #anon #*coughs* YEAH so this got a bit long but... i do think it needs to be said #nothing against you personally; anon; and i genuinely appreciate the clarification ask so much!!#i just thought i'd offer a clarification of my own just so that everyone is on the same page #❤️#writing tag #important 💜

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schadenfredde · 2 years

Text

Was randomly inspired to write some Jonawagon fluff! This was set the night before the honeymoon.

Hope you all Jonawagon enjoyers out there like it!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

“I wish you could come with us.”

The farewell party had gone on well into the night. However, the guest of honour had been missing hours ago, hiding outside from the other guests, drained from having to socialise with far too many people.

He wasn’t alone, though. Sitting next to him by the steps was his best friend and second partner, who had noticed his absence and joined him outside to keep him company. Since it was dark out, and no one would notice, they’d both ended up holding hands for a while. That was when Jonathan broke the silence to speak up, gazing down shyly at their hands.

“Jojo… I’d love to come with you. You know I would. Visiting the Americas again, especially this time of the year, would be lovely,” Robert sighed dreamily. “Especially now that I can share the sights with my best friends.”

“Then come with us! It’s not too late to buy a ticket for the journey tomorrow. Otherwise, we’ll sneak you in if we have to,” Jonathan smirked mischievously.

Robert laughed aloud. “My, and I had you pegged as an upstanding, law-abiding nobleman, Mr. Joestar. I’m shocked. It seems you’ve fallen into bad company.”

“Oh, hush, you,” Jonathan snorted, giving him a light push, Robert snickering unrepentantly.

Solemness soon fell over the scarred thug. “We’ve gone over this, though. You know what the people are going to think… no one brings their ‘best friend’ along on a honeymoon. They’re going to talk. Besides… we can barely keep our hands off each other. How do you think we’re going to hide this-“ he held up their clasped fingers and gestured to it with his free hand “-on a ship with a couple hundred other passengers?”

Jonathan giggled. “I suppose that’s true.” His smile faded and he frowned again. “I don’t care what the people think, though.”

“I know, Jojo. I know…” Robert murmured, leaning into him. “But I’ve seen how much rumours can damage lives. I can’t have you and Erina’s reputations at stake. That’s why I can’t come with you.”

Jonathan let go of their hands to shift his arm around his shoulder, bringing them closer, then reached for his hand again.

“I’m really going to miss you…” he whispered sadly, giving him a little kiss down his scarred cheek.

“Well…” Robert smiled and reached up to ruffle his hair. “I won’t be going anywhere. And you know I’ll come running, the moment you need help.”

Jonathan let out his breath in a soft sigh, then started digging through his pocket with his free hand. Robert peeked at him curiously, his gaze softening at the sparkle of a familiar ring, the soft light from the pub catching off of the lovely gems set in the golden band.

Jonathan held it in his hand for a moment, gazing at it with a melancholy air. Then he turned to Robert again, holding the ring out towards him.

“Robert… I’d like for you to have this.”

Robert’s eyes widened.

“Jojo- no. No. I can’t- you shouldn’t-” he protested. “That- that was your mother’s ring. And your father’s.”

“And mine. And now, I pass it on to you,” Jonathan smiled gently. “This is my gift, and upon it, I bestow also a promise to you, Robert E O Speedwagon. I will return to you, and we’ll make up for all the lost time together. I swear it. And in the meantime, whenever you miss me, well… you’ll now have a piece of me with you, always.”

Robert swallowed hard, then finally held out his suddenly very shaky hand, allowing Jonathan to slip the ring down the ring finger. It was dainty enough, it couldn’t fit all the way. But it sat nicely in the middle of the phalange. He relaxed a little as he admired it, smiling to himself. “You know, it’s normally the guest of honour who receives parting gifts,” he remarked.

Jonathan grinned. “You know I’m not the best at following traditional standards. Thank you, by the way…” he added. “The brooches are lovely. Erina is going to love it.”

“I’m so glad,” Robert smiled. Ha! He’s still got it.

He wouldn’t admit how long it took him to find the perfect gifts, including dragging his mates all across London just to find something special for his dearly beloveds’ departure. And in the end, it was those bejewelled matching brooches in a little secondhand shop that caught his eye. With some careful cleaning and polishing, they were good as new!

“There you are!”

They both collectively jumped at the new voice, turning around to see Tattoo behind them, atop the stairs, mug of beer in his hand.

“Everyone’s wondering where you’ve been! C’mon, we’re about to sing for ya!”

“O-oh… you don’t have to-” Jonathan protested flusteredly, but Tattoo had disappeared back inside. He sighed and got up, stretching slightly. Robert joined him at his side.

“You know, we could both run off somewhere, if you’re uncomfortable,” Robert teasingly suggested. “There is a park nearby.”

“Ahh, that’d be rude,” Jonathan chuckled and shook his head. “I’ll live through the embarrassment, as long as you’re with me. Now… shall we?” he extended his hand to Robert.

The scarred thug smiled and accepted his hand, and they both returned to the pub.

#fredd's drabbles #jonathan joestar #robert e o speedwagon #speedwagon #jonawagon #jonaeriwagon (implied)#fluff #but also angst #ifyouknowwhatimean #i'm sorry speedwagon but jonathan was a liar #period typical homophobia #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba

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lowkeyerror · 2 years

Note

hey,can I request a wandanat x reader when reader had a bad performance on a mission because she's been stressed,her bestfriend recently passed on a car accident when they're on their way to reader's apartment and nobody knew because r was being in denial about it.On the mission, there we're several casualties and r blamed herself for their death.After coming back from the mission,r was just so done with everything and thought of jumping from the rooftop but wandanat came and tried stopping r but r is already convinced that she should jump.When she did jump wanda quickly used her powers to bring r back to the rooftop and nat slapped her to get some sense into r and r just broke down telling the two how it's her fault why the people died on the mission and why her bestfriend got into the accident. wandanat was just comforting her and waiting for r to calm down but r was so exhausted that she passed out.The two took her to their room and laid with her and promised to talk about it all later when they wake up,but for the meantime, they're just gonna enjoy being on each other's arms.

Sorry if this is so long,I would understand if writing this would be too much or too uncomfortable for you.Thanks anyways.

My Fault

Wandanat x Reader

Word Count: 1062

Warning: Negative thoughts, attempted suicide

An: Reach out if you need too, it's never a sign of weakness

You felt like you were going to be sick. At any moment vomit could spew from your mouth and it wouldn't be a surprise. Nonetheless here you were on a mission.

You weren't carrying your weight. Every move felt like wasted energy. You were failing and because of your failure people were dying.

Just like your best friend, Kate. You tried to push the thoughts of her away but they came back with a vengeance. It was your fault she was gone. She was coming to see you when she got into the accident.

You felt sick again. Being caught up in your thoughts like this only did more damage. Lives were being lost every second you weren't giving a hundred percent. However you just didn't feel like you had a hundred percent

The mission overall was a success but with all the lives lost it didn't feel like it. You didn't feel like it was a success. There was a heavy weight on your shoulders. Just like you with Kate, you had killed those people.

While the rest of the team began to socialize and talk on the ride back to the compound, you were silent. You let the dark thoughts flow freely in your mind. Nothing felt worth it anymore, life wasn't worth it anymore.

You didn't know that Wanda was tuned into your thoughts. She was in shock about the state of your mental health. She had thought you were slacking off on the mission but after reading your thoughts she knew otherwise.

Wanda pulled Natasha aside to tell her what she heard in your thoughts

The spy was also alarmed by these thoughts that plagued your mind. They wanted to help but at the time didn't know how. So they just sat by you and conversed with each other.

Their presence did little to quiet your thoughts. Instead your mind was telling you that they were disappointed with you. That they were now babysitting you because you fucked up so badly.

When you landed at the tower, you immediately got off the jet. You went straight to your room and closed the door.

You thought being alone would help you, but it didn't. All it did was give your insecurities a better location to fester.

There was nothing that you could do to fix all of this. Kate wasn't coming back and neither were the civilians that died because of you.The guilt was eating you alive.

You didn't remember going to the top of the building but you were there. It all seemed so simple when you stood on the ledge and stared at the ground below. This was the only way to repent for your sins.

" Y/n, what're you doing?" You didn't react to the voice.

" Whatever's wrong we can talk about it. This isn't the answer," you ignored the second voice too.

You could hear the footsteps approaching you. If this was going to be it you didn't have a second to waste.

There was a singular moment where Natasha's fingertips brushed against some part of your skin but you had already jumped. It was checkmate, it was already over.

You closed your eyes and waited for the impact of the cement but it never came. You were gently guided back to the rooftop away from the edge by Wanda's magic.

There was no looking them in the eyes. You couldn't even lift your head up. It was quiet for so long. Well at least to you. Natasha and Wanda were talking, trying to get through to you but you weren't listening.

That was until Natasha grabbed on to one of your hands. You stared at the intertwined fingers before meeting her eyes. You broke instantly.

Tears poured down your face and you struggled to breathe. You felt as though your chest would cave in on itself. If Natasha wasn't holding you up, you would've been on your knees.

Everything that was inside of you began to spill out," It's my fault. All of it. Kate's dead because of me. Those civilians are dead because of me. Because I'm stupid and can't do anything right. Because nothing I do is good enough. I don't deserve to be here, let me go. Let me go, please. I don't deserve to be here"

Wanda tried to reason with you, her arms encircling around your waist, " None of that is your fault Y/n."

" You don't understand. I told her to come over and she got in a wreck. If I would've picked her up or canceled she'd be here right now. It's been eating me alive for months and it's been affecting my job and that affects thousands if not millions of lives. I don't dese-"

Your sentences died off in your mouth. You felt lightheaded and you felt nothing.

Wanda checked for you pulse and sighed with relief when she found one," She's breathing"

Her hand rested on your face and tears welled in her eyes," I'm so sorry my love"

" You couldn't have known. Neither could I," Natasha tries to justify.

" We should've paid better attention. I should've gone in her head sooner," Wanda felt a hand on her shoulder.

" Don't start that. We're here for her now and that's what important. Let's get her to bed and we can figure the rest out later."

Wanda agreed for the time being. The two of them carried you to their room. They sat you gently on the bed and climb in after.

You stirred when you felt warmth surrounding you. When you saw the two women next to you an apology left your lips," I'm sorry"

"We're just glad you're here," Wanda admits.

" We can talk about everything later, but for now, you need to rest," Natasha runs a hand through your hair.

You don't remember the last time you had a true rest. One that hadn't been plagued with nightmares or paranoia.

" You're safe with us, Y/n. We aren't going to let anything harm you."

" You won't leave?"

They both kissed the top of your head," We aren't going anywhere"

Nothing was yet fixed. You still had a lot of emotions to deal with. Maybe even more than you had originally thought. Only now you wouldn't have to do it alone. You had Wanda and Natasha and they weren't going anywhere.

#lowkeyerror #natasha romanoff #wanda maximoff #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff x reader

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seijorhi · 4 years

Note

Ohhhhh kuroos doing a good job of tutoring bokuto in school lately (bc bby owl is a dumb dumb). Bokuto decides to thank kuroo and gives him a present - the girl kuroo has been after for a while, unconscious and lying in his bed 🙊🙉🙈

You... you just get me, anon 😌

Kuroo Tetsuro x Female Reader

TW kidnapping, drugging, implied dub/non-con ~ Part II • Part III

Gift Wrapped

“Fifty six!”

Bokuto’s hand slams down a stack of papers onto the desk and sure enough, written in big loopy red handwriting, circled and underlined at the top of the first page of the exam paper is his score - fifty six out of a hundred. Barely a pass.

“I freakin’ killed it!”

Kuroo can barely suppress his sardonic grin as he looks up at his friend, “Well look at you! Amazing what a little bit of study can do, huh? You’re a shining beacon of hope for idiots everywhere.”

Normally that would get a little rise out of the Ace, but Bokuto’s beaming grin doesn’t waver, and he’s kind of rocking back and forth on his heels like a little kid about to be set loose in a candy store. “You know I can’t study for shit. You really saved my ass on this one, Kuroo!”

Kuroo knows his friend too well to buy into the flattery, much less the innocent look that’s plastered across his face. A single eyebrow cocks, “You’re acting… weird. Why?” he asks suspiciously.

Bo’s grin widens and Kuroo’s stomach sinks. Whatever this is, he knows it can’t be good. Suddenly he wishes that Akaashi were here. Between the two of them, he’s always been better at managing Bokuto’s less than well thought out impulses. Unfortunately for him, the ex-setter was out of town for the weekend, meaning that whatever hell Bokuto was no doubt about to unleash would be solely his problem.

“Don’t be a dick! I am trying to be nice here, I even got you a present to say thanks for tutoring me!” Bokuto grumbles.

Now that makes him pause. “A… present?” Somehow it doesn’t ease the weird feeling in his gut. It’s not that he thinks Bokuto’s incapable of giving a gift out of the kindness of his heart, or that it would necessarily be a bad one, but the shit eating smile on his face that has yet to shift isn’t filling him with boundless confidence. It’s also apparent that aside from his test paper, his friend is empty handed. “Why do I get the feeling that I’m not gonna like this gift very much?”

Something in Bokuto’s eyes glints. “Oh trust me, dude. You’re gonna love it!”

He doubts it, but keeps his mouth shut as Bokuto grabs his arm and pulls him (or tries to, at least) to his feet.

Kuroo’s frown only deepens when he’s led down the hallway, passing his own bedroom and stopping in front of Bokuto’s. “Why are we-”

“Just shut up and close your eyes.”

Kuroo takes a deep breath, “Bo-”

“Dude, just- just trust me okay! Shut your eyes and don’t open ‘em until I say so,” he orders.

Kuroo eyes his friend warily, but after a moment he complies, praying to god that he’s not gonna regret this. He’s not exactly the cleanest guy himself, but he’s avoided going into Bo’s room at all costs - it’s kind of a health hazard.

But he trusts Bokuto.

Mostly.

He hears the handle turn and the squeak of the hinges as the door swings open, and he tries not to snort as Bokuto grabs him by the arm and leads him inside.

“… Alriiiight, open!”

Kuroo does as he’s told. He blinks in surprise, Bokuto’s room is exactly as he remembers it. Clothes, in varying states of cleanliness, littered across the floor. Dirty plates and empty cups spread out across almost every available surface, A few textbooks with various paragraphs highlighted lying open on his desk next to his laptop (browser window open at the pornhub homepage), but Kuroo can’t focus on any of that, because he’s staring at Bokuto’s bed.

Rather, the figure lying on top of Bokuto’s bed.

His breath catches in his throat, heart pounding almost painfully in his chest. It’s like the world’s stood still. He risks a glance out of the corner of his eye at Bokuto, but his friend’s just grinning wildly at him, as if he knows that-

As if he knows that this is the only thing Kuroo Tetsuro has ever wanted.

He can’t bring himself to speak, to ask how Bokuto of all people knows his dirty little secret when he’s tried so hard to keep it to himself… but, in that moment he doesn’t even care.

Because you’re lying there in front of him, in a pretty sundress, hair flowing free and spilling across the pillows, your chest rising and falling gently in your sleep. God, you just look so beautiful and so very, very defenceless.

He starts walking towards the bed before his brain even catches up with him. There are a thousand questions running through his mind as he carefully settles himself down on the mattress beside you - least of which is how the hell Bokuto even managed to get you here, but before he can ask you let out a soft sigh that sounds almost like a moan and his thoughts disappear entirely. He reaches for you, his hand trembling, and ever so gently, as if he’s afraid you’ll fade away before him, and tucks a lock of your hair behind your ear.

He shudders out a gasp. You’re real.

You’re really here.

With him.

How many months had he been watching you in the classes you share together, following you around campus like a lost puppy dog? How many times had he thought about bringing you home, making a move to finally claim you as his?

This… this is his gift? He raises his eyes to look at Bokuto once more, only to find him practically vibrating with excitement. “Did I do good? Did I do good, huh?? Tell me I did good!” he says with a booming laugh, clapping Kuroo on the back.

And Kuroo can’t help but chuckle. Really, he should be more than a little alarmed that one of his best friends is more than comfortable essentially kidnapping a girl just to make him happy, but he’s no saint either. So he grins and nods his head. “Yeah, you did good, man.”

“Ahh, it was nothing!” he replies with a dismissive wave.

He almost rolls his eyes at that, but a sudden thought makes him pause. “Why is she here though, in your bedroom?”

Bokuto snorts, “Well I could hardly sneak her into your room this morning, now could I?”

Eh, he can’t argue with that.

His attention moves back to you, deep in whatever drugged slumber Bokuto managed to induce. It’s not the first time he’s seen you sleeping of course, but it’s the first time he’s ever been close enough to touch you.

“Bo?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Find somewhere else to crash tonight.”

Rather than being offended, he just laughs again, “What? Don’t think you’ll be able to keep it to your room?”

Kuroo’s lips curl into a smirk as he brushes the back of his knuckles against your cheek, but he doesn’t reply. Doesn’t really need to - they’ve always been on the same kind of wavelength with stuff like this.

Bokuto just shrugs and shoots a wink, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

And then he’s gone, and it’s just the two of you. Slowly, gently, he eases you up off the bed and into his arms. Your head lolls back against his shoulder and he fights off a groan. Your skin is so soft and you feel so good in his arms. He can smell the subtle perfume of your hair and he falls in love with you all over again. He wonders, not for the first time, if you’ll taste just as sweet.

You’re perfect, but he’s known that for a long, long time.

He can’t help but smile as he carries you into his room and lays you down onto his bed. So many possibilities, he can’t help but be a little excited.

God knows he’s wrapped his hand around his cock and jerked off to countless fantasies about what he’d do when he finally had you, but in those fantasies you were always awake, if not an active, eager participant.

He wants you aware the first time he fucks you, the first time he makes you cum for him. He wants to hear all your pretty sounds, feel your body tighten and writhe beneath his touch. He wants to stare at your face as you come undone for him.

It’s fine though, he thinks as he lies down on the bed beside you, pulling you into his arms. He doesn’t mind waiting, not when the two of you have the rest of your lives together to play each and every one of them out.

But surely a stolen kiss won’t hurt in the meantime, right?

~ Part 2

#yandere haikyuu #yandere kuroo #yandere kuroo x reader #yandere kuroo tetsuro x reader #yandere kuroo tetsuro #yandere haikyuu imagines #kuroo x reader #female reader #my writing #tw implied drugging #tw kidnapping #tw implied noncon #yandere fic #yandere haikyuu imagine #haikyuu fic #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsurō #bokuto kotaro

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

Text

-Smiles widely at the camera that exists somewhere- Ah Grumbot, I’m so glad I remembered to add you in here.

@petrichormeraki

With the arrival of Mumbo and the bots, Grian and Tommy tried to introduce everyone to each other, but another message came in from Scar about doing paperwork with a mention that Iskall was there for the paperwork with Fundy. Immediately Mumbo flew off back towards the shopping district, Tommy barely getting the chance to cover Tubbo’s ears. Tubbee, who had also been brought down from the apiary floor, used Jrumbot as something to hide behind.

“Sorry about that. Iskall is just not the best at reading contracts and Scar likes to hide things in there for fun. If Mumbo hadn’t beat me to it, I would have gone instead since it’s quieter.”

“He forgot Tubbee doesn’t like fireworks.” Jrumbot spoke, petting the mob.

“Exactly. Your dad can be very forgetful in the moment.”

Grumbot looked towards Tubbo and then took a few steps towards him. “You act like Tubbee. You must be President Tubbo. It is nice to meet the whole of you.”

Tubbo, who was trembling a little bit even though the sound had been muffled, looked down at Grumbot. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“I didn’t tell him that part yet.” Tommy quickly explained to his nephew.

“I see. It is something from what your admin did. In creating your ‘canon lives’ he made it so when you lost one, a part of your being would be broken off and cast somewhere else. I am not sure what happened to your other part as I do not have that information, but one did end up within this bee as it first spawned.”

Tubbo looked at the bee in Jrumbots arms and then smiled. “Perfect. Always wanted to be a bee.”

Jrumbot looked between Tubbo, Tommy, Tubbee and Grumbot. “Is Tubbee my uncle then?”

Grian picked Jrumbot up. Grumbot had gotten more of the smarts since he was built to be a computer to answer their questions. Took a little more after Mumbo that way. Jrumbot on the other hand had originally just been made to help sell stuff and was created on the younger side, so he wasn’t as smart. In fact, he was more like Grian if his affinity for shears, especially near his one dad’s mustache was anything to go by.

“Well, Tubbo is your uncle’s friend, maybe even an honorary uncle at that. And Tubbee isn’t quite the same. Besides, I don’t think Tubbee will mind if you don’t call him your uncle.”

Grumbot walked over to Philza. “You are Philza Minecraft. Former king of the Antarctic Empire and my dad’s father, making you my grandfather.” He then looked at Techno. “You are Technoblade, former prince of the Antarctic Empire and also seem to loathe all forms of government. We will not get along.”

Techno looked down at Grumbot with a neutral expression. “Smart kid.”

“Grumbot, how did you know that about your uncle?”

“The mayoral reservoirs of course. He would have been a danger to the mayoral campaign if he appeared.”

Grian stared his son down. “Are you telling me the entire time you knew about Techno.”

“Not his location, but I was aware of his character and other general knowledge.” Grian looked like he was about to blow a gasket. “Of course, you never asked, so I didn’t assume you wanted to know.”

“Grumbot, when we get home, only your brother is getting a diamond.”

Grumbot stared at his dad before saying a single word. “Fuck.”

Tommy smiled. He had taught his nephew well.

With a break in the conversation, Tubbo spoke up. “Well, I mean Philza has sort of been acting as my dad.”

That immediately grabbed Grian’s attention. “Why?”

“Well, I’m not sure exactly what happened. One moment I was in the car with my dad, next thing I know, I’m in a box on the side of the road.”

“Your dad abandoned you?”

“What? No! He would never!”

“Hey G, might be like what happened to you?” Tommy suggested. There was a pause where everything was quiet before suddenly Grian changed to have six purple eyes. “Grian! No!”

Grian closed them and crossed his arms as best as he could while still holding Jrumbot. “What’s the point of being a Watcher if I can’t actually be one.”

“You almost killed everyone a few hours ago.”

“Dad almost killed someone?” Jrumbot asked, looking worried. Grian shifted him to one arm so he could pat his son and comfort him.

“Yeah, things got crazy for a bit. That’s why we wanted you staying in the hobbit tunnels. Did you at least have fun there?”

The question cheered Jrumbot up. “Yeah! We made more tracks for jousting!” Jrumbot continued to talk about what he and Grumbot had been doing when a message came in on the comms “Dad, Daddy wants your help with Scar.”

Grian sighed. “Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to get that paperwork done. Hey Tommy, where’s your nether portal?”

Tommy led everyone down to the second floor and through a nether portal. Though Tubbo had already been there with Fundy, the rest hadn’t and were surprised by the builds that were in the nether.

“How did you do all of this?!” Wilbur asked, surprised. “We barely had stuff like this in the overworld!”

“It’s actually not that big compared to last season. We use the roof more and everyone has their own separate builds.” Grian’s family tried to resist the urge to shake him and or kill him at how normal he was making it sound. “I’ll have to show you the upside down later.”

Though it took a few small bridges here and there, it was rather quick getting them all back to the shopping district. As the portal was right under the town hall, the group was greeted by music as they came through back into the overworld.

“Is he wasting it on paperwork again?!” Grian asked incredulously to no one in particular. “This isn’t going to help us at all!”

“It actually makes sense this time as there is the potential consideration of people from here and the smp moving between each other.” Grumbot explained, making sure to glare down his anarchist uncle the entire time. “All the proper forms would need to be done to keep Hermitcraft safe from people willing to destroy it.”

“I’m going in there.” Tommy spoke up, quickly leaving the others behind. Just a moment later, he walked back out with papers in his hand. “I think these mean he doesn’t want to see us right now.”

“What exactly is going on?” Philza asked.

At the same time, Grian and Tommy gave an answer. “Superfast build mode.”

“What?”

“Scar uses vex magic to help speed himself up to do lots of work in a small amount of time. Usually he uses it for building, but recently he’s also been using it for all his mayor work.”

“I… see.”

“Anyway, Grumbot, can you look at the paperwork?” Grian took the papers from Tommy’s hands and gave them to his son. The robot rapidly read through all the papers at a speed that could potentially rival Scar’s own current speed.

“It’s really bad this time. Paying him diamonds, work clauses, extreme zoning laws for temporary housing. You can only grow wheat and chorus fruit, I’m assuming that’s actually a mistake.”

Tommy smiled. “You wanna go in there and fix it.”

Even if they wouldn’t all admit it, the smp members all had a shiver go down their spines as Grumbot spoke coldly and his screen face turned red. “Very much so.” And then he walked up the stairs to the town hall.

“Is he going to kill your mayor?” Wilbur asked, but Grian shook his head.

“No, he only was that serious the first time they met after we finally built his body. It’s only ever near deaths at most. I’m actually wondering if we have more elections if everyone will let Grumbot run.”

“I certainly won’t be giving him permission.” Came Mumbo’s voice as he exited town hall with Iskall and Fundy behind him. “Artificial life or not, he is still considered a child. And Tommy has given him too many ideas. Scar might be exiled for a few days.”

Techno looked like he was about to speak, but was shushed by Philza.

“Techno, I know you don’t seem to like the government and all, but it works here. I’ve seen hundreds of worlds, so I know how it can all fall apart, but we have literally been doing this for years with not a single problem.”

“Grian.”

“With only one single problem.”

“Grian!”

“Okay, I cause the problems. Mostly. But Tommy helps me with that! But we only very minorly grief and even then it’s extremely rare. And we definitely don’t steal. It’s mainly harmless pranks like chickens everywhere or hiding something in your base that makes noises and you can’t find it.”

“Or secret base bros.” Tommy added in, making Grian look a little confused.

“Yeah, though we stopped doing that ages ago.”

“Or did we?” Tommy asked, somehow looking very racoonish.

Grian looked at his brother. “Okay, concerning, but we can talk about that later.” He turned back to the rest of his family. “In the meantime, I think we should have the discussion I think we’ve all been avoiding a little. Is it just going to be visits, or are you guys actually deciding to move here?”

“What do you mean? You’re not coming with us?” Philza asked, making Grian frown.

“No, of course not. No offense to your home, but it’s a bit of a mess and I’m not sure I could live there without losing my mind. I’m sure that eventually things will calm down, but I’m sure I couldn’t even make half a hobbit hole before it got messed with in some way. Visits are of course on the table, but I’m not going to be staying.”

“But you’ll just be by yourself again.”

“Um…” Tommy started to say, drawing attention over to him. “I’m actually going to mostly stay here. I know Dream is gone and Tubbo’s in charge now, but I just don’t think I can go back there just like that.”

Tubbo hugged Tommy and then Grian pulled the two of them into a hug with his wings. When Philza tried to take a step forward, Grian glared at him. “No. You were part of the problem. You don’t really deserve this right now.”

Mumbo went over to try and comfort Grian, but just ended up making him more agitated. Iskall pulled his fellow redstoner back then tried to change the topic. “So, Fundy, you said you’re Wilbur’s kid. That makes you Grian’s nephew, doesn’t it? That means you have cousins.”

“I do?” The fox hybrid asked before he was tackled by Jrumbot.

“Hi! I’m Jrumbot! Grian and Mumbo are my dads! My brother went in there to talk to Scar, so you may have seen him.”

“Yeah! I did! Wow! This is the best day of my life! I mean, other than the whole going to war part, but everything else was great! New family, hopefully a better server, and I got to hang out with Iskall!”

“That sounds amazing! I got to meet Tubbo! He’s just as fun as Tubbee!” Jurmbot said, happy to share about his day to a new face.

“They seem to get along just fine.” Iskall chuckled. The comment seemed to help Grian relax a bit and he reluctantly released Tommy and Tubbo from his wings.

“Look dad, I’m happy I found you after all these years. But you being my dad doesn’t change the things I saw you do. You sided with people, not ideas, and because of that you would change what you stood for on a moment's notice just to side with someone you cared about. But that hurt others you cared about at the same time. I’ve been hurt enough in my life. Tommy has too. Things here are safe and stable and even then we don’t always have the best days. I don’t normally curse, but it should get the point across. I am terrified of getting close to you right now and you finding a way to fuck up out lives.”

Mumbo and Iskall shared a look. While it might not get through to the newcomers, they had known Grian long enough to know just how serious he was being. They had both seen just how bad it could get for Grian and Tommy and how helpless they felt sometimes when trying to help the brothers.

Philza was quiet for a while before giving a simple understanding nod. “Thanks dad.”

“Well Grian, I’m sure that it’s been a long day for everyone. I’m sure people are tired and hungry and there’s plenty of paperwork to do. How about once Grumbot is finished, we head over to my Hobbit hole for some food.”

Grian smiled at Mumbo. “That sounds nice. Dinner with the whole family!”

Everyone was pleasantly surprised when they saw Mumbo’s hobbit hole. It was a much more reasonable size. They hadn’t seen Mumbo’s real base quite yet though, so they assumed this was it. It was still quite large from the bumbo baggins society expansion, but that meant plenty of room for everyone to sit at for a meal.

While there was plenty of variety, golden carrots were the most plentiful and they were gladly eaten for their high saturation. The visitors from the SMP tried not to stare as the bot children were given bowls of nether quartz and red stone to eat. It was hard to even comprehend how they were eating at all as their heads were just computer monitors yet somehow it just worked.

A cake was placed on the table as a joke for all the birthdays everyone had missed but they ended up actually singing. Following that, the dreaded paperwork began, though it was easier to handle now that everyone had a slice of the delicious treat.

While Philza, Wilbur, Techno and Fundy signed paperwork for simply visiting Hermitcraft, Tubbo signed one for visits and for residency. “Tubbo, are you planning to stay?” Tommy asked when he noticed the papers in front of his friend.

“Well… I would like to. This place seems so nice… but with me being admin now, I need to help the smp. But maybe I can have extended stays in the future.”

Grian looked at Tubbo sympathetically. “Tubbo, you don’t have to be the admin. I’m sure you can find someone you trust enough to move the powers to if you want to stay here.”

“But you made me admin.”

“You were nearby and I knew you probably wouldn’t do anything horrible as admin, but you don’t have to keep them. You are still a kid. You don’t need to keep that responsibility if you want something else.” When Tubbo didn’t look convinced, Grian sighed. “If you want, we can make someone else admin, and if it doesn’t work, you just call me over and I’ll take them away again.”

“Grian, there’s a good chance you could kill someone doing that.”

“And I wouldn’t regret it!”

“Yes you would.”

“Okay maybe.”

Mumbo just gave a very tired sounding sigh.

As dinner was wrapping up, Grian pulled Grumbot over to a side room. “Alright, you were able to help Tommy out with Tubbo and apparently you knew more about Techno than you were going to tell me.”

“That is true.” Grumbot answered. “But you two build me the way you did.”

“I know, and I really regret it.” Grian pulled out a diamond. “Grumbot, do you know anything about Tubbo’s dad?”

Grumbot took the diamond and then processed the question. He was silent for a few long moments, making Grian start to believe that there was nothing Grumbot could find on the man. But just as he was losing hope, Grumbot spoke again.

“He’s called The Captain.”

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #grian #grian xelqua #tubbo #grumbot #jrumbot #mumbo jumbo #philza #wilbur soot #technoblade #itsfundy #iskall85

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amberlynnmurdock · 3 years

Text

Library Series (Pt. 15)

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Reader

Chapter Summary: Thanksgiving is next week.

AO3 Link

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hey all! I am still working on this story no matter how long it takes me and no matter who sticks til the end. To those of you who have just discovered it or those who are still reading, thank you so much. This chapter sets up the next one and it’s super fluffy. I hope you all have been doing well, staying safe and healthy during this crazy time we live in. In the meantime, enjoy some Matt Murdock college fluff. And message me if you have... anything to say! About your life, Marvel, anything. I’d love to catch up again. OKAY ENJOY <3

Wet fog. It sticks to the dorm window. Glancing at the clock, you see that it’s barely seven in the evening. You wipe the window with the sleeve of your pajama shirt to see outside.

There’s not much going on. It’s a week before Thanksgiving, and everyone on campus was just finishing up exams. Many have already went home for the holiday. Marci left two days ago with Foggy. Which left your dorm room all to yourself, and… Matthew.

Ever since that night outside the cafe, he’s been spending time with you a lot, which you had no problem with. You’d finish your late class on Thursday and see him waiting for you patiently at the end of the hall, cane in hand, leaning against the cement wall. The two of you had lunch together every Tuesday because that’s the only time the two of you don’t have a class at noon. You walk him home, and you text him when you get back to your dorm.

Right now, he’s here again. There’s a record spinning at a low volume, and you’ve lost track of what it was you and Matt were listening to. You laid down after dinner and got sleepy, and let Matt take over flipping the discs, raiding your collection. You knew he couldn’t see what he was picking, but he always managed to play some of your favorites.

You slump down from your dorm bed and join him on the fuzzy carpet, leaning against the side of your bed. Your arm brushes his and you feel the urge to bring him into an embrace. But you don’t.

It dawned on you that tomorrow, you’d be leaving for Thanksgiving break yourself. You were excited: you hadn’t seen your family in weeks and the cafeteria food was starting to get old. A home-cooked meal was exactly what you needed. But at the same time, you felt like you were going to be missing something, and it was painfully obvious what it was. In fact, the reason why is sitting next to you right now, behind red tint glasses and an aloof grin on his face.

“I love this song,” Matt smiles as he stretches his arms. It’s a song by Big Star. You don’t reply. You smile instead.

“Are you okay?” Matt asks you after a short period of silence. You forget he can’t see your smile sometimes. A guilty feeling wells in your chest.

As if he can hear your thoughts, Matt finds your hand and holds it.

“Yeah, I am,” you say uneasily. “Are you going home for Thanksgiving? I forgot to ask.”

Matt replies after a moment, “No. I’m not.”

You quirk an eyebrow. You realize you never asked Matt about his…family. You know his father passed away, and he’s never mentioned his mother. You didn’t feel like now was the right time. You decide to play the fool.

“Do you usually go anywhere?” You ask him carefully.

“I usually go with Foggy every year, but this time he is at Marci’s. It’s okay, though,” Matt gives a small smile, “I told him it was okay after he denied to a hundred times.”

You sort of felt silly in that moment. Why didn’t you bother to ask Matt if he’d like to join your family on Thanksgiving? You honestly assumed he had somewhere to go–but now you think you know why it was never brought up. Matt probably didn’t want you to feel bad. You notice he has a tendency to do that–hide how he really feels.

“Well, you are welcome to come to my Thanksgiving. If you want!” You nervously add the last part in. You suddenly felt embarrassed. Were you moving too fast? Were things getting serious? Were you okay with that? More importantly, was he okay with that?

“Uhm, yeah,” Matt answers you sheepishly. For some reason, the nerves make him let go of your hand. It’s not that he doesn’t want to go, he’s dying to have a little getaway with you, and get to know you even more. Matt is just… really happy you asked.

"I leave tomorrow, and it’s last minute, but I’d really love for you to be there with me. You’ll get to meet my family, if that’s not scary,” you ramble on. The rush inside you can’t be stopped: the thought of having Matt all to yourself for a few days sounded magical. “And my family isn’t big, if big families intimidate you. It’s just my folks and I.”

“Big families?” Matt laughs, “I’ve been to Foggy’s for the holidays for a while now, and I’m still sure there’s a distant cousin I haven’t met before. I think I’m ready with just having to introduce myself only twice now.”

“Okay!” You turn to face him, this time taking his hand back in yours. “I’ll text my Mom now to let her know we’ll need another plate at the table. You can stay in our guest room. Or mine, and I’ll take the guest room. Whichever you’re most comfortable with.”

Matt could hear the excitement in your voice. “We can figure that out later,” he says. “We can share, you know,” Matt reminds you in a low whisper.

You feel the heat rise in your cheeks. You let out a soft laugh and gently push him in a joking way, “no way am I getting in bed with you, Mr. Murdock. I am too much of a blanket hog. You’ll be cold the entire weekend.”

Matt lets out a laugh. He pulls you in close and kisses your ear.

“We’ll see about that.”

The shivers his kiss sent down your spine are hard to hide. You don’t care. You sigh and rest your head on his shoulder.

Matt quietly says your name.

Tilting your head to look up at him, and you reply, “yes?”

His auburn hair that usually falls perfectly in place now fell so it was covering half his face. You reach up to move it aside but his fingers latch to your wrist and slowly bring your hand back down to his lap.

Matt doesn’t have to see you to know you’re confused by his movements. That’s all he can really do, to show his feelings to you. He can’t possibly find the right words to describe how much he likes you–words fail him in that sense. He has so much to say to you, there’s so much that he feels. All he can do is hold your hand tighter and kiss your forehead.

“I like this a lot,” is all he can say. Foolish, he feels. The most beautiful girl you’ve ever talked to, the most sincere heart you’ve ever known is sitting right next to you, and that’s all you have to say?

You let out a soft laugh, “I’m glad, Matt. I was hoping you’d be staying a while.”

He knows what you mean by that. Not just staying a while in this dorm with you but staying a while in your life. Matt smiles.

“How are your classes, by the way? Are you feeling as overwhelmed with work as I?” He asks.

You shift, lifting your head from his shoulder.

“Yeah, a little,” you trail off, “I kind of jump at the work when it’s presented to me so I don’t get overwhelmed. And the faster I finish the bullshit busy work, the faster I can continue my investigating on that robbery.”

That robbery. The word takes him out of reality for a moment. Matt hasn’t roamed the streets since you both made up. He made a promise to himself to not let himself get distracted so he can put more time and energy into you, and he has. But hearing you bring up the robbery again stirs something inside of him: anxiety.

“Oh, really?” Matt asks, covering the worry in his tone. “Are there any…updates on that?”

“Any leads you mean?” You correct in jest. “Well, after break I’m going to the woman’s house for an interview. Her name is Camila Fredrick. I’ve already set up dates and everything. She’s more comfortable meeting after the holiday, which I totally understand. I’m just happy she agreed to speak with me. ‘You must be more pleasant than the real media’ she said in the email back,” you laugh, “I guess the title Undergrad comes off nicer.”

Matt forces himself to laugh at your jokes. He can’t stop his heart from beating so fast. Sure, you’d be meeting with the woman, Camila, in her own home, but how do you know you’d be safe from someone who could potentially be stalking her?

“Well, that’s lucky, I guess,” Matt replies.

“Yeah. She’s lucky for surviving, too. And I think she’s safe from the shooter… he’s in jail. His bail is like, almost $10,000, so I don’t think he’ll be getting out anytime soon.”

The last few words made Matt calm down just a little more. Still, what you didn’t know (that Matt does know) is that Neil isn’t the only player in this game.

“Whatever you do, wherever you go, ___, just be careful,” Matt tells you in a hushed voice. “This city is great, but it’s ugly.”

“I know, Matty,” the nickname slipped from your lips. Matt doesn’t seem to mind it. “I’m a tough girl, ya know?”

He smiles, “you are.”

For a moment, a fleeting moment, his mind plays an awful, cruel, trick on him and replaces Camila with you. The amount of rage that fills his blood, God forbid you were ever put in such danger… he wouldn’t be able to control himself. He wouldn’t wait for the law to bring justice. He’d serve it for you, even if that meant getting his hands bloody and bruised again.

The record has stopped playing. You glance at the clock. It’s not late yet, but you do feel sleepy. You sigh and stretch. If you and Matt were going to be going to your home in New Jersey, you’d better get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow is a day of packing, and then leaving the next day.

Matt says he’ll meet you in the morning for coffee and then he joked that you may need to help him pack his suitcase tomorrow. Joke or not, you’d be there in a heartbeat. You looked forward to spending the next few days with Matt.

He kisses you goodnight. The sound of his cane echoing down the hall almost puts you to sleep.

#matt murdock #daredevil #college matt murdock #matt murdock x reader #marvel fanfic #daredevil fanfic #matt murdock fanfic #charlie cox #charlie cox x reader #daredevil imagine #daredevil fanfiction #marvel imagine #marvel fanfiction #the defenders #foggy nelson #marci stahl #library series

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snowe-zolynn-rogers · 3 years

Text

Pairings: Past Aizawa/Mandalay

Word Count: 1,921 Words

Summary: Hitoshi and Katsuki's birthday.

Warnings: Period Mention, Menstruation Mention, Food Mention, Nightmare Mention, Death Mention, Cursing, Caps, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Usernames: Existence Is A Prison Aizawa: feral cat dad, Aoyama: gay salt, Hagakure: ranch flavored jello, Tokoyami: foil-mecha, Shinsou: farmer toshi, Kuroiro: life is a nightmare, Shiozaki: saviour, Tsunotori: schrodinger better run, Honenuki: pure, Monoma: nat20, Yamada: President Megaphone, Bakugou: deku-deck-you

Aizawa, We Agreed No More Cats: Chapter 7

6:25 AM

Existence Is A Prison

pure: It's a birthday! That means birthday breakfasts are in order!

life is a nightmare: Kiyo made everyone yakisoba buns with enoki and I made soup dumplings to celebrate.

farmer toshi: You two are so sweet, thank you.

deku deck-you: Thanks, girls.

pure: No problem!

saviour: I will not be attending class today. I will not be leaving my room today.

feral cat dad: What's wrong?

saviour: Painful period. Dysphoria. Hate living.

feral cat dad: I'm sorry, kid. I'll tell Vlad you're dehydrated and have Nemuri take care of you, she'll know more than me, but I'll bring a hot water bottle, food, and some company for you in the meantime.

saviour: Thank you, Mr. Aizawa.

feral cat dad: I am the father collective here, it's only fair I parent my child.

8:30 AM

Existence Is A Prison

nat20: I'm recording the classes for you so you don't miss anything, Ibara, dear.

saviour: Thank you, Seiko.

nat20: Not a problem, love. I don't want to see you falling behind when you don't deserve to. I mean, it's surely not your fault uterus' exist.

saviour: You're amazing.

nat20: I know.

12:45 PM

Existence Is A Prison

schrodinger better run: I'm bringing over lunch, Ibara.

saviour: You're all too nice to me. I shouldn't even be in bed still.

schrodinger better run: Ibara, honey, we're nice because we care about you. You deserve to rest this off and see when you feel better. There's no rushing yourself. I'm sure that, once you rest up a bit, Recovery Girl can help 'heal' the cramps or at least tone them down a bit.

saviour: Still, thank you. All of you.

2:04 PM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: I think this is hilarious, personally.

nat20: What's even happening over in 1-A, you guys have been yelling and all for like ten minutes.

gay salt: birthdayboysinbirthdayhats.jpg

gay salt: Shinsou had to come deliver something to Mr. Aizawa from Mr. Snipe's class and now everyone is questioning Kats and Hito if they're twins and Midoriya's trying to chill everyone out. Really, you should be here, Seiko.

nat20: They are twins. I mean, practically, yes, they are.

ranch flavored jello: I know, it's great. The best part is that everyone is in such a heated debate about it.

feral cat dad: I have no clue what's even happening but I'm not gonna stop this unless Katsuki or Hitoshi says something.

foil-mecha: ourclassrightnow.jpg

schrodinger better run: Todoroki, please. It's not that deep, man.

foil-mecha: I don't think he cares, honestly.

nat20: I heard more screaming. Vlad King is starting to get concerned.

foil-mecha: They said they are twins and Midoriya's trying to ask why Katsuki's mother cheated on his father. This is the funniest thing, honestly.

3:15 PM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: Okay, I found the 2006 First Year Sports Festival and I just need you all to see Mr. Aizawa as our age.

gay salt: younglankyaizawamidbattlewithtensei.jpg

foil-mecha: Mr. Aizawa, you were tiny.

feral cat dad: To be fair, I was an idiot kid and didn't eat well until like a week prior to that Sports Festival.

ranch flavored jello: I'll punt kick you, Dad.

feral cat dad: Yeah, yeah, I know. I started eating better after that, I promise.

gay salt: lankyaizawatakingdowntensei.jpg

nat20: Mr. Aizawa was a strong little stringbean.

feral cat dad: If you call me a stringbean again, I'll make you do garbage duty for a month.

nat20: That's normal, Father Collective.

feral cat dad: Curse these children being functional human beings.

President Megaphone: At least we know they clean up after each other and themselves.

President Megaphone: Plus, you were a stringbean, Shouta, so it's a fair statement.

deku deck-you: Wait, I just realized Mr. Aizawa told us he was divorced.

gay salt: Oh yeah, he did and nobody even questioned it!

ranch flavored jello: To be fair, we were busy introducing ourselves.

feral cat dad: Yeah, I was married for a while after high school. Maybe a year, I think.

President Megaphone: 10 months and 17 days from December 2010 to October 2011. I still think it's funny you didn't even spend one birthday married.

farmer toshi: Dad, what happened!?

feral cat dad: Well, you see, I had pressure put on me to get married to a girl I knew because we both weren't out yet as gay and lesbian, respectively, and we both realized during our marriage that it wasn't working so we went through a mutual divorce and are still friends.

President Megaphone: Yeah, Shouta and Sosaki are friends.

life is a nightmare: Shino Sosaki? Mandalay from the Wild Wild Pussycats?

feral cat dad: The one and only.

life is a nightmare; Wow.

9:52 PM

Existence Is A Prison

schrodinger better run: Dating sucks.

feral cat dad: Why, what's up, Pony?

schrodinger better run: My gf broke up with me because she realized I'm actually in Japan. I mean, I told her a hundred times but she never believed me that I was going international. for high school.

deku deck-you: Eh, the trash got rid of itself from what it sounds like.

schrodinger better run: I mean, I'm kind of happy because she never really liked me for more than just saying she was dating a cute girl but I also feel bad about being happy that we're broken up.

ranch flavored jello: Ice cream and cry?

schrodinger better run: Thank you, Toru, it's much appreciated.

2:26 AM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Hey, dad?

feral cat dad: Yes?

farmer toshi: Can I sleep in your room?

feral cat dad: Yeah, sure, come on. Don't let the cats out.

farmer toshi: You're not even gonna ask me why?

feral cat dad: Should it matter?

farmer toshi: Well, I don't think so. I just don't want to have another nightmare but usually the caregivers at the orphanage would ask for a good reason.

feral cat dad: Well, you don't need one with me. Just don't let the cats out is my only request. Ai has figured out how to open the kitchen door and will get lost on UA grounds again.

farmer toshi: Kumo is staring at me while I open the door.

feral cat dad: Yeah, he's like that. Just ignore him, focus more of keeping Ai from making a break for it.

farmer toshi: Alright.

11:04 AM

Existence Is A Prison

feral cat dad: Alright, I was going through you kids' files during my free period and Tsunotori, your birthday is today.

schrodinger better run: Oh, I don't like celebrating my birthday. I haven't celebrated it since I was six.

feral cat dad: Why, what happened?

schrodinger better run: My cousin from my biological family made fun of my feet, we got in a fight, and I couldn't explain to defend myself so I got grounded and wasn't allowed to celebrate my birthday so I just haven't celebrated it since then.

feral cat dad: Is there still a day we can celebrate with you that isn't today?

schrodinger better run: I like celebrating my adoption date as my new birthday. October 7th.

feral cat dad: I'll put a reminder for that.

saviour: Wait, are you putting all of our birthdays as reminders?

feral cat dad: Perhaps.

7:15 AM

Existence Is A Prison

foil-mecha: I'm going to the convenience store before school for breakfast in class because I want sandos and energy drinks. Anyone else want? Say yes.

feral cat dad: YES.

foil-mecha: Are you okay? You responded in like one second.

feral cat dad: I'm just realizing I like someone and I'm suffering.

gay salt: Please.

nat20: Yes.

farmer toshi: Two redbulls and anything with egg, please.

saviour: Fruit if it's there.

pure: Yes.

schrodinger better run: Yes, I'm so hungry.

life is a nightmare: Ham is preferred, please and thank you.

ranch flavored jello: Yes, food.

deku deck-you: Yes, please.

foil-mecha: Everyone will receive redbulls and sandos.

8:15 AM

Existence Is A Prison

foil-mecha: I got held up, there was a villain attack right outside the store when I got there. I'm with food and drink and on my way back.

feral cat dad: I've already written you a pass, it's taped to the wall just inside the gate, have fun delivering food to Hitoshi.

8:25 AM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Tokoyami is a god.

farmer toshi: tworedbullsandthreesandos.jpg

nat20: Wow, he likes you.

foil-mecha: Oh, I got three for everyone. I just grabbed a bunch so everyone can pick.

nat20: Be careful at 1b, Mr. Kan is one of those 'bring something for yourself, share it with everyone' type of teachers.

foil-mecha: And I'll tell him to fuck off because us dorm kids didn't eat breakfast this morning.

deku deck-you: Yeah, our poor stove is dead.

ranch flavored jello: It wasn't my fault! I promise! I was just cooking and it died!

feral cat dad: To be fair, it is old. I think that thing's been there since I was in UA.

8:35 AM

Existence Is A Prison

nat20 has started a video chat

[Tokoyami opening door and Vlad King stops teaching and stares at him]

Kid, you're not my student. Your class is down the hall, are you lost? -Unknown

Hey, Pony, Kiyo. Here, pick three each and a drink or two. -foil-mecha

Young man, you can't just waltz into my classroom and hand unsolicited food to only two students. -Unknown

[Kiyomi and Pony are shown grabbing their sandos and redbulls from the large bag Tokoyami came in with]

You're right, I'm not. Ibara, Kageya, Seiko, come get yours too. I found a cool one I think you'll like, Ibara. -foil-mecha

Oh? What is it? -saviour

Well, I heard you say you like apples and melon. I found you a sando with both. -foil-mecha

I'm in love with you. -saviour

Sure, yeah Get your food, I need to get to 1-A. -foil-mecha

You should be in there now! This isn't your class! -Unknown

Sir? Sir. I really don't care. I have a pass from Mr. Aizawa and I'm literally about to leave. Our oven broke in the dorms so none of us ate breakfast this morning. I went to get us all breakfast and got held up with a villain attack. Kindly, sir, I think even Nezu would be unhappy if even a single one of us hero course students weren't eating breakfast this close to the Sports Festival. So, you feel free to carry on your lesson. Let just the five of your students eat their breakfast. I promise, it won't disrupt you further than it has. -foil-mecha

Fine. -Unknown

nat20 has ended the video chat

gay salt: I love Tokoyami. I do.

foil-mecha: My mothers and fathers didn't raise a carpet, I don't exist to be stepped on by authority figures.

nat20: Thanks, Fumi. I'm starving.

foil-mecha: Anything for my friends.

ranch flavored: ALL HAIL FOOD GOD TOKOYAMI

feral cat dad: Bringer of Energy Drink, Keeper of the Sando.

gay salt: We all love you, Fumi.

foil-mecha: What a time to be alive, being adored by my peers and teacher AND getting to tell off an annoying teacher?

feral cat dad: God, yes, sando time. Gimme.

gay salt: aizawaeatingasandolikeaferalcat.jpg

nat20: Thanks, I'm scarred for life having witnessed Feralzawa.

farmer toshi: I love you, Fumi.

foil-mecha: Seems that's everyone's sentiment this morning.

farmer toshi: I'll get a crush, fucker, don't tempt me.

foil-mecha: Alright, alright.

Taglist: @everythingisstardust

13 notes · View notes

foursideharmony · 3 years

Text

The Cat, the Prince, and the Doorway to Imagination (Chapter 8)

Summary: Before there can be a mending, there must be a shattering...

Pairings: Platonic/familial LAMP/CALM, Platonic/familial DLAMPR

Content Warnings: Unconsciousness, extreme self-doubt, ugly crying, profanity

Word Count: 3,923

Read on AO3: here

Patton knelt beside Roman and maneuvered an arm behind his shoulders in order to lift him into a reclining position. The Creative Side remained worryingly unconscious—the Witch's power had evidently been shielding him from the effects of cold exposure, and he had traded his ethereal pallor for a sickly one. “He's chilled,” Patton reported. “Maybe a little shocky from the stress. We ought to get him underground and into some nice warm blankets.”

“Maybe it serves him right,” Virgil muttered even as he slipped out of his fur coat and laid it over the prince, relying on his hoodie to keep himself warm enough in the meantime. “So now what?”

“Aw, all those cool gross monster things are leaving!” Remus said, peering down the slope of the hill. “I wanted to see a gory battle! From the inside!”

“Can't you?” Virgil said acidly. “I thought you said you'd get control of the Imagination if Roman got knocked out.”

“I said I'd get control if I knocked Roman out. It's part of the whole sibling rivalry thing. We fight over who gets to play with the good toys. Didn't you notice that nothing has really changed around here? We're still in Roman's story.” He looked pensive, which was always a dangerous sign. “I guess I could try to clock him one anyway, but I don't know if it would work when he's unconscious already.” He shrugged. “Oh well, maybe he'll get frostbite and his fingers and toes will turn black and fall off! That would be a hoot!”

“Eugh, why are you like this?” said Virgil.

“Don't you dare touch him,” Patton said firmly. “That's one experiment that is not happening today.” He lifted Roman a little more and tucked the edges of the coat under him.

“How's he looking?” asked Virgil.

“I don't think he's getting any worse, at least. I still want to get him inside one of the shelters.”

“Something tells me that's actually not going to be necessary,” said Janus, speaking for the first time since he had managed to trigger Roman's sudden turnaround. He pointed toward the area of thick forest roughly to the east of the hill. “I do so hate to correct you, Remus, but that looks like change to me.”

All the trees in a roughly circular patch had lost their coatings of snow and displayed either dark needles or bare gray-brown branches. The patch was slowly growing, and as they watched, a trail of the same phenomenon formed, leading off of the main area and meandering toward the hill. The forest sparkled as drops of newly melted water fell from twigs and caught the sun, and before long, those twigs began to mist over with pale green.

The trail reached the edge of the forested area, and there emerged from the trees...a tawny, long-haired cat. As it paced forward, the snow vanished under its paws, revealing dark, damp earth from which grass immediately began to sprout. The cat began to climb the Hill of the Stone Table, and with every step, the nascent springtime spread farther and, astonishingly, the cat grew larger . Before it was halfway up the slope, it was somewhere between a lynx and a leopard in size and still growing. Its shaggy fur clustered around its neck and shoulders, its jaws became heavier, its tail acquired a tuft at the end. It was a lion that reached the crest of the hill, the snow fleeing before him, paws striking the ground like miniature earthquakes, tiny white and yellow flowers bursting from the ground in his wake.

The response of the assembled Narnians was immediate, collective, and extreme. They didn't drop to the ground kneeling or bowing, as one might expect in the presence of their King, but ran to the Lion, keening with delight and adoration. Talking Beasts nuzzled his paws and flanks, Fauns and Dwarfs combed their fingers through his mane, and the whole throng constantly called out his name— “Aslan, Aslan!” —the various tones and pitches of their voices overlapping and blending together into a susurration like surf on a beach.

Aslan, for his part, returned their affection in full, dipping his head to brush whiskers with the beasts, swishing his tail to tickle the Fauns. Yet he maintained his pace as he continued toward the center of the hilltop, toward where the Sides were watching the proceedings with awkward astonishment, like the outsiders they were. Remus stared at the great Lion with mixed apprehension and fascination. Janus looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, but understood that even the most casual exit would only attract attention. Virgil stood stiffly as if pinned in place, splitting the difference between terror and giddy excitement and landing somewhere in the vicinity of shock. And Patton...

Patton certainly hadn't forgotten about Roman, but at the sight of Aslan's approach, he was moved to lay the Prince back down on the warming ground and step forward, shy and sentimental, to greet Aslan.

“We've already met, haven't we,” he said. It wasn't a question. Aslan nodded. “Thank you, for what you did yesterday. It helped Ailim a lot. Me too.”

Aslan turned in a slow circle, his gaze sweeping to encompass the entire gathering in turn. At last he spoke, in a voice as heavy and rich as gold itself. “Things are beginning to be set right. But there are yet choices to be made.” He walked over to Roman and bent to sniff him, causing him to flinch and whimper, but not waken just yet.

“Is Roman going to be okay?” asked Patton.

“Physically, he will,” Aslan replied. “As for the rest...that is largely up to him.” He swept his golden gaze over the crowd once more. “Shouldn't there be one more of you?”

“If you're talking about Logan,” Virgil said, “he...wait, why am I telling you? Aren't you supposed to be all-knowing or whatever?

Aslan actually smiled slightly. “Indeed. Bring him here.” A small group of Narnians jumped up to fetch Logan from where they had hidden him earlier in order to make Janus's illusion convincing. “As for the rest of you...you may wish to cover your ears.”

They did (except for Remus, who tried to pull his off entirely and discovered too late that he couldn't), and even so, Aslan's roar was an almost solid physical force. A shockwave of sorts spread out from the hill at tremendous speed, and as it passed it obliterated the hundred-year winter—no slow melting of snow, no gentle emergence of leaf buds, but an instant replacement of one season by the next. In a mere moment, the white and gray world had been made over into one of azure and earthy brown and every possible shade of green, splashed here and there with delicate floral pastels.

And there was another instantaneous effect. The sheer noise of it woke Roman up. His eyes sprang open and he gasped, body twitching as every nerve and muscle was startled into full alertness. He flailed for a moment before managing to sit up just as the roar died away. He looked around wildly, apparently not recognizing his greatly altered surroundings, until his eyes focused and his glance fell upon the Lion.

Roman's face crumpled. He made a tiny noise of anguish and turned around so that he wasn't facing Aslan, or the other Sides, or anyone.

“Roman...” Patton said. “It's gonna be—”

“I'll go,” Roman said into his own knees. “I'll leave the Imagination running so you can keep the story going until you're ready to stop.”

“Roman. Do not run from this,” Aslan said softly. “You have wronged your companions. You must face those wrongs if you wish to ever dispel them.”

“Dispel them...” Roman repeated bitterly. “Are you sure I'm not meant to keep on compounding them?”

“Okay, Princey, enough,” said Virgil, stepping forward and grasping Roman's shoulder in a gesture that was equal parts friendly and forceful. “Lay off the self-pity already. Nobody here expects you to be the bad guy. Nobody here thinks you're the bad guy unless something goes really wrong, which apparently it did. And I can definitely tell you that nobody here wants you to be the bad guy. You owe us all an apology, but that can wait. The most important thing right now is that you fix that.” He pointed across the hilltop to where the Narnians were just settling the Logan-statue into place.

Roman's eyes found it, and his expression collapsed all over again, this time with a faint greenish tinge. But he steeled himself, got his feet under himself (pointedly ignoring Virgil's offer of a hand up), and made himself walk over to the quartz form of his friend. “I-I don't know if I can,” he said. “I used the Witch's power to...and I don't have it anymore. She has it back now, she's back, and—”

“Try,” said Aslan, the single syllable falling like the closing of an oaken door.

Roman made a short nod, gulping hard, and set his attention to undoing the enchantment. He drew his sword, willed it to act again as a magic wand, and focused on Logan. On making flesh (or whatever the Sides were, in the mindscape) instead of stone. On making him live again. He put all his power of wishing into it.

Nothing happened. Logan remained frozen in crystal. Roman staggered back a step or two, panting with distress. “I am losing control over the Imagination,” he said in a voice that was almost a squeak. “I can't even... It's probably for the reason Patton said. I...I...” Without another word, he dropped his sword and fled down the slope of the hill and into the green trees.

“Roman, wait!” called Patton, to no effect.

“Bye, bro!” Remus added with an over-the-top wave.

“I will see to him,” said Aslan. “But first...” He nosed Logan for a moment, then huffed out a breath over him. Satisfied, he padded away after Roman.

For a moment still, nothing changed. Virgil was the one to spot the subtle first sign: the dark lines filling themselves in on Logan's chest, tracing the shape of his logo, the bespectacled brain. The black color spread out quickly from there as his shirt softened into fabric, and within seconds, his face and hands flushed peach, his hair was brown and rippling in the light breeze, and Logan was back and... toppling over with a little shout of surprise as he overbalanced.

“LOGAN!” Patton exulted, tackle-hugging the Logical Side in his unbridled joy, adding to the confusion of his waking.

They decided later that it was, on the whole, worth it.

Start small.

It wasn't the first time Roman had lost control over the Imagination during an adventure. The stories sometimes took on a life of their own, after all, and that occasionally meant defying the author no matter how he tried to assert himself.

What was different this time was that he had also become the villain. The story had pushed him into it, but...had it, really? That was the question that needed answering.

I thought I was your hero...

Thomas doesn't want a wicked Creativity...

If he could take control back, then it meant he wasn't the bad guy after all, and things would be all right.

He had found a shaded grove with bare, reasonably dry dirt that he could sit on while he brooded and tried the smallest thing of all: making a mushroom. If he could coax a little fungus cap up out of the soil, he would know he wasn't too far gone. If not...well...better just focus on doing it.

So far, no luck. The ground remained agonizingly mushroom-free.

He became aware of a looming presence in the grove with him, and barely glanced over his shoulder at the bulky form of Aslan. “Oh. Hi,” he said. There didn't seem to be much else to say.

“I have restored Logan, and he is well,” said the Lion.

Roman turned back to his total lack of mushrooms. “Of course you did,” he sighed. “I made you to be able to do everything Aslan can in the books. Which is pretty much everything , since...you know. So why can't I do any of it now?” He blinked back a tear or two. “Why couldn't I fix Logan?”

“You did very well. You tried. That was all I asked.”

“For all the good it did.” He pulled up a handful of new grass and let the blades fall, a few at a time, through his fingers. “I don't know what to do anymore. I made all of this—I made you—so I could give them a fun, simple adventure and be the hero in a world where heroism and villainy are clean-cut...and it turned out I was supposed to be the villain all along. What do I do with that? Patton said it: Thomas doesn't want a wicked Creativity. I can't make his dreams come true if I'm not the hero...but even the Imagination doesn't want me to be the hero anymore...so what does that leave?”

Aslan circled around until he was in front of Roman and lay down on his belly, his bulk making the grove tremble. “Roman...do you really believe you are meant to be the villain?”

“I must be. I voluntarily went to the Witch. We...I stole your power! And then I took the Witch's power! I basically became her!”

“Yes. And then you released my power, and in the process gave up hers. You chose to turn away from that path. And I would say that the change began even earlier. Do you remember how you came to acquire the Witch's power?”

“Of course. I took it from her because she was...” Roman's eyes widened. “Because she was going to hurt the others, and it was the only way to keep them safe. I didn't even intend to take it for myself, it just happened that way.”

“Precisely. In a world where heroism and villainy are clean-cut...what would you call someone who thwarts a villain in order to protect the innocent?”

Roman made a half-hearted snicker. “You know, you sounded like Logan just then.”

“Are you avoiding the question?”

“No...but even if I was a hero in that moment, I sure went hard to the bad afterward.”

“Until you stopped yourself.”

For the first time, Roman actually lifted his head to meet Aslan's gaze. He studied the Lion's bottomless amber eyes, looking for even a hint of manipulation, but found only absolute sincerity. After a long moment, he found his words again.

“So which am I? The hero or the villain?”

“Any answer I could give to that question would be misleading. You worry too much about what you are. You might do better to think instead about what you choose to do. And what you will choose to do.”

“One thing's for sure...like Virgil said, I owe the others a major apology.”

“Indeed you do.”

“But I don't know if I can face them yet.”

“Try,” Aslan said as he had before...except that his tone was much lighter this time. “I will be with you.”

“Will they forgive me?”

“There is only one way to find out.”

Roman nodded slowly, and carefully stood. “Let's find out, then.”

At his feet, unnoticed, a tiny mushroom swelled from the earth.

A hush fell over the hilltop as Roman returned, walking stiffly as if he had to force every step. His head was slumped, his arms folded tightly across his chest. Aslan trailed him by several paces, and hung back when Roman stopped, a courteous distance from the other Sides. He didn't look up as he took a deep breath and said, “I...I have...something to say,” in a thick voice.

The others all traded glances. And traded glances again. “Go on...” Patton prompted in as neutral a tone as he could manage.

It seemed an eternity before Roman forced “...i'm sorry...” through a throat half-clogged with unshed tears. Suddenly he was sobbing into his hands, his knees slowly buckling.

Patton lunged for him, but to his surprise, Virgil beat him by a hair, gathering the Prince into his arms and helping him down into a kneeling position on the grass. “I gotcha, Princey,” he said. “Get it out, it'll be okay.”

“I'm so, so sorry!” Roman wailed, clutching at Virgil as he were the edge of a cliff. “It wasn't what I wanted at all but it seemed like the Imagination did and...Patton, I'm sorry about the ice, and Logan—oh, god, Logan, I'm SO sorry I...” He trailed off into more wrenching, ugly sobs while Virgil tightened the huge, Patton joined in, and Logan placed a steady hand on Roman's heaving shoulders. Without at any point speaking the words “I forgive you,” all three of them made them understood.

(Unnoticed by the four of them, Remus stepped forward and opened his mouth to say something. Janus calmly silenced him.)

Roman cried for a long time. He cried until he was out of tears and nearly out of breath, until the exertion of bawling left him limp in the others' arms. Only then did the storm finally subside, leaving Roman with a peculiar empty space inside him where something had drained away. At its center was a hard, sharp little knot of hurt, no longer wrapped in the resentment and bluster he had been using to cushion it. He sagged, depleted and hollow, in the embrace of his companions, and like opposing magnetic fields, their presence kept the nugget of pain suspended safely away from his emotional nerves, until by and by something new began to trickle into the empty place to shield him from the sharpest edges.

Roman took a deep breath, and felt as though he were breathing in light. “So,” he said, hoarse but with a genuine warmth that they had all been missing, “I've been acting like an idiot, haven't I?”

There was a pause, and then Virgil said, “You were acting?”

Roman shoved him away with amused annoyance, and the whole scene might have dissolved into absurdity had Janus not loudly and meaningfully cleared his throat. Roman was suddenly intensely, mortifyingly aware of their audience, and he got to his feet, slapping grass debris off his trousers, cheeks burning with more than just tear tracks.

“Far be it from me to interfere with you four,” Janus said, “but are we all done here? No loose ends to tie up?”

Remus pried his hand free of his mouth with his other hand. “Heh heh, you said 'tie up!' What about me, Roman? Don't I get an apology?”

Roman pulled a face. “I haven't done anything to you. And as for you...” he went on, turning to Janus, “...I don't know if I'm ready to be sorry yet.”

“Fair enough, I suppose. I appreciate your honesty.”

“Do you, though?”

Janus shrugged extravagantly, half-smiling.

“But to answer your question...you can all leave if you want. The Imagination will let you out. But I still need to deal with the White Witch.”

“But you were the White Witch,” said Janus. “Weren't you?”

“Not exactly. I took her...I'll tell you how that all worked later, if you want. The point is, she's back now, as herself, and she still needs to be defeated if this story is to have a proper happy ending.”

“That doesn't seem so hard,” said Patton. “Aslan is here and he brought spring back, you're here and we've made up...if we're following the book, then we're back on track!”

“Indeed,” said Aslan, startling the heck out of Roman, who hadn't heard him approach. “At your request, Roman, we can proceed with the story as you originally intended.”

It would be so easy...just hand the reins to the big omnipotent god-lion and let him take care of everything, secure in the knowledge that the story had already been written. “No,” Roman said. “Some stories are about a wrongdoer being redeemed by a higher power, and those certainly have their time and place.” He smoothed down the front of his suit, adjusted his sash and cuffs, and reclaimed his sword from where he had dropped it on the hilltop. “This story is going to be about the wrongdoer fixing his own fuck-up.” Patton gasped at the curse word, which was gratifying in its own way. “I'm going to fight her myself. She'll want revenge on me anyway, for stealing her power. I'm going to let her think she can get it...and take her down.”

“Ooh!” Remus quavered. “Sounds violent! I'm in!”

“N-no...well...I guess you can watch, but no interfering! I'm going to challenge her to a duel, for Pete's sake!”

“If Remus is going, then the rest of us should probably stick around too,” said Virgil. “Who knows how many of us it's going to take to keep him corralled? Besides, look what happened the last time we let you wander off to the Witch's castle by yourself.”

“Sure, rub it in,” said Roman. “So who all is coming with me?”

The Sides formed a line, standing shoulder-to-shoulder before Roman. “It would appear that we all intend to go,” said Logan.

“You don't have to face any more evils alone, kiddo,” said Patton.

“But let's make it quick, because I have a salon appointment at two,” said Janus, pretending to study his fingernails through his gloves. He glanced up and winked.

“And you do not wish my involvement in any way?” asked Aslan.

“No, I want...wait. Is indirect involvement a possibility? Because I'm suddenly thinking it's going to be a long walk to her castle, and it might be nice if you could...give us a boost? Please?”

“Certainly,” said the Lion. “Do not be alarmed.” With that, he blew out a long breath over the Sides, and the Hill of the Stone Table and its environs blew away as if they were only a flimsy façade, perhaps painted on scraps of paper. After that eye-wateringly disorienting moment, they took stock of their situation.

They were surrounded on three sides by tall, lush evergreens, and underfoot was mostly crumbly pine needles. On the fourth side was a brief meadow of patchy grass and sparse wildflowers, and beyond that was a lake, or perhaps a broad pond. It did not seem to have thawed completely with the springtime; there were plenty of ice chunks bobbing in the water. These may have broken off the large and solid bank or platform of ice near the center, upon which was the White Witch's castle.

It looked different by daylight, and out of the perpetual winter. The Witch's power yet extended as far as her own dwelling and a little area around it, but without a backdrop of oppressive snow to bolster it, the castle seemed a much poorer and punier structure. Some of the trees at their backs were taller than its spires.

“Thank you for the...” Roman said, trailing off as he realized that Aslan was not there.

“You did request only indirect assistance from him,” Logan pointed out.

“Yeah...” Roman swallowed and squared his shoulders. “Showtime,” he muttered, and strode forward toward the castle.

#sanders sides #fanfiction #lamp/calm #platonic lamp/calm #dlampr #platonic dlampr #sympathetic janus #sympathetic remus #villainous roman #narnia

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mythrilhusk · 3 years

Text

Despite Everything - Chapter 2

NOT RPF (Ao3 link) Words - 2,243 Last Chapter

Next Chapter

CW: violence, imprisonment, inhumane treatment

"You see, Quackity, the idea is to not get caught." Technoblade whets his battle axe with firm, lazy strokes as he leans on a blackstone pillar.

Quackity laughs nervously and reaches for his sword. "I, uh, didn't see you there, Techno." His six pairs of wings flutter and ruffle, barely hidden behind his crude glamour.

"K."

"You're not going to stop me." Quackity gathers his courage-- a contradiction considering he's literally the Angel of Fear-- and steps forward, sword ready.

Technoblade, Angel of Wrath, strikes a terrifying figure as he steps into the glow of Jupiter shining through the windows. "You sure?" The gold-sheathed tusks glint as a grin crosses Techno's bristly muzzle. His two massive wings rustle behind his back, flaring menacingly.

Quackity gulps and points a furious finger at Techno. "You- you fucking took the last biscuit, but I won't let you get away with it, Technoblade, I will have my revenge!"

Technoblade splutters, then laughs. "That's the best you can come up with??"

"I'm under pressure, here!" Quackity blushes angrily. "Just let me beat you already!"

"High hopes for a man who just claimed revenge for a biscuit." Technoblade chuckles. "But alright, let's see if you've improved since the last time I handed your ass to you."

Quackity drops his glamour. Technoblade flinches back from the blazing light of Quackity's multi-winged amorphousness. "Ha!" Quackity slams his sword down at Technoblade's arm.

Techno's axe deflects the sword and his fist slams into Quackity, knocking the Angel against the wall. Quackity heaves instinctively to regain his breath, despite not needing air. Techno roars and leaps at him with his axe upraised.

Yelping, Quackity rolls out of the way. The axe slams into the floor, and Techno rips it out before stalking once more for Quackity. "The fuck, man, are you trying to kill me??"

"Treat every fight as a life-or-death situation." Technoblade intones.

Quackity reaches for his sword, which leaps into his hand. He deflects Techno's next swing, then ducks under the axe and slashes for Techno's ribs. "Eat shit, motherfucker!"

Techno doesn't even falter as the sword slices through his shirt, doesn't even flinch as blood wells from the gash. Roaring, he knocks Quackity's sword from his hands and lashes the axe across his form.

"Stop, stop, haha, stop, wait!" Quackity cowers, retreating behind his glamour, wincing as his form regenerates the deep wound.

Technoblade slips the axe into the sheathe by his side and raises his clawed hands to show he's unarmed. He shifts down to his smaller, less intimidating form. "You fool." He chuckles with light mockery. "Train for another hundred years, then we'll see."

"You damn bastard, you never let me win."

"Let you win?? Why would I do that??" Technoblade guffaws. "Let you win. Wilbur, you hearing this?"

Wilbur emerges from the ceiling. The Angel of Deceit's figure never settles on one form, glittering and glitching as he morphs continuously. "I heard." He says, grinning down at Quackity. "I bet I could beat you, Technoblade."

"Really? Wanna test that?" Technoblade reaches for his axe, baring his teeth with excitement for battle.

"Nah, not right now. I'm still asleep." Wilbur drops to the floor.

"Hey, boys." Philza's voice filters through the sparring room.

"Philza!" Technoblade cries joyfully, bounding to give the old man a big hug.

"I heard that, you little shit." Philza snaps. "I'm not fucking old."

Quackity stomps his foot, laughing nervously. "I didn't think anything, you didn't hear anything, fuck, I'm sorry!"

"You better be."

"What's up, Philza?" Wilbur grins eerily. His grins always manage to be eery somehow, even in the more attractive forms he occasionally wears.

"I just got a message. Someone's got a new job for the Pax Triumvirs."

"Pog~," Technoblade hums.

"What is it?" Quackity steps forward, taking the proffered scroll from Philza. He looks into the holographic screen. "The Lucid Spider? Who the fuck is he??"

"Dunno. But the job seems fun enough. Techno, you'll like this one."

"Oh? Oh?" Technoblade grunts, doing a little shuffly dance of excitement. "Are we blowing up another government?"

"Seems like." Philza takes his scroll back from Quackity. "This Chiaroscuro Emperor has been gettin' a little too cozy, anyway. It's about time we stirred up some bees in his bonnet."

"Who the fuck is the Lucid Spider, though??" Quackity cries. "Can we trust him to pay us?? How much are we getting paid, anyway?"

"Quackity, money is merely material, while destruction of enforced hierarchies is spiritual." Technoblade hums. Wilbur tries to fistbump him, but his hands turn into lobster claws and Techno refuses to notice, so Wilbur sags, feigning dejection.

Quackity sneers. "That's bullshit, Techno-" The chrysaor reaches for his axe. "Ahaha, I'm joking, I'm joking, please don't punt me!"

Technoblade keeps one hand rested on his axe just to spite Quackity. "Phil, he's got a point. Who is this Lucid Spider fellow?"

"I dunno, mate. But he's paid half a billion up front, an' promised the rest when the job's done, so I think we're all cool."

"Alright, alright. That sound good to you, Quackity?" Technoblade cocks his head, his ears pricking hopefully. "You're the money-guy."

"You shoulda told him a trillion up front, and two trillion when the job's done. One fucking billion is pauper-speak." Quackity scoffs. "We need supplies and shit for the coup, we can't just summon food and allies out of thin air."

"True, true. Philza?" Technoblade only ever yields to Quackity's expertise when money matters are concerned. In all other fields, he or Philza takes the lead. Quackity enjoys being the technical treasurer of the Pax Triumvirs, but he wishes he had slightly more control over the missions they went on.

"Eh, I'll let'im know." Philza shrugs, then winks at Quackity. "Beat Techno once and maybe we'll talk about letting you lead a mission, kid." His forest-green cape billows behind him as he spins to leave the sparring room.

Quackity laughs, preemptively nervous, and backs into a pillar. "Technoblade, don't get the wrong fucking idea, man."

"K." Techno's eyes gleam with amusement. "You want to try?"

"I could beat you with my eyes closed." Quackity scoffs. "I don't need to try, I already know I could, I- I just want to spare your dignity!"

Techno keeps giving him that damn sadistically amused look. "K."

"I'll fight you, Quackity." Wilbur pipes up, still grinning. "I don't have any dignity to spare."

"Nah, I'm actually really fucking tired right now, so maybe later, ahaha, or never, seeya losers!" Quackity hastily camouflages and flees from the sparring room.

He's still not used to this, even after three years. He's not used to sharing a literal underground mansion with literal terrorists, much less being dragged into commiting acts of minor terrorism himself. He's not accustomed to the casual violence, the utter apathy towards other lives, the reckless attitude towards death.

He plops down on a beanbag in his room and stares at his shaking hands. "If I had a choice," He wonders aloud. If he had been given a choice, would he have taken the cleaner, less bloody route?

But the gods don't allow their Angels to choose. Theirs is not to question why, theirs is but to do and die.

++++

Ponk paces restlessly, fire flickering in his eyes and hands. Hannah Rose watches him from her corner, cold tears dripping down the steel muzzle over her jaws. The two captives have only each other. The passage of time is lost in the silence.

Rose raises her head as the massive door outside their cell slides open with the blaring of an alarm. She glowers silently at the Scythes, who enter before the Chiaroscuro Emperor.

"Well!" Emperor Schlatt claps his hands together cheerfully. "Well, well, well." The forcefield is all that stands between the prisoners and their captor.

"Fuck you, man." Ponk snarls. "Let us go."

"Hm, lemme think about that. How about no." Schlatt shrugs, grinning. "You little fucks think you can cross me, eh? Around here, my word is law."

The three Scythes step forward in unison. Schlatt leans against the wall. "You ready to talk nicely, Rose, or do we need to keep you silenced?"

Rose scowls at him. Her hands are chained to the wall, so she can't even respond with a crude gesture. Ponk kicks the forcefield, then yelps as it disappears. He backs away from the Scythes stalking towards him.

Scythe Ranboo approaches Rose. His green eye narrows, hard and cold, the pupil constricted to a mere slit. The red cybernetic implant of his other eye whirls and spins in its socket, trying to see everything at once. The black and white metal exo-jaws keep his mouth clamped shut. Rose almost feels bad for the Scythes. They're not allowed to speak either, muzzled like dangerous dogs, like herself.

Ranboo removes Rose's muzzle and she works her sore jaws. "Thank you." She murmurs. If she can get even one of the Scythes to sympathize with her, she and Ponk may have a fighting chance of escape. Ranboo replies with the slightest of nods, then retreats back to Schlatt.

In the meantime, Scythes Tubbo and Tommy have cornered Ponk as Schlatt interrogates him. "I don't know what you mean!" Ponk cries, cowering. "I don't know where the heart is!"

Schlatt turns to Rose. "Hey, bitch, you want to help your buddy out?"

"I'll tell you fuck-all." Rose snarls.

"Heh, okay. Guess I have no use for either of you, then. Tubbo?" Schlatt turns to his Scythes. Tubbo removes two painfully familiar phylacteries from his suit pocket, handing them both to Schlatt.

"No!" Ponk cries. "You can't- please don't, man, I really honestly don't know what you want!"

"I want the Cosmos Heart!" Schlatt bellows. "And I'm going to get it!"

"You motherfuckers don't know what you're playing with!" Ponk snarls right back. At a gesture from Schlatt, Tommy slams Ponk into the wall.

"Hannah Rose?" Schlatt turns to Rose. Ranboo stalks towards her. "Sing for us, birdie, or your little fuckbuddy here dies first." Schlatt dangles Ponk's phylactery on his finger.

Several colorful curses leap to Rose's tongue, but she restrains herself, trying to meet the predicament with a clear head. "I'll tell you." She growls. "If you give those back and free us."

"What, do I look like a cruel person to you?" Schlatt laughs. "Tell me and I'll do you one better! I'll hire both of you!"

Rose shoots Ponk a warning glance. He can't continue to defy Schlatt, or they'll both die. She answers, "Fine. The Cosmos Heart can be found in the Unity of the Dragons."

Schlatt laughs. "What's that supposed to even fucking mean?"

"The Spirits. Find them, unify them, and their powers combined will form what you desire."

"Alright. I'm a man of my word. Ranboo, escort Hannah Rose to the Butterfly suite."

"Let Ponk go, too." Rose demands.

"Sweetie, I don't have any reason to let either of you go. I could kill you both and not lose anything, right now. But I'm being nice, here."

"Please." Tears well in Rose's eyes as her lip trembles and her breath catches on feigned sobs. "I can't lose him, too."

"Aww, c'mon, sweetheart. Alright, alright, fine, don't cry, he can share the suite with you. But I'm keeping these." Schlatt hands one phylactery to Ranboo, and the other to Tommy.

"Thank you," Rose keeps up the act, sobbing almost for real out of relief.

Ranboo leads Ponk and Rose through the vast space-castle in silence. Ponk is unusually quiet, glaring down at his grimy boots as he stomps on the clean tiles. Rose stares out of the portal windows they pass, watching the stars.

"Now I have three souls I can't lose." Ranboo mutters. Rose glances up at him, noting that the exo-jaw has loosened its hold to allow him speech. His eyes drop to her forehead, avoiding her eyes as he always has, and he smiles weakly. "Nevermind."

"Can I have mine, please?" Rose dares to ask.

"I- I can't, Schlatt would be so furious if I did, I'm sorry." Ranboo shakes his head hastily. "I'm supposed to obey him."

Rose gives him a pitying smile. "Please keep my soul safe, then."

"I'll do my best." Ranboo replies. He stops by a hatch and taps the ID pad with a finger. "Here you go. Butterfly Suite."

The hatch flowers open to a spartan set of rooms. Rose enters the cold space and sighs, longing for her tapestries and carpets. "Can I decorate it?"

"Uh, you can ask Schlatt, or whoever he puts in charge of you guys." Ranboo deflects nervously.

Rose nods to him. "Thank you, Ranboo."

"Oh. I- oh. Please don't thank me." Ranboo backs out of the room. "Someone will come with food later."

"Thank you." She repeats with an innocent smile. Ranboo retreats. The hatch closes and locks behind him. Her smile falls into bitter hatred. "Damn them!" She snarls and kicks the wall. "Damn them all to the pits of Tartarus!!"

Ponk drops onto the only seating present, a wooden bench. "Why'd you tell them?" He sounds lost, broken.

"I couldn't let you die, Ponk! I can't fucking live with that, not even for a few moments!!" Rose paces the main room, then inspects the offshoots. Two bedrooms, a bathroom with a luxuriously deep tub, and a kitchen. Not bad, and certainly a step up from the cell. But they're still trapped here.

Hannah Rose hates being trapped.

Next Chapter

#imprisonment cw #violence cw #technoblade #quackity #wilbur soot #philza #hannahxxrose #ponk #ranboo #tubbo #tommyinnit #jschlatt #dream smp au #magical girl au #magical warrior au #dream smp #not rpf #rainbow arson

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

Note

Much like Amity was retconned into just needing Ironwood's password when it was originally NOT completed, the army seems pretty ready after Ironwood said that the army was too exhausted to fight Salem, hence why they needed to take the staff and run. Another thing that has changed just to make Ironwood seem like more of a bad guy.

I think there’s a potential explanation here, but it requires that we put more thought into it than the average viewer tends to (and I mean that not as a criticism, just a general acknowledgment that this show is a form of entertainment — watched primarily for casual fun — and thus the story can’t bank on every viewer parsing through it with the level of detail needed to, say, write metas. The general takeaway will always be the dominant one). What I’m getting at is, the “Ironwood’s army was exhausted and now it’s not” situation likely exists because Salem didn’t attack like a normal, logically driven, evil villain would. Or to put it another way: like Ironwood rightly expected she would.

You’re a general. Your forces have just fought a major battle against grimm — are still fighting that battle — and you’ve just lost your arm. Soon you’ll learn that your second is seriously injured while fighting a Maiden, the Maiden powers themselves are lost, one of your leaders, Clover, has been murdered, and the rest of your elite squad has been taken out by former allies, allies you’ve likewise lost due to betrayal. You’re down to a scant handful of huntsmen-level fighters and the rest of your forces are run down. Then Salem shows up in all her grimm and immortality glory. Can you fight her?

No. So you act under that knowledge: we need to leave right now.

The thing is, Ironwood was given an entirely unforeseen reprieve. Emphasis on “unforeseen.” Salem hung out in the clouds for at least a day, chatting with her subordinates, torturing Oscar, sending out a single grimm (the Hound) to wreak havoc, etc. She also, apparently, was waiting around for her river to show up and assault Atlas... even though she 100% didn’t need it and she 100% could have been attacking Mantle in the meantime anyway. But she didn’t. The soldiers and Happy Huntresses alike comment on how weird it is that this grimm army is just sitting there, and it’s that sitting there that gave Ironwood’s army a full 24 hours to pull themselves together. Which still isn’t enough to withstand Salem when her own army is seemingly endless, but it is enough to buy Atlas some time. Hence May’s comment that Atlas at least has some kind of defense to hold her back, but Mantle has nothing.

So I think there’s a decent (unspoken) explanation here, it’s just an explanation that hinges on Salem’s bad writing. She didn’t launch an attack the whole first day For Reasons, giving Ruby more than enough time to complete her Amity quest AND Ironwood time to regroup. The problem is that the show doesn’t present Ironwood’s actions as a success because those same military personnel are antagonists for wanting to arrest the heroes (and are portrayed as useless/stupid via the Amity heist episode). But this is still, as you say, an easy way to make Ironwood look bad if you’re already disinclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Or just read the situation in as objective a manner as possible. Having the giant army standing, ready and waiting, indeed looks horrible because, “See! He was always able to fight! Ironwood is just a coward who wasn’t willing to risk the elites’ lives for Mantle.” But that ignores the insane amount of difference a day can make in a war like this. In that same day Ruby has told all of Remnant about Salem, Oscar told Hazel how to use the Relic, and Salem revealed that she has her grimm soup underneath Atlas and perhaps the rest of the world too. The context of this battle changed drastically in just 24 hours... and Ironwood is a part of that. The man who made the decision to leave when his army was at the end of its rope never could have foreseen that Salem would give him an entire day’s reprieve to pull his defenses together. Thus, the decision he made then — run — is quite different from the one he makes now: we fight because a) we’re in a slightly better position to fight and b) it doesn’t matter because we literally can’t leave. Ruby made sure of that.

That’s the other thing to keep in mind, that Ironwood now has no options left except standing his ground (unless he wants to roll over and just let Salem destroy them). His army looks prepped and ready, but are they really? How tired are they right now? How many supplies do they have? How many soldiers might be dead, missing, or still down in Mantle? Did the guy we saw shaking bolt in the end because he couldn’t handle a threat like this? We don’t know and frankly we can’t trust RWBY’s animation enough to theorize well. It’s a double whammy of “Just because Ironwood’s army looks impressive doesn’t mean they’re actually in a good place for another battle” AND “I don’t believe RT is thinking through their animation to the extent that we would see those issues even if they existed. I think they just animated an army without considering how the look/size/preparation/etc. would convey certain implications given the circumstances. That level of detail and thought is not something we can expect from this show and thus the lack of something animated (an army falling apart) isn’t good evidence.” At the end of the day though, it doesn’t matter how ready the army actually is because fighting is the ONLY choice they now have. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how ready the army actually is because Salem’s forces are decimating them anyway. These soldiers could be five seconds from collapsing or hyped up to fight another five days. It doesn’t matter because the result is the same: they’re going to line up to defend their home and they’re going to get slaughtered. To my mind, all this only makes Ironwood look bad if we choose to believe that he should be prophetic (knowing that he’d have time to pull his army together somewhat) and if we believe that throwing hundreds of people at Salem’s grimm to die is still the heroic choice compared to letting them leave.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #mystech-master

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ryqoshay · 3 years

Text

Happy Life: Angelic Hug

Primary Pairing: YohaRiko Words: ~2.1k Rating: G AU: Angelic? Time Frame: First week of Riko’s 1st year of college and Yoshiko’s 3rd year of high school Story Arc: Stand Alone

----------

Author’s Note: Inspired by a prompt from a reader.

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Riko set her phone down on her desk, having just read the last departing messages from her friends after she had announced that she needed to get back to her studies. Or, at least she thought that had been all of the messages. No sooner than her hand left the device than it vibrated with a new notification. Curious, Riko picked it back up and unlocked the screen.

Odd, there was nothing new in the group chat. However, changing threads revealed that the new message was in one of her private chats.

TheFallenAngel: Ne, Riri!

SakurauchiRiko: What’s up?

TheFallenAngel: Is everything alright?

SakurauchiRiko: Yes

SakurauchiRiko: Why?

TheFallenAngel: I just got the feeling that you were deflecting a lot in our group chat

TheFallenAngel: Or at least more than usual

TheFallenAngel: Like a lot more than usual

TheFallenAngel: And you know my fallen angel senses will tell me when something is wrong with one of my favored little demons

TheFallenAngel: So again is everything really alright?

Riko sighed. Of course, now of all times would be when Yoshiko chose to be empathic. The younger girl had a knack for picking up on cues that others missed while regularly remaining oblivious to things most would consider obvious. Still, this had led to Yoshiko becoming one of Riko’s confidants. For some things.

SakurauchiRiko: I guess I’m just a little stressed

SakurauchiRiko: Between moving and starting classes in a new school it’s like Uchiura all over again

SakurauchiRiko: Only this time I don’t have someone like Chika-chan to help make the transition

TheFallenAngel: Have you reached out to anyone from Otonokizaka?

SakurauchiRiko: I thought of that

SakurauchiRiko: But the few friends I made in my first year aren’t in the area any more

TheFallenAngel: Well it’s still your first week

TheFallenAngel: Yohane has faith that someone as amazing as Riri will make plenty of new friends

Riko smiled at the compliment. However, it wasn’t quite that simple. Despite gaining some confidence during her time with Aqours, Riko was still quite shy, especially around new people. And while she had definitely worked hard to strengthen her bonds with her friends, like Yoshiko, in truth it had been Chika who had made the initial connections for her.

But… how much of that did she want to admit to Yoshiko?

SakurauchiRiko: I hope so

TheFallenAngel: And in the meantime its not like you’ve lost any friends

TheFallenAngel: Sure we’re a little farther away now

TheFallenAngel: Heck Mari is all the way over in Italy

TheFallenAngel: But the mortals of this realm have devised wonderous tools that we can use to communicate over vast distances

Riko laughed. She was wondering when Yoshiko would drop something like that into the conversation.

SakurauchiRiko: That is true

SakurauchiRiko: The group chat has definitely helped

TheFallenAngel: But if that’s not enough you can always call

Riko blinked. Yoshiko had predicted her intended point of wanting to hear someone’s voice.

TheFallenAngel: Or even video chat

TheFallenAngel: I’m free now if you want to talk

SakurauchiRiko: Thank you for the offer, Yoshiko-chan, it means a lot

SakurauchiRiko: I may take you up on that tomorrow night when I can stay up later

SakurauchiRiko: Tonight I may just have to dig out an extra pillow to hug

TheFallenAngel: Or I could give you a hug

What? Riko reread the message to make sure she had done so correctly.

SakarauchiRiko: You can’t be serious

TheFallenAngel: I am

SakurauchiRiko: But you’re over a hundred kilometers away

SakurauchiRiko: Are you going to teleport or something?

TheFallenAngel: No

TheFallenAngel: Silly Riri

TheFallenAngel: Id take the train like a normal mortal

Riko resisted the urge to ask why Yoshiko didn’t mention flying.

SakurauchiRiko: Thank you again for the offer

SakurauchiRiko: But I’ll be heading back for You-chan’s birthday next weekened

SakurauchiRiko: So we can see each other in person then

TheFallenAngel: You sure?

Riko paused. Part of her suddenly wanted to accept Yoshiko’s offer. She hadn’t considered it until just now, but after two years around several physically affectionate friends, she realized she missed all the contact. She did actually want a hug. Especially one from a close friend.

TheFallenAngel: Riri?

SakurauchiRiko: I’m fine

This time the pause was on the other end.

TheFallenAngel: Alright

SakurauchiRiko: Have a good night, Yoshiko-chan

SakurauchiRiko: Thank you for helping me feel better

SakurauchiRiko: We’ll talk tomorrow night

TheFallenAngel: Yeah

TheFallenAngel: Have a good night Riri

----------

Riko sighed as she walked down the hall back to her dorm room after her bath. She still felt a little bad about lying to Yoshiko; she wasn’t as fine as she claimed to be. Certainly, she felt better than before their conversation. She appreciated her friend’s concern and looked forward to talking over the phone tomorrow night. But she still felt guilty.

A sigh from somewhere ahead of her caused her to look up.

Wait, is that…?

A blue-haired girl with an all-too familiar side-bun standing near Riko’s door slumped her shoulders and turned away.

“Yoshiko-chan?” Riko called.

“Riri!?” The girl spun. “You’re here!”

“Yes, I am.” Riko hastened her pace. “I live here. But what are you doing here?”

“I came to give you your hug.” Yoshiko spread her arms and smiled as the older girl reached her.

“You… what?”

“I came to give you your hug?” Yoshiko repeated, sounding less confident than before. She bounced a little on her toes and moved her arms to indicate that they were still open.

“You came all this way just to give me a hug?”

“Well, yeah, I said that I would…”

“And I said you didn’t have to…”

“I know I didn’t have to, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how much you seemed to really need one, and so I just…”

Oh gods, that expression… Riko’s heart twisted.

“Look, just,” Riko opened the door to her room and motioned for the other girl to enter “come in out of the hallway at least.”

Yoshiko ducked her head and slunk through the doorway like a dejected puppy and Riko immediately felt guilty for causing the reaction. She wasn’t quite sure why she was upset. She knew Yoshiko meant well. Her steadfast devotion to ensuring the wellbeing of her friends was one of Yoshiko’s most endearing traits, despite, or perhaps because of her strange ways of going about such things.

“I’m sorry, Riri.” Yoshiko turned and “Eh?”

Riko wrapped her arms around the shorter girl.

“No, I’m sorry, Yoshiko-chan.” Riko said, pulling the two of them closer together. “I didn’t mean to make you think I was mad at you or anything. Thank you for coming all this way just for me.”

“I… uhm… it…” Yoshiko fumbled, both with her words as well as with returning the embrace. “B-but of course… A… A fallen angel should always be willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to do what is best for her little demons.”

Riko chuckled. Of course, Yoshiko would retreat to her fallen angel persona. But that didn’t diminish the meaningfulness of her actions.

And as for those actions, the hug was warm, soft and unbelievably comforting. It was glorious. Riko wouldn’t hesitate to describe it as heavenly. Angelic. Yoshiko could have sprouted wings on the spot and Riko would not have been the least bit surprised. Big fluffy white angel wings. Or maybe dark and intimidating demon wings. Or even beautiful black feathered angel wings.

Wait, why was she thinking about Yoshiko and wings?

Then it started to hit her. Everything she had been stuffing down for the last couple weeks as she did her best to keep up the appearance of a dutiful daughter and competent college student. All the emotions of leaving home, her parents, her friends, her dog.

She obviously had needed a hug far more than she had realized. She tightened her embrace.

“It’s alright.” Yoshiko murmured near her ear.

Riko realized her cheeks were already wet and that the other girl likely noticed moisture on her shoulder. When had she started crying?

“I’m here. Let it out.”

Riko sniffled. She opened her mouth to respond, but all that came out was a breathy sob. For her part, Yoshiko patted her back a couple times. Riko lost track of how long the two stood or how many tears she shed onto Yoshiko’s shoulder, but eventually she let out one last ragged sigh and started to pull away.

“Feel better?” Yoshiko offered a gentle smile.

“Mm…” Riko nodded as she dabbed away moister from her eyes with the sleeve of her sleep shirt. “Thank you again.”

“I’m glad I was able to help.”

“So, we were going to talk tomorrow over the phone, but since you’re already here…”

“Yeah, about that… uhm…” Yoshiko reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “I should actually probably head back, since I kinda snuck out without saying anything, so…”

“Yoshiko-chan.” Riko shook her head.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not me you should be apologizing to.”

“Yeah…”

“Anyway, you should probably call or message your parents that you won’t be back until tomorrow morning.”

“I won’t?”

“The last train out would have left not long after you arrived, if I remember the schedule correctly.”

“Wha…?” Yoshiko visibly paled.

“You didn’t look into that before you left?”

Despite asking, Riko realized she knew the answer before it was given, because of course Yoshiko didn’t check. Of course, she would just race off to the aid of a friend without a second thought for herself and what to do afterward. Riko had long since stopped being surprised by Yoshiko’s selflessness and instead began worrying the purported fallen angel would hurt herself in her haste to be helpful.

“No, I just…” The younger girl was clearly panicking now. “I just knew I needed to get here and… Geez, I don’t know… I need to find a place to stay. Where is the nearest hotel?”

“What do you mean hotel? You can just stay here, obviously.”

“Are you sure?”

At this, Riko couldn’t help laughing a little. “You just traveled over a hundred kilometers to give me a hug. The absolute least I can do is set out my guest futon for you to use.”

Despite her amusement, Riko found herself a little confused by Yoshiko’s reaction to her offer. It was by no means the first time she had stayed overnight at Riko’s place, usually after a visit with Prelude ended up lasting a bit too long. Granted this was the first time she would be staying in Riko’s dorm room, but that shouldn’t make that much of a difference, right?

“Alright.” Yoshiko agreed after a moment.

“And if you want, while I get things set up here, you can take my tote down the hall for a shower.”

“Sure, that would be nice. But, uhm… where is the bathroom here?” Yoshiko asked, reaching for the container of supplies.

“It’s at the junction of the wings. You can’t miss it.” Riko assured. “Oh, and let’s get you something to change into.” She pulled open a drawer of her dresser and grabbed the first sleepshirt she found. “Here, this should fit you well enough.”

“Thanks, Riri!” Yoshiko’s mood suddenly swung back to the positive side of the pendulum as she accepted the garment.

“I should be thanking you.” Riko replied.

“You already did.” Yoshiko reminded. “A couple times, in fact.”

“I know, but it really does mean a lot to me.”

“Happy to help.” Yoshiko grinned. “Anyway, back in a bit.”

Riko nodded as the younger girl slipped out the door. She then made her way to her closet to retrieve her guest futon.

Tonight had taken quite the unexpected turn but Riko wasn’t complaining in the slightest. It was one thing for her friends and family to express their support through messages or over the phone, and Riko was appreciative of it all, but it was quite another thing to make a grand gesture the likes of which Yoshiko had just made.

Riko felt like she almost had her own guardian angel. A fallen guardian angel who often awkwardly forgot to think things through thoroughly, but still… The emotional boost she had just received from her friend would undoubtedly carry her through the next couple weeks, if not the rest of the month.

As she settled on her bed with a doujin, Riko found herself looking forward to catching up with Yoshiko for a little while before they turned in for the night. She also pondered how she could pay back the other girl. Perhaps she could make breakfast in the morning before Yoshiko headed out? Yoshiko would be late for school back in Numazu no matter what, so a slight delay for a meal wouldn’t make much of a difference, right? She made a mental note to make such plans once Yoshiko returned, then found where she had left off in the story and started reading.

----------

Author’s Note Continued in Followup Post

#YohaRiko #YoshiRiko #Sakurauchi Riko #Tsushima Yohane #Love Live Sunshine #Happy Life #fanfic #Tsushima Yoshiko

13 notes · View notes

saiilorstars · 3 years

Text

The Girl in the Forest

Chapter 30: The Girl in the Forest

// Story Masterlist //

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x OFC

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Ma-leh-nee

Requested tag: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @transformerfan97 @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: The final battle between the Mikaelsons and Dahlia is here and not everybody will survive. Klaus and Maleny go to the extremes to save Hope and their son no matter what the cost is. Soon enough, Maleny even gets to face the worst of her past: lifting the curse she had to endure for over a thousand years. Will she finally be free to live with her family?

Klaus and Dahlia had relocated to a more secure place still near the bayou...where Dahlia would be performing the spell needed to link to Klaus. Before so, however, Klaus had forced her to de-link herself from Maleny as well, reminding Dahlia there was no point in having Maleny linked to herself when she would be casting the spell to break the slumber curse anyways. Fortunately, Dahlia had listened. With them was Hope sitting calmly in her car seat while Freya's unconscious body laid next to her. While she wasn't very happy with the new deal, Dahlia worked her best to get the spell finished.

"You're quiet," she remarked after Klaus gave a purposely loud sigh, "Are you having misgivings?"

"I was just looking for a polite way to ask, 'What the hell is taking so long?'"

Dahlia rolled her eyes and gestured to the table, "Well, we can begin now. Once we're linked, I'll no longer have to sleep a hundred years again. Your concerns for my status will ease, and I'll finally be able to focus on power that is truly owed to me."

"My son's—" Klaus said for her, darkly to serve as a reminder there was yet another part of the deal, "—whom you will only guide and draw the sufficient power you need from him."

Dahlia nodded with a smile, "Of course."

Klaus then glanced to the car, seeing his older sister still unconscious,, "What do you want to do about Freya?"

"She served her purpose," Dahlia carelessly waved a hand at the car. "So, tonight, at the moon's apex, I'll end her life, and once our link is severed, the bond that I share with your son will become one and stronger."

"Best get on with it, then," Klaus motioned, struggling to hide his discontent with the plan. He moved up to the table where Dahlia was awaiting for him with hands held out.

Dahlia then began to chant the spell to bind them together, "Medareno sometswar. Medareno sometswar."

As she chanted further, the pewter chalices Dahlia set up in front of her filled with blood. When it became full, it poured down to the table where it then traveled to the center of an infinity symbol. When the spell neared its end, the two spellers were blasted backwards from the table. Due to the commotion, Hope, alarmed, began to whimper. As Klaus went to check on her, Dahlia remained on the ground feeling the newfound power rushing through her body.

When the novelty passed, she began to laugh and got up, "With your strength, I will never need to sleep for a century again!"

"Well…" Klaus began, keeping his back to her as he slowly reached for something inside his jacket's pocket, "...perhaps one more nap."

Dahlia stood confused until Klaus turned around revealing he held the golden dagger. Realization dawning on her, she meant to telekinetically take the dagger from him but it was too late. Klaus daggered himself and just as the effects began to take him under, Dahlia felt the weakening come to her as well.

Both were out in less than a minute.

~ 0 ~

Back at the compound, Elijah was still listening to the exact plan Klaus had apparently formed without their opinions. In the meantime of doing so, he healed Maleny's bad neck with blood of his own.

"So, you see? You would have failed," Maleny finished off the story with a great big scold, "You would have failed and gotten yourselves killed."

"But to link himself to our enemy?" Elijah still could not understand why on Earth Klaus had thought that was a better plan, "She'll be virtually indestructible!"

"Not if he uses the dagger that was used on him," Maleny smirked when Elijah stayed quiet, "He uses the dagger on himself, Dahlia goes down with him in the meantime we collect the right ingredients for the final battle. You see, Elijah? Family works better together."

Elijah could not hide his monument shock. He glanced at Cami - who'd remained by the threshold of the living room - as if to ask for some sort of confirmation.

"They came up with it together," Cami said quietly, holding back her bitter tongue for the sake of the situation. "The perfect team, don't you think?"

Maleny slowly looked between the two, feeling awkward fairly fast.

~ 0 ~

"She'll be fine," Amarrah kept telling Marcel as they both waited for Rebekah to wake up in her original body.

It had been quite some time since Cami had snapped her neck and seeing Rebekah still not waking up put Marcel on edge.

"I can't believe Klaus forced her into this!" Marcel paced back and forth, actively ignoring the French witch, "Who does this!?"

"Um, we are talking about the sister who agreed to dagger her brother when his daughter's life was stake...right?" Amarrah sarcastically asked, upholding the glare Marcel now had on him, "Don't give me that look. She's no better than he is. But no matter what she's not going to die. We looked into the spell and she's going to wake up."

And just then, they heard a noise coming from Rebekah's coffin. After a couple of seconds, the blonde vampire opened up the lid and looked around anxiously.

"See?" Amarrah then gestured to the living woman, but Marcel ignored her to go hug Rebekah.

"Fair warning- since you're still compelled to kill me, you've got a whole new fight on your hands," Rebekah told Marcel as she was put to the floor.

"Well, technically not anymore," Marcel threw a look at Amarrah, apparently doubting her word still.

"How do you mean?" Rebekah questioned the French witch, curiously looking between the two.

"It's what I told you," Cami walked into the room then, grimly looking around the place, "Klaus daggered himself, thus cancelling out any compulsion he had on anyone."

"One bloody good thing he did, then," Rebekah muttered and straightened up, clearing her throat, "So, am I to assume you undaggered my other brother downstairs?"

Cami rolled her eyes and looked to the side, "He's fine," came her mutter. "He's downstairs with Mal."

"Excellent, I'd like a word with her," Rebekah started making way out of the room when she heard her cellphone ringing from Eva's body lying on the couch. With a sigh, as nothing good could come out of that call, she returned to answer it.

~ 0 ~

"I don't understand why they're not picking up," Maleny sighed after hanging up the tenth call she'd made to Alton that night.

"Perhaps Niklaus has unexpectedly taken them out as well," Elijah bitterly remarked as he also hung up on an unanswered call to Hayley.

"Elijah, I know you're angry—" Maleny began but Elijah lost his temper and furiously bellowed.

"I AM BEYOND ANGRY WITH YOU BOTH!"

Maleny flinched but this time she didn't stay as quiet as she typically did. "DON'T SHOUT AT ME FOR SOMETHING YOU ALL DESERVED!"

"We deserved?" Elijah indignantly repeated, "Have you lost your mind—"

"YES!" Maleny screamed, now furious herself, "Because unlike you I am fighting for Hope and my son if you've forgotten! You can call me whatever you want but, just like you, I would do anything to get my son back. Hayley ran away from this family and you didn't even try to stop her because you firmly believed she was doing what was best for Hope!"

"It was the best decision to make—"

"THAT WAS NOT YOUR CALL TO MAKE!" Maleny had gotten close to his face when she shouted. Elijah blinked, her ferocity surprising him due to the fact she'd never expressed the emotion like that before. "It was a sole decision to be made by both Hayley and Klaus." Maleny continued, taking a step back. "We had a better, permanent way to keep Hope safe. Fault us for that, I don't give a damn what anyone thinks. All I know is that by the end of the day that little girl and my son will be free of Dahlia's wrath."

"Am I to assume that you know about this little switcharoo judging by your unsurprised face?" Rebekah strode into the room, not even going to address all the screams she had just listened to.

"Sorry," Maleny bitterly sighed, "but it was necessary."

"Sure," it was Rebekah's turn to sigh in bitterness, "Now, I just got a call from Freya. Dahlia is... incapacitated. They are two hours north at an orchard near Pale River. She has Hope."

"Told you," Maleny shot at Elijah then gestured for him to get going. For the first time in the entire night, Elijah agreed with her and vamp-sped away.

~ 0 ~

Freya was trying to handle a fussy Hope in her arms while waiting for someone to come and pick them up. She had no idea how she'd gotten there in the first place, and much less how Dahlia and Klaus became neutralized on the ground. She was more than relieved when Elijah appeared out of nowhere.

"Well," she sighed, "my adage holds- nothing good ever happens in a clearing in the woods."

"Nothing good ever happens where my brother is concerned," Elijah glanced at the two bodies on the ground. However, when he saw Hope perfectly safe his demeanor lightened, "With one exception. How is she?"

Freya smiled lightly, "She's a Mikaelson. She's resilient. When I woke, they were like this," she nodded over to the bodies, "Rebekah tells me Klaus has a plan to kill Dahlia, that he knew our plan would not work?"

"Yes, according to him and Maleny, our ingredients were incorrect. Niklaus infiltrated Dahlia's mind. You didn't break her heart. We needed the blood of the witch she loved the most, and you are not that witch—that honor goes to our beloved mother."

Although stunned, Freya was more frustrated than anything, "So, we need Esther's blood? Well, that's impossible—I killed her."

"One incarnation," Elijah said as if it weren't a problem, and truly it wasn't. Because at the same moment a certain new Regent witch was creating a resurrection spell. "

~ 0 ~

"Still nothing," Cami told Maleny once she hung up on a call towards Yamilet. The two blondes stood just outside the compound, still trying to get ahold of their two missing wolf friends.

"This is getting serious," Maleny bit her nail anxiously, "Alton doesn't answer, Yamilet doesn't answer, not even Hayley answers."

"Do you think it's a wolf thing?" Cami asked nervously, "Maybe something happened to them, and…"

"Nothing was supposed to happen," Maleny dropped her hand to her side, "I mean, I knew Klaus was angry and he was probably gonna hurt some of them, but not Hayley. We didn't really have anything planned except steal Hope."

"Yeah, you guys didn't, but what about Dhalia?" Cami arched an eyebrow, making Maleny stop and think for a moment.

Shakily exhaling, Maleny turned for the compound, "We need Amarrah to do a locator spell on Alton and Yamilet." However, she only made to the threshold when she glanced back and saw Cami staying right where she was. "Cami? C'mon. We have to get going."

Cami's eyes drifted to the second level and shook her head, "No, Mal. Elijah's back in there and he's pretty angry. I mean, I don't care, I'm still angry with him. But I don't want to see him. You've got a job for me tell me and I'll do it from my place or Amarrah's."

Maleny stared at her cousin for a minute before nodding, "Okay, I get it. It's awkward as hell. I'll tell Amarrah to meet you at her place so you guys can do the spell."

"Thanks," Cami warmly smiled and gave her cousin a hug before leaving.

Once gone, Maleny went on inside the compound, told Amarrah what to do then hurried up to the living room where Elijah had brought in Klaus and Dahlia. The two laid on the floor still neutralized.

"Nik is demented!" Rebekah was busy shouting, "Are we really to dig up our mother, burn her to ash, swap said ash with Kol's, and then trick Davina into using up her last chance to bring someone back from the dead? Not to mention we lose the opportunity to save Kol... if Davina doesn't turn us inside out!"

"Or, we dig a deep hole and leave both our problems at the bottom of it," Elijah muttered but was perfectly heard by Maleny.

"I say we choose a more permanent option: find the white oak stake, kill Klaus, Dahlia dies with him," Freya added afterwards.

"You're all terrible people," Maleny declared as she made an entrance, ignoring their looks, "Luckily, I'm well used to it."

"Mal, you can't just tell us you're okay with what we apparently need to do," Rebekah, exasperated, turned to the blonde.

"Of course I'm not okay with it. It's what must be done," Maleny crossed her arms, "Now you may hate Klaus more than ever but he did what none of you could: put Dahlia down. Now the plan relies on us to make sure she stays down permanently." She sighed and moved closer to where Klaus was, "I was supposed to go down with him and Dahlia, but I guess he managed to get Dahlia to de-link herself from me. I will not fail him, and like I told you Elijah, I will do anything for my son and Hope. Question is, will you help us or not?"

Before anyone could respond, they heard an odd noise and were appalled to see the dagger still embedded in Klaus' chest was beginning to melt.

"Oh!" Maleny jumped back, "It's...melting?"

Elijah deeply sighed, unsurprised something like that was happening, "I suppose we have no choice but to finish the task that Niklaus has set."

The others exchanged looks amongst each other while Maleny slowly inched back to Klaus, frantically watching the dagger continuing to melt.

~ 0 ~

Now in Amarrah's place, she and Cami worked on the locator spell for Alton and Yamilet. However, Cami could easily see the spell was not working with each irritated grunt Amarrah gave after chanting her spell over and over.

"What is it?" Cami sighed, preparing herself for the bad news.

"You remember the one time when I tried looking for Mal but couldn't because she'd already been forced to body jump?" Amarrah stared at the map that refused to give a location.

"Yeah," Cami slowly nodded, "What? Did Alton and Yamilet jump bodies or something?"

"Either that, or…" Amarrah looked up from the map with a heavy sigh, "...their bodies are no more."

"What...what exactly does that mean?" Cami inquired then, biting her lip anxiously.

"I don't know what happened but I know they're not quite themselves," Amarrah placed both her hands on the table and stared down at the map again, "Something happened in the bayou last night that has something to do with their bodies. And, since Hayley is also M.I.A. I'm willing to guess it's an entire wolf pack that's in the same predicament."

~ 0 ~

Davina overlooked her work with pleasure as she now knew she was mere minutes away from bringing Kol back from the dead. With the power of the Regent she had prepared every last detail of the spell and now proudly held the glass jar of Kol's ashes.

"It's gonna be weird," she began curiously, "seeing you with your original face." She walked to the end of a stone coffin that was to be used in the spell and was about to pour the ashes in when Maleny came in.

"He was the right devil, that Kol," she called and laughed when Davina looked at her heavily surprised by her appearance. "Yeah, I'm back, and this time I intend on staying here," she patted herself.

"I would have helped," Davina began guiltily and rushed out to meet the blonde, but Maleny raised a hand to stop her, "I was busy becoming Regent and-"

"It's fine, Davina," the blonde assured, "In the end, Klaus had Dahlia return me to my original body."

Davina made a face and muttered, "Well, I suppose he had to be useful for something."

Maleny only slightly gave a chuckle, as there was something important that needed to be done. "Davina, I know how much you want to bring Kol back but I need you to do something for me."

Davina suspected there was going to come something she didn't like, "What…?"

"There is only one witch strong enough to stop Dahlia, and that i, unfortunately, Esther. I need you to use your power as Regent to bring her back."

Davina's eyes widened in horror and immediately stepped back, "No! I only get one shot at this- I'm using it to bring back Kol."

"Davina I wouldn't be asking you this if there was another way, okay?" Maleny sighed, "We can get Kol back another way but-"

"No!" Davina repeated herself, more sternly, "I love you Mal, and yeah I've done things that hurt you but I will not do this for you. It's my chance and I'm not wasting it."

"Davina, I'm begging you—"

"NO!" Davina shouted, without thinking using her magic to blast Maleny back. As the blonde groaned on the ground, Davina had a momentary guilt flash in her eyes. "Mal, I'm…" but she sighed and shook her head, "...I'm not doing it. I'm sorry."

Maleny lifted her head off the ground, grimly staring at the teen across her.

~ 0 ~

Freya worked her best to slow down the melting dagger, or to stop it altogether. However, there were no good results. "It's no use- I can't slow her magic," she groaned, "Everything I'm trying fails."

Marcel could easily see she was right. Suddenly, they heard a soft whisper and a creak, and as the two looked around they saw vines covered in black dahlias were growing inside the room.

"There's gotta be a way to kill her," Marcel breathed in, horrified to see such power even when Dahlia was meant to be unconscious.

Freya took out the white oak stake she'd found in the room earlier and held it up, "There is," she regretted to announce.

"No, Freya!" Marcel lunged to get the stake away from her but Freya used her power to pin him to the wall.

Freya turned back for Klaus and Dahlia, almost trembling as she grew closer. She saw the dagger was almost completely melted and felt like it was her obligation to stop things once and for all.

"Freya, we can find another way!" Marcel frantically pleaded with her, still trying to break free from her spell.

"I'm sorry, but I see no other way," Freya was almost in tears as she knelt down beside Klaus.

"No! No! No! You kill him, you kill me, too!"

Freya sniffled and sniffled, until she was almost hysterical, "I don't want to kill you! I don't want to kill him!" but even though her sight was becoming blurry she could see the dagger was almost gone. "This is the family I longed for, but because of her-" she angrily gritted her teeth as she cast a look over to Dahlia, "-I'll forever be alone," she raised the stake up, and was about to push it down when she felt Klaus suddenly grip her wrist.

The gold dagger had completely melted and thus released him from its effects. He had managed to hear Freya's touching words and no longer looked at her with hatred.

However, there wasn't much time to contemplate on the moment when Dahlia gasped awake. She jerked upright, furious of what had been done to her.

~ 0 ~

From the threshold, Maleny silently watched Davina perform the resurrection spell to bring 'Kol' back. She didn't dare move nor say a word, for she knew there would be tension afterwards. And this time, it would be her fault.

Davina anxiously watched two hands grip the edges of the stone coffin, presumably Kol. However, when Davina stared harder, she noticed the hands were more feminine and when Esther Mikaelson rose up, she became enraged.

"Who the hell are you!?" she demanded.

But this time Esther was quite innocent, she didn't even know why she was alive again...and in her old body!

It didn't take long before Davina put the pieces together. "MALENY!" she yelled and whirled to the blonde who'd now gotten up, "You did this!?" the indignation in her tone was more evident than was her anger. "Mal…" her voice broke, "...how could you?"

"Just like you've done many times before," Maleny answered quietly, walking over to grab a decent blanket for Esther to take. "Because I felt it needed to be done. Elijah?"

"What-" Davina barely got the word out when Elijah super sped inside holding dark chain cuffs. The tears welled down Davina's face, her fury combined with despondence, "That was my only chance!" she cried, gesturing to Esther, "That was Kol's only chance!"

"Davina, I told you we can find another way-" Maleny tried to get through to the teen, but it was of no use.

"I HATE YOU!" Davina blurted towards the blonde, and while the statement meant nothing to Elijah, nor Esther, it immensely weighed on Maleny.

Maleny did not try to defend herself, nor plead for her forgiveness. She accepted her fault with her head held up high, but with her eyes full of tears.

Rebekah then sped into the room, yanking Davina away from her brother and friend, "I'm so sorry, love. I promise, we'll get Kol back - just not today," she told the teen before putting her under a sleeper-hold. While she did that, Elijah sped to Esther and cuffed her wrists to cancel out her magic.

"Careful with her," Maleny cautioned Rebekah once Davina had fallen unconscious. "She might despise me, but I don't want her getting hurt."

"That's the cost of getting your son back," Rebekah threw her words back, something Maleny expected.

"I know," Maleny nodded, "And when I hold my Nicolas again it will all be worth it."

She truly believed so.

~ 0 ~

Freya and Marcel helped Klaus stand and stepped away from Dahlia who was rising on her own. She was furious and looked as if she were ready to kill them all right there and then.

"I'm almost impressed by the lengths you'd go to for your little girl," she told Klaus, "Though you may have just cost your little blonde her own son...and you," she added afterwards with a smirk just as she ripped the white oak stake from Freya's free hand.

"We are still linked, dear aunt. You may not want to punish me with that particular weapon," Klaus reminded, though inside he was anxious as he knew he wasn't quite up to his strength to fight against her.

"Hmm, I made sure that the link between us melted along with that dagger," Dhalia stepped back, "Meaning... I'm quite free to kill you!" she used her magic to force him to come to her in order to be staked.

Marcel lunged for the hybrid and tackled him to the floor to keep him from reaching Dahlia. Dahlia used the distraction to make her escape. Hope's sudden crying made the two vampires speed into the nursery room where Dahlia's vines had nearly covered the entire room. They wrapped themselves around Hope's cradle and moved towards the infant and pricked her finger with a thorn, drawing out blood.

Klaus snatched Hope from her crib and backed away. Marcel watched the vines soon disappear as if nothing had ever been there in the first place. "Why'd she do all this? She doesn't need Hope anymore."

"She got what she wanted from the very start - to break the slumber spell and acquire a fresh new magic supply," Klaus sighed, "Unfortunately, I have no idea where the vile harpy has fled to."

Marcel shook his head, "Alright, go. Get Hope someplace safe. I'll track down your witch. And, when this is over, you and I are gonna settle up."

Klaus took his warning with a sense of amusement, "Provided we survive what's to come tonight, I look forward to it."

After several minutes, Klaus realized Dahlia had taken Freya with her as well. Carrying Hope with him, he entered the courtyard. At the same time, Amarrah and Cami strode into the place.

"Good, you're up," Amarrah called sarcastically, "you wanna tell us what the hell happened to Alton and Yamilet? We can't seem to reach them nor find them."

Klaus looked around for a moment, figuring now was as good as a time to let them all know what really happened to the wolves in the bayou. As if time was agreeing with him, Maleny came in.

"So, um," the blonde began, still carrying teary eyes, "Davina hates me. Oh! And your mother's back," she ran her hands through her hair, "Win, win, I guess…"

Cami looked between her and Klaus, suspiciously, "Go one by one, tell us what happened to the wolves and what did you do to Davina?"

"The wolves?" Maleny blinked, "What's happened with them?"

Dramatically, Klaus sighed and just came out with it, "Dahlia acquired a memory from Maleny and put Hayley and the rest of her pack under the Crescent curse once again."

"And because Alton and Yamilet were at the Unification ceremony they were cursed too…" Amarrah was horrified, her hand covering her mouth, "Oh my God!"

Even Maleny was distraught by the news, "What? That...that wasn't part of the plan. She...she wasn't...she wasn't supposed to do that!" she began to pace back and forth, but stopped when an even bigger realization hit her, "Yamilet was the only one who knew where my old corpse was! Oh my God! My curse!"

"Mal! Mal, stop!" Cami forced Maleny to stop her pacing by grabbing her shoulders. "Mal, we got that covered."

"How?"

"Yamilet told us that Esther and Finn kept your old corpse at the graveyard. We know where it is."

Maleny's face lightened up immensely and gasped, "So, my...my curse, it's…" her hand flapped excitedly as she began to realize what it meant, "...I can break my curse! Oh! I can break my curse!" in her excitement, she pushed Cami to the side, the blonde vampire merely blinking with surprise because of it. Maleny went up to Klaus who was already smiling, "Do you hear that? I get to break my curse - finally!"

"There had to be some kind of happiness in the midst of all this," he touched her face, "Which is why I want you, Cami and Amarrah to get started on that."

Maleny's smile faded a little and she shook her head, "What? No, I can't. We have to find Dahlia, because I assume since you've woken up and you're kind of clutching Hope, that she's up and escaped."

Klaus took a shaky breath, disliking his words as they came out of his mouth, "I might not be here for tomorrow but if I leave I will know that you broke your curse and that you will keep fighting for Nicolas," he gently passed Hope to her, "and for Hope."

"I swear to God if you keep talking like that I'll kill you," she sniffed, "And when you come back I'll kill you again."

As always, Klaus just chuckled at her antics, "Go and break that curse. Cami and Amarrah will be there, and please look after Hope."

"She'll be fine," Cami said in the end, "They'll both be," she added with a small smile,

Klaus nodded, for once able to believe easily in another person. He kissed Hope's head then Maleny's cheek, giving them both one last smile before speeding out of the compound. For a minute, all was silent in the place and neither Amarrah nor Cami spoke a word for fear of what Maleny would do. In the end, Maleny growled in frustration and sniffled.

"We should, um...we should get started," Amarrah whispered, "The spell's old and I'll need to channel my entire coven back home."

"Fine," Maleny nodded for them to get a start. As the two women walked for the stairs, Maleny sniffed in and pressed a kiss to Hope's head, "It's going to be okay, my Hope. It's got to be."

~ 0 ~

Klaus was delighted to see his mother shackled and forced to sit on a chair, while Elijah stood behind at a table full of several knives. They had relocated the Original witch to the jazz club where they would then prepare for the final battle with Dahlia.

"Let me guess," sighed Esther as she looked around her two sons, "you brought me back from the dead to torture me."

Behind her Elijah rolled his eyes, "My dear mother, we simply need your blood. Though, in the event that you should suffer horribly, I can't promise I won't enjoy it immensely."

"And I've arrived just in time for another one of your deaths," Klaus grinned wickedly, "and as much as I appreciate the front-row seat, I'm afraid I'm going to have to postpone the festivities."

"You're in excellent spirits," Elijah muttered, "Despite the losses we suffered - by the way," he raised a glance at him suspiciously, "Care to explain to us where is Hayley?"

"Well, Dahlia pulled an unexpected stunt and cursed her to the Crescent's curse."

It took a minute for that to process through Elijah's mind, and then he shouted, "WHAT!? And you let it happen!?"

"There wasn't much to do in the moment!" Klaus yelled back, though much lower than Elijah. He expected the reaction, "I'm no bloody witch! I had everything calculated but Dahlia pulled the memory from Maleny and kept it to herself!"

"And what are we to do then, hm? Just leave Hayley out there in the bayou? Cursed to the body of a beast?"

"Of course we will bring her back, but right now I'm more interested in killing Dahlia," Klaus pulled out a silver knife from his jacket's pocket and glanced at his mother, "I need her blood on this blade which I've had bound with the soil from Dahlia's homeland, not to mention Viking ash. Mother's demise will have to wait. You see, I need her to weaken Dahlia's defenses. Bit of psychological warfare before I slaughter the both of you."

Esther rolled her eyes, "Ah, yes. You expect me to walk willingly to my death."

"Well, your willing participation would have been a bonus, but it's far from necessary. If needs be, I'll drag you there myself."

At that moment, Rebekah walked into the place, "Yes, dear Mother, you do not have a choice. Then again, why should you be any different from the rest of us? We're all dancing puppets in Nik's end-of-days marionette show. He forces every move we make."

"And how long are you gonna stand there and pretend you don't need me to?" Klaus snapped at her, fed up with being blamed for something he believed they'd earned, "The both of you have fought me at every turn, leaving me no choice but to act alone! We're no strangers to disagreements on the battlefield, but we also have a very long history of doing whatever it takes to win the war."

"And that includes leaving Hayley on her own?" Elijah asked, instigating Rebekah's attention.

"What of Hayley?" she looked between her two brothers.

"It appears our brother allowed Dahlia to place the Crescent curse on Hayley and her pack," Elijah gestured to Klaus, making Rebekah's eyes widened in horror.

"What!?"

"I didn't plan it!" Klaus defended himself, "It happened!"

"Oh don't bother, Nik," Rebekah shook her head, "This was all just a great big punishment."

"Punishment?" Klaus then feigned thought, "Whatever for? Perhaps the dagger you put in my heart?"

"You brought that upon yourself!" Elijah declared.

"As you have with your own pain," Klaus responded back in the same exasperation he was being treated with. "I did what I did for my children, and I bargained the hell out of it for Maleny. Unlike you, I am willing to do whatever it takes to protect them. Tell me, how is Cami?" he sarcastically, yet more angrily than ever, inquired, "Last time I heard you fought against her and snapped her neck. And for what? Oh yes, to dagger me. You chose family over the woman you love," seeing Elijah's stunned expression of the revelation Klaus was pretty sure he hadn't yet made was all the more satisfying, "How big of you, I'll say. And how costly it was. I would have worked alongside her, and…" he lightly chuckled to himself, "...I did. I worked together with Maleny, and look where it got us to? Perhaps this time, brother, you should have followed my actions."

With that, Klaus grabbed Esther by the shackles and made his way out the door, leaving Elijah to ponder on his recent choices.

~ 0 ~

Under a dark starry night Maleny clutched Hope - who was bundled up for the weather - as she and Amarrah watched Cami hurriedly digging up the grave where Maleny's previous corpse was stored.

"Where are we going to do this?" Cami asked once her shovel hit the coffin.

"In the Dawson crypt," Amarrah responded and rubbed Maleny's arm when the blonde witch gave an uncomfortable shift. "It's the safest place."

"How's that for irony?" Maleny mumbled under her breath.

When Cami had retrieved the corpse - which was still in perfect condition thanks to the spells cast over it - the three women relocated to the Dawson crypt. As Cami put down the corpse on a wooden table, Maleny couldn't bring herself to step inside the place. Amarrah came up beside her and smiled softly at her. "I know it's hard, but remember they're all gone now."

"Kids are here," Maleny whispered.

"With no memories," reminded Cami. "Now c'mon, we have a spell to get started on."

Maleny sucked in a breath and took one small step inside, feeling like all the ancestors of the Dawsons were watching her like hawks. She knew after her latest stunt against the new Regent she was less than welcomed at the graveyard. It wouldn't be long before they started going against her.

Amarrah had set a spell book on a nearby the corpse and was already beginning the preparations of the spell. Cami walked towards the entrance to check their perimeters in the meantime.

"How long is it going to take?" Maleny asked, slowly coming forwards.

"About an hour?" Amarrah estimated after skimming the entire spell again.

"How ever long it takes-" Cami returned from her checking, "-we have to be prepared for what might be coming."

"What do you mean?" Amarrah looked at her.

"Look, Klaus made it pretty clear Dahlia could win-"

"She won't," Maleny interrupted with a deep scowl, but Cami continued.

"If she does, we're going to need to run. I say we wait until midnight and if we see...things didn't go our way...we get the hell out of here. With Hope," Cami nodded to the languid toddler in Maleny's arms.

"We can't go anywhere. First of all, Nicolas knows he has to come here," Maleny reminded, "And second of all, Dahlia isn't going to win."

"We don't know that for sure," Cami insisted. "And if it does happen, then we can find a way to contact Nicolas. But we have to go by midnight. Think about Hope."

Maleny knew Cami's back up plan was logical and that it would be better for Hope if they weren't in the same city as Dahlia should she manage to stay alive. Klaus would want his daughter far, far away from the war zone - he proved it once by sending her away.

"Mal," Cami sighed, now speaking to her as what they had always been - cousins - and not as the logical vampire in the room, "it's for everyone's safety."

Maleny looked down at Hope he had rested her head on Maleny's shoulder, apparently becoming sleepy. "Yeah," she whispered. "It is."

"So then it's agreed," Cami shifted her attention to Amarrah, "How are we doing?"

"Good," Amarrah took in a deep breath after looking up from the spell book. "I can feel my coven's connection growing stronger. I think they're ready to start."

"So what do I need to do, then?" Maleny inched closer to the table after handing Hope to Cami.

"Well, it's simple in that I only need to repeat like three sentences..." Amarrah's widened smile made Maleny's stomach churn. She came to learn what that smile usually meant.

"Buuuuut...it might hurt a little..." Amarrah's face told Maleny it would hurt a lot instead.

"What's gonna happen?" Maleny dreaded to ask.

"I'm sorry," Amarrah began like this was her fault. "It's just you share a strong connection with the Dawson bloodline because of your repeated sacrifices. So to break the connection...a thousand-year connection...well, how many lives have you had?"

Maleny's eyes widened in horror. "Oh my God..."

"Just...get ready to scream," Amarrah sighed.

"What choice do I have?" Maleny whispered to herself as she watched Amarrah turn to face the corpse again.

"Come here," Amarrah gestured for the blonde to extend her hand forwards. "I need your blood to fall on the corpse. The connection will break as soon as it all turns to ash."

"Here goes nothing," Maleny turned her palm and allowed Amarrah to draw a knife from her bag she brought along.

Amarrah gently cut across the palm and moved Maleny's hand over the corpse and allowed the blood to trickle down. Afterwards, she repeated the same with Maleny's other hand. She chanted louder, and more aggressively, as if there was power going against her. Her voice then began overlapping with others', thus letting Maleny know the French coven had joined in the on the spell.

And then Maleny felt the most vicious pain start at the side of her head. With shaking hands she brought them to her head and released her agonizing scream that pierced both Amarrah's and Cami's ears. Even poor Hope had begun to cry. Amarrah kept her eyes screwed shut and focused her entire energy on chanting the spell. Cami had sped to the entrance where the screams were a tad less - for Hope's sake - and watched Maleny crumple to her knees on the ground.

~ 0 ~

Dahlia had taken Freya to a warehouse full of antique cars, but otherwise empty of witnesses - not that the older witch cared who saw. She intended on killing Freya there and then, moving onto the younger Mikaelsons afterwards. She had locked Freya in salt circle and for a minute choked her with magic. It didn't last long before the others found her whereabouts and prevented her from harming Freya longer.

"Bringing vampires to a witch fight. Someone hasn't learned their lesson," Dahlia, amused, look at the two siblings.

"Well, I can be a bit thick sometimes…" Klaus swayed his hard, sarcastically looking around just as he heard Elijah bringing in Esther by the shackles. "Although, on this occasion, I'd say I took your lesson to heart."

Dahlia was visibly stunned to see her younger sister there, alive, and shackled. However, it soon passed and she laughed, "My sister... in chains? Hahaha! Is... is she to be a gift to buy your freedom? Because I brought something," and she pulled out the white oak stake she'd snatched from Freya earlier.

The sight of the stake, while nerve-wrecking, provoked incredulity in the siblings. "One stake, three of us?" Klaus asked, "Even if you don't hesitate, the other two will rip you in half."

"Sound thinking. But... small thinking," Dahlia telekinetically threw the stake up into the air and caused it to break into millions of tiny pieces, almost like snowflakes, that sprinkled over the entire room. She then directed them to the three Originals, giving them no choice but to breath the pieces in.

Dahlia ignored the pleads and addressed Esther, gleefully, "Now, sister, let us watch together as I burn your children from the inside out."

Esther stared at her dying children for a minute before heading for Dahlia, "You still carry around so much anger for me after all these years?"

"You broke your vow!" Dahlia snarled, "We were to stand together, always and forever, and you left to marry that brutish Viking imbecile. You ended my family, and they were the result." She used her powers to blast the three Originals backward, and caused their veins to grow redder with the white oak, along with their skin.

"You call this my wrongdoing?" Esther shouted, "You made me bargain away my firstborn child! My daughter!"

"Not just this firstborn, but every firstborn!" Dahlia clarified for future references, as there were still two bearers that would be left after she was done with the people in front of her. "And even then, you found a way to deny me that which you had sworn to be mine! How do you think that felt?"

Klaus had tried to lunge towards the witch with the blade that was sure to work, but was easily thrown back alongside his siblings.

Dahlia smiled at Esther, "Now, Esther, say goodbye to the last of your children." She returned to her torturing and forced Freya into the choke-hold. Before she could finally kill the blonde witch, Esther called to her.

"Sister, wait! Wait!" she managed to get Dahlia to hold off the killing, but not to let go of Freya, " You've won, Dahlia. You have everything you ever wanted, including the firstborn of new generations! You have bested us all. At least let me try to make amends," she walked closer to her sister, coming face-to-face, "Let me share with you the glorious freedom that I have found... in death."

Without warning, she lunged for Dahlia and entangled her with the shackles around her neck, forcing Dahlia to release Freya as she fought. Once free, Freya broke the imprisoning circle around her and used magic to free the air of the white oak stake and cure her siblings. Although the three coughed up blood and dust for a minute or two, they felt their strength quickly returning to them.

Esther knew she wouldn't be able to hold Dahlia forever, and so she called out, "Elijah?" desperately, she glanced back at the others, nodding for them to do what they must for things to be over.

Elijah picked up the blade from the floor and tossed it to Klaus who wasted no time in speeding to the two women and stabbing Esther through the back, making it go through Dahlia's heart in the process. The term 'killing two birds with one stone' never had such a meaning until that moment.

~ 0 ~

"Aaaaaand…" Amarrah carefully poured the last of the corpse's ashes into a glass jar, "...here we go," she finished with one great, big smile and placed the lid over the jar just as Cami walked into the crypt with Hope in arms.

"I put Maleny in the car - but she's really out like a light," she briefly explained and eyed the ornamented jar.

"She'll be out for hours," Amarrah closed the spell book and dumped it into her bag. "A thousand years to break free from? I admire her strength."

Cami gave an agreeing smile. "So is that it, then?" she nodded to the jar.

"Yup," Amarrah picked up the jar. Maleny's freedom had been like an hourglass with its trickling sand falling down. The last bit of sand was the last bit of ash that proclaimed Maleny's freedom for the rest of her life. "Maleny has finally broken her curse. She's free."

"Finally," Cami chuckled out of pure happiness for her 'cousin'.

Amarrah grabbed her purse and turned to her. "I think we should get back to the compound. If we do need to run we're going to need things from there."

Cami agreed with a nod of her head. "You're right. We should go."

Arriving at the compound they were pretty disappointed to find it completely empty. Cami brought Maleny up to her bedroom while Amarrah went to put Hope down for a nap in the meantime they collected some of the important things they would need for the run. However, Cami had finished quick and found Amarrah still trying to get Hope to sleep.

"I think she needs Hayley," Amarrah sighed as Hope continued to fuss in her crib. "Don't you worry Hope, I'm going to get that curse reversed, you'll see."

"Can you actually reverse the Crescent curse?" Cami had to ask Amarrah. "The witch who originally cast it was a powerful one, and she's long gone."

Amarrah sighed. "It's not going to be easy, but I'm not gonna give up. I'll go back to France if I have to, but this spell will not take our friends away from us. And speaking of, I think if we do have to leave, then we should go to France. It's far, Dahlia has no idea who I am no where I come from so it'll be long before she finds us."

Cami nodded in agreement, but seemed discontent. "I can't believe I might actually have to run from this place…" she chuckled bitterly, "After everything, this is still my home. I was born here - I died here."

"I would've thought after everything you would be happy to get the hell out of the Quarter," Amarrah admitted, "Dying here because of an old vampire family," she began counting off with her fingers, "Fighting for your basic survival every day, getting your heart broken by the man you love-"

Cami's eyes widened and immediately cut Amarrah off, "I don't - I don't love anyone!"

Amarrah gave her a pointed a look, almost scolding her for wasting time in denying. "Cami, it's okay. He's not here, you can be honest."

"I don't," Cami insisted, huffing as she crossed her arms.

"I'm not gonna do this," Amarrah warned the blonde, "One does not simply fight a thousand old witch for a guy she just met," she laughed.

"I was doing it for Mal!"

"Yeah, and Elijah because you didn't want anything to happen to him. And you wouldn't be this hurt because of what he did to you, snapping your neck and all."

Cami rolled her eyes, heavily tired of having to repeat, "I'm not angry because he snapped my neck! No one gets it!"

"Point and case," Amarrah gestured and laughed again, much to Cami's annoyance.

~ 0 ~

When the Mikaelsons began to return to the compound, Cami and Amarrah were long finished with their "emergency packing" so they were partially irritated to know they would have to unpack.

"Your fault for not having faith us," Rebekah playfully told them both.

Meanwhile, Klaus was scoping the nearby areas for the missing blonde in the room. Seeing his frantic movements, Amarrah called to him. "She's unconscious, but in her room."

"Is she...?" he turned around.

"Free from a thousand-year curse? Oh yeah," Amarrah smirked. "That's one point for the French witch," she raised a finger. "The ashes of the corpse are in the jar—" she pointed towards said jar that sat on the coffee table, "—there. I don't know if Maleny wanted to do something special with them."

Klaus didn't bother remarking and instead hurried out of the room. To his luck, Maleny had began to stir awake on her bed. She had just taken a breath in to open her eyes when he came in.

"Mal," he went directly for her like she was still in danger.

Maleny was a bit disoriented from her long 'sleep' so it took her a moment to register where she was and who was currently holding her. "We...won?" she languidly blinked.

"Yes," Klaus couldn't help smile at her. He helped her sit up a bit but let her rest against his chest. "I heard you had a winning too..."

"Did I?" she raised her eyebrows as she tried remembering just what had happened earlier. Her head was a bit groggy from the massive pain but she was sure that somewhere along that pain she must have beat the curse. "Yeah...I think I did..."

"Yes you did," Klaus set a kiss on her hair and held her just a bit closer, "Amarrah put the ashes into a jar if, uh, wanted to place them somewhere special..."

Maleny thought about it for a moment but frowned when nowhere 'special' came to mind. "I don't...know. I'd like for it to be meaningful."

But while she pondered more, Klaus had already come up with an idea of his own. "Mystic Falls." Maleny looked up at him, confused etched across her face. "Mystic Falls is where we were born...where we practically died..."

"I...like it," Maleny gave a small nod, still half considering it in her mind. "Definitely meaningful..."

"And, we could take advantage to visit so that you could finally get the connection you wanted with your mother, remember?"

Of course Maleny remembered. It now meant even more because she was, once again, a witch. No more linked to anyone meant her powers were free, albeit limited, but they were hers. "Yes," she finally agreed completely. "Let's bury them there. When can we go?"

"Any day you want, just tell me."

"Okay," Maleny smiled to herself. "Now tell me what happened with Dahlia."

"Gone forever," Klaus answered, like a promise. "Along with Esther which just makes it even more better."

Maleny chuckled. "The more people who die, the better right?"

"If they're enemies then of course."

Maleny laughed again.

~ 0 ~

At Rousseau's, Cami had taken to cleaning out the place since she had let her job slowly go down the drain. She knew it would be only a matter of time before the place went under new management and the job she had would be terminated. While cleaning out a table, she was unexpectedly visited by her friend, Gia, whom she hadn't seen in quite a while.

"My God this place is awful," Gia crinkled her nose in distaste as she wiped a finger over a table and gathered dust, "Doesn't anyone clean it?"

Cami looked up from the table she was at and glared, "Ha, ha, the bartender's been a little bit busy."

"Yeah, fighting the old wicked witch of the west," Gia put her hands behind her back, "Who, I heard, killed Josephine?" Cami sighed and continued to clean the table, "I would've liked a piece of that."

"Trust me, you really wouldn't have," Cami shook her head and grabbed and headed back to the counter for a fresh new cloth.

"Marcel told me everything was fine now and that everything should go back to normal," Gia walked up to the counter and plopped down on a stool, "Which, kinda leaves me wondering what the hell you're gonna do now?"

"Hmm?" the blonde quizzically looked at the woman.

"C'mon, Cami," Gia sighed, "You and I both know that you plainly forgot about the whole psychology major. You went back to school for about two weeks before going M.I.A."

"Yeah, because Maleny was kidnapped, and," Cami awkwardly cleared her throat, "Esther had taken Elijah. I had to help find them."

"Okay, fair enough," Gia nodded, "But what about afterwards?"

"I was busy at the safe house with Elijah," Cami said.

"And after?"

"...busy again?"

Gia tilted her head, "You were busy, I get it. But you also have to admit that ever since you turned you haven't exactly been motivated to go back to school - at least that's what you've let me assume by everything you told me about yourself."

Cami threw her head back, groaning, "I know, I know. It's...complicated. The whole reason I went into the major was because of my brother. But now that I know what happened, and there's so much more to this world than the humans know...I can't go back to school and let everything just slide."

"Then what do you want to do?" Gia asked, "Because my place is always an offer for you if you want to leave the Quarter. Give yourself a break."

"No," Cami instantly declared. "I don't want to leave this place. This is my home and I don't intend on leaving it for anything."

"Okay," Gia chuckled while Cami sighed, "Then what do you want?"

"I want to make this a better place for everyone," Cami answered honestly, crossing her arms, "Before, there were these factions and because of who I am, I was supposed to take the leadership for the humans."

"But you're not human anymore…." Gia reminded gently, "Can't exactly do that anymore.."

"No," agreed Cami, "but these people need someone. Since the Correas are gone, there hasn't been much leadership…" the more Cami got to thinking, the more inclined she felt to stay in the Quarter.

"Oh my God," Gia said after a moment, realizing just what Cami was intending on doing.

~ 0 ~

"So you're telling me everyone in that town practically hates you?" Maleny asked after hearing the brief telling of Mystic Falls from Klaus. "Why am I not surprised?"

"It's not my fault they're all irritating, know-it-all, baby vampires," Klaus rolled his eyes, just the mere memory of some of the residents of Mystic Falls put him on edge.

Maleny chuckled. "So, by definition, if they hate you they'll probably hate me too?"

"I don't want to lie-"

"There's a sentence no one would ever think you'd say." Maleny tilted her head up to meet his unamused look. "Did I annoy you like the Bennett witch you talked about? Boy, you really hate witches. I wonder how you stand me then."

"Because you-" Klaus purposely brought her impossibly close to him, getting a small yelp from her part, "-are far more different than any of these people."

Maleny decided to play with him for a bit. "But I'm just a mortal witch now. Where does that leave me, then?"

"You're a special case, my love," he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You're slightly less irritating."

"Oh," she looked to the side, feigning offence, "Well then I guess I'll just have to go find myself a less murderous vampire. In fact, I'll get a head start tomorrow when we go visit that town."

"Don't you dare," he warned her darkly, but it made no effect on her.

She liked it, actually, and continued to tease him about it, "Yeah, I'll ask Elijah who was the most irritating vampire for you and then seduce him."

"Mal…"

"I'll start off with a nice couple of drinks," she continued, "Do they like bourbon?"

"Maleny…"

"I don't have a signature move, but I heard from Amarrah the blonde thing is really big in this modern world," she gestured to her hair, "So maybe I'll just flip my hair and batter my eyes. That's what got you, wasn't it?

"Maleny!"

"In fact, I'll go ask Elijah right now!" she declared and made to leave but was yanked back immediately. She laughed and shifted to face him. Needless to say, Klaus wasn't happy one bit. "You didn't like my joke?"

"You mean where you joke about you leaving me for some other man? And an irrelevant man at that?" Klaus placed a hand on her cheek, his soft voice ending all of Maleny's thoughts on pushing more of his buttons.

"You know I'm only joking," she spoke quietly. "After a thousand years do you think there could ever be someone else?" she cupped his face, smiling widely at him. "Now I think maybe you're the one that still has things to learn about this world."

She laughed for a second before pressing her lips to his. She wound her arms around his neck while he pulled her practically on him. Remembering the many times he wanted to kiss her while she was stuck in Yamilet's body turned it all into more urgent kissing. Without a warning, Klaus turned Maleny over so that she laid on her bed. She barely had time to gasp when he connected his lips to hers again. They fiercely kissed, both with equal fervor for each other.

It had been quite some time since they both found their selves in the same predicament, and now that they were free...there was so much time to take advantage of.

~ 0 ~

Cami walked out of Rousseau's on her own, and locked up while vowing to be back tomorrow for her shift she would now take more serious. When she finished up, she began down the street, intending on heading for her place instead of Amarrah's. Everyone had a home, and while she would much rather be where her cousin was, she didn't feel like she belonged there anymore. And when she came across Elijah on the street, she still felt the same.

"Can I help you?" she asked, doing her best to keep her voice serious and stern.

"I want to have a talk," Elijah began calmly, but already he was being met with difficulty.

"I don't have anything to talk to you about," Cami shook her head.

"Well, I do."

"Well, I don't care anymore."

"Cami," Elijah sped up to her, taking her by the arm, "I beseech you to listen, please. While we won much tonight, we also lost several things...and for me, I lost your friendship. I know what I did was wrong and it will take long before you can consider me even an acquaintance."

Cami sighed and pulled her arm from his grip, "It's difficult to forgive you when you don't even understand what the reason for my anger actually is. You think it's because you snapped my neck, everyone thinks so. Except Mal. And do you know why?"

"No…" Elijah quietly said, waiting for her to explain.

"Because she understands the pain of being cast out by the one you love," and as Cami continued to explain she overcame her fear of admitting what it was she felt. "All this time you have told me that I was part of the family. That my place was at the compound with you, with Maleny, with everyone there. But when worst came to show, you went back on your word. You showed me that I will never be one of you. The plan you made to dagger Klaus, you made with Rebekah, with Freya, hell, even Marcel and Hayley. You didn't even consider what my opinion would have been. I may not have a good concept of what love is, but I've had an example to go by."

"It's true I didn't consider your opinion on the matter, but it was a rash decision, one that needed to be made fast," Elijah tried to explain himself, "Niklaus was becoming far too paranoid and there had to be a stop. The decision was made amongst my family because they were there. And besides, you show more loyalty to Maleny, thus then to Klaus. You would have fought against me, like you did."

Cami's eyes teared up as she bit back a bitter laugh, "You chose your sisters' opinions over mine, you didn't even consider what mine would've been. Do you know," she bitterly laughed, "if there's one thing I've come to admire from Klaus since I've known him, it's his massive loyalty to Maleny. Because no matter what happened, he was there with her. He told her everything. And they fought against his own family, together. Their relationship may be highly unorthodox, but it's real, and honest. The girl in the forest," she recited Maleny's famous title, "The setting may have changed, the people may have changed, but they haven't. For Klaus, Maleny is the simple girl in the forest whom he fought for. And for Mal, he's her protector. I want that, Elijah," she sniffled, "I want someone who would fight for me, who would fight with me, against anyone. Until you can give me that, I don't think we should see each other anymore. If you need anything for Hayley's cause, or for Mal or Hope, I'll be there. But otherwise, I'm just another local in the Quarter. Goodbye."

Elijah swallowed roughly as the blonde woman turned to leave. His eyes had matched hers in tears, but after hearing what she had to say he wouldn't go after her anymore. She was right, he couldn't yet offer her what she wanted. He was too in depth with his promise to keep his family together. She deserved someone else who would stand by her against anyone, someone who would value her like she deserved. But it still broke his heart that it could not be him.

He thought back to Klaus, and his words...he had been, surprisingly, right.

~ 0 ~

Klaus shifted over the bed on his side to watch Maleny better in her deep sleep. He reached for the her next to him, gingerly stroking her hair, and smiled to himself. No more would she be leaving him. For once, he would have a good ending in one of the many tragic stories of the past. It became even better when he remembered their son was going to come home soon, and they would be able to make up for all they had missed in Nicolas' life. But for now, he would focus on what he already had with him.

The Girl in the Forest would be there with him forever.

Author's Note:

To be continued in...Under the Same Stars.

Thank you all for reading and I look forwards to hearing your thoughts about the next story! Go read it now!

#ocappreciation #the originals #klaus mikaelson #fd: the originals #klaus mikaelson fics #the originals fics #klaus mikaelson imagines #the originals imagines #oc: Maleny Rowan #fic: the girl in the forest

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