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hopelikethemoon · 3 years

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Out of Reach (Ezra x Reader) ||{Moonbeam} || [smut]

Title: Out of Reach Rating: Explicit Length: 5,500 Warnings: Pregnant!Reader, angst, smut (oral sex and regular sex), space drug use. Notes: Proof that I do love all of you. Part twenty-two of the Moonbeams series.

As soon as you entered the atmosphere of Lykaios, all of your nausea vanished. There was true bliss in being able to gobble down a handful of dehydrated biscuit snacks for the first time in a few days. No more shots, no more nausea tabs, and no more… leaving for the time being.

Shiva had taken it upon themselves to stock your transport with two months of food, mostly to avoid interacting with Quinn. There was something new to feel guilty about. If Quinn hadn’t had to reveal his true identity — because of you — they would’ve been speaking.

You could only hope, but Quinn was leaving alone to go back to Ay-7 for awhile. Shiva didn’t even give him a send-off.

You couldn’t blame them for being upset with him. Shiva, like most people, despised anyone affiliated with Fiorta. But he was still Quinn. Even if his name was actually Riordan. Except it wasn’t — he may have been born as Riordan, but he chose Quinn.

They’d get over it, sooner or later.

Your heart did somersaults when you saw that Ezra was waiting in the clearing for you. It flooded you with false hope, before you quickly reminded yourself of the reality. He was just walking through the motions.

“Welcome back, moonbeam,” Ezra drawled out as he stepped aboard the transport. “How are you feeling.”

“Good.” You answered as you sealed the door closed. “I ate.”

He smiled warmly, “I was worried about you. Nutros only do so much.” Ezra took a step towards, his eyes lowering to your stomach. “May I?”

Your hand rested against the not-so-subtle swell there, “Of course.” You mirrored his expression, smiling at him. “It’s a good thing I went back to the Block to pick up a few new shirts.”

Ezra reached out and brushed his fingers over your stomach, before spreading his hand out over the curve. “It’s surreal to think that part of me is safely nestled right here.”

“I can’t imagine why it’s surreal,” You teased lightly, reaching out to play with the soft hair that fell across his forehead, before running your fingers down his cheek. “How are you?”

“Better now.” He told you lightly as he rubbed his fingertips over your stomach. “Can you feel them yet?”

“Sometimes I think I can,” You told him, resting your hand over the back of his. “Little flutters, but not anything substantial.”

Ezra lifted his gaze to meet yours, “I feel like I should kiss you right now.” He told you as he stared at your lips.

You curled your fingers around the back of his neck, teasing your fingertips through the hair at the nape of his neck there. “Then kiss me.”

He closed the distance between the two of you, his lips brushing over yours. But that wasn’t enough, Ezra tilted his head to deepen the kiss, his tongue sweeping over your bottom lip as he sought entrance.

A soft groan escaped you as you sank into the kiss, grabbing at his shoulder for support. If you could just forget for a few moments, suspend the bitter taste of reality, you could just pretend. Ezra was always so enthusiastic when you came back, always ready to smother you with attention or recite a new line of poetry that captured his interest.

He broke away from the kiss before you had fully savored the brief brush with your imagination, his breath dancing over your lips as he pressed his forehead to yours. “I’m sorry, I—“

You pressed your fingers to his lips and shook your head. “Not yet.” You whispered, winding your arms around his body and pressing your face into the crook of his neck. He ran his hands down your back, but his touch was awkward — like he wasn’t sure how you needed to be held. There was just enough fumble to pull you back into the bleak moment.

“So,” You started, twisting yourself out of his embrace and putting space between the two of you. “I apologize for returning so soon. I know I said I anticipated a week.” You had made it four days — not including travel time.

“You don’t have to apologize for that, moonbeam.” He assured you, shifting his weight from the heels of his feet to his toes and back again. He looked as awkward as you felt.

“I know, but I told you I would give you space and I’m… Clearly not great at that.”

The faint smile on Ezra’s lips drew into a tight thin line, “Space. Right.” He clasped his hands together, “You indicated that there was more amiss than what you revealed over the com.”

You grimaced a little, “Would you like to go sit?”

“Sure.” Ezra gave a stiff nod, before starting down the corridor towards your quarters, instead of the common area.

“Ezra?”

He glanced back at you, “What?”

“Do you know where you’re going?”

He stopped, turning towards you then. “Your quarters?”

“You haven’t been on my transport before… since what happened.” You had spent your last night on Lykaios with him on his transport — before heading back to yours with Shiva the next morning.

Ezra blinked slowly, “I haven’t.”

You shook your head.

“Oh.” He laughed incredulously. “I think I remember…” He looked back down the hallway towards your quarters, brows drawn together. “It’s dark.”

“It’s alright.” You moved towards him, reaching for his hand. “I don’t expect you to remember anything.”

Ezra shook his head, “That was weird. It was almost like…” He squeezed your hand. “Like an impression of something I once knew.”

You brought his hand to your lips, letting it linger. “It’s a start. Another start.”

He rubbed his thumb over the center of your palm, before guiding you down the corridor to your quarters.

“You know,” You started. “I would’ve been a lot more nervous to tell you this before.”

“Bad news?” He arched a brow.

“It relates to Quinn.”

“Do I want to know?” Ezra eyed you suspiciously and ducked as you swung your hand at him. “I’m joking!”

“Am I laughing?” You protested as the corners of your lips twitched upwards.

He started laughing, “Yes!”

You put your hands on your hips, “No I’m not.”

Ezra scooped you up — never ceasing to impress you with his strength — before depositing you unceremoniously onto the bed. “Tell me.”

You huffed, sinking back onto your bed and propping your legs up on his lap. “It’s not fun news, you know. It’s more like, the Corps might be after our baby.”

“What?” He stiffened, his eyes locking onto your face. “Why do you think that?”

“Well, at my appointment the medic discovered that the baby and I aren’t entirely compatible with each other. I personally think it only occurs when I’m not on Lykaios — I never feel that bad when I’m here.”

“But the Corps.”

“I’m getting there. The medic wanted to do some risky procedure, which I vetoed and then… I mentioned that the father wasn’t fully human. Look, you could be Zendovian, Yaelori, or any number of species that have been known to mix with humans, but… my record says the last place I jumped to was Lykaios.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he held your gaze, “And then what?”

“I lied. I said the baby was conceived on Ay-7, just to save face. Timing is off if they pull the logs, but…” You sank back and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t think they’ll be a problem.”

“When has the Corps ever not been a problem?” He seethed. “They’ll come here and ruin everything. That’s what they do.”

“Not always. Especially… considering I discovered that all this time I knew the heir to Fiorta.”

“Riordan Northcott vanished twenty years ago,” Ezra remarked. “Rumors always suggested he was caught with his pants down with the wrong person.”

You snorted, “That sounds about right.” You tilted your head to look at Ezra, “It’s Quinn.”

“Excuse me?” His jaw dropped. “Our Quinn?”

You nodded slowly, “Rumors apparently weren’t largely exaggerated. He only told me the need-to-know aspects of his life, but… it makes so much sense now.”

He was still just staring at you, “And he isn’t involved?”

“No.” You assured him. “But he’s going to get involved to try to waylay any danger. Given all of their ventures, I can’t imagine that Lykaios or our baby is high on their radar.”

“And this was what had you so agitated?”

“Well, yeah. Quinn is about to get himself tangled up in a situation he tried to leave because of me, Shiva won’t talk to him, and you’re…”

“Broken?”

“For lack of a better word.” You sighed heavily. “If I hadn’t gone to Arcadia, if I hadn’t made that deal, if I hadn’t… stupidly brought it up with you.”

Ezra lifted your legs off his lap so he could move up the bed, draping himself over your body carefully. His knees pressed into the thin mattress on either side of your hips, his hands planted beside your head.

“You have to stop blaming yourself, moonbeam.” He told you, his dark eyes fixed on yours. There was a familiar warmth there, a quiet adoration that warmed you.

“I have a lot of regrets,” You admitted, trying to will the tears you felt welling in your eyes not to fall.

Ezra’s brows creased together, “Do you regret what we had?”

“No,” You whispered, before you quietly corrected yourself. “A little. More so now that I know that…” You shook your head slowly. “I didn’t know how serious your condition was, Ezra. You hid it so well.”

“If I chose not to reveal that to you, perhaps it was because it didn’t matter to me anymore. A person can overlook pain if the alternative is better than they could’ve imagined.” He drawled out, brushing his knuckles against your cheek. “I may not truly know you, little lamb, but I know what the ghost of these emotions feel like.”

You blinked slowly, causing a hot tear to slip down your cheek. “Everyone has had to make sacrifices because of me. How is that fair?”

“Haven’t you made your own?” Ezra questioned, “You told me that you died and now you’re carrying our baby — something that is to the detriment of your own life. We all make sacrifices for those we love. We give little pieces of ourselves to the people who matter.”

“Ezra—“

He ran his thumb over your bottom lip, “I may not remember, but I do know why I would make certain decisions.”

You curled your fingers around the back of his neck, sliding your fingers over the scar that marred his skin there. “Why?”

“I feel the depths of my love for you, even still.” He murmured, his voice dropping low as he leaned down to kiss you.

This was a dangerous game — one you ached to play.

You raked your fingers through his hair as you tilted your chin to close the distance between your lips. Your tongue slid out, trailing across his lips as you sought out his. A needy sound rising up the back of your throat.

Ezra moved above you, planting a knee between your thighs.

Once again, he broke the kiss before you were ready for the moment to end, breath dancing over your tender lips. “What about slow?”

“Fuck slow.” You hissed out, reaching down to tug at the hem of his shirt, drawing the fabric up his back.

Ezra sank back on his legs, peeling off his shirt and tossing it aside. You sat up, reaching out to run your hands over the warm skin of his chest.

You pressed your lips to the hollow of his throat, letting your lips linger there, before he helped you pull off your own thin sweater. His hands roamed over your newly bared skin, sliding along the curve of your waist.

“You’re sure?” He questioned, brows drawn together with concern as he cupped your cheek.

“Yes,” You nodded, reaching down to unlatch the buckle of his belt, pulling it from the loops of his pants. “I need this.”

Ezra kissed the top of your head. “Whatever you want, moonbeam.” He murmured, his voice almost too quiet to even hear. But you did.

You tugged the zipper down and forced the closure apart so you could shove his pants down his hips and thighs. After they were shed, you laid back and let him do the same with your pants, peeling away every barrier that separated the two of you — except for his memories. That was a barrier you couldn’t breach. Not yet.

Ezra laid you back against the bed once more, draping himself over you as he claimed your mouth again. His rough hands wandered, skimming over the swell of your breast, dragging his thumb over your taut nipple, before trailing downwards to grasp at your hip as he rocked against you.

His cock was trapped between your bodies, rigid against your thigh. He moved downwards, mouth hot against your throat, lips brushing over that spot at the crook of your neck that always seemed to draw him in.

You let yourself get lost in the sensation. Ezra’s skilled mouth tasting every inch of you from your lips to the soft flesh of your inner thighs.

“Look at you,” He drawled out as he parted your slick folds, brushing his thumb over clit. “Fuck, you’re soaked, little lamb.”

It reminded you of the first time your thighs had framed his face, the first time he coaxed a release from you. Your lips parted with a breathy moan as Ezra sank two fingers into your slick center, his tongue sweeping over that aching bundle of nerves.

Your hips arched up off the bed and his grip tightened to hold you steady. He curled his fingers within you, seeking out that sweet spot that only he seemed skilled enough to find.

“Ezra.” You moaned, squirming beneath him as he sucked at your clit lightly. You were right on the brink, inner walls fluttering around his fingers.

Ezra released his hold on your hip, reaching for your hand instead. It wasn’t fair — the way he slotted his fingers in between yours, the way he held your hand as he pushed you over the edge.

It felt like bliss and agony rolled into one as you came apart at the seams, your cunt gushing around his fingers as he dragged them in and out of you.

He took his time with you. You watched him lick his fingers clean, before he worked his tongue between your slick folds, lapping at your arousal.

You pressed your foot against his shoulder, trying to push him away as you twitched beneath his ministrations, your clit far too sensitive to endure the teasing stroke of his tongue. “Ezra.”

He turned his head and nipped at the inside of your thigh gently, “Tell me I never took this for granted.” He peppered kisses over your skin. “I could devote my life to making you come — just like this.”

“You took full advantage,” You told him with a lazy smirk as you watched him move back up the length of your body. You ran your thumb over his bottom lip, fresh desire burning through you as he sucked your thumb into his mouth. “As did the beast.”

“I bet.” He released your thumb with a wet pop, before leaning in to kiss you. You could taste yourself on his lips and his tongue, which only fueled your need.

You curled your leg around his hip, moaning against his mouth as his cock dragged between your sensitive folds. “Please.”

He pulled back, resting his forehead against yours. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” You breathed out as you reached between your bodies to guide his cock to your center. “I need this. You.”

Ezra gently cradled your jaw in his palm, keeping his gaze locked on yours as he pressed into you. His lashes fluttered, but he kept his gaze trained on you. “Fuck.” He rasped. “You feel good.”

“So do you.” You leaned up and caught his bottom lip between your teeth, tugging gently at it before trailing kisses along his jaw. “I missed this.”

Ezra stroked his thumb down the center of your throat, before planting both hands against the bed beside your head for leverage. He rocked forward, snapping his hips into you before drawing back and repeating the motion again and again.

It was different — good, but different. It lacked the desperation of that first time with Ezra and it lacked the tenderness that came from loving someone. It was still him. He just couldn’t remember what came before.

A part of you wished you had rolled over beneath him, pressed your face into the pillow and let him drive the length of his cock into you, but it hasn’t felt right. This felt right.

Looking up at him as he rocked into you, kissing him each time he dipped down to steal another one from you. There was so much there that just was — memories or no memories.

Tendrils of pleasure burned through you as you clenched around his cock, fingernails digging into the back of his arms as you climbed to him.

Ezra picked up the pace, his breath coming out in labored pants as he filled you. Your name slipped past his lips as he buried himself within you and came apart. He kept himself there, rocking his hips slowly as he spilled out.

He slid out of you far sooner than you wanted, rolling onto the bed beside you to keep from putting too much weight on your stomach. You prepared yourself for him to pull away — to put space between the two of you. But he didn’t.

Ezra pressed his lips to the curve of your shoulder, molding his body into the shape of yours, his hand wandering over your bare skin, before settling at your stomach. “I don’t know the particular cautions around copulation during pregnancy.” He remarked, his words muffled against your shoulder.

You snorted, “Never change.”

He tilted his head to rest his chin against your arm, flashing you a cheeky grin. “What?”

“Copulation.” You rolled your eyes. “You’re the only man I know who would use ‘copulation’ immediately after fucking.”

Ezra shrugged a shoulder, “It sounded right, little lamb.” He smirked a little, his fingers wandering lower.

Your lips parted with a breathy sigh as he skimmed his fingers between the slick folds of your cunt, gathering up the mess left behind there. “Ezra.” You whispered, curling your fingers around his wrist as you pulled his hand away.

He arched a brow as he watched you bring his fingers to your mouth, dragging your tongue over them before wrapping your lips around them. He stroked his fingers over your tongue as you let them go with a wet pop.

“Fuck, that’s…” Instead of finishing his sentence, he kissed you. The kind of kiss that was bound to leave your lips tingling tomorrow.

You melted into him as he kissed you, meeting his desperation with your own until you were both nose-to-nose and drawing in ragged breaths.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, pressing his face into the crook of your neck.

“Don’t be.” You murmured, kissing his shoulder as you curled your arms around him. “This… you . You’re all I need right now, Ez.” You didn’t have to pretend. You could just fall in love with him all over again.

Ezra tossed his satchel onto the bed beside you as he shook a handful of loose lunaxium in his palm, “You wouldn’t happen to have a mortar and pestle, would you?”

“You brought one,” You finished the last bite of fruit, before sliding out of your bed. “How is it?”

“Thought I could ignore it. We had such a good evening last night, but…” He grimaced and shook his head.

“Would you be willing to tell me more?” You questioned as you stepped out into the corridor to retrieve the device from the fresher. “You were always downplaying it until, well… You were in rough shape.”

“Right now it’s simply just a mind-numbing headache. Everything is darkly tinged at the corners.” He took the mortar and pestle and started grinding it into a thin powder. “I am almost proud of myself for concealing it. That had to have been no easy task.”

You watched him as he carefully lined up the lunaxium dust, before snorting it. It didn’t look particularly pleasurable at first. His brows knit together and his jaw dropped, but then his features softened.

“Sorry,” He muttered, rubbing the back of his hand under nose.

“No, no.” You shook your head. “It doesn’t bother me. You just always hid when you had to use it.”

“I was probably ashamed,” Ezra admitted. “I get the impression that I didn’t like the reminders of our differences.” He rubbed at his nose again, before scooting back to lean against the wall beside you. “How are you?”

“I slept well last night.” You told him as you picked up another piece of fruit from the dish beside you, peeling off the peel. “Someone wore me out.”

Ezra chuckled, cocking his head to the side as he looked at you, “It was quite a way to end my five year dry spell a second time.”

You pried out a segment of the fruit, biting it in half before offering the other bite to him. “I think it was exactly what we both needed.”

He leaned over and used his mouth to take the fruit from your fingers, licking the nectar off his bottom lip. “It didn’t feel like scratching the itch.” Ezra drawled out, rubbing his thumb over the center of his forehead.

“Is it helping?”

“Yeah.” Ezra exhaled slowly. “Takes a few to kick in.” He slumped back against the wall. You could tell it was working it’s magic on him. His movements seemed sluggish and relaxed. All of the tension in his body seemed to ebb away.

“Do you think I should take lunaxium?”

Ezra’s eyes slid to meet yours, “For what?”

You gestured to your stomach, “This little spawn of yours.”

“Pup.” He corrected with a crooked grin. “I don’t know. You said you get sick when you’re off world?”

“Nausea, cramping, headache, general malaise.” You explained as you took another bite of fruit. “It’s getting worse every time I go back to the Block.”

“Then you should stay here,” Ezra ran his fingers down the side of your arm. “You already proved that you can endure the full moon here. That the beast knows you, little lamb.”

You laughed softly, shaking your head. “And that’s how I know you’re not you.”

“But I am.” Ezra insisted, leaning to rest his head against your shoulder. “I’m still the man who loves you.”

Your expression fell, “Ezra, you’re high.”

“So?”

“So.” You muttered, grabbing a pillow to present him with instead of your shoulder as you started to move out of his grasp. “You barely know me.”

Ezra stretched out on your bed, his arms wrapped around the pillow as he rested his face against it. “But I do know you. I feel you.”

“Sleep it off, champ.” You remarked as you cleaned up the mess you’d made with the fruit, sitting the bowl of discarded peel on the little stand beside your bunk.

“Are you listening to me?” He questioned, even as his eyes were tightly closed.

“Yes, I am.” You sighed, dropping his satchel on the ground as you pulled the covers up and over him. “But you’re high and talking nonsense.”

“I was confused,” Ezra mumbled. “When you brought me back to my transport. My thoughts were so disjointed and I didn’t mean… I care about you, moonbeam.”

“It’s all been forgiven,” You assured him, brushing your fingers through the hair that fell against his temple. “Just relax. Hopefully you’ll wake up feeling better.”

“Will you stay?” He drowsily rubbed his hand over the bed beside him.

“I’m going to call Shiva and then I’ll come back to bed.” You promised. “Just rest, Ez.”

“I like when you call me that.” Ezra whispered, as his breathing finally evened out.

You quietly moved across your quarters to grab your datapad out of the charging dock, before heading down the corridor to the cockpit. Shiva hadn’t had enough time to set up the comlink like the one you and Ezra used — this one required an additional boost from the nav system to siphon off the satellite grid.

It took three rings for them to answer, “Yrica’s frosty nips. I was asleep.”

“Shit.” You checked the time. “I forgot. So much of our time is spent inside I lose track of—“

“It’s fine.” Shiva assured you. “How are you? Did you stop puking your guts up?”

“As soon as I re-entered the atmosphere, I felt like new again.” You rested your hand on your stomach as you kicked back in your jump seat. “I carb loaded as soon as I could.”

Shiva yawned dramatically, “I hope you hydrated too.”

“I drank plenty.” You laughed softly. “Ezra was insistent this morning… or whatever time it was. We slept for like eight hours.”

“How’s that situation going?”

“Well—“

“You had your second first time with him, didn’t you?”

“Am I that obvious?”

“No, but he is.” Shiva snickered. “Despite how deceptive the two of you were being while I was there, his interest in you was blatant.”

“At least I’m not misreading that situation.” You propped your elbow up on the armrest of your jump seat. “It’s a delicate situation.”

“How were things after?”

“Great.” You shrugged. “He’s still… It’s still Ezra. He still does what I would expect from him. We cuddled and he fell asleep. I woke up a little later to use the fresher and he was just as clingy when I got back.”

“Oh, he was ‘clingy,’ huh?” Shiva taunted.

You rolled your eyes, “And then we slept for eight hours.” You felt your cheeks warm, “You’re not going to hear me complain about the wake-up.”

“Called it.” They laughed softly. “You’ve got him wrapped around your finger. Where is he right now?”

“Resting. Headache.” You chewed on your bottom lip. “It kills me to know how much pain he’s been in all along, but he hid it from me.”

“Yeah, well we all hide things from the people we care about.”

“Have you heard from Quinn?”

“Who?”

“Shiva.”

“Fuck Quinn.”

“He didn’t keep that from us for insidious reasons, Shiva.” You sighed heavily. “I don’t understand why you won’t at least give him a little grace.”

“I’ve given him a lot of grace.” Shiva said flatly. “I’ve hauled his ass around the galaxy and bailed him out when he’s fucked up. He could’ve told me. I wouldn’t have judged him.”

“You wouldn’t have judged him? Like you’re not judging him right now?”

“It’s different now. He waited too long.”

“Shiva, I genuinely think Quinn just repressed his past. The only reason it came up was because of me. I don’t think he kept that from us as a ‘fuck you’ to either of us.”

“Maybe he’ll prodigal son his way back into their good graces. Then I won’t have to be his emotional support person anymore.” Shiva huffed.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s just chomping at the bit to get back in there and have his life controlled by his ultra-conservative family.” You snapped. “Quinn definitely seems like the type to be content with that.”

“We both know he loves glad-handing.”

“He also loves being free to do who and what he pleases.” You sank back in your seat. “Give him an inch, Shiva. Don’t make me feel guilty over killing your friendship.”

“Then Riordan shouldn’t have lied to us.”

“I don’t think Quinn was doing it as a slight.” You shook your head. “Just try, alright?”

“No, but I’ll say ‘yes’ to help you sleep better at night.”

“I’m honoured.” You quipped. “I should probably go. I promised Ezra I’d nap with him.”

“Com me later?”

“Yeah. Go back to sleep.”

“I’m up now. I’ve got an AI bot to tinker with.”

“Have fun with that.” You offered, before killing the com. You had to hold onto the hope that the two of them would fix their friendship. They’d been friends too long to see that torn apart because of you.

Ezra was still out cold on your bed and snoring softly. He looked so relaxed — he always did when he was asleep and unbothered by the pain. You wished he’d been honest with you about all of that before. It hurt a little more to find out from a version of him that was uninhibited by emotions.

You leaned down to pick up the contents of his satchel that had spilled out on the floor by your bed. The little pouch of lunaxium had lost a few pieces of the rock. You tucked them back into the pouch — all but one.

If your baby was like Ezra, wouldn’t they need lunaxium too?

Sinking down onto the side of the bed you placed the rock on your tongue, it tasted like copper and something oddly tangy. The rough texture felt strange against your tongue, but it softened into a malleable enough texture that you could swallow it.

At least it seemed safer to try lunaxium with Ezra right beside you. It took awhile to feel anything. You’d done dust on At-7 — you knew what getting high felt like. But this was slower, it weighed down your limbs and made your insides feel… different.

You drowsily slid under the covers beside Ezra, curling into the crook of his body, seeking his warmth as an unusual chill moved through your body.

Everything felt a little brighter, a little louder… You could feel the life humming from within you. That star that you had plucked from the sky and swallowed. The life that had taken root within you, that was drawing from you for sustenance.

Light twisted behind your eyes, causing you to fall upwards into an increasing brightness — like you were ascending into a supernova. Bathed in warm light. Was this what Ezra felt whenever he used lunaxium?

You seemed more aware of your existence. Every little flutter in your womb felt like you should’ve been able to see the movement beneath your skin. If you could even see your own body. It was just light.

“Moros holds the keys to all of our fate.”

“Who’s there?”

You recognised the voice. Callisto.

“He tricked us to turn on our own brother.” She told you, her disembodied voice like a whisper against your skin. “Convinced Psophis that freedom was his, only to bind him into the form of a wolf for all eternity.”

“Can I get Ezra’s memories back?”

“They’re not gone… just out of reach.” Callisto told you. “Like your own were.”

“But I remembered.”

“Ezra was weak. The fight was drained from him before he could cling to his mind.”

“And I’m supposed to trust you?”

“An enemy of my enemy is the closest of friends.” Callisto assured you. “Arcadia is out of reach for my siblings, but you…”

“I’m not going back there,” You protested. “Not while I’m pregnant.”

“Once the child is born,” Callisto said smoothly. “We will spare both of you, if you help to free us.”

“And Ezra?”

“Will be free too.”

“But his memories.”

“Are just out of reach.” Callisto repeated. “Promise me you’ll help to free us.”

“I’m leery of making vows after Moros.”

She sighed, “We’ll spare you and your child, regardless of your success.”

“And Ezra?”

“And Ezra.”

“Then I’ll help.” You told her, blinking at the dark shape in the bright light that surrounded you. You could see her — the outline of her. “But I can’t make any promises.”

“Hope is enough for me.” Callisto vanished, swept up in a breeze, taking the light with her.

Stars cascaded above you, falling across the sky rather than downwards. Green light danced through the night sky, transforming into shimmering blue and pink shapes, before vanishing with the stars.

You fell backwards, falling and falling until you felt the firm pressure of your mattress at your back.

You gasped, sitting bolt upright in the bed. The movement was enough to jerk Ezra awake, a sharp growl escaping him like he was primed to attack someone.

“It’s just me.” You assured him, meeting his wild eyes. “It’s just me. I had a nightmare.”

Ezra kept staring at you, his chest rising and falling unevenly. “I thought…” He blinked, shaking his head. “I don’t know what I thought.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed the heel of his palm against his forehead. “I think I was still asleep.”

“You growled.”

Ezra laughed a little as he sank back onto the bed, “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Did you think you remembered?” You questioned quietly.

He nodded stiffly, before admitting, “For just a second.” Ezra pulled you towards him, pressing his face into your hair. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“It’s alright,” You kissed his throat and the underside of his jaw. “It’s just out of reach.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Exactly.”

#ezra (prospect)#ezra x reader #pedro pascal ezra #ezra (prospect) x reader #pedro pascal x reader

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kaioken16 · 3 years

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Sacrificing your Freedom

Mallek Week 2021 - Day 2

Day 2: Sacrifice Word count: 3020 Rating: Teens and Up Character(s): Mallek Adalov, original background characters

AO3 link

A/N: Set in a canon divergent AU as the previous entry but follows are darker route to rebel fighter Mallek. This will be a angst filled piece, mentions of brief torture, pain, and being enslaved.

Summary: Rebel Hacker codenamed ‘Scorist’ is captured and is then brought before a high ranking Imperial general who reveals his secret and he is forced to sacrifice the most important thing to him for his loved ones.

Mallek is led down the hallway of this vessel, a pair of heavily armored guards on each side of him, each carrying a long spear, the blades were teeming with energy which allowed them to discharge very painful bolts of energy. His head hung down, his face was bruised, with dry blood staining his lip and forehead. His uniform was torn all over, cuts and dirt, stained with his own blood. His arms are tightly restrained behind his back, and his ankles were shackled together. He made no attempt to try and fight the chains as any attempt would result in a swift, merciless reprimand from the guards, as evident by the old scorch marks on his clothing and his skin.

He had been careless, an error on his part. During a mission his role was to disable the alarm system as not to alert the imperial guards at a weapon’s warehouse that they were planning to steal supplies from for the rebels, however, he missed a secondary alert system that had recently been installed after the initial intel that had on the facility. From there, it all went downhill, and they didn't have enough time, and he had to think quickly so he provided cover, transferring a copy of the new weapon data and sending it to his friend, but in the end, only half of his team managed to get away, while the other half was caught.

They had been to a detention station located in some random quadrant of this galaxy that was Empire controlled. There he endured the usual torture and interrogation, he held out but his captured friends…

They weren’t so fortunate.

And now, after weeks of this shit, he had brought onto this ship by order of some high-ranking imperial. What did they want? Was it more questioning? If so, why take him off the detention facility? Many questions raced through Mallek’s head, he wasn’t sure what to expect. And his imagination didn’t help, he knew from first hand experience and from the stories of others just how cruel some of these highbloods officers could be. But what could they possibly do to him that was worse than the treatment he had been enduring…

A grimace look spreads on his beaten face, he didn’t wanna entertain those thoughts.

Finally, they arrive before a giant pair of metallic doors. It was decorated and given gold trimming, very expensive. In fact, everything about this ship was expensive, it was an imperial-class Devastator, part of the X-series which were the latest models and these were the next best ships after the Empress’s personal battleship. Owning a vessel like this could only be someone very high up on the imperial chain of command.

One of the guards approaches the set of doors, he then removes his glove, he had his back to Mallek, so he was unable to the symbol that had been tattooed into his palm, he presses it against the security panel, it scans the logo and then a green light pops on the panel. The doors open, slowly pulling away from each other. The guard places his glove back on and takes a seat back, Mallek’s eyes narrow as a means to get a better look at what was awaiting him on the other side.

The other guard shoves Mallek forward as he’s forced to resume walking, they enter the room. Inside was a long table that could seat 10 people, on the left side of the room was a shelf filled with books, data cards, files, and a set of strange look trinkets. On the right was a set of statues each depicting some kind of troll each carrying an actual weapon, it seemed like the statues were made for the sole purpose of advertising the object they were holding rather than the figures who inspired them.

Mallek’s eyes shifted around the room, scanning everything he could see, no escape routes of any kind except for the doors they entered through. But his eyes did stop at the far end of the room, was a massive view of the vast region of space, and admiring the view was a very tall figure, even taller than the guards who were at least 6ft each. The guards stand to attention, taps their spears on the metal floor, and salutes the figure, clearly, this was the big shot in charge of this vessel. “General Ioktex. We’ve brought the prisoner as you instructed.” One of the guards addresses him by his surname. Mallek’s right twitched, that name was familiar to him.

“Very good… You may leave us, wait outside.” Her voice is disguised but Mallek can tell that it’s a woman. The guards do as they are told and exit the room leaving Mallek alone with her.

“Welcome aboard the Devastator.” She raises her arms out gesturing towards the room, clearly referring to this ship as a whole. She turns to face him, still too far away for Mallek to get a better view but a single red glow catches his attention where one of her eyes should be.

“I must say, it is rather thrilling to meet a male blue caste. Such a rarity.”

She approaches him, her figure coming into his line of vision. He can see another troll, much older than him possibly in her mid-to-late 30s, waist-length black hair that is noticeably curled at the ends despite being otherwise relatively straight with parts of her hair covering her right eye, her left eye was completely red, as if blood and seeped through her pupil and iris, but it wasn’t blind, she could see through it.

Her mouth was covered by a mask that was the source of her altered voice. Her outfit was a long blue dress, but the shoulders were fitted with armor and a chest plate which had a pattern in the shape of crisscross with four points at each end. She wore boots that made a heavy sound each time she took a step on the floor. A high-powered blaster was strapped to her hip. From the colors that donned her attire and her previous statement, it was clear by the colors her outfit adorned, that she purple caste.

“Allow me to introduce myself properly, my name is-”

“Adrani Ioktex. General of the 20th division. Conqueror of the Andrax and Nova systems. Also known as ‘The Empress’s Spear’. I know who and what you are…” Mallek spat out in disgust knowing who she was, remembering the name and her unique features.

“Ah, I see my reputation precedes me.” Her voice is filled with glee that Mallek was aware of who she was. Though Mallek doesn’t react, his face remaining blank and neutral not wanting to show any emotion.

“The same can be said for you, the mysterious hacker and rebel operative responsible for the destruction, theft, and reprogramming of many of our imperial drones for your own cause, the genius who is known simply as the ‘SCORIST’.”

She refers to Mallek by his codename, the alias he went by after joining the rebellion, the handle he used when hacking into the systems and stealing from various targets. He had made a name for himself and used it to hide his name for safety and personal reasons as he had secrets and people to protect associated with his real name. Only his close friends and those he trusted knew his real name, he had made sure to erase any and all records of his name he could find.

“Congratulations, you’ve done your homework…” He responds to her conclusion with a sarcastic tone.

She grins at him. “But of course. I’ve done my research and know full well about your past… Adalov.”

Mallek’s face showed a look of shock, and he immediately returned to a neutral look. How did she know his last name? That wasn’t possible. But unfortunately, the general had noticed the brief change of his expression. “Oh yes, I know your real name… Mallek Adalov.”

“Truly you were quite careful in erasing yourself from the records when you betrayed the Empire and defected. A young information spy killed in a crossfire on a mission, just another body to add to the pile of the dead… Another random troll who no one would miss or consider.”

“But you survived the skirmish, and then used your hacking abilities to erase your records… And then found yourself among the rebels. It was a brilliant move. However, you left footprints and breadcrumbs that most would overlook… So I began my investigation into you, studying your trail, your mark left on the servers and drones.” She starts to walk around Mallek.

“You kept your face hidden, rarely coming out in the open and providing support to your team. So I created a scenario that would bring you out in the open.”

Mallek looks at her, realizing that the factory mission had been a trap for him, she had orchestrated it to lure him out. Which meant his captured teammates deaths were, even more, his fault. Mallek couldn’t hide his anger, gritting his teeth, hands balled into fists.

“The final part was identifying you. You were able to remove yourself from most of the off-world servers and you were still fairly new, and you even stopped wearing your sign which would be an obvious tell.”

“But you can’t access any of the homeworld data after being shipped off… Records of you back home still exist after all.”

His eyes widened, he knew that any trace of him that still existed would still remain on Alternia but no adults could return there, it was heavily guarded and the Empress or her heiress would be alerted if an adult troll was spotted on the planet.

“Once you were captured, got a photo of you and then crossed references across the homeworld data, found your sign and then your real name.”

“What do you want?” He says in a slow, angry tone. He hated this, he hated when he wasn’t in control of a situation but she had all the cards.

“To make you a deal.” Her statement caught him off guard, confused by that.

“It must be hard having to follow the noble traditions of your people. A blue caste such as yourself serving as a mere soldier or spy within Her Imperious Condescension’s army. You would’ve preferred to be an information specialist, but your talents and skill as a genius hacker would never be utilized by her the Empress… It’s no wonder you feel so at home with traitors and rebels, allowing you to express your talents freely.”

“But even I must admit that your talents were wasted as a spy. I admire your work, it’s taken 3 years but you developed into a true specialist. So far from the timid anxious boy who feared being shipped off-world 5 years ago…”

“Shut up.” He demands, not wanting to listen to her words. He didn’t need a reminder, and she didn’t know him. She knew nothing about his struggles or his life.

“So I’m offering you an alternative.”

“You can spend the rest of your days rotting away in my detention facility. Dying in some dark, small cell or being beaten to death by some random prisoner… Or you can work for me, become my personal specialist and gather information on my enemies.” She states her offer to him which makes Mallek look at her with a confused look.

“What? Why would I work for someone like you?” Mallek snaps back, he would rather rot in that prison than work for her. Of course, she was expecting that response from him, which makes her chuckle.

“Your rebel friends. The rest of your group that escaped, and the ones you're protecting. And the reason you chose to use an alias and remove your name from the records…” She leans in close and whispers something into Mallek’s ear.

All the color fades from his face, a genuine look of fear and surprise as she pulls away smirking at him. “Your fate is in my hands Mallek Adalov, and if you want their safety to be ensured along with the safety of your own rebel cell, you will take my offer. I have no interest in small fry like your team, the rebel cells are divided, unorganized and there are more major threats, larger groups, and more important matters to deal with.”

“I will overlook your friends, and keep what’s most precious to you safe.” She informs him as a ringing noise begins to fill his ears, this wasn’t happening? This couldn’t be real? How? How could she have known about them, and how could he have been so careless…

What choice does he have now?

Mallek, with a defeated look in his eyes. Looks down, biting his lower lip.

“Good. Your silence is a reassurance that you’ve chosen wisely.” She smirks before taking the nearest seat at the table. “From this moment on, you belong to me. You are a tool and item, and a piece on my board to help me reach higher and eliminate my enemies and rivals. You will never see your comrades again, you have sacrificed your freedom in exchange for the ones you love, and for them…”

“Yes…” Mallek responds, his voice broken with acceptance.

“Very good. Welcome abroad SCORIST.” She grins, before standing up, she presses a button built into the table, and the doors open once again revealing the guards who had been waiting patiently. “Please take him to his quarters, and get him some new clothes.”

Years later…

The location was a planet in a far-off galaxy, it was the next site for the Empire’s eyes. It was full of valuable resources, from rare minerals, being the center of this galaxy, to serve as another controlled planet, and its people as slaves to help build the new facilities. The first steps of the invasion plan, first a team would be sent to infiltrate and survey the world, and general Ioktex had been dispatched to oversee this mission, and she had sent her team to go in first. A small vessel arrives over the planet and begins to break through the atmosphere. Inside the small vessel. Were four trolls, each dressed in imperial uniforms with their caste colors and general Ioktex’s sign engraved on random spots of their uniform, symbolizing that allegiance to her.

Piloting the ship, was a tall tealblood, his eyes focusing dead ahead to their destination, checking all the system and making their cloaking device was functioning. A slim blueblood and hulking purpleblood armed to the teeth with weapons and armor, both were wearing helmets to cover most of their faces. And sitting in another seat, typing away and looking at the monitor was Mallek. His expression was cold and dead, his eyes barely moving as he shifted through data, and attached to his neck was a collar device that was blinking. He has several holographic screens around his face. He waits for the virus to download into the flash drive he has plugged in, and once the bar fills and 100% appears, he removes it from the port.

“Here.” He tosses the drive to the other blueblood, who catches it.

“Once you get to a server, insert the flash drive in and we’ll access the mainframe. The virus will be uploaded and we’ll have all the information we need.”

She examines the device in her hand “Huh? It’s that simple huh? What about firewalls and security systems or-”

Mallek cuts her off “Don’t worry about it. It’s a multiagent virus, it’ll be infecting too many systems at once to mask what we’re really doing. Just get in, stay hidden, and don’t let anything happen to the drive.”

“Alright, fair enough. You’re the expert. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.” She smiles trying to make small talk but Mallek doesn’t even look at her, not interested in her or any of them.

“We’ll be landing shortly.” The pilot says as he presses some buttons. “Boosting cloaking shield.”

Suddenly a pained groan is heard at the back of the ship. In the generator room, strapped and bound into the ship, by tendrils was a gold caste troll, colorful energy surges through his eyes and then around his body as it is absorbed through the tendrils, powering the ship up. This was the norm for goldblood, but in this one’s case, it was a punishment. He was a rebel agent who had been captured and as punishment, he had been bound to his vessel as a living battery.

The rebels had adapted to using ships powered by alternative means as opposed to the living batteries on gold castes. After all exhaustion and overuse would result in the gruesome, permanent damage or painful deaths of the psionic trolls. But the empire would just replace them with another. Of course like the rebels, the empire did have ships and vessels that were also powered by other non-living energy sources. Only the older models and generation still used living batteries, as a reward by the Empress as goldbloods could last longer than fuel.

Every groan or scream he made was ignored by the crew, the purpleblood, in particular, found it to be soothing and enjoyed the cries of pain. Mallek was forced to endure this, and do nothing. The device around his neck was a precaution that the general had used to further keep him in line. Containing a powerful explosion that would activate at the push of a button or he made any attempt to remove or hack the wiring.

He had sacrificed his freedom, in order to protect what was dearest to him…

And now he was once again a servant to the Empire, an unwilling servant and this would be his life for now until the end of his life. A slave who was no different than that poor soul in the generator, no different from the inhabitants on the planet below who would soon be enslaved and lose their freedom.

He sighs before returning his view to his screen. “Let’s begin…”

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star-birthmark · 4 years

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Silent Saviors: 4taro x Fem Reader

Finally... FINALLY IT IS DONE! This is infernal ask that has been in my inbox for so long!!! Thank you to @stardustbrosaders for the request all those months ago lol. This was the request: “Heya! Would it be possible to write a P4! Jotaro x Female! Reader where the reader gets her stand under stress from a battle? The group almost gets defeated but the reader’s stand appears and she beats the enemy, saving everyone? For the readers stand type could it be close range like SP and CD?”

I also drew the reader’s stand for this fic. You can find a link to the stand info here.

This is a long ass fic btw. It’s literally 11 THOUSAND WORDS. I don’t know what compelled me to make the fic this long. I really don’t. But I did and here we are. I hope you like it, no matter how long it is!

Quick content warnings: General violence and angst, strangulation, murder (duh)

Without further ado: Silent Saviors: 4taro x Fem Reader (11k words)

A dark force was afoot in the town of Morioh once more, but it had just been a long day, and no progress had been made to capture that force. The team’s morale was low. The exhausted high school students stumbled home to catch a good night’s rest, thoughts of ongoing danger in their small town looming over their heads. The young manga artist Rohan Kishibe grumbled to himself about his failures, wondering how a genius like him could not decipher this mystery like he had last time. You felt a heavy air of unrest lay over the town as you awkwardly shifted in your seat on the ride to the Grand Hotel, looking over at your travel mate as he silently ran over the facts in his head. He shook his head in frustration. None of this made any sense. All the victims had been killed in the same way, so it must be a stand, one that didn’t leave behind any evidence, one potentially even more dangerous than Kira.

A dark force was afoot in the town of Morioh once more, but you didn’t know anything about the first monstrous event that had occurred. The small town’s silent saviors all agreed with one another to seal their lips and tell no one what had really happened. Not that anyone would have believed them.

But you would have. Your travel partner didn’t know anything yet, but the more time you two spent in this strange town, the crazier you felt you were becoming. You were seeing objects levitate in the air, you were seeing arms stick out from these bizarre teenagers. At this point, you’d believe anything just to make it all stop. You stumbled inside from the taxi, convinced this small town was driving you insane.

Your partner turned to you in front of your hotel room, his own room right next door, and placed his large hands on your shoulders.

“Are you alright (y/n)? If any of this investigation gets to be too much for you, just tell me and I’ll send you on the next flight back home.”

You snort tiredly. “Too much for me? Jotaro you look exhausted… You haven’t been taking breaks from the case at all… You’re always so anxious. Do you promise you’ll actually go to bed this time?”

Jotaro looked down at you and moved his hands from you, sighing heavily. “Yeah… I promise…”

You give him a shy smile before shrugging. “Besides… you need me, don’t you? Weren’t you the one that said I’m the only one that calms you down?”

Jotaro gulped and broke eye contact with you, his own silent way of admitting that you were right. You chuckled and opened the door to your hotel room, giving him one last look and goodnight before you left to go to bed. You would wake up about two hours later from the sound of your partner’s shuffling about in his room next door. You slipped on a thick crew neck over your thin tank top and shorts and open to the door connecting to the two rooms.

You peaked your head past the door to find a familiar sight before you. Pictures were tacked onto a corkscrew board, red thread connecting the dots to draw the group one step closer to solving the crimes. Files were splayed out over the desk, a map of the small Japanese town resting on the nearby bed, etched with red Xs displaying the sites where several young men and women met their demise. Amongst the mess, you found the broad shoulders of a tired Jotaro Kujo hunched over the desk, the young man still looking at the mountains of documents, eager to find the path to justice. It was hidden in those pages, he was sure of it. It had been your third night together in that hotel, and it was evident that you two would be there for much longer.

---

“Miss (L/N) it says here that you have received your degree in zoology and graduated at the top of your major.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And it says here that you recently led an academic study of marine biology that went very well back home.”

“Yes sir, and it would be an honor to join this esteemed team of scientists here at SPW.”

It was the year 1998, and you were interviewing to work at the Speedwagon Foundation. You had graduated atop your class, and had a passion for your work that few possessed, as well success that few could show for. You prayed that this interview was going well. The Foundation was the utmost important center of scientific research in the world and you didn’t want to waste an opportunity to work there. You watched the smile on your interviewer’s face as he reviewed your credentials before setting the paper down.

“Miss (L/N) I’d like to welcome you aboard our team. I believe you will contribute much to our efforts.”

Your face lit up in excitement and you rushed to shake his hand. “Thank you so much sir, I won’t let you down! If I could ask what position you’re hiring me for?”

“You see we have an opening for an assistant with the Kujo lab. Since you’re just starting off here- you’ll be assisting him in meetings and in bench work-”

“Excuse me... the Kujo lab? As in Jotaro Kujo? Isn’t he my age?” You interrupt nervously.

“Why yes miss… is there an issue?”

“Well no sir it’s just… I thought perhaps I’d be working under an esteemed professor… I didn’t think someone fresh out of grad school would already have a lab to himself… Not to sound ungrateful of course, I just didn’t realize I would be working under one of my contemporaries…”

A sigh came to the man and leaned back in his chair, thinking about how to explain the situation.

“Miss (y/n), the reason I’m placing you in Kujo’s lab is that I feel the two of you would work well together, given your similar backgrounds and parallel personalities…” You furrow your brow, unsure what the supervisor meant until you were face to face with Jotaro Kujo himself a few days later.

You still remembered the day well. You hung your coat up on a nearby hook and looked about the lab. Documents were piled over every available surface with no particular organization. A large fish tank stood in the far corner, a wild variety of fish encased within. Anatomical posters of aquatic life were all over the walls, and right by the window sat Jotaro. He hadn’t looked up when you came in. Approaching his desk, you stared down at the mass of black hair on the top of his head. Soon clearing your throat, the young doctoral student’s head shot up to look at you blankly. You opened your mouth to speak, taken aback by his unemotional expression, nervously turning to a notebook you had on hand.

“Uh… um… My name is (y/n) (l/n), your new coworker. I would like to thank you for allowing me into your lab. I had been going over your most recent papers on the social patterns of starfish on the eastern-most coast of Japan and I was just wondering if-”

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

You looked up from your notes and into the young man’s deep blue eyes, your breath catching in your throat. You struggled to form a sentence under the intense gaze, your breath shuttering out from your lips, and you looked back down at your notes.

“I’m (y/n) (l/n)... your new coworker.”

Jotaro nodded slowly, considering what you had just said. You watched as he removed his large white overcoat and leaned back in his chair, donned in a fitted black t-shirt.

“Why did they hire you?” You lean forward confused, your ear facing him.

“I’m sorry?”

“Why did they hire you?”

You look away for a moment, considering his now nervous expression, his nervous tick of chewing on his lip, his small twitches of the eye, his clenching and unclenching of his jaw. You looked down, finding his leg bouncing anxiously against the floor. A small, sweet smile came to you, and you opened your mouth to speak, alerting his attention.

“You and I apparently have parallel personalities… according to them.”

You watched as Jotaro’s lips curved into a shy smile and he got up from his seat, grabbing a notepad from a nearby drawer. He then turned to you and extended his arm out, pointing. You followed the direction of his hand and saw a separate desk facing his at the other end of the office. You turned back and quickly nodded, rushing to set your things down and then turning to face him once more.

Jotaro nodded courteously at you. “Have you read my most recent work?”

“Yes, I just told you that I did that-”

“Good. Come to the meeting with me then.”

You followed after him into a nearby boardroom, unsure of the situation about to befall you. The meeting began. Executives discussed their most recent funding prospects, deciding whether or not to continue their spending, depending on how successful the trials had been. You sat patiently in your chair, listening to the others argue frankly amongst themselves. A steady, fast tapping upon the table commanded your attention and you turned over to see Jotaro staring off into the distance, his fingers rapidly tapping on the desk, his whole form shaking with sensory overload.

“Mr. Kujo? And you?” You watched as Jotaro’s head shot up and he looked around the room. He hadn’t been listening, his mind had been too overcome with anxieties.

“I um… I uh… W-what were-”

You watched nervously as this man came undone at his seams. You cleared your throat and tapped the table next to his notepad. Getting the message, Jotaro grabbed the notepad quickly and anxiously flipped through its pages.

“Um… sorry about that. I would like to further my research- wait no this is on the wrong page. Wait no it’s not… wait-”

You looked around as the listeners began to get frustrated, looking at each other in jest of one of their top researchers. You chewed nervously on your finger, hoping Jotaro would pull himself together. It was your first day working with him, and it was already troublesome.

“I would like to further the research done in my penultimate paper. Or was it my most recent...”

“Mr. Kujo, we would have liked for you to have prepared for this meeting…”

“No no… I did. I did. Wait-”

With a quick motion, you reached over and placed a hand on Jotaro’s shoulder, calmly taking the notepad from him and then turning to the group. Jotaro looked away, still visibly shaken.

“Mr. Kujo clearly states in his most recent paper that he plans to continue his research, at a different coastal region, comparing more behaviors there to make sure that this past successful trial wasn’t any sort of spontaneous fluke. He writes in his goals of perhaps inspecting the regional colonies of starfish around S-Town… Following that, he plans to remain in contact with the genomic department and track genetic similarities between human and aquatic life that may explain the similar social patterns between the two.”

You explain to them all, having memorized the paper. Turning to the notepad, you saw what Jotaro had written in preparation for the meeting. You then turned back to the investors.

“Mr. Kujo kindly asks that you aid him in his funding so that mankind as a whole may find a better understanding of the natural world… That’s all he wanted to say. He just couldn’t find the right page. Sir.”

You reached back and placed the notepad back near Jotaro’s shaking hand. You returned your hand back to the other’s shoulder, squeezing gently to reassure the scientist that he was alright. The young man turned to you in a bit of surprise, not expecting your presence to calm him oh so much. The executives all took in your words and the head of the meeting slowly nodded.

“Well… thank you for your assistance, miss…?”

“(l/n).”

“Right well thank you… We will consider Mr. Kujo’s work for a second trial.”

“Thank you. He appreciates it.” With that, you let go of Jotaro’s shoulder.

The meeting soon adjourned, You got up to leave your seat when you felt Jotaro’s hand grab your shoulder. You turned around to see him slowly stand up from his chair.

“Thank you. I’m not a big fan of speaking to them…”

You nodded quickly. “Yes… of course…”

From that day on, the two of you were inseparable. Having experienced the horrific acts done to him and to those he loved back in his teenage years, Jotaro was convinced that you were the only one who could calm his constant nerves and anxieties. You became his most powerful tool against the outside world. You understood his work perfectly, understood his mannerisms perfectly, and respected his need for silence in the office. You knew how to say things the way he would himself, and you had no fear discussing them to other people. The two of you became much closer over the months of your working. Jotaro became much less of an enigma in your eyes. It would be a few months until Jotaro would unwillingly reveal his more “secret” projects.

The first time you saw the arrow, Jotaro did not want you to see it. But still, what happened that day would forever change your relationship with the young scientist. You had arrived early, hoping to surprise him with a hot breakfast and a smile. You turn the corner to walk into the lab, yet when you go to open the door, you find it locked. Strange. Looking inside the room, you find Jotaro hunched over his desk in focus, in the same clothes as the day before, having not yet unlocked the door. Even more strange. You knocked on the door, only for him to leave the room with another door in a hurry, ignoring your pleas. With a grumble, you dug for your keys, figuring his weird behavior was just fatigue, and that he probably slept over at work again. When you finally get into the lab, you place your things down, and that's when you see it lingering underneath his desk in a rushed hiding spot.

Encased within a thickly walled wooden box, an arrow remained, barely hidden from your gaze, as Jotaro had had no time to hide it from you. The latch was undone, another sign that Jotaro had run away from the scene.

Jerk. Didn’t he trust you enough to show you something like this? It’s just a bow and arrow! Why was he hiding it? You called out for him to return to the room and explain what the bow and arrow was for. Hearing no response, you turned back to the wooden box, reaching your hand in to inspect the bow and arrow.

It all happened so fast. In the blink of an eye.

There were no in-between movements. One moment you had pricked your finger on the razor sharp tip of the arrow, the next moment you were standing up, the box had been tightly locked, and Jotaro stood right in front of you, chest to chest, intensely staring you down. Your breath became ragged as you maintained eye contact with him. What just happened? You didn’t even hear him come in. The box was right before your very eyes, and you didn’t even see that it was locked. How did he even turn you around without you knowing?! A chill went down your spine as you hesitated to speak even a word to the man before you.

“Do you see what was in there?”

Jotaro asked you calmly. You felt a cold sweat form on your forehead. Jotaro, ever the impatient man, grabbed your jacket collar, shaking you out of your scared daze.

“I’m asking you now (y/n)! Did you see what was in there?!”

“No, I didn’t see anything! I don’t know what just happened! I swear! I saw you run away from the room and went to see what was in there and the next thing I knew you had come back and it was all so fast and I don’t understand and I-... Jotaro… you’re scaring me.”

Your body convulsed at his rough contact, your hands reaching up to push him away, but his tight grip on your jacket remained steadfast. Pure instinct had compelled you to lie to him about seeing the content of the box, but the terror and confusion you had displayed was genuine. You still didn’t understand how he was able to move that fast, or affect you with you even knowing. Just who was this man?

Jotaro stared down at you for a moment longer, before releasing you from his grip and taking a few steps back. You stumbled back, grabbing the edge of his desk to stabilize your fall. Your heart continued to race in your chest as you heaved, still struggling to make sense of what just happened.

Jotaro silently called out Star Platinum, having his stand hover right in front of you as you kept staring at him in confusion. Your expression didn’t change once he called out his stand. So you were telling the truth. You really hadn’t seen the arrow. Or at least, hadn’t touched it.

Jotaro sighed, rubbing the side of his head with a groan. He hadn’t stopped time in so long, but it seemed he was worried over nothing. “I’m sorry to frighten you, (y/n).”

You finally straightened yourself out, gulping. “Who the hell are you? Really?!”

“...I’m Jotaro Kujo. That is all.”

Another chill ran down up your spine, but you played it off. If he wanted to continue things as per usual, you’d have to do the same.

“Right… I brought breakfast. And there’s a morning meeting in half an hour so freshen up.”

You walked past him to retrieve the food you had bought for them. Looking down to pick it up, you noticed a red blood stain on your jacket. It must have been from your bleeding finger when you’d pricked it on the arrow. However, when you turned to look at the finger itself, you found that it was fully healed, not even scarred, even after such a precise and direct cut. Jotaro politely asked you for the food, claiming hunger, and you rushed to take your coat off and hide it away. You got the sense that he’d question further if he saw the fresh blood stain.

After that fateful morning, things continued on as per usual. You still had your questions, but after a few weeks had passed without another incident, you resolved that whatever that bow and arrow were must have been top secret for the Speedwagon Foundation. You figured no company could be as powerful as they were without keeping a few secrets. And this was one of them.

So you resolved to ask no questions about that one day. The same way you didn’t put up much of a fight when, in the summer of 1999, after months of you two planning to stay there together, Jotaro told you that he would be going to Morioh alone to research for his PhD, without you. You were furious, enraged how the two of you could become so close since you began working there, yet he still didn’t trust you to go with him. You argued with him the night before he was set to leave, but his resolve never crumbled. You weren’t going to Morioh, that was final.

In the three months that he was gone, Jotaro regularly sent you his findings, and you sorted them back at Speedwagon Headquarters. When he finally came back, more visibly shaken than he was before, you could only wonder what the coworker you had grown so attached to had experienced in Morioh in the summer of 1999.

Circling back to the present day, it was the winter of 2000, and there was yet again a dark force afoot in the town of Morioh. Only this time, Jotaro would not go alone.

“You have to let me come with you this time.”

“Explain why. Explain why I have to let you come with me this time. I did just fine on my own before.”

You gritted your teeth at the other’s stubbornness. “Will you please just listen to me? Jotaro when you came back from Morioh, you were even harder to deal with than before! Any sound in the office set you on edge and you screamed when someone set off fireworks near our building! And you still haven’t explained to me what happened there! Now let me come with you! I can help!”

Jotaro turned his attention away from his work, finally looking at you for the first time in that conversation. He hadn’t realized just how attached to you he’d become, how much you meant to him. You were his ticket into communicating with the world to his fullest, and after recalling several confusing conversations with Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi, Jotaro realized he actually needed you in order to articulate himself to the others without getting too anxious or angry.

“Alright fine. We’re leaving tomorrow at 2. You better be ready.”

But nothing could have prepared you for the horrors you were about to encounter in that small town. To your shock and disgust, you learned that aside from his research, Jotaro was investigating a murderer. And then you met Josuke and the others. That was when you first felt that you were going crazy. When you saw glimpses of third arms extend out from these teenagers, saw one of them heal a broken leg with ease, saw another erase space itself. People all over this small town were vanishing in thin air, and the incidents were happening more and more frequently. It didn’t make any sense, but no one was commenting on it, so you felt you were just imagining things. The same way you must have imagined Jotaro moving at lightspeed that morning you pricked your finger on the arrow.

Finally, we return to the current scene of Jotaro hunched over his desk, his room in the Morioh Grand Hotel littered with documents, the board nearby covered in photos and string, the bedside clock reading 2:33 am. You approached him carefully in the tense silence, knowing not to startle him whenever he was in deep thought.

“...Jotaro-”

“Dammit dammit dammit! I’m sick of it! Where the hell is he?!”

Jotaro slammed his fist down on the desk, his chest heaving in frustration. Why did this keep happening to him?! He just wanted to live a normal life, and he thought after Kira, he could. But like so many times before, Jotaro Kujo was wrong. Perhaps it was his destiny to be unfortunate. Perhaps there would always be another person stabbed by the arrow that would have it out for him and the others. Perhaps he was always destined to have a target on his back. Jotaro turned around to see you there, your form shaken from his sudden outburst. You’d never seen him that angry before. He met your gaze, unaware that you were sensing a vague presence of a being just above the man’s shoulder.

He sighed, walking over to you. “I’m sorry to scare you (y/n). I’m just getting frustrated by all this.”

You hesitated to speak for a moment, flinching when Jotaro placed his hand on your shoulder. You look up at him with a glare. “Tell what you haven’t been telling me.”

“You’ve been with me in Morioh this whole time (y/n). We both know the same things about this case I-”

You shoved Jotaro back, the surprised scientist bumping into his desk. “Don’t play dumb with me Jotaro! There’s something you’re not telling me! Do you think I’m an idiot?! Do you think I can’t handle it?! Tell me why you and a bunch of fucking kids have to be the ones taking down a killer?! Why can’t you just leave it to the police like a normal person?! Just say it! I… I can help you!”

But Jotaro couldn’t tell you. You wouldn’t understand his world and the horrifying stands contained within it. He had to keep you safe. The moment you find out anything more will be the moment you die.

“No… I can’t tell you (y/n).”

“But that’s not fair I-”

“(y/n), I’m sorry, but if you ask me again, I’ll be forced to send you back home and have you fired from my lab. Try to understand me, I’m doing this for your own safety, but I can’t have you be near me if you don’t cooperate.”

You stood there in shock. Would he really do that? Didn’t he know how much working for him at the Foundation meant to you? How much care that you put in for him and his work? And he’d throw all that away just to protect some stupid secret!? Who did he think he was?!

Your whole body began to quiver in rage at the other’s behavior. Just when you thought there was something between the two of you, something more than just a young professor and his assistant, he makes it clear that you mean nothing to him, and you never have. You watched the man before you, turn away from your gaze to focus back to his work. With a huff, you reach for the door to leave, your hand touching the handle.

Then, it all went white.

Your hand touched the handle, feeling the metal scalding to the touch. Before you could flinch back and yelp at the pain, a hand circled around your neck and another crept around your waist, the grip keeping you flush against another body. You look around the room, watching the color and furniture dissolve from your view until all you could see for miles was a white void. The only thing you could feel was the man with a locked grip on your neck, blocking your airway. You kicked to set yourself free, until you felt a ghostly presence cling onto your legs to hold them together. That same feeling washed over your wrists to bind them as well. The man holding onto you within the void leaned down to bring his mouth to your ear.

“No human on Earth is unable to feel pain.”

Your whole body shuddered at the deep growl in his throat. “W-who are you?! What do you wan-”

“I’m the one talking (y/n)!”

With that, his hold on your neck tightened ever more. How could he have known your name? You all had made a point to only use names in private in case the murderer was lurking around. So that means… A pang of realization hit you. He’d been hiding in this hotel room, listening to you and Jotaro was however long. Black spots appeared before you in your line of sight, your head was feeling lighter and lighter. You were becoming weightless.

“In the split second that a human being first feels pain, that is when they are at their most isolated. At the first sign of pain, it’s every man for himself. When a man is shot, in the first moment he feels pain, he isn’t thinking of the man next to him that got shot in the brain. He’s thinking only of himself. The fight or flight response is activated, all other surroundings become useless. That selfishness, that hunger to be healed, that desire for self preservation, is what fuels Foreigner’s God, my stand!”

Your eyes shot open at the last word. “A...stand?” You choked out.

“My stand, Foreigner's God, extends that initial moment of selfishness that comes with pain. No longer are there distractions that can bring someone back to care for others. No longer are there healers that can take that pain away. Your hand is still burnt from the handle that I heated up, so…”

He turned you both around and you saw through your hazy view, a body appear in the white void. It was Jotaro, the man frantically calling out your name and rushing between his room and yours in a search for you. At one moment, the two of you even seemingly made eye contact, and you saw the absolute fear in his eyes at the realization that he might have just lost you. Your mouth quirked up in a smile, and tears began to form in your eyes.

Jotaro took a step closer, maintaining your gaze, and you felt relief in your heart that he could really see you. Until suddenly, he rushed to the night stand, fazing right through you and your assailant, not even noticing your presence in the room. You struggled to shout under the choking pressure as you saw him panic, reaching to the phone to call Josuke.

“Wait! Jotaro! I’m right here ah-”

“Didn’t I tell you (y/n)! At that critical moment of pain, it’s every man for himself! It’s just you and me in here! You’re in my world now, sweetheart. I allowed you to see Jotaro’s image, but he cannot see or hear you!”

The killer turned your head to the side, ready to snap. But he had to wait, for his stand would deactivate the moment you were killed, and then he’d be left vulnerable to a furious Jotaro in that hotel room. He needed information about his opponents’ abilities, and Jotaro was playing right into his hands by calling his friend.

“That’s it… That’s it Kujo! Call Josuke Higashikata! Call him! CALL HIM!”

You trembled under the rough grip, struggling to call out for Jotaro, hoping he wouldn’t call anyone and reveal any secrets.

And then amidst the silence, the click of Jotaro hanging up the phone filled your ears. You watched the look of reflection on his face. Somehow, maybe it was because of years of battle with monsters just like this man, but Jotaro Kujo realized that you hadn’t run away. Someone was keeping you from him. And he was now more alert than ever.

“Shit! He’s smarter than I thought! He must suspect there’s a stand attack going on.”

The murderer grumbled before dropping you to the ground. He couldn’t kill you, not without proper info on how to defeat Jotaro and the others. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t hurt you. With a sharp kick to the back, the assailant managed to knock you away, breaking bones in your spine and leaving you immobile. Recalling his stand ability, the murderer managed to escape out a window without a trace, figuring you would lose consciousness. With a gentle thud, you toppled to the ground, right next to the open window.

“(y/n)!”

Jotaro rushed to the sound, seeing you lay there, gasping for breath. He turned to the open window seeing no one around. He had disappeared. And right under his nose too. How long had the man been in the room with them?! How dumb could he have been?! Reaching up to Jotaro, you muttered that the man had broken a few bones in your back and that you couldn’t move.

“I’m sorry Jotaro. I didn’t get a good look at his face…”

“Don’t worry about that! I’ll get help right away!”

You looked up with hazy eyes as Jotaro rushed to the phone to call Josuke. After everything between the two of you, after everything he’s said to you, it was surprising to see just how much he truly cared about you. Holding the phone to his ear, Jotaro frantically told Josuke your condition and for him to get over here as soon as possible. Glancing down at your arm, Jotaro’s eyes shot open at the black ink that painted your skin just a few centimeters beneath your wrist. In all caps, as if the murderer was playing with you all, the ink wrote,

“Foreigner’s God - AS.”

- - - - -

“Honestly Mr. Joestar, where does that grandson of yours get off running me and the others ragged like this? He sees one person with the initials A.S. in a phonebook and he sends me out across down to read them with Heaven’s Door.”

Rohan Kishibe sat drinking his tea, absently working on Pink Dark Boy, waiting for Jotaro’s next move. His companion, Joseph Joestar, took a sip of his drink at Rohan’s rude accusation.

“Hush now Rohan. We all put Jotaro in charge of his operation, given his connection to our main victim. All he’s doing is using your stand to its full capabilities.”

The old man raised an eyebrow and Rohan got the hint. Mr. Joestar was the only one of the group that the snarky artist fully respected, so he would follow the seasoned stand user’s lead.

A heavy set of footsteps entered the room, followed by a more uneven pair lingering behind. The two stand users looked up to see you and Jotaro enter. You were looking better since the attack. Josuke had healed your back of the broken bones, but the bruises and intense pain of walking remained. Moving with crutches, you slowly stepped out from behind Jotaro as the two of you entered the room. Jotaro, his face darkened in a mixture of unhealthy fatigue and intense bloodlust, approached Rohan’s table and slammed down a stack of papers.

“Names, addresses, ages, and criminal histories. All here. I want you done with it within the next two days.”

Rohan grumbled, standing up. “You’ve got a lot of nerve talking to me like that Jotaro. Not even a hello, not even an acknowledgment of your grandfather. He’s the only reason I’m letting you push me around like this you-”

Jotaro took one step closer to Rohan, staring the smaller man down in silence. A chill went down the artist’s spine. Shown plainly in the scientist’s eyes was a haze of dark intent, of evil desires. He wanted this person dead, and for them to suffer. Joseph flicked his gaze up at his grandson, recognizing the expression from the other’s climactic fight with DIO. A tinge of worry filled the old soul.

They needed to catch him, and catch him soon.

“Jotaro, come on. We told Josuke and the others we would give them an update soon.”

At the sound of your voice, raspy still from the attack, Jotaro’s face softened into its usual composure. He turned around to face you, and you gave him a tired smile.

“Right, let’s go. Rohan. Two days, please. I’m counting on you.”

Tipping his hat over his eyes, Jotaro held out an arm for you as you both walked to the rendez-vous point to meet with Josuke.

Rohan still felt lost in the other’s murderous expression. It had been three days since your run in with Foreigner’s God, and Heaven’s Door’s user was one of the first to arrive at the scene in order to search for clues. He remembered reading a page drawn from your unconscious body; you had blacked out soon after Jotaro made the call for help. Josuke was working on your spine, and there was a tense silence about the room. A silence soon interrupted by the crash of wood hitting the floor. Everyone looked up, seeing Jotaro standing deathly still in his spot, meanwhile Star Platinum had escaped and had thrown the table over and smashed it into the floor. The rampaging stand turned to the board and knocked it over with a fierce punch, wood scraps and documents flying everywhere.

“Hey Jotaro stop it! We need those!”

Josuke yelled, drawing out Crazy diamond to hold Star back. In his blinded rage, the stand took a mindless swing, punching Crazy Diamond in the jaw and sending both him and Josuke flying into the opposite wall.

“Josuke!”

Koichi and Okuyasu rushed to their friend. He wasn’t injured too badly, surprisingly no bones broken; nothing a bandage or two couldn’t fix. The four of them, the three teenagers and the artist all turned to Jotaro in shock, who by this point had absorbed Star Platinum into his being. Turning back to face them all, they all got a look at it.

The truly furious face of Jotaro Kujo.

The calm and collected scientist now wore the face of violence, a face he hadn’t worn since Egypt. His eyes shone bright with a horrifying lust for vengeance. Those eyes looked away from the frightened stand users, towards your unconscious body. Without a word, Jotaro left the room, and the others let out a shaky breath in the tense air. Those eyes. It had been three days and those eyes were still ever present. Rohan shook away his discomfort and waved goodbye to Mr. Joestar, understanding now.

Jotaro was not in this for justice. If Kira had hurt only you those months ago, Jotaro would have worn the same face. You were the key to Jotaro’s psyche and wellbeing. That was a fundamental truth about Jotaro Kujo. It was that day that Rohan Kishibe learned another fundamental truth.

Sometimes, the universe places an answer in your hands when you need an answer the most.

Half an hour later, it happened. It was in the middle of a secluded street, inhabited by only three people at that moment. A man. A woman. And the young artist, who had been so enraptured by his goal of locating the first name of his list that he barely had the time to react when it happened. And when it did, it only took an instant.

The man in front of him quickly drew out a pocket knife from his jacket, driving its blade into the woman’s shoulder, unaware Rohan was behind him seeing the act in its entirety. Before the woman had any time to scream in pain, the pair vanished into thin air before the artist’s very eyes, and into the man’s stand realm. Rohan held his breath, frightened at the pair’s sudden disappearance. A stand user. It must have been. Was this him? Reaching quickly into his bag, Rohan Kishibe phoned his first line of defense.

You had been sitting with Jotaro and all of the Morioh teenagers when Jotaro received his call from Rohan.

“What is it?”

“I found someone. It’s either him or another one Jotaro.”

Jotaro shot up from his chair, eyes blown out in stress. “Are you sure?! How do you know?!”

Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi all grew the same expression of fighting spirit on their faces and you were sure danger was ahead for you all.

Rohan tried to remain calm. “I’m not sure… Come over here with the others. We have a better chance of taking down whoever this is together. I’m by Owsen, two streets over…”

Inside Foreigner’s God’s realm, the man grabbed on tighter to the struggling woman’s neck as she gasped for air.

“Please, please don’t kill me! Please don’t k-kill me!”

But the man was hardly paying attention to her cries. He had brought a vision of Rohan into the void and was watching the artist’s movement’s while still strangling the woman as she writhed in pain.

He didn’t like what he was hearing. With a grunt, the man turned the woman around to face Rohan’s vision, his hand still tight around her neck.

She whimpered at the sudden motion, tears streaming down her face, meanwhile he stared boredly at Rohan talking on the phone with Jotaro and the others.

“Hey bitch, who is that?”

The woman just kept crying. “Please don’t kill me!”

Gritting his teeth, the man smacked her upside the head and tightened his grip around her neck. “Tell me who that is!”

Her vision hazy, the woman took a good look at the eccentrically dressed man. “I-I think th-that’s Rohan Kishibe. A famous manga artist…” She sputtered out.

The man’s eyes widened. Rohan Kishibe. He was at the scene of Kira’s death. Could he be another of them?

A fit of laughter took over him and he cackled, his jubilation mixing uncomfortably with the woman’s struggle for her life. Continuing to holler, the man dropped the woman to the ground and she remained there, coughing to catch her breath.

“Oh that’s great! I’ve heard he’s good too! You ever read any of his stuff?!”

She looked up at him confused, watching his face twist in excitement as he realized that he, a lowly stand user, was about to kill a man that helped take down the mighty Yoshikage Kira. Staring down at the ground, she shuddered at the sound of the maniac’s voice.

“Hey.”

A chill went down the woman’s spine. Suddenly, the man wasn’t laughing anymore. She turned her head to find a way to escape, seeing nothing but white everywhere. Why couldn’t anyone see what he was doing to her?! The man on the street with them, Rohan, why wasn’t he stepping in? It’s like they weren’t the real world at that moment.

“...I asked you a question.”

Tears filled her eyes again as she met his bored gaze. “W-what?”

Drawing closer to her weak form, and kneeling down on the ground, the man before her grabbed a fistful of her hair and she screamed at the sudden jerking pain.

“I’m asking if you’ve ever read any of his stuff!”

The woman felt a crushing pain in her chest, as if a mysterious force was stepping on her.

“N-no! I haven’t! But please don’t k-”

“Hmph.”

In a split second, the stand’s hands came around the woman’s neck and snapped it, and Foreigner’s God’s ability ceased. The man quickly his himself out of sight, seeing Rohan standing alone in the street.

Rohan turned around at the thud of a body hitting the ground behind him. He looked over to see the dead woman, her eyes blown out and a thick ring of bruises around her neck. Just like what you had gone through. And there it was, the same tag that had been on your body after your attack.

“Foreigner’s God. - AS. ”

Bringing his phone shakily to his ear, Rohan muttered, “It’s him Jotaro. He’s just killed someone else. Get over here now!”

Jotaro felt the same dark intent sweep over him as he heard Rohan speak those words. “Do you see him?”

“No. He hid himself somehow. He’s nearby I bet. Waiting to get me… Come soon. I’m hanging up.” With that, the artist turned his phone off, staying on guard for any attackers.

Jotaro hung up the phone call with Rohan and turned to the others to come with him. You stood up as well to head to the scene when you felt Jotaro’s hand roughly shove you down into your seat.

“No.” He ordered plainly.

“No?! You expect me to be useless again?! I’m the one he attacked first! I wanna see him go down and I wanna help do it!”

“I’m not having you go over there! You can’t get hurt again!”

You stared up at him, shocked at the concern plastered all over his face. But still, you were stubborn. That’s one of the things he loved about you.

“What about you?! What makes you sure you won’t get hurt?! Or even die Jotaro?!”

“I’d rather that than you die (y/n)! The world needs you more than it will ever need me! And I can’t watch someone I love get hurt right in front of me again!”

You stood there frozen, your legs feeling like they were about to give out at those word.

“...What?”

Jotaro felt a hand grip his shoulder, turning to see Josuke motion for him to get going. They needed to catch this guy. And fast. Giving a quick glance to your shaken form, he knew you understood why you needed to stay behind.

You did, of course, know him and his words better than anyone else on Earth.

Jotaro began running with the others towards the scene and when he was a few feet away, you heard Koichi ask your beloved lab partner if he had any idea what kind of stand they were dealing with.

Your mind flooded back to the words that man had spoken to you. A stand. That was the word he kept using. A stand. AS. Those were the initials of the man that nearly strangled you to death. Foreigner’s God. He said that was the name of his stand. A stand. Stand.

Your mind kept repeating that same word over and over again in your head as you stood there in the crowded Morioh street. All of these people. The people you had come to love. Josuke and the others. The strange lives they lived. Jotaro. The strange life he had drawn you into. They were all working to save the thousands of people that lived in this small Japanese town.

You thought back on all they had said, all that you had overheard over the course of the investigation. Things you didn’t understand now flooded your mind. They spoke about the first trip, the killer. Killer. A man named Kira. Killer Queen. Killer Queen must have been his stand. A stand. Is that why you think you’ve been going crazy? Are those third arms stands? ...Did Jotaro have one?

“Gimme… gimme… gimme… GIMME!”

Your whole form awoke from your deep train of thought at the sound of someone calling out to you. You turned around, looking at all the people that were walking nearby. No one was even looking at you. You sighed. You supposed this town really was driving you crazy. You reached for your crutches and took one step forward-

“GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!”

The loud voice rang violently in your head and you fell to your knees from the shock. Covering your ears, you foolishly tried to block out the sound. Your whole body began to feel weak, your whole being heating up. It felt like your blood was boiling, your muscles were tensing, an unwanted rage consuming every cell in your form.

“What’s going on?! What’s happening to m-”

“GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME!”

“Who are you?! What’s going on?!” You thought to yourself, panicking. What was this voice?!

“GIMME GIMME GIMME!”

“Go away…” You muttered under your breath as you knelt on the pavement.

“GIMME GIMME GIMME!”

“Go away…” Your voice subconsciously raised, drawing others’ attention.

“GIMME GIMME GIMME!”

“GO AWAY!” You let a shrill yell, grabbing violently at your hair in terror, causing a crowd of people to form around you.

And then the voice stopped, a quiet renewing in your head. You sat there, gasping for air, your throat still burning from the attack days before, and your screaming had not helped it. You looked up at everyone staring up at you in shocked worry. In a calm daze, you stood up, grabbing your crutches and began to walk away from the others.

Jotaro. Jotaro would know what it means. What that voice was.

- - - - -

Arata Sone had been Yoshikage Kira’s only friend as long as the killer had been alive. He was the only person in the world that Kira confided in. He remembered the night he met the blond murderer. One evening, the normal man came home from a very late night at work to a silent home, his wife sleeping upstairs. With a heavy sigh, Sone was about to enter his bedroom when he heard his wife let out a sudden shriek, before the sound immediately ceased into a renewed silence. Panicked, the man swung the door open to find another man about his age, standing in the middle of the room, a dismembered hand in his grasp. The hand was dripping blood onto the carpet, and Sone’s wife was nowhere to be found. Putting two and two together, the man felt a chill slither up his whole body. He remained stuck in his spot as he watched the blond man draw closer to him. Then something strange happened. Arata Sone knew that he should be afraid, knew that he should be begging for his life, knew that the proper thing to do was flee. But what he did shocked both himself and the murderer before him.

Arata Sone laughed harder than he ever had before.

Cackling loudly to an unsettling degree, he even managed to throw the calm and collected Yoshikage Kira off guard. After several minutes, the laughter died down and the man looked at the other before him with a wide smile on his face.

“Thank you.”

For the first time in a long time, Kira felt a shudder rush through his body.

“Thank you?”

“I was waiting for a good moment to kill her myself.”

In that moment, both men felt one of the great pleasures of life, a pleasure that can only come from being shunned for one’s desires for so long, and then to finally have that desire recognized by another being. The two men called out their stands and both fell into fits of laughter and joy at their shared murderous trait. A new friendship had been born.

A few years later, Arata Sone saw on the news the gruesome image of his beloved friend’s face crushed beneath an ambulance. Seeing what he could only guess were other stand users at the scene, his ever present lust for murder grew within him to a boiling point. Foreigner’s God’s user made a promise to himself. To kill those who had killed his friend.

And today was the day to make that happen. The killer watched from his hiding spot as Jotaro and the others ran to the scene to see a very shaken Rohan Kishibe, who was wondering why the killer had yet to show himself. What none of them knew, was that their attacker had grown as a stand user. He was about to apply what his dear friend Kira had once taught him, and was merely hiding to get them all in one place.

Sone waited for the group to get within his stand’s range.

You slowly made your way on your crutches towards the scene. You needed to know these answers.

“Just a little farther…” He thought as he waited for Jotaro and the others to be within his grasp.

“Just a little farther…” You muttered to yourself as you turned the corner, two streets away from Owsen. An ominous feeling crept over you, making you feel sick to your stomach.

Finally, they were all together within his stand’s range. Arata Sone waited for the right moment, a sick smile on his face.

Jotaro went to speak. “Any sign of h-”

And then the attack was sent into motion. In that split second, each of Morioh’s fighters looked down to see a small mass of white matter form around their ankle. With the snap of his fingers, the matter exploded, taking a chunk off each person’s leg with it. Jotaro, Josuke, Koichi, Okuyasu and Rohan all collapsed to the ground as the street became consumed in a white void the moment they all felt that same sting of pain.

“No human on Earth is unable to feel pain.”

They all looked up from writhing in pain as the man they had been hunting down showed himself, the twisted smile on his face more present than before.

“When a man feels he is at his most cornered, that is often when the most opportunities arise for him. My st-”

In a flash, Jotaro lunged forward, landing a punch to Sone’s face. The smile went away.

“I suppose I’ll take your hand next.” He grunted, grabbing Jotaro’s arm and slamming his whole body to the ground. The moment his hand made contact with the ground, another white mass formed around Jotaro’s finger and exploded, and Star Platinum’s user once again hollered in pain.

“Jotaro!”

The other Morioh fighters called out to their injured friend and all of them got up to attack their enemy together. The moment they took another step, white matter formed once more around their feet and exploded again. The five of them were squirming on the ground in pain once again.

“As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, Jotaro Kujo. My stand feeds on that first moment of selfish pain and extends it, trapping others in a blank void without distraction from their pain. It’s a terrifying ability when used properly, though I will admit, back when I attacked your little friend, I wouldn’t have been able to take you all on at once, and that’s the only reason I spared her life…”

He looked down to see Jotaro’s face overcome with rage at your mention. It was a fruitless effort, but Jotaro lunged at his enemy again, only to be knocked on his back. The moment his body touched the ground, several bubbles of the same white substance engulfed the scientist’s back and exploded, leaving bleeding indents all over the tall man’s frame and causing him to gasp at the pain.

“But you see. I have grown as a stand user. You may remember from the tag on your beloved friend’s arm the words Foreigner’s God. Well that my friends, is the name of my stand. Or no… this is something different. A new ability that I’ve learned. A swan song to my dear friend, Yoshikage Kira!”

Their eyes shot open at the mention of that hardly forgotten name. “Kira?” Josuke muttered.

“Oh right… an old friend of mine. I figured when I would be taking revenge for his death, I would use some of that explosive power of his that I loved so much. You see everyone, normally I would only be able to keep one person at a time in my realm. You can only hurt some many in one instance after all!”

It was in that moment, Foreigner’s God revealed itself in its humanoid form right beside its user. Lunging forward, the stand attacked the stationary fighters, knocking them all to the ground. At the very second their bodies touched the ground, the same miniature explosions went off, extending their pain and keeping them in the dangerous realm.

“Gimme gimme gimme…”

You placed a hand against your ear trying to block out that annoying voice that was seemingly coming out of nowhere. You weren’t far from the scene, your mind still running wild, asking a thousand questions as to what a stand even was, what that voice just then was, who were the others really dealing with, what was this man capable of. You weren’t sure of what you would be able to do, but something within you drew your body closer and closer to the street where your friends were currently writhing in agony. You didn’t care about what Jotaro wasn’t telling you. You didn’t care that there were still questions that needed answered. You just wanted to help, anyway you could figure out how.

Staring down at their battered and bleeding bodies, Arata Sone let out another burst of jubilation amidst the void.

“I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this before! If you haven’t already noticed, my once empty void has now been combined with its own type of landmines. You cannot move without a new one setting off, and extending that pain further. You’re going to be stuck in here until you bleed out, with no one to hear you or see you! That is it the secret to my new ability, Arsonist’s Lullaby!”

With that cry, the stand stormed through the five of them once more, knocking them to the ground once more, causing new land mines to set off, all to the tune of its user’s laugh-filled joy. It was then that white walls of the void were beginning to fade, and the scenery of that Morioh street was starting to fade back into view.

“Hmm… it appears this ability takes up more of my energy than I thought. I suppose I can’t kill all five of you at once and remain invisible at the same time. No matter, I can’t sense any other stand users around, just the six of us. I don’t care who sees this! I’ll just kill the witnesses after I kill you!”

It was then that Arata Sone made a fatal mistake, and just like his friend Yoshikage Kira, let his hubris take over. Removing the hiding nature of his stand, but doubling the landmines, the man watched as the five powerful stand users struggled to even get close enough to him to land in a hit. New landmines keep going off, new injuries created.

They were dangerously close to bleeding out, all in plain sight of another stand user. You.

You turned the corner to see the carnage ahead of you, finding your whole group in the enemy’s grasp. You couldn’t even tell what you were seeing. The moment one of your friends moved, they would immediately flinch back in agony. Drawing your attention to the man standing over them, a familiar chill went through you. That was the same man that had attacked you days before. And seeing what he was capable of doing to the people you had grown so close to, you were now more scared than ever of him.

But you noticed something. Amidst the pleasure that this monster was reveling in, there was a distinct look of concentration plastered all over his face. You watched his expression twitch with each time an attack went off on one of your friends. He must be doing something with his mind to attack them. He was focusing. His focus. You needed to capture his focus.

Steeling yourself for what was to come, you dropped your crutches and took a deep breath in, something in you knowing the dangers you were about to face, and the rest of you stupidly seeming not to care.

With a small ounce of bravery, you shouted at the top of your lungs. “Stop it! I won’t let you hurt them!”

Sone turned around at the sudden distraction, surprised that someone was taking notice. His eyebrow raised in intrigue. That could only mean one thing. You were another one.

Jotaro recognized that voice. No… no no no. Looking up, he saw your frightened body shaking and staring straight into the enemy’s eyes without a way to defend yourself.

“No! (y/n) get out of here! You can’t be here! He’ll kill-”

The killer turned back around and punched Jotaro straight in the gut with his stand, sending him flying back into a tree.

“Jotaro!”

You shrieked. All five of them were dying right in front of you, so close to bleeding out. And now his focus was on you, and it had taken all your courage to simply call out and distract him from the others. You watched as the man drew closer, ready to kill another. The same giant smile came over his face again.

“(y/n) huh? And here I thought you were a smart person. Smart enough not to beg for me to hurt you again. But sorry, there’s no escape this time!”

“(y/n) no! Run away! Get out of here!”

You didn’t have time to register whose voice had called out to you before you saw the attacker lunge right at you. You put your arms up over your face as your body collapsed to its knees, your eyes shut in fear, and a horrified scream uncontrollably left your lungs.

“Now die!”

And then, you felt weightless.

“GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME”

As you felt a massive weight being lifted from your body, your eyes shot open to find someone new standing over you. Actually, you weren’t sure if it was someone new, or something new. This new thing, it didn’t seem real.

“GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME”

Your face lit up in shock. Attached to this new thing was the same voice that you had been hearing in your head before. You watched as its fists fired off in a flurry of punches, all hitting their marks on the man’s body. You were mesmerized by its appearance. Its body, about the same size as yours, looked as if it were made of glass. Swirling around within that glass was a pool of different colors. Different blues, purples, oranges and pinks flowed together seamlessly, all encased within the glass structure as it pummeled the enemy before you.

“GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME… A MAN!”

With one last, hard punch to the enemy’s chest, the glass figure stopped its attack and turned around to face you. You shuffled back on the ground, your chest heaving in fear from what had just happened. The figure before you, without speaking a word, drew its arm forward to point at Sone, who was now frozen in his spot before you. Then, everyone watched as small ripples began to form over the man’s whole body. All over his arms, legs, and chest, it looks as if the flesh was moving, as if someone had dropped a pebble into a lake. Then the ripples began to glow brightly, the full spectrum of colors radiating out, and tearing their way from the inside of his body outward. The enemy let out a painful shriek as the searing pain overtook him, more and more light spilling out of his body as the flesh around it became torn and melted. Finally, less than a second later, an explosion of white light burst out of the man’s body. And once that flash was gone, so was he. Foreigner’s God had been defeated. And this thing that you could tell was a part of you, it had been the thing to kill him.

Shakily, you stood up, holding on tightly to your crutches, keeping your gaze on this figure that had erupted out of you.

“...ABBA?”

Still confused, all you knew was that something in your body told you to say that name. The figure turned around to face you and gave you a shy smile before coming closer and embracing your shaking form in a hug. Surprised you could even touch it, you wrapped your arms around ABBA as well, finding to your disbelief that the glass like material felt soft and warm to the touch. You looked down its back, eyeing the pattern of jagged lines all over its body, as well as the swirling colors within. You felt your eyes well up with tears. Something about holding onto this being, one not entirely separate from you, felt so right. It felt like it had been welling up inside you for so long, and you couldn’t help but love it now that it was out.

“A stand…” You muttered. It was all so clear now. Your stand.

After a few moments, ABBA stood up and nodded towards the group of your injured friends. Holding you up, both you and your stand rushed over to Josuke. The teenager’s eyes opened with a pained groan, looking up at you and seeing ABBA at your side. His face lit up in surprise and he tried to sit up before the crushing pain forced him back down onto the ground. He muttered weakly for you to see if Rohan was alright, and you did.

Suddenly, a small white figure burst out of the artist’s body and punched Josuke in the arm. You watched, intrigued as a section of the teen’s arm unfolded like a book. The white figure leaned in, writing in Josuke’s arm the words, “I currently do not have any injuries.”

You watched in awe as the bleeding wounds all over Josuke’s body slowly began to close. Within a few minutes, Josuke was up and mobile as ever. He had several questions to ask you, but first, he had some healing to do. You watched as a pink and blue being, you assumed Josuke’s stand, flew out of his body and hovered over all of the other injured, healing them nearly immediately. They all stood up, groaning from the shadows of pain still left behind from the attacks. One by one, each of them looked up at you, each of their faces growing an expression of surprise and adoration. You felt small under their gazes, looking up at your stand standing next to you. As small as you felt, there was something about ABBA that made you feel powerful. Especially considering what it had just done to defeat the enemy.

“(y/n)... is that your stand…?”

You looked over at Koichi before quickly nodding. “Yeah… I guess it must be right?”

You tried to shrug it off with a nervous laugh, but even you were still in awe of this new ability. Finally, you turned to Jotaro, watching his face for a reaction. The gentle giant stood frozen at a loss of words, unsure of what to say. His gaze turned to ABBA, a melancholy look of admiration and love spread over his features.

“Come on Jotaro… say something. Don’t worry. I’ll understand-”

You muttered softly before Jotaro rushed forward and cut you off with a tight hug. You rested your smaller body against him, tears of relief streaming down your face, grateful that everyone was still alive. You looked up to gaze into Jotaro’s blue eyes, seeing that he had begun to tear up as well. Then something caught your eye. Looking over the tall man’s shoulder, you saw a purple skinned spirit faze out of your partner’s body and float over to ABBA, starting deeply into your stand’s face. ABBA, who had before been so calm and collected, now shrunk back a little bit with a childish giggle at the sight of the handsome stand before her. As ABBA held her face in her hands, you felt your cheeks flush bright red. Your eyes widened and you pushed Jotaro away from you, turning to your stand.

“H-hey wait a minute! ABBA, it’s not like that!”

“Gimme?”

ABBA asked innocently as she grabbed Star Platinum’s hand tightly in her own. Jotaro now felt his face heat up and turn bright red. With a heavy sigh, he watched as his stand wrapped yours in its arms, chuckling a bit at your embarrassment.

“Sorry about all this. His name’s Star Platinum, and he’s definitely more… emotional than I am.”

Your eyes widened at what that could possibly mean. Wait… did they think that you and Jotaro were…

“W-wait it’s not like that! He and I are just… “

“Gimme?”

“No! W-well I mean I care about him but I-”

“(y/n).”

You turned around to face Jotaro as he calmly took his hat off, revealing the jet black hair that you loved seeing.

“I’m so glad you’re okay (y/n).”

Your heart swelled at his words and you slowly turned around to see ABBA and Star Platinum holding each other lovingly, a warmth erupting throughout your whole body at the sight. The feeling of Jotaro grabbing your hand caught your attention and met his gaze once more.

“He’s the personification of my thoughts and well… it seems like your stand, ABBA right? It seems like she’s the personification of yours.”

The two of you watched as your stands talk to one another in their own little language, each enamored by the other’s presence. You turned back to Jotaro, seeing that his face had drawn closer.

“Yeah… I guess... you’re… right.”

As you breathed out that last word, Jotaro closed the gap between the two of you, your lips connecting in a sweet, long awaited kiss. You wrapped your arms around the fellow scientist’s, and now fellow stand user’s, neck, giggling slightly as he lifted your body off the ground to hold you tightly in his arms. When you two broke for air, Jotaro quickly kissed you again, holding you up like his life depended on it.

When he finally set you down, Jotaro Kujo placed a hand to the side of your face and wiped away your tears. With a small laugh, he turned over to your stand.

“Hey ABBA, what took you so long huh?”

“...Gimme.” ABBA shrugged a little bit and pointed at you.

You smiled, wiping your tears away. “She said she wouldn’t appear until I was either ready for it, or I really needed her.”

Jotaro rolled his eyes at your stand. “Well you really waited for the exact moment that she needed you huh-Ow!”

Jotaro grumbled a bit as Star punched him in the arm, annoyed that his user was making fun of this new pretty stand. ABBA grinned mischievously before looking around at the rest of the group, and seeing all of the other stands.

A feeling of happiness swelled within the stand’s heart. Ever since you had pricked your finger on the arrow, for so long she had been growing, becoming more and more trapped within you. It had been lonely seeing you struggle without her help. It had been upsetting to see you not yet be ready for her to show herself. But now, eyeing all the others, Heaven’s Door, Echoes, the Hand, Crazy Diamond, and especially Star Platinum, ABBA really didn’t feel alone anymore. And seeing now how the other stand users of Morioh rushed over to hug you and vocalize their shock at you having a stand, ABBA could tell that you didn’t really feel alone anymore either. With a sigh of content, your stand fazed back into your body as you followed the rest of the group away from the scene and back to the hotel to get some much needed rest.

You leaned against Jotaro’s frame as he wrapped as a strong arm around you. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat everyone! Tonio’s, my treat!” He said with a bright smile.

Josuke and Okuyasu cheered, “and (y/n) can meet Tonio’s stand!”

You turned back to the teens in shock as you all walked ahead. “Tonio has a stand?!”

Koichi gave a firm nod. “Yeah. So does Hazamada.”

“That weird kid?!”

“My girlfriend Yukako too.”

“Damn… I had no idea…”

You all shared a laugh as you left to enjoy a well deserved victory, the sun setting over the beautiful town of Morioh, another dark force defeated by the town's newest savior.

101 notes · View notes

foursideharmony · 3 years

Text

The Cat, the Prince, and the Doorway to Imagination (Chapter 9)

Summary: It's time to end this...

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

Content Warnings: Swordfighting, a wee bit of blood, swearing, total exhaustion

Word Count: 2,738

Read on AO3: here

There was no obvious way to cross. Roman stopped with his toes nearly brushing the surface of the water. “JADIS!” he called across the distance. “Usurper! I, Prince Roman, do hereby challenge you!”

For the briefest instant, a paper-white face appeared in one of the high windows of the castle, displaying a subtle but unmistakable expression of pure disdain before its owner moved out of view again.

Roman was crestfallen, but Virgil moved up alongside him, saying “Pfft, rude.”

“I would have thought she'd be thrilled to take out her vengeance on me.”

“I'm sure she is...but she wants to do it on her terms. Why answer an open challenge when she can wait a while and then ambush you when you least expect it?”

“Well, she's getting an open challenge whether she wants one or not. I just have to figure out how I'm getting to her.”

Logan tossed a pebble out into the water. It made a very satisfying plunk, with rows of even ripples. “The water is at least a few feet deep. I recommend against swimming or wading—immersion in liquid that supports a large quantity of floating ice is almost certain to cause hypothermia.”

“Maybe we can somehow get the ice chunks to line up and form a bridge...?” Roman suggested, but he didn't sound confident.

“Can't you just make a bridge? Or a boat or something?” said Patton. “Now that you're back to being the Creativity we know and love?”

Roman made an exhalation that was halfway to being a sob and said, in a voice with a hairline crack, “I suppose it can't hurt to try...”

He closed his eyes, cupped one hand beside the other as though sheltering a tiny flame, and focused all his power on making something, anything, that would enable them to cross the water. Please...I'll accept anything...a raft...a rope...come on, please!...

He couldn't even say who or what he was begging, but whatever it was...it answered. Roman knew his attempt had worked—more or less—when he heard Patton snicker behind him. He opened his eyes and turned around.

Roman hadn't known what to expect, but he definitely had not expected a buff-colored mushroom the size of a dinner table for eight, with Logan examining it curiously and Remus poking the spongy substance and giggling. Roman blinked at it several times before the irony hit him, at which point he abruptly doubled over with guffaws, bracing his hands on his knees in order to keep from falling over.

“Roman? You...good?” asked Virgil.

“I finally made a mushroom!” Roman wheezed. “After all that angst back there...”

“Roman, what are you talking about?” said Logan.

“I'll tell you guys later,” Roman said, straightening up and rubbing fresh tears from his eyes. “For now...” He unsheathed his sword and severed the mushroom's cap from its stalk almost effortlessly. It landed at the water's edge, floating high. “All aboard who's coming aboard!”

They all fit easily enough, though they had to crowd together to keep their feet from getting wet. Roman took up a perch at the side of the mushroom facing the bank, braced his boot against the earth, and shoved, casting them off. Their peculiar vessel spun gently as it drifted toward the White Witch's castle. Now and again an ice chunk would approach, and whoever was closest to it would kick it away, altering both the spin and the drift in little ways. It took several minutes before the mushroom grounded itself in the far side of the lake.

The portcullis was closed, its iron lattice too tight to admit anything larger than a loaf of bread. But Roman was unfazed. He had made a mushroom. He whipped his sword through the air a few times, and a man-sized section of the bars simply collapsed. He led the other Sides through the courtyard—now empty of statues, as though Aslan's spring had freed the petrified creatures without his direct involvement—and down the corridor to the White Witch's throne room.

They were expected.

Jadis sat enthroned, flanked along the dais by the captains and lieutenants of her armies, a fair sampling of the horror monsters Roman had brought to the Stone Table only that very morning. Many of them carried spears, axes, and clubs. Maugrim paced along the floor in front of the dais in an oddly catlike fashion, his eyes never leaving the party as they entered.

“And here he is!” the Witch declared as though Roman had been the topic of conversation in the room. “I knew you would not be long in returning to me, Prince Roman. And you've brought your fellows with you! Tribute, perhaps? They will look lovely in the courtyard.”

Roman marched to the middle of the hall and leveled an accusing finger at her, eliciting gasps from the assembled creatures. “Usurper! Pretender to the throne of Narnia! Why do you still sit there? You have lost—Aslan has returned, your endless winter has given way to spring, and I...” He swallowed. “...I have purged myself of your malign influence.”

“An influence you welcomed,” Jadis said smoothly. There was the faintest hitch of breath behind him, and her smile broadened. “Why, Roman. Did you not tell them how you came to be the White Warlock?”

“Not yet,” Roman said, trying to sound casual about it. “Don't change the subject. The jig is up, Jadis, and you will quit this castle, take your followers, and leave Narnia forever.”

“Or?” she prompted. Her voice was like a shower of slender icicles pattering down from a shaken branch.

“Or face me in single combat. Me, Jadis. The one who stole your power, stole your very being, into myself, when you were on the brink of victory. Duel me for the right to say what will become of you and your armies.”

Something unprecedented happened.

Jadis laughed.

It was nothing hearty or prolonged, just a quick scoffing exhalation, but it was a laugh. “Or perhaps I shall simply ignore your demand, kill you all, and carry on as I have. Aslan's return means nothing with no candidates to place on the thrones of Cair Paravel.”

“You may find that difficult,” Roman said through gritted teeth, “if I drop the scenario right now and all this vanishes.”

“Oh shit, he's going meta!” Remus stage-whispered.

“Watch your language!” Patton scolded.

“Is that an extreme measure?” Logan asked.

“Are you kidding, Five-Eyes? It's the last resort for a creative type! He's talking about scrapping the story before he gets to the ending!”

“Bollocks!” shouted one of the lieutenants, a goblin-esque creature. “If he has that kind of power, why even offer a duel?”

“My reasons are my own,” said Roman. “The point, Jadis, is that you are being offered a chance. You're a proud woman, but suicidally proud? I don't think so.”

All Narnia held its breath as the Witch considered. After a moment that seemed longer than it was, she rose to her feet. “I accept. We shall duel here, and at once. It begins as soon as I descend to the floor.” She began to walk down the steps of the dais, directly toward Roman.

“Weapons only! No magic from either of us!” Roman said hastily.

“Agreed,” said the Witch with the confidence of someone who is stronger and has longer reach than their opponent. She drew her long stone knife from the sash at her waist.

“No one is to interfere!” Roman added, fighting the urge to back away.

“Agreed.”

Jadis's foot hit the floor, and she charged.

Roman launched into motion himself, and met the charge.

That first blow, stone blade meeting steel, threw up a shower of sparks too bright to look at. The Witch pressed Roman until his boots skidded on the frozen floor, and only by reacting immediately, breaking the blade lock and flinging himself to the side, did he avoid being stabbed then and there.

He rolled onto his back—and she was on him, forcing him to block again, one hand grasping the hilt of his sword, the other awkwardly pincering the blunt edge of the blade. He managed to get his knee up and threw her off, over his head, while ruthless physics sent him slipping in the opposite direction. He scrambled to rise and got as far as a sitting position just in time to see the Witch roll, turning her tumble into a graceful slide, one leg bent under her and the other extended off to the side, her arms counterbalancing.

Elapsed time of the duel so far: perhaps six seconds.

Lewis really undersold her, Roman found himself thinking lightheadedly.

And now the spectators were finding their voices. The prince's spirits lifted when he first heard Patton crow “You can do it, Roman!”...but in the next instant, it was drowned out by the gibbering howls of the Witch's followers from every side of the room. That was all he was able to register before she came at him again, her knife lashing the air in a pattern almost too complex for him to follow.

Almost...Somehow, he managed to parry every strike and even offer a few ripostes. The very end of the sequence gave him an opening to lunge and swipe—she dodged the blow handily, but his sword sheared off a lock of her coal-colored hair. She shrieked with rage.

“Yeah! Shave her bald!” Remus cackled.

“Not helping!” Roman barked.

But it hadn't really hurt either. The prince was getting the hang of fighting on the slick surface; his footing became surer, his movements more confident, his strikes more forceful. The Witch was taller and stronger and had the home-field advantage, but Roman had the superior weapon—two feet of folded steel compared to eight inches of carved stone—and with his insecurities about the arena ironed out, it began to make a real difference. She could lunge at him with inhuman speed and grace, but if he brought up his blade in time, she had to pull her blow lest the knife break on the sword's edge...and that instant of hesitation would give him an opening. The tide of battle turned, and Jadis began to be driven back within her own throne room. The shouts of alarm from her followers were nearly deafening.

(It was at this point that Maugrim, who was nothing if not loyal, began to slink around behind the rows of spectators, looking for a chance to rush to his queen's aid. He thought he found one and tensed to make his move—only to find himself physically stopped by an arc of steel wrapped around his neck exactly as though he were a wayward sheep. He turned to snarl at the interloper and was greeted by a slit-pupilled eye as frightening as any in the White Witch's armies.

“None of that, naughty puppy,” Janus said in silken tones. “No interference, remember? I'm sure your mistress would much rather you strive to keep her honor intact.”

Maugrim's hackles went up and he prepared to overpower Janus through sheer bulk and muscle, but then...)

A gasp went up from Jadis's followers, followed by an immediate hush that blanketed the entire hall. Roman had disarmed her, sending the stone knife tumbling end-over-end across the chamber. She desperately ducked his sword and scrambled to retrieve her weapon, but it struck the wall point-on, digging deep into the frozen surface and sending out cracks that spread rapidly until a section of ice the size of a mattress was sheared off. It barely missed her as it crashed to the floor and shattered, the impact throwing her off her feet.

She looked up into the tip of a blade. “Yield,” Roman said coolly. “You are defeated.”

“You mean to let me live?” Jadis said with a bitter smile. “You know I would not do you the same courtesy.”

Roman winced almost imperceptibly. “I have caused enough death in Narnia. Yield...quit this land forever, and take your creatures with you.” When he got no response, he thrust his sword at her face, drawing a single drop of blood from her chalk-colored cheek.

“I-I yield,” she said, wide-eyed.

Roman half-turned to address the room, keeping his sword trained on his downed opponent. “You have all witnessed her surrender!” he declared. “This regime is at an end!”

One of the monsters raised a keening wail, an acknowledgment of defeat, and was soon joined by others. Those who bore weapons threw them down, and a few made florid obeisances in Roman's direction.

For the first time in days—since he had first begun to feel that he was being steered toward the role of Edmund—Roman felt the tension begin to bleed out of his shoulders. With the wails of the Witch's followers blending into a sort of white noise in his head, he let his eyes slide closed and his sword arm droop, and took a moment just to breathe—

“Roman! Look out!”

—and his eyes snapped back open just in time to see Jadis springing at him with her wand raised (where had she gotten it from?) and there was no time, no time to do anything but drop his sword and bring up his hands to grab—

There was a flash of light, as bright as lightning at the same distance, and a horrible cracking, crunching sound. When it subsided, Roman and the White Witch stood perfectly still, holding her golden wand aloft between them, her face frozen in a snarl of fury, his in understated alarm that hadn't had time to gel...neither one blinking.

Utter silence reigned in the throne room for a long moment. When sound returned, it was in the form of a whimper. “Both of them...both...” Patton muttered, before he broke the stillness and ran up to the twin statues. He lifted a hesitant, trembling hand to touch Roman's shoulder...

Roman blinked, and sighed, and his posture sagged...not stone after all. He let go of the wand as if prying his fingers free of some powerful glue, and as Patton seized one of his hands in a desperately relieved gesture and the other Sides jogged over to the two of them, his knees began to buckle in slow motion. He wound up in a sprawled kneeling position, his legs bent out to the sides, gazing up at the petrified form of his enemy. Her marble complexion was now literal, her hair sculpted waves of obsidian, her lips a scarlet flaw in the surface of the stone, parted to show more white marble behind.

“I did it...” he said in a tiny voice.

“You did do it!” Patton agreed. “Roman, you were amazing!”

“Indeed, I never realized before just how adroit you are at swordsmanship. Well done,” Logan added.

“I defeated the White Warlock...” Roman continued.

“You mean the White Witch,” said Virgil.

“Yes...her too.” Roman closed his eyes again. He was exhausted. “It's time to go home,” he whispered, or maybe just thought. A proper denouement would have been nice, but his energy well had finally run dry. The throne room slowly faded to white around them.

“Uh...” Virgil observed.

“S'all right,” Roman murmured. “Remus, can you...”

“Brilliant idea, giving Remus an open-ended question,” Janus remarked dryly. Curiously enough, however, the other Creative Side was already drawing lines in mid-air in a hurried fashion. Color and texture filled them in, making the image of a miniature door, about half the size of a normal one.

“Whoops, drew it too far away,” said Remus. “Well, come on, it's not going to pound itself until it bursts open!” He set out at a brisk walk.

Virgil and Patton helped Roman to his feet, one arm over each of their shoulders, and more-or-less carried him the short walk to the door.

“Remus, while we have your attention,” said Logan, begging a rather important question, “I have a more defined question for you. Specifically: five eyes?”

“Yep!” Remus replied, arriving at the door and rapping on it in an uneven pattern that had to be a code of some kind. “The two in your eyesockets, your glasses, and the one on the end of your—”

Fortunately, the door opened before he could end the sentence.

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

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albertasunrise · 3 years

Text

Not Alone

Summary: ‘So now that I have awoken what do you plan to do?’ he asked, changing the subject. ‘We find our next job.’ she stated, her face devoid of any emotion which made her impossible to read. ‘We?’ he questioned as he moved his head in order to look at her better. ‘We.’ she replied

Warning/Content: Angst, Blood and Injury, Hospitalisation

Paring: Ezra/ Cee

~§~

The ship edged closer and closer and Cee allowed herself to smile, they were going to be okay. Her ears picked up labored breathing beside her and she turned her head to see Ezra looking at her, his lips parted slightly as he struggled to suck in a breath. His lids were growing heavy, his skin pale as a thin layer of sweat formed. She could see him slipping.

‘We’re almost there.’ she said as she tapped his cheek.

Her touch pulled him back a little and his dark brown eyes opened wide as he tried to stay awake, the pain getting a little too much to bear.

‘Why did you come back for me?’ he questioned, voice strained as he held her gaze.

‘I couldn’t leave you behind.’

‘Even after all the sorrow I’ve caused you?’ he quizzed, his pain evident on his face.

Cee said nothing, her eyes drifting to his stump and then to the station they were approaching. She felt a pang of guilt for the man's current state. It was because of her that he’d lost his arm and if he still had them both he would have been able to harvest the gems and he wouldn’t have been stabbed. There was a loud bang as the ship made contact with the station, followed by the sounds of the docking equipment locking the ship into place.

‘We’re here!’ she said as she unbuckled her belt and looked over to him.

He was weakly tried to unfasten himself but failing miserably. Tears fell freely down his cheeks as he tried to breathe through the pain, pained moans escaping his lips as he looked to Cee for help. She leaped to his side and helped him out of his seat and to his feet, holding him steady as he wavered. She helped him over to one of the bunks towards the rear of the pod, holding his head as he laid down and then lowered it gently onto the pillow.

‘I am going to go get help.’ she said as she sprinted to the door.

‘Well I won’t be going anywhere.’ he jested as he gave her a weak smile.

Cee gave him a brief nod and then pushed open the door and disappeared into the dark hallway. He watched her leave and when he was sure she was gone he allowed his emotions to pour out of him, tears leaking from his tired eyes as his breathing quickened. He didn’t want to die but he knew his chances weren’t good.

Cee returned a little while later with a bag full of medicines, a sour expression across her features as she pulled open the door and slunk back inside. Ezra was still lying where she’d left him, his eyes shut but his labored breathing alerting her to his still being with her. She walked briskly to his side, dropping to her knees and rummaged around in her bag for the medicine she’d acquired.

‘No doctors?’ he asked, his eyes cracking open as he felt her lift his shirt.

Cee said nothing. She grabbed a syringe and stabbed the needle into his arm which elicited a pained moan from the man. She then pulled out some wipes and started to clean it, wincing at the sight of the jagged bloody flesh. Happy with her work she pulled out a bag and using a scrap of material she tied to one of the metal beams on the ceiling. She then pulled out a long tube with a needle at one end and pushed the needle into a vein on the top of his hand before taping it in place and connecting the other end to the bag.

‘Whats that?’ he asked weakly as he watched her work.

‘Antibiotics.’ she said plainly, perching herself on the other bunk opposite his.

‘Thank you.’ he said weakly as he gave her a small smile.

‘You’re welcome.’ she said as she relaxed her shoulders and smiled back at him.

‘I still don’t understand why you are helping me.’ he said as he panted ‘I have caused you so much pain.’

‘You are also all I have now.’ she interrupted as she looked at him with a stone expression.

Ezra kept quiet then, taken aback by her statement but finding himself touched by it also. He could feel the painkillers she’d injected him with starting to work and his muscles relaxed, his eyes growing heavy.

‘Get some sleep.’ she said as she laid down on her own cot and pulled out one of the bars of food they’d scavenged from the tent.

‘You don’t have to tell me twice.’ he joked as his eyes drifted shut.

She laid there and listened to his labored breathing, watching the shaky rise and fall of his bare chest. She hopped to her feet and grabbed a blanket from the cupboard beside her bed, pulling it over him and hiding his grim wound beneath the green material. She felt her own exhaustion getting the better of her and she sunk back down onto her own bunk and pulled her blanket over her thin shoulders. She was woken up by the sound of Ezra gasping and groaning, his eyes rolling around in their sockets as a fever ravaged his body. Cee jumped to his side, pressing her hand to his brow and hissing at the heat that radiated from his skin. He looked right at her but his eyes were glassy and there was no recognition in them. She sprinted to the door, pushing it roughly and jumping through the awkward entrance into the hall. She knew that Ezra needed a doctor or he wasn’t going to make it, and that wasn’t something she was going to let happen.

When she’d returned to the pod the medical staff and they had quickly shifted Ezra onto a stretcher and carefully carried him out of the pod and to the medical facility aboard the station. It was bright and clean which stood out in stark contrast compared to the dingy graffitied halls that Cee had experienced until this point. They had placed the injured man onto a bed, one person placing a mask over his face as another inspected his injuries.

‘What happened to him?’ the doctor asked as he looked Ezra over.

‘I had to cut off his arm because it was infected and it was killing him.’ she started as she stood in the corner and watched them as they worked ‘he then got stabbed trying to save me from a crazed merc.’ she finished as she sniffed and wiped away a fresh tear.

‘Shit he’s lucky he’s lasted this long.’ one said as another walked to her side.

‘We’ll do all we can for him but you need to leave.’ they said as they placed a comforting hand on her shoulder ‘we’ll contact you when we’re done.’

Cee nodded, allowing the man to guide her out of the door and into the dim hall beyond. She made her way back to the pod, sitting on her bunk and proceeding to stare at his empty one. She thought about all that had happened. Her father’s death and the incidents after that. She thought about how just a few days prior she had hated Ezra and now she felt herself praying for him to recover and not knowing what she’d do if he didn’t. She sat there for hours awaiting the message to say she could go and see him. When that message had come through she’d made her way back to the medical facility and was shown to a separate room that was lined with beds down either side. Ezra was in the far right corner of the room, old equipment sat either side of the bed, blaring out different sounds that meant differing things.

‘He’s stable but the infection is aggressive.’ the Doctor stated as they came to a stop at his bedside ‘I’m afraid his chances aren’t great.’

Cee didn’t reply, just stared at the prone form on the bed. Tubes stuck out everywhere but the one down his throat was the one that took her most by surprise. She’d never seen someone in a hospital before and so all the equipment was alien to her.

‘I’ve just realised who you are.’ said the doctor which grabbed her attention ‘how is your father doing? He’ll probably want more sleep aids soon.’

‘My father is dead.’ she said plainly, her lack of emotion taking the doctor by surprise.

‘I’m sorry.’ he stuttered before turning and leaving.

She grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the side of Ezra’s bed. Climbing onto it and hugging her knees as she watched him, the sound of air whooshing followed by a soft click filled her ears and she realised what it was. It was a machine that was breathing for him. She could feel her emotions bubbling just below the surface and she fought hard to keep them in check. Pulling her headphones over her ears she sat there and watched him. She wouldn't leave his side, he was all she had now and she had to make sure he lived. The days blurred into weeks as Erza remained in his coma and showed no signs of waking. Cee had told herself that it was a healing sleep. That he was resting like she’d told him to and that he’d wake up soon and return to his usual chatty self.

Another few weeks passed and Ezra started to make slow but steady progress. He was able to breathe on his own but the infection continued to ravage him, not spreading but not dissipating either and so he lay there shivering under the thin sheets of the medical bay. The doctors came and went but they were starting to become a little more optimistic of his chances, all of them impressed he’d made it this long. Cee sat at his side every day. She either read to him or she would sit and write her book in the hope that eventually she could read it to him when he woke up. She watched him as he continued to sleep, his eyes dancing beneath his lids, and his teeth chattering as his body shook.

‘Come on lazy don’t you think you’ve slept enough?’ She joked as she scribbled away in her book.

‘Well why don’t you get stuck by a blade and see how long it takes for you to get over it.’ said a weak voice which made Cee jump in her seat.

‘Ezra, you awake?’

‘Mhmm.’ he nodded weakly as he squeezed his eyes tightly and then opened them, squinting as the light burned his sensitive retinas.

‘About time.’ she said with a smile as she stood over him.

‘How long have I been here?’ he asked as his eyes came to rest on her, finally adjusted to the white light of the medical bay.

‘A little under a month.’ she stated as she sat herself back down again ‘Doctor said you were in something called a coma.’

‘Is that right?’ He replied, watching her as she opened her book and starting to write again ‘and you’ve been here the whole time?’

‘Yeap.’

Ezra blinked at her, watching the pen dance on the page she wrote on. He still wasn’t quite sure why she hadn’t just left him there to die in the green but he was grateful, the fear he’d felt as he laid there and waited for death to come was not something he wanted to experience again.

‘So now that I have awoken what do you plan to do?’ he asked, changing the subject.

‘We find our next job.’ she stated, her face devoid of any emotion which made her impossible to read.

‘We?’ he questioned as he moved his head to look at her better.

‘We.’ she replied, her eyes locking with his as she gave him a curt nod.

‘Why we?’ Ezra gave her a bemused expression.

‘Well you have nowhere to go and I’m a kid.’ she started, eyes still focused on what she was writing ‘Makes sense for us to continue working together. Besides you only have one arm now so you need all the help you can get.’

Ezra’s eyes drifted down to his stump, a small tear developing in the corner of his eye as he remembered the procedure. His emotions had spilled out of him like a damn with a crack as he listened to her cut at flesh and bone, the crack when she made her way through and it came free. He had felt himself becoming more attached to her after that, a part of him wanting to protect her as if she was his own flesh and blood. So when he’d been wounded by the mercenary and he lay there bleeding out as the dust settled on his exposed flesh all he had cared about was her escape. It had been the most selfless he’d even been, urging her to leave him and save herself as he struggled to accept that he was dying. When she had returned for him though his heart had warmed at the sight of her, happy that she hadn’t chosen to leave him behind. He had hoped that he would survive and that he would be able to stay with her, to protect her but in reality, he knew he needed her more than she needed him. He said nothing more, feeling himself growing tired again he chose to sleep and wait to talk about the future. He drifted off knowing he wouldn’t be alone and neither would she.

#Pedro Pascal fanfiction #Pedro Pascal characters #pedro Pascal character fanfiction #ezra prospect #prospect #prospect fanfiction #Ezra fanfiction #Cee fanfiction #cee prospect #Pedro pascal

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obviouslyelementary · 4 years

Text

At least - Daforge

Warnings: emotion chip!Data; very light angst; very light hurt comfort; Data crying

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

They had been dating for way longer than Data had ever thought about using the emotion chip again, even longer since the chip had been fixed and kept inside a safety wall in Data's quarters. Geordi had grown so used with their relationship by now, how Data sometimes didn't quite grasp what he meant or why he wanted hugs and kisses and generalized affection, or simpler things like why he got mad when Data went through his stuff and how uncomfortable he was whenever Data was out in a mission, that he never questioned the decision to use the chip. When Data said he wanted to, he asked if he was sure, and when he got a positive answer, Geordi went right in, not thinking anything about it.

Maybe Data would have a moment or two of confusion, maybe begin actually feeling things, but he never expected him to change a whole lot. For all he knew, in his own way, Data did have emotions, sometimes much stronger than humans. Geordi simply couldn't predict how having emotions would affect Data at all.

Of course, he wasn't fully able to see that shift take place, since right after they put the chip in, a new mission appeared and they had to focus all their attention into the mission, even Geordi becoming quite annoyed by how distracted Data seemed now that he understood jokes. So for the most part, Data's discovery if his own feelings was made far from Geordi, making him completely unaware of those changes.

But the mission ended, thank god, and by the time they were being taken away from the destroyed Enterprise and taken to Starbase 001, essentially Earth, he and Data were placed in the same quarters, and they finally had some time to talk.

While Geordi got their bed ready, he could hear Data singing and bathing Spot, who had gotten dirty and hurt during the whole fall of the disk. Luckily, none of the wounds were too serious, and she as the fierce cat she was survived with no problem, but she was still dirty and Data said he wanted to give her the complete spa treatment, to which Geordi was not at all opposed.

He loved Data, and therefore, he had to love Spot and everything Spot did made Data happy. So he was happy.

Once the bed was made, he laid down and took off his visor, sighing to himself out of pure tiredness. Those had been some long days, and he couldn't wait to have his bedroom aboard the next enterprise again. He didn't mind having shoreleave every once in a while, but their ship had been completely destroyed, and that sucked.

He smiled when he heard the shower stopping, and once Data walked out, he smelled the very nice aroma of the cat's soap. He could hear Spot complaining, meowing and licking herself, while Data put her down somewhere by the sound of the 'thud' coming from their general direction. Then, Geordi remained silent, until he felt Data's body sinking the bed next to him, and turned to face his partner, a lazy smile on his face.

"I think we can finally cuddle now" he said, opening his arms, and in less time than he expected, Data was laying down and curled up against his chest, face against his neck. He chuckled, not having expected that since Data was usually the one that held him, but he welcomed the change, letting his fingers travel through Data's hair. "A penny for your thoughts?"

"I am... happy you are unharmed" Data whispered, against Geordi's neck, and suddenly he felt as if someone had dropped a single drop of water on his skin. Pulling away and reaching for his visor, he put it on again and saw that Data was not only looking at him, but he was also crying.

"Data" he whispered, holding his face, wiping his tears away. "Data, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I am happy you are unharmed" he repeated, his voice turning quieter and high pitched as he clearly tried not to cry anymore. "I believe these are relieved tears... I am not certain..."

"Oh Data... come here" he whispered, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to his mouth, always so warm and soft. He would never get used with seeing Data cry, he didn't even know he could. Wiping his tears and caressing his face, Geordi kept the kiss chaste and soon pulled away, looking down at his partner with a soft expression. "I'm here, I'm fine. We are all fine."

"You could have been killed or hurt because of me... because I was scared and could not defend you back at the laboratory..." he whispered, clearly still upset, making Geordi feel horrible.

"No Data no, come on" he whispered, pressing their foreheads together and feeling his heart shrink and ache when Data let out a first, soft sob. "Oh my god Data I'm going to start crying too..."

"W-why?" he whimpered, and Geordi could feel the tears in his eyes already, but chuckled anyway.

"Because that's what humans do, we cry when we see someone else crying" he said, taking a deep breath and kissing Data again, softly but firmer this time. "I love you. I am not mad or upset or anything. I don't care that you were afraid and didn't save me, actually I'm glad because I would never allow anyone to hurt you, and I would hate myself if I did."

"But you did not. I was the one that allowed you to be hurt" he whispered, and Geordi shook his head.

"You have protected me so many times before, Data. Sure, I didn't protect you, but if I allowed you to escape unharmed, that is good enough for me."

Geordi gave him a smile, and while a fear tears dropped, Data smiled back, his lips shaking a bit while holding Geordi's waist tightly, but not enough to hurt.

"I believe I can now say, with full honesty and knowledge, that I love you too Geordi" he said, suddenly, and Geordi looked at him surprised with a new warm feeling in his chest. "And love is not as pretty and amazing as I believed it to be."

"Oh yeah, no feelings are" Geordi chuckled, holding Data close and kissing his nose, loving how he scrunched it up every time. "Now why don't we just cuddle up and rest a little? I couldn’t wait to have you in my arms again, you know that?"

"I could not either. Your presence is very comforting" Data said, leaning up and kissing Geordi again, holding him closer, making the kiss sweet and slow and tender.

What a mess, that emotion chip would be.

But at least, Data loved him.

#my fanfic #daforge #data tng #data #tng data #geordi la forge #geordi laforge #tng #the next generation #st generations #emotion chip #ooc but i dont care #data is soft #hurt comfort #angst

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frodo-with-glasses · 1 year

Note

Oh, these reverse friendship asks are fun! If you're up for another one, I'd like to know what friendship the song Meet Me on the Battlefield by SVRCINA makes you think of. - Princess of Words

Yesss, more song recs! Okay so for this one I was tempted to go with the joke answer and say Aragorn and Eomer—‘cause, y’know, they met on the battlefield during Pelennor Fields—but as I got listening to the lyrics, I realized it’s something else.

It’s Aragorn and Boromir.

The mournful piano melody, “we may be the first to fall”, and “just wanna lay me down and finally try to get some sleep” all become far more poignant if you think about it in the context of Boromir’s final moments. He had “nowhere to run from this”; how could he outrun the corruption in his own mind? And he had “no pillow for my head”; only the root of a tall old tree.

The second verse talks a lot about legacy and influence and taking control of the future; “our tainted history is playing on repeat/but we could change it if we stand up strong and take the lead”. If that isn’t Gondor to a T then I don’t know what is. Boromir wants to save his people, “our sons and daughters”, and his idea of taking the lead is to use the Ring against the Enemy; but that becomes his destruction. Aragorn is the one who truly changes the course of the “tainted history”, and who takes the lead of Gondor as the King, Isildur’s heir.

In the end, Aragorn and Boromir are both men of Gondor who love their country and their people and will gladly fight to protect it. Maybe the real tragedy is that Boromir never got to stand, beside Aragorn, on the field of those great battles after all.

#asked and answered #song rec #aragorn #boromir #lord of the rings #lotr #my writing #welcome aboard the angst express; next stop ANGST

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creative-frequency · 4 years

Text

Cal Kestis x Reader: DEAR STAR SYSTEM Ch. 02

Word count: 1585 Pairing: Cal Kestis x Female Reader Summary/Contains: The Mantis lands on Bogano. Greez is very particular about his eggs. Friends to lovers, mild angst, (partial) canon-rewrite. Notes: I’m still getting into the Star Wars lingo, so if there’s any words/terms/slang etc. you think sound off or know a more canon-ish counterpart, please don’t hesitate to let me know! This is the first time I’m actually writing for Star Wars fandom despite loving it for so long.

Previous Chapter

My Writing Masterlist

DEAR STAR SYSTEM // 02

During the years you’ve known Cere, you’ve never seen her playing an instrument. There must be a reason she keeps those things around the ship, often gazing at them longingly or sitting still with one on her lap. When she does, that sad, almost haunted look befalls on her. You’ve never had the courage to ask about it. It’s too personal.

Something invades your mind, twining to the aerial calculations of a piercing weapon’s throw line. The imaginary blade disappears mid-air as your focus shifts. You turn to the side on the bed.

A sound. Background noise. Music?

At first, you think it’s inside your head but before you can concentrate on listening, it stops. It’s silent again but your earlier thoughts are lost to curiosity.

Cere and Cal are sitting by the round table, talking in low voices. One of her musical instruments is leaning to the table, confirming that the chords you heard weren’t just imagination. The tone of their conversation is somber aka something you don’t want to accidentally eavesdrop. But before you can take even a step to go back, Cere’s familiar words command your attention, coming through loud and clear and hitting home on your end too:

“And you’re not alone. Not anymore,” Cere reassures the young Jedi and places a hand onto his shoulder.

You hesitate by the door, to make your presence be known or to withdraw back into your cabin.

You know something about the situation Cal is in. His old life is behind, all ties severed and while for you it still might be possible to go back, it definitely isn’t for him. Fairly certainly neither of you wants to go back.

Greez’s voice cracks over the comms, saving you from a decision on which direction to move:

“We’re comin’ up on our destination.”

Cal bolts up and heads to the cockpit with resolute steps. Cere’s hand stays hanging in the air where his shoulder was before she follows him and you wait for a moment or two before going after them. You’ve arrived on Bogano.

“How do you think he’ll do?” you ask Greez in the cockpit, both of you watching Cal’s retreating back into the grassy planes.

Greez shrugs and makes an indifferent “meh” sound. “I just hope whatever he does, he does it fast.”

He stretches three of his arms and scratches his belly with the fourth. It’s lunch time and yesterday’s scraps will make an excellent omelet with some gartro eggs.

“But not too fast, am I right?” you comment, knowing what the Latero has on his mind. The eggs are a Coruscantean delicacy Greez has been treasuring for some time. And he isn’t into sharing his eggs with some random Jedi kid.

“Have faith,” Cere remarks just as she steps back inside. The ship doors close with a sizzle. The plating carries the scar from the Second Sister’s lightsaber and Greez has been silently going mental about repairing it.

“What’d he say?” you turn to ask Cere. They exchanged words outside before Cal took off.

She holds a mysterious smile. “He’s out there and that’s enough for now.”

Her often frustrating Jedi-ism deserves a dramatic sigh. “Somehow I knew you’d say that.”

You plop to sit down on the sofa next to her, subjecting yourself to Cere’s sharp, inspecting look. Idly, you inspect the instrument leaning against the table. It has seven strings. The design is simple, yet the materials used look polished and expensive. It has seen better days. You wonder does Cal know how to play or was it really Cere earlier.

“What about you?” she asks.

“What about me?”

“I’m asking how you are,” she clarifies with a strained smile.

You think about replying since you’re not doing so badly at the moment, but just shrug and move on. There are more interesting things to discuss.

“He”–you nod towards the exit–“seems like a decent person,” you say casually.

“Yes, he does,” Cere agrees.

You’re not sure what to make of Cal yet. He keeps a lot inside, hidden to protect himself, or maybe others. On the outside he’s an upright person whose features would be a better fit for a smile than any expression you’ve seen him wearing so far. It’s also been a while since you met another human about your age even though your lives so far couldn’t be more different. It’s probably biasing your judgment.

Also that he’s kind of cute. You didn’t think you were into gingers.

“Secretive, but that’s a Jedi thing, right? One of those with lots of layers you can’t quite reach,” you say and add, “Not that I tried.”

Cere’s smile turns into a warning look. When she took you under her wing, you agreed to not play your tricks just for a show.

“I heard what you said about trusting him and I agree,” you continue despite her, “but my gut is telling me he’s okay. And he isn’t gonna open up until we can trust each other. All of us.”

Greez is busy with his eggs in the kitchen nook and is, at least seemingly, not paying attention to your discussion.

“I think your gut feeling may well be right,” Cere says after a moment and reveals that annoying knowing smile.

“If you say anything about the Force, I’ll throw you with one of Greez’s eggs.”

“Hey! This is non-negotiable: My eggs are off limits!”

You and Cere laugh. Whatever Greez is cooking, smells delicious. He prides himself in being an able cook but you’ve never had the heart to tell him when he doesn’t succeed so well. He almost single-handedly takes care of the catering aboard the Mantis and that’s enough reason to pinch your nose and keep your culinary opinions to yourself. The Laterons like their spices in weird mixes.

“Any thoughts, Greez?” Cere inquires.

Greez humphs, again, as is quickly growing into his norm when talking about Cal Kestis. For some reason it makes you smile.

“Saw him pawing at the grass the moment you turned your back. Hmph. What a weirdo… and he was talking in his sleep.”

“He was?” Greez grimaces at your surprised glance. Guess you shouldn’t be surprised to hear an escapee Jedi suffers from nightmares.

“Yeah, you didn’t hear that? The kid was yelling a name… Prof or Praf or, I don’t know! Something. Why’re you both looking at me like that?” Greez spreads one pair of hands in frustration. The other pair stays with the eggs.

You turn back at Cere, excited words on your lips.

“No,” she says deftly before you can even open your mouth.

“But I can help him,” you argue right back, “That’s not showing off. Let me be helpful for once.”

Cere sighs. “You know I can’t stop you if you ask him and he agrees to it, but please, learn to know him first.”

You slump deeper into the couch, sulking like a child. You both know you don’t need permission from her but you respect Cere too much to act behind her back. Ever since learning of your talents, that she persistently claims to fall under Force-sensitivity (yeah, right), she has been wary, constantly warning you about how influencing the mind can have devastating effects. It’s hard to argue against that since in your previous life the subjects usually didn’t live long enough to experience side-effects.

“I understand… I just want to help,” you mumble.

Cere takes your hand and squeezes it lightly. “I know you do. Let’s discuss this later.”

She doesn’t let go until you nod.

While Cal is out, there’s not much you can do besides pester Greez about some omelet and wait until finally the comm device cracks into life. Traveling in hyperspace is dull but at least you’re moving. You’ve always hated the waiting game. It’s the first time you realize you’re not as patient as you thought you were. Saying it aloud amuses Cere.

The comm snaps and Cere hurries to the control desk – you right at her heels.

“Think I found what you wanted me to see.”

“Be-bee-boop?” a familiar-sounding droid replies confused.

So that’s why Cere sent Cal on wild bogling hunt on Bogano. It starts making sense. You’re trying to keep your nose out of the Jedi business, often just offering understanding hums when Cere wants to talk your ear off. Fortunately, she has a fresh set of ears now in Cal.

Cere smiles relieved. “Sounds like you did. We’ll be waiting.”

“Finally!” Greez rejoices. All the gartro eggs are long gone and who knows when is the next time he can procure such delicacies.

It doesn’t take long for the Jedi to track back to the ship with his new friend.

“You passed the test,” Cere welcomes him.

“So you knew about BD-1?” Cal points to the droid on his back, who twitters in excitement.

“Come on board, we’ll talk inside.”

Cal is positively radiating. Sunshine and fresh air did some good to him. The shadow you first met is gone and he is relaxed, smiling. Your heart is fluttering from relief. You were right about his features being better suited for a smile than a frown.

Greez freaks out when BD-1 jumps on his precious potolli-weave fabric sofa and you swear it’s the last time you’re staying behind when Cal treks out. Based on what he learned about some Jedi master on Bogano, he will have to go and get his hands dirty again on another backwater planet.

Next Chapter

#cal kestis x reader #cal kestis #jedi fallen order #swjfo #swjfo fanfiction #star wars #cere junda #greez dritus #bd-1 #my writings #dear star system

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atiny-piratequeen · 4 years

Text

Against the Tide: First Voyage (Ch.1)

Pairing: Eventual Poly Ot8

Genre: Heavy Angst, Eventual Smut and Fluff mixed in

Rating: 18+

Tags: DemonPirate!Au, Supernatural, Eventual Poly Relarionship, Violence, Blood, Elemental Powers, Past and Modern Day AU, Mythical Creatures, Character Death

A/N: There could be tags added later, especially if there’s something I write that potentially triggers my readers. The last thing I want is for that to happen, so please don’t hesitate to give me feedback if there’s something I write here you’d like me to tag

Summary: Hongjoong is the leader of a notorious pirate crew. A run in with a demon leaves him with immortality and the ability to grant immortal life to those who form pacts with him. One day, a member of his crew angers a sea witch, and she decides to exact revenge on them by casting Hongjoong into a completely different part of the world and stealing his memories. The seven key members of his crew spend centuries looking for him, to no avail, and meet up in modern day Seoul to try and strategize how they can find their leader. Discouraged, with some close to giving up, they happen upon a man with a familiar smile and voice speaking on the street one day about a Long Journey. Now the seven of them must get Hongjoong to rember who he is before he slips through their fingers once again.

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=Age 10=

“What in the blazes is that?”

He flinched, flailing his legs as he tried to get down from the man holding onto him by the back of his shirt. That earned him a sharp jab to his ribs, making him cough and sputter as he lowered his head, fear pulsing through his body.

“He was hidden between some barrels in the hold, Captain. It looks like he was one of the port hands in the last town and he stowed away when no one was looking.”

The figure across from him clicked their tongue, and he cowered as the sound of leather boots approached him, the wood of the deck creaking loud with every step.

“Stowed away on my ship? Do you have a death wish, lad?” a voice growled at him and a hand reached out, lifting his face abruptly so he could look the Captain in their eyes.

“A…woman…?”

The Captain’s eyes narrowed dangerously, one hand going to the blunderbuss pistol strapped to her thigh before she pressed it to the center of his head, lip curling up in dissatisfaction.

“Aye, and you’re about to be at the bottom of Davy Jones’ locker, rat.” She hissed. He trembled, unable to move his head away from the firearm pressed against it. Panicked, his eyes looked around, finding other members of the crew were also women, some with shorter, choppier haircuts. Some of them sent him sympathetic looks, but none of them made any moves to stop their Captain.

“I hope you’ve made peace with your family and your maker, lad. I don’t take kindly to people sneaking aboard my ship.”

“I d-don’t have a family…s-sir.” He quickly admitted, having a momentary battle on what to call the angered Captain. The finger that she had on the safety of the blunderbuss paused, and she put a hand on her hip, arching a brow at him.

“I’m an orphan. I worked at port on the docks for as long as I can remember…I just wanted to see the world and do something more than be a poor orphan on the street, C-captain. P-please…please take me with you, I promise I’ll be useful!” He pleaded, brown eyes holding a flicker of hope and determination. The Captain’s brows went up in surprise, a small laugh leaving her throat.

“Do you know what you’re saying? Me? Bring a child along? You wouldn’t last-”

“I’ll prove it to you! If I can make myself useful and survive, you make me a member of your crew!”

The captain rolled her eyes and lowered the blunderbuss, putting it back in its holster and nodding for the man behind him to drop the child. He fell to the deck harder than expected, groaning in pain before looking up, looking at the Captain’s outstretched hand.

“My name is Captain Jihyo. When we’re in port, you only call me Captain Hyo. If it gets out there are women aboard my ship, or that I’m a woman, our entire crew will be executed. Do you understand?” She snapped. The child grabbed her hand and nodded, pulling himself up with her help before he looked up, determination shining in his eyes.

“My name is Kim Hongjoong. And I swear on my mother’s resting spirit, I’ll be a fine member of this crew.”

=Age 15=

“Must you always get yourself in trouble?” Jihyo grunted, dragging Hongjoong back into the tavern by his ear. He hissed, frowning as he looked up at his Captain. The woman had taken a liking to him in their years together and has quickly become a mother-like figure to him.

Which…would explain the stern look and smack upside his head he received when Jihyo had pulled him into the room he was to stay in.

“I told you not to go outside. I know this town well, I knew you’d pull this again-”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, Captain! He was harassing that lass on the street, she clearly didn’t want any of his attention, so I…’helped out’.” He coughed at the end of his sentence, avoiding Jihyo’s sharp gaze. She stared at him for a long time before she sent him a smile, pressing their heads together and lowering her voice as she spoke.

“I appreciate your respect for others, especially women, lad. But you still have to tread carefully. The last thing we need is a brawl breaking out because you’re on your justice kick.” She gently scolded, ruffling his hair before moving away from him.

“You are a pirate. I would imagine you’d earn yourself a rather..unique name if you continued being so nice.” She waved her finger at him, heading towards the door. Hongjoong rolled his eyes half heartedly, but smiled nonetheless.

“If they remember me for being more than ‘just another pirate’, I’ll take it as a compliment.” He grinned before diving onto his bed, smiling contently.

=Age 19=

“There are some odd jobs we can do while in port.” Jihyo informed them, standing at the ship’s bow with her arms crossed. She had already cut her hair before they neared the port, her eyes set on the approaching docs as they approached. Hongjoong was at her side, along with her First Mate, a quirky gentleman named Daniel.

“I’m sure they’d be happy to see you, Captain. This is your port town, afterall.” He teased. Jihyo hummed, tilting her chin up as they docked. The town was welcoming of pirates, but she still made sure to change their flag to the country’s colors, just as a precaution in the event of any naval officers also being in town.

“We’ll be staying here for a few weeks, stock up and make sure not to do anything stupid.” She ordered as they lowered the anchor, sending Hongjoong a sharp look as he tried to tip toe out of her sight.

“That means you, Mr. Kim Hongjoong.”

“I have no idea what you mean, Captain Park Hyo.”

Jihyo rolled her eyes and smiled, nodding for him and the rest of the crew to disperse and enjoy traveling in the port town. She and Daniel stayed behind. They watched the people mingling in the port with small, calm looks on their faces.

The silence was broken by Jihyo’s coughing, her brows pulling up as she hacked violently. Daniel frowned, pulling her out of the view of the curious port hands before sitting her on the ship’s deck. Worry creased his brow as she continued coughing for a few minutes before letting out a shaky sound, sighing.

“Captain-”

“Don’t say it.”

“Jihyo. You can’t keep pretending this isn’t getting worse.” He told her sternly, holding her shoulders. She looked up at him, her lips trembling before she shook her head, brushing her hands off on her trousers before she stood.

“I know. That’s why we’re here. I heard a tip from the last town that we’d be able to find something here to prolong this…just bare with me.” She told him before she squared her shoulders, pulling her hat down to slightly obscure her eyes as she headed down towards the docks. Daniel sighed and nodded, following faithfully behind her.

=3 Nights Later=

Jihyo smiled as their Quartermaster, Psy, poured her another glass of rum. They all drank merrily together, eating the meat and rice served at the tavern.

Well, most of them.

Hongjoong sat at the end of the table, nursing a glass of water as he looked over some of the maps their Sailing Masters had gotten a hold of while in town. He surveyed the pages, muttering to himself about potential treasure. Jihyo glanced at him before smiling, taking another hearty swig.

The sound of their merriment was interrupted by the door to the tavern being opened abruptly, a group of men dragging in bloodied figures. The tavern owner jolted from her spot behind the bar, eyes going wide as the men dropped their wounded on the taven floor.

“What in the hell are you doing?! You’re going to ruin my floors!” She barked in disapproval, slamming down a mug on the bar, ignoring the way the brew inside sloshed out and spilled onto the counter.

“Bite your tongue, woman! Can’t you see they’re bleeding out?!” One barked. The woman behind the counter, Momo, raising her brows in surprise at the rude tone. She grabbed a knife from her garterbelt beneath her skirt, stabbing the bar as she looked at them with an unamused expression.

“I don’t like your tone.”

“W-we’re sorry, Miss! Please, let us stay just a little longer! We’ll pay for any damages and all the rounds will be on us tonight!” One of the men quickly tried to remedy the escalating situation. The pirates and other patrons in the tavern cheered, going back to their own devices, while the other wounded men sent him a glare.

“What? We have to decide what to do and we can’t leave them on the street!” He snapped. A blonde in their group shook his head.

“I told you dense bastards, we shouldn’t have gone near that cove. Did you see what that wench did to John and Terry?!” He barked. The other three men looked down, clearly terrified as the two they’d brought in coughed weakly on the floor, the focus fading from their eyes.

Hongjoong bit his lip, moving to pull his seat out when a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned back to the table to find Jihyo had moved from her spot, now taking her place beside him. She sent him a firm glare, clearly having sobered up from the shock of the bloodied men.

“Don’t you dare.” she growled, her voice lowered to mimic a man’s flawlessly. Hongjoong shrunk down in his seat, mumbling.

“I wasn’t-”

“Ay, was I born yesterday, lad? I know that look in your eyes. You’re troublesome need to help people all the time. Don’t you dare go to that cove. I don’t want to leave this port town knowing my son-” she paused. Hongjoong’s lips parted in shock and Jihyo cleared her throat, raising her voice to Momo.

“Momo! Another round of rum! Gimme the strongest you got!” She huffed, pivoting on her heel, leaving Hongjoong stunned in his chair. Jihyo sat down heavily in her original seat, avoiding eye contact with the teen as Daniel chuckled from beside her.

Hongjoong felt his heart racing, his mind whirring as he ran the word through his head over and over again.

Son…

A fond smile came to his face, and he momentarily forgot about the men behind him. Until a wary laugh came from the left.

“At least we left that wench bleeding out. Tomorrow we’ll blast the damn cove shut. Send her straight to hell where her kind belongs.” He spat. The other men didn’t laugh along with him, but they seemed to be relieved that whatever it was that injured their own was in pain and soon to be trapped in the cove.

Hongjoong’s gaze drifted back to the maps in front of him.

He can’t focus.

=Midnight=

Hongjoong carefully removed his boots as he approached the cove, knowing he’d have to wade through knee-deep sea water in order to get inside. He rolled his trouser pants up, tucking his shirt into the waistband of them before he began his careful approach. There was a lantern in his hand, and he had to keep it high above his head to keep it from going out.

When he reached the mouth of the cove, he bit his lip, looking from left to right. He didn’t see anything initially, so he steeled himself and pushed deeper, his feet lightly slapping against the wet stones of the cove.

Then he heard it. The low, pained hiss.

“G e t o u t.”

“H-Hold, I’m not here to harm you, I only want to help-”

“Get. Out.”

Hongjoong bit back the urge to turn tail and run, turning to the sound of the voice, lifting the lantern. He saw a puddle of blood, his stomach churning as the light rose until he saw a raised stone, seeing a woman staring at him, her face and hands smeared in blood. Her hair fell in front of her face, her lip curled up into a snarl as she looked at him through the ink-colored locks.

“You need help, you’re injured-”

“G E T O U T!” she screamed, and he was knocked off his feet in a harsh gust of wind. His lantern smashed to the ground, plunging the cove in darkness, with only the moonlight in the mouth to light anything.

Hongjoong groaned, hissing when he felt the glass from the lantern cut into his palm as he pushed himself up.

“L-lass, I don’t know what they’ve done to you or why, but I can’t leave you here hurt like this. Please, they won’t leave you alone. Those sailors intend on blowing this cove shut and leaving you here. You’ll die!” He pleaded into the darkness. There was a laugh, low and humorless.

Suddenly, lights appeared in the cove, in the form of balls of fire, each hovering in mid air around the woman. She stayed where she was, reviewing the brunette pirate with mild interest, though there was still pain in her features.

“You…you must be a fool. Do you not know why they came? Do you know nothing of me?”

Hongjoong ignored the pain of his palm and shook his head, standing to his feet once more as he carefully approached her. He raised both of his hands when the woman’s eyes narrowed at him.

“I am not from this port town. I am a pirate, we’ve only settled in port days ago. My name is Kim Hongjoong. Who are you, lass?”

“I am Hyuna of Tortuga Bay. I am a demon.Those insolent fools came to take the ‘treasure’ of this cove, as fools tend to do. However-” She hissed, groaning as he breathing turned ragged again. She allowed Hongjoong to approach her closer, her hands twitching as he stopped in front of her.

He looked at her face, hesitantly moving her sweat and blood-slick bangs out of her face. She was a beautiful woman with a porcelain complexion under the blood caked to her face. At this point, Hongjoong wasn’t sure if it was hers, or the blood of the sailor’s.

“They said they left you wounded-” He stopped himself when he noticed the culprit of her agony.

The glinting gold crucifix stabbed straight through her chest. His eyes grew, and he noticed the burns around the entrance of the wound and around her fingers, as if she had tried desperately tried to pull it out herself.

“I…I can take it out.” He said suddenly, eyes transfixed on the crucifix. She stared at him carefully, a small glimmer of hope in her light eyes. The flames that illuminated the cove grew closer, and she looked up at him in interest.

“You…said you were a pirate, correct? Why are you helping me? You know nothing of who I am and nothing of the rumored treasure, and yet you come to my aid? You could leave now. I can’t die, I’d be just like this for all eternity and you can take my treasure. Why are you trying to help me?” She inquired. Hongjoong shrugged one shoulder, running his uninjured hand through his bangs.

“I don’t like seeing people being ganged up on. I won’t stand for men doing this to a woman, no matter what the reason.” He told her flatly, meeting her cautious gaze.

“You can say my…my mother raised me well. I may be a pirate, but I was still raised with respect. Besides, if the puddle of blood I’m standing in is anything to go by, I probably wouldn’t make it out of the cove before you ended me if you wanted to, injured or not. Now…do you want me to take this out?” he questioned once more.

Hyuna stared at him for a long moment before she closed her eyes, nodding.

“This may hurt. I’m sorry.” He whispered, wrapping his fingers around the golden base. Hyuna’s brows twitched in pain and he could hear the sound of burning, so he yanked with all of his strength, pulling the crucifix out in one go.

There was an unholy scream and Hongjoong dropped the crucifix in an instant, clamping his hands over his ears. The floating flames went out and Hongjoong frowned, trying to feel around in the darkness.

“Lass? Hyuna? A-are you okay? Did I hurt you?” He called into the inky blackness. There was the sound of a giggle, gentle and feminine before the whole cove was illuminated. He looked up in awe, watching as the light illuminated from Hyuna’s body, different from the small, whisp-like plumes of fire from before.

“I…I am free again.” She exhaled, holding her hand in front of her face, smiling wide as the burns healed themselves. Hongjoong watched the hole in her chest close and let out a relieved smile.

“Good. You may want to leave, though. Those sailors intend on coming back tomorrow to blast the entrance closed.” He reminded her, moving to dust his hands off on his pants, but stopping when he remembered the blood running from his palm.

“You…are unlike any man I have met in this realm. Come, since you’ve freed me, it’s only fair I give you a gift in return, yes?” She hummed, looking down at his hand.

“You don’t have to-”

“You didn’t have to come here, Kim Hongjoong, the pirate.” She countered. He snapped his mouth shut, nodding in defeat. She did have a point.

“I will give you the treasure many have come to this cove for. Eternal life, youth, and power beyond your wildest dreams.” She wiped at the blood on her cheek, reaching for his hand to lace their fingers together.

Hongjoong felt a pulse course through him, and his eyes widened as his heartbeat increased.

“What-”

“Kim Hongjoong, I will give you power. You will be like me, a demon. Upon forming blood pacts, you will also make those under you immortals. If the pact is strong, you will share your powers. Accept my gift, for I know you will use it well.” She muttered, her eyes glowing bright blue. Hongjoong gasped, feeling like his body was on fire, energy coursing through his veins.

“HONGJOONG! GET AWAY FROM MY SON!” a voice caught Hyuna’s attention as a pirate ran full speed at her. She hummed and lifted her hand, a gust of wind lifting the woman effortlessly. She shook her head, sending a fond smile to her.

“Ah, the mother he mentioned? I never imagined his mother would be a pirate disguising herself as a man. It makes sense, why he’s so unique.” she hummed before looking down at Hongjoong, noticing the faraway look in his eyes, his brow twitching in confusion.

“What are you doing to him?! Let him go! Hongjoong! Hongjoong!!” Jihyo screamed, thrashing fruitlessly against the wind. Hyuna smiled in fond understanding and shook her head.

“He has received my gift. He is immortal. Now, he must control his powers. Things tend to get…wild on the first night of the full moon after one becomes a demon. Now sit still. I will help him harness his powers here and now so that your crew won’t be ripped to shreds on the next full moon.” She instructed, watching as Hongjoong’s eyes went from brown to an electric blue, the overabundance of power coursing through him making small spider-web red veins appear on his face.

His gaze snapped to Hyuna and she rolled her neck.

“You and your demonic self must become one. Come, I will train you. Though I suggest we hurry, lest your mother have another child over there.” She informed, nodding at Jihyo’s direction. Hongjoong let out a low sound before darting to her full speed, a large blast of water shooting past him.

Hyuna side stepped and smiled, watching Hongjoong’s face change, three marks appearing on his forehead, along with a bushy white tail. Fireballs rained down on her, all of which she knocked away without batting a lash.

“Water, even my kitsune powers have went to you? Fascinating. More, show me more, Hongjoong.” She urged, skipping backwards as the ground beneath her feet shook.

=3 Hours Later=

Hongjoong finally fell to his knees, panting as his eyes returned to their normal, welcoming brown color. Hyuna flicked her hand, bringing Jihyo closer to them, ignoring the way she immediately pulled her blunderbuss on her.

“Hongjoong….” She trailed off, frowning as he passed out shortly after.

“You…”

“I care not for your personal feelings, but I will explain myself. You are from this town, so you know of me. The ‘treasure’ of this cove is me. My blessing. My immortality. Men find out about demons that can grant them eternal youth and they hunt them down. I have killed most who have ventured here, and had you not have raised him the way you did, your son would have joined. But he is different. I can give him my ‘treasure’ with confidence that he wont abuse it and create a crew of immortal vagabonds. The powers are a little extra gift.” She winked and moved to walk past them. Jihyo watched her every move before she started coughing once more, brows pinched up as she observed the blood in her palm.

“N-No…”

Hyuna stopped at her side, looking down at her in interest before she straightened her back, turning towards the mouth of the cove.

“I suggest you form a pact with him. You don’t have much left, otherwise, pirate.” She informed her before she disappeared in a dazzling light.

Jihyo wiped her mouth and grabbed Hongjoong’s arm, dragging him back out of the cove, sighing.

—-

“Captain, don’t you want Hongjoong to be here for this?” Psy inquired, pushing his glasses up as Jihyo gathered all of the crew-sans Hongjoong-on the deck of her ship.

“No. I have something important to ask of all of you.” She told them, her voice solemn. They all perked, nodding as they watched her carefully.

“My health…is dwindling. I doubt at this stage there is anything I can do. I know Psy and Daniel have no desire to be Captain when I’m gone, and that most of you have found Hongjoong to be reliable enough for the job. I have one order I want you all to take to the graves with you.” She told them, taking her hat off to rub her head before she set it back on.

“Hongjoong was…he’s received a ‘gift’ and he’s not human anymore. The lad somehow impressed a demoness and she turned him into one of her own. He apparently can give this immortality to others,”

“Wait, so why won’t you just-”

“Because I refuse to take advantage of him. I want my son to give his powers to those he trusts wholeheartedly on his own, not have ties to us out of an obligation for us taking him in.”

They all began protesting at once, but Jihyo slammed her heel against the deck, glaring at them all.

“My orders, are for you to not accept any offers of immortality from Hongjoong. Even when he becomes captain. I am here now, and I’m giving the order here and now. Swear to me you won’t betray me. This is a dying woman’s wish.” she told them, leaving no room for argument.

They all exchanged looks before small, reluctant smiles crossed their faces. One by one they all swore, patting their captain on the shoulder as they filtered back down to their quarters. Daniel and Psy stayed by her side, watching the waves of the ocean in silence as tears ran down her cheeks.—-

=x=

“Please!”

“No.”

“WHY?!”

Jihyo sighed and looked up at Hongjoong from her bed, her face pale. Daniel was at her side, holding her hand as she coughed weakly. Her condition had gotten worse at an alarming rate and it became impossible for her to hide it.

“P-Please…Please, I can save you. Please, why won’t you-”

“I said no, Hongjoong. Let me go. Let me rest. You’ll be a fine captain.”

Tears welled up in his eyes as he shook his head, his chest heaving.

“Daniel! You can’t be okay with this! You love her! Tell her to let me help! Tell her to-”

“It’s already been decided.” Daniel cut him off, raising his head to look at him with bloodshot eyes. Hongjoong bit his lip, looking down with tears rolling down his cheeks. He shuffled to her other side, his shaking hand taking hers as he looked at her face.

“Captain…M…Mom…please…”

“Just stay with me, Hongjoong. Stay with me and keep a smile on your face. You’re a different breed of pirate. I want you to make your own crew and change what it means to be a pirate for the world, okay? Until the last wind blows through these sails, please never stop being the center of the world.” She told him, reaching under her blankets to pass him a compass.

“Let it always point you forward, my son.” She mused, cupping his cheek, crying with him as they continued sailing, the boat gently rocking the trio.

= ~ =

The crew shed tears as Daniel set the last stone on top of the pile. Underneath, buried deep in the sand, laid the peaceful body of their captain.

She had asked to be stripped of all materialistic items, jewels, gold, silver, and buried in the sand of an island she visited when she became a pirate.

Remote, quiet, with the beautiful scent of island flora beckoning you in deeper.

One by one, each crew member dropped a bloom on top of the stones, before heading back to the ship. Hongjoong lingered, the bloom in his trembling hand before he sighed and finally relented, setting it down on top of the pile.

“Goodnight, Captain Jihyo…Sweet dreams, mother.” He whispered, turning and heading back with heavy footsteps.

He stood on the bow, the wind carrying saltwater and the scent of island flora past his nose like a gentle caress. There was a flower tucked behind his ear as he stared down at the shore, eyes locked on the pile of beautiful rocks in the sand, topped with flowers and shells. The ship pulled away, and he bit back the need to sob as he watched the mound grow farther and farther away. An old voice called to him from behind, and he turned, noticing Psy standing behind him.

“Captain? We have to keep moving.” his tone was gentle, a hand running through his balding head as he bowed his head in respect. Hongjoong lifted his chin, wiping his eyes with the back of his palms before he turned.

Right. He was the Captain now.

“I’ll be right over. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

#fie writes #Aginst the Tide #AtT Ch1 #Ateez fic #ateez fanfiction #kim hongjoong #park seonghwa #jeong yunho #kang yeosang #choi san #song mingi #jung wooyoung #choi jongho #member x member #pls work this time omg

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ikenbar · 4 years

Text

Mr. Love: Ike’s Choice Ch2 Pt 5

Warnings: G A V I N F L U F F CITY! ALL ABOARD THE GAVIN FLUFF TRAIN!! TOOT TOOOT, slight angst? Honestly mostly fluff though lol, also sassy Ike. Sassy Ike for the win. Oh, and cliffhangers :D

(Chapter two’s prologue, parts one, two, three, and four here :))

((Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D))

Chapter two:

Part five:

The ride back to the bus stop was practically silent. All that could be heard was the car's motor and our steady breathing as we sat in silence. I was staring blankly out the open window in the front seat of the car. To my dismay, all of the traffic lights were against me as we hit every red light to the bus stop. I had scooted myself as far as I could to the door and away from Gavin and tried distracting myself with the scenery outside, but all I could think about were Gavin's harsh words. Do you know who you are mimicking when you act that way? Your father! The lump in my throat was back. He wasn't talking about Bart. He was talking about my fourth foster father. The foster parent who gave me all the scars I struggled to hide everyday. Both the mental ones and the physical ones. Gavin didn’t know all that though. All Gavin knew was what the police had on file. That one day, I had brought in my abusive foster father to the police department to be arrested and tried for domestic abuse. I rubbed my arm slightly as I remembered what happened that day. The movement was enough to stir Gavin into starting a conversation.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, "We, uh, are almost there."

"Yeah," I mumbled, leaning on the palm of my hand as I watched the buildings go by us, “I hope my bike wasn’t stolen while you held me hostage in the break room.”

“...is that your only mode of transportation?” Gavin’s tone made it seem like he wanted to make peace. I wasn't having it.

“I’m more concerned that I’d have to go back to the police station to make a report.”

“Oh come on, Ike.” Gavin gave an exasperated sigh, “You aren’t the only one bothered by this partnership, you know?” I looked over at Gavin. Did he really think I was angry at him because we were working together? What is it with him?!

“I’m surprised you heard him," I growled through my teeth, "from how much you were kissing his-”

"And we are here!” Gavin raised his voice and interrupted me, “I assume this is your bike?” Indeed it was. It was parked in the same place I had left it. It looked fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Thank goodness. I moved to unbuckle my seatbelt but Gavin stopped me by placing his hand over mine. I snapped my head towards him and flicked his hand away.

"Listen." His voice was soft again. The sound made me want to punch him in his gentle face, "I know how you feel about the police, but I also know you have a good moral compass. Though it may need some readjustment… you know that this guy needs to be taken down. Especially, If he is targeting Evolvers. We need to work together for this. So, at least this once, can we make a truce?" I stared at Gavin. This man. Who does he think he is fooling!? With the serious tone and the empty words… and the gentle look… and the soft voice… I sighed.

"Be at my place by six o'clock." I said, pushing open the door, "and bring the files. We can study there." Gavin nodded gratefully.

“Right.” He said seriously but there was a slight tone of relief, “Thank you Ike.” I felt my cheeks burn slightly. Whether it was from embarrassment or from anger, I didn’t know. I turned away quickly and got out of the car

"And don't eat dinner.” I huffed, “I've been simmering bone broth since yesterday and I don't want it to go to waste."

"You… cook?" Gavin asked, surprised.

"I do have a life you know." I shut the door and leaned on the open window, "Just because I like getting on your nerves, it doesn’t mean it’s my only pass time. Don't be late." Gavin nodded again.

"Don’t worry. I can't pass up the chance to eat a free home cooked meal made by the Ikamara Bikira.” Gavin smirked, “Especially after eating nothing but 'Cup 'O Sodium’ for the past week."

"Who said it was free?" I teased, "Later."

"Goodbye." Gavin pulled the car out of park. I stepped back and allowed him to drive away, watching him as he left. Mixed feelings overlapped my mind in a way they never had before. I shook my head and tried composing myself. He was still the rotten cop that hated me and I him. That gentleness about him was just an illusion he set up to try to get me to drop my guard. That wasn't happening. He wasn't going to get me with that stupid smile. I wasn't having it.

I put on a tough face as I walked to my bike. I had work I needed to get done. I wasn't going to spend my time thinking about Gavin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stirred the soup anxiously. I couldn't pay attention to work at all that day. All I could think about was Gavin the case. And how to solve the case. And the lives in danger because of the case. And how the case insulted me and almost got me in trouble with the chief. And how the case was challenging and impossibly irritating… why did I feel so drawn to hi- It… the case.

I sighed as I looked down at my watch. 6:20. He should have been here by now. What was keeping him? If this was some ploy to get me irritated, it was working. I contemplated pulling out my phone to call the police station when I heard a knock at the door. I quickly walked out of the kitchen and reached for the door knob, but I stopped myself. If he made me wait, I can make him wait too.

"Who is it?" I asked innocently.

"... it's Gavin." The guilty party answered.

"Gavin?" I leaned against the door casually and looked at my nails, which were filled with flour from the noodles I had made, "It can't be Gavin. Gavin was supposed to be here by six."

"I know." Gavin sighed, "The line at the store was longer than expected."

"A likely story." I responded angrily, masking my obvious confusion, "... what were you doing at the store?"

"If you open the door, I'll show you."

I rolled my eyes but complied. Gavin was standing there, still dressed in his uniform, but he also had a satchel across his chest and was holding a bottle of scotch. I arched an eyebrow.

"I, uh," Gavin started, rubbing his neck with his free hand as a redness blossomed through his ears, "I didn't want to come over empty handed." Watching him struggling with awkwardness erased my anger towards his tardiness immediately.

I sighed and took the bottle from him. I walked into the apartment, leaving the door open behind me. "Make yourself at home." I waved casually behind me to welcome him in, “The bathroom is up the stair and to the right. Dinner will be done soon."

"It smells great." Gavin said politely as he walked into the room and shut the door behind him. I stalled as I opened the cupboard above me. Man, it was weird to hear him compliment me. And so sincerely too.

"Thanks." I responded slowly, as I reached for a couple of glasses, “It’s a… family recipe.” There was a moment of quiet in the room. I could hear Gavin shucking off his bag and shoes as he made himself at home. The floorboards creaked as he slowly walked further into my apartment. I opened the bottle of scotch and poured it into the glasses. The air in the room had gotten tense and slightly awkward. Half of me wanted to retreat in the bathroom and never come out. The other half wanted to prove to Gavin that I wasn’t afraid of working with him… because I definitely wasn’t afraid of working with him. It had seemed like forever before Gavin’s voice finally cut through the air.

“You… kept the yearbook.” Gavin said this quietly, almost as if it was to himself. I turned around and saw that he was standing in front of the entertainment center with my old high school yearbook in his hands.

“Uh, yeah.” I picked up the glasses and walked over to him, “Loveland high. I spent my freshman year there. I had to leave early because… of... my dad.” Gavin looked up and caught my eyes in his. His eyes were traced with a complicated expression. He and I were thinking about the same thing. About what happened in the police station earlier that day. The air around us got even more tense.

To stop him from bringing up the topic, I handed him one of the glasses. He pulled his eyes away from me and to the glass, which he gladly accepted. I brought my attention to the yearbook in his hands, reminiscing about the school as I did. “I never really liked my time there. The kids were so judgemental because I couldn’t afford to have a nice closet like them… and I secluded myself a lot…” I looked closely at the faces on the pages, “Geez I don’t remember a single one of these kids.”

“Then… why did you keep the yearbook?”

“Because,” I placed my glass down on the entertainment center and took the book from Gavin. I started flipping through the pages, “Word had gotten around about what happened with my foster father. The school gave me the first copy of the year book and got as many students to sign it as they could. Most of the things written was stuff like, ‘I’m sorry to see you go!’ and ‘I wish I had gotten to know you better!’ What a bunch of frauds.” Gavin shifted his feet slightly next to me. “But, there was one response that seemed genuine.” The book opened to the page I continuously looked back on. It was the sophomore class’s group photo page. Handwritten notes had been scribbled all over but my eyes were set on the only one written in blue ink. I handed the book back to Gavin and pointed it out.

“‘I know you are more than what they say you are.’” Gavin read out loud, “‘Don’t let their words keep you from flying.’”

“I could only bring myself to read the notes when I was in my senior year.” I found myself saying this without realizing it, “This one was the one that convinced me that it didn’t matter who said what about me. If that one person, out of the hundreds in that whole school, really cared about me, the others were faceless. The times they had bullied me for being different were just... confetti. Meaningless decoration at the world’s best party.” I looked fondly at the blue ink on the page.

“That’s beautiful.” Gavin’s voice snapped me back to reality. I looked up at him and saw that his complicated gaze had never left me. I looked down and cleared my throat as warmth spread through my cheeks.

“Yeah, well,” I said as I reached for my glass again, “That’s all in the past now.” I turned and walked back to the kitchen, “It is a bummer that I can’t thank whoever wrote that, though.”

“Why not?”

“Cause they didn’t sign their name.” I turned into the kitchen and placed my glass on the bar. I took a spoon to the soup and stirred it slightly. “Dinner’s do-” I looked up from the pot and to Gavin. His face was twisted into a disgruntled emotion as he stared intently at the yearbook. “You alright there, Birdcop?” I asked. Gavin snapped his attention to me.

“Yeah.” He dismissively said, closing the book and placing it back on the shelf, “It’s just… nothing. It’s nothing" Gavin clapped his hands and walked over to the bar, “So, Birdcop is sticking, huh?"

"Yup!" I deadpanned, "You're not getting out of this one, Birdcop."

Gavin hummed his retort as he leaned against the bar. He was quiet for a moment, then he spoke timidly, "So, you don’t remember anyone from that school? Not a single person?”

“Not really.” I simply said, turning the stove off and pulling a couple of bowls out from the cupboard next to me, “There was no one really worth remembering.”

“Ah. I see.” Gavin sounded almost disappointed. I looked up at him. He had his head resting on the palm of his hand, looking down at the bar in thought. A question popped into my mind.

“Gavin, were you a student at Loveland high?” I asked slowly. Gavin looked up at me.

“What?” Gavin nervously chuckled, his posture straightening slightly.

“You heard me.” I arched my eyebrow.

“Well…” Gavin struggled with the frog in his throat, unintentionally answering my question. I walked briskly back to the entertainment center and pulled the yearbook back out.

“No, don’t!” Gavin pleaded as he stood up from the bar and followed me to the living space. I flipped back through the pictures quickly until I landed on a familiar face. It was Gavin alright but he looked much younger and childish in the photo. His hair was messy and his face was a lot more rounded. He had a bandage on his cheek, as well as a soft smile on his lips. His outfit donned a casual hoodie that had a very sporadic design on it.

“Here you are!,” I teased Gavin as he grew closer, “I don't know why I didn't recognize you before! Aw, you look adorable!” Gavin grabbed for the yearbook but I skillfully dodged him.

“Ike, come on.” He pleaded as he went to grab it again. I held out my hand, pushed against his chest, and turned my body away from him so his arms couldn’t reach the book.

“Lookit you! That is such a stylish hoodie you've got on! Who knew Birdcop had a sense of style!" I read the top of the page, "It says here you were a sophomore when the year I was there. Hey! Maybe you could-”

I felt a hand close around my wrist. Before I knew it, I was pulled into Gavin’s chest. My arm was pulled up and away from me, being tightly held so I couldn’t pull it away. A second hand was placed around my waist, stopping me from pushing away from him. The yearbook was shoved uncomfortably between us, though I paid no mind to it.

Gavin gave me a playful glare… but soon it melted from his face as our eyes locked. The air around us got tense again but it wasn’t the tenseness I was used to with him. It was almost as gentle as it was captivating. The ambient noises of the apartment faded out and the only thing that could be heard was a strong heartbeat, though it was unclear who it belonged to. We were so close I could feel his short and warm breath on my forehead. As well as his body warmth through his clothes. It was then when I finally noticed his loosened tie and the undone button on his shirt, showing part is collarbone and an old scar that he wore proudly. I felt his grasp on my wrist loosen as he slowly lowered my arm. His hand fell from mine as he placed it onto my back, pulling us even closer. The only thing reflected in his eyes was me, as was the only thing in my eyes was him. The heat from Gavin’s hand slowly started melting something within my heart. Something that had been frozen over for so long. A warm feeling started making its way through my body and pushed past the barrier which I had put up such a long time ago...

“Ike.” Gavin’s voice was the softest I have ever heard it, making me become aware of the situation we were in. “I-”

I forced Gavin away from me.

“What’s wrong?” Gavin’s voice was still soft. It made me cringe slightly.

“N-nothing.” I backed further away, avoiding eye contact with him. I held the yearbook close to my chest. This is all just a ploy for him to get under my skin. I assured myself as I tapped at the yearbook, To get my hopes up, only to demolish them at their peak. To use me then leave me. Just like everyone else did. Just like every man did. Just like any cop would. I racked my mind for an excuse to get away from him. “I… don’t want the soup to burn.” I managed to find the professional tone that I held before as I quickly turned from Gavin. I threw the yearbook onto the couch. I’m not going to let Gavin be the one to break down my well built walls. We are here on business. That is all. Not to reminisce of the past. Not to joke around. Not to be that close. Not to feel that warmth... The warmth that felt so nice... No, Just to find the man who ordered the hit on me. That was all. I straightened my posture into one of defiance as I felt my heart freeze over again. I put back up the barriers I had almost dropped as I entered the kitchen.

(Next)

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angrylizardjacket · 4 years

Text

Run to Paradise {Nikki Sixx} Part 22

22. a loss is a loss is a loss

Summary: Things start to go south when Roxie joins the party. They go on tour and Lola starts spiraling.

Warnings: NSFW, big drug warning, (consensual) drugged sex warning, also angst.

ragtag bunch of misfits: @starlalove @toofasttofallinlove @xrosegoldwolfx @obsessivesky @trpwthme @lovehelpmewrite @colsons-crue @marvelismylifffe @lilytalebi @glitterdreamsz @freddiessmallnipples @crazysaladchopshop @inthebackofmycarlaytheirbodies @dramatique-moi @missqueeniewrites @calspixie @aryssav @catsoo12 @sweetshutter @silvertonguedserpent @shamelessobsessions @lavenderbones22 @keepcalm-and-beyou @scarecrowmax @nicholeh7 @unknownoblivion

{masterlist}

The new tour is off to a terrible start, despite the album's smashing success.

Tommy and Lola aren't on speaking terms, for the first time since they'd met.

Tommy had met a groupie named Roxie only a few weeks before the tour started, and he'd claimed it was love at first sight. Much to everyone else's chagrin, Tommy was adamant that she'd be joining them on tour. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered Lola; since Vince had started getting more serious with Sharise, she'd backed off considerably out of respect. But with Roxie? From the moment she'd met the woman, Lola had gotten a bad vibe from her, had gotten nothing but withering glares and jealous scoffs whenever Lola went anywhere near Tommy.

One particular evening, Lola had kissed Tommy on the cheek before she'd headed home from a club they were partying at, and Roxie had the gall to catch her outside, snarling for Lola to back off. Lola, for her part, wasn't much intimidated by the waifish groupie. Her lip curled as she gave the woman a disdainful look over.

"Don't tell me you're this stupid," Lola actually laughed, though Roxie just raised an eyebrow at her. "You're lucky I don't kick your fucking ass; don't ever think for a second that you call the shots here."

Lola had tried to bring it up to Tommy, but she'd never had the best way with words, and with Tommy love-drunk and Lola bitter and vulgar, it didn't come out the way she'd intended -

"Don't call her a bitch just because you're jealous!" Tommy's not yelling, persay, but he's close enough to it that Lola's hands fist reflexively. They're not even on the tour bus yet, they're loading their gear, and Roxie is late.

"I'm calling her a bitch because she's a bitch," Lola snarls, turning her temper on Tommy for the first time, and he seems shocked, but what had he really expected. "She's a gold digger and a -"

"Dude, you're such a hypocrite-"

"Oh shut up; I'm not a hypocrite, I've paid my way from day fucking one, and I think I've been pretty up front about being a whore." Crossing her arms, Lola looks smug, though her heart's not in her words, she's not enjoying it like she did with their usual banter. Tommy's genuinely angry by the look of him, fuming with frustrated, close to banging his head against the bus.

"Oh that's fucking rich," Tommy snorted, crossing his arms, unable to look Lola in the eyes.

"Oh I'm sorry," Lola snapped, sarcastic and sharp, "is it true love Tommy? Did you find The One, your soulmate, after she was done fucking Whitesnake?" Lola sneered.

"Fuck you, you absolute fucking hypocrite. I don't give a shit what you think, I love her -"

"Then you're dumber than I gave you credit for," Lola smirked, no warmth behind her eyes, "fuck dude, you fall for anyone with tits who gives you the time of day." It was mean, plain and simple, her words cruel as they cut him like a knife. He snaps, hands flexing into fists by his sides though he's rooted to the spot.

"My girlfriend isn't a whore, or a bitch; you're just jealous because I'm trying to be a good fucking boyfriend for someone who isn't you. It's not my fault you learned how to love from Nikki fucking Sixx, you possessive asshole!"

Silence hangs in the air, Tommy's mouth pressed into a thin, unhappy line. It settles, his words, his meaning, taking up all the space between them, and he begins to realise what he said, begins to feel like he's just picked the bad ending of a choose-your-own-adventure novel, with the way Lola's lips curl into a cruel imitation of a smile. It's not what he expected, and there's apologies laying heavy on his tongue, pressing against his teeth as he watches something die behind Lola's eyes.

"Tommy," she says, and every fucking hair on his arms stands straight up at her sweetly poisonous tone. He's waiting for a rebuttal, something cutting and cruel, laced with thinly-veiled threat, but no words seem to want to come out. Speechless, which she can't even seem to believe herself, she opens and closes her mouth a few times. He's hit too close to home, it's written all over her face as she struggles to reply.

"Lols-" he tries, voice soft and regretful, but her expression hardens.

"Fuck you." She breaks a little, her snort of derision a cruel, bitter sound, but it's hollow, and she can't look him in the eye. When she heads into the bus, she opens a bottle of Jack, drinking it like she's dying of dehydration, and seems happy enough to pass out at the back of the bus as the rest of the band bring the rest of their luggage aboard.

Doc, who'd already been on the bus, usually made it his personal mission in life to interfere with Lola's personal relationships with the band as little as possible, and though he acted as though he hadn't heard anything, he also does a rather solid of job of keeping the rest of the band at the front of the bus, giving her what little peace he could manage.

Lola isn't herself this tour, though she'd like to argue that she's more herself than ever.

And she and Tommy aren't on speaking terms.

It takes Nikki and Vince a while to notice how distant she is; they blame her the cold shoulder she gives Tommy on Roxie's presence, and they're right in one way, but not in the way that matters. Vince thinks she's spending less time with him because of Sharise. Nikki's just under the assumption that she's hooking up with groupies for a change of pace. The band goes out, goes to clubs and bars and strip clubs, but Lola disappears early in the night, and they'll see her the next morning wearing a grin that's all teeth, and a set of fresh bruises and scratches. They don't worry, but maybe they should.

"I've gone - I've gone fucking soft, how the fuck did I let that happen?" She laughs one night, but it's too honest, an anger in her words that simmers just below the surface. She's got a black eye and a split lip; she's always in black, in leather, but now there's splatters of blood. It's across her knuckles, her pants, her jacket; some of its hers, some of its not, and it shines in the light outside the strip club. The guy holding his heavily bleeding nose looks at her like she's lost her mind, stumbling away.

"You're fucking crazy," he snaps, his nervous gaze flicking to the bouncer, who watches with amusement. Lola's eyes are wide, grin sharp as she nods in agreement. The band is still inside, but she doesn't even try to get back in. Maybe she wants them to come looking for her, to notice that she's gone, but they don't.

Lola stumbles her own way to where she thinks the band's latest hotel is, though it's a coin flip as to whether she'll wind up there. Sometimes she'll find her way to another club or bar, or a group just as inebriated as she is will welcome her into their fold, if only for the one night.

Someone gives her a cigarette laced with something they don't tell her about, in a dirty motel three blocks from the band. She's sick within minutes, shaking and barely upright as she clutches at the sink in the bathroom.

"It's alright, baby, you're not used to it," the man that had given it to her pats her on the back. He holds her hair back with one hand, and takes a drag from the cigarette with the other. It's filthy, everything about being here, about him, about every other person in the other room, it's covered in grime, and Lola feels it in her gut right before she throws up, can feel it across every inch of her skin.

More than anything, she wishes she was back in LA, back in her mansion, on the sofa with Nikki, her head in his lap while he's working on some lyrics. Or laughing in Vince's kitchen as he attempts to teach her how to cook eggs, even though he's not particularly good at it himself, but it doesn't matter, because he's smiling at her with that glint in his eyes that makes Lola's heart ache a little now when she thinks about it. Or -

Lola stops herself before she can get too caught up, takes a long drink of water from the tap before turning, wearing her most winning smile.

"I'm a quick study." She takes the cigarette, but doesn't take a drag. Instead, she presses her lips to the man whose name she doesn't know, and lets him breathe smoke into her mouth. His tongue runs along her bottom lip, and his hand comes to grip at her ass, and everything feels so wrong.

Lola takes another hit of whatever's in the cigarette.

She feels it, feels ill, but now she feels herself relaxing. It's slowly becoming the best high she's ever had, and simultaneously one of the worst.

"What's in that?" She slurs a little when they finally come out of the bathroom, and Lola is happy to let him drape her on the sofa. The other people in the room, mostly strung out, are scattered on the two grubby double beds, in various states of undress. There's no shame because no-one's coherent enough to feel it.

"Don't you worry, baby; it feels good, don't it?" And she's not sure if he's referring to the drugs or his hand up her skirt, but she laughs, low and syrupy, and nods.

Someone else in the room stumbles to the cassette player by the table, and Lola gives a start at the familiar riff that claws it's way from the speakers. She can't help herself, she starts laughing, the sound bright and sharp, so different from the dreamy sound that had escaped her moments ago.

"What?" The man frowned, his hand stilling on her thigh, confusion written all over his face.

"It's about me." That just seemed to confuse him further. Lola, for a moment, hummed along with Looks That Kill, "she's got the looks that kill," she sang under her breath, her hand finding his, guiding him to finish what he'd started, even has he frowned in confusion.

"What the fuck," the man laughed, before he chuckled in disbelief, grinning brightly, his head following his hand. Lola gasped and arched, eyes falling closed as she hums along to the song, hips shifting to the beat of the drum.

"Nikki wrote it about me," she breathes, and the man stops.

"You're a big fan of Motley Crue then?" He asked, as if humoring her. Instead of answering, Lola whined gently, her hand fisting in his hair, ignoring the question.

"Don't stop," she practically begs, and it works. They fuck right there on the sofa, with a shitty Motley Crue cassette as the background noise, and Lola is pretty sure that she'll find the humour in that later. If she remembers it. For now, it feels fucking incredible, whatever was in that cigarette has her on cloud nine, the man between her legs knows what he's doing, and when she closes her eyes she can pretend she's with someone she actually loves.

She comes with Tommy's name on her lips, and despite being high as all hell, the man - who absolutely is not Tommy, despite how lanky he is - takes enough offence that he tells her to get lost. Lola stumbles to her feet, unsteady, and spits at him. He shoves her, but she's knows how to keep her balance, even if she stumbles. He calls her pathetic, and she takes the cassette player from the table, and smacks him in the face with it. The music cuts out with the crash, and he drops like a ton of bricks. Lola's hands shake as she takes out the Motley Crue tape, and she leans in close where he's passed out on the grubby floor.

"You don't deserve this," she scoffs, waving the tape, ignoring as one of the other occupants of the room asks why the music's stopped. Lola ignores her, and makes her way outside.

Much to her own surprise, she'd remembered the name of the hotel the band had been staying at, and when she collapses against the front desk, it's only a few minutes before an irate Doc comes to collect her.

"You smell like shit," he tells her sharply, an arm around her as he leads her to the elevator.

"Thank you," Lola grinned, eyes unfocused and hazy, leaning almost her whole weight on the manager, stumbling to keep up with him. She's still got the tape clutched in her hand.

"Nikki's got company," is what he tells her as he lets her into her own room, and Lola tries to swing at him, but he shoves her none to gently into the room, shutting the door behind her. It's like she's been winded, standing in the middle of the room, clutching at the tape so tightly it cracks in her fist.

And maybe it hurts that no-one seems to notice or care that she doesn't spend most nights in the same hotel as the band. Or maybe someone should be worried that she keeps waking up in parking lots and can't remember how she got there. But she knows if she makes it back with them, she'll just remember how the people she loves are all moving on.

Maybe, she'd thought, just maybe Nikki would see that she's spiraling; he's the only one left she's still allowed to love. But he takes it too easily in stride, adapts to not having her around, fills the space she's left by his side with any number of meaningless flings in cities all across the country.

Tommy was wrong. She'd never learned to love from Nikki, who lets go too easily; she'd learned to love from her mother, where to love is to hold someone close until they want to run, it seems, until they burn.

She doesn't want to love like that.

So she'd let them go.

On the tour bus the next day, she'll talk and laugh with them like nothing's wrong, and in that moment, it won't be. Nikki will be next to her, or Vince will have an arm around her, and she'll take a swig from Mick's vodka when he offers it. She doesn't spiral when the sun can see her, but that's easier said than done when she meets Tommy's gaze, and just for the moment his smile falters.

She tells herself she doesn't need him.

"Nikki's got company."

She doesn't need any of them. Not tonight. Not ever.

In a few hours, Doc will come wake her up, everyone will pile on the bus, and she'll pretend like she doesn't miss living in a shithole, alone with Nikki, uncomplicated; the two of them against the world.

#nikki sixx #nikki sixx imagine #nikki sixx x oc #Tommy Lee #tommy lee imagine #lola x tommy #nikki x lola #Vince Neil #vince neil imagine #Mick Mars #doc mcghee #motley crue #the dirt #the dirt imagine #motley crue imagine #the angry lizard writes

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dawnwriterimagines · 5 years

Text

Three Heroes: Various!BNHA x Reader (Part 7)

This is a Todoroki x Bakugo x Reader x Midoriya fanfic, inspired by the My Hero Academia movie: Two Heroes, the storyline will be adjusted due to the reader's presence. Read on and I hope you enjoy!

Warning(s): Blood, Violence, Fluff, Angst, Poly!Relationship, Swearing, and mature content, etc.

You and Izuku walked through the hallway, huffing in pain as you surged forward as fast as your bodies allowed. Gritting your teeth, you both picked up the pace as you knew that the villains were trying to make their escape before the heroes could make it. You couldn't let that happen!

Panting, you walked faster, pushing yourself further as your eye's closed for a moment as your chest pulsed in pain. You weren't Pro's, you knew that, but you would do what you could for now until All Might could make it.

Finally, you both reached the roof, the last floor, where a helicopter sat, it's wings slowly beginning to turn, Wolfram in front of it about to jump on with a tied up David Shield already in the chopper. You took a deep breath before wincing as you screamed, "STOP!" You saw the leader turn and you glared as he began almost smiling in sick delight to see you.

"Ah! And here I thought I'd have to come back around and get you," he chuckled, before bringing his arm out towards the open space in the plane. "Welcome aboard."

You ignored his taunts. "We won't let you take the professor!" Izuku announced, leaning against you, holding his shoulder as you leaned on him as well. "You give him back right now!"

David's head rose as he saw the two of you. Wolfram smirked, turning his head to the side and back again as he walked forwards, his hands out, "I wonder, did you plan to bring this man bacl, so he could pay for his crimes?!" He dared, his lips curving sadisticly, at the thought.

"No! Of course not!" Izuku leaned up, energy coming back to him as he walked forwards. "We're here to rescue David Shield from the likes of you!" Izuku began to race forwards, you springing up to go beside him.

Wolfram slammed his palm against the ground, a green glow emitting from it, "Even though he's a criminal?!" He tested, a metal pillar flying towards Izuku. He jumped over it, you both landing to crunch alongside the top of it.

"You watch! We'll save everyone!" Izuku slides against the next pillar as it rises to push him off, nearly slamming against you. "That includes the professor!"

"You kids should give up now then! Because it doesn't look like that to me!" Then, Wolfram willed three large structures of metal to rise from the ground, just before you could land a punch to his face. You landed in your feet as one of them rose, hitting you before you jumped over the edge, sliding against the other one as debris flew across the air as the pillars crashed together aiming to crush.

"Shut up!" You seethed, your arm's charging up as well as your feet. "This is what heroes do! They help people, they save people when their in trouble!" You fell towards Wolfram, same as izuku, ready to land a blow. But, then he rose his gun, it aimed backwards and towards David, the end of it pointing dangerously close to his head.

"How exactly?" He dared us to proceed, his finger on the trigger.

You both gasped before having no choice but to power down, landing on your feet, next to Midoriya, "Save yourself, please," your eye's met David's as he teared up, shaking his head as he willed you both to leave. "RUN AWAY!"

"Jeez! Being a hero seems really inconvenient," Wolfram chuckled at how easily he could get you both to back off, "I didn't even use much of my power and yet you're helpless." His palm glowed from the ground, and you felt the wind get knocked out of you as you went flying backwards with Izuku. You both rolled against the ground, you silently screamed, clutching your chest, gasping in agony as your heart skipped a beat from the impact against it. But, you couldn't rest, it didn't take long for another pillar to come from above, aiming to crush you both, you jumped up just as Izuku tackled you out of the way before lunging backwards onto the side of the first pillar as another crashes down. He pushes his feet against it and you look forward, gasping horrified as another pillar soars upwards, straight for the both of you. Unable to dodge it in mid air, you both take it full on, it hits you and you expected to be knocked back and to the ground, but another metal pillar closes in from behind and connects. Your palms light up, your energy encasing the both of you to try to take the impact, you yelp as it nearly breaks. You're both crushed momentarily before another pillar is sent from below. You're both forced upwards, spitting up blood as your backs are nearly shattered from the impact. "Doesn't seem like a very smart way to live to me!"

You hit the ground a few feet away from Izuku, unable to move as you wheeze and cough for breath, your hands shake as they hover of your heart. Around the area, dark veins have appeared behind your cracked brooch, the skin around the area slowly beginning to bruise. You felt a hand clamp around your wrist as you begin to get dragged away, a hand stopped for a moment to take you by the waist before climbing and dropping you on a metal surface. Your eye's open, your vision blurry and spinning, you were on the chopper? You began to sit up, struggling with each push against the ground, you cried out as Wolfram stepped on your back from behind, forcing you down. "Be a good girl and stay still, would ya?" You gasped before growling up at him.

"Let me go!" You glared. Your arm reaching for David at the side of you, Wolfram only shoved the heel of his boot into your side, into a rib you knew was broken, eliciting a choked scream from you.

"(Y/n)! (Y/N)!!" Izuku pushes himself up, stumbling to his feet, as the plane, slowly began to rise, taking you and David into the skies. "Noo!!"

"No! Stop, please!" David begged, his eyes trying or connect with yours in pained expression, he was shocked to see how badly this night had taken a toll on you. His heart aching even more as he saw the dark veins climbing from your chest, "No! Let her go, she's hurt! I need to get her to my lab!"

Wolfram chuckled. "Nice try doctor. I think she'll be fine for the remainder of the trip," he turned towards the crew in the front. "Get us outta here." He says as the plane lifts higher, your lifted into the air, your eye's linking with Izuku as you reach a hand out weakly.

His eyes going wide, tortured as you're taken from him, before he's suddenly lunging forwards, running across the broken pillar and hurling himself into the sky. Your eye's wide in awe as his face twists into that of determination, he'd do anything to bring this plane down, you knew that was certain. His hand connects with the foot railing, the helicopter jerks to the side, your head leaning over to be only a few inches away from his. "Izu--" you breathe out.

"I'm gonna get you out of here! Ok? Come on, I'm gonna get you both out of here," he reaches his hand out. However, before you can take it, Wolfram is digging his heel into the side of your stomach again. You scream and close your eyes shut, Izuku yelling at the villain to stop, his eyes close to tears as he struggles to reach you as the villain pulls you backwards.

"You really do act like a hero, huh kid? But, unfortunately you're an idiot too!" Wolfram points his gun at Izuku, you gasp before your eyes flickered down towards the loading dock. Your eye's catching Melissa, screaming at the top of her lungs as her father is taken away and Izuku is hanging from the end of a chopper. Wolfram cocks the gun up and aims for Izuku, it sparks something in you, you ignore the pain and your own safety for just a moment. Your arm's reaching for David, wrapping around his collar, with the best smile you could muster in the situation now, you pushed him towards Izuku. "No!" Wolfram gasped, reaching forwards but it was too late, they both had already fallen out of the plane and towards r he building.

"No! (Y/n)--" David gasped as he fell through air, Izuku catching him, unprepared for you to do something like that.

Izuku's eye's are wide in horror, unable to speak as he's forced to watch as the helicopter, pulls off closer to the skies, with you inside. Before he can even yell for you, he wraps his arm's around the professor before his back hits the ground, taking the brunt of the impact. They both groan before David rolls off on his side, sitting upwards with a groan before gasping as he sees the helicopter pull away.

Melissa is running down to the crater, Deku formed, worried for her father and her friend, "Deku! Papa!" Just as she says his hero name, Izuku regains his thinking, having stared up in horror as tears streamed down.

"No. No! NO!" He sobs, sitting up quickly, leaning up towards the sky, towards the plane that was too far for him to reach. "Don't take her!! Please, don't take (y/n)!" He wails, horrified at his loss, blood streaming down the side of his face from the fall. "Come back! Let her go! Dammit!!" He's failed, he never thought he would lose you so soon, god, it was his fault, he wasn't strong enough to protect you.

"Don't you dare lose that smile, alright, Young Midoriya?!" The proud voice of All Might echoes through his ears suddenly. He feels the tower shake as the hero rushes up the side of the building, breaking and shattering the side wall from the force of his flight. The air pressure as he stops above the helicopter is magnificent, causing the copter to shake and turn, "It's fine now!" The Number One Hero's voice gets angrier, "Do you know why?!" He stares down at Wolfram, who looks up in shock and confusion, before slight fear. "Because I am here!" All Might delivers. He then reels back his fist and flys forwards, "I'll have you return my daughter to me at once, you fiend!" Launching himself onto the place, it takes only a second for the helicopter to shoot up in flames before All Might is falling downwards with you in his arms. The helicopter behind him, falling to flames before blowing up behind them all, the light of the fire almost blinding, but no one pays attention as All Might kneels down laying his daughters head on his lap. "(Y/n)..." he speaks, his smile fading slightly at the state of his daughter.

Izuku collapse to his knees in front of you as you open your eyes, your vision is blurry but your looking from him to your father. Smiling weakly at seeing them both, "D-dad, Zu..." you breathe.

"Everything will be ok," All Might announced softly. David ran over to your side as well as Melissa, Izuku taking your hand and pressing his forehead into it, kissing tour palm as he sobs happily.

David puts a hand on your shoulder, "I'm so sorry, (y/n), my god, this is my fault," he then looks up at All Might, his eyes still watered with tears to which the hero tenses. "We need to get her immediate help, Toshi, now," he informs him.

Midoriya's eyes go wide, "W-what? What's going on? Is she gonna be ok, All might?"

All Might looks from his friend to his daughter, who stared up at him, a thin line of blood running down your nose to the side, you didn't even seem to notice. He glances down, gasping as his smile faded completely, your chest was darkening, the skin turning a dark blue and black, splotches surrounding your heart. He couldn't imagine the pain you must be feeling, he looks up into your eyes, "(y/n)...what? David, We must go quickly," All Might agrees, holding you tightly before beginning to sit up, before he's suddenly knocked to the side, you still in his arms. Wrapping his arm's around you, he shields you from the impact, groaning as he skids to a stop against the ground.

You watch from in your father's arm's as David is taken away, lifted up by a restraint of metal, towards a rising mountain of metal, growing bigger by the second. Melissa and Midoriya rise from their crouched position staring horrified, "Papa!" Melissa screams in terror as her father is taken away again.

"All Might! (Y/n)!" Izuku cried.

Metal surges from the ground, breaking apart the structure of the tower, fire rising behind the mountain of metal and debris that surrounded the villain, Wolfram. "Professor!" Izuku shouted as David was crowded and tied into cords and slabs of metal, covered from the world.

"I heard Sam," Wolfram stood tall over the metal he manipulated, the device that David Shield had created and fought to get back now connected to the back of his head. Obviously, amplifying his quirk horrendously. "All Might's power is failing him!" He rose his fist, challenging as he smirked, his voice almost sounding magnetic and multiplied. "He doesn't have the same unstoppable power, he once did!"

"He's using the professors device!" Izuku gasped.

You climbed out of your father's arm's as he struggled to stand, his body weakened from sustaining this form for so long. You stood beside him, on shaking knees, you turned towards him as he coughed up blood onto the back of his hand. "Damn! Not much ti--" he paused, feeling your hand on his face, surprised or see his daughter still worried about him, even at the state of being she was in. "Stay here." He told you, although it was more of an order, he couldn't bare it if you were hurt further. "Villains don't know when to give up..." he turned towards the villain, bringing his fists up to his sides and crouching ready to spring forth. "Do you?!"

You turned as your father lunged forwards, his speed incredible as always, "Texas!" His fist rose at such force before it plummeted forwards with a monstrous power. "SMASH!" He delivered, however before he could ascend to the villain a giant slab of metal met him before he could, taking the hit. Your eye's going wide in disbelief as he hadn't even crushed through it, his power was fading and the villain was so much stronger now. Leaving a large crate in the wake of his power, your father applied more pressure expecting to break through.

"Is that all you got?!" Wolfram smirked, his hand going up, pillars of metal surged through the metal wall and hit your father, sending him crashing backwards through the thick side wall. You gasped, before running forwards to help him, however your foot caught on something, it cracked and you looked down, surprised to see the case of pills you had given your father. You picked it up, you had cracked the bottle at the side but it was still in tact.

Your head rose as the building shook once more, this time nearly sending you to your knees as you watched in terror as the villains energy ran through the tower, willing the metal to build up his massive power. The winds picked up, blowing through your hair as the villain rose and you stared up, for once, fearful, you couldn't do anything, you couldn't fight, not like this. You looked back down at the case of pills in your hand, you opened it with shaking hands and took out one, it was bigger for higher doses. You gripped it in tour hand before putting the small bottle into your thigh pocket, you opened your mouth and swallowed the pill. It wouldn't affect you instantly, so you had to wait for its effect.

As the villain smirked widely atop his monstrous creation, metal swirling and diving around through the air, "So, the genius lives up to his reputation," he laughed connivingly, his hands coming up as power ran through his fingertips and through his body. "I can feel my quirk growing my powerful!" His eyes glowing a dark purple, eye's flashing menacingly at the small group down below, now ants that would be crushed with no problem. He laughed, throwing his head back, basking in the glory of his strengthened abilities. "It feels amazing!" Metal whipped around, binding and wrapping around itself, growing thicker as the tower deconstructed quickly as metal was taken from its frame. "I'm never taking this off!" he declared.

Off to the side, your father sat up, frowning as the villain had grown his power in size, towering over everyone and everything on the island. "Dave...what in the world have you made?!" All Might gasped at the sheer power that the villain was now emitting, his power almost frightening.

Melissa gaped at the sky, metal flying around, attracted to the call of its manipulator. "I had no idea he created something so powerful," she stared terrified at the villain before her.

At the top of mountain of metal, you could no longer see the face of villain, although you knew he stared down grinning evilly, "Now I know how to raise the price of this device. I can charge whatever I want, if it was used to kill the world's number one hero!" He sent his hand forwards, directing his hunks of metal after he hero, making your eye's widen as your father dived to the side quickly before doing it once more. Landing on the side of a slab slab of cement he pushed off of it, towards the villain, shattering it, raising his fist to the air. But, he was met by a giant pillar of metal, it curved and pushed against the strength of the hero before sending him into the ground.

You rushed forwards, jumping over mutilate slabs of metal and cement that had broke apart from the ground. Melissa had been sent through the air, you looked behind you, pausing until you saw Izuku catch her and jump away from the flying debris that would've crushed her. You made eye contact with him, his eyes widening as he was surprised to see you moving, "(y-y/n)..." he started but you closed your eyes, turning and quickly bounding off to aid your father.

You could hear the villain laugh in glee, gaining sick pleasure of seeing the symbol of peace obviously struggling, he cackled before swinging his arm forcefully. You quickly jumped beside your father, a barrier of your own energy manifesting quickly to ease the pressure as three other pillar come crashing down to add to crushing the hero. You felt your arm's burning, you pushed with your father, your hands spreading out of lift the pillars that were crashing down. As you both huffed and shook, your father turned his head towards you in disbelief, "(y/n)? No, you have to--grhg! You have to get out of here!" He yelled over the crashing and explosions of metal against metal.

You screamed against the pressure that burned your limbs, "I won't leave you! I won't leave you to fight alone!" You yelled at him, your eye's filling with tears. He stared at you, his limbs shaking but his eye's wide in awe and shock. "I'll fight beside you! Like I always have! Like I always will!" You cried. All Might felt his eye's watering, he knew you were at your limit, so was he, but you still kept going. Sometimes he hated how much you were like him, never caring enough to look after yourself before anyone else.

"All Might! (Y/n)!" You heard Izuku yell.

"Why don't you just die already?!" Your eye's widened as from the corner of your eye you could see pillars beginning to ascend downwards ready to crush you both entirely. However, the air grew cold and the pillars froze quickly, ice covering over them and holding them in place. Your eye's went wide before you shakily turned your head, your body shaking from the pressure still on your arm's.

"GO TO HELL!!" Explosions rocketed the earth, striking the metal attached to the villain and his monstrous mountain of living metal. Our felt the ground shake and your eye's light up as light finally came to the darkness, they were here, finally.

That's when you heard Bakugo, "how could you let yourself get beat by a lame final boss?" He seethed as he held his wrist, the explosions taking its toll on his hands. "HURRY UP AND TAKE HIM DOWN!" He yelled to all might, you smirked at his tone, he was so bashful, wasn't he? No filter.

With your face pressed against the metal, you and your father looked at one another, before finally you felt the pill kick in and your father felt his will to go on, pick up. "Thanks for the help, Young Bakugo," your father breathed out, pushing against the large pillar.

Behind you, your friends made their appearances, having been free of the robots and coming to help. "We'll do what we can! We'll help you!" Shouto said, his left side being coated in flames as the ice melted from his right.

"Everyone!" Izuku grinned.

Your friends, they'd come to help, even with everything going on, where he they could've escaped and finally went home, been safe. They came, they came to risk their lives and save the island!

You felt tears fill your eye's, "There's no way..." you heard your father say, you opened your eyes to see him looking at you, his arm's pushing against the pillars holding you down. "There's no way we should be held down by something so foolish as a limit!" Your eye's widened at your father's words, feeling the air swell as he flexed repetitively, building up his muscle and rising the pillar higher.

You rose from your father's words, your strength coming back to you despite the pain you felt all over. "Push, past, our boundaries!" You groaned out, your eye's slowly flickering with light before they burned with energy, turning a sharp gold as you turned to nod at your father.

"AND GO BEYOND!" You both raised your fists and slammed them into the pillar, it broke apart, debris flying as you quickly pumped energy into your entire body. You jumped into the air, your body glowing with sparking energy as you and your father soared into the air, matching battle crys exploding through your lungs. "ITS TIME TO BE..."

Your eye's grew furious, your hands completely enveloped in an incredible power, filling you to the brim with life. "PLUS ULTRA!" You declared alongside your father, All Might.

Shouto, Izuku, and Katsuki's eyes all widening in horror as you're charging along with your father, your form bright with energy and your body moving just as fast as All Might's. They hadn't even realized you were next to him before you had burst from the ground as you did. They stared in amazement and awe, unable to help the speckle of fear that climbed up their hearts as they watched you ascend to the villain.

The hero smashed through the pillar aiming to him, his fists up as you raised your palms as the pillars ahead broke through the thick ice that had enveloped them. You screamed as you brought your fist up, smashing through them as your father flew past you, an amazing speed to match. You elevated above the pillars as they cracked and crumbled, you flew over the mass of metal trying to trap you. Your father grabbed your hand, hurtling you forwards and your figure immediately exploded with energy as your fists collided with a thunderous clap against the shield of a thousand tons of metal. Breaking through you slide across the looming pillars, bursting off of them as you followed your father towards the villain. Flying through the air, your eye's blazing with fury and power, you had to do this, you had to win, go had to make him pay! Your father gritted his teeth, shoving his feet against he metal pillar and launching himself upwards as you met him halfway, "CAROLINA..." His hands coming forth in an X-formation.

You could only see white now, your mind to foggy with pain and anger to see anything else, your fist now golden and crumbling with energy. "CALIFORNIA..." you prepared, beside your father, you both skyrocket upwards, your bodies curving as you met one another. Your fists crashing against the looming giant pillars of hardened metal.

"SMASH/IMPACT!!!"

There's a bright light, it explodes and fills the area, a sound that should've shook the earth and woke even the beings below the earth echoes through the vicinity. Everyone is blown back from the tremendous air pressure, unable to stand against it as they grip at the ground and loose wires to steady themselves. Even Wolfram, who covers his face, being held in place by his pounds of metal protecting him.

As he uncovers his face, Wolfram grits his teeth as the hero and his daughter are soaring after him, "Prepare yourself, VILLAIN!" All Might declares, his fist rising to meet Wolfram's, who moves himself back at a rapid pace, but it's too late, your both are so close, this was it, it was ov--

Just as you're both close enough, our feel yourself caught in the vines of wires, all holding your wrists tightly, wrapping around your leg. You and your father, both caught, pull against your restraints, "Nice trick! But, I--mmph!" Wolfram cuts your father off, making you turn your head as he wraps his figure around his throat.

Wolfram's sleeve rips as his muscles bulge and flex, turning his hand and body a burning red, his body turning monstrous as his entire being is corroded with energy, glowing almost as his body darkens and holds your father by the neck tightly. "Prepare myself?" He smirks, the device amplifying his power further as even his face mask melts away. "Take your own advice!"

Where did this sudden strength come from? Thus wasn't the same man who needed a gun to sway his opponents, that device was turning him into something inhumane. Your eye's bulged, a scream breaking from your lips as your father's throat is crushed, hacking up blood as the villain holds it tight. "Stop it!" You cried, pulling an arm free from the wires and hurling as fist at the villain, he catches it as your power dampens, flickering away at your exhaustion. "Leave him alone!" You grit your teeth, as your wrists his pulled back once more.

Wolfram smirks at you, a grip still on your father's throat, "I was told you'd be alittle easier to get my hands on, but it seems I've been mislead," he chuckles, his voice seems multiplied, scary even but you only glare at him. His free hand comes forwards, resting over your chest, "But, it seems as though my source was right. All Might..." he turns towards the symbol of peace as the hero struggles in his voice binds. "You have a weakness! You're just like everyone else!" He places a hand over your chest, a wave of energy running straight through you, hitting your heart like a truck.

The pain is splintering and it's almost immediate, it feels like someone had taken your heart right out of your chest and clutched it tightly, waiting for it to pop. It was torment, it was like a tearing sensation had taken over your body and burned you from the inside out. It was agony. It was torture. Your head dropped as your eye's went wide and you gave a choked scream before you gurgled on your own blood before coughing it up.

"NOOOO!!!!"

Time slowed for the boys, their movements stopping as the look up, their eyes wide in horror and disbelief, your blood flying through the air and splattering below. All Might's cry of agony was enough to tell them what had happened, all of them collapsing to their knees almost at once. They're standing there stunned, the tower shaking and rumbling around them as everything begins to go to hell. What had happened?

Nothing could describe the pain in All Might's scream, it was of anguish, of desperation. As you went limp under your restraints, unable to move as you could no longer say anything, you couldn't even feel your heart in your chest. Was it even beating? All Might cried out, his eyes wide and arm's tearing and outline at his restraints as the metal replaced itself with every snap and tear or crumble he made. He felt his heart clench, his eyes filling with tears as he was no longer able to keep that smile on his face, instead it was replaced by a malicious sneer. He tried with all his might might to reach him but instead the villain smirked, waving his hand to crash him into you and forcing you both backwards.

"It seems you've finally stopped smiling!" Wolfram laughs before he claps his hands together. All Might looks to the sides, his eyes widening as two large blocks of metal are ramming towards him. He quickly, pulling against the restraints, broken free, wrapping his arm's around you, close to crying out as your eye's remain open but blank, almost unseeing. He let's out a angered cry before the blocks collided, crushing him tightly, he groan's as his vision darkens and the space gets tighter as he hears multiple others beginning to trap him in. He felt your warmth in his hands, before your hand on his cheek, your eye's glowing in the darkness. He hugs you close, before he hears the explosion of power before he feels it.

#bakugo x reader #mha bakugou #mha todoroki #midoriya x reader #todoroki x reader #bnha shouto #bnha imagines #bnha x reader #bnha #bnha midoriya

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305krw · 4 years

Text

Inflight

Pairing: G-Dragon, OC

Genre: Romance, angst

Summary: An American love columnist meets an old flame midflight. Blasts from the past sometimes have a tendency to bote

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“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Kimberly and I’m your chief flight attendant. On behalf of the entire crew, Welcome aboard Korea Airlines flight 888, non-stop service from Los Angeles to Incheon. At this time, make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Also, make sure your seat belt is correctly fastened."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I leaned back into the spacious first-class seat while the attendant went over the rest of the safety instructions. I took in the wide spacious area and complimentary champagne that was still fizzing in the crystal glass. I have been in first-class countless times now, however, it was always a humbling experience for me. I closed my eyes and remembered the time when I'd peered into the aisle from my economy class seat, hoping to catch a glance of the coveted first-class section. The people in the business class looked so far away from me. Their sharp suits and designer dresses were completely contrary to my thrifted ensemble. I remember being so nervous during that flight's take off that I grabbed the hand of the boy next to me. I squeezed his hand tight causing him to look over at me and smile. He had such a wonderfully bright smile.

I opened my eyes choosing not to remember the past, but instead take in my own sharp appearance. My navy high waist business pants were perfectly tailored and my crisp sheer white top didn't have a wrinkle in sight. Versace sunglasses sat on top of my recently straightened hair that had somehow managed to stay immaculate on the way to the airport. I had made it to first-class and I knew that young girl who just a few years ago peered out into the aisle would be proud of me.

"Because we are traveling over water there will be no wi-fi on this flight. However, all passengers are welcome to cut on electronic devices while they are on airplane mode. Thank you."

I took that as my cue to open up my laptop. I had to finish my article " What Makes a Man Fall in Love" which would tie into my interview with Korea's golden boy G-Dragon for next month's issue. It was a load of crap, but it was what would put food on the table, so I opened up a word document and stared at the blank screen. I continued to stare at the blank white screen for a few more minutes. Nothing. I decided to plug in my headphones for a more isolated feeling hoping that it would spark some creativity. I started to lightly hum the slow but catchy tune. Soon my hums were replaced by deep sighs as I repeated the constant cycle of typing then erasing. Letting out one last sigh I finally typed a complete sentence on the barren screen.

"What the hell is love anyway?"

The letters were big and bold. They were taunting me as I sat with my head back against the seat in frustration. Suddenly, I heard someone plop down in the vacant space next to me. To my surprise, it was Mr. Golden boy himself.

"Article not coming along?" He asked with a cocky grin.

"Actually, It's coming along just fine." I almost snorted as I closed my laptop harshly.

"Ahh ok. 'What the hell is love anyway?'" He rubbed his chin like he was pondering the question himself, "I don't think your readers buy your magazine for one sentence articles."

My patience with my unwanted guest was running thin. "How may I help you, Mr. Kwon? I believe our interview isn't scheduled until tomorrow."

"Well, I heard all of that huffing and puffing from behind you and thought that I would come to help you out."

I could feel the heat of embarrassment rush towards my cheeks. Was I really that loud? I should have taken out my headphones! I feigned professionalism and slapped on my best corporate smile.

"Thank you for your concern Mr.Kwon. However, I think I can handle it." He made himself more comfortable in the chair next to me completely dismissing my request for him to leave.

"So, you've never been in love before?" He was still grinning at me. My last nerve had just snapped in two.

"No," I said as coldly as possible. His grin slowly fell into a subtle frown as he heard my answer.

He broke eye contact as he looked down for at his hands for a moment. When he looked back up his signature smirk was back.

"Never?" He pressed.

"No. Never," I said as absolutely as the first time.

"Well, what does love mean to you?" He crossed his arms as he waited for my reply.

"It means nothing. It is a term used by people to make them feel like their fleeting desire and lust is somehow deeper than it is." I was upset with myself for letting my guard down, but I hated the concept of love so much that I lost control. " People use it to make each other feel special. It gives people a faux sense of security and it does nothing more."

He went silent.

"Well, that's quite a cynical view for a love columnist."

"Its the truth. People say that they 'love' someone, but what is the one thing, men especially look for in a relationship?" I let the question hang in the air for a fraction of a second before continuing.

"Sex. And when they can't get it they don't feel like that particular relationship is fulfilling. Love is completely forgotten. Women aren't innocent either. Everyone wants something physical whether it's sex or not. When a human sees an attractive person everything else becomes void. Even an existing relationship. In the end, love is really just a bunch of hormones that either breakdown to horniness or loneliness. " I was on fire and there was no stopping my anti-love rant.

"I write articles for my readers. I give them what they want to hear. I also make people like you look like those fantastic fantasies your fans have. So, since I'm doing you a favor I'd rather not be criticized by you." I was eager to hear how he would come back to that so I turned my body to face him mirroring his nonchalant crossed arms form.

"Oh, you aren't doing me a favor. Unlike you I actually believe in love."

That made me genuinely chuckle. "Ok, so what is love to you? I cocked my head to the side in anticipation. His face grew serious.

"Love means a lot of different things to me. In a webster dictionary type of way love is a mix of emotions ranging from affection to passion. Love is wanting to see that person when you are down, being ok with being in silence with them, having your mind wander to thoughts of them all the time, wanting to protect them.."

My chest got tighter after each explanation. But, I still waited for him to finish.

"But, it is also the small things. Like..when you get scared on a plane ride, yet you reach out to hold their hand because they make you feel safe.."

I was clenching my jaw trying to fight the stinging I felt in my eyes. Memories from our first and last vacation together began to animate in my mind. I needed to remind him of where it all fell apart.

"So, do you love Ms.Kiko? She must be all of those things for you. I mean you guys are the talk of the town."

His expression grew hard. When he didn't respond I angrily pressed the issue.

"I mean you must, right? It has been how many years now? There was even a rumor going around that you cheated on your previous girlfriend with Ms.Kiko."

I had mentioned the rumor to get a reaction out of him, but I also felt the ache in my own chest. I remembered having to sit around as strangers murmured about his previous girlfriend who to them was, frustratingly veiled in anonymity. My own co-workers gathered to gossip about 'how heart-broken she must be' with no idea that they were inadvertently discussing my own love life.

I opened my laptop and returned to the word document ready to take notes.

"What are you doing Eva?"

I set my hands on the keyboard like I was ready to type. "You said that you wanted to help. You can help by giving me the interview I need now. So, tell me about the love of your life. The beautiful Ms.Kiko."

"Eva stop." He sternly ordered as I ignored him. When I didn't react he reached over and shut my laptop. He accidentally pulled the headphones out of the computer which caused the soft melody of his new song "Loser" to flow out of my computer. I nearly chewed a hole through my bottom lip as I tried to get the music to stop playing. Once I did an awkward silence consumed us. That was until he delivered the final blow.

"Do you still love me, Eva?"

I tried to be stern. "Cut the shit, Ji Yong. You know what we had wasn't ever love."

"Really? I always thought that it was." His seemed sincere, but the scars from our past relationship were too deep for whatever this was.

"I'd like it if you left now Ji Yong. Why don't you just get up and leave? It shouldn't be that hard since it's exactly what you did four years ago. Oh yeah, you're waiting until you catch me off guard, maybe even vulnerable and naive like last time."

He started to cut me off, but I lifted my finger signaling him to stop. "Sorry to disappoint, but that girl is gone, Ji Yong. Now if you will excuse me."

I stood up and scooted past him. I found a flight attendant to request a seat change when I felt someone tug on my wrist.

I stage whispered for him to let go so we wouldn't cause a scene. After I realized that he was not planning on letting go I quietly followed behind him to protect both of our reputations. The last thing I needed was to be wrapped up in a scandal with G-dragon. It would undoubtedly ruin my career in Korea. I could see the headlines now- "Foreign Vixen Seduces our Beloved Oppa!"

Finally, as we made it to the middle of the aircraft he aggressively pulled me into the restroom. He stepped closer to me, trapping me against his chest.

"What do you want Ji Yong?" I made the mistake of looking up at him. He wasn't much taller than me so his gaze seemed to look into me.

"Do you still love me, Eva?" He asked slowly. I could feel his breath on my face..tempting me.

"No. I don't." I turned my head to break out of the trance his gaze had on me.

He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look him in the eyes again.

"Bullshit."

I felt the tears start to weld in my eyes. However, I didn't plan on succumbing to him.

With his hand still on my chin, I asked him again. "Do you love her Ji Yong?"

"I left because I had to, Eva. You were too innocent and you weren't ready for the stress that came along with being in the spotlight. I did what I did to protect you."

I scoffed at his ridiculousness. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I do."

He encircled my waist with his arms. I tried to push him off of me.

"Ji Yong stop. What about Kiko? Don't you love her?" I placed my hands against his chest not-so-convincingly trying to push him away, "We can't do this."

His grip got tighter causeing my hands to clench the fabric of his shirt. I kept telling myself that what we were doing was wrong, but as I stood pressed into his chest feeling the familiar embrace all rational flew out the window. I was in a daze caused by his amazing cologne, his firm chest, the desperate look in his eyes, his lips, and the memories of what it was like when we were together. When I loved him.

"I've never once said the words 'I love you' to her." He responded in a husky voice against my lips.

"And that is supposed to mean something to me Ji Yong?"

"Yes. I do not say it if I do not mean it."

He tilted his head more until his lips connected with mine. I felt so many things. Disappointment, lust, excitement, sadness, passion....love.

His right hand slowly trailed from my waist to my hair. He lightly tugged on it deeping the kiss. His lips were soft and careful.

However, a sudden realization seeped its way into my mind. He has never said the words ' I love you' to me either..

#once shot #kpop scenario #kpop fan fiction #dragon fanfic #bigbang #romance #angst #kwon jiyong #korea #seoul #ambw

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coffee-obsessed-writer · 5 years

Text

When You Least Expect It: Part One

Jensen x Reader, Jared Padalecki, Leo Caprini (OMC) platonic

A/N: This is a slow burn fic that I have been working on for a while. Its a story I wrote for myself and just wanted to share with everyone. Yes, the “Dee” in the story is who you think, but there is no intended hate on her or their actual marriage. It is a work of fiction, that is all.

Part one is from Jensen’s POV. There is also a playlist to go along with the series. Some are just songs I imagined playing or being played as the story took shape in my imagination, or they are songs actually being used in the series. I will link them when that’s the case. Hope you enjoy it! xo

Series Summary: After a hard breakup, Jensen decides to throw himself into organizing a Music Festival in Austin that is meant to raise money for a few of his most cherished charities and organizations. As he throws himself into planning it, he stumbles upon a spirited, undiscovered performer, who he convinces to come aboard to help plan and coordinate the event with him.

What transpires after that takes both Jensen and his new friend, by surprise. But when their respective pasts come back just before the event kicks off in Austin, they will both have to decide if the unexpected feelings are worth perusing, or if they should just walk away and go on with their lives.

Series Warnings: Language, Break-Ups, Angst, Fluff, Smut (that’s it for now)

Series Playlist: “When You Least Expect It” (Spotify) [Youtube Playlist Coming Soon]

*Banner created by me; pics & gifs found online

“You sure you feel up to this? We can just hang out at the hotel if you want.”

“No,” Jensen said. “I need to get out, get fresh air. I need to breathe. Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE board meetings? It’s why I’m not an office guy. I would suck at it. What happened to let’s meet at a restaurant, have a meal, a drink and just talk stuff out?”

“Alright man, whatever you want,” Jared agreed and took a few tentative steps to cross the street. “But, remember, you were the one that wanted this all to happen ASAP. The guy is on vacation with his family and putting aside time for us. If he wants to set up in his hotel conference room…” Jared trailed off and shrugged before making his way across the street.

Jensen waved him off and followed in his friend’s footsteps and as they made their way up onto the boardwalk, they were both relatively relieved with how deserted it was. October at the Jersey shore wasn’t exactly ‘in season’ but it was a nice enough night that they could have encountered a lot more people.

“This is good,” Jensen smiled, as they strolled down the boardwalk. He inhaled a deep breath of the salty air and exhaled slowly. “I get that. But it's important to get this stuff finalized before I go back to Austin and start making firm plans. ‘Cause before you know it, it’s back to Vancouver. Doesn’t leave much time to get things in motion.”

“Could always push the festival back a year,” Jared suggested, knowing Jensen would never agree. He was like a dog with a bone where this festival was concerned. Once the idea to host a three-day event in Austin came about, Jensen was bound and determined to make it happen, all in a year’s time.

“No, its gotta be next year,” he said, gesturing with his hands that was his final decision. “It's fine. I’m better now that I’m out of that conference room. It was like a million degrees in there. This, this was a good idea. Maybe we find a small bar, grab a beer, some grub. Just relax a bit.”

“Until your phone rings,” Jared said unintentionally sharp.

“Come on, Jar. I don’t wanna—” he sighed and stopped walking. “It's over, alright. She left and honestly it sucked.”

“And the festival is your way to distract yourself from that.”

Jensen gave him a reprimanding look but couldn’t deny his claim.

“It was six months ago, and yeah, it took me a while to get over it. But it wasn’t like we were married, and she wanted something else. I’m done waiting for her, okay? I get it now, she’s not coming back. So, you can stop worrying. And yeah, maybe the festival is my way of moving on. Work is work, and while it keeps me busy enough, I want to do something more. Organizing this thing through the brewery, it’s gonna be great. It's going to help a ton of people and bring some recognition to a few great charitable organizations.”

Jared walked by his side quietly, listening and waiting for Jensen to stop rambling. When he did, he asked a simple question completely throwing Jensen for a loop.

“That all sounds great. It really does, and your intentions are on point, Jay. But… what happens when it’s over?””

He hemmed and hawed over an answer, sputtering and stuttering before just giving up and shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be fine?”

“Perfectly. Fine.” He nodded as confirmation. “In fact, so fine, I won’t even remember whats-her-name because I’ll be swimming in fine.” His tone oozed sarcasm, only to be made more punctuated by his expression.

“Jensen…” Jared sighed. “Just stop. It's fine, I get it. I’ll back off. Let’s go get that beer and whatever.”

He shoved his hands in his pocket as the autumn wind kicked up his hair as it rolled in off the ocean. He started to look around at the different booths, only a few of which were open and functioning that time of year. A little further down the boardwalk, Jared spotted a place that could be just what they needed.

“Come on, let’s check out this place,” he motioned his head towards a bar/restaurant called The Beachcomber. Jensen shrugged in agreement as they headed towards the building.

Walking through the front doors, they were met by a quick blast of warm air from above. There was a smattering of tables with patrons, but mostly they were empty. They made their way towards the back of the bar, where there were tables open that overlooked the ocean. Claiming one, they sat down and grabbed a menu to peruse. Not too long after, a waitress came by and took their orders. If she had recognized them, she didn’t mention it and went about her business as usual.

“I don’t want to keep bringing it up,” Jared started, after the waitress came back with their drinks.

Jensen sipped his beer. “So, don’t.”

“I just—I thought you were going to propose? You told me you wanted too. She left because you couldn’t make the commitment, Jay. Why didn’t you go through with it?”

Jensen just shrugged and looked out over the ocean to think before answering Jared’s question. “I don’t know… at the last minute, I just couldn’t do it. The idea of settling down with one person is terrifying, man. It may suit you and Gen, but I don’t know if it’s for me.”

“It’s not like you’re some playboy. You are monogamous as hell. So, what was it really?”

“Maybe I just couldn’t see my future with her. You know, settling down, kids, the whole nine.”

Jared nodded slowly, finally understanding. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Because that makes me sound like a dick.”

“You are a dick,” Jared teased and threw a piece of the napkin at his friend.

Jensen mocked him with a fake laugh and went back to his beer. “Yeah, yeah… moving on. Let’s talk about the important shit. I want tomorrow to go as smoothly as possible so we aren’t sitting in the pits-of-Hell conference room, so will you have a chance to look through all the contracts?”

Jared nodded and sighed. “Mhm. But really Jay, that shit needs to just go to the lawyer. I know you want everything to be perfect, to go smoothly. And I have no doubt that it will… but can’t we just concentrate on the creative stuff? Gen and I got a lot of the marketing taken care of. You and Jason, Robbie too, right? Y’all got the music covered. The festival will go off without a hitch and Random Acts will take in a bunch of money, as will the Austin Y and the crisis hotline.”

“Yeah, music is coming along. I just don’t have anyone that fits the vibe, you know?”

“No, I don’t. What vibe is that?”

Jensen shrugged. “I don’t know… this I guess,” he motioned towards the beach and the boardwalk, “I wanna bring this to the Brewfest.”

“Why? I mean, it's great here, but what makes it so special?”

“Can’t put my finger on it. Have you ever been here in the summertime? Dude, it's amazing. Just the whole vibe of the place…”

“That’s why you’re so intent on having these meetings with Leo. You want him to bring the boardwalk to Austin.”

Jensen shrugged again and nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, alright. I will help you make that happen then. Tomorrow, we’ll just have to convince him.”

“Well, lookit you. Being all motivational and shit.”

“Rah Rah!” Jared teased and shaking his hands like pom poms.

“How are we friends?” he asked and shook his head with a sarcastic eye roll included.

“You’d be lost without me and you know it,” Jared mocked and raised his glass in salute. Jensen nodded in reluctance agreement and clinked his glass against Jared’s.

The food was dropped not too long after that, and they enjoyed their seaside dinner as the sun set behind the houses to the west. About an hour after they arrived, dinner and drinks were finished, and they debated on staying or going back to the hotel. Deciding to stay for one more round, they settled in and kept an eye on Game Six of the World Series happening on the TVs above the bar.

Somewhere around the fifth inning, the volume got turned down, and the customer’s attention was asked to look towards the small corner stage. Behind the riser, was the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean and a smattering of small boat lights on the horizon. Though the sun had just set a little while ago, the moon was already nearly full, hanging low in the night sky.

Jared was intent on the game playing out over the bar, even though there was no sound now. Jensen sipped at the rest of his beer and decided to keep his eyes on the stage. An older man, maybe in his mid-60s, welcomed the crowd and thanked them for patronizing The Beachcomber. His thick New York accent made Jensen smile, especially once he took in the man’s overall appearance of his slicked-back salt and pepper hair, white tee shirt and black leather coat.

Right out of the damn Sopranos, he thought and chuckled to himself.

He watched the stage, eager to see some Sinatra wannabe come out and try to charm the crowd. But when the girl with the guitar came out instead, he sat up a little straighter in his chair and glanced over at his best friend to see if he was paying attention.

He wasn’t.

Jensen couldn’t take his eyes off her, not solely because she was beautiful; which she was… stunningly so. Her beauty wasn’t what made him sit up and take notice. It was the way she held her guitar; gripping it as if it were her lifeline. He observed her closely, surprised that she seemed nervous. When she strummed the guitar and brought the melody to life her nerves faded away; she was suddenly confident and assured. Her voice carried on and as the lyrics of “Dust in the Wind” filled up the back end of the Beachcomber Restaurant, Jensen found himself immersed in the moment.

He went to the bar that night in search of a hot meal and cold beer. Jensen didn’t expect to find a solution to some, or even all, of his problems. But the longer he sat and watched her perform, he started to feel that maybe everything will work out for him after all.

She played through a short set and it was clear the other people in the bar couldn’t care less about the magic he was witnessing. At one point, Jensen looked around and was shocked how little people were paying attention. How did they not hear her voice, feel her words, or get touched by her vulnerability? He was more in shock about that, then the girl herself. Yet, the more she played, the more he was drawn in and attentive to every note, every word, every second.

By the end of the last song, she gave a slight bow and turned to scurry off stage. Jensen clapped eagerly for her, as the last few remaining patrons gave her a half-hearted attempt at applause. He was floored that he was the only one who took notice of her and turned to say as much to Jared, who was on his phone nodding emphatically.

“Yeah, got it. Ten tomorrow morning. Yup, thanks, see you then,” he said into the receiver then ended the call and tucked it away before looking up at Jensen. “You ready to go?”

“No, I… did you hear any of that?”

“Hear what?”

Jensen ran a frustrated hand over his stubbled face. “The girl, the music… did you hear it or did I just imagine that whole thing happening?”

“Oh, I heard it. It was good. I was just sort of engrossed in the game. Anyway, we should go. It’s getting late and Leo’s attorney said he wanted to reconvene by ten.”

“Can you just give me a minute? I want to see if I can catch—” just as he was standing up from the table and surveying the bar, he caught a glimpse of the guitar girl heading out of the doors and sprinting out into the night seaside air. He slumped back into his seat and sighed. “Nevermind… let’s go. I guess I can come back tomorrow night and see if she’s tending bar,” he mumbled more to himself than to Jared.

When Jensen looked back up and saw the way his best friend was looking at him, he shrugged and wrinkled his nose as if he was being chastised for something.

“What?”

“Dude, stalk much? Besides, we have a two o’clock flight out of Atlantic City. Bob is expecting us back to set Sunday morning.”

Jensen groaned. “Shit, I forgot. Alright, well, it’s the modern age, I can use a phone and try to get in touch with her—”

“Jay… chill. She’s just a girl, sure, she’s cute but, what is the big deal?”

Jensen opened his mouth to explain and suddenly felt stupid. She was just a girl; a girl that had a voice that could calm the Kraken, and a mastery of a guitar that could rival most of the greats. Even just hearing a few songs, he knew she was that good; but she was just a girl.

“I’m not taking away her talent, but unless you’re sweet on her or something—”

“No, it’s not that,” Jensen started, but then opted to change the subject and waved it off. “You’re right, no big deal. It’s late and we should get some shut eye before tomorrow. If we’re lucky we can settle all this with Leo, have the contracts in place for the festival and be back home in less than twenty-four hours.”

Jared nodded and felt a bit of his concern wash away. “Ok, good. Just stay focused on the work in front of us and we may actually pull this off.”

Later that night, as Jensen stretched out in his hotel’s king-sized bed, his eyes finally drifted closed and her face was there with him. It was partially hidden in the shadows of a stage, only hints of her features could be seen through the fogginess of the room and the singular light shining down upon her. But it was her. She was humming a tune, something familiar but in his unconscious state was unable to identify what it was. Unbeknownst to him, he began to hum along in his sleep, and a smile touched his lips.

In his dream, she smiled too and reached out a hand towards him. His dream self hesitated but then slowly walked around to the climb the stairs that would take him to her. Just as he joined her, she was gone, but he could still hear her voice humming the familiar melody. From the stage, he looked out and saw the crowd of one. She was there, her face still shrouded in a gradient of darkness, but her voice was clear and comforting. A sudden hit of a snare drum made him look away, and when he looked back at her, she was gone leaving a swirl of grey smoke in her wake.

Another hit of the snare drum pulled him out of the bar, and yet another out of his REM sleep. The alarm pinging on the table beside the bed continued yanking him from a dream he would later come to realize was way more profound than he thought. As he sat up, fully awake now and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he sighed as the last few vivid images of the dream dwindled away, leaving only the melody firmly stuck in his mind.

The next morning’s meeting went off without a hitch. After Jared and Jensen met with Leo Caprini and his lawyer, they had a catered breakfast and stood around chatting for a while. Jensen expressed an interest to see more of the town if not for their flight out that afternoon. As if fate heard him and stepped in to correct it, both his and Jared’s phones went off simultaneously. Jensen kept chatting up Leo as Jared excused himself to check the text message that came through from the show’s EP.

No rush back. Set is closed for another three days. Will call with details later.

When Jared returned, Leo and his lawyer were in a sidebar. He held up his phone so Jensen could read the message.

“You get one too?”

Jensen nodded. “Yeah. Wonder what the hell is going on?”

“I’m going to give him a ring on the way back to the motel. But three more days? Shit. I might as well go home for that. Gen and the kids just got back from her folks’ place last night. Could do with a few days home before we get back at it.”

“Then you should. We’re all done here if you want to head back and pack up, get a new flight and all that.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Jared said, with obvious signs of relief washed over him. “You coming?”

Jensen considered it for a moment. “Nah, I think I might just hang here. If I’m gonna do this, might as well do it right.”

“Sure you’re not just gonna get a pizza, pint of ice cream and sit in the room pining all night?”

Jensen drew in a deep breath and tried not to murder his best friend with his glare. “Positive.”

Jared wasn’t wrong though; despite Jensen’s consistent protest he was over it, he was not, in fact, over it. He did miss Dee and would find himself wishing she could come back. But then he would remember that he couldn’t commit, though he did often question the reasons for it. Was it because she really just wasn’t the one? Or was it because he knew she was getting complacent with him and someone else had caught her eye. He wasn’t perfect in their relationship, and he had certainly gone through the laundry list of his shortcomings. The feelings just felt uncertain where Dee was concerned but the distraction of the festival was to combat constantly living in that state of ‘What the fuck am I doing with my life?’. He just prayed that it actually worked.

Jared held his hands up in relent. “Alright, sorry. I’ll stop. I know what you said, you’re done waiting. And that’s good. But, I also know you can get mopey about it when no ones around.”

“True, however… I am moving on. All in to the festival and that’s it. No dating, no relationship bullshit. Just diving head first into trying to pull this off.”

Jared shook his head and chuckled. “Man, I still don’t get what you plan on doing with all this. I mean, I read the contracts, I sat in the meetings, but I guess I just can’t envision it all yet.”

“What’s the hangup?”

“I don’t know… Austin is pretty great as it is. Why bring in other flavors when you have the ultimate chocolate already? You know?”

Jensen busted out laughing and slapped his best friend on the shoulder. “That’s one way to put it. Honestly, it’s the vibe of the place. Dee and I came here years ago, and this boardwalk was hoppin’. Families, first dates, best friends… arcades, rides, food… the food alone is worth it. Yeah, Austin is fucking great, but I want this festival to be the biggest thing to ever happen there. I want people to come from all over to see how special Austin is--”

“And I get that, so why bring a New Jersey boardwalk vibe to Au--”

“Because, son, ain’t nothing else like it anywhere in the world,” Leo interrupted as he rejoined their conversations, giving the much taller man a hearty slap on his shoulder. “You Texas boys sure do got a gorgeous bit of country down there, no one is disputing that. But this here,” he turned and made a sweeping gesture towards the boardwalk ocean that lived across the street, “this is somethin’ special.”

“No argument there,” Jared mused and gave the man a curt smile. “Well, if we are gonna be changing flights, we should get back--”

“Actually, since there’s been a change of plans, I think I might stay here, spend an extra day or two getting to know the area, brainstorm on the festival a while…” Jensen shrugged trying to stay indifferent, but felt a ripple of excitement at the thought.

They had a silent exchange, which Leo watched in amusement. “You boys are somethin’ else!” he chuckled wildly as he proceeded to pull his cell from his pocket. “Since you’re sticking around, Jensen, let me call my assistant and tell her you’ll be comin’ round. I’ll have her give you a tour of some of the must-see places, get a feel for what parts of our little utopia here you wanna cart on down to Texas. Sound good?”

“Sounds, amazing,” he said as the three men moved towards the elevator bank. “Just what I was hoping for.”

An hour later, Jensen was strolling into the hotel bar and scanning the near empty room. Leo had mentioned that his assistant would be there waiting to take him on the promised tour of the boardwalk and businesses Leo maintained there. However, all he could find were two older couples having an early bird dinner, an awkward first date going down at the bar, and a lone woman in a booth pouring over paperwork.

Jensen shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly began to circle the room, hoping that the mystery assistant would reveal herself. As he rounded the corner, he looked up and noticed the woman in the booth. She had finally picked her head up from staring at the papers strewn on the table in front of her, stopping Jensen in his tracks.

It was guitar girl, the singer from the bar he saw the night before. His feet felt frozen to the ground. When he got himself moving again, he walked towards her with no idea what he would say, just that he needed to say something to her. Tentatively, he approached her table, unaware of the large, goofy grin he was unintentionally wearing.

“Hey, hi! How are you? I’m, uh--I saw you at--Uh, what was the name of the place....” Jensen stammered until he saw her confused expression.

Seeing her close up, he realized how many of her striking features he’d missed in the darkened atmosphere of the bar. He took a moment to appreciate just how beautiful she really was, before continuing with his awkward greeting.

“Oh man, uh, let me start over. Hi, I’m Jensen. I saw you sing at a bar last night, and--” he stretched out his hand then to shake hers, and inadvertently struck her glass of iced tea, causing it to splatter all over the papers that were spread out across the table.

He watched, in horrific slow motion as the mixture of liquid and ice made a rapid path across the table, soaking and smearing the ink of the pages. Jensen glanced up at the woman as her face contorted from confused to panicked, to disbelief.

“Oh… shit! I’m--I’m sorry… here, let me get that--”

Jensen lunged for the napkins and began to pat the papers dry, as the women stood and did the same. A waitress scurried over with more napkins upon seeing the mishap and Jensen took them gratefully, trying to save as many of the documents as he could.

“I’m so, so sorry,” he said, again, finally causing the woman to sigh and slid out from the booth.

Seeing that some of the tea landed on her pants, Jensen felt his face flush with embarrassment. He went to apologize again and she stopped him by holding up a hand.

“Don’t. Just… don’t. Its fine,” she said flatly, and wiped at the growing wet patch on her pants. She looked up, but avoided his apologetic gaze and called for the server. “Hey Marci, can I get a handful more napkins, please, hun?”

“Sure thing!” she called back and disappeared behind the bar.

“So, what was it you wanted?” she asked Jensen, finally taking a moment and looking him straight in the eye.

He stuttered to a smile and shrugged. “I just wanted to say I was a fan--”

“I see you two found each other!” Leo’s voice bellowed through the bar.

Jensen turned, surprised to hear him, and then quickly turned back to the woman to see her expression to be just as confused as his was.

“Well, damn, (Y/N), leave you alone for an hour and you’re already a mess!” his wild cackle made all the heads in the barn turn to stare.

“Actually, Leo, this is my fault. I spilled the iced tea, and--” Jensen stammered before getting interrupted.

Leo waved Jensen off. “No worries, son. I’m sure she understands, dontcha, sweetie?”

“Sweetie?” he couldn’t help mimic Leo’s word sarcastically. A thousand thoughts flew through his head about the nature of their relationship until Leo laughed and shook his head.

“No, no… she’s my niece! She’s a damn good assistant, too! I suppose I should make some formal introductions. Jensen, this is my niece, (Y/N) she operates as my assistant, a bartender, a coin clerk and a sometimes rock star, ain’t that right?!”

(Y/N) smirked, and nodded to appease her uncle. Despite their initial encounter, she reached out her hand to Jensen to shake it. “Nice to meet you,” she said and quickly withdrew her hand.

“This is the fine gent I texted you about.”

“Oh,” she replied and looked back at Jensen. “Well, small world, huh.”

“Yeah, I’d say,” he said with a snort, accompanied by a goofy kind of grin, but instantly regretted it. He thought that (Y/N) seemed unimpressed and, maybe even mildly put out by the entire sequence of events.

“Well, anyways, will you be able to take him around today? I have a bunch of appointments I need to keep, or I’d take him myself.”

“Sure,” she replied. “Where do you want me to take him?”

“Shit, (Y/N), you’d know better than me. This is your town, sweetie. Go on and paint it red with the boy!”

“Uncle Leo…” she chastised and shook her head. Turning to Jensen, she again gave her best professional smile. “I just need to go change, but I only live a mile away. I’ll run home, meet you back here in about thirty minutes.”

Jensen nodded as casually as he could, “Yeah, that sounds great.”

“Then my work here is done! Come on, (Y/N), I’ll walk you out. Jensen, my boy, you’ll be in good hands with this one. Any questions you have, any input you need, (Y/N) here is the girl to give it to ya! No one knows Seaside better than she does.”

“I’ll be back shortly,” (Y/N) said as she gathered up the still soaking wet papers and as delicately as she could, piled them with the envelope and slapped them with a thwamp against Jensen’s chest. “These were your contracts, by the way. Hope you don’t mind waiting for new copies.” She shrugged, her eyes ablaze with satisfaction.

(Y/N) was fierce, he could tell that right away. As he watched her leave, Leo must have said something that she found funny, because she threw her head back with a laugh. He couldn’t hear her, but wondered what it sounded like. As he waited at the bar for her to return, there were a lot of things he wondered about where guitar girl was concerned. Mostly, the tenor of her voice and the way she played stuck with him and how it felt so in contrast with the steely-eyed, guarded woman that he had just met. Jensen was more than just intrigued by her; he was curious to know how many more layers there was to this woman, to his guitar girl.

Just before she reappeared, dressed in a Ozzy T-Shirt and ripped jeans with a pair of brown suede sandals, it was then Jensen realized it was the longest he’d gone without one thought of Dee crossing his mind.

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