#And David got dragged out by his friends (who are all women)
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Sending an ask for nice ask day!!
Noticed we have a lot of similar fandom interests -- if David, Patrick, Carlos, TK, Alex, and Henry were to meet, where would it happen? who would get along the most outside of the pairing?
hello! What a great ask! I love finding people who share multiple fandoms, so hello new friend!!! 💖
Believe it or not, this is something I’ve thought about previously, so strap in.
A while back @blackandwhiteandrose wrote a fic (about how David and TK were friends (if you love both characters, you should read this fic, it’s so good) back when David still lived in NYC. Having read it and discussed it with BWR later, I wholeheartedly agree that they were friends who lost touch after TK moved to Austin. Not immediately though - you know in s1 of SC how David is always on the phone texting? We know that his NYC friends were mostly assholes, so who was he texting? TK.
TK probably got a new phone or deleted all of his NYC contacts when he moved to Austin, so he lost David’s number then too. But maybe he’s scrolling Instagram one day and comes across Alexis’ account or the Rose Apothecary account, or maybe Nancy is laughing hysterically at Moira’s accidental live stream of the conversation about David’s oopsie-daisy and eventually TK gets back in touch with David. They’re both happy now, really happy. Deeply in love, safe and content with who they are as people, happy.
Patrick suggests that he and David make the trip to Austin and David can catch up with TK while they’re there. (There’s probably some kind of sportsball game Patrick would want to watch, idk).
I’m taking liberties now, but bear with me. While they’re in Austin, they go to a restaurant and there’s a fire. Please go read @missgeevious’s absolutely hysterical fic to find out what happens.
Once Patrick gets over his mortification (it’s short lived, David won’t allow it, there are food trucks to visit and proper bbq to be had), they go with TK and Carlos on a tour of Carlos’ favourite food trucks and end up at Franklin’s BBQ, which David wanted to go to because he read about it in an article about FSOTUS.
Carlos raises a brow at David’s seeming insistence on wearing sweaters in the Texas heat, but he’s glad it’s not actually summer or TK might need to put his paramedic skills to work on his friend. There’s a moment when Carlos catches Patrick’s eye as their respective husbands are chatting loudly and gesticulating wildly and there’s a fond resignation in Patrick’s expression that he recognises. One that says, “sometimes I can’t believe that I chose him but I’m so glad every day that I did.” Carlos feels that way about TK too.
When they make it to Franklin’s the line is long and Carlos notices the presence of private security officers in suits - unusual for somewhere like Franklin’s. The reason for it becomes apparent when they realize that Alex, Henry, Nora and June are ahead of them in line. They’d come to Texas for a long weekend at the lake house. It’s David who recognises them first - Alexis used to have a giant crush on Prince Henry, she’d met him once before at a party on a yacht (Pez dragged Henry to the party), and in the way that only Alexis can, had come home and huffed that Henry must not be interested in women, “because, David, he, like, barely even looked at me and I was wearing that sparkly Balenciaga!” (Little did she know that she was correct. “I knew it!” she proclaimed when news broke of the emails, before she’d gone all teary eyed once the enormity of what had happened to Alex and Henry had hit her).
Turns out that the world is both too big and ridiculously small - Carlos and June had taken a class together at UT, even worked on a group assignment together. When June comes over to say hi to Carlos, they end up all sitting together: David, Patrick, TK, Carlos, Alex, Henry, June and Nora. They share their food and laugh so much and more than one other patron does a double take at the ridiculous level of hotness sitting at their tables.
David gets along surprisingly well with Nora - she reminds both him and Patrick of Stevie, in a way. Carlos and Henry become fast friends and it’s not long before he and Alex are talking in Spanish about their favourite foods as well. David, TK and Alex - in an uncoordinated attack - separately try to steal food off their respective partners’ plates only to be met with loud protests, followed by triumph, because their partners never really say no. There’s laughter when they realise what’s happened simultaneously around the table.
They sit there talking and laughing and eating until they realise that the sunlight is fading and they’ve been there for hours now, simply enjoying the company and revelling in feeling happy, and safe, and free.
#I had SO much fun with this#nice ask day#tarlos#911 lone star#schitt’s creek#rwrb#firstprince#rmd writes: sc snippet#rmd writes: rwrb snippet#rmd writes: ls snippet
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one for each of the cast
Teruko Tawaki: will probably end up being somebody’s baby mama and living off that child support after she actually put up the child for adoption but pretends it’s alive for the money
Xander Matthews: I feel like he’s definitely the type to see someone cry and immediately try to make them laugh or cheer them up, and he will do anything from dad jokes to peek-a-boo to see the person smile again.
Min Jeung: She loves Brooklyn, Spanish and Sicilian accents. She really loves all accents in general and can understand almost anybody if any accent, but those are her favorites.
Arei Nageishi: massive Hello Kitty/Sanrio girl. I mean this girl has the stickers on her backpack, folders, dorm room, plushies, etc. she also definitely runs one of those hello kitty toxic female meme accounts that have like 25k+ followers.
David Chiem: There will be times before events where David just does not have the energy to shower so he will just drown himself in perfume and no one tells him that it smells like shit, but it does the trick for him.
Charles Cuevas: This man knows Spanish, but he can not roll his r’s. I’m telling you this man probably had Hispanic parents who were dedicated to learning English and never taught him Spanish, or they had been in the USA for generations. Everyone he knows rips on him for this.
Whit Young: This man drinks up reality TV. I’m telling you he probably watches every single Real Housewives and TLC for hours with just himself, comfy pajamas and a bowl of buttered popcorn.
Eden Tobisa: her parents used to buy her the Lego friends sets and she’d always throw away all of the men in the sets and build each of the sets so her women would have new spaces to have their love-triangle romance drama.
Ace Markey: he definitely lives on some sort of secluded farm and he’s just part of one big happy family, but he always feels he’s the odd one out because of his cowardice, and he was the only one who always got scolded about behavior and grades, so he feels excluded from his siblings.
Veronika Grebenischikova: before she got into horror she used to be a scene/skater kid and she had tons of hair extensions and jewelry made out of Monster tabs. She now is more into gothic subcultures and music.
Rose Lacroix: At one point her and her family were living in their car, so before Rose got into forgery, she would sit for hours until her moms got home and would either beg for money or rob people so they could afford rent for an apartment.
Levi Fontana: Levi’s older brothers are similarly built to him except even taller and even buffer, but they also acted much more tough and got into things and places he shouldn’t have. He learned his bad behavior from them and his parents who had mental issues and could not hold a steady job.
Hu Jing: Her family is always her number one priority but even though her parents are very kind and supportive, she always feels like she needs to lie to them and keep up being a perfectionist and a perfect balance of Chinese for her parents and American for her classmates.
Nico Hakobyan: loves the cottagecore aesthetic and even though they like baggy clothes with the tags cut off most of the time, if they had to ever dress formal for smth, they’d wear a cottsgecore dress.
Arturo Giles: definitely is a drag queen in his spare time or is trans female. He’s constantly up to date with everything celebrity including movies, music and social media, and is the most knowledgeable of people on pop culture at any moment.
J Rosales: her and her brother used to pretend to swap genders when they were younger and they are both transgender and afraid to come out to each other, but the swapping genders game is a core memory
Thanks for reading :)
:)
#drdt#teruko tawaki#xander matthews#min jeung#arei nageishi#david chiem#charles cuevas#whit young#eden tobisa#ace markey#veronika grebenshchikova#rose lacroix#levi fontana#hu jing#nico hakobyan#arturo giles#j moreno#j rosales#angsty and fluffy drdt headcanons
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WIP ask game: 📄 👻. Thanks!
📄 What’s a WIP you never finished that you would like to go back and revisit?
Thank you for asking! I wanted to answer this in a way that was relevant to your interests, which means dragging up something that isn't even so much a WIP as a half-baked idea likely to never come to fruition, but! I always really wanted to write a heist AU for The English. I've mentioned this before in an ask to @calligeniascorner but trotting it out again here:
Cornelia and Eli meet while attempting to break into the same hotel vault. She's trying to elude security, he's trying to hack through a wall, they run into each other in the corridor and she's like "Quick, kiss me!" and he's like "What?" but then he sees the security guards coming round the corner and decides that fine, he'll kiss the crazy Englishwoman as a distraction. Once security has dismissed them as just another couple trying and failing to get a room and moved on, she's like "you don't need to do that by the way, I stole the master key" and Eli is deeply confused but decides to just roll with it. It has nothing to do with the kiss. It really doesn't.
Flashback time! This is the first step in Cornelia's grand revenge plan against David Melmont, who 15 years ago took everything from her in a long con. There's something of his kept in the vault of the Watts Hotel that she needs, which is why she has talked her way into hotelier Richard Watts' private office, drugged him and stolen his master key. It turns out that Cornelia, to her surprise, is an excellent grifter. It's her face. Some men look at it, apparently.
Meanwhile, this is meant to be Eli's One Last Job. He's only here because he's doing Touching Ground a favour. It's not even like he's friends with Touching Ground, but she seems to think he owes her just because he was there when her husband was gunned down by cops during a bank robbery gone awry, and she called him up from prison and told him to look out for her son. Problem is, White Moon's got himself tangled up with Kills On Water's crew, and they're going to send the kid into the Watts Hotel after a package that Black-Eyed Mog has parked there. Eli knows this is a suicide run for a thief as green as White Moon, so he offers to take his place on the job.
After the unexpected success of the Watts Hotel Job, Eli tries to walk away, but Cornelia's now set on recruiting him for her crew, which will also come to include: Thomas Trafford, the hacker who turned on Melmont 15 years ago because he fell in love with their mark, Cornelia - leading her to become the target of Melmont's terrible vengeance; Martha Myers, a former cat burglar who left the life to raise her son Jed, but who's been lured back because she, too, has an axe to grind with Melmont; and White Moon, whom Eli would prefer not to have involved, but it's this or letting him go back to picking pockets in casinos. At least on the job they can keep an eye on him. Eli really doesn't want to get another call from Touching Ground.
The other half of the story is told from the point of view of FBI Special Agent Robert Marshall, as he tries to piece together what led to the shocking robbery - and murder - of David Melmont.
👻 Is there a scene that you find intimidating that you have yet to write?
In my current active WIP, all the men and women merely players, I'm aware that at some point I need to retrieve Jamie Tartt from the wilderness and reform him. I find this daunting, not least because it's very difficult to write the Mancunian accent. But needs must.
(from this WIP ask game)
#wip ask game#procrasktination#the english#the english 2022#cornelia locke#eli whipp#whipplocke#eli x cornelia#heist au#ted lasso#jamie tartt
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any girls! dark academia movie recs? i really struggle to find anything not about a group of boys (as much as I love them)
SO MANY!!! This is probably a far more detailed answer than you were expecting but this is a popular question and I want to keep a list for myself and others.
Feel free to add to it/give opinions. I've tried to give a tw for anything I can remember
Girls! Dark Academia Movies/TV Shows
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
1950s Women’s college
Art professor! Julia Roberts
She’s legit the female Mr Keating of the art & college world
Feminism vs. Tradition
Maggie Gyllenhall x Ginnifer Goodwin; their characters were more than friends. Fight me.
Does not end how you expect
Strike!/All I Wanna Do/The Hairy Bird (1998)
MY FAVOURITE!!!
Free on YouTube under one of its various names
Comedy
1960s all girls boarding school
Young Kirsten Dunst
Group of girls plot to sabotage a merger with a boys school less prestigious than their own
Secret attic clubhouse meetings of the D.A.R aka Daughters of the American Ravioli (eaten cold, ew)
girls get political & advocate for their rights using ANY elaborate and chaotic scheme
TW: eating disorder, vomiting & creepy male teacher but the girls plot against him too
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
based on a short book I read for uni by Muriel Spark
1930s girls school in Edinburgh
Scottish teacher! Maggie Smith, controversial with a focus on romantic ideals
Spoiler alert, the liberal teacher is actually a fascist
Her group of fave students has cult- vibes and it’s fascinating
Picnic at Hanging Rock
1970s movie or 2018 mini series
Never watched either but I plan to
Wild Child (2008)
00s romcom every UK teen girl loves
Emma Roberts as the spoiled rich American teenager sent to a strict English boarding school
Plots to get herself expelled but oh no she’s making friends with the girls who help her
And the headmistress has a hot son, and he’s nice??? Double oh no
ICONIC SCENES
Everything! Goes! Wrong!
omg she burns the school down
Feel good, comfort, nostalgia
St Trinians (2007)
English girls boarding school
The kids are all criminals, no joke
So are the teachers
CHAOTIC
gay awakening for british girls
Art heist pulled off by school girls
Government tries to shut them down but oh no, the education minister & the headmistress are ex-lovers
Colin Firth x Rupert Everett in drag
Superior cast: Jodie Whittaker, Gemma Arterton, Juno Temple, Stephen Fry, Colin Firth, etc...
embodies the phrase 'problematic fave'
St Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (2009)
Mystery, pirate ancestors, hidden treasure
omg Shakespeare was a woman
girls disguised as boys to infiltrate and rob the posh boys school
Villain! David Tennant in that ICONIC boat scene
Teen girls vs. ancient misogynist brotherhood
like the first film but MORE chaotic and BETTER!???
The Falling (2014)
1960s all girls school
best friends! but its unrequited love
Agoraphobic + distant mother aka mommy issues
Sudden death and the school suppresses/ignores the students grief, sparking mass hysteria & a fainting epidemic in the girls
Cast: Maisie Williams (GoT) & Florence Pugh (Little Women) & Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders)
TW: teen pregnancy, death, vomiting, underage s*x, sibling inc*st, past s*xual assault
READ THE PLOT SUMMARY FIRST
The Book Thief (2013)
Based on an amazing book by Markus Zusak
set in 1940s Nazi Germany
Daughter of a communist whose family were taken by the Nazis/died is fostered by an older couple who teach her to read & she paints a dictionary on the basement walls
Coming of age story about a compulsive book thief. No joke, this kid steals books from banned book burnings and breaks into the mayor's library through the window
Family hides the Jewish son of an old friend in their basement and he helps her to start writing about her experiences in the war
TW: death, bombings, WW2 anti-semitism
Mary Shelley (2017)
Overall good & roughly biographical
Pretty costumes and aesthetic
Modern feminist take on Mary Shelly in her own time period
So many INACCURACIES for the drama so don’t take it as truth
Percy Shelley slander and not all of it is justified
Cast: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, and Maisie Williams
The Secret Garden (1993)
Based on a fave childhood book
1901 colonial India & Yorkshire, England
Orphaned, spoilt & neglected girl sent to live with her reclusive Uncle in the English countryside
Gothic elements, mysteries, secret doors/passages/locked gardens
local boy with a flock of animals, magic, kids chanting around a fire and all around immaculate vibes
Happy ending!!!
Hidden Figures (2016)
African-American women as mathematicians for NASA
1960s space project
Women balancing a career and family obligations
Deals with racial & gender discrimination
Loosely based on the lives of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan who worked for NASA as engineers & mathematicians
Anne of Green Gables (1985) & sequel (1987)
Adaptation L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books
Canada (late 1890s/early 1900s)
Highly imaginative & bookworm orphan is adopted by a reclusive elderly brother and sister duo
Small town & school years comedic drama
Unrequited Enemies -> Friends -> lovers
Inspiring new woman teacher
Girls re-enact Tennyson’s poem and nearly drown for the aesthetic™
Dramatic poetry reading with INTENSE 👀eye contact👀
Writer! Anne & English teacher! Anne dealing with unruly girls school antics
Collette (2018)
biographical drama on french writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette
Victorian & Edwardian era France
More talented than her husband so she ghostwrites for him
Fight for creative ownership of her wildly successful novels
Affairs with a woman called Georgie and also with Missy, born female but masculine presenting
Cast: Keira Knightly, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark)
Enola Holmes (2020)
Netflix book adaptation
Younger sister of Sherlock Holmes
Victorian era! feminism/suffragettes
Mother-daughter focus
Mystery, adventure, secret codes, teens running away & escaping from (and eventually fighting) assassins
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Fiona Shaw, Millie Bobby Brown
Ginger & Rosa (2012)
1960s England
best friends since literal birth navigating troubled teen years
poet & anti-nuclear activist! Ginger
off the rails but also catholic! Rosa
Shout out to Mark & Mark the gay godfathers we all want
family troubles
TW: older man has an affair with a 17 yr old
Testament of Youth (2014)
based on WW1 memoir by Vera Brittain
young woman (writer & poetry lover) escapes traditional family & goes to study at Oxford University
abandons to become a war nurse
romance, tragedy and war trauma
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington (GoT), Taron Edgerton (Rocketman), Colin Morgan (Merlin)
Little Women (2019)
Writer! Jo & Artist! Amy
Mother/daughter focus and sister dynamics
the March sisters’ theatre club is *chefs kiss*
champagne problems edits of Jo x Laurie are a mood
Ambivalent ending perfectly captures Louisa May Alcott’s dilemma with the book the movie is based on
set in 1860s America
ALL STAR CAST and a Greta Gerwig masterpeice
Lady Bird (2017)
coming of age in early 2002/2003 Sacramento, California
all girls catholic school
writer! Christine aka Lady Bird wants to get outta town and start her life again at college 'in a city with culture'
Mother/daughter dynamics - so realistic!
I live for that Jesus car stunt & the nun's reaction
school theatre program
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein
Another Greta Gerwig gem
Beguiled (2017)
Virginia, civil war era
Girls school with only five students and two teachers left
Find an injured Union army soldier & bring him inside
Women & teenagers want his attention (v. problematic) before uniting against him
(tbh you'll either love it, hate it, or watch once & forget it)
Sofia Coppola film so its very feminine gaze
TW: violence, death, underage
Legally Blonde (2001)
No questions will be taken
Elle Woods was the blue print
TV series:
House of Anubis (2011-2013)
I know it’s a kids/young teen show but I still unironically love it
ANCIENT EGYPT!!!!
Modern day with Victorian era links to treasure hunters & Egyptian research expeditions (stealing from tombs)
Chosen one plot lines, curses, kidnapping, mysteries, secret tunnels under the school, elixir of life
Teens have investigate & protect themselves cus oh no the TEACHERS are involved in some shady stuff
new American kid at British boarding school is the actual premise not just a fanfic au
Nostalgic, light-hearted, funny, and kinda cheesy but I will accept no criticism
The Alienist (2018 -now)
Mid 1890s, New York
Woman’s private detective agency (Season 2)
Serial killer mystery
Woman secretary turns detective and teams up with a criminal psychiatrist and a newspaper editor to solve crime
TW: violence, child pr*stit*tion
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, Daniel Bruhl
The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
Woman chess prodigy
1950s & 1960s
TW: drug & alcohol abuse
Gentleman Jack (2019 - now)
Based on the diaries of Anne Lister
Victorian Yorkshire, England
Upper-class lesbians
Confident, suit wearing! Anne Lister x shy! Ann Walker
Business woman! Anne running the family mines
Cast: Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) & Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders)
TW: violence
Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)
bubbly/ambitious single mom + intelligent daughter
bookworm! Rory Gilmore gets into a prestigious private school and then an Ivy League college
Small town drama is comedic gold
Fast dialogue packed with pop culture and literary references
Comforting & nostalgic
TEAM JESS
Anne with an E (2017-2019)
Loose adaptation of L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books
they completely change the plot lines but it’s still very good content!
Orphan girl with trauma and a love of books/poetry is adopted by an elderly brother & sister duo, bringing light and fresh ideas to a rural community
Feminism, girls writing club, lgbtq safe spaces, girls eduction, black/indigenous representation
Miss Stacy as THAT inspiring teacher
Aunt Josephine’s lavish gay parties have my heart
TW: creepy male teacher tries to marry a student, racial discrimination, indigenous assimilation school
Victoria (2016-2019)
Adaption of Queen Victoria’s life
Victoria navigating her political, royal, and personal life
Albert’s involvement with The Great Exhibition, 1851 (on cultural + industrial innovations)
Alfred Paget x Edward Drummond is exquisite
Gorgeous costumes and aesthetics
TW: bury your gays trope
Derry Girls (2018-now)
1990s Northern Ireland during the troubles
Comedy, episodes 20-25 mins long
English boy sent to an all girls Catholic school with his cousin
✨Dead Poets Society parody episode ✨with a free-spirited female teacher
Sister Michael, the sarcastic nun who hates her job & reads the exorcist for giggles
Wee anxious lesbian! Clare Devlin (plus her friends wearing rainbow pins)
Badass with bad ideas! Michelle Mallon
Main Character! Erin Quinn
Lovable weirdo who would fight a polar bear! Orla McCool
Wee English fella & honorary Derry girl! James Maguire
Dickinson (2019-now)
Loose adaption of the poet Emily Dickinson’s life
Set in 19th century Massachusetts, US
Historical drama with modern dialogue & music that works SEAMLESSLY
gives a great understanding of Emily Dickinson’s poems
💕Vintage gays! Emily x Sue💕
Theatre club, writing, poetry, dressing as men to sneak into lectures, love letters, teen drama, feminism, and an underground abolitionist journal as a brief side plot in season 2
Wiz Khalifa plays death in a horse drawn carriage
TW: opium use
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)
Based on great childhood books
Bookworm! brother, Inventor! sister, and baby sister with sharp teeth
Mystery, secret organisations, orphaned siblings figuring things out & fending for themselves against the villain after their fortune
Adults either cartoon evil, comedically incompetent, or SPIES
Boarding school, library owner, scientific researcher, and theatre episodes
Ambiguous time period which is really fun to try and pin point
Killing Eve (2018-now)
Classic detective who has homoerotic tension with the assassin she is tracking down
British Detective! Eve Polastri figures out the notorious assassin MI5 are investigating is a woman, is fired & then put on a secret MI6 case with a small team
Assassin! Villanelle, a psychopath with a tragic past and a mastery of both accents & fashion
Woman MI6 boss! Carolyn Martens, head of Russian section
Travel Europe following Villanelle’s killings and escaping the assassins sent by Villanelle’s organisation
‘You’re supposed to be my enemy and moral opposite but omg you’re the only one smart enough to get me and why am I obsessed with you????'
🚨 GO IN FOR A KISS AND THEN STAB YOUR ENEMY 🚨
Cable Girls/Las chicas del cable (2017-2020)
Spanish drama set in 1920s Madrid
Four young women at a telecommunications company form a group of friends and help navigate the difficult situations they are all in
Secret identities, dangerous pasts, murder, crime, lgbtq couple & throuple, trans man character, feminism/suffragists
girls commit crimes for humanitarian reasons and cover! it! up!
UNDERRATED SHOW!!!!
Gorgeous costumes and set
Haven’t finished it yet and I’m catching up
TW: abuse, violence, death
Outlander (2014 - now)
haven’t watched yet but plan to
Woman time travels to Scotland, 1743
Rebel highlanders, pirates, British colonies, American revolutionary war
Time jumps between 18th & 20th century
#CO posts#answered asks#asks#dark academia girls#dark academia recommendations#dark academia recs#dark academia women#dark academia movies#dark academia tv
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caught in the nets (spencer reid/reader)
Title: caught in the nets
Requested: no
Couple: spencer reid/fem!reader
Category: smut, fluff
Content Warning: SEXUAL CONTENT (penetrive sex, unsafe sex, public sex (public bathroom), fingering, handjob, grinding, groping, heavy petting, fucking with fishnets on, tipsy sex, possessive), hand on jaw/neck (no pressure), swearing, drinking, mentions of a gun, mentions of casework, friends to lovers
Word Count: 3,944
Summary: Spencer loves what reader is wearing while out at a bar with the team
A/N: hi guys, gals, and non-binary pals! Here’s another thing i wrote. this is another thing I was super excited to write. AND I wrote it for one of my bestest friends @spencer-reid-in-a-pool for pom’s server fic swap. I wrote it in literally two days bc I had a week to write it. But it does have a prompt and a few other things she likes in it! also quick shout out to @newportonmymind for proofreading this!! i really appreciate you! I really hope you guys enjoy this piece! Thank you all so much for the love and support! I appreciate it and you! Check out my masterlist!
{***}{***}{***}
Rough cases will always be the worst. Sometimes they felt hopeless, like we weren’t able to figure out how to save a victim. In the end we were able to save the victim and arrest the unsub. But it was still rough.
So drinks were a must when it came to the end of rough cases. I know it’s a bad thing to turn to drinking in a rough time. But sometimes nothing helped more than a drink. It was easier to relax with a little liquor in your system. Well, it was easier for me to relax with a little liquor. I couldn’t say about the rest of the team.
I was the one who offered up the idea of going to a bar when we returned home. I just needed a little something to help me unwind. Luke, Penelope and Tara were the next to say they’d be coming. After some light convincing, Emily, JJ, and Matt agreed. David was quick to leave before we could get to him about it.
Which left Spencer. At first he put up a fight, arguing that he had to go home. Home to what? We have the same situation. Eventually Penelope wore him down and got him to go.
“Okay, I’ll meet you guys there. I need to change out of these clothes.” I looked down at the business attire I had worn on the plane. I really wished I had changed out of them too, and into something more comfortable.
“Sounds good, Sweetness! See you in a bit.” Penelope looked at me with a smile. I returned the smile before collecting my things from my desk, and leaving.
Part of me wanted to wear a sweatshirt and sweatpants. But I also wanted to wear jeans and a tee-shirt, just to be comfortable. I also wanted to wear something more… party like. Mostly because we’re going to a bar, where there were going to be lots of people. Mmm…
I went with the latter. My outfit ended up consisting of a plain black top, paired with short-shorts and a “comfortable” pair of heels. Under the shorts I wore one of my favorite clothing items, a pair of black fishnets. They were one of my favorite things because I always gained the attention of someone. And I usually enjoyed that attention. I just don’t know whose attention I wanted.
Once I was satisfied with how I looked, I grabbed my bag and left for the bar. I was the first to leave the BAU, but the last to show up to the bar. Even Spencer was there before me, which was a rarity.
“Hey sorry I’m late. Traffic was nuts… And I just wanted to look nice,” I laughed nervously as I looked down before sitting beside Penelope. Everyone’s eyes were on me, and I tried to avoid the feeling of the stares. At first I tried to not be self-conscious, after all I was the one who wanted to dress a little more… sexy and get the attention of others.
“What are you wearing?” Luke asked after he took a sip of his beer. I looked down at my attire and shrugged.
“Wanted someone’s attention. Figured I’d get it here.” I gestured around the room towards the many groups of people. “Already got yours, Lukey-poo,” I cooed as I looked at him. He looked back at me with a weird look in his eyes. “Where’s Spence?”
“He went to get a drink.” JJ nodded towards the bar before sipping her drink. I looked over my shoulder and towards the bar. My eyes quickly identified the lanky and awkward body of Spencer standing beside the bar as he waited for a drink.
“Has the bartender been flirting with him the whole time?” I looked back at the team with wide eyes. Tara looked over at JJ with a smug smile before nodding. “No ones gonna save him?”
“Figured we’d give him a try first.” Matt shrugged as he looked back at me. I let out a mildly annoyed sigh before standing up.
“Where are you going?” Emily asked as she looked at me. I smiled as her eyes very slowly lingered down my body. There was an obvious struggle, and I liked that. I was definitely getting the attention I craved tonight. Even though it’s from my superior.
“Gonna go save boy wonder from inevitable embarrassment that he will probably succumb to.” I rested my hand on the table as I looked at the team. JJ and Emily shared a knowing glance. “And I’m getting myself a drink.” I shrugged before shoving my hands in my small pockets and walked towards the bar and Spencer.
“Hey Spence!” I exclaimed as I looked at him. He looked away from the bartender and smiled. His smile, however, quickly melted away and a hungry look took over his eyes.
“H-hey,” he mumbled before looking back at the bartender. She looked between me and Spencer before muttering a few profanities and walking away. I smirked before taking the space up beside Spencer.
“You seeing something you like, Reid?” I asked as soon as I noticed him staring at me again. I leaned over the bar beside him and smiled.
“I.. Uh, I…” He cleared his throat before looking away from me and down at the counter. Well, maybe I did know whose attention I wanted…
“Anyways, I’ve come to save you.”
“Save me?”
“The bartender…” I whispered before nodding in her direction. Spencer looked down at her and we both caught her looking between us before dropping her gaze.
“The bartender?”
“Just get your drink and come on,” I laughed before standing up and away from the counter. Spencer looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. He was obviously confused as to what I was talking about. But I’ll honestly save him the embarrassment. “Oh, wait. I want a drink too!” I exclaimed as I leaned over the counter.
Once we both had our drinks, I silently led him back to the table. I enjoyed the feeling of people’s eyes on me as I walked by them. I could even sense Spencer staring at me. To be fair, my shorts were a little on the shorter side…
Maybe the attention I was getting was from the person I wanted it from the most…
Spencer and I returned to the table, and we were quick to join into whatever conversation they were having. The entertaining stories that Matt told about his kids made everyone go into a fit of laughter.
The laughter only grew the more drinks that everyone had consumed. We weren’t exactly drunk, well some of us weren’t drunk. But when someone in the bar orders a round of drinks for the table, it’s hard to say no.
JJ, Spencer and Matt were the only ‘mostly sober’ ones. Followed by Tara and me being tipsy, but sober enough to know what was happening. Penelope, Luke and Emily had enough to drink and had left the table to go dance with each other and random people in the bar.
“I wanna dance,” I muttered as I looked down at the table. Matt cleared his throat, causing me to look up at him. He was nodding a Spencer, who was looking around the room at all the other people. A small smile grew across my lips before I jumped from my seat. Spencer and JJ both looked at me with shock on their faces.
I looked right at Spencer and smiled. “You.” I pointed at him. “Me.” Then I pointed at myself. “We’re dancing,” I spoke as I jerked my thumb behind me. Spencer’s face fell slightly as he watched me walk to stand in front of him. I smiled as his eyes lingered on my body for a brief moment before landing on my face. “Come on. Let’s leave mom and dad alone.” I lifted a hand for him to take. He looked at it for a moment before hesitantly placing his hand into mine.
Once he stood, I dragged him over to the dance floor, where we both stood still. I didn’t know what was going through his head, but I wished I did. His body wasn’t tense, in fact I could tell he liked that I was being daring and the close proximity I was in.
We, and by we I mean me, hardly danced. It was mostly just me. And my dance moves consisted of me grinding on him. Which seemed to rile him up enough to entertain me. I enjoyed it more when he rested his hands on my hips and held me in front of him.
I looked around the room at all the people, watching as they continued dancing with their friends and people. Then I looked back at Spencer before grabbing his hand. His once hazel eyes were blown out black and a look of hunger and lust was settled in them. He looked like he knew what he wanted, and he was about to do anything in his power to get it too.
I looked away from him and around the room, again, looking for a familiar face. It wasn’t that I needed someone to save me from this moment. No. I needed to make sure none of our friends saw what I was about to do next.
I turned to face Spencer again and pressed my chest to his. He placed his hands on my hips and pulled them flush against his. The breath was knocked from my lungs when I felt how hard he was through his slacks and my shorts.
I grabbed his wrist and turned away from him before dragging him out of the bar and towards the bathrooms. He didn’t say anything when I pulled him into the women’s bathroom and into a stall. I’ll forever be grateful for that too because I don’t know where else we would go to.
I pulled him into a stall and locked it before pushing him against the door. His lips quickly attached to mine, and before I knew it his teeth grazed across my lower lip. And just like before, when we were out in the bar, his hands fell back to my hips and he pulled me against him. He rolled his hips to mine, pressing his bulge into my body.
“I can’t believe you,” Spencer groaned against my mouth. I looked up at him and smirked.
“Why’s that? What makes me so unbelievable?” I whispered as I pressed a hand to his front. Spencer’s body froze and a hiss came from his lips.
“You coming to this bar, dressed like that, acting like you own the place,” his voice was low as he spoke. I smiled before I looked for his belt. “Acting like you aren’t arousing every man-- and woman-- here. That’s right, I saw the way Emily looked at you,” he continued as he looked at me.
“I just wanted attention from someone. But I’m sure happy that it’s your attention that I’m getting, Spencer,” I whispered before I pressed my hips against his.
“Well… I don’t think you’ll be getting attention from anyone else other than mine from now on.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re mine now, Sweetness,” he mildly mocked the pet name Penelope had given me earlier today. I stared at him, my breathing growing shallow. “And no one else’s.” Goosebumps grew like fire across my skin once I realized the honesty and reality of his words. Or, well, I should say his possessiveness. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted or believed what he said, but a moment passed and I realized… I wanted it so bad.
We both fell into a silent stare down. My hands, however, kept busy as they looked for his belt. But then a smirk grew across my lips the second I realized he still had a hard on waiting for me.
I was quick as I tried undoing his belt buckle, hoping he wouldn’t notice. But he obviously did when I began struggling and fumbling for a moment.
“Is that a gun or are you just happy to see me, Reid?” I whispered as I carefully slipped my hand into his pants and briefs. My question was otherwise rhetorical. I knew for a fact it was a gun. But I also knew it wasn’t a gun.
Spencer took a deep breath of air once my hand was wrapped around his length. I smiled as I slowly moved my hand back and forth, gently applying pressure.
“It’s a gun,” Spencer returned, keeping his voice low, “But I’m more than happy to see you. Trust me.” I could tell he was trying to be sly with his words. Because when he started talking his voice was deep and a little rough, but as he continued on talking, they got a little shaky and a little bit higher. I wanted to mock him, but I knew better than to do that.
“Oh… I do,” I whispered as I quickened my pace. My lips were hovering over his. His breath fanned across my face, and I could just barely smell the gin and tonic he had drank earlier.
My heart was beating hard in my chest because I was about to fuck my co-worker in the bathroom at fucking bar. I wondered if his was doing the same thing. I wondered if his thought process was the same as mine too.
I also wondered if he felt the same way. Maybe I’ve always wanted the attention from Spencer. He was right there, and always has been, and always will be. Plus we’ve known each other for years. So what’s the harm? Maybe he felt the same?
The grip Spencer held on my hips started to tighten as I continued to stroke his length. I could feel his tension growing the longer I went. My lips slowly curled at the corners as I realized how much I was going to enjoy this.
Then it happened. Spencer flipped our positions so I was pressed against the door. Both of my wrists were in one of his hands, held above my head. His other hand was already messing with the button of my shorts.
“You think you’re the only one who can do that, Sweetness,” he whispered before pressing his lips to my neck. It was his turn to grind his hips against mine, easily taking my breath away again.
“Spence…” I gasped once his hand was finally down the front of my shorts. I tried hard to pull my hands from his hand, but his grip only tightened.
“See, two can play at this game,” he spoke softly as he swiped a finger up my slit. I bit my lips together as he gently moved his finger around the sensitive nub between my thighs. “But unlike you I’m going to let you finish.”
“I was go-oh…” I whimpered as my knees buckled down causing my hips to grind on his hand. He smiled before carefully pushing a finger into my entrance. It was suddenly hard to concentrate as he curled his fingers just right.
“That’s what I thought,” Spencer murmured against my ear before moving his mouth to the corner of my mouth, then to my neck. A small moan fell from my mouth as he sucked a spot onto the base of my neck.
I stayed silent as Spencer continued whispering dirty things in my ear. Part of me almost forgot who I was with. Not because of what was happening, but because of what he was saying. I had no clue Spencer could say such dirty things. My train of thought was all over the place, derailing the moment I would gain a coherent thought.
Once I did eventually finish on his fingers, he pulled his hand from my shorts and looked down at me. It was a silent moment of a stare down. I was quiet because I was sure of what was about to happen. I was about to fuck Spencer Reid. I was willing to bet Spencer was calculating how long the events of everything would take. I didn’t care, I just wanted it and I wanted it now.
I broke the stare down, looking down at his slacks and the bulge that was still pressing against the fabric. I silently undid the button and zipper and pushed his pants down.
Spencer stopped me before I could do anything else. I looked up at him, my eyes staying on his face as he pushed down my shorts. Then it happened. I was expecting sex to happen like normal. Half naked.
I furrowed my eyebrows when he started getting ready. My tights were still on me properly. He didn’t forget. Man has the best mind in the world. He wouldn’t forget about my tights.
“Wait,” I whispered as I went to pull my tights off, but Spencer stopped me. His hand wrapped around my wrist before he pulled it away. “I gotta take my tights off if we-Oh…”I looked up at him with wide eyes once I realized what he wanted.
“Keep them on,” he whispered so softly I almost didn’t hear him. I nodded lightly. Truth be told, I could see the appeal in it. I did wear the fishnets for a reason. And I knew how I looked in them.
“I can do that.”
Spencer hoisted one of my legs around his waist and pressed my body against the wall. I stared at him, my arms wrapped around his neck to keep me up right. He also helped keep me up by keeping his hands on my hips. Once I was steady, Spencer ripped a hole in the crotch of my tights.
My teeth bit down on my lower lip as he dragged the head of his cock down my pussy. I almost couldn’t handle the way he teased my entrance. I wondered if he could see how frustrated I was starting to get. He’s a profiler. He should just know already how much I needed this.
“I swear to-” ‘God, Spencer.’ My words were cut off with a moan as he pressed into me all at once. It was hard to keep my head up right, and I fought for a moment before finally dropping it to rest on his shoulder. I brought my hand to my mouth and bit down.
Spencer moved a hand around to rest on my bottom. My mouth fell as his hand began massaging my flesh. That, paired with the way he began moving his hips started becoming too much for me.
He looked down at me, sweat beginning to mat down his hair to his forehead. His eyebrows were furrowed together as he picked up his pace. My leg around his waist pulled him closer to me.
“Don’t stop, please, please don’t stop,” I whined as he finally moved closer to me. My body began moving up and down the door. The cloth of my tank top had started riding up, and my hot skin was instantly touching the cool steel door.
Spencer lifted a hand to my head, placing it on the backside before pulling my face to his. His lips pressed everywhere on my face, not one spot was ignored. I pulled my hands away from his neck and grasped his shirt and tie, keeping him in his spot.
“You could’ve worn anything and I still would have wanted to fuck you. Sweatpants and oversized tee-shirt, that pencil skirt you wore back in Oklahoma… But the fishnets really do take the cake.”
“I-I knew someone would like them.” I tried to keep my voice steady. But it was so hard when pressure began growing in my stomach and between my legs.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted this? You here, looking like this,” his voice was almost a growl. My chest began heaving with each word he said and each movement he made. “Too damn long, that’s how long.”
Spencer removed his hand from the back of my head and dropped it to between my legs, resting it high on my thigh. His thumb moved back and forth on my leg, over the material of the fishnets. The look in his eyes drove me wild, and I loved it so, so much.
“Better me than anyone else. I’m not willing to share.” Spencer actually growled as he moved his finger to the crest of my legs. He smiled when I looked up at him with a mildly panicked look in my eyes. “Do you understand why, Sweetness?”
“N-no.”
“As I told you earlier, you’re mine,” he struggled as he tried to hold back a moan.
“Fuck,” I cried as my head dropped back down to his shoulder. I pressed a hand to the wall beside me. I gasped for air as the pressure in my stomach grew to the point of exploding.
“Only I can make you feel like this. You got that, Sweetness?” Spencer groaned, which quickly caused me to nod.
It was impossible to stay quiet as the pressure built up more. The situation was pushed more as soon as Spencer started moaning more into my ear. It was so overwhelming the second he said my name.
And then it happened. I finished before him. But it wasn’t too long after that a familiar warmth spread throughout me.
Spencer dropped his head to my shoulder, and we were both left in panting, breathless messes. My eyes were stuck open as I tried recollecting myself.
“I waited a long time for that too, Spencer,” I whispered, breaking the silence after a few minutes passed. He laughed and nodded.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Of course you do.” I shook my head and pushed his body off mine. He looked down at me with a smirk. “What… What does this mean?”
“Could mean anything. We let things happen naturally, or we pretend nothing happened at all. I’d prefer the former, if I’m going to be honest with you.” He gently lifted a hand and rested it on my face. My nose twitched as soon as I felt something rolling down my thigh. Then my eyes widened.
“N-naturally… Yeah,” I whispered, mostly to myself, as I reached for a wad of toilet paper. I quickly cleaned up the mess that was between my legs and shook my head.
“We should go. Get you properly cleaned.” Spencer spoke up once I was done cleaning myself a bit.
“Well now we gotta go out there and pretend like nothing happened,” I whispered as I looked up at him. Spencer shrugged like it was no big deal. “Where did this sudden cockines come from?”
“When I realized you could have any guy in the bar… And you chose me.” He smiled before wrapping an arm around my waist. I widened my eyes as we exited the bathroom and entered the crowd of people together. People stared at us as we walked by, but I couldn’t tell if it was both of us they were staring at or just me. Spencer’s grip around my waist tightened as he pulled me closer to him. “Remember, Sweetness… I don’t like sharing what’s mine,” his voice was low. My body stiffened once the reality of his words hit me. His.
“Where were you guys?” Emily looked between Spencer and I. I looked at her with wide eyes, my expression telling her (and the rest of the team) everything they needed to know. I’m sure I looked like a hot fucking mess.
“Sweetness here was outside not feeling too well. So I brought her to the bathroom and helped her out a little bit,” Spencer lied with a smile.
Even he knew the lie was useless. But I think everyone would rather believe the obvious lie than rather just know the truth. To be fair, I’d rather tell them all a useless lie rather than the truth. “She still doesn’t feel too well. So I’m going to take her home.”
“Oh! Bummer! I hope you feel better!” Penelope was the first to speak up. I was thankful too that she played along because I really couldn’t handle that embarrassment…
“I will.. Hopefully by morning… I’ve got the best doctor I know taking care of me.” I smiled softly as I looked up at Spencer. He glanced back at me with a smile.
“Have a nice rest of the night.” Spencer nodded to the team before guiding me away from the table and towards the front doors.
“My place or yours?” I looked back at him once we were finally outside and walking towards his car.
“Mine.”
if you want to be a part of a taglist (lmk if ur 18+ for smut) or have any comments about this one-shot, let me know here
taglist: @thebluetint @muffin-cup @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @spencersmagic @90spumkin @jareids @broken-stardust
#shadow writes stuff#masterlist#spencer reid#spencer reid fanfiction#spencer reid imagine#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid x you#spencer reid fan fic#criminal minds fan fic
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Forbidden Fruit
Based on this request
Nikolai Lantsov x fem!reader
A/N Special thanks to @itisroe for staying up with me :)
Shes so fluffy, angst if you squint real hard
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Genya would 100% kill you for this. There was no doubt about it. You knew it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride the night before they were to be wed. It was especially bad luck if said groom was to, hypothetically, of course, scale the wall outside of your window just to catch sight of you. But you couldn't help but rush over to the balcony, heart bursting with joy at the sight of your soon-to-be husband clambering over the rails like a newborn gazelle.
It reminded you of how it was when you first got together, of all the clumsily passed notes, secret winks and stolen kisses in empty rooms; lest his advisors found out that King Nikolai Lantsov of Ravka had fallen hard for a grisha girl with the authority of a dozen generals, and the the disposition of a queen made to rule.
You opened the glass door with a smile, shivering only slightly at the breeze running across your thinly clad legs, and moved to help Nikolai to his feet.
He swept a hand through his golden hair, and beamed down at you. “Evening, darling,” he said, with the charm of a man forever young and beautiful, and gestured to your clothes, or rather, the lack of them. “Is this what you plan on wearing tomorrow?” He followed you back into the confines of your room, and set his hands on your waist, bunching up the cream colored linen of your nightgown between his fingers. “Because if it is, you’ll have me at your mercy by luncheon. Not that you don't always have me at your mercy.” He winked slyly and leaned in to you, one of his hands moving to tilt your head towards him as his lips met yours in pre-wedded-bliss.
Oh, yes, Genya would certainly murder you both, but, saints, after a whole 24 hours without him, you really couldn’t be bothered. Because, hell, if it didn't feel fantastic to hold him close, your hands on his neck and chest, his running across your back and through your hair, wrapping the strands around his fingers as he kissed you slowly, like he had the rest of his life to give you what you wanted.
He does have the rest of his life, you thought, a smile growing on your face.
“What is it,” Nikolai asked with a grin of his own, breaking away from your lips, only to dive into your neck, mouth latching to the skin just under your ear. You shook your head with a sigh. “C’mon,” he whispered, kissing you, just there, gently and with purpose. “Why the Cheshire grin?” He bumped his leg against yours, and began to move towards the bed. After laying you down underneath him on the plush of your mattress, he set to work against the column of your neck, careful not to leave a mark.
“This time tomorrow, we’ll be husband and wife.”
Nikolai paused in his ministrations, and hid his face in your neck for a moment before lifting himself to face you. His hazel eyes bore into yours with gentle concern and unyielding affection.
“You are happy aren’t you?” He stared at you in all seriousness, as if ten seconds ago he hadn’t been making his way down your neck with the slyness of a fox. “I know that my family can be a little, a lot, actually, overbearing, and I-”
You lifted yourself on your elbows and kissed him soundly. “Of course I’m happy.” You lifted a hand to his cheek, tender with all of the love you could gather for him in that moment. “Moi Lapushka, I would gladly walk through hell with bare feet just to hold your hand in mine.” Nikolai leaned into your touch, turning to kiss your palm swiftly. “A few of your disdainful relatives mean nothing to me. Not when I have you-”
A loud rapping on the door caught your attention, as well as Nikolai’s. “Nikolai Lantsov, you better not be in there!”
Your eyes met once more, only now, they were filled with dread. “Genya,” you chorused. “Shit.” The woman in question knocked once more, harder this time.
“Don’t make me come in there!”
You and Nikolai stood up hastily, and you rushed to fix your hair. You turn to your fiance. “You have to hide under the bed.”
“What?!” You dashed for your vanity, and scanned your neck for any evidence of Nikolai’s visit.
“You heard me, moi tzar.” Nikolai stared at you indignantly.
“Why can't you hide under the bed!”
“It’s my room, Nik!” You placed two hands on his shoulders, and kissed him quickly on the forehead.
“I’ll just be a moment, dear.” You pushed down, maneuvering him into his hiding place, just in time for Genya to unlock the door. Standing straight with a manic spin, you turned to see your best friend, standing with her arms crossed over her knotted dressing gown, expectant eyebrows raised.
You faked a yawn as you clamored for your own dressing gown, and tied it in place. “Genya,” you said demurely. “Is it morning already?”
The red-head marched into your bedroom like a sergeant conducting inspection and narrowed her eye at you. “Nice try, sweetie. David says that Nikolai isn't in his chamber. We both know he’s in here.”
You smiled with faux confusion. “What makes you say that?” Genya sighs.
“The lovesick fool left a note telling you he was going to visit on his desk instead of sending it.”
“Damn!” Genya turned to the bed with wordless confusion.
You shrugged at her when she looked at you. “Creaky floors.” She shook her head, and stooped to drag The King out by his leg. Nikolai laid on the floor in his nightshirt and trousers, looking up at two women.
He raised his hands in surrender. “In my defense, look at that pretty face,” he gestured to you, and you smiled sweetly. “Who wouldn't make a fool of himself to spend time with her?”
“Out,” Genya commanded, and Korol Rezni knew better than to disobey. He kissed his fiancee softly on the forehead, making a show to hold his hands away, and swiftly made his exit, throwing a quick smile to you over his shoulder.
Genya took a seat in the armchair in the corner. “Are you really gonna sleep there?” you asked.
“Clearly, you can’t be trusted.”
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#nikolai lantsov#nikolai lantsov x reader#corporalnik#etherialki#x reader#grishaverse#shadow and bone#seige and storm#ruin and rising#nikolai duology#kos#row#sab#rar#sas#soc#cc#crooked kingdom#six of crows
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WHEN YOU’RE GONE // D.D.
Pairing: Mob Boss! Damiano David x Mob GN! Reader (it was originally written with a fem! reader so please let me know if you spot any slip ups on my part)
Summary: Soulmates are already a difficult concept to grasp and things don’t seem to get any easier when you like a person who already has a soulmate.
Word Count: 9.8k (it’s so long lakjd)
Warnings: Swearing, death and mentions of it, injuries, angst -lots of it-, it’s a mob fic so violence, smoking, Damiano being kind of an asshole? Me probably using swear words in italian wrong... Just read with caution pls
Masterlist // Taglist link in bio
A/N: If you’ve seen this before, it’s probably because this has been written and posted on my other blog @pparkersbitch as a Tom Holland fanfiction at the beginning of the year (which has now been deleted). It’s the same person and I’m not stealing anyone’s work :) I just like it and wanted to bring it back. I did add/modify some tiny details though. The idea is probably dumb, but I’m sharing anyways.
Taglist: @gretavanfleetlove @superchrystaldrug @reputationdamiano
“This isn’t how I wanted to start my morning,” Your best friend mumbled in a tired voice. You could barely hear him from where you were standing over the sounds the old -and surely broken- coffee machine kept making and the music playing from his phone.
“Well, sucks to be us, huh?” You chuckled and poured coffee on both of your cups as you did a small dance to try and shake the tiredness off your body. You handed Damiano his cup after preparing his coffee the way he liked it, a teaspoon of sugar with a splash of milk, and walked with him to the large office down the hall, “I don’t get why Ethan and Thomas can’t do this instead of us.”
The room was always cold and you seemed to forget about it most of the time since it still slipped your mind to wear a sweater or hoodie over your thin pajama shirt. You grabbed one of the blankets from the small black couch on the corner of the room and wrapped it around your body as best as you could with your free hand.
You sat down on the chair next to him to have a better look at all the papers and files he had spread out on the desk, “What exactly are we looking for?” You asked with furrowed eyebrows. All those documents were enough to keep you occupied for the whole day if you didn’t work fast enough.
“We are looking for any leads to the drug cartel or its leader. Really anything that can help us find them,” Damiano explained and took a sip of his coffee as he opened the first file.
You had been trying to track a drug cartel ever since they infiltrated your warehouse and stole some of your products. Damiano’s father had been at both of your necks ever since it happened as if it had been your fault instead of the incompetent guards that were supposed to be guarding the entrance at all times, “I’m sure these are people we’ve made deals with in the past, they wouldn’t have been able to break in otherwise. We’ve always been far too careful for this to be a mere coincidence.”
He removed the gold ring from his ring finger and left it on the jewelry bowl you had placed on his desk. You had known Damiano David and his family for years. For as long as you had known him, the band on his ring finger had been gold, and you hated it.
That stupid little gold band was a silent reminder that he had met his soulmate and there was nothing to be done about it. For months you had silently hoped and prayed for Damiano to be your soulmate, but any illusion or wish you had of it happening, had vanished the moment you saw the gold ring on his finger for the first time. You later discovered he avoided wearing it on his hand because it put his soulmate at risk of being found, but he still kept it close to him at all times by using it as a necklace.
You avoided wearing yours for an entirely different reason. The black ring and all the stares and words of pity that came with it were saddening and something you didn’t need. While gold was a reminder of love and good luck, black was a reminder that your soulmate was no longer alive and you were doomed to spend the rest of your life alone. You were sure the band had been black for most of your life, or at least that’s how you remembered it.
It was safe to say you were jealous of Damiano’s soulmate, Marlee. Not only was she one of the most beautiful women you had ever met, but she got to have perhaps the most amazing man by her side until her dying day, something you could never have in any way that wasn’t platonic.
You successfully ignored it most days, which wasn’t so hard to do since you had better things to think about most of the time, but nights were always the hardest. In your loud and chaotic life, there was a speck in time where everything quieted and calmed down. During those few hours was when you’d break down and grieve for the person whose name you didn’t even get to know. You’d cry for being stupid enough to fall for someone who wasn’t only your best friend, but who also had a girlfriend.
“Damiano, Y/N?” Marlee’s sweet voice interrupted your train of thoughts. You had been reading the files consciously enough to notice anything unusual, but you had paid no mind to anything else until she walked into the room. You smiled politely at her and waved.
She walked up to Damiano and he immediately closed all files with any sort of photo that might be too graphic for her to look at. Marlee cupped his face and pressed her lips to his for a few moments that felt like an eternity to you, watching everything from the side as a feeling of jealousy invaded your senses. You did nothing but look at the painting on the wall until they stopped locking lips, which took a bit longer than you would’ve liked.
“Did you two find anything?” Marlee asked once she pulled away from Damiano. He gave her a look you knew as ‘I cannot tell you anything about the mob to keep you safe’. She had been involved with the mob’s administration for most of her life, only after she met Damiano and her father united his mob with Damiano’s did she stop working.
You had been brought in as a replacement of sorts once Marlee stopped doing any mob business per Damiano’s request. His parents had saved yours from a legal accident, which left you in debt with his family, so you didn’t have much say on whether you’d join the mob or not.
Something you were grateful for was that Damiano always kept your hands clean. No matter what business it was, he made sure to keep you out of any sort of situation in which you’d have to hurt or get hurt by another member of the mob. Most people that worked for Damiano didn’t have the pleasure of knowing him as the lenient and caring individual he was around you.
You excused yourself after spending a few more minutes flipping through the files in search of something but ultimately found nothing. It was supposed to be your free day, or at least that was what Damiano had promised. Apart from that impromptu search for information at 5 am, he promised he’d have Ethan, Vic, or Thomas help with anything he needed.
That was why you took the liberty to lock yourself inside your room and put your phone on silent. You desperately wanted to catch up on all the hours of sleep you had lost in between those early morning duty calls and coffee runs. No matter how much you enjoyed spending time with Damiano, you still missed your normal sleep schedule.
-
When you woke up a few hours later, the house was completely silent. The usual chatter coming from the kitchen wasn’t there, neither was the noise of Vic repeatedly firing bullets at the targets in the garden to practice her aim like she did every morning or the soft sound of Thomas softly strumming his guitar as he tried to piece an unplanned melody together with the assistance of Ethan’s drumming.
It wasn’t a Sunday, which meant they weren’t away visiting their families. They were all supposed to be home. That last thought made you nervous and you couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened while you were asleep. Being in the mob, you knew a lot of unexpected things happened all the time and you had to be prepared for them all.
You walked to the door, determined to investigate what was wrong. Your hand was already firmly grasping the doorknob and you were about to undo the lock when someone knocked harshly on the door, startling you.
Without hesitation, you jumped back and reached for the gun stuffed in one of the drawers nearby, “Y/N? You awake?”
You let go of the drawer’s handle and your tense body relaxed at the sound of Victoria’s raspy voice, “Fuck, Vic, you scared me,” You spoke as you opened the door to be met with her panicked blue eyes. Your eyebrows furrowed at her worried expression, but before you could ask, she grabbed you by the arm softly and dragged you out of the room.
Once you were in the hallway, you finally heard everything with a lot more clarity. The faint sound of glass clinking before falling to the floor, Thomas’s exasperated shouts, and Damiano’s complaints. You looked at Victoria, expecting an explanation.
“I don’t know what happened,” She began, “One second he was alright, then at like 9 AM Ethan and I heard them fighting. She’s gone and Damiano’s locked in his room, won’t let anyone in. Thomas is trying to get him to talk while Ethan looks for the keys.”
You walked past Victoria and ran up the stairs. Damiano’s room was right above yours. Upon walking up to the third floor of the house, you saw Thomas repeatedly knocking on Damiano’s door. Once he heard footsteps and spotted you, it was like relief washed all over him at the sight of you.
“Do you mind trying?” He asked, “He’s been asking for you,” Thomas added with a sigh as he brushed his messy hair out of his forehead. You nodded and got closer to the door once he got out of the way.
With hesitation, you knocked on the door and patiently waited for a response, which arrived only after you knocked once again, “Vaffanculo, Thomas! Which part of your tiny fucking brain cannot understand that I want to be left alone?”
You flinched at his words and took a long breath as you gathered the confidence to speak up, “I-It’s Y/N, Dami,” You said, loud enough for him to hear you from where he was. You were expecting rejection; if Damiano didn’t want to talk to people who were as close to him as siblings, why would he talk to you? Sure, you were one of his best friends, but he’d known Thomas for longer than he—
Your thoughts were interrupted when Damiano opened the door and quickly dragged you in before slamming it shut once more. For the first few minutes, you stood in silence while Damiano faced the door. You couldn’t see his face or his eyes, so you had no idea what could be going through his mind, so you focused on your surroundings instead.
The room was a mess, but not more than it usually was. What alarmed you was the shattered glass on the floor as well as the drops of blood that stained the white floor. You looked back at your best friend and noticed that it was dripping from his hand.
“Damiano,” You called, “Amore, your hand,” He turned to look at you and that’s when you finally saw his red and swollen eyes as well his tear-stained cheeks. His gaze softened once his eyes fell on yours. He choked back a sob and turned away from you once again.
If his hand hadn’t been bleeding, you wouldn’t have hesitated on wrapping your arms around his neck and trying to comfort him. Instead, you ran to his bathroom to grab the first-aid kit. After years of being in the business, treating Damiano’s cuts and injuries wasn’t anything new to you, but you were oblivious as to why he was in such a state in the first place.
Being the person he was, Damiano had learned to conceal his emotions incredibly well to protect himself, even around the people he trusted the most. You had only seen him that shaken once when something had gone terribly wrong. The fact that Marlee was gone too only gave you a worse feeling. The fact that her clothes were all gone from the closet didn’t ease your worried mind either.
Damiano was sitting on the bed patiently waiting for you to return. Once you did, he avoided your gaze and said nothing as you examined his hand. The cuts were all superficial and would surely cure on their own in a few days, which was why you only focused on removing the tiny shards of glass that had stuck to his skin with a pair of tweezers.
Once that was done and you had cleaned the cuts, you wrapped a bandage around his hand once and secured it with a small piece of tape. You sat in silence for a while, you didn’t comment on the sobs that would escape his lips every once in a while or the tears that had started falling down his cheeks.
Instead, you waited until he was ready to say something, “I don’t even know how to tell you this,” Damiano mumbled. His eyes stayed glued to the floor. He seemed… embarrassed to look you in the eye.
“I was finally going to do it this morning, N/N,” He said as a sigh escaped past his lips and he took a small velvet box out of his pocket. He didn’t have to say what was inside the box because you knew exactly what it was. Damiano had been planning on proposing for months, but there was always something that managed to get in the way of completing his goal.
“She went to the bathroom and had left her phone on my bedside table. I was going to get the ring and Y/N… I-I swear to God I didn’t want to look but the messages kept coming, one after the other, the fucking phone wouldn’t stop making noise. Cazzo, she was the one feeding information to the drug cartel and Lord knows to who else,” He said those words in one breath and you had barely been able to catch them all. Damiano threw the box at the wall angrily and from the noise, you didn’t doubt there’d be an indent there.
“I asked her about it and you have no idea how much I wished she’d deny it, but she didn’t even try,” Damiano cried. Unexpectedly, Damiano turned his body around to face yours and wrapped his arms around your waist while he buried his face on your neck.
It took you by surprise, but you said nothing. Instead, you focused on rubbing circles on his back and whispering soothing words into his ear. Part of you knew there was something else going on, even if you didn’t ask. You hadn’t seen Damiano cry in a long time and even then you saw nothing more than just a few tears rolling down his cheeks. What happened with Marlee had truly driven him right to the edge and he couldn’t keep in everything he had been trying so hard to hide.
-
In the four months that followed, you didn’t see Marlee once. She never had the guts to return after Damiano found out about everything she had been doing behind his back. At first, he had been utterly destroyed by her absence, it pained you to see him shut everything and everyone out with the lame excuse that he had work to do. Every single time he did so, you’d quietly sit down and help him despite his complaints.
He got better though. Once enough time passed, he healed, but all that love he had once felt for her was now nothing more than pure hatred every single time her name was mentioned. You knew better than anyone that it wasn’t the healthiest thing to do, but it didn’t matter how many times you told him so because it never truly changed much.
As for the mob, things seemed to calm down once Damiano and Ethan were able to track down the leader of the drug cartel and get the stolen products back. Everything was too good and too quiet. While your four friends enjoyed all that peace, you couldn’t help but worry about something being wrong. It was a silly thing anyway, there was nothing that gave you even the slightest confirmation that your worry wasn’t just fueled by paranoia, not a single thing.
You should’ve been grateful instead. Your sleep schedule had gotten acceptably regular and there was no more working from 5 am to 10 pm every single day. You also had time to finally sit down and read the books that had been sitting on your untouched shelf ever since the start of the year, just like you were doing at that very moment while the boys were playing poker in the basement and Vic was on a date.
Damiano walked into your room eventually, still smelling like the cigarette he had just been smoking minutes back. He couldn’t help but scrunch up his nose as the smell of lemon incense burning hit his nostrils.
You looked up and giggled at his disgusted expression, “You cannot be disgusted when you were the one who walked into my room smelling like cigar and beer,” Damiano rolled his eyes and plopped down on the bed next to you.
“Incense is bad for you,” You shot Damiano a killer look and closed your book. He gave you a funny look back and then put his attention on your book, “What are you reading anyway?”
You hummed and showed him the cover. It had a beautiful yet simple design, which accurately represented the story hidden in between those pages, “Okay so, it’s the story of these people that all get invited to this island. They’re all summoned there for different reasons but it turns out they all have this common enemy. It’s terrifying because they get killed off one by one when a children’s lullaby plays. I truly cannot explain it enough to do justice to how intense this book is.”
“Oh and before that I got to read the most wonderful romance book! It was apparently the first book written where soulmates weren’t a thing and it was just a piece of art. Beautifully written, made me cry for hours too.”
Damiano smiled and you could almost see all the gears turning inside his brain, “Wouldn’t it be amazing?”
“What would?”
He shrugged and propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look at you, “A world without soulmates, where you’re not bound to someone since birth.”
You sighed and turned to look at him, “It’s our own fault… being bound, I mean. No angel from the heavens came down to tell us we have to love our soulmate as anything more than a close friend, you know? It can be purely platonic, we’re just stupid.”
“Were you ever able to fall in love with your soulmate or was it just platonic?” Damiano asked. You never talked much about soulmates with him. He still didn’t know your soulmate had been dead for as long as you could remember.
“I never got to know them,” You smiled sadly and showed him the black ring you had gotten used to wearing around your neck, carefully tucked under your shirt to stay unseen. His mouth fell open as he grabbed the ring and inspected it closely. It was the first time he had seen a black ring.
“I didn’t know… I’m sorry,” Damiano let the ring go. You shrugged and waved your hand to silently show it wasn’t too important, “I thought you guys were separated or something.”
You shook your head, “Mom says the ring turned black when I was six, but I don’t really remember so I just like to pretend I never had one in the first place… I don’t know.”
There was a question on the tip of your tongue, but you didn’t want to ask it, as intrigued as you were to know the answer. You hadn’t talked about her ever since she left and he’d most likely avoid the question because he truly wanted to keep her name out of his mouth. Nonetheless, he noticed your hesitance because you suddenly got too silent.
“You can ask, you know? I know I just touched on a sensitive topic, so…” You nodded. Both of you were lying on your backs, looking up at the ceiling which had some of those glow-in-the-dark stars and planets you had glued when you first moved in to feel less lonely.
You hummed softly as you tried to find the right words. You didn’t want to be too straightforward with your question in fear of upsetting your best friend even though he had asked you the same question minutes earlier, “Did-did you ever… you know, fall in love with her?”
Damiano thought about it in silence, you had probably caught him off-guard with your question, “No, not really. Not in the way I was expecting at least. You know truth be told, I was a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, she had this angelic look to her, she was a stunning girl. I just- there was nothing we had in common other than being soulmates. For years I had seen my parents act like they shared one mind and just thought the same things. I always imagined it’d be like that for me too.
“My expectations couldn’t have been further from what it truly was like. Honestly, I’m not even sure which part of our relationship was true anymore. Now that I look back on it, I’ve realized most of the things she did or said were just to get information out of me.”
It was weird to hear him say all that. As a person who always got to look at the way Marlee and Damiano interacted with one another, you would’ve never expected Damiano to feel that way, “And,” He continued, “I was expecting it to be someone else.”
His last confession made you turn around to look at him. It was the first time he had admitted that, probably because of the beer he had been drinking while playing with his friends.
“I know it sounds terrible but… I met her and this other person on the same day, almost at the same time. I didn’t notice my ring had turned gold until much later. I had only been with them both and people I already knew. I thought it had been the other person until she told me her ring had changed too. Meanwhile, the other one said nothing. Now I realize it would’ve been impossible for them to be my soulmate.”
It might’ve been because he was telling you all those things and you felt safe to admit what you felt, or maybe because you were tired of bottling it up for so long. Either way, you spoke up, not caring if you’d regret it later, “It’s not as terrible as you might think.”
“Look, I’m not bound to anyone. The black ring gives me the freedom of loving someone else. I never met my soulmate so there’s no guilt in being with someone else. It’s supposed to be a perfect thing, Dami, only it isn’t. I know a lot of people who’re also blacksouled,” You hated using the word. It was usually how people would refer to those who didn’t have a soulmate anymore, “And I fell in love.”
“T-that’s great!” Damiano replied, “Why didn’t you tell me? I mean, not like you’re obliged to tell me anything just because we’re friends but I-”
You interrupted his rant, “I fell in love with someone whose soulmate’s still alive.”
“So what? You said it yourself. Are they together?” He asked. You told him they weren’t. If only he knew you were talking about him… He’d probably run away and never speak to you again, “Then fuck it. Fuck the rules and everything else society has to say.”
“It’s not that simple, Dami. I truly wish it was, but it isn’t,” You wanted nothing more than for the conversation to be over. If it went any further, you knew you’d spill every single thing. It had gotten far too hard to conceal your feelings when you were close to him. Now that you were talking about them, it’d be even harder.
You got up and walked to your bookshelf, where you started accommodating your books as an excuse to avoid being so close to him, to avoid his curious gaze. Even if they weren’t together anymore, you knew Damiano would reject you, that was far too obvious. Even if he felt the same, after what happened, it’d take Damiano a lot of effort to ever trust someone in such an intimate way, even if that someone was you, his best friend.
“Why? It is that simple. If they’re not together, what’s stopping you? You’ll never know what could happen if you don’t try,” You turned around to look at him, fists clenched by your sides, “Listen Y/N, I know you’re scared of relationships and everything they involve but you cannot let that sto—”
“Fine then, I’m in love with you! I can barely breathe when I’m around you because my love for you is so suffocatingly strong, and I can’t think straight either! You and your stupidly handsome face drive me insane. How’s that?” You admitted, interrupting his small speech midway, too irritated to process what you had just said. Once you did, your hand flew to your mouth and you shook your head. You wanted to say it wasn’t true, no, it was nothing more than a lie to get him to stop poking his nose into your love life. Except it wasn’t and, if you were being honest, no part of you wanted to hide it anymore.
Just like you expected, he said nothing. Damiano stayed silent for a few seconds before getting up and walking out without another word. He slammed the door on the way out so hard you wouldn’t be surprised if the door separated from its hinges.
For the weeks that followed, Damiano avoided you as much as possible. You were still his right-hand person and needed to be present at every meeting and would have to discuss any type of business with him. It used to be your favorite part of the day when you got to sit in the meeting room with Damiano and discuss plans to make the mob prosper, now it was nothing but uncomfortable because you’d do all the talking while he looked at you as if his biggest desire was to carve your heart out with his pocket knife.
While you understood that he was still mad at Marlee and wanted nothing to do with her, you didn’t understand why he was treating you that way when you had nothing to do with it and weren’t to blame for the stupid shit his ex had tried to pull. You thought he knew that you loved him far too much to ever do anything to jeopardize his safety. Yet again, he might’ve assumed the same thing about Marlee.
You walked out of yet another unsuccessful meeting with Damiano and slammed the door as hard as you could to let him know how much his childish behavior annoyed you. Ethan was standing close to the door and you could see the shadow of a smile that was threatening to break out and illuminate his face, “Don’t you dare,” He raised his hands in defense and bit his lip to try and hide the smile that would just annoy you further.
“You two are starting to act like two teenagers and it’s fucking pathetic,” Thomas chimed in from where he was sitting on one of the couches.
“Yeah? Tell that to your friend who is giving me the silent treatment like a fucking toddler! I just want- I need to have a serious conversation with him,” You admitted and sighed as you fell on the couch right next to Thomas, head in your hands to try and cover up the tears that were threatening to spill down your cheeks.
Both men stayed silent as they watched you, Even though you could feel their stares, you decided to focus on not crying instead. The truth was, the longer Damiano spent ignoring you, the more you regretted telling him what you had been bottling up for years, it had been a mistake there was no coming back from. Unless he decided to stop acting like a kindergartener, things would never go back to the way they were.
It was frustrating to think that your friendship would go to shit just because of your confession. Being rejected by him wouldn’t have been a big deal if he had actually stayed in your room and spoken like the adult he was.
“For the record, I think he’s acting like an idiot because he’s scared,” Sighed Victoria, who had just walked into the room with an ice pack placed over her hand, “I know it’s been a while but, give him time. He’ll come around or I’ll make him, I promise.”
You gave Victoria a tight-lipped smile and nodded. You hoped more than anything that it wouldn’t have to come to getting locked up in the same room as Damiano to get him to speak to you.
Except… as more days passed, you feared it would most likely have to be that way because he was still saying nothing to you. He had only spoken once and it had been to call you out for being doing everything wrong while looking through some important documents when you were, in fact, doing everything just like he had initially requested. Now, not only had he been giving you the cold shoulder, but he had started acting like a complete jerk around you too.
You tried to distract yourself by focusing on all the work you had pending, but it wasn’t working. Every single day, no matter what you were doing, your mind still wandered back to the brown-eyed man and his stupid face, his stupid hair, and stupid smile.
Even as you stood in the middle of the kitchen, your thoughts made it difficult to bake the cookies you had been craving all week. You had started to work on the second batch after the first one came out disgustingly salty because somewhere along the process you had mistaken the salt for the sugar.
You hated how bothered you were by the whole situation. It had affected you way more than you would’ve liked to admit. Truth be told, you had never felt sad about his rejection because it was something you had expected ever since that attraction for him first settled on your brain. It was the way he was treating you that got on your nerves.
That was mainly the reason why you were so thankful for being alone in the house at that very moment. Apart from a few security guards here and there, you were completely alone. You allowed yourself to relax for a split second and connected your phone to the speaker system in the kitchen. You started playing one of your favorite playlists before getting back to making cookies the right way this time.
You softly swayed your body along to the music as you dumped all the ingredients on the large bowl in front of you. As you poured the flour in the bowl and mixed it with your hands, you noticed Damiano standing by the door. For some unknown reason, he scared you so bad you accidentally tipped the bowl and made a mess of the counter.
A frustrated sigh escaped past your lips and you threw your head back, feeling defeated and irritated, “I’m sorry,” Damiano spoke up hesitantly, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
You shook your head and wiped your hands on the apron you had tied around your waist, “It’s fine,” You turned around so your back was to him and started wiping the counter with a damp towel.
“You deserve so much better…” You heard him speak up over the music. His words caught you by surprise. You turned around to look at him but said nothing. You could tell he was nervous by the way his hands trembled by his sides and the way his jaw was firmly clenched.
After a few minutes of hesitation, Damiano started walking to where you were. He placed his hands on the counter by your sides, leaving you trapped in between the counter and his body. You looked into his dark eyes to maybe try and guess what was going through his mind.
You breathed in so deeply your chest hit his. You gulped at that and tried to control your trembling hands without looking away.
“What you said the other day, did you mean it?” Damiano asked, without hesitation this time around. Your eyes widened.
“I-I… What?”
“Just answer me Y/N, please,” Damiano pleaded. He looked so desperate to know the answer, which only made your blood boil. After weeks of silence, of glares and being a jerk, he dared to just show up and demand answers?
You shook your head and pointed your finger at his chest, “How dare you?” You took a step towards him, which made Damiano take a step back, “You have no right to show up like this and ask me to give you answers after how much of an asshole you’ve been.”
He seemed taken aback by your truthful words, but you didn’t care. If he wanted to know how much truth had been behind your words that night, he’d have to hear it all, “You know I’m your best friend and you also know I’d keep up with anything you do because that’s how much I care about you, but can you stop it? I know I was stupid for telling you because of what you just went through and I’m sorry, but please don’t keep giving me the cold shoulder. I just want to fix this.”
After a few minutes of silence, you shrugged and, like it was the simplest thing in the world, spoke up, “And yeah, I meant every word.”
Your expression softened as you waited for any sort of reaction from Damiano. You expected something similar to what had happened the day you first told him. No part of you expected him to cup your face with his warm, calloused palms to bring your face closer to him once again.
Neither did you expect to feel his soft lips pressed against yours, or the feeling of his soft hair as you brushed it back with your fingers and your eyes slowly closing as you basked on the joy and pleasure his soft touches caused.
Damiano was gentle as he held your face in between his hands, almost as if you were made of glass and he was afraid of breaking you into pieces if he didn’t hold you delicately enough. That kiss felt so intimate, like nothing you had ever felt before. Everything from the way he held you to his slow movements and touches was so much better than you could’ve ever imagined.
When he pulled away, he left you completely breathless, wordless. There was nothing you could possibly say after the way he had kissed you, so you waited for him to find the right words instead.
“I’m so sorry, Y/N,” Damiano mumbled. He still hadn’t let go of your face, “You truly deserve better. You are so beautiful, so perfect. I’m so sorry for being such an idiot and hurting you, ignoring you. I just- I know I cannot love you as you deserve. Believe me, I want nothing more than to have you close to me all the time, to kiss your lips until you grow sick of me, but I can’t,” His voice was starting to crack as he said those words to you and you knew it was because of how he saw your face fall.
“No, no, shut up and listen to me,” You pleaded and placed your hands on top of his. You gave them a soft squeeze and let your forehead rest against his, “I know it’s hard for you to trust after what happened with her and I know it’s not going to be easy, but believe me, I’m willing to try if you are, Damiano.”
“You were that other person,” He confessed and got closer to kiss you once more, with as much passion as the last time. You were too concentrated on the smell of his musky cologne and the faint taste of vanilla chapstick he had surely stolen from your room to respond to his comment.
His hands fell from your face and comfortably rested on your hips as his lips attacked yours. Damiano pushed you against the counter and kept savoring the moment as if it were the first and last time he’d kiss you like that. You hoped for your sake it wouldn’t be the last.
Damiano pulled away reluctantly and unexpectedly lifted you up so you’d sit on the counter. He stood in between your legs and intertwined his fingers with yours.
“Remember when I told you about the person I met the day I met Marlee?” You nodded, “That was you... Ever since I met you I’ve felt this inexplicable attraction towards you and it’s been driving me insane. I couldn’t believe it when you told me you loved me because I’ve done nothing to deserve it.”
“You’ve done so much to deserve it, so so much,” You mumbled and brought him close to you to kiss him for the third time. It was such an addicting feeling and both your heart and mind were screaming to feel it again.
That time around, Damiano didn’t hesitate to lift you up once more, he carried you to his room and locked the door.
—
It had been a few weeks since your conversation in the kitchen. Things returned back to normal after that night. Other than your relationship with Damiano, things were the same again. You had to go back to working at ungodly hours of the morning thanks to some suspicious activity Ethan had noticed. Apparently, one of the oldest members of Damiano’s mob had tried to establish a deal with an unknown subject but had been caught before he could accomplish it.
This put you both on edge because there was someone out there desperate to break into the mob and finish it for good. At first, you thought it wasn’t more serious than whatever had happened with Marlee, but Damiano’s father proved you wrong the moment he brought you, their most loyal employee, in for questioning.
It had been nothing too serious, at least not in comparison to what you had heard others say. In your case, it had been done mostly as a standardized protocol, to stop others from thinking there was some sort of preference or special treatment towards you just because you worked so close to Damiano. You knew almost everything Damiano did, so you were possibly the greatest source of information outside the David family and their small circle of friends.
“Amore?” Damiano asked softly as his hand caressed the exposed skin of your waist. You had been cuddling in bed for almost two hours with the excuse that you needed a break after all the hard work you’d done, “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
You turned around to be face to face with him and pressed a kiss to his freckled nose, “Not much. I was just remembering I need to get my ring resized again. I tried putting it on a few days ago and it didn’t fit anymore.
Damiano frowned at your words, “Your soulmate ring?”
“Mhm,” You responded simply and let your head rest on his chest. You enjoyed the feeling of warmth his body irradiated, it was soothing and the soft sound of his rhythmic heartbeat never failed to make you feel calmer.
“Soulmate rings don’t need to be resized, ever. Not that I know of, at least,” Now it was your turn to frown because, as far as you remembered, you had always gone to get your ring resized by a family friend who didn’t live too far away. No one had ever told you it wasn’t necessary.
You pulled away from his embrace and reached for the bedside table where you had been keeping the ring for the past few days. Once you turned back around, Damiano looked confused and almost scared, “Just, out of curiosity, tesoro. Have you ever taken off the ring and left it like far away for longer than a few hours?”
A giggle escaped past your lips at his silly question, “It’s just a piece of jewelry, Dami. Of course, I have, several times.”
You laughed nervously once you saw his horrified expression. Damiano was starting to scare you, but you knew better than to say something because you’d end up looking like a fool if he started laughing and told you it was all a joke. Except, it didn’t seem like one.
“Please get dressed and meet me in room five, okay? I might be going insane but I just need to make sure I’m not,” Before you could ask any questions, Damiano had already grabbed a pair of pants and a t-shirt and disappeared into the bathroom to get dressed.
You tried not to think much about his weird questions and got dressed quickly instead. You grabbed your cup of tea, which had already gone cold, and walked to meeting room five.
You opened the door and were surprised to see all your friends already sitting around the small table you’d use for informal meetings. Thomas and Victoria looked tired and Ethan’s long hair was tangled and messy. That gave you the impression that Damiano had most likely woken them all up for your impromptu meeting.
They all looked just as confused as you felt. There were a lot of questions you wanted to ask, but Ethan beat you to it, “Okay, now that we’re all here can you fucking explain why you had to wake me up? Please.”
“Have any of you three—,” Started Damiano, referring to Thomas, Victoria and Ethan, “—tried to take off your ring for a while but have started feeling sick and weird?”
Thomas and Victoria looked at each other, confused, but nodded. Ethan did after a few seconds of thinking about it, “Yeah, there was actually this one time I went on a date and I didn’t want the girl to see the ring had turned gold, so I left it at home. Thirty minutes later I was puking everywhere. I didn’t really understand why but someone at the Soulmate Centre explained rings are an extension of the soul and they need to be close to us at all times and there are actually records of people dying after losing their rings. Why?”
Damiano looked at you and raised his eyebrows to silently ask if he could share the information with the other three guys. Once you nodded, Damiano spoke up, “Y/N doesn’t need to have it close to them and they need to get it resized every once in a while.”
Ethan shrugged his shoulders, “That’s as far as my knowledge goes. I don’t know. I think the best thing you can do is go to the SC.”
You sighed but nodded. Ethan’s explanation had started to freak you out. What if there was something terribly wrong with you? What if you were born without a ring and your parents lied to you all your life?
—
After having a short conversation with Damiano in private, you decided to follow Ethan’s advice and go to the Soulmate Centre that was only a few minutes away from your house. He wanted to go with you or send someone to watch over you but had accepted your petition to go alone after you told him it was a private matter and you'd tell him all about it once you got back.
So there you were, on the reception of the SC, with your sweaty hands intertwined together as you tried to ignore all the dirty looks people were giving you. Everyone around knew exactly who you were and most weren't one bit pleased to see you there. While some didn't hesitate to look at you like they wanted to kill you, others were afraid to do so.
Those few minutes that passed until the lady at the desk called your name were some of the most uncomfortable of your life. Some part of you hated having the mobster title because that usually gave people the wrong idea and drove them to hate you even if you could proudly say you had done nothing illegal or violent in your whole life. You had to admit the mob wasn’t an ideal job to have morally wise, but you had found a family inside those four walls others doomed to be cursed.
You walked up to the lady. She had what you could interpret as a nervous smile as she stood behind the desk, patiently waiting for you to tell her what had brought you there in the first place. You were hesitant to communicate your issue because you were mortified of finding out a truth that should probably stay hidden.
You reached back and unclasped the chain the ring was looped through. You left it on the counter and smiled softly as you shyly spoke, “So uh, good morning, ma’am. I was hoping you could take a look at my ring, I’m slightly concerned there was something wrong with it.”
The lady nodded and removed the ring from the chain. She inspected it closely for a few minutes before nodding her head towards one of the rooms that said ‘only employees allowed’. She started walking towards it with a quick step and you saw no other choice but to follow right behind her.
She opened the door and quickly closed it with a lock once she verified you were inside, “Listen, the only reason I’m not turning you over to the authorities is because you don’t strike me as someone stupid enough to walk into an SC with a soulmate ring like this.”
Your jaw dropped in surprise at how direct she was being. For a second, you noticed her face fall before she realized it was best to keep a face that communicated seriousness instead of begging for your forgiveness or whatever people did when they pissed Damiano off.
“I don’t know who gave this to you or in which illegal market you bought this but if a higher authority sees you with this, not even Damiano David could save you from the consequences of sporting a fake ring,” She said. You honestly didn’t know how to respond because panic had started to drown out any coherent thought that tried to form on your mind.
You didn’t even try to disguise your panicked expression that time around. Instead, you focused on regulating your breathing and trying to keep all your emotions at bay before you lost control and began to hyperventilate. The other woman noticed your distress almost immediately and led you to sit down on one of the couches.
After you took a few deep breaths, you looked back at her, eager to ask thousands of questions, “How can you know they are fake?”
She sat down next to you and put the ring on your palm, “Look at the inside,” She demanded while pointing her finger to a spot on the inside edge of the ring, “They usually have something engraved inside, a code that only repeats itself twice. Whenever one loses their soulmate, this code vanishes. Your code is still there. I also used a detector to confirm my suspicions and it detected nothing.”
“And with… with that code, can you tell me if my soulmate’s still alive? Or who they are?” The older lady looked at you with pity in her green eyes and shook her head.
“Unless this is the original code engraved on the real ring, there’s not much I can do for you other than telling you how your soulmate is. I need so much more information to ever give you a name,” You nodded in understanding. All you needed to know was if they were alive, that’s all you wanted.
She took your nod as a sign of approval and disappeared into another room. While you waited, you couldn’t help but secretly hope they were dead. You wanted all those weeks of bliss you had spent with Damiano to last a lifetime. He knew everything about you, from the number of scars scattered around your body to what book you had read the most times. No soulmate could learn that about you until years after meeting each other. Besides, it wouldn’t feel right. The Gods had already been too cruel for not making him your soulmate, but now that he wasn’t with Marlee and you knew he loved you just as much as you loved him…
She walked out of the room and cleared her throat to catch your attention. You were thankful for her interruption because you were mere seconds away from bursting into tears of distress. She looked nervous to tell you what she had found out, but the way you looked at her made her spill the truth without any warning.
“Your soulmate is still somewhere out there, alive.”
—
Damiano clutched his side with his hands as every type of curse word spilled from his mouth, “Thomas! Dammit Thomas, where the fuck are you?” He screamed and pushed the ache in his throat and side to the back of his mind as he limped towards the table where his loaded gun was placed, ready to be grabbed and shot.
Things had been perfectly fine just ten minutes back. He had been drinking and playing pool with the boys in the basement. They were all laughing and messing around when Victoria heard the first gunshot. Thomas had been quick to dismiss it as one of the guards practicing his accuracy like they did every once in a while, so they went back to playing the game.
Then they heard it again and again and again. In that time it took the four men to walk up the stairs, people had already successfully broken into the house and they were shooting at anything that moved. The blood-red snake symbol all these people had on the masks that were covering their faces was one he had grown far too familiar with. These were the people Marlee had been conspiring with and they had managed to overthrow every single line of defense in between them and the front door.
Damiano had been in his room fetching a gun when a smoke bomb was thrown into the room. It had stopped him from seeing the person who shot him. Thankfully enough, their vision wasn’t much better either, because the bullet only grazed his side. It was still painful as hell and blood was pouring out of the wound, but it wasn’t going to be anything deadly.
He finally got ahold of his gun after minutes of feeling around the table to try and spot it with the low amount of vision he still had. Once Damiano had it in his hands, he raised the scarf he was wearing to cover the lower part of his face to try and lower the quantity of smoke he inhaled.
He walked out of his room and into the hallway, still holding the gun firmly ready to shoot it at the first person he saw with that red symbol. Damiano opened the door to every room on the third floor. He had to shoot at one or two people before walking down to the floor below. The first room he opened was yours. His eyes went wide as he remembered you were still supposed to be at the SC. Damiano cursed under his breath. He needed to warn you not to come back but to go to your parents’ instead. Damiano opened the tracking app first, a precaution he had been insistent on taking just to make sure you both knew the other was safe.
“Fucking hell,” Damiano mumbled as he saw that blue dot with your name above it was right on the same spot as his. You were back home.
Every thought of investigating each and every room to make sure there was no intruder flew out the window and instead he focused on trying to find you. Everything had turned chaotic on those few minutes he had been in your room, which was why it had gotten harder to get around without finding someone waiting on almost every corner for him to appear.
Damiano heard a piercing scream that made his blood go cold. You were in danger somewhere inside the large home and he desperately needed to get to you, to make sure you were safe from any danger. He knew his friends would be perfectly fine, they had their guns and several types of weaponry close-by, but he knew you didn’t. You always refused to take a gun or dagger with you whenever you went out and if they had caught you right when you had just gotten back… you’d most likely have nothing to defend yourself with.
There was no doubt in his mind that you were witty and incredibly smart, not to mention agile and great at coming up with plans on the spot, but he still needed to make sure you were alright.
He got down on the first floor and his eyes met with a pair of blue ones he knew far too well. He let his eyes trail down to her carmine-tinted shirt. Marlee smiled at him and trailed her thumb along her jawline. That’s when he noticed her hands were also red and she had also left a trail of bloody footsteps from his office to where she was standing. His office.
Damiano didn’t hesitate to point the gun at her leg and pull the trigger. He then aimed for her other leg and shot it. She fell to the floor as an agonizing scream fell from her parted lips. Damiano was satisfied now that her stupid smile had been wiped right off her face.
He quickly ran to the office and opened the door. What he saw inside made time stop. It made all those sounds go silent. It made him feel like there was no floor beneath him to stand on. You were lying on the floor, a dagger piercing your chest.
You looked panicked, sad, like you wanted to do nothing but scream and cry, which you had started doing the moment you saw Damiano walked into the room. He didn’t know if your reaction was out of relief or if there was something else that concerned you, apart from the obvious.
“Damiano,” You spoke up weakly, The sound of your raspy voice was like a slap back into reality. He didn’t waste a second to fall to his knees right by your side. Damiano cupped your face with his trembling hands and brushed your cheek with his thumb.
“Shh. I’m here amore, I’m here,” He responded voice barely above a whisper, “I just need to find something to press against this wound I— something…” He stood up, ready to look for a rag, bandages, anything to stop the blood from rushing out of your body so quickly, but you stopped him.
You wrapped your hand around his arm and with all the strength you had brought him back down, “No hey, stop,” You mumbled, “Unless she happened to study every major artery, vein or has awfully perfect aim, I’ll be dead in minutes.”
He shook his head and wiped the tears that were starting to fall with the back of his hand. He was not giving up. Damiano was not going to let you die, “Wait, no, no. I can do this,” Damiano took his sweater and scarf off. With the help of his scarf, he applied pressure to the wound, careful not to move or dig the dagger further with his movements.
You shook your head and Damiano couldn’t help but cry harder at the desperation and panic in your eyes, “Please, Dami. Stop it, there’s no use. I-I just want you to hold me, please.”
He wiped his runny nose with the back of his hand and nodded repeatedly as he careful cradled you in his arms and moved your head to rest on his lap, “Everything’s going to be okay,” Damiano mumbled and left a long kiss on your forehead, then another one on your cheek and a last one on your lips.
You cupped his face with one of your hands and wiped the tears with your thumb. There wasn’t much left to say, not like you’d be able to talk even if you tried. Instead, you offered him one last sincere smile with all the energy you had left.
He watched in horror as life slowly started to drain out of you as his ring simultaneously turned black. Damiano sat there for minutes after you were gone. He cried and let every frustration, confusion, and pain escape his body with a loud scream.
Damiano didn’t let go of your body until Victoria and Thomas had to forcefully pull him away and let someone else take care of you.
—
Ethan didn’t walk into the room until he made sure every single intruder had been killed, except for Marlee, because Damiano had asked to keep her alive. When he did walk in, all he saw was Damiano with a folder in his hand and multiple pieces of paper scattered around the desk in his room. He looked pale, mortified by everything he was reading. The long-haired man didn’t understand what had gotten his friend in such a state of shock until he walked closer and looked at what seemed to be a contract.
You were Damiano’s soulmate. All your lives you had been tricked into believing you weren’t meant for each other. Your parents had made you believe you had no soulmate and Damiano had been fooled into thinking Marlee was his. You had gotten right to the bottom of it all and the secret would’ve gone to the grave with you if you hadn’t left the papers lying on his desk and if he had left his ring on the pocket of his jeans like he usually would. But now it was far too late to do anything about it.
#damiano david x reader#damiano david x y/n#damiano david x you#damiano david fanfiction#maneskin x reader#maneskin fanfiction
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secret!sub!jonny, and pat finally finds out!
Jonny is acting weird. Like, really weird. They won the cup less than three weeks ago- Jonny should barely be sober, should be reaping the rewards of captaining the team to a second cup: free drinks, the admiration of the entire city, and the bevy of subs quite literally throwing themselves at his feet whenever he steps out of his front door. And sure, Jonny had seemed to enjoy it all for the first week or so, going out with the guys, letting them douse him in champagne, giving throaty victory speeches at the parade and chugging beers that adoring fans tossed at him.
But the fun seemed to melt away pretty quickly after that, with Jonny getting tense and twitchy. He’d still go out with the team, probably because he knew Pat would physically drag him out if he tried to bow out this early in the celebrations. But he was distant, constantly checking his phone, eyes taking on a faraway look that was almost familiar to Pat, though he couldn’t figure out why. And despite the gorgeous men and women who approached Jonny every night, Pat didn’t think he’d picked up even once.
It was one thing to hold off during the playoffs; Jonny was big on focusing and not being distracted, and “not wasting unnecessary energy, Pat.” Sure, planning a scene could take a little work sometimes, which Pat never minded, even during playoffs, but he understood that Jonny had always felt differently about that. But it was the off-season now, and they had weeks until they needed to start thinking about upping their training or even going to the convention. Now was the time to indulge. Pat certainly was; day-drinking, golf and baseball games during the hot summer days, a different sub in his bed most nights.
Jonny had never really talked about his hook-ups in the locker room, not the way some guys did, visceral play-by-plays of all the paces they put their subs through, but Pat had always assumed he was just a gentleman, didn’t want to kiss and tell. Or, well, spank and tell, or whatever. But he’d never have predicted that Jonny would turn celibate when his popularity in the city had never been higher. Last night, an actual Playboy model, one who Pat recognized immediately, spent close to an hour hitting on Jonny, standing close, looking up at him adoringly through her lashes, stroking his shoulders and snuggling herself under his arm whenever Jonny moved. Instead of taking her up on the incredibly obvious come-on, Jonny looked even more awkward than usual. Pat watched as Jonny shifted himself away from her, putting distance between them, angling his body away from hers, eyes wary and back rigid. The girl gave it her all but finally realized it wasn’t going to happen tonight, walking away from Jonny in her four-inch heels and showing off an ass that nearly made Patrick cry with envy.
Even from across the bar, Pat could see how tightly Jonny’s jaw was clenched, the tension radiating from his body. Pat watched as Jonny threw back the rest of his drink and turned, walking right past their table and out of the bar. He didn’t even throw a glance in their direction, heading straight into the street. Pat exchanged confused looks with the rest of the guys, but no one seemed to have an answer for Jonny’s behavior. Pat pulled out his phone, looking for a text from Jonny to at least say he was heading out. He had a lot of offers to party, and text threads with most of the team that just amounted to them texting “we won the cup!!!” back and forth every day, but nothing from Jonny. Pat sent him a quick “everything ok, man?” but then let himself be distracted by the boys.
In the morning, well, afternoon, to be honest, when Pat woke up, he still hadn’t heard anything from Jonny, and seriously, that was enough. Whatever was going on with him was getting worse instead of better, and Pat was sick of it. He had nothing on his schedule for the day, and he decided that he was going to drag the truth out of Jonny one way or another. He usually texted Jonny to let him know he was coming over, but at this point, he was worried Jon might actually throw the deadbolt on him. No, the element of surprise was definitely what he needed.
He thought about bringing food as a peace offering, but if Jon was already feeling off for whatever reason, he probably wouldn’t appreciate the gesture. Providing like that was something that doms did for their subs, and while Pat and Jonny didn’t really let that stop them most of the time, Pat didn’t want to start things off on the wrong foot. Better to make sure Jonny felt comfortable in his own space before Pat started digging for answers.
Pat walked the few blocks to Jonny’s apartment, rolling over possibilities in his mind on the way. Jonny definitely wasn’t seeing anyone, so relationship trouble wasn’t on the list. He’d just seen Jonny’s family when they were in town for the parade, and they were all doing great, his parents enjoying their retirement and David back in school studying sports management. They shared the same agent, and Jonny had been on fire during the playoffs, so their contracts shouldn’t be a concern, either. By the time Pat arrived at Jonny’s apartment, he was no closer to an answer than when he started, but starting to worry even more. If it wasn’t something obvious, but it was still stressing Jonny out this badly, maybe it was serious. Could Jonny be sick? A wave of horror washed over Pat as he remembered a few hard hits Jonny had taken over the six weeks of playoff hockey. Maybe the concussion was back? He hurried in the front door of Jonny’s building, unable to wait any longer.
Jon’s doorman waved at him, asking if Pat wanted him to call up to Jon, but Pat shook his head, grateful when the doorman just nodded and pointed towards the elevator bank. Pat had to stop himself from pacing back and forth in the small space, focused on taking a few deep breaths, fighting his growing sense of panic.
He barely waited for the doors to open before he was off, half-jogging down the hallway to Jonny’s apartment. He grabbed his keyring, flipped to Jonny’s and unlocked the door, giving a quick knock as he walked in.
Jonny was sitting on his couch, leaning forward with his elbows propped on his knees, head hanging between them. He looked… fragile, almost, like he was struggling to hold himself together. Small, in a way that Jonny never was.
“Hey, man,” Pat started, and Jonny’s head bolted upright, clearly surprised. Jonny’s apparent shock made Pat even more uncomfortable; a dom should never be caught by surprise like that in his own space, should always be acutely aware of his surroundings, ready to defend them at a moment’s notice. Admittedly, Jonny’s high-rise, protected as it was by a 24/7 security desk and locked door, wasn’t exactly vulnerable, but Jon’s inattention still made Pat’s skin crawl with unease.
“Pat,” Jonny said, looking away quickly, and that, too, was unusual, the lack of eye contact a startling departure for Jonny. “I, uh, wasn’t expecting company,” he continued, and his voice was quiet, projected towards the floor rather than Pat.
Pat was at a loss for words, unsure of what to say and unsettled at Jon’s behavior. He waited for Jonny to fill the silence, but Jon didn’t say anything else, didn’t even get up to offer Pat a bro-hug or a drink, just kept hanging his head, fidgeting with his hands so much that Pat longed to go over to him, grasp Jonny’s hands in his own and settle him down. He shook his head once, trying to get a handle on himself. Doms didn’t need “settling down,” not from other doms, at least, and Pat didn’t know where the urge had come from. Jonny just wasn’t acting much like a dom right now, and it was messing with Pat.
The silence hung in the air for a few more moments, and then Jonny visibly gathered himself, taking a deep breath and looking up at Pat.
“Sorry, man,” he said, voice flat but sounding a little more like himself. He gestured down at his phone and continued “just got a text from Dan. His grandfather died, and he has to go to France for a few weeks, handle the estate.” His voice trailed off at the end, eyes taking on that same familiar look Pat had been noticing recently. Pat waited for more of an explanation, but none came. He knew that Dan was Jonny’s childhood best friend, that they usually hung out when Jonny went back to the Peg over the summer, but he had no idea why his grandfather’s death was hitting Jonny so hard.
“Sucks, man. You guys were close, then?” Pat guessed, unable to come up with another reason why Jonny seemed so upset.
“No. I’d never actually met him, he moved back to France like thirty years ago.”
Pat was even more confused now, but he kept his mouth shut, waiting for an explanation. Jon’s shoulders hunched down even further, like he didn’t have the strength to hold himself up anymore.
“I just... usually, Dan and I..” Jonny was struggling, words forced out a few at a time, breath coming more quickly, “we.. he.. He helps me out,” Jonny finished, and his voice broke on the last word. He turned to look at Pat, then, and he looked impossibly young, expression crumpled and miserable. His eyes were wide and lost, filling with tears, and Pat saw fear there. Fear that he knew he would never see from a dom, but that his hindbrain recognized right away.
Later, he was so incredibly thankful that he moved on instinct, ignoring six years of etiquette, decorum and careful boundaries. Ignoring all of it in his haste to get his hands on Jonny. At the time, it felt impossible to do anything else. He was at Jonnys’s side in just a few steps, dropping onto the couch next to him, cupping the back of his neck with one hand and pulling Jonny down into his chest. Soothe, his mind insisted. Make it better. Make him safe. And Pat did, holding Jonny close, stroking his hair with one hand while the other rubbed circles on his back.
“It’s ok, baby, I’ve got you,” Pat whispered. He didn’t know what exactly he was expecting, for Jonny to fight him, maybe, jerk away and ask what the fuck Pat thought he was doing. Pat felt the strong muscles of Jonny’s back tense under his hand for just a few seconds before his entire body melted, letting Pat take his weight.
Pat kept them there, pet names and praise falling easily from his lips, as he felt the world snap into place. It almost made sense, now. Jonny rarely picked up, never talked about his hook-ups. He flushed red in the locker room sometimes, and darted his gaze away when reporters complimented him. He was unusually touchy with his family, letting his mother muss his hair and kiss his forehead, letting David push him around. Taken together like that, and stripping away the underlying assumption that Jonny had to be a dom, it painted a pretty clear picture of what Jonny had desperately been trying to hide all of these years.
Fuck.
A sub. Jonny was a sub. A sub who was desperate for a kind touch and a sweet word right now. Pat remembered that strange phone call from last summer, when Jonny sounded so fucked out, calling him ‘Patrick’ before Dan took the phone away, and the last piece slotted into place. Dan must be Jonny’s dom, or at least a dom that Jonny felt comfortable submitting to, probably the only one. It explained why he always disappeared to Winnipeg right after the season, virtually unreachable for a week. And it explained why Jonny was so upset that Dan would be out of the country. Pat figured Jonny had been getting by on sheer determination, willing himself to just make it back to Winnipeg where he could finally let go, finally be himself, and finding out today that that wouldn’t happen must have broken him.
Shit, judging by how easily Jonny was accepting his touch, he probably hadn’t submitted for close to a year now. Pat couldn’t imagine getting up every day, making it through four brutal rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, playing his heart out and leaving it all on the ice the way that Jonny had done while fighting down the instinct and desire to submit. Never being able to let go the way his body would have been demanding, yearning for. Never being able to let his guard down for an instant, always vigilant against people finding out. Pat was filled with pride at Jonny’s strength, but there was an unfamiliar feeling of shame, as well. Unfamiliar, but not unknown, and Pat recognized it as the feeling he got when he’d let his sub down. When someone had put their complete trust in him and he was found undeserving of it. Jonny wasn’t his sub, but Pat still felt responsible for him now. He knew Jonny better than anyone, and he’d been blind to this secret that seemed so obvious now.
Jonny stirred against his chest, and Pat stroked a hand under his chin, tilted his head up to look at him. Jon’s pupils were blown wide, eyes glassy, cheeks a rosy, delicious pink. Pat had never seen a sub look more beautiful in his submission.
He wanted Jonny to get whatever he needed out of this, knew it was what was right for Jon’s physical and mental wellbeing to let him stay in subspace, but the couch was getting uncomfortable. He looked around for a kneeler for Jon before realizing that there weren’t any. Weren’t any accessories, actually- no cushions, no cuffs strewn around, no paddles or crops, and his heart broke again at what Jonny was depriving himself of for hockey. For the team. For Pat.
Pat reached behind him, hands grabbing for a pillow from the back of the couch. He found one, dropping it on the floor, and nudged Jonny gently. Jon’s eyes opened slowly, eyelids fluttering like he was dragging them against a heavy weight, and his breathing was slow and deep. His brow creased as he looked up at Pat.
“Patrick?” he asked, and that one word came out in such a honey-sweet reverent tone that Pat knew immediately he never wanted to hear anyone else say it again.
“Yea, baby, I’m right here. Just want you to be comfortable,” Pat answered, gesturing down at the pillow at his feet.
“Is,” Jonny cleared his throat, “is this ok?”
“Sweetheart, it’s perfect. You’re perfect.”
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Her Majesty's Men 7 | Mason Mount
Word Count: 1,415
Warnings: declan being an ass, more stripping, more mason/reader sexual tension xx
- - -
Her Majesty’s Men take off after that.
Victoria makes one Instagram post about her night spent at the club, and suddenly, everyone is showing up. Women come from all over England just to see them perform. Suddenly, money is coming from all directions. Stonesy is able to hire a PR team and an agency that starts talking about the tour.
It all gets so big so fast.
Money Mase and Dangerous Deccers start making house calls to bring in extra press. It’s exhausting but the money can sometimes be even better than a weeknight at the club, and now they need the money because Stonesy thought they should only do Thursday-through-Sunday shows.
They knock on the door of the mansion in front of them, the music blaring even behind the closed door. The two of them are dressed up like the City of London Police, looking intimidating when a woman answers. “Hello, Officers. Can I help you?”
“D’You live here, Ma’am?”
“Well, uh, no, but I-”
“That’s fine,” Mason says, pushing past her and stepping inside. “We’ve been getting complaints of noise and underage drinking here. Is everyone over age?”
The room is full of women well over-eighteen and they all nod. “Well, we’re gonna have to see some ID all the same,” Mason continues, pointing in the direction of the room filled with women. “Can you accompany me in here, please. When’s your birthday, Ma’am?”
“Uh, M-May,” she stutters, so flustered by this intrusion she forgets her own birthday.
“You are definitely not eighteen. I’m gonna need you to place your hands on the wall; spread your legs. Everybody sit down - we’re gonna be here a while. Now, do you have anything sharp on you that I could stick myself with?”
“N-no, Sir.”
“Good. Because I do.” That was the cue for Mason to rip off the tear-away pants, leaving him in briefs with the toolbelt still around his waist. Declan turned up the music as the women started to cheer. He spotted Victoria in the crowd, giving her a wink and a nod before he turned back to her friend and finished up the lapdance.
The two men worked the room, money flying everywhere as they thrust their hips and flexed their muscles. Victoria was the last woman left, spreading her legs eagerly as Declan sauntered over to her. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he started the lapdance, rutting against his barely-covered cock-
“What the HELL is going on?!” Came David Beckham’s voice.
The music shut off, everyone suddenly freezing where they stood. Time stopped.
“David, I-”
“No! I don’t wanna hear it!” David was furious, the centre of his rage focused solely on Victoria and Declan. “You told me it was one time, Victoria! You told me I’d never have to see this… this boy again, yet here he is in MY HOUSE!” David stormed towards Declan, shoving him. “Get the fuck off my wife!”
“Whoa whoa whoa, what’s going on?” Mason cut in, throwing himself between Declan and the football legend. “We just got a call to come to this house party, and-”
“What you ‘got’ was a call from my wife to get her little boy-toy over here so she can have an excuse to fuck him in our bed. I want him out of my house!” David roared, advancing on Mason now.
“O-Okay,” Mason said, holding his hands up in surrender. “We’re leaving right now. Dec? C’mon.”
“No.” Declan’s face was hard, defiant as he stepped towards David. “Victoria told me you were okay with this. I don’t know what she told you, but that’s what she told me.” Declan got in David’s face. “I’ll leave, but you haven’t seen the last of me.”
Declan let Mason drag him out by the arm, the adrenaline racing through both of them.
“What the hell was that, Dec?!” Mason shouted as the two of them drove back to Declan’s place. “Victoria Beckham?! Really?! How long has this been going on?!”
“Since the fundraiser. She seduced me.”
“And you let it happen? Fuck, Dec, I thought you knew better than that!”
“I thought I did, too, mate, but she… god, she really knows her way around a man’s cock. Stonesy was right: this investment was a great idea.”
“No, Dec! No, it wasn’t! God, don’t you see what Stonesy has turned you into?”
“Yes, I have, Mase! He’s made me a goddamn star! I thought I’d never get to hear crowds of people chanting and screaming my name again, but here we are! They. Love. Me. Me, Mase! I didn’t think that was gonna be possible again after I lost football, but John’s done it.”
“John?! Since when do we call him anything but Stonesy?! Fuck, Dec. You might know who you are now, but I sure as hell don’t.”
The rest of the drive was spent in tense silence, both men fuming at the other. Mason pulled into the drive, cutting the engine. He banged on the door of your place, breathing a sigh of relief when you answered. “I’ve got your brother.”
“What happened?” Concern instantly makes its way onto your face. You want to reach out and comfort Mason, but you don’t. The two of you have barely interacted since your almost-kiss, but something about his demeanor tells you that he needs you.
“I don’t know the full story, but we’ve just come from the Beckhams’ and-”
“Wait. As in ‘David and Victoria Beckham’ the Beckhams’?”
“Uh, yeah. And, apparently, your brother has been shagging Victoria for the last few I-don’t-know-how-many months.”
“He’s what?!”
“Yeah.” Mason gave you a wide-eyed look. “Things got a bit heated tonight. I tried to talk to him on the drive, but he’s so far gone on Stonesy’s little fucked-up plan to take us out of London that I don’t-”
“Wow. It’s really gonna be like that, eh?” Declan glared at Mason and then turned his attention to you. “Money Mase has you so wrapped around his finger, doesn’t he? Is this all part of your plan to turn everyone against me? God, mate, my own sister?! You think me screwing Vic is bad but you’re shagging my sister?! That’s low, even for you.”
“Mason’s not shagging me, Dec! And really? Victoria Beckham?! Look at yourself! I thought this was going to be a bridge from football onto your next thing. I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Expecting what? Me to be a star?! Well, wake the fuck up, bitch! I’m a star! Dangerous Deccers is a goddamn star! The women scream for me, they cheer for me! And Victoria Beckham is shagging me over her goddamn husband! So, who’s the real winner here, ‘cause it certainly doesn’t seem like it’s either of you two.” Declan growled, pushing past you and into the house.
“Wow!” You whispered, sharing a look with Mason.
“Yeah…” Mason trailed off, letting out a sigh as he scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry he called you a bitch.”
“It’s not your fault, but thanks. I doubt he’ll apologize in the morning, anyway. When he gets like this, he-” you paused, shaking your head. “Well, anyway. Thanks.” Without thinking, you hugged him, wrapping your arms around his waist. “Thanks for bringing him here and just for… everything, really.”
“My pleasure,” he replied, running a soothing hand up your back. “I was just looking out for Dec. I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”
“I know you didn’t. It’s okay, Mase. Really.” You looked up at him, taking his face in your hands. Your eyes searched his face before you pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Good night.”
“Can we go out sometime? A proper date. I wanna take you out.”
“Mason,” you sighed, releasing him as you stepped back. “You know we can’t. I’m me and you’re-”
“A stripper? You can say it, ya know. It’s not a bad thing. I told you once before, it’s how I pay the bills; it’s not who I am.”
“I know. But you’re also Dec’s best friend.”
“Forget about all that. If I was just some random guy you met and you didn’t know who I was and I wasn’t your brother’s best friend, would you go out with me?”
You bit down on your bottom lip. “Yes. I would.”
Mason smiled wide and your stomach dipped. “Give me a month, and just promise me that when I show up here again, you’ll say yes to a date?”
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Between the Lines || X
PAIRING: Steve Rogers & Fem!Reader (Platonic) / Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader / Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader / Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader x Wanda Maximoff
Summary: Vampire AU. Life has changed drastically since the 1600s. Things are always on the move, and you’ve been very careful to not get on SHIELDs radar. Living on the down-low owning a café, you’re content to live out a quiet existence. That is until the Avengers enter your life.
[Set after the New York Invasion, in CAWS, and goes up to AoU. Canon divergent after.]
Warnings: This series will contain smut(**), poly-relationship, and dark themes.
Note: Oof I came back and DELIVERED 👏👏 it’s really long I’m sorry. I legit said we’re ending this arc today LOL
PART I || PART II || PART III || PART IV || PART V || PART VI || PART VII || PART VIII || PART IX
PART X of XX
Count: 11,007
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There's something about the way the golden sky hits the horizon of this quiet countryside field.
It's quiet.
At least in comparison to the city.
You like the tall grass that surrounds the stand-alone home. The air is cleaner, crisper. There's a serene peace that settles in the area, and it makes you nostalgic for things you haven't had.
You can hear children running around inside, and the sink running in the kitchen along with food sizzling. Looking over at Natasha, there's a softness that has fallen over her face, a look you're somewhat familiar with, but in a different context.
This might be home for her, too, you realize.
"A safe house?" Tony tilts his head as everyone stares at the farmhouse.
"Let's hope," Clint mutters as everyone enters into the house. "Honey, I'm home!"
You tilt your head, curious when the woman you assume to be Clint's wife walks into the kitchen. You knew she was carrying based on the conversation you overhead, but you were still surprised to find her heavily pregnant.
She was due soon.
"Hi, company," Clint says in a rush as he gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry, I didn't call ahead."
"Hey," the woman replies as she kisses Clint. You hear Tony make a comment to Thor about the strangeness of this, but you were focused on her stomach.
You tilted your head as you could hear its heartbeat.
"Gentlemen and gentle...women," Clint stares at you and Natasha. "This is Laura. My wife."
"I know all your names," Laura smiles while everyone looks at her rather awkwardly because no one but Natasha, you and, David knew about her.
David seemed the most curious, but he has always loved kids and got along with them easily.
"You're due soon," he tells Laura with a smile as he sneaks around you to stand closer to inspect Laura respectfully.
"You can tell?" Laura looks down at her stomach as David nods.
"Yes," he says. "A couple months at the most."
"How can you tell?" Laura asks as you hear tiny rumbling footsteps running towards this room.
"We can smell it," David informs her.
"Incoming," Clint says, kneeling down as his son and daughter excitedly burst into the room.
"Dad!" His daughter jumps in Clint's arm. Clint picks her up as he stands and kisses his son's head.
"Tinier agents," Tony blinks at the scene while Steve looks completely flabbergasted.
"This is Lila and Cooper," Clint smiles softly.
"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" The little girl says, and Natasha turns as she smiles.
"Why don't you hug her and find out?" Natasha starts to walk while Lila runs into her arms.
Natasha picks her up with ease, holding her close as she kisses Lila on the cheek. She comes back to you and tense ever so slightly before you relax.
Of course, you spent a lot of time with Allison as you took care of her, but sometimes, being around young kids would cause just a quick flashback of the ones you couldn't save.
Natasha smiles at you, and you return it lightly.
"This is Lila," Natasha introduces you to her and then telling Lila your name.
"Is she your friend?" Lila asks as she stares at you, and Natasha laughs.
"Yes, she's...my special friend," Natasha looks at you with a smirk to which you roll your eyes gently in response.
"I like your braids," you tell Lila softly, who smiles shyly at you in thanks.
"Sorry to drop by in like this," Steve says to Laura.
"Yeah, we would've, but we were too busy not knowing you existed," Tony chirped in.
Clint smiles as he stands next to his wife and has his hand on Cooper's shoulder.
"Yeah, Fury helped me set this up and kept it off SHIELD's files. I'd like to keep it that way, I figured this is a good place to lay low."
Laura laughed suddenly, and everyone turned to see David giving family photos to her.
"Okay, as low as we can," Clint corrects.
Natasha sets down Lila as she drags you closer to Laura.
"Ah, honey, I missed you," Laura pulls Natasha into a hug before giving you a kind smile.
Your nose twitches as you get closer, and you can smell Laura's pregnancy in more detail.
"And how's little Natasha?" Natasha coos as she bends down to touch Laura's stomach gently.
"You mean Nathaniel?" David snickers and you elbow him in the rib.
"What?" Natasha says as she stands up, looking at David before she turns back to Laura.
"Sorry," Laura gives her an apologetic look that confirms what David said.
Natasha leans back down to Laura's stomach, "Traitor."
"Thor," Steve calls out.
You turn your attention as Thor leaves the house with Steve following him.
You hear Thor say how he saw something in his dream and how he won't find his answers here before flying off.
Everyone seems to have reached their limit and wants to get some rest. You, Natasha, and David decided to stay in one room since the two of you don't sleep. David said he'd be out working on a lot of other things anyways.
"Mind if I shower first?" He asks you and Natasha.
"Go for it," Natasha nods.
"If you use all the hot water, I'll kill you," you tell him, and David just pretends to look offended that you would even insinuate he would before walking off.
You could hear Clint and Laura talking in the next room where he's updating her on the mission and what he'll do once this mission is done. You try to drown it out as you turn and focus on Natasha before you.
"How are you feeling?" You ask softly as you lift your hand to her face.
Natasha presses more firmly into your hold. A part of her wishes she could feel the warmth of your actual hand, but she doesn't want to push you, and you were clearly nowhere ready to touch her with your bare hands.
It didn't stop her from fantasizing about it, though.
"Better," Natasha rasps, "I've stopped hearing the lingering voices."
You nodded, using your thumb to stroke her cheek.
"How was it?" Natasha asks, breaking the silence, and you know what she's referring to.
Slowing dropping your hand, you went to sit at the seat beside the window.
"It was..." you sighed, "I don't know. Hard."
Natasha takes a seat next to you, combing her fingers through your hair, and your eyes fluttered at the serene feeling.
"Talk to me," Natasha softly says. She knows you've probably been refraining from trying to talk about it with her after that night. You must think she may not like it.
But Natasha doesn't care about such things like that. Tatyana was a big part of your life, and even though you haven't said anything about it yet, Natasha knows Wanda will be too.
In what capacity will depend on what you'll allow, what you think Natasha will allow.
"I suppose...I didn't expect her to look so much like Tatyana," you smile weakly. "Looking at her is like nearly looking at a spitting image. Pietro has similar features, being twins, but it's easier to ignore that he's a descendant."
Natasha nods, understanding as she continues to comb through your hair.
"I'm still working on confirming something," you tell her honestly.
"And if what you suspect is true?" Natasha asks.
You purse your lips.
"Then, we have a new set of problems."
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
The day continues on, and everyone, for the most part, has freshened up. You leave Natasha to her own devices with showering even though earlier she had given you a look that suggested that they could save water if they showered together.
You had felt a hot liquid pool form in your lower stomach as you licked your lips.
But now was neither nor the time to engage in such activities, though you did give her a languid kiss before excusing yourself.
You could hear Tony and Steve talking--passive-aggressively arguing outside. You were about to go out to break it up when your eyes honed in on something.
"Just great," you huffed under your breath as you headed out to the field where there was a tractor.
"Thank you, Laura," a deep voice spoke as he caught your eye as you came up to them.
Laura greeted you, and you nodded in response as she slipped out to do her task.
"Maria tell you to come out here?" You asked, looking at Nick Fury.
"She thought it would be best for me to assess the situation," he shrugs. "I wanted a little word with Stark, anyways."
You shake your head. "Your words will mean nothing to him, you know."
"Then perhaps I should talk with you," Fury redirects. "I hear you're quite involved with this case."
You remain silent, not taking his bait.
"What do you suggest I do?" Fury says, curious about what you'll say.
Before you could answer, you hear Tony approaching, catching the two of you after looking at the tractor.
"Ah, Mrs. Barton, that little minx. What are the two of you doing here? Did Maria call you?" Tony asks as he turns to look at Fury.
"Artificial intelligence, you didn't even hesitate," Fury cocked his brow at Tony.
You tune out the two of them talking as you focus your attention elsewhere. You could hear Steve a little ways away, still ripping woods apart with his bare hands. Inside the house, you could hear the water being turned off, indicating that Natasha was done with her shower, and you decided you would go in soon to shower yourself before helping where you could.
"--you didn't," you catch the end of what Fury said before the man walked off, leaving you alone with the genius billionaire.
He was frustrated--annoyed, you could tell by just looking at his face. The light grimace and pinch between his eyebrow were a clear indication.
Tony catches you staring at him, looking miffed as he peers at you.
"Well, I suppose you have something to say, too, huh?" Tony mutters.
You take a long minute to stare at him, his conversation with Fury not lost on you.
"Not really," you say in the end. "Nothing I haven't already told you, anyways."
"Right, like my ego being too big, and I'm not the be-all, end-all."
You shrug. "No one is the be-all, end-all. If the world had to only rely on one man, we would've gone extinct before cavemen even had the chance to evolve."
"And I'm the man that's going to cause that," Tony persisted.
"No," you shook your head. "You know as well as I do that it was only your fear being shown to you."
"Do I?" Tony scoffed. "All I know is that I saw all my friends dead, and I caused it because I couldn't save them. Who are you to say it's not the future I saw?"
"Because she can't show you the future!" You burst at him, grimacing at your own outburst. You sigh, closing your eyes and pinching the bridge of your nose. "That's not what her power is. In the best-case scenario, she can use telepathy to read your mind to experience your memories and thoughts, and then using that to project hallucinations onto you. In the worst-case scenario, she can use her powers to alter reality to make what she wants to come true. I don't think she's there yet."
"And how do you know all that?" Tony asks, narrowing his eyes at you.
"You know that I came on this mission for my own personal reasons."
"And what? That Maximoff girl is your personal reason?"
"They both are," you tell him. "Her powers aren't entirely unfamiliar to me. Different, yes, I imagine from the scepter, but not unfamiliar."
"I don't see the difference between her powers and my future." Tony blinks at you.
You grumbled, sighing as you try to explain. "It means, dumbass, that Wanda either doesn't realize that she can alter reality or that she doesn't have enough control of her powers to do so yet. I'm betting it's a mix of the two. I felt it when I fought with her. She's chaotic, and her powers are unrefined. Because of that, she can only snoop into your mind and then send you your worst fear in the form of a hallucination. You weren't shown the future, Tony, you were emotionally exploited."
You wanted Tony to understand, not so sure why you were so concerned with it. Tony, like everyone else, was a complex person with a multitude of different faces and layers. On the surface, he was a nonchalant, cocky dickhead (though, you were also sure some of that was truly him on the inside too), but he was also someone who cared.
A lot.
And people who tend to care a lot always overdid everything to protect everything and everyone they care about.
Tony was already hurting.
And Wanda was making it worse.
It was a painful reminder that Tatyana had hurt people too, and you couldn't stop her.
"How do you know that isn't the future for sure? How can you confirm that's not my legacy?" Tony murmurs quietly, looking at the sky as if the low volume would allow him to admit his fear without you hearing.
You stare at him for a long minute, biting your tongue before you draw a long sigh that gets Tony's attention.
Tony watches you, taking off one glove, pressing your lips together as you do so.
You hold out your hand to him.
"If you tell Natasha I touched you before her, I'll break your dick."
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
Dinner is a pleasant affair. You had gone back into the kitchen swiftly after finishing your talk with Tony. Laura was starting to make dinner, and you let her know not to worry about you and David as the two of you don't eat.
You had taken a step out with David while everyone was bustling around before dinner. It had been a while since you last fed, and you had a feeling things were going to start happening back to back, and you needed to be prepared for it.
The two of you headed into town to the nearest hospital, compelling a nurse to bring you both a blood bag to feed on and forget.
It wasn't a lot, but it would be enough to get through the mission without damage, hopefully. You didn't want to end up taking too much from the hospital and causing a problem, even though the two of you were too far from your own stash.
It would've been better to go to a blood bank, but this town was so small they didn't have one.
You were sitting closely next to Natasha as she ate her dinner, your arm around her, and you fought the urge to hide your face into her neck.
"You should head to NEXUS in Oslo to pick up JARVIS," David tells Tony.
"Is that where he is?" Tony hums. "Smart guy to head to the fastest internet hub on the earth. I'm such a proud dad," Tony pretends to tear up.
"Great, you got one good kid and one fuck up, classic!" You say over Natasha's head while Tony scrunches his nose at you.
"Why did I come?" Fury muttered rather loudly. Seems like all the information he was bringing was already brought up by David.
"For a good time, boss. But you wouldn't happen to have anything else, would you?" Natasha pulled a piece of her bread apart.
"I have you," Fury shrugged. "We ain't got nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. So stand up and take out that platinum bastard."
"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha teases.
"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve jokingly threatens while she smiles mischievously at him.
You had been only half-focusing on the conversation at hand, jumping in here and there to throw in remarks. You were thrumming your fingers at your side quietly.
There was something about that first night you had all encountered Ultron.
"So, what does he want?" Fury asked.
"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies," Steve licked his bottom lip.
"Person bodies. We're outmoded, biologically speaking, but he keeps coming back to it," Tony leaned back in his chair.
"He wants the human race to evolve; therefore, he needs to evolve himself," Banner mused.
"I don't think evolving the human race is his goal," David muttered.
"How's he going to do that?" Fury asked.
And then it occurred to you.
"Has anyone talked to Dr. Cho?" You pursed your lips.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
There was a lot of noise as everyone was getting ready to leave the Barton household.
Thor was still out on his own, so no one held high hopes he would be coming back for this one.
"Alright, I'll head to you guys as soon as I collect JARVIS from NEXUS," Tony, lets everyone know.
"I'll take David and Banner to the Stark Tower," Fury said. " "Mind if I borrow Miss Hill?"
"All yours," Tony nodded. "What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know, something dramatic, I hope," Fury shrugs.
"Alright, everyone else goes with me," Steve attached his shield onto his back.
You nod as you stood next to Natasha.
"You know, I miss the days when I was the weirdest thing science created," Steve mused.
"What do you mean?" You looked at him with a smirk. "You still are."
"I swear to God--"
"Swearing is not good, Steve," Natasha joined in on the teasing.
"I hate you both," Steve shook his head with a good spirit.
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There was something that rubbed you the wrong way when you entered the laboratory.
Sparks from exposed wires filled the air, and you could smell blood and hear the shallow breathing of a woman.
You recognized the scent.
"Dr. Cho is in there," you say quietly for Steve to hear, and the two of you race in to see that she was sitting on the floor, resting against a cabinet as she was clutching her stomach tightly. She had blood dripping from her head and lips, but she was still alive.
"Dr. Cho!" Steve called out as he race to her, bending down to see if she was okay.
"He's uploading himself into the body," Dr. Cho heavily breathes. "You can't just destroy the cradle. You need to get it to Stark."
"I got to find it first," Steve tells her.
"Go," she nods in the direction of outside. He purses her lip at her, but she nods to let Steve know she'll be okay.
He starts to head out but then looks at you.
"I'll catch up," you say offhandedly as you bend down to assess the doctor.
She was bleeding profusely through her stomach, where Ultron shot her. Dr. Cho had done her best to stop the bleeding, but it started to soak through the cloth. You looked around to find her technicians dead, and you frowned.
"Maybe I will get your venom after all," Dr. Cho says with a smirk, bringing your attention back to her.
You cocked your brow at her with a smile. "It's quite the risqué position. I don't know if my girlfriend would like that."
"I'm sure she won't mind you helping a frail, dying girl," Dr. Cho jokes but winces in pain shortly after.
You snort at the word frail but lick your lips nonetheless. "Listen, Doc, I don't wanna catch you doing experiments on yourself after getting my venom, alright?"
She nods, and you lift her hand away along with the cloth. You lower herself down her body, feeling the venom pool in your mouth.
You hear her breath hitch, and you're not sure if it's because she's in pain. You remind yourself you need to be careful. While you could drink the blood that was pouring out from Dr. Cho, you opted not to.
Dr. Cho realized this as you were carefully licking her wound, feeling something amazing happening on her skin under your mouth as she was being healed.
"What a loyal girlfriend you are," Dr. Cho mutters.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
"I'm always picking up after you boys," Natasha grunts as she Steve's shield and gives it to you to hold.
You were on your way to Steve when Natasha dropped from the sky on a motorbike, and you found yourself hopping on the back of it as she passed you.
"Seriously, Steve, I've seen people treat their trash better than how often you drop this thing," you joke.
"Little busy, guys," Steve grunts back, "wouldn't say no to some help."
As you get closer to the truck where Ultron and Steve are, you whip his shield to him, and Steve uses it to knock Ultron's arm off of him. Ultron falls, catching sight of you two and uses his power to lift a piece of the ground up to stop Natasha in her tracks.
"Go!" Natasha tells you, and you get up on the motorbike before using your strength to propel yourself onto the truck as you leap.
Ultron sees you and immediately uses his ability to manipulate gravity to launch himself towards you.
But if Pietro was too quick for him, you were just a step behind. You blur to the side, back kicking him with a brute amount of force as Ultron passed you.
The strength of the kick alone had done a lot of damage. Your foot had impaled him halfway as he passed, bolts, and gears falling out of the hole you created.
"Look at us," you look at Steve, "we're a dream team."
"I always wanted to tag team with you," Steve smiles.
"Of course you do," you say as if it was obvious, "I'm your favorite."
"Ugh!" Ultron screams as he flies into Steve's direction this time, but Steve uses the momentum to take them both into the train that was moving next to them.
You followed as you spoke into the intercom, "We're taking the party elsewhere. The truck's all yours with the surprise inside, baby."
"I love when you leave gifts for me, so romantic," Natasha cooed.
"Please stop, or I will vomit," Clint says.
You snort as you follow through the hole Ultron and Steve created when they crashed into the train. You land with grace, noticing there are passengers on the cart.
Steve hits Ultron with enough force to send him flying, and you move as fast as you can over to a young teen to force her lower onto the ground from her seat to avoid being crushed.
"I guess I've got civilian-watching duty," you say almost glumly.
"I'd be happy to trade," Steve huffs as he stands up straight.
You could hear Natasha and Clint talking through your earpiece, and for a second, you wished you had stayed with your girlfriend when you hear that the truck is airborne, but you knew she could handle it.
"No, you seem like you got it," you shake your head with a smile. Luckily with a psychotic robot and turbulence on the train, it was too hard for anyone to grab their phone and record.
Ultron barrels into Steve, knocking him into the corner before Steve uses his foot to kick back.
"Of course," Steve puffs.
Even though you had said that you still helped out when you could, with the narrow pathway the train provided, the two of you had to be careful of making sure civilians didn't get hurt.
Ultron was extremely diligent in keeping you at a distance from him, realizing you were nearly as fast as Pietro and much, much stronger.
But then you heard it.
The light footsteps atop the train at first, then then your eyes easily adjusted to a blur that went past you, knocking into Ultron.
It was Pietro.
Your eyes easily found their way to Wanda as you turned around. She was looking at you, unsure what to think when your eyes met.
Ultron turned back to start towards Pietro, but two metal railings were bent to prevent him from doing so. Ultron turned back to see Wanda, and it was clear on his robotic face that he was hurt, but he also knew he couldn't best Wanda.
"Please, don't do this," Ultron's tone soft and pleading.
"What choice do we have?" Wanda's thick accent hung in the air, and you bit your tongue.
Ultron stilled for a millisecond before he turned around, shooting a blast out from his hand. Everyone dodged, and the explosion shot straight through to the train's front where the conductor was. Taking the momentary distraction, Ultron bolted out of the train and flew away.
With the conductor out, the train started to sway unsteadily, everyone losing their footing, and no one could go after Ultron.
Steve hopped up, heading to the front to check if the conductor was okay, but she was out cold. "We've lost him! He's headed your way."
The train flew off its railing, and everyone hung on the best they could as it kept going even on concrete and dirt.
"Nat!" Clint shouted through the intercom. "Cap, do you see Nat?" His voice was panicked and strained.
You looked out the window of the train in the sky. You could see Quinjet, but Natasha was nowhere in sight.
"What the hell do you mean, Clint?!" You shouted.
"I got the cradle, but Ultron grabbed her the last second we got it. Do you have eyes on her?!" Clint asked, his head moving jerkily as he looked around out the windows.
"If you have the package, get it to Stark!" Steve instructed. "Go!"
You heard Clint frustratedly curse an expletive before he flew the Quinjet away in the other direction.
Warning bells were already going off in your head as you were about to take off the train and see if you could locate Natasha, but Steve's voice stopped you.
"I need you to help stop the train, or these people might die," Steve's jaw was tight, and you knew that he didn't want this either. If he could stop the train on his own or trusted the two twins enough, he would want you out there looking for Natasha too.
You looked around, seeing the humans' petrified faces, all sorts of people on this train, no doubt children too.
You clenched your jaw, swallowing painfully, but you resolved to trust that Natasha was okay and could take care of herself. She had been long before you, you reminded yourself.
"Alright," you breathe out in a huff.
"Civilians are in the path," Steve told Pietro, who rushed off.
"I need you to help me stop this train," you turn to Wanda.
She stares at you but nods once firmly.
You make your way to the front of the train, hopping over the conductor and a few feet away from the train, turning as it approaches you.
Steeling yourself by digging your feet into the ground as you get into a stance with your hands out, the train collides into you. Instead of crushing you like it would an average human, your body hardens to take the shock, and the train pushes you back, gravel and dirt flying everywhere.
It slows down slightly, but it won't come to a complete stop before the train would barrel right into a building. You can see Pietro working around you, and Wanda uses her power to stop the wheels from turning.
The train comes to a full stop smoothly with all three of you, and no one was harmed. People began to exit the train, and Steve came out to check on you while Wanda checked on Pietro.
"I'm fine, just need a second," you breathe, hearing Pietro say something similar to Wanda.
"Did you get the cradle?" Wanda asks, her eyes floating to you. Your eyes caught hers for a moment, but you turned quickly to your intercoms.
You had tried to contact Natasha, but it was obviously a bust as she didn't answer back. Your next contact was with David to tell him to start searching.
"Stark will handle it," Steve tells Wanda.
"No, he won't," Wanda looked distraught.
"You don't know what you're talking about, you don't know him," Steve defended Tony while Wanda looked more upset as the seconds passed.
"He will do anything to make it right," Wanda says, knowing what she saw in his head. "Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and killing it...where do you think he gets that from?"
Steve pursed his lips because as much as he didn't want to admit it, the girl had a point, and Steve was still miffed about how Tony had kept all this artificial intelligence stuff a secret.
"Stark, anyone, come in?" Steve said into his comms, but it was silent.
You turn around, jaw clenched as you were upset about Natasha taken.
"It'll be fine," you tell the three of them, the confidence in your voice that made everyone quiet. "We need to head back."
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
You were pissed.
And everyone could tell.
Natasha was taken, and no one knew where Ultron may have taken her. You understood at the time that Steve needed you there to help him, but it didn't help that Natasha was gone.
You were mostly pissed at yourself.
"Well, she's not dead," Tony says as if in an attempt to make you feel better. "If she were, Ultron would be rubbing it in our faces."
You didn't say anything in response, jaw still clenched tightly.
Wanda watched from the other side of the room, looking at you peculiarly with her head slightly tilted and arms crossed together just under her chest. She had gathered that you and Natasha were together, and from the information she got from reading other people's minds, it seemed that it was still relatively a new development.
There was something in Wanda's chest that flared annoyingly at the sight of you so...so worried over the redhead. She didn't quite understand it herself or what was the underlying cause of it. But you looked different with that expression on your face.
"You think Natasha might've left something for you outside the internet? Any old-school spy stuff?" Tony asked as he turned to Clint.
"I can cast some nets to see if I catch anything," Clint pressed his lips together, also eager to find his friend.
Your eyes were glowing red angrily as you tried to control your emotions. David came up to you, putting his hand on your shoulder to try to ground you.
"I'll find her," David promises you.
You were gripping a countertop as you were slightly hunched over it.
You needed air.
Suddenly, the edge of the countertop snapped under your grip, crumbling into smaller pieces, and you let it go as you stood straight.
"Find her within the hour," you tell David, walking briskly out of the room.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
When you came back, everything was in chaos.
Everyone was arguing about the body in the cradle and what to do with it. You could see from the corner of your eye that Bruce was angry with Wanda and picking a fight with her.
It was escalating so fast. All of a sudden, Pietro took off as he started destroying lab equipment.
"No, go on," Pietro stood next to Bruce, but the next second afterward, the glass floor shattered underneath him, and he fell through where Clint was.
"Pietro!" Wanda went to help her brother, but then Bruce grabbed her from behind.
Tony and Steve were fighting each other, and you blinked before clenching your jaw.
You blurred over, and just before Steve and Tony were about to collide again, you intercepted, grabbing both their wrists and twisting.
"Ah!" They both yelled as they staggered, almost kneeling on the ground.
The room stilled as everyone look at you.
"We do not fight each other," you snarled at them, looking at Steve and Tony pointedly. "Keep this up, and I'll snap both your wrists."
You grip just slightly tighter in warning before letting them both go, and they stumble a little as they stand up straighter.
"Jesus Christ, I could feel the armor just about to give," Tony says, holding his hand up to inspect his suit while Steve rubs his wrist gingerly.
You then blur over to where Bruce and Wanda to separate them, shoving Bruce a little harder when he refused to let go of Wanda.
Wanda stumbles into your arms when Bruce is forced to let her go. You steady her with your hand on her back. Your scent fills Wanda's nose, and she's almost reeling at how it invades her.
"I get that you're beyond pissed, and what she did was not okay," you tell Bruce, eyes flickering to meet Wanda's for a second before looking back at him. "But clearly the situation has changed, and for now, she's with us. Steve brought them here. This isn't the time. Focus on the mission at hand, figure it out with her after."
"You want me to forgive what she did?" Bruce said incredulously.
"No," you shake your head, "I want you to be an Avenger and put it aside for now because your teammate has been captured, and there's still a maniac robot out there hellbent on making humans extinct."
Your words hit Bruce and seem to sober him from his anger, and he relaxes his clenched jaw as he sighs and nods. You pat him on the shoulder twice before you walk away, leading Wanda with you.
Best to not tempt it again if they're too close together.
Wanda looks at you as you walk with her. The words, 'are you upset with me?' want to leave her mouth, but she forces them in. Of course, you'd be upset with her. She had done so many things to the Avengers, including harming your girlfriend with hallucinations.
Wanda looks away and grits her teeth because she shouldn't care if you're upset with her or not.
But then she feels a light pat on her back.
Wanda looks at you. You aren't looking back at her, there's no indication that you had done that as you keep your head straight ahead.
Still.
Wanda had understood the gesture regardless, hearing your voice in her head.
'It's not okay, but I understand. You will get a chance to make it up to Bruce, and he will forgive you. Give it time.'
Before Wanda could say anything, Tony and Steve were at it again, but this time using their words.
"Tony," Steve's face daunt and tight in disapproval, "shut it down!" Steve demanded.
"And I'm telling you, this is will work!" Tony shot back as he caught you coming up to them.
"Tell them!" Tony looks at you, drawing Steve's attention to you as well. "Tell them what you--"
You shoot Tony a warning look, getting him to shut up.
Sighing, you looked at Steve. "Trust me when I say that it will be okay."
"You want him to bring another android to life?" Steve said in disbelief. "We haven't even defeated the first one yet!"
Before you could argue some more, Thor flew in, bringing his lightning hammer on the cradle, bringing the body to life.
"Wait!" Bruce yelled, but it was too late.
For a moment, it was silent, but suddenly, the body smashed out of its cradle.
Glass flew everywhere in its surrounding area. You immediately grabbed Wanda, pulling her to shield her from the flying glass as you used your hand to protect her head.
You felt a piece of glass slice through your cheek on the surface, momentarily stinging before it mended itself.
When everyone stood straighter as the glass settled, there was a giant red android standing in his naked glory, and a giant yellow stone plastered into his forehead.
You had known this was coming when you touched Tony's hand. You had seen quite far ahead; everything from this, to the fight with Ultron in Tony's perspective, and even a little after that.
When the government and the United Nations wanted to be involved in the Avengers' affairs.
That would be a tricky one to navigate, and you wanted more time to think about it.
When you had relayed what you had seen back to him on the farm, you reassured him that he doesn't kill anyone in the next while, but you didn't exactly tell him what he will do in the future in detail as it could cause counterproductive results and change the future again.
All you could tell Tony was that he was on the right path, he was going to create something to help win the battle, and a heat seal would come in handy.
But back to the matter at hand, you knew this was coming, and yet, actually seeing the giant red walking toaster rubbed you the wrong way, and you weren't quite sure why.
He was floating and quickly flew towards Thor, who easily deterred the android away.
Thor raised his hands as Steve and Clint were ready to fight. Pietro came back, looking at you with a quirk of his brow when he saw you still holding Wanda.
You let go awkwardly because you were distracted, forgetting that you were still protecting her.
Why Pietro was staring at you like that, you didn't know. It's not like Wanda stepped out of your arms, either.
"I'm sorry," the android came back, sounding very similar to JARVIS. "That was odd...thank you," he looked at Thor.
"Thor, you helped create this?" Steve said as he eyed the being before him.
"I had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that," Thor says, pointing to the stone in the android's head.
"What? The gem?" Bruce clarified.
"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities," Thor explained.
"Then why would you bring it to life..." Steve pursed his lips, even more suspicious of the new being.
"Because Stark is right," Thor says, almost looking pained to admit.
"That's just gonna unnecessarily inflate his ego," you mutter while Tony was accessing what he helped bring to life.
"We can't defeat Ultron," Thor says, but then catches David entering the room. "Okay, well, maybe he can, but he seems like he has a lot to do."
"Help is good," the android tilted his head.
"Why does your 'vision' sound a lot like JARVIS," Steve's brows furrowed.
"We...configured JARVIS' matrix to create something new," Tony explained.
"I think I've had enough of the new," Steve pursed his lips, never taking his eyes off the android.
The android looked over to Steve. "You think I'm a child of Ultron?"
"You're not?" Steve countered back.
The android shook his head. "I'm not Ultron. I'm not Jarvis...I am...I am." Since he had yet to name himself, and due to Thor's vision, everyone decided that's what his name would be.
Wanda looked at Vision suspiciously. Her eyes narrowing at him. "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."
"Look again," he prompted her, staring at her intensely, and you resisted the urge to curl your lip back.
Wanda does what he says, a curious look on her face.
"Yeah, her seal of approval means jack-shit to me," Clint says.
You watched as everyone goes back and forth, with Vision ending with a long, windy, talk about himself and that they need to go. You resist the urge to roll your eyes.
"Sokovia. Natasha's there too," David answered, giving you a look when everyone questions where they were going.
"Then let's go," you lick your lips.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
The ride back to Sokovia feels long, even with Tony flying the Quinjet as fast as possible.
You stand in the back, looking out the window as the clouds pass by. You hear someone come up to you, but you don't move.
The smell of cinnamon and orange blossom floats you're way, so you don't have to know who it was.
The two of you stand in silence, appreciating the view outside.
"Sometimes...sometimes I can see a glimpse into your head," Wanda says quietly, so the others don't hear.
Your eyes peer over to her before slowly looking back out.
"It's not polite to snoop," you say equally as quiet.
"I can't exactly control it..." Wanda mumbles.
"Even so, you should at least pretend you don't know," you moisten your lips.
It's quiet for a moment before Wanda speaks up again.
"I...saw someone. Things I can't explain," Wanda says unsurely, and you know what she's talking about.
Even though you know she can't help it, you can't help but also feel a little miffed.
You knew that Wanda had a right to know, and yet, you didn't say anything.
"You were looking for me..." Wanda realizes.
"And Pietro," you add, giving her a look, almost laughing when she scrunches her nose.
"We're...connected," Wanda slowly says, turning to face you more.
You swallow as you turn to face her as well.
Wanda's staring at you intensely as if drawing in every little detail about your face and committing it to memory. There's a tight feeling in both her stomach and chest, and she doesn't understand.
She doesn't understand you.
You nod softly.
"Will you tell me about it?" Wanda asks.
"After everything has settled," you tell her.
Wanda swallows.
"You want me to stay?"
She says it so softly, you're surprised such a tone can come out of her when lately she's been an angry bull.
With the time you have, you take in her features. Her long dark hair behind her ears, round face, with define cheeks and jawline was familiar. Her long lashes framed her eyes, and her dark eyeliner and the lighting inside the craft dimmed the color of her eyes.
Still.
She looked at you with an intensity that made you dizzy.
"Yeah," you rasp. "How else will you make it up to Banner?"
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
Natasha hears you calling her name as you run-up to her cell. She stands up, meeting you on the other side, her hand touches yours.
"You okay?" You ask her, accessing her thoroughly for any kind of injuries.
"Yeah," she tells you, smiling a little at your protective behavior, and once you're satisfied that she's relatively unharmed, you look back to her face.
"We gotta get going, team's already out there, and we're missing all the action," you say, liking the way Natasha smirks.
"Don't suppose you found a key just lying around on your way in, did you?"
You tilt your head, looking at the built-in lock on the cell door. Placing your hand over it, you yanked with a substantial amount of strength, forcing the metal underneath to give way.
You threw the hunk of metal behind your back and looked at your girlfriend. She smiled at you as she slides the door open, jumping into you to hug you briefly.
"Let's go," she says as she pulls back.
The two of you navigate your way through, but the ground begins to shake as you're almost out of there. The two of you stumble slightly before steadying yourselves.
"What's the situation?" You ask into the comms.
"Ultron's got Vibranium under the city. We're up in the air," Tony advises.
"Shit, we need to get out here," you say, turning to Natasha. "We're not going to make it on foot, so I'm going to carry you on my back."
Natasha nods, and you turn around, lower yourself so she can get on. Once she's secured on with her legs wrapped tightly around your waist, you adjust here once more before you're satisfied.
"Keep your head down and close to me," you tell her, feeling her following your instructions. The speed you'd be going at could accidentally break her neck if you weren't careful.
With that, you race out, quickly reaching the outside. Everything seems to be crumbling at you begin to maneuver onto the rocks, leaping onto another one as they fall. Eventually, you reach the cliffside wall, using your hands along with your feet to climb up.
When you reach safe ground, Natasha gets off.
"Didn't even break a sweat, huh?" She says to you.
"I have great stamina," you joke, but Natasha raises her brow at her, quirking her lip on one side into a seductive smirk.
"I'll be sure to test that out one day."
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
You feel awful.
Sokovia is falling apart, people are screaming and crying, and it's a war zone out here.
You separated from Natasha, warning her to not get kidnapped again because you don't think you could live with that kind of worry. She merely kisses your cheek before she races off to go help Steve and Thor.
You met up with David, who was huddled up with one of Ultron's robots, and a laptop next to him. The robot was powered down by David, who had his hands on its chest intensely.
"What are you doing?" You ask, looking at his laptop screen to see he was uploading something.
David didn't break his concentration or even open his eyes, but he answered you. "I'm trying to reprogram this bot's mainframe. The Vision is deleting Ultron off the net, so if I can do this, then I can turn this bot over to help us, and then spread it over to all Ultron's other bots."
"That would definitely turn the tide on this," you say, crushing a flying robot towards David.
"I...I got it!" David exclaimed, powering up the robot in hand. It stood up, accessing you, and you stood on guard, but it started to attack its own kind as a threat in the next moment.
"I just need to finish uploading the software to be spread," David picked up his laptop. "I'm going to take cover to finish this, and then find The Vision. I'm good here, you should go."
You nod at him before you take off at high speed. On your way, you bumped into Clint and Wanda. They were being overpowered as they tried to help civilians out of the area.
A group of bots begin to close in. It seems David is still in the process of uploading the software, so the attacks haven't ceased. You notice a bot hellbent on self-destruction as it plummets towards the ground.
Clint is already moving towards Wanda, shouting at her to move. You rush towards the two of them, jumping and pushing them through a building window just as an explosion hits. There are shots still being fired even as the three of you take cover.
Clint's already sitting up, alert as he tries to look at the situation outside without getting shot. Wanda crawls towards the wall, gasping and whimpering.
"How could I let this happen?" She's so distraught.
"Hey, hey, are you alright?" Clint asks, but you put your hand on his shoulder.
Clint looks at you. The situation outside still needs to be handled, and he seems like he doesn't have the time to try to give her a pep talk. You nod at him, and he nods back. Getting up, Clint readies his arrows before he kicks open the door.
"This is all our fault," Wanda cries quietly.
You grab her face, getting her to look up at you. "Look at me," you tell her. "It doesn't matter whose fault it is. It's your fault, my fault, it's everyone's fault. Regardless, this is happening."
She looks at you, breathing harshly as she blinks rapidly.
"I know you're hurting, but this is your homeland, and it's up in the air. Literally. Hopefully, if David manages, we won't be fighting an entire army of robots, but we still got one bad guy to fight," you swallow before hearing something approach as you push and move Wanda out of the way just as a shot fires through the wall.
Wanda looks even more frightened, and she's hanging on the front of your jacket as you readjust to move away from the wall.
"We can't change what we've done, we can only try to fix it going forward. I don't care about anything you did or who you were before this."
"I can't fix this," she bellows to you.
"Yes, you can," you backfire immediately at her. "If you scared and want to let everyone else clean up your mess, I'm fine with letting you do that. You'll be safe here, and Pietro can come to get you. But you can't sit here and tell me that you're okay with letting your fear control you. You can do this, I know you can."
Wanda stares at you, eyes shaking as bites her tongue, letting the silence fall.
"Why do you believe in me so much? Care about me so much?" Wanda asks quietly, feeling something stir in her stomach.
You look back at her, noticing that Wanda seems calmer. Maybe because you feel like you're looking at someone so similar to Tatyana in many ways. That Wanda feels like she's the villain who had caused this.
Perhaps thought she had wanted to be a villain at the start.
But it wretches your gut painfully.
"If anyone could become a hero, it'd be you."
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
"David, please tell me you're almost finished," you say into the comms as you, Wanda, and Clint fight the rest of the robots in your area.
The three of you need to work your way to Steve and the rest of the gang when Pietro flew in to take Wanda.
"Keep up, old man!" He teasingly says as he darts off.
"I hate him so much," Clint breathes deeply.
"If you want, I can carry you," you shrug.
"I both want to and hate the idea," Clint scrunches his nose but allows you to carry him.
"I'm really close guys, just hang tight!" David tells everyone.
"The next wave is going to hit any minute," Steve says. "What do you have, Stark?"
"Working on a heat seal," he tells everyone.
"We don't have the time," Thor says, "Ultron is trying to get to the core. We need to make a choice."
"That's not a solution," Steve firmly says.
"There's no math here, Steve. Everyone up here versus everyone down there?"
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it," Steve doesn't budge.
"I'm not saying we should go," Natasha counters back, nodding her head back and forth as she considers something. "There are worse ways to go. Besides, where else am I going to get a view like this?"
"I have at least fifteen other places that have better views than this."
Natasha looks over to see you had shown up with a disapproving look on your face.
"I think we might have to settle," Natasha gives you a self-deprecating smile that shows all too much that this is the only way.
"I don't settle."
With that, another voice comes on the radio.
"Glad you think the view is nice, hopefully, you think this is much better," Fury comes in with a Helicarrier in view. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of the mothballs with a couple old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."
"Fury, you son of a bitch!" Steve says with a smile.
"Ooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury replies in teasing.
Natasha looks over to you, smiling as you come up to her.
"Did you know?" She asks, and you shrug, not wanting to tell her that you touched Tony.
"If Fury decided to show up at the farm with actually nothing else planned, I think we would have to vote him off the island," you offer instead.
"That's comforting," Fury sarcastically said.
"Anytime," you reply.
Within seconds, lifeboats are deployed, and everyone is helping with the evacuation.
"The odds aren't looking too great here," Thor interrupts. "The core is getting bombarded."
"Rhodey, get everyone on the Helicarrier!" Tony says as he flies towards Thor to help.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
"This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?"
"Like the old man said," Tony looks at Steve. "Together."
The bots begin to rush towards everyone, and you swallow.
"Wait, guys!" You hear David through the comms. "I...got it!"
Just like that, the bots stop dead in their tracks and power down before powering back up again.
This time, they turn their attention towards Ultron.
"Are you kidding me?" Ultron grumbles as the bots rush towards him, firing shots away that Ultron easily deflects.
Because The Vision burned him off the net, Ultron has no way of accessing the software David created to try to change the bots back to his side.
The Hulk rushes towards Ultron, punching him square in the chest and sending him flying miles away.
Everyone turns to look at each other as David blurs into the area with his laptop.
"I feel like we missed a very epic battle scene," Tony says, "like a defining moment in a movie."
"Oh, I'm sorry," David says sarcastically, "if you want, I can totally fix that for you."
"Nope, we're good," Steve says quickly. "We still need to get the stragglers, but if Ultron comes back to the core, we're doomed."
"I'll protect it," Wanda interjects, looking at you as she does. "There's no one better than me."
You nod as Clint looks at Nat.
"Nat, let's go," he nods outside. She looks at you, and you nod at her as it would be faster for you to find civilians on your own.
You look at David. "Alright, nerd, you're going with me. I think you had enough alone time for today."
"You are so ungrateful, oh my god."
"I love you," you smile.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
Tony is using the extra bots to help push the rock further into the sky. If they can get it into space, using the heat seal would cause the least amount of damage to Sokovia.
"I can't believe I'm going into space again," Tony mumbled, glad he had made the adjustments to his suit so it would be suitable to go into space better this time.
He had been prepared since the alien invasion.
"Maybe you chose the wrong career path and should've become an astronaut instead," you joke, getting a low chuckle in return.
You had run the perimeter with David, seeing that there were no civilians left.
Natasha volunteered to try to convince The Hulk to either change back or get his ass on the Helicarrier. You would've volunteered, but you don't think The Hulk would be happy to see you, and you can't keep biting the man to force him to change back either.
"I think I can hear a woman screaming," David mumbled. "I'll go check."
He takes off, and you are about to head back when you hear shots fired in the distance. You turn and speed over.
You felt your stomach dropping when you approach the scene. Everything seems to happen in slow motion.
Ultron in his jet, shooting down at Clint, who has a little boy in his arms. You turn your head to see Pietro.
He looks at you, giving you a smirk that feels all too familiar like it's his last one.
Pietro is a step faster than you, he probably always will be. But that doesn't stop you. You force yourself to run. Run faster. Run harder. The sheer amount of force causes a sickening crack in your legs, but you make it just in time.
Pietro only gets shot once through his stomach before you push him out of the way and cover Clint and the child.
The shooting stops as Ultron flies away.
The silence settles, and Clint looks up to see you standing straight before him. You've been shot all over, multiple times in multiple areas.
You suddenly puke up blood as you fall to your knees.
Pietro immediately gets up from the ground rushing over to you, catching you in his arms.
"Why did you do that?!" He yells at you, hands over your body, but he doesn't know which areas to stop the bleeding.
"You idiot," you tell him. "Can you heal from being shot? I don't think so."
Though you say that, the only thing that healed, even though rather slowly, was the crack in your leg.
"You're not healing," Clint says, his tone urgent. He looks at you as blood pours out. "Why aren't you healing?"
"She doesn't have enough blood in her system."
Clint turns over to see David, looking horrified. He kneels down, taking you from Pietro's arms.
"I told you, you fucking idiot, that we should've just taken more blood bags from the hospital," David scolds you.
"This is hardly the time for, 'I told you so,'" You reply weakly.
"Get the kid onto the boat," David looks at Clint and then looks at Pietro. "You need to go collect your sister. There are no more civilians, and we're reaching the stratosphere soon."
"What about--"
"I got this," David says as he bites into your neck. You hiss at the sudden pain. Clint and Pietro have more questions, but they do as David says and take off.
"You better pray to God that we make it back in time," David purses his lips as he pushes your sleeve up to bite in various places.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
The damage to Sokovia is still devastating. It's not entirely obliterated, and people will be able to rebuild their country.
The Hulk, unfortunately, had taken off on his own in stealth mode. He didn't want to be found.
It seems The Vision has taken care of completely destroying Ultron, taking this chapter to an end.
It's not the perfect ending, but it could be a lot worse.
There was only one problem left.
You were dying.
Or at least, on your way to either going completely feral for blood to help you heal or going to a deep slumber until you were fed.
Either one was on the table at this point.
"What do we do?" Natasha asks David sharply as they're still in the air being transported back.
They were on the Helicarrier in their own private section away from the people as they didn't know what you were going to do.
"I only temporarily closed her wounds to stop the bleeding," David tells everyone, explaining why he bit you earlier. He was injecting his healing venom. "Venom doesn't quite work the same way on vampires as it does on humans. She still has a lot of internal bleeding that won't stop, and the only thing that can stop it is if she drinks blood."
"We don't have any blood bags on here!" Steve says as he looks at you, full of worry.
"We could...we could cut and drain our own blood," Natasha looks at you before looking back at David. "She can drink the blood as long as she's not biting us, right?"
David purses his lips as if to consider it but then shakes his head. "She's too badly wounded, it won't be enough. Plus, none of you are in the state to lose any more blood, even if you guys all donate. I can heal your wounds, but I can't make your body produce more blood."
"Then what do we do?" Natasha wants to scream. She can't lose you. She just can't.
At that moment, Pietro and Wanda come in. Pietro can hardly stand up himself, so Wanda is supporting him. They had heard part of the conversation as they came in.
Pietro looks at you, face full of anguish because you're only like this because you saved him.
You're tense on the table, occasionally arching your back up in pain and need. David is holding you down by your arm in case you suddenly get a burst of energy and massacre everyone in this room for blood.
Wanda looks at you, jaw clenched.
The feeling of loss is threatening her on her doorstep. You had saved Pietro, God knows if she could survive to lose her only family.
But Wanda was not ready to let you go either.
It has occurred to Wanda that outside of Pietro, the only person in this world that may understand her, believe in her, protect her, care for her...would be you.
There was something there, something undefined and frightening. Wanda was sure you felt it too with her, though ignoring it for Natasha.
David looked at Wanda. He knew that he shouldn't.
Yet before he could even stop himself, Wanda looks sharply over at him, catching his thoughts.
You would be entirely beyond pissed at him.
It would cause a whole new set of problems for everyone.
He was sure you would rather die.
But David wasn't willing to risk the chance of you going feral, which was almost guaranteed at this point, or your death.
He just wasn't.
"She can drink my blood," Wanda says, drawing everyone's attention. Wanda was the only person who hadn't sustained any significant damage or got shot. She could afford to lose blood.
"What?" Steve looks at David, who has his lips pursed.
"It would work, wouldn't it?" Wanda also looks at you, your eyes glowing a red she's all too familiar in seeing in herself. "It would be even better than drinking from a blood bag to feed directly from me."
Wanda doesn't fully understand what you are, or the concept of vampires, but she catches pieces here and there from everyone around the room.
And there's a feeling of intrigue and possession that flutters knowing that she was the only one you could drink blood from, aside from her brother.
Pietro grips his sister's arms tighter, torn because if you could drink her blood, you could drink his, but he was also in no shape to lose any more blood.
Wanda pats his arms to assure him she'll be fine. Pietro leans against the wall as Wanda comes closer to you.
"It...would, but..." David's eyes shift over to Natasha.
Natasha clenches her jaw.
The words about how feeding can be an incredibly intimate and private act come back to her.
It's not that Natasha is particularly jealous of Wanda in that way. She's more jealous that she can't do anything to help you herself.
Natasha can't muster the words out of her mouth, so she tersely nods.
With that, Wanda stands right next to your lying body on the bed.
"Everyone, stand back," David says, trying to keep you still, but it's like you can smell how close to feeding you are.
The burst of energy does come, but you use to break out of David's grip as you fling him across the room.
"Shit!" David yells, convinced that you're going to kill Wanda to drain her blood. He stands up, reading to try to fight you even though it would be a losing battle.
But he stops.
You merely stand before Wanda, her face in your hands as you tilt her head up to expose her neck.
You press your nose against her neck, taking a long inhale as you purr at the scent.
Wanda can hear alarm bells in her head that tell her you're a predator, and she's your prey, but she doesn't tremble. Instead, she brings her hands up to hold your wrists as if to keep them in place.
You chuckle throatily, attitude nothing like your usual self, "How brave."
Wanda swallows slowly, the action very visible as the muscles in her neck move.
"It was you who taught me that I could be a hero," she says quietly as if it's only for your ears.
The words seem to trigger something in you as you sink your teeth into her neck, a mouthful of blood rushing into you.
It's been too long, you almost forgot what it was like.
It was hot in your mouth, as fresh as it was.
You could feel a warm body being pressed you, hear a heart beating, and smell the arousal.
A deep moan left Wanda's mouth, unable to control it. A hot, liquid fire shot down to her lower stomach, pooling in her gut.
Wanda couldn't describe how it felt, what she was experiencing, but you were doing something to her as you drank from her, holding her close to you.
You suddenly lift her into the air, wrapping her legs around your waist as you blurred over to the drawer cabinet against the wall, pushing Wanda up on it roughly. Your hands held her possessively.
Wanda was pressed to the wall as she sat on the cabinet, her legs still wrapped against you tightly as she fisted her hand into the back of your hair.
Everyone watched in astonishment of the act, David biting on his tongue as he looked at Natasha, who had no expression on her face to indicate what she was feeling.
Blood was rushing into your mouth, and it was delicious, making you delirious, but that didn't stop you from realizing there was a crowd in the room watching you feed, watching Wanda unravel.
You released your mouth from her neck.
"Leave," you demanded lowly and roughly, hardly coherent before you resume sinking your teeth back into Wanda.
Natasha stared at you, you seemed lost in your own world as you fed, and Natasha knows that you are only like this due to how injured you are.
Still.
As everyone leaves the room, Natasha looks at the two of you once more. Wanda's hand is buried in your hair while she's arching into you.
As she exits the room, Natasha catches Wanda's eyes, staring at her intensely with an unknown meaning in them before her eyes flutter close just as the door shuts.
PART XI
#mm: my fics#natasha romanoff x reader#wanda maximoff x reader#wandanat x reader#natasha romanoff imagine#wanda maximoff imagine#black widow x reader#scarlet witch x reader#Natasha romanoff x you#wanda maxmimoff x you#avengers reader insert#marvel reader insert#avengers imagine#avengers x reader#series: Between the Lines
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burning house // javid (small town au)
A/N: I FINISHED IT !! inspired by an amazing anon ask i got !!
WARNINGS: implied child abuse, injuries, breakdowns, mentions of slurs (said by a queer character)
Read On AO3!
***
“We should make out.”
David’s head snaps to the left, eyes wide as he stares at Jack. Jack, who is nursing a Sonic sweet tea, still in a pearl-snap dress shirt and starched jeans. They’re still sitting in Jack’s truck in David’s driveway, having just left a wedding; one of Racer’s sisters, who Jack has known for ages. David didn’t really know anyone besides Jack, Racer, Albert, Kath, and Charlie, but it was fun.
It was fun, and now Jack wants to make out, and--
“I’m sorry, what?”
David asks, confused; he blinks a few times, trying to force himself to process what Jack had just said. Trying to will the flush in his cheeks to go away.
But then there’s Jack, looking at David through his eyelashes as he repeats, “We should make out.”
David freezes. Gulps, and his hands clench at his sides.
Jack stares at him for a few seconds, before that signature Kelly grin of his sinks into a smirk. “I mean, can you imagine what Snyder’d say? Old bastard would have a heart attack. It’s worth a shot, if ya ask me.”
One by one, the pieces start coming back together, and- oh. Oh, right.
They were talking about how much of an asshole Snyder had been at the wedding. Kept making inappropriate comments about some of Racer’s sister’s friends- college kids, no doubt having been raised in this very town. Those comments turned into drunken rants about women, and then the transphobia hit full force, and then Snyder went on a very loud, very homophobic tangent.
Directed at David.
Snyder had been thrown out of the wedding after that; a few of the older fellas in town dragged him out, just because he was ‘causing a scene’ at the reception. It wasn’t like they were defending David- no, they likely agreed with everything Snyder was saying- but at least they had the decency and respect not to ruin the wedding of a lovely young woman by spewing hateful opinions.
Jack and David had left soon afterwards, after congratulating the bride and groom and saying one last goodbye to Racer, Albert, Charlie, and Kath.
And now, here they are, in Jack’s shitty truck, eating greasy food and sipping on too-sweet sweet teas, talking about… making out.
“I… Okay, elaborate, because- because I don’t understand what you’re saying,” David admits, raising his brows. “You want to… make out with me, just to piss off Mr. Snyder?”
Jack nods, then tilts his head and beams at David. “We might get lucky- Davey, there’s a chance’ll drop dead if he sees it. Wouldn’t that be great?”
David can’t hold back his soft bark of laughter. “I mean, if you’re really okay with it, then I don’t see why not,” He admits, and gulps. “You… you are okay with it, right? Like, the whole--”
“Are you askin’ if I’m okay with kissin’ you, when I was the one to bring it up?” Jack raises a brow. “C’mon, Davey, use that brain ‘a yours. ‘Course I’m okay with it.”
David studies him, just for a moment, and sees the sincerity in those deep brown eyes… It’s almost disorienting, the way that Jack would so willingly give up his status around town just to prove a point, just to support David, just to make a bigoted man angry.
And, okay, maybe it doesn’t help that David has wanted Jack to kiss him for a while now. And, yeah, maybe David agrees because this might be the only chance he has to kiss Jack Kelly.
After a few moments of silence, David sucks in a deep breath and says, “That's the least heterosexual thing you've ever said, but… Okay. Tell me the plan.”
***
Kissing Jack is the easiest thing David has ever done.
There’s tongue, there’s teeth, there’s a formulated desperation in the way Jack balls his fist against David’s shirt, the way he presses their fronts together, the way one of his arms winds up and around David’s neck.
It feels so real, so right, but then Jack pulls away and turns his head and says, “Oh, sorry, Snyder! Didn’t see ya there.”
And then it’s a race to hop out of the bed of Jack’s truck, climb into the cab, and peel out of that church parking lot before Snyder has a chance to get a hold of them.
David’s heart is racing, but it’s not from the adrenaline of running from Snyder.
David’s heart is racing, and Jack Kelly’s kiss is the culprit.
***
Jack doesn’t talk to David at all after he drops David off at his house.
David sends him a few texts, but they all go unread, which isn't a very usual occurrence.
The next day, too, Jack is nowhere to be found at school; which is great , because David is alone for the most part, and David being alone means he gets shoved against the lockers by the Delancey brothers and is called every slur in the book. It doesn’t stop until Sean Conlon walks up and makes the other guys go away; David hasn’t really talked to him all that much, but he’s seen him at Jack’s rodeos and he knows that Sean knows who he is, knows that he's a friend of Jack's, so maybe that’s why he’s helping right now.
“Those assholes need to stop causin’ trouble,” Sean says as he shakes his head and helps David up. “You okay, man?”
“Yeah, I- I’m good, I think,” David sighs. “I’m used to that-- it’s fine, really. Thank you.”
Sean studies him for a moment, then frowns. “It ain’t fine and you know it,” He counters. “They give you anymore shit, come find me. I’ll set ‘em straight.”
Davit smiles sadly, and nods. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” He says, then gulps. “Hey- uh… Have- have you seen Jack today?”
Sean looks up at him, brows furrowed, and he shakes his head. “Nah. He didn’t respond to my text this mornin’, either. Somethin’ happen between you two?”
“What do you mean?”
Sean shrugs, and rubs the back of his neck. “Well, y’all are a thing, ain’t ya? Caught kissin’ at the church.”
David’s eyes widen just slightly, and he gulps. “...How do you know about that?”
“I--” Sean pauses, and he takes in a deep breath. It must hit him that this isn't what he thinks it is; Jack and David aren't together, and what happened isn't what the rumors are saying… He frowns, and looks up at David. “Honestly, some ‘a the fellas were talkin’ about it this mornin’ at the feed store. It’s not a secret anymore. I’m sorry.”
“Everyone knows?"
Sean nods.
It takes David a few moments to register what Sean has said, but eventually, it hits him like a blow to the chest. David sucks in a deep breath and nods, hands clenching, and without saying another word, he hurries down the hall and out the side door that leads to the courtyard. He can’t- he can’t stay at school. Not today, at least; or ever.
Not until he finds Jack.
***
“Hey, this is Jack. Sorry I can’t get to the phone right now! Leave a message after the beep.”
David rubs his forehead, waits for the sound, and says, “Hey, it’s… me again. I know this is- this is my fourth time calling, and I’m sorry, I just… I wanna make sure you’re alright? So, uh, I guess, call- call me back when you get this. Or don’t; you don’t- you don’t have to, I just… I’m sorry.”
The line goes dead, and David drops the phone.
***
He doesn’t hear from Jack all weekend.
Not until Sunday, at least. David is lying in bed that evening, reading one of his books for class, when all of a sudden his phone lights up beside him.
He looks up from the page and gulps, seeing Jack’s name and number flashing across the screen. Part of him wants to ignore it, like Jack’s been ignoring him, but he can’t do that. He can’t. Not now, not after everything; if David ignores it, then what good will that bring to their friendship?
David grabs the phone and answers, sitting up. “Hello?”
“I’m outside,” Jack says, taking a deep breath. “Can- Can you come outside? I’m in the truck, I just--” He pauses, and David gulps. “I’m- I'm sorry, just… please , Davey...”
“I’ll be out there in a second,” David whispers, and hangs up the phone. He hurries to get dressed; all he does is put on a hoodie and change into a pair of sweats, and he quickly pulls on his Converse as well, before gathering his essentials- phone, wallet, house keys- and hurrying out of his room and down to the front door.
At least, he tries to.
“David, where are you going?”
David stops in his tracks and looks back to the voice- his mother, who is standing in the kitchen. He rubs the back of his neck. “I-... Jack needs me. He’s outside. He sounded shaken up about something, so…”
Esther frowns, and steps forward. “Is he alright?” She asks, concerned, but then she shakes her head. “No- it’s none of my business. Let him know he’s welcome inside, dear, and… Just- Just be back in time for school in the morning."
"Thank you, Ima," David says with a sad smile, before taking a deep breath and walking out the front door.
Just like Jack said, his truck is parked in the driveway. Jack himself had gotten out and is now leaning against the truck, his head down and his arms crossed and he looks so… so small . David walks a little faster.
He also notices, as he comes closer, that Jack is in unusual clothing for himself; David has only seen Jack in sweats and a hoodie a few other times in their six months of friendship, so seeing it now is… alarming. He's used to the cowboy getup; the boots, the jeans, the crisp button down and wide brim hat. But this, this is completely new territory. He nearly doesn't recognize him.
Nonetheless, David comes up to stand a few feet in front of him, biting his lip. "...Jackie?"
Jack doesn't look up. Instead, he takes a deep, shuddering breath, and his breath catches in his throat when it does so- he sounds like he's hurt, but he still doesn't take his gaze off of the ground before him. "Davey, I-- Just to clarify, we're still friends, and I ain't just- I ain't just dropping you, 'cause you're one of- one of the best friends I've ever had, but I- I can't… hang out with you in public anymore. And- And I know how bad that sounds, and I'm so sorry, I d-don't want to do this either, but--"
"What? Jack-- Jack, look at me," David cuts in, taking a few steps forward. That entire tangent is a lot to process. Jack can't see him anymore? He's never seen Jack like this; this is something new, something… scary. But Jack still refuses to look up.
David gulps, and continues moving until he's right in front of Jack, who in turn presses himself flat against the truck and winces . "Jackie," David whispers, then hesitantly brings his palm up to rest against Jack's cheek. Jack takes in a sharp breath at that, and then David gently guides Jack to tilt his head up, to look at David, and--
David’s eyes go wide. "Oh, my God , Jack…"
Jack shoots him a sad smile- but its not like he can smile very wide, with his busted lip and his black eye. They aren't exactly fresh wounds; Jack's lip is scabbed, and the coloration of his bruise says that it's at least a few days old… David gulps hard, covering his own mouth with his hand.
"I- I'm fine, really, just got into a scrape," Jack says with a forced chuckle, but David can see it- the pain, the sadness, the hurt- written all across his face. "I just- I've… been gettin' a lot of people askin' if I'm- if we're a thing, and they aren't- they aren't happy about it, and it- it would be best to lay low, 'cause I- I don't… I don’t know what else to do, and--"
"Who did this to you?" David asks, voice soft, as his hand- still on Jack’s face- tenderly moves from his jaw to his cheekbone. He doesn't mean to ignore Jack's comment, but… right now, this is more pressing than the judgement from the town.
Jack takes a sharp intake and shakes his head. "I told ya, it- it's nothin', alright? I'm fine, and the face ain't even- ain't even all of it, s-so--"
"Not all of it?" David asks, taking a step back just to look down at Jack. "What else is hurt?"
"Dave--"
"No, Jack. Show me what happened."
And Jack is standing there, teetering on the edge of running away and letting Davey see, but he eventually takes a few quick breaths, furrows his brows, and slowly pulls off the hoodie.
And instantly, David’s blood runs cold.
Jack's sides are littered with bruises. Huge ones, right below his ribs- and right on his ribs, which makes David think there's a reason that Jack looks like it hurts to breathe. There's also a few scrapes on Jack’s skin, which have been scabbed over, and he looks… a mess.
Jack's shaking now, and as David glances up from Jack’s torso to his face, he sees tears welling in his eyes. "Jack…" David whispers, sad and desperate, and Jack shakes his head.
"I-I'm fine, Davey, I- I- I just-" A shallow sob rips from his throat, which seems to surprise him, because his eyes widen and he covers his mouth, as if he were trying to stop it. But David can see that he can't control it, not as the next sob wracks his body, and David watches helplessly as fear shrouds Jack’s features. Jack looks near frantic now, but the tears have begun spilling over, and there's no way of stopping them anytime soon.
Between one moment and the next, Jack is on his knees, one hand supporting his weight while the other covers his mouth. He's shaking so violently, eyes shut tightly as he whimpers and tries to control his breathing, and David feels his heart shattering in his chest for him.
He drops to his knees in front of Jack, gulping. "Jack, I'm- I'm gonna touch you, alright?" He whispers, waiting a few moments, before he carefully and gently wraps an arm around Jack's torso. With barely any coaxing, Jack climbs into David’s lap and holds on for dear life; the sobs come harder now that his face is hidden within the crook of David’s neck, and they- along with the whimpers of pain, likely from his ribs- make David’s chest tighten.
"You're safe, you're okay," David whispers, as best he can, and focuses on gently rubbing Jack’s back. He shifts, moving from his knees to sit with his back against the truck, and Jack sinks further into his lap, fists balling the fabric of David’s hoodie.
This isn't fair. It's not fair at all, because David should have known the kind of backlash they'd be facing. David should have been able to see it coming; especially for Jack, the town's golden boy, the one that everyone loves, the last person they'd expect to disappoint the community.
And here Jack sits, broken down by fists and harsh words for something that David encouraged.
Jack doesn’t deserve this.
They stay like this for what feels like an eternity, as Jack has his release and David is there to pick up the pieces. This is wildly new territory; David has never once seen Jack cry, aside from the night that he had to get stitches after Dolly kicked his thigh, but… even then, Jack was laughing through the pain.
David can easily see, though, that this is a different kind of pain.
It takes a long while, but Jack eventually begins to calm down. The sobs are few and far between, now; there are still aftershocks, but for the most part, Jack seems to have gotten it all out of his system. He doesn’t move, though; he's still in David’s lap, still catching his breath, still holding onto him… David just wants to hold him, protect him for hours, but Jack shifts and David loosens his hold.
As Jack sits up, David frowns seeing the tear tracks on his cheeks. It's like David can’t hold back; he reaches up and wipes the tears away with the pad of his thumb, and Jack sniffles. "I-I'm sorry," Jack whispers, shooting David a sad, desperate smile. "That's ne-never happened before."
His voice is a broken thing, high and desperate and choppy and fragile, and David can't help but frown. "It's alright, Jackie, you don’t… You don’t have to apologize for that. Ever . It's okay, you're okay."
Jack nods, not quite believing David's words, but he climbs out of David's lap anyway. He pulls his hoodie back on a moment later, then looks down at his lap. "...I shouldn’t've kissed you," Jack whispers, which makes David turn to face him.
That's all the confirmation David needs. "This happened because of the kiss," He mumbles, gesturing to Jack’s bruises. "Did- Did Snyder do it?"
Jack doesn't answer for a long time.
He looks spacey and out of it, staring up at the stars in the night sky, until he slowly shakes his head. "No," He whispers, hands clenching at his sides. "Not directly, at least. He… He told my dad, and he… Dad didn't take it too well, s-so…"
David’s heart drops to his stomach.
"You… your dad- he did this to you?" David asks, voice soft, and he shakes his head as Jack nods. "Jack, you-- You have to tell someone, he can't just get away with--"
"Who am I s'posed to tell, Davey?" Jack asks, defeated. "Everyone already knows my dad's a piece 'a shit, and no one's done shit about it. He- he ain't ever been good, Davey," Jack frowns, and shakes his wrist- something he does when he's anxious. "The cops don't care, the judge don't care, and he- he's been like this for years, Dave, slappin' me around, but- but… this is the first- the first time it's ever, uh, been… been this bad." Jack frowns. "He said he ain't gonna put up with his son bein'... bein' a fag. I told him to shut the fuck up, and he, uh, started in on me. I shouldn’t've provoked him."
David shuts his eyes and covers his mouth, shaking his head as Jack’s words sink in. He gets it now, why Jack doesn't want to be seen with him for a while; and though it hurts, David would move to the other side of the country in a heartbeat if it meant keeping Jack safe.
"I… I am so sorry, Jack," David whispers, and reaches over to take Jack’s hand in his own. "None of this is your fault, and you don't- you don't deserve any of that, okay? Not at all. You… you know you don't have to put up with that, right? You- You can move out, come stay with us, and--"
"I ain't gonna put that burden on your folks, Dave," Jack whispers. "'Sides, I… I can't just leave the farm. I still have rodeos comin' up, and I gotta practice with Dolly, and- and it's almost calving season… My dad's too fuckin' drunk all the time to take care of shit like that. I have to stay."
David frowns, and rubs his forehead. Of course Jack wouldn't leave, he's far too stubborn for that, but… but at least the offer is there. "If you're sure," David murmurs, "but the offer still stands."
Jack nods and lets the silence stretch between them. Only for a few moments, though; soon, he squeezes David’s hand and turns to look at him. "Davey," Jack whispers, "I… I need you to promise something."
David looks into Jack’s eyes. "Anything," he whispers, the words heavy, but full of meaning.
Jack grins at David’s response, just softly, but his face falls as he glances away. "If you see my dad, run. Get the hell outta Dodge. Don't try to talk, don't try to give him shit for doing this, just- just run. I don't want somethin' to happen to you."
"Do you really think he'd come after me? Even if you stay away from me?" Davis asks, gulping. "You- you explained what happened, right? That you aren’t--"
"I tried, but I- I guess I wasn't convincing, so--"
"Convincing?" David asks, raising a brow. "You… had to convince him?"
"He tried 'beating the queer' out of me," Jack admits, and gulps harshly. "I- I guess it wasn't enough, 'cause I'm still…"
He trails off, but David picks up on the hint. "Oh, Jack…" He whispers, and looks away. "Are you--"
"I- I don't know yet," Jack sighs. "I… think I still like girls, and… and I ain't ever been with a guy, b-but… I just- I don't know, Davey, it's all t-too much."
David nods, and wraps an arm around Jack's shoulder. "It's okay not to know, alright? It… It was confusing for me too, at first. I'm right here if you ever want to talk about it, alright? I promise."
"Thank you," Jack whispers as moves closer, leaning into David’s embrace. He opens his mouth to speak again, but reluctantly shakes his head and rests against David’s chest in lieu of responding.
They sit there for a long while. The breeze has picked up- the grass sways, and the fields around the property and across the street seem to be teeming with life. David can hear livestock and insects all around them, but he chooses to focus on Jack’s breathing, on Jack’s soft sighs next to him.
Under different circumstances, David would love this. He would have loved holding Jack, and being so close to him, but now… Now all he wants to do is keep Jack safe and never let him leave his side.
David turns to look down at Jack, who has his eyes trained on the stars above. He watches him for a moment, before slowly nudging his arm. "Jack?"
"Hm?" Jack looks up at David, meeting his eyes.
"Stay the night."
Jack tilts his head, and raises a brow. "Davey, I--"
"Jack," David murmurs, frowning. "Please, just… stay. Let us take care of you."
Jack stares at him, just for a few moments, before slowly nodding. "...If you're sure," Jack says softly, and looks toward the house. "Your ma won't mind?"
David scoffs. "I think she likes you more than she likes me. She won't mind at all," He says with a grin, then stands up and holds a hand out to Jack. "They… They're gonna have questions, though."
"I know," Jack sighs as he stands, using David's hand, and he soon rubs his face. "I wanna- I wanna tell them, but… will they tell anyone else?"
"They might try," David admits, and rubs his arm. "They just wanna help. You can explain everything to them, just… just know that, no matter what, you'll be safe here with them. With us. Okay?"
"Okay," Jack murmurs, staring up at the house. With a sigh and a decisive nod, Jack takes David’s hand.
They walk hand in hand up to the house, up the front steps of the porch and to that heavy wooden door. They walk in, into the warmly-lit living room, into the warmth of the home, into the safest space in the entire town.
Jack looks at David and smiles. Mouths thank you, and turns to face Esther and Mayer.
All with David’s hand in his own.
#newsies#jack kelly#davey jacobs#david jacobs#javid#javey#small town au#newsies live#livesies#newsies 1992#92sies#spot conlon#esther jacobs#mayer jacobs#toursies#newsies musical#newsies broadway#jac writes
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Submission
Hey there, long time no see!
I've been dipping in and out of Tumblr the last couple of weeks and have been keeping up with all your interesting discussions with anons (sorry, stalkerish I know, but I find it both insightful and entertaining.) I couldn't help but notice @just-a-poor-boy-queen posted about our good old friend on Instagram spouting her usual bullshit, only this time she apparently has proof that her claims are real from Lying Ass Jerkoff , sorry, Lesley Ann Jones' latest book. According to her, as you already know, she claims that Lesley denounces Jim and Freddie's relationship and Jim apparently confessed to her that he never loved Freddie, that he used him for fame, etc. etc.
Which is...very interesting. Because LAJ's biography, Bohemian Rhapsody, claims the exact opposite.
While I was out in town today, I visited my local bookstore and unintentionally stumbled across the book in the biography section. My first instinct was to ignore it - I know for a fact it's trash - but curiosity got the better of me and I ended up having a flip through.
First off, the amount of stuff she gets wrong is hilarious. Some of them were minute errors, others the average Queen fan could tell you is fake. I'm pretty sure she talked about Freddie taking Princess Diana out in drag and the party with the midgets carrying bowls of cocaine on their heads, which we know never happened. There was also a picture of Freddie and Mary (one where Freddie is leaning on Mary while she's smoking a cigarette,) that was captioned "the happy couple relaxing together," which made me laugh out loud because it was allegedly taken in 1975 when Freddie was dating David behind Mary's back. Relationship goals, ammirite?
And don't get me started on the Barbara stuff, I stg, LAJ seems low-key obsessed with her.
Anyway, I ended up skipping to the end where she talks about Jim; she does indeed claim that she stayed with him in Carlow (not sure what year,) and that she interviewed him while she was there. This is what she had to say:
On Jim's motivation for writing M&M: (Jones) "Jim Hutton later explained that it was anger, not money, that prompted him to write his memoir. He wanted the world to know the truth, and could see no other way."
(Jones) "There is no doubt that Jim, the bereft lover, embarked upon his selective 1994 biography with the intention of creating a tender tribute to an adored partner. This was blurred by a co-writer who dwelled more on sensational aspects of the relationship, as well as on intimate details of Freddie's final days."
(Jones) "Given Jim's Catholic background, and the fact that his mother was still alive when he published, it must have taken immense courage to write the book."
About the GL boys being erased by Jim Beach: (Jim) "I think Jim Beach was angry that my book ruined the myth of Freddie. All it did was return him to his original status of a human being. It told the truth. Beach wanted fans to believe that sweet Mary Austin was the love of Freddie's life, and what a great, tragic, romantic tale it all was."
(Jones) "Jim was consequently banished from the Queen camp." (She goes on to explain it's likely because everyone was grieving, but I don't buy it.)
(Jones) "Freddie's will raised countless questions, some of which would never be resolved." (I thought this was interesting, given that I've seen speculation that Freddie might have been influenced over what to put in his will before.)
On Dave Clark: (Jones) "The press reported that Dave Clark had said he was the only person in the bedroom when Freddie died. 'He was not the only person in the room,' Jim stated. 'But it was quoted all over the place.' The error must have been perturbed the sensitive and caring Clark, for on his birthday, Jim received a beautiful card from him. 'The inscription he wrote inside read "you were there.' " (Jim goes on to recount the exact same version of events written in Mercury & Me about Freddie's death. He speaks highly of Clark, saying he was brilliant when Freddie was ill and would sit with him for hours. Jim seems more angry at the press spreading lies than at Dave himself. I've seen people argue that Dave was the one spreading the rumours to the paper or he did nothing to refute them, but who knows, perhaps he was a victim of the tabloids too.)
Phoebe testifying to Jim's character: (Phoebe) "Those concerned have to live with themselves. Mary once said of Jim that he had 'a very vivid imagination.' I knew Jim a very long time, and never knew him to be anything other than totally honest. Jim's conscience, like mine, will always be clear." (Given how Phoebe now makes a point of saying that Jim "exaggerated" stuff in his book, I find this a tad hypocritical. Still, I appreciate him sticking up for Jim and saying that those who are trying to change Freddie's legacy will have to live with that on their conscience. Also, fuck you Mary, if you did say that about Jim.)
On Jim's love for Freddie: (Jones) "There are still times when I can be pottering around in the garden, and Freddie's facial expression when he died will come into my mind," he told me in Ireland, "I can blank out what happened consciously but not subconsciously. It is impossible to forget. I learned so much from him, not least a positive outlook. Freddie's attitude was always, 'But you can, don't you see? You can do it. Put your mind to it, you'll see what you can do' That was one of the loveliest things about him."
(Jones) "During the time I spent with Jim in picturesque County Carlow, there was no doubt that the love Jim claimed to have felt for Freddie was genuine. He was a warm and decent man who was content with his lot. He was eternally grateful, he told me, for having experienced the superstar lifestyle through Freddie."
(Jones) "Jim would never truly recover from the loss."
I took screenshots of all the quotes above, which I'm happy to submit if anyone is interested. I would love to have seen what else she said about Jim, but taking pictures of book pages in the middle of a shop isn't the best look, so I kept it brief.
So, overall, Lesley seems to have a very high opinion of Jim, and believed the love between he and Freddie was genuine. Which is quite surprising, given that she downplays all of Freddie's other relationships with men in favour of promoting his fictional "romance" with Miss Valentin. Of course, this could all be complete bullshit and she never met Jim at all, but if she is telling the truth for once in her life, then she's one of few biographers who was very much supportive of Jimercury.
As one of the anons correctly stated, we have two possible scenarios.
A) If crazy lady is telling the truth, and Jones does make all these negative claims about Jim in her new book, then she was either lying in Bohemian Rhapsody or she's lying now in her latest cash cow. In this scenario, she's a liar either way. But tell us something we don't know.
B) Crazy Lady is pretending to have read the book, or read it and was angry there was nothing bad about Jim, and is fabricating quotes to suit her anti-Jim agenda, knowing her thick-as-bricks followers will just take her word for it and not bother looking for evidence. This is the most likely scenario.
I know most people with a brain know not to trust the word of either of these women, but I thought it would be fun to dismantle some of Insta lady's claims regardless, in case there was anyone out there having doubts.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
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Hi there! It's good to see you again.
This...is a lot to think about lol. Since LAJ is such a liar, it's hard to believe she really sat down with Jim, or that most of what she said was from primary sources. However, it is strange that she spoke so highly of Jim given...everything else she's ever said lol. The quotes above do fit with what other people have said about Jim and Garden Lodge as a whole, though. It's very strange because it's either she decided to be factual with this, or lie about getting these quotes but decide to stick up for Jim, anyway. Weird, weird, weird.
It's really hard to know who's lying in the new book, LAJ or the hater lady. They're both so unreliable. It does seem too convenient that what LAJ supposedly says lines up with the hater lady rhetoric, but idk. Apparently LAJ blocked the hater lady on twitter, too lmao. So maybe it's the hater lady who's lying? But I can believe LAJ suddenly changing her tune, too.
I don't know. Thank you for sharing this information. I have more questions than answers now lol but still
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Family Reunion
Pairing: Javier Peña /Reader
Word Count: 2,702
Warnings: mentions of canon-typical violence, probably inaccurate Spanish, but otherwise none! This is all fluff!
Permanent Taglist: @phoenixhalliwell @star-wars-hell
Returning home is hard, but with you by Javier’s side, he can face anything. Including a Peña family reunion.
“I’m really not sure about this.”
You laughed, putting a hand on top of his and watching the Texas countryside pass you by. “Javi, it’s two days. What could possibly go wrong?”
Javier sighed. “Ay dios míos, you’re gonna regret saying that.”
The Peña family ranch was all set up for the reunion, and for the first time in a long time, Javier was actually able to go. He pulled up the driveway, face already scrunching as three women rushed out and stood eagerly on the edge of the driveway. “Here we go.”
Immediately, as soon as Javier’s feet hit the pavement, the three women were upon him, hugging and squealing that they’d missed him. You grinned, stepping out of the car and simply watching as Javier tried to brush off his sister’s affection.
Finally, once they were all done greeting Javier, he pulled you close to his side. “These are my older sisters, Maria, Cynthia, and Patricia.”
You smiled. “Pleasure to meet you all. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Cynthia bounded back into the house, apparently eager to tell everyone Javier was home. Maria, who you were pretty sure was the oldest, helped you and Javier grab your bags and take them inside. While Javier got lost in the sea of family members who hadn’t seen him in a decade, you found near silence in Javier’s old bedroom, which was where you two would be sleeping.
“Y’know, Mamá couldn’t believe it when he called home to say he got married,” Maria said, setting Javier’s bag on his bed. “Our little Javi, all grown up and married.”
You put your bag down next to Javier’s. “Is he the youngest?”
“Nah,” Maria said, pointing to a framed photo on Javier’s nightstand. “Melissa and Lori are both younger than him.”
Examining the photo, you suppressed a grin. “He’s the only boy?”
Maria’s Cheshire grin grew. “Yeah.”
An unfamiliar woman poked her head into the room. “Is this Javi’s spouse?”
You nodded.
“Ah!” The woman pulled you into a tight hug. “Hi! I’m Melissa!”
“Lissa!” Javier said, and Melissa put you down with a pout. “Bájalos, ahora.”
Another call of Melissa’s name, and she was racing out of the room with a cheerful laugh, Maria hot on her heels.
Javier fell onto the bed, and you pulled the door shut, falling next to him. “Home sweet home,” he groaned, putting his hands over his eyes.
You rolled over and ended up laying on Javier’s chest, resting your ear on his collarbones. “I like it,” you said softly.
After a few minutes of simply enjoying each other’s company, a loud shout echoed through the house, disrupting your peace. “Lori’s home!”
The house began to bustle, but you stayed on top of Javier, keeping him trapped. He didn’t seem to mind, and actually wound an arm around your back to keep you secure. Voices filtered around you, but they were fuzzy, like they were underwater or behind a closed door.
Finally, someone opened the door to Javier’s bedroom. “Hijo?”
“Si mamá?”
Javier’s mother looked at you on top of him and smiled. “Lori is home. Do you want to say hello?”
Javier sighed, and you laughed as you were lifted up as he breathed in. “Yeah, I’ll come say hi.”
He stood, and you stood with him. “Come on. You’ll like Lori.”
Lori, if you remembered correctly, was the youngest and the most mature. She looked damn near identical to Javier, despite her feminine features and the fact that she was clearly younger.
“Ah, you must be Javi’s spouse!” She said, shaking your hand. “Damn, Javi really knows how to pick them!”
You laughed. “Thank you, but I think I picked him.”
Lori smiled. “Of course. C’mon! Can you bake?”
Turned out, Lori needed help with the pies, and you and her spent almost half an hour making various pie crusts and fillings. Javier tried to help for a few minutes, but he got dragged off to help somewhere else. You waved as he went, following one of the younger cousins.
“So, how was Columbia?” Lori asked, mixing another apple pie mix in a glass bowl.
You took a breath, continuing to knead lest your emotions get the better of you. “Hard,” you finally admitted. “Very hard. I wasn’t even in the thick of the fighting most times, but it was harder than anything I’ve ever done. We had to move four times, and we caught bombs in Javi’s car on two separate occasions. It was a good day if no one shot at him, and then there was all that shit with Los Pepes.”
“Oh I heard about that,” Lori said sadly, grabbing another pie pan. “That must’ve been hell for him, not being there when they finally put a bullet in Escobar.”
“Steve called us immediately,” you said. “The body was still warm, I don’t think the news knew yet. But we did. Javier cried.”
Lori shrugged. “What’s he gonna do now?”
You looked around, making sure the kitchen was empty. “Going back.”
“What?”
You nodded. “They’re sending us back, something about the Cali cartel? I dunno, but apparently it’s big and it’s a problem. They want Javi because, well, he’s had connections with those people.”
“Oh,” Lori breathed, passing the pie to you so you could lattice it. “That’s awful.”
“That’s government work,” you said with a sigh.
Before Lori could speak again, Javier came back with two men, one of whom put an arm around Lori’s waist.
“David, this is Javier’s spouse,” Lori said, smiling as the man kissed her cheek. “The one who was working with the DEA.”
David nodded to you. “Pleasure. I’d shake your hand, but,”
You grinned, holding up your pie crust covered hands. “I’ll spare you the feeling.”
“And this is my cousin Chris,” Javier said, leaning on the counter and watching you expertly lattice the pie in front of you. “How many of those are you making?”
“Three apple, two cherry, one pecan for Cynthia, one blueberry, and a peach pie for Javi.”
Javier lit up. “I thought you weren’t making a peach pie!”
Lori laughed. “Beth brought Georgia peaches, so I had to.”
Chris opened the oven, examining the pies. “Damn, these look divine.”
“Off,” Lori said, giving Chris’s hands a light smack with a wooden spoon. “These are for dessert!”
Once you were finally done and the pies only had to be baked, you were able to wash your hands and sit on the couch. Javier sat next to you, along with a few aunts and uncles you didn’t know. Javier’s father sat in a recliner, his mother sat on a loveseat, and beside her sat a wonderful old woman who you quickly learned was Javier’s grandmother. You closed your eyes, leaning against Javier’s shoulder and dozing a bit. You didn’t fall asleep, but damn you wanted to. Conversation filtered around you, but you didn’t pay much attention.
People came and went, and eventually, everyone was moving outside. Javier nudged you to awareness and you blinked blearily in the Texas sunlight as you followed him outside.
“Veteran DEA agent, bothered by a bit of sunshine,” Javier teased, handing you his aviators. “Ain’t you a sight.”
You huffed at him. “Don’t make me regret saying yes to marrying you,” you said, waving to Patricia and Melissa.
Lunch was a happy affair. You sat beside your husband, chatting eagerly with some of his cousins. His sisters sat with you, happily telling you stories about Javier that made him turn red and you bend over with laughter. Finally, once they’d had their fun embarrassing him, Cynthia, Maria, and Lori all left to go oversee some game the young cousins were playing. Melissa leaned over the table and grinned, Patricia already rolling her eyes.
“Javi,” she said sweetly, fluttering her eyes. “Have you taken Bella out yet?”
“Bella?” You asked, seeing Javier copy Patricia’s eye roll. “Who’s Bella?”
Melissa pointed to the stables that the ranch had. “Javi’s horse. She’s getting old, but she still runs.”
“She’s thirteen,” Javier said. “Not old.”
Patricia smiled. “Javi managed to get her off a man trying to sell her for meat,” she explained to you. “Right up until the day he left for Columbia, she was his pride and joy. Brought her back basically from the dead.”
You tried to imagine Javier caring deeply about a horse, deeply enough to save her. Unsurprisingly, the thought came easy. “Bella, it’s a beautiful name.”
“Short for Belladonna,” Javier said. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you.”
The ground was warm beneath your feet, still bare because you hadn’t had time to put shoes on before lunch. The Peña stables didn’t have many horses, maybe three or four. Right at the end was a stall painted with gorgeously intricate vines and flowers, the belladonna plant. Javier leaned over the door, whistling.
The effect was almost immediate. He was shoved from the door, a black horse pushing him out and butting against his body, searching him.
“Bella!” He said happily, scratching behind Bella’s swiveling ears. “Hello! Did you miss me?”
Bella snorted.
“I know, I missed you too,” Javier said, lost in his own little world. “Hey, guess what! I got married. Mhm, I think they’re perfect too.”
You smiled, leaning against the wall and watching Javier talk to Bella. “She’s gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” Javier said. “C’mon, I’ll take you on a ride.”
He introduced you to another horse, Bella’s neighbor Aristotle. Aristotle was well behaved, and within no time, you were sitting in the saddle and following Javier down a trail. Aristotle was an easy ride, and it helped that you had some prior riding knowledge. Javier, however, was leagues above you, riding as if he’d been doing it his whole life. Which you supposed he had.
“The ranch is huge,” Javier said, leading you through a section of forest. “But even if it wasn’t, we’re all good friends with the neighbors, and they don’t mind when we ride on their land.”
You left the forest and entered a large field that stretched on for miles, a wooden fence bisecting the field. “Is that where the neighbor’s property starts?” You asked, pulling Aristotle to a stop on the edge of the woods.
“That’s still ours,” Javier said. “Technically the neighbor’s land starts at the end of the field on the other side of the fence, but the fence was there when we bought the land and no one wants to take it down.”
You nodded. “How far is it back to the ranch?”
Javier looked at you, confused. “Twenty minutes at a steady trot, maybe thirty at a walk, why?”
Pushing Javier’s aviators up your nose and wiggling in the saddle, you grinned. “Over the fence, race you back!”
Just like that, you were off. Aristotle seemed just as joyful as you as you leapt the fence with ease, using what little riding knowledge you had. Javier caught on to your game and followed suit, laughing as Bella and Aristotle raced side by side.
The trail was likely too dangerous to keep this pace at, but if you weren’t mistaken, you could wind around the forest, staying at your pace. Abandoning Javier at the path, you cut a sharp turn, feeling the wind on your skin as you laughed.
True to your thoughts, within ten minutes, you were coming up on the ranch with no Javier in sight. Jumping the fence yet again into the riding ring, you pulled Aristotle to a stop, jumping down and stroking his nose.
Maria and Cynthia ran up to you as you straightened your shirt. “What happened?”
The sound of hooves alerted you to the return of your husband. “Javier and I went for a ride. I challenged him to a race home. He lost.”
Javier stopped Bella beside you, looking you up and down as he slid out of his saddle. “That was some damn impressive riding,” he said. “Congrats.”
You grinned. “C’mon, let’s put these two away and relax.”
Of course, in the Peña house, there was no such thing as relaxing. You and Javier were halfway to the porch when Javier was hit in the back with a water balloon. He turned, back dripping. Melissa and Patricia both pointed at each other, barely containing their laughter.
“Oh hell no!” Javier said, taking off his shoes and smiling. “Get back here!”
He chased after his sisters, both of which ran away, shrieking with laughter. You sat on the porch swing, watching Javier grab a water balloon and throw it. His aim was off, so instead of hitting Patricia, he hit Maria, who immediately joined the fight as well. Within minutes, all six Peña kids were throwing water balloons at each other and laughing. It was such an innocent sight, and it made you sigh. How long would you be in Columbia fighting the Cali Cartel? When would Javier get a chance to laugh like this again?
A shriek pulled you from your thoughts as Maria took control of a garden hose and began to aim it mostly at Javier, catching Lori and Cynthia in the process of soaking her brother. Javier ducked away from the hose spray, and Melissa snuck around Maria’s back and stood on the hose. It was a simple trick, but one Maria fell for, looking into the hose and immediately getting a face full of water.
“Niños!” Javier’s mother yelled, coming out of the house. “Que estás haciendo?”
“Jugando, Mamá!” Javier called, sitting up in the grass from where he’d been play wrestling with Cynthia, entirely soaked and decently muddy. “Melissa lo inició.”
“Did not!”
“Did to!”
“Niños!” Javier’s mother said again, trying to cut the childish bickering off. “Lavarse!”
“Si Mamá!” The chorus of six voices called back. Javier was up first, shaking like a wet dog and trotting over to the house, followed by his sisters.
Ten minutes later, a significantly cleaner Javier was sitting next to you, his hair still wet and in completely different clothes. “Hey.”
“Hey,” you said softly, watching the large extended family gather for dinner.
“Okay, what’s wrong?”
“Hm?”
Javier took your hands. “You only ever use that tone when something is really wrong. What is it?”
You shrugged. “Just wondering when we’ll be back here. Will it be years, like last time?”
“Not if I can help it,” Javier said softly. “Hey, look at me cariño. This won’t be like last time, okay? I swear it. We’ll be home soon.”
Nodding, you kissed Javier, running a finger over his ring. “I love you.”
Javier smiled, kissing your forehead. “I love you more.”
You leaned against him, taking in the setting sun and the bustling happiness of the yard. Someone started playing music, and you perked up. “Oh! I love this song!”
Javier tipped his head, trying to figure out what was playing. “I don’t know this.”
“It’s from the mid sixties,” you said, standing and tugging Javier to his feet. “Never charted, but my mother loved it.” You started to sway with the happy music, and Javier copied your movements. “Hey, hey, hey, lover, you don't have to be a star,” you sang, making Javier smile. “Hey, hey, hey, lover, I love you just the way you are.”
Javier moved his hands to your waist, and you put your forearms on his shoulders, still swaying and singing. “For love is just the same, without fortune and fame. Just give me true love and understanding. True love and understanding.”
The song kept playing, and you kept singing, dancing with Javier on the porch. About halfway through the song, someone interrupted you. “Hey, dorks!”
You jumped, almost knocking into Javier and hurting him. “Jesus! A warning next time!”
Maria grinned. “Mamá says it’s time to eat, and if you don’t come down, she’ll feed your portion to the dogs.”
Javier smiled. “Yeah, that sounds like Mamá. C’mon, let’s eat.”
You took Javier’s hand, following him off the porch, still singing lightly as the grass crunched under your feet and the warm Texas breeze rippled your clothes.
“Hey, lover, treat me good and nice, and it will be alright. Just give me true love and understanding. True love and understanding.”
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King Of The World // Michael Gray X Fem!Reader
Summary: Just after getting dumped by your boyfriend, you meet Michael at a bar in New York City.
Warnings: Drinking, Swearing
Word Count: 1124
Author’s Note:
I’m open to any guidence on how to develop my writing skills. English is not my first language so if I have any mistakes, please excuse them and let me know if there is any I can fix.
This one is for my best friend who adores Michael, unlike me who lowkey dispises him. I love you and I hope you enjoy it. I hope all my readers do too.
Requests are open. You can request any Peaky Blinders related imagines or prompts for me to write. I’m a minor so I don’t take NSFW requests, please keep that in mind.
You can ask to be added to my taglist. You can be tagged to works on a specific character or just any of my works. Please dm me or send your wish to my ask box if you’d like to be added.
———————
A glass of whiskey was all you needed. You had just got dumped by your long term boyfriend, David. You were extremely angry at him for dumping you while you were wearing your prettiest dress.
You were walking down the streets of New York. You didn't have a jacket because it was the middle of the summer. You had paired your pretty blue dress with white heels.
Your heels made loud noises on the pavement, the sound stopped on the doorstep of a bar. There was music coming from inside, it was exactly what you needed.
You stepped in confidently, there were so many women in with their boyfriends and husbands. You noticed you would probably be the only single woman in there. It was the worst thing ever in that moment but you needed a drink at that exact moment.
You got inside, sat at the bar. ���Women can’t sit alone at the bar.” the barman said looking at you. You chuckled, “I just got dumped, I don’t care, give me whiskey.” the barman looked impressed by your attitude. He turned around to fill you a glass, “And make it double.” you ordered.
You grabbed the glass as soon as it was put on you, you drank it in one sip. You put the glass down and whistled so the barman can give you his attention again. “Keep it coming.” you said, he nodded.
The more you drank, the more you thought of David. You gave 2 years of your youth to that bastard and he just left you because he wanted to be single for once. He didn’t deserve you anyway or that was what you told yourself.
When the barman put the fifth double whiskey on the counter, another hand reached for it. A big hand, a man’s hand. You turned to the owner of the hand in one motion, put your chin up. That was your drink and you wanted to make sure he knew that.
“I thought women weren’t supposed to drink alone here.” the guy said in an English accent. His green eyes were fixated on you but you were too focused on getting you drink back.
You hit his hand and took the glass, once again drank it all at once. “I just got dumped, I deserve an exception.” you said simply, his eyes didn’t move away from your eyes.
“Who would leave such beauty?” you turned back to him, examined his features one by one. His lips were chapped, you immediately thought of hydrating them with your kiss. He was attractive, had a strong jawline and pretty green eyes.
“Apparently David.” you mumbled, he sat down next to you. His intentions were obviously the same as yours. “So unfortunate.” he nodded, you smiled a little. Your slowly fading smile made him smile big.
“Two more.” he said to the barman, you didn’t need to drink it all at once anymore. Slow was better and your need to get pissed drunk was out of the picture. “You’re prettier than him, I might say it’s fortunate for me.” he chuckled at your words and serious expression.
“We’re both winning tonight then.” he said, took a sip from his whiskey. You laughed, “Seems like it.” he was so pretty. So pretty that you were almost glad David dumped you.
“You’re English, what are you doing in the States?” you asked, trying to have a conversation. He lit a cigarette, “Business.” he said, “Wall Street, must be exciting.” you replied. He simply nodded.
“It is but not as exciting as being back in Birmingham.” he explains, you couldn’t understand why. “What could be more exciting than being in New York?” you ask, he took a breath from his cigarette. You were so attracted to him that you forgot David even existed.
“My family is powerful there, I feel like the king of the world but here, I’m just another guy working in finance.” he admitted, saying that always impressed women. The only thing making him feel like the king of the world in New York was impressing women.
“I’m nothing here and would be nothing there, nowhere close to being on top of the world.” you said, he felt proud of himself for impressing you just like he wanted.
“You never told me your name.” he asked, your mind stopped working for a second. “Y/N” you said and because you paused for a second he felt the need to ask, “Is that a fake name?” you shook your head.
“Oh no, I’m just too drunk.” being satisfied with your answer, he showed you his hand. “Michael, Michael Gray.” you grabbed his hand and shook it.
“Nice to meet you Mr. Gray.” you smiled, seeing your interaction as a win. It was obvious it was going to be a good night for you. You took another sip from your whiskey, “May I?” you reached for his tab of cigarettes. He did nothing but nod.
Just as you put the cigarette between your lips, he took his lighter out and lit it for you. “Thanks.” you continued, “What are your plans for this wonderful night?” you asked before taking a drag from the cigarette.
“Probably kiss a lovely lady.” you felt your cheeks blush. “Like you.” you had no mirror but you were sure your cheeks were burning red. You took one last drag from your cigarette and put it down way before it was close to ending.
You pulled your chair closer to his, “Then go ahead.” you said. He pulled you in to his lips. His chapped lips felt harsh on your moisturized ones. The heat of your bodies interacted, he was colder against your warm one influenced by all the whiskey you had earlier.
While your lips were colouring his red with your lipstick, his tongue slipped into your mouth. This was the last thing you expected for that night though you obviously wanted it.
After a full moment of sharing a passionate kiss, you pulled yourself away. You reached for your whiskey for the last time, pushed it down your throat. Now the glass was empty and you didn’t intend to ask for another one.
“What if we leave together?” you asked, Michael chuckled. He too reached for his glass, took a sip but didn’t finish it. He got on his feet, left a bit of cash on the counter and helped you get down by holding your hand.
Both of you left the bar, hands tied to each other. After getting dumped by your boyfriend just a few hours ago, this was obviously a fast shift into your new vision of relationships. You hoped he would take you to his apartment and he did exactly that.
#peaky blinders#michael gray#michael gray x reader#michael gray one shot#michael gray fanfiction#michael gray fanfic#michael gray x you#michael gray x y/n#peaky blinders fanfic#michael gray oneshot#peaky blinders imagine#michael gray imagine#peaky blinders x reader#finn cole#peaky blinders oneshot
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Random Wanda Vision Thoughts--
Episode 1: I am an emotional bitch crying at Wanda and Vision saying “i do” at the end of episode 1, like can these babies please catch a break? they just want to be happy.
Also Agnes and the 70′s show mom are my favorite wtf.
STARK TOASTERS I SEE YOU.
WHO IS WATCHING THEM WTF
Episode 2:
Dottie should die, she seems like the type who needs gently run over by a bus
WHO IS IN THE RADIO
Elizabeth Olsen is so cute in this, absolutely adorable
IS THAT DAVID SCHWIMMER PLAYING THE PIANO
Vision is drunk from getting gum in his gears, I’m actually cackling right now.
Tiny bit culty with the “for the children” thing, huh? Yikes
BABY BUMP!
Some creepo decides to get in on their world and Wanda literally went “i think the fuck not, let’s try this again and this time in technicolor”
is that the cop who asked out Ant Man on the radio?
The difference in “sitcom” Wanda who is happy in her world and “real life” Wanda when she realizes something isn’t right is honestly astonishing and Grade A Face Acting. See what happens when they let women do more on screen then walk around in tight clothes with full lips parted in a sexy pout?
Episode 3:
Seventies Vision’s hair is ENDING ME, I can’t even deal with that.
IT HAS TO BE DAVID SCHWIMMER except he looks like “russ” from friends instead of “ross”
Poor Vision is not handling impending fatherhood well
COMIC BOOK NAME DROP BILLY AND TOMMY I LOVE IT
Poor pregnancy fritzing Wanda. DID WANDA JUST GLITCH A TIME ERASE AND NOT MEAN TO? Listen, I did not expect to love them as a couple this much. EW HER WATER BROKE OMG
A STORK
Oh Wanda, poor baby she’s so afraid, I write way too much fan fiction about how all these characters are secretly terrified to go through life alone to be okay with this.
Why did I start crying immediately when the babies were born, I’m too emotional for this. She is so beautiful and Vision is so soft meeting his son as himself, oh my gosh. THE TWIN SCREAMS while the other twin comes omg this is Grade A Sitcom bullshit.
The doctor knows something is Up and so do Herb and Agnes. *don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious*
...have we actually seen Ralph and I’m just blanking on it? WHY DON’T THEY LIKE GERALDINE? WHO IS SHE?
Oh no i’m crying again over pietro and the sokovian lullaby. Don’t let me watch this while I’m PMSing wtf this is torture. GERALDINE KNOWS ABOUT ULTRON
OH SHIT WANDA IS PISSED LOOK AT THAT DANGEROUS LADY. that head tilt is fucking lethal.
I love agnes oh man. I know because of spoilers she’s something of a bad guy? but I love her
WHAT HAPPENED TO GERALDINE OMG DID WANDA KILL HER
Oh no, not dead. Just kicked tf out of the bubble. I just realized the symbol is for Sword. Is this some sort of experiment to keep Wanda contained post Endgame? I should have read more spoilers, I’m fucking confused.
Episode 4: OH HOLY SHIT IT’S MONICA RAMBEAU AND IT’S POST EG SNAP OH MY GOSH SHE HAS NO IDEA SHES BEEN GONE FOR FIVE YEARS MY HEART IS BREAKING MY HEART IS BREAKING I CAN’T TAKE IT
It IS the cop that hit on Ant Man! WHAT DO THEY MEAN WESTVIEW DOESN’T EXIST
Oh it’s Darcy! Damn straight it’s Dr. Lewis. How very shocking, a woman was the one to show a room full of Ridiculous Men what’s going on?
ZOMBIE VISION OH MY GOD “no we can’t” oh man she is starting to CRACK and Vision knows something is wrong OH NO
At this point I should point out that I am 1000% surprised at the quality of the show and 1000% pleasantly surprised by how much I’m enjoying it. The bar for Wanda’s character development was literally subterranean, but this is has been frankly sort of amazing??
Episode 5
Agnes asking about “taking it from the top” WHAT. I love so much the way the characters “break character” it’s so interesting and well done! WHY IS WANDA LYING TO VISION.
WHERE IS RALPH
oh my god the babies are children now?? why isn’t agnes noticing?? THEY’RE SO CUTE I COULD CRY ALL OVER AGAIN
I do not. trust. hayward. Why is he asking about Wandas nickname? Monica knows whats up-- she knows Wanda is grieving and hurting.
THE VISIONS CORPSE WHAT? WHAT IS WANDA DOING OH MY GOD SHE STOLE VISION. Vision has a living will? Don’t you have to be human for that? Are you telling me the woman that loved Vision would straight up ignore his wish to not be turned into a weapon after his death? I have a hard time with this.
Oh no Vision is starting to worry me. He’s onto Agnes, he’s noticing Wanda getting careless...the boys are adorable though. Good on Agnes for not even flinching.
DAMN RIGHT WANDA COULD HAVE TAKEN OUT THANOS LETS HAVE SOME RESPECT PEOPLE. Also, why is Monica being sketchy about Captain Marvel?
EMAIL ALERT EMAIL ALERT “none of it is real.” oh my god what is happening?!?!
“Is this yours?” OH MY GOD. “This will be your only warning” she is so unafraid and I love her for it. I love her accent coming back when she breaks characters LOOK AT HER TURNING ALL THOSE MEN AROUND I LOVE HER.
“Fix the dead” oh my god the shock on her face. The absolute irony of her trying to tell her boys there’s rules when she’s writing the playbook as she goes. Oh my god. “Can’t I?” Jesus, then the credits start rolling because she wants the episode to be over but Vision won’t let her OH MY GOD. My heart is breaking
WHAT DOES IT MEAN SHE DOESN’T KNOW
SHE RECAST PIETRO
Episode 6
OOOOH look at the classic costumes! Pietro is slaying me. I mean, it’s the wrong pietro but its still very funny. The way Vision calls her out and then plays it off is.... spooky. She is fully aware thats not her brother. “Be good.” holy shit.
Look at me not liking Hayward again. “which one is the sassy best friend” i feel like that’s....racist. “don’t use the last five years as an excuse to be a coward” DRAG HIM SIS
Listen Uncle Pietro being a little shit head is my favorite. I use the OG Pietro in my fics but this one is hilarious.
Vision lied about being on duty? Yikes. The one house where people are stuck in a loop? YIKES. Its crazy how everyone is starting to be super aware of Wanda pulling the strings--MAGIC CHILD OMG.
Whats past ellis avenue? Is that the limit of Wanda’s powers? I don’t super understand how Vision has his powers if he’s technically dead. HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE AVENGERS ARE she really just gave him enough life to exist just barely. Agnes knows he’s dead so she wasn’t snapped??
Agnes’s witchy laugh while dressed like a witch is legit awesome. We call that FOREEEEEEEEESHADOWING! Oh and there’s Ellis Ave. Got it.
Monica’s blood is changed?? Idk how to feel about Black Character willing to die for White Charaxter? I mean I know Wanda should be Jewish but still. Uncomfortably close to icky tropes but maybe I’m reading too far into it.
YIKES where was she hiding the kids till now? How’d she do all this? “I’m not a stranger or your husband” YIKES.
OH MY GOD DEAD PIETRO
OH MY GOD VISION STAY IN THE BUBBLE SOMEONE SAVE HIM SAVE HIM OMG BILLY CAN HEAR HIS DADDY DYING SAVE HIM
“The people need help” oh Vision you are truly Worthy
She literally expanded her world to save him omg
DARCY WHERED YOU GO geez look at power of this girls mind it’s about damn time we got a glimpse at just how intense her powers are
Season 7
Ok is this like a reality show? Oh man she is GLITCHING.
Oh no it’s just Wanda not Wanda vision cos she feels alone? So sad. She really is losing it isn’t she and not in a “lol how awkward” sortnof way but in that truthful hard to watch way that so many of us feel when we’re at the breaking point
“I actually did bite a kid once” I literally ugly laughed right there
I KNEW I COULDNT TRUST HAYWOOD
It’s so nice to see Darcy used in a real way. Her character was totally wasted in Thor
The way Wandas little interviews get more and more sad :(
Uhhh what does that mean Agnes is quiet on the inside? Again with the Ralph thing. I’m starting to think there’s no Ralph at all??
LOOK AT THIS GIRL WITH HER SPACE ROVER . She’s got that same look of determination her mama had. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HER WHY ARE HER EYES BLUE
“....soooo Wanda killed me?” I’m ugly laughing again and I shouldn’t be but the comedic delivery is excellent. The whole “office” vibe with the cameras is making an otherwise devastating episode fairly funny
LOOK AT THIS GIRL STANDING UP TO WANDA we love a sharp cheekbones beauty
“Maybe I already am” I mean, I would have loved to hear that post Ultron when for some reason everyone blamed Tony for everything?? But hearing it now is just horrifying and I hate it
Oh vision deciding to go get to his wife is beautiful.
WHERE ARE THE BABIES WHERE ARE THE BOYS OH MY GOD IM FREAKING OUT WHAT BASEMENT THATS NEVER GOOD
Uh hey what the fuck is up with Agness creepy basement of horrors??
AGATHA HARKNESS OH MY GOD
This song is a BOP wtf she deserves an Emmy for this shit
Snoopers gonna snoop what?
Episode 8
Of course it’s Salem, where else would a witch story start
“They simply bent to my power” What a queen
lmaoooo THAT ACCENT COMES AND GOES Agatha really said what we’ve all been thinking
Wait so Wandas power drew Agatha in? I thought maybe Agatha trapped her here?? SHE DOESNT KNOW WHAT WANDA IS
THE BABIES
Oh ouch this trip down memory lane is gonna hurt me isn’t it?
Oh no her mama I’m dying inside send help. The TV sitcoms. Oh my god is this her last memory before her parents died. HELP ME I CANT WATCH THIS
Oh my god, she had powers when she was little?? SHES NOT AN EXPERIMENT???
Listen I generally think telling a story retroactively is lazy writing? Just give us a well developed story the first time?? But this is BRUTAL and brutally well done.
SHE SAW HERSELF IN THE MIND STONE???
Would it have been so difficult for them to give us even a PEEK at this version of wanda vision in CACW? Marvel has the worst habit of just popping up like “oh hey these two love each other all the sudden with no real reason for it” but this is wonderful. So much character development.
Oh listen to this woman begging to be able to bury her husband omg. WAIT SO SHE DIDNT BREAK IN AND TAKE HIM?? WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO VISION?? DID HE PUSH HER INTO THIS PSYCHOTIC BREAK?? HE TOTALLY PLAYED HER INTO RECREATING VISION SHE JUST WANTED CLOSURE. He literally showed her visions dismembered corpse and said “say goodbye” I will kill this dude wtf
“I can’t feel you” guys I have to pause this so I can cry for a minute
“I can’t feel you” and then she leaves. Totally alone in the world. My heart is an empty husk.
Why the house though? Why west view?
OH FUCK ME UP ARE YOU KIDDING ME VISION WAS GOING TO BUILD THEM A HOUSE I CANT TAKE THIS ANYMORE
It’s not even real vision? Just the projection of her broken heart? “Welcome home” I am broken. Physically broken.
CHAOS MAGIC
SCARLET WITCH
I CANNOT
OH MY GOD WHITE VISION??? NO NO NO
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