#I literally don’t know any other response to it then chivalry and helping him out | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

honeym4rk · 4 years

Text

station (jjh)

college! jaehyun x reader word count: 3.0k summary: four times you find yourself alone with jaehyun at a bus station.

There is comfort in the silence.

With every step you take, there is a crunch of fallen, juniper leaves at your feet. Your canvas tote bag is looped around your shoulder, your fingers clinging to the straps like it would shield you from the awkwardness of the current circumstances.

He’s got his hands hidden in the cavity of his hoodie. His knuckle cracking is sporadic, and you cringe at just how many times they’ve made an encore in the past two minutes.

You really should have begged Mark to tag along and leave the shindig so that this wouldn’t have happened- but alas, the boy was still hooked by the prospect of winning the next round of Mario Kart against Donghyuck. ‘It does some good to my self-esteem,’ he’d said.

So here you are, sauntering bashfully to the bus stop with Jaehyun.

“So, uh- what bus are you taking?” You muster up the courage to speak up after a few minutes of painful reticence.

“I’d have to take 922 or 153 from the opposite stop to get back to hall,” he sighs. It’s clear that he reciprocates the weird, distinctive tension here.

“And you?” He faces you with his raised eyebrows and you’re baffled by the sudden eye contact made. Your eyes dart elsewhere.

“Oh, I’m taking 922 from here.” You nod your head imperceptibly at the bus stop ahead of you.

A few metres away, there’s a zebra crossing, and you thank your lucky stars that you’re finally about to part ways. Oh, you’re sure Jaehyun is a nice person and all, but that doesn’t change the fact that the unspoken, kind enmity in the air is capable of being taut so hard around your neck that you asphyxiate.

Ten more steps. Come on.

Five steps.

Three steps.

“I’ll see you next ti-”

Yet he doesn’t stop at the crossing. Instead, he continues his stride in tandem with yours towards the station. You stop in your tracks, slowly gesturing towards the beaconing street light with the hand you raised to bid adieu.

“Aren’t you going to, you know..?” Eyes hinting at the yellow streaks of light, at the bus stop across the road, anywhere away from his own. Jaehyun notices your halt and follows suit.

“Well, I mean, Mark did ask me to see that you got home safe....”

You immediately wrack your brain for an appropriate response to his chivalry. It’s unclear how you should react; he really caught you by surprise. And from the way he’s gnawing at his inner lip and raising a hand to scratch the nape of his neck, you infer that he’s abashed too. All you manage is a small, “Oh,” as more silence ensues, before you start to blabber,

“No, no, thanks, Jaehyun, but it’s really fine, you don’t have to.”

His lips are taut into a firm, straight line and he lets out a surreptitious hum.

“Let me just wait ‘til you board your bus. Is that okay? It’s getting pretty late.”

You want to vehemently object.

And you’re about to, but you let out a consenting “Yeah, alright.”

He’s invading your desiderated solace- yet something about his offer seems so genuine and saccharine that you comply out of curiosity. You’d heard things about Jaehyun around in school before, good things, especially seeing that he was well acquainted with your friends like Mark, but you’d never really encountered him until tonight, thanks to Donghyuck’s birthday celebration. Being a Linguistics student, fate hadn’t really presented many opportunities for him to meet someone majoring in Pharmacy.

Therefore- you think to yourself- it wouldn’t be so bad. It’s unlikely that you’ll actually talk to him again, since you’ll probably never be within a radius of at least ten metres from him again. It’s alright, it’s okay. You decide to let him be a gentleman.

So you bask in the quietude shrouding the two of you, as you sit on the metal form, awaiting the arrival of a yearned 922.

After all, there is the slightest hint of comfort in the silence.

There is also comfort in the familiarity.

You’re sure there’s a sense of déjà vu. It’s a similar scene to what had ensued a few weeks ago, at least, and you’re definitely surprised to be here again, with him . However, you’ve both abandoned the multi-layered cake of unease. It’s almost been completely devoured now. Fortunately.

Jaehyun’s chuckling relentlessly- nearly doubled over laughing- as you recount the earlier occurrences of the Friday night.

“Yeah, no, but I’d give anything to see the look on Donghyuck’s face again.” His eyes crinkle into small crescents as he runs a hand through his silver hair.

“He looked so confident that it was going to work and I’d already told him otherwise, but I really don’t know what he expected.”

Tonight, there had been an effort to study in Donghyuck’s apartment; considering the looming exam season. This purpose was indeed fulfilled, to some extent.

Then Donghyuck, feeling rather ravenous, decided that he wanted to indulge in a quick and easy two-ingredient Oreo mug cake. The video tutorial truly looked too good to be true- you’d seen multiple YouTubers debunk the content-farm produced recipes.

The wide-eyed boy was too desperate, however, as he credulously decided to fill his mug with crushed oreos and milk to the brim. He swore that it looked and sounded promising until a loud Pop! reverberated in the kitchen 30 seconds into heating.

Everyone gathered around to watch Donghyuck cry over his spilt milk, literally, as his appliance perpetually emitted smoke, its glass door burst open. Burnt mounds of moist black and white cookies were thrown at the white, metal walls of the microwave. Donghyuck fanned the plumes of smoke hastily.

“It looks like a volcano erupted.” Mark added, coughing, as he tried to swallow the chuckle bubbling at the back of his throat.

“Dude- I don’t want to say I told you so but,” You began to implore, before Donghyuck interjected.

“Maybe I should just try again, I think the microwave setting just wasn’t right.”

And so he did- but to no avail.

The two of you approach the tiny station side by side, and you relish the warm, fuzzy feeling establishing in your stomach. Not quite butterflies, but maybe more like a tiny sprout popping out of the ground.

“To be fair, though, it didn’t taste half as bad as it looked.”

You snort. “Sure, because it’s literally sugar and milk with a dash of hidden carcinogens.”

He lets out a low chortle. Jaehyun nails the bellowing dad laugh right down to a T, and some part of you finds this endearing.

A flash of bright light emerges as you look up from your feet. 922 has arrived and you’re rummaging through your bag for your bus card.

“I feel like I left my card at Donghyuck’s, shit,”

The bus halts.

“Here, use mine, I’ve got a spare.” Jaehyun offers without a second thought, pulling his card from the pocket of his denim jeans.

“Go on, the bus driver’s waiting.”

You would have thought this through for a little while longer, but he was right. A scowl that said ‘Stop wasting my damn time,’ is plastered on the driver’s face, and it urges you to carefully pick the card slotted between his fingers.

“Thanks so much- I’ll return it tomorrow, or something.” Your eyebrows furrow together and you clench your teeth together in a grimace.

“Yeah! Yeah, whenever. Good night, Y/N. Get home safe,”

“You too, thanks again!”

Boarding the bus hastily, you wave at him through the glass door as the bus sets off. He doesn’t leave until you’re out of sight.

You can’t help but grin as you examine the portrait on his student pass. He’s handsome, skin clear and glossy, hair parted such that there are a bunch of strands obstructing his forehead. It’s black in this image. You wonder how many colours it's been dyed. His dimples replicate the poked slime in the myriad of videos you’ve seen, and his cheekbones are incredibly prominent.

It dawns on you that you don’t have his number, or follow him on Instagram, or have any means to contact him at all. You guess that you’ll have to fish something from Mark, but Jaehyun seems to beat you to it.

Unknown, [2340]: hey this is jaehyun lol hope you get back safe :-)

A sudden flash of the many possible outcomes this could entail breezes past your mind. You’re quite uncertain about how this will play out, and you unlock your phone to reply.

Y/N, [2341]: hii hahah thanks again! i can return your card tomorrow, just lmk where i can drop by

Jaehyun, [2341]: yeah sure, i think i’ll be cooped up in starbucks doing work w my friends lol

Jaehyun, [2341]: u can join if ud like :o

There is comfort in the unknown.

There is comfort in the noise.

Your whole herd of boisterous friends are walking uphill from yet another study session at Donghyuck’s- there’s been quite a number of them since the first. You’re honestly amused by how many people can fit in his apartment. The study group has expanded from a mere four to a whopping seven people in total.

Thankfully, there haven’t been any microwave oven explosions since then, but you’ve had your good share of fun and company, and more importantly, productivity.

The pack of young adults currently divulging the extensive, latest gossip and hall horror stories, you and Jaehyun stray further behind. You’re trying to listen in and pick apart information, but you’ve joined the conversation a bit too late for context.

“Oh my god, Lia, you’re going to hate hearing this, but…” Jungwoo begins, his voice entering a decrescendo.

“But Jeno has a girlfriend? Yeah, I figured.” Lia wails. “I saw them together in the library the other day, being all cute and shit. My heart shattered .” She emphasises this by hitting Jungwoo’s shoulder out of pure frustration.

“How long have they been together, though?” Ryujin quips, to which she gets a reply, but you try to drown out the rest of their conversation.

You tug at the arm of Jaehyun’s sweatshirt, and he leans closer to you as you query, “Who’s Jeno, again?”

“Cute dude that she keeps bumping into at hall, I think,” he mumbles. His words are semi-intelligible, because of the commotion right in front of you.

“Sorry? I didn’t catch that.” The infinite frequencies are hard to tune out, and it gets increasingly arduous to do so when Ryujin gasps.

“Oh shit, the bus is here!” Your friends are immediately ready to break into a sprint, but Jaehyun’s feet seem heavy as he continues to meander with you.

“Jae, aren’t you coming? The next one’s in thirty minutes!” Jungwoo shouts as they begin to dash across the road.

“It’s fine, go on! I’m just a little lazy. See you!” Jaehyun dismisses him with the wave of his extended hand, and receives an incredulous look. The lame excuse confuses you, bamboozles you, but you wave goodbye to your friends anyway.

It’s been long since you’ve been caught alone here at the bus stop with Jaehyun- you usually head home with Mark every Friday. He’s not here, though. He’s crashed at Donghyuck’s for tonight.

“Uhm, what was that ?” You chuckle nervously, the little sprout in your belly magically reappearing. Truth be told, after the many lighthearted, late-night messages exchanged over the past few weeks, and after unravelling Jaehyun bit by bit, the sprout has grown into a pocket-sized garden. It brings its own butterflies, but you don’t quite have the audacity to admit this. There’s a different kind of trickiness lingering in the air tonight.

“Well, you know- Mark…and it’s- it’s getting late, kinda.” He’s timorous tonight. Under the luminescence of the bus station’s lamps, you see the pink tint land on the tips of his ears, something you’ve learnt happens when he’s rather shy.

“I wanted to ask you something, too, though.”

“Okay, shoot.” You take a seat. He sits a modest distance away from you, cracking his knuckles instinctively.

“Well, I uhm, I’m not quite sure how you’ll react to this but,” he licks his lips.

“But?” You encourage him to carry on, staring as you await his continuation.

He looks as if he’s got the words at the tip of his tongue, the sea of sentences about to overflow from his mouth, and they’re spilling when he starts speaking again.

“Would you-” You listen intently, attempting to read his lips. However, he’s cut off by the booming wails of a velocious ambulance. You whip your head around to watch the vehicle pass by.

Jaehyun breathes sharply, exhaling in frustration. The cries subside, so he tries again.

“Y/N,” he clears his throat, and you face him once more.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“I was wondering if-”

A fire truck zooms past the bus stop, and your attention is grabbed by the monotonous siren that raids your ears. Jaehyun notices your bus approaching, and he panics. The air-raid isn’t becoming distant; the truck’s obstructed by the imposing red-light flashing. There’s only so much time left to ask what he’s been dying to- and he can’t believe he’s getting cockblocked by the emergency services right now.

You’re hearing Jaehyun spill a string of words but they’re incoherent- all you can seem to comprehend is the blaring repetitions that are relentless.

“What?!” You shout, fighting past the cacophony. “I can’t hear you!” You’re signing this to him, pointing to your ear and shaking your hand vigorously.

Your bus halts before you. Jaehyun’s in an absolute frenzy now. He doesn’t want to do this online. Something about hiding behind his screen sounds so ingenuine to him, and you’re already standing, shit, but he can’t win against the absolute pandemonium and doesn’t want to embarrass himself in front of the small crowd that’s alighted the bus, but he’s also not sure when he’ll get to talk to you in private like this again,

So he clamours.

“Do You! Want To Go Out! With Me!” He’s cupping his large hands around his mouth, screaming into the makeshift amplifier with all his might, as you walk towards the front doors of the bus.

You look like a deer caught in headlights, eyes wide open in disbelief as you gawk at the boy who’s sheepishly glancing at everyone and using his hand to defend himself from their stares. The butterflies that have erupted in you are merciless.

And then you burst into a fit of laughter- Jaehyun curses the sirens for piercing through such a pleasant sound- and you nod profusely, one foot already boarding the bus.

The glass doors shut close, and you’re enthusiastically gesturing to your handphone, waving at him. The bus whizzes away.

He’s shell-shocked, and he’s unable to will his hands in drawing his phone from his pocket. The sudden series of vibrations brings him back to his senses.

Y/N (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝),[2257]: WAIT ask me again

Y/N (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝), [2257]: idk if i heard u right

Jaehyun, [2258]: k

Y/N (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝), [2258]: dude come back </3

Y/N (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝), [2258]: YES lol

Y/N (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝), [2257]: yeeeeeeees

It heavily hinders Jaehyun that night, but there is comfort in the noise.

There is comfort in the isolation.

It’s only the blinding fluorescent lights and the cool breeze presenting company at the bus stop- you’re grateful that the occasional cars speeding by are helping you break down the very last walls of tension between the two of you, if there are any.

Whoosh.

“I really enjoyed today.” He smiles and steals a quick glance at you. You’re at a different bus stop now- a month later and you’re amazed that you’ve gone out with Jaehyun at least three times now.

You catch the slight twinkle in his eyes as he scoots a whole foot nearer towards you on the cool metal bench. The distance between the two of you is closing slowly yet your heart rate is augmenting. It’s accelerating now- faster than any of the rambunctious vehicles that race down the road, their engines revving dirtily.

Whoosh. A black BMW zooms past you both and you take the opportunity to reciprocate the cheeky glimpse.

“Me too.”

There’s fumbling of fingers and twiddling of your thumbs before you notice the sudden influx of light and buzzing and realise that your bus has arrived. Pure languish rushes through every vein in your body- you don’t want this night to end.

Jaehyun begins to stand and shoots a quizzical expression when you don’t follow suit.

“Let’s wait for the next one,” you grin, your legs swinging back and forth as you continue to glue yourself on the elevated seat.

The sound of his chuckle envelopes you into a warm hug- it’s deep, and strong, yet soft at the same time- and then you’re pulled to your feet by your wrists before he embraces you with confident hesitation too.

“Is this- it’s okay, right?” He just wants to be sure.

“Yeah- very.” You breathe, and his boyish smell fills your lungs. There is difficulty in naming what scented cologne he’s used today; but you devote no more attention. You just wallow in the tangy, mellow fragrance that has permeated your senses.

He’s got his arms coiled around your waist, his palm extended to press your back closer to him. You’re playing with the sharp, freshly cut hairs on the back of his neck. You run your fingers through them and he dives his head further into the crook of your neck. Jaehyun’s muffled voice is tickling your shoulder-

“Your hair smells really nice.” The corners of your lips edge upwards into an unrelenting grin.

“Thank God.”

There is comfort in Jaehyun.

#nct #jung jaehyun #jung jaehyun x reader #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun fanfic #jaehyun imagine #jaehyun oneshot #jaehyun blurb #jaehyun au #jaehyun fluff #jung yoonoh #jaehyun #nct imagines #nct oneshot #nct au #nct fanfic #hm4rk os #hm4rk jaehyun

92 notes · View notes

azuresins · 4 years

Note

WHAT How can you even think alexis might be involved with the Queen in getting rid of the phantomhives?! If alexis turned out to be responsible for Ourciel's misery, Ociel would kill him, and that would surely destroy any future he might want with lizzy, they're my OTP!! Ugh! Curse your dumb theory! Alexis is a angel!!!!!!!!!! You Are Dead Wrong.

If you really think O!Ciel is going to reach adulthood to life a long happy wonderful life with Elizabeth Midford, I don’t know what to tell you... I’m not going to judge you for having them as your OTP, but whether her father is involved or not, I fail to see how you can’t just find a way to make your ship work around it. Alexis might be involved, or know more than what he is letting on, because he’s...literally head of security for the Queen? Directly under her? And he’s also connected to the Phantomhive’s through his wife on a much more personal level. The motive to get rid of the Phantomhive family would add up, in his case for several reasons. He outranks them in status, for one; it’s a very sad thing when your daughter marries beneath her status rank. He would get to keep his only daughter from marrying into that family which he knows to be extremely dangerous -- His wife has done a great job of reminding him and her daughter how lethal of a position being the wife of the Earl of Phantomhive is; if the death of Rachel and Vincent and the consistent deaths in the family history weren’t enough of a reminder. I also have a theory that a big part of the reason why Vincent, Rachel and their children were targeted in the first place was because of their extensive support to common-classes and charity works. And their support toward, specifically, Irish and celtic immigrants who, at this time, are being treated like dirt by the majority of England. The name “Fenian” or “Finnian” was considered a dangerous name or a ‘slur’ to England’s upper class, so the fact that Vincent, would casually read such a book as the Fenian Cycle to his children as a bedtime story, is enough to show where his true loyalty lies. Queen Victoria and the rest of England were NOT kind to historically to Irish and celtic immigrants, for a long time. If even one of her trusted nobles such as the Phantomhives went against her, or even tried to imply they were supportive of such people (there was a group of Irish resistance who were marked terrorists, called the Fenian Brotherhood); she likely would want them dead. Because in plain terms, like a lot of minorities, at some point the Irish and other celtic immigrants weren’t just ‘lesser humans’ they were also seen as threats. To England. Alexis himself said:

"The Marquessate of Midford is a house of knights that has protected England for generations. To ignore the plight of her people would go against the code of chivalry." If he thought the house of Phantomhive had been sullied, or that Vincent and Rachel were threats to England at large? I absolutely think he would have sided with the Queen. He’s also O!Ciel’s legal guardian; and he didn’t seem to have any issue leaving him alone to be raised by himself and cared-for by servants and left to his own devices very shortly after the deaths of his entire immediate family. For how much he seems to love him? As a father? No good person, would let a ten-year-old even in Victorian times, take on that alone. Also?

Name one key person in this story, who seemed like a sweet/nice/good/well-meaning character, who either didn’t a.) turn out to be hiding a huge deep dark horrible secret b.) have some deep tragedy surrounding them c.) they were deadass a villain in the arc In the best case scenario, he’s an idiot and extremely stupid and neglectful and the Queen was SOMEHOW careful enough not to tell her head of secret security, about her secret plan, to kill one of her own and burn the mansion to the ground (see how bad that sounds?). In the worst case, he helped kill them/failed to protect them from what was coming. And finally, I just don’t care for him. 🤷‍♂️

#Alexis Midford #what even was this ask #I am surprised more people aren't sus tbh #Anonymous

22 notes · View notes

analysingfiction · 3 years

Text

Why Deku is a Slytherin

I think Deku is one of those characters that can fit into all the houses pretty well. That’s why choosing which house he’d be sorted into was so hard for me. Most people would automatically jump and say he’s a Gryffindor because he’s brave and because he’s the main character. There’s also the horrible stereotype that all Slytherins are inherently evil which is just not true at all. So I’m gonna go through each house and explain how he suits each of them and end it with Slytherin and why I think he suits that house the most.

1. Gryffindor

“Gryffindor values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry.”

I don’t think anyone can deny that Deku is very, very brave. He constantly puts himself in danger to defeat villains and safe people and is able to stay calm in those scary situations. Not to mentions he doesn’t give up or run away when it seems like he’s going to lose, instead he keeps going giving it his all. This is the true definition of courage. He is able to fight even when he’s scared (first shown when he tries to save Bakugo from that villain while he was still in middle school). The definition of nerve is: “a person's steadiness, courage, and sense of purpose when facing a demanding situation.” And he fits that perfectly. Deku has an intense sense of purpose (geared towards being a hero and saving people) and he follows through unwaveringly. Chivalry means: “courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak.” Obviously Deku is more than ready to help the weak, that is literally his dream in life. And he has stated about the situation where Bakugo was captured by the villain that his legs moved on their own, like he didn’t have any other choice but to help and despite him crying out of fear (not to mention he was quirkless) he kept fighting. He also tends to bravely sacrifice himself to save others (putting himself in danger or wrecking his arms with his quirk). But notice, all of these traits valued by Gryffindor essentially mean the same thing, and this is only one personality trait of Dekus, a person cannot be defined simply by the fact that they are brave.

2. Ravenclaw

“Ravenclaw values intelligence, learning, wisdom and wit.”

No one questions Deku’s intelligence. This is never directly stated as much as with the whole bravery thing but it’s still very evident. On their midterms, Deku placed #4/20 (bellow only Momo, Iida, and Bakugo). His exam scores aren’t the only thing to show this however. Whenever he fights anyone we’re shown his internal monologue which usually consists of him thinking of on the spot clever solutions (like the way he beat bakugo in the heros vs villains training exercise). He is able to quickly adapt to situations that aren’t favorable and think of the best possible solution that is realistically executable. He does this in basically every fight he ever has. The way he placed first in the first round of the sports festival is another great example of this. He managed to place first not by using his quirk but by thinking things through and seeing the right path. As for learning, it’s made clear to us from the scene where he first appears that he values learning very much (at least if it’s something he cares about, like heros). We see him writing down notes on the battle the pro heroes were having. He’s also known to have had multiple notebooks that he takes with him everywhere and is constantly updating. He even jots down information of other students in the hero course. And when he’s observing the other students he often does his iconic mumbling where he’s thinking out loud about the best way they can use their quirk or how the battle will turn out etc etc. There isn’t much to say in terms of wisdom. He’s only a kid. But despite that he does seem pretty mature when compared to the other UA kids and he seems to have sound decision making and knows how to avoid mistakes. The only times we see him making “mistakes” is when he ends up wrecking his arms to save someone and Aizawa scolds him. However, I don’t think this is a matter of wisdom but rather of priorities. Deku values lives over his own well-being and makes the choice to sacrifice himself. Wit means “mental sharpness and inventiveness; keen intelligence.” I think this presents itself best in his quick thinking during battle, which I’ve already covered. He thinks fast and comes up with solutions no one else would have thought of, including the enemy himself which is why it’s always so effective.

3. Hufflepuff

Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty.

I think it’s quite obvious that Deku values hard work. A prime example of this would be how right before All Might gives Deku OFA he starts training him so he can withstand the power and so he is able to do better on the UA entrance exam. Deku works extremely hard in these moments, so hard in fact that All Might has to lecture him about why working too hard is bad. Still, Deku managed to not only meet All Mights expectations, but he exceeds them (he cleaned up the entire beach including parts All Might hadn’t told him to). This is show even early, though it’s done so subtly, but spending so long researching heroes and writing everything down was his form of working hard while quirkless. And after, when he gets into UA, he continues to try his best at everything he does and work harder than anyone else (floating chair exercise, or whatever it’s called, throughout the entire class). Part of this is probably due to the fact that since he was quirkless for so long and now he can’t use his quirk as well as he’d like to, he feels he has to make up for it through hard work. As for patience, most people probably would have given up by now. It’s been quite a while since All Might gave him OFA and still he can only manage to use it at 8% of it’s total strength. Yet he perseveres and continues to train so he can get stronger. That takes a tremendous amount of patience. As for justice, he isn’t so much justive oriented as he is morally oriented. He seems to have a pretty clear moral code and he follows through on it. Though he clearly believes in the position of hero so as to counteract the villains which is definitely this worlds form of serving justice. However, I think it’s clear that a majority of the time, the reason he’s jumping out to fight and/or capture villains is to stop people from getting hurt. Think about the villain Gentle Criminal. Deku ended up saying he was the hardest to fight because he liked him. Deku admitted to liking a villain. There was also Hero Killer: Stain whom Deku clearly respected for his ideology despite still believing he should be arrested for killing people. So I don’t think Deku has a very clear cute, black and white view of what’s right and what’s wrong and what justice is, I think he just has his own personal morals that he believes are right but he also allows a lot of room in the grey area and it seems almost as though he sometimes doubts his hero-like actions. As for loyalty, Deku is obviously loyal to the people he cares about. One great example of this is the sports festival where he went up against Todoroki. He decided losing the match didn’t matter if it meant helping Todoroki come to terms with his power. He’s even loyal to Bakugo who has bullied him, severely might I add, for years. He never once stopped supporting him and that speaks a lot to his character.

4. Slytherin

“Slytherin values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness.”

I think ambition is Deku’s most defining characteristic. Only someone very ambitious could go after his dream of being a hero (the #1 hero at that) despite being quirkless. It was his dream from when he was very little. The person he admired most and aspired to be like was All Might, the #1 hero. He always wanted the #1 spot and was willing to do anything to get there. Before he was given OFA he was STILL planning to apply to UA’s hero course and he had every intention of getting in despite everyone telling him there was no way he could without a quirk. Then, All Might gave him OFA and his ambition only grew. At that point he wasn’t keeping it to himself and daydreaming alone. He was willing to proudly stand up and confidently announce that he was not only aiming to be a hero, but for the #1 spot. His ambition is also obvious in the UA sports festival. The sports festival wasn’t a life or death situation and Deku already had All Might mentoring him so an internship wasn’t 100% necessary. Still, he just has a drive to win at everything he does. Another thing would be how Deku admitted to admiring Bakugo, his BULLY. He saw Bakugo as better than him and as someone who always rises to the top. It didn’t matter to him that he bullied him, he stayed close because he aspired to be like him and wanted to leanr by observing. His hunger for winning overtook the importance of his feeelings. And it’s kinda strange that Deku, who is really kind, would admire someone like Bakugo when there are plenty of other strong heroes in training. But that’s the thing, he didn’t care how nice Bakugo was, what mattered to him was that in his mind Bakugo was at the top, and he always aims for the top. Cunning means: “having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion.” Now, it might be hard to think of Deku as someone deceitful, but think about his battles. One prime example would be the Heroes vs Villains training exercise where he went against Bakugo. He made Bakugo believe he was going to fight him head on and instead aimed his punch at the ceiling at the last second. That was deceit. This is a common thing for Deku when going against someone. It doesn’t mean he’s a bad person or someone who lies often. All it means is he has the ability to do so and uses that ability when he sees fit. As for leadership, Deku clearly has no fear of taking on a leadership position seeing as he aims to be the #1 hero and that is a LOT of responsibility. It’s also common for other students he teams up with to end up relying on him. He never claims the leadership position it just seems to fall on him a lot of the time and he accepts it without doubting himself and without fear. Uraraka has even stated that she didn’t want to team up with Deku because she felt like she always ended up relying on him too much despite knowing she herself was capable. This is shown when she declines his offer of a strategy against Bakugo at the sports festival. Deku is clearly confident in his ability and the others pick up on it and, even if subconsciously, they let him lead. Resourcefulness is also a trait Deku possesses. He makes use of his environment, like at the sports festival where he dug up the landmines to use as an accelerant for himself on the piece of metal from one of the bots that he took “because it might come in handy”. Everything about that scene is him being resourceful. He also does this when he went up against Bakugo and Iida when he told Uraraka what the plan was and they essentially used the building itself against them. And this is shown yet again in his fight with overhaul. He discovers what Eri’s power is and instantly makes use of it. Now, here’s why I think he suits this house more than the others. The main reason is that he fits all of the Slytherin traits perfectly of course, but also, a lot of the traits he fits from the other houses can be explained away with Slytherin traits. For example, his Ravenclaw trait of thirst for knowledge could really be attributed to his ambition to be the best, this goes for the Hufflepuff trait of being a hardworker as well. We don’t really see him work hard or try to learn more about anything that isn’t related to being a hero. The Ravenclaw trait of wit could also eailiy be cunning instead. He also HAS to be brave to achieve his goal and we all know, if you aren’t liked by people then you can’t be the #1 hero, hence why being loyal to people is so important… right?

Again, this is all just my opinions and I would never claim this was all factual, it’s just my perspective.

#my hero academia #boku no hero academia #deku #midoriya izuku #harry potter #hogwarts houses #anime #deku is a slytherin #slytherin #slytherin deku

13 notes · View notes

kurowrites · 4 years

Text

This Cursed Broken Heart - Part II

Second part to this. All parts. I wanted to finish the entire thing, but I don’t have the energy right now, so well. Have part two of three or four, idk.

---

Sunday comes, and Wei Ying’s nervousness has not abated one bit.

He doesn’t have to be worried about Lan Zhan, he knows that. Lan Zhan has always been a favourite with his extended family, because let’s face it, Lan Zhan is the kind of boy you want to introduce to your family. Lan Zhan is the kind of man that your family hopes you’ll marry one day.

Wei Ying is the kind of boy your family always warns you about.

That error in judgement really came back to haunt Lan Zhan later on. Wei Ying still remembers the moment when he looked at Lan Zhan and realised that they were stuck in a hole they couldn’t get out of. And that’s when he had known it was time to leave.

He doesn’t have to be worried about Lan Zhan, but he has to be worried about his own messy feelings.

He picks Lan Zhan up at 10 o’clock sharp, and as always, Lan Zhan is already waiting for him. He’s wearing a form-fitting white three-piece suit and a light blue shirt today, but has foregone a tie to break the formal stiffness of the look. Instead, a patterned silk handkerchief in tucked into his breast pocket. He looks effortlessly elegant, as if he’s just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. Wei Ying hates it, because goddamn, it makes him feel inadequate. His own black suit and red shirt combo make him look crummy in comparison.

It also makes him want to worship at the altar of Lan Zhan again.

He slaps his best smile on his face and leads Lan Zhan to the car.

“Just tell Granny Yu you’ve been very busy with work if she asks anything private, ok?” he tells Lan Zhan as they drive off. “And ignore Jiang Cheng. He’s grumpy because I managed to recruit you. He has to face the aunties on his own now. They’re going to try and matchmake this year too, set him up with some unsuitable and unlucky girl, I have no doubt. He hates it, but he still never manages to tell them to stop.”

“You are not dating?” Lan Zhan asks, which isn’t really what Wei Ying intended Lan Zhan to take away from this conversation.

Wei Ying shoots him a quick, considering look, but Lan Zhan isn’t looking at him.

“No,” he says eventually. “That would be a little weird, wouldn’t it? ‘I know we’re dating but I need to take my ex to this party because Granny Yu expects him to come.’ No, that wouldn’t work out well. Might as well ask them to break up with me at once.”

Lan Zhan doesn’t deign an answer to that, and keeps staring out of the car window in silence. Wei Ying falls silent, too, not knowing what to talk about next. Every topic seems to be fraught with dificculties. He knows so much about Lan Zhan, but asking him about his rabbits, his brother or if work is going well seems either shallow or cruel, depending on how you look at it.

They drive on without speaking again, until they finally arrive at the venue.

“There we are,” Wei Ying sighs. “Okay, Lan Zhan, it’s time to put on your boyfriend hat. Have you decided what you want as your reward? Remember that I’m poor, though. I can’t get you expensive things.”

Lan Zhan doesn’t reply, but he gets out of the car and goes around to the other side, so he can help Wei Ying out. He often did that, when they dated; old-fashioned chivalry that never failed to make Wei Ying blush. As if it still comes natural to him, Lan Zhan’s hand settles on the small of Wei Ying’s back once he’s out of the car, and he guides him towards the entrance with an ease Wei Ying is jealous of. A pulse of white-hot electricity races up and down Wei Ying’s spine at being touched this way by Lan Zhan.

Not a single person has touched him like this for an entire year, and the fact that it’s Lan Zhan who’s doing it, doing it again, makes something in Wei Ying’s brain go a little fuzzy.

They step into the fancy restaurant that Jiang Fengmian reserved for his birthday party, and they are immediately welcomed by a stampeding horde of noisy relations. Everyone is here, from his little toddler cousins to that one great-aunt that’s like a hundred years old, and it’s both painfully familiar and yet also tinged with a sense of enduring strangeness. None of these people are connected to him by blood, after all. He’s not here because he belongs.

He never even met his actual grandparents.

Lucky for Wei Ying, Lan Zhan is a bastion of calm in the noisy chaos of the Jiang family coming to greet them. They congratulate Jiang Fengmian and enjoy the thirty seconds of attention he can bestow upon them, and then continue greeting all other members of the family. Lan Zhan sticks to his side, so he simply stays right where he is, half-shielded by Lan Zhan, and pastes a friendly smile on his face.

‘Yes, look here,’ he says to himself. ‘Your token gay cousin and his boyfriend are here.’

It’s a ridiculous notion, but it keeps him smiling. And it’s not wrong. Most of the offspring in the Jiang family has married early, and everyone married a heterosexual partner. All of them also got busy producing more offspring basically from the wedding night onwards. The only notable exception is Jiang Cheng, who is a late bloomer if there has ever been one, and Wei Ying, of course. Wei Ying, who always thought he was straight but never felt he should date or marry, until he fell head over heels for Lan Zhan. Wei Ying, who hasn’t looked at another person since.

Literally any other cousin in this family that is over the age of eighteen is married and has produced at least one child already. It’s kind of insane.

“Lan Zhan!” a voice drowns out the general cacophony of noise. “It’s so good to see you!”

And out of the middle of the crowd appears a tiny old woman, leaning heavily on her cane. Granny Yu is as old as stone, and her legs are bad, but her voice still carries with the vigour of a woman who’s used to being obeyed.

Lan Zhan obediently leans down so Granny Yu can inspect him. As usual, she seems to have no complaints as far as Lan Zhan is concerned. When she turns her eyes to Wei Ying, however, they become critical.

“Wei Ying!” she belts. “You are so thin! Look at you! Lan Zhan! Are you feeding him right?”

“Granny Yu,” Wei Ying tries to appease her, “I’m already an adult, I can take care of myself.”

“Nonsense,” Granny Yu grouses. “You’ve always been a terrible eater. Always hoarding your food until it went bad. Lan Zhan, you need to make sure that he’s eating.”

It’s embarrassing, to get reminded of the little habits he picked up while living on the streets. He got rid of that particular habit one year or so after he was adopted by the Jiang family, but Granny Yu never forgot about the time when she discovered his little food hoard, and has been checking his size, weight and general health ever since. She always tells her many grandchildren to eat, but with Wei Ying she’s that more tenacious. And once Wei Ying started dating Lan Zhan, she never failed to remind Lan Zhan to feed him properly. And Lan Zhan, with infinite patience, agreed with her every single time, promising to take care of Wei Ying.

Well, he did use to feed Wei Ying. But Wei Ying’s current state, which he thinks is hardly different from his usual state, is not Lan Zhan’s responsibility. If he’s a little thinner than usual, that’s on himself. Still, Lan Zhan nods seriously as he’s being admonished by Granny Yu.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying says, and it’s easy to lay his hand on Lan Zhan’s chest to get his attention, as if he never stopped doing it. “Don’t listen to her. I can feed myself.”

Lan Zhan looks at him, and the mulish expression on his face is familiar enough that Wei Ying can read it immediately. Lan Zhan has said it to him before: ‘A little more weight won’t hurt you. And a little more food does neither make you greedy nor a glutton.’

“I will eat to my heart’s content today, Granny Yu,” Wei Ying says out loud, because he really wants to shut down this discussion as soon as possible. “So don’t blame Lan Zhan, hmm?”

Granny Yu seems slightly mollified by his promise. She huffs once, and then starts herding people towards where she wants them at the large tables prepared for them.

Wei Ying is relieved once Granny Yu is gone. The first test has been passed, and no one seems to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

That changes the next moment when Jiang Cheng suddenly appears next to Wei Ying.

“I can’t believe you actually brought him with you,” he hisses into Wei Ying’s ear.

“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Ying warns him. “We’ve talked about this.”

“You’re just trying to garner points with Granny Yu,” Jiang Cheng shoots back. “Because she always liked you best.”

Before anything more can be said, Wei Ying finds himself pulled away from Jiang Cheng. He just catches Lan Zhan’s angry glare (directed at Jiang Cheng) out of the corner of his eye, then he’s maneuvered to the seats that have been reserved for him and Lan Zhan.

“Sorry,” Wei Ying whispers to Lan Zhan once they’re seated. “I warned him like three times not to say anything.”

Lan Zhan doesn’t reply, but he takes Wei Ying’s hand into his own and lifts it to press a kiss on his knuckles.

The lips that brush his skin are soft and warm. It’s so gentle, and so sweet.

It’s too much.

The gesture is far too intimate; too intimate for what they are no more, too intimate for the occasion, too intimate for Wei Ying’s heart.

He pully his hand out of Lan Zhan’s hold, attempting to make it seem natural and not like he’s trying to escape the affection of his own (fake) boyfriend. Still, he has to take a few deep breaths to collect himself. It’s too much. He feels shaky. He was a fool when he thought he could casually see Lan Zhan for one day and not be haunted by the ghosts of the past that he never managed to exorcise the entire time.

Lan Zhan doesn’t try to engage him again. Instead, he exchanges a few words with one of Wei Ying’s uncles seated across the table, and the bustling around them continues as if everything is perfectly fine, until the food finally arrives.

#kuro writes #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #broken heart fic

45 notes · View notes

btxtreads · 4 years

Text

whatever it takes || jeon jungkook

➳ Some feelings just tend to keep on growing stronger, especially when you’re in the middle of a biohazard attack

↳ Pairing: Jeon Jungkook/Reader

↳ word count: 9k words

↳ genre: fluff, angst, apocalypse!au, zombie!au, slight mafia!au, slight spy!au

↳ Warnings: Gore, Death, Zombies, Blood, Guns, Drugs, Mafia, Panic Attack, Attempted Self-Sacrifice, Dry-Humping, a whole lot of Cursing

↳Trigger warning note: PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN READING THIS FIC. IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THE THINGS LISTED ABOVE–PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED UNDER THE KEEP READING SIGN.

↳ a/n: I did this on a spur at while waiting for the TXT teasers to drop. Started at 10m I finished at around 8am the next day. No sleep. Just consistent writing. So, this isn’t proofread and I’m honestly so tired with a meeting in 2 hours wish me luck kjnjakd

Y/N pursed her lips shut; eyes fixed in a determined glare as she tried to move as stealthily as possible while she climbed her way up a fire escape ladder.

As she reached the top, she paused for a while and gazed at the street ahead which was full of blood-thirsty “humans” who were out to eat her.

She was in the middle of a zombie outbreak. Why? She didn’t know.

Ever the doctor, Y/N thought about how this was a medical marvel—one that would shake the world. That was before she remembered she had to get out before she could even tell the story.

It was really a wonder to her—how she could go from worrying about getting enough ingredients for dinner to fighting her way through a horde of the undead to get to her brother.

Somehow, her mind reeled back to what led to this point as she continued her way to the police station.

She was going to find her brother.

He is still alive.

And they’re both getting out.

They have to.

No one saw it coming, really. How could they?

It was Friday. Kids were running out of school and making their way to the mall or to a nearby cafe. The sun was setting in around an hour or two. It was a fine, chilly day. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Y/N was talking on the phone as she strolled around the town.

“Dr. Li’s being a dipshit again,” Kim Taehyung, Y/N’s best friend, huffed through the phone as she gazed around her childhood home.

“When is he not?” Y/N hummed as she turned a sharp corner. “Hey, Tae, I’m in Hope Street,”

“Oh, is the coffee shop still there?” Taehyung snorted. “Good times, remember how many papers we wrote there?”

“I wrote papers, you procrastinated and flirted with whichever girl was assigned behind the bar,” Y/N laughed as Taehyung whined. “but no, it’s a grocery now. Convenient, I have to cook dinner anyways.”

“A grocery? Replacing Jin’s bakery?” Taehyung whined further, yapping about their common friend’s family bakery. “No, I like their chai teas!”

“He moved to the city and opened a restaurant near the hospital, last I heard.” Y/N answered as she entered the premises. “Let’s go visit when I get back.”

“Sure!” There was a few shuffles and a few rushed words before Taehyung returned with a sigh. “Baby, I gotta run. Small car pile-up on main road. ER’s so fucking full.”

“Ah, it’s friday.” Y/N shook her head. “Sure, save some patients for me when I get back.”

“Not like we ever run out of them,” Taehyung snorted before hanging up.

Y/N glanced up as she entered the building and started her groceries.

After a while, Y/N turned a sharp corner into another isle—stopping short when she was met with a crowd.

The was a body that lied limp on the floor, with a man hovering over it as he used a small flashlight to check his eyes.

The body wasn’t convulsing, wasn’t moving—almost looking asleep.

“What’s wrong?” Y/N asked a bystander who only shrugged.

“Dude collapsed, but luckily Dr. Song was here with his wife. Probably just a junkie.” The man spoke.

It wasn’t just a junkie.

The body suddenly gurgled, making the doctor pause.

“Son, are you okay?” The doctor asked, but, instead of a response, the body folded forwards and took a big bite of the man’s neck.

Immediately, there was a massive commotion as blood spurted out of the doctor’s body that dropped limp.

Y/N gasped as she stumbled backwards.

People screamed as they dropped their groceries and ran.

Y/N cursed as the body raised his head from his feast on the doctor’s corpse, its white and soulless eyes locking onto Y/N’s.

With a gurgle, the zombie stood up and took slow and steady movements towards her.

Then the doctor’s dead body—destroyed arteries and chunks of flesh missing and all that jazz— started to move with a groan.

That’s when she bolted.

Y/N turned left and bolted into the gardening aisle, hearing the zombie not too far behind. She heard another scream to her right.

So, when she looked back to see the original corpse trailing after her with a gurgle, she reached back and grasped the closest thing to her—a pair of large garden shears.

“Don’t come any closer or I’ll—I’ll use it.” Y/N stuttered, but there was only a groan of response. “I mean it!”

She heard a new groan.

The zombie opens his jaw, ready to pounce forward and take a bite of the girl in front of him when Y/N closed her eyes and jabbed the sharp end of the shears in front of her.

It dropped dead; the shears embedded on its head.

Y/N panted, closing her eyes. She just killed someone. She was a doctor. This was against her oath.

A new groan spurred her out of her stupor, prompting her to raise her head as another zombie rounded the corner. Then another. Then she heard another groan from somewhere in the shop.

No. They were going to kill her first, and she had to get out before they do.

Reaching behind her, she grasped another pair of the gigantic garden shears and bolted to the nearest exit and out of the store.

Outside was pure chaos, people were also running and the groans and gurgles she heard inside the grocery store was also there—except this time there were more.

More bloodied people strolled lazily, pouncing on nearby people who were running and taking a bite. More people screaming.

Y/N let her mind run for a second, where do we go from here?

The police station. Her brother, Haneul, was a rookie cop. He’s on-shift today until 7pm. He had to be there.

As Y/N made up her mind, a figure clad head to toe in black running fast collided with her.

Y/N hissed as she fell down.

The figure only glanced at her, muttering a quick apology as he bolted once more.

Y/N bit her lip and stood up. She understood. It was life or death, no time for niceties and chivalry when everyone had to keep themselves safe.

Y/N let out a shuddering breath, mind running a mile a minute as she bolted in the opposite direction to the less-cluttered back alleyways.

She was going to find her brother.

He is still alive.

And they’re both getting out.

They have to.

Jungkook barely broke a sweat when he ran, but now he was sweating buckets.

Maybe because the moment he stopped literally meant instant death.

His brain only told him one thing—Find Jimin and get the hell out of here.

Jimin was his best friend and his partner-in-crime ever since they were kids, which is why it was only fitting for them to stay together and move in with each other after they turned 18.

Jimin was a detective, currently working a case at the police station.

Jungkook was resting idly at their living room, drinking a box of banana milk when the local news suddenly reported an emergency alert to get out while you can with matching videos of people biting people.

Initially, he snorted and called bullshit—but that was when there was a scream at their hallway.

When Jungkook poked his head out the door, he was greeted with the new tenant who was feasting on one of his neighbours.

Before he could act, one of his other neighbours marched forward and pulled the woman away—who only retaliated by biting him instead.

“Holy shit,” Jungkook gaped as his fallen neighbour, the initial victim, stood up with dead eyes and pounced on a nearby neighbour peeking out of his door.

Jungkook cursed and closed the door, locked and bolted. He even pushed Jimin’s work desk in front of it, cursing as he heard the heavy thud of a body falling against his door.

He ran over to Jimin’s bedroom, opening the safe that held Jimin’s spare gun—which he was instructed to use for safety purposes.

“I’m a detective, some people might not like me. In case they come, and I’m not here but you are, then save yourself.”

Only he wasn’t saving himself from some thug or even the mafia member that Jimin caught once—no, it was something more sinister.

Jungkook took the gun and ammo, rushing to change from a thin white shirt to a black hoodie he picked up from the living room floor.

Hearing more groans from the hallway, Jungkook bolted to the cabinet to wear some shoes and to the kitchen to grab a knife.

Then, when he felt like he had a shot at surviving—he made a break for it.

Down the fire escape, down the street avoiding zombies, colliding with a girl dazed on the street—on his way to find his best friend and get the hell out of the city while they still can.

It was a good thing her father was a cop, too—she was taught a thing or two.

She found the opportunity when she saw a security guard—or what was once was.

The thing is, the zombie still had a handgun and a few extra ammos on him.

It wasn’t like he still needed it.

So, Y/N deliberately stalked forward with her shears, did her thing and grabbed the utility belt and the shears from the fallen guard.

So now, she was running with a pistol in her right hand, garden shears on the other, and zombies chasing her—eyes swinging back and forth to survey her surroundings as she finally reached the police station.

With no hesitance on her part, she dashed in and closed the gates behind her, backing away as some zombies reached the gate.

The zombies stuck their hands in the grates and tried to claw at her, but she was too far away from them.

She let out a small sigh of relief, legs aching as she stretched briefly.

Then, she turned and bolted again, only stopping when she crossed the blank courtyard to the door.

“Help, somebody! Open the door!” There was no response.

Y/N shook her head and turned to a stairwell—maybe there was a backdoor.

There was, and she got in the station only to be greeted with a multitude of zombies.

Y/N tried to run and preserve her ammo, only shooting the ones in her way and bolting away whenever she can.

But then she ran out of bullets.

And there was a zombie right behind her—and this one was a little bit faster than it’s other friends.

“Shit, shit, shit.” she hissed, tears starting to fill her eyes as she ran away with hands tightly gripping her gun.

It can’t end like this.

The moment she stepped inside the main building; she saw a black figure standing directly in front of her.

She opened her mouth in surprise. Grim reapers wear hoodies now?

The boy looked equally as shocked; eyes wide in surprise before he suddenly clenched his jaw.

“Duck.”

Immediately, Y/N dropped in a crouch as the boy pulled out an M19 from a holster in his pocket and shot directly at her direction.

Only when she heard a thud behind her did she realize that the boy killed the zombie behind her.

The boy ran forwards to kick the corpse back into the hallway behind her before pulling an iron sheet and blocking off the corridor.

“Are you okay?” He turned back towards the girl, who still sat in a crouch on the floor. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m okay,” Y/N replied, looking back up at the doe-eyed boy who offered a shy smile. “Just a bit winded up.”

“Well, if you weren’t in this situation, I’d think you’re psychotic.” He shook his head and helped her up. “Hey, I think I remember you. I bumped into you earlier on the street. I’m Jungkook.”

Y/N’s eyes widened, immediately forgetting about the zombie that almost got her if it weren’t for this boy. “That was you? And bumped?”

Jungkook winced, smiling sheepishly as he walked towards the reception table. “Sorry, I was rushing. I didn’t have much bullets and I had to get to here. What’s your name?”

“I’m Y/N, it’s nice to meet you. Just wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Yeah, what a concidence that we both went to the station, huh?”

At the mention of the place, Y/N’s eyes surveyed around the lobby. It was, surprisingly, empty.

“Hey, Jungkook,” Y/N asked as he looked to the boy who was rummaging around the table. “Where is everybody?”

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged. “No clue, really. I got here and there was nobody. I’m looking for my best friend, he’s a detective here—Park Jimin.”

“I’m looking for my brother, he’s a rookie cop,” Y/N groaned, running a hand over her face. “His name is Chae Haneul, he’s my half-brother.”

Jungkook cracked a small smile as his eyes darted over to Y/N’s holster. “Yeah, Jimin mentioned him to me a couple of times,”

“He’s a handful, but he means well,”

Jungkook straightened up and threw two boxes her way. “Well, might as well stick together since we’re both looking for someone right, right?”

Y/N caught the boxes, blinking at the bright red packaging and the gigantic white print. 9mm Parabellum rounds.

She looked to see Jungkook walk towards her with a small smile, offering a combat knife her way.

“Let’s find my friend and your brother and get the hell out of here,” Jungkook offered, to which she smiled gently.

“Okay,”

She was going to find her brother. They’re going to find Jimin.

They’re both still alive.

And they’re all getting out.

They have to.

Her hair was matted, she probably reeked of sweat.

Jungkook’s eyes shifted as he pulled his hoodie sleeves up so he could grasp his gun better.

“This way,” Jungkook said, signaling to a hallway to the left, as they ran.

Y/N stopped, head turning to a spare box of 9mm rounds on the floor.

Having used up on of her two boxes of ammo, she called for Jungkook to wait.

She bent down and picked the box up—only for the door behind her to burst open and a zombie jump out and attack her.

Thankfully, the girl had quick enough reflexes to pull on the zombie’s hair to effectively pull its mouth away from any part of her body.

Reaching down to grasp at her knife, Y/N found that she couldn’t do that without letting go of the zombie and risking a bite.

Before she could decide any further, a brute force came and harshly kicked the corpse off of her body and lodge three bullets into its head.

Without hesitation, Jungkook grasped her wrist, harshly pulled her up and grabbing her fallen gun and the ammo box she found with him.

Y/N sputtered as they entered a big office where she could still see a banner hanging up on the ceiling. Welcome, Haneul!

With a fierce glare, Jungkook raised his gun and shot all three zombies inside the room with precise aim.

Silently, he locked the door behind him and stalked to the other room to bolt it shut.

Y/N opened the lights, her eyes locking with Jungkook’s.

“Jungkook, I—”

“What was that?” Jungkook’s frustrated voice asked, walking forward.

“I found a box of ammo, and I thought—maybe—”

Jungkook sighed and took her arm, inspecting her body to make sure there were no bite marks. “Nothing happened, right?”

“No, nothing.” Y/N answered silently, lowering her head. “I’m sorry,”

“I really don’t want to see anything happen to you,” Jungkook admitted shyly, his hands reaching forward and squeezing her arms. “I’ve gotten attached, I guess.”

“It’s only been a few hours, though?” Y/N smiled, looking up.

The station was massive, literally.

With Y/N being basically a newcomer in the city and Jungkook never even stepping a foot inside the station due to fear of Jimin scolding him, the two knew nothing about the layout. Unsurprisingly, it took them hours to check every single room.

“Apocalypses get you attached to pretty girls.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re flirting with me.”

“I probably am,” Jungkook smiled back, tilting his head. “Should I stop?”

Y/N only smiled back before shyly breaking away and turning to a nearby office, perhaps one of a higher ranking officer, and opening a drawer.

She pulled out two dark green cards labelled ARMORY and AMMO STOCK, with a smile. “Depends on whether you let me get a machine gun.”

Jungkook only smiled back, his eyes scanning around the main office.

“Is this Haneul’s desk?” Jungkook asked, walking forward and picking up a photograph. “You look pretty.”

It was her graduation from med school, her hair done up well and her make up perfected. Next to her, Haneul did a tiny smile of pride as he looked at his sister. Next to him stood his sister, with another boy, doing a weird pose that looked chaotic.

“That was when I finished med school,” Y/N smiled, pocketing a box of ammo from Haneul’s desk.

“You’re a doctor?” Jungkook asked, narrowing his eyes. “I see.”

“Is that bad?”

“No, it’s nice. It fits because you seem smart.” Jungkook complimented, smiling as Y/N’s cheeks reddened. He looked back at the photo and pointed at the other boy, raising an eyebrow. “Who’s this?”

“That’s Tae, my best friend since I was young. We started being friends towards the end of middle school, through high school. We didn’t talk about college, but we were preparing to go our separate ways. Just so happened that we got the same course at the same school and passed.” Y/N smiled, her eyes softening.

“So, not your boyfriend?” Jungkook asked cheekily.

“No,” Y/N laughed as she took a box of ammo from a nearby box and slipped it into the pocket of his hoodie. “I could use one, though.”

Jungkook only smiled as she backed off a little, claiming she had to make a call.

“Y/N! Thank fucking god!” Taehyung’s relieved voice cried out. “I saw the news, they said people were killing each other there. I thought you were dead.”

“I’m still alive, Taetae, but it’s worse than you think.” Y/N sighed. “I’ve never had to shoot a gun as much as I did these past few hours.”

“Shoot a what?” Taehyung’s voice resonated, loud enough to slightly sound from her phone.

Jungkook raised his head, amusement clear in his eyes as Y/N handed him the keycards to the armory.

“Tae, I’m the one in crisis, calm down.” Y/N smoothed a hand over her face. “It’s not just people killing people like you think.”

“Not like the purge?”

“More like the walking dead,” Y/N huffed, her eyes sticking to the dead corpses Jungkook locked up in the small secluded office space of the room.

“Holy shit, how is that possible?”

“No idea.” Y/N sighed. “Look, I just called to say I’m fine. I’m looking for Haneul, then we’re leaving here. Don’t call or text unless I say so,”

Taehyung was silent for a little while. “Have you tried calling 911? Get some help from the government? Maybe they can get you and Haneul out.”

“911?” Y/N trailed off, to which Jungkook shook his head.

“I already tried that, they’ll just say they got the situation out of control. That was before I bumped into you,” Jungkook explained. “I called again when I got here before I found you—the line was completely dead.”

Y/N pursed her lips. “We’re on our own.”

“Who’s that?” Taehyung’s frantic voice asked.

“He’s someone I met, he’s looking for someone too.” Y/N sighed as she gave Jungkook a soft smile before he turned his back to her to start sorting things at the armory. “Look, for now, I’m safe. The safest I could be during this outbreak.”

“Do you trust that guy?”

“I do,” Y/N smiled as Jungkook popped out of the office waving a machine gun with a cheeky smile. “I promise I’m finding Haneul, then I’ll be home soon.”

“Please be careful, I can’t lose my best friend.” Taehyung muttered. “I love you, Y/Nie.”

“I love you too, Taetae. I’ll see you soon.” Y/N replied as she hung up the phone and entered the armory.

“What’s up?”

“So, guns. I’ve got a machine gun for you—and I found knee and shoulder pads for us from spare police uniform sets.” Jungkook declared.

“A machine gun, huh? Like I said next door?” Y/N smiled as Jungkook set the shotgun in his hands down, leaning forward and holding his face close to hers.

“Maybe,”

Y/N remembers to keep this memory on a tight leash, holding on to something pleasant as she goes through something horrendous.

“Kisses would woo me better than guns, Kookie.” Y/N smiled, an unexplained air of familiarity between them.

Jungkook smiled and placed a delicate kiss on her forehead. “I’ll save that for later.”

She was going to find her brother. He’s going to find Jimin.

He’s getting her out.

Whatever it takes.

“Whoever’s going to see this,

Hi. This is detective Park Jimin of the 7th precinct. I have been investigating the Choe drug empire for a few months now, with the help of the STARS Task Force sent by the government. They’re engineering a new drug, I sent it for testing but I don’t know what it’s for. I’m gonna find that out. This bust I’m making today is pretty critical. I may not make it back home. Can you please pass this on to my baby brother?

Koo,

Don’t find me. Make your way out. Before it’s too late.

You’re the best baby brother ever.

I love you, and I’ll see you out there. I’ll be fine.

Chimi”

“This is Im Tae Won, Seargeant of the 7th precinct. Whoever finds this, leave. There’s no one here—it’s where the outbreak started. Rookie Chae Haneul lost his shit and bit everyone. He was high and shit on drugs from Detective Park’s recent bust. Stole it from evidence, probably thought it was cocain, didn’t read the ‘unknown drug for testing’ label. We scolded him before he jumped on Officer Moon and took a bite, then another at Officer Ji. Then they bit other people. You know what happened next.

I’M SAYING THIS IN CASE NONE OF YOU READ PROPERLY: GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN.”

While Jungkook solemnly ran his hand over the familiar hand writing of Jimin, his mind racing at the use of their old childhood nicknames, Y/N’s eyes read the second note over and over again.

Haneul was gone. He was the start of the outbreak. It was his fault—because he wanted cocaine. So much that he stole Jimin’s evidence—a drug nobody knew about that was made to create human-eating killing machines.

“Jimin got out, I guess.” Jungkook said. “He rushed into another bust with a special task force before the outbreak started, but he had a feeling one would start one way or another.”

“He-He did?”

“He said he knew he won’t make it back home,” Jungkook said, reading the note from Jimin once more with a smile. “But that he’ll see me around, he’ll get out and we’ll see him outside.”

Somehow, the only words Y/N heard in her frozen state was ‘he won’t make it back home’.

No one’s going to make it back home.

“So, did that letter say anything about where Haneul is?” Jungkook asked with a tilt in his head.

Y/N’s eyes darted over to a corner of the room where a dilapidated corpse was—only now noticing the distinct gold ring on his finger: a ring from his real father.

At this, Y/N collapsed.

Her brother is dead. Jimin won’t make it home.

Jungkook is still alive, but for how long?

No one’s getting out.

She’s not coming back to Taehyung.

She and Jungkook will die tonight.

Her mind ran a million miles per second, new thoughts pelting her every millisecond.

“Hey!”

Jungkook gasped as he set Jimin’s note to the side and crouched down, running his hands through Y/N’s hair. “Y/N, hey. Hey!”

Y/N squeezed her eyes shut. “This isn’t real, this is all a dream.”

Jungkook frowned, assessing the girl. “Y/N?”

“There’s no Jungkook, no Jimin. Haneul is at home perfectly fine, and I’m at the hospital at the break room having a nightmare. Taehyung is waking me up.” Y/N said.

“This is real,” Jungkook mumbled as Y/N shook her head.

“There’s no Jungkook, no Jimin. Haneul is at home perfectly fine, and I’m at the hospital at the break room having a nightmare. Taehyung is waking me up.” Choking.

“Y/N.”

“There’s no Jungkook, no Jimin. Haneul is at home perfectly fine, and I’m at the hospital at the break room having a nightmare. Taehyung is waking me up.” Shaking.

“Y/N, open your eyes.” Jungkook worried as her breathing rapidly increased speed. “Baby, please.”

“There’s no Jungkook, no Jimin. Haneul is at home perfectly fine, and I’m at the hospital at the break room having a nightmare. Taehyung is waking me up.” Eyes rapidly shifting.

“Y/N!”

“There’s no Jungkook, no Jimin. Haneul is at ho—”

She was stopped abruptly when Jungkook surged forwards and planted a harsh kiss on her lips.

Y/N made a noise of surprise as Jungkook reached his hand up and tangled it with her hair.

Slowly, Y/N responded to the kiss before the boy pulled away gently to press his forehead on hers.

His thumb ran through her cheek as he smiled gently at her deep breathing.

“Follow me, okay?” Jungkook smiled. “Just breathe. Take a deep breath.”

As Jungkook inhaled, so did Y/N. As he exhaled, so did she. And they did that over and over until she wasn’t panting any more.

“You’ll be fine, we’ll be okay. We’ll get out.” Jungkook said, closing his eyes.

Y/N frowned and scooted closer to him, her hands tentatively reaching up from the floor to his shoulders. “What about Jimin?”

He smiled. “He’s a detective. He’s made multiple big busts in just a span of two years as a detective. He’s good enough to make it out of that bust alive. I believe in him.”

Y/N only nodded slowly, her eyes darting to the side to see the corpses of the dead piled up—gaze locking to her brother’s hand.

Jungkook shifted, blocking her view of the bodies.

“Hey, we’ll be alright.”

Y/N looked up at him and smiled, leaning forward to give him another kiss to which he responded gently.

Jungkook cupped her face and pulled away before kissing her forehead once more.

Y/N stood up, turning her back to the corpses.

Jungkook followed suit and placed a kiss on her hand.

“Let’s get out of this shithole.”

“Okay,” Y/N smiled softly as Jungkook’s lips planted another soft kiss on hers.

She was going home to Taehyung. He’s going see Jimin come home.

They’re staying together.

They’re getting out together.

Whatever it takes.

After a short struggle and a final replenishing of supplies at the armory, Jungkook and Y/N made their way out of the precinct to a nearby building.

“It’s a warehouse for branches of a common convenience store in the county,” Jungkook explained. “They’ll have a lot of food so we can get some breakfast, since it’s 3am.”

“What a first date, huh.” Y/N smiled as Jungkook chuckled, clutching her hand.

“I’ll treat you to a better one when we get out,”

“When.” Y/N nodded affirmatively, removing all negative thoughts from her head as Jungkook picked the lock and opened the door.

After opening, Y/N sighed in relief at the empty location.

Jungkook locked the door once more and smiled, placing his hands on her waist and hugging her from behind.

“A bit affectionate, are we?”

“Is that bad?” Jungkook asked. “I just want to hug you, please.”

“Not bad,” Y/N muttered, her head turning to him as she tangled her hand in his hair. “I just don’t usually kiss on the first date.”

“I guess I’m pretty special, then.”

“Well, I can’t say I ever kissed someone in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.” Y/N mumbled.

Jungkook pulled away with a smirk and open a nearby boxes to pull out sprite cans and pre-made sandwich boxes.

“Only the finest cuisine for my lady.” Jungkook leaned forward and kissed her.

Y/N smiled against his lips as he pulled away. “Your lady?”

“And I don’t intend on letting you go anytime soon,” Jungkook smiled, leaning back on the wall and offering his arm. “Come on, let’s rest just for a little while.”

Y/N cuddled closer, biting her lip to suppress her smile while she buries her head in Jungkook’s chest.

“You know, you really remind me of a friend I once have back then,” Y/N muttered.

Jungkook stayed silent as Y/N traced abstract shapes on his chest.

“Y/N, if this is your way of friend-zoning me—”

“Fuck, no,” Y/N snorted, leaning back and kissing him shortly. “You just have the same name, also he was really hot for a 15-year-old.”

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “You knew a Jungkook back then?”

“Hm, yeah. We were really great friends—Best friends, and I had this huge fucking crush on him.” Y/N narrated. “He kinda stopped hanging out with me when I started being friends with Taetae in high school, though.”

Jungkook stilled, his hands freezing in place on YN’s hair. “Tae was the king douchebag of the school. He slept with a lot of girls who threw themselves at him. Then, we got partnered up for biology class. I thought he was going to take advantage of the fact that I actually like doing what we needed to, but he didn’t. He actually taught me instead. We totally hit it off.”

“He-He did?”

“Yeah. I told Jungkook, he was wary of Tae. Said Tae might be trying to get into my pants. But he said he liked Tae—they used to talk a lot. They loved to prank people, it was fun—but Tae directly announced to the cafeteria—on lunch period—this girl is my baby.” Y/N snorted. “Everyone thought we were dating, and Tae was quick to clarify that he meant I was a baby sister to his friends. Not a lot of people believed him, but whatever. Jungkook was the only opinion that mattered, anyway. But he stopped talking to me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, so I sat for a few days alone. Waiting for him, until Tae got angry at me and told me to stop waiting for someone who makes me look desperate and stupid. I didn’t see it that way but, maybe it was time to leave him alone.” Y/N shrugged, snorting. “So, I went with Tae and his friends instead. Can you believe they made me the popular girl?”

“I do.”

“Tae and I went to high school together, eventually I just lost all contact with Jungkook. He stopped coming over, he changed his number, he blocked me everywhere. So, I just let him be. Then, Tae and I got to college and we just… left.”

“I see.” Jungkook said, a small frown on his face.

“Why didn’t you just tell him?”

“What for?” Y/N asked. “He didn’t want to talk.”

“Maybe he did.”

“Maybe, but I really shouldn’t dwell on that Jungkook.” Y/N smiled up at him. “Not when I have one in front of me.”

Jungkook smiled gently, caressing her face and leaning forwards to press a soft and delicate kiss on hers.

He pulled away and sighed, starting off on his own.

“I had a huge crush on this girl way back when I was a kid. We used to do all this shit together, and I was so in love with her.” Jungkook said, tightening his grip on Y/N. “I think maybe until now.”

“Should I be jealous?” Y/N raised an eyebrow as she looked up at Jungkook, who only grinned.

“So, we got to middle school and she just got so perfect that I was so scared she was going to realize that I wasn’t good enough for her—and then she met this guy. He was so cool, and bright. Fun and outgoing. I know that for a fact—I was literally awed by how cool he was. They just hit it off so well, and every time I talk to her… he’s all we ever talk about.”

“Did he like her?” Y/N asked.

“I mean, I thought so,” Jungkook shrugged. “And I guess I got so insecure that I pulled away, because I thought that was what she wanted from me. So much that I didn’t realize she didn’t want me to. I met her again, just recently.”

“And?”

“She made me fall in love with her again, Y/N.” He spoke gently, pulling away from the hug.

“So, this whole thing between you and me—” Y/N started softly, voice tinged with hurt.

“What was the name of your Jungkook?” Jungkook blurted out.

Y/N blinked at the sudden question. “I-I don’t remember.”

All of a sudden, he gave the most genuine smile he’s given her since they met. “Yeah, you do.”

Y/N narrowed her eyes. “Jeon. Jeon Jungkook.”

Jungkook leaned his forehead on hers and hummed.

“Did he grow up in Busan before you met?”

“Yes.”

“He was born on September—”

“September 1, 1997.” Y/N furrowed her eyebrows.

“He wants to be a director and open his own studio.”

“Golden Closet Films.” Y/N pulled away and narrowed her eyes and stayed silent.

Jungkook gingerly took her hand and placed a kiss on it.

“Hey, you promised me that your first trip to Paris was going to be with me. Did you keep that?” Jungkook asked.

Y/N turned to him with a glare.

“Well?” Jungkook smiled.

“Yes, you fucking asshole.” Y/N hissed before she crashed her lips on his, maneuvering herself to sit on his lap.

Jungkook kissed back just as fiercely, occasionally pulling away to speak.

“I’m…sorry, baby…I was…just…so…jealous…Fuck.”

Y/N groaned as she adjusted her position on him, his hands tightening on her waist.

“Fuck, baby.”

“Tell me more.” Y/N bit her lip, looking up at him.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, and I just really thought you’d choose him, so… I had to leave before I fell deeper.” Jungkook explained, his thumb pulling her lower lip from between her teeth.

Y/N groaned and rolled her hips experimentally, watching in delight as Jungkook shuddered out a breath.

“Babe,” Jungkook groaned, throwing his head back. “All mine,”

“Keep calling me yours,” Y/N gasped, creating a smooth rhythm with her hips.

Her eyes fluttering shut as she felt him hardening beneath her.

“You’re so fucking filthy all for me,” Jungkook’s voice whispered, voice suddenly, husky. “Fuck, baby. Just like that.”

“Kookie,” Y/N groaned.

“Don’t call me that,” Jungkook rasped. “Not when I’m making you feel like this.”

Y/N whimpered as Jungkook grabbed her hips and controlled her movements, increasing the pace and pressure, throwing his head back.

“Jungkook, baby,”

“Mine,” Jungkook husked as he got harder. “No one else’s. Always been mine.”

Y/N’s eyes rolled back as her moans got harder to control, her hand circling his neck. “I’m so close.”

“Cum, baby.”

At this, Y/N threw her head back and moaned—feeling the familiar pressure on her lower region, her vision turning white.

Jungkook let out a groan, exploding inside his pants.

Y/N bit her lip and climbed out of her own high, leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on his lips as he relaxed.

Jungkook laughed and shook his head. “Now, my pants are ruined in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.”

“Shut up, it’ll dry up soon,” Y/N snorted, running her hands through his hair. “How come you never told me any of that before?”

“I didn’t think you’d care,” Jungkook mumbled, brushing his lips with hers. “You had Taehyung. You had better,”

“I’d choose you in a heartbeat,” Y/N smiled.

“You’re just saying that because you think I’m hot.”

“Yeah, that too.” Y/N giggled.

Jungkook laughed and pushed his head to bite and suck on the area where her neck and shoulder meet, making her moan.

“Jungkook,”

“That’s my name,” he hummed.

“Fuck,” Y/N moaned again before freezing. “Wait.”

“What?” Jungkook muttered absent-mindedly before kissing her once more.

“Did you hear that?”

Jungkook smiled. “No,”

Y/N groaned, throwing her head back as Jungkook’s hands snaked up her torso. “Kookie, I think someone’s trying to open the door.”

At this, Jungkook stopped turning to the door to listen.

Once a faint jiggling sound became louder, Jungkook set Y/N aside and took his gun.

The door clicked open to reveal another man, hands expertly holding the gun in his hand with a harsh glare on his face.

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?” Jungkook rushed out, raising an eyebrow as the man quickly backed off to lower his gun and lock the door.

“Min Yoongi.”

“Mafia?” Y/N suddenly said, appearing out of nowhere. “You’re part of the mafia. I’ve heard about you.”

Yoongi raised his eyebrow. “How?”

“I’m a medical resident at Seoul Medical Institute, I’m assigned to the ER so I see your constituents at the Seoul branch lot,” Y/N muttered as she stood behind Jungkook, hiding slightly but still a firm grasp on the gun. “Your boys need to be less loose-lipped.”

“Clearly,” Yoongi groaned loudly. “If it wasn’t for those assholes, I would have gotten away with information for Jimin.”

“Jimin, you know Jimin?” Jungkook perked up, lowering his gun.

“You know Jimin?” Yoongi raised his eyebrow. “Yes, I’m fucking FBI. I’ve been working undercover for years trying to take down the empire—I was so close, too.”

“Jimin… FBI?” Jungkook gaped. “Since when?”

“Since two years ago,” Yoongi rubbed a hand to his forehead. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, I’ve got nothing else better to do.”

“I’m Jungkook.”

“Oh,” Yoongi’s eyes narrowed in realization. “You’re Jungkook.”

“He’s been FBI all along,” Yoongi explained. “We saw his talents when he went for the detective job. We needed that for the force. He thought it was a good deal,”

“Is he okay?” Y/N asked, finally gazing at Yoongi.

The man nodded firmly. “Yeah, of course, he got out right after he finished the bust. He thought you’ve already left by then, Jungkook. No one told you about his letter. I only found out when he called me when he got out.”

“He’s safe.” Jungkook whispered.

“Safer than you,” Yoongi gruffed. “Look, I don’t know about you but I really think we should get out of here.”

Y/N’s phone suddenly started to vibrate, causing Y/N to flinch.

Incoming call: Taetae

“Tae, I told you not to call—”

“This is important,” Tae spoke gruffly. “Put me on speaker with whoever’s there with you,”

“It’s Jungkook.”

“The government is—who now?”

“Jeon Jungkook,” Y/N said.

“What is it, Taehyung?” Jungkook said, hand curling around Y/N’s waist—to which Yoongi rolled his eyes at.

Typical lovey-dovey couple.

“Look, the government is ordering for bombing of the city. They’re sending a missile within the next 4 hours. You have to get out.”

“Bombing?” Yoongi raised his eyebrows. “What the hell?”

“Ah, great, who else is there now? You’re replacing me with zombie buddies.” Taehyung muttered before turning serious again. “You have 4 hours, try all the resources you can to get out and then come home.”

Jungkook and Y/N exchanged glances before she nodded. “Understood. I’ll see you at home.”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Y/N said before hanging up.

“Boyfriend?” Yoongi asked looking at the phone before pointing over at Jungkook. “Who’s he, then?”

“I’m the boyfriend—”

“Not that it’s the primary concern for now,” Y/N cut off before turning to Yoongi. “You’re the FBI and Mafia. Do you know of any resources that could get us out?”

Yoongi bit his lip before slowly nodding.

“I think I do,” The agent said, watching the couple sag in semi-relief. “but if we’re gonna get the last train we have to go now.”

“Let’s go then. Lead the way, Mr. Mafia.”

“I’m fucking FBI, lady.”

Y/N stopped, blinking.

“Is there any reason we’re at the hospital?”

The words Chae General Hospital glowing red in bright red letters against the white paint of the wall seemed too simple.

It wasn’t.

“The drug cartel used to have drugs manufactured inside the city, but it got too urban for a meth and coke factory. They had to expand. That’s why they reached Seoul—like you said.” Yoongi explained. “They used trains for transport. Those babies carry tons of drugs to different areas in the county, which is then exported to different parts of the country.”

“Does it still work?”

“It’s turned off now, the mafia boss left right at the start of the outbreak—fucking asshole started this mess and can’t even stay for it.” Yoongi growled. “Ordered a hit on me then scrammed,”

“A hit, in this out break?” Y/N gasped.

“The hitmen were high. They just collapsed so I got out.” Yoongi explained.

“Wait,” Y/N held a hand to her lips. “Mafia drugs.”

Jungkook turned to the girl who only gaped in disbelief.

“Haneul wanted coke, so he took some from evidence. He mistakenly took Jimin’s unidentified drug for testing—and then he turned into a monster. Don’t you think that’s—that’s what…”

“Could be,” Yoongi nodded slowly. “That’s possible,”

“It’s a strain, like-like a chain reaction that spreads. Like rabies. Only faster, stronger. It can turn off all your mental capacities and just turn you into this-this thing.” Y/N explained as she looked up to see a zombie pass by a window of the hospital. “They make you feel good until eventually you just don’t,”

“Then we have to stop the spread. Let’s go,” Yoongi said, cocking his gun and moving towards the medical director’s office.

Jungkook flattened his palm against Y/N’s back.

“Y/N?”

“I’m going fucking destroy this mafia.” Y/N muttered, following Yoongi.

“That’s my girl,” Jungkook said as he sauntered over.

Yoongi shot him a look of disgust before booting up the computer at the desk.

Kim Namjoon, Medical Director.

“He bolted with the mafia boss,” Yoongi explained as Y/N picked up the plate. “he was the engineer and it was a massive fail. So, he ran with the boss. Wants to perfect it.”

Click!

“Done.”

Two huge bookshelves open behind Jungkook and Y/N, revealing a narrow staircase.

“Leads straight to the railways, come on.” Yoongi said, walking down.

It leads straight to a huge train platform beneath the basement parking lot. There was one empty train left.

Yoongi bolted to the control panels to start up the train.

“We’re getting out,” Y/N breathed, wrapping her arms around Jungkook, who only smiled in her hair.

However, before there’s any victories to be celebrated, there was a problem.

The starting train released a huge sound, and it wasn’t even starting yet.

The sound meant attracting zombies, who could enter the platform through the bookshelves.

The problem was: the bookshelves don’t close on their own—they were manually shut through nowhere else but the director’s office.

One had to go out and stay.

“I’ll go,” Yoongi said, running a hand through his face in a brief flash of disappointment before flashing a sad smile at the young couple. “It’s alright, somehow I always knew.”

“No, No! It’s not alright! No one deserves to die, no matter what.” Y/N shook her head.

“This is a cause worth dying for.” Yoongi explained.

“Not if you can do anything about it.” Jungkook argued before turning to Y/N at the sound of gurgling approaching nearby.

“I have to close it.” Yoongi pleaded. “You have to get out and tell Jimin what happened here, he’ll take care of the rest. Just—”

He pulled Jungkook over and held his hand over the lever he was pushing down. “Keep holding this down until the train lets out another whistle. It’ll start moving. I have to close the door.”

Y/N clenched her jaw. “No. Nobody else is dying tonight, not if I can help it.”

Yoongi looked over at the girl, who glanced at the watch on the wall.

30 minutes until the estimated time of detonation.

“You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t have to know you to know you’re a good person, Yoongi.” Y/N smiled and pulled her gun out as the first few zombies came down the platform. “One of you with me on the train. We got ammo to spare. Just keep shooting until the train moves.”

“How long will it take?” Jungkook asks.

“About two more minutes.”

“Easy shit.” Y/N said, shooting a zombie point blank on the head. “Come on, Yoongi. Get your FBI ass up here and help me shoot.”

Yoongi smiled gratefully, stepping up the threshold of the train and picking up a gun to start shooting.

Bang, bang.

“One minute.”

Bang, bang, bang.

“Thirty seconds.”

Bang, bang.

“Ten.”

Bang, bang, bang.

“Three.”

Bang.

“Two.”

Bang.

“One.”

A loud whistle sounded out as the train jolted and more zombies started to flood onto the platform.

“Jungkook!” Y/N screamed as he stepped away from the control panel to be met with a zombie.

Before anyone can do anything else, a shot sounded out and Jungkook looked over at Yoongi who lowered his gun. “Stop fucking gaping and run over here before we leave you.”

With a grateful nod, Jungkook ran towards the train with Yoongi clearing his path and Y/N clearing all other entry points to the train.

The train started moving.

“Jungkook!” Y/N said alarmed, but Jungkook only smiled before leaping at the back of the train—barely hanging on.

“You fucking asshole.” Y/N said as Jungkook hauled himself into the train.

“I’m okay,”

“You fucking asshole.” Y/N repeated, this time with a sob as she launched herself forward to crash her lips with his.

Yoongi all but collapsed onto the bench at the back of the train, with a gentle smile.

When the couple looked back at him, his eyes softened as he nodded.

“Thank you.”

Jungkook only nodded back as Y/N shot him a genuine smile.

She was going home to Taehyung. He’s going home to Jimin.

They stayed together.

They got out together.

Y/N closed her eyes, frustrated as she sat in a small investigation room.

The door opened.

A man in a fitted black tuxedo entered, files in his hands.

“Ms. L/N.”

“I just want Jungkook,” Y/N said. “I want him, then I want to go home. I’ll sign all your NDAs and shit, just let us go home.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Then what?”

A folder was slid over, the crest of the government on the cover.

“Join the DSO.”

“The what?”

“The Department of Security Organization.” The man linked his hands on the table patiently, explaining. “It’s a new section of the government design to counter bio-warfare attacks like this one from happening again. We need new, trained agents. It also helped that you were adept in the field of medicine.”

Y/N didn’t talk as the man slid another folder, this time containing an analysis report.

“What is this?”

“We call it the RX-Virus” The man explained. “It’s a modified strain of the rabies virus, mixed with others. It enhances human strength and agility—but numbs motor functions. You can’t feel pain. It also inhibits cognitive functions. Basically—it turns you into a zombie. Initial effects make you feel happy and elated—like ecstasy. Until you can’t feel and think anything else other than eating the next living human.”

Y/N looked up. “I see.”

“You’ve said this, all of this before the results came out, Y/N.” The man said. “From a simple deduction.”

“You said trained—I’m not trained.” Y/N explained.

“Oh, but you are.”

Certifications of her past shooting and martial arts when she was a student was placed before her.

“If you’re not confident, we will hire the best trainers to train you more.”

Y/N pursed her lips. “Sir, I’m not a soldier.”

“You’re a doctor, I know.” The man hummed. “But you’ve seen the battlefield, and I know you know.”

After a few moments of silence, Y/N spoke.

“Taehyung,”

“Will be safe.” The man responded. “He will be under government surveillance at all times to those who will attempt anything.”

“Jungkook?”

“He’s safer than you think.”

At this, Y/N furrowed her eyebrows.

“Yoongi will be promoted the head of the DSO tomorrow,” The man hummed, making the girl raise her head. “Jimin as part of his board, we needed two more. We would like to offer that to you.”

Y/N bit her lip.

She knew—as she ran through those streets, dodging the infected from the time that she only had garden shears to the time when she held a pistol in on hand and Jungkook’s hand in another—that this was something she had to fight.

For Haneul.

Y/N signed the papers.

The door opened to reveal Jungkook and Yoongi conversing with someone else.

Y/N smiled at the boys before another, shorter man bounded over to her.

One with a round face and pouty lips, and eyes forming lines as he smiled whole-heartedly.

“Kookie, you should know all about me now!”

“Kook?” Y/N stepped closer, watching the boy who whirled around with a smile.

“You must be Y/N.” He greeted. “I’m Jimin!”

This man was too cute and happy to be an FBI agent—no way.

But the way he held himself elegantly and mysteriously, (although she did see him jab Jungkook in a “subtle” manner with the biggest shit-eating smile in his face) proved her otherwise.

There was a slight commotion before a guard came over. “Sir, a man is throwing a scene downstairs—”

“We’re the damn FBI, take care of him.” Yoongi huffed.

“Sir, they’re looking for, uh… he said to specifically say Y/N-ie and…”

Y/N raised an eyebrow.

“That bitch-ass punk Jeon fucking Jungkook…” the man sighed in exasperation as he removed the earbud live feeding to his ear.

“Send him up, that’s Taehyung.” Y/N said to the man, who only nodded.

“I’ll leave you here, then. Welcome to the DSO, Ms. L/N, Mr. Jeon.”

“Welcome to the DSO?” Jungkook gasped as he looked towards Y/N.

“You said yes to the DSO?” Y/N gaped at the boy.

“I-I had to.” Y/N muttered. “I’ve seen what it’s like, out there… and I had you. What if I didn’t? Some people had it worse.”

“I know,”

“It was for Haneul, and they said they’d protect you and Tae for me.”

“I know, baby.” Jungkook smiled, embracing the girl. “I asked them to keep you safe, too.”

“I wouldn’t be, I’d be out there. With you.”

“Then at least I’d keep you safe.” Jungkook said, brushing his hand out of her face.

There was a sound of retching at the far end of the hallway before everyone turned to see a tall, blue-haired man covered head-to-toe in mismatched Gucci.

“Well, that’s fucking disgusting.” Taehyung commented.

“Tae!” Y/N screamed, practically flying out of Jungkook’s arms into her best friend’s.

“You’re such an asshole, I didn’t even get to dress properly.” Taehyung sighed as Y/N started to cry.

“Hey, hyung.” Jungkook greeted as he walked forwards.

“Punk.” Taehyung snorted before ruffling his hair. “You okay?”

Blinking, he nodded slowly. “I am hyung.”

“Good,” Taehyung smiled, patting his head.

No matter how much Tae got irritated at the boy for what happened between Y/N and him, he cared for him—because Y/N cared for him that much that he chose to do it too.

“Tae, I took their job.” Y/N muttered.

“I know, dipshit.” Taehyung smiled, “and you’ll be the greatest fucking soldier ever.”

“I’m an agent.”

“Cooler.” Taehyung smiled over at the two figures hanging back awkwardly behind Y/N and Jungkook. “Hey, what’s up, I’m Taehyung.”

Jimin tilted his head curiously before returning to his initial energetic approach—eye smile and bounce and all. “Hi! I’m Jimin!”

“Yoongi.” The other man supplied curtly.

“Welp, you promised me last night before this whole shit-ass show happened.” Taehyung clapped his hands. “And to think I only reserved a table for three god damn it.”

“What?” Y/N asked, backing from Tae a little and taking Jungkook’s hand. “Where are we going?”

“You promised to take me to Jin-hyung’s restaurant, remember?” Taehyung shrugged. “I got a chair for the punk—”

“I’m not a punk, I’m an agent.” Jungkook whined, showing the Jungkook Y/N never forgot.

“the punk. I think we can add more chairs, whatever.” Taehyung said, shrugging. “Not like Jin-hyung has a choice.”

“What?”

“I bullied him into reserving us on-the-spot while he drove me here,”

“While he what?”

“Oh, Jin-hyung is here.” Jungkook smiled, as Y/N pulled his hand. “You know Jin?” “Yeah, he’s nice to annoy. Used to do it at the café, he hated making chai tea so…” Jungkook shrugged.

Taehyung gasped and held his hand out. “That’s why I order it!”

Jungkook and Taehyung conversed before Taehyung inevitably dragged and enthusiastic Jim and a lazy Yoongi to agree in going to get food.

The tuxedo-clad man exited the interrogation room with a brief not to the girl, who stood behind everyone as Jungkook and Taehyung told the two others about Jin’s cooking.

“So, this is your family now, Ms. L/N,”

Y/N’s eyes trailed over to Jungkook who started to loudly complain about Yoongi to Jimin, smiling softly. “So it seems.”

“Are you willing to do what you must to protect it?”

Y/N’s eyes darted over to Jimin’s thin shirt raising up to reveal a hidden holster behind his baggy shirt, to Yoongi, whose hands seem to ready to reach up for the holster you knew full-well was in his coat.

Then there was a relaxed Jungkook, who still seemed alert and on-guard with flitting eyes, and finally—An innocent Taehyung, the representation of the people you need to protect.

“Babe, come on. Jin-hyung is angry for waiting,” Jungkook snorted.

“Let’s stop by the convenience store and make him wait longer,” Taehyung chortled, to which Jungkook and Jimin easily agreed to.

Y/N nodded with a soft smile, looking over at the man to take the holster and pistol offered to her.

“Whatever it takes.”

47 notes · View notes

thewhumpstuff · 4 years

Text

Flashback

Flashback - [So, this got longer than I intended. It probably needs to be cruelly edited. But, nah. I’m just going to throw it into the void!

@badthingshappenbingo [Original Characters and content for - Reopening an Old Wound] Whumptober Day: No. 6 - Please - “Get it out!” No more. “Stop, please!” [Sorta all three] Ten Trails: Heart and Soul (2)- Repressed memories [@yuckwhump] CW/TW: Uncomfortable invasion of the mind. References to interrogation, captivity and potential torture. Reference to implied bullying in the OC’s past. [Please let me know if I missed anything] [I don’t think there is anything triggering about the abstract art, hopefully, so its just out here. FYI-That is a man casually ‘caught up’ in his brain.]

Zach drummed an arrhythmic beat against the edge of his table, when the door to his office slid upon and the framework framed Akira like a painting, “Ah, good! You’re here. I’ve been led to believe you possess a unique set of skills and are the perfect candidate to... solve a little problem I’ve chanced upon. Shall we?” She wasn’t given a chance to make her way into his office. Within a moment, he was already crowding her. Zach shepherded her towards a vehicle. They rode in uncomfortable silence. There weren’t too many people who could set Akira on edge, but Zach was definitely one of them. She assumed it was because she couldn’t get a read on him. And the tenebrous past he shared with Jared. The vehicle pulled up and she almost opened her side of the door into Zach’s crotch, accidentally. She stopped herself just in time, leaving the door slightly ajar. With a soft huff of disappointment and impatience, Zach opened it all the way and waited for her to step out. Akira really wasn’t accustomed to this level of archaic chivalry. The silence continued to loom as they walked past the wired fence, to the decommissioned lab. It was marked for repair and rennovation. As they rounded to the door, he went on to warn her, with feigned concern, that did fool her. “This is not going to be easy. It certainly isn’t for me, but I trust you know, that as Amity Enforcers, it's our duty to defend the goals of the Global Confederate. ”

Her brows knitted and her eyes narrowed, but she nodded. They made their way inside. Their footsteps echoed in the vacant reception area and continued to click as they walked through the lobby and the labyrinth of corridors. The first couple of floors had already been revamped and restored. From the corner of her eyes, she noted the silhouettes of wrapped equipment. She recognized them with ease, some were bots for medical procedures, others were devices typically used for research… on human subjects. They were flush against the walls haphazardly. He led her into a softly lit room, and stopped by two-sided mirror. The other side was dark. Akira stared at their reflections. In retrospect, the sincerity in Zach’s expressions, would surprise her. Another guilty reassurance followed. It felt like he was setting her up for some kind of a climax, “I assure you, I’ve done my due diligence, and grave apologies that I wasn’t able to get to him before the others. He’s a little roughed up. Needless to say, he’ll be fixed up. Perhaps you can help with that too…” Zach fiddled with something that looked like a keypad touch screen. Bright fluorescent lights illuminated the room beyond the mirror. Akira did a double-take and didn’t realise she was holding her breath. Jared. She didn’t need to see his face to recognize him. He didn’t have a shirt on and his pants looked scruffy. Angry, fresh bruises covered most of the skin that she could see. Cuffs cinched his wrists behind his back. His cheek sat in a small pool of blood. Crimson that leaked from a cut lip and from his nose. His chest rose and fell erratically. Jared didn’t react to the lights. He was either asleep… Or just unconscious. Zach’s little roughed up didn’t exactly do justice.

She couldn’t tear her eyes off Jared, but she found her voice and addressed Zach in an indignant hiss, “What the fuck is this?” Zach ran gloved fingers through his silken strands, “I told you this wasn’t going to be easy. I recognize that your relationship, predisposes you to defend him. To take his side. And that’s good. Because-” Aki interrupted him through grit teeth, “Get to the point damnit. What reason do you have to hold him like this?” She found it very hard to maintain composure. Her eyes still riveted on Jared, till Zach’s fingers found Akira’s jaw. He held it to force her to turn and look at him. She did turn, but also jerked away from his hand. He didn’t press for contact. Zach’s voice darkened. It got colder and softer with a bridled rage, “I’m going to let that tone slide. Compelling evidence has surfaced, that declares him responsible for the death of my mother… and my subsequent capture. And that he either is, or was associated with SpecSyn.” His tone reminded her of the chilly one that Jared assumed, when he had reason to truly mean whatever threat he was uttering. The comparison was unsettling. Zach went on, “And I’d like very much to believe this evidence is bogus, because I don’t want it to be true. As much as you probably don’t. We grew up together, him and I. We trained in G.C.A together, served in Sector Nine together… ” She noticed a sort of hurt in Zach’s eyes. The kind of pain that screamed betrayal. For the briefest of moments it made her trust him, as he went on talking, “And I’m doing my very best to not fall prey to my anger… Akira. So please… help me. Help me wipe these allegations once and for all. You convince me, and I’ll take care of the rest.” Akira sounded hesitant, she was processing everything a little too slowly to immediately recognize what Zach wanted. So she defended Jared rather simply, “Look, I don’t know what to tell you, he never told me anything-” Zach’s voice changed to something practical and detached again, like this was just any other mission detail. This also reminded her of Jared. “No, of course he didn’t. Despite how intimate you two are, I doubt he would’ve trusted you with anything important, or too personal. He’s always been an agent first… Apparently, just not for G.C.” She could sense that he was provoking her now and instilling doubt again… Somewhat successfully. Jared had always been rather tight-lipped. Even more so around the subject of the events that led to Azrael’s death and his missions. They’d argued about it on more than one occasion. Now was not the time to get hung up on the way the truth of his words stung. She turned her back to Jared and leaned against the two-way mirror. Zach went on, “Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t simply-” She challenged with another interruption, eager to defend the relationship he sounded so dismissive about. “What? Just read him? Relationships don’t work like that, Zach... I trust him. Still do. Always will.” Her heart sank when she finally realised what the man wanted. And he made quick work of confirming Akira’s assumptions, “Well, push has come to shove. And if you trust him so much, you shouldn’t find anything in there-” He rested one hand against the glass of the two-way mirror and tapped it. ‘-In there, that’s too alarming. I say you- and by that I mean we, because we’re running out of options. So, convince me, he truly doesn’t know anything. And I’ll make sure he’s free to go. And you.” And me? She folded her arms across her chest, “I didn’t realise I was not free to go. So what, I’m a prisoner now too?” Zach stepped in closer and placed his other hand on the surface of the mirror behind Akira. Her face was between his palms and she felt a little trapped, by the situation and literally by Zach’s proximity, but she did her best to not show it. He shrugged, “The Jared I know, would’ve worked alone, but the others would not hesitate to assume your involvement by proxy. And it doesn’t help that you’re a Niner. But, like I’ve said before I’d like to stay on your side, on his side.” She drew in a long shaky breath, her voice fell to an uncertain whisper, “It…. My power doesn’t work like that. It’s not so perfect… I can’t just give you what you want.” He smiled, realising that she’d understood that her options were limited and was at least, considering compliance. “I know how your power works. And I’ll guide you. We’ll have to find a way, for his sake.” Nonetheless, she obviously had to check if there was in fact, any other way. She wasn’t too keen on breaking that sacrosanct trust, “What if I say no?” Zach huffed brusquely, “Then I’ll have no choice but to give the two of you up. I can only buy so much time. They’ll either force a confession false or not... or kill both of you in the process of doing so… So, Akira, I really don’t want to spend our time constantly reminding you, that I’m the only thing standing in the way of a very… very bleak future for both of you.” So, no real choice indeed. A small part of Akira rejoiced and then recoiled with guilt. The part that did want to know all of Jared’s secrets, just so they could clear the air once and for all. The part she’d leashed, with difficulty and upon his insistence- out of respect for what they shared... Another part of her curled up in fear of what she’d actually find. And how she’d hide it from Zach, if it was indeed incriminating. “How do you expect me to convince you?” Zach looked beyond her, presumably at Jared, as he laid out the plan, “To make sure you aren’t lying, I’ll first have you dredge up memories of his time with me, details that I can confirm. Things you’re unlikely to know about, at least not in all their specificity. Then we can work towards the rest. It’ll be a process… But hopefully, Jared gets out of this absolved and we all walk away unharmed. I’ll have Mark monitor your stats when we get to the important stuff. So I’ll know if you’re lying. You know Mark right, I believe you’ve worked with him? That should make all this a little easier...”

Carrying a glass of water, painkillers and some tissues, she walked into the cell alone. Her SmartNeura was connected to Zach’s, so he could instruct her without Jared’s knowledge. Jared was still curled on the floor. He had not moved almost at all. His knuckles were unbruised. But his wrists bore evidence of struggle. She gathered that Jared had not resisted arrest and that they’d hurt him after he was already cuffed. Presumably to get quick answers. Knowing him, he must’ve chosen silence. She assumed he was in some drug induced stupor now, she was wrong. “Jared…” He sat up so quickly, she and her heart jumped. “Shira? What the hell are you doing here?” Why did his tone sound accusative? “Z-” Before she could tell him, Zach interrupted her sharply, “No. Don’t name me. He doesn’t need to know of my involvement yet. Tell him someone else asked you for help with the interrogation-Better yet, tell him you heard and volunteered. Keep it vague.” Akira chewed the side of her lips and looked at Jared as intently as she could, she wasn’t sure if he could see truth in her eyes. She went and flopped by his side, cross-legged. And put the water beside him, along with the painkillers and tissues. He picked up the latter to wipe away the blood. She repeated Zach almost word for word, “I… heard they caught you and volunteered to help.” She was hoping Jared would recognize the foreignness of her words. Unfortunately, given his current state, he either didn’t, or did a damn good job of hiding it. His eyes widened. She knew he was definitely closing in on her intent. And desperately hoping it wasn’t true, just like she had been, just moments ago. “Help how?” She was at a loss of words. Aki jerked her chin towards his head. She really didn’t want to spell it out, “You know… I’ll just… Read and confirm you innoc-” Jared shot up like a spring, and was on his feet. He staggered as he backed away from her. He sounded uncharacteristically flustered, his words as choppy as his faltering steps, “Why the fuck would you- We’ve gone over this… We agreed- It’s the one thing I’ve asked for- Wait you told them about your- Just…Just… Get outta here and let them do what they want. You don’t need to get involved. Why would they believe you anyway?” He kept shuffling away as he talked, to literally stay out of her reach. Till he had nowhere left to go. Akira didn’t move towards him, she remained on the floor and stared at it. She wanted to yell. To let him know in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want any of this. That she had no choice. That it wasn’t going to be a damn walk in the park for her either. That she’d been summoned. And that she was glad that she’d been called. At least she could buy them some time to figure this out. That she couldn’t, in good faith, just… let them do what they wanted. She sat frozen, screaming internally till Zach was compelled to intervene. He sounded impatient… but Aki could swear, he also sounded mildly delirious, “Tell him, it's too late and you’re already involved. Tell him, he doesn’t have a real choice. Then ask him about Erebus at the C.T.F we did for training at G.C.A. Read the memory that comes up. I’m staring us off easy.”

In his impatience, Zach was revealing himself with every suggestion and Akira was glad that he was. Though she wasn’t sure if Jared was truly catching on, or not. She’d heard him speak of Erebus - now an Acer himself, working in the resources department- and not too fondly. She had nothing specific enough for her to fib her way through this. Akira cleared her throat and repeated Zach’s words, paraphrasing just enough to change the perspective, and couch her question as a memory-trigger, “Look, I’m already here. So this is happening, whether you like it or not. Let’s talk about Erebus. You two were in G.C.A together, right? Did both of you participate in the capture-the-flag game? Were you on the same team?” She hoped that the confusion that flitted on Jared’s face was a sign that he was starting to catch up. He had to have figured out that they were being watched by someone, if not specifically Zach. Jared asked, “Erebus? Why? I’ve barely mentioned him” She made up a lie, now improvising without Zach’s direction, “He’s... A suspect too...” She was grateful that Zach needed to confirm her compliance with… hopefully benign memories. But, with the way Jared tensed up, perhaps even this was not as benign as she was hoping. It’s just C.T.F… How bad could it be? Jared sighed, like he’d curtailed an exasperated warning, “Shira… please just...” After one last look of what she perceived to be despise- aimed either at her, or at the very least at the situation, he closed his eyes. With a dark, heart-rending resignation, he slid against the wall, till he was sitting on the floor with his knees pressed against his chest. She knew he wasn’t the sort to protest once he realised it was futile. She sat there feeling a little paralyzed. There was no going back once she crossed this line. Zach prompted her into action, “Go on! Remember we’re still time-bound. Wordlessly, she inched closer to Jared and set his hands on his exposed arms. -

Lying on the ground, stomach first. The wetness of dewdrops against the cheek. The chilly breeze against a bareback. The smell of damp earth and grass. The blurry sight of the green blades and the soil - shuffling shoes and ankles in the distance. The recently-cracked awkward husk of a pubescent voice, “This’ll teach you to fucking play decoy for Pixie-dust!” The sound of vague, bitter and cruel jeering. Shoes sliding closer. Fingers curling around wrists and ankles, tightening with a certain envious sourness. The soles of shoes against the back of the knees… and the elbows, with the wobbling, inconsistent, but hurtful pressure. The body, contorts and twists to see the sneering face of the kid who spoke. A raspy, baleful protest, claws out of the throat, “Get your lackeys off me ‘Rebus!” An unavailing struggle that ensues. Another soul pressed against the lower back, with a pathetic finality. And then the sound of the marker, shot at point-blank range. The smarting slap of the bullet splattering between the shoulder blades. The strangled roar, interrupted by another shot… and then another. The headache-inducing grit teeth and set jaw. The metallic tang of blood and the annoying stab of a bitten tongue- completely overshadowed by the aching throb of the back. The burgeoning tenderness and the blooming bruises. Finally, after half a dozen shots, the deafening silence. The splattered, viscous paint, that felt as good as blood, rolling down the sides of the torso. And a soft, defeated whine. The vague thought that this must appear rather comical to an onlooker… but sure didn’t feel that way. -

Jared’s quieter whimper met Akira’s louder groans, they tapered to an uncomfortable silence, first him, then her. She blinked away, the tears that collected on the side of her eyes. When she let go of him, she noticed her fingers had left a print on his pale skin, blanching through a bruise. She had just experienced his memory in first person and forced him to relive it too. Aki could still hear the echo of the shots and feel her back smarting. He probably felt the same lingering effects. She knew it’d fade soon enough, but it left her heaving for air. Her emotions were mingled with young Jared’s- contempt for this Erebus kid who pressed him into the ground and shot him. Despair... that it happened. And her instinct was more violent than his, “What a fucking tool. I’d have kil-” She cut herself off when Jared opened his eyes. The dejection in them tore at her. And Zach’s voice broke the moment, “Why did you stop? Tell him you want to know what happens and go back.” Akira hesitated, till Zach made the order in no uncertain terms, “Do it, now!” She echoed his suggestion with a slight startle, like a spurred horse, “I… I want to know what happens next-” He let his fingers lace with her approaching hands. A plainative squeeze followed, “No! Stop it… Shira… Please. Please no more… Not again.”

7 notes · View notes

five-wow · 4 years

Text

10.19!!! watched it, had thoughts about it, wrote them down. the usual under the cut.

there is a random man in steve’s kitchen (is it the helicopter guy? i... don’t know him well enough to be sure but i am genuinely unsure who else it would be) wearing a “seals do it better” apron while he’s cooking and talking to junior about how this recipe helped him “seal the deal” with the love of his life. okay, random man. you’re not acknowledging it, but you just made a seal pun, so you have my attention.

btw, for a good long moment i genuinely thought this guy might be danny in some kind of weird dream sequence future. i mean, old danny in steve’s kitchen wearing a seal-themed apron and making waffles? i wouldn’t hate it.

junior about how it’s going with tani: “it’s amazing.” okay a) YAY and THAT IS VERY CUTE and b) even so, it’s hilarious to me when random guy says “sounds like you’ve got it bad” just based on junior saying that it’s amazing while he kind of smiles vaguely. cute as it was, it wasn’t a passionate love declaration.

junior lies in bed awake at night dreaming of his thing with tani working out (and not sleeping because he’s scared it might not) and i just !! he’s a smitten mess over her and i adore it, even though his level of anxiety sounds like it’s a little detrimental for his sleep, omg.

fjdkfd we get a scene of adam and quinn who went surfing together and OF COURSE they’re standing under the beach showers as they talk because i feel like adam is literally contractually obligated to have a certain number of shower scenes each season.

tani!! gave quinn!! some surfing pointers!! let’s review: we know that tani is really great at surfing and definitely better than junior, because we had a scene once of them getting back from a surfing trip and junior was slightly pouty over it and tani was absolutely unwilling to downplay her own skill and it was Very Good, and now, in these last few episodes, tani was first present during noelani’s surfing lessons and now she’s apparently been giving quinn advice, and the idea of the h50 women hanging out? the idea of tani being supportive and sharing her knowledge? it’s all so good, ahhh. (ALSO. my mighty need for tani and kono to meet grows with each and every mention of tani’s surfing skill.)

oh my gOD i wrote that bit in brackets and hit play on the episode and IMMEDIATELY adam says that he’s used to being second best in the ocean because “my ex wife was a pro surfer, and very competitive.” YES. GOOD. LOVE THE KONO REFERENCE.

quinn gets a dramatic call from an olivia! i read an episode description, so i know that’s her ex-step daughter. i’m a little hesitant about this “btw quinn has an ex-husband” subplot, but also curious to see where they’re going with it, and quinn jumping to help out a teen girl that she still has a strong bond with is an angle of approach that could potentially be very very relevant to my interests.

cows! “moooo” say the cows, quietly, under the music. they’re not important or plot-relevant, i just like cows.

fjdkfd olivia has a Bad Dad and yes, i do want quinn to adopt her now. it could be good! she could swap tips with steve about how to let your adopted teen know they’re loved and safe and worth so much more than what their parents gave them.

tani to junior: “what, you think i didn’t have a life before i met you?” junior’s eyes: [shoot up to steve, standing right behind tani, who is junior’s mentor AND boss, making it slightly awkward to have a relationship talk right in front of him during work hours] POOR BOY (but also, yes, tani, tell him).

junior is now obsessed with the mystery of why tani is so familiar with a random rancher bar an hour away from her house, and to be honest, so am i.

tani wON A LINE DANCING COMPETITION FOUR WEEKS IN A ROW. that is the BEST solution to the mystery, my gosh.

tani: [brags about her line dancing skills and calls herself the queen] junior: “who are you?” fdjkfdjkfd junior, i don’t even know why you’re suprised that a) tani slays at something she did or b) she is utterly unapologetic about that fact.

olivia says that maybe quinn could come watch her play volleybal some time and quinn says that she’d love to but it’s complicated and don’t do that, quinn! my heart hurts now!

OKAY so olivia isn’t doing cheer this year even though she was captain the previous year and she makes up an excuse about it being because of the other girls but it’s actually about HER DAD taking the money that quinn gave her for a UNIFORM which means she probably couldn’t even try out and I HATE THIS. find your ex and kick his ass, quinn.

lou, after talking about macadamia farming: “but here’s where the story gets a littllllle... nutty.” tani, fistpumping: “nice one.” punner solidarity!! good stuff, good stuff. (though i do wonder what happened to danny’s punning streak in later seasons. anyone remember 1.14, when he joked about the head in a box? he’s lost his appreciation for this fine art and it’s a tragedy, honestly.)

quinn has enlisted adam’s help in tracking her ex (jake) down and she’s telling adam a little about how she never thought she’d fall for a guy like him but he was charming, and then she says “and olivia” and THAT’S when she really smiles, and look, PLEASE don’t let this episode end with olivia still living with her dad because will have to write fix-it fic.

quinn: “i haven’t told anybody i was married, not even steve.” that’s cool, but like, do we believe that means steve doesn’t know? if his background checks haven’t gone completely downhill in the last few years, i would assume he’s figured this out, right? (i love quinn’s “in case you haven’t noticed, i’m not really a sharer” that she adds, because it fits with her personality and it’s just nice to have a female character that’s allowed to be a little secretive about her past in a way that doesn’t feel, idk, sensationalized.)

i have seen a lot of gifs of this episode by now and they’re all of steve and danny and the horses so i’ve seen most of their very polite discussion that ensues when danny calls steve out on not asking him if he wants to ride along, but it’s still utterly glorious. grace gets mentioned, too! and the way danny ends it with “why don’t you try to keep up?” as he passes in front of steve, with steve watching him go? that is flirting. blatant flirting in front of all of their poor teammates. (at least now junior can feel a little less awkward about bringing his relationship with him on the job!)

fjdkfdjk lou’s “all this and they still go time to argue, isn’t that nice?” is A+

steve and danny, as they’re super leisurely chasing some criminals through the woods on horseback: yes, this would be a good time to make up an argument about absolutely nothing at all.

oh gosh, okay, danny says “you know i can uh, i can hear you at night” and steve’s response is “why don’t you get some earplugs?” and um. uh. it’s followed by context, i know, but come on, jfc.

“when i moved in a couple months ago” he’s just GOING for it now, omg. not “came to stay with you”, no attempt at hiding that he’s been staying with steve for literal months at this point - just. when i moved in. a couple months ago.

(i am obviously also very aware of what danny is saying about steve not sleeping and how that’s a new thing because it wasn’t like that a few months ago and steve’s evasiness about it and i am VERY WORRIED ABOUT THAT but i’m also electing to somewhat ignore it because. my god. screw that. we don’t want any of where that seems to be headed in this house.)

“i appreciate it. thank you.” this is growth and it’s good and it’s steve realizing that maybe just his quippy putdown isn’t enough of a response to danny’s genuine offer of support! (and again, we’re not thinking about reasons why he might want to think twice about how he treats danny so danny will know he’s appreciated, because there is no reason for steve to be worried about that, because nothing is going to happen.)

steve: “cuff him, danno.” DANNO. danno has returned from war!!

fjdkfd and then steve says it again in like, the next sentence he says. really cramming in those danno’s suddenly.

oh noooooo. quinn tells adam that jake could be a very good dad (which is valid! addiction is a disease and it’s good to know he wasn’t always like this to olivia, even if i don’t think it excuses what’s happening now), but then she says that jake was all the things she always wished her own dad could be and that maybe that’s why she was so drawn to him, and. okay. did not need that. h50 has a tendency to make women compare their love interests to their dads that makes me very uncomfortable. (the other big one that springs to mind is when abby and chin are courting and chin opens a car door for abby and she says something about how she always admired chivalry in her dad and she thought that died out with his generation and it’s this weird thing where she seems to be flirting by going “wink wonk you make me think of my dad” and oh my god. let’s just say it’s very much not my thing.)

steve and danny end up holed up in a cabin while seven people shoot at them and ahhh, just like old times. also just like last episode, to be honest, with the whole cabin filled with poison thing, but at least there’s no poison this time! that’s a plus!

steve’s improv involves LASSO’ING a guy i’m screaming

dude gets the drop on steve, they have an epic fight, steve HITS HIS HEAD and the dude picks up a GIANT LOG to hulksmash on steve’s head, presumably, and then danny swoops in to the rescue and!!! that’s also very much like old times!!! especially with this forest green color scheme and steve lying on the floor a little dazed it really reminds me of that episode with the girlscout troop in season 3.

(so. in this possible universe we’re not talking about where steve might be sick again and could be pacing at night because he knows or fears he’s going to die (you know the one) do you think that maybe part of why his first words to danny are “why’d you leave the cabin? that wasn’t the plan” is that he was kind of... hoping the other guy would get to finish him off? do you ever think about how steve mcgarrett, man of action, would almost definitely rather go out in a blaze of glory after taking out six guys all on his own with danny having his back, than after watching his own body slowly betray him and give out on him after losing a painful and drawn-out fight with itself?)

confused, frowny steve who almost definitely has a concussion and is also still very bloody is oddly cute, gosh. also, nincompoop! definitely one of danny’s most wonderful insults yet.

quinn gets her ex arrested and yells at him and tells him that if he doesn’t clean up his act, he’ll lose custody of his daughter, and then she drives away and she’s sobbing and trying not to and just !!!!! this was definitely the good kind of “quinn has an ex-husband” storyline, but also very painful.

the sunset scene! seen this in gifset too, but hoooo boy, it hits very differently with actual sound. (i may also have described the scene to my sister and mentioned the “probably ‘cause i figured i’d see a million more” and her immediate response was “oooh, he’s dead” and yES, that’s what i was TELLING YOU i’m worried about and also what i’m not thinking about so let’s just pretend i’m not typing these words right now.)

fdjkfdjkfd i’m sure that steve turning to danny just as he says “those are the things that you’re gonna miss the most in the end, you know” after mentioning things you see every day is just. a total coincidence. yeah. he’s totally just turning away from this sunset he was so entranced by a moment ago to look at danny’s face because he wants to stretch his neck. uh huh.

there’s banter about squirrels and it’s good and then steve says “admit it danny, you’re gonna miss this when it’s done” and that sounds very meta, omg, but it gets better when danny says “yeah, maybe, but i would never say it out loud” because that is literally a way to say it, out loud.

a very good episode!! i loved meeting olivia and learning about quinn’s background and there was some prime tani content and to top it off a lot of mcdanno in the second half, and if we just completely ignore that this episode also made my anxiety about the series finale skyrocket (which i knew it would, based on what i’d gathered of other people’s response to it, but that still didn’t accurately prepare me) it was wonderful and i liked it a lot!

#10.19 #h50 spoilers #h50 #I. DO NOT WANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT MIGHT BE AHEAD

58 notes · View notes

bemused-writer · 5 years

Note

Hello! First of all I gotta say I love your VNC fics and meta a whole lot and I'm very thankful for them (your Vanóes are GOOD). They're incredibly fun to read, and I love both writing and reading meta a lot. In this topic I'd like to ask your opinion about your views on Noé and Jeanne's relationship? I was rereading VNC recently and noticed that Noé blushes sometimes/stares at Jeanne a lot in the first few chapters, which I found a bit weird since their relationship doesn't get focus? Wdyt?

Thanks so much! This response has turned into a full-blown analysis of their interactions to date, so it’s a bit of a long post.

I’ll admit, the first two times I read what we currently have of VNC I didn’t notice anything between Noé and Jeanne at all. 8D So, it’s quite subtle! However, there’s definitely something going on, otherwise no attention would have been drawn to it in the first place.

The way I’ve been interpreting their interactions is that Noé respects Jeanne, which makes perfect sense. She’s a strong individual and they met on the battlefield in volume 1. I think a lot of his impressions of her stem from this first introduction. The first notable thing he thinks about her is that she’s strong, though not quite as strong as his teacher.

He continues to say, “I can do this. Even on my own…” From this, we can gather he was excited to fix things without Vanitas’s help. It’s important to remember that, at this point in time (volume 1), Noé doesn’t like Vanitas, doesn’t trust him, and would definitely like to distance himself from that bizarre individual.

However, he got ahead of himself. In thinking Jeanne wasn’t quite as strong as his teacher he got a little cocky and was surprised that she countered his attack resulting in what I will call Blush #1:

She then proceeded to send him through a wall. I think his reaction to that (seen below) is important because it tells us something about Noé that becomes more and more evident as the series goes on: he hesitates in combat against certain people.

Noé has a chivalrous side, something that drives Vanitas nuts. He doesn’t want to harm women or children (as evidenced by his first battle with Astolfo where Vanitas remarks that Noé hesitated because Astolfo reminded him of both). Noé was easily defeated by Jeanne here partially because he held himself back because she’s a woman.

He seems surprised by his own hesitation, however, and at how easily he was sent flying. Noé has led a remarkably sheltered life at this point and I think it’s also been somewhat traditional. Women are capable (he knows Dominique, so he must believe that) but they’re also not generally fighters. In short, I think Noé was impressed and had to reevaluate some things on the fly.

At any rate, he’s learned he can’t take Jeanne one-on-one in a fight, so he’s stuck going along with Vanitas’s plan after all, which is kidnapping Luca (even though he doesn’t realize he’s kidnapping Luca…). He doesn’t hear what Vanitas and Jeanne say to each other but by the end of it all, we can tell Noé isn’t exactly impressed with how things were resolved.

The next time Noé even sees Jeanne is toward the end of the Bal Masque in volume 2 after Jeanne drank Vanitas’s blood and Vanitas saved him from Charlatan. While he doesn’t directly interact with Jeanne in this volume whatsoever (all of the focus is given to three relationships this volume: Noé & Dominique, Noé & Vanitas, and Vanitas & Jeanne) we can at least draw a comparison between their personalities. Both Noé and Jeanne go out of their way to protect Luca. Jeanne has a more personal investment in this of course, but Noé befriends Luca and Luca is instantly charmed by Noé.

Speaking of blushing, Luca has done so for both Noé and Jeanne, so I would consider this further evidence of the two of them being similar in personality. Poor Luca, his type seems to be too old for him, unavailable, and with a weird background to boot. 8D

Getting back on track, volume 3 is when we finally see Noé and Jeanne interact a bit once more. They’re at a cafe in Altus Paris after the battle has been resolved. Luca has just finished thanking Noé for rescuing him (it was Vanitas but, honestly, neither him nor Jeanne really want to acknowledge that), and Jeanne chimes in:

Blush #2! For Noé at least. To be honest, I think this is the first time Jeanne has actually addressed him with words. Their only other interaction was their battle in volume 1.

At any rate, the two have very similar reactions. Jeanne is charmed by Noé because he performed the one act she considers most important: he protected Luca. Likewise, Noé is flattered because he’s just been complimented by a very capable individual. I don’t think Noé is used to receiving praise. Vanitas definitely isn’t about to dish it out in any conventional manner, Louis did the opposite of compliment him more often than not, and Teacher doesn’t strike me as affectionate. Dominique is warmer towards him, but I think there are limits there because she doesn’t want Noé to know how she really feels.

The point I’m getting at here is that I think these words, this type of declaration, is dear to him.

The conversation continues into some very awkward territory thanks to one Vanitas. Even if Noé hadn’t heard Vanitas’s declaration of love before, he definitely has now and even he has some awareness that a Mark of Possession is important. I’m kind of unclear on how in-the-know Noé actually is here, but he’s definitely shocked:

The tarte tatin is being ignored… Of course, once Jeanne and Vanitas exit through the window he pursues.

It’s a little unclear whether Noé overheard Vanitas and Jeanne’s conversation but I lean towards thinking he did and that’s why he’s so disappointed: Jeanne gets all of Vanitas’s blood to herself. It also means he knows the two of them have some kind of arrangement and that Vanitas claims to love her. We have no idea what Noé thinks about any of this outside of a general disappointment he can’t have Vanitas’s blood. Unfortunately, it doesn’t tell us anything about his relationship with Jeanne outside of possibly seeing her as some kind of competition.

He next sees Jeanne at the dance where he tries to offer to dance with her except Dominique beat him to it.

There’s also a tiny, little blush here, but I think it’s aimed at Dominique. He has a lot of reasons to blush at Dominique: he literally just drank her blood a few moments ago, and he cares for her deeply.

Also, I know I just said Noé might consider Jeanne as competition, but I really don’t mean that in a negative way. Noé is disappointed, but he still likes her. He honestly doesn’t have any reason not to. He offers to dance with her because she was all by herself and looked troubled. Noé is all about helping troubled individuals, especially when it matches up with his general sense of chivalry.

Their interactions in this volume end there as the rest of his attention is taken up by Vanitas. He does talk about Jeanne, though, but mostly to figure out why Vanitas likes her.

“Vanitas… what do you like about Jeanne?” It’s an honest question and Noé just doesn’t get it. If we continue with the assumption he overheard Vanitas and Jeanne’s conversation, he knows they have an arrangement. He knows Vanitas claims to love her. But he isn’t seeing it himself. He likes Jeanne, but it isn’t that kind of love. Vanitas’s answer does little to explain anything to him whatsoever. He loves Jeanne because she won’t love him back. Rather than explain their relationship, he’s made it far more confusing for Noé, who is no doubt trying to figure out what it is Vanitas and Jeanne actually have. He’s never been confronted by a Mark of Possession before, never been exposed to two people loving each other before, and he’s just lost.

Noé and Jeanne next see each other when they all go to speak with Ruthven in the same volume, but they don’t interact. Noé and Jeanne also don’t interact for the entirety of volume 4, which is centered more around Vanitas & Jeanne as well as Noé & Vanitas.

They finally meet up once more in volume 5 during yet another battle:

Jeanne’s reaction is pretty amusing: “Y-you’re here, too? Well… since Vanitas is here, it’s only natural… I suppose?”

I think it’s just now dawning on her that Noé is always around Vanitas. XD In fairness, she’s actually had dealings with Vanitas on his own pretty often. I don’t think she’s used to seeing Noé by himself whatsoever.

He suggests they can save Chloé and once again he and Jeanne are confronting one another. It does give us Blush #3, though:

In fairness, I think this one is a mix of awe–she’s bested him once again–, some intimidation, and probably embarrassment seeing as a woman just wrapped her whole leg around his neck. I’d be blushing, too. Their confrontation is interrupted by Charlatan and … that’s it. They didn’t interact in volume 6 or in any of the most recent chapters (up to 39 at this point).

So! You are completely correct when you say their relationship isn’t getting a lot of focus. Personally, I think these blushes are just Noé being Noé. He blushes at just about everything. He blushes at Dominique, Jeanne, Paris, Altus Paris, things he finds interesting, and even Vanitas once in the train. Noé doesn’t try to conceal his emotions; he let’s them out. Likewise, Jeanne does the same, although she’s learned to be more reserved than is natural for her judging by her childhood.

Both Noé and Jeanne are designed to be foils to Vanitas, and that’s part of why they’re so similar. They’re both earnest, honest, loyal, kind, powerful, sincere, protective, etc.

In contrast, Vanitas is extremely guarded, tends to have a shaky relationship with the truth, his version of kindness is usually pretty harsh, he’s not strong the way vampires are, and he’s definitely not sincere. He actually is kind of protective towards Jeanne and Noé, though, but he sees this as a flaw rather than a strength. He’s also managed to be pretty loyal to both of them as well though, once again, not something he’s happy about.

I know some people think Jeanne and Noé might get together at some point in this series and I’d say it’s certainly possible. Mochizuki has surprised me with which couples get together before. I think these two would be cute on account of how similar they are. But looking at how things currently stand, I don’t think that’s where we’re headed. I think it’s more likely that we’ll see Vanitas torn between the two of them. Not necessarily in a romantic way, but as far as who he can continue to protect and maintain his reluctant loyalty towards.

I would like to see Jeanne and Noé form a friendship at least, but I think a lot of that is also dependent on Vanitas and other external forces, such as Ruthven.

Thanks for the ask! I liked getting to explore these two. ^^

#vanitas no carte #vnc #vnc meta #Bemused's post #Anonymous #long post

58 notes · View notes

the--sad--hatter · 5 years

Text

Name Calling (6)

FANDOM - MARVEL MCU

PAIRING - BUCKY X READER (female reader, no physical descriptions)

WARNINGS - ALL OF THEM, SMUT, VIOLENCE ANGST

DESCRIPTION - In which the ongoing and bloody war of words between you and Bucky turns in your favor when a disgruntled one night stand of his lets slip a secret when you run into her in the elevator… Now you have all the ammunition you need to destroy your enemy but you don’t plan on killing him quickly. Oh no, Bucky Barnes was going to suffer and you were going to enjoy every second. You just didn’t count on how much you would enjoy it.

Chapter Six - Mrs Captain Spandex

“WHY THE FUCK IS ROGERS ON A DATE WITH MY CHILD?” Tony screamed as he rushed into the common room.

“You mean why is the literal embodiment of chivalry on a date with the adult daughter that you acquired two days ago? Darcy sassed.

“Exactly, why is the precious innocent girl I cherish on a date with a hundred year old man?” he rebutted.

“Tony, the independent grown up woman WE love very much is having dinner with our very good friend whom we respect and trust. Please calm down.” Pepper tried to soothe, barely concealing her amused smirk.

“Did the winged wonder know about this? WILSON!” Tony spun round, searching for a target for his fury.

“Sams in the kitchen hyperventilating into a paper bag.” Darcy supplied.

“Wait a second, you knew about this!” Tony accused Pepper.

“Yes I did.” Pepper stated calmly, arching a brow at Tony.

Tony faltered, torn between concern and outrage at the situation and fear of Pepper.

“But… isn’t he supposed to ask my permission first?” He whined petulantly.

“Not until he wants to ask for her hand in marriage.” Darcy happily chirpped, munching on the leftover popcorn from the movie.

Pepper sighed and had to resist the urge to facepalm as Tony’s face started rapidly turning red.

“SHE IS NOT MARRYING CAPTAIN SPANDEX, I FORBID IT!” He bellowed.

Darcy’s snigger turned into a full on cackle as Sam’s wailing voice drifted out of the kitchen.

“But why did nobody tell me? I had to find out through a group text, I feel so betrayed!”

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

You tugged on your seatbelt and whined. Steve was being stubborn and you did not appreciate it.

“I’m supposed to be showing you how you’re supposed to treated on a date sweetheart, and you deserve the world.” Steve argued.

“I don’t want the world, I want a burger!” You protested.

“The restaurant Pepper booked is supposed to be one of the nicest in the City.” He tried to reason with you. Unsuccessfully.

“You don’t want to go to a fancy place any more than I do, I know you.”

“If you take a take a beautiful dame out for dinner you’re supposed to treat her.” He argued weakly.

“I dunno Cap, I think you’re supposed to give the lady whatever she desires.” Happy piped up from the front seat.

“This is why you’re my favourite Happy.” You told him as he caught your eye in the rearview mirror and shot you a wink.

Steve chuckled at your antics as the car rolled to a stop.

“Oh look, we’re here.” Steve told you.

You looked out the window and back to Steve with a quizzical expression. He just raised an eyebrow at you smugly.

“You were never taking me to the fancy restaurant Pepper booked were you?” You laughed.

“I had a gut feeling you’d enjoy this more. They have the best pie in Brooklyn.” He said, getting out of the car as Happy opened your door and helped you up.

“And yes, they have burgers.” He assured before you could ask.

“Yay.” You whispered under your breath excitedly.

Steve laugh and ruffled your hair and you batted his hands away like a cat batting a ball of string much to his amusement. He caught on of your hands in his and tugged you into the cosy little diner.

You gasped softly as Steve opened the door and waved you through. The little retro diner was like stepping into the past, or onto a set of one of the old movies you had watched with the man standing beside you.

“Did you used to come here? Before?” You asked.

His answering smile was filled with the sadness of loss and fondness as he nodded. Your heart broke a little for him and you wrapped your arms around his waist.

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

Bucky stormed down the hall towards the elevator, needing to get out of the tower. He didn’t have a destination in mind he just planned on walking until his body shut down.

“Did you get my text? Didn’t they look cute together?” Wanda called from behind him.

Bucky paused without turning round, clenching his jaw.

“No.” He snarled out.

“No, you didn’t get it? That’s ok, I’ll send it again. You really have to see it, they looked so excited for their big date.” She exclaimed excitedly and promptly walked away before he could even think about saying anything else.

Bucky growled in frustration and pushed himself towards the elevator, desperation to get out of the tower increased tenfold.

Wanda however practically skipped into the common room and over to Natasha.

“You were right.” She told her.

“Of course I was.” Natasha said with her signature smirk.

“When are we going to tell Tony and Sam it’s not a real date?” Wanda sniggered.

“After they give Cap the shovel talk?” Natasha suggested.

The two of them shared a conspirational laugh.

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

“It seemed like a good plan at the time but I had miscalculated ever so slightly because setting the explosives wasn’t usually my job and when they went off Bucky was a few feet closer than he should have been. The force of the explosion knocked him backwards, straight into the river. We all rushed over to see if he was ok and there was Bucky climbing out of the river with the most disgruntled expression you have ever seen, looking like a drowned alley cat.”

You were clutching your ribs as you cried with laughter as Steve regaled you with old tales of his exploits with the howling commando’s.

“I wish I could have seen that.” You chuckled.

“Poor Buck, he was always getting into trouble while trying to watch my back. Lost count of the amount of back alley fights he pulled me out of before the serum changed me. Then I was bigger and Buck was still watching my back, like nothing had changed.” Steve said.

You regarded his wistful expression and pushed your fries across the table to him.

“I forgot you said you used to be smaller, I can’t picture it.” You told him.

You clapped your hands together excitedly.

“I can picture it! Ohhh, Can I use your phone?” You made grabby hands at him and he handed it over with a long suffering sigh as you grabbed his hand and pushed his thumb onto the screen unlocking it.

It only took you a few minutes to find what you were looking for as Steve left you too it, polishing off the remainder of your fries. You clicked on the black and white photo and tilted your head to the side as you studied it. You held the phone up to Steve to compare the two.

“Huh.” You remarked.

“Yeah, I was...”

“The exact same.” You interrupted whatever self deprecating comment he was about to make.

He looked up in bewilderment.

“I mean your body was smaller yeah but you look the same, it’s still your face. It’s still you.” You said matter of factly.

You locked the phone and handed it back, peering into the fry basket with disappointment. You looked up to complain to Steve for eating all your fries but were stopped by the smile he was giving you. He reached over the table and grabbed your hand.

“I want you to promise me something.” He started.

“Ok, anything.” You agreed, not even having to think about it.

“Don’t hold back, when you find them. The person you want to be with. Don’t fight it and don’t wait around. When you find love sweetheart, grab onto it and don’t let it go.” He asked of you.

You knew why he was asking, you understood.

“I promise.” You said solemnly.

He squeezed you hand and smiled brightly, with all the warmth of the sun.

“Now about that pie..” He said and you laughed.

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

Bucky didn’t get any calmer as he walked, the cool air doing little to soothe the fire in him. He gave up and headed back towards the tower, resigned to another sleepless night. He sighed in defeat as he approached the tower and headed towards the doors when he saw something so awful he felt like he’d been punched in the chest. You and Steve were walking away from a car towards the same doors he was. Your shoes were dangling from one of Steve’s hands and his suit jacket was draped around your shoulders, his other hand entwined with yours as Steve threw his head back and laughed at something you said.

Steve’s eyes clocked Bucky and with mirth still on his face he called out.

“Hey Buck.”

Your eyes followed Steve’s and you grinned

“Hey there Sarge.”

Bucky glowered coldly at the two of you, before nodded once, stiffly at his oldest friend.

“Steve.” He said flatly and stalked through the lobby doors and towards the elevator.

Of course, that’s obviously where you were both heading as well he realized. You and Steve stepped onto the elevator with him and as the doors slid closed your skin crawling giggle filled the small space,

“He doesn’t seem happy to see us.” You stage whispered to Steve.

“Everything ok Buck?” Steve asked concernedly.

Bucky grunted in response.

“I think he might be jealous Stevie.” You said, a positively vicious smirk on your face.

Bucky’s head snapped round and he glared at you incredulously. Your eyes were sparkling as you snatched your heels from Steve’s hand and swung his jacket off your shoulders and offered it back to him.

“Don’t worry Bucky, you can have him back now.” You said.

Steve chuckled and took his Jacket from you.

“The dates not done until see you safely to your door sweetheart.” Steve told you.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it from here Captain.” You assured him, stretching on your tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek.

“Thank you Steve, I had the best time.”

The elevator doors slid open and you spun out of them.

“Goodnight gentleman.”

And with that you were gone and Bucky breathed a sigh of relief.

“Buck, I...” Steve began.

“I really don’t wanna fucking know pal.” Bucky snapped and stormed away.

Steve shook his head wryly and made his way to the kitchen, slowing to a halt in the common room when he was met with Sam and Tony sat in wait, arms crossed and identical disgruntled expressions on their faces.

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

You stretched your limbs and let out a little whimper of relief at being freed from the beautiful but constricting dress and lingerie and you pulled on an oversized shirt as someone hammered on your door.

You laughed as you went to let Nat and Wanda in so they could demand you recount the evening for them. Only it was a furious Bucky you found on the other side of the door instead. He strode in, forcing you to move aside and let him pass.

“Sure, come on in.” You muttered sarcastically.

He reached past you and slammed the door shut.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He snarled at you.

“Getting ready for bed?”

He lunged forwards, invading your personal space and before you could stop yourself you backed away, which was a stupid move because he followed and you were now trapped between the door and his chest as he towered over you. His eyes were dark and angry, his jaw tight and his fist clenched as he looked down at you. His chest vibrated with the force of the growl that ripped out of it.

“He’s far too good, too pure to be tainted by you. You’re a fucking experiment gone rouge, a freak and he might not be able to see the monster hiding behind that pretty face of yours but I do. Stay the hell away from him.” He warned.

“Or what?” You asked, intending to say it challengingly but his close proximity and anger made your voice more hesitant than you would have liked.

Bucky blinked in surprise and he looked between the two of you with shock, as if he hadn’t realised how close he had gotten. His breath ruffled your hair as features softened slightly and he took a step back.

“Just stay away from him.”

He grabbed the door handle and pulled the door open, pushing you out of the way as he all but fled from the room. You were shook and befuddled as the encounter replayed in your mind one thing stood out. Bucky had said you had a pretty face.

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

I’m weak, the positive feeback I got on the last chapter made me want write the next chapter. So yeah, second chapter in like 8 hours. Send Help.

@dugan365 @fluffeh-kitty @memanda17 @krystallynx@theonelittleone@piscesbarnes @free-as-fishes @tarastudiesalot@captainamericasbeard@buckybearbabe98 @nerdandproud-86 @clarkesardothian

#bucky x reader #avengers x reader #Bucky Barnes #Steve Rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers is a sweetheart #sam wilson #sam wilson x reader #sam wilson is a good bro #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff #captain america #steve rogers is a little shit #clint barton #parent tony stark #hattersmarvelverse

525 notes · View notes

charmingturkeysandwich · 4 years

Text

I Could Use a Love Song (2/22): where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases

Pairing: Emma Swan/Killian Jones (AU) Words: 3k(ish) Rating: T for this chapter, I’d say. (M overall) Chapter Summary: The band’s first day with their new roadie gets off to a shaky start.

Read on AO3.

---

Having grown used to shitty sleeping situations through foster homes, homelessness, couch surfing, and now touring, Emma awoke the next morning refreshed and ready to fight.

Yep, fight. Because the prior evening she’d been exhausted and hovering in that weird stage of drunk where you’re basically pre-hungover, and life had thrown a hot roadie at her. Except it wasn’t life that had done that. It was David. David who in the year of our lord 2019 most fucking certainly had a cell phone and could have shot her a text that a stranger was going to crash her quiet night alone.

Not that Killian crashed in any sense beyond sleep. They were seemingly both out before even the first song had finished playing through her speakers and he was still eyes-closed and breathing steady now that Emma was crawling over the seat and out the door, dead set on properly raging about the ridiculousness of this decision in addition to the lack of communication that shouldn’t exist among people who literally write words for a fucking living.

Seriously. How hard is it to send a text? Don’t wanna do your dirty work yourself, you can just tell Siri to piss of your bandmate on your behalf.

A little warning might have been nice. But she got none. So they weren’t getting any either.

“Rise and shine, motherfuckers!” Emma squawked as she flung open the door to David and Mary Margaret’s bedroom (they knew she had a copy of it, so really they should have thought twice before giving her no warning that she was going to have to deal with some weird ass alternate universe, very fuckable Captain Hook every single day for the foreseeable future. And pay him.

“Emma!” Mary Margaret gasped, yanking the comforter over what was probably her bare chest, but Emma didn’t bother to even glance at her. Accomplice in lack-of-communication, probably… but David was her object of fury.

Speaking of… “What the hell are you doing?!” he shouted, more confused than angry at her intrusion.

“I have a leather-jacket-wearing bone to pick with you, sir.”

“Aw, shit. You met Liam’s brother then?”

“Met him, slept with him, you know, the basic first steps in an employer-employee relationship.”

“Emma! You had sex with Killian?!” Mary Margaret sounded positively scandalized, which made sense for her own personality in addition to the fact that Emma hadn’t slept with anyone in … well it would probably be measured in years and not months, so. It would have been a shock if it were true.

“No, mom, but he slept in the van with me, which is my happy place. Not a place for strays.”

David stood up from the bed, raking his fingers through his hair in what looked like frustration or perhaps the pain of a hangover headache (good).

“We’re all strays, Emma. Can’t you be a little more accepting?”

“Can’t you be a little more with the warning?! You’re lucking I didn’t punch him when he approached me in a dark fucking alley, David.” Which was true. After much of the shit she suffered in her younger years, she didn’t take a chance or give anyone the benefit of the doubt if they seemed to have ill intentions.

He paused, daring blankly at her before taking a swig of the water next to their little bed. Light was just barely filtering through their curtains, so it was still early. No rush to hit the road quite yet, still time to get breakfast and drink their weights in coffee.

Usually the mornings were more pleasant than this.

Usually it was just the five of them in a diner, and usually she was listening to their post-gig stories, not sharing much of her own.

“Where did you leave him, then? Or did you already fire him?”

“Now, David, how could I fire someone I never even hired?! You remember we voted that we didn’t have the money to add staff.”

At that, Mary Margaret perked up, her back straightening as her mascara-smudged face scrunched in guilt. “That one is actually on me. We were on FaceTime with Killian and he’s just so… he’s in a bad place, Emma, and he needs money and people and we couldn’t just let him… “

“Go to the pound with the other strays? Fine. I get it. He doesn’t seem like the worst person in the world. But, like, give a girl a heads-up? And to answer your question, David, I left him soundly asleep in the van. I’m not a goddamn monster.”

Emma stormed out with no real destination in mind, just a deep craving for coffee and a bear claw and space from any other living human who might attempt to converse with her when she needed a minute to wallow in her semi-justified rage.

Of all the people to find her, of fucking course it was Killian.

Known him 12 hours or less and he was already the biggest pain in her ass.

“Swan, fancy seeing you here!” His voice was bright despite the wrinkles in this clothes and the hair that was no longer ‘artfully mussed,’ but more… hurricane-ravaged.

“Why are you so chipper?” is all she croaked back in response.

“Well I’ve already had an unpleasant encounter with Brother Dave and figured I would try to make this one a little less fraught with tension and don’t get any ideas about Emma you wanker.” Killian plopped down across from her, already clutching a coffee from somewhere that definitely was not the diner she’d wandered into and been sulking at for at least 2 hours.

“Why would he yell at you? And why are you calling him brother? And… just why?”

“Apologies, Swan, I assumed you’d had enough coffee and sugar to cope with me by now. I was warned of that. You see, apparently I was supposed to just go ‘sleep on a bench in a park’ or something to that effect and then not introduce myself to you or the rest of the crew until morning. Silly me. So David, who appears to think of himself as your father but who was best friends with my brother, proceeded to lecture me about how I’m not allowed to get in your pants. As if you didn’t have a say in the matter. Don’t worry, darling, I clarified that you will without a doubt never care for me beyond tolerance and he seemed to unbunch his knickers.”

“You know, Jones, if I’m not your love I’m probably not your darling, either.”

“Goodness sakes, woman, can you perhaps glean the important information from my babbling and not focus the filler?”

“Fine. Fuck your filler. We’re probably late for leaving by now, though,” Emma said, glancing at the clock on the wall and then at her message-filled phone. She rose from the table slowly, downing the rest of her lukewarm coffee and shoving a doughnut toward Killian in the process. “Shall we?”

He did some type of bow/curtsey nonsenense and flourished his arm toward the door as if to say ladies first and Emma stomped right past him, already 110% fed up with his weird country boy/Jane Austen hero attempt at chivalry when she knew he was no gentleman and she was no goddamn lady.

It appeared that the new guy had already met the rest of the team, Ruby fist bumping him and Graham giving him a hungover nod to acknowledge his return. David and Mary Margaret were blessedly silent about any of the morning’s arguments and simply hopped in the driver and passenger seats so they could meander over to the next tiny ass New York town full of Their People.

Some days were harder than others when it came to the places they played. None of them were the hellish ‘hometown’ she’d steadfastly refused to ever revisit, but each seemed to capture some kind of echo of her past. It was really a shame that scent was so tied to memory, because dive bars were smelly places. The right combination of Marlboro Menthol Lights, Miller, and whatever was in that black bottle from Avon and suddenly Emma was back at the Buckhorn, drinking to forget the hurt she hadn’t quite sustained yet, but was inevitably coming.

She always got past it. Rage was good like that, strong enough to overcome the heartbreak of individual memories. Whiskey helped, too.

Graham and Ruby were sprawled on either side of the middle row in the shabby van, both passed out (clearly they hadn’t done enough sleeping wherever it is either of them had gone the night before). David and Mary Margaret, meanwhile, were quietly singing to each other from the front, songs too cheesy for the other three bandmates to ever agree to allow to be performed on stage.

So that left her and Killian, the only two life forms currently active in actual reality.

“So what’s your story, Jones?

He rolled his head on his shoulders, sliding his line of sight from the video to meet her (probably too-harsh) stare. “What makes you think I have a story?”

“You’re on the road with a country band. In my experience you don’t get to that point without some stuff preceding it. Come on, Jones. Someone stole your truck, shot your dog, or screwed your wife. Which one?”

“Where are your manners, young lady, you definitely take a bloke to dinner before you ask for his Tragic Backstory. That’s got to be written somewhere. For shame!” he whisper-shouted, quite overdramatically.

Maybe he’d gotten his heart broken at drama camp.

“What else am I supposed to ask you? I don’t have much information to go on here.”

“Why don’t you start with, ‘Killian, it’s so nice to meet you. How about you tell me a little about yourself?’”

Her answering eye roll reminded her she hadn’t properly removed her makeup from the night before, not having taken her usual five minutes in the lovers’ hotel room bathroom to allow for proper skin care. Fuck, her pores were going to be pissed.

“I’m not quite that polite, but fine. We’ll have it your way. Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

That “little about himself” went on for about an hour, covering everything from his love of football to how underrated asiago cheese was on casual dining menus. They disagreed on silly subjects like the best fast food and what to take on a deserted island. They pretty much only agreed that David and Mary Margaret were insufferable and that love was for losers.

(And yes, that was the closest she got to unlocking even one small detail about his Tragic Backstory.)

They talked all the way to the next hole-in-the-wall bar, which did, in fact, like it might have some holes in it in the light of day.

“Thank the fucking lord we’re finally here. Will you two shut up now?” Ruby moaned into the seat cushion, apparently not as knocked out as Emma had assumed from her unmoving silence the entire ride.

“’s not our fault you two oafs don’t use the nighttime for sleeping,” Killian snarked back at her.

Hmm. Maybe they’d gotten more acquainted than Emma had realized.

Add that to the pile of Killian Jones-related mysteries.

Graham had been so exhausted, he didn’t even awake when the van emptied out, still snoozing even as they hauled all their shit into the bar. Just to be a jerk, Emma even tossed a drum stick at him. But he just grumbled and turned, unfazed by her minor assault.

“Hope he lost sleep for the good reason, if you know what I mean,” Killian said, as he bumped his shoulder into hers. He was carrying a guitar case in his right hand and had his left forearm wrapped around one of the boxes carrying electrical equipment.

“Yes, in that tone, I’m pretty sure people up in Vermont know what you mean?”

“I’m not sure about that one. Have you been to Vermont? I don’t think I’ve ever met a fuckable person from that whole state.”

“Don’t say that around David. I’m 99% sure he’d fuck Bernie Sanders.”

The two of them laughed so hard they almost dropped their very expensive equipment, especially when David, as if on cue, turned back toward them: “what’s in Vermont? There’s this ski place I’ve wanted to go to…”

Their laughter turned to near howling as poor, out-of-the-loop David rambled on about Mt. Snow being a great place to take a date and how exactly that could be so funny that two people who’d met last night had already been reduced to giggling middle schoolers.

Mary Margaret and Killian quickly started setting up for their set, even though they had a few hours until people would actually show (she was a worrier, and it was technically his first day on the job). So that gave the other slackers some time to rest and eat greasy food and hopefully get properly buzzed before the show so Emma didn’t have a random panic attack at some dude wearing a blue plaid shirt with pink Vans like Neal used to, once upon a time.

Catching up on the night before was usually their breakfast routine, but having avoided that, Emma assumed she’d just end up not knowing how Graham and Ruby had spent their time. Thankfully, both were perfectly happy to provide a secondary replay of their evenings.

Well, Ruby was happy to. See, she hadn’t done anything scandalous the night before. No fucking strangers for her! Turns out, a friend of hers from college lived in that little town and she’d gone over to her place to catch up. Friends old and new were there and she mostly missed out on sleep for conversation and a few truly ridiculous board games (who played Chutes and Ladders when they were plastered?).

Graham, on the other hand, had not had as enjoyable an evening. He’d met a girl, a very pretty girl, and she’d asked him back to her place. He had enthusiastically agreed right up until he was pounding into her against her kitchen counter only to be interrupted by her boyfriend. Thankfully there was no macho how dare you touch my girlshowdown, but it did leave Graham with a bad case of blue balls and nowhere to sleep.

“Wait! Why didn’t you come to the van with me? I don’t bite,” Emma protested as Graham was describing wandering the roads with streetlights until it was appropriately light enough to be breakfast time.

“You don’t think that’s the first place I went? I peeked my head in the fan and saw his shaggy ass and thought you might actually have taken the leap and met someone. No chance in hell I was going to spook you if you finally found a guy you didn’t want to murder on first sight.”

She yelped out a very offended hey, but deep down, he wasn’t wrong. He and David were just the only two men to ever prove to her they were interested in her as a human being and not a punching bag or human fleshlight. She was thankful for finding them and realizing that the whole not all men has some merit, but not enough to take any chances on a guy.

“Well now that you know your assessment couldn’t have been further from the truth, I bet you’re feeling pretty silly for missing out on sleep.”

“No, I stand by my decision. But, yeah, tonight I’m crashing in the van with you two. Unless, I mean, if you ever want privacy with him…”

“YES!” Ruby squealed. “You two would make the cutest babies. You know, someday. With little leather jackets and horrendous attitudes. It would be legit adorable.”

From the corner of her eye she could see David’s face turning fuchsia and she was reminded of the speech he’d apparently given Killian that morning (as if she needed protecting). Not even close.

“Hah, very funny there, Rubes. You think he’s so good looking, you can go for it.”

“Oh, no you will not!” David shouted. “No casual sex within the band.”

(Hey, at least he was yelling at someone who wasn’t her.)

“But you and Mary Margaret!” she protested.

“Nothing casual about that. Marry Killian, fine. I’ll throw the bridal shower. But do not fuck him for fun. We need him and he doesn’t need another mess.”

Before Emma had a chance to ask David to elaborate on that clear Tragic Backstory Hint, Mary Margaret and Killian plopped down at the table, set-up apparently finished.

“So… what do we do now?” Killian asked, the blunt end of his left arm fiddling with the thick ring on his right thumb.

Mary Margaret, David, and Graham collectively responded, “Eat!”

Ruby and Emma were more of the let’s get drunk frame of mind and instead replied, “Shots!”

So the crew of six ordered shots for 12 and their first official day as a team had begun.

By the time they were being announced for the stage, Emma was red-faced and stumbling, Mary Margaret was giggling about the word “banana” and Killian had already told sixteen different dirty jokes, all met with a deeper scowl from Emma each time.

That night Graham’s drumming was just a tad out of sync and David forgot that he wasn’t actually supposed to sing the girl parts of their one duet-style song, but none of that mattered. The crowd was wild, totally tuned in and screaming their hearts out right along with them. Halfway through their set, just before Emma relinquished lead vocals to Mary Margaret for Sappy Hour, she clutched the microphone in her hand, swaying as she returned it to the stand at the edge of the stage, yelling, “I love everyone in this bar!”

This whole ‘having friends’ thing just got better and better every single day.

Especially when puking in the dumpster at 3am. You find out who your friends are, right about then, and only Ruby was mockingly taking SnapChat videos. Killian got her water and Graham held her hair and the last thing she remembered before she passed out was telling the other strays she was just so glad they all somehow found each other.

#cs ff #cs au #multichapter #keisha writes #i could use a love song

23 notes · View notes

captainchrisfics · 5 years

Text

Stuck in Siberia

About: As a new Avenger, there are a lot of things our protagonist has to learn. Mostly, how to avoid getting herself and Steve kidnapped and held hostage in Siberia. There’s a hell of a bit of tension, but they make out in the end I promise. This is a rewrite of a fic I wrote a LONG time ago, but I’m hoping you guys enjoy it nonetheless!

Word Count: 4,581

A/N: All of the bolded bits are prompts courtesy of @coffin-prompts which were a huge help- thank you for the inspo! And just a reminder, I’m happy to take requests- I love writing things I know you guys have been wanting to read so please let me know if you have something in mind.

Warning: Language, violence, the usual

“We both know that either you bury me, or I bury you,” I spat at the Russian twirling a knife between his fingers. He continued to pace in front of me, stroking his beard and sizing me up from the corner of his eye. “The first scenario would be much more likely. There’s not much you can do being tied to that chair,” he said in a thick accent, almost laughing. I struggled against the zip ties and ropes around my wrists and ankles, wanting more than anything to beat the shit out of him but the chair’s restraints held me back.

“Quit it,” Steve quietly hissed through gritted teeth, becoming increasingly angry with my antics. We were sat back to back, both helplessly tethered against some crappy wooden chairs in Fuck Knows, Siberia. These assholes found more satisfaction in torturing him, probably reveling in the fact they currently had the upper hand over America’s Super Soldier. Not due to their own actions, though. It was mostly because of me. Entirely because of me, really.

“Do you have a better idea, Rogers?” I shot back with frustration, quiet enough that the men circling us like sharks couldn’t hear. Without a response from him, I turned my attention back to our captors.

“Hey, guys! You do know once the Avengers figure out that you have us, which they will, they’re going to come and man, are you guys gonna get it…” I tried to taunt, but it was evident that even I was starting to question that now. I wasn’t sure how long we’ve been stuck here, where here even was, or if there was even any evidence of it. I’ve lost track of how long we’ve been here- hell, I didn’t even know if it was day or night.

No one paid any mind to what I was saying, they just continued to circle us like predators waiting to pounce. “Wow, you guys are really going to be fucked. Do you think America’s going to take the case of their missing super soldier lightly? If you let us go, we’d both be sure to put in a good word for you, right Steve?” I continued to try to rationalize with them, but they continued to ignore me. They’ve been doing that for what felt like an eternity.

“Just stop already! They aren’t going to listen to you,” Steve muttered, the irritation evident in his voice. However, getting out of here was more important than being well-liked in my opinion. “Well, we don’t have many options!” I grunted, throwing all of my weight into trying to tear the zip ties off of my wrists in a last ditch effort for freedom. I only found success in landing face first on the floor as the momentum tipped the chair over.

Steve knew he didn’t have to say ‘I told you so.’ He was more experienced with patience. I mean, he waited it for nearly seventy years. The one with the knife stood my chair up by its shoulder. He bent down to my eye level and tucked the knotted hair behind my ear. “I’m not trying to threaten you,” he jeered in his thick accent as if it were fact, but his sadistic smile said otherwise.

I spit the blood dripping from my nose and pooling in my mouth on the concrete. Without breaking his gaze, I matched his intensity as I replied, “Well I do feel pretty fucking threatened.” He snarled, slamming his hand against my face which left a terrible stinging sensation in its wake. I felt the blood trickle down my lip faster now, the skin split. He smiled with satisfaction, so close to me I could tell you exactly how many cups of coffee he had that morning, before sulking away to join his goons.

“You’re only giving them more of a reason to hurt you. Please just fucking stop,” Steve huffed, still quiet, with exasperation. “Hey, watch the language, Cap,” I smirked to myself, taking pleasure in the little joy I could. Steve didn’t find it very funny.

“Anyway, I can take care of myself,” I asserted, trying to pass it off as a cool shrug. When he was sharing his umbrella during the occasional rainstorm, his chivalry came with a warm welcome. Still, he needed to remember that I’m every bit of the Avenger that he is. I might be new to the game, but he doesn’t need to treat me like a helpless child. Quite frankly, we’re both tied up here both literally and figuratively. He doesn’t need to defend me from the bad guys, protect me from the dangers of our job, or come after me like I’m some damsel in distress. If he let me fend for myself, we wouldn’t be here right now.

“Obviously you can’t or we wouldn’t be here right now,” Steve snapped an echo of my thought. I was honestly surprised his kindness lasted this long given the circumstance.

“I severely disagree, Rogers. If you hadn’t gone after me you wouldn’t be here,” I argued.

“No, you wouldn’t be here. As in dead so-” Steve shot back with a raised voice, something I had rarely witnessed. It was unsettling to hear the strain, but one of the goons took notice and stalked toward us with a snarl.

“What do you think you’re doing, sweetheart?” The man leaned toward me with an unsettling smirk, waiting for a response. “I was ju-” I started to say, but I was silenced by another smack before i could finish the thought. This man wore thick, gold rings that only added to the injury, but by now my cheeks had grown numb.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Steve spat angrily, knocking my chair with his as he struggled against his restraints with a new fervor. I sat with my eyes squeezed shut as the men hit Steve with the butts of their guns behind my back, or at least that’s what I could tell from the sound of his winces.

I dreaded the second we were untied and I would have to face the physical injuries I caused him. “Steve, please, just stop fighting blindly for the hell of it,” I pleaded through gritted teeth. The sound of his blood and saliva smacking against the concrete floor with a spit was my only reply, maybe because it was all he could muster. He has to stop defending me, it only ever causes him more trouble, especially here.

Suddenly, wherever we may be began filling with a cloud of thick, gray smoke, making this altercation the least of my worries. We both began to struggle harder to get out of our restraints. Suddenly, the man who hit me fell to the floor. I heard the deadweight of the others drop soon after. A redhead knelt before me, cutting the ties on my ankles with record speed. “You have no idea how good it is to see you, Nat,” I said with a grin so big it tore my lip even worse. “I could say the same to the two of you,” the Black Widow responded as she untied Steve as well. “Now, let’s get out of here.” She handed us both a gun. Rogers gave her a nod, filled with relief, and we were off.

We sprinted throughout the cold, concrete labyrinth of a building, Natasha leading the way with precision. Suddenly, a big, burly man blocked the small hallway, machine gun in hand. Steve didn’t hesitate before taking a swing, his super soldier strength sending the man straight to the floor. Steve and I shared a knowing look- we both recognized this man as the bastard who overpowered me and took me to this hellhole, prompting Steve to come after me. Luck was on this guy’s side though- we needed him alive.

I kicked him as hard as I could in the face, watching as his head flop back and forth in unconsciousness with the force of my blow. Steve wrapped his arms around me as I thrashed in his grip, pulling me away from the sorry excuse of a man before I did any real damage. “Don’t stoop to his level,” Steve said sternly in my ear. He was right, and I knew he knew I was right.

In any other situation, that would be enough. But as I looked at Steve, soaking in the deep, painful purple of his bruised eye, the blood still dripping from his swollen lip, and every other mark staining his body, a body that was tarnished like mine, because of me, I knew I needed more to make up for what I’d done- for what they did to us.

I relaxed in Steve’s grip so he would let me go. “You’re right,” I looked at him with a glint in my eye, sure he caught it. “I’ll go below it.” Before he could react, I snatched the gun from his hand and pointed it at Steve as a warning, the barrel of the other pointing directly toward the brains of the man who used them to kidnap us. Natasha instinctively aimed her firearm at me.

“If either of you take another step towards me, I promise I’ll shoot,” I said sternly, staring directly into Steve’s eyes so he knew the gravity of my feeling. He knew I knew I needed revenge and that it was the only thing I was sure of in that moment. Steve’s eyebrows furrowed in empathy.

He was the first to break our gaze, turning toward Nat with desperation. “What do we do?” Steve asked her, even though he already knew. We ran this drill a thousand times, he was just stalling. Nat was the only one with a gun though, she would have to take me out. “Hope she doesn’t have the guts to do this. We need him in custody, it’s the only way we’d have the proof to take this place down,” she said with a sigh as her eyes flickered between the two of us, shifting her weight before coming to the conclusion. “We can’t risk his death, otherwise all the other assholes in this hellhole will get away with it.”

I thought about what she said, how all of the other guys in here would spend every new day being just as shitty and causing more people hurt. I thought about Steve and how even with his eye almost swollen shut his glance was still so impactful. This time, it wasn’t Steve’s cuts and bruises that caught my eye, but the look on his face that pained me more. Steve stood calmly like he would in Stark’s tower, not even with his shield raised. He was certain I wasn’t a threat. He was sure I wouldn’t do this, that I wasn’t this type of person. He was so sure I was better than this. He knew I couldn’t punish one awful man at the expense of allowing every single person in this building to continue to cause the same harm.

I realized he was right. Tears welled in my eyes as I realized the gravity of what I almost did. I dropped both guns, kicking them toward Natasha. I couldn’t get far enough away from what I had almost done. I was immediately enveloped into Steve’s star-spangled chest, his strong arms wrapping around me as he stroked my hair.

“I-I’m sorry,” I cried into his chest. “I just wanted to get him back for hurting you,” I admitted in the vulnerability of the moment, despite my better judgement. “It’s dangerous to feel invincible,” he whispered against my shoulder. “Even for a moment.” I hoped in the deepest part of my heart that the moment would last forever, but Steve pulled away with a kiss against my forehead. I wiped my eyes, but accepted that the tears kept flowing. Natasha gave me a gentle smile as she ruffled my hair. We were all ready to get out of here, dragging his body behind us.

“You guys took your sweet old time,” Sam said with a welcoming smile, reaching his hand out from the jet to help us aboard. I smiled almost sheepishly back at him, watching his face fall as he noticed how red my eyes were from crying. He softened as he stopped to give me a quick hug and a promise to help clean me up. After Nat and Steve were on the jet as well, we hurriedly took off to avoid detection.

I took a seat with some cotton swabs, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and a mirror with the hope of cleaning my wounds before receiving medical attention back at home. I couldn’t wait to brush my teeth. “So, am I uh not supposed to ask what happened?” Sam inquired as he plopped down on the seat next to me.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t,” I grumbled, scrubbing furiously at the layer of grime coating one of my cuts. “You know, just almost blew this guy’s head off. But she didn’t, that’s what counts,” Nat chuckled as she came up from the deck where prisoners were held.

“No shit, really? You?” Sam remarked in disbelief in reference to my usually compassionate nature, but to be fair there was nothing usual about this. “It was self-defense,” I said quietly, still persistently cleaning a cut, choosing to focus more on that than this conversation.

“That was almost more of an execution than self-defense,” Steve scoffed as he held a stern eye to the sky as he piloted our way home, adding his two cents. My hand halted its swabbing as I stared at him vacantly. I packed up my supplies and moved to the back of the ship where I proceeded to continue performing my own medical attention matter-of-factly.

“What was that about?” Steve questioned Natasha, the aggravation evident in his tone. “You’d think after spending God knows how long together she could stand a couple more hours.”

I raised my voice to be heard from far away, but I can admit it was in anger, too. “Sorry, I had to move away so I wouldn’t punch you!” Sam laughed at that, bringing a smirk to my own face. He gave Steve a familiar nudge with the accompanying chuckle as he relished in the Super Soldier being shown down for once. It was good to hear him laugh, I missed my partner in crime, but my anger at Steve’s remark continued to fester.

He didn’t help himself by adding, “Oh sorry, I forgot about how you kept provoking them too.” We narrowly made it out of there, and he’s already trying to start another fight based on my behavior while in captivity being treated like no human should be. Unbelievable.

“I was trying to reason with them, Rogers!” My voice grew so loud my frayed vocal chords ached as I made my way toward him across the ship. “Which was a hell of a lot more than you were doing, sitting oh-so-stoically, acting like you couldn’t give less of a shit until you felt bad enough after they beat me!” I was furious, my finger jabbing at him through the pilot’s chair.

Within seconds, he placed the plane on auto-pilot, then spun around to face me with a fire in his eyes. He took a step toward me so we were inches apart, my pointer finger making a target out of his star as I stabbed his chest, too caught up in his aura to realize. Too calmly, he said, “Learn this now. Reasoning is never going to work with them. They haven’t trusted anybody in a long time, just remember that before you get us kidnapped next time.”

I leaned in closer. “I left nobody behind, Rogers. I did my job. Do not blame me because you chose to go after me and had to deal with the consequences.” I spoke as quietly as he did in an attempt to make myself appear to be just as rational as he seemed. “You always underestimate me, you never let me handle anything for myself, and you sure as hell don’t let me fight my own battles like everybody else has to. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve your special treatment, but you should know I don’t want it.” I began to back down, turning away toward my seat in the back of the plane, but Steve stopped me in my tracks.

“You’ve misplaced your anger, doll,” he sighed. By the time I swung around, fist clenched and a newfound fury in my stomach, Steve sat quietly in the pilot’s seat facing the sky again and I decided that resuming my own seat would be the better option in an attempt to prevent the breakout of World War Three thousands of feet above the ground.

I swallowed my anger, trying to ice my bruised eye, but I kept applying too much pressure only resulting in more of my own pain. Natasha assumed the seat facing mine, leaning in and using a cotton ball to dab at the crusted blood below my lip. “What was that all about?” She asked as if she was asking me what the weather was like.

“Oh, you know, just trying to make him like my sparkling personality,” I joked in response. “Even if you were, you don’t need to,” Nat said like it was obvious. “He’s clearly interested.” That was almost like another slap in the face. “Yeah,” I snorted back. “Interested in irritating the fuck out of me, maybe in making my life a living hell now that I challenged him, but not more than that.” I rolled my eyes.

It was ridiculous. Steve Rogers- known for being one of the kindest, most chivalrous people with his classic sensibilities can’t express his so-called interest like a kindergartener who doesn’t know how to express his feelings more intelligently than by pushing his crush off the swingset.

“Yeah, maybe,” Natasha noted in her raspy monotone, “but he’s been giving off… a vibe.” I chuckled, raising an eyebrow. “A vibe?” She simply shrugged her shoulders, never being one to get too involved in other’s business, but she already planted the seed of something- be it curiosity or disbelief, it was something it wouldn’t have been for the rest of the flight back to New York.

As soon as the plane landed, I brooded back to my room. Well, I grabbed an apple from the kitchen first- anything could beat the starvation of being a prisoner in Siberia. Then I brooded back to my room, finally able to crash onto my own mattress, snuggle into my own blanket, and get back hours of my sleep lost to the enemy’s interrogations.

The sun was nearly setting by the time I opened my door again, only crawling from my cave in the hopes of dinner. I stalled as soon as I saw a set of familiar blue eyes swollen with bruises staring directly at me, belonging to a certain super soldier sitting alone, more than probably waiting for me. I spun, slamming my door shut and sinking to the floor with my back against the locked door.

I heard Steve’s footsteps approaching, felt a faint thud as his forehead smacked the other side of the door. He knocked persistently a few times. “Come on, doll. I really want to talk to you. And not through a door,” Steve said softly, his fist sliding back to his side. I hid my head between my knees as I muttered, “fat fucking chance of that, Rogers.”

Steve sighed heavily. It wasn’t often Cap sounded so defeated, and it broke my heart more than I’d like to admit. “I’ll bring you your food? Tony took everyone out for, you know, shawarma… It’s quite the tradition around here, so I brought some back to the tower for you.” I could imagine the subtle smiling gracing Steve’s lips.

“You should do that,” I said in surrender, mostly to my growling stomach rather than him. Steve’s footsteps hurried off but returned too soon for me to prepare for the shitstorm Steve was about to unleash. I can’t believe he sat and waited for hours just to lecture me about confronting him in front of the other Avengers.

I stood, taking a deep breath before slowly creaking the door open. Steve held the takeout container in front of him like a peace offering with a gentle smile, juxtaposed to the shield he typically held and concerned furrowed brow.

“Do you mind if I, uh, have a seat?” Steve asked, his eyes darting to my bed. I shook my head, following him to the bed and wrapping myself in the blankets still disheveled from my nap. I popped the top off of the container, my eyes focusing on the wrap so I could avoid Steve’s eyes. We sat silently like this for what felt like an eternity.

I was halfway through my shawarma before Steve interrupted the uncomfortable quietness. “You know, you really scared me,” Steve began. I noticed he wasn’t able to maintain my stare either, but this isn’t where I thought the conversation was going to go. He didn’t sound as much like a father scolding the kid who burnt their hand on the stove as I expected him to.

“When they were going after Nat and you let them take you instead… I was just scared. And I wanted to save you, more than anything, but I couldn’t. So I let them take me too. At least then I could protect you, I thought I could anyway.” Steve sat leaning against his knees, his head resting in his hands, occasionally ruffling through his hair in frustration.

He dropped his hands, sitting up straight and meeting my eyes with an unexpected intensity. “And for the weeks we were in there, they just kept hurting you and there was nothing I could do. But you just kept egging them on,” Steve cracked something like a smile before growing somber again. “You don’t know how hard it was- hearing them hurt you and not being able to do one damn thing,” he said lowly, his voice cracking as tears welled up in his eyes. The strain was evident on Steve’s face, there wasn’t a doubt in me that he wasn’t being truthful.

I leaned closer, taking one of his hands between mine. “I was just trying to keep us alive, you know. Bargaining to give them a reason to keep us,” I asserted, though it was much weaker. We both knew it was a facade, but the compelling, knowing glance Steve shared with me tugged it out. I sighed, he had a terrible habit of this.

“Honestly, I- I had no idea you felt like this,” I stuttered through the beginning, caught off guard by his raw emotion. “The whole time. I mean, I just thought you were upset I was trying to defend myself. And then, every time, it backfired- not because they hurt me, I can take it. But, in all honesty Steve, I couldn’t take them hurting you either… That’s what really got me,” I confessed, every pent-up feeling swelling in my chest and bubbling out through a shaky voice.

“Seeing you like this once we were free,” I said, caressing his face and running my thumb over the imperfections of the cuts and bruises littered throughout it. “That’s what made me snap. I don’t want you to be hurt.” My admission was followed suit by the tears I had been holding back for weeks. Steve pulled me into his chest, burying my face in his shoulder as I cried through the fabric of his thin t-shirt.

He shushed me, with the occasional kiss on the head in comfort. “You have too big of a heart for your own good, doll.” With the assuring strength returned to his voice, I began to pull away as I offered a sheepish smile in return. I didn’t notice he was crying until I ran my hand through my hair, finding that it was damp with his own tears.

“I’m sorry,” I feebly offered in solace. I reached for his face again, wiping the tears from his atypically imperfect cheeks. “I was scared, too. Paranoid even.” I chuckled at my own flimsy excuse, dropping my hands to my lap as I looked at them in embarrassment. Steve shook his head, grasping my shoulder with a firm grip. “Paranoia keeps you alive around here. I’d like it if you stayed that way. Don’t apologize for it,” he insisted as if it was the one thing in this world he knew to be fact, like it was his sun rising in the East and setting in the West. He probably felt like that was the case, breaking my heart even more.

“You know what I’ve been sorry for?” Steve spoke up, his voice raspy. “From the damned second I watched them drag you away, I’ve been kicking myself for not doing this.” Steve’s hand slowly dragged from my shoulder to my cheek. He tucked the loose strands of hair behind my ear cautiously, his gaze flickering from my eyes to my lips, then back up again as if he was asking for permission.

My heart began racing and I hoped that, in the stillness of the moment and the quiet of the night, he couldn’t hear it. I leaned in tentatively until our noses were barely touching. “I have a confession too,” I taunted in a whisper with a smirk as I caught the flash of concern in his eyes. “I’ve been hoping for this for a long time.” I fluttered my eyes closed before I tilted my head, finally closing the gap between us.

His lips were chapped, I’m sure mine were too, and he was so gentle as if he was nervous he’d scare me off. The kiss deepened, his hand entangling itself in my hair while the other gripped my waist and I reached for the nape of his neck. Tired of the strain from stretching across my mattress, without pulling my lips from his I straddled Steve’s lap.

Kissing Steve made me feel on fire. It was like watching the fourth of July fireworks display visible throughout the town from right below it, experiencing each burst of chemical energy intermingling with the clear, starry night for yourself in the electric air. Who knew this kind of bliss could come from being stranded in Siberia? I was too wrapped up in the moment to think of much more. Steve slowly leaned back to lay on my bed and I followed along. I teasingly tugged on his bottom lip with a nibble but pulled away giggling a few seconds later.

“Not even twenty-four hours ago I wanted nothing more than to knock you flat on your ass, Rogers,” I said through a grin, covering my face in an attempt to hide my blushing cheeks. “Hey, and here you have me swept off my feet, doll,” Steve chuckled with a wide, subtly dimpled smile. I threw my head back in laughter, not at his joke, but at the simple euphoria of the moment. Steve lazily hung his arms on my hips, interlocking his fingers at the small of my back. “I can’t believe we’re here right now,” Steve said in disbelief. “Ha, you’re telling me,” I snorted. “We’ve gotta get ourselves stuck in Siberia more often.”

#Steve Rogers #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers one shot #steve rogers drabble #Chris Evans #chris evans fanfic #imagine chris evans #imagine steve rogers #chris evans oneshot #chris evans x reader

251 notes · View notes