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violettelueur · 4 years

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GOJO SATORU + GETO SUGURU || NEVER MEANT TO BE

| featuring : gojo satoru and geto suguru from jujutsu kaisen

| warnings : mentions of murder, manga spoilers and grammar errors

| form : imagine

| word count : 1704

| published : 15 November

| request : hellloooo i hope this doesnt sound confusing but tbh im just requesting this since no one requested sum from the manga. how about something like reader arriving at the train station as gojo gets trapped in the prison realm in around chapter 90-91? like shes a shaman and she see geto and has a flashback cuz gojo her and geto were like past buddies? and to think someone could bind gojo?

| barista’s notes : for the people that haven’t read the manga, I would recommend you reading it first before reading this imagine because it has some MAJOR spoilers and I dont think you’ll understand it either way ʅʕ•ᴥ•ʔʃ but defo read it if you haven't, it’s amazing! but moving on from that i hope that you love your order of a cup of black coffee (jujutsu kaisen request)!

Rushing down the stairs of Tokyo Metro, you were trying to get to floor B5F where Gojo was last noted before you heard about the information that he was somehow sealed. With the help of the three other groups that were around the area, you were able to get through the shields that surrounded Shibuya to get to where you needed to be.

You were exhausted. Not physically but mentally as you didn’t know what to expect at all. The second you heard of Gojo’s report on curses forming alliances with each other, you thought he was just bluffing at first and to be honest, his ridiculous drawing wasn't helping with his case either. However, he was someone that you knew you could trust extremely, it had always been like that since both of you became students at Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.

With your katana hanging from the side of your hip, you quickly jumped to the bottom on the stairs to save precious time before quickly turning the right corner to see what was the whole situation. However, once your hand was on the handle of your sword, your eyes widened in shock from what was right in front of you.

‘Isn’t he supposed to be dead? That's not him is it?’

What was in your sights now was something that was technically impossible. He was supposed to be dead, there was no way he was alive sitting on the station floor. There were no such possibilities for him to be sitting with his back turned to you right now.

Geto Suguru.

ꕥ

You, Gojo, Geto and Ieiri were standing in front of the now-destroyed house due to Gojo using his technique to free both Utahime and Mei Mei from the house that they have been investigating for the two past days.

“Don’t you think that was a little too much Gojo,” you commented with an awkward giggle as you saw tiny to large pieces falling to the ground, leading to your second-year friend saying, “I don’t think it was too much Y/N-chan, besides how could I have impressed you if I didn't take the opportunity to?”

“I shouldn’t have asked part one...” you quickly muttered, before Gojo started to tease Utahime, who was in the middle of the rubble that was created by your flirtatious friend himself.

“Satoru, it’s not nice to pick on the weak,” Geto suddenly commented, before using one of his spirits to devour the curse that suddenly appeared behind Utahime, only for Gojo to state, “who the heck’s gonna pick on someone strong? You’re the one teasing her without even knowing it Geto,” causing your other friend to now to realise what he had said.

No longer being able to handle both of them, you quickly turned your attention to Utahime and asked, “Utahime, are you okay?”. This small but kind gesture of yours caused the grade-two jujutsu sorcerer, to say your name with such glee before you continued with, “we were worried about you since you didn't call for two days” to which only led the woman to pull you into a tight hug.

‘I shouldn’t have asked part two….I’m legit getting no air’

“Y/N don’t you dare become trash like those two, okay?”

“I’ll try my best”

However, this happy and hilarious moment had to sudden halt when Mei Mei suddenly asked, “where’s the curtain?” causing you, Gojo, Geto and Ieiri to look at her with dumbfounded expressions on your faces.

‘Ahhhhhh shi-’

ꕥ

“There’s someone here who said they put up a curtain and then up and left the auxiliary manager behind and forgot about the curtain too”

At this moment and time, all four of you were on your knees in front of your sensei Masamichi Yaga, as he found out from the news that was shown on the TV above that someone *cough*Gojo*cough* forgot to put up a curtain up like him and Mei Mei stated.

“Fess up”

“Sensei! We’re better than pointing fingers at each other,” Gojo randomly commented, as he raised his hand up to emphasise his point. On the other hand, you, Geto and Ieiri had other plans and all pointed at Gojo for this mishap that had occurred without him realising.

“So it’s you!” your teacher shouted, before landing a strong punch on top of your friend’s head, causing you to know to never mess with your teacher anytime soon.

Even though it wasn’t the best time, you and Geto let out a sly giggle before looking at each other, which only led to both of you laughing, even more, the second you stepped out of the room. As chaotic all four of you were, you wouldn’t change it for the world.

However, it was never meant to be.

ꕥ

“Hey!”

Turning to your right, you saw your friend Geto wave at you with a bright smile on his face. To the outsider, it just seemed like two friends meeting with each other or friends that just casually bumped into each other in the crowded streets. On the other hand, it wasn’t that.

Geto was a criminal on the run. You were just informed by your teacher that your friend massacred a whole village as well as the possibilities of his parents. You didn’t want to believe it. Of course, you couldn’t believe it. Geto wasn’t that type of person, he wasn’t like that at all during your time at Jujutsu high together, were the three years a facade?

“Yo, it’s the criminal” you teasingly greeted him, trying to hide your dejection from his view, “you need something from me?”

“I guess I’m just testing my luck” Geto replied back before taking a stand next to you. From your side perspective, you could see what Gojo was talking about a while back. Your longtime friend looks thinner than he did a year ago, you could clearly see the bags in his eyes indicating that he hadn’t had any sleep the past few days. It was like that ever since the killing of the Star Plasma Vessel, a mission that you, Gojo and Geto failed at.

“I’m gonna ask just to be sure, but are those false charges?” you quietly asked, hoping that all this was a lie, a stupid cruel prank that was set up by someone. However, you knew somewhere in your heart that this was the reality that you were in, there was no escaping from this one.

“Nah, unfortunately not”

“Again to be sure, why?” you quietly questioned him, trying to conceal the tears that were threatening to flow down your face.

“I’ll create a world where only shamans exist,” Geto calmly answered, causing you to snap your head in his direction. A world where only shamans exist? What more stupid of a reason he could give you?

“That’s hilarious,” you stated, before you slowly carried on with, “if humans were eliminated, we shamans wouldn’t even have a purpose at all, your reasoning is the most stupid thing I ever heard in my life Geto,”

Geto turned to look at you, only to find you casually open your phone to call Gojo on your sightings on your friend.

“However, I hope that you’re happy now that you're choosing this path. I really hope you get what I’m saying and you don’t live to regret,” you stated, as you place your device next to your ear. “I hope you're happy in the end my friend, that’s all I’m asking for,” you ended your statement before Gojo was on the other side of the line.

“Thank you Y/N”

“Gojo, I met Geto in Shinjuku”

“Did you question him? Did you kill him?”

“I didn’t…...have the heart to Gojo, I’m sorry”

There was nothing but silence between the both of you which gave you the chance to look to your right, only to see that your friend had disappeared from your side. As if he wasn’t there in the first place.

“Hey Gojo...it was never meant to be ha?” you rhetorically asked, as a single tear slowly slid down your face.

ꕥ

Geto Suguru was right there in front of you. Sitting on the ground on the train station with his back turned to you.

However, as much as you wanted to believe that it was true, you knew that it wasn’t really him.

It was just impossible.

Taking your katana out of its black wooden sheath, you were preparing for any attacks that could happen around you right now before you could begin to question who the person in front of you was.

“Who are you?”

The man turned around, slowly showing the face of a man that was someone that was close to both you and Gojo all those years back causing you to look at the person that was in front of you with sorrowful eyes. You wished it was him. But as you said, it was never meant to be.

“Y/N! I'm not surprised that you were able to get through all those shields, you are powerful like Satoru after all,” the man happily commented with the same smile that you missed so dearly.

“I said who are you?!” you repeated in a firmer tone, telling the person that you weren’t playing around anymore as you raised your katana, making the sharp pointed tip to be in level with his face - even if he was far in distance.

“Come on, is that how you greet an old friend?”

“How the hell did you get the Prison Realm within your possession?” you asked, as you looked down at the small cube that Gojo was supposedly in. How such a small thing was able to seal such a powerful shaman like Gojo? You would never know.

“Y/N, we were in the same team for three years, I would assume you know I’m able to get what I need, I am Geto after all,”

“Shut up!” you shouted, surprising the person from your sudden outburst. “I’m not stupid, so don’t you dare play with me for even a second”

“I know you’re not Geto”

“Me and Gojo knew that from the start”

“It wasn’t meant to be”

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jujutsu kaisen imagine #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #gojo satoru #geto suguru #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x reader #geto suguru x reader #geto x reader #gojo satoru imagine #gojo satoru imagines #geto suguru imagine #geto suguru imagines

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purrincess-chat · 3 years

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Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix CH17

The queen has arrived ;)

Previous First Next AO3

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Chapter 17: Kings and Queens

“Look out!” Chloe shoved Marinette out of the way of a red beam of light. Her knees buckled, and Marinette scrambled to catch her.

“What a shame. I missed.” Black boots climbed long legs, kissing the hems of a ripped dress at the top. A dark tiara crowned flowing red curls, framing the dark green eyes glaring at them from behind a black mask.

“Gabrielle?” Marinette gasped.

“I go by Heiress now, but don’t worry, Marinette, your stupidity has bought you a free pass. I just wanted to make sure my powers were working, and it looks like they do.” She nodded to the girl coming to in Marinette’s arms before strutting off.

Chloe sat up with a groan, rubbing her head. “Ugh, what was that?”

“Chloe, your-” Marinette clamped a hand over her mouth.

Her once shiny hair hung dull and stringy at her shoulders, now resembling straw more than soft silk. Perfectly manicured nails had shriveled into dirty stubs, and her Gabriel-original dress was replaced with a knock-off.

“What?” Chloe’s shoulders heaved, escalating until a shrill scream echoed through the hall.

“You saved me—I think.” Marinette winced. “It looks like Heiress’s power made you-”

“Poor!” Chloe screeched. “Oh, Ladybug better get here soon and fix this! If I see that akuma, I’ll teach her to put me in off-brands!”

“Wait, you saved me. You saved me!” Marinette realized. “Aw, you do miss me.”

“No, I don’t!” Chloe’s cheeks flushed. “I didn’t even know what was happening. I just reacted, okay?”

“Please, you don’t have a selfless bone in your body. You saved me because you miss me,” Marinette said.

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not!” At Marinette’s smug grin, Chloe folded her arms over her chest with a huff. “Whatever. I’m going after that akuma to give her a piece of my mind. You can go get help or… go buy some shoes that aren’t awful!”

“I don’t think you’re one to talk about awful shoes right now.” Marinette pointed to the ratty sneakers on Chloe’s feet.

“Just go,” Chloe said through clenched teeth.

Marinette raced up the hall, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. She hated to admit it, but in a weird way, she did miss Chloe Bourgeois. Wow. She never thought she’d say that.

“You’re changing a lot of mean girls today.” Tikki remarked when Marinette ducked into a closet. “I think that was Chloe’s way of protecting you.”

“I’m not holding my breath. She probably had too much wine,” Marinette said. “But never mind that. Transform me!”

Ladybug sprinted back up the hall, palming her yoyo in one hand. She should have known Gabrielle would get akumatized once her secret got out, but now wasn’t the time to play blame games. There was an akuma to catch.

Rounding the corner, she collided with another person, scrambling to catch their hand before they both fell backward. “Sorry!” she gasped, but when gorgeous green eyes locked with hers, her heart took off into a sprint.

“Ladybug?” Adrien blinked in surprise. “What’s going on?”

Why did she have to find him now? Even if she defeated the akuma quickly, she needed to be there for Gabrielle. Lisette would have to help her look cute for him another time.

“There’s an akuma on the loose. You should find somewhere to hide,” she said.

“Right.” He flicked his gaze down to their hands, still twined.

Ladybug let go, cheeks burning. “Um, stay safe, okay?”

“Good luck, Ladybug,” he said before running the other way up the hall.

She watched him go with a longing sigh. What she wouldn’t give to be a normal girl right now. Then they could snuggle up and hide together, and maybe he’d finally kiss her. They could get married, buy a house, and-

She patted her cheeks to snap herself out of her trance. There was no time for that now. Akuma first, then Gabrielle, Adrien later.

Terrified shrieks signaled that Heiress had found the rest of the party. Thomas was the one who outed her, so he was likely Heiress’s first target. Ladybug needed to get to him first, even if he was one of the skeeviest people she’d ever met. It wasn’t her job to pick who needed saving. Why did she have to be such a good person?

Bursting into the dining room, she skidded to a stop as Heiress zapped Thomas before she could even draw her yoyo.

“No!”

The tall boy transformed in front of her. Perfectly combed brown hair shriveled into shaggy clumps, and a once flawless complexion broke out in angry, red zits. Stylish clothes turned to tattered rags as Thomas became a shell of his former glory. He scurried away from Heiress with a squeal, and she turned to Ladybug with a triumphant smirk.

“Too slow,” Heiress said, “but don’t worry. Now I have plenty of time for you.”

Ladybug dodged the red beam. She might have been too late to save Thomas, but there was still time to save Gabrielle. This battle was far from over. She just needed to focus.

“I know you think there isn’t a way out of your situation, but teaming up with Hawkmoth isn’t the answer!” Ladybug pleaded.

“Please, I’ve lived among these people long enough to know that they don’t appreciate what they have. I know I didn’t…” Heiress lowered her gaze, jaw clenched. “My family lost everything, but now I can take it all back!”

Ladybug flipped out of the way of several blasts, taking the time to examine her opponent closely. The barcode scanner shot red beams of light that stripped its victims of their fancy clothes, jewelry, devices—anything expensive. Gabrielle wanted everyone to feel the pain of losing everything, so she was taking all of their wealth for herself.

A metal baton struck Heiress’s hand, skewing her next shot, and a black-clad feline cast his partner a smirk. “Having a party without me? I’m insulted.”

“Your invitation must have gotten lost in the mail,” Ladybug said. “You and I both know it’s not a party without your sweet dance moves, kitty. Care to show us how it’s done?”

“It would be my pleasure, LB.” Chat Noir winked.

Heiress pointed her scanner at him. “I wonder how much that cat suit is worth.”

Chat Noir dodged her attack easily. “This cat’s style is one-of-a-kind. All the money in the world can’t buy this swagger.”

“We’ll see about that,” Heiress growled.

The heroes took turns charging in, dodging and weaving around beams from her scanner. Ladybug hooked her yoyo around Heiress’s legs, swinging her around into the China hutch. Realizing she was outmatched, Heiress retreated to the living room where more party guests were hiding, but Ladybug and Chat Noir were hot on her trail.

“Run!” Ladybug ordered, and terrified teens scattered.

Heiress ducked out of the way of Chat’s baton, scanning anyone who passed her between blows. Lisette’s older brother raced from behind the couch, and Heiress wasted no time scanning him before he reached the door. She caught Chat Noir’s staff on the next swing, a grin curling on her lips.

“Looks like someone’s watch was worth a lot. I wonder how much this costs?” She scanned Chat Noir’s baton, leaving him with a plastic copy.

“Hey!” Chat Noir gasped.

Ladybug snagged her yoyo around Heiress’s wrist before she could scan him, but Heiress kicked him through the large window with one long leg instead. Before Ladybug could react, Heiress gripped the string of the yoyo and spun her out after him.

Chat Noir braced as she landed on top of him in the bush, her yoyo bouncing onto the grass beside them. They rolled over with groans, untangling their limbs, and Ladybug grasped for her yoyo.

“Everything she scans makes her stronger depending on its worth. We need to think of a plan,” she said.

“I’m all ears, Bug.” Ladybug eyed him. “What?”

“You haven’t called me m’lady or Bugaboo all evening. I think it’s a new record for you.” She flicked his bell with a smirk.

“Well, I- you hate it when I call you that,” he said pointedly, cheeks flushed.

“That’s never stopped you before. Has another lady finally stolen your heart?” she giggled.

“I-”

“Ladybug!” Chloe shouted. “What are you two doing out here? The akuma is turning more people into dried up peasants. Have you seen what she did to my hair? Bring me my Miraculous, so I can beat some sense into her!”

“Chloe, this isn’t the time for revenge.” Ladybug sighed.

“I’m not out for revenge,” Chloe said matter-of-factly. “The faster we defeat the akuma, the faster I go back to looking fabulous. So bring me my Miraculous, and let me help you, please?” Chloe pressed her palms together, and Ladybug pursed her lips.

Chloe was right. They needed to defeat the akuma quickly and save Gabrielle, but did she really want to give Chloe her Miraculous back? With her identity blown, Chloe was in even more danger every time she became Queen Bee. Not to mention trusting Chloe in general was risky, but after she sacrificed herself for Marinette earlier…

Something was different about Chloe. Sure was still the same bratty, primadonna, but her blue eyes were steadfast and sincere. Ladybug once believed that giving Chloe a Miraculous would help her be better, and part of her still believed that.

There was only one way to settle this.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug caught the record as it manifested and turned it over in her hands.

“Now isn’t the time to practice your DJing.” Chloe scoffed.

Ladybug glanced between Chat Noir, Chloe, the plants surrounding them, but nothing stood out. A record. What was she supposed to do with a record? Unless…

“I have to go. Chat Noir, keep an eye on Heiress until I get back, but be careful. I don’t want you getting scanned. We don’t know what will happen to our powers if she scans one of us,” Ladybug said.

“Got it.”

“Are you going to bring me my Miraculous?” Chloe perked up.

“Do you promise not to do anything reckless while I’m gone?” Ladybug asked.

“Oh, yes, yes, yes! I promise, Ladybug.” Chloe bounced excitedly, then cocking a hip added, “But hurry up! These shoes make me physically ill.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes and dashed up the lawn, leaping through the very same garden she and Adrien had walked through an hour before. The mansion was far from Master Fu’s apartment, but her yoyo made short work of the trip. Her mentor was enjoying his bedtime tea when she entered, sitting cross-legged on the mat with Wayzz on his shoulder.

“Master, there’s an akuma, and I think my lucky charm wanted me to come here.” Marinette flicked her gaze to the phonograph resting on the chest in the back.

“Then there is no time to waste,” Master Fu said. He set his tea aside and retrieved the Miracle Box from its hiding place. “Who do you have in mind?”

Marinette surveyed her options with pursed lips, then resigned herself and reached for the bee. Chloe was different tonight, and if they were going to stop Heiress, they needed an ally they could count on. Never in her life did she picture that to be Chloe, but given the present circumstances, she didn’t have any other options.

“Are you sure, Marinette? Choosing her is risky.” Master Fu cautioned.

“It’s a long story, but…” Marinette smiled. “I’m sure.”

“Then best of luck.”

When Marinette changed schools, she intended to leave everyone behind and start over, but the most unlikely people had found their way back to her. Adrien took her by the hand and refused to let go. Chloe begrudgingly kept one foot in the door, constantly threatening to close it for good, but something told Marinette she never would.

To Ladybug’s surprise, Chloe actually listened to her instructions to stay out of trouble. When Ladybug found her, she was dutifully ushering other raggedly dressed teens out to the garden. She really could behave when she wanted to.

Chloe spotted her on the balcony, and when Ladybug waved the small box, Chloe raced up the stairs faster than she’d ever run in gym class. She held out her hands expectantly, but Ladybug held up a finger.

“I’m trusting you this time, Chloe, but you don’t need a Miraculous to be a hero, ya know. You can be nicer to those around you all the time,” Ladybug said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Chloe groaned. “Can I have my Miraculous now?”

“Do you promise to be nicer to people?”

Chloe’s cheeks flushed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Alright, fine.”

Ladybug tossed her the box, and Chloe ripped it open, completely unfazed as Pollen materialized. She fastened the comb into her hair and smiled. “Pollen, transform me!”

Ladybug didn’t wait for Queen Bee’s transformation to finish before they hit the ground running. Chat Noir had been holding Heiress back on his own, and it was time to bring him some backup.

The two heroines kicked in the front door, leaping straight into action. Ladybug shielded Chat Noir with her yoyo while Queen Bee snagged Heiress’s leg with her spinner and tossed her through the door to the living room.

“You sure kept me waiting,” Chat Noir said.

“It was kind of a long trip, but I thought we could use some help,” Ladybug said as Queen Bee fluffed her ponytail.

“Let’s show this wannabe who the real queen is.” Queen Bee readied her spinner.

“So, what’s the plan?” Chat Noir asked.

“If Queen Bee can sting Heiress with her Venom, then you can Cataclysm her scanner. Avoid getting hit at all costs. There’s no telling how powerful a Miraculous will make her,” Ladybug said.

Heiress was kicking debris from the cabinet she’d crashed into when the heroes found her. They didn’t waste time as she righted herself, taking turns charging in. With a growl of frustration, Heiress flipped back into the foyer, scanning the crystal chandelier in the process. Ladybug’s yoyo wasn’t far behind, snagging her wrist again. Queen Bee bound her legs with her spinning top, but Heiress absorbed enough power from the chandelier to break the stone fountain beside her. Tossing a large chunk at Queen Bee, Heiress freed her legs, using her free arm to sling Ladybug into the staircase. Chat Noir grappled with Heiress while his partners recovered, but Heiress parried his blows easily before taking his wrist and tossing him across the foyer.

Ladybug sat up with a wince, rubbing her back where it had collided with the smooth marble. Her yoyo had bounced to the base of the stairs, too far for her to reach as Heiress closed in. She braced as Heiress raised her scanner, but a flash of yellow shot across the foyer.

“No!” Queen Bee leaped between Ladybug and the red beam.

Vibrant yellows dulled, long golden curls shriveling to dried husks. The bee comb in her hair lost its shine, transforming into a powerless, plastic barrette. Queen Bee collapsed at Ladybug’s feet.

“A noble sacrifice, but even your Miraculous has given me enough power to end this fight quickly,” Heiress said.

“Cataclysm!”

Heiress turned as Chat Noir slid past her, dragging his claws across the tile. The ground crumbled and gave out under his touch, plunging Heiress into the wine cellar below. He raced over to Ladybug, kneeling beside Queen Bee as she sat up.

“She really saved your skin, LB,” he said.

“She saved all of us,” Ladybug corrected. “That was really selfless of you, Queen Bee. Thank you.”

“If she hit you, then things would never go back to normal.” Queen Bee took Ladybug’s hand, pressing the yoyo to her palm. “You’re the only one who can fix all of this, so don’t you dare let me getting hit by that freak twice be for nothing.”

Ladybug nodded, gripping her yoyo tightly before issuing the call, “Lucky Charm!” She caught the small black card as it materialized, turning it over in her hands. “A credit card?”

“Well, she’s certainly got enough money to take you shopping,” Chat Noir remarked.

Ladybug pursed her lips, flicking her gaze around the room. With Chat Noir’s belt, her yoyo, the credit card, and Queen Bee…

“I know what to do. Chat Noir, I need you to lure her into the dining room and be ready to use your belt,” she instructed. “Queen Bee, come with me.”

“But I don’t have any powers.”

Ladybug offered her a smile and pulled her to her feet. “Remember what I told you. You don’t need superpowers to be a hero. Trust me.”

Queen Bee searched her expression, then smiled, and the two heroines retreated up the hall.

“So, what’s the plan?” Queen Bee asked as they entered the dining room.

“How fast can you swipe a credit card?” Ladybug turned to her, and Queen Bee cocked a hip.

“Please, I can swipe one faster than my daddy can realize how much money I’m spending,” she said. “Why?”

“Chat Noir and I are going to subdue Heiress, but we need you to swipe this across her scanner. It’s maxed out, so it’s basically worthless. With any luck, it will short-circuit her powers long enough to get the scanner away from her,” Ladybug explained. She placed the card in Queen Bee’s hands. “I’m counting on you.”

Queen Bee squared her shoulders with a nod. “Okay, Ladybug!”

Footsteps pounded in the hallway, growing closer, and Ladybug signaled Queen Bee to her position. When Chat Noir burst through the door, he removed his belt as Ladybug readied her yoyo. Heiress was hot on his trail, and the two heroes engaged her the moment she stepped through the door.

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug called.

He slid across the floor on his knees, looping his belt around Heiress’s legs and pulling tight. Ladybug lassoed her torso with her yoyo, immobilizing her limbs. Queen Bee slid in, swiping the credit card across the scanner with practiced precision.

Heiress shook them off, but when she raised her arm to scan Chat Noir, no red beams flashed.

“What?” She banged it against her palm.

“Oops, looks like I’ve hit my limit,” Queen Bee said.

Chat Noir kicked the scanner from her grasp, and Ladybug snagged it from the air with her yoyo, slamming it against the ground. The casing shattered, and the black butterfly fluttered free.

“No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. Time to deevilize!” she recited. Queen Bee handed her the credit card, and Ladybug tossed it into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Her magic spread around the mansion, repairing broken cabinets and missing objects, and most importantly, everyone’s fancy clothes. Chat Noir kissed his baton as it reappeared in his hands. Queen Bee twirled in delight as her Miraculous regained its power.

Gabrielle stood up, averting her gaze. Ladybug approached her, but before she could get close, Gabrielle stalked from the room. A speech from Ladybug wasn’t what she needed—Gabrielle needed a friend.

“It feels so good to be fabulous again,” Queen Bee said with a contented sigh.

“Thanks for your help. You can be really selfless when you want to be,” Ladybug said. “Imagine how much of a difference you could make if you were nice all the time.”

Queen Bee’s cheeks flushed. “Okay, okay, whatever!” She flipped her ponytail over one shoulder. “I’ll think about it.”

Chat Noir joined in, and the three touched their fists together.

“Pound it!”

“Well, I hope this is a lesson to Hawkmoth. If an akuma ever ruins my hair again, he’ll have Queen Bee to deal with.” Chloe removed the comb from her hair and handed it back to Ladybug. She headed for the door with her head high but paused with her hand on the frame. “Thanks, Ladybug. For trusting me.”

Ladybug smiled as she sauntered off, turning to Chat Noir. “Thanks for your help, kitty.”

“We’re partners, aren’t we? I can’t let you have all the fun,” he said, shifting when Ladybug pursed her lips at him. “What?”

“Are you okay? You’re quiet today. Usually, you talk my ear off,” she said.

He eyed her with a pensive frown and shook his head. “It’s nothing. I’ll see you next time.”

He raced off without kissing her hand or even a parting flirtatious remark on how beautiful her hair looked in the light. Something was off about him, but she couldn’t place her finger on what. This wasn’t one of his usual pouts when she refused to go on a date with him, and it had been a while since he’d even asked for one. Was he finally moving on from her?

Ladybug shook her head to clear it. There was no time to worry about him. She needed to find Gabrielle.

♪♫♪ Old Scars/Future Hearts ♪♫♪

“Gabrielle!” Marinette skipped down the stairs.

The red-head slumping for the front doors turned over her shoulder with a scowl, but her face softened when she saw Marinette—slightly. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Thomas told everyone about your family, then you got akumatized,” Marinette said.

“Ugh, you’re such a goody-two-shoes.” Gabrielle rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t be seen with me. If they catch you being nice, they’ll throw you under the bus just as quickly as they did me. Trust me, it’s better if you just ignore me from now on.”

“But what about you?” Marinette asked.

“What about me?” Gabrielle grunted. “I’m done. Now that everyone knows my family’s out of money, I’m the school laughingstock. As far as they’re concerned, I deserve it. Don’t waste your time on me. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

Marinette remained quiet, eyebrows knitting together before she finally muttered, “I’m sorry.”

“For what? It’s not like you spent all of our money,” Gabrielle said.

“Yeah, but I know it must be hard for you.”

“Why do you care?” Gabrielle asked. “It’s not like I’ve been nice to you. I dragged you here against your will, then wouldn’t even let you socialize with me. You shouldn’t care about me.”

“Well, you don’t know me very well,” Marinette said, “but you could. We could be friends if you wanted.”

Gabrielle opened her mouth as if to say something, then shook her head, red curls bouncing against her shoulders. “No. I don’t think we could be. Even if I wanted to be your friend, it’s social suicide for you.”

When Marinette frowned, Gabrielle rolled her eyes and added, “Look, forget about me, okay? Forget any of this ever happened. We’re not friends, and we never will be. Just leave me alone!”

Marinette watched her climb into her town car, a sinking feeling weighing her stomach. Gabrielle was right. She shouldn’t care. But she did. Maybe she was just a goody-two-shoes, but Marinette had seen a more vulnerable side of Gabrielle—one that she likely didn’t show many people. After everything, Marinette truly believed that Gabrielle Burton wasn’t a bad person. She just needed someone to show her how to be good.

“Marinette?” She turned to find Adrien approaching from the living room.

“Hey,” she said lamely. Because what did one say to the love of their life after an almost-kiss in the garden?

“I saw you talking to that girl, and I didn’t want to interrupt,” Adrien said. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but isn’t that the girl who was picking on your friend the other day?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said, and when Adrien tilted his head to the side, she added, “it’s kind of complicated.”

“Right,” he said. “So, I guess you need a ride home then?”

“What?”

“Earlier you said that girl brought you here, and now she left, so we can take you home if you want.” Adrien offered. Was it possible for him to be any more dreamy?

“Oh… I guess, I do need a ride. Thank you,” she said. And maybe they could pick up where they left off in the garden. Did she dare even think about it? But what if he tried to kiss her again? Oh, the stories they could tell their kids one day.

“Hey!” Chloe called from the base of the stairs.

Oh, right. Chloe.

“Didn’t I separate you two earlier?” she growled.

“Marinette needs a ride home,” Adrien said, and Chloe cocked a hip.

“She’s got legs.”

“Chloe.” Adrien scolded. “She’s riding with us.”

“No.” Chloe whined, but after a stern look from Adrien, she sighed. “Fine, but we’re dropping her off first. I don’t want to be stuck in a car with her for any longer than I have to be.”

“Well, aren’t you sweet,” Marinette said.

“I’m only doing this because Ladybug told me to be nicer to people, so I can still be Queen Bee. Don’t think for a second it’s because I like you.” Chloe retorted.

“Don’t worry. I’d never imagine that you like me.” Marinette rolled her eyes. “I haven’t missed you.”

“Well, I haven’t missed you either!”

“Maybe you two just shouldn’t talk on the ride home.” Adrien suggested gently.

“Fine, I don’t want to talk to Dupain-Cheng anyway.” Chloe flipped her ponytail over one shoulder. “You and I can have glowing conversation, Adrikins.”

“Why do you get to talk to Adrien?”

“Because I’ve known him the longest, so ha!” Chloe stuck her tongue out.

Adrien sighed and fell into step alongside Marinette. “Sorry, I know it’s not ideal, but it beats walking.”

“It’s fine. I don’t get to argue with her much anymore, so this is filling up my quota.” Marinette shrugged.

As Adrien reached to open the door for her, another voice called out from the front door. “Leaving already?”

Marinette’s spine stiffened, and she spun around to see Thomas pacing down the front steps like a predator stalking his prey; however, he wasn’t approaching her.

“I saw you fighting that akuma with Ladybug earlier. Being a superhero is pretty cool, huh?” He looked Chloe up and down. “You’re the mayor’s daughter, right?”

Chloe eyed him with disinterest, her nose wrinkling in disgust. “Didn’t Dupain-Cheng turn you down earlier?”

“Well, she and I didn’t exactly hit it off-” Chloe held up a hand to silence him.

“Save it,” she said. “I’m not anyone’s second-choice, and I’m sure as heck not taking home Dupain-Cheng’s scraps. Buzz off, loser.”

Marinette hated to admit it, but she was actually proud of Chloe. Thomas was sleazy, arrogant, and greedy—just her type. Maybe Chloe really had changed.

“Absolutely not. Move over.” Chloe wedged her way between Adrien and Marinette on the seat.

And maybe she hadn’t.

#mdcspr #mdcsp #marinette dupain-cheng's spite playlist #marinette dupain-cheng's spite playlist remix #my writing

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the-golden-ghost · 3 years

Note

For the First and Last, no.24? o w o

24. First/Last Secrets

~~~

I chose Lupjig because I'm weak and I love them. The first part takes place in the Early Gang Days, shortly before Lupin decides to fake his death for the first time.

The second part takes place in the Late Gang Days, a little before the events in Castle of Cagliostro.

I hope you enjoy!

~~~

“Ammunition?”

“Yep.”

“Getaway car?”

“Yep.”

“Getaway chopper?”

“Absolutely. Grappling hooks, smokescreens, personal flotation devices?”

“Everything.”

“So it’s all in order?”

Lupin and Jigen were running down their checklist of all they’d need for tomorrow’s job. This one was going to be wild, and dangerous, but they were ready for it, even if there was a very real possibility that one of them may not survive.

In fact, in Lupin’s case, it was a certainty. The one where Lupin III, in all his unsavory glory, finally joined the world of the dead! Sometime tomorrow, the grappling hooks he’d been in charge of would fail, and he’d fall fifty feet down into a steel trap laid out for him by one of the world’s most notorious leaders of the criminal underground, and from there on out, nothing would ever be the same.

A year ago it would have been hilarious. Now, it still was, but he had to admit he had some misgivings. Mostly because he’d spent a year assembling this team, and against his better judgement, well...

He was glad Fujiko was on the other side of the world in Dubai where she wouldn’t have to see, and he was glad that he’d summoned Goemon, even if in truth he could have done this without him. He’d considered sparing Goemon too, until he realized that once the heist failed as planned, Jigen would have to stagger back to the hideout alone.

Lupin could not do that, not to him.

Looking over at Jigen now, Lupin tried to imagine what his reaction would be. Maybe he’d handle it well. Jigen was a pretty tough bastard and he’d had his share of suffering so maybe this would just be another knock for him. Maybe he’d shake it off easy and walk away like the past year hadn’t happened. Maybe his heart wouldn’t break. Maybe Lupin didn’t mean as much to him as he’d come to mean to Lupin.

Maybe everything would be okay and he could go on and be happy, somehow.

“You’re kinda quiet,” Jigen said, flopping down on the couch and lighting a cigarette. Goemon was sitting close by, deep in meditation but in reality, probably listening intently. “Usually you’re talkin’ my ear off about how great it’s gonna be.”

“It’s gonna be great, Jigen!” Lupin said, giving his best smile. He hoped it was more convincing than it felt.

A year ago Jigen had joined up with him, drawing away from kind gestures and bristling up at anything other than cool professionalism. It had taken Lupin months to coax him out of that dreary, guarded state, but by God, Jigen knew how to smile, and how to laugh, and even how to sing when he set his mind to it.

True, he was still a grouchy, wary alcoholic but he didn’t flinch anymore when Lupin touched him and he would joke back and forth with him all night without clamming up in sudden fear that Lupin would tell him he’d gone too far and retaliate with cruelty.

And now Lupin was going to wipe himself off the map and send Jigen back into the world that had made him that way in the first place. All that effort, gone. So yeah, he had a couple of misgivings.

If he’d had time... if he could have primed Jigen better, maybe he could have let him in on it and trusted him to follow through, but...

“You sure you’re okay?” Jigen asked. “You nervous?”

“Are you?”

“Maybe a little,” Jigen said with a shrug. “What about you, Goemon? Are you nervous?”

“No.” Goemon probably wasn’t, in all honesty.

“Hey,” Jigen said. “We’re gonna be fine,” he was looking at Lupin when he said it, and it almost was enough to kill Lupin then and there, because in the year they’d been together he couldn’t recall even one time Jigen tried to offer comfort. He’d come so damn far, and now this.

“You think I don’t know that?” Lupin scoffed. “You must think I’m losing my touch.”

He’d be losing a lot more than that, though, before it was over.

~~~

Lupin usually slept pretty well. Oh, sure, he’d stay up a few nights before a job prepping, or he’d be on high alert when they were being tailed, but otherwise he’d always prided himself in his ability to shake his troubles off and sleep through the night unhindered.

Lately though his thoughts tended to nag at him and keep him staring at the ceiling long into the night.

Jigen was beside him because Jigen was always beside him. Tonight he was snoring. And usually that sound was a comforting one to Lupin, a sure sign of safety. If Jigen could rest easy, then there was definitely nothing to fear.

Lately, Jigen had been resting easy a lot, but Lupin had been having troubles.

He sat up, stared out the window for a long while, and then turned back to look at his partner. Same old Jigen, drowsing with his hat pulled over his face. But he wasn’t the same. Lupin remembered the sharp-eyed, rawboned man he’d allied with more than a decade ago. A rangy, callous sharpshooter with a quick hand and a quicker tongue who nevertheless had stuck close to Lupin like a burr and wormed his way into his life.

And now? Now Lupin would always think of Jigen foremost as a warm, steady man with a rough disposition and a soft heart. The years had changed him physically - adding lines to his face and scars to his skin, most of which Lupin had been there to bear witness to. His body had filled out over time, too, leaving him looking stronger and healthier than Lupin could ever remember.

Lupin sighed. Jigen had a lot of life left in him to take him wherever he wanted to go. But he didn’t know if the same was true for himself. And he wanted sometimes to say it - to just voice it aloud so there was no question. That he’d never planned to live past his youth, but the years had caught up with him and somehow, it had just... happened.

He was still planning how to die. But now, more and more, it was looking like it would have to be for real. No more playacting, no more dress rehearsals or bait and switches that left everyone guessing. One last stand and it would be over.

Surely it would be easy? It couldn’t hurt more than anything else Lupin had ever done. And after that, nothing at all.

He’d have to make it perfect, though.

The thing that got to him was that after all this he didn’t want to leave Jigen behind. Goemon would be okay. He still joined up with them when they called, but he’d been spending less and less time with them - he stuck around for the jobs, but between them, he was barely around. And he hadn’t seen Fujiko in months. She was okay, he was sure, and they’d meet again, but...

He missed them both.

Jigen was still here, though. And he didn’t show signs of leaving. He’d be the one to bury Lupin, Lupin was pretty certain of that, and he’d do it well, giving him all the honors befitting a thief and a swindler and a beloved partner and friend.

But then what?

Lupin could imagine Jigen striking off alone and purposeless, all that life still in him but nothing to do with it now. He pictured him just wandering, falling slowly back into his old bad habits until the years shed from him and he joined Lupin in death, reverted back to the same bitter man he’d been when they first met.

And Lupin tried to tell himself no, that would never happen. Jigen is stronger than that.

But he remembered that he’d stopped faking his death a few years ago, after the two of them had stood and watched Goemon be killed right in front of them. It was a cruel trick, and Goemon was alive and well to this day, but Lupin had never seen Jigen truly break before and for the first time in his life he thought he was going to lose both his partners for good.

When Goemon returned Lupin had made an uneasy joke about how Jigen would never have mourned like that for him, and Goemon just shook his head.

“You have no idea.”

So...

It wasn’t even that Lupin really wanted to die. That was the truth of it. He didn’t want to die, but he didn’t know how to go on living. He’d always promised himself he wouldn’t die a boring, pointless death and if he allowed himself to grow old and doddering and just... withered away in a hospital room somewhere... what would the point have been?

He just wanted it all to have some bigger meaning. Maybe it was an impossible wish. Maybe the best he could do was say he changed a few lives and made a few headlines and would die loved.

Someday.

Lupin lay back down and snuggled right up next to his partner. He needed some sleep, and after all, even if the clock felt like it was winding down, there were still some adventures to be had.

And time, thankfully, to choose what the world had in store for them.

#Lupin III #my writing #long post #I am always saying Lupin should cherish Jigen so here's a fic where he finally and unabashedly does #that being said I also think I finally got the hang of making these feel more like two parts of the same story #rather than just two random snippets

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min-chery · 3 years

Text

In the way | KTH

Pairing: Artist! Taehyung x Sound therapist! Reader

Rating: PG-13

Genre: angst

Warnings: Swearing, Both MCs have a sad past :( , side pairing Yoongi x Jungkook and Jimin x Hoseok is mentioned.

Word count: 2.4k

A/n: This is an excerpt from my ongoing series ‘Sky’ that is posted on Wattpad. I’ll insert the link right here if you want to check it out.

Also I have no much knowledge in sound therapy. So if you find any points inaccurate, you can leave it for me in the ask box!~

“Is that all you’ll need?” Taehyung asks, looking at the one bag that sits on the passenger seat of your car.

"Yes. Everyone in our team decided to split up and bring the necessities. I was in charge of lunch. So... this is enough." you reply. You had packed enough food for 8 people to eat one afternoon, a change of clothes, your laptop and sound equipment.

It had been three months since the two of you started dating. The two of you spent almost all of your free time with each other. A lot of time spent in each others’ homes and even met at each others’ places of work for lunch. One thing the two of you did in common at all places was make out.

It seemed impossible to keep your hands and lips to yourselves. Kissing against the wall, on the table, on the couch, on the bed and even on the living room floor. Too many times you’ve been walked in on, but you cannot bring yourselves to be fazed by it.

And now, you are getting ready for a project with your sound therapy group at a mountain a little far away. Another group that had been there before had claimed that the variety of birds that reside in the area make the most beautiful songs in the early hours. It was enough motivation for your group to decide to have a trip and record some of it.

"Okay. I think we're all done here." you sigh, standing on the tip of your toes and pulling Taehyung in for a hug by his shoulder. And he slumps into the embrace, nuzzling his face into your open hair. You rub his back, feeling your boyfriend yawn into your blue tresses.

"Still tired? You can go sleep, baby." you say, lifting his head and squishing his face in your palms. He shakes his head, pouting while his grip on your waist tightens.

"Go on, sweetheart. It's only 4am yet. You go catch up with some sleep, yeah?" you usher, wanting to see him well-rested and chirpy when you return in the evening. But he doesn't seem to want to oblige.

"Can't. Our best friends are too loud in there." He whines, eyes half closed as he falls back onto your shoulder. You laugh, happy for the two who are so in love.

"There won't be a disturbance anymore. I'm about to leave too." Yoongi joins in, with Jungkook holding his hand. Both of their hair are ruffled, sticking up at random places and clothes crumpled. Both look utterly ruined with blushes decorating their cheeks.

"Drop me off at my place, will you?" Yoongi asks you, placing a kiss at the side of Jungkook's head. He smiles at Taehyung as he gets into the passenger seat.

"Bye, Tae. See you later." you speak, pressing a kiss on his cold, red nose. Taehyung reluctantly lets go, pouting as he waves you goodbye. He watches you slip into the driver's seat and disappear into the morning.

"Aren't you tired? Come sleep with hyung." He tells a very drowsy Jungkook who's rubbing at his eyes, a sleeping yawn falling from his own lips.

***

It's around 1 pm when Taehyung calls you. You close your lunchbox that is almost finished, excusing yourself from the group.

"Tae bear!" you exclaim into the phone, voice full of cheer.

"Hey baby!" Taehyung replies, voice equally gleeful.

"How's the recording coming along?" he asks, sounds of a window being opened accompanying his voice from his side of the line.

"It went good, baby. Maybe we should come here on a date together some time. The view looks like one of the pictures you painted. Too beautiful."

"Maybe we should. Have you had your food yet, darling?" He asks and you hum into the receiver.

"Planning on returning yet? Or do you still have work to get done?"

"Why? Miss me already?"

"You know I do." Taehyung laughs.

"Our work is done but we found an amazing free climbing trail close by. Decided to check it out. And it's for beginners too." Leah says, expecting an enthusiastic response back. But all you's left with is stillness from the other line.

And then comes the shuffling, the sound of something falling down and Taehyung's muted cursing.

"What do you mean free climbing?" His voice somehow feels distant, piercing Leah through her heart.

"You know, rock climbing. And the ropes are going to assist me if I fall." you tentatively answer.

"And you thought it was okay to do that without telling me?"

"I didn't know I had to ask my boyfriend before I did things." Both of you speak with an edge to your voices, as if the sole purpose was to hurt one another.

"See ___. I understand that you have to climb up cliffs and dangerously high places for work. But this seems really unnecessary. I really need you to stop doing these things. Are you even aware of how many accidents take place during things like this?"

"You don't tell me what's necessary and what's not. I do it because it makes me happy. And I'm not going to let you stand in the way of my happiness."

"You can do whatever the fuck you want! I don't care anymore!" Taehyung yells. It has you flinching, lips wobbling from unpleasant memories of the past swarming you.

"Don't yell at me." you shout back, unable to hide the tremble in your voice. Taehyung is breathing hard into your ears through the phone.

"And it's not the first time I've noticed you clam up when I talk about going like this. You need to tell me whatever the fuck is your problem if you-" you never get to complete what you start from Taehyung abruptly ending the call.

Your hands tremble at your sides, knees feeling weak. It had been true when you said Taehyung clams up when such matters are brought up. Avoiding looking you in the eye and slowly drifting away from the conversation with an uncomfortable smile. It was clear he hated heights at this point.

But the extent to it was only now becoming clear when the ever calm yet cheerful Taehyung raised his voice. It seemed more of fear and frustration than anger towards you. But you weren't going to let him get away with yelling at you knowing how it affected you.

You make your way back to your group who are waiting for you with their bags on their back and smiles on their lips. Forcing a smile of your own, you sling the bag onto your back.

Like you said, you weren't going to let a guy get in the way of your happiness. No matter how much you love him.

***

Taehyung draws deft lines on the page of his new sketchbook with a charcoal pencil. He sighs, hating the texture of the pages with the kind of pencil he’s using. Everything blurs when he feels the tears rise. Hurt and shame surge through his veins for raising his voice at you. He looks out the window of the diner, watching droplets of rain wash over the street. For a minute he wonders what the two of you would've been doing in this weather had you not fought. Would the two of you be drinking a mug of hot cocoa at your apartment as you watch a movie on the couch? Or would the two of you have been watching the rain while cuddling on the swing in his balcony and being huddled in a single blanket?

‘I miss her.’ The voice in his head says. He misses you so much that it feels like a knife is lodged in his throat. But it's nothing compared to the way he’s felt when you left him behind that day. Better than being terrified to death wondering if he’d get a call bringing him news he'd never in his life want to hear.

Taehyung drops his head down on the table, pulling up the hood of his jacket as he goes down. Focusing on the pain that blossomed on his forehead, he forces all thoughts of you out of his head.

Just as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, the loud noise and vibration of something being slammed down on the table reaches him. His head jerks up startled, coming face to face with the very person he’s been avoiding for a whole week. His lips part, nothing but silence falling out of it. You look vexed at his expression.

"A 100 calls!" you say, pointing at the phone you'd thrown onto the table with your call log on. "A 100 calls and countless texts. All to you. I even emailed you dammit! What the hell are you doing, huh? Ignoring me like that! Do you even remember you've got a girlfriend?" your voice takes on an edge, volume increasing the slightest than your normal.

He can't do anything but stare at your red face. He’s washed over with worry with how little you've dressed for a rainy evening. He holds himself back from swiping your wet lips in for a breathless kiss.

"Answer me!" you yell, slamming your hand down on the table. It makes him flinch in his seat. And the women at the counter.

"I don't want to." he says, a slight tremor in his voice. He avoids looking you in the eye, instead setting his gaze on the device on the table. He’s afraid anything he does will anger you further. And it does.

" 'Don't want to'?" You scoff dangerously. "What else do you not want!? Your girlfriend spending time doing something she likes!?" you grab the collar of his shirt, pulling him up from the chair and in front of the table.

Taehyung’s jaw ticks at your words and actions. He pushes your hand away and straightens the shirt. Dominating him like that in front of another person jabs at his ego as a man.

"That is not something I'm ready to talk about yet!" He shouts. Memories from the past swarm him, choking him so hard that it feels like he’s combusting from the inside.

"I'm your girlfriend, asshole! I would've listened to you if you had told me that at the time instead of yelling at me!"

"Stop repeating that you're my girlfriend!"

"Why!? Do relationships scare you now too!?"

"Because I'm not sure I want this anymore." he whispers, head falling low in resignation. It's only half-true. He does want it. More than anything else. But he’s too scared.

Fear, he learns, is the most dangerous emotion.

"You are breaking up with me?" you ask, voice too composed than earlier. Taehyung keeps looking down at his shoes. Big mistake.

You lift up the cup of hot tea from his table and smash it on the wall at your side. You throw it with so much force that the shards fly back at you, slashing you on the cheek. The hot liquid splatters all over your hand, turning it an angry red. You don't flinch. You stare at him, eyes void of anything he's ever seen in them. Like he has no more access to you.

You rove your eyes over him one more time and then turn away with your phone. You slam a fifty-dollar bill in front of Mrs. Choi at the counter and leave without looking at Taehyung again.

Taehyung looks around the cafe at the wreck the two of you have caused. He bends down to pick up the shards of glass through the tearful blur. He stays back, helping the part-timer clean up before he leaves. Mrs. Choi even comes around to take him into her arms, bracketing him into her motherly embrace.

Crying all through the walk back to his house, he asks himself the same question over and over again.

‘What the hell have I done?’

***

Yoongi can clearly see the smoke come out through the gaps of your bedroom door. His jaw ticking in anger, he pushes it open and immediately meets with the sight of his best friend.

You are leaning against her headboard, a cigarette clutched between the index and middle fingers of your healing hand. You leave out a puff of smoke and when he enters, you hurriedly push the remaining against the ashtray. You put it away in your drawer with wide eyes and fumbling hands.

"I saw that, ___. You're smoking again?" He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry I just... I didn't know you were coming over."

"So you were planning on keeping this away from me? You promised me you'd stop." He says, seating himself down beside you.

"You know why I do it." You sigh and pull the comforter over the lower half of your body, pulling your legs towards your chest. Clutching your face in your hands, you put it on your knees.

The sight of you, curled up against the headboard has Yoongi's heart wrenching in sadness. It had been a week since the breakup and you were still as broken as the day at the diner.

Moving closer, he pulls you to his side. Almost instantaneously, you lay your head on his shoulder and curl up against him.

"Why did you come over without telling me? You always call me before."

"Jimin called me. He was scared of how little he saw you around the house. And any time he did see you, he said you were high. Barely aware of what was happening."

"I should've worried him a lot. Where is he?" a troubled look crosses your features.

"Apparently it's been affecting him too much. So, Hobi took him out for some breakfast."

You hum. You are glad Hoseok is being a good boyfriend to your other best friend.

"You need to learn how to control your ang-"

"I can't Yoongi." You say, lifting up your hand. It trembled in frustration.

"I almost smashed a cup against his skull. Had I not mentally reminded myself of who was in front of me, I would've put him in the Emergency room." you recollect, wiping the tears.

"We can always seek help, ___." He rubs up and down your arms to soothe your emotions.

"Is that okay?" He asks and you nod against his shoulder blade. The two of you bask in the silence afterward. Embracing the calmness that you knew wouldn't last once the voices in your head get too loud.

"Should've known it was too good to be true." You sniffle, "He was way too perfect from the beginning."

#bts #btsboys #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #taehyung fanfic #taehyung angst #books & libraries #angst #wattpad #bts wattpad #wattpad writer #fanfiction #fanfic writer #taehyung x reader

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talenlee · 3 years

Text

Henry Orenstein

I'm going to tell you a story. It jumps around a little, to future and past, and it has a big twist in it that I'm going to need you to trust me on. Because of that, the fold - and content warning - is coming later than you'd expect.

This story, started, for me, on the Transformers wiki.

This is a Rubsign. It's a small piece of plastic that's heat-reactive. When Transformers started out as a brand, there was an immediate push to make cheap knockoff toys with similar ideas. In order to 'protect' the brand and ensure kids only wanted to buy the genuine Transformers, they developed something that they could pretend was part of the play pattern: a small symbol on the robot's body that had the silhouette of either the Decepticon or Autobot faction, and you wouldn't know for sure if you didn't heat it up, usually as a child, by rubbing it with your finger.

Transformers, and their gimmick of 'transforming', is essentially, open source. You can't copyright it or even copyright the techniques of a mould. This is one of the reasons there's so many knockoffs of those toys — the actual technique of a transforming toy is pretty much uncopyriteable method.

The rubsigns, however, were made with patented technology; not only weren't other people allowed to put them on their toys, but even worse, they simply couldn't make them because the method for their creation was proprietary. What I thought as a child was a clever way to represent a disguise, for a moment of tension in the narrative, was really just a corporate control collar, a thing that meant they could draw a hard line between their version of the idea and the other, shitty ones, so I could ensure my collection of second hand transforming robot toys was properly branded.

Rubsigns are a cop is what I'm saying.

But, they had to be invented.

This is Henry Orenstein. Learning about the origin of the rubsign meant learning that to my surprise, the patent for them is not held by The company per se, but is instead partially owned by Hasbro, and partially owned by this one dude, Henry Orenstein.

When I found his name in the Transformers wiki, the wiki stated, perhaps boldly: His life is more interesting than Transformers.

Bold claim.

This is professional Poker. It's a well known game that involves players playing for extremely large sums of money, often with similarly large sums of money involved in the buy-in. It's grown in popularity over the past twenty years, in part because of improvements in presenting the game to an audience. Back in 1995, a patent was filed for a device known as a hole camera, which let the broadcasters collect the information about the players' hands without doing anything that disrupted the natural flow of the game. The hole camera was used in 1999, and that's about when poker started to pick up in public discourse.

And the patent for the earliest hole camera (which isn't used much any more) is to a guy named Henry Orenstein. So important was this - and his winnings and his achievements lifetime - that he's been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

This is a Johnny Seven OMA, which were made by Topper Toys. And that's a company Henry Orenstein founded to make his toys after being annoyed at how expensive dolls and toy guns were for poor kids. Topper Toys eventually folded into another brand, Deluxe Reading, which I understand if you are a hardcore toy collector, really into things like barbie accessories and cross compatibility, is very important to the hobby.

This background was how Henry got the attention of Hasbro, and wound up working with them on acquiring new toy properties. That meant he was in position to be in Japan, looking at Takara and Microchange toys, and come back with the idea of acquiring both toy sets, and rebranding them as Transformers in 1980.

Interesting dude, right? He should write a memoir.

Except he did already:

And now, when we jump back in the story, I have to say: Content Warning: Nazis.

Henry Orenstein was born Henryk Orenstein, one of five Jewish children to a Polish family, born in Hrubieszów, Poland, 1923. That is to say, when he was 16 years old, the Nazis invaded and occupied his country. This was obviously not ideal, and the Orensteins first hid themselves in their house through secret passages and hidden chambers between the walls. When the food and water ran out, the parents made the painful decision to surrender to arrest, in the hopes of keeping their children alive.

Henryk's parents were taken, shipped to a camp, and shot. The children were then sent to a camp, where Henryk dedicated a plan to keeping moving. If they were being moved around, transferred from thing to thing, if the person in charge of them was different from time to time, nobody would have the time to really make a protracted plan to execute them. That, hypothetically, was the idea. This meant that he and his siblings were in five different concentration camp - including the camp run by Amon Goeth, the villain of Schindler's List.

They end up in the camp in Budzyń. A few days after arrival, a report comes over the loudspeaker that 'Any Jews with math or science training must report to front office' and Henryk signs himself and his brothers up.

... they did not have math or science training

See, as things were Getting Worse towards the end of the war, the Germans were trying to maximise the resources they did have. This is part of the grouping of things you'd possibly hear as the wunderwaffe — the preposterous weapons of the later days of Hitler's aspirations. You may know these as a sequence of History Channel tv ads, like Hitler's Greatest Tanks or Superboats or The Cannon That Shoots Time Frozen Chunks Of Hitler's Future Brain or whatever. Nowadays, wunderwaffe is a German word primarily used sarcastically, in case you're curious. The Nazis were desperate, because they were a bunch of sucky losers who couldn't make anything good on their own —

And never did

— they instead tried to turn their prisoners to the task of solving their problems with the finest of Nazi Bullshit Magic. At this point, Henryk is maybe nineteen years old, and he and his brothers are signed up to the camp's equivalent of the Shed they dump the A-Team in. The scientists in charge of the lab are scared: if this fails, they're just wasting manpower, and while the Jewish subordinates may fail, if they fail, they're going to get shipped to the front and treated like meaty bullet catchers.

Henryk, recognising the situation, proceeded to run cons on the Nazis with his brothers.

They made bullshit devices that wouldn't work, but did look like they worked. They stole from the labs. They crafted things that could be faked to working but wouldn't work for real. They entertained the scientists with the finest of hokum. And then the researchers, full of relief that they wouldn't become a statistic on a Soviet soldier's bayonet, started to talk about how great their progress was of Doing Science At Shit to their command.

Command released an order to demand that these Jewish Science Wizards produce a tank paralysing gas.

Which was a problem.

Look, the Nazis were fond of demanding things that couldn't be done. Then they could shout at their subordinates who were fucking up, or they'd deliver and you looked great. Again, this is not an environment for refined science, this is a shrinking circular firing squad where everyone is trying to just not be the next person shot. But nonetheless, Tank Paralysing Gas was demanded.

Henryk and his brothers did what they could, they made something they assured the Nazis would work, and the scientists, sweating bullets, sent it off to another base to be tested.

Where it didn't work.

Obviously.

Okay, so now for a moment, consider the situation. Consider what this looks like. These scientists have sent a giant pile of reports about how great a job they were doing, and there's a big trapdoor labelled Actual Bullets on it underneath them. They just put together their wunderwaffe and sent it off to be tested, and it didn't work, so what do they do?

Blame the prisoners?

Uh, that's going to go poorly, because they were saying the prisoners were doing a great job just a few days ago.

Come clean?

Fuck off.

Okay, so what else do they have as an option? Well, they did the only thing a fascist can do. They posted through it, Nazi style.

They sent infuriated reports to the other camp. WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR TANK-PARALYSING GAS THAT MADE IT NOT WORK!?

And... you can see how this goes.

Right now, nobody wants to be the person who admits something is wrong. Nobody wants to be the person who pulls the circle of who gets shot even closer. You don't want to tell your superiors you fucked up handling the Tank Paralysing Gas, or if you made the Tank Paralysing Gas, you don't want to tell them that the Tank Paralysing Gas didn't work.

And so back and forth they go. Testing things that won't work and demanding ever-increasing test protocols to try and make it the other person's problem. I don't have proof of it, but some accounts of the story include the two camps getting infrastructure projects like new roads to make sure the transport of the Tank Paralysing Gas works and is good and proper and anyway, the war ended before they got this resolved.

But there is paperwork, recovered during the fall of Berlin, with Heinrich Himmler's signature on it, ordering the mass production of the Tank Paralysing Gas made by Henryk and his younger brothers.

"The whole tale about the scam they pulled on the nazis is... instructive, too"

#Transformers #Tricks Month

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oneshot-wxnderland · 4 years

Text

Ladies Love a Hero | Peter Parker

summary: Y/n builds a device that will help the Avengers win a battle and Peter is charged with protecting her while she uses it.

category: fluff

_____________________

“So that’s your big plan? Keep shooting at it’s invulnerable skin until something happens?” Steve asked, pausing in his pacing to give his teammate an exasperated look.

“It’s not completely invulnerable. One of my arrows nicked it,” Clint defended his weak plan, but it was the only plan they had so far. “Unless you can come up with a better one.”

This had been going on for the past half hour and Peter was about to jump out the window. Everyone bickering and shooting down ideas faster than they came up. At this point he was just plain tired of the giant interdimensional monster that kept popping up and wreaking havoc on the city. It had everyone on edge and Peter just wanted this meeting to be over so that he could go see Y/n.

He happily tuned out the Avengers’ arguments to think about Y/n. She was incredibly smart, which was a given since she was one of the top scientists at Stark Industries and she was only Peter’s age. And she was beautiful. The first time Peter met her she was hunched over a microscope and when she stood up to look at him... he couldn’t breathe. Since then he came up with every excuse he could to go talk to her, even though most of the time he was too nervous to get more than a few words out.

Tony noticed the dreamy look Peter only got when he was thinking about Y/n and rolled his eyes.

“Hey, lover boy,” Tony snapped in Peter’s direction and made him jump. “National crisis here.”

Peter flushed as red as his suit and muttered an apology before the conversation continued without him.

“Well, we need to make a decision now, that thing could come back at any minute.”

“I’ve got it!” Everyone’s attention turned to the door bursting open and a frenzied Y/n running in. Her hair was a mess and her lab coat was crooked and she had never looked more beautiful to Peter.

“What is it?” Tony took the device from Y/n’s outstretched hand and inspected it.

“The key to beating this thing,” Y/n declared, out of breath. Everyone gave her their undivided attention, especially Peter, but only because he was interested in how to kill the monster, of course. “I studied the sample of what we thought was blood from Hawkeye’s arrow and discovered that it’s not the skin that is impenetrable, but a thin force field that acts as an armor. Then I engineered this thing,” she points at the small devise in Tony’s hand and he gives it back to her. “It’s like an EMP but instead of electronics it only targets that specific type of organic material and when it’s turned on it can wipe out the force field and boom it’s killable.”

The room was in stunned silence and Peter fought the urge to clap. Tony didn’t shower her in the praise Peter knew she deserved but the proud look in his eyes and small smirk on his face was all y/n needed.

“What’s its range?” he asked.

“The prototype only has a mile or two radius of maximum effectiveness but with a little more time I could get it to-.”

Y/n didn’t get to finish her sentence before the tower shook, signaling the emergence of Mr. Big Bad in the city.

“No time for that, we’ll have to make do. How do you turn it on?”

Y/n answer was too complicated for Peter to understand but he didn’t like the grim look on Tony’s face.

“You’ll have to set it off yourself. We don’t have time for a crash course.”

“She can’t go out there!” Peter’s outburst surprised the team since it was the first thing he’d said all night.

“She’s the only one who can turn on the device, we need her,” Tony’s answer was calm and distantly Peter knew it was the only way, but he couldn’t get past the idea of putting Y/n so close the the fight.

“Within a mile of the alien? That thing can topple buildings twice as far with one swing we can’t just send her out there unprotected.”

“She won’t be unprotected, she’ll have you.” Tony stated and Peter couldn’t form an argument. “Y/n go get a carrier for that thing and meet Peter on the hanger.”

“Yes, sir,” she said before hurrying off.

Peter turned his gaze back on Tony who looked way too calm for what the situation called for.

“You can do this, Peter, just take her to a rooftop in range and keep her from getting killed.” Tony knew how much Peter cared about Y/n and saw how this plan was freaking him out, so he winked and added conspiratorially, “And hey, the ladies love a hero.”

This had the desired affect and Peter was shaken from hits fears and into a blushing mess as he tried to stutter out objections, but Tony wasn’t hearing it so Peter just left.

When Peter, or rather Spiderman, walked onto the hanger he spotted Y/n making sure the carrier was secure across her shoulders and his nerves returned.

“Ready?” He asked and wasn’t sure whether he was, but her complete confidence in him made him feel like he could do anything.

She stepped close to him. He tried to casually wrap his arm around her and was thankful that his mask hid his blush when she did the same. Y/n pulled him tight to her and nodded. “Ready.”

Peter never wanted this to end, he didn’t want Y/n to let go of him. Although he liked to think that she enjoyed being this close to him, her smile was most likely caused by swinging through the city.

After they landed on a rooftop in range of the fighting, Y/n untangled her arms from around Peter’s neck, but he held onto her a little longer when she stumbled.

“You good?” He let go of her when she was stable.

“Yeah,” she laughed. “Just takes some getting used to.”

“Where should we set it up?” They surveyed the rooftop and Y/n hurried over to a radiator and gingerly set the device on it.

“Once this thing’s on it’ll only take a couple minutes to completely disarm the shield.” That raised some red flags for Peter.

"Will it be able to trace it back to us?" They were only a mile away from the fight and that thing could easily close the distance fast.

"We'll just have to hope that they can kill it before it does." That was reassuring.

Y/n started the process of turning it on and Peter divided his attention between her and the fight. The team was doing a good job of keeping the monster from coming towards them but also not pushing it too far away. However it was clear that the thing didn't like being cornered since it was thrashing around more wildly than before.

"There!" Peter looked back at the device that now had a green light on its screen. "It'll only be a little bit now before the alien realizes what's happening.”

“Got it.” Peter began to survey his options for a hasty getaway.

A thunderous roar shook the ground and consequently the roof they were standing on and the alien started ripping up chunks of the roads to throw.

“I think it’s working,” Peter stated, an intuitive observation. They watched as the Avengers took notice of their signal and doubled their attacks, striking the increasingly vulnerable monster with an array of blasts, punches, and arrows. Peter even let out a breath of relief when he saw the monster slowing down, but he jinxed it and instead of the monster focusing on fighting back, its attention moved to the source of its shield’s failure. Namely, them.

“Incoming.” Peter rushed back over to Y/n. “We gotta go.”

Y/n had only just stood up when Peter tackled her back down onto the roof just as a car flew over them. She looked up at Peter who was still on top of her, pressing her back into the roof surface of the roof, but she didn’t mind. She wished that he had his mask off so that she could be staring into his actual eyes instead of his suit ones.

“S-sorry,” he muttered when he belatedly got up off of her, mentally cursing himself for being such an idiot. Y/n must think he’s the weirdest creep ever, just pinning her down like that in the middle of a mission. He glanced back to her and was surprised by the red that was on her cheeks. She made a show of dusting herself off and checking on the device while Peter just stood there confused.

“Shit, the impact of the car messed with its sensors, it has to recalibrate.” She set to work on facilitating that process.

“Y/n that thing is going to be on us any second.” Peter’s attention was glued to the fight that was drawing ever nearer. Even if they managed to kill the beast before it reached them, the fall of its body could easily take out their building. “The damage has been done, let’s go.”

But even as he said it he could see the shield mending itself. The reinforced armor gave the alien a second wind and Peter winced as Iron Man got swatted out of the sky. Once that distraction was out of the way, its attention turned back towards them.

“Y/n…” Peter warned as he walked backwards to her, careful to keep his attention on the beast.

“It’s almost fixed.” The stern tone of her voice and the determined look on her face was almost a mirror image of the one Tony got when Peter knew better than to press the subject, but he was supposed to protect Y/n and he’d be damned if he didn’t.

“It’s my job to knock out the shield.” She refused to look away from the device but her glare was directed at him. “I’m not leaving.”

“And it’s my job to keep you from getting hurt and you are not making that easy right now.” He crossed his arms and watched the fight, but didn’t move from her side. His head was screaming at him to get her to safety but he knew that she was right. They had to get that stupid device functioning so that the rest of the team could do their job. Still, he didn’t like just standing there and waiting for disaster. Every move the monster made towards them had Peter flinching to just grab Y/n and swing away whether she liked it or not.

“Got it!” Peter didn’t need her to tell him that though, the scream coming from the alien was notifying enough.

“Good now let’s go.”

Y/n was still hesitant to leave but she stood up and faced him.“You go, I should stay and make sure it doesn’t get damaged again.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Then I guess we’re both staying.”

“Dammit Y/n this is not up for debate. We have to go now!”

Their argument distracted them both from the battle. It was only when Peter’s spider sense kicked into action that he crushed Y/n to his chest and turned them around so that the chunk of concrete flying their way hit him instead of her. The pair was knocked off their feet and Y/n rolled away from where Peter lay unmoving.

“Peter?” Y/n called once she recovered from having the wind knocked out of her. She propped herself up on her elbows but quickly snatched them up, hissing from the sting of scapes along her arms. The ringing in her ears aided in her disorientation as she looked around, but when her eyes landed on Peter she ignored the protests from her cuts and ran over to him. “Peter!”

She rolled him onto his back and gently took his mask off. His eyes were closed and his body limp. She nearly sobbed in relief when she saw that he was still breathing, albeit barely, and cupped his cheek to bring his face over to her.

“Y/n…” he whispered and it brought on a coughing fit.

“Careful, you idiot,” she smiled through her tears when his eyes opened. “Who knows how many ribs you broke.”

His hand raised weakly to her cheek and she held it there for him. He gave her a small smile as his thumb wiped away a tear.

“I’m sorry,” Y/n said, blaming herself for his injuries. “I should have gone with you. I-I shouldn’t have tried to-.”

“Hey.” Y/n expected him to say something along the lines of ‘it wasn’t your fault’ or ‘I’m just glad you’re okay.’ What she got instead was, “I told you so.”

Y/n’s jaw dropped at the audacity of this boy.

“Are you kidding me? I’m sitting here crying because I thought you were dead and you have the nerve to say ‘I told you so’?” She fires at him and he scrunches up his face in an annoyingly adorable way.

“But I did…” This time Y/n just laughed and let all the tension leave her body, grateful that she was still able to see him smile.

“Shut up,” she laughed as she leaned down to his face. She gently pressed her lips to his and Peter forgot all about his broken and bruised body, and when he heard the Avengers finally defeat the alien he was able to fully lose himself in her kiss. The kiss that he had dreamed about for so long.

When they finally parted to breathe, Y/n rested her forehead against his and he pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.” Hearing those words come from Y/n almost made him laugh in disbelief, if only laughing wouldn’t have hurt so bad. To think that Y/n, the smartest and prettiest girl he knew (he would even argue on the planet) had wanted him just as much as he wanted her. He had pined after her for forever, never thinking that he had a chance, and here she was.

“I think I might have an idea,” he muttered and pulled her back down for another kiss.

#peter parker #spiderman #tom holland #peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x you #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #spiderman x reader #spiderman x you #spiderman x y/n

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voltrontranscript · 3 years

Text

VLD S7E12: Lions’ Pride, Part 1

Season 7 Episode 12: Lions’ Pride, Part 1

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Summary: The battle for Earth continues as the Paladins of Voltron enter the fight alongside the now-functioning IGF-Atlas, and Shiro faces Sendak head-on.

[Google Doc]

Shiro: Welcome back to the fight, Paladins.

Hunk: It’s good to be back. You know, in our bodies.

Shiro: MFE pilots, what’s your status?

Griffin: Power is dropping.

Shiro: Return to the Atlas and recharge.

Griffin: Copy that. We’re on our way. The manifold in the left flaxum assembly felt loose. See if you can tighten that down. Alright, let’s get this fighter charged and ready to go.

[Scene change to Sendak’s fleet orbiting Earth.]

Galra Officer: Lieutenant Hepta is not responding.

Sendak: Then you are now acting lieutenant. Status report.

Galra Officer: The cannons are fully charged and moving into position. They should be ready to fire in fifteen doboshes. However, if the enemy ship continues to pursue us into the upper atmosphere, that could cause a problem.

Sendak: Focus the entirety of the fleet’s firepower on Voltron and their new ship. Keep them occupied as long as possible.

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas and Voltron as they face the rest of the fleet.]

Keith: Form sword!

Shiro: Coran, adjust our heading to narrow our surface area for incoming attacks. Commander Holt, what’s the status of the Zaiforge cannons?

Sam: According to their projected trajectories, they’ve started moving together, but their convergent point is…

Shiro: Sam? Sam? What is it?

Sam: I know what Sendak is doing. He’s going to converge the beams to make one massive amplified emission of particle radiation.

Shiro: Is that even possible?

Sam: Yes. I know because I gave them the technology. When I was enslaved, the Galra had me working on particle emission amplification. I’m sending you the Zaiforge cannons’ movements. This is a simulation I’ve run based on their current trajectory. It leads to a single point in space. Once they’re in position, their individual beams will merge together, exponentially increasing their destructive force. It will be powerful enough to completely vaporize Earth.

Hunk: We can’t let that happen. What do we do?

Allura: Should we go after the Zaiforge cannons? The Lions might not be able to defeat them all in time.

Sam: If even two beams connect, they have the power to destroy Earth.

Keith: We know they’re being controlled by Sendak. Let’s take him out.

Lance: What the heck was that?

Allura: We’re under attack from one of those bases that launched a Zaiforge cannon!

Pidge: They must have been designed to defend the cannons after they launched.

Keith: Shield!

Pidge: We’re being attacked from all angles!

Hunk: Should we fall back?

Lance: No, we’re too close to retreat.

Pidge: We can’t take any more shots from those ground-based cannons.

Keith: Get in close to the cruisers. They won’t fire on their own ships.

Allura: Sendak’s destroying his own ships to get to us.

[Cut back to the bridge of Sendak’s ship.]

Lieutenant Galra: Commander, Zaiforge cannons are nearing final position.

[Cut to the bridge of the IGF-Atlas.]

Coran: We can’t get to Sendak!

Veronica: Voltron is pinned down!

Shiro: Griffin, what’s your team’s status?

Griffin: The MFEs are nearly charged. Whatever’s powering the Atlas is incredible.

Shiro: We need you back in the fight. Head to the coordinates I’m sending you and take out those surface-to-air cannons.

Griffin: Yes, sir.

[Cut to the MFEs launching.]

Griffin: Leifsdottir, give me a battle stratagem.

Leifsdottir: We attack the base and try to destroy it before it destroys us.

Griffin: Oh, I thought you might have some mathematically-advanced insight or something.

Leifsdottir: Our options are limited.

Griffin: Well, you heard Leifsdottir. Let’s move!

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas bridge.]

Veronica: We’ve sustained structural damage on our starboard bow!

Iverson: Aft cannons are recharging. Holding tight at forty-five percent.

Sam: Shiro, the Zaiforge cannons are almost in position. By my calculations, we’re not going to get to Sendak in time.

Shiro: Paladins, you have to stop your attack.

Keith: What?

Shiro: Abort your attack or Earth will be destroyed.

Lance: What’s going on?

Shiro: The Atlas will continue to attack Sendak while the MFEs attempt to take out the ground cannons. But just in case that doesn’t work, we’ll need you to stop the Zaiforge cannons directly.

Lance: How are we gonna stop all these cannons? I’m not sure a Lion can take one down on its own.

Keith: We just have to think. Is there any way we can block the beams?

Pidge: We would be annihilated.

Hunk: Hey, what about those reflective plates they used to curve the beam around Earth?

Pidge: They could deflect the beams and keep them from merging.

Keith: Okay. It’s the best plan we’ve got so far. Let’s go!

Shiro: Good luck, Paladins.

[Cut to Voltron.]

Pidge: These plates are pretty far apart. I’m sending flight paths I calculated with the fastest possible routes. Keith and Lance, you’ll take the furthest plates. After you get your plate, head to the indicated cannon on the course I’ve sent you.

Keith: Got it.

[Cut to the MFE pilots as they face a ground-to-air cannon.]

Griffin: Okay, we’re going to strafe and burn. Watch for crossfire and--

Rizavi: Destroy that base!

Kinkade: And she’s already engaging.

Griffin: Everyone, follow Rizavi!

Leifsdottir: The base is highly fortified. It’s most vulnerable after it fires. That’s when we attack.

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas bridge.]

Griffin: Atlas, cannon one is neutralized. Moving on to next target.

Sam: We have a fire in the plasma alternator. Activating fire suppressors.

Shiro: Veronica, what’s the status of the shielding system?

Veronica: I’m trying.

Shiro: Keep working. Coran, adjust our heading to 5.38.

[Scene change to the Paladins moving reflective plates.]

Keith: Come on, come on… How much time do we have?

Sam: Two minutes, fifteen seconds and counting.

Pidge: It’s gonna be tight!

[Cut to the bridge of the IGF-Atlas.]

Shiro: Full ordinance! Starboard side!

Iverson: Munitions to starboard.

Shiro: Coran, bearings: 7.2. Fire!

Iverson: Galra cruiser destroyed!

Shiro: More cruisers incoming. We can’t handle many more blasts.

Veronica: Wait, the shielding system…

Shiro: What is it?

Veronica: It’s coming online! Shielding successful!

Shiro: How much time before the Zaiforge cannons fire?

Sam: Any second now!

Keith: We’re almost in position!

Sendak: Fire.

Sam: The Lions have the plates in position, but those plates were designed to reflect a short burst. They won’t hold for long under the pressure of a sustained blast.

Shiro: Then we need to take out Sendak now.

Coran: But we can’t get through the cruiser blockade he’s created.

Shiro: We need a new plan. Sam, what if someone were to infiltrate Sendak’s ship and gain access to its crystal? Could the cannons be disrupted?

Sam: Infiltrate Sendak’s ship?

Shiro: Would it work?

Sam: It could work, but you’d need a communication device to link to the Atlas so we can hack their system.

Shiro: Then that’s what we’ll do. I’m going in. Coran, the ship is yours. Get the Atlas to the impact site. We need to be prepared for every outcome.

[Cut to the bridge of Sendak’s ship.]

Galra Lieutenant: Commander, they’re deflecting the beams.

Sendak: Keep firing!

[Cut to the Lions deflecting the Zaiforge cannons.]

Hunk: They’re gonna rupture soon! We don’t have much longer!

Keith: Keep holding, team. We can do this! Atlas, what’s happening?

Coran: Hold a little longer! We have a plan!

Keith: Whatever it is, we’re running out of time!

Shiro: Atlas, I’ve arrived at Sendak’s command ship.

[Cut to the bridge of the IGF-Atlas.]

Veronica: We’ve intercepted the beam, but we need more power!

[Cut to the MFE pilots.]

Griffin: Leifsdottir, draw their fire! Let’s finish this.

[Cut between the IGF-Atlas and Shiro on the Galra ship.]

Coran: Paladins! Paladins, are you there? Shiro, I can’t reach the Paladins and the Atlas can’t hold this beam much longer! Whatever you’re gonna do, can you do it now?

Shiro: Sam, I’ve made it to the crystal. Activating communication transponder.

Sam: Okay, Shiro. I have to warn you, this might be a little strange. I’m about to use your brain as a computer node.

Shiro: Well, wouldn’t be the first time.

Sam: I’ve got it! Disengaging the ventral thoron injector port. It will overload the deuterium array, which should result in an explosion large enough to debilitate the beam generator. I’ve lost my connection. Shiro? Shiro, are you there? Shiro? Shiro!

Iverson: One of the cannons is down.

Veronica: That just bought us time, but we still can’t withstand the blast from the other cannons much longer.

[Cut to the bridge of Sendak’s ship.]

Galra Lieutenant: We’ve lost a cannon.

Sendak: What happened to our power?

Galra Lieutenant: The crystal has been damaged. The ship cannot maintain altitude. It’s listing toward their planet. We need to evacuate.

Sendak: Victory or death, Lieutenant.

[Cut to the Zaiforge cannons.]

Veronica: The shield is failing! Twenty-four percent and dropping!

Sam: I’m diverting power from the infinite mass crystal!

Veronica: Paladins, hurry! Lance!

Lance: Oh, no.

Allura: Lance… Hang on. I’m coming to help.

Veronica: The Lions have defeated all of the cannons.

Griffin: Atlas, this is Griffin. MFEs have successfully neutralized our final target.

Veronica: The only remaining hostile is Sendak’s ship. It’s freefalling towards Earth’s surface. It’s already hit terminal velocity.

Sam: Shiro’s still in there.

[Cut to Shiro climbing onto the external hull as Sendak’s ship falls toward Earth.]

Sendak: You!

Pidge: Sendak’s ship is gonna crash into Earth!

Keith: We have to guide it to an uninhabited area! Follow me!

Sendak: Every ounce of my being will be directed toward the destruction of you and your pathetic planet!

Keith: Hold it together! We gotta make it past the city.

Sendak: Victory… or death.

Shiro: Thank you.

Pidge: We did it!

Hunk: Earth is safe!

End.

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t0sshii · 4 years

Text

ginhiji hospital au??

I needed to get this off of my brain and I can’t draw or write so here it goes... Ginhiji but Hijikata is a nurse working in a hospital and Gintoki is the new resident who comes off as lazy but is actually a really good doctor (which surprises our boy Toushi)

More thoughts under the cut? (I have more thoughts about hijikata because.... i have more experience there LOL)

I’ve been a working nurse for more than half a year now so I kind of know what I’m talking about? (but not really because i’m definitely still a baby nurse that’s still learning OTL) but really im a baby don’t ask me specifics

I got into Gintama super late and I have so many regrets because it’s taken over my life.

hijikata working in either medsurg, ICU, or emergency because it’s not slow, needs great time management skills and working under pressure /but i have a bias for medsurg because that’s where i am right now... but i feel like he would definitely be the same kind of intense that some ICU nurses i know are...

he’s definitely the type to not take a proper break at work... would probably eat saltines from the nutrition room

reason 1: he’s too busy

reason 2: hates to go on break if he has to leave hella shit for the person covering him (so he give all his meds, clean his patients, give pain meds...make sure they NEVER call the person covering him on break) but that also means when things don’t calm down he feels like there’s never an opening for one

meanwhile he will give meds, clean patients, and do everything for whoever he covers for break

when this happens kondo sends yamazaki to cover him for breaks because you can’t tell patients to eat their food when you haven’t eaten toushi

is really good at putting in IVs, nobody on the unit even tries to put them in when he’s working they’ll just ask him to do it for them

a charting superuser lol

his brain... impeccable. a work of art. a pinnacle of organization. made his own because the hospital issued one doesn’t work for him

probably looks something like this

note: allows you do just quickly circle things during shift change instead of writing it all down...i would probably make past medical history section bigger though (do i use a sheet like this? no because i am... organized chaos and writing it down helps ME--but toushi probably wants to take as little time possible writing shit down)

reads his work e-mail, even the newsletters from the hospital

kondo is nurse manager and is a very supportive one (the potlucks!!! tries his best to make sure everyone feels supported at work ; w ;) hired hijikata..

when hijikata is charge, the work is distributed evenly thank god

also “it’s an hour until shift change and if this patient doesn’t come up in 10 minutes they’re not coming until after shift change”

everyone asks him for help because he knows all the hospital policies

what nurse isn’t frustrated with doctors lets be real

exhibit A: “my patient is in TEARS with 10/10 pain and the doctors have the audacity to ask if THEY TRIED TO DISTRACT THEMSELVES WITH ART?” (this is a literal conversation I’ve had with a resident before)

hates talking to interns because he ends up having to teach them how to do their job

hates talking to jaded attendings

only attending he likes is shouyo

used to have long hair in nursing school but cut it after his ponytail got into some shit during a bed bath

still smokes.. kondo hates it because we’ve all seen what it’s done to our patients and you still smoke?

has tried to quit but never works out

gintoki also gets on his case about it

just imagine hijikata in those black figs joggers scrubs UGH

in this universe they’re called digs because copyright and this is still gintama we’re talking about

these scrubs are unnecessarily expensive so he didn’t actually buy them himself ( “why the fuck would i buy expensive scrubs if i am going to get literal shit on it”).. if left to his own devices he will wear those ugly ass hospital issued scrubs

Kondo and his other friends split the price for the black joggers and a 3 pocket scrub top -- because we all know hijikata puts ALL his supplies in his pockets. he NEEDS pockets

Gintoki thinks his ass looks good in those joggers UGH

Hijikata won’t admit it but the digs are his favorite pair they are so comfortable. still won’t buy them with his own money though

student nurses are scared of him because he’s intense and asks hard questions, really strict... doesn’t bully but pushes students and orientees really hard

but also any one who can survive being trained by him becomes an excellent nurse

that nurse that’s on top of their shit and THINKS instead of just following orders

“saw his potassium is high. can we do something about that?”

“there wasn’t continuous oxygen monitoring ordered but i put them on because it doesn’t look good. can we get an order for that”

all the doctors trust him because he’s just so goOD

gets on gintoki’s case about looking like a bum at the hospital all the time

if he EVER catches wind of doctors talking down to his nurses or older nurses bullying the newer ones (which never really happens because kondo is a great manager who fosters a very nontoxic work culture) they will...FEEL. HIS. WRATH.

also will not tolerate patients treating him (or his coworkers) like shit. will be more professional dealing with patients tho than with the MDs. but if it’s an MD berating a nurse, they better be ready to get their ass KICKED

Gintoki is the new resident along with katsura and takasugi in.... internal medicine? surgery? idk?

i mostly just wanted write this one: hijikata has a patient in a pain crisis 10/10 pain, given all available pain meds, tried everything possible but still no relief. paged the new resident working with this patient

hijikata fully expects either a call saying “sorry i can’t order any more pain medicine for this patient” or just another IV medicine ordered with no communication at all

but gintoki comes into the patient’s room (first thing hijikata notices is unprofessional hair, wrinkled jacket, mismatching socks and thinks this doctor is going to be lazy AF), speaks to the patient with great bedside manner, talks to the patient about pain management strategies and WORKS WITH THEM for a better plan for medication. walks with the patient in the hall and even takes them to the bathroom

hijikata is FLOORED. because this never happens with MDs.

(this has actually happened and me and all my coworkers were SO PLEASANTLY SURPRISED)

hijikata once sent gintoki a message asking if he wanted to lower the dose for a medication because the lab for it was high

gintoki thought he was the pharmacist because hijikata is just that good

likes the sound of hijikata’s voice on the phone so he always returns his pages even if it’s just to say “ok i’ll put the order in”

secretly gets excited when he sees hijikata’s name on the chart under the care team

one because he’s hot

two because he’s a good nurse

actually learns a lot from hijikata

gets to know hijikata’s bad break habits and gives him a coffee whenever he notices he’s working (but is absolutely disgusted when he brings out the mayonnaise)

“how can you tell your patients to be healthy when you put that shit in everything you eat?”

hijikata counters with “you can’t tell me what to eat when you’re on your way to diabetes asshole”

tries to be the kind of MD shouyo is

being in healthcare is hard so the two of them do drink together if their days off line up to vent....

hijikata complains about dumb MDs (gintoki makes mental notes on how to not be an annoying MD), how busy his days are, and why are we always understaffed... how can we run out of IVs?

gintoki complains about all the calls he gets, how stressful residency is, why are rounds so early, that midget takasugi, the long ass working hours, being on call fuckin sucks

both bond over sharing crazy stories about patients or how their day went....also hospital complaints because what healthcare worker doesn’t complain about their hospital

get into “who’s job is more stressful” arguments a lot

on particularly hard (emotionally, physically, mentally) days the other would show up with a bag of food and drinks?

when the two start dating, it’s usually just... hanging out at work?

if somehow by some miracle, they get their breaks together (if at all) they eat together

if they do have days off together they usually spend it sleeping (literally you guys) or relaxing at one of their apartments

sleep deprived healthcare workers lead to many....petty...arguments but they make up by the end

it’s late and i have more thoughts? but i have work tomorrow. but i needed to get this OUT OF MY BRAIN.

also feel free to message me about any of this!! :) asks are always open hehe

#smh anjo #i never see anything about nurses in fandom and i get sad #gintama #ginhiji #headcanons #hospital au #i wish i had talent AHAAHAHA #mostly because i want to see hiji in THOSE BLACK FIGS JOGGERS #anime #Hijikata Toushirou #sakata gintoki #hijigin #ginhijigin

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alexboehm55144 · 3 years

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Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 33 - Midway

The Typhoon had been zipping all over the pacific throughout the US-Chinese war. This was possible because the ship had cloaking technology and could fly. But a large portion of the US navy was still relegated to the eastern half of the ocean, unable to move west due to Chinese forces.

However, with recent US gains, the offensive had started. Naval forces were now planning a significant strike back against the Chinese Navy and Air Force at the island of Midway.

A US armada, including the Typhoon, aircraft carriers, and numerous smaller escort vessels, was already making haste to meet with an equally sized Chinese fleet.

"I expected more airships," Laval said from the bridge of the Typhoon while JayJay sat nearby and filed her claws. "But we're the only one here."

"Airships are still an experimental technology, Laval," Toothdee noted, sitting in the captain's chair and piloting the ship. "Aquatic vessels are still the mainstay for the world's nations."

"Oh great, your telling me our home and HQ is an experimental vessel?"

"Don't worry, Laval, it's perfectly safe."

"Say, have you guys seen Fabienne?" JayJay asked.

"Oh, the reporter. She's probably filming something." Laval said, "I just hope she stays safe when the fighting breaks out."

"She's worked as a war correspondent before," Toothdee said. "She told me she was getting some shots of the ships from one of the outside decks. Speaking of which...."

The Heroes commander turned the radio on again.

"Fabienne, do you read? Are you alright?"

The snow leopard had set up some recording equipment on one of the outside platforms on the Typhoon's exterior. The ocean breeze blew through her fur, and the beautiful blue sea and sky were visible all around her.

"Do you read?"

The reporter's ears perked up, and she grabbed the radio she had been given since her first day on the Heroes ship.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm ok. Just about to film a quick shot of the fleet."

"Ok, finish up quickly and get back inside."

"Will do."

The snow leopard turned off the radio and took one last look to make sure her tripod-mounted camera was lined up properly before clicking the record button. Afterward, she quickly tested the audio and the microphone on her collar and stood in position. She was a meter from the camera, off to the side. Enough so that the device could see the fleet of US warships in the background, along with the reporter. She was careful not to step too close to the edge of the platform. Because while there was a railing, she did not want to risk falling overboard.

"Hello, this is Fabienne Growley, coming to you from aboard the Typhoon in the pacific. US naval forces are moving to secure the region around Midway island. They are being led by Heroes, and their airship, the Typhoon. A Chinese fleet is in the area, hoping to defend their territory from the encroaching US forces. At this time, it is impossible to say what will occur during this battle, but this could be a turning point for the war in the Pacific."

The snow leopard moved over to the camera and stopped the recording before packing up all her equipment. As she entered back into the vessel, Fabienne contacted Toothdee on her radio.

"I'm heading back inside Toothdee. I'll get to my battle station."

"Ok, you'll be safe there."

"I guess she got her shot," Laval said as Toothdee disconnected the call.

"Let's check in with everyone else while we're at it. Our forces are spread out all around the area, so we should be able to cover the entire field of battle." She said, switching the channel on her radio. "Heroes, this is the Typhoon. What's your status?"

"This is captain Boehm. Eris and I are flying the deadly skies."

The 2 young pilots zipped through the air above the fleet in their jets. Eris was flying her blue and white eagle interceptor, one that she had modified to her specifications.

Alex flew a custom F-35, one of the standard jets of the US Air Force.

"Nice flying," Eris said, the pair of jets turning and circling the US fleet.

"Thanks, your pretty good yourself. But your reputation precedes you." Alex said, looking at the tally marks on the jet's hull.

"I like your plane's color scheme," Eris said, drawing attention to the aircraft's metallic exterior, which was dark gray in color. A few shiny red, white and blue lines ran along the wings and near the cockpit as a patriotic gesture.

"Thanks! Lately, I've been wondering if I should paint it with some other pattern or color scheme. But that's not the only thing that's different about this plane. It's been modified with upgrades including stronger weapons and armor."

"Alright, you two, don't you keep your heads in the clouds for too long," Toothdee said, be forcing changing the channel on her radio. "Kion, Jasiri, what's your status."

"Kion here. I'm just taking a look at the cannon on this destroyer. This thing looks like it will pack a serious punch."

The lion touched and inspected the barrel of a forward-mounted turret on a US destroyer. Jasiri was nearby, leaning against a railing and enjoying the sea breeze.

"I'm here as well, Toothdee, just enjoying the calm before the storm."

"Alright, keep your heads on the swivel. Your job is to provide support to other US forces. That's why your stationed where you are. Toothdee out. Nick, Judy, you two better not be making out or something."

"Hey!" Judy said, jumping up from where she was lying on the beach.

"Unfortunately, no." Nick said, "we're just sitting here, relaxing- I mean, guarding, this wonderful- I mean, important beach on the midway island."

"Well, you two better stay on guard, lest the Chinese land on Midway, and it's an atoll, Nick."

"Don't worry, no matter what it is, we'll keep it safe."

Judy was still blushing a bit from embarrassment as Toothdee switched the radio channel over to someone else.

"Well, carrots, that was a rude interruption to our make-out session."

"Haida, Retsuko, are you there?" Toothdee said.

"Oh hey, Toothdee," Retsuko said. She was standing in the cargo bay on the Typhoon, stocked with equipment and whose walls were made of hardened metal. "Haida's in the bathroom, but we're right here on the ship, ready to help however we can."

"Glad to hear it. I know your job isn't the flashiest, your not racing into combat, but your job is no less important. It's because of you two that we get our supplies, and all the paperwork gets sorted."

Retsuko blushed and smiled to herself. Her last job didn't appreciate her at all, so it was nice to hear that she mattered.

"Thank you, you don't know how much that means to me. Oh, and that reminds me...."

The red panda clambered on top of a large crate. It was a crate designed for lion-sized mammals, so it was difficult to scale, but Retsuko managed. She compared the label on the container to the writing on a notepad in her hand.

"....we should be fully stocked. We've got plenty of ammo. I checked twice."

The red panda jumped down from the crate and brushed some dust from the blue pants of her uniform. It wasn't required by regulation, but it made her feel a lot more formal when working, which helped her focus.

"Again, thank you." Toothdee said, "always know that you're a part of the team."

The Heroes leader switched the radio channel for the last time and spoke again.

"Jack and Skye, do you read?"

"We hear you, Toothdee."

The fox and bunny couple were in a small rubber-hulled military boat, speeding through the waves. Skye maneuvered the rubber craft around warships and larger vessels. At the same time, Jack stood ready at the boat's mounted minigun, which was a bit large for a rabbit, but he was up to the task of operating it.

"We're ready and waiting," Jack said, holding on tight as the boat hit a wave.

"Lovely day for a battle," Skye said.

"Keep your heads on the swivel. I'm glad we have the support of 2 ZIA agents during this engagement."

Toothdee turned off the radio and returned her focus to the Typhoon's controls.

"Why do you think the Chinese are even here anyway? We keep stopping their assaults."

"I can only speculate, but they probably just can't stop fighting. China has to demonstrate its strength and that it is the world's foremost superpower. Basically, the Chinese need to prove that they, and their way of thinking, are right. Not to mention victory would put them in a very favorable position on the world stage."

The radio came to life again as the voice of a US sailor came through.

"Enemy vessels spotted!"

On the horizon, black shapes appeared and started to grow closer and closer. Chinese warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy. Accompanying them were planes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force.

"LAVAL! JAYJAY! BATTLE STATIONS!" Toothdee said, prompting the lion and wolf to hop into their weapon positions as armored panels slid up to cover the Typhoon's bridge window.

There was a brief respite of calm, yet the tension was palpable as the two fleets drew closer and closer before entering weapon range.

Missiles and cannons opened fire, projectiles cutting through the sky and either splashing into the sea or impacting enemy warships.

JayJay, Laval, and Toothdee operated the Typhoon and its weapons systems, sending a flurry of shots towards enemy ships and planes. A dark black PLAAF fighter jet that looked heavily modified was leading the charge. Still, it weaved and launched flares to avoid incoming fire.

"that lead aircraft is giving off a unique signature on our sensor equipment," Toothdee noted.

The pair of gunners targeted a formation of hostile bombers with missiles and machine gunfire. Shots were tearing through the wings and into the fuselage while missiles filled the planes with shrapnel. The large airplanes either crashed into the ocean or exploded violently in a massive fireball.

"You know, this is cool and all, but somehow I'd rather be on the ground fighting," JayJay said.

"I get that," Laval said. "We all have our preferred style of combat."

"Agreed." Toothdee said, "It's just sometimes someone has to be around to operate the ship and its weapons. Thankfully you guys are trained for that."

The Typhoon then moved to engage a Chinese destroyer, battering the side of the vessel with cannon shots.

Explosions ripped through the metal of the ship, with the hull starting to fracture and break. After a few moments of sustained bombardment, the boat sank beneath the waves with a loud gurgling noise.

The Typhoon then focused its weapons on a group of smaller watercraft, with PLAN soldiers on the sides of the vessel, firing machine guns missile launchers.

"Damnit, they keep moving too fast!" Laval said, the small vessels zipping at high speed around the typhoon and opening fire.

However, despite this, the Typhoon eventually was able to appropriately target the smaller craft and shred them with weapons fire.

One escort vessel was torn apart with machine guns. While another was utterly obliterated by large cannon shells.

"We're really mopping the floor with them Heroes, but that's going to be a problem," Toothdee said, looking straight ahead towards a hostile aircraft carrier that was launching fighters. "We're going to need some support for that."

The Heroes leader looked out the port side of the ship and saw a US destroyer nearby and quickly radioed for backup.

"Destroyer, USS Gridley, this is the Typhoon. We're heading towards that Chinese carrier and would appreciate the support."

"Affirmative Typhoon, moving to support."

Along with a few other escort vessels and aircraft, the pair of warships made haste towards the PLAN aircraft carrier, accompanied by escort craft.

The vessels closed in on each other, and once the Typhoon was close enough, it opened fire on the carrier with its weapons. The Gridley followed suit, both ships pummeling the carrier with weapons as the escort vessels of both sides battled it out.

The Gridley and Typhoon pulled close, able to wreak massive damage at this close range. Shells ripped through the vessel's hull, and missiles pummeled the bridge.

Kion was operating a mounted machine gun on the outside deck of the Gridley and was spraying the aircraft carrier deck with machine gunfire. Shots tore through equipment, aircraft, and personnel.

"RELOAD!" the lion yelled.

Jasiri was ready to support him, quickly removing the empty magazine and inserting a fresh one, allowing Kion to resume firing. Chinese troops on the carrier deck fired back but were swiftly eliminated.

"Hell yeah!" Kion said, triumphantly raising his fist in the air.

The pair of ships pulled away from the carrier, which was billowing smoke and listing heavily. While the Typhoon moved off to find another target, the Gridley made haste towards an enemy destroyer moving away from the battle zone, having sustained heavy damage.

This hostile ship had been marked as a high-value target, a destroyer that was equipped with a wide range of advanced electronic sensors and weapons. These were used for area denial and electronic warfare operations, along with communications support. Its advanced capabilities were making it a thorn in the side of the American fleet.

"I'm guessing that's our next target," Jasiri said, pointing towards the damaged ship.

Kion laughed, "ha, easy prey."

But the Chinese destroyer was not alone. It was covered by a squadron of planes that moved in to engage the approaching US destroyer. The unit included the jet black PLAAF aircraft that had led the charge earlier. This elite plane was faster and more maneuverable than the others, and its weapons were likely more powerful as well.

The warship's guns opened fire on the incoming aircraft, and even Kion tried engaging them with his mounted machine gun. But the lion and Jasiri needed to duck as explosions went off nearby, missiles hitting and crippling the ship's gun systems.

One fighter was destroyed, and it crashed into the sea nearby with a massive splash. As the jets came around and prepared to make another attack on the destroyer, friendly aircraft arrived and chased the Chinese jets off.

But the Gridley had been left worse for wear, smoke billowing from damaged areas, and alarms blaring all over the ship.

"We better go see what the situation is," Kion said before he and Jasiri entered the warship and moved to the bridge.

The captain of the vessel, a mountain lion, was looking over a computer screen and talking with two other sailors.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kion asked, and the Mountain lion looked up.

"Our weapon systems have been hit. We can't return fire with our main guns. But that enemy vessel we were going after is still active. Its own guns and engines have been knocked out. However, it still has its electronic warfare capabilities."

"So it's been disabled..." Jasiri said, "...but not destroyed."

"Correct. Its systems are wreaking havoc with our own sensors." He pointed to the computer screen, which was partly frozen and full of error messages. "It still poses a serious threat."

"Hmm, then we still need to destroy it. Pull up alongside the vessel, and ready the marines and sailors."

"What? What are you going to do?"

"Something they definitely won't be expecting."

Kion, followed by Jasiri, headed down to the ship's main deck, where friendly troops were preparing themselves. A fox marine opened a weapon container and handed out rifles to other troopers before tossing one to a sailor some distance away.

The two Heroes stood in front of an assembled group of troops ready to receive orders.

The US Navy vessel pulled alongside the Chinese ship as enemy troops swarmed the deck of the hostile craft.

"Follow me!" Kion yelled, raising his sword and roaring, prompting US marines and sailors to raise their weapons and let our battle cries.

Blade in hand, Kion charged towards the PLAN vessel, leaping off the deck of the American ship and landing on the enemy destroyer, cutting down a Chinese sailor as he landed.

The marines and sailors were shocked at what had just transpired. This was a pirate tactic from the age of sail. But with no better options available, the marines followed the lion, jumping onto the deck of the enemy vessel and gunning down hostile sailors.

"Forward!" The young warrior said, sprinting down the length of the ship, cutting down more enemies and deflecting their bullets with his sword.

Jasiri and US troopers were close behind, providing support with gunfire. Some marines even broke out zipline launchers and grappling hooks, using them to board the hostile vessel.

The US troops continued down the deck of the Chinese warship, engaging hostiles and putting them down as they moved. Kion sliced down an enemy trooper that had taken up positions next to a series of different-sized doors. At the same time, Jasiri unloaded her pistols on another enemy standing a few meters away.

The team moved to the series of different-sized doors and prepared to enter. Still, before they could, the doors opened, and enemy personnel of many distinct species came out with their paws or hands raised.

US troops kept their weapons leveled and ordered the PLAN troops down to the ground. But the Chinese wouldn't respond, and they all remained clustered in one big group.

Suddenly one of the enemy sailors, a female panda, yelled out in English.

"imperialist warmongers!"

Two of the surrendered troopers pulled the pins on grenades they had concealed and tossed them at the US sailors.

Jasiri and Kion reacted quickly. Kion swung his sword and hit one of the flying grenades, knocking it into the sea. The other grenade bounced to the deck, and Jasiri bravely kicked it into the water, where both explosives went off with small splashes.

The American troops and Heroes opened fire, gunning down the Chinese sailors, lest they make another attempt at fighting back with more concealed weapons. Kion even cut down one of the sailors who was starting to pull a knife.

"Damnit, what a shame," Jasiri said as the enemy troops dropped to the deck.

"They did it to themselves," Kion said.

"Yeah, your right."

Before the US sailors and marines could move inside the vessel, a small rubber boat passed close by the ship, and the Chinese gunner on board opened fire with the mounted weapon. Two marines and a sailor were taken out as the boat pulled away from the massive warship.

Kion cursed and took cover before Jack came through on the radio.

"We've got you, Kion."

Jack and Skye raced by in their boat, the fox keeping hot on the heels of the PLAN boat. Jack aimed the minigun and fired, bullets ripping through the enemy sailors. The enemy boat stopped, its operators dead, with Jack and Skye racing by, rounding a friendly warship and heading towards Midway Atoll.

"More Chinese!" Jack said, and Skye maneuvered towards a pair of hostile sailors on jet skis, armed with pistols. The sailors opened fire with their weapons, forcing the fox to duck in cover. Jack was able to engage the jet skis, taking them down.

Another jet ski with two troopers on it appeared. The second soldier on board opened fire with an assault rifle. However, he was also quickly eliminated.

"Look! Over there!" Skye said, pointing to a group of watercraft, including landing vehicles, heading towards Midway Atoll.

"Get us over there," Jack said, readying himself. At the same time, Skye maneuvered the boat into a formation of US watercraft and helicopters. Even two troopers were piloting small personal hovercraft.

The US boats and aircraft closed the distance to the hostile vessels, and once it was within firing range, Jack opened upon them with the minigun. A hail of lead took down another jet-ski and another rubber boat.

Suddenly the jet black Chinese fighter dived down towards the US watercraft, launching missiles. The missiles took down a US helicopter, sending it crashing into the sea. Another barrage of rockets destroyed a US patrol boat.

"Whoa! Ok, watch out for that!" Jack said.

Skye pulled alongside a slightly larger enemy escort craft. Jack opened fire as the gunners on board the boat returned fire. The ZIA agent took down one of the gunners, then focused fire on the vessel's hull and bridge.

The vessel soon started to smoke before it stopped moving, dead in the water.

"Landing craft!" Jack said, noticing a group of marine lizard vehicles getting closer and closer to Midway island. These were identical to the vehicles that had deployed troops during the first assault on Zootopia.

Skye pulled alongside one of the vehicles. Jack fired into the troop compartment, killing many of the Chinese soldiers being transported inside the vessel. Jack then focused his fire on the control area of the boat, hoping to kill the driver or destroy the control system.

After filling part of the vehicle with bullets, the landing craft lost control and crashed into another landing craft. Both vessels flipped over, leaving Chinese soldiers treading in the water around the wreckage.

But more landing craft had reached Midway island, and the hostile troopers onboard disembarked and charged towards the American soldiers who were set up in defensive positions in trenches. Nick and Judy were also in place, behind a rocky outcropping. The pair of ZPD officers felt a bit out of their element in the island environment. It was not urban at all, unlike the city of Zootopia, their usual stomping grounds. But they were still determined to give the battle they're all.

"South blade incoming!" An American soldier yelled before being gunned down by the fast and dark black PLAAF fighter jet that was strafing the beach to support advancing troops.

"South blade?" Judy asked as defending troops returned fire.

Nick radioed his human friend, firing arrows at the incoming enemies. "Hey Alex, would you-"

"Give me one sec, Nick."

The human-focused on a Chinese aircraft he was flying towards, flak in the air all around him. He took the shot, a missile streaking through the sky and impacting the ship's bridge, obliterating the glass windows and the mammals on the bridge, before the captain pulled his jet back up into the sky.

"I'm sorry, go ahead."

"Would you happen to know about enemy soldiers called 'South Blade'?"

"South Blade? Those are special forces soldiers capable of air, land, and sea operations. Akin to US navy seals. Eris and I will move to provide you with air support."

"Ok, better switch to something a little more powerful," Nick said, drawing a death arrow from his quiver. He fired a hail of arrows, downing three PLA troopers in quick succession.

Judy used a standard-issue ZPD pistol, supported by a tranquilizer pistol that could down even the largest mammals.

A human commander joined the two ZPD officers behind their rocky outcropping and surveyed the situation on the beach. Two more marine lizard landing craft were incoming, bringing more troops to the battle.

"Demolitions team! Get up here now!" The commander yelled.

A pair of armadillos, who were fantastic with explosives due to their natural armor, ran towards the human commander with rocket launchers. Then the team each got down on one knee and aimed their weapons.

"Fire!"

The rocket launchers fired, their projectiles streaking towards the two incoming Chinese landing craft and hitting them. The vehicles exploded in a bright orange flash and a shower of metal.

"Nice shot," Nick said. "I wish I could do that."

"You should get some arrows with explosives on them," Judy said.

Before Nick could respond, a barrage of gunfire struck nearby.

A PLA bear soldier, armed with heavy armor and an LMG, moved towards Nick and Judy, opening fire with his weapon. Simultaneously, an otter diving team with SMGs moved out of the waves and onto the shore, joining their bear ally in engaging US forces.

"Yeah... I really wish I had some explosive arrows right now!" Nick said as everyone behind the rocky outcropping took cover.

"We've got you!" Eris said over the radio as the roar of jet engines filled the sky.

Eris's eagle interceptor came in low over the beach, opening fire with its front-mounted chi blasters. Bolts of energy peppered the hostile forces on the beach, neutralizing many of the enemy soldiers.

Alex's jet followed behind, strafing the beach with machine gunfire. The planes turned around for another pass on the beach.

The bear heavy weapons soldier angrily turned his LMG towards the sky. Still, he was obliterated by missiles from the American jets.

Explosions tore through Chinese soldiers on the ground, reducing their landing craft to burning husks.

Nick, Judy, and US troops cheered and watched the jets fly above.

"Thanks for the save, guys," Judy said as the jets headed back out to sea.

"Eris, prepare to target remaining Chinese naval vessels," Alex said, pulling alongside his eagle companion.

"Way ahead of you, literally!" Eris said, engaging her afterburners and pulling forward. Captain Boehm laughed and throttled up to chase after her. The aircraft returned to the battle zone, where the United States and China continued to engage. But the scales had been tipped, with the US looking more likely to come out on top.

"Let's target that escort vessel." The captain said, prompting both jets to nosedive towards a PLAN ship. The aircraft fired hails of machine-gun bullets and chi blasts, ripping through the Chinese vessel.

Smoke and fire erupted from the ship as the aircraft pulled around for another attack run.

"Missiles away!" Eris said, the pair of jets firing missiles, streaking low above the water before impacting the hostile escort ship with a massive explosion.

The vessel started to list and soon sank beneath the waves, leaving behind only debris and stranded crew.

"We've got incoming!" Eris said, noticing a group of PLAFF bomber planes moving towards a US aircraft carrier, escorted by some fighter jets.

"This is Hero leader." Captain Boehm said into his radio. "Requesting immediate fighter reinforcements. Hostile bomber squadron moving towards the friendly carrier."

The voice of an airmammal came through the radio.

"Affirmative Hero leader, fighter squadron moving to assist. ETA 2 minutes out."

"It's going to take some time for them to get here, Eris."

"Well then, let's give them something to shoot at!"

The pair of pilots gunned their engines and made haste towards the enemy bomber formation. Pouncing on the enemy aircraft, Eris scored a critical hit on one of the bombers, causing it to lose control and crash into a Chinese fighter nearby.

Alex fired a salvo of missiles that took down one enemy aircraft and heavily damaged another. The escort craft reacted and began to engage the American planes. Bullets whizzed by Eris, the eagle having to fly erratically to avoid them.

An enemy jet fired a missile at Alex, who deployed flares to interfere with the weapon's heat-seeking capability.

The engaging aircraft danced across the sky, turning and maneuvering with immense speed and agility, pushing the machines and their pilots to the limit. Whenever a hostile plane was in their sights, the pilots opened fire with machine guns or missiles.

Eris and Alex gained the upper hand, not sustaining much damage while dishing out plenty of damage to PLAAF planes. But the bombers continued to near the American aircraft carrier.

"Eris, you keep the fighters distracted. I'll go after the bombers!"

"You got it, Alex!" The young warrior said, looping around in her aircraft, getting behind a Chinese jet, and reducing it to scrap metal.

Captain Boehm pulled behind one of the enemy bombers, unloading into it with machine guns and rockets. Flames and smoke came from the plane, which began to rapidly lose altitude.

"Fighter support arrived!" Said a voice through the radio as more US aircraft entered the battlefield, engaging the remaining bombers and fighters.

The Heroes captain cheered and pulled around to rejoin Eris. The eagle had taken down two Chinese aircraft, but a third plane had gotten behind her and opened fire with its machine guns. Eris flew erratically and tried to shake off her pursuer, but to no avail.

"He's on me!" Eris said.

"I'm on him!" Alex responded, pulling behind the attacking jet.

The captain pressed a button on the control stick, firing the jet's machine guns. Bullets tore through the enemy aircraft, and it dove towards the sea, the pilot ejecting.

"Whew, I owe you one, Alex."

"No problem, don't mention it."

Suddenly, a high-speed jet zoomed by, the object only looking like a black blur as it passed by.

"Ok, that's something new," Eris said.

"It's not showing up on my radar as friendly." Alex said, "Assume it's hostile."

The pair pursued the aircraft into a cloud, with the other American fighters capable of finishing off the remaining Chinese planes.

Alex and Eris passed through the cloud, obscuring their view. In that brief moment of blindness, the enemy struck.

Gunfire suddenly struck both American aircraft, forcing the two pilots to move erratically to throw off the enemy. As the planes swerved, they exited the cloud, and pursuing them were 3 Chinese fighters. There were 2 standard fighters, but also a dark black and extremely customized aircraft leading the charge.

The 2 fighters went after Eris, while the head plane went straight for Alex, a voice coming through the radio.

"Hello, hero leader."

Captain Boehm recognized the voice as his own. It was his dark counterpart.

"You! Guess that explains the unique jet."

"I could say the same of you."

"Eris, where are you?"

"I've got some jets on me! Might be able to handle them, though." Eris said, dodging the incoming fire.

Alex also had to dodge and roll to avoid his counterpart's machine gunfire. The captain pulled around and opened up with machine-gun fire of his own, forcing his adversary to go on the defensive.

The aircraft flew circles around each other, both pilots trying to get the other jet in their sights. When the enemy plane was in the gun-sights, the attacker opened up with machine guns or missiles, forcing the pilot to roll or deploy flares.

As he turned his plane, Captain Boehm's vision went hazy as he felt himself about to blackout due to the immense G-forces, prompting him to slow down.

"Not a bad plane." Dark Alex said. "Engines and weapons on par with my own."

"Well, let's see who's jet is better!" The heroes captain said, firing a barrage of missiles. But the dark counterpart rolled his plane and avoided the projectiles, returning fire with machine guns.

"All US fighter craft in the vicinity!" Came a voice through the radio. "We have another enemy bomber squadron incoming!"

"Shit! Someone get on those bombers!" Alex said into the radio, knowing that those aircraft were headed for a US carrier, a ship with thousands of crew. But in this brief moment where he was focusing on the communications, Dark Alex made his move, hitting the Heroes Captain with a barrage of bullets.

"Your care. Your drive to put others before yourself... it is a weakness." The counterpart said. "It holds you back from what you need to do to achieve true strength. You'll always feel yourself chained to others. I learned that lesson long ago and heeded it."

"So that's it, you just think I'm weak?"

"Yes. You are nothing. Both you and your nation are weak and hopelessly lost. It is time for a new power to rise, which is why both you and the United States must die. So new warriors may take your place."

"Oh, so I'm just a target for you to take down and prove yourself? So you can prove your strength and establish your place in the world?"

"This is nothing more than natural selection in the wild. The strong creature devouring the weak one."

"Last time I checked, Heroes took down more of you and your band than you have done to us."

"And you shall pay dearly for it!"

Dark Alex fired a salvo of missiles. With Captain Boehm's craft already damaged, the missiles struck. The Heroes leader felt his plane shake violently as the deafening sound of an explosion and rupturing metal rang through his ears.

The captain hit the eject button, the canopy breaking away, and the seat blasting out of the damaged aircraft.

As the parachute unfolded, the captain looked around for his counterpart's aircraft. He didn't see anything, so Alex turned his attention to where he was going to land.

Below him was a PLAN aircraft carrier and an American destroyer, both heavily damaged and sitting dead in the water over a dozen meters apart. But in the water between the 2 warships was an assortment of debris. Crates of supplies had fallen off the ships, floating in the water. A variety of random scrap and wreckage littered the area. Made of all sorts of materials and even smaller vehicles that had been wrecked. A Chinese fighter floated in the water nearby, having slid off the deck of the carrier. A damaged US patrol boat sat partially sunk in the water, listing hard to the side.

The captain braced himself as he touched down in the sea, unclipping himself from his ejector seat. The Hero leader started to look around, looking up towards the US destroyer and noticing something on it. A Chinese helicopter had crashed into the vessel. Now it was sitting precariously on the deck of the ship, hanging over the water.

As the captain continued to try and get his bearings, he heard a roaring engine growing closer and closer. Looking up, the captain saw his counterpart's jet incoming, prompting Boehm to quickly swim into a large cargo container partially floating in the sea.

Dark Alex's jet engaged hover mode and started to inspect the area, searching for any sign of captain Boehm.

The captain, however, was cursing under his breath and watching the hostile plane. His plane had been destroyed, and he only had a pistol and knife to defend himself with. But this could be a valuable chance to take out his dark counterpart.

First, the captain used his knife to cut up some cargo inside the container that had been covered in a dark blue cloth. The human draped the dark cloth over his head, which would help camouflage him. Spotting the damaged patrol boat nearby, the captain waited till the hostile jet had turned away before diving into the waves and swimming as fast as possible towards the patrol boat.

Reaching the boat, Alex scrambled inside and examined the weapon controls. The main gun was still operational, and the captain immediately targeted his counterpart's jet.

The weapon fired at the unsuspecting jet, shots slamming into the plane's armor and dealing significant damage. As Alex dove back into the water, the enemy jet turned around and took aim.

Dark Alex's jet fired a missile at the wrecked patrol boat, obliterating it. Shards of debris rained down into the water near captain Boehm as he swam his way through the area.

Although damaged, the jet continued to search the area, forcing Boehm to dive underwater when he couldn't get out of the jet's view fast enough. If he came to the surface at the wrong time, the plane would shred him with its weapons. But stay underwater too long, and the captain would drown. All the while, Dark Alex scanned the water and debris for his counterpart. He could not lose. He had a customized jet, while his enemy was simply flailing around in the water. Nothing more perfectly represented the discontinuity between the pair of warriors. One was weak, and the other was strong.

Coming up to the surface out of view of the enemy plane, captain Boehm spotted another cargo container nearby floating in the water. This container was marked with symbols identifying the contents as explosives.

The young warrior made his way over to the container, hiding behind debris and diving beneath the waves when he had to keep out of sight of his counterpart's view.

Once he reached the container, he opened it up, finding explosive material and detonation equipment. Boehm quickly armed some of the explosives, setting up a timer. Once everything was ready, it was time to get his counterpart's attention.

"HEY, OVER HERE!" Alex said, waving his hands and trying to get noticed. The deception worked, and once the jet turned towards him, the captain dove back beneath the waves as the jet fired its machine guns. The bullets missed the young warrior and hit the damaged aircraft carrier as Alex swam as fast as he could underwater.

Once at a safe distance, the human came to the surface and gasped for air, the constant diving taking a toll. Meanwhile, the hostile jet advanced towards the location where Alex had been, searching for the captain. But then the container of explosives detonated, a massive fireball engulfing Dark Alex's jet. The aircraft nearly lost control, spinning and turning before its pilot could regain control.

As the jet turned towards him again, captain Boehm retreated into the US destroyer. Swimming through a hole that had been blown in the side of the ship by weapons fire. However, the enemy jet must have seen something because it moved closer to investigate.

Swimming around inside the ship, the captain realized he was in some sort of control room. There was equipment for controlling electrical systems, engines, and the ship's ballast tanks. Alex suddenly realized something and immediately swam over to the machinery that controlled the ship's ballast tanks, taking care to avoid any exposed electrical equipment. He listened closely and looked towards the hole in the side of the destroyer. His counterpart was still there. With that, Alex activated the pumps, filling the ballast tanks along one side of the ship with water while removing water from the tanks on the other side of the vessel.

The ship slowly listed more to the side. Eventually, the Chinese helicopter hanging from the destroyer fell off the side of the vessel, hitting Dark Alex's jet as it splashed into the water. The hostile plane was heavily damaged, smoke emitting from its engines. Its villainous pilot was filled with rage. How could his top-of-the-line aircraft be bested by his inferior counterpart, and what could be found amongst wreckage. He angrily fired at the damaged US destroyer but could only get a few shots off before the weapon system stopped working due to the damage. Dark Alex turned his aircraft back towards the sky. With no other offensive measures, he started to limp back towards a still active Chinese aircraft carrier.

Hearing the sounds of aircraft engines fade, captain Boehm emerged from the destroyer, catching a glimpse of his counterpart's black jet flying into the distance. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself. With nothing more than wreckage, the Heroes leader defeated his dark double, who had been piloting an elite aircraft. But his pride suddenly turned to concern as he heard another aircraft approaching. He spun around, wondering how he was going to defeat this second enemy plane. But he breathed a sigh of relief once he saw that it was Eris's dark blue eagle interceptor. The eagle pilot put the aircraft in hover mode and opened the cockpit, flapping her wings and flying over to the human in the water.

"So, how'd your big fancy jet work out?" Eris laughed, hovering just above her friend.

"Just get me out of here," Alex said, reaching his arms up towards the eagle.

Eris flew around behind the human and grabbed him under the arms, rapidly flapping her wings to lift him out of the sea.

"Your all wet!" Eris said, "water is heavy!"

Despite the weight of the water, Eris was able to pick up the human and deposit him into the passenger's seat behind the pilot's chair in the cockpit of her interceptor.

"Try not to get water all over me or my controls." The eagle said, sitting back down, closing the canopy, and flying off back up into the sky.

"Get me back to the Typhoon. I need to get back out there." the captain said.

"Get back out there? Look around you."

The captain looked out the cockpit window at the area around Midway. Wreckage was strewn everywhere as ships sank beneath the waves. But there was a lot more wreckage from PLAN vessels than US naval vessels. The Chinese had suffered a massive defeat, stopped dead in their tracks by the US navy, marines, and air force.

"What about that second squadron of bombers?"

"Don't worry, Alex, I dealt with them. They're nothing but wreckage now."

Eris flew low and slow over Midway island, and the pair could see the smoldering wreckage of PLAAF bombers and fighter planes. They also spotted Nick and Judy capturing some Chinese soldiers, with backup from American troops. Jack and Skye had parked their boat nearby and were helping to oversee the operation.

Eris then turned towards the Chinese vessel Kion and Jasiri had helped capture. The interceptor did a victory lap around the ship as US forces on the deck raised their fists and cheered, including the two Heroes aboard the vessel.

The eagle pilot then moved towards the US fleet, steaming past the wreckage of burning enemy vessels and collecting stranded sailors. At the head of the armada was the Typhoon, the crown jewel of the US fleet. The captain could barely believe it.

"Wow….Looks like we won." He said.

"Heh, you can say that again."

Some Chinese naval vessels and jets had managed to flee. But most of their fleet had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. US ships cut through the waves while American aircraft streaked through the sky. No PLAN forces were left to hold the line. Midway belonged to the United States.

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whumphoarder · 4 years

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You Still Got Us

Summary: Peter is having an off-day, which unfortunately coincides with an Avengers’ level mission. After watching the kid take a number of close calls, Tony has no choice but to bench Peter mid-fight.

Word count: 2,461

Genre: angst, emotional hurt/comfort

Link to read on Ao3

A/N: Written as part of @irondadsecretsanta 2019! Merry Christmas @garbotuesday! Hope you enjoy :D

Thanks to @xxx-cat-xxx and @sallyidss for beta reading and to @awesomesockes for the idea

It was pretty clear that Peter was having an off-day.

Tony first noticed the signs during Steve’s pre-mission briefing that morning when the kid repeatedly kept sneaking glances at his phone. That seemed a bit out of character given Peter’s usual reverence toward the captain, but Tony excused it on the basis that a) it was a pretty straightforward mission, b) they’d been over the exact specifications of the building they were going to be infiltrating four times already, and c) Cap could be boring as hell.

Peter seemed a bit preoccupied during their flight to the rural New Mexican town, but nothing too out of the ordinary. He nodded along to all of the team’s tactical discussions and appeared to understand his role in the plan. Later, when the kid tripped over his own feet while exiting the quinjet, Tony chalked it up to nerves.

But the final straw was when Peter misread Steve’s hand signal to hold his position as an order to strike. That mistake is what caused the kid to charge directly into a room full of six heavily-armed guards, completely by himself.

Cursing, Tony quickly scrambles out from behind the crate that’s been shielding him from view. The rest of the team is already mobilizing, thankfully used to improvisation. Natasha takes out one of the men with a roundhouse kick to the jaw while Steve and Clint converge on two more, quickly disarming them.

Another guard hurls a heavy metal table in Tony’s direction and takes off running toward the backdoor. Tony’s just started after him when he hears Sam’s urgent warning over the comms.

“Heads up, Spidey!”

Tony whirls around. Peter—who is staring down at his own wrist, frantically tapping the side of his webshooter mechanism—barely has time to look up before the fifth guard aims his gun directly at the kid’s head.

Instantly, Tony raises his hand and blasts the weapon right out of the guard's grip. The man gives a strangled cry of pain as he clutches his now burned hand to his chest. Taking advantage of that momentary distraction, Tony switches his repulsor setting to stun and fires again. This time he blows the guard clear across the room. Under his faceplate, Tony grins.

(It’s the little things.)

Unfortunately, he doesn’t get to bask in the satisfaction for long. A split-second later, a burst of energy slams into Tony’s chest plate. The force sends him hurtling backwards into the wall. Tony grunts sharply as pain explodes in his ribcage.

Peter races over to him. “Oh god, Mr. Stark, are you okay?” he blurts out, his tone borderline hysterical. “I’m so sorry! My webshooter jammed and I—”

“Get down!” Clint shouts.

Tony swears sharply, yanking Peter down with him just as another photon blast shoots over their heads. This time it’s so close that Tony swears he can see smoke wafting up from the top of Peter’s mask.

“Shit, kid…” Tony gasps out, his chest heaving as he struggles to catch his breath. “You alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Peter assures him, gulping hard. He’s sitting on the ground now, looking more dazed than anything else. “I just, uh, didn’t see him there.”

Over the comms, Tony hears Steve report that the two remaining guards have just escaped through the southwest exit. Sam and Natasha immediately take off after them. Peter starts scrambling to his feet like he intends to follow, but Tony grabs his wrist.

“Oh hell no. Don’t even think about it,” he snaps. “You’re staying right here.”

“What? No!” Peter protests, trying fruitlessly to twist his arm out of his mentor’s iron grip. “I’m fine—I’m not even hurt!”

“No, but you will be if you can’t get your head in the game,” Tony retorts, his gaze traveling around the room. Out of the team, Barton seems to be the only one left. The archer has an arrow trained threateningly at the pile of groaning men on the ground.

“Yo, Legolas!” Tony hollers, causing the man to glance back at him. “You got this?”

Clint smirks. “Absolutely. These guys aren’t going anywhere,” he says, nodding his head toward the incapacitated guards. “Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.”

Tony rolls his eyes at the archer. "Yeah, well let me know if it gets to be difficult, difficult, lemon difficult..." he mutters. Still holding Peter’s wrist, he pulls the kid with him behind a stack of crates in the back corner of the warehouse. He retracts his helmet to look directly at Peter. “Alright, start talking,” he orders. “What is going on with you today?”

“Nothing,” Peter says tightly. Even in the mask, he won’t meet Tony’s gaze. “’m fine.”

“No, you’re not fine—you’re unfocused. You’re sloppy,” Tony argues. “Sloppy doesn’t fly in the big leagues, kid. Sloppy’s liable to get you killed.”

”Right, no, I know that. My webshooter is just clogged, but I can fix it!" Peter babbles. He resumes smacking the side of the mechanism. "I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I just—” With a final smack, the blockage is released and a string of web shoots out of the device, adhering Peter’s foot to the ground. He groans. “Aw, c’mon...”

Tony heaves out an exasperated sigh as the kid proceeds to clumsily spray his foot with web solvent. “Alright, that’s it, I’m benching you,” he declares. “Go back to the quinjet and wait for us to finish up.”

“Wh-What?” Peter stammers. He shakes his head frantically. “No, no I’m fine, Mr. Stark! I’ll focus! It was just—”

“Nope,” Tony cuts him off. “If you can’t take this mission seriously, then you shouldn’t be on it.” He’s starting to get heated now. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you constantly on your phone this morning. I don’t know what you think is so important on there, but you can crush candy and fire angry birds at green pigs another time.”

“I-I wasn’t,” Peter mumbles, still looking down.

"Then what were you doing?" Tony demands.

Peter bites his lower lip. His voice is very small when he answers, “Waiting for a text.”

“A text?” Tony balks. He’s in genuine disbelief. “You’ve been begging me and Cap to let you come along on the real missions for months now, and when we finally do, rather than following orders and keeping up, you spend your time, what? Texting your girlfriend?”

Peter’s hugging his arms around his middle now. He shakes his head slightly, his words coming out in barely a whisper. “No. May.”

Tony frowns in confusion. “Your aunt?”

Peter nods, his lower lip starting to quiver. “She… um, she found a lump a couple days ago? On her, uh…” He gestures vaguely in front of his chest.

Tony’s heart sinks with the realization. He exhales slowly. “Oh bud…”

Inhaling shakily, Peter starts to ramble. “Like, it might be nothing and I know I shouldn’t jump to conclusions or anything before the tests come back because who knows if it’s cancer or just like, fatty tissue or something? She said it could be that and it might be no big deal so I shouldn’t get worried yet, but… but like...” He draws in another shuddery inhale. “May’s mom died of breast cancer when she was only like, forty. And I know that doesn’t mean that May has it or anything but it can run in families and so"—he sucks in a sharp breath—"I just, I mean...she’s all I have left, a-and…”

Peter breaks off into a choked sob, and Tony sets a hand heavily on his shoulder.

“I just… I ca-can’t lose her too, Mr. Stark!” he cries.

“It’s okay,” Tony whispers, rubbing his hand up and down over Peter’s arm. “It’s alright, kid…”

Through his earpiece, he hears Nat report that she’s just taken down the final guard. Sam cracks a quick joke about Black Widow’s head-locking skills before Steve reports that he’s discovered the weapons distribution area. It all sounds pretty well under control.

Lowering his hand, Tony steps backwards and taps his earpiece with two fingers. “Hey, I need to take the kid back to the jet,” he says quietly. “I’ll be back in ten or so to finish up.”

“Roger that,” Steve replies. “Is he injured?”

Tony hesitates. Peter has tugged his mask halfway up over his face now and is scrubbing at his cheeks roughly with the back of his hand. “Not physically," he replies after a pause. "But he’s… he’s done for today.”

The walk back to the quinjet is brief and silent, the only sounds being Peter’s occasional sniffs. He’s clearly trying his best to pull it together, so Tony just lets him be.

Once back onboard, Peter immediately sinks down into his seat, removing the mask entirely. Tony grabs a bottle of water and a protein bar from their supplies and holds them out to him, but the kid just shakes his head.

“I’m good,” he whispers.

“Doubtful,” Tony replies. He sets the items down on Peter’s lap anyway.

Peter bends down to reach into his backpack, which is stowed under the seat, and fishes his phone out with trembling fingers. He scrolls through to check his notifications, and then sighs.

“Anything?” Tony asks.

Peter shakes his head. “Not yet.” He lowers the phone back down and looks up at his mentor. “I’m really sorry about the mission,” he says quietly. “I shouldn’t have come today. That was really stupid and I just put everybody in danger. I was just so worried and I thought it might take my mind off it, but...” A stray tear runs down from the corner of his eye.

With a sigh, Tony presses the button to fully retract his armor. He then plops down on the closest seat, wincing as pain shoots through his now unsupported ribs. “Look. I’m not going to say what you did was okay, because it really wasn't"—Peter bites his lip and gives a solemn nod—“But at the same time, I'd be lying if I told you I’ve never done anything similar.” Tony pauses for a beat. “Emotions suck.”

At that, Peter huffs out a short, empty laugh. “Yeah. Agreed.”

They sit there for a moment, before Peter asks hesitantly, “Uh, are you going to head back now?”

Originally, Tony was only intending to stay until the kid was situated and then get back to the warehouse to help confiscate the weapons, but the quiver in Peter’s lip is giving him pause. The team probably doesn’t need him, per se—the hard part is basically over.

Tony shrugs. “I think Cap’s got it handled. Plus”—he presses his hand gingerly to the bruise on his ribcage—“this could probably do with some ice. Do you think you could…?” He flaps his hand in the direction of the ship’s medical supplies.

Peter’s eyes widen. “Oh! Yeah, of course.” He hops up from his seat and retrieves the first aid kit. He locates a single-use ice pack which he snaps and shakes to activate the chemicals.

“Here,” Peter says, handing it over. “Uh, how bad is it?” he asks nervously. “Do you want some painkillers or anything?”

Tony takes the ice pack with a nod of thanks. He’s had enough broken ribs in his life to know that these are likely just bruised—at worst, cracked. The injury is only ranking about a three or four on the pain scale, which is far below his usual threshold for sitting things out. But if the kid needs something else to focus on, he figures a break won’t kill him.

“Sure, if you’ve got any,” Tony says, keeping his tone casual.

Peter locates and doses out three Tylenol for Tony, shaking them into his mentor’s palm before grabbing him a fresh bottle of water.

“Thanks,” Tony says. He swallows them down and then adjusts his position in his seat, considering for a moment the best way to keep Peter's mind occupied while they wait. “Hey," he begins, "have I ever told you about the time Clint tried to free climb the outside surface of a three-story building?”

Peter shakes his head.

“Oh, it’s a doozy,” Tony remarks with a chuckle, settling deeper into his chair. “Alright, so it was Valentine’s day, which I only happen to remember because Cap insisted on making these heart-shaped pancakes for everyone, which set off the fire alarm...”

Over the next ten minutes, Tony recounts the story with as much embellishment and vivid imagery as he can muster. Peter gives the occasional single breathy laugh or nod as appropriate, which satisfies his mentor that his less-than-subtle distraction tactics are at least partially working.

“...luckily, Thor caught him before he hit the ground,” Tony concludes. “You know those viral videos where the firefighter catches the baby being dropped out of an apartment window? Same concept, except the firefighter was an alien god and the baby was a grown man in cargo shorts. Still screamed about the same amount though.”

With a short laugh, Peter checks his phone once more. He then sighs and shakes his head slightly before setting the device back facedown on his thigh.

Tony takes that as his cue to continue. “...Speaking of screaming, have you heard the one about how he once posed as a camel trainer in Australia, and led a group of—”

Just then, Peter’s phone buzzes.

Eyes going wide, his hand shoots out for the device so fast that his fumbling fingers send it clattering to the floor. He drops to his knees and picks it up, quickly turning it over to see the text.

For a few seconds, Peter just stares at the message, unblinking, and Tony waits for a response with bated breath.

Then suddenly, Tony’s watching tears well up in the kid’s eyes. His own heart drops to his stomach and all at once it's 1991 again and Jarvis is knocking on his bedroom door, informing him that a state trooper is here, that something terrible has occurred, that his parents are—

A choked sob from Peter knocks Tony back to the present. The kid is still knelt on the floor, pressing a fist to his lips, shoulders shaking from the effort of keeping quiet.

“N-Negative,” Peter manages to say through the tears. “The bi-biopsy was... it was negative. No cancer.”

Ignoring the protests from his ribs, Tony slides out of his own seat to join him on the floor. He pulls the boy in to his chest for a tight hug. “It’s okay, Pete,” he says quietly. “It’s okay. I got you.”

Peter’s sobs are wracking his entire frame, but Tony only holds him tighter as he cries.

“It’s alright, kid,” Tony breathes, rubbing one hand up and down Peter’s back. “You still got her. You still got us.”

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#irondad secret santa #irondad fic #angst #Emotional Hurt/Comfort #crying #crying peter #hurt peter parker #hurt/comfort #mentions of cancer #anxiety #mcu writing #my fic

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llodblinky · 3 years

Text

Chapter 6:

After touching down on the landing pad. Cirina and Perimu head swiftly to the Rogue’s Guild hideout. Along the way Jacke finds them and tells them to hurry, urgent news awaits them. Once they’re settled in, Jacke begins.

“Well shit is about to hit the fan soon, from what we’ve heard Maelstrom command has received an anonymous letter stating that the ‘true leaders will rise from the remains of Limsa and create a truly free sea.’”

Everyone is quiet, aware of the means to accomplish this. They all look around the room, Jacke breaks the silence.

“Alright, I’m sure Maelstrom and the Yellow Jackets have it covered, but just in case we’re gonna have eyes and ears all around and be ready to help stop. This is our home after all.”

Everyone cheers and claps. Cirina stands up, and begins to speak.

“I can take the sector near the smithys’ guilds. Nearby open area and not a bad place to set up to sink a large portion of Limsa.”

Jacke nods in agreement, Perimu raises his hand to join Cirina on watch there. V’kebbe volunteers to take a 3 man team to watch around the Aetheryte. Jacke says he’ll keep an eye near the aft castle. Once the teams are set and everyone picks a sector they all part and go on lookout for the renegade pirates.

All set, the rogues lie in wait for this group to reveal themselves.

Cirina is chatting with Perimu when they notice a couple of people lugging a large chest in the alleys opposite of their position.

"Perimu, look." Cirina slyly moves her eyes towards the men to signal her compatriot of their movements. He glances and nods in affirmation, the two move gradually, tailing the suspicious group. They are lead to an alley that leads to the plaza, Maelstrom HQ, and the docks. A staging area perhaps?

After a few moments, others appear and share details of the plan. It is revealed that the large chest is indeed the bomb, and they’re planning on leveling Limsa and throwing the city into chaos. The Black Sarcophagus from a month ago is the bomb!? Back when she, X, and Llod fought those men. It's them again, The Reformists. She thinks to herself.

From behind, three men discover them. Outnumbered if the rest are to surround them they deploy smoke bombs and retreat so they can inform Jacke. The duo barely escape their clutches..

After rendezvousing with Jacke, he directs Cirina to go get V'kebbe and the others. Perimu to observe the Aftcastle area and stay hidden.

“We'll need everyone if we're to come out on top. Everyone know their roles?"

They nod and move in the defense of Limsa.

After arriving at V'kebbe's post Cirina realizes she is nowhere in sight. Nor the team she had brought with her. A commotion takes Cirina's notice and she rushes toward it, the markets. She wonders if V'kebbe's team had made a move. Upon arriving, Cirina sees some of The Reformists holding a couple hostage, and making a rather large commotion of it at that.

Could this be a diversion for their boss and the rest?

As she finishes her thought, two rogues drop from above and seperate the hostages from their captors.

"Oi, what're you stupid blokes doin? Git em!"

At the command, the two are surrounded, but the odds are again turned as V'kebbe and the other two of her team attack from behind, neutralizing a few of the goons.

"Thank goodness." Cirina remarks to herself.

The two sides break out into a scuffle, the civilians start to move away from the scene and the Yellow Jackets move in.

"Rogues!? What's goin on ere?"

"Long story short, these guys are with The Reformists, and are planning on blowing Limsa up. So, lend a girl a hand would ye?" V'kebbe responds.

Finally noticing Cirina, V'kebbe shouts toward her.

"Oi fledgling, find Jacke and tell em that they're aiming for the Aftcastle, got it!?" V’kebbe yells.

Cirina nods and goes to run, but is met with a few more of the Reformist goons. They swing at her, but she is able to gracefully avoid them while jumping overhead and landing behind them. With no time to lose she opts to keep running to find Jacke with no time to lose. Luckily she isn't followed as more Yellow Jackets arrive on the scene.

Once she catches up to Jacke, who is now surrounded by three more goons, she takes one out swiftly and relays the news to Jacke.

"Aftcastle eh? Figured as much. Perimu should still be in the area. Be a dear and back him up alright? I can handle these two with both me arms tied." Jacke jests.

"Ok Jacke, best of luck." She says.

“Ah who needs luck when you make your own?” Jacke responds

Cirina disengages and rushes toward the Aftcastle. Both of the goons lunge for Jacke, but he simply sidesteps them and gives them both a swift kick to their asses.

"Really, that's the best you lot got?" He snickers. “Well at least you’ll be a decent challenge.”

After arriving, Cirina takes cover, scanning the area for Perimu. She spots him and V’kebbe attempting to fight The Reformists and their leader Aisibhir who are setting up the Black Sarcophagus. They are unfortunately outmatched in number and pushed back. Aisibhir laughs and snorts as he knows that nothing can stop them from realizing their goal of a ‘free’ Limsa for pirates.

“Pathetic whelps, you can’t stop us from freeing the masses of Limsa, and bringing back the days where pirates could do as they please. No more restriction or damnation from Merlwyb and her Maelstrom nancies!” Aisibhir lectures.

As he gloats, Cirina’s gaze is taken away from the sun in her eyes. A reflection from glass being used by Jacke to get her attention. He gestures to the fellow rogues behind both him and her, ready to take down The Reformists. In one hand motion, they move in to confront this threat to Limsa’s safety.

“You two ok?” Jacke asks V’kebbe and Perimu.

“Aye boss, we ain’t hurtin nothin bad.” V’kebbe assures.

“And look here, your goals and ideals end here. You’re a threat to the stability of life and here and I’m sick of lookin at yer ugly mug on top of things.” Jacke remarks.

Aisibhir’s smile turns into a scowl, and he waves his hand.

“Get them you maggots! Tear them apart!” He roars.

The Rogues engage with The Reformists over the fate of Limsa, both sides give and take, neither willing to give. The clashing of their ideals and ways of life. Jacke is locked in intense combat with Aisibhir, a slight miscalculation would mean the end for either as they ferociously battle. V’kebbe and Perimu are holding their own despite their wounds, whilst the greener rogues are fighting their best but it isn’t going to be enough. Cirina aids the ones she can, suddenly a constant beeping noise is heard coming from the aftcastle.

“Yarharhar, that’s it mateys, The Black Sarcophagus is now armed! Soon, soon we shall open Limsa’s eyes!” He Aisibhir brags while swinging his axe at Jacke.

“Gods dammit, at this rate it’ll go off before the fighting is over. Cirina! Break off and disarm that bomb, we’ll handle the rest.” Jacke commands.

Cirina takes a swift look towards Jacke and the others and heads off, breaking through the Reformist’s line sprinting past them for the detonators.

Three. I can hear three beeps distinctly. So there’s three detonators. Gotta find them all and break them good.

She approaches the first one and scuffles with its two guards, the archer misses gravely and Cirina knocks her out with no issues. The swordsman lunges for her as her back is turned, but she spins around and parries as she does. Driving her daggers into his feet, then swiftly standing up as her head finds his face knocking him out cold as well. Retrieving her weapons she continues on.

The second one is better guarded with two archers, a swordsman and an axeman. The man with the axe charges her first, his first mistake, as he misses. Cirina uses his own weapon as a jumping point towards the wall, pushes off the wall toward him again and swiftly spin kicks him in the back of the head. He’s out cold, now only three left, she throws a smoke bomb at the archers to keep them occupied while she handles the swordsman. He takes two swings, advancing as he does and positions her between him and the wall. Delivering a swift kick to her abdomen, she is sent into the wall and reels from the pain.

Getting back to her feet, Cirina is able to dispatch him with ease afterwards, but a narrow miss from an arrow brings her attention back to the two archers. They proceed to unleash a volley aimed at her but her quick footwork allows her to dance around the barrage. She takes one down, but is knocked by an arrow from the other, proceeding to dispatch him as well. The wound is mild on her left arm and she continues to the last device, time waning.

She reaches the last one with little time to spare, guarded by two swordsmen. Not wanting to waste time she deploys another smoke bomb and runs past them. The two men taking a swing at the shadow wind up bonking each other on their helmets and knocking each other out. She disables the last device with less than a second left on the clock. Cirina races back to the main battle the rogues and yellowjackets are having with Aisibhir’s crew.

Once she reaches the battleground, she is relieved to see it is over. The Yellowjackets taking him and his crew to prison. She strolls over to her mates clutching her wound, one of the captured pirates attempting to mock her. She ignores him, paying him no mind whatsoever which infuriates him. He gets out of his binds to her surprise, blindsiding her, and pulling a hidden dagger slices at her abdomen. It cuts deep, and an unfamiliar surge of energy engulfs her, moving for her. As she draws her own dagger and slices the cur clean through his neck, killing him. Everyone turns to see the commotion. The other rogues are stunned but before they can say anything Cirina collapses from blood loss the purple and red aura dissipating. Jacke and Perimu rush her to any nearby conjurers for fear of her bleeding out.

Cirina...Kharlau…..release me from my chains…..Cirina...Kharlau...release me…

...Who are you…?

I am you…..and you are me…

I...k-killed someone today...was that..because of you!?

We...are one….I am naught...but your own volition….

What!?

You were hurt...weak….I gave you strength…..release me...and it shall be yours...forevermore….

N-no! I don’t want strength like that. It’s twisted....horrendous!!

Tis but arrogance...in time…..you and I...shall truly...become whole...

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overdrivels · 4 years

Text

Faint of Heart

You throw up your hands, waving them in a large sweeping ‘X’. “Nope! Nope, noppity-nope-nope-nope. We’re not doing this. No.”

“We must.”

“Are you crazy?” you hiss frantically between clattering teeth. You swing your arm at the scene outside the window, the one of mysterious packages getting loaded into nondescript delivery trucks heavily guarded by plain clothes mercenaries packing more heat than one of Soldier’s barbeques–omnic traffickers. “Look at these guys. No, we’re on a scouting mission, not a rescue one.”

Hanzo heavily resists the urge to roll his eyes or sigh or even shove a hand over your mouth just to shut you up. This is just a rehash of a conversion that you always seem to have with them. A suggestion comes up for something only slightly more dangerous than jaywalking across a street and you’re up in arms, claiming it’s too ‘dangerous’ or too ‘risky’.

Hanzo’s upper lip curls in disgust. A damn coward. Not just any coward–a coward without any conviction. What the hell were you doing here–in Overwatch, arguably the riskiest thing anyone could do in this climate, with some of the most dangerous people on the planet (and space)–when you were too scared to even leave your room half the time?

He glares at you, feeling nothing when you flinch. Hanzo adjusts the strap of his quiver. “We’re going.”

“We have to leave them. I know it’s not a good look, but we have to just take this info and go.”

“Then I’m going. You can stay here or go back.”

Leaving you behind would make his mission easier anyway. But you cling onto the sash around his hips like a child, refusing to let go. “It’s better if I’m with you.”

“Suit yourself,” he says briskly, yanking the sash away from your hands. He jumps out the window, scaling the building, not caring as you inch your way carefully onto the fire escape. He’ll be finished with this before you even manage to get halfway up to the roof. (Then he might have to be burdened with carrying you off the ladder–what a joy.)

Here, he has a clearer view.

There are ten goons out in the open. Two of them–drivers–are shooting the shit. He counts four more hidden, trying to be discreet as the others continue to load up the truck. From the looks of it, they’re a little more than half finished with their work. They can be taken care of last. Fourteen total.

This was originally a scouting mission (“Please use your discretion,” Winston told them. “REfrain from engaging except when necessary.”), but if they continue scouting without taking action, the omnics in that truck might never be found again. While he has no strong love for omnics, being around people like Tracer and Winston may have softened his opinion of them a little. Where a robot and machine once stood in his eyes, there is a glimmer of humanity, more so than what he has in himself, that’s for sure.

Hanzo nocks an arrow, pulling it back and waiting for the wind to sway. Once he gets them, he can swipe their devices, place them in a faraday bag, and bring them back to the base for analysis. If he can do this in the time it is supposed to take the shipment to reach its next destination, they could intercept it.

He takes a breath, the calm settling in his veins. The wind nudges at his hands. He releases his arrow.

Two of the goons go down. The others are slowly realizing. He has another one down before they’re able to draw their guns. The carriers drop their boxes, one of them opens, revealing an unresponsive omnic inside. A brush of anger sweeps past him. It’s gone by the time he has his next arrow ready–that one takes down another and pierces the hover mechanism in the truck, driving it into the ground and unable to move.

They’re turning round and round wildly, unsure. None of them meet his eye or even think of looking up here. At this rate, he can probably take down the rest of them without issue.

Something grabs Hanzo’s ankle.

“No, please! I don’t wanna die!”

Hanzo barely stops his foot from stomping your head in; the muscle in his thigh bunches so hard it aches. How did you manage to sneak up on him? You’re on your belly, covering your head with your arms, looking like you’re ready to be sick. Instinctively, he glances back down at the enemies–one, twothreefour…five—

Another tug at his ankle–didn’t you learn the first time?

“Ha, Hanzo. We can’t do this. We–we have to go.”

“Silence! We still have a chance.”

A slow sort of muted panic creeps into his bones as his mind scrambles to spot the last person. Where—?

You yank at his sleeve and he shrugs you off a little harder than he means to, but you’re insistent, a constant, desperate hiss in his ears. “I have a bad feeling; this is–this is an order. We have to retreat.”

Ignoring you, he prepares another arrow. He could place a trick shot and make it pierce two targets. That should lure out the last.

His eyes catch sight of an object flying upward. It takes him a half-second to recognize it.

They wouldn’t—

With his mouth agape, he barely manages to close it before you slam into him with your own body, almost making him bite his tongue off. Above him, a blast of light and sound rocks the skies, and it throws him off balance, his ears ringing without sound and vision bludgeoned by dust and debris.

Screams of “I fucking told you so, damn it!” accompany the ringing in his ears when the sounds finally become recognizable.

Shoving you off of him, he grabs at another arrow. He needs to find that last person–they must have more on them. He can’t let them slip away like this. But among his calculations of contingency plans, he didn’t expect you to groan, “I don’t feel so good.”

The sound of retching brings him back to reality–you’re slumped over, holding your head and throwing up what remains in your stomach.

Between the remaining goons who are trying their best to haul the rest of the ‘merchandise’ into the only functional truck they have and you who is more of a liability than anything, he huffs in annoyance as he comes to a decision.

He finds himself having to haul your limp body back. It is not guilt that adds urgency to his step.

---

“You take unnecessary risks–”

“My risks are calculated,” Hanzo shoots back just as sharply as any arrow. The bandages across his face dampens his claims.

“And they put the team in danger,” Soldier finishes firmly, slamming a fist on the table. The reverberating bang stuns everyone except Hanzo into silence. Hanzo, not one to be cowed by such messy tactics, only glares at Soldier over his nose.

“No. It is people with weak resolve who put themselves in danger.”

Winston raises a hand to silence them both. “That is quite enough. Agent Hanzo, I believe you were sent on a reconnaissance mission. Why did you feel the need to engage?”

“And you are comfortable with these omnics being sold illegally?” Hanzo asks coolly, challenging.

This is not the first time since Winston has taken the seat at the head of Overwatch that people have backsassed him or gone against his order. He doesn’t know if it’s because of his inexperience or because he’s simply not human, but dwelling on the individual prejudices of people never really helped him any.

“The mission, Agent Hanzo,” Winston says slowly, curling his hands together, “has a specific purpose for a long-term strategy. By saving these few omnics, we’ve now lost the trail on the entire operation. This sets us back several months of hard work. I believe you are aware of this.”

The conference room is ice cold and tense. Hanzo glares at him with a look that is half guilty and half irritated. Haltingly, he utters, “I…apologize. I will reflect upon my actions next time.”

“See that you do.” Winston then turns to the rest of the room. “We must have a back-up strategy ready. McCree, please get a quote from your friend in the shadows. We will have to pay her price for additional information. Tracer, please ensure the Orca is charged, I expect us to ship out in short order.”

“Yessir.”

“You’ve got it.”

“You are all dismissed.”

The room is quickly emptied of people with Hanzo being the first to leave, likely to train himself into exhaustion. With the door closed and himself alone, Winston lets a giant sigh escape him and he slumps in his chair, picking up his holotablet and turning it on.

Winston carefully thumbs the edge of the screen where your portrait–a half-nervous smile–and Hanzo’s–stern and threatening–look back at him. The two of you are a bad matchup on a good day. Neither of you get along, the difference in ideology drives a chasm between the both of you greater than the distance between Earth and Horizon Lunar Colony.

It was his idea to send you both on this mission. It’s his fault that you were being treated for a concussion. Winston heaved a fur-raising sigh. This is just another facet of management, he supposed. Even so, he does not regret his choice. For Hanzo who faces death like he thirsts for it, you’re the very best partner for him.

Many people questioned his judgment on the matter. McCree threatened to leave again, his tenure to Overwatch 2.0 held together only by the barest of threads and a promise that he’s going to protect you. Soldier: 76 berated him for inviting back people like you and Mei. He’s held back only by Shrike who laughs and says with painful familiarity, “I’ll take care of him.”

He rubs his eyes. Alone, in this dark, cavernous room where nightmares and doubts eat up every bit of space available, he can’t say he feels good about every time he sends everyone off, not knowing if such bright, talented people would ever return.

But that’s precisely why he accepted when you called them with shaking voice and hidden conviction.

Your mission is never to fight Talon. Your sole mission is to get everyone out alive.

---

The kitchen is only occupied by one other person when he leaves the gym showers. Mei is by herself slurping down the remains of what smells to be instant beef noodles. She offers him a smile which he vaguely returns and another bowl which he gladly accepts.

The impromptu dinner session turns into a rare venting session for him.

“–and I would have ended their entire operation if a certain someone wasn’t such a coward,” Hanzo barks, slamming his fist into the table.

Mei whispers, looking down at her folded hands, “You say ‘coward’ like it’s a bad thing. I’m not the bravest either.”

A strangled, inarticulate protest makes its way out of Hanzo’s throat. All the anger evaporates and he’s left with the strange urge to placate her. No. Mei is not like you. She’s here because she has something she believes in. She may be shaking in her boots when she’s forced to fight, but she believes in something and she has something to protect, made into a soldier, a criminal, when she could have had a respectable job elsewhere doing less dangerous things. She’s here in spite of her fear.

But you? You’re here—

The realization gives Hanzo pause.

Why are you still here?

There is no mission that you take that you do not voice your fears against.

You could have turned tail and ran away when he told you he was leaving you behind. You could have just not boarded the train with him to your destination.

If you really wanted to, you could have asked Winston to take you off the mission, and Winston–bleeding heart as he is–would never make you do something you strongly opposed.

No. Even before that. If you were truly so afraid, why did you come back to Overwatch in the first place? How did you wind up here?

Something isn’t adding up.

Your fear and hesitations and reservations are real—they’d better be for all the grief it’s caused him. But what was compelling enough to bring you here into the heart of danger? What is so magnetic that you have not yet left?

What is he missing?

“Hanzo? Are you okay?” Mei asks. He realizes he’s been quiet for far too long and attempts an awkward facsimile of a smile.

“Apologies. I was lost in my thoughts.”

“That happens to me, too. Especially when—” She chatters on and on, the solemn mood from before lifted between them. Inside, his doubts only grow stronger. Even after his conversation and cleaning up the remains of his impromptu meal with Mei, his questions are incessant and loud in his head, to the point they drive his feet away from his room in search for an answer.

When he arrives at your room in the medical bay, Ana is already there with a book in hand–she always did like paperback more than tablets, enamored with the way a story moves with the physical turn of a page, like a long journey that she herself is participating in.

She smiles when he walks in.

“You just missed visiting hours,” she says, gesturing at your prone form on the bed, breathing slow and relaxed. “We were having a nice chat up until ten minutes ago.”

“I see.”

“Did you have something you want to say?” she asks, almost knowingly.

Hanzo does not look at her, finding the bed sheets to be much more interesting. “No. I just came to…follow up.”

You don’t even have bandages on your head or any excessive external injuries to speak of. He probably looks worse off than you do, and that sets off another pang of irritation inside him that almost chases away all the questions he has.

The older woman chuckles behind her book, but not unkindly. She pats the empty seat beside her and Hanzo cautiously lowers himself into the seat as though he were sparing her some of the time he does not have. He does. She probably knows.

From here, the half-drawn curtain prevents him from seeing you and perhaps that’s a good thing. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Is it serious?”

“Angela said it was just a mild concussion, nothing to worry about.”

He nods. A mild concussion. That’s nothing–he’s had his head split open before and still managed to kill three people and make his way back home without blacking out.

“You’re wondering about the choice in staff.”

He only grunts in response.

So it was that obvious. He supposed he never made it much of a secret that he didn’t like your demeanor. It is not a conducive one, especially not in an organization like this. You may gather and compile data, but anyone can do that from the safety of their own home. You didn’t have to come here where you’re a literal sitting duck, unable to defend yourself if the base were to be raided.

So what brought you here?

Ana smiles mysteriously as she closes her book. “Such staffing choices are necessary.”

“Is that so?”

“You don’t think so?”

“No,” is his automatic reply. There’s no point keeping secrets from Ana. Age has only made her intuition sharper, he suspects.

“People who can sense danger and run at the slightest hint of it can save more lives than just their own. We need people like that if we want Overwatch to survive longer than the last time. They see the writing on the wall the fastest and find the quickest way out. It’s a vantage point that we”–Ana waves at the room with a good-natured chuckle–“do not have.”

“Is that so,” Hanzo says again, not entirely convinced of her reasoning, but unable to refute it so easily either.

“You should think about it. Variety is the spice of life, and goodness knows Overwatch is full of it.”

Hanzo sneers to himself. Full of it. Yes. Full of it, indeed. He takes one last lingering look at your shadow from behind the curtain, doubt and irritation painted in a newer light with Ana’s musings. He still does not agree someone like you should be here. He is no closer to figuring out why either, but it’s unlikely he’ll get an answer.

“…I will consider it,” he says finally, getting up from his seat. “Good night, then.”

“Good night to you, too. Sleep tight.”

After he leaves, Ana’s smile only grows.

“He’s gone.”

A dramatic sigh of relief comes from behind the curtain and she chuckles softly to herself.

“I thought he’d never leave. He’s scary as fuck,” you grumble. “I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up again.”

“Good job; you held it in.”

“Don’t expect me to do that again.”

Ana opens her book again, leaning into her chair. “You are their leash. Until they learn to take your concerns seriously, I’m afraid these are the methods you’ll have to resort to.”

You grumble something unflattering beneath your breath. The curtain may as well not be there; Ana can guess what sort of expression you’re making. “Rest now. There will be much to do when morning comes.”

#my writing #my clients are just being unreasonable now #i was inspired to write this after reading a chapter from Sousou no Frieren #where a coward can be strong #it got me thinking about how Hanzo probably hates those types of people #but you know it's not always a bad thing to be afraid #that ensures survival #anyway i'm just rambling and trying not to go full professor mode on my cleints

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shaineybainey · 4 years

Text

“Noble Intentions”

Lab Rats [T]

The Lab Rats and Mighty Med teams face off with the greatest threat to humanity yet: The Incapacitator, a supervillain bent on becoming the most powerful in the planet. …Which makes things super awkward for Leo, considering that their newest nemesis is his father. AU. Lab Rats vs Mighty Med redux.

** DISCLAIMER: SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMER **

tagging: @vcnting @clockradio93 @breanadaveport-mendel @lettersandwhiteroses @serpent-princess @verified-dumbass @weareoutofmaplesyrupdave @aaaaahhhhh1234

IV: Disaster Med

Kaz flinches when Chase’s laser bo staff slams against Gray Granite’s staff. The superheroes are currently locked on a heated battle against the bionic trio, and while he knows this could result into someone getting hurt, he doesn’t feel inclined to clear out the misunderstanding that started it.

“We should tell them, Kaz,” Oliver says worriedly as they watch behind a pillar. “What if someone gets hurt?”

Leave it to his best friend to know exactly what he’s thinking of not doing. “Dude. Do you—”

They’re both knocked off their feet as Adam’s blast wave missed Tecton and hits their hiding place instead. Stars dance in front of his eyes as his left arm, exposed from the pillar, feels like it had been run over by a truck three times over.

He groans, struggling up to his feet. “You want to get in the middle of that?” he asks Oliver quietly as he pulls him up his feet.

Oliver says nothing, only winces as he retreats even more to safety.

They startle when Gamma Girl crashes against Tecton after Bree tackled her. The two superheroes are left dazed while the bionic teenager uses her free time to help Adam with Gray Granite.

Kaz grins. This is definitely a lot better than going to any comic book store in Amsterdam.

– Ϟ –

Leo knows he’s come just a tad bit too late. Running towards the quarters, he could hear his stepfather screaming as blasts boom at a regular rate inside. When he finally arrives, he sees he’s right: the place is a mess, his stepfather is on the floor looking up in fear at the superpowered trespasser, and The Incapacitator holds close the container bearing the energy transponder.

He frowns. He knows he really should be worried about other, more important things, but - has his father’s suit gotten tighter or is he just imagining things?

Noting his presence, Donald looks his way. “No,” he says fearfully, especially when The Incapacitator looks his way, too. “No. Leo, get out of here!”

Leo doesn’t move. He only stares at the supervillain defiantly. “Incapacitator,” he says neutrally – a greeting of sorts.

“The Incapacitator.”

He almost rolls his eyes. “Are we gonna be hung up on that ‘the’ the whole day, or…?”

The Incapacitator only chuckles.

He’s suddenly reminded of the fact that he lied to him. “Why are you here?” he says as he stares him in the eye.

“Mr. Davenport tells me that the only way to open this box is by getting past this retina scan,” The Incapacitator says. He sits the container on top of the overturned coffee table and grins superciliously. “I can’t decide: should I take an impression of his eye, or should I just take the whole eyeball out?”

“Please don’t.”

“Leo, don’t,” Donald orders, stopping him from coming any closer. “He’s not bionic. You can’t escape this like you escaped Marcus or Krane.”

Leo’s jaw locks then unlocks as he looks at his stepfather then his father. He was able to escape from Marcus due to a series of good opportunities that opened up and some quick thinking.

Krane, he didn’t escape.

The Incapacitator killed him.

He could see from his dad’s eyes that there’s no stopping him. From what he can piece together, he knows the energy transponder is necessary for whatever new plan he has. So, hating himself for what he has to suggest, he asks in resign, “If I open it for you, can you promise not to do any of those things?”

“It depends. Some people, I just can’t stand these days. I don’t know if I can promise.”

I don’t think you know how to promise either, Leo thinks bitterly as he makes a move towards the weapons case.

“No, Leo!” Donald stops him. “We can’t just give it to him. He’s going to drain the whole world of power. He can’t have it!”

Leo hesitates. It’s not his father’s first world domination plan, but it sounds a lot deadlier than the other ones.

The Incapacitator charges up energy in his right hand. “Tick tock,” he softly presses.

Leo glares at him. He said he would never put him in a spot where he had to choose between doing the right thing and making a decision as his son. “I feel like you’re breaking something here,” he says in disappointment.

The grin on The Incapacitator’s face remains, but a small spark of recognition has gone off in his eyes.

However, it doesn’t stay long. An idea comes to mind, and a new, wolfish grin comes up to his face. He constructs a lasso of green energy then throws it.

It wraps around Leo’s torso all too quickly and all too tightly. “What are you doing? Let me go!” he screams, struggling against it as he’s lifted up in the air.

“Please! Stop!” Donald asks, horrified.

“What about it, Mr. Davenport?” the supervillain says. “The energy transponder or the boy?”

“Big D, don’t!”

“I can take energy from other things around me, or I can take energy from him.”

When Donald hesitates, The Incapacitator pulls Leo closer until he’s hovering just above them.

Then Leo feels it, the energy lasso closing in tighter around him. It presses his arms against his body, the growing pressure squeezing out his breath slowly. His heart panics like a spooked bird in a cage.

Doubt suffocates him even more. His father is not going to kill him, right? He loves him, right?

“Okay, okay!” he hears his stepfather yell as dizziness has begun setting in. “I’ll open it. Just – just let go of my son.”

As the restraints eases and the sudden rush of oxygen makes his head swim, he sees an outline of movement towards the container. He’s slowly let down on the ground. Once the scanner emits a beep, the energy lasso vanishes altogether.

His stepfather crawls towards him. “Are you okay?” he asks.

Leo nods.

They watch helplessly as The Incapacitator holds the invention up as a test. Lights flicker and technology crackle all around the quarters as the transponder draws power. It keeps taking, taking, taking – siphoning too much power into the wrong hands.

Once he’s satisfied, The Incapacitator powers off the transponder and smirks at the device.

It’s then that they hear a rush from the hall. Not a moment later, the room fills with the very people Leo both wished he would and would never see. “Don’t move, Incapacitator,” orders Tecton.

“You’re too late, Tecton,” the supervillain says. “I already have what I need to make you and the entire world bow down at my feet.”

He draws a super charge of energy and encases Tecton, Gamma Girl, and Gray Granite within a sphere before they can act. With the powerful superheroes imprisoned, he sends them out through the roof.

Spackle and debris spray around them. As destruction lies all around, Leo realizes that for the second time in his life, he’s truly afraid of the darkness his father holds inside.

“That’s it,” Chase says, furious. “I got us into this mess. I’m going to get us out.”

“No! Chase,” he tells his brother, staggering up to his feet. “He’s too powerful!”

Fueled by a sense of duty, Chase activates the laser bo staff. Then, he comes at the supervillain.

The more experienced of the two, The Incapacitator blocks the attack easily. He overloads the bo staff with energy to anchor Chase in place.

Chase freezes, the surge of electricity locking him to vulnerability.

With this advantage, The Incapacitator charges a deathly blast of energy to finish him.

“No!” Leo screams. When the supervillain looks at him, he shakes his head pleadingly. “Please. Please not my brother.”

The Incapacitator considers it a moment. Then, he sets off an energy blast similar to Adam’s, knocking Chase out and knocking the others off their feet. “Nice doing business with you, Mr. Davenport,” he says, smiling at the inventor.

Donald only glares at him.

It surprises Leo when he grabs him by the arm. As he looks into his eyes - wearing that suit, knowing to what extent he’d go just to get what he wants, and seeing just how little he valued the lives of others, he realizes then that he doesn’t want to be like his father.

He doesn’t want to be a villain.

Before he could shake his hold, though, a surge of energy hits him. It overwhelms his brain for a long, agonizing second.

Then, everything fades to black.

– Ϟ –

“Leo!” Bree screams as The Incapacitator takes her little brother on his shoulder.

“Let him go!” Adam demands.

“You got the transponder already,” Donald says. “Let him go!”

The Incapacitator smirks. “I spared your kid,” he says. “This is only fair.”

“No!”

A neon green cloud swallows the supervillain and the teenager, and in a moment they are gone.

Bree feels as if her heart has fallen into a hole. She’s shaking with nervousness and adrenaline. Prompted by instinct, she staggers to her feet then comes to Chase’s side.

She checks his vitals, hoping for a beat, a breath, anything.

She sighs of relief when she feels a pulse. She tries to wake him, but to no avail. “Chase,” she persists, “you have to wake up.”

“Mr. Davenport…” Adam looks to their father as he sits beside her, the same look of urgency and loss on his face.

“He must have fried his whole infrastructure,” Donald says, rising to his feet. He shakes his head. “I don’t have the equipment here to fix it.”

“Chase…”

“Well, we can’t just let him die,” Adam protests.

“You don’t have to,” Oliver, now back up to his feet like Kaz, says. “Mighty Med. We have the equipment there. It’s a superhero hospital, and Kaz and I are doctors. We can help.”

Donald thinks it over a moment before nodding. “Okay. Adam, Bree, go with them. Make sure that Chase is okay,” he says. Then, to Oliver and Kaz he asks, “Please. Save my son.”

“We will,” Kaz says.

At that moment, Tecton flies into the room. He helps Gray Granite to the ground and asks, “Where’s Incapacitator?”

“Gone. He took the transponder with him,” Oliver reports. “Worse yet, he took their younger brother as hostage.”

“Hiding behind a child, huh?” Gamma Girl asks as she lands beside Gray Granite. The anger hidden under her unaffected expression is searing. “He must be desperate. He’s changed his MO.”

“I don’t like this,” says Tecton. “We need to find that kid.”

“I’ll call my brother and have him assist me,” Donald chimes in. “We can locate him faster if we have two sides searching. For the meantime…”

Oliver nods, taking out the wormhole transporter from his pocket. “We’ll do our best to get Chase back to you in good health.”

Donald nods appreciatively.

“Okay. Kaz? Everyone, hold on,” Oliver instructs.

Bree’s heart races as she holds onto Chase and Adam. They’ve dealt with many nightmares and many near-deaths before, but she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to them.

What gets to her this time is the uncertainty of where Leo is and what’s going to happen to him. Is he hurt? Will he be okay? Will he be able to come home?

Her chest aches as she realizes that she couldn’t even protect her little brothers.

“Bree.” Adam nods. “It’ll be okay.”

As the five of them vanish into a wormhole, Bree wonders if it really will be.

#fanfiction #Lab Rats #Mighty Med #chapter four #Noble Intentions #Kaz (Mighty Med)#Oliver (Mighty Med)#Tecton #Gamma Girl #Chase Davenport #Adam Davenport #Bree Davenport #Leo Dooley #Donald Davenport #The Incapacitator

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pinnithin-writes · 3 years

Text

Good Jokes

Chapter 15

Before they departed, Darnold was nice enough to let the team take a few things from his lab. At least, Tommy hoped it was out of wanting to be helpful rather than wanting them to leave faster. Gordon had shot Benrey point blank right in front of him, after all. Hilarious and relatively benign to the rest of them, but Tommy didn’t miss the flicker alarm in the chemist’s eyes.

The crates shoved in the corner were left behind when the cybernetics department folded, according to Darnold. While they pawed through the containers’ contents, they discussed the situation with him. He was aware of something wrong going on outside, but as soon as he’d gotten wind of an experiment gone awry, he’d done the smart thing and barricaded himself in his office. He’d even rigged the explosives up top, himself. Darnold had worked here long enough to know that when things went bad at Black Mesa, they went bad.

“If you come with us, you’re gonna have to kill like, twenty people. Probably more,” Gordon had reasoned, which made the chemist throw up a wall of sarcasm about two feet thick.

“Well, killing can’t be that hard, right?” he’d said, nervously, and that was when their hustle out the door began.

Bubby and Coomer both found new weapons within the crates. When Bubby experimentally pulled the trigger, Tommy felt the snap of his form leaving the plane like a rubber band breaking. As Tommy blinked, orienting himself to the space around him settling into the change, Bubby blinked right back in, snapping Tommy again. He winced. Maybe they shouldn’t use that gun too often.

Bubby agreed, looking a little shell-shocked from his journey. He stowed his weapon while Dr. Coomer extracted a firearm with a barrel as long as a man from the crate.

“Gordon I found it!” he shrilled excitedly. “The big one!”

Tommy didn’t know why Coomer needed such a gargantuan gun when he had two perfectly good ones attached to either shoulder. He himself was perfectly content with his rifle, surefire and reliable, and his eyes passed over the other weapons in the crate with disinterest. The soda cans were disappointingly void, as well. He was about to withdraw emptyhanded when a cheerful splash of color caught his eye. Tommy cleared away some of the junk to reveal the most wonderful hat he’d ever seen.

Holy shit, this was a stupidly good find. He straightened, cap in hand, and flicked the propellor. Delightful. What an ironic clash of themes. How would Tommy look, charging dirty and bloodied through Black Mesa, rifle in hand, with this thing on?

He guessed he was about to find out. He placed the cap on his head. God, it fit so well, too. Tommy fought his smile down as he loitered beside the container, watching Gordon conversing animatedly with Coomer.

The man looked the best Tommy had ever seen him. Excluding their first time meeting in the break room, a lifetime ago. He was clear-eyed and alert, his voice strong and full, gesturing with a renewed energy as he spoke. The gut-wrenching worry Tommy felt every time he laid eyes on Gordon had been replaced by a gentle warmth. He looked good. Tired, but healthy.

Gordon caught him staring, and a half second later he caught the hat on his head, too. Eyes alight, he joined him beside the crate, grinning and showing off those dimples Tommy was so fond of.

“That-” Gordon reached up to flick the propellor, sending it spinning crazily. “Nice,” he said.

Placing a splayed hand under his own chin, elongating his neck and tilting his head like a model, Tommy arched his eyebrows dramatically at Gordon. “Is it befitting?”

Gordon’s smile widened as he held in a laugh. “Yeah. I think it’s perfect, actually. I feel like you’ve been wearing that the whole time and I haven’t noticed.”

Tommy dropped his pose, smiling in return. Gordon still hadn’t moved away from him after messing with his cap, standing just a little too close to be professional. At this distance, Tommy could see a healthy pink in his cheeks, and a spray of freckles across his face he hadn’t noticed before. A stray curl fell into his eyes. Cute. His glasses were still fucking shattered, though, splitting his eyes into dozens of little panes as he peered out from behind them.

Gordon must’ve thought Tommy was waiting for him to say something. Tommy let him - he probably didn’t need to know how fixated he was on the way his face looked this close up. “That’s awesome, man,” he murmured, scratching the side of his jaw and taking a half step back.

Cute, Tommy thought again. Good to know he wasn’t the only one nervous about this little dance they were doing now. It was strange, like a detour around where they had previously been hurtling. Saving Gordon’s life had broken down any barriers between them, but now that he was back on his feet, the closeness would mean something different. Here I am, next to you. Not because I have to be, but because I want to.

Tommy didn’t know how deep Gordon’s wanting went, if it ran straight through his blood and seeped into his bones like Tommy’s did. He wondered if Gordon could see how badly Tommy ached when he looked at him. He felt transparent, like his desire was visible under his skin, like it would come pouring out if he opened his mouth. Tommy dropped his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable in his vulnerability.

As they geared up to leave, Gordon called across the room to their host. “You comin’ with, Darnold?”

“Oh, yes,” he said. “This sounds like good fun with good buddies.”

Was he coming? He hadn’t armed himself. Tommy shot him a brows-raised look in question and Darnold gave a wary nod in response. He definitely didn’t strike him as a violent type, but maybe he thought riding the crazy train was the only way out of here. Sympathizing, Tommy rummaged in the nearby crate and handed Darnold a shotgun.

He bailed on them after the first hail of bullets. Nobody blamed him. After witnessing the deaths of three men in rapid succession, most sane people wouldn’t willingly choose to push on. Tommy raised a hand in a farewell wave to the chemist as he took the lift out of the lab. He could only hope the wake of destruction the science team left behind would ensure a safe exit.

“No, take me with you, bro,” Benrey called up the chute, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“You can’t go,” Gordon huffed, turning to leave. “You’re coming with us, because that’s what you’ve-”

“Hey, you're the one who keeps killing people,” Benrey snapped.

Gordon wheeled and fired the minigun at the entity with full force. “I wish I could kill you!” he bellowed.

Benrey’s face looked like it was shredded with buckshot by the time Gordon lowered his arm. Tommy ducked out of the lab before anyone could catch him laughing.

---

There was a new energy to the team as they left the bunker. With Gordon reclaiming his place at the front of the pack, the group took out both soldier and monster alike with a record-breaking swiftness. Gordon in particular was fed up, channeling his frustration into gunfire as he ripped holes through their adversaries. There was a violent fire in his eyes that wasn’t there before, and Tommy hoped that in his anger he didn’t forget that he was still mortal.

Everything about the way he carried himself suggested otherwise.

Up the ramp, around the bend, move, move, move. They kept pushing, crowding in between two buildings and drawing the eye of a sniper. As everyone scurried for cover, Bubby took advantage of his lab-grown reflexes and hucked a grenade into the loft. The party all flinched in the flashbang that followed.

“They’re trying to cut us off from our supply of Powerade, Mr. Freeman,” Tommy said, less to add anything useful to the situation and more to see if the guy’s hearing had been damaged.

If it was, Gordon didn’t show any sign of it as he fixed Tommy with a wide-eyed, adrenaline fueled look, just on the edge of wild. “That’s horrible,” he told him, “but we’re not gonna be here anymore because we’re gonna leave and we’re gonna kill all the aliens and we’re gonna go home .”

The quaver that shook his voice made Tommy’s heart ache. Gordon wanted to go home so badly. Underneath all the rage and spite that was forcing him onward, there was only raw desperation. Home. We’re gonna go home. Tommy locked eyes with him, nodding small and quiet as if he could guarantee the future.

Gordon let out a breath. “I hope,” he said.

They encounter a radio in the adjacent building, monitored by a few soldiers that were quickly dispatched. Tommy watched as the other scientists crowded around the device, arguing amongst themselves until Gordon took the lead with a loud, “Alright, here, I’m just gonna spew some bullshit, alright?”

His soldier impersonation was so bad Tommy had to leave the room with a hand over his mouth. He didn’t catch what was transmitted over the frequency, but he overheard Gordon, Bubby and Dr. Coomer discussing it later while they were upstairs. Tommy silently reloaded his weapons with slow, methodical hands as he listened.

“Now, if there’s anything I remember from my time studying military communication,” Coomer said thoughtfully, “I do believe this means they’re planning a full on assault. Bombs and everything. They’re going to wipe out the entire facility. Clean it up, so to speak.”

“Where does ‘bathroom’ fall into that?” Gordon asked, and a hollow point slipped out of Tommy’s fingers as a snicker shook through him. “What part of that - what part of the code is ‘bathroom?’”

“The bathroom,” Bubby said unhelpfully.

“There are many bathrooms at Black Mesa, Gordon,” Tommy spoke up, smirking until he realized the man’s first name had come rolling out instead of his last.

Gordon’s name tasted good in his mouth. He needed to be careful of how often he used it. Another bullet clattered to the floor and he swore softly.

Tommy fell into his thoughts as they scaled the buildings in the yard. If Black Mesa was getting shelled, that meant the powers that be were going to cover up everything that happened here. Destroy the evidence. Obliterate it entirely. How soon, though? Tommy could bend reality enough to get himself out of there, but his companions were a different story. Perhaps he could solicit help from his father, but he needed time for that, and that was a currency Tommy was running low on.

If they bombed the facility, that didn’t just mean the research would go away. His room back in the living quarters would be wiped out, too. It wasn’t the only place he had to live, sure, but it was a small home he had made for himself. Crafted with his own two hands out of the knick-knacks he’d collected and the posters he’d tacked up on the wall. With his luck, aliens had already wrecked the place and there was a peeper puppy snoozing on Sunkist’s bed in the corner this very moment.

He wondered how Sunkist was doing. Tommy hadn’t heard from him in a while. The dog was immortal – he wasn’t worried about his safety – but he was probably pretty confused about his routine getting thrown off. Once they fixed this Resonance Cascade disaster he’d have to go looking for him.

Standing there, baking in the sun and his thoughts on the hot rooftop, Tommy almost missed the fact that Gordon was speaking to him.

“You good, Tommy?” he asked. “Hangin’ in there?”

He lifted his head out of his preoccupation and met his eyes. Gordon was hanging back, giving Tommy a look of concern, while the rest of the group crossed the caved-in gap in the roof.

A sudden, unfamiliar feeling gave Tommy pause, and he had to take a moment to sort through what it meant. Yes, he could push past the discomfort and the heaviness in his limbs, shrugging into the fatigue like an old worn out coat, but he was… exhausted. Drained mentally and physically, wrung out by the week’s events and his own thoughts. Tommy hadn’t really given it much consideration before now, but apparently Gordon had noticed.

“Yeah,” he answered, haltingly. “I’m worried about…”

A lot. There was a lot to worry about right now. His brain kept getting snagged on the aerial assault Coomer had warned them about, and the people left inside the facility, dying with no one to help them. How many people worked at Black Mesa? How many called the place home? Gordon didn’t, Tommy was certain; he had just moved here. The box in his locker wasn’t even fully unpacked yet. Tommy knew because the man’s locker was located right next to his.

A small, childish part of him wanted to scream about how unfair this all was. He liked working at Black Mesa, he enjoyed his research. Was it sketchy at times? Sure, but it held his attention like no other, and it allowed him to test his own understanding of reality with an accessibility other scientists in the field would kill for.

It had been a little lonely for the most part, but the new guy’s locker had been put next to Tommy’s, and he had been looking forward to cultivating a slow… something with Gordon. Build the relationship piece by piece out of conversation between shifts and passing jokes in the break room and kissing him outside his apartment door. Now, well, it was going to be trickier to hold his hand when one of them was a gun.

Both of them had been cheated out of normalcy, and it was infuriatingly unfair. Tommy felt horrible that this was what he was focusing on instead of the catastrophe that was crushing reality in its fist, but the thoughts kept coming, wave after wave, and he was far too exhausted to fight them all down anymore.

Gordon’s eyes were still on him, careful and patient. Right, Tommy was telling him what he was worried about.

What was he worried about? How did he sum something like that up?

“The drinks,” he said, because they were the only words he could pull from the tangle in his head.

Gordon’s brows drew in, uncomprehending. “What, like, the drinks exploding?”

“Yeah,” Tommy went on, “What about all the bathrooms and the vending machines and the Powerade and the potions department?”

He knew his elaboration was far from illuminating, but it was the best he could do right now. Black Mesa was about to be a smoking crater in the desert landscape. He was worried about that, mixed feelings and all.

Gordon wasn’t following, but he tried, and for that Tommy was grateful. “Those things don’t hold an intrinsic value like life does,” he said. “Like, I think the value of life has been morally lost across,” he paused, glancing at where Benrey stood on the other side of the roof, “most of you.”

Tommy sighed heavily through his nose and didn’t respond. He was right. They needed to look after themselves, after each other, and make it out of here alive. Home. Home. We’re gonna go home.

And if there wasn’t a home to go back to, they’d just have to make one.

---

Tommy’s thoughts followed him through Black Mesa, while they downed a helicopter, while they slunk through air ducts, while they sheltered in a garage. He was zoned out, paying only enough attention to make sure nobody outright died, wondering what happened to people who were as desensitized to gunfire as he had become.

The grenade, however, caught his attention. It also caught his body with some shrapnel. Tommy’s reflexes were slow in his exhaustion, and he was a millisecond too late to deflect the high velocity cast iron embedding itself in his shoulder.

Ah, fuck. Ow.

Crowded like sardines as they were in this narrow pipe, Tommy could only crawl forward after Gordon, who charged ahead to take out the soldier responsible for the explosion. His HEV suit had absorbed the brunt of it, Tommy guessed, and Benrey had likely become incorporeal for a thin moment to allow the remaining shrapnel to pass through him. Which left Tommy to take a painful patterning of metal in his arm. Wincing, he reached the end of the pipe and began to clamber out.

Benrey slammed the hatch in his face, sending him reeling backward. He sucked in a breath through his teeth as his injury was jostled. Really? He sighed and tried again. The hatch nearly took off his fingers as Benrey smashed it shut once more.

Gordon’s words were muffled behind the steel panel, but he could still hear him yelling at Benrey. “Don’t put Tommy back in there! Stop. Stop. No. Let Tom - what are you doing to Tommy?”

The distress in his voice was touchingly genuine for something so minor. Tommy opened the hatch, shut it, and opened it again cheekily, deflating Benrey and reassuring Gordon all at once. The extra effort only aggravated the shrapnel in his shoulder a little, causing it to gush more blood down his arm. Worth it.

“Tommy, what are you doing?” Gordon asked, his eyes following him as he exited the tunnel. His gaze stuck on the metal embedded in him and his eyebrows shot up. “Are you okay?”

Tommy looked down at himself and grimaced. Yeah, that’ll leave a scar. He could heal it over relatively quickly, but the shrapnel was already in there and the damage had been done. Bubby, Benrey, and Dr. Coomer, distracted by a distant noise down the hall, moved on to investigate, feet pounding on the slatted steel.

Remaining stationary where he leaned against the wall, Tommy tried to give Gordon a comforting smile, but the pain made it tight-lipped and strained. “I’m not used to those kindsa doors,” he said.

Gordon was unconvinced. “Are - you are the most covered in blood I’ve ever seen you,” he murmured, passing him a once-over. “There was that time back when we were like, way back in like, Data Research.”

He was probably right, Tommy reasoned. His lab coat was permanently stained a rust color at this point, and he could feel a sheen of something wet across his face, taste the iron tang of blood on his mouth. He flicked his gaze down and noticed Gordon’s hand halfway raised, frozen in midair once Gordon realized it was his right hand. The-hand-that-wasn’t-a-hand. Tommy angled his chin away and wiped his face with the sleeve of his lab coat to spare him.

“You look horrible,” Gordon remarked awkwardly, dropping his arm back to his side.

“Ye - Powerade doesn’t get blood off your skin,” Tommy said to fill the silence. “It - it doesn’t bind with it.”

“That sucks,” Gordon responded. Tommy didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on his injured shoulder. “How - d - how does it work like that?” he intoned softly, talking to himself now as he stared at the spreading stain of red. “Hemeo… phobic.”

What? That wasn’t necessarily correct, but Gordon was looking a little too preoccupied for Tommy to warrant correcting him. Plus, it was nice. His concern for him was nice. It spread warmth through Tommy’s chest and distracted him from the pain in his arm. He nodded down the hall indicatively. They should get going.

Much to Gordon’s ire, there were more pipes to go through. His voice was uncharacteristically subdued as he participated in the conversation passing up and down the line. Was he still worried? Perhaps it was the claustrophobic closeness of the tunnel they were in. Tommy nudged him lightly in the small of his back.

“We’re like peach tea goin’ through a silly straw,” he commented, and some of the tension left Gordon as a laugh tumbled out of him.

The pipe emptied out into some kind of storage room, which didn’t seem to Tommy like a very practical place for a pipe to go, logistics wise. He proceeded to scan the shelves for anything useful while the others cleared the room of soldiers. These looked like miscellaneous supplies, a place to store things that nobody knew where to put. Dr. Coomer called from around the corner as Tommy began pawing through the cubbies.

“Look, Gordon, a medical kit! We can use this to restore lost HP.”

“Tommy, you need this,” Gordon said immediately, grabbing the sleeve of his lab coat and pulling him away from the supplies. “Don’t lie to me. I know you do.”

Before Tommy could open his mouth to respond, or even process the fact that Gordon was forcibly dragging him to a med station, Benrey shouldered past the both of them and emptied the contents of the kit onto the floor.

“Benrey!” Gordon growled in exasperation while the entity kicked a roll of once-sterile bandages across the floor. “Benrey, you can't die, what good do-”

“Look, Gordon, a medical station.” Coomer interrupted. “Unfortunately, it has been drained.”

While Gordon seethed and Benrey gloated, Tommy retreated from the alcove where the kit was located and leaned against the opposite wall to assess his wounds. Might as well take care of this while they were here. Gritting his teeth, he worked the larger pieces out of his flesh with his fingers, gradually relaxing as the wounds began healing over before his eyes. The smaller shards he’d have to leave in until he had a pair of tweezers. He tipped his head back against the wall and sighed heavily. He felt dead on his feet.

Benrey drifted in Tommy’s direction, leering over the embarrassment of a demigod taking damage. Tommy stared back at him, eyes half-lidded and weary. Sure, render the med kit unusable, you fucking child. Not like Tommy really needed it, anyway. The persistent pain was more of an inconvenience than anything. But Gordon - oh, Gordon was coming over here, stalking after Benrey with rage on his face.

Rage on his behalf. Tommy’s. Angry that he couldn’t find some relief from the med station he’d tugged him so gently toward. That unfamiliar feeling turned inside him again, soft and foreign.

He was being cared about. That was it. Gordon was caring about him - had been caring about him this whole time. Every stupid joke and reassuring touch and glance across the room. Even surrounded by monsters, facing down a slow death by infection. Since day one of this god-abandoned nightmare, and in this very moment as he chewed out their mutual enemy.

Tommy let out a soft exhale at how long it took him to realize. Even Benrey had noticed it before he had.

“Hey, man,” Gordon snarled at the entity. He cuffed him over the head with the minigun, sending him sprawling. “Fuck you.”

Benrey was hurled much further than any of them anticipated, skidding across the steel floor and splitting his palms open on impact. Tommy and Gordon exchanged an impressed glance.

“Damn, this thing really packs a wallop!” Gordon exclaimed excitedly while Benrey groaned and staggered to his feet. “Just blew you across the room! Hey, let’s try that again.”

Tommy laughed while Gordon began knocking Benrey back and forth against the storage shelves, which only made the remaining shrapnel in his shoulder leak out more blood. It hurt, but he didnt care. Even through the exhaustion, he felt indescribably lightweight, warmth and delight flooding his ribcage.

Benrey eventually found his footing and blasted Gordon with an ear-piercing wave of sound. Gordon stumbled back, clapping his good hand over one ear and burying the other against his shoulder. Tommy winced, too. An awful sound, more agitated than Tommy had heard out of the entity in years. He didn’t sympathize. Benrey had been poking the bear all week and this assault was warranted.

“I’m gonna stop, okay?” Gordon shouted as he cringed away from the sound. “I’m gonna stop. Just stop - stop with the balls, I hate it!”

Benrey rolled his shoulders and prowled away, leaving Gordon quaking against the wall as the thin sapphire lines of residual noise floated around him. Tommy offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet. His grip was warm and solid, a stark contrast to a day ago when the man was barely hanging on.

Here I am. Caring about you. Not because I have to, but because I want to. He was hesitant to let go of Gordon’s hand.

“Tommy what does it mean?” Gordon asked, dropping his hand to launch a glare at the entity. “He shot blue.”

“That’s a lotta blue,” Tommy remarked as he looked around, trying to hide his alarm.

Benrey’s little color code of emotions was something Tommy could interpret, but rarely addressed, choosing to translate through obnoxious, singsong rhymes when asked because he knew it pissed the entity off. He had only seen this much blue once before, the first time Benrey had killed him, eight years ago. The feeling of burning to death still lingered in his memory today. Tommy shuddered to think of what this creature had planned for Gordon.

From across the room, Benrey bared his razor teeth in a sharpened promise.

“It means I hate you.”

Chapter 14 <-----> Chapter 16

#ink #fanfiction #good jokes #part of my endeavor to relocate all my ao3 work #guns #violence #blood #hlvrai

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leanarg · 4 years

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Practice Challenge II

((Hi again! So, these are 3 fics in one post! Including my first two rps with @ladyreggiewright (our very first one after ages not doing this so asdfghk) and with @wylan-caldwell I had so much fun doing both, so thank you, guys! <3 Thanks for reading too, hope you enjoy them as much as I stuggled writing them ;P Google Docs link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ARTjqveFJ1njDc2LL0PU4C0ShN2jlO9JC1Imt9MDTh8/edit?usp=sharing ))

A CHANGE OF LUCK

“Alright, y’all ready?” Rita said with a loud voice vibrating with nervousness. “The speeches are over. In the next block, Prince Arin will be picking the names.” That was her fifth lap around the entertainment office floor and she just couldn’t stop repeating what Vandy Post had already announced before each round of commercials. I knew she was trying to act authoritative, but seeing her in this state was always amusing.

It wasn’t unusual that the building was bursting with energy this late at night. The pre-press team always stayed working on putting together the bulldog broadsheets content and adding the last details, then sent the whole thing before the deadline to the press team operating on the last floor, where they were all in charge of the printing process. I would dare to say there was activity in this place 24/7. But this particular night, we were focused on The Report. The streets looked almost empty from up here, everyone was at home in front of their TV waiting for the names of the lucky girls randomly picked by a drawing of names out of different crystal boxes. 35 provinces, 35 boxes, 35 names.

My attention had been focused on Arin’s stern expression. His life was about to be decided by fate, or as many people want to call it, destiny. I wonder what was he thinking, standing there expressionless, willing to uphold his duty.

Is he excited? Is he nervous? Is he wishing he could run away from that room and leave all this tradition behind?

My name was inside of one of the boxes, so I should had been even more anxious and edgy than Rita herself, but, after the PET Gala fiasco, where: I hadn’t gotten the clues I was so close to getting, I hadn’t finished the job I was supposed to be doing and my one month salary had been reduced to half; I was certain that whoever was in charge of my luck was not very fond of me.

“They are back!” Rita shouted as soon as Arin’s face reappeared. Everyone in the room fell silent. I scoffed a laugh when I noticed them unconsciously leaning slightly towards the big tv, but I ended up doing the same after adjusting my glasses. One by one the basic information of the selected were being transcribed from the screen to our devices as Arin picked out their papers.

<< “From Allens, Idalia Moretti, from Angeles, Emily Rose White,... from Honduragua, Callia Adair…” >>

My fingers were moving fast across my cellphone’s keyboard. These were the girls we would be hearing a lot about from now on and I needed to know everything about them.

<< “From Labrador, Lea…” >>

I froze. My head felt dizzy trying to take in what I had just heard. For the shortest of seconds, everyone’s eyes were on me. I could hear Rita’s voice instructing them to get back to work and maybe someone else was now in charge of The Globe’s blog but at that moment I couldn’t care less about that.

It’s really happening... I made it to the selection!

Finally, I could stand up. I was feeling so much energy inside me that I wanted to run. Suddenly, the lift made a sound and my dad came quickly out of it and … wait, my mom is here? She was carrying my sleepy little brother, Dean.

I could read the shock on my parents’ faces.“I’m in!!” I said a little too loud but since Mr. Grant was there no one dared to complain. My dad let out a short laugh before extending his arms for an embrace. “Congratulations, Rosie, I knew it would happen, didn’t I tell you V?” He said to my mom. “Grants always get what they want.”

Ugh, I wish. But I wasn’t going to argue with him right now, so I just offered him a wink.

As soon as my father let go, my mom surrounded me with her free arm. “So how does it feel to be a lady, huh? We have to celebrate this!”

“Well, do ladies feel hungry this late? Cause I wasn’t feeling it a moment ago.” “Yes, let’s leave these guys to work in peace.” my dad said suddenly remembering where we were. After clearing his throat as if that simple gesture was a switch between the dad and the boss, he talked with Rita to make sure someone had replaced me updating the blog, then he congratulated everyone for their dedication and finally wished them good night. “I just hope you are paying me the full day,” I said to my dad as we all headed outside.

“I mean, are you working right now?” He raised an eyebrow, mockingly.

I sighed “I guess Grants can’t always get what they want after all.” And I meant it in more than one way.

The next week ran fast. My father and I agreed that I had to keep going to the office as usual, but it wasn’t easy to balance my work and my phone ringing every 5 minutes. More than once I had to ride home in the middle of the day because someone was waiting for me at home.

First, a man with a very peculiar face came to do some kind of interrogation, which was understandable until we got to the most uncomfortable, personal ones. I almost spit my coffee laughing until I realized he had no intention to leave until he got every answer to each one of the questions on his list.

Like him, I received a tailor and a doctor; but it wasn’t until the press started to ask for interviews when I realized my life had made a turn of 360 degrees.

The thing I lamented the most about this odd schedule was that I couldn’t travel to the provinces to interview some of the selected as we had planned, but I did take advantage of every opportunity I had to do deep research about them.

Some of the names or last names could be found on old newspaper editions, there were tragedies, accomplishments, unfortunate events… I smiled to myself, while I made annotations on my journal, fascinated by all the different interesting lives that were about to gather under the same roof. And I guess somehow that included mine.

The farewell party organized by Labrador’s Mayor seemed more like a political campaign than a real party. I might have fallen asleep during his speech if I hadn’t been texting Harris for the 40th time that week.

The last time I knew something about him was the night of the announcement when he sent me a simple “Congratulations, Lady Lea.” Then as the photographer, he had to go with Rea to the half-tour over the country to cover the selected interviews.

“How dare you not be here when you are needed,... you lucky mooncalf.”

I looked up to see the crowd from my place on the big platform set in the middle of the Amberly park. It hadn’t been a very good idea, because there were grey clouds gathering over us and the sun was partially covered by them already.

Someone forgot to check the weather section today.

But the trees surrounding us were decorated with purple and green metallic balloons -the colors of our province- and there were several signs with good wishes so I appreciated the effort.

Everyone was here; The Globe employees that didn’t like me at all, my family on the first row, my college best friend, Liv had made space on her busy schedule to come to the event, even my grandmother had sent his chauffeur with presents. That was her way to show support and I honestly didn’t have any complaints. After the Mayor’s speech, the great boss Maxwell Loyd took the microphone to speak, I rolled my eyes, not caring about the people in front of me. He didn’t waste this opportunity to promote himself and flatter me. I mean, if he really had thought all that about me I would have had a promotion and a raise already, instead I just got ridiculous instructions and a handshake.

When they both finally finished, the rain had started to pour, plus it was almost time for me to leave for the airport. I buttoned my coat before taking my place behind the microphone to start talking, but the eyes of the lady in charge of my schedule forced me to skip until the end of the speech I had prepared the night before. Every time I was going to make it sound deep and sentimental she made a sign for me to hurry.

“I appreciate your support… I will do my best… thank you for coming.”

Were the only complete sentences I managed to say under such pressure. There was clapping and cheering afterwards, but there was after the previous boring speeches as well, so I didn’t get too excited about that.

“Have a good time, my Lea.” My mother said after kissing my brow. I could smell her sweet perfume that I was going to miss. “I will, mom. Take care, I’m only leaving cause I know you are going to be in charge.” I side eyed the two men of the house. Then I kissed my little brother and messed his blond hair. “Bye bye little toad.” He just babbled something and waved his little hand.

“So, Lady Grant. What do you expect from Prince Arin? Do you secretly plan to drink all the coffee from the Angele’s Palace? Rumor has it your father won’t let you marry until you turn 48 years old do you think Your Highness would wait for you that long?” “Wow, Mr. Grant you ask pretty basic questions, I have been asked the same ones all week.” He gave me a big tight hug and I ignored the wool of his coat feeling itchy on my cheek. “I’m very proud of you Leana, and of course I’m not talking about this selection situation… I’m sorry about-” I stopped him not wanting to have our little disagreements as today’s last memory. And I also hoped I could change his mind by the time I returned home. “We can talk about that when I come back, dad.” He nodded. “I’m starting to feel bad for our dear Prince Arin.” I scoffed a laugh.

“Lady Grant, we are past the established hours already.” I heard a lady behind me.

I turned to my friend Liv with an apologetic expression but she just smiled and waved. “I will text you… Bye! The rain started to fall harder but I had read the weather section on the paper this morning so I was properly dressed with boots and a coat over my white shirt and black pants.

I walked towards a guard who was holding an opened umbrella to cover us with it. He opened the door of the car. Then he offered to take my bag for me, but I had packed some of my old journals in there among my personal things. “Thank you… What’s your name?” “Finn Ray, my lady.” He answered confused. “I will keep this here with me, Finn.” I said in what I hoped was a reassuring tone before entering the car. I guessed he was new at guarding selected, because I noticed him turning to look at the woman in charge of the schedule. She nodded once at him and joined me inside the limousine.

By the time we got to the airport I had learned that our chauffeur was called Alan Cobb, he had been working for the palace for 3 years on special occasions. He had three kids and his wife was expecting a baby girl.

The strict lady was Miss Ramirez, she was happily single, obviously tardiness was her biggest pet peeve and she had worked there for 6 years already, but she enjoyed her job and had never thought of doing anything else, although I didn’t quite understand exactly which was her role in the royal offices of Labrador.

She left me at the boarding door after wishing me luck.

The flight to Angeles was long. I shared a plane with 3 others selected, that seemed pretty decent at first sight.

We had a polite introduction conversation before we took off, but then everyone focused on her own thing; Jen Li, -the Yale law student from Waverly- took advantage of the 8 hours flight to sleep. Alana Hansen looked out from the window almost the whole time lost in her thoughts, and based on the green tone on Regina Wright’s face I guessed she was a risky company for the moment.

I remembered I had read about her parents' unfortunate plane accident in an old newspaper, they used to be famous politicians and she was an apple that had fallen close to the tree. Hopefully not too close.

So, considering my options I prefer to write in my journals during the whole trip.

As soon as we arrived we were hurried to a room for makeovers. For me it felt more like a day in the salon, nothing drastic was made, just a few lights on my hair, perfect makeup and a stunning blue dress with matching elegant pump heels shoes.

They did insisted on giving me contact lenses, since I had forgotten to pack mine, so after a long argument with the stylist, Mariel, I decided to wear the contacts and let him enjoy “his creation”.

In the end, despite the little changes, when he showed me my reflection in the mirror, I had to recognize I was content with the upgraded version of me.

ESSENTIAL RESEARCH

The tour around the palace was quite short considering its size. I was almost sure that it was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside, but the curiosity to see my new room, made me settle with the basic information,

I took a glance down at the little map on my hand. Eloise Hall room 28, second floor. As I headed to the stairs, the decorations and fancy details surrounding me were impossible to ignore. With every step you could find paintings by famous old artists -my mother admired- hanging on the walls, expensive vases and beautiful furniture.

Looking around I spotted one of the selected quickly scribbling some notes in a notebook. As I got closer I noticed she was my plane mate, Regina Wright. Her green tone had disappeared or maybe covered with makeup and she looked much more secure now that we were down here on earth soil.

I laughed a little bit inside walking by her side “Hope whatever you are writing is worth a bump on your head.”

“I hope so too” She said absentmindedly, not looking up from her notebook. After some seconds she took a short look at me, flipped through her notebook and quickly closed it before I could react and lean discreetly to read what she was working on.

Okay, now I’m curious.

“Excuse me, hi. Leana is it?” She gave me a polite smile.

“Yes, feeling better... Regina..? I asked faking ignorance.

She looked at me as she didn’t know why I was asking her that but then just answered, “Splendid. But please, call me Reggie.”

We continue walking up the stairs towards the second floor, while we shook hands,

“I'm Leana Grant but you can call me Lea or Lee” I said touching the arc of my glasses I had put back on as soon as I left the makeover room.

She nodded. “Alright, Lea. Journalist, correct?” She made her pen click as if she was going to start writing again. I frowned, puzzled. “You too?”

She chuckled at the question as if I should already know who she was. And the truth was, I did.

“No,” she finally said, opening her notebook again, adding something, then she continued. “So, what brings you here?”

I was sure Reggie had many qualities but subtlety wasn’t one of them.

I pressed my lips together, thinking about my motives, which one of them should I tell her? I’m here as an inside informant for The Globe; or, I’m here to live and learn about this whole selection phenomenon… I didn’t even know which one was the right answer. “... just figured I couldn't miss this whole thing, you know.”

Half- truths are always safe.

“Are you here for politics?” I added before she could even think about my answer.

She looked pleasantly surprised by my question, clearing her throat. “Yes, that is one of the reasons.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “You did your research.”

I guess it was my turn to feel recognized, but unlike her I didn’t want to be so obvious, so I shrugged. “Your name rang a bell.”

She looked at me suspiciously, lifting her chin, a slight movement I didn’t quite understand. “Is that so? That's good, I suppose. Best to be prepared.”

“Maybe you are right, I guess you actually did your research. What do you have about me?” I asked directly now, pointing at her notebook casually.

She remained serious. “Oh, just the usual. Occupation, caste, age. Name, obviously. There's 35 of us after all. Would be a shame to get anyone mixed up.”

“Well, now most of us are threes and the twos are pretty well known.”

“Yes well, obviously. Was to be expected. It's still an appropriate mix.”

Her statement made me remember her parents somehow, obviously she had their school but I wonder how much she agreed with them. “That’s... a word to describe it, yes.” I answered incredulous, “So where are you staying?” I asked, as I noticed I have already found my room.

We discovered we were room neighbors which I decided was very convenient for me. I liked people who have answers to my questions.

She was concerned about my acoustic guitar hobby and I assured her I hadn’t brought mine with me. “The music room will do.” And she assured me her studying was going to be silent.

The conversation continued but my curiosity was already unbearable, so I opened the door of my room to check it out. I didn’t want to be rude so I invited Reggie inside as we talked.

“What are you working on?” I stepped inside

She followed. “Political Science Major.”

I gave her a glance to let her know that was not the answer I was looking for.

She blinked with realization. “Oh, I see I misunderstood. Well, actually I was just writing a paper on the pros and cons of capitalism and if our country should focus more on it like we did when we were still called the 'United States'” She air quoted the name.

I looked around my room considering her answer. Suddenly my eyes met with three maids standing in line in the middle of the room. When they saw us they made a courtesy and I nodded at them as a greeting, hoping we can have proper introductions later.

“Hmm the lesser of evils... but the United States not exactly an example to be followed.” I said to Reggie.

“Exactly.” She said. I noticed her writing a mark in her notebook.

“A-are you like grading me?” I dared to ask what I had suspected since the beginning, but I didn’t want to believe. It was shocking at first but after the third mark it became amusing.

“Who else do you have in there?” I asked curiously before running next to her to peek at her notebook. She closed it again. When I looked at her she smiled at me awkwardly “No, of course not. Just remembered something.” Her notebook was behind her back, now out of my reach. She straightened her shoulders before adding, “Well, thank you kindly for your invitation, glad to have met you…”

I stayed there confused, Had I gotten it wrong? Or was I right and she didn’t want me to know? Anyway, I should have said nothing. “Alright ... glad to meet you too, see you around.” I said worried that she might be uncomfortable now.

She nodded as she headed to the door. One of the maids hurried to hold the door for her.

I frowned concerned, I couldn’t just lose a source like her. “Wait for me tomorrow, I think we can walk to the dining room together.”

She turned to give me a frown, seemingly confused by my suggestion. “But I already know where it-” then she smiled. “I will.”

As soon as Reggie left I took out the journal from the pocket of my dress and tossed on the pretty desk by a large window where I peered at the view of the Angeles city.

FOR THE RECORD.

After introductions my maids brought me dinner up to my room. So while I was eating the best creamy mustard chicken I ever had, we had a little chat.

Among other things we talked about I expressed my surprise when I didn’t see any Royals when we arrived. Liberty, Camila and confirmed the Schreaves didn’t plan to meet any selected tonight, we would have to wait until morning. Queen Anjeli and Princess Ayesha had to leave the palace to attend important matters and Wylan Caldwell in spite of not being a selected was currently living in the Palace. Back in Labrador, I managed between college, work and extra work to fill my schedule, my mother never liked me being out of the house so late at night or sometimes not being able to have a complete breakfast in the morning, I enjoyed being busy and drive my Vespa from one place to another, but it was hard for me to admit that one of the reasons I liked my life that way was that besides when I was concentrated writing notes on my iTypewriter; I was not good at being alone with my thoughts. That’s why when I was a child my mother bought me a ukulele to play when I was feeling anxious, which gave excellent results. Later when I entered college I took a short guitar course with the same purpose.

Therefore, later that afternoon, when my maids went back to their chores, leaving me alone I decided to leave my room to check out the music room, as I promised Reggie I would do.

It took me some minutes to find the right door downstairs but my memory had never failed me and it wasn’t going to start now.

I opened the third door in the west hall and peeked inside. I felt relieved when I saw the big piano in the last corner and dared to walk inside. Besides the piano, there were several instruments resting on their stands spread around the room, most of them to play classical music, but luckily, an acoustic guitar was among them. I was going to pick it up to test it when I spotted shelves full of old vinyl records.

I walked towards the vinyl record player, it had a beautiful vintage look, it’s big horn imitated the ancient gramophones used during the Victorian years, but I suspected to be a more recent model.

I noticed someone had left a classic record on, I wonder which one of the Royals had been listening to it as I moved the tonearm onto the outer edge of the disk, the little diamond tip to touch the groove.

I guess I still remember how to use one of this.

I stretched my arm and pulled one of the discs from the upper shelf, the others came down with it and << "KNEEE-KNEEE!!" >>

The blaring sound of violins vibrated around the room making me wince for the annoying sound filling my ears.

“Damn!” I covered my ears while trying to find a way to turn the bloody record player off before my head exploded. Overwhelmed by the sound I went on my knees and stretched my hand behind the furniture looking desperately for the plug, but before I could find any the music stopped.

I stood up still touching my ears

Have I gone deaf?

“I take you didn’t mean to do that.” I heard someone say behind me.

Okay, I haven’t

I turned around to find a guy eyeing me warily, from the corner of my eye I noticed a laptop and a couple of heavy leather books that weren't on the table before.

“I was considering turning it on but it made the decision for me,” I said without explaining.

At that moment, a couple of guards came into the room alarmed. They scanned the room quickly before looking at us puzzled.

Wylan followed my gaze and turned to them, slightly. “Just a mishap. We’re fine.” He acknowledged with a wave of his hand. I let out a sigh of relief as they left the room to return to their posts.

“First time using a record player?” He asked to continue teasing

I gave him a deadpan look. “Ha-ha I take that the last person who played it had some hearing problems.” Before I crouched to pick up the rest of the vinyl records still scattered on the carpeted floor, I noticed a smile tugging at his lips that didn’t last.

In a minute he was bending in front of me to help. “You picked some good ones.”

Suddenly we looked at each other for a second, I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at his for a second trying to figure any sign of sarcasm in them, and he just had the word “awkward” written all over his face. Obviously I was making him feel uncomfortable.

I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so busy trying to read him.

“I like classics- acoustic to be precise.” I finally said with a shrug. “Do you own any of these?”

“This John Mayer one is mine. I have some other ones too. They’re over there.” He gestured to the rack behind me, then stood up with the vinyls he helped pick up.

I raised my eyebrow and nodded approvingly. “You have some taste, I will give you that.” I looked up at him, waiting for him to offer his hand for me to help me stand, but apparently living in a castle was no guarantee of anything, so I just stood up slowly, brushing my dress.

“Some were gifts I grew to love.” He acknowledged, holding the vinyls out for me. “I’d recommend keeping the volume down before you turn it on next time.”

I took the discs to put them back in its place on the shelves “Well, you should put a sign somewhere,” I joked, a bit annoyed by his recommendation.

I adjusted my glasses and stayed standing there, admiring the vinyl records once more. My curious mind wondered about the Prince. “Which ones are Arin’s?”

“I’m not sure. He might not own any.” I caught him glancing at his things he had left on the table before back to me. “Might be a good question to ask him yourself.”

Or you’re just evading the question. But fortunately, one of the things my job had teached me was to have thick skin so I wasn’t going to let him get away so easily.

“You really don’t know or you don’t want to tell me?” I asked with an amusing tone.

He let out a small sigh, relenting a bit. “He likes The Killers. There’s probably a vinyl or two of those in here if you really need a good conversation starter.”

I faked a grimace “ugh! that piece of information should’ve hurt…” I said mockingly before adding. “I guess some advice for tomorrow’s interview is completely out of the table.”

“Depends on what advice you’re looking for,” he let out, surprising me.

I started to walk around the room still looking at him, considering my answer. “I don’t know, you are his friend... knowing a little bit about his personality would help,” I said casually, as if I didn’t already have thousands of questions listed in my head.

But somehow he knew I did. “I’ll answer one question you have. Just one.”

“So generous …” I said more to myself than to him. My hand went unconsciously inside the pocket on my dress and my fingers touched my journal inside of it, purely out of habit. Of course, I wasn’t going to take it out so I crossed my hands in front of me as I resumed my walking around the room.

“Okay…” In my mind I was looking for a single question that could indirectly tell me things about Arins personality … and why not about Mr. Uncomfortable himself too.

“How do you start getting along back in college, like how did you become friends?”

Suddenly he let out a laugh, startling me. I frowned at first, but then I decided it wasn’t so bad, it picked my curiousness further.

I looked at him genuinely amused and he begined, “We were both going for runs and without knowing, I drifted a little too close. I was listening to music and not paying attention. His bodyguard sort of…” He paused to bring his fist to his neck simulating a punch. “And took me down.” I could see he was amused, for real.

I laughed picturing the scene on my mind, considering all his previous teasing and had to admit it was a little bit entertaining to do so. “Ouch! His bodyguard does look ... fierce.” I commented remembering the man’s complexion I had seen several times on TV.

I wait for him to continue before asking, “what happened next? What did Arin say?”

His smile was more like a ghost on his face now, not physically there but somehow still present. “He apologized. After that we found out we shared a couple classes together and I offered to help him study for exams.”

“That’s an epic story… I bet it left you marked for some days.” I made a grimace, touching my neck, imagining the pain.

“Swallowing hurt, to say the least,” he said, remembering. After a minute, he combed a hand through his hair. “ Did that satisfy your question?”

“Hmm yeah, it was good, for now” I answered scoffing a laugh. The truth was I didn’t expect to enjoy his story that much, but I just couldn’t settle with only one question, but it wasn’t convenient to push more questions on him now.

Fortunately he didn’t refuse, he just rolled his eyes at me, amused. “Alright, well I have to get back to work. At least try to not deafen the entire palace again.”

“I can’t promise anything.” I let out, finally taking the acoustic guitar from its stand, while he turned to gather his things.

“Reassuring.” He gave me a side glance and started walking out the room, he offered a two fingered salute before disappearing behind the opened door.

After a second, while looking down at the guitar already in place on my lap, I compelled, “Wylan... thanks!”

“You're welcome.”

I heard him say from the hallway just before I started strumming the guitar strings, hoping its sound was enough to help me survive the first night.

#OC 6 #PC part 2 #Reggie Wright #Wylan Caldwell #((thanks again to Cassey for reading and giving me some perspective ))

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