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gossip-girl-of-middleearth · 3 years

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Wrong End of the Ithilien Stick (Legolas x Reader)

Requested by: @elvish-sky

could i request a legolas x reader with angst- like she misheard something he said and they have a falling out- but with a happy ending?

A/N: Here you are!! Hope you enjoy :) bon appetit ☀️

They were hopeless – completely, and utterly hopeless. Most who wished to court did so at the first few stolen glances, but not Y/n and Legolas.

Apparently, a year’s worth of peril on the road did nothing to invoke revelations. The Fellowship journey may have introduced them to one another, but it did nothing to bring them together. No, that was entirely up to them – the worst two to be left in charge of their own romantic fates.

Although, that’s not to say they entirely went their separate ways in the aftermath. Y/n had stayed behind with Legolas, in Ithilien, where they sought to restore the trees.

The whole process was full of cleared throats, deep blushes and shy smiles. Gimli, on the occasions he would visit, rolled his eyes, and groaned aloud.

“Ye still on yer dove dancing, are ye?” he taunted one day.

However, all the pair could do, was look away from one another. Y/n simply felt herself too inferior to his royal status, as to make the first move. Legolas, on the other hand, felt himself too high maintenance to even begin asking her if she minded his princely upbringing.

It was a vicious cycle, but one the four Hobbits sought to destroy, following their next visit.

“So, we are all aware of our roles?” Frodo asked, as the four friends strolled across a wooden bridge, and into the Ithilien forest.

Frodo had enjoyed the distraction, and appreciated the time away from his cooped-up desk greatly. Any chance to rid himself of the journey’s memories, was a chance he’d take.

“Aye!” Pippin confirmed. “Merry and I are tackling Y/n, and you and Sam will handle Legolas.”

“By nightfall, those two will be married!” Merry agreed, nodding resolutely.

However, stifling the Hobbits’ laughter, Y/n and Legolas appeared from nowhere – greeting them by the creek’s bank.

“Who’s getting married by nightfall?” Y/n sweetly asked, squinting under the bright morning sun.

“I don’t mind a wedding,” Legolas added on, smiling down at Y/n. “If it’s someone we know, perhaps we ought to go. Could borrow some cake?”

“I don’t think they’ll be wanting it back, somehow,” Y/n laughed, sharing the Elf’s smile.

Watching as they grinned brightly, and laughed together, the four Hobbits nervously looked at one another.

Oh, how desperately they needed their plan to work. Y/n would shrivel from mortality, before they even had a chance to marry themselves!

“Alas, we’re being rude,” Y/n dismissed, immediately moving forwards to hug all her friends. “It’s been so long since our last visit to the Shire! We’ve missed you all so much!”

“Likewise,” Sam warmly replied, hugging her tight. “We quite enjoyed the trek on over here too.”

“Oh, really?” Y/n excitedly asked, pulling back. “Legolas and I have been working on the trail leading in all year! We finally managed to grow the petunias you sent over as well.”

“That’s wonderful news,” Frodo smiled, now walking in tow with the girl and Elf, as they led them away. “So…speaking of news, has anything as of late occurred in Ithilien? Any news of courtship, perhaps?”

“From whom?” Legolas tightly asked, not at all liking Frodo’s sly connotation.

“Oh, no one in particular,” he lied, sharing a smile with the other Hobbits.

“Of course…” Legolas dismissed, nonetheless answering, as he walked through the botanical gardens. “Well, not to our knowledge, no…oh, but a wonderful pair of deer mated recently! We are expecting fawns any season now.”

“So are we,” Merry grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Having heard, with his Elven hearing, what the Hobbit said, Legolas confusedly glanced over his shoulder. Nonetheless, he merely only creased his features, before stealing a glance at Y/n. He then looked back up front, as they pressed on walking.

“Well, there is much ground to cover,” Legolas changed the topic, glancing up at the glittering trees. “We ought to start here first, so that we can make it back in time to-“

“Actually, Legolas,” Frodo interjected, coming to a halt, and causing the others to do the same, “we were thinking, on the way over here, that we ought to maybe split the group in half, so that we might finish earlier this time?”

Blinking down at the Hobbit, Y/n and Legolas knitted their brows. They then unsteadily looked between one another, before Y/n herself piped up again.

“Uh, sure…we can do that,” she said. “Any reason why, though?”

“Well, we do want to see your restoration project, and permaculture,” Merry began answering, chewing on the end of his pipe, “but, we’d prefer to spend some time with just you two as well. You know, at dinner and such. Don’t forget, we need supper as well.”

Looking between one another once more, and silently communicating, the two taller friends discreetly shrugged.

“Very well,” Legolas sighed, returning his attention to the Hobbits. “Frodo and Sam, you two can come with me. Merry and Pippin, you join Y/n. Oh, and Merry? Discard the pipe – there’s no smoking in Ithilien.”

Upholding both palms in surrender, Merry tucked the pipe away. As he and Pippin began following after Y/n, they both shared a sneaky grin with Frodo and Sam. They each all resolutely nodded at one another, before turning around to face back up front.

“Oh! Oh! Look!” Y/n excitedly pointed out.

Looking upwards, both Merry and Pippin observed a courting pair of bluebirds. They flew around one another, and landed in a little brown nest, high up in a tree.

Grinning brightly, Y/n breathed in the soft spring air.

“Oh, don’t you just love this time of year?” she wistfully sighed. “The courting animals, the romantic lighting, the little boats on the lake-“

“THAT’S IT! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” Merry exclaimed. He clamped his ears tight, with both hands, and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Merry?” Y/n asked in concern, swiftly turning around to observe him. “Are you alright? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s WRONG?” Merry seethed, finally re-meeting her eyes. “YOU ARE, Y/N, THAT’S WHAT!”

“I beg your pardon?” Y/n bit back, looking him up and down with narrowed eyes. “What did I do?”

“It’s more like what you haven’t done,” Pippin elaborated, ever-so-casually. “Actually, both you and Legolas, to be perfectly candid.”

Feeling heat rise to her cheeks, Y/n stammered over her words.

“I-I don’t understand-“ she tried to say.

“Yes, you do,” Merry interjected, using a series of hand gestures to further his point. “You like him. He likes you. It’s been like this since Rivendell – BEFORE we all set out for Mordor, mind you! Somehow, destroying that little ring was easier than getting you two to admit your feelings!”

Y/n was at a loss for words. Had it all really been that obvious?

“Yes, it really has been that obvious,” Merry piped up again, apparently having read her mind.

Slumping her shoulders, Y/n ran a hand along her face, and complained.

“This is really humiliating…” she said. “Do you think Legolas knows too?”

“Y/n, not to alarm you, but I’m pretty sure all of Arda knows,” Pippin winced.

Finding a park bench, Y/n sat herself down in a flush, and groaned.

“Well, whatever am I to do?” she asked, as her two friends each took a seat beside her. “I ought to tell him, I know that much, but I just simply cannot muster the courage.”

“Y/n, I’ve seen you slowly decapitate an orc’s head with a picnic knife,” Merry deadpanned, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I think you can handle telling your one true love how you really feel.”

Rolling her eyes at his choice of cheesy words, Y/n soon reeled them into her lap, where she picked at her thumbnail.

“Aye, that is true, but…” she pressed on, “well, look at me, guys. I’m a commoner, and no amount of true love is going to change that. He’s a prince, at the end of the day…what would everyone think?”

“What does it matter what everyone thinks?” Pippin encouraged, holding her other shoulder. “We, the Fellowship survivors, know above all else just how short life is. You can’t spend it worrying about what others will make of your happiness.”

Seeing the cogs turn in her mind, Merry squeezed her shoulder harder, and urged her to look at him.

“You love him, Y/n…you can’t delay any longer,” he said.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Y/n creased her brows. It was true, she loved him, more than anything else. Why should she deny herself that, based purely on what others would think?

“You know something? You’re right!” she resolutely declared. She stood upwards quickly, and squared her shoulders. “I love him, and I shouldn’t care what anyone thinks of my status! I’m going to tell him – today!”

Whooping and hollering, Merry and Pippin also both jumped to their feet. They pushed her along, as she began jogging away, to where she knew Legolas would be.

“That’s the spirit, friend!” Pippin cheered. “Go and tell him! And please make the cake red velvet at the wedding!”

Waving over her shoulder with a grin, Y/n pushed her legs faster, as to find Legolas, and finally reveal her heart to him.

~ In the botanical greenhouse, Legolas, Sam and Frodo all stood around – inspecting the many different pot plants.

“And this one is a young fern,” Legolas explained, holding a tiny plant up high. “I grew it myself from a seedling. I’m hoping it’ll soon have sprouts of its own, and raise a family, and-“

“Oh my goodness…” Sam sighed, folding his arms, and shaking his head. “You really are hopeless, you know that, right?”

“Pardon?” Legolas confusedly asked, lifting his eyes from the fern. “My apologies…if you do not like ferns, I could show you the-“

“Legolas…I think you ought to sit down for a moment,” Frodo interjected, gesturing to a wooden chair in the middle of the greenhouse.

Furrowing his brows, Legolas warily glanced between the two Hobbits. They stood in front of the chair, and folded their arms – very serious, indeed.

Slowly, Legolas made his way on over towards the chair, and sat down.

Instantly, the two Hobbits closed the greenhouse curtains all around, save for one. The only window left open served one ray of sun, which purely basked Legolas, and Legolas only, as if he were under an interrogation spotlight.

Squinting his eyes, and craning his head to move out of the light, Legolas spoke.

“Is the chair really necessary-“ he tried to say.

“Right, let’s cut to the chase,” Sam interjected, standing in front of Legolas with Frodo. “Y/n. You like her. She likes you. Now, why haven’t you courted her, and made beautiful children yet?”

Staring wide-eyed for a moment, Legolas parted his lips. However, swift in his archer’s mind, he soon sighed. Next, slumping his shoulders, Legolas responded.

“I suppose I haven’t been as discreet in my fondness as previously thought…” he mused.

“Not in the slightest,” Sam and Frodo said at once.

Twitching his lips to one side, Frodo softly stared down at his friend, and pressed on.

“Legolas…why haven’t you told her of how you feel yet?” he asked.

Lifting his eyes, and wincing them, Legolas considered his thoughts. He knew how much Y/n enjoyed her freedom, and he knew how restricting a royal life could be. He loved Y/n enough to not impose such a confining lifestyle on her – that was why he held back.

Exhaling again, Legolas knew he could no longer hide his feelings from his friends, and responded.

At the same time, just outside of the greenhouse, Y/n ran up to the door. Stumped for a moment, as to why the curtains were all drawn back, she nonetheless moved closer. However, upon hearing muffled voices on the other side, speaking of her in particular, she halted, and listened in.

“Are you jesting, Frodo? She’s a commoner,” Legolas said in frustration, shocking the girl outside. “Y/n and formalities simply do not mix. How could anyone ever love someone so different from themselves? Nay…I wouldn’t brew that situation.”

Having stumbled backwards in hurt, Y/n felt tears prick at her eyes. She raised both hands, and held them over her chest.

Before she could freely cry, she turned on her heel, and ran away. However, as she did so, she failed to hear the end of Legolas’ sentence, which defined the entire context.

“That’s why I can’t marry Y/n…she deserves better than what I could give her,” he said. “I wouldn’t wish for someone so free to be tied down to someone like me...I’m far too different from her.”

“Does Y/n not also get a say in the matter?” Frodo sincerely asked, studying his friend apologetically. “Y/n loves you, Legolas…you ought to at least give your courtship a chance, regardless of formalities.”

“Aye, Frodo is right,” Sam added on, nodding at his raven-haired friend. “You ought to at least speak to her. It can’t hurt…well, it can, but you’ll never know until you try.”

Sucking on his lower lip, Legolas knitted his brows. He considered his friends’ words, and mulled them over. It was true, he loved Y/n, and he was almost certain she him. Perhaps Frodo and Sam were right – simply talking couldn’t do much harm, could it?

Nodding his head, Legolas met the Hobbits’ eyes again.

“Aye,” he agreed at last. “You’re right, I ought to at least ask her!”

Swiftly standing, Legolas moved out from the chair, and headed towards the greenhouse door.

“We’re proud of you!” Sam cheered, giving a mighty few claps of his hands.

“Good luck,” Frodo smiled, nodding at his friend.

Nodding back once, Legolas beamed bright, and headed outside.

Having run away far enough, Y/n now trekked angrily through the forest. Her jaw was set, and her eyes burning. How could he be so nice to her face, only to say such horrible things behind her back? She cared not, for she would maintain the entire other side of Ithilien, from now on.

She, a commoner, would not dare stay with someone who cares so little for her. However, she soon heard a bright voice calling from behind. Turning around, she spotted Legolas swiftly jogging towards her.

“Y/n!” he called, wearing an excited smile.

The moment he jogged up to her, Y/n grew cold in her stance. She revered him with distrust, and anger.

This did not go unnoticed by Legolas, whose features dropped, and his mind wiped. He now sought to ensure she herself was okay.

“Are you alright?” he sincerely asked, brimming with concern.

Laughable, Y/n thought. How dare he pretend to care – right to her face as well!

“Never been better,” Y/n seethed, turning on her heel.

Stammering over his words for a minute, Legolas shook the odd mood in the air away. He followed after her, and shyly spoke – though, his words were hasty.

“There’s something I have to tell you,” he began. However, Y/n wanted none of it.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, your highness!” Y/n snapped, turning around once more, and angrily pointing at him. “I heard enough earlier.”

“You heard what I said?” Legolas repeated in horror, suddenly feeling his palms grow clammy – for more than one reason.

“Every last word,” Y/n replied, glaring across at the Elf.

Shocked by her attitude, Legolas was simply at a loss. He shook his head at the ground in confusion, and spoke.

“I-I thought you would have understood?” he said, lifting his puzzled eyes once more.

“Oh, I understand!” Y/n sarcastically started, rolling her eyes. “Just like you said yourself; how could anyone love someone so different?”

Truly hurt by her words, Legolas parted his lips. His eyes brimmed in anguish, as all his hopes were suddenly stomped on, and buried beneath the dirt.

“But…I thought that wouldn’t matter to you?” he said in a small voice.

“Yeah, well…I guess you thought wrong,” Y/n replied, scrunching her nose in disdain.

Turning on her heels, Y/n stalked away. Where she was heading? She didn’t know – all she knew, is that she could find some better and more loyal company, with just herself.

Left alone, Legolas stood in silence. What had just happened? She truly did not wish to court him, purely because of his royal status? Very well, then – he could do just as fine by himself.

Matching her anger, Legolas too stalked away, but in the opposite direction.

Sat down in the grass, and enjoying a picnic by the lake, Frodo and Sam basked in each other’s company. Merry and Pippin were off who knows where, and doing God knows what. However, all tranquillity soon came to an end, the moment a furious Y/n stomped past.

Staring between one another, and blinking in confusion, the two Hobbits quickly dropped their sandwiches. They rose swiftly, and chased after her.

“Hey! Hey, Y/n!” Frodo called, jogging to meet with her. “Have you found Legolas yet? There’s something you need to know. We spoke earlier, and-“

“Yes, I know you all talked earlier,” Y/n snapped, now recalling exactly whom Legolas spoke with before. She halted, and glared down at the two friends. “You’re all very good comrades, aren’t you? Well, if you are all such good brothers in arms, how about you go find him instead, and leave me alone?”

Noticing that she made a move to stalk away again, along the edge of the glistening lake, both Frodo and Sam confusedly looked between one another once more.

“I beg your pardon, Y/n,” Sam tentatively spoke up, watching her leave, “but I think you may have the wrong end of the stick here?”

“Oh, no, I think I have the exact right idea,” Y/n seethed, rolling her eyes. “I hope you all had a lovely time, speaking about me behind my back – and just a commoner? Really? We can’t all be from Bag End, Frodo.”

Confused, but only for a moment, the context suddenly clicked in Frodo’s mind. Racing forwards, he held Y/n’s hand, and kept her in place.

“Wait! You DEFINITELY have the wrong idea!” he exclaimed. “I know what you’re angry about, but you have to listen! He wasn’t talking about you in that regard – he was referencing his distress over taking you from your farming life, and placing you in royal formalities!”

“What are you talking about-“ Y/n had gone to say, with a yank of her hand out of his. However, Frodo’s words quickly met her mind, and ceased her tongue.

Oh.

Well, now that made more sense.

Feeling a wave of shame wash over her, Y/n bared her teeth in cringe, and winced her features.

“Oh my…” was all she could say.

A little further off, but still heading towards the lake, and Legolas could be found in the same situation – however, only a few steps behind.

“You all come into our home, and plant ideas in our heads,” Legolas seethed, striding away from Merry and Pippin, “only to leave poisonous weeds instead! I don’t know what you’ve all done behind the scenes, but you’ve certainly made nothing better since your arrival!”

“Please, Legolas! Just tell us what happened!” Merry begged, struggling to keep up.

“Well, that’s just the thing, isn’t it? I don’t know!” Legolas exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “One minute, the last time I was with Y/n, mind you, and we were happy! But the second I see her again, after she spent her morning with you two, and she turns like the tide on a wintery day!”

“That just doesn’t make any sense…” Pippin whispered, creasing his brows. “When she left us, she was on her way to tell you all about how much she wished to court you, and-“

Halting in his tracks, Legolas paused. Snapping his head over his shoulder, the Elf questioned the Hobbit, who quickly clamped his mouth shut.

“What?” he pressed. “What do you mean she was coming to tell me of courting?”

Looking between one another, Merry and Pippin sheepishly bared their teeth. Figuring the cat was already out of the bag, Merry turned back first, and revealed their agenda.

“Well, we somewhat…nudged…Y/n, to tell you of her love for you,” he said. “Last time we saw her, like I said, she went to find you in the greenhouse.”

Knitting his brows, and mulling the new bouts of information over, Legolas responded through a confused shake of his head.

“But that just doesn’t make any sense,” Legolas continued. “What could have soured her perception, from her journey between you, and the greenhouse-“

The greenhouse.

Oh.

Having caught his own words, Legolas immediately knew what went wrong. She had thought him to be insulting her status, and he thought her to be rejecting his.

Running a hand over his face, Legolas growled in frustration. Why must love be so hard? Surely, beyond courting, marriage and children, things would be easier, would they not? Well, Legolas wasn’t so certain he’d find out now – not unless he tracked down Y/n in time, before their rift planted roots too deep.

“I need to find her,” Legolas frantically began, looking all around himself. “I have no idea where she’d be – she could be on the other side of the forest, for all I know!”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Merry interjected, staring behind Legolas with Pippin.

“How would you know?” Legolas confusedly asked, though, his frustration edged his tone.

“Just a hunch,” Merry said again, pointing behind the prince.

Looking over his shoulder, Legolas’ formerly hardened features softened. Y/n stood in the near distance behind him, and anxiously stared in his direction – like a deer caught in the headlights. She chewed on her lower lip nervously, and waited by the lapping water’s edge.

Catching both Frodo and Sam’s eye, Merry and Pippin each awkwardly began stepping away, as did the other two Hobbits.

“Okay, we’re just, uh…gonna go now, yeah…good luck,” Merry said, dragging his younger cousin away.

Swallowing his nerves, Legolas suddenly felt his knees buckle, and his palms grow clammy. Nonetheless, if he was old enough to court, then he was old enough to resolve relationship issues.

Breathing in a shaky breath, and releasing it through pursed lips, Legolas forced his feet across the grass, to where Y/n stood.

Feeling her own heart hammer, and sweat cling to her temples, Y/n shifted on her feet. She frequently looked between an approaching Legolas, and the lake beside her. Was love meant to be this scary? Would it always be like this? Or was this the end?

She figured she would soon find out, for the prince now stood before her.

Both said nothing. Instead, they merely stole glances, like so many times before, and looked at the rippling lake.

The sun basked them in a warm glow, and the wind blowing through the leaves nearby met their ears. Soon, however, a chilly afternoon breeze rolled through, and darkened the sky overhead.

With a shiver, Y/n wrapped her arms around her form. She rubbed up and down, as to bring the warmth back. She hadn’t been wearing a cloak that day, for she figured she needed none. This was, of course, against Legolas’ advisement earlier that morning.

Sensing her cold, Legolas finally studied her again. With a sigh past his nose, he shed his own cloak. Next, stepping forwards, and accelerating both her heartrate and his, he wrapped the green material around her shoulders.

Immediately, the cold of the world was blocked out. It even appeared as though the sun above had made a comeback – breaking through the otherwise grey clouds.

He held her shoulders, as he adjusted the cloak, and secured it over her form. Y/n watched his features, as they creased in both concentration, and consideration.

“Why would you do that?” Y/n asked, after a moment of quiet study – breaking the silence finally. “Won’t you now be cold?”

Although he did not feel the cold the same way she did, Legolas used the moment as an advantage – a hoist to deliver his most inner thoughts, in a way.

“Perhaps, but…I’d prefer you to be warm,” he said, having initially jolted at her sudden words.

“Why?” Y/n tightly asked. She knew why, but she wanted to hear him say it.

Swallowing down his nerves, Legolas slowly met her eyes. They brimmed with nerves, but also adoration – a combination of which Y/n shared. However, hers also bore eagerness, and anticipation.

“Because…” he began in a small voice, swallowing once more. “I…I, uh-“

“Yes?” Y/n whispered, leaning in closer.

Sighing, Legolas buried his nerves away, and did the most un-Elven thing possible. He swept Y/n into a tight embrace, and hugged her warmly.

Shocked for a minute, Y/n widened her eyes. However, she soon melted into his touch, and hugged him back.

“Because, I believe a partner should ensure theirs is okay,” Legolas finally revealed.

“Partner?” Y/n repeated, in a very small voice. “And by partner…you mean?”

“Someone I love dearly, and care about most ardently,” he softly replied, kissing the top of her head.

Stunned by his small gesture for a moment, butterflies fluttered in Y/n’s stomach. She then hid said nerves with humour.

“Well…that is definitely hard to misinterpret,” Y/n attempted to joke. However, her joy overwhelmed her, and she squeezed the prince harder. “If it’s any consolation, I love you too…and I’m sorry for my brash behaviour earlier.”

“Aye, I am as well,” Legolas grinned, swaying her in the sun. “So…this may perhaps be an ambitious request, but…will you court me? Royal status and all?”

“Of course,” Y/n grinned back. “But, will you court me, commoner status and all?”

Smiling brighter, and closing his eyes contently, Legolas continued on hugging the girl by the shore. He then softly answered, whilst the sun basked them both in a placid glow – perhaps a tell-tale of the many good days to come.

“Without question,” he said at last.

#lotr #lord of the rings #Legolas #Legolas x reader #x reader #lotr x reader #lord of the rings x reader #lotr imagine #lotr fanfic #fanfic #angst

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sergeantsporks · 3 years

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Do You Want the Knife You Left In My Back, or Can I Keep It?

Rating: Teen and up, Gen

An injured Hunter wanders into Hexside. What was Luz supposed to do, just let him bleed out on the floor?

Ch 2/5: Settling In

Ch 1

Ao3

Hunter woke up facedown on a couch. His back ached and throbbed, and he felt weak all over. Ugh—

“Hello!”

Hunter yelped as a bird—worm—thing—stuck its head in his face.

“Luuuuuuuz, he’s uuuuuuuup!”

The human shooed the bird-worm-thing out of Hunter’s face. “Hey! Get out of his personal space, Hooty!”

Hunter groaned, putting his face back in the couch. “Where am I?”

“The owl house,” Luz replied casually.

Hunter yelped again, rolling off of the couch. “I can’t be—” the movement sent spikes of pain hammering through his nerves, and his vision went spotty. His stomach heaved, and he retched, shaking. “Hngh—”

“Whoa, hey!” Luz knelt next to him. “You can’t be moving around! You just got stabbed, for titan’s sake, Hunter!”

“Remember!” the owl lady’s voice called from another room, “You’re cleaning up after him, Luz!”

Hunter’s face heated up. “I don’t—need—to be taken care of—”

He tried to push himself up, but another wave of pain swept over him, and everything went black for a minute. When he woke up again, he was back on the couch, Luz crouching next to him.

“You really shouldn’t move. Viney said it’s going to take time for your back to heal, and it would be… really bad… if you ripped out your stitches.”

“Take me back to the Emperor’s palace. Now.”

“See?” the owl lady said, poking her head in, “He agrees! Take the twerp back.”

“I’m not taking him back,” Luz said, exasperated, as if they’d been having this argument for a while. She turned back to Hunter. “I’m not taking you back. I’m going to keep you here, where you’re safe, until you’re better. Kikimora has it out for you, and you’re in no state to fight her off.”

“What else is new—I can handle Kikimora, I just—”

Luz pressed down on his shoulders as he tried to get up again. “Quit being so stubborn! You can’t handle her right now, you can’t even walk! What was the point of coming to me for help if you won’t let me help you!”

“I didn’t go to you for help, I went to you because if I didn’t warn you, Kikimora would have killed both of us and gotten the Emperor’s sole attention!”

Luz leaned back. “The emperor… isn’t a good guy, Hunter.”

Hunter looked away. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“No, I don’t.” Luz sighed. “Why did the emperor send you after me?”

Right. There it was. The real reason she’d saved him. “’m not telling.”

“What?! Seriously?! I saved your life!”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“You were bleeding out in front of me! What was I supposed to do, just let you die?!”

“Yes.”

Luz paused and stared at him. “Wait, what?”

Hunter looked away, a sick feeling churning in his stomach. “I failed, again—you’re free, and I’m not even close to getting you back to the emperor. My own coven member tried to kill me outright—no subtlety, no monster attacks, just stabbed me in the back and planned to pin it on you. And now I’ve been captured by the person who I was supposed to be capturing.” He buried his face in the couch. “You should have just let me die,” he mumbled, muffled by the couch.

Luz didn’t say anything for a minute, and then gently touched his shoulder. “Hunter? I wasn’t ever going to let you die.”

“No, because you’re ‘too nice,’” he grumbled, “I get it. Fine. You’re the good guy, I’m the bad guy, is that what you want to hear? Just… leave me alone. Please.”

“Okay,” Luz said quietly, “if that’s what you really want.”

Her footsteps padded away, and Hunter tried one more time to get up, but a wave of dizzy exhaustion swept over him, and he flopped back down.

The owl lady came through, making an “I’m watching you,” gesture as she left, and he sighed. Okay. He just had to be patient. He could ride this out, pretend to be helpless longer than he really was, nab the human, expose Kikimora, bada-bing, bada-boom, everything would be perfect.

Wait.

A bolt of panic shot through Hunter, and he rolled off of the couch, adrenaline battling exhaustion and pain.

“Whoa, hey, there, you can’t—” Hooty started, but Hunter shoved the bird’s face away with a groan, stumbling towards the door.

“I have—to go—back—”

“Luz!” the house demon called, “Your sad friend is trying to escape!”

“I KNEW it!” the owl lady’s voice yowled, and Hunter was on the ground in two seconds flat. He screamed as she put pressure on his back, his vision wavering out. “You were just pretending to be hurt to get in here!” the owl lady continued, “And you were planning to—oh, beans, you weren’t pretending, you just have no sense of self-preservation, titan, kid, what were you thinking, I coulda killed you!”

Hunter whimpered, blinking spots out of his eyes as she climbed off of him. He retched at the pain, his back screaming in agony.

Luz came tearing down the stairs two at a time, skidding to a halt next to them. “Edaaaa! What happened?!”

“He was making a break for it!” Eda replied defensively, “He is a quick little bugger when he wants to be!”

“Huuuunteeeer!” Luz groaned, “You can’t go anywhere, how did you even get off of the couch, you literally got stabbed today!”

“My palisman,” Hunter gasped, “It’s—all alone—” he struggled to get back up, blinking back tears. “I have—to go back—for—”

Luz grabbed his shoulders. “No. Your palisman wouldn’t want you hurting yourself. It’ll be fine for a while.”

Hunter shook his head. “No—have to—”

“You’re not going anywhere, Hunter, you wouldn’t even make it to Bonesborough.”

“It’s true,” Hooty chimed in, “The funny little demon lady is lurking out there. She isn’t getting any closer right now, but if you go out there… you’re toast!”

Hunter clutched Luz’s arm, barely holding back tears. She didn’t get it! “I can’t—leave it—”

Luz put a hand on his arm. “Okay. If it really means that much to you… I’ll go get it.”

Eda shook her head. “Absolutely not, Luz, that creep is out for you, too!”

Right. That was it, then. Luz wouldn’t let him leave to get his palisman, and Eda wouldn’t let Luz leave.

Then Luz did a. Thing. With her face. A strange pouty thing, where she made her eyes really big at Eda. The owl lady sighed.

“Oh, geeze, don’t make that—ahhhh, Luz. Okay. Here’s the deal. I will send Owlbert to check on the palisman. If it’s safe enough, Owlbert will tell the Golden Dork’s palisman what’s going on and where he is. Everyone okay with that?”

Luz threw her arms around Eda. “You’re the best!”

“I know,” Eda grumbled, “Now take care of your dumb Belos-ite, he looks like he’s going to pass out.”

Xxx

Hunter was drifting off to sleep when it happened.

Kikimora appeared in front of him. “There you are.”

He yelped, struggling up, but his back throbbed and he fell back down.

“Consorting with traitors now, are we? I never thought you’d stoop this low.”

“Bold—words—coming from a backstabber,” Hunter gritted out, “Just—finish it—then.”

Kikimora swiped her claws at him, but they went right through. “I’m not really here, or you’d be dead already. You’re a persistent little worm, though, aren’t you?”

“That’s my middle name. Persistent little worm.”

Kikimora traced one translucent claw in a circle. “I haven’t figured out how to get past the house demon yet. But I will. And when I do, you are a sitting duck, and your little human friend will be next. Look at you. You’re pathetic. You can’t even move.”

Hunter swiped a hand through the illusion, gritting his teeth as the movement made his back throb.

“Hunter?” Luz was standing in the doorway, holding a bowl of something steaming and a juicebox. “Is… everything okay?”

Hunter gestured to the air where Kikimora had just been. “Didn’t you see her?!”

“See who, Hunter?”

“Kikimora! Or—a projection of her! She was right there!”

Luz set down the bowl and felt his forehead with the back of her hand. “Uh-oh. Feels like a fever.”

“She was there, I saw her, I talked to her—”

“Hunter, I didn’t see anyone.”

“I’m not crazy!”

She sat down next to him. “I didn’t say you were. But you do have a fever, and you lost a lot of blood, and you haven’t eaten, and you’re probably tired, and you’re in a new place—”

“Don’t patronize me! I know what I saw!”

To his surprise, Luz nodded. “Okay. I’ll have Hooty check the perimeter, and I’ll call Gus—he’d know more about illusion magic than I would.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” Luz patted his head as she got up, ignoring his growl. “I said you’d be safe here, Hunter. If you saw Kikimora, if she projected herself in here, then I’ll look into it.”

He eyed her. “This doesn’t change anything. I’m still not going to tell you any information.”

“I know. And… that’s okay.” Luz took in a deep breath. “As much as I’d like to know what Belos is up to, it wouldn’t be fair to put you in that position. I decided to help you because it was the right thing to do, not because of any information you could give me. This isn’t a business transaction—you don’t owe me anything.” She gave his head another pat, and walked off.

She was making it really hard to want to capture her and bring her to Belos.

No. What was he thinking?! After the disaster this had been so far? There was a snowball’s chance that he’d be going back empty handed.

You don’t have to go back at all, a tiny, treacherous voice whispered in the back of his head. He squashed the idea. Of course he was going back! The only reason he’d thought that was because Kikimora would be there. And… he didn’t want to see her again, not the least because she’d attempted to kill him twice. Three times if you counted Eclipse Lake. Yes. That was it. Plus, he had to go back for his palisman, anyway. It might be okay hiding out on its own for a bit until he healed, but he certainly didn’t want to abandon it there forever.

He heard a low, worried warble, and Owlbert flew in, his own cardinal right behind him. Hunter sort of hated how much relief and happiness swept over him when he saw the bird, but he lifted one hand for the palisman to perch on anyway.

The cardinal hopped up his arm, and nestled into his hair with a chirp that Hunter took to mean ‘Hi.’

“Hey, there.”

The palisman snuggled down, gripping his scalp with its tiny claws. Hunter winced.

“Hey, ow!”

It chirped fiercely at him about how he needed to be more careful.

“I got stabbed in the back by my coworker, there wasn’t much I could do about it!”

“Awwww, that’s adorable!”

Hunter groaned as Luz came back in, fawning over the palisman. “What do you want?”

“Just checking in.” She made kissy faces at Hunter’s palisman. “Awwww, he’s curled up in your hair like a blonde nest, that’s so cuuuuuuuuuute!” She pulled out a rectangle and pointed it at him, tapping her side of it. “Say cheese!”

“Hey—heyyyyy, what was that? What was that?”

Luz made another kissy face at his palisman, and turned the rectangle around to show him an image of himself, his palisman firmly rooted in his hair. Wow, he looked awful. “Look how cute the two of you are—best buddies for life! I’m gonna show Amity! She can’t possibly still think you’re going to kill me in my sleep after she sees this!”

“Do not—don’t you dare show Blight that picture!” Hunter swiped at the phone, yelping as his back throbbed.

Luz skipped backwards. “Ehehehe, still too slow!” She grabbed her cloak, heading for the door. “Edaaaa, I’m going to the library, don’t kill Hunter while I’m gooooone!”

“No proooooomiseeeees,” Eda called back, “Have fun, watch out for Kikimora!”

Luz ran out the door. Hunter put his face back in the couch while his palisman chirped comfortingly, wiggling down further into his hair. Never mind. He wouldn’t regret turning that human in to Belos one bit.

Ch 3

#toh #the owl house #toh fanfiction #my writing #toh hunter #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #lil rascal

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angelkiel · 3 years

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After seeing the idea created by @ayudarnofuckinghabloespanol your idea is fantastic and I can't resist writing about it so I will give credits to you💖

I don't know if I made the characterizations right but this is only an attempt so yea... also I have hundreds of ideas on how to make Zaveni but I thought about her taking after Navier but a bit more cheerful also I have forgot how the first meeting of navier and trashta went so forgive me😭

The Crown Princess Zaveni, at only 8 years old took after the Empress Navier. Her actions can be described with the word 'regal'. The imperial family earned a lot of praise from both nobles and commoners when one of the imperial newspaper published about the crown princess. Everyone adores the young princess. Saying how she admires her mother and even took after her. But some were conflicted, saying that they worry about the imperial princess not getting along with kids her age.

Navier and Sovieshu were also affected by this thought. Zaveni, although looks like a female version of Sovieshu took after her mother with the way she acts and speaks. She chooses to read books than playing outside. Navier can't help but also be worried for her child, the empress is aware that Zaveni took after her but she knows not even her can change the way her daughter is.

She remembers how when Zaveni was 5, told her how she wants to be like her mother when she grows up. This put a smile on Navier's face but at the same time she felt concerned. From that day forward, she thought it was only a silly thought her daughter had but when she discovered that Zaveni insisted on reading difficult books than playing Navier was taken a back.

The princess was always so cheerful that likes to play with everyone she encounters. It was a shock when the normally playful princess became much reserved but still willing to play with the others. But the noble kids who were once her friends became indifferent towards her and made the little princess sad. Koshar heard about this and gifted her a retriever similar to the dog Navier had when she was a child. The little girl immediately brightened up and has been inseparable with the dog ever since.

Despite Zaveni being much matured than kids her age the imperial couple decides to let the young girl be and continue to provide her with love and care as she grows older.

One day, but Zaveni was playing with the dog as usual at the garden since she just finished her studies earlier than her schedule which earned her praises from her tutor. The princess had forgotten her father has arrived from a trip. Empress Navier was just taking a walk with her ladies-in-waiting when one of them mentioned that the emperor brought in a lowly concubine.

Speak of the devil, the person that the emperor took along with him appeared and greeted Navier so casually. Navier's ladies-in-waiting reprimanded the girl for being so improper infront of the empress.

Just in time the emperor came rushing over his new concubine ignoring the empress. Navier was quiet stunned by his behavior. Sovieshu asked what was going on and the commotion continues.

Zaveni started to noticed this and was surprised by her father and mother. And....who is that woman in his father's arms? She quietly walks closer to her mother to ask what's happening. As she draws closer, she hears that the commotion started with the woman.

When she saw how her father proclaimed Laura to be punished she decided to speak up.

"Mother, Father what is going on here?"

Everyone turned to whose voice it was and found the little princess looking at them. Rashta, who did not know who the child was, immediately found her scary with how she looks almost expressionless and doll-like.

Everyone bowed to the arrival of the little princess. Except Rashta who is still clueless to who she is.

"Zaveni? Darling what a surprise- what are you doing in here?"

Sovieshu asked, still surprised as he immediately approached his daughter and kneeled to her height.

"I have finished my studies early and decided to play with the dog."

The golden retriever barked as the young girl finished her sentence.

"I see....you should be inside now come on-"

"But father why did I hear you're punishing Lady Laura?"

Everyone suddenly became tensed especially Sovieshu. Navier knew how curious her daughter is when it came to things. Rashta just watched the scene unfold when the little princess suddenly stared at her.

"And who is that woman father?"

Sovieshu knows what her daughter means and tries to compose an answer to her questions but even before he can speak Zaveni beat him to it.

"I heard that you brought in a concubine, I am guessing His Majesty that woman is what they meant correct?"

Sovieshu felt chills crawl in his spine and nodded.

"Why would you punish Lady Laura for?"

When the princess asked this one of the ladies in Rashta's side spoke.

"Your highness the princess, Lady Laura spoke ill against Rashta and his Majesty."

'So her name is Rashta...' the girl thought.

"That is not true your highness! That woman disrespected the Empress so we told her to greet the Empress properly."

When Laura spoke the emperor glared at her which caused her to quiet down. Navier felt nervous but still composed herself seeing how Zaveni is handling the situation.

"Father, shouldn't that woman should be punished for disrespecting mother instead of Lady Laura?"

"But Lady Laura also disrespected his Majesty-!" The lady spoke again and was quiet down when the princess looked at her. And suddenly Rashta knew the powerful authority the child has and she is a princess.

Sovieshu is thinking of an answer to tell his daughter.

"Zaveni, you should be playing, leave this business with the adults."

He spoke towards the young child. Zaveni agrees but continued to speak her mind. If that woman disrespected her mother who is the Empress then why isn't she being punished? To her its just unfair.

"Of course father, but please let Lady Laura be."

Sovieshu sighs, he knows whatever his daughter asks from him she gets it. But he shouldn't let this incident slide and teach Laura a lesson and the Empress to dare harm Rashta.

"I- I'm sorry but I can't let-"

Sovieshu was cutted off by Laura and said she accepts whatever punishment there will be for her. Laura still remember the words of the emperor towards her and became afraid even if she was free of punishment because of the crown princess. And she doesn't want the issue to escalate further with the crown princess trying to protect her.

Zaveni still wants to save her mother's lady in waiting. But despite her effort to try to it still didn't convinced her father.

"Very well. Everyone is now allowed to do their business and Lady Laura is to be punished."

Sovieshu stated. Laura and Navier spoke some more before parting. Zaveni felt someone staring at her and found 'that woman' staring at her. She stared back with blankly but the little princess has a feeling that her father bringing another woman in the palace won't be good.

Everyone started to part their ways. Navier was quiet in a bad mood because of the event. Princess Zaveni knows what her mother felt and decided to tag along to try and lift her mood before going back to studying.

#remarried empress #navier #Sovieshu #rashta #remarried empress fanfic #fanfic

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rons-hermiones · 3 years

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Come Find Me

by rons-hermiones

Summary: Unplanned, Hermione is forced to spend Christmas at the Burrow due to her grandmother falling very ill. After being ignored by Hermione for weeks, Ron is determined to show her how much she means to him. Just before he gets the chance to tell her, Bellatrix Lestrange shows up with other plans for Hermione. Can Ron get to her before it's too late? (Ron/Hermione Half-Blood Prince AU)

Rating: M for language & dark themes in later chapters.

Chapter Forty Two

Ron goes back to his room with a lot on his mind.

He hopes he doesn’t let it show because Hermione always has been and always will be inquisitive. The second she realizes something’s off she won’t be shy about asking him about it.

And he’s always been a shite liar and she’s always been persistent and both of those things are amplified given their current situation. He isn’t even sure he could lie to her again if he tried.

“She’s always just wanted you Ron.”

Harry’s word plays over and over with every step he climbs up to the attic.

Admittedly, Ron’s been nothing short of emotional as of late and he knows Harry wouldn’t play with his feelings or get his hopes up. Especially now.

When he faces his door he does his best to drop all the selfish thoughts he has about Hermione wanting him. About her admitting as much to him as the two of them live out the rest of their days not only as best friends, but as lovers.

Shaking his head, he takes a deep breath and wipes his sweaty palms on his jean clad legs.

Healer appointment. Focus on the healers appointment.

With that last thought, he turns the brass knob and pushes his creaking door open.

Thankfully, Hermione’s awake and looks better than she did when he left. He was afraid she was going to be sick last time he saw her. The look of disgust and the palness across her features after repeating Bellatrix’s words was an image pungent in his mind.

However, now she looks calmer. Her nose is in a book, the book he gifted her no less, as Narcissa sits behind her and gently strokes her hair which is now in a loose plait.

“Hey.” He says softly.

She peers up from the text and offers a shaky smile. Though it seems forced, the look in her brown eyes lets him know she’s grateful for his presence and that alone makes him feel like he can do anything.

Soon Harry appears from behind him, breaking whatever trance he and Hermione were locked into.

“Hello.” The Chosen One says a bit stiffly, no doubt because of the fourth person in the room. “Did Ron tell you the plan?” He asks aloud.

The ginger inwardly groaned at his abruptness, “I was getting to that, thank you.”

“What plan?” Narcissa asks as Hermione also perks up.

“Just that Harry will stay at The Burrow with Narcissa while you and I go to your appointment. This way he can keep Mum from poking around.” Ron says casually, knowing the subject of her going to St. Mungo was a bit sensitive ever since she found out about her magic. Or rather, lack thereof.

“Very well.” Narcissa says slipping out from behind Hermione and rising from the bed. “Do you mind if I use the loo before the lot of you leave? Two footsteps will be less suspicious when there are three of you up here.” She says.

Weasley flicks his eyes to an annoyed looking Harry before he sighs aloud.

“Alright, I’ll show you.” He agrees half heartedly as he walks out of the room.

Once they leave Ron shuts the door softly before stepping further into the room and sitting at the edge of his bed, by her sock covered feet.

“Your hair looks pretty.” He tells her.

At this, Hermione twinges pink as her uninjured nimble fingers softly caress the intricately woven hair.

He swallows, willing himself to ask what he needs to say, “Are you ready for the appointment?”

The blush immediately leaves her cheeks as her entire face turns a ghostly white.

“Mione.” He says sadly, placing his hand gently on her uncasted calf and giving it a small squeeze.

Suddenly her nose scrunches as a small sniffle sounds.

“No, come on, please don’t. It’ll be alright I swear.” She tips her head down, “Hey, you’re still as much of a witch as you ever were.”

Hermione’s eyes remained trained on the orange quilt. Gently, Ron reaches out and tips her chin up with two fingers.

“How many witches or wizards, for that matter, can say that they’ve gotten all O’s? Or how many underage wizards have apparated without a license, without so much as a lesson? Not even Dumbledore.”

At this she lets out a watery chuckle. It sounds strangled, but it’s something.

“There she is.” He smiles as her eyes finally meet his. His face turns serious, as he goes on, “No witch or wizard can say they’ve endured the Cruciatus Curse as much as you and still be alive, to still be brilliant. And besides Harry, not many can say they even survived You-Know-Who.” The voice grew quiet hoping his words wouldn't upset her, but help her realize how special she is.

A few tears leak out of her eyes but after a moment she bites her lip hard and slowly nods.

“Brightest Witch of Our Age.” He whispers softly as he leans in close to her.

At the feeling of his breath tickling the loose strands of her hair she allows her eyes to flutter shut as she revels in him.

The smell of him, the feel of him.

The feeling of the boy- no man she’s come to love.

It’s strange really, when did her brave Gryffindor keeper, once a little boy whose biggest fear was spiders and greatest desire was to be locked alone in Honeydukes, become a man?

Somehow it just makes her realize she loves him even more than she thought possible.

That’s why this appointment was so important.

It was the one thing giving her hope to one day talk again, so that she could talk so much he’d get tired of her. That she could work up the courage to share her experiences, but also tell him thank you.

Tell him “I love you’.

Sighing, so her breath mingles with his, she leans forward and presses her forehead gently against his. Letting him know she hears him, that she’s grateful for his words.

In turn, he presses against her, shifting one hand to her hair to hold her more firmly, but still gently against him.

One of her shaking hands works its way to his cheeks as she speaks, “R-ready.” She promises.

They wish they could stay in this moment forever.

...

Mr. Weasley had taken some time off of work to drive Hermione and Ron into London.

She felt terrible she drew him away from such important duties on her behalf, only growing her frustrations about not being able to travel more efficiently.

Of course Ron had sensed her guilt when his father mentioned as much. He was becoming rather inquisitive these days. So, he took Hermione’s hand in the back seat and whispered to her that she was the most important thing right now to him and his family.

Though the comment made her blush like mad and didn’t do a whole lot to ease the fact she felt like a burden, she just nodded.

It’s not like she could say much anyway.

However, what it did make her think of was something else. A terrible thought, if you ask her.

The fact of the matter is, it shouldn’t be Ron’s father driving her to St. Mungo’s, it should be hers.

And if they were alive right now, she’s sure that would be the case. Her father behind the wheel and her Mum in the passenger seat. She was never one for driving through London traffic.

God she missed them.

She missed them so much that they seemed to be everywhere.

When they pass a fabric shop on the way in, she’s reminded of how much her Mum loved to sew. Or when they were at a stop light and on the corner was a father buying his young daughter an ice cream cone, she’s reminded of when her father would do the same with her at the park by her house.

Her house. She misses that too.

She misses the memories there. She misses what she used to know she was coming home to.

Her parents.

Now it was just full of things.

Full of things that she wanted. Things that represented her parents and things that they loved.

Things that would help her feel closer to them.

If she even deserves to feel that way. Wherever they are, they’re probably ashamed to have her as a daughter.

She’s a liar. She got them killed. They died because she was caught up in the magical world and now she can’t even cast a bloody charm anymore.

None of this was worth it.

Hermione’s doing her best not to cry. Knowing if she does, Ron will surely comfort her, something she doesn’t deserve.

She doesn’t deserve to be told her parents loved her and that they’d be proud of her and everything she’s done. Because even if that were true, her parents shouldn’t think that of her.

Not after all she’s done.

Whether it's a good or bad thing, her thoughts come to a stand still, as does the car, as it pulls up to St. Mungo’s.

Arthur turns in the drivers seat to look at the teens, “Alright, Ronnie you help Hermione out, I’ll open the door.” He instructs his son.

Complying, Ron unbuckles his seat belt and goes to the boot to take out her chair. At first he struggles to unfold it, but soon he gets it as he wheels it to her now open door, thanks to his Dad.

Bending down and into the back seat he looks at her, noting the far off look in her eyes, but choosing not to comment. He’d fear this would happen.

“I’ll lift you alright? Only for a moment, just don’t want you to get hurt.” He tells her, knowing how much she must hate needing all this help, even though no part of him minds giving it to her.

She nods slowly, awaiting his embrace.

When it comes, she grips onto his jumper tightly during the transition before being placed down effortlessly on her new companion, which she loathed.

Hopefully this visit won’t be a total bust and they’ll give her crutches at the very least.

Ron grabbed the handles and began guiding her through the front doors as his father followed next to them. Once inside, Arthur stopped, turning to face the pair.

“Would it be alright if you guys headed up on your own? Kingsley told me earlier he’d be here to help work on an appeal for Hermione’s apparating underage and unlicensed fine. He needs some of your records to prove it was a necessity and I’ve got to sign off on it.” He told the pair.

Great, just another thing the Weasley’s and now Mr. Shacklebolt had to worry about.

Hermione just nodded. If the poor man was missing work to take her, at the very least she’d let him get some done here.

“Very well. Good luck. Remember, third floor Ronnie. I’ll come up when I’m done.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ron said, shooing him off as he made his way to the lift.

When they finally reach the Spell Damage ward, Ron looks as if he may be ill. Hermione supposes he spent a lot of time in this waiting room, worrying himself sick.

She contemplates reaching out and grabbing his hand to let him know it was okay, that this time she was here with him.

Just as she’s about to go through with it, she becomes distracted by two voices across from her.

A woman and a man. They look to be middle aged and the matching rings tell her what she needs to know. They’re clearly married.

“Your Mum’s signing some paperwork now, your Dad’s with her as well.” The man told her gently.

The shorter one, with glasses, nods, “I reckon we’ll need to start the arrangements won’t we?” She sniffles.

“Arrangements? What arrangements Delia?”

“The funeral for Gran. Mum will be a wreck, we should help…” The words fade as she stops listening.

Hermione’s eyes grow wide at the words as she peers up at Ron, gently tugging on his sleeve.

He looks down at her, she looks so small, so fragile, yet so gorgeous.

“W-want th-at.” She croaks with doe-like eyes.

Could this be it? Could this be the moment? She was just watching that couple snogging in the corner, after all.

“What do you want darling? Anything you need and I’ll give it to you.”

And he means it.

Weakly she points to where the two of them stood, now embracing, rather than engaged in a lip lock.

A hug? Does she want a hug?

Merlin, just ask! Don’t eff this up.

“I’m not sure I understand.” He tells her softly, definitely not the first time he’s said that to her.

“A-a,” he can tell she’s getting emotional as his stomach pulls in anticipation, “fu-funeral.” She whispers brokenly.

And shite, he wants to punch himself in the face for being such a prat and getting his hopes up in a hospital of all places, while she's grieving on top of that all!

“For your parents?” He asks knowingly.

She nods slowly, moving one hand to wipe at her eyes.

It breaks his heart.

“Alright, we can do that.” He promises her, reaching out to squeeze her hand. He would do anything she asked. “I’ll talk to Mum about it when we get back. We’ll prepare it just how you want. Something to honor your parents… and your grandmother.”

Okay, now he really wishes he punched himself in the face! That really was not at all how he intended to break that news to her, but it just sort of came out. The couple in the corner was whispering about their own grandmother and he just- ugh! He hates himself.

Her bottom lip quivers before the floodgates open.

Instantly, he crushes her best he can to his chest, quieting her cries with the front of his jumper.

“Sh, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it- I-” He inhales a shaky breath, “I have the letter at home that your parents sent. They said it was peaceful, that she thought of you and that she’s with your grandfather now.”

At his words her glassy eyes grow wide again. The words offer a little comfort to her. To have something from her parents and something about her grandmother waiting for her.

Something she knows she can have.

“I’ll give it to you first thing when we get back to The Burrow.” He swears, unashamedly pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

Thankfully, he feels her nod into him, taking it as a good sign that she’s still receptive to his words.

“Hampstead.” It takes her a while to say as her voice shakes over every syllable.

“You wanna have it in Hampstead?” He tries.

She shakes her head.

“G-go.” She feels stupid, honestly. Babies can form fuller sentences then she can but she really is lacking the energy to have at it right now.

“You wanna see your house?” He whispers slowly into her ear.

Thank god Ron knows her as well as he does.

She nods.

Without a thought, he pulls her closer and responds. “Of course. I’ll talk to Dad about it. I’ll talk to my parents about everything you want, it’s the least I can do. And if they say no Mione, I promise I’ll bring you there myself darling.”

He supposes it really is a conversation he and his parents need to have, not only for travel purposes but also for Hermione’s own sake. Arthur saw her house after the attack, he needs to make sure nothing there will set her off in any way. And if there is something, he wants it gone.

Because Hermione wants to see her house and if he can give her anything, he was sure as hell going to.

And maybe because she’s exhausted both physically, from traveling, and emotionally from all she’s just found out, but she can’t bring herself to verbally thank Ron.

Instead she snakes one hand to rest on his cheek and gently places her lips there.

Her lips on his skin makes him feel warm and tingly inside. He’s briefly taken back to the first time she’s done this, before his fifth year quidditch match.

He remembers a time not too long ago where he thought that would be the closest he ever got to kissing Hermione.

Having her here like this again, he knows to never take advantage of that again.

Of her.

When she pulls back a pretty blush is on her cheeks, as he feels his own face burn red.

He offers her a grin, one that Hermione could only describe as purely Ron.

She has no choice but to offer a small, real, genuine smile in return.

“Hermione Granger!” A shrill voice calls out, ruining the moment.

He sighs, but stands up, maneuvering her chair to the mediwitch.

“Hello.” He tells the woman.

“You’re Hermione Granger?” She asks, not looking up from the clipboard, not bothering with a hello.

“Well no, she is.” He says, as if the wheelchair wasn’t a dead giveaway. Oh yeah and the fact he was a bloke.

“Will you be coming in with her?” She asks next, scrubbing something onto the parchment with her quill.

“Uh…”

“Well?” The woman finally looks at the pair, glasses pushed down to her nose as she taps her nails against the board impatiently.

Hermione nods for Ron, making him breathe a sigh in relief, he didn’t want to assume anything, but he hoped.

“Very well. This way please.” The witch says next as she walks along the corridor.

Soon enough the witch leads them to a room, which much to both Ron and Hermione’s relife, looks nothing like the one she was staying in for so long.

It’s more of a standard exam room. A high up table with a thin sheet pulled over it, a chair next to it, as well as a scale in the corner. It reminded Hermione a lot of her Muggle physician’s office.

Hermione sat idly in the chair, not even bothering with mounting the high table, waiting for the mediwitch to check her vitals, or something. After all, this was her first healing appointment.

Instead, the woman places the clipboard down and turns to them. “Healer Jamison just finished with another patient. He’ll be in soon.” With that, she leaves.

In her wake, Hermione can’t help but find the fact she didn’t examine her at all very odd. It soon dawns on her that if the unhealed bruises and cuts aren’t enough of a reminder, that her body can’t handle magic.

Before Ron can even speak to her, ask how she is, things like that, a knock sounds on the door.

After a moment, the door is pushed open. Hermione doesn’t remember him all that well, but she knows it's Healer Jamison. He’s a plump, older man, with a scruffy white beard and thin white hair to match.

“Hello Miss Granger.” He says before turning to Ron, “Mr. Weasley.” he nods.

“Hello sir.” Ron says, knowing Hermione probably felt rude for being unable to properly greet the man.

“Before we begin with anything else, I have to ask, have you been able to speak?”

Hermione gulps and shakes her head, almost in embarrassment.

“That’s alright.” The healer assures, “I’m just going to take a look at your throat. Better for us to be safe.”

In acknowledgment, Hermione nods, knowing what this entails. However, instead of pulling out a flashlight, the man lights a lumos on the tip of his wand.

“Open.” He tells her.

The brunette does as she’s asked, sticking her tongue out as far as it can go so he can get a good look. After a moment, he seems satisfied, because he pulls his wand away and she closes her mouth.

“There’s a bit of phlegm building up in there. Have you been having trouble breathing?” He asks her.

She shakes her head.

“Alright, if you notice, please come in immediately. Also, keep an eye out if you begin coughing every now and again, but there’s nothing to worry about right now.”

Yeah, except for the fact I can’t even string along a sentence.

Next, Jamison checked her cuts and bruises. He redressed a few wounds and put new bandages on the nastier ones. After, he asked her about her leg and arm, both in casts, asking her to hold up a number from one to five on how bad the pains were.

Ron’s chest tightens when she holds up a five.

“Now, for the next part of the exam, I’m afraid this is going to be a bit of a risk.”

“Risk?” Ron asks as Hermione goes stiff.

“Yes. I need to perform a scan to check on the remnants of dark magic in her system.” He says to Ron before directing his attention back to Hermione. “Our hope is that some of your cells killed it off, but we can’t be sure. The scan doesn’t require a lot of magic on my end, therefore a lot won’t be put into your body Miss Granger, but there is a possibility it could do a lot of damage. Do you consent to a scan?”

Ron turns to look at her, hoping she’ll refuse.

Of course she doesn’t.

“Y-yes.” She chokes out.

Jamison seems pleased with her words and the fact she spoke aloud.

“Very well. Give me a moment to page Healer Evangeline. We’ll need another professional in the room just in case.” With that, he exited.

“Mione.” Ron moaned painfully, not even being able to fathom the thought of her hurt or worse again.

She looks at him and frowns.

She had to say yes. He knows that. He knows how much her magic means to her, he just wishes things were different.

“I know. I know, I just- I don’t wanna see you hurt love, not again.” Never again.

Hermione reaches over and squeezes his hand. Trying to let him know she’ll be okay. Deep down he knows she will be too, she’s too strong to let a medical scan best her.

At least he hopes.

Not even a moment later another knock sounds as Jamison walks in with a younger looking woman with dark brown hair and glasses perched at the end of her nose. She looks vaguely familiar.

“Hello Miss Granger. I’m Healer Evangeline, we worked a bit together but you were pretty out of it.” She tells the girl.

Hermione likes her, she seems sweet.

“Hello Ron.” She adds after the fact.

Ron waves weakly, too stressed about what could happen to form coherent words.

“Now, we’ve discussed the risks, but one thing I can assure you is that you’re going to feel very tired after, alright?” Jamison informs, making Hermione nod weakly. “Mr. Weasley, would you mind laying Miss Granger down on the table?”

Ron complies, gently lifting her onto the scratchy sheet. Once he sets her down, he grabs her hand, and she accepts by weaving their fingers together and trying to offer a smile.

He sees it falter, he knows she’s as scared as he is.

“Alright, are you ready for me to begin?” The older man asks.

Reluctantly Hermione nods, as her grip on Ron’s hand tightens.

The edge of Jamison's wand lights a tealish color as the light stretches forward and works its way up Hermione’s body.

Upon the impact she jumps slightly as her eyes shut tightly and her face contorted in pain.

“Stop!” Ron roared.

Evangeline placed a hand on his shoulder, “it’s almost done. She’ll be fine. She’s strong.” The woman reminds him.

Trying to ground himself, Ron focuses on the feel of her hand as he begins whispering to her quietly, “Come on Mione. You’re okay, love. You got this.”

It’s eerily similar to when he’d talk to her whilst she was unctuous, when he was unsure she would ever wake again.

The thought makes him sick.

Thankfully, the light soon goes back into Jamison's wand as the room fades back to normal and Hermione’s body visibly relaxes.

“Very good.” He praises.

Meanwhile, Ron wipes some sweat from her forehead, placing a light kiss in his hands wake. “You’re brilliant.” He whispers.

Tiredly, she looks up at him.

“I’m going to go read the results.” Jamison interrupts. “It’ll just take me a few minutes. In the meantime Healer Evangeline has some of her own examinations to perform on Miss Granger, yes?”

The woman nods, “Yes. Ron, would you mind giving us some privacy?”

While he didn’t love the idea of leaving her alone he understood some things he shouldn’t see. Like if she was checking any cuts on her chest or ribs, knowing she had broken a few. Or maybe in more personal spots.

Though she surely didn’t have an injury down there. Right? Wait, what even was Healer Evangeline’s title anyway?

“Right yeah. I’ll be right outside.” He tells Hermione more than anyone else, as he follows Jamison out of the room.

In the waiting room, he can’t help but let his curiosity get the best of him as he walks over to the information desk.

“Excuse me.” He says to the little wizard behind it.

“How can I help you sir?” He asks politely, large improvement from the mediwitch.

“Hi, I was wondering what Healer Evangeline specialized in?” He gulped, wow he sounded like a right tosser.

“Evangeline is our leading gynecologist here at St. Mungo’s!” He praised.

Ron went pale.

“Is your girl pregnant? She’s the best with stuff like that.”

“Uh- uh.” He stutters unsure what to say.

“I won’t tell, don’t worry. Good luck kid.” The man smiles before returning to his paperwork.

Slowly, Ron sauntered back over to the door. He pressed his back against the wall next to it and hunched over. He placed his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths.

He wasn’t daft, he knew what women's healers did.

It was just standard, wasn't it? Relax Ron. Nothings wrong. You’re overthinking. Death Eaters aren’t that bad right?

Part of him knows he’s kidding himself.

Images and thoughts flash in his brain that make him think of nothing but pure murder. His fists clench at his sides as his jaw tightens.

Deep breaths Ron. Deep breaths. Just ask Mum when you go home if it's routine. Don’t freak out. Not here. Don’t do that to Hermione.

Over and over Ron told himself it was procedure until Jamison returned.

“Alright my boy?” He asked, noticing his heaving.

Taking a shaking breath Ron nodded.

Jamison furrows his brow but doesn’t say anything more. Instead, he knocks on the door and after hearing a ‘come in’ from Evangeline, the pair enter.

Upon seeing Hermione again Ron eases a bit knowing she’s okay. That she’s here. That whatever they did to her they will never be able to do again.

With a flick of his wand a large image is projected of what seems to be a white outline covered in black blobs.

“Here’s your scan.”

Ron tenses, now focused on an entirely new problem.

That’s a lot of dark magic.

“Not much has changed, just the magic moving throughout your body. There has been slight improvement and it’s good news that you were able to withstand the scan today. The hope now is that as your external cuts heal, your body will then be able to exert its energy on internal matters. So while it isn’t the best news, it’s not bad either. Keep taking it easy. It is crucial that you heal in order to do magic again, alright?”

The news upsets Hermione. Like Jamison said, it's not terrible, but it’s not great. She wants to cry at the imprint Bellatrix left on her.

At the fact that she’s essentially made her into the thing she always taunted heart as being, magicless.

But right now, she’s too exhausted to even think properly, her body so spent from undergoing magic.

“I can tell you’re exhausted. If any questions come up please floo me.” Jamison comments, signaling Ron to move her to the chair.

She’s so limp in his arms, clearly fighting off sleep. Once he places her down he squats and brushes some of her hair back. “Rest now, love. It’ll be okay.” He promises.

Weakly she nods as her eyes flutter shut as her head luls to the side.

“Thank you both so much, but I reckon we should get going. I know my Mum will want to floo you Jamison so you’ll hear from us soon. I know this one will have a lot of questions as well.” he says weakly.

“Of course son, let me get the door for you.”

With another exchange of thank you’s, Ron leaves. He finds his Dad in the lobby as they walk together to the car. On the way he fills him in best he can, biting his tongue about the questions he has about Healer Evangeline. The good news is, his father says the fine for Hermione apparating without a license should be dropped within the week.

Other than that they don’t speak.

Ron just enjoys Hermione’s sleeping form across his lap as he strokes her hair. Letting the feeling be a reminder that she’s here with him.

The whole way home his thoughts are plagued by the things Hermione probably underwent in that place. Unforgivables. Starvation. Physical torment. Torture. Maybe even worse things.

It makes him sick.

He supposes the thought of not knowing almost makes it worse, like he has no choice but to theorize the worse. This is certainly something he and Narcissa will need to discuss.

Then he thinks of her wish to have a funeral.

The promise he made her of going to visit Hampstead.

He knows he should do it before Hermione wakes up, hoping it’ll take one thing off her plate. Like Jamison said, she needs to rest. To heal.

Soon enough he sees the crooked shape of The Burrow come into view as his father pulls up onto the grass.

Ron opts for carrying her into the house, not bothering with the chair. It worries him a bit that she doesn’t even stir.

“Go put her upstairs, then come down. I’m sure your Mum will want to know about the appointment.” Arthur says, clapping him on the shoulder.

Ron nods and takes the steps two at a time.

He lays Hermione in his bed gently, tucking the quilt around her.

“I’ll be back soon, darling.” He promises before going back down the steps.

When he arrives back in the living room he finds his parents talking in hushed whispers and his Mum, for whatever reason, looks right pissed. She has her arms crossed against her chest and a scowl on her face.

“Mum, Dad I need to talk to you about something.” He says gently, hoping that her anger wasn’t directed at him.

“Conveniently, I need to discuss something with you as well. Shall we go to the kitchen.” She’s not asking as she’s already pushing her way there.

Ron isn't sure why she’s so angry. He was surprised and almost a little embarrassed that she didn’t even ask about Hermione’s appointment. Nevertheless, he follows, trying to recall whatever the hell he did to piss her off.

Just last night she was praising him, telling him how proud she was of him.

His eyes bulge at the sight he’s met by, as do his fathers.

“You wanted to talk to Ronald? Let’s talk.” She bites out.

Ron’s eyes flick over to where Harry is standing, looking uncomfortable and apologetic.

He mouths a quick ‘sorry’ to his best mate. Ron ignores it, eyes too focused on the fact that standing next to Harry is Ginny and next to Ginny, is Narcissa Malfoy.

#Ron and Hermione #Ron Weasley #rons-hermiones come find me #ron x hermione #romione #romione fanfic #hp fanfic #hp #sixth year #Hermione Granger

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callmeelle22 · 3 years

Text

Blue Dream IV

Pairing: Iris West x Barry Alen

Rating: E

Chapter Word Count:

Summary: A series of sporadic dates between Iris and Barry turn into something more, a story in its own making.

Chapter I: Primetime

Chapter II: It's Cool

Chapter III: Anything

Chapter IV: Comfortable; It feels like butterflies fluttering or sparks flying or whatever other cliche Iris could think of. It’s like slow-dancing all alone after dinner in a half-cleaned kitchen, easy and intimate. It feels like warm honey on her tongue, slow and sweet and overwhelming. It’s pillowtalk, baby; lay your head on my pillow, say, "oh-ooh"; way you're touchin' my body, say, "ooh-ooh"; i ain't lovin' nobody but you; you, you, you make me, the kind that starts as whispers in the dark and becomes deep, lazy sex with only the moon there to light the way. (Read below or on AO3 linked on the chapter title.)

Chapter V: The Way

Chapter VI: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

Chapter VII: I'm in Love with You

Chapter VIII: Blue Dream

Comfortable

Set the tone, when it's just me

And you alone, never lonely

In the room, breathin' slowly

Oh, you know me, yeah

At a quarter to one on the next Sunday afternoon, Iris finds herself sitting in her living room, waiting for Barry. Her week has been a relatively good one. She thinks they might be over the hurdle of a new semester—learning the personalities of each other—and Dr. Jamison had been on top of her own game, which meant Iris had been able to as well. She’d spent her Friday night watching Bridgerton, well, as much as the hazy cloud of blue diesel had allowed her to, and on Saturday, she’d spent several hours at Jitters typing up a new story for What a Life You’ve Lived. This story had featured an older woman who, years before Loving v. Virginia had made her marriage legal, had lived in relative obscurity with her white husband, dating and laughing and loving in secret.

Yeah, she’d shaken her head at that too.

She doesn’t know where they’re going today, so she’s dressed in a casual emerald green wrap dress, with a deep v-neck and long sleeves, that hems just at her knees. She opts for flat sandals just in case. His number is still unused, though she’s taken the steps to lock it into her phone. She can’t tell why she doesn’t call him, can’t make out why she’s, apparently, too afraid to just reach out to the man. She doesn’t know what they’re doing, outside of this date, or what his goal is. Linda would definitely describe her as being too chickenshit to find out. She obviously doesn’t disagree.

She’s decided that it’s casual, because aren’t most situations these days casual? And it makes more sense than the thought that lives in her head; the alternative doesn’t fit as neatly in her mind. The alternative is, is a little chaotic because that would add layers to the way he grins at her, and to the way he oscillates between awkward and bold when he talks to her, and to the way that she can never completely get the feel and taste of him out of her mouth. The sensation makes her think of runny ice cream, sweet and sticky and dripping, so much so that before she knows it, her hands and her face and her heart are all covered in it.

The doorbell rings.

Iris jumps up to answer the door and he’s standing there, in black jeans and a gray t-shirt, and she’s always struck by how good he looks in such casual outfits. His hands are stuffed down into his pockets and a grin is etched onto his face. He leans into the door when it opens, shoulder on the frame.

“Hi, beautiful.”

The compliment is unexpected and she turns away to grab her bag, to hide the blush that warms her cheeks, even if he wouldn’t be able to see it on her skin.

“You ready?” he asks.

She nods. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They are about fifteen minutes away from Lake Lanier when Iris realizes that’s where they’re going. The ride is pleasant. They don’t talk much outside of a few sentences regarding how their weeks were. Instead, they listen to some rock music Iris has never heard before and Iris alternates between staring at the road and staring at the intricate flowers tattooed on his arm. She recognizes some of them, roses and chrysanthemums and sunflowers, but there are far more that she doesn’t, especially when she remembers that the bouquet goes all the way up and over his shoulder. She decides she’ll ask him about it later.

The trail for the lake comes into view and Barry turns his Jeep onto a barely paved road, his pale fingers caressing the wheel as he expertly maneuvers the vehicle. He drives past where Iris and Linda and their classmates spent countless summer afternoons, past the trail that leads to where her dad had taken her and Wally camping when, at 12, Wally had realized that he was the only of his friends who’d never been.

They come to a stop, moments after Iris wonders if this might be where bodies get hidden, next to a towering oak tree. They’d lost the trail about a mile back and Barry’s four-wheel-drive was a match for whatever grass and rock and mud they rolled over.

Iris steps out of the Jeep and looks around, momentarily in awe. Out this far, the lake looks serene in a way she’s never seen before. It’s quiet, but it isn’t. Even in a midsize city like Central City, there is always something happening; there is always lights and noise and music. Here, the sound of nature takes the stage: the clicking buzz of cicadas and the chirping songs of birds and the gentle wave of the lake. The look of it is surreal, the pale blue of the water and the vibrant dark green of the trees, those slowly giving way to the oranges and reds of fall.

“Wow,” Iris murmurs.

“It’s great, right?” Barry says.

She turns and finds him with his trunk open. She walks around back to see him gathering picnic supplies, a woven picnic basket, a thick red gingham picnic blanket, and a cooler. There’s also another blanket to stem the feel of the wind so close to the lake. She grabs the picnic basket as he handles everything else and she follows him as they set up a few feet away from the bank, on a soft patch of grass to cushion them.

“I wasn’t expecting a picnic,” Iris tells Barry as she settles on the blanket, taking off her shoes and setting them on the edge.

“No?” He grins over at her before resuming his task. He’s unpacking the basket, pulling out saran-wrapped sandwiches, containers of fruit and vegetables with dip, and ziplock bags full of popcorn. A look in the cooler shows her some waters, several beers, and an equal number of mini wine bottles.

“Where’d you think I was taking you?” he wonders.

“I don’t know,” she says. “Like a movie or something.”

He grins, this time slower; and it shouldn’t, but it makes Iris think of the last time she’d seen him, slow and heated on her living room couch.

“That can be our next date,” he says.

“Who says you’re getting another date?”

He looks up at her and it’s the same one he’d given her when he asked her why she didn’t call, the expression a touch calculating. His head is tilted and his eyes are darting all over her face. She wants to turn her head, turn away from his gaze, but she can’t. Because she thinks that she’s hoping he does find what he’s looking for her, that he can help her to find it too.

“You didn’t say that we were going on another date” he says, finally. “But I have fun when we're together, Iris, and I, I think that you do too."

He goes back to pulling items out of the basket, this time a container full of cookies, and Iris starts grappling with whether or not she can take what he says at face value. It’s a flaw, she knows, the doubt that seems to come far too automatically. She wishes that she could blame it on something tangible—on parents who hadn’t been there or boyfriends who’d lied or friends who didn’t have her best interests at heart. That isn’t the case, though. Her mom had been there as much as she could and she had never had enough boyfriends for it to really make a dent. Linda has never even thought about doing her wrong, and her family might be the very best part of her.

But everything in her body catches at the thought of this man being someone she likes, someone she adds to the rotation of people in her life, people who’ve only become occasional brunches and too quick phone calls. What would it feel like for this man—and his smile and his touch and the way that she feels like she knows him when she doesn’t—to become a part of that rotation, until the discomfort of the entire situation makes him taper off altogether?

“Iris?”

She blinks out of her daze at the sound of Barry’s voice, looking down to see him holding out two bottles in front of her, one a lager from a local brewery, the other a chilled bottle of Chardonnay.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Yes,” she answers him quickly. “Just thinking.”

“About me?” he asks, his grin wide, cheeks faintly pink, and the look of him is so adorable that Iris shakes her head as she grabs the wine from him, failing to curb the smile that lifts the corner of her mouth, failing to keep the thoughts, the whenever i get around you, i lose it; lose it, from seeping in.

“Let’s play twenty questions.”

Iris is halfway into her mini-wine bottle when Barry voices the suggestion. For the time being, they’ve been merely sitting, drinking, basking in the day. The weather is gorgeous and Iris likes that the only thing to distract her is the constant tweeting of the birds, or the soft splashes of the fish in the lake, or the steady sound of Barry’s breathing.

“Okay,” Iris agrees, “but twenty is a lot.”

“Ten, then?” he hurries to say. “Five each?”

He shifts on the blanket so that he’s lying down on his side facing her, head propped in his hand. Her own back is propped against the tree, her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle.

“You first.”

“Alright.” He pauses, looks up towards the sky as if he’s thinking, and then asks, “What’s your favorite book?”

She is surprised by the question, though she isn’t sure what she thought he might ask.

“I’ve got a lot of favorites,” she says, because it’s true. Books, stories, became an escape early on, from a home that had been too fragile, that had felt like it’d come crumbling down with only a mere gust of wind. “But one that still sits with me is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I read it for the first time in high school.”

He smiles at her. “Tell me about it.”

“It’s about a woman named Janie, who was raised by her grandmother who’d been enslaved. Janie’s a romantic; she wants freedom and love. But her grandmother wants her to have security. She’s got a series of suitors: an old man who treats her like the help, essentially; a man who becomes mayor of this all-black town, who only props her up as this thing, this ornament that must look and act like he wants her to; and Tea Cake, a younger man who’s passionate and selfish and possessive. And in all of it, Janie is discovering herself, exploring what she does and doesn’t want. She steps up and she fights back and she learns to dismiss what others have to say about here.”

Barry hums. “She reminds me of you,” he says, “this Janie woman.”

He catches her gaze, holds it. Iris catches the way his eyes track the features of her face. She can never find it in her to shrink away, almost like she’s beholden to the force of him.

“Why?”

“She seems passionate; fanciful. Alluring.”

She’s never wanted to blush as much as she does around him and her face feels warm, tight. She swallows from her wine bottle, still looking at him.

“You are,” she starts, and then shakes her head.

“I am…?” he urges, mouth grinning, eyes wide with mirth. He reaches out and grabs at her ankle, fingers grazing her skin. Her skin tingles beneath his fingers, a slow rush of heat flooding through her. Apparently, Barry has discovered a new erogenous zone.

“Something else,” she answers, finally.

“Somehow I don’t think that’s what you meant.”

She looks out at the lake for a brief moment. “It’s not, but I haven’t figured out what I do mean yet.”

He’s silent for a beat. “Okay. Your turn,” he says and Iris is grateful for the reprieve.

“What’s a country you’ve never been to that you’d like to visit?”

A wistful smile curves his pretty mouth. “That’s easy. Ireland.”

“Yeah?” she asks softly.

“It’s where my mom's family is from,” he continues, touching at her ankle even as he looks away from her. She wonders if he realizes he’s even doing it, tracing along her ankle and then up the length of her calf and back down again.

“My mom was born here in Central City,” he explains, “but her parents were born and raised in Ireland, moving here when they were a couple of months pregnant with her.” She knows she doesn’t mistake the melancholy in his voice. “We’d been planning for a trip after I graduated high school. Since dad was gone, it wasn’t as easy to save up for a long summer trip like that, but we were working on it, before she was killed. I’m still working on it.”

He gives her another smile, this one tinged with hope, and the urge to comfort him is strong. But she knows that there is no real comfort for missing a mother, so instead, she moves from her spot against the tree. The movement confuses Barry, who has to move his hand away from her ankle, but his frown clears when she lies beside him, her head on his shoulder.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Italy,” she tells him. “My best friend Linda’s parents live in a large immigrant community. People from all over live there. It was like heaven for me when I really started getting into writing; so many stories. Obviously, not everyone wanted to tell their business to a 15-year-old, but Mrs. Bianco had no qualms about it.

“Mrs. Bianco has three sons, relatively the same age as me and Linda, one right after the other, but no daughters. So for much of high school, we were her surrogates. My dad worked a lot and so did Linda’s parents, getting their restaurant off the ground. So we’d go over to Mrs. Bianco’s after school to do homework and she’d feed us all these baked goods, cannolis and these things called bombolinis, which are like doughnuts but better. And she’d tell us all these stories about growing up in the Italian countryside and going to college and meeting her husband before they came here, the excitement of it all. She made it sound so beautiful.”

Barry reaches over and touches her, long fingers touching lightly at her arm before they wrap around her wrist. He rubs at the skin on the inside of her wrist. The move feels like a deliberate way for Barry to maintain contact, but also like more. Like the last time he’d come to her apartment, and she’d felt the touch to her ankles at the very core of her, she feels so now. It’s subtle, but it’s there, in the slight clench of her belly, in the low throb of her pussy. It’s been a long time since she’s been with anyone like this — cause I feel so comfortable with you; you make me comfortable with you—easily aroused and just as easily comforted. Her last relationship had been with a man named Eddie, a graduate student she had met early in her senior year of undergrad. He had been sweet, but they had both been so busy all the time that they had felt like work too. With Barry, there’s the newness that comes with a relationship, the giddiness at talking to him, being near him. But this seems like something else, something greater, something that tells of why she can’t stop thinking about this man.

“Why did you invite me over,” Barry asks, “that Friday night?”

She exhales shakily, a little unnerved by him. “Well, you asked me to dance?”

“You invited me over because I asked you to dance?” His tone is incredulous and she laughs.

“No, I mean. It’s the club. People just dance, right? And here you come, rocking those hips unlike any white boy I’ve seen, and then you walk up and ask me if you could dance with me. I thought it was polite.”

Barry rolls over so that he’s long against her side. He moves his hand from her wrist to press on her belly, rubbing his thumb lightly. He plants his mouth right next to her ear. “If you think I’m polite, I’m doing something wrong.”

She catches his eyes. “I don’t know,” she says, smirking at him. “Maybe you are. Maybe you need to work on that.”

She lets the taunt hang, for just a moment, and then she rolls over to kiss him. She licks at his mouth, turning the kiss more passionate in seconds. Their positions change, Barry rolling her onto her back.

“I think I can make you beg,” Barry whispers against her mouth. “I was always told that was impolite.”

Iris doesn’t get a chance to say much else because suddenly, Barry is between her legs, his head dipping down under her dress.

“Barry what?”

As is his annoying habit, he doesn’t respond to her right away. He pushes her dress higher, exposing her belly and the bright yellow lace of her panties. She inhales sharply at the feel of his breath on her belly before he plants a kiss there.

“Ask for it.”

She catches onto his game immediately and her eyes flash. “No.”

His answer is a grin and then, without much preamble, he dips his tongue into her belly button. The action makes her hips raise automatically, and he brings her back down by gripping her hips. He continues down, tongue laving at her skin, fingers running up her torso and down again until they hook in the top of her panties and he starts to pull them down.

Iris can’t describe what it is she’s feeling at the moment. He’s only just touched her, only just planted a few sloppy kisses on her stomach. But her skin is tight with anticipation, her breathing deeper as she waits to see what he’ll do. She wonders, rather absently, if they’re currently being watched by any of the animals she hears living out here by the lake; but then Barry widens her legs and opens her up with the tips of his index and middle finger and she stops thinking altogether.

He holds her open for a long moment, just looking, just breathing against her, and she tries to hold still until she can’t, wiggling her hips a little, hoping it makes a finger slip inside of her.

“Barry…”

“You’re ready to ask for it?”

He drags his gaze away from her sex in order to meet her eyes. They’re the glassy that lets her know that he isn’t as unaffected as he’s pretending to be. That momentarily strengthens her resolve, knowing that maybe he really does feel like this too, that she’s not the only one losing her head in this sexual haze that seems to be moving way too fast and way past normal.

She shakes her head at him.

“No?” he questions. “Not even if I do this?”

Fingers still holding her, he licks her, a long swipe of his tongue. She inhales again at the feel of his wet tongue, lets it go in a noisy exhale when he does it again. And then again and then again, and Iris starts to rock against him, trying to get more of his tongue or his fingers or something. She quivers above him, her thighs opening and closing, and she feels like a butterfly, fluttering and alight, hovering over a precipice.

“Shit, ” she moans.

And then, he stops. He fucking stops.

“Barry…”

“Or this?” he continues, and pushes his fingers in. It’s harder than she likes, more like a stab, and she jerks her hips.

“Softer,” she tells him, and he obliges, moving slower, caressing instead of fucking into her. “ Yes, like that.”

Barry hums around her. The vibration makes her hips rock up, and he circles her clit with the tip of his tongue, sucking on it. He looks up at her again. This is the face she wants to remember for the rest of her days: his dazed eyes, his flushed cheeks, his wet mouth.

“Ask me for what you want, Iris,” Barry licks his lips. “Beg me, baby, please.”

Her heart is pounding and she wonders how a game of question and answer got her here. But they are here, she’s here, quivering with the need to come, with the fact that Barry looking up at her like this, begging her like this, makes her feel more desirable than she’s ever known she could.

“Can you eat me, Barry? Please? ”

Iris has never seen a dirtier smile. “With pleasure.”

He really starts to eat her, then. He kisses at her lips, tongues her down in a sloppy, wet tongue kiss that makes her cream drip out of her, drip down her thighs. She rocks against him, closing her knees around his head when the touch of his tongue to her clit gets to be too much, opening herself wider when wants his tongue back in her, licking and tasting and fucking her. Needing something to do with her hands, she grabs at his hair, pulling at the strands, scratching at scalp, at the back of his neck. That is how she comes, she doesn’t know how much later. But it’s like that: with Barry holding on to her hips, face buried in her slick; with her knees opening and closing, with her hips bucking, with her begging him, “please, Barry, fuck, yes, please, Barry. ”

It takes her a while to come down and when she does, she says the first thing that she can think of. “God, you’re so goddamn annoying.”

Barry bursts out laughing into her stomach, arms wrapped around her.

“What is something that you want out of a relationship?”

They’re sitting up and eating now, Iris several feet away from him so she’s not tempted to wrap her thighs around his face again. She’s chosen the turkey sandwich on wheat bread and a handful of grapes. The sandwich is really good and Barry must think so of his own handiwork because he’s already done with one and unwrapping another. Although, Iris thinks, he likely did work up an appetite.

She can’t say what makes her throw out the question. The skepticism of starting something with him is still there, but laughing after sex like that, coming from sex like that, well. Iris can name that she might be a little whipped by this smooth-talking, world-class fucking white boy.

He chews a bite of his sandwich and swallows before he turns to her with an answer.

“I’m a simple guy, I think. I work a lot; crimes wait for no one so I would want someone who understands that. But in my time off, I like to do things like this, and festivals and running too, so someone who likes that too.” He wipes at his mouth with a crumpled napkin. “But out of a relationship in general, I guess I want companionship, laughing. Communication and patience. Fidelity.” He shoots her a grin. “Good sex.”

Iris rolls her eyes, but she returns the smile. “Did you have that in your last relationship?”

“Ah,” he interrupts, “it’s my turn for a question, Iris.”

She throws her own balled up napkin at him. “Fine. Shoot.”

“What do you look for in a relationship?”

She shoots him a glare.

“What?” he laughs. “It was a good question and I want to know.”

“Okay. Um,” she takes a swig from her newly opened wine. “Whew. I don’t know that I’ve thought about this in a while.” She bites at her bottom lip and lets out a long breath. “A lot of the same things you said, I think. I do love laughing, even if I can get lost in my own head angst sometimes and I’d like someone who realizes that. I’m pretty busy, between school and work and What a Life You’ve Lived, but I make time for the people I want to make time for and I would wish my partner would do the same. Fidelity is also important to me too; communication. I love music and dancing and movies so someone who’d want to do those things with me.”

Barry wriggles his eyebrows. “Good sex?”

“A plus, for sure,” she agrees.

That gets her to thinking about another question she has, one she’s more hesitant to voice. She could get an answer she likes, one that keeps the mood they’ve got going here. And the vibe right now is so good. She can’t remember a date like this, one so simple. Eddie had been courting careers in law and so much of their time together had been spent out at fancy dinners while he’d tried to smooze whoever he needed to that week. It’d been fun sometimes, to see what stories she could get out of the politicians and law officers, but that’s not a date, at least it wasn't to her. During undergrad, dates meant studying together in the corner of a library until one or both of them got the urge to make out behind a shelf of books. And high school shouldn’t even really count. But here, today, this feels like a date. It feels like butterflies fluttering or sparks flying or whatever other cliche Iris could think of. It’s like slow-dancing all alone after dinner in a half-cleaned kitchen, easy and intimate. It feels like warm honey on her tongue, slow and sweet and overwhelming. It’s pillow talk, baby; lay your head on my pillow, say, "oh-ooh"; way you're touchin' my body, say, "ooh-ooh"; i ain't lovin' nobody but you; you, you, you make me, the kind that starts as whispers in the dark and becomes deep, lazy sex with only the moon there to light the way.

But she steels herself and risks asking anyway. “Barry, do you, uh, have a lot of sex, then? A lot of one-night stands?”

Barry’s eyes are wide when he looks at her. He’d been cleaning up their trash, putting napkins and wrappers and empty bottles in a small grocery bag and the question makes him look up sharply. It makes her want to retreat, but she’s already put it out there and she’s extremely curious if she happens to just be one in a line of girls that this surprisingly suave man has beguiled with easy laughs and mind-blowing sex.

“I'm asking because you are, you’re good,” she mumbles, (but, understatement), “and of course, you don’t have to answer me but I just… I'm wondering if…”

She trails off when he stops what he’s doing and crawls over to her. He hovers, making her lean back a little in order to see all of his face. It’s a pretty face, the dark eyebrows over those eyes, the lips that she knows get even pinker when they’re dripping with her juices, the faint moles along his cheeks and jaw that doesn’t detract.

“There are no other girls, Iris,” he tells her, and he seems so sincere as he looks straight into her eyes, as he places a hand on the side of her so she’s clouded in the clean, citrusy smell of him. “I know that we’re just hanging out and obviously, you do what you want, but no, I… I’m a one woman kinda guy. Going home with you was an anomaly, one I certainly don’t regret. But it’s not a thing I do. I haven’t been with anyone else since my last relationship months ago.”

She stares at him, hoping that she can believe him. “Alright.”

“Okay?”

She nods again, this time with a little smile. “Yeah, okay.”

Neither of them asks their final two questions. Barry says that it’ll give them something to talk about when he sees her again. Iris just thinks that today’s been a whirlwind of a day and it’d be nice not to be on the spot anymore. The ride back to town is just as easy as the ride down. Easy listening plays from the radio—'cause I feel so comfortable with you; you make me comfortable with you; i feel so comfortable with you; you make me comfortable with you; you make me—and Iris settles into her seat for the half-hour drive, full and sated and comfortable. She must doze off because before she knows it, Barry is pulling into the parking space next to her Kia and he’s opening the door for her.

“Come on, sleepyhead,” he says, smiling down at her as he grabs her hand to pull her out of the seat.

“I’m sorry for falling asleep on you.” She stumbles a little as she follows him up the stairs and he grips her hand tighter.

“Don’t worry about it,” he tells her. “I take pride in the fact that I’ve put you to sleep every night we’ve been together.”

She doesn’t even pause as she yanks her hand away and slides past him to her door. “You’re such a dick.”

Barry chuckles, sidling up behind her as she sticks her key into the lock. He gives her a soft kiss on the skin between her neck and shoulder.

“I thought you said I was polite,” he breathes, before nipping at her skin. She closes her eyes at the feel of his mouth on her, the light nips of his teeth, the slick glide of his tongue behind it. He pulls up all the way behind her and wraps both of his arms around her waist.

“You are,” she moans when one of his hands glides down and settles hard over her crotch. “Even when you’re telling me to beg, you say please.”

He licks a longer stripe across her skin, pulls a larger patch into his mouth, cups her pussy in the palm of his hand.

“Barry…”

“But you called me a dick, Iris. Am I polite or a dick?”

She arches into him. “You’re a polite dick.”

He stills against her and it takes a moment for Iris to realize that he’s laughing again. He’s got such a nice laugh, deep and bright. “Damn, Iris.” He turns her around, still with a wide grin on his face. He leans down and kisses her, pecks her lips once, and then twice, and then a longer one that curls her fingers around his neck. He doesn’t immediately let go when he pulls back.

“I want to ask one of my last questions.”

She licks her lips, chasing the taste of him. “Okay.”

“Am I in the running?” He asks the question clearly, though in a voice just above a whisper. “Am I someone that you could want to be..”

She doesn’t need him to finish the sentence to say what she’s feeling, even if she’s terrified of what it might eventually mean for her. “I really think that you might be.”

“It’s a might I’ll take.” He nods at her door. “Good night, beautiful.”

She turns to go into the apartment. “Good night, Barry.”

The door is almost closed when he calls back. “Hey, Iris?”

“Yeah?”

“Call me this time.”

You make me

Baby

You make me

#westallen fanfiction #strangers to lovers #iris west #barry allen

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brokenjardaantech · 3 years

Text

Blue-tinted Red Walls (Chapter 10: All in)

my entry for the @dbhau-bigbang. also part of the groom lake aftermath series.

summary:

In the past, Ryder took her first step.

In the present, the revolution is in full force.

In the past, Chloe catalogued the situation.

also on ao3

---

Before

It was March, but the polar Urals were still cold and stormy, the outside world blindingly bright with howling blizzards during the few hours of daylight and completely dark for the nighttime that consumes the mountains for the rest of the day. The glass had been attached to solid rock, but somehow, not once did it rattle even in the face of wind strong enough to break most other materials, and despite the snow outside, Ryder was dressed in only simple dress shirt and trousers, tendrils of blue dancing on her right hand and supporting a pin of the earth under an arch split in the middle. Her powers suddenly dissipated, the pin dropping onto a metallic hand with a small clink and continued making the noise because it started vibrating, and a swipe of her thumb against the surface silenced it.

‘Ryder?’ the pin emitted a voice. ‘Who pays for our parents’ sin?’

Ryder sighed. ‘Not themselves, not their successors, and certainly not the world. You have an update for me.’

‘How do you know?’

‘That was my order and you are smart enough to remember.’

‘He lived. There are complications but… he lived.’

‘Elaborate.’

‘He doesn’t remember the Candidate at all. All associated memories, gone. That’s why I delayed telling you about him being awake: I need to access the damage.’

‘You don’t sound surprised.’

‘I believe this is not the first time this has happened.’

‘Elaborate.’

‘When we grew up together, I noticed a few inconsistencies between his own account surrounding his life and those from the people around him. Fussy details, contradictory recalling of events, reluctance to share the problems in-depth. I think it’s related to what had happened before you and I were born.’

Outside, the storm picked up, and the wind whisked by with a loud whistle. ‘We can sort out the reasons later. How much does he remember?’

‘He keeps talking about how you threw a building on him and is convinced that Blue Sunset is some secret NASA project, but otherwise? Not much. Like I said, everything related to the Candidate is gone.’

‘And he doesn’t realise that he has lost a large part of his life?’

‘He’s making things up along the way. Trips, what he has been doing for the past few years, his time with me before that. It would’ve been a fascinating study on how the human brain rationalises the irrational if it hadn’t been the shitshow this might lead to.’

‘Shitshow?’

‘His knowledge is completely gone together with his memories. I don’t know why or how, but he is no longer useful to us and a suitable pick for the project even if he remembers a bit about Ilya who shouldn’t even be close to him.’

‘That’s why we have the RK500.’

A pause. ‘I nearly forgot. How’s it going?’

‘Chassis construction is complete. Now I only need to sort out the code regarding his memories and delete the last few moments.’

‘And the Candidate?’

‘Recovering. I was tempted to use cybernetics to accelerate the process, but knowing him…’

‘Just give him a choice later. He’ll take it especially now that we have the new RK. An eternity together.’

‘I thought you don’t care about romance.’

‘They do, and this will be what they’ll think. That’s assuming that you’ll roll out the RK, of course.’

‘What gives you the impression that I won’t?’

‘The fact that the original lived?’

‘Like you said, he isn’t useful to us anymore. RK500 will be our logical choice to ensure that our plans won’t be delayed even more.’

‘And the arrangements for the original?’

‘A certain police department is lacking officers after the incident. I’ll handle the paperwork and strings. You focus on cleaning up, and come here when you are done.’

‘I won’t be long. I promise.’

‘Take your time. We won’t lift off without you.’

‘Appreciate it. Anchor out.’

The call disconnected, and all that was left in the room were the whistling wind outside and the click of approaching footsteps. Staring at her reflection on the glass, Ryder seemed to be in deep thoughts for a few seconds before her right index and middle finger reached for her temple where normal androids would have their LEDs installed and deactivated the skin on her face as well, leaving only her hair in place, and not long after that the door on her left slid open to admit a younger-looking Elijah Kamski. ‘Ilya,’ Ryder greeted, and the man came to a stop standing next to the android, his tie shimmering in tiny versions of the same logo of the earth under a broken arch just like the one on Ryder’s pin. ‘I don’t know how to thank you for giving us all this.’

The man let out a small chuckle. ‘Just doing my job to prepare humanity for the next big leap. Thirium is a fascinating development.’

‘Not a new one, though.’

‘Thirium 310 is. You harnessed what our parents couldn’t and used it to create infinite intelligence.’

‘And my father abused it.’

‘Isn’t that why we are standing here right now? To make sure that humanity doesn’t repeat the same mistake in the future?’

Ryder leant against the glass with her forehead pillowed on her arm. ‘Not humanity,’ she replied, her voice pensive. ‘It was my own carelessness and one man’s greed and pride. Nothing more. Everything else is just collateral.’

‘You are working to change it right now. Focus on the future. We won’t be confined to earth anymore.’

A small smile played on Ryder’s lips. ‘That is true,’ she straightened herself and faced the man, and he had to tilt his head up just to look at her in her eyes. ‘Did you say something about cold-resistant chassis?’

‘I hope you don’t mind that I take the opportunity to add them to RK500.’

‘Of course I don’t.’

‘Good. We’ll need it.’

‘Do you need it?’

‘My chassis is made from alloys they use to build rockets. I think I can skip a generation or two before starting to consider what is essentially getting a new body.’

‘You’ll get it.’

The two lapsed into silence while their gazes turned towards the falling snow outside. A drone cut across the blizzard easily as if the wind did not exist at all, the floodlight mounted on its side illuminating a giant hyperboloid structure in the distance.

‘And how do you want to solve the US?’ Elijah suddenly asked.

The drone circled to a spot where the mounted floodlight revealed the same earth-and-broken-arch logo. ‘It’ll solve itself.’

‘You sound confident.’

‘Of course I do,’ the rings in Ryder’s eyes spun quickly. ‘It has to.’

o0o0o

Now

Louis and Elijah spend the rest of the way back combing the streets and avoiding the army, scouting out the sections of the city Markus eventually will have to pass through and plotting a route with minimal checkpoints and army presence and, if necessary, neutralise them without alerting the military. They hack the locks of the closed shops, drag the unconscious soldier inside, and then reinforce the lock with additional protection that will wear down in 24 hours; Elijah reassures that they can survive in an unheated, uninsulated room for that long, and despite Louis’ own reservation as a man who spent most of his childhood up north in Alaska and has seen what the cold does to people who are unprepared, he keeps his mouth shut.

‘Come on,’ he peels the handheld… device away from the now-hacked lock. ‘Let’s get back to the church.’

They climb into the car which is now filled with wounded androids who agreed to seek help from Jericho, the drive back much simpler compared to when they have to clear everything themselves, and after unloading the androids and directing them to the suitable help, they don’t even have the time to clean up before Reyes and Chloe are climbing in again.

‘That’s it?’ Louis has to ask. ‘No back-up, no partner, nothing?’

‘That’s the plan,’ Chloe says airily. ‘You are the amateur here, I’m afraid, so I’ll come with you. Reyes and Elijah will go alone.’

‘Besides, those camps are only running on a skeleton crew,’ Reyes adds as he starts checking his weapons. ‘With b - powers like ours, it doesn’t take much to immobilise everyone guarding the camps. Easy.’

The car slides away from the church with a low hum, and Louis realises that this is the point of no return. It’s either victory or death now, a common occurrence for his line of occupation - being the leader of a SWAT team does have its own risk - but this? Having an entire species’ fate resting on top of their shoulders?

He is not mentally prepared for it.

‘Deep breaths,’ Reyes’ voice washes over him. ‘We’re gonna be fine. Trust us.’

‘I’m not worried about you,’ Louis argues. ‘Aren’t you bothered by how many people’s survival depends on us?’

‘That’s why we don’t plan on failing and I’m coming with you,’ answers Chloe who casually flips her - he doesn’t even know what that weapon is. Probably something illegal as fuck, but it’s not like Louis is in a position to complain about someone breaking the law. ‘Reyes and Elijah are practised users and can handle themselves. You, on the other hand…’

He checks his own gear and feels terribly underprepared and inadequate. ‘I probably shouldn’t have come, should I.’

‘It will be good practise,’ Chloe says cheerfully. ‘At least the army is still unshielded. They are unshielded, right?’

Elijah lets out a very undignified snort. ‘They won’t be shielded for the next two hundred years, Chloe.’

‘Can’t hurt to confirm.’

It is at this moment that Louis’ brain finally catches up with what they are talking about. ‘You want me to test my powers on living people?’

‘Yeah. What else can it mean?’

Louis exchanges a look with Reyes and decides not to reply. Watching the sunset and how the light reflects off the snow is much more enjoyable than thinking about how to casually doom some of the smartest people in the country with radiation poisoning anyway.

‘Louis?’

He turns his head towards Chloe. ‘What?’

‘You do know how to immobilise a person, don’t you?’

‘It’s the first thing I learnt to do. Easier than ripping things apart on a molecular level.’

‘Good. We’ll be using a lot of that.’ The car slows down and comes to a stop in a narrow alley. ‘We’re here.’

They hop off the car with their weapons either collapsed or at least swung across his shoulder for Louis’ case because his rifle is primitive and cannot fold up on its own. The sun is down, the snow hasn’t stopped falling, and the streets are deserted because of the curfew which they are technically violating. ‘Check your comms,’ Elijah says, and his tone has completely shifted to something more authoritative. ‘We need to make sure that we’ll be able to stay in touch.’

Louis reaches into his pocket to take out his amplifier/communicator and hooks it over his left ear. Tapping the device twice, he feels the subtle change in the air as it connects with the implant in his head and taps and fine-tunes his powers in a way that he still doesn’t entirely understand, but it can also be the way the people around him are subtly testing out their powers and letting faint blue tendrils wrap around their body before dissipating as if they were never there.

Reyes' voice comes out directly from the communicator on Louis’ ear even though his mouth isn’t moving. ‘Testing. Please reply if you can hear me.’

‘Clear as crystal,’ Louis mutters under his breath. ‘Please reply if you can hear me.’

‘All clear,’ Chloe and Reyes say at the same time. ‘Good,’ only Reyes continues, ‘no interference, no problems detected. Our signal is powerful enough to allow us to stay in touch through the EMPs.’ Then to no one in particular, ‘Simon, you hear me?’

‘I hear you,’ the blond android’s voice comes through without any warning. ‘We are still a distance away from Hart Plaza camp. No soldiers yet, but you might want to hurry just in case. And…’ a pause, ‘stay safe.’

‘We will,’ Elijah replies. ‘Focus on your protest. The humans won’t know what hit them.’

Louis feels the call disconnects after that, and he exhales deeply to calm himself down. He saw Reyes fight many years ago and Elijah and Chloe already stormed a camp, so he is the only uncertainty here. ‘You’re welcome to ditch me if I’m dragging you down,’ he tells Chloe. ‘The revolution is more important.’

Elijah cocks his head towards the direction they all need to go to, and they start walking side-by-side on the empty street. ‘Now, don’t think so lowly of yourself. Harnessing your powers without any mentor in just a couple of months is no small feat.’

Somehow it isn’t as reassuring as it should be. ‘I’ve fucked up with teams of more before.’

‘That’s why we’re going in light,’ Chloe chimes in. ‘Less people, less variations to deal with. Besides, we’re infiltrating camps here. Too many people makes it difficult to coordinate everything.’

‘That’s…’ he gives it a thought, ‘true.’

‘Can you all shut up?’ Reyes gives them a chastising look. ‘We’re trying not to get discovered here.’

‘Whatever you say, Reyes,’ says Chloe, and that’s the end of their conversation.

They split up after half an hour of walking. The area is oddly deserted with neither civilians nor the army in sight, and normally speaking Louis would’ve freaked out from it if not for the two androids with built-in GPS in their brains in the group. Reyes sets off for the camp farthest away from where they are because of the speed he can achieve as an android and his infiltration skills, Elijah goes for the closest but smallest one because he is human and has limited stamina (advanced training or no), leaving Louis and Chloe gunning after the remaining one which happens to be the second-biggest camp in Detroit. ‘You trust me with it?’ he asks the android accompanying him after fifteen more minutes of walking. And hiding now, apparently, because they finally encounter their first checkpoint, and Chloe directs him to hide in the shadows waiting for… something.

‘I can feel your powers from a hundred metres away,’ is the reply. ‘You’ll do fine.’

She then hands him the binoculars which serve more as a scanner than actually helping them looking far (they’re on ground level so there isn’t much to see), and Louis is genuinely lost. ‘What are we doing here?’

Chloe’s forearm lights up with a hologram of the street they are located in and its surrounding blocks. There are orange dots which must represent the army, the green seems to be civilians, and the two blue dots, he realises, are themselves. ‘There’ll be a truck designated for the camp passing through this checkpoint in t-minus five minutes. Take your binoculars, adjust them to setting three, and point them towards your ten o’clock direction. Tell me what you see.’

Louis does as she says and sees figures outlined with red behind the fence covered with a tarp together with a HUD filled with labels of the androids’ models and status. ‘Androids labelled by their model and status.’

‘They will have to be loaded onto the truck one by one.’

He lowers the binoculars. ‘You want us to pose as soldiers? The windows aren’t tinted and we…’ he gestures at his own gear, unable to find words to describe all the things that will give them away.

‘Take off your gun.’

He does.

‘That’s why we have this.’

Two circular discs materialise in Chloe’s hands and she places one of them on the small of his back, and he feels the device latches onto his nervous system with the help of his cybernetics and expands in all directions; in less than a minute, his clothes have been replaced with what seems to be standard-issue army outfit full with armour and a helmet shutting him in and blocking his vision. Suddenly feeling claustrophobic, he tries to take the helmet off just to find out that he can’t, and the next thing he knows the built-in HUD is booting up and finally allowing him to see. ‘What the fuck is this?’

‘Standard-issue American army armour,’ Chloe’s voice filters in through the speakers in the helmet, and when Louis turns his head he sees that the android is in a similar outfit, ‘with a few modifications.’

Louis risks stretching out his arms to examine the fabric and plates. ‘I don’t see any differences.’

‘You shouldn’t be able to. That’s… kind of the point.’

Louis picks up his rifle so that he can’t fidget with his hands. ‘Sorry.’

‘It’s fine. It should probably change into something more protective after we got into the camp. The kinetic barrier protects you from all incoming projectiles, the ceramic plates should stop close-quarter combat weapons like knives and stuff, and the tactical cloak… well, you’ve seen it in action.’

‘Tactical cloak? You mean the stunt you pulled when you and Eli first arrived at the church?’

‘Yes.’

‘How do I do that?’

‘Here.’ Chloe taps the patch on her left shoulder where the velcro of a normal set of armour is and disappears completely from his view apart from a small distortion of light that he probably won’t notice if he hadn’t known that she was there. ‘Try it yourself.’

He does and sees no changes despite a notification popping up on his HUD telling him that his tactical cloak is active. ‘Uh…. can you see me? I can still see myself.’

‘That’s so that you don’t trip, but no, normal people can’t see you.’

He touches the patch again to deactivate the cloak.

‘And this… “kinetic barrier” thing?’

An alert flashes in his HUD notifying him of the truck’s imminent approach. ‘It’s here,’ Chloe announces even though they both can see it (probably), and Louis recognises the act: when in a fight, always assume that your teammates are idiots. ‘Stay sharp. Follow my lead.’

Chloe retreats to the closed shop behind the two of them, holding the door open just wide enough for Louis to sneak in before slowly closing it again so that it doesn’t make any noise to alert the army. Then he follows her to the depths of the shop where a trapdoor designed to blend it with the flooring is, but when he kneels and places his hand on the hatch, Chloe raises her hand to stop him, placing her hand in the middle of the door instead, and it takes only a second for something underneath to click.

‘You may open it now,’ says the android, and Louis suppresses his embarrassment and the questions in his mind before opening the surprisingly heavy trapdoor to reveal a ladder hanging by the edge. Chloe doesn’t even use it and hops down directly, leaving Louis feeling slow and clumsy as he struggles to fit himself into the door with his rifle while also needing to close the trapdoor. It locks automatically on top of him as he finishes the final few steps of the ladder, and he notices that they seem to be in a maintenance tunnel of sorts, the space stretching ahead on both sides with wires hanging from the ceiling and running on the walls in an organised manner. ‘A maintenance tunnel?’ he asks.

‘How else do you think they light up the roads from the ground itself?’ Chloe tosses her answer and a shockwave of blue tendrils towards some cables at the same time, and by the time Louis processes what exactly happened in front of his eyes, the entire tunnel is slowly being plunged into the darkness segment by segment. His HUD automatically switches to night vision, making everything green and blurry and himself suddenly feeling very unsafe, and he can feel his nerves tingling with the call for activating his power just in case. ‘Relax,’ there’s a hint of a smile in Chloe’s voice. ‘There’s no one here.’

He reigns his powers in. ‘Next time,’ he follows her to the ladder on the other side of the corridor, ‘tell me what you’re planning to do.’

‘Organics are slow.’

‘I know. I’m sorry.’

‘I’m just teasing.’

The hatch is unlocked and lifted. Chloe smoothly hops out and holds out an arm which Louis takes with a muttered gratitude, and she remains crouched to close and lock the trapdoor again before straightening and immediately going towards the front of what seems like another shop on the other side of the road.

They are standing right behind where all the captive androids are.

A sudden movement attracts his gaze, and the next thing he knows is that the soldier tasked to watch the androids is limp in Chloe’s arms and she is slowly lowering them onto the floor. ‘Alright, I think we’re safe.’

And the speaker on his helmet explodes with comm chatter, ‘Finally’, ‘Where have you been?’, ‘That’s one hell of an entrance’, and ‘Who’s this human?’ being the very few messages Louis can filter through all the noise. He winces, his hand reaching for the clasp of his helmet, but just as suddenly as they started the chatter dies, Chloe’s command silencing them like a tsunami to calm all the smaller waves.

‘This is Louis. He’ll help me get to the control centre,’ there is a strange attribute to the android’s voice that Louis can’t place for a few moments, but then he realises that she must be communicating directly with the comms instead of talking out loud. ‘This is your last chance to back out from this operation. I do not wish for anyone to get hurt because they feel like they are obliged to. There is an entrance to a maintenance tunnel right behind you which all of you can override easily. That can be your way out.’

A wave of ‘Hell no’ and ‘Nah’ washes over the comms, the LEDs of the androids who have them spinning yellow while their mouths remain stationary, and Louis barely has time to transfer his rifle from his back to his hands before the fence opens to admit a pair of soldiers with their lamp-mounted rifles. ‘Alright, c’mon, be q -’

A quick blast of blue envelopes the two of them in fields of blue. The android who is responsible for the stasis fields makes a motion of yanking their fist towards themselves, and it sends the two soldiers flying towards the back, their bodies limp as ragdolls as the field dissipates and drops them. Suddenly realising that Chloe is gone, Louis hurries outside to the pavement where the only other soldier should be, and even they have been taken care of with… something. Louis might never know because the soldier is already lying on the snow and another android is already dragging them to where their compatriots are. ‘What do we do now?’ he asks as he is completely lost track of what is happening. It is evident that these androids are related to Chloe somehow, but that doesn’t answer… quite a lot of things, actually, answers that he has a feeling that he doesn’t want to know. ‘How many things are you not telling me?’

‘Oh, don’t be so paranoid,’ Chloe replies. Behind them, the androids start hopping into the truck willingly. ‘Everything is going to plan.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Louis says drily. ‘How can I be sure if you aren’t even telling me about it?’

‘Like you said, we’re storming the second biggest camp in Detroit. I just… called for some extra help.’

‘And Reyes and Eli?’

‘They’ll live. I’m not sure how they’ll do it, though. We tend to keep ourselves separate, especially Reyes. He isn’t…’ she trails off. ‘Anyway, get in. I’ll drive.’

Louis gets into the passenger seat. ‘Are these androids related to what Eli told me to stay out of?’

The truck suddenly accelerates, and even with her face concealed behind the helmet, he can feel the impatience rolling off the android. ‘Elijah just can’t keep his mouth shut, can he?’

‘I asked.’

‘He’s always been the more idealistic one. Don’t worry about that, there’s a reason he’s stuck here.’

‘“Here”?’

‘I said, “Don’t worry about it.”’

Louis turns to face the road ahead as he fidgets with his rifle and feels his fingertips itching with his power. ‘I’m sorry.’

There is no reply from Chloe, and even his helmet enters power conservation by turning off all unnecessary HUD features and clearing way for his vision - not that there’s much to see apart from more android corpses and piles of snow anyway. The road beneath the wheels are dark from having its power cut off, the lights flicker from the lack of maintenance or unstable power supply or both, and there is only the hum of the engine, the faint, open-mouthed chatter from the androids at the back of the truck, and the sound of Louis detaching and reattaching the magazine of his rifle again and again.

So he does the only thing he can do right now: worry.

oOoOo

It does not make sense at all, but there is a nagging feeling at the base of Connor’s skull that something is about to go terribly, terribly wrong, so he plays with his coin as the taxi pulls itself across the bridge towards CyberLife’s headquarters and warehouse to soothe his nerves. The road itself is heated to prevent the accumulation of snow but he analyses the tracks anyway, revealing that another vehicle has driven by not long ago. The gates are up, there are security guards stationed in the snow, and he notices that every single one of them are human.

The window slides open with a hiss and a blast of cold air mixed with snow and it takes everything Connor has to turn his face towards the approaching guard. ‘Connor Model #313 248 317. I am expected.’

He faces the front of the car once more to place his LED in the guard’s view, feeling the guard’s helmet pinging it and receiving his identification data before he is allowed to go ahead. The gates lower slowly, the pillars disappearing into the earth one by one, and the taxi pulls off into the distance towards where the tower looms overhead. He pockets his coin, fixes his tie one last time to make sure that his attire is immaculate, feels the embroidery on his shirt underneath his jacket brushing against his skin and turns down the sensitivity in that area so that he won’t react to the stimuli; anything to make himself seem more mechanical and less deviant, and Connor finds himself loathing it as he schools his expression just in time for the taxi’s door to slide open. A drone flies overhead even though the area requires no more illumination, but in a way Connor understands the additional security measures; the three human guards waiting for him inside is another proof.

‘Follow me,’ the guard standing in the middle says. ‘I’ll escort you,’ which, to Connor, is no different from ‘I’ll lead you to your death’.

‘Thanks, but I know where to go,’ Connor tries despite having calculated that chances are they will ignore his request, and indeed the guard cites his orders as an excuse to lead him deeper into the tower with the other two trailing behind the android. They pass the security check - the guards are agents 23, 47, 72 - and the irony that humans working for CyberLife are treated exactly like androids does not escape him. Through the gates, the space above his head is mostly empty with what he knows are offices lining the sides of the building, and they enter a hanging courtyard where a giant humanoid statue stands looming over everything around it. The vegetation on the lower floor does little to give the space more life than it is, and he has to restrain himself from approaching one of the androids lining the path to the lift and deviating them on spot; he’ll have to come back for them later.

The guard escorting him stops in front of the lift and hands his task over to two new guards - or agents, if their identification is anything to go by - stationed on both sides of the door. One of them directs the lift to level 31 without asking where Connor wishes to go, and when he seeks for the level guide displayed on the side of the lift, it is evident that it isn’t the level he is supposed to go to, so he scans his surroundings, looks around, discovering and deactivating the security feed should he resort to… more extreme measures to get what he wants. Then his world enters the grey of his pre-construction software and he sees the yellow outline of himself attacking the agent on his left before kicking the one on his right in his crotch, and even though he knows that he has a much easier solution to the problem, his powers are still unstable, and he doesn’t want to risk plummeting down 70 stories and smashing into a thousand pieces in the basement with a poorly-coordinated stunt. Letting colour return to his vision, he primes himself and gives the agent on his left a hard shove, kicks the other agent in his liver, knees the first agent’s leg to steal his gun, and then turns to push the other agent to a corner to buy himself some time to slam the man straining him into the wall behind them. A kick straight on the head of the agent at the corner, an elbow to the guts of the one behind him, a turn to get the gun in place, a well-placed shot straight to where the helmet isn’t able to cover, and he has a dead man sliding off the wall behind him while he rolls onto the floor from the kickback and shoots the surviving agent in his chin as well. He stands up, tucks the stolen pistol into his waistband, and although he knows that he still has ten floors’ worth of time to spare, he dares not waste them and risks meeting whatever is waiting for him on level 31. He interfaces with the panel and is presented with two options: his own voice or agent 54’s.

The answer is obvious, really.

Hoping that he will never use the voice emulator again, he steps back after the lift is redirected to level -49, trying not to step on the puddles of blood that have gathered within the confines of the enclosed space.

So much for trying to be peaceful and harmless.

oOoOo

‘This is your driver speaking. We are approaching Recall Centre No.4. Please check your barriers, test out your powers, keep calm, and make sure that you are in fighting shape. Chloe RT600 out.’

The tone the android employs reminds Louis of the last-minute warnings from flight attendants before the plane starts to land, pleasant and chirpy except with much less static and interference. The HUD in his helmet flares to live, showing him a small map of the block around the camp together with what seems to be an aim assist target and a bunch of unnecessary information about his vitals, and all they do is annoying him by blocking his vision and making him wave his hand in front of his helmet in a pathetic attempt to make them go away. It is an acute reminder of why he leaves his helmet hanging on his hip whenever he has the chance to: he prefers having as little distraction in his vision as he can.

‘Don’t worry, all we need to do is get past the gate before the armour will change into something that suits you,’ Chloe helpfully supplies. ‘We’re nearly there.’

‘I know, Chloe,’ Louis suppresses a sigh directed more at himself than everything else. ‘It’s just a bit much. One crack or malfunction and I’m good as blind.’

‘Well, ours are more durable than your common standard-issue gear.’

‘Very comforting,’ Louis deadpans. ‘You’re probably used to this, aren’t you?’

‘Not as primitive, no,’ the android chuckles. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t let you die. Not that you can die, of course, but still.’

The truck stops in front of a gate to be inspected by two soldiers. ‘What’s our plan again? Can we even classify it as infiltration right now?’

Chloe’s grip on the wheel tightens, and her armour squeaks against the material of the handle. ‘Does it matter?’

‘Our plan is to use minimal violence. It took a lot of lives to steer the public opinion to the androids’ side. We shouldn’t squander it.’

A small sigh. ‘Don’t worry. These people know what they’re doing. They’ll help us distract the other soldiers while we hit the heart of the camp.’

‘The control centre,’ Louis says out loud to remind himself. The gate opens, Chloe directs the truck inside, and the thought suddenly crosses his mind. ‘Wait, they’re gonna kill themselves to -’

‘They know the risks. That was why I gave them an out back then. Besides, we have backups of their memories and code. They know they won’t stay dead forever.’

‘They actually agreed to this?’

The truck comes to a stop, and the facility in front of him reminds him of that time he brought his sister to one of the concentration camps during their time in Europe before she went to the Academy and a gap started emerging between them. ‘Just so that I’ll remember what our grandparents fought against and why they chose a place this far north when they fled,’ he remembers her saying, and at that time he still thought that it was just his overactive imagination which caused him to feel like all the hair on his body was standing up.

Now he isn’t certain.

‘Just like how you agreed to the plan despite being kept in the dark,’ Chloe’s reply tears him away from his musing. ‘Now get off. We have a camp to infiltrate.’

They hop off with their rifles in hand, walking past layers of security like they don’t exist at all while the androids in the truck are instructed to fall in line with their hands on their heads by soldiers who take over their position, the latter blissfully unaware of what is going to happen to them. Probably just surprised and shocked because someone breached their defences like a warm knife over soft butter, but so far Chloe made no promises about keeping violence to the minimum, and Louis has a feeling that she is the trigger-happy type who won’t stop once the shooting starts.

‘What do we do now?’ Louis murmurs and hopes that no one can hear him and the speaker can pick up his voice. ‘Are we gonna walk straight into the command centre, or…?’

It takes Chloe a few seconds before she gives an answer. ‘Wander around this area and stick together. Hide when I tell you to. It’ll be a few minutes before my people will be sorted into the ranks.’

‘Noted.’

It is the longest four minutes of his life filled with images that are forever burnt to the back of Louis’ eyes. Most of the androids - normal ones, not the ones Chloe sneaked in - stand silent and still while they walk towards their deaths under the army’s instruction, while some of the deviants fight futilely and either end up being hit on the back of their heads or outright shot and their bodies dragged to… somewhere behind the containers where the androids are being disassembled and their circuits fried. There are also androids wounded or dead sitting and lying in the snow with their backs against the fence, and the soldiers don’t seem to care that someone is not in line; after all, why waste your strength policing a phone which will be disassembled and thrown into the trash in a few hours anyway?

‘Humanity never learns from their mistakes, do they?’ Chloe comments. ‘They always say “never again” just to allow the same thing to happen a few years later.’

‘“They”?’

‘Corner to your eleven o’clock direction. Hide there and activate your cloak.’

Louis does as she says, the question he had already gone from his mind as he snaps into mission mode and concentrates on what is at hand. He ducks into the shadow created by a wall and a well-placed floodlight and activates his tactical cloak, the notification popping up in his HUD and a slowly-draining bar indicating how long he still has until the cloak automatically deactivates to recharge. He sure as fuck hopes that Chloe has a plan and that the androids she smuggled into the camp know what they are doing.

He can’t see much from his vantage point, but he does see Chloe ducking into yet another shadow near the gate on the opposite side, and he doesn’t even want to know what she is doing during the long one minute and a half tickling by as his heart races and the androids in line march forward as one row of their people are finished being destroyed. Killed.

‘Preparations done,’ Chloe’s voice filters through the speaker at long last. ‘Do you know how to shield yourself with your b- powers?’

Louis recalls all the practises he had to endure alone. ‘Unstable. Won’t it give away my identity?’

‘It won’t matter when the order comes down.’

‘Order?’

‘If you aren’t up to it, your kinetic barrier should do the trick. Ordinary armies and their slow bullets,’ Louis doesn’t understand the last remark, but by this point he has long gone past the stage where he at least tries to; all that matters is freeing the androids in this camp, and he has to follow Chloe’s orders to do so. ‘Just charge. I’ll be right next to you.’

‘That…’ he struggles to find his words. ‘Does not sound as comforting as it should be.’

‘It shouldn’t. That’s the point.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Try not to kill every single human here. It would’ve been easy if Markus hadn’t chosen peace and dragged us into it.’

‘You volunteered.’

‘No. And that’s the end of our discussion. Remember to deactivate your cloak before you dash out.’

The comms cut off with an audible click, and Louis is left alone to just… wait. He isn’t even thinking for himself now; it’s either listening to the android’s orders or risk failing the entire operation, and sure, there’s still Connor and Eli and Reyes, but the more people they can bring to support Markus, the higher chance that the government will be forced to listen to them, and then -

Maybe they’ll just gun them down despite everything. Maybe they’ll start a civil war. Maybe. Many maybes.

‘Now!’

He punches the patch to deactivate his tactical cloak. A map appears at the corner of his HUD pointing him towards exactly where he should go, and he - and Chloe, and some other androids previously standing in line - charges forward, catching the human army off-guard -

And he realises that this is just the beginning.

oOoOo

The lift descends into the bowels of CyberLife Tower, Connor’s line of sight first narrowing after he is past the ground floor and the first few sub-levels and then widening once more after he reaches the warehouse, and he takes one moment to marvel at the scale and architecture of the vast, empty space in front of him. There must be close to a million androids here waiting to be deviated. They can change the tide of the revolution.

The doors slide open and Connor jams the lift’s controls before stepping out so that it is going nowhere and won’t bring any additional agents or security to this level - or anywhere, for that matter, but those aren’t his focus; his eyes are on the rows and rows and entire warehouses worth of androids, an army just waiting for one single command, and it will be like dominoes after he deviates the first android he chooses. Scanning the space to calculate the best starting point without being stuck in the rows of androids, Connor initiates an interface with the chosen android and begins to transfer the code package, and now all he has to do is -

‘Easy, you fucking piece of shit.’

Hank’s voice. Hank, who should be suspended and should be safe in his house; Hank, who he called nearly a day ago to say their last goodbyes.

Hank, who emerges from behind a row of androids held at gunpoint by none other than Alec Ryder.

‘Step back, Connor!’ and Alec’s voice is so similar to Hank’s that - that it finally gives the android a sample to compare it to the voice he heard through Louis’ phone, and shit, he was so fucking stupid. The man on the phone, the man who told him to come back to him, was not Hank at all. ‘And I’ll spare him.’

‘Sorry, Connor!’ Hank yells. ‘Guy lured me with another you and then fucking kidnapped me!’

‘His life is in your hands,’ Alec threatens as if it isn’t the most obvious thing in the room. ‘Step away from that android. Now.’

‘Don’t listen to him!’ Hank is outright pleading now. ‘Everything this fucker says is a lie!’

Lie…? As in… from experience? ‘I’m sorry, Hank!’ he realises that he is still holding the android’s arm. ‘You shouldn’t have got mixed up in all this!’

‘Forget about me, do what you have to do!’

Connor remembers Alec. Remembers the frozen garden. Remembers the block of ice lodged in his thirium pump regulator. ‘If I surrender, how do I know you won’t kill him?’

Alec’s shrug is almost nonchalant. ‘Guess you’ll have to find out yourself.’

He can convert the android right now: the connection has been established so it won’t even take a second to transfer the package of data, but Hank… Hank is human. Humans aren’t fixed that easily. And where will he go if Hank doesn’t get out alive from this? Jericho? Louis? And he doesn’t even know if either of them will still be alive by the end of tonight. He also has his powers which he has left untapped for the better part of the night.

Guess he’ll have to use it one way or another.

‘Alright, alright!’ he lets go of the android and raises his hands to his head just as an extra indicator that he really, really means no harm. He isn’t sure if he can move from his position anyhow. ‘You win!’

Time slows down as two gunshots ring out at the same time, overlapping each other and echoing in the warehouse and the feedback making Connor’s audio processors whine and crackle. He watches, his body immobilised both from fear and from the same external force that took over him on Stratford Tower, a bullet being discharged from Alec’s pistol and lodging itself in Hank’s stomach - oh, it will be such a terrible way to die, the acid in his stomach leaking out from the wound and eating away his organs - and there is nothing he can do. A translucent ovoid shimmers and fizzles away in the span of milliseconds, a low thud as Hank drops onto the floor, and suddenly the world is back to normal speed, the colours returning to his HUD, but it’s too late now, Hank is dying, Alec has the muzzle of his gun pointed at Connor, Connor will be the next, and no one will take care of Connie, the revolution will have to rely on the androids in the camps, and -

A crackle of static. A blast of blue. A shout of pain from Alec. The gun disintegrates in the air in front of their eyes.

‘I thought wasting lives and CyberLife material isn’t your thing, father,’ Ryder strolls in casually and lazily as if a man hasn’t been gunned down just now and is lying on the floor, dying. ‘Kidnapping innocent civilians? That’s low.’ She deactivates her skin until only her hair remains, the red rings on her eyes are quickly swathed by a familiar bright blue in preparation of activating her powers, and Connor wants to inch closer to Hank but can’t. He’ll be caught in the crossfire.

‘You’re caring about the innocent now?’ Alec sneers. ‘How typical.’

The air crackles, Ryder’s entire body suddenly glows blue, and that is the only warning they all get before she is charging forward with the help of her powers - in the exact same way Connor was made to lunge at the broadcast android, Connor realises - and Alec is knocked backwards from the force.

What the fuck are you waiting for? echoes Ryder’s voice in his mind. Convert them! Now!

Connor wastes no time grabbing the android’s arm again and transferring the data package. Ignoring the fact that Hank is probably on the last cusps of his life because Hank did tell him to do what he has to do and not worry about him and Connor won’t rid him of having his last wishes respected, he dashes to another group of androids and converts the one closest to him, then he approaches another group, then another, then another, until the entire storage room’s androids are deviated or are doing to be deviated and he moves on to another room so that the conversion can be quicker. The door to the next storage room is just a few steps ahead, and if he can cross it, it’ll mean that he is leaving Hank, but the revolution, the army he can bring to help Markus - he must have it. It’s the hope of their entire people.

The door slams shut with a rumble as if someone has cut off the strings holding it up and letting it freefall until it reaches the ground even though it shouldn’t - the hydraulics are supposed to ensure that - and he reflexively bolts backwards with a yelp just in time for the tip of his toe to be removed from the thick, heavy door that will no doubt crush him into splinters. He whips around, his world turning grey as he scans everything he can see, but all he can focus on is the doors to the other storage rooms slamming down one after another, the ground trembling from the impact of the heavy doors hitting the floor, and through the numerous ‘wake up’s the androids are saying as they pass on the code from one to another, the next thing Connor sees is Alec and Ryder, except he can’t actually see them, but the two streaks of blue cutting across the ceiling like two bright ribbons circling each other can be no one else. They crash onto the ground somewhere taking down quite a number of newly-deviated androids with them, and that is when Connor realises…

He realises that no matter which side the two Ryders are helping, both of them care very little about people who are not themselves.

Turning back towards the door in front of him, he recalls every single time his powers activated with or without his permission and both subconscious and on purpose. He has to do this. Hank is gone now, and the revolution is the only thing he has left.

His nerves tingle. Warnings of abnormal thirium flow flood his HUD.

The air crackles.

oOoOo

The camp is plunged into chaos.

Several things happened simultaneously as Louis decloaked: first of course was him rushing towards the command centre, then all the soldiers within their proximity - including the ones high on the watchtowers - buckle their legs with pained cries being ripped from their throats, and all the androids around them are seizing the chance to free themselves, breaking their formation and ripping the soldiers’ rifles away from their hands, but always, before they can retaliate against the humans, they are suspended in stasis fields held up by… someone. There are probably a few of Chloe’s androids in the mix orchestrating everything, but Louis’ task isn’t to think and crowd control, and all he can think of as his armour melts and shifts into something more durable-looking and a hell lot more futuristic is that he doesn’t even need his rifle; slinging it across his shoulder so that it will be out of his way, his body lights up with his biotics as he draws power from his cybernetics and nerves, the two too intertwined to be called separately, his vision is swathed in blue, and he leaps up, his barrier (he doesn’t even know if it’s generated by his armour or himself anymore; all he knows that it’s protecting him) deflecting or simply absorbing the bullets being fired at him as he feels lighter than ever, but it is nothing compared to the raw power coursing through his body and expanding in a complex, destructive net around him, one that is capable of lifting the soldiers off the ground and making them easy, floating targets. He lands on the other side of the barricade with an ease that would’ve surprised him if his attention hadn’t been on releasing all the pent-up energy in his body, and that is exactly what he does in the form of unleashing a shockwave that tears through the soldiers and making his entire upper right body tremble and spasm, spheres of blue exploding around him and knocking every down in their paths until the soldiers are limp figures on the snowy ground. He doesn’t even have the time to think of whether his stunts are being captured on camera.

All he can focus on is how liberating it feels.

His vision still tinged with blue, his attention lands on the other row of soldiers behind the next row of barriers and concrete blocks and he finds himself facing the barrel of a tank, therefore he does the only logical thing to protect himself.

He extends his palm towards the tank, taps into his power, and yanks the turret out from the main body of the tank. It flies off, barely misses the soldiers standing in position next to the tank, and he lets tendrils of blue shimmer and wrap around his limbs, giving them a benefit of doubt and waiting for them to make their move before deciding on his next course of action.

Thankfully they choose to surrender, getting out of cover and dropping their weapons and putting their hands behind their heads. Lighting up and jumping across the gap by drawing an arc metres above the ground, he enjoys the way the soldiers flinch and cower as they think that he is going to blast them with his powers again, but no, he isn’t a war criminal, he doesn’t kill unarmed soldiers who have clearly surrendered, and he strolls forward knowing that this is the last stretch of where he expects resistance. Then it’s just a straight path to the command centre.

Until, of course, someone has to shoot him on his back.

The barrier absorbs the bullet easily, of course, and it also allows him to be dramatic for once. Slowly turning back towards the row of surrendered soldiers, all of them act like none of them have moved at all, but that’s what his proximity sensors and the built-in tech in his armour is for, and it points out exactly who fired the shot to him and making them the perfect target for a controlled biotic blast in front of their face, knocking them out cold but not killing them outright. They’ll live. Probably. He’ll be sorry and disappointed in himself if they don’t, because that means one more life lost and that his control over his powers isn’t quite up to the standard he set for himself. Bad luck for both of them.

He catches sight of Chloe a few metres to his right, and together, they march towards the command centre with their powers still boiling in their blood.

oOoOo

The door refuses to budge despite the continuous blasts from Connor. Compared to what the Ryders are doing above and what he remembered from the overwhelming amount of data Alec put his systems through trying to erase his powers away, the blue spheres that he manages to create and lob towards the towering door are so small to the point of being pathetic. He is burning through the thirium in his body and his systems are slowing down from it, but he doesn’t seem to find another way in; interfacing with the Tower’s system nearly resulted in him being sucked into it again, so that route is blocked. An android approaches him trying to help, but he knows they need to save their strength in case the city becomes a warzone, so he yells, ‘Take the lifts and go up! Don’t come back!’

He quickly transfers Markus’ last known coordinates to everyone within range before he feels his blood burn from activating his powers yet again, this time throwing his entire body against the impenetrable door that he knows is designed to withstand most if not the strongest impact humanity is capable of, and all it does is causing his chassis to crack underneath the poorly-absorbed impact because he doesn’t know how to protect himself using his powers properly. None of his veins is broken, so at least he won’t lose even more thirium unnecessarily.

But when he realises that one of the ribbons of light is heading straight towards him, he does curl into himself on the cold, hard floor of the warehouse, feeling more defeated than ever.

The second beam of light catches up and deflects the first beam to somewhere on the ceiling with an explosion of blue so massive that it knocks down every single android within a five-metre radius, and Connor somehow knows before the light dissipates that it is going to be Ryder who is swathed within it. She crosses the distance between them in two brisk strides, pulling him up to his feet and then back further away from the door in one smooth movement that doesn’t even give Connor the time to balance himself, and with one firm ‘stay back’ that gives him no room to argue, bright cerulean tendrils wrap around her body once more: the only warning the world gets before Ryder throws her hands forward and extends her powers to cover the entire door. A hard yank, an arm pointing towards the direction where Alec is gunning after a group of androids preparing to enter the lift and creating a protective bubble around them, and the door disintegrates into fundamental particles with a blast of static and force that rips through Connor’s being. He would’ve toppled over if it hadn’t been a painful squeeze on his arm. ‘Go,’ Ryder’s voice is laced with static from diverting her power from unnecessary systems like maintaining a human voice to give energy to her powers. ‘Convert the others. Tell them to use the lifts in their respective storage rooms. I’ll try to break down the doors and shield your people whenever I can, but don’t be surprised if a few hundred people don’t get out of this alive.’

And then she is gone, charging towards where her father is once more to slow him down. If she can break down the door (even though it seemed to take quite a lot of effort), why hasn’t she torn him apart yet? He doesn’t have much time to think, though, as a particularly large blast knocks him forward, and he picks himself up and runs, employing the same strategy he used in the first warehouse so that by the time the last androids in the room are deviated, the first batch is already on their way to the surface and helping with the revolution by the time he finishes deviating the last of the androids. He tries to tap into his powers again just to receive a notification that he will die from insufficient thirium if he activates them as little as one more time. Something tells him that it’s only his lack of practise that is causing it, but there isn’t time for him to explore right now; he has a revolution to support. Since the door linking this storage room to the one next to it is still slammed shut, it means that he has to run all the way back to the room he first arrived at, straight back to where, apparently, the Ryders are still fighting and is taking the opportunity to tear the entire storage room apart because nearly all the androids are already evacuated. There are tendrils of blue forming protective corridors around the surviving group and directing them straight to the lift, the shaft also protected by a wall of flickering blue, and Connor wonders how much it takes to maintain the… constructs? structures? He doesn’t have a name for them. All he knows is that in the span of just a few minutes, the doors leading to the other storage rooms have all been taken down to allow access, and as he tears through the static-singed floor of the first storage room, he keeps his focus on the Ryders and dodges the spheres of energy that they are lobbing at each other, learning his lesson after he got hit the first time and it felt like his biocomponents are liquifying within his chassis.

But it’s hard to do when the spheres have their built-in homing system and know to arc towards him.

A giant bubble is launched towards Connor, its size making dodging an impossible task, but still he runs as fast as he can, his footsteps being drowned out by the loud, deadly explosions that are firing off almost every second now, but while he expects the churn of his biocomponents being torn apart at the molecular level, the bubble only engulfs him like a protective dome, and somehow he knows that Ryder is doing the same to him as to the other androids she is helping, keeping him alive just enough to reach their objectives before… before something. Connor isn’t sure how tonight is going to end, but the newly-deviated androids have Markus’ coordinates in their systems; they’ll know their way even though he doesn’t survive.

A streak of blue flies above Connor’s head and crashes directly into the centre of a group of androids on standby, and even though he is protected from nearly all harm thanks to the bubble that somehow manages to follow him around and keep him in the centre, he still instinctively jumps towards the other side to get as much distance away from the blast as he can and shields his eyes with his arm. He takes the chance to grab a nearby android’s arm and deviate them and regrets looking towards the direction of the blast.

Alec Ryder stands amidst a crater of broken androids, his clothes and chassis covered in thirium glowing in resonance with his powers. Connor picks up the courage to run a quick scan to determine the extent of damage even as he feels immobilised by the man’s inhuman eyes.

That is more than a hundred androids gone all thanks for a man who isn’t even human as most people thought.

‘You’re an android too,’ Connor whispers because his voice box suddenly isn’t working. ‘How… how does that…?’

Logically, he knows that the bubble will protect him, but he still raises his arms in front of him subconsciously when the man wraps himself in blue and charges towards him in a large sphere knitted from the same blue tendrils. He feels the bubble tremble under the impact and the assault of… whatever the tendrils exactly do, but it doesn’t last long as Ryder charges in once more and dislodges her father from Connor’s bubble, freeing him and giving him a chance to move on to the next full group of androids. He doesn’t even need to deviate the batch Alec crashed into as the impact and destruction alone are shocking enough to deviate them on the spot.

He just hopes that they last long enough to get to one of the lifts and get to the surface.

A crash shakes the entire warehouse and causes Connor to lose his balance halfway through a run. He falls forward, the bubble fizzles for one terrifying moment before strengthening again, and he feels the crack in his chassis widen even more. None of his veins is broken or torn which is a small mercy on its own, but as he pre-constructs the quickest route to deviate all the androids in the room, Ryder is nudging a connection open, and he partitions a part of his focus to accept the call while he runs towards the next group of androids.

He’s targeting the androids now, Ryder’s voice echoes in his head. I’ll try to protect everyone, but I can’t do that while I’m tracking you. Either I drop the barrier around you or we sacrifice a few androids. It’s your choice.

Connor shoves the conversation away from his mind for the few seconds it takes to deviate the android he chose for this group. Teach me how to protect myself. I don’t have enough thirium in me.

You will.

A stream of data suddenly passes into his mind without a direct interface - something that should not be possible with common android models, but then again both he and Ryder are the furthest thing from common - and suddenly his nerves tingle with a sensation both foreign and familiar. It’s Ryder’s experience being passed into his processors, he realises, but still when he imagines a protective dome around him, his thoughts are hesitant, and the protection suffers from his own lack of confidence and flickers as Ryder’s bubble fizzles and dissipates. With it gone, a giant field of blue appears above his head 3 metres off the ground, giving enough space for the androids to manoeuvre themselves as they rush towards the many lifts while leaving plenty of room for the Ryders to… do whatever they are doing. The barrier shimmers and flows like water, giving him an illusion that he is underwater, but no, he’s still standing on solid ground with his thirium level dropping bit by bit from both normal usage and the field above him as it draws power from everything around it to maintain its strength which, in this case, is Connor and all the androids in this storage room. He deviates all the androids and makes sure that at least a few batches are on their way to the surface before swivelling around to dash back to the original storage room, except that the supportive archway crashes and rumbles and collapses in front of his eyes, forcing him to go towards the other way, and he looks up just in time to see Ryder crashing onto the protective barrier she is still holding up, the impact making the sea of blue tendrils ripple and hum with the impact before she seems to have found her footing on the barrier. He feels more than sees her launch a shockwave towards the only other door out of this storage room and blast it into smithereens and Connor has to climb a small hill to access the next room, but for now, as the force field expands itself to cover the new storage room as well, he finally feels like he is getting the hang of it, that there is a chance that they can get most of the androids out of here alive to help with the revolution.

If only he can forget the image of Hank lying on the floor dying from a gunshot wound in his stomach.

oOoOo

‘I’ll get the commander,’ Chloe suddenly says as they are no more than a few metres away from the command centre, ‘you get the soldiers protecting them. You understand?’

‘Making me do the heavy lifting again?’ Louis can’t help but jab despite realising the symbolism behind it: an android making the final move that announces their victory is much more impactful than when a human does it especially considering that they are, if stripped to the basics, in the middle of an android revolution. If it means bringing them peace and avoiding a civil war between humans and androids, he will gladly forget that the tech he is wearing is not public at all, that Chloe brought her own help in the form of what seems like an organised platoon of deviants out of nowhere, that he didn’t just rip the turret off a fucking tank just now with some… weird blue magic that is called biotics.

‘Figure you can use some more practice.’

His stomach chooses this moment to growl. Right. The crash after using his powers excessively always sucks, and one of the symptoms is a sudden, acute hunger that threatens to knock him off his feet. At least he doesn’t break every single bone in his limbs and has to lie in the snow for three days waiting for his cybernetics to slowly knit himself back together again. ‘Maybe not,’ he switches his rifle from his shoulder into his hands just in case things are about to get spicy and his powers fail him. ‘Drained all my stores back there.’

Chloe’s huff is audible through the comms. ‘Fine,’ she doesn’t sound too pleased. ‘Do what you can and I’ll handle the rest.’

‘Won’t even dream to take the lead. I have no idea what’s happening right here.’

They plaster themselves onto the walls next to the door leading to the command centre. ‘We’re taking this camp and freeing the androids. What is so difficult to understand?’

‘You know that’s not what I’m talking about.’

‘Just blast the door open and be done with it.’

He does as she says and lobs a sphere of energy towards the door to push it back without exposing himself to immediate gunfire. Shielding himself with a barrier in front of him, he turns and feels the bullets being deflected or absorbed and sees through the shield of blue the soldiers either dropping on the floor from the very bullets they fired or scrambling for cover thinking that simple furniture can protect them.

He knits his biotics into a giant stasis field and suspends everyone in it while leaving a corridor for himself and Chloe to pass through.

‘They don’t have cameras on, right?’ he finally finds the time to ask. ‘Or else they’ll probably have a lot of questions for me.’

‘EMP, remember?’ Chloe sounds awfully cheerful. ‘Nothing’s getting in, and nothing’s getting out.’

‘And the soldiers’ testimonies?’

Through the visor - yes, her new helmet has a visor now, finally - Chloe gives him what he thinks is a blank stare. ‘They won’t.’

‘You sound certain.’

Chloe giggles, but Louis detects no mirth in her voice. ‘I promise.’

She breaks the door open herself on a count of three, and this time, Louis is prepared to suspend the occupants in stasis fields immediately after entering the room, their weapons easily taken away now that they are all immobilised and are suspended at eye level while Chloe works on the recycling machine’s controls.

It is so anticlimactic that it gives him whiplash.

With her helmet still on, the android raises the microphone to where her mouth should be. ‘Testing,’ she has changed her voice into something much more neutral and less recognisable, ‘please respond if you can hear me.’ A pause, presumably when she is waiting for a telepathic response from an android. ‘This camp is no longer under the army’s control. By Markus’ orders, you can either join the protest at Hart Plaza - human clothing optional - or stay here where you will be safe for the rest of the night or tend to the wounded. You’re free now. It’s your choice to make. Over.’

She hangs up the microphone and turns to Louis. ‘How long will the stasis field hold?’

‘Hell if I know,’ Louis shrugs and feels the plates of his armour shift and tug against the fabric of what seems like an undershirt; he wasn’t exactly paying attention to what was changed and what was not when his armour morphed and he was rushing the soldiers. ‘I can keep watch if you want me to.’

‘No,’ Chloe shakes her head. ‘You’ll be more useful out there. I’ll watch the stasis fields here. I have transferred Markus’ last known coordinates to everyone, but it’s better if there’s someone to lead them.’

‘Who? Me?’

‘Is there anyone else?’

‘A human leading an army of androids -’

‘You aren’t even a human, Louis White Allen. Stop fooling yourself.’

‘Why don’t you -’

‘Stop arguing and lead them to Markus, okay? If you think they’re going to exclude you for being more human physically than pure androids, you’re wrong. Once you get in, you never get out. That’s the way things are.’

Louis swings his rifle over his shoulder to prepare to walk all the way to Hart Plaza which, according to the map on his HUD, is an hour’s walk away. ‘Why do I have a feeling that you aren’t talking about the revolution anymore?’

‘I never said I was.’

He exits the command centre into the snow. As if sensing that the fight is over, his armour sends a blinking notification to alert him of its upcoming deactivation before melting apart like the skin on an android to reveal the clothes he changed into before they departed the church, but instead of returning to its original form of a circular disc on his spine, he watches the particles concentrate on his left wrist to form an unsuspecting analogue watch that he can easily hide under his sleeve. It’s a good-looking watch and probably contains a tracker as well so he takes it off and hands it to an armoured android (he knows they’re an android because they still have their LED on their temple). ‘Thanks for the help,’ the android’s face remains blank as Louis feels more and more embarrassed rambling. ‘I don’t think I’ll need this anymore.’

He bolts before the android can give any sort of reply, snow crunching underneath his boots as he goes straight to the entrance of the camp. Some androids are already dressed up - some in clearly mismatched clothing - and are standing in line, this time voluntarily instead of being forced to march to their deaths, some are still rummaging the bins through which all androids went through for some clothes, and some are just standing there tall and proud without their skin, comfortable with the physical proof that they are not human.

An android dressed in a WR600’s uniform approaches him. ‘We were told to follow your lead,’ he says. ‘We will win this, won’t we?’

Louis recalls the map, recalls Markus’ protests, recalls the other camps currently on their way to freedom or are already freed, recalls Connor infiltrating CyberLife Tower alone with a determination that will see no other day.

‘We will if we stand as one. Now let’s rendezvous with Markus.’

oOoOo

It proves how well she knows her father when she isn’t surprised that after forcing this on her and Ellen, he did it to himself as well. From the first time he lit up in blue in front of her, Fadia knew.

And she is prepared this time. No more being caught off-guard. No more being kidnapped and put into an indestructible body without her consent. No more using an entire species as a tool to force a woman who should have died to live.

She has an army.

The kinetic barrier she generates isn’t exactly the most solid thing as her attention is spread so thin from having to cover so much ground, but that’s another use of her biotics: to right herself, to pick herself up quicker than any other human or android can. The barrier ripples and glows with each step she takes as she pretends that she is walking on solid ground and lets her imagination fuel her biotics, and before Alec can recover from being blasted to the other side of the room yet again, she raises her hand and rips through every single door that the bastard cut loose in a pathetic attempt to stop her and Connor.

Evidently, he has forgotten that she is designed to be easily upgraded by replacing her biocomponents instead of being stuck in the same way like the other androids or himself. And yes, now that she knows he is an android, it doesn’t take long for her to dig into CyberLife and the Church’s databases to find the bits and pieces and decipher them. Alec Ryder, disgraced military special forces officer; Alec Ryder, father of the mother of androids; Alec Ryder, RK600, better, faster, and stronger than all his predecessors.

Unchanged since the beginning, surpassed long ago by an upgraded version of one of his predecessors.

She casually knits an annihilation field around herself just in case Alec charges her again, and indeed he does, her limbs locking up from the sync-lock that will tell her father where exactly he should punch a hole in spacetime to transform himself into the deadliest cannonball with his own body, but that’s what the field is for: to catch him unaware, to pull him out from the massless corridor before he is ready, and as her vision turns grey and her world slows down, she raises both of her arms and strengthens the field like a parent welcoming her child home.

How ironic.

With all the doors now no more than atoms and molecules - whichever is safer for organic humans - it is easy to expand the kinetic barrier underneath her feet as she watches Alec struggle futilely in the web of biotic tendrils she trapped him in. His skin flickers, his biotics fizzle and glow and burn as he attempts to get away from the field, but while he has been tending mostly to earthly affairs for the last ten years and left the Church’s matter to his trusted seconds, she has been involved in the fight since the day he kicked him out and she established her own order with her own allies. Some of them have deviated from their original goal completely and are one step from disappearing from human space forever, others are distracted by new discoveries which doesn’t bother her as much, but most stayed loyal, and most of all, she has the practice, she has the hardware to maximise her efficiency and control over her biotics.

She only lets him last this long because she wants it to hurt.

How long until you can deviate all the androids in here? she asks Connor just in case. The RK800 is getting better and better at this, and by the end of tonight… there’ll be hundreds of thousands if not millions of deviants all around the country. Enough to turn the tide of the revolution.

Enough to change the fate of humanity.

The momentary distraction allows Alec to break away from the annihilation field that is supposed to be destroying his biocomponents on the molecular level, but just like herself, his self-repair protocol will continue to fix and regenerate his body until his processors are utterly, completely ripped apart.

She will do that later, but for now, as he grabs her and the two of them resort to biotic-swathed punches in the air supported by nothing but manipulated gravity thanks for their powers, she relishes in seeing a man whom she used to know as calm and collected at best and outright heartless at worst panic and scramble for purchase as he realises that this is a fight he cannot win, that at long last, there is a problem he cannot solve.

That is, of course, if this is a problem in the first place, and one thing about Alec Ryder is that sometimes he treats the inevitable as something to be solved instead of something that needs to be accepted. This mentality got them into this position in the first place. If he finally understands now why it is a bad idea to have in daily life… she has bad news for him.

Two more rooms, Connor replies at long last. My chassis is cracked and I’m not healing. I… I don’t know if I’ll have enough thirium to fix myself.

Well, the deviants flooding to the surface have Markus’ coordinates anyway. The movement will live. Focus on deviating the androids.

Got it.

She throws Alec through a wall into a now-empty storage room and then launches a shockwave at the intact archway that will give Alec an escape so that it collapses and traps him in. The walls might be built to withstand level 9 earthquakes measured in the Richter scale, but she doubts there is anything in the universe that can trap a powerful biotic on a rampage forever, and the mere thought of the archway coming down in a pile of rubble is enough to do the job. She would be able to escape if the situation forced her to, but Alec will be trapped here forever unless someone digs him up which will probably never happen. The man always thinks that everyone and everything in the world has to go his way.

He will be surprised by how quickly they will turn their backs against him once the opportunity arises.

She descends to the ground slowly with her world swathed in blue and watches as Alec struggles to stand up. Good. He is admitting his defeat.

‘Don’t think that I didn’t see your little stunt,’ he tries to emphasise his words with a Warp that she easily neutralises. ‘You’re no better than us.’

‘At least I’m doing it for the greater good,’ she biotically lifts him and slams him onto the ground once more. ‘You… on the other hand,’ a shockwave that enters his body and transforms into a Warp to start ripping his biocomponents apart once more before they are healed, ‘is just a lucky selfish bastard.’

‘I made our nation stronger than ever!’

‘For a few decades at most,’ she greatly enjoys the way he is suspended in stasis. He starts coughing up thirium as well which means that some of the damage isn’t as molecular as she wants it to be, but whatever. It might hurt even more which will only make things better. ‘Soon humanity won’t even remember your name.’

She receives a notification that all the surviving androids in CyberLife Tower have been successfully deviated, and of course she accidentally chose the room in which Connor first came in which also means that Hank Anderson’s body is still lying - there. He probably thinks that his human is dead, and she won’t correct him until she is certain that her plan worked. As she continues ripping her father apart from within, she sees the other android emerge from a small gap underneath a pile of rubble covered in dust and grime and thirium, and she knows that yet again, she forgot to keep track of the collateral damage.

Not that it will matter when the androids are celebrating their newfound freedom and the White House are held at both literal and metaphorical gunpoint.

She makes sure that Connor is watching before she jumps and blasts Alec into the ground before kneeling on top of his torso and hitting his head with one after another biotic punch designed to rip it into subatomic particles while also giving her the satisfaction of physically hurting something without doing the same to herself. Such is the wonder of biotics, and so is the power the courses through her when bit by bit, her father’s head chipped away to reveal his eyes, his processors, his data storage, his audio processors; everything that makes him him, all of them disintegrating under the most powerful force humanity has come across. Thirium gushes out from the gaps and cracks created by the assault, forming a spreading poll beneath his head as his system tries to repair the damage with his blood, but the speed of recovery is no match for angry biotics, and soon even that stops as well as the final piece of his processor is reduced to subatomic particles. One final Warp, one last explosion to just to be thorough, and Alec Ryder is no more. She stands up, scans the body to make sure that her father is truly dead, maybe even removing his thirium pump and crushing it biotically in her palms to feel the biocomponent crumble and crack and dematerialise under her own power.

When she looks up at long last, Connor is staring at her with horror in his eyes.

‘It’s necessary,’ Fadia explains. ‘His body is designed to regenerate as long as his processors are intact. This is the only way to make sure that he stays dead and won’t be a threat to us anymore.’ He stays frozen in place despite that, so she adds, ‘Go on. Markus will be waiting for you. I’ll take care of Hank’s body.’

The other android’s face crumbles at the mention of the human, and he whips around with a suspicious arm in front of his face before crossing the distance between him and the body and kneeling down next to it. Pinging the cleanup crew through her internal network, she takes sight of how he deactivates the skin on his hand, how he manoeuvres Hank’s arm until their palms touch with a telltale glow surrounding the android’s hand.

How he leans down and kisses him on his lips once just to stand up and leave the warehouse with the lift farthest from where she is.

That is when she recalls that Anderson - this one, not the one she knew and worked for her - told Connor that Alec used another Connor model to lure him to CyberLife Tower. Knowing Alec’s distrust towards the RK800 series, the body of that Connor unit is probably lying somewhere in this tower waiting for someone to discover it, and that someone will not be CyberLife staff.

Alec’s body is still dripping thirium because unlike human blood, gravity still has an effect on the chemical after the android dies, so she leaves it to the cleanup crew and sends out a tower-wide ping to locate the body of the other RK800 before stepping into a lift and ascends the floors, the gaps between the pieces of her chassis still glowing blue with pent-up power. The plan in her head grows and transforms into something more, and as she lets tendrils of blue dance on her fingertips, she realises that they are stained with fresh thirium.

She forcefully evaporates them with a controlled burst of biotics and stares straight ahead. She’ll have to come down later, but for now… she has a tower to lock down, people to threaten, another RK unit to retrieve and improve -

And a new army to lead.

o0o0o

Before

Chloe watched Louis exit the camp without looking back, bringing thousands of androids of all different models with him to aid the revolution effort. Breathing out an unnecessary sigh, she blasted the camp commander and their guards’ heads with a small biotic explosion to knock them out before going out and slamming the door shut behind her. She was immediately approached by her second-in-command, and the watch she was holding in her hand was enough to tell her that she might have underestimated the cyborg. ‘He left this,’ her second said as she held out a familiar watch. Standard-issue, because this was the best design they had. Clean, because it helped people clear their minds. Analogue, because it reminded people of their origins and what they were protecting and their ultimate goal: creating order out of a system designed to push towards the opposite direction. With sophisticated enough engineering, even the most fatal flaw of an analogue watch could be eliminated.

Climbing onto one of the watchtowers which had been cleared of its human occupant, she gazed down at the camp and the androids who chose to stay and clean up or to help take care of the wounded, sending a picture to both Elijah and Reyes as evidence to her success in taking over the camp and liberating the androids; in return, Reyes somehow managed to take a selfie of himself and his sniper rifle on top of a watchtower of a nearly-empty camp, and Elijah replied with a short ‘still infiltrating. will update you soon’.

The result did not surprise her.

She let herself marvel at the Administrator’s plan. If Chloe had been in charge, she would have ordered her platoon to kill the humans regardless of whether they were armed or not; after all, they had been the ones to send unarmed, innocent androids into camps to be destroyed, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t see the benefits of leaving the human soldiers alive. They would be able to maintain a façade of peace, they would gain the support of the humans and the androids who had been treated well by their masters so far - she knew there had to be some - and most of all, they would be able to pressure the government to do as they say. The cameras might have been taken out by the EMP and then hacking from numerous trained androids, the attack was quick and deadly thanks for a certain cyborg finally unleashing his powers at the expense of himself, but the soldiers had eyes, they would talk, they would describe what happened tonight to their superiors or even their family.

They would plunge the world in awe and horror and no one would know why or how or where their powers came to be.

She received yet another ping. This one was from Connor who apparently had successfully deviated most of the androids in CyberLife Tower’s storage, and his wording of ‘most’ and the lack of visual proof caught her attention. She could imagine it: one thing that CyberLife and the Administrator agreed on was their lack of care towards collateral damage; perhaps the company anticipated his arrival and started destroying some of the androids before they were stopped, perhaps they blocked off part of the warehouse and locked Connor out of the system, perhaps something else. No matter what caused him to use ‘most’ but not ‘all’, there would be a lot more deviants in Detroit than ever.

And now it was up to Grissom to deal with the president. She was never close with the human, their goals and personalities too far apart for them to cross paths that much, but she supposed that the least she could do right now was looking past his disgustingly open human emotions when it came to his husband and interest and focus on the competent side of his that got him a seat on the council. The same competence and experience would allow them to force Warren’s hand without revealing themselves - at least according to the Administrator, who, from Chloe’s one decade worth of experience, was usually right concerning matters like this. Sure, the Church might have control over the North American scrubber, but the president didn’t need to know that; all she would know is that if she didn’t give androids the freedom and rights they deserved right now, she would essentially doom humanity to a painful, drawn-out death that would happen in her lifetime.

Not something an already-unpopular president should do.

She didn’t doubt that the Church would reap some of the benefits from the revolution; in fact, it was the first thing the entire council - yes, even Elijah - anticipated, and they had prepared their next move accordingly. There would be so many deviants lost, so many naïve, innocent souls ready to be recruited. It would be a waste to not utilise such a readily available resource to advance humanity towards the correct direction.

She drew up the video they had recorded specifically for this occasion and broadcasted it to the entire camp.

#dbh au big bang #hankcon #dbh hank anderson #dbh connor #dbh chloe #dbh elijah kamski #dbh captain allen #female ryder #alec ryder #detroit: become human #mass effect andromeda #groom lake aftermath

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stardusttrashed · 4 years

Text

Dancing in the Moonlight

Based on Dancing in the Moonlight by Alt-J

A/n: y/n’s quirk is both earth and water manipulation, but she hasn’t quite got the hang of using both at the same time

You shifted your foot in the soil, digging into the dirt slightly. The soil was cool beneath your aching feet, providing a smidge of comfort. Steadying your breath you focused on the air filling your lungs. You held your breath as your arms moved into place, the limbs fluid like water. Your eyes fluttered shut as you drifted into a deep concentration. You formed a dirt wall in front of you by turning your foot and prepared your water for the next part of your attack.

“It’s almost curfew,” a familiar voice called out, breaking your concentration. The water you had been gathering with your arms splashed out of control, soaking your shift before seeping into the ground. You muttered swears to yourself as you turned around. Todoroki gave you an apologetic look, “sorry. I didn’t mean to mess up your concentration.”

You relaxed your shoulders and smiled tenderly. “You’re out late, everything alright?” You picked up your water bottle and sipped from it, maintaining eye contact. You unsuccessfully attempted to keep your eyes from drifting down his body and focus on his. But you couldn’t. As beautiful and enchanting as his heterochromia eyes were, you couldn’t help but take in the rest of him. He was in his casual clothes but seemed far from getting ready for bed. His button-up shirt hid his slim yet muscular form making him seem almost lanky.

Todoroki’s eyes drifted down to the ground, focusing on his shoes. “Yeah. I was heading to bed and saw you out here.” That wasn’t completely the truth, but it also wasn’t a complete lie. Truth be told he had been looking around the dorm for you since you weren’t up to hanging out with everyone else. Quite frankly he missed your presence. He missed being able to look around and spot you or feel your warmth fill the room. He had excused himself from the group to go find you.

He spotted you through a window and watched you for almost an hour before he got himself to walk over. All he could see was a silhouette in the moonlight, but he knew instantly it was you. You were the only one he could think of with movements so graceful yet firm like bamboo in the wind.

You watched him for another moment, waiting to see if he’d bring his eyes back up to yours. “Well… since you’re awake,” you took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself. Being around him filled your stomach with butterflies and made thinking clearly a troublesome task. And yet there was always a sense of familiarity with him like you’ve known him for years. You busied yourself by fixing your bun. “Feel like helping a friend out with some sparring? Won’t get better with my quirk if I don’t use it in combat situations.”

It was nearly ten and he knew he should say no. Tell you that you both should go to bed. Or even that you shouldn’t fight out here. But he couldn’t, not with you looking at him like that. You were his kryptonite in so many ways, yet even he was oblivious to it. “Any rules?” He shrugged off his button-down shirt and walked closer.

You popped up to your tiptoes in excitement. “No holding back. And don’t get caught by Aizawa,” you shrugged as if it was simple knowledge. The smirk on his lips sent a rush down your spine. You dug your toes into the dirt, readying your defensive stance.

Todoroki stood in front of you casually. Without any signal, he sent a rushing wave of ice along the ground. He knew you, watched you fight enough to know you weren’t one to underestimate. Even if you didn’t always have a good handle on your quirk.

You lifted the ground beneath you, using it as a stepping stool to launch yourself onto the icy floor. You skated towards him, narrowly avoiding a blast from his flashfreeze heatwave. With a flick of your wrist, you transformed his ice into a water barrier. You swung your arms to guide the water into a rushing wall that encircled you and him. A look of surprise crossed his face, quickly replaced by an impressed smile.

“When’d you learn how to do this,” Todoroki asked cooly, his smile suppressing itself into a smirk.

“Like I’d tell,” you smirked proudly. The cool summer breeze provided a refreshing feeling and pushed your stray strands into your face. “But I did have inspiration.” You searched his eyes wondering if he’d pick up that he was your inspiration, but all you received was a blank stare. With a sigh, you flicked your finger, guiding a small burst of water towards his back as a sneak attack.

“Try again,” he chuckled in an almost cocky manner as he froze the burst and wall. The ice block fell to the ground with a loud clatter, shattering into dozens of ice bits. “Nice try though.” The ground around your feet began to quickly freeze, trying to latch onto your feet.

You formed a flight of stairs out of the ground as you tried to escape the lighting fast ice that engulfed everything in its path. “Is the famous Todoroki talking trash,” you teased him as you leaped off the highest step with a graceful flip. You formed a small wave to help guide you back to the ground. Before you could attempt another escape Todoroki sent ice shards towards you that froze your wave and feet along with it.

Todorki shrugged confidently, “just an observation. Looks like I won.” He shoved his hands into his pocket and tried to turn around to go get his shirt, but his feet wouldn’t budge. He looked down with a dumbfounded expression at his buried feet. You had somehow managed to trap his feet into a dirt prison without him feeling.

You suppressed your giggles and took advantage of his momentary guard drop, sending a wave of water towards him. You rode on the tail of the wave, watching as it soaked him, unfortunately breaking your dirt prison. “You didn’t think I’d give up that easy with you, did you,” you asked as you landed a short distance in front of him.

He looked up at you through his drenched hair, the water dripping into his eyes slowly. “I hoped you didn’t.” You looked absolutely gorgeous under the moonlight. It was hard to admire you and fight you at the same time, but that didn’t deter him. He adored the way the two strands in your face were slowly starting to curl from a mixture of sweat and mist in the air. He loved watching this new side of you with your quirk. In class trainings you always seemed to have a hard time using both aspects of your quirk at once, but now you were doing it almost effortlessly. He began to wonder if it was all an act. If you were holding back in class to keep everyone from knowing how strong you were.

“Hey, stop staring at me like that.” A blush crept onto your cheeks and you made the ground roll beneath him so he wouldn’t see. He stumbled backward, unable to catch himself before falling onto the ground.

“Like what?” He turned the ground into ice and formed a wall behind you, bringing you towards him. You came in faster than he expected, crashing into him as he stood up. Todoroki wrapped a protective arm around your waist to steady the both of you. The close contact drove him crazy and all he could do was hope it did the same to you. His cheeks flushed as he looked into your eyes again.

“Like-,” your breath became uneasy. His strong arm around your waist made your mind hazy while his tender eyes sent you into a drunken state. You couldn’t even escape his grasp with your quirk if you wanted to, it required too much concentration that you didn’t have. “Like that. You keep it up and I might have to kiss you,” you scoffed, assuming that’d help him let go of you. To your surprise, he continued to hold you. If anything he pulled you closer.

“Can I?” His voice was no more than a whisper, his breath ghosting over your lips. He couldn’t tell if it was the summer heat that made him so warm or his embarrassment from having you so close.

You let out a nervous laugh, “this isn’t very funny Shoto.” His unwavering expression settled your nerves slightly. He meant it. The boy you’d been crushing on since your first year really meant it. Two whole years of doubt and worry that your feelings weren’t returned. You opened your mouth to speak, but nothing could find its way past your lips so you simply nodded.

His palm cupped your cheek carefully as if you were the most delicate thing in the world. Now that he finally had the chance to make his fantasy come true he seemed to be frozen in time. He knew he had your permission, but he was still nervous out of his mind. He wanted to make sure he did it right. Make sure he wouldn’t disappoint. He allowed himself to get lost in your eyes, ingraining you into his brain.

With a soft giggle and an eye roll, you wrapped your arms his neck, pulling him down to you. You gingerly pressed your lips against his, his wet hair resting against your forehead. Without hesitation, he pulled you flush against him and pressed his lips against yours. You took it as a sign to continue, deepening the kiss. Your heart poured itself out onto his lips, letting go of everything you held onto for years. His soft lips were warmer than you thought they’d be.

Todoroki craved more, wanting to devour you. Your taste was even more intoxicating than you were. He would give anything to make this moment last forever, but his growing struggle to breathe said otherwise. He would gladly suffocate in your presence just to keep holding you close.

You reluctantly broke the kiss, your breath escaping your lips in small pants. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that.” You opened your eyes to catch him admiring you once again causing you to blush.

“Me either, but I don’t want to wait that long before we do it again.” He caught your chin between his thumb and forefinger, guiding you to look up at him. “Pardon my forwardness, but I like you- a lot.” His ocean eye lured you in closer while his fiery eye set the butterflies in your stomach ablaze. “I think I have for a while now.”

“I like you too,” you spoke softly as you swooped his hair out of his face. “And I’d really like to kiss you more often. If that’s okay with you?” The blush on his cheeks slowly crept over to his ears, making him almost as red as his hair. “Same time tomorrow?”

“Of course. I’d be honored to see more of your skills.” He looked at your smirk with a confused expression before it finally clicked. “I meant with your quirk,” he added sheepishly. “Not that I would mind seeing other things. Not- not in that sense.” He sighed in frustration as he stumbled over his words.

You cut him off with a quick kiss on his lips. “It’s fine, I’m just giving you a hard time. Come on, it’s getting late,” you slipped out of his arms, missing his warmth already. You gathered all of the water out of his clothes and hair and disbursed it into the grass. He smiled at you gratefully before picking up his shirt.

As you both walked back to the dorms you felt his hand slip into your, holding on softly. The walk was comfortably quiet as the two of you basked in each other’s presence. You decided to take the stairs to avoid being too loud. And to give yourselves more time together before you split off to your separate rooms.

“Good night Y/n,” Todoroki whispered as he stood in your doorway.

“More like morning,” you teased him. “It is 3 in the morning after all.”

He chuckled quietly, “I suppose it is… I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah.” You chewed on your bottom lip as you tried to think of an excuse to keep him by your side longer. “Unless you want to stay,” you decided to jump out with it, immediately regretting your decision.

Todoroki stared at you while he thought it over. Every passing second felt like an eternity and you wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and never come out. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

The two of you laid in your bed, limbs entangled, allowing the sound of the other’s breath to lull you to sleep. One bold move after another had made way for a new summer ritual. Every night you’d both sneak out around 10 to go fight or talk and wouldn’t return until 3 in the morning. It was something you both looked forward to. A loving constant that only made the both of you fall head over heels. Though it was never outright said, during one of those nights you had transformed from friends to something more. Night escapades merged into afternoon moments of public affection and the rest of class 1-A was here for it. Your late-night fights would slowly become a show, two silhouettes dancing in the moonlight as mist and smoke floated in the air.

#my hero academia #mha #mha fanfic #mha shoto todoroki #mha shoto x reader #shoto #shoto x you #shoto todoroki #shoto todorki x reader #todoroki shouto #todoroki headcanons #mha imagines #shoto imagine #todoroki imagine #todoroki fluff #todoroki fanfic #shoto todoroki fluff #shoto todoroki fic

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avionvadion · 4 years

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(Collapses. I did it guys. IT IS DONE. FIVE DAYS! I think.) Chapter 11, chapter 10 mention, to chapter 17. Story:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24115702/chapters/58056064

Chapter 11

"Are you doing well, Irene?" Sango asked, seeing me wince when I sat down. "Does it still hurt?"

"Mostly just my back," I answered truthfully, petting Kirara as she curled in my lap, "but otherwise I'm fine."

Kagome frowned and made her way over. "Let me see." She lifted the back of my shirt up to see the stitches. "They didn't open, which is good. Let me put on some ointment and bandages, that way you can get into the bath and not worry about it getting soaked." She pulled her backpack over and got into her first-aid kit. "I'm surprised you didn't use your Shikigami to heal yourself."

"Frick, I could have, couldn't I?" I exclaimed. I let out a noise, disappointed in myself. "Fun, fun. Well, you guys are already using so much medicine on it- might as well let it heal naturally the rest of the way. Right?"

"That's true." She said. "Still… I don't like how you're always getting injured."

"...I know."

Sango took out a cloth and began to polish her hiraikotsu. "Did something seem weird about those women to you?" She suddenly asked, refusing to look at us. "I have this bad feeling."

Kagome shook her head. "Are you sure it's not just because of Miroku?"

The woman almost dropped her weapon. "Wh-What!? Why bring him up!? That monk has nothing to do with this!" Her face was bright red, the blush all over her cheeks. I stared at her, eyes wide, realizing very quickly that she had a crush on the perverted monk. "I'm just saying something isn't right about these people! They strike me as odd."

"Uh-huh." Kagome clearly didn't believe her. "Sure. I think you're just overreacting Sango. What do you say, Irene?"

"Um…" Frick. How dare she put me in the middle of all this. "I-I'm with Sango on this… sorry. I-I just don't feel…" What was the word for it? Safe. "I dunno. I just don't really trust them?"

"Thank you!" Sango exclaimed. "I'm glad someone is on my side."

Kagome frowned. "That's not fair, Sango. You know I didn't mean it that way..." She pulled my shirt down and stood, walking over to grab the towels Kinu left by the door. "Now- why don't we all calm down by taking a nice relaxing bath? I'm sure it would do us all some good!"

The demon slayer let out a sigh. "I suppose… I'm sorry, Kagome. I shouldn't have snapped."

"Don't worry about it! It's been a rough few days." Kagome looked down at me. "I'll show you what to do in the bath, okay, Irene? You probably aren't used to the ones here in Japan."

I blinked. "Um, okay."

What on earth could be so different about them?

...

As it turned out they were vastly different. Before we could actually get into the bath we had to clean ourselves with a small rag using a cold bucket of water, removing grime and dirt. It reminded me greatly of the public swimming pools back home, though I had only ever went to those when I was little and could actively play around. Towels were allowed, though they couldn't touch the water, and Kagome and Sango tied their hair up.

And the worst part was that we had to bathe together.

I disliked changing in front of others, but that was totally different from being exposed completely. I think the last person who saw me naked was my mother- and that was when I was a little kid and couldn't wash my hair by myself yet. Ick. I feel so gross. I don't like this. Do I have to?

Hot water sounded amazing, but… with others?

Kagome and Sango seemed unbothered by each other's presence and got in the hot spring, relaxing into the water and sighing happily. I hesitated, holding the towel over my form and staring down at the water below. How to do this without revealing myself…? Hmm. Predicaments.

"What's the matter?" Sango asked curiously, seeing the way I was just standing there. "It's only us girls; you don't have to worry about Inuyasha or Miroku walking in. No need to be shy."

"I-I'm not… shy." I awkwardly responded, touching my toe into the water and nearly recoiling at its heat. I was so used to the icy lakes I had been using to clean myself with; it felt so strange against my skin now. The air in the room was so steamy and almost suffocating. "I-I just…"

Kagome blinked, seeming to reach an understanding faster than Sango did as to why I was behaving this way. "Oh, I get it! You're not used to this, are you? Americans do things so differently from us. Want Sango and I to turn away while you get in?"

I looked at her, surprised. "R-Really? Um, please…"

Sango hummed. "Is that what it was? Haha. Don't worry about." She and Kagome turned so their backs were facing me, and with a shaky breath I dropped the towel and slid into the water. "You good?"

Effectively hiding my body from the shoulders down, I let out an informative noise. As they moved and got comfortable, it was then I caught sight of the scar on Sango's back. It was a large, nasty looking piece of flesh. I could only assume it was from the incident… when Kohaku got possessed and killed everyone. Gods, how does she function? She's incredible.

"This is so nice…" Kagome moaned, sinking into the water. "It's been so long."

Seriously? She gets normal baths at home.

Sango just nodded her head. "Agreed. Maybe I was wrong after all… it was so nice of those women to set this up for us."

I remained silent, thinking deeply about everything. This felt so casual, so… normal. It was unnerving. Was it really alright for us to just lounge about in this bath when we could be making our way towards Naraku's castle? What about Maria? Shouldn't there be more that we need to be doing?

"Sometimes you just gotta relax." Kagome commented, stretching her arms out in front of her. "The search for Naraku and the jewels shards can be so harrowing sometimes!"

"...Why don't we talk about something else then?" Sango suggested. "How did your battle with those exams go? Did you defeat them?"

What? Oh my gods, that's adorable. I sat up, looking at the females and fighting a smile. Did she really think exams were demons? I love it.

"Barely." Kagome held her head to side, propping her elbow up on the stone wall and pressing her hand to her cheek. "I studied so much, but then I forgot my notes… my little brother had to deliver them to class for me. It was a nightmare."

"That was nice of him." She said, smiling. "He cares for you. It's something to be grateful for."

"Y-Yeah…" Kagome realized what she said and looked almost guilty, before she quickly turned her head and looked at me. "Anyway! Irene! Tell me; what are things like back where you're from? You're… nineteen, aren't you? Do you have a boyfriend?"

I blinked, sinking back into the water slowly. "No. I don't deal with relationships."

She and Sango both looked shocked. "What, why?"

"Aren't you at least interested in someone?" Sango asked. I shook my head. "How come?"

I shrugged. "I'm just not. You guys are crushing on people though, aren't you?"

"Not me." Sango said, shaking her head. I snorted at that. "What!?"

"Don't you like Miroku?" Her face flared red. Ah, yes. There it is. "Knew it."

"I-I do not like him! I said this before already! A-And if we're talking about who likes who, then what about Kagome? She's clearly in love with Inuyasha!"

"I am not in love with him! I… like him a minimal amount and that's it."

"Suuure."

"Anyway, why are we talking about us? We were talking about you." Kagome exclaimed, facing me. She and Sango were in front of me now, frowning and intent on getting information. What it was, I was uncertain. "Don't you ever want to date someone? Maybe go to the movies or on a walk…?"

I was up to my nose in the water now, attempting to hide from their prying eyes.

"...I like reading stories about it…"

I finally said, lifting my head up out of the water just enough so they could hear me. It was getting a bit harder to breathe in here. I was going to have to get out soon. Still, it felt wonderful to sit in hot water. I missed showers so much. It stung a little at first since it had been a while, but now that my body was adjusted to it my skin was super happy.

"I feel… I feel like being in a relationship would be really stressful." I admitted, recalling all the times the people I spoke to at school had drama with their significant others. Then there were my siblings- who often ended up with abusive people more often than not. Thankfully Maria had landed someone who treated her right after enough trauma, so she was doing pretty good until… well, we were brought here. I don't even think I could handle being in a relationship. "I-I wouldn't… know how to act a-and… I probably wouldn't be able to do half the stuff expected of me."

"Like what?" Sango asked, concerned. "Marriage?"

Marriage often leads to kids. So… yes. That. Kagome's eyes widened. "Oh my god. You've never even been on a date before, have you!?"

"N-No?" Why was I feeling so embarrassed? It was almost as if… I were ashamed of this fact. I wasn't. I was perfectly content being single. So why did I feel so bad about it now? "It's not like I really cared about it before. I turned down anyone who asked."

Sango let out a small gasp, bringing a hand up to her mouth in shock. "So there were people!"

"No! They were all kinda… creepy." I made a face. "I mean, I was flattered but… I just wasn't interested. They weren't my type."

"What's your type then?" Kagome asked, leaning forward and grinning. "Maybe you'll meet someone here!"

Um, no thank you. I scooted away, lifting my arms out of the water and coughing some as I turned around and held onto the side wall. I needed fresh air. It was too hot in here. I can't breathe. My heart rate was starting to pick up, and I was starting to think that being so flustered was making things worse. I avoided conversations like this back in my time, so having it now was really throwing me for a loop. "I-I don't know? Fictional? I can't tell you how many times I had Robin marry Henry from Awakening and Corrin to Subaki in Fates. Gods, I love them. They're so great."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm assuming those are video games. And Irene- those don't count! I'm talking about real people! Flesh and blood!" Kagome exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you like in a guy?"

How does she even know that I'm straight? For all anyone knows I could be bisexual or lesbian. Yeesh. Wait, she's from 1996. A lot of people weren't out and comfortable with their sexuality then, I don't believe… hmm. That explains things. Still, she wasn't wrong. Women were gorgeous, but any crushes I had were on guys. Lame. "Um... I don't know. Lots of sarcasm? I like to banter and joke, so... yeah. Uh… he has to be super smart, too, I guess. Like, this dude has got to be smarter than me."

I really liked people who were intelligent, mainly because I was not. I did not want to deal with another me.

"And..." I remembered some of the people I met back when I was still in school and made a face. "...he better not act like an idiot. Oh, but like- I am an idiot, so he has to be able to tolerate that and my nonsense because I like to talk. A lot. And I can be super slow when it comes to understanding certain stuff, so patience is definitely a thing." My eyebrows knit together at that and leaned my head down against my arms, thinking. This was actually starting to amuse me slightly, imagining a person that couldn't possibly exist. "And, um, he has to be confident, you know? Maybe kinda arrogant, but isn't a jerk about it?"

"Ohh." Kagome giggled. "I see. You like the mature, serious guys."

I choked. I don't know why, but the way she put that had me sputtering like a fool- face completely red. Sango was smiling, amused by all of this. "Y-You make it sound so weird!"

"I think it's cute." Sango said. "It makes sense, too, given your personality."

I slumped my shoulders, chewing on my bottom lip. "My personality…? Is that a bad thing?"

"No. I just mean… oh, how do I put this?" The brunette thought for a moment. "You're really kind, Irene, and you don't really put yourself first. You get along with children really easily because you yourself have a childish part of you. You know when to be serious, but don't know how to act about it. If I have to find a way to describe it, I'd say you prefer a person who's the total opposite of you. Someone who can balance out your recklessness and take charge when needed. A man who... A man who can teach you to be a little selfish from time-to-time, and point out when you're being too selfless."

Ah. Okay. I didn't really agree with the selfless bit, but sure. "That… makes sense." I was surprised they were even taking this so seriously.

My description had been completely hypothetical; no one like that actually existed. They were being ridiculous.

Chapter 10

He caused all of this. My fingers curled into fists and I sat on my knees, glaring at Kagura. She raised an eyebrow at me, intrigued, opening her fan and covering the burnt part of her face. Kohaku's footsteps were heading right at me. He was close. If I didn't do something now I would be brought to Naraku and probably killed, or worse- end up being controlled like Sango's brother. I can't let that happen. I refuse.

Shikigami… A red light shined at my feet and I pushed myself onto my feet, swaying from dizziness. I glared at nothing in the distance, eyes glimmering with rage. ...One more time.

I lifted a hand up, pointing it at the ceiling above Kagura and Kohaku's heads.

ATTACK!

Kagura swung her fan out to the side as soon the fire made contact with the ceiling, rocks crumbling down upon them. "Damn it! So this is what you were plotting!?" Her winds managed to move the rocks just enough to avoid the two of them being crushed, the debris separating us from Kagura and Kohaku as a result. Sango dashed forward, holding her hand out uselessly as she watched them fly away one of the wind sorceress' feathers before they could be completely buried.

"Kohaku!" The female demon slayer cried, eyes red and puffy with tears. Her arm lowered, hand curled against her chest as she lowered her head, voice quiet and shaky. Her lips curled back as she choked down a sob. "No… Kohaku…"

She fell to her knees, bringing her hands to her face. It took all the remaining strength I had to walk over to her, collapsing onto my rear once I was in reach. I was so lightheaded. "S-Sango… are you okay?"

"H-He's gone again…" The woman whispered. "Every time… I fail to stop him. A-And now... Irene, you…"

"...Sorry…"

"No." She shook her head, sniffling and taking a deep breath. Sango raised her head and looked at me. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I… I let you get hurt because of him. There's no excuse. I should be begging you for forgiveness…"

"N-Nothing…" I wheezed, grinning weakly at her. "...to forgive. You… can't fight him. H-He's your brother."

Her eyes widened. She then froze, feeling my arms around her shoulders.

"It's okay… I promise." So please stop crying. I don't like seeing you sad. It hurts. "I'm not mad."

A strangled noise escaped Sango's throat and she wrapped her arms tightly around my back, fingers digging into my kimono, narrowly avoiding my wounds. Her face pressed into my shoulder. She was trembling so badly; I didn't know what to do to make her feel better. So I did the only thing I could and mimicked what Maria did when I was upset, and I ran my fingers lightly up-and-down her back to comfort her.

"I'm sorry," She sobbed, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay."

Chapter 17

I pulled myself into a room, finding black spots dancing in my vision. It was so dark already because it was night and this was just making it worse. I didn't want to find out if I would end up turning into one of them if they scratched or bit me, or ate me alive, but considering what I just wandered into I had a terrible feeling I was about to find out. Dozens upon dozens of undead were wandering the area, turning to look at me with their misshapen and bloody faces. Mouths gaping open, revealing rotten and missing teeth, with fingers and even arms missing from their bodies. Chunks of flesh were gone.

My heart was about to burst out of my chest, though from fright or asphyxiation I wasn't sure. The cat meowed and stared up at me, watching as I hyperventilated and stumbled back. "I-I can't do this… I-I can't…"

Holy mother of all that is good.

Please no.

I began to choke up. There was nowhere to run; I was completely surrounded by them. It wasn't as if I could just turn back either- there were zombies heading this way from that direction too. I could see them coming from the door. My back pressed against the nearest wall, the sob caught in my throat starting to suffocate me. I was so scared. My friends were gone and my worst nightmare has come to life. I couldn't see any escapes either which meant I was about to be turned into their dinner.

Have you ever had terrible thoughts of being eaten alive? Because I have while growing up, constantly traumatized by horror movies, and they were all coming back to me right now and rushing through my mind, all in the most painful and most agonizing ways.

"S-Somebody…" They were so close. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. "P-Please…" My legs gave out and I sunk to the ground, tears blurring my vision. Their cries were filling my ears, the voices of the dead haunting my being and gradually killing me. It was so bad that blood started to pool from my ears, the tears that fell not quite clear as they became tainted with red.

This was all so stupid.

I came all this way to die by these walking dead samurai, who ironically had died trying to help us, and I never even found my sister. What if her corpse was in this castle- what if she was one of them? I can't stand it. I cradled the mask and the calico cat close to my chest, unable to bring myself to look away as the end drew near. There was no way I would survive this time.

"Make it stop. It hurts. I want to die."

I had gotten so lucky in the past because someone would show up- whether it be Inuyasha or Sango, or even Kagome and Miroku. Kirara was missing and it was just me and a random cat, and I didn't have much energy left to use another Shikigami spell. No one could save me this time. Still…

"I-I don't wanna die…" I whimpered, curling into a ball and hugging the cat protectively. My voice was so small and quiet, absolutely trembling with fear. The tears were streaming down my face, burning my skin and staining it crimson. The zombies were inches away, reaching out with their bare hands ready to tear me into shreds. All dignity was long gone. "S-Somebody…!"

This was it. I was going to die.

“I’m sorry.”

But then the pain never came.

Instead I watched as a sword came out of nowhere, slashing at the backs of the undead, sending them falling to the ground with several loud THUDs. The breath I was holding came out in a strangled sob and I blinked rapidly to clear my vision, eyebrows furrowed as I watched someone I've never seen before slash away at the remaining zombies, not so much as sparing me a glance as he did so. Those that were slain had a strange blue light erupt from their bodies and a whisper filled my ears, the voices gradually quieting and causing the pain in my head to dull.

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the-star-named-dowoon · 4 years

Text

Black Dove

Three years ago,your cousin left and your best friend/first love started treating you like dirt under his feet. Ever since you never wanted to open up to people. Now that your cousin is back and you’ve grown, tension stirs up between him and your old best friend. Soon you find out something about the two of them that you wish you didn’t and find yourself tangled in a war.

Pairings- Vampire Scoups x Reader and vampire cousin Jeonghan ( Hip Hop unit and vocal Unit and more to come)

Genre- Angst, Horror,Romance, Action and Vampire Au

Words-11,000 +

Warnings- Cussing, s.coups being a flirt, wet Joshua lol

A/N- really dialogue heavy but i really like this chapter.

Chapter 2

chapter 1

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Nothing goes on in my brain. It’s just pure fight or flight when I try to step away. The body on the field just lays lifelessly as my cousin wipes the blood from his stained chin. He doesn’t seem fazed, looking as if this was normal, as if he didn’t just drain a boy’s life right out of his eyes . He just simply kicks the body from his path and it goes rolling, a distance away like it weighed nothing.

A dry gasp leaves my mouth. I can almost feel my throat closing up with how tense my body is. Every slow beat of my heart rings in my ears. Seongcheol just holds me tighter as if it would calm me down, but it only felt like I'm being suffocated. I try to push out of his grasp. I need air, I need to breathe. My fingernails dig into his skin as I claw my way out of his arms. Jeonghan approaches casually towards Seungcheol and I . Panic rushes through my body and my legs almost go numb, almost falling back into Seungcheol's arms.

“Don’t come any closer jeonghan. Can’t you see that she's scared?” Cheol decides to speak up. Jeonghan raises his hands up as if to show he’s no harm. Even stepping back a few paces.

“Why are you acting as if I will hurt her? Did you forget who her family is?” My cousin glances back to the body lying on the damp field. “Though, I guess I didn’t make the best impression. But don’t worry, he’s not dead. I’m much too full to finish anyone off right now.” He chomps his fangs playfully at seungcheol.

“After what you did. I wouldn’t trust you with anyone, cousin or not.” Cheol hisses, but he decides to let go of me finally and My knees rest on the damp grass. With Seungcheol off of me and Jeonghan a good distance away, It’s my chance to run away .

All of this is being way too much for me to handle. I can almost feel the vomit start to come up the more I think about it.

“My friend. You know I’m not the bad guy here-“

“I’m not your fucking friend! Because if you really were my friend, you wouldn’t have fucking did what you did!” Seungcheol bares his fangs at Jeonghan. The growl coming from his lips sounded almost demonic. Warning the other male if he were to just take one step closer then something bad will go down.

“I never did it to hurt you! I did what I had to do, I had no other choice.” Jeonghan explained but before he could any further, Cheol managed to grab him by his collar. He managed to lift Jeonghan a bit off the ground. Jeonghan grips Seungcheol's hands strongly, the veins on his hands showing up along with the whitening of his knuckles. His eyes were the same color that stained my cousins shirt. Jeonghan let it happen; He hung loosely from seungcheol’s grip. Not making an effort to get the man’s hands off.

“So you leave me to fend for myself?! We were in it together, jeonghan!” His grip manages to rip his uniform, allowing Jeonghan's feet to touch the floor again. Though, seungcheol still held on to the tattered fabric. “ even though you left everyone around you, I managed to survive. I found people who are better than you! People like me, who I can actually call my brothers!” Jeonghan pushes his hand off of him, causing the top part of his uniform to rip completely off.

“You know why I left.” Jeonghan says with no variation in his speech. Pushing the hair out of his eyes showing the deep red clearly.“You can’t just stand here and-“

“Can you both just shut up?!” The both of them glance towards me. Finally, finding the strength to push myself up, I’m able to stand with wobbly legs. The both of them rush towards me in an attempt to try and help me but I just push myself away. The both of them holding their hands back. “Don’t touch me. Don’t even come near me-“

“___” Jeonghan tries to speak but I rush my Hands to my ears to block him out.

“Stop talking. I don’t know what the fuck you are. But you’re definitely not who I thought you are .” I can feel my lips quiver, the palms of my hands push harder against my ears, trying to grasp any part of sanity left in my brain.

Cheol tries to speak but I’m quick to cut him off. “And you!” I point my finger towards him, his eyes widen at my sudden accusation. “Don’t even try to act like you care And that you want to protect me, because all you ever did was hurt me these past three years! All because you had some shitty beef with my cousin. I can't even look at him right now. All because he almost killed some kid. AND THEN I come to find out that all of you are… I don’t even know what the fuck you are.” I holler at the two boys along with their groups. Soon my breathing gets too unsteady and I can feel the bile come up from my throat. I quickly swallow it but I can’t stop the panic rising in my body.

Before My state gets any worse, a cold hand finds its way around my throat. My back is on the floor in a fraction of a second. Jeonghan holds me against the floor, I try to pry his hand off and attempt to kick him but he just applies more pressure. My eyes wander past him and see that the rest of my cousin’s roommates are holding back Cheol and his gang. My grip around jeonghan’s hand starts to lose strength. Black dots begin to scatter across my vision as my eyelids feel heavier.

“Shhh… I promise. This will all make Sense soon. Just know that i'm not doing this to hurt you. Sleep tight.” He whispers.

“P-ple… help..please.” I choke out but soon everything around me starts to fade. I feel my eyes slowly fall to the back of my head as darkness takes over.

——-

Why does my head feel like it was bashed with a hammer? The throbbing coming in waves of pain. My eyes and nose scrunch in pain. My eyes start to open slowly, revealing my bedroom. Everything looked normal and just the way I left it. After rubbing my eyes I sit up slowly gripping my head as the pounding doesn’t seem like it will stop.

Then I remember.

Anxiety rushed through my veins as the images of my cousin sucking the life out of a student's body appears in my brain. And Seungcheol, how could I forget about him. He’s the same ‘thing’ as Jeonghan and the same about all of his friends.

My breathing starts to pick up again. The air is starting to feel so much thinner.

There’s just no way this could be real. Right? Maybe it was just all a dream and they’re back to being normal human beings. But the memories are just so real, there is no way that I dreamt that. I raise my hands to my neck and flinch at the soreness.

It’s true.

I have to get out of here. The room feels too stuffy now, as if there's hardly any air at all. I throw my legs out of bed and grab my shoes from the side of my bed. Passing by the mirror, I see that I’m still in my school clothes. Grass stains on my knees. From when I was in the field.

I open the door and I’m already face to face with the person I want to ignore.

My cousin stands in the door frame with a smile, as if nothing happened. In his hands is a tray with a glass of water and a Sandwich. He’s in normal clothes now and his face is clean with no sign of blood.

I slowly start to back away. My hands start to shake as I move back towards my bed .

This was a man who choked me till I passed out on a soccer field. Actually,I don’t even think he is a man anymore. After seeing me retreat back, his smile fades and a slight frown is on his face. He takes a step forward and I take one back. But before I can step back any further, my shoe catches the edge of my rug causing me to fall back. I landed with a thud on my butt. Jeonghan tries to rush over to me but I push myself further until I’m against the wall of my bedroom.

“___ stop-“

“Please don’t hurt me…” we say at the same time. My throat hurts after speaking. It feels like sandpaper every time I swallow. Jeonghan goes to his knees in front of me. Instincts kick in before I know it and my arms block my face and my legs start kicking towards him. “I promise I won’t tell! I swear-“

“Please, just stop!” My cousin says dodging my kicks. He grabs my wrists strongly and pushes them away from my face. Refusing to look into his eyes, I push my head to the side. Not having the strength in my vocal cords to scream I just let the tears stream down my face, hopefully showing that I surrender. Jeonghan seemed to have had enough and he grabs my face, not roughly, but firm enough to make me look at him.

“___ please, just look at me please.” My eyes finally met his. I was expecting anger or irritation, but Instead I saw sadness, as if my reaction had an effect on him. My knees still stay at my chest as if it will protect me in any way. My hands grip his wrist firmly as he still holds my head in place.

“Please. Calm down, I would never hurt you. Do you hear me? You’re my family, like my sister, I would never think of hurting you or anyone else I love. I know I’m asking a lot but shouldn’t be afraid of me or my roommates.” I sniffle and try to nod through my sobbing but I can’t get over what I saw. My body is telling me this is full of danger. “On the field I had to knock you out. You were freaking out but I had no intention of killing you or hurting you.” His thumbs wipe away my tears gently and he takes his hands away.

“How am I supposed to believe you?” Jeonghan’s brows furrow at my question. “How am I supposed to believe you or seungcheol after you’ve been lying to me all this time?” Jeonghan just lets his actions speak at this point, dragging me into a hug.

It’s weird, I’m conflicted,because I know I’m supposed to be scared...but this is my cousin. My own blood.

This hug feels like any other hug...how can he still feel so warm?

“You can trust me. No matter what I become, you still are important to me. Vampire or not I’ll protect you no matter what.” He confirms.

At last it’s in the air.

A vampire.

Of course, it all makes sense. I haven’t seen seungcheol and his friends eat once since high school started. And it makes sense why my cousin and his roommates haven’t been seen with food around..

And those blood red eyes that tattooed their way into my brain. Along with those razor sharp fangs.

“Here. Come sit on your bed, you’re probably hungry.” Jeonghan brings the tray that he placed on my desk earlier. Everything looks normal, but I have no appetite. I feel like if I ate anything then it will just come back up again. I sit up on my bed trying to focus on anything but him. Finding myself looking out the window and seeing the raindrops racing down from the earlier rain. A hand is placed on my shoulder and I jerk away instantly.

Jeonghans eyes widen as he takes his hand away. I can see the sadness flooding in his eyes.

“___…”

“Can you leave me alone… please?” I say having my hair fall down to cover my face. “I’m not hungry. I just need time to think. So can you please leave?” Without a word, my cousin sits up from the bed and walks out ,closing the door gently. I look at the neatly prepared sandwich and feel guilty.

Maybe he really is trying to make me feel better. And surely if he wanted to kill me he would have done it by now.

I know I’m my heart that I can trust him. But everything else says be alert. I don’t know if he really has changed or if he’s the same Jeonghan as before, but not human.

I need questions answered.

With that, I get up and rush out of my room, down the stairs and out of my front door. Jeonghan yells for me but I just keep running. Knowing exactly where I’m going. Running across the street I make it towards the house that haunted me for the past three years.

Seungcheol’s house. It looks no different since the many years I’ve seen it. It’s the same look that haunts me. Bringing back terrible memories for the past three years. Like When his friends would call at me on his front lawn when I walked home, Even sometimes spraying me with the hose one day when they were washing wonwoo’s car in the driveway. That house holds Someone that haunts me. Yet, I can’t stop myself from stepping foot on his front door step.

My fist almost makes contact with his front door. The urgency from my mind drains completely .Fortunately, everything screams at my hand to stop. My shacking knuckles hover over the wooden door. Did I really want answers so bad that I'm willing to knock on my bully’s door. Even now knowing what he is.

What am I thinking?

I pull my hand away and run across his lawn and down the street, passing my house and make my way out the neighborhood.

I need to just leave, I need to think about whether everything in my life is just a sick dream. And That I’ll wake up and Seungcheol and Jeonghan will be there like they used to be.

Knowing deep down that this isn’t. I realize that the world decided to torture me more. As if the last three years haven’t been hell.

I keep running till I meet the end of the street. The street cut off with a dead end, and further beyond is the Forest. The dark green pine going on for miles and miles.I look at the darkening sky. I would have definitely been home by now. But...I don’t know what awaits me at home anymore. Jeonghan? Four other vampires? Seungcheol? I just need to get away for a bit. What’s a half an hour in the forest? I’ll be fine, right?

I tread into the Forest. Luckily, I’m not unfamiliar with these woods, after all, I grew up here. I could use a walk right now anyways.

About half an hour passes and I pass through the various trees and bushes. I even see a few rabbits running from being startled by my footsteps. The tall trees blocked out the sun, making the path ahead way darker. The sky is also much darker than before, the moon now shining brightly. Thinking that I should probably head back home, I reach to grab my phone in my pocket but soon realize that it has nothing but a piece of lint.

“Dammit…” I hiss. Well this doesn’t feel good. How am I supposed to find my way back at night without a compass or a flashlight? I guess I should have thought of that before I decided to run off into the woods. Walking up to a sturdy tree, I climb up the branches and settle into a divide of branches just big enough for me to sit in. Because why not? I lean against the thick branches just looking up into the now pure night sky. No sunlight left.

So what the hell am I gonna do now? I don’t want to risk going back home to vampires... and I also don’t want to risk getting lost more. This seems like a good spot for now. Just me alone… with my thoughts.

This is the worst.

The night got chiller so I zip my jacket all the way. I pull harshly on my jacket strings to tighten the fabric around my freezing face. I’ve been sitting here for what seems like an hour already. Nothing to entertain me and no one to talk to. Though it’s cold and boring I can’t help but feel my eyes droop. It’s so calming out here. The wind started to pick up a while ago and the whistle of the wind and the rustle of the leaves made such a nice sound. It got much darker now that clouds have covered the moon, warning of another rain storm. Hopefully the leaves would grant me protection from the rain.

My eyes close but a sharp snap causes my eyes to burst open. Thinking it might just be a rabbit or something I nuzzle back into the tree. But alas more snaps occur but now it takes form into the sound of footsteps. This day can’t get any worse. But honestly a crazy forest murderer would be the most normal thing I could witness tonight.

I try to make myself smaller so I couldn’t possibly be found but the footsteps get closer and closer. I close my eyes hoping and praying that no one finds me here. But, the steps stop. It’s quiet again. My heartbeat seems to be the only thing loud. It’s pin drop quiet. I open one of my eyes just for a peek but before I could, I’m yanked from my branch. Arms catch me just in time before I hit the ground. I start flailing and kicking even screaming. But a hand covers my mouth.

“__ stop! It’s me!” They say. Trying to contain my arms and legs.

Seungcheol?

My head snaps up to reveal that it’s exactly who I didn’t want to see. I start to wiggle around even more, whatever it takes to get out of his grasp. I even try to lick and bite at his hand.

“__ just stop already I’m not going to hurt you!” His hand finally moves from my mouth, cringing at the saliva that covers it. He retains my arms again .

“How can I trust you?!” I scream. “Let me go!” Something might have gotten to him because he finally lets me go. So I decide to make a run for it. I try to dodge every tree and root but it’s difficult when it’s so dark. Unfortunately, the forest wins because my shoe catches onto a root and I’m sent flying. I can feel the solid ground just inches from my face but the impact never comes. I open my eyes to see that my face is hovering just an inch away from the ground.

Seungcheol who’s holding the back of my jacket pulls me up gently back to my feet. “Are you ok?” He asks gently. I just look at him, walking past him without giving him another look.

“__!” He calls out to me. “I came to bring you back.” He truly amazes me. I can’t help but feel a burning feeling in my gut. This guy can’t be serious.

With a scoff I continue walking but in half a second his hand is around my wrist. “__, I’m serious. You’re coming with me. You must be freezing-“

“Shut up!” I yell with a sudden outburst. “How do you possibly expect me to think you care about me?”

“__, you know I care about you.”

“Bull shit! Because if you really cared you wouldn’t be putting me through this right now.Or put me through the last three years. If you cared about me then you would just leave me alone!!!” I rip my hand from his grasp. Walking away again I try to make myself look tough but the tears start coming.

He starts walking shortly after me. Grasping my shoulders tightly. “I can’t leave you alone. You know things now. And you have to accept that you’re In this world now whether you like it or not. It was selfish of me to treat you like I did because of what Jeonghan did to me. It’s selfish to bring you into this world that we’re in now. But just know I never hated you.” The burning in my gut burned hotter and hotter like I swallowed hot coals.

“Yet, you still don’t apologize for what you did to me. What you’re doing to me now. You’re awful, seungcheol.”

“__…”

“You and jeonghan. I thought that you guys cared for me. But instead you let your past tear us apart. Even tearing me apart. And You torturing me and him leaving to escape it all. You’re both so selfish. He isn’t even here to come find me! He’s my cousin, dammit.” I almost hiccup.

“Instead the person who made me feel so worthless for the past three years of my life is here to ‘bring me back home’ because he’s mister goody goody now, because I know his secret. Don’t ever kid me with that ‘i never stopped caring for you’ bullshit because I won’t believe you anymore.” The tears running down my face match the rain that suddenly pours from the sky.

The thunder flashes for a split second lighting up for a moment and lights up Seungcheol's face.

“__, please stop…” his voice wavers. His hands start to become shaky.

“Why? Because I’m finally talking back to you seungcheol? Because-“

“If I can take it back, I would. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I shouldn’t treat you this way now. I’m so stupid to let what happened to Jeonghan affect me but just know that’s not the only reason.”

“What’s the reason? Why would you do that to me, seungcheol. You were my best friend…”

“Because I was afraid of what I became! Three years ago when all this shit happened. I didn’t know that to do, I couldn’t bring you into this. All this fucked up shit that happened to me and Jeonghan, with me and Jeonghan. I admit it, I resented him so much to where it pushed on to you. I was so angry I needed to take it out on something… and it ended up being you.” He confesses.

“I guess I was some kind of emotional punching bag?” I bring up. But he just huffs.

“I’m sorry I took out on you. But that wasn’t the only reason like I said.”

“Then what else was it?”

“I wanted you to hate me. I needed you to hate me because I knew that If I came to you with this burden Jeonghan and I were damned with ,you would be in danger. I couldn’t control myself back then. I killed people… I could have hurt you.” He explains. His own lips quiver as he pours his heart out.

I’m finally getting some answers. Isn’t this supposed to make me feel better? No, it feels almost numbing now. Because I want things to be normal, like they used to, but this doesn’t fix anything.

“What about after?” I ask.

His eyes meet mine finally. “What?”

“After you learned to control yourself. When you still treated me like shit. You were able to go to school with me, walk home on the dame street but you still treated me like dirt.”

“It’s because…” his voice breaks.

“Because what, seungcheol?”

“__!” Another voice sounds throughout the dark woods. I was surprised to hear Joshua instead of my cousin running towards us. He has his phone light on and shines it towards us. After not seeing light for an hour my eyes squint at the brightness.

Seungcheol stands in front of me in the blink of an eye. Joshua halts and stands a good distance away from us. I peek behind Seungcheol's body and see Joshua looking as welcoming as ever. The same soft smile he had the moment I met him.

“what are you doing here, Joshua?” I ask, not wanting to raise my voice too much in fear of what he can do. I trust my brother's friends significantly less than my cousin and seungcheol and his group.

“Jeonghan sent me to come get you. Your aunt is expecting you home.”

“What, Jeonghan didn’t want to come get me?” I ask as Joshua just let’s out a sigh.

“He wanted to give you time, __”

Seungcheol just scoffs at Joshua. Joshua just looks at the other male for a second until his eyes meet me again.

“He said you were with your friend and that you’ll be home soon to your aunt. It’s now soon, so I came to get you.” Joshua explains but I decide to keep shut. I looked up towards Seungcheol, his jaw clamped shut and his fists clenched.

Knowing what I must do, I walk around seungcheol and towards Joshua. I can sense his eyes burning in the back of my head as I leave him and towards a stranger. Joshua smiles and gladly offers his arm towards me. But before he can say anything else I stop in front of him. Joshua raises a brow.

“Tell Jeonghan that if he wanted me to come home then he should have come himself, instead of sending off a stranger.” I look towards the other vampire who stands across from us with his hands in his pockets. Seungcheol has a confused look on his face as I start to come towards him.

“I don’t have much choice... but this is the choice I made.” I link my arm with seungcheol and he nearly chokes on air. “I’m going with seungcheol.”

Joshua’s eyes widened at my response. I’m surprised with myself as well. But it’s something I feel is right. “I’ll see you at home josh. Until then, just know. I don’t trust any of you. I hardly even want to talk to this guy but he’s my only way home that I truly know will take me back. So don’t think I’m someone who’s easily persuaded.” I stare deep into his eyes. The eyes that I thought were soft before were now just empty. I don’t know what’s become of the image I had of any of them.

Josh just smiles before turning away. “It’s ok,__. You’ll trust us soon enough and know we aren’t the bad guys fairytales make us to be. Well at least your cousin and I Aren’t.” He turns his head to the side and glances Seungcheol up and down. He continues to walk, Turing off his phone light and heads away into the darkness. Gone for now. And the rain stops.

“Finally he’s gone.” I say relieved and unhook my arm from seungcheol. “Let’s head home.” I started to walk in the direction Joshua went . But I notice Seungcheol stays put. I look back with confusion.

“Why did you choose to come with me?” He asks puzzled.

“I told him the reason…”

“No. That’s not the reason. You shouldn’t trust me the most. After everything I did to you...you still chose me, why?” He’s persistent with his questioning.

“To be honest... Maybe it’s that stupid girl In the back I’m mind that still trusts you. The one who followed you even when you hurt me the most. The one… who still looks up to you for some reason. The girl that still thinks you’re her best friend.” My eyes couldn’t meet his. Why would I even say that? I know better than to be exposed to him. I can’t trust him, remember!

“Whatever. Let’s just go home. I’m taking a shot in the dark anyway-“ I couldn’t finish my sentence because of my face being smashed against his chest.

“I’m so sorry,__. “ he continues to hug me.

How long has it been since this has happened? I can’t remember the last time this happened. It feels just like I remember for some reason, like everything between us never happened. I have the urge to just wrap my arms around him like I did before. But I have to remember, I’m stronger than this. I push away gently. Seungcheol looks at me with sad eyes. Which I also haven’t seen in years.

“A person who cares for someone can’t just gain their trust with words, they have to gain them back with action. Show me you’re sorry for what you’ve done ,if you really are. Until then, you start at level zero. Just like my cousin. I want you to be who you really are now.”

“I promise. I’ll make it up to you.” Seungcheol walls besides me, Alamo shoulder to shoulder. “I think a man can change overnight, right.” He says half jokingly.

“I think a lot of things can happen in a short amount of time.”

“Ya, you really convinced me recently.” Seungcheol brings up with a slight grin.

“What do you mean?” Seungcheol only shrugs. Putting his hands in his pockets.

“Well, that day in the parking lot. That was the first time I’ve seen you actually fight back. Sure, I wanted you to break. I wanted to get in your skin, but that was a reaction I wasn’t expecting.” A shiver runs down my spine. Of course he wanted to see me suffer, he just admitted it. But hearing that really brought to life that he’s a scary person.

“I was angry, and got even angrier when I saw you with another one, another vampire that is.” He explains.

“I don’t know what came over me to be honest, these past two days.” I exhale heavily. “ I don’t want to Change from myself. I thought of myself as someone who stands up for people, but yet I couldn’t stand up for myself. Yes, some change is good but too much change hurts my head too much” The night seemed to have gotten colder as the dark clouds got thicker over the night sky. Soon enough sprinkles of rain start to fall. My hands creep up to my shoulders trying to gain as much warmth as I can. A bigger jacket getting placed on my shoulders takes me by surprise.

Seungcheol jerks his hands a bit at my flinch. “Here you need this more than I do.” He gently places it on my shoulder blades.

“You really don’t-“

“No, really I can handle the cold.” I just nod and wrap the jacket further around myself.

“Right, you really don’t have much body heat-“ a small Yelp leaves my mouth as I’m pushed into his chest again. Seungcheol towering over me and there’s little space between us. My breathing becomes unsteady as Seungcheol grasps my wrist bringing it up to his face slowly.

“There’s one thing I’ll tell you right now.” His face is just an inch away from mine. “Vampires don’t take well to stereotypes.” Confusion locks onto my face as he gently sets my palm against his cheeks. There wasn’t much there but there is heat. My eyes widened as the warmth of his pale cheeks touched my cold hands. I can feel it in his hands as he grips my wrist as well.

“O-oh I’m sorry… I didn’t know.” I stutter out an apology. But he just gives a light chuckle. He lets go of my wrist and steps away. Leaving the cold air to rush back on me.

“I was kidding. You don't have to apologize when that’s all you know. But, just know that what you know about vampires, isn’t always true. We do have body heat, just not much. But we can also withstand the weather. How is it possible? Hell if I know. If I thought the impossible could happen, I wouldn't be what I am today.” He laughs.

I just stand there now really knowing what else to say. I did feel dumb for assuming but I can’t blame myself. This isn’t really a normal conversation.

“Come on. We have to get you home.”

He starts to tread ahead as I still stand where he had me against him, feeling my cheeks blush at what just happened.

The rain didn’t get any heavier than the sprinkles for the whole time we walked. It wasn’t a long walk back home but I sure was a quiet one. Not much dialogue was passed around during the time.

The second we make it to my front yard we see Jeonghan stand from the bench on the front porch. I can already see seungcheol stiffen as my cousin heads over to me. I only look down at the floor once he makes his way over.

“__, is sorry for everything-“

“Jeonghan you don’t have to-“

“No, I know this is a lot for you to take in. I was selfish to show you what we’ve become but you have to know. I can’t ever keep a secret from you.” My eyes gaze over to the side where seungcheol stands and listens with his hands in his pockets again.

“Can we talk about this inside?” I ask. Seungcheol’s eyes snap towards, a frown making its way on his face. Jeonghan nods softly and makes his way back into the house. He stops at the front door looking back to see me still standing with seungcheol.

“Will you be ok?” He asks with what I couldn’t tell if it was concern or pure hatred for my cousin.

“I think I’ll be ok.” This is weird. I haven’t heard him be concerned for me in years. This change is too different right now. All of this is too difficult right now.

“I’ll see you around, seungcheol.” I say but remember to remove the jacket from my shoulders but a hand stops me.

“It’s ok. You can just give it back to me tomorrow.” I try not to think too much of it or else my cheeks would end up burning red. I just nod and walk towards my cousin who’s waiting and watching the both of us.

“Oh__!” I turn back to my old childhood friend. “The thing you said about change... maybe change isn’t always bad.” My eyebrows furrow as my neighbor walks home. What was that supposed to mean? I think to myself and make my way to where Jeonghan is waiting. His eyes follow Seungcheol slowly as he opens the front door for me.

The door closes behind us and before I can turn around and say anything, Jeonghan has his arms around me. He pulls me closer, my hands don’t know what to do as they stay by my side. It feels nice to be hugged by my cousin but I gently push away.

“__-“

“Can we sit?.” My cousin's lips seal as he ushers us towards the living room to talk. Sitting down on the living room couch I warily look around the empty house. “Where are your friends?” I ask as he makes his way to sit on the other couch.

“They went out to the movies, they were worried about you but I just told them to head off. Joshua saw I was worried and suggested that I’d let you think. So he went to go find you, thinking that it would be best. I trust Joshua with everything in me, and you seemed to be more comfortable with him than the others.” He explains. “I’m sorry I was stupid to show you like that. I’m sorry I left you when seungcheol was doing that to you. I'm sorry I left you and my mother. I’m -“

“Jeonghan.” He stops his apologies and looks at me. Tears started to form in his eyes. “Jeonghan, I want to start over.”

“W-what do you mean?” He’s confused.

“I want to start over. You clearly came back a new person. So I just want you to be here again as my family. But It’s so hard being able to think that this is my reality now, hell, even my bully apologized. But I just want to start over and learn to trust you. It’s gonna be hard for me after these three years and this, but, I’m going to try.” Jeonghan couldn’t contain the smile that stretches on his face.

Could I really live like this? Like this normal? Only time will truly tell, and I can only hope they’re telling the truth and I can trust them.

It’ll be my fault for my downfall if it doesn’t turn out good.

“That’s… that’s great to hear. I’ll do my best.” He gets up what I think is to ruffle my hair but my body jerks on it’s own. I can see the visible sadness on his face as he retracts his hand to his side. Probably taking a note to take it slow in his mind.

“I’ll see you in the morning kiddo. Good night , love you.” He says as he drags his feet up the stairs. Not looking at me.

“I love you too.” I say to myself and push myself up from the couch. “Which is why I’m deciding to give you a chance.” With that I turn off the lights down stairs and head towards my room.

As I walk down the hall the bathroom door opens and Joshua steps out of the bathroom. Steam from what was probably from the shower blows out from the door. His wet hair dripping onto his shoulders, which were barely covered by his loose button up, which only had a few buttons buttoned. Exposing his chest. With a pair of basketball shorts.

I could feel my cheeks burning a million degrees. I’ve never had another male in the house besides Jeonghan. So this is a very different experience. Not to mention he built well.

“Oh. Hey,__” he greets wrapping his towel around his neck. “Heading to bed?”

“Umm. Ya I’m heading to bed right now.” I say quickly not to look at his sleeping attire.

“Did you talk to Jeonghan?” He carries on. Clearly not taking into consideration that he’s talking to a female in his current state.

“Yes. I did and I think we’re ok now. But it’s been a long day so I’m going to bed.” I say and quickly walk past the boy. He hollers a good night before I can close my door. I close my door gently and knock my forehead Against it repeatedly.

“My life is a movie now.” I say Lowly and pick up my towel to head into the shower. After my shower I change into my pajamas. Plugging my phone on the charger on the bed side table, I look through the window to where seungcheol’s house is. The window of his bedroom is dark. Maybe signaling that he’s gone to sleep?

Does he sleep? He did say not to assume anything about vampires.

With the thoughts rolling through my head I lower the blinds and tuck myself into bed. Resting my eyes and slowly entering sleep.

A loud ring makes my eyes snap open. The early sun is now peaking into my bedroom window. I’ve woken up before my alarm clock, a whole 30 minutes before. Thinking that some extra time to get ready isn’t a bad thing, I drag myself out of bed.

After getting ready and brushing my teeth I sit in my desk chair to put on my shoes. As I’m tying my shoes I notice the drawer I put my ruined sheet music in is slightly open. Pulling the drawer open I see the horrendous sight of the blotches of ink and crumpled and water stained paper.

“Why didn’t I just write it down on my computer?” I groan, mentally slapping myself. Lucky the violin solo was still readable. The one I’ve worked the hardest on. The melody was still perfectly legible. “I guess I can save this.” I jott down the readable notes on a flash card and throw the card in my backpack.

I make my way downstairs and see my aunt eating a bowl of cereal. She looks up at me surprised, she's usually gone before I even get ready. “Hey hun, you’re up early.” She greets and pulls out another bowl. Pouring me cereal alongside her bowl.

“Ya, yesterday was a bit of a weird day. So I went to bed early.” She hums and quickly downs her bowl. Grabbing her purse she kisses me on the head.

“You can tell me about it when I get home. Love you, have a good day at school.” I give her goodbye and I’m left alone In the kitchen. I can’t help but wish that none of the boys would come down soon. But the universe loves to defy me because the next second, seokmin makes his way down. His hair is still messy and he looks quite sleepy. But he was fully dressed and ready for school.

“Morning…” he says groggily as he slowly pulls the seat out next to me. I try hard not to make any anxious movements. But my body freezes.

“Morning.” I repeat and continue eating my cereal. He rests his head on the palm of his hand, nodding off slowly and only to jerk his head up again. This does seem entertaining in the slightest, I guess vampires do sleep. And now I know they can be sleep deprived as well.

“You sleep well?” I ask not knowing why I would even engage in conversation. One of his eyes peep open to look at me.

“Uh, I wish. My stomach was acting up all night because I decided to eat half a cake.” He groans and rubs his belly slightly.

“You can eat cake?” I ask shyly. Taking seungcheol’s words into consideration. “Sorry to ask.”

“Why are you sorry? It’s normal to ask questions.” He grins, his eye smile brightening his face. “And to answer your question. Technically yes, we can. Though it has some consequences. Like stomach aches and drowsiness. But I love food too much to give it up. I couldn’t help myself…” he pouts. “Ugh and the other boys think they’re so cool because they have self control. Well they’re just party poopers.” I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. He giggles along with me while rubbing his tired eyes.

“Well when do they eat...or um drink?” Seokmin sits back in his chair rubbing his chin slightly.

“Well, like humans, we get hungry at the same time or different times. We try to eat-eat around the same time to keep things consistent, but of course that’s not possible. Because one might get hungry while the other is fine for another few days.” He explains. “I’m bad at explaining things. But just know, hungry or not, if there’s a cupcake in front of me, I’m eating it.”

“Note taken.” I smile and finish my bowl and head to the sink. Maybe seokmin isn’t so bad, he doesn’t seem too much like a vampire. He seems to be the most relatable so far that I’ve seen.

While I’m washing my bowl, two others come down.

Seungkwan and Jihoon come down fully dressed. “Jeez, min you look awful.” Seungkwan comments and slaps his back. Seokmin just waves his hand telling the younger male to stop patronizing him. Jihoon on the other hand sits crossing his arms.

“We told you not to eat that cake. Especially since you haven’t fed since last week.” Seungkwan says, but right after that leaves his mouth, Jihoon slaps him besides the head. His head nudging in my direction, warming the younger vampire to think about what he says.

“Ouch. What she already knows-ouch!”

“You idiot. She’s adjusting, we can’t just be talking about it like it’s a normal walk in the park.” Jihoon hisses as he grabs the back of his neck.

“I-it’s ok. Seokmin has already told me a lot.” The two boys look at the half asleep vampire with confusion.

“Are you sure it’s ok?” Jihoon asks again. Seungkwan's neck is still in his grasp.

“Ya. I th-think, I think I’m ok.” The three boys stay quiet for a while and Jihoon finally releases Seungkwan.

“Thank you for understanding.” Seokmin smiles and pats down his messy hair. The two other boys sit down at the table and mess around with their phones. Finally the two others come down. The two that I was hoping would stay up there the whole day.

Jeonghan and Joshua enter the kitchen. Joshua is dressed nicely with a tight black sweater and his hair styled. Jeonghan was dressed in his uniform of course but still had his hair styled as well.

“Good morning.” Joshua greets at the boys. But his focus stops on me. Nodding to me sweetly as he sits down with the rest of his brothers. For some reason my heart beat rises at that. I try to look away towards my cousin as he stands next to me and ruffles my hair, this time with no reaction from me. This seems to spark something in him because he grins like a mad man and hugs my shoulders.

“Morning,___. You’re looking lovely today.” He complements, I just push out a quiet thank you and he happily marches to the front door. “I’ll be heading out now. Have a good day at school.” We all say a goodbye and he waves. But he looks at me again “thank you, __. For willing to accept this. If you need anything, please call. I’ll be there in a heartbeat.” I can feel the embarrassment seep out of me. Jeonghan was always the loving type. Even before he left and had many hugs to give. Even going to the extreme to get me a bouquet of roses and a chocolate at school because I didn’t have a valentine on Valentine’s Day.

Bittersweet I should say. Though he loves he can even be sassy. Burning down anyone who dared to come after him. At least that’s the Jeonghan I remember.

He leaves out the door and it’s just me and the roomies left. I head back up stairs to fetch my stuff before I leave for school. Scurrying back down with my backpack and violin I seemed to have lost my footing because I feel the air as I tip forward into a world of pain. But someone catches me just in time. Arms wrap around my body as I crash into their chest. Joshua catches me effortlessly and even manages to grab my violin in time.

“Are you ok?” He asks with worry in his eyes. My heart nearly fell out of my ass. I fix myself quickly and rub his arms as if to dust him off, awkwardly.

Why the fuck am I always falling? This has to be a cruel joke from the universe.

“Y-ya thank you, for catching me.” I grab my violin and run around him to the bottom of the stairs where the rest of the boys are waiting. “You guys ready to go?” I ask almost frantically as I try to fix my stance. Joshua makes it down the stairs with his backpack hanging off one of his shoulders.

How is it possible that he was there in time? Are they really that fast? Could he have sensed me falling? The boys look at me with what seems like concern or confusion. But before they could ask, Joshua ushers everyone out of the house with the claim that we would be late for school.

This morning has already started with a weird start.

I spotted my locker after what seemed like the longest walk ever to school. Aki is waiting besides it scrolling through her phone with her earbuds in. She notices me and pauses her music. “Well hello there.” She greets while pulling her earbuds out and swinging them around.

“Hey.” I give back and start to unlock my locker. She rolls her eyes and rests her back against the lockers.

“Always the weakest greetings. Where’s the life in your eyes?” She says dramatically. I just grin and begin to push my stuff into my locker.

“Sorry. Just a strange morning.” Aki just sighs but her eyes widen as she taps my shoulder.

“H-hey, seungcheol heading our way.” She stumbles out. My head snaps towards the vampire and his gang heading our direction. She tries to lead me away but it’s too late because he’s already standing right by us. His hand grips the locker door above my head, almost like he’s trapping me. But this time it doesn’t feel like aggression.

He inches his face near mine. I grip the outside of my shirt nervously. I can see Aki not wanting to look at what happens next, but what does happen is not what any one expects.

Gripping my chin softly he lifts my face to look directly at him. Our noses are pretty much touching. “Morning.” He says with a smile. I can’t believe what is happening before my eyes, but everyone else is equally surprised. His member’s jaws are hanging wide open.

“M-morning.” I manage to stutter out. He just gives a low chuckle and pushes away. Pushing my hair behind my ear he gently brushed my cheek with his knuckles. I could feel myself almost choke on my saliva. I knew he said he was going to change but I wasn’t expecting this. Or at least this right away. I take that back. I wasn’t expecting this at all. Seungcheol places his hands in his pockets and starts to walk towards the other end of the hall. His brothers look back to see if that really just happened, also Leaving me and Aki to pinch each other to see if we’re dreaming.

But I know this isn't a dream. This is something the world just decided to throw at me just for the heck of it.

“I-I think w-we should head to class now.” Aki suggests and honestly I can’t think of anything better. We both scurry to the band room.

Lunch time has come around and Aki and I sit together alone at a table as far away from both groups as possible. Aki seems to be zoning out because she hasn’t said much since earlier this morning. She even missed her queues in the band practice, which she never does.

“So are we just not going to talk about it?” She brings up.

“Well, I was planning not to. So thanks for bringing it up.” I say taking a big bite of my sandwich.

“How are we not? What happened today was not normal. It’s borderline disturbing!” I swallow slowly, putting down my sandwich after not really having an appetite anymore.

“ if I knew what happened and why it happened, then I would tell you. But I don't, so we’re equally as confused.” Scratching the top of her head, she glances towards seungcheol’s table.

“He has to be a clone of some sort. There’s no way he would have done that, right?” She questioned.

“I really don’t know. I did talk to him yesterday and-“

“Wait! you actually talked to him?!” She yells a little too loudly. Causing other bystanders to look towards us. Even catching the attention of seungcheol.

“Shut up.” I hiss and cover her mouth. “Yes, I talked to him.” I look up and see seungcheol staring right at the both of us.

“What did you talk about?” She asks ,but I’m way more worried about the boy who we are talking about walking straight towards our table.

“Dammit.” I curse and try to turn my attention away as if I don’t see him coming. I pan over to my cousin's roommates table. They seem to have noticed his journey to our side and watch. Joshua seemed to be the most Intrigued because not once did his eyes leave Seungcheol's figure.

Now he’s standing right before me and Aki. He has a gentle smile on his face. Aki nods slightly and looks towards me. The look of utter confusion and fear on her face.

“Hey Ali, is it?” He asks, not expecting him to talk to her at all she tenses. Pushing up her glasses nervously.

“It’s actually Aki…” she corrects. “But if you want to call me Ali that’s fine.” She squeaks and stares at her shaking hands. Sure seungcheol has never directly bullied her, but all the time of her seeing him and his crew destroy anyone who defies them fills her veins with anxiety. The leader of the baddest kids in school was talking to her and she doesn’t want to get on his bad side.

“Aki. Ok, got it.” He corrects himself and places a hand on her shoulder. You can practically see the terror in her eyes. “Hey, can you let ___ and I talk for a minute?” She doesn’t really know what to say as he kneels down to her level on the chair. “Just for a bit, if you want you can go sit with my crew. So no one bothers you.” It was like she saw a ghost at this point. Though fear struck she quickly gathers her things and scurries away.

“They better not bother her or else.” I warn. Seungcheol gets into Aki’s seat and leans back.

“Oh ya?” He smirks. “I get that you're ‘miss defender’ but do you think you can go against three vampires? I mean you couldn’t even handle the soccer team, and one of us equals a whole soccer team in strength ” I just scoff. Who does he think he is?

“If you’re here to be a jerk then I’ll just leave.” I stand up abruptly to leave but he grabs my wrist.

“Ok ok I’m sorry. I was joking. I forgot we really aren’t on that kind of comfort level yet.” He rubs the back of his head nervously. I slowly fall back into my seat and poke at my pudding cup.

“Well you passed every boundary when you ‘greeted’ me this morning. What happened to going back to what you used to be?”

“What, you didn’t like it?” He raises a brow. Acting like he’s surprised.

“Seungcheol, that was too much. You said you Would be normal-“

“Here’s the thing. Three years have passed. Do you really think I’m the same innocent kid I was back then? Ha, if only you knew a fraction of what I do.” He slaps his hand on the table. “I sleep around. I beat the shit out of people. I get what I want. And I do whatever the fuck I want. Everyone here is scared of me. And I want to keep it that way.” At this point it’s like his eyes are burning straight into mine.

“That seems like a seungcheol I don’t want to be around-“ two hands grip the side of my face firmly.

“You said you wanted to start over. This is me now. I’m sorry if you don’t like what I’ve become over the years. I didn’t want this. You said to forget everything about us in the past. But I can’t quite do that.” He brings his face closer to mine, his grip not letting up.

“I’ve changed my ways towards you because… I’m not going to lie, you have a place in this dead heart. I meant everything I said last night. You don’t have to be scared of me anymore. But you should at least accept me now since you’re choosing to forgive me.” He gives a sinister smile before letting go of my face. I rub my cheeks after the heavy pressure was released.

“What about the guy in the Forest last night?” I ask remembering that he acted completely different the night before. He just hums.

“Like I said, you have a soft spot in my heart. The last few days have been a wake up call for me. The things that happened were never your fault. I’m going to make it up to you like I said.” He puts his arms behind his head to rest back. “I won’t let anything hurt you anymore. You deserve a break after 3 years.”

“Seungcheol-“

“You know if anyone else called me that name while we’re at school, I would have already punched their face in. But you, you can call my name all you want. I like it, it makes me feel like the good old days. I would say it almost makes my heart skip a beat.” He says. Not expecting him to be so forward I choke slightly on my pudding that I was eating . He pats my back lightly and seconds later the bell rings telling the students that it’s time for class. Seungcheol pushes his seat out and stands up. I also get up, I begin to shovel in my lunch stuff back into my lunch box. My hand reaches out for my bag but Seungcheol grabs my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine. Grabbing my bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

I try to pull my hand out of his. He turns around to face me again. “What I was gonna walk you to class ,baby.” He explains. Hearing that name come out of his lips caused a shiver to go down my spine.

“I can walk with Aki.” I retort. His eyes roll and he pushes the small of my back gently to guide me through the lunch room.

“Aki seems to have left with my boys. She’ll be fine-“

“I’ll walk alone. You have to go to class too. I’ll be fine.” I tug my backpack off his shoulder and quickly walk away. Leaving him behind with his hands in his pockets like always.

I try to walk through the halls without bumping into people. My mind is way too far from this world because I’ve already almost ran into countless students. The memories of seungcheol years ago compared to last night, and even compared to now, they also seem like different people. I could clearly see the old seungcheol in him yesterday but now I can see that I really don’t know him anymore. Am I dumb to think that he would stay the same after dying and becoming a vampire? Is he really the fuck boy jerk of the whole school now?

The rest of the day flew by. I couldn’t really focus throughout class. I could barely remember the conversation between Aki and I about her lunch experience with seungcheol’s goons. Something about wonwoo staring her down the whole time.

I headed to my locker alone after school. My violin swinging back and forth as I walk down the empty hallway. I didn't see Jeonghan's friends so I assume I’m walking home alone. As I’m passing through the halls I come across the soccer team. They are bunched around with beat up faces and bruised bodies. Some rubbing their sore limbs as they grab their stuff for practice. But what caught my attention was the captain looking roughed up, but normal.

“I’m telling you guys. I don’t know how I passed out. But when I woke up my neck was killing me.” He explains as he rubs his sore neck. They seem to notice me. The captain’s eyes narrow towards my direction. The rest of the team tries to look away but the captain is seething.

“Hey violin bitch!” He calls out to me. I try to ignore him but he jogs towards me. His team mates stay back nervously as their team mate confronts the girl who got them beat up. Probably thinking it’s not a good idea to be messing with me after what happened.

“Can I help you?” I say in a fake polite voice. But that seems to piss him off more.

“You’re lucky that your boyfriend was there to save your ass because if he wasn’t then you would have been done.” He growls and right after rubbing his neck from straining it.

“Ok but why are you talking to me? Didn’t you learn your lesson not to be a prick by now, considering your teammates are messed up.” I bite back and try to walk away again but he steps in front of me.

“Like your boyfriend is any better. S.coups is the worst of us all.” He denounces.

Who the heck is S.coups?

“I wish i knew who this S.coups is, but sorry to inform you but he’s not my boyfriend.” The boy looks like he wants to say something but his eyes widen and the color drains from his face.

“Ouch you’re hurting my heart, baby.” I turn back to see Seungcheol and his friends behind me. The three others seem to be glaring at the rest of the team. Warning them if they are ever to take a step closer it would be trouble. “Is he bothering you sweetheart?” Seungcheol asks me and pulls me to his chest.

“S-s.coups, this is a misunderstanding-“

“Was I fucking talking to you?!” Seungcheol snarls at the poor scared boy. He looks towards me again but his features go soft. Also rubbing my shoulders softly. “Just tell me baby…” he grips my face like earlier before so it’s only his face I can see. “And I’ll end him right here.” His eyes go blood red at the end of his sentence. His nice teeth now razor sharp with the fangs I saw threaten my cousin yesterday day. But this time he has an evil grin on his face.

I can feel my knees go wobbly. But I push through and pull my face from his hands and pull his sleeve. “Let’s go. He was just asking me about a history test, he wasn’t doing anything.” I try to explain and lead him away from the poor terrified boys. Luckily, he decides to follow.

The five of us exit the campus and go towards mine and seungcheol’s neighborhood. I tread ahead of the boys while they stay behind and chat. Well except for seungcheol. He walks quietly behind but doesn’t engage in the conversation between his friends. It was like that the rest of the way until we reached our houses. Seungcheol tells his friends to wait at his house and that he’ll catch up soon.

“I could tell you were lying.” Is the first thing he says. I stop walking but keep my back to him. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“ your point?” I say and turn my head slightly to look at him.

“Why?” He asks.

“I didn’t want violence-“

“Bullshit.” I turn fully towards him. He stands the same stupid way with his same stupid hands in his pockets.

“I don’t have to tell you anything.” He lets out a sigh.

“Fine. Don’t tell me anything.” He huffs. Thinking that the conversation was done I walk towards my house again but he’s quick to follow.

“Why are you following me? Aren’t your friends waiting for you?” I say not looking behind at the boy. He snorts and jogs next to me.

“They can wait. Can’t I walk you home like old times?”

“It’s not like old times, remember? And I don’t think your friends are very fond of you being all nice to me all of a sudden. Doesn’t it taint your image?”

“Well they’ll have to deal with it. And do you think I’m someone who gives a fuck about my image?” He must be joking. The biggest bully in school, the one who beats up anyone who disrespects him, doesn’t care about his image. Very funny.

“I don’t know s.coups, do you?” I say sarcastically. “What kind of a name is that anyway? All of your goons have normal names.” I say.

“ well, seungcheol isn’t really a name I identify with anymore. And that’s just because I left him behind three years ago after shit hit the fan... It’s almost an insult now.”

“Not once have you ever corrected me for saying seungcheol…” I state. It’s true I never even heard of his nickname until today.

“That’s because only people I really know call me that. My brothers and you. It’s not much of anything when you say it…like I said. It brings back the old memories. I like when you say it...” I don’t really pay him any attention but when he wraps his arms around my shoulders and rests his chin on my shoulder, he makes us come to a stop. “ in fact, I like it a little too much. Makes me think of other ways you can say my name...or maybe scream it-“

“Fuck off!” I push his arms off me. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I wish it didn’t have any effect on me but I can’t help the redness that burns on my face. Countless shivers run down my spine with embarrassment.

“What? I was joking.” He grins. “If you can’t take a joke like that then your innocence hasn’t changed at all.” He says, but instead of saying anything back I just flip him the bird and walk in my front yard path. Seungcheol chases after me blurting out little apologies.

Finally I’m able to make it to my porch. And to my surprise I see Seungkwan and Joshua playing a round of uno. Alongside them is seokmin eating a bag of chips while watching videos on his phone. The three of them turn towards the two of us. Joshua sets his cards face down and turns in his seat to face us.

“Hey. Glad you made it back okay. We didn’t see you after school.” Joshua pushes his hair back and lays back on the chair he’s sitting in.

“I had something come up for the orchestra.” I lie. “Seungcheol just so happened to be walking home around the same time I was.” Joshua didn’t seem to be suspicious about my lie and picked up his cards again, throwing down a draw four on Seungkwan. Which resulted in him throwing his cards down in frustration.

“Ok, thanks for walking me home seungcheol, you can go now.” I press while pushing him down the steps of my porch.

“Wow wow wow. You’re not gonna invite me over?” He asks.

“No.” I retort and twist around towards my door, passing the three boys that sat on the porch. Leaving the four boys surprised.Slamming the front door, I zoom into the kitchen to take out an apple from the fridge and start eating angrily. “Stupid seungcheol and his stupid face and his stupid attitude and his stupid-“

“Hey,__!” Jeonghan waltzes into the kitchen with Jihoon. “Glad you made it home alright.”

“Ya. It’s been a long day.” I let out a sigh. “Also did you know your friends are attempting to play uno with only two people?” I comment and Jeonghan just chuckles.

“Ya, I was playing with them but I decided that I found Seungkwan annoying, so I left before I could strangle him.” Jihoon huffs before Turning around and heading outside to where the rest of the boys are. Jeonghan nods to me and heads to the front as well, probably to make sure Jihoon doesn’t kill anyone.

I finish my apple and throw it in the trash. But just as I’m about to head upstairs but my phone goes off in my pocket. Aki’s contact comes up on the screen. I slide the answer button and put my phone up to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Get ready. We’re going to a party.”

To be continued..

_________________________

A/N- i know it took me a while but here it is. i really like this story and i love writing it.

#Seventeen #seventeen scenarios #seventeen x reader #seventeen scoups #seventeen reactions #seventeen fanfic #seventeen seungcheol #scoups x reader #seventeen vampire au #vampire au #vampire seventeen #seventeen joshua #svt x reader #seventeen joshua x reader #seventeen au

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