#at least the engine room scene when she's involved
Note
1 for Asuka :3
What memory would your OC rather just forget?
...maybe having a molotov cocktail as your ranged weapon isn't the best idea after all.
the splash damage could really hurt someone.
#persona 5#p5 spoilers#goro akechi#persona oc#my ocs#asuka sonozaki#my art#ask#sirenspells#this has several pieces i'm giving it the art tag instead of the doodle tag#okok um HI HI EVERYONE here's your first asuka spoiler :) the engine room scene :) :)#at least the engine room scene when she's involved#i used to tease this a LOT when i first talked about asuka (which is like two years ago now whaaaat????)#so. i might as well reveal it :3#also please ignore how i drew the bottle i didn't look up any refs#also this was my first go with squigglypaint!!!! i saw another artist mess w/ it and went 'OOH that looks fun imma have a go'#and. god. i love this silly program :3 it's so simple and fun and i can go 'fuck it we ball' on it like no tomorrow
25 notes
·
View notes
Text
Calex Kids 4/6
OC Character ~ Tamara Cabot-Novak
The Firefighter
5 Alarm fires are always the worse kind. To be categorised as a 5 alarm fore they need at least a dozen engine companies to be dispatched, they are the fires you beg to get dispatched too and yet dread receiving.
The station had bee on high alert, the T.V’s blaring with the news, waiting for updates, waiting to be called in. Tamara stared at the T.V unable to pull her eyes away from the screen, unable to pull her gaze from the fire.
Pulling out her phone out of her pocket Tamara debated calling her moms, but she shrugged off the inclination deciding it best to leave it until she was at least called to the fire.
And that time came sooner rater than later, her engine company loading up and hauling ass to the skyscraper that had over three dozen trucks at location.
Again she debated calling but, she figured until she was breathless and being tagged out it was pointless, she’d be worrying her parents for nothing.
When they arrived at the scene her captain immediately checked in with their battalion chief and Tamara was sent with Andy to the floor above the fire line.
It was routine they’d climb the stars close the fire doors and evacuate any remaining civilians. They’d been closing the remaining firedogs when they’d found a civilian badly burned in a room that was surrounded by flammable items.
They used the last of their CO2, to extinguish the flames, before dragging the civilian making a desperate plea. Thankfully their captain was well know for his protective qualities when involving his team and the elevator was sent up much to the disagreement of the chief.
The doors had been closing when Tamara noticed the last few sets of open fire doors, lunging out of the elevator, “Novak what the hell are you doing!”
The radio immediately sounded, the panic palpable, “Captain Novak jumped out the elevator I repeat Novak is still on the 32nd floor!”
Glancing down at her O2 levels Tamara knew what shed done, 25% left, and the stairs were filled with black smoke. “I’m closing the remaining fire doors captain the fire is travelling toward the elevator.”
It was then that she noticed the black smoke yet she persisted, closing as many fire doors as possible when the fire jumped floors, glass shattered and Tamara flew backwards, crashing into office table.
When she came to her pass alarms was going off, she pressed the button as she stood groaning, fire and smoke surrounding her. “The fire has jumped floors, I repeat the fire has jumped floors, there is no way out.”
The radio crackled, “You prevented the fire from reaching the elevator Novak, Andy and the civilian reached the ground, you did good, can you reach the stairs?”
Another fleeting glance was sent to her surroundings, as well as the empty CO2 can discarded on the floor at her side.
“Negative sir, I’m surrounded, I repeat I am surrounded.” Silence,
“Novak we are sending the elevator back up, can you reach the elevator?” A heavy sign echoed from the firefighter,
“Its unlikely sir, is Andy on the radio?” It felt like an eternity before she received a response,
“Yes Tamara I’m here.” Another heavy sigh this time of relief.
“Andy, I’m not getting out of this one, I’m surrounded.” The other firefighter shook her head, from her position on the ground staring up at the fire.
“No Tamara just get to the elevator.” Tamara removed her mask, her O2 levels officially out,
“Andy my O2’s out, and I’m blocked off from every angle I’m not going to make it out this time so I have to tell you know before its too late.” She chocked up slightly, tears in her eyes,
“Tell me what T? Tamara, Tamara Cabot-Novak answer me!” She chuckled lightly, shaking her head,
“Always gotta be the boss huh Andy? I think that might be one of the reasons why I’m in love with you, I fell for that fiery spirit of yours. So I need you to know that I’m in love with you Andy, and I always have been.” The radio immediately crackled the sound of Andy’s voice echoing,
“Well them I guess it’s a good thing I’m in love with you as well then Tamara its why I need you to figure something out, because I need you here with me on the ground so I can kiss you.” Tamara smiled the tears still falling.
“Tell my moms I love them will you Andy tell-“ She was cut off the the radio cut out and she was left without any communication. She seemed to succumb to the idea of dying when she noticed a single door not surrounded by flames, the door to the roof.
“Now or never I guess.” Climbing the stairs surrounded by smoke is never easy even less so when you’ve got 0 visibility and no oxygen.
When she reached the top of the building she could see the ladders, two feet away from roof, the only issue was the stability of roof.
Then again, she was going to die either way.
“Novak!” The last thing she say was the firetruck as the fire struck and she was thrown from the ladder.
Groaning she came to, hospital monitors beeping and the quiet snores of her Mama echoing the room.
She saw the cast on her arm and the sling on her other shoulder glancing down and she could feel the dull aching in her ribs, as well as the brace on her knee not that that stopped her from rolling out of bed, and very quietly or as quietly as she could manage hobbling out of the hospital room.
Making her way down the hallway she found her station family all sleeping in the waiting room, “Andy.”
The firefighter stood up abruptly, her eyes divulged into panic and concern at the sight of a limping Tamara, “Tamara what are you doing you should be in bed.”
She conceded nodding but hobbled closer regardless, “I know but I had to see you, after everything that’s happened I had to see you. And I know things could be awkward after what I said over the radio but-“
Andy but her of smiling as her lips connected with Tamara’s, “Its not awkward at all.”
Tamara grinned widely the joy falling from her face falling however at the sound of her mom, “Tamara Cabot-Novak what the hell are you doing out of bed.”
“Fuck.”
8 notes
·
View notes
Note
Okokok i have more questions about this au because I’ve been rotating it very rapidly in my head all day
1. How does everyone react to akiras betrayal? Does it hurt more or less than akechis? Because I’m assuming that he’s still an older brother figure to futaba based on how you said he still hangs out at Leblanc, but how would she react to learning that he’s a murderer?
2. Do they even suspect him like how they suspect akechi? Or are sumire and futabas good word enough to throw them off the scent?
3. How does the engine room play out? Does he confess everything or do they not realize what’s really going on until 3rd semester?
4. Interrogation room? 👀👀
5. How does sumire react when she learns what her sisters been involved in?
Ok that’s it for now I’m just… I’m buzzing thinking about this au
OH BOY OH BOY those are some 👀👀 interesting question 👀👀 you have there. i’ll try my best to answer the ones i’ve already thought about!! these answers are definitely subject to change further down the line though.
it would definitely hurt more than akechi’s betrayal, which is honestly a really low bar considering akechi pretty much only really talks to akira and sumire prior to him blackmailing his way into the phantom thieves. futaba is pretty chill actually with her older brother figure being a murderer part, she’s done actual criminal activity before and she’s super attached to akira. i’ve always kind of seen futaba’s beef with akechi to be more over the fact that he killed her mom than him killing in general? haru is the one you should be more worried about hehe.
they don’t really suspect akira! there isn’t a pancakes moment in this au and akira can’t help befriending ALL of the phantom thieves even despite their new roles. it’s a little funny that you bring up sumire and futaba here, because they (along with akechi but he is a new addition) are actually the ones that kind of know there is something going on. it’s a side effect of having a close relationship with akira. kasumi used to be part of that group too but she found out the truth already. the other two try to justify or turn a blind eye to whatever details they notice. the other phantom thieves hardly notice a thing though, and sumi + futaba’s good word definitely helps. i haven’t completely figured out exactly how a lot of the pt react to prince detective akira’s views on the pt yet though.
bold of you to assume akira would let goro get hurt in the same way he did in the original timeline. both the interrogation room and engine room scenes will be different from canon! it makes me giggle and kick my feet and im keeping it a secret for the full experience when i present it (which i hopefully will, if not i will describe what it would have been)
see above.
akira does a real good job hiding all traces of kasumi’s involvement (he is already risking a lot by even befriending some of the pt pre-canon, because they get on shido’s radar. he has the excuses of connections for the nijiimas and the yoshizawas at least, but he stayed away from the other pt for a long time because of this reason) so sumire doesn’t find out for a long time. kasumi is also a relatively new addition to akira’s team, since she only follows him into the metaverse in the beginning of april. sumire doesn’t find out until akira’s palace though, and with kasumi she is less upset about the accomplice part than the trust parts (also canon sumi’s complex about her sister shows its claws). she likely would have been more upset with the accomplice stuff if she had found out at the same time as finding out about akira’s role, but because she finds out after, she already had some reconciliation over that fact.
i’m so glad that you like my silly little self-indulgent au so much!!! i really didn’t think people would be that interested in it aldhlsjdk thank you for your questions!!
51 notes
·
View notes
Note
Which of the characters would be the best at matchmaking/setting the MC up with someone else? I feel like Trouble would be an awesome wingman 👀
Good question! Let me think...
From best to worst wingman:
Lavinet: she lives for matchmaking, and she's extremely good at it, both in pairing the people in question up and nudging them towards realizing their feelings, but also in being subtle about it! I think the only time she's ever failed in this regard was when she didn't realize that her lady-in-waiting Clara had a secret paramour (her now-fiance Pendric), but had Clara told her about it, she would have helped them along then too 😌 (not that they really needed it lol)
Briony: she's not always as subtle as Lavinet, but she can't be matched in her sheer enthusiasm for facilitating ✨ true love ✨ and her bubbly "oh, X and Y should go on patrol together! 👀" can be read as casual and natural enough that many people won't pick up on her intentions! Some people still do, but in the right circumstances (like if they already like each other), this can still be more of a help than a hindrance!
Red: I think he can really be an excellent wingman, but the interest in meddling in other peoples' affairs/relationships isn't normally there... he doesn't want to be held responsible if the couple doesn't end up being compatible or if things end badly, so he'd prefer to be left out of it 😅 But if he does get involved or takes an interest enough, he's really very good at it!
Trouble: I think he's only a good wingman when he doesn't know he's being a wingman... It's like, if you tell him, "Hey Trouble, go over to that random person and talk to them on my behalf, I'm interested in them 👀" he would be quite bad at it... or even if you tell him, "Trouble, I have a crush on Briony" I don't think he's the best person to engineer that matchup, partially because he's really bad at concealing his true thoughts and feelings and being deceptive, so he's going to make things quite obvious... but if you don't tell him about these things ahead of time, he is somehow amazing at inadvertently hyping you up to a person or casually throwing the two of you together that he's quite the matchmaking savant!
Shery: she is emotionally perceptive, #1 shipper in the Order (like she LIVES to ship, she LIVES to matchmake and squeal quietly when things are going well between the two of you), and subtle enough to be a great matchmaker if you want her to quietly orchestrate/engineer situations from behind the scenes... just DON'T ask her to go over and like woo someone for you by proxy, the way some wingpeople are expected to do! Other than that, though, she's quite successful, and can lie surprisingly well--at least enough to not to give away your secrets!
Chase: like Red, the talent and ability are there, but the interest isn't always... like he's always notice if two people are into each other or if they would be a good match, but he has surprisingly little interest in helping to facilitate this unless 1) he's specifically asked or 2) he's already good friends with both parties. Unlike Lavinet or Briony, he won't bestir himself to get involved in the case of two recruits, but he will if it's, like, MC and Trouble. And even if one of those conditions are met, he's so unpredictable that sometimes he can have incredible success rates, or he can use the knowledge for Evil, like deliberately pairing you in awkward situations or calling you out in front of your crush just to make you squirm because he's a troll and is greatly amused by doing things like asking "who do you think is the best-looking person in this room, MC?" (knowing full well that they're trying to hide a crush on so-and-so) or full-on inventing situations to make drive one of the crushes into such a jealous fit that they HAVE to act, or daring them to kiss each other while playing an "innocent" card game... the man gives no fucks. He will get you results like 95% of the time, but the process of getting there is chaotic and you have to be so courageous to put that faith in him and endure it in the meantime 😩
Ayla (tied with Tallys?): her method of being a wingwoman literally just involves walking up to the person in question, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder, and saying bluntly, "MC is into you (and/or wants to bang). Are you into MC?" In terms of subtlety, this is horrible, but it cuts straight to the chase and works like 50% of the time because most of the time, the people already like each other or are up for it lol, so she's not the worst to ask for this!
Tallys (tied with Ayla?): I think she's far more subtle than Ayla, but she might actually go opposite way in that she might be too subtle... not only do Elves tend to move quite slowly when it comes to other people's relationships (lack of time/urgency), but the way she'd pair people up/try to "nudge" them towards each other (like hyping MC up to someone they like) might be so subtle and low-key that it would probably fly over a lot of people's heads, especially if you were dealing with someone like a Trouble or an Ayla--like "yeah, I agree, MC is the best, why are you... telling me that" Tallys, trying harder: "I think they'd make for an ideal romantic partner, wouldn't you agree" Trouble: "......oh shit, does MC know you're in love with them??"
Riel: okay, I think if the interest were there, he'd dominate this list--his knowledge of people, their psychology and body language, and his ability to manipulate situations (particularly social dynamics) to suit his needs would put him at the very top of the matchmakers, matched (haha) only by Lavinet in that she's much more natural about engineering these things than he is. However, he could give less of a shit about interfering in anyone's relationships unless it suits some larger purpose of his or benefits him in some way... Otherwise, if you ask him to "talk to Shery on your behalf and encourage a love match between the two of you" he'll just give you his 😒 face and tell you to do it yourself
Blade - Halek: these two are tied for absolute worst. Just don't even bother. "Wingman" doesn't even exist in the vocabulary of words that Blade understands and Halek will just groan and grumble so much about what a hassle you've placed on him that you're literally better off using Caine than you would be for either of them. (Let's not forget that Blade is usually 1) your boss and 2) main enforcer of the "don't date other Shepherds" rule so it's just not a good idea to ask him to not only look the other way about breaking that rule, but to go even farther and ask him to be your wingman LOL the sheer audacity)
93 notes
·
View notes
Text
Unstable World: Hot Cocoa Awaits
Flagship: N/A
Starring: Maki, Nozomi
Escort Ships: NicoMaki, NozoEli
Words: 554
Rating: G
AU: A wartorn world
Prompt: Soon
---------
Author's Note: Primary entry for the 31st
Summary: Maki wants to make good on Nico's promise
---------
Cheers erupted across the sky as the last Paragon skyship fell to the ocean below.
The dragon riders of the Μνήμη Kingdom began to return to the ships that brought them to Erato Island for its defense. And crews abord those ships began to assess and repair the damage suffered by the battle.
Maki observed the activity of her military from the foredeck of the Jardin de Verre. Her tactics and leadership seemed to be paying off as the fleet suffered fewer losses compared to engagements of years prior.
Still, there were improvements that could be made. When defending against an invader with nigh infinite resources, all losses needed to be examined carefully so as to aid in future reductions. The next few days would be filled with reading reports and meeting with the captains of the involved ships and dragon flights.
Maki sighed.
“We just successfully defended against another Paragon attack and Maki-chan is sighing?”
Maki pursed her lips, unsure if she was ready to speak with someone like Nozomi. The Grand Wizard had an uncanny knack for ferreting out things one wished to remain hidden.
“First Officer Toujou.” Maki turned to greet the other woman.
“So formal.” Nozomi giggled.
“…” Maki turned back to the aftermath of battle.
“So,” Nozomi put her hands on the railing beside Maki, “what’s still troubling our glorious Grand Star?”
“I’m… just… not looking forward to all of the paperwork.” Maki decided to say.
This prompted a sidelong examination from the mage. “But Maki-chan should be used to that by now. Obviously, something else must be bothering you.”
“Nozomi…” Maki puffed.
“Well, at least I got you to drop the formality.” Nozomi laughed, clamping a hand onto Maki’s shoulder.
“It’s just… no, it’s silly.”
“Mmm?” Nozomi leaned in.
“Nico-chan promised to make me hot cocoa when I returned.” Maki muttered.
“That sounds delicious. Perhaps I should make some for Elicchi. We know how much she loves her chocolate.”
“Yes, but…”
“But…”
“I won’t be back until tomorrow…”
“Why?”
Maki blinked and turned toward Nozomi. “We just finished defending Erato Island!” She swept a hand out over the railing to emphasize her point. “There is a lot of work now to clean up and recover!”
“All of which is already well in hand.” Nozomi said calmly. “Our Grand Star is a welcome leader in battle, but she can trust everything after to be taken care of and reported to her properly later.”
“But…”
“Also, the queen of Μνήμη awaits the return of her wife.”
“… But…”
“Niccochi is waiting for her Maki-chan. With hot cocoa.”
Maki’s shoulder slumped.
“Right, I’ll take that as an order to return then.” Nozomi said cheerfully. “I’ll have Elicchi set a course back to the castle and then head to the engine room to pump in some extra magicks to hasten our flight.”
Then, without waiting for a rebuttal from Maki, Nozomi practically skipped off. For the briefest of moments, Maki found herself wondering who was really in charge of the Jardin de Verre. However, that thought was quickly shoved aside as the airship turned and began its return trip.
Soon, she would be back home. Soon, she would get to enjoy a mug of hot cocoa prepared specially, just for her, by a queen. Soon, she would get to see Nico again.
---------
Author's Note Continued: I honestly hadn't considered that having Nico promise hot cocoa to Maki two prompts ago would perfectly set up this scene where I could use the Hot Choco prompt from '21 - yeah, I spelled it differently, oops.
Anyway, I really had fun writing Nozomi here. I love her as a NicoMaki supporter/shipper/wingman/etc. She really cares about them, in her own teasing way.
Also, Prompt was the prompt from '22. And with this, my self challenge of using all of the prompts from the two prior years I participated in this event is complete.
Now to move on to the Backup Prompts.
7 notes
·
View notes
Note
HOW DO YOU THINK THE PARTY WILL BE LIKE AS GROWN ADULTS?? I'D BE INTERESTED TO KNOW YOUR HEAD CANONS!!!
THIS IS SO BROAD GAHHHHH
byler- yall know im an absolute sucker for the Writer Mike™️ and Artist Will™️ hc. they definitely leave hawkins ASAP and go to university together. they always wanted to live in a bigger city, both because of the art scene, and because larger cities are usually more queer friendly. the problem is that will absolutely hates the cold, but also doesnt want to go back to california, or live in the south. basically he’s just a picky little bitch. honestly fuck it, ik the winters are cold but lets stick em in new york. mike gets him through the winter, and they keep their tiny little shoebox apartment at like 80F. (thats a good bit warmer than room temperature for those of u who dont use Freedom Units™️)
dustin- goes to UI and gets his masters. he works in like communications engineering for a while (is that like a thing? like he engineers different radio waves and forms of communication.) he then moves to indianapolis and becomes ur insanely cool high school science teacher. his coworkers think he’s fuckin weird, but the students LOVE him. I THINK HE AND SUZIE ARE LIKE HELLA ENDGAME. they live together and have a bunch of weird ass pets, and like 2 kids MAX. hes just suburban and happy :)
lumax- california lumax. i always imagined lucas working a pretty standard 9-5. not because hes a dull character, but he grew up in a stable home, and after everything max has been through, he wants her to feel secure and happy, like he did before everything went to shit. i have no fucking idea what max would do. lowkey i always hc her as being crazy good with kids, OH MY GOD WHAT IF SHE IS LIKE A PEDIATRIC TRAUMA COUNSELOR. im fucking genius that is so max. NO BETTER YET SHES A SOCIAL WORKER. because the system fucked her over, and nobody ever listened to her, so she advocates for children the way she wished someone did for her as a kid. this is canon because i say so fuck you. lumax doesnt plan to have kids, max has witnessed too many tragedies involving children, and cannot handle having her own. but they foster teenagers every once and while. then they foster one girl who’s a bit younger than normal, maybe 8. and then they accidentally fall in LOVE with this kid and fuck it, we’re adopting her she’s one of us now. and theyre a little family and its cute and max teaches her how to surf :))
el- this always interests me because i dont know what her life could even look like? depending on s5 outcomes things could look like 10 different ways. ik she isnt a strong student, so i like to think she goes to community college to see what she likes, because shes never really had a chance to explore that. i hope she finds something that makes her happy i fucking love this bitch. i saw an hc where she worked at the library in hawkins, so maybe she does that while she does community college classes. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YALL THINK SHE WOULD STUDY I CAN SEE LIKE 10 DIFFERENT THINGS. eventually she moves to california, to the same city as lumax. lumax’s kid calls her aunt jane, and they have dinners together and are happy because they all deserve the world ok.
the party remains intact to an extent. byler lives together, lumax lives together, and el lives in the same city as lumax. everyone reunites for the holidays, when will brings mike with him, and el brings lumax with her when they go home for Hopper- Byers christmas. dustin typically makes an effort to stop by while he is in town visiting his mother. even tho theyre in different cities, el and will talk on the phones every damn day. usually once, sometimes like 5 times daily. mike and el talk about once or twice a week, and byler talks to lumax about every other day. dustin creates a little bit more distance, but he makes an effort to call each person for at least an hour a week. there’s a lot of love between all of them :)
#HERES UR FORHEAD KISS FOR THE ASK💋💋#byler#stranger things#mike wheeler#will byers#stranger things season 4#mike wheeler i know what you are#el hopper#elumax#ellumax#lumax#dustin henderson#lucas sinclair#eleven hopper#stranger things headcanon#st4#stranger things 4#byler headcanon#lumax hc#byler hc#stranger things hc
16 notes
·
View notes
Note
Character meme: the traitor squad? (Or you can focus on just one if you’d like)
Sorry about the wait! I was having trouble wrangling my brain into coherent headcanons but Legends week inspired me. Have thoughts on Luche and Tredd!
one aspect about them i love
Luche: I love how cool and calculating he is, he’s a sneaky bastard who’s got plans on top of plans.
Tredd: He’s such a sarcastic asshole, he’s like an evil Nyx. XD
one aspect i wish more people understood about them
Luche: Luche is a part of Nyx’s friend group, at least on some level, despite his true loyalties. Nyx isn’t surprised to see him at Yamachang’s with everyone, so he’s welcome in the group.
Tredd: Tredd comes off as impulsive, and he is, but he’s calculating, too. His provocations are carefully timed and planned to rile up the others, despite how impulsive he makes them seem.
one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character
Luche: Luche is talented at logistics and organization, which was invaluable when helping with the evacuation of Galahd. But his ability to see the big picture means he has a tendency to see people as pieces to move around, rather than individuals.
Tredd: Tredd is an explosive expert with a background in engineering, and like a lot of engineers, loves taking things apart to see how they work. His ability to see weak points, in structures both physical and social is invaluable for both the glaive and the Empire.
one character i love seeing them interact with
Luche: His relationship with Drautos is fascinating. The first scene we see with Drautos on screen is him calling Luche by his first name and asking for a report. Luche defers to him, when he doesn’t seem to defer to anyone else. They’ve clearly worked together for a long time.
Tredd: His speech with Nyx in the briefing room is amazing. He’s intentionally antagonizing Nyx and it works. Nyx, who stayed fairly calm until Tredd got in his face. And Tredd was enjoying himself.
one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more
Luche: I really wish we had seen more interaction with him and Crowe. He’s having dinner with the others, so he’s at least somewhat friendly with her. What kind of relationship did they have before he killed her?
Tredd: I would have loved to see Tredd and Luche interact more. They’re both traitors and have major parts in the plan to take Insomnia, so they must have worked together a lot. They’re both intelligent planners, but Tredd enjoys antagonizing people while Luche prefers the subtle approach. Did they appreciate each other’s methods, or did they piss each other off? A lot of fanon has them as friends, but you don’t actually see them interact that much. Were they friends? I can seem them either being really close or hating each other's guts, and I’m curious which way it would have gone.
one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character
Luche: Luche grew up with Nyx, even if he’s not as close with him as Libertus is. He’s still fond of Nyx, but he’s bitter, too. He thinks he’s hopelessly naive by supporting Lucis instead of what Luche sees as the winning side. And he resents that Nyx’s natural charisma means that the other glaives will follow Nyx into a hopeless battle, throwing away their lives.
Tredd: Tredd bonded with Crowe over a mutual love of blowing shit up and fucking with people. When she joined the glaive, he helped train her, and is responsible for her love of fire. They ‘accidentally’ destroyed enough equipment together that Drautos started assigning them opposite shifts. Everyone learned to be concerned when Tredd and Crowe started plotting something together. Tredd didn’t know about sacrificing Crowe until it was done.
#awlwren#asks#answered ask#character meme#kingsglaive#luche lazarus#tredd furia#sorry sonitus and axis#i'll try to come up with something for you two in time for legends#we really needed more screen time for all of them#we need more kingsglaive lore
19 notes
·
View notes
Text
@abyssusinvo asked: (Bonnie) - Crossing one high heeled foot over the other Bonnie sipped leisurely at her glass of pink margarita. She wasn't looking to run the bar out of it's food supply -at least not yet- but it was hosting a girl's night out and she just had to take the opportunity to get away from the boys. Her crew meant well they really did, but sometimes a little time away could do her some good.
She does turn to look at the main entrance upon hearing someone enter and lo and behold a woman with luscious curls walked into the neon lit room. It was hard at first to tell what intrigued her about the woman until she spotted a certain crews jolly Roger tucked into the fabric of her outfit. Not quite claiming too boldly who she sailed with, but also not objecting being noticed. One last look over and she turned back to her drink only to anticipate when the woman would approach the bar so she'd pull her into a small chat.
" So, Trafalgar finally got himself a woman on his crew? Shoulda done it sooner."
Unprompted
It wasn’t often Ikkaku got to go out to the bar on her own. Usually she joined the whole crew at the tavern or a few of the boys came out with her, but she’d been working hard for the past few weeks finishing a new defensive measure for the Polar Tang and Law had felt she deserved a break. He’d reluctantly given her permission to break the buddy system rule he kept in place so she could attend a local ladies night, allowing it to be her reward but with the caveat that she leave the second there was even a whiff of trouble and that he and the boys would be drinking at another bar nearby if she needed them.
Such protective measures might seem a bit extreme to most, but Ikkaku knew that Law’s paranoia wasn’t completely unfounded and he would have these same rules in place had it been one of the guys. So, pleased that she had backup if necessary and thrilled at the chance to get dolled up, the engineer put together an outfit sure to turn heads - a low-cut halter top with Law’s jolly roger embroidered over her heart, a pair of tight, low-rise jeans, black high-heeled boots, and a matching leather jacket with a heart bedazzled across the back. It was an outfit designed to turn heads, but Ikkaku had hardly expected one of those heads to belong to Jewelry Bonney. She was a rookie like Law, but had already been making quite the name for herself. There weren’t too many female pirate captains on the Grand Line, and her powers certainly stood out with how unique they were.
Hopefully Ikkaku wouldn’t piss her off enough to use those powers on her. She rather liked being of legal age to drink and she didn’t fancy becoming an old crone yet, either.
“I’ve been around for a while,” Ikkaku stated, though she took no offense to the other woman not knowing. After all, an engineer’s place was typically below deck, not in the thick of battle. Even when Law involved her in his plans she was usually working behind the scenes. She hardly minded not being in the spotlight with her captain; Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi could have it. She was just happy to be there on the open sea. “Law just knows it’s best to not risk something happening to his mechanic in a battle or something. We can’t all be badass fighters who can make Marines cry like literal babies,” she added, giving Bonney a little grin. Now that was something she could always get behind - beating and humiliating the Navy in new and creative ways.
Glancing at the cocktail specials posted behind the bar, Ikkaku ordered a Tipsy Mermaid before turning fully to face her. “Still, no matter her role, it’s nice to see women kicking ass in what’s typically considered a man’s field.” Sticking out her hand, she offered, “Ikkaku of the Heart Pirates. Pleased to meet you.”
#abyssusinvo#The Engine is the Heart of the Ship (canon)#Gluttonous Gem (Bonney)#Fun with Supernovas#(since Ikkaku joined Law at 16 we'll assume this is pretty early in his Grand Line career lol)#(been meaning to answer this forever but stuff kept getting in the way. Very excited for the girls to meet though!)
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
castle 5x16 hunt
Part two of this plot heavy pair of episodes!
These two ppl look the same
castle chill they are also worried
I RECOGNIZE HIM I WATCHED THE EPISODE IN SEASON SIX BABEY!
at the MOST castle
you were THERE for her castle. you couldn't be there physically but seeing you helped her
Anwar my man!
Why zoom in like that? you should view the whole scene if u can
the glitch effects lol
the music
noooooo were the el masris in on it or smth..?
Thats right she has TWO murders to solve, well actually the driver who killed the bodygraurd already got shot & caught but now roger henson is also killed
Especkett
Kate
These two are such a good pair
OH NO CASTLE
HIS PASSPORT
RC: I’m at the precinct with Beckett. Why?
Beckett: *in the loft looking for castle*
Lol greenscreen or smth but it looks good
WHAT is with the LIGHTING rn?
KB: Look, in the state that he’s who knows what he’s capable of. But he says that he knows someone that can help.
ryan narc cop
I speak french you bastards! BUT I'M FRICKING DEAF. IF HEARING FROGS CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEING SAID, THEN I WANT THAT ABILITY TOO. thank you.
transcript: Merci, Colette. Et si jamais vous quittez votre petit ami – (he turns around) – Richard!
Thanks collette, & if u ever quit your boyfriend ; )
The unofficial man...
Yeah you don't want to get involved with this sort of person, but as a father you need to do this...
Rich novelist
Two young women awaiting organ transplant? sus
THESE PEOPLE STOLE A JET???
The place where the hostage exchange took place hhhh
love the angle
castle don't site beside someone, they will find you
weird to me how he doesn't genuflect
Jaque Henri: “Vengeance is mine”, sayeth the Lord. “I will repay.” Sometimes the Lord needs a little help, huh?
Castle are you not hiring him to also,, rescue (or recover) her?
My man knows things, he has his sources, esp when vetting his clients
JH: And then you thank God I’m not the FBI.
at least THIS man genuflects
oooOOOOOOOHH thre MUSIC I LOVE IT
All these wires & stuff
Ah my man is blind. You know, I would have a pretty good ear if I wasn't hard of hearing & suffering from adhd's auditory processing issues.
Tendu actually means held or tense, like you're tied up with ropes & can't move or you are holding your shoulders high & your body in suspension.
JH: We call him la taupe – the mole.
T/M: Il est tendu, eh?
JH: Pas mal, eh.
Nothing for YOU to hear.
T/M: Ah, you listen with your eyes. Shh.
Me: Uh yeah,,, *uses lipreading to supplement my listening* *watches my fiddle teacher's fingers* *looks around for context clues when I miss what someone said to see if I can deduce what they said* *watches mouths to see who is talking* *turns captions on for most things* *however I listen to audiobooks rather than read myself these days except for fanfic bc podfics aren't as common*
Love this mole's soundboard btw
I love the music over the top of this
Taupe: Hear that?
Us: I can hear a lot of stuff but I can't tell what you're talking about
THIS MAN CAN TELL WHICH CHURCH BELLS THEY ARE?
Lik e my grampa, he used to be able to tell what car smth was based on the sound of the engine
Bro go to sleep TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES
I love love love this, I wish wish wish my ears were better bc this is the kind of stuff I like
Good for her but my friend's daughter is missing I NEED TO CLIP THIS MOMENT WHEN SHE KICKS THE CHAIR
ryan looks at beckett almost like he's scared
Ryan tech man computer
JH: Maybe. Acoustic tiles, office space, close to a rooftop. Might fit the bill.
RC, standing: I’m coming.
JH: No, no, no. It might not be the place.
RC: I don’t care.
JH: It might be the place. gives castle a long look
Reminds me of the colonoscopy camera lol
How is castle not packing a gun?
THIS IS THE ROOM
Castle follow Henri's lead
HER HAIR HER LONG ORANGE HAIR
Why is nobody here?
Oh bc they left no trace they already left (except for alexis' hair ig)
lmao wallpaper like that
tbh I thought it was a bullet
Why is he speaking english?
Also this guy has a really nice chin btw, he is very french
& THE PHONE RINGS IMMEDIATELY I LOVE IT
JH: Ouai? // Yeah?
Phone: [?????], tout en seul, sans le pere // I can't tell, all alone, without the father
you ARE emotionally compromised...
This is what you pay me for!
(I think last time I watched this I thought maybe he would do exactly what he does but I was also too invested in the story I don't think I realized)
I KNOW WHO THIS IS HEHEHEH
Man found his way back to the mole cave
& le taupe can still hear! btw how do they split the payment from castle?
Ooh today's paper, smart!
A forest? Crazy
I think you can tell it is a hard drive u just need to label it with henson
Ew pics of alexis creepy
(What if this tech one was in on it?)
But they just told henri that it was the wrong place wrong time
Woah lots of money
scary forest oh dear
I feel like you SHOULD answer except don't want the ransom guys to see u on the phone
Does his phone plan still work in paris???
Safety was off already? bc my man just cocked the gun
Il est voici, comme nous convenu
I value my life more than my word
Valid
Who are these people? Not egyptian radicals?
Attendez! Mon paiement?
Henri un-double-crossed him?
Or not. Beckett then?
American accent
At least castle went for his gun
Yeah castle I don't trust this guy
*Shoots his phone*
How do I know you're the good guy?
Altho ig yeah you ARE still alive
Sus man: Given how you’re feeling so bad about your $200 buck phone you might want to pick up that 3 million dollar briefcase.
With those gloves I'd be scared of leaving fingerprints
RC: Sounds made-up
Jackson Hunt: it is
Why do they have lights on her like that?
Alexis took french class
WHY DOES HE HAVE ALL THESE PHOTOS MAYBE THIS IS THE GUY WHO NABBED HER IN THE FIRST PLACE-- LIKE THE PHOTOS ON THE HENSON DRIVE
HOW & WHEN DID YOU GET A FRICKING COPY OF THE PHONE?
What is this guy's accent?
So dramatic I loooove it
OH THIS IS HOW THE RUSSIAN JET WAS INVOLVED
Volkov: It’s you. After all these years, it’s finally you.
& who ARE you?
THIS IS CASTLE'S DAD?
I can see the resemblance but he could be lying
that is SO castle. it could totally be him appealing to castle's romantic side, the story
All these years?
That's sad but valid
WOAH THAT IS ACTUALLY SO SWEET HHHH
that book & james bonde
SOPHIA WAS RIGHT, HE DID GREASE WHEEL IN THE CIA
Oof, poor anna. that's why they chose paris
Ah that makes sense
direct assault with only two of you?
(Also, u want to call beckett?)
all these sexy blueprints
play spy shfdkjhj
Ooh undergrounds
third one FROM the bottom or...?
Ok castle now run
say "je suis un electricien, pour-quoi vous avez les pistolets?"
Yes they get to see each other!!! He came to get her! All the way in paris! This is the bestest episode everest!
Volkov: When a man doubles his wealth, why should he give half of it away?
it's ok, castle says, he KNOWS it is ok
Dad's dad: Because you’ll be dead.
wdym "don't let them"? Castle just threw the guy with the gun to the ground
they RAN all the way to the us embassy?
Cover story? sus
Probs best to keep away from contact with him after this castle, to prevent this situation again
"son" hhh
always sdkjfkldjf
You two SHOULD talk, for like trauma purposes
Welcome home sign!
I could clip the escape if u want
CASINO ROYALE HE MADE IT OUT
are you ALLOWED to tell her?
jasdkfhasdjlfhjasdfk this was super good but also now we know castle's dad is not the inventor of whipped cream
this was a great pair of episodes. Super intense. & I spent the full hour & a half on it too
#castle 5x16#castle 5x16 spoilers#castle s5 spoilers#castle 5x16 quote#the paris episode#also the alexis-napping episode & the castle's dad episode I just need to come up with a nickname
0 notes
Text
Horror of Fang Rock (A Doctor Who slasher flick) part 1
[All images are owned by the BBC. Please don’t sue or EXTERMINATE! me]
[A quick note: Tumblr has been having fits with my review of this episode. First it deleted the review the day it was to be released, then when I came close to finishing it refused to save my progress. I’ve come to the conclusion that my review was too long/large, so I’m breaking it up into two parts]
As I have mentioned previously, Tom Baker’s tenure as the Doctor was mired with controversy from parents’ groups due to the number of supporting cast who seemed to die during the course of an episode. So I thought I would explore these complaints with a random episode.
A note on the timeline...
The episode is one of the fourth Doctor’s adventures. This version of the Doctor is a lot more comic relief than his first and third incarnations (though far less “bumbling” than his second)
The Doctor’s companion during this time is Leela, a warrior from the primitive Sevateem tribe. Though her knowledge is limited and her demeanor savage (she is prone to violence when stressed or annoyed), she is actually quite intelligent, showing at least a hint of understanding when the Doctor starts spouting timey-wimer technobabble that would go over an expert’s head.
Now, on with the episode (that one review compared to a slasher film). If you would like to watch the episode, it’s in four parts (as is the norm in classic Who) and can be found on BritBox. However, I don’t have a subscription so I had to go to dailymotion. Click here for part 1.
We open on a lighthouse on a small island known as Fang Rock, where the youngest member of the three-man crew (Vince) spies something falling into the water.
The oldest member (Reuben) and the lighthouse’s engineer (Ben) dismiss it, saying it was a shooting star or meteorite.
However, whatever it was had an occupant, and (thanks to some out-of-focus camera tricks and bad special effects) we get a creature’s eye view of it approaching Fang Rock.
Downstairs in the lighthouse’s galley, Ben and Reuben continue a long-standing argument between lighthouses using oil-burning lamps as opposed to them new-fangled electric lamps powered by a boiler heated with coal (such as the one on Fang Rock) when Vince calls down that a sudden fog is rolling in...and the temperature drops considerably.
As Vince goes to blow the foghorn, Reuben and Ben continue their argument from earlier, with Ben preaching the reliability of electricity. And right on cue...
...the lamp stops working.
And that ominous scene is a straight line if ever I heard one as...
...a poorly-made model of the TARDIS appears.
The Doctor and Leela (dressed in an outfit better suited for the period than her animal skins) emerge, but they were expecting to appear in Brighton, not Fang Rock. Leela suggests going back in and trying again, but the Doctor wants to head up to the lighthouse for directions.
Inside the lighthouse, Ben is on the ground level fiddling with the boiler to figure out what went wrong when all of a sudden the lights come back on again. As Ben heads back up, the door to the outside opens and something glowing green and making a weird audio effect enters (though we can’t see what it is)
As the Doctor and Leela make their way to the lighthouse, Leela feels something amiss. You don’t say?
Meanwhile, the lights have gone out again, so Ben heads down to give the boiler another look when...
...the cameraman does that weird out-of focus shot again (with some bad special effects involved) as Ben lets out a scream and dies.
Up in the lamp room, Reuben thinks the fog is unnatural (YA THINK?!) and sends Vince down to check on Ben.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Leela have entered the boiler room as Vince comes down. The Doctor explains they got lost in the fog. Vince takes them up to the galley to wait out the fog. The Doctor helps himself to the nearby clothing.
Sorry Doctor, but bowler hats are not cool...
...no matter what your future self says.
Vince catches the Doctor up on what the audience already knows. The Doctor says he didn’t see Ben in the boiler room, and offers to look for him. When the Doctor leaves Leela asks for dry clothes...
...and the episode almost needs a TV-M rating (since the Sevateem aren’t big on modesty)! Vince stops Leela from stripping and leaves to find an outfit for her.
Downstairs, the lights have come on again...
...and the Doctor finds Ben. By the looks of it, he’s been electrocuted.
Vince and Leela (in an outfit that MUCH better suits her than that dress) come down at that point. The Doctor tells Vince the bad news and sends him back up to tell Reuben as he shares his theory with Leela that the generator didn’t kill Ben, though he isn’t quite sure what did...
...though it’s powerful enough to crush a lantern.
The Doctor and Leela head up the galley, where they meet Reuben. Reuben isn’t keen on coincidences and all but accuses them of murdering Ben. He then heads down to cover Ben until the authorities can be contacted in the morning. Meanwhile the Doctor head up to the lamp room...
...and Leela goes out to hunt down whatever killed Ben (in the fog...against something that can electrocute a human and crush a lantern...great plan, Leela!) She fumbles around for a while until she finds a bunch of dead fish. She then realizes she might be over her head and returns.
Back at the lighthouse, Reuben has relieved Vince so he can get something to eat. However, Vince hears a weird audio effect and heads to the boiler room to investigate only to discover Ben’s body missing! Vince calls up in hysterics to Reuben, but Reuben has problems of his own as...
...a ship is moving at a speed that is pure insanity in the fog toward the island! Reuben calls Vince up, who blows the foghorn for all he’s worth...
...but it’s too late and the ship hits the rocks, ending the episode!
Who survived the crash and why were they being so reckless? You’ll have to see part 2, which can be found here.
Vince, Reuben, and the Doctor head down to assist the survivors, leaving Leela to man the foghorn in case there are any other idiots piloting their boats in the fog. As the Doctor grabs a rope in the boiler room...
...a bad special effect appears over his head, but disappears once he lifts his head.
Up in the lamp room, Leela looks thrilled (THRILLED, I tell you!) to be manning the foghorn. Then the lights go on again (down below, the Doctor deduces whatever is out there needs electricity) Leela steps out onto the widow’s walk (the walkway around the lamp room) and sees...
...what appears to be a giant glowing green jellyfish slithering along the rocks.
Up in the galley, the rescue party returns with the surviving passengers (the one surviving crewman, Harker, is securing what’s left of the boat)...
(Right to left is Lord Palmerdale (the idiot responsible for ordering the ship to travel so recklessly), Colonel Skinsale, and Palmerdale’s secretary Adelaide Lesage)
Palmerdale and Adelaide act like typical entitled gits toward Vince (though Vince is too busy being a gentleman to Adelaide to notice)
Up in the lamp room, Leela tells the Doctor what she saw. Reuben starts talking about a local legend known as the Beast of Fang Rock returning. The Doctor ignores Reuben and takes Leela down to the galley, where he congratulates Palmerdale for killing most of the crew just because he needed to be in London by morning (to capitalize on some insider trading info he weaseled from Skinsale, who would be ruined once it was used)
In the boiler room, Leela hears something approaching the door. Thinking it’s the jellyfish, Leela decides to go on the offensive...
...and nearly brains Harker, who found what was left of Ben’s body. Leela thinks it might be Reuben’s Beast, but the Doctor says “the Beast” is merely superstition. What happened to Ben’s body was a dissection to study it.
Up in the galley, Palmerdale tries to order Harker to take the ship out to make for the mainland (that must’ve been some tip!), but Harker refuses due to the fog. Besides, wouldn’t the ship have a few holes to patch up first?
Outside, Leela has taken the Doctor to where she saw the jellyfish. The Doctor notes a residual electric field in the area, which could kill someone on contact. He admits to Leela he still isn’t sure what they’re dealing with yet (well, that’s reassuring. Then again, even given the dozens of races the Doctor has encountered in four lifetimes, there are plenty of lifeforms he has never encountered) I’m sure he’ll figure it out...eventually...maybe...
Up in the galley, Palmerdale tries to convince Harker to send a message to his broker (since he can’t get to London) via the lighthouse’s wireless telegraph.
Then Harker remembers who was responsible for the deaths of his shipmates! Fortunately for Palmerdale, Skinsale wakes up and breaks it up. Then the Doctor comes in and announces that they’re all in mortal danger.
I’m sure that grin helped soften the blow, Doctor.
Up in the lamp room, Reuben heads down to feed the boiler...
...as a bad special effect the jellyfish stalks the lighthouse.
In the galley, Palmerdale is scoffing at the Doctor’s announcement, then Reuben comes in talking about the Beast as he continues downward, to which Palmerdale continues his tirade...
...until Leela shuts him up.
Then the lights dim a blood-curdling scream is heard as part 2 ends.
Given everyone in the galley is accounted for, that leaves the lighthouse crew the only ones it could’ve been...or the jellyfish. To find out, tune in next time for the exciting conclusion!
0 notes
Text
Car Accident || A Jack Gibson Imagine
Anonymous requested: “ Could you write an imagine for jack Gibson whet he has to respond to a car accident you are in and you get badly hurt. He’s like freaking out bc it’s his girl but ends all cute/fluffy? “
A/N: hope you like it!
Tw: car accident, injuries, hospitals, IV, needle sticks, medicine, description of blood
It had been a calm shift. There had been minimal calls, only a few medical calls, but most of the shift had so far been cleaning the firehouse and making fun of each other. Travis, Vic, and Jack were all watching Forensic Files in the TV room as the others were milling around the kitchen, making dinner, when the call comes out.
“Engine 19, Aid Car 19, 4 car pile-up on Route 5 Northbound, exit 233″
They run to the trucks, and within minutes they’re on their way to the scene. Jack was excited, he had been itching for some action, a juicy call to make the time move faster so he can come home to you.
Jack loves you more than he thought he could love anyone. The way you dance in the kitchen when you’re cleaning, the way you lose yourself in a book, the look you give him when he says something that you couldn’t believe came from his mouth. As he was nearing the sight of the crash though, his heart dropped.
Your car was smashed between two others, the engine completely pancaked. A door was ripped off of the driver’s side, the passenger side was smashed against the guardrail. Jack could tell it was your car because of the sticker on the bumper, or what was left of your bumper. It was one he found for you when you two had taken a vacation to California for a week last year, and was the easiest way to find your car.
“Shit.” He heard Andy swear, but he didn’t respond, he couldn’t accept it, not yet.
“Is that-”
“It’s Y/n’s car.” Jack said, interrupting Dean. You all quickly got out of the trucks, and rushed over to you. Dean and Travis stopped him from going over to you, he knows he can’t be involved because he’s too close to this. He didn’t stop trying though, they made him lean on the truck while Bishop and Vic looked you over.
“That’s Y/N, Miller. What if it was Sasha, or JJ? What if that was Grant, Travis?” He was yelling at them now, but they didn’t take it personally. They knew how much you meant to him.
“Gibson, we get it, but I know you know why you can’t be over there right now. If you go over there, they’re going to be distracted and that takes away from Y/N being cared for. They’re the best at their jobs, you have to let them work,” Travis reassured him, and he finally complied until you were out of immediate harm’s way.
Vic put a c-collar around your neck, while Ben checked your airway, breath sounds, and your pulse. Vic got to work on an IV in your forearm to give you fluids, but it worries them that you haven’t gained consciousness yet. The rest of 19, minus Jack, Helped quickly and carefully get you out of the car and onto stretcher. As they were loading you onto the ambulance, Bishop gave the okay for Jack to ride with you.
“Hey baby, I’m right here, okay? You’re going to be okay,” Jack tells you, although you don’t hear him, nor do you see the tears rolling down his face.
He lets Ben work, checking your vitals and assessing your injuries, and calls Grey-Sloan to give report. While he does all of this, he watches Jack gold your hand, occasionally brushing your hair away from your face, like he was completely lost into taking care of you.
Once you got to Grey-Sloan, they made Jack wait in the waiting room while Miranda, Amelia, Link and Owen started working to take care of you. Ben and Vic sat with Jack, but he couldn’t sit still. He was pacing back and forth, and they knew he wouldn’t be able to relax until he knew you were okay.
They eventually had to leave for another medical call, but Bishop let Miller go sit with him in just in case. They waited at least another hour before Bailey came out with an update.
“Y/N is going to be fine. They had a skull fracture, but there doesn’t seem to be any lasting brain damage. They do have a grade 2 concussion, and a broken nose from their head hitting the steering wheel. They have several broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung. Pierce repaired it, and they have a chest tube in to drain any excess fluid. You can go see them if you’d like,” she finished explaining, and when Jack nodded she lead him to see you.
You were just waking up from surgery, and god your head was pounding. The nurse came in a few minutes ago to give you your pain medicine, so the pain in your side had started to subside. Jack came into your room, and you can tell he had been crying. His eyes were red, his hair was a mess, and he was still in his uniform.
“Hi love,” you offered and tried to smile, but just about everything hurts your head at the moment. He smiled lightly, then sat in the chair next to your bed and grabbed your hand.
“I thought I lost you. You can never do that again. Understood?” He said roughly, his throat was raw from crying, but he needed to make sure you knew just how much all this scared him.
“I love you too, Jack. And this wasn’t my fault, by the way. Those two idiots in front of me gave me no warning that they were going to crash.” you said lightly, eliciting a giggle from Jack as he rubbed his eyes.
“Alright smartass, glad to see you’re back to your normal self,” he laughed, you always knew how to cheer him up, even when it’s pretty morbid.
You sent him away to go finish his shift, promising him if anything happened the hospital staff would call him. He would come back in the morning, and wouldn’t leave until you were ready to leave a few nights later.
#jack gibson#jack gibson x reader#station 19#maya bishop#ben warren#travis montgomery#dean miller#vic hughes#owen hunt#miranda bailey#grey-sloan memorial#injuries#station 19 imagines#jack gibson imagines#andy herrera
557 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Sommelier (Hannibal x Female!Reader) pt. 2
Since the police department let the youth pastor get away, the FBI has to step in. Will suspects something is off, but nobody listens. @deadman-inc-bikeshop this one’s for you, comrade
Trigger warnings: discussion of substance abuse, drug use, blood, graphic descriptions of violence, Christianity
Will had become somewhat of an expert at tuning out background noise. The shuttering of camera lenses, the blasting of sirens and of course all the talking. The dissemination of information between parties; some relevant, and some just noise.
Another inept local police department let a killer get away. That put the onus on the FBI to clean up the mess. With a restaurant full of witnesses, Will doubted his usefulness to this particular investigation. Surely, they could get a more thorough description of the killer from eyewitness testimony. He thought maybe Crawford was getting too comfortable with his secret weapon.
But Crawford wouldn’t have let Will get involved if he had any doubts that this one would kill again. And he was determined to throw every weapon in his arsenal at this case before it happened. The blood wasn’t even dry yet. This was as much of a head start as they could hope for.
So, whether he felt it necessary or not, Will Graham sat at the corner booth, stone still, while the investigation progressed around him.
He put the scene in backwards motion. No police, no media, not a drop of blood in sight.
This is the day the lord has made. Rejoice, rejoice, hallelujah.
The restaurant was packed from corner to corner with bodies and sin. People, sinners, who didn’t deserve to have Christ’s name on their lips, let alone blood on their hands. Sinners who wore cross necklaces, but couldn’t carry a cross.
Today I will save lives. This is God's design.
The waitress approached. Asked for a drink order.
My grip on reality is still firm enough to initiate worldly conversation, so long as it is in the pursuit of rescuing souls.
She was visibly uncomfortable. Not willing to engage in conversation.
My patience is dwindling. I must heighten my senses.
He placed a bit of cocaine under his nose. The clarity hit him all at once with a glance at the specials menu.
It's a sign. The lamb of god must be avenged.
He gave the waitress one last chance. If she had repented right then and there, perhaps those people would still be alive today.
With that small display of empathy, Will was ripped from his trance and brought back to reality. He took off his glasses and pressed his fingers to his forehead.
"Welcome back." Jack greeted, dryly.
Will stood up. "I really should have paid more attention in Sunday school."
"Well, how about you tell me what you can." Jack answered. "See if I can fill in the blanks."
"Okay, first of all," Will sighed, trying to collect his thoughts. "This man is deeply deluded."
"Forensics already found trace amounts of cocaine on the table." Jack agreed with a nod.
"No, see-" Will stopped him. "This is a deep-rooted, purposeful delusion. The drugs feed the delusion, not the other way around."
"And what is this delusion?"
Will took a deep breath in. "This guy believes he's some kind of divinely-ordained morality police. And the waitress was the catalyst for this spree killing."
"So, what did she do that was so egregious?" Jack folded his arms. "Have a small tattoo? Wear her apron too tight?"
"She was working on the Sabbath." Will said.
“So he’s a literalist.” Jack inferred. “Realism and practicality be damned. Hard drugs will do that to you.”
Will was starting to grow annoyed. “Pretend for a minute that he wasn’t high.”
“That’s a pretty tall order.” Beverly interrupted from across the room. “Turns out his coke was as pure as it gets outside of the rainforests of Colombia. Might as well have snorted a leaf right from the tree.”
Jack turned to face Beverly, who was scraping under the fingernails of a body. “Sounds expensive.”
“Well, that eliminates one suspect.” Will commented under his breath. “The FBI only deals the cheap stuff.”
Jack’s face hardened. “Something to add, Will?”
“Yes, actually.” Will tilted his head. “Are we here for the murder, or the drugs?"
"What does it matter?"
That was most assuredly not an answer.
"Do we want this guy in prison?" Will adjusted his oversized coat. "Or are we going to grant him impunity for telling us where he got this particular brand of powdered sugar?”
Jack heaved a frustrated sigh. "We're not in any position to refuse information about a potential drug trafficking ring. If that means amnesty--"
"So if this is a drug bust, why do you need me?" Will cut in.
"Where is this coming from?" Jack protested. “If you have a problem with this investigation, you’re free to leave.”
If that was a bluff, Will called it. He walked out. Jack clearly wouldn't listen to him, so he was off to the person he knew would.
He almost regretted that decision when the esteemed Dr. Lecter took it as an opportunity to dissect him. Any chance Hannibal got to put him under a microscope, he took. A part of him knew that and another, subtler part liked it.
"Federal intelligence agencies and cocaine have a complicated history." Hannibal said as simply as if he were describing a married couple. "It's not something I would imagine Crawford likes to bring up."
"And now he's trying to absolve himself." Will leaned forward in his chair and rested his arms on his knees. "Trying to put the FBI back on the right side of history."
"So why did you walk out?" Hannibal raised an eyebrow.
"I'm a profiler, not a drug-sniffing bloodhound." Will shot up from his seat. "I made my analysis and he dismissed it out of hand."
"So this is a matter of pride." Hannibal concluded.
"You could say that." Will mumbled. "Some would call it self-respect."
"You are not one to talk about self-respect." Hannibal smirked. "Especially not with a jacket covered in dog hair."
“What if there was a way to turn this investigation around?" Will offered, electing to ignore the snide commentary.
“You’d have to find some way to prove that he would have struck with or without the cocaine.” Hannibal tented his hands in his lap. “Re-center his motivation.”
“His motivation was justice,” Will said. “Or at least some perverted, fundamentalist Christian notion of justice.”
Hannibal gazed admiringly at Will, as if watching the gears turn in his head. “You and I know this, but how do we go about proving it?”
Will dropped his shoulders. “We’d have to find the man first.”
Hannibal glanced down at his phone and punched an address into the search engine. He made a small, but noticeable gesture that caught Will’s attention.
“I hardly ever see you use that thing.” Will chuckled. “What’s got you so interested?”
Hannibal placed his phone face-down on the side table. “One of my favorite wine bars is re-opening soon.”
#will graham#hannibal lecter#hannibal x reader#jack crawford#beverly katz#hannibal nbc#hannibal x you
164 notes
·
View notes
Text
Life’s Lessons - Good Enough
Pairing: Mechanic!Dean x Female!Teacher!Reader
Word count: 6,372
Summary: Y/N and Dean are planning their wedding, but a reminder from the past gives him doubts about his relationship and whether he’ll ever actually be good enough for her.
Warnings: Swearing, Dean’s past with Lisa comes back to haunt him, ANGST, Tears, Dean’s self deprecation rears its ugly head, Making up, Fluff.
Music: Love Of My Life - Queen (Dean bar scene)
Life’s Lessons Spotify Playlist
A/N: The next time stamp is here! Stay tuned for another announcement soon about the saga! Hope you all like the time stamp! As always, happy reading and enjoy! :)
Life’s Lessons Saga Masterlist
Divider by @firefly-graphics.
Y/N pressed the ‘end’ button on her phone, throwing it beside her on the couch with a loud groan of frustration.
Looking down at the coffee table in front of her, she shook her head at the sudden overwhelming feeling. The whole surface of the table was covered in bridal magazines, brochures, printouts of venues, her laptop with multiple tabs open, and everything else that came with planning a wedding. She kept hitting brick walls with every place she was looking at being unavailable for the date that she and Dean had decided on. The only thing she had managed to do was finalize the guest list, which was at 80 people. It wasn’t a big number, but knowing she would have to do the invitations as soon as a venue was decided, it was a lot of people. Luckily, it was everyone she or Dean cared about, without having to make sacrifices for their special day.
Y/N heard the key in the door and Dean’s boots on the wooden floors as he walked through the house. He smiled when he saw her, walking over quickly and leaning down, kissing her softly.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he muttered against her lips, kissing her again.
“Hey,” she sighed, a relief washing over her now that he was home. “How was work?”
He huffed out a breath as he leaned back against the couch. “Busy. Having the new guy on today didn’t help. I felt like how you must feel with the kids in class, keeping an eye on him most of the time.”
“He’ll get better soon enough, don’t worry,” she reassured him, leaning over and kissing his cheek.
Dean glanced over the coffee table, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees. “That looks like a lot. You okay? Anything I can help with? Not that I know a damn thing about weddings.”
He smirked with a small laugh, kissing her cheek. Y/N smiled and shook her head, looking down at the table and sighing heavily.
“I keep hitting dead ends with venues, that’s all,” she stated, shrugging.
“Hey.” Getting her attention, he cupped her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “Everything’s gonna work out. We’ll find something and it’s going to be amazing. I know it.”
She nodded, even though she didn’t really feel better despite his comforting words. “I guess I’m just worried about a lot of this.”
“You know whatever you need from me, I’m here, right? Say the word and I’ll do it,” he told her, his hands leaving her face and taking hers.
“I know,” she whispered, smiling softly at him.
“Don’t worry about anything, sweetheart,” he said, smiling at her. “We got this, okay?”
“I know, I just…” she stopped herself, unsure of how to express herself.
“Something’s wrong,” Dean frowned, sensing something wasn’t right. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she reassured him, smiling softly. “But… I just need to know you want all of this. I know you keep saying you want me to have the wedding I want, but I want us both to have that, Dean. I want what you want too.”
“Don’t go thinking I don’t want all of this. I wanna do this for you. For us.” he said, smiling reassuringly. “I do. I promise you, I do, sweetheart.”
“Okay.” She nodded, her worried expression morphing into a soft smile.
“Okay, good. Now, take a break from all this stuff and let’s make dinner. Sound good?” he asked, smirking.
“Yeah,” she replied, smiling wide as she leaned in and kissed him.
As they got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to start cooking, Y/N breathed a sigh of relief, as she felt a pressure lift off her. Dean always had a way of doing that. It was incredibly cute to see Dean so excited, even if he didn’t understand what she was saying when she mentioned something to do with the wedding, but he secretly loved getting involved.
They couldn’t wait to get to the big day and start the next part of their journey together.
The doorbell rang, alerting Y/N that her guests for the evening had arrived. It was a Saturday, and unfortunately Dean had to go into work because of some problem with one of the cars, so Y/N was left to do more of the wedding planning herself. Dean felt guilty as he left, but she had assured him that it was more than okay.
She walked to the door and opened it, smiling wide as she saw Mary and John on the other side. They all hugged each other, before Y/N led her into the house.
“So, how are things going?” Mary asked, as they walked into the kitchen where Y/N had been making dinner.
“Things are… stressful,” Y/N replied, huffing a small laugh. “Though I managed to book a venue yesterday, and that’s taken a lot of pressure off. I was going to tell Dean first, but do you guys wanna know?”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Mary exclaimed. “Yes, absolutely!”
Y/N opened her laptop that was kept to the side on the kitchen bench, bringing up the photos of the outdoor venue. “Dean was telling me once that you guys used to drive up here a lot when he and Sam were kids, and I thought I’d try it out. The land is owned by the ranch close by that’s a wedding venue and I asked if we could use this space. They said they had an opening for our date, so I booked it straight away.”
She showed them the photos of a beautiful location, surrounded by trees and a lake. It was perfect for the ceremony, and the clearing nearby would be perfect for the reception.
“Y/N, this is…” John shook his head, speechless as he looked over the photos. “God, the boys used to love going there.”
“Y/N, it’s stunning! Oh, it’s going to a beautiful wedding,” Mary told her, her smile radiant as put her arm around Y/N and brought her close.
“Do you think Dean will like it?” Y/N asked, nervously.
“He definitely will. We used to take the boys fishing there. They never caught a damn thing, but they always loved going,” John replied, reassuringly.
“Okay, good.” Y/N nodded as she closed her laptop. “Because we initially thought about having it here, we don’t have room for 80 people.”
“Well, this is perfect,” Mary said, smiling.
“It is. I can’t wait to show Dean,” Y/N smiled, before standing up and walking into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.
“Anything I can help with?” Mary asked, leaning against the kitchen island.
“Nope, almost done,” Y/N replied, smiling over at her. “John, there’s beer in the fridge. Mary, wine?”
“I’ll take care of that,” John insisted, taking a beer out before finding the wine Mary liked on the small rack.
In the garage, Dean pulled the Impala up and cut the engine, turning off the car. He sighed tiredly as he leaned his head back against the seat, closing his eyes. It had been a long day, and the last thing he had wanted was to go into work on a Saturday, but being the boss, he was needed. He hated that he couldn’t stay home and help Y/N out with whatever she needed and enjoy time with her, but at least he was back in time to have dinner with her and his parents.
Getting out of the Impala, he locked it and walked around the back of the car to the other side. He tried to slide past his work bench, but rammed right into it, cursing as the edge dug into him, sending a few tools flying to the floor.
“Fuck,” he groaned, closing his eyes.
He blinked a few times, crouching down and picking up the screwdrivers that fell on the floor. As he did, something that had fallen behind the bench caught his eye. He reached behind it, taking out the notebook that had gotten stuck. Opening it, he flipped through the pages, seeing old calculations and notes of his, knowing that they weren't of use now. Suddenly, a page fell out, falling at his feet, with unfamiliar writing on it.
“What…” he mumbled to himself as he held it up, reading over the page properly.
His face fell as he read over the words that were no doubt written by Lisa, recognizing her handwriting now that he could see it properly. She must have used this from his office in their house when she couldn’t find anything else.
Stubborn. Too close to his family. Doesn’t earn enough. Just a mechanic.
It was a pros and cons list. She had made reasons for whether she should stay with him or not. The only thing written on the pros list was that he was a good father figure to Ben. However, the cons outweighed everything as he read over them again. He didn’t earn enough. His job wasn’t good enough. And if that was true then that meant he wasn’t good enough. He knew he shouldn’t care what it said considering he was with Y/N now, and they were engaged, with his relationship with Lisa practically ancient history by now. Yet he couldn’t stop reading over her words.
Crushing the paper into a ball and shoving into his pocket, he shut the notebook, tossing it in the paper basket kept next to the bench. He walked over to the door that led into the house, closing it behind him and walked down the hallway, hearing Y/N’s infectious laugh coming from the living room.
“Hey!” she exclaimed, seeing him enter the room.
“Hey,” he said, walking over to her, kissing her softly as he leaned down. He went over to his parents and hugged them before sitting down next to her.
“How was work?” she asked, smiling at him.
“Tiring,” he replied, huffing slightly, but offered her a smile. “But good. Glad to be home though.”
“Well, I was telling your parents, but I can tell you now,” she started, sharing a smile with John and Mary before she turned back to him. “I found a venue for the wedding.”
“That’s great, sweetheart,” he said, smiling softly as he kissed her again.
Y/N frowned slightly as he pulled away, sensing something wasn’t right with him, but she let it go for now. She hoped that he was just tired from work and that was it.
“Do you want to hear about it?” she asked.
“Yeah, of course,” he replied, too quickly. “Actually, I’m gonna wash up and why don’t you tell me over dinner.”
“Sure,” she agreed, nodding. “Well, food’s ready. We were just waiting on you.”
“Okay,” he muttered, standing up and walking out of the room.
“Does he seem a little off to you?” John questioned, frowning as he looked between Mary and Y/N.
“Something must’ve happened at work,” Y/N sighed, worriedly.
“Well, let’s just hope it’s nothing too serious,” Mary added, her expression matching Y/N’s.
Dean returned after freshening up, just as Y/N, Mary and John walked over to the dining table. They all sat down, each of them taking turns to put food on their plate. They ate in silence, worried eyes glancing between each other and discreetly looking at Dean as he ate. Sensing they needed a distraction first, John and Mary exchanged looks, before she cleared her throat.
“So, we actually have something for both of you,” Mary announced, looking at John, giving him a firm nod.
The elder Winchester took out a small, folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket, and slid it across the wooden table to his son. Dean frowned curiously and Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed, as she looked over Dean’s shoulder. He opened it, both of their eyes widening as they saw what it was. He opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to speak.
“That’s from us, and after we spoke to your mom and dad, we decided to split things between us, so there’s should be coming to you soon,” Mary told Y/N, smiling.
“Mary…” Y/N trailed off, shaking her head as she was still in shock. “We can’t accept this cheque-”
“Guys, this is insane,” Dean finally said, frowning as he looked up at his parents.
“I thought you’d say that, but-” Mary started but Dean cut her off.
“We’re not taking it, mom,” he interrupted, his frustration getting the better of him.
“Dean,” Mary sighed, thinking about how to make him understand. “We’ve been sitting on this money since before you started renovating this place. We tried to hint then too, but you didn’t take it, wanting to do everything yourself. Had you never had this place we would’ve given it to you on your wedding day to put towards a house, just like we did with Sam and Eileen. Considering you have this place now, the least we can do is help with the wedding.”
“You’re really sure about this?” Y/N asked, completely unsure if this was a good idea. Clearly Dean wasn’t accepting this.
“Absolutely,” Mary replied, smiling. “And don’t even think about paying it back, it’s for both of you to use, however you want. Put it towards the wedding, if there’s anything left, put it towards the honeymoon, or savings… whatever you want.”
Dean shook his head, the frown still evident on his face. “So what? This is a pity offer?”
“No,” Mary gasped, eyes wide with shock. “Of course not, Dean. How could you think we would do that?”
He scoffed, turning to glare at Y/N. “I don’t make enough money, right? That’s what this is. You asked them for money.”
Y/N looked at him, unable to get over her shock at the way he was reacting. “What? No. No! Dean, how can you think that?”
Dean chuckled bitterly. He looked down at his food, suddenly losing his appetite. He quickly stood up, pushing up his sleeves as he pushed his chair out. Y/N felt her heart banging repeatedly against her ribcage, as she watched him get up.
“We’re not taking this. No fucking way,” he hissed, pushing the cheque back across the surface.
“Dean,” John’s voice bellowed around the room, staring up at his son with a stern expression.
“Dean, we just wanted to contribute, that’s all, honey,” Mary reasoned, trying to calm the situation. “If this is how you feel, then it’s put to bed. Let’s just enjoy dinner.”
“Yeah, damn right that’s how I feel,” he snapped, as he turned to face her.
“I’m sor-” Mary started but he cut her off again, turning to Y/N.
“Do you think I can’t do this for us?” he asked, his voice eerily calm but the shakiness gave away how upset he was, as he faced Y/N.
Her eyes narrowed in upset as she stood up too, looking at him. “Of course I think you can do this, Dean. How could you even question that?”
“Because it’s exactly what it looks like, Y/N!” he yelled. He scoffed and shook his head, scrubbing a hand down his face. “What I do isn’t good enough. I’m not good enough.”
She visibly flinched; her eyes widened as she looked at him. She had never seen him this upset. She felt tears brim her bottom lids, threatening to fall. John and Mary watched on in horror, unable to understand what was going on with their son.
“What?” she scoffed, shaking her head. “How could you possibly think that?”
“Because it’s true,” he muttered, looking away from her, his jaw clenching tight. “And if you haven’t already, you’ll realize it one day.”
“Dean,” she breathed, a tear rolling down her face as she saw how dejected he looked.
“That’s not true.”
“If you don’t want this anymore, Y/N, there were easier ways to tell me,” he spat, turning away from her and storming off.
“Dean, stop! What’s gotten into you?” she yelled, following behind him.
“I can’t fucking do this right now,” he scoffed.
Mary and John were hot on their heels too as they stopped in the entrance, watching Dean pick up his keys and make his way to the door.
“Dean, where are you going?” Y/N asked, choking as a wave of sadness washed over her.
“I can’t be here,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I need to think.”
“Think about what?” Her voice was cracking, the tears finally falling down her face. Everything was falling apart in the span of a few minutes, and she had no idea why. Why was he acting like this?
“I don’t know, Y/N, okay?” he snapped, turning to pin her with a scowl. “I just… I gotta get outta here.” Gesturing around him, he turned to open the door.
His mind was cloudy with all the doubts he was having at that moment. He needed a drink and some time to cool off. He walked through the threshold, not looking back at Y/N.
“Dean, wait-” she started but the door slamming as he left, cut her off.
Y/N felt knots in her stomach, tightening and moving into her chest. She tried to breathe normally but started to feel as if her throat was closing off, cutting off her air supply. Tears stung her eyes as they continued to flow down her face. She began hyperventilating, her hands cupping over her mouth as she began to cry. Her body shook with the force of her sobs. Her legs felt like jelly, like any minute she would collapse and wouldn’t be able to get up again.
“Oh, honey,” Mary whispered, as she wrapped her arms around Y/N tightly.
“I don’t… k-know what I did to-to make him think-” she stuttered, stopping as she sobbed.
“You didn’t do anything, sweetie. I just… There's something wrong. I didn’t think he would act like this. At most, he would be annoyed and then eventually give in. But this?” Mary tried to figure out what was going on, but shook her head as she couldn’t think of what could be wrong with her son.
“I’ll go talk to him,” John offered.
“No, he just needs space to process whatever’s going on in his head,” Y/N sniffled, pulling away from Mary as she looked between them. “You can head home if you want to. I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” John stated, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, and hugging her as she was between him and Mary. “Everything’s gonna be okay, don’t you worry.”
The silence made her mind wander off into irrational directions. Had she done something to make Dean this upset? Had she said anything to make him think he wasn’t good enough? She loved him so much, and she wanted nothing more than to be his wife, but if she had really made him feel that way, then she was the one who wasn’t good enough for him.
She managed to convince John and Mary that she was fine enough for them to leave, insisting they take some food home with them. They said their goodbyes, and Y/N headed upstairs, completely exhausted after the whirlwind evening. As she got changed in the walk-in closet, she felt more tears sting her eyes. They rolled down her face, but she didn’t make a move to wipe them away as she changed.
She just wanted Dean to come home so that they could talk and forget about what just happened.
Dean drove around town for a while, the words he said to Y/N plaguing his mind. He was just so angry after finding that list from Lisa, it just came out in the worst way possible. He reached the regular bar that he would go to with the guys, needing at least one drink to calm himself down.
Sitting down at the bar, he ordered a whiskey double, neat, and gulped the first one down in one shot. Asking for another, he nursed it as he thought about everything that had happened in the past half hour. His anger had dissolved quickly and had morphed into fear. Fear at what he would or wouldn’t find when he got home. As a Queen song played in the background from the jukebox, he quickly realized how much it was mirroring the situation they had found themselves in.
Love of my life, you’ve hurt me
You’ve broken my heart, and now you leave me
Love of my life, can’t you see?
Bring it back, bring it back
Don’t take it away from me
Because you don’t know
What it means to me
He realized how he had overreacted, that his parents, just being the people that they are, would just give the cheque to them. He shouldn’t have taken his anger out on them and Y/N. Hell, she didn’t even know what he was upset about. That considered, he knew that he wasn’t good enough for her, especially now. Taking out his phone, he looked at the screen and saw a few missed calls from her and a few texts. Gulping the lump in his throat, he opened the messages and felt his heart sink into his stomach as he read over them. There were three, and as he read the words over again, he felt tears prick his eyes.
She had nothing to be sorry for. He was the asshole that let things blow out of proportion, all because he let one stupid note get to him. Determined to make it home and fix everything, Dean paid for his drink and left the bar.
He hoped like hell that he hadn’t ruined his whole future in one evening.
Dean entered through the door from the garage. Not a single light was on as he walked further in, seeing the kitchen, dining and living area completely dark. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards the stairs and began the climb to the second floor, knowing he had to face whatever came next, even if he was fearing it so much that his stomach was in knots.
He walked towards their bedroom and stood at the threshold, his heart breaking at what he saw. Only one of the bedside lamps was on, providing the only light in the room. Y/N was lying on the bed, her back to the door, her knees drawn up as she laid in the foetal position, her shoulders shaking. She was sobbing quietly, the sounds low but somehow so loud in the quiet room. With every cry, a piece of his heart felt like it was shattering into smaller shards.
He moved slowly towards the bed, sitting down on the edge, watching as her head slowly turned. Her eyes were red and puffy, wet from the tears she had shed. She looked at him, sitting up slowly, their eyes meeting. Suddenly, she launched herself into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly, crying into the crook of his neck. He felt tears prick his eyes, letting a few escape as he felt his sadness wash over him.
“Y/N,” he choked out. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I never should’ve said the things that I did, I shouldn’t have reacted that way.”
“I was so scared,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I’m sorry for whatever I did, please, just tell me.”
“Sweetheart,” he whispered, pulling her away and cupping her face, looking her deep in the eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m so sorry.”
“How could you ever doubt how I feel about you?” she asked, her voice croaky from how much she had cried. “How could you ever think you’re not good enough for me? What did I do to make you think that?”
“You didn’t do anything, sweetheart. I promise. This was… this was all me and my crap,” he said, shaking his head.
“What did I do to make you doubt me?” she cried, fresh tears making tracks down her face.
“Nothing, sweetheart,” he reassured her, frantically moving towards her, grasping her shoulders. “You didn’t do anything, okay? This… this is the reason I overreacted.”
She frowned as he handed her the paper, but opened the folded page and read over the words written on there. She was confused, knowing she didn’t write this, her eyebrows lifting in realization as she read over the “pros” column.
“I’ll kill her,” she growled, looking up at him with a ferocity in her eyes. “I’ll… God, I wanna hurt her!”
Y/N stood up from the bed and paced the floor, her whole body shaking with how angry she was at that moment. She couldn’t believe that something like this could come between them, showing that Lisa still had a grip on Dean’s mind.
“She doesn’t get to do this to you anymore, Dean!” she yelled, holding up the piece of paper. “She doesn’t get to ruin our future!”
He scoffed a chuckle, shaking her head. “I nearly let her.”
“So, don’t,” Y/N said, walking up to him. She cupped his face in her hands, making him look up at her as he sat on the bed. “You are good enough for me. Every part of you. I love you for exactly who you are, and if I have to spend the rest of our lives together trying to convince you that you’re my one, my everything, that there’s not a doubt in my mind that you’re so right for me, then I’ll do it.”
Wrapping her arms around him, his forehead rested against her chest as she laid her cheek on his head. She held him tightly, neither of them wanting to move away from the other.
“I’m sorry, I’m an idiot,” he muttered, his hands on her hips, feeling the material of his black t-shirt she was wearing against his skin. “I just saw that cheque, and I thought about that list, and I just overreacted.”
“No, you’re not,” she stated, kissing the top of his head. “You were upset.”
“That’s no excuse,” he whispered, hating himself for taking it out on her. “You didn’t deserve that. I uh… I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to end this-”
“Dean, stop,” she choked out, pressing her forehead to his, combing her hand through his hair.
He shook his head, lifting it to look into her eyes. “I’ve been… I’ve been thinking about this even before finding that list. I’m always scared I’m gonna say or do something to give you a reason to leave me. If that happened… I know I wouldn’t survive it.”
Y/N frustratedly wiped her tears away, looking around the room for her sweats. Finding them, she roughly pulled them on and slipped on her sneakers, putting on a light shirt over the black t-shirt she was wearing. Dean watched her; confusion riddled his face as she moved around the room.
“Sweetheart, what are you doing?” he asked, his voice wavering as his mind started to make up horrific scenarios.
“Come with me,” she said, firmly, a determined look on her face as she held her hand out.
“Where are we-” he started but she cut him off, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the bed.
“Shut up,” she muttered, scowling as she dragged him behind her, down the stairs and out of the house, just as she picked up her keys from the table at the entrance.
Knowing he couldn’t argue when she looked so distressed, he followed behind her as they made their way to her car.
“Get in,” she demanded, harshly.
He was shaking, wondering what the hell had come over her suddenly but again did as he was told without saying anything that would possibly make her angrier than he already had. He couldn’t tell what he had done, but she was upset with him.
Dean looked on in silence as Y/N backed out and turned the car, the tires screeching as she sped off down the road. He gulped as she drove, his mind trying to talk itself out of thinking she was possibly going to kill him and dump his body somewhere. However, he also found her anger strangely arousing. They drove ten minutes before he recognized that she wasn’t going to do that, and that she had turned down a very familiar street. They drove past several houses before she stopped, pulling the car up to the curb and cutting the engine.
“Get out,” she ordered, leaving the keys in the ignition and opening the driver’s side door, slamming it shut as she stood on the road.
He got out, closing the passenger door and following behind her, looking around the dark street and quickly realizing they were standing in front of her previous rental house, just across from his and Lisa’s, all that time ago. She pulled at his jacket and he stumbled, straightening when she pulled him to stand in a specific spot next to the curb. She looked up at him, standing directly in front of him as the deep glare, her eyes riddled with sadness, was still on her face.
“Do you remember what happened here?” she asked, her eyes welling with unshed tears.
Frowning, he shook his head as he was unable to think straight, his mind clouded by the sudden change in her demeanour. “Y/N, I-”
“Do you remember what happened here, Dean?” she repeated, her voice cracking slightly as she raised it.
He sighed, glancing between the two houses, giving her a curt nod. “Of course I do.”
“Tell me,” she ordered, not breaking her eye contact with him, the scowl still present.
“It’s…” he cleared his throat, pushing down the lump in his throat as he looked at her. “It’s where I helped you with your stuff. It’s… it’s where we met.”
“Yeah,” she whispered, a tear rolling down her face as she nodded slowly. “And it’s also where my life changed forever. Even if I didn’t know it at the time.”
“Y/N,” he breathed, trying to reach for her hand but she pulled away, making his heart sink. She had never done that. Never.
“Do you remember what was happening in that house?” she asked, the tears flowing freely down her face as she looked across the street.
He looked over, breathing heavily, his breath shaky as he exhaled but said nothing. He remembered all too well.
“You thought you were happy. You thought everything was fine… but you were losing yourself because of-” she choked, shaking her head, overwhelmed as she thought about those early days and her first impressions of his relationship with Lisa. “Because of her, and you didn’t even know it.”
He was silent, unable to say anything or even try to deny it, because he knew it was true. Turning his head to Y/N, he saw her looking up at him, the glare finally disappearing, her eyes holding a determined look despite the tears.
“And now, you could lose yourself because of her again if you don’t stop yourself from thinking that she's right,” she stated, stepping closer to him. “She was never right and she never will be. She didn’t know you like I do. She didn’t love you like I do. She’s gone from our lives… so don’t bring her back into it by going back into the shell she put you in.”
His jaw clenched as he shut his eyes, squeezing them tight as a tear slipped down his right cheek. Lifting her hand, she cupped his cheek and brushed it away with her thumb, stroking his jaw. She pushed up on her tiptoes, capturing his plump lips between hers, kissing him hard and desperately. She needed him to see there was nothing there to leave him over.
Pulling away from the kiss but keeping close, she looked at him as her thumbs stroked along his cheeks. “You’ll never give me a reason to leave you. Not now, not ever.”
“You got a lot of confidence in me, sweetheart,” he muttered, a slight scoff in his tone.
She smiled softly, knowing that if he couldn’t see it himself, she’d spend forever showing him he was worth more than he gave himself credit for.
“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “I do.”
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.
“Don’t be,” she whispered back, her eyes closing, content to be close to him again. “We’re going to be okay.”
“You think so?” he asked, his voice laced with hope, as he lifted his head to look at her properly.
“I know so,” she replied, a soft smile on her face. “You’re not getting rid of me any time soon, Winchester.”
“You still wanna marry me after that?” he asked, a small smile tugging at his lips.
“Yes,” she said, simply as she pushed herself closer into him. “You can’t let something she thought affect you because it’s not true. It doesn’t matter what she thinks. So… promise me, right now, that you’re going to let this go. All that matters is you and me.”
Looking deep into her eyes, he remembered everything they had been through together, and thought about all the amazing things they still had to experience. He wasn’t going to let someone from his past ruin his future.
“I promise,” he said, firmly.
She smiled up at him, moving in and capturing his lips, kissing him passionately. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, sweetheart,” he whispered. “So fucking much.”
“Let’s go home,” she whispered back, stroking her hand lightly over the back of his head. “I think I need to show you just how much I love you.”
He hummed against her lips, kissing her softly. “Yes, please.”
She laughed, biting her lip. “I scared you a little, didn’t I?”
“Well, when I didn’t think about how you could be plotting to kill me,” he joked, smirking as she chuckled, “it was kinda hot to see you pissed off.”
She shook her head, rolling her eyes as she giggled. “You’re crazy.”
“Hey,” he called out, pulling her closer, his hands sliding down to her hips. “I can’t help the fact that it turned me on, sweetheart. It’s just the magic of you.”
She felt her cheeks heat up, pressing her lips together as she tried not to smile. “Let’s go before someone sees us out here.”
Hand in hand, they walked back to the car, separating as they got in. He glanced back at the old house once more, feeling an enormous weight lift off him as he looked at the place that held a lot of pain before Y/N came along. That weight had resurfaced when he saw that list that Lisa had made, but as she always did, Y/N had been there to stop him from losing his way. She was the one who built him back up to the person that he used to be, the one who reignited his spirit. He had known early on how special she was, and she proved time and time again that she was there to stay.
And now, he was never going to lose sight of that. He let Lisa get into his head again, but for the final time, he was putting an end to that. He had someone by his side who wanted to be with him forever, and he was never going to forget that ever again.
Y/N sat at the dining table the next morning, her coffee in hand, all of her plans for the wedding spread out in front of her. She smiled as she sent a few texts out to the girls, asking them if they were available the next weekend to start looking for her wedding dress. As she was looking at photos, she flinched slightly, feeling Dean’s lips against her neck, moving down to her exposed shoulder, the sleeve of his t-shirt she was wearing having slipped down.
“Oh my god, Dean, don’t look!” she yelled, hiding her screen with her hands.
He chuckled, shaking his head as he sat down beside her. “Babe, you haven’t even found a dress yet. I’m pretty sure it’s okay if I can see those.”
“I know, but I don’t want you to see in case I do find something like this,” she explained, smiling sheepishly. “I want to surprise you.”
He smiled as he leaned forward, kissing her softly. “You’re gonna knock me out no matter what dress you pick. Just sayin’.”
“Even if I look like a frosted cupcake?” she teased, giggling.
“Well, yeah,” he agreed, his lips hovering close to hers. “‘Cause then you’ll look good enough to eat.”
“That’s so cheesy,” she snorted, laughing.
“You love it,” he grinned, chuckling along with her.
She pressed her lips to his, kissing him lightly but he had other plans, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her off her chair, onto his lap. She moaned softly against his lips as his fingers ran lightly over her bare thighs, the t-shirt riding up as she straddled him.
“So…” she pulled away from the kiss, reaching for the cheque on the table and showing it to him. “What do we want to do with this?”
“We use it,” he replied, nodding confidently as he smirked. “If there’s any left, we save it for the future, including anything your parents are sending.”
She beamed, brushing her knuckles against his cheek. “Sounds good.”
As they sat there together, having breakfast and coffee as they talked about the plans, Dean was leaving all the negative thoughts behind with the confidence that the woman sitting next to him wasn’t going anywhere. With the promises already made the previous night, he smiled as he thought about all the new ones he would make on the day she finally became his wife.
On the day the next chapter of their lives started.
A chapter he couldn’t wait to explore with Y/N by his side.
-x-
Tags: @deanwanddamons // @winchest09 // @downanddirtydean // @jensengirl83 // @wonder-cole // @that-one-gay-girl // @whatareyousearchingfordean // @flamencodiva // @danneelsmain // @ellewritesfix05 // @roonyxx // @akshi8278 //@hobby27 // @michellethetvaddict // @spngirl05 // @kyjey // @440mxs-wife // @stoneyggirl // @stoneyggirl2 // @deanswaywardgirl // @redbarn1995 // @marianita195 // @babypink224221 // @deans-baby-momma // @parinarain // @thoughts-and-funnies // @mandalou29 // @jerkbitchidjitassbutt // @supernatural-love14 // @vicmc624 // @prettyboyswow // @lunarmoon8 // @irmcpar // @compresshischest09 // @weepingwillowphoenix // @xlynnbbyx // @whiskey-infused-dreams // @perpetualabsurdity // @verytoadpapersoul // @pink-sparkly-witch //
#Life's Lessons Saga#Life's Lessons Time Stamps#Dean x Female!Reader#Dean x Female!Reader Series#Dean x Female!Reader Fanfiction#Female!Reader Insert#Mechanic!Dean#Teacher!Reader#Dean x Reader Fanfiction#Dean Winchester Series#Dean Winchester Fanfiction#Dean Winchester Fanfic#Supernatural Fanfiction
90 notes
·
View notes
Text
Stark's Girl
part 015/015 "the real hero"
previous part
masterlist
word count nearly 9k whoops
an: okay so... this is long and honestly... be prepared for an ending that took me days to write. i do not take any ownership on dialogue/scenes used from endgame, and i tried to make it original as well... anyways, here's the final part, and i can't wait to see what y'all think of the ending :3 oop i cried three times in this so be ready.
Was this actually going to work? Were the Avengers really about to get everyone back? According to Tony.. No. There were too many factors against it.
You tried to talk to him about it that night, but Tony avoided the conversation like the plague. By the morning Tony had disappeared and you were set to head back to the Compound that evening. You hadn’t heard from anyone if they had gotten anywhere beyond Tony’s involvement but it raised the question.. Who would even be able to make it work besides him? Hank Pym had been blipped, and as far as you knew this must be outside of Banner’s expertise. Tony was avoiding you, and that bugged you.
You understood the hesitation, but you knew how tore up he was about losing the Parker kid, even to this day. Morgan and Pepper were his world, this was his fresh start, so if it didn’t work then it was all for nothing. But what if it did? Then everyone would be back, and things would go back to how they were.
You zipped your bag shut and reached for your phone that laid on the bed. There were no new messages and you couldn’t help but sigh when there was a light tap on the door frame behind you. You glanced over your shoulder before tossing your phone into the bag and picking it up, and facing your brother fully. “Look who decided to say goodbye.”
“Got everything?” Tony asked and motioned his hands. “Clothes, toiletries-”
“I have everything,” you reassured him. “Was that all or.. Do you wanna talk about it?”
Tony sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. You dropped your bag to the floor and sat down on your bed, and pat the spot next to you. Tony pushed himself off the door frame and ended up by your side, and you hit him with your shoulder. “Go on old man.”
“I hate it when you call me that,” Tony grumbled before he sighed and looked at you. “I just don’t see it working. And I can’t risk losing all of this.”
“I get that Tony, I really do,” you replied. You slid closer to him and snaked your arm through his and rested your head against his arm. “What you have here it’s.. Well I haven’t seen anything like it since mom and dad.”
“But you want me to figure it out,” Tony said. You sighed and looked up at him.
“I just.. I want to know if you really think it won’t work.”
Tony sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“It’s never been explored, I get that,” you told him. You unlatched yourself from his side and stood, and grabbed your bag before placing a hand on your brother's shoulder. “I have to get back and see what they’ve come up with though.”
Tony placed his hand over yours and gave you a tight squeeze. He spent the rest of the day with one question on his mind.
Would it work?
When you got back to the Compound the sun was nearly setting, and you sat in your car after switching the engine off. You pulled out the velvet box from your bag and ran your thumb over the top a couple times before pushing the lid open and staring at the contents. The ring inside still had a gleam to it, and you smiled a bit at it. You snapped the box shut and got out the car with your bag in tow, and headed inside. There was a strange brown van parked in the large hangar that made you slow your pace a bit, but you shook it off and continued on your way to the common room. As you got closer you could hear more and more chatter, and prepared yourself for what you were about to walk in on.
“I only have enough Pym particles for a few more goes,” you could hear Scott saying. “So I hope you were able to figure it out.”
“I got it down.. Mostly,” another voice said. It sounded almost like.. Banner?
When you came around the corner you were met with what looked like equations, workarounds, and everyone’s back to you. You had heard about “Professor Hulk” (that’s what his students called him at least) but you hadn’t seen Banner since after the blip. It was definitely, well, something. You came to a halt and couldn’t help but smile. “I see you guys have made progress since I saw you.”
Everyone turned around and Natasha approached with a smile. “Did he come around?”
“No,” you admitted. “He has a family now Nat, they mean the world to him.. And he doesn’t think it’ll work.”
“Well,” Nat looked back at Banner before he moved out of the way. “We might have a start.”
Bruce (Hulk?) explained everything. Tomorrow they would attempt time travel by sending Scott back to the 1950’s, and pull him right back. He said it would be easy, and checked his work multiple times to prove it. It sounded plausible, but until the morning no one would really know if it could work. Your nerves were shot at just the thought of it, and decided to make yourself some tea. You weren’t a huge fan, so as you dipped your tea bag into the hot water of your mug, the smell made you shake your head.
“You should try adding some honey.”
You glanced up from your mug at Steve walking into the kitchen. He stopped at a cabinet and pulled out a container filled with golden honey. He made his way to your side and set it on the counter, and you graciously took it and swirled some of it into the steaming cup. You lifted the cup to your lips and took a small sip, and turned to rest your hip against the counter and face Steve. “You think it’ll work?”
“It has to,” Steve said. His hand came up to rub one of your arms. “We owe it to everyone we lost to at least try.”
You nodded at his words and tapped your mug lightly in thought, and something surged through you. You set the mug down and reached into your pocket and pulled out the velvet box he had given you just days prior. Steve felt his heart stop at the sight, and his stomach twisted as you placed it on the counter between you both.
“I know you said you’d give me as much time as I needed, but.. I don’t need time to decide my answer.”
“I’m sorry,” Steve mumbled. “I guess I read too much into things-”
“Steve,” you cut him off from even finishing that thought. You placed your right hand up on his cheek, and Steve met your gaze. “The answer is yes.”
“Yes?” He asked quietly, and you nodded.
“Yes,” you repeated, and couldn’t help but giggle when a smile spread over his face. Steve pulled you into his arms like you were going to disappear right in front of him. When he set you back down you watched as he grabbed the velvet box and opened it, and pulled the ring out. He gently grabbed your left hand and as he slid the ring onto your finger, it felt like both of you weren’t breathing. You held your hand up to look at the gold band and diamond on your finger, and Steve’s smile fell.
“Are you okay?”
You met his gaze again and nodded. “I just never thought this would ever happen for someone like me.”
Admitting that to him felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. Steve’s look turned more understanding and he took your hand and placed a chaste kiss to your fingers. He pulled you into his embrace and your arms wrapped around his waist and head laid on his chest, while his arms held your body close. You had the sneaking suspicion the last few months that Steve did know what had been running through your mind, and this felt like confirmation. Your confession was absolute, and Steve understood it. And he would spend everyday making sure you knew you were worth it until the end.
It was the first night you spent together, welcoming one another’s embraces in a quiet and tender moment. To you, you had felt like it would be one of the last quiet moments before finding out if time travel was possible, because from there it would be non-stop until they got everyone back. You knew it, and Steve did too. One last night of quiet, then one last time saving the world. So Steve took residence in your room once more, sharing your bed and holding you so you knew you were worth this.
The next morning came too soon, peeking through your shades until FRIDAY opened them higher like you had scheduled. Steve traced his fingers up and down your arm that draped across him for awhile before duty called. Begrudgingly you both changed and went to the hangar hand in hand, only separating when you got in view of everyone. Natasha though never misses anything.
“Good morning love birds,” she quipped while typing away on a computer near Banner. As you two neared you came to her side and nudged her with your arm gently to take over.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you replied back and met Steve’s gaze with a little smile.
“The ring on your finger says different,” she threw back your way. Banner looked down over the exchange and saw what Natasha had been talking about.
“What? Since when!” He asked.
“Recently,” Steve offered. Banner tapped his rather large hand on your back and shot a finger Steve’s way.
“I always knew you two would work it out, congratulations.”
“Speaking of working out,” Natasha cut in. “Are we ready?”
“Almost there,” Banner said as he worked on a couple more calculations. “I’m going to go over this with (Y/N).. Cap do you mind setting the breakers and getting the emergency generators ready just in case?”
“Got it,” Steve said. With one final glance between you both he casted a smile and walked back into the compound. Banner hovered over your shoulder and walked you through the equations running through the sequence, and also working in the Pym particles into that. You followed it for the most part, but for some reason something didn’t add up, you just couldn’t put your finger on it. Tossing caution to the wind (you weren’t a genius like Banner was of course) the sound of footsteps echoed in the hangar, and Steve made his way back.
“Alright, here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott you can fire up the uh, the van thing,” Banner instructed. Scott, in what looked like a retro Ant Man suit, powered up the Quantum tunnel and you double checked Banner’s work.
“Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby,” Steve said as he walked back to your and Natasha’s side.
“Good. ‘Cause if we lose the grid I don’t want to lose Tiny here in the 1950’s,” Banner said lightly. Everyone’s gaze went to him in shock.
“Excuse me?” Scott asked from near the van.
“He’s kidding!” Natasha told him, before turning and whispering to the group. “You can’t say things like that!”
“Yeah, just a bad joke!” Banner said loudly for Scott, and offered him a thumbs up. Scott nodded hesitantly and smiled nervously.
“You were kidding right?” You asked. Banner lowered his voice again.
“I have no idea. We’re talking about time travel here. Either it’s all a joke or none of it is,” Banner explained, though it didn’t calm any of your hesitations. Banner looked back to Scott and gave him a nod. “We’re gonna send you back a week, let you walk around an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Make sense?”
“Perfectly not confusing,” Scott tried to level with humor.
“Good luck, Scott. You got this,” Steve offered in encouragement which Scott gave a more confident smile.
“You’re right. I do, Captain America.”
You met Scott’s gaze for a moment before giving him a nod of approval, and with Banner’s direction you pressed a button and Scott disappeared into the tunnel. Silence fell over the group, and you exchanged glances with Steve, who put his hand on the small of your back. Banner, with his arms crossed keeping track of time on his abnormally large watch gave you a nod.
“On the count of three. Three.. Two.. One!”
In the same sequence as before you pressed the button and the Quantum Tunnel spit a figure back out… But it was not the same one you sent in. They were younger, and your heart dropped as Banner moved you out the way.
“Guys? Uh this doesn’t feel right,” the teen said, and everyone’s attention shot to Banner.
“What is this?” Steve asked.
“Who is that?” Natasha asked next and Banner mumbled to himself.
“Jesus, is that Scott?” You asked this time and Banner huffed.
“Yes, it’s Scott!” Banner exclaimed. Before anyone could get a grasp on the situation, Banner hit buttons and teen Scott was sucked back into the Quantum Tunnel, only for an older man to be spit back out.
“My back,” the old Scott said and Steve shuffled next to you to face Banner fully.
“Can you bring him back?” Steve asked and Banner tapped the buttons furiously.
“I’m working on it!”
Tensions were high as old Scott got sucked back in and in a flash another body was spit out. The Ant-Man suit had fallen to the floor and inside was..
“It’s a baby,” you said matter of factly.
“It’s Scott,” Banner countered.
“As a baby!” Nat said again, matter of factly.
“He’ll.. Grow,” Banner offered and Steve shook his head.
“Bring Scott back!” Steve ordered. And Banner looked to Natasha and motioned to the generators.
“When I say kill the power, kill the power,” he instructed her. Natasha nodded before rapidly walking towards the generator and grabbing a hold of the lever. You came up by Banner’s side again to see what he was doing and he pointed at Nat. “Kill it!”
Nat pulled the power and out shot regular Scott, which made everyone sigh in relief. Scott, on the other hand, stood there in disbelief and admitted something quietly. “Somebody peed my pants.. But I don’t know if it was baby me or old me.”
You glanced Steve’s way and offered a sad smile. Tony was right, this wasn’t going to work. Natasha came back to the group and mumbled a thank god, while Steve wrapped his arm around your shoulders.
It wasn’t going to work. It was a grim thought, and everyone got their hopes up for nothing. Though Banner still tried to remain optimistic, and threw his hands up in triumph.
“Time travel!” Banner exclaimed, only earning a few shakes of the head. Steve motioned his head in a direction and off you two went, leaving behind Nat and Banner, and Scott who didn’t know what to do about his situation.
Steve had led you outside into the sunlight, where he removed himself from your side and let you walk out of the shade and close your eyes. He felt defeated, and took a seat on a hard surface and casted his gaze to the ground.
There was no victory, not even an opportunity for it. He had to once again come to terms with the fact he would never see Bucky again, or Sam, or Wanda. Wakanda would never get their King or Princess back, and the kid from Queens would never get to step foot back in the city. Steve was so lost in thought he nearly missed what you said.
“Holy shit,” you said out loud. Steve averted his gaze back to you, only to see what you had referred to. A car was fast approaching, and he knew just who was behind the wheel. Steve was by your side before the car came to a halt before you and the window rolled down.
“Why the long faces?” Tony asked.
You couldn’t help the smile that broke out over your face. There would only be one reason why Tony would come here (voluntarily)... He figured it out.
“Let me guess.. Lang turned into a baby,” Tony said and you covered your mouth to hide your grin. Steve nodded beside you and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?” Steve asked. Tony removed his sunglasses and tossed them onto the passenger seat before stepping out the car. He walked around the back, and opened the trunk.
“That’s the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you must’ve pushed time through Lang. It’s tricky, dangerous even. Somebody should’ve cautioned you on it,” Tony went on explaining. Steve smiled a bit and nodded at him.
“You did,” Steve admitted and Tony put his hand over his chest, acting shocked.
“Did I? Well thank God I’m here,” Tony replied while fishing something out of his pocket. It looked like a funky little watch, which he promptly tossed your way and you caught easily. “Regardless, I fixed it. That is a fully functioning Time-Space GPS.”
“Son of a bitch,” you mumbled to yourself looking at the device in your hands.
“And don’t think I didn’t notice that,” Tony pointed from where he was. You looked at where he was pointing and smiled at the sight of the ring on your finger. “I just want peace, if you’re okay with it.”
“Of course I am Tony,” Steve confirmed and Tony sighed as he lowered his voice for the two of you.
“We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities. Bring back what we lost? I hope so, yes of course. Keep what I got?” Tony paused while focused on you and nodded at him. “I have to, at all costs.. and maybe not die trying would be nice.”
“Sounds like a deal,” Steve agreed and offered Tony his hand, and you watched them shake on the promise. Tony pulled one last thing from the trunk of his car and Steve looked uncertain to take it. “Tony-“
“Why? He made it for you,” Tony insisted. And finally.. Steve took the shield once more.
“Looks good, Cap,” you commented, earning one of those looks from Steve and Tony shut his trunk.
“Ew. Please I don’t need to hear that.”
The Compound was about to be bustling once more. It was one of the more festive dinners the Avengers compound had seen in awhile, nearly every seat occupied and chatter among everyone. Pizza was the easier choice for the evening, and you had found yourself looking for a seat near Nat, Tony, and Steve who had engrossed themselves in early talks.
Clint had proven that Tony’s way of time travel worked, though it had taken a couple weeks to get it ready. You learned the calculations for entry points and exits, then re-entry back to the present. It was confusing, but the thought of getting the world back to normal was worth the late night lectures with Tony.
So now it was down to figuring out where and how to get all the stones as they are scattered throughout time. There wasn’t a clear path though, not yet anyway. But as you came up to the trio you could hear them still discussing it.
“I’m so glad we have the Three Stooges figuring this out,” you commented as Steve welcomed you to sit in his lap. Tony tossed a napkin your way and you chuckled before taking a glance around the room. “It’s nice to see all these faces again.”
“Hopefully soon it’s everyone,” Natasha offered. Her hope never died these last five years, and it made you nod in agreement as you bit into your slice of pizza. One of Steve’s hands ran up and down the side of your hip, and everything felt a little more normal.
“Lang only has enough particles for ten round trips, one for each of us,” Tony went on about, though you quickly swallowed the bite of pizza you had to inject.
“What about me-“
“No,” Steve and Tony said in unison. You narrowed your gaze at them both and took an angry bite of your pizza. It was ridiculous that they made the decision you were to stay here and track them on the time heist.
“Thor and Rocket could go for the Reality Stone in 2013,” Steve offered.
“Clint and I can get the Soul Stone, Nebula and Rhodey can handle the Power Stone.. We know where those are in 2014,” Natasha said out loud.
“That still leaves three stones and four of us,” Tony sighed. You shrugged your shoulders and took a bite of the crust you had left.
“I mean if you pick the right year, there’s three stones in New York,” you said off the top of your head. When silence fell among the group and you looked up to see them all staring at you you raised a brow. “What?”
“What did you just say?” Tony asked and you blinked at him.
“I said if you pick the right year there are three stones in New York?” You replied and when everyone still looked confused you sighed. “The wizard had the Time Stone, you guys had the Space Stone aka the Tesseract, and Loki’s scepter had the Mind Stone.”
It was silent, everyone seemed to be processing what you said when Banner came up to the group, but Tony was already in motion. “There’s only one pizza left can I have it-“
“Jolly Green take a look at this,” Tony said as he whipped out a small device and displayed images in the room. His actions made everyone else look on as he moved pictures, air typed words, and took a step back to show everyone. Tony put his hands on his hips and Banner looked surprised.
“Shut the front door.”
“This is it,” Natasha stood and looked on. “This is how we get all the stones in one go.”
For once you were glad to have caught up on all those confidential SHIELD documents on what you had missed.
No..
No no no. No it wasn’t supposed to be like this. This wasn’t supposed to happen, no one was supposed to die.. This was supposed to fix everything, but not this. No.. No it wasn’t true. What Clint was saying couldn’t be true.
He fell to his knees, he had to be picked up from the floor as he recounted what happened. A soul for a soul, he said. It shouldn’t have been the price but it was, he said.
It couldn’t be true.
The thought just ran over and over again in your mind the rest of the day. Everyone had gone to the lake and discussed it more but that one line just kept running over you. Clint insisted there was no other way, there was no give backs.
She bet her life on it.
Tony crafted a gauntlet to house the stones in. He carefully placed each like where Thanos had them originally. He was precise, this was delicate after all. Someone died to make this happen.
Steve was distant. You chalk it up to being focused on the situation at hand.
But who should snap?
Thor offered but was met with (quickly) apprehension from everyone. Tony said he was in no condition to do so, so Bruce said it should be him.
“You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive,” Banner said.
“How do we know you will?” You asked. It was one of the first times you had spoken up in days, and seemed to shock everyone a little bit.
Honestly, you couldn’t handle someone else dying right now.
There was no way to know for sure, but it was time to find out. This time you weren’t letting anyone tell you not to join, and you grabbed the nano suit attachment Tony had made for you. The chest pendant stuck to your shirt and like a second skin it dispersed the suit over your body, leaving your face still exposed.
You came up by Steve’s side and he glanced your way and sighed. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Let me be here for this,” you said lowly. Steve didn't question you again, and strapped his shield tighter to his arm as Scott came to his side and gave him a ready nod.
“FRIDAY do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol will you?” tony asked.
Barn Door Protocol was simple. There were protective blast doors that closed the Compound in the event of a catastrophic event. It protected every square inch of the facility-
You get the point by now. It’s in case some shit goes down.
The room got slightly darker, and Tony gave you a nod across the room and both your helmets covered your faces. Tony projected a shield before him and Clint, and you shifted in your place.
This was it: one last mission.
Banner slowly put on the gauntlet, the metal growing over his enlarged hand, and when it fit snugly the stones began to glow and you could see their power begin to surge through him. Suddenly, Banner fell to his knee and grunted in pain.
“Take it off!” Thor hollered.
“No, wait,” Steve called over the chaos. “Bruce you okay?”
“Talk to us, Banner,” you tried to reason over the conflicting voices.
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Bruce reassured everyone and even attempted to give a thumbs up. But the scene unfolding told you (and probably everyone) that Bruce was not okay. He screamed in pain, holding his hand that housed the gauntlet and just when you thought he was going to pass out from the pain he was in--
-- He snapped.
Bruce fell to the ground and the gauntlet slid off his hand and Clint kicked it away. Steve rushes to his side and you move to do the same but Tony stops you.
“Don’t move him,” Tony instructed and Bruce gripped onto Steve’s arm.
“Did it work? Bruce asked immediately. Everyone glanced around, unsure if it did or not.
Nothing felt different, nothing screamed yes it worked. Tony iced Bruce’s affected arm and just when the dust was settling-
A bad choice of words. Suddenly everything evaporated around you. Explosions, debris, rock and dirt flying everywhere. Everything was disorienting, nothing truly felt settled for minutes. You weren’t sure how long time had passed, but there was chatter in your ear and you gasped back to life.
“We’re drowning! Does anybody copy? Mayday!” Rhodey’s voice rang a little choppy.
You groaned as you pushed yourself up, feeling the same water building around you. Rhodey, Rocket and Hulk came into view and you forced yourself up, having to crouch because of the fallen pieces of cement. You rushed over as water continued to fill the small cramped area, and came to Bruce’s side.
Your boots cemented themselves to whatever ground you stood on and helped push the cement that was threatening you all. “I got you, big guy.”
See you on the other side, man,” Rhodey said to Rocket who was next to him. The water was quickly rising, and this didn’t feel real.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Bruce and you couldn’t bear the weight, not with the water circling your necks. It was an ironic death, because your life did flash before your eyes. Seeing your parents death, seeing Tony again, that date with Steve where he kissed you in the rain, then the flashes of Siberia, Natasha’s last smile.. You wouldn’t admit this to anyone until much later, but you welcomed this ending.
Suddenly something cupped you all and air rushed around you. The large hand hugged you all carefully, and when they released you the scene of the outside world was a punch in the stomach, but there was no time to reflect. You could see that Purple Titan from this far, and you could also make out the size of his army.
And by the looks of it, Bruce’s snap worked.
Bruce leaped out of Scott’s hand and Rhodey, back in his suit hovered with Rocket, and you landed by his side. The chants of the Wakandan tribes ring in the air, but one voice cuts over the comms in your suit and you clutch your fists.
“Avengers!” Steve calls out.
“Assemble.”
Both forces charge one another, Thanos still on the battlefield pointing his legion on. You had flown in with Rhodey by your side as both sides met in a chaotic middle, and landed before one of the ugly Sakaaran aliens and ricocheting them backwards with the repulsors in your palm. Asgardians, Wakandan forces, wizards, and fellow Avengers fought all around you. Landing by your side, your brother shot another alien backwards past you.
“You alright?” his voice projected into your suit. An alien charged you and you grabbed it around the neck and propelled yourself upwards before using the momentum to slam the body back down to the ground.
“Oh just the usual Tuesday,” you replied before someone landed beside you two.
“Mr. Stark! Hey! Holy cow-” the young kid started. You gave your brother an understanding nod, and flew back up into the air, eyes landing on an incoming Leviathan, heading straight for Clint.
“Anyone have my back with the big space worm?” You asked over the comms, while cycling through the weapon options of your suit quickly.
“I got it!” Scott called over the comms and you took a play out of your brothers book. Scott was charging forward and as the Leviathan came near the forces fighting below, he punched the space worm, and with your charge ready, a small missile shot out from your suit and into a now exposed piece of flesh and exploded the Leviathan. Scott continued on, but in your state of distraction one of the Chitauri from the ground leapt up and pulled your downwards.
Shocked, the alien slammed your back down to the ground, and with a scepter like device flourished downward to pin you. You stopped the scepter just before impacting your chest and huffed and you tried to push them off, but they’re a lot heavier than they look. Before you have time to panic, the alien is thrown off of you, and a couple shots ring through the air.
Standing above you is Bucky Barnes.
Barnes lowers his gun and looks down at you, before offering his exposed vibranium hand for you to take. Without hesitation, you grip his hand and he pulls you up but not without lingering his hand in yours before letting you go, and you give him a nod.
“Thank you,” you tell him. “That’s two I owe you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Barnes replied. Both of your attention is pulled away when chatter erupts in your ears.
“We have incoming!” Someone shouted. Everyone turned their attention above as the looming ship Thanos arrived in began to fire. The same explosions that rocked the Compound hit the ground in the same destructive way, but the wizards (you really needed to learn the correct term for them) began to make shields to cover the people around them. You projected the shield Tony had integrated into these new suits and held it above you while Barnes shot at a couple more aliens who were still attempting to attack.
“Guess that’s only one you owe me,” Barnes said next to you and you let your helmet disappear to look at him fully.
“Did you just make a joke?” You asked and he shrugged.
“I do that sometimes,” he replied and you smiled a bit before your helmet reappeared over your face.
Above, you could just barely make out the Spider kid with the gauntlet being carried away on a Pegasus before you see them get knocked off the winged horse. But there was no telling how to get the ship to stop firing on both forces below, and that started to sit badly in the pit of your stomach. But in near perfect timing, the cannons stopped, and everyone around looked at one another in question (including you and Barnes). Your shield disappeared and the cannons moved to point upwards, and shot into the sky.
“What are they firing at?” You asked over the comms, before FRIDAY answered that something was entering the atmosphere.
In a blazing ball of glory shoots down from the sky and into a part of the ship, straight through, and then back in, all before shooting out as the ship began to crumble below her. You smiled behind your helmet before refocusing on the scene before you.
Get the gauntlet to the brown van, and put an end to Thanos once and for all.
“See you on the other side, Barnes,” you commented to him before shooting back off into the thick of it all. In a matter of seconds Thanos threw his sword towards the brown van and almost in slow motion, the gauntlet is lost in the dirt. You land besides Steve, who seemed to have almost forgot you had been here during this.
“(Y/N)-”
“We can’t let him get that gauntlet again,” you said to him, your eyes trained on your brother who was heading that way. “We can’t lose anyone else.”
Instead of arguing with you, Steve nodded in agreement and he outstretched his hand, and Mjolnir flew into his grasp, his shield on the other arm. Side by side you charged towards Thanos just as he smacked your brother away, Thor arriving at the same time. The two men teamed up to distract Thanos, and you focused your attention on the gauntlet, whose stones shined under the grim that now governed it. You could see Thanos overpower both Thanos and Steve, and with no one else in sight you picked the gauntlet up and back into the air you went. But you didn’t get very far, a large hand grabbing ahold of one of your legs and pulled you backwards, and for the first time you came face to face with the Titan who ruined everything.
Thanos used his free hand to grab a hold of your neck and released your leg, and you felt the metal of your suit dig into your sin as you gasped for air. Thanos looked you over, as if he could see your frightened expression behind your suit, and with his free hand he plucked the gauntlet from you and looked it over. His hand still was tight around your neck, and your vision began to fade before he looked back at you.
“Pathetic,” he muttered to you, before tossing you away. You weren’t sure how far you landed, but the impact shocked your body. You could feel yourself come in and out of consciousness, hazy vision of the dark clouds in the sky moving ever so slightly each time you came too. It wasn’t until the snarl of an Outrider nearing you did you finally find the strength to push yourself up, but before it lunged at you.. It disappeared into the wind like dust.
Pushing yourself up, you watched as all around all of Thanos’ different forces began to crumble away into dust. The Chitauri, the Sakaraans, and the Outriders all disappear before your very eyes in the same manner half the world did five years ago. You pushed yourself forward, over a heap of debris in what seemed like just enough time to see Thanos sit himself down in the middle of an open area. Thunder crackled above, and Thanos crumbled away into dust as well.
It.. It was over. It was really over.
Your helmet disappeared so you could see the spectacle for yourself. The only people still around were the Avengers, and everyone who helped that day (you would call them Avengers as well). You smiled a bit as your eyes landed on Steve who was focused somewhere else, but then he looked around frantically before spotting you. His expression made your chest hurt as you looked to where he had been staring previously.
No..
You could see Tony fall to the ground and people begin to surround him. There was an urgency in each step you took and when someone tried to stop you you pulled your hand from their grasp to get closer. You needed to see your brother, he had to be okay.
He just had to be.
When you finally got to his side you felt your heart stop. Peter was being pulled off the ground by Rhodey, while Pepper took his spot. She was stroking the side of Tony’s face, and whispering something to him you couldn’t hear. You found yourself taking in every detail, but still you couldn’t believe what you were witnessing. Tony stared off into the distance, his body was… It was just completely eaten up from what you knew were the stones. He was the one who snapped, and you shook your head in disbelief.
He was supposed to go home after this.
People looked at you, and Pepper glanced behind to meet your gaze. She held out her hand and you took a heavy step forward, until you kneeled down in front of your big brother… But his eyes held nothing in them anymore. Carefully you grabbed his hand that Pepper wasn’t holding and you gave him a squeeze, not really sure what to say.
With a shaky hand you reached out to stroke the side of his face that wasn’t burned, but your touch did nothing to get a response from him. You could feel the tears fall down your cheeks as you watched him barely breath, and you shook your head.
“I love you so much,” you managed before the sobs in your chest ached to be released. “I love you-”
Just as you were struggling to get the last words out, the light of his arc reactor went out. You gasped lowly as Pepper fell forward to sob into Tony’s shoulder, and someone pulled you off the ground as your sobs were just starting. Steve had pulled you into his embrace as you cried, and the somber feeling carried through everyone else.
You had lost the last piece of family you had left.
Uncertainty. That was the one thing that had settled into your life those days between the battle and Tony’s funeral. Those of you who needed it found yourselves in a hotel in the city, and each of your days blended together in the same way. You slept all day, most of the time waking up and opting to stay in bed and stare ahead.. Your eyes burned, and you didn’t know what to do with yourself.
Steve stayed with you, though it was hard on him. When you first arrived, you nearly immediately got into the bed and under the sheets, and he couldn’t coax you out for two days. He opened the blinds to the windows, but you stared blankly out, and when he came with food you told him you weren’t hungry. He tried to help, but he didn’t know how.
The day before the funeral, when he finally got you to eat oatmeal (even if it was just a couple spoonfuls) and managed to get you into the shower, he tucked you back into bed and you went to sleep once more. He stayed in the room for a while, his own thoughts heavy on his mind, before going to the one person he knew would understand him the most.
When Bucky answered the door, he gave him a sad smile and let him into his room. Steve walked in and stopped in front of the windows overlooking the city, which was now bustling with life again. Bucky came up behind him, and Steve could hear him open the mini fridge in the room and pull something out.
“How is she?” Bucky asked. Steve sighed and turned back to face his friend while crossing his arms.
“I got her to eat a bit, but Buck… I’ve never seen her like this and I.. I don’t know what to do,” Steve admitted. Bucky sat himself on the edge of his bed with a water bottle in his hand and sighed.
“You just have to be there for her, Steve,” Bucky offered. “No matter how long it takes.”
The guilt on his conscience was too much, and Steve nodded in response. He took a seat in the chair across from the bed and rubbed his hands together, all while Bucky took sips from his water and watched him closely. Bucky knew he was holding something back.
“Steve.. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Steve looked up to meet his best friend's gaze, before looking back down to the ground. “I… I don’t think I belong here anymore, Buck.”
Bucky’s brows narrowed as he looked at his friend. Where was this coming from? Hethought you two would’ve worked things out in the five years he was gone, Bucky had only assumed so since Steve was by your side during this.. He thought Steve moved on from this kind of talk. “What do you mean Steve.”
“What if I should go back?” Steve asked him, meeting Bucky’s gaze again. “There’s a way now and… And I saw Peggy-”
“You saw Peggy?” Bucky asked, and Steve gave him a nod. “Steve now think about this… I thought you were over this, I thought you were set on making things right with (Y/N)-”
“I was,” Steve cut him off this time. “But Buck when I saw Peggy… There’s something telling me that… That it was always supposed to be her.”
“Yeah, maybe back then,” Bucky conceded. “But Steve think about now. You’re here for a reason, not back there… I thought you passed this.”
“Maybe I never was,” Steve asserted. Bucky looked over his friend, and he shook his head and stood up again.
“I think you should consider this a lot more than you have… Because there is someone really hurting right now, and she needs you,” Bucky told him. “I don’t know if you two worked it out over these last few years but Steve you need to think about this.”
Tony was… Exceptional. He was what you had always wanted to be when you grew up. And maybe that was more true now than ever.
You found yourself unable to do a lot of things the last few days, including dress yourself for this funeral. You felt sickly, but the cries had drawn themselves out and left you too tired to continue today. You were there for the entirety of Tony’s message to his family, and Steve was still by your side as Pepper set a wreath with an old arc reactor into the lake by their home.
You felt empty. Emptier and more alone than you had ever felt.
When you managed to be alone you had wandered off by yourself to Tonys’ work shed and pried it open. Dust lingered in the air, and you entered slowly with hands shoved into the pockets of the coat you had been wearing. You were chilly, probably getting sick, but you ignored the thought as you turned the light on to see better.
What you had been searching for was staring at you like it had been weeks ago. Slightly discolored, the photo of Tony and you from when you were younger screamed at you of a feeling you’d never feel again. You reached out for it with a shakiness you couldn’t control and grabbed it, and traced your fingers over the glass front before holding it to your chest in an effort to comfort the pain in your heart.
The floor echoed as someone entered, and you wiped the tears from your face as they came up behind you. They didn’t sound like Steve’s footsteps, and you turned to face the person who must’ve followed you out.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Bucky Barnes said to you. You found yourself nodding and looked back down at the photo you were clinging onto.
“Me too,” you admitted quietly. When you met Bucky’s gaze again he looked like he wanted to say something, but Steve came up behind him and the moment was stopped. Steve glanced between you two before refocusing on you, and he cleared his throat.
“Happy has something for you,” Steve admitted and you gave him a nod. Steve waited for you to pass him before Bucky turned his way and gave him a knowing look. Though they hadn’t discussed it since, Bucky hoped Steve had come to his senses.
Things never felt normal for you, not as soon as people seemed to hope it would. You tried to be more.. Enthusiastic. But how could you just be okay after that?
Weeks had passed since the funeral, and you didn’t feel any better. Happy had given you a drive with a message he said Tony had left for you, but you couldn’t seem to bring yourself to listen to it. Not yet, maybe ever. It was hard enough seeing his face plastered on the news, and in depth reporting on the Stark legacy, with people questioning what you would contribute in the family’s wake. Even Steve had asked you about your commitment to one another… You hate to admit it but you told him you couldn’t right now, not with this pain in your heart. He told you he understood. You weren’t sure if he noticed, but you tucked the ring he had given you back into the velvet box, and then away safely.
But things were uneasy between you two, and you did what you always do. When Bruce called with work, you accepted it. Anything to get you mind off the thoughts that ran rampant. There was one last thing that needed to be done: the stones needed to be returned.
You had memorized every detail of Tony’s work when it came to the Quantum portal. Bruce and you had replicated one in record time, and on a sunny day you stood there beside him double checking the trajectories. Steve had volunteered to return the stones, with no arguments from anyone on the matter.
“Now, remember,” Bruce explained to Steve. “You have to return the stones to the exact moment you got them. Or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities.”
“Don’t worry Bruce, clip all the branches,” Steve said as he messed with the com in his ear. You were too focused on the conversations that unfolded, your mind drifting off for a moment before being pulled back with Bruce setting his hand on your back.
“You okay?” He asked, and you nodded and returned to finalizing the jump.
“I’m fine,” you reassured him and looked up to see Bucky and Steve hug for a moment. Steve stepped up onto the platform and the familiar Quantum suit appeared over him. He picked up the case that had all the stones, and Mjolnir as well.
“How long is this gonna take?” Sam asked.
“For him? As long as he needs. For us? Five seconds,” Bruce explained before meeting Steve’s look. “We’ll meet you back here, okay?”
Steve looked at you, with a look on his face you couldn’t quite place. Your stomach felt like it was twisted in a knot, even though he gave a nod and looked back Bruce’s way.
“You bet,” Steve replied.
“Going quantum in three, two, one..” Bruce counted down before Steve disappeared. You intently watched his stream disappear on the monitor you had before you, and Bruce started counting again. “And returning in five, four, three two, one-”
When Steve didn’t reappear you frantically looked for his stream location, only to see it shoot past his return point. “He blew right past his time stamp-”
Bruce moved you out the way and your gaze focused on the empty Quantum portal, and you shook your head a bit. You could hear the conversations around you, but couldn’t quite make out the words being said. All you knew was Steve didn’t come back. When everyone went quiet your attention went to the three men who were focused in the distance, with Sam heading towards a figure who hadn’t been there before.
You stepped off the platform you had been working on and took a few steps in the grass closer to where Bucky was standing and watching whatever was unfolding. You had your disbelief, but that was crumbled the minute you saw Sam take the shield, and you could now make out it was an old man.
When Tony died time had all but warped together.. But what you were seeing right now had felt like the ground was taken out from under you. The older man had stood and shaken Sam’s hand, and when they looked back at Bucky, when you could see those eyes even from this far you stumbled backwards. They were Steve’s eyes.
Confusion… Panic… Hurt. Everything coursed through you at once, and ignoring the calls from whoever tried to get you to stay, to probably talk about it, you turned away from the scene and pulled the arc attachment from your pocket and desperately threw it onto your chest. The suit that you hadn’t worn since the battle appeared out your body, hid your face behind a helmet and you shot off from the ground with only one destination in your mind.
You had never used the fastest flight power Tony’s suits had to offer but you did that day for the first time. You needed to get back to the hotel you had been staying at quickly, and when you landed on the roof and your suit disappeared as you ran for the entrance to the building, you needed to find it.
Out of breath by the time you made it to your room and threw open the door and it shut behind you, you overlooked your room and couldn’t get your mind together. You hurried over to the bedside table you had hidden what you were looking for and pulled it out the housing completely, only to find it empty.
A frantic panic flooded you, and in a matter of minutes you had nearly destroyed the hotel room, overturning every piece of furniture, overlooking every crevice you could find. You rested your back against a wall and breathed heavily, before sliding down and for the first time in weeks, fresh sobs left your body.
Steve Rogers had taken his ring back. And now you were truly alone…
...In 1974, Howard Stark was going to unveil his City of the Future to the world, but was having a hard time coming up with the right words. Tony had interrupted him once, though he couldn’t hold it against the kid, he was only four and Howard worked late nights. With Maria talking about wanting another kid, Howard was doing whatever he could to set them up for success, and here he was, getting ready to record a message for them.
He just needed to get something off his chest, and he leaned back against his desk with his arms crossed before him, and searched his mind for the right words. He tapped his foot lightly before sighing under his breath.
“I’ve never been a man of many words, as crazy as that sounds. But trying to build all of this, I’ve had to put my best foot forward,” Howard started. He touched the model beside him and looked at the camera. “You don’t know it yet but your mother is talking about having another baby, and I’m… I’m looking forward to that, when it happens.
“Tony, you are too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you, and by the looks of it your brother or sister, and some day you two will realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world.”
Later on Howard would go on to edit this message, just weeks before his death, to include another message. This one would go unheard for years. Until you were ready, this message sat alongside Tony’s on the drive he left for you.
“You turned five this year. When someone told me that I would become a sucker for my little girl, man did they mean it,” Howard chuckled. Something caught his attention off screen, but he looked at the camera he had set up in his study and on a rare occasion he smiled. “With Tony, he became my vision, the reason why I wanted my work to make the biggest impact on the world… So that he would have the best future. But you? You’re my aspiration. And just like Tony, I know you’re going to change the world… If you both sat through these messages, I just want you to know one last thing.
“What is, and always will be, my greatest creation... is you two."
- - - - - - - - - -
taglist // message me to be added or feel free to add yourself!!
@elliee1497 @iizabxlla @bulbasor-charmander-2020 @littlemoistcarrot @dottirose@meraki–mei @littledaph @fckdusername @bisexuwhale9669 @mottergirl99 @vxidnik@anabutnotpro @ilovesupersoldiers @incorrect-artist @caseymcflurry@robindoesntloveme @cherryara @fightforspring @annetries @petlaufeyson@weasleyisourjedi @loganrwebb @marinettepotterandplagg @snarky–starky@emotionalcal @feelmyroarrrr @chewymoustachio @cass4nova @holy-rosewater@natdrunk @botchedzucchini @booksarebae2000 @chelseaxaz @stealapizzamyheart @iamninaanna @xoxonotme @chrisevansiseverything @stupid-simp33
#steve rogers#steve rogers x reader#steve rogers x you#steve rogers x stark!reader#steve x reader#steve x you#steve rogers x y/n#steve rogers fanfiction#stark siblings#stark!reader#Tony stark x sister!reader
157 notes
·
View notes
Text
Friends With Monsters - Part 1
Requested by a user on ao3. I’m putting “Part 1″ on this because I already know I’m coming back to revisit this crew in the future.
***
One would perhaps think that as the first mate, the captain might deign to give Geta the slightest hint of reasoning for their latest addition to the crew. Or at least, that’s what First Mate Geta Erenti thought.
Adding an arzhi?! To the crew?! Did the captain want everyone to die a gruesome death?! The incidents at the Oshe’al Belt weren’t so long ago that they’d been lost to memory, and the arzhi had played a major part in the brutal battle, both in space and planetside warfare. They were large and imposing, on average standing head, shoulders, and chest above even the tallest biet, human, or thrishal. They were covered in short fur, spikes, and dense muscle that tore relentlessly through ground troops, and reacted quickly with any manner of weapons or at the control of a fighter ship. There were members of this very crew that had been part of the battle. There were even more members of this very crew that had lost people they knew in that battle.
And yet when Captain Stern Bauer sent her the updated ship roster, there was an arzhi on the list of new recruits. Not only that, but they were listed as a new ship medic!
Geta went immediately to find the captain. He was on break in the mess hall, eating a bowl of brenntar like he hadn’t a care among the stars.
“Captain Stern, sir, do you have a moment that I could speak with you?”
The Captain sighed and put down his eating utensils. “I think I already know what you’re here to talk to me about and I would like to point out that the roster has already been posted and the new recruits are already en route to our coordinates. No, there is nothing I can do to change that, and even if there were, I wouldn’t.”
Geta held her beak shut tightly before a few words escaped that she’d regret saying. She’d served under Captain Stern long enough to know to hear and recognize the tone of his voice. He’d made a decision and that was that.
“But why?” Geta finally said once she felt she could contain herself once again. “Why would you put together the roster with… with them on it without at least consulting me?”
“I’ve made plenty of rosters on my own before. You and I both know you would have taken issue with Arzhi Fehl’s inclusion.”
“Of course I do! And for good reasons! At least then I could have perhaps pointed out that having an arzhi aboard this ship could lead to a multitude of issues with the rest of the crew.”
Captain Stern stared at her with a gray/green striped face that did not betray any emotions. “I am aware. It was not a decision I made lightly, but I have my reasons for accepting their application to the crew.” He paused to return to his meal briefly to take another bite and chew as Geta looked like she was on the verge of bursting. He’d served with her long enough to recognize the expressions she made when she was trying to hold back her rather… lively emotions. He smiled and finished what was left of his meal.
“As captain of this ship, I have full authority to reject or accept new recruits to this crew. I realize you have every right to be upset with me for breaking protocol by not involving you with this last round of recruits, and for that, I do apologize. Although,” he broke his stoic expression to smile mischievously, “one might say I could blame my upbringing on that.”
Geta’s tail twitched as a mixture of amusement and annoyance broke through her formal demeanor. He always did that when she caught him bending rules like this. It was a very human thing to do, and while Captain Stern was no human, he had been raised by one.
“With all due respect, you can’t keep using that as an excuse to ignore protocol, sir.”
“That’s probably true, Geta,” Captain Stern began calmly gathering his things and cleaning up his eating area. “But my ‘bending of the rules’ in deciding the arzhi onto our crew by myself isn’t the only reason you’re here, is it?”
Geta clenched her clawed hands so tightly, she almost cut into her calloused pads. She struggled against the swirling torrent of emotions she felt, but she knew it was becoming a losing battle. “Why an arzhi?” She kept her volume down at a reasonable level, but the anger leaked through her voice more than she’d like when talking to a superior, even one as familiar and close to her as the captain. “Why bring such a monster in among our crew?”
Having gathered all the mess from his meal, Captain Stern paused and sat silently looking at her expectantly. Geta knew the look. She sighed and slowly unclenched her fists. Her shoulders, she realized were also pulled in tightly and she took a moment to release the tension she’d been holding. The captain smiled ever so slightly and gestured to an empty chair and waited for her to sit before responding.
“This is not a decision I’ve made lightly. And again, I must, perhaps less jokingly this time, partially blame my upbringing. You’re aware that when humans first arrived on the galactic scene, they caused quite a stir.”
After a few tiks, Geta realized he was waiting for a response. “I’ve heard the stories, yes.” Of course, she had. Everyone knew the stories. Humans, with all their terrifying strength, conquering tendencies, and devious innovations had become somewhat of a power force after making their debut to the galactic community generations ago.
Captain Stern continued. “Their ferocity and curiosity scared many at first, but for all that, one of the most curious of their abilities was their capacity of pack bonding. As dangerous as their potential seemed, they wanted to make friends and they were very good at doing so. They could form bonds with anyone from any race after being in close proximity for any length of time.”
Geta sat back in her chair and sighed. “Sir, if I am understanding what you’re getting at here, do you mean to say that you’re letting an arzhi aboard the ship because you were adopted by big scary humans and turned out alright?”
Captain Stern smiled and stood from his seat with his meal tray. “Something like that.” With a slight nod of dismissal, he left her to stew in his words.
Geta watched him leave the mess hall and continued staring long after he disappeared from sight. The captain may biologically be a rerlut, but he certainly had the human stubbornness and charm down to an art. She had to admit though, there were a lot of his strange human traits he’d picked up that made him a fantastic captain. She trusted him completely, but she’d be hard-pressed to say that she wasn’t at least a little apprehensive of this latest decision.
The captain seemed to be heavily relying on making connections between the humans’ past with the arzhi. She shook her head. Perhaps she could help and be sure to assign a few of the humans on the crew to help the new recruit get acclimated.
***
Captain Stern followed the sound of yelling toward the med bay. The ship’s new recruits had arrived only four solar cycles ago and there’d already been two incidents on report. He was on his way now to make sure there wasn’t a third made.
Medical Officer Arzhi Fehl had been just as big and as imposing as everyone expected him to be. When he first stepped out of the shuttle he’d arrived on, everyone was sure to give him plenty of space. That lasted for the first solar cycle. The first altercation hadn’t involved any physical blows, but it would have if Geta had not been there to break it up as quickly as she did.
Afterwards, his First Mate had made sure there was a rotation of human crew mates accompanying Fehl at all times. It was a good idea. The humans had stayed out of the Oshe’al Belt battles for the most part, so they held no inherent animosity to the arzhi. What’s more, the humans also held a lot of influence and respect aboard the ship. Having them associated with Fehl’s presence seemed to have an effect on both the new and veteran crew mates. The next report had been less serious, but threats had been made and duties disturbed.
As he rounded the final turn to the med bay, he could make out voices. He noted that none of the angry yells were in Fehl’s deep tone. That was something at least.
It took the reception room’s occupants a few tiks to notice his presence, but once they did, everyone fell silent.
“What is the meaning of this?” He kept his voice low and even. It was the same voice his mother used when he would get caught getting into big trouble. He was told it was slightly terrifying, so he only used it when he really needed to.
No one answered at first. He gave them a moment to realize he was expecting an answer. Finally, someone, an older ehot engineer named Irubin spoke up. “It’s not right.”
Captain Stern shifted to better look at the crew mate. Irubin’s scales were weathered with age, but not so old that they had lost their rich, dark orange color. A few scales were missing here and there. Especially along his scars. Scars that the Captain knew had been inflicted on Irubin when he was a young soldier fighting planet side at Oshe’al.
“Would you care to elaborate, Ehot Irubin?”
The engineer looked uncomfortable. “It’s not right that he’s here,” he pointed at Fehl as if everyone didn’t already know who ‘he’ was in reference to. “He’s a monster. They’re all monsters and we shouldn’t be subjected to sharing a ship with them. He’s probably planning on killing us all once we’re not expecting it.”
In the corner of his eye, Captain Stern saw one of the humans, Victoria step forward. “You can’t know that? How could you-! Why would you even-?! You don’t know him! Fehl is a sweetheart, which you’d know if you took five minutes to try to talk to him like a civilized-”
Captain Stern held up a hand. Victoria, paused in mid-rant, dipped her head and stepped back again. He noted that she stood a little closer to Fehl this time as if she was moving to put herself in between the arzhi and everyone else.
“I know what you’re trying to do, Captain, sir,” Irubin said with much less vitriol in his voice this time.
“And what is that?”
Irubin looked uncomfortable like he’d maybe wished he hadn’t said that aloud. “You… you’ve been assigning humans to be with him so they’ll pack bond and get the rest of us to… to just… be okay with having him here.”
Captain Stern hummed a moment and scratched his chin. “Of course I have. I figured it was the most obvious and sensible thing to do in this case. Humans are capable of forming bonds and friendships with almost anyone, but,” he paused to look over at Fehl and Victoria and then returned his gaze to Irubin, “they only do so with those they feel safe with. Humans are famously intuitive on these sorts of matters. Do you mean to tell me that you’re questioning the humans’ judgment?”
Irubin’s short ears bent back. “No, of course not, I-”
“And what’s more,” Captain Stern continued, “are you questioning my judgment? Do you think me an incompetent captain of this crew?”
His ears went all the way back against his bent neck. “I, I would never, sir. Of course not.”
“Good.” Captain Stern straightened his posture and let his shoulders casually drop. “If you and your companions would be so kind as to meet me in my office for a few mentiks. I’d like to discuss the matter here a little more in depth. Perhaps we could brainstorm some ideas together to make sure that understanding is something the rest of the ship shares.” Although he kept his voice lighthearted and level, it was clear that the invitation was in fact an order. The engineer nodded respectfully and was followed out by two other very sheepish looking crew mates.
After a moment, only he, Fehl, Victoria, and a small booka sitting on a bench remained in the room. As Captain Stern finished watching the others leave, he turned to look at the fiery cat-like alien expectantly.
“Uh, I, I have an appointment with medic Fehl, but if this is a bad time, I can reschedule.”
Captain Stern smiled and shook his head. “That shouldn’t be necessary, Churra. I do hope you’ll allow me to delay Medic Fehl just a few more mentiks though?”
With a dip of the booka’s head and a slight darkening of fur, Captain Stern returned his full attention back to Fehl. The arzhi medic stood a good head and shoulders above the captain, and a voice in the back of Stern’s mind reminded him that the fears that some on the crew had for the new crew mate were most certainly founded. Not only were arzhi large, powerful, and quick, but they seemed to exude an air of dangerous predator around them.
That was, Stern realized, until you got to the eyes. While the rest of them seemed deadly, the eyes were soft and kind. And in Fehl’s case, a little apprehensive and unsure.
“Captain, sir, I apologize for this whole mess, and that you had to get involved. I know you’re busy and-”
“Don’t worry about me, keeping crew mates in line is part of my job,” Captain Stern waved his hand dismissively. “Another important aspect of what I do is make sure crew mates are adapting well to their new positions. Is there an empty med room available that we can talk alone for a moment?”
There were plenty, and the captain and the medic took the first one they found. It was a simple check-up room. A bit small with Fehl’s bulk inside, but not so much that it was uncomfortably cramped.
“I’ll keep this quick Fehl, since I know you’re busy,” Stern began. “First off, and I know I said this to you in your arrival interview, but thank you for coming here and being part of this crew.”
Captain Stern noticed how Fehl shifted a bit uncomfortably and paused. He waited as the arzhi medic mentally worked to put his words together.
“Sir, I… I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but… well I put in many applications to… I don’t even remember how many ships. I know why I was denied so many times, but I wanted this position so badly I just kept trying. And then you… I never expected a Coalition crew... I mean, after the war…”
“The war has been over for solar cycles. There’s been peace and trade between our governments. There certainly were no rules that said I couldn’t hire you to my crew.” Captain Stern took a seat and motioned for Fehl to do the same. “That being said, I am not ignorant to the fact that my feelings on the matter are not a popular take with everyone aboard.”
“So why accept me on board? My kind has a well-earned reputation of violence, even amongst ourselves. I’m sure most captains threw out my application as soon as they saw my species listed.”
“Well for starters, let’s not forget you are quite a skilled medic with an impressive record. Anyone with half a brain would be foolish to ignore that,” Stern chuckled before he quieted into a thoughtful look. “I was always taught to see individuals as they were, not as stereotypes given to a lump sum. As for Ehot Irubin and the others, I’m hoping this will be a teaching experience for them. It’s high time they got over their fear.”
“Their fear, sir? Fear of me, I assume?”
Captain Stern gave a slight nod. “Of you, partially. Though mostly, I think it’s their fear of facing the future without the prejudices the past has given them.”
Fehl thought about it a moment and nodded. “Is that why you assigned humans to help, what was the saying they used... ‘show me the ropes?’”
“I put together your schedule since you got here and I know for a fact you’ve had more than just humans as chaperones while you get settled.”
“No, but it’s mostly been, humans.” He looked up sharply, “Not that I mind, of course, they’ve been great and I really appreciate them! I’d heard stories about them before, but I’d never been around them before.” He lowered his head and voice slightly as if worried Victoria might hear them from the waiting room down the hall, “Are they always so nice, or is that just part of their duties?”
Captain Stern laughed. It seemed to break some shell of apprehension that Fehl had been feeling as a smile broke out over his face and his eyes lit up. Stern noticed that the arzhi smiled like humans and he himself did, with exposed teeth and wide grins. It gave the captain a small swell of affirmation that his decisions to this point had been right.
“Medic Fehl, I can’t speak for how all humans are, but I can assure you that the humans aboard this ship are just like that. I wasn’t kidding earlier when I said humans have a great sense of intuition. If they like you, the rest of the crew will come around in their own time and way as well.”
Fehl dipped his head low. “Thank you, Captain.”
“You’ll do fine, Arzhi Fehl. I’m glad you’re here and am expecting great things on this ship. Aller anfang ist schwer.”
Fehl blinked in confusion. Noticing, Captain Stern sighed, “That last part didn’t translate for you did it?”
“No sir.”
“It means all beginnings are hard. Your translator’s database doesn’t have Earth German integrated. It’s the language I was raised with. Sometimes it fits a situation better than my own native Nort Rerlutti. You must have Earth English, Hindi, and French integrated already, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to understand the humans on the crew.”
“You’re bilingual?”
“I actually learned several Earth languages before I was old enough to be fitted with my first universal translator. My mother was insistent on that being part of my education.” The captain stood and smiled at the medic who was still taller even while seated. He took in the expression on the medic’s face and smiled. “Do you have any more questions, Medic Fehl? I do need to get back to my office to have a conversation with a few of your crew mates that are waiting for me.”
“Captain, if I may ask… you were raised on Earth by humans. Is… is that why you gave me a chance? Are you hoping I can help my people lose our stigma as the humans did theirs? I’m worried… it’s a lot to... I’m not sure if I can.”
Captain Stern rested a hand on the medic’s tall shoulder reassuringly. “You worry about your duties as a medic, I’ll worry about the rest. Remember, aller anfang ist schwer.”
“All beginnings are hard?”
“That’s the way. Now, back to work. I believe you’ve got a booka out in the waiting room to see.”
#humans are space orcs#big scary aliens#friends#humans make friends#space#aliens#writeblr#original writing#request
262 notes
·
View notes
Text
A Little Braver ch.6
Here we go with chapter 6. I edited but if you see any typos I am sorry I had a long day at work.
During the call they attend in the chapter they mention a substance called ANFO. Click here for more info. I did some research hopefully it makes sense. I am no an expert but I needed something for the scene.
Our two idiots... well, I hope you will be happy (for now) *evil laughter*
I hope you will enjoy the chapter
-------------
Three months later.
Rowan landed back at the airbase in the morning. The carrier had docked on the coast a few hours earlier on and then they had flown back to the base with their jets.
He got off his plane and smelled the air of home. Winter had given way to spring and he could smell flowers and wondered if the kingsflames were in bloom already.
“Damn it feels good to be back.” Shouted Gavriel getting off his jet and stretching his back “I am dying for a very long relaxing bath. And peace, without you idiots annoying me.”
“Oh yeah,” said Fenrys “Not having to hear Connall and Vaughan snore will be so good.” He turned to Rowan and Gavriel “Not everyone has the rank to get their own quarters.”
Rowan pretended not to hear the youngster and started walking around his aircraft to do his post-flight checks. He had enough of their bickering and of Fenrys moaning in general.
“Guys.” He bellowed “Less talking and do your post-flight checks.”
“Someone is grumpy.” Added Fenrys.
Connall slapped him on the back of his neck “don’t anger the man even further. Now shut up and do your job. I am so tired of your voice.”
Rowan silently thanked Connall for putting his twin in place.
Once he was done, Rowan grabbed his duffel bag and went to the changing room and took a shower. He would take a proper one at home, for now he just wanted to remove some dirt from him.
The changing room was busy and he opened his locker with a sigh. He definitely needed peace and quiet and not to be in close quarters for a while.
“I am so looking forward to my month off.” Commented Gavriel “and decent food. I want to sit down for a meal for more than ten minutes.” Then he turned to Rowan “Any plans?”
“Not really.” He shrugged.
“Are you going to see your captain?”
“I don’t know.” He said quickly. He did his best to put her out of his mind during those months away. To ignore those pesky feeling that had been taking root in him even while far away from her. He had hated how he left her and throwing himself into work had been the best way to try and forget. But now he was back and he felt as if he was stuck.
He put his uniform back on and grabbed his stuff “Just stay out of trouble,” he told them before leaving the room.
While walking to his office he pulled his mobile out of the bag, switched it back on and a barrage of notifications hit him and two voicemails awaited him. The first one was from Aelin and she was mad at him. How could he blame her. He had disappeared without a word. How could he even begin to apologise? When he listened to the second and a glimmer of hope appeared in front of him. She wanted to talk. He grabbed his stuff and blitzed out of the airbase. The taxi he had called arrived ten minutes later and once at the station he paid the driver and got off, his duffel bag on his shoulder. An array of emotions passed through him while he moved the first step in the direction of the firehouse, panic being at the top of the list.
He lifted his sunglasses on his head and took in the scene in the distance. Two fire engines were parked in front of the yard. Aelin and the rest of the team were washing them, the day was sunny and mild so the perfect occasion. He chuckled and noticed that she was standing. She was walking normally and he sighed. Rowan found himself staring at her walking around the truck and shouting orders. She was just as stunning as he remembered her. He missed her. He realised in that instant looking at her from far away that somehow, although there was nothing but vitriol between the two, he just missed her. Was his heart actually racing?
Aelin lifted her gaze for one instant and in the distance on the pavement she noticed a tall figure with silver hair. She squeezed the sponge and threw it in the bucket, then stood and marched to him doing all her best to maintain her cool to try and pass as aloof and not minimally interested that he was back. A lie to herself she struggled to believe.
“I am back safely.” He said when she was close enough.
“Well, at least you can do your job well enough to stay alive.” Her tone was hard and unforgiving.
Of course she was still mad at him, what was he expecting?
“Follow me.” She turned around and began walking back inside the station and Rowan knew she was headed for her office. Better have some privacy, he had a feeling he was not going not enjoy the conversation.
“Sit,” she ordered, once inside her office and he complied like a good soldier.
She moved around the desk and plopped on her chair.
“Aelin I—“
“No, you don’t get to go first,” annoyance quite thick in her voice “You left.” She sat up straight “you left me at the hospital and left again three days later for your mission and neither time you bothered to tell me why. You left.” She searched for his gaze and looked at his pine green eyes “Do you have any idea how I felt when I fully woke up and found out you never got back?” She told him unleashing all the anger she had bottled up while he was away “I went to your airbase and I was told by one of the guards that you all had gone for a week already.” She was not shouting but her tone was full of annoyance toward him.
Rowan had thought over and over again how he could apologise to her, but doing so it would mean reveal his secret and he was not sure he could. He should expose his fears and come clean with her, she had lost, just like him, she would understand his struggle.
Eventually he stood and started pacing “I heard what you said in the hospital… about your feelings. And I panicked.” He stopped for a moment “I freaked out because…” he collapsed on the chair, his head in his hands and Aelin knew exactly why but she had to hear him say it.
He had to do it, be a little braver and tell her why he fled, it was his only chance if he even contemplated the idea of being with her or to have any kind of relationship.
“I am scared of getting involved again.” He sighed deeply and Aelin saw pain in his eyes “Over a year and a half ago I lost my wife.” He confessed and Aelin gripped her hands under the table to avoid crying. “She died in a car crash. It was winter and the roads were bad and she just… lost control of the car according to the police.��� He looked away for a second “Lyria was also pregnant.” His voice trembled for a moment. “I was away. I was on the other side of the continent when it happened. I left my pregnant wife alone.”
Aelin’s eyes became wet all of a sudden.
“She was going to leave me.” He admitted painfully and Aelin almost gasped at the unexpected ammission “a few days before I left I was looking for something for her in her drawer and saw the papers. She had all the documents ready to file for divorce, my signature was the only thing missing. She had also a letter from her lawyer saying that she would win full custody of our child since, because of my job, I was not fit to look after a child. I would probably win to see my child from time to time.” He stood again “I never told her that I had found out. I left for my mission and she didn’t even come to the airbase with me as she used to do in the past.” He ran his hand through his hair “I loved her. But apparently not enough.” He stopped again as if to gather his thoughts “I got a short compassionate leave and when I got back I just threw myself into work. It kept my mind busy. Since then I haven’t been with anyone.”
“I know.” Aelin whispered and he look at her in a strange way”About the accident, I mean.” She said softly.
“One day I was curious and I looked you up.” She stood and went around the table and sat at the front, facing him. No barriers between them “I read about your wife. Then I read the article about her accident.” She hoped she was not to mess up this one “I recognised our engine in one of the photos from the article.
His gaze widened.
“My team and I attended the accident.” And stared at him but his expression was illegible “It was bad. Only one person survived that night. I had nightmares about it for a week. She… your wife… I think she did not suffer much. I know it’s not much consolation, but from the dynamics it was probably instantaneous.”
Rowan looked at her and she saw tears in his eyes.
“I still have the file.”
“No.” He said calmly “I don’t think I can.”
She took a step to him and took his hand in hers “I know the pain” it was time for her confession. It was only fair.
Rowan looked at her and remembered about the man she had lost.
“His name was Sam. He was a firefighter and a captain at west station. I lost him over a year ago. He attended a call. We could not assist straight away because we were busy on another one. Once we were done we ran in their help. I was too late.” She buried her face in her hands “when I got there they were just carrying his body outside the building.” She looked at him “he did not die a nice death. He suffered and I was not there. I was too late to help him.” She squeezed his hand “I know your pain and your fears because they are the same as mine.” She took another step toward him “losing Sam almost destroyed me. I can’t go through that a second time.”
“How do you get out of the abysm?” He asked tenderly, both with eyes moist.
“One step at a time.” She added and her body was now almost close to his.
Rowan hesitated for an instant then his arm reached out and pulled her closer “Together, then” he whispered, leaning his chin on her head “we can try together.”
“Yeah…” she whispered, her hands against his chest “I am sorry I was mad at you.”
“Shhh… I deserved it.”
She leaned closer and inhaled his scent of pine and snow. He always smelled of home.
“I am sorry I was always so mean to you. I think I was just trying to push you away and keep my distance.”
Aelin smiled and with her fingers brushed his name tag “I think we both did our best to show our unpleasant side.”
She felt him tighten his arms around her “Can we please not? I don’t mean not fighting because I have a feeling that we might get into a few fights from time to time. I mean stop being actually nasty to each other.” He admitted and she felt his thumb tracing circles on her back “whatever this is… I want to give it a go. If you are okay of course,”
She looked up at him and saw a faint smile that reached his eyes. Even with a small smile the man was stunning. She didn’t want to think about with a proper smile.
“Yeah. I want to. I am still terrified, though.”
“That makes two of us.”
“So, where do we start, captain?”
“You owe me two so what about we start with me taking you out for dinner and then we move from there?”
Aelin chuckled “Do you have your mortgage ready?”
He smiled. He gave her an actual real smile and Aelin had to restrain her instinct to slam him against the door and have her way with him.
“The bank apparently does not offer mortgages to pay for meals.” He pulled back a bit to look at her “are you free tomorrow night? I am on my month off so I am totally free.”
Aelin nodded “yes, we will be coming off night shift around 9am. I can go home, sleep and I will see you at night.”
“I still have your address. Can I pick you up at seven?”
“I think I will be alive again by that time.”
“What do we say to our friends if they ask?”
“None of their business.”
He looked down at her “I like it.”
They pulled apart and Aelin went back to sitting on the desk and him on the chair “So your knee is okay again?”
“Yes, physio was a bitch but it’s getting better. The guys, as a joke, gave me kneepads.”
She saw him smile and she realised she would say all sort of stupid things to see that reaction in him. The result left her breathless.
“And you performance review?”
She gave him the biggest grin ever “We crushed it. Absolutely nailed it and I am so proud of my team”
“I had no doubts.” He leaned back on the chair “and I see that you got another engine. That must be great news for you guys.”
She nodded “we got it two weeks ago. It was all thanks to the protest after the embankment fire. Dorian pushed and he got it.” She took a pen and tapped it on her knee “we still don’t have a full team, so at the moment we use it if the situation requires it and we split our team and Aedion leads it. It’s not optimal but the team is coming,” she explained “west is giving us half of their experienced team in their second truck and they are taking half rookies so we’ll both have a truck of mixed crews. Again, not the best but we can’t have an engine with all newbies.”
“That is wonderful.”
“You interview helped as well. The one outside the hospital.”
He looked away for a moment “they made me so mad. Giving all the credit to us when we did very little. I had to.”
“Thank you.”
In that instant the dispatch alarm went off.
“Shit.” She jumped off the table “Don’t go anywhere. There’s a tv, a kitchen. Stay here.”
He nodded and grabbed her hand “Be safe, please.”
She nodded and ran outside.
“There you are. You are the last one here.” Joked Aedion while they were both getting ready.
“She was with her captain.” Added Ansel with a wicked smile.
“Uh, getting nasty in the office?” Added Brullo.
Aelin opened the door and jumped in the engine at her seat “stop behaving like children and jump in the bloody truck right now.”
“Aedion, you lead the second one. ”
Rowan noticed the two engines and the ambulance drive away and once they were away he wandered around the empty space.
He walked around the deserted station and tried to discover more about that interesting team. He walked back the same way as her office and found a corridor that lead to their beds. On a wall there were pictures of the whole team. He stared at Aelin’s picture. She had the most beautiful grin and it was so like her. He smiled at her and traced his step back to the resting area. He sat on the sofa and switched on the tv and on the news he saw a raging fire as breaking news and he guessed that’s where they were going. The headline quoted a fire in an explosive warehouse near a quarry. It looked terrifying.
“Aedion,” said Aelin over the radio “we are going to the warehouse near the quarry. Explosives. This is your kingdom.”
“I saw it. Dispatch confirmed west is coming as well. It must be bad for four engines.”
They arrived at the site five minutes later.
Aelin jumped off the truck “Fuck.” Was her first reaction at the scene in front of them.
In the distance she heard the evacuation sirens for the quarry. West station arrived a moment later.
The fire was raging. Luckily the warehouse was near a quarry and away from inhabited areas, that at least was a start.
She saw a man with a high visibility jacket and ran to him.
“Captain Galathynius.” She introduced herself.
“Captain. I am the manager.” He explained “We evacuated the quarry in time as soon as we heard the first explosion. The warehouse team was loading a new load of explosives to be sent to the quarry. Something must have gone wrong. We lost contact with the team in the north wing where we store the explosives.”
Aedion arrived a moment later “what are we dealing with?”
“Mostly ANFO.” Replied the manager “it was meant to be moved.”
“Do you store any other agent or fuels?”
The manager nodded “but in a separate section. Something must have gone wrong while carrying it away. ANFO must have been in contact with any of the other fuels we use. ANFO is just an oxidiser” the manager explained and Aedion nodded aware of how ANFO worked.
“How many people do you have in the warehouse?’ Asked Aelin trying to assess the situation.
“About 60 and I have 40 accounted for.”
“We’ll get them out.” She said. Grabbed Aedion’s arm and walked away.
“Still twenty people inside. You are the expert. What are the chances I can send the team in and make it out alive?”
“Heat will cause ANFO to detonate. The fire is spreading qui—“
Another savage explosion ravaged the area. The blast so strong that the aftershock was felt quite a distance away. Aedion had pulled Aelin down on the ground and when they lifted their heads they noticed the rest of the team had done the same.
“Thomas,” she shouted while standing up “Connect to the water supply and get the water going and keep the temperature down as much as you can.”
He nodded and spurred his team into action.
“Aedion, you and I are going in.”
The man nodded.
“Luca, Brullo, keep the water going as well. We need to cool down the place as much as possible.” Then she walked to Thomas “Aedion and I are going in. There are still twenty people trapped. We’ll see if we can do something. Call dispatch and order all the units they can send in.”
“You can’t be serious.” The other captain protested “Dorian will not be happy.”
“I am.” she said finishing to don her gear fully “we’ll se you on the flip side. Keep the water coming.”
He stared at her and Aedion ran to the area less affected by the fire. It was a suicide mission and Dorian was not going to be happy.
Back at the station, Rowan was on the edge of his seat. He had felt the explosion, heard it mostly. He kept staring at the screen where he had seen Aelin and Aedion running into the building and his heart raced to the point of pain. There was no way there was anyone alive in that inferno. Why was she risking her life like that?
The four engines were woking hard channeling as much water as possible on the building but from his perspective it seemed like the fire was not yielding at all. He stood and started pacing.
In that moment Lorcan called him “Are you seeing the news about the fire?”
“Yeah.” Rowan replied not removing his eyes from the tv.
“They are there.”
“I know.” Rowan felt sick “Aelin just went in.”
“Are you at home?” The man on the line asked.
“No, at the station.”
“Let me know when they are back.”
Rowan hung up and resumed his pacing.
Dorian arrived on the scene and ran to Thomas as soon as he noticed the captain.
“Where are they?” He asked with panic in his voice.
Thomas inclined his head and indicated the building and Dorian swore savagely.
“How long? I got an update on my way here.”
“Five minutes.” Added the captain directing the water to another area of the building “I have called for more units. Two more are on their way.”
“That is not enough,” raged Dorian grabbing his phone. He walked away calling someone. When he came back he was slightly less furious “Being the chief has its perks. All the units available are coming in. This is not—“ another explosion.
Much stronger than the previous one. A mushroom of yellow fire went up in the sky and the blast rocked the ground all the way to Orynth.
“Chief to Captain. Aelin please come in.” No answer.
“Aelin, damn answer that bloody radio.” He started pacing nervously and a hand ran through his hair “Aedion, come in.”
“Fuck, fuck.”
In that instant the sound of sirens filled the air.
Dorian turned and saw a long line of engines filing down the main track.
He ran to the station captains and started shouting orders. The other engines deployed around the warehouse and started tackling the fire.
Thomas joined Dorian “I am going in. My men are manning the engine and the hoses. I am going to get them out.”
“No you are not.” The tone in Dorian’s word was harsh “I am not having another one of my captains in that building. They should not be inside in the first place.”
“We have still twenty civilians trapped inside.”
“Captain, you and I have done this job for a while. You know better than me that with three such explosions the chances someone inside is still alive are slim. We stop the fire and hope they are safe.”
“Do nothing?” Thomas shouted “How the fuck do you expect me to do nothing?”
“I am the chief, I am ordering.”
Thomas stormed away and resumed his position with the attack lines with the rest of his team.
“Aedion?” Aelin’s voice was faint. She removed the pile of debris from her body and tried to stand “Aedion?” She called again, panic rising. The smoke and fire were making visibility non existent “AEDION.” She shouted.
A moment later she heard a groan and noticed his bulking figure sprawled on the floor. She ran to him and saw he was awake “answer me for fuck’s sake.”
He removed his mask “my oxygen tank is bust.”
She removed hers and passed it to him “use mine, I still have some juice left.”
“We need to get out.”
“We haven’t found anyone.”
“Aelin,” he breathed removing the mask and giving it back to her “we need to get out. Another explosion like the last one and we are roast. And the fumes are bad. We don’t have long.”
“Fine.” She helped him stand. Slowly they tried to navigate their way through the fire and smoke.
The radio crackled static as they took a few steps deeper in the inferno.
“I heard something.” Aelin moved to the sound and Aedion followed. They found a heavy door and opened it slowly. Inside they found the twenty workers still missing.
“Is anyone injured?”
A woman nodded and showed her leg that clearly had a fracture and then pointed at at another man who lay unconscious.
“We’ll get you out of here.” She looked at their scared faces “pull up you clothes and cover mouth and noses” then she crouched down and offered the woman a piggyback. Aedion placed the unconscious man on his shoulder. She started to walk but one of the workers stopped her “This way.” They walked to a door that was locked.
“It’s a secondary route. It will take us to some tunnels underneath.”
Aelin looked at Aedion and the man nodded. It was their only option. They deposited their victims on the ground and with their axes they started knocking down the heavy door. Once through they recovered the people and walked on “stay behind us. Do not walk away form the big man behind me. Hold hands and form a line like at school.”
The civilians nodded and followed. The tunnels were full of smoke. They needed to be quick. The fumes from ANFO were toxic. Her oxygen tank started beeping and she knew she had ran out of juice as well.
“This way,” said the man who seemed to know about the tunnels “these were used in the olden days when we still used dynamite to blast the quarry. They would carry it under here. Apparently it was safer than outside were there were people everywhere. They never had any accident.”
Aelin followed the man with apprehension, everyone had started coughing quite badly.
“How far?”
“Not long. We are almost out. My dad was a worker here in the olden days. He told me everything about the tunnels.”
She heard Aedion cough behind her and she followed next.
Then she felt it. The breeze and a few minutes later the tunnel opened up right in front of the quarry. Everyone collapsed exhausted and took great gulps of air. Aelin looked up and saw the fire was diminishing and gasped when she noticed the crazy amount on fire engines.
“Captain, Thomas,” she croaked, while her chest spasmed in another fit of coughing.
“Chief, captain, where are you?”
Fuck, of course Dorian was there. Lovely, a dressing down from him was all she needed “In front of the quarry, we found some tunnels. We have all civilians with us.” And her coughing resumed savagely.
Dorian walked to the manager “my men saved your trapped civilians. They mentioned some tunnels.”
The manager nodded “follow me,” they reached some SUVs, Dorian jumped in and they started driving. Not long after they stopped in a car park and Dorian in the distance noticed two firefighters uniforms.
“You damn fools,” he shouted when he was in close range “that was definitely one of the most stupid thing you two have ever done.”
Aelin coughed “Glad to see you too, buddy.”
Aedion stood “ two of the civvies are injured, the other ones just need to be checked.”
“Load them in the SUVs,” said the manager “we’ll take you all back to the main area with the EMTs.”
“Civilians first, Aedion and I can wait.” The man helped carry the survivors and sat back beside Aelin waiting for their turn and breathing deeply.
Dorian stood in front of them glaring “The whole fire department in the region has been mobilised for this.” He looked away “how did you two survive the two explosions?”
“We have super power.” She joked but from Dorian’s reaction she realised she had gone too far. The man was pissed.
“I should be mad at both of you and suspend you for being reckless.” He growled “Instead I will just keep on venting my displeasure for a few days more and also thank you for saving the civilians. But I am still displeased with you two. You do your job, you do not play heroes. Do you both read me in this?”
The two nodded silently without adding any comments to avoid angering Dorian even more.
The SUVs came back and both Aelin and Aedion made their way to the vehicles after the chief ordered them to get their arses back to their teams.
When they got back to where their team was cheers erupted.
Thomas passed his hose to a team member and ran to hug Aelin “you idiot. You damn idiot.”
“Such sweet words.” She joked patting the man on the back.
Aedion was dragged away by Lysandra for some checks and now Elide was pulling her jacket “come on, you will smooch later. Now I need to check on you. It’s protocol and you inhaled enough shit for today.”
Rowan noticed the black SUVs bring back some civilians and his worry grew when neither Aelin nor Aedion appeared. The flames were now under control thanks to the effort of all the engines involved.
Then he spotted her, her dirty blonde hair popping out of one of the SUVs that had just come back, and Aedion followed.
He collapsed on the sofa and finally let out the breath he had no idea he had been holding. She looked a mess but she was walking. She was fine. He saw the west captain ran for her and hug her and for a very brief second a pang of jealousy hit him. The he realised it was just a colleague being relieved to see they were alive.
Elide dragged Aelin away to the ambulance and he hoped Lorcan was following the news. Elide was petite but he had a feeling the woman had just as much fire as Aelin.
He relaxed and then he had an idea. He grabbed the phone and rang Gavriel “Hey man, listen I have an idea and I need your help.”
Aelin sat on a gurney in an ambulance, with an oxygen mask attached to her face.
“I am fine,” she complained, trying to remove it, but Elide slapped her hand.
“You are violent.”
“What were you two thinking? You and that idiot cousin of yours? Going inside that hell?” The woman complained checking again her blood pressure and oxygen levels.
“It’s our job.”
“Not when the bloody place is about to blow up. You scared the heck out of everyone.”
“How’s Aedion?”
“Probably getting beaten up by Lys.”
Aelin laughed and more coughing wrecked her body. When she reopened her eyes her entire team was in front of the ambulance “Don’t you two do that ever again. You crazy bastards.” Were the loving words coming from Ansel. Everyone nodded “Dorian had to call all the fire trucks in the area.” Explained Ress.
“I guess you two will soon receive another invite from the mayor.” Joked Nox and Aelin gasped.
Brullo looked at her with a grin “that’s what you get at playing damn heroes. Police has been stopping people coming any closer all night. There is a sea of reporters out there.”
“Don’t you have jobs to do?” Groaned Elide “let the woman recover.”
“I always forget how scary you can be Lochan.” Ren shouted back at her while walking away from them.
“How are you feeling? Can you breath better?”
Aelin nodded.
“Your oxygen levels are back to normal. Does it hurt when you breath?”
“No, I am fine.”
It was much, much later when they did manage to finally get back to the station. Aelin got off the truck and then a wall of muscles slammed into her and enveloped her in a fierce hug. She looked up and noticed a pair of green eyes staring at her. She leaned her head against his chest for a second and the smell of pine and snow hit her. His scent.
“Don’t do that ever again.” He whispered in her ear.
“Where you worried about me, captain?” Then she pulled back noticing her team staring at the two. Fuck, no one knew they had sort of reconciled.
“What is the arsehole doing here?” Shouted Aedion pulling Aelin away from Rowan.
“He was here before the call. I told him to wait for me. That’s why he is here. And his name is not arsehole.” She growled back at her cousin.
Then a few more people came out of the station and they recognised Rowan’s squadron.
“We made food. Gavriel is a great cook. We helped. I just thought that you might all be starving.”
“Damn he is good,” said Ansel looking at Rowan from top to bottom.
Lorcan looked at Elide and the woman smiled at him. He tried to smile back but he was nervous and instead walked back to the station with the rest of the group.
“They need domesticating,” commented Lysandra when she noticed her friend’s dejected expression “Let’s go, I hope the food is as good as last time.”
Rowan and Aelin were the only two left behind “Sorry I hugged you in public.”
She shook her head “It’s fine. It actually felt nice.” Then smiled “I just hope you are now ready for all the comments that are going to rain on us as soon as we get back in there.” She brushed his uniform “I covered you in soot.”
“I don’t care. I have never been more terrified in my life. And I had some hairy experiences in my job.”
“Sorry,” she looked down but she felt his fingers lift her chin.
“You were amazing. Totally insane, but I am in awe.”
He took her shoulder “come on, you need food and we got loads ready.”
Together they walked back and Aelin walked to the sink to wash her face. She wanted a shower but she wanted food more.
“Aedion you could have at least washed your face.” She sat beside Rowan and noticed her cousin’s state.
“I am hungry.”
“Lys, did you kiss him in that state?”
“Hell no,” said the woman taking a bite of her food “I gave him a pat on the back and told him to get his arse in the ambulance.”
“Uh, someone is not getting any tonight.” Chimed Ress and the group laughed.
“Probably more than you, boyo.”growled back Aedion without rising his gaze from his meal.
“Well, someone is definitely getting some,” added Fenrys and nodded to Aelin and Rowan who were just sitting normally eating their food, not even brushing against each other.
Rowan growled at the man and Aelin laughed.
“So what is it with you two?” Asked Elide curious.
Aelin and Rowan’s head popped up from their plates.
“You hugged, he did all of this, are you two dating and pretending to fight so we don’t annoy you?”
“We are just us for now.”explained Aelin “before the fire we talked.”
“We are figuring things out. No labels. No rush. One step at a time.” He grabbed Aelin’s hand under the table and turned to her “we will let things develop.”
“That’s boring.” Comment Aedion, mouth half full.
Aelin snorted out loud “You pined after Lysandra for two years. Two years of driving me crazy because you were head over heels for her but could not make up your mind.”
“Aelin.” Shouted the man.
“Two years?” Asked Lysandra “why you never told me?”
“You know him. He always tries to do the right thing. He kept telling himself that it was not proper since you worked together. I had to read him the regulations and tell him that EMTs are not under our chain of command so he was in the clear. Had it be Ansel, now that would have been an issue since he is her superior.” Explained Aelin who enjoyed the shift of the conversation moving away from her and Rowan.
“You are an idiot.”
She noticed Lorcan throwing glances at Elide and she elbowed Rowan but he had noticed as well.
Elide stared at Lorcan, then blushed savagely and went back to her food “this is amazing,” she said out loud.
“Lorcan made those.” Said Gavriel and Aelin was sure that the man had noticed the exchanges as well.
“So you are a good cook as well?”
Lorcan grunted but Connall elbowed him. A very brave manoeuvre considering that Lorcan was his boss.
“I live on my own. I need to know how to cook.” He managed, never looking at her.
Aelin texted Rowan is he always this bad at flirting?
She could hear Rowan silent laugh this is actually going well for his standards.
Aelin rolled her eyes “who has a house big enough with a garden that we can have a nice barbecue? All of us? Just to get to know each other?” Announced Aelin.
Gavriel raised his hand “I do. I have a big yard and I haven��t used my barbecue since last year.”
“Awesome. What about this Saturday?We are off and you guys are on your month off. So it’s perfect.”
“How do you know about our month off?” Asked Fenrys, staring at Rowan.
“Ro— Captain Whitethorn told me.”
“Oh, of course he did, didn’t he?”
She was going to slap Fenrys.
“Lieutenant, I don’t see why it might be any of your business what the captain and I talk about.” Rowan had put on his captain voice and Fenrys went back to his food.
“The barbecue sounds amazing, spring is in full swing.”
“Good,” said Aelin standing and going to the fridge “I think we all need it after tonight.” Then she brought a bottle of coke to the table “we can’t have wine because we are still on shift.”
“It’s fine,” said Vaughan “we are used to stay dry.” And he pointed at Rowan and Lorcan “their no booze policy is outrageous. We can’t even drink when we are off shift.”
“Blame the twins,” replied Rowan “they are the ones who got drunk, brought two girls on a heavily secure aircraft carrier, got busted and are still on active duty just because Lorcan and I saved their arses.”
“Oh yeah, that was epic.”
“So after that, Rowan and I decided to tighten things and now they can only drink once their mission is over and their arses are back on Terrasen.” Explained Lorcan.
“That’s brutal,” commented Aedion.
The twins had gone silent all of a sudden.
“It must be hard keeping big kids in place,” Elide asked Lorcan and the man attempted a smile at the woman.
“That’s why Rowan is the one who deals with that. He is the babysitter. The perks of rank.”
Rowan gave Lorcan a rude gesture and Aelin burst out laughing.
“You are lucky we are off duty, Whitethorn.”
“Why? Are you going to spank me?”
The group burst into laughter. No one expected the stiff necked captain to come out with such a remark.
“No, because you might like it and it’s gross.”
Aelin was in stitches, her stomach in pain from too much laughing.
“Who is the kinkiest?” Asked Lysandra.
The fire station team pointed at Ansel and the woman stood and bowed happy to be the winner of such a title.
The pilots group pointed at Lorcan and Elide blushed savagely.
“I think he and Essar covered every place of their houses and tried every position known to the human race.” Commented Gavriel.
Elide stared at Aelin in disbelief and Aelin knew the woman’s fears. Elide was the opposite and had no experience and could see why Elide was now panicking.
After their meal, the fire station boys had been put on kitchen duty and were washing dishes and cleaning, while Ansel, Lys, Elide and Aelin were having their meeting in the ambulance.
“I can’t.” Said Elide.
“Why?” Asked Ansel.
“Did you hear Gavriel? Lorcan is basically a sex god and I am the opposite.”
“There is no need to freak out now. All you are doing is staring at each other. When the time comes you just have to talk to him.” Explained Lysandra calmly.
“And tell him what? Sorry Lorcan I do not know what to do with men?”
“Yes,” said Aelin “if he is a decent man he will understand.”
“If he is not, I‘ll deal with him.” Aelin liked Ansel a lot. The woman wan’t always easy to get along with but when it came to them four they had formed their tiny support group and Ansel would back them up at all times. She was loyal and quite an awesome firefighter.
“Yeah but he might want to do things I do not feel comfortable with.”
“Consent, Elide.” Said Ansel sternly “If you say no it’s no. If the bastard pushes, you dump his arse straight away because he is not worth it.”
“Ansel is right,” said Aelin, taking Elide’s hand “If you want to go slow, you tell him. If he says no, well he can fuck off.”
Rowan was helping in the kitchen when he noticed all the women had disappeared “where did they go?” He could not see them anywhere.
“Girls meeting in the ambulance.” Explained Aedion “Aelin, Lys, Elide and Ansel sit in the back of the ambulance and have their girls meetings. Probably to gossip or complain about us.”
“Oh.” Was Rowan’s only comment.
“But I think tonight you and I are in the clear.” He finished washing the dishes “I got a feeling they are talking about Elide and Lorcan.”
“So everyone noticed, eh?”
“They were definitely not being subtle.” Replied Aedion “you tell you CO to go easy on her. He breaks her heart, I break him.” Then he turned to Rowan “same goes to you. You break Aelin’s heart and you are a dead man. She has been through enough.”
Rowan leaned against the counter “I know about Sam.”
Aedion’s mouth fell open.
“She told me.” Rowan admitted quietly while drying some of the dishes “We are taking things slow.” Confessed Rowan. He felt like he could talk easily to the man, although he was positive Aedion was not his biggest fan “I lost my wife over a year and a half ago. I know how Aelin feels.”
“I am sorry, man.”
Rowan brushed him off “Aelin and I are trying. But I don’t want to hurt her anymore.”
“You’d better.”
In that instant the kitchen became populated again and the two stopped talking.
“We gave the guys the tour,” explained Ress, happily “are the girls still in their meeting?”
“Looks like,” said Aedion and patted Rowan on the shoulder “guys I am going for a shower.”
“Go and make yourself pretty for your woman.”
Eventually the women came back as well and Lysandra cheered when she was told Aedion had gone for a shower.
Aelin walked to Lorcan “can I talk to you?”
The man looked at her with a questioning look.
They walked outside in the yard “do you like Elide? Are you interested in her?”
The man looked away clearly not comfortable talking about his feelings.
“Elide likes you, for some obscure reason. She is wonderful and a dear friend of mine. She does not have the same… experience you have. You are free to try and date her if she is okay with it. But you break her heart, you hurt her and I swear you’ll be flying from Terrasen under false identity because Lys, Ansel and I will come after you.” The man was a giant but she was not scared “do you read me on that, sir?”
Lorcan nodded.
“Now you stop playing side glances and go ask her out for a coffee.”
“Are you planning on managing my relationship with her?” He asked annoyed.
“No, but I will be watching you.” And walked away.
With her eyes she followed the man going to talk to Elide and once he was done she saw her friend giving her the thumbs up.
Happy with her job she went to find Rowan and found him sitting hiding beside one of the engines.
“Hey,” she said sitting down beside him “what are you doing down here alone?”
He replied with a heavy sigh “Our two teams together get along a bit too much. I just needed peace and quiet. I landed only this morning. We haven’t slept in a while and jet lag and all. I am a bit wiped.”
“You should go home.”
He leaned his head against the vehicle ‘you should too… after the night you had.”
“Can’t, night shift remember? I will go and take a shower though, and collapse on my bunk. But I am stuck here until tomorrow and hope no more emergencies.”
“It’s not fair though. After that fire you should go home and have someone relieve you.”
“That’s not how it works, captain.” She stood “go home. Sleep, I believe you promised a lady to go out for a meal.”
“Yes, and hopefully this lady will find some time to relax as well.”
Rowan stood as well and stopped in front of her.
“Thank you for the meal. It was awesome.”
“You deserved it.”
She grabbed the tips of his fingers and held them gently “I will see you tonight at seven.”
“Hopefully with less dirt on you.”
She flipped him off and walked away. Rowan chuckled and in the end took his leave as well.
TAGS:
@rowaelinismyotp
@jlinez
@swankii-art-teacher
@courtofjurdan
@whimsicallyreading
@tillyrubes10
55 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
pro100tinta
Sem título
ridreamir
I'll be something new.
glorious-blackout
Prepared to Sell Soul for Muse Concert Tickets
prttyboydisease
sage
