thought of this song as soon as I saw episode 7

brings me back to those gravity falls animatics 😭😭

designs are based on @cholvoq 's designs !! wanted so bad to give Charlie the cool snake hair but after 50 frames I think I'd lose my sanity

Playing the Part

~8300 words of steamy Loki tickle fluff

PG13 for this one, kids. Lots of making out.

CW: some swearing, suggestive humour, mentions of murder/death, alcohol consumption

Every job has its ups and downs, and every employee their good days and not-so-good days. You’d hardly classify yourself as an employee because you didn’t get a paycheque, your entire occupation was a hazard unto itself, human-resources was punching it out on the sparring mat and your boss was either a 100-year-old super soldier or an eccentric billionaire, depending on the day and who was wearing what suit.

Wait… should I be getting paid for this?

Looking around your room that you paid no rent on, in a multi-billion dollar superhero compound, you decided that wasn’t a question you were ever going to ask. The question of the hour was which dress would best conceal your thigh-holstered gun.

Today, your job entailed one of those tasks that could be fun if you decided it would be, or hell if you had a bad attitude about it. You prided yourself on always being up for any mission, so that answered that question, though infiltrating some black-tie gala undercover was never as exciting as fighting alien forces.

You gave up feeling guilty about being a little excited when Earth faced threats long ago; no one had to know that impending planetary destruction was your favourite kind of mission to help out on.

Selecting a red strapless dress from the middle of your mission closet (which was differentiated because most of these dresses were bulletproof) you slipped it on over your underwear and thigh holster. A knock came at your door as you were reaching behind yourself to zip it up.

“Come in!”

“Agent, we- oh… Oh.” Loki’s featured turned from surprised to playfully smug in a matter of seconds.

“Can you get this zipper?” You winced at the stuck metal. He nodded and approached, you turned and held the fabric up. Before he even made it halfway to you he gave a brief wave of his hand and used his magic to unstick the zipper, bringing it to the top.

“Thanks,” you smiled, familiar with that particular kind of help from Loki. “Can you see my gun?” You did a little spin and he shook his head. “Great. You look nice," you commented, gesturing to his impeccable black suit.

“As do you.”

“Ready?”

”I suppose there are worse charades to play on a Saturday evening. Ones that don’t include fine wine and the prospect of a tussle with a Midgardian security man.”

You shot him a look as you two walked towards the garage together. “You said no Midgardian wine could be classed as fine.”

“Save for one region in Italy, I’ve discovered.” Loki shrugged, tightening the fastener on his cuff link.

You gave him a mock look of shock. “Are you telling me… you were wrong?“

“Smugness is not becoming, Agent,” Loki playfully warned.

“Hmm,” you narrowed your eyes. “Looks like I’m spending too much time with you.”

You bickered and bantered good-naturedly as you entered the garage, which was more like a hangar but only for cars. This mission would be you, Loki, Natasha, Sam and, strangely enough, Tony wanted to drive the van. He gave some excuse about wanting to test some new equipment and spend time with his team. Though you knew it was because Pepper wanted him to attend her aunt’s seventieth birthday, and Tony had a long-standing feud with that particular aunt ever since she went on a forty-five minute tirade about how much she hated Led Zeppelin. You weren’t sure if it was the sentiment behind it, or the fact that she could talk for forty-five minutes straight without the awareness to stop. Either way, Tony was on the job tonight.

“Black Widow is already onsite,“ Tony handed you three some photos as you entered and took your seats. “Your names are on the door, fake ones obviously, here they are.” Tony pulled up some information on the screens and then commanded the self-driving van to go with a few taps at a holographic control centre.

You went over the plan, the objective, who to avoid at all costs, where the gun was supposedly hidden. There was a gun used in a murder of a journalist - the employee of an old friend of Tony's, a young guy working on an exposé of a filthy-rich family dynasty in New York City. The journalist was sure the McDane family money came from arms dealing, but he was found dead just a few short months after he started investigating. The following week, Charles, the charming and likeable newly-married eldest son of the family, announced his run for mayor.

Whether Charlie McDane ordered the murder, or if he didn't even know it happened, Tony's source said this family kept trophies of their victories and the murder weapon would most definitely still be in the house.

On the face of it, it was an unusual assignment for the Avengers. If you didn't think that hard about it, you could have just sent Nat in alone. However, the McDane family was even more powerful than they loved to show on the surface, and this wouldn't be a simple theft. Hence, a small team was going in to avenge the fallen journalist.

Natasha had been planted on the inside, posing as an event manager for a soirée the family was hosting to celebrate Charlie’s birthday and, since he’d invited everyone in the political and social scene, it was the perfect chance to enter the mansion; there’s no way he’d know who each and every person was and should be.

As you walked down the road with your arm slotted through Loki's, you eyed the metal detectors at the front entrance. You gripped his arm and slid your hand into the pocket of your dress, but the pocket was hollow and only existed as easy way to grab your gun. Wordlessly, you passed it to Loki and he concealed it with his magic in the exact same way you planned to smuggle the murder weapon out later that evening.

Maybe it was Loki's elegance or your years of training that started when you were very young, but the way you two could instinctively weave around each other's thoughts, ideas and actions without so much as a glance was something special you didn't take for granted. You both had keen senses, but there was some kind of unexplainable energy that made them align perfectly.

You never let your mind wander on nights like these. On missions. Perhaps if you were less professional you'd take a moment to fantasise about what it would actually be like to go to a party with Loki. If the way he led you through the room with a gentle hand at your waist was more than a ploy to look like an adoring couple, or if he knew your favourite wine because he cared, instead of just having heard you order it a million times before.

He kept things light with jokes and little jabs, never once crossing a boundary when fake-flirting with you, but it wasn't lost on you that it was unusual to have this kind of working relationship that had all of the chemistry with none of the awkwardness. It was almost as if it was second nature now for him to pull you a little closer when you were in a nice dress, considering you'd only worn them in front of him on missions. And so he did pull you closer as you approached the bouncer to give your names.

You spied Nat at the front, leaning around a security guard's shoulder to point to something on his list. She always played her parts so well. She stole a glance at you and Loki through her fake glasses and that was it. No indication she knew you, no special treatment, no way she'd do anything to blow this. She walked up the outdoor staircase as you gave your aliased names to the guard and flashed fake drivers licenses that were pretty much real, considering the government had created them.

Loki declined the arrival champagne for the both of you, immediately leading you to the bar. You looked at him as if to remind him that you weren't here to drink, and his subtle smirk replied that he didn't care. He ordered two glasses of a merlot from the one region in Italy that'd won his respect, passing the glass to you once it was laid on the bar.

"To the finer things," he cheers'ed your glass and you scoffed with a laugh, taking a sip of the wine. The rich flavour burst through your mouth. It was dark and deep, spiced with... with... "Cedar," he offered, reading the analysis on your face. "Rosewood, cedar and some sort of stone-fruit."

"Nectarine."

He smiled and took another sip. "We don't have that on Asgard."

"This wine is good," you nodded as you two turned and deconstructed the room and all of its guests.

It made you kind of sick seeing all of these wealthy people in one place pretending to give a damn about Charlie McDane's birthday. It's not that you liked the guy, not at all, it just felt weird to know that every person in here was the exact kind of person you hunted down. Power-hungry. This mansion may as well be a lion's den. But full of naïve lions, who had no idea two apex predators just walked in.

Just when you started wondering how many people in your line of sight had also committed murder to protect their wealth and power, you saw Natasha give a subtle signal of which way the room with the safe was. Loki saw it too.

It was upstairs, but there wasn't much cover to get upstairs. The great foyer's ceiling was three stories up, the two floors above the ground floor you were on had square balconies that let the people upstairs peer downwards into the masses. Nat's fingers adjusting her hair told you that the room was on the second floor. Thankfully, there were guests on the second floor. Under the guise of admiration for the architecture and a desire to explore the great house, you pointed out works of art to Loki as you ascended the stairs together. When you walked past Natasha she smiled politely, like a good host, and asked if you were enjoying the wine.

"It's most divine. Though, I believe my beloved may be in search of a room to powder her nose."

You would have rolled your eyes at his usual choice of asking for information if you weren't aware that security's eyes were everywhere. Even on the event manager.

"You might find what you need up the stairs, down the first hall, third door on your right."

The way her hands were motioning didn't match her hushed description, so you followed the instructions in her voice instead of the way her hands were telling you.

You allowed Loki to lead you upstairs, down the first hall. When you two were certain there were no eyes, he concealed you two with his magic. The hallway was darkened. He pressed his hand against the lock and unfastened it with an unseen pure magic and you two slipped inside. It was a large office with grand mahogany furniture, decorated exactly as you'd expect Old Money Americans to decorate their office. Right down to the bear head above the fireplace and the first edition novels sitting proudly on the shelf, probably unread by their owners. That also made you a little sick: great words sitting unread as trophies.

Scanning the room for any obvious signs of the safe, your eyes settled on a panel in the wood on the side of the desk. There was a slightly smaller gap in the wood on one side, indicating hinges. You held your hands up to Loki and he conjured thin gloves to grace your fingers, then you pressed gently on the wood to engage the latch. The panel swung open to reveal the safe. Shifting out of the way, Loki took your place and placed a gloved hand on the dial. In less than three seconds, it spun rapidly in each direction before clicking open.

"We should really consider robbing banks," you whispered as the black metal door swung open and you were met with stacks of paper and envelopes.

"Need I remind you I am a Prince? If it's gold you want, darling, say the word."

"Eh," you shrugged, feeling around for the gun. "I meant more for the thrills."

Loki chuckled as your fingers found a familiar-feeling package. You pulled the envelope out and peered inside before showing Loki the sight of a small pistol. He nodded and took it from you carefully, then concealed it in some unknown magical space close to him.

You closed the safe carefully and then your gloves disappeared. Moving quietly back to the door, you listened for several moments to make sure no one was coming. Then, you both slid out and began walking down the hall like a loving couple.

Suddenly, a guard appeared at the end of the hallway. Thinking fast, you opened the closest door to you and pushed Loki inside. There was a shout you vaguely heard before you shut and locked the door again.

"Shit," you hissed. You were in someone's bedroom. Or maybe it was a guest room, considering how clean and un-lived-in it looked. There was a fireplace, like in the office, and a large four-poster bed against one wall. In the middle of the room were two plush couches that faced each other and were side-on to the door. You two walked over to them to get the vantage of being in the centre of the room and quickly searched for an exit.

"I'll cast an illusion," Loki whispered, ready to wave his hands and make it look as if you two weren't here.

"No!" You whispered, eyes wide. "They already saw us come in here. If we disappear, they'll know something's up and lock the place down."

"Then what do you propose?" He held his hands out, annoyingly unbothered by the prospect of blowing a mission. The doorknob twisted and you both snapped your heads towards it, then back at each other.

"Sit," you hissed and shoved him back onto the sofa right behind him. He stumbled and fell with a small indignant noise of surprise. You heard the tinkling of keys and your heart beat in your chest.

"Agent?"

Knowing the security team was about to enter, you acted fast. "I'll never hear the end of this," you mumbled before sliding forward to straddle his lap. His eyebrows shot up his forehead as you wrapped your arms around his shoulder and looked at him with nervous urgency. "Kiss me."

Loki didn't question it, and he certainly didn't need to be told twice. His hands found their place. One at the small of your back, one firmly gripping the hair at the nape of your neck. Then, he pulled you in for a fiery kiss.

You barely heard the door open as you lost yourself in the strength of his hold, the steady and eager grasp with which he held you. His hands found their places as if they'd been there a thousand times before, as if he knew exactly how you'd feel the safest, feel the most desired. You pulled him deeper by the back of his neck and could have sworn he made a small noise of satisfaction.

Oh no.

He kept kissing you, you kept kissing him, even after the head of the security team had cleared his throat a number of times. As much as you knew you'd already sold it, and boy you sold it well, you couldn't bring yourself to pull away. Were all Asgardians this good at kissing, or was it just Loki?

Oh. No.

"HEY!"

The sudden loud command pulled you away and, much to your internal mortification, you didn't need to feign how flustered you were.

"O-oh my," you squeaked and looked up at the man, blushing profusely.

Okay, the squeak was fake, but it felt almost real.

You stayed put where you were straddling Loki's lap and grimaced when you saw Natasha, still in character, entering the room. "What's going on, I need you downstairs to- oh!" She looked a little taken aback by your position atop the prince who, you were fuming to see from the corner of your eye, had the audacity to be smirking.

"My apologies," Loki drawled in his growly regal voice, trailing his hands around to your sides. "I simply couldn't control myself, seeing my queen in this dress..." He punctuated it with an "Mmph" and a firm squeeze at your hips. You flinched and squirmed a bit under the ticklish touch, trying to keep your composure but letting a small giggle slip out. Then, catching the pleased and mischievous glint in his eye, you dug your nails into the back of his shoulder to warn him off trying that again.

"This room's off limits," the guard tilted his head towards the door and you made to move your way off of Loki's lap. Instead, with his incredible strength, he stood with his hands still at your hips, lifting you to your feet before turning and wrapping an arm around your waist.

He looked the guard up and down, "Of course, good sir." You bit your lip and blushed, cowering in Loki's hold as you exited the room together. Nat smirked at you and winked before proceeding to fall back into character and tell the guards there was a belligerent drunk man downstairs needing to be kicked out. That man would be Wilson, who was playing his part as tipsy distraction.

Loki led you down the hall and you rounded a corner, then you broke off from him and held a hand to your chest. "That was too close," you breathed deeply once, then met his eye. You glared when he saw him smirking at you.

"Do I have lipstick on my face?" He asked, feigning worry.

"Oh, shut up," you swatted his shoulder. "I did what I had to do."

"I never knew you had the passion in you, Agent," Loki smirked again. You glared once more and peeked around the corner, only to jump and hold in a yelp as Loki's pinching fingers found your hip. "I also never knew you were so ticklish."

"That's not something people advertise- cut it ouhout!" You swatted his hand and squirmed away from him as he prodded his fingers into your side. "We have the gun, let's get out of here."

"Tsk, you're no fun," Loki scoffed.

You exited the party and made your way down the block towards the van, knowing that Nat's glasses had broadcast at least the last part of your little tussle with Loki. Steeling yourself as you gripped the handle, you reminded yourself that you were a professional, and this was sometimes a hazard of the job. You needed to play it cool when the eventual teasing came.

"Hey, lovebirds," Tony quipped the second he saw your faces.

"Hey," you chuckled, stepping inside and removing your heels the second you found your seat. "We got it."

"Here," Loki closed the door behind him and pulled the enveloped gun from the magical space he'd hidden it. "So you saw the Agent's display of passion, did you?"

"You wound me, Loki," you deadpanned. "I thought we had a mutual connection."

Perhaps those words were a mistake considering all the truth behind them. However, all the best lies were founded on truth, and for now you needed to convince everyone in the van that you weren't totally freaking out because you'd felt the most passionate attraction you'd had in years with a former villain. I mean... how predictable.

Loki looked at you suspiciously as he took his seat, but something in his gaze told you he wasn't going to prod deeper on this. Not right now, at least. Not in front of everyone.

Nat and Sam joined the fray five minutes later and you all got a move-on back to the Compound. Nat poked more fun at the position she'd found you two in, and you laughed good-naturedly at all their jokes. Loki was uncharacteristically silent, and seemed to always be looking at you when you laughed and instinctively checked to see if he was laughing too.

The jokes shifted to Sam and the wine he spilled down his shirt, then the conversation shifted to the next steps of what to do with the gun, then you all arrived back.

Tony got to work dismantling his rig, declining your help, and so you took your field weapons over to the cabinet to put them back in their places. As you were unclipping the magazine from your pistol, you felt a presence behind the door. You peered around to see Loki.

"What's up?" You raised your eyebrows and snapped the case shut, then closed the door.

He looked at you meaningfully, quizzically, but didn't say anything.

"Okay..." you chuckled uncomfortably and put the latch on the door in place. "I'm going to shower."

You made to walk past him but he grabbed your upper arm, stopping you by his side. Facing different ways, he leaned in a little closer and spoke quietly. "I can spot a lie from lightyears away."

Turning to look at him, you'd probably have been caught off-guard by how close his face was if it hadn't been for the events of earlier. You shrugged, pulling your arm from his grasp. "I didn't lie."

He scoffed and also turned to look at you, eyes flitting once down to your lips, then back up to pierce your gaze with his. "You know what I meant."

You were proud of how composed you kept yourself when you shrugged again and kept walking, swallowing hard.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Never one to waste water, you took an uncharacteristically long shower. Haphazardly smearing face wash over your skin to scrub the makeup off, scrub away the flustered energy. But no amount of scrubbing could help you forget the feeling of his kiss, and shampooing the hairspray from your head only made you remember the feeling of his fingers in your hair.

You reminded yourself that it had been a very long time since you'd kissed someone. You were probably just desperate, definitely a little touch-starved in general, so the fact that it was Loki didn't matter as much as the fact that it had happened.

That's what you told yourself over and over as you threw on sweatpants and a soft long-sleeved shirt. It was cold and the marble floors could be unforgiving, so you thought it best to go for fluffy socks, but then pulled some slippered boots over the top. You didn't bother brushing your wet hair, letting it fall where it wanted as you made your way to the kitchen.

"That smells good," you commented as Nat pulled some dish out of the oven.

"Mmm," she agreed with an excited smile. "Nico is my favourite," she admitted slyly, referring to one of the chefs Pepper would call in to prepare a bunch of heatable meals during busy periods. Delivery app drivers would probably cancel the order if you tried, thinking it must be a joke that a super solider was asking for a Big Mac to be delivered to the Avengers Compound. Besides, by the time it was scanned and made sure to not contain a deadly poison, it would be cold and stale. "There's enough for you too," Nat said, pulling out another plate and serving you a steaming slice of vegetarian lasagne.

"Thanks," you smiled, still a little distracted. Of course, with someone as perceptive as Nat, that wouldn't be allowed to slip by.

She leaned against the counter and poked at her meal, not meeting your eye to keep it less direct. "You alright?"

"Hmm?" You looked up, and so did she, then you looked back down to your food and shrugged. It was no use lying to her. "I think I'm lonely," you laughed humourlessly, nervously, sadly.

"The kiss got to you," she said knowingly, placing her fork down to give you her full attention. You didn't return the favour, nervous about what you'd say if you were really talking about this. Which, as long as you were here eating dinner, you weren't really talking about it.

"It's not like I haven't kissed a fellow Agent before to keep cover," you sighed a little, shaking your head. "It's just been a while, I guess, since I've had... anything... or, someone."

"I get that," she nodded, picking up her fork again. You two ate in silence for several moments. "This is really good," she declared through an extra-large mouthful. You chuckled and nodded, swallowing another bite. After several more moments, she said quietly, "It's okay if you felt something."

That made you choke a bit. Noticeably, unfortunately. You shook your head, but didn't deny it. "No. It's not okay."

"Why not?" She asked as if you were crazy.

"It's not okay," you repeated firmly, stabbing your fork again at the lasagna. "It's not."

Before she could attempt to pry for more information, Thor and Loki entered the kitchen together. Great.

"Good evening," Thor beamed a toothless smile.

"There's more in the fridge if you're hungry," you looked up at them in an attempt to not seem as regressed in on yourself as you felt. Thor looked at your plate and nodded in approval, opening the fridge. Then you looked at Loki, fully expecting to see some kind of calculating stare as before, but his expression was soft. He looked you over, probably noticing your out-of-character hunched posture and the way your head hung a little lower than usual, and he gave you a look that was subtly laced with sympathy.

Now that made your blood boil. Who was he to feel sorry for you?

He seemed to notice the way your jaw clenched under his gaze, and opened his mouth to say something but Thor spoke first.

"There's a film Stark wants us all to watch this evening."

Nat chuckled, finishing off her dinner. "You say that like he's showing us training videos. He's just trying to bond the team over some cheesy nineties movie." She looked at you and nodded to your clothes. "You look ready for a movie night."

Before you could explain that you'd rather go to bed, Thor beamed again. "Excellent, then! We'll all be there."

Thor was always kind to you, so you didn't want to disappoint him over something so inconsequential. You smiled warmly at him and nodded. "I'm gonna go claim a good spot," you excused yourself, aware it was almost time for it to start. You quickly did your dishes and left the kitchen, making sure to get a seat on a large armchair so you made it clear you'd rather have some personal space right now, even though it was the exact opposite of what you wanted. Maybe it would be good for you though, to remember that you were alone for a reason. That this life you chose wasn't kind too love.

Gods, love. Why did you think of that word, of all the ones out there. You were spiralling. Sentiment, you corrected yourself with a swift reprimand. Sentiment, loneliness, desperation.

You busied yourself chatting to Wanda as people filtered in, taking note of how she seamlessly wove herself in and around Vision as they sat on a two-seater next to you. Determined not to look at or think of Loki or romance or kissing or anything like that, you trained your eyes on the screen as the movie started.

But you spiralled.

There were these two main characters in the movie with this undeniable bickering co-worker chemistry that reminded you of Loki, the jokes he’d whisper into your ear during meetings, the harmless mischief he’d pull to make you laugh, the way his hand felt at your lower back- NO. You couldn’t think about that.

Wanda and Vision were in your line of sight from the corner of your eye and you saw her fingers lace through his, you then saw him place a silent kiss on the crown of her head. Biting down on your tongue, you remembered Nat and Bruce, Pepper and Tony, Thor and Jane, Clint and Laura. All those people who seemed to find love, even temporary love, in the midst of all this madness.

So maybe it wasn’t this life. Maybe it was just… you.

Biting your tongue a little harder, you reminded yourself how powerless you were compared to all these super-people. Sure, many of them were human like you, but all the other humans seemed to have someone who loved them.

It felt hopeless, knowing the only person in this room who you wanted close was so extraordinarily out of your league. He was a god. You were a human. Your life was a flicker compared to his, of course he’d never waste time indulging the likes of you.

But it felt real.

Halfway through the movie you decided you couldn’t sit there and see these buddy-cop characters fall in love. You couldn’t watch Wanda and Vision so enamoured with each other. What you needed was to hit something hard, and then go to sleep. So you excused yourself without a word or a glance at anyone. It was late, anyway. You weren’t even the first one to leave.

A turn of a black-haired form told you that Loki noticed you leaving, but the lack of footsteps behind you as you walked down the silent hall told you that he hadn’t followed you.

Slipping into your room and then into some workout clothes, you jammed your headphones into your ears and put on some classical music; you weren't sure you could stand to hear any words right now. You laced your shoes a little tighter than normal and practically sprinted to the gym, very unwilling to have anyone notice you were gone and decide to come check on you.

Hitting the bag felt good. It was the perfect consolation prize for what you'd actually prefer right now, but with every crushing of your knuckles against the thick canvas you found it easier to forget how it felt to have your fingers looped through his hair. The sweat dripping down your face replaced the feeling of his breath against your skin when you'd broken the kiss, and the aching in your obliques from your tensing and turning to hit the bag took the place of any memory of his hands at your waist. The aching was here, and he was almost gone.

After a half-hour of interval sprints, it was just past midnight and you were exhausted. Not knowing how you felt about no one coming to check on you, you traipsed back to your room in silence. The faint echoing of your footsteps through the hallways made you quiet yourself further, stepping as lightly as you could to prove to yourself that you were still a good spy. Good spies don't get caught up with feelings. Your footsteps fell, dead quiet, and you regained some confidence.

Your muscles stung the next morning but in a delightful way. You'd treated yourself to another hot shower when you got back to your room, so this morning it would probably be best to have an icy one.

As the cold water hit your skin, you felt okay again. The boxing and running last night had really shaken everything out of you, only the smallest lingering of lonely desire remained and it could easily be ignored. Of course, that was easy to say. The second you walked into the kitchen to see that Loki had heard you coming and poured you a coffee you felt a tug at your chest.

His hands closed around the mug to pass it to you and you remembered how his fingers had closed around your waist. He smiled good morning and you remembered how his lips felt against yours. Holding it all in, you smiled and took the coffee, then proceeded to have a short conversation with him like a normal person would. He made jokes about last night, but not about that, and you chuckled at them. After perhaps too short a time for how long you usually chatted, you excused yourself to go do some paperwork. You caught the way his brow furrowed a little, but he didn't question you.

The next few days were more or less like this. You'd try to engage with Loki normally but spiral a little more, convincing yourself that the more you continued like you always had, the more normal things would be again. But he was just so... beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful and now you couldn't help but notice.

One evening, nearly a week after you'd kissed, you were having a bit of a vulnerable day and you walked into the kitchen for some ice cream. Loki had just finished cleaning up after his dinner and turned to say hello, but you couldn't do it. You just turned and walked right back out again. He called after you but you didn't stop. It's not like you were going to cry in front of him, but you just couldn't do this right now.

Seeking refuge in your bedroom, you shut the door and slid down to the floor with your back against it. An immediate soft knock frustrated you, especially knowing who it probably was. You sighed and stood.

“Hey,” you greeted Loki with a nod when you opened the door, immediately turning away to make it look like you were about to do something else. “What’s up?”

Loki stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, which made you stop and give him your attention. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you lied.

He squinted for the faintest second and smiled a little sadly. “Light years,” he reminded you how he could spot a lie without harshly calling you out. It pained you that he didn’t. That his lack of sarcasm indicated that he saw you as a bit fragile right now.

You sighed a little and ducked your head to the side, conceding the point. “I’m a little haywire,” you admitted. “I think I need to get some stress out and go to sleep.”

”What troubles you?”

Ah. What a question.

You didn’t want to shut him out, but you certainly didn’t know how to explain that one simple kiss undercover had brought a massive crashing wave of insecurity and anxiety that made you feel completely unlovable. Or... maybe you could just say that?

You were silent for so long that Loki spoke again.

“I’d like to offer my apologies,” he said very diplomatically. “If I overstepped the bounds of our relationship.”

“I’m the one that made you kiss me,” you winced. “I should be apologising.”

”I didn’t mean that,” Loki shook his head. “I meant after, when we returned. When I cornered you.”

You had to laugh. “You didn’t corner me, Loki. I appreciate you wanting to make me feel better but you have nothing to apologise for.”

”Very well. But you didn’t make me,” he replied firmly.

“I know, I know…” you rolled your eyes. “A god submits to no one, I just meant that I put you in a situation that I shouldn’t have. Believe me, I’m paying the price.”

That last part came out a little faster than you’d intended it to. In fact, you didn’t really mean to say that last part out loud at all. Or maybe you did. What a perfect Freudian Slip. Quickly collecting yourself, you spotted your headphones and went to pick them up but noticed that Loki was taking slow steps towards you.

”Paying the price?” He asked carefully. You stopped and folded your arms, shrugging.

“People poke fun, you know.” You bit your tongue. Then, you saw him smirk a little. Ah. Lightyears.

“I thought we had a mutual connection,“ he raised his eyebrows, teasing you with your joke from That Night. You gave him a firm stare, but couldn’t help but notice he wasn’t that far away now.

“Loki, that was-“

“A thinly veiled truth,” he interjected, leaving no room for debate. He also left very little room between the two of you. You opened your mouth to respond, seemed to not be able to, and he smirked at your speechlessness.

"Y-you can't." You shook your head. "There's no way."

"There's no way, what?" A smiled tugged at his lips at the way your eyes widened when he took a strand of your hair and wrapped it once around his finger.

"... Mutual?"

“Now that we won’t be interrupted…” he brought his hand up next to his face, flourished it, and you heard your door’s lock click shut. You held your breath as a mischievous grin graced his lips.

Oh gods, you were looking at his lips. You couldn't seem to look away.

He lowered his voice to a gruff whisper. “Might we finish what we started?”

With the smallest nod of your head, he immediately ducked his head to press his lips against yours. Your small noise of surprise made him pull away for a second and grin, before he playfully growled and lifted you from the ground. His eyes stayed trained on yours as he walked a few steps and firmly shoved your back against the wall. Your breath hitched as his hand found that place at the back of your neck, and this time, you kissed him. Eagerly, hungrily, feeling so overwhelmingly euphoric that this was even happening.

It had to be a dream, you thought as his lips trailed along your jawline, his hot breath hit your neck and his strong unwavering arms kept you above the ground and level with his gaze. He kissed you not just like a god or a great lover - he kissed you like he wanted you. Like he‘d also been waiting to do this for an unspeakable amount of time. It felt like relief.

Pulling you both back from the wall, Loki's lips didn’t relent as your fingers tangled once again in his hair. He walked backwards and found his seat on the end of your bed, sitting with you in his lap as he had at the party.

“Gods, you enrapture me,“ he pulled away, a little breathless. He grinned and his eyes were hazy. He looked at you intensely before looking back at your lips, subconsciously slipping out his tongue to wet his own. Before you could respond, he was kissing you again. You could have melted into his touch. In fact, you were fairly certain you just might.

He leaned back and you both fell onto the bed, you on top of him. You laughed at the sudden impact and you pulled away for a few seconds to catch your breath. You looked at his adoring gaze and blushed. “I never thought someone like you could want someone like me.”

He furrowed his brow, unsure if you were about to reference his nefarious past.

”You’re so… mighty. You’re a Prince, a god, you’re wickedly smart and powerful and… and I’m just a human.”

“Watch your tongue,” Loki scolded somewhat seriously and held you a little tighter. “Don’t speak of yourself as if you’re insignificant.”

You rolled your eyes and smiled, giving him a look. “You know what I mean.”

“Of course I do, I’m wickedly smart,” he smirked and you playfully swatted at his chest. He smiled contentedly and ran his hands firmly down your sides to settle at your hips. It was an innocent romantic gesture, one to position you for further making-out with Loki, but your eyes widened at the memory of his discovery the previous weekend and the assumption that the God of Mischief was about to turn the tables.

Unluckily for you, your flustered expression rendered it a self-fulfilling prophesy.

“Loki…” You warned as you saw the glint in his eye.

“That’s right…” His smirk widened to a devilish grin.

”How about you keep kissing me, huh?” You laughed nervously and leaned in closer. Loki laughed and nodded, bringing his hand up to cradle the back of your neck as you pressed your lips to his. Once your arms were around his neck, he deepened the kiss and rolled over, putting you underneath him. Still on the edge of the bed, your feet barely skimmed the floor. Then, he suddenly became the classic Loki you knew.

“Mmmhmhm!” You whined and giggled a little into the kiss as the fingers belonging to his arm around your waist started ever so gently scratching at your side. “Mmnnoho!” You broke away and gave him a pouting look. He lifted his head and smirked.

Gods. He’d never looked so unspeakably hot.

Messy curls framing his face, that look he gave you that said You’re In Trouble in his distinct Loki way, mixed with the desire in his piercing blue eyes; you’d gladly endure his torture if it meant he looked at you like that.

But maybe that’s because you had no idea what was coming.

“Darling,” he cocked his head and kissed your cheek before kissing just below your ear. “I am the God of Mischief….“ he kissed your neck in a way that you were sure was intended to tickle. You giggled and bit your lip. “And now that I've got my hands on you, you simply cannot expect me to not exploit this little weakness to its fullest extent.”

“L-Loki!” You blushed at the very real threat and he chuckled.

“How about you guide me, hmm? Where should I start?”

“I’m not playing this game,” you laughed nervously, squirming a bit underneath him and resting your hands on his shoulders to push away the ticklish kisses.

“Aw, come now,” he lifted his head and that same beautiful smirk made your heart beat quick. His hand behind your neck slid down under your shoulder blade until it sat at your upper ribs. You stole a glance down to where it may be, even though you couldn’t see it. He cocked his head again. “No? Alright, I’ll choose.” With a wink his thumb slipped around the side and up into the hollow under your arm.

“LOKI!” You gasped, clamped your arm down from instinct and immediately started squirming and giggling, even though his thumb wasn’t even moving. He grinned again and kissed your lips once more.

“You've been down all week, love. Let's have a bit of fun,” he whispered, then sprang his hand at your waist into action, scratching and grabbing at the soft skin hidden beneath your shirt. You gasped again and started laughing softly, then squeaked when his thumb started wiggling into the hollow under your arm.

"NOHOHO!" You shut your eyes and then squealed loudly when his fingers underneath you began clawing into the back of your uppermost ribs. Damnit, you thought he may start easy on you, not go for three different places at once. You were already in a desperate cackle, bubbling incoherent pleas spilling from your lips as you writhed underneath his amused self.

"I'm honestly delighted you're so ticklish," Loki teased with a chuckle. "It's adorable, really. So professional all the time, yet..." He finished his sentence by intensifying his touch and speed at all three sites of attack, drawing a small shriek from your laughing lips and a jolt from your body. "Has it always been this easy to undo you?"

“OHMYGOHOD!” You shrieked, throwing your head against the bed and trying to buck your upper body against him to no avail. He paused his torture and kissed you deeply again, lips curled into a smile as he pressed his lips to yours. You shook your head and broke away, still laughing. “Youhou’re ridiculous! We were hahaving such a nice moment and y-you ruined ihit,” you whimpered. He kissed to again to silence your complaints.

“What did you expect?”

“I-I expected a nice romantic moment!” You laughed and brought both arms between you and him to shove at his shoulders. “Now,” you gave him a stern look. “Do you want to tickle me, or kiss me? You can only choose one.”

He scoffed. “I don’t do ultimatums, darling.”

“You do now.”

“Bold.“ He stuck his tongue against his cheek then ducked his head to the side in consideration. He then looked at your face, which you’d been attempting to hold in some semblance of a firm glare. He lowered his lips to your ear and you heard him chuckle once. “Far too bold for someone so ticklish.”

He whipped his arms out from under you and pressed his weight down again, trapping your arms between your bodies as he clawed into the front and sides of your lowest ribs.

“NOHOAHAH!” You immediately fell into desperate belly-laughter as his fingers drilled and clawed into the spaces between your bones. Your feet kicked helplessly, merely grazing the ground as laughter kept spilling from you. “NOHO! NO! LOKIHI I CAHAN’T!” He shifted his hands further up your ribcage and snuck his fingers around to dig in at the back and, after one more shriek, your laughter went silent. It was trapped in your chest as his squeezing and vibrating fingers found every sensitive space on your ribs that made you want to melt into a little puddle. You were gasping for air by the time he halted his attack, squeaking and wheezing as you tried to regain your breath.

It was torture, but you hoped he wouldn’t ask you if it was worth enduring to have him this close. If he could spot a lie from lightyears away, how much easier could he spot it when he was close enough for you to see the flecks of green in his eyes.

”You’re… you’re gonna kill me,” you hiccoughed. He smirked and leaned in for another kiss. “Nuh-uh,” you pulled your finger up as much as you could from where your arms were trapped. “You made your choice.”

He grinned and slid his hands down your sides with a wink, "Oh? Then I'll gladly continue."

"W-w-wait! I dihidn't th-WAHAIT!"

His thumbs drilled relentlessly into your hips as Loki joined in with your loud laughter. You finally managed to wiggle your arms out from where they were trapped at your chest, shooting them down to grab at his fingers. Your feet having no traction and his near entire weight pressing you to the bed made it impossible to buck or lift any part of your torso, so you were completely trapped with nowhere to go as he gripped and grabbed at the skin of your hips, kneading at the pressure points that made you squeak and squirm beneath him.

When he tired of your fingers trying to grab his, he did a devilish swift lift of his own body and slotted his hands between the two of you, settling them palms-down over the majority of your belly. You made a huge gasping noise and started frantically giggling and squealing even before he'd moved his hands. You shook your head and begged for him to kiss you instead, nervous high-pitched giggles interlacing your words.

"N-noho, Loki just kihiss me, kiss me plehease! PLEASE!" You squeaked, cupping his cheeks and gently pulling him towards you. He chuckled and grinned, gently digging a few fingers in just once. You thrashed and renewed your struggling and squealing efforts. "Dohon't you DAHARE! I won't kiss you agahain if you do this!" You threatened. He cocked his head and leaned in a little closer to look deep into your eyes. Then, he grinned and whispered:

"Lightyears."

You thought for certain you'd pass out from laughter when Loki's fingers sprang into action and rippled against your hypersensitive stomach. You laughed loudly, completely powerless to stop his fingers from digging in wherever they pleased. After not much time at all, your laughter went silent and you weakly batted at his shoulders, sides, face, anything your hands could find for themselves since your eyes were shut so tight. Any words your brain even began to think of forming got lost as laughter ripped through your chest from the electric intensity of his fingers against your body.

When your hands finally found both sides of his face, you used all the energy you had left to press your laughing lips against his and, finally, he relented. You fell back with a loud gasp as he retracted his hands with an amused chuckle and took his weight mostly off you, propping himself up with a hand planted either side of your head.

"Alright there, darling?" He teased as you coughed weakly and wiped the tears of mirth from your cheeks. You gave him a scowl, but he found it adorable.

"Thihis isn't fair," you crossed your arms defiantly.

"No?" He smirked. "Pray tell, my love. What isn't fair?"

Oh. My love. His love.

That took any breath you'd managed to get back in your lungs.

"Y-you... you..." But your words were lost in the bliss of being his. He seemed to quickly understand how his words touched your heart, and it softened his teasing demeanour, and softened his smirk into a smile. "You found my worst spots so soon," you managed to murmur through rosy cheeks.

"Was only a matter of time."

"But now you have the upper hand."

"Dear heart, this isn't a struggle for power," he laughed heartily. "I do not seek to rule over you. Anything you ask of me, anything in the Nine Realms, I will give to you."

"Tell me where you're ticklish."

He chuckled and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips before falling down beside you. He hummed in contentment as he wrapped his arms around your waist to pull you as close as you could be.

"Anything but that."

I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO REITERATE SOMETHING

Yes, let’s circle back to the beautiful performance of Edge of Great. More specifically the BODY LANGUAGE, particularly Julie and Luke’s, which I will be analyzing with gifs.

Exhibit A

Jealous Luke looks over at Julie and Reggie vibing

Julie is aware that she’s avoiding Luke, which she is doing so bc she realized her feelings for him thanks to Flynn earlier in the episode.

Since Julie has put the task of ignoring Luke upon herself even though she has no obligation to, she ends up failing her own mission. She sees Luke’s reaction to the lack of her attention.

She literally FREEZES. She’s emotionally worried to confront what she’s feeling and it’s beginning to manifest physically.

Exhibit B

It gets better y’all. After Luke finally has even a crumb of Julie’s attention, he beckons her over with his signature head tilt. This is important bc he did this with his longtime bandmate during the soundcheck of what would’ve been their biggest performance. If he feels comfortable enough using that body language with a girl he’s only known for, what, a week and a half(?) then you know this puppy boy’s got it BAD.

Julie is well aware that Luke is getting jealous. But in classic Julie fashion, she will try to tune it out instead of addressing it. Our wicked beauty doesn’t like confrontation and would rather just deny and avoid than potentially make things awkward, especially when she knows Luke would ask her about it at a later time.

The look on Julie’s face. Her eyes widen and the classic tight-lipped awkward smile is present. She’s literally saying “ok enough of that let’s get back to work doo doo doo” with her face. The way her body SWINGS back into performance mode as she faces the audience again. It may have been a split second, but when you’re deliberately trying to avoid looking into the dreamy (dead) eyes of someone you shouldn’t be crushing on, any amount of time feels too long. Plus, she knows Flynn is watching and doesn’t want her to lecture her (but she does anyway bc Flynn is observant and knows her bestie too well to let any action slip past her).

Exhibit C

Keep in mind; NONE OF THE GUYS KNOW WHY JULIE IS AVOIDING LUKE. Flynn, Alex, and Reggie have noticed the Juke chemistry, but it’s still too soon for them to get past the “we like each other but we’re too clueless to notice that we reciprocate” phase, so even though their respective besties know, they are still denying. Besides, Reg, Alex, and Flynn know better than to keep pestering if they want to keep their kneecaps. In reality they’re both smart enough to tell by this point, but for the sake of the plot and to make everything more adorably frustrating, Flynn has the collective brain cell under lock and key, leaving Juke to be like *dog tilting its head and making that “a-roo?” noise*

Anyway, Reggie notices Luke being snubbed after realizing that his extra dose of Julie time was slightly out of the ordinary. Luke is clearly concerned (look at his eyebrows and how his eyes travel from Reggie, to Julie, then to the audience to trying and get his mind off it and bring his focus back to the main goal; the performance.) If he can’t have the moment of connection with Julie that he so desperately craves, he’s gonna fill that void as best he can by connecting with the audience. >:’)

But Reggie’s trying to help Luke brush it off by conveying his reaction as ‘look at julie coming into her own! i told you she was a star! and you thought you were the lead singer? think again buddy this girl’s got you beat!’

But since Reggie isnt a master at hiding his feelings yet, especially around Luke, —who was able to get under his skin earlier (“girls, am i right?”)—Luke was easily able to see through that and interpreted what Reggie was saying as “look at julie go, she all in the zone. you’re literally making heart eyes at her get a grip you’re slacking lmao” (hence luke’s right eyebrow quirking at reggie like ‘dude seriously gimme a break u know i need attention like tinkerbell’) even though Reggie’s true message was a bit less harsh and more lovingly teasing, but it’s Luke, he sees things through his eyes and at his intensity, regardless of who it’s coming from. (This is one of the reasons why Luke comes off as selfish at times.)

Exhibit D

Poor Lukey boi can’t seem to catch a break today! Not only does Julie ignore him, then has a cute lil (platonic but it’s luke so it still makes him jealous >:P) moment, but now she has the AUDACITY to interact with Alex? The guy who was out learning Ghost 101 with this Willie guy instead of rehearsing with the band? What gives?! What’s he got that your moody ghost bf doesn’t? >:’(

He literally just watches, and even glances back in a way that, to me, screams ‘did i see that right? did i just see what i just saw with my own dreamy (but dead) eyes? say sike rn.’ \_(*_*)_/

Meanwhile, Alex pays no mind. I like to think that Alex is fully aware that Luke is an angry boy rn, but has learned to ignore it, especially this bc literally NOTHING happened. Either that or Alex has no clue and just truly thinks nothing of it and is having too much fun to think about Luke’s moody and childish behavior. Either way, Alex is just straight chilling and we love to see it *^_^*

Notice how Reggie is right there vibing with Julie and Alex. Luke feels a bit betrayed like ‘not you too! i know you were the first to turn on me but i figured since you’re such a golden retriever you’d be loyal and come back to my side!😠🥲’

Also; Luke approaches the rest of the group, wanting to be included in at least SOME of the vibing, but when Julie starts dancing and smiling with her buddy Alex, he backs up like

“you know what? nope. nevermind. not doin’ it.”

and the group’s like “i mean hey it’s your loss, but luke we want you to-”

“no, bc you chose to piss me off right in front of my face so no luke time for any of you! no cuddles, no hugs, no nothing! you made your bed, now lie in it and perish.”

Exhibit E & F: This is where it gets a bit interesting and theorized hehe...

Now we all know that this moment is just fucking ICONIC

WEOWH NEOW NEOW!!! WEOW NEHR NEHR NER-NER-NER NEHR NEHR NEOWHR!!! (wer nehr-nehr-ner-ner-nehr-nehr!!) WUEHNER-NEUHNER-NEHR-NEEOW-NEOWH! DLOOLOODDUH-DOODLAH-HOOBLUEH-NEOWHR-NEUEHR-NEEEEEEUOWRH!!!!

But hear me out– HEAR ME OUT!

What if... now don’t shoot the messenger who just so happens to also be the theorist... but what if...

WHAT IF!!! Luke didn’t!! plan this?!!!

Listen i know you’re probably thinking:

“Well uh Nicole, isn’t that kinda the whole point? It literally wasn’t planned until Charlie realized Madi was gonna be standing on the piano so he suggested the idea for the guitar solo to Kenny.”

And you’re right! But here’s the kicker:

What if Luke THE CHARACTER, just decided to do this as an “Alright that’s it! You wanna be like that? Well what if I just hit you with my super awesome radical totally cool wowza guitar skills & make a moment between us? Huh? What do you think about that? Hmm? HMMM???!!!”

He licks his lips & that to me read** like he was nervous (**read rhyming with bed just to clarify) so that means it could’ve been a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment thing.

In the second gif, you can see that Julie’s head is tilted, as if she’s a bit confused, but she’s also delightfully surprised.

Julie is quick to smile and scrunch her nose at Luke, something she does often. It tells Luke his impulsive action garnered a positive response from his favorite girl. Julie also starts to shake her head, but doesn’t go through the motion in full, which means she’s still a bit nervous to let her guard down. This is probably because she doesn’t know what he’s thinking or what he will do next. The lopsided smile mixed with the suave, gliding steps towards her probably brought her back to her daydream lol.

Luke’s happy bc Julie’s no longer ignoring him. He smiles like a GOOBER bc this chump is simping HARD for our Julie. So cute! :’)

Exhibit G

And hear me when I offer this:

What if Luke poofed the guys out???

I know, I know. It’s a bold claim to make. But the boys are special, considering they are a threat to Caleb (3 gay-variant himbos vs. a gay magician that could’ve been on broadway but decided to make some sort of deal with a devil so he just entertains capitalists who most likely sold their souls to get into the hgc which i will probably elaborate on in a future theory so dont do that bc im gonna lmao idc we all have big brains) So it’s not too crazy to think that they could share some ghost powers.

We know Caleb transported the guys during You Got Nothing to Lose. And the guys have left a place at the exact same time on more than one occasion.

And you may be thinking “well what if the guys poofed out to give juke a moment alone together?” And to that I say...

Look at Reggie. He isn’t looking back at Alex like “dude let’s give them some space.”

The timing of him turning around, at least to me, makes me think Reggie was surprised by Luke approaching the piano. (But also he lowkey was waiting for Luke to prove him wrong by doing something to get Julie’s attention so Reggie isn’t mad. Neither is Alex but he doesn’t like being told how or WHEN to ghost) Luke doesn’t even give his bandmates a warning eyebrow quirk, a hand signal, nothing. Reggie turns to Alex like ‘dude what is he DOING?’ And before he can even really convey that, they go *POOF*

This man had a plan and he was gonna do it, so he did. Whether it’s the power of love, they stopped performing, or Reggie and Alex actually poofed out, the odds worked in Luke’s favor so he and Julie could have a super special moment, a moment special enough to make an actual living person (Nick) wonder if a “hologram” has a better chance at connecting with Julie than he does.

Again, regardless of who made them poof or how they poofed, they mf poofed so Luke’s a happy hamster. (Idk it just sounded fitting instead of happy camper lol wait what if someone had 3 pet hamsters and named them alex reggie and luke🥺 someone buy some hamsters and let me be their godmother or their aunt and i’ll love them from afar.) Anyway, Luke’s thriving, flourishing, his crops are going to grow in time for the harvest.

You can see Julie lean back as she turns to see Luke. It’s... almost as if... She. Wasn’t. Expecting. Him. To. Be. There..??

Honey badger Luke bc he DGAF <|:) Bitch, it’s Luke mf Patterson and he’s gonna,, GET! IN! YOUR! FAAAACE!!!

You CANNOT tell me he’s not doing the absolute MOST to try and seduce Miss Juliana Mariposa Rose Molina.

Yes I’m making a headcanon that Julie has TWO middle names and that one of them is the spanish word for butterfly and that the other is her mother’s name. Also yes, I believe (i believe that we’re just one dream away from who we’re– oh, that’s not what we’re doing? okay, sorry!) that Juliana is Julie’s full name.

In this house we love and respect Juliana Mariposa (Dahlia)** Rose Molina

**I’m just putting Dahlia there for fun bc I can. :) Whether I’d consider it a possible middle name of hers depends. Anyway I just thought it was a cute thing to add bc it goes along with the other middle names I gave her *^_^* Also, I feel like I made a post giving a bunch of the characters middle names lemme see if I can find it later)

Ok i’m done this took me basically all day from like 10am until 4:08. I obviously took breaks in between, but not long ones...😶

stillness in woe

Summary: Charlie left Hope County years ago hoping never to come back. But when she learns of her parents involvement with the local doomsday cult, she finds herself heading back to a life she thought she left behind. (Begins two years before the reaping/events of the game)

Pairing: Eventual John Seed x Non Dep OFC

Word Count: 1.9 k

Warnings: mentions of death and vomiting

A/N: I was a little nervous that introducing Charlie’s descent into the cult in the second chapter would be too soon, so I made a little filler chapter. Not the best, but the real meat of the story begins in the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Family Reunion

She hears footsteps coming up behind her. She pauses, thinking it’s only a figment of her overtired imagination. The noises don’t stop. Instead, they only increase in proximity. She’s barely turned around when she notices the red and white camo that signals Jacob’s hunters. The sight alone sends her into a panicked frenzy. Both the hunter and its prey raise their weapons at the same time. Luckily for Charlie she shoots first. Stomping over to the body she rips the red ski mask of their face. This time it’s not the usual boyish face that greets her; it’s her own.

“Charlie!”

The young woman awakens with a start. For a second she’s confused about her whereabouts, not used to sunlight first thing in the morning. After realizing that she’s in Mary May’s apartment she quickly relaxes, but that doesn’t last very long. Her nightmare combined with her current hangover causes bile to rise up in her throat. Charlie bolts upright and runs towards the bathroom, Mary May following right behind her.

She can only make it as far as the sink before her body retches into it. She feels Mary May rubbing circles on her back as she trembles, clutching the porcelain.

“You okay?”

“No” Charlie sniffs, wiping away the tears pooling down her face.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Charlie shakes her head no. She doesn’t need her friend knowing about what she was doing up in the Whitetails. She knows Mary May said things were bad in the valley, but she doubts John Seed is as much of a monster as his brother is. At least not yet. Instead of worrying her, Charlie chooses to tell a white lie.

“It’s nothing. I’m just worried about going to Joseph’s service. Can’t shake the feeling I’ll be held hostage at his compound.” It’s not completely untrue. Charlie is worried about losing herself to the Seeds. She’s heard and seen too much to not have that weigh heavy on her mind.

“Hey” Mary May says, forcing her friend to look at her. “I’m not gonna let him take you. Not when we just got you back.”

Good luck with that she thinks to herself

“My hero” Charlie says with a smile, choosing to forgo voicing her doubts. “I should shower and at least make an attempt to look decent. I wouldn’t want to show up to a Sunday service looking like a sewer rat.”

“Clearly you haven’t seen many peggies.”

In the shower she tries to wash away all of her fears, but the image of Mary May’s scar keeps flashing through her mind. How many other people in the county have been scarred by the youngest Seed? His handiwork looks painful and she doubts anyone would choose to have it done willingly. She wonders what sin will be chosen for her when the time comes. With her luck her whole body would adorned with all seven.

Charlie leaves the apartment to find Mary May helping Casey Fixman open up the bar. She gives a twirl as she hits the ground floor. “You think daddy Seed will like me in this dress?”

Mary May crinkles her nose in slight disgust. She had been gracious in Miami her friend a dress her, recently deceased, brother Drew had bought her for her graduation. On Charlie’s newly slimmed down body the white dress hangs a bit loose, the straps barely clinging to her shoulders.

“I’m sure Joseph will like a lot of things about you if you call him daddy.”

The blonde studies her friend’s appearance closely. The two of them know the importance of appearance to the cult. Due to the release of the documentary ousting the behavior of Eden’s Gate, the group has become more serious in trying to root out those that come with ill intent. And given by the knife holster strapped to Charlie’s thigh, the woman isn’t going in with good will.

“Come here” Mary May pulls on her pony tail once she’s close enough, letting her waves cascade over her shoulders. “There, see, now you look docile and sweet. Just the way the cult likes.”

Charlie wants to remind her friend no one has called her docile or sweet, not even when she was a child, but she can see something is bothering the younger woman. “You do know Nolan will there, right?” Mary May inquires before she can even ask what was wrong.

“No. No I didn’t fucking know that. I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s involved with something illegal, but I am.”

“Your ex husband is basically a glorified drug dealer. He’s helping turn the people in the Henbane into angels” Casey calls out from the kitchen.

“Angels? You know? No. I don’t want to know what that means.”

“Hey” Mary May calls out, bringing her hands to rest on Charlie’s shoulders. “Don’t think about him. Focus on what really matters. Like getting your family out of a cult.”

Charlie nods. She knows Mary May is right, but she can’t help how she feels. It’s been five years since they divorced and she left Hope County, but the wound still feels so fresh.

After promising to check in after the service, she decides to head out to the church. The warm, late summer sun and some classic rock helps Charlie relax on the ride over. Makes her realize there are bigger problems in the world than cheating exes.

The woman is shocked to see the throngs of cultists loitering around and inside the compound, making it almost impossible to find a spot to park her car.

After ditching her car at the end of the drive and doing a few sets of breathing exercises, Charlie makes her way inside. Before she can make her way past the gate she’s stopped by burly, bearded middle aged man.

“Sorry, ma’am I’m afraid I can’t let you past without searching you for any weapons.”

Choices quickly flood Charlie’s mind. She can run past this guard, try to hide amongst the crowd; the crowd wearing mostly uniformed clothing. Or, she can try her hand at improvisation; pretend she really is innocent and sweet. She chooses the latter option.

“I’m sorry” she says, lifting her dress a little to show the knife strapped to her thigh. “You can never be too safe as a woman.”

Charlie pulls the weapon out of its scabbard, holding it out to the man. “If you do me a small favor you can keep this.”

The cultist eyes her warily; unsure of whether she’s worthy of his trust or not. But, to her surprise, her charms worked on him. “What do you want?”

“Well,” Charlie bites her lip before getting as close as she can “I was just wondering if you could introduce me to John Seed. My mom works for him and I just wanted to meet the man she speaks so highly of.”

“I don’t know…” he trails off, looking back at the Seeds and the flock congregating around them.

“Please?” Charlie looks up at the man through her lashes. The man has a rancid odor to him and she wishes she had chosen to duck and run into the compound instead of flirting. “You don’t know how much it would mean to me.”

“Fine. But don’t try anything once you’re inside.”

Pathetic

Charlie flashes him a smile. “Thank you so much.”

The man leads her up the gravel path and through the crowds up to the front of the church. There stood three men and one young woman that everyone seems to gravitate towards.

The Seeds

Charlie’s blood runs cold at the realization that she’s finally in their presence. It dawns on her too late that they may know she was the one responsible for the death of the young chosen. Fortunately she doesn’t have time to dwell too long on that thought as the man pulls her gently towards John Seed.

“Brother John?”

The young man looks up and she’s struck by the fact that he’s actually handsome. He’s well dressed and equally well groomed with a lordly posture. She recognizes immediately that she can’t manipulate him with her feminine wiles, he’s clearly too worldly for that. The older man pushes past two young women who were waiting in line to speak to the herald.

“This lost soul has been looking for you.” Charlie tries not to roll her eyes at the descriptor, but she knows she can act the part if it brings her closer to her parents.

“Is that so?”

“Yes” Charlie answers for the cultist, a sudden surge of bravery overtaking her as she steps around him. “I haven’t heard from my family in years. I heard they were here and I wanted to see if they were okay. A wellness check, if you will.”

“That’s not what you…” John cuts the man off before he can continue on.

“Did you not recognize her?” he asks as his eyes light up with recognition. Charlie freezes.

How? He can’t possibly know.

“She’s clearly our accountant’s daughter” he says lightly spinning her around.

The other man studies her face for a moment. “Huh. You really do look exactly like Christine.”

“You know, there’s really nothing to worry about. Your family is doing well here, but, if you want to do your little ‘wellness check’, you best follow me, sweetheart” John suggests over her shoulder.

Charlie fights the urge to make a snarky retort, choosing to cast a smile over her shoulder instead. “Of course. After you.”

They head inside and Charlie is flanked on all sides by peggies. Two to her side, one behind her, and John in front of her. If she’s being honest she doesn’t understand why they need to guard a tiny, unarmed woman. Besides, who goes to reunite with their family just to attack them?

All of that goes out the window when she sees her mother. She barely registers John calling out to her mother before she’s shoving past him.

“Mama?”

Christine steps forward, her hands cupping her daughter’s cheeks. “Charlene? Baby, what are you doing here?”

Charlie blinks back the tears she can feel tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “You haven’t returned any of my calls in almost three years. I was scared” she whispers, hoping none of the cultists can hear.

Unfortunately for her the youngest Seed does hear. “I told you there was nothing to worry about” he says, clasping both Berger women’s shoulders. “Your family is doing well here, even better, they’re thriving.”

Her mother nods and smiles at John. Charlie can tell her happiness is real and it pains her to see it. If it weren’t for the armed militia around the compound she would punch the smug look off of his face.

“Sweetheart, now that you’re back in Hope County; now that you’re home, why don’t you move back in with your dad and I?”

It sounds like a terrible idea. The last thing she wants is to be stuck in a house with two people who only want to talk about Eden’s Gate. She goes to protest when she realizes she hasn’t even seen her father yet.

“Oh, no I really couldn’t... Wait, where is daddy?”

Before her mother can explain a deep voice from behind her interrupts, stopping everyone in their tracks “Who’s this?”

Charlie turns around to see who intruded on their conversation. She recognizes Joseph almost immediately, his man bun and glasses giving him

Shit

If anyone wants to be part of a taglist of the Vigilante AU, feel free to message me/send an ask.

Taglist: @sleepysnails @causeimfabulous @anty-kreatywna @w00d-lands

Reminder: 12-11-04 = TimeDeo 27-10-01 = Sammygreen

Ao3 link

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

Eret and DK were standing guard in the fifth wing outside of the room where they were housing the criminals. Corpse and Toast, LilyPichu and Fuslie, and Peter and Edison would occasionally come in to throw another person into the brig.

Their comms lit up. “Triage to Beta. Triage to Beta,” Tina said.

“Beta here.” Eret’s smooth voice came over comms. “What do you need Delta?”

“Some of the upper district kids are getting antsy. They don’t trust us. Some kid, 12-11-04, Deo has them staying put, but it’d really help if you were here. Ease the tensions. They aren’t very happy that the heroes aren’t here.”

“Of course they aren’t. Deo? One of the kids?”

“District 12.”

“Roger. Beta to Alpha.”

“Present,” Hafu said.

“Did you catch that?”

“Yes. I’ve already sent Dumbdog to replace you.”

“Pleasant. Thank you. Beta out.”

“Triage out.”

- - -

“Delta are you there?” Hafu asked.

“Yes Ma’am!” xChocoabrs voice flew over the wires.

“How’s the child extraction going?”

“Smoothly. There’s a lot more kids than we thought there were.”

“Is there a med-bay we need to worry about?”

“No. The kids get fixed up in the main room after their fights and get sent back to their cells.”

“Pleasant.”

“I know.”

“Alpha out.”

“Delta out.”

Hafu readjusted her grip on her shorty. She was thankful none of them had needed to fire a single shot yet. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Alpha and Charlie team had corralled all the adults into staying in their seats. Wait-staff had been instructed to continue serving dinner as normal.

T’was a hostile dinning environment to say the least.

Hafu, Wolfabelle, Steve, Koji, and Sleepy were walking around the perimeter keeping everyone in their seat and inside the main room. And Yvonnie, Elaina, and Ellum were walking around the room taking pictures of every table, so they could report everyone of them.

The high profile characters tried to hide their faces, but that didn’t really work.

Once Elaine reported that that had at least one picture of every table she stood in the middle of the ring and shouted. “Attention! We will escort you all out of the building one table at a time. You will all be free to find your cars and return to your homes. Please be patient with us as this will take some time.

Hafu grabbed Steve and they two of them stood on either side of the doors while everyone else from Alpha and Charlie starts leading groups one at a time to the door. They let remind the business men to have a nice night, and remind them that this place is very illeagal, so they should be very careful when complaining about being held hostage.

Hafu tuned her comm to the common frequency. “Beta Team? Do you have a status update?”

The team converses on comms for twenty seconds.

“We have them all in a back room. Everyone is doing final sweeps.” DK said. “We have 37 here.”

“Good. Make sure they are all in binds so we can get them onto the school bus.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

She pivoted, conversation over. “How’s extraction going?”

“It’s going good,” 5up said. “There are a few that don’t like vigilantes, but they get over it quickly.”

“How much more time do you need?”

“I’m making good time. xChocobars came finished with the level 1s and came to help me.”

“Same over here,” Rae piped in. “We’re done with level 3 and only have a few more level 4 cells.”

“Understood. Delta?”

“Yes Hafu?”

“Can you guys make sure that all the kids are groups by District?”

“We’ve been doing that. The older kids are helping us place them in little groups. Sometimes friends don’t want to leave each other, but for the most part it’s good.”

“You have everyone logged?”

“Everyone so far. We have a line piling up, but it’s going quickly.”

“Start finding out how many kids are in each District and grouping them so we can take them home.”

“Okay! And 1-30 stay together?”

“Yes. Thank you Tina.”

“No worries!”

- - -

“Hi Niki.” Eret pushed his way to the table. “Cupcake?”

She handed him one with a galaxy swirl. “The upper level kids are over there.” She pointed to a group of kids standing off to the side. “12-11-04 and 27-10-01 are trying to comfort them.”

“Do they have names?”

“Deo and Sammy. Deo actually likes you guys though.” A brunette girl handed a small child a cupcake. “Have a cupcake,” she says to another boy.

“Thanks,” Eret says before she ran off. Eret nodded to Niki before heading over to where the upper District kids where congregated.

“Oh it’s you,” Sammy says.

“It’s me.”

“Eighty-Seven.”

“If you won’t use my name, I prefer Captain Sparklez’ son, but sure. Let’s go with that.”

“Where are the heroes?”

“Not coming.”

“Told you so,” Deo muttered.

Eret gave a terse smile and opened his arms out wide. “Welcome to District 67. Were you don’t report things to Hero HQ even when you really should.”

“What do you mean don’t report?” Sammy demands.

“Someone might have reported suspicious activity at this area, but Hero HQ didn’t notice. Hafu did though.”

“Look at how many kids are here.” Sammy gestures wildly to the field. “I’ve been missing for months. My parents would have reported!”

Eret puts his hands up to calm down the rest of the group who were shouting similar concerns. “And they probably did. The news was full of kids getting snatched. The heroes just didn’t look any further than District 50.”

“What?”

“I’m very sorry to tell you this, but the reports fell off in Districts 30 to 50. No one below there bothered reporting. They don’t have enough faith in heroes, but they did have faith that word of mouth would eventually get to their local vigilantes. And the heroes probably assumed you’d be local. They never looked down here.”

“So what are you? Vigilantes?” one girl from the crowd asked.

“Yes.”

She scoffed. “I want a hero. I won’t feel safe until I have a hero.”

“Look. We’re going to get everybody out. Get all the evidence. Then we’ll go to Hero HQ. You just need to trust us all enough to get on a bus and we will get you to a hero. Those from District 1 to District 30 will go to hero HQ and everyone else will be dispersed among the vigilantes. Sound good? You just need to wait a little longer, and you should be home in 48 hours.”

“I want a hero now.”

“Well I’m the closed you’re going to get,” Eret said. “My dad’s Captain Sparklez. You know me.”

“Shouldn’t you have told your dad?” Deo asked. “Shouldn’t there still be hero back up?”

“Absolutely not. They come in here and take over.”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” the girl demanded.

Eret looked her dead in the eye. “You have may have faith in heroes, but just because dad lives in 87 doesn’t mean he helps us day-to-day.”

“So you didn’t tell your dad when you found a warehouse full of kidnapped children that had been all over the news?” Sammy asked incredulously.

“I didn’t find it. And by the time I was told about it, telling dad would have hindered our ability to do anything about the warehouse. You’d have been stuck here for another few months at least. Heroes have procedures that, yes keep people safe, but they also take forever; especially with a job this big.”

“Fine.”

“I’m not asking you to like it. I’m asking you go sit tight, not run away, and wait for us to get you to where you’re going.”

Sammy huffed.

Deo put his hand on his shoulder. “Do you know how to get back to District 27 from here?”

“No,” he muttered.

“Then just deal with it okay?”

The girl from earlier asked quietly, “You’ll take us home?”

“We’ll take you back to Hero HQ once we have the place cleared out. The Heroes will take you the last leg of the journey.”

The three busses rolled up, two stayed at the field and the third drove towards the warehouse.

Eret went and stood on a box and clapped to get everybody’s attention. “As you all know, we’ve slowly been moving you all so you’re with other kids in your District. We’re going to start taking you home. As you can see we have three busses here. Two will be for the kids in the upper thirty. Everybody else will be put under the guide of one of our vigilantes. We’re crunching the numbers and later we will call out with more information. Thank you for being patient with us as we process everything and everyone. The upper thirty can make their way to Syykuno and Rae. Please remember that there are a lot of you and some seats will have to triple up.”

Deo took the lead of the upper 30 District kids. He didn’t know who Rae and Syykuno were, but some of the level 3’s did, and Deo knows the colour yellow, he knows what a school bus looks like.

Deo ran to the backseat with Sammy and they both collapsed onto the vinyl.

“Wonder where that third bus went.”

“Probably to wherever they’re keeping the dudes that stole us.”

“Oh those guys. Fuck those guys.”

There are too many yellow bears in this series.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/the_black_box

Transcript under the cut.

So in Part 1, I mentioned how it was weird that I talked about the identity of the Brother and then skipped directly to the box. So let’s remedy that and talk about the identity of…

[Who is Golden Freddy?]

Sike.

No but seriously, we do need to discuss Golden Freddy before we discuss the Brother’s identity. Trust me, I’m going somewhere with this.

So Withered Golden Freddy is super easy - he’s the fifth child. We literally see this in Give Gifts. Some people think the fifth child is Cassidy, I personally think it’s Michael Brooks because his name aligns with the night guard’s names on the tombstones, it does not matter, all we need to know is that he’s the fifth child. Enjoy that, it was the only easy part of this theory.

Side note: Shadow Freddy seems to merely be a different form of Golden Freddy. In TTO, Shadow Freddy leads Charlie’s friends to her, and Michael, IE Golden Freddy, is the only one who has a reason to do that as he was her friend. And in canon, Shadow Freddy likely doesn’t show up for the fifth child in FNAF 3 not because he isn’t possessing something, but because said child is Shadow Freddy.

Continuing on, Fredbear - the one with the purple accessories - is likely Sammy, which I went over in the last video. This includes Nightmare Fredbear, the yellow bear in Happiest Day, Fredbear in UCN, etc. He’s also Nightmare, who is to Nightmare Fredbear what Shadow Freddy is to Golden Freddy; the instigator of bad events and the eventual outcome of death. Note that just as Fredbear has different colored accessories compared to Golden Freddy, Nightmare has different colored accessories compared to Shadow Freddy. They’re parallels, but they’re not the same.

But then we get to FNAF 1 Golden Freddy, and FNAF 1 Golden Freddy is… weird.

The most obvious answer would be that he’s the fifth child, but that doesn’t line up with what we established in the last video - the fifth child should no longer actively be haunting the place by FNAF 1, same as the other kids. Even if you want to argue that theory is wrong, there are some other things that don’t make sense; for example, FNAF 2 Golden Freddy is hyper-aggressive while FNAF 1 Golden Freddy is barely around. Likewise, FNAF 1 Golden Freddy seems to be purely a hallucination as you can’t adjust his AI, while Withered Golden Freddy is a physical suit you can tamper with.

FNAF 1 Golden Freddy also has a connection to both bites - both in the 1987 Easter Egg and the fact that he looks exactly like Fredbear as shown in UCN. Plus the poster that summons him occasionally switches to one of Freddy casually tearing off his own frontal lobe, and Stage 01 shows him giving cake to kid with a Foxy mask. The fifth child has nothing to do with either bite, so these connections do not make sense.

The second option would be that he’s Sammy, as he might be the other main 5 animatronics, but that… doesn’t quite add up. First, that would mean that in FNAF 3 he gave cake to… himself, seeing as all the pieces are him. Secondly, he wasn’t around in 1987 so that Easter Egg makes no sense, unless the general connection to a bite is enough for him. Thirdly, there is no Nightmare equivalent in this game (or Shadow Freddy, for that matter). And finally, the big one - if Scott intended Sammy to be Golden Freddy, then he would’ve left FNAF 4 Fredbear’s accessories black. The switch to purple is to differentiate the two, which doesn’t make sense if they’re one in the same.

But you know what’s really strange about FNAF 1 Golden Freddy aside from, like, everything? The IT’S ME hallucinations are connected to him… and him alone. No matter what the game, spinoff, or sequel, FNAF 1 Golden Freddy and FNAF 1 Golden Freddy alone makes these hallucinations.

Because of this, I feel like in order to solve who FNAF 1 Golden Freddy is, we need to solve the IT’S ME hallucinations first. And in order to do that, we have to go back to when they started appearing, which is not in FNAF 1 as you might expect, but in FNAF 2. The FNAF 2 cutscenes show the FNAF 1 location and, as far as we know, are the earliest instances of these hallucinations.

First, we see Freddy’s “error” message, which is later replaced with the “IT’S ME” line. This is why I believe these cutscenes are the origin of the phrase, as it starts showing up only after the first night. It also shows up before and after Golden Freddy appears, so it doesn’t appear to be tied to him here.

The other reason I believe this to be the origin is the hallucinations that accompany the IT’S ME message, one of which is an eyeless Bonnie - which appears in the Night 3 cutscene. And the other image? Consider how the animatronics behave towards you here - Bonnie and Chica eventually turn away, while the Puppet follows you. This matches the FNAF 2 gameplay when you put on the mask - Bonnie and Chica are fooled by it while the Puppet is not.

I’ll be honest, I never liked that puppet thing. It’s always…thinking, and it can go anywhere. I don’t think the Freddy mask will fool it.

Combine this with the strange blurred look and the fact that this is labeled as “dream” in the files, and it’s likely this isn’t reality, nor is this literally Freddy. Rather, we’re playing as someone picturing themselves as Freddy - which is why we see the Freddy with human eyes. These images accompany the IT’S ME hallucination because this is where said hallucination started.

Now, remember our requirements for the Brother earlier. They must be someone who worked in the FNAF 1 location, and we know that they worked in more than one Freddy’s as well. We also know that this person is not Michael Afton.

We know that whoever we play as in these cutscenes knows how the animatronics behave in 2, and this cutscene takes place in 1′s location. This indicates the player character moved from the FNAF 2 location to the FNAF 1 location, which fits the requirements for the Brother. This indicates that the person creating the IT’S ME hallucinations is the Brother - which in turns means that the Brother has to be FNAF 1 Golden Freddy.

But what else can we learn about him? Well for starters, we also see the Puppet, the one who gives life, right before the cutscenes stop on Night 4, despite the main gameplay continuing for several more nights. We see the Golden Freddy suit right before that, so that might be the suit that the player character is possessing - note that he does not have pupils yet like in FNAF 1. This indicates that the Brother died and was given life in the FNAF 1 location, further narrowing our requirements. And the Freddy with human eyes hallucination looks suspiciously like someone who was stuffed into a Freddy suit. See where I’m going with this?

Our final piece of evidence that links this all together is that Golden Freddy has a connection to both ‘87 and ‘83, yet is not Sammy. You see, when people ask “who did the Bite of ‘87?”, they’re asking the wrong question. Which animatronic did the Bite matters very little. What we need to know is who caused the Bite. The animatronics, including Fredbear himself, ask “was it me?” in the teasers, indicating the IT’S ME might be a response to this question. It’s not the animatronic that matters - it’s the person.

Phone Guy worked in the FNAF 2 location, and knows how the animatronics worked. He moved to the FNAF 1 location and recorded his phone calls before being stuffed into a suit on Night 4, the same number of nights the FNAF 2 cutscenes run for. And Phone Guy… is the one who tells Jeremy to wear his uniform and stick close the animatronics, after it was established they weren’t acting right around adults. In FNAF 1, after Phone Guy’s death, the first instance of Golden Freddy we can confirm… happens to land on the anniversary date of the Bite of ‘87.

Phone Guy caused the Bite of ‘87… and the Bite of ‘83. Phone Guy is the Brother.

[Why Phone Guy Being the Brother Makes Sense, Actually]

It may sound crazy at first, but Phone Guy being the Brother and FNAF 1 Golden Freddy is what suddenly makes this seemingly almost random series of events come together into a coherent story. So, without further adieu, let’s summarize the plot of FNAF.

We start with William kidnapping and killing Charlie. This then traumatized Sammy, which in turn caused his older brother to bully him and eventually kill him by accident. Wracked with guilt, the brother took the plushies that Sammy possessed and tried to stitch them together into one, then locked them into a box and tried to repress his memories of the incident.

William then kidnapped the Brother, leading to the events of FNAF 4 with Sammy trying to kill him. The Brother eventually escapes but never opens the box and faces the truth, instead eventually picking up a job at Freddy’s. Five kids are killed at that location and possess the pre-Withereds. William kills another five for their remnant in 2 before being moved to the day shift. The Brother, now known as Phone Guy, accidentally causes another Bite to happen. This and the murders drive him to take up the night shift. William, meanwhile, is killed by the kids and sealed away, and the original five rest while Sammy takes their place.

Phone Guy works there for years before Sammy finally succeeds in killing him near the anniversary of the Bite of ‘87. He then becomes FNAF 1 Golden Freddy, who’s basically a representation of his guilt over the Bite - keep in mind that he never did open the box, which Scott described as “fitting”. The FNAF 1 location eventually shuts down, Fazbear’s Fright opens, and Sammy and Charlie are both freed. Some, uh, stuff happens with Michael, and eventually the other five kids are put to rest as well and William is killed off for good.

Rising action, climax, resolution, ect. - FNAF suddenly has a plot, with all of the proper elements and everything. Scott's “four games, one story” hint suddenly makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it?

Oh, and if the general plot of “Guy works five nights at a pizzeria before his younger sibling, possessing multiple animatronics, kills him and turns him into an empty suit” sounds familiar… well, that’s because it’s the plot of Sister Location. Back during TSE’s release Scott said the books were an AU because the original plotline just had too much stuff in it to write any more stories, but then turned around and released SL and FFPS. I think he realized that by just paralleling the same narrative but switching the focus from the Emilys to the Aftons, he could create a lot more stories.

So, okay. All of that makes sense from a story perspective, but what about a theory perspective? What evidence is there to support Phone Guy being both Golden Freddy and the Brother? Well, there’s… a lot, actually. So much so, in fact, that we’re going to speedrun it.

“Well, I think that’s it. Uh, you should be golden.”

Also, the numbers you’re punching in are the hex code of William’s “Save them” sprite backwards, which might be a nod to the “Phone Guy is the killer” theory. It was still popular at the time, so the number being backwards might indicate it was wrong - because Phone Guy isn’t William, he’s Golden Freddy

“Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I’m finishing up my last week now as a matter of fact.”

While I have heard some evidence against the idea of Phone Guy being the Brother, most of it seems inconsequential. Here’s a quick run-down:

Phone Guy sounds too old to be the Brother - Scott’s not a professional voice actor, and he never intended there to be more games after 1 upon release. Also, Phone Guy’s voice actually does get lower in pitch over time (compare his voice in FNAF 3 vs FNAF 1). If this was a professional voice actor Scott chose out later in the series this would be valid, but as is it’s a bit too nitpicky in my opinion.

Phone Guy is too old to be the Brother - Assuming Phone Guy started working in Freddy’s in ‘85, then that puts him at two years after the Bite. If he was 16 at the time of the bite, he’d be 18 in ‘85, old enough to get the job. Even if he was 14 plenty of jobs will hire 16 year olds depending on the state’s labor laws.

His line about Fredbear’s in 2 doesn’t make sense - The “previous owner” he mentions is probably not Henry, who would be his father if he was the Brother, but rather William. Keep in mind this is after the murders, so I don’t know why they’d be contacting Henry at this point. Some people also think that the location of the Bite of ‘83 was Fredbear’s, making it weird that the Brother wouldn’t be 100% sure of its name, but the token in Help Wanted confirms that that location was the first Freddy’s.

So yeah, that’s quite a bit of evidence. But in addition to everything else, I’d also like to discuss this theory relative to UCN.

[How This Ties Back Into Ultimate Custom Night]

You see, UCN has two major theories going for it: One is Willhell, one is Mikehell, and one is my personal favorite, the Theoriest’s Hell.

[Please Stand By]

One is Willhell and the other is Mikehell. The problem with both of these theories however is that neither of them… work, or at least work as well as we would all like them to. Let’s recap:

Willhell is the more solid of the two, as it makes more logical sense and more of the dialogue fits Will better than Michael. However, it is not without a few problems.

The biggest issue is Malhare’s appearance in FFPS, as it’s a bit hard for William to show up after UCN if he’s supposed to be in Hell. There are also a few other things; for example, the Puppet claims she doesn’t hate him which is a bit odd. Not to mention the emphasis on “the one”, which seems weird considering WIlliam has killed multiple kids. Fredbear can also insta-kill you and Golden Freddy shows up at the end of the game, so there’s some sort of significance to those two characters and the Bite here, which also doesn’t tie back to Will.

Mikehell fixes this by claiming Michael is the Brother; thus, “the one” is the Bitten Child and the connections to the Bite suddenly have an explanation. However, this theory has holes of its own - namely, that FFPS kind of sort of directly states that Michael isn’t going to Hell.

For most of you, I believe there is peace, and perhaps more, waiting for you after the smoke clears. Although for one of you, the darkest pit of hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don’t keep the devil waiting, old friend.

If “one of you” refers to William and there’s peace waiting for the others, than that means that Michael is going to be at peace after FFPS, which doesn’t make sense for Scott to have brought attention to if he’s the protag of UCN.

This one also doesn’t make sense from a character standpoint. Even if Michael was the Brother - and I already went over why I think he’s not in the first part - he already more than repented for his sins by dying while freeing Elizabeth.

And finally, the “leave the demons to his demons” scene also doesn’t make much sense here - Michael killed his brother accidentally, so “demon” is too harsh. He could be the Freddy sprite and the text is referring to Will, but… why would he be Freddy, aside from that being the sprite in OMC’s original appearance?

So with neither of these theories working perfectly, I’d like to suggest a third option: Brotherhell. Basically it’s the same thing as Mikehell, but without the Mike.

This immediately fixes most of the issues with Mikehell. The Brother never opened the box from 4 or really even came to terms with what he did, so him being punished makes sense in this context. “The One” is Sammy, who 4 already proved to be very vengeful towards his brother. This would explain why Fredbear can insta-kill you, as he and The One are the same.

The Puppet saying she doesn’t fear him anymore, but also doesn’t hate him? Assuming he used to scare Charlie like he did Sammy, he would indeed not scare her anymore without her truly hating him. And the scene with OMC? The Brother is Freddy in that scene because he became Golden Freddy when he died. And that’s why you see Golden Freddy at the end - he’s not only the player character, but a representation of the Brother’s guilt as well. Note that while the Bitten Child passed on in 3 and the original 5 and Elizabeth passed on in FFPS, no one ever actually freed the Brother.

The only snag I can think of with this interpretation is Orville’s one line:

He tried to release you. He tried to release us. But I’m not going to let that happen. I will hold you here. I will keep you here. No matter how many times they burn us. (They burn us).

However, one could argue this refers to the fire in FNAF 3, rather than the one in FFPS. Henry (the player character in 3) tried to burn everything and release the Brother, Sammy and Charlie. Whether or not this works is a bit ambiguous, but it at least has less problems regardless than Willhell or Mikehell.

[So is any of this right?]

Now that we’ve finally covered the entire lore - or at least the most confusing bits - it’s time to ask the important questions, like “was any of that even correct”? And the answer is… I dunno. No, really. I could’ve been wrong from the start and Michael is the Brother and none of this meant anything and I just wasted nearly an hour of your time talking about all of this. And given that Scott seems sort of, uh, completely terrified of fan backlash, we probably won’t be getting any definitive answers anytime soon.

However, if nothing else, I hope this theory serves as an interpretation of FNAF that makes for a good story. Instead of this confusing mish-mash of seemingly random events and people, we’re left with a simple story about a small child trying to get revenge on his older brother, who’s still grappling with coming to terms with what he did. It’s creepy, it’s poignant, it’s sad, and it is Five Nights at Freddy’s.

[IT’S ME Jumpscare - Weird Al over Credits]

Burned Part 19

Summary:  Alfie Solomons is in need of a secretary. Tommy Shelby mentions a young woman in need of employment. From there the two step into a dangerous dance together.

Part 19: Louise comes across startling news. 

           Louise sank into the hot water, letting out a long sigh of relief. She closed her eyes and took a few deep inhales of the lavender soap. It was a welcome distraction but it didn’t last long. She did everything she could to block out the noise in her head. All the panicked thoughts overlapping one another, each one getting louder than the last.

           Just focus on the good.

           Alfie.

           Cyril and Paris.

           All the new friends and family she’d gained. Evelyn, Bess, Anya, Vera, Maxine, Ollie, and Shayna, plus their children. Tante Eva, Bubbe Bluma, Tante Raisa.

           Louise opened her eyes when a random memory popped back in her mind. Raisa holding her cheeks and complimenting her eyes. The lines around her eyes showing as she smiled warmly.

           “Look at those beautiful brown eyes. How perfect they’ll look on a healthy baby boy.”

           The room around her went too quiet and still. She was motionless in the bathtub, the water a sheet of glass around her. Cyril lay beside the tub, his droopy cheeks resting on his large paws. Faint sounds from Evelyn in the kitchen traveled up the stairs. A car passed by outside. But her ears hardly registered the sounds.

           Slowly, as if weighted down with lead, she lifted a hand to her stomach. There wasn’t much to feel. Cool air touched her skin, steam rising up. Could there be something there? A child? Alfie’s child? Her child?

           Louise sat there dumbfounded. She didn’t even have the ability to recall the date to fact check. Was it Christmas? Or Christmas Eve? Perhaps it was Boxing Day already. She chewed on her lip and tried once then twice to count the weeks. But the dates were muddled and she couldn’t pinpoint a number.

           Breaking out of her daze, Louise stood and reached for the towel placed nearby. Cyril lifted his head and trailed her movements across the room but stayed in his spot on the floor.

           Louise paced for a bit, unaware of her shivers from the sudden shock of cold air. Finally, she stopped in front of the vanity. Color had returned to her face, her cheeks flushed pink from the hot soak. She dropped the towel and stared at her abdomen as if waiting for the answer to appear in writing on her skin. She twisted left then right to see any indication of pregnancy. Her eyes began to play tricks and she couldn’t tell if her bare midsection actually had a small bump or if she hadn’t changed at all.

           Ready to face facts, Louise donned a dressing gown, quickly tying the belt and going downstairs. Cyril followed, sensing some of her distress.

           “Lyn, have you seen my diary?” She asked while searching through Alfie’s study. Her still damp hands left trails of water droplets over the wood desk and parchment.

           “I think you left it in the parlor. I thought that’s where I saw it last.” Evelyn called back.

           Leaving Alfie’s office, Louise finally found the book on the side table in the parlor. She stood over it, rifling through the pages.

           Evelyn came from the kitchen. “You weren’t up there very long. Did you get sick again? Are you hungry?” The young woman noticed Louise’s harried nature.

           Instead of answering, she searched the book, scanning over Alfie’s meetings and scribbled notes next to her own neat handwriting.

           “Louise?” Evelyn grew more concerned by her silence. The woman’s face began to go pale again. “What’s wrong?”

           Finally, she found the mark, the mark that Alfie always overlooked because he thought it was simply one of his wife’s doodles. A small flower tucked away in the corner of the Monday nearly eight weeks earlier.

           Struck by a frigid wave of shock, Louise slumped onto the couch. A hand covered her mouth and she stared at Cyril. The bullmastiff sat in front of her, his sad eyes searching her face.

           She’d been so caught up in the Italians, the holidays, and Alfie’s condition that she hadn’t noticed how late she was.

           “Louise,” Evelyn repeated and touched her forehead to see if she was running a fever. “Should I call for Alfie or a doctor?”

           “N-no.” Louise finally managed to get a word out. “No, Lyn, no.”

           “You’ve gone white as a ghost…”

           “I’m pregnant.” The words felt odd in her mouth. Ever since she was a young woman, she hoped she would be able to say those words. She thought about how joyful the occasion would be. Pregnant with her husband’s child. Then Daniel had nearly convinced her she was barren. She lost hope until she fell in love with Alfie. Then she couldn’t quit thinking about their family together. But the world had suddenly become so dangerous. Charlie Shelby was kidnapped right out from under Tommy’s nose. Grace was gunned down. So was John Shelby. Was it really the world she wanted to raise a child in?

           “That’s wonderful.” Evelyn’s soft voice interrupted Louise’s gloomy thoughts. The young woman came from a community that celebrated a growing family. “You must be so happy.” She smiled warmly.

           Louise’s lips parted and she struggled with the words. “I am…I know I am. I guess I’m just scared as well.” She whispered, her eyes still fixed on Cyril.

           The dog whined and went to place his head in her lap. His nose prodded at her abdomen as if he knew about the child.

           “Should I call Mr. Solomons? You can tell him the news?” Evelyn suggested.

           “No,” Louise replied firmly and shook her head. “No, he can’t know. Not yet. Not until I know what he’s doing about…” She sighed and wrung her hands together. “Just, not yet.”

           Evelyn wrinkled her brow but nodded. “Alright, then, I won’t tell anyone.” She promised. “But, Louise, it will be okay.”

           “I want it to be, Lyn, I really want it to be okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

           “Is Louise coming in? I was looking for some of her notes.”

           “Nah, still sick.” Alfie kicked shut a filing drawer. It had been three days since Christmas. Three days since John Shelby had been killed. Three days since Louise discovered the secret she’d been keeping from Alfie. But he didn't suspect anything. He merely thought she'd caught a stomach virus, nothing too serious. Although the longer the time she spent resting, the more he wondered if he should do something.            

          “Still?” Ollie frowned and looked up at his boss. “Should take her to a doctor.”

           His boss gave him a stern look and dropped a heavy stack of books onto his desk, nearly crushing Ollie’s fingertips in the process. “You tryna insinuate I don’t take care of me fucking wife?”

           “No sir, of course not. I was just…”

           Alfie decided it wasn’t worth blowing his stack over. He sighed heavily and sat back down. He rubbed a weary hand over his eyes. Of course, he wanted Louise to go to the doctor but she was being just as stubborn as he was being. He woke up to her throwing up in the bathroom nearly every morning and night. “I told her to go but she won’t. Says it innit that bad and that she can work. But it’s certain stuff that triggers it, like nothing I’ve seen ‘fore. Evelyn can’t make eggs in the morning or Lou will get sick.”

           “Oh…oh.” Ollie’s eyes widened in realization. Shayna had been pregnant more than enough times for her husband to know the symptoms. In fact, their third child had caused her to have an aversion to eggs as well. “Sir, she could be pregnant.”

           “What?” Having never spent too much time around a pregnant woman, Alfie had no idea what to look for. He just sort of assumed he’d notice a bump first. He’d seen her dressing every morning and night, hell they’d even made love on Christmas Eve. Yet, he didn’t notice anything.

           “Morning sickness, pregnant women get it in the first few months,” Ollie answered. “It’s pretty common.”

           “S’not just in the morning.”

           “Well, his assistant tilted his head with a shrug. “It’s sort of just what they call it, could be any time of the day.”

           Alfie groaned and put his head in his hands. “Fucking hell.” It was the last thing he was expecting. It was also the last thing he needed. He was already worried about Louise’s wellbeing and now she could possibly be with child? “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” He stood up with a grunt and grabbed his coat.

           “Sir?” Ollie turned in his seat as his boss left the office in a hurry and cursing the entire way.

~~~~~~~~~~

           The winter months had made the stiffness in Alfie’s hip unbearable. But he ignored the ache and ran to his home. By the time he arrived, his cheeks were red from the jog against the brisk wind. He used his key to enter, pushing through the entryway like a tank.

           Evelyn had a nasty shock as Alfie stormed through the rooms without a knock or a warning. “Mr. Solomons-”

           He ignored her and found Louise curled up in the parlor. Her feet were tucked to the side, a wool blanket resting over her lap, Cyril guarding by her. The bullmastiff stood and snarled at Alfie when he approached Louise too quickly.

           Startled, the gangster halted. Never had the dog, or any dog for that matter snapped so viciously at him. Cyril had been protective over Louise but hadn't ever seen Alfie, his own master, as a threat before. “Cyril…”

           Louise glanced up from the book in her hand. “He’s been a pill all morning. Won’t let anyone near me, snapped at Evelyn.” She rested a hand on Cyril’s head to calm him. “Sh, love, you know who that is, silly thing.” The dog calmed down and hopped up onto the couch to rest his head on her feet. His eyes watched Alfie cautiously.

           Alfie was breathing heavily, the cold air stuck in his chest. He stood in front of his wife, not sure what to even say. The words were lodged in his throat.

           Louise met his eyes. “Why are you home so early? Is everything okay?” She worried Luca Changretta may have shown up at the bakery. And yet, she didn't think the Italian-American would spook him so much.

           “You pregnant?” He asked abruptly.

           Louise’s eyebrows knit together in worry. She swallowed and chewed on the inside of her cheek before answering. “How do you know?”

           Alfie’s shoulders slumped and he paced a few steps. Her response was enough of a confirmation for him. “Fuck, Lou, you knew?” He demanded and ran a hand over his beard.

           “Not for very long.” She flagged her page, closed the book and set it aside. Then, she nudged Cyril to the side and removed the blanket from her lap, setting her feet on the rug.

           Her husband grumbled incoherently, muttering something to himself. The shock was too much for him. Very few things surprised him so badly.

           “Alfie, look at me.” She pled quietly from the couch. He turned and his blue eyes finally returned to her. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t know how to tell you. I was waiting for the right moment. I didn't want you to be angry.” Her voice weakened to a faint whisper.

           He dropped to his knees in front of her. “Lou, m’not angry.” He prefaced. His lower lip wavered as he took a shaky breath. “M’not, I promise, m'just...”

           Louise touched his cheeks, concern riddling her face. “But you’re worried. I am too. Alfie, I'm so worried.”          

           He sighed and dropped his head. “Yeah.” He admitted. “Fucking terrified for more than one reason.”

           “What’s going to happen?” She asked, her thumb making a soothing circle over his cheek.

           “Nothing bad will happen,” Alfie assured her. “Nothing. You’ll be perfectly safe, yeah, there’ll be hell if someone tries anything. I’d like to keep it ‘tween us and people we can trust though. You tell anyone else?” He asked.

           Louise shook her head. “Only Evelyn.”

           “Good, good.” He rested his hands on her hips and took a few more breaths until he felt somewhat at ease again. He'd handle much more before. He could handle this with some sort of grace. All he wanted was for Louise to have her paradise and give her comfort. The pregnancy would be as simple as he could possibly make it for her. “Fucking hell.” He chuckled breathlessly. “Gonna be a father.”

           She smiled and felt tears in her eyes. “The best father.”

           He touched her abdomen. “Can’t fucking believe it. I mean, honestly, Lou, I dunno if I’ve really…” He scrunched up his face. Suddenly, he was so overcome with adoration for his wife that he wanted to shout out to the world. Instead, he had to swallow back tears of joy.

           She laughed and kissed his forehead. “I know. I suppose it’ll feel more real when I’m showing a bit more.”

           “Right, well, I’ll call the doctor ‘round.” He decided. “Ollie’ll have a doctor he trusts, yeah. Probably the one that delivered his kids, aye?”

           Louise frowned and gave her husband a disappointed look. “Alfie, you cannot tell me to see the doctor when you’ve been avoiding the same thing for ages.”

           “Ain’t about me right now.” He mumbled. There was no way he was going to think about his condition right after he found out he was going to be a father. How could he be a father to his only child if he had cancer? No, best to ignore it for as long as he could.

           “It is about you. I want to know that you’re going to be okay so we’ll have a healthy family. All three of us. I'll need you by my side through this.” She coaxed gently. “Please.”

           “This takes priority.” He replied firmly. Because from that moment forward, Louise and the child were his number one priorities until the day he died. Nothing would change that.

           “You take priority too.” She argued and pressed a hand over his that was on her stomach.

           “Lou-”

           “It’s non-negotiable, Alfie. In fact, I think I’ve been pretty patient despite how worried I’ve been about you. And it’s not healthy to worry while I’m pregnant.”

           He groaned and threw his head back. She wasn’t playing fair in his eyes but he also couldn't blame her. He was a pain to deal with sometimes, he was well aware of that. “I will when the time is right…” He attempted to push off her worry, sparing himself more time.

           “The time is right now.” She interrupted.

           “No…”

           “Alfie, either you get examined or I’m not going.” It was a pretty harsh ultimatum, and Louise felt a little guilty about it. Of course, she wanted the best for her unborn child, but she needed to know Alfie would be okay too.

           He pulled a bratty look but sighed in resignation. It seemed his wife had spent enough time around him to learn his tricks of negotiation. Everything or nothing. “Fine.” He caved in.

           “Thank you.” Louise kissed his cheek. “It’ll be okay. But we need to know for sure.”

           Alfie stayed kneeling in front of her, hugging her close. She cradled him close to her chest so he could hear her heartbeat. He closed his eyes and imagined hearing the heartbeat of his child. But his stomach was in knots all the same. He didn't want Louise to know how scared he was. Scared to find out he was dying. Scared to know that he might not even see the birth of his first and only child. Scared that Louise would be left alone in the world, left to raise the child by herself. The child never knowing who he was. He pressed closer to Louise and closed his eyes tighter. His breathing became more shallow and he felt like the room was caving in on him. He prayed.

           Please, Lord above. Let me see the child. Let me live. I've never begged you to live. Now I'm fucking begging. Let me live.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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part 3

This is gonna be the last part of this story for now, maybe I will return to it in the future, but for now, that's it. Still glad to see how many people liked it, and it was a nice opportunity to try my self out a little with writting. ^^ Huge thanx to Xenomaster for helping me write part 3 and for helping me with the decission, who to turn into the next girl. My first choice was Joker, but that would be to much of a strech, and someone from batman's family and friends just would be too obvious. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy it, and that it may inspire you to some own ideas. ^^ Part 1:         Part 2:         Story: Harley could not have asked for a better child. While Charlotte was a completely different person, she still possessed some of Batman's greatest skills, like an efficient use of gadgets, combat fighting and making good use of her surroundings, which often helped for an quick and easy escape. And the fact that no cop nor hero would harm such a young mislead child, was of pretty good use as well. Together they became slowly but surely one of Gotham's biggest crime duo's. And while the cops still tried to figure out from where this new girl was coming from, Batman's friends already had their suspicions. The timing and the way how Charley Quinn's costume was designed where just way to fitting. They knew this girl was the cause of Batman's disappearance. But without any actual proof there was not much they could do, and getting a hold of the two turned out much more difficult than expected. Of course they could not let the public know that their biggest hero disappeared and may even got turned into... but his friends could not give up hope yet. And while they tried to find a way, Nightwing offered himself to replace Batman in the meantime, so Gothman can keep his symbol. Of course not all was just crime and destruction for Harley and her new daughter. At their hideout, they behaved pretty much like a normal family. Even Poison Ivy, who's latest schemes were more than often interrupted, decided to pretend to have started a legit life, to secretly support the young family. Charlotte even started to call her Aunt Ivy. Which I've found highly amusing, especially considering from who it was coming from. When Harley suggested her plans to Ivy months ago, she didn't knew what to think of it. But now seeing the man that used to be so strong and able to resist her pheromones for so long now nothing but a cute little girl, loving her mother and wanting to have fun. remembering how serious and gloomy Batman often was, she kinda felt happy for him. There was just one thing missing in this paradise. As much Charlette enjoyed the company of her mother, she wished for a playmate in her age, someone she could play along when Harley couldn't. And since a certain accident some weeks ago, the Playground was not an option anymore, even with their best disguises. Harley promised her daughter to take care of it, even though she wasn't quite sure how yet. Unbeknownst to Harley and Charlotte, something was closing in on them. One night while Harley and Charlotte were relaxing at home, they are caught off guard by a knock at the door. Harley opens the door while the latch is on, but she is knocked back and the door was ripped off it’s hinges. The late night visitor was Bane. Bane explained that he had been searching for Batman for weeks, and practically every clue leads straight to Harley. Bane demands to know where Batman is, Harley reluctant to do so as she feared for Charlotte's safety and lied while signaling Charlotte to hide. Bane however does not believe Harley and threatens the villainess, who starts to fight back on pure maternal instinct. Bane and Harley begin to tear up the place, only to be caught off guard when Charlotte decided to step in and help her mother. Harley scolds Charlotte as they fight Bane, who slowly begins to realise who Charlotte was. Bane picks up Harley and begins to question her about the child’s connection to Batman. Without thinking, Charlotte throws a random ornament at Bane’s head, and Harley shot Bane with what she thought was a gun. Before Harley realised what she had actually shot Bane with, he began to shrink rapidly, screaming like a wild animal. When it was all over, Bane was no more and a very small child took his place. Oddly enough, the child reacted in confusion and spoke nothing but Spanish, seemingly unaware of what happened. Upon calming down the young girl (as Charlotte has some skill in speaking spanish), Harley and Charlotte take the young girl to Ivy to see what is going on, being careful with the venom pump inside the girl’s head. Ivy explains the pheromones she gave Harley were meant to slowly make someone susceptible to suggestion, but only in small doses. The amount given to the small child once called Bane unraveled his mind by decades. This was confirmed when Charlotte relayed to her mother and aunt that “Bane” last remembered being in Peña Duro, being six years old. The fight Harley and Charlotte had with Bane effectively erased the man from existence. Ivy had also found that Bane’s Venom had altered due to the effects of the ray, it was less potent and with very few side effects. Taking sympathy on the small girl, Harley decided to adopt the transformed Bane, giving her the name “Amalia”. Days to weeks pass and the three are a good family. Amalia loved playing with her “big sister” and doing things with her mother. It was uncanny how the Man That Broke the Bat has changed into such a timid child, one that sought forgiveness for the smallest of transgressions. Some of “old Bane” shone through from time to time as Amalia sometimes took to meditation, unsure why she did, and called a teddy she received “Osito”. Amalia eventually wanted to join her mother and sister on their escapades. Upon accepting the request, Harley and Charlotte began training the young girl. Amalia actually took to it quite quickly, likely some remnant of Bane still left inside her. Harley soon then gave Amalia a new costume, along with the now altered venom. Now Harley is part of the most dangerous crime trio in Gotham, along side Charlie Quinn and her new daughter “Pest”. I should say I only altered what was after the first three paragraphs as they were honestly ok as they were. I also had a very sinister idea: Ivy's pheromone erased "Bane" and left the child that lived in Peña Duro. Before the fall that mentally snapped the kid. Part 3 in dialog form by Xenomaster <Newspapers of how the Quinns were on a crime spree, illuding both cops and heroes alike over the course of weeks to about a month> (In Harley’s apartment, she, Charlotte and Ivy were having dinner together) Harley: And Dent was like “I’ll get you for this, ye pair of-.” before Charlie used adhesive silly putty to gunk his mouth shut! Charlotte: It’s rude to say bad words in front of little girls. *begins to laugh with her mother* Hey, mom. Can I be excused? Harley: Go right ahead, kiddo. Charlotte: Thanks. See you, Aunt Ivy. *runs off, likely to watch TV* Ivy: I must say, it’s uncanny to think that she was the Dark Knight. Harley: I know, right? She’s the most perfect angel a mom can ask for. Ivy: You know, I almost think we did the Bat a favour. Harley: What you mean, Red? Ivy: I mean, look at her. She’s always smiling, very upbeat. Compare that to how she used to be, a very serious and gloomy man. I almost think we did him a favour. Harley: And you said my plan was stupid. Ivy: I will admit, I was wrong. *looks at a clock* Damn it, look at the time. Sorry, Harl. I have to cut this visit short. *walks to the living room and takes a trenchcoat* Charlotte: *turns around while watching TV* Going so soon, Aunt Ivy? Ivy: Sorry, kid. But you know how it is, men to break, pollutionists to stop. *gives Charlotte a kiss on the head* See you later, honey. Charlotte: Bye, Aunt Ivy. (Ivy leaves incognito and Harley comes in to see Charlotte solemnly watching TV) Harley: What’s wrong, Charlotte? *sees that what Charlotte was watching was about having friends* Oh… you’re lonely. Charlotte: I know it’s fun with you and aunt ivy, but-. Harley: *hugs Charlotte* I know, kiddo. It’s just that not many of us criminals have kids in the business. I know it’s hard for you, especially with that ice cream escapade the other week… but I promise I’ll find a way. Charlotte: Thanks, mom. *hugs Harley* (meanwhile across town, some thugs are getting tossed around) Thug: Harley Quinn! You’re looking for Harley Quinn! (the thug gets “knocked out”, revealing Bane was on the prowl) (Harley and Charlotte are lounging about in their apartment. Harley was reading a magazine on the couch while Charlotte was playing about with a throwing knife when they hear a knock on the door) Charlotte: Did you order pizza? Harley: No… *goes to the door, opening it after making sure the chain was on the latch* Who is it? (the door bursts open, knocking Harley back. Charlotte sat in awe as Bane trudged in) Harley: What the heck are you doing here?! Ya better pay for the door! Bane: Where is he? Harley: Who? Bane: The Bat. Harley: *goes wide eyed* Bane: Last anyone heard, Batman was hunting you. Now he disappears? It is no coincidence. *picks up Harley* Now, where is Batman? Harley: L-look, you paloka. I have no idea what you are on about! *gives a hand single to Charlotte to hide, making her run off* Now get outta here! Bane: I would… but I don’t believe you. Tell me, or the niñita may need to find her papa. (Harley reaches for a vase and smashes it right into Bane’s face, dropping her out of surprise rather than pain. The two begin to duke it out until Charlotte interrupts them by tossing one of Harley’s throwing weapons at Bane) Harley: Charlotte, don’t get involved. Charlotte: I’m not going to let this bully hurt you, mom. Bane: She has spirit… Harley: If we live through this, you are so grounded. (the fight continues, Harley and Charlotte proving to be untaggable targets for Bane. as the fight went on, Bane started to recognise something about Charlotte. He then pins Harley to the couch) Bane: That girl, she has something to do with The Bat. Who is she!? Charlotte: *seeing her mother in trouble, she picks up a convenient clown bust and throws it at Bane* (As the bust breaks on Bane’s head, a pink liquid splashes all over him. This disorients him long enough for Harley to grab the laser on mistake and shoot Bane with it, assuming it was a real gun. Bane yells in pain and shrinks down until a small child took his place) Harley: *notices Bane’s Venom tube* Pink? “Bane”: *tries to back away from the two in fear and confusion* ¿Dónde estoy, qué está pasando, quién eres tú? [Where am I, what is happening, who are you?] Charlotte: Tranquilízate, nadie te va a lastimar. [Calm down, no one's going to hurt you.] Harley: I didn’t know you can speak Spanish. Charlotte: *shrugs* ¿Puedes decirme quién eres? [Can you tell me who you are?] “Bane”: Yo... no tengo nombre. [I... I don’t have a name.] *looks around* Esto no se parece a Peña Duro [This doesn't look like Peña Duro] (Harley and Charlotte look at each other before cutting to Ivy’s place some time later. Ivy and Harley were discussing the situation while Charlotte was keeping “Bane” company) Ivy: *rubs temple* Harl… you are either really lucky, really dumb or cunning as a fox. You are telling me that… THAT, is Bane? Harley: Yeah… Ivy: You two overdosed him on the pheromone I gave you and used that same toy you used on Batman. Not a memory left of that burly monster left! Harley: I was meaning to ask about that. Ivy: *sighs* The pheromone was meant to slowly break down any resistance to suggestion. What you did was a complete mind wipe. In his… her case, it seems all the way to the point where Bane wasn’t such a beast. I can’t believe it, you of all people managed to not just beat but erase Batman and Bane! Harley: What about his juice? Ivy: Yes, the Venom seems to be altered. While I can only guess, it seems that the ray you used seems to have regressed the Venom’s potency. I’d need to run some tests to be absolutely sure. (The two women look at the two girls. Charlotte and “Bane” seem to be getting along quite well) Ivy: So, what are you gonna do? Harley: ...Take responsibility. *makes her way to Charlotte and “Bane” and kneels* Charlotte, honey. Can you translate for me? Charlotte: I’ll try. Harley: *turns to “Bane”* I know you’re scared and confused. From what you told me, you had it pretty rough. But I can look after you. Give you a home and food. I can help, but only if you let me. (Charlotte takes everything Harley says and translates it so “Bane” can understand. “Bane” just hugs Harley and cries. Harley picks up the girl and carries her into where she and Ivy were talking) Ivy: Are you sure about this? Harley: Parenthood is it’s own reward. Right, Charlie? Charlotte: *smiles* Harley: There is one last thing, Red. Ivy: And what’s that? Harley: Can we crash here? Bane busted up our place. (Some time later, after Harley’s place was fixed up, she returned with some shopping to be greeted by the former Bane, hugging her leg) “Bane”: Mamá, lo siento mucho! No quise decir a-. Harley: Whoa. Slow down, Amalia. You speak spanish when you talk fast. Amalia: *let's go* S-sorry, mama. I saw a spider… *looks over to a wall with a hole in it the size of a small child’s fist* Harley: *places groceries on the counter* Wow, you have a good right hook. Amaila: Please, mama. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-. Harley: *places hands on Amalia’s shoulders* Sweetie, don’t get yourself worked up. It’s not that big a deal, we all make accidents. Amailia: *sniffs* Ok, mama. Harley: Besides, I got ya something. *gives Amalia a teddy bear* Amalia: *gasps* Thank you, mama! *takes the bear and runs off* Charlotte! Look was mama got me! (Harley looks on at the two girls playing about, a tear coming to her eye before eyeing the clock) Harley: Ok girls, bedtime. Amalia and Charlotte: Yes mama/mom. (the two prepare for bed, changing and brushing their teeth. Harley came in to tuck in Amalia) Amalia: Mama, can I ask you something? Harley: What is it, baby? Amalia: You know how you and Charlotte go out and commit crimes? C- can I join you? Harley: Are you sure that’s what ya want, kiddo? Amaila: *nods* Harley: *thinks* Well… not yet. Amaila: *sinks into her bed in disappointment* Harley: You need to learn the basics first, kiddo? Amaila: *smiles* Thank you, mama. Harley: Starting tomorrow, your sister and I’ll be teaching you how to be a good little criminal. But for now, you need your beauty sleep. *kisses Amaila on the head* Amaila: Wait, mama. Kiss Osito too. Harley: *does so to humour her daughter* Good night, sweetie. *turns off the light before leaving the room and picking up the phone* Hey, Red. How’s the Venom? Ivy: Well, it’s not exactly Venom. More like “Venom Lite”. It’s pretty harmless, but not really the same thing. Harley: Would it be safe for Amaila? Ivy: I guess… what are you up to? Harley: Fam secret. Thanks, Red! *hangs up* (over the next few weeks, Amaila was trained by her mother and sister. Oddly, she seemed to progress faster than Charlotte did. Amaila even improvised some training herself, as if it was instinctual. This went on for some time until one day when the three were lounging about at home when there was a knock on the door.) Harley: *grabs a mallet and walks to the door, checking as she did last time only for no one to be there but a package* Charlotte: What is it, mom? Harley: *reads the note on the package* It’s from Red. Charlotte: Aunt Ivy? Amaila: Tía Ivy? Harley: “Harl. This is the best I can do considering. Give the girls my love, Ivy”. *Harley opens it and realises what it is* It’s for you, Ami. *hands the parcel over to her younger daughter* (Amaila goes into her room and puts on the outfit. Like Charlotte’s, it was very reminiscent of Harley’s but had some details of Bane’s. Most notably a tube full of pink liquid being fed into her body) Charlotte: Looking good, sis. Amaila: *smiles* Harley: So precious! Girls, we are going to rule Gotham! <Newspapers of how Harley and her daughters on a crime spree, overpowering all form of law enforcement. The headlines label Amaila as Pest.>

I’m feeling lonely but I’m going to talk about the time when I wasn’t feeling lonely

Hey again! I’ve been feeling a little alone these past few days/weeks despite being surrounded by people. So instead of ranting about how bad I feel or whatever negative stuff, I’m just going to focus on the positive and talk about  some of the smile-worthy things I’ve been wanting to share here for the longest time but failed to slot in the time to do just that. 

okay so on the 21st of February 2019, someone (me duhh) was feeling quite like crap. (It may seem like I’m always feeling like crap but I promise that’s not true ;p, I actually am quite a bubbly happy person generally lol but sometimes maintaining that stamina can be hard amirite?) Okay so basically, I just missed some of my old friends terribly and going on social media seeing some of them getting the chance to hang out together whilst I was stuck here catching up with deadlines and quizzes and presentations made me a little extra emotional (?) Not to mention!! Period season was coming up haha ugh sucks to be a girl

Anyways, I ringed up one of my dear friends, Raneiah and true enough she was hanging out with another dear friend of mine, Kar Yen. Raneiah put me on loudspeaker and I talked to the both of them about rubbish stuff until I couldn’t hold my tears back anymore and I just started sobbing and sobbing because heck!! I missed them a little too much :(

I guess they felt a little sorry for my emotional ass lol so Kar Yen spontaneously decided to pick me up in her (very expensive, very cool two seater Audi car). I was a little hesitant at first as I had a presentation to prepare for the next day but I just ditched everything and went ahead. I squished myself with Raneiah in the passenger seat, basically sitting on her lap with my head ducked down as low as it could possibly go 😆 We didn’t have a destination in mind so Kar Yen and Raneiah decided on stopping at these stalls of a bazaar that was ongoing in the university compound. 

Kar Yen parked at a reserved parking spot without care, of course I mean oF COURSE SHE WOULD DO THAT hahahhaha but it was night time anyways so there wasn’t really anyone else.

We had chicken uncle bob, some takoyaki and despite my broke ass, we bought tealive as well hahaha. When I’m with Kar Yen and Raneiah, I always feel a little more care free. I’m able to let loose a little more, be stupid without feeling stupid and I can just let them know anything and I mean aNYTHING without being judged. They bring out the crackheadery within me and their hyperness makes me hyper tooooo and it just makes me want to act crazy like there’s no tomorrow :> RIP my english here ;)

There was a zumba activity going on and those who were interested in joining were required to sign up. However Kar Yen and Raneiah (and their crackheadery) basically dRAGGED MY SHY ASS TO DO ZUMBA THERE AND THEN. WITH EVERYONE ELSE WEARING PROPER ZUMBA OUTFITS, WE WERE WEARING ‘’GOING-OUT’’ CLOTHES WITH ‘’GOING-OUT’’ SHOES AND nOT TO MENTION OUR HANDBAGS omGEEE we got quite a lot of weird stares but at the moment we were just living in the moment, being crazy and not really giving a single care about it all, (well at least I tried my hardest to join them in doing so) 

After like 5.6 minutes of doing Zumba, we got bored and decided to leave the place lol. We walked back to Kar Yen’s car and again, we did not have anywhere in mind. In the end, Kar Yen opened the upper roof of her car (omg yeS HER CAR HAS THE OPEN-UP-ROOF FEATURE) We drove around the university compound aimlessly, with music blaring from the radio. Mind you, I was still sitting on Raneiah’s lap (ofc, where else would I sit) only this time, I stuck my head out like a dog with the wind blowing against my face, music blaring in my ears and ahhhh in that moment I felt truly happy and even if it was just temporary I felt free from all my worries. 

There was a point where we took a wrong turning (thanks to my terrible sense of direction) and we took the road leading us out of the university, meaning we hAD TO PASS BY THE SECURITY GUARDS WITH OUR LOUD MUSIC AND OPENED ROOF??!! PLUS WE LOOKED EXTRA CRAZY AND DRUNK AND PROBABLY HIGH HAHAHAH IT WAS HILARIOUS.

We were fine tho, once we got back in we drove around the whole university again and looking up in the sky, we could see a few bright shining stars. Kar Yen parked her car up on the hill and we just star gazed for a bit from her car. We had a mini karaoke + tea spilling session. I can’t even express how free and happy and ‘’infinite’’ I felt in that moment. I kinda felt like how Charlie from ‘’The Perks of Being a Wallflower’’ felt when he stood in car with his hands spread out as his friend drove through the tunnel on the bridge, truly infinite.

I guess that was all there was to that night before they sent me back to my college dorm. I was sad to leave them but I felt recharged and rejuvenated in a way hahah as dramatic as it sounds. I was eternally thankful to God that he decided to remind me of what I have when I was in a situation of feeling like I had nothing. It just makes me love God even more, and to think that He really is out there listening to my heart, my feelings, my desires, my dreams, my good intentions and my bad intentions even, just softens me up a little bit. 

I think I’ve rambled on a lot so I’ll stop here :) I don’t know who will read this but whoever reads it, I hope you know that good things will come your way, if not today then soon. Thank you Raneiah and Kar Yen for making me feel a whole lot better, I don’t know if you guys know, but you guys mean a lot, a lot and I mean  a LOT to me <3

What Does Happy Look Like?

Some days have passed since I have written last and as usual I find myself crunching to write down as much as I can before my appointment with my therapist.

I asked my husband the questions she suggested I ask him since he told me he wasn't happy.  Neither of us are really happy at the moment.  His responses are as followed and are verbatim, so may not read fluidly:

Q: What does working on a marriage even look like? A:  Actively working on issues that hurt our marriage.  Talking about things that bother each other about the other & what to do to change the situation.  It doesn't mean the person changing.  Maybe it's just a person misunderstanding.

Q:  What does "Happy" look like? A:  Having a plan to get the where we want to be financially.  Happiness is security & stability.  It is no feeling like we are making it to the next paycheck. Being able to retire at 65 or earlier.  Getting along.  Not feeling like we have to walk on eggshells in the house.  

Q:  How will I know when you are happy? A:  By asking me and me telling you of if we have good communication.  

His definition of happy and mine are very different.  Sure it's nice to feel financial security and I get not wanting to struggle.  I understand that can add stress to a marriage, but his entire definition seems to revolve around that.  

When I brought up the possibility of having to possibly let go of the hope and dream of retiring at 65 or before, he became so angry and bitter I actually became afraid, so I changed the subject.  I held him back and he deserved this and this was my fault.  At least that's how I felt.  

But discussing these questions were good.  We never discussed what it meant for me.  He never asked what happy looked like to me.  I don't know if that is telling, or if perhaps I am reading into it a little too much.

Hopefully things will improve in all areas.  We have just begun (well not just begun, it has been this way a while) leading separate lives under one roof, in separate rooms - with a very satisfying sex life for me.  I wonder if it is for him?  He used to complain he didn't get it enough and now he might complain I want it too much.  

The doctor called yesterday and said I am perimenopausal and the next time they check my levels I may be post menopausal.  My mom went through "the change" very young.  I'm not so sure I'm so young anymore.  

I've been making an effort to be more open in my friends lives.  It's easier for me if I feel like they need me.  One has just had surgery.  We have a lot in common. If I wasn't so opposed to the term 'best friend',  she probably fits the bill.  Her, Charlie Brown, and my husband.  

I was in a group text the other day with two of my girlfriends and one said that she had been discussing with her boyfriend the group of girls we hang out with and they had assigned Pooh characters to each of us.  I knew which one I was before she even said anything.  I've always loved Winnie the Pooh characters and their quotes, and felt a strong affinity towards Eeyore.  Poor pitiful Eeyore. No matter what, bad things just seem to happen to him.  But his friends still want to be around him, you know?  He is the glass is half empty guy; mopey, but almost in a comical - woe is me way.  Depressed, but it's situational.  Needless to say, I was quite surprised to hear my friends assign Owl to me because they think I am wise and smart and always researching things.  But I did tell them I am Eeyore too.  

It's interesting to see what your friends think of you from a perspective like that. I was pleasantly surprised.  They told me they had seen a change in me - that I have a glow about me and I am more open since my trip.  They thought it must have really done me good and I told them that it did, but therapy, friends and writing again have contributed to it too.

Part of me doesn't want to get too comfortable; to let my guard down too much, to let them in too much.  As with the rest of my life, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop - kinda like Eeyore.  ;) 

Smitten Kittens

Long Time No See;;

Angie and Dean meet when he is hunting without Sam, both hunters working on a same case, a nest of nest vampires. [timeline: season 5]

From there on out, Angie occasionally teams up to help Dean, or both of the brothers on a few of their cases, this carrying on for quite some time. [timeline: season 5 to some time onwards]

Dean and Angie kept professional boundaries, though shared late nights and their fit flirtatious manners constantly testing their professionalism, hashtag oops?

One night of unprofessionalism. Angie realizes she had grown attached, and far too attracted to Dean. Resulting Angie to flee with a single note to Dean, without ever saying goodbye. Cue leaving her feeling guilty, Dean thinking one night was all she needed from him. [season 7 timeline, early season???]]

Feelings were hella mutual, though they never spoke them aloud.

Marked And Bound;;

Sam and Dean come across with Angie while working on a case related to Abaddon. A case related to people ending up soulless, enough to attract attention of many hunters. [9x17]

While meeting Sam and Dean going out to their own war, Angie has only heard rumors of someone big and bad, not knowing the entire story.

Dean is already with the mark and the blade has been found, although the Blade is behind, while the Winchesters are in search to find Abaddon.

While continuing to work with them and to help in their search, Angie realizes Sam and Dean are hiding something from her, lying to her. Confrontation happens when she walks in on Dean clearly /not okay/, and after witnessing him on a hunt taking great pleasure in killing a vampire to a heated leading conversation, cue angst. ALL OF THE ANGST. [somewhere after 9x19] 

Angie is there when they kill Abaddon, witnessing the brutal nature of the Mark and how it is affecting Dean. After this Angie continues to try to help them, and especially Dean, to cope with his Mark after learning what is happening to him.

Angie is not there when Metatron stabs him to death, though she receives a stressed call from Sam, telling her to come to Bunker and what happened to Dean. When Angie finally arrives, Dean’s body is already gone and it leaves the two hunters confused and grief written.

All Souls Lost;;

Due to his little death Dean has turned into a demon and riding it alongside Crowley. In the meanwhile, Sam and Angie are together trying to find out what happened to Dean due to his Houdini stunt. Sam and Angie try to find Dean together, eventually leading them to Dean just like in the show.

While Sam and Dean are trying to find out what happened to Dean or to his corpse, Crowley has been taunting and tested Dean about his loyalty by putting thoughts inside Dean’s head, telling the two are looking for him and that he should get rid of the package of them on their backs, he’s even planted a thought into Dean’s head about Sam and Angie being more than just a tag team to find Dean.

Angie and Sam find out that Dean is a demon and with Crowley just in the way it is written on the show, except there’s no Cole to mess things up for them. Just like in the show, Crowley sells Dean out to Sam and Dean and tips the town Dean’s gone off to, Angie finds Dean just before Sam is able to get there.

While Angie calls Sam that she had found Dean, Sam tells they should go in together and for Angie to wait for him to get there, but of course that’s not what Angie does and she goes in to confront him despite knowing the risks because love makes her a fool. Going for him, little cat and mouse play happens and whatnot, they talk and Dean is. all for taunting the blonde until there’s a wee fight between the two, even offering Dean a chance to off Angie but his teensy bit of humanity and feelings for her stops him from doing so, eventually, just at this time Sam eventually comes in the middle of and is able to cuff and contain Dean. Moving to the Bunker.

There could be a scene shared between Angie and Dean while Sam is out there getting the blood work they need for purifying him. This is hella Dean trying to manipulate her and just be hella rude to her feels, though this is also when Angie no longer takes none of that shit and Dean is unable to take her off her guard at least for the most part. Dean is all there taunting Angie about the thing she’s agreed to do when Sam in order to find Dean, she may have not been all involved in everything, but her haands aren’t clean from it either, while he could also get to taunt her about the little, vague slip about her feelings for him that she made when she first came across with the demon bean.

After Sam and Angie began to inject Dean with blood to purify him (we spoke she’d even be the one to give him his first shot like the bad ass boss she is because Dean has made her frustrated and angry). Maybe because we don’t have Hanna, and Castiel is getting weaker, Angie at one point leaves the Bunker to get Cas since he’s getting close but also worse. 

Canon events go down, Crowley getting some grace into Cas and Dean escaping and the games, shit goes down, Angie gets to Cas just in time to witness Crowley putting the holy spirit into Cas, and after Angie and Cas pop back into the Bunker just in time to stop Dean from killing Sam.

It Is Time For Purification;;

Angie is still around when Dean turns into a human, though she bolts almost right away after making sure Dean is alive and considerably well. She’s not in the room when Dean returns back to himself, she’s angsting outside the closet room. This time Angie doesn’t just leave without saying goodbye, so there’s that awkward ‘I’m glad you are okay.’ line with an extreme poker face and then kbye exits with an excuse, probably all of the lingering by Dean room’s doorframe.

How bad was it while Dean was a demon? He would probably think she wants nothing to do with him, if it was hella bad? While she has somehow convinced herself that Dean doesn't have any feelings for her, especially after her slip. Hashtag babes are angsting.

Angie eventually returns back to the boys after being away for a wee while, her reason to return would probably be Sam calling to her and telling her that Dean’s once again acting on his Mark. All this time she’s probably been low key keeping up with how Deans’ doing through Sam, Sam trying to convince her to return even earlier, but she’s been full of excuses. 

Reunion happens though, we talked about the hug which spokes for all is forgiven and forgotten though still not talked about??? Things basically continue like they used to, Angie is occasionally present while they’re trying to find a way to get rid of Dean’s mark aside from Dean bean tryna suppress the aggression and hunt. Big part once again comes in Angie serving Dean distraction and looking out for him, witnessing his nightmares and also not sleeping very much due sometimes watching over him when he’s having nightmares (all this without Dean knowing just how much she’s there).

Once Sam and Dean discover the Book of the Damned, Angie is called in again, and after them canon events, Angie begins helping Sam in his attempts to hide it from Dean. Angie is both babysitting Charlie and Rowena, but also keeping Dean occupied while Sam is doing the runs to keep the situation under control.

We’re back to the canon event transcript with the Stein fam coming after the book while Angie is present in the room, Charlie dies like she did canonically while the creep fam captures Angie because they think that is their way to get the book in a form of trade, and probably in the means to slice and dice her.

Dean busts in rolling and saves the day, but he is also too far gone and almost completely taken over by the Mark, which is when Angie witnesses his merciless slaughter fest. Although Dean frees Angie and they leave the mansion of the psycho fam together, they wound up having a heated argument about Angie keeping secrets from Dean, doing things behind his back like Sam had been doing and about everything that comes to Sam and Angie’s attempts to save Dean from the Mark. They part ways after the argument.

During a time jump takes place Cas/Dean facing each other off like they canonically did in the Bunker upon Dean’s return to see the damage, that’s when Dean flees to hunt alone and Deal with his problems not so splendidly, eventually realizing there’s no fighting the Mark and. he comes with his own solution to get rid of it.

Angie and Sam go on a search to find Dean once again after they hear a rumor about his brutal hunting ventures, after witnessing what Dean’s left behind him, they separately go to search for Dean across the town as they believe to cover more ground that way; this is how Angie finds Dean first, just about to leave to give himself to Death in order to stop himself from doing any more damage.

This is where their conversation takes place, Angie begs Dean not to do it while trying to convince that they find another way. Dean, however, is not convinced by her initial speech, which is when Angie is desperate and lays it all out of him, her feelings for him and going beyond begging while trying to make his stay. Dean responds to her feelings, though he lets Angie believe she’s gotten through to him, the two share a very emotional moment with Dean ending up taking advantage of the moment and knocking Angie out just so he can go to give himself to Death.

Basically, the scene with Death follows, while Angie wakes up realizing what Dean’s gone to do, and she thinks that’s it; Dean is gone because he went through his plan. Little does she know about what’s actually going down between Death, Dean and Sam. 

The next time they meet one another after Sam has called Angie to let her know that Dean alive and the Mark is gone, but something else happened instead with a mysterious black smoke and infected people attacking innocent people, and of course, at this point they are only vaguely aware that Amara is out and.