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fxckingghxst · 4 years

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Takeout and Horror Movies

Pairing: Corpse Husband x GN!Reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none

WC: ~1.3k

A/N: This was a mixture of me craving soft domestic cute date things and Panda express... Hope you enjoy my first fic on this account!

“This movie is kind of stupid.” You speak as you watch one of the two campers get mauled by the man-eating bear that has been stalking them.

“Yeah, I agree.” Corpse voices his agreement as his hands run up and down your legs that were sprawled over his lap.

“Bears are scary at times, but to label this a horror movie is a disgrace.” You say as the woman runs away as her fiancée gets eaten by the bear. You shake your head at the semi-bad acting as she breaks down into tears behind a tree.

A knock at the door saves you from watching any more of this woman’s acting and your eyes widen as you realize what it is.

“I’m so hungry…” Corpse says as he watches intently as you start pulling out the Chinese food.

“My mouth is watering.” You say as you empty the last two containers from the bag and onto the table. You hand Corpse some chopsticks and he gratefully takes them before opening up one of the containers. He leans back into the couch and starts to dig in while you open up all the containers to see what you wanted to eat first.

Orange chicken. That’s what you wanted. You grabbed the container and broke your chopsticks before digging in as well. “Oh my god. This is so good.” You mumble with your mouth full of the orange chicken.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Corpse jokes as he mumbles through his chow mein. You laugh and elbow his arm holding the takeout box.

“Hypocrite.” You say with a small smile on your face. “Hey, share some chow mein.” You say after a few bites of orange chicken. He picks up some noodles on his chopsticks and moves it towards your open mouth, laughing when the noodles and vegetables end up mostly on your chin. You laugh too as you try to move the noodles into your mouth with your lips; trying hard not to let everything fall onto your shirt.

“You almost got it,” Corpse says as he watches you continue to attempt to eat the chow mein. He starts laughing and moves his chopsticks to your chin to try and help move the noodles into your mouth. You haven’t stopped laughing and at this point, you have given up trying to get the noodles in your mouth and instead just let Corpse do the hard work. “You have to help me out here, babe.” Corpse speaks through his laughter.

“Uh Uh.” You deny as he finally moves the last noodle into your mouth. You start to chew and look down at your shirt to see some noodles and vegetables have landed on your chest. “Look, you’ve made a mess.” You accuse as you glance between him and your shirt. His eyes widen and he points the chopsticks at himself.

“Me!?” He shakes his head, “you’re the one who refused to help and let all the food fall.” He says as he goes back to eating his food. You scrunch your face and repeat his words back to him in a mocking and also incoherent voice.

“I’m dating a child.” Corpse responds as he moves to grab the Broccoli Beef box from the table. You laugh menacingly, like how a witch would laugh as her evil plans come to fruition, and turn your attention back to the ‘horror’ movie that was almost over. It’s quiet for the next eight minutes or so as you both focus on the movie while devouring the takeout and finally the credits roll after an uneventful cliffhanger.

“Booooo.” You boo the movie and set down your food before grabbing the remote. “That movie sucked.” You comment as you browse Netflix for a different, hopefully, better, horror movie. “What movie next, babe?” You ask as you lean back and into Corpse’s side. You rest your head on his shoulder as he hums in thought.

“Should we give a Netflix Original another chance or look at the classics?” You ask as you scroll through the Netflix Original Horror movie section. They all were questionable, to say the least. Some were too cliche, some seemed too boring, and the rest just seemed bad. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but the needle was teeny-tiny and the haystack was the size of a football field.

“Should we pick one blindly?” Corpse asks as he swings his arm over your shoulders; your position shifting into your favorite place as you rest your head against his chest right where his heart is.

“This is why you’re the smart one in this relationship.” You say as Corpse sets down his chopsticks and food on the table. “Okay, you tell me when to stop.” You say as you fully open the horror tab on Netflix.

“You can’t look though, that’s cheating,” Corpse continues, “Here, look at me.” He finishes as he moves his left leg up onto the couch and faces his body towards you. He grabs both sides of your face and turns your head to face him directly; your body mimicking his motions as you lift your right leg onto the couch. You giggle at how cute he was before raising your eyebrows in question.

“Are we ready now?” You ask as you ready the remote and place your thumb over the correct buttons.

“Ready.” He confirms with a small nod and you start with arrowing down, flicking through numerous movies with that annoying clicking sound it makes. Your curiosity gets the better of you, and you want to make sure you’re still on the right screen, so you peak out of the corner of your eyes to try ad catch a peek.

“Ah Ah Ah.” Corpse scolds as he moves his hands up to form visors around your eyes; blocking your vision of the TV, “No cheating.” He smiles at you and moves closer towards you, his hand visors being the only barrier between you and him.

“You still haven’t told me to stop.” You remind him that he’s in charge of ultimately picking the movie and he just shrugs.

“There’s nothing good yet.” He responds as he moves his hands slightly so that his forehead is resting on yours.

“And how would you know?” You question as you hold his gaze with your own. You smile as he places a small kiss on your nose.

“I just know.” He quickly says as he places multiple short kisses on your lips, cheeks, nose, chin, and everywhere else on your face. You can’t help but laugh at his actions and your heart swells with love for the man in front of you. “Okay, now stop.” He instructs as he leaves one last kiss on your lips. You almost forgot that you were searching for a movie and that your finger was pressing the left arrow the whole time. You stop clicking and press the select button, but before you turn your head to look, Corpse speaks.

“Let me check first.” He looks to his right at the screen and smiles before turning back to you.

“Is it good?” You ask with wide eyes at how excited his reaction was to whatever movie you had landed on.

“The best of the best,” Corpse says and you get excited at the possibilities. You tun your head to see what movie you had landed on only to be met with something completely different.

“Corpse, this is the settings menu.”

#corpse husband #corpse #corpse x gn reader #corpse fluff #corpse husband fluff #corpse husband writing #corpse writing #fluff #x reader #corpse x reader #youtube x reader #corpse scenarios #kay:writes

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plaidbooks · 4 years

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Everyone Deserves Love chapter 7 part 1

A/N: So, this chapter got a little bit away from me. And instead of posting all 14k words in one part, I’m splitting it into two parts (I’ll post part 2 tomorrow, though, instead of making you wait a week!) This first part is a lot of tension and even more angst! Their first real fight! And a cliffhanger? Wowza! I also got to make up a lot of Barba’s background in this chapter, so bear with me. Little bit of Spanish that’s also translated right then. According to my friend, Adrian, there’s no “direct translation for motherfucker into Spanish which is why it’s that long.”

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Tags: mentions of cheating, minor character death, screaming/yelling

Words: 7k+

Taglist: @the-baby-bookworm @beccabarba (lemme know if you want to be tagged!)

Office of Rafael Barba

1 Hogan Place

Thursday, April 30th. 10:05am

Ever since the night they read about Marco Sorrel, Devon had pushed to train Barba harder in his self-defense training, especially with weapons. For the past three weeks, she taught him to disarm an assailant armed with first a knife—still sheathed—and then her gun, safety on. Barba hadn’t seemed too thrilled about the idea but agreed that it was necessary. And while Devon had to admit that he was pretty good in the training, that meant nothing when it came to the real thing. She had met many an agent who had excelled in training, and then froze in the field, leading to injuries or worse. Plus, the fact that it had been three weeks with no signs of any Aces made Devon uneasy. Very uneasy. She was sleeping less and less, hardly eating, and jumping at every sound. Barba, being his normal, collected self, didn’t seem disturbed by the news; he simply went about his day, doing arraignments, trials, meetings, and whatever the hell else he had to do. Which was a good thing, Devon supposed; it would make her job harder if they were both anxious.

Today was one of those days that was going to drag on forever, Devon knew. They had gotten to the courthouse early, skipping Barba’s office entirely, doing arraignments until almost noon. They then made it to his office for an early lunch, knowing that Barba would be in court for the rest of the day. Not that Devon was complaining; being stuck in the courtroom wasn’t all that bad, even though Barba had mentioned how boring it must be to sit in the gallery all day. But in all honesty, it was a nice break for Devon. She was still aware of people coming in and out, of course, but for the most part, once a trial started, everyone settled in. She didn’t have to worry too much about an attack once in court. And only once had a defendant gotten out of hand. But once he started shouting, the bailiff was on him, dragging him out, before Devon had fully blocked off his path to Barba. She knew he wasn’t in the Aces, but she was still going to protect the man.

“We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. It is pretty personal,” Barba commented, bringing Devon’s mind back to the present. They were just finishing lunch in his office, relaxing before the rush to court. She suddenly realized that he had asked her a question.

“I’m sorry, I was thinking about stuff. What’d you ask?”

Barba sighed. “We were talking about, uh, past relationships. I asked how your last relationship ended.” Devon remembered now; they were talking about some cases that they both did with SVU, just a walk down memory lane over food. Barba had brought up the Muñoz case, which led to him talking about Yelina. Devon could tell by how his face softened when he spoke of her that she held a special place in his heart. After asking he agreed that yes, while he had flings and relationships since, Yelina was his first true love. After she left him for his best friend, he had found a couple other partners, but none that had gotten as close to him as her. “You always remember your first,” he had said.

Devon smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Does she lie to him? Tell him that she’s had a couple relationships and leave it at that? “I’ve, um…I’ve never really been in a relationship, per se.”

Barba put down his takeout container at that, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? I thought guys would be all over you.”

She laughed his comment away, flattered. “I mean, don’t get me wrong; I’ve been, uh, intimate with people before,”—her face flushed. Why was she telling him this?—“but I’m just not the, uh, relationship type, I guess.” Why were they talking about this again? Though, she knew if she wanted to stop, she’d only have to say so. But she was curious about Barba; he was a very private man. She was interested—and a wee bit excited—that he even wanted to open up about this side of him. If that meant that she had to do the same, then so be it.

After a few moments of silence, Barba thinking through his words, he finally asked, “but haven’t you ever wanted to come home to someone?” It was an innocent enough question, but it filled Devon with such a strong sense of yearning. Of course, she did. Who didn’t want someone who would understand them, who would love them unconditionally?

“I mean, it would be nice, yes,” she kept her voice even, neutral. “But I don’t have the time, not with my job. Plus, how would someone react to something like this?” she gestured broadly. “I was out of the state for three years, then home for a week before moving in with a complete stranger, a man…no offense—”

“None taken—”

“--so, how would dating even work when I’m not even home or when I’m sleeping at someone else’s house?” Devon finished, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. She didn’t mean to get so emotional, so personal with the answer. But she was trying to make him understand.

He thought for a while, stabbing at his chicken. “I guess it would be tough with a job like that.” He took a piece out, chewed thoughtfully. “My last relationship ended because I was never home. I put my work first, so she found her home in someone else’s bed.”

Devon sat there, dumbfounded. Someone cheated on him? “What a bitch,” she mumbled. He stifled a chuckle and Devon realized she said that out loud. “Whoops,” she said, hand flying to her mouth. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. That was years ago; I’ve moved on,” he replied. Then, “The hardest part was returning the engagement ring.”

Devon’s heart hurt for the man. She couldn’t imagine being so in love, planning on being married to someone, and then to find out they were cheating. She couldn’t think of anything to say; she didn’t think saying sorry would help, but she didn’t want to ask any more probing questions.

“Do you ever plan on getting married?” Barba asked, staring at the desk.

The question caught Devon off-guard; she never really thought about it before. Maybe when she was a kid, as a last-ditch effort to escape her parents. But not anytime recently. “I’m not sure, really. I’ve never considered it…maybe if I met the right person, though I think I’d like to retire before hand. And I could not imagine having a wedding—too expensive. And rings are so old-fashioned and over-rated; have you seen the new movement of people proposing with beautiful, intricate knives?” She knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t stop herself. Barba, to his credit, looked up from the desk, smiling and laughing at Devon’s increasingly ridiculous marriage proposals, awkwardness and past pain soon forgotten.

“Mr. Barba?” Carmen said, sticking her head into his office, causing them both to stop their frivolous talk. “Mr. Thompson and Mr. Buchanan are here to see you.”

“There goes the fun,” Barba mumbled. Devon grinned, but moved to stand behind him, bodyguard-style, her normal place by his side.

Courthouse

Thursday, April 30th. 7:08pm

Court had lasted much longer than either of them had thought; the Judge was intent on finishing the trial today, letting tomorrow morning be for closing arguments and then letting the jury deliberate.

“I need to head back to my office; I forgot a file,” Barba had said as he gathered his things. Odd, Barba never forgot anything; man’s head was a steel trap.

“No problem. I got nowhere to be tonight. You know that we’re still training, though, right? Staying here late doesn’t get you out of it.”

Barba sighed. As much as he knew training was important, his body was still sore from where she hit him, blocking an attack, the night before. “Yeah, I know.”

“Don’t worry; this will all be over soon enough,” Devon commented. It was true; during the trial, Devon’s phone had gone off with an update text from Olivia. 47 Aces were now sitting in jail. 18 reported left, though 5 of those 18 were reportedly no longer in New York. Once they learned that most of the police force were after them, they had picked up and left. So, in reality, unlucky 13 were left active in New York…including Marco Sorrel, who no one seemed able to pinpoint. If Devon was free to move throughout the city, she knew she could track him down. But she had to trust in the NYPD’s abilities.

Barba was elated at the news—not having to worry about being shot was a weight off his shoulders—but at the same time, he felt upset at the thought of Devon moving out, moving on with her life. He had grown accustomed to her being there; her laugh, her banter, her presence. He didn’t know if they would remain in contact after this was over. He realized that he didn’t want to lose her. And after their talk this morning, he felt…no, he didn’t want to admit it, not to himself, or to anyone else.

They made it to the courthouse elevator, no one else in sight, and started going down to the ground floor. Barba made up his mind; he had to ask, to know if there was any chance of them having…something after the Aces were in jail. “You know, about that…I mean, after this is all over….” Barba started. The elevator doors opened, and they stepped off, Devon first and Barba right on her heels. The words died in his throat as he felt someone grab him roughly from behind, the cold steel of a gun pushing against his head.

Devon had heard his case fall from his hands, turned and had her gun up, aiming right over Barba’s shoulder before her brain had a chance to catch up. How’d I miss him? she thought, chiding herself. Then, her mind went blank, instincts and training kicking in, no room for any other thoughts. The elevator doors closed behind them, effectively pinning Barba and the man against the wall, facing Devon. Devon locked eyes with the man, ignoring Barba’s frightened look, and for a moment she was in a brownstone, looking at Nathan Woods. But she blinked again, and it was a Hispanic man, gun to Barba’s head, tattoo on his neck.

“Drop your gun, or I splatter this bastard’s brains all over the hallway,” Marco Sorrel said. She could feel Barba’s eyes on her, but she stayed focused on Marco, watching his trigger finger, pushing down the panic that was making her heart race.

“Counteroffer; you drop your gun or you’re dead before you pull the trigger,” Devon replied. She held her gun steady despite her rapid pulse, and started shifting her position slowly to the side, taking such small steps, she hoped Marco didn’t notice. This could end one of two ways, and she was deciding how best to approach it.

“Look, la loca es la primera (crazy bitch), I’m not afraid to die. But I’m taking this el cara e verga es el segundo (motherfucker) with me,” he dropped his voice, talking into Barba’s ear, barely loud enough for Devon to hear, “I hope you’ve made peace with whatever God you believe in.”

Devon felt the floor drop out from under her; she made up her mind in that moment. She took another step to the left, gaining a clear shot. She took it, squeezing the trigger. It was like watching a scene in slow motion. One moment, Marco had a gun to Barba’s head. Barba looked terrified, frozen in place. Then, a hole appeared between Marco’s eyes; his head snapped back and red splattered the elevator doors. His body hit the doors, and he slid down until he was slumped against them, gun clattering to the floor. Barba had ducked from the loud gunshot; he stood slowly, shakily, and turned to look at him while Devon slowly lowered her gun. She holstered it, putting the safety on—she knew she’d be turning it over tonight.

People started showing up then; Devon wasn’t sure where they were coming from. But they must have heard the gunshot, the hallways and curved ceiling making a perfect echo chamber. She stepped up to Barba, who was still looking at Marco’s dead body. She reached a hand out to him, saw her hand shaking slightly, clenched it into a fist and dropped it.

“Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt?” she asked, voice surprisingly steady for how shaky she was feeling.

Barba couldn’t take his eyes off the dead man, his face a little green. “You—you killed him. You just murdered a man.” He had whispered it, so matter-of-factly, voice dead.

The tone he had—or lack thereof--hit Devon like a physical blow. She reached out, hand not shaking this time, and took his hand, leading him a little down the hallway, putting the body behind him so that he was forced to look at Devon. That was almost worse; he looked rattled, shaking slightly, his green eyes wide. He yanked his hand out of her grip as if she had stung him.

“Uh, yes, I did…. You heard him; he was going to kill you in the next moment. I saw my shot and I took it; it was a good shoot,” she explained.

Barba had seen dead bodies in the morgue and in autopsy pictures before, but he had never seen someone killed, been close enough to feel the man’s weight fall off him. To fear, even for one moment, that he was the one who was shot. It felt like his brain was moving through sludge; he couldn’t wrap his mind around it. It all had happened so fast; it was amazing how quick, how easy it was to kill someone.

“Police are taught to de-escalate a situation. You’re a damn negotiator, for fuck’s sake! You didn’t have to kill him.” Barba didn’t know where this anger came from, but it was a familiar emotion. He knew anger, so he wrapped himself in it like armor, let it protect his frazzled mind.

The rational side of Devon’s mind knew that this was simply a reaction to shock; when she was in the same situation 4 years ago, her reaction was to shut down. But anger, she knew, was also a very normal reaction to shock. Sadly, another reaction to someone yelling is to go on the defensive. And with all of her senses heightened, adrenaline coursing through her, that’s exactly what Devon did, replying, “yeah, I am a negotiator! And I know when a negotiation doesn’t work; I’ve seen enough hostages killed to know what it looks like. I was not going to let that happen to you.”

“He didn’t have to die, though! You know how to disarm perps!” he shot right back.

Devon shook her head, ran her hand through her hair in frustration. “I had no options, Barba. I hesitate, and you die! I shoot the hand with the gun, and there’s a damn good chance I hit you. Like I said, I saw my shot and I took it. Do I wish I didn’t have to kill him? Of course! But I will not apologize for doing my job.”

“That’s not good enough!” Barba yelled.

“Then what is, huh? What would you, a fucking ADA with apparently expert knowledge on hostage situations, have me do?” Devon answered, blood boiling.

Barba had no answer, so he let out an annoyed huff, and pushed past her. He made his way to one of the benches left outside a courtroom, intended for those waiting to go in, and sat down hard. He leaned his face into his hands, elbows on his knees. Devon took deep breaths through her nostrils, knowing that she needed to take a step back, to control this anger that seemed to stem from nowhere. And she needed to try and calm him down, too, whether he liked it or not. But first, she had to make a phone call.

The crowd that had gathered was staying well away from the body, and even further away from the two of them after their shouting match. She was sure that the police had already been called, but Devon still took out her phone and dialed Olivia’s cell, asking her to alert CSU and IAB. While it was true that the FBI had their own Internal Affairs, and Devon would have to talk to them, too, she was technically working for SVU at the moment, so IAB and 1PP would be involved. It was always tricky with them; they loved to remind her that she wasn’t an NYPD officer, but they also loved to throw her under the bus when they thought she fucked up. She had a grim curiosity about what policies they would take with her this time. Once she hung up with Liv, she figured she’d inform Barba.

Without moving closer, Devon spoke to the wall in front of her. “IAB is going to want to talk to you, too. You’re an eyewitness.” Barba sat in silence, no indication that he even heard her. Devon took another deep breath; she was going to have this conversation with him at some point, might as well be now while he wasn’t yelling.

“If you want someone else to protect you, I have no objections. I understand if you don’t trust me now,” she said softly. The words ripped a hole in her heart to say, but it was his right to have a choice, something he didn’t have when Liv shoved Devon onto him. Plus, she couldn’t get the image of his face after Marco was dead out of her mind: the fear, the anger, the betrayal. Like she was the worst person in the world.

Barba had a thousand thoughts rushing through his mind; they swirled, and he couldn’t seem to clear it. He knew he had to answer her tonight, so he finally said, more to the floor than to her, “I just want to go home for the night; get a good night’s rest. I…I need time to process all of this.”

Well, that was normal after having such a near-death experience, and he wasn’t giving her the boot quite yet. Though, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop; by tomorrow, he’d be done with her. Recognizing that the conversation was over, she thought about their sleeping arrangements. IAB wouldn’t allow her to stay with him tonight; it was against protocol. They could concoct a story about all of this, lie for each other. Her adrenaline was already wearing off, leaving her exhausted. But they had to wait for Olivia to get there, to deal with this situation.

Thankfully, they only had to wait another five minutes, though it felt like an eternity in silence. Olivia was somehow the first on the scene, the rest of SVU on her heels. The detectives started clearing the courthouse of spectators, while Liv came over to the agent and counselor. Devon took off her gun and knife, handing them over.

She took them but turned to Barba first. “There will be an unmarked car watching your place tonight. I think you should get a good night’s sleep before talking to officers tomorrow morning. I’ll give you a ride home tonight, and then come by tomorrow for your statement.” He gave her a stiff nod, then Olivia turned to Devon, sighing heavily. “IAB has instructed me to escort you to the hospital for a blood-alcohol test,”

“That’s normal—” Devon started, before Olivia cut her off.

“And then to place you under arrest until they investigate this further.” Ah, there it is, Devon thought.

She smiled grimly. “And when will that be?” Devon asked. Officers had up to 48 hours to report to IAB after an incident like this, and Devon was sure that they’d make her wait the whole time, incarcerated...if they counted her as an officer. They could potentially make her wait indefinitely. As shitty as that was, all she could think about was who would watch Barba tomorrow at work.

Liv shook her head. “I don’t know; they didn’t specify. Detective Rollins will escort you to the hospital, and then to the cage at SVU.” Better than Rikers, Devon thought ruefully. She glanced at Barba, trying to make sure he was alright, but he was still staring at the floor.

Olivia gave her a look full of concern, before nodding to Rollins. Devon placed her hands behind her back and Rollins cuffed her, looking upset that she was the one chosen to do so. She read her her rights as they left the courthouse. Barba finally looked up as she led her away, a tightness in his chest. Arrested for murder…arrested for saving his life.

Liv sat on the bench next to him. “Are you alright, Rafa?”

He pulled his eyes from Devon’s retreating form, looking at Olivia, her expression full of worry. “She saved my life yet again, but by killing someone. I’m...I’m not sure how to feel about it.” He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that it could come to this, that she may have to shoot someone to protect him. But his life had almost always been painted in black and white; murder is bad, illegal. Sure, there were exceptions, but they were few and far in between. And even then, he always viewed justifiable homicide as a last resort. Was killing Marco a last resort?

Liv mulled over her thoughts for a while before replying, “I’ve known Devon for years; she wouldn’t shoot someone for no reason.”

Barba suddenly realized that she had no idea what happened here; Devon wasn’t allowed to tell her without having counsel with her, and Barba didn’t count since he was a witness. So, Barba gave her the broad strokes of what had happened, including Marco’s threat that had pushed Devon over the edge and their conversation afterwards. Liv almost stopped him—he shouldn’t be telling her or anyone besides IAB about this—but he wasn’t a trained officer, and he needed to tell someone about this. Might as well be her.

So, Liv listened in silence, nodding along with his tale. She sighed when he finished, saying, “look, Rafa, you know that I’m against murder as much as you are. But this sounds like a good shoot. She shot him not in self-defense, but in defense of you, which may be a stronger pull, especially for someone like Devon. Trust me, though, she’s not nearly as accepting of this outcome as she may seem.”

Barba took that into consideration; maybe killing a man was eating her up inside. He knew that she had shot people before, but he didn’t know if she had killed someone before. And all he had done was yell at her, blaming her for saving his life yet again. He felt ashamed that he couldn’t control himself, his emotions; he knew Devon at this point. She wasn’t some serial killer. She was his friend, and she was risking her life every day making sure he was safe. And now she was in jail.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” Liv said, breaking through his thoughts. He picked up his briefcase on the way out, unable to stomach even glancing at the blood on the ground. They rode in silence, enraptured in their own thoughts; Olivia worrying over how IAB would handle this case—she knew that IAB wasn’t particularly fond of SVU’s relationship with the Federal agent—and Barba going over the whole scene in his mind over and over again, from the moment those elevator doors closed to Devon’s back as she was led out in cuffs. After saying their goodbyes, Barba headed into his building. He noticed the unmarked car parked in front, but it didn’t feel like a comfort, not like Devon’s presence felt. He opened the door and locked it behind him, arming the doorstop like she had shown him. His loft seemed so empty, so quiet. Grabbing the thickest book he could find, he checked every room for intruders; a mockery of how professional Devon usually conducted the search. Barba felt foolish doing it himself, book in hand, but he knew it must be done if he wanted any peace tonight; his blood was still rushing in his ears. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he slowly stripped off his jacket and looked at the time. 11:36pm. He knew there was no chance of sleep tonight, but he’d have to try. To hopefully help him sleep, he dug out his favorite bottle of scotch, pouring himself a glass. He had to sort out his mind if he was ever going to sleep, though the alcohol may help calm his nerves, too. Plus, he needed to figure out how tomorrow was going to play out. He’d never talked to IAB before, nor been an eyewitness to a crime…at least, not like this. For court, he had his bullet-proof question tree, his responses to whatever the opposition said written down and memorized. Now, though, he was the one on trial, and he had no idea what to say.

Apartment of Rafael Barba

Friday, May 1st. 7:00am

Barba showered in the morning, after tossing and turning all night. He didn’t go to bed until after 1am, but even with how exhausted he was, not to mention slightly drunk, he could not sleep. He kept thinking about the look of conviction in Devon’s eyes as she pulled the trigger, Marco’s dead body, blood splattered everywhere, his anger and fear as he took out all that energy, all that adrenaline, on Devon. Every time he thought about that conversation, a fresh wave of shame washed over him. He knew that victims sometimes lashed out after something traumatic happened, but he wasn’t a victim…right? He never thought of himself as one; he was simply a marked man. But even he knew that was a bunch of crap.

He got a text sometime while in the shower from McCoy, telling him to take the day, and the weekend, off. First of all, he knew that IAB would want to interview Barba about the dead body found by the elevators last night. And second, he knew that Barba probably needed the time off to collect his thoughts after having such a close brush with death. True, McCoy knew the ADA well, knew that he could handle himself and could feasibly work if asked, but the DA knew it would be better to let Barba relax for a couple days.

Don’t worry, I got a continuous on all your cases. McCoy texted him.

Sighing, he got dressed in a suit, though not one of his expensive court suits—this was more of a “weekend” suit, as he liked to call them. Though, Devon loved to tease him that they didn’t look different. He tried to explain it once, about the different material, the different cuts in shape, but she only laughed harder. He came out of his room, mumbling a quiet, “morning,” then looked to the couch when there was no answer, finding it empty. Oh…right, he thought, missing her singsong, perky voice in the morning. Then he realized that that meant there was no coffee made yet.

As he moved in the kitchen. his phone went off, causing him to jump and almost dropped his mug; it was a message from Liv letting him know that IAB had pushed back the meeting and that she would update him with a time when she knew. She would be there in a bit for his statement, and the unmarked car would stay posted until further notice. At least that gave him some time to finalize what he wanted to say to Devon when…if he saw her. He had solidified his testimony that he would say to IAB. With nothing else to do, he sat in his armchair nervously, fiddling with a pen in his hands.

SVU Department

Friday, May 1st. 7:00am

Devon stared at the ceiling of SVU’s holding cell. Thankfully, she was its only occupant all night. Rollins had given her a pillow and a blanket and told her to try and get some sleep, but they both knew that that wasn’t happening. Instead, Devon counted the bars on the walls, did her normal workouts that she performed in Barba’s loft every morning, and thought about anything that wasn’t Barba’s face, full of fear—fear of Marco, or her?—from the night before. But as the time trickled by and night gave way to dawn, Devon was forced to confront last night’s events. She meant what she had said; she wasn’t sorry that she had killed Marco. If she had done nothing, if she had hesitated for even a second longer, there’d be two bodies in the morgue. She was pretty sure the Barba understood that, but she did not expect him to flip out like he did. Shock makes people lash out, she told herself. Though she wasn’t thrilled that she had killed someone, it wasn’t her first time, either. And Barba was right; in a perfect world, she would have been able to de-escalate the situation, even though she knew deep down that she only had the two options; kill or be killed. She took a deep breath, trying to center herself. She thought back to the fight with Barba; she had dealt with…troublesome victims before: she’d had people yell at her, take a swing at her, threaten her and everyone she loved. So, why was this different? Why did this hurt so much more? A thought in her mind caught her attention. She tried to ignore it, to squish it, but it remained. You love him. She shook her head—no, no! She didn’t, couldn’t. They only met a few months ago! This was just a crush, a superficial infatuation based on living in such close quarters...ignoring the fact that he was ridiculously handsome, smart, funny, caring.... Okay, she had to stop thinking about it. It would pass, it had to.

“Morning,” Fin greeted. Devon jumped, not hearing him approach; she was too wrapped in her thoughts. She sat up and saw that he held a coffee out to her. “Don’t tell anyone I gave you this.”

She took the coffee from him. “Thank you,” she said gratefully. She took a sip, letting it warm her; the cell was cold, despite the blanket. “So, what time is it?”

Fin checked his watch before answering, “seven. And bad news, IAB pushed your interview back. No official time yet,” Devon huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes; of course, they were going to make her sweat, waiting in a cell. Plus, it was Friday; they may make her wait all weekend. “Also, they told us to keep you in cuffs until you go into interrogation.”

“Ah, right. IAB: guilty until proven otherwise. Tucker still in charge?”

Fin smirked. “You think that asshole has anything better to do?”

Devon grinned, then took her seat on the bench that served as a bed, trying to calm her nerves. She sipped at her coffee but didn’t really taste it. Her mind was racing again; she wasn��t afraid of IAB, per se, but that wasn’t the only variable here. Tucker already had a deep dislike of Devon. And then there was also Barba’s statement. Was he still pissed at her? Would he throw her under the bus, tell IAB that she didn’t need to kill Marco? She honestly didn’t know, and that worried her most.

The day passed by slowly, but thankfully no other perp was added to the cage. She was only let out to use the restroom, and none of the detectives felt like making her wear the cuffs. Devon sat in silence, going over her testimony again and again, making sure she had an answer for everything. She was going to tell the truth, but IAB was good at twisting words and actions, and she wanted to be prepared. She replayed every moment from the night before…except for the fight with Barba. She knew she’d have to review it eventually, but she really didn’t have the strength after the sleepless night.

The detectives were all busy; Liv and Fin stopped by every now and again to check in, update her on IAB’s timetable and to see if she needed something. Technically, they weren’t allowed to talk about what had happened, even though Devon waived Miranda. It wasn’t until about 2pm that she had any real company. Detective Amaro came into the cage, bringing a plain bologna sandwich for Devon’s lunch. Government money at work.

“Thanks,” she said, sitting up. Amaro surprised her by taking a seat next to her.

“Mind if we talk a little bit? I feel like we haven’t really talked much,” he replied, handing her the sandwich. Devon unwrapped it, took a bite. Better than nothing, and her stomach was empty outside of shitty precinct coffee. It was true, though; besides bringing Barba in for cases, Devon hadn’t really been around SVU enough to really “meet” the new detectives. Not including the awkward hospital visit from the night before with Rollins.

“Uh, sure, as long as we don’t talk about last night; don’t want IAB coming down on your head, too. What’s on your mind?”

He held out his hand for her to shake. “Detective Nick Amaro. Transferred from narcotics. Been in SVU for a little over a year, but I don’t see myself doing anything else. Partnered first with Benson, and now Rollins. And trust me, I don’t need another reason to have IAB coming after me.”

Devon shook his hand, a little bemused that he was introducing himself. “Ah, Senior Special Agent Devon Motely. FBI for 20 years; started as negotiator and added on undercover. Don’t have a partner, but I do have a team, much like NYPD’s ESU. I trust them with my life, even if I don’t work with them as often as I’d like.”

Amaro sat for a moment, taking in her words. “I looked in your jacket, this is your third kill. Last two were clean, too.” He seemed a little nervous talking about her personal file but hid it well with a charming smile.

Third in the jacket, Devon mentally corrected, and that doesn’t include firefights, where it’s impossible to tell who shot whom. But that wasn’t something she was going to bring up, not now. Devon remembered the other two that were in her file, though. The first had haunted her for weeks afterwards, even if he did deserve it. The man was a bastard; trafficked young girls, even “tested” them out, to make sure they could perform. He had run when Devon confronted him, then started shooting once cornered. She just happened to get him first, total luck, and she knew it. Probably why she didn’t sleep for two weeks afterwards. The second one still hurt, even years later. It was a 22-year-old man—a kid, really—who was caught in a bad situation. He was abused, both physically and sexually, by his father since he was 13. Then one day, he snapped. Took a gun, went to his parent’s house. Devon was called in to try and de-escalate the situation. She got out of her car, and gunshots went off. The kid had shot both parents, then came out the front door just as Devon was rushing in. He had the gun facing down at the ground and didn’t raise it fast enough by the time he shot, hitting Devon in the hip. She reacted on instinct alone, shooting him in the stomach. He died in her arms, bled out before EMTs could get there. She still had nightmares about it, every time she looked at the scar on her hip. She was lucky; the bullet had gone clean through, hitting nothing. A one in a million shot.

“Devon?” Amaro asked, pulling Devon out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, sorry. I, uh, I have shot two people before Marco, correct,” she replied. “Wish I hadn’t, but things happen on the job. I’m sure you know that.”

Amaro nodded. “Yeah, I—I’ve taken some shots before, too.” He let out a breath. “Takes a toll after a while, huh?” Devon agreed. It came with the job, and therapy was a lifesaver. But some scars took longer to heal than others. “So, how did this one go down?”

Wait, was he trying to interrogate her? Come in as a friend and pry into the case? Or was Devon looking into it too much? She wasn’t sure, but she also didn’t know the guy.

“I think that Tucker would be pretty pissed if I talked to an SVU detective about this,” she deflected, keeping her voice light.

“Oh, I wasn’t trying to grill you or anything. But I agree; he already doesn’t care for me, anyways. Don’t need to give him more ammunition against me.”

“That’s something we have in common. You think they had to ‘push back’ this investigation because IAB is busy? CSU still processing info? Nah, Tucker hates my guts,” Devon chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

“I think that’s just Tucker,” Amaro replied, smiling.

Just then, Fin walked up. Amaro stood to leave, as if he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Just so you know, they finally set a time. 3pm.” Fin announced. Thank god; having a set time took some of the weight off Devon’s shoulders, but it did make her stomach drop all the same. Both Amaro and Fin left then, Amaro giving Devon a small smile, a peace offering after her accusation.

Fin came back 20 minutes later and reluctantly cuffed Devon once more. At least he left them a little loose, so she wasn’t losing circulation. He took her to his squad car, and he, along with Rollins, drove her to IAB’s headquarters.

#rafael barba x oc #everyone deserves love #everyone deserves love chapter 7 p1 #edl #edl ch7 #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfic #fanfic #my writing #oh no they're in love #it's happening

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noona-clock · 4 years

Text

Mistletoe Manor - Epilogue, Part 1

Genre: 1900′s AU/Romance

Pairings: Park Seo Joon, Bang Yongguk, Brian Kang, Jung Daehyung, Jung Jaehyun, Lee Taeyong x OCs

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Epilogue 1, 2, 3, 4 | Words: 3,766

A/N: Chelle ( @prettywordsyouleft ) and I wanted to re-visit our magical world of Mistletoe Manor. The series left off on a bit of a cliffhanger, so we really had no choice! We hope you enjoy this extra look into the lives of Cassie, Evie, Joey, and all their friends and family.

Keep a lookout for the second part of the epilogue tomorrow at 6pm EST/ 10am NZST.

Evie let out a soft, shaky breath before lifting her hand, balling her fingers up into a fist, and knocking gently on the door in front of her.

“Come in,” Cassie’s muffled voice replied, and Evie turned the doorknob.

“I hope I’m not... interrupting,” Evie said softly after taking a step into her older sister’s bedroom.

Cassie, who was sitting at her vanity brushing her hair out for the night, set her hairbrush down and turned to look toward the door. “Evie, darling,” she greeted. “No, not at all. What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing -- nothing’s wrong,” Evie assured her with a shake of her head. And then she gestured inside Cassie’s room, taking another step forward. “...May I?”

“Of course!” Cassie stood from her chair and strode to her bed, perching on the edge and patting the spot next to her.

A small grin tugged at Evie’s lips as she stepped fully inside and closed the door behind her.

“What is it, dear?” Cassie asked once Evie sat down cautiously.

Evie pressed her lips together briefly, hoping her nerves didn’t show on her face -- though she was sure they did.

“I --” she began. “I just... was wondering... what it’s like being married.”

Cassie reached up and cradled her sister’s cheek in her palm, her lips curving into a soft but beaming smile. “You’re nervous for the wedding? It’s understandable. It’s a huge change in your life.”

When Yongguk had somewhat proposed to her on Christmas Eve, right before he’d left to go find Joey and Brian, she had been so excited. She knew Yongguk was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with; there were absolutely no doubts in her mind.

And when he actually proposed to her three days later after bringing the newly married couple home, she had accepted with tears of joy in her eyes.

They’d been planning the wedding for a few months now, and Evie was still excited...

But she was also nervous, as Cassie presumed. Not necessarily in a bad way, of course. She loved Yongguk dearly, and she still knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

But it was a huge change. And Evie had never been the biggest fan of change. She liked reading her favorite books over and over again because they never changed.

She’d lived her whole life at Mistletoe Manor with her two sisters, and now... she would be getting married and leaving.

Cassie had stayed here with Daehyun because she could quite possibly give birth to a son in the future, and he would become the heir to the estate. They certainly could have moved back to Daehyun’s home, but they had eventually decided to stay here.

But Evie had no real reason to stay and had agreed to move into Yongguk’s house.

...Well. ‘House’ was not the correct term. From her future husband’s description, it was even bigger than Mistletoe Manor. And she would become the mistress of the household in just a few days.

So, yes. Evie was just a bit nervous.

Or... terrified.

She nodded in response to her sister’s question, wringing her hands in her lap and furrowing her brow deeply. “Is it normal to be nervous?”

“Of course, dear,” Cassie assured her. “I would like to meet a bride who wasn’t nervous before her wedding. I most certainly was.”

“I just... I thought it would be different since I actually --” But then Evie cut herself off because she didn’t want to sound insensitive.

Cassie finished her sentence for her, though. “Since you actually love him. You’re right, I didn’t love Daehyun when we got married. And our first year of marriage was... not typical. And quite difficult. But now we’re happier than I ever dreamed we would be. Imagine what will happen to you. You’ll fall even more in love with Yongguk, and you’ll be so happy your heart could simply burst, I’m certain of it.”

“You are?” Evie asked meekly.

“Absolutely,” Cassie nodded. “It might be difficult, at first, but Yongguk will be there by your side. He’ll probably be nervous, too, and the two of you can help each other through it.”

Once Cassie stopped talking, Evie let out a shaky breath, though her stomach was not quite as jittery as it had been just minutes ago.

“Thank you,” she whispered to her older sister, reaching to take both of her hands.

“Oh, Evie,” Cassie murmured, bringing her sister’s hands up to her lips and kissing them. “I feel I have always underestimated you, and for that, I am truly sorry. But I hope you know just how delighted I am that you’ve found someone who loves and appreciates you for who you are and not who you should be.”

Evie simply smiled softly before leaning forward to hug Cassie tightly. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, too,” Cassie replied, her voice becoming choked with emotion. “I will miss you, but I know you’ll be more than content over at Blackmon Abbey. Do say you’ll come and visit as often as you can, though.”

Evie nodded, finding a lump of emotion forming in her own throat. “Yes, of course,” she promised. “As often as we can.”

When Cassie pulled away, she reached up to quickly wipe a tear away and then sniffled. “Thank you for coming to me. I hope I helped, even if just a little bit.”

“Oh, you did,” Evie assured her. “Very much. I -- Why were you alone, though? Where is Lydia?”

Cassie’s eyes were still glassy with tears but at Evie’s question, a sly smirk appeared on her lips. “Lydia is... otherwise engaged.”

Unsurprisingly, Evie knew just what she meant. “Ah, I see,” she murmured with a smirk of her own. “I shall not seek her out, then, and let her enjoy her evening.”

“You should seek out Joey, however,” Cassie suggested. “She certainly has an entirely different perspective on marriage than I do, so she might have some other advice to offer.”

“Oh, yes, you’re right,” Evie agreed, her brow furrowing softly. “I’ll go into the village to call on her tomorrow.”

“Perfect,” Cassie grinned. “I would offer to accompany you, but I have plenty here to keep me busy.”

The look on Cassie’s face was just secretive enough to make Evie suspicious... but she kept her lips zipped. For now.

“Where are we going?” Lydia asked quietly, her lips tugging into a soft, shy smile.

Seo Joon smirked to himself as he held Lydia’s shoulders with one hand and covered her eyes with the other, guiding her to a small room off the servant’s hallway. It was typically used for ironing and shining shoes, but not tonight. Tonight, Seo Joon had conspired with the cook and Anna to...

Well, you’ll find out soon enough.

He bent down as he shuffled along the hall, placing his lips next to Lydia’s ear. “How many times have I told you to just be patient?” he whispered.

“I’ve been patient the whole afternoon!” Lydia retorted with a giggle. “Plus, I’m starving. You know I get more impatient the hungrier I am.”

“Don’t worry, that will be remedied soon enough, my love,” Seo Joon murmured before pressing a kiss to Lydia’s earlobe.

Lydia leaned back slightly against Seo Joon’s chest, bringing one hand up to hold onto his wrist as he kept her eyes covered.

“Almost there...” he said as they approached the doorway.

“Can I see now?”

“Hold on just... one... more...”

Seo Joon stopped walking, letting go of Lydia’s shoulder and reaching out to open the door. As the hinges squeaked and the door swung open into the room, he removed his hand from her eyes and pressed his lips together in anticipation.

Instead of the usual shoes littering the table, there was a crisp, white tablecloth and two lit candles in silver candlesticks adorned the top.

Lydia’s eyes fluttered open, her lips parting slightly in surprise when she saw the scene before her. Also on the table were two plates of Lydia’s favorite meal: roast chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables.

Seo Joon had thought to ask (plead) the cook to make a fancier meal, one she would prepare for the family upstairs, but... he knew Lydia particularly loved Cook’s roast chicken, and all he wanted to do in life was make her happy.

“Seo --” Lydia gaped, turning around briefly to glance at him before stepping forward toward the table. “You... you prepared this?”

Seo Joon gently closed the door behind him. “I did,” he replied with a very proud grin. “It’s been so busy, and we haven’t had a chance to have any real alone time since the Mistletoe Ball, so I thought I would kindly ask Lady Cassandra to give you the evening off tonight.”

Lydia turned around fully then, her eyes wide and her brow furrowed slightly. She stepped over in front of Seo Joon and took his hands. “Thank you,” she said, squeezing his hands gently. “This is -- it’s perfect.”

Seo Joon’s grin widened, and he leaned down to press his lips to hers. He let go of her hands, moving his arms to circle around her waist and pull her closer.

The corners of Lydia’s mouth turned up into a hint of a smile as she slid her arms around Seo Joon’s neck.

“Have I told you,” Seo Joon murmured in-between kisses. “Just how much I love you?”

“Yes,” Lydia chuckled softly. “But, after all these years, it’s more than nice to hear it as often as you say it.”

To be honest, she was still getting used to everything. A voice inside her head was still telling her she shouldn’t be touching or kissing Seo Joon right now because she was so accustomed to hiding her feelings.

But the door was closed. No one else was in the room with them. Cassie had given her the night off. She could kiss the man she was in love with as she damn well pleased!

“Well, then,” Seo Joon whispered, rubbing the tip of his nose against hers. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Lydia replied with a grin.

“I love you so much that... it’s hard to even put into words.”

“Who needs words, anyway?” Lydia’s grin widened, and she stood on her toes to kiss him again. She pressed her lips to his more urgently than before, capturing his bottom lip and tugging on it. Seo Joon held her even closer, even more tightly, and a whole flock of butterflies suddenly appeared in her stomach.

...Oh, wait.

Those weren’t butterflies. Butterflies didn’t growl like that.

She was just still hungry.

Seo Joon pulled away, letting out a soft laugh and gazing down at her with a teasingly adoring grin. “I see it’s not actually me you’re hungry for.”

Lydia’s cheeks warmed at his remark. She pulled away, trying to hide a bashful smile as Seo Joon took her hand and led her over to one of the chairs at the table.

“The food is starting to get cold, anyway,” he pointed out as he helped her sit down and spread a cloth napkin over her lap. Before he sat down across from her, he served her, dishing out the potatoes and vegetables and cutting off some tender pieces of the chicken.

“Why thank you,” Lydia grinned, her eyes widening as she took in all of the delicious-looking food now in front of her.

“Please, don’t wait on my account,” Seo Joon assured her as he began to fill up his own plate.

Lydia, although polite, was also very good at following directions... so, she lifted her utensils and dove right in.

Unsurprisingly, the next ten minutes or so consisted of just a few sentences exchanged between the couple. The two of them were far too busy eating to engage in conversation, and when Lydia finally set down her knife and fork with a satisfied sigh, Seo Joon informed her they weren’t quite finished yet.

“What do you mean?” she asked curiously as Seo Joon took her empty plate away.

He set both of their plates down on a side table behind him and then bent down to retrieve...

When he stood back up and placed a small trifle on the table, Lydia let out an extremely delighted gasp.

“You didn’t think I would forget about dessert, did you?” Seo Joon smirked as he handed her a spoon.

“Oh, I do love you!” Lydia giggled.

Seo Joon’s grin lit up his face as he watched her -- Lydia, the absolute and complete love of his life -- scoop into the trifle with unadulterated glee.

Even if he didn’t have a romantic walk in the cold moonlight planned after this, and even if he didn’t know he would kiss her until she was breathless later, this would go down in his personal history book as a perfect evening. Just the fact he got to spend this time alone with her, and the fact she was so adorably happy was enough. More than enough.

He would have to plan more nights like this -- as many as he possibly could. One day, far in the future, he would plan a night like this to propose to her.

But, for now, he was fully content with the way things were. No more secret longing, no more hidden glances, no more worrying and fretting over ‘what ifs.’ He wanted to marry her, yes... but one day. Not just yet.

He’d waited so many years just to get where they were now. He could most certainly wait to take things a step further, and Lydia -- without question -- was worth the wait.

It had taken Seo Joon, Yongguk, and Daehyun almost two days to find Lady Josephine and Brian after their somewhat dramatic escape on Christmas Eve.

Thankfully, when they did find them, the couple was already married and awaiting passage on a boat to America.

Daehyun managed to convince them there was no need to run away to a whole other continent; her sisters certainly wanted her to return, and even if her parents didn’t quite approve of the marriage, they would much rather she stay here than be an ocean away.

Joey had -- somewhat reluctantly -- agreed to come back, and when she and Brian had returned to the manor, her entire family had surrounded her. They’d hugged and kissed her, both Cassie and her mother had been crying, and her father had almost immediately ushered Brian into his study to interrogate him.

The next week, the newlyweds had moved into a house in the nearby village, and Brian had begun teaching at the local school. Apparently, knowing how to read and write was a good enough qualification; Brian did end up rather enjoying the job, though.

And now, just about three months after their legendary departure, they were settled in their quaint cottage and -- much to some’s surprise -- incredibly happy.

Joey smiled to herself as she thought of how Brian -- her husband -- still teased her and got on her nerves. Daily, in fact. As she stuck the needle through her embroidery hoop, she recalled the first snowball fight they’d had -- and the few they’d had since, as well.

When a sudden knock interrupted her thoughts, she let out a soft gasp and dropped her project on the floor. Instead of picking it up, she scurried to the door and practically threw it open.

With Brian being gone at the school all day, Joey’s ideas for keeping herself busy were wearing thin, and she was more than glad to have a visitor.

“Evie!” she cried with delight when she saw her sister standing on the doormat.

She was especially glad to have this specific visitor.

“I hope I’m not interrupt --”

“No, of course not,” Joey assured her hastily, stepping aside to usher her in. “Please, come in. Shall I ring for some tea?”

“Oh, yes, please,” Evie answered, taking off her coat once she’d entered the house. “It’s almost colder than it was at Christmas time.”

Joey popped her head into the kitchen and requested a tea tray from the cook -- the only servant she had now.

“Come, sit down,” she murmured to Evie before leading her to the living room, the room she’d just occupied.

Joey bent to pick up her embroidery, and Evie let out a soft sputter of a chuckle.

“What is that?”

“It’s -- it’s my embroidery!” Joey explained with a huff. “Why did you say it like that?!”

“You’ve never embroidered a thing in your life,” Evie laughed.

“Well!” Joey cried defensively. “I can’t think of anything else to do! I’m stuck in this house all day while Brian’s at work!”

Evie’s jaw practically dropped at her younger sister’s ludicrous statement. “Are you quite serious?”

“Yes! I’m bored out of my mind!”

“Joey! There are so many things you could do outside of the house!”

“Oh?” Joey asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Such as? And don’t say planting a garden, you know my thumb is the opposite of green.”

“I can think of any number of things you could get involved in! Like -- the orphanage, for example. They’re always in need of help!”

Joey’s brow furrowed softly, and the corners of her mouth turned down in thought.

Hmm. The orphanage.

...Why had she never thought of that? She hadn’t been around children too much, but the ones she’d met in her adulthood had certainly seemed rambunctious and clever enough to keep her thoroughly occupied. It wasn’t too far from the village, and it would certainly be much better than trying to embroider all day.

“Evie,” Joey said softly. “I believe... you have come up with a wonderful idea.”

For a split second, the expression on Evie’s face was one of surprise. It quickly morphed to one of satisfaction, however, and she tipped her chin into a satisfied nod. “Of course, I have.”

Before Joey’s train of thought could get permanently derailed onto thoughts of the orphanage, she turned back to her older sister.

“Now, why did you come to see me?” she asked directly. Joey had never been one to mince words.

Evie instantly frowned, though, her forehead wrinkling adorably. “Why do I need a reason to come see you?”

“Because... I mean, don’t you, especially, always need a reason to leave the house?”

“...Well, yes.”

Joey simply smirked triumphantly.

“The thing is... it’s rather a... well, a private topic,” Evie replied in hushed tones.

Before Joey had the chance to ask what her sister could possibly mean by that, the door opened, and the cook ambled in with the tea tray.

Evie sat silently as the cook set down the tray and poured tea into two floral, porcelain cups.

“Thank you, Mrs. Whitmore,” Joey grinned before taking one of the cups and handing it to her sister.

Mrs. Whitmore dipped into a curtsy before shuffling out of the room, closing the door behind her.

It took less than half a second for Joey to focus all of her attention back on Evie.

“What could you possibly mean by ‘a private topic’?” she asked in hushed -- but hurried -- tones.

Evie’s cheeks immediately pinkened, and Joey’s mind went right into the gutter.

“I’m just... nervous,” Evie gulped.

Joey waited as long as she possibly could for her sister to continue... which ended up being about three seconds.

“About the wedding night?”

Evie’s cheeks pinkened some more, and her brows rushed down to wrinkle her forehead. “No! I mean, yes, but I’m not -- just -- getting married, in general. And moving away from home and being mistress of such a large estate and -- there are just so many changes, and I’m incredibly anxious about it all.”

“Ohhhh,” Joey nodded in understanding before taking a sip of her tea. “Yes, of course. You would be nervous about that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Evie murmured with a slight pout.

“You are a creature of habit, my dear,” Joey pointed out. “You like to be surrounded by things and places and people you already know, like books and our family. And you prefer to stay in the background. You don’t like attention -- never have. And now, suddenly, you’ll be in a new house with all the servants looking to you for direction and leadership. I should have guessed! My, you must be quite terrified!”

When Joey lifted her gaze to her older sister, the look on Evie’s face was not one of relief that Joey had just voiced the nagging thoughts in the back of her head.

No. Not one of relief in the slightest.

Her expression was one of absolute panic.

Hastily, Joey set her teacup down and reached over, resting her hand comfortingly on Evie’s knee. “Oh, my dear, you will be all right. I’m all right, aren’t I? And I moved from Mistletoe Manor to this... well, it can only be called a cottage, can’t it? It took a while to get used to, but having Brian with me helped tremendously! Truly, it took hardly any time at all to create a new routine and get settled here.”

Evie softly quirked one eyebrow at that. “But you’re embroidering to pass the time...”

Joey waved one hand through the air dismissively. “Oh, you know me. Always wanting to do things I’m frightfully bad at. I’ve never had a hobby like you, which is why you will be fine. I am much assured that Blackmon Abbey has a very well-stocked library. Does it not?”

Evie nodded, though she still looked just a bit anxious.

“Then you will be more than fine. There are probably an enormous amount of books in there you haven’t read, so if your husband is not on hand to ease your worries, you’ll have your books.”

After chewing on her lip for a moment or two, Evie shot her younger sister a hopeful glance. “It won’t be... too scary, will it?”

Joey shook her head vigorously. “My best advice is to simply talk to your husband-to-be. I know how much you hate talking about your feelings, but it must be done. And I promise you will feel better afterward.”

Knowing her sister was right -- for once in her life -- Evie nodded.

“I will,” she said with quiet determination. “Thank you, Joey.”

Joey, looking entirely too pleased with herself, removed her hand from her sister’s knee and took her teacup again.

“You are most welcome,” she said with a confident grin. For she was feeling quite confident. She had just given her sister some smashingly wonderful advice, and she was currently devising a plan to keep herself occupied.

Things were looking up!

Part 2

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zumpietoo · 2 years

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Here it is AGAIN...

Again, it’s FASCINATING how she continues to answer these, but ignores when she gets multiple asks pointing out how yeah, these go a bit far, buuuut...or, as a friend shared in DMs, one kinda trolling her that the gig’s up and everybody’s figured out she sends these to herself....

However, her continuing this does continue to further spawn lying and gaslighting from her little buddies, as well, so mission accomplished?

!. I don’t think this applies in either side, but Unshura IS justified in bringing up THIS particular point. However....in the Vale, Jug only kisses Slizzy as his second choice to save the universe, there is no romance. Barfie and Jabi are endgame, with Jug choosing Tabitha repeatedly. Jug’s sacrifice is for everybody. So, TBF, the Barfie troll does still win

2. Again, you’re as bad with insisting a second choice AU kiss (where Jug chose isolation forever as the preferable choice and wrote his other version with Tabs) as they are with their rain kiss. At least they’re just wishing, you’re lying.

3. Ummm....if you watch in retrospect, Barfie WAS always there and BH was cruel to Jug, not Slizzy, who earned her misery. And no, that is NOT the sole purpose for Barfie....if it were, they would’ve done it way sooner, no?

4.1 He also hyped them for a time that you thought was non-existent and did happen. Also #hey#3 how did that work out for YOU????

4.2 I agree on this....which is why/how we know this is y’all doing this

5. Again, agreed....but see above and also you aren’t getting BH

6. RAS was always “working on the show”, because he was always the show runner (or at least this version). And, actually----no he didn’t. He originally wanted the BAV triangle. He had to scramble because KokeJ and PP had no chemistry and were such flat actors together.

That’s all been discussed too....and, in fact, RAS doesn’t particularly LIKE BH, because it detracted from the show he planned which was “Everybody Loves Douchie”. Dude, even the mystery shit wasn’t what he wanted.....that was forced on him, as well.

5x19 for plot/cliffhanger....works out Jug suffers the most and so RAS could jack off over their grody sex scene.

6x01 So KokeJ could go on paternity leave

6x05 “Chicken Dinner” to the fans (and not all that hot, 2 minutes----). During which Cole looked ready to vomit the entire time....

That wasn’t just for her, that was for everybody and something he was planning practically the entire episode.

No, those are all Jughead lines and completely in character for him.

Actually, it was obvious Barfie were “in love” this ep and it was meant as a wacky AU. I found them grody, too, but it was there....I love your “I dare you”, cause it’s sooooo fucking dumb (and I notice a recently deleted noobie sock loved to use it too, hmmmmm.....)

Additionally, if this WERE RAS’s plan, etc....he’d have them fucking together. He wouldn’t have written Jabi as a slow burn, he wouldn’t have them together now as they are....your argument continues to be “but they were togetherrrrrrr...”

And, so fucking what? They aren’t anymore and because your kween is an asshole who creates a hostile workplace, it’s highly unlikely they will be in the future....

It’s all pretend, but it isn’t leading to what you keep trying to persuade yourself. And one forced, second choice kiss in the Vale isn’t gonna make it so.

Less a “defense”, more a mere rebuttal, but you are nothing if not ignorant and stupid....and affected and pretentious....

I think the saddest part is either one of your is gaslighting everybody else or y’all are doing this again (like with your socks)-----and I can’t decide which IS sadder...

I can’t believe you think this isn’t I-know-I-can’t-getTFoverthis isn’t sending these to herself

And then at the end, he was alive again, as were they all....and they were all together....

It’s veryyyy weird how you keep forgetting that....oh right, you’re all liars

Umm....again, we know you send these to yourself, dude!!!

However,

A) yes, RAS does love Barfie....and VD.....and most of all the triangle, which is what’s coming....

B) And love that you cite VD as your proof....cuz while, yeah, I do think it’s endgame,,,,,the examples you gave consisted of, literally, one day.....and once there was no Daddykins to piss off, the luster was gone for Vermin. She almost instantly realiced they have nothing in common.

Funny how your example actually proves shit for the Barfies, no?

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metalmusingmoments · 7 years

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I read your scenario about TFP Knockout, Smokescreen, & Optimus Prime realizing their feelings for potential human s/o. If it's ok with you, would you mind a continuation? If not, said human crush likes them back but never confessed before so they try to figure how to confess properly. The mechs accidentally heard them say to themselves " I'll just say I love you romantically, (said mech name)!". They're confident until they realizes the mechs were behind them. The mechs' reaction to this?

I’m going to post thesein different replies so be on the lookout for the other two. Optimus goes firstbecause we all love our boss bot. I’m putting a spin on this one because I can’tsee the reader being caught like that. Not in front of OP at least. Here’s thefirst part of the story so you can refresh your minds. And because it is 3amand I want to get this out there, it’s a cliffhanger. Sorry not sorry ;)

TFP Optimus

You met team prime after you noticed Raf, one of your smarteststudents was missing more and more class. You had followed him out to the curbone day after school where he waited for his ride to pick him up. You tried tomake conversation but he was becoming more and more nervous as time ticked by.The real reason you were out here was because you were hoping to snag a momentto talk to his mother or father about his increasing absences. When a yellowCamaro pulled up with tinted windows and no driver you weren’t letting Raf getin concern for his safety. Long story short Raf and “Bumblebee” managed to getyou into the car and soon conned you into being an after school teacher for himand two other students. Base life was easy enough, the bots came and went onmissions and you got along well with Ratchet and the Autobot leader Optimus.You pretty much became “Den Mother y/n”. You would make snacks and meals forthe kids and pick up anything that could possibly help the bots. You did mostof this without being asked and not expecting any thanks. But of course as youwent about your business someone was watching you from afar.

After a long Saturday sessionof tutoring the kids he decided that would be a good time to approach you. Thekids had already taken their snacks and moved on to play their video games outof ear shot. You were leaned back in a chair both arms over your face in anuncomfortable position. When he called out to you you startled awake.Apologizing, he asked if you were ready to return home for the day. He watchedas you looked back at the kids, frowned and then said you were ready to go.When you started making your way to Bumblebee, he stopped you and told you he wouldbe driving you home today. Your face morphed into one of concern as hetransformed and popped open his passenger door. As you both barreled throughthe desert he began to express his gratitude for what you had been doing forthe kids and his team. When you finished he noticed your face had grown into asmile that stopped his spark for a second. You told him not to worry about itand that you didn’t mind doing the small things. They know he works hard andthat he shouldn’t have to worry about everything. As he pulled up to your homeyou didn’t reach for the door and he didn’t move to open it. You awkwardlymentioned how nice it was outside and he took the hint. He started up hisengine and was on the move again. With no destination in mind he moved alongthe outskirts of the town. He would keep his new feelings to himself. Hewouldn’t risk this new budding relationship.

Continued…

Months have gone by since you began your after school tutorsessions with the kids. So many months in fact that now it’s the last daybefore school is out and summer begins. You’re sitting at your desk now supposedlybeing on the lookout for anyone who may be cheating on their final exams. You can’thelp but zone out as the silence in the room gives you time to think. The otherteachers had been gushing in the faculty room about their vacationsout of this hell hole, too far away paradises with less desert. As they hadprattled on the gnawing feeling of anxiety settled into the pit of your stomachagain. With summer starting the kids wouldn’t be needing a tutor anymore, or atleast till the school year started up again. So when Kathy, a fellow teacherasked what your plans were for vacation you came up with the lame excuse of visitingyour parent’s home in “___”. The loud ringing of the last bell cut off yourthoughts as students lined up to hand in their exams. One by one the studentshanded off their papers to you at the door until none were left and you were surroundedby the droning noise of kids out in the hall. Truth be told you were waiting for someone, anyone among “Team Prime”, to ask youabout your summer plans. Fishing to drop the sad bomb of “nothing” with a nonchalantair about yourself. Pitiful. You thought to yourself as you shuffled the papersand let out an exasperated sigh as you flopped into your chair. If you werebeing really honest with yourself, you were more miffed that Optimus hadn’t askedwhat your plans were. Though as soon as the thought entered your head youquickly pushed it out. Optimus had more important things to worry about then your sadexcuse for a summer. Like a civil war.

You and he had become closer over the past months. Ever sincehe took it upon himself to drive you home that one day it had become a happy ritualafter almost every tutoring lesson. But of course that had come after theattempts to stay at the base longer after the lessons ended. In the beginning youtwo would only discuss in a casual manner. How the kids were doing in school,how the war effort was progressing, theweather. Though as time moved on so did both of you, and the effects of thebattles Optimus fought began to show more than ever. Throwing caution to thewind you had asked him how he was feeling, as himself and not as the leader of the Autobots. He had stared at youfor a long time after you asked that. Probably weighing if it was even worth tellingyou at all, but in the end he did. So much pain and grief was unloaded thenthat your head had trouble wrapping around just how he or any being could keepthis to themselves. When he finished he had apologized, an annoying trait youhad come to realize was a habit of his. You waved him off saying it was fineand that if he ever needed to talk, you would be there for him. He had agreed tothose terms only if you would speak to him in the same manner. You knew there wasn’tmuch you could do in a sense of actually “helping” Optimus defeat the Decepticons,but if you could help him stand a little straighter, so the weight of the worldwasn’t crushing him, you’d do it in a heartbeat. You’d also found out in thisshort amount of time that Optimus had a somewhat dorkish sense of charm to him.In the rare occasion that he did make a joke you always laughed, and thatseemed to make his optics brighten slightly. Speaking of his optics, you letout a shuddering breath. He always seemed to be watching you. Just blatant staring or side eyeing you. You weren’tsure why, but you could never turn to meet his stare because you were afraidwhat he might see. You had contemplated trying to amp up the flirtatiousbehavior between you to, but chickened out at the last minute when the opportunitywould arise. A thought came to you just then. A bold thought. To just tell him how you felt. What did you have tolose? You and the kids had planned a small end of the year party tonight at thebase, you could tell him then. And if you made a fool of yourself, you couldjust hide away for the rest of the summer.

“Perfect” You said aloud as you placed the exams into yourbag. Now just to figure out how you were going to do this.

“Hey Optimus, I’d like to get to know you better” No.

“Hey BossBot! You and I should spend some more time alone moreoften” Definitely Not.

“Optimus, I like you more than just a friend”

“Who do you like more than just a friend?!” came thetelltale shout of Miko in the doorway giving you a minor heart attack in theprocess.

“What?” You gasped with your hand to your chest in startledpanic.

“You were talking about how you like someone more than afriend!” she exclaimed slamming her hands on the desk. “You gotta tell me Ms/Mr.(Y/N)! I can keep a secret!” she grinned over at you. And as much as you lovedMiko, you knew that was horse shit. Composingyourself you raised up out of your seat grabbing your bag.

“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about Miko. You musthave misheard me.” You clipped in your “teachers” voice. Which only made Mikosquint her eyes and pout.

“Whatever” She threw her hand out as if brushing it away. “Justhurry up! Bulkhead is picking us up today, we’re gonna listen to all of my favorite songs!” she saidgrinning wickedly.

All you could do was cringe at the thought of the hour long journeyahead of you as you shut off the light and closed the door behind the both ofyou.

A dual ache had settled in your head as the night droned on.The drive had been more than excruciating. Between the loud music and the constantbickering between Miko and Jack, the whole ride had been painful. Now you satwith your head hanging and arms dangling over the railing of the upper level.The loud metal music still blaring in a far corner of the room was not helpingeither. The night had not been going as you planned.

“Are you alright (Y/N)?” The rumbling baritone voice thatalways seemed to shake you to its core asked. You gripped the railing andwhipped your head up so quick you thought you may have given yourself whiplash.

“Optimus!” you exclaimed face turning red at earlierthoughts. “No! I’m fine really, ride here was just a little more unhinged themI’m use to” you said smiling up at him.

He gave a rumbled “mmm” of his acknowledgment, followed bysilence and that unnerving stare. Then continued on with “Now that the children’seducation is finished for the year, I would assume your lessons are no longerneeded”.

Ouch, you thought and it must have registered on your facebecause Optimus was now backpedaling on his words. Hard.

“I meant no offense” He hurried on, “I only meant that youwill now have more free time to endeavor in your hobbies”.

Double Ouch. If it didn’t feel like you were being kickedout before, it did now. And now the pieces of your haphazard plan werecrumbling before you. The internal battle you were having on whether or not totrudge on or bail out were flipping back and forth in your mind. And the blueglow of his optics boring into you were not helping.

“(Y/N)” He said letting out a long vent. Just the way he said your name made the decision.

Fuck it. You saidto yourself and stared into his eyes straight on.

“Optimus, I think we-“ and was abruptly cut off by Mikosscreech of lyrics.

“SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER” She sang and threw, what had to be,every piece of homework and schoolwork she had in yours and Optimus direction.

Asit rained down over you and over the balcony you let out a long sigh and closedyour eyes trying to rein in your frustration. In the distance you could hear the raspy yellfrom Ratchet about the mess and Miko’s gleeful laughter. It was then youdecided that this was fates way of saying this was a horrible idea.

“What was that (Y/N)? Optimus had broken eye contact toobserve all the papers flying with a straight face.

“I think I should go home” You muttered placing a hand overyour face and moving to grab your jacket. You could hear his foot fallsfollowing you as you went.

“Then I will take-“But you cut him off with a wave of yourhand as you shrugged on the jacket.

“It’s alright” you breathed as you placed your bag on yourshoulder. “I’ll ask Ratchet. God knows he needs to get out of here before heblows a fuse” you said laughing a hollow chuckle as you made your way down theladder, and with one last look you met Optimus’s optics

“See you around Optimus” you smiled a smile that you knew didn’treach your eyes. And with those last words you turned on your heal and walked briskly in the direction of Ratchet. All while those blue optics seared into yourback.

#optimus prime #optimus #tfp #scenrio #part 2 #transformers #readerxtransformer #im so tired help

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scentedstarfishtheorist · 7 years

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The Set Stealer

Goo.gl/Nk6UaR The Basics: What do I already know about this story? This is a space opera about the mercenary Captain Grace Woods. She’s been challenged to find the source of a strange message by an old friend that she trusts. She needs a new crew and her friend helps her collect a couple of new people. The trio go out into space to track down the signal. The trouble starts as soon as they find the source. A spaceship that resembles a seashell seems to be the home of the signal. However, aboard this ship is an infected lifeform - the illness it carries has made it an aggressive, raging cyborg. While they are dealing with this massive ship, Grace and her crew encounter a whole new kind of ship - one the size of a planet. It infects the entire seashell ship and makes it into a new weapon which it adds to it’s shell. This ship is an enemy the likes of which Grace has never seen. She realizes that this ship is sending out emergency pulses to bring other ships to it so that it can infect them. Grace’s new mission is to stop this ship. While she’s trying to find a cure for her infected crew member, Grace sees her friend Night on while in a highly guarded star system. He is living and working on a space station there where they help out the crew of Grace’s ship. She starts to wonder if she can really trust him as he seems to have shown up at exactly the right moment to direct her secondary mission. She asks him to come along with her to infiltrate the enemy and he agrees, but he seems hesitant. Grace, Night and crew member Drax warp jump to the Andromeda Galaxy and find the enemy just beyond Earth’s orbit. It seems to be zeroing in on the planet. The crew leaves Night to guard the ship while they get on board the giant vessel. Once on, they’re caught and Drax is infected, but Grace is able to help him. The two realize that the ship is somehow manned by a ton of clones and seems to be captained by a strange creature made of steel and bone. The two are able to scramble the ship’s systems with an antivirus that messes up the virus that it uses to create weapons. However, the captain seems unfazed by his crumbling ship. The Ending: Despite her misgivings, Grace has to turn to the RNE for help as the giant ship is threatening the Nations of Earth. They comply with the agreement that Grace go into retirement and once she agrees, they send out a battalion of empty, decoy ships armed with bombs. These keep the ship’s crew busy as Grace and Drax bring down the ship. Night has to be unveiled as a traitor somehow. The Captain of the giant ship seems unstoppable but they hope they’ve killed him. Night may have been selling genes on the black market that this strange Capt. used to create his crew. The book can end on a cliffhanger as there are plans for a series. The Beginning: Introduce readers to the characters and world. This story requires a ton of world-building and therefore a gradual introduction. First we meet Grace, then Night, Martha, Drax and finally Fox. Fox tries to beat up Grace as a show of his prowess but she beats him up. Only Marth and Drax join her on the mission. The three become friends during their first journey together. My Characters: Main Character: Grace Woods, disgraced RNE military pilot, mercenary Main Character: Drax, shark-like race, quick to anger but intelligent engineer Main Character: Martha, human-like, great co-pilot and very responsible Power Player: Night, an old friend but current criminal, may or may not be working for the enemy Power Player: The new race of aliens, discovered by Grace, (yet to be named), researchers. Antagonist: The giant ship the size of a planet, carries the weaponized cyborg virus, seems to be on a mission to destroy the nations of earth. My setting is: An imaginary outer space and Grace’s ship, The Mazu. This story changes locations a lot but the overall environment is a dangerous, intergalactic frontier. Magical System: The magic in this world is the science and tech used by and developed for the characters. All of it has been in place for a long time. Only the giant ship is a new technology. Technology: Endless. Refer to the first draft for all the details. Culture: The worlds are ruled by the RNE, but Grace lives on the fringes as do the other characters. They don’t like the long reach of this organization and they RNE doesn’t like them. Humans are prevalent but so are many other species, some friendly and some not. Grace’s human state would normally protect her, but her reputation as an outlaw gets in the way. Who has the power? Night and RNE Why? Night has the information and the money that Grace wants at the beginning. The RNE have control over most discovered territories in space. Those they don’t control are neutral with the organization and many are ruled by human envoys there on behalf of the giant organization. Go back and look at these choices. Any holes? Am I stuck somewhere? Scene List: (Reminder - Minimum three scenes per chapter. This book may need up to five) Scene 1- Captain Grace walks through Holax market to Night’s bar. He invites her to take on secret, RNE mission for a huge commission. Offers to find her a crew. Scene 2- Flashback to Night saving Grace’s life. Scene 3 - Grace accepts offer, meets Martha at the bar. Scene 4 - Grace goes to the chicken fight, meets Drax. Scene 5 - Fox comes up behind Grace, insists she hire him. He’s heard that she’s looking for a crew. She tells him he can fight her for a place on her crew. He accepts and she beats him up. Scene 6 - The new crew takes off for the Sylvan Nebula, (formerly named Sirius), and are attacked by Ventrusian Raiders. During the battle, the SOS signal breaks through the chaos. They fight the Ventrusians off and continue, though the ship is badly damaged. Scene 7 - Just as they enter the nebula, the ship’s engines die. Drax stays to fix them while Martha and Grace go into the strange, seashell ship. Scene 8 - In the ship, they are confronted with an odd, armored creature. It attacks Martha but doesn’t kill her. Grace kills it. Scene 9 - Martha is very sick and can’t walk. Grace drags her to what looks like a control room. Jumps into darkness Scene 10 - Ventrusians come back and bother Drax. They take the ship and board, holding him hostage. Scene 11 - Grace confronts the aliens on the strange ship, learns they are researchers and very scared of their situation. She offers to take them away on her own ship. Scene 12 - Drax fights off the Ventrusians, chomping his way through them with his shark teeth. Scene 13 - Grace and Martha come back with two of the new alien species. Grace gets Martha into the sick bay, computer does not recognize her disease. Grace decides to quarantine her and locks the door to the sick room. Scene 14 - Grace finds the bloody mess left over from Drax’s fight. She commands him to clean it, but both are distracted by new ship that is as big as a planet. They see the sea shell ship disappear and warp out of there as fast as they can. Scene 15 - Grace and Drax talk about the illness, the apparent evolution of body fused with machine Scene 16- The warp takes them to the 37th/Sagittarius without clearance. Stand off with the RNE Scene 17 - Drax and Grace check on Martha. She is in a full coma and full of wires/metal Scene 18 - Two envoys arrive on the ship, appearing peaceful. They see Martha and stun everyone. One of them says something to Night vía communicator. Scene 19 - Grace comes to and remembers the events of the past few days. Realizes she’s tied to a gurney. Scene 20 - A nurse walks in and checks her vitals. She tells Grace that she can’t let her go without her General’s permission. Scene 21 - Night walks into the room. Orders Grace to be released. Acts in a strange manner. Scene 22 - Night walks Grace through the station, opening the doors with his thumb print. They go to an operating theater. Scene 23 - Inside the operating theater are several creatures infected with the cyborg virus. The doctors and nurses are focused on Martha. The Aliens are there, consulting. Scene 24 - Inspection of Martha - description of how the virus is affecting her and their systems. Night declares the virus an act of war Scene 25 - As Grace stands by Martha, her friend’s eyes open and the two seem to register one another for a moment. Then, Martha opens her mouth to reveal a deep, dark space behind it. It’s far too big and cavernous. Scene 26 - Drax joins them, ending the moment. Grace tells him they have to fight the giant, planet-like ship. He’s uncertain, but she says she can’t do it without him. Scene 27 - Grace says goodbye to Martha. One of the Aliens gives her a sample of the virus that he’s been working with but isn’t clear about what it’s for. She keeps it. Scene 28 - Night gets a read on the enemy ship and its current location. He explains that it’s headed for Earth. They get into a small pod and are shot several light years to the enemy ship. Scene 29 - They enter the ship and find it nearly empty. Only the occasional officer walks by. Drax and Grace hide and watch the creatures. Scene 30 - The evil cyborgs that attacked Martha appear to be serving the other creatures of this ship. Their creators control them with voice commands. One almost sees Drax and Grace, but they just barely avoid its sensors. Scene 31 - Together, Drax and Grace make their way through the ship. To their shock, a person who looks just like Night is commanding the ship. Grace is so shocked that she steps forward to confront him, only to see him open his mouth far too wide, (like Martha) and hear a horrible sound come from him. He’s not Night - he’s a clone of Grace’s friend. Scene 32 - Clones that look very similar to Grace and Drax take the intruders to the onboard prison and lock them up there. They wonder what they’re being held for, but not for long. Several of the cyborgs appear in their cell and the two have to fight them off. Scene 33 - The fight infects Drax and he starts to weaken immediately. Grace grabs the vial of the virus and grabs a syringe from a defeated cyborg to give him a shot. To her shock, the virus retreats. Scene 34 - Grace’s clone comes back and Grace tells Drax to play dead. He goes cold and Grace cries. Her clone comes close to the bars and Grace knocks her out, takes her keys and special eyepiece to pretend to be her own clone. Scene 35 - Grace strolls through the ship as if she knows everything. She spots Drax’s clone headed back to the prison and lets him know that it’s his turn. In a few minutes, a fake Drax clone joins her. Scene 36 - Grace explains that only a small amount of the anti-virus remains, but if they can get it to where the ship is the most vulnerable, they can stop this monster. Scene 37 - A clone of Fox stops them and asks for their help with an engineering problem. The two nod silently and follow him to what appears to be an engine room. Drax slips the anti-virus out of Grace’s pocket without her noticing. Scene 38 - The Fox clone explains that their approach to Earth will have to appear peaceful. They want to project an image of the ship that is much smaller and friendlier-looking so that they don’t attacked. Drax offers to take over and as soon as clone Fox’s guard is down, Grace beats him up. Scene 39 - Drax gets the anti-virus into the core of the engine and all kinds of alarms go off. Grace tries to communicate with Night but it’s no use. Together, she and Drax start running to find an escape pod they can use to get down to Earth. Scene 40 - A strange character, a man who seems to be an odd amalgamation of bone and steel stops them, tells them he knows who they are. All around them, the ship is crumbling. Grace tries to punch their challenger but only breaks her hand. Scene 41 - The new guy points to a free pod and tells them to plan on meeting again. Confused but relieved, they run off and jump in as their new challenger watches them go. Just as they fly off, a huge part of the ship falls on him. Scene 42 - Behind the two crew members, the giant ship implodes into itself, then supernovas out into a huge wave of energy. The blast throws their ship off its course and into a river. Inside, the two are blacked out, but the cold water that seeps into their pod wakes them up. Scene 43 - Grace is addressing the head of the RNE. They’re not thrilled with the information she has for them. They didn’t want the ship destroyed and yet they can’t argue that it was dangerous. She is recognized for her effort but denied her commission for endangering the planet. She bumps into a member on the way out and robs his fiscal chip without him noticing. Scene 44 - Grace calls Night to check on Martha. Night tells her that her case is uncertain. Her new alien friends are working on her but her strain of the virus was too far along to stop the way she did with Drax’s strain. She promises to come and visit the next day. Scene 45 - Drax joins Grace at her apartment. It’s small, dingy and joyless. There, she has some pictures from her old life, when she was young and had a family. He asks if she plans to stay there and she shakes her head no. She knows that war is on it’s way and she wants to help beat back the enemy. She invites him back to the space station to visit Martha and he accepts. Just before they leave, an audio message registers on her communication system. She plays it and it’s the odd guy from the big ship, promising her he’ll find her.

#books #darkfantasy #horror

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groovystrawberryrebel · 7 years

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The Set Stealer

#books #darkfantasy #horror

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