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kaypeace21 · 3 years

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Hopper & lonnie (anon)

Tw: ab*se /dr*gs

So I’ve been reading your theories about Hopper being an interject alter who is going to figure it out after his “death” after season three. I really love it, I think it fits so well. But I was wondering something.

Why does Will view Hopper, in particular, as someone who could protect him?

If it was just about being an authority figure, he could have chosen any other cop. And I’m not sure it was about Hopper as a person either, because until the events, it’s implied he and Joyce aren’t close anymore. They had something in high school but Hopper moved away years ago and is kind of an outside observer in her life now, up until Will vanishes.

So why Hopper? Why would Will attach so strongly to him?

Then I noticed the time frame. I’m not a hundred per cent sure, but I think Hopper returns to Hawkins the year before, or maybe the same year, Lonnie leaves. Which makes a lot of sense.

Back in episode two, Hopper tells the woman he’s with how sleepy Hawkins is. There hasn’t been a murder since 1923 or a su*cide since 1969. And people keep making a big deal of how he’s “a big city cop” and “things like that don’t happen in Hawkins”. It’s implied that Hopper is used to seeing darker crimes, and would recognize them if they were happening on his patch. And then shortly after he arrives in town Lonnie - a bully who relished controlling his family and loved to freeload off Joyce’s hard work - packs up and leaves for a more anonymous life in the city. It’s deeply suspicious. Why would he do that? What was he afraid of?

I think he was afraid Hopper would discover the depths of his abuse of Will.

I don’t think Hopper actually did find any evidence of that before he left, or ran him out of town or anything. Hopper seems to view Lonnie as a deadbeat, but he still wants to call him, even after Joyce tells him about the verbal abuse Lonnie used to give Will, and we see Hopper look discomfited. But he still pushes the Lonnie thing and wants to get him involved in Will’s disappearance, like he would any other dad, so I don’t think he has any idea of the truth.

What I think might have happened was that Hopper caught Lonnie in some minor crime, and pulled him to rights on it in front of Will. It could have been anything. Maybe Lonnie was drunk and mouthing off and Hopper physically restrained him. Maybe the family were going hungry to pay his debts and Hopper intervened. We don’t know. But I think there was something, and Hopper was very much the “bigger guy” in the situation. The alpha male. And for Will, it was the first time he’d seen his dad defeated like that.

And then shortly afterwards, Lonnie left. And in Will’s little kid mind, the two things HAD to be connected. Hopper scared Lonnie away! I wouldn’t be surprised if Hopper spooked Lonnie. Maybe he got in his face and said something like “I know guys like you” or “What else are you up to, out here in the woods? What else are you hiding, huh?” And Hopper is thinking meth cooking or something, but Lonnie’s mind goes to darker places and wonders how much he might really know.

When Will first sees the Demogorgon it’s as a faceless man in the woods. And he runs home and tries to call the police. Maybe he thinks it’s Lonnie or his friends and is hoping Hopper will save him again.

I just think something must have happened to make Will have such trust in Hopper as a protector, even if Hopper himself is unaware of it. I hope we get to see the flashback, and young Will forming that idea. Maybe as Hopper is wandering around the death scape figuring out what he really is, this memory will come to him as a flashback and he’ll be confused. Maybe he / the audience will misinterpret it as being about “protecting Joyce” . But we’ll see Will right there and join the dots.

Side note: I wonder if Lonnie really was cooking meth? PCP / biker meth was big among poor communities in the Eighties, and it’s a scary drug. It causes hallucinations and increases aggression. It might have made Lonnie into more of a monster when he was on it, and if he gave it to Will to get some sick kick out of seeing a kid on drugs, the hallucinogen might have been what unlocked Will’s powers. The blurring of reality and nightmares. I have no real evidence for this except the historical context, but it would explain a lot.

——–

Response (kaypeace21):

Tw: dr*gs/ ab*se

This actually makes a lot of sense on why Lonnie may have left and hates Hopper . He would be getting in the way of his “dr*g business” and other sick activities. Lonnie’s gf even has a biker shirt from Harley davidson- with the eagle logo and their saying “live to ride’. Which would imply lonnie is also in such biker circles. Harley davidson in the 80s had dr*g gangs too.

* the whole convo of Cynthia replacing 50 something Lonnie for a “younger model”. Is foreshadowing of Lonnie doing that to her. He replaced Joyce with a gal in her 20s. And will prob pick another young girl to use in s4/5. Like the movies hint his next gf is about Jonathan’s age-ick. They also called it “bathtub cr*nk” which is sketchy given the bathtub is what Will/mf fears and how the sensory deprivation tank is later called a tub by el . Becky even said he would get terry high and throw her in the tank/tub.

And s4 movies have quite a few biker gangs . Also would make the fact in s2 Will was forcibly injected with a needle more sinister. We see on the TV in s2 punkie brooster says they had a nightmare of having a needle forced into their arm - similar to Will

And in s2 Billy (aka William) was injected in the neck and threatened with a bat. And in s3 robin and Steve were injected in the neck and got high. I thought hopper being in a upsidedown reflection of a spoon was more of a matrix DID ref. But there could be more to it. Like you mentioned such things were cooked in spoons. It would also explain Lonnie’s “debts”.

And yeah in the st books brenner gave the subjects drugs which activated/strengthened their powers yikes . Yikes . Yikes

update- WAIT!

“One reason m*th is so prevalent in rural areas is that it can be formulated, or “cooked,” by small producers and one of the ingredients is readily found on most farms – anhydrous ammonia fertilizer. Both farmers and chemical suppliers have experienced thefts of anhydrous particularly in the Midwest.“

WHICH REMINDS ME OF the FLAYED EATING FERTILIZER AND CHEMICALS IN S3 OMG. Nancy even says farmers/chem suppliers are having fertilizer stolen omg! And she later thinks flayed tom was on drugs- “Nancy drew and the case of the missing fertilizer”.

EVEN Nancy’s proof Tom is on dr*gs is a symptom of m*th use or withdrawl from it-excessive sweating (like all the flayed in s2-3). M*th causes hyperthermia (body is at a higher temp than usual)-so they like it cold!!!!! ahhhhh. Even clammy hands that she mentioned is a symptom of m*th use. in children it can even cause seizures- like Will :(

It also does take some chemisty knowledge to COVERT various substances (including fertilizer and other chemicals) to make m*th- which reminds me of the kids saying they can convert one substance into another (when referencing why the possessed are eating chemicals). I CRACKED THE CODE!!!!!!!!!!

when m*th is made via soil it first is made into a highly corrosive liquid which is sometimes green-like the Russian lab.

“six pounds of toxic waste is created for every pound of m*th manufactured. The waste is often dumped on farms, in rivers and and is harmful to the environment.” Like all the chemical leaks relating to Hawkins lab/mf that affected crops in s2/this pic of water in s3.

#did theory #submission #lonnie byers #will byers #stranger things #jim hopper #stanger things theory

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fandomoblivion · 4 years

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Ella Enchanted (part one)

Fandom: Stranger Things season 3

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: (Y/N), also known as Nine, was a girl being experimented on all her life by the Hawkins Lab, conditioned into following every command her brain heard. She managed to escape the lab, with the help of her little sister Eleven, and was taken in by Hopper. Now, it’s a year later, and the three of them are a happy family. She just got her first job, where she works alongside Steve “The Hair” Harrington… who her father doesn’t much like.

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 1,570

Notes: Part one! Here we gooo!

prologue

“Bye Hopper!” You called, giving the old grump sitting in his Lazy Boy a kiss on the top of his head.

“Bye, Kid. Be safe.”

“You know I always am. And please, don’t spy on them all day.” You said, referring to El and Mike, alone in the bedroom the two of you shared.

“Eh. No guarantees. Have a good first day.”

“Thanks.” And, with that, you were out of the house. You didn’t know how to drive yet, so you had to leave extra early to be able to walk all the way to the Starcourt Mall, where you’d be on your feet for a couple more hours, before walking home again.

This was your first day at the ice cream place, and you were psyched to say the least. Your uniform was in your bag so you could change there--no way in hell you were walking over wearing it, listening to your Walkman and excited beyond words to start being a normal teenager.

When you got to Scoops Ahoy, you walked up to the girl who had previously met when your boss interviewed you. Her name was Robin, and she greeted you with a kind smile.

“Hey (Y/N)! First day, right?” You just nodded, still not super comfortable with human interactions yet… even though you were about to work in customer service. “Well, I should introduce you to our shift partner, Lord Himbo himself, Mr. Steve Harrington.”

The shudders behind her opened, revealing a guy with very… tall hair. He had on a wide smile, which dropped when he saw your face. He replaced it quickly, though, and Robin didn’t even seem to notice. You for sure did, though.

“Hi there. Steve Harrington.”

“I’m (Y/N).” You said quietly. You held up your bag with the uniform in it and asked, “Is there a…”

“Yeah, there are bathrooms in the back,” Robin replied. You thanked her, went, and got changed.

And your shift had begun. Honestly, it was pretty easy. Robin and Steve worked like a well-oiled machine, you could pretty much sit back, watch, and take notes in your mind.

When your shift was almost over, you and Robin were at the counter together, making awkward small talk, when a boy with dark hair came up and rang the bell repeatedly, continuing after you had acknowledged his presence. He looked familiar, you just couldn’t place the face.

Robin sighed. “Hey, Dingus! Your children are here!”

Steve opened the back window. “Again? Seriously?” The boy said nothing, and just hit the bell again. “Alright, come on. Don’t let people see you.” Steve said, ushering them into the back.

“Hey! Mike!” You said cheerfully, smiling at him. He just looked at you and gave an awkward smile.

“Steve sometimes likes to use his privileges here to help his friends that are like eighth graders for some reason.”

“Yeah… that’s my little sister’s boyfriend.”

And things were back to normal, until the lights flickered and went out a few minutes later. You jumped slightly, remembering all the times lights flickering were associated with otherworldly things. You had to remind yourself now, that these lights were just lights.

“That’s weird.” Steve mumbled. He went and flicked the light switch, but nothing happened.

Robin crossed her arms. “That isn’t gonna work, Dingus.”

“Oh really?” Steve asked, before flicking the light as fast as he could.

“I don’t think they’re turning back on.” You whispered, hugging your arms to yourself.

Steve groaned and put his hands on his hips, assessing the situation. “Alright. You guys can go home, if you want. Shifts are almost over, I can cover until we close.”

“Hey, thanks, doof.” Robin said. You nodded in agreement and went into the bathroom to change with Robin. “So, how was your first day?”

“Good.”

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?”

You shrugged. “I talk when I want.”

“Do you want a ride home? If all the lights are out, it’s gonna be a difficult walk.”

You shook your head. “That’s alright.”

Robin laughed. “Nah, come on. Let me give you a ride home.”

Your brain went fuzzy, as it did whenever you heard a command. You couldn’t think or do anything, and you heard the words “Okay, thank you,” come out of your mouth.

When you two finished changing, you bid Steve farewell, and Robin drove you home. It was a nice drive. She mostly talked about the mall: what to expect from the job, how to read different customers, the works. When she dropped you off, she made a joke about you living in the middle of nowhere. You did your best to laugh.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“Don’t mention it.” Okay, you wouldn’t. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

---

The next day was the same. You walked to work, changed, and tried your best to help out. Steve tried flirting with different customers, but the uniform, along with the cocky personality, set him back far too much.

Just as another pretty girl walked away, giggling to her friend, Robin opened the back window and slid a whiteboard into view. You walked over from the corner to see what it said. It was a T-chart, with “YOU RULE” with an empty column under it, and “YOU SUCK” with five tally marks.

“And another one bites the dust,” Robin said, drawing another tally mark. Steve just scoffed. “You are oh-for-six, Popeye.”

“Yeah, yeah, I can count.” Steve retaliated.

“You know that means you suck.” You said, laughing.

Steve glared at you. Robin laughed. “Exactly!”

“Yeah, I can read too!” He huffed.

Robin put the whiteboard away. “Since when?”

“It’s this stupid hat. I’m telling you, it’s totally blowing my best feature.”

You paused. “Which is…?”

“My hair!”

“Yeah, company policy is a real drag.” Robin said, leaning through the window. You moved to stand next to Steve, so you were all around the window. How cute. “You know, it’s a crazy idea, but have you considered telling the truth?”

“Oh, you mean that I couldn’t even get into Tech and my douchebag dad’s trying to teach me a lesson, I make three bucks an hour, and I have no future? Hm? That truth?

“People don’t always like the truth.” You said, knowing from your stupid curse.

“Ah, shut up.” Steve groaned. Damn it. You hated it when people said that, because you couldn’t talk until they left, or until you were told another command. El used this tactic whenever the two of you would fight, since she couldn’t really leave, you couldn’t talk.

“Hey, twelve o’clock.” Robin said, pointing behind the two of you. You looked behind you, at the cash register, and a group of pretty girls were walking up.

“Oh shit. Oh shit. Okay, uh… I’m going in. And you know what?” Steve took off his hat and threw it at Robin. “Screw company policy.”

“My god, you’re a whole new man.” Robin said sarcastically. You quickly went and joined Robin in the back, watching Steve with her.

“Ahoy ladies!” Steve yelled, making the girl in front yelp. “Didn’t see you there! Would you guys like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I’ll be your captain. I’m Steve Harrington.” The girls laughed nervously. You and Robin just watched in awe. “Can I get you guys a little taste of the Cherries Jubilee? No? Anybody? Banana Boat? Four people, four spoons? Share it in the booth? Anybody? It’s hot out there!”

Robin rolled her eyes and added a seventh tally to the board.

The girls just laughed and walked away. Steve groaned, running his hands over his face. “Damn it!” He said, joining the two of you in the back. “What’s wrong with me?” He asked, looking at you.

Robin laughed. “Yeah, (Y/N), tell him what’s wrong with him.”

Your brain went fuzzy and you heard yourself say, “You hold yourself to a standard you can’t meet.”

Steve looked surprised and Robin snickered. “Shit, too real.” Her head perked up when she heard the bell being rung by a customer. “Be right back, guys.” She left the two of you back there, alone for the first time.

“Sorry.” You said.

“Nah, nah. I did ask. I’m just… Where do I know you from? Did you go to Hawkins High?” You shook your head. “Do you have a sibling at the middle school? I might have seen you.”

“No. Do you?”

“Well, no, but I have a friend who goes there. I don’t know, maybe I might have seen you while dropping him off.”

“My little sister’s dating Mike Wheeler.” You said, remembering that Steve took Mike into the back room the previous day.

“Mike’s girlfriend… El. Wait, El?! Your sister is Eleven?!” You nodded. “That’d make you one of the-”

Robin opened the window. “Hey, dingus, there’s a girl here who you might have a shot with.” You looked up and saw a girl walking in. Oh, you understood the joke. She’s in middle school.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Steve said, rolling his eyes. Robin shrugged and closed the window. There was a long pause. “Are you?” He asked quietly. You held out your wrist reluctantly. “009.” Steve read to himself. “Fuck. You got out?” You nodded. He let out a breathy laugh. “Shit. Well then,” he said, drawing up two chairs to the little table back there. “Tell me your story.”

Fuzzy mind.

---

TAGLIST

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peterthepark · 5 years

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crush culture - [two]

call it fate, call it caffeine

pairing: steve harrington x reader

summary: coffee can help with a lot of things - and one of them entails becoming closer to your crush.

warnings: strong language, caffeine, FLUFF, uses of social media and brief mentions of cheating

A/N: loved writing this chapter a lot. hope u enjoy everyone! :)

Drumming your fingers against the counter, you began to adjust the obnoxious green hat on your head, frowning at the long line of customers before you. It wasn’t that you hated your job - you just... preferred not doing it (which in your opinion, was completely valid, despite how ridiculous it sounded). However, you did like caffeine and the perks that came with being an employee at your favorite shop. You’d see cute guys sometimes - they’d order the most blasphemous things off the menu - and sometimes you’d gain the courage to ask them out after your shift. Most of the times, they’d say yes, recognizing you from their classes or in the hallways on campus. Exchange numbers, plan the first date, show up, and let it all unfold naturally - yet nothing progresses.

Your love life was bitter, unlike how you liked your coffee.

You squeal excitedly when Nate Mendoza walks through the double doors, calling out your name with a sing-song voice. Of course, you cherished your dear friendship with your roommates, but Nate was just that one friend you couldn’t shake off or forget - no matter the circumstances.

He was also undoubtedly attractive: his blue eyes, a stark contrast to his dark hair. But despite the many rumors and claims that the two of you have been dating, he had a girlfriend back home; you had a strictly platonic relationship with the boy, who was almost like a brother to you.

“What’s up, Y/L/N?” He high fives you over the counter, attempting the handshake that you had developed over the course of your friendship. “Can I get, uh...”

“One chocolate chip cookie with a vanilla latte?” You smirk proudly, having memorized his order as well. He nods with a wide grin, handing you his credit card. “Coming right up, Mendoza.”

Conveniently, you were nearing your break. So after you had gotten Nate’s order sorted, you approached him with his pastry and mug, setting it down on the little corner table that he loved to sit by. You complimented his outfit, and cooed at how long his hair had gotten. Living in Chicago made it difficult for you to hang out with Nate, but he mostly would drive down for the holidays to visit.

“Has it been that long?” You nod your head, counting the amount of months that he’s been M.I.A. “That’s crazy! Alright, tell me about college. Give me the whole experience.”

“Okay, well. It’s not too great. Lots of coffee and studying - a lot of them being for pointless shit that I’m pretty sure I won’t need when I get my actual job. Uh, parties. I literally went to a party like yesterday! You should’ve told me you were in town! I would’ve brought you along.” You nudge his hand from across the table, smiling when he offers you a piece of his cookie.

“Fuck, man. I’m too tired for parties.” He smacks his lips together, wagging his index finger at you as he waited for the right words to come to him. “Ah! Have you gotten a boyfriend yet? Or - or a girlfriend for that matter?” You shake your head with disappointment. “It’s probably cause your game is weak.”

“Okay, okay!” You laugh at him, covering your mouth as you chew on his food. “I’m not - I don’t know, Nate. I guess I just haven’t been looking for anyone? M’too busy for that shit.”

“That’s because you aren’t supposed to look.” Nate scoffs, causing you to glance up at him in interest. “That - that special person is supposed to come to you. Trust me, when the-“

“Time is right, it’ll happen.” You give him a small smile. “Hopefully I won’t have too wait that long.”

Sadly, your break is over after talking to Nate for what felt like ages. You retreat to the register once again after washing your hands, putting on a cheery front for customers. Nate insists that he’ll stay for the rest of your shift, wanting to spend more time with you afterwards.

Collecting your things, you sling your purse over your shoulder, nodding your head towards the door so that Nate follows. The frigid air bites at your skin, and you curse yourself for not bringing a jacket.

“Here, take mine.” Nate shrugs his off, draping it over your smaller frame.

“God, have you even washed this shit?” You joke, tugging it tighter around yourself for warmth.

“Yeah, I have. Like maybe four months ago.”

“You disgust me.” You chuckle, shoving his arm.

You’re rounding the corner of the sidewalk when you see a familiar face approach: brown fluffy hair, denim jacket, and a red bike - yeah, that’s definitely Steve Harrington.

“Oh, we should go back,” You’re about to turn around until Nate glares at you, narrowing his eyes at you suspiciously.

“Alrighty, then. I’m not gonna question it.” He shrugs, following you once again.

The universe is a fucking bitch. You take it all back.

“Y/N?”

You and Nate pause in your steps, and you have no choice but to face him.

“Oh, hey, Steve. Funny, uh, funny seeing you here.” You grin, ignoring the dirty look that Nate was sending him.

“Hey, yeah. Um, what are you up to? I was just - just gonna go get coffee at Fran’s.” His eyes flicker to Nate, visibly eyeing him up and down.

This was the guy who was in the picture with you.

Steve masks the scowl on his face with a easy smile, pulling his earbuds out of his ears.

“I actually just finished my shift there.” You sway from one foot to the other, hands tucked beneath Nate’s jacket. “Sucks we didn’t get to see each other.”

“Well, good thing I ran into you then.” You dip your head at the remark, and before you can continue again, Nate is holding his hand out for Steve to shake.

“Don’t think we’ve ever met. I’m Nathan.” There was a tone in your friend’s voice that you couldn’t place, and suddenly, he seemed intimidating. Poor Steve seemed uneasy. You don’t miss the tiny twitch in his eye when Nate squeezes a bit too hard. “And you are?”

C’mon, Nate. Why do you have to be such a fucking asshole to him?

“Steve. Uh, you guys are... friends?”

You nearly jump when Nate’s arm snakes around your waist, pulling you into his side. “Something like that. Yeah.”

Oh, this dickhead. This overprotective, complete, idiotic dickhead.

You glance away from Steve, trying to avoid his questioning gaze as it bounces from you to Nate, then back again.

“Um, well - well, it was nice running into you, Y/N... and, uh, you too, Nathan.” Steve clears his throat, rubbing at the nape of his neck. “Hopefully I’ll catch you at work one day. Maybe hang out or something.” He chuckles, running a hand through his hair.

He wanted to hang out?

You exchange an excited grin with him. “Yeah, of course. Have a good day, Steve.”

“Right. Bye, again.” He hops back on his bike, pedaling away. You don’t hesitate to look back at him as he rides off - maybe your eyes are playing tricks on you, but he looks back as well. And you smile.

That is until Nate starts interrogating you, causing you to get a bit pissed.

“Dude, what is your deal?” You huff at him, shaking your head with irritation.

“That’s Steve Harrington.”

“Okay, and?” You cross your arms against your chest, protesting when Nate pulls you closer to him as he frowns at the people who decide to walk right through your conversation. “Nate, what about him?”

“He’s an asshole.”

“And so are you.“ You gesture at him, letting your hand fall lazily against your thigh. Nate raises his eyebrows at you, patiently waiting for you to quit talking. “Fine, then. What do you mean?”

“I’ve heard some shit from - from a few people. He cheated on Olivia with that sorority girl.”

Cheated? He was a cheater?

“Those were rumors. And besides, why are you telling me this? It’s not like I care.”

Oh, but you do care. You care immensely.

“Really? Because the way you were looking at each other said otherwise.” You’re about to interject, but Nate holds a hand up, shushing you. “I’m just lookin’ out for you, kiddo. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a crush on him-“

“I do not have a crush on him.”

Liar.

“You sure?” You nod confidently, squaring your shoulders. “Just don’t come crying to me if he decides to break your heart, Y/N.”

“You’re a very mean person. And I’m suddenly not cold anymore.” You shrug his jacket off, handing it to him with a dramatic pout.

“I’m only mean because I‘m trying to protect you.” You nod gratefully at his words, but the thoughts at the back of your head don’t stop swarming you.

You didn’t want to believe Nate’s claims of Steve being a cheater, but then again, who’s to say that they aren’t actually true?

“Do you guys know anything about Steve and Olivia?” You turn the sink on, soap roaming around your hands as you scrub delicately at the dirty dishes.

“Steve and Olivia? Girl, that’s ancient history.” Kate cackles, throwing her head back against the sofa to give you a look of attitude. “Why are you asking?”

“Heard some stuff about them. Just wondering.”

“All that crap is bullshit.” Robin pipes up through a mouthful of cereal, chewing obnoxiously as she gestures at you. “His ex-girlfriend started those rumors to get back at him. It’s stupid. Reminds me too much of high school drama.” She scoffs, shaking her head.

“Speaking of Steve, have you texted him?” Kate cocks her brow at you, smirking mischievously.

Robin nearly spits out her Lucky Charms at the question.

“You have Steve’s number?!” She squeaks, holding the back of her hand to her mouth with shock. “Oh, my god. I see it now.”

“Right?” Kate turns to her. “I saw it from the beginning.”

“What the fuck are we seeing? What is there to see?You shut the sink off, placing your hands on your hips as you move to stand in front of the TV. “Am I supposed to be seeing something? Because if you don’t know, I’m actually fucking blind.”

“You like Steve!” Robin says in a sing-song voice, pointing her spoon at you. Giggles fill the room as your face turns red, and you begin to pace back and forth.

“I do not like him! Why is everyone thinking that I like him?”

“You’re being-“

“I’m not defensive!” Your chest heaves as Robin and Kate exchange knowing look, both sharing identical smiles as they look you up and down. Clearing your throat awkwardly, you ruffle at your hair, bunching it up into a mess. “Okay, maybe I do. Just a little.”

You wince when a ear-piercing scream escapes from Kate, who runs up to tackle you in a jumping embrace. Robin makes kissing noises in the background, squishing her cheeks together.

“You have to text him, Y/N.” Kate lets go of you, grabbing your hand in support.

“No, no, no way.” You toss your hands up, waving the idea away as you plop down onto the beanbag in the corner. “I’m surely not gonna text him.”

“What are you so afraid of? You have nothing to lose!” She points out as Robin hums in agreement. You bite down on your thumb, training your eyes onto the grey carpet.

“What if he doesn’t like me? What if - what if when he gets to know me, he’ll be disappointed?” You ramble.

“Okay, well, how are you gonna answer that question if you haven’t given him a try?” Robin shrugs at you, standing up to hand you your phone. “Take a risk. Fuck everything.”

Yeah.

Fuck everything, right?

“I’m doing this alone.” You chuckle, taking your phone into your bedroom.

“Don’t send nudes, please!”

“And no sexting in this apartment!”

You huff at the wolf whistles of your two roommates, teasing you from the living room. Switching on the lamp on your nightstand, you slide under your covers as you pull up Steve’s contact. You groan aloud, feeling a build-up in your nerves as you stare at the string of numbers.

Texting seemed too formal. You curse at yourself for backing out, resorting to the confines of pointless Instagram stories to free your mind. Almost as if the universe had heard your cry for help, a colored ring appears around Steve’s profile picture, and without hesitation, you excitedly tap on it.

Based on the photo, Steve seemed to be in one of the campus’ libraries, pulling a late-night study session by himself. You pause for a minute, before you slowly swipe up on the screen, which brought you the option to send him a message.

need a coffee refill? ☺️

Sent.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

You instantly lock your phone after it sends, holding a pillow to your face as you let out a muffled scream. You kick at your sheets with heart-pounding anticipation, trying your hardest not to peek at your phone for another five minutes in fear of getting no reply.

Then, a notification pops onto your lockscreen, and your hands fumble to open it.

i would love one

Typing...

from you specifically :)

With a dreamy smile, your limbs shift with giddiness as you move to lay on your stomach, legs swinging mindlessly in the air.

want me to come over? 😂

Maybe you shouldn’t have said that.

ur serious?

Fuck. Was that appropriate? Did you force him into a situation that he’d have to awkwardly say no to?

i don’t mind

i could rlly use the company then 😁

so what’s your drink of choice?

hmmmm

surprise me 😩

You chuckle, shaking your head at the suggestion.

just don’t be mad if i get u something terrible

on my way 😇

With a sigh of relief, you hastily move to slip on a sweatshirt, grabbing your phone and car keys as you tiptoe out of the bedroom.

Robin lays on the sofa, snoring lightly as you try to quietly unlock the front door.

“Mmm... where you going?”

Ah, shit.

“Gonna go for a walk.” You reply casually.

She turns onto her side, peering at you with droopy eyes. “It’s midnight.”

“I’ll be back. Don’t worry.”

Okay, you do like Steve.

You like him a lot.

That‘s pretty fucking obvious enough... because who the hell gets out of bed at twelve in the morning to go buy coffee for some boy they’ve just started talking to?

You hiss when your palms come in contact with the steaming hot coffee, one carried in each hand. There aren’t many students left in the library - most of them cramming for exams or either falling under the cursed spell of sleep. You double check Steve’s message, searching for him towards the back of the building. Your heart beats faster when you catch sight of his profile, nearly walking right past him from how nervous you were making yourself. His earbuds are in, obviously unaware of your arrival as he rapidly types at his laptop.

You set the two coffees down, laughing softly at how Steve jumps in genuine surprise. He looks up at you, mouth agape. He suddenly realizes how much of a mess he looks, and he quickly runs his hands through his hair to fix it.

“Y/N, what - you actually came.” A smile tugs at his lips, and he pulls out the chair beside him for you to sit in.

“You wanna get rid of me already?” You joke, finding amusement in Steve’s distraught expression.

“No!” He says a little too loudly. “No, no, s’nothing like that. I just didn’t think you’d go out of your way to see me. Especially at...” He checks his watch. “...one in the morning.”

“Well, how else are you gonna make it through this night? Or morning, technically?” You hand him his coffee, warning him that it’s a bit hot. “I hope you like white chocolate.”

He takes a sip from the lidded drink, nodding his head at the sugary flavor. “Shit’s good.”

“Seriously?” You chuckle.

“You got taste, Y/N.” He gestures, subconsciously bumping his knee against your thigh as he returns to working, yet still taking the time to hold a conversation with you.

“Okay, so fill me in. What’s going on here?”

Steve explains that he’s got a big essay to work on for one of his minor subjects, and at the same time, he’s stuck with studying for a huge test from his criminal justice course. You listen attentively, trying your best to understand the complex terms he uses in his rambling state.

“Sorry if I went overboard. I just really, really like my major, even if it stresses the fuck out of me.” He scoffs nervously, running his hand through his hair.

“No, it’s great to hear someone so passionate about their studies. It’s super inspiring. I think it’s cute.”

Oh, hell.

You did not just say that he was cute. Sure, you said it in a completely indirect way, but you still fucking called him cute.

Steve blushes, dipping his head down to avert his eyes from you. “Uh, y-you wanna listen to music with me?”

You nod with enthusiasm (slightly embarrassed on the inside), before putting the left earbud into your ear as Steve hits the play button on his playlist. You smile when you recognize the song, it being from one of your favorite artists.

“No way! I love this one!” You sway in your seat, chuckling as Steve mimics your movements. You whisper-shout the lyrics to one another, creating microphones with your fists as you hold it to your mouths. You ignore the weird stares from the other students in the room, only having eyes on Steve as you reach the ending of the impromptu duet.

“Oh, my god, that was - that was great.” He doubles over onto the desk with laughter, feeling himself already perk up from the caffeine. “I didn’t know you had such amazing taste in music. First, coffee, now this? You’re the best.” He points his pen at you, raising his eyebrows with clear satisfaction as you continue discussing your favorite songs.

The best.

He called you the best.

“Thanks, Steve.”

After another hour of conversation and studying, you both begin to wrap things up. Steve tosses the empty cups of coffee into the nearest bin, thanking you as you help him pack up his textbooks and laptop.

He kindly holds open the door for you on your way out, letting it swing shut behind him as the windy air nips at his ears. He walks you to the parking lot, driving his bike with his hands as he comes to a stop by your van.

“W-would you like a ride back to your place?” You offer, rubbing at the sleeves of your sweatshirt. “It’s really cold and dark outside, so...”

Steve smiles. “Yeah, thank you, Y/N.”

“No problem.”

The turn signal ticks loudly as you round the street towards Steve’s apartment. His bike rattles in the backseat, folded over to fit the van.

“I hope your, uh, your boyfriend is okay with this.” Steve sniffles from the heater, scratching the underside of his jaw.

“My boyfriend?”

“Yeah, that Nathan guy from earlier today? He’s your boyfriend, right?”

Well, shit.

“Oh, jesus. He totally isn’t. Trust me.” Steve sends you a questioning look, doubt written all over his features. “I’m serious, Steve. He’s just my best friend, and he’s protective over me, kinda like a brother.”

“That’s good.”

Why was that good? Good that Nate wasn’t your boyfriend? Good that you weren’t dating anybody?Steve couldn’t have possibly liked you back.

Unless... he did?

You shut the engine off when you arrive at his place, walking with him into the lobby. The elevator ride is mostly silent, but there’s an unrecognizable tension that wavers in the air.

He stops you for a second before he unlocks the door to his apartment, twirling his keys between his fingers.

“Uh, I wanted to say thank you for keeping me company. I had lots of fun with you earlier.” He smiles down at you.

“Me too, Steve. You’re a really sweet guy.” You chuckle, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“And you’re a sweet girl.”

Oh, woah.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Steve clears his throat, continuing with a casual tone of voice. “Listen, I was wondering if I could... if I could get your number? Maybe we can hang out again or something, if you’re like available, you know.”

Holy fuck.

Say something. Say anything.

“Yeah, I would like that.”

Steve nods happily, taking his phone out from his pocket. He pretends as if he didn’t have your number in the first place, re-entering it into your already saved contact.

“Okay, great! Thanks. Uh, thank you for... for walking me here. And earlier, which I already mentioned - okay! I’m gonna go now.” He points at his door, cringing at himself with a disappointing sigh.

Confidently, you pull him into an embrace, making the butterflies in your stomach rejoice when he returns the hug with a tighter squeeze.

“Good night, Y/N.” He mumbles into your hair before stepping away.

“You as well, Steve.”

A smirk forms on his lips. “I’ll text you, yeah?”

“I’ll be waiting.” You lightly bounce on your heels, biting your lip as you finally lock eyes with him.

Suddenly, Steve’s hand reaches around behind you, causing your eyes to widen with surprise. He pulls the hood of your sweatshirt over your head, letting it cover your ears and parts of your hair.

His fingers trail down the uneven drawstrings, gently tugging on them.

“It’s cold outside.”

“I know.”

“Don’t want you to get sick.” You can’t fight the grin on your face, watching carefully as Steve turns open the door to his apartment. “Well, get home safe, Y/N.”

Flustered, you start to stutter over your words, forgetting all the right things to say. “You too!”

Idiot.

With one final smile and a sweet gaze in your direction, Steve slowly shuts the door, leaving you in the hallway. You slap at your reddened face when you hear the lock click, scolding yourself for saying something completely idiotic at the last minute.

Meanwhile, Steve leans on the other side of the door, resting his head against the smooth surface as he stares up at the ceiling in an enchanted state of mind. Silently, he begins to jump joyously before he victoriously pumps his fists into the air.

Who ever thought that coffee could draw two souls closer together?

TAGLIST

@aphrodites-perfume @itsametaphorbriansblog @delicrieux @ultrunning @l0ve-0f-my-life @novaddictx @liakgs @loulouloueh @charming-fan-girl

#steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington series #steve harrington fluff #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #stranger things imagine #stranger things fluff #x reader #crush culture series

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sad3girl · 5 years

Note

do a headcanon for the byers+el And Hopper BUT not in canon timeline, more like if Hop hadn’t died and that 3 months later was him and El moving in instead of the Byers moving out

I started this and then someone called me and you know tumblr it didn’t save shit, so this is going to be a shitty version of what I originally planned.

I can do canon or AU headcanons you guys just let me know, here we go:

Hopper and Joyce trying to take it slow (and failing)

Hopper finally taking Joyce on that date and it being slightly awkward at first

Then getting over the awkwardness and it turning into the best date of their lives

Hopper kissing her when he drops her off at her place

Joyce getting home with the biggest smile plastered on her face

Hopper getting to his motel room (because his damn house was destroyed) and being glad El was staying at Max’s because if she saw his goofy smile now she would never shut up about it

Hopper taking Joyce out a lot and treating her to all her favorite foods

Always wearing his super fashionable shirts

And getting made fun of by El because of them

Secretly, Will and Jonathan also make fun of him

The kids being super happy for their parents

El staying over at the Byers a lot because Hopper doesn’t want her to stay at motels all that much

El staying over at Max’s a lot too because of that

After the first couple of weeks, Joyce and Hopper start having more dates in, just at her place

Hopper tried to cook once, and it doesn’t go over that well

Joyce teaching El many ways to do her hair

Will and El hanging out and becoming friends

Jonathan teaching Will and El about music

Will and El drawing together all the time

El bonding with Will about the Upside Down and feeling like they don’t fit in

Jonathan driving El to her dates with Mike, and becoming just a bit protective of her

The Byers boys and El constantly teasing Joyce and Hopper

Hopper and El having dinner with the Byers every Sunday

Hopper and Joyce hosting a Sunday barbecue every other weekend for the whole gang

Joyce going shopping with El

Hopper giving advice to Jonathan about pursuing his dreams

Hopper becoming a father figure for Will, who was always verbally abused by his real father

Joyce giving El the talk, much to Hopper’s dismay

Movie nights with the Byers boys and El when their parents go out

Will and El covering for Jonathan when he sleeps over at Nancy’s

Movie nights with Hopper, Joyce and the kids

Mike going over to the Byers to have dinner with all of them

Mike apologizing to Hopper and respecting him

Hopper warming up to Mike, eventually

Hopper and El having game nights with the Byers

Hopper and El having father daughter time

Them going out to dinner, to the movies, and Hopper teaching her how to play poker

Mike actually apologizing to Will and being a good friend again

Mike making more time to spend with his friends, both as a group and one on one

Will telling Mike he was right about him not liking girls

Mike having known for a long time that was true, but not judging him for it (”it may have been true, but I said it like it was a bad thing, and it isn’t, it was stupid and I’m really sorry”)

Joyce teasing Hopper every time El goes out with Mike

Hopper and Joyce being really over the top on the PDA in front of their kids to annoy them

Hopper gradually moving in and while they both notice, neither says anything

Will and Jonathan being completely done with them every time they get cheesy

El never being annoyed at their PDA but thinking it’s romantic

Max spending the night at the Byers a lot because her house reminds her of Billy

Max and Will annoying Mike and El by pretending to be grossed out by them all the time

Max giving Mike advice when he’s an idiot because she feels bad (”i swear if anyone finds out, you won’t be dead but you will wish you were”)

Max and Mike being best friends but acting like they hate each other

Their bickering getting to everyone’s nerves

Nancy and Jonathan spending more time at the Wheeler’s place because it seems like the Byers home is always full nowadays

People in town talking about Joyce and Hopper’s relationship

El meeting Mike’s parents

Ted being shocked to learn his son has a girlfriend (because unlike Karen he pays zero attention)

Karen being so happy to finally meet El (because listening in on their phone calls didn’t do their cuteness justice)

Karen taking a million pictures of them, to the point it gets really awkward, but she is so proud of her baby boy

And obviously Karen showing El Mike’s baby pictures (and El having to pretend she has never seen them before)

Hopper trying to help out by going to the supermarket but forgetting it isn’t just him and El anymore, so instead of buying what was on the list buying only junk food

Joyce telling him to just clean up if he wants to help and to leave the shopping to her

Hopper and Joyce being domestic and married AF

Joyce going to the station to have lunch with Hopper during her break

The Party getting to officially meet Suzie

The girls becoming instant friends with her

Lucas and Max breaking up every other week

Everyone making fun of Lucas for it

The Party playing D&D again

Lucas and Will spending two weeks planning a campaign

Max making so much fun of her boyfriend for being a giant dork

But still playing the game

El getting really into Wonder Woman, and eventually just into comics in general (her favorite superhero ends up being Scarlet Witch, but Wonder Woman is right there too)

Dustin and El going to the comic book store way too much

Steve being the one to drive them and complaining the whole time

But reading a couple of comics while he waits for them

Dustin and El just being the best of friends

Max, Dustin and El being an iconic trio

Will and Mike having really deep conversations

Lucas trying to get El’s advice when he and Max fight

And failing

Instead getting advice from Mike, who knows what to say because Max told him

The Party being normal, carefree kids

El learning to live without her powers

Hopper being there to hold her when it gets too much and she breaks down

El feeling kind of useless without her powers

But having her friends and family to remind her she isn’t useless, and that they love her

Will coming out to his friends and family one by one, after a lot of talking things through with his bestie

Some being more shocked than others (Hopper suspected, Joyce and Jonathan knew, and so did Max, because let’s be honest she came from California)

El not getting why it’s a big deal Will likes boys (”so? i like boys too” “yeah, but you’re a girl” “so?” “i don’t know, that’s normal!” “why?” “because!” “well, that’s stupid” “yeah, i guess it is”)

Hopper becoming even more protective of Will after that

The Byers-Hopper clan going back to school shopping

El wanting everything that sparkles and is colorful

Will laughing at Hopper’s “i’m about to shoot myself” face

Jonathan picking the least amount possible of things so his younger sibling can get better stuff

Hopper and Joyce arguing about whose car they should take when they go out (“mine is newer!” “well mine isn’t a police car Hop” “and mine is bigger too!”)

School starts and El being really nervous

El and Will sleeping in the same room when they are scared, anxious, nervous,etc

Will and El talking about their fears for high school the day before they start freshman year

The Party having an awesome first day of school

Until they leave and Troy corners them

El being confused about what the term ‘fairy’ means

Once Max tells her, wishing she still had her powers

But realizing you don’t need powers when you have fists the next day when Troy calls Will that again

Getting low key high-fived by Lucas and Max while Will chastises her for punching Troy

The Party going out with Steve, Nancy, Jonathan and Robin on Friday to talk about their first week

Things not being perfect, but pretty damn good because they all had each other

244 notes · View notes

intothestarkerverse · 5 years

Text

Time of Our Lives (Part Nine)

Based on a prompt from @geekymarvel

Peter is tasked with an important mission that requires him to go back in time. Finding himself at a gala for Stark industries in the 1990’s, he comes face to face with a young and incorrigible Tony Stark who considers Peter’s attempts to deny his advances a challenge. Now, dogged by a horny young CEO who won’t take no for an answer, Peter’s task has become much more difficult….

(STORY CONTAINS ENDGAME SPOILERS)

Read on AO3

At first, Tony did not interrupt. He wanted to commit every detail to memory, determined to learn where his future self had made mistakes and thereby avoid them completely. He sat in stoic silence as Peter described everything he knew about Tony Stark’s life leading up to his capture by the Ten Rings and torture in Afghanistan. It was a little sobering to hear Peter describing a lifestyle that was not entirely dissimilar to the one he’d been living right up to the gala where he’d first encountered Peter. For some reason, he didn’t feel the same level of pride he used to feel at the use of the word ‘playboy’, and though Peter didn’t actually call him a jerk…because the kid would never, Tony got the distinct impression that everyone else in his life would probably choose that word first.

Tony’s expression grew grim, darker and darker by degrees as Peter described his capture, his injury, and the operation performed by Yinsen to save him. He found himself absently running a hand over his breast bone, flinching at the thought of the cavity that peter was describing, the small arc reactor. Brow furrowed, leaning forward across the bed with a new intensity, he drank up the description of that first suit. He had to bite back a grin at the thought and remind himself that he needed to hear the rest of his future before he ran off to the lab to try to duplicate the armor Peter was describing.

It was good, really, that Peter had been such a huge fan of Tony Stark since he was a child. He knew much more about Tony’s life than the average person from the 21st Century would have. It made that familiar flare of jealousy flash through him, clenching his heart and making his throat feel obstructed. He had to remind himself that the Old Man had just been training wheels to get him ready for the real deal. He had pure, unadulterated Tony Stark now. He didn’t need the old, watered down version anymore.

The betrayal of Obadiah Stane hit Tony like a physical blow, leaving him breathless and pale and clasping his hands into fists in his lap. Sure, maybe Tony had depended on him just a little too much when it came to Stark Industries…apparently if he was going to be helping with the day to day operations all the way into the 21st century. It was everything Tony could do not to immediately have the man removed from Stark Industries and detained for whatever crime he could prove and any he could frame him for…because he was guilty. If not now, he would be soon enough. At the moment, though, he wanted to hear more about his future than he wanted to put a stop to Stane. For now.

The interruptions began with the birth of Iron Man. Tony began to ask questions about the suit, about the heavy metal poisoning, about the Old Man’s escapades, his upgrades, and his enemies. He was annoyed at the reappearance of Captain America. “Oh, God, really? That guy didn’t die, after all? Too bad dear old dad bit the big one before he got to see Steve Rogers back from the dead. He had such a hard-on for that guy. I personally don’t see it.”

“Oh yeah, you’d never go for a super-powered goody-two-shoes on a mission to save the world, huh?” Peter’s sarcasm was laced with a fair amount of self awareness that made the whole thing amusingly ironic.

Tony just scowled back at him. “Please, Captain America is boring, and you, Beautiful, are anything but. Now, back to the bedtime story, you little brat.”

The Avengers and the Battle of New York drew more interruptions. Tony was a bit confused at the mention of Norse Gods and Incredible Hulks and, “21st Century Robin Hood sounds very counter-productive. You really telling me he didn’t die on the first mission cause…that’s the most surprising thing you’ve told me so far.”

“Mr. Barton is pretty cool, Tony. I mean…I don’t get the bow and arrow thing either, but it works for him. And he’s got a sword now, which is also cool…”

“I don’t know if a sword is an evolution or a devolution, honestly.”

The wormhole drew a long sigh from Tony’s lips. He pressed his fingers hard against his closed eyes and shook his head slowly. “So, the Old Man…He just…I mean I get it. I really didn’t know I had a latent Messiah complex, but I get it. But that…that’s not where he died, huh? Cause I didn’t hear any mention of you in that story. Which means the Messiah Complex is an ongoing thing. I blame Howard and the Captain America lectures. I put no stock in psychology, but if I did…yeah, totally Howard’s fault.”

Peter just shook his head grimly and plunged on. Extremis perked Tony’s interest more than it appeared Peter liked. The kid seemed to be trying his damnedest to gloss over it…though those efforts were in vain. Tony would be revisiting that particular piece of technology at some point very soon.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tony’s exasperation was palpable. “You’re telling me he blew up all of the Iron Man suits for the girl? Seriously?”

“He loved Ms. Potts.”

“Well, if Ms. Potts loved him she’d have accepted that the Iron Man thing was important to him.”

“It’s not like it lasted long, Mr. Stark rebuilt them…”

“Good.”

Ultron drew a string of curses, all of them directed at his older self. “I mean, sure, the concept sounds valid enough…but clearly the Old Man had forgotten all of the Asimov he’d devoured as a kid. Basic Science Fiction folly, right there.” Old Age was going to make him stupid. Well, not stupid. No matter what, no iteration of Tony Stark could or would ever be stupid…but he could definitely lose a few IQ points.

The Accords and ‘Civil War’ had Tony once more sitting in silence. “Okay, it’s not that I don’t get it. Cause I do. If it were you…I’d do the same damn thing he did for the Winter Soldier guy…but…pretending that it was about the Accords and the world government so he could get the other goody-goody’s on his side…that’s the kind of self-righteous idiocy I honestly expect from that guy. That they were all too stupid to see through it is really disappointing, honestly. I hate that he’s every bit as holier than though as I always thought he was. Ugh. To fracture the Avengers just so he can save his friend…that’s so selfish that even I’m calling bullshit and you know it has to be bad, then right? Why does the world think this guy is so awesome, again? Ugh. I’ve never even met him and I hate him.”

“He’s not that bad…”

“No, he’s worse. Keep going, though.”

He sat up a little straighter when Peter entered the story. Lips twitching in a smile at their first meeting, at the account of the battle on the tarmac. “Ha! You stole Captain America’s shield? Kid, if I didn’t already love you…I’d sure as shit love you now. The only thing I regret from the last six months is not seeing you kick more ass. Honestly, Sweetheart, you’re a fucking bad ass and I find it so damn sexy. When all of this is said and done, I’m going to figure out that Old Man’s armor and we’re going to have some fun making this world a safer place…cause I have got to watch you work.”

Peter turned a dozen shades of crimson, but his smile was very pleased. “I’d like that.”

But first, they had to continue with the future history lesson. Tony’s good humor was forgotten as Peter continued to tell his tale. He gave the kid credit, though, he didn’t mince any words in the telling.

“So you had an entire fucking building dropped on you and fought some whack job on a moving plane in a pair of sweats because the Old Man was teaching you a lesson? About what? Responsibility? That’s a riot. You’re the most responsible person I’ve ever met. Maybe if he didn’t have his head up his ass, ignoring your calls, sending you to middle management…Peter, seriously, the future is fucked. I am not going to become this guy. I don’t even think I like him.”

“I don’t think Mr. Stark liked himself very much, either, to be honest…so that actually…kind of makes sense. But, you know, you’re not being fair to him. He made a lot of mistakes, but he did a lot of things right, too. Having a building dropped on me sucked, but it taught me a lot. It was a lesson I needed to learn, honestly.”

“If you say so…”

“I do. I do say so.”

They had to take a break before Peter delved into their trip to space and battle on Titan. Tony poured him a glass of scotch that he sipped in silence whenever the story became too much for him. Tony didn’t say a word at all until Peter haltingly described what it was like to vanish. Tony could do absolutely nothing to keep the tears from falling. The idea of losing Peter was the worst thing he could think of, and though he didn’t much care for the Old Man or his methods…he knew that some part of him clearly cared for the kid. Watching him vanish…that had to be soul shattering. “The future is fucked, Peter, because I’m not letting any of this happen to you. None of it.” The promises were spoken through gritted teeth, a vein in his throat bulging at the sheer intensity of his determination.

Peter just gave a sad smile, “Too late. Already happened. Even if we change the future…I don’t think you can get rid of my memories, Tony. Besides, if it hadn’t been me than it would have been someone else…maybe someone with kids or something. I didn’t…I didn’t miss a lot when I was blipped out of existence. May and MJ and Ned, they all blipped too. Other people…they probably missed a lot,or they would have. I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t want to stay if it meant someone else had to go in my place.”

“God, kid, forget too good for me, you’re too fucking good for this world.” God, he loved the way Peter blushed when he got the compliment just right…

It was Peter’s turn to cry as he recounted what happened to the Old Man in the five years that Peter missed, about his marriage to Ms. Potts and his daughter, about the invention of time travel and the hunt for the stones, about Peter’s return and the final battle against Thanos. “I’ve never…talked about this with anyone. May tried to get me to…and Happy…but I just…they wouldn’t understand.”

By the end, Peter was on Tony’s lap, tucked against his chest, head resting on his shoulder as he cried and Tony whispered soothing words in his ear. “It’s okay, Baby. You can cry if you want to. Long as you want to. Cry. Scream. Whatever makes you feel better. I got you.”

“Still think I’m a bad ass?” Peter’s voice was stuffy and muffled against his chest, but Tony heard him clearly enough.

“You’re the toughest, bravest, most amazing person, Peter. So good. Best person I’ve ever known. Dad always thought Steve Rogers was the best a man could be, but that was because he never met you. Steve Rogers volunteered for everything that was done to him. He signed up for it. You? You had it thrust on you, accepted all of this responsibility that should have never been put on you…and you just carried it. Gracefully. You’re the definition of the word hero, Peter Parker.”

Peter let out a muffled laugh that turned into a sob that devolved into him clinging to Tony like his life depended on it.

Gently stroking a hand through the boy’s curls, Tony continued to whisper into his hair. “The Old Man needed to be tortured and almost killed to want to become Iron Man, but all I needed to do was meet you. You understand that, Beautiful? The future, my future, is going to be better because you’re in it. You’re the missing piece. My missing piece. Honestly, I feel sorry for the Old Man. He had to go through his entire life never knowing what it felt like to be whole…”

—

Work continued on the Nullifier. Tony was right, for once they did appear to be making headway. After two more months of intense work. Two months of Tony secretly trying to compose a plan to keep the two of them together despite whatever these Stones might do to rip them apart. Two months of Tony sketching plans for that armor whenever he thought Peter wasn’t paying close attention to him. Two months of them savoring every moment together as they both secretly believed that it might be their last. When the final simulations came back successful, there was nothing to do but stand in front of the computer and let the realization soak in.

“So that’s it. We…fixed it.”

Tony gave the boy a sidelong glance, noting that he had not even attempted to hide his disappointment about that. “Guess so.”

“So…it’s probably over, then. Tonight…he’ll probably come and he’ll…take me away.” Peter had his arms wrapped around his stomach, his tone grim, his face pale. The sight was like a dagger to Tony’s heart.

“Hey,” He turned around, tugging Peter closer and embracing him tightly. “What did I tell you, Beautiful?”

“You’re gonna fight…”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course, but…”

“Nope,” He tilted Peter’s head up for a kiss. “If you trust me, then trust me.”

“Do you…do you have a plan?”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“So, no, you don’t.”

Tony just chuckled, “Baby, my plan is to stay with you, okay? Don’t know how I’m going to do that yet, but I will. When opportunity presents itself, I will. We just fixed a machine that should have never worked, Kid. We did something I thought was impossible six months ago. Next to that…defying all of space and time to be together is going to be a cake walk. Promise.”

But that night, when the two men were finally able to drift off to sleep, it was not Peter who found himself face to face with Tony Stark and the Infinity Stones.

Not Peter at all.

There was no mistaking him. It was like looking in a mirror. An older, but no less attractive reflection of his own face staring back at him. With a grimace of righteous fury, Tony charged the distance between them and threw a mean right hook directly into the other man’s face. Too bad it was a dream and he wasn’t real, because there was nothing Tony wanted to see more than a black eye on that old, handsome face.

“What kind of sadomasochistic bullshit is this, Old Man? Was this your plan all along? You put the kid right in my fucking path. Line of sight. I couldn’t miss him, even if I wanted to. And you knew! You knew he had a thing for you all those years, you knew I wouldn’t be able to fucking resist that beautiful, perfect boy. You determined to finally get to fuck the kid one way or another? Was that plan? Well guess what? You monumentally fucked up…which, given your history is par for the fucking course with you, isn’t it? Cause I love that kid. I didn’t want to. I tried not to. But I love him. For Peter…to keep him, I’d do anything. I will do anything. You and your fucking magical stones don’t have to give me a happy ending with him because I’m going to fucking take it myself and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“Are you done?” God, was it possible to hate even the sound of your own voice? Tony scowled at the older man, at the sarcasm and the irreverence in his tone.

“You’re a piece of shit, Old Man.”

“Yes, I am.”

“I hate you.”

“Self hatred is nothing new to us, Kid. You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Except I won’t, because I’m never becoming you.”

“We’ll see.” The Old Man crossed his arms, eyebrow cocked, waiting in the silence. When Tony didn’t venture to fill it with anymore bile, he continued. “The Nullifier is done, so now we need to use it. Peter can’t do that alone. It’s too dangerous. He’s going to need back up.” As Tony inhaled, the Old Man held up a hand to silence him. “Let me finish. He needs back up, and while I know you think you can be that back up…you can’t. You’re not Iron Man, yet. You’re not Earth’s Greatest Defender, yet. You haven’t fought aliens, yet, and me…I’ve done all of those things. I am all of those things. So, you’re going to let me hijack your body for a field trip to the Heart of the Universe. That way, the Nullifier can be activated, the universe can be saved, and Peter doesn’t have to die in the process. Everyone wins.”

“Like hell! I’ve seen how possession works, Old Man, and I’m not letting you anywhere near me…”

“Than Peter is going to die.”

“What…”

A simple shrug of the shoulders and Tony was exercising a conscious effort not to slug him again. “He does this alone and he dies. Simple as that. No way he can do this and come out the other side unless he has me at his back. You can’t use the armor yet. You don’t know how any of it works and REM is not enough time to teach you.”

“I can…”

“You can’t. Believe me. You can’t. So what’s it going to be, Kid? We’re running short on time here.”

Tony stood in silence, mind spinning. His options did appear to be severely limited, but it was possible…however unlikely, that this was his chance to do the very thing he’d promised Peter he’d do. Outsmarting his older self seemed incredibly unlikely, and from the look in the older man’s eye, there was already a great deal of suspicion between the two of them. Wouldn’t a shrink have a hay day with that? Maybe Tony had more issues than he thought he did? Soft science or not, a therapist might not be a bad thing if he wanted to avoid becoming just like the Old Man in a few decades… “All right, but I have two conditions. No negotiations. I want to remain fully aware and sentient to everything happening around us, complete access to you and what you’re thinking,…and I want a manual override. Just one. So that if at any point I feel like you’re doing something that could get us fucking killed, cause let’s face it…you’re really good at that, than I get to take over and exercise self preservation.”

The Old Man narrowed one eye. “Don’t do something stupid, Kid. You were never meant to meet him. I gave you a gift…”

“You get to keep gifts.”

“Well, you don’t get to keep Peter. He has a life. He has a future. Neither one of those involve us. I’ll give you your awareness and your one manual override, but it won’t do any good. When this is all said and done, you’re going to end up exactly where you belong and that’s not with Peter Parker. You’re right, I did fuck up, I didn’t expect you to fall for him. I thought you were too much of a self-obsessed asshole. My mistake. But Peter is going to back to 2023 and he’s going to become a hell of a hero without us. Either one of us. Keeping him with you in 1992 is not an option. People need him…and in the future, you need to die. It’s literally the only way there is a future. It’s you against me. You against the Stones. You against the Universe. This is one battle you’re going to lose, Kid.”

“We’ll see. I’m not giving up just because you tell me to, Old Man. I’m Tony Fucking Stark, and nobody tells me what I can and cannot do…not even Tony Fucking Stark.” Because the Old Man had given him an idea. Without knowing it, midst his self-righteous sass, he had given Tony the answer to the problem. He’d been looking at things all wrong. The Old Man was right about a lot of things, and that just meant Tony was looking at this the wrong way. With a new outlook on the equation, the answer didn’t seem quite as hopeless. What was it Peter had said to his parents, something about things only being impossible when you stop believing their possible.

He knew what he had to do now.

He just had to figure out how the hell to do it.

—

Peter stirred in the bed, frowning in his sleep as his hands slipped across the silk sheets in search of the body he was now so used to finding himself tucked alongside in the morning. When he encountered nothing but cold, empty bed, he forced his eyes open and peered around the room blearily. When he spotted the figure in the chair beside the window, his frown only deepened and he pushed himself into a half-seated position, now fully awake. “Tony?”

“Morning, Kid.”

Peter felt a chill prickle down his spine and he instinctively reached to pull the sheet up higher on his chest. “Mr. Stark?” There was no hiding the wariness in his tone.

“Gotta say, Underoos, I much prefer the last greeting to this one.”

“Lot’s happened since then.” Peter’s gaze shifted to the floor beside the bed and he reached out to scoop up Tony’s shirt where it had been haphazardly discarded the night before in the throes of passion. He felt better once he’d slipped it on. A pair of boxers were scavenged from the floor as well and after contorting a little under the sheets, he no longer felt completely vulnerable in his mentor’s presence. “How are you doing this? How are you in Tony’s body? What are you…what are you planning?”

“Baby Stark and I came to an agreement. You need my help to finish this. Neither one of us want you dead, and since you can’t do it without me…here we are.” He made a half-hearted gesture to body he now inhabited. Peter still looked pensive, regarding the man with more than his fair share of mistrust.

“What…what are we going to do now?”

“Deliver the Nullifier to the Heart of Universe and reconstitute the Stones before the universe ends.”

“Wouldn’t you be better off with someone who’s good at space stuff like Starlord..”

“That guy’s a jackass.”

“Yeah, but he knows space ships and space and aliens…”

“You’re the only one I trust, Kid. It’s you, or no one.”

Peter could no longer say the same. He let out his breath in a little huff and nodded slowly. “Okay…so…why can’t I do this alone?”

“The Heart of the Universe is a dangerous place. It’s where the Infinity Stones were created, where life and the universe began.”

“The Big Bang?”

Mr. Stark nodded solemnly. “We don’t do this just the right way…the energy from the Stones manages to pierce the Heart of the Universe and what we get is the opposite of the Big Bang. Universe is over.”

Peter grimaced, “Than why are we using the Nullifier there…”

“Because the energy is almost there…and the space station is the best place to work from…”

“Space station…”

“The Heart of the Universe was discovered thousands of years ago by a race of aliens who called themselves the Celestial Order. They constructed an entire civilization around it’s containment field and spent the last several millenia trying to harness it’s power so that they could force peace upon the universe and dispose of chaos once and for all. They never succeeded in breaching the containment field…which is good for us, because they could have done some serious damage to the universe if they had.”

“Peace doesn’t sound so bad.”

Mr. Stark could only give a wry chuckle. “It never stops at peace, Pete. People always have good intentions, but they always end up giving in to selfish desires…”

“Kinda like you?”

“What did you just say to me, Kid?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, it’s just that…there had to be a better way. Putting me here with him…you had to know how I felt about you. You had to know how I’d feel about him. I just…it’s not fair, is it? Because now I have to decide and, Mr. Stark, I have decided. Hard as it is. I’m staying here. With Tony.”

“Like Hell you are. What about May and Ned, hmm? How are they going to feel if you don’t come home?”

“I’ll come home. I mean, I won’t be dead in 2023, will I? I’d just be…well, I’d be a lot older, but I wouldn’t be dead.” Peter had given this a lot of serious thought. He knew what he wanted and he didn’t intend to take no for an answer…

“And the future? If you’re here with him through all of that the future is fucked.”

“The future is already messed up, Mr. Stark. Tony’s already so much different than you…”

“Is that so? You really think you can change me that much, Peter?” His laughter was actually bitter now. “And what about Morgan?”

That had Peter lapsing into uncomfortable silence. “I…I don’t know…” He’d tried very hard not to think about her, because he couldn’t bear the thought of her not existing and for her to exist…

“You’re going back where you belong, Peter. Back to the future. Whether you like it or not. You don’t get a say in this. It isn’t a choice you get to make. You don’t belong here. You don’t get to be in his life because you were never supposed to be…”

“Than why did you put me here? What good is it going to do to put me back when Tony has already changed?”

“Because Baby Stark won’t have changed, Peter. Not when everything is said and done. As soon as the Stones are reconfigured, as soon as they’ve been properly hidden, they’re going to enact a latent protocol I put into place to make sure the future remains unaffected. The Tony Stark of 1992 is going to have his memory wiped, him and anyone else you had contact with that could alter the course of the future. To Baby Stark, the last six months will have been a blur of sex and drugs and nothing else. When he meets you recruiting for Germany, he’ll have no memory of ever seeing you before. Jarvis, Fury, Happy…no memories of you that could alter the future. It’s like you were never here at all.”

Peter felt as if he had been punched in the gut. He struggled to catch his breath, bracing his elbows against his knees and resting his head in his hands. He didn’t even realize he was crying until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jerking away from the touch, he shot an angry glare at the man. “You don’t get to touch me. Not looking like that. Not after what you said you’re going to do.”

“I fuck things up, Kid, that’s what I do.”

“You know, I never really believed that until now.”

#starker

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violetsmoak · 5 years

Text

Philtatos [2/?]

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20101543/chapters/47630773

Blanket Disclaimer

Summary: During a patrol where Red Hood and Red Robin cross paths, Jason is infected with the blood of the Eros, the ancient God of Love, who informs them that they must track down his missing bow and arrows, or Jason will go slowly mad with an obsessive desire--for Tim. Though overwhelmed by the sudden attention being paid to him, Tim sets to work trying to solve the case, before Jason succumbs to madness. In the meantime, Jason discovers that there's more than godlike powers at work here, as well as a legacy that reaches back through the sands of time.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

Beta Reader: None at the moment.

JayTimBingo Prompts This Chapter: #gods in disguise

First Chapter

_______________________________________________________________

Predictably, Jason is the first to respond to that.

“Bullshit.”

Tim sighs and rolls his eyes because he’s sure the reaction is more Jason being oppositional than actual doubt. They’re staring at a guy that until a few minutes ago had giant black wings sprouting from his shoulders, who’s been collecting suggestive art and carving a swath of hedonism across the city. They’ve dealt with stranger things and less plausible explanations.

“God of Love?” he inquires. “You mean, like Cupid?”

“Gaia, I hate that name. Stupid little Valentine’s Day mascot. I blame the Romans. The Hellenistic was great, except for that.” He waves a dismissive hand. “I mostly go by Steve these days. Cuts down on the explanation time.”

Which just…what?

“Steve, the God of Love,” Jason deadpans. “Because that doesn’t sound like a cringy mascot at all…”

“Why are you in Gotham?” Tim asks, more direct this time.

“And what the hell are you dosing people with that they’re all down to fuck without remembering it? I don’t know how it works wherever you came from, but here that’s assault.”

“I’ve never assaulted anyone!” Eros protests, all wounded integrity. “If anything, I’ve been the one people keep jumping ever since my bow and arrows got stolen.”

“Your bow and arrows? That’s seriously the defense you’re going with?”

“How does one steal from a god?”

“You wait until he’s stoned out of his mind in an Amsterdam coffee shop and knock him out,” Eros grouses. “It’s either brilliance or suicidal madness. I’ll decide which one after I track down the bastard that did it and give them a reminder that I’m Ares’ son as much as Aphrodite’s.”

“Right,” Tim says, raising an eyebrow. “On that note, if you’ve got all these divine connections, why don’t you just get new weapons made?”

“If it were that simple you think I’d have dragged myself to this armpit of the universe? The bow and arrows act as a constant diviner for my abilities. It focusses them or controls them if you will. Otherwise, my powers veer wildly out of control.”

“What powers?” Jason snorts. “If you had anything beyond your feathers, you wouldn’t have been so useless with those mob assholes and made us do all the heavy lifting.”

Eros’ eyes turn hard and his lips pull into a cold smile. He reaches for Jason’s face and wriggles his fingers threateningly. “Would you care to find out?”

Not wanting to give Jason a time to respond by breaking the digits in his face, Tim places himself in front of him.

“Both of you, knock it off—”

His move manages to divert the Olympian from losing fingers, but it also puts him straight in his path. Impossibly soft finger pads graze his jaw, and it is as if a current of electricity has been passed through his spine.

Tim seizes up, his brain going cloudy and his stomach suddenly hot and trembling. Sight and sound vanish or rather sharpen to a single point, the figure in front of him, and a visceral want edges out every other thought and impulse.

He is dimly aware of moving, of being rivetted at the individual motions that bring him into Eros’ personal space, and which have him fixing his upon the other man’s shoulders. Then he’s dragging him forward and crushing their mouths together.

The taste and smell of pomegranate and ozone overwhelm him, and he doesn’t wait for reciprocation before he’s shoving his tongue into the Olympian’s mouth, harshly trying to chase the unique flavor. All other intent vanishes in the single-minded pursuit of that goal, and he wonders if it’s not just his mouth that tastes like this, if the rest of him—

“What the fuck?!” Hands grab him roughly and he’s being jerked backward, stumbling into an unyielding armored chest. “What the hell did you do to him?”

Tim whines at the loss. “No—I need— he—”

Words aren’t really a workable thing right now, not in the face of the fact the world suddenly seems colder.

There’s a clicking sound, and then Tim’s world tilts as if he just stood up too fast. When his wits return, he realizes that Jason is holding him up with one arm, practically lining them up from ankle to armpit. His other hand is elevated, semi-automatic pointed at Eros’ forehead, glaring him down as if daring him to get closer.

The Olympian raises in slow surrender.

“Just making a point,” he tells them with a butter-wouldn’t-melt expression that could do Dick proud. His voice sounds like it’s coming from underwater.

“Try it again. See how it works out without a head.”

Every passing second brings reality back into sharp relief, and with it a mounting sense of dread.

“I…please tell me I didn’t just do that,” Tim says, mortified and still punch drunk. He was never even that forward with Steph.

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices a flash of irritation flicker across Jason’s face, and then the older vigilante fixes Eros with a look of utter loathing that Tim’s only ever seen when he goes up against one of the crazier rogues. Black Mask or Scarecrow, maybe. That usually precedes extreme violence, which they don’t need right now. They need detachment, to look at this clinically.

(And he needs to focus on something else to erase the fact he just tongue-kissed the God of Love in front of his childhood crush.)

“What was that?”

“I project a field across the surface of my skin that causes instant sexual arousal and frenzy in any living creature. The longer you’re exposed to it, the stronger and longer-lasting the effects—and the more the out of control you get.”

“So basically, you’re a walking Viagra date-rape drug,” Jason sneers.

“It’s not supposed to be like that…”

“Again, I call bullshit. I remember all the stories. Whenever you’re involved, someone ends up falling for someone else without having a choice and bad shit happens. Helen of Troy ringing any bells?”

Eros crosses his arms, resembling Damian at his most petulant; meanwhile, Tim stares at Jason, who notices and scowls back. “What?”

“How do you know that?”

“I have depths,” he replies, tone mildly defensive.

“The stories get so much wrong. Blame primitive writers and centuries of telephone for that,” Eros mutters. “Here’s the deal—my mother, she’s got the make-people-fall-in-love juju. The overwhelming, powerful, love-at-first-sight thing that basically causes the honeymoon period of a relationship. You know, that point where you only see the good qualities in a person?”

Tim exchanges a perplexed look with Jason; he’s never been in a relationship with anyone where he saw only their good qualities, and judging by the older vigilante’s blank expression, neither has he.

“Right, forgot who I’m talking to. You cape types aren’t exactly the hallmark of romance, are you?”

“Yeah, well, you deity types aren’t exactly the hallmark of not getting punched.”

“We’ve already established why that would be a bad idea,” Tim mutters, his ears burning.

“I’m wearing gauntlets.”

“In a healthy relationship,” Eros goes on, ignoring the byplay, “sure, you spend a bit of time totally enamored with your boo. They’re your world. But after a while, that starts to fade. Some people, okay, they’ve stuck together for the getting-to-know-you period and decide to keep going. But others—they get a very real sense of buyer’s remorse.”

“Like Helen did. Or Phaedra or Atalanta,” Jason suggests, and Tim frowns; he only recognizes one of those names.

“Exactly. They realized they’d compromised themselves and ruined their lives for some petty asshole without even knowing it. And they couldn’t exactly do anything about it—in the old days, you were stuck with the guy and you had to make the best of it since, you know, no divorce. Nowadays, it’s not so bad—those whirlwind romances don’t last, but it’s not the end of the world. Celebrities are famous for them. Literally.”

“I don’t understand what all this has to do with you being here and now,” Tim says.

“I’m getting there. I was giving you guys context, geez! Anyway, with me, it’s a little different. It’s more than just that love-at-first-sight, quick and dirty thing. It’s about desire. That bone-deep connection, all need and hunger and slow-burning.” His face relaxes, mouth easing into a fond smile. “It was a deeper thrall than anything Mom had the patience for. With my tools, I could awaken that—in a controlled fashion—and focus it. But now—well, you saw what I can do with just a touch.”

Tim’s cheeks flame.

“The longer I don’t have my tools to temper me, my abilities will become more unstable. You ever see people literally fuck each other to death?” Eros challenges. “Trust me, you don’t want to. And it’s not just sex people desire. This one guy pissed me off once and I made him develop an unhealthy desire for corned beef—”

“If you know your power is about to go Chernobyl, why the hell are you running around town robbing people? You’d think you have more important things to worry about.”

“It’s because I’m losing control that I’ve been doing that.”

Tim narrows his eyes, even if no one can see it. “Explain.”

“Over time, artists pour their souls and creative desires into their work—into the canvas, the clay, the paint, whatever. There’s a magic in the creative act that turns a medium into a vessel. I’ve been having to bleed off my power into these vessels so I can get out and search for my diviners without causing riots. The process takes hours, though, and people generally don’t like me standing in a museum touching the merchandise.”

“So you steal it.”

“It eventually finds its way back. And their original owners usually find that the pieces seem somehow more—magnetic—once I’m done with them.”

“I don’t know how you made that sound dirty, but you did,” Jason grumbles.

“Are you kidding? I created innuendo. And the double entendre.” Eros makes a dismissive gesture. “Anyhow, it’s all moot. I won’t be capable of bleeding off my powers for much longer. As you just saw, my control is slipping. So, you two are going to have to find my bow and arrow for me.”

Tim blinks at the sudden turn of the conversation. “What?”

“Right. Because we don’t have enough of our own shit to deal with, we’re going to go on a scavenger hunt for some entitled godling? That’s not how we operate.”

“You won’t have much of a choice,” Eros replies, and there’s a cruel edge to his smile now. “Not if you want to save your life.”

“That a threat, buddy?”

“Oh, I’ve no need for threats. It’s already done.” Eros points at the still bleeding wound on Jason’s shoulder. “When you saved bird-boy here, you got tagged by the same bullet I did; my blood’s in your veins now. And unless it’s because of the horizontal tango, there are some really nasty side-effects when Olympian blood gets in your frail systems.” His smile remains cold and cruel. “Mine’s particularly nasty.”

Jason crosses his arms, radiating skepticism. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been poisoned. Probably won’t be the last.”

“It’s not poison, per se,” Eros muses. “More like a virus that manifests as an intense, increasingly growing desire that will turn you mad and cook your brain unless you find a way to stop it. And the only cure, I’m afraid, is to be, heh, pricked by one of my arrows.”

“And who the hell am I supposed to be desiring? Because if it’s you, I’m going to claw my eyes out now and get it over with.”

“Thankfully that’s not the case. While I’m sure you would look amazing splayed out in my bed, that doesn’t exactly give your friend here any incentive to help me.” He considers Tim a moment, and his smile turns knowing. “Or perhaps it would.”

“Why me?” Tim asks, trying to keep his voice level. A sudden spike or worry shoots through him at one possibility. “Anyone else could do this.”

“Uh, you’re the first person Helmet Head set eyes on after being infected? Honestly, it’s right there in the myths.”

“I was never into the classics,” Tim mutters, breathing a sigh of relief; none of this has anything to do with his ill-advised crush, which means Jason doesn’t have to know about it. “If it’s just me being around him, I can stay away from him. It’s not like it’s hard.”

I wish that weren’t true.

Jason is staring at him oddly and Tim’s stomach jumps at his inability to interpret anything through the lenses of his mask.

“Okay, princess, let me know how that goes,” Eros chuckles.

Tim swallows.

He knows that Olympians have power—that their relics do, as well; how could he not, considering he’s known Cassie and Diana for so long?

Still, it’s laughable that Jason could ever desire him.

(There’s only a little pain and bitterness in that knowledge.)

Jason appears to be on the same wavelength.

“I call bullshit. I’m not in the habit of lusting after people I’ve tried to kill. Bit counterproductive, you know?”

“You might resist it for a little while,” Eros allows. “Looks aside, you capes have a lot of restraint. And it’s not like I was feeding you my blood or anything, so it might take a little longer still. But even that will fade as the infection spreads.”

For the first time since Eros’ threat, Jason shifts uneasily.

“Now,” the Olympian says, rubbing his hands together, “while watching you two get down and dirty in front of me would be good entertainment—” he leers at them both in a way that makes Jason tense like he’s going to punch him again and Tim consider letting him, “—I don’t have the time. I need the two of you on your game as much as possible if you’re going to help me.”

“Who says we’re going to help you? We could just hand you over to Wonder Woman and have her deal with this. Gods and mythological relics are more her areas of expertise.”

“Ah, but my dear cousin won’t have the same…motivation that you do, darlin’. Unless you want Prince Charming over here to get to the point of losing his mind over you?” Eros tilts his head toward Jason. “I mean, I guess that’s your choice. He is a bit of a douche—”

“I will rip off those wings of yours and stuff them up your—”

Tim grabs Jason and pulls him back a few feet so he can speak to him quietly, but keep an eye on Eros. Almost instantly Jason shoves him off as if he’s just been burned, and Tim raises his hands in surrender.

“Arguing with him obviously isn’t going to do anything,” he informs him.

“He’s obviously lying—trying to mess with us to do his bidding.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Until we know if this is truth or a bluff, we need to put him in a safe location. He needs to be tried for the thefts, regardless of his reasons. And since he has abilities, we’ll need a facility that can cancel-out meta powers.”

“Just keep him the fuck out of Belle Reve,” Jason grumbles. “We don’t need him ending up as one of Waller’s not-so-secret projects.”

“And in the meantime, we monitor your condition,” Tim goes on. “Back at the Cave, B has—”

“I’m not going to the damn Cave.”

“J—Hood, if he’s telling even part of the truth, you could be in trouble.”

“Because I’m going to lose my mind over your scrawny ass? I don’t think so.” He turns away. “Screw this, I’m out. You can figure this out. Gods are above my paygrade.”

He has his grapple gun out and an instant later vanishes into the night. And it’s like any other patrol; barely an acknowledgment of their team-up or thanks or farewell.

“He shouldn’t have done that,” Eros says, shaking his head. “Bad things happen when you repress your desires. It comes out in ugly ways.”

Irritation sparks in Tim.

“That bullet that went through your wing—has it healed yet?” he asks tersely, rummaging in his utility belt as he approaches the Olympian. “I can’t see since they…disappeared.”

“It’s not gushing blood anymore, but there’s still a dirty great hole there. Why?”

Without warning, Tim turns around and sticks a syringe into his neck, careful not to brush any skin accidentally as he pushes down the plunger.

“What the fu—” Eros’ words cut off with a gurgle.

“Just need to know how much time I have before the sedative wears off,” Tim replies. It was designed with Wonder Woman in mind, so he really hopes it’s strong enough.

The Olympian pitches forward. Tim catches him, and curses at the weight he hadn’t expected; wherever those wings are, they still contribute to the body’s overall mass, it seems.

⁂

Jason makes a beeline for his safe house on the Upper West Side; the events of the night have been such a disappointment that he figures he deserves to crash at one of his more comfortable properties. Somewhere with good heating and decent water pressure and a few of his favorite books tucked away.

“Not the leftover pizza I was looking forward to, but it’ll do,” he murmurs to himself. To be honest, his appetite’s all but disappeared in the wake of tonight’s revelations.

Not that Jason is concerned about whatever Eros or Steve or whatever-his-name-is told them. Some guy calls himself the god of love and informs Jason he’s been infected with an unholy desire that’s going to drive him mad and kill him?

“Been there. Done that. And for Drake of all people? Pfft. Please.”

The Condiment King had more credibility.

Besides, even if it was a believable threat, it’s not as if he’s going to just accept it. Jason’s always had issues with other people telling him what to do, and he’s been on the wrong end of Poison Ivy’s concoctions far too often for that. If there’s a chance something’s going to impact or impair his control over his own actions, he’s got a problem with that.

And it’s just…it’s Tim Drake.

Jason has been carefully trying to reconfigure his mental categorization of the guy for years, from ‘Replacement—Must Beat To Death On Sight’, to ‘Timbers—Ally-Possibly-Friend-Kinda-Brother-Sort Of?’. It’s still a work-in-progress figuring out which category he fits in, and Jason doesn’t need to add more complications, such as those that will no doubt ensue if he considers adding any other relationship dimensions.

Not like the kid’s a terrible catch or anything. Jason saw that long before he figured out he isn’t one hundred percent straight. But that was his own discovery, born of conscious choice. Not from someone telling him in plain English that he’s got no choice but to develop a thing for a workaholic pretty-boy Bat with self-esteem issues.

Which means on principle, Jason’s damn well going to fight that. It doesn’t matter that Tim’s intelligent, sarcastic and the right kind of risky, or that he isn’t repulsive or even unattractive—

Jason adamantly cuts off that line of thinking when he realizes where it’s going, touching down on the roof of his building a little harder than necessary.

“Nope. Not going there.”

Talk about a mind-fuck. Asshole Steve got me thinking about it, and now I won’t be able to not think about it whenever I run into the kid.

And isn’t that a keen bit of psychological manipulation?

Luckily, Jason’s been trained by more than one master in the art of avoidance. He forces his attention onto the routine of checking the perimeter and disabling his security system, then slipping into his apartment through the roof-access.

“Hello, safe house,” he mutters out of habit, heading for his bathroom. Once inside, he methodically checks himself for injuries, which are overall minor. The bullet wound in his shoulder is scabbing over already.

He tries to ignore the uneasy clench in his stomach at that and the prevalent thought of that is not a good sign.

He heads for the shower and turns the water on as hot as he can stand, letting it distract him, unwinding the knots and tension holding him together. Once he’s out, he throws on a pair of boxer briefs and settles in the center of his bed to meditate. It takes longer tonight to get his brain and still-racing heartrate to ease, to remember his All-Caste training and seek acceptance in the darkest part of his soul, and the possibility that that will be enough to counteract whatever real or imagined threat was made by the so-called god of love.

Dawn is peeking over Gotham’s horizon when he finally manages to calm himself down and pass out. For once, he sleeps; for once he doesn’t dream of Glasgow smiles and green sludge.

When he wakes up, it’s with odd energy that borders on manic. He powers through his morning workout at full intensity and still has energy left over, which he uses to cook breakfast and a few advance meals that he can stick in the freezer for the next time he holes up here. All his safe houses include have decent food storage since he never knows when lying low is going to translate as ‘disappear completely off the grid for a while.

When he’s still buzzing and raring to go, he decides he can’t put it off any longer. He’s not stupid—has been in the game long enough to know it’s pointless to ignore something completely until you’ve investigated the hell out of it.

Which is how he finds himself down in his would-be-Batcave beneath One Police Plaza running a full set of blood panels and other diagnostics to see if there’s an actual sign of contamination from the tainted bullet. And when everything comes back negative, he even checks in with Doc Thompkins for her two cents worth that nothing is the matter with him.

“I’m not sure what you want me to tell you, Jason, everything’s coming up normal,” Thompkins tells him. “The only thing I can recommend is the same thing I always do—stop smoking.”

“But then I wouldn’t have an excuse to come see you so you can scold me,” he grins at her, earning an arch look above the rim of her glasses.

Still, he remains antsy even after leaving the clinic and decides he needs to calm his nerves.

There’s a coffee shop on Winchester he’s taken to because they do tea as close to Alfred’s as possible, at least what he’s found in Gotham. The teenaged girl at the counter blushes and laughs nervously at him when he smiles and flirts a bit, and he makes sure to tip well because kids in the service industry are paid nothing for being treated like crap.

Still, it’s hard to stop himself from drumming his fingers against the counter, his innate impatience ratcheted up today. He knows the place is busy and they can only go as fast as they’re going, but—

“An Americano, please. Double shot.”

Jason’s looking before he even realizes it, and for a split second he expects to see Tim there, sleep-deprived and sheepish, but only finds a blond skater kid and he’s—

Not disappointed.

He’s not.

That’s all he needs, is someone in the Family finding out where he goes to get his tea. That might encourage them to try to hang out with him. Especially Dick.

So, no. Not disappointed. Relieved. He’s relieved.

(He avoids wondering when he memorized Tim Drake’s coffee preferences.)

Jason doesn’t stick around the shop like he originally planned, and the tea isn’t as calming as he intended after he practically chugs it and heads out. He spends the day running around town, checking in with his informants in the shadier parts of the city and restocking the medical supplies in his safe houses.

He’s coming out of the one near Robinson Park when he hears a kid shouting— “Mama, look at the baby bird!”—and his head whips around so fast his muscles scream in protest, and what the hell?

Jason turns in the opposite direction and takes the subway.

He’s tense and angry as he returns to the base beneath the police station and spends longer than usual letting out his feelings on the punching bag in his gym. Halfway through, his phone rings and Roy’s face blinks up from the screen.

“Please tell me you have a job,” Jason says in lieu of a greeting.

“What? No. I’m still on vacation.”

“Your life is a vacation.”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s so great.”

That’s said with a bitter twist to his mouth.

“What do you want?”

“I’m working on camouflage field projector, but missing a key component that happens to be in Gotham.” Jason closes his eyes, somehow knowing what’s coming next. “And I figure, you’ve got an in—any chance you put in a good word for me with your little brother? The pretty one on all the TV commercials.”

“Ask him yourself, I’m not a fucking messenger,” Jason growls. “And he’s not my brother.”

He hangs up and glares at his phone, contemplating whether throwing it at the wall will make him feel better.

This is not happening…

The punching bag no longer cutting it, he throws on his gear and heads out for patrol, hoping that will quell the sensation of fire in his blood. Throws himself into it with brutal abandon, the only goal being to take his mind off everything. Violence is the best way to bring him back to the very basest mind frame, where he is focussed only on the thrill of the fight.

It works, for a while.

He hauls a few johns to the curb when they get too rough with the girls, gives a bunch of teens robbing a bodega in his neighborhood something to think about, puts an end to a bar fight when a customer gets handsy with a waitress, stumbles into a domestic dispute with a guy smacking around his kid—

Jason relishes in the sound of broken bones and the reminders of the fact he’s the one in control. It almost seems like he’s getting back to himself by the end of the evening. He feels more himself, less uneasy; there's still something buzzing beneath his skin, but it’s negligible.

See? It was total bull. God of love my ass, he was just messing with my head.

He takes a moment to rest, gazing out across the skyline and digging for a cigarette. One more loop around the neighborhood, and he’ll head home. He’s just turning his back against the wind so he can light the cigarette when he finds himself face to face with Tim Drake.

Or rather, a giant billboard with his face on it, advertising the Neon Knights initiative.

The cigarette drops from his hands.

“This is not happening,” he murmurs, and he’s said that at least once today already, hasn’t he?

But it’s getting ridiculous. Like he’s being shadowed wherever he goes by the specter of Tim, and all because someone else decided to play mind games with him.

Well, screw that. My head’s been messed with enough.

He takes a running leap off the roof, deciding to forgo anymore patrolling. It might be an idea to get out of Gotham for a few days if only to take a break.

But no, he’s not being chased out of his own damn city. No one chases the Red Hood out of Gotham, except on occasion Batman, and that’s not chasing so much as Jason telling Bruce to fuck off and making a pointed exit. And Steve is no Batman.

I’m going to take off a few days. Been wound up the past few weeks anyway, it’s getting to me. Things will go back to normal as soon as I—

His shoulders tense as he recognizes the sensation of eyes on him.

Someone’s following him.

It’s reflex to melt into the shadows of the next building, slipping around so that he can get a good vantage point. If someone’s planning an ambush, he’s more than happy to turn it around on them. And the mood he’s in tonight if it’s someone that can give him an actual fight—

There’s a sound of someone landing on the rooftop, and the whirring of a grapple line retracting. And then Jason zeroes in on the familiar figure in black and red. That strange knot of anxiety he’s been carrying around the whole day lets go as he recognizes him, and in its place, something else springs up, almost like…relief?

Which, no, he should not be relieved to see Red Robin. The only time he should ever be relieved to see the Tim is if he’s in the middle of a duel to the death with the Joker and needs back-up from someone capable of thinking a dozen steps ahead.

Relief is replaced with anger, and Jason lies in wait until Tim alights on the same roof, and then slips forward to grab hold of him. He neatly dodges the other vigilante’s attempts to free himself from the hold and drags him over to the edge of the roof.

“Jason? What the hell—?”

He ignores him and dangles him over the edge, forcing Tim to grasp at his wrist and hold on tight.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t drop you for not following the rules—you remember, the ‘no bats in my territory’ rule? I get that it’s unofficial and all, but it’s still there,” he snarls.

“I—I wanted to check on you!” Tim grunts. “It’s been twenty-four hours, and—”

“And what? Wanted to check if I was ready to jump your malnourished bones yet? Wouldn’t looking for me be a monumentally stupid thing to do if that were the case?” Jason yanks Tim back over the edge and tosses him back onto the roof, gratified to see him stumble as he tries to regain his balance. “I don’t need you pretending you give a shit to ease a guilty conscience of because you think checking up on me is something B would want you to do. Go back to California, Replacement. If I need help, I’ll ask. And chances are, I won’t be asking you.”

Tim’s fists clench, and he’s tense like he’s priming to argue, but after a beat, his shoulders droop and he huffs.

“Fine,” he says in a neutral voice. “Just as long as you ask someone.”

And then he’s grappling off without another word, and it isn’t as cathartic to see the back of him as Jason figured it would be.

Like he has any right to sound concerned…

He should feel better, now that he’s gotten his message across, but he doesn’t. The foul mood continues for the rest of his patrol, which he ends up cutting short because his head is just not in it tonight.

He is deliberate in choosing his safe house in Coventry, figuring he’s less likely to run into Red Robin on patrol there or in general. It’s nowhere near his usual patrol route, or the apartment he owns on Park Row—and fuck him for making Jason want to avoid his own stomping grounds!

It’s just for one night. Until I calm down and can be trusted not to shoot the kid.

But the nervous, frustrated ball of discomfort in his gut doesn’t go away as he settles in for the night. He doesn’t bother with a shower or cigarette, or—well, his normal way to wind down when feeling like this, because he doesn’t trust himself not to let his mind wander to places it shouldn’t while his hand is on his dick.

It’s more difficult to meditate tonight, and he remains aggravated and angry as he drifts off to sleep.

It should be no surprise that that night, he dreams of Tim for the first time.

⁂⁂⁂

Next Chapter

#jaytimweek2019 #jaytimweek #jaytim #jaytimbingo2019 #fanfic #jaytim fic #batfic #tim drake #jason todd #eros (new earth)#mythology #gods in disguise #violet writes #drama #angst #introspection

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ryanmeft · 6 years

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movies-at-Home Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi completely changes everything about the franchise, a fact which some will love and some will hate. One thing I feel confident in saying is that if you think the previous sentence is true, the odds of you being a middle-aged fanboy who still believes busy adults should be thinking more about the term “Midochlorians” are high. The reality of Rian Johnson’s entry into the once-iconic toy-generation engine is less dramatic: a few insignificant background details have been altered, once-thrilling space opera has been replaced by a plot revolving around running out of gas, and otherwise the movie is the same old Star Wars. Like The Force Awakens, it is still tied firmly to the original trilogy. Unlike The Force Awakens, it’s not very much fun.

I don’t honestly remember how part seven ended, and before you rush off to remind me, you should know I don’t remember because I’ve had better things to do since 2015. I don’t think it left off with the rebel fleet, led by the now departed Carrie Fisher as Leia, running out of oomph, but that’s where we start this entry. Actually, correction: we start with hotshot space pilot and bad Han Solo impersonator Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) lobbing grade school insults at Imperial Commander somebody-or-other (Domnhall Gleeson) to distract him from the fact that he wants to blow up their ships. I know people who were personally offended by the glib tone of this scene, but I didn’t mind, because quite frankly it was still more polite, mature and useful than trying to have a conversation about the franchise these days. He does blow up the ship he wants, loses 95% of the Rebel ships in the process, and wonders why they don’t declare him a hero.

If you somehow like Poe, don’t worry: the other characters eventually fawn all over him, because this movie has so many gaps of logic it is officially a registered Libertarian. Witness the scene in which Leia is temporarily unable to command. An officer prepares to announce her replacement. The camera pans around the room, lingering on familiar faces, right before the new commander is announced as…a supposedly legendary Admiral who we’ve never seen or heard of before this exact moment. Sure, she’s played by Laura Dern, and having Laura Dern in a movie is usually a good enough motivation for anything (see Downsizing for another example), but the film is riddled with such random and inexplicable introductions and asides. During the opening space battle, the cameras of longtime Johnson collaborator Steve Yedlin linger on the protracted heroic death of a woman whose importance is not explained, and who is later revealed to be a foil for terrible new character Rose (Kelly Marie Tran). Rose is also there to be Finn’s (Jon Boyega) pointless love interest. They have a mildly interesting subplot on a planet where the locals made their bones by double-dealing weapons to both sides, and Boyega once again proves he’s got the most interesting character of the three new stars, but his story is robbed of any pathos by a moment so ridiculously stupid that I’ll let you discover it for yourself. I never, ever question the logic of a movie about magic sword knights in space, but The Last Jedi is, in this regard, ambitious.

Throughout all of this, the dialogue is so vapid and empty that it could only have been written by corporate committee. Compare it to the original Star Wars, which I re-watched afterwards for the first time in over a decade. The dialogue there was hokey and at times a bit workmanlike, with stilted delivery, and is mostly quotable through cultural accretion rather than any inherent quality. What it has is the sense it was written by a bunch of big kids who grew up on Flash Gordon and were having a ton of fun. The Last Jedi feels dictated by people whose primary interest was in appealing to as many demographics as possible, and as anyone experienced with spinning a good yarn knows, stories that are made for everyone are really made for no one.

Where the film comes alive is when Luke Skywalker is on screen, and I can honestly say I never expected to write those words. For all that he’s iconic, he was the dullest of the three main heroes in the old films. Here, he turns out to be the one and only part of the movie that feels like anyone really believed in it. Played again by the now obviously aged Mark Hamill, he resides in exile on a planet with only one island, inhabited by a frog-like race that seems to live to maintain it. Here are the remains of the first Jedi temple, a fact which could really be spun out into something fascinating if Disney were remotely interested in things that are fascinating. Luke has given up on the Jedi Order for reasons that are, if not really gripping, then more compelling than anything else the story offers, but like a true believer he still carefully guards the original religious texts. I wondered through most of the film how much better it would have been if the rest of it were this inspired. Unlike Harrison Ford’s obligatory, phoned-in final outing as Han Solo, appreciated somewhat by me at the time but which I have since recognized as pure fan service, Luke’s return feels like it adds something not just to this film but to the franchise.

It’s just too bad Johnson had to nearly foul it up by taking Rey’s story to the least interesting place possible. Rey is, if you recall, the new Force-wielding hero of the series, and she travels to the Skywalker Cosmic Bachelor Retreat to try and get Luke to train her. Their scenes together have zip, including a particularly funny moment, and for a while we think the movie will really go somewhere with Rey’s temptation toward darkness. It does not, because that would cut into merchandise sales. Instead, Rey heads off to confront Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and his boss Supreme Commander Snoke (Andy Serkis), whose head looks like someone did something very painful to another part of their anatomy. Back in my review of The Force Awakens, I called Kylo and Rey the new additions with the most potential. I also said I could not give the series credit for future movies, and I have been proved right. Almost every bit of interest the two characters had has been flushed in favor of completely generic paths for their stories to take. The one revelation I thought added something new to Rey will doubtless be retconned for something duller when J.J. Abrams takes the reins back with the next installment. I think Daisy Ridley has a bright career ahead of her, and after seeing her in two Star Wars movies, let’s just hope it’s still ahead of her.

The new Star Wars series has schizophrenia. On the one hand, it wants to hew so closely to the original films that it refuses to break from them even in spin-offs. On the other, it seems determined to give fans what they have long desired by all but erasing George Lucas from the series he created. There is none of his life here, or his boyish, innocent wonder. There are no Mos Eisley cantinas, no strange alien jazz bands aboard floating slave ships, no underwater cities or rolling droid armies. There is nothing to match them, either. This latest entry neither moves the series forward nor captures the boundless magic of the past. No one could come in on The Last Jedi and ever think this was a series born from a crucible consisting of Kurosawa, Robin Hood and Joseph Campbell. In the quest to make it inoffensive to anyone not obsessed with continuity, it has finally been made lifeless. For all the complaining people still do about the prequels, they were at least films a human being wanted to make, done how he wanted to do them, with influences and ideas and innovations. The words “A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away” feel like farce now, applied as they are to a film with very little of the all-too-human emotions that generations of wide-eyed children invested them with.

Verdict: Average

Note: I don’t use stars but here are my possible verdicts. I suppose you could consider each one as adding a star.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

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serrj215 · 7 years

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Garbanzo

“I love you”, “I do”, and “I am pregnant” were the sweetest words that Beast Boy ever heard from Raven's mouth. Each one marked a new and exciting chapter in their life together. Yet is was that last phrase that he was wrestling with at the moment.

At first he was over the moon. He was sure that this was not in the cards for them. Between Raven being half demon, and his DNA being alphabet soup, neither one of them thought that they could ever be parents. Yet after the initial excitement and the shock, and after the first ultrasound this had become very very real.

That night he couldn’t sleep. Normally cuddled up to Raven, feeling her body against his was enough to relax him into a nice deep snooze that he would enjoy late into the next morning baring alerts or Robin’s insane training. That night was different he couldn’t get the sound of his unborn child’s heart beat out of his head, or that black and white grainy image on the monitor that the Doctor assured was a baby.

He slowly climbed out of bed careful not to wake his sleeping wife. A few minutes later Beast Boy was in the common room with his laptop open. The browser tabs loaded with pregnancy and parenting sites. The only thing he knew for sure that there were a lot of people that had a lot of different opinions about a lot of stuff. After about an hour Beast Boy had turned himself into 160 pounds of green, stress and panic. He needed to get outside, the room had gotten too crowded with a million worries.

Beast Boy found himself sitting on his thinking rock, the large flat one that jutted out just over the water, being underneath the sky and hearing the waves always helped clear the static in his brain. He needed to be by himself for a while even away from the woman he loved. Raven couldn’t know what he was feeling. He hated himself about how he was feeling.

Beast Boy took a deep breath of the cool salt air. His head hung low and he said “Mom I am scared” to the water below his feet. “I have no idea how to take care of a kid, or how to take care of Raven”. The words started to tumble out. “I am going to screw this up! I got no idea how to be a father. ” The water’s only response was it continued gentle lapping against the rocky shore. But Beast Boy continued.

“My underwear has cartoon characters on them, I don’t know how to "Adult”. You got no idea how much I wish you and Dad were here.“ He ran his hands through his hair in frustration before dropping his face into his palms. "I mean Rita and Steve took me in and I will always be grateful. But Steve always seemed to be more interested in what I could do, and how he could use me instead of who I was. I was a tool, a weapon I wasn’t his son. I don’t want to do that to my kid.”

He took in a few deep breaths trying to ground himself. "I know I need to be there for Raven, but how can I be? When she feels this off me she is going to think this was a huge mistake. I mean I am barley pulling off husband!“

"Garfield?” came a voice from nowhere.

“Mom!?” he jumped nearly losing his balance and falling into the bay.

“No… Wife” Raven said a blanket wrapped around her and slowly approaching him.

“Rae what are you doing up?” a new wave of panic hit him.

“The small green thing that I use to keep my bed warm went missing so I came to find it. Now, would you like to talk to me or do you need to finish your conversation with the water?”

“Oh god how much of that did you hear?” he gasped out his voice breaking.

“Enough” she stated simply as she sat down next to him opening the blanket and wrapping him with her.

“You’re not mad?”

Raven said nothing but slowly shook her head. Beast Boy opened his mouth and then shut it again. Two years of marriage, and almost ten of knowing each other he finally learned that sometimes he had to choose his words carefully. Cause he knew Raven could pick up on how he felt. He couldn’t hide anything from her, even if he wanted to, even if it was to protect her. He could never tell if it was her powers or those eyes of hers. Ravens eyes when they met his always seemed to calm him, push past everything to the truth could come out.

“I want to be a dad, I am really happy that your pregnant, but I am scared that I am going to mess up our kid” he said slowly like each word was delicate and they would break if he spoke too fast.

“You are great with kids” She said pulling him a little closer, wishing he had a warmer more comfortable spot to think.

“Reading to them at the library, or playing games with them and stuff like that is easy. Rae I am just a big kid myself. The whole adult thing…I am faking it for the perks”

“Perks?” her eyebrow raised.

“Driving, Sex, Credit, Sex with you, the only difference between 15 year old me and me now is being able to reach higher shelves”

“That’s why your down here talking to your mom?”

“I wish she was here, I wish I knew someone that been through this before, that would be able to help us. It also didn’t help that half the parenting sites I was on talked about grandparents being able to help” Raven was not sure what to say. The subject of parents was almost taboo in Titans tower. The Irony didn’t escape her that she was the only one had a living parent, but she doubted her demon father would be up for babysitting. She held him a little closer. She always knew that Beast Boy felt guilty about his parents death, but now it was more. He didn’t just lose his parents but he robbed his future children of their grandparents. The fresh guilt mixed with the panic adding to the pressure at his temples.

“I am so sorry Rae, I did this to you-” he started

She placed two fingers against his lips to silence him. She then kissed him on the forehead. "It’s okay to feel scared, but you shouldn’t feel guilty about feeling scared. “ She said as her fingers found his. "I am scared too, but we will figure this out”

The words cut through his brain, and his arms encircled her. They held each other. It took a few minutes of listening the water hit the rocks for Beast Boy to find the words “I didn’t think you would be, I mean scared.”

“You really are and idiot sometimes” She said softly. “I have a living thing growing inside me, then we have to take care of it, of course I am scared. I never thought I would be a mom”

“You are going to be a great mom!” He said quietly “You are going to be able to teach the kids all sorts of stuff.”

“Gar I-” This time it was Beast Boys turn to reassure his wife, putting his fingers on her lips as she did before.

“I hope I hope our baby is just like you” he said pulling her head down to rest on his shoulder. After a few minutes of enjoying the closeness. “So neither one of use have any idea what we are doing, Do we?” Beast boy asked

“Not even a little bit, but we have seven months to figure it out” She said as she pulled herself into him a little tighter to ward off the chill coming off the water. "I am sure there are a few books on the subject" she said pulling a predictable groan out her husband.

Her famous muted smile formed on her lips “I will look for a few with a lot of pictures for you. I am sure that the others will want to help”

The thought of Starfire, Cyborg and Robin helping with a baby pulled a laugh from his chest. “Garbanzo has no idea what it’s in for” slipped between chuckles.

“Garbanzo?” Raven asked with a confused smile

“The internet said, right now it’s the size of a bean”

“We are not naming it that” she said flatly.

“So this means you’re not going to run screaming into the night because you’re having the baby of an idiot?”

“No.” She said quietly “But I would like to get off this rock and someplace warmer.”

“We could got back to our room and celebrate?” He asked kissing her.

Before the kiss got to deep she put her palm against his chest and reluctantly pushed him away “The Doctor said no ‘celebrating’ till my second Trimester.

Immediately Beast Boys head slumped down with a disappointed whine.

"Let’s go 'Papa’ we need to get some sleep”

This has been another one that took me a long time to write and I had to come back and forth to it a few times. It’s really common to be overjoyed about having a baby but it’s okay to be scared. My wife and I went tough something very similar to this when we found out. Yet like these two, we just needed to remind ourselves that we had each other.(Also yes I might have referred to our unborn son as Garbanzo and the nickname has stuck.)

#bbrae #bbrae fanfiction #serrj215 original

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wesonerdy · 7 years

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While Killian gets some help to make his way back to Storybrooke (and Emma!), Emma tries to get over a broken heart. Get a sneak of tonight’s Once Upon a Time.

Courtesy of ABC/Jack Rowand

“Love can save even the darkest souls.”

Yes Oncers, this was the lesson of last week’s Once Upon a Time, and it hit particularly close to home for Regina and Killian.

“Page 23” began with a flashback to Fairy Tale Land. The Evil Queen was hunting Snow White and seemed to trap her in a small village. Before EQ could torture the villagers for information, Tinker Bell intervened. She reminded EQ that when she had a chance to fall in love with the man with the lion tattoo at the pub (Robin!), EQ refused to go inside. Tinker Bell encouraged EQ to still pursue the possibility of love.

The Evil Queen’s father, Henry, admonished her to our show mercy to her people, and eventually she does leave without hurting anyone, claiming to love her people.

Later, Henry approached EQ and promised to help her claim her happiness. He gave her one of Cora’s hidden spell books that held a map that would lead them to a powerful object that would help locate Snow White.

However, Henry had a different plan. He was really leading them to Cupid’s arrow, which would lead her to gaze upon the person she loved most, the man with the lion tattoo. But Regina felt betrayed and, instead, used he mother’s spell book to turn Cupid’s arrow into an object which would allow her to gaze upon the person she hated most. Presumably Snow White…

…but the arrow led her back to her castle and to her mirror, where she saw herself. (SADS!)

In present-day Storybrooke, EQ and Robin made an alliance to get out of Storybrooke. She would send him back to the Wish Realm in exchange for him stealing something for her…the enchanted shears that would allow the Evil Queen to separate herself from Regina. Then EQ would destroy her doppelganger.

Elsewhere, Emma shared the news other engagement (!!!!!!). Snow and Henry were happy; Regina was especially happy for Emma (a beautiful SnowQueen moment!). Emma and Killian had decided to hold off on planning the wedding until Gideon could be handled… but now EQ was on the loose too.

Later on, EQ also stole Henry’s author pen so he wouldn’t use it to “write out” her plan. Henry encouraged EQ by saying she wasn’t the worst parts of Regina, that she could still change and find happiness. EQ then gave a note to Henry to give to Regina and expressed that she did love him, no matter what.

What was the note? It was Page 23, the page with Regina’s supposed HEA with Robin… what did it mean? Regina deduced that EQ had Alt Robin and wanted a showdown. Despite pushback from Emma and Snow, Regina would meet EQ by herself and end things once and for all.

While they waited, Alt Robin tried to talk EQ out of killing Regina. Why couldn’t they both go back to the Wish Realm and have a new start? Maybe that was his purpose for being in Storybrooke, to save EQ. But she disagreed. When Regina came, as planned, EQ separated them with the shears. Then they fought and it looked like EQ would prevail. However, Regina was able to gain the upper hand. Yet, instead of killing EQ and crushing her heart, she chose love over hate. Regina took some of EQs darkness into her heart and gave EQ some of her love. And now they should and could love themselves. It was wonderful!

Regina would also help EQ find a place to make a new start. Zelena and Snow were suspect of EQs intentions, but EQ apologized for the pain she caused and told them what she knew about breaking the sleeping curse. With Henry’s authorial assistance, they wrote EQ a new story. And it took her to Alt Robin in the Wish Realm! This time when she saw Robin with his lion tattoo, sitting in the pub, she went right in. Robin was glad to see her and they shared an ale. Cheers to a fresh start! In the end, we got our OutlawQueen but in an unexpected way…

All the while, Killian was depressed about proposing to Emma without telling the truth about killing David’s father. He reached out to Captain Nemo, who was planning to set sail (with Liam) on the Nautilus. Nemo encouraged Killian to either tell the truth and ask for forgiveness or keep silent and learn to forgive himself.

Later, Killian was gazing on the moment when he killed David’s father in a dream catcher. Before he could toss it in the fireplace and burn his memories, Emma approached and saw everything. She was very upset with Killian, not for killing David’s father, but for hiding the truth. Why didn’t he believe that they could overcome this together and trust one another? Until Killian was ready to be a team, Emma broke the engagement and gave the ring back.

Killian was distraught and ended up going back to Nemo to request to join him on his voyage. He needed a chance to find himself. They would leave at nightfall.

Before Killian could leave that night, Snow found him to tell him that EQ had been redeemed and got her happy ending. “Love can save even the darkest souls.” This meant Killian could get his HEA too, right? Snow shared being happy about their engagement and told Killian to go home to Emma. But would he?

He did! Killian went on the Nautilus to tell Nemo that he was tired of running and would go home to work things out with Emma. But as they said goodbye, the Nautilus started to submerge! But Nemo hadn’t given the order… who did? It was Gideon! He had a plan and wanted Killian far from Storybrooke. (Nooooooooo!)

And now Emma was all alone thinking Killian had abandoned her. *WEEPING*

In tonight’s episode “A Wondrous Place” (written by Jane Espenson and Jerome Schwartz, directed by Steve Pearlman):

REGINA AND SNOW TEND TO EMMA’S BROKEN HEART WHILE HOOK SCRAMBLES TO FIND HIS WAY BACK TO STORYBROOKE, AND JASMINE TEAMS UP WITH ARIEL AS THE SEARCH FOR AGRABAH CONTINUES—When Hook finds himself trapped in another realm along with the Nautilus and her crew, he races to return to Emma before Gideon can execute the rest of his plan. In Storybrooke, Regina and Snow take Emma out to get her mind off Hook’s disappearance. And in a flashback to Agrabah, Jasmine befriends Ariel, and together they set out to locate Prince Eric as the threat from Jafar intensifies. (via ABC)

Watch these two clips from the upcoming show.

In the first, as expected Emma is hurting from Killian’s seeming betrayal. She gets a call to come break up a bar brawl at Aesop’s Tables; but when she arrives, there’s no fight. Snow and Regina used the ruse to get Emma to the bar so they can cheer her up. GIRL’S NIGHT! And in the second clip, we see the Nautilus is trapped in another realm by Gideon. But Hook is determined to return to Storybrooke to help Emma. Captain Nemo and his crew inform him that the only way back is with Kraken’s blood, which they don’t have. Hook insists they go hunt the beast immediately.

Girls' Night Out? Yes, please!

Posted by Once Upon a Time on Sunday, April 2, 2017

Gentlemen, let's go hunting. #OnceUponaTime pic.twitter.com/ek7oyItnFF

— Once Upon A Time (@OnceABC) March 30, 2017

Fake fight, real friends, and drunk Snow! And I love that Killian is willing to do anything to hunt down a Kraken… this is going to be awesome!

Take a look at 10 images from “A Wondrous Place”, and we see that JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Ariel), Karen David (Princess Jasmine), and Deniz Akdeniz (Aladdin) are all back!

Live tweet Once Upon a Time with me at 8pm ET on ABC over at @WeSoNerdy!

Courtesy of ABC/Jack Rowand

PREVIEW: ‘Once Upon a Time’ Season 6, Episode 15 “A Wondrous Place” While Killian gets some help to make his way back to Storybrooke (and Emma!), Emma tries to get over a broken heart.

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