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stayarmytinyzenmoa-l · 3 years

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Without a Trace [Ch. 6]

Vigilantes AU

TW: Language, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Descriptions of Blood, Minor Character Death Mention, Alcohol Mention

Genre: Drama, Angst, Light Comedy

Pairing: ATEEZ x Reader

Y/N Pronouns: Not Specified

Summary: Vigilante work has been outlawed, thus sending nine prominent vigilantes either into retirement or into lower ground and, while some abide by the law, a few continue on. Then, one day, a greater threat forces these vigilantes to come together once again, regardless of the law.

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Word Count: 7.2K

Notes: Sorry for the wait on this one! But, don’t worry, things are finally starting to pick up, muahaha

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

“Oh, great, he’s awake,” San looks over to the rattling closet. The other six stared at the closet with awestruck and horrified eyes as the door rattled from Juyeon trying to open it from the inside. You had to applaud him for having the strength, you still remembered way back when Jisung would accidentally tap those on you and you’d be out of commission for a day, which he would quickly make up for by paying for your lunch for a whole week. Then again, there was the possibility of them just not being charged.

“What do you mean ‘he’s awake’?!” Hongjoong asks with shocked eyes. “And what happened to Jongho’s arm?!” He turns to the youngest member. Wooyoung picks up the discarded arm and it twitches while sparks flew from it. He immediately winces in disgust and hands it to Jongho quickly, rather shoving it in his hand would be the more appropriate descriptor. Jongho just takes it from him and sighs, watching the broken thing jerk slightly in his hands.

“Ew…” Wooyoung grimaces while Jongho tries to put it back on, but it was pointless.

“Thanks, not much I can do with it in this state though,” he chucks it into the trash and sighs again. “I just got that one too… do you guys know how expensive prosthetics are now?” He shakes his head.

“I can get you a new arm,” Yunho nods. Again, everyone turns to him. Yunho was being strangely generous as of late. Especially with the suits and the watches in tow already, you worried about what exactly it was he had in store for the lot of you. You didn’t want to doubt your old friend too much, but it was precisely for that reason that you were. When Yunho came to collect his fees, it’s often not desirable for the other parties.

“For free?” Jongho asks wearily while he zips up his jacket, successfully hiding the missing arm.

“Sure,” Yunho says with a sneaky smile. Jongho, still skeptical, just averted his attention back to Hongjoong.

“We had a bit of a situation, San and I showed up around the same time to talk to (Y/N) about accepting your offer. I figured if (Y/N) was on board with it then there would be nothing for me to worry about.”

“I was just bored,” San shrugged. “I need to kill my time with something, why not this? Plus, I knew (Y/N) was on Charlatan’s list so… I decided to make sure the coast was clear, you know? Ended up running into him and getting into a bit of an altercation,” San explains.

“Then, after San made a mess of my bathroom, the Charlatan paid me a visit anyway,” you stood up and opened your closet door, Juyeon falling out and landing on his face. “But also not really. Any of you guys recognize him?” You pulled Juyeon up by the back of his shirt and Wooyoung gasps.

“Juyeon!” He points.

“Wooyoung?!”

“Of course it would be Wooyoung,” you muttered. Seems his job as a barista, which stemmed since before his vigilante days, provided him well. “So who is this guy?” You asked him.

“He’s the Stealer!” Wooyoung exclaims. The name rang a bell. The Stealer was a small name vigilante who, you guessed it, stole shit. But aside from that, his record was clean. He was in and out of the vigilante business fast and had some Robin Hood thing going on. You’ve personally never spoke to him, but you knew of people who did.

“Hey, way to give me away, dude,” Juyeon frowns.

“Oh, shush, you’re retired anyway,” Wooyoung waves his hand. You picked up Juyeon with ease and placed him on the remains of your coffee table. He winced as he collided with the broken wooden pieces and he looked around with quick and cautious eyes. “Alright, we’re going to try this one more time, I don’t feel like breaking any more fingers, so please comply.”

“You’re crazy, you and your friends, you’re all insane,” Juyeon shakes his head with wide eyes and breathes heavily. “I already told you that I don’t know anything, alright? I just picked up that mask and suddenly I’m here. That’s it.”

“Where’d you get the mask?” You picked up the other half and observed it. It was a thick plastic that was strangely durable. The mesh was connected to it via hot glue also. It resembled something of a crude cosplay, if anything, it wasn’t built to withstand much. The mask seemed to be expendable. You applied some pressure on the sides, trying to see if you could break it any further, but no dice. It was remarkably strong for such cheap materials. You flipped it over to investigate the back, but there was nothing of note. Save for the broken wiring within the mask itself, but that was beyond your knowledge.

“It was attached to the back of my front door, I thought my roommate was playing a prank on me, but as soon as I touched it I woke up here,” Juyeon explains.

“Geez, (Y/N), what did you do to this poor guy’s fingers?” Mingi observes the damage, holding them gently in his hands. Juyeon didn’t look at them while Mingi diagnosed it quietly, as if it would lessen the pain of them being moved around.

“I got kind of carried away, I’ll admit it, but he also tried to kill us with— Wait, where the hell did you even get these?” You held up Jisung’s eskrima sticks. You glanced over at Yunho, but he was as confused as you were. They should’ve been sealed away, for good, the only way for Juyeon or the Charlatan to have gotten them is if they had access to the Cellar before the warehouse closed for good. Juyeon just stares at you with a deadpanned expression. “And, you don’t know that either, right. Yunho, grab the first aid kit in my bathroom, I’ll wrap up your hands but get them checked at a hospital later,” you said to Juyeon as Yunho did as you asked. Yeosang snaps his fingers.

“I think I’ve figured it out!” He exclaims. “We know that there are multiple “Charlatan’s” and with the information we got from Juyeon—”

“What information?” San mumbles. Mingi kicks his shin and San curses under his breath.

“—I can put a theory together,” you hand Yeosang the broken halves of the mask. “It’s safe to say that Juyeon here isn’t the Charlatan.”

“How do you know that?” Jongho asks.

“Because,” Yeosang opens his laptop and quickly types in the password, he flips it around to show the group right as Yunho returned with the first aid kit. He hands it to you and you remove the belt from Juyeon’s wrists. You held up a warning finger and pointed to Seonghwa, who had been watching Juyeon’s every action since you moved him to the middle of the group, and started to dress his hand. Seonghwa only quirked an eyebrow and tapped the rifle that was once strapped behind his back and now in his hands. Juyeon just nodded slowly and downcast his focus. You looked to the monitor, it revealed a rather expensive-looking manor. “This is the home of Lee Taemin, literally about an hour ago. You should know him, especially you, Mingi. This is the Criminal, same dude who terrorized the underworld back before the ban. Afterward, he hung up the bad guy shit and became a store clerk.” Yeosang speeds up the recording and the front door opens with two figures wearing the same masks as the one in Yeosang’s hand. “I’ve already posted this video throughout as many social media sites as I could. Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, I got all of them down and someone else re-uploaded them on Naver and Weibo. Someone might know something…” He points to the screen again. One of them was unconscious and being dragged by the other. In the other hand was a grappling hook with an ornate handle.

“Oh, hey! That’s Kim Minseok’s grappling hook!” Yunho points out. “I sold that to him, what the hell.” You finished up with Juyeon’s hand and leaned back on your couch.

“Nice observation,” Yeosang pauses the feed. “But we also know that he stored that in the warehouse after the vigilante ban. We know that these,” he holds up one of the sticks, “were also stored. Not to mention every person targeted either was or had ties to someone involved in the vigilante business, whether that be public knowledge or not. So…” Yeosang trails off.

“The Charlatan must have been a vigilante at some point too?” Mingi fills in the blanks.

“Bingo.”

“Wait, Juyeon was on the list, so was Taemin… and Changbin too, is there a possibility that maybe he’s one of the Charlatans?” Wooyoung asks. The group remains silent, everyone knows the answer but everyone knew that now probably wasn’t the best time to bring it up. Unlike cases like Juyeon, where no body was found, Changbin’s was, albeit it was nearly unrecognizable save for the necklace around his neck that Changbin was known to always wear, but it was there. “I just… what’s the criteria the Charlatan’s going off of? Is it random? Does he just decide whether or not to kill someone or brainwash them?”

“Brainwashing is a whole other part of the equation,” Hongjoong looks to Juyeon. “It takes more than just a pocket watch and ambiance music to do something as advanced as puppeteering someone from a distance for this long.”

“I also don’t remember anything,” Juyeon speaks up.

“We know,” the whole group silences him and Juyeon sinks into himself.

“Wait, why is this guy even still here?” San asks. “We should get rid of him.”

“Wait, wait! Let’s not do anything rash, okay?!” Juyeon holds his hands up.

“Relax, dude, we’re not going to kill you,” Wooyoung shakes his head.

“Yeah, you can just go,” Hongjoong nudges his head towards the door.

“Just… just like that?” Juyeon nurses his bandaged hand close to his chest. Yeosang stands up and pats his back.

“Yeah, you’re good to go, man, but,” Yeosang grabs his bandaged hand. “(Y/N), you got a marker?”

“Yeah,” you dug through the drawer on the table next to you and handed him a sharpie.

“Here is my number…” Yeosang writes it on his bandages. “I’ll be close in contact, no doubt the Charlatan knows you’ve broken out of the whole mind control thing, if anything seems off, let me know immediately.”

“Sure, yes, I can do that. You guys aren’t going to hurt me, are you?”

“No,” Hongjoong speaks up this time. “However, you can’t let anyone know about us, is that clear? Don’t try it, we’ll know if you do.”

“Got it, crystal clear, none of this ever happened,” Juyeon scrambled up and ran out of your apartment. He shortly ran back in. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the Halzer District, right now, Zone 3 of the city,” you answered him.

“Halzer, okay, okay, I know where that is,” he swallows harshly and nods before running back out, shutting the door behind him.

“(Y/N), you’ve got any tea here?”

“Yeah, it's somewhere there,” you pointed to the messy kitchen and Mingi walked over, stepping over bullet casings and broken furniture all the way to get to the fridge that was miraculously still intact. He opens it and a disappointed noise came from him.

"Damn, (Y/N), you live like this?" He asks.

"Like what?" You look back and Mingi turns around holding two things.

"You literally only have a beer and a singular egg in your refrigerator. That's fucking depressing, (Y/N)," he says. He places the two objects back in the fridge and opens the cabinet next to it.

"What can I say? Times have been hard," you answer him.

“Anyone want some? The only one here is lavender,” Mingi holds up the box and Seonghwa raises his hand alongside Jongho. He fills your kettle and places it on the stove, leaning against the countertop while he listens in on the conversation and waits for the water to finish heating.

“Where’d you put the listening device?” You asked Yeosang.

“On his neck,” Yeosang has a confident smile. “But, since we’re all here, we’d might as well talk about our next move. No doubt the Charlatan will be back to finish what he started with (Y/N), so we’ll plan around that,” Yeosang says.

“Agreed, we should focus on finding out more information. Yeosang, think you could decode that mask safely?” Hongjoong asks. Yeosang taps on the broken wiring in the mask.

“Probably,” he shrugs. “But if Juyeon’s warning is to be trusted, I should probably do it with one of you in the room so you could restrain me if needed.”

“That won’t be a problem, dude,” San scoffs and wiggles his arms and Yeosang frowns.

“I see that you’re still a dick,” Yeosang says under his breath.

“Sorry?”

“I’ve got it, I’ll just have Woo watch me the whole time,” Yeosang insists, ignoring San completely.

“No, fucking own up to it,” San probes Yeosang and the latter grimaces. “Maybe if you owned up to shit for once you wouldn’t be so scared of stepping out of the dark.”

“Drop it,” Yeosang warns.

“What are you going to do if I don’t?”

“If you don’t then I’ll knock your head with this frying pan and throw you out of the window,” Mingi cuts in.

“What’s with you people and wanting to throw me out of windows?” San groans.

“Let’s focus on the task at hand, please. We have much bigger problems than San right now,” Hongjoong refocuses the conversation. “We’ll try to reverse track the signal from that mask and narrow down the Charlatan from there. But…” Hongjoong looks down. “I’m going to need you all to trust me on this,” Hongjoong continues.

“Oh no, I know where this is going,” you rolled your eyes. “Might I remind you of the last time we played bait?”

“You’re seriously still holding onto that?!”

“I almost died!”

“You didn’t!”

“I would have if Seonghwa didn’t show up when he did,” you continued. “You’re always going on and on about how I should get over it when for literally a year after that you denied ever even putting me in that position, Hongjoong! When all I’ve ever wanted was an actual fucking apology,” you finished. The room fell silent. “Argh, forget it. Go on, I’m sure I would’ve been dead anyway if these two didn’t show up when they did, and if San didn’t beat the hell out of him when he first came,” you shook your head. As much as you hated to admit it, it was true. If it was just you in this apartment it would’ve been much harder to get rid of the Charlatan, especially with those eskrima sticks, damned things. Hongjoong sighed and broke the silence.

“Yeosang, what’s your E.T.A. for Jisung?” He turned to him instead. He scrambled through his laptop to answer his question.

“Should be today or tomorrow…”

“I’ll visit him today, then,” you said. You had a feeling that’s what Hongjoong wanted you to do anyway if he was saying to trust him. “The Charlatan no doubt will try to settle the score with me and I’m sure they can’t resist another chance there’s two of his list in one place,” you shrugged. “But, if I’m doing this, I’m doing it alone.”

“No way,” San interjects. “You almost died!”

“You want more than one person to sneak into one of the highest security neighborhoods?” you asked him.

“It’ll be hard for even one of us to get in undetected.”

“Luckily for us, I have something that could get me in without trouble,” you walked over to the closet and knocked out the back, revealing an old uniform. You pulled out Giselle’s Hearts uniform and held it up. It was baggy, slightly heavy, and optimized for moving around without being seen, it was the perfect equipment for her. “This is why I was going to go in alone,” you held it up to show them.

“Haven’t seen that one for a long time,” Yunho whistles.

“She gave it to me after her surgery,” you explained and folded it nicely. “At most, we can probably have Yeosang and someone else staked out a block away from the gate.”

“I’ll do it,” Mingi raises his hand.

“Okay, you two then. We have to stay under the radar when we go,” you continued.

“Have you and Jisung talked since the whole thing?” Hongjoong asks.

“Every now and then. He’d call me when he’s drunk out of his mind to apologize but not remember any of it the next day,” you sighed, thinking back to the 3 am calls filled with nothing but regret and sorrow, only for him to act like nothing happened the next day and again you were off on your own. Often times they were filled with conversations of “What If?” What if he had stayed? Would Jeno still be here? Would the four of them still be together? Then, silence. He’d hang up and you’d both go about your lives again.

“Then we’ll do that. We have to think ahead now, we severely miscalculated when Charlatan would try to get you, we can’t do that with Jisung if we want to get our next Charlatan. If… When you run into one, (Y/N), keep the mask intact,” Hongjoong instructs.

“Got it,” you crossed your arms. “When do we go?”

“Now,” Hongjoong stands up.

“Wait,” Wooyoung speaks up now. “I’m not… I’m not sure if this is the best thing to do,” he says. “We know nothing about the Charlatan other than he brainwashes people and gives them weapons from our old colleagues. If he had these things then what else could he have?”

“Not to mention they were supposed to be stored in the Cellar,” Mingi side-eyes Yunho and he throws his hands up.

“I’ve got nothing to do with this, don’t look at me like that,” Yunho grows defensive. “I filled it in to avoid stuff like this.”

“And you didn’t think to go down there and see if everything was in there?” Seonghwa asks.

“No. And even if I did there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different equipment down there. What do I look like to you? An inventory manager?” Yunho answers him straight and they both stare at each other. Seonghwa breaks it first.

“So be it,” he shakes his head. “I second Wooyoung. We don’t have enough information, we could very well be sending (Y/N) and Jisung to their deaths,” he says. “Imagine the collateral damage that will come with seeing an A-List actor and, no offense, a nobody dead in his house. It will raise too many suspicions.”

“I mean, we will be dead anyway so it won’t affect us,” you say.

“Don’t forget about Giselle,” Seonghwa continues. “She may be hidden now, but it looks like this Charlatan knows much more than we expect,” he says. “Considering he found Mono’s location.”

“You’re right about that, even Hope and Agust couldn’t find him, then here comes this random person who’s hellbent on sponging every memory of vigilantes off the face of the earth,” Mingi adds. “I’m surprised he hasn’t gone after those two guys.”

“Hope and Agust?” You ask.

“Suh Johnny and Lee Mark.”

“Who?” You raise an eyebrow and Mingi stares at you with wide eyes.

“You don’t know the Limitless Podcast?”

“Never heard of it,” you shook your head.

“You should give them a listen,” Yeosang pulls his phone out and sends you a link to the first episode. “Those two are… oddly good at doing their research. Their second season’s first episode is on you and the other Aces. We should pay more attention to them, they could help us a lot with public opinion in the future.”

“They’ve been around since before the ban, I’m surprised you didn’t know,” Wooyoung says.

“Even I listened a few times, although I will say that my episode surprised me, I didn’t know they could dig up that much,” Yunho shrugs. “They used to be a news podcast but because of the ban they try to stay low-key.”

“Not to mention their entire first season was removed from the internet,” Yeosang pouts. “It had a lot of information on previous vigilantes, I assumed it was your doing, Yunho.”

“Nope, I enjoyed listening to those,” he says. “It was nice to hear how people reacted to vigilantes.”

“Then… maybe the Charlatan did?” San shrugs.

“Probably,” Yeosang shrugs, “fortunately, I have them right here,” Yeosang opens one of the files on his laptop.

“How much storage do you have on that thing?” Jongho asks.

“Enough,” Yeosang shrugs. “See, here’s the first episode, it was on Outro so they talked about Mono, Agust, and Hope on it. Episode two was on Psycho. Episode three was on Alis and Wonderland. Their fourth episode here was on 3Racha with CB97, SpearB, and J.One.”

“You mean Jisung?” You scoff.

“Yup.”

“I’ve always told him that it was a shitty name,” you rolled your eyes. “Never knew why he doubled up on vigilante teams, no wonder he burned out,” you shook your head.

“Then their fifth was on the Aces. The sixth was a special episode on villains like Bambi, Sticker, Misfit, and Zombie. Then their seventh was on Lionheart and Mr. Simple. Their eighth was on Entropy, remember when that villain group was big?”

“Zombie, Pacman, Cover, Chaos, and Daemon, right?” Seonghwa asks. “Whatever happened to them?”

“Disappeared with the rest after the ban,” Hongjoong shakes his head. “How many more episodes?”

“Two more. Episode nine was a double feature for Black Rose and Sherlock. And the final episode never got to air, but according to these files I found it was on Loveholic.”

“Who the hell is Loveholic?”

“Exactly,” Yeosang shrugs. “I don’t know much.”

“That’s new,” Wooyoung frowns.

“The name does ring a bell,” Yunho cuts in, “I might’ve seen an ad for him somewhere. I know that he works similarly to Seonghwa. They’re both assassins for hire on the dark web. Excepts he’s more hands-on, so to say,” Yunho says.

“He’s one of your clients, huh?” You ask.

“I decline to confirm or deny that.”

“Yeah, figured,” you hummed. Then, a thought struck you. “Yeosang, you don’t think that Loveholic and Charlatan are connected, do you?”

“The timelines line up,” Yeosang says.

“I agree. If the order of episodes is correct and these two stuck to their schedule, that would mean that the Loveholic episode was set to air a day after the ban was announced. Which would then imply that someone in the government offices is either our Charlatan or affiliated with them, and they somehow have a link to this “Loveholic” person,” Hongjoong says.

“Hold on,” Yeosang stops Hongjoong. “They’re live right now, some sort of emergency broadcast, it says. They comment on current vigilante happenings, maybe they could be of some use to us,” Yeosang tunes in to the livestream and turns the volume up. Everyone listened to the podcast intently. They were talking about the Charlatan and their special guest was a head officer from Precinct 127, The name put you on edge, you couldn't count the number of times you were nearly caught by them, hell, the number of times anyone in this room were nearly caught by them. Especially the one behind the computer right now, if memory served you correctly, the 127 officers were under direct orders to investigate and capture Cypher.

“You know, Yeosang, I’m still trying to find out if it was smart or poorly planned of you to turn in that footage to the officers,” Hongjoong says.

“Think of it as a taunt,” Yeosang shrugs. “They needed my help anyway. What kind of vigilante would I be if I didn’t send help to those who needed it?” You didn’t miss his wisecrack tone. You all continued listening, they went off on a minor tangent about other vigilantes who experienced more… complicated alterations to their bodies. You remembered working with a few of them, namely Siren. She had helped out the Aces a number of times, and you still owed plenty of favors to her. Crazy to think that she works officially now. And without that iconic tail of hers. Soon they went back to talking about how the Charlatan was targeting those who were or had relations to vigilantes, you had to be honest, you were surprised they found out so fast, it would only be a matter of time before they started to connect the dots properly. This crude team here would just have to beat them to it. Then a more interesting conversation came up.

“If you don't mind, I see this question popping up a lot in chat, mind if you confirm something for us, Mr. Moon?” The voice belonged to Mark, which Yeosang made clear a number of times.

“Go ahead,” and that one was Taeil, the officer you vaguely recognized. You couldn’t remember if it was him or someone else who shot your shoulder, but that’s a conversation for another day.

“Is it possible that Cypher and the Charlatan are one and the same?” At that statement you saw Yeosang hold his breath. All eyes turned on him.

It was, indeed, a possibility. It was his idea to get everyone together, his idea to hunt after the Charlatan, and it was his idea to start this crusade altogether. Could he only be pulling the strings? Was he leading you all into a trap? You wanted to say ‘no,’ you had known Yeosang long enough to think that you could trust him. But in a world that changed so drastically, could that be the truth. Yeosang must have known that everyone now had suspicions of him. He didn’t say anything while he opened another window and started tapping in a few things. He pulled his headphones back on and adjusted the mic attached to it. He presses the spacebar on his laptop and, immediately, the livestream’s image changes from a black screen to his notorious logo.

“Hello. This is Cypher,” he recites. The voice output, as usual, was heavily distorted. You wanted to stop him, you probably should have, but if Yeosang decided to step in, then this was probably something he debated for a while. He looked around, as if realizing he had made an impulsive decision. Hongjoong just nodded, signaling for him to continue. “We have been listening in on this podcast, and I would like to make a few things clear. I am not the Charlatan, I completely denounce their actions and their methods, and to be compared to such a monster is offensive at the very least. I'd say that I'd give you proof of this, but that is not possible at the moment for me alone.” He looks around again. This is his confirmation of the team. The way he looked at each member was if he was telling them that they could back out now and no hard feelings would be intended, either that or that this was their last chance to leave. No one moved a muscle. “But, once we do gather it, I advise you all to look at your nearest screen, as we will show you the truth behind the Charlatan and bring him to justice. And in doing so we will reverse the wrongs that began on that October morning two years ago. We are returning, and we will announce that return with the imprisonment of the Charlatan, who had murdered and kidnapped our colleagues and, without a doubt, your friends as well. Thank you, that is all. You will hear from us soon.” Yeosang shut down the broadcast and closed his laptop, leaning back on his seat and releasing the breath he had been holding.

“Oh my god,” Wooyoung says slowly. “That was fucking awesome!”

“I know, right!” Yeosang broke out into a smile.

“That’s one way to announce the team,” Yunho chuckles. “But I suppose that means we’re all in it for the long term now, right?”

“Not to mention we’ve basically just declared war,” Jongho adds.

“No doubt the Charlatan has their sights on us now, are we ready?” Hongjoong asks.

“Take it away, Leader,” you reply.

“Alright, we split up and reconvene later then. (Y/N), Yeosang, and Mingi are handling Han Jisung. Wooyoung, Jongho, and I will handle Lee Mark. Seonghwa, San, and Yunho can track down Suh Johnny.”

“Sounds like we have a plan,” Mingi says.

“We move out now then,” Hongjoong says.

“So, what, we just ask about what they found on Loveholic?” Mingi speaks up.

“Yeah, essentially. I’ll send you more detailed instructions later,” Hongjoong says. “Get in gear, we’re finishing this sooner rather than later.”

You pressed on the button on your wrist, the suit and you alongside it disappearing into the night. The suit was baggy, easy to move around in, and easy to wear your other uniform inside of it that was more equipped to your fighting style, should you have to do it. With the hood pulled over completely to conceal your face, you scaled the side of the gate and dropped down onto the ground, the soles of your shoes absorbing the sound and impact while you made your way towards Jisung’s house. Since he made it big as an actor he’s been living the high life, it would seem.

“(Y/N)? Can you hear me?” Yeosang’s voice crackled in your ear.

“Loud and clear,” you whispered. You surveyed the street and sidewalks and saw no one around. But, in the distance, you could see a flashlight moving about. The night security guard, no doubt. You had heard that there were three or four of them now ever since Jisung was announced on the Charlatan’s list.

“Good, we can hear everything you do, Jisung might have some important information for us.”

“Alright,” you stopped in your tracks when the security guard’s flashlight shone in your direction. You glanced behind you, not a single shadow seen. Giselle was always so thankful for Mono for designing the suit for her, they were always oddly friendly with each other. The guard walked on and you continued.

“That was a close one. If you need help just say the code, yeah? We’ve got your back, (Y/N). And don’t take the Charlatan on your own if they show up.”

“I know.” You walked up to his door and took your hood off, turning off the stealth mode altogether.

“Good luck, friend.” You didn’t have to knock on the door, he opened it before you could even raise your hand.

“Get in here,” he steps aside and you step in. He closes the door and you hear five locks behind you. Leave it to Jisung to be the paranoid one, that’s why he left first.

“So, you’re on a hit list,” you turned to him, he was wearing light clothing, a simple t-shirt and jeans. You noticed the duffle bag next to the door. “And you really think running away would stop them,” you huffed.

“Jesus, (Y/N), I’ve been on edge since that bastard announced it,” he turned on a few lights in the room and made sure the blinds were shut tight. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here wearing that.”

“I could’ve gotten caught, I know.”

“That’s not what I mean. You haven’t even visited her since she gave it to you.”

“And you have?”

“It’s the least I could do,” Jisung grimaces. “She misses you, you know. Always talking about you. She follows what you do on social media. It’s kind of insulting to her, don’t you think? Don’t you care at all?”

“Oh fuck off with your manipulative bull shit, Jisung,” you bit back.

“I’m just stating the facts, (Y/N),” He turns to you with an accusing glare. “What did you do?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re the only one of us still doing this shit, (Y/N), what did you do?”

“Nothing! I was just surprised as you when the news came out!” You argued. “I was hoping you had some idea. If anything, I thought I did something to piss you off and you ratted me out. But, since your name was on the list too, I couldn’t be too sure.”

“Firstly, you’re wrong, we may not be on good terms but I don’t want you to die. And secondly, I’ve got no clue,” Jisung shakes his head and falls on his couch, brushing his hair back with his hand and sighing. “Whoever they are… they got Changbin. Chan thinks he’s next, he’s hiding out in Monaco right now,” he says.

“Damn… must be nice to have that luxury.” Jisung motions you to sit on the chair parallel to him and you do so. You place your backpack down. “Well, if you’re going on the run, you’re gonna need these,” you pulled the eskrima sticks out of your bag and you handed it to him. He took them slowly, readjusting his grip around them.

“Where’d you get these?”

“Charlatan tried to get me first with those,” you answered. Jisung’s face falls into one of concern and he switches them on, seeing the electricity running through them. “If it makes you relax a little, I UNO reverse carded that shit out of him and knocked out the Charlatan lackey that got sent after me.” Jisung paid you no attention while he stared at them, twirling one in his hands.

“Lackey?”

“Yup, looks like it’s some mind control stuff, I know a few people looking into it right now trying to reverse the signal, but who knows when we figure that out,” you shook your head. “You know Juyeon?”

“The Stealer?”

“Yeah. He’s the one who was under the mask, poor guy had no idea what happened,” you shook your head. Jisung only frowned and continued to move the sticks around the palm of his hand.

“The controls have been modified a little, it’s weighted more at the bottom,” he says as he unscrews the plate and knocks the stick against his hand, an unfamiliar and undisturbed vial dropping out. “How’d you escape?”

“San and Jongho happened to have been visiting at the time,” you leaned on your knees. “If they weren’t there I probably would’ve shown up on the news too,” you shook your head. Jisung holds the liquid to the light. “Any idea what it is?”

“I don’t want to know,” he says. He hits the bottom of the stick more and another thing tumbles out. It was a small cube that had a few glowing lines along it. “Now this looks straight out of a sci-fi comic,” he observes it.

“I’ll take that, I’ll ask Yeosang to look through it,” you held your hand out and Jisung gives both the cube and the vial to you without question. He grabs the other stick now.

“I shoved these in the Cellar before I quit.”

“Yup, we put a lot of stuff down there, Yunho said he filled it in but… apparently not before someone got to it,” you leaned back on the couch now. “If they got those sticks, who knows what else they have. Mono’s daggers, Stranger’s guns, Signal’s baton…”

“Jeno’s gauntlets,” Jisung cuts you off. The thought horrified you. The first was famously known to be coated with toxins that could kill as soon as it cut skin, the second were rigged with heat tracking abilities that could follow around a ten-mile radius, and the third packed a mean hit should you be too close. But, Jeno’s gauntlets, those were a different kind of pride and joy.

“Oh, shit, if Charlatan shows up with those we’re fucking screwed.” A combination of gauntlet and shotgun, you could easily have your skull crushed in half.

“That’s why I’m turning tail, are you kidding? I don’t have a death wish like you,” Jisung glares. “Fuck, what if you brought him here? Right when I was about to leave too.” You looked at the door.

“There’s no telling how safe we are anymore. We have no idea where the Charlatan is and, if our theory is correct, we have no idea who those lackeys are behind the mask,” you say. “Let’s just hope we luck out and not run into one ever.” You continue. “But, I know you well enough, Jisung. You’re not going to regard anything I’m saying to you.”

“I…”

“At least let me walk you to the station.”

“How’d you know?”

“Train ticket’s slipping out of your pocket,” you pointed towards it and he took it. “I expect to see one bad-ass train fight on Twitter tomorrow.” You joked with him, Jisung cracked a pathetic smile before shaking his head.

“Want to go out for drinks? For old time’s sake?” He asks. He glances out the window through the small sliver of light. “This might be the last time we see each other for a while. And I’ve got a lot on my mind,” he says with a sense of melancholy. He grabs his jacket from the side of the couch and slips it on, concealing the weapons in the sleeves easily.

“Hm…” you squeezed your hands. “Sure, let’s go confess our sins,” you stood up and waited for him to open the door. He grabbed his bag first and held the door open for you. “Where to?”

“There’s one a couple of blocks away,” he locks his door behind him and you both start walking. “It’s not that far from here,” he says. He waves at the security guard and you averted your eyes. You both walk past the gates and continued towards the lights of the district nearby. You crossed by Yeosang and Mingi’s car, the two undoubtedly hiding somewhere to avoid Jisung’s perceptive gaze, but it was a different feeling that put you on edge. Call it an instinct that has been honed after years of experience, but you’d know when you were being followed at any moment. “(Y/N).”

“I know,” you kept your eyes trained forward while you both continued. You took Giselle’s jacket off, holding it delicately in your hands and exposing the uniform underneath. “Let’s make a left here, see if they’re really tailing us,” you whispered. Jisung went along with your plan.

“Round the block?”

“Sure,” you pushed your hands in your pockets, wrapping your hand around the knife handle concealed in it.

“New uniform?” He stares at the encircled A.

“Yup, let’s just say I got a new side gig,” you looked around, the streets remained empty. Should you say the codeword now? “I knew they were waiting, I just didn’t think they’d try to get us as soon as we stepped out,” you mumbled.

“It was either out here or in there,” he says. You rounded the block and, as you both expected, that feeling of being followed never left. “Let’s cut through here, we either get to our destination faster or we stay out of public eye.” You both turn down the dark alley. Soon, it opened up and you stopped in your tracks, seeing two masked figures waiting for you.

“Well… shit, and here I thought I could have a nice evening out,” you grimaced after you said the code words.

“We’re on our way, (Y/N), don’t make any rash decisions!” It was Mingi speaking this time.

Rash decisions? This entire vigilante thing had to be the most ridiculously unthought-out decision of your life. You pulled the knife out of your pocket and flung it to the left-most Charlatan, seeing the weapon lodge into the enemy’s shoulder while you charged with another knife in hand. You were able to embed it in their side before they grabbed your arm and twisted it behind your back. You swallowed down a wince and stomped on their foot, their hold loosening enough for you to slip out and regain your footing. Jisung let the eskrima sticks slip down his sleeves before activating them and going for the rightmost Charlatan. He blocked the Charlatan’s incoming high kick with his arm and shocked them with the other. You ducked under the Charlatan’s punch and slashed at their ankles, toppling them over and retrieving your knife from their shoulder. “You haven’t lost your edge!”

“I was always the better Ace,” Jisung scoffs and crushes one of the Charlatan’s hands under his shoe. You flung your knife, the blade just barely grazing the side of Jisung’s head before it hit the Charlatan behind him, likely the one that had been following you there.

“But you always kept your back open,” you walked past him and retrieved your knife from the Charlatan on the floor. You kicked their pressure point and they stopped moving.

“That was a lot easier than I anticipated,” Jisung says. He kneels next to you. “What are you doing?”

“Taking this thing off,” you cut the straps that kept the mask in place and took it off. “Jesus…” You flinched away when you noticed who it was. With half of his face brandishing an electrical burn and the other half scarred, he would’ve been nearly unrecognizable.

“No way…” Jisung immediately feels for a pulse. “Hey! Changbin! Wake up!” Jisung shakes his shoulder. “I thought he died… We found a body.”

“We found a severely mutilated body, they never confirmed it was him on the news or not,” you reminded him. Changbin didn’t stir. You stood up and held the mask in your hands, then you heard a shot ring out. You and Jisung whipped your heads behind you, now seeing the second Charlatan dead on the floor with blood pooling out of their head. You looked up, seeing the vague outline of who you could only recognize to be the Huntsman. He signals you quietly before he leaves.

“Friend of yours?” Jisung asks while pointing up at the roof. He removes the dead Charlatan’s mask, revealing an unknown man inside. You remove the remaining Charlatan's mask and see an unknown woman.

“Yeah, they must be clear with their side of the plan,” you say. You look down at Changbin. “Well… Wooyoung’ll be happy.”

“I know,” Jisung says. “Help me get him to my place.”

“No worries, I’ll take him to a friend to watch over. He’s legally a dead man, we can’t just have him walking around.”

“You know someone?”

“I know a lot of people,” you answered. You grabbed one of Changbin’s arms and slung it over your shoulder. “You’re still leaving, huh?” Jisung looked at his watch.

“Yeah.”

“Let me know when you get to where you’re going. I’ll tell Gigi,” you adjusted Changbin on your back. “Get a burner or something, don’t text me directly. That can be tracked.”

“I know, sorry we never reached our destination.”

“It’s fine, drinks can wait.”

“Yeah, but… I’m talking about Eric,” he says. “I did some investigating myself, there was just so much that didn’t add up about that,” he grabs onto the dead Charlatan and heaves him into the dumpster off to the side. “Nothing. Nothing came up. If he was killed, the assassin cleaned up his tracks too well.”

“Jisung,” you turned to him. “Drop it.” Jisung only stared at you. He shook his head.

“I don’t know what you’re up to right now, hunting down this Charlatan, or whatever… either way. Stay alive, okay? It’s too early to join those two idiots.” He says. He slides the weapons back into his sleeves. A long journey was ahead of him now, no doubt. And you did have that sinking feeling that this would be the last time you’d see him, although you never really kept up, Jisung was a long-time friend of yours.

“I should be saying that to you,” you gave him a sardonic smile and punched his shoulder lightly. “Take care, Jisung.”

“You too, (Y/N).”

General Tag List: @vickylamore @deobis-moon @mizzdivagirl7-blog @sehunnies-hunnie96 @yangsrose @bat-shark-repellant @cloudreads @raeincitizen @here-aeth @lune1897 @gaiyofanfiction @jaeminsespresso

Without a Trace: @thatnelsy @sunsethw4 @leesalts

If you want to be added to either tag list just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

#ateez #ateez x reader #hongjoong x reader #seonghwa x reader #yunho x reader #yeosang x reader #mingi x reader #san x reader #wooyoung x reader #jongho x reader #ateez fics #ateez vigilante au #my writings #without a trace

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kurlyfrasier · 3 years

Text

Love Unknown (Part 1)

My dearest, most patient Nonny (you know who you are). I give you; PART ONE of your request. I hate that you’ve had to wait such a ridiculously long time for your request, so I thought I’d go ahead and give you the first bit. I hope you enjoy! Also, you never specified if you wanted the Reader and Raph to be in a relationship already so I hope you don’t mind that they are not in one at the moment.

Pairing: Raph x Reader

The Request (includes obvious warnings): its about angst, (spoiler), fight, blood and (spoiler again). ok, raph had a fight with reader so he say bad things to her, so he listens music (ZAYN & Sia - Dusk Till Dawn) because he was sad and crying but she could never hate raph, so after raph... (I’m leaving this part out of the request so there’s not so many spoilers) ....so he goes to reader and they make up. (possible trigger warning in tags that I took out of this request; may have to expand tags to see it)

A/N: I actually don’t watch any of the TMNT series’ so I know nothing about Destructor X (I’m assuming that’s who you wanted as the villain. I had to look it up). So, I took the liberty of changing the villain to one I know a tiny, itty bitty bit more about. I sincerely apologize if this ruins it for you. Also, this is a first draft.

Disclaimer: I own no TMNT anything, nor do I know any NYC geography, song belongs to Zayn & Sia, and last - but not least - Nonny owns this lovely, specific request! Honestly, I could do SO MUCH with this and it was hard to choose how to go about it. Last thing, I promise: If anyone thinks of a better title, PLEASE SHARE IT cuz I am terrible at coming up with titles.

Word Count: 1189

Raph fell onto his bed with a loud huff, body trembling from the hours-long workout he just finished. Yet, he was still angry - at himself more so than you. The words he spouted at you in a jealous rage- He shook his head, barely hearing the music blasting through his overly-large headphones as he recalled you wrestling with Mikey. His hand hovered, prepared to rip his headphones off, when the song changed to one you must have added to his playlist. You always did silly things like that; instilling bits of yourself into the turtles lives. They all loved it.

Especially him.

Especially on the days when you weren’t able to come visit.

Today had not been one of those days, but he had ruined it minutes into your visit.

His arm landed heavily next to him. Savoring the song, he closed his eyes. Unable to stop himself from falling for you even harder than he already had. A tear escaped, sliding down his cheek. Everything about the song reminded him of how he wished he could be with you. How he wanted to be there with you from dusk to dawn. How he wished to watch the sunrise with you. How he wished he had the right to touch you as the song implied.

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

“Something’s wrong,” Donnie whispered to Leo, pointing to a large screened device as Raph walked into the dojo, ready for patrol. “Her phone suddenly disconnected and I can’t pinpoint her on the GPS.”

Raph froze at his brother’s words, stomach sinking. He had a gut feeling they were talking about you.

“Has she ever turned off her phone before?” Leo asked quietly, voice calm.

“Never,” Donnie emphatically shook his head, looking more worried by the second. “I’ve explained to her that she has to make sure her phone never dies and she nevers turns it off. Otherwise, if something happens…” He let the sentence hang.

“It’s possible (Y/n) forgot to charge her phone and-”

“That wouldn’t happen Leo!” Donnie whisper-shouted, shooting daggers at their brother. “She’s more responsible than that.”

“I know, I know,” Leo raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll go check her apartment and make sure everything’s okay.”

“What about R-”

“Don’t say anything until I get back,” Leo turned on his heel to find the very brother he was hoping to avoid, eyes widening slightly before forcing a neutral expression once more.

“Where ya goin’?” Raph asked, feigning nonchalance. Inside, he was raging, blood deafeningly pumped through his veins.

“Just getting some fresh air before we head out on patrol, is all,” he lied, making his way out of the dojo.

“I call bull,” Raph stated, eyes cold as he challenged their so-called leader, grabbing his brother’s arm in a vice-like grip. “What’s going on,” he growled out.

“It could be nothing, Raph. Calm-”

“(Y/n)’s phone is off,” Leo snapped his head in Donnie’s direction to find him marching their way. “Last I saw, she was headed East on Michigan Avenue.”

“When?”

“A couple of hours ago-”

“And you didn’t think to wake me!?” Raph released Leo to shake some sense into Donnie. He may have been a genius, but he could be a real dunce sometimes. “What if somethin’ happened to her! Huh!? What then!?”

“I thought-”

“It don’t matter what ya thought, Donnie!” Raph roared, shoving his brother away, causing him to stumble to the ground.

Next thing Raph knew, he and his brothers were topside, rain beating down on them in torrents as they headed East on Michigan, but he didn’t feel the cold. His only thoughts were of you; your scent, your hair, your laugh, that spark in your eye when you were up to something - or angry, now that he thought about it. Point was, if anything happened to you… he would never be able to forgive himself. Heck, he wasn’t sure he would live. You were his sunshine on his darkest days, the one thing he looked forward to most was seeing your smiling face. Not that you knew this, especially after your fight earlier in the day.

One thing he knew for certain, on top of all that, was that he would never deserve you.

He was a monster. Something he proved all too well earlier that day and he wouldn’t be at all surprised if you hated him for it. Even he knew that he blew up for no good reason.

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

You were drenched, and not from the sprinkle of rain that hit you- how long ago was it now? You didn’t know. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. The warm, thick liquid dripped down your temple from the last blow Karai had given you with the butt of her tanto blade. Eyes closed, you let out a groan, head pounding from the memory.

They had left you; the lowly Foot Clan soldiers and Karai, but you knew they’d be back for more. Considering how silent you were about the turtles whereabouts, you basically guaranteed yourself a nice, long torture. Karai just had to go get her ‘tools’, as she called them. Personally, you thought her fists, feet, and tantos were enough.

Opening your eyes, you sought a way to escape. Not that you had any luck so far ridding yourself of the deadly tight ropes tying you to the hard, metal chair you sat in. Still, the thought of escape had you squinting into the darkened room. The only light was when lightning struck in the sky, seeping through the windows close to the ceiling. There were a few open, allowing the booming thunder to roll easily to your ears and rain to drip down the walls. Stacks of boxes surrounded you. If they weren’t too terribly heavy, you might be able to move a stack to create a makeshift staircase to the windows. You wriggled, but it only seemed to tightened the ropes at your wrists and ankles.

With a deep breath you thought of Raph. He was your best friend. If you were to die tonight you hoped he knew you didn’t hate him. Knowing him, that’s exactly what was running through his head. He was so passionate about everything he did. He felt everything so much more than you did, it seemed. Except for maybe one thing; your love for him. Nothing he ever did or said would ever turn your heart away from him. Granted, you did wonder what shot him off this time. He almost never took his anger out on you unless you did something dangerous; like try to follow him on patrol or go through dark alleys or- Well, the list went on. You did like pushing his buttons, but you liked how much he worried over you even more.

The small smile that crept onto your lips faded the moment Karai slammed open the door, making a grand entrance with a wheeled table covered in objects that reflected the bit of light that now lit the room, giving it an almost romantic glow. It was a small fight to stop the laugh that bubbled in your throat.

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

Part 2

#tmnt #raph x reader #donnie #mikey #leo #angst #violence #blood #happy ending #my writing #fanfic #teenage mutant ninja turtles #some words that could be considered spoilers #enjoy!#character death #karai

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chibi-tsukiko · 3 years

Text

A Pressing Matter

A platonic Matthew & Lucie ficlet for @livvyheronstairs who requested the prompt "You're an idiot" "But you love me"

I had a lot of fun with this one. I hope you like it!

Tag list : @legendofconsullightwood @themostawesomehuman @littleturtle95 @tobeornottobetequila @morgnstern @zfoxdraws @bookworm-jedi @magnus-the-maqnificent @banesbitch @fair-but-wilde-child @beclynn-herondale @khaleesiofalicante @my-archerboy @youngreckless @thomaslightwood @runecarstairs @high-warlock-of-brooklyn @itsdaughterofthemoon

The second Lucie had gotten the message, she’d dropped everything she had been doing and sent for a carriage. She had half a mind to ask James to come with her or send word to Cordelia, but she imagined they’d be busy prepping for the wedding. She’d also been instructed to come alone. Not that that’s ever stopped her before.

She has the carriage drop her off a little way from the destination, enjoying the way the crisp air felt against her cheeks. That was nearly ten minutes ago.

Now, she stands shivering, exasperated, and ready to leave. She unfolds the paper in her pocket, reading it again.

Meet me in the town square. Come alone. It’s urgent.

—Matthew.

She slips the paper back in her pocket and cups her gloved hands over her mouth, breathing into them. “Where is he?” she groans.

“Where’s who?” a voice says behind her.

She jumps, throwing her arm out, swinging it in the voice's direction, but it catches her arm.

“Whoa! Easy!”

She turns, “Matthew!” she shouts in surprise.

“Who else?” he smiles

“Where have you been?”

“Where I said I’d be. In the town square.”

She squints at him, “impossible. I’ve been standing here for minutes now. I didn’t see you.”

“Ah yes well, regrettable I didn’t specify which side of town square to meet me on in my note to you.” he admits.

As she processes his statement, she can see now the flushed look on his face. How the winter wind has slapped his cheeks and nose red with cold and how his shoulders heave with every breath from running.

“Mistakes aside! I apologize for making you wait, I am glad you are here.”

“What’s this all about, Matthew?”

“It’s an emergency.”

“An emergency? By the Angel. Should I have called for James?”

“No. Jamie cannot know about this.”

“Are you sure? This seems serious, and he’s your Parabatai.”

“This is serious. And he is my Parabatai and you his sister. But he does not need to know everything. He doesn’t need to know about this.” Matthew grabs Lucie’s hands, holding them in his, “I need your help Lucie, next to Anna you’re the only one I would trust with this. Will you help me?”

Lucie stares, stunned, whether by Matthew's seriousness or that he trusts her so fiercely, she isn’t sure. “Of course.” she answers.

“Wonderful!” Matthew exclaims, turning so she can wrap her arm in his. “Shall we then?”

She takes his arm, and he leads her through the square. Despite the early morning, the plaza is already full of people. Lucie’s concentration is lost in the sea of blurry faces as Matthew weaves in and around the early birds. They finally come to a stop in front of a small shop.

“In here,” Matthew directs, holding the door open for her. She steps in and looks around.

“This is a clothing shop…” she states, confused.

“Back here,” Matthew instructs, moving ahead of her and down towards the back of the shop. He stops suddenly and she nearly bumps into him.

“Well… what do you think?”

“About what?” she asks, moving beside him.

Matthew places a hand on his hip, the other gesturing towards the table in front of him, “Blue? or Green?”

Lucie’s gaze follows his arm to the table, across it lie two vests. A dark navy one, with three brass buttons, and a checkered light blue pattern. Next to it is a rich emerald green one, with four gold buttons, and a floral embroidered pattern on it. She turns to him dumb-founded.

“This?! This is the emergency?!” she shouts, unable to keep her composure.

“Yes!”

“Are you mad? I thought you were in trouble! I was worried!”

“I am in trouble! It’s not every day you throw your Parabatai a bachelor party! I have to look my best!”

Lucie stares at him for a moment, and then she’s laughing, loud, and unashamed. She covers her mouth to quiet the sound, but it’s all in vain.

“Have I said something funny or are you just laughing at my inability to make a decision?” Matthew asks.

Lucie collects herself, wiping at her eyes to dispel the tears that had gathered in the corners, “You’re an idiot” she breathes.

“What?”

“You,” she says looking up at him, her cheeks sore from smiling, “are an idiot.”

Matthew blinks at her, the corners of his mouth twitching, “ah yes, but you love me.” He smiles, pure and bright.

Lucie can’t help, but smile back, “I do. Now,” she turns back towards the table “I’ve always felt that green was your color. Brings out your eyes. But I’ll have to see them on.” She grabs the vests and holds them out towards Matthew. “Well, come on.”

“Splendid!” Matthew beams.

#emmys1k #my writing #matthew fairchild #lucie herondale #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #the last hours #chain of iron #chain of gold #emsfics #emsfic

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mostlysignssomeportents · 3 years

Text

Censorship, Parler and antitrust

As Parler disappears from the Android and Ios app stores and faces being kicked off of Amazon's (and other) clouds, people who worry about monopolized corporate control over speech are divided over What It Means.

There's an obvious, trivial point to be made here: Twitter, Apple and Google are private companies. When they remove speech on the basis of its content, it's censorship, but it's not *government* censorship. It doesn't violate the First Amendment.

And yes, of course it's censorship. They have made a decision about the type and quality of speech they'll permit, and they enforce that decision using the economic, legal and technical tools at their disposal.

If I invited you to my house for dinner and said, "Just so you know, no one is allowed to talk about racism at the table," it would be censorship. If I said "no one is allowed to say racist things at the table," it would also be censorship.

I censor my daughter when I tell her not to swear. I censor other Twitter users when I hide their replies to my posts. I censor commenters on my blog when I delete their replies.

Dress is up as "content removal" or "moderation" if you'd like, but it's obviously censorship.

That's fine. Different social spaces have different rules and norms. I disagree with some censorship and support other censorship. Some speech is illegal (nonconsensual pornography, specific incitements to violence, child sex abuse material) and the government censors it.

Other speech is distasteful or hateful (slurs, insults) and the proprietors of different speech forums censor it. This legal-but-distasteful speech is a mushy, amorphous category.

I'm totally OK with hilarious dunks on the insurrectionists who stormed the capitol. Tell jokes about Holocaust victims and I'll throw you out of my house or block you.

And when I do, you can go to your house and tell Holocaust jokes.

I'm not gonna lie. I don't like the idea of anyone telling Holocaust jokes anywhere. Or rape jokes. Or racist jokes. But I have made my peace with the fact that there are private spaces where that will happen.

I condemn those spaces and their proprietors, but I don't want them to be outlawed.

Which brings me back to Parler. It's true that no one violates the First Amendment (let alone CDA 230) (get serious) when Parler is removed from app stores or kicked off a cloud.

But we have a duopoly of mobile platforms, an oligopoly of cloud providers, a small conspiracy of payment processors. Their choices about who make speak are hugely consequential, and concerted effort by all of them could make some points of view effectively vanish.

This market concentration didn't occur in a vacuum. These vital sectors of the digital economy became as concentrated as they are due to four decades of shameful, bipartisan neglect of antitrust law.

And while failing to enforce antitrust law doesn't violate the First Amendment, it can still lead to government sanctioned incursions on speech.

The remedy for this isn't forcing the platforms to carry objectionable speech.

The remedy is enforcing antitrust so that the censorship policies of two app stores don't carry the force of law; and it's ending the laws (copyright, cybersecurity, etc) that allow these companies to control who can install what on their devices.

https://locusmag.com/2020/01/cory-doctorow-inaction-is-a-form-of-action/

I got into a good discussion of this on a private mailing list this morning and then I adapted them and published them in the public "State of the World 2021" discussion on The WELL.

https://people.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/510/State-of-the-World-2021-page04.html#post82

There are three posts: the first deals with Apple and Google's insistence that they removed Parler because it lacked an effective hate-speech filter. Given that there is no such thing as an effective hate-speech filter, this is obvious bullshit.

The second addresses the fundamental problems of moderation at scale, where you are entrusting a large number of employees to enforce policies against "hate speech."

https://people.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/510/State-of-the-World-2021-page04.html#post83

The biggest problem here is that "almost-hate-speech" is emotionally equivalent to "hate speech" for the people it's directed at. If tech companies specify hate speech, trolls will deploy almost-hate-speech (and goad their targets into crossing the line, then narc them out).

And if tech companies tell moderators to nuke bad speech without defining it, the mods will make stupid, terrible mistakes and users will be thrown into the meat-grinder of the stupid, terrible banhammer appeals process.

The final post asks what Apple and Google should do about Parler?

https://people.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/510/State-of-the-World-2021-page04.html#post84

They should remove it, and tell users, "We removed Parler because we think it is a politically odious attempt to foment violence. Our judgment is subjective and may be wielded against others in future. If you don't like our judgment, you shouldn't use our app store."

I'm 100% OK with that: first, because it is honest; and second, because it invites the question, "How do we switch app stores?"

#pluralistic

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kaypeace21 · 3 years

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People seem to misinterpret what I’ve said in the past about mike “projecting his feelings for Will” on to El. So I’ll clarify.

When I say mike is “projecting his romantic feelings” for Will on to el. That doesn’t mean mike doesn’t care about El (at all) as a friend. Or sees El as Will (that’s not even how projection works -or what I’ve said). Although Mike isn’t perfect, he’s naturally empathetic and grateful for all El has done to help him and his friends. And he does see Will & El as 2 different people- despite the romantic projection. And unlike Will, he sees El in a more familial way- rather than romantic (despite him trying to force it to be romantic) .More on that later.Heck, Mike has already incorrectly projected his NON-ROMANTIC emotions on to 3 other characters other than El (it’s a pattern of his to project his feelings about one person on to another)- which yes I’ll also discuss.

I guess I have to specify what projection is -like i’ve already inferred in prior posts .There’s a difference between projecting “feelings” you have for one person on to another VS thinking those 2 people are literally the same person with no differences between those 2 people/or not acknowledging the unique personal relationships you have with both. This misconception is used as a popular counter-argument/strawman argument -rather than just debating the points i’ve made) . Ex) It’s like if you’re anger at your boss- but you can’t yell at them so you (subconscious or otherwise) are (unfairly) angry/irritable to your romantic partner later. It doesn’t mean you literally think your romantic partner and boss are 1 in the same - or there is no distinction between those 2 relationships. The same goes for how Mike views El and Will, despite “projecting” his “romantic feelings for Will” on to El (although Mike does so poorly).

Mike most likely projects his romantic feelings for Will on to El

In s3) he kisses El with a drawing of Will behind her head -that he can look at as he kisses her ... that should be an obvious hint he’s projecting (subconscious or otherwise) .

That’s Will -light brown hair/bowl cut, has fire powers like ‘Will the wise’.There’s also the fact that multiple characters in s1 mistook El for a boy (specifically Will) . Benny saying to El, “trying to steal from me boy?” Another man at Benny’s place mistook her for Will and said she could be “the byers boy... same height”. Hopper tracked El for most of s1 thinking it was Will. Homophobic Troy who harassed mike / talked about Will being gay said about El “ her head’s shaved she doesn’t even look like a girl”, officer callahan said “what’s Will doing with a shaved head?” The writers of ST are trying to tell you to pay attention to the fact el had a “ boyish /Will-like” appearance (and despite this- Mike was supposedly into her in s1). Then we had s2 byler parallel s3 mileven to show him fail to project his romantic feelings of Will on to el: Crazy together vs blank makes you crazy, , shed scenes: most important thing vs it was the best thing, Will & El calling for mike in the upsidedown (and mike coming for Will only), “they’re not in love they’re not even from the same planet” vs “welcome to my world”, Will having pics of Mike smiling on Halloween looking at him vs El having a pic of Mike glaring on Halloween, mileven paralleled to luke/leia & byler to king tristan/Han, byler paralleled to Venkman/Dana a ghost busters couple vs El just being a ghost and mike a ghost hunter, the s3 fight vs breakup and the various contrasts between all 3 (showing Will upset and El happy - and mike caring more about resolving his fight with Will than El- and never apologizing to El for lying ). I went into more detail here about the parallels between mileven/byer, mileven,stancy,Karen/ted , etc here.

And when he tells El “I can’t lose you again” It’s supposed to be ambiguous-cause Mileven like stobin is a straight bait. The fact is 2 prior times in season 2 (when mike was in the center of the group) he sadly watches Will as Will gets in a car and drives away.

Hinting to the viewer he’s actually thinking and worrying about losing Will (that 3rd time in s2 when he’s talking to El and seeing the cars with El/ Will drive away) . He once again is in the center of the group like the prior 2 scenes. And he already lost Will before and Will (like el) also had a fake d*ath. So yeah...we hear mike tell el that line and mike watches both El and Will leave in cars (and starts to cry) since mike knows that Will (unlike superpowered El) may d*e from his possession and he may never see him again. And it’s not like he can tell Will that line when he’s unconscious/possessed (especially in front of his friends) .

Just like in s2, when mike watches El and Will drive away .... he does so again in s3. And it’s similarly ‘ambiguous’, on who he’s upset seeing drive away. But, Mike turns to looks at the byers house, and tries to catchup with his friends (which has identically framing to an earlier scene in s3 of Will sadly turning to look at mike leave with El and then turning back to rush and catchup with the gang). Will turned around cause of Mike (not El) just like Mike turned around thinking of Will (not El). Just like s2,s3 uses earlier scenes in that particular season to give us hints about who he’s actually sad about driving away .

And in that moving away montage - it only pans to mike and Will .

And has Mike hug his mom in the same way he did in s1. Both represent moments representing him ‘losing Will’ (through his fake d*ath/moving away). Mike both times storms into the house and Karen rushes to him nervous and unsure why he’s upset , but goes into hug him when mike reaches for her (needing comfort). Unlike the mileven hug that’s outside and he doesn’t reach for her at all- she hugged him because she was worried (was he upset -sure but it’s not a parallel to the s3 hug). And they played “we can be heroes” for both hugs - cause both times mike lost Will.

And that s2 car scene where he talked to El (just like the prior s2 car scenes) was indicative of his fear of losing Will (not El). Which happened at the end of s3. It all ties together. Cause again , he was thinking of Will!

They even had several movies on the st list (altered states / children of paradise) have this concept of projecting romantic feelings of someone they’re in love with on to someone else. Altered states -has a guy just like Will hallucinate flashing to another dimension . People say about him and his wife “he’s crazy and she’s crazy about him”. And when they weren’t together she says she had to pretend everyone she dated was him (but that it only made her feel worse cause it wasn’t him) .And she says about doing so “’it’s crazy”. And her friend says “i think that’s how it’s supposed to be.” CAN THEY GET MORE CLEAR with the projection?

Heck, even El projects on to Mike. While mileven is separated between s1-2 she watches the soap opera (’all my children’) and pretends to be Erica kane (who in the episode El was watching) got into a rushed elopement to MIKE ROY (who was a writer).Aka she projected romance from soap operas/her possible crush of MIKE roy onto MIKE wheeler.And Erica/Mike weren’t endgame- even had a lot of st*liking after the break up (similar to El’s spying)

Mileven and Byler are very different- much to Mike’s annoyance. And Mike projects this anger of not being able to love El romantically on to Max,Will, & Hopper.

Mileven and byler are very different even if mike wishes he had romantic feelings for El (like he does for Will). Mileven is paralleled to hopper/el cause mike truly sees her in a familial way- both teach her the definitions of compromise vs promise (and make promises to her), say to eat “real food” and not eggos, keep her hidden away and safe. Both say her new look is “cool” and El in response to both says it’s “bitchin” and both say back “yeah bitchin”. Both claim someone is “corrupting” El (when trying to dictate her romantic decisions ) and Joyce/Max tell both guys they don’t respect El’s ability to make her own “decisions”. And El says to both of them “you lie” while Max says El should figure out what she likes and not simply listen to Hopper and Mike. Also similar to what she does with kali /Max (a sister/friend) El copies expressions from all 4 of them ( bitchin, i make my own rules , not stupid, mouth breather/friends don’t lie). Mileven is also paralleled to Luke/leia, and multiple people say El is like a “sister “ (lucas) and “cousin” (dustin) in s1. Even El asks before he first kisses her if Mike will he be “like (her) bother.”

In s2, Max (with the gang at Will’s house) asks how mike can still trust Will despite being possessed and in s3 max (with the gang at El’s house) calls out mike for not trusting El. “El has saved the world twice. And Mike still doesn’t trust her!”And instead of Mike admitting that truth -that he doesn’t trust El who he doesn’t know well (who spied on him) he projects all the blame/distrust wrongly on to max saying “you want to talk about trust ?REALLY?! After YOU made eleven spy on us!” And when max says it was el’s idea he yells exasperated into Max’s face “guess girlfriends don’t lie they spy!” He shows he’s aggravated with the fact El is so against lying but had no qualms with spying. But only yells at Max (not El) and he even tries (incorrectly) claiming Max is “corrupting” El and making her do things she didn’t want to do . Cause he’s still in denial and wants to fall in love with El- and doesn’t want to see any of El’s flaws that would make it harder to do so ( so he just projects that anger on to max instead).

And we know during the byler fight: Will calls El “stupid” but he was just projecting his own feelings about himself on to EL-since right after this he calls himself “stupid” 4x. So it’s likely when Mike yells back “El’s not stupid. It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” Like Will, It’s AGAIN Mike PROJECTING his insecurities about himself (aka not liking girls) and his relationship issues with El - on to Will. Rather than an actual statement on Will’s se*uality. Sort of like Mike lashing out and projecting his anger about his failing romantic relationship with El on to Max .

The simple fact is el is mike’s safe option (she physically resembles Will but is a girl and thus he’s allowed to be attracted to her- in conservative 80s America). However, we see the more El develops into her own person and differs from Will in personality (plus , the fact puberty is making the distinction between genders more apparent) the harder it is for Mike to fool himself and project.The writers in s3 make a telemarketing joke just to have mike say “el, no, not interested” (aka his true feelings).Mileven in s3 was called “b*llshit” like stancy (which have multiple parallels and weren’t in love ). And nancy admitted to Jonathan (a byers ) she wanted to be with him the whole time. But ,despite that, got back with Steve (and continued to kiss Steve all the time, and even lied saying she loved Steve for an entire year) essentially mileven. Karen /ted also is paralleled to Stancy & mileven- who were “never in love” . Then , Max says friends don’t lie but “boyfriends (mike) LIE all the time” (aka he’s lying about his romantic feelings), and when lucas asks WHY he lied to el -it pans to Will (the real reason he lies to El about his feelings for her). When El asks “why do you lie” (he just is silent and stares up guilty). Lucas says about mileven (right before Dustin says they’re “bullsh*t” that “they’re lying”.And when he tries confessing to El, he never apologizes for lying and just used the similar ‘crazy’ line he used on Will (in s2). Cause if he actually stopped lying - he couldn’t continue to use her as a beard and date her/try and get back together. Plus he also fought with Hopper in s2 (’about El’) in WILL’S ROOM . He wasn’t actually calling Hopper the liar he was PROJECTING and calling himself “a stupid disgusting liar”out of self hate . That scene was foreshadowing his lying to El in s3 (about his feelings for her). He blamed Hopper for his feelings for Will cause he told himself it wouldn’t have escalated if El had been around to ‘fix him’ . “I BLAME YOU! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK. YOU STUPID DISGUSTING liar, liar, liar, liar”.starts crying. And then it zooms to Mike’s crying face and pans to El (who he would lie to constantly the next season).

I also discussed in detail here how the bathroom stobin confession paralleled the mileven grocery confession- and again 1 in each of the couplets is gay. Heck, the “first i love you” plays only 2x in s3: when steve confesses to gay-robin and when el confessed to mike and kisses him and Mike doesn’t kiss back or say he loves her back. When she kisses Mike- it’s in WILL’S ROOM room AGAIN, Will’s old teddybear between them, as they kiss in front of Will open closet door) . in s2ep1 the lyrics are “just a little more time can open closing doors” (as Mike kisses El and it pans over the ‘Will the wise’ drawing & a rainbow-heart-Mike drawing, that blend together). But , In the same ep- when Will says he won’t fall in love the lyrics are “love that is new to you, you open up the door.” Later in the song it even mentions the “wheeler house”. So yes- after “a little more time” (3 months) mike and El kiss once again like ep 1- but it’s in front of Will’s open door and Mike is not feeling it- and it shows what is going to begin in s4 (byler). That after some time- despite the byler-doors appearing to ‘close’ they open up again after the mileven breakup/mike realizing the depth of his feelings and the fact he can’t ‘fix himself’ and be straight.El saying she loved him- and him not feeling any different after... was probably the catalyst for that realization.

Before this, we saw him project “his feelings” for Will on to El in romantic situations. But, he refused to integrate her into his friend group like his straight friends did with their gfs-unlike lucas with max, or how dustin tried to do so with Susie) . Cause he’s unfairly used El as a beard and wanted to compartmentalizes his friends and romance as much as possible (since faking it all the time not only with El-but with his friends would be exhausting).

Does he care about El- sure in his own flawed way. But, sorry (in my opinion) to act like mike” loves Will and El equally “ is kind of ludicrous . His actions show the opposite. And he’s only known El for 9 months as opposed to knowing Will for 9 years. And he’s known all of his other guy friends and the Byers much longer. What do they have in common?Are they friends ? Sure... technically but “friends don’t lie”. And mike has done plenty of that to her - so until they sort that out- and are honest to eachother- they can’t really have a strong foundation of friendship in my opinion. It’ll only improve once they start being honest and respect each other’s autonomy (aka stop dating and actually establish a friendship... and stop lying /spying on eachother). At the moment- Mike stunts El’s character growth and tries isolating her from the outside world, doesn’t respect her autonomy/ability to make decisions, doesn’t trust her in general, lies to her, and treats her like he’s her overly controlling dad. The relationship isn’t balanced or healthy (like byler or Mike and his other peers). In s1 he called her “a weapon” they could use to save Will (a lesson he appears to have learned from).But Max has to yell at Mike in s3 “she’s not yours! she’s her own person-fully capable of making her own decisions!” And EL says Mike treats her like “a pet” and “garbage”. So yeah... I don’t get people being ‘offended’ by me pointing out the romantic projection he does- and saying it supposedly ‘destroys’ the ‘beautiful relationship/friendship’ they have. Before I can consider mileven a “beautiful/loving friendship’: Mike needs to stop projecting and seeing El as a perfect beard to ‘fix him’- AND see El as her own person and NOT someone he needs to ‘take care of’ (cause he wrongly infantilizes her) . I think the 2 will eventually become good friends- and Mike will see he was wrong. But they’re not there yet- in my opinion.

#byler #byeler #anti mileven

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cherryskyies · 4 years

Text

Fred Weasley x Fem! Reader

Genre: Fluff, a little angst

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: Swearing

Main Masterlist

Summary: You and Fred are best friends. Recently, you pulled a risky prank together that’s bound to come back and bite you in the ass but you two could care less. In potions, you and Fred are partnered together to make Amortentia and both of you refuse to share what you smelt.

I suck at summaries LmAo

“5 points from Slytherin and Gryffindor. I can’t believe you made me take points away from my own house.” Snape said, disgust evident in his tone. “Both of you, detention. 8pm sharp.”

You should be embarrassed and sad over house points being taken away but you could care less at the moment. You and Fred had just pulled a prank on a few of the teachers by knocking on all the doors and running before you could get caught. Sure, they'd probably figure out it was you two but who cares.

"Do you think they'll figure out it was us?" Fred asked, done laughing while a smile forms on his lips.

"Probably, but who cares." You said, giggling quietly. "I hope we don't though. I'm not a fan of serving detention for every teacher."

You felt Fred shudder beside you. "Especially Umbridge."

Your eyes widened. You completely forgot about Umbridge and how horrible her punishments were. "Don't remind me."

"Don't worry, (Y/N). We won't get caught." Fred reassured, but you could tell he wasn't so sure himself. The prank you two pulled was a reckless one. You were bound to get caught.

You replied with a nervous laugh. 'Yeah, we're definitely fucked.'

"Looks like we're partners, Freddy." You said, pulling the cauldron forward and taking out your potion book. "Do your best not to explode this in our faces like last time."

"I would never." He responded, adding a smile as if it was any help. "So, first we add peppermint, right?" He asked, looking from the peppermint to you back to the peppermint.

"And suddenly I've lost all faith that this won't explode on us." You said, gently placing your hand on his and pushing it down and away from the cauldron. "Put the peppermint away, Weasley." You warned, flashing him a smile that made his heart flutter.

"Yes, love." It slipped out. His face flushed and he wanted nothing more than to disappear but you didn't seem to mind, easing him a bit.

"Okay, can you hand me the stir stick thing please?" You asked, not looking up from the potion under you. It would be a lie if you said him calling you 'love' didn't make your stomach burst into a frenzy of butterflies. 'Calm down (Y/N)'

He handed you the stirring stick and watched as you carefully stirred it 3 times clockwise and 4 times counterclockwise. "We did it!" You exclaimed, bringing Fred out of his trance. Your excited eyes met his, "We did it."

You handed him the potions to smell first. Books, rosemary, and a hint of lavender is what he smelt. It was you. Though, he already knew what to expect from the amortentia. He's been in love with you since 1st year.

He handed it back to you, his face pink. "Your turn."

"Well, what did you smell Fred?" You asked, slightly hoping it was you. But, you knew better than to think he'd ever like you back.

His face turned an even darker shade of pink. "None of your business! Now, you smell it and if you tell me what you smell I might tell you what I did."

You grumbled, sitting back into your chair with a pout and mumbling a quiet "Fine."

Firewood, mint, and candy invaded your senses. 'Fred' you thought. You knew it was going to be him.

Quickly, you sat the potion down. Refusing to make eye contact with the ginger next to you. "Fair game Weasley. You win because I'm not telling you mine either." You said, bottling the potion so you could turn it into the professor.

He pouted. He really wanted to know what you smelt. Perhaps it was him? 'Oh god what if it was George? Or Draco!?' He had to stop himself or he'd list a million people.

"Tell me at least one? I'll tell you one in return!" He begged. Yes, begged. Fred was desperate to know.

You rolled your eyes, it didn't seem like too bad of an idea. "Fine. One thing I smelt was candy." You said, sighing. "Your turn."

"One thing I smelt was rosemary." He said, trying to act confident. "What's another one you smelt? I'll go first this time!"

You nodded. What's the worst that could happen?

"The second thing I smelt was Lavender." He said quietly. His confident act was breaking and he started to wonder why he thought this was a good idea.

"Mine was firewood. That's the last one I'm sharing though." You said. If he were to keep asking he'd definitely find out it was him and you were not ready for him to know.

"Rude."

"Anyway, you want to go to dinner now?" You asked, noticing it was almost time for dinner to start.

He nodded, "Yes ma'am."

You two had to separate ways once you reached the Great Hall. Fred left for the Gryffindor table and you left for the Slytherin one.

Most of the Slytherins didn't mind you, but they also didn't befriend you.

"Hey, (Y/N)." You heard a student from behind you say.

You turned around and saw a Hufflepuff standing confidently. "Hello?" You asked, not trying to sound rude.

"I'm Cedric! A Hufflepuff as you can see." He said, motioning towards his robes. "I came over to ask if you wanted to go on a date later?"

'How do I nicely reject him?'

Fred, overhearing the conversation between you and the Hufflepuff, snapped his head in your direction eager to hear your answer. 'Please say no, please say no.' He thought, over and over.

"I um, you seem like a really nice guy Cedric, but I'm interested in someone else at the moment. I'm really sorry." You said, feeling extremely bad. Saying yes would only be leading him on and you didn't want to do that.

"It's fine. Thank you for being nice about it and not embarrassing me or anything." He said before walking back to his house table.

Meanwhile, Fred was relieved. He still had a chance with you.

Dinner was over and everyone was leaving to their room or their friends room.

"(Y/N)!" You heard a familiar voice yell.

"Fred!" You yelled back.

"What did that Hufflepuff want earlier?" He asked. He already knew the answer but he didn't want you to know he was listening in on your conversation.

You shrugged, "He asked me on a date. I said no though, he seems like a nice guy and all but I'm interested in someone else."

"Who's the other guy?" Fred asked, poking your shoulder and raising his eyebrows at you.

"None of your business Weasley. That's who."

"Sure, we both know I'll find out eventually. "

"I hope not." You mumbled underneath your breath.

"What was that?" He said, teasing you.

"Nothing!" You exclaimed. You didn't expect him to hear you.

"Fred Weasley, (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Come with me." It was Umbridge who spoke, making your blood run cold.

"Yes ma'am." You and Fred said at the same time, giving each other the 'this is not good' look.

She opened her door, revealing a decent sized office with a pink rug and two chairs in front of a wooden desk.

"I know it was you two who pulled the pranks earlier. "

You froze, when you got in trouble with Umbridge the punishment was by far the worst.

"It was just me who pulled all of the pranks." You said quickly, ignoring the wide eye look Fred gave you.

Umbridge leaned back in her chair looking unimpressed. "Really? Then why was Mr. Weasley here late to class with you?"

'Quick (Y/N), think!'

"He slept in today and saw me walking back to potions so he joined me. He had no part in the pranks." You replied, looking her dead in the eyes.

"Is this true, Weasley?"

'Don't mess this up Fred.'

After a moment of silence, he nodded. "Yes, I slept in this morning and when I was on my way to potions I saw her walking there and joined her."

Umbridge nodded, "Very well. You may leave Weasley. (Y/L/N), stay here."

Once Fred left she handed you a quill. The same quill you had heard the horror stories about. "Write 'I will not pull pranks'."

She did not specify how many times, instead she ushered me to start and worked on school papers.

The pain was horrible. I wrote it 113 times. The words 'I will not pull pranks' was carved into my skin 113 times. The only reason she dismissed me is because blood was close to falling on her pink rug.

"You may leave now. Do not get any of your dirty blood on my rug either." She said, not looking up from her work.

"Yes ma'am." I barely whispered, clutching my hand to my chest.

I left her room, blood getting on my clothes. I knew I couldn't go to the Slytherin dorm because we had nothing to wrap and clean my hand with. My only option was to find Harmione and hopefully get her to help.

The walk to the Gryffindor rooms felt like walking a marathon. I lost a lot of blood and was starting to get hot and sweaty.

"Fairy lights. " You whispered the password so no one else would hear you. You spent more time in the Gryffindor house than you did in the Slytherin so of course you had the password.

"Harmione!" You said, catching her attention. She was sitting on the common room couch, studying, per usual. "Do you think you could help me?" You asked, showing her your hand and arm covered in bloody words.

She gasped, "Merlin! What happened to you (Y/N)!?" She yelled, attracting more attention than you wanted. She was examining your arm when you heard another gasp.

This time, it was Fred. "This was Umbridge, wasn't it?" He asked, mad at himself for letting you take the blame and mad at Umbridge for hurting you.

You nodded, ashamed he was seeing you in such a state.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you take the blame. This is all my fault." He cried, pulling you from Hermione gently. "I can take care of her, Harmione."

Harmione nodded, understanding what was happening and left to give the two some privacy.

"I'm so so sorry (Y/N)." He said, continuing to cry with you in his arms.

"Hey, hey It's not your fault, Fred. I knowingly put myself in this position so I could save you." You said, pulling away from him and meeting his eyes. "It doesn't hurt too bad anymore anyway." You said, smiling as you placed your thumb on Fred's cheek.

He looked into your eyes for a moment, searching them. For what? You weren't sure. That is until he kissed you.

He placed his lips on your softly, giving you enough time to pull away if you wanted to. When you didn't, he went ahead and deepened the kiss, placing his hands firmly on your waist as you placed your arms around his neck.

You were the first to pull away. Your lungs were screaming for oxygen and you were sure Fred's were as well.

"It was you I smelt in my Amortentia." Fred mumbled, placing his forehead against your own.

You laughed. "I smelt you in mine too."

Nothing could be better than this moment.

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manndo · 3 years

Text

the name game [rafael barba x reader]

pairing[s]: rafael barba x reader

warning[s]: pregnancy (not completley sure this is a warning, but just in case), fluff with a hint of angst (but only for like a minute, i promise)

word count: 1.3k

prompt[s]: none.

summary: you and rafael are trying to come up with a name for your bundle of joy. however, it isn’t easy as the two of you thought it would be.

author’s notes: wow. it has been a loooong time since i written for barba. but, i wanted to write and so i was going through my half finished fics and this one just stuck out to me. so, here it is -- a fluffy little piece with our favorite ada. ☺️ any and all mistakes are mine. feel free to like/reblog/comment if you like it. feedback is always appreciate. ❤️enjoy!

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

“Judith?”

“Really?”

Rafael shrugged. You snorted. “Judith Catalina Barba,” you commented, letting the possible name roll off your tongue and settle for a moment. Now, it was your turn to shrug. “Eh, it isn’t terrible,” you surmised, looking over to Rafael, whose nose was buried in The Big Book of 60,000 Baby Names as he sat nestled in the corner of the couch. You were nestled in the other corner, your legs splayed out across the couch, ankles coming to rest on Rafael’s thighs. “But, I’m not too keen on the nickname Judy. Sounds like an eighty-year-old grandmother’s name,” you added, looking back to the list of baby names you’d pulled up on your phone. “What about Natasha?”

“Eh,” Rafael muttered, not taking his eyes away from the book. That was a hard no from him.

You mulled over the name, pondering if you cared enough to fight for it. You didn’t. A heavy sigh escaped your lips.

This had been going on for weeks now; Rafael would mention one name, you’d disagree, so you’d counter with another, and he would disagree.The only thing you agreed on was Catalina for a middle name if your baby was a girl. The two of you hadn’t even discussed potential middle names for a boy.

“What if we look at more unconventional names?”

Rafael glanced up from his book, his emerald eyes peering at you over the rim of his glasses. “I’m not naming my kid Orange or Apple.”

You rolled your eyes and pressed a few keys on your phone. “I’m not talking that unconventional,” you specified, clicking open a different baby name website on your phone. “Maybe something like, I don’t know, Luna,” you offered, your eyes skimming the website you opened. “Oh hey, what about Levi or Maddox for a boy?” You looked up from your phone, eyes gleaming with hope. It was dashed quickly when you saw the incredulous look in Rafael’s eye. “Oh come on,” you huffed, a pout pulling at your lips, “they aren’t that bad. I think Levi is kinda cute,” you finished, mumbling out the last bit as you looked back to your phone.

“Levi Barba,” he said, trying out the name. You didn’t have to see his face to know he didn’t like how it sounded.

“Levi Rafael Barba,” you repeated, adding his name into the middle. You chanced a glance at Rafael, and caught him looking up at you from behind his book.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Rafael?”

You nodded, shifting in your half sitting, half slouching position on the corner of your couch. “Why not?”

“What about your—”

“I’m not too keen on the name Harold as a middle name,” you interrupted. “I mean, I loved my grandfather, but I don’t really want to give my child that name. And my father, well, that’s out of the question,” you muttered, not having to explain to Rafael about your nonexistent father; you both knew that pain all too well.

You watched Rafael swallow as he set down the book upside down on his lap, marking his page. “I mean — are you sure?”

A frown pulled at your lips as you sat up a bit straighter. “Do you not want—”

“No, it’s fine,” he interrupted, but you could tell it wasn’t fine. It made your stomach turn into knots. “I’m just — what if I fail him?” he whispered, voice slightly shaky. “And, he’s stuck with my name?”

You felt your heart drop into your stomach at Rafael’s words. “Rafael,” you called softly, shifting yourself to sit up as best you could in your state. “You’re not going to fail our child,” you started, and he looked up to you. You could see worry reflected in his emerald eyes. “In the three years we’ve been together, you haven’t failed me.” Rafael snorted in disbelief. “You haven’t failed me,” you repeated again, this time with more conviction in your voice than before. It seemed to startle him, and you continued. “Sure, did we have problems when we first started dating? Absolutely. Were there times when you missed planned dinners or gatherings because of work? Or, didn’t call me when you said you would? Yes, there were,” you admitted, remembering the difficulties that occurred in the beginning of your relationship. It had been a long time since Rafael had been in a relationship, and it took a while for him to get reacquainted with being in one (though, you weren’t perfect either, and made mistakes and missteps in your relationship). “But, you didn’t fail me, Rafael. Sure, was I disappointed when you missed those dates, or phone calls? Yes, but I believed in you, in us, early on, Rafael. I knew there would be ups and downs, that we’d make mistakes and have fights, but you didn’t fail me, and you’re not going to fail our child. Our boy is going to be proud to have your name, do you understand me?”

Rafael looked at you, a few tear glistening in his eyes, and smiled softly. “Sometimes, I think you should have been a lawyer,” he said, and you let out a choked chuckle as you wiped at your own wet eyes.

“I don’t think both of our egos could fit in this apartment if we were both lawyers.”

Rafael raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying I have a big ego?”

“Absolutely,” you said, a large grin on your face as you returned to your original position on the couch and focused your attention back to the website on your phone. Rafael chuckled, shaking his head, but didn’t disagree with you (he knew you were right). “Now that we have middle names settled, let’s get back to finding first names.”

“We do have some time, mi amor. We could try again later.”

You looked up from your phone, an unamused look on your face. “Rafi,” you started, voice flat and stern, “I am almost eight months pregnant. We don’t have time. So.” You pointed to the book on Rafael’s lap. “Get back to work, papi.”

You looked back down to your phone. “Mi amor—”

“Rafael Barba,” you started, not looking up from your phone, “do not test me or else I will name this child Apple.” Your voice was calm, but it was clear from your tone that you might actually be serious. There was a moment a silence, and you wondered if you’d have to follow through on your threat (which you really didn’t want to do). But then, you heard Rafael sigh, and some shuffling as he picked up the book he’d had in lap. You smiled at your phone, and settled further into the couch, letting yourself get quite comfortable. It was going to be a long day.

----------

A month later, and almost 18 hours of labor, you were holding your precious little boy. And, you couldn’t stop smiling, but neither could Rafael.

“He’s beautiful,” you whispered, reaching out your forefinger to brush it against his tiny little fingers (you had already checked that he had all ten fingers and all ten toes, of course).

“He is,” Rafael agreed. “Just like his papá.”

You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t help the soft chuckle that escaped your lips. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t have the ego that his papá has,” you muttered at your little boy, who was looking back at you with his wide, bright emerald eyes. You glanced back up at Rafael. “Not sure I could handle two massive egos.”

Rafael let out a soft chuckle, and reached out, brushing a few strands of hair from your forehead. “I’d beg to differ, mi amor,” he mumbled before he carefully leaned forward and pressed the softest of kisses to your forehead. “But I think,” he started as he pulled back, and looked down at his son, “he’ll be more like his wonderful mamá.”

You looked back to your beautiful boy. “Well, whoever he ends up taking after, he’ll always be his mamá and papá's perfect little boy,” you said, pulling him a little closer to your chest. “Won’t you, Javier, hm?” You received a yawn, those emerald eyes falling closed, and you felt your heart grow a little bigger, if that was even possible.

“Always,” Rafael whispered in agreement.

#rafael barba #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba imagines #rafael barba imagine #rafael barba x you #rafael barba x oc #rafael barba fanfic #svu imagine #svu imagines #my writing

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fyeahsharonrooney · 3 years

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'Finding Alice' star Sharon Rooney on silencing the social media bullies and why her granny was her greatest inspiration (Sunday Post, 17.1.21)

'...Fire up social media on your phone and within moments you’re free to interact with a world full of people. Holiday photos from your cousin in New Zealand? Click like!

Your pal’s video of a Yorkshire terrier that sounds like Brian Blessed? Hit retweet! Don’t like the way someone looks? Tell them to lose some weight!

Hang on, that last one is probably a bit rude. You wouldn’t wander up to a stranger in the street and casually advise them to give the sweeties a miss, not unless you were desperately craving a sore face.

Yet that kindly advice is precisely what someone like Sharon Rooney is offered when she logs into sites such as Instagram.

Sharon, who starred in Disney’s recent live action Dumbo remake, E4’s My Mad Fat Diary and hit sitcom Two Doors Down has endured her fair share of trolling.

“It’s the unsolicited medical advice I enjoy,” she laughed. “Telling me not to eat jellybeans. Thanks!

“I learned quite quickly people will pick apart anything. They will find something. Even if I was five sizes smaller, someone will tell me I looked better before. You’ll never please everyone.

“There’s a lovely mute button now. If someone writes something rude I just quietly say ‘Shhh’ to them.

“With My Mad Fat Diary I’m already saying, ‘Hello, I am fat human’. What can they say?

“I have eyes, I know what I look like and I’m fine with that. Sorry if you’re not. I’m doing OK, so please don’t worry about me.”

Sharon, 32, is doing more than OK though, which you’ll see if you tune into new ITV drama Finding Alice tonight.

She stars opposite Keeley Hawes and it’s a role that saw Sharon cross the Bodyguard star’s name off a special list.

“I’ll let you into a secret. Every actor has a dream list of people they’d love to work with and Keeley was on mine,” she said.

“I told Keeley. She just rolled her eyes and told me to shut up.

“Why would you not want to work with her? She’s fantastic in everything she does.

“Keeley’s everything I thought she would be. Whe’s one of a kind. A special human being. Look, Keeley’s not paying me to say this! Maybe she should…?”

Praising a colleague is, of course, second nature to an actor. There’s a reason they call them luvvies; plus you don’t want to end up working with someone you’ve bad-mouthed on a project in a year’s time, do you?

This isn’t merely empty platitudes for a thespian pal. Sharon’s praise is warm, generous and genuine. It’s how she herself comes across, along with a dash of wry humour.

Perhaps it’s the influence of her late granny, who Sharon describes as her soulmate.

“This sounds so cheesy but she truly was,” she added. “You know you get one human who you just chime with? I just loved her. We were two old souls.

“She taught me so much. I think grannies have that magic where they teach you to deal with life after they’re gone. I just enjoyed every minute I had with her.”

The pain and sadness we’ve all experienced over the past year, along with the forced holiday she’s had to take with being locked down, has let Sharon think about the grief she felt when her gran died.

“Even if you’re preparing for a death I don’t think it’s any easier than if it’s unexpected,” she said.

“When it is unexpected, like the way Harry dies in Finding Alice, you’re left reeling from it for so long before you can take in what’s happened.

“With Nicola, the character I play, the initial shock has happened. Her big brother has died. So how do you move forward? Grief itself is such a complicated thing. There’s no guide book. When you feel sad, you feel sad.

“Grief sneaks up on you. You think you’re fine then it appears with a ‘Hiya!’

“I still get it. I’ll think I can’t wait to show my gran something before going, ‘Oh yeah’.

“My gran spoke about it before she died. We were talking about how thinking of someone after they’ve died is like ringing a bell for them.

“She said, ‘Don’t think of me too much, hen – I’ll get no rest.’”

(Sharon Rooney as Miss Atlantis with co-star DeObia Oparei in Tim Burton’s Dumbo)

Happily, Sharon brought her sardonic and garrulous Glaswegian spirit to the set of Dumbo, in which Sharon appeared alongside Hollywood legend Danny DeVito.

“You forget they’re still humans, which is easy to do when you’re standing in front of Danny DeVito. All I could think was that this was Danny DeVito. Has anyone told him?

“You just talk on set. Gab, gab, gab. That’s all we did. I was shouting over to Tim to ask for two minutes so Danny could finish his story.

“That’s Tim Burton, by the way. Listen to me, I just call him Tim now.”

Casting for a Disney blockbuster like Dumbo was straightforward, although it did come with an ironclad ban from telling her friends about the project until it was announced.

My Mad Fat Diary focused on the plus-sized character Sharon played but, since then, the roles she’s taken don’t normally specify anything about her character’s weight.

“A lot of parts I go for don’t say the character must be plus-size or look a certain way,” she said.

“I’ve only been doing this for eight years or so but for me it’s never been an issue but I know for some it has been.

“It’s about owning who you are. I realise that’s difficult because of social media. What I try to do is take jobs with people who are authentic characters.

“If it does specify a plus-size actor then my response is to ask why. Let’s investigate this.

“These days – well, before the pandemic – I would go to auditions and the room would be filled with so many different people, which I love. The room isn’t filled with girls who all look the same.

“And I love seeing a role that I didn’t get go to someone completely different to me. Well, I don’t love it because then I’ve not got the role, but it’s still nice to see.”

(The cast of Finding Alice © Joss Barratt)

A closeness with her other granny (the pair are bubbled up) has developed during the lockdowns of the past year, from which Sharon has taken heart.

Other than that she’s been enjoying her break ahead of Finding Alice’s release, as well as browsing social media.

Although these days she’s a lot wiser in how she does it; retaining the enjoyment with the help of that handy mute button.

“I used to follow every celebrity and every celebrity magazine,” added Sharon. “But it just made me doubt myself. I’d go to post a video then I’d wonder if I should put more make-up on first.

“I’ve stopped doing that. On Twitter these days I post videos where I’ve just woken up.

“I mean if you do post a video where you look great and have all your make-up on, then great, but I don’t know how you do it! I look forward to my no-make-up days.

“Oh you should see the state of me. I live in loungewear now. I put on jeans the other day. What are these things? What is this material we wear? These are awful!”

Finally, some feedback with which we can all agree...' X

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writing-of-a-british-bitch · 3 years

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Blame Me - Chapter 5

Fandom: The Walking Dead

Specified gender: Female

Word Count: 12K

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x reader,

TW: Canon typical violence, canon divergence, gore, murder, mention of past child death, mention of major character death (OC), Daryl and Aaron bonding time, Daryl and y/n bonding time, major character death

Genre: Horror ig?

Series: Blame Me

Requests: CLOSED

Masterlist

A/N: Okay, this is probably my least favourite chapter, but I can’t wait to write the next chapters. Chapter 6 and 7 are gonna be painful y’all so good luck. Enjoy!

Daryl was quiet, Beth noticed. He was always quiet, but not like this. He hadn't been like this since after he'd lost his girl. Not that anyone knew that except for his asshole older brother. Beth was worried, about everyone, but right now, she was worried for Daryl most of all. Any time he did open his mouth, something sarcastic, cold or cynical came out. It wasn't like him. Maybe in the early days, but definitely not now. He couldn't stop thinking about everyone they'd lost. Not just at the prison, everyone they'd lost along the way. Even who he'd lost before. He didn't have much to lose before, but the people he had, were everything. She was everything. But she was gone. Probably dead. He was just holding out hope on another pipe dream. But even despite that, he couldn't bring himself to remove his ring. The cool metal almost burnt his skin whenever he thought about her, or anyone else he'd lost. Like a reminder of his failure. Since the prison had fallen, every day with Beth felt like a blur.

He shouldn't dwell on it, he knew that, but he couldn't help but wonder how many people died. How many people got out. If anyone other than him and Beth did. Part of him thought that it didn't matter. Hershel was dead because he didn't kill the Governor when he had the chance. He owed it to the vet to protect his daughter. And somehow, that had ended up with them in some old shed, something similar to what he and Merle would have lived in once upon a time, in the middle of the woods. Somehow, he'd ended up playing a dumb game, like some damn teenagers. At least Beth wasn't too far off. He took a sip of the moonshine as she started explaining, clearly slightly tipsy from her first-ever drink.

"So first, I say something I've never done and if you have done it, you drink, and if you haven't, I drink. Then we switch. You really don't know this game?" Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise, not deterred by his so-called "intimidating" stare. Daryl moved the hand that was in front of his face, shifting his position slightly.

"I never needed a game to get lit before."

"Wait, are we startin'?" She asked, and while her face stayed the same, Daryl picked up on the teasing lilt in her voice, eyes shining slightly.

"How do you know this game?" He questioned, using his pinky to point at her

"My friends played. I watched," She shifted slightly before lightly shaking her head "Okay, I'll start. I've never shot a crossbow. So now you drink."

Daryl reached forward to the glass of water and lifted it to his mouth, looking just as unamused as before "Ain't much of a game."

"That was a warm-up. Now you go," Beth insisted but Daryl just stared back at her for a second, shrugging.

"I don't know."

"Just say the first thing that pops into your head," She shot back with a small smile. Plenty of things popped into his head, but they were too personal to share with Beth. Too much about his girl. He didn't know if he was ready to tell her yet. Daryl knew Beth wouldn't care, not really, but just thinking about her made his brain and chest hurt. An aching he couldn't get rid of.

"I've never been out of Georgia," Was the answer he settled on. He was gonna leave Georgia, right after his hunting trip. Leave early, fly to South Carolina and surprise (Y/N) and her ma. But it never happened. Dead made sure of that. Beth's eyebrows rose slightly. He was an outdoorsy guy, a hunter. She thought he'd have been all over.

"Really? Okay, good one. I've never... been drunk and did somethin' I regretted," She stated after taking a sip of her drink. Beth knew she was starting to push the line slightly. Knew his fuse was slightly shorter after the prison. But he didn't bat an eye, just reached forward and had a drink.

"I've done a lot of things," He replied, keeping his gaze on the table. Yeah, like leave his girl behind. Didn't even go looking. What kind of husband didn't even try to find his wife when the world ended? "I never been on vacation."

"What about campin'?" Beth questioned but Daryl shook his head immediately.

"No, that was just something I had to learn to hunt," Because, his family were shitty people, and didn't even think to go looking when he went missing as a kid. Not that he added that.

"Your dad teach you?" She asked, and she knew that the line was getting toed here. She'd never asked about his dad, but from interactions she'd overheard with Daryl and Rick, sometimes Carol or even Carl, their relationship hadn't been pretty. Daryl released a hum of agreement.

"Alright... never have I ever been in love," Beth said, and she saw Daryl's eyes flicker down to the ring she still wore from when she was still with Jimmy. She didn't really expect much, but it was the only thing that came to mind. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, bristling at the implication behind her words, and he found himself spinning his own ring with his thumb, absentmindedly.

"The hell ya implyin'" He snapped, eyes narrowing slightly, and Beth looked slightly alarmed by how defensive he got and how quickly. She'd seen his explosive temper before but she'd never been at the brunt of it. But Daryl didn't back down, even as she showed him her scared eyes. The damn girl had no right prying. He'd played her stupid ass game, given her some stupid ass answers. But then, he swore he saw (Y/N) in the corner, giving him that disapproving look that made him swallow any anger he'd had right up, and he looked to the floor, taking a second to breathe.

"Ya ain't ever been in love?" It was clear Daryl was asking about Jimmy and Zach. His brain wandered to Zach, asking him every day without fail about what he did before the apocalypse; getting bitten on the way out of that store; getting crushed by the helicopter. Having to deliver the news to beth, who didn't even react.

"I loved Jimmy sure, but I wasn't in love with him. Zach neither. Meant a lot to me, both of 'em but, never loved 'em like that. I only married Jimmy because I thought we were the last ones left," Beth explained, and to anyone else, it would have sounded cold. But Daryl understood. This world did weird shit to your brain, and it didn't surprise him that she'd latched to Zach and Jimmy. While he was thinking, Beth watched his expression. She noticed the look of despair that crossed his face quickly, and how it hardened a second after. And finally, after over a year of them being in the group together, she saw his ring, as he brought his arm to rest on his knee so his other hand could twirl it. He hadn't even noticed he'd done it. He bit his lip, deep in thought, before he looked up and saw Beth's expectant eyes.

"Did you have to kill her?" If that didn't get under his skin he didn't know what would. No disapproving look from his not-there wife could stop the rage bubbling in his chest. It boiled up his neck, to his face and he just knew he'd gone slightly red. Almost immediately, he saw regret on Beth's as he stood up.

"I'm going to take a piss," Daryl snarled, picking up one of the empty jars on the table and smashing it as he made his way over to the corner of the room. He heard Beth's breath hitch in a suppressed gasp of surprise.

"You have to be quiet!" Beth hissed, and that only pissed him off more. He knew there were walkers outside, knew he was being stupid, but she'd started prying. Drunk or not, she'd gone too far and he'd had enough.

"Can't hear ya! 'M taking a piss!" He yelled back, to which Beth shot back some response about being quiet, as he unzipped and started doing his business "What, are ya ma chaperone now?"

Daryl zipped himself back up but didn't bother to do his belt up, and it clanked against his button. He knew this would be a good place to drop it since she had gone silent, but she'd taken a dig at him. One way too personal. One that involved his family. One she had no business in. So he whirled around, voice much louder than it should have been.

"Oh, wait. It's my turn, right? I've never-never eaten frozen yoghurt. Never had a pet pony. Never got nothin' from Santa Claus," He slammed his hand against the cluttered table he stood next to, as the emotions that had built up over the past few days finally poured out. Beth looked scared, but there was anger dwelling behind her eyes too "Never relied on anyone for protection before. Hell, I don't think I've ever relied on anyone for anything."

Daryl had started pacing, and he narrowed in on the blonde, tone sharp and cold. He knew he was lying at that point. True, he'd never relied on anyone for protection. But he'd relied on his girl for so much that he didn't even know where that list started or ended. She just swam in his head, and she could see those disapproving eyes again. Normally they were directed at Merle, but now they were directed to him, real or not, it stung being at the end of her contempt. And that only pushed him over the edge. Beth tried to stop him with a call of his name, but now he'd begun there was little that would stop him.

"Never sung out in front of a big group out in public like everythin' was fun. Like everything was a big game. Never got to say goodbye to ma wife. Never got to know if she was alive, dead, turned, murdered. I sure as hell never cut my wrists looking for attention," Beth didn't flinch when he brought up her failed suicide attempt. But when he mentioned (Y/N), that sad look was there again, and the anger in her eyes faded.

Daryl hadn't meant to say it, but he was so furious, so sad, so frustrated, so mad at the world, that it had slipped out, in a rare moment of vulnerability. He sprung the walls back up as soon as he'd let them down.

A crashing at the door and the growling of walkers made his head snap to the door, so fast he swore it should have snapped. And he couldn't stop. The seething, burning feeling was eating him up.

"Oh, sounds like our friend out there is trying to call his buddies," He tripped over the pans and pots and various other shit on the floor, making way too much noise. If he wasn't so angry, he would be cursing himself out now. He was sure he'd do that later.

"Daryl, just shut up," Beth begged through gritted teeth, but Daryl just turned around and pointing, a sharp smile playing on his lips. If Merle were here, he'd tell him he looked just like their Daddy. And he did, as much as he hated it. If his girl were here, she would be screaming at him. by now. She would have stopped him by now. But they were both gone. Just like everyone else.

"Hey, you never shot a crossbow before? I'm gonna teach you right now. Come on," Before he'd fully processed what he was doing, Daryl had grabbed Beth's arm, dragging her to the door and kicking it open. "It's gonna be fun."

"We should stay inside! Daryl, cut it out! Daryl!" She protested, screaming out as she tried to fight out of her grip but he wouldn't let her go.

"Dumbass. Come here, dumbass," Daryl whistled and the walker stumbled over, before he put a bolt in its shoulder, pinning it to the tree behind it. "You wanna shoot?"

"Daryl, I don't know how!" She exclaimed, fighting as Daryl pulled her in front of him, holding her in place with one hand as he got ready to shoot with the other.

"Oh, it's easier. Right corner," A bolt landed in the walker's leg and Beth finally broke free, turning around to face the redneck as he stepped away slightly, so he could pull the string back into place.

"C'mon it's fun," He was being fueled by unbridled rage and adrenaline now. A tiny voice in the back of his mind, that sounded suspiciously like Rick told him he'd regret this later but he pushed it away. Instead, he pulled Beth back into the previous position and shot the walker right where it's dead, rotting heart was.

"Kill it!" Daryl let go again as he stormed ahead to the walker.

"Come here, Greene. Let's pull these out. Get a little more target practice," Beth had decided that was enough, and with an annoyed huff, she sped ahead of Daryl to plant her knife into the walker's forehead "What the hell you do that for? We was having fun."

"No! You were being a jackass! If someone found your wife-" She growled back, and Daryl's glare burned into her but it didn't deter her, even as he got right into her face.

"Don't. That ain't remotely the same," Daryl shot back, rage burning through every vein, every organ, every muscle. But Beth knew she'd gotten to him, even if it was just a little bit.

"Killin' them ain't supposed to be fun!" She said, her own eyebrows coming into a glare and Daryl stepped even closer.

"What do ya want from me, girl?"

"I want you to stop acting like you don't give a crap about anythin'! Like nothin', we went through matters. Like none of the people we lost meant anythin' to you. It's bullshit!" Beth finally yelled back, frustration making tears build behind her eyes but that only seemed to rile Daryl up more, even if it had been toned down. Didn't give a shit? She really thought he didn't care? He'd damn near died for his people. He'd killed for his people and she thought he didn't give a shit?

"Is that what you think? Huh?" The only thing he could think as he heard himself were the words he'd said to his brother years ago, that was coming back to bite him in the ass. You really are our Daddy's son.

"That's what I know," Her words were instant, and Daryl could tell from her tone that they'd been building up for a while. But his mouth moved before his brain could fully process the thought.

"You don't know nothin'," He hissed, looking away for a second, as his voice wavered slightly.

"I know you look at me and you just see another dead girl. I'm not Michonne. I'm not Carol. I'm not Maggie. I've survived and you don't get it 'cause I'm not like you or them. But I made it and you don't get to treat me like crap just because you're afraid," Hell, if that didn't make him stop. His chest heaved as she spoke, his body taking a moment to recover from the anger that had made him shake. Been a while since he'd been that pissed off. But those final words, made his eyes narrow again, just as they'd softened.

"I ain't afraid of nothin'," Daryl stated, leaning in again. Beth had a look in her eye, telling him she didn't believe him. And she was right. He was scared every damn day. Every single damn time he thinks he's the most scared he'll ever be, some new herd, some new asshole, some new loss takes its place.

"I remember. When that little girl came out of the barn after my mom. You were like me," Daryl couldn't meet her eyes. He had been like her once. When he left for a hunting trip he never came back from. Then, he got stuck with his piece of shit older brother and became that asshole again. Then his brother was gone, and he had a new family. He wasn't who he had been with (Y/N), didn't know if he ever would be like that again, but it had been a start. Until the governor took that from him too "And now God forbid you ever let anybody get too close."

Every time someone got close, they died. Or put at great risk, or went missing, or got bit.

"Too close, huh? Ya know all about that. Ya lost two boyfriends, ya can't even shed a tear. Yer whole family's gone, all ya can do is just go out lookin' for hooch like some dumb college bitch," It was a low blow, but he was so drunk, so angry, he was struggling to get his words out like they were getting stuck in his throat.

"And your wife is gone and you don't say shit! Your brother died and you closed off! At least I talk about the ones I've lost instead of pretendin' like nothin' happened or like they didn't exist!" She snapped back, and the second the words left her mouth, she looked like she wanted to take them right back. Daryl stopped right there, frozen like a deer in headlights before turning around. Beth tried to reach for him but he shrugged out of her touch.

"Y'ain't got the right," He huffed out, the last of his anger dissipating, and he felt that void opening up again. The one that haunted him anytime he thought about his wife for too long. His shoulders deflated, and his gaze fixed on the back of the shed they'd found. Beth was hovering behind him, he could feel it. "The Governor rolled right up to our gates. Maybe if I wouldn't have stopped looking. Maybe 'cause I gave up. That's on me."

"Daryl-" Beth tried again, sympathy lacing her voice but he just shook her off once more. She watched as his shoulders tensed, and she prepared for him to rip into her again but instead, they started shaking lightly. Everything was crashing down on him all at once and he couldn't shake the thought of his girl alone, trying to survive on her own. Or his girl, eyes milky white and lifeless, feet dragging and body acting like dead weight as her pale, rotting skin peeled off.

"And ma girl? Maybe I could've done somethin'. Maybe I could've helped her," His voice cracked, the emotions finally crashing over him in a wave, and this time he didn't stop Beth as she wrapped her arms around his middle, head pressed against his back. He didn't stop the tears or the sobs that escaped him.

"I get why my dad stopped drinking," Beth's voice broke the peaceful silence that had fallen between them. Crickets and the wind brustling the trees were the only sounds as Daryl looked over to her, sat on the porch in the pale moonlight.

"Ya feel sick?" He asked, twirling his knife on the wooden panels beside him, glancing over dark eyelashes.

"Nope. I wish I could feel like this all the time. That's bad," She responded. Her hands were playing with the loose threads on her jeans, and she had this happy look in her eye. Too happy, but he didn't say anything. Not this time.

"Yer lucky yer a happy drunk," Daryl felt that stab of guilt again, as he thought back to the argument earlier. The one he could've dropped, but instead he blew it out of proportion and turned into Merle. Into his daddy.

"Yeah, I'm lucky. Some people can be real jerks when they drink," Beth gave him a pointed look, eyebrows raised slightly, but there was a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, 'm a dick when 'm drunk," He stabbed his knife into the wood and he let out a small huff before reluctantly opening his mouth again "Merle had these biker friends. Real buff, stern assholes. Didn't give a shit 'bout nobody but themselves. One day, he dragged me along with 'em to this back alley bar. Real dodgy place. Was barely 10 and we were all wasted. Merle was high. There was this girl with her friend and the guys wouldn't stop runnin' their mouths. Especially Merle. Never knew when to quit. Turns out, girl had heard everythin' they'd been sayin' 'bout her and her friend. She comes stormin' over, face red, lookin' pissed as all hell and starts gettin' in this guys face. Merle decides it's a good idea to grab her ass, and she goes for him, punches him right in the eye. Gave him one hell of a shiner."

Beth let out a small giggle as she took a sip of her moonshine and Daryl's lips quirked up slightly. His fingers worked to spin his ring around again and again and she watched it with a glimmer of shock that still hadn't faded away.

"I tried gettin' between and she shoved me away. But one of Merle's buddies, he don't like that. So, he pulls out his gun and raises it over ma shoulder to her face, right here," He points to the gap between his eyebrows, watching as Beth's own eyebrows rose "And this bar goes dead silent. C'aint hear a damn thang, but she just glares back. His buddy starts threatenin' her, sayin' how he's gonna do all these things to her and she don't say anythin'. Just looks back at him. All that because she stood up for herself," Daryl couldn't help but smile at the memory, despite how much it had freaked him out at the time. Only time he didn't get pissed at someone for hitting his brother. Fool deserve it.

"How'd she get out?" Beth asked, leaning forward slightly like she was on the edge of her seat.

"Managed to get between 'em. Guy punched me in the gut. I puked. They all started laughin' and started patting her on the back. 'Balls of steel', Merle said to her. She thanked me for gettin' between them and asked how I was. Walked her and her friend back to her car. And I don't know if she was tipsy or what, but she asked ma name. Asked if we could have a new introduction 'nother day or somethin. You want to know what I was before all this? I was just drifting around with Merle... doing whatever he said we were gonna be doin' that day. I was nobody. Nothin'. Some redneck asshole and an even bigger asshole for a brother. Got better when I met her. (Y/N) made us better," Daryl's eyes flittered down to his ring this time, looking at the grime and dirt that accumulated and pulled it off to wipe it on his shirt.

"You miss him, don't you? I miss Maggie. I miss her bossing me around. I miss my big brother Shawn. He was so annoyin' and overprotective. And my dad. I thought- I hoped he'd just live the rest of his life in peace, you know? I thought Maggie and Glenn would have a baby. And he'd get to be a grandpa. And we'd have birthdays and holidays and summer picnics. And he'd get really old. And it'd happen, but it'd be quiet. It'd be okay. He'd be surrounded by people he loved. That's how unbelievably stupid I am," Tears had formed in Beth's eyes, but she laughed through them. But she couldn't shake that image of her Dad, the governor stood behind him.

"That's how it was supposed to be," He grumbled. Beth was naive, but she wasn't blind. She could tell he wasn't talking just about her dad. He was talking about the life he had with his wife, a life he could have had. The life he deserved to have. Subconsciously, she couldn't help but be slightly jealous that she never had something like that.

"I wish I could just... change," Beth responded after a pause, and Daryl's eyebrow raised, slightly confused.

"Ya did."

"Not enough. Not like you. It's like you were made for how things are now. Sounds like ya girl was too."

He didn't say anything, biting his cheek lightly as he slid his ring back on. It was his comfort, she was his comfort. Maybe she was still out there. Maybe.

Maybe she was dead in a ditch.

It still felt like a dream. He was still sure that if he gave himself a hard pinch she'd disappear right from his grasp. Everyone had dispersed thanks to Aaron and Carol's shepherding, but Daryl didn't miss the way (Y/N) watched after Carl and Judith, like she was scared something would happen. She didn't let go of him, not for another few minutes, that felt like seconds to him, and he would never complain. It didn't feel real.

There would be questions later, enough to bombard them back into hiding. He didn't care. Nothing mattered. She was here.

Eventually, Daryl managed to clear his head enough to pull her into the house his family had now evacuated out of. It felt alien, holding her again. Seeing her. Actually seeing her, not imagining her in some drunk or fear-induced frenzy. They were huddled together, in the corner Daryl had taken the night before. He couldn't let go, not now. There was something different about her. She'd changed. The apocalypse did that to you, he supposed but, this was different. There was guilt like she was hiding something from him. She'd done something, and he wanted to find out what it was.

"How the hell'd ya get here?" He asked, voice low and a grin rose on her face, which made his eyebrows furrow in confusion "What?"

"Ain't nothing. Just didn't think I'd hear your voice again," (Y/N) responded, her grin widening when he took her hand and started playing with her ring. "I was with mom when it started. Started travelling down to Georgia to find you and Merle. Met some people along the way."

She suddenly went quiet, her smile falling, and Daryl knew that look. Seen it on everyone's faces after camp; saw it on Carol, Beth, Maggie and Hershel's faces after the barn, Glenn and Maggie after the governor, Beth's after the prison; Rick, Carl and Michonne's the night with the claimers; everyone's after Terminus; Sasha and Gabriel after Bob and Tyreese. His, Maggie's and Glenn's after Beth.

"What happened?" If anyone else had walked in, they'd probably have never believed it was his voice. He didn't believe it. Merle would be giving him hell for it. Her eyes darted to his, and her grip on his hand tightened.

"There were this married couple, Andrew and Oliver, and their kid, Anna. Real sweet, curious. Never wanted to leave me and the other leader Kai alone. Some twins, Danica and Ben. Danica and Andrew were hotheads, reminded me of Merle, just less bigotted," They shared a chuckle at that. Daryl didn't need to say anything to her for her to know her brother-in-law was gone. She'd seen it on his face when she mentioned him earlier. After all this time, she could still read him like a book. "Kai was my best friend. Felt like a sibling. They were military, stopped me and mom from going into the city. We were gonna keep looking for you but Anna got sick. Really sick. For three weeks, we went out looking for medicine and she'd go through it in days."

Hell, he'd almost forgot about the disease that spread through the prison. Nearly killed Glenn. Awful as it seemed, it didn't that important anymore. Pretty much everyone that was sick died to the governor anyway. Didn't matter. Not really

"When she didn't get better, her dad's asked me to put her down. I was going to do it in the evening, in case she passed, but I decided to wait until morning. Died in her sleep. Turned quickly. We lost Andrew and Danica," Daryl squeezed her hand but she didn't respond. Her eyes were unfocused, but he saw the sadness flickering in them. The shame and guilt. That's why she was watching Carl and Judith earlier. "We were in the woods for a while. Me, mom, Andrew, Kai and Ben, lived that old Dixon lifestyle," She teased, in a poor attempt to lighten the mood. But he saw past it. She was holding something back to stop him from worrying.

"Then what?" She just shook her head, and Daryl pulled her in, tucking her head under his chin again. Not yet. He'd wait as long as she needed. They didn't need words for him to understand. (Y/N) let out a small sigh of contentment and Daryl resisted a smile. He'd lost hope in finding her. Thought he'd never get to hold her like this again. And before he knew it, he was telling her everything. But when he got to Terminus, she froze and pulled back.

"You were at Terminus?" (Y/N)'s voice was laced with concern and confusion, and it took Daryl half a second to connect the dots. His eyebrows rose into his hairline, which made (Y/N) laugh slightly."I was there for three days. Fuckers tried to kill me but I put up a fight. That freak Gareth locked me in a room so I didn't 'scare the newcomers'. An explosion and some walker's guts got me out."

"Ya gotta be shittin' me, right?" Daryl laughed, genuinely laughed, and he swore he'd never seen so much elation on his girl's face. "Carol set off that explosion, got us out."

(Y/N) leant her forehead on his shoulder, smiling at the ridiculousness of the situation. The whole time, he thought she was so far away, or that she was gone, or dead, or bitten but she was right fucking there at Terminus. If he'd paid more attention, maybe he could've found her. Fucking idiot.

"Hey, where ya goin'?" Daryl asked, catching (Y/N)'s arm as she started to climb out of the sleeping bag they'd been sharing. It'd taken a while for Daryl to convince the group to let her stay with them. They didn't trust her, and he couldn't blame them, but he wasn't going to be separated from any of his family. Neither her nor them. Eventually, Rick had nodded, despite Sasha and Abraham (mostly - Rosita and Carl hadn't exactly been happy about it either).

"Aiden and Nicholas want to take Glenn, Tara and Noah on a dry run, I gotta go with them to make sure they don't do something dumb," (Y/N) replied, pulling on her jumper but Daryl narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Careful, (L/N), that's ma family yer talkin' 'bout," He shot back, sharper than he wanted. However, she was taking a dig at his family when she barely knew shit about them. She just chuckled and rolled her eyes, coming closer to press a kiss on his forehead.

"Not your family, dummy. Nicolas and Aiden. They both hate me because I called them careless. Among other things. And they are. They don't know anything about life out there. If these walls hadn't come up when they had, those boys would have died long ago. Almost everyone here would have," She replied. He watched her carefully, giving her a look that she couldn't recognise. He was still getting used to this new version of her. Trying to get to know her again. She wasn't that different, not really, but she was slightly colder towards others and seemed to have a shorter fuse where unbreakable patience used to be. Well, unbreakable unless you were Merle. Some undying rage never left her eyes. She was still her old self, but she'd changed. It made him wonder what she'd been through. What she wouldn't tell him the day before.

"Why'd ya stay if this place ain't secure?" Daryl asked, pulling her slightly closer. Then he saw it. That look flashed across her face. It was gone almost as soon as it came, but he'd caught it. Guilt was ripping through her, despite how much she hid it. Why was she guilty? What was she hiding?

"Why'd you?" (Y/N) responded quickly, and even with this new version of her, he still knew her well enough to know she was changing the topic. And she did too, as evident from her heavy sigh. "I had a promise to keep."

There was more to it than that, Daryl could see it so clearly it was practically slapping him in the face. But he knew pushing wouldn't get them anywhere.

"People here are weak. Carol and the kid think it too. Hell, I do. Glad yer goin' with 'em," He gave her a quick kiss, running his thumb over her ring. "Keep an eye on 'em for me."

"Of course," (Y/N) smiled back, and from the surprise on Deanna's face when she walked in to check on them, not that he'd cared enough to notice at first, it wasn't something that had happened often while she was here.

"And you keep yourself safe, ya hear?" Daryl demanded, and while it was firm, (Y/N) saw the glimmer of fear in his eye. Can't lose her again. The words went unspoken but she heard them. A hard squeeze of his hand and a kiss on the cheek, and she'd wandered out the door, Glenn, Tara and Noah trailing close behind.

Time seemed to drag out while they were gone. It'd been around an hour, and he knew it shouldn't be too much longer before they returned. It was only a dry run. He'd finally showered, if only for his girl's sake than anyone else's, and he couldn't stop pacing. Carol had tried to employ his help, but he shut her down. With no news on a job from Deanna, Daryl couldn't stop himself from getting lost in his thoughts and drowning in his worries. His girl had said that the boys were careless. What if that cost her? What if him asking her to protect his friend meant she did something stupid? What if she didn't come back? What if he lost her again? For good, this time?

His worries were cut in half when the creaking and scratching of the gate broke through the air and he immediately jogged from his place on the porch to the gates, seeing the group come back in. They all looked pissed, and none of them more than (Y/N). She was walking in front of Glenn almost protectively, and he just knew something had gone wrong.

"You three need new gigs, you're not ready for runs yet," Aiden snapped from behind, making the four turn on their heels. Daryl felt himself moving forward when Aiden got close to (Y/N) and started pointing "And I'm gonna talk to my mom about getting you a new job."

"Yeah, pretty sure you got that backwards," Glenn shot back and (Y/N) gave him a grateful look. They set off again but were pulled back by Aiden grabbing both her and Glenn's arms.

"Hey, we've got a way of doing things around here," Aiden tried, making a poor attempt of establishing his authority, which deflated when she scoffed.

"Yeah, ones you don't tell me about apparently," She grumbled. There it was. That short fuse. That undying rage. Daryl slowed to a stop as more people started to gather at the noise. She looked over to him, telling him with a glance that he might have to step in if it got too far.

"You tied up walkers," Glenn shot back, and that set Aiden off. Nicolas bounced between each foot awkwardly, like he didn't know what to do with himself.

"It killed our friend!"Aiden shouted "Look, I'm not having this conversation. You obey my orders out there."

"Not when they put our people in danger," (Y/N) stepped closer, almost chest to chest with Aiden, and Daryl smirked slightly. That was his girl.

"If that's the case, we're just as screwed as your last run crew," Glenn agreed, putting a hand on (Y/N)'s shoulder to get her to back off. They shared a look, and she reluctantly took a step back. Glenn was trying to keep it peaceful, but he wasn't Aiden get away with this shit. Neither was (Y/N), except Daryl wasn't so sure about the peaceful part. Aiden shifted at Glenn's words, and Nicolas narrowed his eyes. Daryl took a step closer, shooting the latter man a warning glare.

"Say that again," Aiden stated, lightly shoving Glenn's chest. He brushed off the warning words of Noah and Tara, and both Glenn and Daryl could see that (Y/N) was barely holding her rage back. Glenn squeezed her shoulder lightly, clearly seeing it too. She was waiting for the right moment, but she was going to break any second. "C'mon tough guy."

Glenn just stared back at him, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly, and the expression pissed Aiden off even more. (Y/N) had to bite back a laugh. "No one's impressed, man. Walk away."

Someone had clearly alerted Deanna to the situation because she came running out, and (Y/N) rolled her eyes slightly at the woman. It was pretty damn clear she didn't like her. However, her expression softened slightly, and some of her anger dissipated when she saw Enid join the newly formed crowd, with Carl not far behind her.

"Aiden, what's going on?" Deanna asked, running over. Daryl saw Rick slowly making his way over with Michonne, and they were both observing too. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut and it felt stifling.

"These two have got a problem with the way we do things. Why did you let these people in? Why didn't you kick her out?" Daryl's eyes furrowed, and his glare settled. This asshole was really trying to get them thrown out? After the shit he'd just heard?

"Because we actually know what we're doing out there," Glenn immediately answered and he barely had time to dodge as Aiden swung for him, while Deanna shouted his name. However, (Y/N) immediately shot into action. The fury she'd been suppressing exploded out all at once, and she didn't hesitate to land a punch ride to Aiden's nose. She'd hit him with enough force to cause his nose to bleed, and Daryl felt a twisted sense of pride in his stomach.

"(Y/N)!" Enid yelled, and (Y/N) looked over to her in panic, scared someone had lunged for her. But while she was distracted, Nicolas had managed to get a hit in on her side, making her fall backwards slightly. Her eyes darkened and she went to attack him, but two arms latched around her waist and yanked her away from the fight. At some point, Aaron had come running towards the commotion and had snuck up behind her. He was trying to talk to her, to calm her down but she only saw red.

However, while the people had been distracted with (Y/N), apparently well-acquainted with her outbursts, no one had thought to stop Daryl. The second, Aiden lunged for Glenn, he was running at them, anger boiling inside of him, but then Nicolas dared to lay a hand on his girl and he felt like that day in the woods with Beth. When he couldn't stop his anger. It just flowed through him, and soon Nicolas had been pinned to the floor with Daryl's arm to his neck. Rick sprinted to them, shouting at him, but Daryl had tuned him out, eyes focusing on the son of a bitch below him. He felt arms yanking him away and he growled something (he couldn't even remember what he was so damn pissed) to, who he assumed was, Rick. Aiden stood up and went to walk towards (Y/N), which made her struggle slightly in Aaron's hold, until Michonne stepped in front, pushing him back.

"Back the fuck up, asshole," (Y/n) shouted, pulling in Aaron's arms, and Michonne narrowed her eyes at Aiden.

"You want to end up on your ass again?"She warned, staring him down until he backed up. After another minute, Rick finally made Daryl let up and Rick pushed him away slightly just for good measure. He was practically vibrating with anger, but he backed away, picking up his crossbow before walking to his girl. Aaron let her go hesitantly, and Daryl wrapped an arm around her waist, both to ground himself and to prevent her from going anywhere. He could feel the heat radiating over, and how pissed off she still was as she and Aiden glared at each other. Deanna stared at her for a minute, a look filled with scorn that nearly set Daryl off again. Aiden had taken the shot first, she couldn't blame his girl for shit.

"I want everyone to hear me, okay? Rick and his people are part of this community now and always as equals. Understood?"She shot a pointed look to her son, who looked away in shame as he wiped his nose, getting blood on the back of his hand. Daryl hid a smirk, despite the anger still stirring in his stomach. "Everyone turn in your weapons. Then you two come talk to me."

Deanna pulled Rick and Michonne to one side, and the pair watched for a second, as Glenn walked off with Maggie. Then, Daryl turned his girl to look at him, inspecting every inch of her to make sure she wasn't badly injured.

"Y'alrigh'?" Daryl questioned softly, placing one hand on her cheeks, which she leant into affectionately. It made his stomach do flips, and he was sure he was blushing but if he was, she didn't say anything. Made him feel like a damn teenager again. She placed her hand over his, touching his ring with a small reassuring smile.

"I'm all good, Dixon. Might have a bruise on my ribs, but I'll live," She replied and Daryl turned to look at Nicolas with a dark look. They were so caught up in themselves that they didn't notice Aaron watching them with a curious look. He was smiling softly. He hadn't been able to get much out of his friend when talking about her husband. She'd let a little slip when she, him and Eric got drunk during her first week, but she'd never told them his name, or anything deep. If she had, maybe he would've been able to reunite them sooner.

Everyone dispersed, with Aiden and Nicolas following Deanna back to her house. (Y/N) watched after them, glaring holes into the back of their heads.

"(Y/N, I know you're pissed off, but you have to quit the fighting. Deanna's going to kick you out if you aren't careful," Aaron warned, folding his arms over his chest, and Daryl's head snapped over furiously. However, (Y/N) turned to him with a face that told him she'd heard this a million times before.

"Fucker went for Glenn first. She just defended him," Daryl murmured and Aaron let out a deep sigh. Guess it wasn't just (Y/N) he had to watch out for now.

The next day, Daryl and (Y/N) had been moved into their own house, and while she was hesitant to leave Eric and Aaron, neither she nor Daryl could deny how nice it was to have their own privacy. It almost felt like life before the apocalypse. Well, besides the fact that this house was worth more than they ever could have afforded before the world went to shit. And they were missing a certain loud-mouthed idiot. Enid also technically lived there, but she was always in and out. One thing both he and his girl knew, was that he was suffocating in here. He hated not being out there. So when she suggested he go hunting, he was out of the door quicker than she could blink. He felt guilty leaving her behind, but she could manage her own, and she had her own jobs to do. Besides, Enid could keep her company. She'd be fine.

The bushes rustling made his crossbow shoot up. Daryl narrowed his eyes, trying to pick out if it was a person, walker or animal, but he quickly realised it was a human and his guard went up tenfold.

"Come out! Now!"He snarled, placing his finger on the trigger as the person began to emerge. Aaron. Son a bitch scared the shit out of him. Not that he'd admit it. He lowered his crossbow with a huff upon seeing the recruiters alarmed face. "Ain't ya supposed to be in Alexandria with Eric?"

"(Y/N)'s watching over him. You can tell the difference between walkers and humans by sound?" Daryl just grunted in response and Aaron studied him, as he checked the string of the crossbow. He wasn't as bad as he made himself out to be. He could see it in the way he acted with (Y/N) alone, and that wasn't even beginning on the rest of his family "Can you tell the difference between a good guy and a bad guy? Rick doesn't seem to be an expert at that."

"There ain't much of a difference no more," Daryl snapped back. What was with this guy? Didn't he know when to stop prying? Wasn't none of his business. Aaron didn't miss the way he squinted at him, or how his shoulders squared defensively.

"That how you feel about your people? About (Y/N)?" Aaron questioned. Daryl tensed slightly before continuing forward into the woods.

"Why ya following me?" Daryl snapped. If it had been anyone else, he probably would've been shouting by now. But Aaron was (Y/N)'s friend. He could talk about her like that. He meant no ill will. Others don't get the right. They didn't know her. They just expected the worst because he was some redneck. Expected her to be the same.

She was so much more.

"You ride horses?"Aaron asked, trying to lighten the situation. He'd really hoped he could save that horse. The kids had been asking him for weeks. At least he wasn't suffering anymore.

"I ride bikes," Daryl responded shortly. Aaron was kind, and he could see how his girl was friends with him. Why she trusted him. They'd taken care of her. Seen that pretty clearly yesterday with Aiden and Nicolas and stopping her from killing them. But everything felt too much still. He wasn't used to being somewhere like this. Even before everything. Even with his girl starting to bring him to the right path. Everything was just overwhelming. He knew Aaron was trying to help, to get to know him, but whether that was out of kindness or to stay on the good side of his girl, he still hadn't figured it out.

"I take it you don't mean 10-speeds," When Daryl didn't say anything, Aaron let out a small sigh. "I know you're feeling like an outsider. (Y/N) does too, even if she tries to deny it. It's not your fault, you know. Eric and I, we're still looked at as outsiders in a lot of ways. We've heard our fair share of well-meaning, but hilariously offensive things from some otherwise really nice men and women. And you should hear how they talk about (Y/N) sometimes. People are people. The more afraid they get, the more stupid they get. Fear shrinks the brain. They're scared of you and me for different reasons. They're less scared of me because they know me. It's less and less every day. So let them get to know you. You should go to Deanna's party tonight."

By that point, they'd both stopped. Daryl looked back at Aaron with disbelieving eyes. Like hell was he going to some dumb as shit party. People'd stare, whisper, ask questions. They did little else when he was around, normally.

" I got nothing to prove. I met a lot of bad people out here doing a lot of bad shit. They weren't afraid of nothin'," His eyes flashed back to Terminus. Glenn's terrified eyes. The rage in Rick's eyes. Carl's trembling in the storage container. His girl, who'd been so damn close that if he'd stopped for a second, he would have found her.

"Yeah, they were," Aaron replied, smiling at him slightly before walking past him.

"Yer goin'?" Daryl raised his eyebrows, and (Y/N) turned to smile at him. She didn't look herself. Actually no, she looked exactly like herself. But the old her. This wasn't the new, hardened, mildly terrifying new (Y/N). It felt alien. Almost wrong. But hell if she didn't look good, even if she was dressed up for a dumb ass party.

"I want to get to know your family. Besides, I need to prove a point to Deanna and her shithead sons. You sure you won't come?" She trailed over to him and admired him in the last rays of the sunset. He didn't want her to go. Didn't want her near Aiden, Nicolas or Deanna's other son, who he had the pleasure of not yet meeting. He'd only just gotten her back, and everyone wanted a piece of her. It was starting to piss him off.

Daryl just shook his head, moving some stray pieces of hair out of his eyes at the same time. "Naw. Maybe later."

(Y/N) nodded, before taking his hand, using the other to reach up and play with the ends of his hair. He squeezed her hand, a silent demand of her to stay.

"Never thought I'd see you with long hair, Dixon," She said absentmindedly and he snorted quietly. Sometimes it slipped his mind that the last time she'd seen him, he'd looked almost completely different.

"Watch yourself, (L/N)," He shot back, but there was no venom. Just a tender look in his eyes that was reserved for only her. She let out a quiet laugh and brought their joint hands up to kiss the back of his hand before letting go. Merle was right, the asshole. She did make him soft.

He watched the party from a distance, glancing through the window. Trying to get a look, trying to find the courage to go in. His girl or not, the idea of going in there made his skin crawl. Daryl wasn't a people person, it was pretty damn clear. He wished she'd stayed at home with him, but it did make his heart ache slightly knowing she was only going to try and connect with his family. She didn't get pissy about the fact he called them family, didn't judge, didn't expect them to trust her just because they were married. Just tried to connect with them

He let out a heavy sigh, cursing under his breath and turned around, beginning to head back home. Hell, he'd started calling it home now. Maybe it was being with her again, made him feel at home. Maybe he was getting used to this place. Not damn likely. As he was walking past Aaron and Eric's house, (Y/N)'s old home, the light on the porch switched on, and Aaron walked outside

"Daryl. Hey," Aaron greeted, and Daryl resisted a sigh. Sure, he was nice but it was becoming clearer and clearer that this was about him trying to get to know him for (Y/N). But thinking about it, that was exactly what his girl was doing with his family. Goddamn it.

"Thought you were going to that party over there," Daryl responded, leaning against the fence.

"Oh, I was never going to go 'cause of Eric's ankle, thank God," Aaron smiled, looking relieved and Daryl furrowed his eyebrows

"Why the hell did you tell me to go, then?"He snapped, feeling a little guilty by the outburst until he saw the amused (but oddly proud?) look the other man was giving him.

"I said try. You did. It's a thought that counts thing," How long had this guy spent with (Y/N)? Starting to sound just like her.

"All right," Daryl mumbled, pushing off from the fence to walk away until Aaron's voice stopped him again.

"Hey, come in. Have some dinner. Come on, man. It's some pretty serious spaghetti," Aaron offered. Daryl turned to face him, sure he'd see a teasing look on his face. Expecting it to be a joke. But there was a hopeful look on Aaron's face along with a small grin. Yeah, he was starting to see why (Y/N) liked him so much. He hesitated, biting his lip nervously for a second, before walking back to the house. Aaron's grin widened, but Daryl pretended like he hadn't seen anything.

Apart from a greeting from Eric, the three men mostly sat in silence, digging into the spaghetti. Daryl knew he should probably be more aware of how he was eating, he was slurping and he probably looked like a pig (if (Y/N) was there she'd be giving him hell for it), but he'd stopped caring. And while Aaron and Eric shared an occasional muffled laugh, they didn't seem too bothered. Daryl couldn't help but notice the empty two settings on the remaining chairs, and apparently, Eric had followed his gaze.

"We're still getting used to (Y/N) being gone. Enid too. She didn't live with us, but she stayed here a lot because of (Y/N). Guess we still haven't gotten out of the habit of setting their seats," Eric joked lightly, and Daryl made a grunt of acknowledgement.

"Mmm, when you're out there, if you happen to be in a store or something, Mrs Neudermyer is really looking for a pasta maker. And we're all really trying to get her to shut up about it. I mean, we have crates of dried pasta in here, but she wants to make her own or something," Eric seemed oblivious to the pointed looks Aaron was giving him, and the confused one that Daryl seemed to have etched onto his face. Eric was more bubbly than Aaron, more talkative, but still sweet. He didn't expect responses from Daryl, happy to just talk away. Maybe (Y/N)'s friends weren't too bad " I really think she just wants something to talk about, so... if you see one out on your travels, it would go a long way to..."

Finally, Eric looked over to his husband, seeing him shaking his head and his words died on his tongue. Looking awkwardly between Daryl and Aaron before settling on his pasta, a small apologetic smile on his face

"I thought it was done. You didn't ask him already?" As if she'd heard Eric's silent plea to be rescued from the mild embarrassment of the situation, the sound of the door opening made Aaron and Daryl shoot up until they heard (Y/N)'s voice following.

"Aaron? Eric? You home?" She called, sounding tired, and Aaron let out a relieved sigh, before calling her into their dining room. Daryl couldn't help but smile as she walked in. It still felt like she wasn't real. Like she'd disappear any day and he'd wake up in that barn, or on the road, starving and dehydrated. She grinned back at him, but she didn't miss the teasing wink Eric gave her. "Hey, Dixon. What're you doing here?"

"We invited him for the infamous killer spaghetti," Eric grinned at her, nudging her hip with his shoulder as she walked to stand between his seat and Daryl. Instinctively, Daryl took her hand, and she bit back a child-like grin. Aaron gave her a look, one he couldn't recognise but she clearly did as she glared back at him playfully.

"You told him yet?" She asked, turning slightly to look at Aaron properly, nodding her head towards Daryl slightly. Daryl's confusion only furthered. Why did everyone seem to know what was going on except him? Hell, he was willing to bet if Enid was here too then she'd probably know.

"Was just about to, but someone nearly let the cat out of the bag," Eric looked away guiltily, but it was obvious he was forcing back a chuckle.

"Tell me what?" Daryl finally spoke up, and he didn't miss the way her hand tightened around his. Her grin turned slightly mischievous as Aaron started leading them towards their garage. Aaron opened the door and (Y/N) squeezed Daryl's hand again (and if she saw his cheeks starting to go pink, she didn't say anything) while her friend flicked the light on.

The garage was stuffed with spare parts and something that looked suspiciously like a motorbike beneath a piece of huge sheet. (Y/N) let go of his hand, opting instead to lean in the doorway, smiling softly at the excitement that flickered in her husband's eyes, even if his face stayed stoic. It'd been so damn long since he'd seen something like this, and while it reminded him a little too much of Merle's biker buddies, this also felt like home. He felt like a kid in a candy store. Aaron and (Y/N) shared a knowing look behind Daryl's back

"When I got the place, there was that frame and some parts and equipment. Whoever lived here built them," Aaron explained, as Daryl started picking up pieces, admiring them and putting them down again.

"It's a lot of parts for one bike," Daryl stated, trying to hide how happy he was, and he could practically hear (Y/N) rolling her eyes

"Whenever I came across any parts out there, I brought them back. I didn't know what I'd need. (Y/N) tried to figure it out, but it wasn't her area of expertise," There was a teasing tone in his voice at the last sentence and Daryl heard his girl mumble something along the lines of 'shut up. "I always thought I'd learn how to do it, but I get the feeling you already know what to do with it. And the thing is, you're going to need a bike."

"Why?"Daryl pulled back the sheet and saw the skeleton of a bike, with a box of tools next to it.

"I told Deanna not to give you a job because I think I have one for you. I'd like you to be Alexandria's other recruiter. I don't want Eric risking his life anymore," Aaron replied. Daryl understood that, probably better than most people in this community. (Y/N) let out a hum of agreement, and Daryl looked over as she turned to glance back into the house. She was protective of her loved ones. Always had been, and he was really starting to realise just how much Aaron and Eric meant to her.

"You want me risking mine, right?"Daryl questioned, sounding sharper than he wanted, but Aaron could tell he meant no harm by it.

"Yeah, because you know what you're doing. You're good out there. But you don't belong out there. I know it's hard getting used to people getting used to you. And I understand right now you need to be out there sometimes. So do I. But the main reason why I want you to help me recruit is because you do know the difference between a good person and a bad person, "Hell, he really had spent too much time with his girl. Daryl bit his lip in thought, but he already knew his mind was made up. Being in here all the time was killing him. Even with his girl here, he knew he couldn't stay here for long without getting antsy.

"I got nothing else to do. Thanks. I'll get you some rabbits," Aaron let out a loud laugh at that, patting Daryl's shoulder as he stepped past him, back to his girl in the doorway. She was smiling, asking him silently how he was feeling. He just gave her a tiny smile, and clearly, that was enough for her, as she wrapped her arm around his side.

Daryl couldn't help but notice how close (Y/N) had suddenly gotten with Glenn, Rick, Tara and Maggie. He noticed the way the rest of his family seemed a little more at ease with her, not exactly trusting her yet, but clearly getting on that track. Carl still wasn't sure about her, but Daryl didn't miss how he'd come and actually started conversations with her a few times, instead of avoiding her completely. Part of him was suspicious that it had something to do with his obvious crush on Enid. And while it made his heart warm that she was starting to become integrated with his family, there was always someone whisking her away now. He just wanted to spend some damn time with his wife, but he had to go out with Aaron, and she was going on another run.

And every damn thing that could have gone wrong absolutely did. It'd been a god damn trap, and now he was trapped in a car, surrounded by fuck knows how many walkers with his wife best friend. And the walkers just kept coming, pouring out of the trucks, banging on the window. How fucking long until that glass shattered and they were made into walker meat? But despite the hell going on around him, he couldn't stop a chuckle escaping his lips. It was fucking ironic. Aaron gave him a bewildered look.

"I came out here to not feel all closed up back there. Even now, this feels more like me than back in them houses. That's pretty messed up, huh?" Daryl explained, looking over at Aaron, who still had that look, but had a small, almost sad, smile on his lips.

"You were trying," Aaron said, and Daryl shook his head lightly. Wasn't exactly a choice. There were the kids, his friends, his family. Then (Y/N) got added into the mix, and that was it.

"I had to," He shot back, eyes watching the walkers that were gnashing their teeth outside the window.

"No, you didn't. Listen, I saw you with your group out there on the road. Then you went off on your own to the barn. Storm hit and you lead your people to safety. That was it. I knew I had to bring you people back," Aaron had this gentle look, and he went quiet, thinking for a second. When he spoke again his voice was thick "You were right. We should have kept looking for that guy in the poncho. I shouldn't have given up. You didn't."

Daryl went silent, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. He'd given up. On his girl. Given up on her, lost hope started thinking she was dead. And look at what happened.

"I didn't, because I gave up before," It didn't take a genius to figure out what, or rather who he was talking about "Hadn't seen her in two years. Thought she was dead. Found 'er. Ain't givin' up this time. I'll go. I'll lead 'em out. You make a break for the fence."

God, she was going to kill him for this.

Aaron's head snapped over, the beginning of tears in his eyes quickly disappearing as he processed Daryl's words. "No, no, no. This was my fault."

"Wasn't a question. And this ain't yer decision. It ain't nobody's fault. Just let me finish my smoke first. Promise you'll look after ma girl, 'right?" Daryl brought the cigarette back to his lips, taking a draw. He ignored Aaron' stare, his leg bouncing lightly. This'd destroy her. But, she had people to look after. And people would look after her for him. His family would be there, Aaron, Eric, Enid. She'd forget about him after a while.

"No," Aaron said sternly, and Daryl was almost taken back by the tone. Never heard him talk like that. "You don't draw them away. We fight. We go for the fence. We do it together, alright? Whether we make it or not. We do it together. We have to."

Daryl fell back into that silence, biting his lip in thought. (Y/N) would probably never forgive him if he let Aaron die. But she'd never forgive Aaron if he did. Fuck. Shit.

"Alright. You ready?" Daryl took one last drag before extinguishing the cigarette and picking up his knife instead. Hell, he couldn't believe he was agreeing to this. Sorry (L/N) "We'll go on three. One, two-"

But three never came as one of the walkers outside's guts spilt on Aaron's window, making them both freeze and exchange a puzzled look. There was no gunshot. The dead didn't kill their own. His door was suddenly yanked open, making Aaron scuttle back and lean on Daryl slightly, before he saw a guy standing there, holding a badass staff. He climbed out, followed immediately by Daryl. Everything was a blur of guts, blood and aching muscles until they got back to the gate and closed it. He was pretty sure he was just running on adrenaline at this point

"Hey, Daryl?" Aaron said breathlessly and Daryl looked over to see him smiling "Take care of her your damn self."

They got back just in time to see all hell had broken loose. The sound of shouting and screaming greeted them as Spencer let them through the gate, and Aaron had gone sprinting ahead, followed soon by Daryl and Morgan. Daryl's heart was pounding, worried (Y/N) was in the middle of it. Shit, shit, shit, shit. (Y/N) and Abraham were holding Pete down as he squirmed and glared up at them. And there on the floor, Deanna was crying, begging while she pressed against the slice on Reg's neck. Alexandrian's watched in terror, and horror as he choked on his own blood, and Daryl didn't miss the look in (Y/N)'s eyes, beneath all the fear and rage. A look he knew too well. She was reliving something. He only wished he knew what. It was then Daryl noticed Michonne's bloody katana on the floor, where Michonne herself looked at it with disgust. Rick was stood beside Abraham and (Y/N), watching Deanna with pity, but waiting for her instruction as Reg ultimately stopped moving. The air was silent, still, and he could see Aaron bouncing slightly from foot to foot, desperate to check up on his husband as Morgan watched with disdain.

One bullet, and it was done, blood splattered on (Y/N) and Abraham's faces. But she didn't even flinch. Just stared blankly. When they got back to their house, Enid, who'd allegedly been told to stay in the house but snuck out (in Enid like fashion) was wrapped under (Y/N)'s arm. She looked scared still, and Daryl had tried to comfort her, even if it hadn't been much, until (Y/N) had been relieved from the situation and took over. She was like a mini carbon copy of his girl, with the addition of teen angst, but she was easy to talk to (even when she was traumatised). His girl still had that blank look, had it since Rick pulled that trigger, and somehow that scared him more. She ushered Enid to her room, and Daryl knew she would either leave within a few minutes, or she wouldn't move until morning. But Enid didn't protest, just gave (Y/N) a quick hug and rushed upstairs.

His girl was still silent, as they reached their room, as they started changing into their pyjamas, as she went off to brush her teeth and wash the blood off her face, as they climbed into bed. It wasn't until Daryl reached out to touch her and she flinched back, did he attempt to break the silence.

"(Y/N)," He mumbled, and she raised her eyebrows to show she was listening but didn't meet his eyes. His stomach was in a knot, worry, nerves and interest as he watched her. "Hey, look at me."

It took her a minute, but reluctantly, she dragged her eyes up to meet his and he saw it. Guilt, anxiety and trauma all wrapped in one.

"Talk to me," Was all he said, and that was all it took. It was spilling out of her before she could stop it, and her hand found him desperately.

"After Anna, Ben, Andrew, Kai, Mom and I were chased out. Moved camp every day. Didn't know where we were going, just kept moving. One night, we were distracted. Ben was talking about smoke or something, and Kai started sayin' how we should go towards Washington. Said it was one of the few places that might have civilisation. We let out guard down," (Y/N) hesitated again, and Daryl squeezed her hand tightly, prompting her to continue. Every word she spoke, the sadder her eyes grew. The guilt kept building and building, and Daryl felt his own pit of dread in his stomach. She was in pain and there was nothing he could do about it. "Some assholes come out of the woods, demand our supplies. I said no and they... they shot Kai. Then Ben and Andrew. Started going through our stuff, held me back as they murdered my family. Then they grabbed mom and-"

Daryl didn't hesitate in pulling her in when her voice hitched and she stopped again. He held her so tight, he was almost certain it was hurting, but she didn't voice any complaints. She just curled into him before continuing.

"Those bastards slit her throat. I had to put her down when she turned. Left me in the middle of the woods. When Reg... I just saw mom. It was like I was back there, reliving again and again on repeat. And I can't help but think that if I'd stepped forward, maybe Reg would be alive," She whispered, fingers clutching onto the sleep shirt he wore. He shook his head, placing a kiss on her hair.

"And you'd be dead. Ain't yer fault. None of it. Not yer ma and yer family. Not Reg. Weren't nothin' you coulda done. Ya cain't blame yerself for it," Daryl said, and while his tone was gentle, the words were firm but they seemed to do nothing to ease her, she just held on tighter. "I know that ain't everythin'. What happened?"

"We lost Noah. He was right there. We had him, and then he was just gone. Glenn and I, we held onto him so hard, but the walkers they- they got him. Pushed him against the glass. We had to watch-" It was then Daryl felt her pull back and she adjusted so her arms were wrapped around him, tucked under his chin again when he pulled her close.

"I'm sorry," He didn't know what else to say. Noah was gone. That kid was something else, annoying sometimes, sure, but he brought this hopeful light to the group, even when they were damn near dying on the road. He found his brain starting to ache and a weird feeling in his chest. Daryl was well acquainted with loss, everyone was now, but it never got any easier. Not when the losses kept coming, and to the people who deserved them the least. He couldn't imagine how terrifying it must have been to watch. What it was like for her. He didn't want to. The thought alone was enough to give him nightmares. So he just held her tightly, even as he felt a wet patch seeping through his sleep shirt. Even as she shook. Even as she drifted off, exhausted and hurting, and he laid awake for hours after. He couldn't make it okay, even if he wanted to. And hell he really did. He couldn't bring Noah back, couldn't wipe the memory from her or Glenn's mind.

The only thing he could do was be there for her, comfort her, help her out of that place whenever she went there. However, the only thing he could do, right at that moment, was hold her and not let go.

TAGS: OPEN

Tags (for this series): @graniairish @fuseburner @gloomystorm @bxxbxy @browneyes528 @hoemadegrace @reichelhache

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tricksters-captain · 4 years

Text

Weasley Twins/Cedric Diggory Imagines - Accidental Meeting - Part 3

AN: Another day... another part!! Honestly I can’t write this story down quick enough so I thought I’d post another part for y’all!! Let me know if you’d like to be added to a tag list!!!

Overall Summary: (Y/n), is a young witch who always kept her head down due to her complicated past; one day she bumps quite literally into one of the most popular boys in Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory, and that’s when (Y/n)’s plan of keeping her head down seems to go up into the air. Things only seem to worsen when two redheaded twins start to take notice too...

This Chapter: As Halloween draws near, you receive news from your uncle about your parents and the ministry. You try burying yourself in your studies to keep your mind off things when Professor Lupin only seems to make it worse...

PART 1 // PART 2

Pairing(s): Cedric Diggory x Reader, (Eventual) George Weasley x Reader, (Platonic) Fred Weasley x Reader, (Platonic) Oliver Wood x Reader

Word Count: 2,398

Warnings: None, Angst

You sat at breakfast beside Wood and Angelina, the Weasley twins opposite.

“Looks like you’ve really caught his eye there, (y/n).” Fred piped up from across you.

“What?” You furrowed your eyebrows at the boy as you finished a spoonful of cereal.

“He’s looked this way about 7 times since sitting down.” George muttered,

“Not to mention the other 6 when he walked in.” Fred added.

You peaked over your shoulder to see Cedric sat with his usual group of Hufflepuffs.

“You two are obsessed.” You rolled your eyes at the boys as you forced yourself not to turn and look again.

“Mails here.” Wood announces as if the sudden eruption of wings and squawks didn’t alert everyone enough.

You were surprised to see your owl fly into the great hall with a letter in its mouth. The only person who you ever sent mail or received mail from was your uncle.

You reached up and grabbed the letter as he fell from the birds beak.

You could see from the handwriting on the outside of the envelope that it was definitely from your uncle.

It wasn’t completely strange to receive a letter from him during term time but it wasn’t a usual occurrence.

“Who’s it from?” Oliver asked,

“My uncle.” You admitted, contemplating whether to open it there or later in private.

“Prob’ly asking whether you’re gonna come home for Christmas break or stay here.” Oliver said as he bit into an apple.

“I already told him I’d be staying here as it’s your last Christmas at Hogwarts, I thought we’d stay here and celebrate together.” You stated, deciding to open the letter now.

“Get a broom closet you two.” Fred teased you. You retaliated by wrapping your arms around Oliver and resting your head on his shoulder, batting your eyelashes at the twins. Oliver just shook his head at you.

You retracted your arms from Oliver and picked your letter back up to read it.

(Y/n),

The Ministry finally agreed to speak to me. They’ve claimed that the security in Azkaban has been double, tripled and that no other prisoners will be escaping. They specified that since Lorelei and Mikael are high threat that they will be watched consistently but Sirius Black was high threat too and look where he is now.

I feel they aren’t telling me the full picture. It was hard enough getting them to discuss Lorelei and Mikael at all. They just like to pretend Death Eaters don’t even exist anymore. Lock them behind bars and forget about them.

I know we are all anxious about the idea of them escaping like Black did but I am keeping my ear to the wall. If anything is spoken about them or a possible escape then I should be the first to know. I won’t let them leave that godforsaken place without a fight. You should focus on your studies, try not to worry about your parents. Hogwarts is surrounded by dementors, I hear, so they will protect you for now.

- Demetrius

“What did he say?” Oliver asked as you closed the letter.

“Just something about the Ministry.” You sent him a look that said you would tell him later as you felt it was too crowded to discuss your parents right now.

“What do you have?” You changed the topic by asking Oliver what he was doing this morning as you picked up your book bag.

“Defence against the dark arts then divination.” He told you as he rose from the table.

“I have some study periods this morning so I think I’m going to go to the library. I’ll see you later.” You parted ways outside the great hall as you headed towards the library. You then tucked the letter into your bag and reminded yourself to show Oliver later.

You found an empty table tucked away in a corner beween two book shelves, before finding a few books to help you with your study of Ancient Runes homework.

“Do you mind if I join you?” A voice you were starting to know well tore you away from your parchment and you glanced up to see Cedric stood with his hand wrap around the strap of his backpack.

“Will I actually be able to study if you sit with me or are you going to distract me?” You narrowed your eyes at the boy with a light humour.

“I swear not to distract you.” He held his hands up in defence and you smiled, nodding your head to signal for him to sit.

“What are you studying?” Cedric asked as he sat.

“Distracting.” You announced, sending him a side glance. “Ancient Runes.” You caved and answered after the following few seconds of silence.

“Ah.” Cedric nodded, taking his own parchment and books out.

You both sat quietly, the only sounds being the turning of pages and the scratching of your quills but, after a short while, you found yourself sneaking secret glances towards the boy.

You watched his brow crease in concentration and his eyes flicker across the pages he was reading. A few locks of his soft brown hair fell forward and his lips parted slightly as he focused.

Cedric caught you looking at one point, raising his head and smiling widely at you.

“Distracting?” He asked,

“Just making sure you are actually working and not writing down some quidditch strategy like Oliver does.” You were quick to come up with an excuse but Cedric wasn’t stupid.

“What do you have next? I can walk you to your next class.” Cedric suggested.

“Charms.” You told him, “If you walk me, you’ll probably be late to your own class.”

“Why are you so worried about being seen with me?” Cedric leaned towards you, folding his arms on the chair in between you both with a curious look on his face.

“I’m not worried.” You objected, “I just said you’d be late for your own class.”

“(Y/n), I’m no Ravenclaw but I can figure out when someone keeps saying no. I also see you looking around at everyone whenever I come up to you.”

“Cedric.” You sighed, “Things are complicated in my life.”

“And me walking you to your next class will somehow make it more complicated?” Cedric rose an eyebrow at you which made you sighed once again.

“You can walk me to my next class.” You wanted to say that it would but you didn’t know how to explain why.

Cedric stood up from his seat and packed his things away, you did the same before you both left the library.

“I saw your owl this morning.” Cedric mentioned the letter from before and you felt your chest tighten a little.

“Yeah. It was from my uncle. Asking whether I’d be home for Christmas.” You lied pretty effortlessly as the said-letter was lying at the bottom of your bag.

“Your uncle?” Cedric hadn’t thought about who you lived with after your parents were sent to Azkaban.

“Yeah.” You nodded, “Demetrius. He took me in after my parents were, you know... He never saw what they saw in you know who. He didn’t have the same beliefs. Not like he didn’t suffer for it. They tortured him for a long time but he survived. He’s a good man, not very paternal but it's better than nothing.” You almost found it funny how unaffectionate and distant your uncle could be with you but you knew he still cared about you, he just couldn’t show it in the way normal families could.

“Is it just you two?” He asked, seemingly genuinely interested.

“Yeah. Demetrius isn’t very old. He was only 20 when he took me in. He never got a girlfriend after that so has never married or anything. I think he believes that if he had someone else to care about, they could be used against him. He saw a lot of what my parents did, you see. He worries about my parents; about them escaping like Black did.”

“Are you worried?” Cedric stopped as you reached your class.

“I’d be stupid if I wasn’t.” You confessed.

“We can talk more about it later if you like?” Cedric gestured to the classroom door and you bit down on your cheek and nodded.

“Hey!” You called as he started to walk away. “Thanks for walking me.”

Cedric smiled at you before you entered the classroom.

“Saw pretty boy Diggory walk you to Charms this morning.” Fred and George trapped you as they came up to you side by side.

“Like I said... Obsessed.” You looked up at the twins as they walked either side of you.

“You reckon Lupin’s got that surprise for us today?” Fred asked you and George.

“Hope so, Freddie.”

“I hope it’s a potion that stops people from spying on you.” You retorted, making both the boys crack up.

“Welcome class! If you’ll follow me, I have the special treat I promised for you all today.” Professor Lupin announced as you entered the classroom for DADA.

The class did as they was told and followed Lupin up to a larger room where an old wardrobe stood in towards the far side.

You couldn’t help but smile with excitement as you watched the wardrobe shake from something inside.

“Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what is inside?” Lupin asked as the wardrobe trembled again.

"Is it a boggart, sir?” One of the Ravenclaw girls, Samantha Penny, answered.

“Yes, Miss. Penny. Now, can anybody tell me what a boggart looks like?”

“No one knows. Boggarts are shape-shifters.” You answered as Lupin pointed his wand at you.

“Very good. Now, can someone tell me what they do?”

“They can take the shape of whatever a person fears the most.” Samantha answered again.

“Well done! Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart. Let's practice it now. Without wands, please.” Remus lowered his wand as he spoke, “After me. Riddikulus!”

“Riddikulus!” The class repeated.

“Very good. A little louder and very clear. Listen: Riddikulus!” Lupin corrected any who made a mistake.

“Riddikulus!” You all repeated once more before Lupin selected an unlucky volunteer.

“Samatha, since you know so much, why don’t you give it a try?” Lupin encouraged her forward. “Now, what are you most afraid of?”

“Snakes, sir.” She said rather nervously.

“Snakes. Okay. Easy enough to change. You see, the incantation alone is not enough. What really finishes a boggart is laughter. You need to force it to assume a shape you find truly amusing.” Lupin paced a few steps as he spoke.

“Now, Miss Penny. I want you to think of something funny. The funniest thing you can think of and when you come face to face with the snake, I want you to imagine its turning into that funny thing, do you understand?” Lupin asked the Ravenclaw girl. She nodded and raised her wand.

As the doors burst open, a large thick black snake appeared slithering towards Samantha. It rose upwards and hissed as it’s dark eyes fixed on the quivering girl.

“R-Riddikulus!” She hesitated but soon cast the spell, turning the snake into a baby monkey in a dress.

“Brilliant, Miss Penny! On your first try too!” Lupin praised her as he laughed at the monkey falling over. “Alright! Who’s next! Form a line!”

The class rushed into a line with excitement and nerves filling the room.

You watched a few students ahead of you try and succeed in turning the boggart from their fear to something funny and soon it was your turn.

“I bet her worse fear is seeing Wood naked.” Fred whispered to you and his twin as he stood behind you.

“Actually, it’s having to spend the rest of the year with you two.” You mumbled back with a smirk as you stepped forward.

“Ouch, Seyler, ouch.” Fred clutched his chest above his heart and you rolled your eyes.

Suddenly, coming face to face with the boggart, your amusement was gone.

You shifted on your feet as you thought of all the possible things the boggart could turn into like a giant spider or a clown or....

Your eyes went wide as the boggart twitched and span around and transformed into a face you had only seen in your memories and pictures.

Your mother stood in front of you.

The whole class erupted with whispers and murmurs as you froze.

Her dark eyes met yours, the small mole above her lip rising as her wicked smile grew.

“Come on, (y/n), don’t let the shape distract you. Say the words and she’ll be gone.” Lupin saw the shock on your face as he tried to encourage you.

Your mother stepped forward, holding her hand out towards you, her dark mark visible on her arm as she reached towards you.

“Don’t touch me!” You shrieked as she came close to connecting with your skin.

You couldn’t stop yourself from fleeing the class as your emotions over took you.

You pushed past the Weasley twins as you darted to the door.

“Miss Seyler!” Lupins voice carried down the corridor you were running down.

Tears blurred your vision as your chest tightened and breathing became much harder.

“Miss Seyler!” You heard Lupin call after you again.

You threw yourself against an arched doorway, trying to slow your breathing as your mothers eyes flashed through your head. Her evil smile, the dark mark clear on her arm.

You felt yourself slide down the doorway until you hit the cold floor.

“Miss Seyler.” Lupin had found you. “Miss Seyler, breathe.” He knelt down as you failed to control your panic attack.

“(Y/n). It was just a boggart. It wasn’t really your mother.” Lupin told hold of your shoulders as he tried to get you to look at him. “Your mother is locked up on Azkaban. She can’t hurt you.”

“I’m sorry.” You finally looked up at him and he felt his heart squeeze at the sight of your red eyes.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s quite alright.” Lupin helped you stand, slowly bringing you back to your feet.

“What about the class?” You asked, looking up from where you had come from.

“Class is dismissed. Come on, let’s go for a chat.” Lupin guided you to his office, his arm comfortingly wrapped around you still.

(PART 4)

#cedric diggory x reader #Cedric Diggory imagines #cedric diggory #the Weasley twins #weasley twins #Fred Weasley #fred weasley imagine #George weasley imagines #george weasley #george weasley x reader #Harry Potter imagines #Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban

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