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sam24 · 5 months

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Metal Arm Cupid

Summary: Bucky didn't know what to expect in the 21st century. But he definitely didn't expect cute girls to barge into meeting rooms and beat people up.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!reader

*****

Bucky made no attempt to stifle his yawn as he pretended to listen to the debrief (that was looking more like an argument to him) that was going on way too long for his liking, earning a sharp glare from Steve, but Bucky could tell that deep down, Steve wanted to hightail outta there too.

“Stop taking all the credit, Josh. I was the one who stabbed him. You just sat there and watched like an obese cow.”

Josh (Bucky thought his name was Jack until now) scoffed. “That’s Agent 16 to you, Avery.”

“It’s actually Avril, you little-”

“Agents, you better stop this instantly.” Fury narrowed his eyes at the bickering partners.

“Stop embarrassing me in front of the Avengers, Evelyn, and let me do the talking. Clearly you can’t because of those oversized donkey teeth of yours.” Josh paid no heed to Fury.

The girl (Avril?) gasped and her hand instinctively flew to cover her mouth. “Why you-”

“Okay, that’s enough.” A dangerously calm voice rang through the room.

All eyes flew towards Natasha, you looked like she was going to murder the next person who opened their mouth.

“This is why I don’t go on missions with sensitive baby agents.” She muttered in Russian.

Bucky cracked a smile.

“How come no one listens to me?” Fury grumbled.

“Probably because you aren’t a trained assassin with 20 different weapons hidden on your body, and I bet you also don’t know 5 different ways to kill someone with an oven mitt.” Clint whispered in Fury’s ear.

“It doesn’t matter who stabbed who, it matters what happened in the end. And in the end, I was the one you saved your ungrateful asses, so you can stop arguing like toddlers now.” Natasha growled.

Her eyes narrowed specifically at Josh.

Nobody spoke. Probably because no sane person wanted a bullet from Natasha’s gun in their head.

“You seriously couldn’t have done that 20 minutes ago?”

Of course, though, Tony Stark was far from sane.

“Shut up, Tony.” At least 5 different people said at the same time.

Josh cleared his throat, recovering from his mini paralysis stroke.

“No offense, but-”

Before Josh could get himself killed, loud voices outside of the door made everyone turn.

Honestly, they all probably would’ve turned even to watch a fly so they could ignore Josh’s excuses.

“Miss, I can’t let you-”

“I really don’t care, so move. Now.”

Bruce immediately sat up. “Is that Ace?”

“Oh, thank god.” Tony let out a dramatic sigh of relief. “I’m so bored right now, maybe she’ll make this actually interesting.”

Even though Bucky’s stay at the compound started recently, he had heard plenty of stories about you, the infamous ‘Ace’. To what he’d heard, you worked at the lab with Bruce and Tony, like a daughter to them both. You were an ‘intellectual sage’ (described by Barton), hence the nickname, Ace.

“I said, MOVE!”

“Banner, what is the meaning of this?” Fury ordered.

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows and completely ignored him. “What in the world is she doing?”

“Banner!”

“I SAID MOVE, DAMNIT.” A loud thud followed closely and the door was flung open so hard it practically ripped off of its hinges.

“Lord have mercy.” Bruce buried his face into his hands as you barged into the room, pulling along a terrified looking girl behind you.

Bucky’s eyebrows raised with interest as he took in your purple highlights, Converse High-Tops, and Gravity Falls shirt peeking out from under your lab coat.

“Look, missy, in case you haven’t noticed, this is a private meeting. I’m going to give you 5 seconds to leave before I have you escorted out instantly.” Fury demanded.

“Yeah, that’s cool, Patchy the Pirate, just give me a minute.” You weren’t even looking at Fury as you scanned the room.

“Ha! Patchy the Pirate! Laura’s gonna love this!” Clint smacked his hand on the table and leaned his chair back (and almost fell backwards if Steve didn’t catch it, but that’s not the point).

Fury looked like he was seriously contemplating life as you still didn’t spare him a glance, and your narrowed hawk eyes landed on someone behind Bucky.

He followed your gaze to meet Josh, who had raised two fingers in the air cockily to greet you and the girl behind you.

“Josh, you mother fucker.”

And before Steve could say ‘language!’ (yes, Bucky had caught on pretty quickly after Tony would say it every other sentence), you had crossed the room in what felt like just two strides and socked Josh right in the jaw.

The room erupted in chaos.

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Steve was up on his feet in a millisecond, his Captain America side taking over.

“That’s it, honey! Do it again!” Tony cheered.

“Is this some kind of Midgardian greeting that I have not yet been informed of?”

“Someone tell me what the hell is going on in my own meeting!”

“That was the best thing I’ve seen in my whole life.” Avril grinned.

Natasha didn’t say anything, but her face clearly said ‘girl, me too’.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.” Sam chuckled from next to Bucky.

“Same.” Bucky muttered under his breath.

“Whoa hold up, did you just agree with me??”

“Shut up, pigeon brain.”

“Excu-”

The only thing that stopped Sam and Bucky’s cat fight was another punch to Josh’s precious face, this time right in the nose.

Bruce tried to reason with you from across the whole ass room, practically shouting over all the commotion as Steve tried to pull you away from Josh.

“Ace, sweetheart, why don’t you talk it out instead of going straight to violence? Doesn’t that sound like a better idea?”

“Sounds great, Bruce, but that’s not an option anymore!” You shouted back over your shoulder.

“Look, champ, it’s not right to randomly punch people like that!” Steve was still trying to pry you away from Josh.

“Look, Pops,” You mocked. “It’s also not right to cheat on your girlfriend with some random chick you ran into at a bar!”

Everything stopped.

Except Josh’s struggling from your grasp.

“He cheated on you?” Tony broke the silence, looking like he was going to blast Josh into outer space. “Wait, when were you guys even together? And why in the goddamn world would you date that guy?”

“Not me, dimwit, her.” You point your free hand that was not gripped on Josh’s collar at the girl behind you, looking ready to sprint out of there when all eyes landed on her.

“Just leave it, ma moitié, it’s not worth it.” She said quietly, her words coated in a thick french accent.

Bucky recognized her as the nice agent who gave him a coffee last week after Sam ‘accidentally’ knocked over Bucky’s.

“Just leave it? Absolutely not, hun!”

“Listen to her, Ace.” Bruce pleaded.

“No! This sleazy bastard cheated on my best friend! No fucking way! Literally, who the hell would cheat on a cute french girl?”

“Ace, violence isn’t the right way to-”

“Excuse me?” Josh’s voice rang out, sounding like someone was holding his nose closed shut. “Can someone get me an ice pack?”

You whipped around towards him.

“You. Want. An. Ice pack.” You restated, shooting daggers- no, 7 inch sharp kitchen knives at him.

“My nose hurts.” Josh rolled his eyes. “Y’know, after you turned all Crazy Psycho Lady on me and broke it.”

“You know what?” Your smile dripped with bitterness and sarcasm. “How about I punch it again so it’ll go numb and it won’t hurt anymore?”

You reached your arm backwards to land another punch, but Steve rushed to grab you again, and the chaos resumed.

Tony was instructing you to “kick Steve in the balls and resume beating the shit out of Josh”, while Bruce was very strongly vetoing the idea.

Sam and Clint, meanwhile, were placing bets on how much the medical bill was gonna be.

Suddenly, Bruce rushed over to Bucky.

“Look, man, you gotta help me.”

Bucky looked at Bruce with wide eyes. “Me?”

“Yeah! If you tell her to stop, she would in a heartbeat!”

“Why?” Bucky knew where this was going.

“Because of your metal arm!”

Bucky’s heart sank. Of course you were scared of it. Everyone was. They thought it made him a monster.

So did he.

Even though he was so, so grateful to Shuri for trying to help him feel like a new person with a new arm that wasn’t associated with HYDRA, that bloody ruthless murderer that they made him into never seemed to leave.

He would always be him.

No matter how hard he tried, the memories followed him like a lost puppy, attacking at night when he was trying to sleep.

No matter how hard he tried, he could never shake off the imprint HYDRA had left on him.

No matter how hard he tried or how much Steve told him otherwise, Bucky was still a monster.

A cruel, cold-hearted, evil monster who killed the innocent.

Who killed innocent men, women, and children who didn’t deserve to be killed.

He was the one who deserved to be killed.

“She’s absolutely obsessed with it!”

Bucky choked on his spit.

“Wha-w-what?”

“She adores it.” Bruce rushed. “She says it’s, and I quote, the most beautiful and extraordinary thing to ever be made in history.”

Okay, so apparently Bucky did not know where that was going.

“Still not convinced?” Bruce groaned. “She thinks it’s the most amazing thing in the galaxy. She says it’s the ‘peak of engineering’. You can ask Tony if you still don’t believe me.”

Tony wasn’t extremely fond of Bucky, and neither was Bucky of him, so he decided to take Bruce’s word for it, no matter how much it shocked him.

She likes my arm?

Just because she likes your arm doesn’t mean she likes you, idiot.

“Uh, okay? So, um, what do I do?”

“Tell her to stop!” Bruce lightly shoved Bucky forward when he slowly got up out of his seat.

Bucky hesitantly took a step forward, his mind still trying to process everything.

Bucky maneuvered around Steve, tapping you - who was still out to get it for Josh- on the shoulder after a moment of hesitation.

“Bruce, I already told you, it’s too late-” You spun out of Steve’s grip, but your mouth dropped open when you realized it was not Bruce.

You stared at Bucky with wide eyes. But not out of fear.

Out of adoration.

He was struck with a sudden flash of nostalgia of how his mom looked at him when he gave her a card for Mother’s Day when he was 6.

"Oh, Jamie, I love it.” She had said as she read it with a soft smile.

And that same smile was on your face. “Um, hi there.”

He smiled back.

But not one of those fake smiles he put on to make Steve happy. An actual genuine smile.

And it felt good.

You smoothed out your coat, taking in a breath. “Can I help you?”

Steve stared at the two of you, a grin spreading onto his face.

“I’m not surprised. Those psychos are perfect for each other.” Josh rolled his eyes.

Neither of you heard him.

“Hi, I’m Bucky.”

“She knows.” Tony groaned.

“Shut up, Tony.” Your eyes never left Bucky’s. “Hi Bucky.”

He saw your eyes light up as they made their way to look at his metal arm.

Bruce cleared his throat loudly.

“So, um, Ace. The arm has been giving me a bit of trouble recently. I was wondering if you could maybe take a look at it?” Bucky glanced at Bruce before looking back at you.

“He means now.” Bruce added.

You looked like you were going to faint out of excitement.

“Y-yeah, of course.”

Bruce let out a loud sigh of relief.

“Um, actually.” Bucky started.

Bruce’s head shot up and started mouthing something to Bucky - probably something along the lines of ‘No! Get her out of here before she kills him!’- but he was busy looking at you.

“Maybe you wanna grab a coffee first?”

#marvel fanfiction #bucky x reader #crack fic

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makeste · 6 months

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BnHA Chapter 407: Wait Why Are You Running Away

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan figured out how to control his quirk upgrade and was totally chill and normal about it. Definitely not terrifying at all. He actually spent the entire chapter smiling and laughing like the wholesome little boy he is. I don’t know why Kid For One is so freaked out about it. He even politely introduced himself using his childhood nickname. Clearly he just wants to be friends with you, KFO!

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “sorry to keep you waiting, here’s the AFO and Yoichi flashback you ordered at long last” and proceeds to serve a nightmarish stew of HUMAN MISERY and RATS and STABBING and CARNAGE and SO MUCH MURDER and THE SINGLE MOST FUCKED-UP CASE OF CODEPENDENCY ANYONE HAS EVER WRITTEN. I was not even remotely prepared for any of this, and if anyone else claims that they were, I will call you a liar to your face. If this chapter had a mouth it would scream. Or just sob, ceaselessly and uncontrollably. I’m really glad Horikoshi is on break next week because that man needs to take a fucking nap. My god.

okay WOW

anyone else read the first two words and just immediately say to themselves, “oh okay, so it’s gonna be one of those chapters”? I mean, I guess we were due for a darker chapter after last week’s Kacchan Comedy Tour. but idk, I just wasn’t expecting “homeless sick prostitute with a drinking problem” levels of dark

AND SHE’S PREGNANT?!

what exactly is this manga rated again? doesn’t this backstory seem just a little bit raw for the impressionable kiddos??

has anyone actually checked in on Horikoshi recently? you know, just to make sure he is okay??

what a fun and wholesome manga this is

the lil baby arm covered in blood with the AFO hole on the palm. lying next to the dead mom hand. what an image to sear into our minds. I guess it’s been a while since he killed any dogs. gotta keep us on our toes somehow

also wasn’t expecting AFO and Yoichi to be twins! that puts an interesting spin on their relationship, because it’s usually a closer bond than even regular siblings. especially with all of that delightful shared trauma from a young age!!

yes, exactly

ohhhh this chapter is gonna hurt me, isn’t it. okay. ooooooookay. let’s do this

OH I’M SORRY, THERE’S MORE?!

Horikoshi my dude. you do realize that their mom dying in childbirth and the two of them just barely surviving and growing up as street orphans would have already been MORE than tragic enough, backstory-wise. you did not have to turn this into a freaking horror show with RATS TRYING TO EAT THEIR NEWBORN SELVES jesus christ

and THAT’S where you chose to put a one year timeskip?!

what the fuck am I reading here, you guys. no please tell me, I am actually desperate to understand

so the narrator is saying that some of the quirks manifested later in life, in “pubescent and pre-pubescent stages”, which is interesting because it’s the first time I can recall hearing about someone actually manifesting a quirk that late. maybe Deku’s old OFA cover story was more plausible than I realized

anyway so eventually it occurred to everyone that they should maybe freaking study this shit, idk. and eventually the researchers concluded that the superpowers came from a new gene that apparently isn’t human. and upon hearing that, society apparently lost its freaking mind. which is fascinating to me because it implies that the turning point wasn’t actually the superpowers themselves, but the realization of what it meant

like, so they were apparently fine with it when they thought it was a “mysterious disease”, but somehow it hit different when they learned it wasn’t actually a sickness at all, but instead the Next Step in Evolution. and it became an “us vs them” thing, as opposed to a “we have to cure these poor people” thing. damn

anyway so now Japan is a dystopia and we’re cutting to a big crowd of merc-looking dudes who are getting ready to attack some “meta freaks”, how lovely

but who is this figure in the shadows

I ask politely, as if it wasn’t already beyond obvious that this is AFO about to wreck some people’s shit

ohhhhh my god lmao

hopefully Katsuki and Deku can take the present day AFO out before he winds up looking like this. because this little fella is clearly demonic and idk if anyone can stop him

you all don’t understand. you need to run the fuck away right now

oh shit it’s already too late for them

it’s too late for any of us. it’s over. it’s all fucking over

((((；゜Д゜)))

AFO I am putting the manga down. I am backing away slowly with my hands in the air. I mean you no harm. please for the love of god have mercy

holy

“you see, we told you he wasn’t human” okay Scientific Research Group, you know what?? you win this round I guess

“HE WAS LITERALLY EVIL FROM BIRTH” HORIKOSHI SERIOUSLY ARE YOU OKAY??

HE WAS BORN AN ARROGANT BABY is literally the most terrifying sentence I have ever read

what the entire fuck

it’s a gorgeous sunny mid-November afternoon outside my window. but no matter how hard it tries, the light cannot reach this place

what kind of moron would throw a can of soda at him. officially the stupidest person we have ever seen in this manga

OH MY GOD OF COURSE IT’S HIM LMAO

(ETA: how come baby Yoichi has clothes that fit him perfectly but baby AFO is just stomping around wearing a tablecloth.)

BABY YOICHI. OH MY GOD. HOW THE HELL DID YOU GROW UP TO BE SANE AND KIND AND GOOD. THAT’S MY QUESTION THAT I NEED ANSWERED RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE LITERALLY A MIRACLE. YOU ARE AN IMPOSSIBILITY, DO YOU KNOW THAT

small and weak, but also so, so cute. all of the cuteness genes went straight to him. no wonder AFO was jealous

(ETA: just want to press pause for a second to speculate about what type of twins AFO and Yoichi are, since it has some relevance to the story, and especially to the OFA/AFO quirk lore. so! at first glance the two of them would appear to be fraternal twins, just based on the fact that they have very different appearances, and also the fact that Yoichi doesn’t have the AFO quirk – no holes in his hands, etc. identical twins are born from the same fertilized egg, so in theory they would both have the same sequence of DNA, which means Yoichi would have had the same quirk as AFO. but that doesn’t appear to be the case. so all of that points to them being fraternal, not identical.

on the other hand, there is one piece of evidence in this chapter that does support them being identical twins, and that’s the fact that per the narration, AFO absorbed most of the nutrients from their mother. a few minutes of google fu informed me that this condition is relatively rare, and only happens in cases where two twins share a placenta, which typically is only the case for identical twins. HOWEVER, for what it’s worth, there have also been rare instances where two fraternal twin placentas fuse together and become a single placenta. AND this apparently also increases the chances of one of the twins gaining more of the nutrients and causing the other twin to have a lower birth weight.

so based on the evidence here, my conclusion is that the two of them are most likely fraternal twins with a case of placental fusion. besides, you can’t tell me that stealing his baby brother’s placenta while the two of them are literally still in the womb doesn’t sound like exactly the type of BS that fetus!AFO would pull, lol.)

HEY!?!

okay?!?!?! well to be fair he did throw that soda at him

oh my god this is so fucked up. in like the best and worst way possible

I genuinely couldn’t ask for a better AFO backstory. it’s so incredibly twisted, and you actually do feel sorry for him. or at least I do. but it’s also beyond clear that this kid was FUCKED UP BEYOND ALL REASON right from the get go. zero goodness in him. literally doesn’t see other people as people. sees them as possessions only. things to rule over. not other thinking, feeling human beings. and that includes his own little brother

but. even if it’s not actually what I would call love, there’s still... attachment, there. it’s the closest he can get to actually caring about someone. guh. just, somehow they have both managed to humanize him, and at the same time made him less human than ever. this manga, man. this fucking manga, though

lmao and here we go. Captain Hero

you know, all those times that I made fun of AFO for not knowing how to read, I never suspected that the twist in his backstory would be that he LITERALLY DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO READ dfksjdlfkjslkdf

but seriously though. because Yoichi appears to be self-taught, and I can’t see AFO having the patience for that, and CLEARLY no one else was around to teach him, sooooo...

oh my goodness it’s actually getting wholesome up in here

what a good fucking boy. poor AFO. fuck me, I can’t help it. it’s not your fault you’re the world’s greatest monster you poor bastard

now we’re cutting to THREE YEARS LATER. okay

is he going to declare war on the glowing baby

typical teenager concerned about nothing but likes and view counts. AFO you would be so much happier if you stopped worrying about all of that and just focused on your own growth

oh, lol. well that was quick

(ETA: r.i.p. Damien.)

“this guy had more instagram followers than me. so I killed him” honey. sweetie pie. you need therapy

omfg

all this time I was wondering who AFO’s middle school lit teacher was who had failed so spectacularly at teaching him reading comprehension. and it was YOICHI ALL ALONG. omg

“and, presumably, that’s how it always was and always will be.” dude. can you imagine listening to AFO’s oral book report on A Tale of Two Cities. “ahem. it was the Best of Times. the end” buddy noooooooo

it was at that moment when Yoichi knew, etc. etc.

oh my GOD I scrolled down to the next panel right after this one and I just IMMEDIATELY DIED LAUGHING

“WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID” ffffffffffffffff I fucking can’t omfg

NOW THIS HUSSY IS STEALING HIS BROTHER AWAY FROM HIM NOOOOOOO

HE’S HIS!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!! THAT’S NOT ALLOWED!!!

oh my god the hands. so wait, is this just the standard symbolic BnHA handholding, or are there More Levels To This. when exactly did Yoichi pass OFA on to Kudou. like is that why the sudden close-up and all that? omg

WHAT!!!!

OH THAT’S THE END, HUH? THAT’S THE END RIGHT THERE, AND THAT’S JUST HOW IT IS. I SEE. OKAY THEN. EXCUSE ME WHILE I PUT MY LAPTOP DOWN AND GO INTO THE NEXT ROOM AND SCREAM INTO A PILLOW

oh my god. and break next week too. this is what you guys have been dealing with this entire time huh. I understand your feelings now. godfuckingdammit lmao

#bnha 407 #all for one #shigaraki yoichi #ofa the first #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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kalegreeneyes · 4 months

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Feb 1 - Chocolate - 971 words - @wolfstarmicrofic

“I don’t think you understand how important this is,” Sirius stresses, hands fisting in his own hair and pulling at it in his frustration.

“Why does Moony’s birthday present matter so much this year?” James asks, flopping back on his bed in their dorm while he watches Sirius pace.

“Because it just does okay? It does,” Sirius groans, spinning in place to continue pacing in the opposite direction.

It matters so much to Sirius this year because he finally cast his patronus about a month ago and hasn’t told anyone about it. It matters because he’s finally realized why Moony is different to him than Prongs and Wormtail. When he holed himself up in the room of requirement and ran through his happiest memories until he managed to finally, finally land on one that worked, it just so happened to be the one of Remus's face when they told him about having become animagi for him. He had looked right at Sirius like he just knew it was his idea, and the look of sheer awe on his face had made Sirius feel more important than he ever had in his entire life. So, Sirius had focused on that look in his mind’s eye until the feeling it gave him filled his entire body and burst from the tip of his wand. Sirius had watched with amazement as what he initially thought was a dog, namely Padfoot, started running in the air around the room. Then, it got a bit closer, and Sirius’s heart had nearly given out when he realized that it wasn’t Padfoot at all. It was Moony.

Sirius’s entire world shifted on its axis in that moment. He knew there was something different; something that kept him up at night more frequently than not, something that had him staring at Remus whenever he got the chance–but he just hadn’t put it together. He hadn’t even considered that he could like other blokes until then, but as the light of the patronus faded and left Sirius cast in dim candlelight, it was glaringly obvious that not only could he, he did. So, naturally, he’s spent the entire past month panicking and trying desperately to figure out if there’s any chance at all that Remus could feel the same. It’s made things weird. Very weird. He’s come to the conclusion that he has to rip the bandaid off and show Remus his patronus, but he’s absolutely terrified that it might ruin their friendship.

“I have something…special for him,” Sirius explains, keeping it vague, “but I’m worried that it might ruin his birthday. And everything else, so. I don’t know what to get him as a back-up present just in case the first thing goes horribly wrong, and it’s tomorrow, and I’m freaking the fuck out!”

“I’ve noticed,” James chuckles unhelpfully. “I don’t really know how to help if you won’t tell me what you’re giving him that might ruin his birthday? But, I mean, you could give it to him on another day?”

“NO! I can’t! It’s kind of a big deal, so it obviously has to be on his birthday!”

“Alright, well. I can’t help you there, but I do have a solid solution for his back-up present,” James smirks, holding up the invisibility cloak in one hand and the Marauders’ Map in the other.

*****

Remus follows Sirius through the doorway into the room of requirement long after everyone else has gone to bed on the night of his birthday, feeling a bit nervous and a lot confused. Sirius has been treating him strangely for the entire past month, and Remus hasn’t been able to get any sense of why. It isn’t like he can become an illegal animagus for him a second time.

They walk into the center of the open space the room created for them, a few couches and flickering candelabras around the outside of the inner circle where Sirius stops to stand across from him. Sirius just stands there biting his lip and wringing his hands until Remus can’t take it anymore.

“Sirius, why did you bring me here?” he asks, frustration slipping into his tone. It’s been a hard month of not knowing what’s going on.

“I just- I wanted to give you your present, but it had to be in private,” Sirius starts. He swallows harshly, uncertainty apparent in his gaze. “Before I show you, I just want you to know that this doesn’t have to change anything.”

“Okay?” Remus says cautiously.

“Okay. Okay, here goes,” Sirius says on a deep breath, then holds his wand out and closes his eyes. After a few moments, the stunning blue light of a patronus pours out of his wand and fills the room. Remus blinks a few times to adjust, watching dumbfoundedly as the unmistakable form of a wolf sprints over his head. His heart starts hammering in his chest as he brings his gaze back down to Sirius, standing there across from him, looking small and scared.

“Is that–?” Remus asks. Sirius bites his lip and nods with a thick swallow.

Remus is across the room in a split second, hands on either side of Sirius’s face to pull him into a kiss that was a long time coming. Time stands still for them both, and they’re breathless when they pull away.

“I never could have guessed,” Remus laughs against his mouth. “I thought your present was going to be something normal, like-”

“Chocolate?” Sirius asks, shoving his hands in his pockets and pulling out two full handfuls of chocolate frogs.

Remus laughs and laughs, taking them out of his hands. The next time they kiss, sprawled out on one of the couches five minutes later, Remus could swear that the taste of chocolate has never been sweeter.

#wolfstar #sirius black #remus lupin #wolfstar microfic

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honeypiehotchner · 10 months

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Devil’s Backbone (Unsub!Hotch x Fem!Reader) -- part four

Super short, because things are about to get insane, so...

Warnings: angst, tension, the works

Don’t forget to follow @honeypiehotchnerlibrary and turn on post notifications to be notified when a new chapter goes up!

Four: You’re not who you are to anyone -- “Good Looking” by Suki Waterhouse

Strauss said she wanted to speak to Hotch as soon as the jet landed, and no later.

Hotch dismissed the team and took one of the cars with Rossi, back to the BAU. Hotch drove, his hands clenching the wheel so hard that Rossi was beginning to notice.

“Everything okay?” Dave asked.

Aaron relaxed his hands, but his shoulders remained tense, his eyebrows drawn together. “Erin wants to speak with me.”

“She usually does,” Dave says. “She’s probably worried about you, Aaron. We all are.”

“Dave, I’m fine.” Hotch wished everyone would stop fucking asking. He didn’t feel like repeating himself; he never liked doing that. “I’m where I need to be.”

“Are you?” Dave pressed. “Or should you be on vacation?”

Hotch scoffed. “To where?”

“Anywhere,” Dave laughed. “Anywhere but here.”

Hotch laughed with him. He had a point. Anywhere but there would’ve been nice. Anywhere but there, where Hotch wasn’t confined by the BAU’s rules and Strauss’s constant gaze, waiting for him to do something she could fire him for. If she could, she’d fire him for the way he handled this recent unsub, but Hotch didn’t think she had any grounds. He could argue his way out of it if he needed to, and she knew that.

He was a prosecutor before he came to the FBI, after all. He knew how this game worked, and how to play it.

Strauss knew all of this, which is why she brought the director in. She needed backup.

Hotch knew from the moment he entered her office that it was an intervention. He knew right away he had lost the game. At least, the game they were playing. He had a different one, and he had already won.

He accepted their deal. Minimum four months extended bereavement time, with pay. He was not to step foot in the BAU for the entire time, or communicate with the team about any of the cases. He was required to pass another psychological evaluation before returning, but it would be random.

His sentence was a suspension, without the official title. He was put in time-out, so to speak, and he hated it, but he accepted it. What he needed to do could no longer be done here. He needed time to himself to do what he wanted. And now he had it.

He headed downstairs to his office, first stopping in Rossi’s to tell him what Strauss ordered, and what he agreed to. Dave seemed pleased, albeit skeptical. He knew how Aaron got when he had to stay away, but he hoped this one would stick. And help.

In his office, Hotch loaded his briefcase with case files he had shoved aside in the past. Cases JJ brought him that were odd, but he felt weren’t good enough to warrant the team’s time. Cases he should’ve paid attention to. Cases that he knew he needed to close.

He had wrongs he needed to right, and now he had the time to do so. He won.

+++

You returned to the BAU with Morgan, who had plans to pick up Garcia. You told him you needed to grab a few things from your desk, but you could tell he didn’t really believe you.

Nonetheless, Derek drove and went straight to Garcia’s lair when you arrived. You headed into the bullpen.

Peering up at Hotch and Rossi’s offices, you saw Rossi at his desk, on the phone, and Hotch in his office, packing things away.

Shit. This wasn’t what you wanted, not really. You didn’t expect Strauss to do anything about it. Or maybe you did, but you didn’t want to admit it-- admit that Aaron was really starting to worry you.

You dropped your bag on your desk and sprinted up the stairs, bypassing the knock and barging into Hotch’s office.

“How’d it go with Strauss?” you blurted, out of breath, terrified and hoping he wasn’t angry. But his moods were so out of control lately, how were you supposed to know?

Hotch paused, leveling his gaze at you. His hand rested on his briefcase. “How did you know I was with Strauss?”

You laughed uncomfortably, your arms swinging by your sides. “Rossi said something on the jet.”

“No he didn’t.”

Another uncomfortable laugh. You gestured toward Hotch, saying, “Then you must have.”

“I did not.”

“Why does it matter?” you pressed, already feeling backed into a corner. Truthfully, you didn’t expect him not to figure it out. Either by your big mouth or his own profiling. It seemed like he already knew before you came into his office. “How did it go? Are you alright? These are more important, Aaron, how are you feeling?”

Hotch knew you had told Strauss something, he just didn’t know what exactly. Until that moment.

“I’m fine,” he replied neutrally. “I’m taking the remainder of my bereavement time.”

The surprise rocked you so hard that you took a step back. You expected him to fight Strauss and for Strauss to lose, for some big argument to ensue and cause a scene. But he said it so…calmly.

“Oh! Really? That’s… That’s good. That’s great, right? How do you feel about it?”

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” he shrugged. “I suppose it’s a good idea.”

“It is,” you murmured, hoping he’d at least see that you talked to Strauss for his own good. You cared deeply for him, which is why you couldn’t let this go. “I think it’ll be really good for you to take some more time to yourself.”

What about us? You wanted to ask, but kept yourself restrained. What will we do about us?

“I think so too,” he answered. “Strauss told me not to communicate with anyone from the team while I’m gone.”

“Yeah, for work stuff,” you said, sounding a little hopeful. “But we can still…” your voice trailed away. What were the two of you doing?

He shook his head. The action was so small. You almost didn’t see it. You wondered if he really meant it.

“Aaron…” You shook your head now. Surely, he couldn’t be serious. The two of you had just gotten over yourselves, had just begun to relax into each other’s arms without worry. You had just gotten comfortable. You didn’t mind that he was hurting; you wanted to help him through it. Why wouldn’t he let you help him through it?

“I’m sorry,” he said. You saw that he didn’t mean it.

Tears formed in your eyes and you continued shaking your head. This wasn’t what you wanted. You wanted him to get help, not leave you behind. Not like this.

“Please,” you cried. “Aaron, please. Don’t do this.”

His expression didn’t change. You don’t remember if he even looked sad.

You don’t know who you said goodbye to that day, but it wasn’t Aaron. Not the Aaron you know, not the Aaron you love, not the Aaron who held you so close at night and kissed you to sleep.

This man before you was different. You couldn’t place how, but you knew. He was different.

“Stay,” you whispered, as you watched him latch his briefcase. “Stay, please.”

He didn’t.

#aaron hotchner x fem!reader #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x you #unsub!hotch x fem!reader #unsub!hotch x reader #unsub!hotch x you #unsub!hotch #unsub!hotch fanfiction #aaron hotchner fanfiction #hotch fanfiction #aaron hotchner fanfic #hotch fanfic #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fanfic

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mirobami · 2 years

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How about a reader who is from the rival family of the momobami clan. The reader is extremely smart and better than everyone in the momobami clan, but she has no interest in standing up to them. Please

↳ better yet withdrawn

♥ GENRE: sfw.

♥ CHARACTER(S): bami clan.

♥ SYNOPSIS: in request!

♥ NOTE: this one was interesting i had to write it

The L/N clan, known by the Bami clan as their enemies, was nothing more than a simplified version of them. While the Bami Clan had separate branches for a variety of areas, the L/N Clan depended on a single heir. The heir was picked in each generation through a ritual. The ritual would be done on each child in order to make it fair. The child chosen would be called the Superior and the others would get to be normal.

With the newest generation, Y/N had been chosen to be the Superior. She had heard about the Superior’s training. It was extremely rigorous and an arduous process. Her curriculum differed from everyone else’s, with more subjects. The textbooks grew heavier with each passing year. However, she had been conditioned to take in all this knowledge and keep it with her. Once, she had asked what was the purpose of all this.

“In case you are ever forced into something, you have what you need.”

She didn’t understand. Years later, she’d be entering the prestigious Hyakkaou Academy. She already knew the reputation of this school and how to gain it. Through gambling, she’d make a place for herself, only to be safe. She knew that as long as she was safe in this school, she could continue her studies. What she hadn’t known was that she entered right as the school was in pandemonium with an election. Somehow, the second she walked in, she could sense more than that in the air.

Terano had been wheeled past her, her eyes closed as she strategized her next move against Kirari. But something lured her into turning around. When she whipped her head around, she saw her enemy standing there with a blank face and curious eyes. This was the girl that her family had said needed to be eliminated on the spot. The entire clan agreed to set aside their differences when the time came to eradicate her. “You.”

Y/N tilted her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are.”

“Don’t act stupid. You know exactly who I am.” Terano had no patience for her, she needed to warn the others. If Y/N was here, it meant that everything they had ever worked for would come crashing down around them. “You’re the one taking everything from us.”

“I’m not sure how that’s possible, I have been studying all this time. If you’ll excuse me.”

That was how future interactions went with the Bami Clan. Terano had notified the rest of them that she was here. Tension ran amidst the clan and it was not, for the first time, directed at one another. They needed to get rid of her quickly. The first person to try was Miyo. She had tried to subtly poison Y/N, just like she had with Yumeko. But Y/N raised an eyebrow at her, sniffed, and said, “You have poison on you right now. Please do not get near me.”

The next person to attempt was Rin. He had asked her to gamble, but she declined, reading her book. When he looked at the cover, it was something about philosophy. Her, reading about morals? That was impossible. He asked one more time and Y/N sighed. “No, thank you. I will not gamble with you. I am asking you to leave.”

It was a fruitless attempt each time. The clan members were all getting paranoid and twitchy, thinking that at any moment, she might poison them or manipulate them into handing over their heirship. The rest of the school could see how they bristled at the sight of Y/N, who hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, she was staying right in the middle of the pack, almost under the radar but not enough so that the clan wouldn’t detect her. She found out what was wrong and why the clan hated her so much, not to mention piecing together the reason as to the ritual. She was the person that could defeat them with a single blow. They were terrified of that. If she stood up to them and helped out the school, they would have no choice but to back down.

Kirari had said that she’d take care of things. This was why she had Y/N right in front of her. “You and I have some things to talk about.”

“Really? I don’t recall doing anything wrong.”

“Our families are in dispute. You are more than capable of destroying our family. We are here to--”

Y/N let out a long, loud sigh of exasperation. She had set her bag down on the floor, crossing her arms as she leaned back against her chair. “Let me put this in a language you all can understand, because I know this message will be passed along. I. Do. Not. Care.”

Kirari blinked. The words were rude, but the tone was something different. She didn’t care about the family dispute? Or was it that she didn’t care about Kirari’s words? “Listen to me--”

“No, you listen to me. Your family has been trying to get me to do things that I don’t want to do. Miyo tried to poison me, Rin tried to get me to gamble and I’ve heard enough things about him, Terano attempted to coerce me into handing over a property of mine, everyone has tried to eliminate me or get me out of this school. I don’t care about the dispute. Frankly, I don’t care about the election either, I don’t want to be president.”

“Are you aware that you’re something of a martyr to the other students?”

Scoffing, she uncrossed her arms and leaned forward. “I’m not dead yet. I have not been swallowed or devoured in your aquarium of torture. They are putting their faith in the wrong person because I don’t care about this rivalry. Future generations can continue, but for me? I don’t plan on standing against you guys. Do what you want. Just let me study, it’s hard enough to get some quiet around here and I have to deal with interruptions?’ Y/N stood up and grabbed her bag, making her way out before she turned around. “By the way, your best strategy against Terano is not what you think it is.”

Kirari sat down, before getting back up to go to her aquarium. There, she saw an isolated fish wandering around. The other fish seemed to move away from it, some daring to get close before darting off once more. No matter how many times this happened, the fish didn’t do anything. It was docile, seemingly indifferent to what was happening. Kirari smiled. She was an interesting person, to say the least. She couldn’t wait to see what more she could bring to the table.

#kakegurui x reader #kakegurui x y/n #kakegurui x you #kirari momobami x reader #ririka momobami x reader #rei batsubami x reader #rin obami x reader #ibara obami x reader #miyo inbami x reader #terano totobami x reader #miroslava honebami x reader #sumika warakubami x reader

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myperfectfatdads · 5 months

Text

The Santa Clause

(Inspiration on the movie the Santa clause)

Ive never believed in the Santa Claus Clause. I mean, just think about it: how could one man go all the way around the world in just one night? I mean, I could see me doing it, but Santa, I don’t know; he’s huge and old. How does he just move around like that? But I guess I should still be in the Christmas spirit; even though he’s not real, I still lay out cookies just in case. It is Christmas Eve anyway, and I have to spend Christmas alone as I’m away from my family in college. I live by myself, which is fine. Me and my girlfriend go to different schools, which is really hard, but we’ll be together next year as she’s coming to my school! But this year, I’ll have to settle with just me. As I go to lay out the cookies for the night, I see a big red coat. Who put this here? This isn’t mine; there is a note in it. You read it, but all the note says on it is for you. Confused, you try it on, and to your surprise, it’s huge on you. You take it off immediately and put it away, thinking this must have been some type of mistake. Who would send me a big red coat out of nowhere that doesn’t even fit me? Waking up on Christmas morning, you go into the living room, and to your surprise, the cookies haven’t been touched at all. There are no presents under the tree. Walking into the bathroom to take a morning leak, you scream as, looking in the mirror, your hair is gray and there’s stubble.

I’m only 25. What is going on? I mean, I get the stubble; it’s been a few days since I’ve shaved, but why is my hair gray? It was just brown the other day, but you shrug it off as it's probably just from the stress of Christmas. You weren’t having a totally sad Christmas as you were seeing your friend Troy for lunch in an hour. You clean up your face, but you don’t know what to do with your hair. If you can’t show up with gray hair, you’ll look 40. Not having much time left, you put on some nice clothes and leave. Arriving at the restaurant, you see Troy. Troy was never the healthiest of people; he had a little guy to him, not worrying about what he ate or going to the gym anytime. “Hey man, Merry Christmas, long time not seen," says Troy. Hey dude, you say hooping he doesn't notice the gray hair, but before you can even think that, he asks you, “Your hair is really graying out, man. That’s not good as we’re so young, and you should really clean up your face,” says Troy. Thinking in your head that that was super rude, you’re confused as you just shaved this morning. What does Troy mean? I need to clean up. Touching your face makes you feel a lot more than just stubble; if not, it’s already grown back. How is this possible? You decide to worry about it later as the waiter comes up and asks you what to order. Without even thinking about it, you just go off, saying food after food after food. The waiter walks away, and a few minutes later, he brings out the food. Looking at the plates you order, you order about twice as much as Troy, which is odd because he’s the fat one in this relationship. After gobbling up your food, you even order dessert, still starving. Troy looks puzzled, as he knows how much of a healthy eater you are. You stop eating because you’re embarrassed, just looking around and seeing everyone staring at you. You and Troy leave and get out of there right away. You guys part ways, and you come home, walk inside, and crash on the coach, exhausted. Looking to your side, you see the big red coat and on the table a jar of milk and some cookies next to it. Without even thinking, you stand up struggling a little bit, which is weird, but head right over to the cookies and milk and devour all of it. Standing up from the table, your head goes right to bed, and you crash. As you wake up, you scratch your beard, and wait, beard, you don’t have a beard. This is off, and you jolt to the mirror. Looking at yourself, you see a big white beard and your white scalp.

Terrified, you pull out your razor right away, shave all of it away, and walk to the kitchen, starving. Not even caring what you eat, you rummage through your days looking for anything to eat. You settled on the left-over cookies you didn’t leave out for Santa as you had extras, and you even poured yourself a glass of milk to go with it. It was a great combination. After finishing your food, you notice that, not even after an hour of shaving, this beard has already grown back. I mean, this can’t be possible. You just shaved, and it is already back and as white as ever. As you were so focused on the changes going around on your face, you weren’t even paying attention to what you were eating. As you look down and are not met with a six-pack as you usually are, you see a little gut starting to form. Poking it, you see it jiggle, screaming. You try to run away from it, but no matter how far you run, it’s still there. Looking in the mirror, you look 50, with all of your gray hair and a small beer belly starting to form. Terrified by what’s happening, you go to the doctor. He checks your body to see how healthy you are and your diet, of course. Stressed about what’s going on, you keep eating, not even paying attention to what you’re eating. The next day, the changes are not stopping as your stomach gets bigger and your hair is now plain white. The only good news you get is the results. Opening them up and reading them, your jaw drops as it says that you're not 50, but the results say that you’re 56! What is going on? Scared, not knowing what to do, you plop down in the coach with a glass of milk and cookies in hand. While eating the cookies, you look over and see the red coat—the one from Santa. But Santa’s not real, so who is this really from? You bend over to grab it, but you can’t reach it. There’s something in your way. Looking down, you’re met with a huge beer belly blocking your path. You stand up to grab it, finding it hard to stand up from your huge increase in weight. Finally grabbing the red coat you try it on, not only does it fit, it’s almost a little small for your barley fitting. You let one rip, finding it harder to keep it in, almost like you can’t control it. Your fatty fingers reach over for your phone and text Troy to come over for dinner and bring as much food as you can. Troy arrives only a few minutes later. Opening the door, Troy drops the plate of food on the group. "Dude, what happened to you?” says Troy. I mean, I put on a little weight, but I look pretty much the same. “A little heavier; you look like Santa’s twin, and I thought I was the fat one in this relationship,” says Troy.

Yes sadly you’re now the fat friend no longer being the young guy in his twenties now you’re a fat old 64 year old man. And oh boy you can’t wait for your feast tonight.

#dad bod #weight gain #balding #beer belly #beer bloat #burping #fat belly #hairy belly #fatty #santa claus #santa Transformation

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renazuku · 1 year

Text

august

part of the forever and always collection

IN WHICH; the summer before shoto entered U.A, he met someone and had the time of his life. unfortunately for him, summer loves don't always last.

PAIRING; shoto todoroki x gn! reader

CONTAINS; reminiscing on a past love, the one that got away, songfic, angst

WC; 1.7k words

BASED ON; august by taylor swift

A/N; i love the folklore love triangle

Will you call when you’re back at school? I remember thinking I had you.

“How about you, Todoroki?” Mina’s voice rang through Shoto’s ears.

“Huh?” He looks up from his phone. Almost everyone was looking at him, eagerly waiting for an answer. “Sorry, what was the question?”

Mina giggles. “A first love!” She exclaims. “Have you ever had your first love yet?”

“Um..” Shoto takes a moment to think. “I don’t know if they count as my first love, but I guess I did like someone.”

The girls gasped loudly. “No way!” Mina says. “Todoroki, you need to tell us all about them!”

“Wait a minute,” Ochaco starts. “He said he doesn’t know if they count as his first love.”

“Yes, which is exactly why he needs to tell us more!” Mina reasons.

Jirou hummed in agreement. “She’s right, Todoroki. Talk about this person, and we’ll tell you if you loved them.”

Shoto looked towards his friends for help, pleading eyes practically screaming “what the hell is happening”. Izuku and Iida shrug in helplessness. “Sorry, Todoroki.” Izuku smiles sheepishly. “I’m not sure how to get you out of this one…”

Shoto sighed and inhaled, readying himself for a lot of talking.

“Well…” He starts. Everyone started to lean forward in anticipation, wanting to hear every detail of Shoto’s love story.

“I first met them last summer.”

Back when we were still changing for the better, wanting was enough. For me, it was enough.

To live for the hope of it all, canceled plans just in case you’d call, and say “Meet me behind the mall”

Shoto was pacing around his room, awaiting the familiar ringing sound of his phone. Today was the off day his father let him rest, and he wanted nothing but to spend it with them. Y/N, a teenager he met while on a walk six weeks ago. They were looking at a flower patch, a blue forget-me-not in hand. He assumed they plucked it. It wasn’t long before the teen noticed the stare of the boy though; and they called them over to ask if he was interested in flowers. The rest was history. Shoto didn’t get to meet, nonetheless become friends with many people his age. The two of them had gotten quite close since summer break had started.

He felt special with them. Sometimes he’d sneak out to the park to see them, just to catch a glimpse and have some small talk. Even a simple exchange is able to lift his mood almost immediately.

But now, he knew he wanted more than friends. More than this. He could tell they were no stranger to whatever was between the two of them. Y/N told him themselves; they admitted to having feelings for him just over a week ago. “I want to be with you.” They told him. “More than just friends.”

Shoto didn’t know what to do. He wanted to be with them, yes, but he was unsure how it would go about. What if he couldn’t make enough time for them in his busy schedule? What if it didn’t work out? How do people possibly just return to friendship after that?

He wanted them. But the risk of losing them completely was terrifying for Shoto.

“Give me time, please…” He had told them. “This is new to me.”

He couldn’t be more grateful that they understood, even though he saw their eyes drop and their emotions slip out. “Right, of course…”

But now, he’s never been more sure about something. He’s never been more sure about them. Today was the day he’d make it official, he told himself. It’s now or never.

He’d be attending U.A soon. Things would be different between them. Y/N was not looking to go into herowork. Schedules would start to fill up. Friends begin to slowly drift. People surround themselves with people they see on a daily basis; with school starting up again, the pair wouldn’t be able to do that. He can only imagine his training to take up even more of his day.

Which is why he was so nervous for this call. They promised they’d call him today, so where is that ringtone sound he so longed to hear? It was already one in the afternoon. Perhaps they woke up late? No, he knew how much they were a stickler for staying on schedule. Maybe their phone died? He shook his head to clear that thought. Definitely not that. He knew how much-

A sharp tone pierced through the quiet air.

Shoto fumbled the phone in his hands trying to answer it.

“Hello?” He wasn’t gonna lie- He was a little nervous that it wasn’t even them. He could only hope he masked that nervousness enough.

“Shoto!” Their voice rang through the phone. He let a sigh of relief out, letting his shoulders ease and his smile crack through. “Hi.” He says softly.

“I was wondering,” Y/N started. “Would you be willing to meet up with me today? Just at the shopping mall a few streets down from your place. I have to tell you something.”

Shoto smiled even more. “Yeah, of course.” He’d already begun to gather his things and head out the door. “I have to tell you something too.”

“Great.” They chirped on the other side of the line. “I’ll see you soon, Shoto.”

“Okay.” Shoto took a deep breath before ending the call. “See you soon.”

It was now or never.

So much for summer love, and saying us,

‘Cause you weren’t mine to lose.

“Shoto!”

His head snapped around, searching for the voice. Finally, his eyes spotted them sitting at a bench near the water fountain. There was a small box to their right. He felt a smile begin to creep onto his face again, but this time, he didn’t care to hold it back. He strode over to them, taking a seat on the empty space to their left. They gave him a side hug as a greeting. I’m glad you came.” Y/N said. Shoto could see the appreciation and sincerity shine in their eyes.

“Of course.”

The pair turned to face each other, soft smiles on both faces. Y/N broke the silence first. “You wanted to tell me something, right?”

Shoto nodded. “Yes, but you said you did too.”

Y/N nodded too. “I do, but you can go first.”

“But you brought it up first-”

Y/N stifled a lighthearted giggle. “Shoto. It’s fine. You go first.”

“Okay.” The nerves were coming back to him again. His palms began to sweat, and his eyes began to dart around nervously. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. He closed his eyes briefly, then snapped them open again.

“I want to be with you.” He finally said out loud. “More than just friends.”

He searched their face desperately for a reaction. Their eyes were slightly widened, lips parted in surprise. “Shoto, I-” They started, but he cut them off.

“I’m sorry I made you wait.” He’s sincere, he’s serious. He hopes his voice gets that point across. “I was just scared about losing you. But I know now. Y/N, I want to be with you.”

“I do too.” They responded, grabbing one of his hands. “I do too, Shoto, but-”

Everything stopped. It was like time froze, like there were only them two. Like the world stopped moving to admire the moment between them. Shoto could feel the happiness bubble over. He didn’t think this glasslike moment would shatter so soon, though.

Y/N’s quiet voice rang through his ears. It was sullen, sad sounding.

“Shoto, I’m studying abroad.”

Shoto felt his breath hitch. “What?”

“That’s what I wanted to tell you about…” Y/N spoke softly. “I got accepted into an American school on one of their programs. My flight is a week from now.”

Shoto felt his heart drop. It all happened so quickly. “America? Why didn’t you say anything about this to me before?” He asks, crestfallen.

“I didn’t think I’d get in,” They started, letting go of his hand to grab the small box next to them. “It was my parents' idea, but now that I’m in, it’s not exactly an opportunity I can just pass up.” Their eyes drifted to the box in their lap instead.

Shoto didn’t know what to say. No words appeared before him, and even if they did, he couldn’t bring himself to speak at all. His throat felt as dry as a desert, like there was a lump that did not want to pass.

“I’m sorry, Shoto.” They whisper before handing him the box.

Wordlessly, he opens the box, revealing a small heart locket on a gold chain. He looks up at Y/N. “Open it.” They tell them. He does as they say, and there’s a small streak of blue inside the gold heart. It was a dried forget-me-not flower petal.

“I figured it’d help you remember me.” Y/N chuckles dryly.

“I couldn’t forget you if I tried.” Shoto murmurs. It was the truth. There was no way he could just move on as normal. Not without them. Shoto’s head lifts again, and he feels something against his lips.

They were kissing him. He kissed back, squeezing his eyes shut to suppress any temptation of tears. He opens his eyes once he feels them pull away.

“I’m sorry, Shoto.”

— — — — — —

“And that was the last time I really saw them again.”

“Oh, Todoroki…” Ochaco speaks softly.

Shoto looks at everyone’s faces. Most of them just stared at him wordlessly, sympathy being conveyed through their eyes. Mina was the first one to speak up. “Are you still in touch with them?”

Shoto shakes his head sadly. “No.” His face was devoid of emotion to most, but if you really looked, you could see the disheartened look in his eyes. “With time zones and studies, it’s not hard to lose contact. But it’s okay. I’m okay.”

Jirou looked at him, touched by his story. “I think you loved them, Todoroki.”

“Yeah.” Shoto’s mind flickered back to the locket he now keeps tucked away in his desk drawer. He left the flower petals inside too, the only physical piece of them he still had.

“I did love them.”

You weren’t mine to lose, no.

#bnha x reader #mha x reader #todoroki x reader #shoto todoroki x reader #shouto todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki imagine #boku no hero academia

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freak-accident419 · 2 months

Text

w.i.p. wednesday

thank you so much for the tag @futureman !! <3

this is an old excerpt from a franklin fox smut i wrote in february that i barely finished :3

After hearing the news about your boyfriend saving the life of some kind of famous tech guru, you drove immediately to his work that night with the intention of picking him up.

“What were you thinking?” You scold as he sat down tiredly in the passenger seat of your car. “Whatever happened with the whole ‘not being a hero thing’?”

Franklin looks at you in disbelief. “Wh—? Y/n, I couldn’t just stand there and-and watch him get shot, nobody else saw the guy but me!” He exclaimed, pleading his case.

You frown, your hands remaining on the steering wheel of your parked car. “I’m just…” you sigh softly, “What if you died? What if the barrel aimed at, not your hand, but at your head? Or anywhere else that could be fatal? I don’t think I could live with that.”

“Baby—”

“And of course I’m grateful that nobody died tonight. I’m grateful that you didn’t die, Burrell didn’t die, and I’m proud of you for taking action and saving his life. But I can’t help but just… think about if things had went differently,” you urge, looking deeply into his eyes—a look of fear and desperation.

“Hey, hey, no, hey,” Franklin placed his hands on your face, cupping it to ensure eye contact and gently rubbing your cheeks with his thumbs. You felt the scratchy gauze of the bandage against one side of your face, as it had been his right hand that was shot at. “I’m here now, okay? Nothing’s going to happen to me, or-or even you, we’re safe, okay?”

“Okay…” you reply, taking a deep breath. “Sorry, I know I’m being dramatic, I just… I was terrified. You know how much you mean to me, right?”

He nodded, grinning warmly. “I know, I know. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

The two of you remained in the car, which was in the middle of an empty parking lot as everyone fled from tonight’s assassination attempt. Your eyes trailed down to your boyfriend’s bandaged hand, realizing it was his right hand, and unfortunately for him, he was right-handed.

“Looks like you’re gonna have to tuck those magazines back under your bed for the next few weeks, pal,” you joke, chuckling as you watch his reaction to your remark.

He scoffed playfully. “Don’t be an ass,” he says, rolling his eyes as he looks down at his bandaged hand, then back at you. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

there’s a reason it’s called w.i.p. 😭😭 but i hope i can finish this asap !! tagging: @xcherryerim @g0ry0re0

#franklin fox #franklin fox x reader #franklin fox x gn!reader #Franklin fox smut #57 seconds #josh hutcherson #josh hutcherson fanfic #josh hutcherson x reader

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nazifa94 · 2 years

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Table Read

“It’s a matter of pride for me, honestly from my end it has always been 100% professional. Every. Single. Time.” I said earnestly to my disbelieving co-star.

“I just don’t get it; I couldn’t help but fall for Charlie when we first did our scene together.” Natalia grinned.

“Hell even I had a crush on Dacre during season 3” Maya admitted, making the rest of us giggle. I didn’t know what to say to convince them, but I honestly hadn’t had a crush on any of my male co-stars, but the girls were convinced that with my new big romantic arc coming this season that, that would change.

“I bet this new guy will make you feel differently” Maya teased.

“Listen, the day I have a crush on a co-star is the day that pigs fly” I stated very matter of factly.

The girls laughed loudly together as we collected our coffees, making our way to the table read.

Once we reached the room there was an buzz of excitement, everyone greeted each other and soon it was like we’d had never left. The bell rang and everyone sat at their respective seats. The girls were sat opposite me and smiled. I noticed that the seat next to mine was empty and the name tag read ‘Joseph Quinn’. He must be the new guy.

“Hi” said a voice and I looked up.

Shit.

“I’m Joseph” he smiled as he sat down next to me.

“Hi I’m Y/n” I said in a slightly higher octave than I intended to, I cleared my throat.

“It’s nice to meet you Joseph, have you been settling in well?” I asked.

Is my heartbeat racing?

“Oh yeah man, thank God. I was terrified. It’s hard being the new guy, let alone in Hollywood. I was bracing myself for the worst case scenario but thankfully everyone has been gracious” he laughed flashing his beautiful smile. I couldn’t but smile back.

“I must admit it’s nice sitting next to a fellow brit” he beamed as he lightly squeezed my wrist. Trying to ignore the rush of electricity shooting up and down my body over his touch, I held his hand and responded “ditto and hey anytime you need a decent cuppa you’re more than welcome to my trailer. Not to brag but I have my own kettle and custard creams.” I grinned with a wink.

Am I flirting?

His eyes bore into me as his tongue quickly traced his lips. “I’ll definitely take you up on that” he smiled. I felt my heart skip a beat as I placed my hand back on the table.

I looked across the table and saw the girls giggling and winking back at me. My phone buzzed and I quickly opened the message that read:

“BREAKING NEWS: PIGS FLY”

Dammit.

#joseph quinn imagine #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn fluff #eddie munson #eddie imagine #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction

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avalentina · 4 months

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My newest fic, this one will most likely end up being published as a series. For now it is in my Harry Styles page on my Masterlist. I'm not sure how long it will be, and I'm still working on the story itself so it might be a bit before I post more, but the poll showed that about 2/3 of you wanted it now. So without further ado ...

Word count: 4,074

Warnings: bits of anxiety, depression, feeling overwhelmed; Robin Twist's death, grief; unnamed douchebags who want you for your money and title

Noble!Harry (Peerage!Harry) x Princess!Y/N

Note: This story features certain words in multiple languages mainly traditional Chinese, but I have put the English word or phrase in parentheses directly after the translated word or phrase.

Ex: Mǔqīn (Mother)

The Princess's Lover

Zero: Enchanted Love

(any and all pictures are not mine, all I do is collage them, pictures of Harry are a reference for his appearance during the specific moment, all other pictures are only for the purpose of an outfit/hairstyle/accessory, Y/N can look however you would like her to)

I remember the day as though it was just yesterday. Hard to believe it was closer to five years ago now.

(FLASHBACK)

I was at yet another ball, sometimes it feels like my parents, the King and Queen of MiraZhou, host one every week. I'm 19 year old Princess Y/N, the only girl to graduate from my private high school without ever being kissed. I've had a few offers for courtship, none of which I've accepted, all of them just a family's desperate attempt to increase their wealth, status, and favor in the eyes of my parents. I'm being the perfect princess, as I usually tend to be. I've never found anything I wanted to rebel for, I mean I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have more choice in my life, but I guess you could say I'm terrified to actually find out what that would really entail.

This ball tonight was a masquerade, not that it actually made a difference in my case, seeing as I’m stuck wearing a tiara. The one I'm wearing may be my second favorite tiara, and my favorite formal tiara, but it does a wonderful job at making it known exactly who I am. For that reason, I've actually been trying to avoid talking to anyone at tonight’s ball.

It’s not until I’m summoned to my parents’ side for the formal ‘thank you for hosting’ part of the night that my care for this particular event heightens. My family knows everyone in our court based on their voices alone. As a family of four gets to the front of the line. I recognize the voices as Duke Desmond, Duchess Anne, and Lady Gemma of Duchy Holmeshire, but it’s their son that I can’t say I’m familiar with. As they make their approach, I catch eyes with him, the soft green of them is mesmerizing, I feel as though I could get lost in them and just be happy.

“And I see Lord Harry has returned from University, Cambridge in England correct?” My father asks Lord Harry directly.

“Yes, your majesty, uh sir.” Lord Harry replies, fumbling his words slightly probably to do with being away for so long, but he has an english accent that he must’ve developed during his time abroad, and it definitely suits him well.

“It’s good to have you back in MiraZhou Lord Harry.” My mother says, offering him a gracious smile. “I don’t believe you’ve formally met Princess Y/N?” she adds.

“I have not, It’s a pleasure to formally meet you, your highness.” Harry says to me as we make eye contact again and he does another short bow.

I can’t help the wide smile that appears on my face as I return the introduction. “Likewise Lord Harry,” I say and offer him my hand to kiss. A gesture I don’t give out lightly, and you can tell that by the tiny gasp that slips out of my mother’s mouth before she stifles it, and the way Duchess Anne’s smile grows a tad bit wider.

As the Styles family of Holmeshire takes their leave so the next group of nobles can greet us, Harry and I caught eyes one more time and I mouthed silently ‘bye’ with yet another wide smile.

After the “thank you’s” were over, my mother and father turned to each other. I heard my mother tell my father, “I’ll invite them to the palace for dinner one day next week.” I smiled to myself and excused myself for a brief restroom break, that I spent staring at where Harry had kissed my hand, remembering the softness of his lips, and how I really hope he didn’t have any other potential matches. Harry and I didn’t get another chance to talk that night, but we always seemed to be catching each other’s eyes, even from across the large ballroom.

“Y/N, darling, the Duke and Duchess of Holmeshire will be joining us for dinner tomorrow night.” My mother said at breakfast that following Tuesday morning. My attention perked up at that.

“Are Lady Gemma and Lord Harry joining them?” I asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“Not this time, but they both will be joining their parents here for dinner on Thursday night.” She said with a smile that I returned. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up about a courtship dear. Tomorrow night will allow your father and I to find out about Lord Harry’s current status, and any potential matches he may already have.”

“I know Mǔqīn (Mother), thank you, and I apologize for my obvious reaction, I’ll work on those some more.” I say, apologizing.

“Xiǎo jiāhuo (little one), we're happy you're actually excited about a possible courtship. I saw the way you lit up that night, it reminded me of how happy the first few conversations I had with your mother made me. Which is why you, Lizabeth, and Helena will be having dinner in the slumber party suite you used to enjoy. That way we can shield you from whatever potential hurt there may possibly be.” Father adds to mother's comment.

“And darling, your expressions are wonderful, a princess should not be void of emotion, nor always show indifference, your emotion shows your honesty in that feeling and that is what makes you an amazing princess. Your manners and etiquette are exactly where they should be. True feeling is just as important as manners and etiquette. Now run along, you have classes to get to.” Mother finishes out our conversation. I love attending University, it's the only time I'm allowed to wear jogger pants and hoodies in public. With no makeup or tiara or heeled shoes. I am intentionally supposed to look unimportant, because it does help me blend in a little bit more and instead of eight guards I only have three, all dressed down to appear as students as well.

My midnight violet Lamborghini centenario topless with ‘gongzhu (princess)’ as the license plate is the closest resemblance to royalty I get. After my classes for the day are done, Creyton, who is my lead guard, and I head to my favorite nearby pizza truck for a slice each before we return to the palace. Our usual nearby chess table is taken today and when I look again, it's none other than Lord Harry and a friend of his playing while enjoying a slice as well.

I elect to take the table next to them which happens to be open. As Creyton and I begin our setup and start talking, Harry turns to me, having probably recognized my voice.

“Your highness, what brings you out into the city today?” He asks quietly, careful to avoid drawing attention to me. He turns to Creyton and offers a handshake.

“I attend university in the city, so classes, but my lead guard, Creyton here, and I usually stop for a slice or two and a few plays on a chessboard before heading back.” I say with a small smile.

“We really should be going Y/N.” Creyton comments, now that I've been ‘recognized’ we have to head straight back or risk breaking protocol, and I like having Creyton around too much to let him get fired for something as simple as a protocol violation.

“I'll see you at dinner on Thursday night H.” I say to him, not wanting to compromise his lunch either. With that I head back to my car. Creyton follows me closely and we met up with the other two members of my security team. They share a very brief ten to fifteen second report before we get into the cars and head back to the palace.

“Princess, you know you're not supposed to talk to anyone besides me during that time, and you're definitely not allowed to advertise my name and who I am.” Creyton says to me during the quiet drive back to the palace.

“I know, I'm sorry Creyton, I wasn't expecting Lord Harry to be there, let alone at our usual table. It won't happen again, and I fully understand any repercussions that arise.

Lizabeth and Helena were not the best of distraction that night. Especially considering all they talked about was Lord Harry's return from England, and how attractive he is.

“Ladies, please, his parents are downstairs having dinner with my parents.” I say aloud and both girls turn to me.

“He's here? Lord Harry is here? Y/N please you have to introduce us.” Lizabeth practically begs.

“He, is not here, just his parents, and I will consider introducing you after they find out if he's available for a match. And if he is, I've pretty much already got dibs, I hope. Did you two miss the candids of him kissing my hand and the wide, stupid smile on my face.”

“Oh my God, Y/N has a crush! It's about time.” Lizabeth squeals.

“And on that note, we promise to back off, but if he has any extremely attractive friends please promise to introduce us.” Helena states and I smile.

“I know he has at least one semi-attractive friend. But he definitely wasn't from here. His accent sounded way too Irish.” I said and they both just looked at me. “I’ll look into it, I promise, just not right now.” They both grumbled a bit, but agreed.

It was late Thursday morning when my mother and father both entered the study I use for my schoolwork. I have three different 20 page essays due next week so I decided to have one of the kitchen staff bring breakfast to my study. I just finished finalizing and submitting one, and was polishing the second when they knocked. I closed my laptop so I wouldn’t be distracted by my essay while they told me whatever it is they have to say.

“Look at you, working hard on your economics degree.” Father said, smiling proudly.

“But that’s not why we’re here Damien.” Mother interrupts before he can continue on that line of topic further. “We’re here because we thought you might want to know more about Lord Harry Styles before dinner tonight.” She continued.

“He is not currently courting anyone, and Duchess Anne mentioned that he asked her to help him get up to speed on where you’re at and what has been keeping you occupied lately.” Father said and I legit squealed. It felt like hundreds of thousands of butterflies were dancing in my stomach. “We figured that would be your reaction and wanted to make sure you had ample time to put your finest princess foot forward for dinner tonight. We’ve arranged a walk through the rose garden for the two of you before dinner starts. Lord Harry will be here at four, and dinner is at six.” He finished saying.

“So in girl terms, you might want to start getting ready now.” Mother added with a smile and I quickly excused myself and hugged them both before taking off towards my rooms at nearly a full sprint.

“Mel, Marie, Helga!” I hollered into the staff door from my entry room. Mel and Marie are my new ladies maids and Helga is assisting them in learning everything before she officially retires next month. The girls tie half of my hair up into a braid and a bun, and then curl the remaining pieces, I have a simple gold and diamond tiara, gold gladiator flats, and a one shoulder golden gown. I ended up on the gold because i knew it would reflect in the sun during our walk, and it’s also a color I’ve always loved wearing. Plus it’s proven to be a confidence booster, and I have a feeling i’m going to be in need of a lot of that tonight. Other than my title, I have no idea what I have going for me in regards to why I’d make a good match. Though I’d rather he like Y/N, rather than just Princess Y/N. I needed to be radiant tonight, for myself, although, who wouldn’t want to look golden?

At exactly 3:56 pm I make my way towards the main palace entrance, it’s a solid five minute walk from my rooms, and it usually takes guests anywhere between fifty and seventy-five seconds to go from the drive, up the stairs, and finally step inside the doors. Which means that if I timed this correctly he should be just stepping inside the doors as I step off the last step to get to the entry foyer.

I maintain my normal pace and arrive to the front entry in exactly five minutes. However when I get there, Harry is already waiting for me in a mostly black suit, a bit of gold on the shirt, and a black suede hat.

“My apologies Lord Harry, it took a bit longer to get ready than I had anticipated.” I said to him as soon as I had made my approach.

“Well, it was well worth the minute long wait, you look radiant your highness.” He says back with a bow. “Shall we?” He suggests and holds his arm out for me to take.

“You’ll have 12 feet of privacy.” My mother informs us as I take his arm and we depart. I wave a small goodbye to my mother and father before turning all of my focus onto my walk with Harry.

“You’re going to have to guide me, I’m afraid I have absolutely no idea where we’re supposed to be going.” He says with a small chuckle.

“I suppose, though getting lost does sometimes lead to finding something unique, fascinating, and totally unexpected. A left at the spiral hedge just up ahead.” I say.

“That’s true, it’s an adventure, that much is for sure.” He replies with a smile.

We walk in silence for a minute or so as we enter the rose garden. He pauses just before the first fountain.

“Why me?” He asks a few seconds after we stopped. He’s staring into my eyes and I can’t help but stare back. “My mum told me that you have a habit of turning down courtships, and being very selective about who you let kiss your hand, so why let me? I mean you could have your choice of princes from distant lands, lords with so much more wealth, and fame than myself, the male heirs of duchies that make mine look infintesimal.”

“I hope this isn’t awkward of me to say but to be honest, the first time we caught each other’s eyes, I felt like I could be lost in the soft green of them for eons and be happy for each second of that time. That’s not a feeling i’ve ever had before.” I say, he smiles and the way it lights up his entire being is pure magic. I can’t help but smile too. “It’s actually why I wore gold today, I knew I would struggle to say what I wanted to…”

“And you needed the confidence boost?” He finished my exact thought. I nodded and he smiled again. “Me too, I knew I would need it to even manage to say a word to you.” He continued as we started walking again. “I can't help but feel leagues below you.”

The conversation flowed so easily from there, it was one of the easiest conversations I've ever had. We talked about university, our degrees, our families, our childhoods, my dogs, our favorite books, movies, shows, anything and everything. As we approached the entrance again he paused one more time.

“I’d like to have another outing with you soon, and I also want to aopolgize for making you violate protocol in the park the other day.” He says to me, and I have never met someone who means everything so genuinely, who is so kind hearted, and it just feels almost right to be around him.

“I’d like that as well, and as far as the other day is concerned, that is my fault, I know not to engage with the public while undercover like that, I couldn’t stop myself though, because it was you and I wanted to have a conversation with you.” I say back, desperately hoping it’s not too much.

“May I?” he asks and begins to reach for my hand. I gladly let him take it and press his soft lips to it once again. I feel the blush rising in my cheeks, and I smile as he offers me his arm once again. We make our return in silence, just sharing smiles with each other.

Harry and I had about two outings each week for the next couple of months, but he still hadn’t asked for permission to court me. It was beginning to stress me out to the point where my parents took us down to one outing every other week. We would text in between, but I was still terrified that he would never ask me, that he didn’t see in me what I saw in him. The every other week outings turned into two outings over a three month period, the texts had stopped, and I was afraid that I was going to have to accept a courtship out of obligation rather than want. It might sound weird, but after almost seven months of knowing Lord Harry Styles, I was in love with him. I was in love with someone who didn’t even want to court me.

The Styles family joined us for dinner on a Monday night, and I was to tell Harry that a courtship was no longer an option, I was to be courting another Lord within the week. I was at least happy my parents agreed to let me tell him privately with a chaperone just twenty feet away.

When they arrived that night, something felt different between all of them, something had happened to them. I was dressed in a ruby red and gold Qipao with a gold plated ruby and diamond tiara, my hair was pulled back into a woven ponytail style with curls for volume. Harry was in all black except for his shoes which were a camel color, and his long hair was also pulled back. It was the first time I had seen it that way, and it was definitely doing something for me, no matter how much I wished it hadn’t. When he finally removed his sunglasses for dinner, I had initially wondered why he was wearing them in the first place, but I saw firsthand why, when he politely removed them before dinner. His normally bright, soft green eyes were slightly puffy, he had definitely been crying.

Dinner was terribly quiet, no one felt like talking, Harry seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact with me and it felt like everything was seriously ending. I excused myself for a few moments which I used to try and compose myself, what I was about to do was beginning to feel overwhelming and almost painful. As I went to make my return, Harry was already waiting for me in the rose parlor as my family called it. It looked out to the rose garden and the vases were filled with roses of all colors.

“Harry? Did something happen? Your entire family was quiet during dinner, it worries me.” I asked him quietly.

“Yes, I’m not sure how much you actually know, but my parents aren’t actually together. My mum maintained her title when they split just because of how loved she was by the people of Holmeshire, your parents actually had to approve it. I was only seven when they split, and have maintained a relationship with both of them, my mother moreso though. She has had two relationships since, one which none of us speak to anymore, and the other, Robin, he passed from cancer a little over three months ago. It was getting progressively worse and I just knew I needed to be there for my mum, which is why I stopped texting you, and why it was hard to find time to see you. You have to believe me when I say I wanted to see you, Robin was a good man, he made sure I had good values, and taught me that it’s actually ok for a man to cry.” Harry explains to me, I just sit and listen quietly, knowing he just needs to get all of this out. “My mum has been trying to slowly reconnect herself back to my father over the past six weeks and while it is definitely an adjustment for all of us, I want to start doing things for myself again, rather than just doing things for my family, I want to get back to spending more time with you.” He finishes speaking, and the tears I have been trying to force down, overflow.

“Harry, we can’t, my parents are expecting me to start pursuing other potential matches at tomorrow night’s ball. I’m supposed to tell you that,” I cry while trying to explain it all to him. Harry being the gentle and beautiful soul he is, uses his thumbs to wipe away my tears. I take a few deep breaths before continuing, “Harry I’m to tell you that courtship is no longer an option for us, I’m meant to tell you goodbye, and it breaks my heart to say that to you. I… I need to go.” I say and attempt to rush out but Harry stops me with one word, “wait.”

“Y/N it’s not tomorrow yet, let me try one thing.” He says and steps closer to me.

“Harry, we shouldn’t, I can’t, you can’t do anything Harry, our chaperone is right there, just twenty feet away, and my father…”

“Relax, I’m not going to do anything like that, I want to ask for permission to court you in front of everyone, tonight.” He says with a smile.

“I suppose it’s worth a try, I don’t want to say goodbye to you Har.” I say softly.

“Then it’s settled, and we’re doing this now.” He offers me his arm and I take it, hoping it won’t be the last time.

When we get back to the dinner parlor where everyone else is, still sitting in silence. Harry grabs their attention immediately.

“Excuse me your majesties, Princess Y/N has just informed me of everything, and it upsets me greatly, especially because with my family’s recent loss of Robin, I needed to take time to put them first, and put their well being above my own, even though I would have much rather been spending that time with her highness. Which is why since it’s not tomorrow yet, I’d like to ask you for your formal permission to begin a courtship with her highness Princess Y/N.” Harry announces.

“I suppose you are correct Lord Harry, it is not tomorrow yet, and I suppose…” my father begins, turning to look at my mother, who nods at him, before continuing. “I suppose that my wife and I can excuse your recent absence and forgive you for upsetting our daughter.” he wraps up.

“And as long as it’s what the Princess wants…” My mother picks up and looks at me, I nod eagerly, a wide, bright smile returning to my face for the first time in months.

“It is, it’s everything I want.” I say happily.

“Then you have our permission, and our blessing to court Princess Y/N.” My father announces. I’m just so happy that I was wrong about Harry not wanting me, I hug him. He’s surprised at first, but hugs me back almost immediately. It’s the best feeling in the entire world, to be in his strong arms, I'm impossibly happy.

“Okay, that’s long enough.” My mother says as my father wraps an arm around her waist.

“Sorry mother,” I say, breaking apart from Harry. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it though.

The conversation for the night livens up after that. Harry and I are allowed to sit next to each other on one of the couches. We’re holding both of each other’s hands and whispering to each other for the entire rest of the hour. Just before we go our separate ways for the night he whispers the best phrase in the entire world to me.

He simply says, “I love you,” squeezes my hands again, kisses them both, and heads towards the Velychnyy (Majestic) Suite.

Hope you enjoyed!

As a quick reminder as of 1/17/24, I'm still working on this story, I don't want to post any of it until I'm finished writing it (mostly potential format changes) so please be patient with me and let me know if you'd like to be tagged in future The Princess's Lover (TPL) posts by commenting below!

-Ava

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fanlovedlt · 2 months

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My opinion about the previous update last week.

Spoilers but not really for previous avas demon update:

I love the fact that the party announcement was gonna play during this whole start of the conversation they were gonna have.

They both apparently wake up with literally two airhorns I don’t blame them. Maggie definitely look like that. She had an irritated dream while we all know what Gil was probably dreaming about~~~~~~

Not gonna lie I had to ask my twin sister to read this update for me because I was genuinely worried that this whole conversation was going to go haywire or probably go worse in case of everyone was going to get in disagreement, but I’m glad that Ava also wanted to apologize and admit that she did definitely say some hurtful things to Gil when her only plan was to try to recruit him and get him to trust her.

I’m glad that Maggie doesn’t seem to be butting in and it’s just allowing Gil and Ava to have a time to talk. But not gonna lie I really did like Maggie having her hair down. It just made her look very pretty, and very sort of calm because with her hair up it just kinda look like she was always ready for something while her having her hair down just kind of seems like she’s more relaxed. I don’t know how to explain it. it’s like as a girl myself I always put my hair up whenever I need to do something while I only allow my hair down whenever I know I’m going to relax or I’m just going to chill so I guess it’s kinda like that.

Ava was definitely on a roll here. She seemed as if she wanted Gil to trust her that she would believe him if he were to admit that he has Nevi as a host same way that Ava has Wrathia as her pacted demon.

I also enjoyed that Gil does seem to be listening to her, but doesn’t exactly want to put his full attention towards her probably meaning that he is still having second thoughts on whether or not to fully forgive her or to fully believe her since he’s right on one thing, they are still very different.

Ava honey no it was definitely not fate. I’m sorry, but I feel so bad that these four were stuck with having to be the host of four powerful demons that no matter what affected their life to the point where affected the people around them and affected the way of their own thinking like they couldn’t really spend their childhood doing what they want because there was always something going on.

Example:

Wrathia practically controlled Ava’s life to the point where she made her be abandoned by everyone around her.

Even though we don’t know too much, I want Pedri to Odin, all we can guess is that that similar to Wrathia, Pedri didn’t really controlled Odin, but he did become somebody that Odin was terrified of exact same way that Wrathia terrified Ava.

From what we can guess with Nevi, even though she didn’t hurt Gill in anyway, she did became the reason that when Gil tried to talk about her, or tried to understand her existence, people started considering him a weirdo because he was either seen talking to himself or doing something when he was alone.

And we don’t know too much about Maggie and Tuls, but I can’t imagine on how Maggie had to be careful with being packed with Tuls especially with the leaves, coming out of her hair and having to use his powers to get someone to like her only for that to fail and weaken him a bit.

So no matter what it pained me when Ava started talking about how it was fate that brought them together when in my opinion, they were just the unlucky group that were chosen to be hosts with a bunch of demons who wanted to escape a failed victory of some sort.

#praise this art❤️#avas demon #ava’s demon #ava's demon #ava ire #art #artists on tumblr #maggie lacivi #gil marverde #avas demon spoilers #avas demon update #avas demon theories

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autisticlancemcclain · 1 year

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prev chapter

———

One thing about fights that are fought in their lions, at least, is that they always feel safer. They’re still life-threatening, of course. And in fact they lost Shiro for months in a lion-fight. But there’s still something innately more comforting about being surrounded by an armoured war machine, and said war machine offering a comforting mental presence in the back of your head, compared to fighting face-to-face with people three times your size who have a penchant for blood.

There’s the added bonus of difference, too, that’s helping Keith calm down. He’s still pretty high-strung, and he still keeps a carefully eye on Lance and Red, but there’s enough of a visible difference between today’s mission and the mission in his nightmare that he feels slightly less like he’s going to throw up.

“Head in the game, Mullet!” Lance crows, startling the hell out of him. “I’m beating you 32-20! What, are you shooting with your eyes closed?”

“That would be a pretty good score, in that case,” Keith says, and for the first time in hours and hours a smile tugs on his cheeks. Figures, that Lance is the one who can put it back on his face.

“Oh, yeah right. Pay attention, dork. Or don’t. If I smoke you again then I’m the winner this week, and you are beholden to me.”

There’s a scoff over the comms. “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be so sad about that.”

“Can it, Pidge,” Keith snaps, scowling. God, nothing like an annoying sibling to take your mind off everything.

Lance laughs, though, and it wipes the grouch right off Keith’s face. “Mhm, he is kind of obsessed with me, huh? Loves to give me special treatment. I’m simply that irresistible, aren’t I, Samurai?”

“The only part of me that is irresistibly attracted to you is my fist to your face.”

“Okay, dearest. Whatever you say.”

Keith rolls his eyes, face still flushed, and refocuses on shooting ships out of the sky. He manages to shoot one seconds before Lance’s laser hits it, filling his comms with angry Spanish cussing.

“What’s wrong, Sharpshooter?” Keith taunts. “Not fast enough?”

“Eat my bullets, you doo-doo head!”

“Doo-doo head? Are you seven?”

“Seven seconds away from astral projecting into your lion and smacking the shit out of you –”

“Alright, Luke and Lorelei,” Hunk says drily, “I’d love it if we could maybe focus on killing space Nazis and not on whatever the hell you two are doing.”

Keith can hear the pout in Lance’s voice. “Mean. You ruin all my fun, Hunky.”

“Yeah, yeah. Focus.”

They do cut the banter, though. Slowly but surely, they reduce the swarm, picking off the fleet ship by ship, driving them away from this planet for the first time in what’s probably been centuries. Keith really starts to feel light, finally. The nightmare is already fading to the vestiges of his mind, Lance is fine, and they’re wrapping things up. Maybe tonight he and Allura can spar. There’s nothing like getting his ass beat concave to get his mind off any possible stress.

The worst part about it is that no one knows exactly when it happened. There’s space for banter on missions like these, of course there is. They’re not sitting in miserable and stressed silence unless it’s real bad. But they’re also focused on their own shit. Shooting lasers really isn’t as easy as it looks. One second they’re clearing the last few dozen ships. Then Hunk is calling out a warning for a Zaiforge cannon. Then they hear it fire.

It’s – Keith doesn’t look. He’s spent the whole fucking mission with a half-eye on Lance, terrified, but the Zaiforge cannon fires and he doesn’t look? He doesn’t fucking look?

“Fuckin’ – finally,” Shiro mutters. “God, they do not give up. Everyone good?”

“Ugh,” Hunk groans.

“I’m going to sleep for nineteen hours,” Pidge agrees.

“It wasn’t too horrible,” Allura tries.

“No, it sucked,” Keith says, finally allowing himself to collapse back into his seat. He waits for Lance’s inevitable teasing, his agreement with Allura – he always agrees with her, especially when she disagrees with Keith, because he thinks he’s funny – but it…doesn’t come.

Keith sits ramrod straight. “Lance?” he shouts, and there’s no masking the desperate fear in his voice. “Lance, come in!”

He hears a choked noise come over the comm. A wave of déjà vù is so intense it’s like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.

He ducks his head, bowed, chin trembling.

He’s never prayed before. Not once in his life.

“Please.” A chill ripples down his spine. “Please,” he begs, choking on a sob. “Please, please, please.”

When he finds the strength to look up, into the space in front of him, littered in debris from their fight, he sees Red.

Parts of her. In pieces. Her leg, a claw, her jawbone.

There’s not even a body for them to recover.

———

next chapter

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ddejavvu · 2 years

Text

Goodbye - Aaron Hotchner x BAU!Reader

WC: 5.8K / navi / preview

Summary: You're a new agent with the BAU, and on your first case, you make the unfortunate mistake of riling up the unsubs. Your boss isn't too happy with you for doing so, and barely waits until you're alone in your shared hotel room to let you know that. But when he steps out for a moment, his fears are realized, and you're revealed to be the unsub's next target. Can he get back to you in time to save you?

Contents/Warnings: typical cm violence, angry hotch, yelling, reader gets attacked, mentions of guns, reader gets stabbed in the stomach and bleeds a lot, copious mentions of blood, sad hotch

feedback is greatly appreciated! comment, reblog, talk in the tags, send me a message, tell me what you think!

Your stomach had been burning with shame for hours now, your head spinning as you replayed the incident over and over and over again. You’d slipped up at the press conference you were a part of, accidentally revealing that your unsub was two people instead of one, breaking the cover that you’d needed to maintain for the hunt to go smoothly. Now they knew you were onto them, and would most likely begin a panicked spree. People were going to die because of you.

You were so lost in thought, in fact, that you didn’t realize everyone stopping in the hallway of the hotel, bumping gently into Rossi’s back. He steadied you, turning to set a hand comfortingly on your shoulder. He’d been nothing but understanding since it happened, assuring you that everyone made a mistake or two in high-pressure situations like press conferences, and that no one was going to be angry with you. You weren’t so sure about that last point, though, because the second you’d slipped up, Hotch had seemed possessed with the most terrifying, unadulterated rage that you’d ever seen on him.

Speaking of your Unit Chief, he stood at the front of the group, passing out room keys. Rossi was given one, Prentiss was given one, Morgan was given one, and you stuck beside Rossi, watching as JJ paired with Prentiss, and Reid stayed by Morgan.

You were fully intent on isolating yourself as much as possible away from Hotch, at least until you were able to look at his face without nearly wetting yourself. But it seems he had other plans, his dark eyes glancing at you for the first time since it had happened, pure disdain lingering in them.

“Y/L/N,” Hotch’s voice sent chills down your spine, far too icy cold for your liking, “This is our key. You’ll be rooming with me tonight, we need to have a word..”

There was a palpable onset of tension at Hotch’s words, and you watched the rest of the team slowly disperse, sending you sympathetic smiles that didn’t reach their eyes. Rossi even patted you on the back before he stepped away, leaving you stranded in the hallway with Hotch.

He didn’t say another word until he stepped through the door, and somehow his glare got even more intense when he saw the layout of the room.

One bed. No couch. No floor space.

He had stopped so abruptly at the sight that you rammed into his back, the slip-up becoming a habit within the past five minutes. However, Hotch reacted very differently than Rossi had, stiffening at the contact and stepping away.

He set his bag down on one side of the bed, turning back to face you with an unimpressed glare.

“A- About today,” You started, “Sir, I’m so sorry-”

He held up a hand, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath before answering. You felt like a scolded child, shifting lightly on your feet as you waited for him to speak.

“Do you understand what you did?” He finally asked, peering at you through a frown.

“I do.” You started, quickly realizing that the question had been rhetorical and snapping your mouth shut when he silenced you again.

“People’s lives are at stake here. Real people, real, probably defenseless people, that you’ve just condemned to die.”

You didn’t dare speak, but you felt the shame in your belly grow at his scolding.

“Because you didn’t think about what you said before you said it, they’re going to die. Those murderers are going to break into another couples; house, shoot them before they know what’s going on, and leave them to bleed out on the floor. Is that what you wanted?”

“No, sir.” You cautiously interjected, “Of course not.”

“Well then I’m not sure what possessed you to say that.”

“I-It was an accident,” You meekly supplied, internally cringing when anger flared in his eyes.

“Oh, an accident? Another dead couple, just an accident? These are people, Y/L/N! Living, breathing people! Not for long, though! Not as long as you have a say in the matter, isn’t that right?”

“Hotch,” You gritted your teeth, annoyance now joining the shame that was stinging at your chest, “That’s not fair.”

“Not fair? Not fair?! You know what’s not fair, Y/L/N?” He huffed, stepping forwards to tower over you, “You ruined our investigation. We had them! Garcia was seconds away from tracing them, we knew that they’d call in to correct us about how many of them there were! But you did it for them, and they’re spiraling right now at that loss of power. What isn’t fair is that you single-handedly undid all of our progress, and sent us back to square one after three days of work. That’s what’s not fair.”

You took a deep breath, your frustration manifesting itself in an onslaught of tears that you struggled to keep at bay. They burned hot and stinging at your eyes, but you muscled them down, blinking rapidly, “I understand that I’ve negatively impacted the course of the investigation, and set us back with my mistake. Nothing I could say will ever come close to conveying how sorry I am that I misspoke, but there’s nothing that I can do to reverse that. I will work twice as hard tomorrow, sir, to help regain any traction that we lost tonight. I know I messed up, but I have to focus on channeling all of my energy into fixing it, not spiraling because it happened.”

You watched Hotch’s face harden even further, a sight you’d deemed impossible only moments earlier. His brows were low on his face, his expression the disdainful glare that he usually reserved for uncooperative suspects. He scoffed, “I sincerely hope that you work twice as hard tomorrow, because none of us deserve to. You’ve undone three days of our work! Morgan was up until two in the morning last night. Reid has been questioning people nonstop. Garcia was finally about to track his phone service. That’s not fair to any of us, for you to walk in and destroy our work. New agents prove themselves, Y/L/N, and tonight, you have proven yourself incapable of working with this team.”

Your stomach dropped. You felt your throat ache, frantic words clawing their way up into your mouth where they died on your tongue. None of them would fix this, they’d only make it worse. Your eyes widened and your tears finally showed themselves, a single one slipping down the apple of your cheek before you frantically wiped it away, not keen on having a meltdown in front of the man who’d just called you incapable.

“Sir,” You finally spoke, your voice shaking, “I- I can’t give up this job. I know I made a mistake this time, and it was made worse by the fact that this is my first case, so you think it’s all I’m capable of. But if you just give me another chance-”

“Do you think you deserve another chance?”

Yes was on the tip of your tongue. You truly believed it, too, but all words were lost at the sight of Hotch’s venomous glare. You found yourself intimidated into speechlessness, and it gave your boss the hesitance he wanted to see in you.

“That’s what I thought.” Was all he left you with, striding away to rifle through his bag. You sucked your bottom lip into your mouth, your front teeth digging into the soft, pillowy flesh to hold back your sobs. You rushed past him, narrowly avoiding bumping into him to cross the room into the bathroom.

“I’m taking a shower,” You weakly explained, and you almost slammed the door in your haste to leave him, “I won’t take long.”

As soon as the door was shut, you let your tears fall. You had to sob silently until you turned the water on, but the second you twisted the knobs and effectively drowned out your cries, you let loose.

Shame, humiliation, frustration, and despair all mingled in your stomach, a stormy mess of emotions that sent you spiraling. You couldn’t physically keep yourself upright, hunching over the toilet as visions of the couple’s next victims flashed through your mind. Would they be a newlywed couple? Or an elderly one? Would they have a pet? Would they have a child? Would they have multiple children? Scenario after scenario raced through your head, each one more catastrophic than the last in terms of heartbreak. But the common thread in all of them was their deaths, the deaths that you had caused. You felt your phone buzz in your pocket, the device pressed tight to your body in your constricting work pants. You tore it out of your pocket, praying that it would be good news from Garcia, or an icebreaking anecdote about the crappy rooms from Prentiss.

It was from Prentiss, but it wasn’t soothing.

‘We can hear him yelling at you, Y/N.’

Another buzz, ‘We’re not angry with you. Everyone makes mistakes. And those people were probably gonna die anyways, as terrible as that sounds.’

‘Please don’t give up, he’s angry and he always takes things out harder on newer agents. If you’re able to muscle through it, I guarantee you he’ll come around, the work that you’ve done so far has been incredibly helpful, save for the one little accident.’

‘It’s normal for us to make mistakes every once in a while. We’ve all slipped up like that before, even Hotch. He just doesn’t want to admit it, because he’s stressed out right now.’

You blinked rapidly, trying to chase your tears away. You’d heard scary stories about your boss, told around the break room tables instead of around a campfire, but he seemed to be more of a monster than they’d let on. You couldn’t see through your tears, and the sound of the water drowned out any other noise in the room. You set your phone down, grabbing a towel that was draped over the shower and burying your face in it. Now you really couldn’t see, which gave the couple slowly sliding the window open beside you all the advantage they needed.

‘Can I speak with you for a moment?’

Aaron glanced down at his phone, anger still creasing his brows. He bit back a scoff at Dave’s text on the screen, knowing that he was going to be scolded for shouting.

‘I can’t leave right now, Y/L/N is in the shower.’

‘What, are you in there together? Why can’t you come out into the hallway?’

Aaron finally let out his frustration, a sickened groan leaving his lips, ‘I would never take advantage of my position over any of my subordinates. Don’t be crass.’

‘Your little speech just now proved that they’re not just one of your subordinates.’

‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. You’re making less and less sense by the minute, and I’m not going to sit here and play games with you. Sleep, if you really need to talk to me you can wait until tomorrow morning when we’re back on the case.’

‘I’m not waiting until then.’ Aaron felt annoyance well in his chest at Dave’s persistence, ‘Hallway, now.’

‘Don’t order me around.’

‘You’re coming though, aren’t you?’

You had barely dried the tears off of your cheek when your airflow was cut off, a strong, muscled arm winding around your throat. Your immediate instinct was to scream, your eyes blown wide in panic, but another hand stuffed the towel hanging in your face into your mouth, muffling any sound you could have made through a layer of fluffy fabric and the added noise of the shower.

You tried fighting, kicking when you couldn’t scream, but two hands grabbed your ankles, nearly snapping one in an attempt to hold you still.

All at once, the towel was no longer in your mouth, but a knife was to your stomach.

“Make a sound, and we’ll gut you.” A voice hissed in your ear, raspy and rotten. You felt a tear roll down your cheek, this time out of fear and not sadness, but it was ignored in favor of the pair hauling you out the window.

Luckily for you, the window was tiny. One of your captors had to crawl out first, still gripping your ankles like a vice. But then you had to be transported out, and you made it as difficult as possible, twisting yourself this way and that.

They quickly tired of your insolence, pushing the knife so far into your belly that you were surprised it didn’t break skin. The sharp point in your abdomen instilled a sense of panic in you that you’d never felt before, unparalleled to any precautionary training drill you’d suffered through.

Your boot hit the window frame as you were carefully guided out of it, and made a dull thunk. Neither of your captors thought too hard about it, but you knew it was the sound of your taser hitting the wood, the weapon strapped to your ankle in case of emergency situations where you weren’t able to reach your gun.

Like now.

You moved quickly, taking the opportunity that presented itself while your captors were struggling to move you. The second their hands loosened around your ankle, you thrashed in their hold, spinning yourself around so that your chin was tucked safely to your chest while the first person’s arm slid along the back of your head instead of locking into your throat. You swung your legs towards the window, breaking the glass with the rubber soles and screaming as loud as you could.

Aaron cast one glance to the bathroom before stepping out, hearing the water hitting the tiles of the shower and starting for the door.

He shut it behind him with a soft click, the key still in his pocket. Dave was already waiting for him, but the usually-comforting presence of his long time friend only made him crankier.

“Hurry up, Y/L/N shouldn’t be in there alone for too long. That’s the whole reason we teamed up.”

“They’ll be fine, as long as you don’t shout at them anymore.” Dave leaned against the wall beside him casually, an unimpressed glare leveled at Aaron.

“They needed to be reprimanded-”

“They’re not a child, Aaron. You don’t need to be their angry parent.”

“Dave, do you realize what they’ve done?”

“Yes, and if I hadn’t before, you yelled it for the entire hotel to hear. I’m pretty sure the people on floor two now know the intimate details of this case.”

“I’m angry, and rightfully so.”

“No, you’re scared.” Dave persisted, never intimidated by Aaron for a second, “You’re scared because you know they’re coming after someone, and you’re worried that it’ll be Y/L/N.”

Aaron let his eyes slip shut after a long, tense silence, pinching his temple between his thumb and pointer finger. He could tell Dave whatever he wanted, but he’d never be able to lie to the man.

“I understand that you don’t want to stir up unnecessary panic. What if the couple doesn’t come after Y/L/N? You’d have freaked them out for no reason with the promise of an attack. But you can’t disguise your fear as anger, especially not if it's directed at them. That’s not fair.” Dave’s parroting of the phrase your argument had been overly saturated by only reinforced the fact that everyone had heard everything, and Aaron felt a pinprick of something he’d never admit was shame poking at his heart.

“Agent Y/L/N is not prepared for high-pressure situations like that.”

“Yeah, I agree, they need some more practice. Why did we let them headline on their very first case? Anyone would have slipped up,” Dave insisted, ever the devil’s advocate to Aaron’s stubborn hotheadedness.

“Their mistake will cost us-”

“No, their mistake will cost you, if you don’t apologize. If you react to a miniscule slip up with unbridled rage, they’re never going to feel comfortable around you. They’ll constantly feel like they’re walking on eggshells, that you’re waiting to scream at them for every little thing.”

“What do you want me to do, Dave? Tell them I’m sorry I hurt their feelings? These are real people getting killed, and-”

A blood-curdling, eerie, sickening scream ripped through the previously cozy silence of the hotel, and Aaron’s hand flew instinctively to his gun. But it wasn’t there, and he scrambled to jam the key back into the lock to retrieve it from where he’d left it on the bed.

Dave looked equally panicked, his own gun in his room with Spencer. Thankfully, the young doctor was already responding to the disturbance, their door flying open and revealing him, guns in both hands.

Dave was quickly passed his, and the pair stuck behind Aaron as he struggled. Finally, he got fed up with the key, his hands too shaky to aim properly, spitting an angry, “Come on!” and rammed his shoulder into the rickety door, sending it flying open and slamming into the wall. He sprinted in, barely remembering to snatch his gun off of the bed before he stopped in front of the bathroom door. His shoulder ached from knocking open the main door, but he didn’t hesitate to bare it once more and snap the lock.

He was definitely going to need a brace after this.

“FBI, don’t- Y/N..”

Of course, they stuck to their promise. The knife was immediately jammed into your stomach, the pain blinding as it slowly spread throughout every inch of your body. You heard immediate commotion from the bedroom, scrambling away from the unsubs as best you could to ram your back against the door. You hunched over, ripping your taser from your ankle and pointing it threateningly at them, but they were now more concerned with getting away than they were with you. Any energy you had possessed before being stabbed was oozing out of you in your blood, a puddle of crimson on the floor as you hunched over it. Your knees gave out and you fell onto your side, barely able to crane your neck up enough to watch them get away.

You laid slumped against the wall for mere seconds, but they felt like hours ticking by as your life slowly left you. You felt something warm trickling down the side of your face, and without even seeing it you knew that it was blood seeping from your mouth.

You heard the commotion and shouting from just outside the bathroom door, then the lock gave way with a loud snap and the door flung open, slamming into your legs. You weren’t able to move them, though, and you looked up blearily as Hotch stormed into the bathroom, his gun held expectantly before him as he looked around wildly for your attackers.

“FBI, don’t- Y/N..” His gaze finally fell to the floor, following a trail of blood from where your ankles had been cut by the window. His eyes widened, and a panicked expression that you had never seen on him before took over his face.

“They’re gone,” You rasped, your voice strained from the amount of effort it took to speak, “I couldn’t stop them.”

“We’ll go around the back and call an ambulance,” Rossi mumbled, patting Hotch’s back before dragging Spencer away, “You take Y/L/N.”

Hotch didn’t need to be told twice. He kneeled beside you, prying gently at your side to turn you over. You let out a cracked, pained whimper at the pain that blossomed from his touch, and you saw his chin wobble slightly at the sight of your stab wound and your red-rimmed eyes, not ready to say goodbye to you.

“I- I knew I shouldn’t have left,” His voice shook just as his hands did, where they pressed tentatively against your injury. When you winced in pain, he knew he’d found the right spot, and increased the pressure tenfold.

Your eyes widened and you tried protesting, instead only capable of wheezing out a weak cough. More blood pooled in your throat and you choked on it, alerting Hotch to the fact that you needed to be somewhat upright.

“Okay, okay, you’re- you’re okay, let me just-” He rambled as he slipped a hand behind your head, the one on your wound now having to press twice as hard. He lifted your head slightly, shifting so that you were laying in his lap. Your head was elevated now, and your throat cleared, dark red blood now able to flow freely from between your lips..

“Hotch,” You started, and his frantic gaze flitted to your face.

“Don’t speak,” He shushed you, “Conserve your energy.”

“No, no,” You pressed on, shaking your head jerkily, “I need to apologize.”

“You don’t, please just keep quiet and don’t overexert yourself.” There were tears in his eyes now, his breathing shaky as he continued pressing into your wound.

“It’s my fault,” Your words had him shaking his head vehemently, but you pressed on, “You- you were right. If I hadn’t said-”

“Please,” He cried, a sob clinging to his words as his face crumpled, “Stop talking!”

“Fourth floor, room thirteen!” Rossi commanded the paramedics waiting outside with your stretcher, “Hurry, they’re losing a lot of blood!”

“Rossi,” Reid stepped towards the man, looking back at the one unsub they’d managed to apprehend, ‘Do you think he’ll give up his partner?”

“It’s not likely,” Rossi mused, frowning at the sight of your blood on the man’s hands, “But I think Hotch would beat it out of him if he had to.”

“Why was he so harsh on Y/L/N?” Reid’s brows furrowed as he recalled the aggressive lecture they’d all overheard from your room.

Rossi kept a straight face while staring at Reid, but one side of his mouth shifted as he sucked his cheek into his mouth to gnaw on it.

“You know something,” Reid realized, his eyes narrowing as he stared Rossi down, “What do you know?”

“He’s scared.” Rossi finally blurted, offering no other explanation.

“I’ve never seen Hotch scared.” Reid frowned, “I’ve seen him resigned; he knows something bad is about to happen but he knows he can’t stop it, or he knows we’ll get there in time to stop it. But he’s never afraid of what’s coming.”

“Yeah, well tonight, he was.” Then a long pause, “And I made him leave the room.” It finally dawned on Rossi, “He knew something was going to happen to Y/L/N, and I forced him out anyways.”

“Rossi-” Reid started, but the older man waved a hand at him.

“No, don’t start. I’m not gonna spiral like Hotch will, It just- it made me think.”

“Hotch is spiraling?”

“You should have seen him when Y/L/N screamed,” Rossi let out a breathless, dry laugh, devoid completely of humor, “He’s gonna blame himself for a long time.”

“There, there you go. You’re gonna be okay,” Hotch babbled, comforting himself more than he was comforting you as you were situated on the stretcher. You blinked hazily up at him as he clambered into the back of the ambulance they’d put you in, his tie brushing gently over your nose as it dangled in your face. He finally got settled, the blue strip of fabric now laying over your chest before he brushed it away, letting it fall over the buttons of his shirt.

“You’re riding with me?” You rasped, your hand hanging limply over the side of the stretcher where it had fallen.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m riding with you,” Hotch’s voice was still trembling, and he grabbed your hand, interlacing your fingers and resting your joined hands on your stomach. You glanced down at the embrace briefly, then back at him.

“I’m sorry they got away.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“But it is,” You winced lightly after your insistence left your stomach stinging, “I agitated them, and I couldn’t even fix my mistake when I had the chance.”

“You didn’t have the chance,” Hotch urged, his voice hardening slightly before he reined himself in, “You- they attacked you, Y/N. You didn’t have the chance to fight back.”

“Did the others catch them?”

“Um,” Hotch fumbled for his phone with one hand, keeping the other firmly locked with your own as he squinted at the screen, “One. They want me to interrogate him, find out who his partner is and where they’re going.’

“Do you think the partner will become less effective in killing now that they’re not together?”

“Definitely,” Hotch soothed you, tucking his phone back into his jacket, “Don’t worry about it, just rest.”

“Don’t- How could I not worry?!” Your brows furrowed, and one of the EMT’s by your side sent you a warning glance.

“You need to relax,” Hotch murmured, keeping his voice low so that yours would follow suit, “You lost a lot of blood and you need to stay awake until they get some more in you.”

You settled back into the stretcher with a resigned sigh, despair seeping through your frame. Not only had you ruined the chase, you hadn’t even remedied it by catching them when they were in the same room as you.

“You.. You were right, Hotch.” You spoke after a prolonged bout of silence, “I don’t think I’m capable of doing this job.”

“Don’t-” Hotch’s face screwed up in a grimace, his breathing haggard, “Don’t say that. I didn’t mean that, I was- I was worried.”

“You didn’t mean that? Hotch,” You sighed, “You meant every word you said to me tonight, and they were true. I’m not cut out for this, I’m sorry that I messed things up.”

“I didn’t mean it! I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” He composed himself, squeezing your limp hand in his, “It was unfair of me to berate you like that. You didn’t do it on purpose, and it was a mistake anyone could have made. I was just- I was so scared, Y/N.”

“You.. You were scared?” You noted that, for the second time that night, Hotch had used your first name instead of your last, and you filed them both away to think about more critically later.

“I knew they were going to strike again. The problem was, I didn’t know where. It sounds awful, but when we know another victim is condemned to die, we can’t do anything about it. We.. we use them as a means to collect more evidence, sometimes we can’t advance in an investigation unless another person dies. We wait for people to get killed, Y/N, and the more we do it, the less terrible it seems. But I knew he’d come after you.”

“You did?” Something tightened in your chest, a sense of sickening dread that you wished you’d felt before the attack, because it might have saved your life.

“Think about it. You were the face of the press conference, your face and position were broadcasted to anyone watching. We knew they were watching, we wanted them to. When you misspoke, and exposed them to the community before they could, they spiraled. There’s only one hotel in the area, and you mentioned staying as close to the investigation as possible.” Hotch shifted uncomfortably on the rickety plastic bench that he was sitting on, “They knew where you were, they knew who you were, and they knew exactly how to get you. That’s why I teamed us all up tonight, Y/N, because I knew they were coming. I figured there was still a possibility that they’d be too cowardly to attack a government agent in a hotel full of them, but we knew they didn’t shy away from high-risk situations. It- It was you, Y/N, I knew it was you, and- I still left.”

“I.. I don’t understand,” Your mind was reeling, spiraling out of control with the new information you’d been given, “Why didn’t you tell me this before? And- and where did you go?”

“Dave- Rossi wanted to talk to me,” His eyes left your face for the first time in minutes, downcast to the floor, “He was upset that I’d shouted at you.”

“And.. why didn’t you tell me this before?” You repeated.

“I.. Y/N, I tried to.”

Your eyes narrowed and you felt your stomach start to burn again, “No you didn’t! Not one single word that came out of your mouth when you were blaming me for the deaths of innocent civilians had anything to do with the fact that I was about to be stabbed in the crappy hotel bathroom.”

“I- I know,” Hotch squeezed his eyes shut, sighing deeply. “Y/N, I’m sorry.”

“For?” “For blaming you. For yelling at you. For leaving.”

“Why did you blame me? If you didn’t really mean it, why did you?”

Hotch deliberated that for a moment, the fingers of his free hand brushing gently together, “It was easier for me to be angry than it was for me to be scared.”

You stayed silent, but you kept your eyes on him, watching his expression shift.

“I’m never scared.” Hotch insisted, “Or- or I’m scared all the time. I don’t know anymore, really. But this fear was new, this kind of fear was new, this intensity of fear was new. I don’t usually have to worry about us,” He gestured vaguely to his jacket pocket, where you knew he kept his badge, “I mean, not really. We go into high-pressure situations, but we always come back out again. Even- even if we get a few scrapes here and there, we’re okay. There’s only been a few times where something this bad has happened to one of us, and I don’t know how to deal with it yet, I’m not used to it. So I resorted to anger, which I deal with a lot more often than fear. I dealt with it the wrong way, and I got angry with you. I needed to get angry with someone instead of being afraid, and you were easy to blame.”

He took a deep breath, and you took the liberty of being the one to squeeze his hand this time, his eyes flitting to where they laid together on your stomach, “I’m sorry, Y/N. I shouldn’t have gotten angry, I should have just been honest with you. I.. I would promise to do better next time, but I’m counting on there not being a next time, so instead I’ll promise to make it up to you.”

He finished his speech with a soft huff, his eyes worriedly scanning your face for a reaction. You weren’t sure you had it in you to give him one, though, so you let your eyes fall shut, taking one deep breath before blinking them open again.

“You can’t be afraid of being afraid, Hotch.”

His shoulders slumped minisculely at your words, his eyebrows raising as he nodded, “I know. I-”

“Just.. let me finish.” You cut him off, “Everyone gets scared sometimes. You don’t have to forgo emotions just because you’re leading a team of FBI agents. You’re allowed to get scared too, and you’re allowed to tell people that you’re scared. No one would judge you, you know that, don’t you? Prentiss isn’t gonna laugh at you, Reid wouldn’t call you a loser.”

He let the ghost of a smile flit over his face at your examples, and you considered it a personal win.

“You almost lost me today.” You reminded him, watching his face fall, “But not because you stepped out. But because you did deal with it the wrong way. Because you wouldn’t let yourself be afraid of losing me. And I’m not telling you this to make you feel guilty, Hotch, because I don’t want you to blame yourself. I’m telling you this so that you can grow as a person, and relearn feelings that you’ve suppressed. Use this as an example, as a reason to be scared. Be afraid, Hotch, psych yourself out about this, or it’ll happen again. But don’t blame yourself.”

“I understand what you’re saying, Y/N, and I won’t forget this anytime soon. But I am blaming myself, it is my fault.”

“Hotch, they would have come regardless of whether or not you yelled at me. You’re not responsible for their attack. You can regret that you didn’t warn me, and promise to do better in the future, but warning me would have only given me time, not safety. You couldn’t have stopped them from coming for me by telling me that they were.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” One of the EMTs by your feet spoke up, the intimacy of the moment shattered, “But we’re here, and we need to unload you, Y/N.”

You nodded, looking away from where you’d been staring into Hotch’s eyes and reluctantly letting him let go of your hand. You were jostled slightly by the paramedics pulling you out of the stretcher, but their hastily-wrapped gauze around your stomach did its job, and your stomach wasn’t bleeding profusely anymore.

Hotch stepped out of the ambulance behind you, standing by the truck instead of following after you. You glanced back at him questioningly as you were being led away, “Aren’t you coming?”

“I.. I can’t, Y/N.” He held out his phone, “They want me to interrogate the man they caught.”

“Right.” You nodded, disappointment stewing in your stomach alongside the constant pain, “Thank you for riding with me.”

He nodded once, opening his mouth to say something but stalling before he did, “Y/N?”

“Yeah?” The EMTs carrying your stretcher stalled at the door, waiting patiently for him to speak just as you did.

“Thank you for.. for helping me.” He tilted his head towards the ambulance, referencing the rather eye-opening conversation you’d just had, “I’m glad we talked.”

“Me too.” You smiled weakly, “Now go find his partner.”

He finally let a real smile flit over his face, no longer restraining himself as he knew you’d be safe, “I will. And I’ll come visit you as soon as I’m done. I’m sure the others will beat me here.”

Your smile grew at the promise of seeing him again, though your brain refused to acknowledge why. You supposed you were scared to admit it, but you used denial to mask your fear instead of anger, like Hotch. You’d have to work on that, but for now, you needed a stationary bed.

“Goodbye, Hotch.” You looked at him for one last moment, then relaxed into the stretcher, letting the EMTs escort you inside.

“Goodbye Y/N,” Hotch supplied weakly, letting relief blossom in his chest that the words he’d just spoken to you weren’t his last, but in the grand scheme of what was to come, a few of the first.

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