Petals (pt.1)

*I have returned and I bring with me a Bucky x Reader mini series. This takes place during #TFATWS. Also, this is a bit lighter (yet darker) than my regular stuff. Not fluff but sweet because god knows Bucky deserves to be happy every now and then. Also, this does have references to the X-Men comics and WandaVision*

-The Lady Scarlettt

Synopsis: Madripoor had everything you needed to forget your past, and everything you needed to lose your future. 

Part Warnings: suggestive scenes, language, mentions of mutilation

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Sunlight caught the blinds in a dance of shadows. Her eyes twitched with the familiar warmth of the morning star across her face. She slowly opened her eyes taking in the sight of their small room. It was bland and empty, just like their luck in finding Karli. (For a girl to be everywhere, she was also nowhere.) 

A grunt came from across the room, she sat up in the stiff bed to find Bucky lying on the floor with a blanket barely clinging to his sweaty body. She let out a soft sigh and rubbed her eyes. While he was capable of so much, she found it heartbreaking he had so little, it broke her to see him robbed of even the simplest of things such as rest and a bed. She pulled on his black tee shirt from the night before and snuck over to sit beside him. She watched as his eyes darted side to side behind his dark eye lids. If he didn’t sleep well before, he surely didn’t now with the constant traveling, search for Karli, run in with America’s Next Top Asshole and the literal cause of his night terrors in the next room. 

“Did you know it’s considered an invasion of privacy to watch someone while they’re asleep.” Bucky grumbled, his eyes still closed.

“Good thing you weren’t asleep then.” she stated.

A slight smirk tugged on his lips, “Did you sleep well?”

“I would have slept better if my pillow didn’t wonder off in the middle of the night.” she teased.

He opened one eye to look up at her, “Sorry.”

She only smiled sweetly, her hand finding its way to his stubbled cheek. “You really need a razor.” 

He grabbed her wrist pulling her down to him, and began to nuzzle her neck with his chin.

She gagged at the sensation, “Ugh- for an old man you really behave like a child- hey!” In one swift motion he was on top of her tickling her neck.

“Stop. Stop it.” She hissed as she playfully swat at him to get off her. He chuckled and leaned back still, straddling her waist. 

“You have so much energy in the mornings for literally no reason,” she groaned, rubbing her lightly burned skin. 

He leaned down to her, a smirk on his lips, “I can come up with a few, if you’d like.” 

She rolled her eyes, even though her cheeks began to flush, “Knock it off.”

He made a tch sound with his teeth, and sat back up.

She smiled and sat up on her knees, her hands clasping behind his neck, a finger twirling the slightly grown out hair. He leaned into her, looking up at her from where he sat, a sad expression came across his face. 

“What is it?” she asked, rubbing her nails lazily through his thick hair.

“I just,” he sighed trying to find his words, “I want to stay with you, but I just can’t make myself. I’m afraid of what I might do, if I stay too long.”

She tilted her head, searching his eyes, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t want to have an episode at night and lash out. Sometimes they feel so real and I get can’t control myself and the last thing I want to do is hurt you and-”

“Hey, Hey, Hey” she interrupted, “Look at me.” She lifted his face up to hers, “Look at me, you could never do anything to hurt me. I know you don’t trust yourself sometimes, but I trust you and I know you. I’m not afraid of the ‘what if’s.” Please, hear me when I say, I want you to let me in, I want to be apart of this, all of it. I want to help you Bucky, but I can only go as far as you’ll let me. And if it takes time, ok but it’s going to take more than a nightmare to make me go anywhere. Ok?”

He stared at her for a long time, a blank expression on his face. She couldn’t tell if she had overstimulated him with her cheesiness or he simply was dead. 

“Bucky? If I’m overstepping, I understand-”

He abruptly wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her small figure to his. She melted into his touch, just as she had the first time he held her. They stayed like that for awhile until she heard him whisper.

“I love you.”

She smiled against his cool skin, “I love you too.”

He brought her face up to meet his and kissed her softly. His lips were always so soft and warm, something you wouldn’t expect. His thumb made tiny circles along her jaw, as she kissed him back. His hand slowly snaked their way down to her thigh where he pulled her onto his lap. She subconsciously, wrapped her legs around his waist and arched her back pulling him upward slightly. He held her thigh with one hand and reclined back with the metal one, smiling into her touch. She pushed forward as he pushed back, every kiss becoming more passionate than the last. She pulled at his hair, causing a longing moan to escape from his lips, exposing his neck. She began to place light kisses along side his neck, his breathing became deep as he massaged her thigh in return.  

He flipped over, now pressing her back against the ground, topping her. He kissed her back deeply, his tongue becoming well acquainted with her mouth. One hand began to find its way in between her thighs. 

Her eyes snapped open, “James.” She grabbed his hand, “It is 4 in the morning.” She hissed.

“HELL YEAH IT’S 4 IN THE GODDAMN MORNING!” Sam blurted out from the next room.

Bucky buckled forward burrowing his head in her neck holding back his horror.

“Shit,” Her face became the next 50 shades of red, as she covered her mouth with her hand to prevent a wave of uncomfortable laughter.

“HERE I THOUGHT AT 11pm I WOULD GET MY BEAUTY SLEEP BUT NOOOO. IF I HEAR THAT DAMN SHIT AGAIN I WILL COME IN THERE AND BEAT BOTH OF YALL’S NASTY ASSES.”

There was a moment of silence as the two looked between each other with mischievous smiles. He rolled his eyes and licked his lips knowingly. She let out a staged moan loud enough to be heard from outside.

“Fuck. Y/N.” Bucky grunted, his face tinted trying to remain collected. She covered her face with her hands moaning back at him.

Seeing her smile only made Bucky ham it up more as he began slapping his hand on the floor to create more of a scene to which she erupted in a fit of choked laughter. Sam yelled something from the other room about Jesus Christ and Sin. Bucky stood up with that smug look on his face, as he did whenever he won at annoying Sam Wilson. He gave her his hand and hauled her off the ground with barely any effort.

She finally settled down from laughing and looked at him, “I think we should do that more often.”

“What? Piss off bird boy or have sex?” He asked.

She grinned, “Can it not be both?”

Bucky made a face as if he was scheduling the next when and where.

She gave him a light slap, “Now don’t get cocky about it. Also, you stink. Go take a shower.”

He looked at her offended then gave a sly look, “Or we could ta-“

“No” she snapped like a mother to her child, “Get.”

He held up his hands up in defense, “Alright, Alright, but I’m going to need my shirt back.”

She groaned and peeled off the shirt and tossed it at his face. He pulled the shirt down and gave her a once over, “I like that color” he said inspecting her black laced undergarments.

“Good Lord, Go.” she shoved him towards the bathroom. He chuckled at her and whipped the shirt over his shoulder, sending her a cocky grin as he left the room.

Once the door closed behind him, she let out a sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. A wave of depression washed over her as she longed for the day they could just stay in bed and not battle some end of the world threat. She looked to the blanket on the floor where he slept the night before. He deserved so much more than this. They deserved so much more than this.

She couldn’t lie, after the blip the thought of going off grid looked truly appealing. With Nat, Tony, Vision, Bruce, Wanda, Thor, and Steve gone, the Avengers felt more like a club then an actual organization. While she had always been closer to Sam, Bucky and Steve the hole left behind by the others made it too hard to go on some days. What was the point? Every time something was fixed something worse happened. And they never were thanked properly, only ridiculed by what should have been done, because everyone always expected them to be heroes; yet they never saw they were also human. The only reason she stayed was for Sam and Bucky, they had become her family, especially after Steve’s passing, who was like a father figure to her.

She pushed away the memories that came rushing in. She could not allow herself to get emotional, their job here needed her full attention. She stood and changed into her suit and left the room. 

Zemo was reclined on a sofa, drinking a cup of tea. When she entered he gave her a solemn nod. She cringed slightly, the anger at what he did to Bucky and T’Challa creeping back in.

“You’re up early.” She stated flatly.

“Hard to sleep with all the noise.” He shot her a look. “I can start you a kettle if you’d like.”

“Sorry, and no thanks, I got it.” She said. Grabbing a kettle and filling it with water.

Zemo stood, “Do you mind? I’ve read of your powers but never have I seen them.”

She shifted on her feet, “Well, sure but it won’t be a firework show or anything like that. It’s still a new thing to me and I can’t really do much.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” Zemo asked, approaching her, finding a spot at the bar.

She looked at him as to say something but decided against it. She looked back to the kettle and placed her hands along the side. Zemo watched her every move; observing, analyzing. 

She took a deep breath in and reached for a part in her to attract the sensation she feels around her. The kettle began to warm and in a minute it was boiling.

“Fascinating” Zemo whispered, his eyebrows scrunched in concentration.

She poured the steaming hot water into a cup and placed two teabags in it. “See, nothing special.”

Zemo looked at her as if she had said something absurd. “You have a gift.” He countered.

“Feels more like a curse.” She scoffed.

“When did this begin?” He asked.

“I don’t know, I feel like I’ve always had these... these abilities but it wasn’t until after the blip did I truly began to use them.”

“Fascinating.” Zemo repeated.

She pursed her lips, while she loathed everything about Zemo, she couldn’t lie having someone appreciate her abilities felt nice. She normally just felt like a freak, too afraid to show too much emotion, in fear she might lose control.

“Can I have you try something?” Zemo requested.

She scoffed, “Sorry, I don’t feel like playing lab rat today.”

Zemo made a face, “I understand your negative emotions towards me, but to say I have had failures in this field would be an incorrect accusation.”

She rolled her eyes, “Fine. What?”

He leapt off his seat, seemingly excited to play mad scientist again. He fetched a candle from the table and sat it infront of her. She cocked an eyebrow.

“Light it.” He said, gesturing to the wick.

“I- I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Light it.” He repeated, pushing the candle towards her.

She reached to touch the wick but he slapped her hand away.

“Hey!” She blurted out, glaring at him.

“Without touch.” He said calmly.

She looked at him then back to the candle, frustrated.

“Focus on what you wish for it to be, what it will look like, how it will feel.” Zemo coached.

She shifted on her feet again, finding a more comfortable stance. She focused on her breath and stared at the wick.

“Breath in, and when you breath out try to push your energy at it.” Zemo said.

She closed her eyes feeling a tingling sensation around her, she inhaled slowly, feeling the sensation grow. She opened her eyes and focused the sensation onto her target. She heard a crackle sound, as if a fire was trying to start. She looked to Zemo wide eyed, he never looked up.

“Again.” He said, staring at the wick.

She shifted and this time held out her hand. She took a deep breath and this time flicked her hand at the wick on the exhale, a flame consumed the wick and began to slowly burn. She gasped.

“Beautiful.” Zemo smiled.

“Well shit,” a voice was heard. They looked over to see Sam propped alongside a wall. “You got sparkly fingers, Y/N.”

She laughed, delighted in herself, “Did you see it?”

“I saw it.” He smiled.

She looked to Zemo, “How? How did that happen?”

Zemo held out his hand and she reluctantly lended him hers. He flipped her palm up and traced a distinct ‘M’ she never noticed before, with his finger. “You are a mutant. You were born with this gift and just now have discovered it.”

“A mutant.” She echoed. “How do you know?”

“All mutants have the symbol ‘M’ mapped on their palm. Each with a unique ability. Your friend Wanda, she is a mutant as well.”

“There’s more?” She gasped looking at Sam.

“Many more, we walk beside them each day, yet we do not know it.” Zemo said.

She looked back to Zemo, suddenly desperate for knowledge. She knew she had these powers but half the time she felt it was all coincidence, and was honestly too afraid to attempt to use them. Knowing what happened to Wanda.

“I want to know everything, please tell me what you know.” She said.

“Woah, woah. Look, the magic trick was impressive but I don’t think you should be getting your information from him, Y/N.” Sam said walking towards her.

“Sam, he’s the only one I’ve ever met, who knows about this stuff, besides Wanda and I don’t even know where she is.” She protested.

“I assure you I do not intend to mislead-“ Zemo started.

Sam pointed at him, “No. You do not get to say that after all you’ve done. The only thing you do is mislead. Hell, you’ve probably already done something to sabotage the mission.”

“You think so little of me, Sam.” Zemo pouted.

“Yeah, I do and for good reason.” Sam stated.

“Sam,” Y/N started.

“Y/N! Sam!” Bucky’s voice echoed throughout the small apartment.

The two took off in the direction of the noise immediately. They came into the room to find Bucky staring out the window.

“What is it?” Y/N asked, coming to stand beside Bucky. She looked out the window, her eyes widening in horror.

“My god.” Sam uttered.

Outside the window was a some kind of mutilated animal strung upside down. Blood dripped menacingly to the ground below. 

“What does it mean?” Sam asked.

“It’s an invitation.” A voice said. The three turned around to find Zemo.

“The Power Broker requests our presence.”

Link to Petals (pt. 2)

Extra Part 3

U.A. a school for students to learn how to become the best Pro-Hero. When young Y/n Midoriya returns from her traveling to be accepted through recommendation. What awaits her when she meet the explosive blonde Katsuki Bakugo

Words- 2836

Katsuki Bakugo x Midoriya!Reader, Izuku Midoriya x Cousin!Reader

Warning-Spoilers from show, fighting, blood, kidnapping, torture, etc.

Series Masterlist

Damn why did your head hurt, you slowly open your eyes but the bright lights make you close them again.

“She’s awake.” A voice calls out. You can hear footsteps and then a sharp pain as they pull your head up from your hair. Opening your eyes you see you surrounded by villains. Some from the training camp and others during the U.S.J, you frantically try to scream only for a hand to go over your mouth resulting in you biting them.

“Oww, she bit me. I’ll kill you.” A man frowns before trying to grab only to be pulled back by Dabi. Your eyes flash red trying to use your quirk when a shock courses through your body, making you cry out.

“I wouldn’t do that.” You couldn’t move at all fear was rushing through your veins. You tried to look down and saw a glimpse of white. They put you in a straight jacket, you looked over the group eyes landing on Tomura Shigaraki. You scream curses at him struggling in the jacket only to been shocked again this time for a long time. Your muscles spasm as you scream trying to get the pain to stop. This cause Katsuki to wake up as well, he was locked in a leather chair with some kind of restraint on his hands so he couldn’t use his quirk.

”You just don’t listen.” Tomura sighed leaning against the bar a hand covering his face. The TV was playing a broadcast of the U.A. teachers giving a public apology, there was Principal Nezu, Mr. Aizawa, and Mr. Sekijiro Kan. They talked about the attack at a training camp and what measures they would be taking to protect the students. It seemed as if everything was going well until a reporter asked about you and Bakugo. Even with the protection of other students, they failed to protect you two.

“The U.A. isn’t the glorious school it says it is, they believe their failures are just but are heroes really just.” Shigaraki sighs look between the two students. “You two are just with all the darkness and hurt following you, your little episode at the Sports Festival was great. But you,” Tomura turns towards you, “It took a while to figure out who you were, Y/n Midoriya cousin to Izuku Midoriya, traveled around, quirk, blah blah blah, but this was great you more villain then Pro. Already having your first taste of blood.”

“Shut up.” You growled trying to keep your emotions in check,

“How was it! Your first kill is always a special moment.” The only other girl came bounding over to you “Watching them bleed is always the best but yours was less blood more snapping their neck but still effective.” She giggles

“You fucking Bitc-” You lunge forward in your chair only to be shocked in return your arms locking up as you briefly lost your vision, not even realizing you were screaming as Bakugo thrashed in his chair.

“I’ll kill you all.” He hissed out

“The League of Villains are fighting for a just society and we intend to win this battle.” Tomura grins waving out to the group. “If we are going to be a team we need to be equals. Dabi takes off their restraints.” Tomura points to the two of them. Dabi looks at the blonde who is giving him a look that could kill.

“I’m not touching the bastard, he just gonna fight.” Dabi looks over at his leader.

“He’s our equal as is she, and they stand no chance of winning.” Shigaraki looks at the two students. Dabi gets Twice to take off your restraints he goes over to you first and undoes the straight-jacket and when he goes for the collar he is stopped.

“Keep it gotta have some kind of leeway.” He shrugs and the collar is kept on you as you stay seating knowing if you stand you will collapse from that last shock. As Twice removes Bakugo restraints Mr. Compress apologized to you both for kidnapping you, some stuff about society, and all this crap about how they are the victims. When Bakugo’s restraints were removed Tomura approached him but Katsuki quickly attacks him sending an explosion right in his face sending the hand on his face to fall.

“This league or whatever is pointless you’re not going to change my or Y/n’s mind and we will be the best pros in the world.” With the tv still playing the broadcast, they talked about how two students from Class 1-B stopped the villain controlling the gas and no other students have any signs of emotional trauma and are being seen for their well-being. They talked about Bakugo’s behavior with his mental instability and his “villain-like” performance at the Sports Festival. Mr. Aizawa remained calm apologizing for not taming his behavior and he acts this tenacious is to become the next greatest hero. When they talked about you before a reporter could stand and ask a question someone walked over to her and whispered something in her ear and she shot up so fast 

“Is it true that one of the kidnapped students committed murder?” She yelled making you look up so fast as you felt your whole world fall apart.

“Oops was that not suppose to be released.” Toga pouted. The conference room erupted into shouts all of them asking different questions. When they were able to get the room to calm down, the original woman spoke up again.

“From a source, Y/n Midoriya killed a man in self-defense instead of getting help from the police, if it is self-defense how does the U.A. support heroes that kill and not apprehend the criminal?” She stated and you saw that all the men at the table didn’t know how to answer. Mr. Aizawa began to talk

“The U.A. will be doing a further investigation in this the main concern is getting these children home safe. No more questions.” He and the others stood up and made their way out as the reporters kept yelling out questions.

“What an event.” Toga clapped her hands.

“You bastard.” You hissed out if you weren’t in this collar you don’t even want to think of it.

“The U.A. is right about me. I will become the greatest Pro and nothing will stop me,” Bakugo said helping you stand up, “Y/n and I won’t be staying here any longer and my combat authorizations haven’t been revoked.” Shigaraki still hasn’t said anything since the hand on his face had been blown off.

“Tomura stays calm we need him alive no one touches them.” Kurogiri fears that Tomura will become violent. Shigaraki slowly bends down grabbing the hand and putting it back on his face.

“Master, they will not learn through words, I need your power.” Shigaraki called out to the Tv.

“Very well my apprentice.” The voice replies

“I thought you were the leader. Your just some little boy following his daddy.” Bakugo laughs at Shigaraki. Shigaraki looks over at Mr. Compress and Kurogiri. 

“I’ve heard enough. Knock them out.” Bakugo is holding you up not sure how he is going to fight them off. Right as the fight was about to start when there was a knock at the door.

“Kamino Pizza.” The voice called through the door everyone looked at each other confused when suddenly, All Might smashes into the hideout through the opposite wall, which shocks the League of Villains.

“Make a portal-” Shigaraki tries to order but Kamui Woods swings through the hole and uses his Lacquered Chain Prison to restrain all the villains at once. Dabi goes to burn the wood away when Gran Torino swoops in and knocks him out with a swift to the head

“The press conference was a diversion.” Mr. Compress said realizing they had been fooled. Edgeshot who was playing the pizza man used his quirk Foldabody to slip through the door and unlock it revealing a bunch of police officers which makes you sigh in relief

“You're surrounded by the police and more Pro-Heroes outside. It’s over Shigaraki.” All Might said and Tomura had no reaction to the situation. All Might turned over and looked at both you and Bakugo.

“I’m sorry you had to worry.” He said Bakugo was still holding you.

“I wasn’t scared.” Bakugo scoffed

“Well we are also not few in numbers, Kurogiri bring the Nomus.” Shigaraki ordered only for Kurogiri to frown

“They aren’t there.” Kurogiri to frown only for Edgeshot to use his quirk and knock Kurogiri unconscious.

“Your hideout factory with all Nomus had been captured as well.” All Might gave a smile. Suddenly Nomus being to appear from this black liquid making everyone look around confused.

“Is he doing this.” Gran Torino looked over at Kurogiri. Edgeshot shook his head 

“He’s not waking up for awhile. This isn’t doing.” Everyone was more focused on the Nomus enter that none of you realized that Tomura had something in his hands. A shock that felt like lightning went though you making you cry out. You tensed up knees buckling underneath you and you would have fallen if it weren’t for Bakugo who grabbed you.

“Stop it. You’re killing her.” Bakugo yelled at Shigaraki. The Pros were watching having no idea how to help you.

“We have to help her.” Kamui Woods said conflicting in his duty of stopping villains and helping people.

“Don’t let them go Kamui.” All-Might ordered. Black liquid appears around your legs covering your body surrounding and going over to Bakugo and begins to dissolve you both. All Might rushes over to grab you both but you guys are gone. 

You both materialize in the middle of a of a destroyed building in front of All for One. Unbeknownst to you two you had caught the of Izuku’s group which included, Deku, Todoroki, Tenya, Momo, and Kirishima.

“I apologize for Tomura attitude for the two of you.” The man’s voice boomed The rest of Tomura and his allies materialize from black liquid as well.

“I have failed you Master.” Shigaraki falls to his knees

“You had collected two powerful quirks for me and with your allies you will gain more quirks for me.” The man encourages Tomura. Bakugo help you up supporting most of your body weight.

“Are you ok.” He looked over you seeing that the collar had blood seeping out of it with burns trailing away from it. You nodded

“I’m great.” You slur your head lulling back onto his shoulder.

“Hey,” Katsuki smacks your cheek making your groan, “You gotta stay away from me ok.” You nodded trying to keep your eyes open.

Suddenly, All Might appears above All For One and attacks him, but he was able to detect his arrival blocking his punch. The punch creates a shockwave sending Bakugo, You, Tomura, and the Vanguard Action Squad backwards.

“He blocked it.” Bakugo watched in horror because All For One was able to block All Might. Both of you couldn’t hear  what they were talking about while fighting. All For One punches All Might sending him flying through several building. 

While he is gone All For One has black tendrils coming from his hands into Kurogiri’s unconscious body and forces him to use his quirk to open a portal. “Go Tomura you will have your revenge.”

“Why couldn’t you use your quirk before.” One of the villains named Magne protested.

“My quirk only allows people to go to known location or to me.” All For One said. All Might reappears into battle.

“We can escape will we can.” Mr. Compress said using his quirk to take Dabi who is still unconscious. The League of Villains get ready to fight and take the two of you back.

“We not gonna make it out of here Blondie.” You groan trying not put more weight on your body than Bakugo’s.

“Shut up, I’m not leaving you behind idiot.” He growled and that’s when they attacked Toga, Twice and Mr. Compress engage with you both and Bakugo however is able to fend them off with his explosions. You could tell he was being slowly outnumbered with you useless with the collar and it being a 1 against 3. 

All of the sudden the wall across from them burst open and then a huge ice ramp is created. The group flies up the ramp and now is above the battle, everyone looks up and you see it’s Deku, Tenya, and Kirishima. All For One tries to attack the boys but is stopped by All Might.

“Bakugo!” Kirishima yells you assume it was because Bakugo would listen to him if he called.

“We gotta go, come on.” Bakugo beginning to help you up knowing there time was limited.

“Just go Bakugo!” You yell, “I’m only gonna hold you back.” Bakugo grabs your shoulders.

“We’re either leaving together or not at all, so I need to you to get over your crap and help me get out of this shithole.” Whatever he said made something click. You eyes turned red and with the collar it began to shock you but you pushed through, the red glows brighter until the collar short-circuits and explodes and a burst of energy goes through the battle throwing everyone back. At the same time of the burst from you, Bakugo sends and explosion that propels you both up towards the group, sending Tomura back when he went to grab you. Bakugo sends another explosion towards the group and grabs onto Kirishima hand tightening him grip on you as you escape from the battle.

”Are you stupid of something.” Bakugo yells at Kirishima

“Guys!” You look back seeing some of the villains following you but before they could get anywhere close to you Mt. Lady uses Titan Cliff to stop them

“Go get out of here.” She yells before going unconscious. Your group landing far away from the battle and looked at each other. Deku rushed over to you throwing his arms around your shoulders.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you back at camp.” He cried and you pulled him closer happy to be safe.

“You did your best, but you did save us all of you, thank you.” You looked over at Tenya and Kirishima.

“That’s what friends do.” Kirishima shrugged. You were smiling until a wave of dizziness went through making you stumble back into Bakugo’s arms.

“Y/n!” They yell worried. You bring your hand to your throat and pull back seeing blood.

“Oh god.” Kirishima gasp, what you couldn’t see was blood still falling from the multiple burns you had from the collar and there was burns going up your neck and also towards your left shoulder.

“You need a doctor now.” Tenya said ripping some of shirt and putting it against you neck, and Bakugo took over and put pressure on it.

“We have to go we still don’t know if they still following us.” Kirishima said, the group nodded and made their trek to the city. Bakugo and Kirishima were both by you Bakugo keeping pressure on your wounds while Kirishima was helping you walk. When you made it to the city the streets were crowded and that’s went Deku got a call. When he turned back to the group he explained what happen, the streets and trains were all blocked off so people can’t get into danger so we couldn’t move at all until the battle was over. They knew they would need to get you to the hospital but all they could do is stand with the crowd as they watched the giant broadcast.

As the battle continued on people were worried about All Might’s chances of victory as he wasn’t doing well. People began cheering for All Might to keep fighting even Bakugo was cheering for the Pro. Everyone was in shock seeing All Might’s true form but kept cheering for the Symbol of Peace which allowed him to regain confidence and focused One For All into his left arm before defeating All For One by switching in the last second to his right arm. The crowd watched watch as All Might switched into his Hero form and raised his arm which made the crowd go crazy, screaming and cheering. As the police appended All For One the crowd cheered and the camera turned to All Might who points to the camera

“It’s your turn.”

The crowd cheers as you all celebrate All Might’s victory. As you celebrate with your as much enthusiasm as you can not seeing Izuku crying or Bakugo watching him in question. When the police were able to reopen the trains you were able to board and head to the Kamino Hospital, where you met up with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. Bakugo was turned into the police to be questioned while you were rushed off into surgery for your wounds. Izuku decided he would stay with you and thanked the others and the rest parted ways and made their way back home.

Making Do (With What Life Gives Us): Part 2

Thank you for al the feedback from the first part, I would loves any asks you guys have for me, but without further ado, enjoy.

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It took a couple of weeks but Marinette got into a habit. They would wake up, get ready for school, Alfred would drive them, at the end of the school day Alfred would pick them up. They would eat a snack while doing homework, recently, Marinette had taken to learning Spanish from Jason and Romanian from Dick switching off. Sometimes, since she cooked for her mum, she would help Alfred in the kitchen. Other days Tim would try and teach her to be more organized, she was very frazzled before coming to live with the Waynes. Some other days when she had too much energy, Jason would take her out and show her how to live smarter, to be more observant, if Jason was too busy, Dick would teach her self defense and acrobatics. Being with the family also taught her that it wasn't right how her mum had treated her. She loved living with the Waynes and constantly thought about what it would be like to live with them permanently.

She is now ten, two years since she started living with them, and is known around Gotham as Sunshine Princess. Not many people know what she looks like, Bruce wanted her to have her privacy to heal and be a kid. Every year on her birthday she had convinced the family to keep the parties small, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself. She was finally the happy girl she was supposed to be. That was until something changed, well she wasn't really unhappy with the change it was just new. Bruce brought home someone. The person he brought home was grumpy, bigger than her, standoffish, and a bit mean. His name is Damian, and as he won't let anyone forget, he's Bruce's one true heir and blood relative. She tried to be nice to him, but he always grumbled that he didn't want or need her pity.

Something else changed, she also figured out that her family is the heroes of Gotham. Well, she had known for some time but acted oblivious because she wanted to hear them tell her. Now here she was standing face to face with the newest Robin, Damian.

"If I win, you have to be nicer to me and you have to try some of the food I've been cooking," Marinette said, stretching out her arms and then got into fighting position.

"Just one, I don't want to see you cry. If I win, you have to be my servant for three days. That includes carrying my backpack around school and getting me my breakfast," Damian says, proudly. This is going to be easy, might as well have some fun before the takedown.

"You're gonna eat those words," Marinette smirked. Damian guessed she was going to go to the legs. Her position leaving one side open. Damian went to attack her open side. He grabbed her arm, a smirk spreading across his face. As he was trying to drag her down her, she jumped up and kicked the side of the face. As he was falling from the force, she grabbed his arm and pinned it behind his back and now he was on the ground. "You're eating your words like you're eating the grass." She then got up and walked away. Damian stayed down his arm still behind his back.

Later that day, Damian walked into the kitchen, sporting a black eye. "Hey, little D what happened?" Dick says, looking at the boy. A bowl of food, Marinette told him to try, was sitting on the island.

"The little 'angel' kicked me," Damian grumbled, sitting on the stool. He grumbled looking at the food. For a bit, Damian just pushed his food around.

"Ya know D, she's nice. She has little reason to be, but she is," Dick said, standing and taking the bowl. Marinette had made him too.

"I've been through worse, and she doesn't need to be nice to me. I don't want her pity," Damian grumbled.

"It's not pity, it's just how she is. Did you know yesterday she came to me and asked where you came from. She wanted you to feel more at home," Dick says, leaving the kitchen. Damian's eyes widen, he looks closer at the food, its tabbouleh. He feels a bit better about trying it now. He tries it, the flavors mixing perfectly. It reminds him of one of the few times he got to leave the base on a mission. He quickly finished the rest. He just sat staring at the empty bowl.

A little while after he finished eating, Marinette walked into the kitchen. "I didn't think you would still be here," She says, taking her bowl out of the fridge. She sits on a stool beside him.

"Are you... Would you make more or different food again?" Damian said slowly.

"I make a lot of food that I would like you to try now that it isn't forced," Marinette explained, swinging her legs with a smile.

"Can... can I try your cooking? It's adequate," Damian said, composing himself.

"Of course Damian! Sorry about the black eye," Marinette said. Up until the day CPS came, Marinette would make food and he would try it. At school, they became practically inseparable whenever someone would try and bully Marinette, Damian would stop them. When Damian would get too close to losing his temper and murdering someone, she would calm him down. Marinette had become Ladybird along with when Damian became Robin. They moved in sync and for preteens they were feared as a pair. The days before Marinette was taken Damian had almost lost his temper many times toward his classmates, strangers, and people he met, and beat up, on patrol.

"I.. .I.. don't want to go," Marinette had said tears streaming down her face. "Please, Dad, why can't I stay with you guys?"

"I'm sorry, Princess, I thought we could keep you," Bruce said, squatting down to hug her. After they broke the hug, Damian brought her into a hug. The other sibling stood shocked, they normally had to force affection on to Damian, but he willingly hugged Marinette and didn't want to let go.

"You're an Angel. I didn't deserve to have you in my life but I still need you here. Please don't leave," Damian said, leaning down his head into Marinette's shoulder.

"Marinette, it's time to go. The plane will be taking off soon," the social worker said, grabbing Marinette's hand. As she was pulled away, she looked back at the people that had grown to be her family. Damian and her brother's face were tear-stained. Damian reached out, just to be held back by Bruce.

"Marinette!" the social worker says, bringing her back to the present. "The plane is landing, your new parents will meet us there. They're very nice, they live on top of their family-owned bakery."

"That's nice I guess, do they have any kids? I'm used to a lot of siblings," Marinette responds quietly.

"No... that's why they adopted you. They wanted to have children but were unable to have any," she reassured, smiling.

"I miss my family, my dad, and my best friend," Marinette answered her voice wavering.

"It's ok you're going to get a new dad!" she responded, trying to reassure the girl.

"But I want my dad! I don't want a new one," Marinette said, sobbing.

"It's ok sweetie," She said, hugging the poor girl. As they got off the plane, Marinette's sobs subsided. There two people that greeted the social worker. They talk for a minute before, who she suspects, her new parents look at her. A big man and a small woman lean down in front of her, she had been looking at the floor to hide her red puffy eyes.

"Hi, honey, my name is Sabine, this is my husband Tom," Sabine said. "Why don't we go grab your stuff so you can get settled in."

"Ok," Marinette said, keeping her eyes to the floor. She slowly walks to the carousel, where her big pink suitcase was coming around.

"Wow those are quite the suitcases," Tom said with a deep laugh.

"My dad always overdid stuff, after all, I am his Princess," Marinette said with a slight smile. They grab the suitcases and head to the car and Marinette's new life.

"How old are you dear?" Sabine asked.

"I just turned twelve a couple of months ago, Dad went overboard with the party," Marinette answered.

"What's your favorite food and color?" Tom asked, looking at her in the mirror.

"Well, my favorite food is the first thing I made for Damian, tabbouleh. My favorite color is pink," Marinette answered.

"So what was your foster family life?" Sabine asks, looking back at the girl, who is now her daughter.

"I lived with Alfred, who is like a grandfather to me, Bruce my dad, well he was like my dad, my four brothers, Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian. Damian is my best friend and I promised to call him later. I loved living with them. Dick taught me how to speak Romanian and acrobatics. We would play on the bars that Dad added in for Dick. Jason taught me Spanish and how to stand up for myself. Tim taught me to be observant and how to be organized. One of the first times I met Damian we fought and I won. Part of the bet was he had to try my food. We became food friends!" Marinette answered with a laugh, reminiscing on the good times.

"Well that sounds like so much fun, sweetie," Tom responded. "I would love to meet the people that made you so happy."

"I don't know when I can see them in person again, they're quite busy people," Marinette explained, looking out the window as they move by houses.

"I would imagine with that many kids?" Sabine laughed. "When we get home would you like something to eat?"

"I haven't eaten since last night," Marinette said her stomach grumbling. (Not cliche or expected at all)

"We have many pastries, but I would understand if you want something more hearty after being on a plane all day," Tom said.

"I'm vegetarian by the way. After Damian adopted a cow he went vegetarian. I decided to support him because he's my best friend and I love him so much!!" Marinette said, laughing.

"Well that's sweet," Sabine answered, smiling. "We'll support you, dear."

When they got to her new home, Sabine handed her a strawberry macaroon and showed her to her room. Marinette put her clothes in the draws and put her favorite cat stuffy on her bed. Jason had won her it at the annual summer fair. It is one of her favorite possessions.

It was near the end of the summer and she was being sent to Collège Françoise Dupont. She was lucky that she was learning French at Gotham Academy. Her dad was sending over some more of the stuff she couldn't fit in her suitcases or couldn't take on the plane. Marinette climbed up onto her new bed and cried. She cried over missing her brothers. Over her best friend. Her mother who she learned didn't love her. He father her left. Her dad showed his love for her even though they had no relation. She wanted to go home, she missed her family. She wanted to cook something for Damian and for him to pretend that she was an annoyance even though deep down inside he loved her.

She heard the creaking of the trap door. She heard the concerned mumbling of her adopted parents. What seemed like a couple of minutes turned out to be hours when Sabine and Tom called her for dinner.

She walked down the stairs and sat down at the island with her new family. "So we made lime stuffed peppers. I hope you enjoy it," Tom said, sitting beside Marinette.

"This is very good! Maybe tomorrow I can make my favorite meal for you guys to try for dinner?" Marinette asks, cutting the pepper.

"That would be wonderful dear," Sabine said, smiling. They finish dinner in light conversation. After everyone is finished eating, Marinette offers to clean the dishes. Sabine and Tom insist that they do it. They promise tomorrow they'll take her out to sightsee and to get groceries to make dinner.

The days turned into weeks and school started. She was in Ms. Bustiers' class. Ms. Bustier has free seating, she sat in front next to a blonde girl.

“Hi my name is Marinette and I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. What’s your name?” Marinette asked the girl as she filed her nails.

“Well that’s ridiculous utterly ridiculous, you don’t know who I am?! I’m thee Chloe Bourgeois daughter of the Mayor of Paris and Style Queen,” the girl- Chloe- scoffed.

“Well it’s nice to meet you,” Marinette said her mood a bit soured.

“Wish I could say the same,” Chloe fires with an eye roll.

‘Whatever if I can get the Prince of Assassins to be friends with me, I bet I can get a prideful girl to be my friend,’ she thought to herself, she just had to wait for the perfect moment.

The perfect moment came at lunchtime. As she was leaving the locker room to go home, she heard Chloe on the phone.

“So you can’t come to lunch?” Chloe sniffled quietly. “Oh… ok, I get it, mama,” Marinette paused and walked over to where the girl sat.

“Umm... my... mama is making baked falafel for lunch, would you like to join us?" Marinette asks.

"Why would I hang out with you?" Chloe sneers, crossing her arms.

"Because I've been here for less than a day and I can see that you don't have many friends. I'm new and I don't have friends yet, so why don't we be friends?" Marinette says. "At least come to lunch with me, no one should eat alone." Chloe stood up reluctantly and let herself be pulled by the girl.

"Mama, Papa!" Marinette said bursting through the door. Sabine and Tom froze, Marinette had never called them that before. "I brought home my classmate Chloe!"

"That's nice dear, will she be eating lunch? Also welcome to our home, you can call Sabine," Sabine asked.

"If you don't mind," Marinette responded.

"Ok sweetie, lunch is upstairs," Tom said. "Nice to meet you, Chloe. You can call me Tom."

"Thank you, Sabine, Tom, for welcoming me to your home," Chloe answered, quietly. Then follows Marinette upstairs. "Your house is nice and is very homey," Chloe notes.

"Well, they're very nice and I guess its perks of living above a bakery," Marinette shrugs, taking the food from the oven. "Bon Appetit."

They sit in silence for a while before Chloe says, "This is very good!"

"Sab-- mama, learned to cook more vegetarian things for me," Marinette said with a smile.

"That's nice, the chefs cook me whatever I like... but it's never as good as this," Chloe sighs.

"Because this is made with love," Marinette smiled. She picked up the plates when they were done eating and put them in the dishwasher. "Want to see my room?"

"Oh.. um sure," Chloe answered before following Marinette up more stairs. Marinette had been allowed to paint her room pink. Her dad sent over her little area rug, her chaise, her sewing machine, her mannequin, and a bunch of pictures. She set up all her pictures by her desk, the mannequin stood in the corner near her floor-length mirror, and the chaise under the wind with the area rug next to the chaise.

"I like it, the room may be a bit small but you used your space wisely," Chloe said, looking up at her bed.

"Tim taught me to be organized, that helped when I was deciding where to put things," Marinette said, sitting down in one of her spinny chairs.

"Who's Tim?" Chloe asked. sitting down on the chaise.

"Someone I know, but that's not too important right now," Marinette said vaguely, she didn't know if she could trust her new friend yet.

"I get it, you don't want to share your life with a stranger," Chloe said, standing. "We should head back to school soon."

When they were on their way back, Marinette's phone rang. Without a second thought, she picked it up. "Bonjour c'est, Marinette." She paused before changing to English. "Damian? How have you been? That's good. Sabine made baked falafel, yes I've stayed vegetarian." They were now walking into school and she was getting a couple of weird looks for speaking in English. "You already know I got the stuff Dad sent. Has anything new been happening on patrol lately? Don't worry, I'm speaking in English and I'm talking quietly. Sorry Dami, I gotta go class is going to start soon. Bye love you! Tell everyone I miss them!"

"So who was that?" Chloe asks, taking her seat.

Still in English Marinette starts to answer, "That was my--- sorry. That was my best friend Damian."

"And he's from America?" Chloe asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Ya, I lived with them for a bit this summer," Marinette says.

"I guess you're going to pass English, would you help me? I'm not the best at it," Chloe asks, shyly.

"Only if you help me with my French, I still sometimes mess up," Marinette smiled.

"Deal," Chloe said, holding out her hand for a fist bump.

After that, they became friends even though Chloe wouldn't admit it. When it came time for the class election, Marinette and Chloe won with flying colors. They were unstoppable and people almost feared the pair. Marinette helped Chloe be a better person, and Chloe helped finish teaching her to be stronger. Marinette taught Chloe self-defense and they would spar together. By now, it’s the beginning of November when Marinette had a great idea.

“Mama, may I go home for Thanksgiving?” Marinette had asked looking up at her new mama.

“Umm… why don’t we talk to Papa and your Dad,”

Sabine reassured patting her head.

Marinette ran upstairs and video called her family. “Hi, Dad!!” She said cheerfully waving at the camera.

“Hi princess how have you been?” Bruce asked.

“Pretty good, Chloe and I are planning a winter dance for our class. Oh… the whole reason I called… can I come home for Thanksgiving?” She asked.

“That would be wonderful, Princess, just get permission from Tom and Sabine. If they give permission, I’ll call them about dates and flights,” Bruce explained.

“Ok dad, don’t tell any of the rest of them about me coming through, I want it to be a surprise!” Marinette exclaimed.

“Marinette, dear, it’s time for dinner,” Sabine said.

“Bye Dad! I gotta go, Sabine, is calling me,” Marinette said, hanging up.

Bruce sighed as the call disconnected. He remembered the first time she called him Dad. It had after her first birthday with them. She had passed out on the couch being too tired to walk to bed. Bruce picked her.

“Mmmm night... night Dad,” Marinette said dreamily. He froze and looked down at the bluenette she thought of him as her dad. He continued walking with a smile and tucked her in.

“Was that Marinette?” Dick asked, entering Bruce’s office.

“Yes she was talking about her friend and her planning a winter social,” Bruce responds. The next day, when all the kids had gone to school and Dick to college, Bruce received the call he was hoping for, Sabine and Tom called.

“So we discussed and decided that it would benefit Marinette to go to the states for Thanksgiving,” Tom said, a hint of sadness spilling through.

“I’m glad to hear, what day would it work for her to fly over because I was thinking the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Then she would fly back Saturday morning,” Bruce explained. “And of course all expenses would be paid in full she could come over on the private jet.”

"Marinette never truly explained who you are, but you're important enough to have a private jet? Who are you?" Tom asks.

"Well, I'm surprised Marinette never mentioned who I am, but I guess that's because she was raised to observe before letting her walls down. Her mother hurt her mentally and when she came to live with my family, she let her walls down a bit too fast and we taught her how to protect herself. I'm guessing, since how we raised her, she doesn't bring it up to be used against us," Bruce explained. "Well, I am Bruce Wayne, owner of Wayne Enterprises."

"You had the power to keep her, but you let her go," Sabine realizes.

"My power wasn't enough to keep my Princess. CPS said I was unfit to adopt anyone until I married. I didn't realize someone you guys were looking into adopting her until it was too late," Bruce admits. "I would have done anything to keep her here in Gotham. My boys love her, my eldest three as a little sister, and my youngest as a best friend. I'm just glad that she's making you both happy and that you're willing to let her come home for a bit. Thank you for giving me more time with my princess and my daughter."

"Thank you for helping her become the girl she is today," Sabine said a watery smile spreading across her face.

"Have a good day," Bruce said before hanging up. As time grew closer to Thanksgiving, Alfred started making up her room while the boys were gone. Marinette could barely sit still, randomly while at home she would break out in an excited rant in one of her many languages. The day of her flight came and Chloe, Sabine, and Tom came to see her off at the airport.

"Mari! You've been holding out on me! A private jet! You have some explaining to do," Chloe said, faking hurt.

"I'll explain when I get back, please send me pics of the thing I need to do for class. I don't want to get too behind," Marinette said, hugging the blonde.

"Thank you, Sabine, Tom, I'll see you soon. I'll call you when I get a chance at a reasonable hour," Marinette said, hugging her parents.

"Goodbye sweetie, see you soon," Sabine said.

"We'll hold you to that call," Tom said.

"Love you all, bye!" Marinette said, climbing the stairs onto the plane.

——————————————

Tag list:

@northernbluetongue @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @gwennex

Oh no your story is to good now I want a pt 3 laughing jack x reader (;_;) Is it ok to ask for more? If not, why not a Slen x LJ secreat relationship? since I saw you made a post about it

I’m glad you liked the story so much! Unfortunately at the time I couldn’t think of anything for a part 3, but I COULD think of plenty of stuff for a secret relationship au so...here you go. consider this a part one of a series that I’ll work on when y’all give me the time

also a couple things I wanna clarify; one, this takes place in the late 1800s - early 1900s, and two, LJ is a fallen angel in this story, but in my regular hcs he’s a regular angel- just- didn’t want people to think that shfgsha.

Slender awoke feeling groggy and stiff. His head ached and there was a rotten taste in his mouth. He groaned gently and blinked in the morning light streaming in through the window. He slowly looked around. He was in an unfamiliar room, with pastel orange walls that were covered in sheets of paper that had crude pencil and crayon drawings all over them. There were toys scattered around haphazardly along with balloons and paper garlands. The room looked...childish. But the furniture was ornate, and fit the room like it had always been there.

However, Slender’s attention wasn’t on the room for long, because he quickly realised he wasn’t alone in the unfamiliar bed. His arms were wrapped around someone big and soft. Their body was thick, and their arms were wound tightly around his own thin, frail body. Slender couldn’t see their face, but it was definitely pressed into his chest. He couldn’t see much of them below wispy black hair, but it was certainly enough for Slender to tell two things. One, they were a stranger, and two, however he had gotten here had involved something removing his suit jacket and unbuttoning his shirt, followed by the two of them curled up together in bed, hugging each other tight.

Panic set into Slender quicker than you could say ‘’good morning’’. As Slender lay there trying not to hyperventilate his mind raced and scrambled to remember anything leading up to him getting here. The night before- what had happened? He remembered yesterday clearly enough. His father had spent the whole day pestering him about his future wedding, which meant Slender hadn’t a single moment to rest and relax. So after dinner, he snuck out and down to earth. He soon found himself in France, and later, a bar. And that’s when things got blurry.

Oh his family was going to be so angry-! He was supposed to be the responsible one! He never broke any rules, he didn’t just- get drunk! He didn’t run off in the night and end up shirtless in beds with people he didn’t know! He was enga- well technically he wasn’t, the marriage wasn’t properly arranged yet, but still! This wasn’t him! Oh he was going to be in so much trouble…

As he was trying to figure out how to get out of this situation without having a panic attack, the person on top of him shifted. He froze, his blood running cold. ‘’Please don’t wake up please don’t wake up please do-’’

‘’Mmmnnghh…’’ the person shifted, their arms uncurling from around him. One of their hands instead lay atop Slender’s bare- er- breast, and leaned against it for support as they sat up. Slender’s face flushed an extremely dark grey. The person shook their head, messy black hair falling around their face, obscuring it. Slender could see them better now. Their sleeves were striped black and white, and they wore a short grey shirt. One of their shoulders had a feathered shoulder pad on it. The second one for their other shoulder was probably on the bedroom floor somewhere, along with Slender’s jacket. ‘’Ungh.’’ they grunted. Slender stayed still as he could just waiting for the moment the other person realised their situation. It was definitely far worse for them than it was for him. Slender only had to worry about his family being angry at him. This person had to wake up in bed with a faceless monster. ‘’H-hah?’’ yep. They had definitely realised. That noise of confusion was all the confirmation Slender needed.

They slowly looked up, their eyes trailing up Slender’s thin, white body. Their head raised and stared at Slender in shock and confusion. Their face was white, just like him- but they had a face- and a pretty one at that. They had thin, black brows, and lips that were covered in smudged black lipstick. Their nose was- shaped- like a cone and it was striped just like their sleeves. Black and white. But their eyes...oh gods their eyes. They were big and round, and the colour of ice. Their eyes were bright and innocent looking in their haze of confusion. Slender blushed harder. Great, he was in bed with someone attractive.

"...w-who th' fock are ye?" The very attractive stranger asked. Slender's brows raised in surprise. Their voice was deep and gravelly, and they had the thickest accent he had ever heard. 

"I-" Slender's brain was completely fried. Whether it was from panic, the hangover or total fear induced by this attractive stranger with an intimidating voice, he wasn't sure. "My- My name is Slender." He finally stammered out. "I-I'm so sorry about all of this I don't usually-" he was cut off by the other person shifting and instead sitting on top of Slender, effectively straddling him. Oh. Oh he didn't like this position at all.

"I'm Jack," the attractive stranger grunted, rubbing at his head with a bandaged black hand. "Ow'd we ge' 'ere…?"

"I um- I'm not sure…" Slender murmured. Jack...he remembered that name. "We- met at a bar last night, I think I recall you sitting next to me. I- don't remember much besides that I'm afraid…" Slender looked Jack over now that he could see him better. His hands were bony and black, wrapped in bandages. His torso was also wrapped up for some odd, unknown reason. He wore a short grey shirt that really only covered his chest, suspenders that were striped various shades of black, white and grey, and shorts. Shorts! His pants were still on thank the gods! "Is er- is this...your room…?"

"Yeh, yeh tis." Jack nodded as he squinted at the window. He reached over and pulled the curtains shut, muttering something about how it was too early to be awake. He looked back at Slender. "So we me' a' a pub?"

"Yes." Slender nodded. He paused before asking the next question. "Why...why aren't you um- f-freaking out?" He tilted his head. "You do realize I'm...not human…?"

"Tha' wuz g'nna be me next quest'on." Jack looked up at him. "Ye're bluddy 'orrifyin' bu' I didn' wanna say anyfin'. Tha'd be rude."

Oh. How polite. Slender coughed, clearing his throat. "I- well it's a little...difficult, to explain, but erm-" he hesitated. "I'm a- well I'm a fae- well partially, I'm fae on one side and then my father is of angelic nature so-"

"Ye're an angel?!" Jack cut in. Slender recoiled in surprise and gave a meek nod. Jack grinned. "I am too! Fockin' 'ell, after Jill I though' I wouldn' find another 'ne, bu' 'ere ye are!" He looked thrilled now, seemingly forgetting all the negatives of the situation.

"...no you aren't." Slender looked Jack over. Looking at him now, it was easy to see he wasn't actually human. His proportions were too off for that. He certainly had the makings of an angel, the eyes of one and the friendly tone of voice, but there was too much throwing it off. His black and white colour scheme, his bony black hands that were tipped with claws, and his teeth...looking at them now, they were sharp. Dangerous. "I think it's more accurate to say you're a fal-"

"I'm no' fallen!" Jack interrupted him. His friendly demeanor was gone now, replaced with an angry glare. "Sure I've lost me colours an' I'm no' th' 'oliest bloke around, bu' yes're 'ardly perfect yerselves, now are ya?" He snapped. Slender recoiled defensively. "I'm an angel. Always wuz an' always will be."

"Okay, okay." Slender replied quickly. He didn't want to get on Jack's bad side. Fallen angels were known for three things. Their lack of colours, their cunning intelligence, and their anger. Thinking about it now…could it be that Jack had known he was an angel last night…? Had he sensed it and targeted him?

"Well er-" Jack broke him out of his thoughts. He had seemingly calmed down a bit. Slender looked at him. "Can I offer ye breakfas'?"

"I- well I don't think I should, I should really...get home…" Slender glanced aside. Home...god his family was going to kill him.

"Ah c'mon, i's still early!" Jack reached down and grabbed Slender's hand. "c'mon, ye're in Paris! Nobody does breakfas' like th' french!" 

Before Slender could protest, Jack hopped off the bed and tugged his new faceless friend up off of it. He grinned. His free arm stretched out, grabbing Slender's jacket from where it had been dropped on the floor. Slender watched the clown's arm in fascination. It could extend and curl as if he had no bones at all. 

"Ere ye go!" Jack handed Slender his jacket, then grabbed his own missing clothes from the floor. "Th' bathroom's across th' 'all. I recommen' cleanin' yerself up." He added before shrugging on his shoulder pad and cheerfully striding out of the room with his shoes under his arm. 

Slender sighed and fixed his clothes, buttoning up his shirt and slipping on his jacket. He left the room and found himself in a cherry red hall. The walls were again decorated with well- anything. Mostly paintings. He opened the door across from him and found it led to a bright blue bathroom. Jack was certainly fond of his colourful walls. It was a cramped room, decorated with a nautical theme. Toward the back of the room was a bath with a shower head. Slender squinted for a moment. The bath had an absurd amount of children's toys in it, and on the shelf in the corner he could see a bottle of...fabric softener. No soap just fabric softener. Did Jack wash himself with fabric softener???

This entire place was messy and unkempt. Did Jack ever clean? At least it meant one thing. Jack most certainly wasn't Slender's type, and this whole thing wouldn't go further than one drunken night and a hungover breakfast. He turned his attention from the decor, to the mirror.

Oh. Oh lord. His face and what he could see of his neck was covered in smudged black lipstick. The same smudged black lipstick that had been on Jack earlier. His face flushed such a dark colour it was practically black. 

"There y'are! I almos' bluddy fell asleep 'ere!" Jack exclaimed as Slender, now lipstick-free, walked into the pink living room. Slender frowned, looking Jack over.

"You're...wearing the same clothes?"

"Yeh." Jack looked down at himself. "Somefink wrong wiv em?"

"Well I thought you'd- I don't know, change? Don't they smell bad?"

Jack shrugged. "They smell like me, an' I don' swea' so…" he looked aside. "I changed me shoes though!" He stuck out his leg to show Slender the long black boots he was wearing. They had pointed toes, raised heels and showed off how slim and long Jack's legs were. Slender blushed. 

"...I see."

Jack stood up off the couch and looked at Slender, swinging his arms and smiling. "Ya ready?"

Slender sighed. ‘’I suppose…’’

While Jack had his back turned, Slender shifted into his human form, then followed after him. Jack paused, looking him over once he realised Slender had changed. His human form was tall, and extremely pale, with blonde, nearly white hair. He looked up at Jack with small, brown eyes. Jack blinked.

‘’...Slen?’’

‘’Yes?’’

‘’...ye changed.’’

Slender looked unamused. ‘’It’s called blending in. We’re among humans?’’

‘’Oh. Righ’.’’ Jack looked at him, then closed the door to his apartment, not bothering to lock it. He walked past Slender and down the stairs. ‘’Ye comin’?’’

Slender followed after him, frowning. ‘’What about your disguise?’’

‘’Don’t ‘ave one.’’ 

‘’You don’t?’’

‘’Nah. I can’t do any ‘f tha’ shapeshiftin’ stuff,’’ he shrugged. ‘’I jus’ tell every’ne I’m a mime an’ they believe me.’’

Slender nodded slowly. Huh. That was...surprisingly smart. The two of them stepped out of the building and Slender looked around. The area around them was run down, dirty, a slum. Slender looked around. ‘’You live here…?’’

‘’Yep.’’ Jack walked along, not a worry in the world. ‘’Livin’ is cheap over ‘ere.’’

‘’You left your front door open- in an area like this?’’ Slender tilted his head. Jack shrugged.

‘’If some’ne needs somewhere warm ta stay they can jus’ slip in, an’ i’s no’ like I ‘ave anyfink worth stealin’. Nofink I can’t jus’ replace a’ least.’’

‘’That’s…’’ Slender blinked. ‘’That’s...really kind…’’ 

Jack smiled a bit and glanced at him. ‘’Eh, I’s th’ least I can do.’’ he murmured. ‘’Lo’a folks are ou’ on their own, ‘ungry an’ cold. If I can give ‘em somewhere safe ta stay fer a li’le bi’, I’m ‘appy ta do i’.’’

As they walked, Slender listened with interest as Jack shared his stories of guests he’d had in his small apartment and friends he’d made from just calmly talking with those that often went ignored. It was fascinating to Slender, how Jack seemed to just emit an air of relaxation and cheer. How someone could just- start a conversation with a stranger, how he could consider so many people his friends and how he just gave them all he had merely because he felt it was more important they had it than him. There was something about Jack that Slender just...couldn’t explain. Something drew him in and made him feel...different, from how he felt at home. Being with Jack was unlike anything else he knew.

‘’Ere we are, china pla’e!’’ Jack exclaimed, running ahead of Slender. He hopped into the air and landed on the base of a streetlamp, hanging onto it with one hand as he leaned off of it. He laughed as Slender ran to catch up to him. He stood up and turned around, looking behind him. ‘’See tha’?’’

Slender looked up. In front of them was a busier, more built up street, bordering a massive canal. Up in the distance, Slender could see the Eiffel Tower, looming over everything. Jack turned and grinned down at him.

‘’I know th’ bes’ bluddy place by th’ river, ye’re g’nna love i’.’’ he hopped back down onto the ground and started walking again. "C'mon!"

Slender followed Jack to a small bakery on a street corner. Though it looked small, and not that wealthy, the smell coming from it was heavenly. He paused for a moment, admiring how quaint the little place was, before following Jack inside.

"Bonjour madame! Comment ça va?" Jack greeted the owner in a very bad french accent. She did not look pleased to see him.

"Bonjour Jack. Petit dejeuner?" She asked tiredly. Jack nodded.

"Oui, merci." Jack turned and smiled at Slender. "I come 'ere all th' time. Real good place."

"Mmm," Slender looked around. "Your french is terrible."

"Oi!" Jack glared down at him. "Rude!"

"I'm just saying."

"Well- I'd like ta see you do be'er! Ye 'aven't spoken a lick 'f french since ye woke up!"

Slender gave him an unamused look, then turned to the owner. "Madame," she turned to look at him.  "Je voudrais dire que c'est un endroit charmant et que votre nourriture sent délicieuse."

The owner blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Merci monseuir!" She chirped. "Puis-je vous offrir quelque chose?"

"Non, non. Jack est paie pour moi." Slender shook his head. He looked up at Jack and smiled smugly. "How was that?"

"...Oh fock off ye cheeky codger."

Slender snorted, then broke into a fit of laughter. He had no idea why that was so funny to him, but when he heard Jack chuckling along beside him, it made him grin even wider.

"Monsieur, ton petit dejeuner." The two of them were interrupted by the owner putting a small white box and two coffees onto the counter. Jack grinned and took them, handing the owner some francs before turning and walking toward the door.

"C'mon, Slen."

Slender smiled and followed after Jack. He tilted his head. "Aren't angels supposed to be good at languages?" He asked with a sly smile.

"I am good a' languages! I's jus' speakin' em tha's 'ard." Jack replied defensively.

"Ah. So that's why your english is so bad too."

"Oi!" Jack turned and glared at him. "I'm a born and bred englishmun, excuse you!"

Slender laughed. "Sorry, sorry." He murmured. The two of them crossed the street and walked along the canal. Jack led him to a bench and the two of them sat down. The morning sun was warm. Bright and welcoming. Jack set the box between the two of them and sipped his coffee. Slender looked out at the large river in front of them. "Wow…" he murmured. "...it's beautiful."

"It is, innit?" Jack smiled. "I luv ea'in' 'ere. I's so peaceful." He opened the box and revealed it was full of pastries. Croissants, pain au chocolats, madalines, eclairs and more. Slender stared in surprise. The smell coming from the small box was heavenly. His stomach growled. 

"Go on, ea' up. Ye're a stick." Jack said through a mouthful of croissant. Slender smiled a bit and daintily grabbed a pain au chocolat, taking a small bite. The taste was heavenly and sweet. He hummed happily. Jack watched him and smiled, pleased. "Been a while since I a'e wiv some'ne." He murmured. He looked back at the river. "Much less some'ne I'm after sleepin' wiv."

Slender coughed loudly, choking on his breakfast. Jack reached over and lightly smacked his back. Slender coughed and looked over at Jack, blushing a dark red. Jack tilted his head.

"Ye okay…?"

"Y-Yes just-" Slender glanced away. "I...almost forgot about how we met."

Jack laughed. "Almost?! I can't remember a single fing from last night!" He exclaimed. "Well- act'ally…" he paused for a second. "I do remember one fing."

"Hm?" Slender looked at him.

"Ye're a bluddy good kisser."

Slender made a feeble squeaking noise and quickly looked away. Jack laughed quietly at how hard he was blushing. The hand that had been patting Slender's back reached over and squeezed his shoulder. ‘’Eh, relax china pla’e…’’ Jack tilted his head and cocked a brow, smiling.

‘’Don’t get the wrong idea,’’ Slender muttered. ‘’I’m- not available.’’

Jack retracted his hand and looked at Slender in surprise. ‘’Ye- ye’re da’in’ some’ne?’’

‘’Well- no not- not exactly.’’ Slender fidgeted nervously. ‘’I’m- supposed to get married soon. My parents want me to. They’re going to...arrange it. I’m not technically engaged yet.’’

‘’Ohhh….’’ Jack nodded in understanding. ‘’So- ye are available.’’

Slender looked at Jack, blinking in surprise. Did- did he really just- Slender looked away quickly to hide his blush. ‘’Technically yes b-but-’’ he gulped. ‘’This- this is a once off! We hardly know each other.’’

‘’Then…’ow abou’ we ge’ ta know each o’her.’’ Jack scooted closer and rested his hand on Slender’s. He gave him a friendly smile. ‘’No kissin’, no da’in’, jus’ us bein’ buds.’’

Slender paused. ‘’...buds?’’

Jack nodded. ‘’Yeh! Me an’ you. Pals.’’

Slender paused for a moment. Jack’s smile widened. His eyes were big, kind, welcoming. They were innocent, friendly. Like all he wanted from Slender was just his company. He glanced away before he could get sucked into them. 

‘’Well I...suppose a quick walk to the Eiffel Tower after breakfast wouldn’t hurt.’’

Three Days ~ 38

Catch up on AO3

Happy Birthday Bonus Day. Ok, I'm also babysitting my niece until Monday and won't be online.

~*~Sebastian~*~

The phone call from my manager, Emily, was about the shoot for the watch ad. At the end, she tacked on there had been a random tweet saying, "I think I just saw The Winter Soldier kidnap and carry off a woman." I guess someone did see. Naturally, it turned into a thing with fans asking for pictures "or it didn't" happen and location. Poor guy was just posting something random to his friends and got overrun. His next tweet was "Fuck, y'all are crazy. I'm being stupid, drunk by the water, and you lose your damn minds." He has no idea. His comment about water has everyone thinking I'm at the beach. I wish. Although, I am at a sand volleyball tournament.

I went back outside and Emma wasn't at the table. I could see her out on the court. I got closer and was treated with tiny orange shorts. Those were exactly what flashed into my head when she said she played volleyball. Except I pictured the shorts black. I wasn't going to bitch about the orange. I was already making plans around peeling them off. The best I could do right now was a kiss through some black netting.

After meeting the team, I went back to the table and introduced myself. Scott stared for a bit, but after a few minutes of conversation with Samantha he joined in. This was the way it usually happened. There was a period of weird silence before my behavior convinced them I'm no different from anyone else. Once I can get them from seeing a twenty-foot version of me on a movie screen to seeing the guy in front of them things are pretty normal.

As much as I was enjoying the conversation when the game started I went up to the railing. Emma’s team started on the side that wasn't fronted by the deck. I wanted to see. I'd done my research, so I knew after the first set they'd switch sides. I'd sit down then. Maybe. I was rewarded with a smile when they took their places and she saw me.

Things didn't start well. The other teamed scored three quick points. We'd close in, then they'd pull ahead again. I learned from Samantha that Emma was the setter. She was in charge of the offensive and Pete directed defense. Her obsessive planning would probably come in handy here. When we were behind ten to twelve Pete called a time out. They ran over to the bench under where I was standing. Emma told them what she saw the other team doing and gave each of them direction. Pete added in a little, but it was mostly her. She was confident, direct, and at the end brought them together for a quick cheer and told them, "We got this."  All through this, she paid zero attention to me. She was laser-focused like I wasn't even there.

Which made me hard.

From then on there was no more being behind. It was like the first part of the match was them figuring the other side out and now they were playing for real. Emma's yelling out names. Pete's telling people to move. And then there's the physicality of it. She was quick. She would dive to keep the ball from hitting the ground, barely dump it over the net, and set the ball up for one of the guys. The last one looked like she was barely touching the ball, but I knew the strength in those fingers. I'm sure the others were doing all sorts of shit too, but I was only paying attention to her. What she wasn't very good at was serving. She didn't suck. It just wasn't her strong suit.

I kept quiet throughout the set until the final score. I did a fist pump and yelled, "Yes!"

Final score twenty-five to twenty.

They headed to the bench, all smiling but not too big, and started gathering their stuff. Emma gathered her clothes over her arm before looking at me. It wasn't over yet so I gave her a thumbs up and mouthed, "Good job."

Emma stepped up on the bench like she had before the game and reached her fingers through the netting. Reaching for me. I linked my fingers with hers and met her for another kiss in a little square. She smiled and whispered, "For luck."

Nick came close and looked up," You have to do that before every set now. Superstition rules sports."

I looked around Emma to see him, "Not a hardship."

I went back to the table for the second set. Samantha, who told me to call her Sam, provided a steady commentary and answered any questions I had. I should have started back here. I had a much better understanding of roles, strategy, and gameplay by the time they won the second set and therefore the game.

Scott pointed between me and Sam, "One of you bar bitches needs to go get beer."

I jumped off the chair, I'll get it."

I looked at Sam, "What do I get?

"Bucket of Corona and one of Modelo."

"Thank you. Be right back."

The team was already at the table when I got there.

Pete looked at me as I put the buckets down. "You're going to need to be faster if you want to keep your bar bitch job."

It was good that they were giving me shit. Normal. I grabbed two of the Modelos. "I set up a tab. It'll be quicker next time."

He looked aghast, "You left your credit card?"

"I think they trust me." I opened the bottles and walked to where Emma sat, kissing her before handing off the beer. "That was great. You were great. " I quickly looked at the others, "I'm sure you all were too, but I was only paying attention to her. I'II watch everyone next game."

Jeff smiled around his beer bottle, "No, you won't."

"I'll make an effort." No one was believing me. I couldn't blame them. I ran my hand over Emma’s shoulders, "How long till the next game?"

"The team we’ll play, their game isn’t over yet." She pointed to court two. "We'll get twenty or so minutes once they're done. Wanna go watch the end?"

"Sure."

Emma took my hand and we went to the railing. "Which team do you want to win?"

She looked at both teams. "I don't know them. They're from a different league." She watched both for a minute, "Shit."

I turned toward her, leaning my arm on the counters, "What's up?"

"I went out with one of the guys on the green team." She'd moved to put her back to them.

"Hmm." I raised an eyebrow while I took a drink. Kinda thankful it's one of hers and not one of mine. "How long?"

"Just a couple of times. I didn't sleep with him." She shuddered, "He said some mildly creepy things and I ditched."

I was surprised by how relieved I felt when she said they hadn’t slept together. "Thank you for telling me."

"I wouldn't let you walk into a situation where you're the only one who doesn’t know." She ran a hand over my forearm.

Aw, she was worried. Cute. I took her hand off my arm and kissed it, "You know I make out and pretend to have sex in movies, right?"

She cracked a smile, "I hear you kiss boys too."

I can guess where she heard that from. "I have. Only for work though."

Her laughter made me smile, "I don't care if it was not for work."

I closed my eyes and shook my head, "This conversation." I opened my eyes, "I don't care if you dated some guy out there. Unless it's the blonde with long hair." Emma curled in her lips. "Oh come on!"

She shrugged and went for a change of subject. "I also heard you were Pete and Scott's Hall Pass."

"I knew that."

Her look was a cross between surprised and horrified. "I can't believe Scott told you."

"I don't think he meant to."

There was a commotion on the court. The blondes team won.

Time to go! "Ready to go back to the table?"

"Yes, please."

I put my arm around her shoulder as we walked. "Can we talk about your ass in those shorts?"

"Do you like? I bought them with you in mind."

"I do like them." We were back at the table with everyone else. I leaned closer, "I'd like to peel them off you. With my teeth."

Seed one and five were playing on court one. We'd be on court two against the blonde’s team, a two seed. I was nervous. Emma was bouncing like she had at home. I took both her hands, holding them in front of me, "Jump around. I got you."

She jumped up and down a few times, "What's this supposed to do?"

I looked sheepish, "No idea. Distraction. "

She laughed, "Worth a try. Thanks for being supportive of my crazy."

I asked again, “Anything I can get for you?"

Emma nodded emphatically, "Yes. At the switch between sets, I've got thirty seconds. Could you bring me a diet coke and a Reese Cup? Frozen.”

I repeated her order and nodded once. She must feel like she'll need a mid-game boost.

Sam's bar bitch duty was to fill up the water bottles. Emma made a bathroom run and I folded her closes and put them in the bottom of the bag. I dug out her cooling scarf. It was one o’clock in June right out in the sun. I dunked her scarf in the ice water for the beer, rung it out, and hung it over my shoulder. I had the sunscreen out when she got back.

When she saw what I held she smiled, "Thanks, I forgot. Will you get my back?"

"Discount massage all for you."

Everything is not foreplay. Repeat. Everything is not foreplay.

Emma took off her tank top for me to access everywhere. I was very thorough.  I didn’t want her to burn. A bad sunburn can be brutal. After I finished with her, she insisted on covering me. I didn’t have the same degree of exposed skin, but she tried. Sun protection aside, it was more about the touching.

Everything is foreplay.

They were called to the courts and Emma came for her good luck kiss. There was no netting so there was a bit of tongue involved. That would see me through the next set or so.

This game had me sitting on the edge of my seat and pacing closer to the railing. Sam stayed with me with Scott seemed barely interested. Points went on forever and they traded off the lead every serve. They did the same thing with taking a time out when they reached ten points, but the results weren’t quite as dramatic. They pulled ahead a few points and were keeping the lead. When they reached twenty points, I walked backward to the bar to get Emma’s Diet Coke and a frozen Reese Cup. I jogged back to the railing just in time to see my girl reject a spike from the blonde, Becky set the ball, and Nick send it back to win the set.

I was back by Sam, “Fuck, that was dramatic.” She looked at me like she knew something I didn’t. I laughed, “I know they went out.”

Her face read relieved, “Oh good, I suck at secrets.”

Emma came off the court and directed me down to the end where there was an opening in the netting. I had the Reese Cup open and the paper peeled off before I got to her. She shoved the whole thing in her mouth and mumbled a thank you.

“That was a great play.” She nodded and took a very long drink of Diet Coke.

Emma pressed her lips to mine. “Give me the Reese and you keep the Diet Coke.”

“Got it.” I dumped the candy out and handed it to her.

Second set they went up by five early, skipped the time out, and won twenty-five to eighteen. Fuck, yeah! 

I went after beer and stopped by the board. This had them in the semi-finals with the one seed. They were already finished so the countdown was on. Emma came up behind me, laying her hand on my back, “We’re moving tables.”

“Court one, baby!” I kissed her cheek, “Semi-finals. I checked the board. This is cool. I’m taking pictures this game.”

It was more crowded on this side of the deck and I was thankful for her planning now. Nick and Jeff were moving the table up closer to the railing and it looked like Pete and Scott had stolen some more chairs. We were set up along the railing on either side of the net. Looked like a little horseshoe blockade. There were some extra people there too. Emma had said more people would show up for later games closer to dinner.  She introduced me to the new people, Nick taking care of the few she didn’t know. Emma passed on the beer, preferring to hydrate. Smart. I went for beer. I figured them playing the one seed was either going to be incredibly nerve-wracking or quickly depressing. I wasn’t sure which I dreading more. Either way, beer was the answer. Until shots were.

They called the teams to the court and Emma took a deep breath and jumped around a little. I was glad to see that. I was concerned because she hadn’t been as bouncy. “Ready to go, Tigger?”

She snorted a laugh, “If we win I’m going to need food. If we lose . . . I’m still gonna need food.”

All five of her teammates chimed in, “Me too.”

“You guys got this. You’ve been kicking ass. Just do what you do.” My attempt at a pep talk was appreciated by thanks and head nods.

Nick looked over and pointed, “Don’t forget the good luck kiss, man. Don’t break the streak.”

“I like him.” I gave her a quick kiss and sent her on her way.

The time between this game turned into more than thirty. The loser’s bracket was running behind and they wanted to even things out a little. If we won this team would go into the loser’s bracket and play someone so there would be more than an hour between the end of this and the next game.  The team stayed on the court and I listened to friends around me catching up.

Jacob, one of the newcomers, spoke up, “So Sebastian, on set, which of the Marvel guys was the biggest asshole?”

I had ready-made answers for this, but Sam put her hand on my arm and addressed him, “Yeah, we don’t do that. This isn’t a comic con.” She motioned to me with her hand, “This is our friend Seb, here for a volleyball game. If you have questions buy a ticket.”

Jacob held up his hands, “Fair enough.”

I shrugged, but inside I was cringing a little. Sometimes answering questions or taking pictures is the safer bet. I can control things a little better and ask people not to post anything for a little while. If you piss people off they do what they want without your permission.

I pointed my thumb at her, “Interviewing for my bodyguard.” Hopefully, that would break any tension.

Jacob laughed, “She doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit.”

The game started and I turned my back on everyone. Sam was beside me. “Renner.”

She looked at me confused, “What?”

“Renner’s the biggest asshole.”

We lost the first set. Badly. When Emma came over to switch sides she didn’t say a word. She popped up on the bench, gave me a kiss, and was off.  They started down by three in the second set. I leaned my elbows on the counter and looked back at Sam, “How’s she handle losing?”

Sam shook her head, “Haven’t lost yet. You’re a nervous little thing.”

“It’s new.”

“Sweet.” She looked out at the game then back to me. “She’s very competitive. Losing pisses her off, but she’s over it quick. Tequila helps.” She nodded toward the court, “But we haven’t lost yet.”

And we didn’t. One set all.

I wanted to vomit. I was tensing up with every play. Every time they scored, I was doing something. Yelling, “yes”. Making faces. Fist pumps. Banging on the counter. Anything to release the tension. There wasn’t anything dramatic, just solid play. Slowly we increased the lead. A point here, a point there. And they didn’t match it, didn’t catch up.

Twenty-five to nineteen. Sam and I both yelled, “Fuck, yeah!” at the same time.

wolfstar/mauders era part 4

Lily was watching remus and Sirius and noticing that they have been acting closer than normal that evening but didn’t really care. Sirius had his head in remus lap why both of them were reading the assignment for defense against the dark arts. She was trying to figure out what to do with Severus. She didn’t really want to break off her friendship with him, but also didn’t want to be treated like an embarrassing secret. She needed advice but didn’t really have anyone to turn to. Then she thought of how kind james and the maurders where this afternoon and decided she should try and make them her friends, it might make her lose her friendship with Severus, but it is better than feeling alone.

She grabbed her bag and walked over to their corner of the common room and asked if she could join them.

“sure, pads sit up, evans can sit on the couch with us. Hope you brought your homework, we are very Sirius about our classes.” Remus chuckled.

“actually, I am the only one Sirius around here.” Sirius joked back as he sat up and scooted close to remus.

“yeah, ok.” Lily laughed.

“so what brings you over here?” asked james, pleased that she was sitting so close but trying to follow remus’ advice from this summer of letting her have her space.

“just feelling lonely and wanted some company. I also wanted to thank you guys for this afternoon. James I really appreciate you grabbing my stuff, it was very kind.” She said as she pulled out an assignment as james shugged “no problem” as he continued studding what ever that piece of parchement was. It kind of looked like a map. But of what lily didn’t know.

“hey guys…”james started to say before remembering lily was there “um……remember that project we were working on this afternoon?” trying to speak carefully.

“yes” said the three boys around her. Lily was intrigued but tried to focus on her work. It was obvious she wasn’t supposed to be part of this conversation.

“I have some ideas to show you later.” Was all he said.

“hey, remus, I have a question.”

“yeah? What is it?” he said looking around Sirius and resting his chin on the other boys shoulder.

“well, I am having trouble with this last chapter for defense, and you’re the best in our year at defense I thought I would ask you.”

“oh yeah wise choice lily” james barely hiding a smirk “that chapter is really difficult, but remus’ knows all about werewolf, don’t you?” the boys, including remus laughed.

“I don’t get it, what is so funny?” lily didn’t know that they knew remus was a werewolf and they didn’t know she knew.

“oh, nothing. Sirius trade me spots.”

Sirius scooted over and remus rested his back against Sirius and faced lily.

“what do you need help with?” inquired a smiling remus.

“well I got the way to tell a wolf from a werewolf down and how the cycle of the moon effects different parts of their life, but…” she looks around and leans in so the other boys can’t hear “does it hurt?”

His smile quickly faded. “how long have you known?” he said aloud.

Confused that he would be so bold around those who she thought didn’t know “about a year.”

“wow, lily, not as observant as I thought. We figured it out halfway through our first year.” Piped up james.

“oh, ok, but my question still applies, does it hurt?” lily said this time loud enough for the others to hear but not those around them.

“horribly. It is like, well it is hard to explain, but if the pain wasn’t bad enough I don’t remember much of anything after the transformation. It is like there are two different people inhabiting my body and once a month the more monstrous one takes over.”

“I get that.” She says. “don’t worry, your safe. Oh, and remus, a big marshmallow like you could never be a monster.”

“don’t say never.” Winked Sirius.

This earned an eyeroll from both lily and remus.

“thanks lily, that means a lot.” Remus gave her hand a quick squeeze.“now, what else do you want to know?”

“um, why do you eat so much chocolate? Personal question there not academic.” She said.

“honestly, it helps with the muscle cramps that come with, for a lack of a more dignified term, my monthly cycle.”

“oh, ok.” Lily pulled open her bag and dug out the biggest choclate bar she had and handed it to remus “it helps mine to. Thanks for the help.”

“what are you trying to do lily, seduce him?” Sirius laughed. Lily smiled and wrote a quick note that read “no, that is your job apparently. And I have questions.” She handed it to Sirius who said out loud “damn straight it is. Professor black will answer questions at a later date. Right now I am beat and am going to head to bed. See you boys later.” With a quick wink to remus and lily.

Chapter 3

Title: Falling for the Holidays

Pairing: Dean x Reader AU

Word Count: 2453

Summary: With October ending and the holidays underway, that only meant one thing for Dean Winchester. It meant returning to his childhood home and spending time with his family. It meant listening to his parents, especially his mom, ramble on and on about when he was going to find himself a nice girl, bring her home for the holidays, and then eventually get married and have children.  However, Dean wasn’t ready for that sort of commitment, so in order to get his family off his back, he comes up with an elaborate scheme! But like the saying goes, “sometimes lies become truths.”

Warnings: Crack, Language, and some fluff?

A/N: Chapter 3 is here! I just want to give thanks again to everyone that’s been so supportive! You guys are amazing! Therefore, this chapter is dedicated to all of you! Please tell me what you think. This is my first series and I could use all the support I can get. Thanks again everyone!!

Series Masterlist

That night, after finishing your shift at Ms. Tea’s Coffee Shoppe, Dean picked you up and brought you back to your apartment for a quick wardrobe change. While you fixed your makeup, Dean plopped down on your bed, complaining about how girls always took so damn long to get ready.

“Hey, do you want my help or not?” You chided, swiveling in your chair to face him, arms crossed.

“N-no. Please, help me!” Dean cried. “Please!”

“Okay, then shut your pie hole!”

“First of all, it’s cake hole,” Dean corrected.

“Does it matter?” You rolled your eyes dramatically, Dean catching glimpse of the action in the mirror.

“I just don’t see why you need to put on all that makeup. I mean, you’re already gorgeous without it,” he stated nonchalantly, as if it was a natural thing to say.

Something inside your stomach flipped, but you figured it was the initial compliment that threw you off. You weren’t expecting it. “Thanks Dean, but other guys might not think so, so… I’m getting dolled up.”

“Pfft. Then those guys are idiots.” Dean got up from the bed, making his way toward you. The beat of your heart picked up, your breath hitching in your throat. Why was he coming over? What was he going to do? “Hey,” he said with a soft voice, stopping behind you. At his point you were holding your breath. “I remember this picture,” he laughed wholeheartedly, pulling the photo from the corner of your vanity mirror.

“Seriously?” You deadpanned, a little disappointed and annoyed that he was interested in a damn photo.

“Yeah! This was the night we all first hung out!” He beamed, reminiscing the day. “Who knew the friend you were bringing was my cousin, Jo. Small world,” he grinned.

“Yeah, and I had no idea you were besties with a guy from one of the wealthiest people in… possibly the whole world!”

“Ha. Cass was a weirdo went I met him. I think that’s what sold me. Didn’t even know who he was back then. I didn’t even care about money back in preschool,” he chuckled.

You rolled your eyes, muttering “obviously! All you probably cared about was hot wheels and no catching cooties.”

“Hey, cooties were a big deal!” Dean exaggerated. You shook your head at his nonsense and snatched the picture out of Dean’s hands, placing it back in its spot before ordering him to get out of your way. “You’re bossy,” he grumbled, pouting like a child before doing as he was told, flopping himself on the bed again. “By the way, your bed is too small,” he remarked, sticking his tongue out when you made eye contact.

“You’re a child,” you giggled.

As you were putting on mascara, your lips naturally parted, concentrating on where you were applying. In your peripherals, you noticed Dean watching behind you. His body propped upright as he leaned a little in attempt to watch what you were doing from his spot on the bed. His mouth was hanging open similar to yours.

When you stopped, relaxing your lips and dipping the mascara brush back into its bottle, Dean whole body went lax. Then, as you took out the mascara brush and brought it back to your other eye, Dean perched upwards, his face mimicking the one you made once more. This time, you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Dean! What the hell, man?” You giggled.

“What?!” He asked defensively. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re being a dork!”

“What? No I’m not! I’m just sitting here.” Dean was confused. It was clear in his face that he had no idea what you were talking about. To him, he really wasn’t doing anything, just merely watching you apply black stuff to your eyelashes.

“Done!” You chirped, causing Dean to groan with relief, grabbing your keys and purse for you as he waited by the door. “Dude, chill.” It was easy to sense Dean’s impatience. He was trying to rush you even if he wasn’t saying anything. His anxiety was pouring out of him.

“I can’t chill. I need to find myself a girl before thanksgiving.” Dean sighed, mentally cursing himself for getting in this situation in the first place.

You patted him on the shoulder in attempt to make him feel better, “what’s done is done. We’ll figure it out. Or… you can just call your mom and tell her the truth.”

“No, you have no idea how quick things spread around back home. I’m sure everyone knows by now that I’m bringing a girl home. This is already too big to fix. My mom would be crushed, not to mention embarrassed. I can’t do that to her.”

Sighing in defeat, you looked up at the tall man in front of you. He stared back with his pleading mossy eyes that he knew you could never resist. “Dammit, Dean!” You breathed out with frustration. “C’mon. Let’s get.”

Dean smiled, pulling you into a big hug. “Have I ever told you that you’re the best friend in the world?!”

“Don’t get it twisted! I better be getting an amazing Christmas present from you!” You mumbled against his shirt.

“As long as it’s reasonable, I’ll get you anything!” He kisses your forehead before opening the door and dragging you out with him.

Finally making it to the bar, it was a typical Friday night. Packed, loud, and good vibes all around. Once you reached the bar, you didn’t even have time to order a drink before a man was hitting on you. Dean frowned, having an urge to punch him in the face and tell him to get lost, but he resisted. Jealousy wasn’t something Dean felt often, so he brushed it off, believing that he was just annoyed because you were supposed to be helping him, not getting cozy with some random douche.

Dean was scowling, glaring daggers at the man when they made eye contact. The guy cleared his throat as he noticed Dean squaring his shoulders and expanding his chest, presenting himself like an alpha male.

“Oh, sorry. Are you two together?” The guy asked, looking to you than Dean.

Before you could answer, Dean jutted in. “Yeah, we are,” he revealed, licking his lips before flashing a tense smile, squinting his eyes as he did.

Your eyes widened and as the guy left, you whipped around shooting daggers at your best friend. “Dude!”

“Don’t ‘dude’ me. You’re supposed to be helping me remember!”

“Dean, yeah, I’m going to help you. Doesn’t mean a girl can’t get free drinks!” Dean looked down at you feeling like an idiot. For a moment, he forgot that was your signature move when hitting up the bars and clubs. You’d play a guy for drinks before leaving him high and dry. It was cruel, but it was fucking brilliant. Girls really did rule the world. They only made men believe they were in control.

“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I guess I’m just really stressing out,” he confessed.

“Just chill, alright. C’mon, I’ll buy the first round.”

With beers in hand, you scanned the room in search for a potential woman Dean could bring home to meet his family. Your eyes flashed passed a head full of blond curls, her breasts protruding out of her tight halter top, but you couldn’t see her face, but you figured it wouldn’t matter too much. Busty blonde was usually Dean’s type so you pointed in her direction.

“Who?” Dean asked.

“There. Busty blond, one o’clock.”

Dean nodded, taking a deep breath before heading over to her. You slipped out of your seat, wanting to get closer to the action, finding a spot close enough to see and hear the interaction go down. From where you were standing, you gasped when you saw her face. This wasn’t good, but it was going to be a moment to remember. You quickly pulled out your phone, getting the video camera ready before aiming it at Dean and the blonde.

“Hi, excuse me,” Dean started, tapping her on the shoulder.

“Hey there hon,” the blonde turned, bright red lips smiling at him, and accentuated features ogling over his body. Her voice was deep enough to know that this SHE, was actually a HE.

Dean’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the low voice that came past her lips, her features easily telling him that this woman was a man in drag! “S-Sorry, I just need to get through,” Dean managed a smile, scooting past the blonde and her actual female friends.

You were stifling your laughter just as he reached you, his expression unimpressed. “I swear, I didn’t know until it was too late,” you blurted through your laughing fit.

“Yeah, that’s why you had your phone out recording me!” He hissed, snatching the phone from your hand.

“Oh, c’mon! It was funny! So fucking funny,” you continued to laugh, trying to take back what was yours, and more importantly, save the video. “Dean give it back!”

“Not after I erase it,” he growled.

“Dean no! I need it! I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone for the holidays and I’m going to need that to make me smile and laugh when I feel lonely,” you finished your rant with a soft voice, pulling your chin down to your chest and looking up at him with big sad eyes.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean groaned, dropping the phone back in your hands, a wide smile taking over your face.

“You love me!” You cheered, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek, a gesture you’ve done many times before, but this was the first time Dean’s cheeks heated up.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, seriously. Help me find someone.”

“Okay, okay.”

You and Dean returned back to the bar, scoping out the sea of people. You suggested a few girls but it just didn’t seem to work out. According to Dean, they were either, too high maintenance, not his type, or too over the top.

“This is impossible,” he sighed, running his hand down his face before raking his fingers through his hair, when he returned from talking to a cute red head.

“What was wrong this time?” You pondered out loud.

“Chick is still hung over her ex-boyfriend. Wouldn’t stop going on and on about him. Did you know, Trevor’s dick is named Armstrong, because it’s huge and strong?” He snapped.

“Ew! Way too much information,” you laughed. “Alright. My bad. Maybe we can try a different bar?” You suggested.

“But this is the most popular pub around. Everyone is here.” Dean turned to face the bar, signaling for another beer when a woman called his name.

“Dean?” You and Dean turned around to find a chocolate skinned woman with gorgeous mop of curls atop her head. She was in a fitter red dress, and you had to admit, she looked good. Tall too.

“C-Cassie?” Dean stammered. You looked over at Dean curiously, noticing that he was suddenly nervous. Who was this girl? Maybe she could act as his fake girlfriend?!

“Wow, I knew it was you! It’s been a long time! You look really good Dean. You’re still as handsome as I remember. How old were we when we dated? Fourteen?” She laughed, her eyes finally meeting yours. You smiled in good nature, but it instantly faded when she snobbed you.

Your jaw dropped in surprise. What the hell did she have against you?! Taking offense to it, you hissed, “Bitch,” under your breath, just audible enough so no one could hear.

“Yeah. We were pretty young back then, huh?” Dean chuckled awkwardly.

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” you interrupted, shoving yourself between this Cassie person and Dean, “I’m Dean’s girlfriend,” you snapped, sticking our hand out for her to shake.

“Cassie,” she reluctantly returned the gesture. “Anyways, I guess I’ll see you around, Dean. Nice meeting you… what was your name again?”

“Y/N. You have a good night Courtney,” you replied.

“It’s Cassie,” she scoffed.

“Have a good night,” you faked a smile, staring at her until she left. Turning around, you caught Dean looking down at you with a smug smirk, his eyes twinkling with delight. “No,” you growled.

“I didn’t say anything,” he smiled, licking his lips as he did.

“You didn’t have to,” you got back on your seat, motioning for another drink, ordering a shot of whiskey.

“Y/N,” Dean cooed. You already knew what he was thinking the moment you caught him smiling.

“No Dean. No.” There was no use repeating yourself. You knew he was going to say it.

“Were you jealous?”

You twisted your head in his direction, with a hard scowl, only to find him beaming and elated. “I said, no!” Arms wrapped themselves around you, as he buried his head in your shoulder, his body shaking with amusement. “Dean, get off. I told you that I wasn’t,” you tried to wiggle out of his hold.

“Wait a minute…”

“What?” You questioned, still wrapped up in Dean’s arms. “Dean, what is it?” You asked again. His lips curled upwards and his eyes widened. “Seriously, if you don’t tell me what’s up, I will punch you in the balls,” you threatened this time.

“You!” Dean squealed, uncharacteristically, flinging his body away from yours but still holding your arms.

“Me? What? And what the hell was that sound?”

“You! Y/N, you!” He laughed.

“That’s it! Let me go, I’m gonna punch you in the balls!” You wiggled in attempt to get free.

“You can me my fake girlfriend!” You froze at Dean’s words. The madness of the idea was through the roof.

“No. No, no, no! Absolutely not!” You mumbled, finally breaking free from Dean, hopping off your seat and heading towards the door.

“Y/N, c’mon! It’s a great idea!” He called after you, taking hold of your arm when he finally caught up.

“Dean, I am your best friend. I want to be able to come around in the future without having to keep up a lie that we were once ‘fake together’. If it were that simple, I would have suggested it from the very beginning.” Your stare was hard and stern, making sure that he understood how serious you were.

“It’ll all work out, I promise, please!” Dean pleaded, doing that darn puppy dog face.

“Ugh,” you moaned, trying to look away from him. That damn face would be the death of you. “Fine. Fine! You are so annoying! Like, so annoying. I better be getting a house for my Christmas present! You understand me? A house!” You vociferate.

“Yes! You know I love you right?” The cheeky man grinned like an idiot.

“A house, Dean!”

Say Something Nice Here!

Falling for the Holidays Tags: @hannahindie @pinknerdpanda @winchesterprincessbride @amanda-teaches @dancingalone21 @a-winchester-fairytale @dolphincliffs @oneshoeshort @brewsthespirit-blog @jerkbitchidjitassbutt @atc74 @natasha-baggins @heavymetalhauswife @linki-locks11 @spnwoman @veevm @chameleah86 @kdcollinsauthor @claitynroberts @roonyxx @rainflowermoon @ladylaylo @closetspngirl @mirandaaustin93

"Kill him." gang!Ashton (Golden Star Fanfic)

A/N: Knock knock knock. Someone's there? Guess who is finally free from college?? This bitch. Hell yeah. Well, actually I'm free for 20 days now, but I was on my break, OK? Let me be happy. But now I'm back. I'm back and ready to spam you guys with chapters. Until December 31th I'll be posting as much as I can, maybe a chapter a day, maybe one chapter each other day, I'll just write the stuff and post here, doesn't matter the 30 notes, I'm doing it for you guys who waited for this and kept sending me asks about it. Welcome back. I hope you like it. (But I'll still be happy with comments and asks and likes and reblog, jfk)

Summary: Its opening day! After being locked at the building for so long, you're finally out for some fun with the guys. But being part of a gang never lets you have fun the way you like and sometimes you end up in danger.

T.W: THIS CHAPTER MENTIONS RAPE. IT'S NOTHING TOO EXPLICIT, BUT PLEASE BE AWARE AND CAREFUL. Thank you.

You can find the previous parts here

~

It was a saturday night and for the first time in forever everyone was on the building, you could hear people talking and in a very strange way the place seemed alive, almost like something you could call home. You got into the kitchen to find the guys all dressed up, looking even better than usual.

"Why are you on your pj's in a Saturday night?" Luke raised one eyebrow looking at you. "We said we were going out today."

"Not to me." you shook your head, denying and making all the boys look at each with judgmental faces. "But that's OK, you guys can go and have fun, I'll be here catching up on Modern Family."

"Seriously, that's how you want to spend your night?" Calum looks at you, you just shrug again, waving your hand on his direction before going to the fridge to get some cake. "Let's go, you need some distraction."

"You sure?" you raise one eyebrow looking at him, but he didn't respond, just held your wrist taking you to your bedroom. You had showered minutes before since you were getting ready to bed, so you just changed your clothes for something you thought it would be suitable for whenever they were going and a make up a little more fancy that you're used to. You got downstairs finding them talking to some partners who would be taking care of the building while everyone was out and you just blushed when the nine men looked at you with widen eyes. "What?" you asked, but no one dared to say a thing. After almost ten minutes the five of you divided between three cars, you choose to go with Calum, since he was the one who actually invited you.

"You look great." he said glancing at you, but looking to the streets.

"Thank you." you smiled, blushing a little. It was the first time in forever that you had received a compliment, you didn't even noticed how much time you spent locked out of the world. "Gosh, I feel like it has a life time that I don't see the world."

"Months, I would say." Calum looked at you. "You really need to go out more, being all the time in the building isn't good for you, believe me. And you're getting pale, you need some sun, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I just don't have anywhere to go, anyone to see. God, I just vanish from existence of everyone in my life, I don't know how there's not a bunch of people looking around for me. How everyone just believed when I said that I needed some time?"

"You didn't really gave them any other option." he chuckled and you needed to agree. After a couple of minutes you discovered that they were going to a club almost out of town, the place was huge, lights all over with a big yellow neon sign shining and getting all the attention. Wonderland. The line outside was almost infinite, you couldn't count how many people were there.

"Wow. This is huge." you said when all the cars were parked, the four men around you while walking across the street to get in. "And this line? Fuck."

"Night, Mr Irwin. Mr Clifford. Mr Hemmings. Mr Hood." the man at the door said and there was when it hit you.

"This place is yours."

"Today is the open day." Luke said with a smile on his face, inside, the place was completely empty apart from the staff. Looking at the ceiling you could see that it had, at least, three floors, so high that you couldn't really see the end of it, since it was so dark." Everything's ready?" you heard him ask, changing your look to the blonde guy, you saw him talking to a woman from the staff, she nodded, she was dressed all in white and gold, just like the rest of the people there.

"I'll get a drink." you said starting to walk to the bar.

"Let me." Calum said going with you. The bartender looked at both of you with a sweet smile. "Shane, take care of her. She can have anything." he pointed to you, a bit of power crossed your body, making you smile when Shane smile at you, nodding.

Wonderland was crowded, the music was blasting from the speakers, the DJ didn't let people stop for a second. You had be dancing for the longest time, a guy who said that his name was Daniel were with you all the time, his body glued to yours while you two dancing in the middle of the dance floor. If you looked around you could see the partners, they were all over the place, some taking care of security, some doing business that you rather don't wonder what exactly, some looking at you. They guys were long gone, you didn't saw any of them anymore after people started to come in, but you just figured out that they must had been doing his business as well or at least having their own fun. That didn't bother you, actually, it was good to know that at least for some hours you wasn't a problem to them, they could just let go and live their lives without having to keep an eye on you all the time. Daniel was fun, when he kissed you was like your body were on fire, he knew exactly what he was doing and you loved it. It was good to be finally with someone again, even if it was just some kissing.

Daniel convinced you to go somewhere with less people and giving the time you spend on the dance floor it wasn't exactly a bad idea. You two got into a hallway, the suddenly light made you squeeze your eyes while giggling, the boy's hands were all over your body, trying to find a way to get under your clothes, but having a hard time since it was way too tight.

"Easy, pretty boy." you laughed, trying to hold his hands while opening a door from some room you really didn't knew what had inside.

"You look good in this clothes, but would look better without them." his breath on your neck made you shiver, the smile never leaving your face. It was clearly an office, soon you were making out on a big black sofa, you two laying down with him over you while his hands were all over your body. He manged to open the button of your pants, making your eyes get widen.

"Daniel, hold on." you try to hold his wrist, but he just hold both your hands on your back while trying to get his free hand inside your pants. "Daniel!"

"Those pants are too tight. Got me wondering if your pussy is tight as well." he finds his way to your underwear, making your heart race.

"Daniel, let me go." you try to get out of his hands, but it's like he's not even listening to you since he keeps talking obscenities on your ear. You try to kick him, but his body is so close to yours that you can't move, remembering the little stuff Calum had teach you about self defense, you try to hit his head with yours, but you miss it and the move along with the alcohol just makes you feel dizzy and ready to puke, with your hands held by him you can't get the necklace to call the boys and even if you could, they would only know that you were in danger somewhere in the building. Would help. "Fucking shit, let me go!" you close your eyes, trying to go away of the pain of his fingers on you while trying to think how get to the little star. Suddenly his weight is gone, making you ffinally breathe before opening your eyes just to see a big figure in front of him, ready to punch him in the face. You try to get up as fast as you can, reaching the person just to see Michael. If usually his has a blank expression, in that moment it looked like he wasn't even human. He punched Daniel for the first time, making him go down, but Daniel didn't run away, he actually punched Michael back. You knew that if you didn't stop that, things would be out of control. "Michael, stop!" you scream, but he doesn't listen to you, hitting Daniel again. Taking advantage of the fact that they split up for a second, you got in the middle of them, looking to the member of the Golden Star in the eyes and letting both of your hands on his chest, before talking again. "Mike, stop." it was like he came back to himself, a little flame of humanity coming across his face. "Throw him out, but it's enough."

"What the fuck?" you hear Daniel say. "You know this guy?"

"Daniel, get out of here." you say between teeth looking at him, but not taking your hands out of Michael. "Now."

"Oh, I get it. He's your boyfriend. You're just another whore who loves a criminal." he crossed his arms, a smirk on his face with his nose bleeding. You feel Michael take a deep breath like an angry bull and you look back to him.

"No, I get it." you say.

"Is him your pimp?" Daniel says again. "You know, you don't even worth this much, not that hot." you need to actually use force to keep Michael on his place, somehow getting some control. "Doesn't matter, you will end up dead in dome dark alley anyway. I'll have you then."

"Kill him." You mutter to Michael, taking off your hands of his chest, it didn't take more than two seconds before you heard the crack of a broke bone, looking behind you to see Michael letting Daniel's head go, his body going directly to the ground, his neck twisted." Son of a bitch." you say again in a whisper.

"Are you OK?" you hear Michael say, looking at you now with his usual blank stare. You just nod and he comes closer. "Are you sure?"

"I'm, just get rid of him before anyone else sees it." you say closing your pants button, Michael just nod, going back to the body exactly when Calum comes down the hallway, looking mad.

"What the fuck, Michael?" he almost screamed. "It's opening day and you're already killing people?"

"He tried to rape her." Michael said, annoyed, pointing to you while getting Daniel's body on his arms, Calum finally acknowledged your presence.

"He what?" he looks at you, his eyes in a mix of anger, madness and concern. "Are you OK?" you just nod again. "Are you sure?" with another nod he seems convinced, turning back to Michael. "Get out of here." he opens one of the doors showing the street, a dark alley full of trashcan, Michael let Daniel's get to one of them, the biggest one, and for some reason you know that that one is specifically for that. "I'll call someone to take care of this. You" he points to you. "Go to the office and talk to Ashton. You," he points to Michael "go with her, but please don't kill anyone else on your way." you both nod, Michael rolling his eyes before getting you to the office.

~

Tagged babes: @betkaskarpetka @songforhema @booklove-2 @tremendously-sassy-c-dizzle @neralondon @xoxellie @mysteriouslycali @pretty-in-black-things @beautifulplacesforhappines

Fallen Hero AU Fanfic Ranger Adventures 2

Second part to the new AU fanfic. Herald and Argent investigate some murders with the aid of the LDPD. I’m so starved for new scenes of these two. Made up a lot of stuff for Argent’s backstory hope you people like it!

Los Diablos Confidential

Outskirts of Los Diablos. Noon.

"So, are you going first, or should I..."

Argent shrugged, ignoring him. 

"But I'd really want to know.. are we going to do good cop or bad cop..."

She groaned just a bit.

"So what do you think ...?"

She stopped and turned to him.

"Shut! Up!. I have the same information as you! Also I have no clue yet! Why don't you save the questions until AFTER we talk to the police ?"

"Oh.. yes.. sorry. I'm just nervous." Herald smiled at her. It was a charming smile. Infuriating. She would probably had done better with any of those alcoholic, depressive, moody male detectives from one of those old noir flicks any time of the day as her partner. Or better yet one of those alcoholic, depressive, moody female detectives in the modern noir flicks. 

But no. She had to get the pretty boy instead. Steel and Sidestep had to be busy in some stupid political circus they had no business being part of anyways. And Ortega had to go handle another theft by the Crumpler on the other side of town. 

Who even was that clown...? The Crumpler... What kind of shit-for-brains villain leaves crumpled notes of their next plan at every scene?!

She took a few long breaths "Look... Just... try to listen and follow my lead ok?. That's how i learned anyways." 

Herald nodded and followed in after her. 

She just moved on.  She should have definitely dragged Sidestep here with them . He wasn't fast enough to dodge her without his suit. She could have just taken him by the neck, then rattled him in front of the witnesses for a few minutes until the telepathy trick was done, and the case would be solved.

The crime scene had been cordoned by police already. A small, semi-abandoned park with a playground and a basketball court. Five corpses, covered.

"Anderson" she said in an almost undecipherable low growl as she noticed  the black LDPD homicides detective in front of her.

She turned with a blank expression that turned into a smile just a little too quickly. "Ohh hi Angie! I'm So happy to see you. You don't call, you don't text.. i'm starting to think you've forgotten about your old girl... And you must be Herald ... You know Angie, you never introduced your boyfriend to me"

"Ex boyfriend" Herald clarified

"Oh oh... that's right she dumped you too! And on Tv as well! We should definitely have a chat someday" she approached and whispered in a more serious tone "I mean it"

"Right.. ehrm.. hi! I didn't know you two knew each other"

Argent wanted to face-palm... of course he didn't know...

"Oh, she didn't tell you about me ? you know, Argent and I had a bit of a thing together... dated for two years of my life if memory serves me well..."

"Waaait... are you the woman in the police video where the..." he stopped as Argent gave him the EYE.

"Ohh you know about me! I’m the very same one! I became famous thanks to your ex here. I broke up with her and she trashed the entire restaurant and I had to fend her off with my police baton. But you shouldn't look at the police footage... It's the cellphone videos that made me famous. Did wonders for my career. So I had to do desk-work for almost a year, while seeing posters of you and her on the highway on my way to work every day! Everyone loves you two, right? Anyways, she let me off easy. I saw the pictures of YOUR breakup... She got you good, so many bruises. Oh wait, you'r not going to get back together ?" She smiled letting the venom in her words float in the air.

"Ahh..." Herald was more or less speechless, as the verbal slashes from Lillian didn’t seem to end

"Enough!" Argent interjected. "If you have things to say to me, i’m right here!”

“I know you’r here, but i want him to know because you are a fucking menace Argent! A disaster waiting to happen!”

“Lilian.. just do your stupid job for a change and show us the scene"

"I think I prefer Andersen. Lilian is for people i trust. So. Come see the corpses already, “LADY” . " She said, uncovering the bodies without much warning

Herald took a step back. Argent almost did too. She had seen many corpses in her career, but this was something new.

Entire sections of them where missing, as if someone had drawn a circle and took from them whatever was inside. Perfect round cuts. Maybe a laser?

"What the hells is this?" Herald managed to word out.

"Oh i asked the same thing you know? We've identified this one... she pointed at one of the corpses ... as Terry Morales, aka "Little C-Bone" gang leader. And these other ones, are.. ehrm.. were his gang"

"What... " Argent studied the inexplicable wounds "What happened to them?"

"That's a good darn question. I'm dying to know myself."

"Is there video on those cameras?" Herald pointed at a small Coffee bar next to them.

"I hope so. My partner went there to get the recordings... also, he owes me coffee, that must be what's taking so long"

They waited for a few awkward minutes in silence, with Herald standing in between them, clearly wishing to be anywhere else.

Eventually, Lilian's partner came back with the footage.. and coffee.

"Thanks Robert." she said, taking the memory card and plugging it on her vehicles video display.

Robert shook Herald's hand then gave Argent a "You touch my partner i kill you" look.

"Let's see what we've got in here...."

Lillian played the video in fast forward, stopping at the relevant parts.

1:36 AM A car stopped by the park.

1:49 AM A young white man approached the car. There was a brief conversation. The figure inside the car gave him a small bag trough the window.

1:55 AM The car left. The young man sat on a bench. He opened a bag and looked inside. He walked out of the frame for a moment.

2:03 AM The man returned, and sat on the bench again. He opened the bag and took something that looked like a some sort of small gun. He then rolled up his sleeve and shot it at his exposed arm.

2:09 AM The man started shaking as if having seizures, and fell down on the floor

He stayed there for 2 hours. 

4:12 AM The man stood up awkwardly. He stumbled. Fell, and stood up again. 

4:15 AM A group of five approached him. They pushed him and surrounded him. Started kicking him. On was trying to look in his pockets. Then ... black spheres appeared on the screen, increasing in size and floating in the air.  They covered part of the assailants.

Footage showed one of them trying to pull his arm from inside one of the spheres, but he couldn't... Their victim stood up and was covered in a dark halo. Then the spheres disappeared... along with part of the muggers. Blood covered everything.The man seemed shocked. He just started running out of the image.

"So we've got ourselves a new miracle drug user" Anderson pondered. “Another Boost”

"That was just self defense" Herald pointed out

"Yeah. But he still killed five people. And there's no telling if he can even control those ... things... he created. We need to find him. Fast." Argent pointed out.

"I'll run the plate numbers..." Lillian rewinded the footage to the moment the car stopped. She entered the number in an app. "Here.. got it. Registered to one Adrien Courtis"

"See if we can get an address.. . hm.. wait do you have the syringe?"

"Yes. On both accounts.. It's not a syringe..  It's actually one of those.. what did you call it Robert?"

"Jet Injector" Robert answered.  "I don't know who uses them nowadays."

"Can I see it?"

"Here. Can you make anything of it?"

She examined it closely with her special sight "There's a serial number on the inside of this thing, and the manufacturer... can you run those?"

"Sure let's see.." Lillian entered the numbers.

"FarmaCore bought a few hundreds of these last year" It was easy to track down items bought by official companies. "This serial numbers matches their stocks"

"How about we split efforts?" Robert Suggested "Lady Argent and I can go to FarmaCore, Anderson and Herald can check this Adrien's home."

Lady Argent and Anderson didn’t disagree.

.............................

Late afternoon

"So.. huh.. you and Argent" He had been driving silently for a few minutes. He didn't really know how to handle this.

"Relax... I.. I’m sorry. I’ve got nothing againt you... That's the result of so much time thinking what  would i tell her if i met her again. I'ts not about you. "

"Oh. Well she does sometimes draw the worst in people..."

"She does." Anderson sighed.  "What's your story? How did you end up with her ?"

"I didn't... it was for the cameras actually"

"Oh." She seemed to ponder upon learning that "That makes sense. Didn't think you where her type the first place. I mean.. I thought guys in general were not her type."

"Heck if i know what her type is."

"Ha! True that..."

"IT's not like i'm one to ask. I don't have any luck anyways... all my crushes end up with someone else. Or beat me to a pulp."

"Yeah.. I read about Locust. Dating the Handyman now ?.. Isn't he too old for her?"

"You know... I never told this to anyone but.. the hero community is... just weird. They just change partners like it was socks... They even turn Supervillains and then fight their former flings. I hate it..."

"Sidestep and Charge you mean?"

"Yeah. That’s how how fucked it is from the inside"  

"Well, I did taste it... and it burned."

“Tell me about it.”

Herald parked the car perfectly in a small lot, close to the apartment building. He wasn't really used to driving, but that didn't meant he was bad at it.

The super let them in the building, and they knocked at apartment’s door.

"LDPD, open up" Anderson announced, badge in hand.

There was no response.

"Hey look" Herald pointed at a window on the corridor. Someone running trough the fire escape.

"Dammit. Let's get him!"

Anderson went down the stairs, while Herald jumped, floating to ground level.

The man ran as fast as he could, but he didn't count on flying pursuit. Herald descended on him like a Hawk, pinning him onto the ground.

"Stay still!"

"No! Let me go! Let me...! They'll kill me!" the man struggled with all his strength.

"Stop it! We'r not going to kill you..." He stood up and started dragging him back to the  patrol car.  

“Look out!” Adrien screamed

Bit it was too late.

 Something just hit him squarely on his chest, sending him flying backwards. He spun in the air, narrowly avoided crashing onto the ground, hovering, and turned back to see what attacked him. 

"hAhahaHAa..." A massive figure was holding Adrien with huge clawed (hands?). It's face had something resembling a smile with teeth the size of fingers. "aaaArEee yOoUuu loooOokiiInG FoR thIIiiiIsss oOonEee? yYyooUu CAn haAaaveeE HiiIm" The voice was truly out of this world.

It closed it's claws with one movement, cutting trough flesh and bone alike.

Herald could only watch as the still screaming remains of Adrien touched the ground. 

"What in the hells... ARE YOU??" He asked, astonished

The beast emmited a guttural howl, and charged at Herald. However, he was prepared, and evaded the claws, spinning once more, taking advantage of it's impulse, and sending it flying behind him. Still, the creature managed to stand up faster than he anticipated, and got hold of him , slamming him against the ground.

"Aaack!" The thing stood with all it's weight above his right arm, not letting him stand. It raised a claw to finish him off as he struggled... 

BLAM!

THe gunshot hit the thing chest, and made it recoil, but it didn't fall. It just turned with a shriek, and charged in the direction of his new assailant.

Herald realized what was happening, and took flight once again. He intercepted the (Monster?) lifting it from the ground before it could get to Anderson, flying up, then down, driving it into a brick wall at full speed, with enough strength that he could hear cracks from it’s bones. 

The wounded creature didn’t stop, however, and tried to slash him again, but he dodged and sent a fist onto it's face, knocking it  backwards. He silently thanked Sidestep for the long hours of training.

Anderson stepped in and shot at it several times, until there were only clicks of the empty chamber.

The creature stumbled onto them, bleeding profusely. Then it fell, and stopped moving.

"Are you ok?" Anderson asked

"It's nothing i just... " And then he noticed the bleeding scratch marks at the sides of his chest, where the thing had grabbed him, tearing his nanosuit as if it was paper "Oh shit..."

"I'll call backup.. in the meantime.. let's take you to a hospital"

.................

Meanwhile...

"Wherever did you find this?!" The scientist was besides himself. "It shouldn't be out of this facility!"

"So it DID come from here?" Robert confirmed.

"Yes... YES. It's... it's experimental" Dr. Patton spoke, minding his words as Ellison glared at him.  

"Enough mystery. What's in it?" Argent asked.

"As you know, our company provides all manner of services. We provide what the public needs... and also carry classified research programs. We can't provide more information at this time." CEO Ellison explained.

"Could this act as a hero drug?" Argent frowned. "You could at least tell us that right?" She really had a short fuse for these types and she was at her best behaviour today. 

Patton glanced at Ellison, who nodded after a few seconds. 

"Yes.. it could.. lead to several.. powerful mutations. Yes, yes, it could be considered a hero drug."

"So you sell on the streets now?" Robert accused

"We would never..." Ellison started.

Argent's phone rang. Not a ringtone she had heard in a long time. 

"Yes... Lillian?" She listened for a few seconds "What? Is he allright...? Crap. Oh...  I see. I'll be there first sting after I finish here... " She turned to Ellison. "Do you know an Adrien Courtis?" 

"Can't say I do" Ellison stated blankly.

"He had a security pass for your facilities on him. I mean on his remains. He's just been murdered by some manner of super-powered creature after him. Tore him to pieces. Then it almost killed our partners. You wouldn't know anything about that either, right?."

Ellison sighed and typed a few things on his computer.

"Ahh.. here. Adrien Courtis" He turned the screen to them, showing his file as a low level employee.

"What can you tell me about this Dr. Patton?"

"Oh.. he's on the project.. He must have stolen the injector!"

"I see. Mystery solved then" Ellison turned off his computer. "A rogue employee stole experimental drugs from us, sold it, then got killed, most likely by the Cartel for selling on their turf... Tragic.. but developing these technologies always comes with great risks"

"You honestly expect us to believe there's nothing more going on? Tell us what's in the fucking injector" Argent exploded walking right to his face, this time showing her claws.

"I hope you come with a court order tomorrow morning if you'r so keen on knowing. Also, you'll speak to my lawyers from now on. This meeting is over. Get out before i call security." he spoke with a smile right to her face. 

She didn't move for a few seconds, until Robert put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back gently.

She finally walked out with him.

"He knows much more i bet" Robert said as he lighted a smoke while they walked to the car. 

"Let's get to the fucking hospital. If something happens to them i swear I'll strike that smug grin off his face and kill him"

“What about the new boost?”

“I’ll call Steel. We still need to find him...”

____________________________

My Fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

HORROR IN WHITBY

Ron was in the living room, feet up on a small table, a cup of tea in one hand and

watching some programme on TV. Jake entered, made eye contact with Ron and

revived their earlier conversation.

“So, you’re saying she hasn’t slept a single minute,” Jake mumbled as he dropped

onto the sofa. It was good to be in the warm again, out of the November wintry chill.

“Yep,” Ron said, “and I wish that was the only thing.” He subconsciously clutched his

hands in a reassuring gesture. He paused, sipped his tea and then went on, somehow

cautiously, as if talking to himself rather than to Jake. “She just sits there, smiling, as

if she’s happy or something. She didn’t stop talking a minute either when I was there.

She managed to break free from the rope and the handcuffs, but she didn’t even try to run away.”

Jake didn’t answer, but while pretending to watch TV he was listening attentively,

more to gather what Ron’s emotional state was rather than in fear of any real danger.

“I don’t know, Jake, there’s something really weird about that girl.” He paused. “I

don’t even know how to explain it. It’s probably nothing, but she does give me the

creeps. She speaks like a girl her age should, and on some level she behaves like a

child her age…yet at the same time you get the feeling she’s much older, somehow.”

“Typical Ron,” Jake thought. “Oversensitive.” Jake felt like laughing at his friend,

but knew better than that. Ron was reliable and trustworthy—as criminals go, that

is—a good partner, but could sometimes see too much into things.

“Um,” Jake said. If the child wasn’t problematic, stayed put and all, and the ransom

came quickly…they could be on their way to a really nice place…soon. Yet, he had

never seen Ron so agitated. He could read the signs that the other man was

desperately trying to disguise; the tension on his face, the stillness, his eyes avoiding

crossing Jake’s…but things had gone very well so far. Kidnapping the girl had been

easy peasy—no one had even followed them. Incredibly, neither the police nor the

newspapers had been alerted. And the family was going to pay the ransom.

“You don’t know what I mean,” Ron muttered under his breath, sensing the other’s

scepticism.

Jake sighed. “All right,” he said, “let’s go and see this girl. For god’s sake, Ron,

surely she’s just a nine year old child? Stay calm, rational. Just think of the money.

You are overreacting.”

Nonetheless they climbed up the stairs of the big Victorian villa, perfectly located in a

secluded spot in a Whitby village—no one would ever suspect it as a place to keep a

kidnapped child.

Little Moira’s quarters were in the attic—a spacious cosy refurbished space, all wood

and carpets with a nice comfortable bed in the corner. There was also a TV, some

books, magazines, a mirror, and various clothes for her to wear.

The two men opened the door, carefully—actually it was Ron who opened it, as he

had the key. Moira was standing in the middle of the room. She had combed her hair

and was wearing a black ribbon on one side. Her clothes were a reminder of a bygone

time; her dress a simple grey velvet thing, in the style little girls wear at weddings.

Her feet looked tiny in a pair of simple (but expensive) black shoes. She was, if there

were such a thing, the picture of innocence.

“Oh, good evening, Ron. Hi, Jake” she chirped, and curtseyed.

Jake heard what she said and turned towards Ron, glaring furiously. “How does she

know my name?” he hissed. “And yours? I thought I said no names, you idiot!”

“I didn’t tell her our names!” Ron said defensively as he wrung his hands together.

“You see what I mean—she gives me the creeps; it’s stuff like that she says.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, he didn’t. Bloody idiot, jeopardising things like that.” It occurred to

Jake that they might have to kill the girl now.

The child seemed to read their surprise and smiled, sweetly, not fazed by their

argumentative tones. “I heard you speak from the kitchen yesterday, and the day

before,” she said. “You said his name too, Jake, so it’s not only his fault.”

Now Jake began to feel a bit flustered. How could she have heard them talking all the

way up here in the attic? He examined the girl more closely.

The child looked a bit older than her 9 years; she could have been 11-12, and she was

tall for her age. Her face was like one of a china doll; of a beauty so pure it was

almost surreal. Her long, dark blond hair fell on her shoulders; her clear blue eyes

sparkled at the sight of her two captors, as if she had seen Santa bring her Christmas

presents.

“Now do you see what I mean?” Ron said and looked at Jake, who quickly inspected

the room, but found in fact nothing out of the ordinary.

Jake didn’t say a word. He took the key from Ron and locked the door as a

precaution. Now that she knew their names, the last thing they needed was for her to

escape.

The child smiled at them and Ron shivered. He thought he could see…what was

wrong with her teeth? What had she done to herself? He didn’t share this information

with Jake.

“Have you brought me some food?” Moira asked kindly. “Mummy says I have to eat

everyday…at least once a day…or I become very naughty. It’s not good for me to

miss my meal, mummy says”

Ron shivered, again. He had had enough of her talk today. It wasn’t actually what she

said that sent a chill down his spine, it was how she said it…it was like being in a

horror fairy tale or something. There was in her voice and being something he could

not decipher—no hint of fear whatsoever or of being upset in any sort of way was

given away from her demeanour or expression. That was from a kid, nine years of

age, who hadn’t slept for two nights and was away from home, captive in a room in

the middle of nowhere. And she kept asking for her dinner, but no matter how much

food he gave her, she left it untouched.

“But I don’t like that,” had been her reply when Ron asked her why she didn’t eat

anything.

Now she staged a little childish dance around the room and came nearer to her

captors, her mouth now semi-closed in a way that her teeth were not fully visible

anymore, although a faint smile was on her face.

Both men stood there, Ron very weary, Jake taken by sudden curiosity and a hint of

recognition. He was beginning to see why Ron was so freaked out…this girl was a

bloody freak.

She eyed the two men with curiosity, the same way she would probably eye a pet; a

frog, a cat…or a juicy piece of cake? Ron had the distinct impression that Moira had

been looking at his neck all day long. Obviously he hadn’t said that to Jake either,

courtesy of the fact that he didn’t want to be taken for totally mad.

“So, can we eat now?” she asked. She seemed excited, clapped her hands and twirled

around as if in a different place or world. She didn’t seem to grasp at all the gravity of

her situation and the danger she was in.

“You see what I mean?” repeated Ron, underlying every single word.

Jake was annoyed, and while he wouldn’t admit to it he felt, yes, there was something

very wrong about this child. He couldn’t exactly pin point what, as she was only a

child, but this little girl did give him the creeps. He was going to arrange for the

money pickup as soon as possible.

Never too soon.

“I am HUNGRY!” yelled the child, this time a tone of demand in her voice.

Jake snarled at her. “It’s not dinner time, yet. You’ll have to wait, ok?” he said

unkindly. “We’ll bring dinner later…besides, how did you free yourself from the rope

and handcuffs? Don’t do anything like that again…or you’ll be sorry.” He

pronounced the last words in a slow, threatening voice, looked Moira straight in the

eye, and turned as if ready to hit her. It was time to show this little brat who was boss;

he for one wasn’t going to be bossed around by any little girl.

“I WANT MY DINNER!” Moira growled, an inhuman, beastly growl that took the

two of them truly aback. And while taken from rage, for being denied her dinner, her

little sweet face muted into a deformed mask; half human half animal, with the

horrible fangs and pointed teeth now fully visible. Another horrific growl filled the

air, much worse than the one she had produced before.

The two men, now both terrified, ran for the door, desperately trying to unlock it. Too

little, too late—the predator was about to become the pray, or maybe unknowingly, it

had been so all the way along.

Moira reached the door in an impossibly fast movement and barred it with her tiny

body. The men didn’t dare go near her, and ran instead for the window.

There was, however, another figure standing erect on the inside window ledge--a

woman. She was stunningly beautiful. Her hair and eyes were dark, but apart from

that her features were very similar to the human Moira, unrecognisable now in that

beastly mask.

“Moira…! You are being naughty again” the woman said, sarcasm recognizable in

her voice.

With that, Moira took her on human features again, and her sweet little face appeared

again. She smiled at the sight of her mother. “Sorry mummy…the men didn’t feed

me! I am very, very hungry” and as if reading the men’s thoughts, which she probably

was, she added, politely: “Mummy always knows where I am. She follows my scent”

Ron and Jake were petrified where they stood next to each other between the door,

Moira, and at the window. Was that the mother then? That was the voice…Shit. What

were these…people? But were they people? There was, effectively, no way out.

Maybe they could try to take the brat, but she was if possible even scarier in a

grotesque mixture of childish innocence and beastly ferocity.

“Oh, pet…my poor pet,” the mother said. “Of course. Well…they did try to kidnap

you after all…they did. I’ll have the fat one and you’ll have the other…this should be

enough for both of us”

The woman smiled and two long pointed fangs were clearly visible within her

crimson mouth. Her smile was a joyless grin, the predator ready to spring…she was

already savouring dinner.

Another terrible growl, this time coming from the woman…both she and her daughter

dived onto the two terrified men, who were now staring into death’s eyes, personified

by the two horrific beastly masks

The woman went for their necks and broke them, and then mother and daughter fed

on blood, hungrily, until no drop was left. Little Moira, having not completely

grasped proper table manners, also savaged the body beyond recognition—blood and

gore were everywhere.

But, of course, no one heard the terrible screams of the men; the house was so

conveniently located after all…

The Games: Chapter 4

Despite Clarke's two prior trips to the winter games, the opening ceremony had lost none of its magic for her. The significance of it all still gave her first day of school butterflies, making her feel six years old again, awestruck and overwhelmed as she drifted through a sea of unfamiliar faces.  Red, white and blue-clad bodies shuffled past her, as the sprawling cluster of American athletes followed the Mongolian delegation through the tunnel leading onto the parade grounds of PyeongChang Olympic Stadium.  A colorful delegation of Bermudians trailed close behind them as they made their way into the open air of the parade grounds.

From its epicenter, the spectacle radiated with an intoxicating spirit that consumed the senses, filling Clarke with a nervous energy that eclipsed even the nastiness of the chilling wind that had picked up an hour earlier.  Exiting the darkened tunnel, she made her way into the multicolored splendor of the stadium; her thoughts immediately drowned out by the deafening roar of 35,000 cheering spectators.

It took a moment for her to process fully.  It seemed unbelievable that thousands of people had been willing to brave the sub-zero temperatures just to catch a glimpse of their Olympic champions, but as the enormity of that fact sank in, Clarke felt overwhelmed with a responsibility to them.  She forced herself to stare up into the stands, her face straining against the icy sting of the air as she smiled and waved towards the masses of fans.

"It feels like my eyeballs are going to explode," Raven growled through her forced smile.  "It's fricking cold!"

"Just keep smiling."  Clarke grinned at her assistant captain, her voice just as strained, as she flashed two rows of perfectly straight, snow white teeth.  "Millions of people are watching, Rae.  Don't spoil it for them."

"You can't be serious?"

"This has got to be a joke."

A chorus of complaints had erupted the second the Canadian athletes had learned their number in the ceremony's progression.

"We're sixty-ninth?"

"Oh g-d, as if these uniforms didn't make us look ridiculous enough."  Echo looked dour as she fiddled with her long red parka and knitted cap.

"I don't know," Lexa shrugged, forcing small talk to make nice with her captain.  "I mean the jackets aren't great, but some of the other stuff they gave us is ok."  She waited for Echo to respond but was met with steely silence.  "I mean, I like the flannels."

"Of course you do."

"What is that supposed to mean?"  Lexa tensed, wondering if she should be offended, and readying herself for an argument.

Echo only rolled her eyes, looking bothered.  "I didn't mean it that way," she spat. "I was referring to the fact that someone from the NWO would love that our uniform issue includes a Kenora Dinner Jacket."  She turned to Lexa, exasperated with the tall girl behind her.  "Obviously. I play women's ice hockey, Woods. You think I'm not used to teammates who enjoy the company of curvy, Swedish blondes with long legs?"

Echo shot her a knowing glance, noting the nervous, slightly guilty look on Lexa's face.  

"How do you know about that?"

"You're not exactly discrete. I saw you coming out of that Swede snowboarder's room this morning, half dressed."

Lexa swallowed hard, her cheeks flushing a subtle rosy color.  "Coach Freeman... You aren't going to?"

"Rat you out to her and get you kicked off the team?"  Echo dipped her head, cocking one eyebrow. "No, not for that. I may not like you, but you're hardly the first player on this team to dip their toes into international waters.  Besides, I have my own foreign diplomacy to conduct."  Echo shot a glance towards the crowd behind them, piquing Lexa's curiosity.

"What sport's she in, eh?"

Echo rolled her eyes.  "Woods, I'm not even a little bi-curious."  She stared far back in the procession.  "I've got my eyes on that scruffy, freestyle skier from France."

Lexa screwed up her face.  "Ugh... Typical Queeb, going for some priggish French ponce."

Echo shoved the girl behind her with an elbow.  "Toton."

"Beaver-beater."

"Lumberjack."

"Maudit sans-dessein."  Lexa fumbled through the only French Canadian swear she remembered from grammar school.

"It's pronounced dé-sa," Echo growled, drawing out the final A. G-d, your French is shit, Woods."

"I'm from northern Ontario!"

"T'es pas une lumiere!  Believe me, it's apparent."

In spite of their bickering, Lexa realized that the argument was probably the longest conversation they'd managed since she'd joined the team.  "Well, that's something," she thought to herself, thankful that they hadn't come to blows again.

Consumed as she was by their banter, Lexa lost her situational awareness, snapping out of it only when the world around her erupted into flashing lights and noise.  They'd finally reached the inside of the stadium. The freezing night air hit her in the face, and her breath caught.  Lexa's eyes strained against the bright lights and icy wind as she stared up at row after row of waving fans, and did her best to wave back.

The wind picked up again, making Lexa's eyes sting and tear. The goalie shielded her brow from the cold, wiping them with the back of a gloved hand and doing her best not to smear the makeup, applied for the sake of the cameras.  She checked the back of her mitten for smudges of mascara and, happy to find none, peered into the crowd in front of her.  For a split second, the column of bodies parted just enough for a small figure became visible up ahead.  Lexa caught a brief glimpse of golden hair and azure eyes before the crowd swelled again, and the American captain disappeared amidst a sea of taller, more substantial bodies.

"I think I saw the Team USA captain up ahead."  She turned to Echo, hoping to coax a little more conversation out of her.

"What, Clarke Griffin?  I would doubt it unless she's being carried on somebody's shoulders."

Lexa smirked.  "Yeah, she was pretty tiny in person."

"You've met?"

"Just the other night, in passing.  She seemed..."

"Like an irritating homunculus?"  Echo continued to scan the crowd for her Frenchman.  "That girl had been a pain in my ass for years."  She stared at Lexa for a moment, her expression concerned.  "You didn't notice if she was limping, did you?

"I don't think so." The question seemed odd, but Lexa thought it over, none the less. "I mean not that I could tell at least.  Why?"

Echo turned back towards the procession, her expression unreadable.  "We were playing an exposition game about a year and a half ago.  Griffin had been a menace all night, picking up the puck before I could get to it at the point and forcing it back into our zone. She's small, but she lighting fast."  She paused.  "Well, she was. Anyway..."

Something about the story made Lexa feel immediately uneasy.

"Third period, I finally caught her heading up the boards on a breakout.  I was going to try and pick her off, but she veered towards center ice at the last second.  My leg was out, and I ended up catching her at the knee."

"You went knee to knee?"

"I told you, she veered at the last second.  I was trying to play the body the best I could."  Echo bit her lip. "I might have let my leg drift out a bit far to try and knock her stick off the puck..."

She glanced at Lexa for a moment, her expression barely hiding the guilty conscience of someone who knew their actions had been less than defensible.

"But, I didn't intentionally cheap shot her."  She grimaced.  "Anyway, I felt her leg bend back in the wrong direction, and she flipped, ass over teakettle across my thigh.  The second she hit the ice I could tell it was bad.  I've never heard someone scream that hard."

Lexa's stomach sank just thinking about it. In hockey, a knee to knee collision often resulted in injuries of the most devastating kind.  That exact scenario had ended many a career before its time, and it made the goalie cringe thinking about the tiny blonde girl writhing in pain on the ice.

"MCL sprain?"

Echo shook her head.  "ACL. Grade three at that, a complete tear."

"Holy hell."

"Yeah, honestly I'm surprised to see her back on skates at all."

"So, that's why she looked so sluggish in the game footage we watched."

Echo nodded.  "To be sure.  I genuinely thought she'd retire after that.  I mean, she'd been playing for the national team since she was seventeen, so she was already getting up there."

They rounded the corner and slowed to an abrupt halt, nearly crashing into the Kenyan athletes ahead of them.

"That footage was from just after she was cleared to start training again.  I hear she's gotten some of her speed back since then, but if you ask me, she shouldn't even be playing."

Lexa's jaw tensed at the utterance, a conviction that her Québécoise teammate seemed to hold frequently.  "You seem to think that of a lot of people."

Echo sighed.  "I mean because of the risk of re-injury. Not everything is about you, Woods."

With that, Echo pushed forward, disappearing amongst the shuffling mass of red and black jackets.

The ceremony had ended in a spectacle of blaring music and bursting fireworks, that latter of which still rang in Clarke's ears as her feet pounded against the whirring belt of the treadmill. Hours after the lights had dimmed in Olympic stadium she was still wide awake, to filled with excitement, and too unaccustomed to the fifteen-hour time difference to sleep.  In her restlessness, Clarke turned to the one standby that faithfully calmed her down when pressure and anticipation turned her into a live wire of nervous energy.

She leaned forward into a sprint, increasing the incline on the Cybex another three degrees and watching as her numbers climbed.  Time: 48:36:23, Speed: 9, Incline: 10, Heart Rate: 184.  Perspiration poured from her brow, matting stray bits of flyaway hair to her forehead.  Clarke's burned, her legs ached, and her heart pounded in her chest as she continued to increase the incline.  Up, up, up until her hands flew to the bars to keep herself from flying backward off the machine.  Just as she felt her body about give out, she punched the large red button in the center of the display, cutting the power and hopping off in a flash, careful to land with her weight on her good knee.

Fighting the urge to double over and gasp for air, she threw her hands behind her head, lacing the fingers together and forcing herself to continue taking deep, measured breaths as she paced around the room.  Clarke closed her eyes and waited for her heart rate to slow, relishing the way her muscles ached and trembled with exhaustion. She wiped the sweat from her temples with the back of her hands realizing how utterly drenched she was.

After a week of buildup to the opening ceremony, fifty minutes of alone time had provided her with some much need respite from the hum of the crowds, the strings of interviews, and the exhaustion of the reassuring pep talks her more novice teammates had needed on a near constant basis.  Save for an unseen weightlifter banging heavy metal plates around in another corner of the complex; the nearly empty gym had provided the forward with a silent sanctuary from the turmoil of her otherwise overwhelming week.  For Clarke, there was nothing like a long, grueling run to clear her mind and ease her tension, and after an hour of beating herself down, she was finally feeling relaxed and ready to sleep. 

Not before a shower though, Clarke thought as the smell of her sweat drenching clothing suddenly filled her nostrils.  She peeled off her soaked Under Armour shirt and shivered as the chill of drafty gym air hit her flushed skin, giving her goosebumps.  Back inside the women's locker room, she made quick work of discarding her soggy PT gear in her sports duffle, sliding her feet into flip-flops as she wrapped herself in a towel and headed for the open shower bay.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped into the empty shower bay, covered from top to bottom in polished white tiles.  Despite a career of dressing and undressing in front of teammates, Clarke had never been entirely comfortable with public nudity, though it wasn't the sight of others naked that unsettled her so much as it was her insecurities about her own body.  A lifetime of struggling with her weight, first baby fat and then added curves, had made her shy to the point of timidity.  Unlike Raven, who was a walking human hanger and had posed naked for ESPN The Magazine's body issue, Clarke grappled with body confidence. She struggled to dress for the formal events the team attended, balking at the idea of being stuffed into a dress that accentuated her cleavage and hips. Unfailingly, the captain elected for more conservative numbers, downplaying her appearance as much as possible in the hopes that she could fly under the radar and not tempt the press into present her in an overly sexualized light.  The tactic had worked for the most part, though comments about her looks did surface, every now and again, internet trolls be damned.

Clarke turned on one of the shower heads lining the wall and let it run until the water turned warm.  She discarded her towel on a nearby hook, stepped into the stream and closing her eyes as the warm liquid poured over her aching muscles.  The blonde let it pound against her skin, relaxing her even further until finally, her exhaustion caught up with her.  She yawned, running a hand through her matted mane as she pulled out the elastic that had pinned it haphazardly to the top of her head. She let it cascade over her face and filled her hand with shampoo, massaging it into her scalp.

The sound of another shower head bursting to life nearby startled Clarke out of her euphoria. She pushed her soapy hair out of her face, freezing the second she saw who occupied the spot two places down. Lexa Woods stood less than ten feet from her, eyes closed, face turned up into the steady stream of water cascading over her body.  Clarke's eyes were fixed, unable to look away for the physical specimen beside of her.  Even in a parka and jeans Lexa cut an imposing figure, but bare to the world, the goalie was physically alarming.

She was tall to be sure, 5'11 if she was an inch, but what was more startling was the sheer amount of muscle that hung on her frame.  Every inch of her was ropey sinewed flesh that, somewhat surprisingly, held a subtle softness to it.  Clarke watched as beads of liquid slide down Lexa's olive-skin, slipping over her curves and pooling at every angle on her frame. The water clung to the tawny girl like it was heartbroken at the thought of having to drip off of her.

Clarke ignored the way her pulse quickened, and her breathing slowed, too captivated by the way the impressive musculature moved, stirring underneath a visage adorned with intricate tattoos that shifted as though they were alive.  A combination of body writing and black and red abstracts covered half her back, running over her shoulder and snaking down the full length of her left arm. The outside of her right thigh was similarly ornamented.  The edges of the artwork wound up her hip and caressed her waist before ending just above her perfectly toned backside, which Clarke realize she was gawking at a moment too late.

"What the fuck?!"

Clarke jumped, so alarmed by the green eyes staring her down that she couldn't reply. 

"Were you just staring at my ass?"

"What? No! I mean, yes but..."

"Yes, or no?"

"I was staring at your tattoos."

"The one right over my ass?"

"I wasn't staring at your ass!"

Lexa turned to face the smaller woman, her figure even more flawless from the front.  Small but firm breasts sat high on her chest, perfect and round, and the lines on her tight stomach were sculpted into a frustratingly well-defined six-pack.

"You get a good look?"

"I wasn't staring." Clarke felt herself blushing as she turned back into the jet of water pouring over her, and rushed to work the remaining shampoo out of her hair.

Lexa leaned into the tiles, propping herself up on a tattooed forearm.  She pushed the brown hair out of her eyes and slicked water from her face.

"You're full of crap, Griffin. Admit it; you were staring at me."

"I wasn't staring!" Clarke venture a quick glance at the goalie, too embarrassed to look for more than a moment.  "I wouldn't ogle someone in a public shower. That kind of behavior is abdominal."

Lexa smirked at the Freudian slip, cocking an eyebrow smugly.

"Abominable. Shit!"  Clarke screwed her eyes shut, sure that her face was now bright red.  "Besides why would I be staring at you."

"For the same reasons lots of girls do," Lexa wiggled her eyebrows, turning back to the water as she lathered herself with soap.  "You think you're the first person to stare at me in a shower?"

Clarke growled as she rinsed the last of the soap from her face.  "G-d, you're so completely egotistical!"  She shut off the water, wrapping herself in her towel as she retreated from the shower bay.

Lexa rinsed off quickly, grabbing her towel as she followed Clarke toward the lockers.

"And you're a hypocrite! You tear into me with some big feminist speech when I try to pay you a compliment, but when I catch you creeping on me, you act all innocent.  What garbage!"

"I wasn't staring at you!"

In the middle of the argument, Clarke became aware of how exposed they still were. Her towel clung to her precariously, barely covering her unmentionables, while Lexa's dangled from her hand, unused. She realized she was staring at Lexa's abs again and clenched her teeth, sure that that fact hadn't escaped the brunette's attention.

"Would you put on some clothes, please."

Lexa leaned forward, grinning conceitedly. "You sure that's what you want?"

She cleared her throat, forcing herself to look the girl hovering over her in the eyes. "I'm not interested, Woods."

“In anything other than my ass, you mean?

"I was... I'm not... Your Tat... Ugh!"  Clarke grabbed her sports duffle, clinging to the last shred of her dignity as she forwent undergarments and scrambled to pull on her team sweats as quickly as humanly possible.  She yanked her socks halfway up, making a slapdash effort to shove her feet into her Adidas.

"I'm not having this argument with you, Woods!  I have bed checks to do."

"Sounds good. Mine is in room 704B."

Lexa heard the exasperated groan all the way down the hall as Clarke stomped out of the room, failing to notice that her sneakers were on the wrong feet.

Next Chapter ->

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Hey so um, this is probably really irrelevant to you and you may or may not have time for it, which is totally ok we have lives outside tumblr, but uh my birthday is tomorrow and I really like your fics and work in general and wanted to request some more Kamilah x MC smut because you did so well on the last one. I understand if it’s irrelevant or like stupid. 😁🙂❤️

First I wanted to say, can I hug you? That was a very sweet request. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANON !! It's not a little bit irrelevant, I'm glad you came to ask me for a smut because you like my work ;) so I saw your message yesterday and I wrote your request. Consider my gift to you, have a great day ❤️It was about 1:30 in the morning on that Thursday. A perfect night out for a group, well... More or less. When Hayley appeared in Kamilah's office that night calling her to go out, Kamilah thought it was just a date between them, which the vampire queen did not expect was that the date would become a group thing.Kamilah was accustomed to well-frequented, chic and refined places. Places the New York elite frequented, but it was not in her mind that Jax would suggest that the group go to a rustic bar with a foosball table, a big TV in the center, and men screaming while they watched the Jets game."Pup really got over this time." Kamilah rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her whiskey."GO JETS!" Jax shouted along with some men sitting on the benches in front of the counter.Adrian laughed. He and Kamilah were sitting at a table away from the crowd, watching the people passing them both."Well, it's good to leave the office sometimes. Everyone is having fun" Adrian said."I think we're a little over dressed for this local," Kamilah said looking around. The were the only ones in suits around people with flannel shirts, jeans and short skirts."I agree," Adrian said, watching people. "Where's Hayley, by the way?""Right there." Kamilah pointed to the figure of her girlfriend who was a few feet away from her with Lily at a foosball table in the middle of a dispute."Kids...” Adrian laughed as he saw them shouting at each other."You're stealing!" Hayley shouted.“Of course not! You just missed the ball!" Lily shouted back."So you managed to close that contract with that client we talked to over the weekend?" Adrian asked."Oh, yes." Kamilah turned her attention to him. "Actually, I had a meeting with him today. We managed to close when we arrived at a consent.""That's great, Kamilah." Adrian smiled and lifted his drink, Kamilah smiled and they both changed toast."BUM, BITCH!" Kamilah turned her attention to Hayley's scream. "That's what a goal is!" Hayley turned her face and met their eyes. "Kamilah did you see that?!" She smiled excitedly."No, but I heard you scream," Kamilah replied."That was lucky!" Lily complained.Kamilah turned her eyes to Adrian."I'll be right back." Kamilah got to her feet and went to the two of them. Hayley's leather jacket was hanging from the corner of the table, her back to Kamilah. Kamilah admired Hayley's shoulders exposed with that black tank she wore that displayed her tattoo on her left shoulder, with those tight jeans. She smiled involuntarily."Hayley?" She called out."Mm? What's up Babe? "Hayley said without turning."Do you want to eat or drink something?" Kamilah asked."I'm not hungry," Hayley replied. "Can you get me some juice? I already drank a lot of beer.” Hayley handed her glass to Kamilah. Kamilah rolled her eyes."Kamilah can you get me some snacks?" Lilyasked with a smile."No," Kamilah replied and turned away, minutes later Hayley's juice was delivered and she sat down again with Adrian."Well, she did not stop playing. And from minutes to minutes I'm going to check her and give her juice... My girlfriend has twelve years old.” She said and Adrian laughed.By the time arrived around two o'clock in the morning, Kamilah had reached her limit and everyone was ready to leave. After paying her share of the bill, Kamilah walked out the bar doors, finding Hayley leaning against a nearby post, smoking."Did you have fun?" Kamilah asked."Of course, I won fifty dollars from Lily with today's game." Hayley smiled.Kamilah smiled back at her. Hayley tried to warm herself up in that leather jacket, the tip of her nose was red, her blond hair was a little messy.Hayley took another drag on the cigarette before throwing it away and stepping on it. She took Kamilah's warm hands."You're so hot." She smiled as she wrapped her arms around Kamilah's neck, Kamilah's hands went to her waist."You're trembling, oh god," Kamilah said pushing her closer. Hayley laid a kiss on Kamilah's cheek, Kamilah took her lips and kissed her.Hayley's scent mixed with her peppermint cigarette had become one of Kamilah's favorite fragrances over the months. Hayley intensified the kiss, pressing her fingers into Kamilah's hair, sticking her tongue into Kamilah's mouth."Wow, go to a room." Lily came out.Hayley brushed Kamilah's red lips."Subtle, Lily," Hayley said."I can not believe the Jets lost," Jax complained after Adrian.The weather had cooled a lot since everyone had arrived at the bar, Kamilah wore her overcoat over her suit, just like Adrian."Well, it was fun," Adrian said."I couldn’t agree more." Jax smiled."Let's go?" Kamilah looked at her girlfriend."Come on," Hayley said. They finished with the goodbyes from everyone, and walked hand in hand to Kamilah's car that was parked at the end of the street.The next few minutes passed with both of them inside the car listening to the radio with Hayley's singing. Kamilah stopped the car as she approached the traffic light."So... uh, I know it's kind of late and you're probably going to be angry at this, but I need to ask you something." Hayley turned to Kamilah with a small smile."What is it?" Kamilah asked narrowing her eyes."I'm hungry." She laughed."I knew you were going to do this," Kamilah said. "I asked you if you wanted to eat something at the bar""In my defense I was concentrating on something else and bar is a place to drink and not eat," Hayley said. Kamilah rolled her eyes. "Babe, please?""We're three blocks from home!" Kamilah said."I know an Mcdonalds that's a block from here!""Are you going to eat hamburgers at two in the morning?""What's the problem?""We need to have a serious talk about your eating habits. You're worrying me." Kamilah looked at her and saw the dog look that fell from the change. The green eyes pleading."Stop pouting." Kamilah sighed and turned the block. Hayley smiled victoriously.Kamilah stopped in a drive-thru, Hayley made her request, the same as ever. Ordering lots of fries and an extra large glass of soda. When the order was ready, Kamilah took the bag and handed it to Hayley, taking her wallet from the pocket of her overcoat and paying the woman, finally accelerating the car."I hate that smell of cholesterol." Kamilah rolled her eyes."Oh God. So good.” Hayley reached into the sack for a handful full fries and stuffed it in her mouth. Kamilah watched in horror."Do you know what I'm doing tomorrow?" Kamilah asked as they both stood in the elevator of the building."What?" Hayley asked, sucking the soda from the coup. "Do you have a meeting?""Yes I have. But I'll have my assistant make an appointment with a nutritionist for you.""Oh, geez. That's unnecessary.” Hayley said following Kamilah into the apartment.She watched Hayley kick her shoes off, sit on the couch and turn on the TV, still eating her things. “I’m fine, babe”“You stopped going to the gym, which is something that you loved and now you're not eating right, besides these cholesterol-laden things.” Kamilah said letting her keys on the table. “You know what? I don’t want to know tomorrow you are going to the nutritionist and I’m going to hire an chef for you”“Wait are you serious?” Hayley said with her mouth full of hamburger.“I’m serious. I’m just taking care of my girlfriend’s health. Don’t complain.”“But, I’m good”"I can see that. Well, I'm going to end up reviewing some reports in the room,” Kamilah said taking off her coat.Kamilah spent an hour doing this, her MacBook on her lap, until she heard Hayley's footsteps approaching. Hayley came into the room and went to the closet to change clothes. She came back from the closet wearing a gray shirt with the name of the Hartfield University engraved on it, and a tiny pink shorts. She went to the bathroom, and stood there for a few minutes until she left."How was your meal?" Kamilah continued typing on her computer."Wonderful. Thank you for asking." Hayley jumped on the bed beside her. "Still working?""Yes," Kamilah said.“Babe... Look, I’m good. Really, don’t worry about that.” Hayley said laying at her side. “This mouth has been really stressful for me, it’s just that. You don’t need to hire a chef or anything. I promise that I will go back to the gym and eat my green and healthy stuff.”“Alright, I’m not going to hire a chef, but you still going to the nutritionist tomorrow.”“Deal” Hayley kissed her cheek. "You know... I'm not tired.""You drank so much caffeine that I would be surprised if you were," Kamilah said without looking away from her papers.Hayley laughed."We could use the time to do fun things." She got close enough and boldly closed the computer."Hayley—" Kamilah looked at her disapprovedly."What?" Hayley pulled the computer from her lap and left it on the couch along with the papers. "I'm needy now." She climbed into Kamilah's lap.Kamilah sighed trying to restrain the smile, Hayley's hands roamed her body, and she stared intently into Kamilah's mouth. Hayley stole a kiss from her, pulling her close by the collar of her shirt, her hands already beneath Kamilah's shirt, feeling her perfect warm skin.Kamilah deepened the kiss, sticking her body to Hayley's, Hayley smiled between her kisses. To Kamilah's surprise, the girl pushed her to the sheets, standing over her. Kamilah smiled as she walked with her hands down the girl's thighs."Hayley, you're playing with fire." She smiled in ecstasy to see her girlfriend on top of her."Does that mean I'm going to burn?" Hayley bit her lips provocatively, touching Kamilah's lower lip with her index. Kamilah bit her finger softly, letting shivers run through Hayley's body.Hayley's fingers went up to her shirt, effectively removing it. Kamilah smiled at that vision. Hayley bent down to kiss her, Kamilah seized that moment and stood over her, trapping her wrists against the bed."Kamilah!""I'm sorry, habibti. But I can not get you in control.” Kamilah smiled kissing her mouth. Unbuttoning button by button on her shirt and removing her pants. Her fingers slid down to Hayley's shorts and pulled them completely off until they were both naked and Kamilah was giving warm kisses to Hayley's neck that would definitely leave marks on the next day. With her right hand busy stimulating her girlfriend expertly, and left hand trying to keep Hayley trapped in the bed who kept moving all the time. Hayley let out loud groans, her hands never leaving Kamilah's body.A few minutos later, Hayley was breathing heavily, her body covered with sweat, she tried to keep her moans low, but all of Kamilah's actions made her act the other way around. When Kamilah hit her g-spot for the fifth time hard, she could not contain herself.Kamilah removed her lips from the girl's neck and looked at her."I love you, but that way you're going to wake up the whole building," she said with both her arms around the girl's body."This is your fault," Hayley said breathlessly.Kamilah smiled and pulled her into another kiss. She let out an unsatisfied growl, and positioned herself between her girlfriend's legs, Hayley tightened her thighs around her hip. Kamilah smiled as she managed to achieve the friction she wanted between her and Hayley's body and began to move with force."HOLY SHIT—" Hayley was about to shout, but Kamilah silenced her with a kiss. She tightened the sheets around Hayley with her fingers, she felt Hayley's nails against her skin which gave a painful but at the same time a pleasurable sensation. Her mouth turned to Hayley's neck kissing that region intensely, feeling the taste of the girl's sweat mixed with her scent on his lips. Hayley brought her mouth to hers again, Kamilah nibbled on her bottom lip, watching Hayley pleasurably roll her eyes which meant she was almost there.Kamilah dropped to her side as they both reached their limit. She pulled Hayley close, breathing heavily. "That's intense... God, I’m so tired now. "Hayley said, breathing heavily.Kamilah laughed out loud."I am happy to hear that"

And it’s Kerry Collins in the I formation, number 12 in the backfield, Oakland on the Green Bay 34 yard line...takes the snap, hands off to Cross the half-back...shoots for a hole in the defensive line and BREAKS THE TACKLE! The 20...the 10...TOUCHDOWN Raider Nation, Mark Cross with his second touchdown carry on the night…

Part 1 - The Rusty Nail

Somewhere in middle America

17th February 2021

Mark "The Dragon" Cross emerges from the diviest-looking of dive bars, with his full glass of whiskey in hand. The sound of Sweet Home Alabama swells to a crescendo, then subdues just as quickly with the opening and closing of the door.

He was on the first leg of the Wrestling Roadshow, a new venture, but the same familiar touring format, a new city every week, the kind of travelling circus where you were expected to cut your teeth as a rookie, sleeping in cars and cheap motels, and where you tended to wash up for some quick cash when your drug habit was out of control. Neither applied, his career in the last year or two was going through a real renaissance.

So why? To keep busy, he guessed. He loved everything about Miami, the weather, the people, the fast cars, but he always had to be occupied with something, in mind and body, and in the place where time is merely a suggestion, he struggled to *fully* embrace it. His new partner Amber, who’d moved from New York to live with him just a few months back, had worked two jobs to keep afloat in the big city. Now she was going full-tilt setting up her dance studio in Florida. They were two people that were both just...more comfortable doing something, it worked and with BFTP on the horizon, he was pleased for the opportunity to tune up with some real action.

Cindy: Just my luck I start talking to the one wrestler in a dive bar that’s spoken for huh?

The girl behind the voice was an eclectic mix of rock chick and cowgirl. Nirvana t-shirt, ripped skinny jeans, dyed black hair, cowboy hat and leather boots to match..

The Dragon: It’s not a question about whether they’re single, it’s just a matter of if they care.

Cindy: Ah - So it’s like that. Hey, got a light?

From his pocket, Mark produces a gold Zippo lighter, an ornate Japanese dragon design wrapping around the front, back and sides. It looks battered and very well loved. He flicks it open, lighting it in the same slick motion, showing the deftness of someone that had practiced with the adult fidget toy on countless road trips like these to pass the hours. Cindy passes her Lucky Strike through the flame, charring the tip.

Cindy: Thanks. You smoke?

The Dragon: Nope.

Cindy: Just carry a lighter everywhere you go huh? 

The Dragon: Well the heroin isn’t gonna cook itself…

Cindy’s face is around 20% intrigue, 60% shock and 20% horror, or so Mark calculates it as he stuffs the Zippo back into his jeans. He throws his hands up in defence. He figures that the girl isn’t one for going much past alcohol and a dance to get her kicks.

The Dragon: I’m kidding I’m kidding! That’s definitely not me...

Cindy: Thank fuck...had a bad experience with an ex boyfriend, but anyway, I bet you’ve got some good stories from the road, right? Feels like you owe me one, since I can’t take you home with me...

The Dragon: Yeah, sorry if that got a little weird in there…

Cindy: Nah - It’s cool. Nice to see someone faithful to their girl for once honestly. So - How about it?

The Dragon: Hmm, a story...I can tell you about the time I went on a date with Vanessa Hudgens?

Cindy: A wrestling story!! Wait - You went on a date with…

The Dragon: Yup. Shared a hot tub.

Cindy: Ew, OK no thanks, definitely a wrestling story.

The Dragon: OK so take it all the way back to 2013, and I’m booked on this tour to go through Cambodia.

Cindy: Big wrestling scene in Cambodia then?

The Dragon: Well to be fair, their traditional Khmer wrestling has been practiced for centuries, but that wasn’t what this was about. The US market, Japan, Mexico, all pretty saturated, right? And in the UK we basically just watched the American stuff, so there you go, hard to break into these places. Some genius investor with too much spare cash and too much time decided there was money to be made in “emerging markets”. Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Africa you name it. It was insane, but the guy had deep enough pockets that it could all go south and he wouldn’t care. I was in the first few years of my career, and with the amount of money on offer there were some top top guys lined up for this tour. I was set for a great match every night, none of us could turn it down.

Cindy: Sounds bad for business. 

The Dragon: Well yeah exactly, although, reat thing about places like that, a fancy hotel room that'd cost hundreds of dollars here is what, 30-40 bucks a night. Amazing food, cheap. Booze, cheap. All paid for of course, so we're taking full advantage every stop, three-course meals, drinking our own body weights in top shelf liquor, all rocking up at the next place with the hangovers from hell.

Cindy: Great role models!

The Dragon: The pioneers leading the campaign for Cambodian professional wrestling, go us! It's all going great, best free holiday I've ever been on, I’m picking up great advice left and right, fighting some of the best in the business, until we stop in this town up in the mountains…

Cindy: Ooh is it getting good?

The Dragon: Yuh-huh. So I get sent out to work this local guy, wrestles the traditional style, doesn’t speak English or anything so we just go out there and wing it, hope for the best. I’ve got a huge size advantage over him for a start...genius planning there...and the ring...well they’re kinda springy, tough to explain if you’ve never been in one, and you can get bounce off the ropes too, help you get speed and leverage.

Cindy: ...so there’s like...ways he could have dealt with your size advantage?

The Dragon: Yeah that’s right, if he knew that, or had ever been in a ring before. So the guy can’t throw me and runs out of ideas in the first minute, just starts peppering me with forearms and elbows if I get anywhere near him, hurts like hell, and the match is starting to totally suck for the fans at this point. In the end I just start running at the guy and launching myself in the air, just hoping he makes it look like he had something to do with it. I don’t know if the crowd bought it or not, but at least we put on a wrestling show. Kinda. It was just a sign of how the night was gonna go.

Cindy: Finally, drama. I was getting kinda bored... 

The Dragon: What a bitch! So I get through the curtain into the locker room and the guys are starting to look real tense about something, there’s not the usual banter, and since NOBODY railed me for that awful match I’d just had, I knew something was up. Apparently there's been a mix-up with our accommodation, and it isn't up to its usual standard for this leg of the trip. I mean, most of these guys were on big full-time contracts by now, sleeping in cars was long behind them, and I was still living off NFL money. I flew coach, but I treated myself to a nice place to rest my head when I booked my own accomodation. This had everyone seriously on edge.

Cindy: Oh no!!

The Dragon: Oh HELL no. So our bus pulls up at this ‘hotel’, building looks like it’s falling apart, the first thing that hits us, any guesses?

Cindy: The smell?

The Dragon: Good guess, but the noise! Honestly there's this fucking V12 engine or whatever ROARING the second we step out of the bus, can barely hear ourselves talk, let alone sleep, we hope whatever it is is gonna stop soon.

Cindy: It didn't stop did it?

The Dragon: That noise? It was the generator powering the whole hotel. Absolutely no way it was going off at any point. It takes a while for us to figure that out though...we didn’t bring a translator, there was always someone at these fancy hotels who spoke English, so who gets sent to the bar to find out about the noise? Me. Under the great logic that I trained in Japan, I spoke pretty good Japanese, and since Cambodia and Japan are kind of the same…

Cindy: Are they?

The Dragon: No. I think she spoke a little Chinese, in a dialect I’d never heard of, super useful, so the whole thing turns into pointing and hand signals within seconds. By the end of it I come away with a fistful of room keys, as many bottles of spirit as I could carry, and some bad news about the generator. We’re all sitting down on this mismatched plastic garden furniture, pretending we’re in a real hotel bar, trying to wonder how much of this home brew Cambodian rice wine we’re gonna have to drink before that generator noise magically goes away. One of the guys went to check out the rooms, and suddenly we hear a scream. A girly scream.

Cindy: No way…

The Dragon: So this guy, he was Mexican, little dude, but proper tough guy persona, comes sprinting out from his room in a panic, giving it the full-on like ‘Ay de mí! Ay, Caramba! ¡maldición!’ or whatever Mexicans say, arms waving around.

Cindy: Terrible accent.

The Dragon: Cheers - Turns out he’s getting chased by a bear…

Cindy: A bear?!? What the fuck!

The Dragon: It was a sun bear, they’re not very big, more scared of us than we are of him I reckon, and this thing jumps up on the table, knocks all the booze flying, we’re scattering cause it’s not very big by bear standards but it’s a fucking BEAR nonetheless, that was just chilling in one of our rooms, absolute carnage…

Cindy: All those big strong wrestlers getting scared of a little bear…

The Dragon: Nah c’mon, bears are vicious, that thing could have easily taken down three or four of us I reckon. We all agreed to stand back and let the bear leave on his own time.

Cindy: Did he?

The Dragon: Yup, bounced off into the darkness, we set about trying to drink the bar out of it’s alcohol supply, managed a few hour��s sleep each, somehow, and the rest of the tour went off without a hitch.

Cindy: Such an anti-climax!

The Dragon: Would you rather have had the Vanessa Hudgens story?

Cindy: Uhh...no. Anyway I’m gonna go get another drink, you coming?

The Dragon: I’ll be there soon, I’m just gonna…

Cindy: ...phone your girl?

The Dragon: Uh...yeah.

Cindy: Aww, young love eh? So sweet! I’ll get you one in, I expect a better story next time!!

Cindy heads for the door.

The Dragon: Can it be about Vane-

Cindy: NO!

Dull One Chapter 39

Good job breaking it, hero.

Anyway, hope you had a good two weeks. I went to urgent care 3 times for two different procedures. I’m ok now and on antibiotics, so I don’t think I’m going to die from MRSA anytime soon. Other things, yes. 

Trying to get this chapter out at a reasonable time because *drum roll* I have work tomorrow. Back at work for the first time in two years, actually. It’s just a one day thing, but it’s a good first step. Let’s see if I feel that way once I get home and I’ve had probably no less than 3 anxiety moments and 2 panic driven freak outs.

I’m an adult, I swear. 

Story wise, next chapter goes up August 2. I’ll see you then. Have a good two weeks and thanks for reading!

Time check, kid?

A heavy weariness settled into Mointz's bones as she closed the door behind her with a slight click. It was colder now, not quite the chill that came with night but the day's warmth had been sapped away regardless. She dragged her feet as she walked to a nearby window, almost afraid to peer out. When she did, the blood red of a setting sun met her vision.

In about twenty more minutes, there would have been no sun at all.

“How many hours did I lose this time?” Counting them seemed pointless anymore, but she still made a guess. If she was right, the afternoon had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Now all that was waiting for her was the night and with it restless sleep that came in fits and starts as her body tried to match the rhythm no one else seemed to notice.

Nobody answered because they weren't there to hear her nonsense. By now, apprentices and teachers alike would have been down at dinner. True, there was a hollowness to her stomach that came from missing a meal or two, but it just couldn't outweigh the heaviness that weighed her entire body down like she had been filled with river rocks. The rate she was going, Mointz figured she might have just fallen asleep at the table.

Barring that, she might have arrived only to find it was breakfast. And she just wasn't a fan of what the empire considered breakfast food.

Sounds like you're heading to bed again, huh?

“Remind me to grab something to eat next time I wake up. Maybe I should start storing things for times like this.”

Can do.

Sighing, Mointz backed away from the window and started her way up the stairs towards where her bed would be waiting for her no matter what time it was supposed to be. Each step felt heavier than the last until she could go no more. It wasn't because of her legs, though. It just felt too hard to keep going so she stood there, halfway up a flight of stairs with no real desire to go either way.

Kid... you ok?

“I... don't think so, Voice.”

Mointz rested her head against the cold stone wall, at least hoping nobody would phase right through her if time reset while she stayed there. It hadn't happened yet, but she definitely didn't want to find out what would occur should it take place. Bad shit, she assumed, and that was probably halfway there.

She closed her eyes, the weight bearing down. “Nothing's making sense anymore.”

Not time, not anything. Maybe she had hoped that things would settle down after the last trial, but the opposite had occurred. Now it made even less sense, and every day was nothing more than a new headache. How much longer was it supposed to go on like this? Would her entire life, short as it may be, be nothing but breaths between rapidly increasing shifts?

It wasn't appetizing, to say the least.

“How the hell did I even break time?”

She slid down the wall, coming to rest in a sitting position on the step she had claimed as her own. Mointz sighed as she rested her forehead on her knees, wishing for anything just to be frozen for a few minutes. Some caring soul might have worried about her, and this was far too hard to explain with words.

I mean... did you really?

Voice was answered with a shrug. “Feels like I did.”

Yeah but you're not even a mage. That's like, magic stuff written all over it.

Another shrug, this one smaller as if there wasn't enough effort left in her entire body to make it the entire way up. “When has that ever stopped me? I swear, I sneeze and I break some fundamental tenant of the world.”

Her remark was met not with a snappy remark but what she could have only described as an uncomfortable silence. It was as if she could see Voice trying to figure out something to say. But they had nothing, and it was a point she had won with some difficulty.

Finally, an exasperated reply made her feel even more tired, as if the presence was adding their exhaustion to her own.

Yeah... ok weird stuff happens around you a lot. You got me there, kid.

“Glad you see things my way.” With some effort, Mointz finally stood. “Now, I think I'm going to find my bed and not move from it until I feel good and ready.”

Do you want me to wake you up if time starts to unwind?

“Only if it's a big one.”

Maybe, years ago, that might have gotten her attention. Now... eh, she was too tired to really care about the little things. Falon had said something about that once, not sweating the small stuff. That had been before his wooden foot incident of course, so he may have revised his opinion in the years that followed. She would have to ask him about that next time they met. And for her own mental well being, she left out the doubt if they would see each other again. Otherwise, sleep just wasn't going to happen.

Lucky for Mointz, her room was quiet and somewhat dark when she arrived. Her time on the stairs had caused the sun to set, though it had been natural rather than by any manipulation of time and space. She had just taken her sweet time getting there, and that was alright by her as she crossed the room to fall straight into her bed face first.

It was only after she closed her eyes that things started to get a little weird, though.

When she regained some sort of awareness of her surroundings, Mointz realized she was home. Well, maybe not her home. The salt air was the same, as was the wind that blew from the woods, but everything else seemed to be in shadow. She couldn't make out familiar buildings, nor the faces of the people who lived in them. None of them noticed she was there – they were hushed and drawn among themselves, whispering in tones too low for her to pick up.

She walked among them, through them even, until she found wherever she was being led. It was under the ancient tree in the center of her village where she came to a stop. The tree was as imposing as it ever was, but something about it made her frown. There was something... wrong... about it, though she couldn't say what. It was a gut reaction, perhaps, because it looked exactly the same minus a few leaves. Maybe it was in the early fall?

“What's going on?”

Her voice had no sound to it as she glanced around, trying to find something that didn't feel so foreign. Among the crowd she noted the shadowy beings held spears or bows close. Bandages tied tight around arms or foreheads, spotted with dark blood that was almost ink black. They were waiting for something, someone, but she didn't know what.

“They're going to be here soon. Our defenses aren't going to hold long.”

Corabe's voice joined the crowd, louder. She was in focus, looking just as tired as Mointz felt. Her face was dirty and a long cut dragged across her jawline. One hand held a staff, while the other she realized was gripped tightly around her own. Though she couldn't feel the pressure, she could see it. It was one of the few solid things connecting her to this strange shadow world.

Violet eyes met hers – there was so much fear and pain there. “How did it go so wrong? We did everything we could.”

“I don't know.”

It was her, but it wasn't her, who spoke those words. She heard herself as she supposed others did – a little deeper, a little more sure. Her free hand tightened into a fist, and only when it did was when she noticed it was coated in blood.

Falon's blood. Though there was no body or way for her to know that, something deep within her gut told her that it could have only come from him. That alone made her clench her fist tighter, so much so that her own blood began to mingle with it.

“We'll stop them. I don't know how but we will. I swear it.”

And then there was nothing. The shadowy village, the blood, it all disappeared as Mointz found herself staring at the dark image of her pillow. She was back in her room where things were still night as far as she could tell.

Her body ached and sleep tugged at her in a way that suggested she hadn't slept long, maybe an hour at best. However, the moon was far too high in the sky to have been such a short time. The only explanation was another time shift, and one that sought to steal her sleeping hours from her.

Now that was just rude.

“Voice, why didn't you wake me up?”

The question was met with silence rather than any snarky remark. There was just nothing there other than the quiet of her small room. Mointz frowned as she looked around, almost trying to find them. Again, there was nothing there.

“Oh, that's not good.”

The bed squeaked as she got up. Mointz crossed the room in order to check the seals by the door. They were cold to the touch and didn't let out so much as a sound when she touched them. As far as she could tell, it was solid. Nothing had messed with it.

So she had nothing.

“Well, that's just great.”

Mointz frowned as she sat back down on her bed in the hopes Voice might pop back up. But there was nothing but her thoughts. They echoed against the strange emptiness of her skull, uncomfortable.

It reminded her of the hospital.

Without realizing, her hand went up to her neck and rubbed against the thick scarring that had yet to really start going down. It felt exactly the same as it always had, except maybe a little cooler. Maybe in a few months it would start to go down a little.

Every touch reminded her of the pain, though. If she closed her eyes, Mointz could remember how she got it. Just the thought of it caused her to shudder and her hand moved away from her neck as if she had been burned. But she was fine.

In a weird way, it was strangely grounding. No matter how much time was messed up or what changed, that scar would be there and it wouldn't be going away anytime soon. She was stuck with it. As painful as it was, it was proof she was there. It was a weird technique, but it was working for her.

Still, it wasn't fun sitting there in the dark, thinking back to then. She shook her head hard, frowning. “I'd love to snap out of this now, please.”

Mointz didn't even realize she was shouting until it tugged at her throat and made it ache.

Hey, are you listening or what? Someone's at the door.

“Huh?”

It took a few moments for Mointz to snap back, but she realized as she stared out the window that the sun had just started setting. Whatever had gone on, maybe it had been some dream? Problem was, she was sitting up. Hell, one shoe was still in her hand, as if she had been taking it off mid dream.

Are you back to normal or what?

“I... guess I am?” She put her shoe back on with a shake of her head. “Must have spaced out there.”

Go answer the door before they think you're not there.

Right, because normal people did that. One last head shake got her as back to normal as possible. Mointz frowned as she crossed the short distance to open up the door. As soon as she did, the musty smell of wet clothes assaulted her senses as much as a hit to the head.

It was coming from Corabe. The mage was standing there, looking like she had just gone swimming with all her clothes on. Just from her cloak alone she was creating a small lake, and it splashed as she shifted from foot to foot as she  waited to be let in. Thing was, it wasn't raining – Mointz checked out the window just to be sure. It was dark, but there was definitely no rain – and she couldn't think of any decent sized body of water for the other girl to jump in between her study room and the door.

So... how had she gotten wet? Was it a spell gone bad?

“Can I come in?”

There was such a desperation in Corabe's eyes that it made her heart break. Without word, Mointz moved to the side to let her in. The lake got a little bigger, but it was still pretty manageable all things considered. That wasn't the point, though – something had shaken the mage up badly.

“Are you ok?”

Corabe didn't answer for a long time. She seemed lost in her own world as she stared at the floor, into lake Mage-made. It was Mointz's voice that snapped her out of it, and her violet eyes came back to life slowly. Then she shivered as if she remembered she was cold.

“I'm fine.”

She moved to the door in order to hang up her cloak from the hook on the back. Underneath, her clothes were just as soaked. Still, she didn't seem to mind as she sat down in the only available chair in the room. Now the lake was around her.

Maybe you should find her a towel or something?

Towel; Voice definitely had some good ideas. Without moving, Mointz glanced around the room to try and find something to help Corabe dry out. That was what someone in her position would have done, right? Or should she have paid a little more attention to just how hard the mage was breathing as she sat there, looking like she had run miles in the rain.

She didn't find a towel, but words did come. “What happened? You're a wreck.”

Maybe it wasn't the most helpful, but it was something. Again, there was some disconnect before Corabe answered – maybe she was processing it at a different rate. The mage finally shook her head and looked down at her hands.

“It's a long story.”

Suddenly she was standing and taking Mointz by the hand. “We have to go.”

Mointz didn't move. She cocked an eyebrow instead. “Go where?”

Corabe's eyebrows knit together as she looked towards the window, or perhaps somewhere further. She was already reaching for her cloak with her free hand and putting it back on with a wet slap that sent a cold spray against the other girl's skin. She didn't seem to notice this at all as she kept going.

“To the first trial site. You have to do it tonight.”

She tugged again. “Come on, we don't have a lot of time.”

They were halfway out the door now thanks to the mage's surprising amount of force and lack of making any sense at all. It caught Mointz off guard and she only regained any idea when she stepped straight into the puddle. The cold water woke her senses back up and she yanked her hand back.

“What's going on? Why do we have to go tonight?”

For as long as she lived, Mointz would never forget the haunted look that entered the mage's eyes from her question. Nor, would she forget how time completely stopped around the both of them.

“Because we're running out of time.”

I Make My Own Luck

(2)

Since that day, Liam and her became good friends. He'd train her in the forest and teach her to move through the trees as well as she did. He told her stories of his childhood, but he never mentioned Shay again. Nor would he tell her what Achilles was doing that involved Those Who Came Before. Where she came from, this was a serious topic dealt with the utmost respect. It made her nervous to have another Brotherhood meddling with something they didn't understand, but she wouldn't interfere unless she knew absolutely what they were doing.

Seven weeks after the bar fight, Liam and (Y/N) were out by the back of the Homestead with Liam teaching her how to wield an axe and her teaching him how to properly use a bow. Achilles opened the back door and called for Liam. They both stopped what they were doing an approached the Mentor.

"How can we help, Mentor." Liam asked.

"I'll need you for this mission. I'll be away in Europe for some time and I need you in New York." Achilles said sternly, obviously in a mood.

"I can join." (Y/N) offered. But Achilles disregarded her request with a firm no, and she bit her lip and looked at her boots.

"Mentor, she does good work. It would be well for her to-"

"I have spoken, Liam. Now do as I say. Mistress (Y/N), if I can kindly have you watch the Homestead for me. Liam and I have a journey to plan."

Liam shut his mouth quickly and looked down as well. She gave him a small smile to assure him it was OK, but he didn't look at her so she dropped it.

"If it's all the same to you, Mentor," She emphasized as sweetly as possible. "I would rather take to my room for the evening." Achilles nodded her inside and stayed behind the speak to Liam. Good, it gave her time to grab her stuff.

"You're needed in New York. The Box and Manuscript have found their way there, so I'm told, and I'm tasking you to retrieve them."

"Yes, Mentor."

"Be gone then. You're losing sunlight."

Liam turned on his heel and departed towards the horses, and (Y/N) climbed back into her room to depart as well. She stuffed extra clothes under her blanket to appear as if she had been sleeping, left some books open and weapons out so, if anyone came to check, it would appear she had been training and took a nap. On her left shoulder were five throwing knives neatly tucked into folds, her hidden blades were oiled into perfect silence, her boots were strapped and equipped with knives on the inside straps as well as under the balls of her feet. She was ready. Throwing on her plain black hood, she locked her door with the latch, crawled out the window, left it unlocked, and leapt to the branch outstretched to her room.

Once outside, she could spy Liam on his horse. It would be tricky following him from above, but it would be dark soon and his horse would have trouble seeing whereas she had the moonlight to guide her. She thanked him for training her as well as he did, because within a few minutes she was on his trail. New York would be days away at his current pace, so she kept up.

••••

Liam rode to an inn and treathered his horse outside. It appeared this mission would take time. (Y/N) climbed down from the trees lining the city, and walked approached the inn under the cover of darkness. Making sure to keep her head down and clinging to the shadows, (Y/N) found a tavern across the street and dropped inside. She found a window to sit at in the crowded bar, and took a place to watch her prey.

••••

Liam didn't move for four days. He did nothing but stay in the room, and she always moved buildings and rooftops to keep an eye on him. He emerged from the inn to walk around town, surveying the area though she knew he was looking for enemies, and to stretch his legs. An infatuated stableboy told her that Liam had all his meals brought to his room, that he roomed alone, and that he would keep an ear open for her. She paid him in a kind smile and that was all he needed.

Night five was especially difficult for her. It was cold, and she was tired and bored. Liam took to his quarters again for the night, and (Y/N) shimmied down the rooftop and back to the ground. Liam would nap for about an hour before going about his nightly duties, so she took this time to stretch her legs. She walked back the bar with her head down, and walked until she reached the docks. It would give her ten minutes to clear her head and then give her enough time to return to her perch before Liam awoke. She was at the docks, admiring the view, when she turned on her heel and walked right into a larger man. She took a step back, excused herself, and looked up to see a crooked, yellow smile beaming down at her.

"Savage!" He beamed, "Image meeting you here." He looked side to side, and his grin grew. "And without your friend too."

"I can handle the likes of you without assistance." She undid her hidden blades and beckoned him.

His grin didn't halter. "All of us?" Shadows moved behind them and she began to notice she was surrounded with familiar faces from the bar. Trying her best to keep her face calm, she extended her blades farther and smirked.

A man grabbed her from behind and she stabbed his side, it wasn't a fatal wound but it would hurt and startle them enough to give her some room. Her throwing knives would be no good at such a close proximity, so she'd have to rely on her wit. The boats docked here were abandoned, but she didn't feel savvy enough so fight on a moving ship. There was nothing to climb, so there was no escape route. It looked like her only bet was to fight.

And she knew she was no match for a group of seven men twice her size.

She rolled her wrists and kept them loose, another man lunged towards her and she swiped at his hands with her knives. Basic defense wouldn't help her here, she needed to break their defense and get to higher ground. There, she could pick them off or find Liam for assistance. She grabbed the man closest to her and stabbed at his shoulder, he whinced and buckled over, and she used this to climb on his shoulders, run, leap, and kick another one in the face as hard as she could. When she landed on the other side of the group, she took of running. She could see the buildings and people just yards from her. If she could persist and run into the crowd and hide amount the rooftops, she would be safe to get to Liam. She would be safe.

The sound of thundering boots on deck followed behind her, and were closing in. She wasn't a fool. Even if she could scream out for help, no one would help her. Liam was too far away. She was a fool to leave the Homestead.

A shot fired somewhere ahead of her, and she didn't fully process it until a bullet whistled past her ear and a man fell with a thud behind her. The others in the group didn't understand what had happened and continued to charge her until (Y/N) spied a large figure at the end of the boardwalk. Liam! With renewed fire, she turned on her attackers and readied her blades. She stabbed a man in the chest and twisted around to hide against his chest and popped up to the other side before whirled around the group. With the group of men between her and Liam, she felt confident they could take them. Liam joined the fight and punched man in the face, rolled his body over his shoulder and parred with two men. (Y/N) had the other two, and stabbed one in the face, rolled over his body, and kicked the other in the face with her boot blade engaged. The men landed with thuds just in time for her to see Liam stabbed both men in the necks and remove his blades from their bodies.

He was wiping his knives on their shirts when she approached him.

"Thank you so much. I know you're probably wondering-" She breathing hitched and she froze. This man was not Liam. For one, he had long black hair tyed back, the second was the scar that ran diagonally down his face and over his right eye. He finished cleaning off his blades and returned them to his wrists with a shy smile.

"I... I've never met you." She said softly, "You must be on your way to the Homestead." The man tensed and she chuckled and showed him her hidden blades too. "Achilles isn't home right now, I believe he's on voyage and won't be back for some time, but he's left me in the Homestead's charge. I'm (Y/N), nice to meet you." She extended a hand and he visibly relaxed before taking it.

"William." He said. He seemed to be a nice and gentle man.

"Well, thanks for helping me, William. I doubt I could've gotten out of that fight without a bit more bruising."

"You seemed to have it settled yourself." He had an accent just like Liam, and it made her smile. "I apologize for being so personal, but are you in New York on a mission with your partner?"

She shook her head. She couldn't have this Assassin know that she had betrayed Achilles's orders and left to New York because she didn't trust this Brotherhood, so she lied.

"I'm actually in a secret mission from the Mentor. Alone." Good, he seemed to buy it. "Are you from this Brotherhood?"

"No. I'm...uh, I'm from the Irish Brotherhood."

"Welcome to the Colonial Rite. I'm new here too, but don't worry. You'll learn where everything is pretty easily. Would you like to join me on patrol?"

"I'd love to, but I'm only here for a night, my ship leaves tomorrow."

"I understand, William. I hope our paths meet again." She dropped her hood and began walking back to the city when he head him jog over to her.

"Um, I wouldn't feel right leaving you to walk alone. May I walk you back?"

"I'd appreciate that."

Keeping him within her eyeline would be important. He'd leave tomorrow and no one would be the wiser.

The walk into town was comfortable and she tried her best to sound as if she knew what she was talking about. William was a nice man and listened to her stories well. They circled the town talking until (Y/N) found a random inn and bid him goodnight. Once he was out of her sight, she turned into the alley and climbed onto the roof. Liam would be up now and she couldn't risk losing him.

He had just begun to leave his house when she spied him. He quickly threw on his hood and walked. She followed from the rooftops where she could, and leap off to follow from the shadows. He walked around the city for ten minutes, trying to lose anyone who was following him, until he reached a large house in the middle of town.

The door closed with a loud clunk and she knew she couldn't follow him without being detected. Well, from the ground anyway. She decided there was only one way left, up. An open window leaked some candlelight, and she smirked at her target.

Climbing the building was easier said than done. Because of it's size, the brick here was solid stone and widely spaced. Thankfully, with the help of the Turkish Brotherhood, she fixed that with a simple hook-blade. She had to use one hand to hold onto the building and another to shoot the hook-blade. With no time to lose, she acended the building and ducked into the window just in time to see Liam meet with Hope and another man who's name she didn't know.

"Done watching children?" Hope teased.

Liam gave her a look and then turned to the other hooded man. "Chevalier."

"Shall we begin then?" Hope said. "Templars are here, as is the Box and the Manuscript. My men tell me they're in the East, by the docks. I don't know where yet, but give me time."

"We don't have time. Liam, can't you track them?"

"Search all of New York for a group that hides as well as we do?" Chevalier shrugged. "Fine. I'll do my best. (Y/N) is still at the Manor, so I'll have to check on her in a few days. Why again can we not just tell her?"

"Achilles doesn't trust that she can do what those Assassins say she can. If she can, he wants to keep her a secret, protected." Hope explained.

"If our enemies find out our weapon, then we are lost." Chevalier added.

Liam nodded. "Then do be it. Give me another few days, but I will have to leave New York to check on her."

"So be it." Hope said.

(Y/N) absorbed this when the Assassins left the room became quiet. If she wanted to gain their trust and respect, then she knew what she had to do. But what weapon? What did they think she could do but they couldn't? That Box and Manuscript seemed to be the answer, so it was a good place to start.