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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 1. Back Into The Field

Intro: Picking up a few months on from the events of Stark Spangled Man, Katie finds herself on desk bound duty following a disciplinary for ignoring Fury’s orders. But when she’s finally released, and disaster strikes on the first mission she’s run in months, she kinda wishes she’d stayed there.

Warnings: Bad language, mentions of blood, injury, angst and a minor character death.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Katie Stark

A/N: So here we go. A relaunch of SSB thanks to my other blog being flagged. For those of you who are new, welcome! I hope you enjoy. And to all you current Stark Spangled Readers, welcome back, You might spot a few subtle differences as we go through, as things I’m not happy with have been rewritten but don’t worry, nothing will impact the mine lines in the hot mess that is Stark and Rogers.

As always, please leave your comments or send me messages, asks, anything. I love you all!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

March 2013.

Any doctor would cry if they visited SHIELD; the caffeine and alcohol intake of pretty much every worker there would way exceed a dose construed to be healthy. Mind you, if you asked any agent whether they’d give up coffee or alcohol, they’d say alcohol in a heartbeat.

Well, most of them.

Katie couldn’t imagine surviving without an ice cold beer on a hot summer’s day, but she also didn’t function until she had her morning cup of Joe. It was a tough choice to make.

Not today though, she needed coffee. And lots of it. After ‘going rogue’ to chase the Mandarin with her brother, month’s later Fury was still pissed and as such was basically giving her the most boring thing he could think of- working through piles of mission reports to analyse and cross reference with others to pick up on common threads .To be honest, she didn’t mind it too much. After the excitement of the festive period she had welcomed a relatively quiet return to work, and didn’t particularly give a shit what Fury thought about her either.

She circling a part of the hard copy of the report she was working on with highlighter pen, before glancing back at her computer screen to cut and paste it into the Scrapbook App she used to trace trends with, letting out a groan. Who was she kidding? Desk duty sucked ass.

*****

Steve’s morning wasn’t going much better.

Whilst he wasn’t desk bound, after a particularly gruelling Ops Training session during which one of the newest kids suffered a broken nose after colliding painfully with a stray shock baton, he was almost wishing he was. Following a quick debrief, he checked his schedule on his phone and found he was free now for the rest of the day so he showered and headed up to find Katie. He found her in her office, paper in her hand as she stared at her computer screen, eyes narrowed. Steve watched her for a moment, taking in the way her nose crinkled as she read something, her bottom lip being dragged under her top teeth as she continued her work, completely unaware he was there. With a groan she dropped the notes she’d been holding to the desk and ran her hand through her dark hair.

Steve felt he was interrupting something, even though he knew he wasn’t, but he also didn’t want to appear like he’d been watching her either, which he totally had. So he gave a little cough and, as she turned round, her pretty face cracking into a smile which he returned.

“Hey! How was training?”

“Don’t ask.” He let out a snort.

“That bad huh?”

“In a fashion.” He nodded, leaning on the door frame. “You had lunch?”

“Nope.”

“Wanna come get some?”

She nodded instantly “God yes. Can we get FroYo after?”

“Yeah but don’t let me pile it with all that crap this time!” he shot her his best playfully disapproving look as he remembered his first trip the Frozen Yoghurt stall. He had loaded his with all sorts of different things and the result had been beyond foul.

Katie gave a laugh and picked up her jacket, shrugging it on. Standing up straight, he moved to allow her to step through the door and followed her to the elevator.

“Stick to chocolate chip, mint and cookie dough.” She said, stepping into it. “Trust me.”

They strode across the foyer and into the early spring sun. Katie pulled her jacket tighter around herself as they crossed the street, shivering a little in the cool breeze.

“How are you just wearing a shirt?” she looked at Steve as he fell into step besides her, making sure he was on the side nearest the road. He noticed that she’d long since given up chiding him on this old fashioned habit after he had revealed it was something he used to do for his mom too, and Bucky’s younger sister. In fact, today, he swore he saw something that looked like a soft smile flicker on her lips when he positioned himself on her left, but as quick as he noticed it, it was gone.

“It’s not too bad.” He grinned. “I’ve been through worse.” He opened the door to the Deli for her and followed her in as they took their place in the queue. After a moment or two he became aware that she was looking at him.

“What?” he asked, turning to her exasperatedly. Katie couldn’t help but grin, she enjoyed winding the usually mild mannered man up

“I’m trying to imagine how you would look with a beard. And with shorter hair.” she mused, causing the Captain to roll his eyes.

“Not gonna happen.”

“What the hair cut or the beard?”

“Neither.”

“Spoil sport.”

“Captain America doesn’t have a beard.” he shook his head.

“No but, Steve Rogers could…”

She was impossible, but Steve couldn’t help but want to laugh. This playfulness was the thing that he enjoyed the most, how she could just treat him like any other punk she knew.

“Did anyone ever tell you you’re exhausting?” he rolled his eyes, a smirk playing on his face as she stepped forward in the queue.

“Yeah, you.” she spun round to face him, grinning “Several times. But you still come back for more.”

“Well I have the distinct impression if I didn’t you’d hunt me down anyway”

They ordered and ate their lunch, Steve filling her in on the ops drill and after Fro-Yo they made arrangements to slob out that evening at his with a film. They walked back to the Triskellion where Katie headed back to her office to continue sifting through the Mount Everest of reports she had to do. As with anything, once she got the bit between her teeth, she completely zoned out. It was only when she heard a gabble of voices all bidding each other goodbye that she looked up from her work. It was dark outside, and past six.

“Shit.” she groaned as the realisation washed over her. She was supposed to be at Steve’s for half past. She clicked to save her work whilst calling him at the same time, phone sandwiched between her cheek and shoulder.

“So…I’m running late.” She apologised the instant he answered. He chuckled.

“I thought that you said the one good thing about being confined to desk duties was that you set the hours.”

“Yeah, well I got caught up in something, but I’m leaving now. Do you want me to grab pizza on the way?”

“Sounds good, not Chicago Style though. I’m hankering for a proper piece of pie.”

“God you’re such a New Yorker.” She rolled her eyes.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing.” His voice took on a mock hurt tone and she could imagine him pouting on the other end of the phone.

“Hmmm, I’m undecided. Right, I’m leaving now. See you soon.”

“Drive safe.”

“What are you my dad?” she snorted at his stern instruction.

“Old enough to be.” he shot back.

“Touche.” she sniggered, cutting the call

*******

“Boring New York style for Mr S Rogers…” she spoke into the intercom at the main door to Steve’s apartment complex and he buzzed her in. By the time she’d climbed the stairs to his floor he was waiting, leaning on the door frame.

“Bout time.” He muttered, taking the boxes off her “Was about to send a search party.”

“Mario’s was packed.” Katie said, kicking off her sneakers and heading straight through to his kitchen to grab a beer out of his fridge without waiting for him to offer, knowing he wouldn’t. He didn’t need to.

Steve headed into the living room, depositing the thee boxes on the coffee table before he sank onto the couch and reached straight in for one of the pepperoni slices. A few moments later Katie flopped down next to him, handing him a beer.

“What we ticking off the list tonight?” she asked.

“A Few Good Men.” he said, nodding at the TV where he had queued the movie up ready.

“Wait, did you manage to navigate that Android box all by yourself?” She looked at him and he sighed.

“I’m not completely useless ya know.”

“Jury’s out.” she teased, curling her legs up onto the sofa next to her.

They watched the movie. Steve got most of the references within it. He chuckled in the right places, and laughed out loud when Katie was unable to stop herself uttering the immortal line You can’t handle the truth. When the credits began to roll, Katie unfolded herself from where she had been sat and they launched into Steve’s favourite part of Movie Nights- the post film analysis.

“Who was the guy who played the colonel, Jessup?” he looked at her.

“Jack Nicholson. Amazing actor. He’s in a few on your list.”

“He was good. And I know he was supposed to be the good guy so to speak but Kaffee annoyed me a little. He was so arrogant.”

“He reminds me of Tony” Katie sniggered.

“Well, I didn’t want to say anything” Steve gave a little smirk and Katie shrugged.

“I get what you mean though. He is an ass, and it pisses me off a little the romance angle they take with him and Galloway. I mean, she’s portrayed as this strong woman, in the male dominated military woman and they still have to go there.”

“It does seem to be a tried and tested format.” Steve nodded, leaning back against the cushions on his couch “Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy wins girl over…even the movies I saw back in before I took a sub-zero nap were the same.”

“I suppose it appeals to the hopeless romantic in all of us.” Katie shrugged.

They continued to chat for a bit longer until Katie glanced at her watch, and seeing the time, decided to call it a night. Steve walked her down to her car, he always did without fail, another thing she had given up chiding him for and when he came back upstairs and got in the shower, he found himself straying back to the first time he had seen her, the minute she had stepped into the light in the boxing gym and he’d found himself looking into the greenest eyes he had ever seen in his life.

The more he stood there in the stream of hot water, thinking about her, the more he started to feel something…well…different. And he couldn’t put his finger on it. Was it that he found her attractive? Well of course he did. To be honest, he reckoned you’d have to be blind not to. And if he was totally honest, since he’d seen her the first time in that little boxing gym in New York he had noticed how pretty she was. She had the figure of the stars of his time. Hour glass waist, brunette hair, shapely ass and legs and quite large breasts considering she was so slim. But what did it for him were her eyes. Deep, sparkling emeralds that he could lose himself in quite happily. And that smile, that fucking smile that could make him stop in his tracks when she flashed it.

But it was more than just that, she was…well…just Katie.

It was strange, really, she reminded him so much of Peggy in some ways, but in others she was so different. Both were vivacious, smart, strong willed and beautiful. But where Peggy had been harsh, after a military upbringing, Katie had a softer edge to her. She was still ferocious at times, but she was a people person, and somehow knew exactly how to explain and understand what he was trying to say even when he struggled to himself. She made him feel at ease. With that in mind it wasn’t surprising they had grown so close. He could trust her and knew that she would do anything for him because she was a good person. And she made it so easy to be around, he didn’t feel a shred of awkwardness around her.

He hadn’t thought he’d ever find himself a friend he could be as honest and open with again, one he would happily lay his life on the line for, not just out of a sense of duty but out of a sense of love and friendship.

Who you trying to kid, Rogers?

He knew his feelings went deeper than that. All those times he’d felt irritation at other men looking at her or touching her, all those times he’d looked at her and just wanted to smile because she was just her… the fear he had felt when he had known she was off chasing the Mandarin and he wasn’t able to help…none of that was anything to do with mere friendship.

He leaned his forehead against the tiles of the shower cubicle and groaned. He was crushing on his best friend.

He was so fucked. *******

Katie’s desk arrest didn’t last much longer. Two weeks later she was catapulted back into the field, on what was supposed to be a simple op, simple by SHIELD standards, anyway. They had a request from the Cuban government – all very hush, hush, of course –to take down a drug lord who ran a cartel SHIELD had tangled with last year.

Katie, in her role as Mission Analyst, read the files and all the intel, pulled together a briefing and delivered it, answering questions that came her way from the team and then handed over to Steve when it was his turn to take the floor. He started issuing out his orders, and informed everyone that the three newest recruits would be joining them as it would be a fairly straight forward op to ease them into.

And it had been, for the most part, until one of those new recruits, Jack Adams, had frozen mid fire fight and as a consequence he’d taken three bullets to the chest. Which shouldn’t have been an issue given the armour they all wore. But when the man failed to get up, Katie knew there was something very, very wrong.

“Adams is down!” she loudly spoke into her radio as she took aim at the hostile responsible. As soon as she was sure the round she had let off had hit her target, she broke cover to get to Adams, as she was closest to him. She skidded to the floor, pressing her hand to his chest and her other reached to his face, turning it to look at her.

“I got you, Adams, look at me.” she urged gently, her hand warm, wet and slick with the young man’s blood. Steve dropped besides her and she turned to face him.

“Armour piercing rounds.” She shook her head. “Steve, I can’t stop the bleeding.” Her tone left the Captain in no doubt as to how worried she was and he looked around frantically for help.

“Medic, NOW! We need emergency evac…”

“Stay with us, Jack.” Katie reached into her belt and retrieved a tab of morphine as he young man’s hand gripped her other whilst she administered the pain relief.

“Son, you’re gonna be fine.” Steve spoke and Adams’ horrified eyes turned to Steve. The soldier swallowed, fighting to keep his face calm. He’d seen that expression so many times on the battle field, the one that told him the man who lay injured knew he was injured beyond repair, that there was nothing to be done for him. But this was now seventy years into the future, medical science had worked so many wonders since then, they had to be able to do something, right?

“RUMLOW WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT MEDIC?” Katie screamed, her tone frantic.

“Still got hostiles on us!” Rumlow replied over the coms. “Evans has taken four down but they’re approaching from the right! We need to cover the medics in and now you’re down there…”

Steve instantly looked round before he looked back at Katie “We’ll have to take him ourselves”

She bit her lip, looking at the young man, then up to Steve again. Everything in their training told them not to move casualties, but Steve knew if they stayed here he was going to bleed out. Katie seemed to come to the same conclusion and she nodded.

“Alright. Brock, we’re coming to you. Have the medics prep the bay on the jet.. Evans, we need top cover.”

“Roger, Cap…”

“Jack, we’re gonna move you now.” Katie looked at him, her voice calm and level as besides her, Steve moved to take the injured man into a lift over his shoulder. Once he had him positioned, he gave a small jerk of his head and Katie picked up his shield in one hand, and her pistol in the other as they broke cover, sprinting across the front of the industrial yard towards the jet. In the corner of his eye, Steve spotted two hostiles moving but before he could shout a warning, Katie had fired off two shots, the thumps and lack of returning fire meaning each bullet had hit its target. Soon they were joined by Rumlow and Rollins who flanked them up the ramp where Katie dropped Steve’s shield to the floor with a clang and offered her hand back to Adams as Steve placed him gently on the stretcher.

“It’s gonna be ok.” Katie soothed him as the medics bustled around, her eyes glancing up every so often to watch what they were doing.

“Can you tell my mom I love her and, and my dad.” Adams was mumbling now and Katie shook her head.

“You can tell them yourself.” She told him fiercely. “You’ll be fine, I promise.”

“We’re locked down outside, local authorities are handling it now.” Rumlow informed Steve who had stepped back from where Katie was knelt by the injured man. “How is he?”

Steve turned to Rumlow, shaking his head sadly. “Not good. He lost a lot of blood.”

At that point Katie suddenly drew back slightly, looking at the hand held in hers, before she glanced at the medic who was sadly shaking his head. Katie’s shoulders slumped as her eyes closed, face screwing up into a pained expression and Steve pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and middle finger as he realised that the young man had lost his final fight.

“Shit.” Rumlow muttered.

“Radio base” Steve turned to Rumlow his voice soft “Let’s get him home.”

*******

Writing mission reports wasn’t Katie’s favourite thing to do, but this one was awful. So she’d treated it like ripping off a band aid, and after a horrific night’s sleep, she’d been at the Triskelion early to get it done. As a result it was little after ten am, she was done for the day and was about to head home until she heard a familiar voice.

“Eat me…eat me…” The voice was accompanied by a bag from her favourite bakery, which was hovering in the space between the door to the office and the frame, before Clint Barton’s head poked round the side, a grin plastered on his face.

“Hey!” She beamed at her friend as he dropped a cup holder containing two coffees and the bag onto her desk before taking a seat, scooting the wheeled chair over the floor towards her.

“Heard you had a rough time of it yesterday so I brought donuts and almond croissants. And coffee.”

“Hawkeye, you are a godsend.” Katie smiled, taking a large drink and leaning back, closing her eyes.

“That the first time you’ve lost a man on a mission?” Clint asked.

“Other than Coulson.” she shrugged. “Shit, Adams was twenty-three Clint. He had his whole life ahead of him.”

Clint watched as she rubbed at her temple before reaching into the bag and pulling out an almond croissant. She couldn’t remember when she had last eaten, it must have at least been before the mission.

“How’s Cap taken it?”

“On the outside he seems okay, but I know he blames himself. Keeps saying he shouldn’t have taken him.” Katie shrugged “He’s gone with Fury to see Adams’ parents. Rather him than me.”

“This job is hard.” Clint said after a moment or two pause. “We fight to keep everyone safe, but y’know, sometimes not everyone makes it. Thing is, if we can’t find a way to deal with that, then maybe next time no one gets saved at all.”

“You mean like Collateral damage?” she snorted, shaking her head.

“No, I mean that everyone one of us that are out in the field know the risks Nova, hell last year 7 of us took on a horde of Aliens in New York. For hours we fought them, and did any of us give a second thought to our own safety? No, because that’s what we do.”

His words made sense. She knew they did, but that didn’t stop the feeling in her stomach that if she had done her research more, maybe she could have spotted something that would have told them about the armour piercing rounds.

*******

Adams’ parents already knew he was dead. Fury had the local authorities call ahead, common practice now, but still, Steve found himself sat on their couch, talking, informing them all about their son’s last moments. They hadn’t shouted, hadn’t screamed or blamed him. Instead, they’d thanked him for what he had done and for bringing him back so they could hold a proper burial.

By the time he got back to base, he was exhausted.

“Here.” Fury handed him a glass of scotch from the bottle he had pulled out of his desk. Steve took it, dropping onto one of the sofas at the side of the large office, Fury settling into the other. Steve knew the drink couldn’t get him drunk, but he liked the momentary buzz he got that lasted all of sixty seconds post sip, and the comforting burn it gave when he swallowed.

The pair of them sat in silence for a few moments before Fury sat forward, his eye fixed on Steve.

“Ever done that before, a death message?” he asked.

“Can’t say I have. Wasn’t really my job back in the day.” Steve shrugged, undoing his tie and popping the top button of his dress shirt.

“Worst part of the job. Doesn’t matter how many times you do it, never gets any easier.” Fury ran his hand over his face, and it struck Steve how tired his boss actually looked.

“Yeah, it isn’t exactly up there with my favourite thing to do.” Steve rolled his tie up and shoved it into the pocket of his old Army uniform pants.

“How’s Nova?” Fury asked.

“She’s upset.” Steve sighed “But she’s strong, she’ll be okay. I’m gonna head over and see how she is later.”

“You two spend a lot of time together outside of work.” Fury commented, innocently enough but there was something in his tone, something that was almost good natured accusation.

“Not a problem is it, Sir?” Steve asked, keeping his face straight.

“No, not at all.” Fury said “Why do you think I partnered you up in the first place? She’s a people person…”

“She’s a good friend.” Steve nodded “We get on.”

“Glad to hear it.” Fury nodded. There was another moment’s pause before he spoke again. “There’s going to be a debrief with the Secretary of Defense tomorrow.”

Steve sighed “If they’re looking to blame someone, the buck stops with me. I should never have taken the kid.”

“Bullshit.” Fury said simply “I’ve read the reports. From what they say, he just froze.”

“He wasn’t experienced enough.”

“Taking risks is part of this job. It’s a dangerous gig.” Fury held his gaze. “It was a straight forward in and out job Captain. What happened was an accident. A tragic one, but an accident none the less. From the reports, neither you nor Stark could have done any more to save his life.”

Steve shrugged, the words were kind but didn’t help him feel any better.

Three glasses of scotch later, Steve shook the director’s hand and left the office, pulling out his phone. He didn’t want to appear like he was checking up on Katie, so he pinged her a text, dressing it up like it was him who needed to see her, which wasn’t a complete lie. He did. He was craving the normality she gave him.

Can I come over? I could do with seeing a friendly face

He read it a few times, before deciding it was casual enough before he sent it. The reply was almost instantaneous.

My door is always open for you. And I made Mac and Cheese. Plenty left.

He couldn’t help but smile. One of the best things about this new life was the food, and her Mac and Cheese was frankly his favourite thing to eat on the planet.

He changed into a pair of sweats and a hoody, hastily making his way to Katie’s penthouse and the smile she gave him when he walked into her place instantly made him feel at ease.

“Hey.” she crossed the space towards him and gave him a hug which he happily melted into, a hug they both needed.

“How did it go?” she asked, pulling away.

“As well as can be expected.” He sighed as he followed her into the kitchen, dropping into the stool on the other side of the breakfast bar. “His mom broke down but they didn’t shout or yell.”

Katie flipped the lid off a beer and handed it to him. He took it, with a nod of thanks and pulled a large swig before he rest his hands on the counter, staring at the bottle.

He was brooding and blaming himself, Katie could tell, so she gently lay her hand on his, reaching over the counter.

“It wasn’t your fault Steve.” she spoke softly and he looked at her.

God, she did that all the time, knew what he was thinking. It gave him the unnerving impression that sometimes she could read his mind.

“I should have spotted that shooter.” he shook his head.

“I’m the fucking mission analyst.” she sighed. “I knew from last time those guys were packing, if I’d done more research, maybe I would have found out about the armour piercing rounds.”

“You can’t seriously blame yourself?” Steve’s frowned.

“Why not?” she shrugged sadly. She’d been over it a million times in her head that day and had come to the same conclusion every time. She should have spotted something, dug further. “I didn’t do my job.”

“Yes, you did.” he implored, his eyes locking onto hers “Your report clearly set out the layout, the learning from previous missions…Adams was just too inexperienced, I should never have taken him.”

There was a pause as the microwave pinged and Katie turned to look at it.

“You know, Clint made a good point before.” she reached in for the plate and the smell of the food made his stomach grumble again as she continued “This job, it’s hard. We fight to keep people safe but not everyone makes it back all the time…and if we can’t learn to live with that then maybe next time no one gets saved.”

“It feels like trading lives.” He took a deep breath as she placed the plate down in front of him “It’s just wrong.”

“I know.” She said, handing him some cutlery and sat down next to him.

“You eaten?” he asked, looking at her, suddenly aware she didn’t have a plate. She nodded.

“Couldn’t have waited until now, I’d have starved to death.” she said, shrugging.

“Hardly.” he replied, mouth full, instantly realising he had said the wrong thing as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Is that a fat joke?” she asked, making him roll his eyes as he swallowed. That hadn’t been it at all, he was referring to the fact that she never actually stopped eating, despite her tiny frame she gave him a run for his money.

“No, that’s not what I meant. You’re tiny.” he said, almost choking on his food through his protests.

“So now you’re making short jokes?” She shot back. Steve looked at her, dismayed she thought he was being mean to her but then he spotted the look in her eyes and rolled his own.

“Punk.”

“Jerk” she shot back.

It was the perfect way to escape the trauma and stress of the last few days. Once they had finished eating the two of them flopped down on her large L shape sofa, Steve’s legs extended along one side of the L shape, her legs tucked underneath her as she leaned against his shoulder. He couldn’t help but notice the smell of her shampoo…apple, he thought, along with her perfume. Her proximity was making his head buzz but he wasn’t about to move her, the contact was comforting. And it clearly was for her too as about an hour or so into the film- the first in the Lord of The Rings trilogy- he felt her head growing heavy. He glanced down and saw that her eyes were closed and, as he watched, her head slipped slightly. He shifted so that he could catch her gently, and grabbed a cushion from behind him, placing it against his leg. He manoeuvred her head so that she was lay down, gently brushing her hair off her face. She stirred slightly, snuggling down further into the cushion as he absentmindedly rubbed between her shoulder blades as her breathing grew gentle and even.

Steve stayed like that, engrossed in the film right to the end, surprisingly. He had enjoyed it. Katie hadn’t woken up, and he looked down debating whether or not to wake her or simply carry her through to her bedroom. In the end he decided to do neither, instead he reached for the remote as he sifted through to find something else to watch. He didn’t want to leave just yet, he was too comfy and too at ease. Picking one of his favourites, Casablanca, he settled down, getting himself comfy as he immersed himself in the familiar world of Rick’s Café Americain. At one point he felt his eyes growing heavy and he lay his head back, deciding to rest them for just a little while…

**** Katie was jolted awake, quite violently, and as she jerked into an upright position she saw exactly why. Steve was thrashing in his sleep, his face contorted in horror, small murmurs and whimpers slipping from his plump lips. She placed both her hands on his shoulder and shook him. Softly at first, then a bit stronger, trying to rouse him.

“Steve…” she gave him a harsher shake and his eyes flew open, wide in panic and she reached up to cup his face in her hands. “Hey, it’s okay. It was just a dream.”

Her soft voice filled Steve’s senses and, as he realised where he was and whose eyes were looking at him, he took a shaky breath and lay his head back.

Damned it, he’d fallen asleep and had a nightmare. On her sofa.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice croaky, “I err…”

“Don’t apologise, it’s fine.” Katie shook her head gently “I’ll get you a glass of water.”

Whilst she was gone he leaned forward, swinging his legs off the couch so his feet touched the floor, wiping his clammy head with his hands, the memory still flashing through his dream.

Cold air was blasting his hair back…there was a hole in the side of the train…then a flash of light and Bucky flew straight through the hole. “BUCKY…” he yelled, grabbing onto the side of the train, the bar in one hand as he stretched to reach his friend with the other.

“Steve…” The voice was louder, but not loud enough. No, he had to get to Bucky…

But he was gone, Steve was grasping at nothing but air.

Just a dream, Katie had said. It was anything but…

She appeared back in the room with a glass of water and he thanked her as she passed it to him. He took a large gulp, swallowing and was relieved when his breathing began returning to normal.

“You ok?” she asked, kindly as her hand gently knotted into his, her concern evident.

“Yeah, just a nightmare.” he nodded softly “I’ve not had one for a while.”

“Understandable with what’s happened. Wanna tell me what it was about?”

“It was Bucky.” he swallowed thickly “I was replaying the moment he fell. The moment he plummeted to his death from that Hydra train and I didn’t save him.”

Katie stayed silent for a moment before her hand curled round Steve’s shoulder and she pulled him to her, causing him to lay his head on her shoulder. “You know it wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have done more” The guilt ate Steve up every day, that he had survived. Why had he deserved that any more than Bucky?

“How?” she said again. “How could you have done anymore?”

"I should have gone after him.” he said quietly.

“What would’ve changed if you had?” Katie asked. “There’s no way he could have survived that fall.”

“He wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for me.“ He replied, "I should have gone after him, brought him home, done something.”

Katie remained quiet, her hand gently running through his hair which was nice, far too nice. He took a deep breath and sat up moving away from her touch.

"What time is it?”

“Nearly six in the morning” Katie glanced at her watch.

“You’re kidding?” Steve snorted.

“Nope. You want some coffee?” she stood up, stretching her arms above her head.

“Yeah if that’s ok.” he replied, following her to the kitchen. From her body language he could tell she was rolling her eyes, even if she wasn’t facing him.

“I don’t know if your Ma ever told you, but it’s rude to run out on a girl after you spend the night with her.”

“And as you know, I’m useless with women.” he sat down at the barstool on the breakfast bar. He watched her, but he didn’t say anything as she bustled about, throwing some bread in the toaster and then went to the fridge for the butter, marmalade and jam, sliding them onto the island. At that point Steve held his hands up.

“You don’t have to-” he started to say, but she silenced him with a glare, similar to the ones Peggy used to give him, the look that could stop him in his tracks it was that stern.

“Shut up.” she poured them both a cup of the coffee before adding milk and a spoon of sugar to each, passing one to him. The bread popped up from the toaster, and she put it on a plate before sliding it over to him and adding more bread to the machine.

His stomach rumbled and he gave in, smearing butter over his toast. He eyed the jam curiously. He’d had marmalade before but…

He looked at Katie and she nodded. “It’s good.”

So he added some, and after a bite he concluded she was right, and nodded in agreement. Once the next round of toast was done she sat next to him.

“So, when did I fall asleep.” she asked, swallowing her food.

“About an hour into the film.”

She shook her head “What an ass…”

“It wasn’t a problem.” He replied honestly as he took a bite of his breakfast. “To be honest I enjoyed it.”

“What, me drooling on your leg?”

He swallowed, his eyes wide “I meant the film.”

“I know.” she smirked.

***** Chapter 2

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #relaunch #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #katie stark #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character

142 notes · View notes

debbiechanclub · 3 years

Text

Best Two Out of Three, Part 24

Oh, friends. @hotyeehawman man and I would like to profusely apologize for how long it took us to get this part out. (And yes, we both changed our usernames - you’re in the right place!) It feels like it’s been an eternity since I posted any of this here fic. But luckily for you all, I’m pretty sure this is the longest part yet? And that being said, I’ll just let you lovelies get into it.

Best Two Out of Three

Part: 24/26

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC x Adam Page x OFC x Matt Jackson (yup that’s what we’re going with now.

Word count: 9.1k

Warnings: Language; angst; brief explicit sexual descriptions

Catch up on previous parts here.

Tag squad: @freshlysqueezedmox @gabbynorth98 @librathepheonix13 @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @exe-sadboi-exe @comeasyoudar @champbucks

Callie awoke the next morning with an unmistakable knot in the pit of her stomach. Guilt.

It wasn’t regret. She didn’t regret sleeping with Matt. He had been… wonderful. Attentive. Caring. Passionate. He’d made her feel desired and alive in ways that she hadn’t in months. So long that she’d almost forgotten what it was like to feel like that. She’d missed it, craved it, more than she’d realized. And there was no one else she rather would have helped her find it again than Matt.

Which was precisely why she felt so guilty.

The covers shifted as he stirred next to her. She felt him roll over and snake his arm around her waist. She smiled and relaxed into his touch. She didn’t want to feel guilty about how Matt made her feel. She just wanted to feel it.

“Good morning,” she said. But he wasn’t quite awake.

“Mm,” he grunted in return.

She laughed and turned to face him. His long, thick hair was disheveled from sleep and had nearly fallen out of its bun. She reached out and brushed a stray strand back from his face. “I was thinking about going to get Starbucks. Do you want anything?”

He didn’t open his eyes as he answered. “Yeah, but I’ll get it, babe. Just gimme few more minutes.”

Callie’s pulse quickened. Babe. She chalked it up to him being half-asleep. “It’s okay, I don’t mind,” she insisted. “You want your usual?”

He nodded. She smiled and kissed his cheek, slipped out from underneath his arm, and climbed out of bed. Their clothes were scattered on the floor, remnants of the night before. She grabbed her joggers and pulled them on along with the closest shirt she could find—Matt’s Young Bucks t-shirt—and then she threw her hair in a bun, slipped on her sneakers, grabbed her phone and wallet, and went out the door.

The nearest Starbucks was just a five-minute walk from the hotel, but she was in no rush to get there. It was a beautiful morning, and she needed the air—especially after Matt had let that pet name slip. She did her best to clear her thoughts of it as she arrived at the coffee shop. She queued behind a man in a business suit and pulled out her phone like everyone else. But, not long afterward, someone unexpected joined the line behind her.

“Late night?”

Callie’s stomach lurched. She’d know that voice anywhere. Adam.

“Not really,” she responded without fully turning around. She was suddenly exceptionally aware that she was wearing Matt’s shirt. She didn’t want him to see it.

But then it came her turn to order—and there was no hiding that she was getting two coffees to go. She spoke as softly as she could when she told the barista what she wanted and, as soon as she paid, turned and hurried past Adam to a table by the window, flustered. Of course this would happen. Of course she would run into him the morning after she’d slept with Matt, getting coffee for him, wearing his fucking shirt. She looked warily back at him as she sat down. She just wanted to keep an eye on him… but she found herself starting to stare as he pulled out his wallet. Admiring the way his t-shirt stretched over his biceps. How well his jeans fit him. She started to get lost in her thoughts—but then he turned toward her. She quickly looked away, back down at her phone. But not quick enough. It wasn’t long before he was standing in front of her.

“Where’s lover boy?”

She glared up at him. “He’s not my lover boy.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, Cal. Hair up, glasses on, wearing his t-shirt. This has walk-of-shame written all over it.”

Callie’s brow lowered. “Well it’s not a walk of shame if I’m going right back to him, is it?”

She regretted it almost as soon as she said it. Hurt flashed in his eyes. But it was gone in an instant, replaced with nothing but resentment.

“So he made you go get the coffee?” He scoffed. “What a gentleman.”

“I offered to get it,” she snipped. “And what are you so upset about? You’re more than free to move on with Alex now.”

“Oh, am I? Well you might want to let her know that, because she went home with Kenny last night.”

Callie faltered. She didn’t know what to make of the sarcasm in his tone. Was he trying to mask his hurt? Or was he just being an asshole?

“Callie!”

The barista called out her name not a second too soon. She looked Adam in the eye as she stood from her seat. “Well, it’s not my problem that she rejected you,” she spat. “At least now you know how it feels.”

She shouldered past him, grabbed the coffees from the counter, and pushed out the door back into the morning air. She walked much more swiftly back to the hotel than she had to Starbucks. She knocked on the door when she got back to the room, too agitated to bother with trying to fish out her key card while balancing two coffees. Matt answered in just his sweatpants.

“That was quick,” he noted as she breezed past him into the room.

“Yeah. Oh,” she stopped and turned around to hand him his coffee. “Here.”

“Thanks…” he trailed off as he took it from her, his brow furrowed. Callie wasn’t surprised when he asked, “Are you okay? You seem flustered.”

“Yeah.” She breathed out and took a sip of her coffee as he shut the door. “I just ran into Adam at Starbucks. It was… awkward.”

Matt’s eyebrows arched. “Oh.” His eyes flicked down to her shirt. His shirt. “I guess he assumed…?”

“Yeah.”

He frowned. Callie fidgeted. Now it was awkward between them. But she didn’t anticipate what he said next.

“Do you regret it?”

Her eyes widened. “What? No,” she answered with a shake of her head. She walked over and gave him a reassuring kiss. “Not at all. I just would’ve preferred not to run into my ex the morning after.”

She inwardly winced at that word. Ex. It still hurt to think of Adam that way. She still loved him; that wouldn’t go away overnight.

But the feel of Matt’s arms around her helped.

“Well, forget about him,” he said. “Let’s go out today. Get away from everyone.”

A smile pulled at the corners of Callie’s lips. That sounded like a perfect idea. “Okay. I’m gonna jump in the shower.” She shot him a smirk as she pulled away. “Want to join me?”

He groaned. “All my stuff is back in my room.”

“So?” She peeled his shirt over her head and tossed it aside. His eyes drank in the sight of her.

“Twist my arm, why don’t you,” he said, and he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the bathroom.

* * * * * * * * * *

Adam didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know what to feel. He didn’t know where to go from here. He didn’t want to go back, but he couldn’t see a way forward, either. And the kicker was that he’d done it to himself.

He’d considered turning around and walking right back out when he’d seen Callie standing in line at Starbucks. And after their interaction, he wished he had turned around and left. He didn’t want to know that she’d been with Matt last night. He didn’t want to think about him touching her body the way that he used to touch it, making her feel the things that he used to make her feel. He didn’t want to know that their relationship was barely two weeks in the ground and she’d already jumped into bed with another guy. And not just any guy—Matt-fucking-Jackson. Literally anyone else would have been better than Matt; Nick would have been better than Matt. But, ironically, he wasn’t surprised that it was Matt. Adam knew Matt had always had a thing for Callie; he’d known it from the day Matt had introduced her to him. But he’d never thought anything of it, never worried about it, not even when Matt would flirt with her right in front of him. He was his friend; he wouldn’t seriously try to move in on his girl like that.

He’d been wrong on both counts.

But, as hurt and upset as he was, Adam knew he didn’t have any room to judge Callie. Not really. Not after where his mind had gone last night.

He’d needed a physical release last night. He’d needed to unburden himself of the drunken, thoughtless way he’d kissed Callie; of the stress and tension and anxiety he’d been carrying for weeks. And so, alone in his hotel room, he’d taken care of it—and he’d thought about Alex. He’d thought about how her lips would feel wrapped around his dick, how she’d look underneath him as she took him, how she’d sound moaning his name. It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten himself off thinking about her, but he hadn’t done it in years, since long before he’d met Callie. And after he’d finished, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from texting her.

Hey, are you at the hotel?

Her response had gutted him.

No… I’m actually on my way to Kenny’s.

He hadn’t said anything else after that, and neither had she. He wasn’t sure what would have happened if she had been at the hotel. He wasn’t sure what he’d been hoping for when he’d texted her. But he didn’t want to think about it. Just like he didn’t want to think about the fact that Callie was with Matt right now.

He walked back into the hotel and crossed through the lobby, but he slowed before he could reach the elevators. Chuck nodded in greeting as he, Trent, and Orange walked toward him.

“Hey, Hangman. What’s up?”

He shrugged. “Oh you know, just went to Starbucks and ran into Callie getting morning-after coffee for Matt. So... yeah. What’s up with y’all?”

He took a sip of his coffee as they all stared back at him, unblinking. Maybe he shouldn’t have volunteered so much information, but he couldn’t help it—he was emotional. But before he could excuse himself and disappear, Trent said, “Well that fucking sucks. We’re going to get breakfast. Wanna come with?”

The offer surprised Adam. Why the hell would they want him to come with them? He’d just drag down the mood. Besides, he didn’t want to go with them. He wanted to go back upstairs to his room and wallow in self-pity.

But then he thought of Alex again. She’d tell him to snap the fuck out of it.

“Fuck it,” he decided. “Sure.”

“Cool,” Trent returned.

They all started toward the exit. Chuck fell in step beside him. “If you’re wondering where Alex is, she went to Kenny’s last night.”

Adam frowned down at his coffee cup. “Yeah. I know,” he said. That was another thing he didn’t want to think about.

* * * * * * * * * *

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!”

“Alex, don’t just mash buttons. You need to do combos.”

“But this—is—working!”

Alex stuck out her tongue in concentration as she furiously mashed the buttons on the game controller. She and Kenny had been playing this stupid Street Fighter game for forty minutes now, and she absolutely refused to quit until she won at least one—

“K.O.!”

She dropped the controller to her lap, defeated. Again. Kenny curled his lips into his mouth. He was trying desperately not to laugh.

“It’s not funny!” Alex scowled. She was far too competitive for her own good.

He gave her an apologetic grin. “I’m sorry, baby. That round was better.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re just saying that.”

“I’m not,” he assured. And then, “I think it was the first time you lasted past three minutes.”

“Kenny!” She gasped and grabbed a throw pillow from the couch. “I could say the same about you last night!”

She swung and whacked him with the pillow. “Whoa!” She reared back again, and he held up his arm to block the blow. “Uncalled for and untrue!”

She smirked. “Come on, you walked right into that.”

She swung again; but he caught the other end of the pillow and used it to pull her closer. “Oh yeah? Well I certainly didn’t hear you complain last night.”

Alex bit back a bashful grin. No, she definitely hadn’t complained last night. Last night had been… indescribable. Normally with Kenny it was a frantic rush to rip off clothes as they blindly stumbled and pushed each other to the nearest available surface. Rough and quick. Fucking. But last night had been different. He’d undressed her deliberately, like he wanted to memorize every curve of her body, every mark on her skin. He’d carried her to his bed and laid her down gently. He’d paid more attention to her needs than his, pleasuring her completely, slow and deep as she’d clutched at the sheets, his back, his hair, riding wave after wave until she couldn’t handle it anymore. He’d made love to her. She’d felt what she meant to him, undoubtedly. She’d felt it that morning when she’d woken up next to him and he’d told her to stay in bed while he made them breakfast. She felt it now. And, more than anything, she hoped that he felt what he meant to her, too. She didn’t want him to doubt that anymore.

“C’mere,” he gently said. He moved the pillow from in between them, and Alex snuggled against him as he wrapped his arm around her. “I’m sorry for teasing you,” he said with a kiss on her head. “I know video games aren’t your thing.”

She let out a sarcastic laugh. “And that’s not a deal-breaker?”

“What?” he shot, incredulous. “That’s ridiculous. Why would it be a deal-breaker?”

Alex’s face burned with embarrassment. She shouldn’t have said that; she didn’t know how to explain it without incriminating Adam. And she had to explain it now. “I don’t know,” she muttered. “It was one of the arguments people made back in June about why we shouldn’t be together, because I don’t play video games. It’s dumb; I shouldn’t have listened to it.”

There was a thick, contemplative pause. And then Kenny said, “And by ‘people’ I assume you mean ‘Adam.’”

Alex didn’t say anything in response. Her silence spoke volumes.

Kenny squeezed her closer. “Do you remember what you said to me at the hotel the night we first got back together? After your match against Callie and your fight with Trent?”

She looked up at him, her face a question mark. He went on.

“You said, ‘Fuck what anyone thinks. We worked things out and that’s all that matters.’ Well… now I’m saying the same thing to you.”

Alex glanced away, chewing anxiously on her lip. She did remember saying that now. She wished she would have taken her own advice.

“I couldn’t care less that video games aren’t your thing,” he assured her. “But you know they’re my thing, and you care enough about that to try. That means a lot to me. And besides… I actually think it’s adorable how frustrated you get.”

Warmth spread throughout Alex’s core. It meant a lot to him. He meant a lot to her. She needed him to know, once and for all. “Well, I care about the things you care about. Because I love you.”

She looked back up at him. He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He looked so happy. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Kenny tilted her lips toward his and kissed her, soft and sweet. “I love you too, baby,” he said, and Alex’s heart was so full that it felt like it would burst out of her chest. They’d taken the long way around to get here, but they’d made it… and she finally felt like she could rest.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie couldn’t get rid of that knot in her stomach. It had only grown larger and more solid after she’d run into Adam at Starbucks. And, after a while, the focus of her guilt had started to shift.

Matt had been an absolute sweetheart all afternoon. He’d taken her to the beach because he knew how much she loved it. They’d walked along the boardwalk and out onto the pier, and he’d held her close and smiled big as she’d taken their picture in the midst of the ocean. He’d even waited patiently as she’d gone through the shops picking out clothes and trying them on (she’d rewarded him by modeling a few bikinis). And now, as they sat in a cute little café getting something to eat, she couldn’t help but watch him with a smile on her lips as he looked over the menu, admiring his long lashes and hair, his beard and jawline. He made her heart flutter.

So then why couldn’t she stop thinking about Adam?

The waiter brought them their drinks. They put in their order, and as they handed him the menus, Matt told him it would all be on one check. Callie blushed as the waiter nodded and walked away.

“You don’t have to pay for me,” she said.

“I know, but I want to,” he returned. “Besides, I owe you for getting the coffee this morning.”

“This’ll be more than the coffee.”

“Are you sure about that? We got Starbucks.”

She laughed. “Fair point. Well, thank you.” She crossed her right knee over her left, and her foot bumped his leg underneath the table. “Sorry,” she muttered and shifted in her seat. He gave her a quizzical smile.

“Okay, what’s up?”

She took a sip of her iced tea. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you’ve been tense all day. What’s on your mind?”

Callie grabbed her straw wrapper from the tabletop and nervously wound it around her finger. That was a loaded question—and she wasn’t sure she was ready to unload. “I know I’ve been tense,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t apologize; just talk to me. I want you to feel like you can talk to me about anything.”

“I do feel that way,” she returned. “It’s just…”

She trailed off. Matt finished her thought for her. “Adam?”

She wound the straw wrapper so tightly around her index finger that the tip turned red. “Is it that obvious?” she muttered.

He pulled his mouth to one side. “Well, you’ve seemed a little off ever since you ran into him this morning so… yeah.”

She frowned. “I’m sor—”

“Callie,” he gently cut her off. “Stop. Just talk to me. You’re not gonna hurt my feelings.”

Callie glanced down at her hands. On the contrary, her fear of hurting him was the exact reason she didn’t want to tell him what was on her mind. But Matt had been nothing but open and honest with her. She needed to do the same.

“I like this. A lot,” she said. “I like being with you, more than I expected to so soon. And I don’t regret anything. But… I’m not completely over Adam yet.”

She held her breath, bracing herself for his reaction, anticipating the worst—

“I don’t expect you to be.”

She breathed out. “What?”

Matt’s eyes were soft and understanding as he looked at her across the table. “I don’t expect you to be completely over Adam yet. It’s only been what, a week-and-a-half since you ended things with him? And in one of the most dramatic fashions possible,” he said with a smirk. “It’ll take time to get over that. Longer than a week-and-a-half.”

Callie’s brow furrowed. She was relieved, unbelievably so. But she was also confused. “But that doesn’t bother you? After we… you know.”

He smirked. “Not really. I mean, not to sound cocky, but I’m pretty sure you weren’t thinking about him last night or this morning.”

Her cheeks colored and she rolled her eyes. “You absolutely meant to sound cocky.”

Matt’s grin widened. He knew he had, too. “But no, it doesn’t bother me,” he assured. “I like you, Callie. A part of me always has, even when you were with Hangman. But I know this has all happened pretty fast, and I don’t want to push you. So as long as you’re honest with me about what you’re feeling and what you want, we’ll be good.”

Callie’s heart fluttered again. She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve someone as sweet and understanding as Matt. But she did know she didn’t want to lose him. “Okay. I can do that,” she said; and as he smiled at her, she did her best to bury the thought of Adam’s kiss in the back of consciousness.

* * * * * * * * * *

Saturday... All Out

Alex was a bundle of nervous energy as Kenny pulled up to Daily’s Place Saturday afternoon. Today was the day: All Out. Her anxiety over it hadn’t let her get a wink of sleep last night, so much so that she worried she’d affected Kenny’s sleep with all her tossing and turning. But as they got out of his car and grabbed their suitcases from the trunk, he looked like his only concern was her.

“Are you alright?” He caught her hand in his. “You’ve been quiet all day.”

She tried to nod. “Yeah. I’m just…” she trailed off and changed her mind. “No. I’m nervous about your match. And about seeing the boys.”

“Don’t be nervous about the match,” he said with a gentle squeeze of her hand. “That’s for me to worry about. And why are you nervous about seeing your friends?”

Alex frowned. She couldn’t help but notice how he’d said the match was for him to worry about—not him and Adam. But she tried not to dwell on it. “Because I’m nervous I’ll walk in there and it’ll just be a repeat of three months ago. I’m sick of everyone trying to tell me what’s best for me.”

She glanced back at the arena, worry darkening her eyes. None of the boys had seemed thrilled when she’d told them she was leaving with Kenny on Wednesday, but they hadn’t put up any arguments, either. She hoped they hadn’t saved it for today.

Kenny let go of her hand and brought his up to cup either side of her face. She looked up into his eyes, gripping his wrists as he held her. “Remember what I told you?”

Her brow puckered. “Fuck what anyone thinks?”

“Fuck what anyone thinks,” he repeated.

She pressed her fingers into his skin. “I care what they think, Kenny. They’re my best friends.”

“I know.” He let out a breath and touched his lips to her forehead. “And because they’re your best friends, they should support you when you’re happy. Right?”

She frowned again. “You would think so.”

“Then don’t be nervous,” he said with another kiss on her forehead. He pulled back and looked down at her. “I’m sure it won’t be a repeat of three months ago. And if it is… it’s their problem, not yours.”

Alex lifted her heels off the ground and kissed him. “You’re right,” she breathed. “But speaking of your friends… don’t take it personally if I go out of my way to avoid Matt.”

“I’ll talk to Matt,” he returned. “Don’t worry about him, either. He’ll come around.”

She gave him a small, grateful grin. But she wouldn’t hold her breath on Matt coming around.

He shut the trunk and locked the car, and then he took her hand again, interlacing their fingers as they walked into the arena. And Alex realized, with some surprise, that she didn’t care if anyone saw them. She was with Kenny; he was with her. She didn’t want to hide that.

But they had to part ways once they got to the locker rooms. They shared a lingering kiss as Alex told him she’d see him later—she knew he’d be busy until after the show was over—and then she continued down the hall toward the Best Friends locker room. She drew in a deep breath through her nose, let it out through her mouth. “There’s nothing to be nervous about, Alex,” she said to herself. “They’re your best friends.” She steeled herself when she arrived at the door, pushed her way inside. Chuck, Trent, and Orange were all already there—and so was Adam.

She stopped just inside the entrance, her eyes wide and surprised. “Oh! Hey. I wasn’t expecting to see you in here.”

Adam looked even more caught off-guard to see her than she did him. “Yeah… Chuck said I could share with y’all. It’s a full house tonight and I don’t really have anywhere else to go because of… you know.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Of course.” She pulled her suitcase toward a cubby, doing her best to seem unbothered. But seeing Adam had thrown her off more than she’d expected it would. The text he’d sent her Wednesday night flashed in her mind. Hey, are you at the hotel? She’d thought about it more than she cared to admit over the last two-and-a-half days. Prior to two weeks ago, she wouldn’t have thought much of it at all. But now that she knew how he felt, she couldn’t help but wonder what his intentions had been.

“Hangy’s been hangin’ with us the last few days,” Chuck stated as she sat down. “Cowpals is a thing now.”

“It’s not a thing,” Adam returned. Chuck glared at him.

“Just let it happen, Adam!”

He grinned. So did Alex. “I agree with Chuck,” she said. She exchanged a glance with Adam as she unzipped her suitcase—a feeling. They’d always have each other’s back, no matter the circumstances.

“So do I,” Trent piped up. He looked at Alex. “All we were missing was you.”

He didn’t say it negatively. In fact, it was quite the opposite. We missed you. That was what she felt from it. Warmth.

“Well, I’m here now,” she smiled, and her anxiety loosened its grip when he smiled back. They were her best friends. Nothing would change that.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie had never spent much time in the EVP room. But now here she was, sitting on the couch next to Matt, watching as the All Out Buy In pre-show got underway. It was nice. She could get used to it.

“So are you gonna come out with us for our match orrrr…?”

She shot Matt a look. “I’m not even gonna justify that with a response.”

A corner of his mouth quirked up. “Why not?”

Her eyebrows arched. “Seriously? I’m not accompanying you for your match, Matt. That’s just asking for trouble.”

“Trouble from who? Everyone’s about to find out that we’re wrestling together against Trent and Alex next week. What’s the difference?”

Callie looked down to pick at a loose string on her jeans. He wasn’t wrong—Tony had made the mixed tag match official earlier that afternoon, and Callie wouldn’t be surprised if the commentators mentioned it during the show tonight. But there was a difference between wrestling a match with Matt next week and accompanying the Young Bucks for their match against Jurassic Express. There was a big difference.

“There’s a difference, and you know there is,” she softly insisted. “I’m not going out there with you.”

She kept her gaze turned anxiously away from him. Ever since their talk at that little café two days ago, a nagging voice in the back of her head had kept worrying that, even though Matt had said he didn’t want to push her, he would only wait so long for her to get over Adam. Now, she worried he’d take her resistance the wrong way. But she had her reasons—completely valid reasons. She didn’t want people to assume things about their relationship; she didn’t want to invite their criticism and judgment. But, more than that, she didn’t want to rub her budding relationship with Matt in Adam’s face—and especially not tonight. He had a tag title match he needed to focus on tonight.

“Callie,” Matt said. The soft urgency in his voice beckoned her to look at him. “It’s fine. I was only joking.”

She gave him a tight smile. She believed him… but part of her still worried.

He leaned over and gave her a kiss. “Speaking of the match… I should go get ready. You can hang out here if you want.”

Her brow furrowed at him as he got up from the couch. “By myself? I’m not an EVP.”

“No… but you’re sleeping with one.”

He smirked. She scowled. He let out a laugh and bent over to give her another kiss. “I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come back to the locker room. I’m sure Nick’s changing now, too.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

He gave her a wink and went out the door. And as it clicked shut behind him, that little voice in the back of her head nagged at her again.

* * * * * * * * * *

There was an undeniable electricity in the air—a big fight feel. Because it was a big fight: Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page vs. FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. And Alex was almost certain she was more nervous than the people who were actually fighting.

Her hands were clammy as she walked through the halls to the Best Friends locker room. She wanted to walk with Adam to meet Kenny, so she could wish them both good luck before they headed to Gorilla. She wanted to stay out of their way as much as possible. She prayed they were on the same page tonight.

She entered the locker room just as Adam stood from his seat. He glanced at her as he grabbed his championship. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Just thought I’d go with you to meet Kenny,” she answered. She curiously looked him over. He was wearing black and white tights designed to look like chaps instead of his usual trunks. “New gear?”

He glanced down at himself and shrugged. “Yeah. Big pay-per-view match, I figured why not.”

She nodded. “I like it.”

A smile pulled at his lips. But it disappeared fast. “Well, I was just about to head to his locker room.”

She nodded again, and they went back out the door. She saw him look at her out of the corner of her eye as they walked. “Are you watching with the guys?” he asked.

“Yeah. They’re in one of the lounges with Jurassic Express and a few others.” She drew in a breath. “I might see if I can get a drink before I head back there.”

He gave a wry laugh. “That nervous?”

She looked up at him. “Aren’t you?”

His eyes turned contemplative. “I’m nervous, yeah. But not necessarily about losing the titles.”

Alex frowned. She wasn’t as nervous about them losing the titles as she was about other things, either.

They arrived at The Elite’s locker room. Adam raised a fist and knocked. Half a minute passed before Kenny answered, dressed in his usual gear, his AEW Tag Team Championship already around his waist. He smiled when he saw Alex.

“Hey. You coming up there with us?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to get in your way. I just wanted to wish you good luck before you went up there.”

He flashed a cocky grin. “I don’t need it.”

Alex rolled her eyes. I—not we. Again. She tried to ignore it just like she had earlier. “Well, kick their asses, then.” She reached up and kissed him, tender but quick. She didn’t want to do too much in front of Adam. Kenny smirked again as she pulled away.

“You know I will.”

She gave him a nervous smile, and then she turned to Adam. She stood on her toes and gave him a hug. He momentarily stiffened before he returned it. “Good luck,” she said.

“Thanks.”

She unwound her arms from around him and stepped back. “I’ll see you after,” she said to Kenny, and with a parting glance she retreated back down the hall, her stomach in knots. She half-wanted to find somewhere to watch the match alone, in the interest of self-preservation. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t take it so hard if she watched with her friends. Either way, she kept walking toward the lounge; and when she arrived and saw Trent opening up a bottle of red wine, she made a beeline for him.

“Wine?” she charged. Alcohol was alcohol, but still.

He gave her a look. “We’re classy, Alex. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.”

“A few hundred more,” she quipped. It earned a grin. He grabbed a glass and gave her a healthy pour. She took a long sip as she moved to one of the couches and sat down next to Chuck. He gave her a sympathetic smile.

“How you feeling?”

She laughed into her glass. “Like I’m gonna need a whole bottle to myself.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex had been joking—but the more she watched, the more she thought she probably would need a whole bottle to herself to get through this match.

Every minute brought with it a fresh wave of anxiety. Her entire body had tensed when the match had nearly started with Kenny and Cash, only for her heart to drop into her stomach when Adam had called to start it off instead, asking Kenny, “Do you trust me?” She didn’t know what Kenny had said in return—his back had been to the camera. When the match finally got underway, Adam had locked up with Cash like he wanted to murder him. He’d gone after him so aggressively that Dax had jumped in to intervene, and then Kenny had, too, obviously worried that Adam’s emotions were running away with him. He was proven right when Adam nearly swung on him. They’d worked through it… but Dax and Cash were firing on all cylinders. They’d managed to isolate Adam first and then Kenny, punishing them each in turn. And even when Adam and Kenny were able to pick up the pace and work together, it had been painfully obvious over the last fifteen minutes that, despite being the champions, they weren’t the tag team specialists in the match. FTR were.

Kenny and Cash were the legal men now. Adam was somewhere outside the ring, out of commission after Cash had shoved him off the ring apron and sent him flying into the guard railing. Kenny had hit a Tiger Driver ’98 and gone for the cover, but Cash had kicked out at two and dragged himself to the ropes. But Kenny didn’t give him much of a chance to recoup. He charged at the opposite ropes, rebounded, and nailed Cash with a V-Trigger to the side of the head. Then he picked him up on his shoulders. He was setting up the One-Winged Angel. Alex held her breath and grabbed Chuck’s knee—but Cash quickly got out of his hold.

“You want a refill?” Chuck asked.

She just nodded and handed him her glass, keeping her eyes glued on the TV. Cash shoved Kenny into the corner and charged, but Kenny dodged and reversed, pushing Cash into the corner. Dax made a hot tag. Kenny charged again, going for another V-Trigger—but Cash moved out of the way at the last second. Kenny’s knee rammed hard into the turnbuckle.

“Fuck,” Alex cursed under breath.

Chuck returned with her wine. She thanked him and immediately took a drink; and then nearly choked on it when she saw Cash swing Kenny’s leg through the ropes and Dax grab his ankle for a vicious dragon screw leg whip.

“You alright?” Chuck asked.

Alex nodded even though she wasn’t. Cash spun Kenny around and hit another dragon screw. And then Dax slid into the ring and latched on an inverted figure four leg lock.

“Shit,” Trent said from the other side of Chuck. Chuck elbowed him. Alex’s stomach dropped. That was the exact move Dax had used on Chuck to beat Best Friends in the tag team gauntlet match.

Dax grabbed the ropes for leverage, but the referee didn’t see it. Kenny did his best to stay up on his shoulder in order to keep the pressure off his knee. But he still looked like he was agony.

“And remember, this is how they made Chuck Taylor tap out in order to punch their ticket into this match,” Excalibur commented.

“Thanks for the reminder, Excalibur!” Chuck shouted at the TV, causing a few people in the room to laugh. Alex wasn’t one of them. She didn’t breathe again until Kenny managed to reach the ropes, forcing Dax to break the hold.

Kenny laid on the mat, nursing his knee—but Dax got right back on him. He grabbed his leg and dropped a few elbows on his knee before he put all his bodyweight on his thigh and bent Kenny’s leg at an unnatural angle around his torso. Kenny grabbed at his head, his arm, anything to try to get out of the hold; but Dax just got up, dragged him to the ropes, draped his ankle across it, and smashed himself down hard onto his leg. Alex worried at her lip. Adam was back up on the ring apron now, but Kenny was nowhere near him.

Dax tagged in Cash. Cash jumped to the floor and held Kenny’s ankle across the rope so that Dax could throw all his bodyweight down onto his leg one more time before they switched. He slid into the ring and stomped Kenny’s head, making Alex scowl; but then Kenny sat up and rolled under the ropes to the floor. He limped over to the guard railing and latched onto it, doing his best to keep himself upright.

Alex felt her chest start to tighten. She felt so helpless. All she could do was take another drink.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie was starting to regret watching the tag title match with Matt and Nick. They were all cheering for the same team—but it was obvious that Matt and Nick expected Kenny to do all the work. It irked her. So when Adam had finally tagged in and started clearing house, she couldn’t help but feel a little vindicated.

She nervously watched as he ascended a turnbuckle, knowing immediately that he was going for a moonsault. She both loved and hated that move; she loved seeing it, but it always scared her when he did it. But then, he didn’t do a moonsault. Tully urged Cash and Dax to come to the other side of the turnbuckle—and so Adam pivoted and did a senton instead.

“Tremendous improvisation there by Hangman Adam Page,” Excalibur stated. Callie smiled to herself. But Matt pursed his lips.

“More like unnecessary risk,” he commented.

It was a struggle for Callie not to roll her eyes. Matt and Nick were arguably the biggest daredevils in the entire company. Either of them would have done the same exact thing.

Back in the ring, Adam went for the cover on Cash—but he kicked out at two. After they both got to their feet, they traded blows in the middle of the ring before Cash attempted another swinging DDT; Dax made another blind tag as he did. But Adam blocked the move and hit Dax with a back elbow, knocking him to the floor. He and Cash jockeyed for position until Adam gained control and drove him toward the ropes; but Dax hopped back up onto the apron and hit Adam with a forearm. He dove into the ring and covered him. Adam kicked out at two.

“They’re deadly with those blind tags, man,” Nick said.

Both Matt and Callie kept quiet as they watched Cash and Dax ascend the turnbuckles. They jumped simultaneously and hit Adam with tandem diving headbutts. Cash was the legal man again and he hooked Adam’s leg. That time, Kenny dove in and broke up the pin attempt. Callie half-expected a smart-ass comment from Matt. Thankfully, he didn’t make one.

Kenny and Dax were battling on the ring apron now. Each of them tried to suplex the other, but each attempt was blocked, until Dax ended up back inside the ring, his head still locked underneath Kenny’s arm and vice versa. But then, suddenly, Cash charged and launched himself over the ropes and flipped to the floor. He grabbed Kenny and picked him up on his shoulders, and Dax jumped off the ring apron and hit him with a diving bulldog to the floor.

Matt and Nick expelled twin breaths of exasperation. Callie’s mouth went dry. She wiped her hands on her jeans and got up from the couch to cross the room and grab a water bottle from the mini fridge. She opened it and took a long gulp. By the time she looked back at the TV, Cash was back in the ring with Adam. Adam tried to hit him with a short-arm lariat, but Cash reversed it and landed a forearm to the back of the head. Then he lifted Adam up on his shoulders. He walked over to FTR’s corner and tagged in Dax. Dax climbed the turnbuckle and hit Adam with a diving bulldog to match Kenny’s. He went for yet another cover, but Adam powered out.

“Hangman needs to tag in Kenny,” Matt said.

Callie shot him a look. “Kenny’s not even in their corner!” she argued, motioning to where he’d collapsed against the ring apron. Matt ignored her.

Dax pulled Adam up by the hair and reached out to tag in Cash. Cash climbed the turnbuckle again—but Kenny jumped up onto the apron and pushed him off balance. Meanwhile in the ring, Adam reversed Dax’s hold and dumped him over the ropes onto the floor. Cash tried to get back into position atop the turnbuckle; but before he could, Adam jumped up onto the second rope, picked him up, and hit a lungbuster suplex into the middle of the ring. Callie held her breath as he went for the pin—but Cash somehow managed to kick out.

“Fuck,” she breathed. She walked over to the couch and sat back down next to Matt, further away than she’d been before.

Kenny yelled something at Adam from outside the ring. Adam beckoned him. “Last Call!” he shouted. Callie tensed. She didn’t have a good feeling about this.

Kenny got into the ring while Adam went out onto the ring apron. Cash struggled to get up from his knees in the middle of the canvas. Kenny picked him up by his hair and held him by the arms. Adam flipped over the ropes and careened toward them, on-target for a hard Buckshot Lariat—but Cash ducked. Callie’s hand flew to her mouth; he’d nearly hit Kenny instead. And then, disaster. Adam grabbed Cash. Kenny charged, aiming to land a V-Trigger. But Cash pulled free at the last second, and Kenny’s knee collided with Adam’s jaw with an audible smack!

“Fuck!” Matt cursed.

Kenny tried to catch Adam, but Cash hit him with a chop block to the back of his injured knee and they both fell to the Matt. Kenny reached out and grabbed ahold of the fringe on Adam’s tights, pulling and jerking, trying to revive him. When that didn’t work, he smacked his leg. But Adam was completely out of it.

Cash pulled Adam away from Kenny and then hit Kenny with a basement dropkick, sending him rolling into the corner. He jumped up and tagged in Dax. Dax climbed the turnbuckle while Cash picked up Adam, upside down. Dax jumped, and they hit Adam with a perfect Mind Breaker. Dax went for the pin, grinning wickedly at Kenny as he tried to crawl toward him. He anticipated a three-count.

But Adam got his shoulder up at two.

“Holy shit,” Nick leaned eagerly forward on his knees. Matt remained quiet.

But Cash and Dax didn’t waste any time. Cash battled Kenny and shoved him under the ropes to the floor while Dax dragged Adam back onto his feet. Cash tagged in and ascended the turnbuckle. Dax picked up Adam. Cash jumped, delivering another Mind Breaker. He pinned Adam. Dax intercepted Kenny as he tried to dive through the ropes, but he didn’t need to. That time, Adam didn’t kick out.

Disbelief and dread consumed Callie as FTR’s music started to play. The crowd was mostly silent as Justin Roberts’s voice echoed throughout the arena. “The winners of this match, and new AEW World Tag Team Champions: F—T—R!”

Matt pushed himself up. “Come on, let’s go,” he said to Nick.

Callie looked up at him in confusion. “What’re you gonna do?”

He shot her a look over his shoulder. “Try to talk Kenny down,” he returned, and then they both exited, leaving her alone in the locker room.

She stared at the door, stunned, unsure what to do. She looked back at the TV. FTR hoisted the titles high above their heads while Tully brought them two cans of beer. She expected them to crack them open and drink in celebration—but they didn’t. Instead, they set the beers next to Adam, who still laid clutching his head on the mat, as if to toast him. Thanks, bud, we couldn’t have done it without you.

She kept watching as they continued to celebrate, waiting for Matt and Nick to burst out from the tunnels. But they never did. Soon, FTR left, and the former champions were left alone. Adam leaned against the ropes, still not quite all there—and Kenny stood in the middle of the ring, a small folding table in his hands.

Callie’s breath hitched in her throat. Kenny held the table up, gripping it hard, an angry, contemplative look in his eyes. Seconds passed like minutes. And then, he tossed the table aside. Relief flooded her; but it was premature. Adam stumbled toward Kenny, and instead of catching him, Kenny moved out of the way and let him collapse face-first to the mat like a felled tree.

She would have preferred that he hit him with the table.

“Where the fuck are Matt and Nick?” she said out loud. Kenny gazed down at Adam’s prone form, a look of quiet disgust on his face. He exited the ring and stalked up the entrance ramp. He paused on the stage to give Adam one last hard look, and then he turned and walked through the tunnel.

The camera stayed on him as he moved swiftly through Gorilla and toward backstage. Matt and Nick stood waiting for him in the interview area. Kenny started yelling.

“Did you see that? Did you see that there? After everything I did!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Matt tried to say; but Kenny pushed through them and kept walking.

“I’m done. We’re done. Let’s go.”

Callie’s eyes widened as she continued to watch. Matt turned and followed after Kenny without hesitation. Nick was more hesitant, but he followed, too.

Kenny and Matt continued to talk, but Callie couldn’t understand what they were saying as the commentators tried to figure out what was happening. They moved into the parking lot and Kenny pointed toward a waiting SUV. “I’m done. Are you guys coming with me?”

“Oh fuck no,” Callie muttered.

Matt continued to try to talk him down, but he didn’t try to stop him from walking. “Let’s sit down and talk about what’s going on right now. I know it’s…” he trailed off, unsure what to say.

“It’s time for a clean split… a clean break,” Kenny said. “Let’s go back to the way things were.”

They reached the SUV. He finally stopped and looked back at Matt and Nick. “Are you coming with me or not? It’s up to you—you can’t go back on this.”

Neither of them answered. Kenny didn’t have the patience for it.

“Okay, think about it—think about it. I’ll see you guys.” He looked at the driver. “Get in the car! We’re going,” he ordered. And then he got in the backseat of the SUV, slammed the door, and drove off, leaving Matt and Nick—and everyone else—stunned and confused.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex walked on shaky legs through the hotel lobby, pulling her suitcase behind her. She reached the elevators and punched the up button, angry. She felt like a tea kettle ready to burst; and, honestly, she was afraid of what she might do when she saw Kenny.

She’d left the arena as quickly as she could after the end of the tag match. Gone back to the locker room, packed up her shit, and called an Uber, apologizing to Orange on the way out for not staying for his match against Chris Jericho. There was no way she could stay there a second longer after what Kenny had done.

The elevator carried her to their floor. He’d booked the same room he always did. She stepped off the elevator and walked swiftly down the hall. When she reached the room, she banged hard on the door. Kenny answered a few seconds later, apparently fresh out of the shower, wearing just a pair of gym shorts.

“Hey, baby,” he said—but Alex pushed past him into the room. He shut the door and followed her inside. “Look, I’m sorry for—"

Crack!

Alex whirled around and slapped him hard across the face, cutting him off mid-sentence. She’d hit him hard enough that it turned his head, hard enough that her hand immediately stung. Kenny touched his fingers to his face. He gave a short, wry laugh.

“I guess I deserve that.”

“You’re fucking right you do,” she bit. “You lied to me, Kenny. You told me you would fix things with Adam and you just left him out there. You left the whole fucking arena.”

He rolled his eyes. Alex’s hand itched to slap him again. “Well what would you have liked me to do, Alex?” he asked. “Hm? Should I have caught him and told him that everything would be alright? Should I have said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get the titles back, bud!’ Is that what I should’ve done?”

“You shouldn’t have just left him and run out of the arena!”

“Well I did, because I’m done with him!”

Alex went momentarily dizzy. “What?” she breathed. “How can you say—”

“Because I’m done with being a tag team wrestler, Alex!” he proclaimed. “I’m done with being a drunken cowboy’s sidekick! I don’t want that! That’s not who I am! That’s not what I came to AEW to do! I don’t need to tell you that! You know that.”

He raked a hand through his hair, frustrated. Alex could feel it radiating off of him like heat. It shocked her, but she knew she needed to just listen.

“It was fun with Hangman while it lasted,” he went on. “I’m glad we got to be tag team champions together; I am. But I’m past that now. It’s time for me to be Kenny Omega now. It’s time for me to be the guy that everyone’s wanted and expected from day one of Dynamite.”

Alex scoffed. “What guy? The Cleaner?”

“Yeah,” he bluntly returned. “Exactly that guy. Isn’t that the guy you wanted when we first got involved? The Cleaner?”

Her breath hitched in her throat. There was nothing she could say to that—it was true. She’d never met Kenny prior to AEW. She just knew him as most of the world did: The Best Bout Machine, the leader of Bullet Club, the Cleaner, Kenny-fucking-Omega. His reputation preceded him. It intrigued her. It attracted her. It made her want to get to know him once she had the chance. And then she fell in love with him, the real him. But the thought of him being that guy in AEW… with her… she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that that intrigued her, too.

He stepped closer. Alex didn’t move. He took her by the hips and pulled her against him; a pleasant tingle danced up her spine at his touch. As upset with him as she was, she couldn’t help the way her body reacted to him.

“I know you’re angry,” he said, his voice softening. “And I’m sorry it happened this way… but we both know it would’ve happened eventually. I can’t keep tagging with Adam to get what I want. And what I want is the AEW World Championship… and you by my side when I get it.”

Alex’s stomach did a flip. But her brow lowered, stubborn. “And what makes you think I want to be by your side when you get it?”

He gave a breathy laugh. “Come on, don’t be ridiculous. You know you’re my girl.”

There it was again, that cocky grin. But Alex didn’t argue or pull away. She just gazed up at him, her chest rising and falling with her breath, heart racing. She wanted to believe he was wrong; but she knew he wasn’t. She knew she’d go around and around this carousel with Kenny until it made her sick. He pushed her to the edge; he drove her insane; he made her do things that she never thought she’d do in a million lifetimes. He was exhilarating and infuriating and terrifying and intoxicating all at once. And every time she thought she’d sobered up she would always fall right back into him. It might take a week, or a month, or a year—but it was inevitable.

“Aren’t you, baby?” He cupped her jaw in his hand. She leaned into his touch. He ran his thumb over her mouth. Her eyes fell closed, kissing it, and then he parted her lips and slipped it inside her mouth. She sucked as he moved it in and out, slow. She bit down gently and opened her eyes. He looked like he wanted to ravage her—and she wanted to let him.

He pulled his thumb from her mouth and picked her up. She wrapped her legs tight around his waist and kissed him as he walked her blindly to the bed, grabbing at his curls, needing to taste him, feel him, get lost in him. She was still upset with him for what he’d done to Adam; of course she was. But she was in love with him. She couldn’t help that.

#aew fanfiction #kenny omega fanfiction #adam page fanfiction #hangman adam page fanfiction #hangman page fanfiction #matt jackson fanfiction #young bucks fanfiction #ftr fanfiction #cash wheeler fanfiction #best friends fanfiction #the elite fanfiction

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a-little-slice-of-fandom · 4 years

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Literally all the Tudor kids fucked up in one way or another and it's unfair to just regard Mary as a monster when they all fucked up and frankly, all three of those kids were mentally fucked from day one (for fucks sake, Henry the 8th was their dad, of course those kids ended up being fucked up), no fucking shit they made colossal mistakes (not that that's an excuse, obviously it isn't, I just personally think it's also good to take psychological stuff into account cause I like psychology)

(This and the next anon are the last anonymous messages I’m answering related to this subject because, frankly, those who refuse to understand my point of view clearly missed the message of six which is “history isn’t black and white and people are complex and we should review how we traditionally perceive them” and frankly I think I’m loosing brain cells trying to argue with them)

(Also this is a queued post, as I wanted to answer these anons but I didn’t want to deal with the inevitable anon hate from it. For anyone wondering, I’m probably playing animal crossing right now or baking brownies. So if you ask me more stuff related to this then just be aware it’ll be a while before I see it).

I agree that the Tudor kids got off to a really bad start. I doubt any of them were mentally sound. Now before people saying “I’m trying to use mental health as an excuse” I’m not. There’s a difference between understanding that yes, their mental health issues probably informed then and we should discuss that versus letting them off scott free because of those issues. Their issues informed their actions, but they don’t excuse them. I say that as someone with mental health issues. Nor am I trying to say what Mary did was alright or excuse it. Absolutely not. She killed three hundred people and that’s horrible and no one should be persecuted for their religion. At no point did I deny that. All I’m asking is that historians take historical context into consideration...so we probably should too.

But that’s really not the crux of my argument. Yes, it is interesting to psycho-analyse people but I dont view that as substantial enough argument. I think the more important thing to take into consideration is that every British monarch (hell, every European monarch) pre the modern era had some hand in killing people. That includes those who are stereotyped at evil (Richard III and Mary Tudor) and those who are hailed as the greatest monarchs of all time (Elizabeth I and Victoria). So to see the monarch who, really, wasn’t any worse than literally any monarch before or after her, always hyped up as “bloody” mainly because anti-catholic propaganda after her death pushed that view that all Catholics were evil and was probably Elizabeth’s way of getting the public to ignore her own failings is pretty annoying. Especially when her sibling is hailed as some amazing monarch when she laid the foundations for an Irish genocide. Friendly reminder that Irish is a dying language and we’re missing massive parts of our culture.

History is not black and white. We cannot reduce one monarch to bad and one monarch to good, especially in a fandom where we’re supposed to actively challenge the preconceived views of historical figures and take a look at the bigger picture. And like you said anon...it’s unfair! By all means, call the Tudors out on their atrocities, but don’t pick and choose which ones you want to talk about. That just makes it look like you’re ignoring certain parts of history to fit your already perceived agenda that’s informed by common opinion that can easily be disproved with a quick google search. And that’s just not a good look for anyone.

You don’t have to love Mary Tudor. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying don’t throw around the 300 number without looking at the context surrounding it. And just??? Don’t call Mary a crazy bitch or a monster???

And for the last time, the serial killer thing isn’t some “gotcha” argument. If you can’t understand that there’s a massive difference between people killing for enjoyment in the 20th/21st century and someone trying to remain on the throne in the 1500s are two completely different things then I have no idea what to tell you. They aren’t comparable. There’s a reason why historians don’t view monarchs in this situation as serial killers. Yes, the latter is still horrible. I’m not denying that. Again...Irish Catholic. We were often one of the people being killed. But I can recognise that there’s a difference between the two. You’re very naive if you can’t understand that there is a difference.

#anon #ask #anonymous ask #anonymous #anon ask #ask answered #tw mary tudor #tw mass murder #trigger warning murder #tw murder #trigger warning mass murder #enya discusses: six

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sadistic-second · 4 years

Text

HOW I RUN MY BLOG.

SPEED: What is speed? I’d like to believe things are done as quickly as possible. Written word says that I’m pretty quick about things, 1-3 days tops. But if you’ve ever actually heard be vocalize my “speed” then well. :fingerguns: I’m a lazy piece of shit. So, that being said, depending on motivation levels that I currently possess, that reveals the speed in which I operate things here. But a good baseline is still 1-3 days.

REPLIES: For starters, I use thread tracker for all the threads I currently possess. And if I haven’t replied to something then I sincerely apologize. I am not ignoring you. I either fucked up tracking it (which I’ve done before) or something happened to the tracker itself. I know it had some issues recently. Can’t recall if it got fixed or not, but I know for a fact it fucked some of my replies up.

On that note, if I have taken longer than seven (7) days to reply to something, hit me up. Let me know. Either the tracker or I fucked up and I need to be told. As stated above, I usually take 1-3 days to reply to things. So if it has been at least that long and you’re still waiting on me for something, chances are the above happened.

You’d never know it by looking at the lengths of most (all?) my roleplays here, but I am a novella roleplayer at heart. Love me some details, bro. Setting scenes, getting the atmosphere just right, making sure you know for a fact what I’m doing at any given moment. Why? I dunno. That has a story in and of itself that will not be disclosed here.

But don’t let that discourage you. I am adaptable and I can be flexible to what my partner needs/wants. Will I get carried away sometimes? Absolutely. Do you have to panic and try and match? Not at all. You do you. I’ll do me. We’ll work it out, don’t worry.

STARTERS: Don’t at me, I already know I’m stepping into a baited trap.

Starters are nice. However, they take time to write and think up. That being said, if I’m writing it, you best believe it's tailored to you specifically. Though I do enjoy at least a basic idea discussion beforehand so I know what direction I’m supposed to take this, I can wing that shit like no tomorrow. Again, not that anyone would know since I haven’t exactly, uh . . . Done it yet. Rest assured, I have the list. I will be doing something eventually.

You can also tag me in starters if you want. I’ll notice and I’ll get the idea and we can go from there. If it's just something you came up with outta the blue or it's from an ask or whatever, all fine by me. I’m pretty much open to any and all ideas.

INBOX: Ahahah, my inbox. Yes. That motherfucker. Look. I have at least one meme queued for every single day up until the first week of August. Not quite sure what possessed me to do this, but you know. At least you’ll always at least have one thing to choose from to send me every day. Old memes, new memes, random ass shit you just thought of at 3am because you figured I’d like it, send that in. I’ll answer it.

Sure, okay, yeah. I’ve currently got week old memes sitting in there right now. And there are at least month old memes sitting in my drafts that I haven’t posted yet. Doesn’t mean I won’t answer them. Just gotta wait for that good ol’ inspiration to kick in.

Oh, and I hear Tumblr still eats things. So if you’ve sent me something and its been quite a while and you haven’t seen an answer, chances are I never saw it. I sincerely apologize. Send it again. Send something new. Eventually, I’ll see it. Tumblr can’t eat everything, right?

SELECTIVITY: What is selectivity? I’d write with a sentient stuffed animal if it had a good enough idea. Yes, I’m very aware of what that sounds like. Does that make me any less of a person, a writer, because I said that? Fuck no. I am more than willing to give anyone and everyone a chance provided you aren’t cringey.

Oh but Asher, what does that last bit even mean? Don’t be fucking weird. That’s all I ask. If you’ve got an idea, come to me with it and we’ll work something out. Don’t have an idea? We’ll talk about it. I will roleplay with you. I am by no means selective.

WISHLIST: OH BOY! A WISHLIST!

Although, I suppose this would be where I’m supposed to give you some semblance of ideas or stories that I would like to give a shot at. :fingerguns: What is creativity? I will admit that I like to spout out about how creative I am and shit. However, put me on the spot and I will go blank and make myself a fucking liar.

I’ll give you some hints though. Love me some angst. I am one angsty boy. Do your absolute worst. It takes a lot to make me feel things and only two people have managed to get me to the point of tears thus far in my Tumblr career. If you think you got what it takes, bring it on.

I’m still exploring Reno’s drug habit(s). So I guess that’s sort of a wish list idea?

I want an excuse to be sadistic. My fucking name is literally sadistic-second and I cannot recall an opportunity in which I have gotten to display that true nature. I think I’ve hinted at it before? I know there are a couple shorts that I’ve written floating around. I think you can find them under “Asher writes” and uh . . . Fuck, what was that other one I wrote recently? “Raw meat” brings it up in the search so there’s that, too.

So those are kind of wish list ideas? I guess?

HONEST NOTE: :dogekek: Bold of you to assume I have anything else left in me to put here. Nah, but like it was 2am when I wrote this. And you’re seeing it now at whatever the fuck time my queue put it at. Early morning, I know that.

I’ve done a lot of changing, a lot of growing up in the last year or so. Big life changes happened and well. You gotta adjust or ya kinda sink. And boy did I sink. But I’m back now. I’m better. I’m getting the hang of things once again.

No, but like what the fuck is supposed to go here? Oh, wait. I have an idea.

You guys want a better way to communicate with me? Ask for my discord. Tumblr messages are great and all, but uh . . . You’re more likely to get more out of me on discord than you are Tumblr. Why? I dunno. I’m always on discord. I’m kind of on Tumblr? Granted, I’m always on both places, but discord is where its at, man.

TAGGED BY: @that-turk-laney

TAGGING: Uh. Steal it, fam

#Just Asher Things

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jaimistoryteller · 5 years

Text

Last Line Tags & Writing Update

Hiya Folks

*chuckles* so I did three, that are queued up for posting, and I still have like 20 to go. I am taking it as a sign I am supposed to be writing. Now lets see if life lets me actually write!

I’ve been playing in my fandoms more than original works lately, as I tend to do that when things are stressful. After all, I don’t have to create the characters for fandom and keep the world organized, simply keep the story going, unlike original works where I wanna make sure my tales come out the best as possible.

That said, I am actually doing my normal NaNo goal this month: finish at least one already published WIP. I have no clue which one I will be working on. So if you all lovely peeps who read my stuff have an opinion, feel free to tell me!

My hope is to do my normal Nano goal this month, then for Nano actually work on Finding Home a bit more, if I can get things to even out enough that I am in the headspace to do so. Otherwise I will simply have two months of trying to finish fanfics.

Expect a lot of tags and sharing of others older stuff as I go through this. I will tag fandom peeps for fandom stuff, mostly, though not always and only ones that have responded to tags before. Unless you wanna tell me you’d like tagged. I’ll also be tagging writerblr peeps for last line stuff because it doesn’t matter what your last line was, do the writing (and yes that includes homework for those wondering).

Take care all, I hope to hear from anyone who has opinions on which WIPs I should try finishing.

Jaimi

PS. below the cut is a list of my current partially published WIPs

Bond

Playful Stress Relief - Q/James/Alec - Answers Verse - James has an idea for how to deal with Mason not wanting to eat.

Advent - Q/James/Alec - Moments in Another Life - Relationships change and evolve over time, most of which is expected, but sometimes it's the unexpected that are the most enjoyable changes.

Bond & Sherlock

Gotta do It Yourself - Q/James, Q/James/Alec implied - Stand Alone (so far) - Bond and Q get kidnapped on their way to a technology conference

Sherlock

Unusual Relationship - Jim M./Sebastian - Sunrise Cafe - Jim and Sebastian's relationship through the years

Letters and Cards - James S./John W. - Sunrise Cafe - John and James spend a year writing to each other rather than talking in person, though they exchange hellos when passing the letters.

Unexpected - Mycroft/Greg - Sunrise Cafe - Mycroft thinks he is going through menopause and is surprised to discover he is not.

Right Decision - Jim M./John W. - Family Decisions - It was the right decision, it had to be. His daughter would never be a mistake, but would the possibility of introducing her father be one?

Gift for John - Jim M./John W., Sherlock/Greg, Mycroft/Greg - Stand Alone - AO3 account locked - Sherlock comes up with a plan for stopping Jim, but it is a bit more than a Bit Not Good

Clandestine - Jim M./John W - Unexplained - After the Fall, John saves Jim’s life because he is damned if he will lose both of them

Oral Fixation - John W./Sebastian - Baker Street Polyamory - How John learned to be a dom and expanded his understanding of his sexuality

Baker Street Polyamory - Molly/Sherlock/Greg/Mycroft/John W. & all varations of those five - Baker Street Polyamory - Molly gets notified of a new law that has her turning to Sherlock for help, but she does not get the type of help she expects.

Atypical Traits - John W./Sebastian, John W./Sherlock, Jim M./Sebastian - Atypical - Every Guide who has ever tested John has determined he is a Sentinel, but John has a secret, one he prefers not to mention. While he was in the war he had a partner who knew his secret but after being shot he thought his partner had died. Sebastian had been the doctors partner for five years, well aware of the secret that John hid for he had one too, after John's death by a sniper he had gone off the deep end and got discharged from the military. What happens when the two discover that they really didn't die like they each thought the other had?

Trigun

Distraction - Meryl/Vash/Knives - Stand Alone - A look of Meryl, Vash and Knives relationship

Learning to Live - Meryl/Vash, Milly/Knives - Gunsmoke - Vash came back after the fight with Knives, and brought him with him, now can the four of them learn to live together as each person deals with their own emotions, the past, and the future. Mostly based off the anime, however there are a few manga snippets thrown in as well

Hobbit

Blessed - Biblo/Thorin, Kíli/Tauriel - Blessing - Bilbo rarely prays, he doesn't see the use, but sometimes, just sometimes when the situation is dire he does, and the results are staggering

Labyrinth

Powers that Be - Sarah/Jareth - Stand Alone - A horrible night leads to life altering circumstances for Sarah. Jareth finds himself with more things going on than expected in a relatively short period of time. Life in the Underground is never exactly what it seems, yet always is exactly that.

Changes - Sarah/Jareth - Stand Alone - In the time following her trip through the Labyrinth there was a lot of things different about Sarah, this is how she learns to use her new talents and grows into herself before deciding to face the Goblin King again.

Harry Potter

Choices - Lily/Severus, Severus/Hermione - Stand Alone (so far) - A twist on the idea of Time Travel, what happens if Hermione gets covered in time dust from the Time Room and uses a Time Turner to try and help in the war against Voldemort?

Welcome to the Punch

Phrases Said: the Rogue & the Detective - Max/Jacob - Tumblr Prompts - Different short stories about Jacob Sternwood and Max Lewinsky.

Welcome to the Punch & Kingsman

Souls Entwined - Jacob/Max, Harry/Eggsy - Matched and Kept - Things are forever changed for Max and Jacob after a chance encounter years before, and a discovery that changes everything.

Kingsman

Kingsman Academy - Harry/Eggsy - stand alone - All shifters are required to take lessons learning how to control their abilities. Harry is a teacher at Kingsman Academy where new shifters between 20 to 25 years of age go for their training, he is also a snow-leopard, one of the rarest varieties of shifter, so he is surprised when the newest student is a snow-leopard as well

Doctor Who

Daughter - Nine/Rose - stand alone - Rose gets a shock and the Doctor is overjoyed

The Pack Verse - Crossover Central

Seriously, crossover central as it currently has Sherlock, Bond, Marvel, and Star Trek so far, with other stories and cross overs in the notes but not yet out as I wanna finish the ones started first.

Trial & Error - Jace/Eric, Charlotte/Aidan - subcategory Watson Pack - The story of how Jace & Eric and Aidan & Charlotte work out their relationships.

Healing - Peter/Wade, Bucky/Steve, Bucky/Wade - subcategory Heroes Pack - Choices can have life altering affects as most superhumans can attest, so Peter and Steve are both aware of some of the effects that their choices in regards to their favorite assassins are going to have, some of the other effects are completely unexpected

#about me #Jaimi's Update #writing update #it's been a while since I did one of these

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xxwritemeastoryxx · 5 years

Text

Forgotten Alliance Ch. 7

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Eventual Elijah Mikaelson x OC with other parings mentioned throughout.

Word Count: 3.5K

Warnings: Not too much.

Author’s Note: As a reminder, FA can be found on ffnet up to chapter 42. I am uploading chapters here on tumblr for convenience. I decided against tagging this until new chapters are posted. Of course there are a few that wished to be tagged and I will be tagging them in this. If you would like to be tagged please let me know! Chapters are queued and will be posted randomly. Enjoy

As much as Elizabeth didn't want to get up and open her door, she got up anyways. She opened the door and began to say "This better be impor-" and cut herself off once she seen who was on the other side. Her hand dropped from the door knob and her mouth opened in shock. At first she didn't believe her eyes and she blinked a few times.

"Finn." She said with a grin on her face. She moved forward to hug him and he gladly hugged her back.

"Little Lizzy." He said with a smile as they pulled away from each other.

"How are you-I thought you were-" She shook her head trying to wrap her head around how Finn was alive and back in his original body.

"Lets not discuss details right now." He said with a nod. "I had heard you were staying here and figured I'd stop by and see the little girl that annoyed me so much. And I must say, you look like a mess."

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. "I haven't really slept." Then something hit Elizabeth. "Does Elijah know you are here?"

"Not yet." Before Finn could say anything else, Elizabeth pulled him into her room and shut the door.

"What are you thinking?" She asked as she smacked him over the head. Elizabeth was well aware of what Finn had attempted to do several times. And while she should loath the man for trying to kill his siblings and what eventually would have been her, she still saw Finn as the older Mikaelson, besides Elijah, that allowed Elizabeth to be as bothersome as she was as a child. The smack she had given and the question she asked was to encompass everything he attempted to do as well as what he was doing here with out talking to his siblings first. "You know they hate you."

"And I was hoping to fix that while I was here. Freya was going to help with that." He said ignoring the fact that she had smacked him.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow before sighing. She gestured for him to take a seat and he had. Sitting across from him, she smiled at him. "Now, tell Lizzy why you are really here."

Jazz music filled St. James Infirmary. Elizabeth stood at the bar with a smile on her face as she watched the band play with Elijah joining them by playing the piano. For the moment it seemed like this had been entertainment enough from what they had been through the last day. But that wasn't the case. As much as it seemed that the two were having fun and enjoying themselves, they both were watching the new vampires that arrived in town.

While Elijah would have been just fine that Elizabeth was following him around, he wasn't happy with the Strix following him. With the two in the club now, he knew that they were watching his every move and couldnt follow the one vampire that caught Elijah's attention with one eavesdropped phone call. His eyes met Elizabeth's for a moment, a way of trying to tell her to create a distraction. Elizabeth understood a moment later when his eyes flickered to the vampire a few feet away from her.

As a waitress passed, Elizabeth stopped her and compelled her before walking out into the night to wait for the vampire to walk out as well as Elijah. Waiting around the corner, she watched as the vampire walked out. She kept her eyes on the path he was going until Elijah walked out. Walking with him, they followed the vampire until to the two Strix members from the club show up in front of them.

"Well it was worth a shot." Elizabeth said crossing her arms.

Elijah nodded slightly at the Strix members in front of them. "Gentlemen."

"Come on, Elijah! I thought we agreed." Elizabeth knew that voice anywhere.

"Marcel Gerard." She said turning to face him. "It's been some time since I've actually last seen you." She was purposely trying to change the subject.

"Yes it has, Liz. And I must give it to you, the compelled waitress was a nice touch." Marcel said before turning to Elijah. "But you're the one who wanted to keep the Strix around for security."

"Maybe I was enough security for him to walk home." Elizabeth said with a shrug. But her words received a disapproving look from both Marcel and the Strixs members. "What? Just because you guys are apart of some society that I cant be there to watch over my sire?"

"Look, Liz. Its not that we don't trust you. But with there being a legion of Mikaelson enemies in town, we need the Strix to do their job."

Elijah turned to look at Marcel. "Maybe I was just looking for a little me-time."

"With Liz, following you?" Marcel wasn't buying it. "As soon as they know you are safe and sound, they will be more than happy to give you all the 'me-time' you want. But in the meantime... If you stayed PUT, maybe they could devote more of their energy to finding out who has their hands on that missing white oak bullet?"

A groan passed Elizabeth's lips. "And when you say stay put, you actually mean for him to stay locked away in his own home."

Marcel shrugged. "More or less."

Elizabeth looks to Elijah. "When was the last time you played a board game to keep yourself entertained?"

Without wasting anymore time, The Strix members and Marcel walked with Elijah and Elizabeth towards the compound. While Elizabeth wasn't excited about it, she did have some kind of distraction from it. Her phone kept buzzing from the text messages she was receiving from Malakai. And with the new one coming in, she couldnt help but chuckle. It caused Elijah to look over at her.

"Is Malakai enjoying his time with my brother?" He asked.

"From the message I just got stating, in all caps, 'Why did I agree to this trip when all they do is bicker with each other' I'd say he's not enjoying himself like he thought he would be." Elizabeth smiled down at her phone as she typed a quick reply before looking back up at Elijah. "With as much time as I've spent with him since he has been awake, there was a moment I was angry for Niklaus taking him away from me."

Elijah chuckled. "I am surprised he had actually decided to leave with my brother. I half expected him to stay by your side."

Elizabeth shrugged. "He wanted to help Niklaus. Something about the hybrids needing to stick together."

"Home sweet home." Marcel said interrupting their conversation. Both Elijah and Elizabeth walked into the compound. Marcel left, leaving the Strix members at the entry way of the compound.

The next morning, Elizabeth had woken up to several messages on her phone from Malakai.

You should see the hat Hayley bought for Klaus! It literally says Mother Trucker on it.

Ohhh she's driving now. I wonder how long before Klaus demands the keys back.

Liiiizzzzz how are you not up yet?

Woman, I swear if you're lying in bed with a certain vampire and not answering your best friend's text messages, we are going to have a problem.

Elizabeth laughed at the messages. They had all been minutes apart from each other. Quickly sending out a message that she was alright and she had been sleeping in her own bed alone, she got up and got ready for the day. Once she was to her own standards of ready, which was with light makeup and her usual style of clothing: black skinny jean, heels, and a light colored top. She left the room. Elizabeth knew that if Elijah wasn't leaving the compound because of the Strix, then she shouldn't. She wouldn't dare leave him here with them or even alone with Kol for so long. She didn't trust him still.

As she walked out of her room and down the stairs to the courtyard, she heard a voice that caused her to stop in her tracks. Walking to the entrance of the compound, she seen Lucien standing in front of two Strix members. "I wouldn't let him him." She said as she stopped right next to the two guarding the door.

"Elizabeth isn't it?" Lucien said with a small smirk on his face. "The last time I had saw you, you had just left the Strix party." That had caused Elizabeth to stiffen a bit. "Ah, I can see you still haven't gotten that part of you back yet. But think of it as a good thing, darling. If you still had that connection between the two of you, you'd have a target on your back just for others to get to him."

Elizabeth glared at him before looking to the two that were guarding. "Do not let him unless Elijah or Freya say to do so." The two nodded and Elizabeth turned to walk away.

"Oh come now love." Lucien said and that stopped her mid step. She turned around and walked back to him until she was standing on the other side of the members with Lucian. She walked up to him until their faces were inches away from each other.

"You may be older, and you may be stronger than me. But don't think for a second that I don't know what you've been up to." She said watching Lucian. She could see the flicker of shock and amusement in his eyes. "I do not trust you. I never have. It was your witch working that night. You knew before any of us did. But when Aya found out, you were the one that had placed the idea in her head through your witch. I'll gladly watch you suffer when the comes and it will Lucian."

He chuckled. "Is that a threat?"

Elizabeth only smirked before turning and walking away. She wanted to say it was a promise. But leaving it with nothing at all, felt even better to her. She headed back upstairs to find Elijah. Seeing Lucien placed a bit of fear in her. She should tell him about it. Finding him in his study with Kol, she stopped at the door. She felt it rude to interrupt anything between family, even if it had been Kol he was talking to. She listened to the conversation before Freya walked up to her.

"Whats going on in there?" She asked curiously.

"They are talking about Finn." She said with a slight nod. Freya sighed and began walking in. Elizabeth took the opportunity to follow her in.

"You're wrong." Freya said already knowing what was just said moments before. "Those rumors began before either of you returned. Finn is innocent."

"Innocent?" Kol asked looking at Freya a slight glare. "Pardon me, love, but Finn tried to kill the rest of us more than once! He's an enemy of our family."

"He had his reasons." Elizabeth said. It had caused both Elijah and Kol to look at her in shock. "While I do not approve on a majority on what he has done, he is your family."

"Finn's return is an opportunity to mend old wounds and fix what is broken." Freya said with a slight nod.

"He didn't just drop a bloody vase!" Kol said practically yelling at two. "He murdered me."

"Look at you." Elizabeth said with almost the same volume. "Look at who you were before you came back. Believe me Kol, if I had the chance to do it, I would have."

"Liz." Freya said placing her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. Elizabeth sighed softly.

"Finn isn't here to harm you." Elizabeth said. She wasn't going to mention that he had stopped by to see her, but she knew from their talk, he wasn't going to cause any problems.

Elijah took a few steps towards Elizabeth and Freya. "You both seem so certain."

"Are you honestly siding with both of them?" Kol asked and Elijah raised his hand to silence him.

"Time and time again, Finn has demonstrated nothing but contempt toward his family. So, you tell me-how can you be so certain that he would return to us in peace?" Elijah asked watching both of them.

"Trust me Elijah," Elizabeth said looking straight at him. "He wants peace between all of you." Elizabeth could see that Elijah was willing to trust her.

"Elizabeth and Freya know me well." Finn said walking into the room with his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "Though, perhaps you are right to doubt my intentions. By all means, let's discuss our family quarrels. I believe we are long overdue."

Elizabeth stepped out to let the Mikaelsons speak too each other. It wasn't her place to stay. Just as she walked out the door, her phone buzzed with a message from Malakai.

Does Elijah know that Hayley used to dance on top of bars?

Elizabeth shook her head and replied with: How am I supposed to know?

Free moonshine! I like her. She gets us free stuff.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and typed in a quick have fun and that she would text him later before she placed her phone back in her pocket. She walked over to the railing and looked down in the courtyard. It seemed that the number of Strix multiplied. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the sight of it. When she looked up from the courtyard, she seen Elijah looking down at all of them. He had been on the phone with someone and a moment later he had hung up the phone and stuck it in his inner jacket pocket.

Elizabeth was about to open her mouth to say something to him when they both heard Kol yelling. Both of them rush into the room. Once there, Elizabeth could see Kol attempting to get around Freya to get to Finn, and before she knew it, Lucien had Kol up against a book shelf with his hand around Kol's neck.

"Perhaps we should let them fight? After all, they cant kill each other." Lucian said looking to Freya.

"Behave yourselves!" Elijah's voice filled the room. "Particularly considering we will be confined here together for the foreseeable future."

Taking advantage of Lucien's distraction, Kol pushes him off and walk towards Elijah.

"What does that mean?" Kol asked.

"I believe the term is 'staycation.'" Elijah said with a slight nod. "You see, Niklaus isn't the only one who has inspired revenge fantasies. Right now, we are all at risk. So, While Marcel works to retrieve the white oak, I recommend we dispense with the posturing and get down to some good, old-fashioned family bonding."

Everyone else had seemed to react to Elijah's words. But Elizabeth hadn't. The whole time she had been watching Lucien. It seemed that either Elijah or Freya had allowed him into the compound. And as much as she had told the Strix to do so, she wished they hadn't. Her mind was reeling with thoughts and a lot of it weren't good at all. Shaking her head slightly to rid her mind with the thoughts, she looked to Elijah.

"Elijah, may I have a moment to speak with you alone?" Elizabeth asked and he nodded. The others left the room and Elijah closed the door behind them.

"What is troubling you Elizabeth?" He asked taking a few steps towards her.

" I know in the past you already dealt with Lucien, but him being here, I'm getting all the wrong vibes from him." She said watching him.

"Elizabeth, as much I thank you for your concern, I believe Lucian is the least of our worries for the time being."

"I get that we are dealing with other things, but he always has a plan up his sleeves and I honestly believe that him being here will end badly."

"Is there anything to prove that he is actually up to something?" Elijah asked not really concerned by it.

"It's Lucien, Elijah. The only proof I have is past experiences and the gut feeling that I have now that we should not be trusting him."

Elijah sighed. "I can not go off your gut instinct, Elizabeth. He has not shown any resistance in helping us. And I feel that he is not a threat to us."

Elizabeth nodded. "Just think about it though, Elijah. Why is he so suddenly interested in helping us out?"

"I believe that has something to do with Freya." Elijah said shrugging slightly. "But for now Elizabeth, it is best to leave things be and to focus on what is important right now."

"But, Elijah-"

"Enough, Elizabeth. What matters in this moment is finding that last white oak bullet. And while we are stuck in the compound my worries are on if Marcel can retrieve it or not. If he can do so, then I will look into your suspicions of Lucian, but until then, I cannot."

Elizabeth nodded. "Forgive me." She said before walking out of the room, leaving Elijah behind watching her leave.

Elizabeth once again found herself on the balcony looking out into the city. She had her phone placed to her ear and had Malakai talking away to her. She had a smile on her face, but she missed him dearly.

"At least you aren't dealing with Kol and Lucian in the same house." Elizabeth said looking out into the city

Wait, Lucien is there?

"Yes. And I have this bad feeling, Kai. It's not going to end well."

Have you spoken to Elijah about it.

"I have. But his main priority is the last white oak bullet, which I completely understand. " She paused for a minute. "Let's not talk about Lucien."

Okay, Any luck on the spell?

Elizabeth chuckled. "Davina is going to help me with it. She is supposed to be coming by later to actually do the spell. I'm nervous, Kai."

What for? It is one spell to get back what you lost and then you have nothing to worry about. It may be a hell of a lot of pain, but isn't it worth it.

"It is." She said with a sigh. "If Davina can undo it-"

She can undo it. Stop doubting it all. Later on tonight you should be your old self again.

"I should be. And hopefully, I will feel a lot better."

I'm sure you will.

"Now tell me about where you are at and what you are doing without actually telling me where exactly you are at." She said with a smile. While Elizabeth continued her conversation with Malakai, she was unaware of Lucien standing just behind the door listening in on the beginning of the conversation. He walked away quietly with a smirk on his face. Pulling out his phone he began to dial a number. Once the person on the other end answered, all Lucien said was "Be ready to receive two, not one."

Forgotten Alliance Tag: @mschellehitt

#the originals #The vampire diaries #forgotten alliance #series #ffnet to tumblr #Elijah Mikaelson x oc #Eventual Elizabeth x Elijah

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halidomhappenings · 5 years

Note

Are you guys going to do a feedback form this time? 0:

We’ve discussed this, as circumstances surrounding this event have been less than ideal compared to the previous two, the answer is no… Formally.

Details below the cut.

I won’t go into much detail as to Mod Anna and Mod Emmeryn as that is their choice what they wish to make public, but people who follow awakenedprince may have noticed a rather dire post, or at least read the tags and got the jist of it. The other mods aren’t going through the same thing thankfully, but none of our lives are particularly easy at the moment, and we couldn’t predict that when we set the dates.

So how does this relate to the question?

Essentially, we know a fair few of our shortcomings. We know the event wasn’t as lively as usual, and that our dash engagament could have been better. Being told certain things when we already know can be disheartening. That doesn’t mean we should avoid critisisms; why else would we have had feedback forms/participant opinions in the past? It’s more that certain points wouldn’t help for next time, so there’s little point in the things we already know. An obvious example is the lack of closing posts… The last post on the blog is an ask meme I myself wrote, but no end of the night post as such was queued up. It’s poor organisation, but it’s something we’re aware of between us so would already improve for next time, hopefully.

We had a choice here: postpone the event until we’re all more stable in our real lives, but to an unknown point as we don’t necessarily know when that will be, or go ahead and do our best. Despite the difficulties, only a single match post was late, and that was contribution there as my house randomly ok actually it was my fault flooded that morning, and dealing with the aftermath was more important than making sure that match wasn’t 10 minutes late.

All things considered, we’re happy with what we did. It was not our best attempts, but under the circumstances, we’re proud of managing. That’s why we’re not making a feedback form this time, as it’s not going to be clear what we can improve on, versus the compromises we had to make for this event to take place at all. For example, “there weren’t enough joust spaces, I think you should have done 16 like the spring tourney” is fine usually, but we physically couldn’t have done this time due to personal circumstances on all fronts, so even with the best of intentions, it wouldn’t be a useful comment.

…Now that example is innocent enough. Unfortunately, we have found that the anonymous use of the surveys we write up have been abused before. There was also an incident last time with people getting a certain message degrading one of us via anon, which is not ok, and our tolerance for is particularly strict right now as the last thing we need is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I even remember an anon wanting proof that the survey was anonymous, which whilst it could be due to shyness/nerves about our reacting to a critisism, under the circumstances looked more like they needed to know that they were safe to abuse the system. If that anon is reading this and had innocent intentions, I am really sorry, but one malicious anon breaks trust for the others. We will always act such that we are assuming someone is being innocent until proven otherwise, but we have to take precautions for our own mental health.

The feedback forms are so we know how to improve. However, it can be cathartic to get your views seen. Also, there may be something we genuinley haven’t considered, or can’t be worked out ourselves. Personally, if we were doing a form this time, I would have asked for ideas on getting new muns involved, as I recognised the pen names of the majority of 3H muses, and only saw new ones after the event had already started - too late for signups. We made multiple attempts to encourage new participants, but clearly we weren’t too succesful. That is something that would be constructive, if anyone has a solution. There are other matters too, but that’s just an example of what I mean compared too “more entries please” when we physically couldn’t.

So why did I specify formally? Exactly for the above paragraph. I am about to remove anon for as long as we feel necessary. If you have something you really want to tell us, then feel free! Even if it is “more slots please”, we’re not banning such questions because hey, it’s still feedback. We’ll just be less likely to respond compared to something really unique that hadn’t crossed our minds. We will be reading and discussing everything, however.

The reason anon is being removed is exactly due to the former abuse mentioned. Normally we would shrug it off to give shyer/more anxious muns the freedom to communicate with us, but as mentioned, none of us really feel up to to handling that. Not now. I am incredibly sorry to anyone who wants to speak to us with pure intentions but isn’t comfortable with having their url on show to us; unforutnately, that opportunity has been ruined due to prior bad experiences. We will return it when we feel prepared to mentally filter misues out.

So to sum up, we are taking feedback, but only via askbox/submit, but anon has been removed. If you don’t feel comfortable with us knowing who you are, you might want to stop and consider if you’re being shy, or there’s another reason.

- Mod Chrom

#halidomhappenings ;; inquiries #Mod Chrom #I am so sorry for how negative it seems but we did talk this over and I felt it fair to give you guys a proper explanation!#we're not saying feedback is bad for us #just that we're aware of some issues already #and we know the issues with anon for the wrong reasons #Anonymous #long post

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aquaquadrant · 5 years

Link

Title: it wears a mask Chapter Warnings: Language, mention of violence/injury Summary: Beck has a change of heart at the trainyard and takes Peter captive instead. In many ways, it turns out much, much worse. (NOT SLASH)

Chapter Ten

“Flex your fingers. Any pain?”

Peter fans out the fingers of his right hand. “No.”

Virgil nods approvingly. “Now make a fist. Anything?”

Peter curls his fingers into a fist. “Nope.”

“Good.” Virgil tucks the Velcro cast away into his case and gives Peter a grin. “I’d say you’re all set.”

“Thank you,” Peter murmurs, brushing his fingers along his knuckles. “Really, it… it means a lot.”

There’s no sign of the previous injury in his knuckles, and despite the extra workout he’s been getting for a week now, it feels like it’s at full strength. Virgil was right; it’s a complete recovery. But the same can’t be said for the one on his face. With all the sutures out, Peter can lightly trail his fingers across the former wound, feeling the ridges of scarred skin.

Virgil must guess where his thoughts are. “Hey, don’t worry about that,” he says kindly. “It looks badass.”

It doesn’t make Peter feel better. He doesn’t want to look badass, he wants to look normal. But he can appreciate the effort, and manages a small smile. “Thanks.”

Strange as it is, Peter has to admit he feels a sort of fondness towards the medic. All Virgil has done is take care of Peter’s injuries and show him some basic decency, but it’s far preferable to the crushing isolation or Beck’s unnerving mind games. When Peter’s with him, he feels… not safe, entirely, but much less on edge, and that’s got to be worth something.

Peter hasn’t forgotten that Virgil is the enemy. He’s complacent in Peter’s imprisonment. But the way Peter sees it, it’s better to accept the kindness when offered, to find someone in this lion’s den to align himself with. And if he’s being honest… he hopes he’ll get through to Virgil eventually. He can tell the man has a good heart, despite it all. Maybe he’ll be Peter’s way out of here.

Peter lets his smile fall away. “I’m… I’m sorry we had to meet like this,” he says quietly, and truly means it. “I think it would’ve been cool to know you in, uh… different circumstances.”

Virgil’s brows crease together, and he sighs. It’s a heavy sigh, almost tired. “Yeah, me too, kid,” he says.

Peter’s heart misses a beat. Out of the corner of his eyes, he’s very aware of the drone observing them from its corner. He has no way of knowing if someone is watching them right now, but this might be his only chance. Right now, Virgil seems… conflicted, and if Peter’s careful, he might be able to plant the seeds of changing Virgil’s mind.

“Hey, Virgil?” he asks hesitantly. “Do you-”

The cell door opens, and Beck strides in.

Peter closes his mouth, suppressing the urge to jump at the sudden movement. A sinking feeling forms in his stomach at the expression on Becks’ face. He looks… almost eager, which probably doesn’t mean anything good for Peter.

“Alright,” Beck says, putting his hands on his hips expectantly, “we all wrapped up here?”

Virgil nods, standing up from the bed. “Yep, he’s all better.” There’s a sudden hint of tension in Virgil’s shoulders, and an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

“Good.” Beck grins at Peter. “Now say goodbye to Virgil, hopefully we won’t be needing his services again.”

It takes a second to process. Now that Peter’s injuries are healed, he doesn’t have a reason to see Virgil anymore. He probably won’t get more than a passing glance of him on his way to and from his exercise. The realization is abrupt, and hits hard. The only person here Peter’s really connected with, and now he won’t get to see him again.

It’s salt in the wound, and Peter has a feeling Beck is fully aware of it.

Peter fights not to let his upset show on his face. He meets Virgil’s gaze. “See you around,” he offers.

Virgil smiles sadly. “Yeah, see you.”

The medic leaves the cell, leaving Peter and Beck alone.

Peter eyes Beck warily. Beck seems to realize right away what he’s wondering, and holds out his arm with a sigh. “Go on and check.”

Peter feels his cheeks heat up, but he takes the invitation nonetheless and checks that Beck isn’t an illusion. He can’t quite explain why it’s so important to him to know. If Beck is away from the base and uses a projection of himself to talk to Peter, there’s no harm in that. So why does the possibility leave Peter uneasy?

Peter sits back on the bed. “So, did you… want to talk to me?” he asks. There’s almost a visible sense of purpose in Beck, something that’s not quite excitement and not quite impatience. Anticipation?

“More like show you something,” Beck says. “Herod, would you play that recording I queued up, pal?”

The drone fires up, an imagine blinking to life against the wall. Peter immediately goes cold with dread. It’s been a while since he’s been shown any news reports about the London attack, but he can’t imagine what else Beck would be showing him.

A smartly dressed woman appears in the projection. There’s a vague familiarity about her, and Peter frowns as he tries to think-

“Welcome back to Queens Daily News,” the woman says. “Next is an update about the ongoing ‘Spidey Watch.’ We are approaching the third week of local superhero Spider-Man’s absence, and crime is on the rise.”

It hits Peter. This is the news reporter from his local station back home. He remembers May watching the morning celebrity dish as he got ready for school, and coming home from a successful Spider-Man outing to watch her report on it. And she’s talking about him.

“Though it wasn’t that long ago that the red and blue crusader disappeared from our city rooftops, many are taking advantage of the hero’s absence. So far there have been nearly a dozen reported muggings and two armed robberies at local businesses, the most recent of which left three people hospitalized.”

Peter’s blood turns to ice. He doesn’t have a lot of enemies, not really, and he knows his presence deters pettier crimes from being carried out. But that’s a double-edged sword, because now that he’s not there, it’ll be even more tempting to take advantage of the opportunity.

Now that he’s not there, innocent people are suffering.

“Following this most recent crime,” the woman continues, “the NYPD moved to address public unrest. Captain Stacy of the 110th precinct released this statement, regarding the jump in crime rates following the web-slinger’s disappearance.”

The image changes to footage of a stern man in uniform standing at a podium, a small crowd of reporters before him.

“The masked vigilante known as Spider-Man is not and has not ever been an employee of the NYPD,” the man says. “Prior occasions of cooperation between said individual and NYPD officers were spontaneous, unorganized events. His identity and whereabouts are not known to anyone at the NYPD, and we have received no contact from him. That said, certain measures should be taken by Queens residents in the face of the recent crime wave. We recommend residents limit their travel at night and alone, and invest in a home security system. The NYPD will be running extra patrols around the city as a precaution.”

The image shifts back to the news reporter. “If you have any information or pictures of Spider-Man, you can post them to our Facebook page. Our next story is a-”

The projection disappears.

Peter stares at the blank wall for a second afterwards, extremely conscious of Beck’s gaze resting on him. He exhales slowly. “Why did you show me that?”

“Well, I figured you’d appreciate a little update,” Beck says, his voice smug. “Seeing as you’re a bit out of the loop at the moment.”

Peter glances at Beck. He wants to feel angry at Beck’s spitefulness, but instead he just feels hollow. “So the public thinks Spider-Man just… vanished.” His throat closes up. “What- what do they think happened to Peter Parker? What does May think?”

Beck studies him for a moment, as if debating whether or not to answer. “All she knows is that you went missing before the conference in Berlin,” he says eventually. “Hill’s side of the government thinks that you couldn’t handle the pressure of superhero life and ran away. The normie side of the government thinks Peter Parker is another tragic case of an American teenager going missing in a foreign country. Trafficking, probably.”

Peter cringes. That probably means his school believes that, too- everyone minus Ned and MJ, of course. And after that rumor Brad started… oh boy, he’s going to have to come up with a hell of an explanation for all this when he gets back.

“And May?” Peter asks. “What does she think?”

Beck shrugs. “Wouldn’t know, haven’t asked her. But I’m told she insists you wouldn’t have run.”

Peter swallows. “So she thinks something must’ve happened to me.” A pit opens up in his stomach. He runs a hand through his hair. “God. Please, isn’t- isn’t there anything you can do? Just to let her know I’m okay?”

Beck tilts his head, considering. “Oh, sure. I could let her in on the secret, absolutely.” He lifts a finger. “As long as you’re okay with having drone surveillance on her, twenty-four-seven.”

Frustrated tears spring to Peter’s eyes. “No, that’s… no. I don’t want that.”

“Then she’ll just have to keep wondering,” Beck says simply. “But hey, ignorance can be bliss sometimes. How much better do you think she’d feel if she knew where you really were?”

Peter glares down at his hands. He hates the idea of May not knowing what happened to him. But he has to admit that he hates the idea of her knowing even more. It already burns him up inside that Ned and MJ have to deal with the fact that he’s captured and they can’t do anything about it, can’t even tell anyone. He doesn’t want someone else he cares about going through that, if he can help it.

“Not much,” he answers finally.

“Yeah,” Beck agrees. “Best to keep her in the dark.”

He takes a step forward as he speaks, and Peter processes the movement a second too late. Something sharp jabs into his shoulder, a needle-thin sting piercing his muscle. An instant flood of fatigue sweeps over Peter, drenching him as thoroughly as a wave. He turns his head in time to see Beck withdraw a little pen-shaped object; his last fleeting thought recognizes it as a tranquilizer.

And then everything goes black.

~*~

Beck tucks the tranquilizer away as Peter collapses onto the bed.

It would’ve been easier to drug Peter’s food, but he didn’t want to risk Peter noticing and getting set on edge. Plus, he wants to avoid a situation where Peter becomes distrustful of his food and refuses to eat. Beck wouldn’t put it past him. So he gets a chance to use the tranquilizer pen again; it’s a win-win.

Beck strides through the door, not bothering to close it behind him. “Alright, folks, let’s get moving,” he calls.

Almost everything in the base has already been packed up and prepared for the move, their tech carefully tucked away into unassuming wooden crates and loaded into generic moving vans. Beck saved Peter for last; it’s going to be a long drive to the private airfield, load up, cross-continental flight, and second drive to the new facility. The tranquilizer should keep Peter under long enough to make the trip, but Beck figured it’d be best to wait until the last possible minute.

He’s not sorry to say goodbye to the temporary headquarters. The age of the historic building made certain things difficult, and its central location in the old district of town meant they had to keep a lower profile, take extra precautions. It’ll be nice to have a remote, secure facility to really stretch his legs in. And test his drones in full-throttle.

It’s a bit of a mad rush as the final loads are sent off, his team gradually distributing themselves between the vans and unmarked cars. When they’re gone, there will be no sign they were ever here; putting up some drywall and flooring in Peter’s room, and tile in his bathroom, makes it look like an oddly placed- but not suspicious- bonus room. Definitely not a secret concrete cell.

Before Beck leaves himself, he checks on Peter. The boy is being transported in this neat little chamber about the general size of a coffin- disturbing thought, but apt comparison. It’s glass, with a padded inside and carefully monitored air and temperature controls. He’s strapped down in it, not out of any concern of him waking up but more so that he doesn’t get jostled around during the move.

He looks younger when he’s sleeping, Beck notes. That scar on his face is a brutal thing, but it’s softened by the slack in his face.

After a final check that everything’s in order, Beck pats the top of the chamber and sends Peter off to get loaded into the last truck.

“Happy trails, Peter,” he calls, mostly for his own amusement. He taps the watch on his wrist, a newer addition after the nightmare incident. “Edith, bring the car around front.”

On to bigger and better things.

~*~

#spiderman far from home #spiderman ffh #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #marvel fanfiction #my writing

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underoos-shield · 6 years

Text

without a word vii

summary: meeting the parents of his dream girl was more nerve racking than he had anticipated

warning: contains the most fluff yet.

A/N: ahhhhhh!!!! i hope you guys like this chapter! sorry it took so long to put out, i’m actually terrible when it comes to actually writing down what i want to happen haha.

<< 04 05 06

“pete, are you ready?”, y/n asks from outside his bedroom door. she knew better than to walk in on him and see him half naked, again. she leans her ear up against the door to see if she could hear what he was doing, already knowing she wouldn’t get an answer from him. her brows furrow as it’s silent on the other side. “pete-“, the door opens and she lets out a little yelp from the sudden change.

peter is staring unknowingly at her, questioning the outfit. it wasn’t something he would usually wear. and his hair was freed from its usual gelled-back style, as well, washed out from the shower he took earlier. “oh, you-um. you look really good”, she compliments, both of their cheeks turning pink. all she wanted to do was run her fingers through his chocolate tendrils of curls.

peter stays there, blushing like a fool in front of her. the more she stares at him, the more convinced he is that he looks nice. he smiles and nervously runs a hand through his locks. her breath hitched and she had to stop herself from reaching up and touching him. “we should get going”, she whispers mostly to herself. she couldn’t look into those hazelnut-colored eyes of his any longer.

y/n quickly grabs her bag and walks out of peter’s apartment, him following closely behind.

______________

the train ride to her house is agonizing. negative thoughts ran through peter’s mind that made his hands sweat. he’s starting to get annoyed at the one curl that’s managed to fall back into his line of vision for the third time now. he should’ve put some hair gel on. peter’s right leg shakes violently as he silently scolds himself. he should’ve just stayed home. peter subconsciously rubs his palms on his pants. he didn’t think he’s ever been this nervous before. ‘please like me’ he chants in his own head. ‘please’.

“hey, come back to me”, a soft voice coos. y/n’s looking over at him and squeezing his arm. he comes back to real life for a moment and glances over at her. she has a concerned expression on her face, like she can tell he’s second guessing himself. “you look great”, she says with a smile.

she was perfect, that’s was exactly what he needed to hear. he needed some reassurance that he wasn’t going crazy and he would be okay. she always said the right thing. and it was always what he needed to hear, always perfect. she was perfect...but peter didn’t say anything, just smiled at the ground and thought of her, his mind being consumed once again.

y/n smiled after she saw the calm wash over him. she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and trusting peter to make sure they were going to get off at the right stop. she sighed and drifted off.

peter turned to her, his nose almost burying itself in her thick hair. he wanted to press his nose against her head and smell the shampoo she used that morning. but he didn’t, just got lost in the way she was still holding his arm while everyone else faded away. nobody else mattered to peter. to them, they were the only two people on the train. just him, peter, and y/n, the girl of his dreams

_____________

peter stares up at the large brownstone from the bottom step. her house was way bigger than he thought it would be. he felt a bit insecure about his small apartment now, it was so tiny compared to her much larger house. y/n knocks and turns to smile reassuringly at peter, only to see him at the bottom step. she hops down onto the second one, making them eye to eye. peter blinks at her. “they don’t bite, you know”, y/n teases. his face flushes and she lets out a little “c’mon. dinner’s ready” she says and leads him to the door.

peter’s eyes widen at how big it was inside. it was so roomy but he couldn’t help but feel trapped. he was about to meet her parents. peter swallows. it just settled in how nervous he was. “you must be peter”. a man, y/n’s father, emerges from the kitchen with an extended hand. peter’s breathing is shallow, but he lifts a shaky hand to meet her father’s, unintentionally gripping his. “c’mon have a seat, we’ll talk”.

talk

peter doesn’t talk. he hasn’t in years and tonight might be the night where he’ll have to finally speak. he looks over nervously at y/n. “don’t worry. you’re safe”, she coos with another gentle squeeze of his arm. he believes her.

peter feels as his legs are numb because he didn’t remember walking into the dining room. and he certainly didn’t feel his left leg bouncing nervously as he sat through dinner. not until she placed a hand on his knee. she did it so casually as she answered a question her father asked her, her hand sliding off the table and slipping over his knee, immediately making him stop and hold his breath. she continued on like it was nothing, but it was everything to peter.

his eyes slipped down to stare at his lap. and it was true, her hand was really there, thumb rubbing onto his jeans and the warmth spreading through his entire body.

peter suddenly felt so aware. he can feel himself calming down, can hear the food being cut across the table. he’s so grounded right now and it’s so peaceful.

peter’s eyes trail up to follow her hand to her wrist, and then to her shoulder and then to her gorgeous face. and he’s studying her face for far too long because he’s thinking of where her beauty marks are on her cheeks before his eyes meet them for the dozenth time.

“isn’t that right, peter?”. peter fell out of his gaze to meet 3 pairs of eyes. there’s a smile on y/n’s lips, a small smile at the realization of what she does to him. he takes a breath and runs his fingers through his hair, just realizing that most of it fell toward the front of his face. he smiles politely at y/n’s parents and signs “help” quickly, under the table.

“didn’t you skip a grade?”, she says, a tone in her voice that peter can’t quite place. maybe cockiness? “because you’re a genius right?”, she says, taking it a step further. he gave her a look that said “stop... but i secretly love it. keep going”, and shook his head.

“a genius, huh?”, y/n’s mother said. he shrugs, meaning yes but he’s trying to be as modest as he can, and lets out a silent laugh. y/n continues on to praise the love struck-teenage boy. his cheeks flush red and he takes a drink of water to hide it.

_____________

her arms were wrapped around his right arm as she leaned into him, both walking to the corner of her block. he had a smile on his face and was supporting her sleepy form. peter had stayed a bit past 10pm and it was finally time go home. she was so happy peter had loosened up by the end of dinner, hearing a small laugh from him for the first time.

he noticed that her parents didn’t ask him questions that needed an open-ended answer. just yes and no questions. peter’s heart races. he wondered if she warned them that he didn’t speak, and he was right. ‘you’re safe’

y/n sighed as she walked him to the light. “i don’t want you to go”, she sighs. she’s looking up at him and almost pleading him not to leave. he’d stay in a heartbeat. but it was late and aunt may wasn’t working the night shift for the first time that week.

y/n slips her arms around his waist and perches her chin on his chest so she’s looking directly up at him. he could reach down and kiss her if he really wanted to. he really wanted to. “don’t go”, she whispers. peter smiles at her. his eyes are hooded and he keeps staring between her eyes and her lips. there were cars honking and people walking around them but he didn’t notice. just saw her. the red and green flashed against her skin. she looked so cool.

he sighs, and rubs his fingers along her skin. he didn’t want her to get cold, but it was so warm in their little world, he just wanted to stay there forever.

a small shiver brought her back to reality and she reached up to kiss his cheek. ‘goodnight peach’, she signed. he smiled at her. ‘goodnight’.

she gave him one last smile before walking back down to her large brownstone. he was turned from the street, watching her. peter made sure she got there safe and even waited until he saw the front door close. then he headed home.

chapter 8

________

taglist: @cheedee @tomsfireheart @brklynrogers @aubreylovesthegames @farfromjustordinary @spideychronicles @lovelyh0lland @eastcoasthaven @revenqers @iamburdened @petersshirts @cqrstqirs-rosqles @parkersletters @yourpal-yourbuddy-yourbuckyy ( @hollandandi @peterpxrxer when this posted i wasn’t aware that it was queued and it wasn’t finished. i’m sorry! haha)

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suhyunfmd-blog · 5 years

Text

hello everyone ( good morning, afternoon or night depending on your timezone, i have to wake up really early tomorrow because of college so this post will be queued, i hope it posts at the right time lmfao ) . my name is chloe ( 18 years old, college student & she/her. english is not my first language so if you see any typos or weird sentences that’s why ) and this is my baby kang suhyun, 1/5 of fuse, just trying her best despite being hated a lot. i thought i’d have time to make a plots page but no ( i had time but got lazy, i’m sorry. exposed. ) so below i’ll leave a few basic connections and a little tl;dr?? on suhyun since it’s easier for most people especially if you’re using your phone. please give her a lot of love ♡

[ her profile ; her biography ]

tw: mentions of death, eating disorder (if you see a [ * ], it means that those topics and mentioned there, please skip if you don’t feel comfortable reading, even tho i don’t give any triggering details. a second [ * ] means that what is written afterwards doesn’t mention anything related to those topics)

basic things: she was born on january 31st, 1999 in seoul, south korea. has a younger brother, her father is the ceo of a hospital and her stepmother is a housewife.

[ * ] her mother died after giving birth to suhyun. her father doesn’t have a super close relationship with suhyun because of that, seeing suhyun reminds him of her mother so yea. [ * ] always gave suhyun everything she wanted as a way of making up for the lack of attention. suhyun didn’t turn into a cold sad bitch because her stepmother always took care of her and gave her tons of love. tried really hard to be the perfect girl, was on the top of her class and always did what her parents wanted but her father likes her brother more lmfao

just like her father found his escape in his job, suhyun found an escape on music and kpop groups. started taking dance classes and would spend her days in dance studios. dad was quite dissapointed in suhyun’s dream but she wasn’t going to take a no as an answer, like always. auditioned for bc in 2011 but got rejected. auditioned for happy ent. mid 2011 and left the company late 2011 since they weren’t thinking of debuting any ggs soon. auditioned for gold star media in 2012, saw impulse and origin debut and thought that maybe they’d be like her old company and wouldn’t debut any gg soon. fuse happened.. but she wasn’t part of it. was about to leave the company until she heard some rumours about adding a new member to fuse, she ended up getting called and was informed that she’d be the new maknae - it was something along the lines of wanting the group to look younger and fresh so they needed someone her age

i’m pretty sure most of u are aware of the amount of hate yerim got once she was added into red velvet so i guess you can imagine what suhyun went through. [ * ] she fell into a really bad place, lost a lot of weight because of the stress she was under ( her relationship with food was really bad, she’s currently recovering from her eating disorder but it’s not easy ), [ * ] her personality changed so much she went from being a super stubborn ready to fight girl to being shy, scared and reserved. suhyun really had to find help in order to change her mindset (slightly) and that’s when the whole fake extra personality on camera started

so basically: she wanted to deleted the whole victim image she had, she didn’t want to be the one who ruined fuse or the shy kid around, she wanted the spotlight and the love the other members had so she started to act all bright and extra on variety shows, people thought she was over the whole negative feedback bUT GUESS WHAT that’s a lie. while she’s better now and all that jazz, suhyun is not as energetic as she shows - she’s quite easy to befriend, she loves attention and feeling loved but deep down she’s been hurt so many times and is still seen as the bitch in the eyes of the ot4 stans. her smiles might not be real at times but she’s caring and is truly there for everyone even tho she can’t be nice to herself lol ( she hates expressing her feelings, just a ps ).

as for the connections ( really basic ones )

the whole best friends thing. i don’t think i need to add anything to this

crushes. males or females, suhyun is into both

ex s.o from trainee days. must be around her age, ‘98-’00, i’ll open it to any company

current love interest. same requirements as the ex s.o

even tho i don’t see suhyun having enemies i think that would be fun to try

a muse that is like her mom and was with her during hard time. cute.

and idk more, i’ll be more than happy to read everyone’s plot pages and help fill all the wanted connections so feel free to send me something!

#┋ &. ooc #i tried really hard not to write a lot of stuff but once i start i just can't stop #i'm v sorry lmfao

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seungmin-jpeg · 6 years

Text

Stray Kids On Tumblr / Felix

Chan // Woojin // Minho // Changbin // Hyunjin // Jisung // Felix // Seungmin // Jeongin

I have waited a long time to write this one

Half the reason i started this series was to write for him tbh

Anyways

Started his blog long before he became a trainee

But A LOT of effort into it

Spent hours looking for the perfect desktop theme

Then spent a day working on it to make it have is own little ‘felix flare’

And then spent hoooooours working on his mobile header

Naturally very proud of his blog

Works really hard to make good posts

Majority is just memes

Or recreations of memes

Reblogs a lot of old vines

He’s the type of blog to get all those weird random asks from people

And he always has witty comebacks

So sometimes his posts will blow up

He just has that typical tumblr humor

And it really made his blog blow up

Ends up having one famous post with like 100k reblogs and is still growing and he still thinks its the dumbest posts he’s made his whole life

But thats tumblr for you

Sometimes he’d be working on a big post

And then tumblr would do that dumb thing

Where it freezes on you and you cant post things

The amounts of times his family heard him yelling from up in his room as tumblr crashed on him yet again

anyways

Honestly wasn’t super aware of kpop

But like

Of course he knew about it

And then he made it through the audition

And he was like oh hey

I kinda gotta figure out whats going on here

So he

Like the smart person he is

Searches through the tumblr tag

And oh yikes

The majority of the tag was bts and got7

And he was like

Sweet

And then staff at the company told him watching kdramas will always help him learn korean

Because of this extreme change in his life

And the need to learn the language as fast as possible

He searches for some good kdramas to watch

So again he turns to tumblr

And he finds some good recommendations

But he cant reblog it to his main blog

Because ??? he cant expose himself like this to all he’s meme followers

So he real quick makes a side blog for all his kpop/kdrama needs

And reblogs a few kdrama recommendations

And a few kpop song recommendations as well

But he’s only find rec’s for all those old classic kdramas

Like playful kiss and boys over flowers

Not really his speed yah know

So thats when he stumbles across your blog

He had just found one of your posts about kdramas

And he real quick messages you on anon and was like hey have any recs

And you were like YES!!!1!!1!

So you gave him a good list

Grouping them by themes and such

And then highlighted some of your favorites

He ended up being drawn to one title

“Uncontrollably fond”

And you had mentioned that it was really sad

So he googled it to try and see what it was about

And when you google it one of the first things it says about the drama is

“A man and woman meet again after they broke up in the past.”

So he was like alright that one it is

Catch him later trying to find out who wrote that description because there was so much more to that drama

He literally could not put it down

Lowkey forgot half way through he was supposed to be trying to learn korean

Watched an episode every night before bed

Because yah know he was packing and stuff

Part of it helped with the stress of leaving his home and such

The other part was just because it was super addicting to watch

Of course he had to take a small break of watching it just because life got to hectic with packing and everything

But he had an overlay on the way to korea

So he watched the drama at the airport

Catch this teenage boy trying not to cry in the airport omg

As he sat in the airport he was like

I gotta talk to someone about this

So he searched up your blog again and left an ask

And because you’re always on tumblr you got it right away.

“Im sitting in the airport on the verge of tears because of uncontrollably fond why’d you recommend this to me”

You chuckled to yourself as you read his ask

“I told you it’d be sad!” you finally decided to answer

You had totally forgotten about the person who had asked for recs

It was nice to see them again

The two of you talked back and forth for a bit

And then you got a message

“I got tired of leaving asks so i’m just going to message you now. A lot easier.”

You asked him when his flight was, and how much of the show you had left

And he was like

Not enough time

He was to invested now

You recommended maybe waiting to watch the last few episodes until he was alone and had a box of tissues

Earning a laugh from him

Like the curious person you are

You asked him where he was going

And he just kinda said korea and then asked about the soundtrack to the drama

So you didn’t push anymore

Because it seemed like something he didn’t really want to talk about

So inteast you talked about the soundtrack

Found out he really really liked the song “a little braver”

So you listened to the song while you talked with him

While you waited for him to get back to you

You scrolled through his blog

It was kinda sad looking and had the default theme

And he had a random mix of kpop and kdrama recs

So you asked him if he was new to the whole kpop/kdrama world

And he was like “kinda”

Cue you saying if he ever wanted any recs on anything to ask you because you got him

And he just chuckled and said he had to catch his flight, but he’d remember that

And that he’d message you as soon as he finished the drama

Later in the week you got a message from some random meme blog

About uncontrollably fond

And you were like wtf

Why is this popular weird meme blog messaging me about a kdrama

So you were like um who???

And he was like shoot wrong blog!!

Then switched to his kpop blog

You laughed to yourself thinking about how yet another person had been converted to the dark side

Little did you know

He was PART OF the dark side

You followed his main blog too

Because why not

And the two of you talked a lot

You found out what a big jokester he was

And just how funny he could be

But that he was also super emotional and wore his feelings on his sleeve

The two of you went from talking about kdramas and random kpop things to little parts of your day

He’d complain to you about learning korean and the language barrier issues he’d always run into

And how tired he was at the end of the day

And you’d tell him about school

And the little things about your country you felt like he would like hearing about

The two of you never even exchanged names

Just referred to each other as your urls

Months past

He wasn’t on tumblr as much

Even his main blog started to stop posting

Which he always at least had queued up stuff

You’d leave him little encouraging messages every now and then

But he’d always take forever to respond

Instead

You occupied yourself with the new show jyp was putting out

Becoming way to invested for your own good

And getting especially drawn to a certain member named felix

Something felt familiar about him

And you felt really drawn to him

But you just assumed it was because of his personality

And the fact that he could speak english

Then the dreaded day came

Felix was eliminated

And you felt like the world had swallowed all your joy

You decided to message your kdrama friend

Just a simple hey

And he actually responded to your disbelief

He seemed just as down as you

So you two just ended up being sad together

And then you were like

Isn’t it like 3am there?

He was like yah

You were like ??? go to bed ???

He said he couldn’t fall asleep so you suggested watching a movie

So the two of you headed over to rabb.it

Ended up watching Your Name

Half way through the movie he ended up asking you why you were so upset

So you told him that your favorite person from a survival show had been eliminated

And you could see he wasn’t typing anything after you had sent the message off

So you asked him why he was upset

You watched him type something

Then delete it

Type it up again

Then delete it again

It went on for a bit before you little ‘pop’ sounded and his message came in

“I got eliminated off a survival show” it read

And you were ???

Do you take this seriously or not ???

So you just kinda said “are you okay”

And he was like maybe

So you asked how he was maybe okay

He replied by saying that it was nice to have someone to talk to who wasn’t in the show itself but also wasn’t family

Youre super confused now because this is felix you’ve been talking too???

When you actually sat back and thought about it

The timeline all made sense

It would make sense if this was actually felix

The movie now long forgotten played on as you asked him if he was really felix

And he responded with a funny little smilie face

“I am but you really can’t tell anyone”

“Felix aren’t you supposed to not be doing this? I thought they took away phones and stuff tho??”

He explained everything and it all made sense but you were still shook to the core because youre talking with the felix lee right now

But you took the chance to tell him everything every fan wanted to tell him at that moment

You told him how proud you and everyone else was of him

And how people were already working on making sure both him and minho ended up back in stray kids

And by the way he talked you could tell he was happier

Not much later you were excitedly congratulating him on making it back in

And everything was perfect

Because the weird person asking you about kdramas

Months and months later ended up being the person you loved the most

Without even knowing it

The two of you had a special secret friendship that no one knew about

And no one would know about for a long long time

And you were honestly okay with that

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redvelvetreel · 6 years

Text

Red Velvet Reel 4.5: A Crabapple A Day

[Fic Directory]

Pairing: [Married] Spicyhoney (Underfell Papyrus x Underswap Papyrus)

Summary: Edge is incredibly unhappy, Undyne is incredibly nervous, and Stretch tries to keep them both from self/outwardly imploding.

Characters: Edge (Underfell Papyrus) & Stretch (Underswap Papyrus) & Red (Underfell Sans) & Blue (Underswap Sans) & Undyne (Underswap Undyne)

Contains: Mpreg/Skelepreg! Iatrophobia (fear of doctors)! Anxiety manifesting as aggression! Awkward & Anxious Swapdyne! Stretch & Undyne being buddies!

Rating: Teen and up! (I guess?)

Note: Hello! This is still a queued post! I’ll try to edit the links as soon as possible, but since I only have mobile access right now, it’s a little tough… But I’ll get to it eventually! Thank you for your support! <3

“UGH.” Edge looked disgusted. “Terrible. Absolutely horrendous.”

Undyne cleared her throat, clicking her pen and holding her clipboard professionally. “Why don’t we get started. I’m Dr. Undyne, and-“ she stopped suddenly, earfins drooping as she seemed to collapse on herself. “I... I already introduced... myself...”

She stood up abruptly, heading towards the door, “That was really stupid... I’m, uh- I should maybe-“

“Undyne!” Stretch pulled her into a big hug that had her squeak in surprise, lifting her clear off the floor. He nuzzled the back of her head like she was a toy, and she clung to his arms as if afraid of falling. Undyne looked suddenly much more relaxed, for whatever reason.

“It’s going tibia ok! Edge won’t bite you or anything! He’s a lot more nervous about this than you are!”

Edge narrowed his eyes, stung by that inadvertent betrayal. “Doubtful,” he sneered, “You reek of fear.”

“Edge,” Stretch’s voice took on that rare warning tone, giving him that vaguely disappointed quasi-judgemental look that never failed to make Edge actually feel (a little) bad, “Play nice.“

Undyne leaned toward her armpit discreetly, sniffing the fabric a little too loudly to go unnoticed. “I knew I should have taken that extra shower...” she mumbled to herself, cheeks flushed in mortification.

Stretch squeezed her to get her attention, continuing with an obvious undertone of pride, “My Dyne-amo’s a great friend, and an even better doctor! She’s hardworking and honest, and has a great bedside manner! She owns up to her mistakes and works hard to fix them, so you couldn’t be in more capable hands!”

Edge held his tongue, watching actual sparkles manifest by his husband’s head with a carefully neutral expression. That was hardly reassuring, but Blue was right- isolating her would do him no favors. He would just bide his time until he could find a more suitable physician, if necessary. He gripped the plastic on either side of him tightly.

“Oh, well...” Undyne started playing with a loose lock of hair almost bashfully, before she grinned, “You’re such a huge dork!”

She turned around and started mercilessly noogieing Stretch’s head, laughing boisterously as he sank to his knees in pain, “OW OW! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THIS?!”

“BECAUSE I GET OVERWHELMED AND I DON’T KNOW HOW ELSE TO EXPRESS MY SINCERE APPRECIATION OF YOUR SUPPORT!

Edge felt something stir deep in his soul, a strange feeling that made looking at them suddenly unbearable. Was it jealousy? Stretch gave hugs to everyone, and Undyne didn’t seem like much of a threat... What was it, then?! As much as he tried to ignore it, he couldn’t make himself relax.

“Do you know m00nsh1ne?!”

Edge looked back, watching Stretch massage his neck and shoulders for a moment, before turning his attention back to Undyne. She sat on her little stool, clipboard held against her face and looking incredibly excited.

“...Homemade distilled liquor?” Edge asked, unsure of what to make of her odd question. He was fairly certain that wasn’t what she was asking, but he had no idea what else it could be.

“If that’s a roundabout way of asking if I drink, then I haven’t since I found out I’m pregnant.” Edge wasn’t sure why she deflated, turning to look at Stretch in obvious confusion.

“A-pop- Aerok* Pop Music.” Stretch pointed at the poster on the wall. “They’re an A-pop band called m00nsh1ne, and Undyne’s their biggest fan. You were looking at the poster so...”

Oh. The poster featured a group of pretty girls in identical, impractical dresses, posed with something written in the middle in a foreign language. Maybe not, he squinted, maybe it was just very stylized.

“Hm.” Edge felt her eyes on him, even as she started fiddling with a complicated-looking machine. “No-“ He could see Stretch behind her miming a conversation with his hands, followed by a pleading expression. “You may tell me about them some other time.”

That wasn’t the best answer, but Undyne lit up like a Gyftmas Tree and Stretch made him a little heart with his hands. Edge sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Excellent!” Undyne picked up a portable screen and held it up, “I’ve read through your medical file, and you don’t seem to have any underlying conditions, but if there’s anything I should be aware of-“

Edge instinctively scrambled away as she came closer with the machine, only stopping when Stretch physically sat on the end of the examination table. He dug his claws into his husband’s femur as though grounding himself, keeping one arm raised defensively at chest level.

“Why...” He forced himself to take a deep breath, straightening his spine and asking with more aggression than he intended, “What’s that for?”

Undyne flinched as if he struck her, leaning back against her chair and pulling the screen up to her chest. She actually seemed to be trying to hide behind it, looking down as though afraid to make eye contact.

“Uhhh...” she started, worrying at her lips nervously, “Medicinal- um, magic- magicianal-“

“Ok, let’s all calm down,” Stretch was as soothing as possible, draping an arm on Edge’s shoulder and reaching out to lay a gentle hand on Undyne’s lap. It was more suffocating than comforting, so Edge quickly shrugged it off, putting his back against the wall instead.

“Did I say or do something bad?” Undyne asked timidly, ear fins drooping in obvious consternation.

Stretch looked in his direction, but Edge pointedly looked at the machine instead, bringing his foot onto the examination table.

“We’ve had very bad experiences with doctors before-“ Stretch sighed, but kept his voice calming and even, “So we’re very wary and very uncomfortable being here, right?”

Edge gave a curt nod, not trusting his voice when every instinct screamed at him get out of this room. He tapped his fingers on the plastic cushion restlessly, reminding himself over and over that neither monster was an enemy or a threat. They were allies. Allies. Allies. Allies-

“What?!” Undyne got up immediately, eyes dilating and gills flaring in obvious anger, “Doctor’s take a solemn oath to follow a strict ethical code tohelp their patients! That anyone would dare violate this is INEXCUSABLE!“

The aggression put Edge back on high alert, crossing the room with his handle on the doorknob in an instant- but it was familiar. Justice-fueled and aimed outward at no particular target. Just outrage at things outside of her ability to throttle into submission. Comforting. He felt something almost forgotten stir deep in his soul, and he almost smiled as Undyne let out a guttural scream of rage. Edge forced his fingers to uncurl around the handle, making a tight fist at his side as he watched her every move.

“THAT QUACK-! MALPRACTICE SHOULD BE PUNISHED BY EXECUTION!” She snapped her clipboard in half. Stretch looked completely unfazed as he ducked his head to the side, avoiding the largest piece of shrapnel as he kept an eye on both monsters.

“Ah!” Undyne looked down at her clipboard with furrowed brows, “That’s the fifth one this month!”

Stretch patted her back, taking the remains from her hands and tossing it in the trash with practiced ease. “At least it wasn’t the machine. You almost caused a fire last time.”

“Sorry!” Undyne was incredibly apologetic, ducking her head repeatedly in a series of quick bows as she swiveled towards the door, “I didn’t mean to startle you! I just can’t stand bad doctors! I can only imagine what that- that- UGH did if they could make someone as cool and as tough as you are that uncomfortable!”

She shuddered meaningfully. That, more than her praise and passionate outburst, did more to settle his insecurity and anxiety into something more manageable. Edge had to remain stable and in control for the sake of all the monsters looking up to him. For the monsters depending on him.

“Since your previous physicians- if you can even call them that- failed you, it’s my duty to make up for their shortcomings!” Undyne continued earnestly, procuring a new clipboard from a drawer filled with them. “Rest assured, you’ll have the best care here! And I’ll make sure little Pancake never has to suffer the same way!”

Edge nodded, still a little terse, “Very well, Doctor.”

Undyne sat back down, beaming, “What can I do to make you feel more at ease? This is your appointment, after all- you’re in charge!”

He was?! Edge felt something in him unclench, and while not at all comfortable, it was... better. He went back to his spot on the examination table next to Stretch, discreetly laying his hand next to his husband’s fingers. He felt Stretch shift, squeezing his hand gently. Feeling a little more like he was in control, Edge looked at the machine she was holding, forcing down his trepidation.

“Explain what you will be using, where and how, and for what purpose before you do anything,” he instructed, sounding more confident than he felt. Undyne flinched at his commanding tone, but nodded nonetheless.

“...I can’t run the same risks as if it were just me, you understand,” he added softly as an afterthought, watching her every movement carefully. Her face softened as though she understood (how could she?), but if it was for Pancake’s sake, he could do it. He would do it. He would do anything.

“Of course.” Undyne pushed her hair out of her eyes to little effect, “Well, then let me explain what this thing is first, then.”

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5 - Here!] [Part 6] [Part 7]

#spicyhoney #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #underswap sans #underfell sans #underswap undyne #redvelvetreel #fanfic #skelepreg

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