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imabeautifulbutterfly · 2 years

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The Gym Membership - Part 8 (Hunter)

Summary: The family welcomes home Baby Iris, Hunter learns about the incident Zaina went through; Hunter and Zaina draw closer.

A/N: Hello Lovelies,

Okay so this is the last Hunter section for this story, next will be Tech. There will be a short hiatus, the next Gym Membership story will be back June 15, 2022. I may change the next posting, depending on what happens, but don’t worry Tech won’t keep you waiting long. After Tech will be Echo’s turn to have a story, followed by Crosshair.

This chapter still deals with a bit of a difficult situation, except instead of Domestic Violence, this chapter deals with Torture, Death and Hostage situation. If this is a trigger for anyone please don’t read.

Please note I do not know how a 911 operator centre works, this is just pure speculation.

Part 7 - Quick Summary: TW (Domestic Violence and Stabbing)

Zaina runs away from Rush as he rushes after her, she locks herself in the Mel & Wrecker’s bedroom and bathroom. R busts down the door to the bedroom, Z is on the phone with Hunter the entire time. As R is about to bust down the door, she can hear H running into the house. R threatens Z as he busted down the door to the bathroom. H arrives in time, tells R to leave Z alone. She notices R pulls a knife, she tries to protect H, ends up getting stabbed by R. H and R fight. Z and R get taken to the hospital, the family waits to hear if Z makes it out of surgery. H & Z are very affectionate after the near miss but don’t take it any further than a near kiss. Tech and H discuss his feelings for Z. R is arrested and carted away to prison never to be heard from again. Z and Crosshair have a brother sister moment. H realizes how close Z and Omega have gotten.

Thank you all for loving this story as much as you have.

Italics - flashback

Warnings: flirting, drinking, kissing, TW: hostage situation, discussions of miscarriage, discussions of death, discussions of torture, survivors guilt, I think that’s all of it, if I miss any please let me know.

AO3 Link | Words: 6,582 | PREVIOUS - -> NEXT

Gym Membership Master List | Main Master List

“Welcome home, baby girl” I announced as Echo, Omega and I held up the banner welcoming Iris. Mel and Wrecker chuckled at seeing the sign we all worked on, it looked like a three year old put it together but who cared.

“I can’t believe you guys did this, thank you. Zaina what time is your flight? Don’t you have to be leaving soon?” Mel questioned as she put down her bag, while pushing the stroller into the house, while Wrecker held Iris in her little car seat, as he put down his own bag by the foyer.

“Oh my flight’s not till later, plus, you honestly think I’d miss this cutie’s welcome home party!” I walked over and picked up Iris, holding her in my arms, I winced slightly, my wound was fully healed, but it still ached here and there. Echo and Tech grabbed their bags, while Hunter and Crosshair put away the baby stroller and car seat.

“Thanks guys for fixing the doors” Wrecker chuckled as he looked at his new front door, “How are you feeling?” He pulled me into a side hug.

“I’m doing good, better. I’m sorry about the damage”

“As long as it kept you safe vod’ika, you can destroy my house any day of the week” Wrecker whispered.

“Appreciate it, big guy”

Mel motioned for me to follow her upstairs, “Come on, Zaina, let’s put Iris in the crib” I nodded following her. Once we were in the room, she grabbed the blanket Hunter and I had bought Iris, using it to keep Iris warm “How are you feeling?” She asked as she glanced over to me, as I laid Iris down.

“Good, slightly sore but not bad, at least the wound is fully healed.”

“How long you gone for?”

“Two weeks, I start work in four, so that should give me plenty of time to sell my apartment and find one out here. Tech’s already sent me a few listings.”

“That’s ridiculous, you are going to stay with us, until you are ready.”

“I appreciate that but …”

“No, buts. I have a storage locker, we had it for when we were trying to figure out what would stay and what would go, when Wrecker and I moved in together. I was going to let it go, but just use it for now, and then once you find the right place then you can move. If you try to find something when you’re rushing or not ready, you’ll end up settling for something you don’t love. Plus that way you can figure out your routine.”

“I don’t want to put you guys out”

“Nonsense. If anything, we’ll be the ones putting you out with a crying baby”

“Oh don’t worry I have ear plugs”

Mel laughed, “That’s my girl. I wish I could go with you, help you pack”

“It’s okay, Omega really wanted to come too, but she’s in the middle of midterms, so Hunter is going to come with me, it’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, Hunter” Mel lilted, “how’s that going?”

“Fine,” I answered, not quite understanding her question.

“Fine? You guys haven’t …”

“Haven’t … what?”

“Gone on a date”

I looked from Mel to Iris, back to Mel, “No.”

“I thought for sure once you got out of the hospital, he would’ve asked. You should have seen him, he was so worried about you, barely left your bedside.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Well, don’t know what to tell you. We had that moment in the hospital bed, right after the doctor gave me the all clear, as you know two weeks ago. But after that, things have been …” I rubbed my forehead, “I don’t know, friendly. It’s almost as though we missed our moment and honestly, it sucks. Finally, meet a really good guy, a stand up guy, and missed my chance with him.”

“I don’t think we only get one chance. You know. I think you’ll have another chance. Just give it time.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Of course, I am. I’m a mom now, which means I’m always right”

I laughed at that, “I’ll make sure to tell Wreck”

“Oh, trust me, he knows.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hunter and I worked quietly as we packed up my living room, when I finally broke the silence that had seemed to settle upon us once we got to my place, “Too bad, O, couldn’t come, she really wanted to help”

“Yeah, but she needed to be in school, midterms, plus it’s not like we’re gonna be here for long.”

“True,” I walked over to one of the bookshelves that lined the living room wall. The first thing I noticed was an old picture frame, I had seen in a few months, I picked up the picture of my old crew from the dispatch office, my finger trailed over each of them. To know how much my life had changed since that day of the incident, made my throat tighten as a warm sensation began to bubble. I looked at my best friend, I missed seeing his face, missed his laugh, his bear hugs. I missed all of them.

“You okay?” Hunter rested his hand on my back, as I wiped some tears that had fallen on my cheek.

“Yeah, just …” I cleared my throat, “memories”

“Who are these guys?”

I glanced over to Hunter, his eyes focused on the picture in my hand, my eyes naturally followed his focus back to my old crew, I closed my eyes knowing it was time to tell him what really happened during the incident, what Mel and Wrecker already knew. For some reason, I needed to tell him, and I was finally ready to deal with all of it again, “This was my old dispatch crew, before … before things changed”

“You mean before you moved?”

I shook my head ‘no,’ Crosshair’s and my conversation came flooding back into my mind.

“We barely know each other”

“So then fix it”

“Wanna talk about it?”

I looked at Hunter, a smirk appearing on my lips, “Did we pack away the tumblers and the liquor?”

“I think there’s still some whiskey out and we have plastic cups.”

“That’ll do. I definitely need to be drinking when I tell you this.”

“We don’t have to…”

“No.” I reached out holding his hand, “I want you to know, it’s … it’s part of the reason why I went to see Mel to begin with, and a main reason as to why I’m moving.”

Hunter nodded, “Why don’t you sit on the couch, and I’ll grab the drinks”

I nodded, focusing back on the picture of my old crew, as Hunter sat down beside me passing me a cup. I took a deep breath, trying to remember what my therapist had said, memories can’t hurt me as long as I allow myself to heal. Hunter didn’t rush me, allowing me to take the time I needed to get comfortable.

“My old crew and I worked together for the past nine years, we worked well together, we were completely in-sync with each other to a T, we … We were a family. Sam” I pointed to the taller older guy of the group, “was my best friend, always there for me. Always knew how to make me laugh. How to help us relax.” I took a sip, “The red head, that’s Anna, she was our floor leader, had been doing the job for almost 15 years.”

“Wow, that’s amazing”

I nodded, “The blonde is Carlos, he and his husband had just adopted two twin boys when the picture was taken. The tall guy is Salem, used to be a surgeon back home, he was great at talking down victims and helping them till EMTs arrived.” Tears began to prick my eyes, I swallowed the lump that was forming, I took another sip, Hunter moved over closer to me. “The last girl was Aisha, she had gotten married a year before the picture was taken, and found out she was pregnant two weeks before …” my bottom lip began to quiver.

Hunter wrapped his arm around me, “Hey we don’t have to …”

“No” I took a deep inhale, “No, I want … No, I need to tell you this.” Hunter squeezed my shoulder, as he nodded.

“I’m here”

I placed my cup on the coffee table, “It was a typical day, nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing that raised any sort of red flags. We all got to work on time, got ourselves settled in, everything seemed fine” I kept my eyes focused on the picture, as I nibbled on my corner bottom lip, “we were handling our calls, when all of a sudden there was power outage. Anna called around trying to find out what happened, after all the last thing anyone wants is for 9-1-1 dispatch to go down. I mean the city has several offices around the city, usually there are either two or three offices per city, they aimed to not keep dispatch all in one building for that very reason and thankfully all our calls got rerouted, so regardless of what was happening in our building, emergency crews were still being directed out to those in need. However, we all knew something was wrong, especially when after twenty minutes we still had no power. About ten minutes later ‘repair crews’ showed up, wanting access to our floor, stating there had been some sort of faulty wiring or faulty connector on the floor that caused the power outage, as soon as I saw them, I knew … I should’ve said something, but I just knew there was something off about them. They all seemed way too nervous, way too over eager, too careful about their wording. You know?”

Hunter nodded, as his hand rubbed my back, “It happened so quickly, one second I was talking to Sam in the break room, the next there was the sound of gunfire filling the floor. It didn’t take long before we all realized what was happening as they became threatening each of us. They dragged all of us over to the main room, making sure we were all handcuffed, gagged, ankles tied together, as they forced us to sit on the floor. The leader, a guy named Cad Bane, he um … he was calm, eloquent, and did his best to be charming, at first. He wasn’t what you expect the leader of a group of armed men holding people hostage to behave. Anyway, he told us that our presence would only be detained until his demands were met, as long as we cooperated, there would be no need for violence.”

My hand began to shake as I began to remember how things progressed from bad to worse, “It was all going fine, he was in the middle of negotiations with the police force trying to secure the release of some gangster name Ziro the Hutt. When he decided things weren’t moving quickly enough for him, out of nowhere he grabbed Aisha, dragged her over to the phone he was using, and told the negotiator if they didn’t give him confirmation Ziro was moved in the next thirty minutes he would express his anger out on Aisha, and the only one to blame would be the negotiator.

I sat there … We sat there, watching in horror as none of us were able to move to help her. Despite the fact we were being … had been cooperative from the moment they stormed on to the floor, he simply didn’t care, we were all a means to an end for him, so when the timer ran out and he didn’t receive confirmation, he didn’t hold back from beating her within an inch of her life.” My bottom lip began to tremble as flashes of that day flew in my mind, “When I close my eyes I can still hear her screams with each hit she received, the silence that followed after he knocked unconscious, the gurgle she made as she tried to breathe through …” I shook my head, I didn’t need to go down that path again, “next, he grabbed Salem, told the negotiator this time he had twenty-five minutes before they did the same with him. Each time, they failed to meet his demands, they'd beat another one of us within an inch of our life. Finally it was just Sam and I, as we waited for our turn. We tried to break ourselves free, but each time we moved, one of the guards would come over and hit us. Cad and his guys, eventually moved to grab me, when Sam …” the tears were coming fast and strong now, “S-sam offered himself, he…” I wiped the tears trying to keep the picture clear before him, “h-he had a wife, t-two kids, he gave t-them up and sacrificed himself f-for me. He gave himself up for me, Hunter. They all … they all died on the floor of that dispatch centre. I …” I buried my face in my hands, as the picture fell to the floor “I-I survived. T-they all had families, kids, and yet, I … I survived. I-I s-should’ve …”

Hunter pulled me into his arms, my head braced against his shoulder, his head resting against my head, as he held me, “I-I should’ve … I should h-have f-fought harder to save them. They should be here, not me.” I clung on to his arm, “I-I should’ve saved Aisha. Protected her.” I felt his lips place a kiss on the crown of my head, “I was their last bargaining chip, they knew it was a lost cause, so instead they decided to take their time with me, my torture was slow, deliberate, and made a point to hit every possible nerve point, they took turns kicking me, beating me ... When Cad received confirmation Ziro was moved and on his way to the agreed upon rendezvous, everyone froze, none of them believed me, neither could I. Cad pulled them out of their shock, wrapping things up, as they left, they shot me in my lower abdomen, I guess they were hoping to not leave any survivors. They left us all to bleed out on the floor of the dispatch, I closed my eyes, just waiting for death, when darkness surrounded me, I thought for sure this was it, but instead I woke up in the hospital, my supervisor, Bail Organa, he told me what happened, informed me that I was the only one that survived. The doctors, paramedics, they all did their best for the rest of my crew, but … it … anyway, once I was cognizant enough, the doctor informed me the extent of my injuries, the damage I received from the beatings and from getting shot” I took in a deep breath, “ … the damage was so severe, the only way to stop the bleeding was to perform a hysterectomy. The doctor told me, I would never be able to have kids. Everyone else lost their life, and I walked away with barely a scratch.”

“That’s not true” Hunter mumbled into my hair.

“It is” I pulled back, looking into Hunter’s eyes, as mine welled up with tears again, “Look at me, I walked away, with barely a scratch.”

“It doesn’t mean you didn’t suffer, that you walked away scot free. You are an amazing woman, Zaina. You’re a fighter. What happened to you and to your crew, should never have happened. But you’re not alone; I …” Hunter took in a deep breath, as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, “I was in a similar situation back in Afghanistan. Surviving that hell is difficult, but you know what got me through it?”

I shook my head, “Having someone by my side.” Hunter’s hand cupped my cheek, as his eyes bore into mine, “Heather did her best to understand, especially on days that were bad. I’m here for you, and I'll do my best to understand.” Hunter pulled me into his chest as he rested against the couch, he placed a kiss on the top of my head, as his hand held my head against his chest, it was comforting on a level I never knew I needed, “You’re amazing, you know that? You’ve been dealing with all of this, and the entire time you’ve taken care of Mel, Wrecker, Omega, me, all of us. Even when you were dealing with Rush, you still tried to protect us, still tried to keep us safe. Your family would’ve been proud of you.” I sobbed uncontrollably, clenching onto Hunter’s shirt, making sure he wasn’t going to disappear on me, “I got you, I’m not leaving, sweetheart. Nothing can drag me away” Hunter wrapped his arms around me tighter, leaving another kiss on my head.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I felt a warmth underneath my hand, as a warm breath fanned over my face, I woke up to see a chest moving up and down. Arms were still wrapped around me, as snores echoed in my ears, I glanced up to see Hunter still asleep. His face looked so relaxed, peaceful, even his skull tattoo seemed relaxed. I moved my hand to gently trace his face and his tattoo. As my finger moved across his skin, my heart grew in affection for this man, he was so different, so completely unique from Rush. I felt his hand squeeze my waist, before he started to trail it up my side. A smile graced his lips, as my finger trailed down his cheek, eventually resting on his neck.

“Don’t stop” Hunter mumbled, “it feels nice” I chuckled, as I resumed tracing his features.

“You always look this good in the morning?”

“Only for special people” Hunter opened his half-lidded eyes, looking into mine as his smile grew.

“Thank you”

“For?”

“For last night. For listening.”

“I’m always here to listen. I …” I could feel Hunter take in a shuddering breath, I could also feel his heartbeat quicken under my cheek, “I meant what I said last night, I think you’re amazing. You …” I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, I felt as his hand moved up to my face, brushing my hair off my face, “You are the most incredible woman, I’ve met in a long time.'' He tucked my hair behind my ear, cupping the back of my head, “I wanted to mention this before, I …” Hunter took in a deep breath, “Will you go out to dinner with me?”

I couldn’t hide the smile on my face, “You mean like a date?”

Hunter chuckled, “Clearly, I didn’t do that right, if you have to ask for clarification”

I giggled, feeling Hunter’s chest jostle under me, “I just didn’t want to get my hopes up”

Hunter leaned down, pressing his forehead against mine, “Yes, like a date”

“Then yes” I closed my eyes, breathing in Hunter’s scent, Hunter’s breath fanned over my face, as his nose nudged mine. My hand trailed down his neck, resting against the nape of his neck, his lips grazed mine, I didn’t want to wait anymore as I closed the distance between us. He took his time, softly, gently, pressing his lips against mine. His hand pressed against the back of my head, tilting it to deepen the kiss, yet he didn’t rush me. He took his time, letting me get comfortable. I could spend hours, remembering his lips, how he felt under my hands, how he tasted. I felt safe in his arms, felt respected by his touch, felt I had control over the situation.

I pulled back a little, Hunter didn’t push, “You okay?” He asked as he rested his forehead against mine.

“Yeah, I … you make me feel safe, Hunter. If we had all the time in the world, I would love nothing more then to stay on this couch, and memorize your lips, but…”

“But we have an apartment to pack, and the moving guys will be here tomorrow at 7”

I nodded against his head, “I’m sorry”

“Nothing to apologize for; we have all the time in the world.”

“You might change your mind later on”

“Not possible. Like I mentioned weeks ago, I’m not letting you slip out of my grasp, unless you want me to.”

I chuckled, “See, saying things like that, makes me want to do nothing but kiss you ridiculously”

“Well then I’ll hold back till we get on the plane” he chuckled, “otherwise, I won’t be able to stop kissing you.”

I pulled back reluctantly, standing up looking at Hunter’s eyes, I leaned down, resting my hands on each side of his shoulders, and placed a kiss on his forehead, his hands trailed up my arms, and rested on my waist.

“The faster we pack, the faster we can call the moving company to come pick up your stuff, the sooner I can take you to dinner.”

“Oh really?” I tilted my head at him.

“Well the sooner we pack up, the sooner you’ll find out”

“Tease”

Hunter reached up, kissed my lips and squeezed my waist, he pulled back a smile on his lip, “I’ll make us breakfast.”

“Fine, I’m gonna take a shower, and brush this morning's breath away.”

“I like your morning breath”

“Say that now”

“I’ll say it every morning”

I smirked as I walked away.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“You excited?” Mel asked as she peered in to my room, with Iris in her arms.

“Excited?” I asked feigning ignorance

“Don’t give me that, you’re going on your first date with Hunter right?”

I bit my bottom lip as I fixed my hair, a smile gracing my lips, “Yeah I am”

“See Iris, your mother knows everything, remember that, when you’re older and try to lie to me”

I chuckled “You trying to instill fear in the poor thing”

“No, but better she learns early on”

“Cyar’ika!”

“Yes, sweetie!” Mel shouted to Wrecker, Wreck boomed up the stairs two seconds later.

“Hey guys” Wrecker leaned against the door frame to my room, as his hand rested on her lower back, “I was going to grill us some steaks and vegetables, unless you guys want something different?”

“Well I’m going out for dinner, so I won’t be here”

“Going out with some people from the dispatch centre?” Wrecker asked

“Why do you need to know?” Mel teased

“She’s my vod’ika, I have a right to know, mesh’la”

“You’re adorable” Mel leaned up and placed a kiss on Wrecker’s lips. He pulled her in as his hands slid.

“Hey … uh, guys” I waved, “neither your baby in your arms nor I want to see this” I motioned to the two of them.

Wrecker pulled back, placing a kiss on her forehead, he turned to look at me with a smirk on his lips, “Vod’ika, how do you think we got Iris?”

Mel cracked up laughing at my scrunched up face, “Yeah, but I don’t need to see it or picture it” Iris started fussing in Mel’s arms, I chose to believe it was because she was in agreement with me.

“Oh looks like someone’s hungry. I’m gonna feed her, and steak and grilled veggies sounds perfect. Zai, have fun tonight” Mel teased as she headed over to the nursery.

“So … who you going out with?”

I finished putting on my makeup, “I’m going out with a friend”

“A friend? Really?”

“Yeah”

“Hmmm, by any chance is this friend about 5’11, dark brown hair, skull tattoo on half the side of his face, name begins with an H?”

I pursed my lips trying to hide my smile, “You know”

“Ha! I think everyone but Omega knows, and even then I think she knows.”

“Really? I was kind of hoping she didn’t find out, just in case it goes south”

“Trust me, that girl has been rooting for the two of you, since you got here.”

“What? No she hasn’t”

“Mel never told you?”

“No”

Wrecker chuckled, “God, love my soon-to-be-wife, man they’ve both been rooting for you two. Listen, just don’t worry about them, if it works great, if it doesn’t - it’ll be okay.”

“Thanks, Wreck. Now, I’m gotta get going.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek, as I passed him.

“Give my best to Hunter”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I walked into the restaurant, butterflies in my stomach. My eyes found Hunter pretty quickly, I watched him as he sat there in a dark blue suit, he had a cream dress shirt on, the first two buttons were left open, his hair was pulled back, accentuating his jaw line. I swallowed down my nervousness as Hunter’s eyes locked with mine, he didn't hesitate to stand as a giant smile graced his lips.

“Hi”

“Hey” I couldn’t help match his smile.

“You look great” he offered as he placed a kiss on my cheek.

“So do you” Hunter helped me into my seat, placing another kiss on the top of my head, he was so sweet and such a gentleman. He held my hand as we sat across from each other. I smirked, “You know, Wrecker told me something as I was leaving to meet you”

“Oh yeah, what?”

I cleared my throat, “Omega knows”

Hunter nodded, smiling, “I know”

“You do?”

“Do you think I could look this good on my own?” Hunter chuckled, motioning to himself.

“I think so” I smiled, my tongue peeking through my teeth, Hunter smirked, “How did she find out?”

“Overheard our conversation the other day”

“Ha, you’ll have to narrow that down a bit more, habibi”

Hunter tilted his head, “My Arabic is a little rusty, what does that mean?”

“What?��

“Habibi?”

“My love” I felt my face flush as his eyes filled with adoration as he looked at me.

Hunter’s smile beamed, matching the expression in his eyes, “I like it, sarad’ika”

“What does that mean?”

“Little flower”

I nodded, chuckling, “I like it”

“So … I gotta ask how are you and Mel cousins?”

I smirked, tilting my head at Hunter, “My father was Mel’s mother’s brother. He met my mother, who was attending university on an exchange program from Egypt. They ended up having a few classes together and before they knew it, they fell in love, eventually got married and had me. My mom taught me to speak Arabic, my father taught me to speak Spanish, and at home we spoke English with Arabic and Spanish sprinkled through.”

“Sarad’ika, you’re amazing”

“So are you, habibi. Now what conversation did Omega overhear?”

Hunter chuckled, “Remember, that day, you had a rough call, and called me during your break?”

“Yeah”

“Remember how I said, I couldn’t wait to hold you in my arms again, and then I paused …”

“Yeah, you got weird for like a second, and then you just asked me to dinner”

“I paused because Omega had walked into the room, and was grinning from ear to ear”

I bit my bottom lip, chuckling, “Well so much for keeping it on the down low”

“Yeah, but let’s face it, we really suck at keeping it under wraps”

“That’s true, I think everyone has told me to just go for it”

“Me too”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I leaned against Hunter as we walked out of the restaurant, laughing, his arm wrapped around my waist.

“I have to say, one of the things I love most, Sarad’ika, is how you make me feel when my arms are wrapped around you.”

“Oh yeah?” I looked at Hunter as we stood by my car, my arms wrapping around his waist, “And how do I make you feel?”

Hunter wrapped his arms around me pulling me in closer, “Like I can take on anything” Hunter smirked. He leaned down his nose nudging mine as his forehead rested against mine. Hunter began humming, he pulled me in closer as he swayed us. I rested my head on his chest as we started dancing in the parking lot.

I looked up at Hunter, a smile gracing my lips, “Habibi, you’re an amazing man. Always there for me. For Omega. For everyone. I do have one regret though”

Hunter smirked, “Oh yeah?” He leaned down press a kiss to my cheek, “What’s that?” He mumbled against my skin.

“Being distant from you those first few weeks” I tilted my head, as Hunter’s lips trailed just under my ear, “I was scared, and held back.”

Hunter paused and pulled back to look at me, “Did I scare you?”

“No” I reached up cupping his cheek, “No, never. I was scared to be vulnerable again, after Rush, the way he reacted; I always thought I was a good judge of character, that I had seen and heard enough of the ugliness that people do to others that it would never happen to me, but it did.”

“That’s not your fault, sarad’ika”

“I still should have seen it”

“Can’t see what someone doesn’t allow you to see. Rush didn’t allow you to see what he knew would drive you away.” Hunter reached up brushing my hair out of my face, “I want you to always feel you can talk to me, if anything I say or do makes you uncomfortable or nervous, tell me.” Hunter’s lips broke out into the biggest smile, I had yet to see on the man, “I want to be the man deserving of you, to be worthy to be called yours.”

I stood on my toes pressing my lips against his, Hunter took his time moving his lips against mine, it was as though he was afraid I’d disappear, I moved my hand to his hair, clenching it, pulling him closer, he pulled me closer, leaning me against my car, as he deepened the kiss.

“Ahem!”

We both stopped, I looked into Hunter’s eyes, trying to hide a giggle, “Please tell me that’s not who I think it is?” I whispered against his lips.

“It can’t be” he whispered back

We broke apart, turning to look at the person behind Hunter, I bit my lower lip, hiding my face in Hunter’s chest trying not to laugh, upon seeing the crosshair tattoo.

“Crosshair” Hunter stated.

“Hunter” Crosshair smirked, “enjoying the night air, I see”

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh well see, I have a date.”

“You do?” I asked peering around Hunter, “Where is she, so I can warn her?”

“Ouch, rude” Crosshair chuckled, “At least, we won’t be making out in a public parking lot.” I raised an eyebrow at him questioning his statement, “Well … at least maybe … at least” he held his finger up, “I have the decency to wait till we’re in the car.”

“So who is it?”

“Ehhh, someone I met while waiting in line at the grocery store”

“Wow you sound really excited” Hunter teased

Crosshair shrugged, “I’ll probably keep them around for a week or two and then say goodbye”

I crossed my arms as I leaned back against my car, Hunter standing beside me, “You ever want to settle down?”

“Possibly, if I find the right girl, but as of right now, I haven’t. Anyway, I should go in, enjoy your night. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” Crosshair teased as he walked away.

“There’s very little you wouldn’t do, Cross”

Crosshair turned, walking backwards as he looked at me, winking, “My point exactly” a big grin appearing on his face, as he turned back heading in the direction of the restaurant.

“Well that was …” Hunter reached up rubbing the back of his head.

“Yeah. Seriously, do you know who he’s going to see? I feel like she needs a warning”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Hunter turned to look at me, my lips began to feel tingly, thinking about our kiss from before.

“Hunter, before … um” I swallowed down the nervousness building up again, as my finger trailed over my lips, “Can we go somewhere and talk?”

Hunter nodded, eyeing me cautiously, “Did I overstep?”’

“No” I rested my hand on his chest, “No, not at all. I just think before we get carried away, again” my cheeks heated at the thought of Crosshair catching us not even ten minutes ago, “um, maybe we should talk.”

“Okay, sarad’ika. I have an idea, why don’t we drop off your car, and I can pick you up from Mel’s?”

“Not a good idea”

“Right, Mel and Wrecker, they’d definitely be nosy”

“Yup” I chuckled, “they would. I can just follow you”

“You sure?” I nodded, Hunter placed a kiss on my forehead, as he walked off to his car. Before long, I was following Hunter to a park near the lake. It was late, the moon was out, and the water looked amazing, reflecting diamonds as the water rippled.

“I didn’t know this was here” I called over to Hunter as he got out of his car, walking over to my side.

“Not many people do, I found it when I got back from Afghanistan, after …” Hunter swallowed as his arm wrapped around my waist, “after Heather.”

“You brought me here?”

“Best place to talk things out, not to mention, I wanted you to know about this place. In case you're ever looking for me, nine times out of ten, I’ll probably be here” Hunter offered placing a kiss on my head.

We took a seat on the bench, Hunter drew me in closer, warming me up from the night air as much as possible. I was glad I had a jacket on, it was getting colder.

“First time I came here” Hunter began filling the silence, “Omega was with Heather’s parents, they were looking after her while I arranged everything for Heather’s funeral. I think I sat on this bench for a good three hours, crying, looking at old photos, listening to her last voice message, and her last video message.”

“How long ago, did she pass away?”

“Eight years ago”

“I’m so sorry, habibi. What happened? If you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll understand”

Hunter tightened his hold on me, placing a kiss on my hairline, “You opened up to me, it’s only fair I open up too.” He rested his chin on my head, “She was working late one night, she was a social worker. She was just driving home …” Hunter’s voice cracked a little, I tightened my arms around his torso, “She apparently stopped for some groceries, and was just driving, when a … when an idiot, too drunk, and going too fast smashed into her head on.”

“Hunter, I am so sorry” I placed a kiss on his chest.

“I’m grateful that at least she didn’t suffer. They told me that she … she died on impact.” I glanced up to see Hunter’s cheeks streaked with tears, I shifted wiping the tears, “What killed me more than anything else, was not being able to be there for her, for Omega when it happened. As soon as I heard, my commander put me on the next flight back home. Omega was only seven at the time. She was angry at me for a while, angry that I wasn’t home, angry that I let her mom pass, angry about a lot of things. I couldn’t blame her.”

“I would never have guessed that, the way you two are now?”

“It took us a while to get there, but we did, and really her anger came from being scared I was going to disappear on her too.”

“I can understand that”

Hunter held my jaw, stroking my cheek with his thumb, “I never thought I’d be ready for this again, and I probably wouldn’t have been, had you never walked into my life.”

“I told you, if you keep talking like that, I’ll never want to stop kissing you” I teased.

Hunter nudged my nose, “Nothing stopping you” he teased back.

I shifted my head away, “Before we get carried away, again” I chuckled, “we need to talk.” Hunter nodded, as his eyes watched every inch of my face. “I …” I cleared my throat, “I don’t want to rush things between us, and I know that sends somewhat mixed signals between the kissing at my apartment and then at the parking lot. I trust you Hunter, I’ve never felt this safe with anyone before; and I don’t want us to rush something that could be really amazing.” Hunter let out a deep sigh, closing his eyes, as he rested his forehead against mine, “I’m sorry if …”

“No, sarad’ika, nothing to be sorry about. I am beyond relieved you said that” Hunter chuckled against my forehead.

I pulled back a little to look at him, “Okay, relief was not the response I was expecting” I chuckled, “Didn’t realize it was so uncomfortable…”

“What? No, oh god no; that’s not what I meant. Trust me, being this close to you” he nudged my nose with his, “is not uncomfortable, not in the slightest,” he placed a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose, “I …” Hunter cleared his throat, “I haven’t been um … this close with anyone in almost nine years, and I’m … nervous to tell you the truth.”

“Nine?”

“Well just before I left for my last deployment to Afghanistan”

“Oh! I get it.” I giggled, “Well if it helps, you must be working off muscle memory or something, because every time you kiss me, you get my toes curling.”

“Really?” I nodded, biting my lower lip, “That’s good to know. I’m happy to go as fast or as slow as you like”

“Thank you, and if you need to slow down or want to speed up, I’m happy to consider it as well. After all, we’re in this together, so we should decide these things together.”

“That sounds perfect, sarad’ika.” Hunter pulled me into his arms, “I don’t want you to feel pressured, just because everyone thinks this is a good idea, if you don’t feel you want to continue …”

I giggled in his arms, “Trying to get rid of me already?”

“Not at all, sweetheart; but I don’t want you to feel you have to stay with me, because everyone or Omega is wanting it.”

“How about this, if at any point, either one of us feel we need to take a step back, no pressure, we just talk it out.”

“Okay, and if we need to walk away, then no hard feelings”

“Of course not, I may not talk to you for a few weeks or months, until I can handle it again.”

“I understand. It’ll probably be the same for me”

“Are we telling Omega?”

“Maybe once we know this is a for sure thing”

“How about we tell everyone once it’s a for sure thing”

“Did you forget Crosshair saw us making out in the parking lot?”

“Oh, right” I giggled burying my face into Hunter’s chest, he chuckled as he pulled me into his side, “I forgot about that. Okay, so we just tell him not to say anything.”

Hunter laughed as he pulled out his phone, he had at least twenty missed texts from everyone, all asking about the kiss, “Pretty sure everyone knows about it” he chuckled as he put away his phone. “Guess that theory is out the door.”

“I have a better idea, habibi”

“Oh yeah?” His hand trailed up and down my arm, as I tightened my arms around him.

“Yeah, how about we just sit here and enjoy the moonlight, for a little bit, and then we can figure out what to do with everyone.”

“Sounds like a good plan, sarad’ika”

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girlmeetsliv3 · 3 years

Text

Cruel Liaisons

~~ Previously Lingerlust ~~

A/B/O!MiniMoni x Reader; Poly BTS

“When one strikes the heart of another they seldom miss, and the wound is invariably fatal.”

Release Date: May 7th, 2021 @ 12:15 p.m. (GMT-5)

Apologies for the late update. Hope you enjoy it.

Trigger Warnings: blood and gore.

February 2nd, 2022

“Please state your name for the record.”

“Jeon YN.” YN stared at the recording machine in front of her, it looked antiquated like the type that wasn’t automatically connected to a cloud or storage system. “Those types have to be manually saved. Which can come in handy.” The officer’s cleared their throats, drawing back YN’s attention. What were their names again? “We need you to state your sub-gender as well.” The one on the left spoke lowly, his voice coming out a bit tense and nervous. “Beta.” When YN tried to smell them, she noticed both were wearing scent blockers, though her sense of smell was never her strong suit.

“This is officer Park Sooyoung and officer Kim Jisoo.” The taller one stated, her tone dull, as if she rather be anywhere else. Judging by the bags under her eyes and the large cup of coffee in front of her – a bed seemed to be her choice. Officer Kim reached to the ground and placed a file on the desk, she opened it to reveal a series of photographs; five to be precise. Males and females from around a same age group are placed with one female in the center, she looks strangely familiar to YN. The rounded tip of her nose and arched brows but she can’t quite place the face. There is someone YN does recognize though, a face she saw just a few days ago.

“Anyone you recognize?” Officer Kim asks, her tone is serious but airy. The smile on her face after every sentence lets YN know that she’s the ‘good cop.’

YN points at the second photo from the left, “Him. I saw him in a missing persons ad on the news, but he didn’t look this old.” They had likely picked a picture from when he was younger, the man on the news held a bright smile. His jawline sharp and his cheekbones high but not defined. The man in the photograph in front of her had a pronounced jawline, hollow cheeks, and an ugly scowl that did nothing to mar his features. ‘K.T’ read the bottom.

“What news channel and around what time?”

“KBS, maybe late evening. I watch it before I go to sleep.”

Both officers nod, as Park shifts around on her seat. Now facing directly at YN, resting both elbows on the metal table. “Are you aware of the reason you were brought into the station today?” Officer Kim jumps in before YN can answer, “Just so you know you aren’t being charged with anything.”

Yes. “No, I don’t know.” She shrugged, keeping her eyes level and gaze neither too intense nor too bored.

“You’re here due to your affiliation with Alpha’s Kim Namjoon and Park Jimin,” Park spoke, “They’re your employers, correct?” There was an edge to her voice that YN recognized. Many people weren’t fond of them – many had a reason not to be.

“Yes.” YN nods.

“How long have you worked for them?” Kim asks.

YN notes how neither women are writing anything down, nor looking towards the one-sided mirror behind them. Are they perhaps recording this with a second device? If that’s the case it's not just her voice YN must be cautious of, but her expressions as well. “Around nine months, I’m their housekeeper and take care of Hyunwoo.” After a bit of silence from the police, she elaborates more, “I cook, clean, and help the child with his homework.”

“That’s quite a lot for just one person. Especially considering you have little background in those areas before you were hired, correct?”

They’re trying to bait me. “I’m used to doing those things at home.” YN shrugs, she can see the growing frown on Park’s features.

“How exactly did you hear about the job?” Kim leans forward, but one of her hands drops below the table. Park’s eyes dart over to her partner for a second, but YN catches it. Kim likely gave her a signal or something like a reassuring squeeze, YN hopes it’s the latter. “What was the hiring process like?”

“From an acquaintance Dr. Sihyuk.” Both officers nod along, they don’t seem to recognize the name. “Bang’s dead. Unlikely anyone will find something there.” They always knew to cover their bases. “Um, normal, I guess. I sent in an application and then had an interview.”

“You made a lot of money as the Kim’s housekeeper. Did you never ask yourself where that money was coming from?” It seemed the officers were done trying to be subtle.

“No, it wasn’t my place. Plus, most of the money I earned went into paying family debts.”

“Do you know Kim Namjoon’s or Park Jimin’s source of income?”

“Again no. I just did what I was supposed to do.”

“You never thought to ask?”

“No.”

Sooyoung smirks, “Interesting how everyone around the Kim’s just accepts things at face value. Their co-workers, drivers, bodyguards, even their housekeeper just does what their told. You weren’t even a little bit curious as to how they could possibly afford the lifestyle they have?”

“Curiosity killed the cat.” YN’s arms were clenching around the chair, trying to hold herself back from reacting negatively to the hassling.

“But we aren’t cats.” Sooyoung remarks and for a second YN feels like she’s lost a battle. Jisoo points to the picture in the center, it's a beautiful young woman with flowy hair and a bright smile. Her delicate features give away her omega nature. Though the closer YN inspects the picture, they’re bags under her eyes, permanent frown lines etched onto her face, a hollowness to her eyes. She looks somewhere between life and death. “Do you recognize this woman? You lingered on her a bit longer than the rest of them.”

The longer YN stares at her the more she starts to piece things together, but it still feels like she’s missing something. So she gives a generic answer. “She looks kind of familiar. Has that kind of face.”

“What kind of face?” Jisoo questions.

“Like…pretty, popular, all over billboards kind of face.”

It's enough to satisfy them for now. They slowly start removing all the pictures while leaving only the woman’s, the longer YN sees it the more unnerved she becomes. Her head begins to hurt as another migraine begins to pound at her temples. Creating a sort of hazy fog over YN’s mind. Both officers’ then hold up the picture and flip it revealing a picture of the same woman holding a young child wrapped in blankets. She looks so much happier, so full of life. Instantly YN places her, recognizing the toddler wrapped in blue velvet.

“This is Hyunwoo’s mother. The last time anyone saw her alive was three weeks ago when she just so happened to be having dinner with your employers.” Fuck.

Present

YN’s phone dings as another text from Mark appears on her screen: ‘boss wants to know when you’ll start paying?’ She groans exhaustedly, responding with ‘I have been paying. He gets half my salary every week.’ Which hasn’t made living very comfortable for YN, but she makes do with what she can.

Mark: It’s not enough princess, not with the way daddy’s been spending money.

Me: What am I supposed to do if you keep giving him money?!

Mark: That’s not up to me. So, the money?

Me: I’m looking for a second job. One that pays better.

Mark: Just go sell your eggs or something. Not like you have any use for them.

“Asshole.” YN muttered, muting her notifications. She looked up to the entrance of the fertility clinic debating whether or not to go in. It wasn’t like she had much of an option; she needed the money and fertility clinics were the only ones willing to provide big sums of money fast. Not to mention she had missed a day of work to make the appointment, which meant less money to give to Mark. I hate this. I hate this so much. YN was about to walk away, leave everything when she spotted a black BMW parked on the curve. Its driver observing her intensely. She knew what it meant.

Mark was getting pushy. Meaning his boss was getting pushy and YN didn’t need to be on the bad side of some loan shark – not again. So, she mustered up the courage and opened the glass doors, being hit with the smell of lavender and pheromones. It reeks. Nonetheless, she forced a smile on her face and walked towards the front desk. “Hello, I have an appointment with Dr. Sihyuk.”

“Unfortunately, there is a limit to how many eggs we can safely remove from you. Betas aren’t like omegas, you have a set number of eggs. Removing the majority of them would leave you infertile. We’d also be unsure of whether the eggs are useful or not without running the proper examinations which can take weeks.” Dr. Sihyuk explained as he went over YN’s medical file, each sentence uttered destroying her hope little by little.

“I understand but I am quite fertile. I carry a recessive gene from my father who is an omega. Not to mention I’m not interested in having children so I would have no use for my eggs,” she could sense the doctor’s hesitation, “unlike someone who might benefit from them.” I just really need the money.

“Oh, I know, you betas are lucky in that sense. Don’t have to worry about population growth.” Though it was said jokingly it still made YN uncomfortable, let her know he wasn’t buying her bullshit. The doctor closed the file, “Why exactly are you interested in donating your eggs? Is it for the money?” He saw right through her. At her silence the doctor sighs, “We get one of you every once in a while. Always wrapped up in some business started by a family member or mistakes you’ve made.” Sihyuk opens a file cabinet beside him and shoves her file in there, “Unfortunately for you there’s no market for beta eggs.”

YN sags exhaustion and fear taking over her, “I –” Sihyuk takes a small white business card out of the cabinet holding it out towards her. “Fortunately for you, I happen to know someone hiring. They specified only betas applied.” Hesitantly YN takes the card, “What kind of job?” Though she knows one should never look a gift horse in the mouth it feels to good to be true. “A housekeeper for an alpha couple. They’re long-time associates of mine. Give them a call you won’t regret it.”

Evening of June 20th, 2021

Hyunwoo wouldn’t stop crying. YN truly regretted feeding him chocolate before bed, he had nightmares that had not let the three-year-old rest. Though YN had time and time again reassured them there were no monsters under his bed or strange men coming to take him at night, he wouldn’t hear of it. Insisted she had stayed in bed with him and when that didn’t work cried out for his daddies. The issue being his daddies were currently busy, in the middle of their ruts with their weekly guests. Thankfully, their bedroom was across the apartment from Hyunwoo’s, or else she’d have to explain to the child that the screams being heard didn’t belong to ghost.

“I want papa! I want daddy!” Hyunwoo shrieked, snot and tears dribbling down his face. At this rate, he’d get himself sick if he didn’t permanently injure his vocal cords – or her hearing.

“I know. I know, but they’re busy right now. I can go get them later.” When their guests are gone and they’ve cleaned their bedroom. YN never quite knew how they manage to sneak them out and clean up so fast, but she didn’t question it. Less work for me.

“NO! I want them now!” Hyunwoo bolted towards the door, his little legs running as fast as they could. Though they couldn’t compare to YN’s.

She hugged the toddler, “Alright. I’ll go get your daddies but you have to promise me you’ll wait in bed.” Hyunwoo began to shake his head, “Come on Woowoo, imagine what they’ll say if they hear you threw a tantrum. What would daddies say?”

That seemed to sober him up a bit, “They would be disappointed.”

“Exactly,” YN led him back to bed, gently tucking him in. “I’ll be right back with them soon, okay?”

The hallway felt eerily long as YN struggled with how to politely interrupt without being subjected to the alpha’s rages. Ruts were an especially tricky time and there would be very little she could do to protect herself if it took a turn for the worse. Not to mention she was breaking one of the very few rules set by them: no bothering us after nine pm. YN glanced at her watch, it was currently 11:43 pm. I am so going to lose my job. But Hyunwoo needed his parents, and she didn’t want to risk the toddler running into their bedroom and being witness to something that would certainly cause trauma. Not to mention I might get sent his therapy bills. More debt. YN reached their bedroom doors. A light red hue leaking from the bottom, she willed all her courage and knocked.

“Come in, darling.” Jimin spoke, his dulcet tone sounding a little rougher than normal. Surprisingly the door was unlocked, so YN opened it. At first, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, just Kim Namjoon and Park Jimin laying in their bed. The red silk sheets, she so often had to wash, concealing their more intimate parts. It wasn’t until YN noticed the stains covering their bodies and the walls. It caused her eyes to dance around the room until she landed on what had caused such a mess: the two dismembered bodies lying on the floor. The red lighting of the room serving to conceal what the stains truly were: blood.

Namjoon beckoned her inside with a wave of his hand and YN felt obliged to obey. She could still smell the pheromones in their air, still feel their rut. Not to mention, Hyunwoo might have been following her. She locked the door behind her.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Namjoon spoke, smirking and showing off his blood-stained pearly teeth.

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pride-moth · 3 years

Text

You only get what you grieve [Stolitz Week Day 5 Hurt/Comfort]

Ao3 Link

Event Info Link

Stolas has been drifting in and out of consciousness in his tight restraints for hours by the time Blitz, Millie, Moxxie and Loona break down the door to his holding cell. It’s a big, empty room, all metal and a single cupboard. Stolas is tied to a chair, has been for days, no food, no water in his reach. To get it, he would depend on Stella’s mercy and she has shown him none.

It takes him a moment to force his eyes open, and attempt to feel his own limbs when they all pour into the room. He can’t, the ropes around his body have cut off all sensation in them. He can faintly remember them hurting when he was first put in them, but all the pain has long been replaced by unbearable numbness.

Blitz rushes towards him to hold his face between his hands. “Millie! Give me your knife!” he yells and cuts Stolas free the moment he receives the knife.

Stolas’ arms fall to his sides uselessly. “Blitzy?” he says weakly, his voice barely more than a rasp.

“Sir, I think he’s dehydrated,” Moxxie remarks.

“Then get some water, Moxx!” Blitz yells, making Moxxie scurry into the back of the room, stands in front of Stolas again and takes his face back between his hands. “Stolas? Hey, it’s… It’s okay, we’re here now, you’ll be okay.”

“Stella?” Stolas asks, it’s all he can get out.

“She… She’s dead. We… Took care of that. It was… I was… Sorry, there was no other way.”

Stolas doesn’t say anything, but is overcome with a hefty cough.

Moxxie comes running back with a large bottle of water. Blitz yanks it from his hands and holds it carefully to Stolas’ beak. “Slowly,” he says softly, perhaps more softly than Stolas has ever heard him speak.

He drinks, trying to slow himself down, but he hasn’t had a drop of liquid in three days and his body is aching for it with every fiber. His arms start to itch again, so that’s a good sign as well at least. He stops drinking for a moment to whisper “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, I wouldn’t just let you die in this hole.” There’s a rumbling above them. Blitz looks up in obvious concern. “Can you get up?”

“I don’t know, I barely feel my limbs.”

The steps above them grow faster. “Loona, you’re strong, can you throw him over your shoulder when we get in a hurry?”

She shrugs. “I guess. Either way, we should probably get running.”

“I thought…?”

“Yeah, we got rid of Stella, but unfortunately Striker still has a bit more of a personal problem with us,” Millie explains while she gestures for Blitz to give her her knife back.

As if on cue, Striker appears in the doorframe, already bleeding from his shoulder, but his eyes hungry for a fight. “You killed my source of income, you destroyed my job and you’re even trying to save this pompous asshole?”

“I’d rather have a pompous asshole than a deranged one!”

“Hand him out to me, I’m sure there are enough overlords and royals in Hell who would be more than willing to pay a good bounty for him. And I would even be generous and give you all 10%. As a peace offer.”

“Fuck you and your peace,” Blitz says, draws his gun and takes a single shot.

The bang echoes throughout the small room and leaves Stolas’ ears ringing. A stinging pain takes over that makes it hard for him to look up and focus. But when he manages to lift his head again, he sees Striker on the ground, struggling to hold onto this bleeding leg.

“Let’s get out of here,” Blitz sighs and motions for everyone to follow him as he jumps over Striker and leaves him behind on the ground.

“Sir?” Moxxie says as though to raise an objection.

“Shut it, Moxx. Loona, take Stolas. Now.” Blitz doesn’t even look back at them.

Loona throws Stolas over her shoulder with surprising ease and carries him outside.

They make their way through the abandoned warehouse building in uneasy silence, only the sound of steps on metal between them.

When they make it outside, the light almost burns Stolas’ eyes. “Let’s go to the office,” Blitz offers.

“But Via…” Stolas says weakly, still hanging over Loona’s shoulder, suddenly overcome with fear for his precious baby.

“She’s there, we got her out of the palace first thing before we went on our little rescue mission. Took one of your butlers, too, so someone can look after her.”

“Oh thank the stars.”

“No, thank me maybe, but you can save that for later.” Blitz fishes his phone out of his pocket and stuffs it back in, frustration all over his face. “Moxxie, would you call an ambulance?”

“What?”

“An ambulance. Weee-oh, weee-oh. Takes people to the hospital, do you even have a brain up there?!”

“Sir, I know what an ambulance is, but why?”

“Well, Striker is bleeding out in there, for one.”

“Don’t you want him dead?”

Blitz laughs. “Are you insane? He’s the only motherfucker in Hell to put up a real fight, do you really think I want to deprive myself of that fun?”

Moxxie sighs, shakes his head, but calls the ambulance without further discussion.

Loona sits Stolas down on the couch of their waiting room. Stolas thanks her and feels sleep gnawing at him more intensely than ever before.

It takes not even two seconds before Octavia storms in and throws her arms around him, “Oh my God, Dad! You’re safe!”

Stolas weakly lifts his arms, thankful to feel them again at all, and wraps them around her. “Of course, Via. I would never leave you alone.”

“I assume Mom didn’t make it?”

Stolas’ looks around helplessly, unsure of how to respond.

“She was on the way to fully execute your dad, so we didn’t really have a choice,” Blitz says, as a matter of fact, but he doesn’t seem particularly happy about it. “I… I’m sorry.”

Octavia nods. A thousand emotions run through her big eyes in a matter of seconds. Grief, relief, anger. “I… I’m glad you’re safe, Dad. I just… I need a moment.” She lets go of him and gets up. She leaves the room.

“Via-” Stolas tries to get up but his legs don’t quite allow him to yet.

“Leave her,” Loona says, “Her mom might have been a bitch, but she was still her mom and it’s hard to lose that. I’ll check on her later.”

Stolas wants to protest, run after his daughter, but simply gives her a sad nod. He’s not running anywhere yet.

“How are you feeling?” Blitz asks as Millie enters the room with some hot chocolate for everyone.

Stolas can only shrug. “Like shit, mostly. I can sort of feel my body again, at least. But, I just… I can’t form a clear thought, it’s all so… foggy. I… I can’t even think of how I feel about Stella being dead. It doesn’t feel real. Nothing feels real.”

Blitz nods and hands him one of the hot chocolate cups. “That’s okay, take your time.”

“You’re being extremely nice to me,” Stolas remarks.

“Stolas, I’m coming off a 72 hour rescue mission and I’m mostly just glad you’re alive. I don’t exactly have energy left over for snarky sarcasm, okay. Being as charmingly abrasive as I am takes work.” Blitz plops down on the couch next to him with a shaky laugh. Stolas leans against him.

“Thank you. I don’t think I would still be alive without you.”

“I would never let you die,” Blitz whispers.

Across the room Millie is gesturing at Moxxie and they excuse themselves from the room moments later.

“Where are they going?”

Blitz sighs. “Ugh, they want to give us the room. As if I’m gonna drop a whole confession speech on you when you barely function.”

Stolas stops. “Confession?”

“Oh crap.” Blitz blushes. “I… Don’t worry about it today, okay? Worry about your daughter and the very awkward funeral you’re about to attend soon. Just… Just let me help you put yourself back together.”

Stolas stays silent.

“Let’s start by massaging your shoulders, those must be killing you. Sorry, maybe not the best time to make jokes about murder. Uhm, anyway.” Blitz puts his mug down, gets off the couch to walk behind Stolas. He starts carefully massaging Stolas’s shoulders.

It feels good, it takes some of the edge off, it brings warmth back into Stolas’ body. It makes everything feel a little less horrible. It makes everything horrible he has experienced in the past few days feel a little farther away. He doesn’t want Blitz to ever stop touching him. He wants to feel these hands on him for as long as he lives. It should be some earth-shattering revelation, but it simply feels like the culmination of everything they’ve been through. “I love you,” he whispers, without thinking.

Blitz stops massaging him for a moment. “You should call a therapist.”

“Because I love you?”

“No, because you’ve just spent three days tied up in a storage unit without food or drink and your wife had to be murdered to get you out of there. You might need some help processing that.”

“Were you even listening to me?” Stolas asks, a little heartbroken.

“I was, Stolas. And I love you, too, you big idiot, but I’m not going to talk about this with you now. Not before we’ve slept for 24 hours. Not before things aren’t somewhat okay with your daughter. I don’t… I’m not going to take advantage of you like that.”

“It’s not-”

“Please, Stolas. Let me just… Be there for you for now. Platonically.”

Stolas swallows but then he nods and that’s all that’s said about it for the evening. It’s enough, though, for now, that Blitz brings him hot chocolate and massages him and helps him talk to Via and helps him get up and walk again. And Blitz is right, he has other concerns for now. The horror of the moment is over, but there’s so much work ahead.

#helluva boss #stolas x blitz #stolas x blitzo #stolitz #stolitz week #hurt/comfort #fanfiction #my writing

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abimee · 4 years

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told my mom i might wanna get a new phone and got jinxed now mine isnt functioning well and cant play audio alongside a destroyed storage system + cracked screen.... the wifi is being turned off soon too and i need my phone to work and function as im broke and autistic so if anybody wants to commission me i can get to you within the next 2 days

you can get watercolours for $65 or digital coloring for $50. i know i just asked for money for a phone bill and im really sorry this os the last time ill do it because i dont like burdening others with the feeling of needing to help me and i dont like feeling helpless which is why im willing to draw in return, i do not want to just take money without giving an exchange. my cashapp is $wasteofmytimedotorg and its the only way i take payment im very sorry

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hale-13 · 3 years

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Slipping Through the Cracks

By Hale13

For the Summer of Whump Day 5 - Broken

Just when his life was finally leveling out Parker luck struck again. Peter has had four opportunities with parents and has lost all of them. The way he sees it, this is the least of what he deserves.

Post-Homecoming - Tony didn’t meet with Peter immediately to offer him a place on the Avengers.

Words: 3856, Chapters: 1/1 (Complete), Language: English

Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Rating: Gen-Teen

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Happy Hogan, Ned Leeds

TW: Depression, Dissociation, a single line of Suicidal Ideation, Referenced Child Abuse

Read on AO3 or below the line break.

Peter was silent as he exited Midtown with Ned keeping a quiet pace with him. Seven months ago they would be just as excited as their classmates for the weekend, for the plans that they surely would have made to build Legos or marathon movies or even to just study together. Ned would have been ecstatic to set up in Peter’s bedroom as his ‘guy in the chair’ while Peter did a quick patrol or two. If they were at Peter’s instead of Ned’s, May would attempt some new dish that would, inevitably, be awful and they would order pizza from their favorite place for dinner.

Now Peter never saw any of his limited friend group outside of school. He didn’t build Legos or watch movies or eat take-out pizza and he certainly wasn’t Spider-Man anymore – he had given that up after the Homecoming disaster when he had destroyed Mr. Stark’s plane.

It had been just over six months since he had found May dead in their kitchen and Peter didn’t really do anything at all anymore.

The ER doctors told Peter that she had an undiagnosed aneurysm that had finally burst – there was no way for anyone to know. She went quickly. She felt no pain. There was nothing that Peter could have done even if he was there when it happened.

The reassurances meant nothing really – Peter was numb. May was his last living family member, he had no one else and nowhere to turn. He can vaguely remember telling the social worker that was with him when they told him the news about May that he was alone now. He can remember being taken forcibly from the hospital before he was ready to go, wanting to kick and scream and drag his heels but too shocked to do so. And then everything was a blur.

Somewhere in his mind he knew that he had been allowed to pack up everything important from their apartment to go into storage until he was eighteen besides the bag of essentials he had for himself. He knew that everything else was donated or sold to pay off their remaining debt and the medical bills he had incurred by calling for help when he found May on the kitchen floor. He knew that the social worker told him that, even after selling everything, they couldn’t afford a funeral. He has a business card in his wallet with the number of the crematorium that was holding May’s ashes until he was old enough to retrieve them and, hopefully, give her a proper burial in their family plot next to Ben.

He spent the two weeks after in a group home, mute and dissociating with seven other boys in similar situations. He didn’t go to school, but he remembers the constant stream of unanswered texts and calls from Ned and MJ before his phone plan was discontinued then his phone became a dead relic in his bag. There were a lot of discussions about school that Peter didn’t take part in but, thanks to his full scholarship, he was able to continue at Midtown at least until the end of the year.

And then he was placed with his foster parents.

The Fishers seemed to be pleasant people when Peter first met them; they didn’t force him to speak, they had extensive fostering experience with teenagers and were willing to pay for his subway pass so he could get to and from his school even though there was a decent public school in walking distance. It didn’t take long, however, for their true colors to show.

Now, though, Peter knew the rules. He was always home by his curfew of four on school days and he never went out on the weekends. His grades were perfect. He kept his undecorated room spotless. He cooked supper every evening and breakfast and dinner on the weekends. He kept the house presentable. He stayed out of the Fishers way. Mostly he drifted. His days slid together to the point he had difficultly remembering entire weeks passing him by but it was fine.

He was fine.

“I’ll see you Monday,” Ned muttered as he split off to get in his mom’s car, not acknowledging the pathetic little wave Peter offered in return. A coiling feeling settled in his gut and Perter felt guilt rise up to swirl in his throat. Ned was his best friend and he was treating him like shit. With Peter basically unresponsive, bullies had taken to picking on Ned instead… well except for Flash. Flash had been the only one to back off and stand up for both of them – it helped but didn’t fix everything.

“Better if he leaves you now,” a little voice in his head whispered. “It’s better to be alone.” And maybe at one point he would have fought against that mindset but now he couldn’t help but agree. Peter destroyed everything he touched and everyone around him was doomed for misery. Better for Ned to get out while he could.

Lethargically, Peter began across the empty football field toward the subway entrance – his trip home was always a little tight and he couldn’t afford to miss this train.

“Peter!” A harried voice shouted as his shoulder was grabbed and he was roughly turned around to face a red-faced and irritated Happy Hogan. Peter’s mind blanked for a moment in total shock at seeing the man again after so long. “Didn’t you hear me calling for you?”

“Sorry Mr. Hogan,” Peter mumbled, not making eye contact. He felt the phantom sting from the slap he had gotten for that when he first moved into foster care burning his bare cheek.

“The Boss has been calling you, he wants to chat. You screening our calls now?” Happy asked, accusatory as his eyes raked down Peter’s form. Peter felt a shiver crawl up his spine and kept his sight locked on Happy’s chin, trying to remain as relaxed as possible. It was important to not draw any unwanted attention to himself.

“No sir,” he answered, voice a little rough and quiet with disuse. “I don’t have a phone anymore.” Happy huffed and narrowed his eyes at Peter before steering him to the expensive Audi parked in front of the school.

“No matter, he wants to talk to you in person anyway. Hop in and I’ll take you to the Tower.” Peter gulped and fought the urge to dig his heels in – it wouldn’t be polite.

“I have a curfew of four,” he protested weakly as Happy pulled open the door for him and motioned for him to climb in. Peter hesitated but relented when Happy gave him a little shrug.

“I’m sure May will understand and Tony can always give her a call to clear anything up.” And with that Peter was gone. No one had said her name since she died and the thought… the very implication that he could still be living with his aunt, happy and carefree, was insane. His mind floated away and he felt like he was watching himself as a specter. He saw his body relax but his eyes were distant, cloudy. Happy, for the first time that Peter could remember, didn’t raise the partition between the front and rear seats and, instead, watched Peter in the rear view mirror.

The drive to the Tower took over thirty minutes with traffic and Peter would be panicking about how late he was going to be if he had any capacity to feel at all. Instead, he let his mind wander as the skyscrapers of Manhattan blurred into a grey mosaic outside the window, fat raindrops sporadically hitting the window as a drizzle started. “We’re here,” Happy told him as he parked the car in the underground garage that was reserved for Mr. Stark and other high level staff of the Tower. Peter popped his door open and followed the man to the private elevator that he assumed would take them to Mr. Stark’s office.

“Hello Happy. Hello Peter,” the disembodied voice of Mr. Stark’s AI, FRIDAY, said as the doors closed and the elevator began to move. “Boss is awaiting your arrival in his workshop.”

“Thanks FRIDAY,” Happy said, texting intently on his phone. Peter just remained silent as the elevator began to slow before stopping completely, the doors trundling open soundlessly. Happy nudged Peter out but remained inside the car as the doors closed, leaving Peter alone in the sleek room.

Tony was seated in front of a large hologram of his armor, code scrolling past on his monitor as he made adjustments. “Mr. Parker,” he said as Peter edged closer to him, not looking up from his work. “You’re a hard man to get in contact with.”

Though Tony sounded more forthright than angry, Peter still had to fight the cringe in his shoulders as he came to a stop about ten feet away from the work bench – out of reach and with enough time to prepare if the man were to make any sudden moves. “Sorry,” he murmured, keeping his eyes low and doing his best to keep his shoulders from curling in – the last thing he needed to do was show any weakness.

“No need for apologies,” Tony said, light, as he fiddled with a holo mechanism in the right repulser. “Just a statement of fact. According to the news Spider-Man has also been just as difficult to find.”

Peter just hummed in response, choosing not to comment on his previous alter-ego. He didn’t much feel like a hero these days.

“A man of few words,” Tony commented, shutting down the programs in front of him and turning to face Peter fully. “Are you the same kid who was talking my ear off in Germany a year ago?”

“Yes sir,” Peter said, keeping his eyes focused on Tony’s chin. He could feel his mind slipping as his heart rate sped up and he struggled to keep present – it was getting harder and harder to stay in the moment the more he allowed himself to get lost in his head. He occasionally dreamed that one day it might be permanent; one of the few good dreams he had.

“Sir?” Tony parroted, his eyebrows raising and a flash of guilt washing over his features quickly before disappearing. “Look kid, I think I owe you an apology. Actually, I know I owe you an apology. I didn’t communicate with you about the whole alien weapons take-down thing. I underestimated you and treated you like a side-kick and ignored you and then I left you alone and without any protection and you saved my bacon anyway.”

“I deserved it,” Peter said matter-of-factly. “I was in over my head and I disobeyed. The punishment fit the crime.”

“No it didn’t,” Tony told him bluntly but firmly, looking surprised but resolute. “Maybe we both share some fault in the situation but I’m the adult and the one with experience and I didn’t do anything to teach you or help you and for that I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Peter assured him, allowing himself to tap his index finger against his thigh once to let out his stress. Mr. Fisher didn’t like his constant fidgeting and Peter knew that it was pretty annoying so he had done his best to learn how to stand as still as possible to not incur any extra punishments – the index finger tap he was able to normally get away with.

Mr. Stark’s eyes were narrowed as he surveyed Peter. “I wanted to offer you a real spot as my intern. You could spend a few days a week in the shop working on tech and I made you a new and improved suit for the other part of your ‘internship’. I promise that you’ll always have the support you need to be New York’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. You’re the future of the Avengers, kid, its pretty clear to me now. Your spot on the team is there whenever you want to take it.”

For the briefest of moments, Peter was overwhelmed with excitement and incredulity. Ever since Tony had announced he was Iron Man to the world, Peter had wanted nothing more than to be a superhero as well, to be an Avenger. If Tony had offered him a spot on the team after Germany, Peter would have taken it in an instant. Now…

“Thank you Mr. Stark,” Peter said, voice still a little broken and hoarse from how little he spoke these days. “But I can’t.”

“Oh you don’t have to join now,” the man assured, misunderstanding. “You’ll need some training first but Rhodey and Vision are always down to join us at the compound for some group work. You have a lot of potential.”

“Thanks but that’s not what I meant,” Peter clarified. “I have to decline all of it but I appreciate the offer.”

“Oh,” Tony looked a little crestfallen, a dark expression of acceptance on his defined features. “I understand. Broken trust and all that. Sure.”

“It’s not that,” Peter reassured quickly. “I don’t hold anything against you – I was the one who messed up. It’s just I have a four o’clock curfew every day so I can’t do the internship.”

“That’s easily remedied!” Mr. Stark said, his eyes lifting with a smile and looking relieved. “I’ll just give Aunt Hottie a call and work things out and we’ll have you in the lab and out swinging through the streets in no time!”

Peter’s ears fuzzed out again, a sharp high-pitched note cutting off Tony’s excited words as a feeling of immense emotion flooded through Peter before he could tamp it down. His breathing felt a little ragged in his chest and he squeezed his eyes shut for just a moment to gather himself. “My aunt is dead,” Peter gritted out, interrupting Tony and rendering him speechless. “She died six months ago. My foster… the people fostering me are a little more strict.”

“Oh,” Tony said, face blank and an awkward silence filling the space. Peter gripped his worn down backpack straps and backed toward the elevator.

“Thanks for the offer,” Peter said earnestly. “It really is an honor I just…” he trailed off. “Thanks. For everything.”

And with that, he entered the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby, the doors shutting on Tony’s pitying expression before the man could say anything much to Peter’s relief. The metro card the Fishers had gotten him only had a set amount of money on it every month so Peter would be hoofing it back to their house from the Tower. His cracked watch face told him that it was already close to four-thirty and his stomach bubbled with anxiety. At this rate he wouldn’t be back in time to have dinner on the table at five-thirty.

Resigned to his punishments, Peter left the building through the shining lobby and pointed himself toward Queens, moving as fast as he could.

——————-

“You’re late,” Mr. Fishers’s tone was short and monotonous from where he was seated on the couch. The house was otherwise quiet which meant Mrs. Fisher was out that evening.

“I’m sorry sir,” Peter whispered looking at the floor and making no excuses. He had learned the hard way that trying to justify his poor behavior only made things worse for him in the long run.

“Go to your room,” Mr. Fisher told him making Peter cringe. “I’ll join you in a moment.”

Later, when Peter was lying on the bed with silent tears still leaking from his eyes and his back and ribs stinging in pain, he thought about Mr. Stark’s offer with selfish desire. In another universe, in another life, he would have been elated but now he only felt desolation - life always did like to dangle things in front of him he couldn’t have.

Setting his alarm for five-thirty so he wouldn’t oversleep, Peter let his consciousness slip away into the ether, mind going blissfully empty and blank.

——————-

Monday came both faster and slower than Peter wanted. His body still ached from his well-deserved punishment and he was exhausted from the extra chores and minimal food he had been offered as a result of his actions. School passed in a lonely blur for him as he drifted from class to class, hiding away in the deserted music room during lunch to avoid Ned and MJ. They didn’t ask as many questions anymore but Peter didn’t want to put himself in a situation where he would have to lie to his friends again.

When the final bell of the day rang, Peter chose to not stop by his locker where he may be ambushed and, instead, left the school, headed directly for the subway. He had nearly made it when a body physically blocked him from the stairs.

“Howdy Pete,” Mr. Stark said, peering over his glasses to look at Peter and Peter did his best to school his expression into indifference. He couldn’t be late again. He couldn’t take another punishment, he was just so tired all he wanted to do was sleep. Maybe forever. “Where are you headed?”

“Back to my fosters,” Peter told him, trying to skirt around. “I have a four o’clock curfew.”

“I remember you saying something about that,” Mr. Stark agreed with a nod. “Tell you what – let me give you a ride home. You’ll get home well before your curfew and I can talk to your foster parents about the internship. Who can say no to Tony Stark right?”

“NO!” Peter said loudly before smacking a palm over his mouth. He could feel the blood draining from his face as his body tensed, preparing for the correction he knew was coming. Mr. Stark’s brow was furrowed now and his eyes behind his blue glasses had a twinkle of understanding in them.

“Peter,” he began, reaching a hand out with the intention of lying his hand on Peter’s shoulder but he never got that far. Seeing the hand coming towards him and already being on high alert after his exclamation, Peter violently flinched away, only barely able to catch himself from falling over due to his enhanced reflexes, and squeezed his eyes shut tight. “Oh Peter,” Tony said, a desolate understanding in his voice.

Peter cracked his eyes open to see Mr. Stark with both hands raised in the universal ‘backing off’ signal, a soft look on his face. “Sorry sir,” Peter croaked out. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. It’s fine.”

“Do you have something you need to tell me kiddo?” Tony’s voice was soft and gentle and Peter felt his eyes well up with tears he hastily blinked away as he shook his head quickly. “It’s okay buddy. You can tell me.”

“I’m fine. I’m okay. It’s fine.” Tony looked even more crestfallen at Peter’s answer and tapped the side of his glasses to activate FRIDAY.

“Can you I’ve me a scan FRI?” He asked and Peter flinched again knowing there was no way to hide the broken and healing bones and skin that he had been doing his best to conceal. Tony’s face was tight as he stared at Peter and Peter felt all of the blood left in his face drain away.

“I deserved it,” Peter told him desperately. “I disobeyed, it was my fault.” Mr. Stark just looked even more beaten at his words and Peter felt his breathing picking up.

“It’s not,” Tony said, voice still unbelievably soft but firm. “It’s not your fault and you didn’t deserve it. You’re a great kid Pete.” Peter shook his head no and couldn’t stop a couple tears from leaking out before furiously wiping them away. “I promise that it wasn’t your fault Underoos. Will you let me help you?”

“You can’t,” Peter said, feeling hollow. “Everyone… everyone close to me dies. I’m cursed and I can’t do that to you too Mr. Stark.”

“Can I hug you?” Tony asked suddenly, arms twitching with need. After a seconds hesitation, Peter nodded and was hastily folded into the man’s arms; one arm tight around his shoulders and the other snaking up into his hair to pull through the too long strands carefully. Peter felt more tears leak out and, suddenly, he couldn’t hold it in any longer, throwing his own arms around Tony to return the hug and letting out a gut-wrenching sob into the man’s shoulder. Tony just shushed him and let him take as much comfort as he could. “You’re not cursed and none of this is your fault. I get the feeling no one has told you that yet and you need to hear it.”

Peter sobbed loudly again, curling in tighter. He had always thrived on positive affirmation and had grown up in a family where hugs and shoulder pats and forehead kisses were the norm. To go so long without… he had forgotten how nice it was to just be held and cared for. “Thank you,” Peter said, his voice clogged with emotion. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Tony said firmly. “Anyone decent would do the same thing and it’s the least of what you deserve.”

Peter squeezed him one more time and took a deep breath before pulling away. “Thank you,” he reiterated, fighting to make eye contact so he could show just how sincere he was. “But I need to get back before four and I already missed my train. I can’t be late.” Tony, who still had one hand resting on Peter’s shoulder, gripped him tightly to prevent him from escaping up the stairs to the train.

“You aren’t going back,” he said firmly, ducking his head and forcing Peter to make eye contact. “You’re coming with me back to the Tower where I’m going to call CPS and my lawyers. You’re never going back there again.”

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Peter insisted. “It’s really not that bad if I’m home on time and do my chores and stay in my room. And its only two more years until I’m eighteen and then I can get a job and an apartment.”

“Pete,” Tony said, eyes shining as he wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulders and started leading him away from the subway and toward the Audi that was parked in the pickup lane; Peter could see the outline of Happy’s silhouette in the driver’s seat. “You deserve better. You deserve somewhere safe and you deserve to have someone care about you. I know you don’t believe it now and that’s okay – I’m just going to keep telling you until you do.”

Peter sniffed back another onslaught of tears and allowed himself to be pulled away. “Thank you Mr. Stark,” he said, voice clogged with emotion.

“It’s Tony kiddo,” the man told him with another squeeze that warmed Peter to the core. “And you don’t need to thank me for this okay?”

“Okay,” Peter agreed, fully aware and present and wanting to be for the first time in a long time. Things were never going to be the same, but maybe, just maybe, they would get better.

#summer of whump 2021 #Prompt: Broken #spider man #irondad #summerofwhump #summerofwhump5

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ieattaperecorders · 3 years

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Something's Different About You Lately - Chapter 14: After the Fire

Jon has some visitors.

Note: This chapter contains a few small instances of well-meaning people touching a blind person without warning in a way that startles them.

Read on Ao3

---

He knew that he was in a hospital before he was fully awake. The texture of the stiff sheets and gown, the antiseptic smell, some indistinctly medical quality to the air filled him with the memory of wandering through distant dreams, of emerging into a cold and brightly-lit room. He came to himself gradually, slowly growing aware of an uncomfortable heaviness, of something wrapped around his face and something else restricting movement on his right side. He shifted experimentally and felt a twinge. Quietly, he groaned.

"Hey," came a voice from nearby. "You actually awake, boss? Or is this another false alarm?"

I'm not your boss anymore, Tim, he thought. Then he thought, wait a minute.

"Tim . . . ?" his voice came out hoarse and thick with grogginess. "Where – augh . . . ."

Pain shot through Jon's body as he tried to lift himself into a sitting position. He heard Tim get up and felt a careful hand on his left shoulder, guiding him back down.

"Oooh, don't do that. They've got you on the good stuff, but you're still a mess on that side. Don't be such an impatient patient."

"Where's Martin? Is he –"

"Relax, Martin's fine. Well, not fine, he's been shot, but he's doing a lot better than you. Bullet glanced off your shoulder before hitting him, tore up some muscle and fat but didn't get anything vital. He was awake before you were even out of surgery."

The hand stayed on Jon until it was clear he was going to remain still, then came away. There was an audible scrape as a chair was pulled closer, and Tim sat down again.

"We're all fine too, by the way," he added, as if offended he hadn't asked. "Just so you know."

"And . . . Jonah?"

Tim was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was subdued.

"Didn't check if he was breathing when we left him, but he wasn't getting up," he said. "And I can't see anything coming out of that fire."

Jon lay still and tried to process it all. He wasn't sure what he should feel. What he did feel was a distant sort of unsteadiness, whether it was shock or whatever painkillers were coursing through his system, he didn't know.

"Have you been sitting up with me?" he asked.

"Don't get too big a head about it," Tim smirked. "I've only been here a bit. Sasha's come by to peek in as well, and we've visited Martin too. I was just lucky enough to be the one to see your grumpy little face when you woke up."

"Huh." Surprise and a strange melancholy rose in Jon at the thought. He smiled wryly, "and for my part, the first thing I hear on regaining consciousness is Tim Stoker's terrible puns."

"Excuse you, I am a delight to be around and my puns are charming."

Jon laughed softly, lapsing back into silence. The quiet stretched on for a while, solemnity beginning to creep in at the edges again. Then Tim spoke.

". . . You think he's actually dead?"

"Jonah? I think so. Avatars can be hard to kill, but he was very afraid of death." Jon tapped his less encumbered hand against the mattress, considering. "I think . . . if he had reached to the Eye in his last moments, it would have simply watched as his life faded away, doing what it does. Drinking in his fear."

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," Tim muttered, something unsettled in his tone. "What about the circus?"

". . . Depends what you mean, I suppose." Jon tried to choose his words carefully. "I'm not the Archivist anymore, so I don't think they'd have any interest in me now. We're not protected from them, but I don't think they'd have reason to come after any of us. Unless, of course," he added pointedly. "Someone draws their interest by going after them."

"Even if we get away, they're still out there," Tim pushed, something limping in his voice, "Doing what they do to people. Am I supposed to just be okay with that?"

Jon was quiet for a while.

"If you could destroy the circus," he said softly, "which is a big ‘if', but if you could, the Stranger would continue manifesting in other forms. Possibly even as a circus again. You can't keep fear from the world, you'd only be changing details. In the end I don't know if it would save anyone."

"It would hurt those things, though. Wouldn't it?"

"Maybe," Jon said. "Maybe not. Certainly not as much as it would hurt anyone who cared about you."

It was Tim's turn to be quiet. He let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Not sure I like this new, future-memories version of you Jon," he said. "He's kind of a know-it-all."

"You should have seen me when I was literally all-knowing."

"Nightmare. Don't know how Martin put up with you."

"Neither do I." Jon smiled, warmth running through him at the thought. He took a long, slow breath. ". . . You died hating me, you know. In that other life."

"Yeah?" Tim didn't sound very surprised. "What'd you do?"

"Plenty," Jon laughed mirthlessly. "Though by the end I'm not even sure how much it had to do with me. We were lost, hurt, broken people, lashing out in fear and pain."

"Yeah. Starting to think that the Magnus Institute didn't exactly facilitate a healthy work environment."

"No . . . ."

He heard a soft, electronic tapping in the pause that followed. Maybe Tim was texting the others, letting them know Jon was awake? He couldn't tell. A gentle shove hit his uninjured shoulder, making him flinch.

"Well. Let's try not to fuck it up this time around, huh?" Tim said. "I'm gonna go get a nurse and tell them you're up, they'll probably want to check your vitals or rotate your tires or something."

"Right. Uh, right . . ." Jon stammered, "thank you."

The footsteps faded, and Jon let his head sink back onto the pillow. He felt . . . adrift. More so than he had in a while.

He'd been confused and frightened through all of this, half the time he hadn't even known what he was looking for, but at least he'd known he was looking. Even in the long, terrible walk across the nightmare domains, the constant pull of their destination had given him purpose. He'd known what he was hoping for.

And there had been Martin there. Of course.

For better or worse now, Jonah was dead and he was alive. He was severed from the Eye, the others were freed, and dark and terrible powers still lurked beyond the edge of human perception, waiting to Become.

Jon wasn't sure what he was hoping for now. He lay back and waited for the nurse to arrive.

* * *

Time passed in a haze. He had little sense of how much he slept, and the divide between sleep and waking blurred together.

Sometimes he had visitors. Georgie came in not long after Tim, having gotten a very incomplete version of events through Melanie. He hadn't exactly intended to tell her anything when she sat down, but somehow after a few confused inquiries, and a gentle "try me" or two, he found himself spilling everything. It was far more disjointed and emotional than his recounting in the tunnels, but the bulk of it seemed to get across.

When it was over, she just said, "sounds like you've had a hell of a time."

It was the calmness as much as the sympathy that affected Jon. As if he'd just told her about a bad relationship he'd gotten out of, rather than his place in the universe's nightmare cosmology and the end of the world.

He didn't know what to say to it, really, and frankly saying anything at all risked letting the tightness inside his chest come spilling out - the pressure bandage would hide any tears, but Georgie would be able to tell. She saved him by breaking the silence, asking if he had any stock tips or winning lottery numbers from the future to share.

Melanie's visits were less steadying, twice devolving into arguments. It seemed to be a constant between them, that no matter what happened or what forces were acting on either of them, their ability to rile each other was inevitable. She was also insistent that he explain every detail he remembered about what she'd begun calling the "dark timeline." When he complained that framing it as an alternate timeline was likely inaccurate and, frankly, horrifying in its implications, she threw a pen at him.

Still, she came back again afterwards. And still, he was glad that she did.

Sasha reported that her hand was healing, though when pressed admitted he'd been right about her range of motion not returning. She also helped him set the voice assistant up on his phone, which was a great relief. Though it was a bit embarrassing to reveal how little he knew about his own device's functions.

"Honestly Jon, you're only thirty-one," she said, going through some final setup that he'd already forgotten her explanation of. "You've got no excuse at all to be so tech-illiterate."

"Yes, yes. I've had other priorities lately."

"I don't mind you asking for help, understand. But what are you going to do if I get eaten by another evil table someday?"

He felt a stab of shock at the blazingly conversational reference to it. Something must have shown on his face because he heard her pause..

"Sorry. Too soon?"

"Ah. . . depends on your perspective of time, I suppose," Jon said, trying and failing to make it sound like a joke.

"Right. You know, it's all a little distant for me. Unsettling, sure, but on my end it's really just a story. . . ." she trailed off. "Hey, what were you doing in Hainault?"

"Gertrude's storage locker was there -- are you going through my location history?"

"Just the more recent stuff," she made it sound as if he was the strange one for asking, and he grunted with annoyed resignation.

"You should be careful about that."

"About what?"

"Prying into other people. Invading their privacy," he lay his head back against the pillow. "Don't forget that you were part of a temple to the Eye until very recently. You're free of the Institute now, but the power behind it might not be through with you."

She was quiet for a while. Whether it meant she was contemplating what he said or ignoring him so that she could continue digging through his phone, he couldn't say.

"All I'm saying is that it can be addicting," he continued. "That urge to push past the boundaries that people raise against you. Trust me when I say that I know."

"I'd imagine you would." She paused. ". . . What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Being all knowing?"

". . . Hard to describe."

There was a pause, and when it became clear he wasn't going to continue, Sasha pushed out an annoyed breath and said "well you could give it more of a shot than that."

"I don't know. Overwhelming," Jon said. "In the most complete sense of the word. Sometimes I had answers, but so few of them were helpful in the end. And the things I saw, the nightmares, the pain of everyone trapped in them. Having to watch that sort of thing, all the time . . . either it destroys you, or you learn to distance yourself. At least a little. If only to keep from breaking down. Neither is very good, but one lets you survive."

Sasha made a thoughtful humming noise.

"It isn't anything you want. Believe me," he said softly. "Even if the world hadn't ended, if I'd just been another avatar . . . any rewards aren't worth the price that others have to pay."

"Yeah," she sighed heavily. "Sounds about right."

Jon relaxed, some tension he'd been carrying in him slowly unlocking. Sasha continued.

"Well. Talking about privacy, while I'm here let me at least show you how to stop broadcasting your location to anyone and everyone," she tsked and scooted her chair closer. "Honestly. No wonder you got kidnapped all the time."

"I don't really think supernatural manifestations of fears needed GPS to find me."

"Couldn't have helped though, could it?"

"Probably not," Jon smiled sadly. "Should've had you around."

"Yeah. Can't imagine how any of you managed."

* * *

Even with his visitors, there were long stretches of time Jon spent entirely alone. Laying in the dark and the quiet, his thoughts shifting like a tide. Sometimes he'd drift back to those first years at the Institute, or the time-beyond-time after the change. Other days he'd lay contemplating the past few months, all the things that he'd re-written and the worries he still had.

Mostly he thought of very little, the twin sophorics of boredom and pain medication fogging his mind into an uncomfortable stasis.

When the knock came, he'd been listening to the soft, white noise of the air conditioning and thinking of how much it resembled distant waves, putting him in mind of a cold and empty shore. Then he heard two soft taps against the door, along with a familiar voice.

"Knock, knock," Martin said.

It was the first time he'd heard his voice since the fire, since the two of them were falling to the ground together. Without really thinking he asked, "who's there?"

"Oh! Right –" he sounded embarrassed. "Sorry, it's Martin."

"Yes, I -- ah, yes." Jon sounded pitifully eager, he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "C-come in. Please."

* * *

If Jon was asleep, Martin decided, then he'd come back later. He probably needed the rest -- had needed it a good long while before they'd both been shot. Really, Martin ought to be at home resting as well. But when he knocked softly on the half open door, Jon turned in his direction, wide awake.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Oh! Right –" stupid, he can't see you. Going to have to remember that. "Sorry, it's Martin."

Jon nodded, inviting him in and slowly shifting into a seated position as Martin pulled a chair up to his bedside.

He could see the edge of a dressing covering the bullet's exit wound, just peeking up from under Jon's collar. The bandages had been removed from his eyes, and the area around them was still a little bruised and swollen. He looked wrung out, small and tired. But then, Martin supposed, everyone looks small and tired in a hospital bed.

"How are you doing?" Jon asked, "they told me you've been recovering as well . . . ."

"Yeah, just got released this morning." He stretched, rubbing over the bandage that was hidden below his shirt and jacket. "Went home, had a shower, then came right back to the hospital."

"Sounds like an exciting day."

"What about you?"

"Mmm, still looking forward to a few days here, at least. They don't think I'll be needing more surgery, fortunately, and they're weaning me onto less intense painkillers. It's a little exhausting, but apparently I'm recovering well."

"Considering you took a bullet for me," Martin muttered.

A startled-sounding laugh came from Jon. "I'm not really sure that's what happened. More like we both got shot at the same time?"

"Suppose so," Martin said. Didn't quite feel that way, though. "Honestly, I don't even know if he was trying to shoot us at the end, or if the gun just went off when they tackled him."

"Neither would surprise me."

"But then I didn't even think he had a gun, let alone murdered people with it."

"I suspect he was desperate. He probably only resorts -- resorted to things like that when some disaster crept up on him. Like us, or like Gertrude. He wasn't the hands-on type. Which came back to bite him with the ritual. In a way it's the reason I'm here -- or, the memories are, I suppose."

"Right . . . ."

Martin had plenty of time to think about it all, laid up in his own bed on another floor of the same building. About all that happened, about the things Jon told them in the tunnels. More than anything else, it just made him feel foolish. Like he'd been left out of a conversation that had been going on behind his back, and now everyone was looking at him and expecting him to catch up.

Which was pretty foolish itself, of course. Jon hadn't told anyone the whole story -- there'd been no conversation, no loop he was kept out of. It wasn't as if ‘post apocalyptic time-traveling memories' was a conclusion he could have somehow come to if he'd just paid closer attention. It was a ridiculous way to feel.

Sasha had told him, between games of dominoes, that she was glad he'd been there that night because she didn't think anyone else could have talked Jon out of his plan. Which was a lot to unpack, but didn't help with the sense of being out of the loop. Not if it was that obvious. Of course, she might have just been trying to make him feel useful. The way he saw it, he hadn't done much that evening except quietly panic, shout a bit and get held at gunpoint. And get shot. And get Jon shot with him, because he'd stood in front of him.

"I'm sorry . . . ." Martin said, softly.

". . . For what?"

"I saw what was happening, just before the gun went off. I could have pulled you away if I was faster, or thrown us to the ground, or done something. Instead I just froze."

"Martin . . ." Jon tilted his head in his direction. "Even assuming you could have been fast enough, most people freeze up when a gun is pointed at them. I did the same the first few times."

". . . First few times." Martin repeated flatly. "Jesus, Jon."

"I know. It's been a difficult few years."

"I didn't even know . . . ."

"I didn't want you to know," Jon said. "I couldn't tell any of you, Martin, not until everything was ready. You saw how close things came as it was, if he'd gotten wind of things sooner . . . ."

"Right . . . of course."

The two of them fell into an uncertain silence. Jon's hand worried at a thread on the edge of the bedsheet, twisting and twirling it between his fingers. Martin thought about that hand moving slowly and smoothly over his own, about the sorrow on Jon's face when he'd pulled away. Doubt anyone else could've talked him out of it, Sasha's voice repeated in his mind.

"About what you said. In the tunnels . . . ."

Jon visibly tensed, the edge of the sheet twisting in his fingers. "Er . . . which part?"

"The part about me," Martin said, praying that would be enough, that Jon wasn't going to make him actually repeat the words. "About us?"

"Ah. Right," he smiled weakly. "Funny how much easier it is to say these things when you think you're not going to be alive much longer."

"You were really going to tell me that and then go off to die a minute later, weren't you?" There was something quiet in Martin's voice as he spoke. Calm. Like the eye of a hurricane.

"I . . ." Jon hesitated, then nodded. "Yes."

"Bit rude."

". . . Suppose it was."

Martin went quiet. What could he say to that, to any of it? It wasn't as if he didn't get it, insecurity only goes so far when there's a declaration that explicit. He knew what I love you meant, he just . . . felt like he'd only now joined the conversation.

Before the silence could grow too powerful, Jon spoke again.

"We were together. In that other life. By the end of it, at least. I --" he laughed softly. "It took me too damned long to even realize my own feelings, let alone imagine that -- but we were together."

I can't watch that happen again, he'd said. Martin had more or less guessed that was the situation, but it was still strange to hear it confirmed. Surreal to think that Jon had a history with him, or a version of him, that he wasn't a part of.

"Were we happy?"

Jon was quiet for a while before answering. "I -- I'd like to say we were. I don't know if happy is a word I can use. At first we were in hiding, and then after the Change it was . . . well, it was a nightmare. But we had each other, and that made all the difference. And --"

He took an unsteady breath. "I think I was happier in those desperate weeks we had before the world ended than I'd honestly been in years? And there were times I'd see you in that cabin, and you'd be complaining about something, or humming while we cleaned and laughing to yourself. And you'd look different somehow, and it felt like -- there was a part of you that had been tucked away in all the time I'd known you, that was letting itself breathe again, and I was so lucky to be allowed to see it," he laughed lowly. "Or maybe all that was me projecting. Maybe I was the fool who should have paid better attention before. I don't know."

Martin tried to picture himself tucked into some remote hideaway, hiding from sinister supernatural monsters but relaxed enough to be humming and laughing while they tidied up. Tried to imagine what Jon could be referring to, how he'd been different and whether that was a good or bad thing, even. He found that he couldn't do either.

"What was he like?" he asked. "That other me."

A soft smile spread through Jon. "He was like you, Martin. A little older . . . a great deal more tired. More short-tempered, or maybe just more vocal about it," he added with fondness. "He was brave, and frustrating, and . . . and wonderful. Just wonderful."

". . . Sounds like quite a guy." Martin managed.

Jon nodded. Then the smile slipped from him, and his hands came together in his lap,

"I know that you aren't him. That is -- you are, in a sense you're the same person, but you also aren't?" he gestured outward. "Our experiences, they shape who we are, they change us. I know that."

". . . Right."

A part of him had suspected something like this might be coming, and he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. It still hurt, and he felt guiltily relieved that Jon couldn't see his face just now.

"I just . . ." Jon continued, "I don't want you to think, ah, that I expect anything--"

"No, I get it." Martin tried to smile, tried to sound like every word wasn't twisting in him. "I probably remind you of him? And -- heat of the moment, you thought you were gonna die. I get it. I don't expect anything either."

Jon frowned, looking momentarily confused.

"I know I'm not him, like, it's not the same," Martin continued, clearing his throat. "It doesn't have to be a thing, you know, if you don't want--"

"Martin." Jon cut him off. "I meant every word I said down there. I still do."

The words dried up in Martin's throat as Jon continued.

“I love you. Just as much as I always have. I still want to have a life with you, and I’m still terrified of that life being torn from us. And I don’t know how you feel about me, but I know -- even if any, ah, feelings are returned, I--” He took a deep breath, “What I feel for you, it’s, well, it’s a lot? There are so many things I’ve been through with you that you haven’t been through with me, and that’s good, I’m glad you haven’t been through them because they were mostly horrible. But I can’t deny that many of them brought us closer --”

“Jon . . . .”

“And -- and I don’t want to scare you off with the -- the intensity of my feelings but I’d understand and I wouldn’t blame you --”

Martin reached out and put a hand on Jon’s arm. The flurry of movement and talk came to a sharp standstill.

“Jon,” he said again.

“Oh. Um,” Jon’s voice was small and quiet. “Oh.”

". . . I don’t know how I’m different from the Martin you remember. And I don’t know how he felt about you, or how what I feel is different,” he said slowly. “All I know is that when you said you were going to go off to find a quiet corner and kill yourself, it felt like the whole world was falling apart.”

Jon was still under his hand, barely breathing.

“Don’t do it again.”

Quietly, Jon nodded. Martin pulled his hand away, settling back into the chair. For a while neither of them said anything,

“I mean, listen . . .” Martin finally broke the silence, shrugging uncertainly. “I’m willing to give it a try if you are?”

An unsteady sound came out of Jon, his hand flew up to cover his mouth and when he pulled it away he was smiling. "I -- I'd like that. Very much," he said.

"Okay." Martin smiled back, feeling airy, lightheaded. "Cool." He laughed. "Getting shot together'll make a hell of a first date."

"Wh-- that was not a first date!" Jon protested, his own laugh coming out sharp and startled, "that was a -- a terrifying escape from our sinister employer."

"Kind of romantic though, right?" Martin teased, "in a bad action movie sort of way."

"Everything else aside, I refuse to entertain the idea that our first date involved Jonah Magnus in any respect," he shuddered, shaking his head. "Though it -- it honestly may be a while before I'm up for anything much better. I'll still be in the hospital a bit, and afterwards . . . well, I know there's a lot I'm going to have to adjust to."

Martin felt a twinge at Jon's voice, at the anxiety creeping back into it. ". . . You won't have to do it alone," he said.

Smiling weakly, Jon reached a hand over the hard plastic rail meant to keep patients from falling out of bed. Martin took it and squeezed. Jon nodded and let go, settling back.

"There's still so much . . ." he said. "So much you don't even know . . . about us, and about other things."

"You could tell me now, you know. If you wanted."

Jon paused, looking uncertain. "Are you sure you want to hear it? I don't know what you're expecting but it's not going to be some sort of --- pleasant office romance. It's just a series of horrible, traumatic experiences, one after another."

It was a fair question, really, and Martin thought about it before answering.

"I want to hear it," he said. "If you're okay talking about it, that is. I want to know what you've been living with all these months. And . . . I want to know more about that other life. Even if it's all just awful."

Slowly, Jon nodded. "All right . . ." he said, "but it really is a very long story. It's going to take a while."

"I don't have anything on today," Martin smiled, standing up. "I'll go and get us some tea."

#tma fanfic #tma #sdayl #man it's almost done wild

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cattles-bians · 3 years

Text

damie vibecca exes au part 8

post directory

obsetress: now i just want fanart of damvibecca at the gym

em: well. pitch it to me comrade ghostfucker

obsetress: idk that's about as far as i got i just reread that bit about vibecca in their matching gym outfits and my brain got stuck

em: hypothetically do u have a colour palette in mind bc i associate gym outfits w like. bright loud colours and

em: idk if it works w our earth sign queens

[em note: emily is a liar and did NOT draw fanart of damvibecca at the gym]

[em note 2: we have the gym art now [x] [x]]

obsetress: i was imagining like charcoals tbh, or jewel tones

obsetress: i could see them in like jewel tone purples or that jewel tone blue green color

obsetress: yeah viola jewel tones or blacks n charcoals

obsetress: becs pastels and camels but jewel tones at the gym

em: it’s about Matching

em: And Destroying Ur Ex (platonically)

obsetress: yeah

obsetress: viola's feeling particularly smug about it but then

obsetress: dani's in an old school tshirt and shorts and jamie's in............ one of dani's old school tshirts and shorts

em: YES

obsetress: not intentionally, she just grabbed whatever was there

obsetress: dani chirps "oh you two look so cute! baby look, they have a matched set"

obsetress: viola arches an eyebrow "and so do you, it seems" and dani laughs "not on purpose, jamie just grabbed whatever was on top in the drawer"

viola: you two... share... a wardrobe?

dani: yeah?

em: god cute

obsetress: cute n dumb

em: they can share nearly everything except pants

em: well. pants as a treat

em: haha pants

em: trousers

obsetress: also rly nice rly clean smooth funny juxtaposition in my brain of vibecca being the ones who intentionally match and damie the ones for whom it just accidentally happens

obsetress: hahahah pants

obsetress: they can share pants but................ should they

em: idk miss chapter 12 danis thighs jamies pyjamas

em: should they

obsetress: PLEASE

obsetress: that's exactly what i was referring to THANKS

obsetress: anyway

obsetress: rebecca just laughs

obsetress: viola huffs and bex is like "sorry, babe, but it is kind of funny"

em: dani jamie wearing like

obsetress: YEAH

obsetress: MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY

em: poor viola

obsetress: thinking about dani's ass in those

em: yeah....

em: violas huffing until jamies exercise flush lasts a little Too Long

obsetress: big blush jamie taylor

em: she’s still like ‘oi dani close ur mouth’ but then she

obsetress: yeah

obsetress: just ogling each other

obsetress: (they briefly pause to ogle vi and rebecca passing a medicine ball back and forth as they do squats and have to acknowledge that, yeah, they've all done alright by themselves)

em: funny montage of the gang doing exercise while surreptitiously taking Peaks

obsetress: omg all i want

obsetress:sometimes having friends as a lesbian means they're all your exes except one, who's your gf, and you're all checking each other out always anyway

And That’s Beautiful

obsetress

obsetress: dani: checking out viola's biceps, rebecca's abs

viola: checking out dani's thighs n ass

rebecca: minding her business

jamie: scowling n scrawny

obsetress:(n also checking out dani's thighs n ass, viola's biceps, and begrudgingly peeking at rebecca's abs)

obsetress: every other woman at the gym: checking out jamie, trying to figure out the entire dynamic here

are they a polycule? what

em: jamie probably like

em: maybe she gets really into running bc she just checks out and listens to her audiobooks but like

em: slow twitch vs fast twitch fibers so stays scrawny

obsetress: i can see that

obsetress: just gets on the treadmill and zones tf out

em: jamie ‘why don’t i have biceps’ taylor vs jamie ‘no u gotta lift w ur hips’ taylor

obsetress: she hates it but her psych told her it'll be good for her routine so you know she was like yes ma'am every day ma'am

em: cant believe safe lifting procedures screwed her over

em: ‘yes ma’am every day ma’am’ ur just Going for it arent ya anshdjdh

obsetress: sorry but don't tell me you can't hear it

obsetress: jamie's the person who takes notes in therapy

obsetress: jamie, in the locker room after their workout: do my biceps look bigger?

dani, patiently, already knowing where this is going: bigger than what, baby?

jamie: than yesterday

dani: mm, rome wasn't built in a day, you know

jamie: do they look bigger at all?

dani: well

em: i mean not to perceive her too much but mattresses scene indicates AE/jamie like. at least some muscle in the leg area

em: poor jamie

em: not playing to her strengths

obsetress: yeah she does

obsetress: i mean ae has toned af arms

obsetress: she's just wiry

em: how could i forget the benchpressing dog gif

obsetress: dani's like "jamie, baby, come do squats with me and vi" "m'good" "baby, c'mon, you'll like it" "don't wanna do squats" "it could be good for you" "don't wanna do squats with you two"

em: dani: you gotta like. eat more

jamie: i eat plenty

dani: no u graze all day and then u don’t eat dinner

obsetress: dani: five biscuits spread out across a day doesn't count as eating more

em: dani: protein jamie it’s abt protein

obsetress: dani: you need more protein, which is why i think some lentils would really––

em: jamie thinks protein shakes are Nasty

obsetress: jamie does think protein shakes are nasty but dani will make her a smoothie and sneak it in like she's a child

obsetress: viola and rebecca, with their matching monogrammed blender bottles, just staring

obsetress: becca's like "jamie, just drink it, really, it's fine"

obsetress: viola just does this haughty sniff at her and that's what finally gets jamie to start

em: jamie can deal w being a brat but the idea of viola having Anything over her drives her Insane

em: Drives Her Fuckign Nuts

obsetress: she hates it

obsetress: just the absolute fuckin worst

em: do u think dani ever like

em: like they REALLY need to clear out storage but it’s a boiling frog situation where it’s increased so gradually that

em: like jamie thinks it’s Fine storage is Clear Enough

em: it’s Not

em: danis like. should we invite rebecca and vi over

em: just be Idea of A Snide Viola Comment fills jamie w a burning rage

obsetress: oh my god

obsetress: i'm obsessed with this

obsetress: i would read a whole oneshot about this

em: eventually dani comes clean abt it n jamie thinks it’s v funny bc yknow; open and honest communication is a v important part of their dynamic

em: jamie: next time just tell me my storage looks like shite dani or i will be grumbling abt viola for a Week

obsetress: inevitably

obsetress: when they do have to come over to clean

obsetress: dani offers them takeout and wine ("step up from pizza and beer at least," jamie grumbles) and viola's like "jesus, dani, let's just go out to dinner. my treat"

obsetress: at dinner, viola's like "if you want more storage, i have some wonderful properties––"

obsetress: rebecca's mouthing "sorry" from next to her across the table

em: every time they go out rebecca takes vi aside n is like ok sweetheart so you promise you’re not gonna try convince them to sell the apartment again

em: and violas like (mock horror) of course i won’t. ye of little faith

em: and every time

em: every time she does

em: she’s tryna HELP

obsetress: she would too she'd be like

obsetress: "i'm just trying to HELP"

obsetress: "they're our FRIENDS"

em: i’m on a mission to figure out like

em: this is way way down the line

em: but i wanna believe eventually viola and jamie start to, at the v least, Tolerate each other

em: jamie might even be fond of the crazy bird but she’ll NEVER admit it

obsetress: god like vi's on business or some shit in like

obsetress: the UAE

obsetress: negotiating some Deal

obsetress: and so dani and jamie get dinner with just bex and they're driving home after and having a perfectly mundane conversation and then jamie's just blurting like

obsetress: "i think i miss vi"

em: she’s HORRIFIED

em: she tries to play it off as like um

em: she’s Too Comfortable

em: things are Too Boring

em: which is weird knowing everything we know abt jamie

em: but actually she just... maybe misses viola

em: danis like god i wish i was recording this

obsetress: jamie's passed out next to her at home later (it's ten pm) and dani's chattering happily away on the phone with vi (drinking a martini in her dubai hotel room at one am since, y'know, no bars) in bed right next to her

obsetress: "jamie, uh, said she misses you. i know. no, i KNOW. don't tell her i told you. yeah, yeah, you win, vi, we know. uh-huh. uh-huh. i'm gonna pretend you didn't just ask me that"

em: CUTE

em: u can’t lord it over her vi it’s a little secret

em: vi's like when have i EVER

em: she does

obsetress: once they're good again, dani and vi absolutely just. lose time (there's a metaphor in there) talking to each other still

em: this is wholesome tbh

em: i really like the damie stories where like

em: look it’s nice when damie have each other but it’s also nice when they have their own friends and stuff

em: dunno how to articulate that well

em: it’s a balance! it’s a balance

obsetress: yeah! exactly

obsetress: because that's part of the love n possession thing too yk

obsetress: not to say either of them would ever be like "no friends for you" but

obsetress: wanting to have a life outside of your partner yk

obsetress: they're meeting vi and rebecca for dinner after vi gets back and vi's just grinning and sweeping jamie into a hug "i heard you missed me"

em: she gets jamie a souvenir t-shirt

em: it’s too big

em: OR

em: child’s t-shirt

obsetress: (jamie sleeps in it that night)

obsetress: oh childs might be better

obsetress: she's like "you're a little scrawny, so..."

em: jamie sleeps in it.... soft bitch

em: she feels too much

obsetress: jamie taylor softest bitch

obsetress: dani watches her pull it on and raises an eyebrow and jamie's just like "wot"

em: jamies like (grumbles) i knew she was comin back i’m just

em: shouldn’t you be HAPPY about this development dani

em: ‘s’a gift... s’rude not t’....’

obsetress: YEAH

obsetress: dani just grins "mmhm"

em: it accidentally makes its way into jamies workout clothes pile

obsetress: oh my GOD oh my god

obsetress: viola's shit eating GRIN when jamie shows up at the gym in it

em: jamies like fok

em: mental maths tryna figure if she wants to just. work out in a sports bra

em: she Doesn’t

obsetress: she Doesn't!

obsetress: (she's shy)

em: god it’s one of those shirts that’s like

em: someone who loves me went to UAE and got me this t-shirt or something

obsetress: dani corners her in their empty row in the locker room "you could've just taken it off, you know" "dunno, not everyone needs to... see that, you know?" "i'd certainly like to see it" jamie rolls her eyes but she's grinning "you can see that any time" "well maybe i wanted to see it during my workout" "dani......."

em: jamies embarrassed bc of her gnarly farmers tan means her tummy is at least five shades lighter than the rest of her

em: crisp tan lines

obsetress: god jamie's farmers tan

em: once again i am bringing my tan lines jamie agenda

obsetress: dani loves jamies dumb farmers tan so much

obsetress: she giggles

obsetress: but it's the most loving giggle possible

em: and then when she gets into running...

em: god when i was rowing there were a couple ppl w like what i called a neapolitan icecream tan which is

em: gimme a second

obsetress: jamie gets all huffy when dani giggles at her tan but then dani's like "baby, no, i think it's cute" and jamie gives her a look and dani grins mischievously and ducks her head

obsetress: and then she's licking and kissing and nipping her way along jamie's dumb tan lines

em: there it is

obsetress: it was inevitable

em: so caught up in the joy of jamies dumb farmer tans i forgot abt her gnarly scar she keeps under wraps

em: baby

em: the most baby

obsetress: baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

em: jamie decides the only way to claim the stupid t-shirt as hers is to cut off the sleeves

em: it’s abt the ritual of the thing

obsetress: she shows up at the gym wearing it and

obsetress: that's viola's "oh no she's hot" moment

em: YEAH BABY

obsetress: literally just like

obsetress: world stops

obsetress: viola stares

em: jamie finally gets to do an exercise that shows off her sinewy manual labor grip forearms

em: viola’s probably just as horrified to find jamie hot as every time jamies like oh no

em: violas hot

em: and once again jamie CANNOT know she’s hot bc she will be insufferable

em: she will be the Worst

obsetress: viola's tugging rebecca aside "why didn't you tell me jamie was hot" "what?" viola waves a hand and rebecca just furrows her brow a little and is like "that's just... what she looks like, vi"

obsetress: viola corners dani next "why didn't you tell me jamie was hot" "i did" "oh. right" viola pauses, then "why didn't you make sure i was listening?" dani just gives her a look and walks away

obsetress: dflksdjfldaj god the way jamie and viola are. the same

obsetress: kind of incredibly, in the same ways dani and rebecca are the same

em: “hey baby, did viola seem different today? seemed off”

em: jamies like. is she mad at me. did i break another social taboo.

em: rebecca ‘jamie looks like jamie’ jessel vs dani ‘my gf is so hot i can’t stand it’ clayton

obsetress: "i tell you how hot she is at least three times a week, vi"

em: danis tryna goad her into making the damn shirt a crop top

em: jamies like yeah but isn’t that a step too far. i feel like i am destroying this shirt too much

em: she does it anyway

em: so jamies workout clothes are danis endless grey baggy school t-shirts and this one ugly souvenir shirt that like

em: psychological warfare and she doesn’t even know it

obsetress: i would........ like to see it

obsetress: also crop top jamie is one of my favorite jamies

obsetress: she is severely underrated

em: crop top jamie is

obsetress: and we do not talk about her enough

em: jamie wear More crop tops

obsetress: viola and rebecca in bed, in matching facemasks, after going to the gym post-epiphany that Jamie Is Hot

obsetress: viola: are dani and jamie hotter than us?

rebecca: what?

obsetress: and like

obsetress: viola is NOT insecure

obsetress: she is constantly confident that she's the most attractive woman in the room at any given moment, but

obsetress: she's just so staggered by this realization

em: some neutral third party (ms grose and mr sharma probably) are like well. u guys definitely have a little more of a scary thing going on

em: i’m imagining rebecca and viola at brunch w hannah and owen v seriously discussing this

em: viola brings it up and rebecca GROANS but then she gets invested in the convo

obsetress: GOD yeah

obsetress: she's leaning forward and gesturing with her fork "when you say 'scary'..........."

em: owens like scary is a compliment

em: hannah grose sips her tea knowingly

obsetress: rebecca just narrows her eyes at hannah grose and hannah raises her eyebrows and shrugs

em: after a week or so viola bursts into a room w stupid big sunglasses and a tray of take out coffees and she’s like Don’t You Worry Jamie I Have Concluded You’re Hot But I’m Not Threatened By It

em: jamies like sorry WHAT

em: you’ve been thinking about WHAT

em: viola leaves without ever following it up

obsetress: dani is entirely unfazed

obsetress: doesn't even blink

em: danis like neat she remembered the oat milk

em: everyone in this au is insane

obsetress: any lesbian in 2021 is insane

obsetress: par for the course

em: was gonna protest but

em: Yeah

obsetress: this lesbian meme account i follow on insta is doing “stop asking who’s the top and who’s the bottom. start asking...” posts

obsetress: and one of them is “start asking who’s baby and who’s fuck around and find out” and it just makes me chuckle

obsetress: jamie taylor baby

obsetress: viola lloyd also baby

em: dani is baby passing and jamie is fuck around faking

obsetress: oh my god that’s why that’s why i think we cracked it

obsetress: dani (fuck around) dated jamie (baby) and vi (baby)

obsetress: rebecca (fuck around) dated jamie (baby) and vi (baby)

obsetress: the reason they could never cross further even tho per the transitive property dani (so similar to vi) should be able to date beccs and jamie (so similar to beccs) should be able to date vi is because

obsetress: you can’t have two babies and two fuck arounds in a relationship together

em: oh of course. i see. i see

em: however in the rare rare crack ship of the ‘jamie viola hatefuck’ a similar phenomenon to ‘social anxiety mum friend ordering food’ instinct takes over and someone fucks around and finds out

em: this is just my unhinged jamie viola hatefuck bulkshit which is. it’s ironic ok it’s ironic it’s ironic it’s

em: ok one last thought bc i know it’s super late for u but

obsetress: omg i also have a last thought let’s trade

em: what if mikey is about isabels age n jamie ends up looking after him for one reason or another for a bit

em: and viola absolutely Dotes on him

obsetress: omg

obsetress: that’s what does it. jamie seeing viola w mikey

em: grumble grumble i guess she’s not that bad

em: except then she’s like god what if mikey likes her MORE than me

obsetress: “dani what if mikey gets one of those weird first crushes on vi”

obsetress: dani doesn’t even look up from the laundry “who hasn’t had a crush on vi”

obsetress: jamie’s like “mE” and dani just gives her the most withering look

em: danis like It’s Par For The Course Jamie

em: danis a teacher she’s like it happens don’t sweat it

em: anyway

em: what was. what was ur last little thought

obsetress: i was just thinking more about viola also baby and how also she’s been so privileged her whole life that sometimes there are just some things she can’t do for herself because she just doesn’t know how

obsetress: like she’s never had to learn

em: rebecca gets um

em: freeze dried coffee

em: nescafé

obsetress: but like

obsetress: rebecca genuinely loves taking care of vi for whatever reason (it’s because she loves her) when she really needs it but

obsetress: rebecca also takes no shit and is like “i’m not making the nescafé for you. you’re 36 years old, vi, you need to learn to do it for yourself”

obsetress: and she’ll stand there and watch her do it and then she makes vi do it at least three more times for posterity

obsetress: “i’ll make a plebeian of you yet, viola lloyd”

obsetress: (god only the two of them would think a line like that is funny)

#this one's fucken LONG!!!!!!!!#the dani jamie viola rebecca exes au

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chibinekochan · 4 years

Text

Angel in hell - part 2

Obey me! Angel Reader Au.

Gen. reader insert.

part 1 |

2k words

An angel in the Devildom? Well, this is nothing new.

Together with exchange student veterans Simeon and Luke you get chosen to be an exchange student in the Devildom.

Due to an accident, you end up sharing the dorm with 7 demon brothers.

The local demons are all acting very strange around you.

Is this because you are an angel or is there a hidden reason?

______________________________

"Mammon you will show them the room." Lucifer moved over to Diavolo.

Mammon looks very surprised. "Wait why me? Come on don't do this to me!" He sounds very upset.

"Don't waste my time and just do it." Lucifer just brushes Mammon off.

"Let Satan do it, it was his fault after all." Mammon isn't done complaining.

"Hey, why do you drag me into this?" Satan glares at Mammon.

You watch the scene and feel pretty uncomfortable. The demons must hate angels. "It's alright just give me a map or something. I don't want to inconvenience any of you." You don't want them to hate you.

"No, it's alright. I will lead you to your room." Satan looks a bit guilty.

"Well, that's settled then." Lucifer just seems glad that the discussion is over.

You feel a bit better after hearing this.

"Alright, then we should grab some of the luggage and then go to our rooms, and don't forget to give me your new numbers later." Simeon reminds you and Luke. You had almost forgotten about the new phone that you received.

You follow after Simeon, with Satan and Mammon in toe. They walk a bit behind you like they keep a distance from you on purpose.

You grab your most essential luggage, knowing that the rest will be delivered later.

You start to pull your suitcase when Mammon steps in front of you.

"I can take that for you… If it's too heavy for you…" Mammon tries to be nice.

You appreciate the effort. " Thank you... Umm Mammon was your name right?" You give him a polite smile.

"Y-yeah that's right." Mammon stutters for a moment and is unable to look at your face. For a moment it seemed like he is in pain.

"We should go. I have dinner duty tonight. So we should hurry up." Satan seems to bring Mammon out of his daze.

You wonder what that was about. Maybe he was insulted that you weren't sure about his name?

"You take turns with dinners, right? Simeon told me about that. I can cook too so it won't be an issue for me. I might need some demon recipes though." You try to lighten the mood a little bit, at least.

"I have some cookbooks you can borrow some and I can help you… I

I mean if you want to." Satan offers with such kindness, you wonder why he seemed so defensive earlier.

"That would be very nice of you." You smile at him. You truly feel grateful to be included like this. Maybe they are not bad after all?

"Don't worry about it. I mean it's not like we…" Satan stops himself, a shadow crosses his face. "I mean we aren't as bad as you might think." Satan glosses over this.

You wonder what he tried to tell you.

"Yeah, I'm sure we will get along just fine. Not just us both, I want to become friends with you all, if possible." You say this mainly to encourage yourself.

You can see Mammon almost jump in the corner of your eye. He doesn't add anything to the conversation.

"Here we are, this is… your room." Mammon stops in front of the door. His voice is unusually quiet.

He has a sad expression while his hand stops just over the door knop. Then he takes a breath and opens the door.

Inside you can see Beelzebub. With a stack of boxes.

You are confused but don't say anything.

"What are you doing?" Satan seems to be just as confused as you are.

"I just wanted to move….you know their belongings out of the room…" Beel seems to fight with something.

"Come on, we talked about this. This isn't supposed to be a museum." Mammon sounds frustrated.

"I know… I, I just can't bear the thought that even this will get destroyed… we only have this much left." Beel looks towards the boxes. The atmosphere gets heavy again.

Your eyes wander between the boys. They all seem to be in so much pain.

"I don't know what is going on but... If I shouldn't be here then I won't stay. I won't tell Lucifer." You feel bad for them. Seeing them like this breaks your heart.

"No, don't do that! I mean I will just put these in storage." Beel shoots the idea down with almost harshly sounding words.

"Yeah don't feel bad. It's not your fault." Satan looks at you, with a kind expression.

"Yeah, it's your fault…" Beel glares at Satan for a moment. "I will go and bring these away now." Beel grabs the whole stack of boxes and carries them like they are nothing.

It's pretty impressive to you.

Satan's expression has clouded over. "I'm sorry… It's just very hard on him."

"It's alright. I won't pry but I guess this room. It is somehow very important to you all. I promise to take good care of it." You honestly don't want them to feel any worse than they already do.

"I know you will." Satan smiles gently. For a moment it seems like he is about to pat your head but drops his hand.

“Well duh...I mean you are an angel and all ummmmm...I think we should go now and let you unpack…” Mammon seems to be uneasy.

“Thank you both for showing me the room.” You gracefully bow to them.

“No problem. Oh, and if you need anything you can call me anytime.” Satan smiles lightly.

“Same here...I mean as long as it's not like 3 am or something...unless you are in trouble. Just call me, okay?” Mammon seems unsure of how to word things the right way.

"Sure, I will call you if I need help. If you need anything you can call me too." You want to be kind to Mammon too. It only seems right.

"If you offer him that, he will never stop calling you." Satan chuckles lightly.

"Hey, don't act like I'm unreliable! You know I'm not right?!" Mammon seems offended and looks at you like he expects you to agree. You look confused to Mammon.

"Ah right, you don't know that…" Mammon sighs. Satan pats him on his shoulder.

"We will go now and let you unpack. Just call if you need someone to lead you to the dining." Satan kindly offers you and you nod.

"Thank you both." You give them both a kind smile and they seem a bit uneasy.

Then they leave your room and you start unpacking.

Demons sure are strange.

You are done unpacking and feel rather hungry. You decide to find the kitchen by yourself.

You wander around for a while but don't have any luck.

Then you realize that you don't even know where you are.

You need a map.

Lost as you are, you find yourself in front of a dorm room. So you hope, pray and knock.

"Password." You can hear the muffled voice of Levi inside.

"Sorry, I don't know the password. I just need some help." You hope that he will just help you.

"You should know the password… Oh-Oh, wait no YOU don't know it… This is such a bad idea." Inside his room, Levi seems to argue with himself.

You hear the door open and Levi standing behind the door. He doesn't even look at you.

"Thank you for opening the door. I fear that I got lost." You feel very sorry for bothering Levi.

"How could you get lost? Oh, wait… Well, where do you need to go?" Levi seems to be rather unwilling to help you.

"I need to find my room and the kitchen…" You admit a bit shyly.

"Hold on, I will just draw you a map." Levi leaves you standing. He seems pretty cold towards you.

You can take a peek into his room, it's filled to the brim with strange stuff. You have seen similar things somewhere before.

Your eyes then find a big map on the wall."Oh, that's the world map from tsl." You are pleasantly surprised to see it.

Levi turns to you, and suddenly his face lights up. "Do you still remember tsl? It's hard to forget. I mean I still watch it all the time. I have some new super limited Henry merch." Levi seems suddenly very excited.

"Tsl is very popular in heaven. So Henry is your favorite character?" You think it's a good thing that you have found some common ground.

"Yeah of course! I mean that will never change. Do you still remember Henry in that one scene between him and the 2nd lord, that was so amazing? I still get cold chills just by thinking about it." Levi seems to vividly remember the whole thing.

"Sorry, I have only read the books so far I'm sure it's very amazing." You almost feel bad telling Levi that.

"We already… I-I mean we-we could watch it again. I mean for the first time ever. Ahhh I'm so bad at this just ignore all of this." Levi seems flustered all of a sudden.

You don't understand why he behaves like this. "I would like to watch the tsl anime with you." You feel like it will be a very interesting experience.

"You would? Oh wow… You-You are still… I-I m-mean you are so nice… don't mind me I talk nonsense all the time." Levi almost seems to sweat.

Maybe he just has issues talking to people or angels? You don't mind either way.

"I look forward to it." You give him a polite smile.

Levi let's out some incoherent silebels.

He then takes a deep breath. “Same here...umm here's the map...I would go with you but that it just wouldn't fit in my schedule? Yeah, that sounds about right...I mean I'm a very busy demon.” Levi's eyes shift like crazy around the room.

“Thank you for taking the time to help me.” You are grateful regardless of Levi's strange behavior.

Levi laughs a bit awkwardly and you leave his room.

With the map in hand, you make your way into the kitchen.

You hear some strange noises from inside of the kitchen. It sounds like someone making a huge ruckus.

Carefully you peek into the room.

You see Beel ransacking the fridge. It looks like a disaster zone.

You wonder if you should just leave. He looks rather busy after all.

Then your stomach starts to rumble. Talk about bad timing.

Beel turns to you. If you expect him to be mad or something, you are proven wrong.

He looks way kinder than before.

“Oh hey there. I'm sorry about earlier...I was pretty mean, right? Here umm a cookie...I haven't eaten it yet so Ummm you can have it.” Beel seems to be very sorry and he holds the cookie out for you.

You think it's a sweet gesture, take it.

"It's alright. We all have bad days. I will not hold it against you." You don't know why Beel was so upset. He seems completely different now.

"You are very nice." Beel gives you a genuine smile, it makes you smile back at him.

Then your stomach rumbles again.

"You should eat that before you faint. Wait, that's something that only happens to me. Well, regardless you should eat." Beel seems concerned.

You do just that. "It tastes really good." You are a bit surprised. This is the first demon food that you ever had.

"Yeah I know how...they are very tasty." It seems like Beel wanted to say something else but then corrects himself.

You nod a bit confused and finish the cookie. "Do you need some help cleaning this up?" You don't know what caused this mess, even when it seems likely that it was Beel.

"Thanks for the offer but I

I should clean this myself. It's my mess after all." Beel declines but his voice are softer than before.

"I will gladly help you Beel and together it will go faster anyway." You insist on it.

Beel nods, a little bit troubled, and then lets you help him clean up. He does most of the work though.

Then you head back to your room for a while.

Check my Obey me! Masterlist for more content

#obeyme #omswd #obey me angel au #obey me!#obey me shall we date #obey me fanfiction #swd om #om #obey me one master to rule them all #solmare obey me

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