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hesbuckcompton-baby · 3 years

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Just Come Home - Ronald Speirs x OFC - Chapter 4

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

Summary: Arriving in Germany, Valerie struggles with herself finally leaving France, and is forced to confront memories from her past she would have rather left buried.

Warnings: Mentions/Brief depictions of anti-semitism, brief mention of vomit, gunshot, description of blood/wound, death, language

Word Count: 4.2k

Tags: @50svibes @cagzzz107

A/N: This is my first chapter posted after hitting 100 followers! Thank you everyone!!

There was something heavy inside her, rising up through her chest and sticking in her throat like a stubborn pill as Valerie watched over her shoulder, France shrinking behind them as Easy Company crossed over into Germany. It was the kind of moment that needed to be taken in quietly, a moment so big that it couldn't possibly be summed up in words - at least not in any way that could accurately quantify how she truly felt. Crossing the border had been so simple - there hadn't even been a bump in the road or a sign to welcome them - but the melancholy understatement with which they passed through made her almost want to bawl. All those years stuck in France, and it had only taken a second to release her from its grips forever.

Ron was sat in the front of the jeep, silently swaying with the car's movements as the driver beside him navigated the uneven roads. Glancing over his shoulder he watched Val, who was twisted around in the back, elbow propped against the top of the seat as she stared at the country disappearing over the horizon. It occurred to him now that he'd never quite taken a moment to think of what this must mean to her. Ron had entered France entirely of his own accord, fully expecting what he found there - and he was even getting paid to do it. Valerie however had come to the country young and bright and found herself confined there, living in fear he was still yet to fully understand, with no hopes of ever leaving. And there she was, finding herself finally freed, lips curled ever so slightly in an almost unnoticeable smile. But he noticed.

"Hey," He reached out, tapping the back of his knuckle gently against her thigh to grab her attention. "You alright?"

She took a deep breath, letting it all out in a loud sigh as she slumped back into her seat. "Yeah. I'm good."

"Good."

They stared quietly at each other for a moment, faces lined with fatigue and relief and something neither of them could quite put their finger on. He noticed Val's eyes wander over his shoulder, and turned to see the jeeps up ahead pulling into a German town nearby. Ron heard her take a deep breath behind him, but he didn't have time to check on her before the car stopped and Major Winters called him up to help them organise billets for all the soldiers. He slid out of his seat, strolling over and already barking orders as he went. Ron had never been the type of man to not jump straight in.

Valerie stood up in the back of the jeep, sending a small smile of thanks to the driver as she clambered out, her boots crunching against the gravel below. "Good journey?" She heard Lipton ask from behind her. Turning around, she shrugged slightly, stretching out her legs with a grunt.

"Long journey," Val frowned, hands on her hips as she tried to ease the stiffness from her knees.

"Just be glad you weren't on one of those benches in the trucks, my ass is killing," Grant called as he passed by, causing Lip to raise a brow.

She let out a huff of amusement. "Thank you, Chuck," She called back, laughing when he saluted obligingly.

There was a pause. Lipton spoke. "How do you feel?"

Val sighed. "I don't know. I know how I should feel, but... I dunno,"

He frowned. "Did you tell the Captain?"

"No," Her brow furrowed slightly. "He asked, and I lied. He's got a job to do, it's not good for him to always be concerned about me."

"Or, alternatively, maybe he needs something he actually likes to distract him from everything else. War wears on everybody, even people like Speirs."

"Well, I'm a person, not a distraction," Val frowned, pushing herself away from the jeep. She began to walk away, bag hauled over her shoulder in search of somewhere to set up, when Lipton's voice rang out again.

"You can talk to me," He offered.

She looked back at him, a gentle smile curling at her lips. "Yeah. I know."

Her new room was nicer than the old one she'd occupied in Haguenau. The bed was softer, the walls covered in floral wallpaper, and there was a wide, mahogany chest of drawers topped with a vanity mirror in the opposite corner, next to a matching wardrobe. Her bag was almost empty, but she made an effort to unpack anyway - lining up her stolen books on the windowsill, stacking her papers in an empty underwear drawer. Val's old, worn-out shoes and clothes were folded away into the bottom drawer, where she intended to leave them, and she tossed aside her stolen hairbrush onto the bed.

It was growing hard to ignore the itch of her hand-me-down shirt and trousers, old khaki rubbing against Val's skin with every movement. She'd tried to ignore it in France - the old fabric chafing at her skin just a minor discomfort that she happily ignored in favour of a bed and hot food - but the wardrobe against the opposite wall was just too tempting of an offer.

Throwing open the doors, she felt her heart flutter at the arrangement of clothes that had been left behind. She tried to put out of her mind the thought of whoever owned these clothes and had had to leave them here, but she vowed to have them cleaned and put back when she was done.

The checkered blouse and navy slacks felt like silk against her skin - months, years of wearing ill-fitting, uncomfortable clothes culminating in this moment of relative luxury. Val brushed out her hair, and stared at herself in the mirror for several minutes.

I look like a real person. She thought. There was an obscene, embarrassing burst of confidence that accompanied the feeling of those clothes against her body, and in an instant, she regretted her vow to put them back (although she certainly would anyway).

Just before they'd left, Valerie had been given an old army jacket, complete with an American flag sewn into the shoulder, and a slightly dented paratrooper badge pinned to the front. The aim was to establish her authority - now that she'd likely be encountering more civilians, it was important that she could identify herself as military. She carried the jacket in the crook of her elbow as she headed outside, squinting slightly in the afternoon sun. She couldn't recall the weather in France ever looking this good - or perhaps she'd been altogether too miserable to notice.

After a few moments of wandering around the town square, she located Christenson outside a nearby building, unloading crates of supplies into the newly anointed depot, cans clinking noisily against each other in their boxes.

"Lemme help," Val said with a grunt, lifting up a particularly heavy crate stuffed with what felt like all the bullets they had.

"Ah, here's my favourite employee," Pat smiled, brushing off his sleeves as he put down the last box.

"You know I don't get paid, asshole," She chuckled, casting her jacket aside on the back of a chair next to the door.

He laughed, then nodded towards her. "You look nice. I see they've given you your jump wings," He teased. They both knew that a parachute jump for Val would involve lots of flailing, screaming, and probably death.

"I think it's just for clearance. So I can get away with stealing food from people's houses, y'know,"

Pat shrugged. "People aren't usually a fan of that, no,"

"See? We get each other," Val smiled, and he returned it.

A beat passed between them and Christenson cleared his throat.

"Can you sort out enough supplies from these boxes and run them over to the boys across the square?" He asked, gesturing to a tall house opposite as he handed her a piece of paper, a few soldiers' names scribbled messily across it.

"Sure thing," She nodded, counting out as much food and bullets as needed. Something told her that this job wasn't going to get more exciting anytime soon - but she was surprisingly glad of the tedium. Besides, the repetitive tasks kept her mind off the confusing sensation she'd felt since crossing the border.

The day had been surprisingly long for a job so mundane - although most days it was just her and Pat supplying an entire company - and by the time she returned to her billet building, her arms and legs ached from hauling so many crates around, stumbling on the uneven cobblestone roads. The front door had been propped open, beckoning in the cool evening air, and sweet-smelling flowers swayed slightly in the window boxes.

Hauling herself up the stairs, Val huffed tiredly as she reached the precipice, stretching her sore shoulders as she paced the corridor towards her room.

Another room she passed had its door left open, which struck her as odd, as the boys seemed to prefer keeping their rooms private. Peering inside, she saw that the room was dim, long shadows cast across the floor from the open slat doors on the other side. There was a man stood with his back to her out on the balcony, a cloud of cigarette smoke wafting away from his face on the air. It only took her a moment to recognise him as Speirs.

"Y'know, if you leave your door open, you'll get all sorts of strange people wandering in," Valerie observed as she strolled up behind him.

Ron was leant on his elbows against the balcony railing, watching her walk in over his shoulder. The corner of his mouth quirked slightly at her remark as he pulled the cigarette away from his lips. "I knew it would be you, I saw you come in off the street."

She leant up against the railing beside him. "Don't spy on me, it's weird. And if you are gonna spy on me, don't confess to it, it makes you look bad,"

He let out a laugh, tilting his head back slightly. Nudging her arm, he held out his burning cigarette. She leant forward and took a puff, nodding appreciatively.

"God, my arms are killing," Val tutted. "Been running around this place all day,"

"Aw, I wonder what it must be like to work for a living," Ron teased.

She laughed. "Oh, shut up, army boy - you're not better than me,"

He shook his head, taking a breath of smoke as he stared out at the building across the street. "No, I'm not."

Val went quiet, absently picking at the chipped paint on the railing. Ron's breathing beside her seemed suddenly louder in the silence, which was only occasionally broken by the sound of engines or men talking down below. When she glanced back up again, he was looking straight at her, his expression indeterminable.

"Stop looking at me like that," She said.

Ron smirked slightly. "Like what?"

Val paused. "I don't know. But stop anyway."

He let out a breath of a chuckle, mouth curved in a smug grin as he shook his head. She began to laugh too, and in a moment they were both chuckling with little rhyme nor reason.

"You look nice," He smiled, gesturing towards her with the hand that held his cigarette.

"Oh, stop it," She dismissed him mockingly. "If you're going to pretend to flirt with me then I'm going to bed,"

Ron seemed to ooze smugness "Well goodnight then, because I don't intend to stop."

Val bit down on the inside of her cheek for a moment, silent as she tried to formulate a retort. A beat passed and she delivered a punch to his arm. "Shut up. Gimme a cigarette."

He laughed properly, wholeheartedly then, and she loved it. Plucking a cigarette from the box in his front pocket he handed it to her, still grinning as he held out a lighter.

"Christ, you're annoying," She spoke through the cigarette, which rested between her lips as she bent down to light it.

"I don't know why I spend time with you, either. None of the other men would dare say shit like that to me,"

"I'm refreshingly honest," Val grinned, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

Ron huffed a laugh. "That's one word for it."

"Oh? What's another?"

He paused, staring at her. She almost wanted to squirm under his gaze before he spoke again.

"Where did you get that shirt? It looks good on you,"

"Nope!" Valerie cried, storming inside off the balcony. Ron laughed, raising his hands in protest.

"Oh, c'mon Val, I'm messing with you!"

"I told you, no more flirting or I leave, now I'm going to bed,"

"Valerie-"

"Good night, Ron!" She sang, casting him one last look before closing his door behind her.

He tutted to himself, shaking his head as he put out his cigarette. "Damn."

The following afternoon, Valerie wandered about the town, running errands and scrounging new food supplies from nearby shops and houses. She'd been rather successful in this endeavour and weaved between crowds of lingering soldiers as she hauled a crate stacked with loaves of bread, tins of beef, boxes of stock cubes, and a few carrots she'd snagged from someone's garden. All in all, it had been a fortunate afternoon, and as she crossed the street, she caught a figure in the corner of her eye.

She knew that the army had set up a sort of rudimentary post office for the men, but she'd never had use of it herself. However, as Speirs headed out the door and away from her, he seemed uncharacteristically pleased with himself - a quality she found unnerving in any man, especially Ron. His hands were in his pockets for God's sake - Ron never walked with his hands in his pockets, he said it made him slouch, and he refused to do that either. Val's eyes narrowed as she watched him walk away, completely oblivious to Grant's approach until he was right in front of her.

"Hey, Val," He smiled.

"Oh! Hey Chuck!" She greeted cheerily, abruptly snapping out of her thoughts as Ron disappeared around a corner. "You alright?"

"Can't complain," He shrugged. "Well, I can. I'm bunked with Lieb and his feet stink," She chuckled, eliciting a grin from Chuck. "Got a list to pass on, a bunch of stuff the boys in my building are looking for. Chocolate, cigarettes, y'know. Figured if I put it in with you, you could pull a few strings, on account of us being best friends and that,"

"Really?" Valerie raised a brow doubtfully. Grant lowered his hand, as if already disappointed in her inevitable refusal. She smiled. "Ah, don't worry. Tuck it in the box, I'll get to it once I've run these back,"

He grinned. "Thanks," Slipping the piece of paper in between some tins, he noticed one of the baked loaves of bread tucked in the side. "Ooh,"

Before he'd even had time to touch it, Valerie delivered a kick to his shin, her boot hitting his leg with a clumsy jab.

"Hey!"

"Be glad I'm still gonna find your shit for you, Chuck," She smirked, ducking past him and continuing her walk, elbows already aching.

As she rounded the corner, the street became quieter. Val hadn't taken this route before, but if she knew her way around as well as she thought she did, she reckoned it would put her out by the town square. There didn't seem to be any billets set up along this road, evidenced by the way the air seemed to still as soon as she stepped down it. She took little notice of her surroundings, largely focused on keeping the crate balanced, but when she looked up across the street, she felt she could vomit.

The shopfront opposite had been almost entirely destroyed, the front window smashed in messily, shards of glass glittering like violent stars on the dirty, dark floor inside. Amber beer bottles littered the pavement, smashed in the gutter, jagged and raw - she noticed some had been hurled inside, their contents stale and staining the wallpaper. A window shutter on the first floor was battered and broken, hanging off its hinge where it had been pelted with rocks. Upon the front door, a star had been messily painted, and below it was written one word.

Jude.

If Valerie hadn't skipped lunch that afternoon she was sure she would've thrown up right into the gutter, so heavy was the weight tugging down in her stomach. When she read that word upon the door, it was as if she could feel those German soldiers shouting it, hear that fateful gunshot that had stained her memories and her nightmares for oh so many years.

When she thought of her past, it seemed to always play in slow motion, as if her mind were intent on torturing her, prolonging all of her worst moments until they occupied her every waking moment. Her ears were ringing on that hurried stomp back to the supply depot, where she discarded the crate by the door and left. Val's feet seemed beyond her control, and as she headed for her billet building the steps seemed to get ahead of her, so much so that soon she was heading on in a limp jog, her body feeling numb yet agonisingly desperate to be somewhere, anywhere.

Everything suddenly felt far too disorienting, as if the world were spinning around her, and she had to pry herself through the doorway with both hands to stop herself from stumbling. Val's boots scuffed on the wooden stairs and she scrambled up them, dragging herself to wherever she might find any kind of solace.

Ron was just wrapping up on his duties for the day, heading out of the Major's building as the others headed off to their billets for the evening. His brow furrowed as he noticed Grant stood in the middle of the square, looking around as if looking for something.

"Sergeant?" He called as he approached. Grant turned to look at him, frowning.

"Sir." He nodded.

"Something wrong, Sergeant?"

The Sergeant seemed reluctant to answer, as if prying information out of himself. "Yes, Sir. It's, uh, it's Val."

Speirs' shoulders straightened. Suddenly he was very invested in this exchange. "What about her?"

"I can't find her. She told me earlier that she'd come see me once she finished with her shift, except she should've finished almost an hour ago. I've asked around, no one's seen her."

Ron's frown deepened, and he found himself uncharacteristically worried. Nervous, even. Ron was never nervous.

"Right. Well." He nodded. "You head back to your billet, Sergeant. I'll find her, send her your way tomorrow."

Grant seemed hesitant, but he grudgingly relented, sharply nodding before turning away and heading back towards his building. As soon as he was alone, Speirs began to tap his foot, an irritating habit he thought he'd quelled years ago.

"Where are you?" He muttered, setting off out of the square.

Ron had only needed to walk a few moments before his worry was instantly lessened. Passing a cautionary glance up to his own balcony as he went by, he was halted in his tracks, as the shutter doors stood propped open. He stared for a moment, peering up at the dark room above. But when he caught the flicker of light that came with a cigarette being lit, he understood.

When he reached his room, he entered tentatively, cautious not to creak the door but also not to startle her. Valerie was sat on the floor in the doorway to the balcony, legs folded up to her chest with a cigarette building up ash between her lips. For a moment he just stood there in the middle of the floor, watching her with a frown. Then she spoke.

"You forgot to lock your door."

He shook his head "I didn't forget."

She glanced up at him then, plucking the cigarette from her hand and tapping out the ashes over the balcony railing. The way her fingers moved seemed sharp, deliberate, bitter.

Ron spoke again. "You know, you left Grant wandering around the square like a lost dog. He was worried."

"He'll get over it," Val said bluntly. She seemed harsh, but in the light from the balcony door, he could see her lip quivering.

"Hey," He said, crouching down beside her. His voice was softer than she'd ever heard it, and when he looked into her eyes she wanted to crack.

"Hey there, soldier," She joked, flashing a brief, fake smile, her eyes pink and watery.

"What happened?" Ron asked. He wanted to sound gentle, but inside he was fucking angry. Angry at whatever had made her like this.

There was a long silence then. Val stared at the cigarette between her fingers until it had almost burnt down to her skin and Speirs plucked it away, tossing it into an empty flower pot outside. She gnawed at her lip for a moment, and then took a deep, shaky breath. "There was uh... There was a shop. Out there," She titled her head in gesture. "Smashed up n' shit, graffiti all over the door. A load of anti-semitic bullshit."

His brow furrowed. He was unsure quite what to ask, but he asked anyway. "You're Jewish?"

She shook her head sharply. "Nah. Leo was."

That caught Ron's attention. "Leo?"

Val nodded for a long moment, her lips pressed tightly together and trembling. "Yeah. I, uh, I met him at university. He was... strange. He wasn't rich like all the other kids I met there, but he was fuckin' smart. And funny, too," She cracked a smile for a second at the memory. "Handsome. Nice."

He frowned and leant back up against the opposite side of the doorframe, listening intently and taking in everything she said.

"I loved him," She admitted, almost choking on the words as if they hurt her. "Loved him a lot. God, he was the reason I refused to go home when my mom asked me to. He didn't speak a word of English, I knew he wouldn't want to go to Vermont with me. So I stayed for him... and then the Nazis came."

Ron's stomach seemed to drop. He'd been so invested in listening to her story, he hadn't even pieced things together until then. And suddenly everything made sense.

"We tried to get out of Paris, to get somewhere quieter or even get a boat... but I don't think there ever were any boats. He was trying to protect me - he didn't need to but he was like that. He picked a fight with a soldier who tried to stop me from crossing one of the barricades... Leo was the kind of person who... they could tell he was a Jew just by looking at him. He never took off his star, kept it hanging out for all to see. They clocked it instantly," Val tutted bitterly, shaking her head. Ron could see her hands shaking.

Then she looked him in the eye. "They shot him. Right in the stomach. There was blood everywhere, all over my hands, he was coughing it up down my front and I knew he was dead. I knew he didn't stand a chance but I just sat there with him getting his blood everywhere, my goddamn hand just lodged in the hole inside him like it would make any difference and he just lay there in my lap in the middle of the road whilst I screamed and screamed and-" She cut herself off to breathe, the air sounding ragged and painful as it hitched in her throat.

"I didn't stop screaming even when they dragged me away, got rid of his body. I just remember feeling... nothing. I just wandered around feeling numb, I could barely even breathe. I didn't go home for three days, the whole time just wandering around, wearing his blood. I didn't-..." Val was quiet then. It was silent for a few minutes, Ron staring at her as she stared blankly out over the balcony.

She took a sharp breath. "Y'know, when I met Grant, I thought they looked alike. The more I looked at him I realised he didn't, but... It didn't matter. The person I was when I loved Leo died anyway, I think. They dragged her away with him."

"You're a good person, Val," Ron stated. She shrugged. When she spoke again it was barely a whisper.

"I was scared of leaving France, 'cause I thought it meant leaving him behind. But he's here too. He's always there."

A tear rolled down her cheek, reflecting in the light from outside. Ron leant forward, reaching up to wipe it away. The soft touch of his thumb against her skin caught her attention, and her gaze flickered back to him, eyes tracing the silhouette of the arm extended out to her. He moved to pull away but without thinking she reached up and clung to his wrist, holding his warm hand in place. He didn't seem phased.

Ron took a deep breath. "You don't have to leave him behind."

"I want it to hurt less."

He pushed himself onto his knees, bending forward towards her. Val closed her eyes as she felt his warm breath on her face, his lips pressing gently against her forehead. She felt safe here. When he spoke again, she felt his lips moving against her skin.

"It will."

She had found her solace.

#just come home #ronald speirs #ronald speirs x oc #ronald speirs x ofc #ronald speirs x reader #val x ron #band of brothers #band of brothers fic #band of brothers oc #hbo war fic #hbo war #chuck grant #carwood lipton #oc: valerie

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silverhandsass · 3 years

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Can You Feel The Sun (Pt.3)

Buckle up, buttercup! <3

— SPOILER ALERT - this is post-game stuff, read at your own risk —

Read on Ao3

— — — — —

"No. Absolutely not."

Val pushed past the flaps and left the tent after her, taking quick steps to walk around Dakota. "Please, just hear me out."

"No," she barked, folding her arms and frowning. "Last time I helped you, my entire tent nearly burned to a crisp. Do you know how long it took me to rebuild what I lost?"

"You used Arasaka and lost Voodoo tech, stuff that I helped you find," V reminded, trying hard to maintain eye contact with the woman—difficult, considering she kept looking away.

"As payment for destroying my first rig. We're even, I owe you nothing," Dakota reminded.

Val stepped forward, almost aiming to reach for her but opting to gesture instead—better emphasis that way. "It's just a quick peek. Quick poke through the Blackwall and I'll be out before you know it."

"You say that like it's so simple," she scoffed.

There was little left that Valerie could try—that she could promise in order to convince the woman. Perhaps she should have been removing the risk altogether. Val took a deep breath and looked Dakota in the eyes. "If anything happens, if anything comes through or tries to burn your rig again, I... just jack me out."

Her head whipped forward as Dakota stared V in shock, probably wondering if she'd heard her right. "But you'll be stuck there. You might not come back, you'll die out here."

"I know."

With a furious shake of her head, Dakota hissed. "Do you know what Panam will do if she hears you talking like this? Or anyone, for that matter?"

If Dakota did not agree to it, Val had no other option. This wasn't going entirely as she had planned, even though she did expect a bit of resistance—a bit of pushback. Soliciting Rogue's aid had been a bust, Judy was not presently in Night City—might not ever return—and Panam... Bless her, but she wouldn't be able to help her. Dakota was her only option. "I don't know what else to do," she admitted, feeling her voice quiver in time with her lower lip.

"Why do you need to go there?" she demanded.

"I... Everyone that was in Mikoshi is beyond the Blackwall. All the saved engrams..."

"Silverhand," Dakota added, and V simply nodded. There was a heavy pause between them as Dakota pinched the bridge of her nose. She took a deep breath, mumbled something so quietly that V could not comprehend it, and then began speaking. "You get out the moment I tell you—"

Val's eyes widened.

"If you don't... I'm—" Dakota grunted as V wrapped her arms around her tightly, "—leaving your ass in there."

"Fuck, Dakota, I..." Val felt her throat burn with gratitude and relief. "Thank you—"

"Don't thank me," Dakota sighed, like she had told her once before. "Just... get yourself back in one piece or I will kill you myself. Before Panam kills me."

"I'll owe you big for this," V told her.

"Damn right you will."

—

The wind was fucking soothing around that time of day. The sun just on the verge of setting, the heat of it subsiding and allowing for the cool evening breeze to come say hello; it was the sweet spot during the day that V could step outside the car and breathe. Especially when she was partly drenched in blood, sweat and dirt from a day full of fulfilling gigs.

Preferably, it would be somewhere far away from the fumes of the city.

Whenever she'd be in the middle of a job, the coast seemed to be the easiest place to reach. If not the coast, then the canals would have to do—though they did nothing to give her that fresh air she desired. There were days that V had finished her jobs entirely, having enough time to herself that she could sneak a walk along the piers.

On one such day, she found herself sharing that peaceful moment of hers with the surprise guest in her mind. Sure, Val had expected some commentary from him about how cheesy it was, how she was wasting time and how she needed to track down ways to get into Mikoshi, burn down Arasaka, bla bla bla.

But... There was no such talk.

Where Val had sat down, her feet hanging off the pier and toward the water, she watched as the static of the engram slowly faded to show a more coherent image of Johnny—sitting beside her.

"Y'know, I'll probably get why you're doing this in a few hours, when the shit-stained breeze and the salt finally kick into my sensors," he sighed. "But at least the view's not that bad."

It was probably one of the rarer times that had earned a true and genuine smile from V. "Yeah, it's hard to get away from that smell around here, especially with you around all the time."

He flipped her off; she laughed.

Then, she lit a cigarette and took a deep, long drag. "If we're not getting any fresh air, at least we get this," she gestured to the smoke, watching as Johnny lit his own little pixelated cig. When Johnny said nothing, V looked over to him. "You ever have a place like this of your own? Somewhere to go when shit gets a little... too loud?"

He turned from her, looking out to the open water, and V expected that to be that. However, he took off his aviators and pursed his lips, nodding a little. "Yeah. It's actually closer to this side of the city."

"Really?" Val raised a brow. "Well... tell me where it is, we'll pay it a visit."

Johnny looked at her, some look in his eye that she could not quite place. He opened his mouth to speak, then sighed. The aviators went back on, and so did that playful smirk of his. "Maybe some other time."

Right. Coming from anyone else that she knew, that usually meant: never.

Surprising her for the third time that day, he leaned in close and whispered, "It's not a place I go to feel better. This spot's much better for that than mine."

Val shot him a look and found nothing that told her he was being disingenuous. Having hardly had any moments like this, she felt herself wanting to cherish it a little; savor it.

"Then... maybe we can come here again before all this is over," V offered before taking a puff.

"Yeah. Yeah, maybe."

And that usually meant: yes.

—

Well, she certainly did not miss the ice, that's for sure. The moment she gripped onto the tub, two things happened. First, she gasped sharply at the sensation of the cold metal and air biting into her warmth. Her legs dipped into the water and her muscles seized momentarily before shaking uncontrollably. Secondly, her mind was sent right back to Mikoshi just over a year ago, to a familiar arm that pushed her beneath the rim and forward to start her life anew. To him.

I'm coming, you bastard. Please be there. Please.

"You ready? This is going to be rough, you won't have anyone in there with you," Dakota explained.

"It's okay, I-I've done this bef—" she gulped down a shudder, "before."

"That's what worries me," Dakota sighed, glancing back at V once.

Val tried to focus her mind on the coming trip, thinking about what she would say, what she would do. If she found him, was there even a way to bring him back? The chip was still slotted in her head. It was at a standstill, dormant and appeased until further notice—maybe it still had space to carry both of them at once, should she be able to take him with her.

Or would that simply take away from everything they had sacrificed?

Her optics lit up as the rig's interface loaded in. She watched the progress build as she felt her entire body slowly grow numb—both from the cold and the process of being chipped in. Sounds and voices around her began to grow into a blur, images turning distorted and grainy.

The flaps of the tent burst wide open as someone walked in, her attention focused on V. "What the fuck are you doing?!" she yelled—it was Panam. She made a stop by Dakota's deck, then knelt beside the tub. There was little else that V could comprehend, only that Panam was talking to her. Or yelling at her. There was really no way to tell the difference.

She'd understand, though. Hopefully she'd understand.

Val couldn't think about that now, as she felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into a deep, dark pit. The world around her faded away into nothingness, being replaced by a facsimile of her strongest memories built entirely out of streams of data. That blue tinge and the splash of red were things she had hoped to never see again in her lifetime, but such was the way of it all.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and allowed herself to give into the process that Dakota ran her through, letting her guide V to the wall. She dug in deep, searching for the memories left behind like forgotten baggage, the images of a life gone by that did not belong to her—but that felt like her own in some strange way. The early 21st century. Alt. Johnny. She focused on those memories, hoping it would help her find the right way as it once did, hoping that Dakota would pick up on it on her end. It would take time, but V had to hope that this would work—and more importantly, that somebody would be there to greet her on the other side.

—

The haze of consciousness was something Johnny did not miss. All the anesthetics they had been pumping into his system was certainly not doing him any favors when it came to trying to take in his surroundings. He could feel himself waking just before his next dose was applied, putting him down again. It felt as though he was allowed single gasp of air before being pushed right back down into deep waters.

In some ways, this was worse than Mikoshi.

Find the Merc. Find the Merc. Find the Merc.

He wasn't sure exactly how long it had been since he was completely awake, but the more he felt himself reach the brink of complete coherence, the more he began to realize the voices around him grew careless.

Bide his time. That's all he needed to do. Use these little moments to figure a way out of this. There was no way he would ever take Bryce's offer, but Johnny had changed his mind. If he truly was back in a body, there was no way in hell he would let them use it to their advantage.

Find the Merc.

All he needed was a bit more time.

—

The wall was a little more menacing than she remembered. Perhaps it was because she was entirely alone in the Net. She had Dakota's protective eyes and ears above, watching from the outside, but within the streams of pixels and data, she was well and truly alone—and her blades could do nothing to protect her here.

Even within the construct, she could feel her insides churning and her guts aching in nervousness. She wondered what she would find, and found herself stopping inches before the wall, unable to keep moving.

But time was a luxury she did not have.

Whether or not she was truly prepared, V had to give it a shot. She had to try anything to silence the aching madness within her chest. Reaching out to touch the red wave was the first step.

It was unclear just when exactly she had switched over, but the intimidating clouds of red and darkness around her signified a horrifying truth. She was now beyond the Blackwall once again. Entirely alone, once again. There was no sign of anything nearby—thank fuck—but there was no other way to get what she needed than to go against her survival instincts right now.

Valerie took a deep breath.

"Johnny!" She cried out, her voice echoing into nothingness.

And that vast emptiness stared right back.

"Johnny!" She cried again, "Talk to me!"

No response.

Her blood—simulation or not—ran completely cold, and a pit grew in her stomach. "J-Johnny?" V called, a little softer this time, maybe a little broken. Her arms wrapped around herself as she looked around, waiting for a small glimmer, a small change in the landscape.

She waited, and waited, and waited.

Nothing came.

Maybe he was actually, well and truly gone. She had to come here, she reminded herself. She knew this would be a possibility. V had allowed herself a small inkling of hope, a kernel of light that she allowed to influence her decisions. It had been over a year and she deserved closure. She wanted to know that she had done the right thing.

More than that, perhaps she had hoped to hear his voice again, even if it wasn't entirely him anymore. And yet... She waited for a minute; two; three, and nothing came.

Only silence.

Then, she swallowed the lump in her throat and knew there was one final thing to be done before she could leave. One last thing she could try. She mustered up the courage within her and hoped that it would be the right thing to do, taking a deep breath and tilting her chin high. "Alt!" She called out into the air.

"You should not be here," the voice boomed, loud and sudden as a large red mass formulated into a familiar form in front of V.

"Alt?" V glanced up.

"V," she replied. "You've managed to survive the effects of the biochip so far."

"I have," no thanks to you, she almost added, but that wasn't fair. Alt did give her a head start—even if it was mainly due to Johnny's presence. It was as she had once said to V, they would not be talking if it wasn't for him. "I'm here for Johnny."

"You came all this way, on your own with no way out, you risked your life and the stability of the biochip, just to come here," Alt stated, her form shifting a bit closer and seemingly larger. "You also risked being followed, or tracked, or even hunted; risked bringing the ever-present dangers of the outside world within—to me. I had told you once that there were many dangers lurking beyond the Blackwall, but you do not listen."

"Alt..." V muttered, a sense of dread building within her.

"You risk yourself anyway. You and Johnny made a sacrifice, and yet you cast it aside so easily. You are too late."

Too late...

"Alt, where the fuck is he?" V asked adamantly.

"He is not here," Alt revealed in monotone.

"What."

"Johnny is not here," she repeated more clearly.

"He's... He's gone? He's merged with you, then?" V asked, feeling her heart pounding hard within her chest.

"No. You do not understand. Johnny did not cross the Blackwall with me, as he should have. He remained in Mikoshi long after you left, despite my best efforts to convince him to leave."

"This can't..." V took a breath, and another, trying hard to maintain her composure as the panic set in.

"Johnny is not here."

No, no, no.

"He was never here."

15 notes · View notes

darks-ink · 4 years

Text

Absurdism Chapter 3

Danny and Jazz begin their exciting game of “share the POV”. Much like the braincell, it is almost always Jazz’.

Rating: Teen/K+ (a lil swearing, because teenagers, man) Warnings: - Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort Additional Tags: Sibling Bonding, Family Bonding, Alternate Universe - Halfa Jazz AU, Jazz makes friends

[AO3] [FFN] [more Absurdism on Tumblr] First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

---

Chapter 3: Two of a Kind

Danny stretched out, releasing a huge yawn, then bonelessly flopped back onto the roof he was lying on. Staring unseeingly up at the sky, he contemplated how he’d gotten here. Man, he really should’ve realized sooner that this wasn’t his Amity Park. Maybe if he had, he could’ve gone back through the Portal.

Despite his bluster towards Jazz—this Jazz—he really was concerned about how things were, back home. He was sure that Valerie could handle the ghosts, especially if Dani dropped by, but he hadn’t seen his cousin in forever. And Sam, Tucker, and Jazz might’ve been pretty good ghost hunters, perfectly capable of helping Val, but…

But they would be far too busy looking for him to be any help.

There was nothing he could do about it, though. He knew how rare natural portals were, and how unpredictable. It was nigh impossible for him to find his way back on his own, and convincing Frostbite to give him the Infi-map would be… well, pretty difficult, he supposed. He didn’t have any “Conqueror of Pariah Dark” titles to show off, not here.

What he’d told had been the truth, to some extent. If he was stuck here, he might as well make himself useful. Give her the guidance she would need; the guidance he wished he’d had, when he first started.

Of course he’d forgotten about all the potential downtime. Jazz had school, and even if Danny took care of most of the minor ghosts, that still left… a surprising amount of time. With how busy his life felt, he really would’ve guessed that ghost-hunting took up more time than it did.

Maybe the downtime just felt really long. It wasn’t like there was much he could do, after all. He couldn’t go anywhere in human form, because people might confuse him for this universe’s Danny Fenton. And he couldn’t go anywhere as a ghost, because people weren’t familiar with those. Not yet, at least.

That, and even if they were, it would probably involve his parents hunting him. And, uh, he wasn’t exactly jumping with excitement to get back to that. Hell, he hadn’t even gotten his real parents to quit hunting him.

His core stirred to life, and cold air wisped out of his mouth.

“Well, here we go again,” he grumbled to himself, pushing himself off of the ground. He glanced over at FentonWorks, but Jazz didn’t stir. Wherever the ghost was, it was outside her range. Well, whatever. He could handle it on his own.

He would almost be tempted to let it run a little loose, just to stifle the boredom, but it was too risky. That, and he and Jazz were trying to keep the existence of ghosts a secret for as long as possible. Letting some random animalistic ghost run wild wasn’t good for public morale.

A glint of light in the distance caught his attention, and he zoned in on it immediately. Metal, maybe? Not a lot of ghosts brought ectoplasmic metal with them, and surely it was too early for Cujo…

The connections clicked in Danny’s mind, and he hesitated. Skulker, of course. Maybe he should get Jazz. Skulker tended to be a pretty tough fight, always upgrading his gear.

But, oh.

Skulker upgraded his gear, from the moment they first fought. This Skulker wouldn’t have any of those upgrades. He would be 2.5 years behind the curve; he’d be a wimp compared to the Skulker Danny usually fought.

Danny tapped into his invisibility, then started a large arc, only vaguely in Skulker’s direction. He was pretty sure the ghost was employed by Vlad right now, assuming that the other half-ghost was Vlad in this universe. But Vlad wouldn’t know about Jazz—or Specter—just yet. Skulker was just following rumors, hoping to snatch a half-ghost as prey before his employer could find out. Danny just needed to show him how hopelessly outmatched he was, and make sure Skulker wouldn’t tell Vlad.

The hulking metallic ghost was crouched on a rooftop, his mohawk flickering in the wind. Danny hovered behind him, dropping his invisibility, but the hunter didn’t even notice him. Ha! Too focused on Jazz, it seemed.

Danny cleared his throat.

Skulker whipped around, the panels on one arm shifting to reveal an ecto-gun. Danny eyed the gun aimed at his chest with half-lidded eyes. He’d seen more impressive weaponry wielded by literal high-schoolers. And that wasn’t even counting Valerie or the members of Team Phantom.

“Sup,” he said instead, nodding at Skulker. “Having fun?”

The ghost seemed thrown off by Danny’s casual attitude, his gun faltering slightly and his brows drawing together. “Um. Yes?”

“Well, see, I don’t appreciate that much.” He crossed his arms, maintaining his hover so he was taller than Skulker. “She’s under my protection, you see.”

Skulker snorted dismissively. More panels opened up to reveal weaponry. Weak, outdated weaponry. That’s right! This Skulker hadn’t even upgraded his basic body with Tucker’s PDA yet. Oh, what a joke!

“Yeah?” the ghost challenged. The gun came back up, aimed at Danny’s chest—his core. “And what are you going to do about it, whelp?”

“See, I was hoping you would ask that.” Danny smirked at Skulker, releasing the tight grasp he’d had on his core. Volatile ectoplasm, as green as his eyes, started curling around his hands. Gathered in thick glowing balls of pure energy in his palms. His glow flickered brighter as more and more energy released from his core.

Maybe this was a little overkill, all things considered. But Skulker had been a pain in his ass plenty of times. Besides, better to release some of that pent-up energy on a target like Skulker, who could take it a lot more easily than the animal ghosts Danny usually fought.

“Oh, I see.” Skulker’s eyes narrowed as energy started building in his ecto-weaponry. “It’s a fight you want.”

Meeting Skulker’s eye, Danny grinned even wider. “What I really want is for you to leave this city alone, and refrain from telling your employer about the existence of another half-ghost, but sure, for now I’ll settle for a fight.”

Finishing his sentence, he formed a reflective shield in front of him, intercepting Skulker’s shot the moment it was fired. The ghost thus momentarily disarmed, Danny flung the ecto-glass at him.

Skulker spluttered, swatting the shattering glass away, and was thus distracted enough for Danny to grab onto him. His white gloves dug for purchase, before one hand closed around the strap of his shirt, and the other caught onto the edge of his pauldron. Eh, good enough.

Satisfied that he had a decent enough grip, Danny shot up into the sky, Skulker dragged along. The ghost struggled underneath his hands, but couldn’t get enough leverage to get free. Not until they reached a satisfactory level of height, and Danny let go of the ghost entirely.

“Whelp!” the ghost barked at him, jet-pack wings unfolding from the panels on his back. “What do you think you are doing?!”

“Getting you out of the public eye.” Danny shifted, new energy forming in his palms as easily as breathing. “Amity doesn’t know about ghosts yet, and I don’t want their first impression to be this ass-kicking.”

“You expect me to be fear you, just because of that little shield?” Skulker laughed, sharp and metallic, before raising his gun again. “Ha! As if.”

“Nah. But I’ve fought ghosts far stronger than you, man.” Danny raised one hand as well, focusing his energy into the single ecto-blast. “And certainly scarier, too.”

He fired. Skulker, unable to respond so quickly, took the blast straight on the arm. The gun was blown off entirely, the metal on Skulker’s arm blackened and smoking.

Before Skulker could pull out another gun, Danny followed it up with a few more shots for emphasis. Blew off the remaining guns, then froze up most of the wings holding Skulker up for good measure.

The ghost faltered in mid-air, his engines cutting out for a short moment. He glanced at his wings, then at Danny, who had barely even moved.

“I… see.” His voice was low, and he was clearly unhappy to be so clearly outmatched. “What… did you say you wanted, again?”

Danny snorted. “Convinced already? You didn’t even make me show off any of the really impressive stuff.”

He shrugged, ignoring the way Skulker’s eyes widened in surprise. “I want you to leave this city alone, and all of its citizens. If you must, you can come hunt ghosts here, but only after checking in with me, and if I agree with your prey. And you can’t tell your employer about the half-ghost you were hunting.”

Skulker remained silent for a moment, eyeing up Danny. Finally, he grunted, “You know of my employer?”

“Some,” Danny said dismissively. “I want to keep this city safe. And I’ve got the stinking feeling that if they knew about the existence of this half-ghost, trouble would come.”

“A fair assessment.” The metallic ghost thought it over for moment longer, angling his head. “And what if I do not follow these rules?”

“Besides the fact that I can clearly kick your ass in a fight?” Danny raised a challenging brow. “I can destroy your reputation in the Ghost Zone just as easily. You’re the greatest hunter around, sure, until everyone knows you’re barely more than a blob ghost. Small, soft-shelled ghost that needs a robot suit to hunt? Not exactly a huge threat.”

“I—” Skulker blew out a noisy breath—somewhat surprising to Danny, since he hadn’t realized Skulker could even do that—and shook his head. “How do you even know that? Fine, whelp. I will leave, and if I ever chase prey into this upside-down world, I will inform you of my presence. Good enough?”

“And you won’t tell your employer?” Danny pressed. “Or anybody else, really. Nobody who doesn’t already know.”

“Yes, sure, fine,” Skulker snapped back. “Her existence will remain a secret, or at the very least, I will have no role in revealing it.”

“Good enough.” Danny released the gathering energy, softening the glow of his body, and stuck out an arm in Skulker’s direction. “Pleasure doing business with you, Skulker.”

“Wish I could say the same,” the ghost grumbled, but he took Danny’s hand and shook it nonetheless. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”

“Sure, sure, of course.” Danny waved his hands at Skulker. “Go have fun upgrading your suit. But don’t break our deal, or I will know, and you will regret it. Gotcha?”

“Yes, I understood your threat already.” Skulker shook his head, flying off in the direction of FentonWorks—and the Portal. Danny watched him leave, then shrugged to himself, tapped into his invisibility, and followed Skulker.

You know, just to be safe.

---

“I feel like this is going to be come very confusing, very quickly,” Jazz admitted as she landed in the open space in the woods. Danny—alternative universe Danny—was already there, in his ghost form.

“Huh?” He blinked, clearly confused, and stuffed a phone into one of the pockets on his belt. “What do you mean? What’ll get confusing?”

“Just— this!” She threw out her hands for emphasis, trying to gesture at, well, everything. “I really appreciate your help, but, y’know. You’re Danny, but not my Danny, but that sounds so rude!”

He blinked at her once more, then snorted loudly. “Yeah, no, I get it. I’m having the same with… well, basically everything. Jazz, and your parents, and everything else. You can call me Phantom if it helps, though.”

“I don’t know…” She grimaced, shifting her feet uneasily. “That just feels… rude, I guess? It’s basically your last name, isn’t it? Phantom?”

“It’s my ghost name. Sam and Tucker use it all the time as well, when I’m in my ghost form.” He floated a little closer, then shrugged almost dismissively. “Plus, you’ll have to get used to it anyway. When we start making our public appearances, we’ll have to call each other Specter and Phantom anyway.”

Right. She supposed he had a point there. “I guess so. Will you start calling me Specter, then?”

“If you want me to.” Danny landed as well, his boots touching down on the grassy soil. “I don’t mind either way. I’ve gotten used to switching between that kinda stuff really quickly, with Red and all that.”

“Uh huh…” There was the mysterious ‘Red’ again. “Speaking of this mysterious Red, you mind telling me a little something about them? And Danielle, as well, since you apparently trust those two to help keep your Amity safe? Could they help here, too?”

He made a face. Guess not. “Eh, I don’t know, Jazz. Not now, that’s for sure. It would be better to focus on training your own powers for now, and I’ll keep an eye on those two just in case. Okay?”

“Sure, sounds good.” She shrugged, but made sure to remember that. Whoever they were, they must’ve gotten into the ghost hunting business after Danny. Strange, though. Were they half-ghosts as well, or regular ghost hunters? Maybe one of each? Red could be a ghost name, since most ghost hunters seemed content with using their own. Danielle… Ignoring the close resemblance to Danny’s name, she could be a regular ghost hunter.

But, if Danny wasn’t interested in following up on their existence, she was willing to drop it as well. For now. Her own powers still needed plenty of work, although she’d be perfectly happy just to get these few under control.

“How about we start with some basic control?” Danny asked, suddenly, snapping her out of thoughts. “I remember that that was one of the things I struggled with most, after the accident.”

“Yeah, uh.” She laughed, a little embarrassed. “That would be nice.”

“Thought as much. Do you have any preferences?”

Reliable flight was nice, of course, for travel. Invisibility was mostly annoying when it activated when she didn’t want to; she couldn’t think of any situations where she might normally use it. Most problematic of all, though…

“Intangibility, for sure.” It was not only the most annoying, it also activated most of the three basic powers, and it could be really tough to cover for. “I’m so done with dropping things.”

This startled a laugh out of Danny. He lifted off of the ground again, floating in closer. “Oh, yeah, I know your struggles. Have you gotten in trouble with school yet, for dropping so much glassware?”

“No?” She frowned, mentally prodding her core a little. Were warm-ups a thing for ghost cores? Did shifting into ghost form count as warming it up? “I try not to handle the glassware too much, just in case. Why, is that a thing I need to be cautious of?”

“Nah, sounds like you’ve got it handled already.” He flapped a dismissive hand. “I dropped so much glass during my first month that the school banned me from handling it anymore, but it sounds like you were smarter about it. Still, intangibility first?”

“Uh. Yeah, please.” She clenched and unclenched her fists a little, unsure of how to proceed. “And, um. Dan— Phantom. Do we need to do some kind of… warming up, or something?”

“What, like when you’re going sporting?” He frowned, then dropped the face and shrugged. “Not really? Using your powers is easier while in ghost form, but your core is active all the time. You don’t need to warm-up your brain when you’re gonna start thinking, right? It’s always doing its thing.”

“But aren’t powers more like muscles? Aren’t we training them?”

Almost immediately, he shook his head. “Nah. I mean, a little, but not really. We’re gonna work on your connection with your core, mostly, since that’s where your power malfunctions are coming from. Your core has the powers ready, but you’re not used to using it.”

She narrowed her eyes, but he seemed certain of his answers, and, well. She had no way to disprove him, did she? “And new powers? Building stamina?”

“Both will come with time. Your core is still new, and young. It needs time to grow and stabilize. Using your powers will guide it in a certain direction, which is why training will help you develop new powers sooner. And using them more will help you build stamina faster, since your core will focus more on developing it.”

“I… see.” She prodded the core again, mentally. It stirred, easily. Was that just the trick to controlling her powers? Getting better at communicating with this new part of herself? “So how are we gonna train that?”

Danny’s expression grew sheepish. “Well, mostly I figured you could just work on your powers here, where no one would notice. Like I said, control comes from practice, and I can’t really help much with that.” He shrugged. “Besides the assurance that you won’t get hurt, of course.”

Jazz shot him an unamused look, but he ignored it completely.

“So, anyway, wanna start with intangibility? I’ll be here to make sure you don’t get stuck phasing through something.”

“That’s a possibility?” She blanched, throwing a quick look downward at the ground. She hadn’t even known that it was possible for her to get stuck!

“Well, it’s never happened to me, since I’m pretty sure you retain intangibility by reflex if you’re partially phased into something…” Danny shrugged. “But now you can be sure that it won’t happen to you!”

“You’re a terrible teacher! Now you’ve gone and made me scared of something I didn’t even know I could be scared about!” She combed a hand through her hair, aggravatedly. “Honestly, Danny!”

“Uh, whoops.” He shot her a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was pretty scared of accidentally getting myself stuck, so I figured the same would go for you. Sorry.”

“Honestly,” she grumbled, half to herself. “So far the only useful thing you’ve done to help is deal with all those other ghosts.”

Danny laughed, clearly still a little unsure of himself. “That’s fair. This basic stuff, I can’t help with, not much. But once you’ve gotten better at it, I’ll be able to teach you all kinds of stuff. Like this!”

His fists lit up, suddenly, bright energized ectoplasm balling around his hands. Like the blasts from an ecto-gun, except that he was forming it himself.

“Pretty cool, huh? But if you’re not too big on fighting, you can use it defensively as well.” He swept his hands out, and the ectoplasm following, forming a hollowed-out ball around him. “See? We’ll spend a lesson or two on control, but after all, I’ll help you with new stuff.”

Well, she wasn’t above admitting that she’d been convinced. “What if I work on control at home, and we start on that stuff next time? Shields could be really useful.”

“Hah, uh, I guess?” The shield broke apart again, and Danny shrugged. “I mean, I usually dodge hits instead, since that costs less energy. But ecto-blasts are a pretty basic technique, so we can start on that next time, if you really want to. But! You’ll need to have a good amount of control already. Your core is essential for that.”

“Isn’t my core always essential?” she asked dryly. “Since it’s, you know, the center of my ghost powers?”

“You know what I mean.” He stuck out his tongue, and she stamped down her reflex to do it back. No matter how much like Danny he was, this wasn’t her brother. It was unfair to all of them to pretend otherwise.

Besides, if she was going to protect this town, she had to be a hero. No, not just a hero. The hero. Mature and an icon for the town to look up to. Not just a kid.

“But you want to get going, then?” Danny said, snapping her out of her thoughts again. “Since you said you wanted to work on your control at home?”

“Uh, yeah. If that’s… okay with you?” She twirled a strand of her vividly purple hair, still unused to its color—and the way it wisped. “Plus I kind of… need to clean the lab?”

“I’m not gonna force you to keep my company if you can’t or don’t want to, Jazz.” Danny met her eyes, the bright green barely hiding the sadness in them. “Go, then. I’ll be around when you’ve ready for the next lesson.”

“Right…” She scuffed one boot on the ground, but, well. She had committed, now, no matter how distressed Danny seemed. Besides, there was nothing she could do for him. “Well, thanks, anyway. For this, and for helping me with the ghosts.”

“Of course.” He cocked his head at her. “You’re my sister, Jazz, even if this is a different universe. Stay safe, okay? Cleaning the lab is always a nasty chore for a half-ghost.”

“I’ll be careful,” she assured him, before turning around, ready to fly back home. Then she paused, glancing back over her shoulder at him. “You be careful too, alright? Just because you’re not my Danny doesn’t mean that I want you to get hurt, either.”

“I promise.” He smiled at her, and she could almost pretend not to see the sadness in it.

She nodded to herself, finally pushing herself off and into the air. He’d be fine. Danny—Phantom—had been half-ghost for over two years. He could take care of himself.

But he just looked so lonely, here.

---

“What is this even supposed to be?” Jazz wondered out-loud, carefully lifting one of the half-assembled inventions in the lab. She was just about done cleaning the lab, anyway. She could afford the distraction. “Some kind of vacuum?”

Her core pulsed in her chest, and for a brief moment, she worried that she had somehow turned the invention on. But then cold air wisped from her mouth. Heaving a sigh, she turned around, towards the Portal.

Its green surface was flat, undisturbed. Ectoplasm swirled, like it was held back by an invisible barrier.

Suddenly it parted, a single humanoid ghost coming through. Green skin and oversized green gloves, a white coat with a humongous collar, and some of the wildest hair she had ever seen. Square glasses blocked the ghost’s eyes, so she couldn’t tell the color. Not that it was a big deal, but still.

“Uh, hey,” she greeted the ghost, putting down the ghost-vacuum-thing. “You’re not here to cause trouble, are you?”

“I am Technus!” the ghost retorted, pressing one hand to his puffed-up chest, “And I’m the master of all technology!”

“Okay, cool. Good for you.” She narrowed her eyes at him, nudging the vacuum-invention behind herself. “That didn’t answer my question.”

Technus narrowed his glasses—or glass-like eyes, she supposed—at her. “What does it matter to you? All technology is mine, anyway!”

“No it’s not! I won’t let you steal in this city!” She stood up, puffing herself up as well. “Either you go back into the Zone, or I’ll make you!”

“Hah! You’ve got nothing on me! Technus, master of all things electronic and beeping! And you! You are just a puny human!”

Jazz growled, her core eagerly stirring to life. Energy crackled over her skin as she shifted into her ghost form, casual clothes replaced by her purple jumpsuit.

“Ah, well—” Technus shifted, clearly thrown off. “No matter! Adios!”

And before she could stop him, he darted upwards, phasing through the ceiling of the lab.

“Hey, hold up!” She shot after him, phasing through the house. For a moment she was afraid that she had lost him, but then she caught sight of him again. Speeding towards the city, faster than she thought she could fly. Dammit!

Pushing herself to her max speed, she raced after him. He wasn’t all that fast, sure, but neither was she!

Technus slowed down soon enough, apparently distracted by an electronics store. Jazz finally caught up with him when her ghost sense went off again. She cursed, already turning to look for the other ghost, when Danny came to a halt next to her.

“Sorry, I was still in the woods. What’s up?”

“Some ghost named Technus.” She gestured over at the ghost, reaching for the Thermos on her belt. Yes, it was there, thank goodness. “He got away from me before I could shove him back through the Portal.”

“I’ll deal with him, he can be a bit of a pain in the ass.” Danny’s expression was serious for once, clearly focused on their strategy. “I want you to make sure he doesn’t get access to any of the tech around here. He’ll be able to possess it, and that’ll make him way stronger.”

“And we don’t want that. Got it.” She nodded, then dove down. It wouldn’t be a particularly hard thing, she figured, since Danny would be fighting Technus and thus distracting him. And it would give her a perfect opportunity to watch Phantom use his powers to their full extend, to watch him fight for real. Snapping up the occasional animal ghost didn’t count.

She had just lowered herself between Technus and the store when Danny followed her lead. Except, unlike her, he just straight-up tackled Technus.

Danny hit the full ghost like a meteor strike, hitting him at speeds she didn’t realize he could fly at. Somehow her not-quite brother stopped before either of them hit the ground, halting so suddenly that she was amazed he didn’t snap his neck.

Suddenly electricity lanced through the two brawling ghosts, crackling over Technus’ body, forcing Danny—Phantom—to distance himself again.

“I am Technus! Master of all things electric and zappy!”

“Oh, shut up, will you?” Phantom snapped back, a green ecto-blast forming in his fist. “I’ve heard it before!”

Technus opened his mouth, but before he could reply, the blast hit him. The ghost went flying down, crumpling onto the asphalt road. Not hard enough to cause serious damage, though, she was surprised to note.

Phantom shot down after him. Landed on Technus and pressed him back down when the ghost tried to get up.

“No, you stay down and listen,” he growled, aura flaring bright. “Here’s what we’re gonna do, okay? You go back to the Zone, and you’re gonna cool off. If you ever decide you can come here without stealing anything, or causing any other sort of trouble, you can come talk to me. Understood?”

“And if I don’t?” Technus narrowed his eyes, spectral tail lashing. “What if I leave, and come back unnoticed?”

“I’ll know.” Phantom leaned in close, eyes glowing brighter. “Trust me, you don’t want to find out. Leave, Technus, or I won’t ask so nicely.”

Then he let go, floating away from the previously pinned ghost. Technus looked between him, then her.

“Fine,” the ghost finally said, clearly begrudgingly. “Even I, Technus, know when I am outmatched.”

“Just go already,” Phantom snapped at him, and Technus flinched away, closer to her. “Specter, mind escorting him back, so we’re sure he’s not getting away?”

“Yeah, sure.” She waved a hand in the direction of home. “Come on, get going. We don’t have all day.”

#danny phantom #danny fenton #jazz fenton #jazz phantom #jazz phantom au #halfa jazz au #phanfic #dp fanfic #dark writes #absurdism

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vegetacide · 4 years

Text

Cloak and Dagger

Veg●notable: Okay, I had a little fun with this and took a few liberties with one of the boys… It worked for I wanted but I am not sure how it will be received... ::ducks behind a Tracy so she doesn’t get hit with anything...::

Also I am kinda being a pantser with this chapter.. I have a general idea of where I want it to go but I didn’t suss it out like I have in other chapters so please excuse if the pacing if off. I kinda let the Boys tell me where they wanted to go and what sort of interactions they wanted to have….and they may have gone a bit off course..

As per the norm.. All errors and such are my own.

Read, review, like, reblog.. Whatever the platform, it is very, very much appreciated and it all acts as my motivational fuel.

Previous Chapters

Intro | One | Two

Chapter 3: Games

Enjoy!

o0o

Scott drummed his fingers along the careworn surface of his father’s desk, his gaze lost to the middle distance as he thought over the information that had just been brought to him. Not that there was much, which was the problem in and of itself.

Kayo and Lady Penelope had had very little to tell him. After Fuse’s botched attempt at the old, disused power plant to obtain nuclear material he’d just up and disappeared. Their security expert and London agent had been traipsing around the globe trying to track down leads for weeks now but there was no sign of the Chaos member, his sister or for that matter the Hood… anywhere..at all.

For the Hood on his own, it wasn’t that unusual. The criminal would go quiet for a spell and not resurface for months. Now that he was with the Crew, that was an entirely different story.

Normal some tidbit of information would crop up of a sighting in some far corner of the world, or a rumour of some heist or another would drift about on the dark web. Either Lady P would poke at it to figure out if it was worth further effort or Kayo would get a call from the GDF to check with some contacts but everything had gone silent. There was nothing, no where.

Scott looked up at the muted holo-cast. A variation of the same headline scrolled along under the chrome anchors’ desk and something in the pit of his stomach tightened. This eerie feeling of foreboding had been dogging him since the plant and he just knew this wasn’t going to end well.

Picking up an old school stylus that for some reason his father had kept even with the advent of modern computer interfaces, Scott examined its length. His father had owned it for as long as he could remember. He’d once asked Jeff why he insisted on keeping it and his father had smiled in that way he did and had said that ‘somethings were just worth keeping.’ He hadn’t elaborated in any other way or given any other hint to his reasoning after that. It left Scott scratching his head in confusion.

Even now all these years later he still didn’t understand though as he looked at the smooth finish and felt the weight of it between his fingers, he could understand its appeal. It provided something tangible to hold on to, tactile.

In his case not only physically but it also provided him with a psychologically connection to the man they all missed so much. A man he truly wished was with them right now.

Maybe the great Jeff Tracy would be able to wrap his head around all this, come out with a master plan so at the end of the day the world was a better, safer place. Scott certainly didn’t think he had the chops to do it himself. Self doubt was a bitch especially when there was no supporting hand to guide you.

His father was going to come home, Scott knew that for sure. WIth Brains basically locked away working on the zero-x engine it was only a matter of time. Scott just hoped that when they got their father back…. Why was he even thinking about this? Setting the stylus back down, he rubbed at the back of his head in hopes of dispelling the direction of his thoughts. This was not helping.

Snagging his forgotten cup of coffee, he took a swig and grimaced. Cold and it was the good stuff from Virgil’s hidden stash behind the lima bean in the pantry. Eyeballing the drink with its thin layer of cream film on top, he sighed and tossed the rest back. It was too much effort to haul his ass downstairs for a fresh cup, besides his brother would kick his butt if he were to find out he knew of the existence of the rich, smoky ground beans and had wasted it. Better to just suck it up and deal with the cold brew then risk the engineer’s wrath.

“Thunderbird 5 to base.”

“Hey John,” Scott greeted with the raise of his now empty coffee mug. “What’s up?”

“Just letting you know Grandma is on approach. Will be there in t-minus 5”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

John nodded in return and they sat in silence for a moment. By the controlled look on John’s face Scott could tell that the monitor was working up to say something more. Leaning back in his chair, he cocked a foot over one knee and steepled his fingers as his brother processed whatever it was that was on his mind.

Scott didn’t want to push but time was ticking. “Johnny….?” He knew the use of his brother’s childhood nickname would get the ball rolling.

John’s eyes narrowed in annoyance at the moniker but the redhead let it slide. “How’s it going down there?”

Scott dropped his hands, pushed up to his feet and walked the short distance to the sunken seating area. “As well as can be expected.” Taking the steps down he parked on his usually couch with a heavy sigh. Sinking into the cushions with a slouch and tossing an arm up and over the back.

“That sounds...” John paused as he searched for the appropriate word, “to steal a phrase from Alan.. craptastic.”

One shoulder went up in a shrug and Scott dragged in a deep breathe. “Ya, well. Shitty situation but you know how these things go. Time and space and all that.”

“Time and space?” A smirk settled on John’s face. “This coming from you. Eos mark down the time and date. Scott is being reasonable”

“Time and date noted, John.” Came the young voice of the A.I. “I have also taken the liberty of recording this interaction for posterity in the likelihood that you want to revisit the momentous occasion.”

John chuckled as the light ring came into the view field of the camera. The array of little lights flashing in what Scott could only conclude as amusement at his cost. The A.I was learning and learning fast and Scott didn’t know how to feel about that.

“Hardy har.” A dry sound, accompanied by an eye roll. “Am I really that bad?”

The stare and awestruck look he received by way of answer should have been enough.”Aw, come on…”

“If smother hen was in the dictionary, Scott. You would be the picture beside it.” It was said rather frankly and that irked Scott into yet another eyeroll. “Matter of fact, it might actually already be in Urban Dictionary..”

“Okay. Okay..I get it. Enough already.” Scott’s boredom and disdain at the direction of the conversation wasn’t hard to miss. “I can’t help it. I worry about all of you.”

John took pity on his elder brother, the smile leaving his face. “I know you do, Scott. Especially when it’s Virgil.”

Scott sagged further into the couch.

“We all need to fall apart every now and again. The same applies to Virgil.” John spoke, his voice carrying across the distance. “As much as we rely on him to be the family rock, even a rock wears down over time when enough stress is applied.”

“Ya, I know. You’re right.” Scott leaned forward, his elbows coming to rest on his knees as he looked at the floor. “I just wish…” He didn’t finish his train of thought.

“Scott, he’ll be fine. Just give him the room to breath and in a day or two he will be right as rain again. He needs to stew this over a bit.” John shifted his gaze away from the cam, his projected hand skimming over something off screen.

“Well from what Brain’s has told me, Virgil has him doing system checks on all the wash-bays. Maybe an answer will be there for him.”

“You talked to Brain?”

“Yes, just before calling you. He wanted me to look at some computations. Double check his math and he didn’t want to bother Virgil with it” Floating about the space station some 22,000 kilomitres above them, John glaced backup a moment. “Why? Haven’t you talked to him?”

Scott sat up a bit straighter, sheepishly ashamed that the yelling the night before had sent the mousy genus into hiding in the bowels of the island. “Not since we got back..”

“Oh,” John failed to hide the nonplussed expression that flashed across the screen. “Glad I was off world last night than..:”

“Jay, you’re always off world”

John couldn’t say anything to counter that and Scott knew it. The star obsessed Tracy rarely made landfall and Scott tried to think back on how long it had been since the astronaut had been forced to submit to some down time.

“Scott, you’re getting that look in your eyes again.”

“What look?”

“The ‘I need to smother’ look that comes with the forehead wrinkles of the elderly.. Don’t you dare set your sights on me. I am needed up here with full access to all of 5’s systems and you know it.”

Scott put his hands up in surrender, not wanting to have another sibling forcibly shutting him out. “Message received and watched the old person jokes. They are laugh lines not stress.. The hair though, that’s all from you guys.”

John looked off camera again and his expression changed from brotherly bemusement to curious. “Aunt Val is reaching out. I’ll patch her though.”

Scott cursed under his breath and ignored the admonishing glare from space. Seemed he hadn’t sworn as quietly as he thought, good thing Gran….

“Scott Bartholomew Carpenter Tracy!”

Scott flinched at the sudden loud bark of reproach directed his way as his Grandmother marched into the room, fire and brimstone in her wake. “You were not raised in a barn, young man.” Crap, his diminutive elder was not impressed, especially if she broke out the little known and seldom used ‘Bartholomew.’

He was the only brother out of the five to be graced with the additionally middle name, gifted to him as the first born from his great, great Grandfather. A Tribute to a war vet that his father had been blessed with as well and one that made Scott shudder every time he heard it.

“Well technically… “John piped up earning him a warning glare from Scott.

“Gee John, thanks for the warning.. “ Scott grumbled with little enthusiasm and dripping with sarcastic annoyance.

“I did,” John blinked.

Scott contemplated several ways to seek revenge over the tirade of the fierce and feisty Sally Tracy and most of them involved airlocks and a module full of moldy bagels.

John did his level best to hide his smile at the misfortune of the eldest. “I told you she was on approach and you know she has the ears of a bat, Scooter.”

Scott glared at the space nut but all he got in return was a very large grin before the monitor disappeared and the 3D rendition of his Godmother materialized.

“Colonel Casey” Scott acknowledges, his Grandmother patted his knee in greeting and settled down on the couch beside him, the vexed look still sparking in her cerulean gaze.

“Valerie,” His Grandma piped up. “You’re a sight for sore eyes”

“Scott. Sally.” A crisp, formal acknowledgement. Definitely a business call.

The tone made Scott straighten his spine, posture ramrodding as his years of military training kicked in. Pushing to his feet, the Commander of International Rescue took up the forefront of his mind. The dilemma of the current Tracy drama brushed aside as the call to arms; so to speak, was issued by his honorary Aunt’s projected persona.

“What can I do for you, Colonel Casey?”

“Orders come down the pipe, Scott. General Abner informed me this afternoon that World Council has declared Kazakhstan a no fly zone. All personnel, both combative and civilian are on evac orders effective immediately. As of 23:00, anything in or outbound found crossing restrictive airspace will be termed hostile and dealt with accordingly.”

“And as our liaison..?” Scott asked, bracing for the answer that he feared.

“I’ve been advised to inform you that the restriction extends to International Rescue as well. Under no circumstance is International; Rescue to enter that airspace. Any action will be seen as an act of aggression against the WC and those perpetrating said act are to be shot down.”

“Noted.”

“Scott, you need to abide by this ruling. This is from way up the food chain. There will be nothing I can do to help you if these orders are disregarded. “ Casey stressed. “You will be on your own.I’ve also been instructed that anyone aiding and abetting is to be brought in and prosecuted under the full force of the law.”

Meaning, the whole family would be under threat and the whole might of the GDF would be pointed in their direction. Even though they claimed no allegiance to any known entity, International Rescue and by turn the Tracy’s would be marked as traitors “I understand Colonel.”

Essentially the country has been walled off and Scott wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He just hoped that there would be no call out for iR in the vicinity of the damned country but he knew from experience hopes and wishes were very seldom taken into consideration.

-o-o-

Some 6,500km away, tucked under a remote mountain village on the furthest edge of Kazakhstan a display monitor beeped to life with the flow of garish, green text. Servos hummed, fans ticked on and a smile crept across the harshly angled face with amber eyes.

Piece by piece plans that had taken months to arrange were finally starting to come together. Money had passed hands, people had been bought, information exchanged and like pawns on a chessboard, the players were shifting into their places.

Looking at the board, the queen slipped into place and unbeknownst to all but one, the king now sat vulnerable. The end was in sight.

Let the games begin.

TBC

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds fanfic #Virgil Tracy #Tanusha Kyrano #Kayo Kyrano #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Alan Tracy #Lady Penelope #Pen and Ink #Grandma Tracy #Colonel Casey #Cloak and Dagger #international rescue

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hellas-himself · 5 years

Text

Crack Ship Holidays

Halloween Pt. 4- Cassian x Feyre

This is the last one for Halloween. The next set will be based around Thanksgiving.

Cassian and I wake up when we hear Valo at the door. I try to push myself up but it’s no use. I hear Cassian laugh.

“I’ll take him out,” he says. He sounds half asleep.

“I can do it,” I say as I go face first back into my pillow.

I don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep until Cassian comes back to the room. He whistles.

“Wait,” Cas says and Val huffs. I hear Cassian undressing and feel the bed dip as he climbs back in. “Come on, boy.”

I smile as Val jumps up on the bed and promptly comes to try to lick my face. I’m surprised at how much it hurts just to move my arm as I reach out to pet him. Val walks over both of us before going to settle down by our feet.

“You’re so warm,” Cassian says as he grabs me with his cold hands and pulls me against his chest.

“Oh my god, Cas! What the hell?!”

Valo barks as Cassian starts to laugh.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he says and presses a kiss to my shoulder.

“How?”

“Breakfast in bed?”

“Hm…”

“Oh, I think I know.”

Cassian pushes the covers off us both and I throw my pillow at him while he heads to the bathroom. Valo jumps on the floor, clearly bothered by the interruption. Sitting upright hurts more than it should. My entire body is aching, and my head-

“Fuck my life,” I groan. “Mor is going to kill me.”

I force myself to my feet and walk to the dresser. I make to take the wig off but see blue on my fingertips. But then I hear the sound of water running.

Cassian is getting the bathtub ready. He’s kneeling on the white rug with one hand in the water. I close the bathroom door and walk over to him, cursing the freezing tile floor. I hug him from behind, making him laugh.

“I got some of that weird shit you like for the bath. It’s with your stuff in the closet.”

I kiss his cheek and let him go. The bathroom closet is bigger than my own at the apartment. One side is all Cassian but the other is basically mine. I grab the light green one and when I walk back out, I show it to him.

“What’s this one do?” he asks.

“You’ll see.”

He chuckles and watches me set it down on the counter. I smile at him through the mirror. We brush our teeth together, and Cassian keeps me close to him despite there being two sinks. When we finish, Cassian goes to check on the tub.

“Want to help me take this off?” I ask and hold up my hands.

He’s incredibly gentle as he helps me out of the damn wig and he sets it down before untying my hair and running his fingers through it. He massages my scalp and I let out a sigh, leaning back against him.

“God, I love you,” I say softly. The way he tenses isn’t lost on me but he recovers and presses a kiss to the top of my hair.

“I love you, too, bunny.”

When the bathtub is ready, Cassian turns the water off and helps me get in. I sit down and raise a brow when I see him walk away.

“Where are you going?”

He looks at me funny. “To shower?”

“Oh… I thought-” I blush. “I thought you were joining me.”

Cas breaks out into a smile.

I smile as Cassian stands behind me and ties up my hair.

“You’re the best,” I say with a contented sigh.

“I know,” he whispers and leans down to kiss my neck and then my cheek.

I roll my eyes. “Don’t let it get to your head.”

Cassian laughs. His hands roam over my body and it’s not until I hear our niece say our names that it dawns on me that I’m only wearing his shirt and boxers.

“What are you doing?” Iliana asks and it takes Cassian a second too long to get his hands off me and step away.

“I’m cleaning up the dishes from last night,” I reply, wanting to shove my face into the freezer. I must be beet red.

“You look like mommy,” Iliana says as she climbs onto one of the bar stools. “She wears daddy’s clothes to sleep. Just like you wear tio’s clothes to sleep.”

“How did you like staying over tio’s house?” Cassian asks as he walks right over to her. She laughs as he picks her up and starts to throw her up in the air. Her laughter is contagious.

“It was fun!” she manages to reply. He sets her down on his shoulder and walks to the pantry. “Auntie Feyre and I got chocolate wasted. Daddy was wasted too, but it was on grown up juice.”

I snort.

“Since you’re skipping school today,” Cassian says as he opens the door, “I’m going to give you something.”

“What is it?” I hear her whisper loudly.

“Your dad and I would have this every time we cut class.”

“Which is why your dad and uncle needed your mom and I to help them pass,” I say and Cassian looks my way with a glare. I blow him a kiss and give him a wink.

“Show me!” Iliana orders and Cassian disappears from view. I already know what they’re going to walk out with but seeing my niece holding two boxes of Oreos and Cas with the peanut butter still makes me laugh.

“I can’t eat this just yet,” Cas says as he brings her to the living room. “But you can…”

He sets her up with Sailor Moon and makes her a milkshake before he gets a start on breakfast. By the time Elain and Az wake up, I’m setting the table.

“Oh, nice!” I hear Az say and when I look towards the living room, I see him sit down beside Iliana who offers him an Oreo covered in peanut butter.

“You are responsible for her when she comes down from her sugar high,” Elain says to Cassian.

“It’ll be fine!” Cassian gives my sister a wink and she rolls her eyes.

We all sit at the table for breakfast- and as always, Cassian’s made a feast. I am not surprised when Rhys, Lucien and Mor show up in their pajamas.

“Oh shit, guys! Mor brought Andy for her very first Halloween hangover breakfast,” Cassian exclaims and Iliana starts laughing.

“I hope this lives up to the hype,” Andromache says with a yawn. “I’m working for the next four days straight.”

“Feyre’s the lucky one, she gets this every morning,” Mor says as she promptly piles her plate high with food.

“Almost every morning,” I correct her. Andromache smiles and accepts the plate Mor pushes her way. She tries the poached eggs first. Then the French toast. The morir soñando Cassian makes every time he makes hangover breakfast. Cassian has to make extra of that and when he leaves the table, everyone’s attention falls on me.

“What?” I ask.

“Oh… nothing,” Mor says teasingly and I roll my eyes.

After we eat, everyone gathers in the living room to watch Nightmare before Christmas. I take that moment to go put some pants on.

By noon, Cas and I have the house back in order while everyone else is asleep, or getting there. We take Valo and Iliana outside so she can run around with him while we clean up the backyard. Cassian chases them around and I can’t even be mad. I love seeing him with her.

“You’re the best,” Iliana says as Cassian lays out on the ground. She’s sitting next to him and twirling a loose strand of hair in her fingers.

“Better than tio Rhys and Lucien?”

She smiles and nods. Cassian pulls her in for a hug at that. Valo lays up next to Cassian, clearly wanting more attention.

“How come you and auntie Feyre only have Valo?” Iliana asks.

“She can’t have pets where she lives,” Cassian replies.

“No. I know that! I meaaaaaan when are you going to have a baby? A real one?”

It’s rare for anyone to leave Cassian stunned. Iliana waits but grows impatient.

“I think he’s malfunctioned, auntie Feyre.”

It takes a moment for me to speak, but when I do, I surprise myself.

“Well, your tio hasn’t asked me to be his girlfriend. And I’m still looking for a job.”

“You haven’t?” Iliana looks down at Cas and shakes her head with clear disappointment.

Azriel steps outside and Iliana forgets about Cassian and I. She jumps to her feet and runs towards her father before he’s even neared the first step.

“Daddy! Daddy! Tio and auntie Feyre are going to have a baby after he asks her to be his girlfriend and she gets a job!”

“That’s… That’s wonderful, sweetheart,” he says as he picks her up. He looks at me and I just shrug. Az kisses Iliana on the forehead. “So we’re playing Super Smash-”

“Can I play?! If I beat tio Rhys again, I get twenty bucks.”

“That’s exactly why I came looking for you. I wanna kick his ass.”

“I won’t tell mommy you said a bad word,” Iliana says and Az smiles bright.

“That’s my girl,” he says and pinches her cheek. “So, let’s go over the controls…”

I watch them go back inside, already plotting against Rhysand. It’s far too easy to imagine Cassian just like that. But it isn’t Iliana he’s holding. I look over to where he is, still lying on the ground. I’m too afraid to ask why he looks as though he’s made a huge mistake.

I go back to folding chairs.

I’m lying on my stomach on the sofa. I have one arm hanging off the edge and resting on Valo who is happily chewing on a toy. I love when our family is home, but it’s nice to sit in relative quiet. Especially with how bad my head hurts. Mor practically begged me to keep the wig after I told her I’d fallen asleep in it. Not because I fell asleep in it, but because of the events leading up to that.

I hear the front door open and Valo perks up.

“Daddy’s home,” I say as if he needs more incentive to haul ass to the door.

“Hey, relax!” Cassian exclaims and I laugh softly to myself. I see him walk past the living room with four boxes of pizza. The smell is divine.

“Need help?” I call, pushing myself up.

“No!”

I roll my eyes and go to the kitchen anyway. He has his back to me and is grabbing plates from the cabinet.

“What are we drinking?” I ask and go to the fridge.

“Whatever.”

I look his way and just sigh. I close the fridge and cross my arms.

“What is wrong? And don’t tell me nothing. You’ve been weird since everyone left.”

“Nothing is wrong,” he says and turns around, handing me a plate. I take it and put it down on the counter. Cassian sighs. “Beer.”

I get a beer from the fridge and use the hem of my shirt to open it. I hold it out to him and when he doesn’t take it, I set it a little too hard on the counter.

“Is this because of what I said?”

Cassian lets out an exasperated sigh.

“No. Nothing is wrong. Can we just eat?”

“You didn’t have to leave.”

“I wanted to drive. Sue me.”

When I roll my eyes Cassian walks past me and grabs his beer.

“I’m going to eat. I’m not doing this right now.”

“Doing what?” I ask but he keeps going. “Hey! Don’t you walk away from me! I’m talking to you!”

“I can hear you just fine.”

“I didn’t mean to shout,” I say, trying to keep my voice level. “But dammit, Cas. I am not Nesta. If you’re mad at me, tell me. Tell me what is wrong so I can fix it.”

That stops him. I hate to see him so tense, and hate the fact that it’s my fault even more.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything to Lia. But it doesn’t make it untrue.”

“That’s not-” Cassian sighs and turns around. He puts the beer down and runs his fingers through his hair. “It’s nothing you said. Nothing you did.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know, Feyre… I just- I don’t know how to do this without worrying that I’m going to fuck it up.”

“Cassian…”

“I shouldn’t have needed our nine-year-old niece pointing out how fucking selfish I’ve been. You deserve better than that.”

“Better than what? You are the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. What could be better than that?”

He doesn’t answer me. So I walk towards him and hate that he won’t look at me.

“I meant it when I said you make me feel alive,” I say as I take his hand in mine. “And I know… I know no one is perfect and we’re going to fight. We’re not always going to be happy. But I know that because I have you. I don’t have to be perfect and happy all the time. And neither do you.”

He looks at me in disbelief.

“You have never tried to force me to be something I’m not. I didn’t have to hide how I felt just so it was easier to deal with. You love me when I’m at my worst. And I love you, Cassian. Good or bad. Especially when things are bad.”

Cassian lets out a shaken breath.

“And you are not selfish. You’ve given me everything I needed, and that’s all I want to be for you.”

“You are. You are everything I need,” he says. “I love you, bunny. More than anyone, more than anything.”

I let go of his hand and wrap my arms around him. He kisses the top of my head before hugging me.

“I… I do want more. With you,” I find myself saying. “But if you’re not ready for that, I understand.”

“I never said I wasn’t.”

“You haven’t said that you are.”

He sighs. “That’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

“You want more than this?” I ask, pulling back to look up at him. I already know his answer by the look in his eyes, but he still speaks.

“It’s all I think about,” he replies. “I just wasn’t sure if you were ready, if you’d even want that with me.”

“Cas…”

“I’ll try to be better about communicating.” He says it mockingly but I know he means it.

“You’re an ass.”

Cassian grins.

“So… I ask you to be my girlfriend, you’ll make babies with me?” he asks and I laugh.

“Eventually,” I answer haughtily. “I mean, is it too soon for us to even think about that? Is that something you want?”

“With you? Yeah.”

I don’t think it’s possible for my heart to feel fuller than it does right now.

“Good. I want that with you, too.”

His smile is like nothing else I’ve seen before. He’s fucking beautiful.

“Why are you looking at me like you’re about to break out your sketchbook?” he asks.

“Because I just might. But we should eat first- it might take a while and I want to get it right.”

“No, wait,” he says and I raise a brow as he keeps me from walking away. “Bunny, will you be my girlfriend?”

I smile, bringing my hands to his chest.

“Really?” I whisper and he nods. I get on my tip toes and kiss him. “Absolutely yes.”

Cassian hugs me tight and we laugh as Valo comes running and bumps into us.

“Hey, Val. I love you, boy, but mommy and I have something important to talk about.”

Cas hauls me over his shoulder before I can react and Valo starts to bark. He carries me to the bedroom and kicks the door shut.

We forget about the pizza.

#crack ship holidays #halloween #cassian x feyre #part four of four #self indulgence #yall aint ask for this #cassian is a dork #he is to be protected at all costs #so is their dog #and niece #and I just really love this world I made up ok #Feyre Archeron #cassian

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fallen029 · 6 years

Text

All Fall Down

"Laxus, it's so early," Lisanna whined as she opened the front door of the Strauss house to reveal the man. "What are you doing here?"

He was standing there, himself and his workout attire drenched in sweat, headphones just as prominent as his scowl.

"Why'd you come answer the door if all you were gonna do is whine about it?" he retorted without answering her question, shoving his way into the house. "Huh?"

"Because the others are upstairs."

"Up- You have a one story house, Lisanna."

"In the attic," she continued to whimper, rubbing at her sleepy eyes as she shut the door behind the slayer. "We have one of those, you know."

He didn't, but he could have assumed.

"Where," he asked as she glared at him for still speaking and therefore not allowing her to slunk on back to bed, "is it?"

Lisanna led him to her own bedroom, which Laxus had only, at most, ever caught glimpses into before, and over to the woman's closet. Sticking his head in there, Laxus found a panel in the ceiling had been pushed aside and a little ladder was resting on the lip of the opening. From inside of it he could hear the sound of Mirajane's sing-song voice barking out orders to her younger brother.

"Mira!" Lisanna finally yelled from behind Laxus when it became clear he wasn't going to make his presence known. It made the slayer glare at the younger woman, but she didn't care; he could be creepy on his own time. She wanted to go back to sleep. "Laxus is here."

"Ooh, Laxus." It only took a few moments for her head to come poking out of the hole, staring down at him with bright eyes. "Figured it was you."

"Why would you figure that?" came a grunt from Elfman upstairs. "I mean, at all?"

"I came over to shower," the man said simply. Behind him he could hear the creak of Lisanna's old bed as the young woman fell into it with a groan. "Plumbing at my place is all gunked up and he landlord is being an ass about it-"

"Ooh, dragon, don't use such words." And with that, Mira pulled her head back up. "But you can use the shower in my bathroom, if you want. I-"

"He's not going to walk around naked, is he?" the slayer heard Elfman ask from above. "Mira?"

Before she could answer, Laxus grumbled up, "And why would I do that, Elfboy?"

"Why do any of you do anything?" came the muffled complaint of Lisanna as her head pressed deeper into her pillow. "Why do we all have to have this conversation so early in the morning?"

"It's eight a.m., Lisanna," Mira sang down to her. "You should really be out of bed by now anyways."

"Because what clothes do you have here to wear?" Elfman, apparently, was still speaking to Laxus. "When you shower?"

"Ew." Lisanna lifted her head just to make a face over at her sister's boyfriend. "You're so gross, Laxus. What? Are you going to put back on your nasty clothes you have on right now?"

"That does sound pretty icky," Mirajane agreed.

"Are you all just going to ignore the fact I clearly have a backpack over my shoulders?" the slayer complained. "Or-"

"There's towels in the linen closet," was all his girlfriend said before she went back to instructing Elfman which box to move where.

Instead of heading off to go do what he came for, the slayer on stood there for a few moments, listening again. That didn't last for long though before he broke his own silence.

"Mirajane, what are you guys doing up there?"

"Why haven't you gone off and showered yet?" Elfman complained when he heard the sounds of the man climbing up the ladder then. "So you can hurry up and leave?"

Mira speaking didn't give the man a chance to answer as, the second he was halfway up into the attic (where he was promptly headed to kick Elfman's ass), the woman beamed at him while giggling, "Laxus, don't you know what day it is?"

"Uh, it was running day for me," he replied, pushing himself all the way up into the far too hot space to find boxes strewn all around. "So either a Thursday or Sunday."

"It's the first day of October!" Mira even bounced a bit, causing the whole clearly unstable, patched in places, holes in other wooden floor to shake and Elfman make a fearful face over at her. Hands clasped together, she explained, "The spookiest month of the entire year!"

"Why are you yelling?" Laxus grumbled as he made a face while looking around. "I'm literally right in front of you."

The attic seemed to span across the top of multiple rooms. While the ceiling was raised, it wasn't to a traditional height and both Elfman and Laxus were having to hunch over, the former more than the latter, as not to knock their heads on it or the hanging beams that supported the roof.

"I get to decorate the house," she said as Elfman continued to peek into boxes and either set them near the hole in the floor or back into the stacks they came from, "in new décor."

"Décor, huh?" Laxus repeated slowly. "Meaning-"

"Like, you know, festive things," she joyfully explained, only just barely containing a bounce. She too feared any sudden movements. "It's the festive season, after all."

"What?" Laxus asked with a frown. "Fall?"

"No, silly."

"She means stupid," Elfman grumbled which was enough motivation for Laxus to finish his trek up the ladder. Before he could get at the other man though (and no doubt bring the poor, decrepit attic to its knees), Mirajane was babbling agai-

Speaking.

Mira was speaking again.

"The festive season isn't a nature season," Mira went on. "It's a season of the mind."

"If it's not the season of everyone being quiet," Lisanna carped from down below, "then I don't get why we're talking about it."

"While it may not be that season," her older sister replied, "It's certainly the season of getting up before noon."

They'd see about that.

"As I was saying though Laxus," Mira continued as her boyfriend only continued to glare at the woman's brother (Elfman was too busy glaring into a box to notice). "It's a season of the mind."

"But what does that mean, Mirajane?" he grumbled in part from his annoyance of her mystic, in part of his annoyance over her siblings attitudes, and mostly just from the interest he had for some reason in the whole charade. "No more riddles."

"It's the festive season, Laxus," she repeated once more. "Like, you know, all the holidays. You get to decorate special for those. Like, you know, Halloween and The Feast of the King, and Winter Festival, and oh, Val-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," he grumbled. "The season of festivals."

"The festive season."

"Mira-"

"What's it to you anyways, Laxus?" Elfman, for some reason, was still being extremely hostile. Which in and of itself wasn't too shocking, but the way he was furthering the belittling was a bit out there. It wasn't typical for the two men to get along, but at the same time, they rarely butted heads so much in such a short amount of time. "Huh? Why don't you just go shower and leave?"

"I don't know what your problem is, Elfboy, but-"

"I'm gonna find all my October related things in here," Mira was quickly going on about nonsense because, well, it was obviously needed. Though she played naive and coy very well (perhaps too well), she did was neither in most situations. It wasn't lost on her that her brother and boyfriend were about two seconds away from leveling her poor house. No way she was letting that happen. Perhaps a little idle conversation would do the trick? "Plastic pumpkins and scented candles that just make you go, wow, is it just me or do you smell some changing leaves in here?"

"I smell something in here," Lisanna, once more, grumbled from beneath them. "And it's not the slayer that smells like sweat and overcompensation."

Laxus was close to his breaking point. Which is why, in response, he growled out, "Do you think I have to put up with this? Huh? Do you? Do any of you? Because-"

"And I have a very cute witch hat that I wear around the bar," Mira continued on, speaking louder now, as if in an attempt to drown out any of the negativity that was floating about. "Master always goes, 'Oh, Mirajane, that's a snazzy looking hat,' and I go, 'Thank you, Master,' and then he...makes weird passes at me that I have to get onto him for, but-"

"Mira, what the fuck?" Laxus complained. "Why would you-"

"Hey!" There. Now Elfman had a valid excuse to accost the other man. "Don't you curse at my sister! You spiky headed freak!"

"Spik- You know what, Elfboy, I've had it with you! I'm gonna-"

"Now, guys, please," Mira tried, but it was too late. A lot of things were in motion at that moment. Mira was moving to try and stay between them, Elfman, hunched over, was rushing towards Laxus while the slayer, not used to hunching, shot his head up, which hit a beam very hard and, for a few moments, Laxus only saw darkness.

It was stars he saw next, in his eyes, as well as the face of a concerned Lisanna Strauss. He wasn't flat on his back, as he could feel his backpack beneath him, but this wasn't his main focus. Instead, the first thing other than the throbbing pain in his head that he noticed was the sound of Elfman yelling and Mirajane trying to calm him down.

"Wha' hap...wha'..."

"Well," Lisanna said as she continued to stare down at him with eyes that, in certain light, looked bluer than her sister's, "you hit your head and got conked out. I've filed it in a report and plan on giving all this information to Natsu."

"Wha'?"

"Also," she said, jerking a thumb behind her, "Elfman is stuck in the floor."

It was such a nonsensical say that, especially in his current state of disorientation, Laxus had no idea what the woman meant. But, as he sat up to rub a hand to his head, he could see that she actually meant exactly what she said.

Before him was Mirajane, standing on the other side of the attic, freaking out more than anything while Elfman too was there, but rather than standing, he only saw the top half to the man. Torso, head, and arms. Everything else however, just wasn't there.

Because, as Lisanna had said, the man had quite literally fallen through the floor.

It was a lot to wrap your head around.

"This house," the slayer grumbled under his breath, "is a deathtrap."

"That's not true!" Even in her hysterics, Mirajane knew what was truly important; vehemently defending the purchase of a rundown shake when you were seventeen. "It just needs lots of love. And before the two of you started acting up-"

"I'll kill him," came a loud roar from Elfman, which, now that he was stuck in the wood, only made it shake far worse. Both Lisanna and the quite possibly concussed Laxus made eye contact then. It was with no words at all that they both agreed Mirajane was insane, Elfman was annoying, and they had to get out of that attic as soon as possible.

"Stop it, Elf," Mirajane critiqued as she came to at least one of those conclusions. "You're going to bring the whole attic down! Just stay still."

"Come on, Laxus, let's get you downstairs," Lisanna said as, getting to her feet, she held out a hand to help pull the slayer up.

The offer was generous, but laughable.

Laxus shoved to his own unstable feet because he'd lost enough of his manhood what with being knocked out by a piece of wood and all.

Fearful of him taking a tumble down it, Lisanna went down the ladder first. She wasn't quite sure what she would do, should the slayer do so, because he'd surely squash her should she try to catch him, but she liked to imagine herself helpful.

"Where are you two going?" Mira called out to them once they'd both, thankfully, made it safely down the ladder. "We have to figure out how to-"

"We're going to figure that out from a safe distance," Lisanna said as Laxus only headed out fo the house. He'd had enough Strauss shit for the day. Fuck them. You come over for a shower and some loving from your girlfriend only to get a concussion and a bad attitude.

Sheesh, what the heck was wrong with the Strauss siblings?

"Wait for me," Mira was calling though. When Elfman started to protest, she only said, "You just stay still. Don't move. Ooh, Elfman, if you break my attic-"

"It was Laxus' fault! And I'll be a man and build you a new one! I-"

"Just stay still until we can get back to you," his older sister instructed "And I mean it."

Which, given Mira's tone, was a serious command and under very limited circumstances would Elfman ever break it.

Once she was down the ladder though, she started to head out of Lisanna's room and into the hall, but was stopped in a queue that consisted of her younger sister and boyfriend, both standing in the tiny entrance, perfectly still.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a frown. "I thought-"

"Look," Lisanna said as both she and Laxus moved to the side so she too could see the sight to behold that was before them. "When will we ever see something like this again?"

It was Elfman's lower half, of course, just dangling there, above a pile of rubble on the floor, in the center of the living room. The whole thing was downright trippy.

Or maybe Laxus just needed to visit the hospital to have his head looked at.

He had hit it pretty hard, after all.

Mirajane, in all business mode then (she had to save her house, at all costs), sighed before shoving past the two.

"Come on," she ordered as she headed to the front door. Before that though, she called up to the dangling legs, "Elf, we'll just be outside, okay? Don't move."

"Mirajane-"

"It'll be okay." And she paused then, the annoyance and panic that had been stuck in her tone dying out as she spoke in the most honesty she could muster up in that moment to reassure her baby brother of his safety. She'd done it since she was born. In moments of great stress, it was almost second nature. "I promise."

The sun seemed unrelentingly bright outside to Laxus and, while he was digging in his backpack for some sunglasses, Mirajane and Lisanna devised plans.

"I guess, maybe," Mirajane said slowly, "we could get a bunch of butter and try to slip him out. You know, rub it all on his body, one hard push and hope for the best."

"I dunno, Mirajane, seems costly," her younger sister replied. "But I do happen to know where Natsu and Happy are fishing today. Whenever I'm in trouble, I always go to them. So just wait here for a few minutes and-"

"Why don't I save you the trouble," Laxus grumbled as he slipped on his sunglasses, "give you fifty jewels, send you down to the store for some lighter fluid, and we burn the whole damn house to the ground?"

"Um, I'd rather we not," Mirajane remarked as she made a face at her boyfriend. "I kind of thought I'd made that clear, but-"

"Natsu wouldn't do that," Lisanna complained, even sticking her tongue out at the older man. "He would help."

"He's never helped a damn thing in his life."

"He's helped saved the guild many times," Lisanna argued. She could get really heated when defending the honor of a man that couldn't care less over who thought of him as honorable and who didn't. Honestly, burning Mirajane's house down (albeit on accident), wouldn't sound too bad to the Salamander. "And all you've ever done is what? Try to destroy it?"

"You know what, little girl?" Laxus was done. So very, very done. "You-"

"Why don't you," she interrupted then, not wanting another unfortunate situation on her hands. Or to have to break up with Laxus. Because if he did try and harm Lisanna, that's certainly where things would end. Not that he'd ever give her more than a tongue lashing, honestly, but after a head injury, who knew? "Give her the jewels, Laxus, but with it she buys the butter? Or you go do it? Or something? Other than burning my house down, of course."

Mira felt the last part went without saying, but given the events of the last half hour, she wasn't so sure anymore.

Snorting, Laxus turned to walk off. "You two stay here. I'll be back."

"With butter?" Mira asked hopefully.

"Nope," was all he responded.

As the two Strauss women watched in silence as he headed off, Lisanna waited for him to become a dot down the road before saying, "You know, Mirajane, this might not be the best time, but me and Elf wouldn't hate a break up between the two of you."

Still watching after her boyfriend, Mira only responded in her pretend dimwittedness, "Elfman and I aren't dating, silly. That'd be gross."

Lisanna only blinked, considered how much more fun of a boyfriend Laxus had been for her sister than most, before nodding in agreement. "Yeah. It would."

As they turned to go back into the house and keep their brother calm, neither was sure when to expect Laxus back. Or with what. So they went to work slathering poor Elfman with butter and peanut butter (as well as debate if mushing up peanuts in butter would make the latter) that they found in the fridge and were currently in the process of hoping for the best.

Lisanna was actually standing on a chair, so that she could rub sticks of butter around her brother's waist when it happened. The door opened and, instead of there just being Laxus (which, while the predicament could be an embarrassing sight between the two, if he decided to continue his relationship with Mirajane, would probably find it being one of the lesser offenses), he was accompanied by, honestly, the only people in the world that would willingly step foot into what definitely sounded like a condemned house just because Laxus Dreyar told them to.

"Laxus," the youngest Strauss sibling complained, "why is he here?"

"Ah, no. You didn't tell me she'd be here," Bickslow bellowed much to the amusement of his wooden dolls. They floated gracefully around his head, cackling by their beloved papa's exclamation.

"Well, I presume she lives here, Bickslow," Freed, who was coming in behind them, remarked with a frown. "Not to mention her brother is, trapped in a rickety old floor, so even if she didn't I'd imagein she'd come to-"

"Elfman!" And Evergreen was shoving pass everyone to come stand by his side. Err, well, his dangling side. "Are you alright?"

"What?" they heard from above them as the man hear the woman's voice. "Ever?"

And he kicked his legs a bit before, loudly, they heard Mirajane exclaim, "Elfman, cut it out! You'll make the whole attic fall down."

And Freed and Bickslow both turned to head right on back out of the house.

"Stop." Laxus went to shut the door, trapping them all in the death house. "We can't just leave him like this and you both know that."

"Well, you can't, boss, because you're fucking ol' Mirajane up there," the seith replied as he and his wooden dolls tried to get by the slayer. "But me-"

"Oh, Bickslow, just tell them all then, why don't you?" Lisanna hissed as she jumped off the chair. Looking around at the other four in the room (she wasn't including Elfman's legs), "Bickslow and I slept together. There. Happy?"

"No more than I was before Laxus barricaded the door," Freed remarked dryly. "But-"

"I wasn't going to tell them!" Bickslow glared over at the young woman then. "Lisanna. Do you have wax in your ears? I was avoiding the topic all together!"

"You mentioned-"

"That only Laxus was the only one out of him, me, and Freed sleeping with someone in this house. How was that unclear?"

"Unclear," his dolls either questioned or deemed, depending on who you asked. "Unclear."

"I don't..." Lisanna had just done a 180 from being beyond peeved to utterly mortified. "Um..."

"What did Lisanna say?" they heard the muffled Elfman asked. "Mira?" And his feet began to kick. "When I get out of here, I'm going to kill Bickslow too!"

"Too?" Laxus, whether from his concussed state or just purely on his own volition, about went up there to stomp on the defenseless man's head. It's what old Laxus would do. Assuming, for some reason, old Laxus wouldn't have bailed by now if not be in in the Strauss house to begin with. "Listen here, you little-"

"Would all be quiet and calm down?" came the sound of Mirajane from above. It was only once she got silence that she said, "Now, who wants to help slather Elfman was some syrup too? It should be in the kitchen."

"Surely," Freed complained as Evergreen hastily took off to find it, "there is a better way to go about this. And a less messy one."

"If you got a suggestion, Freed, I'm more than willing to listen," Mira said truthfully, but, as soon as the man opened his mouth, someone else began to talk over him.

"And why don't I get to be the one mad? Huh?" Bickslow was dire his question officially to Lisanna, but also to the world at large. Because when he saw injustice, he had to act! You know, if the injustice was being doing to him rather than being perpetrated by. "Because I'm the man? And I'm supposed to just be glad of every single conquest I have? Is that it? Do you know how much it sucks having slept with Lisanna for me? Do you? Ruined my whole life. Can't even go into the guildhall without seeing her there. But does anyone ask how I feel about it?"

"Until this moment, none of us knew it happened," Freed reminded to which Laxus shrugged a bit.

Even had he, there was a good chance he still wouldn't have asked.

"I'll strangle him," came the declaration from Elfman and, once more, the house fell into chaos. Err, well, the people in it did, while the house only struggled to maintain its structure.

"Elfman, stop it," Mirajane complained. "And Freed-"

"Coming," he said, heading off to find however it was that you got up to the attic. "Eventually."

"Feel bad about it, Bickslow," Lisanna responded with a glare. "I don't care. You're a jerk and I hate you and-"

"And you're nothing but an annoying stupid little girl-"

"Can't use that insult," Laxus coughed as Evergreen returned with a bottle of some sticky syrup. "After you've….uh..."

"Deflowered her?" Bickslow offered up all on his own and man, Laxus wasn't sure if it was from his head injury or what, but he felt like he was swimming in gelatin.

"Bickslow!" Lisanna yelled as, that time, Elfman almost kicked the syrup out of Ever's hands, which got his named up at him s well.

"Don't you talk to me either," the stuck man retorted, now thoroughly pissed off once more. "After what you did. Breaking up with me! I'm a man! You can't break up with a man!"

"Wait, what?" Bickslow was able to fall out of his own drama for the moment if it meant being able to take a prod at Evergreen. "You broke up with him and still showed up here to rescue him? Gosh, you're pathetic."

Glaring over at the man, Evergreen replied, "You came to Lisanna's and you two are...whatever you two are."

"Not together," the youngest Strauss said loudly.

"Regrettably once together," the seith retorted.

"Can someone point me in the direction of the attic?" a very lost rune mage begged.

As Laxus went to show him and Elfman continued to hang there, Evergreen huffed a bit, glaring down at the syrup in her hands.

"You know why I broke up with you, Elfman," was what she finally said. "And we do not need to relive it in front of these….degenerates."

"Usually when people take a long pause before their next words, it's because they're trying to find kinder words," Lisanna complained. "Unless, you know, they're you, apparently."

"Watch it, girlie," Ever threatened.

"No, you watch it," Elfman said from above them. "Evergreen. Why don't you just get out, huh? I don't need you to worry about me. Nope. Since you apparently care so much more about what Laxus thinks of our relationship as oppose to what the two of us think it is-"

"Elfman," Ever started, but was cut off as Laxus came back down the hall after, apparently, sending Freed up into the attic with Mirajane.

"What are you talking about?" the slayer asked with a frown. "I could give two shits what the two of you do together."

"That's not what you said," Elfman kept up from above. "And you know it."

"I don't know what the hell you're taking about, Elfboy," Laxus carped, "but I know that you had better watch your tone."

"No!" He wouldn't. He refused. "I'm already stuck in the damn ceiling because of you-"

"Well, that one's more on you, I'd think," Mira offered from in the attic with him. "I did tell you to knock it off-"

"Wait, boss, how come you told Evergreen to break up with Elfman?" Bickslow asked, looking to Laxus for answers. "I mean, I tease her endlessly for it, but if she's happy, I'd never do that."

"Perhaps," the others heard from above as Freed spoke more to Mira than them, "we could find a hand saw and saw him out of there."

"Do you think he'd survive the blood loss though?" Mirajane asked softly in a concerned tone.

"Wha- We're not cutting him in half, Mira," Freed complained. "Just cutting around him."

There was actually a good chance that Mirajane hadn't just been feigning ignorance after all.

"Oh, well that makes a lot more sense, Freed," the barmaid giggled into her hand and he only stood there for a second, unsure of what to make of the whole thing. "I was a bit worried there for a moment."

It was easy to get lost in the absurdity of Mirajane Strauss and her two siblings, but he felt it then, in that moment. Two things, actually. First that, maybe, there was something deeper to them than just the blissfully ignorant surface. Two, deep in his gut, he had a sinking realization that, what with Laxus' quickly becoming obsessive nature towards being drawn into their drama, Freed himself might have a more upfront view of this hokum than he'd like.

Thouhg his stare was still quite quizzical, the rune mage pressed on as he said, "Yes, well, should we get to it then? Do you have a saw or blade of some kind that might-"

"Do I not get a say in this?" Elfman complained.

"Would you rather you keep getting slathered honey?" Freed questioned. "Or-"

"Honey!" From below, Lisanna forgot her own discontent for a moment and considered her bother's. "We have honey, Mirajane. Do you think we should go ahead and-"

"Well, if we're sawing him in half," Mira began as Feed pressed a palm to his forehead, wondering how, just how it was possible that this woman ran anything down at the bar much less kept herself from forgetting how to breathe, "I don't think-"

"You're what?" Elfman exclaimed as he too, apparently, forgot that this in noway was the plan and in no way could possibly ever be any plan ever, at all, except in some gorey snuff lacrima movie that got passed around in the darker circles and even then, honestly, in what world?

Still, his concern over this caused him to kick and that time he just narrowly missed smashing his foot against Evergreen's face. Her evasive maneuvers to avoid this, however, resulted in her holding the container of the syrup she'd fetched from the kitchen just so that it was knocked by Elfman's big toe. This was enough force to send it flying, where it hit Bickslow in the face causing him to exclaim and, inevitably, his ill trained dolls into firing off green beams at seemingly random intervals. One struck Lisanna, perhaps by pure chance, but more likely not, making her scream and Elfman kick some more and it was just going to happen.

Despite all of Mirajane's patch jobs over the past few years, if not the past decade (and then some, adding in the seven years), the house was just always meant to wind up a big heap of splintery wood and staph infected metals.

There was no time for any of them to get out, but it's not likely any would as, over the sound of the commotion the others were all causing, the loud rumble could be heard and though there was no definite cracking, the overall sense of impending doom hit them all at once and they clung to the things they held dear.

Bickslow, though blind as the sticky syrup that had been strewn upon him covered his visor flailed in vain to grasp all his wooden children and shield them to his chest. The two women downstairs, Evergreen and Lisanna, both lunged for Elfman's legs for some reason or another which would, at best, have softened his blow to the ground and done little for them, but Laxus, in the absence of Mirajane, went for the first white haired thing he saw and more or less dove over Lisanna, huddling over her, hoping to the take the brunt of whatever was about to befall them on his back. Above them, Elfman reached out for his oldest, dearest sister and, for a moment, it seemed as if Mira was reaching for him too.

But no.

She was reaching past him.

For her boxes upon boxes of festive décor and family memories that she kept stored away in that tiny attic that spanned many rooms of the house which was soon to be nothing more than a vacant lot.

Freed, however, had little he cared for in that attic as far as other people went, but he did have what he held high and that was his intentions of always being a gentleman. This idea was started that day when Satan Soul bested him in what should have been the most embarrassing, humbling loss he ever had the dishonor of being a part of, but rather was one that he held rather close to him in times of indecision. It had been a turning point in his life as a very young, hardly even adult. And it was at the hands of none other than Mirajane Strauss of all people that this was imprinted in his memory, an ever faithful reminder that even when it was hard, even when he didn't want to, he should always take care of not just his team and his elusive leader, but also his guild mates.

His friends.

Which is why he tried to shield Mirajane, like Laxus was her younger sister down below, but somehow missed her (certain in part because Mira was throwing herself, no abandon, towards a pile of dusty boxes for some reason that Freed didn't even wish to figure out) and ended up tripping over Ellffman's big oaf of hands and face-planting just as the building gave one last great heave and the whole thing crashed down around (and on top of) them.

It was very fitting, quite honestly. The whole thing, Freed felt. He was certain that there was wisdom in Mira's most prized possession ending up a pile of nails and wood. For Laxus, settling for the next best thing that he can get. Evergreen grasping onto the wrong half of things. Bickslow blinded in betray by his sallet. Elfman finding the one thing he coveted above all, his older sister's true affection, just out of reach. Lisanna once more sectioned off from her siblings, perhaps by some of her own doing, perhaps by some of their own, but definitely as an ultimate sign from the universe that, eventually enough had to be enough.

But no, Freed didn't find solace in the fact that they were certainly all being taught lessons in that very moment, but rather sulking on the fact he'd been once more shown the truth.

No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you put into it, being the better person will always fuck you over in the end. Always.

It won't always end up with the remnants of a roof leveled atop you, but the reminder will always, without a doubt, be upon you in some way or another.

The thing that snapped Laxus back into reality from where he was buried below the rubble was the loud moans of what definitely sounded like Elfman which, for someone, was probably a good sign, but in that moment, he was probably the last one on his list of concerns. Beneath him he could feel Lisanna's frail frame and, though it wasn't much, he could definitely feel her chest heaving up and down, which meant she was alive. Still, not his main concern, but definitely higher than her brother.

"Freed?" he called loudly after clearing his throat which felt full of dust and other pesky things that were associated with such old homes coming down to their base. "Bickslow? Ever?"

It was far too silent for far too long for him before, with a feint snicker that only his dragon hearing assisted him in hearing, Laxus heard Bickslow call out, "Hear that, Evergreen? He said my name before yours."

"Clearly," came the weary voice from somewhere in the rubble," he was saying the names in the order of least important to the most."

And then, which was a huge weight off his chest, Laxus heard from off, a bit further than the others, "In your dreams. Both of you."

"Either way you cut it though," Bickslow insisted after Freed's statement, "I'm second."

Which wasn't much to brag about, sure, but at the end of the day, it was still something.

Again, silence befell them. From beneath him, Laxus could feel Lisanna shifting around and though he felt cloudy, the feeling made Laxus feel as if he were forgetting something. But what could it be? The Thunder Legion and the Strauss siblings were all...the Strauss…

"Mira!" And he was shoving up then, as best he could, but it was difficult. "Mirajane!"

Elfman's moans had stopped and it wasn't ten seconds later that he too found the strength to call out for the woman. "Big sis," he called out in a quite raggedy voice. "Are ya there?"

There were other sounds then as, given the time of day, many people were just leaving their houses for the morning and the rather sleepy neighborhood had more than a few people that were not only curious enough to stare at the now felled house, but also begin pulling away rubble.

Laxus felt helpless, honestly, as he had to wait for someone to help him out off his current predicament. He felt like, should he go into Dragon Force, he could surely free himself, but it wasn't as simple for him to just turn that on and off. And the head wound that he was no doubt sporting twice by that point was of little assistance as well.

The second he was able to wiggle his way out, he was. One of the neighbors was offering him some sort of container, no doubt containing water, but he downed it in hopes it were some sort of whiskey. It was not. And, though it was suggested by the others that he take a seat, he couldn't. He wouldn't.

Freed was the next pulled out and Laxus somewhat assisted in that, but Lisanna, who wasn't far behind, he had no help in as he was now concerned more with the general vicinity in which he thought that Mia might be in. And it was only when he heard her softly call from beneath something that, yes, she was there, she was safe, that everything caught up to Laxus and he finally just went to sit it out for a bit, for once.

He refused to go to the hospital until Mirajane was dug out, but did watch the others head on out. He told Lisanna to go, hardly had to convince Bickslow, but Ever and Freed were a bit more difficult. The former waited until Elfman, who was by far in the worst shape and definitely going to be sporting more than his far share of broken bones for a bit, was helped away from the rubble, but the latter sat by with Laxus, just watching.

Waiting.

It was Mirajane herself, in the end, that managed to claw her way out of things by transforming one fist into a powerful beasts, perhaps one of the dark souls she harbored inside her neither Laxus nor Freed were too sure, but certainly something that packed enough force to help her clamber from beneath the felled building broken and bruised, but more mentally than anything else.

"It's all gone," was all she kept whispering the rest of the day. "Everything's all gone."

And while it might have sounded a bit callus for her reflections to be more focused on the material, neither her siblings nor Laxus and his cohorts could truly fault her. Because they were more than that to Mirajane. A lot more. The whole house, really.

"We grew up in, like, this terrible little shack," Lisanna had recalled less than two months previously to Bickslow on the night when Mira and Laxus were out enjoying themselves, Evergreen and Elfman were out being miserable together, and Freed was faithfully studying his magic and the pair of leftovers that were the youngest Strauss and the (self-deemed) outcast of the Thunder God Tribe sat around drinking themselves into utter bliss, both pissed at the sheer fact their friends were having a good time and they weren't. "Like the worst. Mira always talks about how great it was, us and Papa and Elf and Mama, but..."

"I get that," Bickslow had agreed as they huddled together at the guildhall, which was closing down and only Kinana remained, cleaning up, and Cana, who'd been the one to con the two of them into drinking with her only to finally reach that ever furthering blackout period she pretended she was unable to achieve any longer. "Not so easy for anyone, growing up and all."

"Yeah, but it was horrible," Lisanna had insisted. "Like, one room, all three of us, no room, really, in another sense, but-"

"But you guys loved each other through it," Bickslow finished along with pretend barfing affects.

"No," Lisanna said with a roll of her eyes. "But we lived through it because that's what you do. Always live. You know. Until you know, Mirajane, you know, she, um...she..." Lisanna lost her train of thought that faithful night, a bit, but she found it again as she said, "Look at all Mirajane's done."

"The boss, for one," the seith responded in kind, making a face at the suggestion.

"A lot," her sister kept up. "More than you." Before Bickslow could complain though, she added, "More than me. More than all of us. She's done so much for Elf and I. Even just providing us a place to stay. And how do we repay her?"

"How do you repay her?"

"By gettin' like this," Lisanna sobbed miserably then because hse usually didn't drink and no way did she ever want to again. And Natsu and Happy would be back from their job with Lucy and Gray in a few days, surely, and she wouldn't have to spend her free time with the likes of Bickslow.

"By getin' like this," Bickslow agreed though he was typically like this on nights when he was alone. Being messed up on just alcohol was actually an improvement from the other things he did to take the edge off at times. A big improvement.

But he'd agree with Lisanna if she liked it.

And she did like it.

Then.

She wouldn't like it so much in the daylight, but she'd liked it then when she felt so down about being so down, in the first place, just because her siblings were in great places in their lives and she wasn't. She was still a tag along who didn't apply herself, come on, Lisanna, even Natsu at least somewhat does that, but what's your excuse?

She did do one thing Natsu had yet to do that night, however, but she didn't quite thing that was what Mira had in mind when she was giving one of her more spirited pep talks about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and taking charge of your life.

It was something that she'd end up regretting at the time, but hey, you don't hit it out of the park on your first misadventure into being an adult.

A soft line drive was by far more common and most widely accepted.

But she meant what she'd said in that bar to Bickslow. Well, most of it anyways. About Mirajane. Once she was finished railing against her establishment, that is. The stuff she said about the house though. She might not have phrased it as she'd liked but, as with most things said that night, she'd thought it for a long time and was glad to get it out to someone.

It was such a gesture that went beyond words. Such an accomplishment. That, after living for years, watching their parents hardly make the ends meet that Mirajane had been able to provide to her two younger siblings in ways that she couldn't even imagine back when she was one of the kids being desperately attempted to be provided for. She'd grown from a scared little girl into a grown woman that took care of her responsibilities and then some.

Now, in that moment, as they all sat around in different stages of the hospital, it wasn't lost on any of them that it was gone, as Mira had said.

All of it.

Everything she'd worked towards.

Just gone.

"Oh, cheer up, girl," Makarov said in a way that perhaps only he could get away with. Standing at the side of Mira's cot, he patted her hand as she blinked up at him with the same dead look in her eye that she'd had since she'd watched her life's dream come crashing down. "You're a member of Fairy Tail. You should know as well as I that you're not truly home somewhere before you watch it turn to a pile of rubbish beneath your feet."

As Mira, in her somewhat incapacitated for the time being mind, considered this, Laxus only stewed across the room, annoyed that his dang Gramps had gone to check up on the barmaid before his one and only grandson.

What's the point of being an heir to a throne if, after a near death experience, the person currently warming your place don't even seem concerned for ya?

Lisanna was the first of the Strauss siblings released the next day and, though she wasn't quite sure where to head from the hospital, she found herself going home for some reason, or to what was left of it. To just see, she decided as she neared the block.

To just see.

But as she round the corner this was made far less morose an occasion as it typically would be as she found not just a pile of what used to be a home she'd spent memories in lying destroyed on the ground, but rather a good number of her guild mates gathered about, seemingly busy digging through the destruction as well as making piles of things.

A single pair stood out to her before the others, of course.

"Natsu!" she called and waved as she rushed over. "Happy!"

The latter had actually been fluttering with his pearly white wings, struggling along with Lucy to lift and move a heavy beam, but at the sound of Lisanna's voice, he forgot all about that and turned to rush off, just narrowly missing harming the celestial wizard.

"Lisanna!" he cried as he reached her first, crashing into her chest as if in a semblance of a hug. "You're here! We were so worried!"

"You were?" she asked as Natsu, after saving poor Lucy from being crushed by the wooden beam, rushed over as well.

"Worried?" the pink haired mage called out as he came closer. "What's there to worry about, Hap? Of course Lisanna's was okay. What would she be if she wasn't?"

Dead.

Gone.

Away from them.

But none of the three liked to think of those times often.

"You gotta be, like, the strongest of all of them now, huh?" the feline asked next. "Getting out earlier than everyone else. Boy. What's it feel like to be the strongest mage in all of Fairy Tail? Being stronger than Laxus and Mirajane and all?"

"I dunno," Lisanna muttered softly, a bit taken aback that this was the first question out of his mouth. "But- Erza."

"Oh, yeah, Erza. She's pretty high up there too," the cat went on, not realize what she was truly saying. "I bet she could survive ten houses collapsing down on her. No offense or anything."

"She seems really in control of things," was what Lisanna had actually been referring too as she observed the red haired woman from afar, watching as she carried around a clipboard and barked orders, all from her work space supervisor outfit that she saved for just such occasions.

"Isn't she always?" Natsu griped, I only a little, wincing at the sight of the tongue lashing Gajeel was receiving from the swordswoman at the moment for spending more time looking for nails to eat than actually doing much manual labor.

"You should be enjoying this," she complained loud enough for everyone to hear. "The manual labor alone, if not the sense of deep rooted comradery coursing through your veins as you consider what a shock, what a surprise it will be to Mirajane and her brother and sister to know that we're going to fix up their lot for them."

"Brother and sister of Mirajane aren't their names, you know," Levy reminded softly from not far away where Jet and Droy seemed more intent on keeping her from getting any splinters than actually helping.

"Yeah," Pantherlily remarked snidely to the letter mage, "but she can't brag about helping out the two of them. Mira on the other hand-"

"I've been workin' since yesterday!" Gajeel was griping right back to Erza because, having not grownup in the guild, he didn't always have that inherent sense to just do as she said and, when unable to, silently ignore it to the best of your abilities. "Hardly any breaks. You mean I can't enjoy a random nail now and again to keep me going? You're a slave driver, asking me to help out under these conditions!"

Lisanna, across the lot, looked to Natsu as she asked, "Is that true?"

Snorting, he said, "Hardly. Only reason Gajeel came was to get nails, probably, I'd bet."

"No, I meant the other thing he said." Lisanna glance over at them again, watching as Erza turned her attention over to where Macao and Wakaba seemed to be spending more time puffing away at their pipes than doing any real labor. "About you guys being here since yesterday. Doing all this."

"Of course." And Natsu bounced a bit at the thought. "How could we not? The second we heard you guys were in trouble, we all rushed right over. We'dda gone to see you in the hospital, but-"

"Mean ol' Erza wouldn't let us," Happy tattled as he finally left Lisanna's. "Said that we had to stay here and help. Instead of come see you and Mira. Can you believe that? I mean, obviously they needed us here-"

"Obviously," Lisanna agreed as Lucy, who was walking over then to greet the other woman snorted.

"To what, Happy?" the blonde asked with a frown. "Drop wooden beams on me?"

"I didn't drop it on you," he carped right back. "I just dropped my half that was helping support your half. Besides, you know Natsu wouldn't let it crush you."

As Lisanna stood there, eventually to be greeted by all those around, she felt felt...comforted, again, in a way that she hadn't in a long time. Almost like she did that first time Master gave her and her siblings a warm bowl of soup after being on their own, running, for so long. Or the first time she laid eyes on them again, Elfman and Mirajane, her Elfman and Mirajane, after far too long.

That, hey, it's going to be okay kinda feeling from when you're a kid and, even though you do live in that tiny one room shack that shook and rumbled when there was thunder and lightning about, your father and mother weren't far to calm your fears. She was finding it further and in between, the more grown she got, but when it hit you, it truly hit you.

And, looking upon what only a few days ago was her happy home with her siblings, Lisanna felt that feeling surround her.

Though she was quite emotional over it, Mirajane, however, felt the most profound affect when Makarov came, once more, to visit her in the hospital.

"We'll help in whatever way we can, of course, the guild will," the old man said as she stood by her bedside, glad honestly just to see a much less haunting face being sported by one of his favorite of his surrogate children, "but most certainly with manpower. Wont' be much of it with your brother sidelined, but-"

"Master," Mirajane whispered softly and, yet, was able to cut him off with that one whimper, "I don't-"

"Hush." He bowed his head in response to her words, turning away. "Rest now, then, Mira. The bar's never much the same without you."

And he headed, finally, over to where Laxus was stewing in his cot, no longer just glaring out at all the other cots with all the other patients, but in particularly his girlfriend's because, once more, she was stealing away his grandfather's primary attention.

It wasn't jealousy.

That's what Laxus kept having to remind himself.

It was something, he'd admit that much, but he refused to call it jealousy.

"Hue, boy," was all the man said as he passed, however. "See the way your sweetheart was looking at me? I'd watch out, there, Laxus. Perhaps Mira's head injury will make her realize just which Dreyar she should be going after, hmmm?"

If he were in better spirits, Laxus wouldda replied something snarky back.

But instead he continued to stew and stew some more until slowly, Bickslow and then Ever and Mirajane and eventually even Freed were discharged and only Elfman remained as the person he knew in the ward.

The worst part was when he was moved to the cot beside the oaf, probably.

Or no, it was definitely ever falling for a Strauss in the first place and being forced to put up with such a situation.

Yeah, definitely.

It was somewhere between cabin fever and the pain pill they'd given him that Laxus found himself actually having a chat with Elfman.

And even then, it was as painstaking as it sounded.

It started with Laxus simply going, "I'm...real sorry that this all happened to your house and all, Elfboy."

And Elfman, who wasn't too big on Laxus dating his sister from the start, if not being big on the slayer's whole aura to begin with, had only felt that feelings intensify a few days prior to the house collapse when Evergreen gave him the whole speech about how they weren't meant to be together.

They went through this at least every two months or so in their relationship, but that time was different.

Because it wasn't his presence she was using as a basis for the rejection, but rather the opinions of another. Sure, it was the thoughts of others opinions that typically caused their relationship to go awry, but now she had concrete evidence that others found their union to be as odd and revolting as she always feared.

Laxus had informed her of just how weird he thought Elfman was and how below her standards the man seemed to be. That's what Evergreen said. That they just couldn't last together, in any capacity if the man was against them. Laxus was the most important opinion in the world to her.

It was all that mattered.

You know what hurt the most though? More so, even, then just feeling badly because, you know, he'd gotten broken up with?

The fact that, if he really wanted to, Elfman could have pulled the same rug ou from underneath Laxus' feet. Of course he could have. If he told Mirajane that he honestly just could not stand her dating Laxus, she would have, regrettably, let the relationship go. He could probably still do it, at the current stage.

But he didn't. Even after Evergreen broke up with him and he knew that it was the other guy's fault, he didn't. Didn't tell her that he wanted her relationship terminated just like his was. Because Elfman cared so much about his sister's happiness, there was no way he could ever do that. Even after Evergreen broke up with him.

So even though it was Laxus who thought he was being the bigger person and having to put up with so much by speaking to the other guy, Elfman knew that, as always, he was without a doubt the biggest man in the room.

"Well," Elfman grumbled out after Laxus' apology for the house, "I guess it wasn't all your fault."

It wasn't any of his fault, Laxus wanted to inform him, but somehow manged to hold his tongue.

"I shouldn't have knocked you out, either," Elfman added. "Wasn't too manly, you know, picking on you and all."

"You didn't knock me out, you ogre," Laxus griped, unable to control himself then. "The wooden beam did that."

"Well, agree to disagree."

"No."

And they both glared over at one another for a moment before, looking off, Elfman took to crossing his arms over his chest as he said, "Agree to disagree on agreeing to disagreeing then. It's what a man would do."

"I'm not a man, Elfboy," Laxus replied with an accompanied glare. "I'm far more than just a mere man."

They probably would have continued to debate this (because Elfman definitely had a few thoughts on there somehow being something better than the term man) had they not gotten a visitor at that moment. Unfortunately for them both, it was the one woman neither wanted to see.

"Oh good," Ever remarked rather dryly as she took in the fact that neither would ook at her. "You're both next to one another."

"Not," Elfman grumbled, "by choice."

And Laxus wouldda shit a gasket if he were a damn robot because where the fuck did Elfman damn Strauss get off anyways, huh? Acting like he was being punished by being allowed to breathe the same air as Laxus the super mighty all power Raijin Dreyar?

He was in such shock that it was hard for him to do much more than keep his mouth from hanging agape.

"Well, anyways," Ever began, but didn't finish as, apparently, she too was thrown off.

"Well, anyways," Elfman agreed as Laxus figured he also was thrown off by the audacious words that had fallen out of his whore mouth.

Honestly, who the hell did Elfman Strauss think he was? Acting put out by Laxus.

The nerve.

"I thought that I should come and talk to you. Both of you," Evergreen was going on as she, apparently, was bale to recover. Laxus was sure it was hard as he himself still had been unable to. "I wasn't planning for it to be at the same time, but-"

"Get to it then," Elfman demanded and, wow, Laxus would be impressed if he weren't still not understanding how having to be around him was in any way shape or form a punishment for the big oaf, waste of space, piece of horseshit looking man.

Evergreen was taken aback and, apparently abandoning her original plans, she only said, "You know what, Elfman Strauss?"

"What?"

"I came here in peace, but you're not mature enough to-"

"Oh, is that what you came in?"

"Yes! I came to tell Laxus that he didn't control me and he could be as disappointed as he wanted, but now? Now you can suck an egg, Elfman."

"Good! Because maybe Laxus was right!" And he had both legs in casts and a sling on his arm a swell as some gauze wrapped around his head, but damn, Elfman Strauss looked ready to strangle someone then. "We shouldn't be together. At all."

"I'm glad we agree."

"So do-"

"Wait, what?" Laxus frowned over at the two of them once more. "Are the two of you still on that? I tried to tell you guys when we were in the house that I have no idea what you're talking about-"

'Oh, whatever, Laxus," Elfman complained. "At least be a man about it and admit it."

"There's nothing to admit to," the slayer said. "At all. You think I could give a shit who Ever was fucking?"

"Because you're a vindictive person who doesn't like to see others happy," Elfman said with a definite nod.

"You told me," Evergreen decided to explain instead. "Laxus."

"Told you that I hate to see others happy?"

Considering that then, Laxus almost nodded. Yeah, that probably did fall out of his mouth on occasion. It was true. Happiness was an annoying emotion unless he was the one experiencing it. Perhaps it stemmed from being left out so much as a child, before the guild was filled to the brim with them. When Fairy Tail was filled with drunk old men and the other kids in the neighborhood knew his father was a no good and his mother had left him and they'd tease him so much and he was left to play with his damn Gramps instead. He hated seeing those kids happy without him and it had carried over.

Or, maybe, he was just an embittered cynic because he was born an embittered cynic.

One or the other. Or neither.

Who knew, relaly?

"No," Evergreen said slowly. "You said that you hated Elfman and me together and that it disgusted you and that you wished I'd just break up with him and-"

"When did I say this?" he asked with a frown.

"I overheard you when you were talking with Freed at the guildhall and-"

"And what?" Huffing then, Laxus said, "I tell Freed lots of things. Deep, inner personal things. What? You expect me to carry them around? No. I tell them to him and then forget about them. And I wouldn't have had that conversation at the guildhall. I would have had it somewhere more pr- Are you spying on me again, Evergreen?"

And she looked way then, off at something else before saying, "Well, anyhow-"

"Evergreen-"

"Then you broke up with me over something that Laxus didn't even say to you?" Elfman asked with a frown. "Wow. Wow. What a man you are, Ever."

"If you're looking for a man, Elfman," Evergreen complained with a frown, "perhaps it's a good thing that we broke up."

"Perhaps it is!"

And she left in a huff and Laxus wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure that whole blow up meant that the pair were back together, probably, or maybe not yet, but soon, probably.

"Women aren't men," Elfman grumbled that day in the hospital though, to Laxus. "At all."

The slayer only sat there though, considering this, before shrugging and saying, "I for one am thankful."

"Speak," the other man grumbled angrily, "for yourself."

Oh, he certainly was.

When Laxus was discharged from the hospital, both Freed, Lisanna, and Mirajane showed up to help him to his place.

"Do you think that your pipes are all fixed up?" Mira asked in concern. "Or do you think you should go ahead and stay at the dormitory? That's where I've been staying."

"My what?"

"Your pipes, Laxus," the barmaid insisted as he got up from the cot, prepping to hopefully leave the godforsaken hospital forever. "Remember? You said that you had to come over that day because your pipes were blocked up or something."

"Mira," the slayer griped in what sounded like disappointment. "I didn't say that because they really were. I just wanted to come over and needed an excuse."

"What?"

Shrugging, he said, "I didn't think you'd be, you know, cleaning out your attic or… I came over to see...uh..."

He hated it. Being that way in front of others. Especially Freed and freaking Elfman.

"Us?" Lisanna offered up just to be a bitch, probably.

She was very good at that.

And they were all looking at him so Laxus only nodded a bit.

"You did? Really?" Elfman, for some reason, was a big idiot. "All of us?"

"Yep." He was dead inside as he said it, but it did get something that might be construed as a giggle out of Mirajane even in her depressive state, which definitely made it worth it. "I did."

Freed made a face, glancing between the three of them, before saying, "Yes, well, now that we know his pipes are all well, should we head out, Laxus?"

"As soon as possible, yeah," he grumbled. "And Mirajane, why are you and Lisanna staying at the dormitory anyways?"

Uh, beside the fact that their house was in shambles? Because there was tons of free sympathy lying around for Mira to soak up in her time of need.

"W-Well, Master offered me a place to stay with him, but-"

Laxus almost choked on air. "He did what?"

Freed only let out a long sigh. "The situations change, but the outcomes rarely do."

"And I didn't say that Lisanna was staying at the dormitory," Mira said then, slowly, as she thought. "She's very happy where she is, staying with Lucy-"

"Fine, you beat it out of me," Lisanna interjected about then. She had been leaning over, hugging Elfman goodbye, but stood straight then to address the others. "I'm staying with Bickslow, if you all must know."

"You're what?" Elfman asked as Mirajane only made a face.

"That was real? Back at the house?" she asked with a frown. "I thought I imagined that portion of things."

"I wish I was imagining this moment," Laxus grumbled. "And Lisanna, where are you staying with Bickslow? He's usually crashing on my couch."

"About that," the youngest Strauss said. "Bickslow and I have been staying at your apartment."

"You what?"

"I mean, now that you're back, you can definitely have the bed back-"

"Mira, book me at the dormitory," Laxus instructed with a grimace. "Because if I go home, I might just commit a murder."

There was no murder to be had, however, when Laxus found himself back at his apartment. There was, however, a period in which he sat on his couch, arms crossed over his chest and Mirajane at his side, on the edge of her seat, while the pair listened to Lisanna and Bickslow explain how they'd seemingly gone from regretting each other to, apparently, shaking up in Laxus' apartment.

"I was upset and lonely, you know," Lisanna said, "that first time we hooked up."

"And I was just me," Bickslow stated proudly, as if that were anything to be proud about.

"And then after the house fell, I got sad and lonely again."

"I was still just me."

"And I did stay with Lucy, at first," Lisanna went on. "Her apartment's nice."

"We ran into one another though, up at the guildhall, after I got released," Bickslow took over. "And I could tell Lisanna was feeling down and low and I made her so happy the first time, how could I not again?"

"But instead of feeling all bad about it this time," Lisanna added, "once it was all said and done, we actually felt pretty great."

"A shared life experience will do that for you," Bickslow agreed.

"And being in Laxus' apartment didn't hurt either," Lisanna said to which the seith nodded.

For a moment, Laxus and Mira were silent. Then, the former spoke.

"Where exactly," he asked slowly, "did you two have sex that first time? Or the next? Or any other time?"

Mira almost told him to watch his mouth, talking that way to her sister, but then something dawned on her too and, slowly, Mira started to get up from the couch.

"Where? Bickslow? Lisanna?" Laxus asked as they only stared at him for long moments before their eyes drifted a bit to what he was seated on. "Where? Someone tell me where!"

At the very least, Laxus found the perfect place in the apartment for Elfman to sleep when Mira insisted he be allowed to stay with them as well.

Lisanna and Bickslow however got the boot. Well, Lisanna only for a bit, as Mira was able to weaseled her into being able to stay in the guest room (Bickslow had never been allowed in there), but Bickslow didn't have a cool older sister who had an in with the boss.

"It's your own damn fault, you know. Shouldn't have slept with Lisanna in the first place."

Well, he did have one, but Evergreen and he were the same age and the 'in' he had with her wasn't as close knit as the Strausses had with one another.

But that was how Laxus found himself, however, in a slightly different position than it all started, but still getting Mira at the price and misfortune of her two dorky siblings.

It would be a few days before Mira and Laxus found themselves at the empty lot that no was where Mira's house once stood. The guild members were all gone, as all the work for the time being was done.

At least until Mirajane figured out what the next step would be.

"Do you think you'll rebuild?" Laxus asked as he stood with her on the sidewalk, both watching as if in disbelief that only a short time before, her home would have been right there in all its dilapidated glory. "Or maybe buy a new house?"

"I dunno. What do you think?"

"I think you should just live with me," he said though it was accompanied with a tightness in his stomach.

"I think you should realize that means Lisanna and Elfman are staying too," Mira said with a realization that not only would this cause him to change his tune, but that going through with it without that would be a death sentence, probably, in such an early relationship.

"I think you should figure out other living arrangements."

"I figured."

"You can rebuild it," he said, dropping an arm over her shoulders and pulling her close. This hurt them both a bit as Mira's shoulder was sore and Laxus' arm was feeling even worse still, but being so close to one another made it worth it. "Even better than before. Different. Fill it with new memories and things. I know that you're, you know, between funds a lot, but that's only 'cause you wanna stick around the bar so much. Take a few S-Class jobs, get some jewels, and you can work on it slow. I'm not too great as construction, but I'll help when I can."

In better spirits, Mirajane might have made a job about Laxus' swinging a hammer, but she felt pretty low still.

Leaning into him, she said, "Thanks."

"It's whatever you want, Mirajane. I'll help you with whatever you choose."

And as the sun hung above what once was the Strauss siblings humble, yet standing abode, Mira and Laxus turned to walk away from it. But just for a bit. Until they were sure of what they were going to be doing next.

"The worst part," Mira sighed on their walk through the town, "is that I'm going to miss the festive season."

"The what?"

"Laxus-"

"You can decorate up at the bar."

"It's not the same."

"I'll buy you a new witch's hat."

"It's about more than that."

"What's it about then, Mirajane?" he asked with a sigh though he had a pretty good inkling what she was going to say. "Huh?"

"It's about decorating your home and feeling festive and in the mood there." Then, eyes bright, she stared up at him. "Laxus, do you think we could add some décor to your apartment?"

"My apartment has décor."

"A darts board isn't décor."

"I'll let you add a jagged pumpkin face to it, if it'll shut you up."

"What about for Winter Festival? And the Feast of-"

"Mira-"

"Can I at least buy some candles?" she gave in then. "Please, dragon? To burn? And smell?"

Even though they'd clog his heightened sense of smell?

"Of course, demon," he agreed with a sigh. "Of course."

#Miraxus #Bixanna #Elfever #Freed Justine #Thunder Legion #Thunder God Tribe #Fairy Tail #Fanfiction

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