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from-a-reckless-writer · 3 years

Note

Can you do a little supercorp one-shot based on the song Classy Girl from The Lumineers please?

“Don’t even think about it,” Winn mutters to Kara before taking a swig of his beer. They were leaning against the bar counter. It was a crowded night, Kara had never been at this side of the city before, the air thick with that usual smell of sweat and cigar smoke.

“W-what? I wasn’t even doing anything, what are you talking about?” Kara protests although her face screams guilty, as if she and Winn had had this conversation a million times before and she had been caught a million times before.

“You’ve been staring at her like you wanna devour her. Trust me she’s not the girl you want on your list of conquests.”

“Lists of conquest?! Wha-?! I. Do. Not. Have. A list of conquests, Winslow,” Kara scoffs out, irritated that, yes, they are indeed having this conversation again.

“Lucy, Siobhan, Imr-”

“Shut up, Winn.”

“Thought so,” Winn retorts, but Kara is still pointedly staring not even trying at subtlety,

“But I’m serious, Kara. Not her.”

“Why not? Who is she, anyway?”

“Lena.”

“Mm. Pretty name for a pretty face, who is she, Winn?”

“She’s a Luthor, Kara.”

At that, Kara’s eyes snap back at her and Winn feels a bit of relief at the slightest sign of interest in his warning.

“She’s Lex’s precious sister, if Lex doesn’t skin you alive himself, Lois probably will.”

“Lois? As in Lois Lane? As in Kal’s Lois Lois? What’s she got to do with it?”

“What do you mean what’s she got to do with it? Kara, Lex almost got Clark killed. You do know that, right?” Winn says in disbelief at Kara’s obliviousness.

All of a sudden flashes of frantic phone calls from Lois and Martha appear in her mind, Kal bruised and battered, the Danvers immediately taking her away, Eliza mumbling about El’s and Lu-

Luthor.

Oh. Luthors. Lex, Lena. They’re The Luthors.

“Oh,” Kara says dumbly.

“Yes, ‘oh’, now you know. So, don’t even think about it Kara.”

Winn turns around to face the bartender, signaling for another pint while continuing to talk Kara out of a potential disaster.

“How about that waitress earlier? The one who called you hand-”

When he turns around his friend is nowhere to be found and his eyes search the bar in alarm.

And there, in the far side of the bar—the one spot Kara has been eyeing all night—is his friend slowly sauntering her way through. Headed for one Lena Luthor no doubt. Winn fights the urge to clap a hand to his forehead in frustration.

***

“Finally found the courage to talk to me?”

Are the first words tossed at Kara as she comes face to face with Lena Luthor.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kara says, a charming smile in place.

“If you don’t pretend as if you haven't been eyeing me all night, I won’t pretend as if I didn’t enjoy having your eyes on me all night.”

Lena raises a perfect brow at Kara and it’s a miracle that her knees haven’t given out.

She parts her lips to respond but no words come out and her mind blanks. No lady has ever rendered her speechless before, it was always the other way around.

“Cat got your tongue, Miss?” Lena purrs, smug smirk growing

“Danvers. Kara Danvers.”

Kara manages to choke out, Lena makes a face at the name as if in recognition.

“Any relation to Alexandra Danvers?”

Kara tries to hide her shock and fails spectacularly so, of course Lena would know about the Danvers.

“Sister,” She answers to which Lena says, “I didn’t know Alex has a sister.”

Kara loosens up at that, if Lena knew her as Danvers that means she has no idea she’s Kal’s cousin, no idea Lena’s brother almost killed the only biological family she has left. She doesn’t want the burden of that hanging over them at their first meeting.

“Adopted,” She clarifies and for a moment she wonders if she should be concerned that all her brain is capable of at the moment are one word answers.

“Hmm. Well, tell your sister to be more discreet about her,” Lena pauses as if searching for the right word as Kara waits in confusion.

“-late night activities, especially if she’s going to involve Samantha Arias.”

Kara feels panic when Lena’s words finally click into place, Alex hasn’t even told Eliza about that, she certainly hasn't told Kara. Kara only knew because she made the mistake of passing Alex’s room in the middle of the night, back in Midvale and moans reached her ears, too breathy and too feminine to be a boyfriend.

“How did you know about that?” Kara asks a bit hostile, when it comes to Alex and she’d do anything even if it means not getting the girl for once, if it meant keeping Alex’s sexuality quiet till she’s ready to tell.

“No need to be so feisty, darling, Sam is my best friend. And let’s just say Luthors don’t like it when the people they care about are put in complicated situations,” Lena explains and she doesn’t miss the implications of the name ‘Luthor’ next to the phrase, ‘don’t like’.

Kara feels like she should be more concerned about Lena knowing these things especially if they just met, especially with the history between Lex and Clark but she called her ‘darling’ and Kara couldn’t care less about any of that.

“Now, that we got that over with, would you care for a dance?”

She extends a hand out as her confidence surges again, only for Lena to stare at it, promptly ignore it and throw Kara off her game all over again.

“Start small, Kara. How about a drink?” she smoothly evades as she hands Kara a bottle of beer, a Kangaroo on the label.

Kara’s hand wraps around the neck of the bottle firmly, to fight off the longing of Lena’s hands in hers.

And so, Kara takes her advice and she starts small. Asking Lena all the right questions and successfully avoiding any talk related to their familial background and Lena had never been more grateful. She learns that Lena doesn’t have a favorite constellation, how she writes her name on the first page of all of her books, how she doesn’t do breakfast and Kara realizes she never wants to know a person more than she does with Lena. Maybe, Winn was right. Maybe she really doesn’t want Lena to be just another name in her list of conquests.

***

Either Kara had never heard of the Luthors before or she simply did not care, Lena did not know what to make of that, but what matters is that she has never felt this open with another human being before.

There was a pull when it came to Kara. She felt it the first moment her eyes landed on the blonde only to find her staring back at her. She watched her all night talk to a man, half-afraid that they were something more. But when she caught Kara staring again for the nth time that night—clear intent behind her eyes—Lena’s doubts fell away.

“Enough about me, how about you? How come this is the first time I’m hearing of another Danvers in town?”

Kara knew they would eventually reach that. When she was thirteen she was whisked off to the Danvers, her family was gone, pain was all she knew, Clark was too caught up in his life and Metropolis was the least safest place to be for Kara. But when things finally quieted down and the Danvers decided to move back to Metropolis, she didn’t come. Deciding to stay in Midvale for college instead. And then finally moving to National City to pursue Journalism. She spent almost 5 years in the glory of being CatCo’s top reporter, only to be called back to Metropolis because of Jeremiah’s frail health.

“A journalist. I should be wary of you, you know,” Lena whispers their lips a breadth apart, her hands scratching the blonde baby hairs at Kara’s nape, Kara’s hands finding their place on Lena’s hips. Kara finally got her dance and she knows if she leaned in she’d taste the beer on Lena’s lips.

“There’s nothing to be wary about. I’d never hurt you, Lena.”

It was such a heavy statement to say considering they’ve only known each other for 4 hours. But there was something inside Kara that says this was right.

Whatever is happening or is going to happen between them, it’s right.

That instinct had never failed her as a reporter before, even got her a Pulitzer so, why should she stop listening to it now?

She stares into Lena’s emerald eyes and slowly closes the gap…

Only for her lips to land on Lena’s cheek.

She turned her face in the last minute! Kara feels the vibrations of laughter roll off Lena.

Lena slowly tilts her head towards Kara again and Kara doesn’t bother hiding the confusion on her face.

“What? I’m sorry did I read things wrong? I totally should’ve asked for con-”

Lena removes one hand from the back of her head to press a finger to Kara’s lips.

“Classy girls don’t kiss in bars, you fool.”

***

“Do you remember the night we met?”

“Mm. Yes, you abandoned Winn for me, he’s still holding a grudge against you for that, did you know? He told me himself.”

Kara laughs and Lena feels more than hears as she presses herself closer to Kara; naked skin to naked skin, sheets sliding and hair messy.

“Remember what you did that night?”

“No, what?”

“You denied me a kiss because according to you, ‘Classy girls don’t kiss in bars, you fool’.”

It was Lena’s turn to laugh this time.

“Did I really say that? God, what a pretentious line, I should’ve let you kiss me instead.”

“You know what was running through my head even though you did that?”

“Mmno, what?”

“I thought, the hardest part is over. Like even if I don’t get a kiss tonight, it would be fine. Because I had already met you, I’ve found you and the hardest part is over.”

“That was as pretentious as my line, darling.”

“You love it.”

“I do.”

“Kiss me, Kara.”

#just so you know anon this is the first time ive listened to that song and i wanted to write a mafia-esque kinda thing #like the flash and supergirl crossover but my writing prowess isn't that marvelous so have this instead #supecorp fic #the reckless writer writes #asks #rcklss writes

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fanficsandfluff · 3 years

Text

The Snyder Cut: Headcanons (mostly of the tickly nature)

Bruce Wayne (Batman) ~ Batfleck, my love

He’s such a lover boy, and I can say that though I don’t exactly know how to explain what I mean. You just gotta understand.

He cares so strongly about EVERYONE. e v e r y o n e. Alfred, fucking loves the guy, jokes with him. The fucking “This is Alfred, I work for him.” MY MAN, STOP!

I think he just really wants to get along with everyone and wants everyone to get along in general.

But he lowkey crushes on Diana (at least in his mind, he’s keeping it lowkey, but we all see what’s happening)

I love the idea of this big hunk of a man getting soft with someone like Diana.

She makes him genuinely laugh this one time by saying something funny, and then they’re both laughing together.

Bruce definitely has one of those laughs where he throws his head back and shit and you can see his like Adam’s apple bobbing and everything.

But that’s if he’s really laughing.

And he has loud “HA”’s that are like really short but loud and then he kinda just snickers to himself for a while, holding his stomach.

And dude, the scene in freaking uhh… i think it’s BvS I’m not 100% (maybe i fucking imagined it who knows) where she like comes over to him and is fixing his wound….. tickle scenario hand picked from the gods right there

I can see a whole, “Woah!” from Bruce when Diana traces her fingers on some sensitive skin. And that Gal Godot smile is on her in an INSTANT.

Bruce will laugh if he’s with the right person. Like I headcanon that if he’s being tickled, he will laugh if it’s done by Diana or Barry, then like he’ll be forced to laugh if it’s Clark bc he overpowers the poor bat, but then he just has these hilarious bouts of angry growls and chuckles if Arthur is going after him.

I can’t even write about Batfleck being a ler because I will literally explode, so I’m done here

(((((butseriouslyifanyonewantstotalklerbatfleckwithmehmuplz)))))

Diana Prince (Wonder Woman)

I know the GIF isn’t from ZSJL but just let me live, ok? (Also I couldn’t find the one of Gal wiggling her fingers YOU KNOW THE ONE I’M TALKING ABOUT)

First off, Gal is the most horrible queen of giggles. I’ve seen those blooper reels. My god, girl, how do you keep getting hired?

SHE HAS SUCH A BIG SMILE IT’S LIKE THE ROCK IDK HOW THEIR TEETH AND MOUTH GET SO WIDE LOOKING

Diana will start tickle fights without a doubt.

She’s already very trustful and I also feel pretty handsy with people, especially those she may feel close to. So if she’s playful, you best watch out.

Her favorite targets are Bruce and Barry. I will not take criticism. Diana attacking Barry and reducing him to panicky shrieky laughs is my #1 thought. It’s not even living rent free, I’m commissioning it to be there.

Diana is one to laugh with her victims. She will wreck them and have a great time doing so.

She’ll be ticklish if she wants to be, but it isn’t often she gets pinned and tickled or anything like that.

The guys try to stay away from her or not go after her with tickles for fear of retaliation.

AQUAMAN, CYBORG, SUPERMAN, AND THE FLASH UNDER THE CUT

Arthur Curry (Aquaman)

So…. my man isn’t really ticklish. I really don’t think he is, I feel like his Atlantean genes make his skin a special kind of hard, if that makes sense?

THAT BEING SAID ARTHUR IS THE BIGGEST LER OMGGG

He’ll try and act all cool and ‘whatever’ around the League cuz that’s kind of his persona.

But he slowly gets to like them more and more and his playful side starts to come out.

He’ll tickle Barry out of pure annoyance. Like if Barry makes any kind of comment, he’ll just point his finger out and get that glint in his eye and Barry is sprinting for the hills.

Here’s my favorite headcanon: Arthur will tickle Bruce because he knows it pisses him off when he does it. Bruce will fight back and keep Arthur in his sights at all time and curse and growl at him. And Arthur thinks it’s hilarious.

Arthur as a ler will taunt and tease until the cows come home

“Huh, big guy? What’s that? Ahawww that’s what I thought!... Not so fast/tough/etc. now!... I will wreck you.”

Victor Stone (Cyborg)

Unfortunately… not ticklish. :(

But this boy has the sweetest laugh you will ever hear, and I will die on that hill.

Now that he has friends (superpowered friends, no less), he can slowly come alive and be himself.

I can see Victor not getting involved in tickle fights at first, but at a certain point he’ll be all like, “Okay, step aside so we can do this right” and just PIN THE SHIT OUT OF WHOEVER IS BEING TICKLED. His extra robot arms are killer!

Okay, when he laughs for the first time in front of the group, there’s that cliche moment of pause where everything stops and everyone just stares and listens to him. It’s so rare to hear him laugh because the poor kid barely even smiled around them in the beginning.

He SMIRKS

Now hear me out on this…

Okay, so half a face. Great. Weird. We love it. But you can see all of mischievous Victor when the guy SMIRKS. You see his eye squint and you can swear his robot eye gets a gleam of a different color.

Wait honestly as I was writing that, the thought of Victor’s eye and like his apparatus changing color based on his mood is golden.

Me sitting here, lowkey wishing Victor’s robot body had some kind of cuddly mode like Baymax lmfaoooo

Like the defense mode his body went into when he was around resurrected Supes, but for cuddles and being cute.

Clark Kent (Superman)

I was debating even including any headcanons for Superman bc I don’t care about him much, honestly.

I am v happy they kept in the whole ‘him staring at Flash through the speed storm’ scene bc I laughed so hard at that the first time i saw Josstice League in the theater.

Also I didn’t really like the black superman costume??? I’m not a comic buff, so I’m assuming that’s why. I am like the one person who missed the color from the Josstice League cut. Don’t miss the stupid red sky in the finale, but I miss every other ounce of color that was just SUCKED right out of the Snyder Cut.

Clark and Bruce are besties now, I don’t make the rules. Bruce bought the man his house back. By buying the bank. He’ll take care of him.

And I’ve always simped for those two ever since BvS, bc I’ve already written like two fics where they tickle each other.

Clark overpowering Bruce to tickle the shit out of him makes me so happy lol. Big strong boy Batfleck looking thiccc over here… but put him against Superman and he’s donezo. Because as mentioned earlier, I do think Bruce is pretty ticklish.

But Clark can have his lee side when he’s feeling nice

He’s got that mighty chuckle, almost like how Thor might laugh.

And he really likes getting involved in tickle fights with the League. He knows all of them are sorta afraid of him on the daily anyway, but have that power added to a tickle fight and it’s fun as hell.

He’s gotten taken down by them ONCE. And I mean exactly (1) O N C E.

They all teamed up. Bing, bang, boom. Pinned him to the floor and they each took an area of skin and fucking SQUEEZED AND WIGGLED. They were trying to incapacitate him as quickly as possible. And dangummit, he laughed a lot! Like Clark realized just how ticklish he could feel if he wanted to feel it.

And don’t even get me started on Lois, he’s big on getting her to giggle and she likes toying with him and running her hands all over his body (bc who wouldn’t?)

Barry Allen (The Flash)

I waited to write about Barry last because I have so much to say about this character....

and then I fell asleep and waited until the next day to write anything down about him so now I’m totally not in the mood and I forgot all the salient points I was planning on making.

fuck you, michelle.

I got a weird relationship with this character. He was mad annoying in the Josstice League. Thank goodness they trimmed his bad jokes down.

But now....

when he got hurt at the end and he was like crying and shit oh my god I wanted to hug him

His character got so... good

And I’m now at the right age where I can think about myself in a relationship with this character with no changes or shame

We both out here trying to find that one good job after college and everything

BARRY JUST WANTS FRIENDS, GUYS

HE’S THAT CUTE

And then he got this whole found family schtick with the Justice League!!! Lookit him!!! Thriving!

He has total little brother energy

like, pesky little brother. Bothers everyone, looks over people’s shoulders while they’re deep in thought or concentrating on something.

Asks a lot of questions.

All the more reason for the gang to want to tickle the shit out of him.

Barry just reads like a super ticklish lee. Like his whole character.

Maybe touch starved because he said he needed friends, and I don’t think he has siblings??? (sorry if i’m wrong about that, comic fans)

I already named some of my fav headcanons about him getting tickled by like Diana and such, and I’m sticking with it.

Barry does flee. He runs away with super speed.... but sometimes he just kinda wants the tickles so he lets them have at him.

The chase is all part of the fun with tickling Barry, though. That’s what makes it so entertaining. And Barry isn’t afraid to be a little shit about it either. He will super-speed around his pursuers and poke their sides and tickle them back really quickly before they even know what’s happening.

Barry doesn’t exactly hold back his laughter lol. He’ll protest and scream and squirm like crazy, but once he’s actually tickled, he loses it.

Pure boy. With funny ass facial expressions.

And it really doesn’t help that I never realized just how hot Ezra Miller is, even though I heard he’s not a great person irl. Oh well.

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!

Please please let me know if y’all have things to add, to squee over, to question me about... please. anything. i’m here for you. thanks for reading, guys!

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topazy · 3 years

Text

The fierce and broken

1.08

Masterlist

“Anya, look! Over there.”

You glanced at a fire in the distance. Oh, great. Burning alive would probably be better than whatever Anya had planned for you. You didn’t understand why she hadn’t just killed you? Was she toying with you? Anya stood up, “a signal fire.”

“Reapers.”

Anya glared at you before turning to face Tristan. “Let them know we see it. I'll send my fastest rider to warm the commander.”

“Is the boy dead?” Anya asked the masked grounder.

He nodded. No, no, no. Finn couldn’t be dead. How could you have let them kill him? You should have done more. He was your friend and he trusted you to have his back. You fought back tears not wanting to give the grounders the satisfaction of seeing your pain.

“Good,” she looked down at you. “Kill the girl, then catch up.”

The moment Anya turned her back you tried to run away, but the masked grounder yanked on your chains.

______

The first thing you saw when you awoke a two headed horse. You said nothing, pretending to still be unconscious. Try and live a little longer. The horse suddenly came to a halt at a hilltop, where the grounder surprisingly let you down gently.

You took a few steps back, prepared to run when a rustling noise from behind caught your attention. Tears of happiness threatened to spill from your eyes when Finn appeared from behind some trees. You ran over and hugged him, “Finn. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I don't understand how...”

“Lincoln saved my life. He killed one of his own people to do it.”

You turned to see the masked grounder remove his mask, it was Lincoln. “That signal fire? That was you?”

He nodded, “we needed a distraction.”

“And I’d say it worked.”

Lincoln looked at Finn before shaking his head, “not well enough.”

You and Finn turned to see another signal fire in the distance. Finn looked worried, “what does it mean?”

“It means Anya knows Alba is not dead,” Lincoln turned away and started to walk towards the tree lines. “We need to hurry. Let's hope they follow the horse.”

“Where are we going?” You asked.

“Somewhere they won’t follow.”

You bit down on your bottom lip, as Lincoln lead you towards some caves. “where does this lead to?”

“Everywhere. There's a tunnel to your camp. If we make it through, we should get there before Tristan.” Just as you reached the tunnels arrows started to fly pass you. “Go. Go!”

______

Once I’m the Reaper tunnels, Lincoln lit a small fire to make a torch and told us we needed to keep moving. I noticed him limping slightly, it was hard to notice in the dim light but I eventually saw the arrow sticking out of his side.

You interrupted Finn and Lincoln’s conversation about reapers to offer Lincoln some help. “I should clean that before it gets infected.”

Lincoln shrugged at your offer, “I've fought battles with worse wounds than this.”

“We're not in a battle right now,” you pointed out.

“Yes, we are.”

You looked at him curiously for a moment, watching as he pushed the arrow out of his side. “Why are you helping us?”

“This can't just be about Octavia,” Finn added

“You don’t need to tell us,” you shook your head. “Give me your knife, I’m going to heat the blade. You might want something to bite down on.”

Lincoln scoffed. “You people are so soft. If you don't learn to be more,” he let out a whine of pain as you pressed the blade against his skin to stop the bleeding. “What my people are doing to yours is wrong.”

You gave Lincoln a minute to rest before he insisted on walking again. Finn studied the grounder reading a map. “Wait. If you never were down here, how'd you map it?”

“Spoils of war.”

Finn shook his head still confused by Lincoln’s comment, but you understood it straight away. He had taken it off a dead body. You put a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from letting out a noise of disgust when you saw trailers piles of bodies. Finn put his arm in front of you, “did you hear that?”

You shook your head, and waited. Then you heard it, shouting in the distance.

“What is that?” You asked in a whisper.

“Reapers.” Lincoln handed a book and knife to Finn, “make sure Octavia gets them.” The shouting was getting louder, meaning the reapers were getting closer. “I'm gonna lead them away. Wait until they follow me, then run.”

You frowned, “I’d they catch you they will kill you.”

Finn spoke with Lincoln briefly before he went off. You and Finn ran as far as you could until a reaper found you. The reaper shoved you to the ground and held a knife up to Finn’s throat. Oh shit. Finn reached for a rock and bashed the reaper of the head with it. A look of horror washed over his face when the realisation of what he did sunk in.

Grounder, reaper, sky crew. It didn’t matter. All of them were human.

You rushed over to Finn and pressed your hands to his face, trying to get his attention away from the dead body by his feet. “Don’t look at him, look at me!” Finn slowly looked at you. “I know how it feels, I slit Caliban's throat to try and save myself, save you, get back to camp and warn them.” You suddenly felt your own tears threatening to spill. “We need to keep going okay?”

You stop by a stream where Finn begins to wash the reaper blood of his hands, while you did your best to clean your face of dried blood, dirt, and sweat the best you could. You did this in silence until Finn cleared his throat. “Do you think I should have fought for her?”

“Finn, don’t.”

“Clarke, I love her.” He stopped washing his hands and sat on the ground. “I’m in love with her.”

You could sense his hesitation, “but?”

“I love Raven and...”

“You broke her heart,” you sighed. “Finn this isn’t any of my business, please don’t drag me into this. We need to focus on getting back.”

“Yeah, your right.” He stood up again, and offered you a hand to your feet. “I just want to say one more thing, thank you.”

You looked at him puzzled, “what for?”

“Coming on this adventure with me,” he said with a chuckle. “Al you would have tried to save that grounder's life even if I wasn’t at risk. You have been there for Octavia, Raven, hell you even look out for Murphy. And if I wasn’t for you I’m sure I would be dead.”

“Lincoln would have saved you.”

Finn raised his eyebrows at you, “I don’t know if he would have fought so hard for just me.”

You opened your mouth to argue that he was wrong when a loud explosion came from the direction of the camp. “We need to go now.”

______

“Alba and Finn! They're back!”

Bellamy, Miller, and Octavia rushed to the gates when they saw you entering the camp. “Is everyone okay? We heard an explosion. What happened?”

Bellamy clenched his jaw, “Murphy happened.”

You noticed the bruising that was around Bellamy’s neck. Murphy...you couldn’t dwell on what your friend might have done. Jasper ran over to the small group, “Thank God! Where have you been? Where's Monty?”

“Monty’s gone?” You asked, shocked.

“We need to leave, now.” Finn said cutting in, “All of us do. There's an army of grounders, unlike anything we've ever seen, coming for us right now. We need to pack what we can and run.”

“Like hell we do!” Bellamy snapped. “We knew this was coming.”

“Not like this,” you said stepping forward. “Believe me when I say we aren’t strong enough to fight them off, if it wasn’t for Lincoln we would be dead. I don’t know what your decision is, but you better make it fast.”

Octavia turned from her brother to face you, “you saw Lincoln?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “He killed one of his own to save us.”

“You expect us to trust a grounder?” Bellamy scoffed. “This is our home now. We built this from nothing with our bare hands! Our dead are buried behind that wall in this ground! Our ground! The grounders think they can take that away. They think that because we came from the sky, we don't belong here. But they're yet to realize one very important fact. We are on the ground now, and that means we are grounders!”

A few delinquents began chanting with Bellamy while Finn gave Octavia the gifts from Lincoln. Clarke walked over and added her input as well, while you looked around the camp for Raven.

Just as you opened your mouth to ask if anybody had seen her, you noticed her. “Raven!” You screamed running towards her, “Raven!”

You heard Bellamy saying that Murphy shot her. Finn caught Raven before she fell to the ground, “get her into the drop-ship!”

_______

You clenched your teeth as Raven squeezed your hand painfully tight as Clarke cauterised the gunshot wound.

Finn was pacing back and forth, “how did Murphy even get a gun?”

“Long story.”

“We got lucky.” Raven smiled. “If Murphy hit the fuel tank instead of me, we'd all be dead.”

You frowned not finding the joke funny. Raven had become a good friend to you, and truthfully you’d be lost without her.

“Wait, there's rocket fuel down there? Enough to build a bomb?” Clarke asked.

You eyes Clarke suspiciously, you had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking. Raven tried to sit up, “enough to build hundreds of bombs... if we had any gunpowder left.”

“What about the reapers?” Bellamy asked, changing the subject. “Maybe they'll help us. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”

You share a look with Finn before shaking your head, “they won’t help, trust me.”

Finn stepped back, “can Raven walk or not?”

“No.” Clarke answered, “we will need to carry her.”

“The hell you will.” Raven tried to get off the table, “I'm good to go.”

“Hey, your not going anywhere.” Raven pulled at a face at you, “the bullet is still inside you. Until we take it out you can’t go anywhere, it’s not safe.”

You felt guilty, but you were determined to keep Raven safe. You listened to Finn and Bellamy bicker between themselves before you had enough. “Will guys stop it?” They both turned to stare at you. “The grounders are coming now, if we are going to leave it needs to be now. Finn I need you to help me find a stretcher.”______

Bellamy started to lead the delinquents into the forest with Clarke, and Finn standing beside him at the front. Octavia was on lookout, you had a brief reunion with your friend before you left camp. Octavia hugged you and filled you in on what Murphy had done. Sighing you glanced down at Raven, who looked pissed. She wasn’t happy about being carried on a stretcher.

Suddenly everybody came to a halt, something was wrong. “Everybody get back to camp now!”

The delinquents quickly turned around and headed back to the camp, as the gunners went back to their posts as you helped Raven get back inside the drop-ship.

You helped her sit down, “are you okay?”

“I am,” she nodded. “I’m glad you are back...I was so worried when you and Finn never came back.”

You crouched down to Raven’s level when she started to cry. “I’m not going to lie it was rough, but me and Finn are fine. And you will be too, soon as this is all over Clarke will fix you up.”

Raven shook her head, you for the feeling something else had happened. “That’s not it...I got...I don’t even know what I was thinking. When you guys were gone I slept with Bellamy.” You stared at her wide-eyed not knowing what to say. “You guys were almost being killed while I was-”

“It doesn’t matter,” you cut her off. “What happened before doesn’t matter, we need to focus on surviving tonight.”

Raven opened her mouth to reply when Finn, Clarke, and Bellamy entered the drop-ship. “We've got twenty five rifles with twenty rounds each, give or take. Roughly five hundred rounds of ammo. While you two were gone, we made some improvements. Thanks to Raven, the gully is mined.”

You watched as Raven shifted awkwardly, you wondered if she had any feelings for the leader of the camp. “Partly minded, thanks to Murphy.”

“Still, it's the main route in.” Bellamy pointed out. “If the grounders use it, we'll know. She also built grenades.”

Clarke frowned, “it’s not many.”

Raven flung her head back, “again. Thank you Murphy.”

Bellamy clenched his jaw, looking even more pissed than before. “We'll make them count. If the grounders make it through the front gate, guns and grenades should force them back.”

“Then what?” You asked.

“Them we close the door and pray,” Raven said softly.

While you half heartedly listened to the others talking you tried to think what you could do. Hearing Raven say how she had no gun powder gave you an idea. “What if we don't use a bomb, what if we blast off instead?”

Raven smiled at you. “Draw them in close, then fire the rockets. A ring of fire. I like your thinking Al.”

“Will it work?” Finn asked, obviously not convinced.

“If we give Raven enough time it will.”

______

You, Clarke and Finn were underneath the dropship, looking for its ignition system when you heard Raven calling out. “Somethings wrong, we need to go back.”

You quickly claimed back towards her, you walked towards her worried. “Raven what’s wrong?”

“I can’t feel my legs.”

You shared a knowing glance with Clarke.

“Okay let me check you again,” Clarke said helping Raven turn over. “Al can you give me a hand.”

After Clarke checked Raven over you discovered she was bleeding internally. The bullet was lodged somewhere in her spine. Finn had left to go find coagulant stuff that the Grounders use, while Jasper revealed he could split a wire and had come in to lend a hand.

You and Clarke had decided that one of you needed to stay with Raven. “You should stay Al,” Clarke said in a low voice. “She needs you more than me, besides I’m going to go check how things are going. Call me if you need anything.”

You nodded in agreement, “okay, be safe out there.” You turned and walked back towards Raven and Jasper. “Tell me again how this is going to work?”

Raven rolled her eyes at your question. “Told you five times already. Current flows to the electromagnet. That opens the poppet valve. Rockets fire.”

You fought the lump in the back of your throat, you knew Raven didn’t have long left. If the grounders weren’t attacking she would maybe have a chance, but without the time or correct equipment she didn’t have a good chance. You just prayed and hoped Finn found what he needed, because you needed Raven to live.

“Clarke! I need Clarke!” You yelled as Raven started to become unconscious. “Please don’t die on me,” you sobbed. “You are a fighter Reyes, don’t let go.”

You stood up, “Jasper keep wiring. I’m going to see what’s going on.” You stepped outside the drop-ship and ran towards Finn the moment you saw him, “you got what we need?”

He nodded, and handed you the medicine before picking up a gun. The grounders had breached the wall. You ran alongside Clarke back into the drop-ship, you rushed towards Raven and injected her with the coagulant, and prayed it was enough.

Hearing a loud screaming noise you turned to see Anya had joined you in the drop-ship. Clarke glanced at you before yelling, “Jasper now!”

You saw Jasper hitting the button, but it didn’t work. Anya suddenly jumped towards you with two blades in hand when Miller, along with some others, stopped her. “Stop wait!” You yelled when you saw Miller was about to kill her, “you can’t do this. We aren’t grounders, we don’t do this.”

Just as you finished talking Jasper hit the button again, and this time it worked. You tried your best not to think about Octavia, Finn, and Bellamy who weren’t inside with you. A few moments after the ship landed again Clarke opened the doors to reveal the devastation outside.

“Aren’t you coming?” Clarke asked looking back at you.

“No, I’m going to stay with Raven.” Kneeling down to Raven’s level you sighed, “you done it Reyes, you saved us all.”

She remained completely still, you started to blink tears away. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be dead. You stood up hearing a commotion coming from outside.

You grabbed a spare blade that was lying around and stepped in front of your unconscious friend protectively. The room was quickly filled with a thick red smoke that made it hard to breath.

You fell to the ground gasping as men in hazmat suits walked towards you.

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berjhawn · 3 years

Text

Day & Night ~ Ch. 3 ~ Blindside

Bruce Wayne/Batman X Reader (Lady Light) X DC

Warnings: Past trauma, loss of parents, break ups, genetic engineering, taking peoples DNA without permission, ETC

(A/N) as usual please tell me what you guys think we are almost to the middle of the story. i hope you guys are enjoying it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce sat at the League meeting table his mind focused on other things. This mission that Clark was talking about doing was an in and out type. He didn’t need to be here. Hell, tonight he didn’t want too to be here. He wanted to be home, with (Name), and the boys enjoying some down time.

Then he does something he hadn’t done in the middle of a meeting before. He pulls out his cell phone. He sends her a text asking what she was doing and smiles as she instantly replies. As he goes to send her another text Diana clears her throat. Bruce looks up to see them all looking at him.

“I didn’t know Batman could smile.” Barry announces confusion filling his words.

“He doesn’t.” Oliver adds mimicking Barry’s expression.

“I don’t.” Bruce adds making Diana smirk as she rolls her eyes. “You must be seeing things.”

“Walk with me Bruce.” Diana says as she stands up and moves toward the exit while Clark tries to reign in the rest of the league members.

“What is it?” Bruce asks as they walk down the hallway.

“This woman you are dating must be amazing to have you ignoring a meeting like that.” Diana inquires and Bruce knows where this is going.

“She is.” Bruce states honestly trying to drop the conversation.

“Is the reason you won’t show her face to the public, because it’s (Name)?” She asks and worry fills Bruce’s body. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell the big guy. I’m glad that she’s finally happy. She deserves that and so much more.”

“She doesn’t know it’s me.” Bruce says making Diana cock an eyebrow in surprise. “She doesn’t want anything to do with this life anymore. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her.”

“Keeping secrets from (name) will only cause her more pain.” Diana states her eyes filling with remorse. “Trust me, telling her the truth is better than her finding out from someone else.”

“Why did she leave?” Bruce asks curiosity filling his voice. “She wouldn’t tell me, or the Bat.”

“It’s not my place to say,” Diana starts moving to look out the window of the watchtower to Earth below. “But if you are serious about her, I will tell you what I can.”

“I love her.” Bruce states with absolutely no hint of a lie in his voice.

“(Name) wasn’t born on Themyscira, she washed up on our shores when she was a child after her mother drowned at sea. Her father used the last bit of his strength to save his only child. My mother found her on the beach on deaths door. Her father lay dead beside her.

“From the moment my mother met (Name) she knew she was special. She once said that it was like the gods had blessed her with the essence of the sun, and she was right. (Name) is basically the sun in human form. Her powers are limitless, and unpredictable. Especially when she is upset.

“Against my mother’s better judgement, she let (Name) leave Themyscira to learn about your world. With every new experience she had (Name) just became more certain that she didn’t wish to return to our home. Then one day she witnessed us save the earth and she wanted to help. So, I brought her here. Hoping this would give meaning to her life.

“At first everything was going well. She and Clark had bonded and for a while they were inseparable. But then,” She pauses for a moment before she continues, “Remember when Connor showed up and Clark ignored him?”

Bruce nods.

“At the time Connor only knew one thing. That he was the product of cloning and that Lex Luthor and Clark were his fathers, so he naturally sought Clark out.”

“But Clark rejected him. I remember I had to have a talk with him about it.”

“While Connor was going through all these emotions about being abandoned, He sought Luthor out. It was then he learned that there was another being that was used in his creation.”

Bruce furrowed his brow, not liking where this was going.

“Luthor told him that he tried to use (Name)’s DNA along with Clark’s and his to make the ultimate being. What Luthor didn’t account for was (Name)’s abilities, her powers, cannot be shared with another being. They belong to her and her alone. However, the genetic mutation that gave her her powers, that can be used to amplify the Kryptonian genes.

“So, having been ignored and abandoned by Clark, Connor sought out the next person in his creation. He sought out his mother.”

“(Name),” Bruce adds and Diana nods.

“When Connor told her what Luthor had said she had the opposite reaction Clark did. I remember her telling me she was shocked and confused as to how they were able to get her DNA, but she wasn’t about to abandon Connor. Whether she wanted it or not, she believed she was partially responsible for him. (Name) became Connor’s mother.”

“Why didn’t I know about this?” Bruce asks anger radiating from him.

“No one did.” Diana confirms folding her arms over her chest. “The only ones who knew were (Name), Luthor, Connor, Clark, and me. We decided it was best to keep it a secret from everyone.”

“If she took over as Connor’s mother, why did she decide to disappear?” Bruce asks.

“(Name) confronted Clark. She tried to get him to help Connor out. She wanted to be the bridge that helped the two of them bond.”

“But?”

“Clark wouldn’t have it. They argued constantly, and then one day (Name) was gone. Whatever happened, why she decided to leave, only her and Clark know the answer to that.” Diana concludes and Bruce has the sudden urge to see (Name).

“There is only one thing I’m not clear on.” Bruce says and Diana turns toward him a confused look on her face. “Who gave Luthor her DNA? We know he got Clark’s because he used Kryptonite to make him weak, but how did he get (Name)’s? last time I checked, she was invulnerable.”

“I have my suspicions, but nothing concrete.” Diana concludes.

Bruce senses someone coming and instantly ends the conversation.

“Thank you,” Bruce says, and she nods.

“You need to tell her, or you’ll lose her.” Diana says before she turns and walks away back toward mission control.

Bruce takes a deep breath and then pulling out his cell phone is about to send her a message when he gets one from her.

‘We need to talk.’

~~~~~~

I stand there frozen in place as I stare motionless at my son’s bright blue eyes. How was he here? How did he know where I was? I wasn’t angry with him but because he looked so much like his father, I needed space away from him.

“Connor, what are you doing here?” I ask and his brow furrows.

“I wanted to see you.” He replies wanting to come in but afraid I would reject him.

I look back at the boys still sitting on the couch and I push my anger and hurt away and motion for him to come inside.

“Come in, please.” I say and he follows.

Once he is inside, I close the door behind him and as my emotions get the better of me, I reach out and pull him into my arms. I hold him as tight as I could as he grips tightly to me. Tears sting my eyes as I think about how much I had truly missed him. Even if I hadn’t given birth to him, Connor was my son. I would always be there for him.

“I’m sorry you had to leave.” Connor says into my shoulder and I shake my head.

“It’s not your fault.” I reply as I pull away from him to cup his cheeks. “You did nothing wrong. I just couldn’t stay there anymore.”

“(Name) you okay?” I hear Damian ask and Connor’s head shoots to look at the boy who was standing in the hallway next to Jason.

“Yeah I-”

“What are you two doing here?” Connor questions anger in his voice.

“What’s it look like super-boy?” Jason retorts and my eyes widen.

“Wait, you all know each other?” I ask glancing back and forth between them.

“They’re Batman’s sidekicks.” Connor announces and my heart drops.

“No, then that would mean that Bruce is…” I pause everything starting to make sense. “Oh, how did I never see it?”

“(Name)?” Damian questions and I turn to look at both him and Jason in a new light.

If they were Batman’s sons, then they knew who I was from the beginning. They all did. Is that why Bruce approached me? Was he just keeping tabs on an unstable superhero? Did he even truly care about me?

“Boys, I think it’s time you guys went home.” I say my heart tightening in my chest.

“Come on Damian,” Jason says to his little brother as he reaches for his jacket. “I think (Name) needs some time alone.”

“No, I don’t want to go. Everything was fine until he showed up. What is he doing here anyway?” Damian argues angrily.

“What am I doing here? I have a right to be here, why are you here?”

“Because we can be.” Jason adds narrowing his eyes at Connor. “What right do you have to be here?”

“She’s my mother!” Connor yells and I grab his arm stopping him.

“Connor, stop!” I yell making him close his mouth.

I glance back at Damian and Jason to see them staring at us in shock. My eyes find Damian’s and I don’t know why but I see disappointment and betrayal in them. My heart was screaming out for me to go to him and hold him, but I couldn’t.

“Please boys, please go home.” I plead with them and I watch as Damian’s eyes turn cold as he grabs his backpack and races past me out the front door.

“I got him.” Jason says as he quickly races off after him.

When they are gone, I close the door and walk past Connor to the couch. I collapse onto it as I feel my legs give out from under me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Connor starts but I stop him with just a sad look.

“I know sweetie. You didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.” I reply as I reach out to grab my phone.

“Are you okay?” He asks and I shake my head. I couldn’t lie to him.

“No, not really.” I reply as I send a quick text to Bruce.

“I shouldn’t have come.” Connor says instantly moving toward the door to leave.

“Connor, wait.” I call making him stop in his steps. “Come here.”

He waits for a second before he turns and walks over to sit beside me on the couch. Reaching up, I gently brush his hair back as I take a deep breath.

“Connor, you are always welcome wherever I am. I will never tell you differently. I may not have had any say in how you were born, but I will take responsibility and be there for you when ever you need me. I am your mother; I will never turn my back on you.” I say making him nod slightly as his eyes start to water. “You are the best thing I never knew I needed. So never ever feel like you don’t belong here with me. Okay?”

“I understand.” He concludes and I gently lean up and kiss his forehead.

“Now, what happened?” I ask, knowing that there was another reason for him coming to see me.

“I found out who gave your DNA to Cadmus.”

Will Continue -

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oh-for-fic-sake · 4 years

Text

The Neighbors Son

You meet your new neighbors son.

Masterlist

Warnings: Swearing, Mature-ish, angst

A/n: so this is the start of my Clark Kent Imagine series that will sort of run alongside my Bruce Wayne ones, I re-wrote this about eight times so hope you like the final result as for the health insurance I'm British so have no idea how it works I just went along the lines of how car insurance works here.

Taglist: @two-unbeatable-beaters @thatgirly81

The Neighbors Son

Martha chuckled as you sat at her kitchen table grumbling over the papers in front of you.

"You do you lot have to do things so weird?! What the hell is this shit ?And what the fuck does that word even mean. Its not a word that's the fucking alphabet in the wrong order! THEY MADE UP NEW WORDS Martha can you take me out back and shoot me please? At this point I think that's my only option" You grunted resting your head on the table. Martha sighed rolling her eyes at your dramatic display you felt her slip the paper from underneath your head.

"Just whats gotten you so work up now girl..... Health insurance? Well its about damn time! You've been here four months .....I can see why this can seem difficult." She scanned the documents and slapped the side of your head making you sit up.

"Come on up, right this one is the best value but doesn't cover dental or opticians, so you have to pay for them, but it covers illness and emergancey care, if you choose the next one up you’ll get that and it also covers for maternity care." She pointed out the different options, you knew that you’d been lucky in England to have the nhs but until now you didn't know just how lucky.

"Can I upgrade? Like at a later date if I wanna have a one?" The older woman scanned the documents.

"Yes but you wont be able to claim anything for prenatal or maternity for at least six months after adding it to the policy." You nodded you didn't really see yourself accidentally falling pregnant for that you'd need to have sex and you've been on a dry spell since being here. You nodded taking the paper from her."So I will just do that then" you said wanting it over and done with she sighed at you crossing her arms giving you 'the look' that every woman got when she became a mother."How many have you looked at?" You shrunk under her stern gaze and rubbed the back of your neck nervously.

"Errr so far? In total? One" she sighed shaking her head at you, before pouring you both another coffee setting it in front of you,she hadn't realized how lonley she had been once the farm house across the field had been empty not until you had moved in, all the way from England you had bought the house with your inheritance selling most of the fields to others in the area just keeping a small two acres around the house for yourself. She had met you the day you moved in coming over to introduce herself see if you needed help, you both instantly hit it off and it wasn't long before she was looking out for you. It was hard for you to adjust to life here, loosing your dad was bad but she then found out that your mother had caused major problems practically chasing you out of the country, the woman had been unhappy with the will and wanted her 'half' tho it wasn't millions it was enough for you to live comfortably in the end you'd had to move as she kept coming around to the house causing problems and harassing you for money, you'd had to get away far away so settled in Kansas. It was different but a welcome change, slower and laid back sure sometimes you missed not being in the Hustle and bustle but you had everything you need, a comfy house ,decent car and an income from your books, you was an author writing adult books, tales of gorgeous cowboys, dominant business men and mafia king pin's all falling in love with the women of their dreams with erotic twists and scenes that would make a porn star blush. Martha had been a huge help since you got here ,she had taken you under her wing watching over you and you'd become fast friends, always finding yourselves at each others houses helping each other out. You groaned as she shook her head at you knowing the look. There was a lecture coming.

"That’s just silly, you should look around compare prices and policies, it could save you a lot of money in the long run, especially you i mean your a trouble magnet how you haven't already ended up in ER I don't know?" You smiled sweetly at her

"Because a have a kind and loving neighbor to patch me up" you said casting a look to the scar on your arm where she had sewed you up after a nasty fall on some farming equipment in the barn. She huffed at you rolling her eyes kids. And you was a kid only twenty seven years old younger then her Clark, sometimes she asked you why you don't go into town and meet some people your age you'd always cringe and shiver saying that they were to immature or just banged on about marriage and kids, which neither interested you in the slightest you were quite happy with things the way they were. Martha looked up as the dog perked up outside whining and yipping happily before she heard him

"Ma? You here?" She smiled as he entered the house wrapping her up in his arms she hugged him back.

"Clark? What are you doing here?" She pulled back a little seeing him upset she cupped his face.

"Oh god whats wrong? Is everything okay? Whats happened?"

"Its Lois...we had an argument I had to leave her Ma, its over she couldn't see past the super-" Martha quickly shushed him as You stood awkwardly thinking it better to leave not wanting to intrude. The man snapped his head in your direction releasing his mum and you were floored he was stunning, sure she had showed you photos of her son but they didn't do any justice. Tall broad and strong his biceps were fucking huge his chest tapered into a perfect v, dark hair hanging in messy curls atop his head some falling forward just skimming his eyes that were a glistening bright blue you felt your pussy clench violently. Fuck. You was so lost that you failed to notice him staring right back at you it was Martha clearing her throat that snapped you both out of what ever trance you'd both been put you under.

"Cheers for the coffee but I should get back and leave two to catch up, anyway this next chapter isn't gonna write itself..... at this point I don't think I’m gonna write it either." You said with a chuckle Martha turned to you putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh no you don't, your going park you butt right there and stay here to search other quotes" you gaped at her looking to her son he held up his hands staying out of it.

"Don't you go looking to him,he wont help you" you huffed crossing your arms

"Did you just give me homework? It sounds like you gave me home work." She nodded

"Damn right, health insurance is a big deal and you don't just pick the first one that pop's up on the internet" you pouted at her trying to change her mind she just stared you down tilting her head then you threw your hands up.

"Oh for fuck sake, fine I will look Jesus Christ" she nodded smiling not missing the way you and Clark was stealing glances at one another, well you stole glances Clark was out right staring. She slapped him upside the head.

"Don’t be rude son introduce yourself" he stuttered shyly flushing at being scolded before holding out a hand towards you quickly.

"Er Clark Kent nice to meet you Mrs?" You took his hand not surprised by how warm it was I mean this guy was hot, it only made sense right?.

"Miss Y/n Y/L/N but just call me Y/n everyone does....apart from your mum she calls me 'a pain in the ass'" he chuckled

"Then we already have something in common" you laughed as Martha motioned for you both to sit at the table smiling knowingly, she saw how Clark couldn't look away how the sorrow in his eyes disappeared as he looked at you. Clark couldn't tear his eyes away from you he gulped eyes raking over your form his mouth gone dry speechless. Wow. You was very attractive like you walked out of one of his fantasies, a tiny homely looking girl light tan with deep chocolate wavy hair in a short bob twisted in a half up do, tiny bun in the back with a few loose strands framing your small face that had a dusting of freckles from being out in the sun, tho he guessed that some were more permanent as they didn'tstop on your face trailing down into you blouse, his breathing hitched as his eyes couldn't help peeking seeing the tops of you breasts spilling over the cups of your bra as you slouched over the table barely resting your elbow on it due to how small you was. His cock twitched you were very tiny the top of your head didn't even reach the top of his chest, he estimated you to be around four foot nine maybe four foot ten he grunted a little, he did have a thing for smaller women, he loved that he towered over average sized women but you were like his dream girl,fuck if he didn't want to fold you in half and fuck you senseless. His pants tightened at the thought, he bet you'd struggle to take him but given the chance he would find a way to impale you forcing your little body to take every punishing inch he grunted a quietly his stomach clenching. He quickly pulled his eyes away before either you would notice trying to calm his slightly ragged breaths this wasn't like him at all, he had been raised a gentleman but sitting here he felt anything but. Drawing his eyes up to yours. Incredible, he got many compliments for his eye but yours were something else, one a light brown honey colour the other was the brightest green he had ever seen, like someone had captured an emerald with in it, he swallowed dryly again becoming hot under the collar twitching in his pants as he continued to assess you. He wasn't sure what you was doing in his Mothers house but he had no complaints whatsoever.

"S-so Y/n your not from around here." his voice cracked a little as he spoke you shook your head at him a little uncomfortable as Martha pottered about the kitchen busying herself with making a fresh pot of coffee, you moved to help her but she just shook her head at you.

"No I moved here four months ago from England, your mum has been helping me get settled, America is a lot weirder than I had initially thought" you giggled a little nervously crossing your legs trying to fight off the building tension between your thighs, it wasn't every day you sat across for a delicious looking male, already picturing him as the main character in your next book with the amount of fantasies you were sure to come you'd probably have enough material for a whole series. He grit his teeth a little as his cock jumped at the melodious sound of your voice and thick southern British accent, he wouldn't admit but your voice had now become his favorite sound of all, imagining just how high he could get it if you ever gave him a chance.

"Wow that’s pretty far, and you chose Smallville why not one of the big cities?" He asked as Martha walked across the kitchen washing up some dishes in the sink, you frowned she never did that when you was here, she was up to something.

"Well Gotham didn't look to promising and I couldn't find anything in metropolis, I didn't have much time to move and when I saw the farm house I thought why not and bought it now I'm just across the field from your mum. I might get a small place in the city at some point but right now I'm quite happy here"

"You haven't even been to metropolis yet and your already thinking of buying a place there? shouldn't you check it out first? Maybe you could show her around when she does visit Clark? Take her to see the sights she'd like that? Wouldn't you y/n?" Your jaw sort of hung open....was she trying to set you up with her son? You chuckled nervously seeing the smirk on the other woman face.

"Oh Martha he's probably busy-"

"No! No I'm not, I'm not busy at all!.....I-I mean sure I could to show you around." He interrupted you then flushed, Martha shook her head the boy wouldn't know sublty if it bit him on the ass. You blushed sipping more of your coffee.

"Well if your sure... but I need to finish my book I've already postponed the release date once, don't think the publisher will like another one" he smiled as his mother set down a cup and fresh coffee pot he refilled everyone's cups as she took a seat at the head of the table sitting back watching you both fumble around your words blushing and stuttering, there was definitely something going on here and she was a little smug and had a feeling she was going to enjoy this next bit.

"Your a writer? What do you write?" You blushed bright at his question. Oh shit.

"Haha Yeah, well I sort of write books, fiction"

"I don't think I've heard of you tho?" you looked down going beet red your pussy dampening your panties at the idea of him lying back in his bed reading one of your raunchy books.

"I use an alias so I don't get any backlash" he looked a little surprised but it wasn't uncommon even some journalists did this mostly if the do honest reviews of shops and services

"Oh so what type of fiction do you write children's books?" You flushed more at his innocence looking to Martha who was snickering quietly to herself. She was going to be no help here whatsoever.

"No..Not children's books...My stuff is more...Mature" you desperately looked to Martha eyes screaming. Help me!. poor Clark tilted his head a little not understanding why you seemed to be getting so embarrassed

"Oh for teens then?" his mother finally cracked up laughing out right at the face you pulled at him deciding to put an end to to sorry affair, it was painful to watch.

"Oh for god-She writes porn Clark! Erotica, Adult fantasies" Clark spat his coffee not ready for that at all, coughing and spluttering,you got up quickly just dodging the drink sprayed in your direction.

"MARTHA!..Oh shit are you okay big guy?" Patting to poor mans back as Martha sat there sipping her coffee smirking into her cup.

"What? Like I'm wrong? we'd be here all day if I'd let that pan out" You flushed at her words as he finally caught his breath before you sat back down and sunk in your seat mortified she just came out and said it.

"Ah okay then wow I didn't expect that....I mean you look so cute...Not that I don't think you can be sexy and cute cos you are shit I mean er what do I mean?...Its just not what I'd have thought you'd write....But there's nothing wrong with that, I imagine its quite hard NO!no not hard...Not that its easy that's not what I meant just that it would be hard-Difficult! difficult it would be difficult to write." Martha laughed out loud having the time of her life as you both flushed bright red, Clark was trying to talk himself out of his own embarrassment, you on the other hand just Blinked at him as he had a melt down so red he looked like his head was going to pop, finally taking pity on him you interrupted his babbling.

"Its okay...I get what you mean...Sometimes its... Difficult but you just you know keep at it..." Martha smiled oh yes you two definitely liked each other, now if only she could find a way to set you up together. An awkward silence fell over the kitchen as you fiddled with your cup a little and Clark trying to look anywhere but you failing miserably, she decided to have some mercy and change the subject and let you know that he was available all at once.

"So you and Lois are over for good this time?" You leaned back in your seat watching his face drop you couldn't help feel sorry for him.

"Yeah, she just kept pushing, wanting me to be someone I'm not, to play that part all the time I'm sick of it! it started got to the point I no longer had any choice, I'd do what ever for a quiet life even if it made me unhappy" Martha sighed at him she had seen this coming for a long time but had to step back and let him figure it out for himself.

"Clark I'm sorry things didn't work out I really am but she would never be satisfied until everything went her way you knew that"he nodded solemnly sighing you could tell who ever this Lois was had meant the world to him.

"I think I knew deep down she wasn't the one, I just thought if I carried on, if I stuck with it she would see how it was effecting me and change just a little for my sake. Just like I did for her you know?"

"She was never going to son, in her eyes you had become what she wanted so she didn't have to change at all but she forgot the most important thing in a relationship that's its give and take she forgot to be what you needed" Martha held his hand he sighed looking at her nodding.

"Well this happened just over three weeks ago and she is still carrying on like we are together, like nothings changed! showing up at my apartment when she feels like it and throwing a fit when i don't let her in and is telling everyone I'm her date to this party now I'm stuck, I don't want to go with her but if I go alone then she's going corner me." he sounded exhausted and fed up and slightly bitter towards this woman and with good reason you knew how this type of thing could were on someone, you'd seen it first hand growing up.

"Party? what Party?" he waved his hand at his Mothers question

"A staff party celebrating another award and I don't want to go alone, if I do I know I will end up going back to her I really don't want to. So need to find someone else but there is no one shes still letting everyone think we're together! and none of them want to be on her bad side. I just need a woman to pretend to be my girlfriend for one night"

"Now Clark that's not fair on whoever you take, your a handsome boy and anyone you take might really like you it could crush them if they find out your using them. You can't use one women to prove a point to your ex it isnt right your father and I raised you better then that." You interrupted before she could lay into him anymore.

"I can understand what he is getting at tho, sorry to interrupt and if I'm being out of line tell me, but she sounds like my Mother, relationships are give and take, you can't just take and take and expect your other half to put up with it, Clark if you need someone to go with you to make it clear your finished with her I will go with you, no strings attached or hard feelings but women who think everything should revolve and change around them and their needs really fucks me off!! especially when they pull that shit on a sweet genuine person, in the end these women just destroy the men their with. I don't know you very well but Martha raised you so you can't be that bad and that's enough for me." You hissed some of the words it was like your parents all over again. Your mother was spoilt and selfish always demanding that your father change the way he was for her, you had watched as he had given up everything for her but it was never enough, he had to play a part and it ate away at him for years sending him into a deep depression, yet she never did anything in return or tried to help him. In the end, you at seven years old had found him trying to commit suicide. The thought of you being the one to find his body was what broke the camel's back he threw her out the next day then tried divorcing her but she wouldn't sign the papers so instead they remained separated she had nothing so you was left in your dads care, he was happier then ever but the damage had been done he never found anyone else, she hung around every few months trying to weasel her way back in missing the money more than her family, when she didn't get her way she tried to destroy any happiness he found. Luckily he had sense enough to rewrite his will and piddle away the money in the account he had left to her his final fuck you to her was when the executor of the will read out that you was left with the car, house and just over seven hundred and eighty thousand pounds the housekeeper Susanna was left the holiday home in Devon and forty thousand pounds and your mother well she got twenty nine pound sixty seven pence and was aloud to have the expensive china that the Susanna had been instructed to smash after his passing....Yeah your dad was a bastard but it was funny as fuck. That’s why you had to leave she kept coming to the house harassing you for money. The restraining order hadn't worked so you decided to move you had the means to do it so went for it, she would never find you here and couldn't use the fact shes your mother to find you because you wasn't a minor the cherry on top the account that your dad was leaving for your mother was what he used to pay for your college and university. Martha sighed knowing why you got so wound up and you was right Lois was similar to your mother.

"You'd do that? Really?" You nodded to him smiling

"Absolutely I ain't afraid of no American.... apart from your mum shes scary as fuck, but seriously I can handle anything she tries to throw at me and you can show me around town while your at it, I'm guessing its in metropolis? when is it?" Martha sat back a little stumped turns out she wont have to set you two up after all.

"Err Its this Saturday ,you sure you want to come what about your book?" you waved him off

"Its fine Clark I can bring my laptop and work on it in the hotel" he nodded grinning wide suddenly excited about this next week then faltered.

"Don't bother booking a hotel you can stay with me for the week after all your doing me a huge favor its the least I can do to repay you" he chose to ignore his mothers raised brow. She had a few guesses at exactly how he was planning to pay you back and she doubted it was just going to be bed and breakfast.... probably breakfast in bed if the looks he gave you were anything to go by, not that she minded you would be a better fit for him anyway. Call it mothers intuition but she got the feeling that Clark would be around a little more now that you were just across the field.

"Oh no I couldn't! a hotel would be fine"

"I insist I would love nothing more then to have you to myself for the week" Martha tried to bite back a laugh, she never realized how cheesy her son was trying to flirt, no wonder he didn't have much success but she could see you fall for it hook line and sinker as you flushed squirming in your seat a little, he smirked at you from across the table getting more confident, he liked to think that he had already caught you. Prick he new exactly what he was doing as he leaned back man spreading, making your walls clench.

"You could spend the week ,we can catch a train tomorrow afternoon if you like, be back in time for dinner there's a nice diner near my apartment" you nodded a little suddenly feeling like one of the women in your books flustered heart racing a mile a minute as the man of your dreams offers to take you away from the boring daily routine. The question was were you brave enough to follow through with it, hell you'd moved to the other side of the world on a snap decision, spending a week alone with a drop dead gorgeous man should be a breeze, it didn't take long to decide giving him a shy smile nodding as you had butterflies in your tummy. His face lit up

"Great I will check the train times It's Sunday service but there should still be some in the afternoon"

"Perfect! I should go and pack then I suppose,Martha if I leave a key here could you watch the house for me and feed the fish when I'm gone" she nodded quickly excited but anxious at the same time, hoping that you would hit it off with Clark but at the same time apprehensive about how fast you was going, after all you only just met, but you were both adults and could handle yourselves and she knew you'd be safe with him.

"Oh is it formal or what?"

"Oh yes, its theme is Hollywood glam"

"Oooo I've got the perfect dress, any way I'm off and will see you both tomorrow be back around eleven tomorrow morning?" he stood nodding walking you to the door making you swoon inside as he opened the door above you reminding you just how big he was, a gentle giant.

"I-I'll see you tomorrow then Clark" he leaned down to your ear whispering

"Can't wait, sweet dream's Y/n I know mine will be" you gasped as he pulled away winking chuckling at your hot cheeks, he could have a lot of fun making you blush he decided as you turned quickly scampering down the stairs away from the house towards yours, who's roof you could barely see over the crops from this distance. He stayed there leaning on the door frame arms crossed groaning watching your ass sway as you made your way into the brakes in the crops what the tractors used to get across the field disappearing into the high crops.

"So you like her then?" he jumped back bumping into the door frame making it creak a little at his mothers sudden appearance, she giggled folding the tea towel in her hands.

"Wow you must have taken a shine to her if your so mesmerized by her or more specifically her backside, that I can sneak up on you,I haven't been able to do that since you were a little boy." he chuckled embarrassed that she'd caught him staring

"Not that I think you would but Clark? don't play with her feelings okay? shes a good kid and had it tough over the past few years and she doesn't need a heart break on top of everything else" he snapped his head to his mom.

"Ma you know I wouldn't-" she fixed him with a look

"You just admitted in there that you was going to use some poor girl to make a point to Lois and I'm telling you now if you hurt her I wont be impressed"

"I wouldn't do that to her, I wont hurt her I promise, but I would like to get to know her more...see if we could you know" she smiled softly at him

"I'm just saying your a handsome man and she could fall for you easily, don't use her as a rebound." he sighed she had a point but after seeing you all thoughts of Lois died.

"I like her Ma do you-do you think maybe she could like me to? this time have a relationship with me, get to know Clark Kent before Superman? that Clark could be enough this time?" that made her pause clenching the cloth in her hands twisting it, there was something in the way he said that, so unsure and hopeless she fumed inside his confidence was knocked she felt like she was speaking to the shy beaten down preteen he once was. He truly believed that Clark Kent wasn't good enough anymore and there was only one person to blame for that,it was with those words she realized that Lois had hurt him and hurt him bad, she sighed pulling him down kissing his cheek then cupped his cheeks making him look her in the eye.

"Now you listen to me and you listen well. You are good enough and you are loved, I don't know what Lois has put into your head, and for her safety I don't think I should know, but you forget it right this instant! you hear me?" he nodded a little still unsure as Martha searched his eyes for a little glimmer of confidence but her heart clenched when she couldn't find any, that confidence from earlier must have been false bravado. Lois was lucky she wasn't going to metropolis herself she's probably kill her for hurting her baby, tho she's sure Y/n was going to rip her apart in her stead it was a pity she wouldn't be there to see it.

"I think Y/n is already smitten with you and that you'd be good for one another. I've only known her four months but She doesn't try to be anything she's not, she takes people as she sees them and doesn't have time for all the games other women play its why we get along so well. And as a side note she has never reacted like that to any one else's attempts at flirting trust me there have been quite a few try when we've been out and she shut them down....Quite brutally now that I think of it. But if your serious about her give it your all I don't think you will be disappointed I think you'd be a good match." she wiped under his eye as they welled a little with unshed tears.

"Y-you really think she could like me?" he asked in a small voice.

"There’s no doubt in my mind that she already does, you think she'd agree to spend a week with you if she didn't? Honestly if you both hadn't made plans I was going to play matchmaker myself. Now why don't you go have a cold shower? and I can start on dinner"

"Cold shower?"

"You think I haven't notice your problem?" he flushed laughing wiping at his eyes and pulling his top down a little trying to cover the tent in his pants as she walked back into the house patting his back.

"Oh shit! You think she notice to?!" his mother laughed shrugging

"Who knows I mean she was checking you out to" as she entered the kitchen he stood there dumbfounded

"What Are you sure? I didn't notice"

"You wouldn't your a man, now go have a shower you are not eating at the table like that" he groaned shaking his head closing the front door making his way up the stairs to the bathroom.

#clark kent imagine #clark kent x reader #clark kent x you #clark kent x y/n #superman x reader #superman x you #dc x you #dc imagine #dc x reader #superman x y/n #superman imagine

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the-fusionist · 4 years

Text

It Really Isn’t a Joke (Wonder Woman Salt One-Shot)

Author’s Note: Special thanks to @vixen-uchiha for giving me the idea in my asks! This is a one shot so I will not be continuing this. Also I love Wonder Woman despite writing salt about her lol (* ^.^*) Not maribat, but I do have a maribat fic in the works so yay!

Here I go:

Wonder Woman used to operate in Paris, at least for an extremely short time. Only a week really, so it hardly counted. She had assumed that Paris was safe in her absence, considering that whatever happened there couldn’t possibly be as bad as the enemies the Justice League faced. So she left, blindly disregarding the city that was about to descend into chaos.

Just a few days after her departure, she got word of attacks in Paris. A baby that enlarges. The next time it’s a pigeon man. The third it’s a video of two children decked in animal themed spandex begging for her to return to Paris and help them defeat a butterfly villain. She scoffed when she had watched it.

She knew that she had a large fan club, but she hadn’t thought anyone would be stupid enough to try and trick her back into their city. She couldn’t go back to Paris, the Justice League needed her and these kids should know better than that.

So she scowled as she deleted all of those videos before sending a short message about how they needed to understand that heroes have responsibilities. That a prank like the one they pulled is an unnecessary and dangerous distraction from people who actually needed her help.

After pressing send, she made sure to block them so they could never contact her again. She didn’t have time for ridiculous pranks. As a result, she unknowingly left two children to fend for themselves against a dangerous force. Two spiteful children who held immense power, who would soon grow even more responsible than she could have ever been.

~ 5 years later ~

Wonder Woman sat in the meeting room with a furious Batman and concerned Superman. She was confused about why Bats had suddenly called on such a meeting. She sincerely hoped that they didn’t have another world crisis on their hands. Those were never fun to deal with.

So she sat silently and stared questioningly at the two men. Silently, Batman pulls a remote from god knows where and presses a button. The computer screen, courtesy of Wayne Enterprises, in front of the table they sit at springs to life. A video begins playing, loud noise and crashes resounding throughout the room. Blood curdling screams could be made out among the loud booms.

The image whips around to face a recognizable girl and boy, who had aged since Wonder Woman had last seen them on a screen. She watched unconcerned as they faced a taller man who appeared to be surrounded by butterflies. The ladybug hero appeared to be luring the man closer to the edge of the building, giving up ground as they fought. Then, out of nowhere the cat hero sprang in and buried a peculiar dagger into the man’s back.

The girl then snatched what looked like a brooch off the man, who was falling to the floor in pain. His outfit seemed to melt off into nowhere as he lay defeated on the floor. The girl hero then shouted a muffled phrase while throwing the dagger into the air. As she was doing this, the cat hero was crouched down next to the body of the unconscious villain sobbing. The video suddenly cut.

She turned her attention back to the two men in the room, amused at the grim expressions they wore.

She laughed, “I can’t believe you two fell for that prank by those kids. They’re honestly so annoying. I love my fans but they definitely went too far this time. I didn’t think they would go as far to contact the league after I told them off. Oh well, I suppose you want to pay them a visit after they engaged in making these fake videos again. It really isn’t a joke.”

Superman looked at his colleague with unmasked disgust, while Batman seemed to fume darkly under his cowl.

“It really isn’t a joke. And neither are they,” Batman voiced in a gruff tone laced with icy rage.

The entrance doors slid open to reveal the two teenagers who had been in the video they had been watching just moments ago. The three older heroes beheld haunted eyes and the wary way Ladybug and Chat Noir walked. But there was a dangerous glint when they assessed Wonder Woman.

“Leave us. We have words,” declared Ladybug in a voice that left no room for argument as she stared blankly at Wonder Woman.

Chat Noir stood next to her, a silent sentry of support as he looked solemnly upon older heroes. Superman didn’t need to be a detective like Batman to know the look of distrust. With a silent nod Batman left the room reluctantly with Superman in tow.

Wonder Woman began to feel a slight sense of dread as she looked at the two expressionless heroes, but she ignored it. She didn’t have any reason to be afraid of these two.

Ladybug spoke first. “We wanted to tell you that we forgive you. Even though you abandoned us, it’s wrong to hold grudges. We will not be hostile to you unless you give us a reason. But it will take a while to develop an alliance with you after all that’s been said and done.”

Wonder Woman scoffed at the two children. She couldn’t believe they were acting so high and mighty. Like she was someone less capable. Like she was someone bad. It didn’t sit well with her. Who the hell did they think they were?

She voiced her question scowling, “And just who might you both be to be speaking in such a way?”

This time it was Chat who answered, giving a toothy smile that held a darker edge to it, “We are Ladybug and Chat Noir, holders of the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses of Creation and Destruction.”

Wonder Woman’s face dawned with recognition. Their costumes were very different from those she had been told of in the old stories, probably explaining why she didn’t recognize them. Their outfits had probably changed to suit their needs, as older Miraculous holders had worn battle armor and the like.

She couldn’t believe these two held that much power. They were only children. She had to take the Miraculous from them. They couldn’t possibly be able to protect them, given their age which hinted at inexperience. Yes, desperate measures had to be taken.

So the Amazon stupidly spoke, “Give the Miraculous to me. I can protect them and use them far better than the two of you ever could. So hand them over. Two children like you couldn’t possibly do anything to keep them safe from falling into the wrong hands.”

Ladybug lashed out, “Oh we’ve had five years of experience from keeping them from falling into the wrong hands no thanks to you, and we sure as hell aren’t going to quit now.”

The younger heroes had become tense, waiting for Wonder Woman’s response. The Amazon hadn’t expected resistance, but she knew what she had to do. She unsheathed the sword at her side and prepared to attack.

But before she could even swing her sword, she found herself immobilized by a yo-yo. Her sword was across the room, having been kicked away from her by Chat. She struggled as she tried to break loose, but found she couldn’t. She seethed. It was magic.

“You will not take the Miraculous from us. Give us your word that you will stop and we will release you,” Ladybug spoke in a dangerous voice as she stared down the older hero on the floor.

“I could protect the Miraculous better than the two of you. I’m much older and have more experience than the both of you could. The Miraculous has a long history with the Amazons, they practically belong to us. So release me and give them up.”

Ladybug nodded solemnly at Chat. Before Wonder Woman knew it, pain spread across her head as Chat swung his staff in a practiced way and she felt herself drift off. The yo-yo came loose but the Amazon felt dizzy. She faintly heard a female voice say something about someone called Kaalki. A bright light flashed and she felt the world around her darken.

~ 10 minutes later ~

Wonder Woman woke up in a bed in the infirmary. Batman and Superman stood over her. Clark had the decency to look concerned while Batman kept a stoic expression. A few words were exchanged and she assured them that she was alright, but she was annoyed the two teenagers had gotten away.

Batman had been watching the surveillance footage outside the room before it had blacked out. He and Superman tried to open the doors when they heard struggling inside, but they were magically sealed. As soon as they finally pried them open, they found an unconscious Wonder Woman on the ground near a note folded next to her sword.

Batman finally held out the piece of paper to Wonder Woman. It was a simple note, reading, “To Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons: Remember Atlantis.” There was no signature, only the insignia of a cat’s paw stamped in a deep black ink. Batman noted that the ink seemed to give off an unearthly green glow, similar to the Lazarus Pits. He noticed Diana had paled as she read the note.

“What does Atlantis have to do with this?” he asked sharply.

The Amazon gulped, knowing that Batman would not be happy, “You know about the legend of Atlantis and how it seemingly disappeared. Well, the ruler of Atlantis was actually an Amazon who had a quarrel with the God of Destruction. So, being the God of Destruction, Plagg ended up destroying Atlantis. Plagg and Tikki are the Gods of Creation and Destruction, and their power can be harnessed by the magic of the Miraculouses. Those Miraculouses are what give Ladybug and Chat Noir their power.”

Superman paled. He may be a kryptonian, but those were Gods. They had managed to anger Gods. He groaned.

Batman was furious at Wonder Woman. He truly worked with stupid idiots. First Superman had attacked the two young heroes when they had shown up after Batman had invited them. And now Wonder Woman had pissed them off even more.

Yup. They were in some deep shit. Wonder Woman finally realized, it hadn't been a joke.

Tag List: @rebecarojas07 @theatreandcomicfreak @princessanimeangel11 @maribatlife @ethelphantom @18-fandoms-unite-08 @queengeorgiaaa

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous fandom #ml x dc #wonder woman #superman #batman #ladybug and chat noir #ladybug #chat noir #ml x dc au #wonder woman salt #crossover #idk what to tag here #oneshot #one shot

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hood-ex · 4 years

Text

I know DC won’t do a good job addressing Dick’s issues post-amnesia arc, sooo I decided to go ahead and write a lil fix-it fic where Dick talks to Clark about how the batfam treated him as Ric.

Read on AO3

Summary:

“Pretty much everyone has. Missed the old me, I mean,” he says distantly, incapable of keeping the bitterness from bleeding into his tone.

Unfortunately for him, Clark’s emotionally intelligent enough to pick up on it.

“I miss you every day, no matter what name you go by,” Clark says, jostling him slightly.

Dick leans further away from him so he can look Clark in the eyes. Clark’s expression is as genuine as ever, blue eyes roaming over Dick’s face in concern.

Dick’s throat feels tight. “If that’s true… why did you never come see me? Why didn’t you try to help me?”

Dick finds himself sitting on the ledge of a building in Metropolis one Tuesday night in July.

He’s in the midtown district that’s a halfway point between the downtown and suburb area. It’s always been Dick’s favorite part of Metropolis other than Clark’s apartment.

Most of the businesses in this area are family-owned. They’re decorated with fresh coats of white paint, green plants, pretty lights, and handpicked decor that gives each place it’s own unique feel. It’s the type of place where the owners know you by name and bend over backwards to get you what you’re looking for.

It’s that personal connection that Dick loves the most. It gives the whole place a very welcoming and homey vibe that reminds him a lot of the circus. It’s nothing at all like the fake illusion of community that holds Bludhaven together like an overused piece of scotch tape.

The only downside is that it’s a little too humid for his liking, but the warm breeze that keeps ghosting through his hair makes it bearable. Plus, the fairy lights that are strewn between a lot of the restaurants across from where he’s sitting are mesmerizing to look at. They make it easy to forget about things like the weather.

Dick wishes the restaurants were still open at this time of night. The longer he eyes the Mexican restaurant down the street, the more his stomach starts to rumble insistently. He hasn’t eaten anything since lunch and he’s starving. A few tacos and some salsa would really do wonders for his mood.

Dick crosses his arms over his increasingly loud stomach.

“Sh!” he hisses at it in the same way he hisses at his teammates when they’re being too rowdy.

He clenches his fingers in the fabric of his shirt and lets out a shaky breath, chest feeling too tight for comfort.

Teammates. Friends. Right. He had those once.

He doesn’t want to think about that. About his friends. Or what’s left of them, anyways.

He came here to forget about that stuff. To forget about everything that happened to him in Bludhaven. The destruction of Gotham and his family. The loss of...

“Shit.”

Dick forces the image of Alfred’s smiling face out of his mind. He already cried about Alfred this morning. And yesterday. And the day before that. And a lot of days before that.

He’s tired of crying. Tired of feeling like he’s a stupid piece of Swiss cheese that’s got too many holes in it. Too many pieces missing. He’s just…

So tired.

Dick threads his fingers through his hair and pulls it back out of his face. The more he soaks in the tranquil atmosphere of the street, the more he feels like disrupting it by screaming into the night. He won’t do it, though. It may be Troy Bolton’s style, but it sure isn’t his.

“Thought I recognized your voice.”

Dick looks up, not all that surprised to see Clark gliding down towards him in his Superman gear. Clark’s eyes are warm and friendly, just like how they always are whenever it’s just the two of them. Dick’s glad that at least that hasn’t changed.

“Supes,” he says, sporting a genuine smile. “Long time no see.”

Clark returns the smile easily and floats closer until they’re face to face. He holds out his blue-clad arms in invitation.

Dick feels himself hesitate for a split second. He’s never been hurt by those hands. By a lot of other hands, sure. But never Clark’s.

He dives forward and wraps both his arms around Clark’s shoulders, pressing his cheek into the crook of Clark’s warm neck. Clark hums in happiness and returns the embrace, leaning his head against Dick’s.

Clark is bigger than Dick. Always has been. Getting hugs from him feels like being engulfed by an impenetrable teddy bear. It’s… nice. Feels safe.

Dick likes feeling safe.

It takes a long, long time before either of them pulls away. And even when Clark moves to sit on the ledge, he stills keeps his arm around Dick’s shoulders, pulling Dick close into his side.

Dick lets Clark take all of his weight, and he sighs in relief, feeling the tension drain out of his shoulders.

“I don’t mean to get all mushy on you,” Clark says through a laugh that sounds a little too wet. A little too fake. “But I’ve really missed you.”

And just like that, Dick suddenly feels cold inside. Detached. Like he has to shut his emotions off before he explodes.

He’s heard that same sentence uttered by his family ever since he got his memories back. Part of him understands what they mean. They were emotionally attached to Dick Grayson, not the person he became after he got his brains scrambled. Obviously, they would miss who he used to be.

The other part of him, the more fragile part, feels rejected by them. Because for a period of time, Ric was all he ever was. The only thing he ever knew. The only thing he could be. And his family rejected that part of him. They didn’t want him around unless he was the person they knew.

Even Babs, who had been there when he was learning how to walk again, only showed up in Bludhaven to try and get him to remember who he was before the accident. She didn’t want to support him as Ric. She wanted what was best for her, not what was best for him.

Dick still remembers every detail from those days. It’s not easy for him to forget how his family tried to make him step back into his old life rather than help him move forward into a new one.

Even though he’s had his memories back for a few weeks now, he’s still not over it. He’s not sure he’ll be over it for a long time, if ever.

Clark’s arm suddenly tightens around Dick even more. Shit. Dick must have spaced out. He does that a lot more now these days. That, and he gets really intense headaches a few times a week. Side effects from brain damage and all that.

“Pretty much everyone has. Missed the old me, I mean,” he says distantly, incapable of keeping the bitterness from bleeding into his tone.

Unfortunately for him, Clark’s emotionally intelligent enough to pick up on it.

“I miss you every day, no matter what name you go by,” Clark says, jostling him slightly.

Dick leans further away from him so he can look Clark in the eyes. Clark’s expression is as genuine as ever, blue eyes roaming over Dick’s face in concern.

Dick’s throat feels tight. “If that’s true…why did you never come see me? Why didn’t you try to help me?”

Dick knows it’s not fair to ask that to Superman of all people. Clark can’t save everybody. He can’t be everywhere at once taking care of other people’s problems, especially when things have been so crazy lately with his own son and all the hero deaths...

Fuck. He’s got tears burning in the corners of his eyes now. He refuses to let them fall. Refuses to let himself crumble when he’s spent weeks trying to put himself back together.

“I visited you once while you were in the hospital,” Clark admits with a color of remorse. “Bruce didn’t think it was a good idea for anyone to come see you once you woke up.”

Bruce. Typical.

“He told us you were having a hard time adjusting. Said you didn’t want to be around your family and friends.” Clark eyes him closely. “I’m guessing it’s more complicated than that, isn’t it?”

Dick’s laugh falls flat. “Isn’t it always when it involves Bruce?”

“Touché.”

Dick pulls part of Clark’s cape into his lap and rubs the fabric between his fingers. He’s been sitting up here for way too long. He can’t help but fidget under Clark’s arm.

“You know what he did the first day I got home from the hospital?” Dick asks, focusing on the cape instead of Clark’s gaze. “I didn’t even have time to change out of my hospital gown before Alf—they shuffled me down to the batcave.”

He remembers how confused he’d been at that time. How awestruck he was at the very idea that he apparently grew up in a mansion with a butler. It didn’t make sense to him back then. Not when he only had a few select memories from the circus days and nothing else.

“Imagine my surprise when a man in a bat costume greeted me by jumping down from the goddamn rafters.”

He feels Clark’s stare burning into the side of his head.

“He did not,” Clark says in a tone that’s part disbelief and part oh my fucking god my best friend is a moron.

“Yup,” Dick says with a pop. “Right after that, I was treated to a video of me getting my brains blown out.”

Clark’s mouth drops open in shock. “What the hell?”

“My thoughts exactly. I booked it out of there and never went back.”

“He can’t just… why would he…?”

“Listen, I’m just happy to know that you’re acting like this isn’t normal. Everyone else was perfectly fine with it, and I thought there was something wrong with me for thinking it was insane to watch one of the most traumatic experiences of my life fresh out of the hospital.”

Clark groans and rubs his hands over his face. “Jesus Christ. There’s nothing wrong with you . Bruce on the other hand…”

“A real piece of work,” Dick nods in agreement. “He wanted me to be the same as I was before a bullet snatched my entire life away from me. Everyone did. That’s why they showed me that video, and that’s why I didn’t want to be around anyone I knew. They were only interested in getting me to remember stuff I had no chance of remembering. Shit sucked.”

And it still does. It really, really sucks.

Clark takes a second to process all that. “I can’t even imagine… I’m really sorry, Dick. Really, I am.”

Dick finally raises his head to lock eyes with Clark. He almost does a double-take when he realizes how upset Clark looks with his furrowed brows and deep frown.

“I didn’t know all that was going on. If I had, I would’ve checked on you even if Bruce didn’t want me to. Even if you didn’t want anything to do with me at that point, I still should have tried. I could’ve at least pestered Bruce into helping you more. I never was very good at trying to fix things between you two, though.”

Dick smiles sadly. “No, I guess not. That’s not part of your job description anyways.”

Clark squeezes the back of Dick’s neck. “It’s my job as your friend to give him a kick in the ass for you. How about that?”

“I think I could get behind that. Just… go easy on him, alright? He’s been dealing with a lot of shit lately.”

Clark gives him a pointed look. “You’re his kid. Your health and safety should have been his priority. Not getting your memories back. He needs to know that.”

“I know, I know,” Dick grumbles and crosses his arms. “I just think that with everything that’s happened recently, he’s not going to give you an explanation you’ll be satisfied with. There’s a lot of things he’s lost control of, and honestly, catching the third degree from you probably won’t register with him in a good way right now.”

Clark whistles short and low. “Even when he’s the one in the wrong, you’re still looking out for him. You amaze me Dick Grayson. Always have. You mind if I start sending Jon your way? I think he could learn a thing or two from you. ”

Dick feels his cheeks get hot at the praise. When he was younger, he always felt like a million bucks whenever Clark complimented him. Brain damage or no, that still hasn’t changed.

“From me? I’ve got nothing on you.”

“Hey, don’t talk about my favorite hero like that,” Clark says, booping Dick on the nose.

Even though Clark is probably just teasing him, Dick can’t help but soak in the happiness at the very idea of it.

“And don’t worry about Bruce’s problems right now,” Clark says, voice taking on a concerned tone once again. “If he needs help… I’ll do my best to help him. But I’m still going to talk to him about all of this because he needs to hear it.” Clark’s blue eyes are so intense that Dick almost looks away from him. “You just focus on yourself, alright?”

Dick wants to laugh at that because he’s so tired of thinking about himself. He spent practically an entire year having an identity crisis as Ric, and now that he has all of his memories back, he feels lost all over again. It’s like a rollercoaster he can’t get off of.

“Thanks,” he says anyway, because what the hell else is he supposed to say?

Clark claps him on the back, and just like that, the atmosphere suddenly feels lighter.

Dick feels lighter too. Kind of. Maybe it’s just the humidity making him feel a certain way.

“You know,” Clark says as he peels himself off the ledge and starts floating, “Lois cooked up a mean lasagna earlier. We still have half a pan left. Think you’d be interested in finishing it off with me?”

Dick’s stomach growls at the mention of food. He’s had hunger pain for hours now, and he can feel it reaching a peak. Even if Clark had just asked him to eat a seasoned rat, his answer still would’ve been the same.

“Hell yeah.”

He pulls himself to his feet and jumps forward, knowing that even if he’s uncertain about everything else in his life, the one thing he can rely on is that Clark will catch him.

And he does.

#Dick Grayson #Clark Kent #Nightwing #amnesia #hurt/comfort #my fic

148 notes · View notes

theatresweetheart · 4 years

Note

If you're still looking for prompts, what about in "Tally Marks" either Roman or Patton actually finds Virgil's notebook with the tallies in it? What would happen?

Untold Notebook Secrets

Warnings: Swearing, angst, slight comfort, arguing.

Pairings: Romantic/Parental Royality, Brotherly Analogical, Familial LAMP

Characters: Patton, Roman, Logan, Virgil

Word Count: 1939 words

Continuation/AU: Tally Marks

——————————

In all honesty, he hadn’t meant to find it in the first place.

Patton had asked the boys to pick some books that they didn’t want anymore and put them into labelled piles in their room.

Logan’s stack had very few books—as he tried to keep as many as possible and they all knew he would read them eventually.

Virgil’s stack of books was bigger. Most of the books he was tossing had been old school books, agendas and notebooks that were useless for anything other than nostalgic reasons. The stack that he wanted gone was labelled and every other book he wanted to keep stayed on the shelf.

So, when Logan and Virgil were out for the day, Patton had decided to use the quiet time to get some of those books down into the garage. Getting Logan’s books had been a cinch and he’d asked Roman to come and help with Virgil’s.

And it had been uneventful, until one of the books slipped from the top of the stack and ended up falling down the stairs with a clatter. Setting the books down after he had gotten down the stairs, Patton was about to pick the notebook up without a second thought when he had noticed something odd.

The notebook itself had landed face down and laid on its pages. Picking it up, and seeing no harm in taking a peek into what was in this particular notebook, he paused.

What was inside was so strange. This particular notebook was dated all the way back to when Logan and Virgil had to have been little kids. There were little tally marks through the first page. Patton kept flipping through it and every single page was exactly like the other. Tally mark after tally mark after tally mark. It was so weird, but what did it mean?

So, here he was, sat back on his haunches at the bottom of the stairs staring at a notebook that made no sense.

“Roman,” Patton called, and not a moment later did his husband appear from around the kitchen corner.

“What’s going on, Pat?” Roman’s expression shifted when he saw him knelt on the ground.‌ “You good?”

“Yeah,”‌ he said, before looking up to him. “But I‌ found this notebook in Virgil’s stack of books and its weird because it doesn’t have any words or anything.”

Roman’s brow furrowed. “What does it have then?”

“Just tallies,”‌ Patton explained, lifting the book and giving Roman full view of what was on the pages. “On every single page.”

Roman took a seat on the second to last step, taking the book from Patton’s hands and flipping through the pages himself. “They’re all dated in the top corner.”

“I‌ know.” Patton’s attention flickered down to the rest of the books in the pile. He rearranged them so they were more steady this time.

Roman hummed. “What ages did Logan say they were put into foster care?”

“Logan was nine,” Patton said after a pause, “which would have made Virgil seven.”

Roman’s lips tugged down into a frown. “Because these dates line up with their ages.”

Patton nibbled his lower lip. “But what does it mean?”

“I‌ don’t—”

He paused. After flipping to a few more pages, Roman noticed that there were family names at the top of each page, or whenever a new count of tallies were scribbled in messily.

Williams.

Summers.

Evans.

Johnson.

Walker.

Clark.

Thompson.

Smith.

Davis.

Thomas.

Wood.

Sanders.

Something stiff lodged in Roman’s chest at that. All the other surnames were crossed out except for their own. There were still tallies underneath it. The date started from when he and Patton had fostered Virgil and Logan—then seemed to restart after their adoption—and after flipping that page, it was empty.

The rest of the notebook was empty.

Still, it made no sense.

“Patton,”‌ Roman nudged the other man in the shoulder, before showing the page. “The first few pages, the names were illegible. I‌ don’t know what the tallies mean, but he’s been keeping track of every home they’ve been too.”

He let Patton take the notebook back, looking down at it with heartbreak. “Do you think the marks stand for how long they were there for?”

Roman shook his head, flipping back to the page with their surname on it. “I don’t think that’s it. Because look,”‌ he motioned to all the tallies under their name. “If that was the case, there would have to be a lot more marks in there. We’ve had the boys for almost four years now.”

Before either of them could continue to question it, the front door jiggled and Roman shot to his feet. If the two were going to understand what exactly this book meant—because he had to know—they’d have to go right to the source.

Roman took the book from Patton as he handed it over and disappeared up the stairs into their bedroom.

Patton pulled the rest of the books into his arms just as Logan and Virgil’s voices entered the house. They seemed to be bickering about something, but not to the point where it was vicious.

“Hey boys,” Patton greeted, as Virgil turned the corner and shrugged his camera bag off. “How was your day?”

“Fine, I‌ guess,”‌ Virgil said. “I got some nice pictures of the lake.”

“After dragging me around the city practically to all the places you said we wouldn’t be going,” Logan came around the corner.

“I wanted to get the best shots, Logan. Relax, it’s not like it killed you.”

“No, of course it wouldn’t, but think about how much gas we wasted running about.”

“Oh my god, I’ll pay you back when I‌ get my paycheck on Wednesday. Back off.”

It didn’t take long before both boys took their bickering upstairs and left Patton standing by the front door baffled.

Taking the rest of the books to the garage, Patton set them down in the box with Logan’s before retreating back into the house.

“I‌ think we need to talk to Virge about what we found,”‌ Roman told him as he rounded the corner back into the living room.

“Right now, I‌ don’t think that’s a good idea,” Patton wrapped his arms around himself, peering around Roman to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Logan and Virgil were both really bad when it came to that. Before their adoption, Patton had caught them trying to listen in on conversations concerning them. “Maybe we should ask Logan first, and see if he knows anything?‌ Because what if it’s nothing? I‌ don’t want Virgil to feel like we went through his things deliberately…”

“Okay,”‌ Roman placed his hands on Patton’s shoulders, bringing his husband’s attention back to his own. “We’ll ask Logan.”

“…ask me what?”‌

The suddenness of the nineteen-year-old’s voice from behind him startled both parents into looking at him. Logan had his arms crossed and a brow raised.

“Logan,” Roman tried to cover up what had just happened. “Just the kid we wanted to talk to.”

Logan scrunched his nose, giving both parents a suspicious glance. “Why?”

Patton sighed, giving Roman a pat on the shoulder before walking past the teenager and nodding up the stairs. “Come with us.”

Logan didn’t seem to question it too much and followed both parents up the stairs. They passed his room and then Virgil’s room and soon the door to their own bedroom was shut with the three of them inside.

“Is something wrong?” He asked after a moment of tense silence.

“Does Virgil have his headphones in?”

Logan’s attention moved to Roman. “Yeah, but I‌ don’t understand why that matters.”

“It matters because we found this.” Roman turned and grabbed the purple notebook from inside the bedside drawer.

If he or Patton had any idea that this little notebook was bad, seeing Logan’s eyes widen and face just drop upon seeing it only drove that point home further.

“Logan, sweetheart,”‌ Patton said, stepping forward. “You know what that book is, don’t you?”

Logan stuffed his hands into his pockets, almost unsure of what else he should do with them. His eyes flickered between both of his parents and he nodded hesitantly.

Roman softened, stepping forward as well. “We know it’s not yours,” he said after a moment, “and if you don’t want to tell us because you don’t feel like you should, that’s fine.” He looked down to the little notebook, before back to his kid.‌ “But before we ask Virgil about this, we just wanted to know what the tallies meant.”

Logan struggled for a moment. He was usually so willing to tell his parents everything he knew. Virgil had called him a snitch many times because of it and it wasn’t as if it was untrue. The only reason he told his parents things like that was to keep Virgil safe. Virgil wouldn’t listen to him and Logan knew that, but he was more likely to listen to Patton and Roman.

“It’s a notebook Virgil’s kept since we were kids,”‌ he said after a moment. Logan had been quiet long enough to make sure there was no movement from outside the door. “Every single house we went to he started a new page. Every time he did something wrong, he made a tally on that corresponding page. The more tallies, the more wrongdoings. He’s been doing it since our first foster family. I don’t know where he picked up the habit or the idea for that matter.”

“Oh,”‌ Patton’s noise was breathless. His chest ached with that knowledge.

Roman just had to know something. “Why are there so many tallies under our name? Do you know that?”

Logan’s expression seemed to drop further. It was never likely to see him like that. Logan wasn’t an emotionally expressive kid. “When he argues with you or Pa,” he said, “he counts that as a wrongdoing. Gets into a fight at school, gets in trouble, says something out of line, does something wrong, doesn’t do something he was told to, disappoints you or Pa.”

“Virgil could never disappoint us,”‌ Patton said firmly.

“Virgil doesn’t know that,” Logan told him, meeting that same firmness. “Or if he does, he’s too deep into that self-deprecation to really believe it. Every other parent we lived with told him he was a disappointment. You’re the first people that haven’t and he’s waiting for it.”

Patton raised a hand to his mouth, looking horrified by the information and Roman came up to stand behind him, an arm around his shoulder to show that he was there. “They did?”

Logan nodded, but it was more hesitant this time. “All those tallies are like strikes. If misses too much, he’ll eventually strike out.”

Logan had managed to shock both parents into silence and he felt a knot growing in his stomach at those heartbroken looks.

“But Virgil doesn’t know that I know about it,”‌ Logan quickly said, “and you can’t tell him that you know either. It’s a private thing he’s kept from me for years. If he finds out you guys know about it, it’ll break him.”

Patton wanted to say something, but Logan gave him a pleading look.

“Please, you have to understand,”‌ he tried more earnestly. “You can’t treat him any differently then before either just because you know now. He’ll catch on, he’s vigilant that way.”

Roman squeezed Patton’s shoulder. “He’s got a point, Pat. If Virgil realizes we know, it’s not going to be good.”

Patton’s eyes roved between his husband and his eldest teenage son standing at the door. The idea of it still bothered him, but as he held the little notebook, he let out a breath. “Okay.”

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bluespruce25 · 3 years

Text

A Life for a Life to Balance the Scales

CW: Suicide/Self-sacrifice

Follow #L4LBS for updates | Up on AO3 | Previous Chapter

Chapter 2 of 5: We Go Together

Lena was working alone in her lab to destroy the last vestiges of Non Nocere and considering where to next apply her mind and energy. She needed a new project but had lost faith in her own ability to create and innovate for good. She stood in front of her lab table, tablet in hand, flicking through files and noting ideas. It was taking longer than anticipated because, despite her best efforts, she found her thoughts frequently turning to Kara, to Supergirl, to Kara Zor-El; to that infuriating blonde who almost ruined her life. The time for berating herself for not seeing it sooner had passed. Now, she was working to reconcile the three of them in her mind, hoping to find an answer there that would provide clarity and direction on how to proceed. She wasn’t sure if she had forgiven Kara, but she was finally ready to admit that she still loved her; admit to herself that is; this was not something she would ever admit to Kara. If the revelation of Kara’s secret had proven anything, it was that Kara could not possibly return her feelings. Kara could not be in love with her and yet lie to her every moment they spent together. The way Kara treated her, that was not love. Then again, Lena asked herself with a sigh, “What do I know of love?”

Lost in her daydreams, Lena almost missed the notifications that popped up on the screen of her monitor, then on her tablet, as they filled her displays with increasing urgency. Startled out of her reverie by a particularly aggressive alert in bold red text, Lena swiveled to her computer and started frantically typing.

“No. No no no no no, this can’t be right. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Unless.”

“Oh god, Kara !”

Lena grabbed her tablet and her bag and ran out the door of the lab.

---

Alex was standing at the war table in the middle of the control room looking wistfully at the second floor balcony. She could just make out the tops of heads where the Superfriends were gathered around Brainy when Lena Luthor came crashing into her line of vision.

Alex was momentarily stunned because there was no universe in which Lena Luther crashed into a room. As Lena flailed herself into a full stop in front of Alex, the agent managed to close her mouth and regain her composure, if just barely.

“It’s Kara, the Sun. Have you seen these readings?”

“Woah, woah there killer. Slow down.” Alex put her hands out as if to steady Lena.

“Alex! Have you seen these readings?!”

“Lena, what are you talking about?” Alex asked as Lena pulled her tablet out of her bag and thrust it in front of Alex’s face.

From what Alex could tell, LuthorCorp’s satellites in deep space had picked up on a massive solar flare. These readings showed one of the most prolific solar flares ever witnessed on Earth.

“Lena, I know. We all saw this two days ago. It’s been all over the news ever since. We are still seeing the geomagnetic storms today. Power has gone out all over the city and half of the country’s servers are down. So much for cloud computing.”

“Alex.”

Alex, looked up. She had never seen Lena Luthor look this disheveled, even with about a dozen assasination attempts in her frame of reference. Lena’s expression was almost wild. Her hair was somewhat disheveled and she was still breathing heavily from running into the room. The flush was resting high in her cheeks and her eyes were wide, frantic. Alex cocked her eyebrow and grasped Lena’s elbow, waiting for her to collect herself enough to elaborate.

“Look at the energy readings. Look at the radiation signature.” Lena was jabbing her finger into the tablet hard enough to make an audible noise.

Alex went pale and looked down at the tablet with new understanding. She felt as the blood drained out of her internal organs. She suddenly didn’t feel quite steady on her own two feet.

“Lena…” Alex said, though barely a whisper. “Lena, these indicators... I don’t know anything that would show up like this...not unless.”

Alex looked up at Lena expectantly, waiting for Lena to tell her that she’s wrong; waiting for the prodigal genius to explain the real reason why the solar flare is giving off readings that would only be possible if a Kryptonian had flung themselves bodily into the sun.

“Alex. Where’s Kara?” Alex opened her mouth, “I...she-,” but she couldn’t finish her answer. Lena repeated, “ Where. Is. Kara? ”

Alex continued to stare unseeing at a nondescript point in space somewhere in the vicinity of Lena’s face.

“ALEX, WHERE IS SHE?! ”

Lena was screaming at Alex and tears were raining down from her cheeks onto the cool polished marble of the DEO floor, but Alex couldn’t move. Alex couldn’t think or breathe or move.

---

Eventually, the sound of Lena crying out wordlessly in pain snapped the agent out of it. She turned on her heel and addressed Vasquez at the control panel.

“Pull up everything we have on the solar flare two days ago. I want radiation signatures, energy readings, thermal imaging, EVERYTHING WE HAVE. And I need it NOW.”

“Yes, ma’am. Right away, Director Danvers.”

Alex was lost in her own thoughts while her agents worked, this cannot be happening. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t do that to us. She doesn’t even have powers in space. It’s not even possible. How would she even get there?

Alex’s body went cold as realization washed over her. Reaching for her phone, she dialed Clark. She turned to face Lena, as she spoke into the phone, “Clark, it’s about Kara. No time to explain. I need you to go to the fortress. Now. As fast as you can. Call me when you get there.”

“Thank you, Clark.”

Lena was standing with her arms down, holding her bag with both hands in front of her. She had regained her composure and the mask Alex was so used to seeing had slipped back into place. The only hint of thoughts hiding behind it was the flash of panic in the way she moved her eyes; the set of her mouth, her lips pressed so thin they may as well be nonexistent, as if she could press her mouth closed hard enough to keep her pain contained inside.

She opened it carefully to ask, “Alex, when did you last see her?”

“She was here two days ago checking on Brainy. She said something about making Lex pay for his crimes and…” Alex reached out and grasped Lena’s left bicep. “Lena, I think she was saying goodbye.” Alex turned to face the empty foyer, the balcony Supergirl used as a personal entrance. “Oh my god. Kara, what have you done?”

“Alex... Director Danvers! ,” Lena grabbed Alex’s arm and shook her as Alex tried to bury her head in her hands, “What did she say about Lex? What was she going to do to him? Does she know where he is?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t say. She just said that he had to pay. That she had to do it for all of us. Lena, I’ve never seen her like that. I think...I think Kara was going to kill Lex.”

“Lex hasn’t been to LuthorCorp in two days. It came up at a board meeting this morning. I assumed that he was skipping town because Brainy had been found and Leviathan defeated.”

Lena turned to Alex again, interrupting her pacing, “Alex, what if she did it? What if Supergirl killed Lex Luthor?”

“Supergirl does not kill.”

“Then where is she?”

***

One thing no one counted on, certainly not Lex, was that Kara had spent a lot of time thinking while she was at the Vanishing Point with all the other Paragons. She still had all her powers, including her superhearing. There was no time at the Vanishing Point, no sun to rise or set, no rhythm to life but the rhythm they gave it. Their bodies were frozen in a moment outside of time and space. The only cycle was the unending dance of sleep and awareness. It had been her little secret that when she couldn’t rest, couldn’t turn off her mind, she would listen to the heartbeats of the other Paragons. Just like she did with Alex’s in Midvale and Lena’s in National City. It was the soundtrack to her misery, her anchor in the void. It was a coping mechanism; meditative almost. It wasn’t too long until she had memorized the heartbeats of every Paragon; including Lex Luthor.

You see, he might have known every power she possessed through his copious research on Kal El, but there’s one secret she’d never given away to anyone. One trick that only she knew, and for once, she could be one step ahead of him in his sick game of chess. She would only have one shot to play this card.

So there she was, hovering high over LuthorCorp, sending out her hearing all across the city, looking for the signature heartbeat she had decided to stop forever.

It took longer than she expected; hours in fact. She knew it would be difficult. Lex traveled in lead-lined and soundproofed cars, and lived and worked in lead-lined and soundproofed rooms. He had built his whole life around thwarting Kal El. But even Lex Luthor had to leave his bubble of safety occasionally.

As soon as he stepped out of the car, she heard it. On the corner of 8th and Main. Using her x-ray vision she narrowed in on a barber shop. Of course his vanity would be his downfall. The beginnings of a smile lifted the corner of her mouth, but it didn’t last long as she steeled herself for what came next.

Lex was lounging in his favorite barber’s chair at the very back of the shop, a warm towel over his face in preparation for his first close shave since Crisis, and boy was he looking forward to it. Lex was a regular at Al’s Corner Shop. He had been relieved to see it still standing in the same place after his return from saving the universe, it was the one thing he hadn’t considered in his adventure with the Book of Destiny, but he was glad that his rare oversight hadn’t cost him the best shave he’d ever found.

As he sat there with a smug grin plastered on his face under a hot towel, he heard the bells on the door jangle against each other when another customer came in. He lost track of the footsteps as he ruminated on the pros and cons of bribing Al to work for him exclusively in the comfort of his own home. His smile faltered as he realized that the footsteps accompanying the new customer were still moving closer, too close. They should have stopped and deposited the offending stranger in a chair further down the row, closer to the door. Instead, the footsteps came to a stop right behind him. He barely had time to rip the towel off his face. He started to stand, ready to unleash a torrent of vitriol on the person arrogant enough to interrupt his only time of relaxation, when he saw the blue and red of the suit standing over him.

He froze.

“Supergirl, ” he hissed. He sat back down hard into the chair. His mind immediately started spinning his go-to villain speech, as he straightened his shoulders and smoothed his features into calm neutrality. He decided to start with, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Before he finished the lilt on the end of the question, he was airborne. It seemed that Supergirl was no longer tolerant of the melodramatics of villains’ speeches and heroes’ pleas. He would have found this an amusing discovery, were it not that he was currently being flown across the city at mach speed; his body thrown helplessly over Supergirl’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He lost consciousness as they broke the sound barrier somewhere over Saskatchewan.

***

They were gathered around the war table. Alex was bent over a tablet studying the latest readings, Nia was standing behind Brainy who, against everyone’s advice, was out of bed and sitting in a wheelchair looking up at the control room screens trying to piece together any other possible explanation for what Lena had already deduced.

Kelly was pacing behind them, on the phone with James who was at his gate waiting to board the first flight back to National City.

Lena was standing off to the side, her bag still held in both hands in front of her. She looked like a statue, so still that no one had noticed her in almost an hour. Lena remembered a time when she had been at the center of this camaraderie, when her advice had been sought and she had been intimately involved in reviewing the data and making the plans. Now she was just a witness to other people’s pain. “I will not let them be a witness to mine,” she thought as she checked her dispassionate mask vigilantly. Her hands went to the watch stowed in her purse, to the button she had been pressing over, and over again for hours. She knew that if Kara were still on Earth, she would have found a way to be there by now.

---

Everything stopped as soon as Alex’s phone rang on the war table. They all rushed to the table. Even Lena was stirred from the shadows to move towards the lifeline on the other end of the call. Alex put it on speaker for the Superfriends to hear:

AD: “Clark...”

CK: “Alex, she’s not here. Hold on, is that the crest off her suit? It’s just sitting here, like it’s on display or something. What is going on?”

AD: “What do you mean the crest? Does it look intentional? Did she put it there?”

CK:“Alex, I don’t know. Kelex said that she was here two days ago with a man and then. Hold on.”

[In the background, they heard Clark ask Kelex, “What pod? Show me.”]

AD: “Clark, what’s going on? Was that Kelex? Does he know where she went?”

CK: “Alex. [Clark’s voice was muffled. They heard him sniffing through his nose.] Alex, she’s gone. She took my pod. Kelex said she programmed it to fly into the sun. He tried to stop her but she commanded him.”

AD: “The sun? Clark-”

CK: “Alex, that’s not all. Kelex said that she brought someone here with her. He showed me the surveillance. It was Lex. She brought Lex here and she injected him with something. Alex, I think Lex...is... is dead. She put him in the pod and she flew off into the sun with his body.”

CK: “...Alex? Alex, are you there? Alex ?!”

Alex couldn’t hear him anymore. Alex couldn’t hear anyone or anything. Alex couldn’t move or speak or think. She barely registered as the phone dropped out of her hand and smashed to pieces against the polished concrete of the DEO floor. She saw everyone’s eyes on her, watched as they moved toward her in slow motion. She saw their mouths move, their faces twist in shouts, but she heard nothing.

“ Kara-”

The tilting world blinked in front of her eyes once, twice, and then everything went black.

***

Lex came-to a while later in what could only be the fortress. “You know, Supergirl, this isn’t quite how I imagined my next visit to the Fortress of Solitude, but I have to thank you for helping me get here,” he said with narrowed eyes and a smug lopsided grin on his lips.

Kara wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off his face with a backhand to the mouth, but she kept her composure. His time to taunt was nearing its end, and he hadn’t yet come to realize it.

Bound to his chair with the crystalline ice of the Fortress, Lex surveyed his surroundings. He noticed that his transmat portal watch had been removed at some point and he looked up just as Supergirl seemed to finish x-raying his body for any other devices.

“What do you want?” Lex asked, uncharacteristically lacking in snark this time.

Supergirl said nothing as she fiddled with a syringe full of clear liquid.

His eyes grew three sizes as she walked over to where he was sitting.

Without fanfare, without speeches, or explanation, Supergirl inserted the syringe into his carotid artery and depressed the plunger fully; only then did she speak.

“Lex Luthor, you have murdered countless citizens of Earth. You have been sentenced to 31 consecutive lifetime sentences. You broke out of prison while serving that term and promptly murdered again. You were largely responsible for the mass extinction event known as Crisis and are, therefore, responsible for the deaths of untold trillions. For these crimes, and those you will inevitably commit in the future, I cannot allow you to live.”

Kara turned her back to Lex and sighed, “You should have stayed dead when Lena killed you the first time.”

Lex raged against his bonds, “What have you done to me?!”

He felt his limbs getting heavier. It was getting harder to keep his eyes open. Kara leveled her gaze at him, her eyes full of pity and sorrow.

“It was the most humane way. It will be over soon. You won’t feel it; I made sure of that. If you calmed down, it might even be peaceful.”

Lex broke out into a toothy smile. “You’ll never come back from this. Killing me will haunt you until the day you die. And as a Kryptonian, you’ll have eternity to agonize over this choice. It will eat you alive. You may kill me, but you will never survive it, Supergirl ,” he spit the last word back at her; his eyes barely open, his head starting to sag off his shoulders, his posture slipping.

Supergirl closed the gap between them, slowly, deliberately. She reached one hand gently under his chin and raised it so his eyes could meet her own.

“You’re right Lex. This time, we go together.”

His eyes showed just the barest flicker of confusion before he went slack. Supergirl dropped to one knee, hanging her head as she listened while his heartbeat slowed, and eventually came to a stop. She x-rayed his chest, just to be certain and found it still, eerily still.

---

The one thing Lex Luthor never counted on, could never understand, was that not only would Supergirl sacrifice her life to protect her friends, but after Crisis, she would sacrifice her soul. It just so happened that she was destined to sacrifice both to kill him.

Kara let out a shaky breath as she knelt next to Lex’s body. She didn’t know how to feel. She’d never once killed on purpose. It went against everything that she was; everything that she believed in. Kara knew that as Lex’s heart stopped beating, Supergirl ceased to exist.

Kara stood and, without using her powers, she peeled the crest of the great House of El off of her suit. She couldn’t bear to wear her house crest any longer. Where she was going, she had to go alone. El Mayyarah had gotten her far, but it couldn’t go with her to meet her end.

Kara cleansed Lex’s body in the Kryptonian way and gave him full funeral rights in the only manner she knew. She gently placed his body into the back of Kal-El’s repaired pod and climbed into the pilot’s seat.

It was a tight squeeze for both of them, the pod gave Kara flashbacks to her time in the Phantom Zone, triggering what would probably be her last claustrophobia-induced panic attack. The dead body of her arch nemesis laying just behind her didn’t bring her any added comfort.

Once she recovered, she took a deep breath and sealed the pod. She raised her hand to the pad in front of her and began to key in the coordinates for their destination. Halfway through, she had trouble making out the Kryptonian glyphs through her blurred vision. She reached a hand to her cheeks and noted with detachment that it came away covered in warm wetness. She raised her eyebrows but couldn't reach deep enough to be surprised.

She wiped her eyes and carried on entering the coordinates. Once she was done, she turned to Kelex standing outside the pod at the command module. “Kelex, initiate the launch sequence.”

“I feel it is my duty to warn you that the coordinates you have entered - “

Kara mustered the last piece of courage she possessed. She raised her chin and steeled her eyes, and in a decisive tone Kara declared, “I am Kara Zor-El, Last Daughter of Krypton, and I command you to initiate the launch sequence.”

Taken aback, but bowing to her authority, Kelex replied, “As you wish, Kara Zor-El. May your journey bring you peace”

With that, Kara felt the pod rumble as the engine kicked on for the first time in over thirty years.

With one last look at Kelex, she was flung out into the atmosphere on a parabolic trajectory into space.

***

Small sounds started to grate against her consciousness. She could hear incessant beeping and murmuring. As she opened her eyes, Alex’s field of vision was flooded with the harsh, white lighting of the med bay. After a few moments of blinking her eyes into focus, she could make out the medical equipment and the dark blobs around the edge of her vision solidified into her friends’ faces. Nia & Brainy, James & Kelly, even Clark was there standing vigil over her.

As she blinked again and looked up to the tall figure looming over her, she let out a sob, not expecting to see J’onn’s worried eyes looking back at her.

“J’onn...Kara…she-”

“I know, Alex. I know.” J’onn whispered in a soothing tone, trying to keep the tears from spilling over, “just get some rest for now. We will talk more when you’re ready.” He carefully brushed her hair off her forehead and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the top of her head. With that, he moved towards the door.

“Alex?”

The agent turned back to look at him as he paused on his way out, an earnest look on his face.

“I love you; so very much.”

Alex just nodded, pressing her lips together to stop the sobs from escaping.

The rest of her friends followed shortly after, leaving with soft pats on her knees and feet, squeezes of her hand, mumbling words she just couldn’t care enough to try to decipher.

As they funneled out one by one, only Kelly remained. Even Brainy wheeled himself away from the bed next to hers to give them their privacy. The idea that he shouldn’t be out of bed lest he compromise his recovery briefly flitted across Alex’s mind as she pursed her lips, but it just wouldn’t stick. She couldn’t bring herself to care about anything, or anyone. She closed her eyes against the torrent of feelings and memories that threatened to overwhelm her.

“Hey,” Kelly started softly, “talk to me. What are you feeling?”

Alex just shook her head, eyes closed and mouth shut firmly against whatever she might have said.

“Okay. Okay, it’s okay. Can I just sit here with you? Hold your hand?” Kelly asked.

Alex dipped her head just enough to be taken as acquiescence. The agent would’ve given anything to go back to the void of unconsciousness. She ran her fingers through her short hair, remembering the days before the DEO where she drowned her own feelings of failure in the bottom of a bottle. Somehow she knew that Kelly wouldn’t let that kind of self-destructive behavior slide this time. Alex sighed and dropped her chin to her chest. She might as well start talking because Kelly was nothing if not patient. They both knew who would win the waiting game.

Alex’s voice cracked as she attempted to untangle her thoughts, “I have always, always, had faith that the universe would bring her back to me. Through everything, when her brain was altered on Red K, when Cadmus and Lillian kidnapped her and Mon-El, when Mon-El left and Kara...” Alex choked back a sob. Now that she’d started, she couldn’t stop, “...when Supergirl tried to destroy Kara Danvers. Every single time she set off into the multiverse with Barry. Even during Crisis. I always knew that she would come back to me; that she would find a way back. She’s the god damn Paragon of Hope for christ’s sake.” Alex threw her hands up and out towards the end of her bed in an exasperated half-shrug.

“This time is different, Kel. This feels... real.” Alex looked up into Kelly’s eyes, trying to convey wordlessly the feeling settling over her, the finality of it. “I don’t think she’s coming back from this one and I don’t -” Alex sobbed uncontrollably so that Kelly just barely made out her next words, “- I don’t know who I am without her.”

Kelly took the hand closest to her on the bed in both of hers. She thought of a million things to say, a million ways to reassure Alex that there was far more to her than her relationship to sister, that she was her own person before Kara came into her life and that she would be her own person now. She considered trying to reassure her that everything would be okay, but immediately the therapist in her shot that idea down, hard . This would never be okay, even if someday Alex would be. Kelly sighed softly and eventually settled on silence. She crawled into Alex’s bed and held the red headed woman until she drifted back to sleep, spent from the grief spilling out of her in endless tears.

As she slept, Alex muttered the same thing over and over, one name, Kara.

It was Kelly’s turn to cry, softly so as to avoid waking Alex. She let the tears flow freely and tried to keep her body from being wracked by the sobs threatening to crush her resolve. She reached out to gently cradle Alex’s cheek, pulling her even closer. “I’m so sorry, Alex. I’m so sorry.”

---

“Alex, it is time. Enough of this. You cannot stay in bed like this any longer. We need you, Alex. The rest of us still need you.” J’onn implored Alex, but there wasn’t even a flicker of recognition across her face. Alex wasn’t there. She was awake, but the lights were off and no one was home. “Alex, it’s been a week. You have to get up and you have to get out of bed.” Still nothing, Alex just stared straight ahead out of the glass panels of the wall in front of her. She hadn’t said anything since her brief discussion with Kelly. She wasn’t eating, and for the time being they had been giving her IV nutrition, but if she didn’t eat that day they were facing a feeding tube. J’onn said as much, but Zombie Alex gave no indication that she’d heard him.

J’onn sighed. Hands on his hips, he turned away from her to face out over the DEO. He watched as Eliza held Kelly outside Alex’s room. He shook his head, mind made up. He had planned to wait until she recovered, but there was no sense in that now. If he didn’t tell her now, then she may never recover, and then, what was the point. He walked over to sit on the edge of her bed and Alex’s eyes flickered to his for just a moment before darting away again.

“She left you a message, Alex.” J’onn said softly. “She recorded her goodbyes on Sunstone Crystals in the pod. She sent the pod to Earth, but the solar flare knocked it off course. It landed on Mars. That’s how I knew to come back. That’s why I’m here.”

This seemed to rouse something in her. Alex looked at J’onn, the emptiness in her eyes breaking his heart, but he couldn’t force himself to break contact.

“Alex, you have to listen to her. You have to give her the chance to say goodbye. You owe her that much.”

Alex’s eyes snapped back straight-ahead. She opened her mouth for the first time in almost a week, “I don’t owe her anything.”

J’onn sighed and patted her leg, getting up to leave. He paused and said, “When you’re ready; I’ll keep it safe for you.”

He hazarded one last look back at her before leaving, her cheeks were glossy with tears as she cried silently. Alone.

***

Kara had hours to kill until they reached their destination. She had to do something to drown out the voice in her head, the voice of the dead man on the floor behind her seat; to drown out her own doubts and regrets.

She decided to use those regrets as inspiration; to use her last few hours to continue her work as the Paragon of Hope, even if Supergirl was no more. Taking out a handful of Sunstone Crystals - small, pale, and long, about the size and shape of a tube of lipstick, albeit more angular - she set to work saying goodbye. She knew that her friends would never understand, but at least it could bring her some peace on her journey.

Alex.

Alex would never understand. Kara was so grateful that Alex had Kelly. She knew that Kelly would help her sister navigate her grief. The therapist in Kelly would never allow Alex to fall into the dark, but that didn’t mean that Kara can’t try to do her part to help give Alex some closure.

What do you say to everyone who has loved you, supported you, and guided you when it’s time to say goodbye?

---

Kara placed the last Sunstone Crystal in the console as her destination loomed before her. She wiped her eyes, closing them before the last tear could fall. She powered down the engines of the pod to give herself a moment more time, to decide how to do this. She programmed the pod to hover in place while she made her preparations. She pulled out a small metal box and placed it between the empty, broken stitches where the crest of the House of El used to sit. Slowly, the enhanced suit that Lena designed for her unfurled, covering her usual suit and then encapsulating her face in a helmet-like design. If she was going to have enough time to finish her plan, she had to have some protection from the raw violence of open space. Kara placed a hand over the crest she knew she no longer deserved to bear. She had forgotten that Lena’s suit would also bear the crest. Apparently, it was her fate to be unable to escape the shadow of her family; of her lost world and her responsibility to Earth.

Taking a shaky breath, Kara opened the pod hatch, exposing them to the full elements of the sun. Kara couldn’t fly in space, but with the pod hovering in place, she could maneuver around it, as long as she stayed tethered.

She got to work extricating Lex’s body from the pod. A process that was much more difficult than getting him in originally. It wasn’t helped by how intensely she felt her powers, the energy of the yellow sun coursing through her. “ At least I can’t hurt him, ” she thought sarcastically.

Finally, she got him out of the pod. Then she grabbed a Kryptonian shroud, her old cape, originally a piece of Kal El’s baby blanket. She wrapped it around his supine body and whispered a Kryptonian prayer as she secured it to the best of her ability.

She turned toward her target and closed her eyes for a moment, soaking in the rays of the sun. As she opened them again she gazed upon it. The source of her power, of her identity on earth, was now closer than any human could survive. She turned Lex so the head of his body was facing the sun and she gave him a gentle send off. She watched as his body drifted closer and closer to the surface of the sun, gaining speed as the gravity increased, until suddenly in a flash of light he was enveloped in the surge of a solar flare. Kara continued to hover next to the pod for a few minutes, allowing this new reality to sink in, a reality where Lex was dead; where Supergirl killed him; where she, Kara Zor-El, personally escorted him to the sun where he was engulfed in this bright, glowing source of energy and life. It was poetic, she thought, that his body should return to the very thing that gave her and her cousin their powers. That he should return to the very thing that made the people he hated most in the world.

Kara sighed. She couldn’t delay the inevitable any further. It was her turn to return to the sun, to the source of her power. It was her turn to be cleansed of her crimes, to be cleansed of murdering Lex.

“I do not kill.”

She said it to herself, but also to Rao. She had violated her most sacred moral oath and she must now pay the price. Her purpose was once to protect Kal El, but since landing on earth so many years after him, it had transformed into protecting the citizens of Earth. Now that she had murdered a human, she could no longer be a force for good.

Kara tugged once on the tether to bring her back to the pod. Without getting in, she reached her hand up to program the coordinates of Earth. She programmed the pod with a delay so that it could record her final moments. She rested her hand for a moment on the console, taking a deep breath as she drew from the calming force of her home planet’s presence in the pod. Opening her eyes, she detached the tether and placed it back on the seat. She hit the autopilot button and pushed off as the hatch slid itself closed. Turning her back to the pod, she pushed off of it with one arm to float gently towards the sun.

As the sun got closer and closer, Kara spread her arms wide, bending her left leg slightly at the knee, like she used to do so often when hovering on Earth just before she landed somewhere. She closed her eyes as she felt the gravity pull her in, accelerating her towards her end. At the last second, she lifted her chin and met the sun as an old friend. She felt no pain, as in a flash, she was welcomed home.

***

Next Chapter

#L4LBS #Content Warning: Suicide/Self-sacrifice #Supercorp #Grief and mourning #Stop making Supergirl sacrifice herself for no reason #Exploring the toll her sacrifice takes on loved ones #Written before S6 plot announced #Was already mad about it #Stayed mad about it

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keanureevesisbae · 4 years

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“Never out of practice” - Chapter 3

Summary: When Darcie’s father loses an important case, a killer seeks revenge, by kidnapping the entire Angel family. Though John thought that he was officially retired, he has to save his Darcie and her family, because he can’t lose her.

John Wick x OFC Darcie

Word count: 3.2k

Warnings: Implied kidnapping

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

Sunday mornings are my favorite mornings. The cafe opens at twelve and it’s the only day in the week where I don’t have to leave at seven, to prep the cafe.

But, no matter if I have to go to work or not, I get up at six. I just can’t help it. I want to surprise John with a breakfast in bed. When I saw him in bed, so relaxed and precious, I couldn’t help but smile. He really is the love of my life.

Our rose tea is setting, while I prepare Tiki and Oreo’s food, with the two of them sitting near my feet, patiently waiting for their food to arrive.

Tiki whimpers as she stares at her bowl.

‘I know, sweetheart, but have a little patience,’ I say.

I feel two strong arms around my waist. ‘Good morning, beautiful,’ John whispers in my ear. ‘Have I told you that you look really good in my shirts?’

‘You have told me once or twice.’

While I store away the kibble, John places the bowls on the floor. The dogs eat their breakfast and John lifts me up and places me on the counter. ‘How are you feeling, baby?’ he asks, standing between my legs.

‘A little sore,’ I admit, adding a wink. ‘But overall, I feel good.’ I fold my hands in the back of his neck. ‘Why are you out of bed?’ I ask him.

‘I missed my lady.’

‘I was going to make you some breakfast in bed, but now you ruined my surprise.’

John places his large hands on my bare thighs. ‘We can make breakfast together and eat it in bed,’ he suggests.

‘Or you make me breakfast and bring it to me in bed,’ I say with a grin.

He laughs. ‘Or I make you breakfast, but you sit right here, so I can look at your beautiful face.’ John pecks my lips, squeezes my thighs.

‘Sounds like a plan,’ I chuckle and I watch him prepare the pancake batter.

I let out a sigh in content, leaning my head against the cupboard. Somehow my mind wanders off from last night, to what my mother said. I told her that I didn’t want to think that far ahead into the future, but somehow it’s the only thing I can think about, no matter what I do or where I am.

Yesterday, when I saw two little kids in the cafe, with their parents, my heart started beating a little faster. The dad with the four year old girl on his lap, the mom with a two year old boy against her chest, who was fast asleep.

I can see myself having kids with John one day. I thought about it since the first time he called me ‘mommy’ when he spoke to Tiki. Though the birth part still scares the living daylight out of me (thank you for ruining that for me, mother, by forcing me to watch that program), I can see a future with little kids running around our house. Maybe two, a boy and a girl, or three, I don’t know.

I wonder what John would be like as a father. I bet he—despite his upbringing—would be such a loving and doting dad, who would spoil the kids to death, but also discipline them, teaching them right and wrong. He would be so involved, I imagine, especially since he is already retired.

The idea of fostering older kids, I still want that, but maybe a little later, when our own kids are older.

Our own kids…

Well, it’s what I want really. Having kids with him one day.

‘Darcie,’ John says, causing me to snap out of my thoughts.

‘What?’ I ask.

‘You looked a little daze. I was wondering where you were with your mind.’

‘I’m sorry.’ I smile at him and say: ‘Just daydreaming.’

His smile grows wide. ‘Care to let me in?’

‘Nah, think it’s too soon to talk to you about this.’

‘I highly doubt that,’ John says. ‘If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay, but you can talk to me about anything. I hope you know that.’

I take a deep breath and nod. John is still stirring the pancake batter. I always use the mixer, but I think this is John’s way of showing off. Watching him flex is muscles… I mean, you don’t hear me complaining.

‘Do you want kids?’ I blurt out, unable to keep it to myself. ‘With me, obviously.’

John doesn’t seem fazed at first, but when he looks up, his eyes has widened. ‘You’re thinking about kids?’

‘When we were at my parents and you and dad went out for a drive, my mom was wondering when I would be giving her grandchildren. I told her that that was too far ahead in the future, but since that moment I can’t stop thinking about it. And you are giving me no reaction at all. I bet you’re freaking out, so yeah, I’m going away, to call my mom and to tell her that it’s all her fault that you and I are breaking up, because of this kid thing and then I’ll go to Jennie, because I’m too embarrassed. I’m so sorry.’

I jump off the counter and want to walk away, but John grabs my hand. ‘Don’t go,’ he whispers. He slowly pulls me back, so I’m standing right in front of him. His pointer finger lifts up my chin, since I’m just staring at his chest. ‘I’m not breaking up with you, because you brought up our future. There is no need to be embarrassed for thinking about that.’

‘So you are not freaking out?’ I ask.

‘No, I was just a bit surprised, but I’m not freaking out.’ He smiles at me and presses a kiss on the tip of my nose. ‘But to answer your question: I have given it a thought,’ John admits. ‘And well, I would love it to have a mini you or me running around one day. Maybe more.’

My eyes practically roll out of their sockets. He really wants kids with me? Am I dreaming? ‘You want that?’ I ask, just to be sure. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, of course.’ He smiles, thin lines appearing near his eyes. ‘I mean, I can see you being such a lovely and caring mom. I just thought you said you wanted to foster.’

‘I still want that,’ I say, ‘but when I said that, I didn’t know you that well. I didn’t know you were the most caring and loving man I would ever meet. I talked to Eric about it when we were dating, but he didn’t want kids, probably because he was hiding one from me. The idea of having our little kids running around… I can see it happen.’

John smiles. ‘So you want to have kids with me.’ Why does he look oddly pleased with himself?

‘I mean, I could run around Times Square, yelling that I want kids and need some sperm, see who is going to respond.’

He bursts into a loud laughter, hiding his face in his hands. ‘You’re not doing that,’ he tells me, ‘because the only one who is getting you pregnant, is me.’

‘Oh my God, John,’ I say, a blush appearing on my cheeks. ‘You have to say it like that?’

He holds back a chuckle and kisses my forehead. ‘How about: You’re not doing that, because you and I will have kids one day.’

I bite my lip and fist his shirt between my fingers. ‘Yeah that’s better.’

‘I’m proud of you, Darcie.’

‘Why is that?’

‘You never talk about the future,’ he admits, ‘nor do you ever want to think that far ahead, but somehow you—voluntarily—mentioned something that involves our future.’ He shrugs. ‘I mean, you are definitely growing.’

Tiki barks and I look down to her and Oreo, whose tails are both wagging. ‘I think they need to go out for a walk,’ I say.

‘First you and I have some breakfast, than those two are getting their walks.’

⟢⟡⟣

The entire workday I couldn’t help but think about two things. One, how John wants kids with me and two, about how Pete Stanford is a free man. Those things are a horrible combo.

The cafe is about to close and the only two customers who are still here, are Roger and Ellie. It still melts my heart to see the Roger treats his new girlfriend. I love having her around here. When things are a little busy, she gets up from the table and helps us out for a quick second. She truly is one of a kind.

‘Okay you two,’ I say to them. ‘The cafe closes in three minutes.’

‘Almost done, miss Angel,’ Roger says, scribbling something down.

Ellie closes her books and says with a smile: ‘I had to help Roger with his algebra homework.’

‘You are a true angel.’ I place a hand on her shoulder. ‘He is a lucky guy.’

‘I certainly am.’ Roger closes his books and looks at his girlfriend with almost heart eyes. ‘Are you ready to go, love?’

Oh my God, he called her love. I’m going to cry. This is so soft.

‘Yes,’ she says, shoving her books in her backpack. She stands up and wraps her arms around me. Since she has to go to school again, she usually works here at Wednesdays and Saturdays and visits the cafe at Sundays. ‘Thank you for the cupcakes, Darcie.’

‘You’re welcome, sweetheart.’

Roger stands up and gives me a hug. I think Roger might be the sweetest seventeen year old in the world. ‘I’ll be here tomorrow, miss Angel,’ he tells me. ‘Promise.’

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

Roger gently pulls Ellie’s backpack from her hands and holds her hand. Raye opens the door for one of our favorite couples. ‘You bring her home safely,’ Raye says. ‘And you walk her all the way to her door.’

‘I will, miss Clarke.’

She pats his back and closes the door behind them. ‘They are the cutest,’ she says, turning the sign over from OPEN to CLOSE. ‘God, it’s so fucking unfair that even someone as annoying as Roger has a girlfriend. Really makes me wish I had someone.’

‘Your time will come,’ I say.

‘I’ve been meaning to ask this the entire day,’ Raye says, ‘but since you are so prude during work hours, I thought I’d wait until we were closed.’

‘This can’t be good,’ I mumble.

‘Did you have sex last night?’

‘Raye Clarke!’ I yell at her.

Jennie looks up from the sink. ‘Why are you asking her that?’ she asks curiously.

‘Because when John was sitting here, they kept exchanging glances and when he left and she gave him a kiss, it was a little more intense than usual.’

I feel a little bit exposed by this revelation of hers and because I’m not saying anything, Raye starts laughing. ‘I fucking knew it.’

‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ I say.

‘Of course you don’t want to,’ she laughs. ‘But I do have another question.’

‘I don’t want to hear it.’

‘I mean, besides the obvious sexual tension between you two, there was something else.’ Raye crosses her arms in front of her chest. ‘What was that about? Can you explain?’

JOHN WANTS KIDS WITH ME. I shake my head. ‘No, can’t explain that.’

Raye raises an eyebrow, but leaves it at that.

We continue to clean up the kitchen, the rest of the tables, but as usual, Raye sneakingly is checking her phone. ‘Oh my God,’ she all of the sudden says. She stares at her phone, her brows furrowed together. Before I can tell her that she needs to put that phone away, so she can clean up as well, she says: ‘Your father apparently did an interview five hours ago. Talking about how they would, though Pete is a free man now, will seek justice and put him away for life.’

‘How is your dad by the way?’ Jennie asks.

‘He was supposed to cocoon with my mother, but turns out he is really seeking for revenge,’ I mumble. ‘I haven’t spoken to him today.’

‘Still can’t believe he got away with it,’ Raye says. ‘He is such a psychopath.’

Jennie sighs deeply. ‘Poor girl didn’t deserve to die like that and she certainly doesn’t deserve her murderer getting away with it. Fucking lunatic.’

Raye puts her phone away and says: ‘I’ve got to go,’ she says. ‘I have a friends with benefits appointment.’

I raise an eyebrow. ‘You still do that?’

‘Like every month,’ she explains. ‘But only when he’s not seeing other girls.’

Jennie scrunches her nose, thinking about Raye’s friends with benefits. ‘What was his name again?’

‘Logan,’ she answers. ‘I haven’t had sex in four weeks and I really need to get laid.’

‘Your toys not good enough?’ Jennie asks.

She sighs. ‘No, my favorite one broke and my hand isn’t good enough.’

‘Use your shower head,’ I say, without even thinking. My cheeks fire up and I place my hand in front of my mouth. Can’t believe I just let that slip.

Raye lets out a high pitched squeak. ‘Oh my God, how do you even know about that? Did you watch porn? Did our sweet little Darcie watch porn? Never pecked you for that.’

‘No, it’s… God, I was sixteen, still living at home and too scared to buy myself a toy. I read something about that online, so I tried it.’

‘Oh my God,’ Jennie laughs. ‘This is hilarious.’

‘Don’t talk about it. Raye, fucking go and have sex with Logan and I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Raye kisses us both on our cheeks and while still cackling with laughter, she exits the cafe.

‘You can go home as well,’ I say to Jennie. ‘I just need to check the register and some paperwork and then I’m off anyway.’

‘Are you sure?’ she asks.

‘Yeah, I’m sure. You worked hard today, so you go home. I insist.’

‘Well, that means I can finally catch up with my series.’ She gives me a hug and says: ‘Say hi to John from me when he picks you up.’

‘Will do.’

After Jennie left the cafe, I’m checking the register and read some of the paperwork. It’s been about an hour since my friends left, when John calls me. ‘Sweetheart,’ he says when I pick up, ‘I’m stuck in traffic, on a Sunday of all days, but I’ll try to be there as soon as possible.’

‘Don’t rush, please. I would like to see you in preferably one piece.’

‘I’d like to be in one piece as well,’ he mentions. ‘I didn’t bring the dogs with me. I took them out for a long walk after we left the cafe and they are pretty out.’

‘You take good care of them, honey,’ I say with a smile. ‘You really don’t need to rush. Have a ton of paper work to do anyways.’

‘I’ll help you,’ he says, ‘so please don’t stress about it, okay?’

Since I really don’t want to read through the pile of paper, I’m quick to say: ‘Okay, I’ll wait for you.’

I walk to the kitchen and clean up some bits that we’ve missed, while chatting to John about how my day was. We briefly mention Pete Stanford, but I don’t want to talk about that for too long.

‘So,’ John says, ‘call me a bit premature, but I looked up some baby names today.’

‘Oh my God, you’re so adorable,’ I chuckle, feeling my heart flutter. ‘Did you see any names you liked?’

‘I did see one name that I really liked. Livia, for a girl.’

‘Livia Wick,’ I say, ‘I like the sound of that.’

‘You like that?’

‘Mister John Wick, I really like how you are thinking about baby names. But please know that we’re not having a kid tomorrow.’

‘No, sweetheart, I understand. I just couldn’t help myself.’ He laughs. ‘Let me ask a question that is a little bit more urgent: would you like pizza for dinner or the left over pancakes?’

‘Left over pancakes,’ I say, ‘but this time I want chocolate chips in mine.’ I hear the door open and say: ‘Oh, you’re here early. Thought you were stuck in traffic, sweetheart.’

‘Darcie, I’m still stuck in traffic.’

I roll my eyes. If it is that stuck up old man again, who demanded Raye would give him her number, I’m gonna strangle him. I walk to the front. ‘I’m sorry, we’re closed,’ I say.

‘There she is.’

My soul nearly leaves my body. What the hell is Pete Stanford doing in my cafe? ‘Maybe you didn’t read the sign, but we are closed.’

‘Just wanting to check in with you.’

That can’t be good. ‘We don’t know each other.’

‘You really think that, Darcie?’

I hear John’s voice through my phone, but I’m too scared to bring the phone to my ear. I’m too scared to move anyways. He knows my name. Pete fucking Stanford knows my name. Please, John, be here soon. ‘Well,’ I utter, ‘I know you from the television, but I wouldn’t know how you’d know me.’

‘Well, I knew that Christian Angel had a daughter,’ Pete Stanford says. ‘A few Google searches… It didn’t take me very long before to know that his daughter has such a lovely cafe.’

‘What do you want from me?’ I ask him. Please, Darcie, do not fucking faint. John will be here any second. ‘I mean, you won your case, you’re a free man now. Why bother coming to my cafe?’

‘Because your dad ruined my life.’ Pete Stanford looks at me with his piercing blue eyes. He still looks rough, probably didn’t waste a second to go on his little scavenger hunt.

The door opens and four other guys step in, one even bigger than the other.

‘Okay,’ I say, my voice shaking, ‘but what do I have to do with that?’

Pete Stanford laughs. ‘Well, I’m going to get my revenge and it doesn’t take a genius to know what Christian Angels biggest fear is. Something happening to his lovely wife and his beautiful daughter.’

‘No, no, no, no,’ I say, ‘please, you need to leave my parents alone.’

‘I won’t, because I already took your parents and I’m going to let them both watch how their precious daughter will be ripped up in pieces,’ Pete says. He starts to dig through his pocket and shows me a pendant. ‘Does this look familiar?’

Oh my God, that is my mothers. My father gave it to her three years ago and I remember nearly vomiting in my mouth because of how romantic it was and how jealous I was, because Eric never bought me anything remotely nice. ‘What is happening?’ I ask.

One guy takes a step closer and Pete says: ‘Don’t resist too much, Darcie. We don’t want to hurt you just yet.’

I run inside the kitchen, but the guy is too strong and his arms are wrapped up around my body, dragging me to the exit. ‘Let go of me,’ I scream and I try to kick the man. Somehow I manage to kick him on the knee and it must’ve been a weak spot of his, because he growls in pain.

But I also managed to anger him even more. He throws me against the wall and by the time I hit the floor, I’m out.

Taglist: @toomanystoriessolittletime @flhorah @allie1804-fan @cynic-spirit @raven-black102

#keanu reeves x oc #keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves #keanu reeves x original character #keanu reeves x ofc #john wick x oc #john wick fanfic #john wick #john wick x original character #john wick x ofc #never out of practice

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bellamyblake · 4 years

Note

Can I get a soft happy cuddling time for bellarke? Please 🥺

This is a total mess cause I’m very sleepy, depressed and tired but-

Usually it is her that comes home late at night, always being held up at medbay, roped up in yet another case of a child who tripped over and needed to have their hand or leg cast or worse, someone got back from a trip outside the gates and ended up bleeding all over.

During the winter they dealt with the worst of the flu and he wouldn’t see her for days, only stopping by medbay to bring her food from the mess hall that she insisted he passed by through the window so he doesn’t get in and risk catching the disease.

He argued he always could get sick considering half the camp is but she still wouldn’t let him.

They’d stay by the window and talk because he refused to leave until she finished her plate, plus it was the only time besides sleep, when he was certain she’d get some rest.

Now, however...this year, it was different.

In the past few months he’s been the one coming back home late, picking up on extra guard shifts, sometimes spending the entire night out and then keeping it up until noon on the next day, pulling a double.

They needed the rations.

And she had to cut off on work the more time passed.

He smiles as he takes off his shoes and his jacket, trying to be quiet about it so he doesn’t wake her before he joins her under the blankets.

He can see her small figure curled up on her side, with her face to the light coming from the hearth and he tiptoes to the fire to make sure he puts on a few more woods before he gets in, desperate to always keep her safe, especially now.

When he finally turns to see her face he smiles.

There was just something so adorable about Clarke when she was asleep, the way her nose scrunched up sometimes, how she liked brushing it with her index finger as if trying to get rid of a scratch, her mouth falling open and quiet snores escaping her, her hair falling over her cheek and forehead, hiding away the red blush of her cheeks.

He tilts his head fondly at her.

“You’re staring and it’s creepy.” she huffs and he chuckles.

Of course she’d hear him.

“Can’t I enjoy a moment to look at my wife’s face?”

“No unless you get your ass in bed and kiss said wife’s face.”

“I love how pouty you are when you’re sleepy.” he smiles as he circles around the bed and starts taking off the gun and knives strapped to his belt as well as his holster.

“Shirt or no shirt?” he asks her, fingers wrapped around his tee.

Clarke really was grumpy when she was sleepy but she could get mean and angry if he was over or under-dressed too.

Sometimes on cold nights, she was in the mood of burying her nose in his shirt and sliding her hand under it, caressing his ribs, other times, she demanded he threw it off so she could push him on his back and nestle just above his heart, rubbing her nose in the crook of his neck.

He joked that he felt more like a pillow than a real human being but she just shushed him and kissed the place right above his heart which of course, made him forgive her grumpiness.

“No shirt.” she mumbles and he takes it off with a swipe “But I want you to spoon me.”

“Sure thing.” he promises when he picks up the blanket which turns out to be...

“Three, Clarke? You are that cold? Why didn’t you put more woods in the fire?”

“Just get in here you’re letting the cold in.” she scolds him and he quickly slides behind her, wrapping his hand around her middle and pushing her to his chest. She lets herself fall into him and moans satisfied.

“Better?”

“Better.”

“I don’t understand how you can feel cold under three blankets, in a bed next to a literal fireplace.” he chides lightly. “Is that my hoodie?” he asks after a beat when he realizes she’s wearing his black hoodie and blue shirt underneath while her legs, he knew were bare because she pressed her cold toes to him and when he slid his hand down to her thigh he found nothing but her polka dot panties.

“Clarke?”

“Don’t blame me, your son missed you. This was the best I could do before you got home.” he smiles fondly now, raises himself on his elbow and kisses her cheek before his hand moves to the increasingly growing bump.

“That so?”

“Mhm.”

“He’s been kicking you a lot?” she nods again, sneaking a peak at him before burying her face back in the pillow.

He moves a strand of her hair with his other hand and kisses her cheek once more, then her nose, then her lips. She wakes up a bit when he gets there and it makes him smile.

“A damn lot.”

“Bad guy.”

“Bellamy Blake, don’t insult our unborn child!” he chuckles again and rubs his hand up and down her bump.

God, some days he still can’t believe they really have this.

It’s been a year since they decided to start trying and honestly, both of them were getting kind of hopeless when one night she came home after a long shift in medbay and he waited for her on the dinner table, refusing to let her go to bed without having eaten first.

She’d been cranky for the past few weeks, always achy and snapping at him but he took it out to the fact that there was an increasingly growing amount of stupid patients with dumb injuries around camp with the weather all warm and sunny back then.

When she saw him there she had stopped dead on her feet and looked between him and the plate on the table.

“What are you doing?” she had asked.

“What does it look like I’m doing. I’m making sure you put a bite in your mouth today” he huffs annoyed and she expects a snarky retort but instead she just stands there and starts...crying.

He had jumped off his seat and rushed to her.

“Clarke, what’s going on, what’s wrong?”

She had smiled and kept crying and then caught his hand and put it on her stomach. It took him a moment to figure it out, thinking that she was in pain or that she wanted help but couldn’t speak it out and then he met her eyes and he saw it all there.

He had dropped to his knees and kissed her stomach, crying himself.

Now here they were, almost eight months later, with so little to go and he still felt as if he was dreaming some days.

“I’m sorry, big boy.” he says rubbing her stomach and moving under the three blankets to kiss her stomach briefly “I love you, but we have to give mom a rest, what do you say?”

He almost doesn’t believe it when he gets a kick at that.

“I’ll take it as a yes.”

“Hey, come here.” Clarke pulls him up, rolling on her back and letting him hover over.

It’s harder now, especially with the big bump between them but still he makes sure he inches away from their son before he lets her pull him in for a long and hard kiss.

When he pulls up she cups his cheeks and looks into his eyes.

“You’re tired, Bell.” she says with worry and he shakes his head stubbornly. So what? He’s been working a bit more than usually, it’s nothing he couldn’t and hasn’t handled before.

“Good thing I’m in bed with you now, huh?”

“Bellamy-”

“Shh, come on, let’s cuddle.” he’s good at that lately, changing the subject, making it all about them instead of him.

After all, it was her who struggled every day to carry their child, her who had to walk around with swollen ankles and really awful back pain, her who couldn’t tie her shoes alone anymore and her who still went to work and though with Abby’s help he had convinced her to cut down on her hours, still spent endless amounts of time on foot with a tiny little bean kicking at her at all times or making her go crazy about eating a water melon in the middle of the night like last week.

His extra shifts were nothing in comparison.

“Tell me about your guys’ day.” he begs when he helps her roll over to her side and spoon her just like before.

He loves them like this-all warm and soft. Clarke gets really mushy, like jello as she herself says, when he’s there, but he knows it’s more than that-she feels safe wrapped around him and he loves that he can give her that comfort especially now, even if he can’t do much else to ease her pain.

When he throws his arm over her big tummy, she likes covering it with her smaller one, her fingers as usually...cold,move over his rough ones.

She blabs about medbay, those kids that went sliding down a hill and some of them got really bad bruises or even breaks.

“Remind me to never let our kid slide, okay?”

“But you love the snow?” he had argued in their baby boy’s defense.

“Fine...but only with our supervision.”

“Oh, that’s a given, princess.” she smiles at that and he has to lean down and kiss her beauty mark because he just can’t help himself. “How’s the back pain today?” he asks carefully.

“Fine. Better.”

He always could tell when she lied and she wasn’t the only one trying to divert the subject from herself so he slides his hand away from under hers and moves it to her back, where he carefully presses on with his thumb. Her breath hitches and he finds a couple of more swollen places to dig into and try to relax.

“Better, huh?”

“Like yours is any good. I bet you can’t lift your arm above your head right now.”

“I can.”

“If I wasn’t so tired I’d make you stand up and prove it to me but we’ll have to leave it for tomorrow.”

That makes him furrow his eyebrows as he keeps working on the knots in her back feeling her tension leave her. He hates that she was so exhausted and quickly makes up his mind as to what added to it.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me, you know?” he stops his short massage when he feels her hand move and squeeze his wrist before pulling it over to her bump, a quiet request that he can stop now, she’s all better and they can rest.

One look at her gave him everything he needed to know-she was on the verge of falling but by some miracle, she was managing to keep herself afloat.

“If I didn’t, who’d make sure you actually got into bed?” she’s not wrong.

Most nights he came in and upon finding her asleep, started doing chores around the cabin so he could ease her tasks for tomorrow and then he’d sneak into the little shack they had in the backyard where he was working on their baby boy’s crib.

He wanted to have everything ready before he came so what if he lost a few hours of sleep to make sure it was all done?

“I’m fine, Clarke.” he promises, pulling her to his chest once more and tucking the blankets over them, making sure they’re all warm.

“Problem is...I don’t believe ....that lie anymore.” she mumbles with eyes drooping making him smile once more. God, she was everything like this, he thought.

“I love you, princess.” he mumbles before resting his head on her shoulder, cheek pressed to hers, making her sigh in content.

“Love you too, Bell.” he starts drifting off himself when he hears her add “But I’m still making you lift your arm above your head tomorrow just to prove my point.”

He smiles thinking how in the morning they’ll be a total mess, both of them rushing to get to work, throwing clothes at each other, discussing plans, kissing in the bathroom, maybe making love and in the midst of it all, he was sure, she’d find a way to grab his elbow and push his arm up.

And dammit, he knew even now...he’d lose that fight.

#bellarke fanfiction #bellarke #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #bellarke fic #fluff #kid!fic #okay idk #im very tired #i should've left this for tomorrow #lol #sorry nonnie #my writing #Anonymous

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final-girl96 · 3 years

Text

FEAR: Don't Let Go

Will be posting on wattpad more than anything but I will try to post here as well and new chapters will be posted on Fridays

Nick Clark x Reader

Warnings: smut, blood, gore, mention of drug use, death, swearing, some anxiety, murder, fighting, it's Fear The Walking Dead

A/N: if any of the warnings bother you please do not read. I will put an warning for smut just so you know so if want to skip it you can. Please like, comment, reblog it helps keep me motivated. Feed back is appreciated but please be kind. If you would like to be tagged let me know. There is a link to my wattpad up top as well.

Chapter Seven

Nick was sleeping on the couch and I went back to the bedroom and changed into sweatpants and a new tee-shirt and walked back out to the living room. "Hey," Alicia said coming up beside me. "Hey," I said back to her as I looked outside. "Can I ask you something?" She asked sitting on the bench that sat in front of the window. "Yeah. What's up?" I asked turning to face her. "Why? Why are you still with Nick? After everything he's put us through, put you through," she asked. I took a deep breath and looked out the window again. I thought over what I was going to say as I watch the sun go down.

"Honestly?" I asked and shook my head. "I don't know why. I know I should move on and forget but the truth is I love him. We've been together for so long. I honestly don't know if I could be with someone else. And now this, whatever it is that's going on. What sense does it make? You guys are my family, my only family. I wouldn't be able to just walk away," I told her. She nodded and didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I'm worried about Matt," she said. "I know you are. But whatever is going on, it doesn't seem safe to be around people who have symptoms. Something just feels off," I told her. She then got up and walked away.

Nick got up off the couch and looked at me. He held his hand out and I walked over to him. He laid down do left foot was touching the floor and his right leg was stretched out and he put his right arm up beside his head. "What's wrong? You all right?" I asked standing beside the couch. He nodded and grabbed my hand pulling me towards him "lay with me," he said. I smiled a little and laid down between him and the back of the couch. I laid my head on his chest and bent my right leg so I was half straddling him while laying down. His arms wrapped around me and he kissed the top of my head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know," I told him. His arms wrapped around me tighter "are those my clothes?" He asked. I giggled "What's yours is mine," I said looking up at him. "You look way better in them than I do," he said and kissed my forehead. "I know," I said sarcastically and he rolled his eyes. "I love you, you know that right?" He asked looking into my eyes. I nodded "I know. I love you too," I said and laid my head back on his chest.

"What took you so long?" We heard Alicia say a few minutes later. "Shut the door," Madison's voice said as she walked inside. "How's your brother?" She asked Alicia. Nick sat up keeping his one around me. I sat up straight and put my legs over the edge of the couch. "Never better," Nick said as he sat up straighter to sit beside me as Madison walked into the living room. I heard a bottle of pills rattle and she handed him one. He took it looking at it. "Oxy? Oxy's good. How much?" He asked. "It's enough to get us to the desert," Madison said. "And then what?" Nick asked as he started to grind the oxy with the bottom of his glass of water on the coaster.

I stood up only for Nick to grab my wrist. "Wow, wow, wow. Hey, where are you going? Don't leave," He asked. I just stood frozen and looked at Madison who stared at him. "Hey," he snapped his fingers at Madison. "She tried to leave," he told her. Nick tried to get me to sit down but I was frozen in my spot. Madison looked towards the hall then back at Nick. "Yeah. We stopped her," he said and she walked away. He looked up at me "sit. I don't want you to leave," he said and I shook my head "I can't sit here and watch you snort that," I told him.

"Okay, baby, look I'll do it and let you know when I'm finished okay. Then will please come back," he said standing up looking at me. "Please," he begged. "Okay. Yeah. I'm going to check to see if Alicia is okay," I said and he kissed my forehead before I walked away. I walked back the hall and knocked on Alicia's door. "Hey, it's me," I said and the door opened. "You okay?" I asked and she nodded. "Yeah, but I think something happened to mom," she said.

After about five minutes Nick called for me and I walked back out to the living room to see him laying on the couch with his back facing the back cushions. He reached his arm out and I walked over laying down facing him. He moved my one leg so it was over his hip and he pulled me tight against his body and put his face in the crook of my neck kissing my neck before closing his eyes. I just laid there laying my head on top of his thinking about everything that was going on. We had lit some candles earlier since the power went out.

Madison was standing nearby trying to get ahold of Travis who wasn't answering. Alicia had come out of her bedroom and was looking through one of the windows with a flashlight. She walked back into the living room. "Deaf again?" She asked Madison. "Phone lines keep going off and on. Power cuts out. Tell me. What's going on?" Alicia asked and I looked towards them. We heard a scream and I shot up off the couch going to the window. Me, Alicia, and Madison looked through the blinds. "Oh, my god," Alicia said from beside me. We saw Mr. Dawson chasing Mrs. Cruz then knock her down and attacking her. "Oh, my fucking god," I whispered out.

Don't look. Don't look," Madison said closing the curtains. "Mom, Mr. Dawson's hurting them," Alicia said and we kept looking out the window as he attacked her. She was able to get away from him and ran off. Alicia ran towards the door "No. Alicia!" Madison and I yelled and after her stopping her from going outside. Madison closed the door as we stood in front of Alicia. "What are you doing? Mom. Mom!" Alicia yelled. Madison just leaned herself on the door as we listened to Mrs. Cruz screaming.

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welllpthisishappening · 4 years

Text

By City-Wide Decree

It's a crush.

And in any other situation, that would be it. He'd be able to keep going about his day in normal pining fashion. But nothing about this is normal. Because in the last few minutes Bellamy's complained about shredded cheese and Clarke's making jokes about Bleecker Street and apparently there's some city-wide rule about car services now.

Or: the last thing Bellamy Blake expected during a national health pandemic was being forced to kiss his neighbor.

----

Rating: Teen Word Count: Just over 5.6K AN: Hey there, internet. It was really only a matter of time until I wrote some kind of nonsense here. But I do want to say that this story does include COVID-19 stuff, so if that is not for you, I totally get it. That being said, this admittedly very silly nonsense, is very much just that and hopefully it offers a bit of a distraction for a few minutes.

Also on Ao3 if that’s your jam

----

He almost drops the box of macaroni in his hand.

The edge stabs his palm, a weird pain that's really more like the general sense of Bellamy’s frustration because just a few seconds ago he witnessed two grown adults glaring at each other over the final few rolls of toilet paper in aisle five. And there aren’t really that many other people in this grocery store, which he supposes is a good thing. Everyone taking social distancing seriously and staying home and he’s got every intention of doing the same, but first he’s got to deal with this.

“Pre-shredded cheese,” he mumbles under his breath, glancing at the box. He’s bent the edge. He hopes he doesn’t break the box. There weren’t many left in that aisle, either. Just the one thing of shells Bellamy had been able to grab and four boxes of whole wheat linguine, which, really, almost offends him more than the idea of pre-shredded cheese.

In a variety of flavors.

And adjectives.

“Cheese should not have adjectives attached to it,” Bellamy continues, and apparently he’s reached the crazy portion of his day.

That also seems to be the standard for most of the world, though. He’d been very close to breaking up the toilet paper fight. So maybe he’s just catching up to everyone else. He needs to go home. He needs to—

“Pick a goddamn cheese,” he says. Whatever sound he makes at his own private conversation isn’t so much a sigh, but rather another round of frustration and possible resignation and taco-flavored cheese can’t be that bad.

Right? Maybe.

He can’t imagine what kind of preservatives are used in taco-flavored cheese. Like..are there even spices involved? There should be spices. When all of this is over he’s going to write a strongly worded letter to the Kraft family.

Bellamy sighs again, drawing more than a few looks and a glare or too, and he’s going to give himself a headache if he keeps rolling his eyes at their current rate. He lunges forward, careful to account for the box of macaroni and the small thing of buttermilk that’s honestly starting to make his fingers go numb and—

An arm moves next to his.

She’s also a little off-balance — a backpack that’s close to bursting and something that might actually be paint streaked across her left cheek, but Bellamy can barely register that when she’s already starting to stumble back, a package of margarine clutched in her hand.

“Oh,” Clarke breathes, eyes going wide and what looks like the first hints of a smile tugging at the ends of her mouth. “Hey, Bell.”

His stomach flies into his throat.

As per usual.

That might be the most normal part of his day so far.

To say that he’s been harboring a pretty monumental crush on Clarke Griffin since she moved into the apartment across the hall from Bellamy would be—

Accurate.

It would be accurate, honestly.

In almost painful fashion.

Six months ago, she showed up with a handful of boxes and paint on her jeans, and a smile that seemed to reverberate through him. In a way where that doesn’t sound insane. Maybe he wasn’t catching up to everyone else. Maybe he was just sprinting past them. Towards crazy.

The kind of crazy that also means he’s stupid into his neighbor.

She’d said hi first that day too. So he offered to help her carry some boxes and she’d promised she’d be ok, but he was stubborn and a little overwhelmed by the very specific color of her eyes and she really did have a lot of stuff and they’d ordered from the Thai place up the street after.

And if that's not the basis for a pretty solid friendship, then Bellamy isn’t sure what is.

Only that’s really all it is. Because, well—Bellamy isn’t sure. Octavia would say he’s being an idiot and to some extent that’s true, but he and Clarke are pretty good friends now and sometimes she curls up on the corner of his couch when she’s stressed about the arts budget of the high school she works at in the Bowery or he kicks on her door when he’s got some new pages he thinks she might like to read and it’s—

Good.

Normal.

In a world that is very quickly spiraling out of control.

He hopes those people didn’t actually start yelling over toilet paper. He’s not sure his brain would be able to cope with that.

“What are you doing here?” Clarke asks, taking another step back and he hadn’t noticed she’s got another bag of art supplies in her left hand.

“Glaring at cheese.” “I’m sorry, what?” “Glaring at cheese,” Bellamy repeats. He nods towards the minimal selection, Clarke’s eyes widening at his admittedly petty reaction to the cheese issue. It should not be an issue. “I—well, I’m running low on some food and I—” He grits his teeth, suddenly hopeful that he’ll be able to melt into the supermarket floor.

That’s probably not hygienic.

“Is it super top secret, then?” Bellamy clicks his tongue. “No, it’s—ok, do you promise not to laugh?” “Absolutely not.” “You look like you staged a battle getting here.” “Nah,” she objects, but there’s a slight blush creeping across her cheeks and it’s probably wrong to feel some kind of victory at that. Just, like—with everything else going on. Flirting should probably be a low priority at this point.

“Then…” “Why are you angry at the cheese?” “Mostly the selection of cheese,” Bellamy admits. “Because I’m supposed to use a very specific kind, so—” “—For what?” “My mom’s mac and cheese recipe.” She gapes at him. Which is not the reaction he was hoping for, really. He’s not sure what would be better, but he had been pretty partial to the blush and he’s positive this is somehow the paint streak’s fault.

Clarke has a habit of getting paint everywhere.

There’s still a stain on his floor from three weeks ago.

“Did you think I was going to laugh at you making your mom’s mac and cheese recipe during an international health pandemic?” Clarke cries. It draws another round of curious stares and one set of incredibly narrow eyes from a woman with a cropped haircut and a cart practically overflowing with paper products.

Clarke sneers. “I might actually fight someone for bulk-buying things. God, people are—” “—The worst?” “Is that why you’d thought I’d laugh at you being adorable?”

Bellamy forgets all about his stomach and its current location in his throat. He’s far more preoccupied with the matter of his exploding heart. Which is not nearly as painful an experience as he would have assumed.

His smile threatens to take up most of his face, muscles unaccustomed to the movement when everything else seems to be going to shit. He hopes standing this long in the dairy aisle doesn’t adversely affect the buttermilk.

That’s a key part of the recipe too.

“Adorable, huh?” “Oh shut up,” Clarke grumbles, kicking her foot out of habit. She’s still a few feet away from him. That probably shouldn’t be disappointing either. In any situation, honestly. “Seriously, are you out here being weird about cheese because—” “—A quick detour out of adorable.” “Only because you keep interrupting me.”

He smiles wider. “When I was a kid, my mom used to make this mac and cheese for every major event. Birthdays, holidays, great grade on a test.” “Because you were a nerd?” “Look who’s interrupting the flow of the story.” “You should consider speeding up your approach” Clarke laughs. “The lady with forty-thousand paper napkins might come back and start pelting you with them for taking so long.” “You think she bought those paper napkins for reasons not related to eating food?” “God.” His shoulders shake a little when he chuckles — another threat to the pasta and his grip on any of the groceries he’s trying very hard to buy. “Moral of the story? I’m stressed out, people continue to be the worst, I saw a bunch of people, including actual grown adults, sitting out in Washington Square like nothing is wrong, so in an attempt to combat the general horribleness of the world I am going to make my mom’s mac and cheese recipe. Only apparently a lot of other people have had the same thought—” “—About your mom’s mac and cheese recipe?”

“Bring the paper napkin lady back here so I can throw stuff at you.” Clarke grins, and the overall brightness of her eyes is probably just a byproduct of the lighting in the dairy aisle of Gristedes. Or so Bellamy will tell himself for the next forty-eight hours.

“Taco cheese does not scream mac and cheese,” he continues. “But I’m also not willing to stage some sort of quest for the appropriate kind of cheddar. Or blocks of cheese.”

“It can’t be shredded cheese?” “Eh. I’m willing to make some sacrifices at this point.” “Wow,” Clarke drawls. “How gallant of you. And you wanted to make it yourself, then? No thoughts of take-out from Murray’s.”

“Don’t insult me like that.” “You have issues with a place that actually has cheese in its name?” “Murray’s Cheese Bar is an overpriced tourist trap that does not need my business to stay in business. I’m sure they’re perfectly fine.” “Murray himself?” “Or whatever corporate chain that place is owned and operated by. Plus, have you ever had their cheese plate? Like—just, it was gross. We got, maybe, half a dozen crackers.”

Clarke presses her lips together, but her laugh still manages to find its way into the six-feet of mandated space between her and Bellamy. “Did Octavia order the cheese plate at Murray’s once?” “And a bottle of chianti.” “Fancy.” “Gross,” Bellamy amends. “I can’t stand red wine.” “Why didn’t I know that you hated Murray’s so much? Do you feel that way about—” “—Most of the places on Bleecker?” Bellamy finishes, ignoring Clarke’s wide-eyed stare at yet another interruption. They have got to get out of this store. The processed air is obviously going to his head. Or, whatever.

Maybe just the state of his heart. “Down with the establishment, huh?” Clarke quips. She absolutely, positively does not rock towards him. Bellamy is sure.

He hums, and maybe his issue really lies in the overall state of his heart. Explosions cannot be healthy. In a biological sense. “Why are you here, then? I’m assuming it’s not just to share the very high opinions you’ve got about the restaurants on Bleecker.” “Ok, that is not what I said at all. I’m not advocating we start doing some kind of Bleecker restaurant crawl when this is all over, even if that one Gelato place on the corner is good.” “Tourist trap.” “Is the oxygen thinner on that high horse you’re riding?” Bellamy scrunches his nose when he makes a vaguely ridiculous noise in the back of his throat, part agreement, part unspoken suggestion to keep talking. “Whatever,” Clarke grumbles. “I am here because I needed butter to make cookies. But there’s only this garbage.”

She brandishes the margarine, arm flung out in front of her and Bellamy refuses to be held accountable for whatever noise he makes at that. Just as ridiculous as the last one. With even more flirting involved.

“I walked down here,” Clarke adds. “There are no other stores open and—” “—Walked from where?” Bellamy asks sharply. He doesn’t mean for the words to come out quite like that, but he’s also not entirely sure what feeling is shooting down either one of his arms.

He’s very glad Octavia isn’t here.

She’d make fun of him.

More so than usual.

“Relax,” Clarke mutters, jerking the bag at her side. “I needed stuff for class, but most of my supplies are still at school and it’s not like I can get into school any time soon, so I went up to Marmorino. Nyko agreed to open for, like, twenty minutes so I could get some new brushes and—” She shrugs, all nonchalance. Like walking twenty blocks to the art supply store in the middle of that previously discussed pandemic so she can keep teaching kids how to paint isn't equal parts absurd and wonderful. “What are you going to paint?” Bellamy asks. “We’re doing life studies. Figured it’d be a good way to get parents involved too. You know, kids paint their mom or their dad or...whatever. Like I said, I just needed a brushes. And butter.”

“Those go hand in hand, huh? You know I have butter.”

Clarke blinks. And her grip on the bag noticeably loosens. “What?” “Butter,” he repeats. “That’s how this all started. I kept opening my fridge and the butter was sitting there, like it was taunting me and—”

“—Can the butter form coherent sentences?” “I’m offering you butter, princess. And mac and cheese. If you want it.”

Another blink.

That’s...Bellamy doesn’t want to consider what that is. Because this is not the first time he’s done this. Or vice versa. Far from it. They both live alone and they’re friends and it’s not that far across the hall, after all.

There’s just not usually an international health pandemic involved.

“Yeah?” Clarke asks softly, like she’s waiting to shout surprise. Or throw paper napkins at them for standing in the dairy aisle for so long.

Bellamy nods. “Yeah. That’s how humanity survives, right? We pool resources and seek out companionship in times of difficulty.” “Something like that, I’m sure.” “Ok, so you leave the gross margarine here and I’ll deal with the taco cheese.” “I have cheddar in my fridge.” Maybe this is a dream. Maybe the after-effects of his exploding heart have left Bellamy hallucinating in the middle of Gristedes. Maybe he got food poisoning from the cheese plate at Murray’s when Octavia visited three weeks ago and he’s only just now discovering it.

Clarke smiles.

“If you want it,” she adds. “I—well, I’d had big plans for grilled cheese quarantines, but there was only block cheese at that point and I haven’t even opened it. Yours for the taking.” He nods slowly, trying to come to terms with all of this. It’s not flirting. No one flirts like this. They shouldn’t flirt like this.

“Yeah,” Bellamy says. “That’d be great. A, uh—COVID team, huh?” Idiot.

Idiot.

He’s sure Octavia knows about this. Somehow. A sixth sense that alerts his younger sister to his overwhelming idiocy and she’d been annoyed that he hadn’t invited Clarke to Murray’s with them.

“Something like that,” Clarke says again. “Ok, then let me pay for a car back home. I don’t know if my shoulders can cope with this backpack and—do not offer to carry this backpack for me,” she adds as soon as Bellamy opens his mouth, “I’ll get the paper napkin lady back here, I swear to God.” “She’d probably call a manager on you.”

Clarke scoffs, but her smile hasn’t changed and Bellamy spends most of the next twenty-four minutes standing in the checkout line thinking only about that. Until Clarke tells the guy in front of them to “stop being a dick” to the cashier when he starts complaining about the lack of bread in aisle two.

The guy doesn’t say anything else after that.

And the cashier definitely mumbles “thanks” when Bellamy puts his slightly bent box of pasta on the conveyor belt.

They don’t spend long waiting for the car — and Bellamy can’t imagine business is exactly booming, which is part of the reason he agreed to this and the rest is entirely selfish and possibly a little stalker’ish and he just likes spending time with Clarke. No matter the world’s collective health situation.

“You two together?” the driver asks, hardly opening the window and it’s not easy to understand what he’s saying.

Bellamy furrows his brows. “Excuse me?” He swings open the door, sliding across the backset and moving his feet so Clarke’s backpack can fit comfortably between them. And he’s not one to pass judgement, particularly not now, but the whole thing looks a bit like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. There are sheets of plastic wrap stretched between the front seats, the driver wearing gloves and casting impatient glances in his rearview mirror.

Bellamy glances at Clarke’s phone — the driver’s name is Bryan.

“C’mon man,” Bryan presses. “I need an answer.” “I don’t—” Bellamy starts, shaking his head and that dream theory is starting to make more and more sense. “What are you talking about?”

“The rules.” “Ok, that doesn’t clear it up. Can we just go?” “Nope. I need you to tell me. I don’t want my license revoked.” “What the hell are you talking about?” Clarke lets out a soft gasp, eyes going impossibly wide. “Shit. Are you kidding me?” “What part of nope are you guys having a difficult time wrapping your heads around?” Bryan asks. “Listen, I can’t break the law, ok? I—we’re living in crazy times and—” “—Seriously what are you talking about?” Bellamy snaps.

Bryan takes a deep breath, shoulders moving with the effort, and Clarke hasn’t looked Bellamy’s direction in what feels like an eternity. He can’t rationalize the chill that slinks down his spine, a growing dread that threatens to tug him through the backseat or take up residence in between his ribs and he’s got to stop making so many sweeping biological assessments.

There are no facts to back any of this up.

And yet he can’t quite understand the look on Clarke’s face either, teeth digging into her lower lip while she refuses to meet his gaze. “Guys,” Bryan groans. “In or out, yes or not, just—prove it.” Bellamy opens his mouth again, ready to demand answers if need be, but Clarke is already talking and the words don’t process immediately — mandate from the mayor and I totally forgot and only real couples.

She grits her teeth when she finally looks up, a pained expression that almost makes Bellamy shiver. It’s unnaturally warm in the city that afternoon. “Did you not see the press conference?” she mutters. He shakes his head. “I, uh—I totally forgot about it, but ride-share services are still cool and essential, they just...if you share, you have to be a couple.” “Real couple too,” Bryan adds. “That’s what the mayor said.” Clarke squeezes one eye shut. “He did, yeah.”

Bellamy has no idea what’s happening. That’s not hyperbole. He genuinely cannot keep up with the conversation or the events of the last few hours and he’s certain this is now somehow the fault of the paper napkin lady and those toilet paper people and— “So,” Bryan continues, “either prove it or lose it?” “Lose what, exactly?” Bellamy rasps. He doesn’t take his eyes off Clarke, can see just how tight her jaw has gone and the exact moment her tongue flashes between her lips and maybe it would just be better for everyone if he grabbed her backpack and sprinted the fifteen blocks back to their apartment.

Apartment building.

They don’t live in the same apartment.

Seriously, screw the toilet paper people.

“My services,” Bryan answers. “Seriously. I’m not getting fucked over by this. So prove you're a real couple or start walking.” “And how would you like us to do that, exactly?” “Kiss her.” It is several different miracles that Bellamy does not rip down Bryan’s plastic wrap wall right then and there. He considers it, fingers flexing and head at a sudden angle while he glares at the rearview mirror. But something keeps him from actually reacting and it might be Clarke’s soft ok a few inches away.

They are no longer the appropriate six feet apart.

“Wait, what?” Bellamy asks, only marginally disappointed when his voice manages to crack over both words.

Clarke’s smile doesn’t waver, but it shifts slightly — a little cautious and a little nervous and, maybe, a little hopeful. She leans forward, ignoring the goddamn backpack and how straight Bellamy’s spine has gone, breathing quickly like he did run those fifteen blocks. “Just a kiss, right?” she mutters. “Couples kiss. That’s—” “—Real couples,” Bryan amends. Bellamy might strangle Bryan before they get out of this car.

“Right, right, right. And that’s—it’s not a big deal.” Bellamy’s never going to blink again.

“I don’t know how else to double check,” Bryan admits.

Clarke hums, still moving and Bellamy doesn’t flinch when her hand lands on his bent knee. So, points or whatever. Her tongue flashes once more, a soft huff of air that barely reaches his cheek when she’s close enough and this can’t possibly be sanitary.

God, he does not want to be thinking about that now.

Bellamy doesn’t remember bending his neck, but it appears to have happened anyway, curls threatening to fall in his eyes. That’s not right. The top of Clarke’s backpack digs into his chest, what feels like an actual paint brush pushing against the side and he’s going to say something. He is. He’s going to promise that he can walk and he’ll carry the backpack and just meet her at home, but none of the words seem all that interested in coming out of his mouth and his lips pop softly when they part, another bit of movement and a direct violation of social distancing and—

His eyes flutter shut when Clarke kisses him.

With Bryan watching intently.

And it’s not...well, it’s not quite the way Bellamy had always imagined when he’d let himself imagine this. Far more often than he should. It’s stilted and awkward, weird angles and bumped noses. It’s chins jostling for position and that fucking backpack, both of them far too aware of the two bags of groceries at their feet.

Bellamy does his best not to actually sigh — even more frustration, that does not belong in a situation like this, but then his eyes open and the tip of Clarke’s tongue finds his lips and everything kind of spirals after that.

His hand flies up, curling into her hair and pulling her closer, a crunch that is absolutely the box of shells, but the shells can go fuck off for all Bellamy cares. He opens his mouth, lets his head tilt slightly until they find a rhythm that’s a bit like driving at seventy miles an hour on an open highway. That’d be impossible anywhere in New York.

Even under quarantine.

And yet. Bellamy feels like he’s rushing towards something, everything and anything and a variety of words that should be far more overwhelming than they are. He nips at Clarke’s lower lip, lets his nose drag along her cheek until he’s practically tracing that streak of paint and the sound that draws will be branded on every inch of him for the foreseeable future. They only break apart to catch their breath, the rhythm going almost desperate when Clarke’s nails scratch at the back of Bellamy’s neck and—

Bryan coughs.

He might not tip Bryan.

No, he’ll definitely tip Bryan. It’s a fucking pandemic.

Bellamy’s not a total dick.

Just…

“So, uh, cool,” Bryan says, already pulling out onto the street. “Thanks for the, uh—for the demonstration, then.” Clarke jerks back.

And Bellamy feels like he’s been thrown in the East River. Specifically. Because that river is notoriously grosser than the Hudson.

He’s gross.

He twists, trying to put as much space between them as possible when they’re still in Bryan’s silver Toyota Camry. And he doesn’t actually count the minutes that it takes to get back to their building, but it’s awfully close because it seems to take a lifetime and happen far too soon, Clarke mumbling her thanks and hoping Bryan doesn’t have to drive too much in the future and Bellamy doesn’t want to think about the state of that box of shells.

It feels far too literal.

And they don’t rush up the stairs, both Bellamy and Clarke taking even steps as they do their mutual and collective best to stare at their shoes. But then he’s tugging his keys out of his back pocket and the air feels like it’s crackling around him, enough tension to power the island of Manhattan — especially when Clarke follows him inside his apartment.

“So, uh—” she starts, a click of her jaw when she notices the look on Bellamy’s face.

His eyes have started to water, they’re so wide, standing in the middle of his exceptionally tiny living room. “Clarke, I—” “—Oh shit, I forgot the butter.” “Clarke.” “No, no, I should go get the butter, right? Yeah. That’s—shit, I didn’t even think. I...sorry, sorry, it’s—” She shakes her head brusquely, like she’s trying to shake away the awkwardness and Bellamy wishes there weren’t any awkwardness. He wishes he’d asked her out before the world started falling apart.

He’s back in her space in a few more steps, fingers finding her flailing hands. She’s biting her lip again. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.” “No?” “Absolutely not,” Bellamy promises. “I might, though. I just—I didn’t realize what was going on and then—” “I’m going to go get the butter,” Clarke announces, sounding almost disappointed at the idea. She pulls her hands back, a quick hiss of pain when she manages to elbow herself in the side in the process, all but running out of his apartment. Her backpack is still on his couch.

Bellamy doesn’t move. He’s not sure he can, honestly. His legs feel like they’ve locked themselves in place, waiting with those same wide eyes for something he’s not sure he can have because it can’t possibly happen like this and Octavia is probably hysterical on the other side of the country.

And he’s still not counting seconds or minutes, when he finally manages to get his feet to cooperate. So he can wash his hands. Like a responsible adult. Not one who hoards paper products.

The footsteps that return to his still-open door a little slower than usual.

“You didn’t close your door,” Clarke points out. She kicks back, a tremulous smile and Bellamy can’t believe this is going to happen while she’s holding butter. And at least two pounds of flour. He’s not sure what’s going to happen, exactly. “Did you even turn your oven on?” He shakes his head. “No.” “Real fond of that word all of a sudden, aren’t you?”

Bellamy doesn’t think he imagines the edge in her voice, narrowing his eyes slightly like that will help him pick up on certain conversational cues. It doesn’t — especially when Clarke breezes by him, marching into her kitchen like it’s hers or could be hers and that’s probably when he decides. What he wants to happen. “Do you want to make the cookies or the mac and cheese first?” she asks, and that question sounds more determined than any Bellamy’s heard before. Some of the tension in his shoulders disappears.

“Hey, will you talk to me?”

“About something other than our cooking order?” “Yeah,” Bellamy nods. “Definitely about something other than our cooking order.” “I’m really hungry, though.”

His laugh has a certain strangled quality to it, but that may be a product of his heart, recently reformed and re-exploded. As soon as Bellamy realized what kissing Clarke was like. “I’m not going to let you starve,” Bellamy says. “Just—c’mon, look at me at least.”

She doesn’t. She pushes up on her toes instead, stabbing at the buttons on his oven. Bellamy sighs, doing his best not to start proclaiming things, giving voice to the sentiment that’s been bouncing around his soul for the better part of the last six months, and the flour that’s sitting on his minimal counter space is half open.

The top’s rolling up, a haphazard curl to the paper, which only makes it easier to reach his hand inside without Clarke noticing.

And immediately flick his fingers in Clarke’s direction.

Her eyes flash, mouth dropping open, but Bellamy just grins, another flick that leaves flour clinging to Clarke’s cheek and the ends of her hair and she’d never washed that paint streak off.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demands.

“Got you to look at me.” “Are you kidding me right now?”

“Am I laughing?”

Clarke groans, trying to shake the flour off. All it does is ensure her hair shifts and the smell of her shampoo takes over most of the air in his kitchen. “You’re an idiot,” she sneers, “that’s what you are. I’m trying to feed us and—” “—You’re really very concerned about that. We’ve got to reorganize this conversation.”

Bellamy needs to get more flour before he can go for the third flick, but that proves to be his undoing. Clarke moves before he can, reflexes that he’d like to have a very serious discussion about eventually and she doesn’t flick. She slams her hand into his chest, a perfectly formed print in the middle of his shirt, twisting the fabric under her like that will make sure the mark stays there.

Things are starting to feel a little literal again.

At least he hopes so.

So, it’s only reasonable and passably romantic to retaliate in kind — letting his flour-covered fingers flutter over Clarke’s hair and one of them gasps, but it’s difficult to figure out when they’re as close as they are, her hands dragging across his side and dangerously close to the top of his jeans and Bellamy’s definitely the one who groans when Clarke works her way under the hem of his shirt.

Clarke beams. Bright and honest and her eyes are blue enough that Bellamy briefly considers getting lost in them for those minutes he’s still refusing to count, but then—

“God, I can’t believe I had to use some stupid marshall law bullshit to kiss you,” he mutters.

“Is marshall law the right term there?” “No, not at all.”

She lets out a shaky laugh, hand staying exactly where it is. “I didn’t think so. And I—this was not some elaborate ruse, just for the record.” “Were you looking for elaborate ruses to make out with me?” “We’ve got to work on your vocabulary. Make out doesn’t seem right either.” “A work in progress.” “For the words, or…” She gasps again. Presumably because Bellamy’s ducking his head and his arm has curled around her middle and it’s easier to kiss her when there isn’t a backpack between them. Bellamy’s hand flattens against the small of Clarke’s back, a curve there that is quite suddenly the only thing he’d like to talk about for the remainder of the day.

And they’re just as good at this as they were in Bryan’s car, but there’s something inherently different about the second go-around. An ease to the angles and the now-familiar rhythm, like they’d simply been waiting for the chance or the opportunity and—

“Maybe make out was an acceptable description,” Clarke mumbles against Bellamy’s mouth. He grins, dropping down so he can kiss her jaw and the side of her neck, only a little pleased with the goosebumps he notices there. “Oh, don’t get smug,” Clarke adds, “that’s not a good look on you.” “That certainly sounds like you’ve got opinions on my looks, actually.”

She clicks her tongue, leaning back to get in his eye line. “Maybe a few.” “A few?” “Bell, c’mon, that’s—” “—I have a very big crush on you.” Clarke blinks. Opens her mouth only to close it. Smiles. Scoffs. Blinks again. And then she’s kissing him and it’s good and great and both of those things feel wrong during a pandemic, but Bellamy assumes there's something to be said for the human spirit. Or whatever.

“Makes for a good story, though,” Clarke says, eyes gone a color Bellamy’s never seen before. “You know, if you’re looking for something to write about.” “You want me to write about us? I write history books.” “Is this not historic?” “Oh, now who’s fishing for compliments,” Bellamy chuckles. Clarke blushes. Again, or still. “I would have liked to kiss you under less dramatic circumstances, but, uh—it also wasn’t the worst first kiss I’ve ever had.” “High praise.” “We’re very good at kissing each other.” “Yeah, I figured we would be.” “Did you just?” Clarke hums. “I’m pretty sure my friends had some kind of pool going. Especially now. When I’d finally give in and just like...attack you with my mouth or something. I talk about you all the time. At school. To Raven. Strangers on the street.” “Strangers on the street?” “I mean, Bryan assumed we were a couple.” “That’s because the mayor required him too,” Bellamy argues. “But, uh—I get the opinionated peanut gallery. O was convinced we were secretly dating when she was here.” “Before or after the chianti?” “Well before.” “Oh,” Clarke says, like that’s somehow surprising or good. Bellamy hopes it’s good. He’d like some good at this point. “You should probably change shirts.” “That sounds like a suggestion to take my shirt off.” “Wow, weird.” Her laugh turns into something far closer to a giggle when he kisses behind her ear, a fact he’s already stored for future reference, but then they’re moving and there are discarded clothes and kicked off shoes and neither one of them bothers to get up when the oven finishes pre-heating.

“I have a crush on you too,” Clarke says, head propped up on her hand. In Bellamy’s bed. They’re in Bellamy’s bed.

Her backpack is still on his couch. “Good,” he grins. “You want to eat, or…” “God, I’d thought you’d never ask.” And they do make both things, Clarke announcing that this is the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had while Bellamy does an absolutely terrible job of stealing cookie batter on the sly. She moves her backpack eventually too — into the corner of his living room. It’s easier that way, something about pandemics and limiting movement and if one of her students notices the change of scenery during their live-streamed class two days later, none of them say anything.

#bellarke ff #bellarke fan fiction #bellarke #bellamy x clarke #the 100 #covidー19 #this is very silly nonsense #like...i cannot possibly overstate that

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goldandbluesmiles · 4 years

Text

Blood Soaked Petals

Summary: Bruce loves Hal...right? Except that Hal is coughing up bloody petals.

Note: I know this is a little for the Batlatnern week but I really wanted to write something and just got the time

Link to ao3

XXX

Hal knew that Bruce loved him. He really did.

Until he didn't.

It had started with a small dose of the fear toxin. Well, a small dose of the fear toxin right after being awake in space for 45 hours straight.

The vision and whispers had driven him to tears and screams and he had woken up in Bruce's arms.

And it had been fine. Really it had. Bruce had hugged him and told him to go to sleep and that he would be there.

But he hadn't been. And that wasn't the problem. Damian would always come first, just like the rest of Bruce's children.

It really was fine.

So, maybe it started when he left the manor too early without a goodbye.

And when he came back and Bruce was too busy to kiss him and forgot to tell him that he loved him.

It was okay, really it was.

Bruce forgot sometimes. He wasn't as sensitive as the majority.

He'd remember or Hal would remind him.

It's what he did in the past.

They had talked about it. Bruce picked up on cues but didn't always know what to do about them so, Hal had to tell him. And if he was a little too busy to notice the cues, Hal had to let him know what he wanted, what he needed.

That's what they always did and Bruce always gave him what he needed.

Give me a kiss, Spooky.

Bruce snorted, "Alright, come here,"

Come on. Take a little time off. I need a cuddle.

Bruce sighed but tucked him close, "You're a menace you know,"

Give me some attention, Bruce.

Bruce laughed and kissed his forehead

I need you.

"I'm right here, flyboy,"

Tell me you love me.

"Love you," he murmured into Hal's hair, "Love you so much,"

So yeah, all he had to do was ask.

That's what he should have done but his chest hurt and the words got caught in his throat.

And Bruce said 'I love you' and kissed him and hugged him.

But something was wrong. The words seemed empty, the kisses felt hollow and the hugs left him aching instead of warm.

But he just smiled and thought that Bruce would notice that it was strained.

He didn't. Maybe Hal was just good at hiding. He didn't really wanna think about the other option.

He should say something, they should talk. Bruce would listen. He always listened. He cared about Hal after all.

But the words got caught in his throat and he was coughing and coughing and there was blood on his hand and oh... that's a flower.

A sword Lilly.

And Bruce noticed too. Hal was paler, coughed a lot more and seemed to be more tired than usual.

Hal should say something. He should really say something.

But there's blood and there are flowers and he doesn't think Bruce loves him anymore.

And then the bathroom door is opening and Bruce is staring at him with cold eyes, at the flower in his hand.

"Bruce- I-,"

Bruce turns and walks out.

And Hal thinks.

So this is what it feels like to completely shatter.

xxx

Bruce feels...

He doesn't know what he feels exactly.

The flower. The goddamn flower.

Hanahaki disease. His boyfriend, the man Bruce loved, had Hanahaki disease.

Oh god. Did that mean-Hal couldn't- was there...was there someone else? He was already in a relationship with Bruce which meant...

There was someone else. He didn't love Bruce.

Hal didn't love Bruce.

It hit him all at once and he nearly doubled over.

Oh, God.

"Father," said a voice behind him, "Father, are you okay?"

Slowly, he straightened himself up.

"Damian," he said, turning toward his youngest, "Of course, I'm alright,"

Damian narrows his eyes, "No you're not, Father. Do not lie to me,"

Damn this and his perceptive children.

Brue sighed ad nodded, "You are right. I'm not feeing a hundred percent but it's not anything for you to worry about. I will handle myself,"

Damian doesn't look away though, just keeps assessing him.

"Does this have anything to do with Jordan's rapid flying away from the manor,"

Bruce pursesdhis lips, "As I said, there is nothing for you to worry about,"

Damian narrows his eyes for a second but then shrugs.

"Fine. I'll see you at dinner then,"

He walks away before Bruce can say anything. After a little contemplation, Bruce turns back toward his previous path.

"Alfred," he calls out as he passes the older man, "I'm going out. I'll be back for dinner,"

xxx

Clark was on monitor duty and Diana was working on reports. They both kept shooting him concerned looks.

Another half-hour later Clark finally to him.

"Okay, I can literally hear your heart, Bruce," said Clark, "You're driving me mad and you're definitely driving yourself mad. What's wrong?"

He stayed silent.

"Bruce?" said Diana, tone gentle

"Hal has Hanahaki disease,"

Both their eyes widened.

'Um, Bruce," said Clark, "The way that works- does that mean..."

The other man trailed off looking at Diana helplessly. Before she could offer her own words, the watchtower announced the arrival of The Flash and Green Arrow.

"BRUCE WAYNE!" said Oliver marching into the control room, Barry right behind him. For one he wasn't running at top speed.

"What is the meaning of this Green Arrow?" said Diana, annoyed at the loud tone

Oliver, on the other hand, was glaring straight at Bruce.

"You know, I get that people fall out of love and all that but to string someone along? That's despicable. You could have at least let him know you wanted to toss him aside,"

"What the hell are you talking about?" growled Bruce, taking a step closer

Barry put and hand on Oliver's shoulder.

"We're just trying to understand," said Barry, "If you didn't love Hal anymore, why didn't you just break up with him?"

His voice is much calm and controlled but Bruce can see the underlying anger in his eyes.

But he's still very confused and he didn't like it.

"What do you mean? Of course, I love him. I don't want to break up with him,"

Now both men looked confused.

"Then why is he coughing up flowers, Wayne?" said Oliver, arms crossed

"I don't know, okay!" said Bruce, "He's been a little off, doesn't want to be too affectionate but that happens sometimes, especially with people like us. I didn't think too much of it but then I found him coughing up flowers and trust me those are not for me,"

"Uh," said Barry, sharing a look with Oliver, "Pretty sure they are,"

Bruce was just about to explode when Diana stepped up.

"I might have an explanation,"

"What?" he said, suddenly feeling very exhausted

"How does the curse know the love is returned?"

"A confession," says Clark, looking confused as to where this was going

"Right," said Diana, "But the confession doesn't change how the person confessing felt. The cruse isn't all-knowing. Its knowledge depends on the cursed person's knowledge,"

It took a few seconds for it to click but when it did, Bruce felt his heart clench.

"He doesn't think I love him anymore," he whispered

"Bruce," Clark murmured in sympathy

"I don't-" he said looking at Oliver and Barry, "I know I don't say it as much as normal people but I do say it. We share everything in our life. My kids love him, even Damian. I just- I don't. Why would he-"

Barry moved to put a hand on his shoulder. Bruce let him.

"I don't think it's entirely your fault, B," he said, "Hal- he gets lost in his head sometimes and it's hard for him to come out. And I know you're supposed to be the World's Greatest Detective and all but he's pretty good at pretending,"

Bruce took a deep breath and nodded. Self-deprecation could come later. Hal needed him right now.

"Where is he?"

"My place," said Oliver

"I'll take you," said Clark

Bruce nodded and let Clark lead him to the tubes.

He was going to fix this.

xxx

Bruce found him curled up on the floor of first-floor bathroom, Dinah kneeling beside him.

After giving him an assessing look, she nodded and left them both together.

"Hal?" whispered Bruce

The other man stirred and opened his eyes. They were red and already filling with tears.

"B'uce?" slurred Hal, letting out a sob.

Bruce instantly knelt down and took him in his arms.

"Shhh," he soothed him, "Shhh. I got you,"

Bruce had been ready for the other man to pull away, but instead, Hal just curled closer and cried. All the while Bruce whispered how much he loved him.

Later, he and Hal would talk. Later he would make an appointment with a couple's counsellor and Damian would tell Hal what an idiot he'd been. Later, they would both curl up in bed together. Later, Hal would cough up the remaining dead flowers while Bruce rubbed his back.

Later, they would fix this.

For now, Bruce just rocked Hal in his arms.

"It's okay, Sweetheart. I'm here. I love you,"

#batlantern #batlanternweek #batlanternweek2020 #hal jordan #bruce wayne #batman #green lantern

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duhragonball · 5 years

Text

Dragon Ball Super Movie 1: Broly (2/2)

Last time, Frieza was planning a trip to Earth to make a wish on the Dragon Balls, when Cheelai and Leemo showed up with a new recruit, Broly. Now they’re hanging out in the mess hall of Frieza’s ship, and the strongest guy on the crew is drunkenly creeping on Cheelai. I guess that lady in the background already shot him down, or he has a thing for the green ladies.

I like this part where Leemo tries to defuse the situation noviolently. He’s not a fighter, and even if he were, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance here, but he’s lived his whole life surrounded by super-strong guys, and he knows how to make due with what he has. It doesn’t work here, but it adds a lot to this scene.

Anyway, I don’t think you need me to tell you how this turns out. Broly steps in, and he overpowers whatsisface in two seconds. This is especially ironic in the U.S. dub, where Broly was voiced by notorious sex pest Vic Mignogna. I kind of wonder what was going through his mind when he did this scene, except he probably didn’t even know the context. They just told him to grunt and yell. Still, he must have watched the movie at some point, right?

Like how would he not make the connection that he’s the grey dude in this scenario, and Broly is getting major babyface heat by standing up for Cheelai? Like, this whole scene was created to make Broly sympathetic, especially compared to his original 1993 incarnation. Good guys respect women, bad guys harass them. Did the point just sail over his head? He was probably all: “Gosh, Broly should have stayed out of this, and donated money to the grey man for his defamation lawsuit against Cheelai.”

Oh, who am I kidding, he probably spent the whole movie staring at Cheelai’s boobs. Or the nearest woman in the theater.

Anyway, Paragus thinks Broly’s getting out of hand, so he uses the shock collar to settle him down. Cheelai and Leemo are outraged (again), but Paragus insists that it’s necessary to keep Broly from going nuts and killing them all.

I’m a bit conflicted about the collar. It’s clearly a replication of the mind-control tiara Paragus used on Broly in the DBZ movie, but this is much simpler in design. Just an electric shock, nothing more. I like the simplicity of it.

However, I also liked the mind-control tiara. It looked stylish, and I liked the mystery of how it worked and where Paragus got it from. There was that scene in Movie 8 where he had an alien henchman run a diagnostic on the device, but there’s no telling if that guy built it or if he’s just the closest thing Paragus could find to an expert. There was a mystique about the thing, which the shock collar just does away with entirely. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not.

But it probably serves this plot better, because Cheelai picks Paragus’ pocket while they talk, and she stomps the controller after he leaves. Probably would have been harder to make this work with a magic device like that arm thing Paragus used to make the tiara work.

Paragus gets summoned to Frieza’s chamber again, so while he’s gone, Broly hangs out with his new pals in... I guess a cargo room? He thinks ordinary water is delicious, to give you an idea of how rough it was for him growing up on Vampa. He then explains the fuzzy green thing around his waist, which always reminds me of the bathmat at my grandmother’s house. Paragus used to make Broly provoke a giant green animal on Vampa as a training exercise, until eventually they became friends. Broly named it “Ba” after the noise it made. Paragus disapproved of their friendship, so he shot Ba’s ear off to piss him off good, and put a stop to that. Broly never saw Ba again, so he kept the ear as a memento, and that’s what he’s been wearing this whole time.

See, I like this better than Broly’s Movie 8 outfit, because it has a backstory. I think Ba’s ear was conceived as a way to give Broly a wrap like the red one worn by the original, but someone, probably Toriyama, wanted there to be something more to it.

Anyway, this tale pretty much defines Paragus and Broly’s relationship. Paragus seems to genuinely care about the boy, but his main objective is for Broly to become as strong as possible so that he can prove King Vegeta was wrong to exile them. In pursuit of this goal, Paragus has micro-managed Broly to the point where he has almost no freedom at all. Cheelai suspect that Broly doesn’t even enjoy fighting, which sounds pretty extreme for a Saiyan, but she might be right. I’d like to think this version of Broly would enjoy fighting, but not the way Paragus has been handling things.

Meanwhile, the good guys arrive at the ice continent to find the seventh Dragon Ball. Frieza’s goons stole the first six and the Dragon Radar, so it doesn’t take long for Goku and Vegeta to track them down. Here, we see them in their cute cold weather gear. I don’t get how those coats do a damn thing in the antarctic, but I love Bulma’s spacesuit-looking thing.

So they find the two goons, and one of them looks like an alien John Banner from Hogan’s Heroes. They’re terrified of Goku because he’s breathing hard on the glass of their ship. I’d be more worried about him doing a pressed fruit basket on the glass.

Luckily for them, they radioed Frieza about finding the seventh ball right before Goku showed up, so Frieza comes to the rescue. They banter for a while, but the big story everyone wants to know about is Frieza’s backup. He introduces Paragus and Broly, and Frieza’s plan is to have Broly do all the fighting, and he’ll let them kill Vegeta as long as he gets to finish off Goku.

So Vegeta and Broly start us off. Broly does reasonably okay, but Vegeta seems to have the upper hand the whole time, and then he turns Super Saiyan, which freaks Paragus out, because he didn’t even know that was a thing. That bums Frieza out, because I guess he assumed Broly could do it too? Why would he think that? I mean, he turns out to be right later, but he should know that not just any Saiyan can pull that off.

Moreover, Vegeta can transform further than this. People made a big to-do about this part, where he uses the Super Saiyan God form Goku used in Movie 14, but I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like that big a deal to me. I mean, Super Saiyan Blue is better, and Vegeta knows how to do that one, so what’s the difference? I mean, I’m the guy who really wanted to see Vegeta use Super Saiyan 3 a long time ago, so I get why this is a big deal for people, but it doesn’t mean much to me personally.

At any rate, Vegeta seems disgusted with Broly’s performance, but I think it says a lot that he managed to hold out this long against Super Saiyan God Vegeta.

Around this point, Paragus tries to call Broly off, but he can’t, because he doesn’t have the remote to use the shock collar. I’m not sure I understand what was supposed to happen if he still had it. Was Frieza going to fight Goku and Vegeta by himself? Was he going to just quietly withdraw and leave the Dragon Balls behind?

Also, I’d just like to take this time to point out that Paragus looks really dumb here. He looked cool at the start of the movie, when he was younger and looked more like his 1993 design, but then they dressed him in this green and purple number, and the pink shower curtain looks really dumb. Also, I hate how they lightened his skin tone in this movie. At least they brought back Dameron Clarke to play him in the dub. I really like Paragus, and he’s mostly okay in this movie, but he’s nowhere near as cool as the ‘93 version.

As for the fight, Broly somehow gets a second wind, and holds of Vegeta, even in his god form. Paragus suggests that Broly has somehow tapped into the Oozaru power Saiyans have when they turn into giant apes. Except Broly’s tail was cut off at a young age, so he hasn’t turned into a giant ape in years. Paragus seems to think that Broly’s body is using that power anyway, but without the transformation turning him into a big, bulky ape, there’s nothing to slow down his movements.

Also, Broly is glowing green when he does this, so maybe the implication is that this was what every version of Broly has been doing, and I guess Kale too. I’ve also seen it suggested that this ties into Super Saiyan 4 somehow. I mean, it makes sense, because you have to be a Super Saiyan and a Giant Ape at the same time to go SSJ4, and then you shrink down into a humanoid state, with the powers of both. Broly’s doing it in a different order, but maybe he’s worked out something similar?

The thing is, I don’t really buy Oozaru power as a useful thing. This franchise retired the concept thirty years ago, save for a brief comeback in Dragon Ball GT. Hell, they didn’t even show anyone turning into a giant ape in this movie, which seems to rely onthe concept quite a bit. If Great Ape power was so hot, why don’t they just go all in and use it? The implication of DBZ was that, past a point, it just stops mattering, and when Goku and Vegeta became powerful enough, the form became obsolete. But somehow Broly’s using it and he’s strong enough to throw hands with god-Saiyans. Or maybe Paragus is completely wrong about all of this, and he’s only guessing Oozaru stuff for lack of a better explanation.

I mean, I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade. There’s SSJ4 fans who really like how this movie teased at the form, and that’s great lore, even if this is as far as it goes, but it doesn’t mean that much to me. Personally, I’m more into how Goku used the term “base form” in the script. As in: Broly is holding off Vegeta, even in his base form. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time it’s been used in official material.

So then Goku decides to jump in, using his base form as well, which I find pretty dumb, since Broly was beating up Vegeta in SSG mode a minute ago. This sort of teeters on the brink of GT Logic. I really prefer the way things were in the Cell Saga, where no one would even try to fight Cell or the androids until they were comfortably transformed. I mean, why would you not?

Goku uses Super Saiyan Classic for a bit, then he ramps up to his own Nacho Cheese form, and he manages to subdue Broly for a hot minute. He tries to reason with the guy, saying that he isn’t all that bad, so why not make peace. Notably, when Goku tells Broly he doesn’t have to listen to those bad guys at the ship, it makes Paragus really nervous, like he’s terrified that someone will tell Broly that and he’ll actually listen.

But then Broly powers up and fights his way out of it, and starts taking control of the battle again.

The weaker bad guys lift off to get clear of the battle, while Frieza and Paragus remain behind to watch. Cheelai is frustrated that Broly is being used to fight this sort of battle, even though he happens to be doing pretty well so far.

Piccolo contacts Goku telepathically about this situation, and Goku plans to teleport to Piccolo’s location if things go south. But first...

... he turns Super Saiyan Blue and tries to fight Broly that way.

And this is where the movie uses a bunch of CGI stuff, like like in Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. The graphics look better, like something out of Fighter Z instead of Raging Blast 2, but it still looks dumb. What Toei doesn’t seem to understand is that this stuff ages really poorly. This movie’s not even a year old, and it already stands out. It’s not about improving the graphics, either. The problem is that the poses look so robotic and lifeless. This is especially true for this movie, where most of the animation is so fluid and expressive.

For example.

During this part of the fight, the land gets torn up, exposing the magma below, and Paragus begins to wonder if King Vegeta had been right all along. Maybe Broly really is too dangerous, and sending him to Vampa was the best thing for everyone. As it is, Goku Blue is winning, and Broly is too far gone to realize that he needs to stop fighting. Without the remote, Paragus can only stand by and watch his son get killed.

But Frieza isn’t giving up yet. Once he’s certain that Broly has no more miracles in him...

... he kills Paragus himself, and calls out to Broly to make sure he sees what’s happened.

And that causes Broly to flip out and turn Super Saiyan himself. I guess this is just Super Saiyan 1, and not some nutty alternate form, but the point is that Broly was doing very well in his regular state, so any transformation on top of that makes him unstoppable. Goku tries to hang in there, but then Vegeta jumps in and tells him that he can’t possibly win alone.

So they try hitting him with a Kamehameha/Gallic Gun combo, but that does nothing...

... then they lead him directly towards Frieza, and Broly attacks him instead, because I guess he’s not picky at this point.

Then they teleport to Piccolo. Goku’s plan now is to use the Fusion Technique, but he needs Piccolo to coach them because Vegeta’s never done it before.

Okay, so a couple of problems I have with this part. First, I really don’t like the idea of Broly vs. Gogeta being a thing. I first saw this idea in the opening credits for Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3, and it always annoyed me because I never cared for the idea of Broly as such a powerful threat that only fusion could beat him. Broly’s deal is that he’s an evil Super Saiyan, so my preferred scenario is for Goku or Vegeta to beat him solo.

Second, I’m not wild about how this movie tries to do Broly, Gogeta, and Bardock as a combination platter. The Bardock stuff works reasonably well, since Broly’s origin story takes place when Bardock was around, and Dragon Ball Minus was already written. And Broly was a non-canon concept, so revamping him for this wasn’t a terrible idea. But throwing Gogeta in too just feels like pandering to me. For years, Fathom Events has been screening DBZ features in theaters, and they always seem to go for “Bardock: Father of Goku”, “Fusion Reborn”, and “Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan.” I feel like a Cooler movie made the cut once, but that was a long time ago. The point is that someone in charge seems to consider those three specials to be the most popular or best ones, and it feels an awful lot like this DBS movie is trying to cash in on that.

And I can’t blame Toei for wanting to combine three popular titles, but it just feels a little too convenient. Fans saw Gogeta coming, because they noticed the lineup Fathom Events had before this movie premiered, and they knew Broly and Bardock would be in this one, so it got them thinking Gogeta would make an appearance as well.

With Bardock, you can make a case that this version is an improvement over the “Father of Goku” version. And Broly may be better off this way than the 1993 version of the character. But this take on Gogeta isn’t nearly as fun or cool as “Fusion Reborn”. The boys just leave the battlefield and drill the Fusion dance until they get it right. How does that make any sense?

Don’t get me wrong, it’s funny how Frieza gets the shit beat out of him for over and hour, but how does that make sense at all?

I mean, Golden Frieza couldn’t beat Goku or Vegeta in the last movie, so how can he survive against a guy who was taking them both on at the same time? For an hour? How did Frieza survive this?

Really, longer than that, because Gogeta takes a minute to decide what to call himself. It’s a cute moment, but still. Part of what makes Fusion Reborn so awesome was that Goku had to convince Vegeta and teach him the fusion in the middle of the battlefield. When they screwed it up, Janemba kept trying to kill them while they tried to deal with it. This movie sucks all of that tension away.

There is a part where Broly goes after Whis and can’t hit him, so maybe Whis kept the big guy busy for a while, but I dunno. Anyway, Gogeta teleports in and promises to handle the rest.

Bulma looks really cute here, by the way.

So yeah, Gogeta goes Super Saiyan and they fight so hard that it opens up a dimensional rift or something...

I don’t know what the idea here was, but it’s trippy and I like it, I guess.

Anyway, Gogeta goes Blue and punches Broly hard enough that they go back to the real world.

But this screencap pretty well sums it up. A blue guy and a green guy shooting green and blue shit at each other.

Gogeta even uses the Stardust Breaker from Movie 12, but Broly survives, even though Gogeta’s at Super Saiyan Blue. I gotta be honest, this is just a bit too wacky for me.

Meanwhile, Cheelai and Leemo steal the Dragon Balls and summon Shenron. She forces whatsisname to tell them how to make the wish, but it turns out you can just ask Shenron directly, so it’s not that complicated.

See, the big twist of this movie, which is really what holds all of this together, is that Broly’s not the villain after all. He’s the victim here, and that puts things in a whole other light now that Gogeta is turning the tables on him. When I found out this movie would come down to Broly vs. Gogeta, I wondered how evenly matched they would be, but since Broly is sympathetic, it changes the equation. Gogeta can just whale on the guy, and it doesn’t matter, because the real suspense is whether Cheelai can save Broly before it’s too late.

As Gogeta prepares a finishing blast, Cheelai wishes for Broly to be sent back to Vampa, and Shenron does it. Vampa sucks, but at least Broly is safe here.

Then Leemo and Cheelai fly out of here to save themselves. Frieza tries to blast them out of the sky. Why didn’t he stop them before they made their wish? Also, why didn’t Shenron offer to grant two more wishes?

In any case, Gogeta stops Frieza from killing them, and he shrugs Gogeta off and prepares to leave. Gogeta just... stands there and lets him? Why? Vegeta has always wanted Frieza dead, and Goku learned the hard way in the last movie. This is dumb.

Meanwhile, Beerus has done absolutely jack shit through this whole movie and he’s very pleased about it.

In space, Cheelai plans to drop Leemo off somewhere and then head for Vampa. She figures she’s a fugitive from the GP and the Frieza Force, so it’s about the only place left for her to go. This definitely has nothing to do with the generous bulge in Broly’s tights, no sir.

But Leemo wants to tag along, since he figures he doesn’t have much going for him either.

Frieza knows that they’re all together on Vampa, but he decides to leave them be for now. He seems to think they can make Broly stronger and better able to control his power, and that suits him for... some reason.

This line confuses me. Is he saying he wants another nemesis, in addition to Goku and Vegeta? Or is he saying that he wants a potential ally to help him defeat Goku and Vegeta? Or something else altogether?

On Vampa, Cheelai and Leemo are starting to realize what they’ve signed on for here. The only food on the planet is bitter, and everything is trying to kill them.

Then Goku just teleports into their cave and gives them a capsule house full of provisions. He even gives them a couple of senzu beans.

Cheelai is suspicious of Goku, but he explains that he just wants them to be safe and healthy, because he wants to fight Broly again sometime. After all, it took nothing less than Gogeta Blue to beat him, so he must be a worthy opponent.

Cheelai still regards Goku as an enemy, but he doesn’t particularly care, since he can find them wherever they go, and Broly seems happy with the idea of fighting with him for funsies.

So Cheelai lightens up a bit and thanks him. Then they ask Goku his name, because they never heard who this guy is or what he’s all about.

So he says that he’s Son Goku... and Kakarot. I like the dub version better, where he specifically says “Broly... call me Kakarot.” Either way, I like this ending, because “Kakarot” was Broly’s catchphrase in the 90′s, and he never says it once in this movie, because he never heard the name until this point. So that’s pretty cool.

But more importantly, I like this as character development for Goku, who once bitterly rejected his Saiyan heritage, including his birth name. Now, it looks like he’s come around on that, to the point where he wants other Saiyans to call him Kakarot. It works well with my personal canon that Saiyans view this as a matter of honor. Vegeta knows he goes by “Son Goku”, but he thinks it would be more insulting to call him that, even if that’s his preference.

And that’s the movie. All in all, a pretty good one, probably one of the best, but not as good as my favorites. I think it would have been better if they had used new concepts and characters instead of mining the past for ideas. A different Saiyan could have played the Broly role just fine, but they went with Broly because of his popularity. Some other power could have been used to defeat him, but they went with fusion because it was popular. It get the reasoning, but I can’t help but notice how Cheelai became the breakout star of this thing, and everyone loves Cheelai and she just might be the most popular thing to come out of this movie, and lo and behold, she’s a wholly original idea. It just makes you wonder what else they might have come up with if they hadn’t stopped with her.

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