Contents- Lovers to enemies to lovers, superhero!Reader, Reader can control water, Hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, AU-canon divergence, grief, animal death (not Krypto), Clark doing his best, might be slightly ooc sorry
Summary- Something terrible happens to you while Kara is out there in space getting drunk, you lose control over your powers and you two end up on opposite sides. How will you find your way back to each other?
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Getting out of my comfort zone and writing something for Kara instead of Jinx, inspiration just wouldn't stop coming after I watched the movie
I hope you'll like it! (also on Ao3 )
Earth is huge compared to the limited scope Kara has known all her life. Her home wasn't even a full city, only a small fraction of a much bigger world and civilization, a briefly surviving fraction of a crumbling Krypton. It hasn’t been very long since she left that home forever and arrived on this planet she knows very little about. Up to now, she has only had time to learn the man who had welcomed her was really her cousin Kal-El and to say 'my name is Kara'.
She also watched Krypto bite through metal and broken a glass of water her cousin had offered her, consequence of the powers this sun gives her. Kal-El seems to have perfectly learned how to control them, it's only a matter of time before she does too.
Although after Kara’s first attempt at flying had ended in an explosion of ice blocks and her face buried under a thick layer of snow, Krypto barking like he was laughing at her, her cousin deemed wiser to carry her on his back. She grips his broad shoulders, she feels him tense and immediately loosens her hold. Right, her strength has been multiplied. Thankfully her cousin was a fellow Kryptonian or she would’ve broken a few of his bones already. They are currently flying to meet up with one of his human friends, to make sure she’s perfectly healthy. Or that's what she understood at least.
They land in a city all grey and cold. There's a kind of unnatural fog weighting on it. The noise makes Kara wince, an instant headache forming between her ears. Krypto, floating next to them since he seems to be adapting a lot more easily to the flying part of his newly-acquired powers, whines too, his dog ears probably picking up even more noises than hers. Kal-El grimaces apologetically, clearly not having anticipated this matter, he says a few words in a language she doesn't quite understand. He looks around for a solution, the crease between his eyebrows deepening. Kara gestures at him to leave it and keep flying to their destination. She'll just have to grit her teeth through the throbbing pain in her skull.
Her cousin's friend is a stern man, who would do well to relax. Kara notes that he called Kal-El, Clark. One more weird thing she’ll certainly understand later. The male human observes her like she was a scientific experiment which he hadn't determined if it was positive or not. It rubs her the wrong way and she might have been more openly hostile to his presence if she wasn't so confused and... Lost. Krypto does sense her discomfort and stays close to her, showing his small teeth to the tall broody man.
Eventually, they make her sit and Clark clumsily tries to communicate something to her. They're going to take something from her but it won’t hurt. She nods in agreement. This day has been too long already, all she wants is to see its end and get some rest. She feels so far from the home she loves, she can almost physically see her grief approach like a huge wave ready to crush and drown her. Krypto nudges her hand as he floats a little above ground and she doesn't react to the contact.
Then a hand lightly brushes her shoulder, forcing her out of her trance-like state. Kara's gaze snaps up to meet yours. Her eyes widen as she takes in your soft smile and sincere gaze. Although you look young, about her age, your eyes seem to hold something ancient, raw and overwhelmingly deep.
"Kara?" You say, tilting your head. You get the accent right, which makes her appreciate you instantly. You show her your hands, palms up as if to prove you weren't holding a weapon. She tracks your every movement with curiosity, holding Krypto against her chest. In any other context, she would've found you beautiful. Screw that, even now she finds you beautiful.
Kara's interrupted in this train of thoughts when your hand hovers in front of her face, not touching her skin directly as a slight frown forms on your own pretty face. At first, she doesn't feel anything, then her nose starts tingling and when she brings her hand up to touch her upper lip, her fingertips get coated with a bit of blood. That's surprising. She wonders how you managed to make her bleed without touching her while after the violent crash of her first flying attempt, she didn't suffer from any kind of injury. She wishes she could ask you if you were like her, coming from another planet. Perhaps the sun gives you powers too.
You hold a small vial under her nose until a decent amount of blood has been gathered at the bottom. You playfully boop her nose and the bleeding instantly stops. You flash her a grin and the last Kryptonian finds herself chuckling lightly.
All of this is so absurd and confusing, she feels like she's in a particularly weird dream. Deep down she knows it's more of a nightmare, one she will never wake up from, yet for now she's too tired to dive into that bottomless pit. In this moment, her grief is kept at bay by this hallucination-like sensation and she doesn't mind one bit, more tears – she’s already had her fair share of them – can always come later.
Kara is quick to learn how to speak English. It does make everything easier, from communication to learning more about this new planet. The first few weeks, she spends all of her time discovering typical human experiences, gaining control over her powers (a work in progress), spending time with her cousin and… well, you. As soon as she can ask for it, she gets to see you again. You’re glad to actually get to know this cute alien girl now that you two can talk.
At Kara’s request, you give her a demonstration of your own powers. She watches you make the water swirl around your arms, the element bending to your will meanwhile she’s trying hard to act cool and not look too awestruck. Your ability to control water is what allows you to also manipulate blood and made hers flow from her nose. You make it seem so easy and smooth, she almost envies your control of you capacities meanwhile she’s still struggling to filter out noises, among other things.
Busy as Kara is, she doesn’t get any time to think about Argo City and everything she lost. Consciously or not, letting the high of novelty and never-ending discovery take over is her way to escape the tragedy of her life. However, it’s only a matter of time before the distractions aren’t enough anymore. She does her damn best to ignore the issue.
“How did you get your powers?” Kara therefore wonders one day, after her first time swimming in the sea. The blond Kryptonian isn’t particularly curious, she generally prefers figuring things out for herself rather than asking a lot of questions, except with you, because she’s always eager to know more about you. Actually, she wants to know everything about you. Her recently-acquired knowledge of what you look like in a swimsuit is so far the most enjoyable part of this ‘beach trip’ as you call it.
Your expression instantly turns a little distant at her question, glancing at the horizon like it holds the answer. “When I was very young, my mother and I fell from a boat into the sea. I don’t remember why we were on this boat in the first place, I only recall this huge storm, the lightening tearing through the sky and the thunder so loud it hurt. It all gets blurry then, the salt burnt my eyes as I screamed until a huge wave silenced me.” You pause, blinking back tears at the memory and it makes Kara regret asking. Absent-mindedly, you create a small whirlpool around your hand. You rarely move huge quantities of water, favouring precision over raw displays of power. Why bother wasting energy on creating a tsunami when you can just get an opponent to fall to their knees by making the blood withdraw from their lower body?
“The water took my mother, swallowed her whole and never even gave her corpse back, and made me its own daughter instead, in a way.” You conclude with a heavy sigh. There’s something unusually bitter in your tone, which makes Kara spontaneously reach for your hand. She is well-aware of what losing a mother feels like, even though she has been pretending it isn’t weighting on her lately.
This phase in Kara’s life of looking the other way lasts for long enough for you two to fall in love.
At first, you’re completely oblivious to Kara’s attempts at flirting with you, convincing yourself she can’t possibly return your feelings in her situation, despite her infatuation being so painfully obvious everyone else has noticed. ‘Everyone else’ being Clark and Krypto.
Until one day she straight up kisses you, ready to risk an embarrassing rejection if it finally makes you realize she likes you, she’s had enough trying to be smooth just for you to brush it off as meaningless. Subtlety has never been her forte anyway. When you kiss her back, she’s so relieved she starts floating a meter over the ground and brings you with her since she has an arm tightly wrapped around your waist. She’s still working on the whole ‘controlling her powers’ thing.
A few other incidents of the kind happen, including your memorable first time sleeping together when she accidentally burnt two holes into the wall over your bed with her laser vision, and that time she left her handprints on the counter after you teased her a little too much. Not to mention everything Krypto broke or damaged. Her dog never learnt the (limited) restraint she did.
In summary, during Kara’s blissful denial of her grief, life is cheerfully chaotic until it isn’t.
Her darker emotions close up on her inexorably, until she can’t escape them anymore. She starts pushing you away, isolating herself. It doesn’t help that you’re a superhero like her cousin and even though neither of you pressure her into doing the same, it is hard to find herself spiralling about the loss of everything she has ever known while you two are saving the world.
Therefore, when an umpteenth villain coming from space leaves his wrecked spaceship behind, Kara sees it as her way out of this planet she’s still deeply unfamiliar with, away from this cousin who cannot understand what she’s been through and keep trying to help her with so much patience it drives her crazy.
And then there’s you. You're definitely the most interesting human she's ever met, the only one she would ever even consider staying for and yet… Despite everything you share and the depth of her feelings for you, Kara feels like she is suffocating on Earth, choking on her bone-deep loneliness, the memory of Krypton and the weight of the expectations her father put on her shoulders. She needs distractions, anything to drown her grief in, and she can’t find that relief here. Even if she stayed, she wouldn’t be the partner you deserved, it would only make things worse for both of you. Kara wants to keep the fond memories of the short but precious time you were happy together, not to taint them with hurt and fights. Although she’ll definitely miss you a lot, it’ll only ever be one more cut into her already bleeding heart.
Within a month, Kara’s spaceship is ready to leave for extra-terrestrial adventures with Krypto, of course. He’s much bigger now than he was when she arrived and as full of energy as ever. You had grown used to walking him, like you’d grown used to so many things since Kara arrived in your life. You don’t fight to make her stay, you can tell it’s no use. You’ve learnt to recognize when she’s set on something and won’t change her mind. She’s quite stubborn and you usually love that about her, today you almost wished she was more easily swayed. All you can hope for is that she finds the peace and healing she’s searching for in those far-away galaxies and comes back soon.
You’ve lost your whole family when your mother disappeared, you cannot imagine how much worse it must be for her to have seen her people decay one by one and to have left them all behind. You know she’s strong and you have trust in her resilience. If anyone can do it, it’s Kara Zor-El.
“I have something for you.” Your favourite alien announced the day of her departure, hiding something behind her back. You try to get a peek and she takes a step back so you can’t see it yet. “I’ll give it to you in a minute, just wait.” She tells you, with the authoritative tone she sometimes tried to use with Krypto. Since you weren’t a hyperactive dog, unlike him you listened. “I’m leaving with Krypto and I know you played a role into raising him and all… even though I can’t leave him with you, I thought you could use the company while we’re gone.”
Kara hands you the shoe box then shoves her hands in her coat’s pockets. You find the most adorable little puppy in there, you immediately pick her up with an excited gasp.
“Aw she’s so cute…” You show her off to Kara like she hadn’t chosen this puppy herself.
She clears her throat, visibly relieved that you seem to appreciate her present. “I saw her at the shelter and I knew she’d be perfect for you. What are you gonna name her?”
You take a second to think about it, until a name came up on its own. “Nana.”
Kara raises an eyebrow. “Like the dog in Peter Pan?”
“Exactly! I’m glad I made you see at least one Disney movie before you left.” You confirm, smiling genuinely for the first time in days. Despite accepting Kara’s departure as necessary, it doesn’t mean you were happy about it.
“I can’t believe you compared me to Tinkerbell.” She scoffs, still bitter about it.
You chuckle at her offended face. “You’re a small angry thing who flies and has blond hair, just like her.”
Kara rolls her eyes and grumbled something under her breath, too quietly for you to hear it clearly. You have a feeling it wasn’t very flattering, you thank her for the puppy anyway, with a kiss that lifts up her mood instantly and shuts her up efficiently.
A few hours later, you hold Nana against your chest as the repaired spaceship flies away. You miss your Supergirl already.
Over the next few months, Kara comes back a handful of times, always stopping by your place to spend the night. You always let her in because god knows she’s hard to resist to. You honestly can’t put a name the kind of relationship you have with Kara. What status is it when one is in love with a woman who’s more or less the only survivor of her planet and spends 90% of her time black out drunk in another galaxy? You’d very much like to know.
In fact, Kara never stays longer than a day and generally shows up hungover. You tell yourself it’s part of the process and that she’s old enough to know what she’s doing. Still, you can’t help but feel a little concerned. As much as you care for Kara, you try not to think about her too often because you also have a very time-consuming superhero life to focus on and it usually makes your heart tighten painfully. Nana is a great help in making you forget about your disastrous love life and consequential loneliness.
It has been a little over a year since Kara has first taken off in her spaceship now, you’re going home after spending the day in Gotham to help Batman creating an antidote to one of his enemy’s most recent chemical weapon. When you’re not actively fighting whatever menace is threatening Earth, you work in the lab. Your ability to control water can be very useful in chemistry and you like being in your white coat, handling dangerous substances in Erlenmeyers.
You close the door, turn off the alarm and kick off your shoes as Nana stands on her back legs to eagerly attack you with her affection. A minute later you’re heading for the kitchen to give your dog her dinner, you don’t even have time to turn the light on when the window suddenly shatters and two shadows jump inside. You’re tired and it makes your reflexes too slow, they knock you out with an electric shock before you can do anything to stop them.
When you wake up, you don’t recognize anything around you. The light is too white, flickering and unlike the LEDs in your flat. You recognize the coldness of metal against your cheek and the low vibrations of a powerful motor. You immediately straighten up when you hear a small whine. Nana is there, laying at your feet, stirring awake slowly. You’re both relieved and scared to see your dog in there with you. At least they didn’t hurt her, but now she’s in danger with you, in this unidentified location.
You take in your surroundings, you appear to have been locked in a kind of cell, with no door. This room is composed of six perfectly smooth metallic sides, any wall could’ve been the ground and vice versa. You try to reach for your power, to feel the water present in the air. Nothing comes. You keep trying, for what feels like an eternity, to no avail. You feel like you’ve lost one of your senses. Your power is part of who you are and now that part has been cut off from the rest of you. Panic starts to rise in your chest. Something like this has never happened before, you don’t know what to do without your special ability. Nana climbs into your lap, barking once, probably to tell you to calm down.
If only she knew.
At first you hope for the arrival of some help, of any kind. Clark was meant to come to your flat the morning after the day you were kidnapped, he’ll immediately understand something happened. Bruce has satellite cameras and eyes everywhere, he’ll be able to track your two aggressors. So you wait, and wait. You have no idea how long it’s been. You’re hungry, thirsty and above all, scared. You’ve never felt this vulnerable and helpless, not since you fell into the dark and cold water of the ocean. You had lost your mother, then, and gained power. This time you could only hope the loss of your power meant you got to keep your closest friend.
You lose all and any optimistic thought when finally the two unknown silhouettes who broke into your place appear from apparently nowhere to get you and your dog out of your cell. They’re fucking aliens, talking in a language you’ve never heard before as they tie up your hands behind your back with a gun aiming at you. The way they talk sounds like growls more than words.
When you are literally thrown outside, landing painfully on the ground next to a barking Nana, you can immediately tell this isn’t Earth. Two moons shine over your head, twins, like you’re kidnappers, dressed and looking exactly the same. You tell Nana to keep quiet, still praying for you both to make it out of this nightmare somehow. The spaceship has landed in a rocky area, there’s also sand a little further and then… waves. A vast extent of water which you can only see with your eyes. It’s driving you crazy. Is it because you’re not on Earth or because they injected you with something? You have no way to know.
Someone new has joined the four of you. He’s dressed in all-green and looks quite human, not friendly though. He speaks with the twins for a minute, observing you coldly. He takes a heavy purse out of his pocket, yet instead of handing it to them, he makes a gesture towards your growling dog. You tense with fear for your beloved pet.
“Please, no…” you beg, trying to push her behind you. Too late, a single shot and Nana falls dead on the ground right in front of you. That’s when your ears start ringing, your heart aches and all your muscles contract abnormally. There’s a second of complete silence, as if you were frozen in time, then everything gets blurry as your anger takes over all conscious and rational thinking. It all happens in the blink of an eye or perhaps it’s only how it felt to you because before you know it, only water surrounds you. It feels like regaining sight after staring into total darkness for an eternity. It’s too much, you’re not in control of anything. The water is your anger’s sword and it crushes everything in its reach. As you’ll realize later, it’s a planet-wide reach.
The clarity doesn’t come back with the death of those responsible for Nana’s murder, it lingers. All alone in space, you drift from space station to strange planet, with no goal or will to live. It has become clear to you that a bounty had been put on your head, alive, by some supervillain coming from space who hadn’t appreciated your intervention to stop their plans and wanted to inflict you some punishment themselves. The twins captured you and in their zeal, they took your dog as well. The third man was simply a representative of whomever wanted to get their revenge on you.
You’d be tempted to track them down, if not for the guilt gnawing at you. You didn’t just kill three men, you drowned half the population of the whole planet under a cataclysmic tsunami. Much like Earth, it was mostly covered with water, which allowed you to make a number of victims horrifyingly high. You were a hero, and now most people would call you a mass murderer. They’d be right. Your loved ones wouldn’t understand that you weren’t in control or that you couldn’t think about anything else than the fact that you could do it again and nothing would be able to stop you this time either. It is terrifying to think about.
You have nowhere to go, you can’t go back to your normal life after what you did. You don’t have it in yourself to lie, pretend you haven’t changed permanently and your fellow superheroes would find out soon enough. You can’t bear to even imagine the disappointment on Clark’s face, or worse, Kara’s shock and rejection. Knowing you’ve lost everything, you feel empty at first, like this is a nightmare you’ll eventually wake up from.
Time goes by in a blur of unknown places and terrible nightmares.
After a while, you grow bitter, because why did none come to save you? You’ve made your own investigation, the journey from your home planet to the one where the man in green was waiting lasted for three days. None from Earth had been seen in any of the places the duo of bounty hunters has stopped for gas and provisions. Your disappearance must have been noticed within 24h, so why didn’t Superman or really any of the others do their job and went to find you? Did you really matter so little to them? What could’ve possibly been so important that they couldn’t come to the rescue of one of their most loyal allies and, as you used to believe, a friend? These questions plague you day and night. Over time, you convince yourself if it had been anyone else, they would’ve done everything to find them.
And what about Kara? You don’t believe for a second that her cousin didn’t tell her about you being kidnapped. Like everybody else, she just chose to abandon you, to sacrifice everything you’ve shared for whatever held her back from saving the girl she swore she loved. Kara betrayed you, abandoned you to your cruel faith carelessly. Like a festering wound, you become an aggressive and resentful version of yourself, someone you would’ve never thought you could be.
Thus, when you are approached by someone who wants you to be part of a plan he’s setting up to get rid of Superman once and for all, you’re easily convinced. What use is a hero who can’t protect those close to him? By making people believe he’ll save them just to sacrifice them for a greater cause, he’s doing more harm than good, you tell yourself.
Kara is, as often, heavily alcoholised when she stumbles out of some bar on a planet she couldn’t name if she tried. At this point of the night she’s having trouble walking, speaking and functioning in general. It doesn’t help that this planet doesn’t have a moon to cast its light on the dark streets. With Krypto’s ‘help’ she drags herself to her spaceship and drops onto her bed, blessed with a lack of nausea for once.
After spending the last week on one of her perilous and drunken adventures, she has finally landed for long enough to get her communication system repaired after it got damaged when she got on the bad side of a group of tentacled guys she'd slightly underestimated.
Consequently, the next morning she turns the device on, holding a mug of an alien type of coffee-like drink, and clicks through Kal-El’s numerous messages.
“It’d be nice to see you for-“
Skip
“How are you-“
Skip
“Hey Kara, this important-“
Honestly, she is about to skip this one too when she notices how unusually stressed out and dishevelled her cousin looked in this specific recorded video.
“Well, if it’s important…” she mumbles, frowning faintly. Whatever Kara anticipated, it’s nowhere near as bad as what she discovers in the following minute. Krypto storms into the room with a curious bark when he hears his mother’s mug loudly shatter on the floor.
A single thought keeps running through the young Kryptonian’s mind: you disappeared. Her head spins, either from the hungover or these news, probably both. She checks the date of the message, a month ago. Fuck, why didn’t she get her communication system fixed earlier? How long has it been since she last went back on Earth?
Kara frantically searches for another message from Kal-El, one where he’d tell her he found you, that you’re safe and healthy. There’s nothing and the realization makes her stomach sink.
She can hear her own heart beat wildly in her chest as she desperately tries to think through the thick fog engulfing her mind. She hates herself for drinking so much last night.
Kara paces while she forces herself to calm down enough to think rationally. Realistically, there are chances her cousin tried to reach out again but couldn’t because she was too far away. It has happened before when she went a galaxy or two too far.
Kal-El said he had a massive urgency to deal with and would look for you as soon as 8 billion people wouldn’t be at risk of dying anymore. He had to leave shortly after and didn’t give her any more information about you vanishing.
If Kara wants to know where you are and if you’re okay, she needs to go to Earth. She’s not too bad at piloting and she makes the journey in record time. She’s almost too busy dodging asteroids to think about the fact that you might be dead, that she didn’t get time to apologize for leaving you or that maybe she’ll never see your smile again.
Kara flies over the Fortress of Solitude and her X-Ray vision allows her to see her cousin inside. She lands poorly and storms in the ice palace.
“Where is she?” she yells, visibly distraught, Krypto running behind her. The sight in front of her does nothing to reassure her. Kal-El is in his Superman suit, the blue skin-tight thing with the red briefs, looking more exhauster than she has ever seen him before. He’s clearly just done with a shot of yellow-sun therapy.
“Kara, you’re back…” he replies, his grimace a cheap copy of his usual heart-warming smile.
His lack of real answer to her question makes her close her hands into tight fists. “What’s going on, did you find her?”
He sighs deeply and shakes his head negatively, his face expressing a worrying mix of regret and guilt. “It’s complicated, can you sit down?” he sounds so miserable, she wills herself to comply. “A month ago, I went to her place to meet up with her and she wasn’t there. Her kitchen window had been broken from the outside and Nana was gone too. The cameras showed two people breaking in and carrying the dog and her out onto a small flying shuttle which brought them to a larger spaceship.
I was in Smallville that night, I had no idea what was going on in Metropolis, it’s my fault I should’ve-“
“Cut the guilt trip, this is no the moment.” Kara intervenes sharply, not caring if she’s being too harsh, she needs answers.
He wisely doesn’t argue with her. “Right. I was about to go get her, when Klario managed to open a huge inter-dimensional portal. Demons and other creatures started pouring out and into our world, it was going to be a massacre if we didn’t intervene quickly. I only had time to call you and leave you a message before flying there. They kept coming in overwhelming waves and the magicians were having a hard time closing the portal, I couldn’t leave, there was always a civilian in danger, then another and another…” He pauses, rubbing his face with a sigh. “When it finally stopped, we still had a lot of clean up to do, some of these monsters could teleport and were spread all around the world.
As soon as I could, I tried to find her and I discovered…” Kal-El’s voice trails off, his gaze avoiding hers. She doesn’t have the patience for dramatic pauses right now and is about to make it known when he stands up abruptly.
“I’ll just show you.” He goes to the hologram projector and opens a file. It’s a kind of WANTED poster, with your face on it and a reward Kara knows to be impressively high. Her jaw tightens, not liking where this is going. “I think she was taken away by two well-known intergalactic bounty hunters, who came here to bring her alive to someone we haven’t been able to identify.
Then she was brought there…” A planet she’s never heard off appears, slightly bigger than Earth, a bit less populated informs her the data under the 3D miniature reconstitution. “We don’t really know what happened there, the only recordings we could find show this.” A video plays. Kara feels nausea rising as she watches a gigantic wave wipe off a whole city, locals taken by surprise in their daily life running uselessly from an inexorable death. She can’t look away from their fearful faces and open mouths as they scream.
“No, no, no, it’s not possible, it wasn’t her!” She shakes her head, rejecting the necessary conclusion these images lead to.
Kara knows you, she knows you’re driven by kindness and moral duty, she’s seen you put your life on the line to save innocents dozens of times. Shit, she admires you for being the selfless hero you are, one who dedicated her whole life to defending those weaker than her. And you don’t even manipulate such volumes of water, always favouring precision and efficiency. She has never once seen you control more than a few litres at once, let alone create a whole fucking tsunami. None of the above is compatible with the number of victims written in red blinking in front of her. There’s isn’t any doubt, though, you did it.
Kara blinks, once, twice and takes a deep breath as she turns back to her cousin. “Where is she now?” she hears herself say, in a voice which sounds foreign to her own ears, too quiet, too weak.
“She’s somewhere in space, alive, as far as we can tell.” Kal-El informs her, reaching out to touch her before retracting.
Kara is briefly relieved to hear the news, then wonders if she really should be. Are you, the woman who’s been her anchor during the worst time of her life, really who she thought you were? If you hadn’t become a mass murderer she would’ve been in her spaceship, leaving to find you already. Except that you are a mass murderer.
She’s lost, confused in a way which has nothing to do with the heavy dulling sensation induced by alcohol. Even Krypto is agitated, sensing something is deeply wrong.
Kara remains on Earth, for the first time in a while she doesn’t want to go back to space and find the nearest bar in a red-sun system. If she had been with you on the night you were kidnapped, none of this would’ve happened. The thought drives her crazy. She feels like she failed you, the best thing to have come out of her forced exile.
All this time, you’ve been her main source of hope, the one thing in her life which made her want to believe things would get better. When she was drunk in the middle of a sea of strangers, she knew she could always go back on Earth and start building something real with you. It was as scary as it was comforting, a duality that kept her coming in and out of your life.
Since Kara is there now and in control of her powers, she gives a hand to her cousin with the incessant villains threatening Metropolis and/or the world. It occupies her, seeing as she can’t get wasted. She still isn’t sure how she feels about the matching suit Kal-El gave her, design aside, at least it has the advantage of being more durable than regular clothes. Damage is already done anyway, ever since she helped Superman twice and gained the name Supergirl.
One day, the Justice League sends them both in a foreign country to stop a group of superhumans from stealing water. At first she thinks it’s a joke and as it turns out, it isn’t. The group has apparently been stealing very important quantities of water and a few countries’ population are actually put in danger by the lack of water in the usual aquifers from which they pump it.
House of El crest on her chest and cape flying in her back, Kara follows Superman as they fly towards their target. Unlike him, she hasn’t been on Earth long enough to navigate at 8,000 meters above the ground. They get there in time as the head of the local armed forces informs them. His soldiers are positioned all around the pumping station. All of the staff is kept hostage inside, the cousins confirming they’re all gathered inside a large room on the second floor thanks to their X-ray vision.
The duo briefly discuss strategy before storming inside the building, ready for a showdown. The two superhumans watching the staff members seem to have different capacities, from weather control to enhanced strength. Kara hasn’t identified a leader yet, even if they do appear to have a defined plan. She soon splits from Superman, letting him free the hostages while she stops the actual operations deep underground.
Kara only sees two other supervillains down there, she should be able to manage. Hearing her cousin saying something about not jumping head (or rather fists) first into a fight, she approaches quietly to gauge her opponents.
All of her cautiousness evaporates when she recognizes you, calling out your name without thinking about it. You turn around instantly, watching her with a complex mix of emotions she can’t decipher.
“Kara.” You reply simply, your posture stiffening. Her name has never sounded so wrong in your mouth.
For a split second Kara is just ridiculously and genuinely happy to see you alive and well, standing a few meters away from her. Then her joy crumbles like a house of cards when she notices that you're wearing the same outfit as your accomplices.
She opens her mouth to ask what’s happening with you and is cut short by a powerful flow of water hitting her right in the chest.
Kara is too stunned to react and her back hits a cold hard wall violently. She shakes her head to clear her mind and flies back to where you’re holding the other supervillain’s hand, the vast stock of water beneath you bubbling at the surface from whatever your combined powers are trying to achieve. Her jaw tightens at the sight.
“Hey-“ She begins, right before a geyser shoots her up to the ceiling. “Wait-“ she tries again once she’s back upright. Again, she’s interrupted by a wave crashing on her. She's starting to get sick of being tossed around like one of Krypto’s toys.
Kara doesn’t really want to fight back, hurting you is easily in the top five of things she swore she’d never do. And yet, anger progressively takes over the confusion with each of your rejections of her attempts to have a conversation. All Kara wants is for you to talk to her, so she can understand why you’re doing this, why you’re acting like an enemy and why you’re not looking at her in the eye.
Your next attack is met with more resistance as she uses her strength and arms to shield herself from getting thrown into another wall.
A moment later, the blond woman next to you puts a blue orb in her pocket and you drop her hand to focus on Kara. She pounces on you and you push her back by creating a tornado of water around her. Kara struggles a little to get rid of it, you’re the only person she’s ever met who could control water and she had never fought against you, not like this. Your tricks used to be less theatrical too.
The sphere of water you wrap her in proves inefficient when Kara breaks through it thanks to her laser vision and finally manages to make you stumble back. You counter-attack and she throws a big piece of concrete in your direction. You dodge it without the slighting flinch, showing no apparent surprise that she’d do this meanwhile Kara herself is thrown off by her own action. Sure, unlike her cousin, she never holds back during a fight against someone who had it coming, but this is you she’s fighting. Her internal conflict only fuels her anger because why do you have to make things complicated, everything would be much easier if you’d just explain yourself. Instead of trying to find a solution you’re fighting against her, committing additional crimes and crossing new lines.
Kara has to make you listen to her, this fight is absurd and can’t last any longer. She abruptly flies towards you at inhuman speed and this time there’s nothing you can do to avoid it. She crashes into you and pins you to the wall by the throat. She feels your pulse under her fingers, your skin warm and as familiar as her own. She has never held you so roughly before, though. She hates this so much, and she hates you for making her do it.
“What the fuck?!” Kara snaps furiously as you glare at her, even like this you’re beautiful and she has to remind herself this isn’t the right moment for this kind of thoughts. A part of her had hoped to find you so changed she’d find to trace of the woman she lived some of the best moments of her life with. However, she recognizes the fire in your eyes, the fierceness with which you fight, except that is has never been directed against her before. She’s distracted and doesn’t see it coming when you use your power to pull her down by her feet.
Kara lets go of your throat and hits the ground with a groan. When she gets back up, you’re gone, along with the rest of the group and the water. She kicks a fallen block of concrete, still riled up by your attitude.
Upstairs, Superman is escorting the last hostages out of the building, a deep crease forms between his eyebrows upon noticing her expression. She shakes her head to inform him she failed, not that it’s her main preoccupation at the moment. You slipped right through her fingers, after basically forcing her into a fight and not giving her a chance to say anything to defend herself. Kara is left frustrated and heartbroken. It’s like she’s been living underwater ever since she left her homeland and her people, and your harsh rejection is a shark with sharpened teeth threatening to finish her off.
Back in the Fortress, Kara laconically explains everything to her cousin, all the fight drained out of her by now. Even Krypto didn’t manage to lift up her mood.
“I was so mad at her, Kal-El, I lost it…” she admits, raking her fingers through her unruly hair.
He nods, sitting in front of her with his ready-to-make-a-speech face. Despite usually rolling her eyes at it, maybe she needs it this time. “Your reaction is understandable, from your point of view, one of your loved ones has suddenly turned aggressive against you.”
“That’s an euphemism, she tried to drown me!” Kara exclaims, regaining a little bit of her previous anger.
“Kara.” Kal-El says in a soothing tone. She crosses her arms over her chest, scowling. “We don’t know for sure what happened, only that she was abducted with Nana, brought on a planet light-years from her home and from the way you described her present attitude, I believe only she made it out. None went to save her, Kara. I’m pretty sure all the innocents she killed were casualties of what she had to do to survive.
From her point of view, we abandoned her, which is justified. However, it’s unclear why she’s collaborating with these supervillains now, they probably have an ulterior motive, I haven’t figured out what it is yet. Without knowing their goal it’s hard to tell why she joined them.”
Kara wants to beat herself up when she realizes she forgot about the very dog she gifted you. She’s horrified to imagine what happened to Nana and what it did to you. She can see herself making a massacre if something ever happened to Krypto and she couldn’t prevent it, alone on a foreign land. Perhaps you lost control over your power as you unleashed your fury, and unintentionally killed all these people. It makes sense, it fits.
You can’t not be held accountable for your actions, yet she can’t ignore your history and everything you represent for her.
Kara wants to cry thinking about everything you must have felt.
Although they haven’t cleared everything yet, she’s not as distraught as before. You’re hurt and you feel betrayed, grief blinding you, she knows all those feelings from experience. If you didn’t just turn evil, then it means she can still bring you back to reason, apologize and stop you before you lose yourself completely in the darkness. Kara clings to this thread of hope with everything she has. She won’t fail you again.
Kara coming back on Earth wasn’t part of the plan. Foolishly perhaps, you had convinced yourself she would stay in space long enough for the RAIN operation to be completed. The base where Lex Luthor has your group staying is dissimulated in a dense forest, with a river close by. You don’t talk to the others much, spending most of your time sitting by the water. Even though you’ve never fought any of them, they’ve heard of you back when you were a superhero. They know just enough of your downfall to trust you.
The water droplets form a feminine figure with a cape and a skirt, flying over your open palm.
Lex Luthor’s big plan to get rid of Superman once and for all. He wants to use the water collected and your abilities combined to those of the guy who controls the air to make a Kryptonite-enriched rain fall on the whole planet. The goal is at least to contaminate all the water on Earth, making it unliveable for Kryptonians, Luthor will finally be free of Superman. Even with the new upgrade of your powers, it’d be difficult without the machine Luthor had a team of scientists build specifically for this.
At first, your anger convinced you to take part to this plot, now you’re starting to have doubts on its feasibility. You tell yourself you have gone too far already, and if the plan fails then you will have deserved whatever faith will be yours.
For your whole life you were good, always trying to do the right thing, choosing everyone else over yourself. You sacrificed everything for the cause, exhausting yourself with the knowledge you were saving lives. All of that only to be abandoned by the people who fought alongside you when you needed them most. If the best version wasn’t worth saving, what about the monster you became? At least now you deserve it. You’d make sure to earn the tragedy undoubtedly coming your way.
Although Kara’s betrayal is the worst of them all, you are having a hard time wanting her dead. Sure, you hate her for not coming to your rescue, she was the one person you trusted most, the one you had given your heart to only for her to throw it away. You close your hand into a fist and the small figure disintegrated into rivulets on your skin.
Despite the fact that both of the cousins and Krypto could fly to space to escape the Kryptonite, there are chances they’ll fight to stop the whole operation, until it will too late. You are pretty sure Lex Luthor won’t miss the opportunity of trapping Superman on Earth and have the rain finish the job. And if Supergirl happens to be with him, well then it’d even better.
In spite of everything, you can’t bear the thought of taking part to Kara’s death. You can’t imagine it without memories flashing before your eyes: Kara’s rare genuine smiles, her laugh, her eyes, her skin against yours…
You need to make her leave the planet. She can’t be here for what’s to come, in space she’ll be safe. Preferably far enough to be unable to come back before all is done. Why is she here in the first place? Probably because of you, if you have to guess from her reaction upon seeing you at the pumping station. It makes you chuckle humourlessly. Kara had the nerve of being surprised to see you turn against her after how she treated you.
If she’s even a little like the woman you thought she were, she’ll try to see if you can still be brought back to light. All you have to do is prove to her it’s impossible, you’re too far gone, and she’ll give up. Kara isn’t nearly as optimistic as her cousin, it shouldn’t take much to convince her you’re a lost cause. Hopefully, it’ll make her feel as helpless as she was when you attacked her first and she will see no more reason to remain on Earth.
Sounds like a good plan. You just have to see her again before the culmination of the RAIN operation.
One night, you slip back into your old apartment, the one you two shared so many good moments in. After a few minutes, Kara still hasn’t showed up and you start questioning whether she will. There’s an alarm system which rings when someone breaks in, sending a signal to both your phone and a small device in Kara’s possession. You had unfortunately deactivated it the night you were kidnapped. Maybe you were stupid to think she’d care enough to notice. You are about to leave when a voice cuts through the silence, calling your name with an unmistakable pronunciation.
“Thought you were gonna bail on me again.” You tell her with a tone as cold as ice, turning around to face her.
Unexpectedly, Kara doesn’t look pissed. Perhaps it’s only a façade. The Kara you knew never was an excellent liar or actress. You must let her think this is a trap to get rid of her. It is, in a way.
You attack her straight away, with no vast amount of water available, you use the tap water to blind her and hit her in the plexus. It shouldn’t hurt, at least not physically. You were expecting an angry answer, some sort of counter-attack, nothing came.
“What’s happening, Supergirl?” you snarl, hiding your confusion with aggressiveness.
Kara lookd up at you with that stubborn expression of hers. “I don’t want to fight you.” Her calm is quite aggravating, especially since you were both trying to act angry at her and to save her. She isn’t going to make it easy, is she?
“Very well, play the martyr all you want.” You retort, focusing to modify her blood circulation. Kara grabs the door frame to stay upright while you deprive her legs of blood. “What does it feel like to be helpless? Not nice, I agree.” Kara falls to her knees as you towered over her. “Where were you, Kara? Where were you when they locked my up in a box and took away my powers? Where were you when they killed my dog in front of me while I begged for their mercy?”
With a flick of your wrist, Kara’s heart contracts painfully when all the blood rushes out.
“I’m not letting you go without fighting for you. Not against you. I’ll never hurt you.” She whispers, clearly struggling to talk with what you’re inflicting her. You relax your hold on her blood and take a step back. You can’t see her eyes fill with tears from up close, whether from the physical or mental pain.
“Don’t you understand this is all your fault?! You should’ve been there.” you reply sharply. It’s easy to accuse her. Kara probably blames herself too, you only have to keep twisting the knife until she flees to space to drown it all in alien liquor.
Kara’s chest heaves in a way you had never seen before as she opens her mouth to speak again. “If it’s my fault then don’t ruin your life because of me. We can still solve this.”
“It’s too late! Do you know how many people I killed?” And you might be losing your mind because you smile as you say it.
“I’m not giving up on you.” The worst part is she sounds like she believes these words.
You chuckle bitterly, looking away from her to stare at the asleep city outside the window instead. “You really should.” For her own sake, you internally complete. It’s quite ironic actually, now that you’re trying to get her away from danger, she’s suddenly interested in caring about you. She’s stupid and you hate her so much you want to kiss her.
Kara shook her head frantically, the light of the nearby skyscrapers allowing you to see the tear tracks on her cheeks mix with the water from the joke of a fight. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You already did, Kara.” Your words cut like a knife to the heart. You see the way she flinches, staring at you like she was searching for cracks in your wrath. You let nothing slip through, your jaw set as you glare at her with all the resentment you can gather.
Finally, her confidence shatters, Kara seems to understand and looks down at the floor, her shoulders dropping. Her cousin should arrive… Now.
Clark crashes through the living room window and you make all of the building’s canalisations explode, a distraction which allows you to disappear without trouble. You hope Kara got the message.
When Superman receives an anonymous warning informing him Lex Luthor is once again plotting and describing where to find the millionaire’s latest weapon, Kara goes with him to check, without thinking too much into it.
She’s still thinking about what you said back in your old apartment. What can she do or say to fix it? Is there even a way to? Should she just accept you’re gone? Her heart breaks at the mere thought.
They land in a forest and indeed, among the noises of small animals and insects, they can pick up human voices and the faint buzzing of electronic appliances.
They get closer furtively, which is easier said than done when one is dressed in bright blue and red.
Kara barely has time to recognize a silhouette as one of the supervillains at the pumping station before they get spotted. The fight starts immediately, Kara battling against the blond woman you were holding hands with in the station, she’s throwing small objects which suddenly turn huge right in her face and she’s not exactly having a hard time dodging or smashing them into pieces but she’s getting seriously annoyed. It doesn’t help that she’s simultaneously trying to find you in the middle of the chaos and so far you’re nowhere to be seen. A moment later, she finally gets rid of her opponent, only knocking her out. She can hear her heartbeat, she did a clean job.
Soon, Kal-El comes closer, his own adversary laying unconscious on the ground tied up with thick pieces of metal. There’s only one member of the group left – without mentioning you, still hidden somewhere – it’s the man who manipulates air. His stance shows his ready to fight them. Kara sees her cousin frown in her peripheral vision.
“What?” she asks, her gaze not leaving their next opponent.
“His movements, they’re not like the last time I fought him… He’s weakened, I don’t see any injury, though.”
Kara checks for herself and she doesn’t notice anything either, she does confirm after a first attack that the man appears to have surprisingly slow reflexes. Something is wrong and not knowing where you are makes her feel even more uneasy.
“Kara, after you stunned the blond woman, I think the guy with enhanced strength started faltering too.” Kal-El explains as he fights to resist a tornado.
Her brain is racing as she dodges another attack from the weather-manipulator.
When a violent gust of wind sends Kara flying, she is hurled through a wall and found herself face-to-face with a huge machine. The bright green colour of the liquid swirling inside explains the sudden headache that’s throbbing in her skull. Kryptonite. This has been Luthor’s plan all along, mixing kryptonite with a huge quantity of water and… She looks up at the clouds quickly forming over their heads, she only remarks now their green-ish colour. She feels a shiver climb up her spine, soon this planet will be as toxic for her as Argo City.
No matter how it works, this thing must need a lot of energy, yet she can’t find any source of power around. She can’t tear it apart, at the risk of poisoning herself. Then it hits her, what if the source wasn’t electricity or petrol? What if…
She storms out of the building to stop her cousin before he hits the third goon too hard. “Stop, wait!”
It’s too late, a fist with Kryptonian strength crashes down on his temple.
Kal-El drops the asshole as Kara’s words register and he falls on the ground. Kara kneels to grab him by the collar. “How does this machine work? Are you linked to it?!”
The bastard has the nerve to smirk despite his clear struggle to stay conscious. “You can’t stop it anymore, it’ll kill her now that she’s the only one left… And you’ll never find her.”
He’s talking about you, Kara is about to shake him until he tells her where you are but he passes out before she gets the time to.
“Fuck, where is she? Can you hear her?” She turns to her cousin, her own senses failing her.
He closes his eyes for a second, then shakes his head negatively as he glances at the heavy clouds forming in the sky. “No, I think the proximity of this much Kryptonite is partially blocking our abilities.”
Kara feels the anger rise in her. She has no reason to think this piece of shit of a human was lying when he said you’d die from bearing alone the weight of powering the Kryptonite-diffusion device, which means you’re agonizing in whatever hole you’re hiding into. Moreover, the revelation of your collaboration with a man whose main purpose is killing her cousin doesn’t do anything to appease her.
You’re actively taking part to a plot to make this whole planet a weapon against her race, to turn the Earth which Kal-El loves so much into an inhospitable land for him. Last time, she didn’t defend herself against you or tried to justify her failure to protect you, but Kal-El doesn’t deserve your hatred. The only reason he didn’t immediately go to your rescue was because he had to protect the population from countless occult threats and he couldn’t just fly away when he could hear so many cries of fear and suffering. He should’ve have been the one who had to go save you anyway, it should’ve been her. She’s the one who really failed you.
Kara actually is furious with you, because it feels better than being scared, because you’re threatening to take away everything her cousin loves, because she feels like she lost you forever, because you’re dying and she can’t find you and because it’s the only way she has to deal with her guilt right now.
Kara straightens up with a deep breath, they need to act quickly. “Kal-El, you must go get Luthor and make him stop this machine. I’ll find her.”
A minute later, she’s flying high above the forest and the clouds. She closes her eyes and uses her super-hearing to search for your heartbeat. She somehow learned to recognize it among all the others. Listening to it used to soothe her, she liked to think it was beating only for her to hear, which was mostly true.
Back to her current situation, Kara is agitated, opposite emotions warring inside her. It’s really not helping her laborious task. She wills herself to focus, she can’t afford to take her time, she’d never forgive herself if she arrived too late this time again.
There it is, faint but present. She lets out a relieved sigh. If she must yell at you for making all the wrong choices and if you must hate her, it’ll happen while you’re alive to glare at her.
Kara pushes herself at her maximum flying speed to make it to your side as quickly as possible. Your heartbeat is coming from a well-hidden cave.
She holds her breath until she sees you, tied up with your eyes close, your breathing almost inaudible despite her closeness. She scrambles to reach you, all of her previous irritation evaporating. Panic replaces anger when she calls your name and you don’t react.
“Please, hold on. I’m so sorry, I…” she feels the tears welling up in her eyes. “Don’t die, don’t leave me.” She whispers wetly.
Kara sobs when your heart stops. She does CPR, begging you to come back. It doesn’t work, and she broke two of your ribs already. She can’t accept that you’re gone, it’s not possible, she won’t allow it.
She’s hit with a sudden inspiration. One last last-ditch attempt at bringing you back to life.
Kara doesn't bother with excessive formalities and lifts you up effortlessly. You’re motionless, limp like a doll and it terrifies her. She takes off and speeds away at the fastest pace your human body can handle. Soon enough, the ocean is in front of her. She lowers herself into the water, it’s probably cold, she can’t tell.
Kara slowly pushes your lifeless body under the surface, you look beautiful in your element, like you belonged there.
“I love you…” she confesses, letting go of you. She remembers the time you told her how you got your powers and prays the ocean will show you mercy once again.
The Kryptonian’s eyes never leaving you as you sink into the depths. “I’ll always love you, no matter what.” She repeats, her voice breaking at the end.
Kara waits, saltwater seeping into her suit but she doesn’t pay it any mind. She can’t see you anymore and she feels her heart shatter at the thought that maybe she’ll never see you again. It makes her want to dive in, to engrave your features into her mind for a little longer, to pretend you’re just sleeping and not gone for good.
The water starts bubbling and she doesn’t dare allow herself to hope. Then you emerge, gasping for air like a new-born. Kara remains frozen for a split second before launching herself at you, wrapping her arms around you so tightly she’s almost crushing you. Thankfully, your ribs are miraculously healed.
“I love you so much.” She sobs into your neck, inhaling your scent deeply, both familiar and more iodic than she remembers.
Kara only pulls away to cradle your face with both hands, looking at you with unfiltered awe. Since she’s a woman of actions more than words, she pulls you into a desperate kiss, pouring all of her pent-up feelings into it.
You only break the kiss when your need for oxygen becomes impossible to ignore. You also absolutely had to tell her what happened. “I’m sorry, I should’ve never accepted to do it. In the end, I tried to stop it and leave but they forced me and…” You pause to breathe, your chest heaving. “You have to believe me, I didn’t actually want to kill Clark, or even hurt him, or you. I felt betrayed and I let the bitterness get the better of me… All these people, I didn’t mean to kill them, I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing, it’s like I was possessed. I needed someone to blame, though, it shouldn’t have been either of you.” You blurt out, finally honest with yourself and Kara.
Dying and coming back to life can make someone see the truth of their story more clearly. In your case, you realized your grief and sensation of abandonment had blinded you, making you think you’d lost everything already so there was nothing else to do than sink even deeper into that downward spiral.
“It’s alright, I know it was an accident. I believe you.” Kara replies without any hint of hesitation. “I’m the one who should apologize. I didn’t get Kal-El’s message immediately when you disappeared because I wandered too far. If I had, I swear to you I would’ve done anything to come to your rescue.” Learning that Kara didn’t actually abandon you makes you curse yourself for ever believing she would. As if she could sense it, she kisses you again, more gentle this time, like she’s trying to stop you from being too hard on yourself.
“I want to stay now. I need to move forward, I can’t keep drowning myself into alcohol and fail the people I love. I want to build a life for myself…” she pauses, her blue-green eyes staring into yours. “With you, if you’ll have me.”
“After everything I’ve done, you’d-“
“Yes.” She cuts you off firmly, her thumb pressing down on your lower lip to silence you more effectively. When she does want to say something important, she’d rather have you listening to her. “I need you in my life, I’ve known it since we first met, I just needed to pull myself together.”
Your expression softens as you caress her cheek and she shivers visibly in reaction. “It’s not your fault. What you went through… It’s impossible to experience such a grief without being deeply affected by it. I only lost Nana and almost went mad, I can’t imagine what you must have felt. Since the first time I saw you, I knew you were carrying a heavy weight on your shoulders and I wanted to help you not get crushed by it.”
Kara grins, almost achieving to replicate the cocky smirk you are familiar with. “Don’t worry about that, I’m pretty strong.”
You roll your eyes at her. “No, really?” Your tone is dripping with irony. This transition to a more light-hearted tone feels nice, like coming home after being away for a long time.
Kara raises an eyebrow, undeterred. “Are you asking for a demonstration?” She doesn’t wait for an answer and grabs you, flying out of the sea while throwing you over her shoulder like a living and breathing potato sack.
Despite your complaints, she teases you a little longer before relenting and holding you in a less undignified way.
Kara's expression turns more serious, almost solemn. "I'll never leave you like that again." It sounds like an oath to both you and herself.
You brush a blond strand of hair away from her face, your previous amusement melting completely. "I honestly don't know how I can live with what I did." You admit quietly.
She leans her forehead against yours, a simple gesture to say she’s there for you regardless of everything that happened. "As long as we're together, we can figure it out."
You only stare at her for a moment, searching her gaze for any trace of uncertainty and found none. Then you nod and repeat with all the confidence you can gather: "Together."
Kara’s bright smile is all the confirmation you need that this is worth fighting for.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to find a new place to live, though. Since I blew up all the canalisations of our old home.” You point out after a few minutes of silent flight.
Kara looks down at you in her arms, her blue-green gaze intense and devastatingly honest. “It doesn’t matter, because you are my home.”
That's it! I'm not entirely satisfied with this work but I've spent too much time on it already, I don't know what more I could change
Thank you for reading it <3
credits to @strangergraphics for the divider !!!
𝒪𝓃ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒻ℴ𝓇𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓇𝓃༯ Going to the Orlando metro area with my man and my best friend.
𝒴ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝒾ℊℊℯ𝓈𝓉 𝒹𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂༯ Fulfillment, meaning, and peace. Also to become an actress but also a figure for other black women and guide us till I can't anymore.
𝒮ℴ𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓅ℯ𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓃ℯ𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎 ℴ𝓃 𝓇ℯ𝓅ℯ𝒶𝓉༯ I literally can't choose but artist that I'm rarely gonna skip are: Miguel, Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, Iyla, & Arctic Moneys.
hair color: i have a split dye, one side is my natural brown the other side is pink and green
favorite colors: pink and green (shocker, i know)
favorite drink: big fan of ice water
one thing you love about yourself: my own sense of humor, i genuinely believe i’m the funniest person on the planet
if you could be any animal, what would you be: a chihuahua specifically owned by myself or my husband. we love our little ratdogs 🫶
dream place to visit: i’ve always wanted to go to new zealand, ireland and greece
one thing you’re looking forward to right now: i’m going to the beach tomorrow!
my biggest dream: i’d love to own an animal rescue 🥺
song permanently on repeat: currently summer disease by millington
no pressure tags: @satorusdollie @satorusdreamer @hotties4gojo @satoruined @lunarkyn @oporotheca @iamsoclone @serpenttine @plaguecxlt @siennayaps + whoever would like to join
Contents- Mob boss Jinx, Kiramman reader, kidnapping, blood and violence, ennemies to ?, masked ball, angst, slight suicidal thoughts, hurt/comfort, claustrophobia (sort of)
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Driving on small countryside roads, you weren’t taking any risks that day. The reason why you were so unusually careful was because you had some of your beehives in the back of your truck.
You hummed under your breath to the latest hit blasting on the radio before the music switched to the news, something about the rise in crime and the increase in illegal trafficking of all kinds. They said something about the ‘Blue mob’, some big criminal organization none had proof existed. You quickly switched back to another radio station, delinquency might be your sister’s favourite subject but you couldn’t care less.
The fields surrounding you were green with growing plants: corn, wheat and flax. You were in a good mood, not even complaining as you got stuck behind a tractor for two miles. Given it was dusk, you hadn’t expected to cross path with many other vehicles, and you didn’t actually see more than three cars after that.
This was the most appropriate time to move beehives without leaving any pollen gatherer behind, that was only one of the long list of things your mentor had taught you. The hives were heavy but thankfully a beekeeper friend had helped you to lift them and put them securely at the back of both your trucks. He was following a little behind you.
Embarrassingly so, Marc was one of your only friends, and he was at least twice your age. The friends you had made in the elitist private schools your parents had sent you to, had never lasted long after you were expelled or after graduation. On top of that, your job wasn’t exactly ideal to meet new people and most of your fellow beekeepers were older than you, if not just old. So you had Marc and that was pretty much it.
Soon, you turned right on a small ground path leading to fallow land. It’d be perfect for your bees, with south exposure and diverse plant life with extended blooming periods so they would be well fed until September and the start of overwintering. There was also a secure, nearby water source and you had carefully checked that you complied with regulatory distances from neighbours and public spaces. If those bastards of Asian hornets stayed away, you were hoping to get an even better production of honey than last year. You were starting to have a few years of experience for yourself.
You had taken over your mentor’s business after her passing. She was a distant aunt, one your parents would rather you had never met. You went to check on the hives you had already moved there during the past week. You heard Marc park next to your truck, glancing at him over your shoulder. He gave you a thumb up before turning the engine off.
“Looks great. You’re going to have a record productive season, I can feel it.” He announced cheerfully as he climbed out of his truck. Your friend had large shoulders, muscles acquired from years of lifting beehives and heavy equipment, a thin moustache his wife hated yet never managed to convince him to get rid of, deep smile lines and a receding hairline you teased him about sometimes. He laughed about it himself so it was all light-hearted banter.
“They’re going to do most of the work.” You pointed out, nodding toward your precious cargo..
“Ah, you know what they say. All bees are good workers but it all comes down to how good the beekeeper is.” You chuckled, you’d never heard that before, yet you wouldn’t be surprised if it really was something people in your line of work said.
“Let’s get them settled, then.” You said as you rolled up your sleeves. Marc followed right behind you. You could hear the familiar buzz of the tiny things living inside the hive as you struggled a little to get it out of the truck and on the right spot on the ground. You painted all your beehives yourself, using fun colours to make horizontal stripes. You were very proud of your small exploitation and unpaid yet beloved employees. Employ-bees, as Marc often joked. He had kids so he was allowed to make dad jokes.
You weren’t built like your friend so you were relieved when you finally put down the last one of your 28 hives. They were all aligned in three parallel rows now, among the tall grass and wild flowers. You took a moment to appreciate the beauty of all these different flowers, each with its specific shape and colour. You’d have to come back to open them very early tomorrow so you’d have plenty of time to admire the landscape then.
“Good job.” Marc concluded, giving you a firm pat on the shoulder.
“Thank you for your help.” You replied, much grateful for how he’d always eagerly aid you.
“No need to thank me, you helped me move mine last week. Christine would be happy to have you over for dinner again, by the way. She says it’s nice to have another woman at our table. If our boys weren’t still in middle school, I bet she’d try to get you with one of them. Anyway, you know you’re always welcome.” He smiled at you warmly, his hand still on your shoulder, squeezing it affectionately. His wife was a very nice woman, who had given birth to three sons before giving up on having a daughter. She worked at the bank in the biggest town of the region and had already helped you to get the financing to buy new equipment when you were a 19-year-old inheriting a honey-making business and a house. You had to decline the offer for tonight, though.
“I have to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to come back here, but on Friday night maybe.”
“Sure, I’ll tell Christine. The boys want to get their revenge at Mario Kart.”
You grinned, amused. “They’re gonna need to train some more if they want to beat me.”
“I’ll tell them. Be safe on your way home.” Marc said as he opened the door of his truck.
“Bye!” you replied, watching him leave so you could manoeuvre out of where you were parked. Marc was barely out of sight when you flinched at a sudden noise, a crack of wood behind you. You turned to observe the darkness. Night had completely fallen now, the hives barely visible. You shivered as you noticed two round eyes staring right back at you.
An owl. You shook your head, embarrassed that you had gotten scared of the flying hunter. At such an hour, in this rural area there were a lot of night birds and bats in the sky. Nothing to be afraid of. You watched as the owl took off, gracious like a feathered ballerina, flying right over your head in almost complete silence before you lost sight of her. You glanced around one last time then climbed up in your vehicle. A moment later, the sound of an up-beat song replaced the silence as you drove away.
You made it back to your house, an old farmhouse partly in its original condition, since you didn’t have the funds to really fix it up. The building got really cold in winter, the heat being older than you by far, and the roof leaked water when it rained a lot. A Kiramman without money was antithetical yet it was your reality since cutting almost all bridges with your family.
Growing up, your relationship with your family had always been complicated, you’d never felt like you fit in their world and views. Much like Caitlyn, you had inherited your mother’s inflexible temper but that only caused more conflict. Whether your father agreed or not with you, he never took your side like he did for Caitlyn. Talking of your sister, your eight-years gap hadn’t helped you bond nor did her departure for an expensive boarding school when you were still very young. A distant aunt on your father’s side had come visit one day, you must have been seven at the time, and told you about her passion for bees. You had begged your parents to let you go spend a week with her in the countryside. They had accepted, seeing it as a break from the constant crying and shouting that usually filled the manor. They probably thought that a little retreat in nature could only be good for your temper. How they must regret that decision now.
You didn’t come back wiser but with a goal: becoming a beekeeper. Your parents disapproved completely. Your sister wanting to work in the police was bad enough, they weren’t going to let you frolic in the fields to gather honey. At least being a police officer had some prestige and was useful for society, even though it was dangerous. But who cared about bees? You were just going to embarrass them, like a stain of dirt on the Kiramman name and legacy.
During your teenage years, you had once told them they were hypocritical fuckers because they liked to get their spoon of honey in their tea as much as the next person. You had gotten grounded for that, and of course you had escaped through the window just to spite them. You hadn’t even wanted that much to go to that party. The same cycle of fight, punishment and rebellion had repeated through your teenage years. The more they tried to force you into being someone you weren’t, the more you tried to escape by doing whatever they’d disapprove of. Even shit you didn’t actually want to do.
All reasonable communication had been sent flying through the window. You closed off to them, building more walls and adding spikes, as they attempted to climb them, destroy them, talk you into letting them in, and so much more. Rationally, you knew they loved you and wanted the best for you. However, their best was your version of unhappiness. And once all the bridges between you had been burnt, there was no building them back up. You’d never feel truly understood or accepted in your own family now. Even Caitlyn agreed with them up to a certain point. She thought becoming a beekeeper was unambitious, useless, and laughable.
So as soon as you had reached 18, you had left without looking back, packing only the most necessary stuff. You went to live with your old aunt, learning everything she knew about bees. You had been happy with her, finding a real home by her side. One where you felt welcome and listened. Unfortunately, your mentor had died of a stroke merely a year later. You were the only one mentioned in her will as she had left ‘the little she had’. It wasn’t little to you, it was the foundations of the future you wanted to build.
You visited her tomb every Sunday after selling your products at the market for the whole morning. You had a stall at every market of the region, selling not only honey but also pollen, wax and other derivative products. You spent a lot of time on the roads, to get to your hives or to the town were the market of the day was happening. When you weren’t listening to the local radio, you put a true-crime podcast on instead. Maybe you shared that much with Caitlyn. However, she was all about bringing justice and protecting people while you were more interested in the gore details.
You only visited your family for Christmas now, and it was more than enough. Anyway, your stomach grumbling reminded you that you hadn’t eaten anything since lunch and that you had spent a lot of energy since. You were a bad cook at best and a terrible one at worst so you mostly cooked one huge amount of starch then ate it with different boiled vegetables from a nearby farm, for the whole week. There was a rotation between pasta and rice, one week each. And that was it. Efficient but not particularly exciting.
You sighed and took the bowl of rice out of the fridge to heat up a portion. You’d eat quickly then go to bed, tomorrow would be a long day.
When you woke up, the first rays of sunshine were just peeking out. You didn’t need an alarm, you were a light sleeper and your neighbours had a very reliable rooster. The air was a little cold this early in the morning so you put on a cardigan over your shirt. It was dark grey with a big flower embroidered on the back.
Almost all your clothes had flowers on them somewhere for the very simple reason that they were all your aunt’s before being yours and she was as obsessed with flowers as her bees. You had arrived with very little clothes of your own, thankfully she had had plenty, bought for cheap prices from her friends at the market. Most of them were totally wearable for someone who wasn’t seventy years old and you had grown attached to the flowery patterns, your outfits wouldn’t feel right without at least one flower in sight.
You went downstairs to make yourself a cup of coffee and a toast or two. With honey, of course. In all impartiality, honey just made everything taste better. That’s what you told your clients and that’s also what you thought. You put it in your coffee, on your toast, in hot chocolate, with carrots, with leek, everywhere. It was better for your health than sugar. Another selling argument.
After breakfast, you grabbed your keys and left, taking your gloves with you. You didn’t need your full gear for this, you only put it on when you retrieved honey from the hives. Your honey bees knew you and were completely inoffensive when they weren’t threatened. You liked to have them land on your arms, taking a little break from buzzing around.
This time, a flock of sheep slowed you down on their own way to their pasture. You knew the shepherdess so you waved at her before driving away. You had seen each other for a while before getting bored, now you were just friendly. And single, in your case.
You took the same turn as last night, instantly smiling as you saw your beehives. It was time for them to discover their new surroundings and all the nice flowers they’d soon be foraging. You opened each hive one after the other, stepping back to let the workers free. They were a little confused at first, flying in circles and buzzing loudly. A few minutes later though, they were starting to go a little further away from their home and you sighed with relief at the sight. You were always a little nervous when moving them, as they could get disoriented and never adapt to their new spot. However, this time too they’d be fine.
Soon, you saw a black minivan arrive in your direction. It wasn’t the kind of thing people drove around here and this road was a dead end. Tourists, perhaps. You frowned as a woman built like a tank got out, followed by a tattooed man who was just as large. You didn’t need to walk towards them, as they promptly did it themselves.
“Can I help you?” you asked, trying not to sound too suspicious. It wasn’t fair to judge people on their appearance. And maybe it was just your podcasts that made you see suspicious things when the situation was totally normal. Although normal was absolutely not a word you’d use to describe those two.
“The boss thinks so.” The woman grumbled, visibly disagreeing with said boss. You remarked that she had a bionic arm. You weren't an expert yet you were pretty sure this kind of devices were very advanced technology. She didn’t elaborate any further and hit you on the head so fast that you didn’t even see her fist coming. You did feel a sharp pain right before losing consciousness all together.
When you came back to your senses, everything was dark. To be precise, you were wearing a blindfold, your hands and legs restricted by tight ropes. You let out an exclamation of surprise as you realized this wasn’t a dream, it came out muffled. You were gagged too, then. You were still confused, a horrible headache splitting your head open as you tried to shift a little. The knots were professionally tied, not cutting off the blood circulation but also not coming undone easily despite your best efforts.
You forced yourself to take deep breaths, because panicking really wouldn’t help. Easier said than done, it took you a while before managing to start thinking clearly. You could tell from the noise and whirring that you were in a car. Or rather in the minivan from earlier. The two people who weren't tourists had plainly and simply kidnapped you. You’d be tempted to think that this wasn’t real but the persistent pain on the side of your head left little hope for that.
But why would anyone kidnap a beekeeper? The pair didn’t look like they were just wandering in the area and impulsively decided to knock you out because you were there and they were psychos. No, the minivan told you they had driven all the way to your remoted countryside with this precise goal in mind. But again, why? In a flash, you remembered the woman mentioning her boss. So they were working for someone, who sent them to get you because they thought you could… help them.
Pieces were starting to fall into place. You had no money, sure, however you had a name. Kiramman. That was the only reason you could think of which could justify kidnapping you. Now either they wanted to demand a ransom that your parents might pay, which meant you weren’t in immediate danger, or they had a personal vendetta against your family and you were screwed.
At least you had had time to free all your bees. They could’ve died if they had stayed imprisoned for much longer than a night. In short, this could be worse.
After what felt like hours, the minivan stopped. You listened carefully, hoping to get any information. The two criminals got out, as you guessed from the sound of two doors closing. They were standing close to you now, on the other side of the sheet metal wall, as you could tell from their audible conversation.
“When is she going to wake up?” asked a male voice. The distinctive smell of smoke arrived to your nostrils. They were taking a smoking break, then.
“In an hour, I’d say.” Wrong. The women kept going. “Fuck, these damn wasps stung me. Went mad as soon as I hit the girl.” You felt a mix of satisfaction and sadness as you heard that. It meant your dear babees had tried to defend you against your assailants, yet it also meant that they had sacrificed themselves for it. Bees never survived stinging someone, except for the queen. The others literally ripped off a part of their abdomen when attempting to fly away from their victim.
“Let’s speed up a little, she’s getting impatient. Like that Kiramman bitch wasn’t living in a godforsaken hole.” She said again after a while, probably checking her phone.
The “boss” must be a woman, then. Good to know. It didn’t really help you right now however, at some point it might. You wanted to eavesdrop on any other possible conversation but unfortunately, all the emotions from today, the soothing sound of the engine and the impossibility to do anything else than close your eyes led you to fall asleep.
It must have been a much deeper sleep than usual because you didn’t even stir when you were pulled out of the minivan and put on a chair in the basement instead.
“You told me you hadn’t hit too hard…” snarled a new voice, which you registered amidst your foggy mind.
“I didn’t. She should’ve been awake for two hours now.”
“So what, she’s just taking a nap?” she retorted sharply. You kinda were, actually.
In a split second, the unknown woman’s voice went from a few meters away to right next to you. A smell of metal and burnt sugar hit you. “But I think our guest is awake now so let’s ask her directly!” Your blindfold was untied in a blink.
You squinted your eyes, trying to get used to the return of light. When your sight adapted to the luminosity, you saw a blue-haired woman hovering over you. “Heyyy, how was the nap, sleeping beauty?” she greeted mockingly. Your breath hitched in your throat as you recognized here.
Now you knew for sure who your kidnapper was. It was none other than Jinx. You were so screwed.
You closed your hands into fists uselessly, the ropes too expertly tied around your wrists and the chair. You felt adrenaline and fear coursing alike in your veins, your heartbeat spiking.
Jinx grinned, noticing your reaction. “Ooh, looks like someone recognized me…”
“For once.” the woman who had hit you commented, leaning against the wall with apparent detachment. Yet you had no doubt she’d have you out the second you tried to move too aggressively, if Jinx hadn’t handled it herself before that. Jinx’s head whipped around to glare at her subordinate.
“That was one time. And the cop was dumb anyway.” You had trouble believing that anyone, and above all a police officer, wouldn’t recognize the number 1 criminal of the moment within a glance. It hadn’t taken you longer than half a second to identify her. There were only so many blue-haired criminals your sister had ranted about at Christmas.
She had been hunting Jinx down for weeks already and as you hadn’t heard anything about the case on the radio, you had guessed that Caitlyn hadn’t caught the most wanted mafia boss yet. The public didn’t really know about her, except for a few people who liked digging for info about the mafia. The police however, was actively working on bringing her down. Unsuccessfully, clearly.
You had to say, she looked better in person than in the Identikit picture you had caught a glimpse of in Caitlyn’s file. She was objectively a lot more attractive than they had portrayed her as. Her hair was styled in two braids longer than you’d ever seen before. You briefly wondered if she had ever strangled anyone with them. She was wearing a simple black shirt, wrinkled with two buttons open and the sleeves rolled up, revealing a sliver of a blue tattoo.
“Did you lose your tongue?” Jinx mused.
You realized you hadn’t said a word yet. You also had questions to ask. “Why am I here?”
Jinx laughed, too loud and too close to your ear. “You’re from the elite, aren’t you meant to be brainy?”
“I’m assuming this has something to do with my sister.”
She sighed dramatically, leaning her elbow on your shoulder which made you tense up in reaction to the contact. “You’re here because your sis is a pain in the ass, to be precise! Basically, I want to exchange you against the guarantee she’ll give up and let my business live. She has contacts up there in the ministry, no? She can get them to forget about me, put my file under a pile of dusty stuff and go play hide and seek with someone else.”
It was your turn to be amused, your laughter still noticeable despite your efforts to keep it in. The two criminals looked at you, bewildered and wordless for a beat. Their expressions didn’t help but you eventually managed to calm down enough to speak. “You think Caitlyn is going to drop the case to free me?” You shook your head. “Aren’t you meant to be clever?” You threw her words back at her, pretending to be disappointed.
Jinx’s controlled facade faltered for a second before an unsettling smile stretched her lips as she took a step back, her gaze never leaving you. “She will leave me alone, if she wants to see you again.”
You chuckled bitterly. “Honestly, I don’t think she does.”
A flicker of something you couldn’t identify flashed in her eyes before she blinked it away. Then she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “What, did you have a fight over who gets to invite friends at your summer house? Or maybe you inherited grandma’s pearls and she didn’t.” She enunciated with a bored tone. You didn’t bother to reply. “Or maybe it has something to do with your little farmcore life… Either way, I don’t care.”
Jinx’s voice turned more threatening, her hands on her hips, so close to where you could see her gun in its holster. “Your beanpole of a sister’s sense of justice won’t let you die here, I’m sure. Not after we send her one of your fingers or something. She’ll probably consider our proposal after that.” You weren’t particularly eager to lose any of your bits therefore you held your tongue but without looking away.
Jinx observed you a minute longer, expression unreadable. Although the scrutiny made you feel uncomfortable, you had no way to hide so you just did your best to hide your discomfort. You didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing your fear. You were actually scared, though. You were helpless, without the smallest idea of where you could be and at the mercy of a hardened felon.
“We’re done for now.” Jinx announced as she turned away from you to give her orders to the other woman. “Sevika, untie our guest and leave her there. Knock her out if she tries anything.” She glanced back at you as she said that last part, like daring you to give Sevika a reason to hit you again.
You glared at your kidnapper as she approached you with the confidence of someone who knows they have nothing to worry about. She freed your hands and ankles efficiently and soon you were left alone. You heard the door get locked with a hint of despair.
With nothing else to do, you explored your cell. It was a small basement room, with pretty much nothing except the chair you had been sitting on, a ceiling light and four bare concrete walls. The door was thick with hinges in perfect condition, impossible to force open.You felt even less optimistic now. You paced to bring your legs back to life after so much time spent restrained. Eventually, you laid on the ground, exhausted.
Unsurprisingly, you slept badly, turning around repeatedly without ever finding a really comfortable position. You tried using your cardigan as a pillow but then you got cold so you put it back on.
Time passed. Minutes? Hours? It could’ve been days. You were just starting to get hungry though, so you dismissed that possibility. An eternity or almost later, you heard steps outside your cell. You immediately rose to your feet, sense on high alert.
“I’m going to open the door and escort you to the bathroom. You’ll get food afterwards but only if you behave.” Sevika, you recognized her voice easily, informed you from the other side.
You stayed frozen as she pushed the door open, hoping this wasn’t a lie. You walked out as told and stayed next to her as she guided you to another basement room, just down the hallway from your cell. There were three closed doors between the two rooms, you noted.
The bathroom was just an old toilet bowl, a toilet roll, a shower crackled everywhere (the water was ice-cold with zero pressure) and a block of soap of a suspicious colour.
Soon you were stepping back in your cell, Sevika closing the door behind you which made you worried you wouldn’t get any food despite doing exactly as told. Thankfully, she came back a few minutes later. “Stand against the wall opposite to the door with your hands in front of you.” She demanded from the other side of the door. You complied reluctantly, you didn’t particularly enjoy being given orders yet right now rebelling wouldn’t be in your best interest.
Sevika opened the door once again, not walking in further than strictly necessary to put a tray on the ground. Her gaze didn’t leave you once as she did. She was more cautious than the last time you’d seen her, you noticed. Perhaps she thought the imprisonment could have made you desperate enough to try something. Since your mind was still clear, you stayed unmoving, only blinking as she left again.
Once you couldn’t hear your jailer’s footsteps anymore, you took a closer look at the food on the tray. There was a paper cup of water, two slices of bread and a boiled potato. All of which could very well be poisoned or spiked. Yet would they really do that?
You took a moment to consider your situation. You had been kidnapped very early in the morning, with no witness as far as you were aware. Farmers get to work early too so there were chances one of them remarked the unusual vehicle you had been put in. However, it was highly unlikely that they would have noted the number plate and even if someone did, you doubted it would lead the police anywhere.
Those thoughts led you to wonder how much time it would take for people to realize you were missing. Marc knew your routine and came check on you almost every day, at your house or with your beehives. Your friend would probably report your sudden disappearance within a day or two. You surmised that it hadn’t happened yet. As soon as the police would be warned, it wouldn’t take long for Caitlyn to know. From what Jinx told you, she would reach out to your sister then, to propose an agreement and use you as a bargaining chip.
Your sister had never played against the rules, she always managed to use them to her advantage. Now that applied to the law, the civil code always on her bedside table even though she knew it down to the letter. You also knew she was set on a single goal at the moment, which was catching Jinx. Caitlyn had grown obsessive, as her target kept slipping right through her fingers. Your kidnapping would only convince her further that arresting Jinx was absolutely necessary. She would pretend to accept the deal, setting a trap instead. You had a feeling Jinx was too smart to fall for such a thing.
Therefore, the question remained: what was going to happen to you? The ignorance gnawed at you as you paced around the room, the food left untouched. All in all you knew there was no reason for it to be dangerous for you but your stomach was tied in knots because of your concerns.
The sound of the door opening snapped you out of your thoughts. Surprisingly, you hadn’t heard any footsteps signalling someone’s arrival although you had been very aware of Sevika approaching, earlier. You had no idea how long it had been since that had happened but you were starving by now.
Jinx appeared in the doorway, her shirt ever more wrinkled and unbuttoned than the last time you’d seen her. You refrained from taking a step back instinctively. Her gun was in plain sight and you noticed how colourful it was, customized with bright pink and blue bits.
“Hi there! How d’you find your room? Comfy, right?” she greeted, collapsing on the chair and sitting backward to face you. She leaned her pointy chin on the back of her seat.
Jinx hadn’t even bothered to close the door, it was both a provocation and a clear warning: even if you made it out of this room, you wouldn’t be able to really escape. For all you knew, you might even be in a whole other country than yours. That possibility was worrying.
“How long has it been since you kidnapped me?” you asked instead of replying, thinking it was a reasonable thing to ask and it would be useful to clear things a little.
Jinx pouted, like offended by your rudeness. She kindly gave you the answer, though. “24 hours. Best day of your life, huh?”
You didn’t return her smile, crossing your arms like it could protect you. “Have you contacted my sister already?”
Jinx played with the end of one of her braids as she hummed distractedly. “Hm, not yet…” She looked up at you again, her eyes an unnatural fluorescent pink colour. “Don’t be in such a hurry to leave. I might feel hurt, you know. My previous guests would warn you about making me upset, if they could…” She punctuated her threat with a light giggle. It was forced, you could tell, but it was eerie anyway. You felt a shiver run down your spine.
“How many people have you kept captive here before?” You failed not to sound too defensive.
Jinx simply stared at you for a beat, tilting her head like she was facing a particularly intriguing riddle. “None.” You raised an eyebrow at that. The whole thing was too smooth to be a first time. “We never use the same place twice, obviously.” She clarified, this time almost genuinely amused by your confusion.
It was a key piece of information, and even though it was useless at the moment, you were surprised she had willingly given it to you. She watched you with a small knowing smile, like you had passed a test you were unaware of.
Then Jinx looked down at the food tray still sitting untouched on the ground. “Not hungry? I’m sure you’re aware we have no reason to spice up your food, right?”
You didn’t reply, stubbornly looking at the ceiling now that you had gotten some answers. You knew she wouldn’t give away anything else. The uncomfortable silence stretched on for a moment longer, until she put an end to it, one second she was sitting in front of you and the next she was at the door, glancing back at you over her shoulder. The movement made you look at her again.
“Eat. And don’t worry, I’ll be back.” She winked then disappeared behind the door with a cackle. You were left there, wondering what kind of psycho had kidnapped you. You were convinced she had done everything Caitlyn wanted to take her to court for, and probably worse.
At first you considered not eating just because Jinx had told you to and you didn't want to obey her, but after a while the hunger got too much and you gave in. It would've tasted better with honey. After your next trip to the bathroom, you saw a mattress in a corner of your room. Even though you didn't know what owed you this upgrade, you were grateful because sleeping on the hard floor was horrible. You already had a bruise on your hip from trying to sleep on your side.
Time went by slowly in your cell, your silent isolation only interrupted by Sevika or that other guy she had kidnapped you with coming to escort you to the bathroom and give you food. It was always the same thing, bread and boiled potatoes.
At least you were healing from your screen addiction, which wasn't all that comforting. You were trying to find hope in yourself but you had never been of a very optimistic nature and your current situation wasn't helping.
Once it became obvious this wasn't going to be a few-days long ordeal, you tried to escape. As you were let out of your cell for the usual bathroom trip, you stayed inside the bathroom for much longer than you ever had before.
At some point, Sevika knocked at the door asking what you were doing. You waited for the moment when she decided to come in, the door handle just moving. You pushed the door open yourself, hitting her face in the process, then bolted past her to the staircase you had spotted at the end of the corridor. You climbed up running and arrived in a hallway with tiled floor and white cracked walls. You needed to find a door or a window leading to the outside. You didn't pause to think, Sevika was probably right behind you. You turned right and cursed because it was a kitchen with no exit, you ran out of the room and went left.
You almost jumped out of your skin when you saw Jinx leaning nonchalantly against the wall right around the corner. Your heart skipped a beat as you squealed with surprise.
"So that was your grand escape plan?" she asked unimpressed, looking down at her long black-painted nails.
You swallowed, a little out of breath after the sudden physical effort. You had nothing to explain, the situation was pretty clear. Jinx grinned, taking a few slow steps toward you until your back was pressed against the wall. She leaned in, invading your personal space. You held your breath, very aware of her ever-present gun resting against her thigh. She was way too close, you looked at the hallway behind her, uncomfortably avoiding her gaze.
"You look terrible, honey." she whispered in your ear like it was a secret. She seemed absurdly proud of her joke.
"Haha, no one's done that one before." You replied, sarcastic. It was strange how many people thought it was hilarious to call a beekeeper 'honey'.
Sevika finally arrived. No wonder it had taken her so long, she was walking unhurriedly. Which was surprising for someone who'd just let a prisoner escape, except if she knew Jinx would catch you. Her boss took a step back, even though she hadn't looked away from you yet.
"That was both bold and stupid." Sevika grumbled, glaring at you. Jinx then glanced at her subordinate, taking note of her bloodied nose. "She hit me with the bathroom door." Jinx's expression turned immensely amused and a little impressed.
"Wow, it had been a while since anyone tried that.” She looked back at you. “Anyway I think you've stretched your legs enough, let's get you back in your room."
At least you had tried, you told yourself as you went back to the basement, Sevika holding your arm firmly. After that, you regularly found a way to escape Sevika's or the other guy's vigilance, either Jinx stopped you once you made it upstairs or they caught up with you. You hadn't even seen any way to get out of this building yet.
Over time, it just became a kind of stroll outside of your cell. Your food wasn't even taken away from you anymore when you 'tried' to run away. You'd do it mechanically, not actually believing you'd ever success. You liked keeping your jailers on their toes and talking with Jinx when she stopped you was the closest you could get to a social interaction. It was better than the heavy silence you were living in. You missed fresh air, the sky, the fields stretching as far as the eye can see, and above all, your bees. The concrete surrounding you was driving you crazy. It was suffocating.
You needed to find something to occupy your brain so you tried every activity you could think of. Meditation was good to fall asleep and that was it, you could only manage one full push-up and got bruises trying to do sit-ups so you gave up on workout, the best option turned out to be carving. You used the metal chair which was your only furniture, to scrap the floor. Although it took ages, as mentioned previously, you had nothing better to do.
You drew bees which might as well have been bumblebees because you weren't Michelangelo yet but at least they reminded you of home. You'd sing as you worked, badly so yet who was going to complain?
You were in the process of adding flowers to your masterpiece when Jinx showed up again. You weren't scared anymore, strangely. You didn't feel the same adrenaline when the door opened. You didn't feel much at all, to be honest. You were in a consistently flat mood, like numbed by the cold, unmoving, grey walls that were your only horizon. Thanks to your periods, you knew you had been kidnapped approximately three weeks ago, maybe four. An eternity. You had no idea what had happened with Caitlyn, if she had just plainly refused Jinx's proposal or tried and failed to lure her into a trap. Whatever was going on, there was no sign of you getting freed any time soon.
You hoped your bees were doing fine. Marc must be taking care of them for you. You missed him too. It seemed like it was ages ago that you had agreed to have dinner with his family. Your conditions of detention could be worse, you knew that, but it was hard to find any comfort in it. Your occasional escapes were your only 'fun' apart from your new found carving activity.
"Hey, how is it going, honey?" Jinx greeted, her enthusiasm contrasting with the gloomy atmosphere of your world. She frowned, disappointed by your lack of reaction. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
You considered replying and ultimately decided it wasn't worth the effort. "Hm, giving me the silent treatment I see." She shrugged. "Well, since Cait-bitch apparently doesn't want to let me be and I can't let you go because that would be like admitting defeat, you know..."
You perked up, her words catching your attention. Your sister had refused the deal. Jinx wasn't going to free you. Did that mean...? Your gaze fell on her customized weapon. You didn't want to die but a bullet and you'd be free from your captivity. You were wasting away in containment anyway.
Jinx caught the downward flicker of your eyes and the flash of peaceful resignation on your face. "Don't look this dull, we're just going to move you elsewhere!" she exclaimed, patting your shoulder as if to reassure you even though she put too much strength into it, which made you wince. You didn't know what to think of your situation now. "It'll be nicer than here, you'll see. You won't need to become a caveman-style artist there."
You weren't sure you could trust Jinx on that. She seemed to be thrown off by your persistent silence, rather used to your witty replies. She hadn't caught you upstairs in a while either, ever since you had lost the motivation. "We're leaving tomorrow so make sure to pack up all your stuff." Jinx's joke fell flat. You blinked and she was gone. You went back to your art, regretting that you couldn't take it with you.
The next day, both Sevika and the large man walked through your door. "Don't force me to hit you." she said, holding a rope and piece of fabric in one hand, a cigar in the other. You nodded slightly. "Gustove, tie her hands in her back." she told the previously unnamed tattooed man.
A few minutes later you were pushed for the second time inside a van, probably not the same one as the last time. The journey was long, you dozed off wondering if you'd see the sunlight again any time soon. You had little hope for this new detention facility.
Still tied up at the back of some van, for the second time of your life and hopefully the last, you sat up as the engine was turned off, the sudden quiet alarming you. You would probably manage to get your blindfold off if you tried, yet you saw no point in doing it. Wherever you were now, after traveling so long the first time and again now, there was little chance that you’d recognize your surroundings even if you caught a glimpse of them.
You waited patiently for Sevika or Gustove to pull you out of the vehicle. You could hear their voices from outside but they must’ve been standing a few meters away because their conversation was inaudible. A few minutes later, the door at the back of the van opened, allowing you to breathe in some fresh air. You were surprised to feel some wind on your skin, which meant you were outside, despite the fact that you couldn’t hear any of the usual noises of the city. Your surprise intensified when your blindfold was untied, letting you take in the area.
The car had parked in the driveway of a huge house, the sun peeking through a thin veil of clouds. The garden was delimited by a high metal fence and thick hedges, and moreover, through the open gates you could see an infinity of fields and meadows. There wasn’t a single other building in sight.
Despite your eyes protesting against the bright natural lighting, you kept them wide open, not wanting to lose a second of this view. Being back outside, even if it probably wouldn’t last, felt like a weight had been lifted from your shoulders. You breathed more freely, thought more clearly and overall felt a lot better. Then someone cleared their throat behind you, daring to interrupt the moment. You turned around, the movement reminding you of the ropes binding your wrists behind your back.
“Told you you’d like it better here.” Jinx (because who else than her would it be) pointed out smugly. She looked different in this new setting too. Or maybe it was just seeing her under the sunlight for the first time. She also wasn’t wearing a dark shirt this time, just a casual (and stained with paint) black tank top with a large belt, her holster and a pair of large black pants.
“So much space to bury me…” you muttered, not hopeful yet but also not as lifeless as these past few days.Jinx rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.
“Jeez, could you stop getting such ideas? We’re not going to kill you.” She paused, smirking. “For now.” Then she gestured at you to follow her inside the villa, through a large patio door.
You walked in a living room with eclectic furniture, a modern beige couch covered in pillows and blankets of all colours, a metal coffee table cluttered with empty cups, the biggest TV screen you’d ever seen and plants in pots everywhere.
“So, welcome to our GHQ. Since your sister apparently doesn’t care about getting you back enough to leave me the fuck alone…” You did warn her about it. It felt good to be right, although in this specific case maybe you’d rather have been wrong. “That means you’re useless at the moment but you might still come in handy later. You’ll live here in the meantime.”
“With you?”
“With anyone who’s staying here at the moment.” Jinx replied, jumping to sit on the back of the couch.
A loud bark made you flinch and you caught a glimpse of black fur before getting pinned to the floor by a massive watchdog.
“Jaws!” Called Sevika, following the beast closely. You looked up at Jaws, or rather his teeth, he reminded you of the dogs your parents used to have at the manor. They were your favourite members of the family. However, this dog was a lot less friendly at the moment. Eventually he obeyed and lifted his weight from you, going back at the woman’s side.
You straightened up, noticing another one, currently nuzzling at Jinx’s legs. She pet his head absently.
“As I was saying, here’s my proposition, you’ll be free to move around here, you can use the swimming pool, the gym, the kitchen too, if you aristocrats know what that is. Just don’t leave the property, unless you want to get chased by my lovely hounds.” She pointed at the dog you had seen from up-close. “You’ve met Jaws, and the other one is Claws. They won't hurt you as long as we don’t tell them to.”
“What is the trick?” You asked, suspicious. Although there was nowhere for you to go, compared to your situation so far, it felt like too much freedom.
“Poor thing, why so wary?” She teased. “There’s a basement here too, if you’d rather have that. But I doubt you enjoyed the experience. So, deal?” Jinx held out her hand for you to shake. You didn’t and she blinked, confused. Then she remembered the ropes restricting your movements and she let her hand fall back to her side. “Right, let’s untie those…” she mumbled. She freed you effortlessly, yet you knew from experience that the knots weren’t easy to undo.
You rubbed your wrists although your bounds hadn’t been digging in your skin so the irritation was minimal. “Provided that I don't cross the gate, I can just do… anything?” You checked, still convinced that there was something fishy about this.
“Yes. What is it going to be, basement or freedom?” Your grimace at the idea of going back in an underground cell cold and grey was answer enough.Jinx clapped her hands. “Great. Gustove, show our new roommate her room.”
“Wait, could I get other clothes?” You asked because the worst thing that could happen was a negative reply.
Jinx looked at you up and down, seemingly realizing only now that you had been wearing the same outfit for the entirety of your captivity. “I’m not sure we have anything that will fit here. We'll see if we can find something for you. Oh and one last thing, do not go to the third floor.”
You nodded and followed Gustove as he walked out of the room, the dogs thankfully didn’t follow you. You climbed up a staircase and stopped on the second floor. His steps were heavy, making the hardwood floor creak. He opened the door of the first room. It was a bedroom, with an en-suite bathroom. It was luxurious, even more so compared to your cell. Your ex-jailer left you there with a groan. You stared at the open door for a moment, hypnotized.
Then you looked around your new room, opened the drawers of the cupboard, they were empty, gapped at the clean shower, avoided looking at your reflection in the mirror because you were scared of what you’d see and finally dropped on the bed with delight, bouncing on it a little like a child. For your defence, you hadn’t seen a real bed in literal weeks and this one was particularly comfortable, so soft beneath you.
You almost couldn’t believe this wasn't a dream, yet since you were still clearly imprisoned, just in a golden cage, there was no doubt this was real. You would’ve loved making good use of the bed but after sleeping for approximately the whole journey there, you were full of energy. The excitement of being out of the basement didn't help either. Thus you decided to take a shower, even though you’d have to put your old clothes back on afterwards.
You found towels and soap under the sink, which was perfect. You undressed quickly, then you jumped in the shower. You slowed down when you realized there was absolutely nothing forcing you to hurry now. You turned the tap so that scalding hot water would flow out. You scrubbed yourself clean until your skin was reddened, taking your time to wash your hair too. You mentally added wax to the list of things you’d have to ask for, you doubted they’d let you have a razor.
When you stepped out of the shower, wrapped tightly in a towel, you finally took a good long look at yourself in the mirror. Honestly, it could've been worse. You had lost a little weight, though nothing drastic, it was barely visible on your face. You also had obvious eye bags and your skin had lost some of its tan from spending most of your days outside. Talking of which, you suddenly felt the need to go outside immediately, now that you could.
You got dressed and ran downstairs, at some point a dog started following. You didn’t care since it didn’t try to knock you off your feet this time, rather just happy to have a little run himself. You went through two spacious rooms, another living room and a dining one. Finally, you slid a window door open and arrived on a terrace.
The view was impressive, the sun starting to set. The sky was turning warmer, the clouds pink. You decided to go lay down in the grass, which was soft, tingling your neck. You liked the smell of grass. You missed your bees, out of a sudden. They would love it here, there were plenty of flowers around, you recognized some cosmos and buttercups. You hoped they were doing alright, making honey happily. The trees were high and blooming beautifully.
The dog, either Jaws or Claws, barked and jumped around for a while before going back inside.You stayed there on the ground, observing the ants, ladybugs and grasshoppers. The garden looked empty apart from you however there was microscopic life swarming everywhere, completely ignorant of humans in general and more specifically of the wanted criminals who owned the ground they were living on.
When the sky turned dark blue, you decided it was time to go back inside. You went a different way in the house this time, somehow ending up in the room where you'd first arrive.
You were surprised to see two unknown men sitting on the couch. You hadn’t seen them arrive or in any other room before but the house was immense. One of the men was scrawny, his hair stood straight on his head, defying gravity, while the other had large shoulders and a round face. You cleared your throat to make your presence known and they both stared at you for a beat.
The one with glasses stood up first, walking closer to shake your hand. “Hello, I’m Claggor, nice to meet you.”
“Hello, I’m-”
“Yeah, we know who you are.” Intervened the other man. “Mylo.” He smiled as he held out his hand too.
An awkward silence followed.
“Where are you staying?” Mylo asked a moment later.
“First bedroom, second floor.” You replied, noticing the way he hadn’t stepped back after introducing himself like Claggor.
Mylo’s eyebrows shot up. “Second floor? None stays on the second-”
He was cut off by Jinx herself, appearing in the doorway. “Do you have a problem with the bedroom repartition, Mylo? You can live elsewhere, if you want.”
He turned around, chuckling nervously. “Hm no, I’m fine. I mean, it’s just that the second floor was-” Claggor elbowed him insistently as Jinx glared at him.
“Shut up, if you don’t have anything interesting to say.” She said coldly.
He groaned but fell silent, rubbing his hands together as he looked down. You weren’t sure what to make out of this interaction. It felt like you had just witnessed a family arguing rather than two members of the mafia talking with their boss. You assumed Mylo and Claggor were at least high-ranked to speak with Jinx like that.
Talking of your blue-haired kidnapper, she turned to Claggor. “What is there to eat tonight?”
He shrugged. “I thought I’d make a quiche.”
“Again?!” Mylo complained.
Jinx hit him on the head, like you’d seen Marc’s eldest do with his brother. You were getting more and more confused about the dynamic going on here. And also a little embarrassed because you felt like a piece of furniture at the moment, completely left out of the conversation.
“You’ll make dinner tomorrow if you want something different.” Claggor told him calmly, patting his shoulder less violently than Jinx. “Unless you are allergic to eggs or something?” He asked you unexpectedly.
The two others seemed as taken aback as you. You stammered, unprepared for such a question or for anyone to care about that. “No-No, I’m not. I can help, though.” You proposed, because you were very enthusiastic at the prospect of finally eating something else than boiled potatoes and bread. Claggor looked like he was going to accept but then he glanced at Jinx.
She nodded, observing you with that unreadable expression she sometimes had when looking at you. “Just make sure she doesn’t poison us.”
“Let’s get to work then.” Claggor concluded, smiling at you.
The kitchen had surprisingly professional equipment. The Kiramman manor and most of your family’s other properties had the same kind of furniture and devices but you also had people who cooked for you. It didn’t look like anyone other than Claggor was in charge of that here, and from what you understood, he had mostly mastered one recipe.
“You’ll see, a quiche is very easy to make. The most difficult part is cutting up whatever you’re putting in it. And making sure Mylo doesn’t hate that one specific ingredient all of a sudden.” Claggor explained.
You chuckled, so far he was the friendliest of your kidnappers. “You know, I actually have made a quiche before. Even though it was burnt, before that it looked good.” You told him, not taking offence that like Jinx, he assumed you had never cooked. You did, you just had a terrible tendency to go do something else while food cooked and ended up burning it.
“Alright. So get me the eggs, pastry base and tell me what’s in the fridge.” He instructed as he got a bowl out of a cupboard.
Finding the fridge wasn’t hard, it was enormous, much bigger than yours back home. You scanned the few things on the fridge’s shelves. “There’s tomato, even though it’s not the season yet.” You’d know, your neighbour cultivated them. “There’s also shrimps and mushrooms. Some cheese too.”
“Perfect, we’ll use all of that. Bring the cream too.” You broke the eggs in the bowl, without putting any piece of shell in it, then the rest of the ingredients, cut in small bits. Claggor mixed the whole thing, his movements precise and careful despite his large hands.
Within a few minutes, the quiche was ready to be put in the oven. You both cleaned up as it cooked. You didn’t talk much, yet the silence was comfortable, almost peaceful. It helped that unlike Jinx, Gustove or Sevika, Claggor wasn’t carrying a weapon. Turns out it does wonders to make the atmosphere more relaxed.
Gustove walked in the kitchen a little before the quiche was done so Claggor made him set the table. Thankfully the quiche you had made was thrice the size of the one you’d made before because there were six of you, half of which were built like mountains. Gustove still added a full loaf of bread to his meal.
Actually, six people were expected, however Jinx never showed up and Sevika arrived late, visibly in a worse mood than usual. As you started eating, Mylo started saying something then interrupted himself when he remembered you were there. There was a dead silence afterwards. You noted that both Mylo and Sevika had put their guns on the table, which you thought was unhygienic but obviously you didn’t say anything. You watched as Claggor carefully put a piece of quiche on a plate then left the room for a few minutes, clearly bringing dinner to Jinx directly.
Everyone left once they were done, bringing their plate and cutlery back to the kitchen. You stood up to do the same, following the "in Rome, act like the Romans" principle.
“Thanks for helping.” Claggor told you before you left the room, proving to be a lot different from what you'd have expected from a member of a mafia family.
“You’re welcome.” You replied instinctively, wondering what kind of kidnapping this was becoming.
Afterwards, you went to your room and crossed paths with Gustove, in one of the thankfully large hallways. It was weird to just walk past him and keep going the other way, after all the times he’d escorted you to the bathroom and chased after you when you slipped through his fingers.
You couldn't brush your teeth because you had no toothbrush or paste, you’d have to ask for those too, and therefore you did the same thing which you’d done up to today: you used soap and your finger. You were starting to feel a little tired and believed you’d fall asleep as soon as you got in bed. Unfortunately, you didn’t. Your brain wouldn’t turn off, working on overdrive.
You thought about your jailers. From the start, Sevika had been grumpy and rough with you, making it obvious that she disapproved of your kidnapping. Not for moral reasons, but probably rather because of the risks and possible complications. The latest events probably fell in that second category. She disliked the situation almost as much as you did.
Gustove was less expressive. He didn't seem to enjoy the job, only obeying Jinx's orders dutifully. He had never talked to you and didn’t seem to talk a lot in general. You had a feeling he didn’t have the same status as Sevika. He was probably just a henchman.
You had just met Mylo and Claggor yet they had both been rather friendly with you, not treating you like the captive you were at all. Despite the oddness of their attitude towards you, you didn't see what ulterior motives they might have if their sympathy wasn't genuine.
Last but not least, Jinx herself remained an enigma. You had no doubt she was clever, you’d seen it in her piercing gaze and in her criminal exploits. However, she was also unpredictable, threatening while laughing and smiling like this was the most fun she’d ever had. Moreover, you were under the impression that she wasn’t simply a sadistic psycho. Despite wanting to look like it, sometimes little pauses and blinks betrayed her facade.
Anyway, it was satisfying to know she wasn’t getting what she wanted when kidnapping you and Caitlyn remained a shard in her foot, meanwhile your sister was probably haunted by how long she’s been failing to catch Jinx. It was hilarious.
Now to be honest, you didn’t hold much resentment towards your kidnappers. Most of them were more or less reluctantly following orders and as for the head of it all, you could understand very well hating Caitlyn. You had hated her too, for never wanting to spend time with you, before your feelings towards your sister turned more into bitter indifference. However, you did not appreciate having been forcefully taken away from your bees and your life in general.
The basement had also been a rather unenjoyable experience. Although you were aware that your conditions of captivity were far from cruel, they were even quite comfortable now. You hadn’t been hurt once since the first day, nor had you ever gone really hungry or dirty. Overall, this was the best kidnapping you could’ve hoped for. You still needed to find a way to go back to your beehives, though.
After coming to this conclusion, you started to feel really exhausted, yet sleep still wouldn’t come. You shifted position multiple times, unsuccessfully. You opened your eyes, staring at the ceiling. A sensation of suffocation settled in your chest, the bedroom suddenly feeling too small. The walls were closing on you, slowly getting closer until you’d be smothered between them. You were struggling to breathe. You needed to get outside, quickly. You jumped out of bed and stormed out of your room, going through the rooms without thinking about it. You just wanted to be in an open space with no walls to imprison you.
Finally, there was the black sky over your head, the sounds of nocturnal insects soothing you almost as well as the buzzing of your bees. Luckily, the weather was still warm. Even though the dogs had their kennel outside, they only barked once before recognizing you and falling silent. No room lit up inside the house. You found some garden furniture, among which a couch. You laid on it, your heartbeat slowing down progressively. You had always been a little claustrophobic and clearly, your weeks-long stay in the basement had triggered it.
Eventually, you fell asleep, feeling much more relaxed outside for now. You hadn’t noticed a silhouette, the silhouette of someone who had heard you come out of your room, following you like a shadow. They watched you for a moment, like they were hesitating, and you were already out cold when they draped a blanket over you before leaving.
The birds were singing cheerfully when you were woken up by one of the dogs barking in your ear. You got so startled you almost fell off the couch. He ran back to Mylo as soon as Jinx’s lieutenant called him. You weren’t sure what you had done to Jaws for him to be crossed with you like he was.
Mylo told the dog to go back inside then walked up to you. “Hey, what are you doing out there?” He asked, taking in your probably dishevelled appearance.
You straightened up, making the blanket fall to the ground. You frowned as you picked it up, not remembering bringing it with you outside. “Uh, I woke up very early so I decided to come sit outside. Guess I dozed off.” You lied as you weren’t particularly inclined to tell this man working in a criminal organization about your fears. This wasn’t something you wanted anyone to know about anyway. You hoped he wouldn’t insist when he had no reason to.
Mylo nodded, seemingly buying it. “I’m heading out for a run, want to join?” He offered, indeed wearing sweat pants and running sneakers. You weren't awake enough to think too much about how weird this invitation was from someone you had just met because he happened to work (and live) with your kidnapper.
Although you wouldn’t mind having an excuse to spend some more time outside of the property’s limits, you had no clothes or shoes appropriate for such an activity and even if you did have any, Jinx had been quite clear when she had prohibited you from going past the fences. You shook your head negatively. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He looked disappointed before realizing what made you say no. “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe another time. I made coffee, feel free to have some. You’ll also find stuff for breakfast in the kitchen. See you later!”
“Have a nice run.” You replied politely, watching him leave before finding the strength to get up and go to the kitchen. You kept the blanket wrapped around your shoulders, the air a little cold this early in the morning.
You almost stumbled into Jinx, moving as quietly as ever, when walking through the door. Her hair was a mess, full strands falling out of her braids, and she was wearing the same clothes as the day before. Clearly, she had stayed up all night. You wondered what she could’ve been doing, then reminded yourself it was none of your business and you should even be satisfied that your kidnapper was struggling with whatever had kept her awake.
“Tough night, huh?” You said to fill the silence.
“You too, honey, no?” She retorted, her tone lacking some conviction. You shrugged and somehow opened the right cupboard, the one with the cups, on your first try. You also found the coffee pot prepared by Mylo.
You offered Jinx coffee without thinking about it. She stared at you, unblinking, as if wondering if you’d lost your mind. It wasn’t your fault you were polite by default.
“Hm, yes, sure.” She did not sound very sure. You poured her a cup anyway. You clearly needed a proper night of sleep. The both of you.
You drank your respective cups of coffee in complete silence, wordlessly agreeing on not acknowledging the weird status quo between you. You expected Jinx to swallow hers in two seconds yet unexpectedly, it actually took her a couple of minutes before putting the cup down on the counter.
“It tastes terrible.” She commented, her head turned away like she wasn’t talking to you even though there was also none else to talk to in the room.
“It really does.” You agreed spontaneously. Jinx looked back at you, smiling faintly for a split second. Then she caught herself not being annoying you supposed, so she grimaced and left without another word. You sighed and decided it might be better to avoid Jinx altogether. Except that her tendency to appear out of nowhere wouldn’t help with staying far from her. You could always give it a try.
After putting your dirty cup in the dishwasher, you went back to your bedroom. As you pushed the door, a part of you was stupidly scared that the walls would start closing on you again. Obviously they didn’t, because they were perfectly normal walls which didn’t move to kill people. It was a shame to have such a nice room and not be able to use it.
You were so preoccupied by the thought, you almost didn’t notice the closet being now filled with clothes. There wasn’t a lot but definitely far more than all you had brought with you and had been wearing the whole time. You tried a couple on and they all fit perfectly, which you didn’t dwell on for too long. Even though they all lacked flowers, you weren’t about to start being difficult now that you could finally change out of your clothes. They all looked like new and clean so you picked something basic and comfortable to wear for the day after taking a shower. The weather was warm so a light purple t-shirt and a pair of jeans would do. In the bathroom, you found everything you needed to brush your teeth although you had forgotten to ask Jinx or Mylo for it this morning. You tried not to be offended that it probably meant someone thought you had bad breath.
Once you were ready, you set your mind on exploring the house. The walls were made of stone, only visible from the outside. The wood beams were apparent in some rooms, especially on the ground floor. From what you had seen so far, there were three floors but Jinx had mentioned the existence of a basement. The garden was very nice, with a main terrace accessible through the large patio door of the bigger living room. There was a swimming pool on the other side. You started with the rooms on your floor.
The first door you tried to open was locked. You moved on to the next one, it was a library full of books both classics and treatises of economy and geopolitics, among others. Most of the shelves were dusty which you thought wasn’t surprising, given the inhabitants of the place. You wondered who had even bought all those in the first place. Perhaps the precedent owner. You’d come back to find something to read later.
The only other room, apart from yours, was a kind of living room. There was a small table for four people maximum, only three chairs, plus a couch, a fireplace and a large armchair. It must have been cozy, once. The furniture of the whole floor was elegant, clearly made of good materials and overall akin to what you’d seen in your family estates. Maybe a little less authentic.
You glanced up at the stairs leading to the third floor, you guessed it was Jinx’s kingdom up there. You went to the floor beneath yours instead, Claggor just coming out of one of the rooms.
“Good morning. Exploring around, huh?” he greeted, his tone more friendly than accusing. “My bedroom, and all the others’ are on this floor. Except Gustove’s, his is next to the garage. There’s a spare bedroom too.” He explained while locking his own door. You understood Mylo’s surprise about your room better now. It didn’t make sense yet neither did your presence here in the first place. If you didn’t know any better you’d think Jinx must be making decisions by throwing a coin.
You thanked Claggor and went on to find out how many rooms there were on the ground floor.
The answer was thirteen. The two living rooms you’d already seen, the kitchen, the dining room, a room you hadn’t been able to look at (probably Gustove’s bedroom) and nine empty bedrooms with each an en-suite bathroom. They were all much smaller than yours but still, the villa was just gigantic. Only two of the houses owned by your family were this large. It was a good indicator of how lucrative Jinx’s organization was.
You tried to remember what exactly they were selling. It was illegal for sure but was it drugs, guns, information or something else entirely? All of them, perhaps?
Anyway, the garage was on the same size scale as the rest of the house and full of various vehicles, from motorbikes to simple bikes, fancy cars to basic ones. You identified the only van as the one you’d arrived in. You admired a bright blue Porsche along with two Alpines and a Porsche. Your insight of the world of the rich told you those were efficient and powerful models rather than tawdry and loud ones. The open hood of one of them, revealing disparate motor parts, suggested at least some of the cars were modified too (by Jinx herself?). There were also a few vintage cars, easily recognizable. You had a preference for those because an old butler of the Kiramman manor loved taking care of the Chevrolet Corvette your family owned and could talk about it for hours. As a child, you liked listening to him, like he was telling you a bedtime story. The only thing you drove yourself these days was your truck, which you had bought yourself last year.
As for the basement, you found a fully-equipped gym there along with two locked rooms and a laundry. You didn't spend too long down there, you had had enough of basements for at least the next year.After that, you had gone through the whole building. Unless there were hidden rooms.
To be honest, you had expected more cells, torture rooms and stocks of guns. It reminded you more of a family house where cousins met for the holidays than the GHQ of the mafia. In other words, you were a little disappointed. On the other hand, you were also relieved, living here for an undefined period of time wouldn’t be too bad.
Apart from that, you were also curious about the furniture. It felt like someone with classic tastes had decorated the whole house, then someone else, most probably Jinx, had added their own chaotic touch to it. Her style was more industrial and colourful. Some furniture had been painted over in her signature pink and blue colours. There were some darker brown-ish stains you didn’t want to know the origin of.
You took a look at a clock on the wall in the hallway at the bottom of the staircase and it explained why you were so hungry. You found the kitchen empty as well as most of the rest of the house. The dogs were wandering around, mostly running in the garden but never going upstairs. You hadn’t seen Mylo since he left for his run, however he could’ve come back and left again without you noticing, you had heard Claggor leave in a car and Jinx must have been on the third floor since breakfast. As for Gustove and Sevika, they had probably left the villa early in the morning.
Which left you, rummaging through the cupboards to find something to eat for lunch. Rice with an egg would do. There was very little chance of you messing that up.
You accidentally made more rice than necessary, someone might be happy to find some already cooked and you could always have it yourself later. You had a solitary lunch in the garden, smiling softly when a bee landed on the table next to your plate. She soon flew away again, hard-working. A dog hovered close too, fortunately your food lacked meat for it to be interesting so he left without bothering you.
You spent your afternoon reading The Count of Monte Cristo with your feet in the swimming pool, then on a lounge chair when the sun got too burning. You’d rather not get sunburnt if you could avoid it. At some point, you felt observed but there was none else in sight thus you brushed it off. The book was very good so it was already 6 p.m. when you decided to put it down to go put on a swimsuit and take a dip.
You had seen a simple black swimsuit among your new clothes this morning and like the rest, it fit perfectly. The pool water was of a nice temperature and you did a couple of laps, thinking this felt more like being on holidays than being kidnapped.
When you came out of your room after taking a quick shower to wash off the chlorine, the house was a lot fuller. Sounds of discussions echoed through the hallways as you headed downstairs. Claggor was already in the kitchen so you just helped clean up what he had used to make a gratin.
Dinner went mostly like the day before, except that Jinx sat down with you for ten minutes before leaving the house with Sevika. Jinx had changed into a clean black shirt with a grey oversized jacket and a pair of dressed black pants. Serious business outfit, you’d say. She seemed almost nervous, checking that her gun was in its holster twice before disappearing in the corridor with Sevika on her trails.
You watched closely the expression of the people left at the table, they all looked normal at first yet there was a kind of tension in the air which you hadn’t felt before. Claggor was chewing his food with more force than necessary, Mylo’s knee jittering under the table and Gustove ate two whole loaves of bread instead of one. They went out to smoke while you picked back up your book to read on the couch for a while.
Then you pretended to go to bed at the same time as the others, when you actually read some more in your bed, waiting for them to fall asleep. An hour later, you quietly slipped out of your room and went to the same spot as the previous night, with the blanket in hand. There, you weren’t visible from the driveway or any window so Jinx and Sevika probably wouldn’t see you when they came back. Neither of the dogs barked this time, not even bothering to leave their kennel.You fell asleep easily, lulled by the chants of the insects and night birds.
The next morning, you spontaneously woke up at sunrise. You peacefully watched the sun’s daily show for a while before heading back inside so Mylo wouldn’t find you out there again. You had no clue if Sevika and Jinx had come back at all during the night. You saw none for the whole morning but you also spent it in the library so it didn’t mean they weren’t there.
For lunch, you ate your own leftovers of rice with a can of mushrooms. You regretted that there was nothing left of the gratin from dinner because it was simple but really good. You chose to befriend the dogs after cleaning up the dishes, a good start being playing with them in the garden. You threw sticks as far as you could, which they happily brought back more or less obliterated and covered in spit. It was fun nonetheless and a nice occupation.
This time, you heard a couple of cars and bikes come back throughout the afternoon, indicating that everyone really had left the house. Claggor heard the dogs barking and came to say hello, Mylo threw the stick himself a couple of times and Sevika glared at you as she walked by with a cigar stuck between her lips. Still no sign of Jinx. It should’ve been a good thing, given your decision to avoid her, yet you were somewhat disappointed.
You had gotten tired of playing with the dogs and you were on your way to your bedroom when you heard shouts from the living room, the one with plants. Unsure of what you’d see in there, you glanced in the room and the sight made your eyebrows shoot up. Mylo and Claggor were playing Mario Kart on the big TV, the controllers of a PlayStation 5 in their hands. You had been wondering what the TV screen was for because you had tried to turn it on to watch the news or something and there were no channels.
Mylo looked over his shoulder and saw you standing in the doorway. “Hey, wanna play with us?” He offered, Claggor taking advantage of his distraction to take the win.
The offer was absurd. “Yes, sure.” You agreed anyway, already smiling. Poor boys, from what you’d seen, you’d totally crush them.
“Wait, that’s cheating!” Mylo exclaimed when he saw the rankings of the race, Claggor just chuckled as he got up to hand you a controller.
You took it and sat next to him, ready to show off your skills. You had to admit, beating them was harder than with Marc’s sons. Although you still won every single one of the races. They were competitive so you kept doing replays, Mylo protesting louder each time you overtook him while you laughed. Claggor wasn’t as openly a sore loser, even though he did grumble under his breath when you took the lead.
“Wanna join in?” Claggor suddenly said to someone behind you. You hadn’t noticed her before but Jinx was leaning against the wall, watching you intensely with her arms crossed over her chest. She was wearing a white cropped top with pink cargo pants, a look completely contrasting with when you had last seen her.
Jinx shook her head. “Nah, thanks. I mean, I don’t mind humiliating you for the thousandth time but I have to talk to you both.” The pair immediately straightened up, putting their controllers down.
“Or maybe you’re scared she’ll beat you.” Mylo still teased, gesturing in your direction. Jinx smirked, looking down at you.
“None ever beat me.” She simply replied before walking out, signalling that there were more important things going on right now and her lieutenants better follow her.
They stood up, congratulating you and making you agree to give them a chance to beat you some other time.
Since none came for dinner, you made pasta with tomato sauce for yourself. You made some more, in case someone got hungry later. It was disturbing, how much fun you had had with Mylo and Claggor, with your captive status. You might be developing Stockholm syndrome after all. It didn’t really bother you, why would you complain when you had access to the outside, books to entertain you and people who were friendly with you? Being mad at everyone here would only make your situation unnecessarily painful. Sure, the basement hadn’t been nice, but you willingly decided to pin it all on Jinx.
The only things you actually missed from your life were your beehives, Marc and your clothes. And since it didn’t look like you were going to die in the end, you’d get back to all of that sooner or later. That night, you hesitated while you sat on your bed. Would you try to sleep in it or go to your usual spot outside? You ultimately left your bedroom with the blanket, already feeling uncomfortable in there.
One of the dogs, you really needed to find a way to tell them apart, slept on the floor at your feet all night long, as if keeping watch over you. The pair was growing on you quickly, not unlike the rest of the villa.
Once again, in the morning you slipped back inside quietly. Sevika was standing in the kitchen not looking too happy even though to be fair, she rarely did. At least, never in your presence. You made yourself a toast of butter and jam, unusually hungry after running around for most of the afternoon the previous day. A few minutes later, Sevika broke the silence. “More people will be staying here until tomorrow morning.” she informed you with a detached tone.
“Really? How many?” “Eight.” You nodded, mentally checking that there were rooms for everyone and you wouldn’t be sent back to the basement. Thankfully there were a lot of empty bedrooms at the moment, they shouldn’t need yours. “Am I going to be locked up in my room or something?” Despite not being too fond of the idea, you could easily imagine that Jinx would want to keep you as far away as possible from her businessband informations you could use against her.
“No, the boss said it didn’t change anything for you.” Now that was great news, except that letting you see so much implied you weren’t leaving any time soon. You pushed that specific thought away.
Maybe you could learn more about Jinx’s organization too. If these people were staying at the GHQ as guests, it undoubtedly meant they were part of the mafia.
Cars you hadn’t seen before arrived before lunch, the new-comers were men and women dressed more formally than Mylo, Claggor and the others. Their clothes were more in the line of what Jinx had worn to go out two days ago. Except that the fabrics were clearly of a lesser quality. Growing up a Kiramman had at least taught you how to tell how much money someone had and since when from how they dressed.
The people arriving weren’t used to wearing fancy clothes. The shirts fit approximately, too many buttons were undone and the shoes weren’t coordinated with the rest of the outfit. The cufflinks were cheap, which was a good indicator too. No family heirlooms there, just obnoxious pieces of jewellery. All these clues told you they hadn’t grown up rich, and although they had money now, they lacked the knowledge of the codes.
Mylo, Sevika and Claggor wore clothes a lot more casual, with leather and jean, things meant to last. Their clothes were long-term investments, meaning they valued efficiency over superficiality. If you had to take a guess, you’d say they had acquired their money before the others but still knew what it was like to be struggling financially.
And Jinx… Well, her formal clothes were perfectly tailored, yet she didn’t look completely comfortable in them. It wasn’t obvious, however the way she wore them felt unnatural, especially compared to the times you’d seen her in other outfits which were second-hand or at least hand-sewed. You’d put her in the same category as her three closest collaborators, except that someone had taught her if she had to be the boss then she needed to dress like it.
Among the guests arriving, there was a woman who stood out, with her leather jacket and blue hair. All of the others had a strand of hair dyed blue, probably a sign they belonged to Jinx’s clan, while hers was dyed completely, you guessed she had a higher rank. She felt your gaze and smiled at you, looking as curious as you were.
After a light lunch, you were sitting on the edge of the swimming pool when she approached you, her hands in her pockets and walking with an almost shuffling gait.
“Hi, I’m Gert. I’ve heard about you, Kiramman.” She said while she sat down next to you, her black boots rubbing against the clear tiles of the terrace.
“Well, I’m sorry but I can’t say the same.” You replied honestly as you leaned back on your hands.
Gert smiled. “Wow, that’s hurtful.” She joked, not the slightest offended. “Believe it or not, I have a key role here. So does everyone, to be frank.” You had assumed that much. You didn’t know how many people worked for Jinx exactly, yet the ones gathered here must be only the small fraction who took the important decisions.
“What’s going on with the blue hair?” you asked, thinking you had good chances of getting an answer.
“It’s a symbol for our ‘family’. Chucks have one dyed strand, I’m above them in the hierarchy so I’m fully blue. Lower ranks just wear blue. As for the members you live here with, they’re all right beneath Jinx which means they have our emblem tattooed instead. Deckard and Gustove have eternal necklaces because they’re like henchmen but for the top of the pyramid. There’s just the Doctor who doesn’t have anything but he’s special.”
“The doctor?” You repeated, curious.
“He’s the head of our main laboratory. He gives me the creeps, honestly. You’ll recognize him immediately.”
You did remember that Jinx and her clan were mainly linked to drugs traffic. It made sense to have someone coordinating the production. Where could this lab be? Jinx was young, yet her empire seemed significant.
“Gert, the boss is asking for you.” Sevika interrupted abruptly. Your new acquaintance excused herself and followed Sevika inside. You were a bit disappointed your conversation had been cut short, you still had a lot of questions. Hopefully you’d get another occasion to talk to Gert. She was a lot more opened to the discussion than anyone else you’d try to get information from.
With eight more people, there were now fourteen of you in the villa. Even though space wasn’t a problem, food might be. Thankfully when you found Claggor a little before dinner, he informed you that with Mylo they were going to get pizzas (pizze, in correct Italian) for everyone. Which meant there was a place selling pizzas and therefore other houses within an hour's drive from here. You stocked the information in a corner of your mind, with all the other small bits of knowledge you had gathered.
Once the boys came back with dinner, you all sat at the table with Jinx at the end of it. It was so large, there were still a few seats left. You ended up between Claggor and Gustove, everyone else respecting their ranks. Across from you, there was a man older than everyone else, half of his face was covered in scars. His right eye was white, most certainly blind. Beyond his physical appearance, he was radiating a sort of darkness (grief?).
That must be the Doctor, you thought. You hadn’t even seen him arrive, unlike the others. He didn’t talk much throughout dinner, eating very little too. It was too bad for him because the pizzas were good, you hadn’t had any in ages. The pizzeria closest to your house was so far away you never went there. While eating, you listened to the few conversations around the table and understood that five of the new-comers were ‘Chuck’ because it was a kind of rank. They all had their own specific number going from 1 to 5, though. You wondered where that came from.
After dinner, everyone moved on to the larger living room, which you hadn’t seen anyone use before. It felt less inviting, more impersonal than the other one. Someone pulled out a card game and they almost all gathered around the coffee table, sitting in the multiple armchairs, couches and stools. They started getting ready for a game of poker, you believed.
“Kiramman?” Sevika said, asking if you were joining. They all openly stared at you although for some reason they had all been doing a real good job at glancing at you discreetly so far.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any bets to play.” you declined politely.
“Wait, I wanna see that, actually!” Jinx suddenly cut in, enthusiastically handing you a couple of bills. “Here, I bet it’ll be fun to watch you lose.” She justified, provoking you on purpose. You took the money with the firm intention not to let yourself get ridiculed, and for half a second, it looked like Sevika was smiling. It disappeared so fast, you thought you’d imagined it.
As it turned out, you actually didn’t lose too much. You even had your fair share of wins. You knew how to play, you often played poker and other card games with your cousins during long and boring family reunions. It also helped that you were quite good at putting on an even-tempered mask. You weren’t the best player around the table but you had nothing to blush about, despite Jinx’s comments aiming at disconcerting you. Your little group kept playing until quite late. You were so tired when you went to bed, you managed to fall asleep in a heartbeat, conveniently avoiding another claustrophobic crisis.
Honestly, if this was how your days went now, you could live with that. Given that you got your hives back somehow. You’d already been apart from your bees for longer than ever before. You pushed away the thought that something might have happened to them in your absence, like a hornet attack or a fire. The possibility was too horrible to think about.
The next day, there was a big meeting in the morning, the whole point of this gathering you assumed. Gert let you know you weren’t allowed in the room, therefore you went out for a swim in the pool instead, then played with the dogs as you let the sun dry your skin and hair, unknowingly distracting someone sitting close to the window from the meeting.
“Jaws!” You called out. One of the dogs glanced up, not quite replying yet. You observed him closely and found out his ears were slightly clearer than Claws’. You tested yourself a couple of times, identifying them from their ears then calling their name to check if you had it right. A few minutes later, you could tell them apart with an accuracy of 4 successes out of 5 tries. Not too bad.
It was a little past mid-day when Claggor came to tell you they were done. Some of the guests left immediately, like the Doctor, others stayed for lunch. Gert sat next to you, Mylo on your right. You seized the occasion to compliment her on her makeup, which you had already noticed the day before.
“Oh you know, I just like experimenting with colours.” She brushed off modestly.
“Are you kidding? You’re so good at it. Yesterday too, your eyeliner was great, like graphic and colourful. It’s bold but balanced, you know?” You complimented further and you really meant it. You two spent the rest of lunch talking about makeup products and techniques. You hadn't had such a normal full conversation in a while. It felt nice to just chat about light-hearted subjects. In another context, you probably could've become friends with her. Since you couldn’t change the way things were, for now you could pretend this wasn’t a highly disturbing situation.Who knew criminals could be so friendly?
Unfortunately, Gert and the two Chucks left all had to go back to wherever Jinx needed them to be. You couldn't even exchange phone numbers with Gert because yours had been left on the ground next to your beehives when you had been kidnapped. Maybe you’d see her again, though, because she told you she came to report directly to Jinx at the GHQ sometimes.
Anyway, you noted that one of the non-Chucks had stayed. You were positive you had heard someone call him Deckard. He had the same status as Gustove despite lacking the stature. He acted a bit weird and you didn’t know what to think of him.
With only seven inhabitants, the villa was pretty quiet again. You finished The Count of Monte Cristo, the ending not quite cheering you up. Watching The Office with Mylo after dinner helped a little. Two consecutive nights in an actual bed clearly was too much to ask for, thus you found yourself back on the outdoor couch.
Despite being sure you had forgotten to bring it, your blanket was there, draped over you when you woke up. You must have dreamt it or something.
Jinx happened to be going outside right as you were going back inside, which was surprising because you’d rarely seen her in the garden before. It probably meant nothing so you seized the opportunity to ask her for the few things you would have liked to have.
“Would you mind giving me a bottle of sunscreen, some mosquito repellent, a needle and a few coloured threads, please?” You reeled off, hoping you weren’t forgetting anything.
Jinx looked taken aback to see you at first, then she frowned. “Depends… What are you going to do with the needle and thread?”
“Whatever I want.” You replied, a little too defensively for someone making a request. You weren’t about to use it as a weapon so what was she scared of?
She looked unimpressed with your answer, rolling her eyes. “I can’t just pick a random type of needle or thread, honey. You have to tell me what you’re going to use them for.”
Fair enough. You might have gone a bit too fast and misinterpreted her question. “Embroidery.”
Jinx nodded and somehow walked away deeper in the house even though she was originally heading the other way. You truly didn’t understand her. You’d never admit it but a part of you wanted to.
Days passed. You cooked with Claggor most days, learnt how to make a gratin yourself, failed a couple of times and ultimately got the hang of it. You had taken good notes of how often there was sea food in the fridge, hinting at a closeness of the coast. Logically, wherever you were, it wasn’t too far from a reasonably-sized city with a pizzeria, and quite close to the sea too. That was pretty much all.
Once a week, a cleaning lady came to mop the floor and vacuum dog hair on every surface of the house. She brought groceries too, generally the same products. Claggor informed you she was called Ikhlas and only spoke one language from a far-away foreign country. She didn’t understand your language very well. Back when you lived with your parents, there had always been at least one domestic cooking, cleaning or washing the laundry.
Apart from that, you were close to becoming a professional swimmer with the number of hours you spent doing laps in the pool. You worked on your apnoea skills too, just in case someone ever tried to drown you. You embroidered at least one flower on each of your new clothes, varying species. Claws and Jaws became your best friends, which could prove to be useful too someday. They slept next to you every night, because you still couldn’t bear to stay in your room most nights.
Mosquitoes were your real enemies now, which said a lot about your relationship with your ‘jailers’. They all came and went every day, seldom leaving for longer than that. You played Mario Kart with the boys often, sometimes changing for another video game when they got tired of losing. You’d also watch one or two episodes of The Office with Mylo before ‘going to bed’. You saw Gustove and Deckard at the gym twice a week. They usually spotted you when you were lifting weights. Once a week, you all played cards over pizza, including Jinx and Sevika. You were pretty sure the latter was slowly warming up to you. When she looked at you, it wasn’t a glare anymore but rather an indifferent kind of look. You took this change as a great progress. Your time in the basement felt like an eternity ago.
As for Jinx, you frankly weren’t sure what was going on with her. Jinx wasn't difficult to understand. At first she acted like a psycho, then like a nonchalant bitch and what now? She was kind of a little nice while also avoidant. Maybe.
Sometimes you heard her pacing on the floor above yours, and sometimes it was music that you could hear as you climbed the stairs. Overall, there were two main things happening. Firstly, you were getting close to the people who had more or less directly kidnapped you. Although, to be fair, the real problem in this story was Caitlyn. And maybe a couple of problematic businesses Jinx and her team were carrying out, yet that was really none of your business before your sister decided it was hers. Consequently, it was once again all Caitlyn’s fault.
Secondly, after reading, cooking, embroidering and swimming for a few weeks you were growing bored. You only had four people to talk to (you excluded Jinx and Sevika from the chat-able category) and they had work to do and overall other things on their mind than your entertainment. Good for them, because you currently did not. The garden didn't seem so big once you’d paced through it hundreds of time. You missed your job, your bees, your hives and your shared passion with Marc.
Therefore, when you heard the others talk about a big upcoming event, you were very interested.
“What kind of event is it?” you asked, genuinely curious.
“For safety reasons, all events reuniting all the families are masked balls so we’re all anonymous, in theory. It’s mostly in case of photos taken and leaked to authorities or journalists. Investors and other important affiliated people come to those events. Their anonymity is crucial. For us, it’s a fun occasion to dress up as whatever we want!” Jinx explained. She seemed genuinely enthusiastic about this ball. You hesitated a split second then decided you had nothing to lose. “Can I come?”Mylo choked on his food.
Jinx looked like she was considering it. “Hm, why not?” she eventually murmured. Sevika seemed to have a lot to say about that, however her boss didn’t give her time to. “I can always tell people you're my new pet. There will be girls everywhere anyway. And since there has been no official picture of the mysterious Kiramman second daughter in years, I don’t think anyone will recognize you. Your sister even made sure your kidnapping wasn’t covered by any article.”
It did sound like something your mother would ask her to do. What a family you had. Although you didn’t like the role you were being assigned too much, it didn’t matter because you were finally going to leave this heavenly but limited house. At this point, you would've agreed to wear a collar. Or not. You hoped you wouldn’t have to.
Thankfully, this masked ball seemed to be the sort of events where people dress up in a fancy and non-provocative way. You’d been to a ball or two of the kind with your family. Claggor handed you your outfit the morning of the masked ball. You were a little worried when opening it because you hadn’t had your word to say about it, yet it turned out to be actually even better than what you could’ve picked for yourself.
You were happy to put it on, this wasn’t the kind of outfits you got to wear when working in the fields, and immediately turned into a beautiful blue iris flower. It was one of your favourite flowers, you had embroidered it multiple times lately. The skirt of the dress mimicked a superposition of petals, each part light as a feather and really soft-looking. The blue was replaced by yellow at the base of each ‘petal’. The look was completed by a pair of thin gloves, a matching mask which completely covered your face from your nose to your hairline, a pair of high-heels you’d have a lot of fun wearing and an actual choker type of necklace. It was too pretty to leave behind and when you put it on, it definitely looked great.
You had asked for a few makeup products, you applied some gloss on your lips and the basics for your skin, focusing on the lower part of your face since the rest would be hidden. When Mylo called you because it was time to leave, you were satisfied with how you looked. You carefully walked down the stairs, Mylo and Gustove waiting at the bottom. You were reaching the first floor when you glanced up, feeling a gaze on you. You weren’t wrong, Jinx was already looking at you from the third floor, her mask already on. You smiled up at her, thankful for the dress. You didn't know if she had picked it herself but she had at least approved it. She tipped her hat at you in answer, the accessory part of her Harlequin costume. She looked stunning, which you would’ve told her if she wasn’t currently smirking in a very irritating way.
You complimented Gustove and Mylo instead, respectively dressed as a knight and Jack of Spades. Mylo whistled when he saw you, his gaze rather insistent. Sevika, turned into a captivating jewel beetle, was waiting in the car. Claggor and Deckard weren’t going since Jinx’s whole clan didn’t have to be there. It would actually be a serious strategic mistake to bring everyone. And Jinx didn’t seem to ever make those.
Oh joy, you were once again blindfolded during the drive to the venue. You sighed heavily as Jinx tied it, which made her giggle. Tormenting you always seemed to amuse her to no end. Mylo felt bad for you so he gave a few more details about the event and the guests. To prevent unfortunate incidents, no weapons were allowed inside. Jinx must have hated that. There would be around two hundred and fifty people, which was typical for an underworld masked ball.
You were allowed to see again when the car stopped in front of a massive building, the architecture reminding you of the haussmannian style. Mylo showed a single invitation to one of the men at the entrance, despite only having Jinx’s code name (The Queen) on it, it apparently was enough for you all to get in with her. The inside was as fancy as the outside although it was just a crystal chandelier away from being too much. There were people in elegant costumes everywhere, all of them masked.
You could tell all the eyes went to your little group and more specifically, to Jinx, when you walked in. It was impressive, really. The conversations even stopped, everyone’s focus going to only one person. Jinx was clearly aware of the numerous gazes fixated on her but she remained almost nonchalant, looking around with fake indifference. She obviously outranked every single other guest.
Followed a long series of greetings and tensely polite small talks. Everyone was gauging the others, it reminded you a lot of the parties you’d accompanied your parents to. It was fascinating how hypocritical people could be and how they managed to say completely opposite things with their mouth and their body language. It was both terrifying and admirable. You were carrying a full glass of champagne, mostly because everyone else was since you didn’t want to take the risk of being poisoned.
It took less than an hour for the first Baron to come pay their respect to ‘Harlequin’. A Baroness, actually. Renni was in the business of political blackmail and firearms trafficking. She had brought twice more of her people than Jinx. The Queen didn’t need a whole army to show her strength. After that, it was Madame Margot’s turn to approach your group. She specialized in prostitution, as visible in the numerous ladies and gentlemen flirting with guests while wearing her mark. Baron Smeech, a man you’d rather never see again and responsible for everything illegal revolving around animals, took longer to walk over to you, trying to send one of his subordinates first. Jinx brushed him off, she wouldn't talk to a mere pawn.
A man Sevika called Finn was the only one left, once the three others had done their duty. He came by as you were all taking a break from the commotion of the main hall, finding quieter in a rather large room upstairs with bookshelves and a fireplace. The Baron of cybercrimes was accompanied by five men. As Finn talked with forced politeness, you noticed one of his clan’s members was standing strangely close to a corner. He looked nervous too even though he was clearly trying to hide it. You watched him closely, taking advantage of the fact that none was paying you any attention.
Soon enough, you saw a glint of metal which could only mean he had a gun tucked in his pants. You studied your options. The goal here was probably killing Jinx or at the very least capturing her, which shouldn’t bother you. However, not only the idea did bother you for some reason, but if this guy started shooting, he or his accomplices would probably want to neutralize the rest of the blue family too, including you.
The logical conclusion was that you needed to stop this rebellion from happening, if only for your own good.
You casually walked closer to Jinx, to whisper in her ear what you’d just seen without alarming Finn.“If guns are forbidden here, why does the man over there have one?” you murmured quietly before taking a careful step back. Jinx’s expression became one of controlled anger. “My pet is right.” You stopped yourself from protesting, not the right moment. “How come one of your men brought a gun here? What for?” she said with a sickeningly sweet tone, tilting her head and before the man you'd pointed out to her could aim properly, Sevika was on him. His shot went to the ceiling. The sound still startled you, not that there was any chance of you getting hurt, because Mylo was standing conveniently between you and the shooter.
The violence unleashed, furniture thrown around along with bodies as you stayed behind Mylo, willing to be your shield. Finn’s men were all knocked out one by one, while you flinched at each loud cracking of bones and screams of pain, until Gustove had their boss pinned to the wall by his throat. The whole thing happened in less than three minutes.
You stood there frozen, amidst the unconscious if not dead bodies, unsure of what to do with yourself or with what you’d witnessed. Sevika’s hands were bloodied when she handed the gun to Jinx who looked at it with apparent boredom. She got up from her seat, walked to where Gustove was holding Finn, gesturing at him with two fingers to let go of the traitor.
“How could you think for even a second that I wouldn’t see your little coup coming from a mile away?” She asked, her calm even more unsettling than if she had started shouting at him. Finn stammered an inaudible answer. Jinx played with the gun a little longer before putting the barrel right between the ex-Baron’s eyes. “You didn’t even defy me officially. No, you tried to do it viciously…” She pouted, like she was disappointed. “And you know how much I hate liars, don’t you?” She didn’t give him time to answer and shot him without a warning. His brain splattered on the wall with a disgusting ‘splash’ sound then started dripping down it.
“Holy shit…” You let out quietly, suddenly feeling nauseous. Jinx didn’t spare another glance to the man she had just executed. “Call Claggor, tell him he can come inside now. We have to interrogate these bastards to know if that son of a bitch was backed by anyone, and who.” She commanded with authority. Sevika nodded immediately and pulled her phone out. Meanwhile you replayed the scene and started to link the dots. Jinx’s controlled reaction when you had talked to her, everyone’s perfect placement when the first shot had been fired, Claggor being right outside…
“You knew about this all along.” You told Jinx as you realized. She grinned at you. “I knew before coming here, indeed.”
“Hence why you were so happy about this, and why you let me come.” It had been a little too easy to convince her. Now you knew why. She wanted you to see this.
“I wasn’t going to let you die in the crossfire, though seeing your reaction was absolutely hilarious.” she admitted shamelessly. You glared at her and her smile widened. “You are an absolute maniac.” You said between gritted teeth, which was the most insulting thing you could say to someone still holding a smoking gun.
“Thanks, honey!” she replied with no care at all. Soon after, you went back to the villa with Gustove as the three others waited for Claggor. At least it hadn’t been boring. You’d need a good night of sleep to swallow tonight’s events. They all knew what would happen, they didn’t tell you so you’d be scared, she killed him with no mercy… You refused to think about it yet, it was all too fresh in your mind.
Once back in your bedroom, you undressed mechanically and fell asleep as soon as you closed your eyes, your brain not bothering you with an irrational fear of murderous walls this time.
Jinx had a plan: kidnapping Caitlyn Kiramman's sister and exchange her against the guarantee that she would stop hunting her down. What wasn't part of the plan was that you'd be very different from her expectations and that she'd fall for you against her will.She definitely should've listened to Sevika when her lieutenant told her this was a terrible idea.
As for you, you never would've thought you'd develop feelings for the criminal your sister was chasing, much less after she'd kidnapped you. But now Jinx had let you in her world and she held you captive body and soul.
Contents: mob boss!Jinx x Kiramman!reader(fem), Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Blood and Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Jinx fell first, reader fell later, Reader POV, Jinx POV, Mylo and Claggor are alive, Found Family, Mafia AU, Modern Setting, hurt/comfort, possessive behavior, mutual pining, wlw
You're a nun, helping during an exorcism procedure. The evil spirit leaves its host body and turns to you but demon!Jinx is not about to let it get a single claw on your soul, which belongs to her and her only.
When you came back to your senses, everything was dark. To be precise, you were wearing a blindfold, your hands and legs restricted by tight ropes. You let out an exclamation of surprise as you realized this wasn’t a dream, it came out muffled. So you were gagged too.
You were still confused, a horrible headache splitting your head open as you tried to shift a little. The knots were professionally tide, not cutting off the blood circulation but also not coming undone easily despite your best efforts.
You could tell from the noise and whirring that you were in a car. Or rather in the minivan from earlier.
The two people from earlier had plainly and simply kidnapped you.
In a flash, you remembered the woman missing an arm mentioning her boss. So they were working for someone, who sent them get you because they thought you could… help them.
Pieces were starting to fall into place.
Being a Kiramman was the only reason you could think of which could justify kidnapping you. Now either they wanted to demand a ransom that your parents might pay, which meant you weren’t in immediate danger, or they had a personal vendetta against your family and you were screwed.
You wanted to eavesdrop on any possible conversation between your two kidnappers but unfortunately, all the emotions from today, the soothing sound of the engine and the impossibility to do anything else than close your eyes led you to fall asleep.
It must have been a much deeper sleep than usual because you didn’t even stir when you were pulled out of the minivan and put on a chair in the basement instead.
“You told me you hadn’t hit too hard…” snarled a new voice, which you registered amidst your foggy mind.
“I didn’t. She should’ve been awake for two hours now.”
“So what, she’s just taking a nap?” she retorted sharply.
You kinda were, actually. In a split second, the unknown woman’s voice went from a few meters away to right next to you. A smell of metal and burnt sugar hit you. “But I think our guest is awake now so let’s ask her directly!”
Your blindfold was untied in a heartbeat. You squinted your eyes, trying to get used to the return of light. When your sight adapted to the luminosity, you saw a blue-haired woman hovering over you.
“Heyyy, how was the nap, sleeping beauty?” she greeted mockingly.
Your breath hitched in your throat as you recognized here. Now you knew for sure who your captor was. Jinx.
You were so screwed.
(full work in the process of being uploaded on ao3)
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