Prompt: Life in the few moments in between the launch of the Hail Mary and the consequences of it.
(A/N: wrote on my phone - to be edited and formatted at a later date)
You said a prayer as the rocket launched. It had been a while since you’d prayed, since you’d begged for help from the great beyond, but you did it then. As you watched humanity’s last hope launch into the cosmos, you begged the Creator of the universe that it might work.
After the launch, everything was just… quiet. Still. For the last year and a half hundreds of you were working on a singular objective and today it was done. It was out of your hands now. You had to trust the scientists’ work, blindly, and hope that you’d see results in 24 years. 24 years that would likely end with a third of you dead. 24 years that would absolutely include war, famine, and suffering.
Most people didn’t linger at the launch pad long. Quite a few were fighting to be first to the mess hall to get on the list for evacuations. They did their jobs - they got to go home. With great compensation, of course, that far too many would blow far too quickly, when they should use it to prepare for the inevitable downfall of modern society.
Ten minutes after the launch and you and Eva were the only souls who remained at the observation deck. “You think it’ll work?”
She smiled softly, but no warmth reached her eyes. “You know, Ryland asked me the same thing three days ago.”
Your heart ached. “And what did you tell him?”
She shrugged. “God willing. We’ve done all we can now. It’s up to the three of them and an amazing amount of luck that we might succeed.”
You took a step closer to her and wrapped your arm around hers, leaning into her warmth. The air was already so much colder. You shivered. “I can’t believe he went.”
She stiffened. “Yeah.”
“He just seemed so scared before, every time the suicide part was brought up. I wasn’t sure he had it in him.”
“He knew what had to be done.”
“I’m glad he found the strength to do it.”
You looked up at Eva. Her jaw was set and she nodded weakly. “Someone had to. He was our only hope.”
You look away, eyes lowering to the slow-settling smoke of the launch. “What’s next for you?”
“The United Nations have made a call for my arrest. I imagine the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will arrive by morning to follow through. After that?” She paused, shaking her head slightly. “I imagine life imprisonment.”
“You seem rather calm about that prospect.”
“I knew what was being asked of me when I signed on.”
You didn’t say anything. There was nothing left to say. There was only her and the dust clouds and the weight of her sins. All of it brought a heaviness to your chest that made it hard to draw a full breath.
“What about you? What are you going to do for the next twenty years?”
You shrugged. “Thought maybe they could do a 2-for-1 on the whole ‘life imprisonment’ thing. Sounds pretty cushy.” This drew a small smile out of her, though she didn’t grace you with one of her laughs. You sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I was naive enough to imagine myself spending those years with you. I thought you’d just pivot to other ways to save the planet and I’d do it with you.”
“I’ve done all I can. I obliterated a continent and destroyed the world’s largest desert. I’ve exhausted every option in my arsenal to save the planet. And I have also destroyed it. I’m not sure which side the scale will tip towards in the end.”
“Saving it. Obviously.”
“Obviously?”
“No one’s going to miss Antarctica anyway. I bet most people won’t even notice it’s gone.”
This did garner a laugh. You savored it, afraid it would be the last time you’d hear it. If it was, you were glad that you were the one to cause it. Her laughter was rare and hard-earned. You would be happy to spend the rest of your life coaxing it out of her, had things been different.
“Eva?” you asked, unmoved from your position resting against her.
“Yes?”
“I’ll spend the rest of my life missing you.”
“I don’t deserve that kind of devotion.”
“That’s not for you to decide, thankfully.”
For the first time since the start of your conversation, she shifted, moving to wrap your fingers within hers. “I’ll miss you, too, dear. I’m grateful that the end of the world gave me you.”
Your eyes stung as tears began to form. You twisted into her to try and hide them, but you were sure she realized what you’re doing. She didn’t draw attention to it, though. Why would she, anyway, when she knew she couldn’t fix your pain?
“Can you promise me something?” she asked.
“Anything.”
“Don’t look into my arrest. Don’t watch the trial. I want you to remember this version of me. The one you know.”
You nodded. “I promise.”
She sighed, a deep, heavy exhale. “Thank you.” She took one last look at the launch site. The dust had almost settled. Like it hadn’t even happened. “Let’s go, then.”
Prompt: EVA STRATT X ASSISTANT!READER!! CONTROVERSIALLY YOUNG GF LFG!!!
Warnings: SMUT (minors dni), Mommy kink (sorry it was obviously coming), inappropriate workplace relationship (it’s Stratt, come on now), age-gap (reader is in mid-20s)
(A/N: why is it so hard to write smut?? it genuinely takes me so long to write every time)
(A/N #2 - I wrote this via phone, so please ignore the formatting errors until I can fix them on my laptop :))
Eva Stratt was being sued. Not in a cute little ‘personal theft’ way, but in a ‘the entirety of the human race is banding against you’ kind of way. You illegally download the entire array of human creative to a few thumb drives and suddenly you’re a thief.
Whatever.
It’s a waste of effort, resources, and most importantly time, but they don’t care. Copyright infringement is clearly the biggest fish to fry.
She didn’t give you much of a warning before the trip; she probably didn’t know too far out in advance, herself. Unfortunately news of the trial had already broke and every hotel in the city was booked solid. You needed nine rooms to cover her entourage and the task of finding those rooms took hours.
You eventually found a hotel with a floor blocked off for a family reunion. Sorry Carpenter family, but thanks to the power of the United States government, you will be having a few unexpected guests!
Other than the hotel reservations, you were in charge of securing travel and security, each a new headache. This one task had completely taken over everything else you did.
You had just perfected her coffee order and now some other assistant was bringing it to her. That should’ve been you, damnit! What if the new guy was flirting with her when he dropped it off? That was your job!
And you were good at it, too.
You’d started sprinkling it in a few weeks after she’d brought you in as her assistant. You’d draw hearts on her coffee cups or x’s at the end of your notes to her. If you were in conversation, you’d sneak glances at her lips.
She was the most powerful woman on the planet, and also the hottest, in your opinion. Maybe it was the aura of confidence radiating off of her, but you were drawn to her in a way that was not safe for work.
It was no wonder you were infatuated with her.
Finally, the day of the trial came. You traveled for over eighteen hours just to land in Nowhere, USA and were in and out of the courtroom in seven minutes.
Seven.
Fucking.
Minutes.
“What a waste of time,” Eva said, collapsing into the backseat of the car.
“I don’t imagine they’ll call you to trial anytime soon, Ms. Stratt.”
She shook her head in exasperation. “I hope not.”
She said nothing else for the rest of the drive. The hotel was close to the courtroom, so, thankfully, it wasn’t long.
The driver dropped you at the door and you rushed to check in. The desk agent processed you quickly, handing over a stack of key cards.
The flight team entered first, eager to get to sleep before the early morning takeoff. Your drivers were next, for the same reason. Then security entered with Stratt at their heels. She looked annoyed, or bored. You were never really sure.
After giving security their cards you found yourself with a single key left. You looked up to her as the color faded from your face. “Sorry, I must not have checked into all the reservations,” you spit out, stumbling over your words.
“Hi again!” you said to the front desk agent. “I think I’m missing a room?”
“Let me double check,” she said, typing into her computer. After a moment, she shook her head. “Nope, all checked in.”
“No, I know I booked enough rooms,” you said, face starting to burn. “I double checked my count like four times.” Eva was right behind you and you were fucking it all up. You’d never been more embarrassed in all your life.
The agent smiled. “You’re mistaken.”
Eva took a step forward. “If she says she booked the rooms then she booked the rooms. What are you going to do to fix your mistake?”
“Ma’am,” the woman started. “I can guarantee you that we did not make a mistake on our end. Nine rooms were booked and nine rooms were checked in to.”
Your heart stopped beating. “Nine was my count.” You paused. “I didn’t count myself.” You’re completely frozen as you stare at Stratt. She was going to fire you and leave you in fucking Nebraska, probably never to be heard of again.
She sighed. “My apologies. Are there any rooms available to book?”
“No, we’re full for the evening. There’s a hotel about five miles away you could try.”
“Okay, thank you,” she said before grabbing you by the elbow and pulling you away.
“Ms. Stratt, I am so sorry. I promise it won’t happen again. I’ll go to that hotel and I’ll be here before you guys are up. Please don’t fire me,” the words came out jumbled and mushed together but she just sighed.
“You aren’t fired. And you’re not going to another hotel. The drivers and security are already in their rooms.”
“Of course, I don’t want to bother them. I can just sleep in the car probably. It’ll be fine for one night.”
She shakes her head. “No. You will stay in my room. It’ll be easier that way, anyway.”
You start to protest, but she’s already called the elevator. “In you go,” she orders, pulling both suitcases in with her. You follow obediently.
You remain at her heels until you make it to her room. She holds it open for you before pulling your bag in. “I should be doing that. I’m so sorry, Ms. Stratt. I can’t believe I fucked up so bad.”
“Sit,” she commands, motioning to the lone bed in the center of the room. You obey, shaking as you balance on the edge. She makes her rounds of the room: drawing the blinds, locking the door, dimming the lights. Your eyes trail her.
When she finishes, she stands in front of you. “Why are you so tense?”
Your voice shakes. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”
“You made a simple mistake. Why are you shaking?” Her voice is calm, even, but it still rattles you.
“I want to do good for you. Want you to be proud of me.” The truth stings your chest.
She hums. “It takes a lot more than proper counting to make me proud.”
Your skin burns. “I know.”
“Then why would this make any difference?”
“I don’t know. I just want to be good for you.”
“You are good for me.”
“Then why did you stick me on trial duty for weeks?”
Her eyebrows furrow. “Why does that matter?”
“Because I liked what I did before. I liked getting your coffee and following you into your meetings to take notes.” Your cheeks burn. “I miss being around you, I guess.”
“I put you on the trial because I wanted you to come with me. I don’t like any of the other assistants enough to be stuck with them for so long.”
You rolled your eyes. “You’re just saying that because I’m embarrassing myself.”
“I’m not. But it is cute that you’re embarrassed.” You blush harder, turning away from her and shoving your face into the comforter. “Come on, stop it,” she orders gently. “Go clean up and we will go to bed.”
You scurry away quickly, hoping that a long shower would straighten out your mind. You’re barely two minutes in when the door opens. The glass of the shower is only frosted from your neck down, so you see her enter the bathroom clearly.
Her eyes lock on yours as she shuts the door behind her. “Need some help?”
You nod, throat dry. “Yes, please,” you choke out. She undresses quickly before slipping in behind you. Your bravery evades you and you stare at the shower head, unable to risk a look at the woman you’re so desperate for.
She starts with shampoo, working carefully and diligently, like she did in all things. Her fingers move carefully through your hair, careful not to snag any tangles. Your eyes flutter close. It feels so nice, her touching you like this. “Grace never treated you this nice, no?”
You roll your eyes. “I was his assistant for one day before you commandeered me. No, he never washed my hair.”
“Figured. That’s why I’m such a good boss.”
You turn to face her, staring up into her softened eyes. “You’re showering with me as my boss, huh?”
“Of course.”
“You wash the hair of all your subordinates, Ms. Stratt?”
She clicks her tongue. “Only the ones that flirt with me when they bring me my coffee.” You turn your back to her again to try and block the blush on your cheeks. “You can’t possibly believe you were being subtle.”
“I did until now.”
She laughs under her breath as she moves to wash the rest of your body. Her touch is light, but it lingers. Every inch of skin that she touches is set ablaze, leaving you wanton and wanting.
When she finally stops, you’re on fire. “Your turn.”
She shakes her head. “You go, I’ll finish up in here.” You start to argue, but she raises her eyebrow, stopping you in your tracks. You obey and scurry back into your shared room.
You’d packed exactly one pair of pajamas in your overnight bag, and you didn’t need to look at them to know they weren’t the fuck me kind. So you took another risk and curled under the covers in nothing.
Eva emerged a few minutes later, hair tied in a knot behind her head and completely undressed. You actually took the time to study her form this time and you drank her in. If this was the last time you’d see her like this, you wanted it to be burned into your mind.
She was so fucking beautiful.
She was everything good and soft and warm left in the fucked up world she was trying to save.
“You’re not very subtle, baby,” she purrs, tossing up the covers to climb into bed beside you. She smirks when she notices your lack of clothing. “Lay on your side, dear.”
You obey, turning to face the covered window. You feel her fall into place a moment later before she wraps an arm around you to pull you closer. Your body relaxes into hers instantly. Her skin is still warm from the shower, though you imagine your skin would warm from her touch alone. She uses her free hand to run her fingers through your hair, lulling you into complete rest.
You sigh contentedly. It’d been so long since you’d been touched like this. And never had it felt the way it did when it was by her hand.
“See, why would you ever want your own room?” she whispered into your ear.
“I don’t. Just want you.”
“I know, baby. Mommy will give you what you need.” Your chest cracks open with need at her words. You arch your back into her body, desperate for more of her touch. “So desperate, baby. Let mommy take care of you.”
She starts slow, with gently fingers tracing the curve of your body. Every place she touches tingles as goosebumps dot your flesh. She knows exactly how to pull the sensation out of you and has you a sensitized mess in mere minutes.
You whine when she stops. Her presence is overbearing behind you and you turn to see her staring at you, a deep frown on her beautiful features. “Why’d you stop?”
“Because if I don’t stop now, I’m afraid I’m not going to.”
Your eyebrows furrow. “I don’t want you to stop.”
“I know. That’s why I need to.”
You could tell she was one wrong move away from cracking. So you crawled into her lap and made it for her. “Please touch me, Ms. Stratt.”
Her eyes fluttered closed, but she didn’t stop you. You pushed your legs down on either side of her, straddling her. She didn’t stop you as you brought your lips to her neck, kissing and suckling on every part of her skin you could reach. She didn’t even stop you when your hips began to move as you sought out friction. She simply watched you, allowing you to use her to work yourself up.
Her hands began moving when you started to moan.
She ran them up and down your form, cupping your breasts before tracing down to hold your hips as they ground into her. Not once did her eyes leave yours.
It’s not enough. You need more of her on you, over you, in you. Every part of you needs to scream from her touch.
“Need you to fuck me, mommy.”
She moves expeditiously.
She flips your bodies with ease, hovering over you, perfectly encapsulating your frame with hers. “So beautiful, my pretty girl,” she purrs. “Look so pretty getting yourself off on me.”
You whine when she doesn’t immediately touch you. “So needy. Mommy’s going to take care of you, baby.”
“Please,” you gasp. “Please, mommy.”
She smiles. “Just like that, baby. Let mommy hear you.”
“I need you,” you moan as her fingers move to your slick entrance. One of her hands is planted an inch to the right of your head, holding her over you, while the other sinks into your core, immediately drawing moans from your lips.
She sets an easy pace, one that would typically bore you. But with her hands in place of yours, you can already feel the pressure building inside of you. Your back arches in pleasure, forcing your cunt closer to her but she pushes you back down, shaking her head gently. “Not yet, baby. You don’t cum until I say you can.”
You whine but her stern look snaps you back into position. You could do this for her. “Now be a good girl and touch Mommy.”
Her syrupy sweet orders are immediately followed as you rush to touch her. You’re clumsy, at first, etching her form as she did before. You finally settle on her thighs, holding both of them a bit above where they’ve caged your own.
You slowly move inward, towards her center. She studies every movement you make, although you’re sure she knows what you’re going to do before you do it. Still, she jumps when your fingertips connect with her clit. “Is this okay?” you ask, staring wide-eyed up at her.
She smiles. “Yes, baby. You’re doing so good for me.” You mirror her movements back on her, noting what makes you feel best and copying it back on her. She takes note of this and changes her movements once more. The feeling of her in your hand, of her hand in you, is too much. You feel the familiar tightening of your inner walls - you’re painfully close.
“Mommy, please,” you beg. “Need to cum.”
“I know, baby.” She pulls your hand from her core and lowers herself onto your thigh, grinding into it as she chases her own pleasure. It’s so fucking hot that a low moan escapes your throat. “Good girl,” she pants, movements growing erratic. “Cum for mommy.”
You do, immediately falling over the edge. Your walls spasm around her fingers as she grinds down on your thigh, her own filthy moans mixing in with yours. The pleasure that ripples over you is overwhelmingly good. Whimpers and moans and curses fall from your lips as you grind against her fingers until your body finally collapses.
Sniffles replace your moans as you come down. “It’s okay, baby. Mommy’s got you.” Your skin was fuzzy and warm and your heart ached. You needed to be closer to her. She could sense your need and pulled you into her lap. Her kisses peppered your neck as you cried. “Good girl, let it out.”
“I need you, Eva,” you hiccuped. “Please don’t leave me.”
“No, baby. I’d never,” she shushed you. “I’d never do that.”
She rocks you gently as you cry, riding out the overwhelm of emotions with you. Only when you’ve finally settled does she sink into the pillows beside you, wrapping herself around your pliant frame. With the weight of her behind you, you find sleep easily.
The next morning is hectic. Eva lets you sleep as long as she possibly can and you rush to collect the rest of your things as the clock ticks down. You want to say so much more to her, to beg her not to leave you, but you just don’t have the time.
When you try to pull away from her when leaving the elevator, she pulls you back into her, wrapping her hand around yours. Your eyes widen. “Really?”
She smiles. “Yes, baby. You’re mine. I’m not going to hide you.”
Hand-in-hand, you step out of the elevator. She didn’t let go of you when the receptionist furrowed her eyebrows, or the flight crew’s jaws dropped, or when the blinding lights of reporters caught you in their shots. Her hold on you never faltered.
The time would come when her crimes and malefactions would catch up with her. A day would come when she would be asked to pay for her sins against the world, against Ryland, against you.
No Mercy (Terry Silver x Reader) - When an assailant breaks into your and Terry’s home, hell breaks loose.
*Young (Terry Silver x Reader) - Multi-fic. Terry Silver dating a younger woman he met as a waitress, then brings you into high society as his date. A love letter to the controversially young gf trope.
Doctor Who:
Right Beside Me (The Doctor x Reader) - You go through the many changes of the Doctor, learning to love him throughout his transformations.
Your Eyes (The Doctor x Reader) - You’ve been with the Doctor through many changes, but this one is familiar.
Project Hail Mary:
*Push & Pull (Eva Stratt x Reader) - You are in charge of acquisitions for Project Hail Mary, working directly under Eva Stratt and beside Dr. Ryland Grace. Both you and Eva are mutually pining for each other, until one of you finally break.
Piece of Her Mind (Eva Stratt x Reader) - One thing you will not stand for is someone talking shit about Eva Stratt. When you call it out, she possibly overhears.
Rest (Eva Stratt x Reader) - When Eva has a long day, there’s nothing she likes more than coming home to you.
Sign of the Times (Eva Stratt x Reader) - A wager with Ilyukhina leads to Eva singing karaoke before the team’s send-off. Drunken songs and drunken confessions go hand in hand.
Stranger Things:
*Control (Henry Creel x Reader) - In the year that your brother Will and the rest of your family had been looking for you, you’d spent 15 within Henry’s mind. Growing to love him. And now they’re here to bring you home.
The Gray Man:
Rescue (Six x Reader) - (Part One) (Part Two) - Lloyd kidnaps you and your sister, Claire. Six rescues you and brings you to safety.
The Last of Us:
No Remorse (Joel Miller x Reader) - Joel would do anything to save his girls. Anything.
*Illicit Affairs (Joel Miller x Reader) - You’re involved in an illicit affair with Joel Miller.
The Mandalorian:
Lover (Din Djarin x Reader) - You are a healer from a small planet, who joins the Mandalorian in his travels after a lucky meeting.
Clan of Three (Din Djarin x Reader) - Din extends the invitation to you to become a clan.
Anything (Din Djarin x Reader) - You comfort Din after the events that occur during Chapter 16.
Caretaker (Din Djarin x Reader) - You were the caretaker of the Child before a Mandalorian and a droid showed up and changed your world.
Parents (Din Djarin x Reader) - You co-parent the Child with Din and Luke.
Captive (Din Djarin x Reader) - You were held captive on an Imperial ship until a weirdly dressed stormtrooper set you free.
A Jedi (Din Djarin x Reader) - You were a Jedi who left after realizing love was more important. When the Mandalorian is hurt, rage overcomes you.
The Maze Runner:
You Left Me (Gally x Reader) - You’re reunited with Gally after believing he died in the maze.
The Pitt:
*What Happens in Vegas (Dr. Robby x Reader) - Dr. Robby and head case manager!reader are heading to a patient advocacy presentation across the country. After a long and stressful plane ride, they are surprised with a single hotel room.
The Umbrella Academy:
Scarlet (Five Hargreeves x Reader): You travel through thousands of realities with Five. You were bound to fall in love in one of them.
Prompt: A wager with Ilyukhina leads to Eva singing karaoke before the team's send-off. Drunken songs and drunken confessions go hand in hand.
(Warnings: lowkey hurt/no comfort - sorry)
(A/N: Holy shit I love Eva Stratt so much)
“Did my pretty girl get herself wasted?” Eva asked as you draped yourself over her lap.
You hummed into her chest. “Lotta shots,” you murmured.
“How many did Ilyukhina give you?"
“Six.”
Ilyukhina cheered from the corner. “Now it is a party!” You giggled at her. “Boss lady will be treating us good tomorrow!”
Eva rolled her eyes as she pulled her fingers through your hair. You mirrored her, twirling hers around your finger. It was so pretty when she left it down like this. So soft.
“You should sing something,” you whispered into her ear.
She smiled softly. “Why would I do that?”
“Ily bet me that you wouldn’t. I told her I could totally convince you.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because you love me so much.”
If you were a little less drunk or a little less close to her, you might have realized that neither of you had said that yet. You’d danced around it, but neither had been brave enough to speak it into existence.
“Is that so?”
“It’s very so.”
“Then I guess I will sing.”
She easily peeled you off of her and deposited you back on the chair. Ilyukhina was at your side immediately. “Are you serious?” she whispered in disbelief.
“I told you so,” you smirked. She slipped you another shot which you immediately downed. You coughed once it was down, which caused the other woman to laugh.
She sat on the armrest of the chair, arm slung lazily over the back of it. “I will happily lose bet to see this.”
The opening notes to Sign of the Times flooded the hall, catching everyone’s attention.
Despite your unadulterated glee, this was not the first time you’d heard her sing. She did it often, only when she thought no one would hear. You caught her singing in the shower, or under her breath while doing paperwork, often. She’d gotten sneakier since realizing you were listening, but not sneaky enough.
Her voice was soft at the beginning, a little unsure of itself in front of so many people. So many subordinates, no less. Karaoke had been going on for hours at this point. For most people it was an easy background noise while they talked and drank. Now, however, every crew member turned to watch. Even the security guards were tuned in.
Her voice erupted into a strong belt when the chorus hit, drawing in cheers and whoops from everyone around you. Ilyukina howled a cheer from beside you. You simply sat slack-jawed behind her. What the fuck? You knew she was good, but what the fuck?
“Breaking through the atmosphere.”
Her voice was soft again. Mournful.
“Things look pretty good from here.”
Hopeful.
This was her goodbye. To her crew. To the scientists. To the brave three volunteers who would die in space. A hard wave of grief overwhelmed you. They were alive, but their fates were sealed. Their days were numbered. You sniffled as you moved tighter into Ilyukhina’s side. She raised her glass to Eva.
“And that is enough,” Eva said, quickly returning the mic to the stand and returning to her seat underneath you.
“That was beautiful, Captain,” Ilyukhina slurred. “I will need a recorded copy to take with me.”
Eva’s lips upturned slightly. “Get out of here,” she swatted. “Go enjoy your party.”
“Yes, of course,” she giggled, winking at you as she left. You couldn’t help but to smile back at her.
“You have such a pretty voice, Eva,” you whispered into her ear. You pull back to look at her and find her cheeks blushed. You smile. “A pretty face, too.”
Her eyes widened, slightly. “You are so drunk.”
You shrugged. “Makes me brave. You’re pretty but also a tiny bit scary.”
She scoffed. “I am not scary.”
“Tiny bit,” you said, pinching your fingers together. “You are a teeny, tiny bit scary. But I am very brave.” You had leaned in to whisper the last words in her ear, and you left a sloppy kiss below her ear before pulling away.
She sank you both lower in the chair when she felt it, pulling you closer to her. Her eyes were fiery when they met yours. They didn’t register as angry, though. More so, turned on. “Do not do that here,” she ordered.
“Whatever you say, Captain.”
She began to stand, but Ryland was being led to the karaoke machine by Dubois, and you had to watch. Eva temporarily forgot about you and locked in to his performance. It only took Ilyukhina feeding Ryland three shots before he took the mic. “You say either-“
“And I say either,” the crew called back.
“You say neither-“
“And I say neither!”
He was toasted. Absolutely drunk off his ass. You were, too, which was evident by the way you loudly cackled at his performance. He even threw in a crowd work bit, bringing the mic to different people in the crowd. As you’d expect from a crowd of drunks, they ate it up.
He received a three-minute standing ovation.
You wobbled when you sat back down. “I think it’s time for bed.” You began to protest but she shook her head. “Not a question.”
“No fun.”
She wrapped an arm around your waist as she led you through the crowd, stopping for a moment before the head doctor. "Please provide Dr. Grace with pain medication for his hangover in the morning." He nodded as Eva took another look at you. "I'll need some delivered to my room, as well."
"You're not even drunk," you slurred, leaning further into her.
"It's not for me."
"Oh."
Despite being together for a few months, you had never seen her room. If you had time to see each other, it would be in your room or her main office. She was a busy woman, especially as the launch date grew closer. You took what you could get.
Eva's room looked almost exactly like your room. It held a desk, dresser, and bed, standard issue but fairly comfortable. Where your room was filled with pictures of your friends and family, hers was bare. Nothing of her own had been added to the space. Even her clothing was tucked neatly away.
"Sit, please," she directed softly, helping you to the edge of her bed. "I can give you something to change into." She leaves you for a moment and returns with an oversized shirt and flannel pants. "Get changed, please."
You obeyed, quickly changing into her clothes as she did the same. She switched off the light before joining you on her bed. You felt her settle beside you before you could actually see her. It took a while for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. But they did, eventually.
Her eyes were on you when you finally processed the image. "Hi," you whispered.
She smiled. "Hi."
Her knuckles kissed your skin as she grazed her fingers over your face. The feeling lingered even after she pulls away, a soft hum of an echo. Her eyes never left yours. They studied you, while yours just tried to remember hers. If you could remember the exact pattern of her iris after all this was over, maybe it would all be worth it. You could cling to the memory of this moment long after she was taken from you.
The liquor loosened your mind and tongue. "You know I was flirting with you for a long time before we kissed, right?"
"I know."
"You did not."
"Yes, I did. You were pretty obvious, Solnyshko."
Your eyebrows furrowed together. "I don't know that word."
The corners of her lips upticked slightly. "It's a term of endearment. Just for me to know."
"Not fair," you pouted. "You know I don't have enough time to learn Russian."
Your chest hurt as you said the words. So did your stomach. You sat up quickly, gasping for a breath that won't quite fill your lungs. "Sorry, fuck." You're a lot more sober than you were a second ago.
Eva said nothing, just rubbed small circles in the center of your back. You didn't talk about it. That was your one rule. She'd told you the moment after your first kiss that she would likely be imprisoned the moment the Hail Mary launched. One of the core tenets of your relationship was that it had a death date.
The pain you were feeling very quickly morphed to sobs. They were loud and overpowering and angry. You were so fucking angry. Eva had sacrificed everything to save the earth, and it was going to reward her with her imprisonment.
The woman who's fate you sobbed over pulled you into her chest, calmly shushing you as your tears soaked her shirt. "I'm sorry," you hiccupped. "I didn't want it to be like this."
"Shh," she soothed you. "I know."
"Wanted to be strong for you."
"You don't need to be."
"Someone needs to."
She took in a deep breath and released it. "I was angry at first. Once I put it all together. Once I realized what my fate would be. But I worked through it. Because I knew what needed to be done and knew that I was the one to do it." You'd cried yourself out. You still laid against her, drained. "I pushed it down for a long time. It was easy to ignore, especially when so many were giving up far more than I would be.
"The next time I really thought about it was when I met you. If it had been before. I would have asked you on a date. You were everything the old me would have wanted. But I was the new me. The new me who absolutely could not get involved romantically. So, I pushed that down, too. Not that you made that easy, with the way you openly flirted with me. You were not subtle at all, by the way." You smiled, despite yourself.
"And then you kissed me and I knew I couldn't push my feelings, or you, away anymore. I thought if we didn't talk about it, it wouldn't hurt us. But the day's growing closer and closer, and it hurts. So much I think it might kill me."
She inhaled deeply again, but this time it shook. "What hurts the most is the thought of leaving you sad and alone. I caused something that shouldn't affect you at all to hurt you."
"I love you," you cried.
"I know." Her voice shook, riddled with pain. "I'm sorry."
"No." You choked out another sob. "Don't say that. Please."
"It's all I can say."
"Say it back, Eva."
"When it will hurt you even more?"
"Please."
"I love you." Her words vibrated from her chest and into yours. "Of course, I love you." You wanted to etch the feeling into your skin. Instead, you sobbed.
Prompt: What it's like to sleep next to Eva Stratt
“Scoot over, dear,” Eva orders. An overwhelming tiredness radiates from her. Still half asleep, you comply to her instructions, giving her enough room to slide in.
She lets out a deep exhale and her body visibly relaxes. She lays flat on her back, arms crossed over her chest as she stares at the ceiling. If you let her, she would do this for hours.
“Roll over.” She doesn’t even try to argue. She immediately turns to face the doorway, notching her hands under her head. You fit easily into her back, wrapping both an arm and leg around her. One of her hands moves to wrap around your calf, holding you in place. You’re both most comfortable like this.
You know Eva is the most important person in the world. As of late, you can’t seem to escape that fact. But in this moment, like all the nights you’d shared before, she was just yours. The world wasn’t ending and the weight of it wasn’t on her shoulders. Only your lips were. They were gentle and repetitive and the only thing that could relax Eva Stratt after a long day.
She was asleep quickly, hand still tight over your leg even when the rest of her body relaxed. When the nightmares started, as they often did, her fingers would twitch. You’d use your own to draw light circles onto the cool skin of her back. Sometimes it would soothe her, sometimes it wouldn’t. Sometimes she’d wake up in a panic and shoot up in bed, holding a hand to her chest as she caught her breath.
It was impossible to calm her on those nights. She would simply press a kiss onto your forehead before pulling on a jacket and retreating back to her office.
You followed her once, far earlier on. She made it all the way to her office before realizing she had a shadow. She’d asked what you were doing; you’d shrugged. She had let you stay but you’d grown bored quickly. In the hour you’d stayed, she hadn’t said a single word. She just moved between physical folders and her computer every few minutes, writing notes on both.
You didn’t follow her again. She did insist you had security after that, though. She did not like that you made it so far without her noticing. An armed guard was with you whenever she wasn’t from that point on.
You’d had arguments about it at first. She’d shut them down quickly. “I am too critical to this mission to suffer a heartbreak right now. The United States Army can spare an officer to keep you safe,” she’d said, no room for arguments from you or anyone else.
She was right, of course. No reason to add any more stress to her life when countries were begging to send her their armed forces.
Tonight though, she just slept.
You burrowed deeper into her. There was nowhere on the planet you felt safer than behind her. Nowhere you felt more complete.
So when the day came when she had to make an impossible choice to trade one life for the rest of the world’s, she made it. And when she finally laid her head down to rest, you comforted her.
Prompt: One thing you will not stand for is someone talking shit about Eva Stratt. When you call it out, she possibly overhears.
Evans, an annoying amateur astronomer, laughed from the other side of the table. You'd done your best to avoid the conversation, but his voice still grated into your skull. “Stratt’s a bitch and Grace is her sad puppy she’s about to put down.”
Ilyukhina rolled her eyes. “Give it a break, Evans. You’re just mad you’re not number two.”
He scoffed. “Yeah fucking right. And have to listen to her-“
“Shut the fuck up!” you exploded.
“The fuck is wrong with you?” he demanded.
“Dude, fuck you! You don’t get to talk about her like that!” you yelled, slamming both hands down on your desk. “You’re a piece of fucking work and you’re only here because of a stupid fucking hobby! There are thousands more qualified and educated than you, you piece of shit!”
That drew the attention of the room. Ilyukhina’s pencil dropped from her hand and for a moment the sound of it hitting the table was the only sound in the room.
Everyone’s eyes quickly drifted from you to the back of the room. “If she’s behind me-“
She called out your name and you cursed under your breath. “A word please?”
You shoved out from the table and followed her out of the room. Her pace was brisk, leading you through multiple halls. “What was that?” she asked once she’d gotten you into her office.
“Nothing, really. Just polite conversation between friends.”
“Do not lie to me. It is unbecoming.”
You groaned. “It’s bullshit! They complain about you and Grace all the time and it’s all bullshit! Without you we’d all just be fucking dead.”
“They are doing their jobs and not saying this to my face. There is no reason to be angry at their words.”
“Whatever. Are you going to punish me now for ‘hurting morale’?”
“I don’t give a fuck about morale.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Because you lost your tempter speaking of me. I need to know why.”
Your heart fluttered in your chest. “No reason.”
Her eyes crinkled. “That’s, as you say, ‘bullshit’.”
“Can we please just not talk about it?”
“No.”
“Why not?” you pouted. “You’re smart, Eva. You obviously know what this is. I feel so stupid.”
“Why do you feel stupid?”
You rolled your eyes. “Why wouldn’t I? Even if you felt the same way I did, I know your views on relationships on this project very well.”
“Are you planning on being a member of the crew aboard the Hail Mary?”
You scoffed. “Not unless about a hundred more qualified people died and I was humanity’s last hope.”
She looked like she wanted to say something, but shook it off. “My rules and expectations are for those aboard the Hail Mary. I don’t care about the romantic involvements of anyone except them.”
Your cheeks flushed. “Still.”
Eva let out a deep exhale before opening her arms to you. “Come here.”
You nestled into her. She was soft and lithe and yours. The complete yours-ness of her was utterly overwhelming. The need for her overtook you - to claim her and to be claimed by her. Your body and soul ached for it in tandem.
“This is what you need, hmm?” she asked, voice soft but still commanding. You nodded into her wool-adorned chest. “You could have asked.”
“You’re the most powerful person on the planet. I didn’t think…” your voice tapers off. Her fingers trail lazily through your hair.
She sighed. “I’m still a person.”
You pulled away from her, only far enough to look into her eyes. They didn’t falter from yours. She swiped a stray lock of hair behind your ear. Her hand lingered at the back of your neck. “I am still human.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
“I like you, Eva.”
“I know.”
You blushed again. “That’s not very nice.”
She smiled softly. “I feel the same for you.”
You chewed on your lip as you stare into her focused eyes. “What now then?”
Her eyes glaze. “Come,” she ordered, leading you to her desk. She tapped it twice and you followed her command, sitting back on the hard wood. She notched herself between your thighs, hips flush to yours. “Can I kiss you?”
You nodded, far too enthusiastically. You moved together, both leaning in until your lips finally meet. Eva deepened it immediately, pulling you closer with a firm hand on the small of your back. The other explored your form, tracing your body from your thigh to your rib cage.
Your brain is mush, overwhelmed by her. She is everywhere. Every inch of you, every sense you have is filled with her. It’s not a conscious decision to move against her. The way your hips grind into hers isn’t a choice. She only spurs it on, pushing you closer against her as she pulls your head to the side to explore your neck with her lips.
At some point, moans begin to fall from your lips. They’re hard to stop and impossible to quiet. Not that Eva minds. She’s actively doing whatever she can to intensify them.
“Up,” she whispered, only a moment before lifting you completely off the desk. She only moves a few steps to the oversized chair behind her, sinking into it with you atop her.
You straddled her, completely drunk on the closeness of her. Her lips are ever moving, rotating from your lips to your neck to your breasts. Every bare inch of skin has been investigated and sated by her touch. Your skin burns with her.
The moment your hips begin to grind into hers, she stops you. Her hands are firm on your waist, forcing you to stop. You whined, but she shook her head. “Not yet.”
You rolled your eyes. “Need to buy me dinner first?”
Her eyes stared intensely into yours, unyielding. “Do not start something you can’t finish.”
“Trust me, I could finish this.”
“You couldn’t. Your next class starts in five minutes.”
“You know my schedule?”
“I know everyone’s schedule.”
“But mine’s your favorite right?”
“A schedule is a schedule.” She smiled softly as she fixed your sweater back over your shoulder. “You are my favorite.”
It’s hard to leave, but you do. A schedule is a schedule. Evans smirked when you return, taking note of your red face. “Stratt give you a piece of her mind?”
You rolled your mind to avoid smiling. “Something like that.”
project hail mary has ignited a level of obsession i haven’t felt since i was fourteen years old and started writing fanfic for the first time. whimsy and joy are back people!!
Prompt: You are in charge of acquisitions for Project Hail Mary, working directly under Eva Stratt and beside Dr. Ryland Grace. Both you and Eva are mutually pining for each other, until one of you finally break.
(A/N: I’ve scoured the net and found exactly one (1) Eva Stratt fic. This must be rectified. Stat.)
(Warnings: Smut, minors dni)
Eva had found you far before she'd found Ryland Grace. You'd worked as a covert agent for the government for years, most of your time in acquisition. If world leaders needed something, without the public being alerted, you were the woman for them.
It was far too easy to transition to working for Eva Stratt. She was methodical, unapologetic, and wholly focused on her mission of saving Earth. Her needs were precise. Metals, elements, ships, scientists. You were the one who set her on Ryland's trail. He fit the bill perfectly and he had something to prove. Bingo.
He was on board within a week.
That was months ago, now. You'd since acquired a nuclear weapon and organized the pavement of the Sahara Desert. A year ago, you would've been at least a bit shocked at the requests, but now they were your bread and butter.
Far more surprising was your growing attraction to Eva Stratt. It started slowly. Late nights turned into early mornings. Fingers brushed going through papers. Eyes caught each other in crowded rooms.
If Ryland Grace was her right-hand man, then you were here left. She didn't go anywhere without you at this point. She'd moved you into her room weeks ago, arguing that she needed you within reach at all points.
This morning you sat at a table of three astronauts that would be sent into space to die in a few months. You'd found them, too. All positive for the coma-resistance gene. All willing to die for the cause.
“Please give us your preferred method of suicide by the end of the day,” Eva chimed, leaving without any further preamble. They weren't shocked by the request. Actually, they were prepared for it.
You reported their choices back to her, seated inches from where she leaned against the front of her desk. “You can make it happen, right?”
You nod quickly. “Of course.”
“And what would yours be? If you had to choose?” She leans forward slightly, pulling a piece of your hair between her fingers.
Your stomach flips, both from her proximity and the uneasy question. “The heroin overdose sounds the best out of the three to me. As long as someone was there to make sure it worked.”
She considers this, mentally cataloguing it into the ‘things she knew about you’ section of her brain. “I’d choose the gun.”
“It’d be over quickly, I guess.”
She hums. “Far quicker than I’m sure mine will be.”
That took you back. “What do you mean?”
“When all of this is over, I will be tried and prosecuted for my crimes against humanity. I am the sacrifice the world needed for this to go smoothly.”
What the fuck?
“What are you talking about?” You stand now, still a few inches shorter than her.
“The day that ship goes in the air is the last I will see as a free woman. And I will go gladly, knowing I gave the planet a chance.”
Tears spring to your eyes. “That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
“What about your family?”
“I have none.”
You stomp your foot. “What about me?”
“You and the rest of my team will not be implicated.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“You know. You have to know, Eva.” Your voice was softer now, broken.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You have me. I care about you. Not as a boss, or even as a friend. I-"
“Stop it,” she hisses. “Don’t you dare say another word.”
“Or what?” you return back, voice heated. “You’ll send me into space?”
“I will have you removed from this ship and you will never see me or Dr. Grace again.”
“Oh, fuck you,” you seethe. You start for the door, but turn back around. “No, fuck this. I know you care about me, too. I see it in the way you look at me, Eva. I feel it in the way you touch me. You never touch Ryland like that. Ever.”
“None of that matters. My feelings for you,” she said, accentuating the word, “do not matter."
And that was that. For a week, she avoided you. You weren't sure if it was more for her sake or yours. Which one of you wanted her to break more.
When the lab exploded, her first call was to you. Ryland was beside of her when it happened, so you were the variable she cared about most. And she hated herself for it. For being relieved that you were okay when both scientists had died in the explosion. For being glad it wasn't you.
She couldn’t think. Her brain was putty, thinking only of you. It couldn’t accept that you were okay, that you hadn’t been harmed in the blast. She skirted around questioning as she ran to your shared room. She needed to see you.
You almost didn’t believe it when she walked in. You didn’t expect to see her for hours, if at all. “What are you doing?” you ask, crossing the room to her.
“I just- I thought you were in there,” she gasps, pulling you to her chest. “You were supposed to be in there.”
“I wasn’t,” you shook your head. “I finished up earlier and was going to take a nap.”
“Just,” she started, voice still a gasp. She was shaking. “Fuck.” Her voice cracked on the word, like it physically hurt her to say it.
“I’m okay. I swear, I’m okay, Eva.” Your hands rub up and down her arms, trying your best to comfort her. Every bit of stoicism had dripped off of her, leaving her shaking and broken before you.
“This is wrong,” she cries out. “I’m sending them to die. I don’t get to have this.”
“It’s their choice, Eva. They knew what would be asked of them when they signed up.”
She knows this. She’d never felt bad about it before. But that was when she was giving everything. But now, you stood before her offering to give her something that was just hers. Something that might jeopardize her willpower.
“Just please,” you beg. “Let yourself have this.”
“What are you doing to me?” she whispers, cradling your head within her hands.
“I love you, Eva. Please.”
She finally breaks, backing you into the door as her lips crashed on yours. Her hands are on your face, holding you right where she wants you. She devours you, marking your mouth and collarbones and neck with her lips and teeth and tongue. Every moan that leaves your lips is noted and inventoried. She goes back to your most sensitive swaths of skin repeatedly, intensifying her touch.
You’re the one who leads her to your bed, pushing her back to straddle her hips. This position gives her even more purchase over you. Her fingers trail your ribs, your hips, your thighs. Yours stay in her hair.
“Fuck, Eva. I need more of you,” you beg.
“I know, pet. Let me take care of you.”
She sits back against the headboard, pulling you between her thighs. She’s still fully dressed while you’re wearing shockingly little - only one of Ryland’s old t-shirts he’d passed down to you and a pair of skimpy underwear. She took advantage of this immediately, using one hand to hold you against her by your sternum and the other to rub your thigh.
You whimper at her touch. It had been so long since someone had touched you, years at this point. “It’s okay. I have you.”
“I know. I trust you.” You lean back further into her touch, which allows her to kiss your neck, teeth sinking delicately into your shoulder. She kisses the spot when she releases it. “Going to touch you now,” she purrs.
Her fingers drift to the edge of your underwear, sinking underneath them in one single shift. You shudder at the feeling. “Easy,” she whispers into your ear.
At first, she circles your slit. Whether to tease you or warm you up, you can’t be sure. Her fingers feel simultaneously overwhelmingly good and not nearly enough. You’re about to start squirming when she sinks past your folds, rubbing two fingers over your swollen clit.
“Fuck,” you groan, bucking your hips against her hand.
“Good girl,” she breathes into your neck. Her movements are steady, an even pace for you to relax into. “Doing so good for me.”
Her pace is slow at first, building tension in your core as she finds what makes you tick. Your body is already electrified, warm and sated from her touch. She doesn't warn you before her fingers enter you. She knows you're ready. She can feel how much you need it. You groan, arching your back to allow her deeper. She alternates between your clit and entrance, pulling you right to the edge.
“I can feel you getting close.” Her movements don’t stop, but she uses her free hand to pull you closer to her. “Here, baby,” she purrs, slipping her thumb into your mouth, other fingers digging into your jaw. Her other arm is able to hold you perfectly in place. It’s hard to form words now. It’s hard to think with her fingers in you. The only thing you can focus on is her. You’re full of her. She coats every inch of your skin.
"Let go, baby. I've got you." Warmth spreads over you as every nerve is set off. "That's it, good girl." Your orgasm is slow and strung out, Eva fucking you through it. She doesn't stop until you're a boneless lump on top of her.
Your eyes glaze over as she sinks her glistening fingers into her mouth, swirling her tongue over your arousal. She moans in satisfaction, fully aware of what her actions were doing to you.
You're pawing at her shirt, desperate to undress her. She only shakes her head. "Not now, pet. I just wanted you." You try not to look disappointed, but she catches it, anyway. “I have to go,” she whispers. “There’s a lot to figure out now.”
You nod, turning away from her. Tears are welling in your eyes and you refuse to let her see. You refuse to be another problem she needs to solve. They fall as soon as the door shuts behind her. Ugly, broken sounds fall from your lips, refusing to quiet.
A knock at your door finally brings you back to earth. You know it’s not Eva, so you don’t spend long putting yourself together before throwing open the door.
Ryland stands on the other side, red eyes matching yours. “Come here,” he says, pulling you into a hug. You let out another sob into his chest, body apparently not yet purged of tears. “It’s awful. I’m really glad you’re okay.”
You sniffle. “You’re the second person to say that to me today.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “I’ve never seen her so freaked out. I didn’t think she was capable of feeling fear.”
You finally pull your body away from him, wiping your tears. He glances at your unmade bed. “She come here?” he asks softly.
“Maybe.” He lifts an eyebrow. “Yes.”
“Might I ask-“
“She kissed me.” He nodded, almost in disbelief. “And slept with me.”
He could sense the hesitation on your voice, the fear that he’d be upset with you. Even though he was shocked that Eva Stratt was capable of being with someone in that way, he pushed through. "Listen," Ryland says softly. “You didn't do anything wrong. We've been at this for over a year. It makes sense feelings developed."
"I know. It’s just becoming real," you sniffle. "And she's still talking about them arresting her when Mary goes up."
"That won't happen. We'll show them," he comforts you. "We'll show them everything she did. She's the reason we have a chance."
"You'll help?"
"Of course I will. I promise I will."
The panic that'd been held in your chest for weeks finally dampened, just a bit. "Thank you, Ryland."
"Yeah, of course," he smiled. “You guys are my best friends. I’d do anything for you.”
He didn’t leave until he was sure you were fine. As fine as you were going to get, anyways. Eva settled into your bed a little past four in the morning. “You should be asleep,” she murmurs against your hair, taking a deep inhale of it.
“I tried. What did you decide about the scientists?”
“We’re going to ask Dr. Grace.”
You smile softly. “And he’s going to say ‘no’. What’s Plan B?”
“I’d rather not speak of it right now.”
Your eyebrows knit together. “Why not?”
Her eyes softened. She chewed on her lip. “Because you will not like it.”
“Just tell me. Please.”
“Dr. Grace is our only plan. If he refuses to go by choice, then he will go by force. He will be drugged to enter a coma and forget these past few months.”
“You wouldn’t do that to him.” Your voice catches in your throat. “They have a choice, everyone has a choice. That’s the whole point.”
“The point was saving the planet,” she says evenly. “You know that.”
“You’re sacrificing him.”
“For the entire human race. Yes, I am.”
You sit up on your bed, facing her. “He’s your friend, Eva.”
“And I will never forgive myself. But it’s what must be done.”
“I, um,” you stand, limbs heavy. “I need to get some air.”
When your hand twists the doorknob it doesn’t budge. You rattle it for good measure, but it’s locked. “What did you do?” you ask under your breath.
“We couldn’t risk you telling him. We’d have to put him under without giving him a chance to decide on his own.”
“So you locked me in a cage?”
“Your cage.”
You laughed in disbelief. “Fuck you, Eva.” You bang on the metal door with closed fists, calling out for Ryland, for anyone.
“Soundproof.”
You yelled out in exasperation, sliding down the door with your head held in your hands.
She just looked down at you, hands nestled in her jacket pockets. “You know why I did this. Deep down you do.”
“I hate you,” you spit.
“Probably for the better,” her voice broke, retreating to her own bed.
You didn’t move until the time came for his decision. Your last chance to see Ryland Grace alive.
You wish she didn’t let you in. Didn’t make you look into the eyes of the man she had resigned to death. That you'd resigned to death a year ago when you recruited him. You wish you didn’t watch the moment he realized that’s what she’d done.
“I know this seems like me betraying you, but it is really me believing in you.”
“It seems an awful lot like you betraying me,” he states, voice shaking.
“Don’t make this harder, please,” she says, voice soft.
“Eva, please,” he begs. “You can’t do this.”
“You know I would do anything for this mission, Dr. Grace. Even if it hurts.”
“Would you? Would you send her?” Ryland asks, hitting a fist against her desk. You jump slightly, tears beginning to well in your eyes.
She didn’t glance at you; she barely even paused. “Yes.”
The answer was… expected. But that didn’t stop it from burning in your chest.
He laughs. “That makes sense actually. No wonder you’re so cruel. You’re a psychopath.”
“Not true,” she retorts easily. “I’ve been checked.”
“Do it, then,” he says, calling her non-existent bluff. “Send her, too.” His betrayal stacked on to yours as you both stared at each other.
“She doesn’t have the coma-resistant gene. She would die.”
“I’m going to die!” he yells, slamming his hands against his chest. “You are sending me up there to die!”
“For a purpose. And if her purpose was to die up there, then I’d send her, too. My feelings hold no match to the end of the human race.”
“Go fuck yourself,” he seethes, crossing the room to her. You step in front of her, blocking him. His expression was torn as he looking at you with both pity and rage. “How are you protecting her? After what she said? After what she’s willing to do?”
“Because I knew she’d say it. When it comes down to me or the world she’s always going to choose the world. Every time.”
Her hand slips under the back of your sweater, cold against the heat of your skin.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Grace, but this really is the only way.” She motions for the men to come in and they immediately corner him. He grew panicky, like a wild animal trying to evade capture. “Just sit down and we do it differently,” she begs, her voice breaking.
He didn’t, of course. He tried to throw a chair at her and was immediately tackled to the ground. You couldn’t look as he pleaded with her, begged for his life. You never would’ve sent him. That’s why you respected Eva. Why you loved her.
Why you hated her.
Ryland was unconscious when she finally pulled you from the room, leading you through the vast corridors of the base.
You knew almost immediately that she was leading you back to your shared bedroom. Your cage. “Pack your things,” she instructed as soon as the door shut behind you.
“Are you serious?” you scof at her.
“You serve no further purpose to the task force at this time. You are hereby released from your duties.”
You moved frantically, angrily, around your room, doing as she’d asked. Still following her orders.
“If you think anyone else could’ve saved us then you are a fool. You selected him. You knew what he was capable of.”
“I do. I also know that we just sent a good man to the stars to die.”
“And that is far better than him dying from starvation here. Or from the war that will eventually start over resources. Or from a new disease civilization will be too weak to fight off. Believe it or not, his death will likely be a mercy compared to ours.”
“I wanted to fight those things! Together! You assembled the greatest gathering of minds this planet has ever seen and you’re disposing of them! The scientists are shipped to space to die or back home to die! The leaders are imprisoned! I’m thrown away!”
She shook her head. “You’re not being thrown away. You’re being given a second chance. Some other operation will be thrown together in a decade and they’ll need someone like you. You need to be there.”
“You don’t get to boss me around from prison, Eva.”
“I am your boss no matter where I am, pet. I am everyone’s boss.”
All the anger, the rage, the fury, melts out of you, leaving you hurt and scared. She wraps you up in her arms first, catching the exact moment you crack. Sobs rip through your lungs and out of your body. She shushes them, raking her fingers through your hair. “I wanted to fight it together. The three of us.”
“I know.”
“I need you.”
“I know.”
Your firsts slam into her shoulders, but she holds them there, pressing a kiss into your folded fingers. “Why did you wait so long? Why would you give me this just to leave me all alone?”
“I never meant for this to happen. I knew how much you wanted me, how much it would hurt you to lose me. And then the lab exploded and I realized how much I needed you, too.”
“It hurts so fucking bad,” you cry out, sinking deeper into her. You’ve experienced grief before. It didn’t compare to this. The pain was burnt and jagged and rotted and ached in your chest. You felt the need to claw it out, to rid yourself of it.
She held you as you cried and allowed you to muffle your screams into her chest. She was solid underneath you, never flinching or backing away.
“You need to go now,” she whispered when you’d finally quieted.
“I’m not.”
“Everyone non-essential is being evacuated tonight. All records of them are being purged.”
“I don’t care. I’m not going.”
“I will have you removed if you do not go.”
This time, you were able to call her bluff. “No you won’t. I’m not risking the mission here. It would be selfish to divert resources to me now.”
She tucks a loose strand of hair behind your head. “Then maybe I will be selfish. Just this once.”
Your lip quivers, but you stand strong. “I am the Head of Acquisitions for the Hail Mary and Dr. Ryland Grace’s best friend. I deserve to be there when it launches.”
“You are a pest.”
“I am also yours. And I refuse to say goodbye a moment before I’m forced to.”
She smiles. “Like I said, a pest.”
What Happens in Vegas - Dr. Michael (Robby) Robinavitch x Reader
Prompt: Dr. Robby and head case manager! reader are heading to a patient advocacy presentation across the country. After a long and stressful plane ride, they are surprised with a single hotel room.
(Warnings: smut, minors dni)
(A/N: I am not a doctor nor do I work in a hospital. Forgive me for any errors. Love you all)
(A/N 2: set between season 1 and season 2. Reader has an established friendship with Dr. McKay)
If there was someone who loved a schedule more than you did, you had yet to meet them. In the month since you found out the hospital president had signed you and the head ER doctor up for a four day long conference across the country, you’d done more research and planning than the average person did in their life.
Gloria had stressed to you multiple times how important this conference was and expected a full report on how to increase patient satisfaction, especially in the ER. That’s how Dr. Robby got roped in to join you. It was him or Dr. Abbott, and you were informed that Robby finally drew the short stick and would be joining you in Las Vegas.
You didn’t mind. Actually, you preferred it. The only other time you’d been on a plane was a few years back for a wedding with your parents. The entire process freaked you out. Especially the thought of being left behind.
So you were sitting in the airport terminal exactly three hours before your plane took off. You were there approximately when the doors opened and made it through security in about 12 minutes, give or take.
After verifying that your gate existed, getting a cup of coffee, and charging your phone to 100%, you only had 2 hours left before boarding. It was so early and your body still so tired that you easily fell asleep on the hard airport chair. It was a surprise when Dr. Robby woke you up an hour and forty-five minutes later.
“This seat taken?” he asked, donning a pair of sunglasses and hospital hoodie. He smiled slightly as you registered where you were through your haze of sleep. “Mm-hmm,” you murmured.
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” he laughed gently, dropping into the open seat beside of you. He was effortlessly relaxed, not a hint of anxiety showing in his frame. The opposite of how you felt.
“How long until boarding?”
He looked at his watch, “‘Bout 15 minutes.”
You groaned as you stretched your already-achey limbs. “Can you watch my stuff while I go to the bathroom?”
“I think I can manage it.”
You thanked him before hurrying to the closest bathroom. It was still relatively empty so early in the morning, which was nice. You were back to the waiting area in ample time.
When boarding started, a fresh wave of anxiety washed over you. You physically shook out your hands, hoping it would dissolve some of your nerves. If Robby noticed, he didn’t say anything. You appreciated that.
The only flight without a connection had been southwest, so you had no idea if you’d be anywhere near Robby on the actual flight. He might not even want to be near you, you realized as you made your way to your spot in line. Sure, you’d gone through all the patient advocacy trainings back home, but that didn’t make you friends. You were barely colleagues.
It only took a few minutes for your group to be called. You’d checked in the minute you were able to, punctual as always. It was easy to find an open seat near the back, so you easily grabbed up a window seat. If things went your way, you’d end up with the middle seat open and get to stretch out a bit. If things really went your way, Robbie would be in the aisle seat.
Of course, neither of those things happened. Just as Robby entered your vision, waiting behind the line of other passengers, a large older man sat right beside you, forgoing the aisle seat entirely.
“You looked sad all by yourself,” he said, immediately stretching his arms over both armrests. “I can be your flight buddy.”
“Oh, I’m actually with someone,” you said as nicely as you could muster. You tried shooting Dr. Robby a ‘help me’ look, but you had no clue where his eyes were under his sunglasses.
He laughed. “They’ll have to get through me, I guess. What’s your name, by the way? I’m Aaron.”
You hesitate, but give him your name anyway. He smiled, though it made you uneasy. “Pretty name for a pretty girl.”
“Excuse me,” Dr. Robby finally interrupts, towering over both of you. You exhale quietly, relief burning through you. “Can you move over? I’m with her.”
The man smiles, though it doesn't meet his eyes. “First come, first serve, bud. Sorry.”
“You’re really gonna be a weirdo about this?” Robby asks, finally removing his sunglasses and hanging them on his shirt. “I’ll make this easy, she doesn’t want you, man.”
“You her dad or something?”
Robby laughs curtly. “Says the 60-year old motherfucker hitting on a woman who can’t get away from him. Move the fuck over or I’ll tell security you’re harassing her.”
The man finally relented, moving into the aisle so Robby could slide in beside you. He looked around, but all the seats around you had already filled. “Looks like you’re by me, pal.”
The man’s nostrils flared in anger, but he sat down beside Robby.
It was a tight fit. Robby wasn’t a small man himself, nor were you the smallest woman. If you weren’t actively watching, your legs would relax against his. You’d quickly pull away, of course, not trying to make Robby any more uncomfortable than he already was.
As soon as you were at altitude you pulled out your iPad and queued up the show you’d dowloaded for the flight.
“What’re you watching?” Robby asked, nodding at the screen.
“Hell’s Kitchen. Seemed topical.” His eyebrows notched together. “Because it’s in Vegas?” Still confused. “Just watch,” you said, handing him an earbud.
He was locked in by episode three. Gordon had just got done yelling at an overconfident cook who’d messed up the entire dinner service. “Damn, I wish I could do that some days.”
“You would never. You like them all too much.”
“You don’t think I’m capable of going full Ramsey on them?”
You shook your head. “I’d see Dr. Abbott having a Gordon Ramsey moment before you did. He runs that ER like the Navy.”
“Jack was in the Army.”
“It’s a saying, like-" you look over at him. “Never mind.”
Somewhere during the show your eyes begin getting heavy again, sleep eventually pulling you under. When you wake, you’re leaning against something strong and soft and deeply comforting. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Robby says, eyes crinkled in a joking smile.
You immediately pull yourself off him. “How long did you let me stay like that?” you ask in horror.
“As long as I could. We should be landing soon.”
You checked the time on your phone and furrowed your eyebrows. You should’ve already landed. You opened your window and saw nothing but desert.
“What’s wrong?”
“We should’ve landed by now. We actually should’ve landed a little while ago based on the timeline they gave to us when we first got in the air.”
“Maybe we took a wrong turn.”
“I don’t think it works like that.” You pulled out your phone, pulling up the flight map. “We’re in California.”
“What are you talking about?”
You pushed your phone into his hand. “We’re in California.”
Robby’s hand immediately flew up to the call button. “Why are we in California?” he asked the flight attendant.
“We’re about to give an overhead call, sir. Things are under control.”
She walked away before Robby could say anything else. “That doesn’t help at all,” he sighed.
Her voice filled the overhead speaker moments later. The reason you were in California, to the entire cabin’s dismay, was that a storm had caused a diversion. To fucking California.
Awesome.
Your nerves showed themselves in your legs, which began shaking as soon as you learned you would be in the air for another hour. “Relax, we’re fine,” Robby exhaled. “We’ll still be there in plenty of time.”
“Maybe. The reception starts at 7 but cocktail hour starts at 6. I really wanted to network a bit before it started.”
“There’s a sentence I’ll never say. I was planning to roll in at 7:05 and find a seat in the back.”
“I’m sure the tables are labeled,” you shook your head. “And you don’t have to worry about networking. You’re a doctor. I’m just an office worker who’s patient scores don’t reflect very kindly on her hospital initiatives.”
“You don’t even treat patients. Why would it fall on you?”
“It just does.”
“Okay. We will get there with plenty of time for you to ‘network’.”
“That’s all I ask,” you sigh.
The plane finally lands, bumpily you might add. You were airborne multiple times and your eyes didn’t open until the vehicle came to a complete stop. Before you even caught your breath, a flight attendant spoke over the intercom. “Okay everyone, thank you for your patience. The pilot wants everyone to know that we will not be debarking at this time. Just hang tight.”
“Oh give me a break,” Robbie groaned. You could feel him tense next to you as his thigh nudged into yours. Your five hour flight time had already turned into six from the diversion and even without Robbie’s tension, you felt like you were going to explode. You were fidgety, far overdue for a deep stretch. Every few minutes you would adjust your position, trying and failing to get comfortable.
“Just stand for a second,” Robby said softly.
“I don’t have room.”
“Just kneel backwards on the seat and stretch out for a minute.”
You did as he said, reveling at the relief your hips felt. Robby everted his gaze, staring straight ahead. The man beside him was not as respectful, choosing to stare straight at your ass. Your cheeks burned as you returned to your seat, slinking down slightly so Robby’s frame blocked you entirely.
Robby caught it immediately, turning to face the man. “You bein’ weird?” he asked sternly.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Robby shook his head in disbelief. “Un-fucking-believable. You are lucky we’re on a plane right now and not in a bar.”
“Why’s that, old man?”
“I don’t want to end up on the no-fly list.”
“What’s the supposed-"
“Is there a problem here?” a flight attendant interrupts, looking between the two men.
“This guy keeps harassing me,” the man says.
Robby scoffs. “He has been harassing my coworker since we boarded. I have asked him to keep to himself multiple times now.”
The woman sighs. “Just keep to yourselves, both of you. I really don’t want to get the police involved.”
“Absolutely,” Robby said, leaning back in his seat.
After hours of sitting on the tarmac and another hour of flight, you landed in Las Vegas at 5:37. By 6:03 you were running into the conference center and veering for the first bathroom you saw. It was a small single-stall room that you pushed Robby into first while you touched up your hair and makeup right outside. He emerged far quicker than you expected, switching places immediately. You barely had a moment to look him over, stomach flipping at just how good he looked in his suit.
You had packed your reception dress at the top of your suitcase, just for a case like this. It was two separate pieces, one a plain black silk dress, the other a cape that covered your chest and fell to the floor behind you.
“Fuck,” you growl, fighting the zipper of the dress up your skin with shaky hands. “Robby,” you call through a small crack in the door.
“Yeah?” he called back.
“I need help. I can’t get the zipper up.”
“Okay, just, I’m coming in. I’ll close my eyes.”
He reaches out a hand to guide him, which you pull in quickly behind you. You keep your back to him, guiding his hand to the bottom of the zipper. His knuckles ghost your bare skin, sending a shiver up your spine. “Sorry,” he whispers, breath choppy. He made easy work of the zipper, pulling your hair back once it was all the way up. “There you go.”
You turned to face him, finding his eyes now open. You smile. “Thank you, Robby.”
He smiles back at you. “Any time.”
You pull the cape over your shoulders, admiring the way it drapes over the curves of your skin. “I’m ready.” You turn to Robby, but he was already looking at you. “Do I look okay?”
“You look beautiful.” You smile. “Here, let me take your bags.”
You happily hand them over and he quickly ran them to the front desk. He was by your side immediately after, extending an elbow for you to hold onto.
As excited as you’d been for the social hour, you very much couldn’t wait for it to end. Your nerves were fried from the flight and Robby’s overwhelming presence beside you was making it hard to breathe.
You’d had a crush on the doctor from the moment you started at the hospital. It had grown over time, slowly growing overbearing. It took one drunken night for you to spill to Cassie, who laughed at you for approximately ten minutes before she gathered herself enough to speak again.
You were thankful to sit when the reception actually started. Not being wrapped around Robby’s arm gave you a moment to catch your breath. Not fully, but a bit.
Robby sighed under his breath when the speeches started. It was the same spiel. Treat every patient like they’re your only patient but also make sure you process 2-3 an hour. Go out of your way to make them feel special but do it quick. You’d been down to the ER more times than you could count to talk to patients. Each time you were overwhelmed by how busy it was, how often the doctors were pulled from person to person.
A few hospitals were recognized for their quality of care. Robby sighed slightly louder before leaning into you. “It’s bullshit. If we hired the staff we needed, we’d be up there, too.”
You shrug your shoulders. “I know. It’s the first thing I suggest in every meeting. And it’s always shot down immediately.”
“Of course it is,” he huffs, falling back into his own seat.
By the time the speeches were over, you were dead tired, barely keeping your eyes open as you followed Robby to reception. “Checking in for Robinavitch.”
She found his reservation without problem and with a few questions, handed over his keys. When you gave your name, her eyebrows knit together in confusion. “That name is actually under the same reservation.”
“We’re from the same hospital. They were probably booked at the same time.”
She shook her head. “No, they were booked for the same room.”
You turned to Robby for help, thankful he was still waiting on you. “Both our names are on the same room?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, double-checking her screen and reading both names aloud.
He groaned. “Okay, thank you.” After retrieving both of your suitcases, he led you to the elevator, pressing the button for the 5th floor, where you apparently both would be staying.
Neither of you spoke until you entered the room, hoping you’d find a suite on the other side of the door. Or at least two beds.
Of course, you had no such luck.
“There’s no way she booked one fucking room,” Robby groans, pinching the bridge of his nose as a deep sigh escaped his body.
“She must’ve thought it was a suite or something,” you argue, trying to deescalate the already on-the-verge man.
“Or she wanted to save a few bucks.”
“No way. That would be HR-involvement level crazy.”
“It seems we’re there,” he motions around. “The hotel is booked solid and we’re in a single-bed room.”
“I’ll just go to another hotel,” you sigh. “I can put it on my credit card and hopefully the hospital will reimburse me.”
“That’s not happening. McKay practically made me swear a blood oath that I wouldn’t let you out of my sight.”
“I’m a grown woman, Robby. I don’t need you to baby me.”
He shook his head. “Not babying you. Cities like this are hubs for trafficking. You know that.”
You sighed deeply. “What are we going to do then?”
“We can request another blanket and I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“That’s insane. You’ll kill your back, old man. ”
He rolled his eyes. “You have a better idea?”
“We request more pillows and split the bed down the middle.”
“And we’re back to HR territory.”
“Well, I don’t see another option. You won’t let me go to another hotel and I won’t let you sleep on the floor.”
He groans. “Fuck it. Fine. I’ll call the front desk.”
You shower first, eager to wash the day off of your skin. You’d, thankfully, had the foresight to bring in a change of clothes with you. Unfortunately, you had not packed for sharing a room with your coworker and had to dress in short shorts and an oversized t-shirt.
“I’m out,” you said, leaving the door open for Robby to take your place. He nodded, going into the bathroom himself.
He was in there for a long time. Almost concerningly long. So long, in fact, that you’d fallen asleep before the gentle click of the door woke you again. Robby emerged in flannel pajama pants and a faded hospital shirt, face adorned with his readers. He was cute like this, you thought.
Then shoved the thought as far out of your mind as humanly possible.
Robby trekked to his side of the bed, hovering for a moment. You just stared at him from your place under the covers, eyes still half-lidded.
“Are you okay with this?” he asks, still standing at the edge of the bed.
You nod. “I’m tired. I’m just ready for this day to be over.”
“You and me, both.” He sinks into bed beside you and your body is immediately drawn to his. You stop at the pillows, thankful for the boundary between your bodies.
The second and third days of the conference go off without a hitch. You and Robby are separated for most of it, attending different specialized trainings. Lunch breaks were the only real time you got together, other than your evenings. The first night held the reception, but all the other nights you were free to explore the city. Night two found you both too tired to do anything, curling up into your shared bed the moment your contractual obligations were over.
The third night was when things derailed.
“Let’s go out,” you suggest at the end of another long day of trainings. “We’re in Vegas. We deserve it.”
He smirks. “What do you have in mind?”
“Let’s go to a bar and get shitfaced on the hospital’s dime.”
“I knew I liked you for a reason.”
You shrug. “I’m blessed with genius.”
You hit your limit fast. It had been a while since you drank and the bartenders were heavy handed here. The liquor bolstered your confidence, leading you straight to the dance floor.
Even though he refused to join you, your eyes kept drifting back to Robby. Every time you looked at him, his eyes were already fixed on you.
“By yourself, pretty girl?” a deep voice asked from your left. You turned to it and shook your head. The man was looking over you hungrily. “My Robby’s with me.”
The man looked around. “I don’t see him.”
“Then you aren’t looking hard enough,” Robby’s voice intercedes, his body hovering moments from yours. His heat leaks into you, begging you to fall into him.
“Easy man, she’s all yours.” The man backed away quickly.
“Yeah, Robby, ‘m all yours,” you slur, finally leaning into him. He didn’t falter as you did, easily supporting your weight.
“Alright, sweetheart. Let’s get you home.” He wraps an arm around your waist and uses the other to hold your arm around his neck.
“Like bein’ this close to you. So warm.”
“I know, baby.”
“Want to be this close to you all the time.”
Robby groans, fingers tightening on your waist. “That’s the liquor talking.”
You shake your head. “I want you sober, too, Dr. Robby.”
“Fuck,” he groans out. “You’re killing me.”
He steadies you again, using his free hand to book an Uber. Your head falls into his side, inhaling his deep scent. You almost moan. Or maybe you did from how Robbie tensed.
You gasp suddenly. “Wanna call Cassie!”
“I don’t know if that’s-" he starts, but you’d already started a video call, which she picked up on one ring.
“Holy shit, you look blasted,” McKay says, face pulling into a huge smile.
You giggle. “Wish you were here. Robby won’t dance with me,” you pout.
“Dr. Robby’s with you?” She asks.
You point the phone to him. “Say hi!”
“Hi, Dr. McKay.”
“Taking my threats seriously, I see.”
“I told you I wouldn’t leave her alone.”
“Not even when I sleep!” you interrupt, turning the phone back to you. “Made us share a room.”
“What the-“
“It is not like that!” Robby interjected. “Gloria booked us one room.”
“Right.”
“With one bed,” you slur.
“Right.”
“Okay we better go now, see ya, Cassie,” Robby says, quickly hanging up the call.
“Wasn’t done talking,” you pout.
“You needed to be.”
The driver pulls up shortly after. Robby opens the door on the curb for you, helping you sit. When you make no move to fasten the seatbelt, he sighs and reaches over to do it for you. “So sweet to me,” you murmur, closing your eyes until he jumps into the other side beside of you.
The driver looks between the two of you suspiciously. “Hey sweetheart, you know him, right?”
You nod, leaning closer against Robby. He spoke. “We’re on a work trip together. People kept buying her drinks and she got drunk a little too fast. I can show you a group picture or something if you want.”
“No, man, I’m good. I believe you.”
“Robby,” you whine.
He exhales deeply. “What, sweetheart?”
“My feet hurt.”
“I’m sure they do. I distinctly recall telling you those shoes were a bad choice a few hours ago.”
Tears well in your eyes. “I know.”
“Fuck, you are a sloppy drunk.”
He struggles with the straps for a moment but manages to take your heels off. He then slips your feet into his oversized sneakers, lacing them as tight as they’d go. “So high maintenance,” he mutters.
“So handsome,” you murmur back, reaching a hand out to touch his face. He removes it quickly, setting it back into your lap.
He helps you out of the car when you arrive back at the hotel, careful to go slow so you don’t trip over his shoes. He walks beside you in bare socks, still holding your heels in his free hand.
You were barely in the hotel when Robby’s phone rang. “What, McKay?” he snapped into the receiver.
You couldn’t hear her response. “Yes, we’re back in the hotel.”
Silence.
“Barely. Every person we’ve passed looked at me like I was kidnapping her.”
More silence.
“Gloria booked us one singular hotel room. At the booked up convention hotel.”
A longer silence.
“Just leave it. I’ll see you Monday.”
He finally ended the call and led you into your room. He tried to deposit you into the bed, but you refused. “Need to shower.”
“No fucking way.”
“‘m disgusting, Robby.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. Again. “I’m so fucking fired when we get home.”
You simply whined, immediately caving the man. “Wish Abbott was here with you. He’d know what to do with you.”
“Don’t want Abbott,” you murmured. “Want you.”
“And that’s exactly the problem. You’d never do this shit with him and he’d never entertain it.”
Jack Abbott would never strip you down to your underwear and help you into the shower. He’d never work the shampoo into your hair or use enough conditioner to detangle it. He would never lather soap onto your skin, or moisturizer onto your face.
It was a good thing Dr. Robby pulled the short stick.
He didn’t want to dig through your things, so he settled on giving you one of his t-shirts and pairs of boxers. It wasn’t any better than the short shit you already wore around him. No less tempting.
You were, thankfully, able to strip the rest of your clothing off on your own before pulling his on. He brushed through your hair as you did, settling on a simple 3-strand braid to keep it out of your face.
Then, and only then, did he deposit you on the bed. Then did he allow himself to strip off his wet clothing and cleanse himself. From the booze and the soap and the thoughts of you.
They were the dirtiest.
They were the reason Robby was as gentle as he was, as far from clinical as he was.
He didn’t allow himself to indulge in the warmth of the shower, or the slip of his hand around himself. He didn’t like having his eyes off you. Not when you were in the state you were in.
He dressed quickly, pulling on his shirt as he opened the bathroom door, grateful to find you tucked in right where he left you.
Wide awake and staring at him.
“You’ve got to be tired.”
You shook your head, pushing yourself up. “‘m really not.”
He dropped into bed beside you, crossing his hands over his head. “Try to be.”
You did not. Instead, you crawled to him, sitting back on your knees an inch away from him. This finally caused him to laugh. Deeply. When he finally caught his breath, he whispered, “What am I going to do with you?”
“Touch me,” you begged.
“I’m not going to do that.”
You rose on your knees, wrapping your hands around his neck. “Need you, Robby. Please.”
“Stop it, baby,” he pleads, pushing himself off the bed. You pout up at him, tears blurring the edge of your vision. “You’re drunk, pretty girl. I’m not going to touch you like this.”
Tears finally spilled over and he let out a deep sigh. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.” He finally removed the middle pillows, helping you lay down in the middle of the bed. He crawled in after you, wrapping himself tightly around you. “Now go to sleep,” he ordered, his deep voice reverberating through you.
That time, you obeyed.
You woke six hours later with the worst hangover and regrets you’d ever had. The split second the memories came to you, you flew from the bed and locked yourself in the bathroom. You wanted to die. You would rather die than face Robby again after that.
It was enough that you’d had a crush on him from the moment you met him. It was exactly far too much to throw yourself at him in a drunken haze and force him to hold you as you slept.
He called your name almost immediately, knocking on the door quickly. “You okay?” he asked, panic clearly evident in his voice.
You didn’t answer.
His fists banged against the door. “If you don’t respond I will break this door down.”
“I’m fine. Leave me alone,” you choked out through quiet sobs. You were so fucking fired.
The only thing that quieted your cries was the inevitable rush of vomit that finally made its way out of you. You sat between the toilet and shower door, exhausted and absolutely horrified by yourself.
“You don’t sound okay. Please let me see you.” A fresh set of sobs ripped through you, then another wave of sickness. “I’m not kidding. Open the fucking door.”
You mustered enough strength to crawl to the door, throwing it open. Robby knelt before you immediately, looking over your eyes and neck as he measured your pulse.
“Your pulse is elevated.”
You let out a single laugh. “I wonder why.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Just let me make sure you’re okay and then I’ll get out of here, okay?”
You shook your head. “What are you apologizing for?”
“The way I treated you last night. It was inappropriate.”
“You only did it because I made you, Robby. Because I begged and cried.”
“You didn’t make me do anything. You were drunk and I went too far with you because I wanted to.”
You push back slightly. “You wanted to?”
“Don’t make me say it again.”
“Robby, I may have been drunk but I remember last night. I practically professed my undying love and begged you to fuck me. I am so fucking embarrassed.”
“You were drunk. I was in my right mind and entertained you. I never should have let that happen.”
“Then why did you?” you scowled, embarrassment flushing your cheeks.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “There’re a million things I should’ve done different. As a physician. As a coworker. As a friend.” He paused for a moment, let out an exhale. “But I wasn’t looking at you like that. I was looking at you as a woman I wanted to be with. A woman who was admitting her feelings for me, even if they might not be real.”
The world shifted. It distorted and warped like it did last night as alcohol flowed through your veins.
You stared at him.
He stared back.
“Oh,” you whispered.
“Oh,” he said back.
“I-"
“Uh uh,” he interrupted. “Not right now. Let me get something for your stomach.”
He returned a moment later with an Alka-Seltzer, ordering you to sip it slowly. You did as he said, taking two ibuprofen after your stomach had settled a bit.
“We need to get ready for our meetings,” you finally spoke after finishing the glass.
He shook his head. “Not today. You’re sick.” You started to complain, but he just raised a hand, cutting you off. “They don’t go over anything important the last day, anyway. We will be fine.”
“Fine. Okay,” you concede, accepting his help up. You stay in the bathroom for another minute, brushing your teeth as Robby stood behind you, arms crossed. “I’m not going to run away, you know.”
“Can never be too sure.”
You roll your eyes, finally joining him back in your room. You lay back in the bed, body sighing in relief. “Need anything?”
“Stay with me?” you ask, testing the waters of his earlier confession.
He hesitates, but nods, slipping into the bed beside of you. “How are you feeling?”
“Better now.”
“Good. Rest.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You need to.”
“That’s not what I need, Robby.”
“Sleep. And then we’ll talk.” You start to open your mouth but he shushes you. “Sleep. And then we’ll talk.”
Your body listens, quickly pulling you back under, eager to recoup after your bender. Robby’s watching you when you wake, eyes crinkled slightly. “You feel okay?”
You nod. “Wanna talk now.”
“Are you sure?” he whispers, fingers brushing a strand of hair out of your face.
“I’m sure.”
“I shouldn’t have-" he says
“I meant what I said last night," you say.
You both stare at each other a moment. “I meant it.”
His jaw tenses. “Which part?”
“All of it. Being attracted to you. Wanting you drunk. Wanting you sober.”
“Why?” He was actually confused. “Why would you possibly want that? You’re young and successful and beautiful. No part of you should want me.”
“I don’t care that you’re older than me, Robby. I want you. And I have for a long time.”
He doesn’t speak for a moment. “Don’t make me beg,” you plead.
“I wouldn’t baby. I’d never,” he comforts you, grabbing your face in both hands. “If you want me, you can have me.”
You climb on top of him, straddling his hips. His hands slide down your body, settling at your hips. Slowly, you begin to move.
“Fuck, baby, I didn’t mean right now,” he groans. “I don’t have a condom.”
“I’m on birth control.”
“That’s not the only thing you should be worried about.”
“I would. But it’s you. I trust you, Robby.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“But I do.”
His eyes soften as he looks at you, looking for hesitation and finding none. “Take this off,” he orders, tugging easily at your (his) shirt. You obey his orders, slowly pulling the soft fabric off.
His hands trail up your body, touching every inch of skin within his reach. “You’re so beautiful.” A blush creeps up your chest. “So pretty for me like this.”
You lean down, lips meeting his as he digs his nails into the skin of your hips, marking you as his. He groans into the kiss, hips bucking beneath yours as he chases release. You’re overwhelmed by him - he’s somehow everywhere except where you need him most.
"Fuck, Robby. I need you," you moan.
"You have me, baby. You can set the pace," he whispers back. With soft hands, he helps you remove the boxers sitting on your hips, then removes his own.
He enters you slowly, holding up your hips to allow you time to adjust to his size. You mewl and twitch at the mixture of please and pain coursing through your body, already close to the edge from his words alone.
It's not until he's fully seated in you that he begins to move your hips again. It's immediately overwhelming in the best way, drawing out a new set of moans from both of you.
“That’s it, pretty girl. Keep moving for me.”
Your hips roll back and forth over his, grinding against him as his length kisses your cervix. Everything about him is a stretch and you’ve never felt so full. Not from toys, or your fingers, or other men. It feels like you were made for this, for him. His fingertips kiss bruises into your hips, helping you move against him. “Doing such a good job, sweetheart.”
At some point your movements turn frantic, shifting from chasing his pleasure to chasing yours. “Good girl,” he preens. “Get yourself off.” His words are lava in your core, pushing you closer to an invisible edge.
You fall against his chest, grinding deeply against him. He holds you taut there, helping move you up and down his hips. “Let me help you, baby. Being so good for me.”
Your teeth dig into his skin as your orgasm crashes around you. The fluttering of your walls and the scratch of your incisors draw a deep moan from Robby. His words halt as both hands move to your hips, pushing and pulling your limb body over his length until you draw out his own orgasm.
"Fuck, he groans, fucking deep into you as he comes. "So fucking perfect, baby." He turns his face into your neck, copying you and grazing his teeth over your skin. He licks at the spot when he comes down, replacing every bit of pain with pleasure.
"Such a good fucking girl."
Annoyingly, the tears still come. “Fuck,” you groan, moving to stand.
“Uh uh,” Robby says, pulling you back beside him. He crowds you, locking you under him with both arms. “No more running away.”
“I’m just,” you sniffle. “I’m realizing that all of this is over tomorrow. We’re going to fly home, and you’ll go back to being the moody doctor who doesn’t know who I am.”
Robby smiles gently. “I can never go back to not knowing who you are. Nor do I want to.” With a gentle hand, he wipes the tears from your skin. “I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that this was a one-time thing. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“You’ll still be mine back home?”
“I’m yours anywhere, sweetheart.”
For your last night in Las Vegas, you eat at Hell’s Kitchen. When you ask how he could have possibly gotten a reservation that night, he shakes his head.
He’d made it the moment you’d gotten off the plane.
Plot: Time moved differently within his mind. In the year that your brother Will and the rest of your family had been looking for you, you’d spent 15 within Henry’s mind. Growing to love him. And now they’re here to bring you home.
TW: MINORS DNI, smut, manipulation, Henry Creel, dubious consent
“Nancy?” you asked, voice barely above a whisper. It had been years since you’d seen her face, you’d almost forgotten her features.
“It’s me,” she smiled, crossing the threshold of your home to hug you tightly.
You returned her affection, breathing in her familiar scent. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“Me neither,” she laughed.
You finally pulled away from her, drying your already dampened eyes.
“Please sit,” you offered, gesturing to your dining room table. “I’ll make us tea.”
“I’m sorry,” Nancy said, dumbfounded, “I just didn’t expect it to be like this.”
“It’s been peaceful here from the start. Henry swears there are monsters in the forest, but I’ve never seen them myself.”
“You’ve never ventured past your front yard?” she asks.
“I’ve never had a reason to. Henry says it’s dangerous and I have no reason not to believe him.”
“Henry,” Nancy scoffs. “You’re talking about Vecna here. The same man who killed Eddy and tried to kill the rest of us. Tried to kill you.”
“I know. It took a while to trust him in here. But I was stuck and I had nothing but time. Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same. You don’t know until you’ve experienced it, Nancy.”
“I’m sorry,” she says quickly. “I’m just ready to get out of here. This whole place creeps me out.”
“You’re not just here for a visit, are you?” you ask, smile faltering.
“Of course not. I’m bringing you home.”
You didn’t respond for a moment, busying yourself around the kitchen. “It’s safe while we’re alone. I can’t promise how Henry will react when he gets back.”
“Then we should go now,” she urges.
“Sit,” you order again.
She complies, unhappily. “We need you back. To beat him, we need you back.”
“And what does Henry’s evil plan have to do with me? I’m nobody, Nancy.”
“Nobody is ‘nobody’ and you know that. Especially not you. You’re the sister of the boy who died and came back with telepathic powers. The one intrinsically connected to the place you’ve called home for a year and a half.”
“Then why not just take Will? Why bother playing house for all this time?”
“I don’t know,” Nancy admits. “Maybe his connection to Will blocks him from bringing him here directly. Whatever his reason is, it’s nefarious in nature.”
“He’s given us a good life.” After sitting out the cups of tea, you sit opposite of Nancy.
“Sorry, who’s ‘we’? Are there other women here?”
You roll your eyes. “I’m not in a harem, Nancy. I’m talking about my children.”
“You have children?” Nancy asks, choking on her cup of earl gray.
“Three now,” you smile. “Two girls and a boy. Henry insisted we have a son, but I know he would’ve been just as happy if our third was another daughter.”
“But you’ve only been gone for a year.”
You shook your head. “Time works differently in here. It’s been almost fifteen since I’ve seen you.”
“But that’s not real,” she exclaimed. “Your body is out there and it has aged one human year. This can all be over if you just come with me.”
“No,” you said, mind suddenly clear.
“No?”
“No.”
“What the fuck do you mean, ‘no’?” Nancy pressed.
“My life is in here. My children are in here, Nance.”
“They’re not real.”
You stand. “They’re real to me.”
Nancy sighs, deciding between fighting with you and booking it out here. “If I leave now, I can’t come back.”
“Then go. I won’t stop you, but I can’t come with you. If this world collapses, I will go with my children in my arms.”
Your youngest ran into your arms, burrowing his head into your neck. “You need to go now, Nancy. I won’t be able to stop Henry once he knows you’re here.”
“Once he has Will he’ll have no need for you. He will end this connection, and you will die in the hospital room back in Hawkins.”
“Then I die, Nancy. I told you I’ve made my choice. Now leave before I call Henry myself.”
It was already dark when Nancy finally left, leaving you to three needy children all ready for bedtime. Bedtimes were always harder on the days Henry was out late, but he made it up to both you and them whenever he returned. He would bring a new trinket for the children, somehow more perfect each time. For you, he would devote hours of himself to your pleasure, not quitting until he left you a shaking, well-spent mess.
Henry returned shortly after you got the kids down, being extra gentle as he closed the door behind him. “Hello, love,” he whispered, pulling you into his embrace.
“I’m glad you’re back,” you whispered back, clinging to him. You didn’t know how to tell him about Nancy. He would know soon enough, either way, but the weight of it brought you dread.
Henry sensed it immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” you said, far too quickly.
His eyes darkened. His voice was deep and reverberating, somehow even more so when he was angry like this. “Tell me the truth.”
It was no use lying to him. Nothing in these walls could evade him. So, you told him everything. He didn’t react as you blurted out everything Nancy had said to you, he just watched you, studied you.
“What have I told you about lying to me?” Henry asked calmly.
“I can’t let you kill my brother, Henry.”
“He’d let them kill you. Do you think they plan to leave me alive? To allow me to walk free with my mind intact? If they win, you and our children will die with me.” You didn’t speak. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
You couldn’t. “Search my memories then. She gave me nothing.”
He said nothing, moving into place a hand on either side of your head. His lips brushed your forehead as he penetrated your mind.
It hurt. That much never changed. He was gentler than in your first days there, but the feeling of someone clawing through your mind was never a pleasant one. You followed him throughout your own mind, watching as he played out every word exchanged between you and Nancy. Like you, he noted nothing of importance and quickly exited.
You gasped as you were brought back into the present, mind throbbing but notably empty. “Shh, you’re okay, darling.” Henry pulled you into his chest, rubbing circles into your back. “You did so good.”
You cried now, choking heaving sobs crawling out of you until you couldn’t breathe.
“The world doesn’t understand us. Doesn’t accept us. Nancy wishes nothing more than to pull you back into the conformity expected of her.”
With ease, Henry sits you atop the counters, finally allowing you to be eye level with him. He holds your chin in place, forcing your eyes to meet his. “You are mine. I will not allow them to hurt you to get to me. I would burn their world to ash before I allowed them to lay a finger on you.”
His hands ghost your side, running up and down your frame. “You and our children are my world. And you will not be taken from me.”
He’s skating a delicate balance of gentleness and rage, one wrong move away from snapping. “I need you, Henry.” Your voice is barely a whisper but it completely changes him. Contents him.
His hands easily find their way under the seam of your dress, his warmth seeping into you as he devours every inch of your skin. You gasp when he finally finds his way under the wire of your bra, cupping your breast within his hands. “So perfect,” he croons, eyes devouring the sight of you.
Then his mouth is on yours and every thought, every annoyance, every fear, is gone from your mind. He’s hot and all-encompassing, all hands and tongue and nails.
He lifts you with a single arm, allowing you to wrap your legs around him as he takes you to your bedroom.
With ease, he throws you onto the bed and crawls on top of you. With a flick of his wrist, the door slams and locks, cocooning you from the rest of the world.
“You are mine,” he growls, looming over you, a predator moments from sinking into his prey. One of his hand covers the entirely of your neck, pressing in just enough to hold you in place. “Say it.”
“I’m yours, Henry.” He groans, grinding himself into you. A gasp of your own leaves your lips. “All yours, Henry. All for you.” He’s everywhere, all at once. He’s pushing and squeezing and biting and pulling and overwhelming you in the most wonderful way. The noises that leave your mouth are no longer coherent, save his name.
He doesn’t hesitate in ripping your clothes. No matter the damage he does, they will return to your closet as pristine as the day you arrived. Not that he cared, truthfully. They were his, and he would rip them if he liked.
So much skin was at his disposal now, and he needed it all. Every inch of him works every inch of you, somehow touching every part. You’d worn nothing underneath your dress, and Henry groaned when he realized, grinding into you once more. “Fuck, pretty girl. I'm going to ruin you."
"Then ruin me."
Your words immediately set him off, completely overpowering you as he rushes to free his cock from his trousers. He shifts his hand on your throat to the back of your neck, using it to push your body closer to him. Right where he needed you.
"Tell me to stop now. I won't care once I'm inside of you."
"Don't stop," you moan, hands pulling him to hover over you again. "I need you."
He didn't let you adjust before slamming into you, groaning as he bottomed out. The stretch and pace was enough to bring tears to your eyes, which he quickly licked away. "Good girl," he moaned. "Feel so fucking good around me."
He pulled your head to one side, opening up your neck for roaming tongue. You moaned, melting even further into him as goosebumps crawled over your open flesh. "Want to hear you, dear," he ordered before digging his skin into to spot right above your collarbone.
"Fuck, Henry, right there," you groaned, inching closer to the edge between his mouth and cock.
His pace didn't slow. He could feel how close you were. The way your walls fluttered around him told him you were moments from finishing. His hand moved once more, back to your throat, squeezing just enough to cut off your airway.
"You're fucking mine," he stuttered, pace quickly turning erratic. "Won't let them take you from me. You belong to me."
With one last dig of his teeth, you come apart beneath him. Waves of pleasure and pain and need wash over you, only slowing once Henry releases the hold on your throat, allowing you to gasp in a lungful of air.
"Yours," you gasp. "All yours."
This sends him over the edge, bottoming out completely as he finishes in you. He mixes curses and moans as he comes, holding onto you like you're all that matters to him.
That look, the one you only catch in moments like these, make you think that maybe you are.
Then the world started shaking.
He was immediately off of you, groaning now from pain.
"What's happening?" you ask, quickly wrapping a robe around your shoulders.
"They're attacking," he groaned. "I have to go."
"You can't-" you began, but his hand settled over your mouth, silencing you.
"Do as I say. Stay with the children. If something enters the house, all you need to do is call for me. I'll hear it. Wherever I am." Tears burn your eyes. "Do you understand me?"
You nod, pushing his hand away. "Come back to us, Henry."
He nods once. "I promise."
You gather your children before he's even out the door, holding them to your chest as the house shakes beneath you. Each of them is crying and you do your best to provide them comfort. It helps, only slightly. You hold your son in your lap, while each daughter gets one arm. They're still so young. Had so much life to live. "I love you," you whisper, holding them a little tighter.
A scream ripped through your throat as the walls collapsed around you. You clung to your children, feeling the fabric of their clothing slip through your hands as you bolted awake in a hospital bed. Your screams didn’t stop, instead growing more frantic as you began pulling wires from your body like stray threads. Immediately a crew of nurses came in, one finally injecting you with something and bringing the world back to darkness.
You didn’t wake up at home with your children. You woke up back in the hospital. Your throat was raw now and refused to produce noise. Nancy sat at the end of your bed, staring at you with a mixture of shock and sympathy.
“I didn’t think you’d wake back up.” Rage boiled your blood. You tried to speak again but found yourself unable to. “Here,” Nancy said, producing a paper and pen.
Your hands shook as you wrote the words. What did you do?
“Will tapped into his mind, with the help of Eleven. We did systematic burns of the upside down simultaneously. It was a dual front.”
Why am I here?
Nancy gulped. “We knew he wouldn’t be able to maintain his hold on the upside down and his inner mind. It was a calculated risk.”
Your children. They would have disappeared from existence the moment his world collapsed. She knew that. You'd told her only hours earlier.
Not risk - sacrifice
“He was going to kill my siblings. You would make sacrifices to protect the ones you love, too, so don’t blame me for what I did to save mine.”
Your throat tightened as tears pricked their way past the corners of your eyes. Get out.
“We did what needed to be done. What was needed to save the world.”
By destroying mine. Your hand shook as you wrote the last two words, underlining them twice. Get out.
She finally obeyed, leaving you with nothing but your thoughts. In a moment, your life was over. 15 years, gone in a moment. Not a trace of them existed apart from your mind. And Henry’s.
If Nancy was right, you would never see him again. He would die at the hands of your brother. 15 years ago, that was your greatest wish. Now, it was your nightmare.
No one else came to see you.
Not your brothers or mother, nor any of the friends you’d risked your life for so many years ago. You laid in a hospital bed, alive only by definition, and truly alone for the first time in your life.
In an instant, you could feel him in your mind, the feeling somehow stronger than each time he’d entered it before. Where are you, his voice growled inside your mind.
You cried now, an ugly guttural sob. He was still alive. The hospital. I can’t move.
I’m coming for you. His voice was strong in your mind, steady.
Yours was not. Our children, Henry.
Will be dealt with. After you’re safe with me.
The lights flashed above you, a clear sign that something from the Upside Down was near. Hurry.
You heard it before you saw it. A growl mixed with claws hitting tile alerted you to the monster outside your door. It inched into your room with trepidation but seemed to relax when it sensed you. It was one of the demodogs, one of the last things you saw before you ended up in here the first time.
Even if you wanted to escape, your body was useless. A year without movement had debilitated it completely. “Please don’t hurt me,” you whispered to the monster, using your actual voice for the first time. It was scratchy and raw, but finally produced noise.
It made no more movement toward you, though, instead sitting at the end of the room, guarding the door. You exhaled. Henry had sent it. “Good boy,” you whispered. “Thank you.”
With all the strength you possessed, you turned to the window at the end of your room. It wasn’t huge, but it showed you everything you needed to see.
Hawkins was gone.
Every building had been scorched, every landmark decimated. Fire licked up every last bit of the town as smoke billowed into the grey sky. The hospital was all that remained untouched by the flames.
You wished the fire had taken you, had snuffed out your life force the moment it crossed back into the right side up. Had that happened, you wouldn’t have felt the pain of losing everything you loved in a split second. Wouldn’t know what it felt like to be a childless mother.
You had no way to be sure, but you knew that your family was no longer in Hawkins. Every bone in your body was sure that they’d high-tailed it out of there the moment shit hit the fan.
The heat of the fire tempted you. From how it looked you were pretty sure you’d be gone in seconds. People couldn’t survive in heat like that for long. Not that you could get to it, anyway.
Still, some part of you wanted to stay.
You felt his presence before you saw him.
He was no longer your Henry, but the original version of himself you’d met all those years ago. The two versions of himself clashed in your mind, fighting for dominance.
The demo heeled to his side, waiting for his next command from his master. Maybe it was your closeness to Henry, but the being slowly took shape in your mind as more of a pet than a monster.
The sane part of your mind that should’ve commanded you to cower had long been forgotten. Henry was no threat to you.
“Stay with me,” he said, the words no more an order than a question.
You stared up at the being above you. Whatever he was, he was closer to monster than man. He towered over you now, easily dwarfing you by a foot. The hands which had held you together had caused the world to fall apart.
Hello, are you ever going to continue the “Young” series? I love your writing and how you’ve done the characters and I was looking forward to a conclusion after the last post! Have a great day!
Hi, thank you for writing in! I currently have a few more entries into the series in the works! Life has been crazy recently with work and a health scare, but I’m looking forward to having some time to write this holiday season!
Prompt: Terry goes to dojo to deal with the break-in, unknowingly leaving you alone with Chozen, Ben, and Johnny. Daniel couldn’t warn them in time about you.
(A/N: continuation of the Young series, found here)
(Trigger warning: violence, panic attacks)
It was April when your life with Terry changed completely.
You'd been sitting in front of the fire, cuddled into him and fighting off sleep far too early in the night. The mixture of the heat from the fire and a couple glasses of wine left you warm all over, knowing nothing but contentment.
“Shit,” he murmured, picking up the security tablet. You roused beside him, fighting to shake off your drowsiness and get a peek of the screen. About twenty people were breaking into his dojo, storming into its security suite. “I need to deal with this, baby,” he informed you, placing a kiss atop your head. “Marissa will stay behind for you.”
He was in action immediately, making calls and doling out information as he prepared to rush to the dojo. He was moving so quickly, so surely, he could barely look at you as you followed him. “Terry!” you exclaimed, finally drawing his attention. “I'm scared.”
"That's why Marissa is staying, baby."
You rolled your eyes. "I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you."
“Think I can’t defend myself, doll?” he smirked.
You shook your head. “I know you can, but what if one of them showed up armed or something?”
“Then Markus will shoot them,” he said, adjusting the sleeves of his jacket. “It’s what I pay him for.”
With a groan, you pull him into a rough kiss. “You’re so stubborn.”
“I know, baby.”
Once he was off the property, you switched the security feed back to the dojo. Some of his students had showed up now, all decked in Cobra Kai gear. Switching through all the cameras in the dojo, you noticed that neither Daniel nor the other senseis seemed to be there. Had the kids planned all of this on your own?
Or had it been a dual front?
For twenty glorious minutes, your thoughts were baseless, silly even. This was about karate, for fuck’s sake. It wouldn’t cause grown men to break into Terry’s, very well surveilled, home. No one was that stupid.
Except for them, it seemed.
In a stretch limousine, they bust through the property gate. You screamed at the impact, immediately dropping both the tablet and your glass of wine. Your feet guided you in your panic, suddenly switching to autopilot. Terry had lectured you enough about what to happen during a break-in. Go to the security office, his voice rang out in your mind. Hit the panic button. It was hidden underneath his desk. Your fingers felt around for a moment before finally connecting with it, pushing it multiple times for good measure. Stay put.
That one was a little harder to follow.
Normally, Terry would never leave you at home with less than three guards, but he’d taken off with all but Marissa, your personal bodyguard. She’d been with Terry for years now - the only person he felt safe enough leaving you with. He didn’t take your safety lightly. She was paid more than any other security guard on his staff. She was the only one he’d made swear to put someone’s life above their own. It wasn’t an ask he made lightly, but he would take no chances with you.
Her oath rang through your mind as the downstairs door busted open.
“Shit, shit, fuck, shit, shit,” you cursed, throwing open his drawers of weapons until your hands finally settled on a pistol. It would do. You extended it before you, finger tensed on the trigger. Backtracking through the house, you went down the opposite set of stairs, emerging behind the assailants.
“Put your hands where I can see them and turn around slowly,” you ordered, voice far calmer than you felt. “I’m armed.” The men all raised both arms before turning to face you. You didn’t recognize them.
“Hey, I thought guns were off the table!” the blond exclaimed, waving annoyedly at the firearm within your shaking hands.
“I will shoot if you take a step closer,” you said, trying your best to keep an even voice. Like your hands, it shook. Even with a gun, they outnumbered you three-to-one.
“Listen, I don’t want to hurt you. Just tell us where Silver is hiding,” the blond spoke again, taking another step closer. You should’ve shot, but you took a step back instead.
“What did you do to Marissa?” you cried out. When they didn’t immediately answer, you shook your pistol at them. “My security, what did you do to her?”
The larger of the men smiled wildly. “Took her out. Just like we’ll do to you if you don’t tell us where Silver is.”
Right now, you knew he would beg you to just tell the fucking truth, but you held firm, refusing to put him in more danger than he was already in.
“Over my dead body,” you spit.
The blond laughed. “Funny. That’s what the girl out there said, too, before Chozen knocked her the fuck out.”
The one in the middle, Chozen, refused to gain ground on you. “She’s no guard.”
“Yeah, I can tell,” the blond quipped. “She sucks ass.”
“Won’t fight her,” Chozen spoke.
“I will,” the larger one said. “Won’t take two hits before she spills her guts.”
Your heart was on fire, sending constant waves of adrenaline throughout your body. If you didn’t calm down soon, you knew you would pass out. And then nothing would stand in their way of doing whatever they wanted with you. How long had it been since you’d hit the panic button? Another wave of terror washed through you. What if they thought the call was about the dojo? What if no one was coming?
“Cool it, Barnes,” the blond slurred. Were they fucking drunk? “Poor thing’s shakin’.”
Finally, you heard footsteps outside. From the sound, it couldn’t be more than one set. Not police. “Who the fuck is that?” Mike asked, gaining on you. This time, you did shoot - the bullet flying straight into the floorboards. Debris flew on the men, sending them back.
“Don’t shoot!” the voice from the doorway called. “I’ll get them out of here!” You turned, gun outstretched, to find Daniel LaRusso.
“What the hell, Daniel? They’re with you?”
“No- well, yes- just-" he stuttered, taking another step into the foyer, arms still raised. “They’re drunk. Came looking for Terry. I tried to stop them.”
“They broke into my home, Daniel! He’s not even fucking here!”
“Your home?” the blond asked, dumbstruck.
“She’s his girlfriend,” Daniel clarified. “Not a guard, not a sensei, his girlfriend.”
“Shit,” he muttered, lowering his defenses.
“Please, I’ll get them out of here. Just put the gun down,” Daniel begged.
You hesitated, tears blurring your vision. “How do I know you won’t do something the moment I lower it? You’ve always hated me.”
“I don’t hate you. I hate Terry. I believe you could do much better than him.”
“That’s not your decision to make.”
“I know,” he pleaded. “And I’ll never mention it again. Just let me get them out of here before someone gets hurt.”
“Too late. They already took down my guard. Killed her, for all I know.”
“She’s breathing, I checked. I promise I checked. Let us go and you can call an ambulance for her.”
In that moment, your mind was no longer there. It was at the hospital, pleading with them to save her. You hesitated.
Taking full advantage of your distraction, Barnes tackled you. The moment he made contact, you released the trigger before losing control of the weapon. A squelch of flesh and a scream filled the air, moments before your skull connected with the floor.
Blurry. Everything was so fucking blurry.
And wet.
Everything was also wet.
“Damnit!” someone yelled. Another groaned.
The one on top of you shook you, further rattling your brain. “Where the fuck is he?” You couldn’t even see him, three identical images of him blurring together. Three fists connected with your chest, emptying your lungs. Three with your jaw. Three with your stomach. Three more with your chest. Pain filled the cavity where air should've been. The muscles seized, in too much shock to draw in a breath.
“Get the fuck off of her!” one of them yelled, pulling him away from you. You sunk to your side, forced to watch the entirety of the scene, duplicated twice. The blond had Barnes on his knees, pounding punch after punch into his skull. Daniel was at the very edge of your peripheral, leaning over Chozen.
No one was coming.
You were going to die here.
Alone.
You sipped in air, lungs refusing to take a full breath. Shallow, tepid breaths pulled enough air into your lungs to keep you right at the edge of blacking out. Enough to keep you conscious, but not enough to stop the burning of oxygen deprivation. Still, no one moved to you. The blond was still grappling with your attacker, neither able to fully dominate the other. Daniel still held Chozen, muttering words you could've made out if your ears weren't ringing so loudly.
You didn’t know how long the carnage lasted. It could’ve been seconds or hours, for all you knew. It stopped with the swing of a door.
"Terry, I-" Daniel suddenly begged, before dropping with a single hit. Chozen was already collapsed on the floor beside of him. The blond was the only one still standing when Terry entered your line of sight. "Look, man, we need to get her to a hospital-" he began, but Terry’s foot already connected to his chest, sending him across the room. It connected again and again, until he was spitting blood.
Finally, he turned to you. He took you in for a moment, body suddenly shaking. He was bloody, too. Two slits of blood ran from his mouth to ear. He’d been cut. “Who did it?” he spoke calmly, eyes not leaving yours. Your body was too heavy to move, mouth too dry to speak. It took all the effort you could muster to look at Barnes, collapsed in a heap on the ground. Immediately, he was pulled to his knees by a fistful of hair. Terry crouched before him, meeting him at eye level. With a flick of his wrist, Terry drew something red from the man’s throat. It was slow at first, then way too fast, soaking into his shirt and puddling on the floor. Terry didn’t waste another second on him, falling to your side immediately. “I can’t move you baby. If he got your neck I could hurt you even more.” His calm disposition from a moment ago began to fade, tears pooling within his eyes. “They’re coming, baby girl, just hold on.”
Your eyes were getting heavy. He was home now - you were safe. If you shut your eyes for just a moment, it would be okay.
“Help!” he screamed. “We’re in here!” You hadn’t even heard the ambulance pulling in. Terry was the only voice you could hear. Then a lot of hands were on you, none of them Terry. Two sets were running over your body and at least two more were pressing into your wrists and chest.
Your eyes didn’t leave his. Love you, you thought over and over, willing the words to somehow implant into his brain. Love you, love you, love you.
Two sets of hands were suddenly around your head, twisting it slowly. The gentle movement hurt more than every hit the man had landed on you. A scream you didn’t know was still within you ripped its way out. All you could feel was pain, jolting from your neck to the edge of every extremity. It radiated and sliced through you, greying out your already blurry vision. Terry choked out a sob, a soul-crushing noise you’d never heard from him before. “You need to give her something for the pain or she’s going to pass out. She’s never even broken a fucking bone before this.”
The stream of tears that had already fallen was warmed by a fresh wave, pooling at the back of your neck. Something firm wrapped around your neck, holding it firmly in place where it was set. At least four sets of hands lifted you from the floor, laying you carefully on a stiff board. Then, they were carrying you out, Terry planted at your side. His hand held yours now, shaking even more than you were. Once on the ambulance, he asked another barrage of questions. You only caught a few words of each one.
You were getting so sleepy.
“No, don’t do that,” Terry begged. “Stay with me, baby.” He ran a hand up and down one arm while a needle was quickly inserted into your other. “Hurry the fuck up!” Terry screamed to the front of the vehicle. “Keep your eyes open, doll. Just need to wait a bit longer.” You were trying so hard, but your eyelids were so heavy. A tiny nap wouldn’t hurt. “I don’t care about the fucking laws. Get her there faster!” he screamed, pounding a fist into the medical counter. His voice broke. “I will give you everything I have if you just get her there faster!”
Love you, you thought as your eyes drifted shut. Love you, love you, love you.
You woke up slower than you had fallen asleep. For the first few seconds you didn’t remember where you were, or what had happened. Your body was covered in bruises and IVs and hurt so fucking bad. You gasped deeply, feeling the true amount of pain for the first time. “It’s okay, baby, calm down,” Terry spoke, suddenly at your side. You tried to speak, but your mouth and throat were painfully dry, only allowing you to cough. “Don’t try to talk yet. It’s okay. Someone’s coming to help.”
It was over. One flirt with death and the entirety of the Valley’s karate war was over. Johnny and Daniel withdrew from all tournaments, content to teach their kids in private. Mike Barnes died that night in your home. Your memories of the night were faded, if not gone completely. The memory of his body hitting yours was not one of those memories. It was the only one that remained sharp within your mind. You didn’t even know how he died, only the blood coating him in its sticky gloss.
You also didn’t remember shooting Chozen, though you were told by multiple sources that you did. Terry had even confirmed it via the security footage. He didn’t allow you to watch, standing firm that your subconscious blocked the memories for a reason. When he finally left the security office, his eyes were red and his entire frame shook. He didn’t let you out of his sight for the rest of the week.
The three of them had been arrested the following week for an array of charges - breaking and entering, battery, assault, attempted murder. You knew the man who'd hurt you was dead. Terry just wanted the rest of them to rot.
The only reason the three were allowed bail was that both you and Marissa had recovered from your injuries. If she'd died, you were almost sure you would've killed them yourselves. And if you'd died...
Terry would've killed everyone they ever loved.
After being released on bail, Daniel tried to contact you. Tried to beg for forgiveness. Everything in you wanted to, but you couldn't even look at him. Every time you stared into his darkened eyes, you were brought back to that night, back to the moment you hit the ground.
That's what led to your breakdown in the cafe you'd agreed to meet him. Terry had argued against it for days before you finally broke him down. This would be good for you, you had promised him. He'd booked out the entire restaurant and staffed it fully with his guards, just to give you the chance to forgive him. That seemed futile now, as your throat seemed to close on itself just at the sight of him across the table. Fuck, you were there! You knew, logically, that he had nothing to do with your accident, yet you couldn't breathe in his vicinity. He'd tried to comfort you through the panic and tears, but you pushed him away.
"That's enough," Terry ordered, breaking his distance to finally pull you into his arms. You sobbed now, soaking the soft fabric of his jacket.
Daniel stood, too, taking a step back. "I am so sorry, Silver. I never meant for this to happen."
"Your intentions mean nothing, Daniel. I could kill you right now and it wouldn't lessen my hatred of you."
"Listen, Barnes was-"
Terry tensed, ready to strike. “No, you listen to me, LaRusso. You broke into my home. My. Home. Where the only person I care about was safe, right where I left her. She almost died on your watch. She was dying and you didn't even look at her." He took a step closer to Daniel now, towering over him. "I don’t care that the blood is on Barnes' hands. You let it happen.”
Your panic attack hadn't stopped until you returned home. The guards you'd once hated inhabiting your home at all hours were the only people that brought you comfort now, besides Terry. Even with the guards you found it hard to be detached from him. The first time he tried to go away for work, he returned an hour later to find you huddled in on yourself in the kitchen, unable to catch your breath. He'd almost made it to the airport when Markus had called him in a panic, unable to calm you.
He stepped away from Cobra Kai, content in a strictly managerial position. Since the break-in, his karate only saw the light of day in his personal dojo. He spent hours there, refusing to leave until his body was fully spent. He’d hold you closer those nights, whispering promises to never let another soul touch you ever again, each word soaked in blood and tears.
By July, you were able to venture out to the garden without panicking. It was fully surrounded by buildings and fence, which gave you enough security to feel comfortable. Most of your days were spent with your plants, coaxing them back to their fullest potential. Sure, the gardeners had kept them alive in your stead, but you believed they appreciated your hands a little more.
Your trips were never alone and never more than an hour at a time. Your body seemed to know when you were creeping upon a new record and subsequently alerted your nerve receptors that you were in danger. Upon retreating to the living room, you would calm down, just long enough to force yourself outside again.
It was slow and incredibly tedious, but it allowed you to eventually wander to the oceanfront. You hadn't been there since a few days before the accident, on a day the weather was particularly beautiful. Terry had been at a conference, leaving you to entertain yourself in his absence. The entirety of your day had been spent shifting between water and sand with a few small breaks to reapply sunscreen in the shade.
Today, Terry was at your side.
The two of you stood at the shoreline, cool water lapping at your feet. You didn't talk, and he didn't force you to. When you sank to your knees, he followed, observing your every move. He knew what someone on the edge of breaking looked like, and he was watching you intently for your snap.
But in that moment your panic and fear shaped into something more - it became anger. A raw, earth-shattering scream clawed its way through your lungs and into the world, met by the splashing of the sea as you beat your hands into it, over and over. Your movements were sloppy, driven by anger and not technique. Knuckles clashed with rock and sand, drawing pain and blood. The water washed it away.
"Yes, baby girl. Let it out," he pushed, hand settling onto your warmed skin.
Your throat and knuckles were raw when you finally stopped. Your body was spent, your mind finally calm. Tears of pain and release skimmed your cheeks, mixing into the salt of the sea. "Let's get you inside," Terry said softly, pulling you into the safety of his arms. He carried you into your bathroom and deposited you gently onto the counter. With careful hands, he washed your wounds, scrubbing them clean of blood and sand. They would hurt tomorrow, when the numbness of today finally washed away.
"I want you to teach me."
Terry's eyes met yours, inquisitive and apprehensive. "You want me to teach you the same thing that hurt you so badly?"
"Karate didn't hurt me. A man did. A man that's six feet in the ground." You took a deep breath, bracing yourself. "I'm angry, Terry. So angry I think it might kill me. Not the pain or the fear, the anger. I need somewhere to put it."
His eyes locked onto yours as he drew closer, resting his hands on either side of your body and caging you in. "You're in luck then." You cocked your head, a smile fighting its way onto your lips. "Anger's the easiest emotion to work with, my love."
