by deliciousblizzardshark (@deliciousblizzardshark)
M, 29k, Wangxian
Summary: When Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji lose their best friends they find themselves with a baby, a found family, and each other.
or
“Wangji,” Wei Wuxian says and wraps him in a tight hug. Lan Wangji wants to push him away but he’s still reeling with shock. Dead? Mianmian can’t be… they were talking on the phone only two days ago. Lan Wangji was making plans to come visit while Mianmian joked about how maybe the baby would never be born.
“The baby?” he asks.
Wei Wuxian lets him go, steps back. He’s crying, Lan Wangji realizes suddenly. His eyes are red-rimmed as if he’s been crying for hours.
Wei Wuxian takes a deep breath. “It’s a boy,”
Kay's comments: This story destroyed me a little. It's so heartbreaking. Wangxian both losing their best friends and being thrust into a situation where they are co-parents to the now-orphaned child of said friends. It's so painful, it's so real. This story really hit home and I loved how it dealt with this entire situation.
pov alternating, modern setting, modern no powers, background character death, accidental baby acquisition, enemies to friends to lovers, soft lan wangji/wei wuxian, mutual pining, grief/mourning, emotional hurt/comfort, found family, lan wangji has friends, moving in together, there was only one bed, getting together, developing relationship
~*~
(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)
Something is invading and killing the villagers of Jotunheim. Now sitting as king of Jotunheim, Loki reluctantly summons Stephen to help him save his kingdom. Stephen gets to prove magic isn't the only thing he's good at.
Genre: Comedy/Adventure/Murder Mystery
Characters: Stephen Strange, Loki Laufeyson, and Thor Odinson
Words: 3,191
"You mean you can't just 'abracadabra' your problems away?" Loki asks with feigned shock.
"Oh, please. First, Thor doesn't understand how e-mails work, now you apparently don't know what the term 'kidnap' means. Allow me to explain it to you, Your Royal Highness. 'To take someone away illegally by force.'" Stephen defines sassily.
"I have no concern for your Midgardian laws, Wizard," Loki says.
"You used the Bifrost to take me from my Sanctum! That's an invasion of privacy." Stephen chides, then adds, "And the preferred term is 'Master of the Mystic Arts.'"
"I didn't even want to summon you, initially!" Loki argues back.
"Well I'm here now, and it better be for good reason!" Stephen snaps.
"Trust me, it'll be worth your time." Loki says, ignoring Stephen's unimpressed look at 'trust me,' "you're a doctor, or at least was one, yes?"
Stephen, baffled at why that particular detail of his life was being brought up, asks, "Correct, but what does that have to do with you rudely kidnapping me?"
"And you are the current Sorcerer Supreme as well?"
"Actually, that would be Wong. Though I'm a sort of unofficial second-in-command," Stephen explains.
Loki didn't look as if he fully believed him, but carried on regardless. "I need your– your duty as a sorcerer– your assistance would be," he softly growls in frustration at himself, "you would be doing Jotunheim a great service if you would be willing to assist us in our time of need." Loki nods, satisfied with his request.
As amusing as it was seeing the silver-tongued god struggle for words, Stephen wasn't that cruel. "Fine, I'll help. What exactly is the problem?"
His agreement seemed to at least ease some of the tension off Loki's face, "You see, two villages have been invaded, all civilians either killed gruesomely or reported missing. And we have no information on the creature suspected of these crimes. No trace of them to identify. Rather impressive, I must say."
Any irritation Stephen was holding turned into intrigue, "Yeah, I'd say that justifies as a problem."
"To put it lightly," Loki agrees. "Oh, and I did also ask Thor to assist. As much as I hate to admit it, we'll most likely be needing him."
"No arguments from me," Stephen says with a nod. "Why do you need my help, anyway? You're intelligent. A fairly decent sorcerer, too, despite how much you seem to love daggers."
Loki sighs, "You and only one other have ever managed to trick me. Surely for an accomplishment such as that there's something to be of use from you."
"Thank you," Stephen says with a small smirk.
"That wasn't a compliment." Loki retorts.
"Sure it wasn't."
"It wasn't!"
"Brother!" That was Thor, striding into the room. "Strange! You will be accompanying us on our journey as well? Loki, I see you finally decided to get help!" Loki narrows his eyes at Thor's word choice. "The more the merrier! How does life treat you these days?" He sets a hand on Stephen's shoulder with such force he nearly stumbles over like a bowling pin.
"I'm doing pretty good. What about you?" Stephen asks.
"I'm also doing well, thank you. Brother, how's your reign been so far?" Thor turns his attention to Loki.
"All has been settled nicely with hardly any misgivings, our current predicament excluded of course. What of yours?" Loki asks with a hint of a prideful smile curling his lips.
Thor answers, "New Asgard is coming along nicely. Stark has been kind enough to help us get settled as our own establishment."
"I'll have to come by and visit soon, then. If it's all the same to you, I'd like to figure out who's killing my people now."
—————————
He had seen disturbing injuries in his time working at the ER, ranging from point-blank GSWs to a drunk man falling into a bonfire. (Charred skin is one of those smells you will never forget.) Never has Stephen seen something quite like this, however. The fire casts shadows across the walls as he crouches down to get a better look at the body. The Frost Giant man, albeit taller and bluer than the average male, has surprisingly similar anatomy to a human. "Even my interns at the hospital would've been ashamed of a Krocher incision like that," Stephen comments, hovering his hand over the sloppy gash. "About a 20° downward slope starting just under the rib cage. I'd say about 8 or 9 inches wide. I suspect an organ might be missing, too. You see the way the stomach caves in a bit more there?" He gestures to the area right under the ribs.
"Do you have any ideas of what could've caused a cut like that?" Loki asks, crouching down on the other side of the body.
"The stomach wasn't cut open, it was ripped open. I once had to treat someone who was mauled by a black bear. Looked a lot like this. It could've been caused by a claw, or dull instrument of some kind." Stephen explains.
Thor asks, "You suspect one of the other villagers could have done this?"
Before Stephen can answer, Loki chimes in, "They've invaded two villages. Surely a single person wouldn't be able to do this much damage."
"Probably a creature of some kind then. How many do you think?" Stephen asks.
Loki puffs his cheeks in exasperation, "How am I to know?"
"Not only were you born here, you're the king of Jotunheim. I assume you know what creatures live around here and if they come in packs."
"Oh what, so you knew what animals were around the place you were born?"
"I was a farm kid, so yeah, actually, I did. Had to know what to protect the cattle from." Stephen stands up with a huff to stand beside the lit furnace, watching the flames devour the wood inside, and lets the silence sit for a moment.
"Amazing how quickly fire can destroy," Loki comments, also watching the wood curl and flake away into the glittering coals below.
"Or preserve," Stephen challenges, "I don't know if Asgard or Jotunheim has the same custom, but on Earth, we sometimes choose to cremate our dead. The flesh will decay, but the ashes, however... the ashes allow us to keep them close without smelling quite so bad." Loki snorts softly at that. "Should we cremate this body?"
"We have our own customs that I'll see to after we get things settled," Loki says. The trio watched the flames in silence for a few moments. The fire crackled and ashes rose to land on a nearby dusty shelf. "What're you doing?" Loki asks as Stephen approaches the shelf.
He runs a finger across the wood, inspecting the layer of dust now coating his finger. "Did you know that dust is largely composed of skin cells?" At Thor and Loki's questioning looks Stephen announces, "I've an idea." With a sweeping of his hand, he gathers the dust into a loose but small golden cylinder. As he explains, the cylinder spins around rapidly, "this spell will act as a sort of centrifuge. It'll keep the skin cells in and kick the other particles out." As said, the spell released and only a few particles remained. Stephen draws the particles into his palm and slides his other hand over them. A thin, golden line follows. He pushes the spell forward and the line shoots out past the building, far past what they could see.
"Woah," Thor breathes.
Stephen allows himself a small, prideful smile. "No trace of them to identify, huh?" He asks, quoting Loki.
"Shut up," Loki says as start to follow the line.
—————————
As a Master of the Mystic Arts, Stephen is expected to have at least a basic knowledge of the nine realms, but he somehow underestimated just how frigid the place actually is. He's slightly jealous of the two æsir. Both Thor and Loki only wear their normal armor, yet still look completely unfazed. The snowflakes clinging to their hair is a mere fashion accessory to them. Meanwhile, Stephen is shivering even with four layers of thick clothing and the air itself hurts his face. His hands ache something awful, too. He can feel the cold metal beneath his skin and the way his blood vessels constrict around them. Thor's higher body temperature allows him to not feel the cold so harshly, and Loki's biology thrives in the cold. Goldilocks got it wrong this time. Being in the middle wasn't just right.
"The spell ends here," Loki breaks him from his thoughts. He didn't even realize the brothers had stopped walking. Stephen looks up from where he had been absent-mindedly stepping in Thor's larger footsteps in the snow, only to face the opening of a cave. The mountain range they had trekked the edge of hid the mouth like it was a sacred treasure to be kept secret. He probably wouldn't have even noticed it if Loki hadn't pointed it out.
"Where is 'here,' exactly?" Stephen asks.
"I would imagine this is the pests' place of residence. Perhaps the villagers that have gone missing were brought back here." Loki answers.
"Seems like a safe bet," Stephen concurs.
Thor says, "All-Father grant us strength and protection. Let us go, then."
"Wait, we're not coming up with a plan or anything? Loki, back me up here." Stephen cautions.
"What is that phrase you people of Earth use? 'Expect the unexpected'. That's our plan." Loki explains flippantly.
"That is not a plan. That's just... going with the flow." Stephen scoffs.
Loki smirks, "Let's hope you're a good swimmer then, Strange." Loki starts walking towards the cave's entrance with Thor at his heels.
"Oh for the love of–" Stephen sighs, but follows. These two idiots are bound to get themselves killed at this rate.
The cave was dark the further they went in. Stephen had cast a night vision spell on the trio so they could explore without drawing attention to themselves. At least by light, that is. Sound is another issue.
Loki hisses, "Could you possibly walk any louder?"
Thor huffs in a whisper, "I'm only walking as I normally do."
"We're trying to sneak in here, you big oaf. Key word there being 'sneak.'" Loki says.
"I am well aware of that!" Thor insists, and at least attempts to soften his footsteps.
Stephen matches his pace to Thor's, "Hang on, watch me. Roll your feet like this. Heel hits the ground first, then you roll to your toes." He demonstrates and Thor tries to copy his movements. "My father used to go fox hunting when I was a child and would occasionally bring me along. He taught me how to walk through the woods without scaring the animals."
"I never took you for a hunter, Strange," Thor comments.
"I never did shoot anything. I would mostly just watch the birds and squirrels. It was peaceful out there. I would just tell my father nothing was out." Stephen whispers.
"Do neither of you understand the concept of being quiet?" Loki whispers back, giving the pair a side-eye Michelle Obama would be proud of. The ground beneath them starts to rumble slightly, only lasting a few seconds. A low groan echoes from the other side of the cave, which quickly leads to various more groans.
The three stare into the darkness. The darkness stares back at them.
Then blinks.
"Run!” Thor leads the way, with Loki in the middle and Stephen trailing closely behind. They maneuver through the tunnels as hound-like creatures with long claws chase at their heels. Stephen turns around briefly to cast the Flames of the Faltine, leaving a barrier of flames between the trio and the creatures. Much to Stephen's confusion, the creatures aren't deterred from the flames, instead, they seem to bathe in the warmth. It almost stops him in his tracks, but a hand grabs him around the wrist and pulls him along. He hears Loki mutter something under his breath, probably an insult, before the two are off to catch up to Thor.
They run through the tunnels until Thor comes to a sudden stop. He and Loki almost plow into him. Thor backtracks quickly from where he almost falls off a small cliff. Down below is a large ravine. The entire hoard of creatures scamper across small ledges alongside the walls. The floor is made of black, rough stone, and orange light leaks through cracks spreading throughout the stone. What catches their eyes though, is the giant creature in the middle. Over ten times the size of the other creatures, this one lazily has it's mouth open while the other creatures come by and drop small chunks of meat into it. He hears Thor suck in a breath beside him and follows his eye-line to see a Jötunn body tucked away into a crevice, its stomach torn open as one of the creatures roots around in his guts. It pulls out an organ. Smaller creatures, possibly the children, come and drag the body away, munching at the body's sides while doing so.
"They're eating the livers," Stephen says, lip curling in disgust.
Loki blanches, "No, Strange. They're feeding the livers to the Queen. The rest they eat for themselves.”
A pebble rolls across the ground, causing the three to whip around. A creature prowls closer, eyes dead set on Thor. Stephen casts Mandala shields at his fists, and the creature's attention diverts to him. He narrows his eyes in thought and dissipates the shields. The creature's attention is back on Thor. Stephen summons a heatless light in his palm, yet the creature’s attention remains on Thor. Stephen huffs a laugh, "They see in infrared!" The creature pounces at Thor, but Stephen uses the Bands of Cyttorak to contain it. It struggles and writhes in its clutches, but almost immediately calms when Stephen ignites flames around it. Thor and Loki circle as Stephen inspects the creature. Now that he had the chance to get a good look at it, he could see how its eyes were similar to that of a fox. "See, Loki? It does good to know the predators in your area. This one evidently seeks heat. That's probably why they sought out the liver. It's typically one of the hottest organs, and it matches with the type of cut we saw in the other victim."
Loki either doesn't hear him or ignores his comment, most likely the latter, and comes closer to the creature. "Varmesøker," Loki announces.
"Bless you," Thor says.
Stephen gives him a questioning look, "Varme-what? Is that what it's called?"
"Norns if I know. I just imagined it would need a name. Varmesøker means 'heat seeker.' Seemed appropriate." Loki explains. Stephen hums with approval while Thor nods.
"Now to address the Varmesøker in the room, what're we going to do with them?" Thor asks.
Stephen starts, "We could-"
"No," Loki interrupts.
"You didn't even let me finish!" Stephen protests.
"You didn't need to. You were going to suggest we lure them all to one place and kill them with the thing they love so much. Fire." Loki says.
Stephen gapes at him for a moment, "First of all, that was a bit morbid. Secondly... yea, kinda."
Loki sighs, "And that's why I said no. Your plans historically aren't the best."
"My plans have defeated the likes of Dormammu and Thanos, for your information. Do you have a better plan?" Stephen raises his voice slightly.
"Umm, guys?" Thor says.
"To lead them away we would need a heat source," Loki argues.
"Good thing we have three right here with us," Stephen counters back.
Loki raises a brow, "you're not suggesting we use ourselves to draw them away?"
"Loki?" Thor alerts.
"While using my magic, I have the highest heat signature. I'm suggesting I lead them away while you figure out where your people are." Stephen explains.
"That would never-" Thor's hand slaps over Loki's mouth.
"They know we're here!" Thor exclaims in a hushed whisper. Sure enough, one of the Varmesøkers is entering the cave while two more climb onto the cliff they are arguing on. Loki pulls the hand away from his face with a glare. All three creatures stare down Thor until their attention is brought to the fire encircling one of their companions.
Stephen whispers, "Thor, blast the floor in the ravine. You need to break it." Before either has the time to question his request, Stephen summons the Flames of the Faltine once again, except this time, he keeps it on his person and takes off running. The Varmesøkers are quick behind him.
"I'm going to figure out where they're storing my people," Loki tells Thor once Stephen's out of earshot then disappears with a gleam of green.
Thor huffs, "Guess I'll just stay here, then."
—————————
Thor observes the floor of the ravine carefully from his perch on the cliff. From what he could tell, the floor was composed of cracked obsidian, so the orange glow beneath it must be magma of some sort. He knew from his studies as a child that obsidian was a type of glass, so theoretically if he were to strike it with lightning, it would completely shatter. His main problem, however, was the Queen and other Varmesøkers still occupying said floor. As he prepared himself to unleash a bolt, he heard snarls and growls from at least three dozen Varmesøkers and running footsteps from a nearby tunnel, "Thor, do it now!" Strange yells.
With that, Thor let lightning surround his body.
—————————
"Thor, do it now!" Stephen yelled at the god. He didn't know why Thor hadn't yet opened the floor to the magma chamber below, but he needed it done now! He kept running through the tunnel, flame in hand, with the Cloak swatting away jaws that got too close. He was rapidly coming up with a plan B, but Thor must've heard his call and Stephen saw how lightning started to surround his body. It crackled around him, and the attention of every single Varmesøker in the area turned to him. Lightning blasted the ground below, and the obsidian fell away into the magma. Stephen ran up to the edge of the cliff edge, increasing the intensity of the ball of fire in hand, and dropped it into the chasm. The Cloak lifted him above the stampede of creatures as they fell after the fire, one after one, and into the firey pits below.
Thor and Loki join him on a nearby cliff edge, watching all of the creatures fall into the magma-like shooting stars. Loki speaks first, “I found a few surviving villagers. I freed a few of the less injured ones to help the others with the promise to return after dealing with the threat.”
“I’ll help you bring the others back,” Thor says. Stephen makes a noise of agreement.
Loki clicks his tongue and sighs, "I suppose that takes care of our murder problem, then. Looks like your plan did work this time, after all, Wizard.”
Stephen chuckles a bit to himself and does jazz hands with little effort, "Abracadabra!"
I crave info about Father Time's organization. How does it work? How easy is it to get a job with them? What does a typical work day look like?
Okay!
Big Papa T's Organisation is physically located in the pocket universe, but is conventionally located on a hill.
Each employee receives a special clock, clicking on which he automatically gets to the HQ. And if this is someone who wants to work for Father Time for a while, you need to call him yourself, and it's also better not to call the number of his wife – Death, who also works in her husband's organization (It is not recommended, but she will direct you to call Father Time again or she will kill you, but this is a prank).
So it's really very easy to get a job with him. In addition, working for him, employees will not be able to change the time if they want, for example, to take time off from work early or wait for their birthday. Because if you work for Father Time, then it means working for the good.
There are many departments where employees work and, depending on the position and their responsibilities, they perform certain roles. At the moment, I can't describe everything to you, so I'll tell you about the example of three employees: J, Oldstyle and Inspector Hatstone.
J. is an agent and a scout who must report information and erase memory using a special pen with a counter. He knows how to drive his time machine, but he has not yet been sent on serious missions or his colleague Oldstyle was sent instead.
Oldstyle is a time traveler who travels through time for order (most often she is ordered by Unigang), but, at the same time, she takes over mainly The Past and Alternative Dimensions, which are part of the MJverse. She has her own stylized time machine, however, she still continues to take her license (so she uses her clock or sometimes works with J.).
Inspector Hatstone, based on her position, monitors the space-time paradoxes and decides whether to get rid of the "errors" or not. For this, she has her own office, stylized to match her image, where there is a database with all the data about measurements and events.
Important points in working for a Big Papa T's Organization:
The dress code for the work uniform is free, the main thing is that the employee's uniform corresponds to his preferred era.
Each employee's office and time machine are stylized to match their image.
Every employee needs a clock so that they can get in and out, as well as check in for coming to work. In case of a long delay or absence from work without warning, the employee will write an explanatory note.
Depending on the position of the employee, their clock has a certain appearance. Also, depending on the position, a time limit is set to avoid paradoxes and problems.
There are no schedule restrictions here, so one employee can work with a flexible schedule, the other can work full-time.
The age limit is from 16 years old, although you can get a job earlier if you are a younger employee who is already independent and financially independent.
TW: background character death, death threats, gore, surgery, assault mention, verbal abuse
@medwhumpmay
Death wasn't uncommon in the illegal organ trade. Victims were either harvested for all they were worth, or they went under the knife voluntarily in unsanitary conditions and died of complications after the fact. Bodies of recently deceased were stolen and never found again, or a John or Jane Doe was claimed by sketchy individuals with false papers.
Or, if your name was Fetch, you would steal a kidney or a piece of liver as a side hustle while waiting for ransom money to be delivered.
Beep...beep...beep...beep...
Fetch was glad to be working with some equipment again. He felt much less pressed for time when he could actually see the victim's vitals, instead of having to move as fast as possible to ensure at least some chance of survival.
His clients were cheap and tried to underpay him, so since he wasn't required to keep the hostage in one piece, he decided to make up for the difference by selling one of his kidneys.
It had pretty much become a routine surgery for him. He knew exactly what to do and what to look out for, and he still worked fast, even if he could technically take it easier.
Erick was enjoying the experience a little less. He'd been in a mood since they arrived at the hideout, but Fetch couldn't bring himself to care too much. He knew the teen had several bad memories of this place, but the surgical suite built underneath the barn was too good to pass up on. So what if Erick got bitten by rats, nearly assaulted by someone, and buried his first body here, only to later dig up a half-decomposed corpse so they could stage his death.
Frankly, Fetch thought the teen was overreacting. The rats were only in the basement in the farmhouse, the man who tried to assault him died the same day, and the corpse had been burned to a crisp a year ago. But despite how he felt about it, Fetch had decided to give Erick some leniency and let him hang out in the secret room underneath the barn, even if he was visibly uncomfortable at the whole surgery part.
"Erick, I need ice."
"Ugh..."
Fetch glared at the teen as he reluctantly came out of his corner that was the furthest away from the surgical table and opened the freezer to scoop out some ice with a bowl. Then he reluctantly came closer, reaching out his arm to give him the ice, but Fetch didn't take it.
"You know that's not how it goes," he said, "you know what to do with that ice."
"I haven't washed my hands," Erick argued.
"I'll tell him to get antibiotics when I let him go, now ice him!" Fetch ordered.
Erick had the nerve to groan, before reluctantly stepping even closer and beginning to carefully place the ice around the kidney, when suddenly the monitor started beeping rapidly in alarm.
"What did you do?" Fetch asked.
"Nothing?" Erick said, "I mean, I'm just putting the ice in like you told me."
"Don't talk back to me!" Fetch snapped, "take the ice out, maybe he's bleeding somewhere."
Erick groaned again, barely having the stomach to even look at the wound, let alone to dig around in it for slippery ice cubes covered in blood and other fluids.
Beeeeeeeeeep...
"Ah fuck," Fetch said, promptly taking his gloves off and stepping away. Erick looked over at the monitor, recognising the flatline. Then he looked back at Fetch, who didn't even react.
"A-aren't you going to revive him?"
"He's asystolic, the fuck am I supposed to do?" Fetch said, "his heart stopped. He's not worth the trouble to even try to revive."
"W-won't your client be angry?" Erick asked.
"It's literally easier to just hide from them than to try and revive him," Fetch said, "can't even use his fuckin' kidney to afford it. Probably had an underlying condition that makes it no good... Get the shovel. This is your fault, so you can clean it up."
"How is it my fault?" Erick asked.
"You distracted me with your whining!" Fetch said, "now do as I say or I'll make you dig your own grave too!"
The real whump is Erick's discomfort about this whole situation, but tbh I don't feel like I described it well enough, but w/e it's something! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Feel free to imagine the ass-whoopin' he got afterwards. I'll try to come up with something more emotional on other prompts to rlly tug on the heartstrings.
@tbb-appreciation-week DAY 2: ECHO (09/04) — No Order 66 AU | Touching Foreheads | "This wasn't supposed to happen."
characters and relationships: Fives, Echo, (dream) mentions of Krell, Rex and Jesse
warnings: Umbara is its own warning, mentions of violence, death and PTSD, one real-world swear word
Notes: I've wanted to write a TBB!Fives AU for a while now, and now i finally did hehe. can you tell i love (hurting) these two
read on AO3
Grabbing tentacles, thick shadows, blue-gray fog, and screams. Fives had seen this in his mind’s eye far too many times.
They could only guess at where Krell would appear next, where he would leap out of the shadows and add to the 501st’s list of casualties with his quartet of lightsabers, four-armed strikes powerful even without using the Force. Fives pushed through the jungle, the terrain that would be difficult to navigate even if they hadn’t been shrouded in darkness. He remained on Rex’s heels even as blasterfire sounded in the distance, a wailing chorus of death overlapping with the repeated audio over the comms. His helmet’s display zoomed through the dark, narrowed in on Krell’s flashing blades slicing through flesh and plastoid. “He’s coming.” He fought down the dread, the nausea that still crept up his throat no matter how much he tried to train himself out of it, and knelt in front of Jesse, blaster at the ready.
Krell was there faster than he thought, his symphony of slaughter following with a sickening crunch of breaking bones, stealing his brothers’ lives with his bare hands, throwing them into unforgiving tree trunks, slamming them into the ground. Fives’ breath caught as he flung Tup by the head, and the younger trooper went falling somewhere past Fives’ line of sight. There was nothing he could do but force the sick feeling down, keep firing.
Fives blinked and Krell was in front of him. No. No, this isn’t how it went- Panic shot through his thoughts as he was picked up in one monstrous hand, and another raised a blue-bladed lightsaber. No, no no no nonononononononono- Krell brought it down in a sweeping blow, and-
“Fives.” Rex was shaking him awake, but his voice was pitched wrong, like something from a dream, so familiar yet so foreign.
“Fives, ya snoozin’ bantha, wake up.”
That was definitely not Rex. He opened his eyes to see Echo staring down at him, the worry ridge between his eyes furrowed despite his light-hearted words. “You okay, vod? You were doing your sleep-wriggling thing again, but you looked… scared.”
Fives sat up and drew his hands over his face, delaying his response for just a few seconds as he struggled to pack the memories of Umbara back away in their little boxes in his mind. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m… fine. Just a bad dream.”
Studying his face carefully for a moment, Echo turned so his back was to Hunter and sat on the bed by Fives’ leg. “We both know your bad dreams are bad, Fives. What was it this time?” He leaned in closer, lowered his voice. “Was it Lola Sayu again?”
“No-”
“Rishi?”
“No.” Fives looked away, folded his blanket with shaking hands, hoping Echo wouldn’t notice. But of course, he did. He reached over and took it from Fives, folded it neatly in half, quarters, eighths. Set it aside in one of the Marauder’s storage compartments and put his hand over his twin’s.
“You know you’re shit at lying to me.”
“Language.” Rex would have said it, but Rex wasn’t here, so Fives said it, and it made Echo laugh.
“Calm down there, buir. Omega’s still asleep.” He leaned back against the wall, looking at Fives, waiting for him to go on.
“Umbara.” That made Echo’s eyes widen, and he scooted closer.
“Oh. Force. You okay?” he asked, softer. “I know you said it was rough.”
Fives huffed dryly. “Rough is one word for it.” He paused, and Echo waited. It took a moment, but he found the story making its way slowly out. Echo didn’t say anything when he was done, just sat close to him, leaned in and pressed his forehead to Fives’.
“I’m sorry.”
Fives closed his eyes, leaned into his brother’s warm comfort. “It’s not your fault.”
“I wasn’t there,” Echo said simply.
“And I don’t wish you were. You’re better off without those memories, trust me.”
Pulling back, Echo was quiet for a moment. “I know. But I wish I’d been with you. Even so.”
“Yeah, well. We’ll never know what would have happened, so. No point dwelling on it.” Fives got up and stretched, then squeezed Echo’s shoulder before heading to the ‘fresher. “I’m fine, Echo. Really.” He didn’t look totally convinced, but nodded anyway.
They went around their day as usual, and occasionally Fives would catch his brother giving him a concerned look. He rolled his eyes. For Force’s sake, he’d said he was fine.
(But that didn’t stop him from crawling into Echo’s bunk later that night and snuggling as close to him as humanly possible.)
Okay I have a concept more than a title? I had a title but it slipped my mind- got one- said I would be back with a Logan ship
Chaos Collides - intrulogical?
(Do not worry- This works perfectly! Ty again, sorry for the delay! Sorry if this is too angsty for y'all lol)
(A side note: Yes this is intended to be pretty ambiguous)
Logan couldn't exactly what was the catalyst to this moment. But he could give you a summary of events, if you asked.
There were fires created by his own hands. Architecture crumbling at his feet. Winds causing havoc at his whims.
He... was fighting someone. Someone dear to him. That someone was Remus, the love of his life.
It all started with a casual argument that escalated. The two of them couldn't just agree. Then for some reason, they couldn't let those quarrels go. They fought more and more.
It eventually became physical. But not in the way that you'd expect.
They were both "reality benders", as they both eventually came to call it. The world would shape to their desires in anomalous ways, if they knew how to control it of course. And for the most part, they did.
So when their unwillingness to just accept they were wrong came to its worst, they used their powers. Logan had a bad temper, and Remus is naturally violent, so two of them warped reality in hopes of getting the other to shut up.
Maybe they shouldn't have acknowledged their anomalous side. Maybe then it would have saved them from this point. Maybe knowing that they could do anything they wanted is more a curse than a blessing.
Maybe Logan realized the weight of what he had been doing when an attack if his threw Remus to the ground, creating a crater in the city they had destroyed.
He weeped with Remus in his arms, too hurt to heal himself. Logan didn't have any knowledge on reversing injuries, so he couldn't help Remus either.
Logan screamed in emotional agony, begging for someone to do something. But there was nobody. All gone, thanks to the damage they both caused.
If only they hadn't been so stubborn.
'If only I'd just...'
'I f o n l y I . . .'
'I f o n l y . . .'
...
[Undocumented anomaly log; archived as #7823]
{As of May 10th 202X, the Foundation has been made aware via anonymous tip that a possible anomalous event has been discovered in _____, Florida. It appears to be a situation in which two months go by perfectly normally before the city is anomalously destroyed in the space of less than an hour, then suddenly restored to a state reflecting how it looked previously.}
[File SCP-XXXX has been drafted.]
[Undocumented anomaly log; SCP-XXXX]
{Further research and exploration attempts have concluded that the city of _____, Florida is trapped in a time loop of exactly two months, one week, and five days. The city is contained within an anomalous, invisible bubble that traps everyone from the inside and leaves them unknowledgeable of previous loops. Tests using D-class have informed us that the city residents believe themselves to be between the date of July 3rd and September 15th, 2018. This SCP should be marked as "Safe".}
[File SCP-XXXX has been created.]
[File SCP-XXXX was updated on June 30th, 202X.]
{On June 29th 202X, the Foundation was finally able to conclude that two unidentified reality benders are the cause of the time 'bubble', as well as the destruction of the city of _____. These two individuals have been classified SCP-XXXX-1 & SCP-XXXX-2. It is currently unknown if evacuation of city residents or containment of -1 & -2 is possible.}
...
"Perfect."
(Yes, this drabble was inspired by the SCP universe & its reality benders. I'm a pretty big SCP fan, haha. However it's not intended to be a real SCP, as it's not very fleshed out and super flawed, this is just a one off story.)
Summary: "Wei Ying doesn't know why he ended up on this exact island. All he knows is that he's scared, alone and hungry. And with a child."
-----
18 years later Wei Yuan has grown into a proper young man, helping his Baba to run the hotel on the island. On the week of his wedding, Wei Yuan comes across Wei Ying's diary and decides to invite the man mentioned in it to the island, unaware of the consequences it will bring.
Kay's comments: I never knew that I needed a MDZS Mamma Mia AU until I started reading this story. I have never even watched Mamma Mia (I know, shame on me, what kind of gay even am I), but I was so hooked on this story. So hooked in fact, that I read it first as it was published as a thread fic and then once again once it updated on AO3 and I could still hardly wait for the updates. The drama, the heartbreak, the angst, the found family! All of it was such a delight. The angst hit especially hard in this story and for the longest time, as a reader, you're wondering whether you even want Wei Ying and Lan Zhan to get back together again, but it all works out in the end without being a magical fix-it. Highly recommended.
Excerpt: Granny Wen extends a hand to brush away a strand from the young man's face, but the moment her fingers touch his forehead, she feels the heat coming from the boy. He's running a fever.
It would be inhuman to leave the boy to fate, so Granny Wen nudges him awake.
Once the silver eyes open, they immediately fill with fear, and the boy draws deep into the corner, looking like a frightened deer.
"It's alright," the woman speaks softly. "I won't hurt you."
The silver eyes are puffy and red-rimmed - it's clear that the young man has cried himself to sleep.
"It's alright," Granny Wen repeats. "You’re safe. I’m Granny Wen. What's your name?"
"W-Wei Ying," the boy's voice is hoarse, his throat dry as a dessert.
"Are you from the mainland?" she asks the next question, and the boy nods.
She notices how the boy's hands are placed protectively on his belly and she frowns.
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
Seventeen.
pov alternating, modern setting, modern no powers, mpreg, single parent wei wuxian, inspired by mamma mia!, one night stands, first time, unplanned pregnancy, traumatic childbirth, post-traumatic stress disorder, ptsd, illnesses, chronic illness, teen pregnancy, panic attacks, angst with a happy ending, emotional hurt/comfort, families of choice, no jiang cheng & wei wuxian reconciliation, background character death
~*~
(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)
