…..not even six hours later i got an offer of a well paying full time long-term job with free room and board in queens in nyc, allowing me independence and a way to escape an abusive situation and an unhealthy environment
likes charge reblogs cast, folks, this is the good luck post
the last time I reblogged this post right before I got a great job, in a permanent work-from-home position, with benefits, retirement, and a salary literally 3x what I was making before, doing something I really like.
I reblogged him the day i started treatment and 1. GOT TO MY APPOINTMENT ON TIME 2. FOUND A FREE PARKING TICKET SOMEONE LEFT IN THE METER FOR ME AND 3. GOT FREE STARBUCKS AFTER MY APPOINTMENT!!!!!
I’m convinced bc I reblogged this on Friday, got hired at a job I had a million interviews for, went on a first date that went well, and got kissed a billion times so like hell ya to the luck cat
A/n: Little Neuvillette manifesting piece, so he comes home on his banner lmao, feel free to rb this to manifest him too. I'll make a follow up post if he comes home lmao or not.
The rain hadn't stopped for days, not after Navia had poured her true feelings out to the Ludex himself, something that Lumine had been aware of, only because the creator themselves couldn't help but be worried for him, constantly speaking of how it was a pity that they couldn't meet him, couldn't speak to him themselves to soothe his pain.
Honestly, the creator was very benevolent, but she was getting tired of hearing the constant buzzing of their — very valid — concerns towards the weather and emotions of the Ludex.
She was driven almost to the point of seeking out the Ludex himself at times, though it seemed like he was burying himself in work to avoid his own feelings, much to his own detriment. And the Creator had been guiding her to finish various quests and meet many of the 'characters' of Fontaine, leading to a lack of opportunities to confront the man.
It all came to a head when they found him in Poisson, standing over the grave of Navia's father. After having asked all the questions she paused, looking at Neuvillette with a complicated expression.
"The Creator noticed the increase in rain for the past few days, they know it's related to you and what Navia said…" looking off into the sky and placing a hand on her chest she continued, speaking the words they wanted so desperately to tell them, "Please don't be sad, and dry your tears, you didn't have enough information at the time. This was not your fault." She breathed out, finally speaking the words she had heard for days now,
"That is what their grace wants to tell you."
Neuvillette stared, eyes wide and shoulders shaking slightly,
"....Please send my thanks to the Creator." He said softly, nodding as the words truly sunk into his mind. He said his goodbyes, leaving Lumine to continue on whatever quest the Creator would take her next.
———
He sat in his office, looking out towards the city of Fontaine, mulling over the words Lumine had relayed to him from the creator,
'Please don't be sad, and dry your tears, you didn't have enough information at the time. This was not your fault.'
"....You are truly kind, my Creator." He murmured, looking down on his cup, the swirling liquid reminiscent of the swirling torrent of his emotions. To be acknowledged, spoken to and even comforted by the creator was a special thing, things only heard and experienced by their most special vassals, mortals — and even immortals — who were blessed to bask in the eternal light of their Grace.
The stars shone as they fell from the sky, blue, purple and then some. He closed his eyes, hoping, waiting, wishing that he could be blessed by them.
a/n pls come home neuvi, i'm not guaranteed dnajnakdadinaasf I'm at 78 pity AAAAAAA
I can't remember exactly where I saw this (so if someone knows, could you tell me so I can give credit?) but people were talking about how likely you would be to survive in regions of teyvat in sagau based on your friendship levels (hope that made sense, im bad at explaining) and when I tell yall that i am dead, I MEAN IT.
I literally only learned how to use the teapot correctly in the last few months despite playing since 2021, so my friendship levels are actually so low 😭
Mondstadt - Okay, so I have 2 characters at level 10 from here, but its Bennett and Rosaria and if I'm being honest I don't know how influential they'd end up being. I think Rosaria could hold some sway but Bennett? I don't have much faith. However, I have Diluc and Sucrose at lv 6 and I feel like they are more useful for being able to influence others or hide me, depending on the situation.
Liyue - The best I'm going to get. I've got Zhongli at lv 10 which means I am SET, plus I've got Xingqui and Beidou at lv 10 as a fun extra. I don't have any of the adepti, but if Zhongli is rooting for me I should be set. Also lv 8 Keqing can't hurt, she's got more pull with the general public.
Inazuma - So I have Ayaka at lv 10 and because she's pretty important I will be clinging to her with my life because my next highest friendship character is Kuki at LV 2. I genuinely didn't realize how little I use Inazuma characters until right now, but unless Ayaka helps save the day I am dead immediantly.
Sumeru - ... You guys know how Inazuma would be bad for me? Sumeru would be HELL. I have ONE CHARACTER at lv 3 (Tighnari) and everybody else from there is lv 1. I would get tracked down and killed so fast it isn't even funny. 😭
I saw this concept a while ago and i would have been fucked but it’s been a while and friendship levels have changed so:
Mondstadt: I have lvl 9 Kaeya which is pretty good because he is a captain and has a certain influence in mond. Similar with lvl 6 Amber, I mean two people from the knights gotta have some good impact. But that was it already lol. I have a lvl 3 bennett and the rest is below that.
Liyue: I have one a pretty good one here. lvl 10 Zhongli is in the house. I also have lvl 9 Chongyun and I am pretty sure he can convince Xingqiu, who also has a good status in liyue, but that was it here. The rest is lvl 1 because i use some just for certain domains or bosses and don’t have them in my teapot.
Inazuma: Listen here Inazuma is my Jackpot because i have 3 lvl 10 characters which are: Ayato, Heizou and Kuki. I mean Kuki has good contacts i guess but i have two persons from different comissions thats real nice Inazuma would be one if not THE safest one for me. I could also have luck on watasumi because I have lvl 6 gorou.
Sumeru: When I come to teyvat after Scara became Wanderer I have a nice chance because he is lvl 10 and has pretty nice connect with Nahida and i have the Academia’s grand scribe at lvl 6 and Tighnari on lvl 4.
I think I’m pretty save in sagau if it’s based on friendship (please ignore any errors it’s 4.30 am and I am writing this before bed but if I really wanted to do this too Good night <3)
a/n: first off, i'm very sorry for having such a long gap between chapters! i've been very sick and am just now getting back into the swing of things. regardless, i had a lot of fun writing this one (mainly bc of the chat) but also because we're getting into the mission side of things now! as usual, thank you all for reading and for getting my bum blog to over 600 followers. i love u all <3
friendly reminder that this work is written with a fem!reader in mind, but with no specified features
PROLOGUE, CH. I, CH. II, CH. III
The team of five were all currently strewn along a small row of hills that were neatly situated by what is expected to be Sergei’s home. Price had taken it upon himself to break them off into groups of two, one consisting of Gaz, Ghost, and himself while the other consisted of Soap and Shadow. While she would’ve much rather been situated with Price or even Ghost, she knew this was just the older man’s way of making sure she was ‘building a rapport’ with the team. Even so, that didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to be a little annoyed with her current situation, especially when he didn’t seem to catch onto the fact that she preferred sitting in a slightly awkward silence. Not like Ghost had.
“We’ve been out ‘ere for over an hour. How do we even know this eejit is gonna be here,” Soap groaned out on the comms.
Price’s voice crackles through the otherwise silent night, “The intel is reliable. Just a bit longer, Sergeant.”
“An hour?” He scoffs, “Coulda fooled me,” He said, punctuating his sentence with a roll of his eyes.
He looks at Shadow from the corner of his eye, still as a statue and quiet as ever. He leans in a tad bit closer and nudges her shoulder with his as he speaks, “Whaddya think o’ this? Surely you’ve got some opinions. Don’t even know where this supposed intel came from, ye ken?”
Despite having no real interest in talking with the man, she couldn’t help but feel a little insulted at his indirect jab.
“I was the one who got the intel,” She huffs out.
She’d been in this position once with König once before and she was witness to the way the absolute mountain of a man had grown a bit sheepish at her reveal and so, naturally, she expected the man beside her to do the same. Only, he didn’t.
“We barely know you woman. Point still stands.”
She resisted the urge to send him rolling down the hill before responding.
“My intel is always good. If this goes wrong, I won’t be the one to blame.”
Soap goes quiet for a few moments as she barely holds back a sigh of relief, satisfied that the chatterbox of a man had finally gone quiet. Deep down however, she knew it was too good to be true.
“Where’d a wee lass like you come from anyway? You just dropped in on us, didn’t cha?”
Definitely too good to be true.
“Not important.”
“Oh come on, you can’t avoid the question forever! How ‘bout something simple, eh? Where ya from?”
She pauses for a moment and looks down at the blades of grass poking into the skin of her hands. She’d never really given it any thought before, but of course, she couldn’t tell him that. Deciding she wanted a small break from the man’s chatter being directed toward her, she lifted a hand and pressed a small black button on her radio before speaking.
“Is Soap always this chatty?”
She ignores the way Soap’s jaw goes slack as she waits for a response to come through. Luckily, it comes in the form of Price.
“Soap, what’d I tell you about that mouth of yours?”
Soap quickly wipes the look of bewilderment off his face as he scrambles to locate his own push-to-talk button. After a few moments of watching him frantically patting himself down to find it, Shadow debates on sharing her own comms device with him for the time being but ultimately shuts that thought down as Soap locates his.
“Cap, I’m just being friendly!”
“There’s a difference between friendly and annoying,” Gaz chimes in.
“Wha– I’m just tryin’ to get to get to know her!”
Ghost cuts in, “Keep focused, Sergeant. You’re on mission.”
Soap rolls his eyes, “Says the one who was spittin’ out jokes left and right just a few nights ago. Tha’s right, I didn’t forget.”
“I’m not one for jokes, Sergeant.”
Soap takes his finger off the small button as he scoffs lightly.
“Ole bloke’s bum’s oot the windae.”
The woman narrows her eyes in confusion before giving him a nudge with her shoulder, a questioning look on her face.
Soap clicks his tongue, “He’s a fuckin’ liar.”
She gives a small hum of acknowledgement before turning her attention back on the house that had yet to see any activity since they’d first settled on the hill. While she was more than confident in her abilities to gather the most up to date and accurate intel, it wasn’t unheard of to have missions fall through because of other unseen hindrances. Still, she’d waited much longer in far worse conditions than what the group was currently in and something told her they had too.
“Whaddya think this guy’ll be like?”
As much as she wanted to sigh and tell him to be quiet, she knew Price wouldn’t approve of such treatment so she opted for something a bit safer.
“I don’t know. Probably Russian.”
She watched as Soap’s lips split into a grin.
“Was that a joke?”
No response.
“Are you a joker?”
She dug her nails into the palm of her hand as she decided to remain quiet. A few quiet minutes passed before he spoke up yet again.
“Mind if I call you Ghosty?”
No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t wipe the exasperated expression off her face as she spoke, “Why would you do that?”
“‘S like I said in the safe house. You’re like a mini ghost,” His eyes light up and his smile grows impossibly wider before continuing, “How ‘bout Casper?”
Annoying as his chat was, she couldn’t help but grow curious.
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“That cartoon, ye ken?”
She gave him a blank stare causing his brows to raise in what seems to be surprise.
“Dinnae ken?”
Her blank stare morphs into confusion and he takes that as his cue to translate.
“You don’t know?”
She shakes her head no and his surprise only seems to grow into bewilderment.
“Ye lyin’ to me?”
She shakes her head no once more as he lets out a sigh.
“Kinda takes the fun out the name then,” He says in a quiet tone as if he was thinking.
She debates on letting the silence fall upon them once more, but ultimately decides he’ll be the one to inevitably break it so she decides to take the initiative and speak.
“What’s Casper?”
He looks over at her, eyes widened ever so slightly at her words, but he still manages to plaster on a smile as he speaks.
“He’s a ghost. A friendly one.”
She arches a brow.
“A friendly ghost?”
“Yeah, that’s his whole gimmick. Casper the Friendly Ghost. He’s mainly based on some comics, but he’s got a movie too. Not half bad.”
“How’s a friendly ghost get a movie?”
Soap waves her off as he continues, “I’ll tell ya about that later.”
“Why not now?”
His grin softens into a more friendly one as he looks into her steely eyes, “Gives me somethin’ ta talk to ye about later.”
Not quite sure how to respond, she gives a simple nod before turning away.
“Still gonna need to find ye a name.”
She scoffs, “Shadow not good enough for you?”
Soap shakes his head, “Reminds me of an old dog my gren used to have, always hated that minging lil mutt.”
“Don’t like dogs?”
“Can’t stand ‘em. You?”
She purses her lips, “Never had one.”
Soap huffs out a small breath of air, “Keep it tha’ way.”
She opens her mouth to respond, but immediately shuts it closed after seeing a faint beam of light in the distance. She ducks her head down and flattens her body against the grassy hill as Soap begins speaking through the comms.
“We’ve got light in the distance. You seeing this?”
Price is the one to respond. “Affirmative. Stay low and wait for my order.”
The group lay quietly against the ground, their eyes focused on the small grey car maneuvers its way along the paved road that was dotted with small stones and patches of dirt.
Soap whispers, “Think that’s our guy?”
She keeps her eyes locked on the car as it pulls into the driveway of the moderately sized single story house as she responds, “Has to be.”
As soon as the words fall from her lips, the car door opens and a man steps out. The woman narrows her eyes as she begins to study him, everything from his body shape all the way to the shape of his nose. Just as she had finished her assessment of the man, Price’s low voice made its way through her comms.
“Target confirmed. Gaz, Ghost, and I are gonna make our way over and clear the outside of the house. I’ll radio you two over and we can start makin’ our way in. Got it?”
She looks over to Soap who offers her a small nod before she speaks through her small radio, “Got it.”
“Good. Cover us.”
She and the man beside her watch with bated breath as they divide their attention between their three teammates who were currently making their way around the premises and keeping an eye out for any unexpected visitors. She almost dreaded the silence that came over the two of them as she expected Soap to break out some random question, but instead felt a small wave of satisfaction overcome her being as he remained quiet.
At least he knows when to shut up, she thought.
A few more minutes pass by of her and Soap alternating their focus on their fellow teammates and being on lookout of the surrounding area before their comms crackle to life with the rare voice of Ghost.
“All clear. Get over here.”
She and Soap give their own responses of agreement before plucking themselves up off the grassy hill and slowly advancing toward the front entrance of the house where she could see they were crouched near. She gave herself the luxury of falling behind Soap and allowing him to lead the way over to the others. If anyone crept up on them from behind, she knew she could deal with it quickly and quietly. She wasn’t too sure if he possessed the same ability. After all, she’d never seen him work in the field before. Besides, she figured she might get Price to loosen up on her when it comes to making friends with the team if such a thing occurred because despite keeping good on her promise so far, she still didn’t fully understand his philosophy. This mission would be the first and last time she would ever cross paths with the men Price had deemed as the 141, and that was assuming she’d make it out alive. As far as she’s concerned, she was practically running toward death with open arms by deciding to finally go after Volkov. She found she doesn’t particularly mind however, she knows she’s as expendable as a person in their line of work could get.
“You two took your time,” Gaz quietly remarks.
“Tryin’ not to get to hit,” Soap replies with a small eye roll.
Gaz offers a small hum before Price begins to speak.
“We fall into a single file line. Shadow, you’re at the front and you work your magic on that door. I’ll be behind ya and Ghost, Soap, and Gaz will be on lookout. Got it?”
The team begins to nod but stop when Gaz opens his mouth, “Magic? What’s she doing to the door?”
His question goes unanswered as they begin to walk toward the entrance of the door.
“Fuck me then,” He mutters before falling into position.
The line quickly comes to a halt as Shadow kneels down and pulls out a few bobby pins from one of her pockets. She brings it up to the lock of the door and begins messing around with it for just under a minute before it clicks open. She stands back up and gives Price a small nod.
“Faster than I remember,” He states.
She only shrugs.
Gaz peeks his head around the others as he speaks, “That’s a scary skill to have.”
She spares him a glance.
“Useful one too,” She quips before situating herself behind Price as he slowly swings the door open. The team files into the small home with Ghost and Soap pairing off together while Price and Gaz do the same. If Price felt annoyed by her not joining any of them he didn’t bother making it known as she began to creep around the small home, light on her feet and gun heavy in hand. As she ventured from room to room, she did feel a small twinge of worry tug at her heart from just how quiet the Magerovski residence was. She could only hope her team was capable of handling themselves if something were to go wrong. Then again, she also knew Price only surrounded himself with the best of the best. She briefly wondered when he decided she was worthy enough to make it onto that list or if she had even made it at all. She almost rolled her eyes at her thoughts. Of course she had.
Her steps came to a sudden stop upon hearing a sudden crash make its way through the home. Her grip on the gun in her hand tightened as her forefinger began twitching at the mere thought of having to press onto the trigger, but stopped upon hearing Soap’s rough voice call out.
“Get in ‘ere!”
Upon hearing those three words, the woman straightens out her back as her feet immediately begin walking in the direction of where she’d hear Soap’s voice. She pays no mind to Gaz who practically flinches when he bumps into her as he turns a sharp corner, her mind all too consumed with finding the British-Scottish duo. She eventually finds herself walking into a moderately sized kitchen with both Gaz and Price settling themselves beside her. Her eyes immediately dart over to the countertop where Ghost has a man’s hands pinned behind his back as he harshly presses his face onto a large wooden chopping board that sits atop the hard marble surface. Upon further inspection of the squirming man she can clearly see it’s Magerovski.
Price is the one to step forward as he gives Ghost a small wave of his hand. The masked man gives a small nod before grabbing Magerovski by the hair on the back of his head and roughly throwing him to the floor. She watches as the man narrowly avoids banging his head against the wooden flooring of his home while Ghost goes to stand beside Soap, heartless as ever. She looks back over to see him firmly grasp onto the man’s arm before pulling him into a kneeling position, both his knees planted firmly on the ground as he stares up at the bearded man with a grimace of pain who only offers a cold smile.
He sticks his hand out, “Sergei Magerovski, pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
The man in question stares at his hand with a look of disdain and harshly pushes it away from him before he begins a fast-paced angry rant in his native tongue, Russian. She shifts her attention away from the man and focuses it on the sullen faces of the 141 men as they realize that the Russian man from Russia does not speak English. She holds in her sigh of frustration as she goes to stand by Price.
“You can’t understand him?”
He turns to her with a cocked brow, “You can?”
I can’t wait for this mission to be over so I can lay into Laswell, she thought.
Pushing down the growing pool of annoyance bubbling up inside her, she stepped in front of Price and knelt down on one knee in order to look directly into the eyes of Magerovski who had since dropped his rant. She stared at him for a few moments before allowing the language that had been engraved in her mind roll off her tongue.
“Your friend, Volkov, where is he?”
The man’s eyes appear to momentarily gleam upon hearing his native tongue being spoken back to him before quickly darkening as he speaks.
“I don’t know of a man named Volkov. I live freely based on my own will, there is no time for friends.”
She pulls her mouth into a small frown.
“That sounds lonely but,” She stops herself and appears to think to herself for a moment before continuing with her eyes locked onto his, “I can’t help but wonder if those little girls you train help with that.”
The man huffs out an airy laugh.
“I do not know what you speak of.”
She lets out a deep sigh before slowly rising to her feet. She takes a few steps away from the man as she runs a hand over the counter Ghost previously had him hunched over. She allows her fingers to trail along the cutting board before her eyes wander over to the knife block. She brings a hand up to it and keeps it there for a moment before grasping onto the stainless steel knife sharpening rod. She balances out the hefty weight in her hand before speaking with a wistful tone.
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
Not bothering to offer a warning to the other four men in the room, the woman whips her body around and roughly swings the metal rod onto the face of her prey. She watches with great satisfaction as he tumbles to the ground with a cry of anguish, his hands coming up to touch his face in a pitiful attempt to soothe the bruise that would no doubt begin to form soon.
A scoff escapes her lips as she begins to speak with a mocking smile, “What, was that too harsh?”
She quickly sends a brutal kick to the man’s stomach causing him to groan out in pain. She kneels down beside him with the steel rod tightly clutched in her hand that she uses to dig into the same spot she had kicked.
“I know you’re not being honest with me,” She practically spits out at the man.
He shakes his head as he tries to squirm away from the rod she was pressing against his abdomen, “I– I know nothing! I swear it, just stop! Please stop!”
The woman harshly pushes the rod against the man’s stomach once more before pulling it away and tossing it to the side with a loud clatter. The man sucks in a breath of relief as he attempts to calm his breathing while she watches with a blank expression and a dead stare. After a few minutes the man lets out a shaky breath as he turns to face Shadow, an unknown glint of something she couldn’t recognize shining in his eyes. A small smile pulls onto his face as he begins to speak.
“I can see why Volkov favored you so much.”
Her shoulders tense and her hands clench into fists as she can now feel herself hanging onto every word the man beneath her says.
“Such power and grace…You are surely his greatest accomplishment,” He lets out an almost dreamy sigh as he continues to stare into her eyes, “The perfect Widow.”
She tries to push down the growing nausea in her stomach as he continues.
“It’s a shame what you have become, the life you threw away. I would’ve enjoyed working with you.”
She feels herself grow rigid at the thought as the man continues to stare her down, as if he knew the effect he was having on her. As if he knew there wasn’t a single day that passed her by that she wasn’t haunted by the memories of the Red Room. He reaches a hand out to touch her face.
“Pity,” He states.
Using the hand resting on her face, Magerovski roughly pushes her onto the floor. She watches out of the corner of her eye as the man scrambles to his feet and begins forming a plan of escape. She quickly reaches her arm out to grasp onto his ankle before giving it a firm yank causing him to fall back onto the ground. She gives the man a hard glare and nearly pounces on him before she feels a hand come down on her shoulder. Her eyes dart to the hand before looking up to see Soap staring down at her with his other hand outstretched toward her. She stares at it for a moment before shrugging him off her and standing on her own. He gives her a quick once over before stepping back as she looks back down at the man groveling on the floor.
“Enough games. Where is he?”
He switches his attention to the group of five standing over him as he speaks.
“You’ve already invaded my home…Why not do it some more?”
His eyes shift over to the living room before looking back to Shadow.
“He’ll be happy to see you.”
Before any of them can react, the man quickly reaches into the pockets of his pants and pulls out a white pill. He quickly pops it into his mouth and bites down on it before gulping down the contents. The men watch on in confusion while Shadow simply opts to look away as Magerovski’s eyes slowly begin to roll back while his body convulses and white foam spills from between his lips. She doesn’t bother to look at the men beside her until the sounds of Magerovski’s seizure come to a stop.
Gaz is the first to speak, “What the bloody hell was that?”
Her lips press into a thin line before speaking, “Cyanide pill. Volkov equips all his workers with them to prevent them from talking.”
Soap raises his brows, “And they just take it?”
“They’re brainwashed, they don’t know any better.”
Price sighs, “So we’ve got nothing then?”
She shakes her head before nodding over to the living room.
“He’s hiding something in there.”
Ghost narrows his eyes, “He said that?”
She looks at the man on the floor for a split second before turning back to the group of men.
“He said lot of things,” She gives a small shrug, “This just so happens to be the most useful.”
Despite seeing the growing confusion on each of the men’s faces, she merely walks past them and into the living room. She looks around the small room before she’s joined by Price.
“You really think he’s telling the truth?”
“It was the last thing he said before he offed himself. It’s worth a shot.”
Price seems to mull over her words before giving a slow nod.
“Alright then.”
“I think I’ve found something,” Gaz calls out as he removes a hand from the small vent bolted into the wall.
The other four gather around him and watch as he jumps down from the small armchair he was balancing himself on. Shadow eyes remain sharp as she focuses her attention on the small leatherbound journal Gaz hands over to Price who quickly opens it and begins flipping through the pages. His lips settle down into a thin line before releasing a sigh and handing the book over to Shadow. She offers the older man a short glance though the lashes of her eyes before taking it into her hands and going through the book herself. Unsurprisingly she found that everything was scrawled out in Russian, Russian cursive to be exact. As her eyes trail over the various bits of information the now dead man had scribbled out onto the pages, she felt someone approach her from behind. She quickly closed the book and whipped her head around to see Soap standing there with a sheepish grin as he pointed to the book in her hand.
“Just wanted to see tha’.”
She narrows her eyes at the man in a short lived glare before opening the book once more, this time with Soap peering over her shoulder.
“Yer tellin’ me we went in for this? That man’s rather daft, ain’t he?”
Upon hearing Soap’s words, Gaz and Ghost both wander over to her and allow their eyes to hone in on the swirly lines.
“Well that’s…That’s–”
Gaz is interrupted by Ghost.
“Cursive.”
Soap’s eyes widen considerably as he turns to face the masked man.
“Yer tellin’ me that nonsense is actually spelling out something? Dinnae be telling me them big ol’ havers!”
Shadow looks over to Soap with a brow raised.
“He’s telling me lies,” He translates.
Her eyes peer down at the book in her hands once more before closing it.
“No, he’s right. It’s the Russian form of cursive.”
Gaz’s face morphs into one of astonishment.
“You can read that?”
She shrugs, “Writing in cursive is more common in Russia than it is in other places. More incentive to learn, I suppose.”
Price decides to interject, “Is there anything useful in there?”
Her hands tighten around the book.
“From the pages I skimmed over, it does seem to offer more insight to Volkov. Think I even saw a few coordinates written down, I’ve got a feeling Laswell might make more sense of it than I could. Maybe she could pin down a location.”
Price nods, “Then I want you to get in contact with Laswell and keep me updated. As for the rest of you…Make yourselves useful and get that man out of the kitchen. I’ve got a feeling we’re gonna have to stay low for a while.”
Well, would you look at that……I wrote smth for Dottore. To think that @diodellet was right when she read his scene in my Pantalone fic and joked that it was “totally not a reference to what [my] next fatui fique will be” ;-;
For Dottore’s twisted love story, I took a darker different approach for the yandere’s methods and Darling’s personality!! This was quite fun to write, so I hope you all enjoy reading this. And thank you again to Diodellet for your excellent feedback ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝
Tw:: YANDERE, unhealthy relationships, kidnapping, stalking, blood, violence, death, medical malpractice, drugging, needles, Dottore being himself, spice, mention of nsfw, MINORS DNI
Note:: Female reader, characterization is based on both Webttore and Primettore
♡ 13.5k words under the cut ♡
i. endorphins
The Nilotpala lotuses are in full glow.
You examine their shadows. It won’t take long for the flowers to close.
Over the past hour, the world has gradually responded to the sun’s arrival. The stars disappeared. The night sky was repainted with pastel colors. The Nilotpala lotuses ceased to be your only source of light.
Concentrate. You can’t miss this.
You hold up your pocketwatch and continue staring at the flowers.
The sunlight reaches the swamp. The Nilotpala lotuses react immediately, gold centers dimming and blue petals closing. One by one, each flower is put to sleep by the sun’s kiss.
You wade past the lilypads and return to dry ground. Your first course of action is to document the observation in your journal.
-
Time: 5:20:11.
Location: Devantaka Mountain, western swamp.
Notes: Photonasty triggered two seconds after direct exposure to sunlight. No variations in individual speed, light intensity, and overall process.
-
About time. Picking up your lantern, you leave the swamp and return to the mountain trail. Halfway down, a strange noise alerts you.
Metal. Sparks. Has a Ruin Machine been activated?
The mechanical sounds are followed by excited murmurs.
Here it is, the side story to Chemistry!! This fic is a collection of bonus scenes + a mini epilogue written from Dottore’s POV. I hope you all enjoy this glimpse into the wicked Doctor’s feelings (｡・//ε//・｡)
Once again, lots of love to @diodellet for another life-saving peer review!! And thank you to everyone who read Chemistry. Your brainrot feedback means the world to me <3
Tw:: YANDERE, unhealthy relationships, stalking, medical malpractice, drugging, mention of violence, Dottore being himself, mild nsfw, nonconsensual somnophilia, MINORS DNI
Note:: Female reader, characterization is based on both Webttore and Primettore
♡ 4.6k words under the cut ♡
I. Subject I shows symptoms of naturally occurring infatuation. Mental faculties are coherent, though there are clear signs of fatigue, poor sleep quality, and academic burnout. Trial experiments have been successfully concluded.
Zandik has long been fascinated by the theory of love.
Love—one of the biggest mysteries of the world, a phenomenon based on interpersonal attraction, an unsolved concept which varies across individuals and relationships. In the realm of science, it can be defined by an all-encompassing range of intense symptoms.
Involuntary physical reactions. Heightened feelings of euphoria, anxiety, and despair. Illogical fantasies and blind devotion. The impairment of rationality.
By that definition, romantic love is simply a common illness.
When one falls in love, they become a slave to their own volatile desires. Everything, from their cognitive control to their emotional wellbeing, can be easily manipulated by another. It is for this reason that the position of the beloved is arguably more desirable.
To be the object of one’s affection is to occupy their waking thoughts and dreams. It is to hold power over one’s physical body and mental faculties by merely existing in their world.
To be loved is to be adored on the level of a god.
a/n: full disclosure: this chapter may feel a bit half baked in comparison to the others (in my mind at least) but rest assured, the next one will be more mission based and i've already got a ton of ideas bouncing around for that so stay tuned!! (also thank you so much for 550+ followers, you guys are spoiling me i swear)
friendly reminder that this work is written with a fem!reader in mind, but with no specified features
PROLOGUE, CH. I, CH.II
The lights of the conference room are turned off and the blinds shut as Laswell flicks the projector on. The group is silent as they come face to face with the image of a man appearing to be somewhere in his early fifties holding a phone up to his ear as he gets into a black car. His lips are turned downward in a frown and despite the graininess of the image, it's clear that his eyes are filled with something eerie. Something sinister.
“This is Ivan Volkov. He’s been a person of interest for the CIA for over fifteen years.”
The man with the mohawk speaks, “Why’s that?”
“Volkov has been suspected of various crimes over the years, but the most prevalent among them all is his…creativity when it comes to human trafficking.”
Laswell switches the slide from the picture of Volkov to one that showcases the infamous hourglass symbol accompanied by various faces of little girls surrounding it.
“The main reason the CIA has had their eye on Volkov for so long is because of his practice of taking young girls, often through force, and putting them through rigorous training program so they can join his own personal team of workers, namely assassins. He calls it the Red Room.”
Union Jack cap cuts in, “And why hasn't he been taken in already?”
Laswell sighs, “Because no one could prove that he was actually doing such things so we just had to sit by and do nothing except wait for him to slip up. Unfortunately that never happened, at least not directly.”
Laswell nods her head in the direction of Shadow.
“Four years ago, Shadow was able to confirm the existence of the Red Room. Since then, she's been gathering intel on Volkov in order to pinpoint the exact location of the Red Room as well as mass pick up points for the girls he keeps hidden away until he can put them into the Red Room.”
Mohawk decides to speak up once more, “If Volkov’s gone and kidnapped them, why are they so keen on working for the lad?”
“We can't say for sure, but I think it's safe to assume the reason these girls are taken so young is because their brains are still developing. At that stage, it’d be rather easy for him to get in and manipulate them into doing his dirty work for him.”
Not wanting to stay on the topic of what Volkov did to these girls, what he did to her, Shadow decides to interject.
“So what’s your plan to catch him? I’m assuming that’s why you’ve rounded us all up here.”
As soon as the words leave her mouth, everyone in the room turns their attention to her. The three unfamiliar men each showcasing varying degrees of surprise while Price and Laswell both seem to be caught off guard by the woman’s voice unexpectedly cutting through the conversation. Deciding not to vocalize the collective wave of shock rolling through the small room, Laswell simply nods.
“Yes, you’d be correct.”
Wanting to redirect the boys’ attention off Shadow, he speaks up.
“What’ve you got for us then?”
“You’ll first be flown into the heart of Moscow and dropped off at a base there before meeting up with a few contacts of mine based in Russia. They’ll drop you off ten klicks north of a village by the name of Samat where a close contact of Volkov’s resides; Sergei Magerovski. He, unfortunately, won’t be there the night you arrive so you’ll have to stay in a safe house just outside of the village. Once he arrives however, your job will be to apprehend him and get him to reveal the location of the Red Room. From there, Shadow will get in contact with me and we’ll plan accordingly.”
Price sighs as he gives Laswell a skeptical look, “That’s the plan? Seems half baked to me.”
Laswell shrugs as she leans back in her chair, “Out of all the enemies we’ve faced, Volkov is by the far the most elusive and secretive. It took hours just to find anything about Magerovski’s existence. Call him what you want, but he’s a smart man. He knows how to hide.”
Price spares a glance over to Shadow who gives him a near hesitant nod of her head before turning back to Laswell.
“Alright then. When do we leave?”
Laswell smiles, “Tonight.”
After the rather short meeting with Laswell had ended, Shadow was the first one out the door. While it wasn’t her intention to come off as rude to the rest of the team, she knew that’s what it probably looked like. So much for being a team player.
Even so, she refused to dwell on the small interaction and instead decided to start getting her gear together for the upcoming mission thinking it would take a while. Unfortunately she managed to gather everything she needed rather quickly, even with all of the extra bulk she’d be carrying around. While she greatly preferred to keep the amount of gear she took with her on missions minimal, she knew she’d need to carry a bit more than what she was used to. Not only to keep up with what was sure to be a hellish force of Volkov’s army of assassins, but also her new teammates for the time being.
What a strange word, she thought, teammates.
She continued to mull over the single word throughout the rest of her day. Even now as she sat in the back of the plane in one of the seats lined against the walls, bag neatly tucked under her seat as her fingers tap against her thigh in time with the piano notes of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’.
Upon hearing footsteps approach her, she switches her music player off and rips out her earbud before turning her attention to the origin of the noise where she's pleasantly surprised to see Price approaching her with two cups of pudding in his hands. She wraps her headphone cable around the music player as she speaks.
“Why do you have pudding?”
Price sits beside her and holds one out to her before replying, “It’s Friday.”
The woman catches in quickly as she takes the cup of pudding from his outstretched hand.
“Our dessert day.”
Price gives her a nod of confirmation before pulling out two spoons from his pocket and sticking one in her cup. She mumbles out a small ‘thank you’ before they begin eating.
Surprisingly, Shadow is the first to speak.
“How do you feel about the mission?”
Price gulps down his spoonful of vanilla pudding before responding.
“Wish it was a bit more well laid out, but what can you do? The bloke is a dodgy little twit. What about you?”
The woman plops her spoon in the remaining bit of her strawberry pudding as she takes a few moments to think. On one hand she was more than happy to be going after Volkov, but on the other hand, she couldn't help but feel like something awful was going to happen.
“I’m not sure. I suppose I’m feeling a mix of things.”
“Understandable, but you've gotta feel the least bit proud of yourself, no? You've been tracking this arsehole for the better part of four years now. Must be nice to have the go head to finally get after him.”
She sighs, “It is, but I have a bad feeling. Something doesn't feel right.”
Price gulps down the last bite of his pudding, “You sure that feeling doesn't have anything to do with the fact you’re working with a team for once?”
She takes in another gulp of her pudding, “Pretty sure. It feels different.”
Price bites down on his lip before turning to her and resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, a small wave of pride flooding his chest when he notices she doesn't flinch at his touch like she used to.
“You know well enough by now to know I can't tell you everything’s gonna go right, kid.”
Her lips purse in thought.
“But,” He gently turns her head to face him, “I can promise you that my men and I will be there with you every step of the way. You’re part of the team now, even if it is just for this mission.”
He pulls his hands away from her and leans back against the seat before she decides to speak.
“Thank you, Price…I appreciate that.”
He waves her off.
“No need for all that. Just do me a favor and start calling me Captain Price. At least when we're around the others. Higher rank and all that.”
She’s quiet for a few moments.
“Technically I don't have a rank.”
Price jokingly rolls his eyes at her comment.
“Fuckin’ mercies,” He mutters.
“Mercies?”
“Mercenaries. That's what my old Captain used to call ‘em. Suppose I took after him.”
She nods as she finishes off the last of her pudding.
“You've still gotta refer to me as Captain Price, or even just Captain.”
This time she’s the one to roll her eyes as she crosses her arms with a small smile.
“Yeah, fine. I’ll entertain it.”
“I’m being serious, kid.”
“Mhm. Yeah, whatever you say Captain Price,” she replies in a mocking tone.
He shakes his head in mild disapproval. As much as he wants to scold her for not taking him as seriously as he’d like, he couldn't bring himself to do so. It was a rare sight to see her initiating conversation, much less take part of his playful teasing. He didn't have the heart to ruin it.
Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the sound of multiple pairs of boots padding across the metal flooring of the plane made its way to her ears. Both she and Price looked up to see the Soap, Gaz, and the tall man whose name she hadn't quite learned yet step onto the plane and set their bags of gear down under the seats they decided to occupy. She couldn't help but notice it was on the other end of where she’d settled down. Not that she minded, she didn’t want to talk to them before it was necessary.
Price looks down at his watch.
“Looks like we’ll be taking off in just a few minutes. You want to come sit with the guys over there? I’ve gotta make sure they don't start taking the piss.”
She stares at them for a few moments before eventually shaking her head.
“No, I think I’ll try to get some sleep.”
Price narrows his eyes in suspicion at her answer, but decides not to push it any farther as he gets up.
“I’ll let you play the lone wolf for just a bit longer, but no more after this. You’ve got to start talking to them, build a rapport. They're not bad once you get to know them.”
She looks them over once more before turning her attention back to Price.
“The safe house. I’ll start there, I promise”
He points a finger her way with a stern expression, “‘M gonna hold ya to that.”
She gives him a small nod before he gives her a small pat on the shoulder and walks off to sit with the group of men. She watches them for a few moments longer before leaning her head back against the stiff seat and closing her eyes, willing the plane to take off sooner than later.
It had been a little under fifteen minutes after Price had decided to go over and sit with the boys, and the plane was now soaring through the air as a calm and quiet chatter filled the atmosphere around the small group. The moment could almost be seen as relaxing if you chose to ignore the reason why they were even on the plane in the first place, but of course, Soap decided to open his mouth.
“Hey Cap, I’ve got a question for ya.”
Price knew deep down he probably wouldn’t care for whatever inquiry Soap was prepared to spill from his mouth, but he allowed it anyway.
“What is it?”
Soap pointed a finger over where Shadow was sitting with her eyes closed and head leaned back.
“You know ‘er?”
Price couldn’t even bring himself to act surprised. He’d been expecting this question, but even so, it was Soap asking so he couldn’t help but delay his response just a tad.
“What makes you say that?”
Soap shrugs as he leans back in his seat and crosses his ankles over one another, “You two were eating pudding together before you ran off over here when we showed up. Just thought you might have history.”
Price doesn’t respond, causing Gaz to speak up.
“She your girlfriend, Captain?”
The boys watch Price’s face begins to grow considerably pale at the question as he seems to stumble over his words for a moment as he tries to respond.
“What? No, I–”
He lets out a deep sigh as he tries to compose himself.
“–No, She is not my girlfriend and nor will she ever.”
A beat of silence passes over the group of four before Soap speaks, a smug smile stretched on his face as he nudges Gaz with his shoulder.
“Bit defensive there, eh?”
Gaz and Soap attempt to stifle their laughter as Price seems to grow increasingly more flustered at their insinuations. While finding the teasing of the younger members mildly amusing, Ghost decides to take this moment to ask a question of his own.
“Well then what do you know about her?”
Gaz and Soap quiet down as the stern voice of their shared lieutenant cuts through the air. They both turn their attention back to Price who seems to be equal parts thankful and exasperated by Ghost’s question. He clears his throat before leaning back in his seat, one hand clasped tightly around the spare pen he grabbed from one of the pockets sewn onto his tactical vest.
“What’s got you lot so curious?”
“Never received a file on her, as good as a stranger,” Ghost replies as he crosses his arms over his broad chest.
Price spares a glance toward the topic of discussion out of the corner of his eye before settling it back on his team.
“She’s experienced and capable. Not to mention the most knowledgeable about Volkov out of any of us. She’ll be an asset to this team,” He says simply.
Ghost narrows his eyes, “You’re not telling us everything, are you?”
Price shrugs, “I’m tellin’ you the things that matter. You wanna learn more about her?” He points in her direction, “Then you can ask her yourself,” He finishes with a tone of finality, effectively ending the discussion.
Gaz and Soap hang their heads low in slight disappointment at Price’s answer before quickly moving onto another topic of discussion while Ghost keeps his eyes locked on the woman. It’s only after he receives a small kick from Price that he tears his gaze away from her. He always did have a staring problem.
“Yer aff yer heid.”
“English, MacTavish.”
“Use your fuckin’ context clues, L.T.”
“You little shite-”
Price stops in his tracks and turns his body around to face the two men with a glare.
“I’m gonna give you two a proper beating if you don’t shut up.”
Soap’s eyes widen as he jerks a finger toward Ghost, “He started it!”
“I don’t care who started it. My only concern is finding this safe house and getting you lot out of my hair for a moment,” He practically seethes, his patience for the two bickering men having diminished long ago. He opens his mouth to continue his rant, but is stopped by three gentle taps on his shoulder. He whips his head toward the origin of the touch to reveal Gaz pointing toward Shadow who was currently staring at the group from the porch of what seemed to be a cabin off in the distance.
“I found the safe house,” Soap states.
Price spares him another glance as he narrows his eyes, “You’re on thin ice, Sergeant.”
Not wanting to spend another moment outside, he stalks off in the direction of Shadow with Gaz quietly trailing by his side. As the silhouette of his captain and other sergeant grow smaller with the distance, Ghost nudges Soap.
“Come on then.”
Not wanting to open up another pointless argument, Soap decides to quietly follow after Ghost. As they approach the safe house, they’re able to take in the overall structure of the building. It was a quaint little cabin, almost homely if it weren’t for the overgrown weeds and boarded up windows. After shutting the door shut behind them, they found it was pretty much what they’d expected. Various pieces of furniture scattered across the scraped hardwood floors as well as small bits of peeling paint falling from the walls. Even so, it still wasn’t quite as bad as other safe houses they’d been in. At least this one felt somewhat like a home still.
After the group did a quick sweep through of the house, Price immediately retired himself to the one bedroom that was present in the house, stating he needed time away from the group. Not bothering to wait for a proper response, he walked away with his arrival to the bedroom only being marked by the sound of the door closing shut.
Deciding that she didn’t want to spend any more time standing around, Shadow walked over to a corner of the living room that seemed cleanest and plopped her bag down on the floor before taking a seat next to it. She stretched her legs out in front of her before leaning her upper body against the wall. She blissfully blocked out the sounds of her teammates shuffling around the room as she pulled her bag onto her lap and unzipped the side compartment. She rummaged through the small pocket in hopes of finding the small packet of plain crackers she’d stashed away on base. After more than a few moments of fruitless rummaging, she let out a small sigh. Wanting to give herself one last chance, she reached in the deep crevices of the compartment and ran her fingertips along the edges of it, her hand coming to a stop upon the unfamiliar feeling of a glossy paper like object. Curiously, she grabs onto it with her thumb and forefinger before pulling it out and resting it in the palm of her hand. As she looks down at her hand, her eyes come into contact with a small wallet sized photograph of a younger version of herself, a wide smile stretched onto her face and a Santa hat messily placed onto her head as her arm is thrown over the shoulder of a familiar face; Karina.
Two young girls wait patiently as they watch multiple women clad in plain clothing put the finishing touches on the set that lies before them. The taller of the two young girls is given a small nudge on the shoulder by the girl beside her. She ignores the gesture in order to prevent drawing any unnecessary attention to the pair, but eventually gives into the urge to speak as the nudges of the smaller girls grow stronger causing her to stumble ever so slightly.
“Stop it, Karina,” She hisses out quietly.
She can see the corner of her friend’s lips turn upward in a small smirk.
“I’m bored.”
“No one here cares if you’re bored.”
She gets another nudge in return, although this one is more gentle.
“You do.”
The older of the two has to stop the sigh that threatens to spill from her lips. It was true after all, she did care.
“What do you want me to do about it? Not like there’s any games around.”
Karina points a small finger in the direction of the board games lining a nearby bookshelf as she whispers excitedly, “Those are games!”
“Those are empty and you know that. It’s just for show.”
“But what if they’re not? Have you ever held one of them?”
The older girl goes silent at the question. She never had the opportunity.
“See! There could be games in there,” Karina states, a smug lilt to her voice that didn’t please the older girl one bit.
“Even then, we’ll never get the chance to see. Not with them around,” She says as she gives a subtle nod over to the various workers walking around the place.
Karina sighs, “I guess that’s true…What do you think it’s like? Playing a game?”
“I don’t know. It could be fun.”
“I wish we could have fun.”
The older of the two goes to speak but promptly closes her mouth as the pair is approached by one of the women who speaks to them in fluent Russian paired with a near impeccable accent.
“We are ready for you. Come.”
The two girls spare each other a glance before trailing after the woman, eventually coming to a stop in front of a neatly decorated Christmas tree that was situated just a few feet from a red brick fireplace adorned with a festive garland and plain red stockings.
Just as they had each taken in the colorful decorations, the woman they had come to know as Madame Sotskova began spilling firm instructions to the girls who immediately obeyed without question.
Soon enough, the two girls were sat on the carpeted floor with wide smiles as they tore the wrapping paper off the various presents that were stacked around them. It was an exhilarating feeling for each of them being able to open the presents and get a glimpse of the toys they uncovered, even being able to grab and hold onto them. It could’ve even been considered fun if it weren’t for the bright flash that nearly blinded them every so often, a flash that reminded them both the nature of what was really happening.
After sitting and unwrapping the various presents for over twenty minutes, the gifts were promptly taken away to be rewrapped as Madame Sotskova walked over and began spewing out different instructions just as she had before. This time, the two girls were pressed up against each other with the older of the two now wearing a Santa hat that Karina had haphazardly situated on her head. The older girl had since thrown an arm around Karina’s shoulder, effectively pulling her closer to her side at the firm direction of Madame Sotskova. Wide smiles stretched onto their faces as the bright flash of the camera began lighting up the room. They remained in that position for a few minutes before they were pulled apart by two other workers they didn’t recognize. They watched with bated breath as Madame Sotskova inspected the photos that had come from the polaroid. After giving a small nod of approval, the two girls were roughly pulled up onto their feet with the Santa hat being ripped off the older girl's head. They spared each other a small glance out the corner of their eyes before taking in a deep breath and moving their gaze to stare directly in front of them. They each resisted the urge to reach out and grab onto the other's hand as they felt a small prick on the side of their neck.
It was a scary feeling to have such an intense wave of tiredness and nausea flood your body at such a fast speed, but they remained expressionless. Even as the taunting voice of Madame Sotskova rang through their ears as their vision became a hazy mess of different lights and colors.
“Sweet dreams.”
Taking in one final breath, they both fell back into the arms of the workers as they silently prayed it would all go away when they woke up. A bad dream. But like many times before, their hopes of waking up to a better life were ripped away as they opened their eyes and their gaze flickered over to their dominant hand being cuffed to the metal frame of their assigned bed.
This was reality.
Upon hearing the sound of footsteps quietly stalking toward her, Shadow tucked the photo back into the unzipped pocket and looked up to see the masked man stop a few feet away from her before settling down onto the floor. Her eyes roamed over the man’s frame before eventually settling on his eyes. He promptly returned her stare for a few moments before giving her a small nod of his head and looking away. Satisfied that the man wasn’t one to talk, she took her gaze off him and zipped up the open pocket in her bag before pushing it off her completely. She wasn’t really in the mood for crackers anymore.
The two of them sat in silence for a good while before it was eventually broken by the sound of the man rustling through his back. She looked back over to him to see him pulling out a set of black knives. She watched as he retrieved a small microfiber cloth from his pocket before dragging it over the body of the knife. In all honesty the knives already looked clean, near impeccable even, but when you’re cooped up in a room with virtually nothing to do, she supposed giving your knives a quick wipe down wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
They remained in the same position, the masked man cleaning his knives and her simply watching. It had gone from an eerie, almost uncomfortable quiet to one that was tolerable.
Jesus, she thought, I really hate working with teams.
Just as she began debating whether or not she should just walk out of the cabin, a Scottish accent rang out through the room.
“Hey, you two gonna come over or what?”
Shadow sucked in a sharp breath before looking up to see the man across from her already staring at her. He was the first to break eye contact as he packed his knives away and stood up. He walked a few steps over to the two men who were waiting patiently before coming to a sudden stop. He spared a glance over his shoulder back toward Shadow. Her eyes flickered from the man over to the two men who were still talking before her gaze eventually settled on the empty space they made. It was enough for two people. Holding in a small sigh, she pushed herself up from the floor and began walking behind skull face.
“Yer talking oot yer arse.”
“I’m serious!”
“Give it up, mate.”
At the disbelieving words of Ghost and Soap, Gaz turned to Shadow in what seemed to be a moment of desperation.
“Come on, what about you? You’ve gotta believe me.”
It was the first time any of them had thought to include her in their ongoing conversation and she couldn’t help but feel almost relieved. She’s not much for talking sure, but any type of conversation beats the mindless game of acting like you’re interested. Besides, she did make that promise to Price. She lets out a quiet sigh.
“Bit far-fetched, but I can see it happening.”
The desperate plea etched onto his face morphs into one of glee as a smile spreads onto his face.
“See, I told you!”
Soap rolls his eyes, “You outdrinking someone like Price? Impossible.”
Gaz speaks in a tone of pure exasperation, “He’s not a heavy drinker, I told you that already!”
“And we’re just supposed to take yer word for it?”
Gaz goes to respond, but is cut off by Shadow.
“He likes being aware of his surroundings. Drinking takes that away, so he doesn’t do it often. Simple as that.”
She half expected the three men to stare at her shock for her sudden desire to speak much like they had during the conference with Laswell, but they didn’t, much to her surprise. Instead, she was met with the narrowed gaze of the one they called Soap.
“How d’ya know that?”
She shrugs, “We’ve known each other a while.”
Gaz is next to speak, “How long’s a while?”
She really needs to learn how to shut her mouth.
“Long enough.”
“How ‘bout a time frame? Couple months, couple years?”
“Whichever one you think.”
Soap rolls his eyes, “Yer not gonna tell us anything then, eh?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Gaz all but whines.
“It’s irrelevant.”
Ghost’s gruff voice cuts through the air, “You expect us to trust someone we know nothing about?”
She turns her attention to him, “I don’t know anything about any of you either. The only reason I know your names is because I heard it in passing.”
Gaz takes his Union Jack cap off before speaking, “Then how about your job? It’s obvious you’re not a soldier,” He motions to her bodysuit, “So what are you? Is it some special unit?”
She shakes her head no.
“I’m whatever Laswell needs me to be.”
“So…What? You’ve got some type of specialized training for that?”
She looks at Soap, “You could say that.”
Gaz sighs, “We’re not getting anything out of you, are we?”
“Nothing that’s not essential to the mission.”
“You’ve gotta give us something, woman. How about your name?”
She turns her focus back to Soap, “Shadow.”
He rolls his eyes, “I mean yer real name. You do have one of those, right?”
“I do, but it’s not essential to the mission and therefore you don’t need to know.”
Ghost narrows his eyes, “You C.I.A.?”
She huffs out a breath of air, “Not a chance.”
The three men surrounding her all spare each other a glance before turning their gaze back onto the woman before them. A few moments of silence pass over them before Soap speaks.
“You know, you’re like a mini ghost.”
He ignored the blank stare his Lieutenant gave him before continuing with a smile.
pairing: tbd (if y'all got any ideas, feel free to slide them my way)
friendly reminder that this word is written with a fem!reader in mind, but with no specified features
a/n: while this chapter does not mention anyone from TF 141 aside from laswell and price, i do plan on introducing them in the next chapter so please be patient! this one is simply meant to establish the pre-existing relationship between price and the reader. thank you all for reading, i appreciate you all!!
PROLOGUE
“I’ve taken a lot of orders from you Laswell, but this one is crossing the fuckin’ line,” Price practically seethes as his eyes narrow into a glare.
Laswell airs out a sigh of mild annoyance as she wills herself not to roll her eyes at Price’s defiance, “You’re one of my most trusted allies and you know I hold a lot of respect for you, John. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“Necessary? I nearly got my head blown off by this woman and now you’re askin’ me to look after her like I’m a fuckin’ babysitter.”
“I know you’re frustrated but–”
“I’m not frustrated, I’m bloody pissed. I haven’t spent the better part of my life dodging bullets just for you to swoop in with your C.I.A. bullshit and try to change up my own job description on me, I won’t allow it.”
As the words leave Price’s mouth, Laswell scoffs and crosses her arms as leans closer to the laptop currently resting on her desk, “Well pardon me John, but I can’t really bring myself to care about your personal feelings right now. Not when there’s thousands of little girls somewhere out there in the world being subjected to god knows what just so one man can come out on top.”
Price doesn’t reply.
Laswell leans back in her chair and begins to wring her hands together before continuing with a small sigh, “I don’t know about you, John, but I’ve come to learn that there’s a lot of evil in the world. It used to keep me awake when I first started this job. Still does on occasion but I think I’ve mostly learned how to live with it, but when I first heard about the Red Room…I can’t even begin to describe how awful everything suddenly felt. That was six years ago and it hasn’t left my mind since,” She pauses for a moment before looking back up at the screen broadcasting Price’s face to her, “I know that it’s just a theory, a scary story even, but if there’s a world where a place like that actually exists I want it gone.”
“Kate–”
“Don’t you ever see the posters for those missing kids and wonder what happened to them? Don’t you ever think about how it would feel to save them? For all we know, that girl you have locked up with you on base could be an answer to both of those questions. It’s just a matter of taking the initiative to find out.”
Price quietly stares at Laswell through his own laptop screen for a few moments before speaking, “What do you need me to do then?”
It had been nearly a month since Price had agreed to become the woman’s ‘glorified babysitter’ as he decided to call it despite Laswell’s attempts to reassure him he was still the hardened Captain Price everyone on base had come to know him as. He knew better than to believe her words. After all, it becomes quite hard to believe in such a thing when he had a girl attached to his hip through practically all hours of the day.
Speaking of said girl, he’d gotten practically nowhere in his mission to gain her trust. He couldn’t recall a single time she had uttered a single syllable to him or anyone else for that matter. He had even tried putting her on the phone with Laswell in the hopes she’d be more receptive upon hearing the voice of another woman, but that had only resulted in Laswell awkwardly trying to fill in the silence with ramblings of her days. It was no surprise that he was becoming increasingly frustrated with his lack of progress in not only gaining the woman’s trust, but also the simple task of getting her to acknowledge him in a way that extended beyond her piercing stare. Despite his growing frustration, he remained steadfast in his mission to get her to say something, anything to him, which is precisely the reason he forced her to accompany him to the mess hall every evening after the majority of other soldiers had left. He’d learned early on that she became rather unnerved when surrounded by large crowds which he couldn’t really blame her for. After all, he’d pretty much snatched her away from whatever life she once knew and forced her to adapt to a brand new one.
The pair currently sat across from one another with Price finishing up the last of his shepherd’s pie while she simply stared down at her tray, completely untouched and growing colder by the minute.
Gulping down the last bite, Price grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth clean before grabbing the bowl of dessert he’d paid two extra quid for; banana pudding with crushed vanilla wafers sprinkled on top, his favorite. He grabbed a clean spoon and set it into the pudding before looking up at the girl and her fully intact slice of shepherd’s pie.
“What? Not satisfied with dinner today?”
Silence.
Price rolls his eyes and points a stern finger in her direction, “Look, this is the one chance you’ve got to eat dinner. You don’t start eating, ‘m just gonna leave ya starve till morning.”
The woman pushes the tray away from her.
“Bloody fuckin’ hell. You don’t talk, you’re a picky eater, and you follow me around everywhere. May as well be a toddler,” He mutters before picking up his spoon and bringing the dessert to his lips only to stop in his tracks as his ears pick up a foreign sound. He straightens out his posture and looks around before picking it up yet again. This time, however, his gaze settles on the woman across from him as his eyes narrow and brows furrow.
“Did you just fuckin’ talk?”
She says nothing.
Price roughly puts the spoon back into his dessert as he speaks, “No, no, no, no. You don’t get to do tha’ to me. You don’t get to go nearly whole month not saying a single fuckin’ word just to say something completely out the blue and then act like you didn’t just open your fuckin’ mouth. You got somethin’ to say, then you say it.”
The woman only responds with a blank stare.
“You’re a right little prat, aren’t ya,” He mutters.
Before his hand can even come in contact with the spoon this time a scratchy voice fills his ears, “What is that?”
Price’s movements halt for a second time before he slowly lifts his gaze to look at the woman with a suspicious glint in his eyes.
“Say that again?”
To his utter astonishment she points to his bowl of banana pudding and asks again, “What is that?”
Price’s gaze switches between her and his banana pudding for a few moments before he responds, “You don't know what this is?”
She shakes her head no.
Price purses his lips in thought before speaking, “Banana pudding with crushed vanilla wafers sprinkled on top. It’s my dessert.”
She doesn't respond, but she does continue to stare at his dessert bowl.
Price’s lips turn into a small frown as he tries to find something to say so she doesn't revert back into her vow of silence.
“...You wanna try a bite?”
She looks at him, eyes slightly widened as she hesitantly points to herself as if asking for confirmation to which he nods. She brings her hand down to rest on the table once more as her gaze settles onto his dessert once again. After a few moments of contemplation on her part, she offers a slow nod.
Price begins pushing the bowl in her direction, but stops as his eyes land on the untouched shepherd's pie lying on her tray. He pulls the bowl back toward himself as he gestures to her abandoned tray with a small nod of his head as she stares at him with mild confusion.
“You’ve gotta eat your dinner first.”
Her eyes glance over to the tray for a moment before shaking her head and pointing to his banana pudding.
“Now what’d that pie ever do to you?”
She remains silent.
Price holds her gaze for a few moments before looking down at his dessert. A small sigh escapes his lips before pushing it over to her and grabbing her tray in return. He stabs a fork into the pie as he looks up at her, a stern glare present in his eyes.
“You're eating your dinner tomorrow,” He says before continuing to eat her untouched pie. A few moments pass before he watches her pick up the spoon and begin taking small bites of the pudding.
Price’s ears perked up at the loud and boisterous cheers that only seemed to grow in volume as Price and the woman, aptly nicknamed ‘Shadow’ by those on base, got to the steady group of soldiers. Upon reaching the group, those closest to Price and Shadow wasted no time in clearing a walkway for them to get to the front of the rowdy crowd.
While Price wasn’t quite sure what was waiting for the two of them in the heart of all the action, he certainly didn’t expect to see his two Sergeants, Deckard and Montgomery, throwing brutal punches toward one another while the soldiers surrounding them simply cheered. A pit of annoyance festered its way into his chest before he roughly wedged his body between the flurry of half-assed threats and tired punches. The two sergeants continued to struggle against their captain in a feeble attempt to strike a blow, but ultimately failed when he shoved them to the ground with a force either of them had only seen in battle.
Price kept his gaze locked onto the two men ensuring they wouldn’t move before beginning to speak, “What the hell do the two of you think you’re doing? It’s bad enough having to hear you two muppets go at each other on the field, but to bring it on base? By god, you two must have a blood death wish tryin’ to piss me off! Do either of you got anything to say for yourselves?”
The two men in question look at each other with wide eyes before turning their attention back to Price and shaking their heads no.
“‘Course ya don’t,” He lets out a scoff, “You know I’ve been getting awfully sick of the way you two have been acting lately. ‘M afraid I’m just gonna have to write you two up–”
Price was cut off by the two men clumsily getting up on their feet as they simultaneously began to plead with the bearded man.
“You can’t do that!”
“I don’t want another suspension!”
If Price hadn’t already been so annoyed with the two men, he might’ve even had the nerve to feel a bit sorry for them. No one wants to be caught pleading to their superior, in front of a crowd no less.
As Deckard and Montgomery continued to air out their grievances, Price found his eyes settling on Shadow. Though he wasn’t particularly fond of the new nickname, he had yet to find out her real name and so he felt it was the easiest way to call out to her. Come to think of it, he’d realized he hadn’t made any real progress on finding out who she really was. The thought was almost laughable. It had been just over three months since he’d first brought her onto base from that shipping container and all he had to show for it was her apparent distaste for shepherd’s pie and her shared love of dessert Fridays, especially when it came to banana pudding. He kept his gaze steady on her as his mind travels back to the conversation he first had with Laswell upon voicing his agreement to help her find any information that could lead to the potential confirmation of the existence of the Red Room.
“You said it yourself, Kate. All these rumors of the Red Room could be just that, rumors, so how exactly am I supposed to get any meaningful intel from this girl if she won’t even bother looking at me?”
“While its existence hasn’t ever been confirmed, the Red Room has always been a hot topic among certain task forces and highly ranked individuals. It’s very existence would offer a more feasible explanation behind some of the assassinations we’ve seen in the past fifty years or so, especially for some of the more questionable ones.”
“Questionable how?”“I’m afraid I can’t tell you much without getting myself in trouble, but theoretically speaking, it would take a highly skilled individual to infiltrate a supermax facility and take out the key witnesses in one of the nation’s most televised trials without raising any alarms don’t you think?”
“Point taken. So, she’s gotta be a good fighter then?”
“I’d say so. Maybe take her out sparring one day, see how she does. You can decide where to go from there.”
“If the brat’ll even let me.”
“Hey Shadow,” She tears her gaze away from the two men and over to Price, “How’d you like to help me out with something?”
Her eyes narrow as her head tilts to the side in a silent question.
Price gestures to the two men on either side of them who have since quieted their pleas and now looked on the interaction with great curiosity.
“I reckon you’ve got some combat knowledge in you and I know it’s been a while since you’ve had the chance to polish up on any of it, so how about we all come to an agreement,” Price grabs the two men by their arms and pulls them up onto their feet. He takes a few steps forward and looks the two men in the eye as he continues speaking, “I reckon the two of you can take her down. Two burly men up against one girl, should be easy don’t you think?”
They glance at each other for a moment before looking back at Price and nodding.
“Then I’ll tell ya what,” He pulls out a spare cigar and lighter from his pocket, “You get her to tap out, neither of you get written up.”
The two men perk up before nodding their agreement. Price looks over to the woman, “How ‘bout you, Shadow? You willing to let these boys beat down on ya?”
A few moments of tense silence drapes over the crowd before she slowly nods.
Price claps the two men on their shoulders as he begins to light up his cigar, “Get to it then.”
Price moved himself to stand at the front of the crowd that had seemingly grown in size as a low hum of anticipation emanated from the young soldiers. Meanwhile Deckard, Montgomery, and Shadow eyed each other as they slowly began to move around each other in a circle motion. While Deckard was noticeably shorter than Montgomery, she knew he would still sit at a height of at least six feet while she felt Montgomery could be anywhere from six foot four and up. Their towering heights paired with their muscular stature should’ve sent fear into the heart of Shadow, but she enjoyed the challenge even if she didn’t bother to outwardly express it.
Montgomery was the one to make the first advance toward Shadow, his fist raised as he swung a heavy fist at her, one she’d narrowly dodged. Their eyes briefly met before she grabbed his outstretched arm and roughly yanked it back in a straight line. He let out a groan of pain as she kicked his knee back with the tip of her combat boot sending him tumbling to the floor. She went to turn to face the man she’d come to know as Deckard but was stopped by hands grasping her shoulders and throwing her to the floor on her stomach. She quickly turned onto her back and was immediately met with Deckard hovering above her hips as he grabbed onto her hands and pinned them to the ground by her head.
“Please, I don’t wanna hurt you–”
Deckard was cut off by her shoving her knee into his groin. He let out a wheeze of pain before she shoved him off her and climbed back onto her feet. She ran toward Deckard who was eyeing her with a nasty glare and attempted to shove an elbow into his side, but was stopped as he grabbed onto her wrist and landed a blow to her stomach. She let out a groan of pain before leaning her body weight against him and flinging the both of them to the floor. She ripped her wrist away from his tight grasp and got up to climb onto his lap and land a few punches before she was pushed onto her back with a shove. She looked up to see both Deckard and Montgomery standing over her with a gleam of victory in their eyes before she grabbed onto Deckard’s shoe and yanked him onto the floor. She gave him a quick punch to the face before getting to her feet and being faced with the annoyed glare of Montgomery. As he swung his leg out in a ruthless kick she lunged forward, placed her hands on his shoulders, and used his outstretched leg as a means of allowing herself to twirl her body around his and latch onto his back. As she dodged the wandering hands of Montgomery, she could hear Deckard’s boots approaching from behind so she quickly adjusted her legs to securely wrap around Montgomery’s torso before flinging her weight against Deckard’s torso. The man let out a hiss of pain as his head collided with the ground while Montgomery pried her legs away from his torso. He quickly turned himself around and watched in slight astonishment as he seamlessly mirrored his own position, one knee touching the ground with one hand touching the ground floor.
Not taking his eyes off the woman, Montgomery called out, “Deckard? You alright?” Deckard touched the back of his head and sighed as he could feel the small drops of blood on his hand, “Knock this bitch out,” He muttered before tapping out in defeat.
Refusing to wait a second longer Montgomery lunged forward and tackled the woman to the ground and began throwing punches to her face, some she dodged and others she simply endured. She raised her forearms up in an ‘X’ formation in front of her face and upon Montgomery trying to move them out the way with his own hands, she sat up and shoved it into his face, effectively knocking him back on the ground but not before he roughly kicked his boot into her nose causing her to tumble onto her back with a loud thud and a bloody nose.
Meanwhile one of the soldiers leaned toward Price who was calmly smoking his cigar as they spoke in a quiet voice, “Captain? Don’t you think it’s getting a bit too rough?”
Price inhaled another puff of smoke and turned to look at the young soldier before exhaling the smoke into his face, “They know their limits.”
Shadow rolled onto her side and spit out the blood that had begun to steadily flow into her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Montgomery slowly stalking toward her. Knowing she couldn’t risk further impact on her nose, she’d had enough play time, she needed to take him out. She flipped herself up into a kneeling position and looked around for something she could fling his way and upon seeing nothing, she swiftly removed her left boot strings before throwing the boot at his face. He stumbled back from the unexpected impact and upon getting his bearings, she had already flung her body around his yanked the two of them to the ground as she held his arms down with her legs. She quickly pulled out the bunched up boot string and wrapped it around his neck before pulling. Montgomery’s eyes widened in surprise as he tried, and failed, to free his hands. His body began squirming with his eyes growing wide as he could her pulling the string tighter around his neck. Fearing he’d pass out, Montgomery frantically tapped on the ground for what felt like an eternity before he felt himself be released. He took in a big gasp of air and held a hand to his throat as he turned his head to look at the woman who was currently lacing up her boot with no remorse as if she hadn’t nearly killed him.
Silence draped over the stunned crowd as the woman finished tying her boot before she stood back on her own two feet. She glanced down at Montgomery who was breathing heavily, hand still clasped firmly around his neck. She approached him alongside Deckard who was now up despite the throbbing pain in his head. She looked down at the man for a few moments in silence before offering her hand out to him. He stared at her outstretched hand with great hesitation as he glanced up at her, blood still rolling from her nose albeit at a much slower pace than before. After a few moments of contemplation, he placed his hand in hers and allowed her to help pull him to his feet. They gave each other a onceover before Price stepped in and clapped a hand on Montgomery and Deckard’s shoulder, cigar long gone.
“As much as I want to, I won’t write that report. Figure the embarrassment of havin’ everyone see you get your asses handed to you is punishment enough. Just stop fuckin’ around already, will ya?”
The two men nod.
Price smiles and turns to Shadow, “Now why don’t we have that nose of yours checked out?”
With Shadow having been able to take down Deckard and Montgomery with relative ease, it had served as a real eye-opener for Price. Regardless of whether or not this woman’s ties with the famed Red Room were actually legit, Price had seen enough in his lifetime to know when he had something special in his hands and as far as he was concerned, this woman was very special. As a result, he decided it’d be best to steadily ease the reins on her and give her a few opportunities throughout the day to let her roam around on her own and do as she pleased. So far there hadn’t been any hiccups and he could happily say that this was probably the best decision he’d made so far. Not only did this arrangement give him the chance to complete some of his own work, it also gave her a chance to explore the base more than the times when she was with Price. Familiarity is the breeding ground of comfortability and it seemed that same principle also applied to Shadow if her increased speech while she was with Price was anything to go by.
Currently, it was just Price sitting alone in his office as he finished typing up the last bits of a progress report to Laswell regarding his current status with Shadow. While he still hadn’t made any groundbreaking discoveries about her in the six months he’d known her, he was rather proud of himself for getting her to feel comfortable enough around him to crack a few smiles and jokes when they were alone together. It made him feel as though he was making real progress with her, not only as a means of getting information but also as a person.
After finishing out the rest of his document, Price exited out of the screen and leaned back in his office chair with a sigh. His gaze trailed along the plain walls of his office before landing on a clock that read out, ‘12:37’. Late nights hunched over his desk and tapping away at the keyboard on his desk had become more and more common with time and so he wasn’t too surprised by how late it had become. Even so, that did little to quell the tired ache he felt in his body. Deciding he’d spent more than enough time straining his eyes, Price closed out of his computer and grabbed the jacket slung over the back of his chair and walked out the dreary office space and into the night.
He wandered aimlessly around base with a lit cigar in hand, not even bothering to reprimand the younger ranks who were breaking curfew as they roamed around freely. He passed by various buildings; the mess hall, the infirmary, and even a convenience store that had closed earlier in the evening before eventually finding himself stopped in front of the gym. Despite the building being open twenty-four hours a day, he strongly doubted there’d be anyone burning the midnight oil, it was the weekend after all. Still, he pushed the door open and walked inside the building. He ventured room to room without a single soul in sight before eventually peering through an open door to reveal Shadow hitting a worn out punching bag with her two fists that were wrapped with boxing tape. He remained in place, occasionally taking puffs from his cigar as he watched her alternate between throwing kicks and punches. It seemed the longer he stood and watched, the more aggressive her hits became. Despite the beads of sweat dripping from her face and onto the floor, she didn’t seem to show any signs of letting up. The sound of skin repeatedly striking old leather could’ve even become something similar to a lullaby if it wasn’t for the loud thud that resounded through the small training room.
Price decides to walk in, cigar slowly burning out in his hand.
“Gotta be pretty strong to knock down a punching bag like that.”
She shakes her head, “Bag’s gotta be pretty weak if it can’t take a few punches.”
Price comes to a stop beside her as he inspects the steady flow of sand now streaming from the rip she’d kicked into it, “Would you believe me if I told you this bag was ordered last week?”
She kneels down and stares at the punching bag, “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I broke the one you ordered last week.”
The two fall silent as she slowly begins to unwrap her hands, eyes switching between her hands and the fallen punching bag. Her focus is soon broken by Price giving her temple a slight nudge with his forefinger.
“What’s on your mind?”
She doesn’t reply as she finishes unwrapping her hands and tossing the bandages to the side of her. She exchanges her kneeling position to fully sit on the glossy wooden floor with her legs splayed out in front of her.
She lets out a sigh, “Just thinking.”
Price stares down at her for a few moments before deciding to sit on the floor in front of her, arms sat comfortably by his sides.
“I know we don’t know much about each other but you can talk to me if you need to, kid.”
A weak smile spreads onto her lips, “I’m not stupid, you know.”
“Never said you were.”
She lifts her head to look at Price, “I know why you’ve kept me around.”
“Why’s that?”
“That woman you tried to get me to talk to…Laswell, she’s got a certain theory about me and she wants you to find out if it’s true or not.”
Price doesn’t falter, “Is it?”
“What do you think?”
“I think it’s plausible.”
A blanket of silence takes over the pair for a few moments before Shadow speaks up, “Why does she wanna know?”
“She wants it gone, thinks she can clean it up.”
“And how would she go about making that happen?”
Price shrugs, “I think that depends on a couple things.”
She looks away from Price and stares down at the bandages in her hands. He observes her for a few moments before speaking, “You know I ain’t gonna kill you, right?”
She shrugs, “There’s always room for things to change.”
“Even so, I see the way you fight those recruits. I’ve got nothin’ on ya.”
She lets out an airy laugh with a small shake of her head before slowly looking back up at Price, “Can I ask you something?”
Price nods.
“Hypothetically, if Laswell’s theory had any weight to it…Where would that leave me?”
He shrugs, “I don’t know what runs through that woman’s head half the time, but if she tells me to do something then I do it. There’s no room for saying ‘no’ when it comes to her.”
“And me?”
“What about you?”
“She wants you to find out things about me. Where I came from and the things I’ve done, you haven’t found out either of that and you never bothered asking. I wanna know why.”
“When my team found you, you had a sniper aimed right at my head. Of course their first instinct was to take you down, shove you in that shipping container, and let me know. At first I was angry. All the shit and piss I’ve gone through to get to where I am today just to have some random girl take me out…It’d have been more embarrassing than anything, really. But then the strangest thing happened. That bloke you nearly choked out a couple months back, Montgomery, he was the one who grabbed all your gear and shoved it in my office. I got curious so I started going through it. Couple knives, a first aid kit, nothing special…But then I got a hold of your sniper. It was state of the art and quite big, I figured whatever ammo you’d loaded up in it would’ve done some real nasty damage so I decided to take a look in the chamber,” Price looks into her eyes, “Imagine my surprise when I see it’s completely empty. Not a bullet in sight.”
She averts her gaze to the floor.
“There were plenty of times when you and I were alone in that shipping container. I may not know much about you or what you do, but I reckon if you had really wanted me dead then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. And you wanna know what I think?”
She doesn’t respond.
“I think you wanted to die that night or, at the very least, get you out of there.”
She looks up at him.
“And if you’re right?”
“Then I can have hope that maybe one day you’ll tell me everything.”
Price redirects his gaze to the punching bag.
“I’ll try and have those ordered in bulk from now on. Seems like you’ve grown rather comfortable here,” He says as he gestures to the training room before pushing himself to his feet.
“It’s quite late, you should probably try and get some sleep in if you can. Don’t need you dozing off ‘round base.”
“I’ll try.”
He gives her a nod of acknowledgement before turning around and beginning to walk out the entrance. He’s nearly halfway out before he hears his name being called out softly to him. He turns his head to look back at her still sitting on the floor.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“Just keep your head on straight for me, alright?”
“Will do.”
He turns away and walks out the door. As he strolls through the hallways, he feels a small sense of pride bubble up in his chest.
He was definitely making progress.
Laswell roughly makes her way inside of the medical tent as her eyes immediately begin to search around the small space for the bearded man she called her friend. Her eyes dart to a dimly lit corner of the tent and upon seeing a human sized lump leaned back on the bed, she made a beeline for it.
Now standing directly beside the bed, she grabs hold of the blanket and pulls it down to reveal the battered face of John Price.
“Laswell. Always good to see you,” He weakly smiles.
Laswell airs out a sigh of relief as she clutches her chest, “Don’t even try to joke right now, John. I thought you were dead.”
“Well you know me, Kate. Stubborn as ever.”
A feeble laugh escapes past her lips, “Don’t you even think about doing that to me again. I nearly had a heart attack when I got the call.”
Price reaches over and gives her hand a firm squeeze, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Laswell soon grabs hold of a spare chair and settles it beside his bed, idly chatting about nothing to keep the man’s focus off the dull pain shooting through his side.
“We’re looking at houses too.”
“New car, new house, don’t tell me you two got a new baby on the way.”
Laswell rolls her eyes with a smile, “You know that’s not possible. Not right now anyway. Besides, she’s gotten quite busy with her job, new position and all that.”
Price shrugs, “What about after she’s gotten settled in?”
Laswell smirks with a gleam in her eyes, “We’ll have to wait and see.”
Price’s lips stretch to a wide grin as a hearty laugh begins to escape from him, but his face soon twists into a grimace as the ache in his chest begins to spread. Laswell’s lips melt into a frown as she watches the man try to ease the coughs erupting from his throat. She’d wanted to be more civil and wait until he was able to move freely again, but she couldn’t stop the question tumbling from her mouth.
“What happened out there?”
Price, now having his coughing fit under control, sighs.
“We don’t have to get into this now Kate–”
“You nearly died out there today and I’d like to know how the hell that happened.”
He studies her, “You’re not gonna let this one go are you?”
She shakes her head.
Price redirects his eyes to the light situated above his bed, “We got ambushed.”
“By who?”
“I’m not sure but…I did manage to snag something off one of them.”
“What was it?”
The man seems to hesitate for a moment before nodding his head over to his tactical bag that sat in the corner, “Get that for me, will you?”
Laswell wordlessly hands it over and watches with unwavering focus as he unzips a small pocket on the side of the bag before taking out something she couldn’t quite see. He stares at the object in his hands for a few moments before handing it over to Laswell. She looks down at the cool metal in her hands as she runs her fingertips along the edges of it.
Price speaks up, “Have you ever seen that before?”
Laswell shakes her head, “No, what do you think it is?”
Price goes to respond but is promptly cut off by a familiar voice entering the conversation.
“It’s them.”
The pair look up to see Shadow standing a few feet away from them, arms resting by her sides as her right hand appears to clench onto something.
Laswell tilts her head, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Shadow takes in a deep breath as she slowly makes her way toward the two before stopping beside Laswell. She stares at the buckle sat in Laswell’s hand before bringing up her right hand and placing her own object on the bed.
Laswell’s chest tightens as she places the metal buckle in her hand beside the one Shadow just brought.
“They’re the same,” Price remarks.
Laswell looks at Shadow, “How do you have that?”
Shadow keeps her eyes concentrated on the tri-colored hourglass emblem that had been burned into her mind for her entire life. A deep pit growing in her stomach, she looks up at the attentive pair.
“It’s the Red Room symbol.”
TAGLIST: (first time doing one of these so please let me know if it doesn't tag you and i'll fix it asap!)
Vaaiz please send me some luck. I desperately need it. I just got Yae Miko and I'm now going for Scaramouche next. I need all the luck possible for me to win the 50/50 for Scaramouche and Alhaitham.
Pairing: yn x bts, yn x namjoon, yn x seokjin, yn x yoongi, yn x hoseok, yn x jimin, yn x taehyung, yn x jungkook
Summary: It’s time to party with y/n and the litrature club at the schools halloween party, but a unpleasant suprise awaits them.
Wordcount: 779
Warnings: Fake Blood
Halloween is a holiday that some of the seven princes have always found annoying. But now that they see their sweetheart, (y/n), bouncing back and forth so happily and excitedly about the school's Halloween celebration, it's worth it to them to go to the party with her.
Yes all seven are (yn)'s date for the evening. They were secretly hoping that the girl would choose only one of them. But after all seven have invited her, she has had the idea of going to the party with eight of them.
None of the seven is very keen on having to deal with the other six, but refusing would have meant leaving (yn) alone with the others and no one wanted that.
Now they are all standing together outside the school gates waiting for the girl of their dreams.
She insisted on not being picked up, no matter how much the seven royals insisted.
"You look like a joke Jimin," Seokjin says.
Jimin decided to go as a male Harley Quinn. The white and red T-shirt was a little tighter so that his well-built body could be seen a little better. The blue and red pants were more like leggings that showed off his trained legs well. His hair was also dyed with hair chalk for a day in the colors of the clown queen. In addition, matching makeup with the matching painted tattoos and white sneakers. The signature baseball bat rests on his left shoulder.
"Says the real Lord Dracula," Jimin retorts. Seokjin hadn't exactly put a lot of effort into his costume, yet he looks good. He just got a normal black suit from his dressing room, plus a cape which was red on the inside and black on the outside, and glued on two canines.
Namjoon rolled his eyes. He and Jungkook had similar costume ideas and were both facing each other as demons.
Both wear black horns on their heads, not the normal devil horns you find everywhere. They run upwards before turning into a curl. Namjoon has chosen a red suit to go with it. Jungkook a black one. Jungkook also wears red contact lenses to match. Both wear the same rather large black wings to go with it on their backs.
Hoseok wears only a white shirt with matching black pants and has makeup on his face to represent a skeleton.
Yoongi lost a bet with the club members and has to wear a maid outfit for today. Yoongi himself added fake blood to make it fit better for Halloween. He just wants to go home, but he stays for (yn) hoping she won't laugh at him like the guys. He knew she would never do such a thing, but a small voice of uncertainty in the back of his mind makes him uneasy nonetheless.
No one knew exactly what Taehyung was. The club members asked him questions, but he didn't answer them.
He just grins as if he knows something the others don't. The young artist prince is wearing a suit that is a bit torn and fake blood all over his body.
Jimin drew in his breath excitedly.
"Pull yourselves together (y/n) is coming."
Six heads immediately turned in the direction of their dream girl. She stops in front of them with a giggle. (Y/n) is wearing a white wedding dress that was dirty and broken. Just like Taehyung, she is also covered in fake blood.
"You look beautiful."
"Thank you Jimin, but my costume is not complete yet. It's a partner costume."
Six of the seven men turned slightly pale and their hearts beat faster.
The first thing some of the young men thought of is if (y/n) might have invited someone else, a boy they might not even know yet.
If that were the case, it would be a threat that they would have to get rid of. But it is not a stranger who comes to their side. It is Taehyung. Side by side, they look like a bride and groom. Jimin's grip on the baseball bat tightened, and Jungkook clenched his fists tightly. Of course so that (y/n) doesn't notice anything. Namjoon tensed his jaw and Hoseok rolled his eyes.
Everyone thought (y/n) was beautiful no question, but it was the wrong man by her side.
"What a little bastard," Seokjin thinks, but he doesn't say it. So began the evening of the Halloween party.
Six of the seven royals were sure of one thing: try to spend as much time as possible with (y/n) without Taehyung.
They could talk to him later, without the young girl in the room.
How Royal!Yandere!bts met y/n and realised their feelings
Literature Club Headcanons
A/N: Jins Headcanons became so much longer than the others TT I wanted to keep it short but please enjoy
Warning: Yandere behavior
Namjoon
Is y/n’s tutor once a week
They consider each other friends well y/n does Namjoon basically plans his future life with her as his wife already
Manipulative
Good at sweet talking other people
He is also good in planning and strategizing
Bonds with y/n over their love for books
Jin and Namjoon are pretty passive-aggressive at family dinners
One of the best students in school
Hoseok
Is y/n’s caretaker
He looks after her and makes sure that she is well
He takes that job really serious, more than anyone else
Makes sure she eats and drinks enough, if she is stressed, that no one talks bad about her or bullys her and makes sure she gets enough rest like a boyfriend
Hobi always makes y/n smile
I mean he makes everyone smile but he just focuses on y/n
Seokjin
Heard from his family that Namjoon is now tutoring someone who came into the school because of the special program and that more people began to like him because he is so nice and humble to watch over this poor girl
He instantly wanted to make her life a living hell
The next day he went up to y/n and straight up said
“I only wanted to know who that ugly low life is to be friends with my Cousin”
He was completely catched of guard because y/n just smiled at him und left with a “Now you know”
He was so confused by that response that he thought about it the whole day
The next day he went up to y/n and Hoseok who were eating lunch
Hoseok gave him a death glare but Jin just pushed him away with a “Out of my way low life” which made Hobi more furious
“What I am about to say is pretty cliche but I don’t know how to phrase it differently. After what you said to me yesterday I realised that you are special and you deserve to be in my presence”
“Please just let me and Hobi eat in peace”
“You call him Hobi?!”
Jin was pushed away by Hoseok and sighed
Normally he wouldn’t even look in her direction again after this but he just couldn’t stay away
He began to bother her more and more until she kinda considered him a friend
Yoongi
He heard about that girl that Hoseok takes care of and started to study her more and more
What was just curiosity and hate for Jung Hoseok started to become an obsession and hate for Jung Hoseok
If just Hoseok wouldn’t exist he could easily talk to you
But that wasn’t possible
Until one day she became part of his Music class and they were put together for a projekt
They easily became friends
And Yoongi realised one night of songwriting that y/n became his muse and that he needed to have her
Jimin
He may be a prince but he is the King of rumors and knows all the tea about you before you know it yourself
He is really flirty with every gender and is really charming
Of course sooner or later he will know about y/n
He learned that the special girl who got 5 from his closest enemies is in fact in his dance class
Jimin watched her for a while before taking action
He charmed his teacher and became her partner
Every second he spent together with her Jimin was more and more sure that y/n and he must be soulmates
Y/n was made for him and he for her
Jimin knows things y/n didn’t even tell anyone
No one will take this precious angel away from her
Taehyung
Tae heard about y/n but just didn’t care
That girl can’t be special when she is wasting her time with them
But one day she came into his art class as a model to paint and he was mesmerised
Y/n was so beautiful if it would have been just him in the room he would have drawn you nude
The other ones in the class can never be able to paint a women like her
From that day on not one day went by without him drawing you from his memory but that wasn’t enough he studied her house and broke in one night to take pictures of y/n’s sleeping form
He can never get enough of her
Jungkook
This boy knew early who y/n is because they share a few classes together and sit beside each other in English and Biologie
He thought that she is pretty and they changed a few words here and there
But only the moment he heard about the other boys being around you like moths around a lamp some feelings bubbled up in him
Anger and rage
He wanted to rip them all apart
First he didn’t know why this young man was so confused
Until he realised that he feels all of that because of love
Jungkook doesn't know much about love because he doesn't get much himself
I don't know who needs to hear this, but you don't need to "perform" on tumblr
Don't apologize if you disappear for a few weeks, months, or even longer. We've done it too. You probably didn't even notice, and that's okay. Take your time.
Don't feel guilty if you had a regular posting schedule and you can't make your self-imposed deadline or if you can't keep up that pace and need to start posting less frequently. We understand, life gets in the way and the muses can be fickle. You don't owe us anything.
Don't worry if you don't reply fast enough. You'll get to it when you'll get to it. You probably haven't even seen it yet. We will not think less of you.
Don't feel bad if you don't want to reply to something at all, ever, because it triggers you, because you don't want more drama in your life, or because you just don't have the energy to reply. Whatever they are, your reasons are valid. And the other person has probably forgotten about it anyway by now.
Feel free to add other things!
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