The Rights Of A Nindroid

Chapter Twenty-Six

(Previous Chapter Here)

Yeah okay this took forever,,,, have fun with it! (;

Also it was too long for one post again so I’ll reblog this with the rest-

Cryptor struggles to find the solution to the latest puzzle they gave him, doing his best not to let frustration show on his face as he ignores Kyle and Martha talking in the background.

He hates this. He just… he wishes that there was some way out, some way to be free, some way to be okay again.

But there’s not. He’s stuck here, and there’s nothing he can do about it.

He feels tired. So tired. Nothing even seems to make sense anymore, so his only real choice is to just… keep going. Even if the only way he can do that is to follow their orders.

Exhausted, he takes a moment’s pause from the puzzle, absent-mindedly listening in on part of the conversation going on behind him.

Martha is the one speaking. “- and when Sentry is here, we’ll be able to-“

Hold on. Did he just hear what he thinks he did? Did she just- Sentry? She’s going to bring Sentry here?!

He whips around, turning to face them. “What did you just say?!” He demands, ignoring the voice screaming at him to just do what he’s told. He can’t sit there and do nothing, not while his friend is on the line!

Kyle seems to wince some, but Martha glares. “It’s nothing you need to be concerned with, General.” She snaps. “Do not speak out of turn again, and go back to your task.”

He completely disregards the order, only staring at the two of them. They- they’re going to bring him here?! No, no, Cryptor’s been behaving, he’s been following orders, why would they-

“General, calm down.” Kyle interrupts his train of thought. “You knew it would come to this eventually, right?”

Cryptor can only stare in sheer horror as he struggles to come to terms with the implications of what they’re saying. “I- no. No, I didn’t- I-“ He abruptly stands up, pushing the small bench he’s on backwards as the metal screeches, but he ignores the loud sound, barely even able to hear it over his racing thoughts.

“No!” He shakes his head rapidly, struggling to figure out what to say. “You- you can’t-“

“Sit down, General.” Martha orders, her expression one of annoyance.

Fear and anger take over him, leaving him trembling. “You can’t hurt him!” He shouts, trying to come up with something, anything he could do to stop this.

“General! There's nothing you can do about it!” Kyle snaps, an aura of almost unease around him. “Calm down or you'll get hurt yourself!”

Okay, there’s something going on here, usually he doesn’t get so many warnings, why would-

Oh, who cares about what’s going on with that?! Sentry is at stake here!

His words showcase his fear and anger, his voice trembling as he snarls the words out. “I- I can’t just sit here and follow orders when- when you’re going to-“

Martha’s voice is dark as she narrows her eyes at him. “That’s enough, General.” There’s a clear threat to her tone, and just that is enough to make him start shaking…

For a few moments, all he can do is stand there, fighting against the urge to cave, to do what she says, to hopefully avoid punishment-

It’s a struggle, but he manages to hold his ground. “No.” He gets out, making himself hold her gaze. “No, I can’t. It’s not.”

He forces the words out even as he feels his power source kicking into overdrive- he’d rather have it ripped out than let them do what they’ve done to him to the innocent nindroid back at Borg Tower.

Shifting on his feet, Kyle seems to want to say something- but after a moment, he minutely shakes his head, looking over at Martha- likely for instructions.

Every gear and wire inside him feels abuzz with the mechanical equivalent of adrenaline, but he can’t think of what to do or say. His mind is running so fast that he can’t catch up, leaving him only able to stand and stare as the fear floods through him.

“Take it to the training room.” Martha turns to some guards as she speaks, still seeming annoyed. “It appears it needs to relearn an old lesson.”

The words send their own kind of fear through him, the thought of a punishment leaving him shaking even more. But he does his best to shove the feeling down, letting himself be escorted back to the training room and tied down once again.

There still seems to be something off about the blond as he dismisses the guards, but in all honesty, he doesn’t have enough processing power to even try and think about what it might mean.

Kyle sighs, but it doesn’t seem to be out of annoyance. “Okay, use the usual method. Just shocks for an hour.”

Wait- what? That’s it? Well, he- he doesn’t want to be punished more, but usually he gets in more trouble for this kind of thing.

He starts to voice his confusion out loud, but the shock he gets serves as a reality check, reminding him of his situation.

He’s not allowed to speak unless spoken to.

There’s silence, for a while. Which is surprising in its own way- Kyle usually gives him a lecture about what he did wrong while he’s being punished, but this time he’s… oddly quiet.

After all this time, you’d think that Cryptor would have grown numb to the pain. With everything he’s gone through, some shocks are hardly the worst thing in the world.

But somehow, he never seems to be able to quite adjust to it. Every blast of pain is just as bad as the one before it- and sometimes worse, when they start accumulating.

Breathing deeply, he looks down at the floor, struggling to hide how much it hurts. It’s- it’s not really real, anyway. It’s just… just a digital reaction designed to warn him that his circuits might be in danger. But he’s not in any real life-threatening danger, so all it does is-

A particularly painful shock jolts him from his train of thought, and he grinds his teeth as he struggles to push the pain from his mind.

In all honesty, he’s lucky that he’s had the life he did. With all the abuse he suffered from before the facility, he had actually gotten the chance to learn how to cope with this kind of thing.

But Sentry, on the other hand…

No. No, he can’t think about that. He can’t- there’s nothing he can do at the moment, he just needs to keep breathing, needs to not think about it, needs to not imagine what Sentry’s screams would sound like, needs to not picture the way he would curl in on himself as he struggled to cope, needs to not even consider what he might look like after going through even half of what he and Zane had-

He’s pulled from his downward spiral by Kyle, the blond suddenly speaking- and loudly, at that.

“OKAY! Okay, that's enough! An hour is way too long for that small of a mistake, I- Stop!”

When the shocks die down, Cryptor still can’t figure out what’s going on. Something is going on here, but Cryptor honestly doesn’t have the energy to piece together what.

He knows that he’s shaking like a leaf, and it makes his gut churn thinking about how damn weak he is, but he doesn’t dare lift his gaze.

It takes a moment for him to remember what he’s supposed to do. Right, they finished a punishment, he- he needs to confirm that he learned from it.

“ ‘m sorry, Master.”

The words are choked out and pathetic, and just hearing his own voice like that makes him want to cringe.

For some reason, Kyle seems to look uncomfortable, almost regretful in a way. “It's okay, it's- here. Let me-“

He trails off in favor of taking off Cryptor’s restraints- and after he does, he turns away, looking at the far wall.

For a second, the door tempts him. No one is watching, it would be so easy to-

No. No, he can’t do that. He has to stay, to follow orders. He gets hurt if he doesn’t follow orders. And while this punishment wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, that just means that the next one will probably be worse.

A hand comes to clutch at where one of the chains had been pulled a little bit too tight- with the shocks, he actually hadn’t even noticed the way they were digging into his plating until now.

Once again, he remembers what he’s supposed to do. Kyle let him go- and early, at that. He’s supposed to acknowledge that.

There’s no pride left for him to ignore as he speaks. “Th- thank you, Master.”

Kyle doesn’t react, looking almost lost in thought. He brings a hand up to his face, and if Cryptor didn’t know any better, he’d say the blond was trembling.

Alright, something is definitely up here, but Cryptor isn’t going to risk getting punished again for asking. Whatever it is doesn’t seem to be causing any immediate harm, so he’d be better off leaving it alone.

With no orders or distractions, his mind begins to drift. And unfortunately, his stupid processer takes him back to Sentry.

He really, really doesn’t want him to get hurt, but no matter what he does, it won’t make a difference. They’ve proven time and time again that he’s too pathetic to stand a chance, and… it’s hopeless.

Well, he- he could try to, at the very least, minimize his suffering. There has to be something he can do for that, right?

He could try taking punishments for him, but they’d catch on pretty quick, and then they’d just start hurting Sentry to get to him more. He could do something worse after every mistake Sentry makes to make them put it in kind of perspective, but that would just prolong it.

He- he could… help them. Help them- help them break him. If Sentry’s not really there anymore, then he won’t be suffering. He-

A feeling of disgust wells up inside of him as he realizes what he was even considering. No, he can’t do that, he can’t do anything like that! He can’t help them do that to him, he- he just-

Cryptor forces himself to keep breathing, trying to get his shaking under control. He doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Sentry, but if push really does come to shove…

He’ll cross that bridge when he gets to it.

There’s an almost numb feeling spreading through him, but he’s thankfully given something else to focus on when he hears Kyle’s quiet murmur.

The blond’s voice is strained, even breaking a little as he talks. “...'m sorry, Gav…”

He seems to be trying to shove the feeling down as he clears his throat, and Cryptor could almost swear that he’s near tears.

“I'll t-take you back to your locker. You'll say you- you'll say you learned your lesson if anyone asks. This is a one-time thing, okay?” His eyes narrow as he finishes, but with how he looks, he’s hardly threatening.

The words he’s saying aren’t making any sense, but Cryptor isn’t going to turn down a break when it’s offered.

“Y- yes, Master,” he nods. The confusion is eating away at his processor, but he forces himself not to show it. If he does, he’ll be dragged right back into the training room.

Kyle starts to take him back to his locker, and Cryptor keeps his gaze on the floor as they walk, trying to keep his mind away from Sentry and what might happen to him.

He’s shaking, trembling, and he shouldn’t be- showing emotion this much isn’t a good idea, but for some reason, he’s still just being taken away from the training room.

Stepping inside the small cell, he still can’t wrench his mind away. All this time, all this sacrifice to protect Sentry…

“... all of this to protect you, and it didn’t make a difference…”

Crying.

It’s something he hated before. A sign of weakness, of something that could get in the way of a task.

But now?

Cryptor wishes he was allowed to cry.

The door is abruptly slammed shut in front of him, Kyle using much more force than necessary. There’s clearly something going on with the blond…

His confusion intensifies some, but in the end, does it really matter? Kyle was right. There is nothing he can do. Sentry is going to be brought here and broken whether he likes it or not.

He can only hope that he breaks before he has to watch the one he loves do the same.

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

GUESS WHAT *THROWS THIS* ANGST

In letzter Zeit kommt alles von früher hoch. Ob ich will oder nicht.

Ich sollte nicht in der Vergangenheit leben. Aber ich hab damit einfach noch nicht abgeschlossen.

17.04.21

@lifee-is-a-melody

The Melody of Our Hearts

the melody of our hearts by BraveheartZX

Denki Kaminari gets severely injured and wants to spend his first day out of recovery with Jirou.

Words: 5768, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Jirou Kyouka, Kaminari Denki, Ashido Mina, Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki, Yaoyorozu Momo, Todoroki Shouto, Mineta Minoru, Sero Hanta

Relationships: Jirou Kyouka/Kaminari Denki

Additional Tags: First Kiss, First Dates, Fluff and Angst

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30738983

It's My Fault (I Know I'm Selfish)

it’s my fault (i know i’m selfish) by Anonymous

spoilers for “gang of secrets” from season 4.

Trust is a hard thing to give, and hurts twice as much when it's broken

Words: 1211, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of miraculous shorts

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire, shes only mentioned tho

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, IF U SQUINT

Additional Tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, emphasis on the emotional hurt, Not a lot of comfort, Angst, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Deserves Better, marinette tries to be a good friend, but adrien is sad, Sad Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, someone pls help him, Good Friend Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, no beta we die like men, Season/Series 04 Spoilers

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30739616

The Loose Pin Situation

The Loose Pin Situation by ScribblingMama

Marinette has lost a sewing pin and fears she'll have to resort to stepping on it to find it. Thankfully, she has her own Kitty in Shining Leather to help her out, saving her foot unnecessary pain. To reward him, she gives him a movie night with treats and cuddles.

Words: 3237, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Tikki

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Additional Tags: Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, old fanfic rewrite, Fluff and Angst, Cuddles, Based on a Tumblr Post, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Brief Mention of Blood, Sewing Pins Hurt, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Flirting, Fun

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30739310

It's My Fault (I Know I'm Selfish)

it’s my fault (i know i’m selfish) by Anonymous

spoilers for “gang of secrets” from season 4.

Trust is a hard thing to give, and hurts twice as much when it's broken

Words: 1211, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of miraculous shorts

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire, shes only mentioned tho

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, IF U SQUINT

Additional Tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, emphasis on the emotional hurt, Not a lot of comfort, Angst, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Deserves Better, marinette tries to be a good friend, but adrien is sad, Sad Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, someone pls help him, Good Friend Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, no beta we die like men, Season/Series 04 Spoilers

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30739616

Crimson

Crimson by MicroMaves

Hawks infiltrates the League of Villains intending to take them down from the inside out. Instead, he finds a home. Shoto struggles with the fact that there is something oddly familiar about the hooded man he bumped into on the street.

Or pre-war arc taken in a different direction that Horikoshi takes it with more focus on other characters. Also some focus on Mirio and how he deals with the loss of Nighteye and his quirk.

Words: 1229, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: M/M

Characters: Takami Keigo | Hawks, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Todoroki Shouto, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Hakamata Tsunagu | Best Jeanist, Todoroki Natsuo, Toogata Mirio, Amajiki Tamaki, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, League of Villains, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Toga Himiko, Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Kurogiri, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Bubaigawara Jin | Twice

Relationships: Dabi & Takami Keigo | Hawks, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Touya

Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Ill add more tags as we go

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30738467

The Loose Pin Situation

The Loose Pin Situation by ScribblingMama

Marinette has lost a sewing pin and fears she'll have to resort to stepping on it to find it. Thankfully, she has her own Kitty in Shining Leather to help her out, saving her foot unnecessary pain. To reward him, she gives him a movie night with treats and cuddles.

Words: 3237, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Tikki

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Additional Tags: Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, old fanfic rewrite, Fluff and Angst, Cuddles, Based on a Tumblr Post, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Brief Mention of Blood, Sewing Pins Hurt, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Flirting, Fun

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30739310

Crimson

Crimson by MicroMaves

Hawks infiltrates the League of Villains intending to take them down from the inside out. Instead, he finds a home. Shoto struggles with the fact that there is something oddly familiar about the hooded man he bumped into on the street.

Or pre-war arc taken in a different direction that Horikoshi takes it with more focus on other characters. Also some focus on Mirio and how he deals with the loss of Nighteye and his quirk.

Words: 1229, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: M/M

Characters: Takami Keigo | Hawks, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Todoroki Shouto, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Hakamata Tsunagu | Best Jeanist, Todoroki Natsuo, Toogata Mirio, Amajiki Tamaki, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, League of Villains, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Toga Himiko, Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Kurogiri, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Bubaigawara Jin | Twice

Relationships: Dabi & Takami Keigo | Hawks, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Todoroki Touya

Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Ill add more tags as we go

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30738467

The Melody of Our Hearts

the melody of our hearts by BraveheartZX

Denki Kaminari gets severely injured and wants to spend his first day out of recovery with Jirou.

Words: 5768, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Jirou Kyouka, Kaminari Denki, Ashido Mina, Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki, Yaoyorozu Momo, Todoroki Shouto, Mineta Minoru, Sero Hanta

Relationships: Jirou Kyouka/Kaminari Denki

Additional Tags: First Kiss, First Dates, Fluff and Angst

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30738983

Gyroscope

gyroscope by pyrolight

Hatsume Mei is in an inventing slump. Nothing she makes seems to work, and her failures are piling up, pushing her closer and closer to a breakdown. To try and get through it, she starts sneaking into the UA workshop every night, to get in some extra hours of work.

It's a fine plan, until that fails, too. Enter Power Loader Sensei: Dad Edition, to save the day.

Words: 5561, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Hatsume Mei, Maijima Higari | Power Loader

Relationships: Hatsume Mei & Maijima Higari | Power Loader

Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, imposter syndrome, Insecurity, Parental Maijima Higari | Power Loader, dadloader?, LMFAO, anyway there is crying but for once it isn't deku, Spiders, Robots, spider robots specifically, Autistic Hatsume Mei

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30738707

The interviewer: “Was that slap real?”

ZZJ:

Posting a oneshot on my ao3 soon, its' still going through some final revisions. Here’s a quick doodle I made based off it.

See ya then <3

A Little Braver - Chapter 1

Here I am!

As i promised here is the first chapter of my new Rowaelin.

This one will be very different from Island Dream. It’s meant to have a slightly more challenging plot line and a smidge more angst in it. Also, i know very little about fire fighters and the airforce. I did research for both of them and for the firefighters I used some shows I follow as inspiration. Whereas for the airforce... it’s mostly research. I based the ranks system on the UK RAF.

THIS is Rowan’s jet (it actually exists. It’s called a Eurofighter Typhoon. I have seen it live at some airshow here in Scotland and it’s so damn sexy.), just imagine it in deep green for Terrasen. 

I have 12 chapters down but still no actual direction in mind yet. I have a few ideas I want to develop but the storyline is still hazy. 

And this is the SONG that gave the idea for the title.

Anyway, I’ll leave you to it

----------

Aelin is a firefighter for the Terrasen Fire Department (TFD) and one day her squadron get called to deal with a fire at the airbase of the Terrasen airforce (TAF). During the incident she meets icy Captain Whitethorn. They are thown together in a forced cooperation.  Slowly they will find their lives entwined beyond work. And both of them, with a tragic past at their backs... will have to be a little braver...

(Sorry i suck at introductions)

----------------

“Again!” Shouted a blonde woman standing in front of a training tower on fire. Her long braid gently placed on her shoulder. Blue eyes like the clearest of days fixed on the inferno in front of her and a concentrated expression. 

“Brullo, help Luca and start again, perhaps this time without killing our victim.”

They had been at it for a while but it seemed like the newbie was struggling with training. Being a firefighter was not a job for everyone. Aelin knew Luca was still a probie and still learning the ropes but sometimes she felt as if the boy was not as tough as he tried to be. Luca had been with them for three months and he had become the mascot of the group. He was eighteen an eager and she was happy to support him as much as she could, but her job was also to make sure her people would walk out of a raging fire alive. She had already lost enough in the line of duty. 

She was about to call for a break when the dispatch siren went off.

“Everyone, time to go.” She turned to Luca “You stay at the station and cover dispatch or just study for your exam.” She winked at him and ran to the engine, donned her gear and climbed to her seat.

Being the Captain she took the passenger seat in the engine and joined Nox who was the driver.

“Were are we heading?”

“Airforce base.” Replied Nox while driving the engine to its destination with incredible skill.

“Did a pilot forgot to turn off one of their fancy planes?” Then she turned to Aedion, the man was her lieutenant and her second  “Are our EMTs with us?”

The man nodded “right behind us.”

The engine sped through traffic, siren blazing “what’s our ETA?” Asked Aelin.

“Five minutes, Cap.” Replied Nox.

Not long after they reached their destination and arrived at the main gates of the airbase which were shut. Aelin swore. She opened the door and jumped off the truck.

To meet her there was a tall man, his hair silver and the eyes of the deepest of green. She thought Aedion was tall. She was wrong. This man was a good twenty centimetre taller. 

“Fire department at your service, did one of men’s arse caught fire?”

The man glared at her. His face harsh.

Ok, wrong audience.

“We have a fire in hangar bay 2.”

“Good, now open these gates and let us through if you want us to work our magic.”

“This is a restricted area as you can imagine.” His tone flat and almost bored.

Aelin took a step toward him, not afraid “Listen, you either let us through with the engine and the ambulance or you start praying the gods for a fuckload of rain. Which will it be, sir?”

Aelin noticed a flash of anger pass through his eyes. He would have been the most gorgeous man she had ever seen if it wasn’t for his stick up his arse attitude.

The man in front of her made a gesture and a car appeared in front of the truck “Follow the car and do not wander. This is a restricted area.”

“Sure, I always wanted a picnic in an airbase.”

Aelin ignored him and gestured at the ambulance to follow them. She jumped back on the truck and noticed the silver haired arsehole getting in the car in front of them.

It did not take long to reach their destination and Aelin swore when she noticed the fire engulfing hangar bay 2.

“And that’s me hoping in a boring day. How silly of me.” Joked Aedion from his seat behind Aelin. 

Aelin jumped off the truck and started shouting orders then joined again the officer “Do you have all staff accounted for?”

The man shook his head “Two engineers are missing and we have a few injured as well.”

Aelin shouted for the EMTs and the two women appeared in front of her in an instant “there are few injured that need treatment. Go and call for backup if you need it.” The taller brunette nodded and they disappeared again. 

Aedion’s voice reached her over the radio “copy that, Aedion. There are still two civilians trapped inside.” She turned to see her squad at work and a pang of pride rushed through her. They were an amazing well oiled machine and all the gruelling training paid off in the end. 

She turned to look at the grumpy officer and noticed the man was like a statue. His eyes fixed on the raging fire in front of them.

“We’ll get them out.” She offered as a comfort but the man didn’t even notice her. 

“Any idea on how it started?”

He turned his head slightly and his icy stare focused on her “isn’t that your job, captain?” She did not like the tone she used to call her captain. She could hear a veil of mockery.

“Ansel, Ress,” she shouted while donning the rest of her fire suit “direct the jet there.” She pointed to the location that looked like the epicentre. Once her mask and oxygen tank were on, she grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran into the building to join the rest of the squad.

Rowan stared at the woman ran into the fire. The captain had struck him stupid when she had the guts to challenge him without any fear. He was so used to give orders without ever receiving a rebuttal that it totally threw him off that the woman had fought him that way. Soon after he had found himself staring while she directed her squad to take positions and start to tackle the fire. She was fierce, of that he had no doubts. And with the same fierceness she had ran into the hangar and joined her team.

He was too busy staring at her that he missed the instant in which the structure had started to collapse on the ground. It went down as if made of paper and he froze at the realisation that there were still people inside the building. Engineers and firefighters alike. And for a brief second he felt a pang of panic for a woman he did not know and who had a temper of fire.

“Captain!” His head whipped to the side at the subtle veil of panic in the dark-haired man, handling the jet of water on their truck. “Lieutenant, come in.” But no sound came over the radio “fuck.” The man intensified the jet of water. 

Rowan knew that level of panic. He had experienced it a few times in his career. The soul crashing fear of losing a member of his team, the fear gripping his heart until a response came over the radio. He knew that fear very well. 

It took ten minutes for the auxiliary vehicles of the airbase to reach the site. They were not proper fire engines. For that they had to use the firefighters. But they could help and they started spreading a sort of special agent that slowly stifled the fire.

Rowan sighed in relief when he noticed some figures appearing from the smoke. The captain amongst them. Her hair was now covered in soot and her face just as dirty. He relaxed completely when he spotted the captain carrying one of the engineers and another fire fighters carrying the second one. The firefighter deposited the victims gently on the ground and the two EMTs went to check for them. He saw her collapsing on the ground on her knees then she stood, almost regretting that moment of weakness and went back to the engine to give some more orders. A tall blonde man approached her and after discussing something he moved away and stood staring at the collapsed building and the fire now fully extinguished.

She coughed once and then turned noticing the presence at her back.

“You should ask one of your EMTs to have a look at you.” His tone flat and devoid of emotions.

“I am fine.” She admitted with defiance “I don’t need you to babysit me. Sir or whatever rank your insignia has.”

“Captain. Captain Whitethorn.” And his words had a far gentler tone that he expected and it surprised him.

She walked away from him and went to the rest of the team to make sure everyone was okay and then checked on the civilians that had been saved and finally returned to captain Whitethorn.

“The two engineers will be fine.” She coughed one more time “They inhaled a lot of smoke but they are now on their way to the hospital for a few more checks. There are a few other with minor burns but everyone has been treated and on their way to the hospital as well.”

“Thank you.”

“Once the embers cool down I want to have a look at the site. Something clearly went completely wrong in here which means that some of your safety systems or your basic procedures are not working.”

“Are you saying that we are slacking in terms of safety?” His tone became harsh once again.

Aelin again stood straight in front of him “I saw sprinkles, but there was no trace of water which means they did not activate as soon as the fire started as they are meant to. Which in a place with so much fuel and flames is a big infraction and can land you in a shit ton of problems. Whoever was in charge of safety fucked up big time, Captain.”

Whitethorn ran his hand through his hair. That was his CO’s job. Lorcan was the one meant to look after all those things. But Lorcan had inherited a situation that was a bit of a clusterfuck and he had been working hard to fix it since his promotion. 

“I will need to come back tomorrow to do an inspection of the site and I want to inspect all the other remaining buildings and make sure they are up to code. And I don’t care if this is a restricted zone,” she moved a step closer to him and Whitethorn stared in her deep blue eyes “You get me a pass into here for tomorrow with access to all areas. And if you don’t, I’ll go high enough that when I come back you will have to roll out the red carpet. Do you read me on this Captain?”

He nodded silently. A part of him was in awe. Who was this woman? She did not seem to be intimidated by rank or a pretty uniform. He was speechless. Even civilians often tended to offer a certain level of respect to him just because of his rank. She stood in front of him, chin high and defiant. 

“Yes ma’am,” he heard himself say with unexpected obedience.

“Good. I will see you tomorrow, Captain Whitethorn.” She turned on her heels and left him still planted in his spot and completely stunned.

Aelin joined her team again and once the scene was cleared up and all the gear tucked back in the truck they left the premises.

“I hope Luca had some sort of food ready, I am starving.” Added Aelin sitting back in her seat in the truck.

“The day you will say that you are not hungry it will be a day when doom will descend upon us.” Chimed in Aedion.

“Hey, I use a lot of energy.”

“Sure, having a stand off with Captain silver fox must have been exhausting.”

Aelin turned and stared at Ansel. The red haired woman was smirking.

“He was being a pompous arsehole who think he is a god just because he wears a uniform.”

“Yeah, one hot arsehole though. I mean did you even notice him?”

Aelin did not reply. She had actually noticed him but her first impression of him hadn’t changed. The man was impossibly gorgeous but he still needed a bit of manners.

Eventually the squad got back to the station and got off the truck abandoning their equipment for checks later. “Let’s all go and get some chow in.”Aelin shouted while removing her boots “Aedion make sure you and Ansel check the truck and take Luca with you he needs some training in what we do after a call out.”

The ambulance pulled over beside them a bit later and the two women joined the rest of the group.

“Lys, all okay with the victims?”

The taller woman nodded “dropped them off. No serious injuries though.” Then she opened the back of the ambulance car and grabbed a clipboard and handed it to Aelin “our supplies order for the hospital. I was going to give it to you before but then we got called out and I forgot.”

Aelin grabbed the document “I’ll get it done today. You and Elide go and join the guys for food.”

Lysandra walked over to Aedion and dropped him a kiss on his lips. The two had been dating for years now and the whole squadron had been taking bets on when Aedion would pop the question. 

Aelin eventually joined the rest of her team for their meal and Luca had overdone himself and prepared some amazing food. She was ravenous, however during her meal her head kept going over the call they had received at the airbase. There were a few things that bugged her and she was looking forward to her visit the next morning to check the scene again. The sprinklers had been her first clue. She just hoped Captain tight-pants would be more willing to help after he had a nice night of sleep. 

It was much later when Aedion found her in her office buried under layers of folders and papers on her desk.

He gently knocked at her door “Lys and I are going home. Are you staying late again?”

“Aedion, look at these documents.” she passed him a pile of sheet of paper “That is the last safety check they had a look at the signature of who passed it.”

“Fucking Havillard senior.” The man had been the fire chief and had finally retired a few months before and the event had created a sense of relief in every single firefighter in Orynth. The man had a bad reputation and a penchant for currying far too many favours with politicians “I am so glad Dorian finally took over. He is a much better fire chief. He has done more for the fire department in a few months than his father in years of his rule.”

“I want to check every single thing he signed off as to code. I don’t trust the bastard and if he passed things not operating correctly I am going to cause a shitstorm.”

“And do what, Aelin? The man is retired and back to his mansion in Adarlan. There is nothing you can do.” Aedion was always the rational one and sometimes Aelin hated him for that.

“His negligence could have killed hundreds of people.”

“I know, but all we can do now is to fix his wrongs and make sure that the airbase is up to code. And keep your friend the Captain safe.”

Aelin snorted “Why everyone thinks I have the hots for the Captain?”

“I have known you all my life and you totally are into him. I recognised the signs.”

“Well, my dear cousin, you are highly mistaken.”

Aelin and Aedion were cousins. The man had served in the army and when he retired she had told him that her fire house was looking for recruits and asked if he wanted a shot at being a fire fighter. Aedion accepted and went through training at the academy and in the end the skills he had gained in the military had proven amazing for his new role. 

“Don’t tell me you guys are taking bets on me.”

Aedion laughed “my revenge for starting the one about me and Lys.”

Aelin growled “Yours is bound to happen eventually.” She looked at him “me and his stiffness? Not a chance. He might be hot as hell but he has no sense of humour and probably cannot go to the toilet unless he gets permission from his CO.”

Aedion sighed “That’s military training. It gets drilled into you from day one. He is still active and it’s normal. I am retired and still have that instinct.”

Aelin laughed “No, you don’t do anything without Lys’ approval.”

He nodded “I love her but the woman is scary. And now that she had Elide as a partner she is getting craftier.”

Aelin smiled “Go home and relax you two. Just don’t make me an aunt yet.”

“Don’t stay too long okay?” The man waved at her and left. 

Aelin sat five more minutes then she heard the second team arrive on the premises she packed up her stuff and decided to go home. She walked down the corridor greeting the other team and had a catch up with the lieutenant and eventually she left the station. The weather had turned cold and winter was definitely in the air. Aelin sniffled the air, cosied up in her jacket and walked home. It took her much longer than usual to go home as she took a different route and stopped at the park. Not the best idea at night but she had enough knowledge of hand to hand combat that she would easily kick the arse of whoever tried to assault her. She stopped in her favourite spot and leaned against the rail to look at the ducks in the pond. Going back home was still hard. Since she had lost Sam she hated her empty house. Even after over a year. They were both firefighters. He was the captain at the west station. They had met during a call out and got along from the start. Then got along a bit more until things got serious and they moved in together. They had two years of happiness until he went out on a call with his squadron and thing went south. He and another firefighter lost their lives that night. It had been over a year now but her heart still ached and missed him.

She heard ambulance sirens in the background and her instinct was to look for a cause for it. 

She said goodbye to the ducks and eventually walked home.

The next morning Aelin had got to work so early that the second team was still on. She had shared breakfast with them and was glad to hear they had a quiet night with just a call.

She walked back to her office and went over one the documents one more time. As a courtesy she decided tray and phone Captain Whitethorn but then realised she did not have his number and doubted the airbase would advertise its number freely. Ach well, he knew they she was going. 

Once Aedion arrived she gave him instructions on what to do while she was away. She wanted a few more drills run and the truck scrubbed and equipment checked. She knew that when she was away they tended to have far too much fun “And if I come back and I discover you guys slacked off I am going to unleash Lysandra on you.”

“I will keep them in check.”

“You better.” And with that she left and drove away to the airbase. 

It took her a good half an hour to finally reach the main gate. She got out of the car and went to the guards posted at the entrance “Hi, I am a firefighter on the TFD. I am here to see Captain Whitethorn, he is waiting for me.”

“What is your name?”

“Captain Aelin Galathynius.”

The man walked away to check something with another guard and got back to her “You can go in. The Captain will meet you at the next check point.”

Aelin grunted. They did not have this many checks the day before. Although, with a building on fire they were probably quite eager to have them in as soon as possible.

She got back in the car and drove the short distance where another military man stopped her and she noticed the captain behind him. Still stiff and a face that deserved to be punched. 

He knocked on her passenger window and Aelin lowered the glass “good morning, Captain.”

“I will need to get in the car.”

Aelin rolled her eyes and unlocked the door for him.

“Follow the main road until you see the main building. Park there and we’ll get you all signed in.”

What was his problems? Didn’t they used greeting in the military?

Aelin drove in silence until she spotted the main building.

“Park over there.” She sensed the command in his voice.

She did as told and once done she grabbed all her stuff from the back of the car and followed him. He had exited the vehicle and started walking not bothering waiting for her.

She was going to kill him. 

Once inside the main building she found him waiting for her at the reception area with a clipboard in his hands “Fill this in.” Again, that tone of command and not a single please.

Aelin had a look and realised they were annoyingly thorough in term of security “Do you want my bra size as well?” She smiled at him “it’s a 38A, by the way.”

No reaction. She sighed and filled in all her details. Once she was done the captain took the clipboard and gave her her badge “Keep this on you at all times Miss Galathynius.”

“You can call me Aelin. I gave you my bra size, I guess we are on a name basis kind of relationship.” She grabbed the badge and wore it around her neck.

“Were do you want to start?”

Fine. No jokes and back to business “your office for starters.”

“I thought you wanted to see the fire scene.”

“Yes, but I need to ask a few questions first.” And she waved the big pile of documents in her hand.

He tensed and with a hand he gestured for her to follow him. 

They walked until they reached an office at the end of a corridor “This is my CO office. I discussed the situation with him and he believes it’s a matter that needs his presence as well.”

“The more the merrier” and flashed him a smile but she had no reaction from him.

They entered the room and Aelin froze. The man in front of her was huge. He stood to greet her and she thought she had never met anyone as tall as the man behind the desk.

“Sir, this is the Captain.”

“Miss Galathynius, isn’t it?”

“Captain, if you don’t mind. I earned my rank like all of you, even if I am a woman.”

“I am Air Commodore Lorcan Salvaterre.” She shook his hand and took a seat after he offered. Captain Whitethorn stood behind her, rigid and cold as his usual. Gods, the man needed to get laid. 

“I believe you had some concerns with regard to that accident from yesterday.”

“I do.” And she slammed the pile of documents on the desk. If they wanted to play tough, they had met their match “My first concern is that some of your safety checks are two years old. As you are aware Mr Salvaterre, considered the nature of your business and the level of dangerous materials present on site you are required by law an annual check.” She passed over a piece of paper with the current regulations “and again in your case there are aspects that need to be checked twice a year and you have not done so.” She sat back on the chair “Yesterday I noticed that the sprinkles had not activated during the fire. Again, your reports show that the last maintenance check was three years ago.” Another sheet landed on the man’s desk “A hangar that could, according to your plans, have up to a 100 personnel on site at the same time, only had one fire exit.”

“If you had a look at hangar bay two blueprints you could see why only one exit was added.”

Aelin unfolded the blueprints in challenge. They had no idea who they were dealing with “I can see that one side of the hangar share the door with the airstrip and I can see that this is a very bad idea for an evacuation spot. However,” and she pointed at the plan “this area here, as you can see is perfectly safe. It offer protection from a possible explosion of fire and it looks like it could accommodate at least half of the staff.” She closed the folder “I am going to be frank with you. It’s a miracle you are still allowed to operate. This are only the biggest infractions, I am sure that once I will inspect the site of the fire I will find more.”

She noticed Salvaterre flinch.

“I am also aware that it was the old fire chief who signed off the last inspections and that explains a lot. The man had been a thorn in my side for a very long time but his son is a far more capable chief.” She sat comfortably again “My concern here is for all the staff. Yesterday could have had a far worse outcome. I can see that at least your team has a good grasp on how safely evacuate and I am positive that once we add a second door it will be even more efficient.”

“Any big changes will have to get approved by the military.”

“Well, get that done. If you value your people you will grovel until you get what you need. You don’t seem the man to back down from a valid fight.” She leaned forward a bit, not breaking eye contact with him.

“What do you suggest?”

“I will make you a deal.” She offered “I am aware it might take some time to fix all the issues and bring the whole base up to code. I am giving you six months. Work with us, I am willing to help as a consultant. I had a chat with chief Havillard and he is okay with my plan and authorised me to cooperate with you.”

“I guess I can work with that.” Then he stared at Captain Whitethorn behind her “Captain Whitethorn will be you liaison. I am too busy, but he has my authorisation to help you with what you need.”

She turned to the man at her back and noticed at his panicked face “I am sure the Captain and I will have fun. We are best buddies already.” She flashed him a smile and the man flinched. Well, at least that was a reaction. 

“Perfect. Captain Galathynius I expect you will keep me updated on the progress.” And he offered her his business card “my email is at the bottom. It’s the best way to get in touch with me.”

“Thank you sir,”Aelin said pocketing the card. The man was just as cold as the captain but seemed a bit more willing to cooperate “Now if you’ll excuse me sir I have some work to do.”

The man nodded and Captain Whitethorn walked outside, probably already dreading the idea of working with her. She was not ecstatic either. 

They were walking toward the hangar when four men stopped them and Whitethorn stopped 

“I thought I told you to go over the last tactics we developed.” He really had no idea on how to talk to people.

“We just finished.” Said the older of the group.

“Hi gorgeous.” 

Aelin turned to the voice and saw a stunning blonde man staring at her “I am Flight Lieutenant Fenrys Moonbeam, m’lady. I hope our cold hearted captain is treating you nicely. We have been trying to teach him manners…”

Aelin laughed. So they had sense of humour. It was just Whitethorn.

“Lieutenant, why don’t you go and clean your jet until it shines like a mirror?”

Fenrys got closer to her “he is old and cranky.” Then he straightened up “call me if you need a fun guide during your time at the base, Captain.”

“Lieutenant!” Whitethorn barked with a tone that did not admit any more games. 

The older man grabbed Fenrys arm and pulled him away “let’s go pup. Don’t anger the man.”

“Bye guys.” Aelin waved as they walked away.

“They are my squadron.” Whitethorn finally spoke and she turned at him in surprise “The man who took Fenrys away is Gavriel and he is Wing Commander. He is basically my second. The other two were Vaughan and Connall and, well, Fenrys. They are all Flight Lieutenants.” He sighed “Fenrys is a good pilot but he is still young.”

“The only person with a sense of humour inside here and you shot him down that way?” She shook her head “Come on grampa, let’s go and do our job.”

Aelin walked away with a swagger and when she was not looking his lips bent in a fraction of a smile. The woman was a force of nature and for some reason he could not explain why he had spent the previous night wondering about the fierce woman who had not backed down and who face him fiercely. Not that he would ever admit to anyone, but  he found her madly attractive. 

She was now walking in front of him and was almost skipping and he had to try very hard not to chuckle at the scene.

“You are going the wrong way.” His tone cold again.

“Well, then get your arse in front of me and lead the way.” She stopped and waited for him to walk past her. While behind him she sneaked a peak at the man and she realised that Ansel had been right. Her gaze lingered on his backside and some very improper thoughts passed through her mind. Her gaze trailed up to his broad shoulders and lingered on his short silver hair and then dropped to the strong hands folded behind his back. Some very improper thought passed through her mind but she shook them off. He was a horrible man. She was not going down that road. Boundaries. 

“We are here.” His voice woke her up from her thoughts.

From her bag Aelin extracted two masks and a torch. She threw one of the masks to Mr cranky pants “put this on. There will be still fumes lingering and they are very toxic.”

Thankfully he accepted the mask without complaints. It looks like he was intelligent enough to understand the risks.

He unlocked the place and allowed Aelin to go in first. He trailed behind and let her work in silence. 

“What kind of jobs do you do in here?”

“Hangar two is were the jets needing heavy maintenance are moved to. Hangar one is the main one where all the jets ready for take off are kept.”

She moved around pointing the light in some specific areas “Am I correct in saying that the planes in here do not have any fuel and are not armed.”

She saw him nod “The fuel is removed as soon as they are moved in here. A small amount is added only when they need to be moved back to the main hangar. And yes, no weapon of any type is held here or in hangar one for all that matters. We have very tight procedure for ammunition and the missiles are loaded only an hour prior to take off and armed only after the jets have left the base.”

Aelin nodded, well, at least it seemed that on some areas they had their shit together.

She moved to what looked like the epicentre of the fire and crouched down and touched a strange puddle on the floor. She smelled it and cursed. That smelled like kerosene but a doubt was nagging her. The puddle looked big enough to be a leak.

“Do you keep track of the repairs done in each bay?”

“We do and I have the jobs recorded for yesterday in bay four.” Then his eyes reacted in shock “It looks like the jet in bay four had suffered a fuel tank leak and was scheduled for a repair or possibly a replacement.”

Aelin walked around the charred remains of the jet then she noticed a panel missing on the side “help me here Captain, what is this panel for?” And she flashed the light inside the livery.

“This is the access panel for the tank. It looks like they had started the works already.”

“I am allowed to make a guess Captain?”

“By all means.” He stood at her side.

“My theory is that while the tank was emptied fuel leaked out. Whoever did the job, did not realise it. Once the tank was empty he proceeded with the replacement job and used tools that might have caused a spark and ignited the fuel and caused the explosion. Am I getting closer?”

“I have a feeling ma’am that you are on the right track, alas.”

She crouched again and stared at the puddle “however, this is not how kerosene works… kerosene does not catches fire easily. It has a high flash point.” she muttered to herself then she turned to the man behind her “Captain, are you using a special type of fuel? Jets are usually powered by kerosene.”

He froze and she knew she had hit the jackpot.

He cleared his throat “we have been experimenting with other fuels and liquid oxygen.”

“Fuck,” muttered Aelin turning and standing “do you really need all that power?”

“As I said we have been experimenting. This plane was one of the new prototypes.” He confessed.

“How many of these monsters do you have?”

“I am not allowed to tell. This is as much as I have been authorised to say.”

“Damn it Captain.” She shouted.

“They are not on the premises and in a very remote location away from inhabited areas. This one was here for testing.” His face grew dark all of a sudden “I was meant to fly it.”

Aelin gasped “are you telling me that you were willing to strap yourself in this crazy thing and risk your life with something clearly not stable?”

He looked away “It’s my job after all.”

“Shit.” Aelin stood and walked away. Why was she even caring about him.

“Captain…”

But she brushed him off and kept inspecting the area “your fire extinguishers a too far away and it takes a person too much time to grab one. And you need more.” Then she turned to the Captain “I assume they at least know how to use it…” he nodded.

“Well, that’s a start but we will have refresher session. That never hurts and you guys will have to do it as well.”

He nodded.

“Fine. Take me to hangar bay one.”

“Follow me.” He just said and started walking still thinking about her reaction and was stunned that for a moment she had seemed to care.

The two walked in silence and Aelin followed him looking around the base and noticing things.

Once in the main hangar bay, Whitethorn opened the door and Aelin stood still at the sight. In front of her there were at least ten jets. All painted in the Terrasen green. They were a sight to behold.

“I am not sure I agree with their use but they look majestic.”

The captain nodded while he stood at her side, hands folded behind his back “come.”

He walked to one of the jets, said something to one of the engineers buzzing around it and it was just the two of them “This one is mine.”

Aelin traced her hand to the livery “Iceman?” She asked noticing the word painted just under the canopy.

“My call sign.”

Aelin chuckled “I guess it fits you perfectly.” Then she walked to the stepladder “Can I?” She asked. She was dying to sit in the cockpit. Just for a few minutes. She could not get distracted but she wanted to do it.

The Captain moved closer to her “be careful on the ladder.” She flashed him a smug smile and Whitethorn kept a watchful eye while she climbed turning his head when her backside was basically in his face. Once at the top she climbed over the edge and sat in the cockpit quite skilfully and now she looked down at him with a big grin. His heart jumped. When she smiled she was the most stunning creature he had seen. A brat, but still a gorgeous brat.

A moment later he had noticed she had taken his helmet and was now trying to wear it. He held back a chuckle and climbed the ladder “let me.” He was so close to her that he could smell her scent of lavender and jasmine. He helped her fastening the helmet properly then he turned to some of the dials on the dashboard.

“This is the altimeter” for some reason he leaned forward and started to explain her some of the dials in the cockpit “this is to check the speed and this one tells how many g’s we are pulling. That is—“ but he got interrupted.

“I know what that is Captain. How many g’s do you pull max?”

“9 in a vertical steep ascent, dogfights and in some turns as well. We never sustain it for too long because it’s dangerous.” He leaned on the livery “we wear special suits called G suits that help with the pressure and we undergo a crazy amount of training in the centrifuge and we also have to keep a strict exercise and health regime.”

That, she had noticed the previous day and on a couple of occasions she had imagined the amount of muscles under that uniform of his.

“Let’s get back to work.” She said, saving herself from the strange direction her thoughts had wondered. She stood and the Captain straightened and moved closer to her “be careful, climbing is much easier than coming down.” She turned and gave her back to him and felt a phantom of his hand on her back. He was not touching her but she could feel his hand lingering there, protecting her.

“Ok, one rung at a time.” His tone had changed as well and somehow the iciness had gone “Good, one more and you are there.”

Aelin climbed off the last rung and turned only to crash into his hard chest. She had not realised how close he was standing and when she looked up she met his eyes. They looked brighter and they had a strange light she could not place. As soon as she realised how close they were standing she backed away and for a very brief second she thought she noticed disappointment in his expression.

“Thank you for that Captain. Now I can brag that I sat in a fighter jet.”

He nodded but did not added anything. 

They finished inspecting the main hangar and Aelin looked puzzled “How is it possible that this hangar is all up to code and perfect. Such a discrepancy does not make sense.”

“Salvaterre took over from our old CO only six months ago.” He sighed “do you want the diplomatic answer or the actual truth?”

“What do you think?” Her answer was a bit harsher than she intended “Sorry, I did not mean it like that. The truth of course.”

“Our old CO was very much a friend with Havillard senior. And I think politics and money are the answer to your question.”

“I don’t fuck it believe it.” She almost shouted in frustration “so these bastards prefer to save some money and leave a hangar with very little safety?” She leaned against the plane and looked up to try and calm down for a moment “It’s disgusting.”

“We both got new COs who both seem to be more decent individual. Let’s leave the past where it is and fix things from now onwards.”

Aelin smiled at him “this might be one of the wisest thing you said since I met you.”

Whitethorn glared at her but she ignored him.

They spent another hour going around the base and Aelin completed her inspection. There were some issues but all things that could be easily fixed and she was relieved that although the base was not in its best of state it was definitely not as in bad condition as she thought after the disaster in the secondary hangar.

“Captain, that’s me all done. I would like you to come to the station tomorrow so we can discuss an action plan and put forward some ideas for your CO.”

“I can do that. Do you have a preferred time?”

“Would morning at 9am be okay for you or is it too early?”

“It’s fine.” 

“Amazing.” Aelin flashed him a very bright smile and then extracted a card from the pocket of her jacketet “These are my contact details. If you have any question you can email me or phone me.” She pointed at the card “that is my direct phone number at work. The address of the fire station is on as well.”

The man accepted the card and placed in the trousers pockets of his uniform.

“Well, Captain Whitethorn, thank you for today. And I will see you tomorrow.” She extended her hand and the man took it.

He nodded and in silence he walked her back to the check point. Another nod and he turned on his heels with military precision and walked away.

Aelin stood to study the man for a moment. She found him fascinating. He was still an emotionless prick but there was something that got her attention. She hoped that working together would become easier in the long run otherwise it would be a very long and touch liaison mission.

Eventually she got back in the car and returned to work.

{4:00 am}

bestfriend!jisung , fluff , slight angst

pressing the call button to his contact it rang rang and rang

almost 4 times until he answered

“y/n it’s four in the morning is everything okay” his voice was raspy, obvious he had just woke up

you felt too sad, too worn down to even say hi, everything was indeed not okay and the only thing you did was a sniffle in response

“are you crying?? please tell me what happened” jisung sat up, turning on his lamp

“please just talk to me.. i just want to hear your voice”

“..of course, i’ll tell you about my day then”

and he went on, telling about his day, how it was during practice, getting ready for their new comeback what trouble the group members got into today with the manager

that’s all you wanted to hear, you wanted his voice to just lull you to sleep

soon enough the sun was rising, you two were still on call and you were fast asleep

“i hope you feel better in the morning y/n” he smiled hearing your soft snores and drifted to sleep himself

Ten Years (Chapter 3)

by cheesyficwriter

You're my all and more, but I need room to breathe.

An alternative timeline of how Ron and Hermione find their way to each other over the first ten years after the Battle.

Words: 17k, Chapters: 3/10, Language: English

Fandom: Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling

Rating: M (for mature themes, language and sexual content)

Categories: F/M

Characters/Relationship: Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger

AO3

FFN

It's Fine, Really

It’s Fine, Really by bobandsandwich

When Momo cuts her family off to avoid an arranged marriage, she gets a job at a coffee shop. Shenanigans ensue.

aka the completely realistic story of two useless lesbians and their homosexual friends

Words: 491, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, M/M

Characters: Yaoyorozu Momo, Jirou Kyouka, Todoroki Shouto, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Ashido Mina, Uraraka Ochako

Relationships: Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Homophobia, Light Angst, Fluff, Useless Lesbians, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30733553