01. Javy & Erin - “Do you want some hot chocolate?”

03. Callie & Kelly - “Do you like cinnamon?”

05. Jake & Flora - “Trick or treat?” “…Depends on if you’re the treat.”

07. Logan & Kristina - “It’s Halloween, why are you already putting up Christmas decorations?”

09. Bradley & Mary - “Is this costume too revealing?”

11. Billy & Aaron - “I don’t like scary movies.” “I’ll keep you safe.”

13. Warlock & Betty - “Here, take my sweater.”

15. Mav & Penny - “It’s never too early for Halloween music!”

17. Mickey & Carlee - “Quit trying to scare me! I know that’s you!”

19. Hondo & Cara - “Isn’t this stuff for kids?”

21. Cyclone & Linda - “Halloween is for children.”

23. Neil & Laura - “Candy corn is the best candy.”

25. Reuben & Danielle - “I forgot how cold it could get.”

27. Natasha & Calvin - “Do you like my costume?"

29. Brigham & Catherine - “Hey, where’s your costume?”

31. Bob & Elaine - “We should carve pumpkins!”

tagging some friends and people who might be interested!

@gretagerwigsmuse | @hangmanapologist | @hangmanbrainrot | @princessphilly | @hangmanssunnies | @thesewordsareallihavetogive | @a-court-of-roscoe-and-baby | @katieshook02 | @hellojameshowyadoin | @aristotles-butthole | @atarmychick007 | @whatislovevavy | @kmc1989 | @sometimesanalice | @laracrofted | @yuckosworld | @mika-darling | @bradshawsbaddie | @bobblebobsbae | @mothdruid | @ohtobeleah | @rhettabbotts | @sunlightmurdock | @withahappyrefrain | @roosterbruiser | @blue-aconite | @sylviebell

17. "Quit trying to scare me! I know that's you!"

It’s a cold and rainy Friday evening in October when the power goes out, rain viciously pelting the siding. The storm gets louder without the soft background noise of sports highlights playing, the wind whipping even faster as thunder rumbles nearby. The eerie quiet of the house unsettles Mickey.

He’s always hated storms, and after the horror movie marathon Fritz hosted last week, he’s even more on edge. And it doesn’t help that Carlee has been messing with him. His lovely wife taking advantage of his jumpiness just to make herself laugh.

She’s used her phone to flicker the smart lightbulbs when she’s not home. She’s snuck into a room and moved things on him, feigning innocence when he asks. Her favorite so far was when she scared him without even trying; she was just standing in the kitchen, and he hadn’t expected her to be home. The undignified squeak he let out had her snorting in laughter.

They’ve been harmless and funny pranks so far, but turning the lights out during a storm is too far.

“Quit trying to scare me! I know that’s you!” Mickey yells from his spot on the couch, rolling his eyes when Carlee doesn’t respond.

He stays on the couch, knowing that she’ll give up soon enough if he doesn’t react, and checks the weather report, hoping it’s changed. It hasn’t. The worst storm of the year, and it’s now predicted to go all night. He jumps a little when lightning flashes, branches slamming against the windows.

“Carlee, just flip the breaker back on; I want to finish watching the highlights from the Mexico match!”

Mickey waits for a minute, straining to hear movement over the rain and groaning when she doesn’t listen to him. His annoyance grows when he stands up and sees the Clarks still have power across the street.

“Why tonight of all nights? She couldn’t do this when it’s sunny outside?” He grumbles, searching through the junk drawer to find the good flashlight before making his way to the garage.

“Seriously, Carls? This is just not fun-” He cuts himself off, almost tripping through the doorway in surprise as he shines the light around the garage. Shocked to only see his car, realizing that his wife isn’t home.

“Shit, I guess the power really did go out.” He mumbles, hesitantly shuffling down the steps into the conjoining garage.

Or it’s a serial killer like in that movie, his brain adds.

“It’s not a serial killer; it’s just the storm. It’s not a serial killer; it’s just the storm.” He chants, feeling less confident about his decision to investigate alone. “Fuck! This is how white people always die in horror movies!”

“What are you talking about?”

Mickey is forty-six and a Captain in the United States Navy; he’s defied death a hundred times, watched the love of his life almost die in front of him, and seen atrocities play out all over the world. He is a brave man, and he has the chest candy to prove it. So, needless to say, he isn’t exactly proud of the high-pitched scream he lets out. Or the way he chucks the flashlight towards the voice, wincing as it clangs off something metal.

“Mickey!”

“When did you get home!”

The married couple yells at each other, one laughing so hard that tears are forming, the other hunched over, trying to regulate his heart rate.

“I just got home!”

“Why didn’t you park in the garage?!”

“Baby, the power is out on our side of the street. I can’t open the door right now.” Carlee explains through poorly muffled giggles. “I parked in the driveway and came in the front door.”

“Our side of the street?”

“Yeah, the grid must be split down the middle.”

“Stop laughing!” He demands. “I think I’m having a heart attack!”

“You are not having a heart attack, you big baby.” She stands beside him, comfortingly rubbing his back even as she laughs at him.

Mickey straightens up after a few minutes, his heart rate mostly normal, and he happily accepts a kiss. Tugging his wife closer to deepen the kiss, he hums when her nails scratch the back of his head. His hair is too short right now for her to grab the way she likes.

“Don’t you wanna know what you hit with the flashlight?” Carlee murmurs against his lips.

“Hmmm… what did I hit?”

“My leg.”

“Oh, fuck! I’m so sorry, Carlee!” Mickey drops to a knee, using the beam from the discarded flashlight to guide him as he rolls her pants up. “Did I hurt you?”

His strong fingers gently brush over her skin, looking for signs of injury as goose bumps erupt across her body.

“It was the other leg, Mic.” She cups his cheek as he finishes examining her right leg, her heart fluttering at the way her husband looks on his knees for her. Big brown eyes looking up at her, filled with concern and love.

“Well…” He trails off, pressing a kiss to her stomach as he unbuttons her slacks. “Better check this one, too. Just in case.”

Mickey slides her pants off, a slight fumble as they realize her shoes are still on, but it doesn’t ruin the mood; the garage suddenly warm despite the dreary weather outside. He loves the way her professional button-up looks dangling around her thighs. How it gives him a glimpse of her blue panties underneath every time she shifts.

He carefully examines her left leg, starting at the titanium ankle and working his way up to her knee. He treats the prosthetic limb the same way he did her other leg, genuinely checking for dings in the metal. Mickey’s heart clenches when he kisses the skin of her knee, still scarred after all these years. It’s been almost two decades, but he still can’t think about that day. About how many times they almost lost each other.

If he lets his brain go there, he can still feel the heat of the flames licking at his skin through his flight suit. The smoke stinging his eyes as Carlee yells at him to leave, to save himself.

Fanboy! Go!

No! Not without you!

You have to go! There’s nothing you can do!

I am not leaving you!

Miguel, you have to, or we’ll both die!

Then we’ll both die! I’m not leaving you! I’m getting you out of here!

And he did. Pulling her from the wreckage of what used to be their plane and to safety mere seconds before it completely blew apart. Everyone kept touting the accident and subsequent rescue as a miracle. The malfunction that took down their plane was a wide-reaching issue, but it was something that could be fixed before it hurt anyone else. And Mickey was hailed as a hero, willing to sacrifice himself to save his pilot.

It’s a miracle you were able to get to her, was the praise Mickey received over and over again, even as he was getting reamed out for not following protocol.

It’s a miracle you’re alive, came the chorus as Carlee was honorably discharged from the Navy. No one seemed to care that she was still in a coma.

It’s a miracle, was the party line, as everyone ignored the negligence and failure of the software company that didn’t account for everything.

The two of them seemed to be the only ones who knew it wasn’t a miracle.

It was pure luck.

Luck that Mickey was able to drag her out from under the mangled metal. Luck that the tourniquet in the medical supplies was unharmed. Luck that it was only one of Carlee’s legs that was hurt.

The real miracle would be if she ever woke up again. The medically induced coma the doctors put her into after the amputation surgery was complete meant that they had no idea how about her brain function. If she had been deprived of oxygen too long in the wreck.

The slight damage to Mickey’s lungs from smoke inhalation gave them a clue of the best-case scenario. But Carlee had been in the thick of it for a while before he had been able to reach her. He could only hope that he had been quick enough. Hope wasn’t enough, though, so from his post at her bedside, he did something he hadn’t done in years.

He prayed.

Prayed for a miracle.

In the end, he’s pretty sure it was the doctors who saved her, and whatever higher power he begged to save his pilot tucked his request for a miracle away for a day when it was needed more. For a day that allowed him to live and put him on a path that would reconnect him with Carlee. That day of the uranium mission was the catalyst for Act II of their story, this half with a happy ending.

“Mickey… It’s okay, we’re okay.” She hums, wiping the tears that have begun dripping down his cheeks.

“I know, I know, amor.” He kisses his way up her thigh, his words muffled against the crease of her hip. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He pulls back, face damp as he takes in her smile, bright in the darkness. “Well, as a medical professional, I can safely declare your legs free of injury from the dastardly flashlight.”

“Oh! Thank you, doctor! Whatever would I have done without you?” Mickey laughs as she throws a hand over her eyes, playing up her Georgia drawl as they move past the heaviness of the moment.

“Well, now, ma’am. I was only able to look at your lovely legs. I still need to complete your full body examination to give you a clean bill of health.”

Carlee tugs him up, smiling as he wraps his hands around her waist. “Is this a thing you wanna try, or are you doing a cheesy bit.”

“Cheesy bit, I don’t think I could keep up the doctor thing without ruining the mood.”

“Good, otherwise it would be a waste of a cute set.”

“Oh… are you planning something special for tonight, Mrs. Garcia?”

“I am. Now, if you’re a good boy and pull my car into the garage, I’ll show you what I had in mind up in the bedroom.”

She’s planted a quick kiss to his lips and gathered her clothes before his brain can even begin to catch up, distracted by the sway of her hips as she heads toward the house.

“Is this some kind of trick so you can scare me?”

Carlee cackles from the doorway, her shirt mysteriously unbuttoned to confirm that she is, in fact, wearing a matching set. “Are you still gonna come upstairs, even if it is?”

“Yeah, course.”

It’s at that moment the power comes back on, and he stares at his wife. Admiring the way her figure is backlit by the kitchen light. Her dark skin glowing as she smiles at him, short-circuiting his brain.

“I’ll see you upstairs then, baby.”

The wink she sends him as she saunters away gets his heart racing, in a good way this time, and Mickey can’t even bring himself to care that he’s getting soaked as he pulls her car into the garage or that she’s definitely going to scare him. He gets to fall asleep next to her, which is something he never thought would happen.

That’s more than enough. That’s all I need.

prompt lists used: (one) (two) (three) | divider credit here

soft-tober

01. Javy & Erin -  “Do you want some hot chocolate?”

03. Callie & Kelly -  “Do you like cinnamon?”

05. Jake & Flora -  “Trick or treat?” “…Depends on if you’re the treat.”

07. Logan & Kristina -  “It’s Halloween, why are you already putting up Christmas decorations?”

09. Bradley & Mary -  “Is this costume too revealing?”

11. Billy & Aaron -  “I don’t like scary movies.” “I’ll keep you safe.”

13. Warlock & Betty -  “Here, take my sweater.”

15. Mav & Penny -  “It’s never too early for Halloween music!”

17. Mickey & Carlee -  “Quit trying to scare me! I know that’s you!”

19. Hondo & Cara -  “Isn’t this stuff for kids?”

21. Cyclone & Linda -  “Halloween is for children.”

23. Neil & Laura -  “Candy corn is the best candy.”

25. Reuben & Danielle -  “I forgot how cold it could get.”

27. Natasha & Calvin -  “Do you like my costume?"

29. Brigham & Catherine -  “Hey, where’s your costume?”