#thegingerwriter

Vox was pushing you roughly on to the bed as you fell into Alastor’s waiting lap behind you. Alastor pushed you down slightly so you could lay on your back, your head resting in his lap as you looked up at him with embarrassment and a hint of fright.

A moment ago, you had been teleported to Vox’s private quarters in the Vee tower, along with Alastor.

“So I just need to…” You start, trying to look away from Alastor’s hypnotising eyes.

Vox grabbed your thigh and came into your view, sitting over you. “Tell us who’s better.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” You go to sit up, but Alastor has a gentle hold of your hair, pulling your head back to his lap so he can see your face.

“What my…old pal is trying to say is we’re just trying to figure out which one of is better at being in charge in the bedroom. And we obviously need someone to help us test our theories.” Alastor’s voice is surprisingly calming, and he scratches at your head softly to get you to relax.

Vox comes into view again, and you meet his eyes, finding a surprising amount of softness to them. 

“Colour?” 

“...Green, sir.”

“That’s what I thought precious.”

Vox leans in, tongue meeting yours the second he kisses you, open-mouthed and almost sloppy as he grips your hips and angles them up to meet his, making you gasp into mouth. You grip his shoulders, pushing your hips up like he did for you and you hear him hold back a groan.

You let out a yelp as a hand comes and snags roughly in your hair, pulling you away from the kiss, and you realise it’s Alastor. 

“Al-” You start, but he kisses you just as Vox did, cleaner but with more force, almost as if he’s trying to bruise your lips. 

You barely register that Vox has moved off of you, reaching down to undo the button on your pants as you open your mouth and allow Alastor’s tongue to dance around yours, moaning into the kiss as you lift your hips to allow Vox easier access and pull the pants from your body.

“God look at you, precious.” You hear Vox say, and you try to respond but Alastor has not stopped kissing you. 

You gasp into Alastor’s mouth, feeling Vox’s hand press against the sensitivity between your legs, ever so slightly stroking the outside of your underwear. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

You pull away from Alastor and he lets you, looking down as Vox hooks his clawed fingers into the outer seam of your underwear and pulls them gently down as you watch.

He doesn’t have to ask you to lift your hips to get them off, you are obedient without him even trying.

Alastor pulls your attention back, but he’s not looking at you. “I bet if you made the darling cum in your mouth, I can get them to scream my name.” Alastor’s voice is sharp, challenging Vox as Vox settles between your thighs, making you shiver while placing soft kisses along your inner thighs. 

“I dunno Al, they like it rough. I fail to see how they’d yell for you if you’re not doing shit.” Vox leans forward, placing a kiss right above where you want him to be. 

“So I-” You try to speak but Alastor’s hand is over your mouth in an instant, looking down at you with pitiful eyes.

“Hush pet.”

Heat pools in your lower tummy, and you try everything you can not to buck up into Vox’s mouth before he even tastes you. The way they treat you- like you’re barely even there is turning you on more than you’d like to admit to either of them. But Vox knows. 

“Ready precious?” Vox is calling to you from between your legs and you nod as much as you can with Alastor’s hand pressing down over your mouth.

“Eyes on me.” Alastor commands, and you look up at him, his other hand coming to stroke your head gently, occasionally pulling on your hair so as to not let you relax too much. “Don’t look at him. He’s just a machine right now. I’m giving you the pleasure.”

Alastor’s words are hypnotic. But it takes absolutely everything in you to not look down at Vox right as his tongue flicks out and licks along your heat, wasting no time in sucking you into his mouth as you moan against Alastor’s hand.

You try to buck your hips into Vox’s mouth but his hands dig into your hips, pushing them down to the bed and pinning you there to keep you still. “I’ve got you precious.” Vox says.

Alastor looks down at you, allowing you to moan aloud, desperately trying to keep your eyes on him as Vox licks you with no mercy. 

“Look at you!” Alastor leans down, breath on your nose as he gives you a quick kiss. “So sensitive. I bet I could make you scream louder than that. You’re such an obedient little thing so far.”

“Al I-,” You go to say something, but it is lost when Vox’s hands slide under your ass, angling your hips up to meet his mouth directly, and you nearly scream. “Fuck! Vox-.” But Alastor is not having it, his hand coming to snag into your hair and pull your head back till it almost feels like any further and it’ll snap off.

“Come on Alastor, it’s not like they can help me being this good.” Vox is teasing him, pushing him but Alastor has all his attention on you. Vox resumes his work.

“Whose name are you supposed to be screaming?” Alastor’s eyes are boring into yours, and you hear Vox groan, and you just know he’s rolling his eyes.

“Fuck-” You are barely finding words.

“Vox, stop.” Alastor’s words make you freeze, and you buck your hips in frustration as Vox pulls away from your heat. 

You try to look down at Vox, beg him to continue but Alastor’s hold on your hair is ruthless. Vox is surprisingly silent.

You beg. “Alastor! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please.”

“That’s better, isn’t it,” Alastor soothes, letting your head fall back into his lap right as Vox continues his torturing. “So much better when you listen like a good little pet.”

You whine, arching your back as Vox hits a particular spot, sucking and licking the way you have always liked. But this so much different to everything you two have ever done. He’s letting Alastor control you. Control him. Controlling you with another man over a…a deal! A trade! A stupid bet!

But you were loving it.

“Who’s pleasuring you?” Alastor asks, and you know it’s a warning. A challenge for you to say the wrong thing. But you want to be good, chasing the praise he gave you before.

“You, Alastor.” You are breathless, and he adores it, looking down at you squirming into Vox’s mouth as you struggle to form any words at all.

Alastor’s hands slide down over your shoulders, pulling up your shirt slowly so as to give you time to object if there is an issue. But there is no issue. There is only the sweet, sweet pleasure of being tortured between them. 

“Are you sensitive here, too?” Alastor brushes his fingers gently over your nipples, and you shiver. 

Vox pulls his mouth off of you, a clear smile in his voice as he says, “only when you’re rough with them.”

Alastor’s eyes light up right as your face goes red, trying to protest, but you know he’s right.

“How rough? Like this?” His fingers grasp one nipple and then the other, pulling them upwards as you arch your back, moaning loudly.

“Har-” You barely have any thoughts.

“What was that, dear?” Alastor doesn’t relent, and Vox goes back to pushing you further and further to your climax.

“Harder, please! Please, Alastor, please.”

Alastor’s smile is impossibly wide and you barely register him calling you a good pet again while he tugs harder on your nipples, your moans echoing around the room as you squirm between both of them, pleasure overwhelming you.

“Al! Please!” You beg him, and he smiles.

“Be specific pet, what exactly do you want?” He doesn’t relent, tugging harder to pull a response out of you but all he gets is moans. You try to push an answer out.

“I- I wanna- please. I need to cum. Please.” Your voice is shaky, the words feeling like lead as you struggle to get anything out of your mouth that isn’t involuntary moans. 

“Oh you’re such a good pet. You want to cum for me do you?” Alastor’s voice is soothing, tears welling in your eyes as you are overwhelmed with pleasure of so many different areas of your body. 

You watch as Alastor looks down your body, presumably at Vox and where his mouth connects to you. You think they must make eye contact because a silent conversation passes between them. One you are too far into your head to even begin to try and figure out.

“Who are you cumming for?” Alastor presses, one hand pinching and pulling your nipple and the other cradling the side of your face, grounding you as you are about to finish in their arms.

“Alastor. You. Please.”

“Go on then. Cum for me pet.”

It’s impossible, but you feel like you’re ascending. Body arched, hips bucking wildly as you take everything they give you and more. You can’t stop the cries that leave your mouth, your hands reaching up to grip Alastor’s hands, needing something to hold onto while the ringing in your ears does not relent. 

You finally feel Vox slow down and eventually pull away as a heavy weight lays across your chest. Your eyes are closed, hands stroking your hair gently as you breathe heavily. 

“You were right about them being desperate.” It’s Alastor’s voice, and you don’t have anything left in you to be able to protest.

“I couldn’t even tell you who won.” You feel Vox shrug, and you realise he’s laying on top of you.

You gather up everything inside of you to push the words out. “We could always try again? To…figure it out?”

You can’t see it, but it’s probably the first time Alastor and Vox have actually smiled at each other in a long time.

tags: @ayesha-eroticax3 @elianasmoon @cuk1mber @ajsyourfa

It had been literal days since he’d been inside you, a burning need that was growing by the second. A desire that even your wet fingers, soaked in your throat and pushed into your wet heat with Benedict’s name on your lips could not satisfy the deep desire you were feeling for your husband. 

You huffed, wiping your fingers against your nightgown as you finally threw the covers off of you and practically jumped off of the mattress- at last reaching your breaking point in being alone in your marital bed. 

Without bothering to throw on a robe in your own home, you grabbed the candle next to the bed before opening the door and gliding down the long hallway to Benedict’s office. He surely would welcome you, would he not? His desperate wife, in need of her husband to help satisfy her.

You shuddered at the thought of him denying you on purpose. He had done that before, had you sitting next to his easel as he worked, occasionally reaching down to pull at your hair and make you moan just to make sure you remembered who you belonged to. The idea excited and terrified you at the same time.

It was no secret that your husband was dominant with you. He often enjoyed pushing around his darling wife in the bedroom, bringing her to completion multiple times over and over, whispering in her ear that she could surely take another one. You enjoyed being degraded, and he knew that. Of course he knew it.

You reached his office door and hesitated for a single moment before rapping your knuckles against the wood. 

You waited.

“Enter.” Came the cool voice of Benedict, his voice slightly muffled as you took a deep breath before pushing the door open. 

The room was illuminated by 2 single candles on the table next to his desk, his frame highlighted by the flickering light as he sat, hunched over the desk with his hand over his mouth and leaning on his elbows.

His shirt was untucked, sleeves pushed (not rolled) up to his elbows in a most undignified manner. Not, however, for his wife. His hair was tossled, and you instantly thought back to his mouth on you, between your legs, whilst you gripped his hair so hard he groaned loudly against you until you came on his face.

He didn’t look up as you creaked the door open, and you almost turned around to leave back to bed, try another go at fucking yourself on your fingers, when his cold voice spoke again.

“What is it?” 

You decided now is when you should speak.

“Husband, I-” You start but you are cut off as his eyes snap up to you, and you realise then that he did not know it was you who had knocked on his office door.

“Darling,” He did not drop his pen, but he did stop writing, and look up at you with much kinder eyes than you thought he would. “My darling wife, why are you up this late? It is well past midnight.”

You could not speak, only look at his shirt hanging off of him, untied and untucked, his forearms on complete display as you placed your candle on the shelf next to the door and closed it behind you. 

Benedict said nothing as you walked closer, stopping on the opposite side of his desk as you leaned gently over it.

“What may I do for you?” Benedict almost looks amused, and you can see he’s trying not to smile. He knows why you are here, and yet he dares not give you what you need immediately.

“Benedict-” You are cut off by the sharp raise of his eyebrow as he cocks his head at you, gesturing for you to come around the desk. Oh.

You go to speak again, but as you approach him, he grabs your arm, placing a gentle kiss in the crook of your elbow, silencing you. He slowly kisses down your arm, all the way to your fingers…where he stops, looks up at you with those beautiful dark eyes, and sucks your two middle fingers into his mouth. 

You gasp, and he continues, letting his tongue slide between them, sucking them clean from earlier, and you realise that he now knows what you have been up to while he has been hard at work in his office.

You pull away in embarrassment, and while he lets you pull your fingers out of his mouth, he does not let you retreat. He pulls you down onto his lap, having your back to his chest as he holds you close, his breath hot against your neck and his voice like a prayer in your ear.

“You’ve been busy.” Is all he says, one of his hands sliding up to your throat as you try to protest again. “You’ve been touching yourself without me.”

“Benedict, please let me just-” You try again. But he is determined to not let you complete a full sentence tonight it seems. 

“Excuse me?” The question is clear and sharp and you know exactly what it is he is asking from you.

You correct yourself, immediately. “Sir, I was lonely without you. It’s been several nights now that you’ve been stuck here in this office to the ungodly hours of the morning. What was I meant to do?” 

This was the wrong thing to say, you realise, just as his hand becomes tighter around your throat and pulls you back against him, hard. And that’s not the only thing that is hard, you realise as he grinds up against you, a cruel thing to do when you are trying to explain your actions.

“So you decided to just…do whatever you wished to do instead of coming to me first?”

“Husband-” You gasp at his hand around your throat.

“Wife.”

You are at a loss for words for what it is he wants you to say for your actions. Sorry doesn’t cut it with Benedict, and you know this. 

You wait for him to speak again, to make a move, to remove his hand. But when he finally does, your heart stops.

“Stand up, turn around.” Benedict’s voice is back to being cold, and you have goosebumps along your skin as you follow his instructions. 

He reaches forward, hoisting your skirts up, and letting a low growl out when he realises you are naked underneath your nightgown. You try to defend yourself, but words can’t leave you when his hands are already sliding up your thighs and cupping your already dripping heat.

You gasp, his middle two fingers dipping into your wetness and dragging up to circle your clit gently, looking up at you dangerously as he dares you to deny how much you are dripping down your leg.

“My dirty girl. You thought you could come in here without anything on under here and just hope for me to fuck you?” When you don’t answer, his fingers press rather harshly against your clit, and you cry out, clutching at his shoulder to stop yourself from collapsing.

“Bened-Sir, please-god,” You are gasping, his fingers against you feeling like heaven after days of nothing but yourself to keep you company.

He lets you stay that way, standing in front of him, one hand on his shoulder to keep yourself steady as he rubs your clit until you are crying out, before abruptly pulling away, sucking his fingers clean and looking up at you as if he just asked you what you wanted for tea.

“I-”, you try, but he interrupts you with a rather sinful smile on his face.

“I have a rather splendid idea.” He says, and you freeze as his hands go to his breeches, pulling them down in one go and letting his cock spring free right in front of you. You want to grasp it, to put it in your mouth, but you dare not make such a move.

“You,” Benedict begins, knowing you are hanging on his every word. “Are you going to sit on me like a good little wife, while I keep writing my letters. You can keep me warm. You wanted me so bad, you can have me.”

You are in shock at what he is asking of you. Sit on his cock, and what? Not move? Not finish?

He had to be mad.

“I’m not mad,” Benedict says, somehow reading your mind. “I’m disciplining and giving my little wife exactly what she wants.” As he speaks, Benedict hoists your skirts again, pulling you forward and lining his cock up with your entrance. You push your hands against his chest, wanting to protest but finding no reason to. You want this. You just love to pretend like you don’t. 

“Deep breathe now, my love.” Is all he says before he is using his knees to spread your legs and make you sink down onto him all in one go, and you are completely sat on him within a matter of mere seconds.

“Oh- oh god, Sir.” You cry out, but he shushes you, holding your head in the crook of his neck, keeping you still, not thrusting or moving or grinding or touching you elsewhere. Just holding you there, full and wanting with tears in your eyes.

“That’s it, you’re doing so well. Now you just sit there while I work, yes?”

You want to speak, to protest, to beg him to move, to fuck you. But all that comes out of your mouth are little whimpers and squeals as you try not to clench down on him.

When you don’t answer (something he is strict on), he loses his patience very quickly.

“I said,” His hand snags into your hair, forcing you away from the comfort of his shoulder and neck and to look him in the face. “You will sit there while I work, yes?” 

“Yes, yes, husband I will- sit here.” Your voice is so weak you barely hear it, but Benedict clearly does.

He releases your hair and kisses your forehead before pulling you back into your position against his chest. “That’s a good girl. Shh, I’ve got you.”

You nearly cry out as he pulls his chair forward until you are trapped with your front straddling him and your back pushed against the desk. This is final. This is where you will stay for the rest of the evening.

And that is where you stay- for hours? Minutes? You have no idea how long it has been. Your sweet little moans occasionally slipping out whenever he leans forward to grab something across his desk (probably on purpose) and letting his cock hit a different spot inside of you.

Every so often, despite your protesting noises, his hand would slide through the top of your nightgown, not even looking at you as he let his fingers drift across your front to find your nipple, pulling on it as you try not cry out and clench around him. Eventually, it would become too much, and you would squeeze around his cock involuntarily, resulting in a harsh slap against your thigh that made you jump. 

A silent command. Behave. 

You have no idea how long it has been, with you sitting on top of him, his fingers playing with your body wherever he wishes to in order to keep himself entertained while he writes whatever letters he is occupied with. To his brothers, perhaps? You knew Anthony was in India with his new wife- 

You hear Benedict drop his quill, papers rustling as he leans forward again, making you squeal as his cock rubs deliciously against your inner walls. Benedict moves quickly, pushing his chair back ever so slightly so your back is no longer harshly pressed against the wood of his desk and making room for him to gently push you back so his hand can finally sandwich between you. Right to your aching clit.

You go to speak, but you realise you can’t. Drunk on the feeling of being full for so long has your brain as empty as it can be. You try to remember what you were just thinking about, something about letters, about his cock pistoning into you at a great speed until you-

“Darling, how are you doing?” Benedict’s voice is velvet. It is a beautiful sound you didn’t realise you missed for however long you’ve been sitting here. And so casual as his fingers ever so gently ghost over your clit. Not quite enough yet.

“Mmm,” Your voice comes out as a moan, and you realise you didn’t even try to form proper words. 

Benedict’s chest rumbles in a brief laugh as he pulls you gently by the hair to see your face and you realise then that you have been struggling to keep your eyes open. Sleepy, cockdrunk and overwhelmed with pleasure, despserate to finish.

“Oh honey, you look so delicious right now. You are just putty right now, aren’t you?” His words hit you as his fingers speed up and you push your hips forward, relieved when he does not slap your thigh for moving around his cock.

“I am so tired.” You finally manage to get out, and you realise you don’t even know if you can handle an orgasm right now. But Benedict knows you can.

Benedict nods, his hand in your hair turning to gentle scratches as he realises you are spent, needing one thing that only he can give you now.

“Shall I let my darling wife finally come?” He says, finally, and you drop your head against him, finally letting your body loosen as he hums, knowing exactly what you need.

His fingers speed up, one hand on your clit and the other burning on your hip as he moves you gently back and forth, letting you cry out as you finally feel him rub against you after being still for so long. Swollen and wanting.

“I- I don’t know if I-,” But as you say it, you realise there is no choice in the matter. Benedict’s fingers are not stopping and there is a feeling in your stomach that is coiling so deliciously that you can’t even begin to pretend like you wouldn’t do anything to let it snap.

But you need more from him.

“Can you- I need you to speak to me.” You manage to say, and he knows exactly what you want. His voice. To praise and degrade you at the same time.

“My little wife, so desperate and needy for me.” His fingers are relentless, and you find yourself moving on your own now. “Can’t even finish with me telling you how pathetic you are, can you? I know you can’t. You crave being of use to me.”

You cry out, so close to finishing but needing that extra little bit.

“You want to come for me, darling?” His voice is hot against your ear, and you nod frantically, fingers digging into his shoulders as you hold on, afraid you will float away if you do not.

“Yes, yes, yes, please.” Your voice is so foreign to you, only wanting his sounds.

Benedict does not hold back, finally thrusting up into you as his fingers rub over your wet clit, encouraging you as you finally near that breaking point.

You cry out again, nearly screaming as one of Benedict’s hands claps over your mouth. “Shh, wife, we don’t need all of the servants to know you are coming pathetically around my cock at such an ungodly hour.” 

And that is the final straw, your body tightening in such a way it hasn’t in literal days, tears in your ears as you frantically grind against him and chase your orgasm. You take everything he has to give you, praises for him on your lips as you push your hips against him while he rubs you through your entire release.

And when it is over, his hand leaves your clit, cradling your face between his hands, giving you gentle kisses all over your face as you breathe heavily, eyes closed and unable to come back just yet.

“You did so well.” Benedict says, and you can only hum in response, collapsing against him as you finally got everything you have been wanting for days, to be taken care of by your darling husband.

“Bed.” Is all you can say and Benedict laughs, nodding. 

"Do you have the numbers I asked for from this week?” Vox’s voice cut through your hazy thoughts as you stared at your laptop screen. It was late, much later than he usually kept you, and your head was starting to drift downwards to the desk every minute that passed.

“Hmm?” You sat up straighter, looking around the desk, trying to figure out what it was he wanted. You were sitting on the other side of Vox’s desk while he scrolled through surveillance feeds and media posts. 

“Precious,” His voice was sharp, and you tried not to jump as his eyes locked onto yours from the other side of the desk. “You’re not slacking on me are you?” It was more a warning than a question as he held out his hand expectedly for the file, and you scrambled for it a ways away from you before placing it in his clawed hand. 

You go to speak, but he already turns back to his part of the desk. Usually, Vox sends you home just after dinner time, sometimes keeping you late enough to make you tired the next day. But this was 3am!

“Sir.” You tried, your voice quiet. Nothing. “Sir.” 

“Do you need something precious?” He didn’t even look up from the stupid file in his hands.

“It’s late. Is there a reason I’m still here?”

“Because I said so.” The answer was so matter of fact you nearly got up and threw your chair at his tv screen.

“You don’t even fucking need me. Is this because I was late today? Are you keeping me just to be an asshole?” 

He didn’t answer, continuing to stare down at the stupid file in his hands and your patience wore thin. You stood up from your chair slamming your hands on the desk to lean over him as best you could. “Vox.”

He placed the file down, sighing but still not letting his eyes meet yours as he gestured with his hand for you to come around the desk. When you didn’t move, his voice gave you a single warning. 

“Now, precious.”

You felt like your legs moved on their own as you walked around the desk, coming to his side as he slid down in his chair ever so slightly as you approached him, legs spread, staring up at you as if you were his last meal. 

“Sit.”

“But-”

“SIT.”

You barely had a thought before you sat down on his lap, back to his chest as one arm wrapped around your waist so as not to let you fall (or let you forget you were exactly where he wanted you to be).

He didn’t say anything at first, pulling your head back by the hair so it could fall on his shoulder while he continued to scroll through surveillance feeds. But the silence was killing you, and when you tried to speak again, you gasped as he shifted you slightly, letting you straddle one of his thighs.

“Isn’t that better?” He talks directly into your ear, not stopping his work for even a second. “Happy now?”

“Vox- this isn’t-” You try to defend yourself, but he has none of it.

“It isn’t… what? What you wanted? Oh shush love, if you didn’t want this you wouldn’t have been a fucking brat.”

You felt the words die in your throat, face burning. Yes, you had wanted some attention and this kind of attention wasn’t new, but it was when you were truly just tired and wanted nothing more than to just go to bed.

“I have a meeting and-.” He says suddenly and you turn around in his lap to look at him, cutting him off.

“It’s 3am, who the fuck do you have a meeting with?”

“AND, he said you needed to be here or he wouldn’t take it.”

You brain goes blank. Another overlord? Wanted you to be there while they had a meeting with Vox? Who even knew about you as a person other than ‘Vox’s assistant that he probably fucked when he was bored’ (true).

Your questions were answered instantly when the circular double doors of Vox's office whooshed open, and a staticy whine filled your ears as you winced. You squirmed on Vox's lap, not wanting to be in this position if someone was coming into the room. It wasn't a secret that Vox had fucked you before, but it wasn't something you needed promoted, encouraged or officially confirmed. 

"Al-is that Alastor?" Your voice was quiet as Vox swung the chair around, continuing to hold you close as he turned towards the radio demon, Alastor's deer ears alert and his microphone clinking on the walkway up to Vox's desk.

“Evening Vox! I see I’ve caught you at the perfect time! Is this your… what do you call them? Your ‘precious’.” Alastor’s smile was wide as he looked at your blushing face, no place for you to hide stuck as you were still straddling Vox’s thigh. 

“My name isn’t precious.” You speak up, much to your surprise- still stunned the radio demon was even in the room, much less talking about you. Vox also wasn’t…ripping his face off?

“Oh? Does your real name even matter pet?” His words went straight to your core and you whipped your head around to Vox.

“Why is he here?” You try to sound firm, but your voice shakes slightly and you know they both hear it.

“He’s here,” Vox takes a steady breath, and the way he digs his claws into your waist tells you he isn’t entirely okay with him being here. “Because he wanted to talk overlord business and he…asked if you could be here. Hell knows-”

Alastor cuts in with a cheerful tone. “Because I’d just love to know about this little relationship you two have.” You blush again, and when you try to stand up from Vox’s lap, both hands grip and you pull back against him.

Alastor reaches out, hand cupping your chin to tilt your face upwards and meet his terrifying eyes as he ignores Vox for a moment. His thumb brushes over your bottom lip, and it takes everything in Vox not to drag you away from Alastor. They made a deal.

“It’s so late, and I really should be going-” This time, when you try to stand up from Vox’s lap, he lets you. Not like you’re leaving anyway.

“My dear- where is it that you think you’re going?” Alastor leans on his microphone, his head tilted to the side and staring at you as if he has already won whatever game both of them are playing. But you were unaware you were even involved.

“Home.” You say plainly, turning around to walk down the stairs, but Vox is there, eye to eye with you with a stern look on his face.

“Precious you’re not off the clock yet. And I need you to help me…prove something.” He reaches out to touch you and you back up, walking backwards until you hit something solid.

You look up, red material coming into view as you realise you backed into Alastor. 

“Calm yourself dear,” His hands coming to your shoulders to hold you still as Vox approaches you- inspecting you with his hands, running down your arms and your waist before pulling you forward into him.

“Al and I- we like an…unfriendly competition every now and then. And it’s been a while. He doubts my…ugh…” Vox pauses, and tries to think but Alastor beats him to it.

“Your ability to dom anyone? To train your pets? Yes.”

You are at a lost for words, hands coming to push against Vox’s chest, soft material under your fingertips as you play with his suit as a way to regain some of your composure. 

“I- the competition is…me?” You're embarrassed by how quiet your voice is, the heat pooling between your legs and the two overlords you are sandwiched between.

Vox smiles at you, knowing from experience you are secretly loving this. He nods, and you swallow the lump in your throat, trying to breathe at the thing that is being discussed right in front of you.

“And…explain to me just how this is going to work?”

“You got me a…what?” Vox stared at you as if you had wandered in completely unprompted and slapped him directly in the face. You would have maybe liked to.

“An assistant. Secretary, someone to yell at, I don’t care. But your last one left, and you’re driving me more insane than Valentino does when his ‘Angel baby ‘ doesn’t answer the goddamn phone. I’m sick of it.” Velvette releases your shoulders she had a hold of in order to push you into the conference room 30 seconds ago when she announced your presence.

You assume this is the room the Vees meet up in but Valentino is missing today. Thank god, you think. You didn’t think you could handle being in a room with him, considering what you’d heard from so many other sinners who work in the building.

Velvette has moved on from the conversation, sitting down in her assigned chair and kicking both her feet up on the table before anyone can say anything else.

Vox shrugs, looking you up as you stand there. Your attire is office appropriate, but you can’t help but feel desperately scrutinised under his gaze. 

“Okay,” he says finally and you straighten as he continues. “Questions first- why the fuck would I want you as my assistant. You look like you stepped out of a nunnery.”

You look down at yourself, in disbelief of the comment. You are wearing pants, and a full button up shirt. Is this nun-like? Or was he just grasping at straws to find a reason to not hire you?

For a second, you worry he might be judging your demon appearance. While mostly human looking, you have two small fluffy cat ears atop your head, a slim equally fluffy trail as well as some… cat beahviours. But compared to some demons in hell… You’re fairly normal. 

The overlord in front of me has a fucking tv for a head.

Vox opens his mouth to say something and so do you, but Velvette’s thick british accent cuts in before either of you can. 

“Cut the shit, Vox.” She says plainly, not even looking up from her phone. “Literally the worst she could do is make your life a little bit easier?” She’s been my assistant before- handled my 300 meetings in one day. Never heard a complaint from her once. She’s fine.” Velvette shoots you a look, looking you up and down just as Vox did. “If the outfit is a problem, set her a dress code or something.”

It’s strange being talked about like you’re not in the room but you get it. They’re overlords, they own thousands of souls. You’re just another number to them, really.

Vox goes to open his mouth again, but is interrupted by the door bursting open.

“Who the FUCK does he even THINK he is! Good luck getting a job anywhere fucking else in this corner of hel-” The voice is thick with a latin accent, and the smell of roses and smoke mixed together fills your sinuses almost instantly. You hear and smell him before you even see him through a haze of pink smoke. The voice stops, right as you make eye contact with the dreaded moth overlord.

“Val, I didn’t think you were coming today.” Vox responds, clearly agitated and he runs his hand over his flat screen.

Val, who was previously on the phone, quickly dismisses it, eyes instantly passing over Velvette and Vox and latching onto the new soul in the centre of the room. You.

“Ooh, Vees who is this fresh piece of meat? A kitty cat just for me?” Val says. You don’t move to stop Val as he grabs you by the shoulders, pulling you towards him and increasing the smell of smoke and the distinct smell of sex. He turns you roughly around twice, stopping for just a moment with your abc to him as if looking at something…interesting. You jump and nearly let out a sound that be deeply embarrassing in front of your new both as he runs his long fingers across your tail, pulling it lightly at the end. 

“Uh- sir-” You try to speak, stunned after the sensual feeling running down your spine from his fingers running through your fluff.

Val hums in thought, “She’s a little drab in these clothes, but surely-.”

“VAL. Vox’s voice fills the room, as if coming from all the devices in the vicinity. His eyes flick to meet yours. And you shudder as he narrows his eyes. “She’s not for you. Velvette brought her up from her department. I’m trying to figure out why the fuck I should let her be my assistant.”

You finally find the time to speak, deciding now is as good a time as any.

“For lack of better words, I’ll clean up the mess that is your schedule meetings, and everything in between.” You try to stop your voice from shaking, and you surprisingly manage to get all the words out.

Vox raises an eyebrow. “Oh, look at that, she speaks. Confident, are we?” You know he’s challenging you, a glimpse into how working with him would really be. If you were honest, you’d say you’d rather have any other job than this one. Moving your soul from over overlord to another even terrifying one isn’t something you’d like to do on a Thursday morning, but a cat has to earn a living in hell somehow. Plus, it seems the way that Velvette pushed you into the room hinted that this wasn’t a negotiation. 

“Sir, if you didn’t need an assistant, you’d have 1 meeting a day and weekends off. But the reality is you don’t. I’m the best person for this job out of the sinners that you haven’t scared off. So you can either take me, make your life easier, or continue bitching to everyone around you about drowning in all the shit you need to do while handing off tasks to people that won’t get them done.”

You say everything before you can really understand you’ve just said to one of the most powerful overlords in all of hell, with 2 others in the same room. The space is silent except for Valentino taking long drags of his cigarette and then his laugh filling your ears.

“Oh, please let me have this one.” Valentino says, almost like he’s excited to literally tear into you. He probably is, and from what you know of him, he doesn’t need the excuse.

“Shut it, Valentino.” Velvette growls, pulling him into a chair beside her, shushing while they watch the scene in front of them.

Vox steps forward, circling you slowly while you take slow breaths, trying not to show that your insides are turning to practically jelly after your outburst. Vox is silent for a wall, humming to himself in thought before he finally silences himself and stands directly in front of you, staring you down.

Until, finally-

“Fine. You’ve bought yourself a day.” His voice is clear, with no room for argument, and you try not to stare at him in disbelief, his hands behind his back and staring down at you as he awaits an answer.

“Wha- I mean-yes. Sir. I’d be happy to be your assistant for the day.” You stutter, and he smiles, a dangerous, cunning smile full of teeth that makes you rethink what you’ve just stepped into. 

“But only,” You add, “if you promise to keep me on for at least a week if I survive the day. Once we pass that, I’m very happy to negotiate my contract with you.”

Vox almost loses his smile, taken aback as if no one in all of hell has ever offered him a deal before now. You try not to stare as his eyes narrow again, considering if you are worth the trouble or not. But before you can consider running out of the room and trying to forget about all this by burying yourself in the dirt, the smile returns to his face and he sticks out his hand.

“Yes sorry-“ You perk up, trying to remember what was last said to you. “Bob and I stay together and behind…” You look up, not sure who was the one who spoke.

“Me.” Yelena says annoyedly, but there’s little aggression in her voice.

“Right.” You tune out again as Bob’s hand slides down your arm, grabbing your hand. You are surprised by the boldness of his touch- not just in general but in front of the others. You still barely know each other.

Everything is a blur- Walker arguing about going out fighting, Yelena being inches away from slapping him up the head, Ava trying to understand how any of this plan is going to work. You don’t even comprehend people are moving, going places until Bob pulls you along with him, hand firm around yours.

“Hey, you okay?” He whispers to you as he pulls you along beside him to follow Yelena quickly down a corridor, into a room filled with buttons and switches. She immediately starts tearing glass doors open, flipping switches repeatedly while looking back to check you are both staying put.

“Are both of you okay?” Yelena says, looking at more of the switches.

Bob looks at you expectantly as you stare at them both.

“Uh-yea. I guess.” You answer, and Bob nods slowly, hand leaving yours to nervously grab around his own.

“Okay good because I need you both to be alert for this next part.” You are not registering what Yelena is saying until she is pulling you both close to a wall, your body flush against it as she shushes you both harshly for even breathing.

“What was that?” You hiss, referring to the sound of gunshots coming from down the hallway.

“I told him to wait!” Yelena harshly whispers to herself, assuming she could only mean Walker.

“Wait for what?” You ask, terrified to be put through another ordeal again already.

Yelena takes a breathe, looking at you and Bob. “Okay. You two. Stay put. I’m going out, hopefully Ava has the truck, and Walker hasn’t totally screwed us over-.” She says the last part more to herself than you both, and she doesn’t wait for a reply before sprinting down the hallway.

“Holy shit, what do we do?”  You ask, on the point of hysterical as the sound of gunshots continue. You are trying to not actually cling to Bob, but he is surprisingly calm.

“Hey, hey it’s fine, she said stay put, right? So we stay put.”

There is silence between you, just the absent noises of you both breathing with anxiety, and the sounds of gunshots and distant yelling.

“Who do you think…” Bob starts to ask, but he’s clearly not sure how to finish.

“Is shooting? Or being shot at? I’m not sure.” You finish for Bob. “Maybe whoever…called all of them into the vault? Or whoever.. put…us? In there?”

Bob freezes, clearly unsure how to respond to that. Whether that’s because he knows more than you do about before you woke up- you’re not sure. But either way, he doesn’t speak again.

Neither of you speak, until someone else does, and you both are too scared to even continue breathing.

“Down here!” A voice calls out and you both freeze behind the wall, turning to look at each other slowly.

You mouth for Bob to be quiet, and he nods frantically, grabbing your hand as the sound of footsteps increases as they get closer to the room. Shit, shit SHITTT!

Your heartrate increases, sweat building as you hear them grow closer and closer.

Right as you see a gun round the corner barrel first, and you try to decide if tackling the guy in black tactical gear would make any difference, someone else tackles the guy, and he tumbles to the ground. You realize it’s Walker, and you look away as John beats and then shoots the man in the head.

“Jesus Christ.”  You say as Walker stands up, grey shield in hand.

“Come on you two, we gotta go!” Walker doesn’t wait for you to reply before running down the hallway, and when Bob doesn’t move, you take it upon yourself to thank him for earlier by grabbing his hand and pulling him along quickly around the corner and into the hallway. You keep him close to you as you both stay low and fast behind Walker.

“Feel like I should have grabbed that guy’s gun.” Bob mumbles and you’re not sure if it’s to himself or you.

You run out into the front room behind Walker and pause when you see Yelena standing there, her own tactical gear that matches the man from before.

“Um…” You start, but Yelena is quick to cut you off.

“No time. Smoke bombs in a minute. Bob stay close to me, y/n stay with Walker. Get to the truck.” Yelena says.

“60 seconds, we take the gap, hope Ava has the truck.” Walker adds.

“You mean we don’t know where we’re going?” Bob asks, clearly stressed.

There is silence as everyone looks at him, including yourself. It wouldn’t be the first time today you didn’t have a solid plan.

“Okay, let’s go then.” You try to be brave, gripping Bob’s hand with so much force you think you might accidentally break it. But he clearly doesn’t mind, letting you squeeze as much as you need to.

The rest is a blur. Smoke fills the room you are in. And you are forced to let go of Bob’s hand in order to stay close behind Walker, following his shady through the smoke as you pull your shirt over your nose in order to not cough and give away your location.

“We’re almost there.” Walker whispers back to you, and you hold on to that. Being away from Bob has your heart beating fast and mind racing. It’s like he’s a part of you- a half you’re not sure when you lost. But you need him- and something in your brain says it’s not the first time you have.

You continue following Walker, but when you turn to see if Bob is still with Yelena, you lose everyone.

“Walker?” You try to harshly whisper, but you’re afraid of making too much noise.

That’s when you hear a familiar woman’s voice yell, “There!”, and a pair of arms grab you, and you are quick to scream at the absolute top of your lungs.

“Fuck off, let me go!” You scream, but a hand flies over your mouth, and before you can struggle more, something sharp hits your neck, and you scream behind the hand as your body becomes woozy.

The last thing you remember is people screaming and gasping, surprised yells and your head finally hitting the ground. Again.

***

“These are the other people going through the clinical trials.” The person in scrubs said, leading you into the room where 3 other people sat.

“Uh… thank you.” You reply, and you receive no response as you step in the room and the door all but slams behind you, and you can’t mistake the sound of the lock that echoes in the room. You stand there awkwardly, looking at the people in the room. A soft-ish looking man in pyjama-like clothes like yours, clearly anxious and curled in on himself.

A woman and another man sit on the opposite side of the room together, muttering quietly and consistently to each other enough that you decide you shouldn’t interrupt them, and take a seat one chair apart from the man you spotted first.

He looks up at you slightly as you sit down, giving you a very short but still very kind smile.

You jump on it, hoping to strike some type of conversation to ease some anxiety stirring in your tummy.

“Um- hi.” You wait for him to look up at you again before sticking your hand out towards him. “My name is Y/n.” You stare at him, hoping, praying he’s not crazy and you didn’t just sit next to the wrong person.

But he eases everything inside of you when his warm but anxious smile appears again, and he takes your hand in his, clasping it loosely. “Bob.”

“Nice to meet you Bob.”

You let the silence settle between you both again, looking at him as he puts his head down again, and you realize some of demeanor is clearly boredom.

“How long you been in this room?” You decide to ask, hoping you don’t antagonize him.

“I have to guess a few hours at most. You and the doctor that I saw just before are the first people I’ve seen all day besides those two over there.” Bob says, nodding his head to the pair still muttering to each other. Not having stopped since you came in.

“Oh, I see. Well that’s shit.” You say plainly, and you are surprised when Bob lets out a laugh, his features lighting up.

“Yea, it kind of is. What did you say your name was again?” Bob says, turning in his seat and clearly giving you his full attention. You straighten up, suddenly under his gaze and heat hitting your cheeks.

“Y/n.” You smile at him and he returns it.

“Well I hope we get to stick together than Y/n. If I’m honest, this kind of thing freaks me out and I’d like…a friend.”

You stare at him, surprised by his candidness. “Me too, Bob.”

***

“Hey!” You yell at a doctor as they run past your room, and you see their silhouette through the frosted glass. You are relieved when they stop, tapping the glass from the outside to make it clear so you can see each other.

“Yes?” The doctor asks, looking annoyed and offended you are speaking to him. Like you are below him.

“Where is Bob?” You interrogate, and you fume when the doctor looks confused.

“Who?”

“BOB! The other man that stays in this room with me? One of the only other people fucking here!” You are angry- it’s been nearly a whole 24 hours since you last spoke to Bob, and he’s still not back in the (sort of) safety of his shared room with you, in the bunk under yours.

“Oh. You’ll be staying in this room by yourself for a little bit. He’s busy.” That’s all the doctor gives you, and before you can protest, they tap the glass and they disappear.

You actually scream at the lack of information, terrified and worried for your friend.

Please come back.

***

Your head is pounding as you roll over, using the momentum to sit up. “Fuck my head…” You mutter, cradling it as you blink and try to get used to the brightness in whatever… room you’re in.

“Hi.” A voice says, and you jump, sitting up straighter on the… are you in a bed? You look around the room frantically, seeing a woman with beautiful brown hair, white strips through it in elegant waves. She is sitting at a chair across from your bed, and you are surprised by her…warmth.

“Hello?” You manage to get out, voice hoarse.

“Oh, here-.” The woman gets up, walking over to the bedside table next to you, pouring you a glass of water from the jug sitting there.

“Um- thank you,” You mutter, lifting the glass to your lips. It is cold and crisp, and you nearly moan at the feeling of it sliding down your throat.

She smiles at you, and you can’t help but feel uncomfortable.

You suddenly sit up, remembering what happened before you passed out.

“Wait- I have friends.” She doesn’t look surprised, but doesn’t say anything or interrupt you. “Yelena. Bob- shit where is Bob?” You ask, stressed and throwing your legs out over the bed, but you are wobbly, and instantly sit bac down again.

Again, the woman doesn’t look surprised at this, and gives you her best “kind” smile.

“We will discuss that. The other’s aren’t a worry for you anymore, don’t worry! And Bob- well. We think it’s best if you two stay permanently separated.”

Permanently?

Separated?

“No, there’s been a mistake we’re not dangerous- we’re friends and-.”

“Sweetie if I’m honest, he’s an ocean and you are a pond. Your power is miniscule compared to his and I need you out of the picture right now. Don’t worry, I’ll have a good role for you but until-.”

You don’t hear the rest of what she says because your ears are ringing, fuming with the idea that someone is keeping your only friend away from you for no good reason.

And you just have the smallest feeling Bob is somewhere in the same building feeling the exact same thing.

“Is he ready to be rinsed yet?” A firm voiced asked, and Bob turned his head to look up at Valentina as she entered the room, phone in hand and determination in her walk.

Bob had enough, frustration coursing through his body, slamming his fist on the vanity in front of him and making all the products- glass bottles and all- smash simultaneously. Pieces flew everywhere, hitting the ground and the mirror in front of him.

“Robert-,” Valentina starts in a warning tone and Bob almost shrinks back, but thinks better of it, standing up instead.

“Where is she? I’ve been ignored for the last hour and I need to know!” If Bob wasn’t so angry, he’d almost be proud of himself for standing up despite the circumstances.

“Robert.” Valentina says again, leaving no room for him to interrupt in her tone. “SHE’S SAFE. But not exactly relevant right now.”

Bob fumes at her words, hands balling into fists a distinct hum filling the air that seems to shake the glass shards on the vanity. There is a fine line Bob is walking with Y/n. A desire he can’t quite place and a need he doesn’t know how to describe to anyone except maybe her.

“She’s…she’s relevant to me.” Bob’s voice is quieter than he wants it to be, but Valentina takes pity on him, sending a look to the rest of the room and clearing it within a matter of seconds.

“Okay,” Valentina starts once more and Bob looks at her blankly.

“Okay?” He echoes.

“You can see her. But you need to be completely and 100% ready to be Sentry before the end of the hour.”

Bob looks up at the clock on the wall behind him. 2:35. 25 minutes to see her and get ready.

He barely has to think of his answer.

“Deal.”

***

When Valentina enters your room again, you are curled up in a ball on the floor beside the bed you woke up in a few hours ago. You had tried the doors multiple times when you’d been left alone, but nothing budged. You were being kept in here for a reason.

You didn’t acknowledge her as she came and sat on the bed, her feet resting next to your head.

“Pond vs ocean huh?” You say weakly, clearly referring to the broken glass jug and cup beside your bed.

It had taken you ages – a desperate attempt to use the powers you were told were minuscule. To prove that you were worth it.

Valentina sees right through you, letting out a sound you could almost mistake as a scoff.

“How long did it take you to break the glass?” Valentina’s question is not kind, and she clearly means to demean you. But you don’t have energy in you to bite back at her question.

“45 minutes.” You admit, not bothering to hesitate in your answer, knowing it’ll come out either way.

Valentina takes a breathe. “Darling, Robert can do that within a second. I’m sorry, but you’re just not special enough for this project. It’s honestly just a miracle you’re alive. And keeping you around means keeping Robert down…he’s broken enough and I’m doing everything I can to mold him.”

Mold him.

You can barely speak at what she says, words stinging so bad your eyes blink tears into existence.

“I need to see him.” You say, sitting up from the floor and trying to will confidence into your voice. Judging by Valentina’s pitying face, you fail.

But instead of another stinging remark, she just rolls her eyes. “You two are like lovesick puppies,” She stands up before you can reply and you feel your face heat up as she walks away, leaving you in a crumbled heap on the floor.

She walks across the room to open the door, and you are incredibly surprised to find a now blonde and skeptical looking Bob, staring back at you as he steps into the room.

“10 minutes.” Valentina says firmly to Bob, and you are taken aback when he gives her a firm nod.

The door slams behind her and you are left with blonde-haired Bob and the heavy silence of the room.

Bob is the one to (surprisingly) to speak first.

“You have powers too?”

You stare at him from the floor, surprised.

“You’re the one with the powers.” You reply.

Bob almost looks like he’s about to smile. Is he proud? “Yea. I’m the successful Sentry project.”

The words unintentionally hit you like a slap to the face.

‘And you’re not.’ Valentina’s unspoken words ring in your ears, and you almost don’t notice as Bob finally realizes you are sitting in and surrounded by broken glass, hurrying over to help you.

“Shit y/n, get off the damn floor.” Bob says as he gently pulls you from the floor and into a sitting position on the bed.

Only when you tune back in do you realize his arms are still around you. Warm, secure. A part of you wants to hold onto him too- forget about everything and hold him. You don’t know where the urge to do so comes from. You know now you were with him during the trials. But not much else. You remember bits and pieces; softly spoken words and hands in your hair as you writhed and cried out in pain.

“Bob, I-,” You start, but Bob quickly cuts you off.

“I’m glad you’re safe. They wouldn’t let me see you.”

“Me either.”

“But I- I don’t have long.”

The words surprise you, and you can’t help but stare at him.

“Don’t have…long?” Your voice breaks slightly and you try not to cry- the weight of the day already hitting you harder than you wanted to admit to anyone except for him. Except now…you’re not sure if you would tell him.

His hands slide off of you, coming down to hold your hands between you. You have an urge to pull away.

“Yea,” Bob nods. “I’m the Sentry and in order to see you I had to promise I was ready to start today.”

“Start? As in, be their super hero?” You don’t mean for the question to sound so…mean? But it comes across that way telling by the way Bob flinches. “Bob…I think Val is-.”

“Don’t. Please- this is finally something good and I-,” Bob grips your hands tighter and you look up at him, confused by the defense.

“She’s manipulating you.” You say plainly, and Bob finally pulls his hands away, turning in on himself and looking downwards. You want to reach for his hands again.

“No, she thinks I’m special.”

“So do I, Bob.”

“You don’t believe in me though.”

The words almost feel like they actually physically hit you and you recoil- stunned at his words.

“Bob, what-,” But he doesn’t let you finish, standing up from the bed and your body turns to follow him as he paces around the main part of the room. Back and forth like a pendulum as he mutters to himself and wrings his hands. The urge to hold him grows greater.

You look across the room at your reflection in the vanity mirror, and see a scared and desperate person, trying to convince someone of something they already believe in. You look like you’re constantly about to burst into tears.

“Bob!” You shout suddenly, and he doesn’t jump- only stops and turns to you, slowly. He doesn’t reply, and you stare back at him. “Bob, please listen to me.” Your voice is quiet, almost a whisper.

“Y/n, you don’t understand! I’m special! I got these powers because I wanted to help people- remember I said that? During the trials, you asked me all the time, why why why why? My answer was that I wanted to be better. Well here I am!” He throws his arms out as if putting himself on display for you- almost like he’s puffing his chest out to look bigger. To feel bigger.

Tears sting your eyes as he speaks and you are even more surprised when he moves forward, kneeling in front of you and grabbing your face in both of your hands- his touch warm but you still flinch.

“Y/n, please try to understand- I’m finally special! I need to do this! And I can’t- you can’t be- Val says-,” Bob can’t get any of his sentences out but you know exactly what he’s saying. He can’t see you. He can’t be with you. He can’t-

You jump when the door opens, and Valentina is there again- ruining absolutely everything from the start.

“I’m sorry,” Bob says, letting go of your face and standing up straight. You surprise yourself by reaching out for his hands again- but he’s stepping away before you can. Valentina smiles smugly, clearly proud of her manipulation and how she has begun to mold Bob into the perfect hero- strings attached so she can pull them however she likes.

“Robert, time to go.” She says, and Bob nods quickly, leaving you even as you stand up, panicked. “Sit down y/n.” She sends a glare your way, and you can’t help but follow orders.

You watch as Bob leaves, tears stinging your eyes as you want to call out to him to stop. But you know it’s useless.

Valentina sends you a clear, smug look as she closes the door behind them both, the sound of the lock echoing through the room and solidifying the decision that Bob has been driven to made.

You don’t know how long you stay there- long enough for your legs to feel numb as you stay in the same position for enough time. Long enough to think about your worth to Bob- to him in the trials, to him now. Long enough to think about how Valentina will dispose of you.

But you are definitely surprised when you sit there long enough to hear shouting and rumbling sometime later- but not even the noise is persuading you enough to try and break the lock.

It’s only when an a deafening crash pierces your ears and shakes your room do you finally stand up, alert and ready but without a plan.

Fuck it, you think to yourself- finally willing your body to move quickly towards the door, trying the handle and finding it unsurprisingly locked. A shove against the door stings your shoulder and it doesn’t move an inch, simply rattling the door and making a loud noise you are scared will attract attention.

Frustration builds, and something inside of you coils- around and around until it feels like it is going to snap.

“Fuck sake!” You shout, stepping away from the door, and rattling the door handle with all your might. When there’s still no give and you feel another crash- your entire body feels like it’s about to burst.

You feel on fire- electricity pushing it’s way through you as you stare at the door, determined and holding your hand out towards the door knob.

“Okay y/n focus.” You mutter to yourself, not letting yourself lose the frustration and anger still coiled around your insides, pushing and pulling and burning with a sensation that makes you almost want to scream.

So that’s exactly what you do.

You scream.

And the doorknob completely breaks- brass literally melting away as the door unlatches- lock melting away too.

You can’t believe it. You actually did it.

Your body is still burning- but the coil has snapped, and there’s no fixing it. You breathe heavily, hands on your knees as you close your eyes and try to subside the burning pain from inside you and try to focus.

Because another crash tells you Bob needs you.

And you need him.

TAGS: @eywas-heir @ren-ni @nervousstrangesandwich

You are writhing in pain, squirming around looking for a way out of the senstations and feeling like there is nothing in the entire world that could tether you back. But he is there, standing above you.

“It hurts-” you mutter, and there’s a hand in your hair, shushing you. The bright lights of the lab are forcing you to keep your eyes closed as the person gently runs their fingers through your hair.

“I-I dunno what they gave you today. I’m sorry. But you’re okay and I’m here,- hold my hand.” You hear his voice, and then there is a light touch on your open palm, giving you the chance to flinch away, as if he’s terrified that’s the most likely outcome.

But you don’t flinch. You grab it weakly, letting him stroke your hair as you writhe in pain from whatever it is that happened to you today. You’re not always conscious for the trials you do- they don’t always need you to be. But today they insisted. And Bob was only allowed near you when the doctors had stopped injecting you with chemicals.

“Bob-” You sob weakly in pain, and you feel him push his forehead to yours-

“Y/n?”

***

You gasp awake, trying to snap out of…whatever that was. 

It’s like I was there again. But I still don’t…he’s still not clear.

You hear groaning. Whether it’s you or someone else, you don’t really know yet. Your head is pounding- ears softly ringing with tinnitus, you’re not sure if it will ever go away. You blink slowly, trying to understand what you just saw and try to feel what you are lying on. Soft and warm.

But that’s when you hear the groaning again and realise it’s coming from beneath you.

“Owe…” Bob groans, and you look down in surprise to see his brown hair thrown wildly over his face, only just being able to see his bright blue eyes beneath it. You hold eye contact for a moment, shocked that he’s so close, before you hear the others waking up and recoil in embarrassment.

What…?

Oh. 

The explosion.

You finally roll off him, muttering jumbled apologies that aren’t quite proper sentences. Your face is warm, and you convince yourself it’s from the explosion. Book looks as if he’s feeling the exact same thing.

“Guys? You okay?” A voice says, and you recognise it as Yelena. You don’t know if she’s talking to you or someone else, but a sudden, gentle hand on your shoulder makes you jump, and you look up at her. Her white hair is very similar to Bob’s- tousled wildly and ridden with smoke.

“Huh?” You mutter, still trying to understand what is going on.

Was I back in the lab?

“Great, she’s got a concussion,” A man’s voice, you think you remember (Walker?), says, but Yelena shushes him almost immediately when he speaks.

“Hey,” Yelena puts her hand to your face, cupping it delicately, and you look into her eyes, a surprising warmth to them. “Are you alright? Do you know where you are?”

You look around the room, at Bob still on the ground but slowly sitting up, at Walker and Ava standing across the room, and back at Yelena.

“I don’t know where as in the country or place, but I do know I woke up seemingly 10 minutes ago in….there.” You push the words out, lifting your hand to point at the metal door that is (thankfully) now closed.

“She’s fine,” Yelena says, smiling and standing up to give you her hand to try and stand. You look at it for a moment before clasping it as firmly as you can, letting her hoist you up and hold your shoulders for a moment longer after you’re upright to make sure you don’t end up straight back onto the floor.

Once you are settled (well as much as you can be after a room exploding) you look over at Bob, and are startled to find that he is staring at you. It’s almost like he’s trying to…figure me…out?

Bob catches himself staring, shaking his head to clear himself before letting Yelena help him the same as she did you.

“Well what now?” Ava says.

“Thank god you came back, I was worried.” Walker is almost smiling.

Ava rolls her eyes, walking around to inspect the rest of the room we were now all stranded in. “I had to. Someone cut the power source to the elevator.”

You know she is implying that is the only reason for which she came back to open the door- but nothing about her tone suggests she would have genuinely let any of you die in that wildfire of a room.

“Well good luck finding our fucking way out of here now,” Walker says, exasperated and clearly angry. “How do we even know Valentina wants to kill all of us? What if it’s just some of us? I’m trying to imply not me.”

“I’m sorry, were you not present in the giant INCINERATOR THAT TRIED TO COOK US ALL?!” Yelena slowly raises her voice till she is in Walker’s face.

“Sorry, I was too preoccupied to discuss it before.” Walker shrugs.

“Preoccupied with what?” Yelena interrogates.

You are surprised when Walker points directly at you and Bob, who you now find is directly at your side. “Trying to figure out what the fuck these two were in there for? You ever think they were supposed to die in there? What if they’re criminals! I mean, look at them!” Walker ends his rant by gesturing to your pyjama-hospital-like clothing. 

The next thing you hear is a sound you didn’t expect to hear at all.

Bob is laughing. A proper little chuckle that runs through his body, his shoulders shaking as he lets his body actually laugh. You can’t help but let your face light up, warmth spreading through you at the sight. It’s short lived.

“What is so funny?” Walker asks, stepping closer to the both of you. You are surprised when Bob steps forward only ever so slightly to be in front of you, almost guiding you behind him. You’re almost able to convince yourself you imagined it.

“Sorry sorry- it’s just…You were really Captain America?” Bob says, gesturing to his shield. Walker looks confused and a little stunned.

“Yes? Why is that so funny?” Walker raises an eyebrow.

Bob lets out a little laugh again. “It’s just- you’re an asshole.” 

You can’t help the little laugh that comes out of you too- and Bob looks like he’s about to join in when it happens too fast for you to register.

Walker is shoving you roughly out of the way, pushing Bob against the back wall by his throat and the back of his head hitting the concrete wall with a thud.

“Woah, hey!” You jump into action immediately, shoving your way in between the two of them, trying but failing to unlodge Walker’s hand from Bob’s throat. You feel better just being in front of Bob, like he was with you moments ago (Right?), but you know it would be far more helpful to actually do something. 

You look at Yelena for support, pleading with your eyes- but you don’t need to- she is already in motion, striding across the room as Ava stands to the side, watching the entire ordeal from the safety of her corner.

You feel slightly lightheaded at the exchange, the rush of the moment causing you to sway slightly.

“Walker, enough.” Yelena is firm, and Walker doesn’t reply- staring holes into Bob, who is stoic in return, hands on Walker’s arm to try and pry him off himself. When he doesn’t reply, Yelena grabs his arm, and Walker finally lets her pull him away. 

Bob slumps down as Walker lets him go, and you quickly grasp his shoulders to prevent him from going down to the floor.

As soon as you touch him, you feel it- the rushing and darkness overtaking your mind again. 

But as quickly as it appeared, it lets go as Bob pushes himself up and away from you, sending you a calming smile that almost makes you forget that he just pushed you away. 

What was that? God, my head.

“Okay we really need to- did she look like that before?” Ava is questioning something when her voice turns to you, and you realise she’s pointing directly at your face.

“Did- what-.” You try to answer, but the words don’t come- dizziness setting in as you sway on your feet again- but this time dangerously close to falling. 

“Y/n- hey you’re okay, here I’ve got you-” You recognise Bob’s voice beside you as you heavily fall backwards, but soft arms catch you before you hit a cold hard ground. 

Who said that to me last time?

“I-” You try again, but you can’t form thoughts, let alone coherent words or sentences.

“Help what’s wrong!” Bob’s voice is panicked and you’re not even sure why.

You blink, seeing Yelena and Ava standing over you as you lie gently on the ground in Bob’s arms. Your eyes roll back in your head, and you see black right as you hear Yelena say, “I think she’s about to pass-.”

***

For the second time in an hour, you wake up gasping, the warm hands cradling your face jumping off immediately as you sit up frantically, heart racing and looking around wildly.

“Holy shit- you’re okay- it’s just me! It’s Bob!”

You pause at the familiar voice, turning around to see Bob sitting cross-legged behind you. You do the math and realise you must have been lying with your head in his lap, his hands gently holding your face. It’s so tender and sweet you almost want to cry. 

Why would he care so much? I don’t even know him.

“Are you…are you alright?” Bob’s voice brings you back and you turn to face him, still sitting on the floor. You notice the others aren’t here immediately and the location has…changed.

“Um- I-,” You pause, taking a breathe. “Yes. I mean I think so. I’m okay. But where-where are we? Where are the others? What happened? How did I get here? Are the others-”

You are suddenly caught off guard by Bob’s warm hands on your face again, trying to calm you as he shushes you gently. 

“Woah okay, one at a time- it’s okay.” Bob says gently, and his voice fills you with such a warmth that you’re not sure what to do.

“Okay.” You nod, and Bob smiles, suddenly becoming self-conscious that he is touching you so…intimately that he blushes and pulls his hands away. “‘Where are the others’ is the important one. Let’s start with that.”

Bob fidgets with his hands in his lap, like he’s afraid of telling you. “They are…getting ready to fight. They’re coming up with a plan and they wanted me to stay with you because you…blacked out. For like a whole 20 minutes.”

“20-I’m sorry, 20 minutes? What even happened, how did we get…here? Up, down?”

“Up. And it’s a…long story. Painful movements up an elevator shaft. Yelena and Walker carried you.”

“Um…how did you get up an elevator shaft without an elevator.”

Bob goes red with embarrassment. “Um- don’t worry about it.”

Silence falls upon you both. Until, suddenly, you start to laugh. Hysterically, full belly laugh, clutching your chest as your entire body is ridden with giggles that begin to burn your chest. 

“What’s so funny?” Bob is smiling at you, confused, but the joy is contagious.

“I cannot stop thinking about all the ways that you guys made your way up an elevator shaft. Surely you didn’t do that thing where you link arms and push upwards with your backs, right? We did that once at youth camp when I was younger, but it was only with two people. I suppose it could work- or maybe you’d fall without coordination.”

Bob goes silent, and you start laughing again, knowing now you hit the nail on the head with your guess. 

“Stop that’s HILARIOUS!” You can’t help the giggles that are spilling out of you still, and soon Bob is joining in, laughing hard on the floor next to you. By the time you both come down from them, your faces are red, and your tummy hurts from laughing so hard. 

“Oh geez- I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard. So stupid.” You admit, and Bob shakes his head, a small laugh escaping him.

“Don’t be. It was really funny. Just not in the moment.”

An awkward silence falls on you again but it’s more comfortable than the last few times. Content, almost.

“Hey I…I wanted to ask you something.” You speak up, and Bob looks up at you with curious eyes. 

“Yea?”

“What happened to you to wake up in a box?”

Bob is stunned. “I um…what happened to you?”

You pause. 

Taking a breathe, you look at him and you both respond simultaneously.

“Lab,” Bob says.

“Experiments.” You admit.

“Oh.” Bob replies, looking at you carefully. “So you…you were experimented on?”

“I signed up for it. Technically speaking.”

“Wait. Someone…someone was with me.” Bob looks away, staring off into the distance as if his memory is running away from him, and he has to keep his eyes on it.

“Huh?” You are confused, analysing his body language.

“There was a person with me, sometimes. She would comfort me. And I would do the same. Sometimes I would-” Bob can’t finish his sentence because you immediately cut in.

“Hold her hand.” You finish, and you both can’t help but stare at each other in complete awe, confusion and…something else. 

“You?” Both of you say, staring at each other so intently as if trying to will yourselves to remember the events.

“I-I thought you looked-” But now you can’t finish your sentence, because the sound of rapid footsteps, three people, and a voice cutting in all make you stop.

“Great, you’re awake. Get ready-we’re about to try and escape Valentina.” Yelena speaks, eyeing both of you still sitting on the ground, close together, knees touching. You blush at the realisation you are so close, but Bob doesn’t move. So neither do you.