Febuwhump Day 7: Suffering In Silence

Febuwhump Day 7: Suffering in Silence

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Summary: Adrien deals with being a hero.

  Being a superhero is any child's dream. Adrien no longer understood why. It seemed he just kept getting hurt. Often his body would be in pain but it was more than that.

    Adrien's head hurt. Not in the way you can take two Excedrin for. The things he had heard and seen. No one ever really saw the damage up close. No one saw the damage done to the people before the magic ladybugs fixed everything.

    There was no one to talk to. Ladybug had a friend of hers. She had a steady life. He had a father who couldn't even tell he was hurt. So he stitched his mouth shut and smiled. Adrien had gotten good at fake smiles.

    Loud noises scared him. The boy jumped at them. Sometimes he would grab Nino, frightened. But he always just thought that he was jumpy. Even if it had been worse since Monarch got a hold of the miraculous.

    Walking the halls of the school that always felt like it was getting destroyed was strange. It hurt. The memories loomed over his shoulders like a ghost. Focusing on his schoolwork became an extremely difficult task.

    It was time. Adrien tried to find Nino for most of the day. He felt safe with him. He wandered around the school when the bell rang. He had tried to tell him to talk to him after school in class but he was quieted by the teacher.

    The next day Adrien found him before classes started. "Hey Nino, can I talk to you?"

    "It's not a good time. How about after school?" He said.

    "Yeah. What's going on?" Adrien was nervous.

    "I'm trying to find Alya but I haven't seen her. I wanna make sure she's okay."

    'oh' That's what ran through his head. Here Adrien was, ready to tell someone what he had been though, both as a hero and as the neglected son to the famous Gabriel Agrest. "I'll help you find her."

    Maybe today was not the day. So he kept walking around, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. Yes everyone looked at Ladybug, but he kept her sane. Of course he didn't mind but worrying that your partner might break down on you in battle wasn't fun.

    At the end of the day, Nino had disappeared. Adrien took that as a sign. Maybe he was just supposed to go through this alone. Suffering in silence was another thing he had gotten used to. His father never listened so he found ways to deal with everything.

    Life didn't seem to be his biggest fan. Talking to Ladybug about the battles felt unfair. She was there, she didn't need his problems with hers. The hero was already cracking anyway.

    There was no one to tell. Plagg never saw it as a big deal, Nino wouldn't listen, his father wouldn't make time to listen, nor would he let him continue. Then of course there was Ladybug who couldn't know his identity.

    For a moment Adrien thought to tell Marinette. She was tough. She could take it. But she wasn't exactly a good liar. But he trusted her with his life. He loved her. But he couldn't do that to her.

    So silence it was. Adrien dropped the idea of telling anyone and just went back to jumping without anyone knowing why. He couldn't come up with a story quick enough and just seemed paranoid.

    There was no one to talk to. But he had gotten used to it. Even if it would be nice to talk to someone, Adrien would suffer in silence.

Febuwhump Day 4: Obedience

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: It takes place when Wreckers inhibitor chip activated.

  Inhibitor chips were scary. That's how Wrecker saw it. In a simple form at least. He saw them for more then just that. They were inhumane. They were cruel. They were so many things that it was hard to comprehend them.

    But at least his never activated. When Rex had showed up and had told them that he knew where to get them removed, the batch followed. They knew it was dangerous. The chips made them a danger to their loved ones.

    Then it happened. Wrecker hadn't thought his headaches were a big deal. He looked at his family and suddenly it didn't matter that there were his family, that he cared about them. He blindly obeyed the chips orders.

    Never once did he think he was wrong. It was like his mind had been taken over completely. The men in front of him may be his family but they were traitors. The girl may be his sister but she needed to be brought back to Kamino. She never should have left.

    Someone else had grabbed the rains. Wrecker had never been one to blindly obey orders but now he couldn't stop himself.

    They tried to stop him. Tech laid still on the ground from where the man had choked him. Hunter and Echo seemed nervous to hurt him. They tried to see if Tech was okay but couldn't make their way towards him.

    Rex didn't seem to pay attention to who Wrecker was. He was a man under a terrible influence. He didn't want him dead but he didn't want him close.

    Trying to get close seemed dangerous. The group tried to get Wrecker's gun away from him. Hunter yelled for Echo to get Omega out of there, just in case.

    The man did as he was told.

    Soon they would have him under control. Not before he knocked Hunter out and pinned Echo. Rex had been thrown aside and Omega had been cornered before Rex stunned him.

    When Wrecker woke up, he felt the shame. The memories of what he had done to his family haunted him. He couldn't look them in the eyes. It almost physically hurt.

    Tech's neck was bruised. There were dents in Echo's legs. Hunter seemed to have a sensitivity to light he didn't normally have. Omega was close to him, trying to comfort him. Rex seemed mostly unfazed.

    As the others started to get their chips removed, Wrecker wondered if this is how Crosshair feels. The blind obedience was something that, once out of it, wouldn't haunt you.

    It was like the worst kind of manipulation. You can't see through it. You're so loyal to your family and then, in an instant, all those years don't matter. It was the worst feeling. That guilt wouldn't go away. At least the chip was gone. 

Febuwhump Day 8: "Why Won't it Stop?"

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Warning: Character Injury

Summary: Hunter is injured while trying to flee some imperials. Omega is trying to help him.

  Blood was something the bad batch didn't shy away from. They had seen their fair share of it. It was a strange thing to be mostly used to. Every now and again it would hit them that they really weren't all that different then the other living beings on that field.

    However Omega was not used to the crimson liquid flowing outside of the body. The war was over. Yet a whole other fight had begun the moment the clones pulled the trigger.

    The batch was fighting a different fight then most. Or maybe they were fighting the same fight most every family was, protecting each other.

    For Hunter, he was protecting his vod'ikas, ori'vod, and ad'ika. That's what he was fighting for. Not that he really had much a choice. With bounty hunters after Omega and Crosshair after the rest of them, fighting was one inevitable.

    When the empire caught up to them on a mission for Cid, they knew the mission would be difficult. The empire made everything difficult. Avoiding them was difficult.

    Hunter had heard them coming. He looked over at his brothers and motioned for them to be ready for an attack. Then he grabbed Omega and pulled both of them behind a nearby wall.

    As the imperials terned the corner, Hunter turned his focus to a way out. They were cornered, yet. Hunter wanted it to stay that way. Shots were fired. The batch returned fire.

    The imperials fell and the family got ready to move. The Sargent had looked around the corner. He had his arm near Omega to protect her. More soldiers flooded into the previously crowded streets. The man tried to go back behind the building, but he as to late. A bullet ripped though his lower abdomen and Hunter fell to the pavement.

    "Hunter!" Omega screamed. She ran to his side and dragged him back behind the towering apartment building. Taking his helmet off, she set it beside them. The older clones hands covered the wound. He seemed almost distant or lost.

    The girl knew what to do, she really did. But everything she thought she knew fled her mind. She pressed her little hands over his and tried to hold pressure on the wound. Tears came to the corners of her eyes.

    Blood flowed out of the gunshot wound. It trickled over his body like rivers that lead to lakes. Puddles started to form as he lost more blood.

    "Why won't it stop?" Omega squeaked. The girl cried as she kept holding the wound. Hitting her comm, she called for her brothers. Frantically she tried to find ways to keep Hunter's blood inside of him.

    "Stop, come on stop" she pleaded. "Why won't it stop?" Hunter wanted to comfort her. More than anything he wanted to tell her that it would be okay. That at some point he would stop bleeding and things would be fine.

    It was warm. The blood that ran over him was warm compared to the chilly day. Omega's words hurt. He opened his mouth to speak but just couldn't. The girl kept pressing on his side, whispering to herself, "why can't I get it to stop?"

    The two listened to footsteps that were growing closer to them. Even almost unconscious, Hunter could tell who it was. Tech kneeled down beside the two. Wrecker and Echo covered him as he prepared to move his brother.

    "I can't get it to stop. He just keeps bleeding." The girl cried.

    "It will be alright, probably." Tech tried to comfort her. The family moved back. The strongest of the group grabbed Hunter. Echo led them back to the Marauder, where Tech could better assist Hunter.

    The Marauder was almost silent. The only noise was the sound of the ship's engine and Tech talking to Wrecker every now and again. He asked for different medical instruments. Without a word, Wrecker would hand them to him.

    Slowly Hunter recovered. He almost felt like a fool for getting shot. Mostly, he just felt bad for stressing out Omega. She was so worried and he never wanted her to feel that way again.

In fact it was a crime. Much like the murder.

"Everything's changed since Polites" was a warcrime

Winter Whumperland Day 7: Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (Self Sacrifice)

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Summary: During an akuma attack, Cat Noir decided he had to protect Ladybug. No matter what.

Part 2: soon. Part 3: soon

    Adrien was never good about self preservation. It only got worse when he became Cat Noir. It seemed that  sometimes the only way to win, was for him to take the fall, for him to die.

    Monarch was a terrible man. No matter how you looked at it, he was a horrible human being. All of his morals must have left his body as soon as he started to torment Paris. Maybe he never had any at all.

    It felt like a normal day. Then it wasn't. As Adrien walked out of the school building, the sky erupted with fireworks. He looked at the sky then looked around.

    Ducking into an alley, he put his bookbag in a safe spot and transformed. The Cat Noir was off.

    When he arrived, he saw Ladybug was already there. She looked at him and back to the villain. "We have quite the ordeal going on" she joked.

    "Don't they just have an explosive personality." Cat Noir laughed.

    Paris started to catch fire. The fireworks ashes cought on the dry leaves. That's when Ladybug and Cat Noir started to panic. They couldn't get the villain under control.

    Explosive started to grow more violent. He started to shoot the fireworks are bistanders. The heros did their best to keep them safe. Ladybug called her lucky charm and was given a fire extinguisher. She almost immediately knew what to do. Out out small fires as she fought.

    As the two tried to maintain some sort of damage control to protect the citizens, they soon lost the extinguisher. Explosive had taken it and thrown it into the water. Well they tried to find it couldn't.

    They stood on top of buildings trying to find a large parking lot or maybe a large skate park. The heroes tried to ignore the sirens and house alarms all caused by the fires.

    "Kitty" Ladybug had yelled, "there's a skate park over there! Maybe we can keep the fires down."

    "Good idea m'lady. Lets see if he'll just roll with it." Cat Noir answered, laughing at his own joke. Then they left for the park.

    When they arrived, the heros used the ramps to their advantage. They were able to use them to duck behind.

    But when Explosive came up behind Ladybug, Adrien's heart sank. He went to get her away from him but she had been thrown to the ground.

    As soon as he took his aim at her, Adrien expected his fate. He wasn't sure if his miraculous could protect him this time. He knew that her lucky care was gone so if he died, that was it. He jumped down to her, his back turned to the villain as he shot.

  Black cats are said to be bad luck. And maybe he was. Maybe this was it.

    But Adrien didn't care. She was his lady. He was her side kick, he protecter. He was meant for destruction, didn't it only make sense that he was destroyed?

    Even with the protective powers of the miraculous, fireworks could be a death sentence. But out of the two, Ladybug was more important. She could fix things. He just broke them.

    The pain was extreme. It was a smaller firework, one that would likely be allowed in most US states. It still burned. All Cat Noir heard was Ladybug calling for him. Her voice was shaky and she sounded so scared.

    It would all be worth it if she was okay. That's all he cares about. After all, why did Paris need Cat Noir when Ladybug didn't even need him sometimes. As he slipped unconscious he smiled. He had done what he was supposed to and nothing could change that. Ladybug would save Paris again. The sun would rise without him.

Febuwhump Day 11: Time Loop

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Summary: Hunter keeps reliving the day Tech died and Omega was taken, desperately trying to stop it from happening.

    Walking up was something Hunter didn't want to do. When he awoke he would have to face the fact that Tech was dead and Omega was gone. He grabbed his blanket and pulled it closer to him. Hoping that Echo and Wrecker wouldn't notice, he pulled the thin blanket to his face and dried his tears. He didn't have the time to cry or to lie still.

    Getting up, Hunter looked around. Echo must have cleaned up. He swung his legs over the end of his bunk and stood up. Echo's bed had been made and so had Wrecker's, even though he never made it. Tech's bed had also been made. Resting a hand on the medal of his bunk, Hi ter thought that Echo must have made his as well.

    Then he heard it, Tech talking to Echo. Hunter stepped back. That wasn't possible. Had it all been a dream? The pain felt so real.

    Omega walked up to Hunter. "You looked tired so we got you go lay down. How are you feeling?" He didn't say anything. Instead he picked

    But things started to fall into place for those hellish days to happen. When Hunter realized they were going to Eriadu his heart sank. But that couldn't be right. That horrible day had been a dream, right?

    A few hours later Tech was hanging off the side of the rail car. "When have we ever followed orders?" He had sighed before shooting the only piece of metal that connected the cars.

    This time, instead of silents, Hunter called out for him. Almost immediately afterwards, he grabbed a hold of Omega, pulling her close to try to protect her.

    But they still ended up on Ord Mantell. Hunter was the one who required AZ to heal him. He was unconscious, making him unable to tell them about Cid's betrayal. It felt he was defenseless this time. As she was taken away, he still tried to follow her. It didn't matter, she was still gone.

    Then he woke up. Again.

    This time he would do it right. That's what Hunter had told himself at least. Trying to find a way to convince Saw Gerrera and his extremist to stop their attack, to wait just long enough for them to leave. But that didn't work.

    "Tech, we will find another way!" Hunter yelled as he claimed to the top of the rail car.

    "There is no other way, Hunter." Tech continued to follow what seemed to be his destiny.

    "When have we ever followed orders?" Again he shot the metal that connected the two cars. Again Hunter grabbed Omega. He moved to a different place in the car.

    Then he woke up on the Marauder. "Hunter, how are you feeling?" Echo asked.

    "I'm fine. Where's-" Hunter tried to sit up but couldn't. It hurt too much to move. "Where's Omega?"

    Wrecker walked into the room. He looked worried.

    "Hemlock has her." The man said.

    Then he woke up. Hunter didn't move. Maybe if he didn't move, nothing would happen.

    This time, Hunter killed Gerrera. Tech was stunned by his action but didn't say a word about it. However, the explosives still went off. Tech still went to the top of the rail car and he still called plan 99.

    "When have we ever followed orders?" Hunter mouthed along with the words. He knew them all too well. It had been three times he had gone through this after all.

    There had to be a way to stop this. Why else would he be stuck in a time lop like this? Was this a punishment for something he had done, for not saving them?

    Shoving Omega to Wrecker, Hunter turned around. As the rail car hit the wall, Hunter fell unconscious. Unlike every other time, he woke back up on the Marauder at the beginning of the day.

    "Oh" he whispered as he sat up. The man hadn't survived the crash. Hunter looked around. First he went to find the others. Grabbing Omega, he ok pulled her into a hug.

    "Hey Hunter!" She said, excited for the random hug. It didn't happen often. "Are you okay?" Her joy faded in to concern.

    "I'm okay." The man put down his daughter. "We'll be okay" he whispered.

    "I know. I trust you."

    Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Hunter just smiled, "thank you." The girl didn't know know what he did. Hopefully she would never know that he knew.

    It didn't matter what happened, nothing changed. "There is no time Wrecker" Not again. "Plan 99." Hunter started to tear up. He couldn't do this. The conversation was engraved in the clones head.

    "Don't you do it Tech" Wrecker yelled. Hunter felt his mouth move to say something more.

    "When have we ever followed orders?"

    The rail car fell and Omega pulled in Hunter's arms, "go back, go back!"

    The car crashed and Hunter grabbed Omega quickly. They still had to go to Ord Mantell, that stayed the same. Then she was fine, again.

    Days went by, at least to Hunter. Over and over he watched as Tech sacrificed himself for his family. Then he would watch as Omega was taken from them. He was done.

    "Wrecker, stay here." This was new. This was a plan he hadn't tried yet.

    "What?! Why?" Wrecker droned.

    "In case we need a pickup."

    "Why me?" He winded

    "You are the most likely to get us caught." Tech said as he walked.

     "Okay." Sulking, Wrecker walked back in the ship.

     As the mission went forward, Hunter grew nauseous. What if this didn't work? He would just have to find out.

    When they boarded the rail car, everything seemed to be going as it had before. But this time, Hunter had already contacted their get-away driver. 

    There he was. Tech had gone to restore power to the rail car. Like every other time, he hung from the bottom of the car. "Echo, get Omega on the Marauder!" Hunter demanded.

    Wrecker kept the ship steady as the two made their way on board. Hunter had his gun ready. With the two left in the car, Echo ran to man the guns. He started shooting down the empire's air support.

    As the rail car creaked closer to falling, Hunter jumped on board. The car began to fall, Tech still dangling from below. The Sargent grabbed his gun and shot his brother with his safety line. He didn't expect the scream that would come from the end of the line clamping onto his brother's left arm and shoulder.

    Pulling him up seemed to hurt more. Tech's shoulder was bleeding. It looked painful, the way the clamp dug into his skin. But either way, he was alive. That's all that mattered now.

    Calling for one of his brothers, Hunter pulled Tech aboard. "You're gonna be okay Tech. We've got you."

    "Thank you" Tech said shakily. "I- I can't move my arm right now."

    "I know. We'll get you taken care of."

    "We'll head to Ord Mantell for AZ. He can-" Omega started.

    "No" Hunter interrupted. "There are doctors on Pabu. Someone there can help him. I-" he sighed, "don't trust Cid."

    "We can't just leave Az" the girl protested.

    "We won't. But right now we just need to take care of Tech. We can't do that if something happens on Ord Mantell." Omega looks like she wanted to say more but walked away to get Tech's bunk ready.

    While Tech's recovery would be difficult, it was better than him becoming a memory. Maybe that was a little selfish. Maybe his arm wouldn't heal but he was alive. That was enough

    After twelve attempts, everyone was alive. Tech was in a large amount of pain but he wasn't alone and dead at the bottom of the ravine. Omega may be mad at him but she wasn't taken by the empire. Hunter could fix that when he later sent Phee to pay their debts and to return Az.

    It was over. The painful two weeks were over.