#ending
After reading the three of the soon to be fourt part interview of Mike Costa about S5 and S6 I had these wild thoughts…
First, I’m glad that Lucifer didn’t end up in Hell in s5 with Dan while Chloe was probably stuck on Earth? Or perhaps their S5 ending was Lucifer commuting until Chloe’s death? I think that either ending was fine by me right now if that was the original plan.
Either having Lucifer commuting watching Chloe grow old and being a stepdad or what we got. Perhaps the first would have been less traumatic for the audience especially the portion that was against the baby part but then again what if they had a kid in that S5 ending thing? Or at least… no clue…. so many possibilities
Then again having Dan stuck in hell while undergoing therapy sessions with Lucifer was a bit gloomy for his arc. But the reasoning of Lucifer would have eventually figured out what was his calling is now true and Rory could have been left out but yeah… @youcantmakeme was right she aided the plot. But still I’m fine with it.
I feel like I’m living in a weird place where both endings exist and I’m equally happy with both of them because for a little while in a writer’s room or in a collective thinking they did.
Anyways! Six months already huh?
Interview:
Rachel Berry, after years of Broadway success, returns to Lima, Ohio. She is a well respected actress, and has recently earned her breakout movie role in a Woody Allen movie. Immediately after her plane lands, she gets into her car, fiddling with her golden Finn necklace.
The next shot is of a cemetery.
Rachel, teary eyed and clutching a bouquet of flowers and a picnic basket, makes her way to a grave belonging to none other than Finn Hudson. She sits, smoothening her skirt and pulling out Finn’s drumsticks from the basket. She places them across his grave, along with the beautiful white roses. A single tear rolls down her cheek as she whispers.
“I’m home.”
What Is This Feeling - Part Five
I just want to give a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who followed along with this story. I didn’t intend to drag it out this long, but with such a wonderful idea from DragonRider and all those fun prompt lines, I couldn’t help it. I had fun with this and loved the challenge of trying out angst/hurt/comfort, more than I ever have with my writing before. I guess all the screaming, crying comments meant I did a good job?
Hunter x Reader | 2.4k words
Content warnings: Making-out, Bittersweet ending?
Part One|Part Two|Part Three|Part Four
You woke feeling a weight behind you, only this time you knew it was real. Warm and solid and breathing ever-so-softly. You knew it was really him, not a dream or a misunderstanding or a projection of your most desperate desires. It was the man you’d been waking up to for three mornings now.
And this morning was going to be the last.
You cursed silently to yourself. Time. Time was always the enemy for the two of you. Even without all that jealousy and confusion getting in the way, Hunter would’ve still had to leave. And even now, with a few extra days afforded to the Batch to sweep for any other “surprises” left behind by the pirates, he would still have to leave. He would always leave you. It was inevitable. Fate.
And that was probably why the two of you hadn’t really talked about anything in those few extra days. Granted, you two were clearly not the best at communicating to begin with, but in this case, there didn’t seem to be anything to say that wasn’t already known. You could see it in each other’s eyes, the understanding that yes, you’d been gifted with a little bit of time, time to bask in the revelation of each other’s shared feelings, time to indulge in those feelings just a little more than you would’ve otherwise… but also that that time was not enough for anything further. That there was no time to actually start anything, to go down a path that you’d ultimately have to abandon. No time to actually feel fulfilled or satisfied.
And so you didn’t talk. You didn’t make plans or decisions or even wishes. You didn’t do anything to set yourselves up for a more painful parting.
Except sleep together.
Obviously not in that way, though the temptation was certainly there, and growing stronger with each additional night. No. You only truly slept.The arrangement had gone unspoken; you didn’t ask, he didn’t offer, it just happened. He’d followed you to your bed that first night, after a long day of administering aide and cleaning up and mourning over the dead. You were both so exhausted and simply collapsed into each other.
Waking that morning, side by side, had felt so natural. Like you were always meant to start the day with each other. The tattoo on the one side of his face was smushed into your pillow and you gazed at the other side for a long while. And he gazed at you. Nothing spoken, but everything understood. You’d finally given him a small smile, and he returned it, before you both rose and proceeded with the day.
The couple of mornings after were similar. Gently waking, taking the other in for as long a moment as you could afford, and then moving on. It seemed like such a cold thing to do, but in actuality it was so intimate it made your heart hurt in horribly new ways. And you knew it did the same to him, too. That’s why you never crossed the line further. Any more intimacy and you’d both surely die.
This morning, your last morning together, felt the same as the others and it made you mad. It didn’t feel real. It wouldn’t feel real until tomorrow, when you’d be waking up without him. And that seemed far too late to be fair. How could you savor this last moment? How could you make it meaningful?
You rolled over to face Hunter, hoping to find your thoughts reflected in his eyes once more. He was already awake, eyelids heavy but still opened to meet your gaze. You thought maybe you saw all the same things you’d seen in them before, but now you couldn’t be so sure. Were you projecting again? Jumping to the wrong conclusions? Choosing to believe he felt the same turmoil only so you wouldn’t feel so alone in yours?
You needed more from him, something different than what’d you’d gotten in the other mornings. So you scooted yourself closer and lifted a hand toward his face. With a speed that caught you by surprise, his hand was grasped around your wrist, holding you back. There was a warning in his eyes. Well, that was something different.
His grip softened as you let out a small gasp. He hadn’t meant to scare you. You quickly recovered and took advantage of his loosened hold, wiggling your wrist free and proceeding with your plan to gently lay your hand along his cheek. As soon as your skin made contact with his, his eyes furrowed shut and his mouth turned down in a grimace.
“Don’t,” he rasped. Another warning, but he didn’t move away. Didn’t push back.
You pressed on, rubbing along his cheekbone and scooting yourself even closer until your noses tickled each other.
“Don’t,” he said again, still frowning, but much quieter. He was losing resolve, and so were you.
You rubbed your nose along his, placed a feather-light kiss to the side of it. You were walking such a dangerous line, trying to add just one special thing to your last moment together. And the more you lingered, the more you wanted to cross it entirely.
You heard him whisper your name, another futile attempt to stop you.
“Hunter,” you whispered his name back, and then planted a firmer kiss along his jaw.
There was pressure against your shoulder as he tried to push you away. That, along with the taste of his skin on your lips and the warmth of his being so close to yours, made you panic.
No, no. This was not the last morning. It couldn’t be. It simply couldn’t.
You must have said some of those sentiments out loud as Hunter began to respond to them.
“There’s nothing we can do,” he said softly. “We knew this. We…”
He sighed, perhaps defeated now himself. Notably, his attempts to push you back were wavering in strength. His pained frown and melancholy groans were faltering.
You’d crossed the line, and now you were taking anything you could get, while you could. Your fingers were tangled up in his hair. Your lips parted as they pressed a mix of gentle and firm kisses to every inch of his skin within your reach. Your body was slowly sliding more and more onto his, one leg slung over his hip, engulfing his muscular frame as much as you could manage. He wiggled beneath you in protest; half-hearted protest. You’d brought him into a wickedly indulgent dance that you both knew was far beyond the bounds of what you could handle. But neither of you could seem to fully stop.
Eventually, to both your delight and dismay, for a part of you was hoping he’d have more strength than you and would put an end to this before it was too late, Hunter did give in.
His movements switched from pushing to pulling, from fighting to giving. He titled his head to finally meet your lips with his own. His arms snaked around your middle and locked you in place. One of his hands drifted up to the nape of your neck to find purchase, to ensure your mouth stayed on his. The one kiss you’d shared in that cellar, stolen and relished, desperate only in that it’d felt like you were making up for lost time, had nothing on this one now. This was all fire and fear and persistent hope.
His tongue was dragging along the roof of your mouth and you were only able to wonder briefly where he’d learned to do that before you realized you couldn’t breathe. You parted and panted against each other, taking in the other’s breaths as your own, eyes connecting for a moment before going back in for more.
How long you were connected like this was an irrelevant detail, for it would never be long enough. Time, after all, was the enemy.
Hunter flipped you over, cradling you beneath him as he gave just a few lingering kisses, pulling at your bottom lip gently before finally letting go. Your passion had simmered down just enough to where you could finally hear the sounds of his breathing, rather than your own hammering heart in your ears. He looked down on you, his expression readable to you once more now that you had the reassurance you both still felt as one. He was full of sadness and fondness and dread and ambition.
As were you.
“Hunter–” you started but he shook his head at you, strands of his hair falling forward without his bandana to hold them back.
“Don’t.”
“But–”
He shushed you with his lips, pushing them softly onto yours for a few seconds and then pulling back.
“Please,” he said through a low exhale. “Let me speak this time… Before you go getting any wrong ideas again.”
He said the last part ever-so-teasingly, making you roll your eyes at him. But you pursed your lips, showing that you would let him go first. He took a second to think it over, choose his words carefully. You had a feeling where this would be going, but you gave him the lead to take you there.
“I had been thinking about the future, you know. My life as a clone. We don’t have the freedom to think such things, but I found myself thinking of them anyway. Guess I’m a rebel like that.”
You smiled as he chuckled to himself but still stayed silent.
“I don’t know… I guess I’m not as loyal as I was created to be. At least… not to the Republic.”
He paused and his eyes slipped away, looking for words again. You brought your hands up to brush his hair back, combing your fingers through lightly, over and over. The repetition seemed to soothe him and he brought himself back to look at you.
“You know I love you.”
You nodded. “And you love your brothers.”
He nodded back, relieved you were understanding him so well. “I used to think we’d reach a point where we’d feel like we’d outgrown our role as soldiers, and that’s when I’d propose we all leave together. And even now that I have a reason to leave sooner… a really good reason,” he stole a quick kiss to accentuate his point, bringing out a giggle from you, “I still worry for them. What if they’re punished for my desertion? What if they’re sent to find and kill me? I can’t do that to them. I’m sorry, love, but not even for you.”
You brought your hands down from his hair to hold the sides of his face and shook your head furiously at him. “I would never ask that of you.”
“I know,” he reassured you with a pained smile. “But… Well, I also haven’t broached the subject with any of them yet. Maybe they’re restless too. Maybe all our ideas together could find a plan that works. We’ve made it through tougher situations before.”
He sounded so hopeful, more than he’d let himself be before you’d assaulted him with your affection. It was reassuring for you to hear.
“I thought most of your plans failed,” you couldn’t help but tease, though. “And the only way you ended up making it through anyway was with luck.”
“And teamwork,” he winked, leaning in to kiss you again. It was a slow kiss this time, symbolizing his newfound optimism for the future. He would kiss you again. This would not be the last.
“Do you really think you’ll find a way?” you whispered as his lips hovered over yours. “That all of us will be okay?”
He hummed in affirmation. “Of course. Love always finds a way.”
* * *
The reason the Batch had stayed as long as they had was to be present for the hospital re-opening. Your town leaders had insisted that ceremony still happen as planned, that no amount of nasty tricks from pirates would keep the community from moving forward. The Batch had completed their search for any further threats only that next day, but they hadn’t reported it to their superiors. They would stay the extra time for the hospital ceremony and that was it.
The event went by without a hitch, and you were glad to see your people had something joyous to celebrate after such an unexpected disaster. Of course, there were several people notably missing from the crowd, and another memoriam was held in their honor alongside the other celebrations. You knew another event would come soon enough, once the Cantina was also rebuilt and reopened. Maybe there was a blessing hidden somewhere within the tragedy; a way to keep your people fighting even once their clone protectors left.
Once the sun hit the opposite horizon, the Batch made their way back to their ship. You went through the gambit of good-byes once again, this time getting in proper hugs and tearful thank-yous with each of them. You reminded Echo that your home would always be welcome. You tried to give Wrecker as crushing of a hug as he gave you. You listened through Tech’s last minute reminders about how the hospital security system worked, so it could eventually be replicated in the Cantina.
You looked over at Crosshair and jerked your head toward Hunter. “Keep an eye on him for me.”
Crosshair merely gave you a little nod and then shoved a toothpick in his mouth before following the others up the ramp to the ship. It was unclear how much of them knew what had built between you and Hunter this morning, but they’d know soon enough.
One more mission. That had been the final promise from Hunter to you. One more mission with his brothers, one last rodeo, and then he’d come for you. They’d have a plan and you’d be ready whenever they were. It was the only promise that could be made, but it was enough.
“Don’t keep me waiting, Sergeant,” you grinned as Hunter reached the ramp himself. There’d be no more kisses and hugs, nothing to draw out the moment longer than you had this morning.
He smiled after you, such a sweet and warm sight on his dark features. “Wouldn’t dream of it, love.”
The ramp closed behind him and the ship took off and your people waved after them, and within seconds the Batch disappeared through the atmosphere.
Maybe you’d cry later. Maybe your nightmares would return. But there was still a lightness in your heart that made you believe it would be okay. Difficult, but doable.
You would wait.
You would be okay.
~
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