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@FreyZB_Mercury posted a picture and captioned it:

@FreyZB_Mercury: I had the honour of getting ready for tonight's special New York performance with @ElleMagazine. Thank you so much to all of the photographers and members of the brilliant team who worked with me this morning! <3

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"Are we going for a darker look?" Perrie asks, observing Freya's outfit in the tour bus mirror.

The singer blinks herself out of a daze, fumbling with a loose string whilst thinking her image over.

"If we do a glittery blue above a navy base, it'll add to the jumpsuit. If we're lucky enough, the lighting will showcase the sparkle of both the silk and the makeup, and that way everyone will see your fantastic work."

Nodding, the pink-haired girl reaches into her kit for the right eyeshadow palette. As it turns out, primary-coloured eyeshadow, was not all that easy to come by.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks.

Freya's head snaps up from examining her fingers.

"The look? I thought we had it all figured-"

"I know it's bothering you," Perrie interrupts. "Seeing him after such a long time and having to leave all over again."

"Leave? Leave who?"

"Harry, of course. Who else would I be talking about?"

Freya chuckles, looking strangely relieved at Perrie's rather simple words.

"Ah, yes. It is always hard seeing Harry again because I know it'll only make it harder to leave.  We do, however, still talk online and meet up whenever we can. I'm already foreseeing the Mr & Mr Horan-Styles wedding next year."

The makeup artist laughs as she applies the eyeshadow, delighted by the thought of Harry's wedding. 

"Okay, the crowd's all settled down. We've got three minutes until we get the all-clear from the safety advisors and backstage workers."

"Good night," Freya thanks, nodding her head with a tight-lipped smile. She fiddles with her fingers, blinking rapidly and constantly default-smiling at everyone around her.

"Mercury?" Jen asks, Bill, Perrie, Reg, and Lorissa walking toward her at the same time.

"Yes?" the agitated woman scowls. 

The others recoil at her unusually cold behavior. 

"You just..."

"I what?" She snaps.

"You just said goodnight to the 4 pm timekeeper..."

"I...I'm not getting enough sleep on this tour."

"I can tell," Reggie laughs, hissing in pain as soon as Lorissa's elbow hits him square in the ribs.

"Yeah," The lead singer and glue of the group laughed. "Let me pop to the bathroom-that way I won't need to go during the show. Toodaloo."

Her family watches with beaded eyes as she leaves.

"A mystery, that woman is."

"Hope she's alright."

"Maybe I should talk to her about sleeping schedules?"

"Has anyone seen my favorite drumstick? And no, I don't mean my-"

"Found it, Reg! I found it- you can stop there."

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"Hello, New York!"

The deafening cheer of a large crowd echoes throughout NYC, cars honking and fangirls screaming in intensified joy.

"Tonight is a special night, as this is our halfway concert of the QUEEN's Crown Tour. We hope you enjoy tonight and make some amazing memories! Starting off, our latest single, We Are the Champions."

As Freya begins to make her way forward toward the crowd, all of her marks begin to tingle.  The tingle turns into an itch and then begins to burn like hell on earth.

It takes everything in her not to double over and scream in pain. 

From the side wings, Perrie and Lorissa are observing with worried eyes, making wild gestures to their mates.

Freya, they frantically mouth, hoping their friend will receive whatever it is she needs in order to calm down.

Bill and Reggie get up and walk towards Freya with bass and electric guitar in hand. placing a hand on her back, Bill whispers comfort into her ear as Reg asks if he needs help.

Looking around while her brothers look after her, she finally spots the source of all of her pain and worries: The Avengers.

"We are the champions, my friend."

Standing in the VIP section, fourteen figures are swaying to the music, each wearing faces of different emotional degrees. Fear, nervousness, unease, excitement, hope...

"We finally found her," Steve murmurs, tears springing to his eyes at the thought of finally feeling complete.

As the Avengers watch their mate sing, nothing but pride and admiration come to mind.

This is a girl who went from playing the guitar alone in her bedroom, to selling out a world tour in far less than two minutes. 

Underneath that all-consuming pride, however, lies a deep pit of worry. 

She's frantically scratching at herself, looking teary-eyed and extremely pained. Her bandmates, William and Reginald, seem to be trying to help her, holding her up under her armpits as she belts out their latest single.

"Why isn't she accepting any of the bonds?" Loki hisses, trying to get into the Singer's mind, but failing miserably.

"She's scared, Loki, isn't that obvious?" Natasha points out. "There must be something holding her back. Perhaps even someone. No one willingly walks out on their mates for no reason." 

Freya suddenly sings a loud and awfully off-pitch note which sounds disturbingly like a shriek of agony.

Steve gasps.

"Guys, she's looking at me."

Sure enough, the famous lead singer has moved on to a different song and is staring Steven Rogers straight in the eye.

Freya winces, unused to the kindness and understanding in her mate's eyes.

"Love of My Life, you've hurt me..." she sings, trying not to cry as the beautiful blue-eyed man gives her a reassuring smile. A smile that says nothing but I will never hurt you the way this person did. Never.

Taking in a deep, dizzy breath she accepts his bond, gives the guy next to him a staggering smile, and accepts the second man's bond as well.

Then, somewhere near the group of her mates, she spots Liam Trix.

That's enough for her to stop accepting the bonds, push through the pain and give her everything to this crowd.

No one will ever hurt her the way he did.

She won't let them.

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June 2022

Edited: 2023

A/N: I'm so sorry for the quality of this. I've had a long few days and a tough time writing recently. I hope it was at least a bit enjoyable.