#// I love how Kyle is like hands up like the cops just busted in through the door. //

[phoebehalliwell]

what are your thoughts on thruples? cause I keep thinking about Paige/Henry/Coop, especially with Henry and Coop's epic bromance in the comics

ooh that could be very interesting. personally, i'm game for throuples (tho i will say i Hate the word throuple i think it sounds gross just like you know moist or something so i usually just say "poly relationship") but i do kind have beef when it's like. like you know the meme "it doesn't have to be like this [blank] has two hands"? funny meme i do like it but i hate when a poly relationship is just kinda an excuse to merge two couples rather than something that like emerges as distinct relationships between all three parties. like bella edward and jacob as a couple like. shure because bella loves edward and bella loves jacob but jacob and edward really don't like have anything there it's more like roommates who share a girlfriend rather than a poly relationship. one piece of media that i think really did it well was siren on freeform which i highly recommend the first two seasons it kinda goes off the rails s3 and then was cancelled but the first two season it really spends time fleshing out all aspects of the relationships between ben, ryn, & maddie and it also actually goes canon which is lit 🤙🤙

but basically. if i were to do a paige/henry/coop, i think i would start with specifically a paige/coop bromance introduce henry into the mix & let it blossom from there so like. as previously stated. i think each leg of the triangle here needs to be strong n steady on its own so um underneath the cut is i believe a record breaking 6.6k

rip richard but we'll say richard also died in this au rip. and then, of course, kyle also died. idk if he's a whitelighter or not but the point is paige has this weight on her chest like god i can't save these people i can't save the people i love ouch everything hurts

& that's when coop shows up!

and we'll have his introduction plot be a fusion of heartbreak city and the magic hour where coop's got this relationship and it's perfect they're so in love but there's this demonic interference and it's gonna kill one or both of them so he busts down the charmed ones' door like hi you guys are protectors of the innocent right well i have some innocents in dire need of protection

to which this duty gets turfed to paige because piper idk has work and phoebe has a date and phoebe's like i can cancel it to help! and coop's like what no the whole reason i'm here is love go go find love paige can totally handle this

and paige is like :| because she really doesn't want this gig and coop's explaining it all to her how this love is going to be broken up by a magical death unless they stop it and paige is like okay look here coop let's not get our expectations up to high because in my experience almost all relationships end in a magical death and coop’s like !!!

and immediately does like a cupid reading on her and paige is trying to bat him away like ew no i do not need any love guru-ing right now okay let’s just fix your thing and then you can leave okay

and coop’s like no don’t you see? this is fate, the fact that it’s you and me on this, it means i’m meant to be here, i’m meant to help you find love

and paige is like uh no it means piper’s a mother of two and phoebe’s on a date while i am the tragic spinstress of magic school (which is still under her charge just bc it is we didn’t abandon it)

and coop’s like nope. it’s fate. and paige rolls her eyes and coop’s like come on, like you don’t believe in fate and paige is like actually i don’t! and coop just smiles at her bc he knows she’s lying and paige knows she knows he’s lying and she tries to sneer at him but it’s just insanely half hearted bc to be honest her heart kinda skipped a beat with that smile but no

absolutely not

dude, all she gets is cursed love, and now a cupid?

she can’t go through all that she can’t fight for love only to watch him die no she’s gonna ignore it he’s not that cute anyways oh fuck he totally is but whatever!!! doesn’t matter

so blah blah blah paige and coop save the day including one moment where idk there’s an explosion or something they have to dodge something hide for attackers something where they get thrown up against a wall faces inches apart from each other breathing heavy undeniably a moment which they both Immediately break because wooooah that is a little too much chemistry!! better act like that never happened

and you know next episode or whatever coop’s like okay let’s find you love!! and paige is like not now i’m at work and coop’s like in an alleyway and paige is like i need to look after my charge and then after that i need to grade papers and after that i need to order cauldrons and after that-

and coop’s like find love?

and paige is like no. i need to.... but um she forgot the rest of her list

and coop’s like find love excellent sounds great!

and paige is like anyone ever tell you you’re really annoying and coop’s like nope i’m a cupid :0)

and blah blah blah they’re arguing and something something w paige’s charge and paige is like i gotta go talk to him but coop holds her back because wait who’s that approaching him and paige is like fuck that must be his parole officer bc idk he’s doing something that is obviously breaking parole and paige is like aaaaaaa what do we do and then it’s a henry face reveal and both paige and coop are like woah.

but then paige is storming off trying to like try to fight henry and henry’s like what the fuck is this?? and coop’s running up like hi i’m also here and speed’s like i-cannot stress this enough-do not know any of these people and coop’s like you don’t know us yet and paige is like you can’t do this speed’s a good kid and speed’s like yeah!!

and henry’s like he was so very obviously breaking parole and paige is like he’s a kid and henry’s like a kid who’s been to juvie!! twice!!! and who should know the damn rules by now

and paige is like look something something clever talk bargaining whatever puts something of her own at stake and henry’s like you’re really gonna risk it all on this kid and paige is like yes. he’s destined for greatness. and speed is like yeah!! and henry’s like fine. whatever. but when the other shoe drops, you know like i’m gonna cash in whatever wager paige made here

& he leaves

and speed’s like thanks also who are you and idk we get a paige monologue something full of love and spirit and coop’s also there still and speed’s listening to this monologue kinda like um okay bc honestly? just met her five minutes ago this is kind of a lot but coop’s listening to this monologue like wow😍

so idk speed leaves and coop’s like hey so do you pick a fight with all the guy’s you find attractive and paige is like what

and coop’s like well i’m just saying you know with richard with kyle with me and now with henry i’m kinda sensing a pattern there

and paige is like did you just include yourself on that list and coop’s like i mean yeah duh

and paige kinda wants to argue back but her blush is giving her away so it’s best just to change the subject so what you think i should be going for the parole officer?

and coop’s like yes! didn’t you feel it there was a spark there passion energy something that with the help of yours truly can easily turn into love and paige is like yeah no. absolutely not.

and coop’s like come on why not he was hot and paige is like yeah well if he’s so hot why don’t you date him and coop pauses like hmm like genuinely consider and paige is like don’t do that

and coop’s like why not and paige is torn between don’t date him because i actually did feel that spark and i do kinda like him and also don’t date him because if you’re gonna date anyone it should be me but both those are too embarrassing to say out loud to her cupid so instead she just says conflict of interest

and we flash forward to later idk when the point is speed is doing graffiti on public property but not just like stupid pointing a spray can at something la la la like proper graffiti like an artform but as it is unfortunately public property that is Illegal so it breaks parole

so idk henry’s there and busts him and paige senses speed’s in trouble so she shows up and henry’s like good you’re here. i’m not actually gonna cash in the thing that you wagered because that’d be unfair, because i know the kid, i know that he always let’s you down and speed’s like hey man

but paige is looking up at the wall and she’s like don’t you get it and henry’s like ...no and paige is like it’s art. it’s a release, it’s a coping mechanism and speed’s like idk that’s all sounding a little bit pretentious for a bit of graffiti and paige is like you can’t arrest him for this and henry’s like it’s literally illegal. & i already let him walk once what part of this aren’t you getting

and then there’s like a. idk cop radio thing i don’t know how police work that’s talking about how whatever gang speed used to run with just robbed some place but they’re hot on their tail bc their getaway driver sucks and henry’s looking at speed bc speed Is the getaway driver hence the name and henry’s like how come you aren’t driving that car huh

and speed just shrugs and henry’s like no how come you’re not driving that car what you swap out one crime for another you’re getting busted either way and speed like shrugs 

and paige is like he’s creating art instead and henry’s like did they approach you to drive the getaway car and speed shrugs and henry’s did they approach you to drive the getaway car and speeds like yes man they did i said no and henry looks up at the art

and it’s some super nail on the head craving freedom thing a bird breaking free from a cage type shit and it’s gorgeous

and henry looks at paige like what are you, huh

and paige is like freelance guardian angel

and henry just uncuffs speed and speed’s like what are you doing and henry’s like go. next time you do this find a wall that isn’t public property

and speed can’t help it he kinda smiles n runs off and henry just looks at paige bc what the hell has this girl gotten into him bc normally he’s just got such a concrete shell but she’s smiling at him like he just made the right choice and he’s really gotta fight the urge to smile back. what the fuck

so he says something stupid and leaves

and later paige is doing something when boom coop is here invading her personal bubble bc that’s become their new mode of communication is there are one thousand empty chairs and coop is seated in one paige will walk over and sit on that same chair that’s how they operate bc again there’s this sense of longing for one another and they both know they can’t go for it so instead they just opt for this intense intimacy passed off as friendship

and paige is like met the parole officer again and coop’s like oh henry mitchell? and paige is like how do u know his full name and coop’s like did my research<3 and they’re talking blah blah blah idk and it’s both how to land a date with this guy and also heavy flirting at the same time. and then like phoebe walks into the room and they snap apart like magnets with the same polarity i think?? been a while since the fifth grade and their language just becomes so much more stifled

to which phoebe is vaguely aware and this is a change but we as the audience are super aware it’s a change meaning that their constant flirty banter is a choice on both parts they are both very consciously doing this

and then i don’t know there’s something bigger going on in the main plot which has been building and the main villain needs something magical from each type of being so a cupid’s next on the grocery list so idk coop is either out minding his own business getting coffee or he’s out on reconnaissance on henry when all of a sudden he’s attacked!! by idk an arrow seems convenient honestly we should do a bow and arrow an homage to in original cupid iconography

and henry’s in proximity and sees this and idk maybe they’re somewhere where there aren’t that many people just so you know u can be attacked by a bow and arrow and henry’s like what the fuck!??!?! running over to help him and he vague recognizes him as the angel’s friend but is mainly like holy shit did you just get shot with a bow and arrow and henry’s like i’ll call an ambulance i’ll drive u to the hospital

and coop’s like no no uhh can’t go with the whole i am actually a magical being i exist in no databases and also have no money so instead goes with the i have no health insurance and henry’s like hmm. fuck.

so the next thing you know coop’s on henry’s couch and henry’s doing rudimentary first aid and coop’s really trying to hobble away because if he can just get to paige she can heal this because she unlocked that power in like s5 or s6 in a more natural progression but henry’s not letting him leave because dude you have an arrow in your chest

and now we’re doing the hurt comfort schtick with the meaningful glances and also coop is shirtless bc well you know Arrow In Chest and he’s also in henry’s apartment which is offering a very weird sense of intimacy

and there’s also this kind of banter going because coop’s like no i’m fine i can leave this is fine and henry’s like dude. please let me at least try to help you and after that you can walk right out of here and go repuncture your lung. but just. while you’re. let me do what i can

and coop’s like okay because like. well i mean a) gotta keep up appearances like he’s mortal and b) henry’s kinda fine so sure he can play doctor what’s the worse that can happen

and henry’s like okay we gotta get this arrow out of you so um. any ideas on how to do that? and coops like yeah break off the feathered part and then pull the rest through

and henry’s just like yeah? you have experience with this? and coop’s like once or twice and henry’s like what do you do?

and coop’s like ... relationship therapist

and henry’s like are relationship therapists frequently attacked by archers and coop’s like yeah more often than you’d think 

and henry removed the arrow and the actual point stabby bit of the arrow is shaped like a heart just for funsies bc it’s for cupids but henry’s looking at this like relationship therapist hunting arrow??

anyways. henry is pressing some bandages against coop’s chest to staunch the bleeding and there’s a Moment there to which henry kinda falters because woah gay thoughts?? and the pressure lightens but then o shit i’m lightening the pressure don’t do that!! so he pushes hard and coop’s like aa!! and henry’s like fuck jesus and coop just kinda laughs like i guess you don’t patch up arrow wounds that frequently and henry’s like yeah actually you’re my first!!

something something something coop’s patched up and henry gives him once of his shirts because coop’s shirt had to be cut off him bc of the arrow and we get one of the classic how to i look / starstruck moments because hell yeah we do

and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah coop makes it home and paige is like where in god’s name did u get that shirt bc it looks nothing like what coop would wear in fact in kinda reminds her of

believe it or not, henry

hot parole officer henry?

the one and only

and paige is like you slept with him??? and coop’s like close. i was shot with an arrow and he patched me up

and paige is like !!! because you know main plot evil all this that coop takes off henry’s shirt so paige can see the wound and heal it and she’s looking at henry’s handiwork and it really is the old college try but that man is not a medic so now paige is laying her hand on coop’s bare chest and phoebe walks in and immediately turns on a heel like i’ll give you guys some space!!

and paige is like no it’s fine i’m healing him he was shot main plot and phoebe’s like oh

and then later phoebe’s talking with paige like okay you and coop tho. bc like. ik ik healing or whatever. but like. 👀👀.

and tbh paige has been waiting for this because she really needs to unpack bc like i know!! because coop and i have this thing and it’s a great thing but it like can’t be a thing it’s a forbidden thing but i want it to be a thing but at the same time there’s this other guy and i can’t get him off my mind and i’m worried i’m just viewing him as a safer alternative instead of coop but like. idk he was just my backup i feel like i would be more lukewarm about it. but i’m not. like. i’m really not i kind wish i was because i don’t know if i can do a relationship again especially because he’s mortal like i can’t have someone i care for die again so maybe it’s safer just to keep what i have with coop or maybe even to explore that further? and keep henry safe? but like this and that and this and that

and phoebe’s like buzzing because it’s been a while since she’s had such an interesting love mess to tinker with so the first thing she does is go to coop just to see what she can sus out there Meanwhile paige is with speed where you ask? p3. well, outside of it

speed is painting the side of the club with this amazing artwork and clearly there’s this vein of magic running through it with certain symbols all that and he’s using paintcans and paige has her paintbrush and is adding smaller pieces as well

and she’s like hey where’d you get like that idea or thing idea because they’re all like. runes or magical somethings or others and speeds like idk. saw it in a dream maybe.

and henry rolls up because he stopped at the manor looking for paige and piper directed him here and he’s just like. like he sees this amazing work and it’s a big heart full moment and paige and speed finish up and speed adds his little signature at the bottom and leaves and henry says he’s proud of him and speed acts like he doesn’t care but he does

so henry’s like hey how’s your friend and paige is like coop? yeah, no he’s totally fine and henry’s like really???

and paige is like yeah no um. my brother in law! is an army medic. so um. he was able to. yeah : ) which isn’t technically a lie because leo was he’s just also kinda frozen in a block of ice now so whoops

and henry’s like that’s good but the real reason he’s her it to like thank paige for you know like. seeing the light like maybe henry has become too bitter and jaded so it’s good to know that there are freelance guardian angels out there keeping the balance and you know watching out for these kids so thank you for just like. being a good person.

and he also looks at her art and he’s like this your coping mechanism and paige is like yeah [tragic backstory swap time!!] and both paige and henry kinda realize how they’re like almost mirrors to each other and henry kisses her and paige kisses him back but then stops because she likes him too much which means he’s gonna die

so she’s like sry i gotta go and henry’s like oh :\ because um. well. whoops. because like. god he so rarely goes out on a limb like that and for one moment there it felt like it was all gonna align like he wasn’t gonna get ditched but paige’s green punchbuggy is already peeling out of the lot so guess not

so phoebe’s determined that coop is indeed in love with paige so all that needs is a little nudging okay she’s on mission time to go

and then next thing you know paige is storming in all in a tizzy because she kissed henry and coop’s like this is great news and paige is like no this is bad news! and coop’s like ???

and paige is like no you don’t understand it’s like i’m cursed because whenever i love someone whenever i truly love someone they die and that kiss....... it was..... i can’t have henry die

and coop is like on full cupid mode idk a cupid monologue blah blah blah love <3 and it kind of heals paige both in a sense that it quells her worries but also in a sense that being around coop always seems to make her feel better like she just feels warmer feels safer when he’s around so um. she should probably. figure something out about that. esp in regards to henry. right?

anyways. coop for some reason or another runs into henry again (call it fate) and henry’s like hey r u okay? and coop’s like yeah : ) ! and thank you, by the way, for um patching me up and stuff and henry’s like yeah no problem but um look can i ask you a favor and coop’s like sure

and henry’s like you’re a relationship therapist right and coop’s like yeah 99% sure he knows where this is going and henry’s like like family and relationship counselling and coop’s now only like 40% sure he knows where this is going and he’s like sure and henry’s like great okay so um i’ve got this parolee who [plot background story idk there needs to be some familial healing something or other] is there like. anyway you can help out with that

and coop’s like totally!! and henry’s like oh thank god because like. therapy expensive.

and now we get another one of those moments like seeing someone in their element henry sees coop as he goes basically full cupid but rather than romantic love it’s familial and henry’s like in awe and he’s also kind like wow okay i’d totally make out with that guy like right now but like. like he just kissed paige. and he knows coop and paige are friends. so like. like he can’t do that right? is that too weird?

so family therapy a success and like as established forging bonds of love strengthens cupids so coop’s like word you know if you ever need this on a more regular basis and henry’s like i promise you’re gonna regret offering that and coop’s like not a chance and henry’s like i really have like nothing to pay you with and coop’s like you make these kids lives better. i don’t need payment and henry looks over and gets is Own aha moment of oh i do have a purpose and also i love my job type thing

but. there is another task at hand. because like. are you and paige?? like??

and coop’s like me and paige??? and he’s about to say no because no they’re not but now he’s thinking about it and they are kinda more than they are not but henry’s not asking about the minutiae of it so now henry’s just watching him go on this face journey before going why do you ask : ) and henry’s like no nothing i just thought like well i don’t know what i thought

and coop’s like haha yeah well you know it’s um. haha yeah! you know how it is. i mean. paige is amazing and henry’s like yeah she really is and coop’s like yeah and like she’s just got all this love in her heart and henry’s like i know!! and she’s so smart like you should see what she’s done with speed she got him this place where he can put up his own art and like blah blah blah and at this point it is just coop and henry praising paige to each other for about five minutes before they kinda realize what’s going on and they’re like hmm. well this is kinda weird. cuz now we both kinda sound in love with her.

and coop’s like listen. i know paige really likes you. like a lot

and henry’s like woah i’m gonna stop you there because um. like. i mean i don’t wanna sound weird but like. like we did kiss and then she kinda just ran off and i mean literally ran hopped into her car drove away type thing so. i don’t really think so. so :\

and coop’s like no i mean like okay yeah that did happen but dude you’ve gotta understand she’s had so much loss and henry’s like no i know she told be about her parents and coop’s voice gets real low leans in because this is Top Secret information and he’s like it goes beyond that and henry’s like what and coop’s like her past two boyfriends both died. one from a heart attack, the other was hit by a car (well, no richard was not hit by a car but when all the magic inside you fucks you up that bad evidently the wreck that’s left kinda looks like you were hit by a semi. ouch) and coop’s like so paige kinda just. thinks she’s cursed.

and henry’s like oh. because my god. that’s a lot to process. and that like. like makes so much sense because like if that happened to him he really wouldn’t be able to date again hell that did not happen to him and he’s already barely able to date bc of how afraid he is of getting hurt

but coop’s out here like henry it’s not you like i promise she really likes you i mean you’re a good man and you’re brave and you’re passionate and like you’re hot, obviously and coop theoretically starts complimenting henry from paige’s point of view but then it very clearly starts to dissolve into coop’s pov and we’re still riding that chemical high of the In Your Element passion henry has for coop added onto the good person bonus of yes i’ll continue to help you with this endeavor for literally no benefit and now he’s just rattling off compliments to henry and henry’s just like oh jeez 😳😳🥰

and there’s just like. the briefest moment of henry’s eyes darting down to coop’s lips and coop’s daze is kinda broken and he realizes that he’s just been telling henry how foioine he is to his face and there’s a moment spellbound lookin into each others eyes like damn this is kinda gay & then they’re making out

and then henry’s like ohhh my god what am i doing what have i done oh know because you’re paige’s friend you like paige and i kissed her earlier today and now i’m oh my god this is a bad idea right? this is a bad idea?

and coop’s thinking on it because like okay he has been trying to pair paige and henry together a) because they’d be cute together and she clearly likes him but also b) because he really likes her and he can’t be with her bc he’s a cupid so at least if she’s with someone else who she loves he can be happy knowing she’s happy. but now he’s here with henry and he shouldn’t be because Again he’s trying to pair paige with henry and he can’t be with henry bc as previously stated cupids can’t actually have relationships but he shouldn’t even be thinking that because henry isn’t for him but even if he was which he isn’t it wouldn’t work because he’s a cupid so um. yeah. this is a bad idea

yeah

yeah

no they’re makin out again.

anyways. l8r at p3 someone else who owns a local business sees the art on the wall outside and is like yo who did that because i would totally pay them to do idk my food truck or something and piper’s like i’ll tell u exactly who did that

so idk i think legally since speed’s a minor and a parolee henry has to be involved in the job getting process actually wait speed just turned 18. idk what any of this means but we’ll say henry needs to be there so piper gave paige the food truck guys digits and paige passes on the news to speed and henry and like. paige shows up at henry’s office to be like good news!!

and to level with you henry thought that like. after making out with coop maybe his feeling for paige would dissipate like maybe he was secretly gay this whole time and paige was just a safe route to project those feeling but paige comes in with this smile that puts the goddamn stars to shame and henry’s like nope!! still in love with her!!

and paige is like okay because like this is all set you know like this could even lead to a career in art for speed like and henry’s like yes absolutely but now that the initial glow of that has worn off they’re both kinda remembering that the last time they saw each other they kissed and then paige bolted so yeah they should probably address that

and paige is like look i want to apologize for just kind of. running out the other day. that really wasn’t. it wasn’t right and i know this sounds dumb but it really wasn’t about you i’m just i’ve been in this weird place and i do like you henry like i really do so i don’t want you to think 

and henry’s like i feel like i kind of apologize too because i kinda made out with your friend and paige pauses because like she really has no friends well i guess besides coop but like there’s and henry tacks on coop to clarify and paige just snorts laughing

like she has no idea why that’s so funny but it just kinda is like. what!!

and henry’s like yeah but it was like. it’s. he really likes you paige he really does care for you i mean i really care for you too and henry’s kind of playing both sides here because he does like. really like paige. and that’s why he wants her to be happy and it’s her choice who she feels who she’d be most happy with whether that’s hm or coop because honestly coop is p amazing henry wouldn’t be burnt losing to him because coop is a great guy and paige is just watching him ramble smiling and henry realizes he doesn’t know what he’s saying anymore so he just kind of trails off and gets kind of lost in paige’s smile because like. wow : )

and paige is just kind of there processing that information because um wow who could have seen this coming and honestly she’s still not over coop kissing henry that’s just so unbelievable entertaining to her she’s so gonna hafta prod coop about it later because dude what?? what? bro. bro. bro. like. like the two guys she’s in love with kissed like bro what!!!! lmao she would pay money to see that how tf did that happen. she would have loved to have been there. that’s insane. she really wished she was there. like. really wished she was there. hmm. should she stew on that a little more?

and henry’s like. this is awkward. i’m sorry. i don’t want things to be weird between us. and paige is like henry i think things have been weird between us since i first picked an argument with you in an alleyway. and henry’s like true!! and they’re laughing and there’s a beat and henry’s like i think i fell in love with you in that moment. and paige is like yeah?

and henry’s just. i mean like. look at her <3 but like. she deserves. like she deserves the best there is and he’s just some guy like some jaded hardass who lives in a crappy apartment and who always forgets how to do the right thing it seems not to mention all his fucking baggage like. she deserves better. 

and paige sees him kinda retreat and like she kind of pulls out of the moment too because she loves henry she does but like that fear that he’s gonna die is still there and she wants to fight it she just doesn’t know if she can but like. she really really does like him.

and now they’re both standing there again another moment turned to dust in the wind now they’re just two people standing there incredibly normal about it yep just two people nope paige is kissing henry ope okay yep they’re making out and boom someone’s knocking on henry’s office door o quick act natural because hi henry heard you needed like the legal paperwork because speed’s getting a job here you go and henry’s like 👍 thank you very obviously flushed and his coworker is like. what the fuck is going on in that office. but like. doesn’t really care enough to find the answer to that question.

so paige is like you should come to p3 l8r tonight to like celebrate speed getting a job blah blah blah blah and henry’s like i will be there

so later paige is getting dolled up in a fire outfit just adding the final touches when coop shows up bc phoebe said you needed to see me? (with phoebe’s strategy fully being in mind that paige looks hella fly right now but also is still in the manor an area paige and coop have kind of curated as their space also like once she goes to p3 it’s simply too loud too crowded to have a heart to heart like what is about to happen here which she would listen all unfold but piper unfortunately dragged her away to help with the boys but i’m sure it’s all going well)

and paige is like ....nope. and coop’s like ah. well. you look great. going to see henry? which he asks that question like he’s walking on very thin ice and paige is like yeah and i gotta say i can’t believe you kissed henry before you ever kissed me and coop just laughs like well!!

and paige is laughing too but there’s this undercurrent of you still haven’t kissed me :/ and coop’s like i take it henry told you and paige is like yep. and then made a very convincing campaign in your favor on how you’re evidently in love with me and you’re probably my better option, he loves me, too, but just can’t seem to hold a candle to you

and coop’s laughing and he’s like that sounds like something henry’d say, he’s really. he’s got a lot of love he just doesn’t seem to think he’s worth it.

and paige is like you think he’s worth it though

and coop’s like i do. you think he’s worth it too. and paige is like i do.

and there’s a moment of stillness because what the fuck are any of them doing and paige is like we can’t keep doing this. and coop’s like gonna hafta be a bit more specific there because i think i’ve broken more rules than i can count in the past 24 hours. and paige is wanna make that one more and coop’s like !? and then paige kisses him and coop’s like okay now’s the time where i would really love some clarification

and paige is like. well. i had to kiss you, right? and coop’s like sure? and paige is like because i’ve wanted to for the longest time because i keep pretending like i’m not in love with you because well you know you know me better than almost anyone else but like. i also love henry. and so i had to kiss you. as a test.

and coop’s like ...did i pass?

and paige is like that wasn’t the test and coop’s like what was and paige is like i don’t know. to see where my love is. to see if i love you or if i love henry or if it’s all just infatuation and relfections distorting how i feel and coop’s like okay. so... what’s the answer?

and paige is like i love henry. but then she kisses coop again and is like but i think i love you, too. and they’re doing that thing where they lack bubble space when they talk i mean paige’s head is basically on his chest and coop’s hands are on her waist and coop’s like okay. so where do you want to go from here.

because he’s a cupid you know his top priority is love in its purest form so if like paige’s love for henry like outweighs her love for him he will pretend not to be crushed and move on like he will. he’s saying he’ll do anything in the name of love but really he’ll just do anything for paige.

and paige is like i think you should kiss henry again and coop laughs and he’s like don’t joke about that because complete candor i totally would he is... amazing

and paige is like yeah, i know, and i’m not joking and it kind of clicks for coop like !! polyromanticism!!

anyways. paige And coop go to p3 and henry’s there and sees paige And coop and he’s like uh oh oh no because if paige chose coop like he’s happy for them he really is except he’s also kind of not because then he kind of loses paige And coop and um. that’s kind of a two hit KO. but wait!! that is not the case! what’s this??

anyways. quirky hijinks of sorts when phoebe sees that paige came home with henry and she’s like damn. my plan failed. and the next morning piper’s like i see ur plan worked and phoebe’s like yeah no need to rub it in and piper’s like ??? dude paige totally hooked up with coop last night and phoebe’s like no?? that was the other guy that was henry

and piper’s like that was definitely coop?? and phoebe’s like piper not every tall man with dark hair looks the same and piper’s like no shit do you think i don’t know what coop looks like he practically lives here and phoebe’s like yeah that’s how i know the guy paige brought home w her was Not Coop and piper’s like do you need new glasses and phoebe’s like shut up i’m right and piper’s like no ur not!!

and later that day they’re like. all brewing a potion in the attic and like while we have you here...... did you hook up with henry or coop last night and phoebe’s like because piper thought it was coop when i very clearly saw henry and piper’s like yeah phoebe hasn’t been sleeping well lately i think she’s started seeing things so go ahead prove me right and paige is just laughing like okay so i guess i gotta introduce u guys to my 2 boyfriends

[halstudandruz]

Safe With Me

*Not my gif*

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Requested: Yes

Prompt: Reader is in an abusive relationship

Warnings: Domestic violence, swearing

What do you do when you’re in love with your partner, but know he likely won’t commit? You push yourself into another relationship and forget about it. It started out all hearts and roses with Kyle. Just like they all do. You had met him at a coffee shop and before you knew it his smooth personality and bright smile had talked you into a date. He seemed like the perfect guy. Good looking, good personality, good job. He had it all going for him. Why wouldn’t he already have a girlfriend and why in the world did he ask you out?

Jay hadn’t liked him from the start. He claimed he was too smooth for his own good. Too nice. Part of you had hoped maybe that was jealously talking. Maybe he did have feelings for you, but now you knew he just had good intuition.

It was only 3 months in when he gave you the first bruise. A small one around your forearm from grabbing you too harshly in a heated moment. He quickly apologized claiming he didn’t know how much force he had.

The second time was worse. It was always when he got drunk because then he had no remorse. Didn’t even feel bad for shoving you into the wall, for slapping you across the face, until the next morning.

As the months passed it got harder and harder to hide. The bruises became bigger and time between them became shorter meaning more were on your body at once. You felt stupid, ashamed that you stayed with him all because he said he was sorry, ashamed that you didn’t fight back. You were a cop. You knew how to fight back, but everytime it happened you froze. You knew Jay was starting to get suspicious. He knew you like the back of his own hand. Knew how you’d be feeling that day as soon as you hit the top of the steps in intelligence, knew when something was off, knew your thoughts before you could even voice them (except the ones that said you were in love with him apparently) so it was no surprise when he started questioning you. He couldn’t see the bruises, you had gotten pretty good at hiding them, but it was like he just knew they were there, like the makeup was somehow invisible to him.

“Are you coming to Molly’s tonight?” He asked, driving you both back to the district after a bust. Shaking your head no you pulled your phone out hoping to avoid the question game that was sure to occur, “why not?” He continued.

“I don’t know. I’m just tired. I just want to stay home.” You shrugged.

“[Y/N], what’s going on? If there’s something going on you know-“ He started reaching for your hand.

“Jay, I’m fine. I just don’t want to go out, okay?” You squeezed his hand. Sighing heavily he nodded his head dropping it.

You should’ve just gone to Molly’s. Should’ve gotten a ride with Jay and never came home. Kyle was already halfway gone by the time you got home, beer bottles lining the coffee table.

“I’m home.” You mumbled from the kitchen laying your keys on the table.

“Where were you?” He asked, with an authoritative tone in his voice.

“At work?” You answered like was stupid.

“It’s almost 8 o’clock. I’m supposed to believe you were at work this entire time?” He started getting up to walk towards you making you circle around to the other side of the kitchen island putting space between the two of you already noticing his drunk stagger.

“You act like this is the first time I’ve worked late.” You rolled your eyes, attitude clear.

“Oh you’re gonna cop an attitude now?” He laughed bitterly.

“If you’re gonna act like this all night I’m leaving be out by the time I get back.” You shot back at him anger seeping in as you grabbed your keys moving from the door, but he moved quicker than you thought he would grabbing your arm to yank you back as he pushed you between him and the counter.

“You don’t get a say in where you’re going.” His grip tightened around your wrists.

“Kyle, stop. Please. You’re drunk.” You clenched your teeth trying to pull your hands away from him.

“How was he?” He asked, accusation in his voice.

“What?” You replied confused.

“Your partner. How was he? That’s where you were, off whoring around wasn't it?” He grabbed your neck tightly between his fingers.

“I was at work.” You reiterate, jaw clenched breathing hard as he put pressure in his fingers.

“You say that like I’m supposed to believe you.” He laughed but groaned when you brought your knee up to his groin giving you enough time to get out from under him. Moving to grab your keys from the floor, but yelping as he kicked you in the ribs making you drop before grabbing your ponytail yanking you back up.

“Who do you think you are?” He questioned throwing you against the fridge making it shake. Before getting a few punches across your jaw, causing you to bite your tongue, tasting the blood before he threw some more at your stomach . Anger now coursing through your veins you were no longer frozen as you deflected one of his punches to throw one of your own, gaining a hard enough punch to drop him to the floor giving you enough time to grab your keys flying out the door to the sound of his curse words. Despite the pain ripping through your body you opted for the stairs hurrying down as quick as you could, blood flowing from your mouth, bruises starting to form all over your body, head pounding, tears flowing down your face. After what seemed like an hour you made it out to your car squealing tire as you pulled out. You went to reach for your phone before realizing it still laid in your kitchen. Not even thinking about where you were headed 10 minutes later you ended up in front of Molly’s.

Shutting your car off you slid out of it limping towards the door one hand tightly wrapped around your ribs. Two steps in the door and you were immediately crowded with people.

“Oh my god, [Y/N], what happened?” Gabby asked, rushing around the counter towards you just as Jay reached your side sitting you down in the nearest chair before kneeling down beside you to inspect your injuries. Herrmann backed everyone up only letting Jay stay beside you.

“Kyle..he..was drunk..and..” you sobbed grabbing onto Jay’s shirt as he tentatively wrapped you in his arms.

“I fucking knew it. I’m going to kill that bastard, where is he?” He growled motioning Ruzek and Atwater over.

“He was at my apartment.” You answered as Jay began to stand up, tightening your grip in his shirt, “Jay, no please just stay here with me, please.” You cried harder.

“Okay okay I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” He knelt back down to you holding you tightly. “Sweetheart are there any guns in your apartment that he knows of?” You shook your head no.

“They’re all in the safe and he doesn’t know where that’s at.” You answered sniffling. He nodded his head reaching in your coat pocket for your keys before throwing them at Adam.

“If you need a back up call.” He stated.

“We’ll go in case.” Severide stood up with Matt. Jay nodded thanking them before watching them run out together.

“Alright come on let’s get you checked.” Jay helped you up basically carrying you to the back room where Gabby and Sylvie followed. Letting them clean the blood off you before examining you.

“She’s definitely going to have to go to the hospital. She has some broken ribs and they’ll have to check for internal damage and it looks like she has a concussion.” Gabby informed you. You watched Jay tense even more at the words as he nodded his head.

“Do you want us to call the ambulance?” Sylvie looked between you two as Jay shook his head.

“I’ll take her Will’s on tonight so can you just call and give him a heads up please?” He asked, watching them walk out after thanking them. Sighing heavily Jay came to sit down beside you pulling you gently into his chest again. “Why didn’t you leave? Do something? Tell me?” He questioned worry in his voice as he looked over your arms.

“I don’t know. He said he loved me.” You admitted making Jay stiffen.

“He doesn’t.” Jay stated making you look up at him, “anyone who does this doesn’t love you.” He continued.

“And you know that how?” You rolled your eyes.

“Because I would never hurt you.” He rubbed your cheek with the pad of his thumb. Closing your eyes you leaned into his palm not really sure what was happening but not stable enough to care.

“Can you please stay with me?” You asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe with me.” He kissed the top of your head gently before helping you up to head to his truck. The best part was you actually believe him.

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

Don’t Do That Again ~ S.R.

A/n: I really do be thriving off these requests.

Request: “Can I requests Spencer Reid x Male reader where Spencer saves you from a close call on the job from a man who murdered his family then tried to kill you (the first cop/fbi agent) in scene, but Spencer arrives and kills him before he can kill you. With the close call you both admit to the feelings you’ve both been having towards eachother for the past few years...which ends in smut 💖” by @kingreidx

Word Count: 3200+

Masterlist

This case had been weirdly hard. It had seemed like a really open and shut case. A man had been the only survivor in an attempted murder case. Attempted only because the husband had been left alive. The rest of his family, unfortunately, had all been killed. It had been all about finding out how to prove that the man the father had described was to blame. It was only when Y/n, the new profiler who was on his first case, had been escorting Mr. Bryman (the father) home from questioning the finally found suspect that everything went wrong. The suspect who Mr. Bryman had been insistent on being the one to kill his family was a Mr. Kyle Lattnam, and it seemed odd since he had been quiet unless Mr. Bryman asked him if he had killed his family, then Kyle confirmed it. That was all they could get from him.

Spencer kept staring at Bryman like he was searching for something. He had been since about halfway through this case actually. That's what prompted Bryman to pull Y/n aside. "Can you escort me home?"

Y/n rose an eyebrow. "You're safe, sir, I can promise you. Now that we have-"

"Please?" Bryman insisted. "I know he's here but this is the first time I'm heading home since they were all killed and..." He took a deep breath in. Y/n would realize only later that it had been even and deep. There was no emotion in his eyes, only in the twisted curve of his mouth and the nervous fidget of his hands. "You've been so kind to me this whole case. Can I ask you this last favor?"

Y/n smiled softly, nodding. "I understand." He did, more than he'd like to talk about. Y/n had become an agent for a reason. "Of course I'll come with you. I'll escort you in my car if you wish, and then someone can take your car to you in the morning. Or you can drive and I'll follow after."

Bryman nodded. "I would like to drive my own car."

Grabbing his keys, Y/m smiled a little stronger. He moved to Derek. "I'm going to escort Mr. Bryman home for his first time returning since the incident. If anyone asks will you tell them that?" Derek nodded and they were gone.

When they got to what used to be the Bryman house, Y/n got out of his car. "See? Perfectly s-" He cut off as Bryman suddenly pulled a gun out of his car as he turned around. Y/n's eyes widened and he slowly raised his hands to show he was unarmed. "Mr. Bryman what-"

"Shut up," the man spit. "Give me your gun." Y/n swallowed before slowly reaching for his gun. Bryman moved closer. "If you try and shoot me, I will put a bullet between your eyes do you understand me?" Y/n silently nodded before taking the weapon off of his belt and holding it out to Bryman. The man took it and threw it in his car before closing the door. "Inside. Now."

"Ler-"

"NOW!" Y/n stepped backwards toward the house, his heart rate picking up a lot. He tried to remind himself to keep calm. He couldn't get out of this if he panicked. In this way the two men made it into the house. Bryman forced Y/n into the basement and forced him to sit in a chair before Bryman tied him up with a rope. Only then did the gun get put away. "Now, I'm going to get my van and we're going to go somewhere special, do you understand me?"

There was a second where Y/n swallowed, breathing carefully. "You killed them, didn't you Leroy?"

Leroy Bryman laughed out loud. "You know, I think they give you FBI agents too much credit. Your group genius was the only one who could see through me. I knew I shouldn't have told him about that day. Unlike you guys, he can see things. Things that I can't let anyone see.

"How did you get Kyle to confess?" Y/n asked slowly.

Bryman grinned. "You know, that's the first time you've not called me Mr. Bryman. Lost your respect for me have you? Well, they won't miss you for a few hours and before then you'll be long dead."

That did make Y/n lose his grip on his emotions just a little. This was up to him. He had to get himself out, before it was too late. "Why me?"

A long sigh sounded from Bryman. "Because that genius of yours found me out. I could tell- he really did see through me. Some of your people weren't totally sure but one confession and they were almost all convinced. All but that genius of yours. They're going to find me out. I know it. I've seen him during this whole case, and I could see it in his eyes today when he looked at me. He's on the brink of placing his finger on the dot. And if I go down... well, then he's coming with me."

"Then why kidnap me and not him?" Y/n asked. Not to say he wasn't glad. Reid had been through enough, and the thought alone that he could be here instead of Y/n was a terrible thought. But Y/n was still curious.

Just then a sick grin twisted his lips. "You don't know then." Y/n frowned in confusion. "You're probably one of the most important people to him. I don't know about how he is with his family, but he protects you more than anyone else on that team."

That sent Y/n right over the edge. "Everyone's protective of me. I'm new."

Bryman laughed again. "I feel bad for you, dying without being able to hear it from him. I do have some pity for you though. To return your kindness during this case, I'll tell you something. He had feelings for you. He looks at you like you're his whole world. Like you're made of gold. He looks at you like he's in love with you."

Y/n's heart stopped. His mouth opened but no sound came out. Bryman lowered a gun to his head and Y/n's mind went blank. His shoulders relaxed and he looked at Bryman with wide eyes. "Wait-"

Sirens. They both looked at the window that lead outside in surprise. "Huh," Bryman huffed. The muted blue and red flashing lights knocked Y/n out of his stupor. Unfortunately for Bryman, all he'd done were tie Y/n's wrists together behind his back. Which left him defenseless for the most part... except that Y/n could still stand. Going on first instinct, as Bryman looked back to set that gun off only an inch away from his face, Y/n shot to his feet. Bryman shot in surprise and between the kick back of the gun that Bryman hadn't prepared for in his surprise and the sudden change of where Y/n's face was, the bullet lodged in Y/n's shoulder instead of his forehead.

Y/n screamed, but had already succeeded. He had brought his knee up as he stood and now they were both on the ground. Bryman cupped his crotch for a second before reaching for the gun he'd dropped. The front door busted open in the distance and the sound of footsteps thundered above them. As Bryman wrapped his fingers around the gun, Y/n screamed again- this time much louder. As loud as he could go. As Bryman got to his knees and went to point the gun at Y/n again, the door leading to the basement caved in and the room was filled with FBI agents in seconds.

Y/n was bleeding from his shoulder shot but Bryman now had the gun trained at Y/n's face again. There was yelling, but it was Reid who finally got Bryman to lower the gun enough for him to be arrested. Unfortunately, it was all kind of distant to Y/n who was beginning to fade out from blood loss. He did recognize Reid untying him though and picking him up and carrying him outside to the medics. "Come on Y/n," he begged quietly. "Stay with me."

Long story short, Y/n was fine. Getting the bullet out had been a bitch and he'd needed a hot second to rest before they all flew back home, but the case was properly solved and everything was taken care of. Y/n was back to work just a week later after the whole incident, to everyone's worry.

Once again though, it was Reid who was the only one capable of talking sense into Y/n. He was the one who got them both another few days off to properly recuperate from the trauma of his very first mission going to south in such a way. Everyone was perfectly fine with letting him do it too. Y/n and Reid would take care of each other, and both of them needed that after what had happened with Bryman. Because, unlike Y/n and Reid, the entire team was just as aware of not only Reid's feelings for Y/n, but also Y/n's feelings for Reid.

It took an entire day of tension for Y/n to slip. Spencer was on the couch, but Y/n asked him to stay with him in bed because he was getting nightmares. He swore he'd never admit it to anyone else and Reid agreed to stay. The second day was full of even more tension. Between Reid playing doctor and the two of them waking up in bed together, it was hard to deny the chemistry. Y/n was suddenly acutely aware of every time Reid looked at him, or how Y/n's name sounded different when Reid said it. Different than when he said anyone else's name. Y/n noticed how touchy Reid was, even though he normally kept pretty physically distant from everyone. On the flip side, Y/n was also letting his guard down and becoming very affectionate and attentive. Clingy.

Day five, Reid was the one who slipped. They'd gotten into a habit of waking up next to each other and it seemed that Y/n was finally okay enough to actually get back to work. Reid was a genius profiler though and even if he had had his head stuck in the idea that Y/n would never like him back, it was becoming painfully obvious that Y/n's closeness wasn't just circumstantial. Y/n had started to touch Reid's hair a lot. That day when Y/n did it, Reid caught his hand.

"Sorry I didn't mean-" Reid pulled Y/n's hand so Y/n was closer. With his other hand he cupped Y/n's jaw. He pecked a quick kiss on Y/n's lips before pulling away and turning back to his book like nothing had happened. Y/n was left standing there, silent and reeling. "You kissed me."

"I did," Reid confirmed casually.

Y/n took a deep breath. "You like me."

"I do," Reid confirmed again.

"Do you know that I like you?"

Reid paused for a while. "I do." This one was more shy. Softer. He was less sure here, or perhaps just nervous.

Y/n  smiled softly. He flattened his hand on Reid's thigh so he could lean down, swiveling his head to catch Reid's lips with his in a much more tender kiss. Reid tilted his head, the book closing softly. He lifted his free hand to softly touch the side of Y/n's face. They parted. "I'm not good at this," Reid whispered. "I mean, I don't do it often." Y/n stood up again and Reid put his book down, placing it off to the side.

"I've been secretly crushing on you for years, Spencer. That news makes me nothing but happy to hear."

Spencer chuckled, standing up himself. "I have been too, you know."

Y/n rose an eyebrow. "Bet I was yearning more."

His eyebrow quirked. "Oh yeah?" His arms looped around Y/n, pulling their bodies flushed together. Y/n's hands flattened against his chest on instinct. "And how are we to measure this?"

Thinking, Y/n bit his lip. "How about whoever kisses the other the best wins?" He was smirking. Spencer took a second then blinked. It was only then that Y/n realized the other man had been staring as Y/n had bit his lip in thought.

Clearing his throat, Spencer focused himself as Y/n's smirk grew wider. "You know I'm actually a really good kisser."

"Oh yeah?" Y/n asked, trying to fight off giggles as Spencer tried to act sexy. It wasn't that it wasn't totally working, it was the thought that this man could so easily switch gears after just a moment ago being so shy and coy. A moment ago he'd claimed that he wasn't good at this and didn't do it often. Now Y/n was... more than just a little turned on by the look Spencer was giving him now.

Spencer moved his head so their noses brushed. Y/n caught his breath, having expected to get the hell kissed out of him right then and there. "Yeah," Spencer whispered. "You wanna see?" Y/n wordlessly nodded. Then Spencer kissed him, and it was like no kiss that Y/n had ever experienced before.

There was a kind of desperation to that kiss. A kind of tension that sent Y/n's head spinning. Spencer grabbed Y/n's entire head with both of his hands, pulling them as close as possible.

There was heat to the kiss. The kind that sent Y/n's skin burning and rose the cool air around them to unbearable temperatures. Y/n had the thought to be wearing less layers, but that would leave him practically naked, and he only wanted to kiss Spencer... right?

There was so much love when Spencer kissed him. Like Y/n could feel Spencer's relief after years of yearning reflected in his own chest, swelling and pressing against his rib cage. A warmness in his gut. A lightness to his body, like he was floating.

Spencer pressed Y/n against the wall that had been quite a bit away just a moment ago. Y/n's brain was too full of Spencer to care about anything else, and the feeling of the brunette pining Y/n against the wall, their bodies melding together, was even more of  distraction. Y/n couldn't remember why this had started- he just hoped it wouldn't end. It didn't even feel real... Y/n silently prayed that if this was a dream, he would never wake up. He'd just die in this fantasy and be here forever and never leave. It would be better than waking u[ in a world where this had never happened and he was back to simply sitting back in his chair and watching someone he was in love with ignore him from a distance.

It was only when Spencer leaned away that Y/n realized he needed to breathe. Suddenly he was gasping, leaning his head back to rest against the wall. Spencer moved his leg in between Y/n's, pressing his thigh against the lump in Y/n's pants. Y/n gasped, his whole body going rigid as a sharp and sudden wave of a different want than he'd experienced in quite a while fill him. He was reminded of high school and kissing boys in closets and under bleachers. Except now it was in a bedroom and that felt much more intimate and adult and real and meaningful.

Oh my god this was real.

Y/n's eyes moved to find Spencer's. The men looked at each other.

Suddenly they both shot into action, Y/n pulling off his shirt as Spencer started on the buttons. Y/n began doing it for him as Spencer got distracted with the other man's newly exposed torso. Y/n left a little kiss on Spencer's neck before Spencer caught him in another kiss. Then they were turning and tripping until Y/n fell back on the bed, Spencer quickly coming after him. Y/n's fingers were in Spencer's hair and he tugged, a low, really sexy noise coming from the back of Spencer's throat in response. Their eyes locked and Y/n shivered.

"I want your pants off. Now." Y/n gulped before obeying. Soon Y/n was in nothing but his boxers and Spencer's eyes raked him. It made him shy. "Don't do that," Spencer ordered. Y/n shot him a confused look. "Look at me like you're ashamed when all I see when I look at you is how gorgeous you are."

Y/n swallowed. "Okay." He blushed and Spencer nodded before he seemed to change gears again.

Spencer removed his own pants, getting off the bed to do so. Now they were both practically naked, staring at each other with admiration. And hunger. Spencer was over Y/n again in a second, but this time he was kissing Y/n neck. Y/n sharply released a breath, his fingers twining in Spencer's hair again. Spencer's kisses made a path lower and lower, from his neck to his chest, down his stomach, straight to his waistband. Y/n's hands moved to the sheets now that Spencer was out of reach - and just in time, because Spencer didn't pause before pulling off Y/n's boxers. Y/n bit his bottom lip and Spencer smirked before touching Y/n's member.

A beautiful, breathless almost-moan sounded, encouraging Spencer to begin to really stroke him. "Do you like that?" Y/n made some sort of choked noise of affirmation that made Spencer grow more confident. Y/n's fingers curled around the sheets and Spencer sighed. "Talk to me, baby. I want to hear if you like it or not."

"Yes," Y/n breathed, his chest shuddering with breath as he did so.

Spencer's smile grew. "How much?" He gripped Y/n's waist, his thumb massaging Y/n's hipbone. "Come on, tell me."

Y/n sighed, his eyes fluttering as he tried to keep them open. "Really- a lot. What happened to you don't do this often and aren't very good at it?"

A soft chuckle came from Spencer. He was thriving seeing the effect he had on the other man. "Well, I don't have sex often. But I'm plenty used to pleasing a man." Y/n rolled his eyes, but his smile gave him away. Spencer adjusted his grip and Y/n moaned. "Good boy. Let it go for me, please." Spencer pulled off being both incredibly sexy and dominant and also being respectful and polite in a way that drove Y/n crazy.  When Y/n didn't show signs of cumming, Spencer began to leave little hickies in every place he could reach. The extra bit sent Y/n over the edge. Spencer stood to grab a towel before cleaning the mess off of Y/n's stomach. "There you go."

Y/n moved so that when Spencer lay down, he hovered above. "Did you think we were going to stop?" He asked as Spencer raised a questioning eyebrow. "I still want to-"

"No it's okay," Spencer dismissed. "I want to cuddle with you now." He pat the spot next to him that didn't allow for question. Confused, Y/n lay down as commanded. When it got quiet, Spencer used his hand to tilt Y/n's face toward him so they could kiss again. "How do you feel about being my boyfriend?"

Y/n smiled. "I feel quite good about it."

Spencer snuggled him. "Good. Then that's what you are."

"Good," Y/n whispered back.

After a second Spencer said, “Hey side note?” He looked very seriously at Y/n. “The whole almost dying thing? Don’t do that again.”

Y/n snorted. “I will have no problem trying my best to keep that.” He paused. “Our job is very dangerous though.”

Spencer pulled Y/n closer. “I guess I’ll just have to protect you then.”

A small smile graced Y/n’s face. “Yeah, I guess so.”

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x05 - I'll Stand By You

So just a little note from me, the person behind the season 2 detailing.  I am trying really really hard to keep emotion out of these posts...which is really really hard for me because I'm an inherently emotional person. I'm a glass case of emotion, ready to shatter at any given moment. (#dramatic)  But I want to be true to the intent of this blog and keep my feelings, biases, and, you know, shipping out of this blog.

It was really really hard to do with this episode. Because I straight up ugly cried for like, 45 of the 60 minutes. 😂

So I guess, the point is, I'm proud of myself and sticking to the details here. My regular blog is where I'm doing the emotional flip out thing! 😂

EPISODE SUMMARY:

ACCEPTING REALITY — The discovery of some complications with Max’s (Nathan Dean) pod forces Liz (Jeanine Mason), Michael (Michael Vlamis) and Isobel (Lily Cowles) to confront the possibility that they may not be able to save him. Elsewhere, Maria (Heather Hemmens) and Alex (Tyler Blackburn) make amends. Kimberly McCullough directed the episode written by Alanna Bennett & Jason Gavin (#205). Original airdate 4/13/2020. 

DETAILS:

Max/Isobel/Michael reunite at age 11 according to what Michael tells Alex in 1x10.  So that would make the opening of this episode set in 2002ish.

Michael tells Max and Isobel, "I remember you. I don't know you."

"After nobody adopted me for a year they just stuck me with the name of that trucker who found us."

"I didn't ask you for anything."

This is like the thesis statement of Michael's whole history with Max in the flashbacks.

"Don't pay more than you collect, kid. Passing credit back and forth is a good way to get stuck with somebody forever."

Rosa's art. 

What I can see says: "...what they all told me, but I didn't listen" and "Stand the shelter".

Rosa on her dreams

"I have not had any freaky dreams in weeks. Okay, Max is probably off haunting Isobel now that they're strong enough for their psychic twincest weirdness."

"How long has that been happening?"

"Um, I don't know. It's an old boom box."

"Rosa, have electrical appliances been malfunctioning around you?"

"I really thought it was just a side effect of the handprint."

"If being in the pod introduced a new protein into your system it could have altered your DNA too. You could be developing abilities."

"Liz, look. The handprint is changing.  It's smaller."

"It's fading."

"Tell me this is a good thing."

"I don't think so."

Michael and Liz theorizing on why the pod shorted out:

"The pod's got a charge. It's like a battery powering the preservation process. This one's gone dead."

"Did the generator blow the electromagnetic threshold?"

"I think a surge came from the pod itself. But that pod has lasted almost a century. It shouldn't glitch out."

"Okay, well, then, this one did."

"All right, stop. It doesn't matter why the pod is broken. It just is. So how long does Max have?"

"My theory is that being tethered to Rosa through the mark is what kept Max from going brain-dead, and in turn the stasis process is what kept the mark from fading. So he could be gone by tonight."

"Okay, well, we have three more pods. So let's just put him into another pod."

"No. He's just gonna do it again. I haven't told you everything. I didn't want to scare you. I didn't want to be the one that took the hope away."

"Talk now, Rosa. Right now."

"I was seeing Max in my nightmares months before I told you about it, and he was begging me to stop you. He said that he was in a lot of pain in there."

"That's Noah's pod. Noah told us it was broken. It wasn't keeping him in stasis. He could feel time passing. None of us thought of that."

"We've been doing everything we can to make Max stronger. He pulled his own plug."

Note...as far as we know Isobel was the only one who knew about Noah's pod being broken.  In 1x12 it was before Liz arrived at the house that he told them about the broken pod, so only Max and Isobel heard that part of the story.

Alex on his training. "NSA intelligence cryptology training".

Monitor screen in the secret lab:

Noah's heart is still too weak to transplant. Kyle says it needs at least eight more weeks

"I wrote a paper for a bioethics class on patients in vegetative states who feel pain. Sometimes it's all they feel."

As a non sciencey person, I was wondering if bioethics class was a real thing. Tonight I saw an interview on the news with a UC Berkeley bioethics professor on COVID. So yes, it's a thing.

Alex on Michael that summer post-Rosa's death:

Starting fights with jocks

Broke into the drugstore

Not going to UNM

Hasn't hung out with Max all summer

Got busted for stealing hubcaps (Kyle's hubcaps, we learn later) 

Became a walking bar fight

Was in jail when Alex left to enlist

Michael on Max in 2008:

"It's more than that. And it's less than that. We were friends when we were kids, but now Max reminds me of a bunch of stuff that I'd rather forget. The only thing that we have in common anymore is Isobel."

Max's yearbook had a pencil stuck in the page with Liz and Max's photo in it. (The one we first saw in 1x03).

"Biology Club. Max hated science. He was in that club for four years just to watch your sister chew on the end of her pencil."

Max's mindscape:

First just desert, clouds, and then lightning strikes (destructive energy?)

Liz's antennae -- they disappear from Isobel's hands

Rosa describes it as broken

Crashdown special is Max's favorite "Little Green Man milkshake".

The Crashdown counter is kind of merged with biology lab equipment. 

The juke box is there

The Crashdown booths

Jeep

Neon Crashdown sign

One of those claw drop game machines (from the Crashdown) but it's filled with baked good displays.

The yearbook

Later, everything else is gone except the one Crashdown booth, the Jeep, and the neon sign.

The distorted music they follow to find Max is the Cactus Groove song in the music list...just, messed around with. See @angsty-nerd's post here:

"I'm the hothead. You are the hero. It's always been that way."

"You stole the hubcaps off Kyle Valenti's graduation present. Both his parents are cops. Do you want to end up in jail tonight?". 

👀 Tonight, specifically. 

Michael seemed excited about the job at Foster's Ranch until he found out that Max set it up for him.  Max found out about it from his dad (only like the 2nd or 3rd mention of his dad in the series so far).

"When I got back in town I asked Max why you and your brilliant mind hadn't changed the world yet. He said you didn't care about the world enough to bother changing it. He believed you could."

Max and Isobel in the mindscape:

"You're okay. I could feel something was wrong with you.  Everything felt…"

"Cold. I know."

"You can't be here. It's finally ending.  I can feel it. But I don't know what happens if you're in my head when I die."

"So it's true? You want this?"

"I could feel my connection to the outside world getting stronger, so I snapped. I couldn't take it anymore. I released a surge. You have to let me go, Iz."

"I can't take it anymore."

"Okay."

"I am so sorry."

"I just want to memorize this."

"Okay. Okay.  I need you to tell Liz something."

"You can tell her yourself.  She and Kyle are prepping for surgery.  They're going to use the faulty heart. She just wants to talk to you before you die."

"No. No."

"You won't be suffering. They're just gonna bring you back and then let you go."

"No you have to stop this.  You cannot bring me back under any circumstances."

"Max? What is really going on?"

"I am dangerous.  Whatever Liz is bringing back is not me. It's just some broken shell."

Maria on her mom's computer 

"Her nurse said that for the two weeks before she went missing, when she wasn't trying to escape, she was talking to someone online."

The 21st birthday flashback

Isobel gets Michael to help move Max after getting drunk on tequila.  He passed out in front of the tattoo parlor. It's the same tattoo parlor Michael goes to at the end of the episode.

Max's weird drunken statement.

"The thing is, there has to be there. Okay? There's always three. Until the very end.  I'll show you...What it means is you should be here…'cause it's all broken without three. So we'll figure it out.  You'll find your way back."

👀 Until the very end. Interesting.

On Max becoming a deputy:

"You know he did the whole police academy thing because of you, right? He thinks you're gonna get into the kind of trouble you can't get out of if you don't know someone."

Back in the mindscape:

"I figured it all out. She, there's an energy to suffering, there's an energy to death, and when I heal people, I absorb that energy. So when I resurrected Rosa, I took in ten years of emptiness. So if you resurrect me, you will be bringing back an infection. Don't want… I don't want to come back as a monster. I don't want to hurt anyone that I care about."

"That's what this is about? We've been hurting, Max. We don't work without you."

"You will! You will. You are stronger now than when I died. All of you are. You, Michael, Liz, you will survive this. The three of you. No, you need to stop them, Iz. Now."

"Okay. I love you."

"You too." Isobel disappears.

Max is using pretty similar wording to his drunken rambles in the 21st birthday flashback

We don't see that Max is chained down until this next exchange with Rosa. Isobel didn't see that detail as far as we know.  Didn't hear the chains clanking when they stood and hugged. Only after Isobel left.

"I'm sorry this is happening."

"Isobel is lying. She is buying time.  You know she'll never let me go. But you can feel the darkness too, right? That's why you don't like being in my head. Because you know it's real."

"I didn't want that to be true, but yes."

"I know my sister and I know your sister and they'll never give up. So you have to be the one to stop this surgery, okay? Or I will destroy everything that we love. You have to stop them to save them. Now go.  Please, Rosa. Go."

Isobel explaining to Liz

"When he saved Rosa he absorbed all of that dark energy. He's gonna have to expel it."

"And he's afraid he's gonna kill someone when he does."

"Yeah. So we just need someone stronger than Max to take that hit...if he thinks he needs to protect us he obviously doesn't know how capable we are. Bring him back, Liz. I'll handle the rest."

"I get it now. It's gotta be the three of us."

"He would never pull his plug to end his own suffering. Unless he thought he was saving us from something. And I'm a little sick of his heroic martyr crap."

In case you missed it, Michael did not know that.  At the beginning of the hospital sequence Isobel is telling Liz what she learned in Max's mindscape and says that she hasn't been able to get ahold of Michael.  Michael figured it out on his own. He finally "got it".

The pacemaker:

Isobel with Max at the end… everything is gone except the Jeep. And Bright Eyes playing (the song he and Liz danced to on their first date back in 2008). And then his eyes close and Bright Eyes fades away.

“First thing I remember is the three of us. We woke up terrified and lost. But together. And then all of the sudden I was alone. I got real good at being alone. I had given up on people entirely. And then you found me again. Hell of hero move. You showed up just in time. When you are a kid who nobody loves, kindness is a currency. Friendship doesn’t means jack. Family just lies, and hurts, and leaves. I’ve only ever known love to be temporary. So yeah, I push people away. Every time someone threatens to care about me I test their love until they have to leave. Connection is conditional. Everybody eventually gives up on the guy who refuses to be rescued. But you were the only one who I couldn’t run off. You never believed me when I tried to be something I wasn’t. So this thing in your chest, it might give your heart a pretty solid kick every once in a while. Consider it payback. It’s my hero move, Max. If you wake up, you consider us even, okay? If you wake up, we can be a family.”

Good visual parallels during Michael's speech. Alex and Kyle drinking together during the "and then you found me again". Maria walking up on "the guy who refuses to be rescued"

Max is in the coma for three weeks.  Wakes up at the secret lab (instead of his house, which is where he was previously.  I'm guessing it was a planned wake up because he's no longer plugged into all of the IVs and whatnot.

"I begged you to understand."

"Max, it's gonna be fine."

"No… I told you to let me go. I can feel it inside me."

"It's...it's symmetry, okay? It's just energy for energy.  We can deal with that. Fight it, Max. This isn't you."

"I don't want to hurt you. I need to get out. I need to get away from you, from everyone."

"I can't let you do that."

Max shoves Isobel and runs. When he shoves her there's a slight ringing like the sound they use when the aliens use their powers.  Isobel follows and stops him with her powers.

"I made a promise that if you came back and you weren't Max, and you were actually going to hurt people that I would kill you. I figure, hey, you got to play God. Make life and death decisions all on your own. Well it's my turn now."

MUSIC:

1. Letters To Cleo "Here and Now"

2. Lady Antebellum "Love Don't Live Here"

3. Cactus Groove "Fallin"

4. James Talley "Big Thunder"

8. Ross Copperman "Stars Are On Your Side"

5. Lindsey Ray "Keep You Safe"

6. Tommee Profitt feat. Sam Tinnesz "With you Til The End"

7. Bright Eyes "First Day Of My Life"

The Cactus Groove song is the first song this season that I haven’t been able to find on Spotify… let me know if any of y’all had any luck with it!

[atamascolily]

lilyliveblogs “terminator 2″ for the first time, part 2

When we last left off, I was a pile of shipper goo, so time to get back to the movie.

(Part one here)

Someone -- the female doctor we saw before who looks kinda like Sarah? -- watching the video, smoking. I think I can see how Sarah is going to escape now. Oh, wait, it's Sarah, with Dr. Silbermann, watching herself on screen. The two asshole guards are in the background. Her hair's combed. She's subdued. Silbermann is still a jerk.

She wants to see her son. Silbermann's not going to let her, is he? Asshole. She denies crushing a Terminator, their existence, claiming Cyberdyne covered up the evidence. Cut to '90s computer nerds in their cubes, doing experiments that are probably going to trigger Judgment Day. Like you do.

They're doing experiments on "it," and new employee wants to know where "it" came from, so Dyson the manager can tell the audience. "Don't ask," is the answer. Everyone's wearing clean suits, which can't be good. There's a door with two keys that needs two people to open it. Yeah, this really can't be good.

Showdown at the Cyberdyne factory with whatever Terminator goes rogue in here??

Cyberdyne has built a safe for that one little fragment they got from the original Terminator... maybe there are more in different jars; it's a really big vault. Yup, there's the arm. The manager stares at it, and you can see the muscles in his cheek twitch as he contemplates it. He's probably going to die by strangulation at the hands of the Terminator if this movie keeps up with its dramatic ironies.

Of course Silbermann won't let Sarah see her son, so she tries to strangle him with his own tie.

Arnold on a motorcycle spies John Connor on a motorcycle, and the game is on!!

I'm like... 90% certain that's the Los Angeles River that John Connor is cycling down... because it's channeled and running through LA and barely has any water in it and everybody LOVES to film there... going to wiki that later...

Fake police officer asking girls for info about John. They're also delightfully '90s. John is an the arcade, delighting in his ill-gotten funds.

Terminator has disguised his gun as a... box of roses? Did I see that right?

John is playing a fighter simulation that is SO MUCH A CALLBACK TO THE OPENING SCENE WITH ALL THE SHIPS TRYING TO KILL THE HUMANS.

The police dude ASKS THE PUNK FRIEND shows him John's photograph, and the friend says "Nah, I don't know him," BECAUSE HE KNOWS BETTER THAN TO TRUST THE COP. Of course this gets John's attention and they run. And then the friend tries to point the cop in the other direction, but the cop just shoves him aside.

(I'll say this much for the punk friend: he tried. He was a good friend.)

LOL, the fact that John Connor knows better than to trust cops is what saves him. Otherwise, he'd've been a sitting duck. Except he runs right into Arnold...

Arnold flips over the rose box, revealing the gun, and it looks like all hope is lost as the cop comes around the corner... and Arnold tells John to get down and shoots at the cops. His first line in the movie.

When this movie first came out, I bet the audience FLIPPED THEIR SHIT at this twist, but I was a) kinda tangentially aware of it from pop cultural osmosis and also b) that fake cop guy was HELLA SUSPICIOUS, so I'm just like... yeah!!! Because the only way to top being hunted by Arnold was to either a) BE HUNTED BY MULTIPLE ARNOLDS, or b) HAVE ARNOLD ON YOUR SIDE, and of course they went with the latter, because WHY NOT?

the cop's hit but gets back up, John is freaked out, and we the audience realize SOMETHING'S UP. A poor bystander gets murdered as the Terminator uses himself as a human shield to save John, who is screaming...

Arnold busts him into the voltage room out of the way and we have a Terminator on Terminator shoot-out, which is kinda incredible, except that Arnold has a bigger gun, so he gets to keep shooting while the police dude tries to recover from the impact.

That moment where the bullet holes are all silver-y as the police guy re-heals himself, and the CGI is obviously early '90s, but still quite effective and horrifying. And then he gets back up and they start grappling and going through walls AND NOW THEY'RE IN THE '90S MALL, OH MY GOD.

John Connor, not surprisingly, gets the fuck OUT. I wonder if Sarah told him what the Terminator looks like, and if he's surprised to see it defend him?

THE LIQUID METAL TERMINATOR LOOKING AT THE SILVERY-SKINNED MANNEQUINS IN THE MALL DISPLAY OH MY GOD.

LOL random dude snapping photos with his SLR he just happens to be carrying around.

John's motorcycle won't start for reasons of DRAMA, lol.

God, this new Terminator can run freakishly fast, it's inhuman.

Of course no one is going to question a cop chasing anyone, sigh...

(I feel like this movie works eerily well for social commentary in 2019 on SO MANY LEVELS.)

The running terminator runs up to a moving truck and tosses out the driver and keeps driving... wow.

ok, this is all great, but I really want more Sarah, where is Sarah in all this, will she ever talk to another woman in this movie PROBABLY NOT. How about more Kyle Reese flashbacks/dream sequences, can we have those? I am but a simple soul.

Okay NOW there's a chase scene in the Los Angeles riverbed.... that little tiny rivulet in the midst of all that concrete is the river. SOB.

Well, I gotta hand it to the human resistance for sending a Terminator after another Terminator, but it also works because JOHN CONNOR LIVED THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE AND REMEMBERS WHAT THE HELL HIS FUTURE SELF DID... timey-wimey paradox ball...

OH MY GOD THAT LEAP AS ARNOLD'S MOTORCYCLE LEAPS INTO THE RIVERBED. No wonder this movie is so frikkin' famous.

John Connor's bike getting run over by the truck is SO a callback to that tiny little toy truck getting run over by the Terminator in T1...

I like how the police Terminator is so focused on John Connor to the exclusion of ignoring the other Terminator unless he's actively in the way. The intensity in his blue-eyed stare is FANATICAL and inhuman and I love it because it's so gosh darn creepy.

Arnold shoots out the truck's tires, and it catches on FIRE. i love how arnold is prepared to shoot anything that comes out of the flames, but they've bought themselves at least a little time. Of course the CGI silver man comes out of the flames as soon as they leave and melts back to normal. He looks like the frikkin' Oscars statue, only silver.

Even his clothes regenerate back on, which raises interesting and troubling questions as to WHY since he couldn't just re-generate his clothes back on when he came out of the sphere, he had to steal them. I have no clue why this is.

Of course, Arnold and John stop in an alleyway to have their conversation. JOHN KNOWS THIS IS A TERMINATOR, OH MY GOD. (Do you think he feels bad for bad-mouthing Sarah earlier now??)

I think Arnold's talked more in this scene than he did in the entirety of T1, lol. The irony of him being John's father-figure now is just priceless, really.

John handles this much better than Sarah in T1, precisely because this is pretty much EXACTLY WHAT HIS MOM'S BEING TELLING HIM FOR AGES, so at least he has a FRAMEWORK for weird shit like this.

John Connor fighting alongside his own father and re-programming a Terminator to BE HIS OWN ADOPTED FATHER FIGURE OH MY GOD. No wonder he's so fucked up.

Arnold: "The T-1000 would definitely try to re-acquire you there." John: "You sure?" Arnold: "I would."

BAM. That's cold. I love it.

They go to a phone booth, and John doesn't have any quarters because he used them all at the arcade. He's going to try to warn his foster parents because he's not a complete asshole, but I... don't think the T-1000 is interested in killing them? Like, they already cooperated with this dude because he was in uniform. John doesn't seem to GET that not everybody responds to police the way he does.

Arnold slamming the machine to get more quarters is AMAZING and the look on John's face is PRICELESS. Also, parallels to his robbing the ATM earlier...

John's foster parents have a German shepherd that won't stop barking, oh this isn't good... the foster dad doesn't like the dog, which is further proof he's an asshole.Oh, wait, it’s John’s dog, this is probably the same dog we saw with Sarah at the end of T1 or its successor, ahhhhhhhh.

I really feel for Janelle. I feel like she's stuck in a relationship with this asshole Todd, and she deserves better and she's probably going to die, and I'm gonna feel bad about it.

Then we hear a gun cock, and she sticks her arm out, and we realize that holy shit, it's the Terminator mimicking Janelle's face as well as her voice, just like the Terminator did with Sarah's mother in T1, and we realize THAT's why she's being so OOC to John over the phone...

Arnold takes over the call and starts mimicking John's voice. John just stares. I think he's starting to get it.

The T1000 doesn't know the name of the dog. Arnold hangs up and tells John his foster parents are dead. Well, fuck. At least Janelle is dead. Too much to hope that the T1000 didn't just tie her up in the spare bedroom and Todd will find her later after "Janelle" goes to look for John? Sigh.

Nope. No luck. Todd is dead and the T1000 has shifted its arm to be a FRIGGIN' SWORD. Fuck, I didn't know they could do that.

This is supposed to be played as black comedy, but it's just horrific, really, even if the dude was an asshole.

Okay, I get it, the T1000 didn't steal the original cop outfit, he just mimicked it? along with the appearance? That's why he only took the gun. Only the earlier models needed to actually steal clothes.

Oh, good, we cut to Arnold explaining all this to John. Thanks, Cameron!

Oh, and now the T1000's going to kill the dog, right? Because it can. Sigh. And the dog's name is on the collar, so it knows that John knows that it wasn't really Janelle on the phone OR it was talking to a Terminator instead. Clever. Poor doggie. IT WAS TRYING SO HARD. IT DESERVED BETTER.

Sarah is being shown photos of the original Terminator from T1 from the security footage at the police station. Apparently, they saw him on mall footage, too. The police are mad that Sarah has no reaction and I'm like... you spent years telling her she was crazy, and NOW you want stuff from her?? Sigh. Is this the drugs that are responsible for her apathy or is it something else? I think she's contemplating her next move...

Silbermann being an ASSHOLE about it...

Honestly, not sure I blame Sarah for not cooperating given how she's been treated thus far... she knows from experience that even the most well-meaning officers are functionally useless against a Terminator because they don't really GET IT.

But she gets a paper clip. And knowing Sarah, that's all she needs to pick a lock and GTFO.

John says he grew up in Nicaragua as Sarah studied from paramilitary officers throughout Central and South America. He uses the word "shack up," which implies Sarah traded lessons for sex, but I hope... she found some sort of comfort there? It's clear from her hallucination she still desperately loves Kyle. SOB.

John realizes he's been an asshole about Sarah all this time because she WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG. The whole theme of this series is that pretty much everyone except for Kyle TOTALLY BELIEVED SARAH WAS CRAZY, so it's nice to see John finally back on track again. He's younger, so he hasn't been indoctrinated into the patriarchy quite as hard as everyone else in this movie.

of course they're going to go try to bust her out, but she might be out on her own by the time they get there...

But of course the T1000 is going to try to get her so he can copy her and he's going to kill her after that, because that's standard operating procedure. I'm not sure how a T101 would necessarily know that, but maybe he ran into some in the future before he was sent back? Whatever, it sounds plausible.

"Fuck you! She's a priority to me!" YEAH, JOHN, YOU TELL 'EM!!

I like how all these random muscle dudes are all coming over to investigate when John starts shouting about being kidnapped... only to be so confused when he blows them off. I'm sure the T1000 will be around to question them later, of course.

Oh, T101 is programmed to obey John Connor... even the younger version. LOLOLOLOL.

John is such a little shit. YOU CALLED THOSE PUNKS OVER TO HELP YOU, WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH AN ASS NOW? All you had to do was say "Look, sorry, just a misunderstanding, we're good," and MOVE ON instead of this Macho power trip.

(I take back what I said about John and the patriarchy, btw.)

Oh my god, the random dude who tried to help his friend gets SHOT, WTF JOHN, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU STARTED THIS!!!

In which John Connor learns that Terminators are NOT toys. DAMN STRAIGHT YOU LITTLE PUNK.

Of course the police can get into the state mental hospital without question. The guard doesn't even check ID or ask questions, just waves him through. (It probably saves his life, though.)

AAAAAHHHH, the creepy guard is assaulting Sarah when she's strapped down eww gross please no. I suppose I should be grateful it wasn't anything more graphic than him licking her face. She can't react because she's got the paper clip in her mouth.

(Kyle Reese would be so proud of her right now.)

Ahh, it's night, but everything's so brightly lit. This is going to be freakin' beautiful action scene.

Sarah ties her hair back! This is a symbolic gesture, of course, and a practical one, but also a huge question for me: what is she using for a hair tie? No way they gave her one... what is she improvising with?

AHHHH THE T1000 IS IN THE FLOOR HOLY FUCK THAT'S CREEPY. And that's how he acquired the guard when the guard walked over him. WOW.

So the gun on his hip when he originally shifts is a fake? It's part of him- because the T1000 can't make weapons. So he has to take the guard's gun. I think that's what happened?

It's going to be really hard for me to mourn when that asshole orderly that's assaulted Sarah gets what's coming to him. The only question is whether Sarah's going to get him first.

GOD SARAH CONNOR KICKING ASS IS SO SATISFYING. First the dude who assaulted her, and then Silbermann. Karma's such a bitch, isn't it?

John in his naivete order the T101 not to kill anybody, so he just shoots the guard in the legs instead. John, you'd better be more careful with your wording there....

Oh, goody, another underground parking garage...

Sarah comes face to face with the T101... awkward. She runs away before she sees John, only to get tackled. But the T101 comes to her rescue.

The female guard is the only one to bother him by knocking his shades off, lol.

AAHHHHHH THE TERMINATOR TELLS HER WHAT KYLE REESE SAID TO HER BECAUSE ADULT JOHN CONNOR TOLD HIM IT WAS THE ONLY WAY TO GET HER TO TRUST HIM (and also a freakin' great callback!!!)

Silbermann is watching the whole thing go down, he's probably going to spill it all to the T1000, of course...

Of course the T1000 just walks through the bars. Holy shit Silbermann is never going to get over the fact that Sarah was right all along. This is going to totally break him. Either that, or he'll double down on it.to save face. The only reason he survives is because he stays close to the wall and nobody cares enough to stop and deal with him.

AHHH, THE CGI WHEN HIS HEAD SPLITS OPEN IS BOTH TOTALLY FAKE AND ALSO HELLA CREEPY AND SILBERMANN IS WATCHING ALL OF IT, THEY'RE TOTALLY GOING TO LOCK HIM UP AFTER THIS OH MY GOD, KARMA.

Like, the uncanny valley of '90s CGI totally WORKS here, because it's just so fucking creepy. But it's also another sign that this is action and not horror, because action is less focused on blood and guts and gore--the reality and effects of violence.

Oh, good, they steal a car, because they weren't all going to fit on the motorcycle.

The T1000 has given up all subtlety now, and is just a giant silver amorphous human now. Oh, wait, now they ran out of money and he's human again.

LOLOLOLOL Sarah and T101 making John reload in the back seat because OF COURSE HE KNOWS HOW TO DO THAT, HE'S SARAH'S KID.

Sarah Connor is in her friggin' ELEMENT NOW, boys and girls.

god, it's like crossing the Terminator with Freddie Krueger or something (I almost typed "Freddie Mercury," and that's an interesting slip, given how much like mercury the silver goo reminds me of...)

Ahhh, Sarah hugs John and then lectures him for being stupid and reckless, and John just wants love and support... awwwww, he's trying so hard. I love Sarah, and she loves her son, but they don't always connect...

John doesn't want his mom or the T101 to see him crying, because patriarchy. Sigh.

The T101 sewing Sarah up is such a delicious callback to T1 on so many levels. And then she sews HIM up, oh my god.

BRAIN SURGERY ON A TERMINATOR, WOW.

The CPU of a Terminator is what's in the lab at Cyberdyne that they're experimenting on... which is going to become the core of Skynet... NO WONDER IT TRIES TO KILL EVERYONE, IT'S A FUCKING TERMINATOR AT HEART, IT'S ONLY DOING WHAT IT WAS PROGRAMMED TO DO!!!!

(this explains SO MUCH, honestly)

I wish John asserting his independence was NOT another example of a man telling Sarah Connor what to do, thank you very much. And I hate how she's literally relegated to the back seat, ugh. This is a great example of how horror tropes are more feminist-friendly than action.

John deigning to give his mother money is the most obnoxious thing ever, good for Sarah snatching it out of his hand, counting it, and handing him back a handful. We're supposed to find him endearing and relatable and I just keep wanting to smack him for his sexist bullshit.

Children playing with fake guns at the gas station, like that isn't symbolic of anything. John's seen too much now to take it lightly. Compare the children playing on the playground earlier in the movie with this.

wow, I’m still only halfway through the movie, who knew this was so deep

[aftermathdb]

DEATH BATTLE Review: Ben 10 vs Green Lantern

Two guardians of the universe, clad in green. Though, one will be going home in blood-red stained clothes.

So, apparently  the reason it’s not Ben 10 vs. Beast Boy is because Ben  just outclasses Beast Boy with his variety of aliens.

Ben 10′s Preview.

Benjamin Kirby Tennyson started out as just your average ten-year old kid. But on a strange day for his summer vacation, an alien device did what it did, and stuck itself on his wrist with secrets that it hid. Now he’s got super powers, he’s no ordinary kid, he’s Ben 10!

Look, the theme song is catchy. It would be a crime not to reference it in some way.

Anyways, the alien device was the Omnitrix, a portable library that houses all sorts of alien DNA. It allows Ben to “Check out” an alien to transform into and use their superpowers.

From aliens that can control water, ice, electricity, and fire, Ben’s got it all. And if he finds an alien that isn’t in the library, the Omnitrix will scan and replicate the DNA, allowing Ben to have another alien to use.

(Ignore that timebar at the bottom. I thought I had cropped it out).

Though, the Omnitrix has numerous defenses to fight back against anyone who wants to take it from Ben’s wrist.

With all those superpowers, Ben also has aliens for smarts as well. Including Brainstorm, an alien who has an I.Q of one nonillion. That’s a one, followed by…

THAT many zeros. And still not enough to beat out EXE’s record of highest number ever recorded.

But if Ben wants to just suck, he can turn into Walkatrout… Who is a fish… with legs.

It’s easily his worst alien. And that’s saying a lot, considering he has an alien literally named “The Worst.”

Though, if Ben wants some refinement, he can turn into Molestache. Boomstick’s favorite alien, who does fisticuffs with his moustache.

The Omnitirx is easily one of the most powerful tools ever created. And apparently… Boomstick has one?

But if there’s ever a weakness of the Omnitrix, it would probably be the cooldown timer.

… Which is thankfully negated with Master Control, giving Ben unlimited access to everything.

But, there is one alien that blows the rest of them out of the water. Alien X.

Alien X is a Celestialsapien, a being that exists beyond the universe, and has control over all of reality. It even once survived the universe being destroyed by the Ahnialarg, and then recreated it. Hell! Alien X didn’t just survive the Universe being destroyed, he basically didn’t even notice!

HA! now we beat EXE’s record! Alien X managed to survive an event worth 4x10^69 Joules of energy!

Ben even managed to get past the “Needs to come to a unanimous decision“ thing later on, making Alien X the most powerful being in his universe.

And as Alien X, Ben has managed to fly fast enough to create a black hole.

If there was ever any real weakness that Ben himself has, it would be his immaturity. Sure, he’s pretty great at ingenuity and thinking on his feet, but for a long time, Ben was pretty immature, and has a bit of an ego.

But when lives are on the line, you can set your clocks. Because there would be only one time it could be.

HERO TIME!

Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)′s Preview.

Hal Jordan was just your average devilishly handsome Military Test Pilot. Until the day that destiny fell from the sky (sound familiar?).

Upon investigating an alien crash landing, HAl Jordan found Abin Sur, an alien being who had a powerful device known as a Green Lantern Ring. This device belonged to a group of protectors known as the Green Lantern Corps.

The Lanterns are essentially like space cops, and the universe is divided into sectors. Hal’s sector is designated Sector 2814, and he was given the prestigious job of Green Lantern.

The GL Power Ring is the ultimate weapon against those who worship evil’s might. It has a variety of tools to help with a fight.

Think of the Power Ring as the ultimate Swiss-Army Knife. Now think of that thing on steroids. Now think of those steroids as also being on steroids. Now think of the Swiss-Army Knife as having special treatment so as it doesn’t die from those steroids, add some more steroids, then times a thousand.

It gives Hal a bunch of different powers. From time travel, to matter manipulation, to phasing through objects, to a powerful shield.

It can also protect his mind.

And Hal can also reasonably scale to other Lanterns, like the time when Kilowog survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths event.

With all this power, you gotta be wondering: What the hell does this thing run on? And the answer is willpower. Part of the emotional spectrum that makes up sentient life.

Red is linked to rage, Orange to greed, Yellow to fear, Green to willpower, Blue to hope. Indigo to compassion, and Violet to love (This isn’t actually mentioned in the episode, but I thought I’d mention it here).

And Hal is definitely a powerful Green Lantern. Like…

With all that power, that definitely solidifies Hal as being the most powerful Green Lantern. It also means that he can irrefutably scale to other Lanterns.

Hal also could move from the center of the universe to a planet in moments.

This puts Hal in the high-end of the spectrum.

And being so fast that you nearly enter the Speed Force is all kinds of impressive for someone not connected to it.

And one time, Hal was without his ring. Meaning that he had to fly a ship moving faster than light on his own.

That is to say that Hal managed to avoid stars, planets, without the ring helping him.

And as a being who defeated the physical embodiment of willpower with his own willpower, Hal can do things that other Green Lanterns can do.

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner once survived the Big Bang, since Hal did that previous thing, it’s reasonable to say that Hal can do the same.

But the ring aren’t perfect. They do have a limited power source, and the constructs are limited to the user’s imagination and confidence in themselves. If they aren’t confident enough, they lose their will.

But there’s also a really big elephant in the room. An elephant painted yellow.

Thankfully, this was done because Paralax had corrupted the Green Battery, and is now a non-issue. Not that it compares to the weakness of Alan Scott, who had a weakness to wood.

But Hal is one of the best. Be it brightest day, or blackest night, no evil will escape his sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware his power…

GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!

(That’s not the end quote, so I figured that I’d put it here).

The Battle Itself.

Zack and Luis (Animation director) on animation, Ben will be voiced by Nicholas Andrew Louie and Green Lantern will be voiced Bradley Gareth. , Jerky on sprites, Therewolf on music (Emerald Warriors), and audio is led by Chris Kokkinos.

So, as we know from the preview, Hal tries to take in Ben for having a “Class A” Superweapon, and Ben fights back. Which immediately makes this one of the better stories around, as it fits both characters and their roles very well.

… I’ll put the reason why some people were put off by the use of kid Ben sprites in the “Overall Impression” part. Meanwhile, let’s look at this hand-drawn animation of Ben going Fourarms!

But, given that Hal has handled stronger blows before, he takes it in stride. Leaving Ben to go for Heatblast.

And one explosion later, Ben boasts that he could possibly beat Hal with Grey Matter… Which he turns into. But he quickly recovers and goes big. Way Big.

Hal, obviously not impressed, creates a meteor to smash Way Big with. So Ben brings out the big guns.

Behold! Alien X!

The fight is taken to space, where Alien X opts to just erase Hal.

But, as he possesses a device that lets him take a retcon to the face, Hal doesn’t break.

So Ben goes for a swarm tactic and tries to break Hal’s shield.

Hal recites his Lantern Oath to break free and summon a weapon to attack with.

This attack works, but Alien X rewinds time to knock Hal back.

He politely reminds Hal of a thing that he forgot about.

Which means that finishing blow in 5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

I wonder if that was a size ten sorrynotsorry.

I can’t tell if Present!Hal is talking about the battle wounds that he has, or the one-liner he made, and I’m okay with that.

Verdict + Explanation.

So, right off the bat, one of Ben’s biggest advantages was his absurd versatility in his transformations and his ingenuity. But Hal outclassed him in many areas.

Sure Ben has an absurd amount of versatility, but here’s the thing: He can only use one alien at a time. Whereas Hal has his whole package in his one little ring.

Essentially, even with Master Control, Ben is always playing catch up. Fourarms and Way Big are strong, but not on the level of what Hal regularly faces. Diamondhead is tough, but not planet busting tough. XLR8 is fast, but- You get the picture, right?

Alien X was really Ben’s best shot at winning. But Hal has not only fought alongside allies with that kind of power (Like Dr. Fate), but he’s also fought against that (Like Darkseid).

And even then, Alien X is still vulnerable to damage (albiet, it has to be super absurd). Ben’s own fight with the Galactic Gladiator proves that Celestialsapiens can still lose fights. And the fact that Alien X failed to stop the Anihilaarg was because Ben was busy arguing with the other two personalities about what to do. In other words, Alien X isn’t omnipotent.

There’s also no real evidence to suggest that Alien X could resist anything that Hal could either. Ben’s versatility put up quite the fight, but it wasn’t enough to match Green Lantern’s speed, strength, durability, tools, and literal willpower.

And don’t be green with envy. That pun was Ten out of Bens… Yes, these are all of Boomstick’s puns.

Overall impression.

7.8/10.

Overall, the fight is impressive. There are great hand-drawn moments in it, though I do have to knock some points for using Kid Ben sprites. Not only does the voice sound more appropriate for a teenager, these guys went on about how if the had “trimmed down Ben to his original 10-15, then it would be more fair of a fight to put him up against Beast Boy.”- That’s stuff that would lead people to think “Oh. So they’re going to use teenage Ben sprites.” This isn’t like using younger sprites of Jotaro or Naruto. The big heads never said anything about how “If we had used pre-Kurama friendship Naruto, then pitting him against Luffy would be fair” they just went straight into the battle due to power levels.

In short: Had they not made a big deal about it, then this wouldn’t be a problem.

Also, I think there’s a valid criticism about them primarily pulling from the classic-era aliens and only having Alien X from the AF/UA be the only one not from that era. Like… would have using Humungousaur instead of Fourarms been too much?- What about Atomix from Omniverse?- He’s delightfully hammy.

But, I can’t blame them for using so few. It would be a pain to try and animate all those alien forms.

But the spritework is nice, the research is solid, and it has great moments and callbacks to each character’s respective series. So it gets points for that.

Next Time…

*Inhales*

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

Y’know, the last time a RWBY character fought, an entire hate group for them sprung up on Deviantart (I’m not kidding). So, this will be fun. Please excuse me for my lack of enthusiasm, but I have bad memories of that hate group and I am not looking forward to having to go through that again.

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

… Yeah, I got nothing.

[delkios]

About a week ago I was talking to @robininthelabyrinth about doing some Rogue-centric comics recaps, starting with the brief time Heatwave worked at Cadmus with Superboy.

For those of you wondering “Why is what is generally a criminal working with a hero?” here’s a brief rundown of things that happened that lead up to this point:

Back in the mid-90s there was an event called Underworld Unleashed in which Nero, DC’s version of Satan, tricked most of the Rogues into attacking key points around… some continent that is literally unrecognizable on a map.  Those points exploded, killing them.  The event went on, Trickster I figured out Neron’s angle and helped the heroes defeat him and the Rogues remained dead at the end of it.  A couple years (real time) later, Flash issues 125-129, Neron is back to his old, manipulating people into giving him unlimited power schtick and brings the Rogues’ souls to Earth, this time as unkillable, power-amplified specters bent on causing as much death and destruction as possible.  Through Linda and Wally’s teamwork and love for each other, Neron is forced to retreat while restoring the Rogues their souls/life.  In the New Year’s Evil special issue, Trickster I tricks the Rogues into going after a sacred treasure in a Zhutan temple when, surprise, Neron pops back up and Heatwave, who emphatically does not want his soul back in Neron’s clutches, convinces the other Rogues to help Tricks and Piper defeat him.  It was a convoluted issue.  After Neron is, yet again, defeated, Heatwave decides to stay with the Zhutan monks, hoping to save his soul by being good.

That is, to my knowledge, the last we see of Mick until his appearance in Superboy 65.  Recaps are taken from issues 65, 76-81, 87-90

For those unfamiliar with this particular run, here are some characters to know:

Superboy/Kon-El: a psuedo-clone of Superman who debuted following The Death of Superman storyline.  Very 90’s teen-with-attitude, he’s one of the founders of Young Justice. His powers weren’t originally copying Superman’s (he was originally a modified human clone rather than half-Kryptonian) but mimics the basic flight/super strength/super durability through the use of tactile telekinesis.  Lives at a Cadmus facility.  At the time, his relationship with Clark was very… hands off.

Guardian/Jim Harper: another Cadmus clone who acts as chief of security and mentor to Kon.  As a clone, his body was modified to be stronger, faster, etc, with accelerated healing.  He also has an indestructible shield.

Dr. Serling Roquette: former head of the genetics division with a sense of style that is both terrible and amazing.  Has a thing for Kon.

Mickey Cannon: Cadmus admin director. Called ‘the Mechanic’, he’s said to be able to fix anything.  Uh… that’s about all I can say about him, really.

Dubbilex: one of Cadmus’s experiments known as a DNAlien, part chaperone and part mentor to Kon.  He is a powerful telepath and can use telekinesis.

Dr. Dabney Donovan: co-founder of Cadmus and creator of various genetic experiments.  You remember that line from Jurassic Park about scientists being so concerned if they could they never considered if they should?  This guy never bothered to hear the second part of that sentence.

Dr. Helen Angelico: head of genetics, called Doc Angel.  Not nearly enough of her.

So we start with Kon crashing a ship into the aptly named Planet Krypton- a superhero-themed restaurant that, thankfully had just been shut down for renovations -with some Challengers of the Unknown.  Who will continue to be unknown because I don’t know a thing about them.  He’d been gone for so long, Cadmus was trying to find someone to replace him as a field agent.

Always fun to play 'Who Can You Name?’

Some heroes decide it isn’t their scene and bounce, others attempt and fail to make themselves look good, and others still- notably Young Justice to the side there -just want some news on Kon.  Steel and Kyle, meanwhile, are there as JLA reps, passing along info about Superboy as it comes (which, at the moment, isn’t really anything).

Guardian, please.  Cadmus hires much worse than a crook with a flamethrower.

After being exposed, Punch and Jewelee take Serling hostage.  Luckily that’s when Superboy finally manages to make it back.

Figuring with Kon back in the picture, a new field agent is no longer needed so the heroes begin to disperse.  Until Cannon decides to hire Mick as a back up agent.

And potential patsy.  Nothing comes of this mental aside.

Jumping forward to issue 76, a little backstory is needed to understand the current situation.  Originally Kon’s genes were modified to stop aging at 16 because of a clone disease, but, immediately proceeding this issue, the events of Sins of Youth caused Cadmus scientists to restart his aging, unfortunately at the expense of his powers leading to Cadmus to call in their back-up agent.

He’s not without his own gadgets, of course- a Legion ring grants him flight and a Cadmus scientist by the name of Gadget Guru gave him a shield that can fold and expand in an instant.  Kon tries asking Harper to train him but Harper declines despite preferring to have Kon watching his back over Mick.

Donovan tries to get Serling to cash in on a favor she owes him but, before she can meet him, gets into a reconstructed space ship with Kon, Cannon and the Guru which takes off into space.  As Cadmus tries to locate them, Rex Leech, Kon’s former very shady manager, comes in carrying his unconscious daughter, Roxy.  Meanwhile, a pair of Cadmus guards are transporting an important blood sample that Donovan, mad that Serling didn’t follow his instructions, decides to take for himself.

Oh comics.

Doc Angel has Roxy stabilized in a containment tank while Rex tries to schmooze up to Mick.

Harper gets an urgent call to get to a storage vault.

For some reason they call Mick “Rory Calhoun”- and it’s not just here.  There’s at least one issue in the Flash- written by the then current writers -where he’s called that.  I don’t know why this is a thing.

Anyway, a bunch of guards dead on the floor, their armor torn open but whatever killed them instantly cauterized their wounds.  On the wall are the words 'Rip’ and 'Jak’.  An alarm goes off, announcing a fire in Lab Three- Doc Angel’s lab.

Quick shout out to Paul Gambi, the Rogues’ tailor, for making some fantastically durable costumes.  Mick’s in particular has been noted on more than one occasion to not only survive some of the hottest temperatures around, but also protects him well enough he barely breaks a sweat withstanding those temps.

Doc Angel is missing but Roxy’s tank was damaged in the fire meaning it’s time for the Guru’s apprentice Tekka to step up.  Harper, meanwhile, explains to Mick that they had a possible sample of Jack the Ripper’s blood and Donovan is the most likely person to make a clone from it.

Tekka finds a hole in the floor that’s venting heat like a volcano.  In true, heroic fashion, Harper and Mick head down.

Ripjak attack!  Turns out that Ripjak’s blood and even touching his skin burns on contact.  Harper says Donovan must have infused Ripjak’s blood with pyro-granulite, something Donovan’s done before. Unfortunately the build-up means he’ll explode, destroying anything or one near him.  They chase him to where Doc Angel is being held. Harper plays bait while Mick frees the doc.

Ripjak does a number on the two before they toss him into the geothermal reactor, including partially melting Harper’s shield and managing to burn through Mick’s suit.

They’re both treated and expected to make a full recovery, and Tekka stabilizes Roxy.

Meanwhile, in Kon’s half of the plot, the bad guy he’d been fighting, Kossak the Slaver, gets beaten out of his own ship and escapes, following a beacon that leads him to Cadmus.  He heads to Lab Three and claims that Roxy is an escaped slave he’s here to collect.  Kon gets back in time to stop Kossak from attacking Doc Angel and, in the ensuing fight, Roxy’s tank explodes.

Roxy is actually possessed by… something, which makes her skin turn bright red and her eyes glow.  She agrees to return to Kossak so long as he leaves all the people in the lab alone and, when she goes to say goodbye to Kon, imparts her power on him.  Which somehow kickstarts Kon’s powers again and Kossack leaves after another butt-kicking.

Superboy, back in costume, visits Harper, passing over the gauntlet with collapsible shield since Harper’s was destroyed.

Roxy is back in the containment tank after giving Kon her power and Doc Angel called in a doctor from STAR Labs, Sarah Charles.  The two promptly get snippy at each other and Kon has them leave to cool off.  Which is, of course, when Roxy busts her way out again as the red sun critter thing, saying she won’t be kept imprisoned.  She flies off, Kon gives chase and when Harper does the same.

She starts destroying property in a town called Kurtzberg and a local cop, with all the logic and protocol of a generic comic cop, calls for the two of them to freeze while simultaneously firing directly at Roxy.  The bullets, however, melt in the heat she’s generating but Roxy doesn’t enjoy the unintentional pun.

I’m not quite sure how Mick managed to get there before Harper who is in a flying car.

Anyway, it turns out the people Sarah called are the Titans who immediately peg Roxy as unstable (as in, unwilling to calm down) and decide they need to use force to contain her.  Kon isn’t having it and puts himself between them.  Tempest uses a hydrant to freeze Kon and Mick shoots off a blast of fire to free him.  

How can you be a jerk to that face, Harper?

Eventually Doc Angel and Sarah make it over and explain how Roxy’s sharing a body with an alien entity and they need the entity to expend its energy to get Roxy out.  The problem is eventually solved through what essentially amounts to the power of friendship.

If you’re wondering how Arsenal got the heat gun, it’s because Nigthwing took out Mick in pretty short order.  Which, really- Nightwing vs Heatwave is no contest.

Mick doesn’t show up again until issue 87 where Harper dies in the line of duty, protecting someone from Shrapnel.  Mick doesn’t have over much to do this issue as Kon feels responsible for Harper’s death (Harper went out on that mission instead of Kon) and gets taken on an astral jaunt with Deadman.  There are a couple choice moments, though.

I should note that Kon’s tactile telekinesis doesn’t work when he’s unconscious, making him as vulnerable as a normal person.

I find it hilarious they gave Mick a flamethrower bigger than his torso.

But, at the end of the issue, there’s a cryptic conversation between Amanda Waller and Lex Luthor (he might’ve been president at this time, I don’t remember) and someone trying to steal Harper’s remains.  Kon manages to take it back and, upon opening the casket, finds there’s a baby inside.

Next issue, the Wall is very unhappy to see that her super-clone cargo has disappeared (aka with Kon) and threatens Cadmus as, being the Secretary of Metahuman Affairs (so yes, Luthor is president), they fall under her jurisdiction.  Cannon, not a fan of the kind of pressure Waller and the new administration is putting on them, decides to get rid of Cadmus.  Literally.  Asides from a hole in the ground, the building is gone.

In the span of a few days, baby Harper grows a couple years, old enough to talk and, with the memory of his previous life returning, worries that he’ll have to fight.  Oracle finds tech and data traced from Cadmus at a LexCorp building and Kon follows her directions to a sewer where he promptly fights tofu critters and finds Mick and Serling.

I gotta say, artists generally make Mick the beefier of the Rogues (when they bother to give them different body types) but this artists really put that heroic build on him.  His shoulders are literally twice the width of his waist!

A random encounter with some sewer ferryman later, the quartet makes it to a weird underground compound where they jump a robot-looking thing and pull the equivalent of three-kids-in-a-trenchcoat with it.  They come across Talia al Ghul experimenting on a gender-flip Superman Blue by the name of Strange Visitor who I know nothing about.  After Talia and Waller’s assistant leaves, the gang bust out of their disguise and take out the guards.  Mostly.

And then this ability was never seen again.

Kon and Mick go to rescue Stranger who very much does not appreciate it.  Talia re-enters and calms down Stranger and the group is captured.  When they come to again, they’re on a space station.  Some guy in a flying chair named General Good makes an army of clones from Harper against Harper’s explicit wishes.  Kon destroys the incubating clones and the quartet is rescued by Sgt Rock who drafts them into the upcoming war.

This issues then follows into the Our Worlds at War event which I never read so if Mick shows up anywhere there, I don’t know about it. Superboy was also canceled shortly after.  In the following year Mick shows back up Flash comics in issues following up to Rogue War where his attempts at reformation are retconned as the Top’s influence in order to tie into the ongoing Identity Crisis event. And these issues are promptly forgotten by everyone and we are all deprived of Kon confronting Mick about going back to the Rogues. Especially egregious when Mick helped kill one of Kon’s best friends.  I mean, yes, Kon was also dead at the time but you’d think that’s one of the things you’d follow up on when you come back to life!

[rorylowell]

Quarantine Prompts | Nineteen Prompt: Your character gets locked out of something (a house, car, office, etc.) or locked in something (a room, closet, an elevator, etc.). Challenge: They’re with someone else but neither of them have a phone to call and ask someone to let them in/out.

Rory didn’t understand why all of the guys and girls in high school liked this stripper song. It was from a TikTok, and she would admit the melody was good but the lyrics were questionable - somebody come get her, she’s dancing like a stripper...really? Rory guessed it gave the girls excuses to dance provocatively, herself included, and as Chance played the song on repeat for the third time that evening, Rory danced on Will. To her left, Kelsie, Jaci Mae and a couple of their other friends were playing beer pong. Emily, a pretty upperclassman, had painted a pong table to make it look extra cool for parties, and Rory liked it. She was dating Will’s older brother, so she kept the foldable table in their basement closet for parties. The thing about Will’s parents were that they knew their sons liked to have fun, so they let them do it at their house. Every. Single. Weekend. And in the rare occasion they changed their moods because someone puked on their carpet again, the gang would go to Chance’s house instead. Of course Rory felt more comfortable at Will’s though. 

“Fuck, Carey! Not in the sink!” Carey was a freshman who was playing varsity football, so he was really good, and in that moment, he was puking in the bathroom sink. Aaron, an upperclassmen, yelled at him and forcefully placed his head in the toilet instead. A girl Rory didn’t recognize was already puking in the toilet, so they shared it. Rory shivered at how gross it was. 

Will’s basement was set up in a way where you could see just about every inch of it from wherever you were standing or sitting. Once you walked down the steps, there were some couches to your left, a partially-stocked bar straight ahead, a bathroom to the right, a couple of closets, a chalkboard wall, and Rory’s personal favorite, a popcorn machine. As she sat on Will’s lap and moved along to the music, watching the chaos ensuing in the bathroom, Rory was thankful she wasn’t a big drinker. 

That weekend, Will’s parents were in Florida. They traveled a lot, leaving the boys at home, and though they encouraged them to not have parties without them there, Will and his big brother never listened. Parentless parties were the best kinds of parties - everyone knew that. Still, it was around 1 AM when the cops came banging on the front door, lights and sirens blazingly loud, and Rory wished Will’s parents were there to appease them as they had before. 

“Shit!” Rory heard Kelsie yell, watching as she fled. 

A couple ran to hide in the closet as the cops broke in. It was as if they had some personal vendetta out on someone or some tickets they really needed to write. Rory, panicked, watched as Will’s older brother ran upstairs - at that point, everyone was. A few hid in the bathroom, and then there was Carey and that other girl who had drank so much they couldn’t even move. 

“Come on!” Will grabbed Rory protectively by the wrist and dragged her upstairs and into his parents closet, slamming the doors behind them. 

Rory let out a small shriek, “Oh my God, it’s so dark in here!” 

“Sh...I know, lemme get my phone,” Rory heard Will reaching in his pockets, “I’ll turn on my flashlight...agh...” After a couple seconds, he sighed, “Shit. It’s still in the basement. Chance was playing music on it. Do you have yours?”

Rory began to panic a little, she wasn’t a fan of the dark, “No. I think I dropped it.” 

“Oh, well, it’s fine,” Will reassured her, holding her hands in his as he whispered, “We just have to wait until they leave. It’s not gonna be long.” 

“Okay...” Rory nodded though Will couldn’t see her, and the both quieted down, listening. 

One of the police officers had a strong voice that sounded like a discipline dad and made Rory’s skin shiver up her spine. She really hated getting in trouble. She was always the good Lowell child. While Amoriah was the leader, Q was the individual artist and Gigi was the little ballerina princess...Rory was always just--Rory. She never gave her parents trouble. She always kept her head low and did her own thing. She heard the police man round up a couple of the partiers who hadn’t made it outside or in hiding, and boy, he was surely reaming them good. He took their names, what schools they all went to, and their addresses - then he ticketed them for underage drinking. Rory’s eyes watered a little bit.

“...I can’t get in trouble Will...” 

“You won’t, you won’t,” He tried to kiss her forehead but got the bridge of her nose instead, “Man, I hope they didn’t get Kyle. Ugh...my parents are gonna be actually pissed.” 

Rory wanted to go home. She thought of Kelsie and Jaci Mae and Chance and though none of them were all that nice to her, she hoped they weren’t getting busted. Kelsie had already had a scandal recently, she didn’t need this too. And then there was Jaci Mae who had barely ever partied in her life. She was as wide-eyed and nervous as Rory most of the time - Rory didn’t want her to have something on her record when it wasn’t even her choice to come. Anxiously, Rory pressed her ear on the closet door. The cops steps were sounding less and less and she started hearing talking coming from outside too. The shutting of some doors, and then the pulling away of a couple cars. She wouldn’t dare go peak and see if everything was okay though, that’d wait until the morning if it needed to. 

Rory assumed five minutes passed, then maybe fifteen or twenty, and that’s when Will finally spoke up, “This sucks...tonight was supposed to be special, Ror.”

“Special how?” She whispered. 

“I mean my parents are out of town and our anniversary is coming up. I really wanted to...” Will’s voice trailed out then back in, “You know...’cause I love you.” 

“Will...” Rory was sure he could see her blushing through the pitch blackness, “I don’t know.”

His voice was so sweet yet a little bit nerdy at the same time, “It’ll be fun. I mean, we’re stuck in here until they leave, right? Maybe until the morning. What else is there to do?” 

What else is there to do? The smart ass in Rory wanted to answer back with a list of things. They could have a thumb war, try on his parents clothes, get some sleep. They could do a lot, but, Rory did love Will a whole Hell of a lot more than she ever loved Chance and she was fifteen. She just learned in health class that 17.4 years old was when the average American lost their virginities, but she knew how much Kelsie, Kinley and Kylie talked about it already. And she wouldn’t even get started on the discussions she’d heard about Eli and Gianni from back in the day. And Will, he was seventeen. So technically he’d be right on track. Hesitantly, Rory agreed, plus, she realized they were still in the very dark too. It’s not like Will could see her little bit of belly fat and thigh chub. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.  

“...Okay,” Rory breathed, still trying to justify it in her head. 

“Okay?” Will’s voice went an octave higher and she could tell how excited he was, “Okay.” 

And then in the dark with nothing else to do and nobody looking for them, Rory and Will awkwardly made love to each other for the first time...for a whole thirty-two seconds. 

[anavoliselenu]

Dublin street chapter 1

Surry County, Virginia

I was bored.

Kyle Ramsey was kicking the back of my chair to get my attention, but he’d been kicking my best friend’s, Dru, chair yesterday and I didn’t want to upset her. She had a huge crush on Kyle. Instead, I watched her as she sat beside me drawing a million tiny love hearts in the corner of her notebook as Mr. Evans scribbled another equation on the board. I really should have been paying attention because I sucked at math. Mom and dad wouldn’t be happy with me if I failed a class the first semester into freshman year.

“Mr. Ramsey, would you care to come up to the board and answer this question, or would you prefer to remain behind Selena so you can kick her chair some more?”

The class tittered and Dru shot me an accusing look. I grimaced and shot Mr. Evan’s a pointed glare.

“I’ll stay here, if that’s okay, Mr. Evans,” Kyle replied with impudent swagger. I rolled my eyes, refusing to turn around even though I could feel the heat of his gaze on the back of my neck.

“That was actually a rhetorical question, Kyle. Get up here.”

A knock at the door put a halt to Kyle’s groan of acquiescence. At the sight of our principal, Ms. Shaw, the whole class grew still. What was the principal doing in our class? That could only signal trouble.

“Whoa,” Dru muttered under her breath and I looked at her, frowning. She nodded at the doorway. “Cops.”

Shocked, I turned to look back at the door as Ms. Shaw murmured something quietly to Mr. Evans, and sure enough, through the gap in the door, I could see two deputies waiting out in the hall.

“Miss Butler.” Ms. Shaw’s voice snapped my gaze back to her in surprise. She took a step towards me and I felt my heart leap into my throat. Her eyes were wary, sympathetic, and I immediately wanted to back away from her and whatever it was she was here to tell me. “Can you come with me, please? Grab your things.”

This was usually the part where the class would ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ about how much trouble I was in. But like me, they sensed that wasn’t what this was about. Whatever news was out in that hall, they weren’t going to tease me about it.

“Miss Butler?”

I was shaking now from a spike of adrenaline and I could barely hear anything over the sound of my own blood rushing in my ears. Had something happened to mom? Or dad? Or my baby sister, Beth? My parents had taken some time off work this week together to de-stress from what had been a crazy summer. They were supposed to be taking Beth out today for a picnic.

“Selena.” Dru nudged me, and as soon as her elbow touched my arm, I shot back from the table, my chair screaming across the wooden floor. Without looking at anyone, I fumbled with my bag, swiping everything off my desk and into it. The whispers had started hissing around the room like cold wind through a crack in a windowpane. Despite not wanting to know what was ahead of me, I really wanted out of that room.

Somehow remembering how to put one foot in front of the other, I followed the principal out into the hall and listened to Mr. Evan’s door snick shut behind me. I didn’t say anything. I just looked at Ms. Shaw and then at the two deputies who stared at me with a distant compassion. Standing near the wall was a woman I hadn’t noticed earlier. She looked grave but calm.

Ms. Shaw touched my arm and I looked down at her hand resting on my sweater. I hadn’t spoken two words to the principal before, and now she was touching my arm? “Selena… this is Deputy Wilson and Michaels. And this is Alicia Nugent from the DSS.”

I looked at her questioningly.

Ms. Shaw blanched. “The Department of Social Services.”

Fear gripped a hold of my chest and I fought to breathe.

“Selena,” the principal continued. “I am so sorry to have to tell you this… but your parents and sister, Elizabeth, were in a car accident.”

I waited, feeling my chest tighten.

“They were all killed instantly, Selena. I’m so sorry.”

The woman from the DSS stepped towards me and started speaking. I looked at her, but all I could see were the colors that she was made up of. All I could hear was the muffled sound of her talking, like someone was running tap water beside her.

I couldn’t breathe.

Panicking, I reached for something, anything to help me breathe. I felt hands on me. Calm, murmuring words. Wetness on my cheeks. Salt on my tongue. And my heart… it felt like it was going to explode it was racing so hard.

I was dying.

“Breathe, Selena.”

Those words were said in my ear over and over again until I focused enough to concentrate on just breathing in and out. After a while, my pulse slowed and my lungs opened up. The spots across my vision began to disappear.

“That’s it,” Ms. Shaw was whispering, a warm hand rubbing soothing circles on my back. “That’s it.”

“We should get going,” the DSS woman’s voice broke through my fog.

“Okay. Selena, are you ready?” Ms. Shaw asked quietly.

“They’re dead,” I answered, needing to feel how the words felt. It couldn’t be real.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

Cold sweat burst on my skin, my palms, under my arms, across the nape of my neck. Goosebumps rose up all over and I couldn’t stop shaking. A rush of dizziness swayed me to the left and without warning, vomit surged up from my churning gut. I bent over, losing my breakfast all over the DSS lady’s shoes.

“She’s in shock.”

Was I?

Or was it travel sickness?

One minute I had been sitting back there. There, where it was warm and safe. And in a matter of seconds, in the crunch of metal…

… I was someplace else entirely.

~1~

Scotland

Eight years later…

It was a beautiful day to find a new home. And a new roommate.

I stepped out of the damp, old stairwell of my Georgian apartment building to a stunningly hot day in Edinburgh. I glanced down at the cute, white and green striped denim shorts I’d purchased a few weeks ago from Topshop. It had been raining non-stop since then and I’d despaired of ever getting to wear them. But the sun was out; peeking over the top of the cornered tower of the Bruntsfield Evangelical Church, burning away my melancholy and giving me back a little bit of hope. For someone who had packed up her entire life in the US and taken off for her motherland when she was only eighteen years old, I wasn’t really good with change. Not anymore anyway. I’d gotten used to my huge apartment with its never-ending mice problem. I missed my best friend, Rhian, who I’d lived with since freshman year at the University of Edinburgh. We’d met in the dorms and hit it off. We were both very private people and were comfortable around one another for the mere fact that we never pushed each other to talk about the past. We’d stuck pretty close to each other freshman year and decided to get an apartment (or ‘flat’ as Rhian called it) in second year. Now that we were graduates, Rhian had left for London to start her PhD and I was left roommate-less. The icing on the cake was the loss of my other closest friend here, James, Rhian’s boyfriend. He’d run off to London (a place he detested I might add) to be with her. And the cherry on top? My landlord was getting a divorce and needed the apartment back.

I’d spent the last two weeks answering ads from young women looking for a female roommate. It had been a bust so far. One girl didn’t want to room with an American. Cue my ‘what the f**k?’ face. Three of the apartments were just… nasty. I’m pretty sure one girl was a crack dealer, and the last girl’s apartment sounded like it got more use than a brothel. I was really hoping my appointment today with Ellie Carmichael was going to go my way. It was the most expensive apartment I’d scheduled to see and it was on the other side of the city center.

I was frugal when it came to touching my inheritance, as if that would somehow lessen the bitterness of my ‘good’ fortune. However, I was getting desperate.

If I wanted to be a writer, I needed the right apartment and the right roommate.

Living alone of course was an option. I could afford it. However, the God’s honest truth was that I didn’t like the idea of complete solitude. Despite my tendency to keep eighty percent of myself to myself, I liked being surrounded by people. When they talked to me about things I didn’t understand personally, it allowed me to see things from their point of view, and I believed all the best writers needed a wide open scope of perspective. Despite not needing to, I worked at a bar on George Street on Thursday and Friday nights. The old cliché was true: bartenders overhear all the best stories.

I was friends with two of my colleagues, Jo and Craig, but we only really ‘hung out’ when we were working. If I wanted a little life around me, I needed to get a roommate. On the plus, this apartment was mere streets away from my job.

As I tried to shove down the anxiety of finding a new place, I also kept my eye open for a cab with its light on. I eyed the ice cream parlor, wishing I had time to stop and indulge, and almost missed the cab coming toward me on the opposite side of the street. Throwing my hand out and checking my side for traffic, I was gratified that the driver had seen me and pulled up to the curb. I tore across the wide road, managing not to get squashed like a green and white bug against some poor person’s windshield, and rushed towards the cab with a single-minded determination to grab the door handle.

Instead of the door handle, I grabbed a hand.

Bemused, I followed the masculine, tan hand up a long arm to broad shoulders and to a face obscured by the sun beaming down behind his head. Tall, over six feet, the guy towered above me as most tall people did. I was a smallish five foot five.

Wondering why this guy had his hand on my cab, all I really took in was the suit.

A sigh escaped from his shadowed face. “Which way are you headed?” he asked me in a rumbling, gravelly voice. Four years I’d been living here and still a smooth, Scots accent could send a shiver down my spine. And his definitely did, despite the terse question.

“Dublin Street,” I answered automatically, hoping I had a longer distance to travel so he’d give me the cab.

“Good.” He pulled the door open. “I’m heading in that direction, and since I’m already running late, might I suggest we share the taxi instead of wasting ten minutes deciding who needs it more.”

A warm hand touched my lower back and pressed me gently forward. Dazed, I somehow let myself be manhandled into the cab, sliding across the seat and buckling up as I silently questioned whether I’d nodded my agreement to this. I didn’t think I had.

Hearing the Suit clip out Dublin Street as the destination to the cab driver, I frowned and muttered, “Thanks. I guess.”

“You’re an American?”

At the soft question, I finally looked over at the passenger beside me. Oh okay.

Wow.

The Suit wasn’t classically handsome, but there was a twinkle in his eye and curl to the corner of his sensual mouth that, together with the rest of the package, oozed sex appeal. Perhaps in his late twenties or early thirties, I could tell from the lines of the extremely well-tailored, expensive silver-grey suit that he wore, that the Suit worked out. He sat with the ease of a fit guy, his stomach iron flat under the waistcoat and white shirt. His pale blue eyes seemed bemused beneath their long lashes, and for the life of me I couldn’t get over the fact that he had dark hair.

I preferred blondes. Always had.

Yet none of them had ever made my lower belly squeeze with lust at first sight of them. A strong, masculine face stared into mine—sharp jaw-line, a cleft chin, wide cheekbones, and a roman nose. Dark stubble shadowed his cheeks, and his hair was kind of messy. Altogether, his rugged unkemptness seemed at odds with the stylish designer suit.

The Suit raised an eyebrow at my blatant perusal and the lust I was feeling quadrupled, taking me completely by surprise. I never felt instant attraction to men. And since my wild years as a teen, I hadn’t even contemplated taking a guy up on a sexual offer.

Although, I’m not sure I could walk away from an offer from him.

As soon as the thought flashed through my head I stiffened, surprised and unnerved. My defenses immediately rose and I cleared my expression into blank politeness.

“Yeah,” I answered, finally remembering the Suit had asked me a question. I looked away from his knowing smirk, pretending boredom and thanking the heavens that my olive skin kept the blushing internal.

“Just visiting?” he murmured.

As irritated as I was by my reaction to the Suit, I decided the less conversation between us the better. Who knew what idiotic thing I might do or say? “Nope.”

“Then you’re a student.”

I took issue with the tone. Then you’re a student. It was said with a metaphorical eye-roll. Like students were bottom-feeding bums with no real purpose in life. I snapped my head around to give him a scathing set-down, only to catch him eyeing my bare legs with interest. This time, I raised my eyebrow at him and waited for him to unglue those gorgeous eyes of his from my bare skin. Sensing my gaze, the Suit looked up into my face and noted my expression. I expected him to pretend he hadn’t been ogling me, or to look quickly away or something. I didn’t expect him to just shrug and then offer me the slowest, wickedest, sexiest smile that had ever been bestowed upon me.

I rolled me eyes, fighting the flush of heat between my legs. “I was a student,” I answered, with just a touch of snark. “I live here. Dual citizenship.” Why was I explaining myself?

“You’re part Scottish?”

I barely nodded, secretly loving the way he said ‘Scottish’ with his hard ‘t’s.

“What do you do now that you’ve graduated?”

Why did he want to know? I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye. The cost of the three-piece suit he was wearing could have fed me and Rhian on crappy student food for our entire four years of college. “What do you do? I mean, when you’re not manhandling women into cabs?”

His small smirk was his only reaction to my jibe. “What do you think I do?”

“I’m thinking lawyer. Answering questions with questions, manhandling, smirking…”

He laughed a rich, deep rumble of a laugh that vibrated through my chest. His eyes glittered at me. “I’m not a lawyer. But you could be. I seem to recall a question answered with a question. And that,” he gestured to my mouth, his eyes turning a shade darker as they visually caressed the curve of my lips. “That’s a definite smirk,” his voice had grown huskier.

My pulse took off as our eyes locked, our gazes holding for far longer than two polite strangers’ should. My cheeks felt warm… as well as other places. I was growing more and more turned on by him and the silent conversation between our bodies. When my ni**les tightened beneath my t-shirt bra, I was shocked enough to be plunged back into reality. Pulling my eyes from his, I glanced out at the passing traffic and prayed for this cab ride to be over yesterday.

As we approached Princes Street and another diversion caused by the tram project the council was heading up, I began to wonder if I was going to escape the cab without having to talk to him again.

“Are you shy?” The Suit asked, blowing my hopes to smithereens.

I couldn’t help it. His question made me turn to him with a confused smile. “Excuse me?”

He tilted his head, peering down at me through the narrowed slits of his eyes. He looked like a lazy tiger, eyeing me carefully as if deciding whether or not I was a meal worth chasing. I shivered as he repeated, “Are you shy?”

Was I shy? No. Not shy. Just, usually blissfully indifferent. I liked it that way. It was safer. “Why would you think that?” I didn’t give off shy vibes, right? I grimaced at the thought.

The Suit shrugged again. “Most women would be taking advantage of my imprisonment in the taxi with them—chew my ear off, shove their phone number in my face… as well as other things.” His eyes flicked down to my chest before quickly returning to my face. I swear to God, I was tomato-red on the inside and I couldn’t remember the last time someone had managed to embarrass me. Unaccustomed to feeling intimidated, I attempted to mentally shrug it off.

Amazed by his overconfidence, I grinned at him, surprised by the pleasure that rippled over me when his eyes widened slightly at the sight of my smile. “Wow, you really think a lot of yourself.”

He grinned back at me, his teeth white but imperfect and his crooked smile sent an unfamiliar shot of feeling across my chest. “I’m just speaking from experience.”

“Well, I’m not the kind of girl who hands out her number to a guy she just met.”

“Ahh.” He nodded as if coming to some kind of realization about me, his smile slipping, his features seeming to tighten and close off from me. “You’re a ‘no sex until the third date, marriage, and babies’ kind of woman.”

I made a face at his snap judgment. “No, no, and no.” Marriage and babies? I shuddered at the thought, the fears that lived riding my shoulders day in and day out, slipping around to squeeze my chest too tight.

The Suit looked back at me now, and whatever he had caught in my face made him relax. “Interesting,” he murmured.

No. Not interesting. I didn’t want to be interesting to this guy. “I’m not giving you my number.”

He grinned again. “I didn’t ask for it. And even if I wanted it, I wouldn’t ask for it. I have a girlfriend.”

I ignored the disappointed flip of my stomach and apparently the filter between my brain and my mouth. “Then stop looking at me like that.”

The Suit seemed amused. “I have a girlfriend but I’m not blind. Just because I can’t do anything doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to look.”

I was not excited by this guy’s attention. I am a strong, independent woman. Glancing out of the window, I noted with relief that we were at Queen Street Gardens. Dublin Street was right around the corner.

“Here’s good, thanks,” I called to the cab.

“Whereabouts?” the cab driver called back to me.

“Here,” I replied a little more sharply than I meant to but breathed a sigh of relief when the cab driver’s turn signal started ticking and the car pulled over to a stop. Without another look or word to the Suit, I handed the driver some money and slid a hand along the door handle.

“Wait.”

I froze and shot the Suit a wary look over my shoulder. “What?”

“Do you have a name?”

I smiled, feeling relief now that I was getting away from him and the bizarre attraction between us. “Actually, I have two.”

I jumped out of the cab, ignoring the traitorous thrill of pleasure that cascaded over me at the sound of his answering chuckle.

***

As soon as the door swung open and I took in my first sight of Ellie Carmichael, I knew I was probably going to like her. The tall blonde was wearing a trendy play suit, a blue trilby hat, a monocle, and a fake mustache.

She blinked at me with wide, pale blue eyes.

Bemused, I had to ask, “Is this… a bad time?”

Ellie stared at me a moment as if confused by my very reasonable question considering her outfit. As if it suddenly occurred to her that she was in possession of a fake mustache, she pointed at it. “You’re early. I was tidying up.”

Tidying up a trilby, monocle and a mustache? I glanced behind her into a bright, airy reception hall. A bike with no front wheel was propped against the far wall, photographs and an assortment of post cards and other random clippings were attached to a board braced against a walnut cabinet. Two pairs of boots and a pair of black pumps were scattered haphazardly under a row of pegs overflowing with jackets and coats. The floors were hardwood. Very nice.

I looked back at Ellie with a huge grin on my face, feeling good about the entire situation. “Are you on the run from the mafia?”

“Pardon?”

“The disguise.”

“Oh.” She laughed and stepped back from the door, gesturing me into the apartment. “No, no. I had friends over last night and we had a little bit too much to drink. All my old Halloween costumes were dragged out.”

I smiled again. That sounded fun. I missed Rhian and James.

“You’re Selena, right?”

“Yeah. Selena,” I corrected her. I hadn’t been Selena since before my parents died.

“Selena,” she repeated, grinning at me as I took my first steps inside the ground floor apartment. It smelled great. Fresh and clean.

Like the apartment I was leaving, this one was also Georgian, except it had once been an entire townhouse. Now it was split into two apartments. Well, actually, next door was a boutique and the rooms above us belonged to it. I didn’t know about the rooms above us, but the boutique itself was very nice with handmade one-of-a-kind clothes. This apartment…

Wow.

The walls were so smooth, I knew they had to have been plastered recently and whoever had restored the place had done wonders. It had tall baseboards and thick coving to compliment the period property. The ceilings went on forever, as they did in my old apartment. The walls were a cool white, but broken up by colorful and eclectic pieces of art work. The white should have been harsh, but the contrast of it against the dark walnut doors and hardwood flooring gave the apartment an air of quiet elegance.

I was in love already and I hadn’t even seen the rest of the place.

Ellie hurriedly took off the hat and mustache, spinning around to say something to me only to stop and grin sheepishly as she tore off the monocle she was still wearing. Shoving it aside on the walnut sideboard, she beamed brightly. She was a cheerful person. Usually I avoided cheerful people, but there was something about Ellie. She was kind of charming.

“I’ll give you a tour first, shall I?

“Sounds good.”

Striding to the door on the left nearest me, Ellie pushed it open. “Bathroom. It’s in an unconventional place, I know, right near the front door, but it’s got everything you need.”

Uh… I’ll say, I thought, tentatively stepping inside.

My flip-flops echoed off the shiny cream tiles on the floor, tiles that covered every inch of the bathroom except for the ceiling which was painted a buttery color and inset with warm spotlights.

The bathroom was huge.

Running my hand along the bath tub with its gold claw feet, I immediately envisioned myself in here. Music playing, candles flickering, a glass of red wine in my hand as I soaked in the tub and numbed my mind to… everything. The tub sat center of the room. In the back, right-hand corner was a double shower cubicle with the biggest showerhead I’d ever seen. To my left was a modern glass bowl situated atop a white ceramic shelf. That was a sink?