#(( malcolm: i was 'dead' but not anymore ))

[vilnan]

leandra blaming hawke for their sibling(s) death(s) is so narratively 👌👌👌

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 33 (Detective Gordon Risks His Job)

Conrad couldn’t shake a strange feeling, like he wasn’t himself anymore, suddenly living an entirely different life. He was an honest cop, but he was willing to bend the rules for her.

Even Gord looked at his best friend strangely, barking as he followed him from the cruiser to Spire Tower. "I know what you're thinking," said Conrad. "But I think this is why the captain put me on the case."

Gord let out a low, cautious growl.

"I know it could just as easily put me on indefinite leave, but I can't be the cop who puts her behind bars, either."

Conrad thought back to the conversation with his captain that sent him to the coast.

"I need you for a special assignment, Gordon. Your father used to work Landgraab security, did he not?"

Conrad glanced at his hands. His dad had been dead a few years and he still missed him. "He was Chester Landgraab's head of security before they both retired."

"You knew their son, didn't you? That smarmy reporter on Simlandia National."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I knew Malcolm when we were kids, but I haven't spoken to him in at least sixteen years. Why all the questions about the Landgraabs?"

"You must've heard they were hacked."

"I expected to see a case file about it at some point."

"I got a call this morning about a lead. We're keeping this one off the books until there's solid evidence for a conviction at Nancy Landgraab's request."

Conrad chuckled. "I thought the Landgraabs loved being in the news."

"The hacker used her credentials to get into the system. Let's just say this one's personal, and I need a computer geek who can navigate the Landgraabs to handle this one before it blows back on our department somehow. You know the Landgraabs love spin."

The last thing Nancy Landgraab wanted was to give Heather a chance to court public opinion before she was hung out to dry. That alone left a bad taste in Conrad’s mouth, even before he drove to Brindleton Bay and met Heather himself.

Nancy answered when Conrad buzzed up from the lobby. He looked at the luxurious decor when he entered, patiently waiting. He used to think Spire Tower was the only place worth living in all of San Myshuno. But now the penthouse felt cold and stark, like the Landgraabs themselves. "Little Conrad Gordon, is that you all grown up?"

"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Landgraab."

"Please, call me Nancy. I was sorry to hear about your father. He was always my father's favourite employee!"

Conrad nodded politely. "He loved his years working for your father."

Malcolm, in a glum mood, joined his mother and childhood friend in the living room. "So you became a cop?"

"Yeah, I don't really have the charisma to do the TV reporter thing."

"Nonsense. You were the most respectful of Malcolm's friends. If all his friends had been like you I might not have needed to send him to boarding school."

"Thanks, Mrs. Landgraab, but I'm not here to talk about the past. The captain sent me to Brindleton Bay this morning."

Nancy's polite smile faded to a scowl. "And? Did you come here to say that woman has been arrested?"

"Mom, what did you do?"

Nancy glared hawkishly toward her son. "I'm trying to clean up your mistakes as usual, Malcolm."

"I didn't find the evidence you need," Conrad lied. "But you know the captain keeps your investigations unofficially open until you call to close them yourself. She's still a suspect, but this all feels more like a family disagreement than a criminal investigation. She knows you stole her code."

"She is not family," insisted Nancy. "She is the woman manipulating my grandson."

"Mom, Ash can't even talk yet."

"And it's a shock you even know that, Malcolm!"

Conrad could feel the tension rising and he raised his hand to clear the air. "Listen, I'm just a detective and this case has nothing to do with me, otherwise, but you should think about whether sending his mother to prison is the best thing for your grandson."

"Please. She'd be out of the way and cease to be a bigger thorn in my side than my idiot brother," Nancy sniffed. "And we'll out-lawyer her every step of the way if she wants to charge us for stealing her code."

Malcolm threw up his arms in frustration. "Dammit, Mom. We're not pressing charges tonight, alright?" He turned to the detective. "It's nice to see you again, Conrad. Thank you for coming by. And for not filing a report."

This was a demand, not a request. Though Conrad was proper, polite, and a rule-follower by nature, he nodded in agreement. Conrad didn't want to file a report any more than he did.

With Malcolm again pulled in different directions, the young detective left him pondering what to do next. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

[pamsimmerstories]

Promises

previous || next

-

[wolfgang]: you know you don’t need to come here everyday

[cassandra]: i know... but i promised her

-

[cassandra]: wait... i know this place

[cassandra]: who’s dead now?

[aurora]: *shouts* cassie!!

[cassandra]: rory??? no no no no no.

[aurora]: it’s so good to see you. malcolm said i could see you

[cassandra]: did you... die?

[aurora]: it’s not a surprise, cassie. i was... old

[cassandra]: i know. i just...

[malcolm]: hey, Addams

[cassandra]: mal!! this feels so good

[malcolm]: you still see me every day.

[cassandra]: but it feels different

[malcolm]: i know

[malcolm]: cassie, i can’t stay with you anymore—

[cassandra]: what? no! why?

[malcolm]: i overstayed there. remember when we talk about consequences?

[cassandra]: no! i can’t lose you again, malcolm. not again!

[cassandra]: please, stay with me

[malcolm]: i can’t, cassie. but soon we’ll see each other again. i’ve been there for you for all those years...

[cassandra]: i want to wake up from this nightmare. this is not happening. aurora is not dying and you aren’t leaving

[aurora]: you’re going to be okay, cassie

[aurora]: i know this is not a good time, but maybe... you and wolfgang will need each other. can you take care of him for me?

[cassandra]: no. because you’re not dead.

[aurora]: cassie...

[cassandra]: fine.

[malcolm]: you two can look out for each other

[cassandra]: ...

-

[aurora]: she’s not happy

[malcolm]: she’s not.

[aurora]: now, we wait

[malcolm]: yes... we wait

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 24

PREVIOUS

“What do you MEAN Smithy is in the hospital with a stab wound to his stomach?!” Nicky’s own voice is agony for his hangover but honestly, how the fuck else was he supposed to respond when he had asked Andrew where FF was and gotten that as a response.

“Calm down.” Andrew says and he looks tired, looks stressed, and maybe even just…a touch nervous?

Nicky isn’t as good as Neil at reading Andrew Minyard. He doesn’t think anyone will ever be as fluent in the language of Andrew Minyard as Neil Josten but Nicky has picked up some key phrases.

He can see when he’s making a joke that is a step too far. He can see when his cousin wants to kiss Neil but is holding back. He can see when his cousin is stressed.

He can see a guilty curve to Andrew’s spine.

“Andrew, answer me honestly, did you stab my sweet baby freshman?” Nicky asks and he’s not sure if the nausea he feels anymore is from horror or from the sheer number of drinks he had put in his system the night before.

Roland usually cuts him off before he gets this level.

Roland also has a habit of pouring heavier when he’s stressed.

Roland also also tends to make complicated fruity drinks that Nicky likes when he’s stressed.

Andrew’s jaw tenses but it’s Neil who speaks up, “It was an accident. It happened during a fight.” Neil says and Nicky throws his hands up in the air.

“You got into a FIGHT with my sweet baby freshman? Sweet little Smithy? The boy who made brownies that made me feel kinda straight for a dead woman?!” Nicky exclaims and sees Andrew and Neil open their mouths to say something but, “I promised him that if he wanted I’d get him something hard that’d mess his GUTS up but this isn’t what I MEANT.” He lets himself collapse dramatically over the table.

“Nicky, shut up!” Kevin hisses from his spot on the couch.

“When the fuck did Kevin get here?!” Because seriously, how fucked up was Nicky last night that he doesn’t remember Kevin coming on this Columbia trip? Where’d he sit? He couldn’t really remember coming over after Thanksgiving. Had Andrew put Kevin in the trunk? Had Andrew put Nicky in the trunk?

“He came with Wymack.” Neil cut in before Nicky started testing reality. “Wymack is at the hospital since he’s…uh…he’s the…”

“Medical Power of Attorney” Andrew answers.

“Yes! Thank you, the Medical power of attorney for Smith. He needed surgery and Wymack wanted to be nearby in case he had to make any pressing decisions.” Neil explains and yeah that tracks, he knows a little bit about FF’s family and knows that aside from his grandma on his dad’s side the rest can go take a long walk off a short volcano observation platform

“Okay, that explains why Kevin is here….how?! Despite all of the unwarranted advice, Kevin is not a medical professional.” Nicky says before turning to Kevin, “So Kevin, what insane Exy-related reason are you here? Don’t lie and say it’s because you want to sign the get well soon card.” He hisses.

“Fuck you!” Kevin spits, “I need to know how long Smiths is going to be out of commission and what his PT is going to look like. He was supposed to be starting during the spring season.” Kevin growls.

“There it is!” Nicky throws up his hands.

“Nicky, just calm down!” Neil pleads.

“How can I stay calm? Andrew stabbed Smithy! So not only is my favorite freshman in the hospital Andrew’s going to end up back on those god forsaken meds again!” Nicky shouts and buries his face in his hands.

“Smith isn’t going to say that.” Andrew’s voice is calm but Nicky can hear the slight edge.

“Oh yeah?” Nicky asks because he could see FF promising to never mention who stabbed him if Andrew would just spare his life. FF was going to be even MORE of a disaster when it came to his anxiety around Andrew. Nicky wouldn’t be surprised if his friend just straight up dropped out after this. His cousin is safe but he’s absolutely going to lose his friend.

“Because he’s saying Romero Malcolm stabbed him.” Andrew finishes.

Nicky sits up.

“Wait, what?” Nicky asks.

“Last night Romero Malcolm was at Eden’s.” Neil says voice even in a way that lets Nicky know that he’s trying to stay calm, “Smith recognized him, heard he wanted to grab,” Neil swallows thickly, “…grab one of my friends and saw them looking at…” Neil trails off and looks to Andrew who shakes his head, “…around for someone to grab.” Neil seems to decide and Nicky knows when something is being hidden from him but he’s more interested in the story than what Neil is hiding at the moment, “He got Romero’s attention so that he wouldn’t do anything bad in Eden’s and let Roland know to call help. He went out alone into the alley but Romero didn’t follow him.” Neil explains.

“Oh thank god.” Nicky sighs.

“Because he’d alerted Jackson Plank was lying in wait to ambush him.” Neil continues.

“Oh dear god.” Nicky exclaims.

“He uh…” Neil looks to Andrew who shakes his head again, “okay we don’t know exactly HOW Smith managed to do it but he beat Jackson up pretty bad.” Neil explains.

Nicky feels his brain stop working.

He has watched FF trip over his own feet, walk into four different trees, and almost sprain his ankle walking across a flat surface. He knows FF has been watching self-defense videos and had even gotten some pointers from Matt but even Matt had told him his better bet was probably just to yell “WOW WHAT’S THAT OVER THERE?!”, point behind the attacker, and run as fast as humanly possible away from a fight.

Neil is still talking.

Nicky boots back up quickly.

“…a gun. He tackled Romero into Andrew and Andrew’s knife ended up in Smith’s stomach on accident while they were wrestling for the gun. Smith is the one who said he’s going to tell everyone who asks that it was Romero. He even said it to me.” Neil says with an awkward laugh.

“And you believed him.” Andrew says and there’s warmth in his cousin’s eyes as he looks at Neil and teases him.

“And I believed him.” Neil confirms.

“Okay, so you swear to me that you did not INTENTIONALLY stab my BFF?” Nicky asks looking at Andrew seriously.

“BFF, seriously?” Kevin asks.

“Best Freshman Friend.” Nicky answers quickly, “Don’t worry Kevin, you lose out to Matt in all regards for my Best Senior Friend.” He says.

Kevin just flips him off but Nicky turns his attention back to Andrew, “Andrew, I need to hear it.” He says .

“I did not intentionally stab Smith.” Andrew confirms.

Nicky lets the horrified nausea leave him with only his hangover nausea.

“Okay, we can work with that.”  Nicky leans back. “Have you heard from that Agent?” he asks looking at Neil.

Neil nods but then looks nervous and shoots a look towards Kevin, “The FBI is sending Browning and a field office agent to talk with us but…Ichirou also contacted me.” He says and Nicky watches as Kevin perks up.

“He did?!” Kevin squawks looking around like he expected the head of the Moriyama family to appear from the shadows.

“He wants to make sure we do our part to keep the Moriyama name out of this. He is going to deal with Romero and Jackson himself.” Neil says looking nervous.

Nicky clenches his eyes shut, “Well you’re not going to mention them right?” he hears Kevin ask.

“Of course not Kevin.” Nicky hears Andrew hiss.

“Good.” Kevin says.

There’s silence in the wake of Neil’s statement.

Nicky takes a deep breath and wishes his head was a little less agonizing. “Why aren’t we at the hospital to see Smithy?” he asks because he has nothing he can do about Ichirou so he may as well put it out of his mind.

There is some grumbling.

“Wymack said that he’ll just make us sit in the waiting room without any updates.” Neil says. “We’re picking up Smith’s grandma from the airport and she’s our ticket to getting an actual update beyond ‘not dead yet’ from Wymack.” He adds.

“What, you really can’t get updates without Wymack?” Nicky asks.

Andrew looks at Nicky and Nicky can’t read a single thing his cousin is thinking.

“What’s Smith’s first name Nicky.” Andrew asks.

“Oh God fucking Dammit.” Nicky’s head hurts too bad for this.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

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@i-have-three-feelings

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The requests to be added to the tag list keep being spread out across a few different areas. If I missed you please just ask again in the replies I promise I just missed you.

As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it right but you didn’t get a notification there might be something switched around in your settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

[anamoon63]

Geoffrey apologized to Clifford for how badly Malcolm had behaved to his late mother, Bebe. Geoffrey: We Landgraabs may be all sorts of things but we don't abandon our own. Clifford: (To himself): Oh yeah? and why didn't he help my mother leaving her to die in poverty? I guess it doesn't matter anymore.

Geoffrey: (Oblivious to Clifford's thoughts): So the third part of the fortune in Malcolm's will rightfully belongs to you, the other two thirds belong to your half-sisters, Natalie and Doris. Clifford politely declined to accept the inheritance. Clifford: Uh...

Clifford: Thank you very much but my family and I don't need money, we live quite comfortably thanks to mine and my wife's work. Geoffrey: Money is always needed. You could use it to pay for your children's University. How many do you have, three?

Clifford: I'm sorry for your loss, but I don't want anything coming from you or your deceased son. I came to offer my condolences, and I already have, so, have a good day, Mr. Landgraab. Mr. Landgraab. Clifford didn't even deign to call him grandfather. Why would he? Geoffrey never acted like one. And now he wants to buy off his great-grandchildren with that cheapskate Malcolm's fortune? Thanks, but no thanks.

*Note: I know it's super weird that Geoffrey is still alive when Malcom is dead and Clifford is already a Senior citizen, but my game, even with aging on, behaves in the weirdest ways. 😮

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 2: The Ties that Bind

The Athena cabin was the most brightly lit in Camp.

Not Apollo's, whose kids spent to much of their time outdoors or they'd all kill each other. Their music got the best volume and audience down in the amphitheater anyways, and the others dispersed in the archery range or med bay or anywhere else they pleased, like flirting down at the lake. No, the sun god's cabin got the most warmth through the beautifully constructed windows, but the lights inside were rarely on.

The large gray cabin had every light in the house on, often times bright as the crack of dawn in the dead of night. Currently, with one lone occupant in its center. Her curly blonde hair was a tangled mess, her orange shirt was more wrinkled than her bloodshot eyes as she stared down at a test with a B- on it as if it held the answer to all her prayers.

The name at the top said Percy Jackson.

He'd kissed her goodnight with one of the proudest smiles she'd ever seen on his face. He'd been going on about mailing this to his mother and threatening Hermes himself if it didn't arrive, he didn't want to wait for winter break to end to show his mom.

It was just a mock test, they'd come to camp together that winter holiday teasing and laughing each other they wouldn't get anything done, but he'd sat dutifully beside her every day after training. She gave him the test verbally, and it turned out she'd found a very helpful way to encourage him to focus on his studies involving gummy worms.

She'd never seen him smile so bright when she swore on the Styx she hadn't curved the grade for him, that had been his work on that paper, and he'd looked at her and said, "maybe I should go back to slacking off," teasing and squeezing her hand. "I'm worried if this becomes a thing Wise Girl, you'll stop calling me Seaweed Brain."

"I wouldn't dream of it," she'd kissed him gently and promised they'd drive to New York to hand deliver it to his mother. They'd spend the whole drive bickering where they'd spend Christmas. With Sally and Paul, or here at Camp, or maybe even risk finally introducing Percy to her dad as her boyfriend...

There was a corkboard, books, maps, a full plate of food, and more books piled around her than even her mothers temples could imagine holding as she sat in the center. Her siblings must have been staying at the Big House or something after the last time she'd chucked her earrings like throwing stars at the door for Malcolm opening it with worried eyes on her. They were still embedded. Her gray eyes fractured as the fluttering of pages went unnoticed by her from where she'd hurled her last attempt to find an answer against the wall.

He hadn't shown up at breakfast, a worrying thing all its own...

Annabeth felt the presence of someone arriving, but she didn't take notice. If it was one of her siblings crawling through the window for their toothbrush or Chiron again to exchange plates of food and no new answers, they held nothing important for her.

His cabin had been spotless. His bed made, not a speck of dust in sight, the wrappers stacked in the bin rather than ringing it. Somebody had cleaned up.

She was alone again.

Don't do this to me, she wanted to scream in Zeus's face or the universe itself. Haven't I suffered enough?! Please, do not do this to me! I can't take anymore!

The best outcome was a quest, one so time sensitive he had to go before he could tell her, to save someone. The logical answer.

But she was only mortal. It had been to long. There was another solution to this.

He was dead.

Or he had abandoned her too.

When exactly panic had turned into reality he was just, gone, vanished into thin air had been no set point in time. She kept expecting the terror to fade, dull slightly, but it never did. It was always there, like she'd grown a second heartbeat, pulsing away no matter what little sleep her mind claimed from her brain's frantic searches before she snapped awake again in full panic.

Calling Sally had been the worst of it. The dead feeling she knew she could never resuscitate in herself no matter the outcome. Her last desperate chance he'd just taken off to see her alone, and the choking words to explain when his mother was as lost as she was.

Will Solace had threatened to carry her over his shoulder to the med bay and strap her down if he heard of this continuing, and she'd chucked her backpack at him, dislocating his shoulder last she heard.

She'd prayed to every single God, sobbed until she passed out for air into Grover's shoulder as he held her tight, but they were the wrong arms. Pleaded with her mother to give her another clue and she wouldn't fail her again. Demanded of Hera to take her instead if this was some punishment. Waded into the frigid December Long Island Sound up to her chest and begged for Poseidon's help, sacrificing her hat strung onto her beaded necklace into the still water.

There was just a moment. A warm flash. It had felt like a promise her sacrifice had been seen, but dismissed.

She'd stood there waiting until she was blue for more, Chiron had dragged her out kicking and screaming because it didn't vanish. Her most precious object only stayed floating on the surface. He put it on her nightstand for her where it stayed.

The clock on the wall kept ticking. Over seven days. In mere hours it would be one hundred and ninty-two hours. Every second was another moment for her world to fall apart beyond the scope of her putting any of it back together.

Chiron had been beside himself trying to comfort her, trying to get her to sleep and eat. Will had apparently gone missing too, but all she'd heard was that the wisest person at Camp didn't have an answer for her if more were on the way. She hoped she was next.

All she'd found at the Grand Canyon were angry storm spirits as lost as her, empty and chasing their own tails...

Her dreams were a worse torment than being awake. She never knew if the awful pain she kept seeing Percy in was real or her imagination. The whispers of her mother's voice that things were wrong and out of place, like missing chess pieces on a board. She'd felt a presence snatch her away, she'd felt the distaste in that flying sensation and knew it must be Hera, showing her a vision, that a boy with one shoe would be her answer- there had been a fraction of a second, where she'd stopped in a room and looked right at Percy before it all went black.

"Annabeth Chase."

The use of her last name speared something in her, the last dregs of her sanity she'd been clinging to. She was on her feet with her dagger drawn to sever ties with anyone on this mortal world who dared imply she had anywhere to go back to.

"Artemis!"

She sat delicately on a stack of discarded books over Tartarus's many entrances, the number of which people could accidentally fall into much larger than Annabeth had anticipated.

The goddess of the moon and hunt had the same sad, soulful silver eyes as when she'd taken the burden of the sky away from her.

"Thalia," Annabeth's voice came up as her last breath, her knees trembled. "Is, is she..." of course. Of course this had happened. She'd begged for her sister's help that first day and Thalia had sworn she'd find him, slashing the Mist connection with vengeful eyes practically before Annabeth had finished explaining to get started. Now her patron goddess was here to tell her Thalia was dead in the search too-

"My Lueatinent is safe," Artemis said evenly, but there was a tick to her mouth. The kind of anger that a goddess could use to level natural disasters if she didn't smooth out her features again. "I can take you to her, and the one you seek, Percy Jackson."

There was no sense of movement. Annabeth's knife was embedded into the floor point first, she was on her knees in front of her savior once more as she spoke without hesitation, "I swear on the Styx, I'll do anything to help. What do you need?"

No god did anything without wanting something in return. She would pay that price.

There was a rumble of thunder in the distance, and her cold eyes turned warm as she smiled and stroked her hair. Artemis reached for her hand and Annabeth blindly took it without care of what came next. "That answer will suffice."

...

They interrupted the Titan of the Ocean and the Titan of Fresh Water and Nourishment having dinner.

Annabeth landed on the kale chips and heard the disturbing crunch under her rump while Artemis delicately plucked a shrimp out of her loose, brown hair.

The canyon like room was so dark Annabeth couldn't see the walls, the mosaic tiles were grimy and the floor had more tread it in than her favorite book. There was an empty chandelier hanging on by a single bolt above her head threatening to give out any moment with empty candle holders and dripping diamonds. The ceiling's white marble was so structurally unsound not even the best job involving duct tape would fix it. The one decoration that stood the test of time was an enormous, lovely stained glass window above the arched door. The happy couple gazing into each other's eyes in every shade of blue and green. It glowed as the only source of light.

Oceanus's bursting sigh caused it to quiver in its frame and one of the mottled chairs to collapse out of sight from her perch on the center of the long table. "Listening to Kronos really was the worst decision of my existence," he said as he stabbed at his salad. "Those kids don't go five minutes without disrupting my peace, now we can't get through dinner without gods popping in on us?"

"Artemis, it is lovely to see you again," but Tethy's smile was strained even as she pulled out a clipboard and flipped to a new page. "Something we can help you with? Why have you brought this mortal."

Oceanus stared blearily at her like he was seeing her for the first time through the mirky swill. There were cobwebs swaying around on his bullhorns.

"I cannot stay long, my lady," she tipped her head respectfully, but there was still a tightness about her Annabeth wasn't used to seeing in how the gods carried themselves. It seemed as if she was concentrating on her every word. "Poseidon played a dangerous move interrupting Hera's plan," Artemis kept her childlike appearance, sitting smaller than Annabeth in her chair, her forehead only just visible from where Annabeth sat. Her voice carried power in the room. "I do not follow Zues's wishes, and I do not appreciate being kept out of the loop."

A silver fork leapt off the table and flew across the room into the darkness. There was an ominous blue glow of a fish Annabeth couldn't hope to identify coming to life and eating it before the light faded back away.

"My second greatest regret," one of Oceanus's crab claws jutting from his ear started tapping his temple. "Harboring these children has been nothing but a miserable headache! If we didn't share a domain I wouldn't even care to make peace, but the fight isn't worth another pain in my-"

"You have not just dishonored Poseidon," Artemis's voice stayed calm, but Annabeth was starting to wonder if she had better luck against the fish too at the danger in the air. Some of the other silverware was starting to gravitate towards the goddess, and she didn't want to know what Artemis would do with a butter knife. "Typhoon nearly destroyed Olympus, you did us all a disservice by attacking Poseidon's home and keeping his attention from the true battle."

"Poseidon's choice-" Tethys came to her husband's defense.

"Now listen here young godling," Oceanus's flower robes began swirling dangerously around him and Annabeth really wished she hadn't left her knife in her cabin.

"I have come to offer a solution," Artemis smoothly kept talking as if Annabeth's hair wasn't standing on end from the danger crackling in the room. Perhaps the goddess could meld all of the silver to her in defense. Annabeth didn't like her chances as much.

Silence, and then the two Titans finally seemed to remember to look at her.

"Me?" Annabeth squeaked.

"She is a natural leader, she will keep your charges calm. She should have been there in the beginning," Artemis's voice was laced with mercury, it was plain as her forehead she was still angry Thalia had been taken without her knowledge, but the slight rift of movement in her auburn hair meant she probably just crossed her ankles and smoothed her shirt before continuing. "I am offering her to be in your court now to keep the god's children in a more quiet peace."

Silence was her answer, Annabeth felt sweat break out on the back of her neck, but she jumped to her feet with confidence. Crumbs fell from the seat of her pants. Her empty hands wished to readjust the straps of her bag and twist up her cap, but she had nothing but her wits about her. The same she'd always had.

"I will not only do this," she promised, wishing she knew what in the god's grand scheming was going on she was promising to do, "but I will do you one better Lord Oceanus. I will design you a new home, an even better retirement home. With soundproof walls."

That got his attention. He finally stared directly at her, his fractured eyes like a tempest.

The Titan was unfathomably old, and tired. Whatever Kronos had promised him for his services, Annabeth had a feeling it had not come to pass.

"I thought you were already in that room," he finally said.

"No dear," Tethy's voice was still patient and calm, if just as strained as her husband's. "The two that are giving me insurance hell are still in there. I'm still on hold, and haven't gotten a single call back from my representative of claims!"

"Ah," he tapped his chin, or tried to, as he tapped one of the crab claws that tapped back like a strange miniature version of paddy cake. "On one condition Artemis. You must take one of them with you. If you're down here interrupting my dinner, than we may have even less time before the rest of the gods such as Hera herself figure out our ploy and I have been assured I will not be involved in that business. My hands are free of this mess once those kids finish their homework and are gone. Any extra soul is already pushing the boundaries."

"A fair trade I will see to myself," Artemis assured. "I have permission to enter your bathhouse?"

"Yes, yes," he waved, eyes still on Annabeth who mouthed bathhouse with dread. "I have your word mortal? On the River Styx? Soundproof walls?"

"With luxury recliners and the best earmuffs in immortal existence," Annabeth assured.

There was no other explanation before Armies jumped on the table and took her hand again, and the last glimpse she had of one of the first immortal beings was the couple exchanging hopeful smiles again like the picture behind them.

...

They were standing in an empty hallway on the cracked floor right in front of a door that had a massive hole through the middle. Inside was a circular room that gave her heart failure, it was in more disrepair than the room she'd just left, its structure hanging on by divine intervention.

There were people inside sitting on green couches and cushions. Strangely only one of them seemed to be talking, their voice coming to her a bit forced as if they were reading something rather than just speaking. She'd practiced enough speeches in the mirror from her many botched and rewritten battle plans to hear the difference in someone's voice.

That voice, she knew that voice...she'd heard it so many times in her life. Exhausted, strained, about to crack with stress, but forcing a smile like nothing was wrong. Happy, laughing, saying her name in every way possible-

Without another glance at the goddess, she pushed the door open as Percy said;

"So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."

"Oh, gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."

"Tell Annabeth what?" Annabeth said from the doorway.

[mk-writes-stuff]

Happy sts! What would each of your Pirate's Roost crew say is the most dangerous part of being a sailor?

Happy STS! Sorry this is late (as usual), I don’t get much time for tumblr on the weekends sadly

Anyway, this is a fun question, let’s get right into it! I’m going to do a lot of the ship’s crew characters, so this’ll be a long one. As always, credits to my gf for some of these lovely characters :)

Merry: “Probably the fact that you’re inevitably going to piss off some really powerful people, and you’ve got to figure out how to deal with them because they will kill you. Or worse.”

Malcolm: *laughs* “It’s the pirates. No, no, I’m not kidding. I love being a pirate, but we’re really a mixed bag. There are some truly despicable people out here on the seas.”

Tatum: “There’s always a few bad characters on any ship. They’re the worst. I can deal with the other threats.”

Amelia: “You’d think I’d say vampires-“ *gestures to the thick ring of bite scars on her wrists- “but nah, it’s the storms. Vampires can be scared off or reasoned with. The storm’ll kill you just because you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Julian: “No one ever says illness, but you’re in a confined space with a lot of people and only so many medical supplies on board. It’s the illness every time.”

Finley: “I have to second storms. They’ll snap your mast in two, and if you’re no prepared, you’re dead in the water.”

Breeches: “VAMPIRES AND BRIGANDS AND MARAUDERS!”

Wallace: “Well, I’m dead, so nothing anymore. But if you’re referring to for someone living, there are dozens of structural hazards in carelessly-designed ships…” *unskippable autism cutscene*

Len (a vampire): “It’s the vampires.”

Azalea: “In retrospect, the fact that a helmsmage can bond to and control a ship they’re imprisoned on is pretty terrifying.”

Don, awkwardly: “Mutiny’s pretty bad. Also the therapist scares me.”

Onora: “Constantly being surrounded by seawater is pretty bad. My gills have never fully recovered from swimming in it.”

Corbin: “Honestly? The captain. Captain Merry is lovely, but the amount of control and power a captain can have over their crew is very dangerous if they don’t have the crew’s best interests in mind.”

Kiali: “Deckhands and their own stupidity. The things I’ve seen…”

Rogelio: “The cookstoves on the wooden ship always make me a little nervous. Every time we get a new apprentice in, I’m terrified.”

Helena: “Seconding deckhands’ stupidity.”

Francisco, proudly: “Francisco. I’m the pretty bird.”

Thank you so much for the ask! I had a ton of fun with it. I hope you like the new (and returning) characters - questions are welcome as always :)

[coffeecoloredpages]

Meet Me Halfway

Chapter 16

Sirius

Tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock 

The methodical ticking from the hallway clock thundered in Sirius' ears. He counted each tick, marking the minutes and hours in his mind as they passed. It'd been seventeen hours, forty-two minutes, and twenty-eight seconds since… since… since what? Why was he here again? Where was here?

He didn't know, couldn't remember. It was too dark to see. There was only dark, empty nothing. He felt suspended in empty space, as if everything had somehow ceased to exist. He had stopped fighting for air long ago. He wasn't sure he was even breathing anymore, his breath disappearing with everything else. Everything except for himself. Himself and that ticking. 

Ticking. 

Seventeen hours, forty-five minutes, and fifty-one… fifty-two… fifty-three…

There was pain, too, in his head. If he focused on it, he could feel another part of himself, existing separately inside him. A contained bubble of frustration and fear and pain, hidden inside the layer of dark and ticking and counting. If he pushed too far, he'd find himself sucked in, as if he had plunged his head into a pensieve. 

“Think about what you've done!” 

His mother's voice. 

“Think about what you've done!” 

That part was separate, a foreign entity in his mind, forcing him deeper into the memory. 

A cold, dead face. Predatory smile and bloodshot eyes. 

“I have heard much of your doings at Hogwarts. You've chosen to fall in with a rather… grievous crowd. Rebellion is natural among our young, but you have so much more potential than they do. Don't you want to know what glory feels like? I could show you power beyond your wildest imagination.”

“I'd rather renounce magic and live as a muggle than inherit the sort of has been power this lot has.” 

“Yes, the pureblood power has diminished greatly, but I can make you strong. You could be a part of something grander.” The man's tongue flicked out, as if tasting something in the air. His eyes glittered greedily. 

A chill ran down Sirius' back. “I don't fancy playing at royalty while wasting away.” He should stop talking. He'd been warned not to talk. He couldn't stop. “And my friend's have far more talent than everyone here combined, including you, so I don't plan on groveling like the rest of these poncey bastards, thanks-”

Someone grabbed him roughly from behind, forcing his head down.

“Your son seems to have been corrupted, Orion. I am disappointed. I had hoped the house of Black would be better prepared to welcome in the new age.”

“I apologize for my son's behavior. He will be properly admonished. It seems my wife's efforts to educate him have been lacking.”

“Of course, I am nothing if not forgiving. I'm sure you will not let such a failing persist.” Sirius saw the man wave his hand dismissively. His father bowed, forcing Sirius to do the same. “Wilhelm, Malcolm, come with me. We must find Reinhard, there is much to discuss.”

The memory faded as the - Voldemort, Sirius remembered - faded into the crowd. 

Tick-tock tick-tock 

The ticking reverberated through his brain, shaking the walls of the memory bubble as a cold, dead face came into focus once more. 

“Think about what you've done!” 

A spell of his mother's own invention, coupled with her legilimency. One she had used for punishment often when they were younger. Had she ever left him for this long before? 

How long had it been? 

“I’d rather renounce magic and live as a muggle…”

He pushed his focus away from the memory, pushing it back into a contained bubble. Pain shot through his head.

It felt like something was cracking, splintering into separate pieces. 

Where was he again?

Tick-tock 

Eighteen hours, seven minutes, and nineteen seconds… twenty…twenty-one…

(Wordwyrm on ao3)

[edwinspaynes]

Finally found someone who isn't really into faerie and thule thing 😌 maybe that's 2 reasons why i didn't really like tda, I enjoyed it to some extent but not too much.

May I know why you don't like faerie world and thule in tda?

If you ever want to gripe about TDA, you can always come to me. There's very little I enjoyed about it. Lol.

I think faeries are really hard to write and pull off, and Cassie... well, she's actually not bad at it, but she's not confident when writing fae. And it really shows, and all of the rules feel forced. Idk. I also don't particularly like faeries in general in books - their trickiness usually feels like a weird forced ritual to me - and I didn't vibe with it. I also don't really like any of the courtly fae we're introduced to in TSC so it doesn't grab my attention.

Thule is just weird. It feels like Cassie wanted to write an AU angst fanfic of her own characters and shoved it into the book. It had very little meaning or relevance, and it also is written really weirdly and inconsistently. It's disjointed within the bigger book and really serves no purpose. I also hate multiverses in general, and this one opens up so many stupid questions that no one needed to ask or answer. Like, sure, this rupture happened in CoLS, right? So are these characters - Janus and all the dead people - extensions of that TMI cast? Are we following the "true" TMI cast now? And why was any of this necessary? It wasn't. Also, the Warlock Disease really wasn't looking scary anymore when Annabel was wandering around with froufrou dog Malcolm. It detracted from the seriousness of the situation.

Also, we really don't need evil butthole Jace. Sorry. There were a thousand better possibilities.

Luckily, since I'm pretty much here for TID and TLH, Thule isn't really relevant to me. I'm glad there's no stupid alternate dimension where the TLH characters would have been alive, because that would have annoyed me immensely.

[marointhemoon]

you know i'll take my heart clean apart / if it helps yours beat

In which a Reed man will die if it means his comrades do not.

Written for AI-less Whumptober 2024, day 5: Multiple whumpees; self-sacrifice

Length: 300 words

Your mission was simple enough: rescue Hoshi, destroy the Xindi ship, and (hopefully) leave with everyone alive. No such luck: the ship still exists, and you’re down to two of the five people you entered the ship with. Of those two: your left arm is gushing blood, and Hayes is unconscious—or dead, for all you know—from having been shot. You’ve got Hoshi, but she’s leaned up against him, not looking much better. You’ve called their names a couple times now. They haven’t responded.

You’ve called the Enterprise a couple times, too. They have responded; it’s a matter of time before you’re all found.

Then again, you're dying; you don’t have that luxury.

You unzip your jumpsuit and rip off your shirt. You tie it around your arm, tight enough to where you can barely bear the pain. Fuck your injuries; fuck your pain. The MACO and junior officer come first.

So, you wait. (For rescue or death? You’re not sure anymore. Neither sounds bad.)

You endure. (It’s harder by the minute.)

You listen. (Is everybody still breathing? You are, that's for sure.)

You try not to pass out. (It’s harder by the minute.)

You hear footsteps outside the door. You can feel your body shutting down, but that doesn’t matter. You raise your phase rifle, arms shaking. If you die now, you die protecting Hayes and Hoshi.

The door opens.

You see three figures in the doorway, humans: short, tall, slightly shorter. Blurry faces; grey uniforms. One's horrified. Another's face goes stony. Has either seen this much blood before? The third yells something you can't make out.

You put the rifle down. You're saved—at least, they are.

“Get the others,” you rasp. “They’re off worse. Get the others.”

You’re not awake long enough to know what happens.

Today's theme: Two - Sleeping at Last

Youtube link || Spotify link

I originally meant this work to be a lot... gentler? I guess? Like there was definitely supposed to be peril, but not to this degree. In general, though, I wanted to explore similar themes to "Two" re: giving of yourself because you don't see value in giving to yourself, especially to your own detriment. Granted, this is an extreme example of that, but the point stands: generally speaking, Malcolm Reed is very self-effacing, to the point of putting his own life in peril multiple times to save his crew members.

[bug-and-such]

Watching Enterprise rn and I'm currently on season 3. So far, it's alright, I like it enough.

LOVE T'Pol and Phlox. Travis needs more screentime and his own episodes. Hoshi too.

Trip and Malcolm are my idiot nephews. Sorry to all the reed stans out there but he's got to be the worst security officer I've ever seen. Bitch is always getting thrown around. And trip is too nosey for his own good.

Archer in season 1 and 2 is babygirl, but this whole captain ahab thing he's got going on in the 3rd season is kinda putting me off. Like, I get it's for the plot, but I feel like I don't know u anymore.

me, every time I see Porthos: 🗣️🫶🐶🥰🐕💕🤸

‼️JEFFREY COMBS‼️ I knew he was in this show and I still get surprised whenever I see Shran. He's the reason I got really into star trek.

Every star trek show I watch, I always get obsessed with the vulcans. Again, love T'Pol 🫶. And I was slowly growing attached to Soval until I looked up the actor and hmmm... how are you in star trek and a right-winger, make it make sense.

My only solace with this is that the guy's dead now, so we can do whatever we want with the character. It still takes me out tho. I mean, sure, seperate the character from the actor but sometimes it just doesn't sit right y'know. But if we can love Kirk and hate shatner (rightfully so), surely we can do the same with this one, right? Idk.

Anyways, still have to finish this season and then move on to the final season. Which I've heard isn't good 😞 then I'm watching Voyager (we're watching out of order, fight me)

[roomwithanopenfire]

Thanks for the tag @run-for-chamo-miles!!

I've had the busiest day today (choir concert and my parents were here) and I haven't finished all my homework so typing this out will be my break 😅

In other news, I'm less than 300 words away from surpassing 60k on my Natasha Lives WIP! I can hardly wait to finish it so I can finally share. I'm actually so close (yet so far). Peep some Natasha POV from the prologue:

“You know what we have to do, Malcolm.”

“I won’t let you do it. I won’t let you kill our son.” He pounded his fist on the kitchen counters. The tears had left his eyes and started to roll down his cheek.

“He’s already dead.” I averted my eyes from him. I didn’t want to do this anymore than he did, but it had to be done.

“You can’t possibly believe that, Tasha.” My heart softened a bit at the nickname. Against my best judgement, I lifted my eyes to meet his. He looked at me with a pleading intensity. “He’s the same as he was before. He’s still living, and he’s still our son.”

News for my other fandom other the cut

I'm putting off my chapter for my Stranger Things Ronance fic because the last scene (which is very important) needs a lot of work, so we'll see when I have time to post it. Here's a little snippet to tide you over.

“Hello,” Nancy spoke into the receiver.

“Nancy!” Eddie sounded excited. “It’s me, Eddie. Do you want me to pick you up or can you drive here yourself?”

“Um,” Nancy looked at the clock by her bedside table. “Were we playing on meeting today? It’s already almost ten.”

“I— No, we weren’t planning on it, but I have something I need to tell you, and, no, it cannot wait. So am I picking you up?”

Hmmm I wonder what Eddie has to tell Nancy... 🤔🤔

Tags + hellos:

@run-for-chamo-miles @facewithoutheart @raenestee @artsyunderstudy @onepintobean @shrekgogurt @prettygoododds @rimeswithpurple (and @sweetronancer for the ronance, idk how much longer I'll put ronance in these things, we should make our own little wip day thing as a fandom 😂😭)

[agaypanic]

can you do a reese request where your his best friend but you like him and you didn't get a chance to tell him before he left the army and you're mad at him for leaving and scaring you and you confess . fluffy and kinda smutty .

Come Back, Be Here (Reese Wilkerson X Reader)

Masterlist

Request Something!

Summary: Fate seemed so cruel to convince Reese to leave and risk his life because of a broken heart the same night you wanted to go to him with a heart full of love. But a few weeks later, fate seemed to be kinder. Because now he’s popped up on your doorstep, heart ready to be mended.

A/N: couldn’t think of a title bc i’ve already written something with kind of the same plot so i used a TS song lol

***

“What do you mean he’s gone?” You asked Malcolm on the phone. This had to have been some sick prank. “Malcolm, this isn’t funny.”

“Y/n, I’m not lying. He ran away and joined the army.”

“Why would he do that? Reese hates the government and anything that has authority over him.” The line was quiet, but you knew he was still on the phone with you. “Malcolm, did you do something?”

“Maybe.”

“What did you do?” Quiet again. “Malcolm?” He sighed, ashamed of what he was about to say.

“He caught me with his girlfriend when he went to tell her he loved her, and she broke up with him. He told me to take care of her, and we haven’t seen him since.”

“I bet you’re not even with her anymore.” You sneered into the phone. His silence confirmed it. “Oh my God, Malcolm, I think you might be the worst brother in the history of siblings!” 

“How do you think I feel, Y/n?! You think I’m happy about this?!” He exploded over the phone, his outburst shutting the both of you up.

“Have you heard from him at all?” You asked, voice breaking. You refused to believe that Reese wouldn’t contact his family at all. 

“He sent a letter; that’s how we found out where he went.”

“What did he say?” You asked immediately.

“He said he’s okay and that he wanted to wait until he was a success to write to us. He graduated first in his training post and got some kind of reward.” Your breathing quickened. Suddenly everything felt too real for you to handle. You told Malcolm you had to go before hanging up, a sob breaking through. You slid down against the wall, crying your eyes out.

You were absolutely devastated. Your best friend ran off to one of the worst places to run to, and you had no way to contact him or, at the very least, ensure he was okay. You felt guilty. So, so guilty.

You knew, realistically, none of this was your fault. The situation had nothing to do with you. But you felt like you could have prevented it if you were quicker.

You had no idea if it was the same night. But a few weeks ago, you had taken enough of pretending to be content with friendship. As cliche as it was, you had been silently in love with your best friend for a few years. One night, you had snuck over to his house, finally building up all the courage in the world to tell him. But he wasn’t home.

Now you know why.

You started sobbing harder. You hated this feeling. The feeling of missing Reese, who was somewhere in the world, instead of down the road where he belonged. Loving a man who couldn’t be confirmed to be alive and mourning him even though he wasn’t confirmed to be dead.

***

For the next two weeks, you were a mess. Your mom had to excuse your absences and later called you out until further notice. Extenuating circumstances, she said. It was sort of funny, in a cruel way. Extenuating circumstances meant a situation that provided an excuse for an action, but you didn’t even fully understand the situation yourself. All you knew was that Reese was gone, and Lois was determined to find him.

Some days you couldn’t even get out of bed. You would stay under the covers that protected you from the hurt and the worry and the fear. All you did was overthink, wondering where Reese was or if he’d ever be found.

Today was a better day. You took a shower and ate some food, eating in your backyard to get some of the sunlight you had been avoiding like the plague. 

Because you were outside, you didn’t hear the phone ringing in the house. And because you didn’t hear it ring, you didn’t think to check the machine when you came back inside. You went back to your room, cleaning it up a bit. But that soon felt like a mistake when you picked up photos of you and Reese that you’d been looking at. You reminisced all of the memories you shared with Reese over the years.

Share. You meant ‘share,’ not ‘shared.’ Because talking about him in the past tense like that alluded to the idea that he wasn’t around to share memories with you anymore.

Setting the photos down gently on your desk, you laid back down. As you drifted off into sleep, you failed to hear the phone ringing again.

***

Hours later, you woke up to banging on the front door. You were surprised your parents weren’t answering the door, but maybe they were working late.

“I’m coming! I’m coming! Jesus.” You rolled out of bed, exhausted despite all the resting you had done. You navigated through the house to the front door, where whoever was on the other side kept knocking. “What the fuck do you want?!” You shouted, losing the very little patience you had. You yanked the door open and were about to curse out whoever was on your front step, but the words you were planning to scream got lost in your throat.

“Hey.” There he was, in the flesh. Reese stood in front of you, acting shy. You felt so overwhelmed all of a sudden.

“Hey?” You were both taken aback by the anger in your voice. But you couldn’t stop yourself. “That’s all you have to say? Hey? Do you have any idea how fucking stupid you are, Reese?! Running away and joining the army, leaving me here to worry about you and wonder if you were still even alive! I can’t believe you, Reese!” The words soon became mixed with tearful stutters. Unable to take the distance any longer, you threw yourself on him. “I can’t believe you would do such a thing.” You were much quieter than before, face smothered in Reese’s shoulder while you sobbed into him.

“I know.” His embrace on you was tight, refusing to let you go. “I know. I’m so sorry, Y/n.”

“You scared me so much. I thought you weren’t gonna come back.” You almost started crying harder at the thought, even though he was alive and well.

“Of course, I came back.” Reese cupped the back of your head. “I couldn’t leave you.”

“But you did.” It was just a whisper, but he heard it loud and clear.

“I know. But I didn’t know what to do, Beth broke my heart, and I couldn’t go home to face Malcolm again.” You lifted your head from Reese’s shoulder and immediately, his hand moved to wipe the tears from your face.

“Sure, she broke your heart. But I could’ve fixed it.”

“What?”

“You heard me.” Although it pained you, you stepped away, slipping from Reese’s hold. It seemed to have hurt him as well, based on his expression. “I was gonna see you that night. I wanted to tell you I love you, that I have for years. But you weren’t there.”

He just stared at you. You would’ve panicked, automatically assuming that you had said the wrong thing and that you had just damaged your relationship with Reese beyond repair. He wasn’t saying anything, but then again, he didn’t leave either.

That had to be a good sign, right?

“Reese-”

“Say it again.” There was a sense of urgency and dominance in his tone as he stared you down.

“What?”

“Say it again. Please.” He took a step closer. As if you could read his mind, you knew what he was talking about.

“I love you, Reese.” He pounced on you, taking your face in his hands as he pressed his lips to yours and pushed you against the wall. He kicked the door shut behind him, keeping you pinned. You came over your state of shock quickly, hands clawing at his hair and shirt. You don’t know how long you two went at it, but when you pulled apart, you were trying to catch your breath with swollen lips.

“I love you, Y/n.” You could help the grin that overcame you. Words you waited years to hear from him were finally being spoken.

“Stay.” You kissed him. “Stay, please.” You fell into a cycle of pleading and kissing him.

“I’ll stay, I’ll stay.” He silenced you with his own pattern of a promise followed by a kiss. The promise followed you two as you dragged him to your room. And the promise was kept when you woke up the next morning, covered in sheets and sweat and him, just to see that he was still there with you. And the promise was kept every day after.

[pamsimmerstories]

happy (almost) new pack day? sorry for the typos lmao, i know sometimes it's bad... but this time it's embarrassing

previous || next

malcolm]: it’s our baby

[cassandra]: wait! you’ve been joking about me and wolfgang while you and aurora had a baby? is that even possible?

[malcolm]: please, cassie. we’re dead. we can’t make babies here. it’s our baby. yours and mine. when you pregnant with morgana... one of the babies didn’t make it

[cassandra]: our baby?

[cassandra]: why didn’t you tell me?

[malcolm]: because you had just lost me, cassie. i didn’t want you to know... not yet. and then i started staying with you a lot

[cassandra]: is that why you vanished sometimes? you said you had things to do? i always wondered what kind of business a ghost ‘had to do’

[malcolm]: hey! it can be busy here

[malcolm]: but i was dying for you to meet him...

[cassandra]: you and your death jokes

[malcolm]: that’s something you like about me. my jokes

[cassandra]: i do. when you were with me... who watched over him?

[malcolm]: my dad, mila and wolfgang’s dad

[cassandra]: have you met your mother here?

[malcolm]: unfortunately, yes. but thankfully this is more like your personal heaven and you can choose the people you’re going to hang out with

[cassandra]: why is he a baby? i died as an elder and i’m young again

[malcolm]: maybe this is how he wanted to be. we choose the way we look. also, he was a new soul... there’s this new thing that you can choose to rebirth if you want. baby he’ll rebirth in one of our grandchildren’s child or another different family

[cassandra]: do we have to rebirth now?

[malcolm]: i think if the watcher wants it... there’s nothing we can do about it

[cassandra]: does he have a name?

[malcolm]: i call him phillip, we call him like this.

[cassandra]: it’s very you

[malcolm]: you know he had to fit the landgraab name

[cassandra]: i guess it doesn’t matter anymore... we can rebirth in any family now, if what you’re saying it’s true

[malcolm]: i hope i don’t get to rebirth in a poor family

[cassandra]: *chuckles* you know you just jinxed your future home, don’t you?

[malcolm]: oh god! please, don’t make born poor!

[cassandra]: *laughs* i just hope we’ll meet again in another life

[cassandra]: i’ll love you even if you’re poor, mal.

[malcolm]: don’t say that, cassandra. please.

[tethrras]

rambling about kara and leandra under the cut because i'm crazy and need to sort out my thoughts

i think kara's relationship w leandra is one she never gets closure with and neither is carver's death. from her early teen years kara started rebelling because she knew malcolm loved beth more and knew leandra loved the twins more and even tho she'd tried to help them growing up she just got sooo jealous and eventually was like ok fuck this fuck you all. and she was really troublesome and got into a lot of shit and fucked off all the time and tried sleeping around from such an early age to feel SOMETHING and then one day beth got genuinely hurt while kara was around and kara was like oh seeing the kids hurt is terrible actually. and then she became their protector again and more Passionately this time but she still didn't want leandra to think she was doing it bc leandra wanted her to. she sort of felt like she was the thing that had ruined her parents' entire life and she felt like she could Never be good enough so she was like well i'm not even gonna care and i'm not even gonna try fuck you no matter what mom no i'm not gonna make you running away from the circle worth it dad. WHATEVER. <3

that was what made her very anti-authority like....... even if beth wasn't a mage and she didn't have to protect her from templars she'd still say fuck the templars because she believes in freedom above all else. even if mages can turn into abominations she's like well let them make the choices that lead them there, outside pressure is not going to help them, it just makes things worse, etc etc, no i'm not projecting at all what are you talking about. ironically she had a better childhood than most people because the truth is leandra and malcolm were not very strict with her at all, they just wanted her to take care of the twins and whenever she fucked up it just contributed to that belief that she was the biggest fuck up in the world. and then she was like well if i don't care whether other people think i fuck up then i probs won't feel like i fucked up. so her own moral standard adjusted to what SHE thinks is right or wrong and not anyone else.

i think she lashes out at leandra for bringing up carver even without making it sound like hawke's fault bc kara does feel deep down that she DID fail but that realization is so painful that it would cripple her and depress her and make her fall into a hole so deep she wouldn't be able to crawl out of it. but at the same time kara fucking hates gamlen and hates how he treats all of them. so poor leandra gets this whiplash of kara standing up for her and being like idk how he could treat you like that you're his SISTER does that not MATTER and then leandra's like i miss carver </3 and kara's like jesus fucking christ mom shut up about carver. i think with more stability and ironically beth being with the wardens takes a lot of ease off hawke and leandra's relationship and they end up getting a tiny tiny bit closer btwn acts 1 and 2 and kara's like oh yeah i don't actually hate my mom and she's pretty cool when she's not making me feel like shit. and even then leandra doesn't know enough about her life anymore to comment so they actually get in a good place and they're sharing their lives with each other and eating dinner together. and then leandra goes and dies <3 and then Instantly kara's like fuck i was such an idiot i'm her daughter i'm supposed to make her proud and i didn't even try. she still saw leandra as that authority figure even when she was the one who needed the MOST care, more than bethany and carver ever did, and she hates herself for it very deeply and then whenever she talks about it she blames leandra and is like yeah my mom was a bitch lol to cover up her feelings. it's easier to feel guilty about speaking ill of the dead than admitting you're the reason they're dead in the first place

[walker-extended-universe]

A Killer by Any Other Name, Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Relationship(s): Liam Walker & Cordell Walker, Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Micki Ramirez & Cordell Walker

Tags/Warnings: Graphic Description, Murder, Investigations, Wrongful Imprisonment, Mistaken Identity

Summary: Cordell Walker is accused of twelve counts of first degree murder due to some damning evidence. Problem is, he didn't do it. Liam is determined to prove this so he calls on an old friend, Malcolm Bright, for some help. Meanwhile, Sam Winchester hears of the case and it doesn't take him long to figure out Walker has been pinned for one of their hunts. He can't sit by and watch an innocent man go to jail so he resolves to help in any way he can.

Written for @augustofwhump Day 7: Promise

Taglist: @theladywyn, @ihavepointysticks, @klaatu51, @itsjessiegirl1, @neptunium134

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"So what are we looking at here?" Dani asked.

Malcolm shrugged and settled into his airplane seat. "I'm not sure; haven't had a chance to look at the case file yet." He pulled his briefcase into his lap. "Wanna do that now?"

"May as well; we'll have a few hours to kill."

It was a pretty straightforward case. 12 dead bodies (“Dodeca homicide,” Bright helpfully supplied) and one fateful DNA test tied in with a few witness statements made Cordell Walker, Texas Ranger, their prime suspect. “No one actually saw him do it, right?”

“No,” Bright confirmed. “But the neighbors pegged someone matching his general description being in the area at the time and the DNA is a near perfect match. Plus, he doesn’t have a solid alibi….”

“Seems pretty cut and dry to me, sad as it is. Why are we looking into this?”

“Our suspect’s brother is an old college friend of mine and he’s convinced there’s something wrong with the case. He called me in as a favor to get a second opinion before it gets to court. Just looking at the case, I don’t think we actually have to figure out who solved the case; we just need to prove that it wasn’t our good friend Walker.���

“And how are we going to do that?”

“By creating a criminal profile and proving that he doesn’t fit it.”

“Will that work? I mean, could you convince a jury?”

“I don’t have to convince a jury,” Malcolm said. “I just have to convince the prosecution to drop the charges and return the investigation to the DPS so they can get back to looking for the actual criminal.”

“Assuming Walker is innocent.”

“Yes, assuming Walker is innocent.” Malcolm sighed. “I really hope he is. I’d hate to let down a friend.”

“Hey, if this guy is guilty, then you’re not the one that let your friend down, okay?” Dani said, petting Malcolm's leg. “His brother did that all on his own.”

“I know, I know. I just….” he shook his head. “I just hope he’s innocent.”

“That’s all we can do.” Dani was saved from any further useless comforting by the flight attendants starting the safety presentation. In just a few hours, they’d be in Texas. Then, the real work would begin. Hopefully, they weren’t flying out there for nothing.

—--------

Cordell flipped mindlessly through reality TV channels, trying to find something to distract him from the quiet house. He was lucky to be allowed to come home instead of waiting in a cell, but the drawback was that his family couldn’t be there. Aside from Liam, as his lawyer, and an armed babysitter, he was alone. He was too dangerous to be among humanity and was only given these small comforts by mercy of a few technicalities.

Normally those tiny laws irritated him because they made his job harder. Now, he couldn’t be more grateful. But he knew it was only a small mercy. With no other suspects and some hard evidence against him, he’d likely go away for life, no matter how innocent he was.

Just thinking about where his future was likely heading was depressing. Too bad there was nothing good on TV to distract him.

A knock on the door startled him so badly he almost reached for the gun he wasn’t allowed to hold anymore. He smiled when he saw who was on the other side of it. “Hey, Micki. I can’t believe the guard dogs let you in.”

“Hey.” Micki stopped at the end of the couch. “You look comfy.”

He shrugged. “I’m not going to complain. Could be a lot worse.”

She sighed. “I don’t know about that. I’ve gone over every detail of this case about a hundred times and I’ve got nothing. We might be able to argue against the eyewitness accounts since the crime scene is in such an isolated area but…. It’s hard to refute DNA evidence.”

“I know,” he said softly. “I wasn’t expecting you to pull a miracle. Just- Thanks for trying.”

“Hey, I’m not giving up yet, partner. Everyone knows you didn’t do it. We just have to figure out a way to prove it, that’s all. And I won’t stop until I do.”

“I know. Just- Don’t be too hard on yourself, okay?”

She nodded. “I’ll try.”

They were distracted from any further consolations by another knock on the door. This time, it was Liam- and he had some guests.

“This is Malcolm Bright and Detective Dani Powell. I asked them to help with your case.”

“We already have a team of investigators,” Micki said.

“But do you have a profiler?” Malcolm asked. “That’s what I do. I’ve been talking to Liam and I think if I can convince the DPS that you’re just not the right suspect for the case, that will get you out of the hotseat.”

“You don’t sound very confident,” Cordell said.

“It’s a long shot,” Malcolm admitted. “But I promise I’ll do everything I can to prove your innocence.”

Cordell nodded. For some reason, he believed this stranger. “Alright. Where do we start?”

Malcolm smiled. “Why don’t we start with your side of the story?”

—-----------------

Sam found himself a decent motel room on the outskirts of Austin. If he was going to try to help, he needed a game plan first. This wasn't like a normal hunt, where he’d need to show his face to the cops maybe once and be able to trick them with an ID they probably wouldn’t inspect too closely. A high-profile arrest like this probably already had FBI agents on it and the last thing he wanted to do was attract their attention. He needed a way to anonymously help the investigation without getting close enough that they’d ask questions.

Dean was probably right that he was stupid to even consider this, but he couldn’t let someone else face the consequences for his own mistakes. He needed to fix this, or he’d never forgive himself.

The first thing he needed to do was figure out what went wrong. He got out his laptop and got to work hacking into the Austin DPS case files. There had to be something useful in there. If he could just figure out what evidence he needed to disprove….

After about an hour of poking around their cybersecurity, Sam was able to get in and locate the file for the Ranger’s arrest. And there, he found his answers. Very close DNA match and witness testimony.

Not very easy to fix. Actually, nearly impossible to fix. An eyewitness was bad enough, but combine that with DNA…. There wasn’t much Sam could do to undo that. Not without presenting better evidence that someone else was behind the case, which would be basically impossible.

Unless….

Unless he did get close enough to get involved. Unless he presented himself as a potential suspect. Unless he was suspicious enough to get the blame thrown off of Walker and onto him. Their DNA was obviously close enough and there was an uncanny resemblance.

It was risky, but it would work. He just needed to make sure he didn’t really get caught.

Wouldn’t be the first time he ran out of town by the seat of his pants. What was one more FBI charge?