#* & . › cassie blake / reply !

[countrymusiclover]

7 - We Can't Just Live by "Whatever the Hell we Want"

Part 8

Star Crossed Enemies

Bellamy dragged me inside the closet empty tent, harshly holding onto my wrist until we were both standing inside the tent where he felt comfortable bickering in my face.  “Why didn't you just tell me the truth from the beginning?” 

“Maybe because it's none of your freaking business.” I snapped back. 

He growled, tightening his grip on my forearm he was still holding onto.  “She’s your sister.  Your twin sister and she has no clue about it.” 

“Yes.  I thought I explained it pretty clearly unless you got dropped on your head a lot when you were a child.” 

Bellamy dug his fingers deeper into my forearm, where I wondered if his goal was to draw blood from my body or something.  “The whole point of me letting you mingle around my camp was to help us survive.  But now I - I don't know how to trust a word you say.” 

“I don’t see you spilling all your deepest darkest secrets to me which means I shouldn't have to do the same thing to you.” 

Bellamy raised a brow warning me.  “Remember who's in charge here, grounder.” 

“Do you want to fight, Blake cause I'll give you a fight.” I took a step closer until our noses were touching one another. 

I didn't care if he said he was the one in charge.  I could easily drop his ass right here and now.  Plus he needed to get some sense knocked into him to realize he didn't get to know everyone's business, especially if he wouldn't share his own past with someone like me.  “I want you to start trusting me, Cassie.” 

“What have you done to earn my trust, hmm.  Why should I care about anything you say?  You've repeatedly thrown me around like shit since we’ve met rather than show me any little bit of humanity or kindness.” 

Bellamy lowered his gaze to the ground briefly, muttering under his breath where I swore I didn't hear him correctly.  “I was the reason mine and Octavia's mother got floated on the Ark.” 

“What? Bellamy, I'm-” 

I wasn’t allowed to finish my sentence before the flap was flung opened by Octavia and the boy who wore goggles on his head entering the tent.  “Jasper and I need to show you something. Where's Clarke?” 

“In the dropship.” Bellamy replied. 

The guy named Jasper ducked outside the tent going to get the blonde.  “I'll go get her.” 

Once my sister and Jasper came back into the tent they showed a knife made of metal that wouldn’t have been one of mine.  “ So, there's a murderer in the camp?”

“There's more than one murderer in this camp. This isn't news. We need to keep it quiet.” Bellamy briefly looked around at the group knowing it was a camp full of prisoners. 

My sister kept a hold of the knife attempting to leave.  “Get out of my way, Bellamy.”

“Clarke, be smart about this. Look at what we've achieved… the wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the Grounders killed Wells is good for us.” 

She snapped back at him.  “Oh, good for you, you mean. What… keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?”

“Yeah. That's it. But it's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall. And besides, what are you gonna do… just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward? You don't even know whose knife that is.” He glanced down to the blade in her hands. 

She challenged him, holding it up to his eye level, pushing her way out of the tent.  “Oh, really? J.M. John Murphy. The people have a right to know.”

“Cassie.” Bellamy called my name seeing me slip out of the tent following after my sister. 

“You son of a bitch!”

Murphy stumbled backwards when she shoved him harshly and a lot of people who were building the wall paused their work to watch.  “What's your problem?”

My sister held up the knife.  “Recognize this?”

“ It's my knife. Where'd you find it?” He attempted to reach for it but she held it from his grasp. 

She glared at him before I felt someone standing behind me where I looked out the corner of my eye to see Bellamy and his sister behind me.  “Where you dropped it after you killed Wells.”

Murphy didn’t believe what she was saying to him.  “Where I what? The Grounders killed Wells, not me.”

“I know what you did, and you're gonna pay for it.” Clarke got up in his face. 

Murphy shoved her away pointing his finger at me.  “I didn’t kill anyone.  Why don’t you ask the prisoner that’s just walking around our camp like she ain’t a fucking grounder.” 

“I’m helping your people survive, asshole.  The portals, the wall and everything else were my ideas.” I jumped into the conversation not wanting to be blamed for something I didn’t even remotely do. 

Murphy stomped over about to take a swing at me until Bellamy grabbed his wrist getting up in his face.  “If you touch her.  You and me are going to have problems.” 

“He might be right.  Why don’t we float them both?” A black guy asked looking around th room. 

My sister looked back at him.   “That doesn’t seem necessary.” 

“I say we float them both.” The guy ignored her and the crowd started chanting the same words. 

“Float them!” 

Reaching down to my boot for a weapon I remembered Bellamy had my weapons back in his tent.  A few of the stronger guys came over twisting my arms behind my back dragging me behind Murphy until we were at the edge of the camp wall.  “No. No. No, please don’t!” 

“Make sure she can’t escape.” The black guy instructed one of the guys who was wrapping zip ties around my wrist. 

Murphy was put on the same metal box stand as I was.  But he had a gag around his mouth and rope around his neck.  “Bellamy! Please don’t let them do this.” Tears welling in my eyes I struggle to get free of the ties but the rope around my neck wasn’t helping me get out faster. 

My sister shoved Bellamy slightly backwards.  “You can stop this.  They’ll listen to you.” 

“Bellamy! You should do it.  Bellamy.” The black guy started chanting and the crowd followed.  “Bellamy, Bellamy.” 

My sister pointed her finger at his chest.  “I saw you in the woods with Atom.  I know you’re not a killer.  Bellamy, don’t do this.” 

“Bell - amy!” I croaked out seeing him coming forward, eyeing me before he kicked the crate and I gasped sharply feeling my throat get closed tightly by the rope and the crowd cheering yet only for a brief moment.  My eyes closed when my breathing began to return to somewhat normal when I felt my body falling to the ground.  Except what I landed on wasn’t harsh twigs and wet dirt from the rain but muscular arms causing me to use what little energy I had regained to shift my head upward seeing Bellamy staring down at me.  “Bell - you cut mine.” 

Clarke cried in anger while my eyes rolled seeing Murphy still hanging by the rope.  “How could you!” 

“This is on you, princess.  You should’ve kept your mouth shut.” Bellamy shouted back at the blonde still holding me against his chest bridal style.  “Some sister you turned out to be!” 

She stumbled backwards in confusion.  “What?” 

The crowd's cheering turned into shouts when someone came running in giving orders to cut Murphy down.  Two guys took out weapons threatening to hurt the one guy until the young child Bellamy had told me about broke through the madness.  “Murphy didn’t kill Wells.  I - I did!” That was all it took before everyone went silent. 

“Cassie - Cassie, no, no, stay awake for me.” Bellamy shifted his gaze down to me feeling my body going limp in his arms.  My eyes rolled into the back of my head before I passed out.  “Cassie!” 

[ourpickwickclub]

Cassie replied to a tweet saying she'll be with Blake this week (OR LV I assume) and will ask him if he was there for her Coachella show (😬) we might get some answers....

.

[scoobydoodean]

❤️ Dean Being Love to Others ❤️

Season 1 Part 2

master post here (still being updated)

1.10 "Asylum": Immediately after Sam, while mind controlled by Dr. Ellicott, blasts Dean through a wall with a shotgun full of rock salt, says some big meanie things to him :( and then tries to shoot him in the head over and over... after knocking Sam out, Dean pats Sam on the shoulder and says, "Sorry Sammy" because he knows Sam's jaw is going to hurt when he wakes up jhvsdjvgjhsfdgj

1.11 "Scarecrow": Sam and Dean fight and part ways at the beginning of the episode. Dean could probably use help on the case, but he doesn't ask for it when they finally do call—he does the opposite when Sam asks if he's hinting he needs help. He says, "You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life. You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I—anyway….I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy." At the end of the episode, after Sam comes back, Dean also doesn't assume he'll stay and asks if he can drop him off anywhere. (Gifset)

1.12 "Faith": Dean struggles with believing Layla deserves to live far more than he does. He struggles both with his own "healing" being prioritized over hers, as well as having to stop the reaper so no one else gets hurt when Layla is the next to be healed.

1.13 "Route 666": DEAN WAS IN LOVE WITH CASSIE. HE WAS SO IN LOVE WITH HER THAT HE TOLD HER THE TRUTH. And even though he was hurt because of how they broke up, the moment she called and she needed his help, he jumped to go help her no questions asked, no hesitation.

1.14 "Nightmare" #1: When Max is about to shoot his step-mother, Dean steps between her and the gun and tells Max he has to go through him first.

1.14 "Nightmare #2: Throughout the episode, Dean does his best to reassure Sam that everything is going to be okay, that his visions do not scare Dean, that he is not going to turn into a monster. This culminates in, at the end of the episode, Dean telling Sam nothing bad is going to happen to him as long as Dean is around. Dean won't let it.

1.16 "Shadow": Dean lets go of what he personally wants, which is him, Sam, and John all together, and advocates for himself and Sam to separate from John because he believes that they'll be a liability (I also think he's incorrect but I do think it's still an example of him being selfless).

1.18 "Something Wicked" #1: Dean crouches down to be at eye level with Michael when he sees him upset. He tells Michael that it is not his fault that his brother got sick when Michael blames himself.

1.18 "Something Wicked" #2: Dean drives Michael's mom to the hospital because he recognizes she's in no condition to drive.

1.18 "Something Wicked" #3: Dean checks in with Michael again right before the plan to catch the Shtriga, and tells him, "Michael, you sure you wanna do this? You don't have to, it's ok, I won't be mad."

1.18 "Something Wicked" #4: There are multiple small examples of the contrast of a child's innocence and Dean's lack of innocence in childhood, and kid Dean makes the decision from childhood through the present to not resent Sam for having that innocence but to try and protect that innocence. And even as an adult, when Sam says, "Sometimes I wish I could have [the innocence of not knowing what's out there]", Dean replies, "If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could too"—saying nothing of his own stolen childhood.

1.19 "Provenance": Dean is worried about Sam losing himself in research and not pursuing relationships (like with Sarah Blake) because of Jess. He tells Sam as gently as he can that he thinks Jess would want Sam to be happy.

1.21 "Salvation" #1: Sam begins to say that Mary and Jess's deaths are all his fault and that he has to fix it. Dean tells him fiercely that it is not his fault and that fixing it is a "we" problem.

1.21 "Salvation" #2: Dean holds Sam back from running into a building burning to the ground (which would instantly kill him) to try and reach the demon.

1.21 "Salvation" #3: When Sam throws him up against a wall, instead of matching Sam's rage, Dean speaks to him gently or calmly and is able to get through to him.

1.21 "Salvation" #4: Dean asks John to promise him that he'll get out if things go sideways with tricking Meg.

1.22 "Devil's Trap" #1: Dean says that if finding the demon means John or Sam getting themselves killed for revenge, he hopes they never find it.

1.22 "Devil's Trap" #2: Dean brings The Colt in secret when they go to save John even though he knows John would be furious, then uses it to save Sam's life.

1.22 "Devil's Trap" #3: Dean says he's actually scared of what he's capable of doing to protect Sam and John.

1.22 "Devil's Trap" #4: Dean is badly hurt and bleeding out after being attacked by Yellow Eyes, but begs Sam to check on John and see if he's okay.

[undertale-anomaly20]

Mortal Kombat 10 x reader: Chapter 5

(fan art from a few years ago. still my favorite and this was made by the amazing myharliquinnworld. I'd really like to see more)

3rd P.O.V

The scene cuts to the refugee camp. Quan Chi is now in handcuffs and chains, being escorted by Kenshi and Johnny Cage. They drag him into an open shipping container. "Sit" Kenshi says as Quan Chi is forced down on a chair. Two soldiers cuff his legs together in chains as well "I'm guessing it's not your first time in cuffs. What's your safeword?" he says smirking while Quan Chi gives Johnny a death glare in response and kenshi shakes his head in amusement. Smiling to himself, Johnny exits the container, followed by Kenshi and the soldiers. The doors are slammed shut. The moment they are, a slight smirk comes to his face.　

Over this scene, we hear Sonya speaking "Advise Secretary Blake that Quan Chi is in custody. We'll be moving him to the super-max facility at Fort Charles within the hour" The scene cuts to Johnny and Kenshi walking up to Sonya, who is relaying the orders to one of her soldiers "Yes ma'am" the soldior says as they approach, Sonya turns to face them "You two stand guard. Prisoner transfer will be here in twenty" she says to the both of them "Oh, NOW she trusts me to babysit" joohnny says jokingly Outside of narrowing her eyes at Johnny, Sonya doesn't respond to the bait. She instead puts her communicator to her ear "Cage, report" she says into the communication device" Cassie's voice is heard on the other line "We haven't caught up to D'Vorah. We had her tracked to the Makeba Cliffs, but then her trail went cold" Cassie responded "Damn" sonya replied thinking she was back to square one again before her thoughts were intteruppted by cassie speaking "mom there's something eles you have to know" confused sonya asks her "what is it?" "mileena is alive and with us right now" worried for her daughters saftey she asks "what do you mean she's with you?! why did you save her" "I didn't mom" "if you didn't then who did? "the next words that come from cassie stopped her heart.

"(name) did, mom. She's alive"

The scene switches to behinde some shipping containers. Unseen to the soldiers or refugees, several ninjas creep in and hide behind some crates Sonya is still trying to wrap her head around the fact that a girl who is close to her daughters age, a girl who she saw with her own eyes die in front of her, was alive and still fighting "C-Cassie well talk about this later. is there anything else" Sonya asked "Jacqui thinks D'Vorah's unique physiology may allow us to pinpoint her location. She's retooling her smart-comm to track D'Vorah's pheromones" Cassie replies. The lead ninja holds one hand in the air as he crouches down. His subordinates stop and take cover by him "How long?" Sonya asked "On my command only. Wound. Do not kill" Scorpion told his subordinates "She has to write the code. We're looking at... two hours?" Cassie explained "Sergeant, your team doesn't have two hours. We need her found immediately!" Sonya says frustrated "Sonya!" Johnny jumped in. Sonya turns to look at him. He tilts his head and nods angrily. Sonya sighs and takes a moment to calm down before she resumes talking "Cassie, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but there isn't time. Bring your team back here, we need to re-group and re-deploy" "Yes ma'am" Cassie replies.Sonya hangs up soon followed b a look of confusion and relief "

They're doing their best" Johnny said trying to ease her mind "I know but that's not what I'm concerned about" she said making Johnny raise an eyebrow　

Kenshi looks into the middle distance and - despite his blindness - notices someone approaching "General. We have a visitor" he says making Sonya and Johnny turn to see Hanzo Hasashi approaching them in full ninja garb. she turns to kenshi "You two are friends, right? He tell you he was coming?" she asked "Nothing" he replies Sonya walks up to Hanzo, who bows before her "General" he greets "Master Hasashi. I hadn't received word you were coming" Sonya said warily behind her, several of her soldiers walk closer to the two of them, guns idle in their hands "I will have Quan Chi" Hanzo states "We have things under control. You can--" "He must die" Hanzo inturrupts Sonya "Raiden needs him. Without Quan Chi we can't restore Liu Kand and the other revenants. You'd leave them trapped? Like you were?" Sonya questions him to try and make him see reason "Only Quan Chi concerns me"he replys as he motions to walk past her. Sonya puts a hand on his shoulder. Kenshi pulls out Sento from it's sheath and Johnny walks forward, ready to fight several soldiers surround Hasashi and point their weapons directly at him "Don't do this, Hanzo. I'll put you down" she warns him sternly "Then we are at an impasse" He says then holds up two fingers and calls out a command to attack in Japanese. The Shirai Ryu ninjas charge out from behind cover and engage the soldiers Hanzo bats away Sonya's hand and punches her in the face. He blocks her attacks, but takes a roundhouse kick to the face. He retalitates with a right cross that strikes her across the cheek.

"Quan Chi is mine" They fight. Despite no longer being a wraith, Hanzo is still capable of tapping into his hellish powers, and he brings these to full bear against the General of the Special Forces. Combined with his own fighting skill and prowess, it isn't long before Sonya is overwhelmed and knocked unconscious "I wish you no harm, General Blade" Hanzo says sincerly befr walking off.Two of the Shirai Ryu drag Sonya away. Hanzo walks over to the shipping container holding Quan Chi. His ninjas have successfully restrained the guards on post there. However, Kenshi sneaks up behind Scorpion and unleashes a telekenetic shockwave from Sento, slamming Hasashi into the container doors. Kenshi then levitates him into the air "Call off your men, Hanzo!" Kenshi demands but Hanzo remains calm in spite of his incapacitation "If you value our friendship, you will give me Quan Chi" In response, Kenshi throws Scorpion across the campsite. He smashes hard into the side of a humvee. He looks up to see Kenshi charging at him and throws his chained kunai, which Kenshi slides to evade. As Kenshi rises, Hanzo tackles him, knocking the sword from his grasp. Kenshi pushes him off and they both roll to their feet. "Withdraw. Without Sento you are vulnerable" Hanzo says to his long time friend Johnny Cage takes this moment to tackle the ninja from the side.　

Hanzo pushes Johnny away from him, but the movie star comes back with a backhand. Hanzo evades it, blocks several more blows from Johnny and catches him on the chin with a palm strike. Johnny comes in again with a right hook. Hanzo once again blocks the blow and several more that follow, landing a jump kick that catches Cage in the chest and staggers him backwards. Johnny takes a moment to get back into a fighting stance, and Hanzo follows suit. Johnny tries landing a strike to the kidney this time, but Hanzo intercepts it. Again, Hasashi fends off multiple punches from Cage before grabbing his leg off a failed kick, sweeping the other out from under him. Johnny pounds the ground with a fist in frustration and stands up once more.　

"Just like old times!" Johnny smirks. They fight. Johnny Cage has lost none of his fighting skill over the years, but the youthful agility he possessed in his earlier bout against the ninja has not fared so well. The fight is intense and close, but in the end it is Hanzo Hasashi who proves the victor this time around "Only Quan Chi's death will abate my anger" With Cage down, Scorpion turns back to the shipping container. Kenshi is still down on one knee, but he tries to reason with him saying "Hanzo, no! You've earned great trust for the Shirai Ryu. Do not squander it by murdering a withered sorcerer!" "That withered sorcerer is the architect of my suffering" Hanzo resplied. A ninja grabs Kenshi and restrains him as Hanzo continues toward the container.

(we know what happened and ive already written how hanzo found out about quan-chi so lets skip that scene)　

Quan Chi has been dragged out of the container by two Shirai-Ryu. They throw him to the ground before Hanzo Hasashi. Johnny, Sonya and Kenshi watch all of this from on their knees, restrained by the ninjas who have successfully defeated their forces "Unbind him" Hanzo coommands. One of them undoes the chains on Quan Chi. The sorcerer remains on his knees "Scorpion, we can--" Quan Chi tries to beg but is inturrupted when Hanzo backfists him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "MY NAME IS HANZO HASASHI!!" he yells. He grabs Quan Chi by the scruff of his neck "You killed my wife! My son! And then you burrowed your way into my head! Misdirected my VENGEANCE! COST ME MY ONE CHANCE TO HAVE THEM RESTORED!" he bellowed "Your family... I--" Quan Chi pleads but Scorpion hauls him to his feet, roaring in rage "Quiet, sorcerer! Nothing can help you now!"They fight. At his weakest and without any help forthcoming, Quan Chi suffers the beating of his life. Nothing he can do subsides the rage of Hanzo Hasashi, who relentlessly pounds him again and again and again. The one sided battle ends with Quan Chi facedown in the dirt "At last, you feel my pain" As Quan Chi struggles to rise, Hanzo kicks him in the face, knocking him on his back Hanzo slams Quan Chi's head into the ground and then punches him some more "Scorpion, stop!" Sonya yells to him. A portal opens before them. Hanzo looks up and spots D'Vorah approaching "Quan Chi!" she calls out Hanzo rushes her with his sword at the ready. D'Vorah parries his blows with her stingers. He manages to cut off one of them with his sword, but as he tries an overhead chop, she stabs him in the chest with the other stinger, bringing him down to one knee. D'Vorah rushes to Quan Chi's side "Amulet..." he whispers D'Vorah pulls it out, but a chained kunai impales Quan Chi through the chest before he can take it "GET OVER HERE!" Hanzo says in his signiturar voice.

The sorcerer is dragged back to Hanzo's side "No!" D'vorah calls out Hanzo yanks Quan Chi by the chain imbedded in him to a seated position. He's still barely alive though, and holds his hands towards the amulet, chanting a dark spell in a Netherrealm tongue. In slow motion, D'Vorah throws the amulet to his outstretched arms, while Hanzo brings his ninjato down towards his neck just before the blade cuts into him, Quan Chi finishes the chant and grabs the amulet. An instant later, his head is sliced clean off his shoulders "Blood for blood. Your debt is paid" he says then he throws down the headless corpse. Shinnok's Amulet rolls to a stop on the ground... and erupts with dark purple energy and hellish fire. Shinnok's form is faintly visible within the energies "Oh shit" Johnny says reliazing how screwed they are Sonya turns to the ninjas "Free us! Now!" They realise the situation has gone to hell and comply. The amulet finally stops dispelling energy, and it's owner picks it off the ground in triumph "Shinnok" D'vorah greets her master.Behind Shinnok, Scorpion roars in anger and swings his ninjato at him. The fallen Elder God turns around and blasts him with the amulet's magic, knocking him unconscious. Johnny, Sonya, Kenshi and the Shirai-Ryu ninjas charge at him next, and all receive the same treatment "How small they are" he says with no emotion D'Vorah walks up to him and bows "This One greets Lord Shinnok" she says "Quan Chi chose his servants well. He was wise to restore me in Earthrealm, behind their defences "Shinnok compliments "Quan Chi deceived them. Allowed himself to be captured. He knew they would bring him here" D'vorah said as they look toward the sorcerer's dead body "A pity he did not live to see his work completed" Shinnok says nonchalantly Johnny starts to wake up, groaning as he does so Shinnok turns to him "There will be no surprises from you, Mister Cage" he says then turns to D'Vorah "Bring him" Another portal opens, bringing forth the revenants Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Kitana, Sindel and Smoke they stop before Shinnok and bow to him "Praise be to Lord Shinnok" said Lui Kang "Let us be on our way" "There is an Earthrealm force in Netherrealm" Lui Kang stated "I am aware. They will be neutralised" Shinnok said as he and his followers leave through a portal.

Once it closes, Sonya begins to awaken (name) arrives through her fire portal and watches as Sonya tries too get up on her own "Sonya!" she exclaims as she rushes to her sideTeam S-F arrive through a portal of their own "Oh, shit!" Cassie say as she rushes over to Sonya, while Kung Jin rushes to Scorpion and Takeda and Jacqui run to Kenshi. Sonya can't even process what's going on as her mind zones in and out "Mom!" Cassie cries out as she takes Sonya by the shoulders "Where's Dad?" "Shinnok..." Sonya whispered "Sonya where'd they go?" (name) asked worried for her friends saftey Sonya passes out again "Mom/SONYA?!" Cassie and (name) call out together. It is Hanzo Hasashi who answers them looking ashamed at his "Your father... Shinnok's prisoner... at the Sky Temple"

[paigelts05]

A Common Best Interest [FNAF, Renegade AU]

Link (artwork): https://www.deviantart.com/paigelts05/art/A-common-best-interest-FNAF-Renegade-AU-981774988

Link (fic, AO3): https://archiveofourown.org/works/49990168

Link (fic, Deviantart): https://www.deviantart.com/paigelts05/art/GORE-A-common-best-interest-FNAF-Renegade-AU-981776002

Published: Sep 10, 2023

Ruin spoilers ahead leave now. Also it heavily diverges into Renegade AU typical shenanigans very quickly. But still, spoilers for RUIN ahead. You have been warned.

Warning: contains gore, violence, and the second two chapters take place in a hospital.

...

The Renegade AU takes the scooper ending as cannon but flavours it with all the other endings.

...

Someone downloaded the mimic, aka the Clone William experiment, from the VR environment and onto an endo.

Someone cut the elevator cable, and Cassie held out a thin string of hope that the voice who had cut it was another impersonator.

Someone had been hiding in the shadows the whole time, fighting her own war, unable to act in favour of her mission.

From the moment she heard it, Cassie had known that the candy cadet's story was not about the mimic, but about the side of her who knew it's origins. And now the monster is out, so the civilian side of her won't have to remember making a deal with a real monster.

Warning: contains gore, violence, and the second two chapters take place in a hospital.

═════════════°•.🌹.•°═════════════

[🌹 Ch1 🌹]

'So Civ,' Cassie thought to herself, 'let me just remember how we got here. You followed the voice that was clearly not Gregory, and then a thing that was more likely to be Gregory betrayed us. We have our dad's wrench, we have the mask we stole a month ago and lost at the breach back, and we have a torch. At least we've got this door between that thing and us. But how do we get back up.'

Blood dripped down Cassie's face. It was a familiar sensation, yet only sometimes had it been her own. This was one of those rare occasions.

"Cassie?" A familiar and comforting voice called out.

Cassie opened her eyes, expecting to see the red eyes of the mimic, but instead, no eyes.

"You're alive! I'm so glad." Roxy, or at least what had been left of her as of the earthquake and everything since, pulled her into a hug.

A clanking noice came from the roof of the elevator box, interrupting this reunion.

"Cassie!" A different woman's voice called out as a blonde blur landed in the ruins of the elevator next to them. Her clothes were a torn and bloodied brown jacket, what was left of a torn up green t-shirt that exposed a device that had been implanted onto her chest and a midriff entirely covered in bandages, and a tattered pair of blue jeans.

"Officer Vanessa? Is that you?" Roxy asked.

"Technically yes," Sylvia replied, "My name is actually Vanessa Sylvia Blake, but please just call me Sylvia. And I'm not a guard here anymore anyway. But I am a paranormal responder, so IS officer still a term you can call me? I don't know, just stick to calling me Sylvia."

"How did you know my name?" Cassie asked, fairly and rightfully sceptical.

"Gregory told me," Sylvia replied, as quickly and calmly as she could between heavy breaths. "He said he knew you'd be lured here, as both his friend and as a Faz Ent sleeper agent. He -"

"DON'T SPEAK HIS NAME." Cassie shouted back, tears in her hazel eyes.  Gregory had said that the girl's eyes looked greener when happy, and browner when she was about to cry, and that a circle around the iris looked emerald when Sleeper was in charge, and a deep oak when Civ was in charge. Her eyes were undoubtedly brown with an emerald rim. "He betrayed me."

"From a hospital bed?" Sylvia replied, not sure how to break the news of who she saw with the shears at the top of the elevator shaft. She shook her head. "He's been in the hospital for the past thirty eight hours. He knew that both your sleeper and civilian side would be lured back here by the idea of him being trapped here. So Faz Ent trapped him, at least for a while. Bill was going to use what he said to a false deduction version of you to lure you to the labs, but Burrows sent the data to the VR environment as well before downloading it to an endo, complicating things, leading to you coming down this way and getting dropped."

"The endo… The mimic?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, that thing. It was just a normal endo until twenty eight hours ago. Now that thing is the mimic and clone 46, a copy combined and downloaded," she stared at the endo that was staring back at them through the elevator grate, "the security measures were put up by Bill and William eighteen hours ago to try and keep it down here. Turns out even they have standards. Bill… He didn't want you to come down here after he found out about the endo. But it was guiding you anyway. The best he could do was try and talk when it talked to hide it's message. So much for that working out."

"Why? My grandfather has never really cared about me before," Cassie replied as she tried to wipe her tears.

"Your… Grandfather." Sylvia was taken aback and could hardly think straight as she replied. "Bill is your grandfather. I'm… His daughter."

"I've never met my mother from his side of the family. And my dad isn't my bio dad, he's just the guy Alistair dumped me on when I became a problem, but-" Cassie was interrupted by Sylvia joining in on the hug.

"I have a daughter…" Sylvia cried, "I'm… Sorry I didn't know about you sooner. I could have saved you from this."

Cassie was speechless. She didn't know how to react. The mystery woman she had been looking for her whole life … Was Vanessa Sylvia Blake.

"Can you marry my dad?"

There were… Better things to react with.

"The former head technician?" Sylvia remebered the single father who she saved from getting shot at the Riot; slender, olive skin, and brown hair that was always scraped back in a small ponytail. He was definitely a good dad, but would she make a good mum? And she didn't really like the whole adult side of romance and partnerships either. "I'll… have to ask him about it."

As the mimic kept on hammering fruitlessly at the barricade formerly known as the elevator's grate and door with it's one arm, the sense of seriousness returned to the room.

"So you were saying Gregory has been in the hospital all the time I was here…" Cassie said, unsure as to the truth of what she heard from 'Gregory' now that new information had surfaced.

"Yes," Sylvia replied.

"So who dropped the elevator?"

"I did." A man's voice rung out as an old blond man dropped into the room. It was Bill Blake. "I didn't want to, but even I wouldn't let that thing out. I don't know what possessed Burrows to download two of the worst experiments of the VR environment onto one endo, but he did. Clone 46, aka GGY. Backup William, aka mimic. He almost cost me my granddaughter."

"You left me to die! Don't call me your granddaughter!" Cassie sneered back.

"I had every intention on coming down here to be by your side." Bill replied, almost… Crying?

'To lay down, let me die, and call yourself a martyr maybe' Cassie thought to herself.

"Then you should have dropped the ruse sooner." Cassie shot back.

"Well seeing as we're stuck down here, should I open the door and fight this thing? It only has one hand, and I have two, so I should win, right?" Sylvia said, pointing at the endo.

"NO!" Everyone yelled.

"So what do we do?" Sylvia asked.

"OUT OF THE WAY, INVENTION!" a mass of cables whacked the mimic asside and tossed it into the darkness. From it's speed and urgency, the mass of cables didn't seem to want to be in contact with the mimic for too long.

"So, what do we have here. The Blake family reunion?" A woman's voice echoed from the blob.

"What do you want Adelaide." Sylvia sneered.

"Well my husband just chastised me for bringing the mimic out of the VR environment and into the real world," Adelaide sheepishly said as a subset of cables turned into a woman's form, "I… We need all the help we can get to kill it."

Sylvia, Cassie, Roxy, and Bill said nothing.

"I can get you all out of the sinkhole if you help." Adelaide added.

"You're really desperate enough to ask me, of all people?" Sylvia shot back, her voice full of scepticism.

"Well, from my device in your chest, you're Vanny 2.0. And Cassie is our sleeper Agent." Adelaide replied.

"Well the sheer amount of remnant in my blood jammed your device. Probably." Sylvia replied, crossing her arms and glaring.

"And you are talking to Sleeper. And I never wanted to be a Faz Ent agent." Cassie replied, crossing her arms and glaring.

"I guess denial is just genetic then. But really, I mean it. The company reputation is down the drain as it is, if that thing gets out it's all over," Adelaide replied, sounding desperate. "And we can't destroy it ourselves because if we tried, it'd jump ship from its vessel to ours, and I do not want it taking over my blob. I was barely able to push it out of the way safely. I've had to go no contact with HQ since that thing got downloaded and not getting updates from my scientists is making me anxious!"

"And if you stay down here, you'll starve sooner or later." Burntrap hobbled out of the blob. He looked more burned than the photographs she'd seen of him in the Raid Reports, and he'd seemed to have lost the opposite arm below the elbow joint to the one the mimic had lost, and had to replace a leg with a rod of metal that was crudely tied on. Even though he was still here, it was clear he was barely hanging onto this vessel, likely only using it as a last ditch effort in order to communicate with her, meaning that the Raid had been effective in setting back William's plans, even if it didn't destroy him completely. It destroyed him enough to make it clear that this vessel of his was due repairs on the scale of ScrapTrap post PS incident, which she had read about during her time at the labs, or due a replacement altogether. Either way the writing was on the wall for William's Burntrap and she wasn't about to believe anything he'd have to say about the condition of his current vessel if that happened to come up. "I don't like making offers with my enemies, but it's days like this where neither of us have a choice in the matter. I hate that I ever let - let alone helped - the goons in tech make an AI clone of me, and I'll have tech Exec Burrows's head for downloading it onto an endo and unleashing it onto the world."

"I thought you were down with mass murderer," Sylvia sneered, "does 'the Riot' ring a bell, William?"

"And it was the biggest failure since C location," Burntrap, aka William shot back, "I've learned plans on that scale don't work and intend to pick people off the old fashioned way in future. This mimic goes against all I've ever tried, tested, and learned, and trust me I do learn from my mistakes. It'll steal this vessel I've worked so hard on, and it'll immediately draw the police to us with enough evidence to just blow up our HQ's. Like they tried with the Megaplex thirty eight hours ago."

William glared at Sylvia.

Was he implying that the earthquake wasn't an earthquake, but something man-made?

And that the 'earthquake' was Sylvia's doing?

"Besides," William continued, "you want to get out and prevent mass homicide, I want one less mark against my name and to keep this vessel in somewhat tact. I can leave at any time thanks to being simply a ghost possessing a vessel, Adelaide can crawl out or escape the same way I mentioned I can. So you need us more than we need you."

He held out a grimy paw through the gap, and to everyone's suprise, it was Cassie who took his hand.

"Deal." Cassie was surprisingly calm, but that was to be expected of her sleeper self.

She mentally called bullshit on him wanting to keep his vessel, or maybe the old coot was just that short sighted, but the rest of the deal was believable enough.

"I haven't made a deal with an assassin since I made Mr Taylor bring his little friend along to the warehouse for my attempt at passing off blame for my actions onto some detective under threat of death. I don't like making deals with your type, but here I find myself again."

Sylvia knew William said that to try and get a rise out of her specifically. William knew she had been raised by Mike Schmidt, who was Vincent Taylor's 'little friend''s best friend. She knew all about the warehouse incident. She kept a stoic face.

She saw Cassie smirk.

"Nor I made a deal with a monster since I tricked grandpa into letting me into the VR environment from where I freed Gregory over a week ago."

Oh Cassie absolutely said that to try and get a rise out of Bill AND William, and whilst Bill seemed humuliated beyond belief, William was far more stoic as he let out a businessman's laugh before saying "now let's get down to business. How do we eliminate it for good."

"Does ANYONE have any Gallium?" Cassie asked.

"No," everyone gave a blanket reply. There goes the easiest plan.

"I don't know, kick it's ass, kick Burrows's ass, done?" Sylvia replied.

William shook a finger and his head. "Now now, this place is connected to the LABS, and they contain a lot of equipment prototypes from the sister location. That sister location. The sister location where your adoptive father almost died at, Sylvia. But it's not the same place: far from it in fact as the rental facility is on the opposite side of town entirely. Connected to this place, is the prototype location. Where we trialed new equipment. Our new scooper is even more state of the art now."

Cassie could see Sylvia's white knuckle grip on her own arms as she kept them crossed.

"You're suggesting we scoop an endoskeleton?" Bill asked.

"Brilliant idea," Sylvia grinned through gritted teeth, "it'll chop it in half, then we'll have half a hyper violent endo dragging itself around."

"Actually it is a good idea," Cassie replied, "it has a costume, right? And if I read the documents correctly, the scooper crushes whatever it scoops. Including endoskeletons. If we find it in that costume it made… I know it's our first plan, but I have a hunch that if I found that room instead of the elevator, Bill wouldn't have had to cut the elevator down."

Cassie and Sylvia saw Bill grimace as his biological granddaughter called him by his forename. They found it hilarious.

William shook his head.

"Whilst I do agree with scooping it, your last comment is false. You were doomed since you received the implant meant for Vanny." William said, pointing at Cassie.

"What?" Cassie's voice shook. Sylvia could tell she was trying to remain calm, but even the Cassie raised as a sleeper agent could feel fear.

"If you were alone, it'd simply jump to you," William stated, "and maybe it still will. Maybe it already has. Who knows. It was only dragged into this world twenty eight hours ago, and I have insufficient data on it's interactions with living people with brains."

The comment about Bill's intelligence - or lack thereof - didn't affect Bill.

The comment about the Clone William experiment already having jumped ship from the mimic endo to her did affect Cassie. Cassie looked at the mask and begun to cry.

"I'm sure you've noticed the walls you can walk through whilst wearing that mask too… Those walls were never real," William continued, "that mask was intended for Vanny. A replica of her own, yet upgraded. Instead I settled for threats and a fursuit."

Cassie collapsed to her knees, hyperventilating.

"There's a gas in this place that was unleashed after the court ordered demolition explosives were detonated," William continued again, indifferent, "That combined with the AR chip and mask, and well, you simply can't go through imaginary walls anymore."

The colour drained from Sylvia's face, and Cassie started to panic.

"You've been playing a villain's game, Cassie. I made M.X.E.S eighteen hours ago using the starts of what was set up by Gregory and Vanny 1.0 during the raid. With a few tricks, I was able to hide it so it could only be seen by AR mask wielders, who are few and far between. But who should pick one up but you?" William continued, "I don't think even Gregory's deduction visions would have saved you."

"But the gas is not deadly - it was supposed to be used on customers for craps sake. And as Sylvia's told you, Gregory is alive. And the surgery to remove the chip is simple,… but isn't without side effects," Bill added before mumbling to William "fucking hell they've already agreed to kill the mimic what are you doing?"

It didn't quell the girls' fear, as Cassie shoved her face into the mask, letting herself see visions of somewhere else far away, whilst Sylvia adjusted the device in her chest, trying to gauge if she had been herself when setting off the demolition explosives or if her setting them off when she did was one of Adelaide's mind games.

Before William could sneer something back at Bill…

"You need to stop bullying the girls!" Yet another woman's voice rung out.

"Cheryl?" Bill asked.

"Yes?" She replied as she ran out from behind Adelaide, "I heard you bullying the girls, and as much as I hate miss I-like-to-tackle-execs-and-fight-robots over there, we do need to get dealing with the rabbid endo that the boys made."

"You're team anti-mimic too?" Sylvia asked as Cassie looked up, both their faces plastered with tears.

"Ugh, yeah," Cheryl replied, "they used MY test subject's data to lure you all the way down here, Cassie. Adelaide may have tampered with his memories so he forgot the raid, but I set up everything for him to see his own deductions of a fake Cassie come down here and die. We needed you alive so Bill SHOULD HAVE used his voice clips to stop you when you both had the chance. And it's not like I could take on that thing! You should have cut the elevator before she got down here if you really wanted to protect her."

Cassie stopped crying. She was no longer sad. Only angry. "So will we be arguing against those boys first or killing the mimic first."

"Whichever," Adelaide replied as she opened the door to the elevator. It seemed to take finesse rather than strength, and a whole lot of it to boot, "as long as Burrows and his mimic die and Todd and Charles R get reprimanded."

Cassie, Sylvia, Roxy, and Bill all stepped out of the elevator and into danger.

Each step felt like borrowed time as they traversed the remains of the underground labyrinth. As new twists and turns unfolded, even Cassie didn't know what was around each corner.

Yet soon, their group encountered another group.

A gangly man, a large man, and a short man.

"Burrows what the hell have you done," William growled at the short man.

"I simply contunued the most successful experiments by bringing them into the real world," Burrows replied with a signature look of superiority obtained from getting to be a chairman's back in the VR environment.

"Those were the least successful experiments and you know it," Cheryl shot back.

"The police know about clone 46, so why you combined clone William and clone 46 is ridiculous," Sylvia added. Cassie saw red lines, just too pink to be blood, form in the woman's skin from around the implant in her chest as she spoke, and she wondered if the device was doing anything to her, "and it's corporate suicide. Those experiments are basically public knowledge now."

"Pah!" Charles Ramirez laughed back, "that rat Mike Schmidt's interference was the ONLY reason why clone 46 failed and became known. If he hadn't have talked some nonsense into Alistair, both him and Cassie would be our agents."

"No way," Cassie shot back, "no matter how much you twist his memories and perception of reality, he'd NEVER work for you."

"Well we neither need him nor you now we have our mimic, unless you want to be his assistant as we had planned for you, little agent," Todd retorted, "Adelaide, wouldn't you agree that this mimic is a brilliant invention? You helped us after all."

"That mimic is a liability. We can't risk it attempting mass murderer when we are on watch for attempted mass murder. This is why we used to have different locations. After William, Daniel, and I took out the construction crew, we got cocky and attempted to take out all newly redundant staff. And look where that lead us: to Cassie freeing Gregory and causing the Breach incident." Adelaide stated, "if we didn't cause the Riot, we would have never had to deal with the Breach, and in turn, the Raid never would have happened and we would still be in operation as the Mega Pizzaplex."

"So what about cause and effect. The effect we want is murder, and the cause is to be our mimic," Burrows jeered.

"And why do you think he'll be effective," William retorted, seemingly baiting the man.

"Well it's simply a superior killing machine!" Yelled Burrows, aloof and cocky.

He didn't know his cockieness would spell his end.

In a fit of pure rage, William grabbed Burrows by the neck and lifted him up, suspending him far above the ground.

"So you liked being tall in that VR environment?" William growled, "then how about you spend your last moments looking down.

Cassie was glad that Civ couldn't see this. Watching a monster squeeze the neck of another monster so much it drew blood was not a sight for civilian eyes. Yet her Sleeper self still worried that just like how she had been able to see through the implant, that Civ would see this too.

"Adelaide, if you would," William grinned, and Cassie felt as if she knew what was about to happen.

She was right.

A storm of tendrils rushed down and impaled Burrows. Blood flowed out of the new holes and out of the man's mouth. She wanted to look away, but felt frozen to the spot. She correctly assumed that Sylvia felt frozen to the spot as much as she was.

She watched as the man twitched as his abdomen was punctured more times than she wanted to count. And if that wasn't enough, Adelaide procured a peice of sharp metal and lopped off the man's head.

Cassie couldn't take her eyes off of the corpse of the 5'3" man who had put her into this situation.

That man had downloaded the mimic from the VR environment she had saved Gregory from prior to causing the Breach. That man had to know that Gregory was her friend.

Was that why they used his voice? All that to lure their sleeper agent back to them? And for what?

It was no use asking a corpse.

Perhaps this was a question best left unanswered.

Todd and Charles R were cowering in fear, and William almost ignored them.

"Follow me and fix your mess or die."

"Yes sir." The two men meekly uttered before joining the anti-mimic team.

William stepped over the corpse of Burrows and expected everyone to follow.

Roxy picked up Cassie so she wouldn't have to step in the blood, and followed the footsteps and Cassie's directions until the rag-tag team came to a halt.

"It retreated here…"

In some off-corner of the labs, the mimic stood in mismatched fabrics, seemingly trying to disguise itself as a person, but looking more like a charred mascot.

Cassie knew how much of a threat this thing was, how hard she had to punch it to give Civ even a fighting chance to run to the elevator made that clear, but whilst Civ was terrified of this thing, Sleeper was more battle hardened. She recognised some of the costumes in the boxes as old guard uniforms and fabric fursuits of projects abandoned in the development hell of the VR environment and wondered what it all meant.

"Hey! Over here, 'Gregory'!" She sneered at the endoskeleton, successfully getting it's attention and with it agro'd to her, she bolted.

"Everyone run!" Cassie screeched as the mimic chased her and the team down.

Everyone was faster than her, with only Sylvia hanging back to her pace.

"I've opened up a path," she heard William yell, "follow the new path."

Cassie nodded in acknowledgement, even though William couldn't see her.

As she ran, she found herself and Sylvia blocked by a steel door. Adelaide was struggling to open it.

'We're fucked.'

Sleeper felt herself grow faint as the mimic drew closer. Civ took one look at the beast and passed out, handing the reins back to Sleeper.

Sleeper saw something flash in Sylvia's eyes as she grabbed a crowbar and prised the door open.

"Everyone hurry!" Sylvia yelled as she bolted through the door. Cassie followed close behind.

The other doors were different to the steel sliding door Sylvia had prised open, and were thankfully open.

She had a faint memory of seeing them on cameras before.

She either missed the giant steel door on the terminals, or that steel door was closed by someone down here after the others were opened. Perhaps the steel door was why she didn't see any of these people whilst she was first coming down here and getting chased earlier.

Cassie had somehow managed to pull ahead, and as she saw clinical tiles underfoot and technology overhead, she identified this as the prototype scooping room, and she only saw one more room ahead.

"It's a dead end!" She yelled.

"No it's not!" Sylvia yelled back, "it's a control room! Hold the door!"

As Cassie got to the control room, she held the door open as everyone ran inside. As she saw the mimic running into the prototype scooping room, she backpedaled away from the door and let its automatic closing mechanism shut out the beast.

Cassie watched as the mimic, thankfully still clad in it's crude disguise that she was banking on being solid enough for the scooper to work with, bash it's hands against the glass, trying to get through, Cassie felt herself grow faint.

'Not now…' she thought to herself before Sleeper went to sleep and Civ awoke.

Cassie screamed, no memory of how she got here, her on one side of the glass and the mimic on the other. The fiend was clad in mismatched fabrics as skin, and it bashed it's hands against the glass, trying to get to her. Seeing a big red button button, she slammed it, hoping it'd kill the mimic, and it did.

Red lights blared and metal crunched metal and the mimic who had lured her down here was no more.

She felt like there was something odd about her memories though. Wasn't she just in an elevator, and didn't Gregory drop the elevator?

Well, this endo had called itself Gregory.

Before she could even attempt to peice together how she got here, Civ passed out once again and Sleeper woke back up.

Mimic was dead.

Civ had done it: she'd managed to kill the mimic.

She looked behind her and saw Roxy, Sylvia, and the rest of team anti-mimic, and doubted that Civ had turned around to see them in that brief window where they had been drifting between one another.

Civ would still wake up to believe that she had been entirely alone.

Packing up the fact that she'd have a lot to explain to herself later, she finally took a breath for what felt like the first time in far far too long.

"It's done," Sleeper said, "Objective… Complete."

There was still a surreal sense of tension in the air. Cassie had killed the mimic. It didn't seem to have jumped ship from the endo to her chip.

"Is it over?" She asked.

Adelaide was the first to nod, cables creaking as she did. "It's dead. I can contact HQ again. But first, back to the elevator."

"There's something I need to do first," Cassie said as she stepped out of the control room and knelt at the Mimic's side. It truly had been shattered into a million pieces by the scooper; now it was harmless to her, or anyone, but she knew it was still somewhat conscious, for now at least. She placed a finger on each of its endoskeleton eyelids and closed them as she whispered "rest in peace."

It had the memories that Gregory had suffered through in the VR environment prior to the breach. As the last sparks of life left it's system, she considered that maybe it just wanted a friend.

It may have been a homicidal monster, but as it was such not out of its own choice but by the will of Burrows, Todd, and Charles R., she felt like it deserved peace in death, and this slight dignity at least.

As Adelaide slithered back to the elevator, everyone else followed, Cassie trailing slightly behind. There was no reason to move swiftly, and nobody did. The primary threat was dead. It was safe down here, at least for now.

"Well I guess it's my turn to hold up my end of the bargain," Adelaide sighed as she opened up the roof of the elevator.

"There was a second way out other than this lift UNTIL YOU BLEW IT UP!" Cheryl shouted at Sylvia.

'There might have been another way. This wasn't the elevator I used to get down… I think,' Cassie thought to herself. The way she took in and the way she took out felt far too different for that to be the same elevator. The elevator itself looked different too…

"And I'M GLAD I DID!" Sylvia yelled back, "Imagine if I didn't and that thing managed to get out?"

"Fair," Cheryl huffed, "but now we've gotta get Adelaide to get us between the labs and the Megaplex."

"And I don't mind," Adelaide interjected, "now step onto the tendril platform and I'll lift you all out. Cheryl, make sure Todd and Charles make it back to HQ and make sure they get reprimanded. I have connections to HQ back, so I WILL know."

"Yeah, I'll grab the van and come back for them once I have it," Cheryl huffed in reply.

Those connections must have been another reason why she and William wanted someone human to eliminate the mimic. She didn't want to risk her connections getting hijacked.

The ride up was bumpy, and Sylvia could see Cassie shaking, so she put her arm over the kids shoulder. Roxy moved in closer too, and Sylvia didn't mind. The last time this kid went up an elevator, they were dropped, believing that their best friend had betrayed them. The shaking was expected, even from sleeper.

Once at the top, everyone stepped off.

"Once you leave the Megaplex, we're enemies again," Adelaide said before retreating back to the labs.

"What Adelaide said. I'm just leaving because I want a shower and need to fetch the van so I can get Todd and Charles back to HQ," Cheryl said.

"I'll hold you both to that. I expect a fair fight too," Sylvia replied, "After today, we're enemies again. But we need to actually leave this place first."

With rubble around every corner, navigation was a chore, and with only Cassie having a mask, more complex paths had to be carved. Sylvia clambered up things that even Sleeper wouldn't want to scale, and hoisted everyone else, even her biological father, up with astonishing strength, and it wasn't long before the crew made it to Bonnie Bowl.

"We should be able to get to Fazerblast from here, but I have someone to pick up first," Sylvia said as she systematically knocked on walls until she just punched one down.

This was certainly another way into Glamrock Bonnie's tomb.

The rabbit still lay dead upon the floor, and Sylvia detached his crudely reattached head before shoving the head in her bag.

Cheryl looked angry as Sylvia did so, but didn't stop the blonde.

From here, the troupe took an unconventional route, with Sylvia's punches, kicks, and a solid steel crowbar thankfully being an adequate substitute for any AR shenanigans, she carved a path through Fazerblast and into the upper kitchens before carving a path back up to the east arcade and to the roof.

"This is it. If the stairs are gone, I don't know how we're going to get down." Sylvia said as she looked for any set of fire escape stairs. Fortunately, they remained standing.

They had some damage, but they'd have to do.

"Found them…" Sylvia announced her findings, but was uncertain as to their integrity "Cassie, do you mind if I carry you down?"

Cassie shook her head. "I don't mind."

As Sylvia was picking Cassie up, Cheryl went to head down the steps. Bolts creaked and the stairs peeled off of the building. Cheryl jumped backwards to avoid falling to her death and stood terrified at the gap where the stairs once stood, and Sylvia felt stranded.

"I don't want to go back inside," Sylvia heard the fear in her own voice and didn't care, "I'll abseil down with a grappling hook before I go back inside!"

She pulled out her grappling hook and screwed about with the settings.

"Do you think it can hold all of us for all that way?" Roxy asked, the wind in what was left of her hair being the only way she had of knowing they were outside.

"It doesn't need to!" Cassie pointed down, "we only need to go half way.

"What do you mean, the stairs are gone!" Cheryl yelled as she pointed to the metal rubble several stories below.

It only just dawned on Cheryl that Cassie was wearing the mask.

"Up to half way down the stairs are still there. If I could stand on nothing in Monty Golf on the catwalks, it's worth a shot," Cassie replied as she used the vantage point of being held by Sylvia to spot the AR stairs.

"So you're saying we walk down an imaginary flight of stairs and then what?" Cheryl said as she looked between the drop and Cassie, "you're the only one of us with an AR mask, you're the only one of us who can walk on thin air."

Cassie shook her head.

"I don't know how, but I think we can get Roxy to run on the VANNI network. She didn't seem to be bothered by 'real' baricades back in the raceway that I could pass through whilst on the network," Cassie said as she looked between Cheryl and Roxy, "and you're an exec. Surely you have a mask."

"I'm not an AR mask wielder!" Cheryl yelled before she yelped as a sharp pain shot through her face.

"You are now," Bill said, planting an empty chip gun in Cheryl's hands, "now take the eyepiece and set it to 'AR'."

Cheryl tentatively took a glasses case out of her jacket pocket and clipped an eyepiece over her left eye. She went to touch where the stairs had been, and found that she had firm footing on thin air.

Even though Sylvia couldn't see the stairs, she saw Cheryl, standing on thin air.

"How," Sylvia asked, seeing what should have been impossible.

"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with Gregory. Half of this stuff was developed with his deduction skills in mind!" Cheryl said as she begun to decend the stairs.

"He's only been possessed for a few months, tops!" Sylvia exclaimed. After the Breach, Gregory had told her he only gained certain skills after getting posessed. Deduction simulation had to be that skill, right?

"I don't know what he told you, but he's ALWAYS had those deductive skills. It's only the memory locking that's new," Cassie replied, "Civ and I helped him hone the new ability and combine it with his innate one for more accurate deductions."

"Even though I spearheaded the project, I'm not entirely sure how it works myself, but it was made with both you and Gregory in mind," Bill added, "so needless to say, I already have a chip."

"I'm fine without one, thanks." Sylvia backpedaled away from Bill, "I already have this thing in my chest and a blood-remnant concentration to put Carl to shame."

"Then someone will just have to carry you!"

Sylvia yelped as Roxy picked her up.

"So you're telling me the robot is chipped too?" Sylvia tried her hardest to suspend her disbelief as she watched her father walk on what she saw as thin air and as Roxy followed suit. The clang of metal on metal was the only sign that something was still underfoot, but she didn't want to risk interacting with it, so she clung to Cassie and Roxy for dear life.

"How do you think we got them to be able to patrol so much of the Megaplex so quickly!" Blake said as he decended the stairs, "by hiding passages in plain sight. The Compound V Gas and AR Chips to see through the illusion was only the start of it!"

Sylvia wondered how the fuck they never mixed up Compound V with the nitrogen supply, as if the unmarked canisters were Compound V, well storing them that close to the similar looking nitrogen canisters was probably an OSHA violation of some sorts.

"This is where the stairs end," Cheryl huffed as she turned to look at the rest of the group. The only way down was a half building height drop or back into the Megaplex.

"Sylvia, attach your grappling hook to something then give it to me," Roxy said.

"Ok," Sylvia replied, aiming and latching the grappling hook around a particularly sturdy bit of concrete before handing it to Roxy. "Trigger is already set to extended on slow."

"Got it," Roxy nodded. "EVERYONE HOLD ON!"

With that, Cheryl and Bill grabbed onto Roxy before she took a leap of faith off of the invisible stairs. Cassie clung to Sylvia as Sylvia clung to Roxy. The cable was extending far quicker than expected, in part due to the incredibly heavy load of three adults, one child, and one robot.

Upon landing, the impact jolted Sylvia, and it startled Cassie too. It seemed to have hurt Bill and Cheryl a little as they shook their legs and winced before resuming their usual demeanors'. Roxy seemed the least phased by the landing.

Roxy set Sylvia down, who in turn set Cassie down. This was the first time in far too long where she had stood on ground she was certain existed. And with the form of the Megaplex looming above them all, both Cassie and Sylvia knew that it was finally over.

Now safely outside and on Terra Firma in the dim light of sunrise, Cassie stared at herself and the world around her. The scrapes, bruises, and headache told her that this had all been real, but it all felt like some kind of dream.

And… Would this world have been safe if she had been able to take the elevator up? What would that thing that lured her down into the sinkhole have been able to do if she didn't kill it. Did she really make a deal with THE William Afton because that thing in the sinkhole was a mutual enemy?

She felt sick.

She'd just had the worst day of her life, and just wanted to go to bed.

Sylvia didn't seem to be fairing much better.

Sylvia assessed the scrapes and bruises both she and Cassie bore, and she begun to consider that despite being an agent of chaos, that maybe jumping down an elevator shaft to find Cassie was the height of stupidity. Maybe Adelaide's device wasn't as blocked as she thought. Even though she'd used her grappling hook many times since this… thing was implanted into her chest, so why didn't she use it then.

Sylvia glared at Bill.

"If I see you ever again, it's on sight. Got it? I'll kick your ass," she growled at her biological father, "you might be my father, but you're not my dad."

Bill nodded and left.

Good.

"I can't see, but I can tell that both of you aren't in number one condition," Roxy said, "should I help?"

"That would be nice," Sylvia said as she picked up the exhausted Cassie and let Roxy help her walk.

"I told my sister to take my car to get Gregory to the hospital," Sylvia said, her voice hoarse and breathing heavy. She flinched each time the duffle bag that contained her briefcase, Mini and Bonnie's head slammed up against her legs, "so we're going to have to walk."

"Where to?" Roxy asked.

"Hospital, police station, anywhere but here," Sylvia panted, the exhaustion slowly getting to her.

"And where's that?" Roxy asked. Sylvia almost forgot that Roxy was blind.

"I-" Sylvia stumbled backwards, hardly able to keep on her feet. She felt Roxy stumble a little from suddenly going from helping Sylvia stay upright to outright holding her up.

"I'll try and get help. You stay here with Cassie!" Roxy exclaimed as she gently set Sylvia down before scampering off, trying to find a person who was out this early to help.

Roxy's ears lead her to a man who looked similar to Cassie and was dressed like a mechanic, yet Roxy couldn't see that. All she identified was the footfalls of a human.

"Have you seen my daughter?" The man asked the robot in a melancholy tone without even thinking or flinching. He sounded like he was about to give up.

"Head technician!" Roxy exclaimed, recognising the voice, "I know where Cassie is. She's alive, but exhausted."

Roxy didn't see it but heard it in the man's voice that his melancholy sadness was replaced with a spark of hope.

"Lead me to her," he said, taking Roxy's hand.

The animatronic lead him into a back alley, and the sight relieved, yet confused him.

Ex head of security Vanessa S. Blake was holding onto an unconscious Cassie for dear life.

"What's going on?" He asked, now scared, confused, and only slightly relieved.

Sylvia, dazed and confused, yet with the brightest smile, looked up at him, and before she passed out, she said "She's my daughter."

[🌹 Ch2 🌹]

When Cassie woke up, she was Civ again. Everything was so bright she could hardly make anything out asside from the fact that there was a shadow looming over her.

"Cassie's alive!" A familiar voice called out. She could hear the tears in his voice though. He had been crying not long beforehand.

"Gregory?" Her voice croaked, "is that really you this time?"

"Yeah, it's really me this time."

As Cassie's eyes adjusted to the light, she saw Gregory, teary eyed and kind of looming over her. She managed to prop herself up, and as soon as she did, she was pulled into a hug.

She felt a second, larger person pull her into a hug as well.

"I thought you died!" She heard Gregory sob, "Adelaide messed with my memories by using Evan's skill against me and made me think I didn't free Ness and didn't escape from burning William in the Raid which she made me think was still the Breach and that I was trying to guide you to save me and you died!"

Adelaide. She knew Adelaide was a Fazbear Entertainment scientist, but she felt like there was more to it, like she had seen the woman in person recently, but couldn't quite place how when or why. Perhaps sleeper knew more about that.

"I remember you dropping the elevator, then I killed the mimic." Cassie replied.

"The mimic? That experiment from the VR environment?" Gregory replied, "how?"

Even Civ knew that Gregory was involved in the VR environment experiments as clone 46. It was no stretch to believe that he had come to know of clone William.

"I don't know. Someone must have downloaded it onto an endo, because it WAS in the real world." Cassie's head hurt as someone saying it was downloaded from the VR environment was all she remembered.

But who could have told her. She was alone down there, wasn't she?

Gregory nodded. He didn't remember a mimic whilst he had been in the sinkhole. Maybe it had been downloaded after Ness had rescued him. He was still peicing his memories back together, and Adelaide's experiment on him had set him back to square zero, so he had been back to the drawing board, literally, drawing his deductions again. Cassie recognised some of the drawings poking out of his hospital gown pockets.

Cassie looked around the hospital room and saw her dad walking over to talk to Sylvia about something. The second person hugging her had a 99.999875% chance of being her dad. Scratch that 100%. But why didn't he say anything?

"Any idea what your dad and Sylvia are talking about?" Gregory asked.

As Cassie looked at them talking, she had a faint memory of something. All she knew is that in the sinkhole, she learned that Sylvia was her mum: the mystery woman whose genes were spliced with Alistair's to create her.

Also whilst she chalked it up to the gas not being out of her system yet, something looked… Off… About her dad's forehead.

A similar distortion that objects would have if they didn't exist in the VANNI network.

"I think sleeper knows more about this than I do," Cassie groaned as she held her head, "I think that's why I don't remember what happened but I just know that you were never really there that day and that you had two different impersonators. Switch me. She'll know more about this than I do."

"Alright," Gregory nodded, "I'm sorry."

That simple phrase made Civ black out as Sleeper took her place.

"Gregory!" Sleeper Cassie exclaimed, teary eyed and smiling. She looked around to get bearings on where she was, and found she was in a civilian hospital. Her dad was talking to Sylvia about something, but she couldn't quite hear what. "I need to tell you some things. You didn't betray me, Bill Blake did, using your voice. I found the stranger whose stem cells were combined with Alistair's to create me, and it's Sylvia. Sylvia is my mum! And I killed the mimic. That's all you need to know."

"But how did you get out?" Gregory asked. He could hardly believe his ears, but he was glad to.

"I… Made a deal with William. Me, Sylvia, Roxy, and Bill help kill the mimic, and Adelaide lifts us out the sinkhole," Cassie's face sunk as she recalled her deal. The terms were fine, ideal even. But the man she made a deal with was the one she had swore herself to never work with.

"Of course he's still kicking," Gregory gave a joking huff, "during the Raid, Adelaide picked him up to stop him from burning any more than he had already burned."

"Well he was down some limbs and looked a tad crispy," Cassie laughed back before breifly pausing. "Wait, you're not mad I made a deal with William?"

"No!" Gregory replied, a look of shock gleamed in his eyes… Was he shocked that she'd feel guilt over making such a surprisingly good deal under such awful conditions? "His terms were exact and actually a win-win. He's a businessman, remember? The only secret terms in his contracts is that he's not responsible for death and dismemberment even if he causes it himself!"

"Or if the mimic jumps to me when the endo is destroyed, that's not his problem," Cassie added as she recalled what William had said about the implant that had been ment for Ness. That she was doomed from the start. "The implant…"

"The doctor told me to tell you about an implant he removed from your eye…" Gregory said. He pointed at her temple, but she couldn't see where his hand was.

"Half my face is…!" Cassie touched her face in shock, and lo and behold, half of it was bandaged up.

Gregory nodded. "It'll be like that for a while. You should be able to see through it again in a few months."

Cassie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can you tell Civ what I told you. But don't tell her about the deal with William. Just that my Grandfather, Bill, betrayed me, and that Roxy and Sylvia came to save me, and when Sylvia told me who betrayed me, we realised I was her daughter. And I killed the mimic. I don't know how much she already knows, but that's all she needs to know. Don't tell her about the deal unless she somehow knows."

Gregory nodded and watched as Sleeper returned to being Civ. But both of them were still equally Cassie to him.

He went over what Sleeper had told him to tell her, and she nodded.

"Thank you, but I feel that's not all of it," Cassie said as she looked at her hands and felt the space on her face that was wrapped in bandages.

"Sleeper told me that that was all I should tell you," Gregory replied.

Cassie nodded. "I'm sure she'll write it down when she thinks I'm ready then."

Aa Cassie took a breath, her hands ached, and she noticed they were bruised and bandaged.

"What did I even DO?" She asked herself looking at her hands, trying to find a bone that did NOT feel broken.

"Y'know how I'm becoming known as a seer? How I dodged death through predicting outcomes and enacting the one where I lived? And how I stuffed up trying to predict what was under the raceway and instead saw what would have happened if the arcades failed?" Gregory responded, "I have a strong feeling that you just switch to Sleeper when you get caught and just punch your way out of it."

"Probably," Cassie laughed, wincing as her hands pulsed with pain, "but I won't know unless she writes it down for me."

Looking over at Sylvia and her dad again, Cassie tried to stand, but she couldn't even get out of the hospital bed. So instead, she yelled, "mum! Dad!"

Sylvia and her dad turned to look at her. Both of them smiled, and her dad walked over to her again. It seemed that Sylvia was as bedridden as she was though.

"I know the doctors told me to hang back until they confirm the gas and AR systems are no longer warping your perception of reality, but I can't just sit back when you probably need me the most. She explained everything, and honestly, I'm surprised I didn't notice sooner," Cassie's dad, Desmond Anadem said, "her scar from the stem cell extraction and it happening a year before you were, well…"

"Just say synthesised," Cassie cut in, "I've known I'm a gene splice since forever."

"Yeah," Desmond nodded. Her creation had always been a sensitive topic, and her civilian side not remembering the first six years of her life and her constant search for the mystery stem cell donor was something that he prefered his daughter to bring up first, "synthesised, and with you being Bill Blake's granddaughter. I don't know why it didn't click to just ask Bill about his mystery daughter that he sometimes mentioned."

"Bill hates her," Cassie looked over at Sylvia who was poking the spot on her chest where the strange implant had been, likely trying to check for any insertion or removal wounds and by the look on her face, finding several, "I don't think he'd have told you or me."

"That makes sense, and asking every Blake if they're that Bill's child just seems intrusive," Desmond added. "Finding out she was the mystery stem cell donor was a shock though. Roxy came up to me in the street and I asked her if she'd seen my daughter. She had and she was actually trying to find someone to help her. When she lead me to the alley where you were, I saw Sylvia clinging to you for dear life as she told me that you were her daughter. I thought she'd gone crazy, but it turned out to be true."

"Not as awkward as it could have been," Cassie gave an awkward smile.

"Did you say something awkward when you found out yourself?" Desmond asked.

"I don't know, Sleeper was the one who found out," Cassie replied, "I'm just going off of what little I remember and what Sleeper told Gregory to tell me!"

Gregory shrugged at Cassie's dad, "she just gave me a briefing on what happened," he cracked a bit of a grin as he said "I'm sorry but she didn't repeat any potentially embarrassing moments."

When Desmond turned back to look at his daughter, her demeanour had changed.

She held her head, slightly confused as to why she had been called back.

"Did one of you want to ask me something?" Cassie's sleeper self asked.

"Oh! That was an accident," Gregory gave an embarrassed smile, "We were talking to your dad and I accidentally said the swap word."

"Good because I need to tell you more about the implant." Cassie grabbed Gregory's shoulder. She was dead serious. "We'll need someone to decompile the code from the mask and implant. Hallucinogenic gas explains only half of what this implant does to your perception of reality. There's a big jump between gas that makes people see a wall so not go through what would be an open gap, and being able to walk on air."

"The doctors handed it over to Mike," Gregory replied, "They were being super careful with it. Mike has the mask too."

"Good. I might need it back. Wiped from whatever the endo down there did to it, but the fact that the labs down there are still operational… If we need to do a second raid, the gas alone might make it impossible to get to the labs." Cassie bit her finger and begun to scribble some plans in blood on her bandages before Gregory and Cassie's dad pinned her down.

"Stop it! You're not emergency ink!" Gregory yelled.

"I don't know what came over me… Agent instincts I guess," she replied with a bewildered smile and a small laugh.

Desmond passed Cassie a notebook and pen, and she begun to scribble down pages upon pages of notes.

"This is all I know about the implant and what it did. If we modify it and put it back, Fazbear Entertainment would have a hard time getting a new chip in as those masks are their only vector, and from what the mask said, I can assume that if I already had a chip, it wouldn't have chipped me."

Gregory and Cassie's dad looked at the notes, then at Cassie.

"You're crazy," they said.

"Actually she's not." Mike poked his head around the corner before walking into the ward. "I've had Fritz take a look at the code, and she's right, already having a recognised chip would have meant she wouldn't get chipped. And from some digging I did, this mask's chipping system is the same as the ones in some masks I found about a year ago. At the HQ, whilst that place was still under construction, there were a pair of masks with similar workings. They were both in present boxes and were in the desk of the late Dr Alistair, umm…. She never used her surname and it's not in any Faz Ent databases, but they were in Alistair's desk."

Mike paused and saw Cassie and Gregory looking at him. Mention of their deceased biological mother made them both grimace.

"Anadem," Desmond stated. "Before my sister married, her surname was Anadem. I don't know of she kept her surname in marriage, because she was buried under the name Alistair Anadem, though that was likely her professional surname rather than personal surname." He didn't know much about his own sister, but he did know that.

Mike nodded, taking in this new information, then continued to speak.

"The boxes were labeled as 'to my son', and 'to my daughter'," Mike continued, "I think she would have given them to you on the opening day of the Megaplex, two and a half months ago, but she died a few years before that could happen."

"They've been planning this for how long?" Cassie's and Gregory's reply was a mix of shock, yet downtrodden.

"They've been planning the megaplex since William decided to make a VR project as a vector to find a vessel. It was to be his hunting ground. From what data I extracted from the mask, your two were to be just like this one. Because you stole the metal Vanny mask before Ness could be forced to wear it on her first day at the Megaplex, this is the first time we've seen it in action. I'm guessing this is why there were unidentified gas canisters in the raceway alongside the nitrogen canisters, and would explain the sudden explosion there after the Breach. I'm guessing Sylvia's demolition work broke open the remaining unexploded ones and released it."

"That still doesn't explain how I was able to essentially walk on air!" Cassie shouted back, shaking, "I understand how those strange static portals worked, … Civ would be suppressed, the chip would give me a prime directive to get to point B, and I would get there by any means, even taking leaps of faith or running across banisters so thin that Civ would never even dream of it. But how did I stand on air? How did I climb up boxes of air."

Mike didn't reply immediately. He froze, and his face looked apologetic "I don't know…"

"So you at least still have the mask and chip," Cassie asked.

"Yes, as I think I've already said, Fritz is handling them and decompiling the code as we speak. The chip was a bit fried when the doctors removed it, but it's not been completely destroyed," Mike replied, "we were able to save the data and plug it through the mask to see what it meant. There were some suspicious parts, like the entire HELPI system, but I've been waiting for your input to see what we should do with it."

"Why did you remove it?" Cassie asked, deadpan, "How did you even know that I had an implant."

"Do you want to look under your bandages?" Mike asked as he pulled out a mirror and handed it to Cassie.

She took the mirror and nodded. Gently, her dad removed the bandages, and the sight was concerning.

Veins of purple shot out from her eye, laying purple streaks on her left temple, connecting the two points like a cable monster.

"It was worse when you got here. The lines were so purple they almost looked pitch black," Mike said as Cassie tried to figure out what happened to cause… This.

"We know it's the cause because when I found you with Sylvia, it was purple. By the time we got to the hospital, it was black," Cassie's dad chipped in, "it was my decision to remove it. It looked like it was killing you from the inside."

"Right… That must be why I passed out when I left the building…" Cassie replied, writing down notes, "I think an eyepiece would be safer then."

Mike nodded before his face sunk into a visceral visage of fear.

"Check the chip's entire system!" Mike yelled over his walkie-talkie, "is there anything related to leaving the building."

"What was that for?" Cassie asked.

"That mask was meant for Ness, right?" Mike shook as he spoke, "leaving the building may have triggered a kill switch."

"Kill… switch?"

Everything William had told her in the sinkhole made sense.

The mask and its specific chip had been meant for a woman who was supposed to be bound to the Megaplex. It was likely this chip alone that had the kill switch. This mask she had stolen from a woman who desperately wanted to keep the mask off of her face a month prior to causing the Breach. She hadn't used it back then, merely keeping it as a means of emergency disguise. One she thankfully didn't need to use.

As soon as the implant went in, she really was doomed from the start.

William's deal could have been as cushy and in her favour as the old man could put up with.

Because she had to stay in the Megaplex or die.

Cassie passed out and Civ resumed control. When she pulled herself up, she caught a glimpse of the left side of her face in the mirror in her lap.

"Did she ask why the chip was removed, and is … Is this pattern on my face why?" She asked.

"Yes," Mike replied, "when your dad found you, it looked like it does now. But once you got to the hospital, those markings were black. After talking it through, I think you might have triggered a kill switch upon leaving the Megaplex."

"That makes sense…" Cassie replied, slightly scared, but not pass out cold scared.

"Is everything ok?" Gregory asked.

"Yeah, … Sleeper doesn't normally pass out though. If the chip was the topic of your conversation with her, do you think she knows more about this than I do?"

"Probably," Gregory replied, "she didn't tell me much about what happened in the pit asside from what I told you."

Cassie nodded as she flicked through the notebook at her side. It was all in her own handwriting, so sleeper must have wrote it.

One clump of notes stood out.

"Gas? Doomed from the start?"

"The working theory is that Faz Ent intended to use some gas to trick people into seeing walls where there are none there, like how they didn't program certain rooms into the old animatronics maps so that they couldn't reach the safe room, and that the AR implant and mask let you see through some illusions whilst making other fake walls. But that doesn't explain you 'walking on air' as you put it," Gregory replied. He opened his mouth to continue, but his thoughts trailed off. "Someone must have hinted at the kill switch's existence to sleeper when you were at the Megaplex. Maybe someone told her she was doomed from the start. Maybe that's why she wrote those words."

Cassie clutched her head. "Those…. Words…. I… Heard those words…" A flash of a memory that should be impossible entered her mind. A man who was dead yet alive, telling her the chip had doomed her. Yet she knew this memory was possible, and the truth. Because Civ never met this man, but sleeper knew him well enough. "From the man who made the M.X.E.S system."

It wasn't every day that a memory of Sleeper's would leak into Civ's, but Gregory had seen it enough times to know to jump into action. "Just rest, Cassie. We'll get to that later. After you've let yourself rest. Just listen to me; you got out of the megaplex, the mimic is dead, we're both alive, and you're going to be OK."

[🌹 Ch3 🌹]

When she woke up, Cassie found herself still in a hospital bed.

She didn't have a dream after passing out after realising she'd had a kill switch go off on the implant chip and that she almost didn't make it.

She counted herself lucky.

She read her notebook. Maybe there was more that Sleeper had wanted to tell her about what happened after the elevator. Some kind of explanation for why the mimic was dressed in a mismatched costume. She didn't question pressing the button to kill it, only how she got there.

From everything that was written down, Civ knew that her Sleeper self was hiding something; it's pretty hard to hide a secret from yourself. But she knew she had a good reason to.

If she talked with the man who made the M.X.E.S system, then maybe…

She looked around to find someone to talk to. Her dad was asleep in a chair next to her, but there was someone else she could talk to now.

"Mum!" Cassie shouted as she looked over at Sylvia. It was daytime, and Sylvia was awake, playing on a handheld games console while a mini music man, in far better condition than those she had encountered at the megaplex, slept on her bedside table.

"What is it?" Sylvia turned to Cassie and smiled.

"Who made the M.X.E.S system?" Cassie asked, "I know sleeper is hiding things from me, but I need to know. How did I pass out in the dropped elevator then wake up to find myself in a scooper control room primed to kill the mimic."

Civ knew that Sylvia likely hadn't received the briefing from Sleeper to not tell Civ. That made her perfect for spilling the beans.

"William Afton. Gregory and Ness started laying down a physical system to monitor activity within the Megaplex called the J.A.C.X system, and he repurposed it into M.X.E.S," Sylvia answered, "Why? Did Sleeper not want to tell you?"

"Yes…"  Cassie was glad for the answer, but didn't know how Sylvia knew the name of her sleeper agent self, even if it was a self explanatory one. "And I don't recall telling you about Sleeper."

"Oh, you mentioned your sleeper agent self's name when we were still in the elevator, and Gregory talked about you a lot when the Raid was being prepared," Sylvia replied, "he told us that Sleeper told him to not contact you unless he's either in mortal peril or completely safe in order to prevent unnecessary contact that could get you both killed."

Cassie nodded and confirmed, "after causing the Breach incident, me contacting him or him contacting me would have been too risky for both of us. Unless he was completely safe or safety didn't matter anymore, it was safer to not risk exposing our positions. That's why I believed he was in mortal danger when an impersonator contacted me."

"How do you know the incident name?" It was Sylvia's turn to question how Cassie had received such information.

"I watched from afar and I overheard Bill mention it back at HQ when I overheard a conversation pertaining to Freddy's missing head. I heard talk of it non stop. 'Cassie caused the breach and ruined years of research', 'Cassie caused the Raid because she caused the Breach'," Cassie replied, "Well, Sleeper heard it. She just wrote it down to relay it to me. Say, do you think that sleeper was trying to make sure I didn't find out about what happened in the elevator to protect my mental state? She mentioned you, Bill, and that I killed the mimic… But why would I work with Bill?"

Sylvia tilted her head. Not answering, and not filling any audio space. She wanted to coax Civ into saying more.

"In that… Shared memory that made me pass out. I remember shaking the hand of the man who made the M.X.E.S system, and Bill being there," Receiving Sleeper's memories was rare, but it always happened when she was grasping at straws for answers and always left her the same way, and it always left her with a headache. Cassie struggled with Sleeper's memory, trying to find out why she'd keep this from herself, even though she knows she'd find out sooner or later. She found herself mumbling.

If William created the M.X.E.S. system… then…

"It's because Sleeper was stressed out about it and didn't want you to also stress about it. But the stress is probably why you're starting to remember her memories." Gregory pulled up a chair and entered the conversation. "I'm sorry about barging in, but Sleeper?"

Gregory had switched Civ to sleeper.

"Why wake me up?" Sleeper asked, slightly miffed, knowing that Gregory had just barged into the conversation but not much else.

"Civ is trying to find out what happened in the elevator. Should we keep it from her?" Gregory asked.

"Let Sylvia tell her. The ID of M.X.E.S.'s creator has already slipped," Sleeper replied, "so could you give me some privacy. I'll talk to you in umm…. An hour. Or when Civ calls you. I don't want you to see me when Civ finds out."

Gregory nodded and left, letting Sleeper switch back and wake up Civ.

"What happened?" Civ asked.

"Gregory asked Sleeper if she was ready for you to learn some information she was keeping from you," Sylvia replied.

"Well I was looking for that information anyway," Cassie sighed, "so what's the big scoop Sleeper knows that'll make everything make sense. I was talking about Bill and William…"

"You made a deal with William." Sylvia's response was blunt. Whilst she was known to wrap up hard to take talks with obfuscation of the actual point, sugar coating was not her style. "The deal was: you kill the mimic, Adelaide helps us out of the sinkhole."

Cassie paused. She let everything run through her mind.

She'd already peiced so much together, but it still felt like she was missing far too much.

"Please tell me everything that happened after you found me in the elevator."

Sylvia shakily got out of her hospital bed and sat in the chair Gregory had pulled up earlier.

Bill had cut the elevator cable. Sylvia and Roxy had found her. Bill had went down and admitted to using Gregory's voice when telling her that he was going to cut the cable. Adelaide and William showed up and told them that the Mimic was tech Exec Burrows's idea and was a mutual enemy. Team anti-mimic was formed when Cassie made a deal to kill the mimic in exchange for getting out of the sinkhole. Team anti-mimic had a debate against team pro-mimic, which was short lived as Burrows's died by William and Adelaide's hands. Then, they lured the mimic itself to the prototype labs scooping room, and there, Cassie killed it.

Sylvia also detailed the escape route. Taking a detour for Bonnie's head, getting to the roof, the fire escape stairs falling down, AR weilders being able to use fire escape stairs that didn't seem to exist, the grappling hook decent the rest of the way down, finally parting ways with Bill and Cheryl, and Roxy finding Cassie's dad.

Cassie nodded and took a deep breath. She tried to keep her breathing steady, but she burst into tears.

Processing everything hurt. Of course it was always going to hurt. This is why Sleeper had told Gregory to not let her find out, and why Gregory did his best to keep his word. But at least she knew the truth.

Without thinking, Cassie pulled Sylvia into a hug.

Cassie cried for what felt like forever, but by the time she'd stopped crying and let go, it had felt like not long enough.

"Fetch Gregory," Cassie said, her voice still shaking, "and anyone else connected to the Breach incident or the Raid. If Burrows brought the mimic into the real world by downloading it from the VR environment, … It might come back. Someone might bring it back onto a new endo; they have enough endos to keep this going for a while. They trained it a lot in the VR environment, and its actions there may have inspired William and his execs to murder the construction crews, and that environment potentially gives it more data than we could ever imagine. We need to be prepared for not if but when someone tries downloading it onto an endo again. And as soon as the eyepiece is finished, I need to see how the system sees my dad."

═════════════°•.🌹.•°═════════════

[atths--twice]

Chapter Twenty Seven

Don't Leave Me. Please.

A coven of eight, four others, and Scully makes thirteen. It's time...

“How could he just walk out of here and nobody saw him?” Scully asked loudly, her hands on her hips. “He collapsed and was brought in by ambulance. Yet, he got up, walked out, and no one saw him leave? How is that possible?”

“Agent Scully-”

“No. I want to know where he is and what happened!”

“Agent Scully-”

“What?” She turned around and saw Peter Blake standing halfway down the hall. He held her gaze and her stomach dropped as she quickly walked over to him. “Where is he?”

“The cemetery.”

“Why?”

“She needs to help him. To help someone.”

“Who?”

“You know who,” he said with a nod. “You just don’t want to believe or admit it.”

“Sarah Blackwell.” He nodded and she scoffed, shaking her head. “I don’t believe it because it’s not possible.”

“You’re wrong. It’s possible. I know it for a fact. I’m here, aren’t I? All of my scans are still clear. Whatever happened… whatever I believed was possible before… it’s nothing compared to what I believe now.”

“You think… you really believe she healed you? A woman dead for nearly two hundred years?”

“I know how it sounds. I do. But, yes. I do.”

“That’s…”

“Is it any different than thinking a god, who is believed to reside in the sky, could do the same thing?”

She stared at him, opening her mouth to say that of course it was, but then closed it with a sigh.

“Why does she want Mulder?” she asked softly.

“I can’t say exactly as I don’t know. I just know… she needs to help someone. Like she helped me.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know why. I just feel it.” He moved his fingers like he had done the first time they met him and shook his head. “It’s like… like static electricity building. I feel it. I know you can’t, but Agent Mulder does. He knows.”

“Will… will she hurt him?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry if I don’t completely believe that’s true. Have you seen Trevor?” she asked skeptically and he nodded with a small smile.

“He was there with me, though I never saw him. He remembered me. I think he somehow helped to save me. I don’t know how, but…” He shrugged and Scully sighed heavily.

“Where will I find him?”

Slamming the car door, Scully stared at the cemetery, the light from the full moon nearly bright enough, but she still took her flashlight out of her coat pocket and turned it on.

As she started to walk towards the cemetery, headlights shining behind her made her turn around, shielding her eyes. Another car pulled behind as the first car parked, and then another, all parking beside each other. The lights cut off, doors began to open, and Flora, Fauna, Ashley, Cassie, Renée and the other women from Fauna’s coven got out and looked at Scully.

“What are you doing here?” Scully asked, staring at them in shock.

“Helping you,” Fauna said, closing the door and buttoning her coat.

“That’s right,” one of Fauna’s friends said, putting on gloves and nodding. “Fauna called, sounding the alarm, and we all answered.”

“With you,” Fauna said, nodding at Scully. “We have thirteen, the goddesses' number. There's also a full moon tonight. Whatever has been happening lately, it seems like tonight’s the night. I’ve been feeling it all day.”

“Me too,” said Ashley and Cassie looked at her, both of them nodding. “Something in the air… like an electric current.”

“Exactly,” Fauna said, nodding at Ashley who smiled back somewhat nervously. “Let’s go. It’s time.”

Scully kept looking at the women who walked with flashlights, silently and with purpose through the cemetery.

“What’s the plan, Faun?” Flora asked softly and Scully heard Fauna sigh.

“Sarah will show us what she needs,” Fauna replied and Scully caught Flora’s eye, not knowing what to say.

“Okay, little sister,” Flora said, taking Fauna’s hand and nodding.

This is ridiculous, Scully thought. It will get us nowhere. We should be searching for them, not doing whatever this will be.

But then, as they reached the edge of the cemetery and Fauna stopped walking, the hairs on the back of Scully’s neck stood up and she began to breathe harder.

“You feel it, Agent Scully,” Fauna whispered. “It’s that current that Ashley mentioned. It’s right there.” She reached out, like Peter had, and she moved her fingers slowly. “Feel it. Here.”

She took Scully’s hand and held it in her own, moving their fingers together.

“Oh my God,” Scully said, feeling it in her fingers and down her wrist.

“She’s here somewhere. We just have to find her. Ladies, the candles.”

Fauna left Scully to help set up candles in a circle in the grass. The flashlights were turned off as thirteen, tall, round white candles were lit and each person was instructed to stand behind one of them, keeping the circle tight.

“Sarah Blackwell,” Fauna said and Scully raised her eyes from her candle to look at her. “We are here tonight, in the place where you once lived, to help you. We understand now. You’re trapped. Stuck in between worlds and you don’t want to be. Not anymore. You probably haven’t for a very long time. But we understand now and we want to help you. Show us how to help you.”

Scully looked around and saw the others doing the same, waiting for some kind of a sign.

It’s silly, she thought, but then her candle flickered though there was no wind blowing.

It sputtered and caught, sputtering again, and nearly extinguishing.

“Talk to it,” Fauna whispered. “See who it is.”

Scully stared at her incredulously and Fauna nodded, looking at the candle.

“Uh… Sarah?” Scully asked, clearing her throat and feeling exceptionally ridiculous to be speaking to a candle. It sputtered twice and Scully could almost picture it shaking its head in exasperation. “Mm… Mulder?”

The flame burned incredibly brightly and then resumed its regular glow, causing everyone to gasp and murmur about the impossibilities of what they were witnessing.

“Agent Mulder? It’s Fauna, can you hear me?”

The candle glowed again and Flora exhaled loudly as she shook her head and looked at her sister.

“We’re here at the cemetery with you, wherever you are. We want to help Sarah to find peace. To ascend, as she was meant to do on the day she died. Do you see Sarah?”

Bright white flame burned again and Fauna covered her mouth, her eyes wide.

“How do we get to you, Mulder?” Scully breathed, but the candle did not react. “Mulder, did you hear me?”

The candle glowed and then began to lessen.

“No!” Scully said, dropping to her knees in the cold wet grass as it nearly went out.

“Oh my God,” someone said and Scully turned to see the candle in front of Ashley burning brightly. “Arthur? Is… is it you?” Even brighter it glowed and Ashley began to cry. “How… how can we-”

“Brent?” Cassie said as her candle burned brighter and it flickered and glowed. “You’re safe?” Again it flickered and Cassie laughed shakily.

Looking back at the candle in front of her, Scully saw it was nearly out.

“Mulder,” she said quietly, bending closer to the candle, taking a deep breath. “Don’t be the sacrificial hero. I can’t… Don’t leave me. Please. Please don’t…”

The candle sputtered, glowed, and burned out, the instant darkness hurting her eyes and breaking her heart.

“No,” she whispered, clutching her stomach. “No. He can’t… he couldn’t…”

“Agent Scully. Look. What is that?”

Looking up, she saw Fauna pointing toward the forest where a faint light was glowing. Or perhaps the light was bright and the forest was dense, but it did not matter.

On her feet and running, as Fauna called after her to wait. She paid her no heed, hurrying as fast as she could, not wanting to believe what the darkened candle could possibly mean.

Branches hit her face, her arms and hands as she lifted them to protect herself, the only light she could see, the growing one in the forest.

“Mulder!” she yelled, almost tripping over a large tree root and catching herself on a tree trunk. “Mulder, where are you? Mulder, please!”

She ran toward the light and suddenly she was in the light, running headlong into a large shape in front of her before she could slow down and stop herself.

Bouncing back, someone caught her around the waist and held her tightly. Stumbling together, she grabbed blindly at them, gaining her footing enough to avoid a fall to the ground.

“Scully?”

“Mulder?”

She put on a steadying hand on his chest and stared at him in disbelief as he continued to hold her around the waist.

“You’re okay? There was a candle and it… it…” She looked around and saw lights that seemed to be floating around a woman standing behind Mulder.

She stared at her, taking in her golden hair, dark clothes and green eyes.

“Sarah,” she said, staring at her unbelievingly and the woman nodded, her expression intense and probing.

“How did you get here?” Mulder asked Scully, loosening his hold on her, but keeping a hand at her lower back and hip to keep her steady as she began to slip.

“Those lights, they’re…”

“They are,” Sarah agreed and Scully nodded at Mulder as she stepped away from him and towards Sarah.

“They want to help you, Sarah. To get you where-”

“They can’t. I don’t know how they can.”

“Where are Brent and Arthur?”

“You didn’t see them?” Mulder asked worriedly. “They were supposed to have-”

“They did. She came in as they went out.”

“What?” Scully asked, not understanding as she looked at Mulder.

“What does that mean, Sarah?” Mulder asked and Sarah shook her head.

“I don’t know. I…” She shook her head and looked down. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to-”

“Sarah Blackwell,” Fauna’s voice called gently, a light glowing brighter behind Sarah. “Can you hear me?”

“That’s Fauna. She came here tonight to help you. To do what she can to-”

“I know her voice,” Sarah said. “She was here and I…”

“You saved her,” Mulder said and Sarah shook her head, her eyes hard and angry.

“No. I did not. If I had, I would have been… I would be with Obadiah.”

“You did. You saved her,” Mulder said. “And now you’ve saved Peter. He and his… wife… get to live their lives together, like you had with Obadiah, as brief as it was, unfortunately.”

“He… they get to be together?” Sarah asked, looking at each of them.

“Yes,” Scully whispered, watching as all the lights began to glow brightly. She reached for Mulder’s hand and he interlocked their fingers, holding tightly.

“And the woman?” Sarah asked, turning to look at the lights as Mulder tugged Scully closer to his side.

“She’s happy and wants you to find peace.”

Sarah turned back to look at Mulder. Scully watched him nod as Sarah shook her head.

“Is it enough?” she whispered. “Is it finally enough?”

“Yes,” he said, holding even tighter to Scully’s hand as he reached towards Sarah. “Go, Sarah.”

“Sarah,” Fauna said softly, her light glowing even brighter. “Go, Sarah. Find your peace. Leave this place. Go meet Obadiah and be with him always.”

“Go, Sarah,” Mulder whispered again, his outstretched fingers moving slowly and beckoning to her. “Go.”

She reached out her hand and just before she touched him, she looked at Scully and smiled.

“Yes. I think it will be enough,” she whispered, nodding her head and smiling again, her attention turning to Mulder. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” he said, her fingers only inches from his. His grip on Scully’s hand was nearly bone crushing, but she said nothing, only holding on tightly.

“Goodbye,” Sarah breathed and touched his hand.

A light shined so brightly, it forced Scully to close her eyes, as she was suddenly thrown into cold air and darkness, Mulder falling on top of her.

“They’re here!”

“I see them!”

“Fauna! Over here!”

“Mulder,” Scully whispered, touching his head. “Mulder, can you hear me?”

“Always,” he breathed and she smiled, succumbing to unconsciousness as people began to gather around them, shouting for someone to call for help.

[mcrcki]

it’s a starter call !! thaaanks !! finally getting this up and going and will work on these throughout the weekend, but like always, my rules for these are super simple : just SPECIFY characters for the starters or like deadass i will not write it! the cap is four per writer !! i just wanna make sure i get to write with everyone!! please do not just like this unless you intend to come back and reply later on! if you would like to plot, my plotting call is right here !! i will be putting some cliff notes of my characters just to aid in the whole decision making process but !! otherwise, happy holidays hidden, i love y’all a lot, but i’ll save me being sappy for the anniversary :))

daniela dimitrescu || resident evil : village - ( 4 / 5 )

she/they pronouns. will not be attending, but is more than happy to still dunk on this whole thing, complain about the cold, or convince you to leave the market so they can get a bite to eat ;)

riley biers ( mario )

daisy johnson ( cassie )

cassandra dimitrescu ( casey )

gwen blake ( moon )

leia organa || star wars - ( 3 / 5 )

she/her pronouns. not her event but she’s here to get some good pr after the disaster of the halloween gala. very much in president organa mode over being just leia, focusing on her job and ignoring how messed up her family life is 

han solo ( mario )

isabelle lightwood ( swan )

jacen solo ( moon )  

marlene mckinnon || harry potter : marauders era - ( 3 / 5 )

she/her pronouns. just having a great christmas and she’s not letting anything take that away from her. enjoying the market, having a great time, buying presents, chilling in the ice bar !!

emmeline vance ( mario )

albus severus potter ( sam )

james potter ( kasey )

omega archeron || star wars : the bad batch - ( 4 / 5 )

she/they pronouns. not doing great but determined to have something resembling a nice christmas. sneaking into the ice bar, taking photos with hot santa, not having a great time but pls help them 

peter parker ( sam )

yuri plisetsky ( ollie )

hera syndulla ( casey ) 

feyre archeron ( kasey )

pj halliwell || charmed ‘98 - ( 3 / 5 )

she/her pronouns. the fact that she’s not dressed up as an elf is only because it’s the first week of the market. watch out cause she absolutely will be dressed up at some point. loves ! christmas ! you will be stuck caroling !

melinda halliwell ( swan )

willow rosenberg ( casey )

antonia dreykov ( moon )

rosemary winters || resident evil : village - ( 2 / 5 )

she/they pronouns. is finally aware and just looking to have a real, normal, fun christmas with her dad. will hang out with people who need a family for christmas too!!

na ji na ( atlas )

mouse honrada  ( moon )

rowena ravenclaw || harry potter : founders era - ( 1 / 5 )

she/her pronouns. not her favorite thing, but she’s here to spend time with her friends and family, get some nice presents and looking for someone to push her out of her comfort zone

alecto carrow ( casey )

sella palpatine || star wars - ( 1 / 5 )

she/her pronouns. having a hallmark holiday moment , leave her in peace!!! if you get close, you will be dragged into it !!!!

addison wells ( atlas )

sofia ambrosini || goncharov ( 1973 ) - ( 0 / 5 )

she/her pronouns. also not attending, but her apartment is on the other side of the market grounds, so she’s forced to walk through at least once or twice.

starters here

sophie hatter || howl’s moving castle - ( 1 / 5 )

she/they pronouns. is finally aware again so will be reuniting with their husband, enjoying life with their family, running a stall at the market, just finally having a great time !!

xie lian ( ollie )

tatum riley || scream ‘96 - ( 2 / 5 )

she/her pronouns. is having a good time dammit. take photos with sexy santa with them and just having FUN. screw these bad vibes around other parties, she’s enjoying this one.

josh washington ( blue )

sam carpenter ( swan )

victoria sutherland || twilight - ( 1 / 5 )

she/her pronouns. will be enjoying some of the market, she has fun too thank you. will need a bite to eat eventually, but she’s really just trying to have a few moments of peace. might change depending on who she runs into xoxo

bree tanner ( swan )

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 129: Pangea

cw: mentions homophobic slurs

It was their day off.

Their one day when they didn't have to work and their five year old was at the muggle nursery school. They often cleaned and did laundry on days like these, but they always made a point of spending some quality time together. Harry had realized shortly after they'd adopted Cassie that it really hurt their relationship not to have time they set aside for just the two of them.

Today they were headed to get some ice cream and talking about the slumber party they were going to be hosting in a few days and all of the arrangements that had to be made when Harry's mobile started to ring.

Draco watched curiously as Harry pulled it out of his pocket, "Hello?"

"Yes, hi, is this Mr. Potter Malfoy?" a woman asked.

He glanced at Draco and put the phone on speaker, "Yes, this is Harry."

"Hi," the woman said again, "This is Linda in the school office. We're going to need you to come pick Cassie up."

"What? Why?" Draco asked before Harry could reply. "Is everything alright?"

"Sorry, I have you on speaker so my husband could hear you."

The woman chuckled and Draco looked ready to reach through the screen and strangle her. "Everything's fine. She just had a little disagreement with one of the other students and is pretty upset. The head mistress will have a chat with you when you get here."

"The head mistress!" Draco hissed.

Harry laid a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Thanks for calling us. We'll be right in." He hung up and braced himself for the inevitable.

(Read more below the cut)

"What happened?" Draco asked immediately.

He rolled his eyes and turned around to walk back to their house so they could drive to school, "You heard what I heard," he said. "I don't know any more than you."

"Yes but you went to Muggle primary school!" he protested, walking quicker. "You should have some idea-"

"I don't."

"Do you think it was accidental magic?" Draco asked.

He shook his head. "That was not the sound of a call about accidental magic."

"Then what do you think she was fight about?"

"Draco, there are a thousand things to fight about. Muggle children are just as unpredictable as wizarding children." He reached over and took Draco's hand, "She's only five, how much trouble could she be in?"

----------

When they arrived Cassie was over talking to a different adult and the headmistress waved them in.

She seemed happy enough so Harry let her be and followed the headmistress in, Draco all but vibrating with nervous energy behind him.

"Mr. and Mr. Potter-Malfoy, thank you for coming."

"Harry and Draco are fine," he said.

"What happened?" Draco asked quickly.

Harry glanced at him, "Sorry. We've just never been called in before. Is Cassie in trouble?"

"This afternoon, Cassie told a story to her classmates about how the continents got separated."

"Gaia," Draco nodded. "It's one of her favorites, she likes to hear about how life thrives no matter what."

Harry took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Right," Headmistress Blake replied, "and that's great. Storytelling improves communication skills and it's great for students to share like that."

"So why are we here?" Draco asked.

"Jacob told her that Gaia wasn't real, that the whole story was made up, and tried to tell her about Pangea."

"Pangea?" Harry asked incredulously. "How old is this kid?"

She chuckled, "His parents are geologists."

"Still!" Harry said, "That's pretty advanced for a five year old." Draco looked completely befuddled as though he had no idea what they were talking about. "But I still don't understand why we're here."

"I'm getting to it," she said. "She tried to tell him that it was just a story that her father told her."

Draco nodded, "Should we not tell her stories like that?" he asked, sounding panicked.

"Not at all," she said, giving him a warm smile in an obvious attempt to diffuse his anxiety. "But Jacob called you a liar and used a bit of derogatory language."

Harry's entire body froze, "Excuse me?" He'd been hoping that she'd be in Hogwarts by the time other kids were old enough to understand the implications of having two dads. It wasn't a big deal in the wizarding world, but it mattered in the muggle world still.

Headmistress Blake nodded, "She told him it wasn't nice to talk about people that way and insisted that Draco wasn't a liar. When Jacob doubled down on the slurs, she punched him."

"Good." Harry covered his mouth, "Sorry," he said quickly. "Sorry, it's just-"

"We have taught our daughter not to hit," Draco insisted, glaring at Harry. And while this was true, they had, it was only because Draco was already teaching her the words for jinxes that would be more effective. She was going to be a terror once she got her wand. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid that I don't understand what sorts of slurs you're referring to."

The headmistress rubbed her eyebrow uncomfortably, "He called you poofs and said that fags can't be trusted," she said and Draco's jaw dropped, his hand clenching Harry's so hard that Harry was afraid he'd need a healing spell cast when this was over. "Other students overheard and told Miss Murray after the fact."

"We taught her not to hit," he said, "But we've also taught her that it's important to stand up for what is right," Harry said. "It sounds like she tried to use her words first and then when that didn't work she used a different means available to her."

"But the next step should have been talking to her teacher, not punching another child."

Harry nodded, "I can understand why you'd-"

"Excuse me, Harry," his husband interrupted, "But I can't," Draco said bluntly. "And here's why; we are raising our daughter to be strong and independent because Salazar knows that women are not taken seriously in this world. Teaching her now that there is someone to help her when she is being verbally assaulted will not help her when she is grown."

"Mr. Potter-Malfoy, I understand what you're saying but-"

Draco shook his head, "With all due respect, there is no but. If her teacher didn't notice that another child was shouting bigoted slurs at her because she has two fathers then no one was coming to her rescue."

The headmistress squared her shoulders, "Cassie's being suspended for two weeks."

"What?" Draco spat.

"We cannot set a precedent that allows for violence to be the answer."

"And what is Jacob's punishment?" Draco demanded.

She blinked at him, "He's got a broken nose."

"Setting aside that his actions still deserve a punishment from a source of authority so he doesn't continue to grow into a bigoted prick, let's just say for the sake of argument," Draco said, voice sharp as nails, "that she'd gone over and told Miss Murray about what he'd said what would his punishment have been?"

"He would to apologize," she replied.

"What? Just said he was 'sorry'?" he asked incredulously. "That's it?"

She nodded, "Yes. He's only five."

He turned to look at Harry completely outraged, "This whole school can fuck off," Draco said, standing from his chair and pointing at Harry, "I told you this was a bad idea."

Harry winced, he had in fact said this was not a great plan, just not for this reason.

"We'll be taking our daughter home today and she will not be coming back," he said. "And we will be telling this story to anyone who will listen."

"Mr-" she started, looking taken aback, since Draco had always been the polite one of the two of them.

"Oh, don't even start with me," he growled. "I run a very successful design business and while I do not understand how most of the social media works, I have someone who I pay to do it and she and I have been friends for a long time. Get ready to lose any family that you have that has a conscience, you can become the place for all backwards bigots." He started toward the door and Harry stood up.

"We'll sue you for slander," she said.

He looked over at her, completely unimpressed, "It's only slander if it's not true."

"It'll be your word against ours," she replied.

A pale eyebrow rose, "Yes it will. Lucky for me that I've recorded this entire lovely exchange," he said, twirling a pen that the Weasleys sold at the joke shop that did just that. "Feel free to contact our solicitor about anything else."

And with that he swanned out of the office.

Harry stared at her for a long moment, "Maybe you should consider educating your parents and students." Then he followed Draco out.

Draco was already squatting next to Cassie, murmuring softly to her, "yes, well done, my darling," he said pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"He was really mean, papa," she murmured.

His husband nodded, "I know, love."

"Hey, bean," Harry said, ruffling Cassie's curls and bending over to kiss her temple. "Let's get out of here, yeah? Do you have all of your things?"

She held up her unicorn backpack and nodded.

Harry helped her get her backpack on and then they set off, each of them holding one of her hands.

Cassie chattered away about the rest of her day, not even mentioning her run in with Jacob again.

-------------

After they put Cassie to bed they came back downstairs and Harry collapsed onto Draco on the sofa, resting his head in his lap.

"Pansy says that story is spreading like wildfire."

"Really?" Harry asked.

Draco nodded.

"S'kinda sexy," he said.

Draco laughed, "Sorry?"

He shrugged a shoulder, "You getting all livid and protective. It was sexy."

His husband's fingers combed through his fringe, "I'll always fight for you, for her, and for us," he promised.

"I know," he replied. "You're a good man Draco Potter Malfoy."

"It's only going to get harder," Draco said.

"Maybe, but we'll look for a more inclusive nursery school-"

Draco shook his head, "I mean when she heads to Hogwarts."

"I don't think so. People don't care about a man marrying another man," he said.

"But they care about the savior marrying a death eater and then disappearing for almost a decade and a half." He sighed, "I just wanted her to start somewhere where my sins wouldn't burden her and here we ar-"

"Hey," Harry said, sitting up and stopping the words coming out of his mouth. "You are not a burden to her and our marriage isn't a sin that could ever burden her-"

"I didn't mean to imply that you-"

"Listen to me," Harry interrupted. "Draco, you are a good dad," he said as he cupped his cheeks in his palms. "You are a good husband and you are a good person. We are both lucky to have you."

"Harry," he murmured, eyes downcast.

"You are," he promised. "I love you and Cassie loves you. and we are so blessed to have you."

"I love you too," he said, "But this isn't the last bully-"

"I know," Harry assured. "And we'll always be here for her, yeah?

Draco took a deep breath before nodding. "Yes. You're right."

"Ooh," Harry replied, crawling over him and straddling his hips. "I love it when I get to be right."

His husband rolled his eyes, "Just kiss me already."

And of course Harry obliged him.

Life wasn't always easy or perfect but they always had each other and Cassie always had two dads who would go to the end of the earth for her.

----------------------

Day 128: Snake | Day 130: Forfeit

[findroleplay]

Helloo!

Name: Cassie

Age: 22

Pronouns: she/her

Timezone: EST

Search Status: Open! 18+ female

Pairing: mxf

Preferred writing style: advanced literate and literate

Genres: Romance, fantasy, action, adventure, slice of life, ANGST!!

Fandoms: I have tons, but right now specially looking for The 100. (I’ve been obsessed with that show recently!)

Do’s and Don’ts- Can be discussed privately, I am perfectly fine with smut as long as we have a good storyline.

About characters- Can play both male or female, only looking for Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin from The 100 or I could Bellamy and female OC of my RP partners choosing! I just ask that the OC has a realistic face claim and detailed description.

Availability- Always usually active, but I am a mother of a toddler so every now and again I could have a slow response.

Looking for a partner that is interested in long term and who can reply consistently with literate paragraphs, and who enjoys coming up with plot ideas and who we can have a friendship with outside the RP.

DM on here if interested! Or my discord is ShipperHeart420#3961

-

[alexandrianicolegrey-oc]

Okay, here is my very first fanfic based off one of the imagines I had previously written but lost after forgetting to save it. This fanfic will probably have at least four parts. I will post trigger warnings as well below.

Chapter One: New Beginnings

GENRE:

Romance, Fluff, Angst, Fanfiction, Drama

TRIGGER WARNING:

Bloody situations, kidnapping, swearing, yelling, violence, sexual and flirting scenes between OC and Canon Character

Taglist:

@nurse-buckley

@mrspeacem1nusone

@caitsymichelle13

@angel-malaki-morningstar

Anybody else that wishes to be tagged in 9-1-1 fanfics/imagines, send me a ask or drop a message in my inbox.

Cassidy Rae Pierce was not your ordinary firefighter. She worked with the Miami Fire Department since she was 19. She just turned 26 a short time ago. She is also paramedic trained. Cassidy's nightmare began when she married her husband, Tanner Wade. She married Tanner when she was 18. Over the few years she had been married to him, he had become more and more controlling, angry, and just bitter towards her. He cheated on her but he never told her about his affairs. But she did know who he was seeing. She made the mistake of confronting him once before and he beat her with his fists. After that, he began to make her think that everything she did was her fault from the smallest thing like her dropping a vase and it breaking. He would constantly scream at her. He would punch her if she dropped anything like food, clothes, dishes, anything small. She was constantly scared of him. Her fire fighter family at Station 31 could tell he was abusing her. She would flinch at everyone who tried to hug her or try to give her a high five or basically any kind of contact . Cassidy lived in a world where there was nothing but pain and fear. Until she had finally had enough.

So, she took the next step and filed for a divorce. She did file a restraining order against him which angered him to no extent and then asked her captain to be transfered to another fire station in California, her hometown of Los Angeles. He agreed with her that it would be a great idea for her safety. So, Blake got in touch with the captain of the 118 LAFD and got her transfered.

~Skip ahead a few weeks~

After Cassidy arrived back in Los Angeles, she got settled into her big, new apartment. She set her things down. "Wow! This is a beautiful apartment." She chuckled. She looked at her watch. It was early still but she had to go meet her new Captain. So, after getting settled in, she went and grabbed a coffee and headed for the LAFD 118 station. She walked in looking around. She bumped into someone. "Oof! I'm so sorry!" She apologized to the female. "No! You're totally fine. Are you looking for someone? My name is Henrietta. Everyone calls me Hen." She smiled at her.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Bobby Nash? He's supposed to be my new Captain. I'm Cassidy but I go by Cass or Cassie." Hen turned around a little. "Bobby, the new transfer is here." She radioed him. Bobby came down not a minute too soon. "Hey, you must be Cassidy, our new transfer recruit. I'm Bobby Nash. Everyone here just calls me Bobby or Cap. I'm actually going to have one of our guys show you around and give you the basics. I put your uniform in your locker." He then turned and called over another member of the 118 who was lifting weights. "Buckley! Get over here!" Bobby called.

Cassidy noticed a blue eyed, blonde guy come prancing their way. She saw the smirk form on his face followed by a grin. "What's up, Cap? Who's this?" He winked at her.

"Don't get too comfy, Buck, this is Cassidy Pierce, our new transfer. She transfered from the Miami Fire Department. You will be giving her a tour and showing her the ropes. Also, show her to the lockers. She will need to change into her uniform." Bobby told Buck. He looked back at Cassidy. "I also put your schedule in your locker as well. Welcome to the 118, Pierce." Bobby shook her hand giving her warm smile. "Breakfast will be ready soon." He told her. "Welcome to the family."

"Hey, who's the new girl?" Eddie said looking over at Buck who was showing off to Cassidy. Hen spoke up. "Cassidy Pierce. She goes by Cass or Cassie. She transfered here from the MFD station 31." Hen told Eddie. Chimney had already introduced himself to Cassidy. "I might as well go meet her. At least you're not the only female on our team now, Hen." Eddie chuckled and headed off towards Buck and Cassidy.

"Yeah, it's about time we had another female on our crew." Hen laughed as she watched Buck showing off. "That kid is just trying to impress her." Chim smirked. "Yeah he is." Hen replied. "50 bucks says she turns him down." Chim smirked at Hen. "And 50 bucks says they end up together. Say in about 4 or 5 months tops?" She shook Chimney's hand. "Bet." He laughed.

After Cassidy walked out in her new uniform, all heads turned her way. She had her curly, blonde hair pulled into a mess bun with pieces falling down the sides of her face. Her beatiful, tan skin glowing under the lights, and the way her blue eyes sparkled as she made her way to the table to sit with her new crew. Buck couldn't keep his eyes of her. He pulled a seat out for her. Cassidy chuckled. "Thanks." She took the seat. "Anything for you." Buck chuckled. Cassidy rolled her eyes.

"Here's a toast to having another female on our crew and another 118 family member!!" Hen raised her drink. Everyone raised their glasses as did Cassidy. That's when the bell rang signaling they had a call.

....To be contiued in Chapter Two: Secrets Revealed

This is definitely going to be a 4 part series. Please let me know what you guys think. This is a fanfic based off an imagine I previously wrote and ended up losing when I forgot to save it.

[thebridgehqs]

Sorry if you've answered recently, but MWF please?

We haven't answered recently! I'll put some names down that I know, and everyone else can add into the replies, and I'll edit this with them.

Jessie Cook (The Irregulars), Tina Goldstein, Nymphodora Tonks, Molly, Victoire, Dominique Weasley, Lily Luna Potter, Angelina Johnson, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil (Harry Potter), America Chavez,, Lorna Dane, Lila Barton, Cassie Lang, Morgan Stark, Pepper Potts, Valkyrie/Brunhilde, Lady Sif (Marvel), Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Zoe Nightshade (PJO), Alex Danvers, Lena Luthor, Nia Nal (Supergirl), Octavia Blake, Clarke Griffin (The 100), Kinsey Locke (Locke & Key), Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Tara Maclay, Dawn Summers (Buffy), Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), Prue, Piper, Phoebe Halliwell, Paige Matthews (Charmed)

Beth says: arya stark, sansa stark, daenerys targaryen, cersei lannister, missandei (game of thrones) ji-yeong (squid game) !

[redroseworks]

@ittybittytatertot would have replied on the post but replies have limits so

First off, yeah its not canon lol just my au earth

For the arrowfam there is so much

So there is Ollie, Dinah, Roy, Jade, Artemis, Connor, Cissie, Mia, Emiko, Sin, Robert, and Lian

Also Hal, Dick, Kyle, Rose, and Irey by romantic connection. Mar'i too since she's Roy's step kid. I havent decided whether or not to have romantic interests for Emiko, Sin, and Robert. There's also some ocs but their not that important. Oh yeah. Cassie Sandsmark and Lady Shiva are also connected to the arrowfam romantically Cassie with Cissie and Shiva w Jade (at least for a while)

I have many a lot of post about them w earth-116.

Oh! Tommy Blake is also a part of the fam. A very important part. Besides the canon shit of him being jade and catmans son who got sent to live with some rando family, i change some stuff. His adoptive fam gets killed and David Cain raises him. He gets sent to kill the Tornado Twins. He fails. Gets taken in by Mia and Rose bc Jade was in jail bc of Lex Luthor. Other stuff happens. When Jade does get out he still lives with them bc like they were the first people who were like good parents to him since the others one died.

I could probs go on but flashfam time

There Jay, Joan, Johnny Quick, Barry, Iris, Wally, Linda, Jesse, Bart, Thad, Jenni, Don, Dawn, and Meloni

Dawn and Don r what im gonna talk about real quick bc a lot of the other stuff is very similar to pre boot canon

Theyre trans and there are technically two timelines

One where they are in the 31st century and one where they are in the 21st century

Ive made a post before abo it the flash fam but it was awhile and it was before i read more comics w them in it

Im honestly done for rn cuz i need to go sleep cuz i got work at 8 am

[antemortem-rp-blog]

FAYE CHAMBERLAIN twenty-one ☾ witch phoebe tonkin

She nourishes the poison in her veins and is consumed by a secret fire.

BUT AT MY BACK I ALWAYS HEAR

Faye always wanted too much. The craved everything with a full heart and narrow vision. Her mother, also having grown up without a father, was determined to give Faye the best life she could. For that reason, despite their differences, she let Faye spend a lot of time with her grandfather. In a way, he became her pseudo-father figure. She never knew her dad, but it didn’t matter. Her mother taught her never to need a man. She was filled with lessons of individuality and strength. She grew up to become independent and headstrong. It was what she was taught. But even will all those teachings, it never stopped her from being vulnerable. She always had kids she played with as a child, Melissa Glaser being the primary. However, it wasn’t until later years that the two really clicked together. They would spend their days rebelling, talking about crushes, and doing whatever they wanted. The two became a packaged deal. It was rare to see one without the other. 

But even with the best friend she could ever want, it didn’t stop her from falling for a boy. And she fell hard. She always knew about Jake Armstrong. For those who rebelled, he was pretty much an icon. She was friends with his younger brother, but she had her eyes set older. She knew her and Jake would be great together. It was until she was graduated from high school that he finally noticed her—about time! Faye had everything she wanted. Jake, Melissa, and her own damn decision to go to college. Her life was good. And then, out of nowhere, she got whiplash. Jake took off in the middle of the night. Faye never heard from him at all. For days, she was just texting him with no reply. She would call him, leaving worried voicemails. 

It was until Nick finally told her he’d left that she finally snapped. Abandoned. She’d never felt it before that moment. It cracked her perfect life in two and she was destroyed. She tried to finish her semester, but everything devolved so fast. She ended up dropping out of college. A therapist was moved into the spare room and she was practically bedridden. Not even her best friend could drag her from her room. It took time, but eventually, she got over it. Enough that she could tell herself she didn’t care. It was around this time that Diana finally told Faye about being a witch. Furious she hadn’t been told earlier, Faye immediately set to work on her magic. 

It was incredible. It opened up a whole new world for Faye to achieve. She knew she had to keep it secret from her mother, but that had never been an issue for Faye. They cared about each other, but it wouldn’t be the first time Faye wanted to live a life her mother disapproved of. She scrounged her home for a book of shadows nearly every day for weeks. Eventually, she gave up. She wanted more than magic Diana approved of. She wanted the Blake girl to come home. And then, like magic, she did. And Faye’s magic was beyond what it had been before. Everything had been amplified. Diana’s insisting to bind the circle was ignored. Faye had real magic now, she wasn’t about to give it up. And then she nearly killed Caroline Forbes. Faye was shaken. She agreed to bind the circle, then spent the next year regretting the decision. 

To top off the fury of losing her solo magic, Jake returned to town. She was determined to prove to him she was over him. But bigger fish come to town not long after. The Originals didn’t scare Faye. But then again, they really did. There wasn’t even a whisper about them in Diana’s book of shadows, but Cassie’s... there were only warnings. When Jackson was turned, Faye realized the severity of the world they were battling. She also assumed they would get their solo magic back with his death, but the circle remained bound. She wanted to desperately to possess the dark magic Cassie had, to be the other Blackwell child. But it wasn’t her. She thought that would be the end of everything she wanted, but Cassie and Diana unbound the circle and Faye got her magic back. It wasn’t as strong as it was when Cassie first arrived, but Faye was just glad to have her magic back. She led the charge in waking Mikael, but that planned backfired and she nearly got Derek Hale killed. Somehow, after they share a romantic kiss, Derek’s wounds begin to heal. Since she’s avoided him. All Faye wants right now is to focus on getting as strong as possible with her magic.

TIME’S WINGED CHARIOT HURRYING NEAR

Melissa Glaser → BEST FRIEND

Since childhood, these two have been there for each other. Melissa helped with Faye’s breakup with Jake, and Faye helped with Melissa’s loss of Nick. They’ve been through everything together. With the breakup with Adam, Melissa and Diana have been getting closer. She knew they were friends when they were young, but Faye doesn’t trust Diana anymore. Particularly not as a leader. Faye just wants to explore magic with Melissa like they did before all this danger took over. 

Caroline Forbes, Lydia Martin & Cassie Blake → ENEMIES

Each one has offended Faye in ways she refused to completely forgive. Lydia never liked Faye, from the get-go. Faye always assumed it was because Jackson and she were so close as children and even into high school when the two started dating. Caroline was always too preppy and determined in high school. Faye watched her date Jake and she knew they would never last. Caroline took every role in the school she ever wanted and made it look easy. Faye detested her for that. She does, however, regret almost killing the girl. And Cassie freaking Blake. The girl came in and got everything. She took away Faye’s solo magic, then she had her own even with the circle bound. And then Jake was suddenly all over her. The two have always been at odds unless it came to an impulsive decision.

Jake Armstrong → EX-BOYFRIEND

He was her first love. She’s likely still not over him, but she tells herself she is. They were so good together and he threw it all away for nothing. By the time he came back, Faye knew something was up. He was different, no himself. While he hurt her that Jake would sacrifice himself to save Cassie, she had to keep telling herself it didn’t matter. With his second return, Faye was even more indifferent. A hunter. She should have known. Now she hardly gives him the time of day. Although when he was dying, she sure was scared.

Jackson Whittemore → FRIEND

Their parents work closely together. With her mother being the dean of the college and his parents being extremely affluent donors, they had a lot of business dinners. The two would often get thrown together and forced to interact. Eventually, they became pretty close. They would stay relatively close until Jackson told Faye he had feelings for her. They took some time apart but came to be friends again. He started dating Lydia and things seemed fine. When he died, Faye was heartbroken. She didn’t expect him to fall into being a vampire so well. Since the turn, he’s been acting different and she has to admit, she kind of likes it. They’ve gotten pretty close again. Faye even made him a daylight ring.

[holyhael]

can i request Cassie/Sarah?? uuhhmm.... Cassie is a reporter forced to do a piece about antiques, and when she goes to interview someone who specializes in that she expects to meet someone old and boring, but Sarah is anything but.

ao3

Cassie stares through the downpour at the antique store where the subject of her next assignment is waiting for her. She probably should have insisted this interview be done by phone or even by email, but her boss would not budge. The article she’s drafted about the local antique store doesn’t need commentary about the interviewee’s body language, just a few choice snippets about interesting finds and the like. Which can be gotten with a quick phone call.

Journalism isn’t all that Cassie thought it was cracked up to be. She’s stuck under the thumb of the newspaper’s editor, who consigns the big stories to his son-in-law and passes off fluff pieces to womanly hirelings like Cassie. Another reporter of her gender, Anna Milton, gave her a sympathetic look as their boss allocated articles; Anna was assigned an article about the increase in drug arrests, while the editor’s son-in-law, Biff Sundry, was given last night’s deadly arson.

Cassie doesn’t know a lot about Wolfram Antiques, just what she could find from their obsolete Facebook page.

Wolfram Antiques is a family run business, located in downtown Port Meeker. The store has everything from clothing, furniture, books, jewelry, art, and more!

Originally opened in 1967 by John Wolfram, the store has been passed down to his daughter Tamara. Wolfram Antiques is open seven days a week, from 10 AM to 5 PM every day. It is a destination for tourists, boaters, and local residents alike.

Wolfram Antiques has won 2nd place in the “Best Antique Store” category in the “Best of North Colby” contest!

Cassie has never been.

Bracing herself, Cassie exits her car. She double checks the locks, then hurries for the shelter of the store. Standing water soaks her feet. She should’ve worn her better boots.

An automated bell announces her entrance. Except for soft oldies music, the store is eerily silent. And it’s crowded. The only difference between Wolframs Antiques and a hoarder’s house is the level of organization. Cassie feels claustrophobic the moment she steps inside.

A mesh wall on which ornaments hang hides the counter from immediate view. The counter, like the rest of the store, appears abandoned. There is a second floor, which one can access from a small flight of stairs five feet from the entrance. To the right of the stairs, a sign with an upwards pointing arrow proclaims, “Books this way!”

“Hello?” Cassie calls out. “Tamara Wolfram?”

Thump!

The sound comes from upstairs and is followed by a quiet Ow.

Cassie’s hand is on the railing and she has one foot on the steps when a woman’s face appears from above. The woman rubs her hand over the back of her head. She’s much younger than Cassie anticipated. This isn’t Tamara, is it?

“Caught you by surprise?” Cassie assumes with a smirk.

“I was just organizing. Low ceiling.” Her smile is rueful.

“Are you Tamara Wolfram?”

“Oh, no. I’m Sarah. Tamara hasn’t been in today. She’s ancient, so she doesn’t like going out in this weather.” Realization dawns across her face. “You’re that reporter, aren’t you?”

“Cassie Robinson, with the Port Meeker Tribute.” Climbing to the top of the stairs, she offers Sarah her hand. Sarah’s handshake isn’t very firm, and her hands are dusty; Cassie pretends not to notice either of these things, nor the way Sarah’s eyes shine, nor her perfectly sculpted eyebrows, nor her small, glossy mouth…. Cassie averts her eyes. “You weren’t kidding about the ceiling.”

“It’s a new addition,” Sarah explains. “Tamara needed more space, and she had nowhere to go but up.”

Books of every size and color line the walls, and there are even more on separate bookshelves. The ceiling is shorter than most, and slanted; at its lowest, the ceiling can’t be more than five feet tall. At the center of the room - which Cassie realizes might be more adequately described as an attic - is a mismatched set of lounging chairs and coffee tables.

“Looks cozy.” Cassie can certainly imagine spending a rainy afternoon like today up here, curled up with a yellowed book and a mug of Americano. She wonders if Sarah would mind.

“Yeah, I like it up here.” Sarah follows Cassie’s gaze around the room then takes a deep breath. “I can answer any questions you have, if you don’t mind.”

“No, of course not.” The words come out a bit too fast. Cassie takes a deep breath, filling her nose with the dusty, weathered smell that permeates the library.

“Just hold on. I should close up. Make sure we’re not interrupted.”

Cassie almost tells her not to, that she won’t take long and that Sarah shouldn’t sacrifice potential customers of the store because Cassie. But then she sees a glimmer in Sarah’s eyes and a particular set of her lips, and Cassie’s heart thumps wildly, her stomach flip flops.

“I’ll be right back. You can make yourself comfy.” Sarah gestures toward the haphazard circle of chairs in the center of the room, and she slips by Cassie on her way down the stairs, so close that their hands brush.

Cassie waits until Sarah reaches the last step to mutter under her breath, “Fuck.”

Cassie chooses the dull orange wing chair to settle in and takes her notepad and a pen out of her bag. Sarah reappears within moments; she takes the paisley chair next to Cassie and sits sideways in it, her legs folded up and her hand cradling her chin.

The music that played downstairs is absent here, replaced by the pitter-patter of rain. Cassie licks her lips and swallows.

Her notepad is full of questions she planned on asking, but the first one that she brings up is nowhere on her list.

“Do you come here often?”

Sarah laughs uproariously, as though Cassie didn’t just use the lamest pickup line in the world. Her laugh is infectious, making Cassie grin. She finds herself mirroring Sarah’s pose, although the wet ankle of her jeans has her readjusting.

It’s the least professional interview Cassie has ever done, more like a conversation, really. Regardless, she still gets all the information she needs to write her article, and more: most importantly, Sarah’s cellphone number.

Time ceases to exist, until it rudely butts its head inside their little bubble, reminding them it exists in the form of an alert on Cassie's phone to take her birth control.

“Holy shit,” Cassie says, sliding away the notification.

“What?”

“It’s seven o’clock.” They’ve been talking for three hours, yet it feels like no time has passed at all. Cassie glances at the small window over her shoulder; the sky is dark.

“Damn.” With a frown, Sarah looks down and places a hand over her abdomen. “I forgot dinner.”

“I hope you didn’t have anywhere to be.” She says it with about as much apology as a cat would give a mouse before eating it. She knows Sarah doesn’t care. They’re on the same wavelength: this is going somewhere, this feels right.

Sarah is awfully close and leaning closer. Their chairs definitely weren’t this close when they began.

“Nowhere I’d rather be,” Sarah says, her lips meeting Cassie’s.

Cassie can't help but agree.

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

What I Know I Owe 4/7/2019

Under the cut is a list of what I have drafted and queued. IF we have a thread that’s not on this list and it’s my turn, then I don’t know about it. If we have a thread that’s not on this list and you didn’t know it was your turn, or are just unsure, let me know and I can link you to my last reply. Thanks! 

@aflanboyanceofgays

Jamie and Juli - D

Max and Chandler - D

Nathan and Cat - D

Parker and Rai - D

Will and Precious - D

Zach and Damian -  D

@agentjadelance

Nathan and Jade - D

Nathan and Jade wedding - D

Nathan and Kayla - D

@arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark 

V1 - Cory and Meredith - Q

V5 - Lark and Cody - D

@birdofsouls

Tessa and Dinah - D

@camuseic

Briar and Elliot - D

Charlotte and Elijah - D

Justin and Juliet - D

Nathan and Mandy - D

Max and Keeley - D

Will and Shea - D

@champagne-coca1ne-gasoline

Will and Brooke - D

@cinnxmonstyks

Olivia and Kendra - D

@cloudwalkxr

Alex and Eli - D

Kane and Blake - D

Shauna and Ryder - Q

@eleqancc

Zach and Arielle - D

@gothxmcitysirens  

V1 Briar and Jade - D

V1 Jamie and Jinx - D

V1 Ryan and Pam Isley - D

*V1 Will and Thea Queen Just kiss Already - D

V1 Will and Thea Queen Meet - D

V1 Will and the Sirens V-day - D

V1 Zach and Carrie pick me up - D

V1 Zach and Thea Queen - D

V2 Nathan and Thea Queen Party - D

V2 Nathan and Thea Queen dress nice - D

V2 Nathan and Thea bike - D

V2 Will and Laurel - D

V2 Will and Laurel Hate you - D

V2 Will and Laurel could have died - D

V3 Jamie and Thea tickets - D

V3 Nathan and Laurel got dumped - D

V3 Nathan and Laurel workout - D

V4 Nathan and Carrie - D

V4 Nathan and Carrie Don’t ask - D

@halfblood-hallestrom

Cole and Liebryn - D

Cole and Leibryn drunk? - D

Justin and Liebryn - Q

@innxcentfaces 

Cole and Charlie - D

@jamesfactscalvin

Molly and Jamies - D

@justxanotherxnovice

Parker and Scarlet - D

@leftlipstick

Bennett and Kaci - Q

Dannie and Wren - D

Lark and Connelly - Q

Ryan and Skylar - Q

Tessa and Yvaine - Q

@lucidxdelusion

Quinn and Ryan - D

@nebulaofmuses

Kendra and Sutton - D

@Nightxcrashes 

V1 - Alex and Allys - D

V1 - Cassie and Danny - D

V1 - Elliot and Ryan - D

V1 - Jamie and Melina - Q

V1 - Meredith and the team - D

V2 - Briar and Lauren - Q

V2 - Evan and Melina - Q

V2 - Jamie and Adriena - Q

V2 - Will and Shea - Q

V3 - Alex and Sam - Q

V3 - Cassie and Hayley - D

V3 - Shauna and Mackenzie - D

V4 - Dannie and Fire - D

V4 - Lark and Ryan - D

V4 - Meredith and Mackenzie - D

V5 - Cole and Lily meet - Q

V5 - Lark and Adriena chase - D

V6 - Charlotte and Adriena Comforting - D

@poeticnightmxre

Cassie and Andy puppy and a ring - D

Parker and Dawson - Q

Quinn and Sam - Q

Will and Abbi - Q

Zach and Shiloh - Q

@Riisingfromashes

Charlotte and Diana - D

@Scatterplotberry

Tessa and Darcy - D

@stupiidgood

Evan and Shawn - D

@the-darkening-sky

Harper and Nadejda - D

Harper and Nadejda garden - D

Ryan and Ian - D

@tripletroublefisher 

Ryan and Charlie Scars - D

Ryan, Charlie, and Rogers - D

Ryan and Charlie Ice skating - Q

Ryan and Charlie seeing his work - Q

Ryan and Rodgers rescue you - Q

Ryan, Rodgers and Charlie  homecoming - D

Ryan, Rodgers, and Charlie On Fire - D

Ryan and Charlie workout - D

Ryan and Rodgers Escape Plan - D

Ryan, Zach, and Charlie slip up - D

Ryan and Charlie nightmare - Q

Ryan and Rodgers B&B - D

Ryan and Rodgers Stay whelmed - Q

Ryan and Charlie tourists - Q

Ryan and Charlie meet the parents - Q

Ryan and Rodgers Facing Fears - Q

Ryan and Charlie Playbill - Q

Ryan, Zach, Rodgers and Charlie  Sweet Sorrow - D

@wingsandahalo 

Alex and Heather - D

Cassie and Yvette - Q

Elliot and Farah  - Q

Eve and Destiny - Q

Harper and Lux - Q

Harper and Lux maze - Q

Justin and Hazel I want a baby - D

Kane and Grace - D

Molly and Ava love  - Q

Molly and Ava still my girl - D

Olivia and Luna - Q

Tessa and Libby - Q

@writtenarcana

Olivia and Ben - D

@xgoldenhour 

Kane and Eloise For the next ten minutes - D

Kane and Eloise past - D

Kane and Eloise lets get married - D

[johnnymundano]

Rolling Thunder (1977)

Directed by John Flynn

Screenplay by Paul Schrader and Heywood Gould

Music by Barry De Vorzon

Country: United States

Running Time: 95 minutes

CAST

William Devane as Major Charles Rane

Tommy Lee Jones as Sergeant Johnny Vohden

Linda Haynes as Linda Forchet

James Best as The Texan

Dabney Coleman as Maxwell

Luke Askew as Automatic Slim

Lawrason Driscoll as Deputy Cliff Nichols

Lisa Blake Richards as Janet Rane

Randy Hermann as Billy Sanchez

James Victor as Lopez

Charles Escamilla as T-Bird

Pete Ortega as Melio

Cassie Yates as Candy

Jordan Gerler as Mark

Jacque Burandt as Bebe

Paul A. Partain as Ethan

James N. Harrell as Grandpa

(Guilt Trauma: I was to busy flashbacking to The Shit to take screengrabs, so IMDB got robbed for ‘em.)

Rolling Thunder is a good example of what happens when you make a Paul Schrader movie from a Paul Schrader script after rewriting it without Paul Schrader. Instead of a nuanced, multi-faceted portrait of a fractured time and a fractured man, like, say, Taxi Driver (1976), American Gigolo (1980) or First Reformed (2017), you get a fun exploitation flick that errs on the side of rightwingery. Luckily, the only thing in rightwingery’s favour is that it makes for fun movies. Dirty Harry (1971), for example is great. I particularly enjoy winding up rightwingers by telling them that Harry throws his badge away at the end because he has failed the system, not because the system has failed him. (You can make their veins really throb by pointing out that he endangers an entire school bus of kids. Never mind his peeping at “Hot Mary”.) It’s kind of the same way that Steve Ditko’s humourless Objectivist planks make great comic book characters but would make horrific people. Rightwingery is basically quick-fix cartoon shit masquerading as real world politics. And although that makes for shitty politics, luckily, quick-fix cartoon shit is right in that sweet, sweet spot for vigilante thrillers. (Other opinions are available.)

Basically Rolling Thunder is a cracking vigilante thriller, as long as we all understand it has no tangible relationship with reality, and is taken purely as an entertainment in the impotent white male revenge fantasy mode. The impotent white male revenge fantasy is a surprisingly fecund genre, and yet I still encounter a remarkable amount of resistance to its adoption as a category in HMV. Horror, Romantic Comedies, Science Fiction, Impotent White Male Revenge Fantasies…what’s up with that? Why don’t you reply to my emails, HMV? I’ll not list the many, many examples of cinematic impotent white male revenge fantasies, but I will note their irresistible allure. Being only human I’m sure we all have our favourites when it comes to impotent white male revenge fantasies; Rolling Thunder is one of mine.

It’s 1973 and PoWs Major Charles Rane (William Devane; ultra-stoic) and Sergeant Johnny Volden (Tommy Lee Jones; quietly unhinged)  come marching home to San Antonio after 7 years as unwilling guests of the Vietnamese. Rane’s manhood is almost immediately trampled by the realisation that his wife, Janet (Lisa Blake Richards; trying hard with very little) has taken up with Cliff (amiably out of his depth) and his son doesn’t remember him. Rane starts living in the shed out back and readopts his prison regime, in order to cope with his emotional pain. In a loaded exchange Rane attempts to reassert his masculinity and informs Cliff that you survive by “learning to love the rope”. Cliff is a cop but (obviously) less of a man than Rane because he didn’t go to Vietnam and get tortured for 7 years. Like Rane, (like America? Huh? Huh?) the town can’t let his past go, and a celebration is held for him at which Rane monosyllabically accepts 2,555 silver dollars – one for every day he was a captive plus one for luck, and a big red Cadillac, which is definitely not a phallic symbol, nope.

Also present is Linda (Linda Haynes; really good, actually) who has worn Rane’s ID bracelet throughout his imprisonment as a kind of symbolic gesture; returning the bracelet it’s obvious Linda will be trying to do something less symbolic with Rane given the opportunity. Although Rane’s virility has been besieged, in impotent white male revenge movies young women always find this astonishingly attractive; they are driven to seek to heal the male wound with their pliant young bodies. This in no way should be taken as a male wish fulfilment fantasy, obviously. Rane’s virility is further eroded when he returns home to find a bunch of uninvited redneck goons, who proceed to torture him in order to get his silver dollars. During this sequence there is a fantastically blatant symbolic castration, but Rane’s emasculation is not complete until his family return and the horror of civilian life finally exceeds that of Rane’s confinement. After that Rane’s on the vengeance trail and the therapeutic value of murdering low-life scumbags is once more attested to. (Note: whorehouse shootouts are not a therapy endorsed by the American Association of Psychiatrists).

Rolling Thunder is fucking bullshit obviously, but it’s a movie so that’s okay. In fact, it’s kind of the whole point. Catharsis isn’t just for horror flicks, you feel me? It’s well done bullshit though; supremely entertaining action antics. The cast are utterly committed, with Devane particularly fine at suggesting the violence beneath his placid exterior, Lee Jones ricocheting nicely between catatonic acceptance of normal life and puppyish enthusiasm for the opportunity to kill again, while  Linda Haynes makes far more of the part of Linda than it really deserves. Flynn’s direction is unfussy stuff and, far too many shots of shotgun smashed bottles in the hectic finale aside, he captures a butchly efficient Don Siegel vibe. Every now and again, through the melodrama and bloodshed, glimpses of a better, deeper movie surface. Particularly in the hilarious scene in which Rane visits Vohden at home; Vohden sitting like a golem in the midst of his family’s hellishly inconsequential jabbering. Rolling Thunder is a fun movie but it’s not to be mistaken for reality and it’s certainly not subtle. But then no one ever said “subtle as thunder” did they now?