#Alex being more reckless with his explosives

[chadillacboseman]

Summary: Alex and Danny have a little quarrel in the cage. Featuring Kate and Danny (@thesingularityseries) Echo (@roofgeese) Alex (me!) and Alora (@bihanspookies). Art by Quiddling!

--

The crowd in the fight pit roars and Alex waves his arms to pump them up further. From the stands, Kate whoops loudly and Danny screws his face up in a disgusted grimace.

"You ready to get pummeled, Carver?" Alex sneers and Danny scoffs. Alex outweighs him by 50 pounds, a fact that isn't lost on the former.

But he's adapted since last time.

Alex lunges before Danny can queue up an illusion on his gauntlet. A quick strike to his midriff has him wheezing, skittering backward to cling at the chainlink for support.

Alex laughs, the sound muffled under his mask, as Danny regains his composure. Carver is a bastard, and Alex savors every hit he can land with childlike joy.

The two of them have butted heads constantly, to the point that Kano finally sent them settle their differences in the pit. Danny plays too fast and loose with civilian lives, Alex cares too much.

"Kick his ass, Demir!" Alora calls from the crowd, her hands cupped around her mouth to amplify the sound.

Alex grins and circles Danny like a big cat, his fists raised. If he had it his way, he'd break every bone in the spy's body, but he has to keep it contained or Kano will hand him his ass.

Danny doesn't look afraid though, he's smiling as he raises his gauntlet and an illusion comes to life. Alex's eyes widen.

Mikhail Federov stands before him, just as he remembers. He feels like a child who has just seen a shadow in the closet, so frightened that his mind goes blank. From in the stands, Kano chuckles as he watches Alex freeze.

"Carver you son of a bitch," he says it with a grin that has Kabal cocking his head in question.

Danny leaps through the illusion and levels a knee into Alex's ribs. Alex topples to the ground in a heap and Kate pulls her lip between her teeth in worry.

"Not so big and mighty now, are you?" Danny snarls as he kicks Alex in the side.

"Call him off, Kano!" Kate cries and the aussie laughs.

"Nah, I wanna see how this plays out."

Alex rolls and jumps to his feet, clutching at his ribs protectively. How the fuck did Carver know about the Federovs? He shakes his head to clear it, but his ribs throb in a way that tells him at least one is broken.

He's mad now, more angry than he's ever been.

Echo watches from beside Erron, her placid expression hiding the worry that builds in her chest. She recognizes the man from the illusion- Mikhail Federov, Alex's old boss. Leave it to the Brit to play dirty.

"Think the fuse is lit now," Erron nods toward Alex, who looks as if he's going to rip Danny's head off.

"Scared, Demir?" Carver smirks and Alex wants to wipe the expression from his face with his knuckles, "Now every merc in this building knows."

The thought makes Alex hesitate. He's right.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Alex hisses and Danny throws his head back in genuine laughter.

Kate recognizes when the detonation is imminent.

"Fuck him up, Alex!"

Alex sprints toward Danny and the latter's smile fades. He's never seen him move that fast. The first ironlike fist hits Danny in the face and he stumbles backward into the chainlink with a pained groan. The second hit comes to his gut and he doubles over, unable to catch his breath.

"He's gonna kill him," Erron muses and Echo almost feels the corners of her mouth tick up.

The next punch makes Danny drop to his knees and Alex grabs him by the hair, jerking his face upward so their gazes meet. Danny's nose is bloodied and his cheek is already swelling.

Alex is so caught up in his blind rage that he doesn't see the knife Carver pulls from his boot.

A quick swipe on the back of his ankle has him hissing in pain and retreating as blood pools on the concrete beneath him. Danny scrambles to his feet and watches as the crimson puddle grows.

"Not fair!" Kate calls from the stands and Kano laughs.

"What fun is there in a fair fight?" he asks and Kabal rolls his eyes.

Adapt or die. Truly the Black Dragon motto.

Alex tries to put weight on the bleeding ankle, but he's sure his achilles is severed. Danny has learned since their last spat.

The Brit grins and nods at the pool of blood with a tut, "You really should get high top boots, mate."

"When I see you outside this cage," Alex grits as he holds his foot just above the floor, "I'm going to break your fucking neck, Carver."

"I'd like to see you try," Danny makes a beckoning gesture with his hands that makes Alex see red, "Go on then."

Alex lunges, one-legged, and grabs Danny around the middle, leveraging his weight to bring the Brit to the concrete. Danny yelps in surprise and Alex pins him, the sharp point of his knee driving into his gut to keep him in place.

Danny tries to shove him off, but Alex hits him in the face, this time shattering his glasses. Another hit has his mouth filling with blood. Still, he grins, even as the blood drips from the corner of his mouth in a thick crimson rivulet.

"You can't un-ring a bell," Danny mocks, "No matter how hard you hit me."

Kate doesn't catch the words from the crowd, but she sees Alex's face twist above the mask. Danny knows how to hit a nerve.

The next punch breaks his nose, he's sure of it.

Alex takes hold of his face, his massive hand enveloping nearly the entirety of it, and slams Danny's head into the concrete. There's a sickening crunch and Kano finally rises from his seat.

"Alright, call him off. We don't need Carver dead."

Kabal zips into the cage and grabs Alex by the shoulder. Alex shrugs him off with a snarl and moves to repeat the motion, but Kabal finally pulls him away.

"C'mon, Demir, you proved your point," he says it quietly enough that only Alex can hear it over the roar of the crowd.

Kabal glances down at Danny, whose face is so bloodied that he's nearly unrecognizable. Kabal offers him a hand and he rises, wincing at the way the cheers make his head throb.

Alex had won the fight, but Danny had won the war.

The former has already departed, ducking for the locker room before Danny can say something else to piss him off. Kate follows him, hot on his heels, concern painted on her face.

"Alex-" she tries to get his attention, but he levels a fist into a locker and dents it with a grunt.

"Alex, you're safe with us," she says quietly and he drops onto one of the wooden benches, his hand now bloodied. His shoulders shake and she knows he's barely holding back tears.

"I would have killed him" Alex says quietly and she pats his arm, "I should have killed him."

"If anyone deserves it..." Kate trails off and offers him a warm smile. His mouth twitches under his mask.

Back in the cage, Danny spits and runs his tongue over his teeth. All still there and in one piece. His glasses are a lost cause, laying in two pieces at his feet. He'd have Echo order him a new pair, it was about time anyway.

Beside him, Kano is droning on as usual.

"-lucky I had Kabal intervene when I did, or I think he'd have caved your head in," Danny catches the last part of his rant and scoffs.

"I had my boot ready," he gestures to the toe of his boot that holds a concealed knife.

"Hard to stab a man when he's got you pinned."

Danny shrugs.

Kabal glances between the two of them; this fight has surely caused a rift that he's not sure can be repaired. Kano's idea of team building had backfired spectacularly, not that he'd ever admit to that fact.

"Don't be surprised if you find a live grenade in your bed," Kano continues and Danny laughs.

"I'm not scared of that big idiot," Danny waves dismissively and Kabal gives him a pointed look.

"Maybe you should be."

[crimsonlyinglilly]

Day 18: came back wrong / unavoidable / muzzle

Day 18 for @augustofwhump.

Saving Elijah - still a working title, after having his memory wiped instead of going to France, Elijah ends up becoming a surgeon in Toronto.

Charlie went to the mortuary for closure, he got something else.

—----

Charlie had come down here for closure, after Zach had returned to the hospital in shock and with a tale he shouldn’t have been surprised by, because of course that that reckless fool would manage to get himself killed. 

At first he had waited expecting Joel to come by and say something; a goodbye, a threat to look after Alex and Luke but nothing.

Nothing but watching Alex’s heartbreak on what should be one of the happiest days of her life and the tiny perfect baby who had no idea what he had lost.

Charlie hadn’t really thought it would happen, that it would just be him. Some part of his mind he had thought they would just keep going on the way it had been, him and Joel both there for Alex, no matter who she chose in the end, and the baby.

Luke.

Joel was meant to be showering the baby in gifts and showing off how much more prepared he was.

Raising a child took work, accidents happened all the time they all knew that, more parents couldn’t hurt, and yet there Joel went proving it by getting blown up before he ever got to meet his-their son.

The mortuary is just as empty of a shouting Joel, he hadn’t thought Joel would just move on without a final word, it didn’t seem like him. 

Yet here he was alone with a bodybag.

He had tried not to look at it too much, he was familiar with death, it came with medicine even before his coma but this was different, Joel was too loud and annoyingly there, to be left in pieces in a bag.

Maybe if he had looked more he would have noticed something different instead of having a near heart attack as the bag jolted suddenly letting out a gasping scream.

After a moment of hesitation he had moved and unzipped the bag to meet wide pain filled dark eyes, but awake, a somehow alive Joel Goran.

“How??” he hadn’t been able to stop himself from asking as Joel sat up, wincing as he could see muscles move though the absence of skin, and then realising Joel could be just as much in the dark as him. 

He had thought for a brief moment this was Joel’s ghost but he had reached out and met bare skin- not skin, most of his body still showed signs of the explosion-  but the shoulders under him were warm and alive somehow, his tightening grip then pulled a noise of pain making him let go.

And watched as Joel toppled off the table, still tangled in the body bag.

“Shit! Joel?”

He would like to say he has grown to be accepting since his coma but this may have been toeing his line, apparently moving past ghosts and onto zombies, but he followed Joel down to crouch in front of him.

Within brain-eating reach, a little voice warned him but he ignored it, because somehow Joel wasn’t dead, Alex didn’t need to be in tears upstairs and their son had a chance of having Joel in his life.

Three parents are better than two, he hadn’t been this fixated on this idea before Joel had died but now he was.

“Give me a minute.” the not-dead groaned, pushing the chance of being a zombie down and Charlie had watched as the man or whatever just breathed as his skin and more slowly regrew.

Because he had been blown up, it just seemed whatever he was didn’t die that way. 

“Phone.” Joel demanded after some time apparently having grown more himself even while still missing much of his skin and hair.

“Are you going to explain how this is happening?” he asked as he realised Joel wasn’t freaking out as much as he should, meaning he knew at least something.

“After I make a phone call, ” Joel replied, adding more before he could argue, “and blood.”

“Blood?” he asked as he stood up, not a zombie then but vampire? Oh he hoped not he wasn’t getting into whether any of the fictional vampires were real, he was fine with just ghosts and the afterlife.

“Bag of it and my phone- from my locker.” Joel explained looking up at him.

Joel had never looked small but curled in the body bag looking up at Charlie, lost, in pain, he looked so young.

He had died, been blown up recklessly saving someone else, trying to do good and almost lost out of the best things in his life, Charlie had left before he let himself think too much more of that.

Joel wouldn’t appreciate the pity.

It took him about twenty minutes; going to get the phone, refusing to think about it when he collected a bag of blood and picking up a pair of scrubs on his way back. The sooner Joel was out of the bodybag the sooner Charlie could stop thinking about how he died.

Then he was hoping Joel had a way of dealing with the fact everyone knew he had been blown up, this was far more complicated than waking up from a coma, this was regenerating from brunt and bloody pieces.

When he returned Joel looked almost normal, right down to his hair, if not for the wide eyes shock which had quickly narrowed as he caught sight of the blood bag, he tossed it to him without another thought and watched as his face changed.

Blood red eyes, dark veins spreading from them and a parted mouth that revealed fangs before he sunk them into the blood bag.

Vampire, Charlie thought as he blinked down, as Joel drained the blood bag within moments, Joel Goran was a vampire, because they were real now.

Joel looked up at him as dark veins faded and dark brown replaced the inhuman red eyes that had been there for a moment, he pulled the empty bag away giving it a glance of distaste as he put down and held his hand up for the phone.

Right this was his new life now, at least he wasn’t alone and Joel seemed to have some idea what was going on.

“So you're a vampire?” he asked, withholding the phone and dropping the scrubs on him. “Get dressed first then you can have the phone.”

“I’d rather not.” Joel told him, making him blink as he noticed a complete shift in his accent.

“Why not?” 

“My skin’s still sensitive and i’m feeling things like a human.”Joel confessed,

“Like a human,” he raised an eyebrow, “How long haven’t you been?”

“That’s the complicated part and the reason I want the phone.” he punctuated the sentence with his hand returning for the phone, normal accent back. “I need to make a call to see if she can fix this.”

“One answer and you get the phone, this isn’t new to you?” he gestured to Joel.

“Still not simple, but no this isn’t new to me,” Joel sighed, taking his hand back to straighten the creases in the body bag covering his waist, barely a trace of New Zealand in words, “A thousand ago my mother cast a spell and my father stabbed me in the heart. Then four years ago after having my memory wiped, for my family’s safety from me, I was found by a grieving witch who somehow made me human and Joel Goran, but today I blew up and woke up remembering everything.”

Charlie stared, looking between the phone in his hand and Joel- or not Joel, and placed the fact Witches were a thing to worry about now somewhere to think about later, after bringing Alex in on this.

“So you're not Joel?” he said, refusing to touch anything else.

“I am,” the vampire snapped, as Charlie watched him twitch, “that's why I want the phone, fix this, go back to what i was.”

“And the thousand years of memories before the last four?” he asked out of pure curiosity.

“Better off gone,” Joel snapped, “I was helping people as Joel.”

“And it got you blown up.” he countered, unsure why he was arguing besides the fact Joel looked far more himself half glaring at him than lost and confused.

“At least I didn’t blow myself up this time.” Joel said bitterly.

“You’ve blown yourself up before?” he repeated incredulously.

“I was trying to kill my older brother, he was trying to kill our niece.” Joel explained “Is it any wonder I'd prefer those memories gone?”

Charlie just looked at him there wasn’t anything to say to that, besides it sounded like something from a gothic novel so maybe vampire fit, even if it didn’t with the Joel he knew.

“And the person you are from them?” he questioned after a pause, only to be met with a wide smile.

“Trust me, I prefer the womanising bastard over the ruthless monster that destroyed everyone around him.” Joel shrugged.

He passed the phone and watched, he could almost see the flicker between centuries old vampire, all stiff sharp movements and Joel, loose limbed and nervous as he looked through the phone for whoever he needed.

Charlie decided then that it wasn’t a hard choice, in the end Joel was Joel, a few changes could be expected after being blown up.

Whether it was centuries of memories or just coming back wrong and trauma, he’d take what he could get.

[losersimonriley]

MWIII spoilers below - canon compliant drabble

Knowing

591 words, Major character death, non religious depictions of the afterlife, suicidal ideation from Ghost, bittersweet

It’s with the clarity that death brings that he knows it’s not the end. Far from it.

There are certain promises upon fading from this reality over to the next.

That there is a moss covered cottage in Scotland, empty and waiting. It needs some repairs. Definitely new furniture. He’ll have his work cut out before Ghost joins him soon, that’s for sure.

That there will come a time when Price, Gaz, and Laswell and her wife visit often. Sometimes Nikolai, Farah and Alex, too. Captain John Price will be washed free of the guilt. They’ll go hiking and fishing and grab lunch at the pub down by the water. Soap will be forever smug about how much they enjoy his Caledonian air.

That he’ll take up art again. Dabble in a bit of everything. Ghost will let him practice tattoos on him like his own personal mannequin. Jack of all trades, master of none—except maybe being able to render a perfect portrait study of Simon Riley in five minutes flat.

That they’ll live as they lived before. Through bad jokes, bad flirting, having each other’s six through whatever comes. Long looks and words never really needed but more than welcome. They’ll finally figure it out. They will hold one another and take turns cooking dinner. Argue and apologise and kiss and fuck. God, they will love.

That Ghost will be his, and he’ll be Ghost’s. Easy in the way that coming into the living world is. Comfortable in the way that leaving it is. Love, undying.

That he’s going to meet Simon’s family. It will only come with a bundle full of nerves. But it’ll be no wonder his love was cut from the same cloth as this woman. She’ll be nothing short of a mother to him. He’ll get to see Simon being an older brother, an uncle. He’ll get to be an uncle. And he will adore every unhinged second of it.

That it’s going to take a while to get used to life in a civilian existence where humans aren’t constantly shitting on one another. Where there are no wars. No need for soldiers.

That he’ll get by just fine. He’ll thrive.

He wishes he could tell them this. He wishes he could have just a few more minutes to stay and assure Ghost of all the things left unsaid but always, always known between them. He wishes he could say, “Dinnae ye let this turn you into a ghost again, Simon Riley. Not after everything.”

But there is clarity in death. And he knows.

That Ghost will not make it out of the cold lust for revenge driven, unsanctioned solo-operation.

That Ghost will be reckless and hot-headed and sloppy. Everything he’s not. Because he will have no intention of living longer than it takes to complete the objective.

That Ghost gets Makarov but an explosion gets Ghost only minutes after.

He wishes he could warn him. He wishes he could seethe, “They plant enough c4 in that compound to blow the tits off the devil. They know you’re coming. It’s a trap. I know you know it’s a trap.”

He’ll ream the fucker out the very moment they see each other again.

But he has to go now.

And the last word his flawed, human ears hear is an utterly broken, “Johnny.”

And the last thing his useless, mortal body feels is a hand. Just the right size. Placed over his unbeating, but full—so full—heart.

That all he has to do is wait.

[corax-aves-writes]

7/27/20

Unfinished idea where I never got to the scene I really wanted to write. Ah well

The world seemed to be a slightly better place when soulmates were easier to find than ever. 

When my parents took me to the Oracle, all they were told is that I didn’t get a red string or any physical change. My soulmate link was a more spiritual kind. 

We didn’t know what kind of bond I had until I was fifteen, when I suddenly could feel my soulmate. I was sitting in class, doing my work, before being blindsided with a tsunami of tingling fear and nerves. 

The next second, my arm shattered. 

Only later did I realize that it wasn’t my arm that broke, but my soulmate’s, and the link between me and my significant other was apparent to the both of us. 

Intense feeling—emotion or touch—of any kind was shared through the link. 

Because no one at my school had a broken arm when my incident happened, I knew my soulmate wasn’t a fellow student. Which led to the waiting. 

I can’t help but think of my own romantic plight as I walk across the college campus. Everyone around me is attached at the hip to their soulmate. Some of the links are more obvious—tattoos and unnatural hair color—but others are only apparent from the star struck looks they give each other. 

I know I’m being bitter, but when it feels like you’re the only person you know without their complement, it can get frustrating. 

It could be worse, though. My soulmate could be reckless and daredevilish, which would make everything worse. From what I can tell, he’s just clumsy, and embarrassed by that fact. Any time I feel a trip or a bump, there’s always a wave of nervousness or shame, trying to smooth things over quickly. I know he must be male because I don’t have double the period pains. 

Suddenly, alongside all my resentment and brooding, I feel a slight prickle of confusion, not nearly enough for the usual bond. I stop in my tracks, looking around for a lost guy. 

Across the square, I spot him. 

Honey-blond hair, and a decent sense of style, but that’s all I notice before I feel his eyes lock on mine. I’m halfway to him before I realize we’re walking toward each other. I can sense an extra weight on my shoulder... I can feel his messenger bag through the bond. 

Not only can I feel my own growing excitement, but his own tingly joy as well, stronger and stronger the closer he gets until I can’t distinguish his feelings from my own. And then we reach each other. 

“I’m Marian,” I blurt out, not really sure how to do this. I put out my hand on instinct. Is this how you greet your soulmate for the first time?

“I’m... Alexander...” his train of thought drops away as our hands meet. There’s a sudden weight lifted from me, and I catch myself staring at our hands for a moment before the discovery hits me. 

“I can’t feel you anymore.” It comes out as a whisper, distracted with the feeling of such sudden lightness. 

“Neither can I,” he slowly lets go of my hand. An explosion of his confusion and awe and excitement comes rushing back. We both startle a little from the whiplash, looking back and forth between ourselves and our hands. 

“Oh,” I breathe out. I look up at him, suddenly noticing his bright green eyes and shy smile, and give an incredulous smile back. 

“Can I have your number?” His hand slips into mine, and I’m kinda glad he can’t feel my absolute giddiness from all of this. 

————————————————————

That night, I’m sitting across from Alex at a restaurant, holding hands with him under the table. 

“When did you first feel me?” I ask, trying to eat and ask every question I’ve ever had at the same time. He squeezes my hand a little, almost like a gesture of comfort. 

“I first felt you with a huge wave of anger towards someone when I was 16. Lots of resentment and frustration.” It must’ve been one of my fights with my dad, probably the only time I get that upset about something. 

“I’m sorry, that can’t have been a good feeling to have out of the blue,” I hope he doesn’t recognize the shame I feel for myself then. What a terrible first experience! 

Alex laughs lightly, shaking his head. 

“Actually, I was in the middle of making dinner at the time. I hacked those vegetables to pieces.” I can’t help but laugh with him at that, any trace of a negative emotion gone. “What about you?” 

I tell him the story of breaking my arm in the middle of class, and the blush creeping onto his face is adorable. 

“Oh man... I’m embarrassed to even share what was happening, but I was goofing off with some friends when I fell of the top of a jungle gym...” I give a little snort through my mouth full of food, but I think he knows I’m not laughing at him. He covers his face with his free hand. “I was 17! Why was I even at the playground?!” I can’t wipe the smile off my face now. 

And so begins a beautiful romance. 

————————————————————

As often as I want to be near Alex, we both have other parts of our lives to live, and so there are several occasions where we aren’t joined at the hip. 

I’m starting to get why soulmates are glued to each other. You can’t help it. You’re just drawn to them, and everything about them adds to your life, enhancing and amplifying it. 

I’m walking home from my late shift at work, and I can just feel myself biting my lip, smiling at just the thought of my soulmate. He’s already at his place, but I can’t wait to meet with him tomorrow. It’s crazy how addicting your soulmate is. You want to spend all your time with them. 

I turn a corner, and notice the figure walking half a block behind me. A black hoodie, blending in with the dark city around us. 

It’s only when he turns the same corner I do that a shot of fear hits my stomach. I keep walking, but now I’m checking behind me often to see if he follows. 

My phone suddenly vibrates, and I look to see a text from Alex. 

What’s wrong?

I reply while walking, glad to have something to soothe a bit of my anxiety. 

Just a little nervous. Someone walking behind me. 

Seconds after I send the text, my phone lights up with Alex’s call. I answer it just as fast, grateful for a reassuring voice. 

“Hey,” I rush out, trying not to sound too relieved. 

“Hey.” I can hear and feel the little pinpricks of worry in his chest. “Are you sure you’re okay? I can come get you.” 

I shake my head, even though he can’t see. 

“No, I’m good. Just normal girl thoughts of being murdered by some guy following you around at night.” He doesn’t say anything. “I’m glad you called.”

A warm hum comes through the phone. “I know, I can feel it.” I smile at the thought, grateful he’s sorta watching over me. 

I give a quick glance behind me. He’s gone. 

“He’s gone. Guess we were just taking a similar route.” I say, much more confident in my actions alone. 

“Alright, well, I’m glad you weren’t murdered.” I give a huff in laughter. 

“Me too,” I reply, slowing in my walk. “Thank you for calling. It really helped.” 

“Always.” His voice is all soft and warm, and a gentle but pressing feeling in the center of my chest reassures me that he’s not lying. 

“Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I practically whisper, grinning brightly. 

“See you tomorrow... Night.” I take the phone away from my ear, hanging it up, and start walking home again, a new pep in my step. 

————————————————————

A L E X A N D E R 

Some weeks later, we had gotten into a routine. I would stay up every time Mari worked late, and she would call me if she felt unsafe. 

I haven’t felt that same fear since that one incident, so no one’s following her home. 

Guess it was some drunk. 

Mari actually went to bed before me tonight. While I’m usually the first to hit the hay, some studying kept me up longer than her usual bedtime. I couldn’t feel when she fell asleep, we weren’t physically close enough for the bond to pick up on that, but she had to be asleep by now. 

Packing away my notebook and study tools, I found myself smiling. 

Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am. The universe chose the best person ever to be my soulmate, and I wouldn’t change anything. Not only are our interests similar, but our personalities balance the other out. Yin and yang. 

My thoughts have occupied me all the way to bed, where I have to stop staring at the ceiling and actually fall asleep now. I turn, pulling the blanket under my arm, and breathe deep, feeling that slow, familiar dimming of my consciousness...

Someone stabbing me in the neck jolts me upright, hand clasping the... nonexistent wound. 

The sudden rush of adrenaline is not just my own, as I feel that tingly fear in my upper chest, right where Mari feels it. There’s also an accompanying weight of someone sitting on top of her, holding her down.  

I leap for my phone on the bed stand, but it falls out of my hands. Slamming my hand down on it, holding it tight while frantically opening it to call her. Before I hit the button, though, the point on my neck gets worse, like some liquid is being pumped into my muscle. 

I drop the phone, bringing both hands to my neck. Mari’s fear is suddenly fading, too fast to be normal.  

I grab the phone again just as I lose all emotional connection to her, feeling just the underlying ache in my neck from the syringe. I call, but no one answers. I’m already closing my front door by the time it reaches her voicemail. 

I drive as fast as possible to her place. 

But it was too late. 

Not a single piece of evidence in sight. The assailant must’ve used the hidden key to get in, but how did they know it was there? I stand in Mari’s bedroom, staring at the rumpled bedsheets, the only indicator that there was a struggle. It really hits me when I hear her phone ding on the bed table. 

My soulmate’s been kidnapped. 

————————————————————

M A R I A N 

I wake up, feeling fuzzy-headed and groggy. The room is filled with light, it has to be the middle of the day. Birds are singing, and I’m pleasantly warm, so it must be nice outside. I lift my hand to rub at my face, but every part of me weighs a million pounds. 

Slowly it dawns on me. 

Where am I? 

I look around, trying to shake off the lead pumping through my veins. It’s an ornately decorated room, full of little gold decorations on the walls and giant paintings taking up the majority of the walls. 

I manage to slump against my pillows, still taking it all in. The paintings are still a little blurry to me. 

What happened last night? 

I look down as my eyes slowly focus, noticing I’m dressed in a light, long nightgown. This is not what I went to bed in last night. 

It all comes together all at once. 

The kidnapper, the syringe full of whatever-it-was, him sitting on me to hold me down, the fast fall into blackness. 

I look up again, the liquid lead pumping even faster, charged with adrenaline and fear. The paintings... the paintings were me! You can barely tell, they’re all a little impressionistic, dark, but that’s definitely my face on the subjects. There has to be five, six, ten paintings of me in this room! 

On top of my raging fear, I sense the telltale tingles of Alex’s feelings, too. His own anxiety and worry piled on top of mine. My heart’s pounding in my ears, drowning out everything else. 

Fueled by all this emotion, I throw the covers off of me and race to the window, towards the sunlight. 

Just as I open the latch and lean out the window, my leg stops its forward momentum. 

I turn around to look at the shackle around my ankle, light enough I didn’t feel it, but strong enough that a few good tugs didn’t do anything. The other end of the chain is attached to the floor, in the middle of the room. Who did this to me? 

Scouring the landscape out of the window, there’s nothing but city around me, too high up to call at people below, wind pushing at my hair and face. 

Just as I’m reconsidering how to escape my bonds, the door across the room opens. 

In walks a man, tall and skinny, with icy-blond hair, wearing a red shirt and jeans, both paint-splattered. A smile is lighting up his face, but I don’t feel any relief. 

“Good morning, little bird!” He holds his hands out in welcome, but I don’t move from my spot in front of the open window. “Welcome to my studio! I’m so glad you could come!” He walks towards me, expression unchanging. 

I grab my nightgown in fistfuls, trying to hold my voice steady. “Who are you.” I barely manage to get it out. 

“Why,” he does a little twirl in the room, gesturing to the paintings, “I’m L, the artist!” 

I don’t respond. All I can feel is the sheer terror pooling in my feet. A small prickle of worry on my scalp works it’s way through my bond. 

He takes my silence as an invitation to keep talking. 

“I paint what inspires me, and you, Marian, are my muse.” I gasp a little at my name. His voice drops, as if in reverence or something else, continuing to walk towards me. “Your beauty has captured my eye. Just as breathtaking as my Emilia.”

I take little comfort in the fact I can’t spot a weapon on him. But now he’s inches from me, towering over my shrinking frame. 

“Come!” He shouts, making me jump and fall onto the bench behind me. “I must start immediately! While there is still sun in the sky!” He bends down and lifts my shackled leg, and that’s when I’m snapped out of my paralysis. 

“No!” I scream, yanking my leg back harshly. It doesn’t go far before the brace bites into my ankle again, signifying the end of my chain. “No! You’re a sick, twisted man! Let me go!” I glare at him, trying to scare him into letting me free, fury overpowering my fear. A familiar prickle in my shaking fists alludes that it’s not just my anger. 

A wicked smile creeps across L’s face. 

“Fine. We’ll try again in a couple days.” He straightens up, walking towards the door again. “It’s not going to be my best work without a cooperative model, though.” 

I’m already breathing out all that anxiety when I hear a soft voice from the door before it shuts. 

“You’ll give in eventually.” 

The door closes behind him, and I’m left wondering what hell I had been brought to. 

————————————————————

A L E X A N D E R 

It’s been three days since Marian was captured, and no progress has been made on finding her. 

Of course I went to the police as soon as possible; but without her phone on her or a witness, they said it was nearly impossible to determine who took her, let alone where she could be. So I gave up on them. 

We do know a little. “We” being me, Nate, and Alicia. 

We know she’s chained up by her ankle. I could feel her yanking so hard on the restriction that she must’ve left a bruise. At this point I was making sure to ice the hurt ankle any time I felt it get sore. 

We also know that she was being starved. 

After all that fear and anger that first day, she hasn’t had an encounter with her kidnapper since. But I can feel the neglect working on her. The frustration. The sticky parched desert her throat was. The ache and twisting of her stomach. 

I was also getting frustrated. Why starve her if you haven’t contacted anyone about this? How does he know how the bond works? 

I just want answers, and at this point, it doesn’t feel like I’m getting any. 

I have a sneaking suspicion that it was the creep from a few weeks ago. Something about how Mari described him rubs me the wrong way. But the police couldn’t narrow down a suspect from “tall, with a black hoodie, likes to walk around at night.” 

So all I’m left with is myself, essentially. 

Myself, and whatever clues I can wean from my bond with Mari. Starting with dehydration. 

————————————————————

[capn-rikshu]

I feel like elaborating, so I'll elaborate.

I've stated before that I find the concept of the sensible Nightshade having a reckless choice in partner amusing and this idea of a "‘doomed teenage romance’ Earthspark fanfiction" directly involves them because they are the one in a relationship!

Who? There is no existing character in the show that could fill the role in mind so I took the character of Getaway and made an Earthspark version of him. I saw all the manipulation he pulled in MTMTE and I thought PERFECT!

First, important note. This version of Getaway isn't an "adult" in my interpretation. This is a "‘doomed teenage romance’ Earthspark fanfiction" so he is ambiguously a "teenager" just as the Terrans are, otherwise this would be a very different story. So, no, he doesn't "groom" Nightshade, it's not like him and Tailgate in MTMTE. Getaway and Nightshade would be on similar maturity levels, in fact Nightshade will be more mature than him, emotionally that is.

See, this Getaway is a whiny hotheaded teenager who throws a tantrum when he doesn't get his way, this petulant behaviour would be concealed under a veil of verbose sentences and charisma - that is what I imagine Nightshade would find so appealing about him in the first place. They would be drawn to him because he echoes those bad boys in YA romances. I think those books will be their guilty pleasure, I bet they read supernatural YA romances hehe.

Getaway will say things like: "The Romans believed in Venus, the Goddess of beauty, one look at her and you'd be entranced but I don't believe one needs to look at Venus to know beauty - one only needs to look at you."

I think Nightshade would be weak for talk like that.

Now how would their family react?

Twitch will immediately sniff out the bad vibes. Thrash will be a bit similar, 'let me see if he's cool first'. Jawbreaker will be curious. Hashtag will probably be the first to find out, to throw in a bit of conflict maybe she could be a bit envious. Nightshade found a relationship before she did. Those selfish feelings of hers could seep through and Nightshade would take notice...

I think Mo would echo Thrash, meanwhile Robby would be like 'really?', surprised. Speaking of surprised Dot and Alex will definitely be, I think Alex would be a bit more open to the relationship than Dot. Dot would know Getaway, she may have worked with him and heard about him from the other Autobots. Getaway has this reputation of being the Autobot's troubled teen, he's a troublemaker. So Dot would definitely be sceptical of her child dating such a character.

As for the actual relationship between Nightshade and Getaway. Things will be sweet at first but as time goes by their relationship will become toxic and unstable. One of those teenage couples who constantly break up and get back together again perhaps. They will fight, they will argue. Getaway's toxiticity will rub off on Nightshade and they may lash out on others.

It will culminate into an explosive breakup that will devastate the both of them. Nightshade will become depressed over it. They will eventually break out of their bubble and move on, with their family's help they will.

They will move on but Getaway could not.

I’ve had this idea of a ‘doomed teenage romance’ Earthspark fanfiction for a long time. Maybe I’d start planning it when season 2 comes out. I have written some of my concept in the past but I don’t like it now.

[mcgnussen]

gryffindor: kevin got big gryffindor energy, he is impulsive and 100% drives with his heart. he has a little slytherin in him too due to being ruthless on track and not really giving a fuck. both charles and carlos are very passionate, they sometimes get a bit too eager, but you can just tell they are giving it their all and their whole heart is in it. lando and daniel are both kind of childish and very fun, but they are ruthless and explosive on track. they just seem like they’d be popular gryffindor jocks, hanging out in the common room and pranking each other. pierre is also extremely passionate, his driving style can be reckless, but it’s also very brave.

hufflepuff: both latifi and alex got sweet hufflepuff energy, they love williams despite how they often are backmarkers. mick is a slytherpuff, i am 100% convinced of that. but he got more hufflepuff energy and seems kind and loyal, he got slytherin energy on the track though. esteban is similar to mick, big hufflepuff energy off the track but slytherin energy on it. i can understand why they are friends. sergio is a hufflepuff with a lil bit of gryffindor, he has accepted that he’s the second driver and he’s loyal to red bull. yuki got lil bro hufflepuff energy, sometimes he makes mistakes but he apologises and hugs it out with pierre.  

ravenclaw: seb is definitely a ravenclaw, he’d be headboy too. he’s obviously very intelligent and is knowledgably about a lot of things. russell got prefect ravenclaw energy, a stickler for rules. i also think his driving style is quite intelligent, it’s not explosive but he’s always there and always ends up high in the order when everyone else make mistakes. both zhou and bottas got quirky ravenclaw energy, the luna lovegoods of f1. 

slytherin: alonso is the biggest slytherin to ever slytherin, he does whatever the fuck he wants and loves to burn bridges. if he’s not happy with you, you’ll definitely know. this might be controversial, but i think lewis and max are similar in a lot of ways. both slytherins with quite a lot of gryffindor energy too, they are ambitious, merciless and both leaders in their teams. they want to win and they are prepared to do whatever it takes. stroll is also a slytherpuff, but with more slytherin energy. he seems pretty spaced out most of the time like he’s just there for the sake of it, but in the races, he doesn’t give a fuck.

important note: i’d just like to say that i don’t support r*wling, but i think she has created an universe bigger than herself that provides comfort to a lot of people. i wish she would have taken the lesson of her own story about standing up for what’s right and protecting those who need it the most. a woman is woman, no matter trans or cis.

and of course, this is just my opinion and the vibes i get from the drivers. don’t take it too seriously, it’s just for fun!

[gra-sonas]

Just as her character Maria DeLuca was being challenged on Roswell, New Mexico (blame the alien Jones, played by Nathan Dean), Heather Hemmens was as well (blame the weather), stepping behind the camera to direct the September 6 episode, “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

“It was one of those moments where you’re challenged to do time management beyond the hours in a day, but it was a really, really great experience for me that taught me a lot of skills that now that I’ve done it, I can take forward and conquer with,” Hemmens tells TV Insider of the experience.

“[It] came about from hours and hours and hours of shadowing behind the scenes, directing short films, so this was years of preparation meeting opportunity for me,” she continues. “It really was a great time to grow within the show especially behind the camera. So I’m really excited to do that on my home court.”

Heading into the episode, Maria remains in a coma after her encounter with Jones (not Max, also played by Dean, as they’d all thought). But at least everyone knows who they’re really dealing with now… right? That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to stop him.

Below, Hemmens talks directing — she’ll helm another episode later in Season 4 — before previewing the rest of the season and Maria’s slightly reckless behavior.

Where does this episode find Maria in her fight against Jones?

Heather Hemmens: We find them very well matched where she has unexpectedly met him in the mindscape, but she is holding onto her powers for dear life. Right now she’s just buying time until she can outsmart him. They’re very well-matched because Maria’s strong-minded and determined and she’s just as good as Jones as evil, so it’s going to be an epic battle between them.

What’s everyone else up to now that they know they haven’t been talking to Max, but to Jones?

Heather Hemmens:  Everyone is frantically searching around for the real Jones and trying to stop him from whatever he’s set out to do. It’s a really fun storyline where the Scooby-Doo gang is setting up traps and different schemes to try and get ahead of Jones’ agenda. At the same time, they’re trying to receive psychic messages from Maria, helping them figure out what his motives are and also to help them get her out of this coma. This all is going to culminate with showdowns and explosions and big reveals that people who have been watching the show for years will never see coming. And it’s just going to be jaw-dropping turns that will take us into the rest of the storyline for the season.

There is quite a bit going on in this episode – the Jones storyline, Alex [Tyler Blackburn] is trying to get answers, Rosa’s [Amber Midthunder] still figuring things out about herself. What were your favorite and the most challenging scenes to direct?

My favorite scenes were Rosa and Isobel [Lily Cowles] in the cave where they have a real sisterhood bonding moment. That was such a joy just to have a scene where it wasn’t about special effects or anything sinister. It was just about two women connecting and having this great dialogue. It was really just such a joy to work with both of those actors, who are my close friends, and we had a lot of fun with that.

One of the more challenging scenes is this showdown. There’s so much going on. There’s a bunch of characters in the scene. There are explosions, special effects, all kinds of things happening, and it felt like a major movie set. It was really, really fun to film and we got rain right in the middle of it. We ended up being more crunched for time than I was supposed to have, and I was just really happy that I had prepared for that day in a way that I was able to still finish one of the most important scenes of the episode without having to sacrifice.

The scenes that I was in as an actor had special effects in them. And I also had to make time to watch playback and spend an hour and a half in hair and makeup before I got into director mode. So those were also challenges that I was happy to explore, that new skill set for myself, and just try to enjoy it along the way.

Speaking of great scenes with two women this season, one of my favorite relationships right now is Maria and Isobel’s. Are we going to continue to see more of those two together?

Heather Hemmens:  Absolutely. These two strong women are realizing that they’re even stronger together. They have such a fun dynamic. They have witty banter and they have great ideas and they also still have that competitiveness that makes them really fun to watch. I’m happy for the storyline and for the characters that the catty nature of their relationship has been overcome and now we’re into seeing two empowered women support each other. I just think that’s a really beautiful dynamic, and we’re going to see a lot more of it throughout the season.

It seems like Gregory [Tanner Novlan] has adapted pretty well to everything going on in Roswell. What can you say about his and Maria’s relationship?

Heather Hemmens:  I think the reason that Maria loves hanging out with Gregory is that he’s so easygoing. He has taken everything in stride. He’s been a support system. He’s been a really warm presence and just a good friend throughout all of this and Maria really needed a rock. He’s very stable. So I think that is the initial attraction and it could be budding into something romantic. I think it’s at a good starting point in friendship to be able to grow into that. … He may be crushing a little bit harder than her at the moment. But I think when he’s showing his true colors that he really cares for her and he has her back when she’s not well, that could go over pretty good with Maria when she catches wind of it.

We saw how far Maria was willing to go to trigger another vision earlier in the season, and she’s in a coma right now because she couldn’t sit and not do anything. Will we continue to see her push herself to or beyond her limits?

Heather Hemmens:  Absolutely. Maria is now on her own journey with her alien powers and with this alien storyline, whereas in the past seasons, we’ve seen her really supporting the other characters’ experience of this. Now she is on a rampage to fulfill her own destiny and discover what that is for her powers, so she’s willing to go pretty far to figure it out. I think she feels that no matter what the danger brings, she can’t not know.

I love Maria and everything she’s doing this season, but at the same time, I’m like, where’s your sense of self-preservation?

Heather Hemmens:  Yeah, she’s gotten a little bit reckless because she’s in dire need of answers. I think sometimes the hardest thing in life is not knowing and that can outweigh the expense of any maybe physical harm that she can endure and survive. But the most important thing to her is just having those questions answered that constantly plague her mind.

Everything’s building up to this funeral with the Valenti crest on the coffin. What can you tease about that funeral and what we’re going to see going forward?

Heather Hemmens:  It’s one of those mysteries that everybody comes together as a group because not only do they all care about who could be in the coffin, but it could be them. They still have no clarity that any of them is safe, and so in order to protect themselves, they also have to protect each other. That’s just one of the more lovely storylines that bonds them all, this group effort to keep everybody safe.

How certain can we be of anything that we’ve seen in those visions?

Heather Hemmens:  I’d say that they present accurately, but hindsight is 20/20. So just because they’re presenting accurately doesn’t mean that the supporting evidence doesn’t change the dynamic.

What else can you preview about the rest of the season and how it’s going to set up next season?

Heather Hemmens:  This Jones character is very determined to wreak havoc, so he’s not going away, and they’re going to have to battle it out with him for the next chapter of this story. They find different ways to do that and each character comes in to fight that beast. That’s a really, really fun storyline that plays out. And we’re gonna dig a little bit more into Maria’s family history as well and how it connects to everyone else and how it gets specific with this day in time that Jones is trying to find a memory for. Maria has a very big role in whether or not he gets that that piece of information he’s searching for.

[roswellnmsource]

‘Roswell, New Mexico’: Heather Hemmens on Directing, Why Maria & Jones Are ‘Very Well Matched’

Just as her character Maria DeLuca was being challenged on Roswell, New Mexico (blame the alien Jones, played by Nathan Dean), Heather Hemmens was as well (blame the weather), stepping behind the camera to direct the September 6 episode, “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

“It was one of those moments where you’re challenged to do time management beyond the hours in a day, but it was a really, really great experience for me that taught me a lot of skills that now that I’ve done it, I can take forward and conquer with,” Hemmens tells TV Insider of the experience.

“[It] came about from hours and hours and hours of shadowing behind the scenes, directing short films, so this was years of preparation meeting opportunity for me,” she continues. “It really was a great time to grow within the show especially behind the camera. So I’m really excited to do that on my home court.”

Heading into the episode, Maria remains in a coma after her encounter with Jones (not Max, also played by Dean, as they’d all thought). But at least everyone knows who they’re really dealing with now… right? That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to stop him.

Below, Hemmens talks directing — she’ll helm another episode later in Season 4 — before previewing the rest of the season and Maria’s slightly reckless behavior.

Where does this episode find Maria in her fight against Jones?

Heather Hemmens: We find them very well matched where she has unexpectedly met him in the mindscape, but she is holding onto her powers for dear life. Right now she’s just buying time until she can outsmart him. They’re very well-matched because Maria’s strong-minded and determined and she’s just as good as Jones as evil, so it’s going to be an epic battle between them.

What’s everyone else up to now that they know they haven’t been talking to Max, but to Jones?

Everyone is frantically searching around for the real Jones and trying to stop him from whatever he’s set out to do. It’s a really fun storyline where the Scooby-Doo gang is setting up traps and different schemes to try and get ahead of Jones’ agenda. At the same time, they’re trying to receive psychic messages from Maria, helping them figure out what his motives are and also to help them get her out of this coma. This all is going to culminate with showdowns and explosions and big reveals that people who have been watching the show for years will never see coming. And it’s just going to be jaw-dropping turns that will take us into the rest of the storyline for the season.

There is quite a bit going on in this episode – the Jones storyline, Alex [Tyler Blackburn] is trying to get answers, Rosa’s [Amber Midthunder] still figuring things out about herself. What were your favorite and the most challenging scenes to direct?

My favorite scenes were Rosa and Isobel [Lily Cowles] in the cave where they have a real sisterhood bonding moment. That was such a joy just to have a scene where it wasn’t about special effects or anything sinister. It was just about two women connecting and having this great dialogue. It was really just such a joy to work with both of those actors, who are my close friends, and we had a lot of fun with that.

One of the more challenging scenes is this showdown. There’s so much going on. There’s a bunch of characters in the scene. There are explosions, special effects, all kinds of things happening, and it felt like a major movie set. It was really, really fun to film and we got rain right in the middle of it. We ended up being more crunched for time than I was supposed to have, and I was just really happy that I had prepared for that day in a way that I was able to still finish one of the most important scenes of the episode without having to sacrifice.The scenes that I was in as an actor had special effects in them. And I also had to make time to watch playback and spend an hour and a half in hair and makeup before I got into director mode. So those were also challenges that I was happy to explore, that new skill set for myself, and just try to enjoy it along the way.

Speaking of great scenes with two women this season, one of my favorite relationships right now is Maria and Isobel’s. Are we going to continue to see more of those two together?

Absolutely. These two strong women are realizing that they’re even stronger together. They have such a fun dynamic. They have witty banter and they have great ideas and they also still have that competitiveness that makes them really fun to watch. I’m happy for the storyline and for the characters that the catty nature of their relationship has been overcome and now we’re into seeing two empowered women support each other. I just think that’s a really beautiful dynamic, and we’re going to see a lot more of it throughout the season.

It seems like Gregory [Tanner Novlan] has adapted pretty well to everything going on in Roswell. What can you say about his and Maria’s relationship?

I think the reason that Maria loves hanging out with Gregory is that he’s so easygoing. He has taken everything in stride. He’s been a support system. He’s been a really warm presence and just a good friend throughout all of this and Maria really needed a rock. He’s very stable. So I think that is the initial attraction and it could be budding into something romantic. I think it’s at a good starting point in friendship to be able to grow into that. … He may be crushing a little bit harder than her at the moment. But I think when he’s showing his true colors that he really cares for her and he has her back when she’s not well, that could go over pretty good with Maria when she catches wind of it.

We saw how far Maria was willing to go to trigger another vision earlier in the season, and she’s in a coma right now because she couldn’t sit and not do anything. Will we continue to see her push herself to or beyond her limits?

Absolutely. Maria is now on her own journey with her alien powers and with this alien storyline, whereas in the past seasons, we’ve seen her really supporting the other characters’ experience of this. Now she is on a rampage to fulfill her own destiny and discover what that is for her powers, so she’s willing to go pretty far to figure it out. I think she feels that no matter what the danger brings, she can’t not know.

I love Maria and everything she’s doing this season, but at the same time, I’m like, where’s your sense of self-preservation?

Yeah, she’s gotten a little bit reckless because she’s in dire need of answers. I think sometimes the hardest thing in life is not knowing and that can outweigh the expense of any maybe physical harm that she can endure and survive. But the most important thing to her is just having those questions answered that constantly plague her mind.

Everything’s building up to this funeral with the Valenti crest on the coffin. What can you tease about that funeral and what we’re going to see going forward?

It’s one of those mysteries that everybody comes together as a group because not only do they all care about who could be in the coffin, but it could be them. They still have no clarity that any of them is safe, and so in order to protect themselves, they also have to protect each other. That’s just one of the more lovely storylines that bonds them all, this group effort to keep everybody safe.

How certain can we be of anything that we’ve seen in those visions?

I’d say that they present accurately, but hindsight is 20/20. So just because they’re presenting accurately doesn’t mean that the supporting evidence doesn’t change the dynamic.

What else can you preview about the rest of the season and how it’s going to set up next season?

This Jones character is very determined to wreak havoc, so he’s not going away, and they’re going to have to battle it out with him for the next chapter of this story. They find different ways to do that and each character comes in to fight that beast. That’s a really, really fun storyline that plays out. And we’re gonna dig a little bit more into Maria’s family history as well and how it connects to everyone else and how it gets specific with this day in time that Jones is trying to find a memory for. Maria has a very big role in whether or not he gets that that piece of information he’s searching for.

[obsessedtodeathwithgravityfalls]

Compilation of Michael Rianda’s GF Tweets! (Con.)

A continuation of my first post, this time for questions he answered and fun, behind the scenes snippets.

I said in this reblog that I think the best explanation would be something really dramatic or explosive (like an blown up building as opposed to something like, say, getting poisoned) because the heavier her death is, the guiltier Dipper would be, which I feel like would really highlight their bond for both the current and future pairs of twins. Good to know that Michael supports the thought of coming up with our own ideas!

The rest is under the cut:

This is a great message! People often forget that, even though a story may have more details, if its overall message is told, there’s really no point in wanting to have it reopened.

Love this. Remember, kids - with enough determination, you also might be able to tire a hypersensitive, multibillion dollar corporation into letting you include references and jokes that slightly allude to barely mature content!

Oh gosh, how different would the show have been if Bill appeared in the SEVENTH episode? I really liked how it turned out, because if you think about it, the first half of the show was building up to his first appearance. He’s hinted at throughout season one - the mysterious entity the journal references, in the end credits, within the background - and he’s the height of Gravity Falls’ mysteriousness that the audience had been expecting, seeing as the town’s paranormal activity was only becoming more and more strange as the show went on. Plus, I like the crescendo of antagonists and villains. Starts off with an angry ten year old boy that has the means to paranormal abilities, progresses to a governmental agency that’s been investigating the town for decades, and by the end, the villain is a trillion year old genocidal being that can bend reality to his very will. It wouldn’t be the same if we started with Bill in the beginning.

Wow, I never would’ve thought such a vital piece to the show wasn’t even planned until just before its appearance. If it wasn’t a portal, I wonder what would’ve separated Stan and Ford for thirty years. A secret society? Maybe that was considered and ended up becoming the Society of the Blind Eye.

I love this idea for a road trip episode much better than the one we got. It would be so good for characterization! Sometimes people aren’t aware of the routine they immerse themselves in until they actually go over it. This seems like a great, literal way to explore that idea. As for Wendy’s flaw, I mentioned in the first post that perhaps her chill-factor might be a misconstruing of apathy, which ties into recklessness. Michael shows us a script for a Wendy episode where they tried to crack it, but the plot didn’t work out in the end. I loved that look we got into her character, since the most insight into her we got were small bouts of stress or anger. “I’m stressed, like, 24/7. Have you met my family?!”

AWWWW, SOMEONE ANIMATE THIS

I swear, if any of you fuckers crop out that last tweet and go around with your Nintendo x Gravity Falls crossover fanfiction, I’m going to jump into a bottomless pit and I’m taking you with me.

Alex’s superpower is taking jokes and stereotypes so overused they’re nauseating and increasing that factor so much that it’s actually funny.

Wait, he hasn’t read “those particular ones.” Does the Gravity Falls crew read our AUs?

Time for a look at some other fun things Michael posted!

Picture of Alex, Michael, and Joe Pitt celebrating after Gravity Falls had been greenlit. Joe is intentionally trying to look like a 90′s kid.

Apparently this was supposed to be a joke on Ian Worrel for his birthday. If this was my gift, I think I would spontaneously combust right then and there. 

The Love God might’ve been based off of Michael when he got drunk for an audition to better fit a character. He didn’t get the part, but we got Jake the Dog voicing a grown man in fairy wings, so I say it balances out.

You might’ve already known this if you watched Between the Pines!

Lessons that Michael learned from working on the show. Information from one of the masters himself, use it carefully.

Also, fun fact: Michael wrote Stan’s existential crisis in Bottomless Pit! AND those fun, single frame passages of text that we see in some episodes and shorts.

I was contemplating even including this in here, but what’s done is done. The flames of the DipperxStitch shippers that burn brightly in their souls have already been lit, and there’s nothing I can do about it but spread the message.

That’s about all there is. If you want to have even more fun reading, here’s an AMA from when the show first came out that he did. There’s not much there about the plot since it’s from only a few months after Tourist Trapped came out, but you might still have fun reading it and learn a couple things about some characters, writing, and the people who worked on the show!

And although I tried my best, if I missed anything, please feel free to add it below. Buy gold!

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here still feeling all the happy Malex feels (because I'm also ignoring the eyerolling parts of the episode), between the amazing scenes from the episode and all the Vlamburn this week we've been so well fed, so I figure why not revisit one of the loveliest of love songs, Heart. Does anything sum up the Malex of this episode, with Alex being open with his feelings and motives and Michael trusting him, better than "what if we could risk everything we have and just let our walls cave in"

OMG Nonnie, I had the hardest time tracking down the original post! It was before you got your signature tag and was one of the first ones we talked about apparently so I'm SO excited to be brining this back now that we've got some more hopeful Malex to talk about! 

First, I pulled this bit from Ryan's blog post about how this song was made which is a fascinating read, but his part really stood out for Malex.

"At its heart, "Heart" is a love song. It's about being vulnerable and letting ourselves be in love and unafraid - a reckless abandon of sorts. I liked the idea of using heights as a main lyrical theme in this song, because putting ourselves in positions of great heights is risky and dangerous - we fly in airplanes, we climb mountains, we stand inside skyscrapers - all requires a significant amount of risk and trust. I think that’s an accurate description of love. At our best, we go to truly great lengths and heights for the ones we love - simply because our hearts tell us to."

How perfect is that?! As a love song this is one of my favorites because it’s so dreamy and tender and earnest and it feels like such a Michael song especially. Also from the blog post

“Heart people are social types who feel their way through life by leaning into their emotional intelligence...They need affection and esteem. These so-called feeling people don’t have their own feelings; they have everybody else’s feelings! They experience themselves in reaction to the feelings or behaviors of others."

Which always feels very much like a Michael thing, always feeling things so deeply, which is why his walls are so high, to protect his heart. I’m so excited to see him and Alex learning to open up to each other. 

Okay, let’s flail about these lyrics!!

i am short of breath standing next to you. i am out of my depth at this altitude.

like the world makes sense from a window seat, you are beautiful like i've never seen.

go ahead and laugh, even if it hurts, go ahead and pull the pin. what if we could risk everything we have, and just let our walls cave in?

This just so fully encompasses the feeling of that kiss scene in 3x08 last week. “short of breath”, “world makes sense”, “what if we could risk everything we have/and just let our walls cave in?” That’s it. That’s the scene.

i am short of breath standing next to you. i'll be the dangerous ledge you be the parachute.

the blue and green below is a masterpiece, but you are beautiful like i've never seen.

This very much makes me think of the scene getting the pod from Jones, when Michael is ready to deviate from the plan, Alex swoops in (literally) to put on the breaks and help Michael focus. I’m very much looking forward to Michael getting to reciprocate at some point because these two are such a perfect balance for each other. 

go ahead and laugh, even if it hurts, go ahead and pull the pin. what if we could risk everything we have, and just let our walls cave in? go ahead and laugh, even if it hurts, go ahead and pull the pin. what if we could risk everything we have, and just let our walls cave in?

let our walls cave in. let our walls cave in.

Once more from the blog

“These words are a reminder to always let our guards down with each other, to be vulnerable enough to laugh in the face of risk and fear and danger. The idea of pulling the parachute cord in the lyric before, inspired the line "go ahead and pull the pin" - I really liked that this refers to something explosive like a grenade, to obliterate our walls and guards, but also something life-saving like a parachute cord.”

I just love this so much, the idea of something explosive but in a good way, taking down walls that are no longer serving their purpose, as well as something like a parachute chord slowing things down but in a “stopping the fall” kind of way. This is just such a beautiful song and so, so good for Malex right now as they are learning to let go and take those risks together side by side, and learning to be that balance and person to lean against for each other and it’s going to be so beautiful to see. 

Happy Malex Monday my dear friend! It’s also 911 season 5 premier day and I am going to be wildly all over the place today but here’s to Malex FINALLY getting together and making some progress. Lets hope tonight gives us some more Malex goodness!!

[6rookie-writer0110]

Time in Sin City can never be restored

Kara Danvers x Male Reader

Request- Could you make a platonic Kara Danvers x male reader before their planet exploded reader was Kara's babysitter and escaped but he ended up lost somewhere else and sees that Kara and kal aka Clark are alive goes searching for Kara he arrives years later now that Kara is supergirl and he knows of the effects of each suns he arrives on earth and supergirl n superman are in big trouble but be saves the and stops the villian also he is super skilled so he doesn't depend on his powers much

Kara-age 5:

You met up with Alura because she hired you to be the nanny. You met Kara and she hides behind her mother.

”She takes a while to warm to new people,” Alura said.

”I understand. Hi, Kara, my name is Y/N” You said.

She whispered very low ”Hi”

”Y/N, I have to go. Kara has a bedtime and it is at eight” Alura said.

”Okay,” You said.

She left and Kara just stares at you. You get down on one knee.

”How about we play a game before bedtime?” You asked.

She smiled and nods. You and Kara start to play and she can't stop smiling. Later, you tucked her in bed and start to read a bedtime story.

----

Kara is thirteen years old and you have been her babysitter since she was five. She is attached to you and she loves spending time with you. When you walked into her house, she ran to you and hugged you. And you hug her back, she always hugs you.

”Did you bring it?” Kara asked.

”I don't know what you are talking about?” You lied.

You and Kara smiled.

”Y/N,” Kara said.

”I have it. But did you finish your homework?” You said.

”Yes-”

Kal-El starts to cry and you went to pick him up from the crib. Kara watches you gently calm him down.

”He is so small, why he stinks so bad,” Kara said and moved.

”We will never know” You laughed.

Later, you start to play with Kal-El and Kara. Their parents always work late. You are like a big brother to her and she always has fun with you. You and Kara start to play with Kal-El, by making funny faces and he starts to laugh.

---

It's a normal day, you take Kara and Kal-El outside to play. Suddenly the planet starts to shake, people start to run and panic. Kal-El starts to cry and Kara starts to feel scared, you hold them closer to you.

”Y/N, I'm scared,” Kara said.

”Let’s go. Don't let go of my hand Kara” You said.

”Okay,” Kara said.

It didn't take long for you to find their parents.

”What is going on!?” You yelled.

”The planet is going to explode. We have to put Kara and Kal-El in the pod” Alura said.

”Why we all can't get in it?” Kara cried.

”We can't fit all in the pod. It's designed for one person only. You and Kal-El will go in the pod” Alura said.

Kal-El doesn't stop crying. The planet starts to shake and you are feeling terrified.

”I won't go without Y/N or anyone!” Kara cried again.

”Kara you have to go. I want you and Kal-El to be safe. I promise we will see each other again” You said.

Kara hugged you and you kissed her head then she hugged her parents. Kara and Kal-El are in the pods and you watched them leave, you cried.

You and the others run to find safety. You found a pod and got in but the engine semi-damanged. But you made it work but the pod got hit and you hit your head. Kal-El’s pod went to earth and Kara’s got knocked off-course by Krypton's explosion, sending her ship into the phantom zone where she slept for 24 years while being suspended in time and not aging.

✫ ✬ ✯ ✫

For years you have been searching for Kara and Kal-El. You never got close to finding them and everything has changed for you. You lost count how many times you tried to find them or asked favors for others.

”We will miss you, Y/N,” Adam Strange said.

”I will miss you and the others too,” You said.

”Here, take the picture Vath Sarn will kill me if I didn't give it to you. Y/N, remember you can contact us anytime” Adam Steange said.

You stare at the pictures and you hugged Adam.

”There is no way you are leaving us without having a drink with us,” Vath Sarn said.

”Of course not. I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye” You said.

Everyone came to say goodbye and hug you.

Adam Strange, Alanna Strange, and Vath Sarn created a device that allows you to travel from multiverse to multiverse. Once you arrived on New Rann, they took you in and they became your best friends.

---

Years have passed by fast. Kara and Kal-El are adults now. They haven't seen you for many years and Kara misses you so much. Kara does tell Kal-El stories about you and he does want to meet you.

”Superman and Supergirl we need your help now!” Alex yelled.

Kara and Clark heard Alex in the earpiece, they rushed to the scene. Alex and her team are having trouble fighting the enemy.

”We are here now,” Clark said.

”We meet again Supergirl. My offer still stands, enjoy me and I will train you and we will serve our lord Darkseid” Granny Goodness said.

”I will never join you! I am a hero and I protect people” Kara said.

”Foolish girl,” Granny Goodness said.

”Don’t let her size and age fool you. She is strong” Kara said to Clark.

”Got it,” Clark said.

Clark and Kara start to fight with Granny Goodness, but she is stronger. She is easily beating them, she bodyslammed Clark into the ground. Then Granny Goodness grabbed Kara by the neck and threw her towards a building. Granny Goodness starts to fight Alex and her team.

Granny Goodness laughed in a sinister way. She was about to kill Alex, Kara is unconscious and Clark is struggling to fight Granny Goodness. You arrived and you see what is going on.

”Let her go!” You yelled.

”Who are you?” Granny Goodness asked.

She let's go of Alex now you start to fight Granny Goodness. You start to dodge her attacks and you don't use all your strength, but your punch can do damage even at minimum strength. You used your lantern corps rings to stop Granny Goodness for good.

J’onn arrived late to the scene and he thought you are the enemy. Clark grabbed Kara and flew to the DEO.

✫ ✬ ✯ ✫

You are sitting in a cell and you watch them. You made the lantern rings use duplication, they took thought the rings. But you still have your rings and they can't see it.

”I can't read your mind,” J’onn said.

”You won’t,” You said.

The others went to check on Kara and she is doing fine.

”How are you feeling?” Clark asked.

”I’m feeling okay. What happened?” Kara asked.

”Granny Goodness is behind bars. We have the rings of the guy” Alex said.

”What rings?” Kara asked.

Alex was going to show it to Kara but it disappeared. All of them went to see you

”Who are you and why are on earth,” Clark asked

”My name is Y/N. I am looking-”

”Y/N! It's really you!” Kara said out loud.

”Do I know you?” You asked.

”It’s me Kara Zor El!” Kara cheerfully said.

”You know him?” Alex asked.

”He is an old freind” Kara said.

” It's really you!” You said.

”This is Kal-El,” Kara said.

”Oh Rao, you and Kal have grown so much,” You said and smiled.

Kara told Alex to open the cell. Kara and Kal-El hugged you tight and Kara starts to cry tears of joy.

---

Kara introduced you to everyone and she hasn't stopped smiling. Kara has told you everything that happened when they arrived on earth.

”So you go by the name Clark?” You asked.

”Yes. We save people together and we really missed you. Kara would tell me stories about you” Clark said.

”Tell us where have you been all these years,” Kara said.

”I have been living on the planet Called New Rann. Adam Strange took me in and taught me everything. I met new people and we became friends and we worked together to save people. I also became a lantern member, I am part of hope which is blue, Green means willpower and Indigo Lantern which means Compassion” You said.

You show them the rings.

”That is amazing! Y/N Later we are having game night and you will come” Kara said.

”What is game night?” You asked.

”Can’t wait!” Kara said.

✫ ✬ ✯ ✫

Kara and Clark went all out for game night. They bought so much food, new board games and much more. Alex picked you up and before going inside Kara’s loft she had to say something to you.

”Kara is my sister and I have to protect her. Please don't hurt her, I don't want to see you leave and she will be heartbroken” Alex said.

”I won't leave again. I can how much you love her and care or her. Alex, I won't leave and it took me years to find them” You said.

”I believe you,” Alex said.

Once inside, Kara introduced you to Brainy, James, Nia, Winn, and Kelly. Everyone is happy to meet you and Kara starts to show you the food of what people eat on earth.

”How was Kara as a small child and Clark,” Nia said.

”She was always loud and wanted affection and if you didn't pay attention to her she'd glare at you. She hated eating her vegetables and I had to bribe her. She always had a lot of energy. Cal, for a baby he had the most stinkest diapers” You said.

Everyone laughed.

”I’m not loud, Y/N,” Kara said.

Alex nods.

”He is right. Kara, you are loud” Alex teased.

”I wish you didn't say that” Clark laughed.

”How was it living in New Rann?” Kara asked.

”Much different then Krypton. Because of Adam, he taught me everything. It took me a while to get used to and it wasn't easy for me to travel, because I never knew what was a multiverse. I became a Lantern and I met so many people from different parts of the universe. Even villains a part of the Lantern Corps. There are different colors and different meanings. I even worked along with Lobo a bounty hunter, he is crazy and very reckless and hard to get along with” You said.

”We are happy that you are here and that you are a member of the Lantern Corps,” Clark said.

Kara and the others had to teach you how to play board games. It took you a while to understand the games but you the hang of it. Next, everyone explained the different types of food they always eat. At first, you didn't want to eat it but Kara gave you the puppy eyes.

”Not the puppy eyes,” You said.

”Please, Y/N you should try it. I know you like it” Kara said.

”Y/N, she always does it with me,” Alex said.

Everyone agreed. You start to eat different type of food and you are loving it, Kara is happy that you like it.

✫ ✬ ✯ ✫

You have been staying on the earth for a while now. It took you a while to understand how people live on earth, on New Rann it was more advanced in every way. You do help Kara and Clark save people but you just wear a mask.

”So, why you and Cal wear glasses?” You asked.

”We have to keep our real identity a secret. You will have to do the same” Clark said.

”We can talk to Winn and Brainy maybe they can create a suit for you. And we will become a team!” Kara cheerfully said.

”Let’s go see them now,” You said.

Winn and Brainy start to work on the suit, they have so many ideas.

✫ ✬ ✯ ✫

Kara is hosting a movie night with you, Alex, Kelly, and Clark. They made a list of movies for you to watch with them. Alex and Kara made popcorn and Clark started the movie.

Kara and Clark are feeling happy because they are creating new memories with you. They are happy that you will stay on earth for a long time.

✫ ✬ ✯ ✫

At the DEO, you start to train Clark and Kara without their powers. Without your powers, you are still strong. They tried to outsmart you but you didn't let them fool you.

”Nice trick, thinking you were going to attack me but it was him,” You said.

”How did you get so strong?” Clark asked.

”I had friends who taught me how to fight without my powers,” You said.

”Let’s go again,” Kara said.

”Let’s begin,” You said.

You trained Clark and Kara and for hours.

---

Winn and Brainy finished the suit. And everyone can't wait to see it especially you.

”Y/N, go try it on. Everything should be perfect” Winn said.

”The suit looks amazing. I will go try it on right now” You said.

”Hurry up,” Clark said.

Much later, you come out wearing the suit. Everyone loves it and you check yourself out in the mirror. You rushed and hugged Winn and Brainy.

”Thank you so much!” You said really loud.

”One more thing. Here is your helmet and we are happy that you like it” Brainy said.

”Would my rings be able to work with the suit?” You asked.

There is trouble in uptown, Alex, Clark, and Kara get ready.

”You will find out now,” Winn said.

You put on the helmet and you left with Kara and Clark.

[seeaddywrite]

not by blood, but by choice

a/n: ugh, okay, so technically this was started as a response to the Day 2 prompt for Roswell New Mexico Week 2019, which was family, but i am the worst at adhering to deadlines. 4k of this was written yesterday, but I COULDN’T GET IT TO END.

thanks to @soberqueerinthewild, as always, for listening to me whine & letting me borrow her idea of Isobel taking self-defense classes! 

right. Max + Malex fic, set six months post-finale. 

“So, Isobel is where, again?” Michael asks, his elbows on Max’s kitchen counter to either side of a full plate. Max is damn good at using the grill on his patio, and Michael’s never one to pass up free food. If he’d known that it would end up just being himself, his brother, and his newly official boyfriend, however, he’s not so sure he would have accepted the invitation. 

It’s not that Michael hates spending time with Max. He really doesn’t, anymore, not since the other man died. Six months of sharp-edged grief and directionless anger over the actions of a dead man had been awful, and Michael can’t pretend that he’s not glad to have his brother’s steadying presence back in his head. They’ve been spending more time together in the three weeks since Max has been back, usually involving food and shitty television, and, most importantly, Isobel’s presence as a buffer. He and Max don’t know how to spend uncomplicated, unplanned time together anymore, even after the residual anger and bitterness between them fades, and Alex’s presence seems to have made the awkwardness worse. 

And that shouldn’t be a surprise, shouldn’t be the smack in the face that it is, because Michael has known since before Max’s death that he thinks Michael should let Alex go to focus on a future in which he can be happy, as if a relationship with Alex can never be more than a reminder of the tragedies in their shared pasts. And Michael’s pretty sure that there’s a little bit of discomfort at the idea of Michael with a man, too, and he doesn’t want to touch that particular idiocy with a ten-foot pole. He’s pretty sure Max won’t make it out of that conversation in one piece, and Michael doesn’t want Isobel and Liz on his ass for killing him again when they’d only just gotten him back. 

“Self-defense class,” Max says with a small sigh, glancing at Alex like he’s not sure how much he can say about the matter in front of him, despite the fact that he’s been involved in every step of the work to bring Max back and protect them all from the long-reaching arm of Project Shepherd. “She’s a little . . . focused.” 

Michael picks up what Max isn’t saying without any mental prodding, and he drops a hand from the counter to Alex’s good knee, squeezing for his own, selfish comfort. He gets a reassuring smile for his troubles, and Michael takes a moment to revel in how lucky he is that Alex was willing to give him another chance after every stupid fucking thing he’s done in the last year: dating Maria, trying to hide from his grief at the bottom of a bottle, and swinging first and asking questions later. Alex had been the one to drag him out of his self-imposed exile and help him to realize that Isobel needed someone, too, so he understands the worry Michael feels better than most anyone could. 

Michael would like to think that he’d pulled himself together enough to be there for his sister, but no amount of support had been enough to heal the gaping wounds Noah left in her soul. Max’s return helped, and her obsessive need to become more powerful has definitely eased in the past few weeks. She’s no longer practicing mind control on random passers-by, and she’s done blowing things up just because she can, a fact for which the entire town should be grateful. But Michael knows, just as Max does, that their sister is far from fine. Her laser focus has been turned from expanding her supernatural powers to physical self-defense now that Max is back with them, and it might be better for their anonymity, but no one is convinced that it’s better for Isobel. 

“She’s been through a lot,” Alex says, his voice level as he cuts through the moment of tension with his usual affability. He’s been eating steadily, and is sitting comfortably on one of the tall stools surrounding the kitchen counter, no hint of uncertainty in his posture, but Michael knows better. He’d asked at least three times on their way to Max’s if Michael was sure that he’d be welcome, and when he realized that Isobel wasn’t coming, the grip on Michael’s fingers had tightened to an almost painful degree. Even now, when Max lifts his chin and gives Alex a look, there’s an undeniable tension in the muscles beneath Michael’s hand. 

But Alex isn’t intimidated by Max. He wants to get along with him, Michael thinks, because they share all of the same friends and loved ones, and are at least tangentially family, which means more to Alex than most people would be able to understand. That doesn’t mean he’s going to back down and show his throat, though, or let Max run roughshod over his opinions. Max doesn’t seem quite sure how to handle that; he’s been running the show to keep the three aliens safe for their entire lives, and Michael suspects he’s having a hard time adjusting to the fact that others had become just as involved in that goal while he was gone. But Alex is good at plans and strategies in a way that Max isn’t, and has more personal experience with trauma and healing than Michael cares to think about. His understanding of Isobel’s actions carry weight, whether Max wants to admit it or not. 

 “No matter why she’s doing it, self-defense isn’t a bad way to help her build some confidence,” Alex continues, meeting Max’s gaze calmly across the table. “She’s got an expert teacher and other people in the class to make sure she doesn’t take it too far. It’s as safe as anything like that can be -- and I think we’d all rather she took out her frustrations on a punching bag instead of people. I really don’t think you need to worry about her; she’s just looking for a way to feel safe in her own skin again.”

They’ve talked about this before, Alex and Michael. It’s always been after nightmares of being forced to put Isobel’s body in a pod next to Max’s, or watching her being dragged away by scientists who caught her using her powers in obvious ways during her more reckless moments. It’s been Alex who’s gathered him close in the middle of the night and whispered reassurances and explained that recovery from trauma doesn’t always seem right or healthy to others, but Isobel has to learn to stand on her own again without interference from her friends and family. She has to learn what it means not to depend on anyone after years of leaning on Noah and his reputation to make a life for herself. Michael doesn’t pretend to understand, but he’s promised Alex -- and Isobel herself -- to give her some time and space to try. 

But Max has only been up and moving for three weeks, and he’s too mired in the guilt of sending his sister into such a tailspin to realize that he’s not doing her any favors by trying to smother her. But that’s Max; he’s always been too ready to do whatever it takes to protect them, no matter what the cost. That’s how they ended up covering up a murder and carrying that burden by themselves for over a decade. It’s why his friendship with Michael crumbled around them. It’s why he can never really feel safe -- and Michael’s tired of watching the same thing happen, again and again.

Max stabs a piece of chicken with a bit more violence than strictly necessary, but doesn’t make any move to eat it. “I’ve been worrying about Isobel since she fell out of her pod and into my arms when we were seven,” he says coldly. At some point, he’s shifted to sit up straighter in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest while he stares, narrow-eyed, across the table at Alex. “She’s never had any interest in self-defense before. A taser and influencing minds has always been enough for her. So even if I could stop worrying, I wouldn’t, because my sister is off the rails, and she needs help. And for the record? The fact that you’re dating Michael now does not give you the right to tell me how to be there for my family.”

There’s a moment of stunned silence from all parties as the electricity in the room flickers and Max battles with himself to rein his powers back in. He seems just as shocked as the others about the words that have escaped his mouth, and Michael can’t quite wrap his head around the speed with which the conversation escalated. He gapes openly at Max, his blood on a slow boil. Who the hell does he think he is? Alex has been building a friendship with Isobel for half a year, while Max was gone. He’s listened to her cry, and even helped her find a decent self-defense class. Alex has been there for her, and for everyone else, while Max abandoned them for a moment of heroism that left them all fucking reeling -- and he’s going there? With Alex, who’d only been trying to help? Fuck no. 

“I’m sorry.” Max swallows heavily, his eyes sliding closed for a minute. The apology gives Michael the moment he needs to press pause on his impending explosion, and Alex looks genuinely poleaxed by the unexpected words. He’d been bracing for a blow-up, Michael realizes, taking in the challenging tilt to his chin and the glint of banked fire in his eyes. 

“That wasn’t -- I’m not --” Max trails off, running the palm of his hand over his face before opening his eyes and directing his words to both of them. “I don’t have the right to talk to you that way, Alex, and I should know better, by now, than to let my temper get the best of me.” He glances wryly toward Michael, who just raises an eyebrow, waiting. 

Alex doesn’t share Michael’s patience for whatever comes next. He pushes his plate off to the side of the table and leans forward, his expression inscrutable, but Michael can read the uncertainty in the tilt of his eyebrows and the tight line of his lips. He nudges his boyfriend’s knee with his own, trying to get him to look over, but Alex is focused on Max. 

“I know that you’ve been protecting them for most of your lives,” he says quietly, a strange solemnity in his voice that makes Michael want to wrap an arm around his shoulders and pull him into his side. Family is a difficult concept for Alex; he’s never had anyone willing to protect him from his father of any of the rest of life’s cruelties. And while Michael’s always wished for something more than Max and Isobel, someone more, he knows that he’s damn lucky to have them. Alex knows it, too, and is trying to meet Max halfway, which is more than Michael would have ever asked of him. 

“You’re family, and I respect that. I’m not trying to tell you how to support Isobel, or to pretend that she’s doing fine when we all know better. I’ve just been where she’s been, at least a little.” Alex hesitates, and in a moment of prescience, Michael can tell what he’s about to say and opens his mouth to stop him, to tell him that he doesn’t need to reopen his own wounds just because Max is bleeding all over him. But before he gets the chance, Alex plows forward, as unfailingly brave as he’s always been. “Someone who was supposed to love me hurt me, too. It’s not the same, and I’m not naive enough to think I know exactly what she’s going through. But I do know that after something like that? After betrayal and feeling so completely out of control of your own life? It takes time to feel comfortable in your own skin again. Time, space, and support from people who love you.” 

Michael tangles his fingers with Alex’s, and soaks up the small smile he gets in return. If Max is anything but understanding and kind in the face of such an emotionally honest confession, not even the threat of Liz’s temper tantrum is going to stop him from punching his brother in the fucking face. Alex doesn’t often talk about his father, and Michael can count on one hand the amount of times he’s heard him admit that he needed help to begin healing the wounds left by years of abuse and unfounded hatred. If Max rewards that honesty with callous words or cruelty, Michael doesn’t care what their connection is -- Alex is his family, too, and doesn’t have many other people to protect him. That’s Michael’s job, and one he takes damn seriously. 

Thankfully, Max only nods slowly. There’s no way to be sure of what he already knows about Alex’s father, or the real reasons he went to war, but there’s a glimmer of understanding in his eyes that tells Michael he knows enough to tread carefully. “It turns out I’m not so great at protecting anyone,” he says dryly, worrying at his lower lip with his teeth. “Or taking good advice, apparently. I really am sorry -- you’re right. I need to let Isobel come to me, if that’s what she wants. It’s just harder than I expected, after all this time.” His smile is a sad, resigned thing, and Michael is irritated that it gets to him. Max deserves to feel some guilt and regret for what he’s done, and even if his death isn’t the cause of all of Isobel’s trauma, he needs to own the fact that he fucked up. 

Michael does his best to squash the thought. They haven’t talked about the moments leading up to Max’s death, or how any of them feel about it -- the three of them have simply slapped a bandage over the bleeding wound and done their best not to poke at it. Michael knows it won’t last forever; eventually, he’s going to lose it and tell Max exactly how much damage he’s done to all of them, not just Isobel, with his stupid stunt. He’s got plenty to answer for, and part of Michael wants to point it out, to bellow that he didn’t seem to care so much about protecting them when he was resurrecting Rosa Ortecho, that maybe he should have thought about how Isobel might feel -- but he doesn’t. This isn’t the time, not with so much already going on around them. 

Alex shakes his head, but some of the tension has dissipated from his face. “You don’t have to apologize. I get it. It’s hard to take advice from people you don’t really trust, and I know I don’t have yours, yet. But I really do just want to help, in whatever way I can. You might not think he and I are good for each other, but Michael’s the only family I’ve got, and you and Isobel are his, so . . .” he trails off, looking uncomfortable while trying to navigate complex emotions. Talking about how he feels and his own motivations is never going to be easy for Alex, even though he and Michael have gotten better at it is as they restarted their relationship. 

It’s hard to watch him push through the explanation, but Michael doesn’t jump in and try to help. He knows better; Alex is perfectly capable of expressing himself, and won’t appreciate an attempted subject change, no matter how awkward this one is. He shifts restlessly on the stool and kicks at the bottom of the counter in an effort to distract himself. The knowledge that Max doesn’t think the two of them should be together has weighed on Alex since Michael told him the story of how his hand was healed, and he knows that it’s better to get it all out in the open now, because if he has any say in the matter, Alex is sticking around for the rest of their lives. And if it helps him, or Max, to air their grievances, then Michael can deal with it. 

“What?” Max is staring at Alex, his expression twisted into obvious confusion. “Why would you think that?” There’s an obvious glimmer of hurt in the depths of his eyes that Michael doubts Alex can see. Max doesn’t usually bother to hide his emotions from his family, but with others, he tends to make more of an effort. “I’m not going to pretend that I know you very well, but I don’t have a problem with the two of you being together. I don’t know what Michael’s been telling you, but I’m not actually a bigot.”

“Max,” Michael interrupts, rolling his eyes. “He’s not calling you a fucking homophobe, relax. I told him about what you said before you --” he waves a hand, still uncomfortable with blurting out the word ‘died’ in reference to his brother. Isobel had taken to using the word as a weapon, wielding it viciously every time Max tried to convince her to give up her relentless pursuit of power and self-confidence, every time his protective instincts became smothering and hard for her to deal with, but Michael can’t quite bring himself to do the same. Not when it’s still so fresh in his mind, and Max’s, too. 

Alex nods, for the first time looking uncomfortable. “It makes sense. I know that I haven’t been the most reliable person for Michael, so I understand that you might not want to listen to what I have to say about Isobel, but -” 

“Wait, wait, hold on a second,” Max interjects, directing his bewildered stare at Michael. “What did I say? I remember -- I remember the lightning, and killing Noah, but everything gets hazy, after that.” There’s a far-off look in his eyes as he struggles to put the pieces together, and Michael shifts on his stool and eventually stands, restless energy crawling beneath his skin.  He’s recounted that night’s events for Alex, and for Liz, later, but this is the first time the subject has been broached with Max. It’s a hundred times worse; every word feels fraught with tension and buried emotion, and Michael doesn’t want this to escalate into a real fight. 

He can feel Alex’s eyes on him and knows that he’s going to have to answer, if only because Alex doesn’t have all of the details, and groans. This conversation feels like peeling a scab off of a nearly-healed wound, and it hurts, but Michael can’t bring himself to stalk off and ignore it any longer. They need to talk about this, to get it all out in the open, and Michael refuses to restart a decade-long habit of storming off when he and Max argue. The two of them are damned good at hurting each other, at leaving when things get hard, but Isobel isn’t in a place to bring them back together, anymore. And call him selfish, but Michael has enjoyed having his brother back, these past three weeks. Things have been good between them, and losing that over something that Max doesn’t even remember clearly would be fucking stupid. Michael might be frustrated, might feel like shaking Max until his brain rattles around in his skull, but he’s still Michael’s family, and that’s so rare that he won’t entertain the idea of losing it again because of death or stupid arguments. 

So he stops the restless pacing around the kitchen just behind Alex’s shoulder and flexes his newly-healed hand in pointed reminder of the conversation in the cave that Max can’t recall.   He’s not ashamed to admit that he takes a little takes petty, vindictive pleasure in the way that Max flinches — he’s not awful enough to want Max to hurt, but Michael wants to make damn sure he remembers, the next time he’s hyped up on power and thinks he can play God, that’s never okay to irrevocably change someone’s body without their fucking explicit consent, even if he’s sure it’ll be an improvement. 

“You said to leave the past behind and look forward,” he says, and if the words drip with accusation, Michael thinks it’s justified. That had fucked him up, for a while. Those words had gotten in his head and under his skin, and burrowed even deeper when Isobel agreed with them -- and he and Alex had lost months while Michael tried to follow their advice with Maria. “You wanted to get rid of my reminder.” Again, he flexes fingers that had been stiff and numb for the last decade, this time without really thinking about it. “And Isobel agreed, afterward, so --”

“You thought that meant I was telling you to give up on Alex?” Max interrupts abruptly, and Michael doesn’t understand the incredulousness in his voice. What the hell else could he have meant? But Max is staring at him, brows drawn and mouth open, and for a split second, Michael wishes that he could read the other man’s mind with Isobel’s ease. It’d be nice to know what Max is thinking, if only to get him to stop staring at Michael that way. 

“Let me get this straight,” Max says finally breaking the tense silence as he pushes away from the counter to stand. He runs his fingers through his short hair in a move that Michael recognizes from years of post-drunken brawl confrontations -- it’s the frustrated gesture that comes right before the agitated pacing in front of holding cell in the Sheriff’s office. With the pacing comes the ‘I’m so disappointed in you’ face that, despite all of Michael’s determination not to give a shit, always makes him feel a tug of guilt in the pit of his stomach. “You have never once listened to me before, about anything, and that’s where you decide to start?” 

Sure enough, the predicted pacing starts a second later, and Michael’s eyes narrow, his temper flaring hot and powerful in his chest. He’s glad Max isn’t dead, and he won’t deny it, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to start listening to the same old bullshit, especially when he hasn’t done anything wrong. 

“Do you need me to participate in this conversation, or is this where I’m supposed to shut up and listen to daddy like a good little boy?” Michael asks acerbically, his expression twisting into something bitter. “Fuck off, Max. I’ve listened to you before, and you know it. You’re the one who said anything to keep the secret, remember? Last I checked, I’ve been following your lead on that for years, even when it meant letting Isobel think I was a goddamn murderer!” His hands are clenched into fists at his sides, and Michael deliberately pushes away from Alex and the table in case things get ugly. 

He’s ready and braced for a fight. Part of him is even looking forward to it; Michael’s still got a hell of a lot of anger where Max is concerned, most of it centered around the fact that he’d done exactly what Isobel and Michael had warned him not to. He’d decided he was a freaking deity and sacrificed himself, leaving them torn apart and bleeding when they needed him. Michael’s hand, the fiasco with Noah, ten years of resentment — Michael’s practically salivating for a chance to swing at Max. Maybe then the restlessness that’s been crawling beneath his skin, making him unpredictable and reckless since Max’s death will finally be appeased. Maybe he’ll be able to let it all go, afterward, and function normally, like’s supposed to. 

Max doesn’t give him the chance to find out. His reply is strangely even, tinged with regret and something Michael can’t get a read on without pushing into his head. “I’m a lot of things, Michael, and we both know that not all of them are good, but I’d like to think I’m not that much of a hypocrite.”

It’s Alex who frowns and asks, “What do you mean?” when Michael just stares, still balancing precariously on the razor-thin line between cold silence and an explosion of temper. The wind’s been taken from his sails, though, and he wants to hear the answer to Alex’s question, so he says nothing.

Dark eyes glance between them, and Max huffs a disbelieving laugh and shakes his head. “Come on. Think about it. I should have given up on Liz a long, long time ago. If all I cared about was hiding the truth about what we are, I would never have gotten close enough to fall in love with her -- and I definitely wouldn’t have told her the truth when she came back, especially not after what happened to Rosa. Everytime we got closer, something awful happened, and it hurt both of us. And being with her now, it’s still like dangling from a cliff.” 

There’s a fond nostalgia in the way he speaks, like he’s repeating words from Liz’s mouth with the incredulity of someone who still can���t quite believe he got the girl. “It’s not safe. It’s not easy. Every minute with Liz is like this incredible adrenaline rush, and I’m always wondering what’s going to happen when I finally crash, but I wouldn’t give her up for anything. Not even when Isobel begged me to find someone else. I knew that I couldn’t.” 

Max looks from Michael’s face to Alex’s, and the slightest hints of a smile tweak the corners of his lips. “So I’d say it’d be pretty damn hypocritical of me to tell you to give up the love of your life when I’m not willing to do the same.” Max’s tall, broad body sags back against the kitchen wall, and he tips his head back against the panelling, staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t remember that night very well. Just feeling invincible, with all that power -- but I still do think you need to let go of the past and stop reminding yourself of everything that hurt you. It’s impossible to move forward together, carrying all of that weight with you, and it would have ruined any chance you had of making things work. That’s all I meant, Michael, I swear.” 

There’s a moment’s silence, and Max swallows before lifting his head to look back across the room at Michael again, apparently waiting for a response. He doesn’t get one -- at least, not from Michael. There’s too much going on in his head to even consider responding coherently; strong feelings always intensify the noise in his mind, turning his thoughts to chaos and threads of ideas impossible to untangle from one another. It’d made learning to speak as a child way more difficult than it should have been for someone as smart as Michael, and he still finds himself lapsing into silence from time to time. 

Max and Alex both know this about him, and no one presses. His boyfriend simply slides from his chair to stand behind him and wraps him in a warm, gentle embrace from behind, and rests his chin on Michael’s shoulder while he looks at Max, who’s still slumped against the wall, looking tired and significantly more concerned the longer the silence goes on. “Good,” he says, speaking for both of them while Michael tries to understand how he and Max could possibly misunderstand each other on such an epic level when they literally share a psychic connection. “Because I’m not leaving again, and things might have gotten pretty damn awkward if you were going to be an ass about it.” 

The blunt statement makes Michael laugh, and for the first time since entering Max’s house that night, he turns his head and presses a chaste kiss to the corner of his boyfriend’s mouth. It’s the first overt display of affection he’s made in front of Max and is suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that he’s been careful not to initiate much in the way of physical contact in front of his brother. Alex hasn’t said anything, and Michael knows he wouldn’t, whether it bothered him or not, but he’s immediately pissed at himself for the reluctance. Max’s opinion isn’t supposed to matter, whether real or assumed, but apparently, Michael’s always going to care, at least a little, about what his brother thinks. 

It’s a galling realization, but it doesn’t seem quite as bad as it would have an hour ago. 

“Nah, he’ll just find something else to be an ass about,” Michael drawls a moment later, and Max makes a face at him, but it does nothing to disguise the relief in his expression. He’s been waiting for Michael to erupt, to yell and call him names, because that’s what they’ve done for ten years, and damn, it feels good to break that cycle. “Which is fine, because Max being nice usually ends in being a captive audience for Dostoyevsky read aloud, and I don’t think we need to be a part of his masturbatory fantasies, you know?” 

Max snorts, and Alex grins, the stretch of his smile obvious against Michael’s cheek. “Well, that explains some things about the books Liz has been carting around lately. I knew she didn’t randomly decide to pick up the most depressing book ever written,” he adds, the teasing clear in his voice. This close, Michael can almost feel the slight waver of worry that the joke won’t be well-received, that Max is going to snap at him again and all the progress they’ve just made will be ruined, but Michael isn’t worried. 

Used to the mocking comments, Max just rolls his eyes and grabs his plate from the counter, still half full of food, and shoves it in the microwave to reheat. “Great,” he tosses over his shoulder, loud enough for both of the other men to hear clearly. “Another brother who wants to take shots at my library. You’re going to have to get some new material, Manes, because Michael and Isobel have exhausted those jokes. You two deserve each other.” He sighs dramatically with a good-natured smile in their direction, then takes his steaming plate from the microwave before disappearing into the living room with it. Michael can’t decide if he’s giving them a much-needed moment alone or is really just that hungry, but he appreciates it anyway. Alex has frozen against his back, and they definitely do need a second to themselves. 

As soon as he hears the television turn on in the living room, Michael turns in Alex’s arms and presses his lips to the hinge of his jaw. “Now you’ve done it,” he says lightly, running a hand down Alex’s back soothingly. “He’s adopted you. You’re going to have to put up with all of that oblivious, overprotective bullshit just like the rest of us, and pretty soon you’ll be as crazy as me.” 

Alex huffs a disbelieving laugh, obviously bewildered by the twist the evening had taken. “I came here ready to fight with him all night,” he admits quietly, and casts a surreptitious glance over his shoulder, as if worried that Max is eavesdropping from the next room. “This is better. Even if it’s a little bizarre.” There’s a small, pleased smile on his face as he takes a step back from Michael and laces their hands together, and it remains as they heat up the remains of their own food and join Max in the living room to watch Friends reruns with Isobel’s Netflix account. They don’t talk about anything difficult for the rest of the evening, reverting instead to teasing comments and character imitations, and Michael catches himself relaxing into the easy camaraderie of the evening. 

It’s not perfect, and maybe it never will be, but Michael thinks it’s a pretty damn good start to the family they’re trying to rebuild. 

[tnystrk-exe]

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Tony Stark X Reader

Reckless and Impulsive

Baby Steps

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 End

Learning to Live

That first week had been hell to say the worst. You were a mess, it was difficult to concentrate at work. The choice had been to take break, your mindset was too bad to take care of your patients. Anytime the phone rang, there was the hope that you’d hear Tony’s voice mixed with the dread of Rhodey telling you he’d never come home. 

He’s coming home. He might not be home now. Later, who knows? He’s coming home one day soon. 

The stress of Tony missing and Ro constantly, tearfully asking for him were too much to handle. Ro wasn’t accustomed to not being able to talk or see Tony when she wanted. It had been his one of his biggest rules. Tony had never felt he was allowed to talk to Howard at anytime unless Howard directly acknowledged him. He didn’t want that with Ro. So anytime Ro said she wanted to speak to her father she did. Now she didn’t understand why whenever she asked you said ‘no’ or ‘he’s doing something, he can’t talk right now.’ She didn’t like these new changes. 

“Mommy, daddy no lo’ us,” she said, after you told her he couldn’t talk for seemingly the millionth time since he went missing. 

You rubbed your face in frustration, “Baby, your daddy loves you a lot. He just can’t talk for a while.”

She looked at you angrily, god that looked so much like Alex. “Yes, he can!” Ro yelled and thus began another tantrum. “I want my daddy! I want my daddy!”

Honestly, you didn’t blame her. You’d throw a tantrum too if you could. 

The days bled into a month and you tried to move life on as always. Business as usual. Though business was a hell of a lot harder without Tony at your side helping out. You repressed the pain and through yourself into your work. Maybe, if you helped enough people, whatever force there was would give you back your best friend. 

Rhodey was working as hard as he could to find Tony. It weighed on you, but it had to be worse for Rhodey. He was supposed to protect him. He’d been taking care of Tony since he was that young naive kid people thought they could take advantage of in parties at MIT. Resources to look for Tony were restricted. Everyone kept saying that Rhodey’s searches were a lost cause, but he’d gain enough respect for them to humor him. Hoping as the second month rolled past he’d give up. 

As if James Rhodes would ever give up on Tony Stark. 

Company wise, the man you had seen at the Stark’s funeral was doing press. He seemed to be taking over in Tony’s absence. Something about him seemed off, but you knew better than to judge by public appearances. Besides, if he was to take over when Tony wasn’t around, that meant Tony trusted him. 

Some morning news show was playing as background noise.

“So, Stane, it’s been close to three months. How is the company doing without Stark at the head?” the host asked.

“The company keeps going the way it always does,” he answered, “I only hope to run it the way Tony would want.”

“Long vacations, clubs, alcohol, and girls,” the host joked. 

Obadiah laughed, “Exactly.”

Was Tony really just a cheap joke to them when he’d been missing so long now? You turned off the TV. Tony Stark was more than people made him out to be and you didn’t need to hear what they thought. He was more than the party scene. He was loving, caring, hardworking, held his emotions to his chest, and used sunglasses as a way to hide himself. Someone that was a genius by every measure, striving to push the world into a better future. A man that would raise someone else’s child as his own, oddly enough something he had jokingly promised the day you met, and try with all his might to not repeat the sins of his father. But all they saw was the alcoholic partier. A flat 2D image. Maybe one day he’d get to prove them all wrong. 

The phone rang.

-

An explosion, that’s all it took to change it all. 

A second ago he was cracking cheap jokes and posing for a picture, the next there’s screaming, gunfire, and death. That soldier wasn’t much more than a kid... 

It takes a moment to recover from the shock and fear. His brain finally kicking into flight mode. They’re aiming at the Humvee, taking out all of the soldiers is their mission, he needs to get away from here. He runs out, there’s no where to go in the rainfall of bullets and explosives, but he manages to find a rock to take cover behind. 

Pulling out his phone, he frantically starts to shoot out a text. A whistle blows through the air and something crash lands not to far from where he is. He glances over to see death with his name on it. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck. 

He doesn’t have time to get away. He didn’t design it to give anyone time to get away. The shock and adrenaline blocking the pain for now. Almost in disbelief he pulls open his button down, blood flowing from wounds where the shrapnel pierced through his vest. There’s not much time to think of anything else before he passes out. Briefly, Tony is conscious enough to know he’s being transported. He doesn’t have enough brain power to judge it as a good or bad thing, the pain being center focus. Tony loses consciousness again. 

Later a bag is pulled off of his head and he sluggishly put everything together. The bright lights, a camera, and a man talking as if making negotiations, all highlighted with him being tied up. Something at the back of his head bit at him, saying he should have spent his time with Ro instead of some reporter he couldn’t remember the name of. His chest was killing him. After the group makes whatever message they wanted to they drag him somewhere else, his consciousness coming in and out in waves. 

That’s when the nightmare really starts. Someone is digging into his chest, causing the worst pain he’s ever felt. He can’t hold in his screams. Cloth is shoved into his mouth and who knows how many people are holding him down when he attempts to thrash away. There’s not even the freedom of being unconscious until the torture is done. He didn’t even let go on his own, someone dragged him down with chloroform. 

He finally came around a final time. There was a man, Tony didn’t know if he was a friend or foe. When he tries to move, he’s stopped abruptly by something...connected to him? Following the chords frantically, he rips off his bandages. The flesh raw and haggard around a machine. Tony studies the thing in his chest. It weighs on him, each breath bringing a new bout of pain. It wasn’t any use being a baby about pain now, he had things to figure out. Not like anyone here would give him any pain medication anytime soon. He’d be lucky if it didn’t get infected somehow. 

The first thing that spills from his mouth is an accusatory, “What the hell did you do to me?”

Quickly connecting the dots that the man was also a prisoner. The man had taken some of The shrapnel out, the pieces still inside of his chest were working to kill him. All that was keeping him alive was a car battery and electromagnet. 

Tony took in his surroundings. Dimly lit, cold, with a dank smell topping everything off. A camera was in place, watching him and the man. Speaking of which this man must have been dying for company. He was rambling about having met himself before. 

“Don’t remember...” he answered gruffly, partially listening as his mind raced for some kind of solution. 

His roommate started recounting one of his drunken speeches. Something that happened more than not. But he was a functional alcoholic so what did it matter if he could still get the job done. He paid little mind to the conversation. Banging on the door caused the man to stand hurriedly commanding him to be quiet and mimic him. 

A group walks in, as dim as it was Tony could recognize his work anywhere. “Those are my guns. How did they get my guns?” The words leave his mouth, he doesn’t realize it but they do. 

His partner reprimands him, as one of their new guest starts talking. There’s not much for him to catch beside his own name. When signaled his roommate starts to translate.  

“He says, ‘Welcome Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America....he’s honored...he wants you to build a missile...the Jericho middle the one you demonstrated,” his roommate is handed a photo and he showed it to Tony, “This one.” 

In a span of less than two days he had been called a Merchant of Death and the most famous mass murderer. Something in him was changing, a day ago he probably would have agreed, topping it off with a lame joke. Now? Now he saw things first hand. People he wanted to fight against seemingly respected him. Looking at the man defiantly, Tony responded, “I refuse.” 

Their choice had been made. Torture into compliance. They ducked his head in the water for as long as they wanted, letting him back up for the smallest of gasp. He knew they wouldn’t kill him. They needed him to make the weapon. Once the group finally got tired, they put a sack over his head and walked him out of the cave. He was already counting his steps and committing the directions to memory. 

Blinded by the sun, his eyes finally came back to focus. All around his weapons were scattered and thrown about. His name glaring at him from all angles. Was he directly responsible? No. But he made this all, without him they’d have nothing. Without him those soldiers would be alive.  

He shook his captors hand, knowing well that making the Jericho would get him killed. That was okay, he could work on pretenses. They didn’t know what went into making the weapon. Just that alone would give him some leeway, but they’d catch on quickly. All he needed to do was be quicker.   

"I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they'd never find you here in these mountains. Look, out there, what you saw? That is your legacy. Your weapons in the hands of those murderers! Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it?” 

 "Why should I do anything? Either way, they're gonna kill you and me, and if not, then I'll likely be dead by the end of the week" 

"Well then, this will be a very important week for you, won't it?” 

It was the push he needed.  

First things first, to stop lugging around that car battery. The upgrade to an arc reactor would be the golden ticket. He did the calculations, already working on how to minimize the reactor to something functional that can work as fuel. Next would be a suit, something that he could use to clear the path. 

Tony worked by himself, much to his roommate’s annoyance. So, Tony had him scavenge for the palladium. After gathering the 1.6 grams, they melted it now and poured it into the mold Tony had constructed. Everything was hanging on this, it was a limited resource.  

“Careful. Careful, we only get one shot at this,” Tony warned.  

“Relax. I have steady hands. Why do you think you’re still alive?” 

Maybe knowing the name of his new lab partner would be good. “What do I call you?” 

“My name is Yinsen,” he answered.  

“Yinsen, nice to meet you.” 

Tony ignored the annoyed glance he was given. Sure they met before, but did it really count if he was drunk off his ass? Yinsen turned into his right hand, it would have been impossible to form some kind of bond. They were all the other had. 

Once the arc reactor was completed, he showed Yinsen the suit he had made a blueprint. Fifteen minutes, that’s all they got for fuel. At least he didn’t have to worry about the shrapnel in his chest being kept at bay with a dying battery.  

“Got a family?” Tony asked during a game of backgammon. 

“Yes and I will see them when I leave here,” Yinsen answered, always so sure, “And you Stark?”

Tony stayed quiet, trying to decide what would be the best answer. Honestly, he didn’t try to think of anything except the escape. If he did he got distracted, sad, something that couldn’t sidetrack him right now. There was also the fact that there could always be someone listening in. He couldn’t risk it. “...No.” 

“So you’re a man that has everything and nothing.” 

He’d tell Yinsen about his little girl when they were freed.  

The days bled and blended into one another. No clue how long he had been captive. Did he really want to know? Tony worked restlessly. He needed out. He needed to go home. All he wanted was to see his daughter and see that smile of hers that looked so much like yours. That’s why he worked tirelessly to build this suit. It was close to finished but not quite.  

His and Yinsen’s captors barged in. The leader saying whatever about Genghis Khan and soon it would be his turn to rule. How Stark weapons are the way to secure that in this land. Only, Stark wasn’t building his weapon, was he? Yinsen was pushed on to his knees, a burning piece of coal was being pushed closer and closer to his face, as he argued with the leader. Tony managed to get them to back off yelling that he needed him as an assistant. 

When they leave he starts to work harder. There’s no more time. Before he knew it Yinsen was helping it suit up, their homemade bomb ready to go off the second someone opens the door. The clock is ticking, everything needs to work. Nothing can go wrong or malfunction right now. As he’s readying up, Yinsen makes him recite the directions out of the cave. There are guards yelling at them from the door. Yinsen frantically moves faster. The bomb goes if and they both realize now whatever time they had is up.  

Tony talks him through on the computer. Then Yinsen goes to do the finishing touches of the suit. Tony tried to remain calm, noticing how panicked Yinsen had become.  

“Get to your cover. Make sure the check points are clear before you follow me out, okay?” Tony spoke, while Yinsen checked the progress bar.  

“We need more time,” Yensin realized, the bar creeping up too slowly, he turned to look at Tony, “Hey, I’m going to buy you some time.” 

“Stick to the plan! Stick to the plan!” Tony pleads as dread fills him, he’s restricted into the suit, he can’t do anything until the system is loaded. Gunshots filled the air, “Yinsen!” He glared at the laptop, willing for it to go faster. 

The power cut off as the suit, finished. Some of the men peered into the cave. Tony through himself into the mission. He needed to get out of here and find Yinsen. His anger boiled over with each and everyone of his captors he met. They kept him from his daughter, downed him, beat him, and made his life a living hell. Not to mention everything they had done to Yinsen. Now it was his turn to hurt them.  

He finally made it toward the front of the cave. “Yinsen!”  

“Watch out!” Yinsen responded in a weak voice.  

Tony narrowly missed a missile, shooting off one of his own quickly. 

“Stark..” 

Tony pushed off the package that had the man pinned down. Yinsen looked weak but they couldn’t stay here, “C’mon we gotta go. Move with me. Come on we have a plan, we’re gonna stick to it.” 

“This was always the plan, Stark,” he spoke slowly, breathless. 

“C’mon you’re gonna go see your family, get up,” he urged, hoping that the idea of seeing his family again would give Yinsen the spur of energy that he needed.

“My family is dead. I’m going to see them now, Stark. It’s okay...it’s oka...” he took a haggard breath, “I want this....I want this.” 

He didn’t know what to do, except accept Yensin’s choice. “Thank you for saving me.” 

“Dont waste it...Don’t waste your life,” he took one last labored breath before sagging into himself.  

Tony didn’t waste his time. He could mourn later. Right now he had to destroy all of his weapons and get as far as he could. Once he made his way out of the cave, he met hell fire of bullets. When they ran out it was his turn. Everyone in his way, everything with his name on it was destroyed in fire. Someone obviously hit something good, because his suit started malfunctioning. Taking the chance, he set fire to the rest of the weapons. With a click or a button, he went flying off. Something there caused a chain reaction of explosions, just barely missing him.  

Suddenly, hundreds of feet in the air, the boosters are spent. All that Tony can see is the ground coming at him quickly. There’s no way he could make it this far for this to be the end.  

The crash land caused the suit to dismantle and partially bury him in the sand.  

“Not bad...” he spoke, letting his head fall back.  

An explosion in the distance brought him out of his dazed state. There was no time for rest. He pulled himself out of the wreck and sand before picking a direction hoping it would bring something, anything good. 

It had been so long, Tony had managed a weak jog every so often. Each breath caused a surge of pain to his chest, his stomach was begging for anything, and his mouth felt drier than the desert around him. The thoughts keeping him going were his family, Yinsen, and every change he was going to make the second he could.  

His whole life he avoided responsibility. He made the toys and didn’t give a hell what anyone did with them the second they were out of his sight. Never had he meant for this to happen. All he had wanted was to help protect people on the front line. Now, he experienced, first hand, what he caused. He didn’t like it. There were big changes to make. 

The sound of black hawks pulled him out of his thoughts. 

“Hey!” He screamed, his voice rough and gritty. He fell to his knees, throwing up a peace sign.  

Rhodey ran over to him, “How was the funvee?”  Tony couldn’t help much more than a laugh.  

“Next time you ride with me, okay?” Rhodey pulled him into a hug.  

To hell with dad’s, ‘Stark men are made of iron.’ He leaned into Rhodey’s hug, feeling safer than he ever had in his life. Tony could finally think about home and know he’d get there.  

Hours later, Rhodey left Tony’s room for a second. Tony was sleeping he’d be okay for now. He pulled out his phone.  

He didn’t go through formalities. “YN, he’s coming home.”

-

Tony was safe. He was finally coming home. You could finally breathe. The stress had rolled off of you almost instantly the second Rhodey said it. He ended the call when he said some doctors wanted to do a check up on Tony. 

The following afternoon you were making a snack for Ro while she played with some of her toys in the kitchen. Since Tony’s kidnapping, Ro had grown more clingy. Not that she wasn’t a cuddly kid, but sometimes she’d cry as if you weren’t going to come back when you left her with a her babysitter. Leaving her on those days hurt. One day, you had caught her just staring at a picture of Tony, sadly holding the frame. The whole situation was really affecting her in a way you didn’t know understand. All you could do was go through some picture books with her and stay with her at all times unless it was strictly necessary for you to go.  

Some random news channel was playing as background noise. Ro didn’t know that Tony was going to come by later, a small surprise for her. Everything felt like it was back to normal. God, you were just happy Tony was safe. 

“I never got to say goodbye to dad. I never got to say goodbye to my father,” Tony’s voice came from the speakers.  

Ro looked at you, before running into the living room. “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” She stopped close to the TV, watching closely.  

This was a well worked cycle. Surprisingly the news channels would recycle an old interview now and then for the Tony Stark is still missing filler. Ro would run over expecting her father only to be met by a couple of pixels. Which would be followed by a usual conversation. 

You walked over and picked her up, “Are you okay, sweetheart?” “Maybe we go there and see daddy?”  

“Maybe soon.” At least this time it was something you knew for certain and not something you said hopefully.  

“Okay,” she walked back to her toys, the bear she refused to let go of dragging on the floor beside her. 

Your heart clenched, but he’d be here for her soon enough. She wouldn’t be given anymore laters. Turning your attention back to the TV, more focused on his appearance rather than what he was saying. He looked as okay as you could expect from someone that had been captive for three months. You caught Tony saying something about shutting down the weapons manufacturing division and the outburst of the press. Stane was pushing him of the stage as Tony spoke his piece.  

That was a surprising choice, but who were you to question everything he had experienced and seen. Having Tony back was your primary concern. Going back to the kitchen, you finished chopping up Ro’s fruit.  

The two of you had a quiet day. She played on her set for a better part of it and asked you to read her a couple of books outside in the grass. Around sunset, you decided it would be good to get Ro bathed and settled down for the night.  

While you were in the bathroom with Ro, you heard the front door open and close. It had to be Tony, he was the only person that had a key to your home. Quickly, you rinsed her off and took her out of the bath. 

“Mommy, p’eas play more in the bath,” she pouted at you. 

You shook your head, “Sorry, Ro Bear, not today.” 

“Why?” She started to cry as you helped her into a Buzz Lightyear pajama set.  

“Hey, hey, c’mon we don’t need tears today. Tomorrow, I promise you can play as long as you want in the water. Deal?” 

She nodded wiping her face, her lip still trembling, “And maybe bubbles?” 

“The biggest bubbles.” 

“Deal.” 

“Where’s Tony Bear?” 

“‘Ony Bear is....’Ony Bear in.. I take you,” She grab your hand and led you over towards the living room. Ro stopped short in the hallway when she saw him. “Daddy? Daddy!” Letting go of your hand, she ran to Tony, who was crouched down ready to catch her. 

“I missed you, Rugrat,” he hugged her close, pressing a kiss to her head. Finally, he felt like he was home. 

“‘Issed you too. Lots a lot,” she pressed kisses to his cheek, “Stay with me forever, daddy. No more work ever ever.”

“Sweetheart, all I want is to stay with you forever,” He picked up Ro, not willing to let her go so soon. “Hey, you. What happened to ‘we don’t need tears today’? You’re getting soft on me,” Tony joked, walking over to pull you into a hug, “Ro, I think your mommy loves me.” 

“I love you mostest.” 

“Don’t insult me like that,” you joked pressing a kiss to his cheek, “You know I love you, Tones.” 

“I love the both of you,” he pulled away, from you, “Ro, I have this cup of ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. I don’t think I can eat it myself, help me out?” 

“Yes!”  

Tony walked over to the kitchen to grab the ice cream, Ro’s arms around his neck keeping him in a hug. You let the two of them have their time together, soon enough you’d get to talk to Tony.  “Know my abc’s now,” Ro said, opening her mouth for another spoonful. 

“No way. Do it for me.”

“A, b, c, d, m, n, o, w, now I know my abc’s,” she sang. 

“I like this remix. You really just took the meat of that song and threw out all of the annoying bits. What do you say your mommy and I teach you the old people version sometime?”  

“With ‘Ony Bear.”

“You got it.” 

The two of them had a conversation over ice cream. Happily ignoring everything in the world together. Ro stayed on Tony’s lap the entire time, neither one of them wanted to be apart from each other. It was cute, sad when you thought of why, but they needed to be close.  

“You know Ro, you and your mommy are two of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen,” he said, patting her back while she laid against him. 

She yawned resting her head against his shoulder, “Daddy’s pretty too. Mommy says so.” 

“Your mommy always thought I was pretty, but I think it’s time for you to get some sleep, Ro.” 

“Can I sleep with you daddy?” 

“Sure.” 

He stood and took her to your room. Ro was curled up against him as soon as he laid down beside her. Quietly he sang her, Here Comes the Sun, slowly lulling her to sleep. Tony laid there with her for a while, contemplating. A small part of him, thought he wouldn’t have made it back home. Now, he was going to throw that away and start a mission. He always promised Ro he’d be the best he could to even be worthy of being her father, maybe this was the way to go. 

He pressed a kiss to her head before he slid out from under Ro. As comfortable as he was he wanted to talk to you.  

“Hey,” Tony hugged you while you were washing the dishes. “Stroke my ego and tell me how much you missed me.” 

“You were gone?” You teased, feeling something hard wedged against his chest and your back. Grabbing a towel, you dried off your hands, “Lemme see that?” 

He nodded, your hands went from his chest to his tie. “The least you can do is buy me dinner,” he winked at you as you unbuttoned his shirt.  

“I’ll make you whatever dinner you want. Take that shirt off,” you spoke before you could think, seeing a light that was blocked out by thick fabric.  

“Any other time I’d jump if you’d say that, but I’m going to need a little help here.” He nodded to his arm in the sling.  

“Sorry, sorry.” You helped him out. “What is that?” 

“That is keeping me alive,” he sighed, “It’s keeping pieces of shrapnel from digging in deeper. What do you think?” 

“Honest?” 

“Completely.”

“Scientifically? This is so cool. Don’t you have a giant version of this running the company? How did you miniaturize it?” You paused, catching each and every scar and bruise that littered his body, “As a doctor, I think we need to get you running without a battery. When are you going to get it done?” 

“Not anytime soon,” he responded, “I have bigger things on my mind than me. There are things I need to do. Before I make any of my moves, I need to update my arc reactor. As nice as this hunk of scrap is, its running low. Besides new things are always more fun. Shiner.” 

“Are you okay?” You asked, grabbing his hand in yours.  

“When aren’t I okay?” 

“When you’re being tough,” you pressed a kiss to his cheek, “You don’t have to talk to me, but come on Tony...You were taken away for a long time, I can’t fathom what happened to you, and now you have a machine to keep you up and running. You also just shut down the main export of your company. That’s a lot.” 

“I...I- there was so much happening. Okay? The things I saw, I don’t want to be the cause of that anymore. My whole life I’ve been reaping the benefits of death and destruction.  That’s not a legacy I want. So, I’m going to do something about it. You’re going to have to trust me. Do you?” 

“Of course, I do. Still, you need to get this out.”

“Maybe, one day, probably not. I’m not getting your hopes up,” he shook his head, “You know as well as me that it’s high risk. I have a daughter and I came back with a mission. I won’t risk it.” 

You studied the small machine. “What’s this mission?” 

“I’ve got to make things right, YN. There are weapons of mine out there. I need to do whatever it takes.” 

You bit your lip. This was a new side of Tony. He was driven, yeah, but this was new. There was something different to his core. “Okay....okay. Whatever you need, Tony. I got your back.” 

“Thank you, YN.” 

“Daddy!” Ro ran in from the hallway, crying.  

Tony pulled on his shirt. “Hey, Rugrat, what’s wrong?” 

“Think daddy left again.” She cried into his shirt.  

“That won’t happen again, okay? Come on you two, we should get some sleep. YN, my sketchbook still in the drawer next to your bed?”

Everything Tag:@sophiatomlinson23 @cannonindeez @memyselfandmaddox

Marvel Tag: @asguardiansoftheavengers @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked

Tony Stark Tag: @Mrunmayi @bit-bot0711

Strikes didn’t work.

[cfroyharper]

I would absolutely love to get some new threads going for some of my kids so please COMMENT HERE with who you would like a starter with & which character of yours: roy harper, dick grayson, itsuaki akihiro, adrianne rayner, tobias osborn allan, apollo west, nadir dane summers, thomas curry II, t’charra, uriah fries, eli rasputin, elana dent, natasha romanoff, coralie beaubier jinadu, or ronen haller

Info on each below the cut:

roy harper - fc: domhnall gleeson, 45, he/him, archer, weapon specialist

archer, formerly speedy, formerly red arrow, former addict, now arsenal & archery instructor, giant dork, dresses like he’s camping 24/7, full of quips and sarcastic jokes, tinkerer, creates weapons, whatever gadgets come to mind, ‘rockabilly genius’, loving father godfather and uncle, engaged to jason todd

dick grayson - fc: adam rodriguez, 45, he/him, acrobat, expert hand to hand combat, highly skilled detective

acrobat, the first Robin, ‘boy wonder’, former circus kid turned billionaire’s first son, now nightwing & gymnastics teacher , high rises, daring jumps, overdramatic, very openly a giant dork, big heart, loves his family, too much trauma, genius level intellect, fashion disaster, adores his family, would die for his children

itsuaki akihiro - fc: ryan potter, 22, he/him, son of Daken Akihiro, bone adamantium claws, accelerated healing, pheromone control/manipulation

not quite a villain but not a hero either, traveled with his father until he was 15, never knew his mother, more shadows than light, more friends than he realises, expert fighter, skeptical and cynical, loves soft things more than he cares to admit, hot drinks and nights in, has more aunts and uncles than he can count

adrianne rayner - fc: cierra ramirez, 19, she/her, daughter of Kyle Rayner and Soranik Natu (biological), green lantern ring

green lantern, space baby, part alien, yellow eyes & pointed ears, grew up on Oa, trained and skilled fighter, ray of sunshine, loves exploring, travelling, optimistic to a fault, serious mother issues, artist, paints and watercolour, always has a sketchbook in her bag, wild imagination but wildly innocent, a little naive, loves learning but hates school

tobias osborn allan - fc: francisco lachowski, 23, he/him, son of Liz Allan and Harry Osborn (biological), goblin serum enhanced

normal kid turned rich, enhanced with advanced goblin serum, former party boy, law student, avid studier, loves music written by his boyfriend, gym addict, genius level intellect for business and law, loves exploring, learning, experiencing as much as possible, reading, studying, lazy afternoons in parks with books and snacks, huge hopeless romantic, way too charming for his own good, knows he’s hot and he’s not sorry about it

apollo west - fc: cameron monaghan, 26, he/him, son of Wally West (biological) and Artemis Crock (adoptive), conduit of the speedforce

speedster, twin, police officer, kid flash, future flash, terrified of death, terrified of failure, full of energy, desperate to be a hero, runs and runs and runs, being outdoors, visiting city upon city in a day, loves going home to central city or keystone, adores his family

nadir ezra dane summers - fc: avan jogia, he/him, 22, son of lorna dane & alex summers (biological), light manipulation

mutant, twin, full of light literally, childhood trauma, quite days in, movies and books, more for observation than talking, small groups over large crowds, psychology student, late nights and bad sleep, old books, music blaring through headphones, mutant rallies, suppressed memories

thomas curry II - fc: keahu kahuanui, 27, he/him, son of arthur curry & mera (biological), aquatic telepathy, superhuman enhancements, hydrokenisis

part atlantean, eldest living son, heir to the throne, honour and duty, determined to bring land and sea together, currently aqualad, future aquaman & king of atlantis, travelling, learning, growing, genius intellect, determined to learn as much as possible about both of his worlds, will always love the sea the most, swimming, beach days, big waves, road trips

t’charra - fc: chris o’neal, 20, he/him, son of t’charra & nakia (bioligical)

party boy, disaster, reckless, late nights, strong drinks, VIP, tech nerd, science geek, future head of science and information exchange in wakanda, youngest prince, father issues, self-destructive, hangovers, sunglasses, nightowl, too smart for his own good but no where near clever enough, one night stands, long days in labs

uriah fries - fc: jordan fisher, 27, he/him/they/them, son of nora & victor fries (biological), weaponry & combat, freeze technology

future doctor, mob connections, shades of grey, long days and double shifts, raised by the rogues, so much coffee, ballet dancer, long practices & pointe shoes, hopeless romantic, falls hard and fast, affinity for the cold, never quite a villain, dramatic gestures, mask of charm & suave

eli rasputin - fc: james reid, 24, he/him, son of illyana rasputin (adoptive), mario falcone (biological, unaware), wind manipulation

v soft, mutant, filled with hope, giant bookworm, loves his cat more than he loves most people, english lit ta, huge nerd; named his cat matilda after the character, you can find him in the library most of the time, loves his baby brother more than anything, always has a book in his hands or in his bag, will always use his powers for fun before fighting

elana dent - fc: nathalie emmanuel, 24, she/her, daughter of harvey dent (adoptive), highly skilled thief & advanced combat

all sharp smirks and charm, does absolutely everything with reckless abandon, loves a challenge - just to prove you wrong, mask of manipulation, huge abandonment issues, constantly channeling her inner selina kyle, master thief in training, entirely dedicated to her big brother ; terrified of losing him, late nights full of adventure, great wall of china built high around her heart

natasha romanoff - fc: jamie chung, appears 30 (biologically 90), she/her, black widow, highly skilled spy & ballet teacher

espionage, extreme ballet routines, tough but fair, pointe shoes & messy buns, oversizes sweaters probably stolen from Clint, highly protective of all of the avengers kids, still in mourning for her own baby, will do anything for family, highly perceptive, giant dork, probably knows more pop culture references than you, always good for a hug

coralie beaubier-jinadu - fc: alisha wainwright, 26, they/them, child of jean paul beaubier & kyle jinadu (adoptive), winged flight & empathic healing

glowing marks on their skin, brown wings (think maleficent style), highly empathic, loves children, midwifery is their calling, broken hearted high school sweetheart situation, crazy hair, big smiles, protective big sibling complex, will always put you before themselves, photography nut, loves to fly as often as possible, endless optimism even in the face of the worst

ronen haller - fc: suraj sharma, 20, he/him, child of david haller & jonathan starsmore (adoptive), gabriel summers (biological, unknown), energy manipulation

explosive & emotional, naive to a fault, reckless & ready to dive into anything, looking for the next learning curve, ridiculously attached to his dad, hates enclosed spaces, cold rooms & examination tables make up most of his childhood, constantly fighting for control of his powers, deep purple energy, late nights and early mornings, aspires to make his fathers proud one day, socially awkward pretty much always

noah rogers - fc: toni mahfud, 28, he/him, son of Steve Rogers (adoptive), enhanced vision, skilled assassin

raised by the league of assassins until 14, arrogant and cocky to no end, cool calm and collected, very guarded, not a good guy, charming to a fault, will manipulate you for his own ends, widowed father to an 18 month old son, do not touch his child, freelance assassin graphic designer, trusts very few people but will use anyone he can to get what he needs

[elasianstar]

Becoming Human part 2

Authors Note: HEY GUYS! I know ive been gone a while, college has been hell, ive actually been working on my next several postings since August, bit by bit as inspiration hits. it may not be written the best, just give me a chance to get back into the swing of things. Thanks for reading -Jazz

“Hey Alex, yeah its Elasia. Yeah i need a little help if you're up to it? Yeah i finished a masking serum for the guys and we’re going out tonight. Even if it's just for Mikey i could use another chaperone. I can pay your way, i just need help making sure they don't get into any massive trouble. You can? Great, meet us at the lair in 10 minutes. Yeah you can bring your camera. Awesome see you then.”

“Boom!! Who’s ready to PAR-TAY!!”

To say Mikey looked interesting was an understatement, he was wearing orange striped basketball shorts, and a too big t-shirt that looked like a crazy bowling alley carpet. Finally his reddish blonde curls were pulled into a faux hawk and decorated with rainbow shutter shades.

“I personally don't think we’re ready for this, what happens if there's an attack on the city while we’re like this and we can't fight?”

“Well at least this could prove an adequate test of balance and focus under extreme motion.”

“And you look totally awesome Bro!”

Fitted dark blue jeans and a dusty grey and blue plaid shirt cuffed at the elbows gave leo a classy East meets West look when paired with his high ponytail and thin pencil bangs. All he needed was a nice belt buckle and some boots, but some sneakers borrowed from Raph’s collection would do.

Don had gone simple, his usual cargo pants tied with some cordage from the lab, fitted black tee, (where and why he had a shirt that small I don't know it didn't come from my stash of my brother’s clothes) and his usual seashell necklace.

“Now where’d Raph go?”

CRASH CLANG CHSSSSSSHHHH TUNK THUNK THOMP.

“Dude! You better not have messed up those heads! You know how long it takes to scrap a fully functioning drum kit??? And don't even get me started if you scratched my sick paint job!”

“Get off my back Mikey! I was tryin to do a back-flip off the landing and mis-judged the strength it would take to get over there. These tiny muscles won't work right.”

“You're human Raph, that means your muscles will only work at human capacity. You're still pretty damn strong but don't go trying to throw any shipping containers or jumping off high rises any time soon.”

“Yeah figured that one out already, now come get me out of this thing will ya?”

“Man not my Base!!! I almost had that tuned perfectly bro!!!”

Raph was stuck legs first into the bass drum from the front, apparently having slid into Mikey’s drum set. The New York skyline painted on the decorative head ruined, much to Mikey's horror.

“I spent a week painting that!!”

“Sorry Mike, I'll help you find a new one.”

“Knock Knock! Is anyone here?”

Mikey’s eyes went as wide as saucers as his precious drum set was forgotten and he took off toward his room for me to snag his collar.

“Oh no you aren't going anywhere.”

“Let go i can't let Alex see me like this!”

“Mikey they’re a shifter, i doubt they care what you look like.”

“Doubt i care what who looks like? This adorable redhead you’ve got hanging by his collar?”

“Alleycat!! Don't look...wait, adorable?”

Gosh the blush on their cheeks was so cute.

“Yeah. can I?”

That camera never left their neck and they  were quick to get a shot before Mikey had the chance to start hamming it up.

“Too late, gotcha. Want to see Mickey?

“Come on let's give the lovebirds a minute, letem get all the sickly sweet outta their systems.”

The sound of the whining Polaroid and giggles faded to Leo and Don’s nervous chattering as Leo tried to talk Don out of this.

“Seriously D, we can't be this reckless already, i mean an amusement park? That many adrenaline fueled people in a close packed environment is just asking for trouble. We don't even know if this potion is even stable, what happens if we revert mid ride and can't escape, or if it causes a technical issue and people get hurt?”

“Leo you forget the world of mythics is a lot larger than what you're used to, there are safeguards and protocols in place in case of a critical failure. If the masking serum fails there’s a 20 minute window before the mist gives way and humans actually notice the change. That’d be more than enough time to escape. And if by some miraculous circumstance we can't manage escape there are teams that can be dispatched to tamper with the social consciousness to erase our presence to no more than urban legend. We’ll be fine, live a little.”

“Plus we will be in an entirely different state thanks to the port stones so there’s even less possibility that anything could happen if we were seen. If my calculations are correct that leaves a 10% chance of serum failure and a 0.001% chance of catastrophic circumstance, given i fully understand all the variables at play.”

Raph grabbed his elder brother’s shoulder and looked him straight in the eye, the only parts of them that were physically unchanged. He still towered over the elder, but the gap between the two had closed significantly under human restriction.

“We’ve wanted this our whole lives Leo, Don't go letting Mominardo go and fuck it up. We’re human for a night, i don't really feel like wasting that opportunity.”

…

“Welcome Back to The Midwest Boys!! The home of the most unobservant humans in America, and the central hub of mystic life. Next stop Worlds of Fun!!”

Mikey and Raph were hooping and hollering from the bed of the truck as it sped down the highway toward the tops of the roller-coasters in the distance. Hell even Leo looked like he was enjoying the feeling of the wind in his new hair as he almost stuck his head out the back passenger window, bobbing along with Donnie's techno music over the speakers. When the old dodge settled to a stop in the parking lot it was like an explosion as the four burst from the truck, taking off for the front gate with the excitement of children. People were giving them odd looks, brushed off moments later as the antics of young men.

“Guys...GUYS!! LEO, RAPH, DONNIE, MIKE! GET YOUR SCALY ASSES BACK HERE!”

Leo was the first to freeze, Don and Raph tripping over him to land flat on their faces as Mikey vaulted deftly over the pile.

“Michael…”

Oh that did it, Alex's voice was ice and it stopped Mikey in his tracks, peeking over his shoulder with a meek grin as he gave us time to catch up.

“I know you're excited, but part of appearing human is acting correctly, while running and jumping is more accepted at an amusement park you have to be courteous to the other patrons. No running or flipping over people, and no climbing any of the trees or structures unless you want to get us kicked out…”

“Now tell mom you're sorry…”

I gave Alex a dirty look, but I couldn't hold it, the 6 of us bursting into a fit of laughter. Mikey threw his arm over Alex's shoulder, playing with her matching ruddy blonde hair, and Raph grabbed my hand to pull me toward the ticket booth.

“Go on lead the way ma.”

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!!

Well great, what now.

The security guards were waving their wand metal detectors over Leo when they started going off near his belt. Reaching in to the waistband of his jeans out came a stack of three shuriken.

“You can't bring weapons into the park son…”

When they tried to take the intricately designed weapons Leo went to reach for where his katana would usually be on his shell. Luckily Don was close enough to stop him before he got too far.

“Sorry officer, we'll take them back to the truck. Hey E, get our tickets for us k?”

He knocked Leo upside the head as they turned back for the parking lot.

“What the SHELL is wrong with you?”

While i was buying the tickets i noticed Leo and Donnie re-approaching the gate, only to get a full pat-down before they were allowed to enter, oh i love my idiots, i love my idiots…. Now people were staring…

“Lets get out of here, COME ON GUYS!”

Raph knocked leo upside the head as well when they re-joined the group, grabbing him by the hair as a low grumble rolled through his chest, both their eyes widening.

“The hell…”

“We can't churr Raph, we no longer have the equipment to create or interpret such subsonic sounds.”

“Yeah i figured that out Don, just stop being a dumb-ass Leo. Bringin weapons to a park, what the hell were you thinking?”

Leo just shouldered his way past, nose in the air.

“I don't have to explain myself to you.”

Raph moved to start a fight but i grabbed his shoulder, pulling him down to whisper in his ear.

“He's just feeling a little exposed, too many people, a strange place, you guys don't even have the protection of your shells, cut him a break.”

“COME ON, I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN AMUSEMENT PARK!! LETS GO!”

Mikey took off running, jumping into a flip to snag Leo by the shoulders like he had hundreds of time before, flinging him into a flip, only to land on his ass, mikey bouncing along on his rump a few meters ahead.

“I think your center of balance is a little off Mike!”

That got the big blue grump laughing again, thanks Mikey.

Alex ran past laughing, snagging Mikey by the collar.

“Come on Mickey! Lets try the Fjord Fjarlane!! I call outer seat!!!”

Alex drug Mikey to his feet, towing the poor boy toward the first ride still limping from his less than stellar landing, Raph and Donnie taking off soon after leaving me behind with Leo.

“Hey i told Red to back off, i get that your feeling off, but it'll be fine.”

“How do you know.”

“Because i do, now you just have to trust me, do we have a deal Brother?”

I held out my hand with the spirit spiral mark on it and after a second of deliberation he met my gesture with his own.

“Come on let's go have some fun, Sis.”

By the time we had ridden the Fjord Fjarlane, the  Finnish Fling, The Scandi Scrambler, and the Viking voyager spirits were high again. Even Leo was smiling like a goof and we still had 4 sections of the park left to get through, it was going to be a good night and we were all buzzing with excitement.

“Hey hot-stuff, wanna go find a nice dark corner with me?”

The feeling of a hand gripping my hind end had me spinning, grabbing some greasy asshole’s wrist and twisting it until he was buckling under the strain before the guys could even react.

“There anything wrong babe?”

At the sight of Raphs towering form glaring down at him from over my shoulder the creep paled. Jerking to get out of my grip on his arm as i squeezed just enough to threaten breaking it.

“No i think i've got this Raphie Bear, go have fun with your brothers… I’ll take care of the trash.”

When i looked back down at the guy my eyes were golden, fangs bared, and crest raised. “You touch any woman against her will again and you'll be seeing me, and i promise they won’t find you.”

I threw him down on the ground, watching as he scrambled away backwards, knocking over a couple little kids before taking off. God damn doing that felt good.  

DING DING DING DING DING….!

When i made it back to the guys Mikey was sinking basket after basket on one of those trick carnival games. his enhanced strength and aim, though lesser in this form, were plenty to crush the hopes of the carnie running the booth’s hopes for a quick buck. Destroying the high score soon Mikey was holding a giant sea turtle plushie, using it as a puppet to tease Alex. I felt Raph’s hand on my lower back, his extra fingers held together to make it feel more like his natural form’s hands. Probably so i wouldn't freak out and break his wrist.

“Pick a prize Tweeter.”

“Raph you don't have to do that….”

“How many days can i win my girl a carnival prize without being carted off to a freak show? Now pick something E.”

I scanned over the disgustingly pastel prizes until my eyes landed on the perfect little stuffie. It was a black dragon made of faux leather with a fluffy red belly and gold wing membranes, horns, and spikes.

“That one, in the dart booth. The Dragon.” “That tiny thing, come on, give me a challenge girl.”

“You told me to pick Red.”

“Fine, let me show you how it's done.”

Handing over a dollar bill the carnie passed over 3 red darts.

“Pop three gold balloons for the dragon.”

Raph’s face scrunched up as he searched for the targets the carnie indicated.

“What’s the ploy here, those balloons are barely inflated at all! The dragon is one of the smallest prizes here, you trying to cheat me carnie?”

“You wanted a challenge big guy.”

He just gave the carnie a dirty look, weighing the dart in his hand before pinching the tip between his first two fingers, the other two tucked tightly to his palm as he stared down his target.

“Damn darts aren't even sharp.”

I ran my hands over his free arm, focusing on the balloons almost as hard as Raph was.

THUNK

One gold balloon started lazily dripping paint down the board. The carnie gave Raph a look at utter disbelief, only to be met with a smirk as Raph readied one dart in each hand.

THUNK, THUNK!

Three spots of gold paint stained the board where balloons had once hung and Raph was preening, head and shoulders thrown back, chest puffed out as he pulled me tight to his side.

“I think you owe my girl here a stuffed dragon.”

...

“I'm going to name him Lucius. He’s so cute!!”

The tiny stuffed dragon was barely 4 inches tall, just big enough to tuck in a pocket, but the stitch work on him was absolutely exquisite, gold embroidery outlining glittering scales along the tiny little body.

“Glad you like him babe.”

I was a lot more ecstatic than i thought i would be, jumping up to throw my arms around Raph’s neck and making lots of happy chirping noises as he supported my weight in his arms and pressed his forehead to my own. Our laughter mixed in a bubbly fountain mixed with chirps and low growling pseudo-churrs as he spun me around in his arms before i let go and just let myself hang upside down limply from his grip.

“Ok i'm dead, you killed me with cute fluffy romantic crud. You've gone and done it, speak of my greatness in my eulogy….”

“Get a room you two.”

Raph flipped Leo off, a self satisfied smirk at actually being able to do so pulling at his lips as i popped back upright. I stuck my own tongue out at Leo before grabbing Raph’s slightly stubbled jaw and pulling him in for a kiss. It was different but it was still completely Raphael, teeth scraping at my bottom lip before i pulled back, only for him to follow until i put a hand against his throat.

“We’re still in public babe, later i promise.”

He rolled his eyes as he let me back down, another low growl rumbling through him as he whispered in my ear.

“Fine, but don't expect me to play nice.”

His hand traveled down my back to cup my rear as we moved to catch up with the guys as they ran off toward the fury of the Nile. he started chuckling when i removed it, slipping it back a few times before i swatted him.

“Behave.”

“Make me.”

Raph, Mikey, Alex, and I squeezed together in one boat as Donnie and leo hopped in the next one only to be joined by two college girls in swimsuits cut off from their own parties. I couldn't help but grin like a proud mother as the two fumbled through trying to talk to the two bombshell beauties that had been practically dropped in their laps. It wasn't long though before i heard laughter coming from the boat behind us as we were shoved off down the artificial white water rapids.  I quickly forgot about that however as we crashed into the first bouncer and a wave of green dyed water sloshed over us and into the boat.

“EEEEEEEEE! Oh god it smells!” Mikey couldn't help but laugh, throwing an arm around Alex.

“Smells better than the waterslides back home, you don't seem to mind those babe.”

Another wave crashed over the boat, this time on Mikey’s side, plastering his poofy curls to his face and washing those god awful shutter shades into the river. The shape of the wave however… a nearly transparent water dragon leapt over the edge of the boat and slipped back below the surface. Back in the boat behind us Mizu was perched on leo’s forearm like a hawk, the two girls in the boat sporting glittering fey’s wings barely visible in the shadowy tunnel. Mikey screwed up his face and a gust of wind blew over his form before cutting a deep trough in the surface of the water, shaking the boat and making Leo fall back into the blue fairy’s lap. My eyes went gold and i could see both elemental beasts play fighting at the surface of the water. A raven’s caw stilled them both, sending them back to their masters before we exited the tunnel.

“Good going bonehead.”

A spark of flame jumped from Raph’s fingertips to bite at Mikey’s face before being extinguished in a puff of air.

“What about incognito don't you understand?”

“Have a little fun babe, no one saw us.”

I tugged on Raph’s soul and made him slap himself in the face.

“You're right, this is fun.”

“Point made, now stop that shit, its creepy.”

“Yeah, and? I'm creepy.”

“And that’s why we love you jazzy cakes.”

By sundown we had ridden every ride at the park at least 3 times. Mikey’s favorite was the Patriot roller coaster, Leo loved the detonator, and Donnie rode the cyclone sam an extra 5 times on his own after the rest of us couldn't handle it anymore.

“What did you say your favorite ride was Red?”

The lights had come on in the park with the setting sun, illuminating the one ride we hadn't tried yet, a tall spire that took swinging seats up to its top for a scenic view of the west Missouri countryside and nearby Kansas City. The pulsing lights flickered in his eyes as he watched the pairs of seats spin lazily 300 feet above our heads.

“I didn't say Tweeter. But how about we try that one out.”

Mikey had just shown up at the bench with armloads of food so Raph was able to drag me off without the others noticing. He hadn't seemed this excited all day and i couldn't help but wonder exactly what was going on in that head of his as he hoisted me up into one of the swinging seats of the steel hawk. The ride wasn't one of the most exciting yet his hand was practically vibrating as we slowly rose up into the air.

“Hey Elasia?”

“Yeah Raph?”

He turned in his seat to face me, scanning over the burning horizon as the moon peeked up over the lights of the distant city.

“Remember that dream you told me about?”

“Huh? You mean the one where peeps were taking over the world?”

He looked at me like i was the greatest treasure in the world and i found myself unable to look away as he spoke.

“No, the other one. With the raven and the phoenix doing the hawk thing you told me about.”

Before i could bring the specific dream to mind he leaned across the gap between our seats, fire burning in his eyes as he kissed me. I could see it now, two birds, talons clasped as they spun, falling from high in the air. I barely felt something stir between us before i was overtaken by the melding of our souls suspended 300 ft in the air. Fire licked across my skin, biting crackling heat that dared not burn, as molten gold peeled back the haze of mist hiding my beloved from me. God why couldn't i get any closer, i needed to get closer, to find more of this delicious adrenaline fueled heat, to have more of him.

We were jarred out of it by the jolt of the ride locking in at ground level, eyes opening in a drugged haze.

“Um Red?”

Three fingers carded through my hair before freezing in shock. Yeah we should run. “LEO CODE GREEN, CODE GREEN, MOVE MOVE MOVE!”

Who knew how long we had until the last of the mist wore off, the guys already looked like turtles to me again, luckily no one else was noticing the four giant mutants as they tore through the park toward the gates. I couldn't help but think we got back to the truck just in time, heart thundering with a new type of adrenaline as i put the pedal to the floor and we sped back to the portstone to NYC.

“WHOOOOO THAT WAS SICK!!! We gotta do that again E, tell me we’re doing that again.”

“Sure Mikey, at least we know how long the masking serum lasts now.”

“It does feel good to be a turtle again.’

“It's strange that the reverse transformation didn't hurt as badly as the initial one, just a few muscle aches.”

“That’s because its easier for structures to retain their native form than to be molded into a new one Don. Don't worry though, the transformation into human form gets easier with practice.”

It did feel good to have my boys back to normal, Mikey and Alex took off down the tunnel to do god knows what, and Leo drug Donnie off to the dojo.

“Come on Donnie, lets spar, i need to feel like myself again.”

“Sounds like a good idea Leo. You guys coming?”

It was hard to keep a straight face when i felt a familiar three-fingered hand weave through the bases of my wings along my spine, i could practically feel the evil little smirk on Raph’s face.

“N-no Donnie, We’ll catch up later.”

They both gave Raph a strange look before disappearing toward the dojo. As soon as they were gone however i turned on the red clad brute, eyes narrowing in scorn as i grabbed his mask tails to yank him down to my level.

“You are in so much trouble mister.”

“What are you going to do about it.”

By god i loved the feeling of his fire along my skin.

[imaginexmeintheuniverse]

Alex Summers?

A/N: I’m just gonna go ahead and assume that this was for the otp memes since drabble requests are closed and i love doing these so here goes! @paperclipmac

who is more likely to hurt the other?

Alex, andit leaves him devastated. He’s not always great at expressing him emotions, soespecially when you first start dating or when the two of you have an explosivefight stuff just come out wrong and his walls come up.

who is emotionally stronger?

Probablyyou, because although Alex is a bad boy, he is and has always been Soft and isfragile on the inside

who is physically stronger?

A L E X andmay our eyes be forever blessed by this gif

who is more likely to break a bone?

I feel likeAlex has broken a finger or his hand at some point in a fight, or his arm orleg when he was younger

who knows best what to say to upset the other?

I feel likeAlex knows little things to do just tick you off and annoy you (from his cockybad boy days), but in the midst of bad fights or rough periods you’d know whichbuttons to press better than he would, but you never purposely take it that far

who is most likely to apologise first after an argument?

Him. Alexis whipped and generally hates fighting with you, but also in some argumentsyou’re usually the one who’s right and will be able to carry the silenttreatment that follows forever if he’s doesn’t admit he was wrong. Sometimeswhen he feels petty for trivial things he’ll wait for you to apologize, but hegenerally will apologize first.

who treats who’s wounds more often?

You treat Alexwounds, especially in his bad boy days when he got into a lot fights. Even witholder Alex, the man is brave and never hesitates to throw himself in harm’s wayto save someone else so he ends up more beat up than you do.

who is in constant need of comfort?

You do. Thereis no better place in the world than Alex’s arms. Although, Alex may need morereassurance sometimes because he doesn’t think he deserves someone as great asyou and you have no problem reassuring him.

who gets more jealous?

oh myfucking lord Alex becomes a complete child when he’s jealous. He trusts youmore than anything, but he doesn’t trust other guys to keep their hands off youand has no trouble making sure that everyone knows your his.

who’s most likely to walk out on the other?

this onealways breaks my heart and i just have angst circling around in my head when isee this, but probably you at first. You got tired of him always getting intofights, and being reckless.

who will propose?

alex ALEX A L E X

who has the most difficult parents?

I actuallyhave no idea on this one. Hands down, Alex’s parents would be overjoyed thattheir son found someone who makes him this happy. Your parents may have been alittle wary about you dating a bad boy when this relationship started, but itdidn’t take them too long to love him because they saw how completely andgenuinely smitten he was with you.

who initiates hand-holding when they’re out inpublic?

He alwaysneeds to be touching you in some way so he does, but when you’ve been datingfor a bit you both always just instinctively reach for the other’s hand

who comes up for the other all the time?

he does.he’d have Hank jet him across the country to spend more time with you.

who hogs the blankets?

You’realways in each other arms, but if there’s going to be a blanket hog it wouldprobably be you because Alex has a body temperature higher than the average.

who gets more sad?

You do, andhe’s always there to comfort you

who is better at cheering the other up?

You bothare! Alex may not be the best with emotions and words but he’ll take you intohis arms, snuggle you, play with your hair and kiss you; and you always knowexactly what to say to cheer him up.

who’s the one that playfully slaps the otherall the time after they make silly jokes?

Alex makesridiculous dad jokes all the time so you’ve probably smacked him for someespecially bad (awesome) puns.

who is more streetwise?

I think hewould be after everything he’s been through

who is more wise?

You are andAlex is always in awe of what a wonderful mind you have

who’s the shyest?

In general,you are, but Alex does have his moments— especially your first date because hereally didn’t want to mess it up. I feel like he also avoided you when he firstrealized his feelings for you.

who boasts about the other more?

Dear lordAlex is beyond embarrassing especially when he gets alcohol into his systembecause he will not shut up about you

who sits on who’s lap?

He lovespulling you onto his lap!! all! the!! time!!!

Masterlist | Request Winter OTP Questions