#And these bastards somehow stealth sneaked that bitch in

[pedulum-chronometry]

So far I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talking about this…. But Niko is implied to be Sedna come onto land for a mortal life or maybe some sort of physical incarnation of her.

Like at first I thought it was just a narrative parallel, you know, both the young girls with recently dead fathers but that igloo scene at the very end just smashed me over the head. She isn’t like her; she is her.

I went back to rewatch some scenes for reasons and guess who is inexplicably afraid of the stormy weather? Guess who avoids the father murdering his daughter case after learning he likely chopped them to pieces? Guess who observes Mick the walrus looking for sea glass after easily finding the red glass needed to find the washerwoman? Guess who spend the entire series wearing fingerless fucking gloves?

Even the story of Sedna- told through monochrome!? like a certain other monochromatic character- shows a dark haired girl become a white haired goddess. I just….

And her mom also might be the 002 boss woman we see give the boys an exception at the end?? She has such a reaction to her name, she can’t NOT know Niko. And at the end we see the dandelion sprites in the igloo no longer needing a jar to contain them. We see FULL gloves on the monochromatically dressed igloo occupant holding the good luck charm that Niko dies with? Like if she isn’t Sedna then she sure as shit won her favor somehow

TLDR me RN:

[sroloc--elbisivni]

If you're still doing the commentary thing:

Hound made it ten steps back into Headquarters before Mirage appeared out of thin air, as hot on the scent of gossip as Hound would be on a scouting mission.

"How's he doing?" Mirage demanded, without so much as a greeting or one of those weirdly delicate Towers-style brushes of his field against Hound's own.

"Who?" Hound asked, because Mirage had still been on his own scouting mission when Hound had left this morning and this was the first time they'd seen each other in four Earth days.

Mirage sighed and extended one hand over to brush mud out of Hound's missile turret. "Fine, you reprobate, I missed you." Hound was allowed to enjoy this for precisely three astroseconds before Mirage added "Bumblebee, obviously."

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Hound asked, playing deliberately obtuse. "You could have meant anyone. Our boss. Our boss's boss. Spike." Mirage wasn't as close with Spike as Hound himslf was, but they were still friends.

"I already asked the human," Mirage said, waving this off.

"One of these days, you're going to have to stop pretending not to know his name."

"It's a joke. He thinks it's funny." This was, somehow, completely true. Hound didn't understand it, but he'd seen Spike laughing at it. "Stop playing dense." Mirage knocked on his helm gently. "It doesn't suit you."

"I think you all should stop bothering Bumblebee about this," Hound said. "He's dealing with enough as it is."

"Is he?" Mirage sounded more interested, rather than less. Hound loved him but he was, at heart, a nosy bastard. So was Hound, to be fair.

"Well, he's sure Spike is abandoning him, and spent the last four hours of patrol worrying me up one side and down the other about whether he should stay away until Spike gets rid of the car—"

"Or whether that would support the main argument his human has been making?"

"Or whether that would just be exposing Spike to Decepticon harassment with no protection."

Mirage sighed. "Oh, Bumblebee."

"Look, just leave him alone. He'll have to work this through for himself."

"Now you sound like our boss," Mirage informed him.

"Well," Hound said, swiping one of the Earthen expressions, "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day."

"I heard that," a grumpy voice from the vents said. "You better be referring to yourself, Hound my mech."

"Sure," said Hound. "And what happened to you not wanting to know anything about this?"

There was no response, which was the privilege of those who eavesdropped rather than coming down to have normal conversations. Hound could sense Jazz moving away even with all of his stealth mods all the way engaged, so he left his boss to his sneaking, took Mirage's hand in one of his own, and let the other mech lead the way to the washracks.

:D ah this bit! the first half of this fic got written in bits and pieces over months and this scene in particular just manifested in my brain. i love these two nerds and i Will make everyone else love them too. this scene is also the husk of the seed of my original concept for this fic, which was as entirely outsider PoVs going 'what the heck is happening between bumblebee and his human'. this scene concept of 'hound and mirage play weird sex spy seduction games for bits of gossip hound overhears with his crazy senses' also provided the substance of "each has his taste but as for I."

I think Mirage really likes gossip because he's a nosy bitch in more ways than one and Hound really likes teasing him in more ways than one. I had fun in this scene with showing 'these two are really casually affectionate and comfortable with each other"--which was an interesting dynamic to establish because it was the first time i wrote them in a relationship.

the dialogue behind the dialogue here is "GOSSIP?" "i don't even get a kiss?" "*sighs* [kiss] gossip :3" "well now i don't WANT to." i like to think Mirage and Hound refer to Jazz as "our boss" in casual conversation to make it harder for anyone eavesdroppign on them (like, for example, their boss) to notice.

This also exists because of the g1 pilot in which Hound and Spike and Mirage are all friends. I want them to be friends!! I do think that Mirage and Spike are the kind of people to have elaborate in-jokes with themselves. I'm not entirely sure on how the joke goes but I think it's something like Mirage, seeing Spike: ah. is this the human, then? (meaning the human bumblebee met and hasn't stopped talking about) bumblebee: don't call him-- Spike: yep! I'm the singular human. the only one on the entire planet. the perfect specimen of manhood. :) Mirage: I like him

(and then someone tried to go over Spike's head to talk to the Autobots after he was assigned to show this human around the Ark, ran into Mirage, and attempted to ingratiate himself, and the following ensued: Mirage: oh, sorry, I'm here for the human random bureaucrat: .....uh Spike, trying not to laugh: yes so now it's just Their Thing)

this situation is VERY STRESSFUL for bumblebee! has anyone considered THAT, huh?? it's not that he doesn't think spike can't take care of himself it's just that he's SMALL and SQUISHY and a decepticon could appear from the sky at ANY MOMENT-- hound: uh huh.

Jazz almost had a longer appearance in this fic and then I realized he's a filthy shameless scene stealer so I confined him to hiding in the vents (because he doesn't want to get involved but also wants to know what's going on of course) and the epilogue and he still snatched some limelight for himself. shameless.

[lynyrdwrites]

Wired

So apparently KC AU week is going to be a week for starting multi-part stories. I got two requests for Cyborg Klaroline (one from @goldcaught, one from an anon), and here is my take.

Part 1 for KC AU Week Day 3: Sci fi for @everythingisklaroline

---

She wasn’t sure how she had gotten into the mess.

              Actually, that would be a lie – sheh knew exactly how she got into the mess.

              Enzo.

              What she didn’t know, was how she had let herself get involved in the whole, mad mess.

              She wasn’t  a bounty hunter. She  was just a journalism student -  probably a failed journalism student at  that point. But idiot  that she was, she let Enzo convince her that the one, single   job would be  easy.

              The  target was a fucking cyborg.

              A  military grade  cyborg.

              And Caroline was pretty sure  he  was going to kill her.

              “Now tell me, Love, what’s my fool brother doing sending a Neutral after me?”

              Klaus’ eye – which had appeared to be a perfectly normal blue just moments before – took on the  telltale black and red appearance of a scanner, and his other eye narrowed at the results he found. Caroline’s breath whooshed out as Klaus lifted her so her toes barely scraped the ground. She clawed at his hand futilely, and he pulled her closer.

              “You’re not a  Cyborg,” Klaus said with a  scowl.  “So why would anyone send you-”

              He  cut off when Caroline slammed her hand into his chest, a low grade electric jolt rewiring his robotics.  She dropped to the ground and scrambled back gracelessly, staring at Klaus’ prone form after he collapsed to the ground.

              She waited one beat… then another… and finally, when he still didn’t move, she let a victorious smirk curve her lips.

              “Unlicensed wiring, asshole!”

 48 hours previous

                Caroline Forbes was screwed.      

              Like, as in, soon-to-be-evicted-and-no-way-to-pay-tuition screwed.

              She rapidly did the math one more time, her finger flying across the calculator keys on her phone. The results were still the same.

              She was pathetically broke.

              Caroline groaned and buried her face in her hands. She hadn’t expected this, even when she had seen the exorbitant bills for her mother’s chemotherapy.   Maybe because  she had been so determined her mother would beat the cancer.

              Now her mom was dead, and Caroline had no money.

              She was so tired she couldn’t even cry.  Instead, she just sat with her head in her hands, wishing that wishes could change the world.

              That was how Enzo found her.

              “You’re not looking  too sharp, Gorgeous.”

              Caroline looked up with weary eyes as Enzo sprawled in the kitchen chair across from her. He reached  out and tugged the paper with her attempts  at budgeting on it and winced  at what  he saw.

              “Bloody hell, Gorgeous. Why didn’t you tell me it was this bad?”

              “I didn’t know,” Caroline replied, scrubbing a hand over her hair.  “Enzo, I’m so beyond screwed.”

              Enzo  stared at the paper, then looked up at her.

              “Are you still unlicensed?”

              Caroline scowled at the question, and darted a look around, as though her non-existent roommate would hear them  speaking; but it was the result of spending  her entire life hiding her  wiring, that Caroline was always suspicious when it got mentioned.

              “I can’t afford rent.  How would I afford licensing?” she hissed low.

              It was illegal, of course, that Caroline had the Cyborg wiring in her arms.  All Cyborgs were to be  reported and properly licensed.

              But Bill Forbes had viewed himself as something of a scientist, and rather than getting Council approval, he had simply experimented on his daughter.   He had been kicked out, of course,  once Liz realized what he was doing. But by then it had been too  late.

              He had been killed in a  freak accident before he had ever discovered if  his experiments had been successful,  and Liz hadn’t been  able to afford the astronomical Licensing fees that would have put Caroline in the government record books, but also given her free systems upkeep.

              Instead, Caroline had relied on the illegal services of Meredith Fell – she had been cheaper  than the License fees, but not cheap, and Caroline  had that debt to figure out now too.

              “Look, I know  a guy-”

              “Kol,” Caroline interrupted.  “When you know a guy, it’s always Kol, and usually something illegal.  I worry about your taste in men.”

              “He’s good in bed,” Enzo drawled. “And do you want to pay your debt  or   not?”

              With Kol involved, she should have said  no.

              When she found out the mess involved a licensed Cyborg, she should have said fuck no. He would have modern tech, while Caroline’s latest update involved whatever wiring Meredith could sneak from the Cyborg Station in Mystic Falls – not exactly big city robotics.

              But Kol had failed to mention the military aspect of the Cyborg,  making her think he was just a regular drone that had a superiority complex and needed to be brought in for rewiring.

              So in desperation, she had taken the damn dossier and spent two days hunting the bastard down.

 Present

                Klaus Mikaelson came back online slowly.

              He couldn’t recall having a reboot like that in…

              Well, Klaus Mikaelson simply didn’t have reboots like that.  A reboot that left his head pounding meant the enemy had forced a reboot, and enemies never got  the upper hand like  that.

              Except the pretty little blonde had.

              “Look, Kol, I don’t care how you usually do things. I want you to take this guy now… … Yeah? Well maybe before you  bitch we should discuss how he’s apparently your brother!”

              Klaus sat up slowly.  The wiring just below his skin was glowing – a freaky, radioactive circulatory system is what Rebekah had once likened it to  - but since the girl clearly knew  what he was, he didn’t bother  re-engaging his stealth system.

              Instead, he activated his scanner again, this time engaging a deeper scan, searching for what he had missed before.

              He couldn’t see a control center, like the one he had embedded in his neck – the central computer that connected to his brain and allowed his robotics to communicate with his human aspect.

              It was the control center that allowed his sensors to register a Cyborg and read their capabilities, but the blonde had none. Even when he searched for the wiring in her arm, he came up empty. He thought, perhaps, there was a shadow…but then he blinked and swore he must have dreamed it.

              Klaus eased to his feet, and engaged his short range projectile. The whir drew the woman’s attention, and she spun around. Klaus prepared to dodge another electric attack, but rather than go on the offensive, she dove behind a nearby sofa.

              “Shit!” She swore, and he heard her thud to the ground, completely lacking any sort of grace.

              “Your innocent act fooled me one, Love. I underestimated you. It won’t happen again.”

              He shot  into the sofa, following the sounds of her scrambling along the length.  He felt his brow furrow as she leapt out the other side, falling for what was little more than a child’s strategy with ease.

              “Stop  shooting at me!” she yelled, backing away from him so that her back hit the wall, and her eyes glistened as though –

              “Are you about to cry?” Klaus asked, his arm lowering slightly in confusion.

              “You’re shooting at  me!” the blonde retorted, brushing the tears away before they could fall.  “And I’m under a lot of stress and I’m  pissed off! This was supposed to be easy!”

              “My brother told you that, I assume.  You should know that Kol lies.  Usually, simply for the sake of lying. He’s an ass.”

              “Clearly!” she snapped.

              “And you are… not at all trained,” Klaus realized, lowering his arm the rest of the way. While he didn’t particularly value innocent lives, killing the blonde simply because she had fallen  prey to his idiot brother seemed…

              Unbearably rude.

              And rather like kicking a puppy, as even angry, tears still sparkled in her eyes.

              Yet she was still a mystery.  Because Klaus had encountered every variety of  Cyborg out there, and even the unlicensed had a control center.

              “Who created you?” he demanded.

              “My parents,” she replied somewhat dryly, seeming to calm now that he no longer aimed the projectiles at her.  “You know, like all little girl and boys, even you.  Although you’re probably not recognizable as  that boy anymore.”

              Klaus refrained from rolling his eyes, but he was used to the judgements on  how far he had let them take his Cyborg status.

              His siblings viewed him as a monster, what should this girl’s opinion matter.

              “Your name,” he tried again,  impatiently, but the girl  stayed silent.

              “Caroline?” Klaus froze when he heard  the voice. Distant and tinny, he doubted the blonde could hear it, but it was far too recognizable to him. “Forbes?  Pick up, dammit! If my brother’s killed you Enzo will never forgive me.”

              Klaus ignored the woman – Caroline, he assumed – and picked up the phone. He heard her take a step towards him, and held up his arm, once more aiming at her as he held the phone to his ear.

              “Hello, Kol.”

              “Nik,” Kol sounded as he usually did – blasé and entertained, but there was a strain under it.  “I was under the  impression you’d been temporarily shut down.”

              “I recovered,” he answered coolly.  “So, you’ve  become lapdog to big government, then.   I never pegged you as the type.”

              “Hardly a lapdog, Nik.   But  we all have to make a living somehow.  This one suits me.” Klaus could imagine Kol’s grin and felt  a pang of home sickness. “She’s a sweet little bit, our Caroline. I thought she might appeal to you, get close enough for her little shock to work.  Can’t blame a  bloke for trying, right? But she’s not big league, Nik.  Hurting her won’t do a damn thing for whatever asinine anti-establishment mission it is you’ve embraced.”

              “No?” Klaus raised a brow and grinned at Caroline in a  way that made her look a little nervous.  He stepped around her, never giving her his back, and stepped up to a portrait on the wall, of another blonde woman, hugging a toddler close.  He assumed the toddler to be Caroline; they had the same eyes.

              And he had seen this picture before.

              “Bill Forbes is a madman,” Klaus stated, and though he spoke to Kol, it was Caroline for whom the words were intended.  “But  I do believe he  loves his daughter.”

              Kol spoke rapidly, but Klaus was already done with his brother.  He dropped the cell  to the ground and stomped it hard, crushing it into a hundred pieces.  Caroline held her hand up, blue volts sparked  along her  skin, the wiring he was unable to pick up in a scan lighting up beneath her skin. Klaus engaged his sensors once more, and still no control panel.  No wires.

              Yet physically, he could see that she must have both.

              “Undetectable,” he murmured, in something close to awe. “Sometimes, he would say it was possible… but I always assumed he meant in theory.  But he had a living prototype.”

              “What the hell are you talking about?” Caroline demanded. She jerked towards him, and Klaus stepped back.  

              She still hadn’t shot anything at him, leaving him to assume contact must be necessary for her nasty little trick.

              “William Forbes, of course. Head of the military’s experimental department.   You must hate him as much as I do, Love.”

              “William Forbes is dead.”

              She didn’t deny hating him, Klaus noted. Just denied that he lived.

              “When you work with the government’s most sensitive secrets, it’s best that the world think you dead.  He’s trying to recreate you, Love. But thus far, he’s failed. Were you dead, one could assume he’d continue to fail that much longer.”

              “Screw you,” Caroline hissed.

              “That could be arranged,”  Klaus murmured, because while a Cyborg, he was also still a man,  and Klaus had always been attracted to the very rare and beautiful.

              Caroline, with her hidden robotics, was both.

              She growled low in her throat, and moved again, aiming her hand once more – this time, straight for the control center in his neck, as though she knew where it was.

              The projectile he shot at her contained  a low grade sedative – enough to knock her out, but not damage the connection between human  and robotics.  She stumbled sideways, and Klaus caught her when she fell.

              He could kill her – he was more than capable.  

              But she hadn’t denied  that she hated William Forbes.

              And that meant she could be valuable.

              At the very least, Klaus was intrigued.  And for the moment, that intrigue would keep her alive. But not free.

              No, Klaus was going to keep the little ghost close.