#Car Parking Covering Distributors

[wooahaeruby]

Chapter 47: Tactical Planning

TW

Uhhh, no big TWs, Mouse panic attack mode is all I got.

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“99 line and I will be fine, Shua.” You placed a chaste kiss to Joshua’s lips, which surprised him, the first since Christmas. His eyes were wide but he continued on. “Plus, Chan is driving, which…we should be leaving soon.” 

You moved to put your jacket on, only to be stopped by Joshua, placings his hands on your shoulders, brows furrowed together. 

“What?” 

“You kissed me.” 

You raised a brow. “Uh…Yeah? Can I not kiss my boyfriend?” 

“No-” He deflated, rolling his eyes. “It’s the first time you kissed me since everything happened.” 

“Okay?” 

“And if you are going to kiss me, do it right.” 

Joshua, in the middle of the living room, held your face in his hands and took your breath away with a single kiss. It was gentle and full of raw affection. He let his hands cradle your head, not letting you pull back right away, keeping you close to deepen it without hesitation. 

A cough broke the two of you apart, Chan covering his eyes with a hand when you glanced over. “If you guys are going to fuck, can it not be in the living room?” 

Joshua opened his mouth to speak but you covered his mouth with a hand. “Do not- I’m going out.” 

Your boyfriend hummed, stepping away, letting his hands drop from your face. He licked his lips, holding himself back from laughing. 

“You might need a little more lipgloss.” Joshua motioned to your mouth, learning forward to whisper in your ear. “The sweet one. Cherry, right?” 

“Enough-” You pushed his head away, his light, playful laughter filling the air. “Come on, Chan, before I lose my fucking mind.” 

You gave Joshua one last quick kiss on his cheek, quickly escaping his grasp to get to the garage. Chan agreed to drive, speeding away with haste to get there early to evade the late rule of paying. You weren’t surprised to see Yeonjun and Wooyoung shivering outside the latter’s car, watching them shuffle towards the restaurant's entrance. Chan parked almost directly beside them, both of you hustling to join them inside to wait. 

“My baby!” Wooyoung didn’t hesitate to pull you into his arms, peppering wet kisses to your cheeks. “I’ve missed you!” 

“Here we go…” Chan scoffed, chuckling quietly. 

“Woo-” You cringed, laughing as Yeonjun joined in, hugging your other side. “Stop-” 

“Can’t believe you saw Jongho before me! That is the worst betrayal! I'm hurt!” 

“Hey! I didn’t make that choice. Jongho went with Seonghwa to see me first, your fault.” You defended yourself (and Jongho) as Wooyoung pouted. 

“Still,” Yeonjun stepped away to greet Chan properly, giving him a hug. “Good to see you both either way. You guys look well so I’m just happy about that.” 

Gahyeon was next to show, huffing about rushing to leave the city as she greeted the boys then bear hugged you, rocking side to side happily. She spoke animatedly about what she has been up to, something with the dress shop and new fancy fabric that came in, saying you had to model a dress she and Siyeon designed. There was a comment in there about something ‘high necked’ or ‘ halter top’ but she was talking way too fast to get the correct information. 

Wooyoung and Chan started playing bets on who would be late, commenting that they were glad they weren’t responsible for paying. Chan bet on Mingi after hearing he’d be driving alone, you heard three hundred thrown in there somewhere. Yeonjun joined, betting on Changbin with Gahyeon, only for Wooyoung to throw Yunho’s name into the mix. They tried to get you involved but you stood your ground, placing a playful no-money-bet on Yeosang. You did agree to be the distributor of any money to keep it fair since you didn’t trust a few of them not to cheat either of them. 

San, Yunho, and Yeosang stepped inside together only a few minutes later, making Wooyoung bitch that he lost, which confused the three until you explained that Woo bet on Yunho to be late. San beamed when he saw you, hugging you snuggly to his chest, telling you how relieved he was to see you were okay in person. Yunho ruffled your hair, an at ease gaze in his eyes as he grinned, asking how you were, how things were healing, and side hugged you as you answered. Yeosang’s eyes showed he was glad to see you, the semi-awkward embrace and small talk was enough to show his contentment. 

The host had approached to inform your group the table was ready since you did show up early. She escorted the lot of you there to start getting settled, seats being picked rather quickly. Yeonjun and Gahyeon were sure Changbin would be late, giddy as they sat facing the general direction of the entrance, hoping to see him coming. The infamous WooSan duo sat you between them, listening as you talked about the different cookies you prepared. Chan taunted them by saying they were delicious and you told them they can enjoy plenty tomorrow. 

“Fuck, am I last?” Changbin hurried over, breaking the conversation. 

Gahyeon and Yeonjun hollered out at the loss, Chan wearing the biggest, shit eating grin on his face. You make sure the two and Wooyoung paid Chan his fair bets, the three grumbling as the cash was handed to you to count. The grin on your friend’s face only grew when Mingi arrived five minutes later, apologizing that Hongjoong held him up with something stupid. 

Appetizers were ordered almost immediately, enough to feed a small army, or your small army of people that work out a lot. San, Yeosang, and Gahyeon had definitely gained some muscle since the last time you actually saw them. San’s shoulders were definitely wider somehow… 

“Mo, what have you been up to?” Wooyoung leaned into your side, fluttering his eyelashes obnoxiously. 

You pushed him away by the cheek, laughing softly. “Uh- Well, now it’s finally leaving the house, cooking and cleaning. Therapy is going great, I think. I’ve made progress but I’m chilling. Quit my job too, and acclimating to being human again.” 

“Perfect trauma recovery!” Yeonjun reached across the table for a high five that you returned. 

“Oh yeah, I’m happy not having panic attacks every day anymore.” You shrugged, twiddling your thumbs in your lap. “I’ve been through a lot before, nothing as bad as this of course, but it’s different having people that care around, you know?” 

Your friends gave nods, sending warm smiles your way that got you a little flustered, avoiding their gazes. 

“I know you guys have been messaging and I'm sorry I’m only getting back to everyone recently.”  

“Friends are meant to be there when you need them, but they are also meant to give you space when you need it.” Yunho placed an arm on the back of Chan’s chair, smiling ear to ear. “We might be from different groups, but there is an unspoken agreement that we’d take a bullet for one another.” 

“How do you think I became friends with Wooyoung?” Changbin wiggled his eyebrows, poking at the meat of his right shoulder. “Hurt like a bitch but healed perfectly thanks to Seonghwa and Felix.” 

“You guys need to stop getting sho-” 

The waitress interrupted your comment to start delivering the abundance of appetizers. While some were thanking the staff, taking plates to place on the table, others laughed as you sunk down into your seat. 

Conversation shifted as food was shared, falling into the ‘ normal people night ’ a few of them wanted. Wooyoung, San, and Yeosang were talking about video games with you and Yunho. There was a heavy debate between console gaming, which Yunho liked, and PC gaming, which you and the other three liked more. Changbin, Chan, and Gahyeon were speaking of their ‘gains’, all the work they’d been doing at the gym to get stronger. Yeonjun and Mingi were talking about jewelry last you heard, knowing how much the two loved their accessories. 

“Oh, girly, before I forget!” Gahyeon nearly slammed her utensils on the table. “Three boyfriends now? Hello?”

Chan stopped himself from laughing, seemingly proud of himself for exposing your ongoing lovelife. You let out a hefty groan, scrunching up your nose. Part of you hoped she’d forget. 

“I still only have two significant others-” 

“Still-” Changbin did some air quotes. 

“Mo, you were snuggling up to Cheol for two days because he was sulking over you telling us what happened. All of us know now that he likes you, he just fucked up then you guys made up and here we are today.” 

“Bagging three baddies,” Wooyoung whistled, “Impressive.” 

“Bro, I don’t even know how this happened, but I’ll take it I guess.” You gave a shrug of your shoulders. “Plus, boyfriend number three isn’t even my boyfriend at this time, I’m happy with what's currently happening, okay?”

“Four hundred on if Cheol will not stop staring at her tomorrow.” Yunho called out, snickering. 

“Don’t even bet, let’s get Mo to dress up nice and it will just happen.” Gahyeon pointed at you, narrowing her eyes. “I want to see what happens.” 

You cringed, shoulder tensing up to your ears. “I can’t promise anything, all of the clothes I have at the house don’t cover my…chest aside from my high neck sweaters and shirts. They are baggy and are just meh.” 

“Just come to DC’s house tomorrow. I’m sure between the lot of us, I can find you something.” 

San’s shoulders shook against yours in silent laughter. “Everyone is going to be dressed to the nines, this is what mafia business is.” 

“And I find that a little absurd since I’d rather be comfortable at a business meeting. Especially what is probably gonna be talked about tomorrow night.”

“You are doubting my ability to do both fashionable and comfortable.” Gahyeon sighed, dramatically slouching in her seat, a pout on her lips. “Being pretty and cozy are my stables.” 

“She is never going to give this up until you agree.” Yeonjun rolled his eyes. 

You shifted in your chair, learning your head back to give the ceiling a good, hard glare, but there was no fighting her, no way. She’d win either way. 

“Okay, fine, you can play dress up but my ass better not be hanging out!”

“Deal! I’m going to have so much fun!”

The agreement between you and Gahyeon was a girls day, going to the DC house in the city for lunch, dinner, then getting all dolled up for the meeting. 

That’s how you ended up borrowing Minghao’s SUV, piling cooking containers into the back seat to travel into the city. You texted the group chat with all the guys that you’d meet them at the warehouse (with the cookies) so no one had to worry that you were spending the day with Dreamcatcher, not that they wouldn’t worry… 

You were, however, surprised to find such a grand house just within the city’s western limits. There was a gate with a call box that you rang, speaking with someone over the speaker before the gates let you in. 

Parking out front, you swore you counted over fifteen windows on just the street facing side alone. Really, you could tell it was a stunning home by the outside alone as you stepped out of the car. Its exterior was a modern Mediterranean style house, definitely huge and expensive. Hell, even the driveway was expensive and fancy…

“Mouse!” The grand double doors opened and Minji stepped out, taking the few steps down to you. “Glad you could finally stop by.” 

“Hey, yeah, thanks for having me.” You continued to eye the house, moving closer to her. “Your home is amazing.” 

Minji’s eyes lit up, a radiant smile on her features. “I can show you around if you’d like. ‘Hyeon is – has been in the bathroom for nearly an hour taking one of her everything showers so she might be longer.” 

You sighed with a grin, shoulders shaking in quiet amusement. “And she said to come now too.” 

“Ah~ It’s okay,” Minji started to guide you up the stone stairs to the doorway. “Plus, I can show you my pride and joy. We all worked hard for it.” 

The cathedral ceilings in the entrance alone was enough to stop you in your tracks. The curved staircase to the right was majestic, intricate metal railings adding to the beauty. Minji casually commented that the floors throughout the house were porcelain and were heated. You thought the SVT house was a lot. This was much more. So much more. 

“There are seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms,” Minji walked you into the large expanse of the kitchen, the fridge door open. “Plus there are some offices and a full basement.”

“This is fucking insane.”

Whoever was rummaging through the fridge stopped at your voice, a hm? heard before the door was closed. Yubin turned to you both, container hand, dressed in way too baggy clothes that were hanging off of her. 

“Damn, you got wrapped into the tour.” 

Minji took your hand and pulled you into the kitchen, continuing to smile. “Oh hush you, I’m proud of the house we all bought.” 

“Hopefully ‘Hyeon leaves her bathroom soon to save you.” 

There was so much more counter space than at the SVT house. The counters were kept clean and there was a huge set of double doors that you learned led to a small room made for the pantry behind the fridge. This was a dream kitchen. Mingyu would demand they build a new kitchen if he saw this. As Yubin heated up her food, she mimicked Minji’s voice, continuing on the tour tangent noting the custom cabinetry and quartz countertops, something about built-in appliances that had you wanting to look up how much the house cost.

“All the rooms are upstairs and the basement is a – Lord, what is it at this point?” Yubin dropped the mimicking act. “There is a gym…and recently Siyeon converted part of it into a fashion studio since the office upstairs that she used is now overrun with bolts of fabric.” 

“If this is what living with women is like, I’ve been living with men too long.” That got the two to laugh, soon followed by the quick pitter-patter of feet on the floor. 

“I’m surprised she got out of the bathroom that quick.” 

“And here I was going to show you the back patio.” 

Gahyeon bursted into the kitchen, a gleeful squeal as she bounded over to you. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel, face clear of any make up. 

“Okay, so, all of us have nail appointments, then we go to lunch, after lunch you and I are getting our hair done, then dinner and getting ready.” 

You raised a brow, looking at Yubin and Minji, one leaning over the counter eating and the other simply watching the interaction. Gahyeon continued on that she got some outfits together the previous night, but she and Siyeon were ready to make something on the spot if you disliked all the options.

  “Why does everyone think it’s fine to spoil me?”

“Oh, I can answer this,” Yubin raised a hand, shoving a forkful of food into her mouth first. “Number one, new friend, automatically spoiled. Number two, you got, like, horribly hurt, people care about you, automatically spoiled. And Number three, uhhhh- Why not?” 

“And money isn’t a problem here!” Gahyeon bounced on her feet, holding your hand in both of hers. 

“Can we say it makes up for all the cookies you made, plus uh- friendship?” 

“Sounds a little unsure there, Yubin.” You chuckled, but she shrugged. 

“Eh, can’t blame her, it's a little difficult to make friends in this business.” Minji hummed, looking at her nails, “Plus, it’s nice to have a girls day.”

“Yeah… It does sound nice.” 

Gahyeon ran off to call the rest of her group down, shouting their names from the staircase. When that didn’t work well (shocker), she stomped up their stairs, complaining that they needed to get ready before she yelled she was getting dressed. 

Bora, Siyeon, Yoohyeon, and Handong showed up in the kitchen, ready to go, not long after with Gahyeon popping in, braiding her hair. You got shoved in a car with Minji, Siyeon, Bora, and Gahyeon. The latter three were fighting (?) with each other, snide remarks over a comment one of them made, but they each wore smiles or smirks. Gahyeon whispered that they were the closest and ‘always at the scene of the crime’ together. Their interactions reminded you of a pair of sisters from a foster home you were in; at each other's throats, but always having each other's back. 

Getting your nails done somehow ended up including an eyebrow wax and a pedicure, which you tipped the woman that worked on you well on top of the generous tip DC left for everyone. You hadn’t had a good day of pampering since way before Christmas and you loved every second of it. Even better when you noticed at least two of them were carrying some sort of weapon. You enjoyed the point of your almond shaped nails when you scratched your head. Lunch was at a small, family owned restaurant, the time filled with laughter and new formed, proper friendship. You were able to join in on jokes so freely, listening to clothes ideas, and just…being a girl with girl friends. 

Gahyeon stole you away from the rest for your hair appointment, early enough for anything to be possible. She was going for a bleach session and a soft pink dye job. You… were a little intimidated at all the options the stylist was offering, overwhelmed really. She was so patient as you went over ideas, settling on giving your color more definition, akin to a balayage to have some life to your hair. You agreed on a bit of a trim, letting her have fun with layering and face framing pieces that made you feel more put together and a little brand new, almost whole. 

Between processing times, Gahyeon was talking mad shit, making you laugh so hard your stomach hurt. She was going on about a past trip 99 line took together to a ski resort. First night at dinner, half the group got so drunk that they needed multiple buckets and they tipped the maids well and they needed the second day to sleep off the raging hangovers. Then, that same day, Wooyoung, Yeonjun, and Changbin caught a stomach bug, she blamed it on some bad food. You felt bad for them until she mimicked their whining and your sympathy was gone. When Yeonjun felt better, good enough to hit the slopes, he absolutely ate shit and Yeosang caught it all on video, which she sent to you.

Joshua had texted the Threeway group chat, asking how the day was going, a check in he did when he didn’t see you for long, and you sent a picture of your foiled up in the mirror with a finger peace sign emoji. Jeonghan joined in, asking what you were getting done then zooming in on your new nails with a devil emoji and a question mark. Joshua called him gross and all you told them was that the reveal was a surprise. 

With Gahyeon’s hair taking longer, you asked if yours could be styled and curled, making a comment of an event in the evening when asked why you both were getting dolled up. Your friend snickered beside you, muttering ‘Yep, basically a booty call’ . You threw a small towel at her.

By the time you both made it back, well pampered and relaxed, Minji was ordering food for the group, letting you both place in what you wanted. When the food arrived, the living room was alive with energy, talking about things you couldn’t really talk about with the guys, talking about things about the guys, and it was fun. You asked questions on their end of the mafia business out of curiosity. 

Yubin, Yoohyeon, and Handong focus on money laundering, ‘ private loans’ , and extortion. Minji and Bora enjoy the hitman aspect, going after those with power abuse, domestic violence, and other similar abuse. Siyeon and Gaheyon liked blackmail but floated through the different jobs while handling the dress/clothes and jewelry shops. Minji was also a fucking lawyer, running her own firm with interns and firm partners of all different specialties. Her focus was on divorce and criminal defense, taking specific cases that piqued her interest and some pro bono work when she had time. 

Between her job, the mafia, and the shops…The house made a lot of sense. 

Siheyon, having learned from Jeonghan, asked what the plan was now that you left your job and you shrugged. You explained that you would figure something out after the MX stuff was settled, adding that there were plenty of options with SVT. Minji jumped in and offered to help out if needed, saying she’d love to have you around more, especially if you didn’t want a hand in mafia jobs, which you appreciated but said it would be figured out when the time came. She even offered a job at her law firm, saying it wouldn’t be a problem, which you panicked and didn’t get any answer.

“Okay,” Gahyeon brought you into her room, letting you sit at her vanity as she shuffled into her closet. “I have a few options, those real nice bandages that won’t stick to your chest, and a vision.”

“Pop off, okay,” You fiddled with some of the make up on the vanity counter, watching her walk out with a few hangers worth of clothes. 

She laid everything out on her bed, motioning you over. Dresses, skirts, suits, there were a lot of good options. You did ask about size, but she gladly reminded you she had them from the dress shop and she could fix things if they didn’t fit. ‘ Easy’ as she put it. 

Skirts were scraped, unamused at the short length, but she snickered and tossed them aside. 

You hustled into the bathroom to change out the bandage on your chest, liking that it wasn’t bulky or too irritating, enough to comfortably cover everything without sticking horribly. With that done, you agreed to try on the dresses she set out, hiding away in her closet to gauge how you felt. One was a slim fit option with long, flowy sleeves and a high neck blouse type bodice, it was nice but the color didn’t compliment you right. The second was too tight on your chest, the neckline putting pressure uncomfortably. The last was just too short, riding up when you took a few steps. You tried them on for the hell of it, maybe a little disappointed they weren’t good fits. 

She got you into some different blouses, enough to cover your chest but you thought some made you look frumpy. The only options left were an assortment of body suits she had. You set your gaze on a black one, sleeveless with a high, jewel neckline. Gahyeon tossed you some thin pinstriped, navy dress pants, a matching blazer in hand if it worked out. 

“I think this is it.” You stepped out of the closet, pinching the body suit fabric to adjust it to fit properly. “Thoughts?” 

“If you were gay, I’d smash.” She handed you the blazer, laughing along with you as you slid on the jacket. 

You moved over towards the vanity to look in the mirror, taking yourself in. It had been a long while since you were all dressed up, the fresh nails, and new haircut adding to how much…better you felt about yourself. You continued to feel a little more normal. 

“Now I can get ready then do both our make up!” 

“You are having too much fun with this, ‘Hyeon.” 

She clapped her hands then poked your forehead. “I’m helping you to feel hot as fuck but also bag boyfriend number three and hang out with you!”

Staring out to the bottom floor of the warehouse, Seungcheol knew this day would come eventually. In reality, it was something he wanted to put off this day as long as possible, the day that plans started to finally take down Monsta X.

It was a long time coming, Mouse was right in saying they probably had plans to tip the scale long before she came along. Since she explained they knew about her from the beginning, how they saw her go into the warehouse near Ruby, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, even if it was inevitable. If everything worked as he hoped, they wouldn’t be a thorn in his side much longer, hopefully not a thorn in anyone's side at that. It was obvious now by any mishap in their business that Monsta X was involved, more than likely meddling in other groups' business. Seungcheol wouldn’t be surprised if MX was stewing in new torture ideas. 

“Yo,” Jeonghan interrupted his thoughts, leaning himself over the railing, joining in watching their workers move crates about, into the vault. “You alright? Ready for this?” 

Seungcheol twisted his head around, a loud pop and crack heard when he stretched at a certain angle, adding a roll of his shoulders to relieve some tension. “Alright? Yeah, I’ll live. Ready? I don’t think so. Tonight is going to be ideas, planning, the usual, we might be here for a while.” 

Jeonghan gave a shrug, tilting his head to the side as  he continued his observations, a happy hum floating to Cheol’s ears. “Nothing we haven’t done before. We are planning to take down people who we once considered friends, maybe even family. It will be hard but I think it’s a necessary evil we need to face.” 

“Still not looking forward to it.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “A lot of things can go wrong once we start this.” 

“Things could, but again, nothing we haven’t dealt with before. Let’s…try and be a bit positive about this. We’ll have plenty of hands in the pot to help.”  

“Yeah, well, here is to hoping.” 

To no one’s surprise, ATZ was the first bunch to arrive just prior to nine, striding in with heads high as the SVT crew gave respectful bows as they passed. Cheol stopped himself from laughing at the familiar smirk on the leader’s face as they shook hands, exchanging the first of many greetings for the night. Peering back through the window, the office had been changed with chairs added around to accommodate everyone that would be in attendance. He could see the SVT members littered around the room as ATZ made their way inside to get a seat. 

Hongjoong hung back from his group, leaning back against the railing, keeping a close eye on his members through the large window. 

“Is this a good time to tell you they have destroyed one of my boats?” His voice held steady, calm, but one glance at the man showed the anger in his furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. 

Seungcheol sighed, standing straight with an annoyed scowl on his face. “Why am I not surprised… When?” 

“About three days ago. I was going to give you a call sooner but a few of the men on board were injured so I prioritized them.” Sliding his hands into his pockets, Hongjoong dropped his head to look down at his feet. “On top of hurting my men, they spray painted a large X across the capsized boat. No mistaking that one.” 

“So it all begins,” Seungcheol was going to despise whatever came in the near future, but he’d warn everything that they might be next. 

“It has, and I don’t take an attack on my things with a particular lightness. If more of my people are next, that same displeasure jumps tenfold.” 

“Tell me about it.” 

Seungcheol scoffed, making note of the members of TXT arriving next, strutting in just before SKZ showed up. Hongjoong gave him a pat on the shoulder, slipping into the office to grab a seat, a stern call of Wooyoung’s name behind him. Cheol greeted both leaders and their groups, leading them upstairs as more pleasantries were shared and more seats were taken. 99 line had basically made a huddle of seats, not that anyone was surprised. 

“Dreamcatcher late?” Changbin sat beside Chan resting his arm over the back of the latter man’s chair. 

“That’s never new when they are all together. Someone's hair is wrong or their makeup isn’t right-” Wooyoung mouthed off, only for Yeosang to slap a hand over the other’s mouth to shut him up. 

“Watch yourself, Fennec .” Gahyeon’s voice rang through the room, a stifled laugh coming from someone else. “And while it does take forever to look this good, please remember we live on the opposite side of the city, thank you very much.” 

Dreamcatcher as a whole proceeded to step into the room with Minji approaching Seungcheol, heels clicking rhythmically against the floor. They shared a firm handshake, him asking how things were going while she gave him a wide, mischievous smile as she said things were okay . He frowned when she stepped away, glancing about her group in hopes to find Mouse since she was supposed to be with them, but she was nowhere to be seen. Though…He did see the glances Minji, Siyeon, Jeonghan, and Gaheyon sent his way in the little group they stood in together, speaking in hushed tones. Most of 99 line had smirks on their faces like they knew something he didn’t. 

“Boss-” One of his men stopped at the entrance to the room, clearing his throat to get some attention, flustered while holding a small stack of cookie filled containers. “She uh- She is giving more out downstairs, where should I-?” 

He took note of Sona behind him with her own stack of cookies, definitely trying to hide her grin when she met Cheol’s eyes.

Something was up. 

“Table’s fine…” He motioned over, narrowing his eyes as they walked over and the treats were deposited quickly. 

Moving to leave, Sona stopped at the door, turning back to say something, only to school her expression. She snorted a laugh and continued out without another word. 

With the door still open, heavy footfall up the stairs was heard with a labored huff that he had definitely heard previously. Mouse quickly stepped into the view of the window and Cheol physically paused, brain stopping for a moment. 

Whoa- he thought, a little shameful in the head to toe once over he gave her. 

Mouse swiftly closed the door, pushing some hair over her shoulder, the color more vibrant than it was the last he saw. In a way, it gave her more life, brightened her features. On top of that, he couldn’t stop staring at her lips, the color was deep, gorgeous, unable to remember the name of the color name with his brain short circuiting. It had been a while since she dressed up and she looked…confident, and pretty- Fuck wait, and hot-

Also- The pinstripe pants? Did they make her hips and ass look bigger-

No, we are going to stop that train of thought for now. He wiped the thought from his mind real fast. 

“Close your mouth,” Siyeon was suddenly very close, he didn’t hear her approach, placing her hands on his shoulder. “You’ll catch flies.” 

Seungcheol closed his mouth tightly. 

There was a whistle from someone, Seungcheol guessed it was Joshua based on who spoke next, hyping Mouse up. Someone asked for a spin and she did, a laugh full of joy leaving her. 

“You look great!” Wooyoung complimented and she smiled wide, brushing some hair from her face. 

“I feel great – Or, I feel human again.” Mouse hugged Gahyeon when she hurried over, grinning ear to ear. 

“That’s the point of good self care, feeling normal again.” 

“These cookies are better, no offense, sorry not sorry.” Mingi was devouring some of the treats, leaving crumbs on the conference table. 

“Now that your affinities for Mouse have been said, can we get down to the purpose of this meeting? No offense, Mouse, you look lovely.” Hongjoong spoke up, adjusting his jacket, sitting at the table close to Seungcheol’s deck. Cheol did see him snatch a cookie when he managed to tear his eyes from her. 

Mouse’s eyes met his for a moment and he swallowed thickly, snapping himself out of the trance she was putting him under with a shake of his head. 

Siyeon snickered behind him as Mouse stepped towards Jeonghan and Joshua, giving them both quick kisses and sitting between them. “Take a picture, dude, it lasts longer.” 

It was going to be a long night.

You saw it, you were pretty sure everyone saw it. The starstruck gaze in Seungcheol’s eyes when he looked your way, it was as clear as the night sky outside. But there were other priorities to focus on, teasing Cheol could come later based on the grins on a few people’s faces. 

“Uh-” Seungcheol cleared his throat, shaking Siyeon’s hand off of his shoulders. “Everyone take a seat, uh- We have a lot to go over.” 

Understatement, you only hummed, getting comfortable in your seat between your boyfriends, both a little stiff at your sides. 

Seungcheol moved towards his desk, waiting for everyone to settle before beginning. 

“I’m sure you all know why I've called this meeting, however if anyone is lost…I’m formally requesting aid in taking down Monsta X once and for all.” You could have heard a pin drop at the silence that filled the room. “If you wish to be uninvolved in this, I have no plans to force you, I’d never put you in that position, but we’d be grateful for the help in this matter.” 

Running your gaze around the room, no one made an attempt to leave. Hongjoong had a murderous glint in his eyes but with all of the 99 line within their group and Jongho’s connection to you, you could be surprised if they left or backed out. Soobin had a hesitance in his eyes, TXT probably had the most to lose as the newest and smallest main group within the underground, but Yeonjun met your gaze and gave a reassuring smile. Chris was leaning towards his second in command, Minho, who whispered in his ear, both sharing a nod. There wasn’t a hint of doubt in Minji’s eyes, chin held high as she watched Cheol speak. 

“We are in.” Minji spoke  up first, no discussion with Dreamcatcher was needed. “Whatever is necessary, we will help.” 

“Seconded,” Hongjoong called out next, clasping his hands tightly on the table.

“We…don’t have much, but with the known nuisance MX are, TXT will help where we can.” 

Chris peered over everything, Changbin had an expectant glint in his eyes, maybe annoyance at the hesitancy the leader showed. 

“We’re in.”

You didn’t realize how long you were holding your breath for until Chris agreed to help, dropping your head down to collect yourself. Joshua reached for your hand, giving it a firm squeeze, while a squeeze was placed on your thigh from Jeonghan. Part of you was terrified if anyone ended up saying no, that this was a SVT problem that didn’t involve them whatsoever. Anxiety was a bitch. 

“Thank you, all of you.” Seungcheol sighed out, seemingly in the same boat as you were. “I’ll do everything within SVT’s power to make up for this, you each have my word.” 

“Fair warning,” Jeonghan whispered, leaning close, lips close to your ear, breath ghosting over your skin. “He might ask you if you can recall any details about where you were held.” 

That…was predictable, the information could be useful in locating them, but you were greatly unsure if you remembered anything pertinent. Things moved far too quickly, you didn’t have a good recollection outside of what happened. 

Your stomach turned uncomfortably. Fuck, now you were thinking about everything that happened and your skin felt  like it was on fire. The grip on Joshua’s hand got tighter and you bit your tongue to suppress the nausea. One of them must have noticed because a hand moved to the back of your neck, messaging the tension away the best they could. You started to bounce your left, staring down at the table with a hazy fog cutting your peripheral vision as you tried to keep it together. Tessa was right- This wouldn’t be easy- 

And, instead of Kihyun’s sick smirk, you saw Joker as his hands were wrapped around your ne- 

“ Rheia?” 

Your head snapped up at the name, the older woman standing at the door, hands on her hips with Sona half hidden behind her. Rheia was dressed in a simple blouse-dress pants combo, salt and peppered hair pulled back and out of her face. 

“Next time any of you decide to throw a secret meeting, please make sure it is an actual fucking secret. The entire underground knows you're gathered here.” 

“Uh-” Seungcheol looked like a deer in headlights, and Jeonghan stood, striding over to her quickly, straightening his shoulders. 

“Apologies, Rheia. This was a last minute decision,” He took her hand gently in a handshake, bowing his head. “Please take a seat, join us, I’m sure you’d be interested in listening.” 

She tsked, giving him a narrowed, suspicious glare. “I can guess what is about, not much of a surprise, I’ll provide aid where it is needed.” 

“Ah-” Jeonghan peeked to Seungcheol who looked equally as lost. 

You sucked in a breath, “Her resources could probably help us a lot. We all know how illusive Monsta X is.” You wanted to eat soap at how gross the name felt in your mouth. 

“See, one of you makes sense, why isn’t she in charge?” 

Rheia didn’t even know she was helping you with an almost panic attack, which you were silently grateful for. 

She took a seat across from you, crossing her hands with a huff as Jeonghan returned to his seat beside you.

Seungcheol saw her wave her hand for him to continue and he scrambled to get going once more. He started by asking if someone had been hindered by Monsta X, informing everyone of the recent ATZ issues, details added by Hongjoong. TXT had nothing to add, nothing important messed with, just minor internal issues that were handled. SKZ brought up some missing deliveries that shouldn’t have been missing or ones found hundreds of miles away without a reason. Cheol shared a similar occurrence a while ago, a misplaced cargo shipment that was supposed to head out of the country, which was odd. DC has shipments of diamonds stolen and three separate break ins within a short period of time, each time the cameras were disabled. 

As more mishaps were shared, things were starting to sound too similar for anyone's comfort. There was no pattern to what type of sabotage happened which didn’t help until there were all laid out. Over five months, there were seventeen different issues, which had you rolling your eyes, but something didn’t make sense, or it didn’t to you. 

“What-” You tapped your nails against the table, a scowl on your face. Standing, you hurried over to Cheol’s desk, leaning over to swipe a pen and a stray piece of paper. “What days were they? Like, do you remember the number days?” 

Dates were rattled off to you in quick succession, your scowl only growing deeper. 

“They are never after the twenty-first of each month. The first month, you have the fifth, thirteen, fifteenth, nineteenth, and twenty-first.” Cheol peered over your work as you rewrote things neater on another sheet of paper. “Second was the first, third, seventh, eighth, twentieth, and twenty-first again.”  

There was a pattern you couldn’t discern yet, looking over the numbers. 

“Third was only the ninth and the fourteenth. Fourth month was nothing- okay wait, I’ll count myself for one technically, yeah-” You were probably going crazy and nothing was there. “And last month since we’re at the beginning of February…the first, sixteenth, eighteenth, and twentieth. It doesn’t seem right. I can’t pinpoint a pattern right now but it’s there, I’m telling you.”

No one opposed your thought, someone commented that it was weird and it should be looked into, which you appreciated. You swore it was staring at you in the face, you just couldn’t place your finger on what exactly it was. It was frustrating. You were going to over think the fuck out of this. 

When no one had any other suggestion regarding it, the papers passed around, you gave up for the time being, taking your seat once more, staring at the numbers. 

“You need to start coming up with a plan to find them.” Rheia chimed in between the lull in the conversation. “Does anyone have any ideas currently?” 

“Despite attempting to place tails on their men. I haven’t found anything on the main Monsta X group. They have been spotted here and there, but they simply disappear easily.” Wonwoo’s monotone voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. “They are incredibly difficult to track.” 

“ Rheia, you know everything, you hear everything, do you have any clues?” 

“All I’ve managed to gather is that they have no permanent place or base. They have never been in the same place twice. I've tried to place my people in there under some cover, but it is hard to get anyone in with their lack of trust. Their systems are hard to breach due to the constant changes.” 

You wanted that access to try and get in…you’d ask her later. 

“Mouse?” You lifted your head to the sound of Seungcheol calling upon you, seeing the semi-pained look in his eyes. “You don’t have to, but do you remember anything about where they held you?” 

Somehow, like a switch flipped, that musty, damp room fluttered into your vision, the mental of the chair biting into your skin along with the ropes. 

Focus, you took a deep break, trying to shake the fear from deep within. Find something, they can’t hurt you here.  

“It was cold.” You spoke but it felt distant. You pushed to keep a foot in the present. “I could hear dripping water, like a leaky pipe but I couldn’t see it. It was close though.” 

Someone touched you but that helped continue to ground you. 

“They had those really large construction lamps, they made it hard to see anything around me.” 

Come on, you later yourself fall further, keeping your present tethers close, embracing the surroundings with caution. 

“There was a door, can’t tell if it was metal or not, the room couldn’t be more than twenty by thirty, but it’s hard to remember-” You were starting to feel dizzy. “The hook mechanism on the ceiling, new or only there for a short period of time. There was some wear, but it could have been from the chains on my wrists when they hung me up. Concrete or stone, there wasn’t any windows, the had to run wires from out of the room for-”

Stop it, details only , you reoriented yourself, pushing a breath out, you really couldn’t see the office around you at all. 

“There-” 

Your mind went reeling, watching as you tried to mentally fast forward through the mental box and the drowning . Things were fuzzy, jumbled together, difficult to make out. Then the familiar searing hit you and your brain gave up. 

“Nothing else- Excuse me-” You were up and out of your chair before anyone could say a word, rushing down the stairs and getting outside. 

Heaving in a frigid breath, you bent over, hands on your knees, ready to throw up, but nothing left you aside from another heave for air. Letting out a grown, you steadied your rapidly beating heart, jaw clenching tight enough your teeth could probably shatter. You didn’t notice a big, burly guard and Sona watching on until you stood straight. The guard looked away, righting his shoulders, while Sona took some steps closer. 

“You aight?” 

“Yeah-” It sounded laboured, giving her a weak thumbs up. “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

“Yeah, you look paler than a ghost there, kid.” 

You managed to chuckle at her attempt at humor, leaning back against the warehouse’s outer wall. “Thanks, asshole.” 

Sona hummed, moving to open the door. “That’s what I get paid for. Need some water before going back?”

“No, I’ll live.” 

With a last huff and a pull at the collar of the bodysuit, you made your way back inside, thankful the conversation has shifted past your abrupt  departure. You didn’t make a scene as you took a seat, whispering that you were fine to your boyfriends. You did catch Seungcheol’s eyes as Hongjoong and Chris spoke out of some ideas, the floor open for anyone else to speak up. He looked apologetic but you shook your head, giving a small smile to ease his worry and an ‘ok’ hand gesture. 

The cookies, without fail, were devoured by the lot of you. It warmed your soul to know you could provide some assistance with snacks, knowing most here were helping the ground, helping you, and you were thankful for it. Once this was all over, you’d be either making dinner for everyone , which was easy, just needed a lot of planning, or making a lot of dessert. 

“It’s late, I’m taking my leave,” Rheia stood, adjusting her shirt. “I’ll send out some feelers to see what MX has been doing, I’m going to speak with Psy as well. I might have some luck with my resources. If I find anything, I’ll send word.” 

She took long, poised strides towards the office door before glancing over her shoulder. “Meet somewhere else next time, less in your face, more subtle and hidden, for your own safety please.” 

“I can arrange for a boat.” Hongjoong snickered, giving her a bow of his head out of respect. 

“Honestly, that might be better.” She called back, leaving with mothering further. 

You snatched Joshua’s hand, hearing him hum in confusion as you checked his watch, nodding as you checked the time; nearly ten-fifty. The meeting seemed to be fizzling out faster than they expected, but there really wasn’t much to go on. Too many questions, too many unknowns. It was surprising with how out there they seemed to be. 

You did have an idea, but no one would like it, so you’d keep it to yourself unless it was truly necessary. Part of you thought it would be necessary… 

“I think we should pool some resources as well, keep eyes and ears open, and come back together for another idea session.” Seungcheol spoke up, sighing with some defeat. “Until we can really track them, I don’t think we can move forward.” 

“Agreed, I’d like to keep my people rather than get them killed. We need to tread the water carefully for now.” Hongjoong looked bored, disappointed, but he stood, nodding his head towards the door. “We’ll be in contact, hopefully they mess up enough to be caught.” 

Chris and the rest of SKZ stood. “Just don’t get reckless.” With a shrug, he moved towards the exit. “‘Til next time, guys.” 

“Mysterious as always,” Minji hummed, watching SKZ and ATZ exit, TXT not far behind as they said goodbyes. “Chins up, we’ll bring them down.” 

Her optimism was encouraging, nails drumming on the armrest of her chair before she and the rest of Dreamcatcher stood.

“Mouse, consider that job offer, hm?”

You snorted a laugh through your nose, dropping your head to stop the grin. She was being a shit kicker- Bitch . 

“Job- What?” Jeonghan sounded befuddled. “What job offer?” 

“Look what you’ve started-” You laughed as you spoke, raising your head to see her wide smirk. “I’m not gonna be able to get away from this-” 

“What? My personal assistance at my law firm sounds like a good job, doesn't it?” 

Siyeon suppressed her amusement, pushing Minji from the room with a choked goodbye. 

“Before any of you start shit- She offered, and I technically didn’t say no-” 

“Mouse!” 

You stumbled over your words, finally letting your laughter free. “What? Shouldn’t I have options if whatever shit with you guys doesn’t work out?” 

“I feel like if she was to work with us, she’d micromanage us.” Jihoon ducked his head, chuckling with Mingyu. 

“I would not!” 

“Liar.” Joshua added and you hit his arm. 

“You know, fuck off, maybe I will accept her offer-” 

“She doesn’t love us!” Jun acted as if he got hit by something, dramatically leaning into Wonwoo’s side, who sat beside him. “My heart! It’s been hit!” 

“See, Chan once said to me that no one loves SVT more than SVT and now that I’m in here, I agree, but like, touch grass. Please. For my sanity.” 

“Then don’t get kidnapped next time-” Wonwoo spoke matter-of-factly, a deadpan expression on his face. 

You rose from your chair, taking your jacket off. “I’m beating your ass.”  

“Oh? Really?”

“Oh yeah, downstairs, right now.” 

“Bet.”

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[musings-from-an-elder-goth]

Lisa Frankenstein Filming Locations

“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

As promised, here are some of the filming locations for Lisa Frankenstein. As I just saw Kathryn Newton at Spooky Empire in Orlando this past weekend, I decided to stalk filming locations for some of her cooler movies. Or you can just watch the video I made, which covers all the locations but it goes into much less detail:

I found most of the locations on my own, but then received a location list from a person on the film's production team which confirmed the ones I'd already found and gave me the ones I was missing. Big thank you to that person!

***Spoilers below***

We'll start with Lisa's home which is located at 2552 Cypress Lawn Dr, Marrero, LA 70072. The shed in the back yard for the tanning booth is really part of the property, & can just be seen from the street (circled in red in second image).

Now, if you go there, remember, THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY. Perfectly fine to admire it from the street, but do not trespass, do not knock on the door, do not ask for a tour, & do not ask if Lisa is home. Please. Now, if the folks living there say 'Hey' & invite you in when they see you in the street taking selfies with the house, that's another thing entirely - but otherwise, low profile it.

Although they filmed a little bit inside the real house, at least for the scenes where Creature first arrives, most of the house interiors were filmed on a sound stage which I know thanks to Zelda Williams posting this photo:

And that sound stage is The University of New Orleans Nims Center Studio located at 800 - 824 Distributors Row in New Orleans. I know this because of this picture from a behind the scenes video showing the entire cast & crew taking a group photo with two distinct architectural features circled. The next image is a Google street view of the same location with those features also circled.

Per the locations list, the party house Lisa & Taffy go to early in the film is located at 12565 Patterson Rd, New Orleans, LA 70131, which I've confirmed via location detail on Google maps:

And the high school is Belle Chase high school at 8346 LA-23, Belle Chase, LA 70037, which I've also confirmed via architectural detail:

The exteriors for Bachelor's Grove Cemetery & the woods around it, the wooded paths, & the bench scenes all take place in Brechtel Park, which is located in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.

The park offers roads for driving scenes as well as thick woodland with vines & dense ground cover for the cemetery set - which, sadly, was entirely fake. Below is the exact location of Bachelor's Grove.

Bachelor's Grove is located at GPS coordinates 29.9100534 -90.0124431. The easiest way to get there is to take an asphalt sidewalk that you'll find about 100 feet to the right of the entrance. That sidewalk will take you around the north edge of the park and then turn left (south) where you will look for the 2nd marked trail. Follow that trailfor about 50 feet and you'll find a second marked tree, which I call the Twisted Tree, and you're in Bachelor's Grove.

Moving along, the scene at 1:17:37 in the film where Creature goes to retrieve Janet's (Lisa's step-mom's) car and kills the mean old man who is harassing the kid who can't start a lawn mower, was filmed at the south dead end of Dede Street in Marrero, LA at GPS 29.855776, -90.093451.

Rather pleased with myself for finding that one - not easy.

Creature then returns to just outside Bachelor's Grove, which again was filmed in Brechtel Park, with precise location circled in the third image.

Lisa & Taffy arrive there & Lisa psychs herself up to go into the cemetery to kill Creature at GPS 29.906104, -90.009096

This is still in Brechtel Park, they just moved the cars about 30 feet to the west & spun the camera around - the dead giveaways are those posts along the road & the two small hills in the background.

Lisa then runs down a wide, woodland path.

This photo of one of Brechtel Park's wide, wooded paths is the same path, located at GPS 29.908912, -90.011958.

And here's that spot circled below:

When Dale, Lisa's dad (played by Joe Chrest, who also plays the Wheeler's dad on Stranger Things), & Taffy visit Lisa's grave at the end, they are standing in the southern section of Carrollton Cemetery in New Orleans, at GPS 29.947097, -90.121813.

The reason they used this location is because Carrollton is one of the few New Orleans cemeteries that has a large section where all the graves are below ground, as this movie is supposed to be taking place near Chicago.

As for how I know they used this specific location, I have a wine bottle shaped tombstone to thank for that. In the below image, we see that odd tombstone from the front.

And here we see it from the back, as I wasn't able to get a clear image of it from the same perspective of the above image:

Also rather proud of that find.

And the final scene on the bench is also in Brechtel Park at the location circled on the map, GPS 29.909290, -90.010784.

So the only significant filming location I can't find is Michael's red brick colonial, but whatever. Found Michael's house, too!

Anyway, here's to hoping we all find that special someone who was reanimated just for us. 🦇🖤🦇

creaturesfromelsewhere 5-23-2024

[mordenheim]

Strangest thing I ever heard

“What is it, Jake?” The mechanic pulled his gloves off, rubbing at the back of his head as he stared at the offending car.

“Not a clue, Norm. Strangest thing I ever heard.”

Turning the key in the ignition again, he heard the engine start to turn over, followed immediately by what sounded like a woman's bloodcurdling scream.

“Pop the hood, see what you can see in there. Maybe I missed something. Something caught in a fan belt or something.”

Norm popped the hood, wrinkling his nose at the awful sulfurous smell coming from the engine. The scream seemed even louder with the hood up and he backed up, covering his ears. A sickly greenish glow was coming from somewhere deep inside of the engine block.

“What in the blue hell is going on in there?!”

Making sure that the car was in park and stomping down on the emergency break, Jake hopped out of the driver's seat to get a better look at what was going on. The older mechanic bit his bottom lip, thinking hard. “Damn it, why do people keep buying cheap parts from shady sources all of the time.”

Jake had his hands on the front of the car, leaning in under the hood for a closer look when Norm suddenly grabbed him by the waist, yanking him back just as the prop holding up the hood came loose and it slammed shut with a bang! The two men toppled to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs. Jake pulled himself free and carefully got to his feet, panting a little. “What just happened?”

“Ain't gonna believe me, but I've seen this before.”

Jake just shook his head at Norm, “Seen WHAT before?”

Frowning, Norm nodded towards the car, still running, the engine revving on its own, almost sounding like an animal growling at them. “Accidental demonic summoning.”

His partner just blinked, then folded his arms over his chest. “Right, good one.” He lifted his left leg towards Norm, “Here, pull the other one, it plays “Jingle Bells”.”

Norm just shook his head. “Look, I'm dead serious. A bunch of crap ended up in this motor that summoned something. Remember when you took the distributor cap off and it was sticky and had that weird fruit smell? I bet someone dropped a gelatin snack in there. That';s got horse hooves in it. Then, the dead bat in the air filter, that's bat blood. The girl who brought it in had that big bandage on her arm, that could be virgin blood.”

Jake just stared at him like he'd grown a second head, “You're serious aren't you?”

“As a heart attack. Just glad there wasn't anything else weird like belladonna or anything dropped in there.”

“Yeah.. uh.. nothing weird... heh...” “Jake, what did you do?”

“Well, I was changing the coolant, so I did what I always do. I used a couple aspirin to hold the thermostat open, so the coolant could flow and it would dissolve and close off later.”

“So you're telling me, there's aspirin in there, too.. a derivative of belladonna.”

“Uh.. maybe...”

“Aw, son of a bi...”

The car's engine roared even louder, and they heard the clunk of the emergency brake releasing as the vehicle lurched across the garage floor!

[fishrpg]

2024-12-24: Vermont (Hex 24)

The road meanders and weaves over rolling hills covered in forests. Beech, birch, and maple trees cling tightly to the cool ground; the forests conceal a variety of wildlife.

Notable Feature: The Lotus Eater Forest (Resource)

Consisting of several dozen acres of boreal forest on the edge of a lake, the Lotus Eater Forest is named after the lotophages in Homer’s Odyssey. Several of the trees here produce a chemical aura that is mostly imperceptible to humans but makes mammalian Beasts docile and unafraid of people. For every 4 hours a person waits in the forest near one of these trees, an animal native to the area wanders into the influence of the tree. Roll 1d12 and consult the table below to see what animal appears.

Animal Caught By The Trees (1d12)

Coyote (Use Hyena statblock)

Fox, Red or Gray (Use Jackal statblock)

Bobcat (Use Panther statblock)

Ermine, Weasel, or Mink (use Weasel statblock)

Mountain Lion (Use Panther statblock)

Otter (Use Giant Weasel statblock with a swim speed of 40)

Fisher or American Marten (Use Badger statblock)

Skunk (Use Troglodyte statblock with 4 HP and no chameleon skin)

Raccoon (Use Giant Rat statblock)

Black Bear

Deer

Moose/Elk (Use Elk statblock)

Animals found in this way can be easily captured in this stupefied state. Some people in other places would pay good money to have some of these creatures as exotic pets. The animal recovers from the effects of the trees after being out of their influence for 1d4 hours. Sticks and small branches taken from these trees can be placed near creatures to prolong the effects (useful for transporting creatures!), but will lose their potency after 12 hours.

Service Station: Unity Heating Distributors

A small office building and a gravel parking lot is surrounded by industrial-scale storage tanks that hold propane and heating oil. Unity Heating Distributors is not a traditional service station because its purpose is to supply rural Vermont households with the supplies they need to keep warm. However, gas and diesel is often hard to find out here, so the company installed a few gasoline and diesel tanks to top off their service vehicles. Locals and the occasional travelers passing through the area are welcome to fill up here, but it costs about twice as much as a regular gas station. Minor repairs and light engine work can be performed by the garage technicians on site, but they don’t usually keep the parts in stock for cars and light trucks and it’ll be a long wait to get them delivered out here. Those in search of food will need to settle for handfuls of candy from gumball style machines or a soda from a vending machine that hasn’t been refilled in a while.

Items From Other Hexes

Heloise Carter is a reporter for the Freedom Bell newspaper who specializes undercover investigative journalism. She is the contact of Will Karlsson (Hex 9) and is willing to help him cover the story, but she is in the middle of investigating a group of disappearances over the past few years that the police have attributed to hippie cults. Before she can help Will, she needs to finish her investigation on this story and the evidence is beginning to point toward corrupt cops inventing a story about hippie cults to hide murders of local counterculture figures who were openly critical of police actions.

[smartpartsexports033]

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[writesaboutdragons]

365 Promises of God

Day 301 – We are Children of Promise

Now we, brethren, as Isaac [was], are children of promise. (Gal 4:28 NKJV)

Read: Galatians 4:21-31

One thing you can say of us humans. When we get tired of waiting on something, we usually take matters into our own hands, and the repercussions are almost always nothing less than stunning. One such event I can relate concerns my first car.

I was in college, in my first year, and needed a car to get back and forth to college and work. My dad had told me, “Son, you can’t afford a car. When I get some cash for a down payment, I’ll take you down to the dealership and cosign on a car." He didn’t tell me how long that would be, but I was sure it would be months. Months without a car. I didn’t know what cosign meant, so he explained that because I had no credit history and no real cash, the dealer would need my dad to be ‘on the hook’ for the purchase, in case I didn’t pay my note. I asked why I couldn’t just pay for the car outright. I mean, I HAD money. Almost $800.

My dad laughed and said that wouldn’t really cover the down payment. This made me mad, and I went car shopping with a friend of mine, and found what I considered a ‘sweet ride’. It was a 1970 Maverick, baby blue, with white racing stripes and chrome rims. The dealership only wanted $700, and with tax, it practically took all my money. But I was determined to get that car right away. I mean, it looked like it could go 100 MPH. They had it parked along the front of the building, and when I got it back, they suggested I park it the same way. The brakes shook the car something awful. They said they just needed to be ‘turned’. Whatever that was.

I drove it home proudly, and got my dad to come out and take a look at it. I’d parked it in the driveway, proud as anything. When he saw it, he couldn’t quit laughing. He asked how much I paid for it, and I told him. He said it might be worth something, once we poured about four times that amount into it. I got mad again, and said there was nothing wrong with the car, it just needed the brakes to be turned. He said, “park it on the curb, I need to head to the grocery store.” I found out my car wouldn’t go in reverse. The dealership had failed to mention that the transmission was shot. My dad and I had to push the car into the street, and later drive it to a transmission shop, where he dropped twice what I paid for the car, to replace the transmission. After replacing the shoes, the drums, the master cylinder, the alternator, the starter, the sparkplugs, the transmission, the carburetor, the valve cover gasket, spark plug wires, the distributor cap, points, condenser, voltage regulator and coil, I had a running car. My dad was almost correct to the penny. We’d paid four times the cost of the car to get the car running.

About four years later, my dad went to the dealership with me to cosign on a decent used car. I didn’t argue. His plan made much more sense on the high side of my stellar mistake.

When God told Abraham he was going to have as many descendants as stars in the heavens, he didn’t tell the man how long he’d have to wait. After many years of waiting, with a barren wife, he’d about lost patience. He trusted God to make good on his promise, but they weren’t getting any younger. Maybe God needed some help. Sarah suggested he take her handmaid, Hagar, as concubine, and raise up a son that way. And along came Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman. Then God made it clear Abraham would have a son THROUGH Sarah. The one who was barren and over 90. It was laughable. But God did it, and they named him Isaac, which means, laughter. God had turned their laughter of disbelief into laughter of joy. Later, God told Abraham that his seed would be called through Isaac, and Ishmael was not to inherit. They sent Ishmael and his mom packing, with a little bread and water.

Ishmael is the firstborn of Abraham, and through the flesh. Isaac was born of the promise God made, and as a child of promise, he was set to inherit all. And through Isaac, all the Jews considered that they also were set to inherit all. But you see, they were again depending on their inheritance through flesh, and not by promise and the gift of God. This promise, to be the children of Promise, is given to all born into Abraham’s family through Christ and His sacrifice, and our forgiveness. For we are IN Christ, and therefore heirs with him.

The descendants of Ishmael still war with the descendants of Isaac today. That family squabble will continue until Christ comes to end the dispute forever. And when that happens, the only ones left standing will be the Children of Promise. And if you are in Christ, dear Christian, then that’s you.

Prayer:

Lord help me wait on you and trust in your promises, today. Amen

[med684productionblog]

Blog #10

A. In a prospectus why should you, the filmmaker focus on highlighting about what investors need, rather than making it about your production team via crew/cast bios?

Yes. Investors are really busy. You should keep it straight to the point of what you need, what you are asking for, and what the ROI is, and how you will secure return on their investment, such as already having a bond company.

B. What is a one sheet, and what should it include?

A one sheet is a brief, all-encompassing outline of what your film is. It should include a poster, contact info, logline and genre, a brief synopsis, and a marketing plan.

C. What is the difference between a risk and a hazard?

A hazard is the potential for harm, whether physical or mental.

A risk is the chance of that harm actually occurring.

D. Research 10 potential risks and hazards for your film

Improper firearm storage.

Improper gun safety (pointing at people, trigger discipline, etc.)

Physical stunt work (The film has football, so like tackling and all that.)

Choreographed action sequences gone wrong (someone getting hurt in fighting sequences)

Stunt glass-related injuries (From my understanding in films they use tempered sugar as a glass substitute, but the impact and shards can hurt someone)

Vehicle related hazards (Running someone over, crashes, etc.)

Tripping over wires

People not saying 'Striking' when turning on lights

Company moves can lead to unexpected car-wrecks

People dropping equipment and breaking it.

E. Why is it vital to hire professionally trained personnel on set in regards to risk assessment?

The more complex a production the more likely accidents will happen. Also not hiring for those positions will make it harder to secure funding from investors or a bond from a bond company.

F. When is it necessary for the 1st AD to call a required safety meeting on set?

Whenever a new significant element outside the normal scope of operation is added to production. Like if you're doing a new stunt that isn't normally done, or working with weapons for the first time, or anything like that.

G. Five Questions to ask lawyers before partnering up with them

What their field is. (Litigation, copyright, contracts, etc.)

What sort of clients have they had before

How often have they had clients similar to me

If they charge per contact (phone calls, email, etc.)

If they bill hourly or take a percentage per project

H. What does negative film insurance cover?

The loss, damage, or destruction of film. Generally does not include faulty cameras or audio equipment.

I. Why is Errors and Omissions insurance important?

It protects you from frivolous lawsuits from people who think they're being represented in your fictional work when they're not, or if they are a real person and you're misrepresenting their actions. An example of this is when Florida Joker tried to sue Grand Theft Auto for including a character similar looking to him in their newest game. This lawsuit was thrown out of court due to Errors and Omissions.

It's important for a producer to have because if you don't have Errors and Omissions insurance you will not get investors and distributors to take on your project because they'd be opening themselves up to expensive frivolous lawsuits.

J. Research Five Prospective Entertainment Lawyers.

Pitt Entertainment Law. (424) 202-4239. 156 N Larchmont Blvd Suite 4, Los Angeles, CA 90004. asa@pittapc.com

Entertainment Law Office of Dinah Perez, PC. (323) 935-7955. 1801 Century Park E # 2400, Los Angeles, CA 90067. dinah@dinahperezlaw.com

Omni Legal Group. (310) 860-2000. 2029 Century Park E Suite 400, Los Angeles, CA 90067. info@omnilegalgroup.com

Gordon P. Firemark, Attorney at Law. (310) 443-4185. 10940 Wilshire Blvd fl 16, Los Angeles, CA 90024. No public email.

Cohen IP Law Group, P.C. (424) 667-5564. 9025 Wilshire Blvd Suite 301, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. No public email.

K. Five questions about production for review

I was kind of confused about the ROI formula when we covered it in class.

How to find guild rates. When I was looking them up some of them were hidden behind a login screen. Is there a central location to get this information?

Budgeting. How to find budgets of films without paying for IMBDPro.

I'm really struggling in general with all of the assignments related to the sub-$2 million budget for the project. Like we're supposed to spend half the budget on marketing, and also get an A-List actor. I assume any A-List actor is going to have a salary higher than $2 million. But even if they didn't, between marketing as half the budget and the A list actor's salary, and ~1/5 of the budget for contingency, I don't understand how to a have a budget for anything else.

In general, I think all of the stuff I've been struggling with is the material from week 2.

[tensiledigital]

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[anyawinget]

South America Automotive Radar Market 2020 Comprehensive Analysis with Future Estimations to 2027

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The South America Automotive Radar market following are the manufacturers cover -

· Aptiv Plc

· Continental AG

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· Robert Bosch GmbH

· Valeo

· Veoneer Inc

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[kilo-ftd]

D + 44

      I spent a few days at a hotel, and then continued my northwesterly journey. I stopped by the Oral Roberts University, and finding the Elsing Rock Museum closed, continued into the night. I spent some time chilling at a library and gaming, and then made a brief stop at a local roadside oddity, a left behind cement mixer humorously painted to look like a lost space capsule.

      Tonight’s target was the vast expanses of the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant. Long since closed, the land was in private hands and being used for storage and farming. It was the typical infiltration, finding a safe place to park and a long trek through dark and difficult woods. Eventually I managed to reach some buildings and discover the gloom that awaited inside.

      I followed the railroad tracks for forever, safe in the cover of the trees, hiding from any still working light sources. I discovered that the larger buildings were being used to house a massive quantity of solar panels, still in their boxes. Whether it was intended to be a distributor or the start of using the land for a solar farm, I do not know. I did not stay long because I didn’t want to be caught messing around with them. I did stop to admire this crazy sign on a gate I passed through.

      Due to the darkness and the necessity for secrecy, it’s often difficult for me to get good pictures, However, I was able to get a few in the more secluded areas of some of the manufacturing facilities. This particular ammunition plant was a heavy hitter, producing artillery shells and bombs for army aircraft.

      I hiked for miles along the old tracks, roads, through long untouched forest, and the covered walkways that connected the bomb production buildings.

      I discovered unusual machinery, which appeared to be used to hoist and transport the explosives through the assembly line. the craziest part was a heavily fortified chamber which to me looked like the point where the explosives would be loaded into the munitions. 

      The buildings were mostly empty, being out of use for several decades, but I did discover some areas which had been built up out of old howitzer shell crates. Being unable to carry an entire crate back with me, ad having nowhere to store it in my car, I was at least able to save a well preserved section of one and take it home with me.

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[trillian-anders]

cinnamon rolls

pairing: chef!bucky x plus!reader

warnings: fluff, domesticity

word count: 1517

description: chef!au; bucky thinks you’ve been working too hard

dish requested by @technicallykawaiisoul​

just a taste masterlist

Stark tower was a marvel. 

The floor to ceiling glass windows, the open layout efficiency. Bucky was expecting cubicles. He wasn’t expecting to step off the elevator and be able to see straight back to his girl’s office over the heads of people sitting at glass desks with computers that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie. 

He’d told you when he was a kid he’d been obsessed with Howard Stark. The inventor. He wasn’t, however, a fan of his son Tony. The man you worked for. 

“He calls you all hours of the day,” he whined, burying his face into your neck, “You’ve gone in two weekends in a row now.” He knew your job was important and he knew you were coming up to a big tech release that you were in charge of the marketing for, but also… he wanted you to stay in bed with him on his one day off this week. 

The restaurant was close to opening and both him and Sam were putting in 16 hour days finishing the menu, choosing silverware and dishes, talking with food distributors, negotiating a seasonal menu, and now hiring a staff. They had to hire a ton of people to open a restaurant and the days were taking a toll on them, but they knew it would be worth it once the restaurant was actually up and running. 

That’s why he found himself here, after simple texts over the last few days and not enough time between the two of you to actually see each other, he brought lunch. 

He’d never seen you at work, the most he’d seen you was during your lunch hour or in the few minutes when you came into either of your apartments and had given him a swift kiss before changing. 

But you looked so serious here. This was your job and from what he could see you were pretty good at it. 

You looked focused on something on your computer screen, leg folded under you, typing. Papers spread across your desk. He knew from experience that those papers were charts of numbers, control group responses, and test results from the tech crew that went in and troubleshooted the product that Tony Stark and his team had come up with. 

Your brow furrowed, he figured you could feel his eyes on you because you looked up at him, face instantly relaxing and a soft smile pulling on your lips. His heart leapt in his chest. 

“What are you doing here?” laughter in your voice, you stepped from the desk to softly, chastely, kiss him. He could feel the grin pulling on his cheeks. 

“I missed you.” A flush to yours. “I brought lunch.” The paper bag held in his hands, stacked with paper takeout containers, food he’d cooked at the food truck and brought up to you. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you?” Your eyes were shining, and he felt so strongly in his chest his love for you. 

“No,” your hands on his stomach between you, “Not yet.” 

There was a small sitting area in your office, complete with a glass coffee table that he spread out everything he’d made. 

“You’re gonna make me gain weight,” you laughed, “I’ve been doing so well.” Bucky rolled his eyes, settling against the back of the couch with his plate. A spicy creole rice, fried okra with a tiny ramekin of dipping sauce, and catfish. They’d gotten fresh catfish this morning and he’d saved a few pieces for him and his girl. 

“Not that it matters anyway,” He shrugs, “But I’ll grill it next time.” You shot him an irritated look. A grin on his face as you dipped fried okra into the savory sauce, humming in satisfaction as the spicy flavor hit your tongue. 

“What is Sam doing?” Right now, Sam and Peter were working the truck, Bucky on his own little lunch break before he’d swap out with Sam before giving Peter his break. Pete had just switched to half days at school, taking night classes at ESU because not only was the kid hard working but he was also extremely smart. 

“Counting down the minutes until I get back probably.” His shoulder pressed to yours, the two of you enjoyed each other’s company during a lunch hour that was over far too quickly. 

His fingers traced patterns on your thigh, head leaned against yours and a content sigh left your lips, “I should get back to work,” you say, but make no move to leave. Bucky hums, fingers gently squeezing your knee before leaning forward and packing up the leftover food. 

“You wanna keep some of this for later?” You hadn’t responded yet when Bucky began putting a small portion of each in a separate container with the plan to stick it in your office’s fridge. The phone on your desk rang, shrill and loud. You quickly push yourself off the couch to grab it,

“Y/L/N.” Bucky watches your brow furrow, your eyes meeting his and rolling before you sigh heavily, “Yeah, I’ll be right up.” The phone clicks heavily against the cradle and Bucky watches you roll your neck, fixing your blouse from where it was untucked during lunch. “I have to get going.” 

“Are you gonna be around for dinner?” He asked, even though he already knew the answer. You sigh, wrapping your arms around his waist and he leans his head over yours. 

“Probably not,” mumbled into his chest, “But I’m gonna be off tomorrow, so I’ll come over when I’m done.” Pulling back he presses a soft kiss to your lips before saying, 

“I’ll make dessert then.” 

It was late, almost a little too late when Bucky was rolling out dough but you’d called him a few minutes before. 

“Thank you for leaving those leftovers from lunch,” He could hear the echo of the parking garage, whenever you stayed late at work you always felt more comfortable calling him and talking until you made it safely to your car. He would insist on talking to you until you’re in your front door, or his. 

“How bad was it?” He could hear the beep of your car alarm being disarmed and the satisfying slam of your car door. “Pretty bad,” It was a moment before you connected to the bluetooth of your car and then you continued on, “So before a product goes on the market there’s obviously market testing and our IT department has been working hard cranking out the last few bugs, but they found a huge problem in programming so we had to have an emergency meeting about a delayed release date and I just want this to end.” Bucky sprinkled cinnamon sugar over the dough rolled out on the parchment paper he’d laid out on his butcher block counter top. 

“Once this is over,” He began, “Why don’t you think about sending your book to a publisher.” There was silence on the line, the oven beeped in the background as it finally reached baking temp. “C’mon babydoll, it’s good! It’ll totally get picked up.” He could hear you sigh on the line, not answering still. Phone held between his ear and his shoulder he rolled the dough tightly before cutting it and laying it in the pan. “I’m just saying, think about it.” 

“I will.” Bucky knew it wouldn’t be the last time the two of you would have this conversation, but it also wasn’t the first time either. The cinnamon rolls were in the oven when you entered his apartment, the small bachelor pad that had a navy blue cashmere throw on the couch you gifted him because “You don’t have a blanket to lay on the couch with?” it also had two drawers worth of your clothing, a spare toothbrush, and a full row of your skincare products in the bathroom. 

He could hear you kick off the heels you’d been wearing all day, groaning as you shuffled into the kitchen and sat heavily into the bar chair just feet away from him, resting your head on the counter. Soft lips pressed to the base of your skull, his arms wrapped around you from behind. “Hey.”

“Hey.” A quiet hum. “It smells amazing in here.” Due to the bubbling cinnamon sugar covered dough currently in the oven. The stand mixer was slowly whisking confectioners sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla together. 

“I told you I was going to make dessert.” 

They were warm and gooey, with just a little extra icing. The cinnamon rolls burned your fingers as you pulled it apart, steam rising from the center, your leg laying over his lap, his fingers tracing patterns on your thigh in a gentle foreplay as you enjoyed each other for the second time that day. 

“I’ve really missed you.” You mumble against his lips, the sweet icing kiss that turned into another and another that ended with the two of you wrapped around each other, snoring heavily, fully clothed and getting the first good night of sleep the two of you had in a long time.

.

.

.

taglist //  @93generation​ @technicallykawaiisoul​  @bookish-shristi​ @saturnki​ @jennmurawski13​ @geeksareunique​ @the-soulofdevil​ @tinmunky​ @gifsbysimplysonia​ @alwaysbenhardysgirl @beck-alicious

[abhi16]

Bakery & Confectionery Products Sales and Marketing Agency in Pune

Fulcrum Resources Pvt. Ltd. is a bakery & confectionery products sales and marketing agency in Pune, and do sales pitching of your products for distribution to our interested sellers and give them appropriate marketing support to create demand. We are a one stop B2BMarketing and B2B distribution solution all over India. We offer services and device marketing plans for bakeries and confectioneries in Pune to boost bakery sales.

About Pune

Pune is the 8th largest metropolis in India and the  largest in Maharashtra. It is situated on the western side of Western Ghats and has a booming real estate market right now.

It has been ranked as "the most livable city in India" several times. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the key sectors of the local economy are education, manufacturing and information technology. It has also emerged as the new hub for tech startups in India.

Pune has witnessed engineering and other crucial sectors making it their headquarters, transforming it into a major industrial centre. Considered as the greenest urban areas of the nation, Pune has more than 40% of its area covered by greenery that is slowly degrading because of the real estate boom in Pune.

How to Reach

By air- The nearest airport is in Lohegaon, 10 kms from the main city of Pune. It is accessible by buses, cars or cabs.

By rail- Pune Railway Station is one of the major and most important railway junctions in the country. It is connected to all major Indian cities.

By Road- Indian and state highways are all connected to Pune. NH-4 connects Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolhapur. NH-9 joins the city to Hyderabad and NH-50 to Nashik. There is also a high-speed expressway connecting Pune to Mumbai.

Top Places of Commercial Interest in Pune

The Market Yard in Pune is a well-known market and vegetables, fruits and flowers are sold here at wholesale rate. Other major marketplaces in the city are Tulsi Baug Market, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Market, Juna Bazaar or Old Market, Laxmi Road Market, Phule Market (Mahatma Phule Mandai), The Hong Kong Market Lane, Phoenix Market City, Viman Nagar, Inorbit Mall, Viman Nagar, SGS Kakde Mall, Amanora Town Centre, Hadapsar, Jewel Square, Koregaon Park.

Sweet Tooth of Pune

The people of Pune love jalebi, caramel custard, banoffee pie and many other lip-smacking sweet delicacies. Since the young generation mostly flocks in Pune, foreign dishes like waffles, muffins, cheesecake and lemon tarts are also very popular. Thus, for a bakery or confectionery to flourish and prosper, Pune is an optimum destination.

Our Bread, Cake, Candies, Muffins and other Confectionery Products

Our product ranges from delicious caramel chocolate, breads, pastries to confectionery items like mixed fruit lollipops . All our products are made  using high quality ingredients in strict adherence to the set industry parameters. These products are admired by our patrons for their purity and high quality. In order to  meet the varied demands of our wide patron base, we offer these products in many desired quantity options.

We are fostered with a robust and ultramodern manufacturing unit that makes us capable of producing a wide range of products and  covering a broad area of distribution.

 We have a modern infrastructure facility at our premises to cater to our ever-growing  customer base and their varied demands while maintaining industry standards. The modern machines installed at our premises help us increase our production. Apart from this, we timely upgrade the machine installed in our production unit to satisfy our clients according to their needs which is constantly supported by our team of extremely talented people.

Want a Marketing Plan for Bakery or Confectionery you own? Contact Fulcrum now.

 We help our clients solve their Sales, Marketing and Distribution issues.We offer Sales and Marketing services to help bakeries and confectioneries on how to improve sales. Not only that, we also work with other small businesses and are dedicated to solving their issues. Everything from creating standards of excellence to training your people to work in more effective ways, assessing how you’re doing, and helping you perform even better in future. 

Sales and Marketing Agency

With over 10 years of successful outsourced sales experience delivering and managing B2B and B2C, we are trusted by our patrons. Our outsourced sales force teams are spread across multiple markets, sectors and product portfolios. We drive sales for you and your brand by using  short-term seasonal campaigns, and through to strategic, dedicated direct sales teams. We understand the resource structures, sales techniques and performance models needed to drive successful and compliant sales campaigns, both nationally and internationally. 

We have been in field sales and sales recruitment and understand what it is like to actually do a sales job not just recruit for one. So, tell us what you need and your requirements, the personality of your business and we will start recruiting immediately. Account Management – Sales Executives – Territory Sales – Field Sales – Telesales – Business Development, Field Sales force consulting, managed services, enhancements/support and contract and permanent Salesforce staffing.

We specialise in Sales recruitment and whether you’re looking to add a Senior or Junior level professional to your team, our range of industry tailored solutions are designed to help.

Brand Promotion

Our local marketing and sales expert  team will help to develop your sales channel and guide brand activation. Our team comprises qualified, classically trained creative personnel dedicated to producing world-class marketing that will help local sellers uphold corporate brand management.

Our brand management team will help you create flexible and personalized strategies for promotion and is always dedicated to maintaining your brand motto.

Distributor Network Set-Up

We make sales pitch of your product for distribution to interested sellers and give them appropriate marketing support to create demand. We are the one stop B2B Marketing and B2B Distribution solution for all across India. Instead of selling your service or products through wholesalers, retailers, value-added resellers, distributors or manufacturer’s representatives, work with us so that we can improve your sales by working with our channel partners. 

We select and train people for distributorship. All distributors are supported by virtual salesforce. Since, appointing distributors and managing distributors is a costly project, we manage that for you. Your product is thus going to the distributor without your marketing cost.

We help you sell your products.

We help you to improve and boost your sales.

We handle the distribution for you and tie up with distribution partners.

[driverwaltz]

Precipitate

Manager!Kylo Ren x Singer!Reader

Summary: Taking up late night gigs downtown at the Starlight Lounge was always just a way to earn some extra cash. Most days you’d bartend or bus tables, but on some special days your boss, Michael, would let you act as the live music feature of the night. It was one of those nights when you met him. The dark brooding man in the corner of the dimly lit bar caught your eye and promised opportunity, but nothing could have hinted towards what he had planned for the future.

Rating: Mature. This part is tame though.

Warnings: Unfair power dynamics, age gap, eventual smut, dub-con, drug use, slow burn

Words Count: 1.7K (Ik I went overboard)

Notes: This is my first ever fanfic so pls be nice 🥺. I took the inspiration for this from a couple of songs by the band Interpol and might make a playlist to go along with each chapter. If you guys have any suggestions or constructive criticism on my writing it’d be much appreciated (and needed lol). Also, this moves REALLY slowly in the beginning, but I promise I’ll start to pick up the pace.

Part 1: Meeting place

It broke again.

The only thing that alerted me this time was Michael's voice, booming from the back end of the bar from the kitchen to where I stood near the glassware.

"The third fuckin' time this month that I gotta replace the damn martini glasses 'cause of that hunk-of-shit washer!"

It's an easy fix, he could just replace that "hunk-of-shit" once, and that way he could spare us $65 every time a set of glasses break. It would also save the poor man on the end of the line every time he calls the distributor, demanding a new dozen and a discount. I could remind him this was an option again, but I know better. No matter what I say, I know his pride will go against any sense of better judgment. So, I stay quiet. Let him go on his little tirade while I do what he pays me to do: Act sweet to an array of old drunkards who plop themselves down on the same barstools every Saturday night. After they all get comfy, I make a point to ask about their wives and how their bitch of a boss made them work overtime. At the same time, I whip up concoctions of tequila, salt, and lime for them to hurriedly gulp down and offer me gratitude. However, it's only ever through words, never an extra 15% on the tab.

Kindness in strangers. That's what I was taught. Mama kept a stack of old scripts in a wicker basket near her nightstand, and I remember rummaging through them on static summer days when it was too hot to go outside. Mama never believed in failures. She'd always tell me, "you're constantly learning and improving. Never failing, just falling — stagnant." I like to believe that's true, but I was also raised to be honest. And, In all honesty, I can't deny that Mama was a failure. She moved out to California from Georgia without telling a soul the night she turned 17. She had nothing but her new hand-me-down car, some spare cash she got from waitressing, and a small suitcase full of clothes and essentials. Her dream was to become a performer, an actress, a starlet of her generation. She tried. I know she did, but things don't work out for a reason. So, I too, was born and raised in Georgia. However, unlike how Grandman brought up Mama, I was raised off stories of Mama's journey to Tinsel Town and the people she met rather than Grimms' Fairytales. I learned how to fall asleep to softly hummed show tunes rather than lullabies. Mama never wanted to buy new children's books; instead, she would recite one of her scripts to me. When I got a bit older, I fell in love with The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, and that's when Mama told me: "Always depend on the kindness of strangers."

I blame Mama. I believe personality is a sort of genetic trait, and I definitely got all of that from Mama. I can never say no to Michael. Not because he scares me or that I'm in full agreeance with him all the time, but whenever the word threatens to leave me lips, it chokes me. Then, I swallow it back down and resume whatever I was doing. No is never an option. It was never an option in the schoolyard or in the house, and especially not during my music classes. Mama wanted me to continue whatever legacy she had crafted for herself, and much to her disappointment, I was not much of a talker, but I was a hummer. So, Mama forced me to turn my quiet hums into fully supported singing. That was the start of it all. I took up guitar after that, and stole my dad's old records and tried to replicate what I would hear. I guess that's how I started writing music, as for what I did with that music...

"(y/n), Lucy said she comin' to take o'er you're shift in a few. If you want, you can clock out for tonight," Michael grumbled from the back in a shout.

"It's only midnight. I've only been working for about four hours, and I need the money this month, so I'm okay working for a little bit more. I can help you out in the back if you'd like," I responded. I really did need the money though, Martin's been on my ass about my lease.

Michael peered at me through the kitchen doorframe for a second, "You got your guitar in your car?"

"Yeah."

"You up to play a few songs tonight? We've got a bit more business tonight."

I felt the muscles in my face pull up and tighten against my will. I hate to admit that sometimes Michael can make me smile, and he was right. I turned to the entrance and slowly, one-by-one, people started coming in and settling down.

"Yes, sir! I'll bring it out." I exclaimed while grabbing my keys from behind the counter and making my way out to my car parked at the back.

After retrieving my case from the trunk, I quickly checked my reflection on the left-hand mirror and smoothed out my hair and touched up my lipstick. I saw a man pass by through the corner and make his way into the bar. I better make tips tonight doing this.

I waltzed back into the bar and headed for the small stage in the front. It's not really a stage more than it's a glorified black stool, but I like to think it's charming and adds character. You know, mask up the patheticness of it all. I plugged in my Fender to the worn-out amps and strummed to make sure it was in tune. There were a lot of people tonight. Well, a lot more than usual, at least. Quickly, I scanned the room for comforting faces to focus on and calm my nerves. Most of our customers were gruff men, so this trick usually didn't work, but tonight was different. In the corner by a little bust made by a local artist sat a man with thick black hair. He was by no means soft. Much like the patrons, he harbored a hard look on his face, but he struck me differently. It was intense and cold. Georgia's a hot place, so I didn't mind his gaze. It was cooling and made me freeze over.

I don't know why, but I want to impress him. Plus, looking down, I saw he was wearing a polished pair of dress shoes, so I assume he's got some money on him, maybe he'll spare me a tip. I'll just play a cover. Can't go wrong with a cover.

My fingers dragged across the guitar strings and drew out the alternating chords of D7 and Am in a back and forth pattern.

"It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day... Mama said she got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge... She said Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge..."

Bobbie Gentry was one of dad's favorites. I know the country wasn't a popular choice for many people, but this is the South, and Ode to Billie Joe is always a classic, and I think the dreariness of the song perfectly compliments the tone of the bar.

I played a set and earned a couple of measly tips from it. Nothing I could complain about, I guess. It was nearly 1 am, and I was getting tired. Overtime is only worth so much, so I decided it was best to go back home. I packed up my guitar and walked to the bar counter to ask Lucy to clock for me, but before I could even rest my case against the counter, I felt a man slide into the seat next to me.

"You've gotta nice voice," he drawled out while staring at the wall in front of him.

"Thank you. I perform here almost every week."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah..." I couldn't really think of how I could continue this conversation. And, trust me, I really want to. The man was wearing a black button-up shirt, grey trousers, and that impressive pair of dress shoes. His hair was long and gelled back, and his profile was exquisite. He looked strong, and his voice was deep and rich like marmalade.

"You could work on that guitar a little bit," he deadpanned as he took a swig of whiskey. I looked at him even more intensely then and scoffed.

"Really? Can you do better?"

"I never said that. I just think, with a voice like that, the guitar should match up," he said with a playful glint in his voice as he finally turned his head towards me.

Now, I really don't know how to continue this conversation.

"Alright, you caught me. I'm not that great at the guitar, but hey, I'm a bar singer, not Paul McCartney, or something," I laughed out. He smiled, and then I felt all the blood in my body rush to my cheeks, it's a miracle I didn't fall flat on my face.

"I guess I was just expecting more," he said.

"Well, I didn't promise you anything, did I?"

He looked like he was in his late 20s, probably.

"No. No, you didn't. But, maybe you could start... for next time."

"That depends. Are you gonna give me a tip."

"Yes. When I think you deserve it," he said as his face fell flat and his voice authoritative in an odd way.

"Well, I'll probably be here next Saturday so you can decide then."

"Will do," he smirked.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Kylo," he replied in a gentle voice as he once again held his glass of whiskey up. He then raised his eyebrow, and I knew he wanted an answer.

"(y/n)."

He gulped down his whiskey, turned to me, and smiled. I wanted to say something more, I had to say something, but he stopped me before I could by getting up and walking towards the door.

"I gotta be somewhere tomorrow, doll. I'm expecting a show on Saturday," he exclaimed as he stepped out the bar.

"Don't worry... I can put on a show."

He grinned one final time before escaping out of the bar, leaving me alone with his empty cup of whiskey and a smile that doesn't leave my face the entire night.

[jasperwhitcock]

05. FAMILY FEUD

surprise, bitches. bet you thought you’d seen the last of me. why do i update my fic always a month apart. sorry!! i’m always working on it, i just write really long chapters... anyways, here is chapter five of my bella as a vampire and edward as a human fanfic inspired by an au that @bellasredchevy​ posted. you can read the new chapter on AO3 or here. i post updates on AO3 or on tumblr using the #equinoxjw tag.

i've incorporated some quotes from midnight sun because obviously this is still something of a parallel to midnight sun & i wanted to stay true to some of the reactions. also, you may recognize a little blurb imbedded here that i've written before about the bookshelf hehe. hope yall enjoy ♡♡♡

The weight of the battle I was fighting within myself was beginning to surpass the previous toll it’d taken on me. Every moment since I met Edward, it seemed I was falling further down into an abyss that I couldn’t climb out of, and every time I felt like maybe I’d found my grip, I only fell further. Again, I was frustrated as I sat outside Edward’s house in Carlisle’s Mercedes, watching the hazy, obscure sun slip further away behind the blackened clouds, leaving me shrouded in the darkness of a midday storm and the cover of pouring rain. I felt partially guilty for not returning Carlisle’s car. He wouldn’t mind running home, but Esme might not be too pleased about the puddles his drenched clothing would leave on her newly installed flooring. Although after today, it might not matter anymore.

I wondered what I’d return home to. Would they have already finished packing up our belongings? Would they be waiting to confront me about the consequences of my actions? Carlisle was forgiving, but would the rest of my family be?

For those reasons, I wasn’t ready to return home yet. But mostly, I was hesitant to drive away because I knew the moment my tires left Edward’s street would be the moment I’d be leaving him behind in Forks. I felt unprepared for the finality of such a moment.

When I heard the soft purr of an engine turning onto the street around one in the afternoon, I sighed, shifting the car into drive and moving forward to the end of the road in case it was Edward’s father returning home. I watched in my rearview mirror as the silver vehicle confirmed my suspicions by pulling into Edward’s driveway. Although the darkness of the thunderstorm’s gloom brewing in the clouds did little to obscure my eyesight, the torrent of rain pounding down relentlessly onto the green earth was too thick for even my eyes to catch a good glimpse of his face.

I could stay and listen – hear the voice of his father and compare it to the quality of Edward’s low, soft timbre, see if Edward’s sincerity in sticking to my version of events was genuine, check if he was truly as alright as he insisted – but maybe I was only looking for reasons to avoid heading home. Or maybe I was just being unforgivably invasive.

I glanced at the digital clock. 1:05. If they had stayed in their classes after the accident, there was still another hour and forty minutes before my siblings would be released from school. If they went home early, then Carlisle still wouldn’t be home for another two hours and twenty five minutes. I decided I’d rather not be there without Carlisle, so I lifted my foot off the break, slammed on the gas, and headed for Port Angeles before I realized where I was going.

As I left Forks behind me, the rain softened to a more consoling pitter patter on the roof of the car, and the clouds, although still grey, were lighter, hinting at the hidden sun. I made it to Port Angeles in under half an hour, luckily finding the roads to be mostly empty.

I drove at an appropriate speed once I reached the city. It was surprisingly beautiful scenery for such a disastrous day. It had snowed the night before here as well, but the melted snow hadn’t refrozen into ice. Instead, the tops of the buildings were covered in a thin layer of fluffy white snowflakes. The clouds above were thick enough to conceal me from the sun but held no implications of oncoming rain.

I located a parking spot near my favorite old brick building and paid the meter for the next few hours. The air was even more wintry here than in Forks as the harbor air brought in fresh, freezing ocean spray. There was a bookstore I liked to go to here in Port Angeles. Even as a child, Forks didn’t have an adequate library or bookstore to satiate my needs. My previous grievances with the rainforest of a city aside, there was always the silver lining of the bookstore.

If there was one thing that I looked forward to when arriving in the otherwise detestable small town of Forks in the rainy state of Washington, it was returning to the familiar mahogany of the sturdy bookshelf in the tiny living room of Charlie’s small, two-story house. It had been a gift – a homecoming gesture – in hopes to put me in better spirits when I was forced to spend my summers with my father. He knew how I had disliked his gloomy town just as my mother had. A friend from the reservation, Billy Black’s, young, cheerful son built the bookshelf himself. Billy had dismissed Charlie’s offers to pay his son for the service, insisting he accept it as a present in return for all the nights Billy stole away to the Swan Residence (Swan, the last name I held as a human) to watch the game on Charlie’s much larger – though not by much – television screen. When he hadn’t been looking, Charlie slipped a small wad of cash to Billy’s kid who excitedly accepted it, eager to save for some other projects.

Over time, the book shelf became a home for some of my favorite classic novels. On his days off, when his friend Harry Clearwater was unavailable for a fishing trip, he’d picked up books of all kinds, hoping I would find at least one I liked in the overflowing collection. The bookshelf was stuffed with paperbacks and hardbacks, lining each ledge edge to edge with books piling horizontally on top of the other books as space began to run out. It was a gesture that moved me in ways I was unused to and ways I couldn’t find the words to express.

When I was in town, Charlie drove me to some of the larger cities surrounding his small town and waited patiently as I perused the shelves of second-hand book stores. Smart as he was, he wasn’t a very articulate man, struggling to convey the depth of his emotions through words. But something in his eyes betrayed the way his heart overflowed with pride and adoration watching his small, gangly daughter enter into a world of her own as she searched for her next favorite story to add to their beloved bookshelf. It was a look I caught that sometimes made me feel embarrassed and shy by the profundity of the love in it, but now a look that I’d always remember. A look that would always make my unbeating heart feel somehow full and empty at the same time. Intense feelings of love and sadness for what I’d once had and since lost. This bookstore was our favorite, and therefore, it would always be my favorite. It still held the aged charm of the past, but they made some modern improvements in desperation for relevance today. I’d made sure to keep the store open with anonymous donations. Too many independent bookstores suffered in such a competitive, unfair market full of large online distributors.

I listened to the familiar hum of the glowing red neon sign in the window as I reached for the door. A bell above let out a peal of rings as I entered, and the clerk behind the wooden counter looked up beneath her large glasses. Her skin was deeply tan with olive undertones and her dark hair was cropped in a perfect line above her shoulders. Her eyes registered shock upon seeing my face, her heart rate picked up, and she stuttered over her words. “W-welcome!”

“Thank you,” I smiled softly, though finding the politeness to be difficult today. I didn’t want to come across rude or threatening, but feigning anything resembling joy was especially exhausting. I kept my voice gentle and even so as not to alarm the woman.

“Let me know if you need any help!” She called after me as I passed the counter, heading deeper into the store.

The shop was unpopulated at this time of day. Only a few people loitered here and there examining the shelves or curled up on loveseats with hot coffee cups to recover from the chill of the outdoors.

I crossed over the entirety of the first floor, finding the concealed narrow staircase that led to the upstairs. Tasting the air, I could tell there was nobody immediately near me, so I flew up the staircase at a more reasonable speed though I was in no hurry. The second floor was a brown labyrinth, the bookshelves placed in a way to create an intimate maze with countless little crevices to slip into and hide away from the rest of the world. Hardbacks and paperbacks piled the shelves and walls from the floor to the ceiling. The air was filled with the scents of crispy paper, aged ink, and the sweet, musky smell of older books. The lighting was warm reddish-orange, dull, and not ideal for reading despite the setting, but a miscellaneous mélange of lamps in all shapes and sizes embellished the spaces tucked between the bookcases, generating enough brightness to read in tiny, personal pools of light.

I weaved a path through the maze until I reached a dead-end corner with a single, wine-colored armchair in a faded leather. An ornate wooden plaque spray painted gold with eroded edges was drilled into the shelf behind the chair, the words “For Charlie” engraved into the pallet. Well, my donations were mostly anonymous.

No matter how many times I rounded this corner, every time my eyes fell on the empty chair hit me like a wrecking ball with nearly unmanageable grief. Any attempt to decipher the thoughts that came with this always led me to simplistic statements because that was all that I could ever handle. It was too much emptiness, too much numbness, too much complexity. It was always simply too much. And that was about all the conclusions I could come to no matter how much gentleness and coaxing Esme, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Carlisle comforted me with. It was always easier to push away the thought, to avoid thinking too much than to acknowledge the hole in my chest. Some days I almost forget, and some days it becomes seemingly ever present. It was always easier to ignore the gravity of the grief.

But in this life with the absoluteness of what we are, all we can do is to go on. One next step at a time. As much as I felt so much stronger and accustomed to this life, there was no denying the simple truth – there is so much loss in immortality.

I sighed. Even with all of our physical resilience, the extremities of our emotions in this form was enough to be tiring. I took steps forward and turned to sink into the chair, feeling very small. Looking out at the warmth of the bookcases and the endless array of novels, I thought of what it would be like to be Charlie sitting here, watching his awkward daughter run her finger along all the spines or disappear into the maze only to be found on the floor somewhere surrounded by piles of books.

Sometimes being here I could feel the ghost of Charlie’s love. The intensity that he couldn’t quite always communicate and that I didn’t always understand the extent of. But here, I could feel it. And I felt the same love for him in return. I missed him. His thick mustache, the sudden youthfulness in his warm, brown eyes when he smiled, the endearing crinkles that reminded me of his age. The coffee rings on the table, and the snow chains on my tires. The flush of red under his translucent skin when he was angry or embarrassed. Just like how my skin had been. Like father, like daughter.

I wondered what he’d think of my life now, and what he’d think of what I’d done today. Knowing the circumstances of the secrets I was meant to keep, would he have thought I’d done the right thing as Carlisle had? Or would he have thought I interfered and placed my siblings at risk like the rest of my family might think? I think that despite the consequences, he would have said something like, “you did the right thing, kid.” And maybe he’d even uncomfortably ask me about whether or not this boy was someone he should be keeping his eye on and would be immensely relieved when I reassured him that the answer was no. The thought almost made me smile. So then, I couldn’t bring myself to regret my decisions, and I wouldn’t allow myself to.

I sat there in the weathered leather of the chair for some time, listening to the subtle dragging of pages sliding off of shelves, the whoosh of air and the crispy rustle of paper as someone turned a page, the heaviness of footsteps on dead pieces of floorboard, the twinkle of the bell above the front door, and the whisper of the frozen wind rushing inside. After an hour, I stirred, rising from Charlie’s chair to trace my finger along the edges of the shelves, the action stirring up some dust particles to leap into the air like dandelion seeds, the warm light catching them in astonishing ways as they floated along. I left my little nook briefly to find the right section that would hold the book I was suddenly searching for.

When I located it, I plucked the gently used novel off the shelf, vowing to officially mend my own copy at home since it was the same story that Emmett had destroyed the morning of the first day I saw Edward.

I returned to the armchair, once again sinking down into the burgundy, and flipped through the aged pages until I found the place I left off at.

I’d have read until closing time, but eventually something in the unreliability of initial appearances in Pride and Prejudice began to bother me in a way that it never had before. I gave up on the book and instead sat unthinking – or attempting to, at least– quietly for a few hours.

Again, I longed to sleep. I’d never needed an escape as much as I did now as my mind was becoming too tiring a place to consciously be.

After some time, I heard creaky footsteps on the ancient wood up the stairs and the jingling sound of keys hitting each other. I waited patiently as they approached, imagining where exactly they may be in the labyrinth as they turned corners and hesitated to quietly shove stray books back onto shelves. They drew closer, closing in the distance between them and my little nook, finally rounding the corner.

“Oh!” The clerk from downstairs gasped in surprise, dropping the book in her hand. I stopped myself from saving it to not startle her any further with sudden movements, allowing it to clatter noisily to the floor.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, only then rising from the chair to lean down and collect the novel after an appropriate amount of reaction time. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The clerk’s heart boomed loudly in her chest. “No, no, it’s alright!” She laughed breathlessly, a hand fluttering to her heart. “I just didn’t think anyone else was here... We’re, uh, sorry, we’re closed!”

“Oh, I’m sorry again,” I laughed softly as well to relax her, extending my hand to offer her the book she’d dropped. “I must have lost track of time.”

“That’s okay! It happens more often than you think...” she laughed again, her heart rate slowing down to a more regular place, though now that she recovered from the shock, her face was mesmerized by the oddness of my jarringly perfect appearance.

“I’ll leave now,” I smiled politely, pushing the book forward to her hand, careful not to touch her skin. Without processing, she took hold of the book. As I began to pass her, she clumsily turned.

“Oh, uh, wait! I’ll unlock the door to let you out!”

I allowed her to pass me up and leisurely followed her through the maze down the stairs. Her blood had a sweet smell, but it was still unappealing in comparison to Edward’s.

Once we’d reached the door, I could see how much time had passed whilst I hadn’t been paying attention. Through the large windows, night had fallen in a blackened cloak over the port city.

“Here we are,” she shyly chirped in a very intentionally favorable tone – something she probably reserved for customer service – and fiddled with the keys. Her hands shook slightly, and I felt guilty for how it must feel to have her back turned to a predator. Of course, she couldn’t know the difference, but her body recognized the threat. Finally, once she’d found the right key, she jimmied the rusty metal into the lock – missing the narrow fissure twice at first – and opened the door.

“Sorry about that. Thank you so much for coming,” she turned, gesturing with a shaky hand towards the outside world. The bitter wind blew in through the opening, making her shiver.

“Thank you,” I smiled again for her sake. Her eyes were peculiarly light compared to the rest of her features, making them extremely prominent. They were lighter and more hazel, yet the shade of green made me think of Edward again. I sighed. “Have a good night.”

I stepped out into the darkened street, looking down at the strange way the red light from the neon sign in the window washed over and illuminated my skin. Tiny bugs flew around the street lamps up above, casting irregularly moving shadows on the frozen sidewalk.

The heavy door shut loudly behind me, and she clicked the lock. It was unusually quiet, though that could be due to it being a weeknight. The bulbs in the streetlamps hummed and the bugs buzzed in response.

I strolled along the sidewalk, taking my time before returning to Carlisle’s car. I should have paid the meter more generously. It expired two hours ago. I’d received a parking ticket. Oops.

I removed the frozen slip of paper and unlocked the car, sliding into the driver’s seat. I had no desire to drive fast at first, deciding to return home at the speed limit. After about forty minutes, suddenly the anticipation to get the confrontation out of the way overcame me, and I drove 200 miles per hour the rest of the way home. Within minutes, I was turning onto the miles-long driveway.

As I raced for the garage, I listened for any movement from the bright house. There was none. I wondered how long they’d been sitting still, waiting for me. I groaned aloud in greeting.

The garage door was open so I pulled into the blue fluorescence and parked beside Rosalie’s day car. I sighed once before determinedly exiting the vehicle.

I slammed the door a little too hard before catching the handle before it hit the body. Perhaps I’d reached my quota this morning when it came to destroying car doors.

I ran through the small section of woods separating the garage from the house and braced myself for the impact of the meeting.

“Hello,” I said sheepishly. I wanted to sound stronger and more confident, but my nerve wavered as I entered the dining room to see everyone waiting for me at the long oval table. At the eastern head of the table, Carlisle and Esme sat side by side, their hands resting together atop the mahogany. I felt some of the resilience I’d mustered in the last few seconds return upon seeing the intensity of Esme’s golden eyes. They were full of concern and overwhelmingly forgiving. It was reassuring.

Rosalie sat directly opposite from Carlisle, very intentionally avoiding eye contact with me, her arms crossed firmly across her chest. I could feel the tension and coldness emanating from her. I was unused to feeling spurned by Rosalie. She always tenderly cared for me, always taking my side… My actions must have truly offended her today. A twinge of guilt twisted my abdomen.

It was unfair to feel any sense of betrayal considering the danger I’d placed my family in, but still with Emmett wrly seated beside Rosalie, and Jasper standing behind them, leaning against the wall mirroring Rose’s crossed arms, I felt some irrational anger at the lines being drawn. Of course, I should have known better than to think Emmett would have my back as if he wouldn’t undoubtedly support Rosalie.

Alice sat beside Esme, her eyes focused on something other than the room. I wondered if her visions made her support waver, if in all the hours I’d been gone, she’d been moving back and forth on either side of the room. She always chose the winning side.

“I’m sorry,” I breathed. “First, for this,” I crossed to the other side of the table to sit beside Carlisle, placing the parking ticket on the wood and sliding it over towards him. His lips curved into an amused smirk, and I felt encouraged by the expression.

“And more importantly,” I turned to face Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper. “I’m very, very sorry for this morning. It was incredibly selfish, irresponsible, and stupid of me to put any of you at risk. It’s all my fault… I take full responsibility for my actions.”

Rosalie’s exquisite face finally looked up at me, her expression full of hurt. “And what does that mean, Bella? Are you planning on fixing this?”

The implication behind her words filled me with sudden indignation, and before I could calm myself down, I snapped, “not in the way that you mean.”

Of course, something had to be done about the accident, but what was the point of going to such idiotic lengths to save his life only to end it later? Didn’t she realize I’ve been fighting to keep him alive since the very moment I’d met him?

Rosalie took offense to the harsh accusation of my words. “You say that as if I’d advocate for this under normal circumstances.”

“I had planned on leaving before, and I will leave now if it makes things easier.” Rather than keeping my voice calm and even, the words again came out in ways I didn’t intend. Unnecessarily punitive. I knew it was ridiculous to be so angry with Rosalie’s anger towards me when she was entirely right, but I couldn’t tame my passion in defense of Edward’s silly little life.

“Oh, no, Bella,” Esme murmured. “Please, you can’t leave.”

I reached to squeeze my mother’s hand.

“It’d have been helpful prior to this morning,” Jasper spoke up. “Now, it’s irrelevant.”

“Jazz is right,” Emmett agreed. “There’s no point in leaving now. If anything, that’d look more suspicious.”

“I agree with Emmett, Bella,” Carlisle nodded. “For you to disappear, perhaps it’d make the boy more inclined to talk. Either all of us leave or none.”

“Edward won’t say anything,” I insisted.

“You can’t know that,” Rosalie argued.

“I trust him,” I disagreed, surprising myself at how true the statement was. I thought back to the biology lab when he’d jokingly asked if I trusted him. It was in response to his identification of the stages of mitosis, and I had said no. Now, I suddenly entrusted him with the secrecy of my vampire abilities. I was really unintelligent. She scoffed at my words. “Alice, back me up.”

“I can’t see what will happen if we just ignore this,” Alice rubbed her temples before shooting an accusatory glance in Jasper and Rosalie’s direction.

“We can’t ignore this. Bella, I have always supported you, and of course I love you dearly. But clearly, this isn’t some minor mistake. You were right – it was incredibly selfish and irresponsible and stupid! And it’d be even more irresponsible and stupid for us to allow the human the chance to say anything about it. Carlisle, you must see that,” Rosalie turned her attention to our adopted father.

“It’s not like we haven’t left rumors behind before,” I reminded her. “And I don’t recall anyone else’s first offense putting them on trial like this.”

She ignored the second part of my statement. “Rumors, Bella. Today, you’ve provided eyewitnesses and evidence! It’s not enough that you were perfect prior to today. You’re no more a saint than the rest of us! We have to be perfect always! This was a massive mistake!” Rosalie stood up from her chair. “And I know that!” I stood up as well.

“Then you should agree with what’s the right course of action! It doesn’t have to be a big production. So he seemed alright after the accident. Every mortal goes to sleep with the chance of never waking up. Say Carlisle missed something far more serious than it looked. I don’t delight in this, Bella, but the rest of our kind would expect us to take care of this. Technically, you should be the one to clean up after yourself.”

“Rosalie, the Masen boy is completely innocent,” Carlisle gently disapproved.

Rosalie frowned. “It’s an unfortunate consequence to Bella’s mistake in favor of protecting us all, but a consequence nonetheless”

“Rose, I am sorry-”

“Sorry doesn’t matter anymore, Bella!” She interrupted.

“I never wanted this. I never wanted to place you or Emmett or any of us in this position. I know my actions have affected you. But I couldn’t just let him die that way!” My chest sunk at the thought.

“But it wasn’t your place to meddle with fate. You’ve already interrupted his life with your existence alone. Why let him survive? So that you could slaughter him later?”

I winced at her words, but a low hiss escaped my throat as well.

“Rose...” Emmett reached up for her hand to placate her, but she pulled away.

“No, it’s the truth. Our existence and your fixation on his scent posed a threat to the boy. His time came, but you interfered. Now he poses a greater threat to us. So what was the point of that then? You couldn’t help yourself from cutting into his life? It seems the universe provided you with an easy way out, and you went out of your way to make things not only more difficult for yourself but for us as well. I don’t always love this life, but excuse me for taking it personally when you’ve threatened the tiniest piece of happiness I have here! You should have just let him die! It seems you’ll end up killing him anyways!”

The room shifted completely. Suddenly, everyone was on their feet, Rosalie leaned towards me in defense, Emmett uncomfortably but faithfully crouched by her side, Jasper’s stance was more confident and relaxed but poised to strike as well. Carlisle and Esme were both by my sides, holding me in place by my arms. Only Alice remained in her seat, not at all concerned by the change in atmosphere. It took me half a second to realize what had triggered everyone’s response – to process the vicious growl that erupted from my throat and the tenseness of my body as it coiled to spring at my own sister. I was too stubborn and furious to feel any shame yet. I scowled but eased my stance, allowing Carlisle and Esme to gently coax me back to my chair. Everyone else loosened their defensive posture. Emmett made Rosalie sit down, her golden eyes narrowed in a harsh glare of which I was the recipient. Jasper stood straight again but remained stiff. Once we’d all relaxed, Carlisle began speaking again.

“Rosalie, I know you mean well, but every life is precious. To murder a blameless child poses an even greater risk to us. The occasional accident or lapse in control is a regrettable part of who we are, but to bring harm to the boy would make ourselves unworthy of the protection you so lovingly wish to give us. If we make exceptions to protect ourselves, we risk something much more important. We risk losing the essence of who we are.”

I couldn’t help the tiny smile that pulled at the corner of my lips.

“Carlisle, it’s about being responsible when Bella was so horribly irresponsible.”

Being on the receiving end of Rosalie’s inflexibility and anger was not at all pleasant.

"It's being callous," Carlisle corrected softly before repeating himself. “Every human life is precious.”

Rosalie sighed heavily and turned her head to again avoid looking at me, making it very apparent where the two of us stood.

“The question is whether or not we should move on,” he continued.

“The last thing I want is to unroot any of you. I don’t think that’ll be necessary, Carlisle. I feel confident about Edward’s silence,” I insisted again.

Rosalie huffed loudly, and I turned just in time to catch her rolling her eyes.

“Well, we certainly don't have to decide now. Perhaps we wait then,” Carlisle nodded.

I turned to face Alice, searching for some reassurance about the future but instead following her accusatory gaze to where Jasper stood leaning against the wall again. They were having another one of those silent conversations they shared that the rest of us were lost to. It was almost as if they could read each other’s minds.

“What?” I asked.

“Jazz seems to feel he’s above this conversation,” Alice gritted her teeth. “He seems to think he should set things right.”

My eyes flashed between her and Jasper, whose face was expressionless and unmoved. It took me a moment to piece it together.

“Jazz,” I warned as I began to feel irrationally overprotective again. “I won’t let you punish him for my mistake.”

“So he benefits from it then?” He raised his eyebrows.

“I won’t allow it,” I repeated.

“And I won’t allow Alice to live in danger. You can’t understand, Bella. You don’t feel about anyone the way I feel towards her.”

“That’s irrelevant. I’m not just going to stand aside as you murder him,” I hissed. “I will not let you hurt Edward Masen.”

We stared at each other. I knew he was measuring the opposition and sampling the depth of my determination.

“Jazz,” Alice interrupted us, cutting through the tension in the air.

“Don’t bother telling me you can protect yourself, Alice. I already know that, but-”

“That’s not what I was going to say, but thank you for the assumption,” she rolled her eyes. “And it’s true, I can. I don’t need the backup, you overprotective fool.”

She said the last words playfully, her voice full of affection, as she stuck her tongue out. The action was out of sync with the mood of the room. “What I was going to ask for was a favor.”

Jasper’s eyebrows raised at what was seemingly an inappropriate time to make any requests. My eyebrows knitted in confusion at where the conversation was heading.

“I know you love me, but I would really appreciate it if you didn’t try to kill Edward. First, we all know how headstrong Bella is, so you shouldn’t doubt how serious she’s being right now. I don’t want the two of you to fight. Seriously. Secondly, Edward is my friend. Yours too. At least, he’s going to be.”

“What?” Jasper gasped. Even though we were all very much accustomed to Alice’s ambiguity and the bizarre certainty she spoke with about things only she had seen, this was not a statement that could so easily be digested. I couldn’t tear my attention from Alice, staring intently at her face as if the meaning behind her words would suddenly be written on her forehead. What had she seen in that little odd head of hers?

“I’m going to love him–” as she said this, I nearly choked on the air whistling down my throat “–someday, Jazz. I’d be very put out with you if you don’t leave him be.”

I was locked into place, my eyes still boring deeply into my sister’s face. I could feel the pucker on my forehead etched into my expression as I tried to make sense of what she was saying. I kept expecting Alice to explain, but every time she opened her mouth she only confounded me more.

“Ahh!” Alice sighed, smiling brightly. “See, there’s nothing to worry about! Edward won’t say anything at all.”

I could not see.

“Alice,” I whined impatiently. “What are you saying?”

“I don’t know, Bella. I told you something was changing in your future.”

“In my future? What did you see?”

“Hmm… I don’t think I should share quite yet,” Alice locked her jaw, and I growled, exasperated.

“Oh, clearly, Bella can’t be trusted lately to not act on her impulses! You should give her whatever warning you’re hiding,” Rosalie sighed, annoyed.

I was still feeling illogically irritated with Rose’s resentment, but I couldn’t disagree with her. “She’s right, Alice.”

“I really don’t think-”

“Who votes that Alice shares what she knows?” I asked restlessly. “Raise your hand.”

It was juvenile, and this was not how we came to decisions ever. Of course we’d discuss differing opinions, but never so bluntly did we vote in this manner. The way I approached the subject was rude, but still unanimously, six hands shot into the air including mine.

“Fine,” Alice huffed, scowling. “But I’m not obligated to share anything just because the rest of you voted. That’s silly. I’m only sharing because I can see that Bella won’t let this go.”

She paused and we waited, staring. It was as if we were awaiting the results of a reading from some fortune teller at a carnival, anxious to see which tarot cards she had pulled. Anxious to see what this would mean for my life.

“My vision keeps becoming clearer. At first, it was just hazy, and I couldn’t make sense of it or of who I was seeing. Every minute it’s like Bella’s more decided,” Alice began. Six pairs of eyes flickered to me, but I had no idea what she was referring to, nor did I know how this related to the boy. Alice frowned a little as if she knew what she was about to say wouldn’t be received well. “It seems there’s only two ways left for Edward now. Either Bella will… end his life or… he’ll join us.”

Esme gasped as my mouth dropped open.

“Join us?!” I choked out once I recovered. “I…. I have not made a decision anywhere in that realm at all. That has never ever crossed my mind. Why in the world would I turn him?”

“Maybe you don’t. Maybe I do it because I love him too or at least, I will. I don’t know.”

“Love him, too?” I gaped, convinced Alice’s abilities were broken somehow. “What does that even mean? Who else are you talking about?”

“Who do you think, Bella?” Alice rolled her eyes again, impatient at my lack of clairvoyance. “Clearly not Rosalie.”

“Love him!?” Rosalie questioned incredulously, eyeing me as if I’d completely lost my mind. Maybe I had.

I then realized what Alice meant as I watched Rosalie’s face and processed the other baffled pairs of eyes.

“You mean me!?” I gasped.

“Woah! What the hell...” Emmett almost laughed in surprise, then decided it was indeed actually funny and broke out into real, booming laughter. “Damn! That’s rough. Of course, Bella would fall for a human!”

“Fall for a human?” Esme asked, completely astonished. “Fall in love? With the boy she saved today?”

“Nobody is in love with anybody,” I stood up. “That’s completely absurd!”

“Ooh, touchy subject,” Emmett snickered. I glared daggers at him.

“What exactly do you see, Alice?” Jasper asked.

“I already told you. It depends on Bella’s strength. Either she’ll kill him herself which would really destroy you, Bella, not to mention how very irritated I’d be with you–” she gave me a stern look through narrowed eyes as if I’d already committed the murder then returned her attention to the rest of our family “–or he’ll be one of us someday. There’s not much else to say; the visions are finite but not detailed. It will require a great deal of self control…”

As she continued to muse, I was still frozen in place on my feet, completely numb and completely bewildered.

“...Greater than even Carlisle’s capability maybe. I wouldn’t have put it past her prior to this, but now… It’ll be extremely close as to whether or not she kills him. The only thing she’s not strong enough to do is stay away from him. That’s a completely lost cause.”

The room was entirely quiet.

“Well, this complicates things greatly,” Carlisle murmured.

After another moment of silence, Rosalie piped up. “I can’t believe it. In love with a human-”

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Rosalie!” I snarled, returning to some clarity.

“Girls, please-” Esme began to plead.

“Ooh, she got you there, babe,” Emmett interrupted, chuckling as Rose growled at him.

“Emmett,” Esme warned sternly. He held up his hands in surrender but winked at me, grinning widely.

I couldn’t even appreciate the realliance. I was still too lost in the sudden upheaval of my entire life.

“I suppose the plans remain the same, though," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "We'll stay and watch. Obviously, no one will...hurt the boy.”

“Of course not,” Jasper agreed, nodding his head once. “If Alice only sees two ways, then it’s unnecessary to take matters into-”

“Shut up, Jazz,” I said numbly.

Everyone’s eyes flickered over to me.

I was just loving being the center of attention these days.

If Alice only sees two ways...

“You’re wrong,” I whispered. For the first time in my life, I was betting against Alice.

My psychic sister opened her mouth to protest but stopped after seeing either in her head or on my face that I wasn’t finished.

“I hardly know Edward. I don’t see how it could be possible for me to… develop any kind of… feelings for him. That’s entirely ridiculous. I mean, he’s… human! The only scenario that could potentially ever happen – which again, it’s absolutely implausible – would be if I were to accidentally change him. And even then, I mean, why would I-... He’s so… Ugh, just nevermind! That would be a complete mistake. A mistake greater than the one I made today. And I’m very sorry to you all for how I’ve mutilated the future with my actions, but I’m going to fix it. I’ll leave-”

“You can’t,” Alice and Esme interrupted at the same time. My sister’s tone was one of annoyance while my mother’s was one of concern.

“You’re right,” I nodded, but my agreement wasn’t for the reasons Alice meant. I wasn’t considering my capability to leave based on my own will power against leaving the boy behind. That was something too complicated to unpack here in front of my family. Something that’d be better dealt with on the floor with my arms wrapped around my knees. I wouldn’t leave because it’d be more crucial for me to stay now. The responsible thing to do. “But I’ll try to...I will stay away from Edward–” suddenly, I felt a desire to begin to distance myself from him and referring to him by his name felt too deeply personal, so I corrected myself, “–from the boy, I mean. It’s not right to condemn him to either fate. I won’t allow that to happen.”

As I spoke, Rosalie’s face softened and she materialized by my side, taking my hand.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve behaved today, Bella. I only spoke out of love for our family. But you’re right. It’s not right. And I’m glad you’re choosing to do the right thing by staying away. I still don’t feel as though trusting him is responsible, but if what Alice has said is true-”

“I’m sorry, too,” I cut her off quietly, not wanting to hear the rest. I was feeling sorry for so much more than just how I spoke to Rose.

Esme appeared behind me as well, placing her hand encouragingly on my shoulder. “We are here to support you, Bella.”

“Thanks,” I murmured unenthusiastically.

Nobody moved again as they waited to see what I’d do next. I felt like a zoo animal.

I sighed, releasing Rose’s hand and shaking off Esme.

“If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to be by myself.”

“Of course,” Carlisle responded.

I crossed behind the west side of the table. Emmett let out a low, cartoony whistle of relief to break the tension, and I punched him on the arm as I passed. As I exited the room, Alice called, “wait!”

She was by my side in an instant.

“This is from the accident. It’s Edward’s. I thought maybe you’d want to return it to him.”

I looked down as she pulled my unresponsive hand away from my body to place the thick, chestnut journal I’d seen Edward reach for in his backseat right before the accident. I stared at her, impassive, so she sighed and wrapped my fingers around the worn leather to force it into my grip.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, turning and disappearing out of the house into the forest.

As I ran, I felt the weight of their eyes on me.

[agentblyeanddeeks]

Chapter 1

Finally happy enough with chapter 1 to share it with you all. Still deciding on a title, then I will post to ff.net. A HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to @mashmaiden​ for listening to my indecisiveness until I finally got to where I wanted. And for the constant motivation to keep going.

AU of the team first meeting Deeks. What happens when Kensi gets caught up in one of Deeks undercovers. Will contain flashbacks.

August 17, 2010

“Mr. Callen. Nice of you to decide to finally come into work this morning.” Hetty stood in the archway of the mission entrance as the senior agent arrived.

“We live in LA. You know the traffic is always unpredictable.” Callen responded.

Hetty folded her arms, “Mr. Hanna and Mr. Beale don’t seem to have any trouble being on time. Might I suggest an earlier departure from now on?”

“I will do my best, Hetty.”

“That you will, Mr. Callen. That you will. Now, up to Ops you go. There’s a case to be solved” Hetty shooed him towards the stairs.

————-

“Well, well, well. Third time this month, G. Let me guess, you were busy switching apartments because this one was too relaxing.”

“Too relaxing? What does that even mean?”

“It means you need to stop making excuses and just settle down in one place. It will be good for you.”

“Or I could just stay with you, Michelle, and the kids.”

“We tried that once before, remember? By the way, you still owe me a toaster.”

“Hey, that was not my fault.” 

Um, guy. We have a case.” Eric interrupted the partners bickering.

“Sorry, Eric.” Callen noticed the room was still one Agent short, “Where’s Kensi?”

The automated doors opened again revealing their operations manager, “It seems your tardiness is beginning to rub off on your teammates. Rest assured I will have a talk with her later. Now let’s not waste anymore time. Eric.”

Eric swiveled his chair around towards his computer. After a few clicks on the keyboard, an image appeared on the main screen. “Meet Petty Officer 3rd Class Evan Wade. He was stationed at Point Loma until a year ago when he received an other than honorary discharge.”

“What was his offense?” questioned Sam.

“Multiple failed drug tests. His CO said he had been to rehab twice but only stayed clean for about a month before relapsing.”

“Did he have drugs in his system when he died?” Callen asked.

“Yes. The coroner found traces of heroin. She also said the body had been there at least three days before hikers discovered it.”

“I’m guessing from the amount of blood on his body, the cause of death wasn’t an overdose.” Callen concluded.

“That would correct.” Eric grabbed his tablet and zoomed in on the picture, “Wade was killed by multiple gunshots to the torso.”

Sam took a minute to study the image, “Looks like they could be from a 9mm.”

Callen shook his head, “Pretty common caliber. Doesn’t really narrow it down.”

“This might.” the tech operator chimed in. “After the petty officer was discharged, he began working at Crescent Creek. They are a beer distributor that have been on the LAPD watch list for a while now. Most of their employees have pretty impressive rap sheets. B & E’s, assault, you name it.”

Sam scanned the employee photos on the screen, “Are any of the other employees former military?” 

Eric nodded, “Two. But no connection so far to Wade.”

“Ok, keep digging. See if anything sticks out.” instructed Sam.

“On it.” Eric returned to his computer desk and began a new search algorithm.

“What about a few days before he died? Anything out of the ordinary?” asked Callen.

Another file appeared on the screen, “Let’s see. The last credit card transaction was at Mariasol’s on the Santa Monica Pier the day he died. Pulling up the pier security cameras now.”

The video of the pier began to play. Eric increased the speed until it was close to the time of the transaction.

Callen pointed to the screen, “There’s Wade.”

“What’s he doing?” Eric asked, curiously.

“Probably nothing good. He keeps watching over his shoulder. He’s nervous about something.” Sam observed.

While Eric and Sam were focused on their victim, Callen was more interested in the other guy in the frame, “Eric, can you get a better angle of the guy he’s with?”

Eric pulled up a second camera from the pier as Callen stepped forward to get a better look at the blonde gentleman. “I know that guy.”

“From a previous case?” Sam asked.

Callen shook his head, “No. It’s the owner of the bar that Kensi took us to a couple months ago.” He snapped his fingers a few times til the name came to him, “Squid & Dagger.”

Eric types the name that Callen gave him, hoping it would provide them with a lead. “The owner of Squid & Dagger is listed as Max Gentry. He’s owned the bar for six months. Single. Address is listed in Culver City. No military background. No criminal records.”

“We need to find Kensi now and see what she knows about him.” Hetty suddenly spoke up.

“I’ll call her.” offered Eric.

“Ok, Sam and I will head to Max’s place and find out what his connection to Wade is.”

They two agents turned to leave but stopped when they heard a familiar warning beep coming from the main screen. 

“Kensi’s cell is offline.” Eric announced as he began to worry.

“Well, turn it back on!” Sam ordered.

“I can’t. Either the battery has been taken or the phone has been severely damaged.”

The scenario playing out in front of them reminded Sam of what the team had gone through earlier in the year with Dom. “What about her car?”

Eric brought up a map of Los Angeles on the screen. After a few seconds, a blinking icon appeared. “GPS location has it at Pico and Sixth since midnight.” He paused when the realization hit him, “Guy, that’s Max’s bar.”

Hetty moved to the front of the room to face her staff. “Eric, find out everything you can on Max. Gentleman, go to Santa Monica and figure out what the hell is going on.”

——————-

As the Challenger turned onto Sixth Street, Sam and Callen were met with red and blue flashing lights. An officer walked around the building, dragging yellow caution tape behind him

“This is not good.” Callen said as the car came to a stop. Their arrival didn’t go unnoticed by the man in a suit by the bar entrance. He made his way up to the yellow tape, meeting the agents halfway.

“Can I help you gentleman?”

“NCIS. I’m Special Agent Hanna. This is Special Agent Callen. What happened here?”

“Detective Danny Hall. Neighboring business called it in this morning. The door was kicked in and the inside shows definite signs of a struggle. One victim.”

Callen pulled out his phone and clicked on the DMV photo of Max Gentry, “This him?”

“No.” The detective shook his head then reached down for the caution tape, raising it up, “Follow me.”

The three men walk into the bar and take in the chaos in front of them. The front door laid to their right, no longer on the hinges. Multiple tables were upturned and the chairs were scattered and broken throughout the business.

“Woah, you weren’t kidding about the struggle. It’s a wreck in here,” Callen said. While he assessed the furniture damage, Sam made his way to the body laying near the bar, covered by a sheet.

“Looks like blunt force trauma to the head. Probably from being slammed into the bar.”

Detective Hall took a small notebook from his pocket, “According to the tattoo on his arm, he is a member of the Sanguine street gang.”

“Guns for hire.” Callen assumed.

“Can I ask why this interests NCIS?” the detective asked.

“The dead body of a marine was found this morning. Gunshot wounds to the chest. He might have had a connection with the owner. Plus we have an agent that we have lost contact with that frequented this bar.” he told the detective.

“My guys didn’t find any shell casings. They most likely kept it hand to hand. A gun fight in this area would have caused attention right away. They wouldn’t have been able to make a clean getaway.”

Sam rejoined the others, “I wouldn’t exactly call leaving a man behind a clean getaway.”

“We also found blood on a pool stick and some leading out the back door to the alley.” Hall informed them. Another officer appeared in the doorway and signaled him over. 

“Excuse me for a moment, Gentleman. Forensics is done here. Feel free to look around. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” Sam shook his hand.

“So is Max still a suspect or is he our next victim?” Callen began to theorize.

“He could be both. Max kills Wade, then bad guy send the gang after Max. Or Max could be innocent and our suspect is tying up loose ends.”

“For Kensi’s sake, I hope it’s the second one.”

“Me too.” Sam thought for a moment, “If they wanted to kill Max, they wouldn’t have ambushed him here. Like Hall said, attracts too much attention.”

“They obviously wanted him alive for a reason. But for what?”

Sam looked around the room, trying to envision what might have gone down. “Ok, so the gang members come through the entrance. Chaos ensues. Max shoves the dead guy into the bar.”

Callen removed the black gloves from his pocket and put them on his hand. He then grabbed the broken pool stick the detective had mentioned. “Someone defended themselves with the pool stick. Whoever it was, was bleeding,” noting the bloody fingerprints.

“G, over here.” Sam crouched down near the back exit. “There is blood smear leading to the door. It’s probably Max’s. They hit him from behind, knocking him out and they take him out the alley door.”

Following Sam’s hunch, the men go out the backdoor. “Easy get away. Especially in the middle of the night.”

“It still doesn’t explain where Kensi is. Or what she was even doing here. The bar is closed on Monday nights.” Callen said, bringing the focus back to their missing colleague.

“We need to look in her car.”

The car was parked in a community lot outside of the crime scene. Thankfully the other detectives hadn’t known it was related to the crime at the bar. Callen pulled out the spare key and unlocked her car. Sam opened the driver side door and began searching for clues. Callen did the same from the passenger side.

“Nothing seems out of the ordinary.” Callen said, looking in the glove compartment. He leaned forward to feel between the seat and console and  pulled out something mushy and brown, slightly disgusted, “Looks like I found Kensi’s stash of Reese Cups.” 

Sam shook his head, “When we find her, she is getting an intervention about her refined sugar addiction.”

Callen removed his chocolate filled glove and searched through the center console with his other hand. 

“Her badge and wallet are both still here.”

Sam straightened up after checking under the driver seat. “Her gun is not.”

“Agent Callen! Agent Hanna!” Detective Hall yelled as he approached. “Does this vehicle have to do with the investigation?”

“It’s our missing agent’s cars. She left her badge but took her gun.” Sam explained

“And you think she’s got something to do with this?”

“I hope not but I’ve got a bad feeling about it.” Callen noticed the surveillance photos in the detectives hand. “Can I see those?”

“Oh yeah. That’s why I came over here. One of the officers found these in the office. Anyone look familiar?”

Callen took the photos and started flipping through them.“That’s Petty Officer Wade and our bar owner Max Gentry. Someone was definitely watching them.”

Sam moved beside Callen to have a better look at the photos. “They're not the only ones they were watching.”

The next photo in the pile was that of Kensi and Max. It was taken at night and they appeared to be on a rooftop. As they flipped through more photos, they became more concerned. Whoever took these photos had continued to follow Kensi without Max. Some were even taken near her house.

“We’ve got to find her now. She might be compromised.” Callen said.

“Which means so are we.”

Sam took the photos and laid them out of the car hood. He took out his phone and took pictures of them to send to Ops.

“Call us if you find anything else.” Callen asked of Hall as he handed him his card.

“Same to you.”

Sam handed back the photos and they headed to the Challenger. “Eric, pull the security camera from the Squid & Dagger and surrounding areas. We need to see where Kensi went. We’re headed to her house to see if there are any clues.”

“I’ll pull the feeds but Hetty wants you guys at the boat shed.”

“We don’t have time, Eric. We need to find Kensi before it’s too late.” Callen spoke into the earwig.

Hetty’s voice interrupted, “Gentleman. Please redirect yourselves to the boat shed immediately. There is someone here that might be able to help.”

———-

Callen and Sam arrived at the boat shed to find an older, grey haired man standing next to Hetty.

“Agent Hanna, Agent Callen. Meet LAPD Lieutenant Roger Bates.”

“To what do we owe the pleasure, Lieutenant Bates?” Sam greeted him.

“I got a call from Detective Hall saying NCIS had taken an interest in his crime scene this morning. I put a call into my old friend Henrietta and thought I would brief you all myself.”

“Oh, Roger. I’d say old foes was more like it.”

“Eh, bygones.” Bates shook her off. “Six months ago we began an undercover operation to get close to the people inside Crescent Creek. The business had been around since the early 90s. Very reputable and what you would expect from a beer distributor. Until two years ago, when they started distributing things of illegal proportions.”

“Drugs.” Callen guessed

“Bingo. Specifically heroin, ecstasy, cocaine.”

“Petty officer Wade had heroin in his system when he died,” added Callen.

“When he was murdered.” Sam corrected.

“That’s unfortunate to hear. I had thought we really broke through to him this time. Our man inside quickly bonded with Evan. They both came from broken homes, abusive dads, and a no good childhood. It wasn’t too hard to convince him to become our informant.”

“Do you know who killed him?” Callen asked

Bates grabbed the remote from the table, hitting the center blue button. A picture of a Hispanic man appeared on the screen.

“Ramon Murillo. He took over the company in 2007 when his father Arturo passed away. The problem is Ramon has his finger in just about every gang in West LA. They do his dirty work so we can never get anything to pin on him.”

“So why did he kill Wade?” Sam questioned.

“Evan wanted out. He said he was finally ready to turn his life around. But he was worried that Ramon wouldn’t let him go that easy. And he was right. Three days ago he met with our undercover in Santa Monica and …..”

Callen interrupted the Lieutenant “Wait. Max Gentry is one of yours?”

Bates hit the remote again. A picture of Max filled the screen. Only this time it was a photo of him with his hair kept and wearing a suit and tie. Much different from the DMV photo they were given.

“One of the best. His real name is Martin Deeks. We backstopped him as the owner of the Squid & Dagger. He was oddly proud of the name he created for the bar. Anyways, Deeks met with him on the pier that morning to give him the address to one of our safe houses. The investigation was coming to a head so Evan was to stay there until we arrested Ramon and then he would be put in WITSEC. Deeks said when they met Evan seemed really jumpy and paranoid, like someone was watching him.”

“That’s because someone was.” Sam added.

“Right. Evan never made it to the safe house and until this morning, we had no idea where he was. Yesterday, Deeks found an envelope slid under the door at the bar. Written on the front was Detective Deeks. Inside were the surveillance  photos Detective Hall and his team came across this morning.”

“But Hall saw Deeks in those photos but didn’t say he knew him.” Callen questioned.

“That’s because he wouldn’t know him from Adam. Deeks was a loner. He never played well with the other cops. Always preferred to work alone. That’s why deep undercover was perfect for him. He didn’t have anyone else to worry about.”

“Until Kensi.” Hetty added.

Until Kensi.” Bates repeated “Deeks was freaked out enough that his cover was blown and his informant was missing but when he saw those photos of Kensi, he was furious. He called me to ask if I could help him track her down. She wasn’t answering her phone so he left her voicemails saying she was in danger and needed to leave town. He told me her name was McKensi Cole. But the name lead nowhere. I didn’t hear from him after that. I had hoped he had found her and went into hiding but unfortunately that wasn’t the case when Detective Hall called me this morning.”

After working with Kensi for over a year, Sam was getting familiar with how she operated “That explains how she ended up at the bar last night. If Kensi heard those voicemails from someone she cared about, she wouldn’t have run the other way.” 

Hetty nodded, “She would have stood and fought. That’s who she is.”

“And now Kensi and Deeks are both missing.” Callen concludes.

The images on the screen suddenly disappeared and were replaced by a video feed of Eric from Ops. 

“I might have a lead on that. Now the security cameras at the bars had been disabled but I was able to pull a traffic cam from the north east corner that shows the alley behind the building.”

The feed from Ops shrunk to the top corner of the screen as the traffic cam feed filled the rest.  Just as they feared the team saw an unconscious Deeks being dragged out the back exit and into a van. Movement at the bottom right of the screen caught their eye. Kensi was watching from around the side of the building, both hands on her gun at her side. They watched in horror as the shadow behind Kensi grew closer and then grabbed her, placing a white cloth over her mouth. After a moment of struggle, Kensi’s body went limp and she too was thrown into the back of the van. Landing right next to Deeks.