#Dex wanting him to be safe and knowing he used to and now he can't offer it anymore I jifdsahfdjsaf

[sysig]

Utterly Defeated (Patreon)

[dr-futbol-blog]

Conversion, Pt. 12

Weir sends out an alert on Sheppard having escaped his quarters, and it is likely her alert went only to the security personnel rather than on city-wide. We next find McKay in the command centre with Caldwell and Ronon, McKay seeming to spearhead the search for Sheppard by tracking him biometrically using the Ancient censors discovered during Sanctuary (S01E14), although now with an English interface that he has probably programmed himself. It takes Mckay no time at all to find Sheppard and lock onto him.

McKay: OK. I've got a lock on him.

We get to see the layout of Atlantis, and the biometric sensor still seems to have signatures in two different colours, reddish and yellowish. I wrote earlier about how the system is probably calibrated for the Ancients, so it would show the people who have the gene different from the ordinary humans because whether or not people have the Ancient gene is the most important biometric marker for their technology.

If we look at the cluster of signatures that I've pointed out with the circle who seem to be near the gate, we have one red and three yellow signatures, corresponding to the four figures we see in the next shot standing pretty much in the same configuration as the dots: McKay, Caldwell, Ronon and a marine. McKay is the only one of them that has the gene and hence we would expect to see him appear as a different colour. And we next see, as they lock on to Sheppard, that he is a bright red dot, the locking on seeming just to make his dot brighter rather than to change its colour. However, the dot seems to be acting unexpectedly.

Caldwell: That can't be him, it's moving too fast. Dex: It's him.

McKay is looking at Sheppard's dot intently, not removing his eyes from it even as he turns his head slightly toward Ronon when he says the words "It's him" in reference to Sheppard. It is as though McKay wants to see Ronon's face when he mentions Sheppard, wants to see the look on his face, but he cannot draw his eyes away even for that. Let us recall that the last time McKay was watching a dot that designated Sheppard, he was watching him fly to his death toward a hive ship strapped onto a nuke that McKay himself had prepared. It is safe to say that this is not his favourite activity.

He is doing this now because they need him to do it, because this is his job and his duty, but it is not easy for him by any means. McKay seems to speak only what is necessary and no more. He is once more clearly dissociating, he is on autopilot.

Caldwell: Alright. Four teams. Surround him and close in. I want him stopped. And gentlemen: use whatever level force you deem necessary. Move out. Weir: You will only use such force as a last resort. Caldwell: That's not Sheppard any more, ma'am. Weir: You heard me.

Caldwell gives the men now under his command the order to take out Sheppard using what ever level force necessary, and the US military has six such levels for the use of force. Caldwell, that is to say, authorizes his men to take Sheppard out using lethal force where necessary, to take him out at their discretion. While Weir does not precisely walk his order back, she impresses on the men that they should not jump the gun but be sure that there is no other way before trying to eliminate him using lethal force. They all know what they are talking about.

Note that while McKay still says nothing, he has no words to say, we see him do the thing with his thumb that has frequently been associated with Sheppard in the past. It is his own self-soothing technique. McKay is torn here. He wants to help Sheppard, he wants to protect Sheppard, he wants to see to it that nothing happens to Sheppard. And he does not know how to do any of those things. He is grateful to Weir for at least the fact that she reminded them not to shoot Sheppard on sight. Something rather interesting happens then.

Dex: You coming? Teyla: Yes.

Caldwell had ordered four teams to go after Sheppard and whether or not Ronon and Teyla were meant to be with these four teams, Ronon at the very least took it upon himself to make sure that they were among the people looking for Sheppard. He wants them to make sure that this thing stays under control and no one starts shooting up unnecessarily. All of them care about Sheppard and do not want to see him get hurt, but they also know that Sheppard himself would want them to stop him before letting him hurt innocent people. And so it is obvious to Ronon that they should be a part of this, and because it does not seem like Teyla is moving in to join them, he actually asks out loud if she is coming with. What takes?

Now, I know some people see this as a major "Teylabeth" moment and while I don't necessarily see anything between the two of them, there is certainly enough evidence over the years to suggest that Teyla herself swings both ways. In fact, at the end of this very episode, we see her real up close and personal with another woman. There is plenty of subtext to go around with Teyla. But she is not looking at Weir, here. She is clearly looking at McKay before turning to leave. She looks at McKay, they seem to exchange a rather lengthy glance, she nods and then takes off after Ronon.

It is because we see Teyla and Weir in the same shot after she gives this look that people somehow interpret her as looking at Weir but this, them placing either McKay or Sheppard out of framing of the shot where looks are being exchanged is something that the show has been doing since its inception. This is how they keep the subtext just at the edge of becoming maintext. It is clear that Teyla looks at someone, exchanges a look with someone. The direction to which she looks is where McKay has been standing the whole time. We do not see McKay answer her gaze. When the camera finally pans back to McKay, he is no longer looking at her. Weir looks at both Teyla and Ronon as they take off. Teyla gives one final look at McKay as they leave.

But why?

The thing is, Teyla did seem reluctant to leave. She was not sure that she should go with the teams, that she should follow Ronon. Some people are going to think that this is because she is still feeling uncomfortable about what happened with Sheppard earlier, that she does not want to be around him when all of that is still hanging unresolved between them. But that does not explain why she seems to need a permission--or what ever she was looking for from him-- from McKay to go. It is possible that she meant to communicate to McKay that they would take care of Sheppard, that they would see to it that nothing happens to him. But it still does not explain her initial reluctance to join the search party.

And it was not that Teyla did not want to go. It was that she was not sure she should leave McKay alone, without a security detail. Yes, Caldwell was there with a bunch of marines but they might not be enough to stop Sheppard. And Teyla seems to know, just as Ronon does a few moments later, what it is that Sheppard is looking for. In the middle of the command centre, McKay might be at the most secure place on Atlantis. But for some reason, all of them, Sheppard's whole team, seem to know that Sheppard is looking for McKay, that McKay is what he is trying to get to. And Teyla is momentarily unsure of whether there is even a point in leaving when what Sheppard is looking for is right here. We do not see what kind of a look McKay gave her but so satisfied, she does then take after Ronon and join the search party.

Weir: Lock down the stargate. McKay: Right.

As mentioned, when we do finally see McKay, he is no longer looking at Teyla and this is how the entire episode has been playing out. McKay's role is purposefully obscured. He seems peripheral to the story when he is, in fact, central to everything that happens. McKay sounds hoarse as he answers Weir's request, it comes out in almost a whisper. His eyes are awfully bright but we do not see him blinking away any tears because blinking would mean that he would have to take his eyes off of Sheppard's red dot to do that. McKay seems like he is just the computer tech here, executing commands given by the leaders. But he is the one whose heart is breaking.

We see Sheppard walk into a transporter, manhandling a lab technician of some kind out of his way. We do not know where he left from and where he was going precisely, but let us keep in mind the fact that while Sheppard had seemingly kept the same quarters the whole time they have been on Atlantis, for some reason he did not need to use the transporter to get there in the latter half of the first season, but after they returned from Earth, we have seen him have to take the transporter to get to his quarters several times.

Now, while there are probably a lot of places on Atlantis that look alike, the outside of the transporter here looks similar to where Sheppard was going at the end of Trinity (S02E06) when McKay caught up with him. McKay told Sheppard that he had been looking for him, so it would make sense if McKay had been hanging out somewhere en route to Sheppard's quarters, meaning that this may well be the transporter that Sheppard takes to get away from his quarters usually, and he may have been on his way out of his room when McKay caught up with him. And where ever Sheppard was going now, it was certainly closer to the central tower than where he had been originally.

But where ever Sheppard was going, he certainly seemed to be going somewhere. To emphasize this point: Sheppard is not "on the lam" here, as he clearly could have escaped his room when ever he wanted to; Sheppard is not trying to get away and avoid detection here. He is not just randomly hopping across Atlantis, he had somewhere to be. He has a destination. And where ever he transported to, McKay's eyes widen as he looks at the reappearance of Sheppard's dot.

Caldwell: I thought you said that he couldn't use the transporters. McKay: I said I doubted he was lucid enough. Caldwell: Well, shut them down. He's not going to do it again. McKay: Thus stranding your search teams.

This is an interesting tidbit of information. We did not get to hear Caldwell and McKay's earlier exchange over the topic but if McKay had been confident enough to tell Caldwell that he thinks that Sheppard is not in any shape to use the transporters, it means that he necessarily has to have some insight into Sheppard's current condition. McKay does not guesstimate or speculate, he must be basing his assessment on some data, on some personal insight he has into the state Sheppard is in. But as far as we know, McKay has not seen Sheppard since he had the splinter removed from his hand at the beginning of the episode. So how would he know? How could he possibly know how lucid Sheppard is? And let us recall that "lucid" is a term Sheppard had been using of himself several times, it was a word he used to describe his own condition. He was measuring his own well-being on a scale of lucidity, so for McKay to use this terms suggests that his source of information is Sheppard himself.

Regardless of the source of McKay's insight into Sheppard's condition, he seems to barely be able to keep himself together here. He is right at the edge of where he does not know what is going to come spilling out of his mouth next. He has to over-enunciate the words to keep his voice steady, and right at the end he seems to be holding back a sob, blinking rapidly. But he still does as he is told because he is at a point where he is just executing commands, running on autopilot. And so Caldwell informs the search teams of Sheppard's new whereabouts:

Caldwell: Bravo Team, you're on deck. Tango is right below you. Marine: You heard the man. Down the stairs.

Sheppard is given the designation "Tango" for "target," which is something that we see McKay use later on in the season, in Coup D'Etat (S02E17). He tells Sheppard, "One Tango, middle of the room," and the use of Tango for this purpose seems to be something that he learned right here from Caldwell.

There is nothing strange about this, it is perfectly appropriate military parlance. However, giving this designation specifically to Sheppard, calling Sheppard Tango, may contain an allusion to Ray Tango of Tango and Cash, the most homoerotic action film of all time. It is not unintentionally homoerotic because this level of subtext does not happen by accident. But it is still left to the subtext.

Given that we got to see the photograph of what was likely Sheppard's father in this episode, they may have started sketching out Sheppard's background in more detail at this time. Tango is the more upper class of the two characters, and where he does not need to fight crime due to financial reasons, being independently wealthy, he does it because he likes the action, because he wants to make a difference. And what is more, Tango has trust issues and his inability to trust becomes an issue between the two of them:

Cash: Seriously? You are one major mistrustful maladjusted human fucking being, you know that? Tango: Yeah, well. I love you too.

Tango's whole character arc is about learning to trust someone else through the trials and tribulations they undergo together, of Cash being there for him when the chips come down. Does that sound like any people we know? What is more, the film is connected to the franchise in that Kurt Russell, who plays Gabriel Cash, was the original actor for Jack O'Neil in the motion picture StargÅte that launched it all.

Regardless, for some reason we see Ronon part with the search party all of a sudden. When they hear Sheppard's new whereabouts from Caldwell, Ronon suddenly seems to have an idea of where he thinks Sheppard is going to be that he does not share with the others. McKay had suggested that they try using a diversion back in the iratus nest, and it looks like Ronon is going to try that now. He seems to know just the place to hide. He is not going after Sheppard, he is going to let Sheppard come to him.

McKay: Bravo Team and Sheppard are in the same room. Caldwell: Stay sharp. He should be right in there with you.

Note again McKay's use of "Sheppard" here. He is speaking to Caldwell, a military officer, so using Colonel Sheppard or just Colonel would be appropriate. But it is just not what McKay normally does, which makes the times that he does call Sheppard Colonel stand out all the more. And in this situation it is all the more striking because Teyla calls Sheppard Colonel as they seem to be very much on the clock, what with Sheppard having just told her to call him John when they are not at work.

Marine Anyone have a visual? Teyla: Above us! Colonel! Please, do not make me do this.

Sheppard advances on Teyla, and we cannot be sure what his intentions are. He might feel threatened and advance with the intention to take her out, or he might be enticed by his wraithess and advance with the intention of just taking her. Teyla herself seems traumatized enough by what had happened between them previously that she does not want him to come close to her.

But what is important to note here is that Teyla was not Sheppard's original target, was not Sheppard's reason for coming to this part of the city. Sheppard was not looking for her, and it was only after she called after him using "Colonel!" that he turned back and started advancing on her. Sheppard may well have been triggered by the use of the title, having specifically asked her not to use it. If Sheppard was even capable of rational thought anymore, running on pure instinct as he seemed to be, he had never felt further from being a Colonel than he did right now.

But note again that Sheppard does not have a death wish. He does not want to die. If he had wanted them to simply take him out, running into Teyla's warning shots would have been the easiest thing to do. He could have forced their hand into taking him out. But that is simply not what Sheppard wants, he never did. It is very clear that he has an objective, he has somewhere he needed to be and he has something he needed to do. And so he takes off as Teyla starts firing at his feet, not wanting to get injured. Getting injured would not help him achieve his goal.

Dex: Get the doctor down here. I have him.

And so Ronon takes him out, using his weapon to stun Sheppard. What is interesting here is that Ronon seemed to know where Sheppard was going, knew where he would be coming from. He knew this the moment Caldwell had informed them of where Sheppard had transported to. He used the rest of the team as a decoy, as a diversion, and waited for Sheppard to come to where he knew he was headed.

Where was he going? Sheppard took one transporter trip from where his quarters are to where he was headed. He was not looking for Teyla, having just run away from her, and he was not looking for Weir, having dropped her like a bag of potatoes on the floor earlier. It sure seems blue in the corridors of this part of the city that they were in just now. In fact, the same bluish light installation can be seen at the end of the corridor where Sheppard walks away from McKay in Duet (S01E04) and on the upper floors where Sheppard was doing his Spider-Man routine just now.

Anyway, it's a mystery. It does not seem to be a mystery to Ronon and Teyla, but it is a mystery to us.

Continued in Pt. 13

[little-miss-doe]

As a cane user, I'd like to hyper-obsess on Percy using a cane for a bit.

When we see him in Campaign 3 he's in his mid to late 50s. While it's not rare that someone of that age would use a cane (hell, I've been using a cane when needed since my mid 20s) there are some some interesting observations to be made.

From a purely game mechanics perspective Percy had the highest DEX score of any regular player character, at 22. Of course that doesn't perfectly equate to mobility, speed, or agility. He definitely face-planted a number of times throughout Campaign 1. And DEX influences things like stealth and tinkering and initiative as well. It's still reasonable for a character with a cane to have an utterly ungodly DEX.

Mostly I want to talk about the portrayal, context, and what this might mean for what's happened since we've last seen Percy 30 some years ago.

His use of a cane is only made note of in a single episode so far (Campaign 3, Episode 36) but he's also depicted with one in the family portrait seen in the Tal'Dorei Reborn book that came out about 9 months prior to that episode. At the time the book came out I had mostly passed off the cane as something of an affectation for the portrait or a family heirloom or something along those lines. In light of actually seeing him use a cane, it makes what is an "in universe" depiction of him in the family portrait with one rather telling. Combined with obviously having it in front of a group of total randos like Bells Hells, it's safe to assume it's just generally known he uses a cane.

Then 2 episodes later, a.k.a. a few hours later, when Percy shows back up in the story a cane is not mentioned again. So he isn't using it all the time. And that's fair, before we were catching him just after dawn and he is described in a way of a person that's recently woken up, with also not getting sleep. Getting going in the morning can be difficult.

Now for speculation mode. Is this the result of mundane wear and tear? Some injury post-campaign? Maybe the result of something sinister?

While I can't fully rule out the sinister option as ... well ... one of the major back story elements of Campaign 3 was literally Keyleth getting attacked for sinister reasons, there are no indicators of this being the case.

Simple mundane wear and tear after years of adventuring, regular life, and ageing would be the most realistic. But this is Percy, so ...

That brings us to the possibility of some kind of injury. To be honest this feels like the most likely knowing his tendencies. But there's also the issue of magical healing in D&D, which is always been it's own can of worms. This is possibly the case that I'll expand on later.

[neko-naruto]

be right by your side (no matter what)

Summary: if there's one thing Dee knew from the second her little brother was born, it's that she'd be by his side until one of them died no matter what that meant

Warnings: minor gore, wounds, general anguish and tragedy, check Ao3 port for full tags

Authors Note: I binged Scoob and Shag in one sitting and went through the five stages of grief and the entire spectrum of human emotion, please go read it or read this fic without reading it, your choice. @sobredunia I can tag you in this nonsense now that you've read majority of Scoob and Shag. there are no spoilers past page 116, hope ya'll enjoy and consider checkin the Ao3 port if you do to leave a comment or kudos

"Don't touch my sister," He snarls the words with this specific resonance that Dee knows all too well considering how very long she's lived with him. The gentle hand on her shoulder raises, the blood of her wound rests on Pop's hand.

"He's just trying to help us out, Dex," Dee said quietly, her little brother was still defiant on the matter. She gave this gentle smile, one she hoped would ease his tension like it usually does.

He's still seething, his sister got hurt, his beloved sister. The person he turned into the angriest kid alive for, the sister he took all of his parents expectations for, the sister he tried to protect and failed to do so. He was sure he could keep her safe, sure he could keep her just fine on the supply raid because she was so desperate to join him.

To prove she wasn't just the nuisance he always said she was.

"I'm aware of that," He spat back, "How do we know we can trust them? Trust they don't have a Ballyhoo that'll hide Antihoo monsters? They could hurt us, Dee."

"We won't hurt you," Pop said, "We're in Med Bay 03, Mick and his cohorts are out there and can't hurt us-"

"I remember, Mick, Bugs, Ger, and Scoob," Dex spat bitterly, "I'm curious as to what makes you so sure me and my sister aren't a part of Mick's team?"

"A hunch," was Pop's answer to the question, "We saw you and your sister about to be torn to shreds by an Antihoo monster and saved you, of course, we couldn't patch all of your wounds while you two were passed out.

Dee's fingers raise to the small wound on her brothers arm, partially dried blood spilling down his lab coat. He hissed and pulled away from her, "Bring me to your lab and I'll start devising better and more efficient healing methods than bandaids and polysporin."

-/-/-/-

"You need to stay where it's safe, Dee," Dex would consistently chide despite his sister's insistence on joining them on the battlefield. Her Ballyhoo was never combative, it was an assist at best. Closed Caption, it let her read the thoughts of everyone around if she needed.

Dee clenched her fists a bit tighter, pigtails comically drooping, "But, Dexter, I could help-"

"Don't be an idiot, Dee Dee!" The aggressiveness to his tone is unintentional, but it makes Dee back down unlike when they were kids. Before they were part of the forces on planet Toone, before things got really bad, "Your Ballyhoo can give us nothing on the battlefield, it can barely give us anything off the battlefield either. You need to stay here to stay safe, monitor the injured, watch the doors, make sure that no is trying to double cross us."

And Dee wants so fucking badly to defy him, to push back, but ever since day one her brother has been the intellectual of the two. She nods, submitting to what she knows to be the truth, proven time and time again by the insanity upon the crashed spaceship. She takes a seat on a spinning chair, "Alright, Dex, please be careful out there. You're our best medic in spite of your Ballyhoo, did you ever realize how destructive it is?"

"My Ballyhoo? Pah! It's naught but my machines, my gadgets, little bombs I place my power in, ticking time bombs to save us all or kill us all," Dex answered without putting any thought behind it, "Mick used his Ballyhoo for evil, he still is, and I'll use mine to fight the good fight." His hand come to rest upon a set of wrenches, flat head and perfectly fitting within his hand. He grabs a set of his small bombs, his little trinkets used to properly and safely activate his Ballyhoo, he'll need them if they come across A Commander.

Dee just nods solemnly, highly aware of the fact that her brother isn't a fan of his Ballyhoo being a weaker version of Mick's. It's detrimental to his sense of being, his sense of identity, that he can be on the good guys team despite the fact his Ballyhoo is just a terrible reminder of what they're facing. That's why he throws himself into medical fields and machinery for defenses, the only way to detach himself from using his power to be a help, "I'll go patch up Felix and Yogi," She snags some of his special edition gauze tape, medication infused within it for good measure.

"Thank you for understanding, Dee," Dex said quietly, raising a gloved hand to readjust his goggles, the other hand stuffing weaponry into his lab coat pockets, "I'll be back, and better yet with some of those chips you keep nagging me about recreating."

"Thanks bro," There's this hoping sweetness on her voice, an innocence despite the fact that everything is falling apart around them.

-/-/-/-

Eyes sting with tears as she watches her brother be wheeled off on life support after the bout with Foghorn Leghorn, the bout that put one of them permanently out of business and the other near fatally wounded. She managed to deface the asshole that hurt her little brother, that nearly killed her little brother, but there was still the problem of the fact she didn't move fast enough. This could be it.

"Like, he'll be fine," Shag tried to console, good hand resting on Dee's shoulder. He sat beside her on the floor of their getaway, their emergency escape whether they failed or succeeded. And they succeeded but at a cost that Dee absolutely hated, an expense that made her feel ill.

She takes staggering breaths, gloved hand raising to run through blonde hair matting with blood. It hurts. Every little thing hurts, talking, breathing, touching her hair, her face hurts so much with how badly Foghorn messed it up. She slumps a little bit further down, "It should've been me."

Shag doesn't answer to fill the radio silence.

"I'm the big sister, and yeah I saved him, but," She stares at the body of her little brother. He's barely breathing. His heart rate is weak. Her breath hitches as she draws a hand to her now bright pink eyes to stifle the tears, "I didn't really save him."

"We'll fix him up, Dee," It's a promise that Shag can't keep, but he makes it anyways.

Dee nods and leans against Shag, "Okay."

[anyathefandom]

To Those Fortunate Enough chapter 33:

@burned-lariat

"You're an assassin," he continued, "I'm pretty sure looking like a depressed lump breaks your code."

"Is this your way of humoring me?" Wallace looked at Valentin, his face a mix of pale white and bright red.

"It's my way of getting you to talk to me."

"Not gonna happen."

"You can't say 'my son wants nothing to do with me' and then clam up."

"Yes I can; I'm doing it now."

Me: In moments like these I can see that Dex clearly takes after Wallace personality wise because while reading this part I caught myself laughing and saying "Oh this something Dex would say" and then went "Oh wait hold on this is where Dex gets his smart ass tendencies from.😂

"He came back from his tour in Afghanistan and wanted to talk.

"He wanted to reconcile just like that?" Valentin snapped his fingers.

"I…may or may not have pestered him with a couple dozen letters. But I made my feelings toward him clear: I loved him

Me:

"And now?"

"...Turns out I'm the ridiculous one," Wallace leaned back against the sofa, "I got so wound up in my feelings for his mother that it messed up my feelings for him. I had this…stupid, childish resentment towards him because of something that Irina and I agreed to do for his benefit."

"So you did approve of everything and didn't care enough after all?"

Wallace felt a lump in his throat, thinking over his words, "...I'm not exactly 'Father of the Year' material."

Me: No kidding!🙈

"How are you the same man who pushed me to go rescue my daughter?" Valentin gestured to the closed bedroom door, "How can you push other parents to be better but not push yourself? I just…why did you carry this resentment at all?"

"Because I, in my addled brain, stupidly tied Irina cutting us out to Dex instead of Helena. I mean, I blamed Helena for her role, but I held it against Dex because he mattered more to Irina than I did. As long as he was safe and fine, that was it. I felt like she didn't care about me."

"Did you call raising your son 'babysitting' too?"

"What?"

Did it ever occur to you that, besides being his father, she had Dexter go with you because she trusted you? Because she loved you and thought that there was no one better to be with him than you?"

Wallace pinched the bridge of his nose, "I've never met someone more pathetically petty than you, Wallace. You made a dire situation all about yourself and your feelings when it should've been about your son, and that screwed his life up. He was the one in danger, not you. He was the one who needed the attention, not you. You're a premier assassin, capable of taking care of yourself. Dexter was defenseless-"

"You don't think I know that, Valentin?" Wallace scowled at him, "You don't think I'm hating myself for it? I was a piece of trash father, and hell, I'm still one now! I wreaked havoc on Dex's life-"

"Oh God, shut up!" Valentin got to his feet, "Stop with this pitiful self-loathing act! Stop wallowing like an angsty teenager over your 'mistakes' and 'bad decisions' when you can be the grown adult that you're meant to be and fix what you did."

Me:

The way Valentin got me like:

Dearest," she said in surprise, his hands gripping her arms before she pulled him into a tight hug.

My inner Irina x Wallace Stan: 📸😌

Seeing Wallace apologize profusely and meaning it got me misty eyed and while I would've ate up Wallace and Dex reconciling then and there I'm actually glad Dex didn't accept his apology especially if he didn't feel ready to, no matter how much Wallace truly regrets everything that has went down. Like fuuuuck my heart hurts for them but I loved that dex put himself first.

He looked at Dex one last time before exiting, Irina standing a few feet away. She looked over Wallace with a curious, sympathetic silence before walking into the room, rushing to her son's side.

"Don't," Dex held a hand up, tears staining his cheeks, "He needs you way more than I do."

Irina stared for a moment, blinking in shock. She slowly backed away and left, and Dex watched on through the window as she embraced his father tightly, the man's cries echoing in the room as much as it echoed in his ears. He leaned back in the bed, closing his eyes, more tears flowing as he let the heartbreak swallow him whole.

Me:

[a-sexy-asexual-658]

The Twin Sister (Part 5)

Summary : (Y/N) Foster is the twin sister of Sophie foster. She's known as a crack head 'female Keefe Sencen' but what happens when Forkle could only carry two people at a time when the neverseen kidnapped her Sophie and Dex and had to leave her behind? What happens when he went back for her and it was too late? What happens when they raided a neverseen base only to find her bloodied and tortured? What happens when they find out she isn't the (Y/N) they all know and love anymore?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What kind of animal reserve is this?" Sophie asked but I ignored her and looked around me in a daze, all the animals, so fluffy or scaly, so dangerous or cute. I want to touch them. LET ME TOUCH THEM!! Suddenly we heard a roar and we saw a a thrashing green feathered dinosaur.

"Oh stop being a drama queen!" Yelled a husky voice coming from the dinosaur, wait THEY CAN TALK!! "Ok here goes nothing!" Said the voice and gnomes pulled the ropes hard enough causing the dinosaur to pull its head down and reveal a man on her back. Oh boo, they can't talk. Oh well.

"Need a hand, Grady?" called Alden, wait- our new dad is up there? "OMG!! OUR NEW DAD IS TARZAN!!" I felt someone hit me over the head and I looked to see Sophie giving me a blank look and Alden a confused one, "heh I said that out loud huh." All I got was a nod. Soon a man came over covered in bright green feathers. He had blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Sorry about that." He said and I stared at him in a daze.

"No problem, my friend, Verdi giving you trouble again?" Alden asked

"That's why she's our permanent resident." He said with a grin. Alden then looked at us.

"Would you girls like to pet the tyrannosaurus?" Alden asked

"HELL YEAH!!!!"

"Is it safe?" Sophie asked holding the back of my shirt as I tried to run to Verdi with a wide smile. Grady laughed heartedly at us as he spoke. He said a full sentence but all I heard was 'it is', so I ripped Sophie's hand away and ran forward. I stopped and she lowered her head to my height to look at me. I breathed out as I stared at her big beautiful yellow eye. I softly reached up and ran my hand up her muzzle and she closed her eyes.

I then looked at her neck and saw a bit of red, I reached over to spread the feathers and saw a hole with blood dribbling out. I hovered my hand over the wound and suddenly light blue light started pouring out and pulled my hand back quickly, I looked around and only Sophie who had been standing next to me noticed. She furrowed her brows and asked, "should we tell them?" I shook my head and called out to Grady.

"She's still in pain." He came over and said that the wound was deep and rubbed a stinky cream over it.

We then went inside and were greeted by a beautiful woman, she had amber hair and turquoise eyes. She had purple eye bags and before anyone can speak I went through my bag and pulled out a candle. I walked up to Edaline and handed it to her. She looked confused and I explained. "Uh- it's for eye bags and helps with stress. I made it myself with herbs and stuff I grow and pick in my garden. I always use it when I feel tired and can't sleep or feel stressed. It helps calm my mind down and relaxes your muscles, it really helps and you look like you need it, uh-but only if you want to of course!" I shout the last part and started stuttering thinking it was a mistake when I got weird looks. She smiled softly and fixed her grip on it.

"Thank you, very much. Now I assume your Sophie, Alden said (Y/N) was quite chaotic, his words not mine." I just smiled and stepped back.

"It's alright, but actually I'm (Y/N). And yes I am chaotic, I just choose when and where, you will figure that out in the soon future." I said, while not so discretely elbowing Alden in the ribs very hard. His face contorted into pain and he held his side as he groaned. As Edaline told Grady to freshen up and yelled at him about her telling him to be presentable and Sophie just stared on I stuck my middle finger at Alden behind my back, he saw and looked flabbergasted.

"What's wrong? Alden?" Edaline asked seeing his face.

"She-she just flipped me off." He muttered in disbelief and horror, Edaline not believing a 'sweet' girl like me can do such a thing -hah already fooled them into believing I'm innocent, score!! - put her hands on her hips with an unhappy noise.

"Now Alden stop that. How can such a sweet 12-year-old girl do such a thing, no? Now if you insist on being like that then you can leave."

"W-wha- but she did-"

"No Alden, leave."

"huh-fine, here is a list of all the things the girls will need." He handed her the list and left, I had been flashing him a cocky smirk the whole time, every time Edaline looked my way it disappeared, it's called the art of fooling your guardians. She proceeded to give us this sweet delicious dessert called mallowmelt, it was loaded with sugar and chocolate and I loved it. As Grady came down Edaline asked if we wanted something called lush berry juice. We nodded and she snapped her fingers and a bottle with a red liquid appeared in her hands. Sophie gasped and I streaked in delight with a smile while clapping my hands.

Grady laughed "I guess you've never seen a conjuror in action before."

"How?" Sophie asked and Edaline smiled while explaining. It lit up her whole face and was a true smile, anyway it seemed like a simple ability but could come in handy on many occasions. Hmm if she studied the hu- err elvin body could she remove organs at the snap of her fingers? Would it hurt? Ah, torture methods.

"What can you do?" Sophie asked Grady and the smile fell from his face.

"Nothing nearly as fun, trust me." He said and I just furrowed my brow. If I try hard enough I could tell what the problem of something by reading the person's emotions. I pursed my lips and continued to try and guess it. Grady saw my face and looked confused. "Is something wrong, (Y/N)?" But I just ignored him and concentrated. Sophie knew this looked and her eyes widened in realization.

"(Y-"

"You ashamed of your ability," I said and silence befell over the room, I my hand over my mouth in shock. Yes I was a blunt chaotic bitch but I knew lines and when not to cross them, and clearly I just crossed one. Everything was dead silent and although it was only a few minutes it seemed like forever. I looked around at everyone's reactions and found Edaline looking at Grady worriedly and Sophie with wide eyes, but Grady's reactions was worse. His face was completely blank and it looked weird and scary on his usually smiling face. The silence proceeded to get suffocating and as I moved my hand away from my face I felt my eyes water and my lips tremble. No. I wasn't going to break down in front of them.

"I-I'm sorry!" I stuttered out and be for I knew it my body took over and I ran out of the house. I kept running and the tears fogged up my vision. I felt the soft grass beneath my feet slowly turn into hard rock and still working on impulse I kept running when suddenly the ground below me ended and I was falling. Me being . . . . well me did not scream. I felt the wind whip and thrash against my face causing a pleasant sensation as it pushed my hair back. I felt nothing but the wind around me I closed my eyes and pulled my glove-clad hands to my chest and sighed. I know this seems suicidal and such, not making a move at trying to save myself and thinking it felt nice, but in my defense, it felt really nice and peaceful.

I opened my eyes and expected to see myself hurdling toward the ground or about to land and readied myself for pain but instead, I found myself floating in mid-air. It looked like I was kneeling -my knees were bent- on a small square floor made out of the wind with the edges still blowing up making me believe I was still falling. I gasped in wonder but before I could do anything I heard people calling my name, I started thinking of ways to get back up and as I did the wind brought me just high enough to grab a root, and as I did it disappeared and my body went slack and started swinging.

I giggled and started swinging my legs but then my hands started to slip and I highly doubted the wind will do that again so I gripped it tighter. I then remembered that people were up there so I took a deep breath and screamed at the top of my lungs.

"(YN)!!" Sophie screamed when she ran over and saw me swinging from the root. I smiled cheekily as Grady and Edaline came over as well.

"Yup that's my name, sis. Now, you mind using what little strength you have and help me up, or do you want to start planning a funeral." I said with a cocky facial expression. Grady immediately bent down and gave me his hand which I accepted and he helped me up. "Now that was fun!" I said with a grin and hands on my hips, I sneaked a peak over the edge and when I looked back at them Edaline was staring blankly, Sophie had the 'don't even think about it, bitch' face, and Grady had the same face as Edaline.

"I now see what Alden meant by you being chaotic." The only male in our presence said bluntly. Sophie only let out a dry laugh and then pointed at me with an anime sweat drop.

"If you think this is her being chaotic just wait till she starts pranks and starts her period, let alone actually living with her." My smile widened when both Edaline and Grady paled. They then brought us inside and Sophie quietly did her worry yell lecture she always does when I do something stupid. The whole wind solidifying and saving me thing already forgotten from my mind.

"Well, why don't we show you your new rooms." I mentally cringed at this. I guess we should have separate rooms, we were twelve now and were growing up. It would take getting used to but we would get used to it, right? Edaline led us upstairs and there was a small hallway on the third floor that had one door and another case of stairs leading up. Edaline opened the door and it was beautiful, she said we could pick which rooms we wanted and I could tell she was hoping we wouldn't fight. I smiled softly, she got lucky, except for when Sophie always lecturing me about not making stupid choices we rarely fight.

Sophie knowing my hatred for the color pink took the room and put her bag down inside and started to unpack as Edaline took me upstairs. There was a hallway as well with a staircase that Edaline said led to the room with the leap master.

My room was a complete contrast to Sophie's room. The whole left wall was made out of pure glass and was a window that showed a beautiful view of the pastures and animals, it had light sky blue curtains. The window had a little sitting area right against it with blue and purple blankets and pillows. The floor was a purple carpet with black and blue flowers on it, it was also soft and fluffy. The bed which was made up of dark blues and purples with black sheets could fit at least ten elephants and was placed near the window. The desk was against the wall with a soft swirly chair made out of black fabric and had blue and purple designs sat against the wall a little ways away from the bed and was placed so the chair had its back to the door. A few feet away was a walk-in closet that looked the size of a human bedroom. There was a door that led to a bathroom that had a bathtub the size of a pool with a waterfall that acted as a shower thingy. The wall with the door into the room was filled with bookshelves and books, obviously. There were a few purples and blue beanbag chars tossed around the room and it was all beautiful. And honestly? I loved it, it was made of all my favorite colors and barely needed anything to fit my aesthetic, only a few posters and stuff.

"Well, I hope it's ok." I heard Edaline's timid voice and I forgot she was there for a minute. I smiled widely and tossed my bag onto my new bed as I twirls around the huge space of the room. It literally took up the whole fourth floor.

"Ok? ITS AWSOME!! It totally fits my aesthetic! I love it! Thank you." I smiled at her and she smiled back. Suddenly the door was pushed open wider and we looked down to see Marty walking in with a raised chin demanding his self-claimed 'deserved' attention. Which he did, all cats deserved attention, and dogs but don't tell him that. I picked him up and started giving him his attention. Edaline came over and also gave him some pets.

"What is he?" She asked and I tilted my head, she doesn't know what a cat is?

"A cat." I hummed out and she smiled.

"Will murcat food be ok?" She asked and I did a double take.

"Wait those exist!" I said and if this we an anime there would be sparkles in my eyes. Suddenly I felt a soft paw trying to scratch my face but because of the trimmed nails, they did nothing but pat. I looked down and saw Marty with a look of betrayal at the mere thought of getting another pet. Me and Edaline laughed lightly and we proceeded to go downstairs for an awkward dinner. For now, Grady had given Marty some food that was mushy and green. I then went upstairs and unpacked quickly then went to sleep, I hadn't noticed how tired I was until my head hit the pillow and I had Marty curled up next to my head. Before I drifted off I loosely clapped my hands. I had asked how to close the curtains during dinner and they told me.

It was about three hours later when I was woken up by rustling in my bed and when I looked I saw a head pop up from the blanket and I nearly fell out of bed.

"Sorry," Sophie mumbled and after we got comfortable holding each other I finally asked.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No."

"It's fine, sorry."

"Why?"

"I didn't come sleep with you- oh wait that came out so wrong!" She only giggled already use to my dirty mind. If only we hadn't come across that website wattpad that fateful day.

"It's fine, let's just sleep."

"Sure." And with that we slept our first night in our new home, I don't mind though they have soft beds.

~The next day~

When we walked down for breakfast the next morning Grady saw us and laughed.

"They live!" I only giggled and sat down, I could tell I'm going to like him already. Sophie on the other hand asked how long we'd been out. " You skipped breakfast and almost lunch." He said as Edaline conjured us a plate of food. It tasted like bacon and melted cheese and I completely ignored Sophie's conversation with Grady only catching words like 'project moonlark' and 'classified' and my least favorite phrase 'human teachings'. Edaline then said something about getting things Elwin prescribed and only paid attention when Grady mentioned Kesler. My whole face lit up.

"We're going to see Dex!" I let out and they all gave me weird looks.

"You know Dex?" Edaline asked and I nodded.

"Yeah! Of course, I know him! Oh yeah, long story short I accidentally leaped to mysterium and saw their cool shop and went in. I talked with Dex, such a fun lovely family! Oh, and I have a job at Slurps and Burps every weekday after school!" At the last part, Sophie choked on her juice, and Grady and Edaline looked shocked.

"You . . . have a job?"

"Yup! Let's go!" And we proceeded to leave. When we got there everyone was staring and whispering and I felt the urge to yell at them but Sophie grabbed my hand and shook her head, no. Edaline was rushing us and seemed to want to get this over with. When I saw Slurps and Burps I broke free from the two and ran inside, I slammed the door open and yelled.

"DEXIPOO!!!" This startled the two boys at the counter, causing them to almost drop their stuff. They looked up ready to yell but when they saw me their faces did a quick 180 and they smiled.

"(Y/N), get over here and watch!"

"Ohh will it explode?"

"Maybe!" And with that, I rushed over to watch. Edaline and Sophie walked in and Kessler told them he'll help them in a second, with me leaning over the counter Sophie couldn't see what they were doing so she walked over to also watch. Well long story short: it didn't explode, unfortunately. When I grumbled about it not exploding Kesler laughed and patted my head.

"That's the first one we haven't exploded today."

"We should have come earlier!" I whined and he only laughed and then looked up.

"Edaline!" He said and walked around the counter. "Is that really you?"

"Hello Kesler."

"Hello Kesler." He said mimicking her voice and I gasped nearly screaming a 'TEACH ME' at him, Oh the pranks I could pull with mimicking, he laughed. "Sure, later! Anyway, that's all you have to say, get over her and give me a hug!" Edaline although sluggishly walked over and he gave her a hug. "You look good, Eda—but what are you doing here? You never come to town."

"I know." She handed him the crumpled scrap of paper. "Elwin said I need to get these for Sophie and (Y/N)."

He scanned the paper then his head shot up. "Wait (Y/N)'s staying with you?" As she nodded he shot me a smile. "I might have not adopted you but you are my niece and Dex's cousin now." I just shrugged and hopped onto the counter deciding to sit there instead of standing.

"Ehh good enough." I picked up the vile that they just brewed and swung it back and forth in my hand. "So whatcha brewin'?" I asked but Dex snatched vile away from me.

"Give me that, knowing you you'd find a way for it to explode!" I just grinned.

"Yup!"

As the adults spoke, Dex Soph and I spoke. "So what level will you guys be going into?"

"Level two," Sophie answered as I kept trying to snatch the vile back but apparently, Dex has hidden reflexes he failed to tell me about. Then an idea popped up in my head. I adapted a creepy face and voice and started crawling on the now empty counter towards Dex, let's just say he was creeped the fuck out.

"I shall claim my vile, MINE!!" I proceeded to lunge at him and he did a girly squeal and ran away as if his life depended on it. The adults heard the racket and looked to see me crawl running to a scared shitless Dex who was screaming a girly scream while I was chanting 'mine mine mine' in the creepiest voice I could muster. Kesler burst out laughing while Edaline sighed and turned to Sophie who had walked over to stand with them who were just out of range of me and Dex, who I was chasing in circles,

"That's not even half of it is it?" She asked referring to my chaotic side but it didn't even sound like a question. Sophie for once giggled at my antics and then turned to Edaline.

"Nope." She said popping the 'p'. Suddenly the door opened and two women walked in with cloaks on. Well, one had the hood up and they looked more like a man than a girl but don't tell her that.

"You!" The older one said as she pushed past Edaline and Sophie. BITCH! How dare she! I swear I was seething in my place and I got up and was about to attack when Dex grabbed both my wrists holding me back with wide eyes clearly saying 'no watch the drama unfold then attack', ohh good idea Dexipoo. I watched the drama unfold trying to contain my laughter until the woman pulled down the man girls hood and revealed a bald head. I snorted and mumbled 'hairless dwarf' which caused Dex to snicker. They both glared at me and Stina as I heard her name lunged at me, but I just sidestepped her with a sweat drop causing her to hit her head against the counter I was leaning on. She screamed and was about to attack again when Kesler interrupted.

"That's enough!" Kesler shouted, pulling us apart. "Control your daughter, Vika.'

"Why should I? It's not like you control your children."

Kesler looked like he wanted to throttle her, but instead, he gritted his teeth and said, "We have Hairoids in stock. Take some on the house, and she'll have her hair back in a week." I felt like hitting them but one look from Kesler made me stop myself. But still, how dare she insults Dexipoo and those adorable triplets, and Kesler and Juline's parenting skills!! This bitch.

"A week?" Stina wailed. "I can't go to school looking like . . . like . . ."

"Like an ogre?" Dex suggested with a wicked grin.

Stina screamed and I snickered.

"If my daughter misses any days of school because of your son, I will make sure he is held responsible," Vika yelled.

"You can't prove anything," Dex grumbled.

"I won't need to. They'd expect nothing less from a bad match!"

Kesler's friendly features twisted with obvious rage, and he needed several deep breaths before he spoke. Sophie looked confused but I already knew what a bad match was from Dex yesterday and my urge to hit this lady increased. Pretty soon no one will be able to hold me back.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Kesler practically spat. "You two are going to get out of my sight, and when I finish helping these customers, I'll see if I can make the Hairoids more potent. If I can't, wear a hat."

Vika stared him down, but he didn't flinch. "I guess we have no choice. It's not like anyone else would waste their lives making ridiculous medicines in a useless shop."

"If it's so useless, why does everyone buy from me?" Kesler countered.

Vika couldn't seem to find a retort. So she threw the hood back over Stina's head and started to drag her toward the door when her eyes landed on me and she smirked. "I didn't know you had another kid, and from the looks of it, she is just as if not worse than all your kids. Aren't you embarrassed already?' She spat with venom and Kesler seethed at her but fixed a tight smile o his face.

"Actually she's my niece, and she's very exceptional." He emphasized the 'very' and I smiled, that was the first time someone said I was exceptional and I believed it. Probably because all the other times it came from Alden. Vika just stared then a nasty smirk set on her face.

"Oh? I thought your only niece di-" I knew immediately what she was going to say and I saw red. Apparently so did everyone else and they all had wide eyes, well except Stina who only smiled cockily at us. Before she could finish her sentence though I punched her square in the face with so much force behind it we heard a sickening snap. Vika screamed but I yelled over her.

"YOU HEARTLESS BITCH!!" She had blood dribbling from her nose that looked a little dented. My fist had a little blood on it but I didn't care, I was breathing heavily while Stina was on her knees asking if her mom was ok. I just huffed and started to speak while bawling down with my own sickeningly sweet smile. "Now you listen to me closely. You will take the stupid hairoids and wear a hat to school or just not show up. We will not be tweaking anything for you. But you will come back for them later after we leave, if I find out you made a fuss about this again I will come for your daughter's nose next, got it? Now take your heartless bitch ass and spoiled brat of a daughter out of this lovely family's shop and LEAVE!" I said as I forcefully shoved them out the door and slammed it shut with Vika still bleeding out her nose.

I took a few deep breaths with my gloved hands still holding the door to calm myself down. When I finally caught my breath and got my emotions under control I turned around and smiled my goofy grin like I didn't just break someone's nose. "Now that was fun, what were we doing again?" Sophie just face-palmed and everyone else just had wide eyes. "What? You guys are acting as if you've never seen someone get punched before." I just waited for a response and then when I didn't get one I sweat-dropped. "SERIOUSLY!?!?"

~LATER~

When they got back Edaline disappeared to her room and Grady worked with us on leaping alone, I got it on my second try but my percent stayed at what he said was 45%. Oh well, when he said the kids our age usually got thirty I stopped deeming 45 enough and just watched Sophie fail miserably. I snickered the whole time and laughed every time Sophie turned to glare at me. Sophie only ended up getting 10% percent and I laughed so hard it hurt, Grady said some cheesy shit I didn't care to listen to, and then Sophie got annoyed.

"Stop laughing!"

"Why 'cause I'm better than you!"

"You're not better, you just have more experience because you leaped alone and nearly died!

I gasped and put a hand over my heart. "Dear sister, we never talk about the times I nearly die!"

"Wait- how many times have you nearly died?" Grady asked interrupting our argument, we both went dead silent with me looking for a way to dodge the question and Sophie counting her fingers. Seeing how many fingers Sophie was putting down Grady started to sweat and worry for my mental and physical health, "Wait-HOW MANY TIMES!?!?" he yelled and I only laughed while looking away when I saw Dex glitter into view with Juline. Perfect distraction.

"Oh look Dex is here!"

"Wait wha- DON'T DODGE THE QUESTION!!" As always I ignored him and ran over to Dex. Grady started to speak with Juline and he told us to show Dex our rooms. We walked up the stairs and opened Sophie's door.

"This is Sophie's room," I said and he was about to walk in when I grabbed his wrist and pulled him up to my room as Sophie closed the door and followed. I opened the door and dragged Dex inside. "And this is my room," I walked toward my bed and picked something up with my back still turned to Dex. "And this," I said as I turned around and raised my arms, "Is Marty!" I said with sparkles in my eyes and immediately Dex started gushing, I mean seriously who wouldn't? Marty made a sound and enjoyed the attention he was getting. We went on to talk about random stuff, I was laying on the bed while eating a bag of potato chips I had unknowingly stuffed in my bag while we were packing in our old house, Sophie was sitting cross legged with Marty in her lap and was petting him and Dex was sitting on my swirly chair. At one point I had snook behind him and started spinning him and screamed. When the topic of Disney land came on, I sat up. What? It's mouse land!

"I have my own land?"

"What?"

"My last name is Dizznee."

"I think tha-"

"Well, you do now!" I said interrupting Sophie while jumping on my bed while pumping my fist in the air. Dex laughed and Sophie sighed. They continued to talk and when Sophie said " Our real parents didn't want us to know who they are, so as far as we're concerned, they don't exist." I mumbled 'asswholes'. We continued to talk and when Dex said he could make our iPods solar-powered I screamed. "REALLY!!" I went on to jump on him wrapping my legs around his torso and my arms around his neck. I playfully started kissing his face all over- don't worry I was avoiding the lips I mean no offense but eww we're cousins and best friends no- and don't worry I was wearing pants. He kept pushing me off then ran to my bathroom to wash his face chanting 'ew ew ew ew ewwwww'.

Later on, he left with his mom, and me and Sophie went to bed. I was sooo tired, then I remembered school was tomorrow and I groaned but did my routine and went to bed.

Well, tomorrow was going to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5084 words

Sorry this one took so long, anyway let me explain something. Also whenever there is something important to be said it will be bold.

Anyway you know how Sophie had all of her abilities triggered by Forkle except for teleporting? Yeah well I want (Y/N) to be different so I will be making scenarios where she will manifest and you will find out why their so close together and quick in the story soon.

Well that's all

Goodbye!!

Sahiko out.

[anyathefandom]

To Those Fortunate Enough chapter 29:

@burned-lariat

A smirk formed on Wallace's face as soon as Irina walked out of the bathroom.

Wallace internally:

Wallace really be like "Irina you don't understand me and Dex hashed that out years ago. He's just being dramatic right now" like Wallace once again I need you to stop INVALIDATING YOUR SON'S FEELINGS!!!

“Absolutely. I kept him safe, I kept him away from your mother. I did what you wanted-”

“Stop,” Irina raised a hand, “stop right there.”

“What?”

“...I’m going to ask you this once, and I want an honest answer. Do you actually love our son?"

Me: See and now you got Irina wondering if you even love that boy.

"Concerned citizen?" Alexis furrowed her brow before the answer dawned on her, "Victor got you removed."

"He did."

"Well…welcome to the club."

"What do you mean?"

"The locks to The Invader were changed overnight. We can't get in."

"And you think it's Victor's doing?"

"Who else would it be? It's not every day you see a bunch of big men in business suits taking over your office."

Me: Once again I appreciate that Victor is very active. Like mans is not wasting any time with making his move. I love a competent villain.🤌

"But why? Is Wallace that big of a threat?"

"What makes you think he isn't?"

"Well, when the family met Irina and found out what happened, he was this calm, simpering presence, not some dangerous, conniving brute."

Me: AND THAT'S MY MAN!!!

"What made him 'simpering?''

"Irina lashed out at him over what happened to Dex and he just…took it. He didn't fight with her, he didn't get angry, he just took the blame and wilted under her rage."

"That doesn't sound like Wallace. The Wallace I know is a hot-headed, stubborn brute."

Irina: “No, I sacrificed a lot for him. I sent him away because if I didn’t, he’d be dead. I had to give up my motherhood for his well-being, and I had to swallow the fact that I broke my own heart to save him, and I hate that I hurt him in the process. I suffered in a way no mother ever should, but I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat if it meant he got to live to see another day. What did you sacrifice?”

Me: Baby that's just the power of Irina Cassadine 🤷

Wallace: “You.”

Me: I feel his pain but I'm going to need Wallace to stand up because I know it broke his heart when she left but Dex is his son so resenting your only child who you have with the love of your life isn't the way to go sir.😬

You sent us away,” he replied, “You had me take Dex and flee the Netherlands. I had no way to contact you, I had no way of making sure you were okay-”

“That wasn’t important!”

“How was that not important?”

“Because it wasn’t about me, it was about Dexter. What mattered was his safety and his well-being: who cares about me?”

“I cared!” Wallace shouted, his voice echoing, “I cared, Irina! I love you!”

“I love you too.”

Me: I'm really getting the "I love you" dialogue in these conditions.😭

“No, you love Dex. Everything was about Dex, it was always about Dex.”

Me: Wallace that's what happens when you become a parent!!!

"That’s what happens when you become a parent, Wallace. It stops being about you, and it starts being about your child. I’m sorry you never got the chance to experience that kind of selfless love.”

Me:

“None of this is Dexter’s fault-”

“He kept you away from me!” Wallace boomed, “All of this is his fault, all of it! None of this would’ve happened if you had just let Helena get rid of him!"

Me:

“Wallace, come on,” Irina got the man to his feet, “it’s alright. I know you were angry. I’m sorry I poked at you like that.”

“No, no,” he shook his head, wiping his face with his hands, “Don’t apologize. You had every right to. He was right: I wasn't the father he needed me to be. I let him get hurt over and over again because of some petty resentment I never had the right to feel. He deserves better. I have to fix this.”

“Where are you going?” Irina watched as he grabbed his jacket from over the adjacent chair.

“I’m going to show up for him,” he answered, grabbing his jacket from an arm of the sofa, “I’m going back to the hospital, and I’m going to sit there and wait until Dex wakes up. Once he’s up, I’m going to spend every second making up for everything I’ve ever done to him.”

Me at the start of this conversation:

Me by the end: