#Guys the baby acquisition fic is tomorrow

[huh-1260]

Wind is in for a shock

Because today is the day he's getting Whump

[whipitgod]

Okay im gonna be sitting down tomorrow to write these fics but i want your guy’s help picking a prompt idea for the destiel fic!

[thedamageofherdays]

This week's reading log is here. It's been a good reading week for me and with the start of Kinktober I am confident I will have a whole month of goodness ahead of me!

Favourites are marked with 🌻, locked fics on AO3 are marked with 🔒 and fics that are only on Tumblr are marked with 🍀

🌻 Cor Hydrae by dreamsinthewitchouse @dreamsinthewitchouse [Stucky, 1k words, Teen]

”You saved my life.”

James turns his face down, can’t bear to look at Steve any longer. ”I have also lured men into their deaths,” he says, barely audibly. ”It was time I gave something in return.”

OR:

Merman Bucky nurses Steve back to health after rescuing him from drowning in the Arctic Ocean.

Captain America And The Accidental Baby Acquisition by attackofthezee (noxlunate) [Stucky, 2,5k words, General]

The baby looks up at Steve with big brown eyes and pulls it’s fists from it’s slobbery mouth to hold them out to Steve.

Right.

Right.

There’s a baby on Steve’s doorstep.

Steve can handle this.

Aka Steve Rogers And The Accidental Baby Acquisition. Aka sometimes assholes on twitter say "Captain America would never wear a papoose" and you gotta write a fic just to spite them.

Nature's Masterpieces by attackofthezee (noxlunate) [Stucky, 2k words, General]

“Snow.” Ella says solemnly, pointing towards the window and the white fluff drifting down to gather in piles outside.

“Yep. That’d be the fluffy cold white stuff out there.” Steve agrees, “We can go play in it when Pops comes home.”

Ella sighs in a way that Steve is 110% sure she’s gotten from Bucky, presses a hand to Steve’s face and says, “Daddy, listen.”

In which Steve has a precocious as hell three year old, snow ball fights are had, snow angels are made, and the future is talked about.

🌻 Wishing and Praying by jaxington [Stucky, 19,2k words, Teen]

“It’s a mistake,” Steve whispers. Neither of them have moved a muscle, too busy gaping down at the living, breathing, actually-here-somehow baby on their doorstep, blinking against the morning sunlight.

“There are no mistakes with babies,” Bucky whispers back. “That’s the whole goddamn point.”

Can You Help Me Find This Book? by Erosanderis [Stucky, 3k words, Not Rated]

Bucky Barnes was happy working as a children’s librarian in the New York Public Library. One day a little girl and her very attractive dad come in. Bucky hopelessly pines.

We Are Asleep Until We Fall in Love by Erosanderis [Stucky, 2,3k words, Not Rated]

Steve and Bucky finally go on their first date.

Sequel to “

‘Can you help me find this book?’ But can be read as a stand alone fic.

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by thewaythatwerust @thewaythatwerust [Stucky, 11,7k words, Explicit]

Steve's whole world begins and ends with Bucky Barnes.

His heart constricts painfully every time he sees Bucky with a dame on his arm; every fiber of his body thrumming with envy. He isn't sure what it means, exactly. He doesn't know what being a fella is supposed to feel like. He doesn't know what being a dame feels like. He just knows he wants Bucky look at him the way he looks at them. To put pretty dresses and stockings on and let Bucky slowly peel them off him. To feel Bucky press into him like he does with his special dates.

To be Bucky's... girl.

🔒 A Soul as Sweet as Blood-Red Jam by pringlesaremydivision [Stucky, 2,4k words, Explicit]

It slips out. It just – slips out, and it takes half a second before Steve realizes what he’s said, and then he wants to die.

Or: Steve's daddy kink comes out to play while he's in bed with Bucky.

Just Dropkick The Shame by rohkeutta @rohkeutta [Stucky, 7,9k words, Explicit]

List of Stuff Bucky Shall Never Do:

1. Give up spider solitaire

2. Tweet TMI shit to celebrities

3. Get a fucking raise, it seems

4. Sleep with a coworker

He HAS tweeted TMI shit about celebrities, but he also has some common sense and knows that some people actually read their replies, so he a) posts only on his private account and b) never tags. Bucky's pretty sure that he's not the only person to have drunk tweeted about Captain America's daddy level, but at least he doesn't fucking call Steve Rogers 'daddy' to his face.

Until he kind of does, and breaks his fourth rule in the process.

🌻 sleeping lessons by glim [Stucky, 23,6k words, Explicit]

During the Fall Semester of 2012, Steve Rogers audits a Modern US History course.

Five Times Steve Came Out by Accident, and One Time He Came Out on Purpose by suspendedinice [Stucky, 2,8k words, Not Rated]

Steve really needs to break the habit of blurting out the first thing that comes into his head.

“Right.” Steve replies with a frown, giving up on his newspaper for now, folding it up neatly, “I suppose I’m bisexual then.”

Did he say that out loud?

Judging by the way Tony’s mouth is hanging open, he’s pretty sure he did.

The Angel From My Nightmare by Nightwing11 [Stucky, 5,9k words, Teen]

It's been three months since Bucky returned to Steve. But, despite their past friendship, not to mention their romance, the two have barely touched since their reunion.

The only exception comes at night, when their hands somehow find their way to one another, intertwining and gripping for dear life.

But, what happens when Steve returns from a mission, sleep-deprived and nightmare ridden?

Obviously Oblivious by ABrighterDarkness [Stucky, 4,2k words, Teen]

Steve supposed it didn’t help matters that Bucky started favoring the Avengers themed clothing that had started being sold almost immediately following the battle against the Chitauri. Iron Man and Black Widow hoodies. Hulk and Hawkeye sweatpants. Thor t-shirts. Plural on every one of them, and Bucky wore them all the time.

No Cap gear. Not a one.

The Buck Stops Here by theemdash [Stucky, 451 words, Teen]

The presidential campaign trail has been tough on Steve Rogers, luckily his campaign manager and best guy is along to take care of him.

🌻 Kinktober 2021 by christywantspizza @christywantspizza [Stucky, 2,7k words, Explicit]

Compilation of my Kinktober 2021 Fics

Putting Away Wet/Free Use by @howdoyousleep3 [Stucky, 4,3k words, Explicit]

The pad of James’s fore-finger digs into the flat of Steve’s tongue, a playful reprimand for nipping at skin instead of his meal, when Daddy speaks, voice resting just above a whisper.

“I want to try something out tomorrow, something I think you’ll like. You wanna play?”

🍀🌻 Dirty Talk by @howdoyousleep3 [Ari x Female Reader, 1,7k words, Explicit]

When he invited you to accompany him to a business dinner, you assumed it was to look nice on his arm.

You had no idea it was to keep him entertained all throughout the night.

🌻 overflow by thiccbuckybarnes @thiccbuckybarnesfic [Stucky, 5,8k words, Explicit]

Kinktober Day 2: hyperspermia/come inflation

Bucky is a nurse at SHIELD and freshly-thawed Cap hasn't come in literally 70 years.

[kuriquinn]

Kriss Does Evil Author Day 2020

[Posting this now instead of tomorrow because I’ve got stuff to do tomorrow and won’t have time.]

As I hinted before, I’ve decided to participate in Evil Author Day this year. The basic premise is that I share with you some of the WIPs I’ve got languishing on my computer, waiting for me to have the right inspiration/drive to finish them. Hopefully reading them 

a) Is a nice treat for you guys and you enjoy some new content

b) weeding through my work trying to find what to share with you, maybe I’ll even get around to finishing some of these *she hopes*

Anyhow, the following works are a variety of different ‘verses and involve different characters. It’s not all SasuSaku, but all the characters are fan favorites so there is something for everything. 

And in the end, I’ve included links to what I’ve been writing in DC/Batman fandom for the JayTim (because they’re my babies and I love them and their vibe is so similar to the one I write with Itachi/Shisui that it’s easy to transition between the two :D :D :D).

Anyhow, without further ado, enjoy this year’s WIP offerings:

Naruto Fic WIPs and Excerpts

1. Inquiring Minds Want to Know [WIP] [Canon Couples, Mature Themes, Sex Humor]

2. Underneath the Underneath [Excerpt] [ManaKashi, Rating: T, morning after]

3. Penthesilea Companion Piece [Excerpt] [NaruHina, Rating T, drama, introspection]

4. Sasuke/Sakura Untitled Fic [WIP] [SasuSaku, Rating: T, drama, hurt comfort]

5. Uchiwa Ootsutsuki Fic [Sequel to Samsara, sort of] [WIP, OCs, Uchiwa/Original Character, friends, family, drama, etc.]

***

Batman/DC WIPs 

These have actually been updated recently if you’re looking for anything to read, and they’re all on Archive of Our Own, so I’ve provided links to that instead of creating a whole new tumblr page.

1. Philtatos [WIP - JayTim, Action-Adventure, Mythological Themes, Reincarnation, Casefic]

2. Tabula Rasa [WIP - JayTim, Soulmate AU, Amnesia]

3. Appetence [WIP - JayTim, Supernatural AU, Casefic]

4. Pieces of April [WIP - JayTim, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Slow Burn Relationship]

[stillthewordgirl]

CC/LOT fic: Captain Cold and Me (Ch. 7 of 9)

Sara Lance, unbeknownst to her high school classmates, has connections to some of Star City's most popular super-powered heroes--but no powers of her own. Then the mysterious Captain Cold saves her from an attack…and does his best to convince her that he’s not the bad guy everyone seems to think he is. And maybe not all of the "good guys" should be trusted...

Sorry this took so long! The story has been expanded to eight chapters and an epilogue, but all are now completed. And chapter 8 and the epilogue will be posted together in the next few days. Many thanks to LarielRomeniel for the betas.

Can also be read here at AO3 and here at FF.net.

Leonard, Nate, and Felicity, since she had the sole car amongst the group at the moment, went with Ray to take their purloined Markov device to some sort of site he promised was remote and safe. Len gave Sara a dramatic roll of the eyes as they left, but since they’d determined (as much as a bunch of gifted high-school students could) that it was defunct right now, she didn’t worry. Much.

Amaya, Jax, Barry and Iris stayed with Sara, inspecting the wristbands, which Jax seemed to think might hold some sort of trackers. Sara, whose area of expertise wasn’t in any sort of tech, left them to it after a moment, moving to Len’s old laptop to look for other information.

After a moment, Iris joined her, sitting down to peer at the screen. And Sara, who knew perfectly well that Iris was more gifted at information acquisition than she was, ceded the computer, watching while her friend started doing her thing,

Odd. It didn’t hurt so much now, at least quite so much, knowing that others are better at other aspects of this whole…superhero…thing than she is. She was starting to realize just how much it was all a combination of talents, some of them super, some of them not.

And hers…hers fit right in in their own way.

“Ahhh,” Iris said after a moment. “I found the mayor’s schedule for the next week, although they haven’t released it yet. He has a press conference scheduled on Friday afternoon. Something to do with ‘new city security measures.’” She darted a glance at Sara. “That…seems interesting.”

“Yeah.” Sara nibbled her lip. “But what sort? And why?”

Iris rested her hands on her lap, watching the screen. “Sara…what if we go to the paper about this? This is…this is big. And trust me, there’s no love lost between the managing editor—or the city hall reporter—and the mayor.”

It made sense in some ways, but… “Back when Len accused Merlyn in the first place, no one reported on it.” She held up a hand as Iris started to defend her intended profession. “And I know that’s because it never got outside the walls of new City Hall. But if Merlyn has these powers…I think it’s best it stays between us right now. The types of people he’d never think to worry about.”

“You have a point.” Iris sighed. “It’s just…scary. To know so much might rely on us.” She looked down at the computer screen. “I wish I could tell my dad, at least.”

Joe West was an upper-level detective. “Yeah,” Sara said quietly. “I know the feeling.”

Ray seemed to think that there would be some sort of way to turn the Markov devices off remotely, “with a pulse of some sort,” he said earnestly. However, the problem with that was that a pulse, Jax pointed out, might also set them off. That took the wind out of Ray’s sails a little, but not that much…and the next day, he reported that he and Nate had managed to defuse their sample device’s detonation mechanism so that they could test how it responded to different sorts of pulses without actually setting it off.

Sara had stopped dead in her tracks in the hallway at school—fortunately, the little-used hallway going to the technology and arts classrooms—and stared at him.

“Ray,” she said after a moment, “I mean, that’s great. But how are you not dead?”

Ray gave her a confused look. “What do you mean? I just…” His eyes lit up with memory, and he started sketching out something with his hands. “…I just disconnected this (term that Sara didn’t quite understand) and move (another term) and that did it!” He nodded to her. “We tested it too. It didn’t go off!”

Sara stared at him a little more. Ray blinked back at her.

“What?” he asked, as other students detoured to go around them.

“You…tested it.”

“Well, yeah. We had to.” Ray grinned again. “I mean, I was pretty sure. And we had it all the way out in the woods behind my house.”

“What was Nate doing during this?” Sara ran a hand over her face, feeling older than 17.

“He was filming it. I mean, we might want that info later.”

Sara gave up. At least it was a step forward.

On Wednesday morning, Iris told Sara and Leonard that the mayor’s press office had officially released his schedule with the Friday press conference on it. No further details, though. Just “city security measures.”

Leonard frowned, staring off into the distance, then gave Iris a rueful smile. “Thanks,” he told her sincerely. “Thanks a lot. That’s important. That means he knows…”

“…that his plans can go on.” Iris nodded to him. “So, there’s probably going to be some sort of shipment coming in…or it already has.”

“I don’t know of anything.” Len looked distinctly unhappy. “He must be bringing them in some other way.”

“It makes sense, if he figures that you have a source of information that let you know about the first shipment.” Iris and Sara exchanged a glance, and Sara continued. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

Leonard had that look on his face that Sara recognized as pulling inward and away. “I shouldn’t have involved all of you in this,” he said in a low tone. Sara opened her mouth to inform him otherwise, but she was cut off by another voice.

“Darn right you should have!”

Both Ray Palmer and Barry Allen were standing there, looking determined. Ray, who’d spoken, nodded firmly.

“A few of us are getting together to try some more things on the device,” Ray said. “And Felicity, Barry and Jax found some microchips in the wristlets, and they’re studying them. Meet up tomorrow?”

Whether Leonard was having second thoughts about involving them all or not, the plans were made with or without him. The other wandered off (Iris throwing them a wink over her shoulder) and Leonard and Sara just looked at each other.

Finally, Leonard sighed. “I’m going to go try to find some of my sources tonight,” he said rather apologetically. “And you’re great backup…really, you know I mean that…but this will work better if I’m alone, or at least if I don’t have…”

“…the police commissioner’s daughter with you?” Sara smiled at him a little, appreciating the reassurance even if it’s not really necessary. “It’s OK. I have a few things I need to try myself.”

Leonard lifted an eyebrow but accepted the statement without comment. He didn’t laugh or question her about what one young woman with no powers or tech know-how could possibly do.

And for that, and other things, Sara went right up on her toes there outside the high school, kissing Leonard Snart firmly on the mouth. And despite all their problems and worry, everything, for one moment, felt OK.

But it wasn’t, and Sara knew it, and one of those things she needed to try was something she really, really didn’t want to do.

“Hey, Dad?”

She’d known her father would be home, at least briefly, that night. He’d promised Laurel that he’d reset the police scanner they kept, as a recent power outage had sent it out of whack. (Super instincts were good, but the scanner sure didn’t hurt.) And Laurel and Oliver were out, dealing with yet-another-blamed-on-Captain-Cold incident at the Star City Credit Union. (They were lying in wait for Cold, who was supposedly holed up inside, although Sara knew perfectly well he was nowhere in the vicinity.)

“Hey, baby girl!” Quentin Lance gave his younger daughter a big hug, and although she hated that pet name, hugs from her dad were rare enough these days that she just closed her eyes and hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder. He couldn’t be involved in this mess, she thought as she did so. He just couldn’t.

“Hi, Dad.” Sara finally told a step back and looked at the scanner her dad was messing around with on the kitchen table. “That thing fixable?”

“I think so.” Quentin studied it himself. “Well. Tech isn’t really my thing. If it isn’t…I’ll get another one.” He gave her a grin that made her heart hurt, mostly because they were so rare these days. And partly because she was using this, these precious few minutes here with her dad, to deceive him. Or at least it felt that way.

Her father had picked up a screwdriver and started prodding the back panel of the scanner with it. “So, honey, you’ve seemed really busy lately.” Another quick smile. “New girlfriend? Boyfriend?”

As much as Sara was privately sure her dad would prefer her to have a boyfriend (he just understood that more), he’d never been anything even remotely less than accepting since she came out as bi. She just gave him a smile in return and a quick shake of her head, trying at least to avoid lying out loud. He’d taken Nyssa as her girlfriend far better than he’d take Leonard as her boyfriend, of that she was sure.

Quentin just chuckled in return, accepting that at face view. “Well, I know there’s a lot going on senior year.” He popped a panel off the back of the scanner. “You’ll tell me if you’re having trouble with anything, right?”

Her heart hurt again. “Right, Dad.”

“Good.”

It’s as good a time as any to ask. “Iris told me that the mayor has some sort of press conference planned for Friday afternoon,” she said carefully, taking a seat. “Something to do with security, but not even the people at the paper know what. Do you?”

There’s no better way to describe it: Quentin Lance’s face lit up. And Sara’s heart plummeted.

“Oh, honey,” her father said, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “He has quite a plan, Malcolm does. I can’t tell you anything about it, not yet, but he’s going to make sure that so many of Star City’s problems with violence are things of the past. You wait and see.” A shadow crossed his eyes. “We’ll never have to worry about people like that Captain Cold again.”

Sara stared at him, but he seemed oblivious to her distress, smiling down at the scanner. Then he glanced up again…and this time, something seemed to register.

“It’s OK, baby,” he said, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “The only people who need to worry about it are the bad guys. Troublemakers. Not like you. The ones who deserve it.”

That’s not like him. “But…but who decides who the bad guys are? And what they deserve?”

For the first time, there was a flicker of something on her dad’s face. Not annoyance at her. More like he was remembering something or feeling a moment of doubt.

Sara nibbled her lip, watching. Her father was passionate about the law, but he’d always spoken about how important it was that that was true for everyone, that those who enforced the law were held to a high standard, that the spirit was followed as well as the letter, that his department treated everyone fairly.

That was one of the reasons Laurel wanted to be a defense attorney. And one of the reasons Lewis Snart had found himself without a job after an investigation had found him guilty of taking kickbacks and bribes.

“I…” he said finally, faintly, blinking. “That’s a good point, hon.”

Sara smiled at him, trying to hide her inner turmoil. “So…who does?”

But then Quentin’s expression abruptly went back to rather condescending, and he shook his head, smiling again. “Oh, everyone knows who the bad guys are, sweetie.” His expression hardened. “And they deserve what they get.”

It’d been like someone had flipped a light switch, like he was parroting someone else’s words. Sara wanted to cry. Instead, she just gave her father a less-than-sincere, tight-lipped smile.

“Of course,” she murmured.

“You’ll see, honey. Everything will be just fine.”

Not long after that, Quentin Lance left to head back to the office, giving his younger daughter a kiss on the forehead before he left, totally oblivious to her turmoil.  

Sara watched him leave, then took a deep breath. Her next plan wasn’t as personally draining, but she wasn’t sure how it would go, either.

She opened her email, finding a message she’d received earlier in the day, and read it again. Then, biting her lip, she picked up her phone…and stared at it, considering her words.

Then she made the call.

Leonard looked exhausted the next day, dark shadows under his eyes, and when Sara gave him an inquiring look, he shook his head abruptly in a clear negative. She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back, but she could tell that any hope he’d once harbored had been dangerously drained.

Somehow, they made it through their classes. Leonard didn’t take his motorcycle to school most of the time, but he had today, and Sara rode home with him, arms around him, cheek pressed against his back.

They beat the others there, but not by as much as Sara had expected—and she was pretty sure Barry (carrying Iris) had purposefully not even left until he’d given them enough time to get to Leonard’s house.

It was a sober group that collected, and even the meager good news that Ray had managed to deactivate a Markov device with a particular pulse didn’t cheer them much, as the pulse had to originate from far too nearby to be practical.

“We have 24 hours.” Len’s words, and his expression, were bleak. “If any of you want to bail and forget you know anything about this, I understand.” He held up a hand as the chorus of denial rose. “Seriously. This…this could be very dangerous information to have, as little of it as there is.” He took a deep breath. “Merlyn’s…he won’t go easy on any of us because we’re young, if he finds out we’re working against him.”

Felicity bounded to her feet, shaking her head vehemently. “We know that,” she told him firmly. “We do! But…this is important.” She looked around. “All of us knew someone affected by the quake. And this could be so much worse.”

Jax rose too. “Man, we all got people who could be affected if it happens again. My mom’s still terrified whenever she thinks she feels a tremble of any kind.” He nodded. “If we might be able to stop it from happening again, we should try. All there is to it.”

Leonard scanned the room, looking disbelieving at all the agreement. Then he shrugged, but Sara thought that, maybe, he looked a little relieved…and pleased.

“OK, then,” he said. “And…thanks.” Uncomfortable with the moment (or so Sara guessed), he glanced over at her. “Sara, tell us what you learned. From your father.”

She’d already told him earlier, but the group had to know. Sara’s stomach turned over again as she told them about her dad’s words about “bad guys”…and how he’d seemed to think for himself for just a few moments before he’d flipped back to believing Malcolm Merlyn held the key to everything.

The room was quiet as they all digested it. They were all smart kids, Sara knew. It’d hard not to see the connotations there.

“It’d be too easy to call me a ‘bad guy’ for any number of reasons,” Leonard said, his voice quiet. “My dad, my juvie record. My alter ego…”

“And let’s be honest, too many times, some people’s idea of what ‘bad guys’ look like comes down to someone like me,” Jax added. Amaya and Iris both made quiet noises of agreement. “Or Zari.” The engineering student looked a combination of worried and furious. “But…what in particular is this plan?”

“He wouldn’t say.” Sara sighed. “I’m sorry…”

Jax patted her arm. “Sara, not your fault.” He scanned the group too, then glanced at Leonard. “OK, well, we’ve been studying the wristlets you found. Pried two microchips out of them.”

Felicity got back up again, picking up the thread. “One of the chips in here is definitely a tracker. If it was powered up…and no, we didn’t try…it would send out a signal anyone with the right equipment could find,” she said. “But there’s another chip too, and we don’t know what that does.”

“A tracker?” Nate sounded intrigued and disturbed in equal measure. “I can’t think of any good reasons for that. Especially not that many of them. You said boxes and boxes, right? And a lot of those things would fit in a box.”

“Enough for the whole city?” Amaya asked quietly.

Silence followed the words. Then, slowly, Leonard nodded. “Maybe,” he said, glancing at Sara. “There were a lot of boxes.”

“Great,” Nate mutters. “Historically, that sort of thing? Not a good idea.”

There were many noises of agreement. Leonard sighed. “OK,” he muttered. “Well, I guess try to figure out what the other chip is for. Raymond? You had some luck with the device?”

Ray launched into an explanation of his findings. Sara, attention wandering just a little, glanced over at the others, noticing Barry shift over to study the extra wristlets, which were sitting on a table by the sofa.

Then Nate and Ray started arguing about something to do with the pulse and the device, and Sara glanced away, and then others chimed in. So, when Barry’s voice, an octave higher than usual, rose over the din, she was just as surprised as everyone else.

“Get it off! Get it off!” Barry yelled, jumping to his feet and shaking his arm—which now bore a slim silver wristlet. Everyone stared at him, even Iris, who apparently hadn’t been at all aware of what her boyfriend was doing.

“Barry,” she said urgently, standing. “What…”

“I can’t run!” The speedster’s eyes were wild. “My powers are gone! I put it on because I figured I could just phase out of it, but my powers…they just shut off!”

Everyone was talking at once, but Leonard promptly crossed the room, hand out. As Sara watched, he grabbed the wristlet, fingers ringing the band. “Allen, hold still!” he ordered, then concentrated.

There was a sudden chill…but the ice that emerged from Leonard’s fingers was confined to a very narrow field, narrower than Sara had ever seen him manage before. Barry didn’t even flinch, which Sara thought was impressive, but as soon as Leonard released his wrist, he lifted it above his head and then brought it down hard on the end table. The wristlet, supercooled, shattered, sending shards of metal everywhere, the watchers diving away.

Barry promptly flashed away in a golden blur, back in seconds, a look of tremendous relief on his features. “Thank you,” he told Leonard fervently. “Thank you! That was…that was so weird. It was creepy enough to not be able to run, but it…it sort of hurt.” He shuddered. “I don’t know. It was like a part of me was just…out of my control. The best way I can explain it is that it was…like my own eyes wouldn’t blink when I wanted them to, no matter how I tried.”

“You idiot,” Iris told him affectionately, wrapping her arms around him. “Don’t ever do something as stupid as that again.”

“Good luck with that,” Leonard muttered, getting an unwilling giggle from Sara.

Ray bent down and picked up a piece of the wristlet, which was still exuding a little vapor. “So, it turns off superpowers. Does it do anything else? I mean, you said…do you think it lets someone control powers? Someone else?”

There was a moment of silence again. Then Amaya said softly, “Someone like Malcolm Merlyn?”

Sara shivered, thinking of Laurel and Oliver. Next to her, Leonard was so still he could have been a statue.

Barry shook his head violently. “I’m not putting that thing back on to test it.”

“You don’t have to,” Jax said practically. “We don’t have whatever would let us try it out anyway.”

Barry glanced around. “Could Merlyn require everyone to wear those things?” he asked plaintively. “Is that...is that really a thing that could happen?”

“If he could get it through the city council, sure he could.” Nate frowned. “I mean, there’d be all kinds of civil rights and privacy issues, and people could fight it on a higher level and probably even win...but in the moment? Yeah. And once he does that...”

“He’d have control of any number of supers,” Leonard said. “Me, Allen, the Black Canary, the Green Arrow...others who don’t really do the hero thing. They’re out there.” He sounded almost numb. “And that...whammy of his. If it’s really a thing—and it seems like it is—how many people can he control with that?” He shook his head. “Just because he’s kept it to a handful so far doesn’t mean he won’t try to go big once he has his plan in place.”

Sara spun, looking at Iris. “Is this press conference supposed to be televised? Live?”

The journalism intern bit her lip. “Well, the release was sent to all the local stations. Pitched as very important. So...probably?”

“I wonder if he can do...his whammy...over the airwaves?” Barry wondered aloud.

“But not everyone will watch even then,” Ray pointed out.

“He doesn’t need to...coerce...everyone,” Leonard said, his voice harsh. “Most people, they like the idea of there being ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ and, of course, they’re never the bad guys. The bad guys can be locked up without trial, for all they care. If he can get a good chunk of the city listening, then most people will fall in line with their brainwashed neighbors, because of course this is a wonderful thing.”

“But we don’t even know what the whole plan is!” Jax threw his hands up in the air.

For a moment, they just all stared at each other. Sara glanced at Leonard, who had his eyes closed. He looked a little overwhelmed—not surprising, really, considering how long he’d fought his battles alone.

But he didn’t need to anymore. And it wasn’t just his battle.

Sara took a deep breath, nodded, and started giving orders.

“Ray, Nate, continue to work on the device,” she told them. “Whatever happens, we need to be able to turn them off.” She turned to Barry and Jax. “Same with the wristbands. Is there a way of stopping the locator signal? Or blocking whatever blocks...or controls...powers?”

Then she looked at Felicity and Iris. “Is there any chance that Merlyn would put his speech online before the press conference?”

Iris looked doubtful. “Not with all the secrecy surrounding this. The people in the newsroom weren’t happy, because there’s no clarification whatsoever coming out of city hall. But I’ll look.”

Sara tilted her head at Felicity then. “Or maybe it’s just on his computer...”

Her friend’s eyes lit with glee. “Sara,” she breathed, bouncing in her seat, “are you telling me to break the law?”

“I think that in the world according to Malcolm Merlyn, we’re all breaking the law already.”

“Yay!” Felicity pulled her own laptop out of her bag. As she bent over it, muttering to herself, Sara glanced at Amaya, who smiled, spreading her hands out before her.

“Not so much to do for the veterinary science student,” she said with amusement. “But...I know some people who are..." She nibbled her lip. “...well. Let’s just say they’re students of superpowers. I’ll go make a few calls. Maybe they’ll have some idea if what we’re afraid of, with those wristlets, is possible...and how to undo it if it is.”

At Sara’s nod, Amaya headed toward the kitchen, pulling out her phone as she went. Sara looked at Leonard, who seemed a little stunned by how she’d taken over—but pleased and relieved, if the smile on his face was anything to go by.

“You’re a far better leader than I am,” he told her, moving nearer. “Thank you.”

“You’ve been a lone wolf for far too long.” Sara lifted her hands, resting them against his chest. “You were looking a little overwhelmed right there. You OK?”

He gave her a tiny smile. “Not particularly.” But his hands came up to cover hers. “Like I said before, I’m a ‘bad guy’ by so many people’s standards. The only reason I got a second chance at all was because Barry’s dad took a chance and helped me. This ‘plan’ of Merlyn’s...whatever it is, it terrifies me.”

Sara took a deep breath. “Len,” she said, “if we can’t stop whatever it is...leave Star City. Go to Central, be near your sister, find another place and another chance. It’s not that I want you to go,” she added as he started to protest, “it’s just that you deserve that. OK? Promise?”

Leonard stared down at her, his eyes dark and conflicted. “I can’t,” he said quietly. “I can’t just leave.”

“Len...”

But then Ray started whooping about some success with his experiments, and Felicity started yelling both at him and at her computer, and the conversation was done.

For the moment.

[hopeless-eccentric]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Vespa Ilkay & Peter Nureyev, Buddy Aurinko/Vespa Ilkay Characters: Vespa Ilkay, Peter Nureyev, Buddy Aurinko Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, teenage nureyev gets taken in by precanon vesbud after getting injured on a heist, that au. check out the fic this is based on i really loved it!, Trust Issues, Trust, Kid Fic, but like. a tasteful kid fic, vespa ilkay vs the hippocratic oath, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Some Humor, Found Family, tagging for the whole fic here, Accidental Baby Acquisition Summary:

Something about the kid made him a little harder to treat. Vespa didn’t want to think about why that was, but she had a feeling she was going to have to come to terms with it at some point soon. He reminded her a little too much of herself.

That was probably why they all landed face-first in this mess to begin with. It didn’t matter how many years Vespa had spent as a hardened medical professional. She couldn’t get rid of that soft spot for hurt kids if she wanted to, especially if those hurt kids just happened to be teenage thieves fending for themselves, pitted against the world without much more than the clothes on their backs and a good knife.

[serenelystrange]

(Leverage Fic) - Somewhat Legal Baby Acquisition

-------

They don't steal the baby, per se.

They kind of steal the baby.

But it all works out in the end!

--------

You can read below, or HERE at AO3

It starts with a sex-trafficking scheme. They bust it in under a week and Parker gloats for months after the fact. At least that’s her version of the story. In actuality, Hardison will tell you, it starts way before that, with a pair of purple rain boots.

.

Parker eyes the pyramid shaped tray of colorful cupcakes with the kind of glee that Hardison has long since learned can only lead to Parker buzzing around like the Energizer bunny and Redbull spawned a demon-child.

“One, Parker,” he says, “those are for the kids.”

“Pfft,” Parker says, waving her hand at him. “We saved the birthday boy’s moms from the evil dermatologist; I can have as many cupcakes as I want.”

“Hate to say it,” Eliot says as he joins them by the snack table, “but the lady has a point. Plus, I don’t live with her, so I don’t have to deal with the sugar rush.”

“Not helpful,” Hardison says, glaring at Eliot for a long moment before rolling his eyes and giving up.

“Just try not to make yourself sick, babe,” he says as he hands Parker a neon green covered cupcake.

Parker just grins and proceeds to shove half the cupcake in her mouth happily.

Eliot and Hardison look out across the park, watching the rowdy group of 5ish year olds running around with bubbles and water guns, squealing and laughing. Jessie and Rosa are plopped down on the grass in the middle of it all, looking exhausted but happy, generally trying their best to make sure none of the kids manage to injure themselves or each other. Their little boy, Ben, runs back to them periodically for hugs or to chatter about something in the kid’s game, his bright purple rain boots clashing against the warm and dry summer day.

“It’s too warm for those boots,” Parker says, mumbled around the cupcake. “His feet will get all sweaty.”

“They’re his favorite,” Eliot says, “Rosa told me earlier. He’s refused to wear anything else since they got them a few weeks ago.” He laughs at that, shaking his head fondly. “Kids, man.”

“You only have like three shirts, Eliot,” Hardison feels the need to point out. Parker snorts beside him, now working on cupcake number two, this one a violent orange color.

“Ass,” Eliot says absently, but he’s not really listening. Instead, Hardison notices, he’s watching Ben and the other kids play with a small smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“You want kids someday?” Hardison asks, because nobody can say he isn’t an astute pain in the ass.

Eliot shrugs and turns to look at Hardison, eyes focusing just left of his face.

“Not much chance of that,” he says, finally, looking for a moment as closed-off as the day they’d met, nearly ten years ago.

Before Hardison can even think of what to say, Parker interrupts by looping her arms around Eliot’s neck, eyes wide with sugar-fueled energy.

“You’ve got plenty of time, cupcake!” she says, before smacking an obnoxious sounding, frosting smeared kiss onto his cheek. “Hehehe, cupcake.”

“I…” Eliot is stunned into silence for a long moment, before rubbing at his cheek and cringing when his hand comes back painted in colors. “How many of these did you eat in less than five minutes? Dammit, Parker!”

Parker just giggles, sugar high in full effect.

“I think it’s time to go,” Hardison says, turning and crouching so Parker can jump onto his back. He learned years ago that most of Parker’s sugar trips somehow end with piggy-back rides, he’s accepted it.

“Whee!” she squeals and jumps up, wrapping her long limbs around him securely.

“You’re both ridiculous,” Eliot says.

“I will fire you,” Parker replies, grinning sweetly.

“Not if I quit first,” Eliot says, finally getting the frosting off his face after the fifth napkin.

Hardison just shakes his head and waves goodbye to Rosa and Jessie as they head out.

“Waffles tomorrow?” he asks Eliot as they split to their own cars.

“Obviously,” Eliot says, “I’ll be there at 8.”

Parker’s whine is muffled from where her head is smushed against Hardison’s shoulder, but it’s still loud enough to hear. Hardison cocks an eyebrow at Eliot, who rolls his eyes.

“Ten, then” he says, and gets into his car before Parker can protest.

“Come on, spider-monkey, get in the car,” Hardison says, wriggling Parker off his back.

“Don’t paraphrase Twilight at me,” she says, shuddering at the thought.

“You made me watch those movies,” Hardison reminds her.

“Because I thought they were going to turn into horror movies at some point!”

“Everything about that series is pretty horrifying,” Hardison concedes.

“Victory!” Parker declares, before finally getting in the car.

She’s asleep not even halfway home.

.

Hardison is startled awake by a dream about tiny elephants in rain boots a few weeks later. When he explains the dream to Parker, she sleepily nods and pats him on the head.

“Keeps out the rain AND the mice” she says, “makes sense,” before passing back out because it’s only 5AM and that isn’t a time she acknowledges exists unless she hasn’t gone to bed yet.

Hardison just smiles down at her fondly. “I knew you’d understand.”

He falls back to sleep eventually, but this time he dreams that he and Parker run an elephant sanctuary on Mars. It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing they’ve done.

.

It’s only after the third consecutive night where Hardison dreams about Eliot coaching the softball team he and Parker are inexplicably on that he finally cracks and brings it up to Parker.

“I think Eliot wants a kid,” he says as they’re settling on the couch to watch Doctor Who.

“Obviously,” Parker says, shrugging.

“You knew?” Hardison says, staring at her with wide eyes.

“He’s the daddest dad to ever dad,” Parker says, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“But,” Hardison says, “he’s never said anything about it, really. And he’s never said anything about giving this life up. He beats people up for a living most of the time!”

“But for justice,” Parker says. “Like Batman. Or Captain America. No, like Bucky!”

Hardison takes a moment to grin. “I love when you get all geeky on me, woman.”

“We can’t do this forever,” Parker says, looking over at Hardison seriously. “We should start an intern program. Train our own little band of Robin Hoods!”

“I..we’ll come back to this,” Hardison says, “but we were talking about Eliot. You think he wants kids? Do you want kids? Is this a conversation we need to have?”

“Maybe,” Parker says, “you’d be a great dad. But not for a few years at least. I’ve got too much thieving to do to worry about breast-feeding!”

“I’m learning so much today,” Hardison says, wrapping his head around the last few minutes, “including the fact that you want my hypothetical babies.”

“You are kinda my favorite,” Parker says, grinning over at him and wriggling her cold toes under his fuzzy pajama-clad thigh.

“I love you, too, mama,” Hardison says, and decides the Eliot thing can wait another day. He has a girlfriend to cuddle and a date with the Doctor.

.

“Parker said she might want babies with me someday,” Hardison brings up to Eliot a few days later. They’re walking through the farmer’s market, because Eliot is a snob about his vegetables. Hardison secretly finds it adorable, but likes very much not being punched, so he keeps it to himself.

“Ok?” Eliot asks, glaring down at a table of tomatoes. “Seriously?” he asks the guy at the table. “Just because you wear overalls and a straw hat doesn’t mean you can pass off these Wal-Mart discount balls of rubber as “organic and farm fresh.”

The vendor just shrugs and turns away to sell to somebody else.

“No respect for the farming community,’ Eliot grumbles as they walk away, “or for my garden salad.”

“It is a dope garden salad,” Hardison agrees, used to Eliot’s farmer’s market fits by now.

They’re a few tables down before Eliot catches up to what Hardison had been saying.

“Parker wants babies?” he asks, surprised.

“Hypothetically,” Hardison corrects. “She said I’d be a great dad, but not for a few years at least.”

“You would be a great dad,” Eliot says, flashing Hardison a genuine smile.

“You would, too, you know,” Hardison says, before he can stop himself. “You know, if that’s a thing that you would want, someday, eventually, maybe.”

Eliot scowls like he wants to say something mean but stops himself before he can. Finally he just shrugs again and twists his mouth into a half smile.

“Men like me don’t get to be fathers,” he says. “I’m going to look at the squash, I’ll see you tomorrow.” And then he’s trudging off into the crowd, leaving a bewildered Hardison standing in front of a table of unidentified root vegetables.”

.

.

“Men like him?” Parker repeats later that night. “What does that even mean?”

“I don’t know,” Hardison says. “but I’m guessing it has to do with his super secret past that he still wont talk to us about.”

“He probably doesn’t think he deserves to be happy,” Parker says, “after everything he’s done.”

Hardison frowns. “He deserves to be happy. But how so we make him realize that?”

“I’m not sure,” Parker says, “but it’s going to have to wait. I think I found our next client.”

.

.

The whole thing turns into a shoot-out, because of course it does. The teenagers they’re rescuing scatter in fear despite the warnings the stay low and hidden, and the scene quickly devolves into chaos. Thankfully, the thugs in charge seem to have more bullets than brainpower and Eliot has them disarmed after only a few minutes, while Hardison and Parker try to locate and rein in the frightened teenagers from around the dark and creepy warehouse. Because there’s always a dark and creepy warehouse in their jobs.

When it’s all said and done, the three of them meet for waffles at Hardison and Parker’s place, as is tradition after a successful job.

“Where’d they all end up?” Eliot asks, knowing Parker and Hardison had been up a lot longer than him, finding safe places for all the kids.

“A few went home,” Hardison says, “the lucky ones with good parents, who were either kidnapped or coerced into staying.”

“The younger ones with no families went to Child Protective Services,” Parker says, eyes still tired. “There were a lot of them.”

“A couple of the older ones were pretty strung out,” Hardison adds, “they’re at the hospital, and then hopefully rehab and therapy.”

“No kids got shot, though,” Parker says, “I’m calling it a win!”

“Here, here!” Hardison and Eliot say in unison, lifting their glasses of orange juice in cheers.

“I still hate leaving them in the system,” Parker says after a few minutes. “Even though I know there are so many good foster families out there. There’s just always…”

“Always the possibility,” Hardison agrees, reaching out to take Parker’s hand in his and giving it a squeeze.

Lost in their moment, they don’t notice Eliot looking at them thoughtfully, smile growing slowly across his face.

.

.

It takes several failed attempts of his own before Eliot gives up and goes to Hardison for help.

“We can’t just steal a baby,” Hardison says.

“I could definitely steal a baby,” Parker interrupts, “they’re very small.”

“I don’t want to steal a baby!” Eliot shouts over them. “I just want to… legally acquire one illegally.”

Hardison just sighs and starts typing. “The things I do for you crazy white people.”

.

They sort of steal the baby.

“It was going into the foster care system, anyway!” Parker defends, as she hands Eliot a tiny bundle wrapped in a white blanket. “And look, I even grabbed its medical chart! Perfectly healthy. It doesn’t even have a name yet.”

“I don’t know,” Eliot says, but he’s already holding the baby close to his chest, making sure it stays warm. “What happened to the parents?”

“There’s nobody left,” Hardison says, “I double checked, promise.”

“This is crazy,” Eliot says, “can we do this? Can I  do this?”

“If you mean the paper-trail,” Hardison says, “I am deeply offended that you think I wouldn’t make this the most convincing fake adoption in the history of adoption. But if you mean the prospect of you being a father, than I am still deeply offended that you think I would ever hand over a baby to someone I didn’t trust completely.”

“You’re already a dad, Eliot,” Parker says. “Now you just have a real kid to parent!”

But Eliot’s not listening to them anymore. He looking down at the tiny tan face that’s suddenly looking up at him, eyes still half closed, but alert and seemingly trained on him.

“Hey there, sweetheart,” he coos at her. “I’m gonna be your daddy now, how’s that sound?”

The baby just gurgles, but he decides to take it as a positive sign.

.

.

“Emily?” Parker offers, and Eliot shakes his head.

“She’s not an Emily.”

“True,” Parker says, smiling down at the baby where she’s sleeping on the couch between them.

“Nina?” Hardison asks, thumbing through one of the several baby name books Parker had stolen from the Barnes & Noble.

“It’s not bad,” Eliot says, “but I’m not sure. She has to live with the name her whole life, I want it to feel right.”

“Ooh!” Parker says suddenly, stopping herself from shouting at the last minute. She grabs the book from Hardison and flips almost all the way to the end. “Look!” she says, pointing to the entry at the bottom of the page.

.

“Zoe,” Eliot reads aloud, “Greek in Origin. Means… life.”

He grins down at his sleeping daughter and smooths a hand over her soft baby hair.

“I think it’s perfect. Hey there, my little Zoe. Welcome to our new life.”

.

THE END