#I’m slowly starting to associate Vegas as a ‘bad’ | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

schrijverr · 3 years ago

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Shuffle the Odds

Specner is a Vegas boy, who's game is poker, no matter what others might believe. The team slowly catches onto it.

Following Spencer from when he started at the BAU till season 7 with poker as red thread.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: Reid's shit childhood, a bit about his drug problem, gambling and abandonment issues

~~~~~~~~~~

Most think of Spencer’s game as chess. It’s a mathematical thinking game associated with intellect that he is known to play, so it isn’t a strange assumption to make. But chess has always been Gideon’s game, Reid just plays it with him.

You see, Spencer’s game is poker.

Poker for Spencer is good and bad memories tied up in a strange combination of behavioral studies, Math and high stakes.

He remembers the first time he played the game. He was seven at the time and his father’s poker table was one man short of the usual, so his father had jokingly said: “Spencer can play in Jack’s place.”

It got some laughs, but Spencer hadn’t realized it was a joke and simply replied: “It doesn’t look that hard.”

That got even more laughs, except for his father, who got a glint in his eyes as he said: “Sit down, Spencer. Here, I’ll bet he can kick all our asses. A hundred bucks, who’s in?”

One of the guys had asked Spencer if he had ever played before and Spencer had dutifully told him he had not. So, bet’s were placed and they told Spencer the rules. His father was a couple hundred bucks richer and his parents fought that night.

Still, he often played poker with his dad. One of the few god things they did together before he left, after which Spencer forgot about the game until he was sixteen.

At sixteen, his mother was doing even worse than she was seven years ago and the savings she had from her job were running low as Spencer tried to put himself through college for the so manieth time.

He had done tutoring jobs, but those weren’t enough to live on and now he was old enough to pass with a fake ID and maybe some make-up. So, he remembered the game he played with his father and the money that exchanged hands.

Spencer will always be a Vegas boy at heart.

Thus began his stints withsemi-illegal poker strategy anda confirmed illegal ID as he slowly worked his way through the casino’s in his hometown. He knew it was bad, but it was also profitable and he was finally able to save up for the medical center for his mom. And as long as no one found out, he still had a future.

Still, all of that isn’t something you tell your employer, especially if your employer is the FBI and you’re just starting out on a new team, trying to get the respect your age doesn’t grantyou.

So, he doesn’t start out his new job by saying: Hi, I’m Dr. Spencer Reid and I’m banned from most casino’s in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Pahrump. And instead just awkwardly stumbles over a statistic about germs as he avoids shaking hands.

Gideon knows, of course. He actually ran into the man after a lecture in his psychology courses at a casino-hotel Gideon was staying inat the time. But Spencer played it off as just it being a first time, one-off thing and Gideon pretended to believe him.

They never really spoke of it and the two always played Gideon’s game. Chess. It is the game the others in the BAU know him to play and Spencer is more than fine with that.

However, hiding things while working with a team trained to figure things out off the faintest clues isn’t easy and being a prolific poker player slips through the cracks.

It’s on his third case with the BAU that it happens. They’ve just caught a serial killer in Montana and are flying back. Before Spencer can hide himself in a book like he’s always done, Derek callsout: “Hey, Reid, you’re a Vegas boy, right?”

Spencer has to guess whether Derek found out about his past and it’s a trap or if the other agent is trying to befriend him. In case it is the latter, he doesn’t want to lie, because if he’s going to work with these people, he at least wants to be on good terms with them. Cautiously, he replies: “Yes, I suppose so.”

“So, you play cards?” Derek asks and it’s phrased like a genuine question, but Spencer distrusts the whole thing even more.

He looks to Gideon for answers, but the man is flipping through a case file and isn’t paying attention. Seems Spencer has to figure this one out by himself. “I know how to play,” he settles on, knowing the game isn’t an admission to anything, right?

“Hell yeah, kid. Finally,” Derek grins and it doesn’t seem like a trap, but just excitement. So, Spencer relaxes slightly as Derek says: “No one ever wants to play. Here sit down and I’ll deal. You know poker, right?”

Spencer nods as he sits down. He still looks around, just in case. He doesn’t know what he’s expecting, maybe for Hotch the suddenly jump up and accuse him of being a criminal, however unlikely.

JJ dissipates that fear when she snorts: “The only reason none of us want to play with you is because you’re insufferable when you play poker.”

“I am not,” Derek complains. “Reid here doesn’t think so, right, kid?”

“Uhm, no?” Spencer answers quietly, not wanting to ignore Derek, but also not wanting to pick a side between the two agents, who have been on this team longer than him.

“See,” Derek says to JJ as he deals, she just shakes her head and goes back to her report. Once he’s done dealing, Derek throws him a packet of pretzels and informs him that those are the chips they’ll be playing with.

They play four games and Spencer lets Derek win three of them. It’s at that moment that Gideon looks up from his book and decides for fuck Spencer over by saying: “You don’t have to let him win, Reid. He’s cocky enough as is.”

“Hold up,” Derek exclaims indignantly. “He is not letting me win, okay. I’m just good at poker, which is why you’re too scared to play with me. You don’t need to coddle him, he can handle loosing a few rounds of poker against me.”

Now everyone is looking at Spencer, who is decidedly not saying anything, already regretting his decision to agree to a few rounds of poker. He should have just played the nerdy doctor card and pretended he didn’t know, before hiding away again.

“I’m not afraid to play poker with you,” Gideon says. “I just don’t think it’s worth my time.”

“Oh really?” Derek shoots back and it’s 100% a challenge.

“Yes, really,” and Gideon sadly isn’t someone, who lets things go. “I’ll play with you and Reid right now and I want to bet that the kid will wipe the floor with both of us.”

Spencer is suddenly transported to his old living room, with his father and his friends surrounding a poker table. He blinks and Derek and Gideon both look at him to see if he agrees. Awkwardly he says: “I don’t know. I could probably beat you, but counting cards is looked down upon and I can’t turn my brain off enough for me not to do it, so I’ll have an unfair advantage.”

“No, man, poker is about body language and reading clues,” Derek tells him. “Profiling beats Math when it comes to poker. Play your best, I’ll beat you both.”

And with that it’s decided and the cards aredealt again.

The whole game Spencer is not only calculating the cards, but also what his best move is. He doesn’t want to disappoint Gideon, but he also doesn’t want any scrutiny on his poker playing skills, so he has to find away do avoid both.

In the end, he decides he can spout something about Math that will bore Derek and make it seem like it’s just theory that made him good. Besides being good at poker, doesn’t mean having been banned throughout casino’s inthree towns before you were the legal age to gamble. That isn’t a connection one would make.

So, he wins and watches nervously as Gideon gives Derek a smirk, who frowns: “Could just be lucky. It happens, sometimes cards are against you.”

“Then deal again,” Gideon tells him, which the other does with a huff.

Spencer wins again and then again, feeling a bit like the party trick he used to be at office parties his dad had as Hotch and JJ come to watch while Spencer wipes the floor with the othersat poker over and over again, much to Derek’s frustration.

“I give up,” he finally says, throwing his hands up. “You win. Happy?”

“Very much so,” Gideon grins, before going back to his report like nothing has happened.

Spencer doesn’t really know what to do. Gideon thinks it’s over, so do Hotch and JJ, but Derek is still looking out the window, slightly putout. The whole goal was to befriend the other agent, but instead he just made him upset. Softly, he says: “I’m sorry.”

Derek looks up at him in surprise, eyes softening when he sees the young agent. He smiles gently and says: “I’m not mad, promise. No need for sorry.”

“But I-”

“I can handle loosing a bit of poker,” Derek quirks a brow and Spencer feels stupid about what he was insinuating. “And I get going along with Gideon, he loves his tricks, wouldn't want him to turn on me.” Derek winks at that and Spencer, for the first time in his life, is included in a mutual joke and brightens.

It dims slightly again as he says: “I didn’t let you win, because I thought you’d be a sore looser.”

“Then why did you?” Derek asks, no judgment in his voice.

Spencer shrugs, before confessing: “People generally don’t like it when someone beats them at something they’re good at. I- I have- A lot of people are less nice when you disprove something they believe, especially if you’re younger.”

He doesn’t like being vulnerable, but he does really like this job and this team, who have only taken him seriously and appreciated him ever since he got there. If it gets to stay that way, he’s prepared to make a sacrifice.

And it pays off too, because Derek face turns into something understanding an Spencer is grateful when he doesn’t ask further, just starts shuffling the cards as he says: “You gonna show me how you did that? One day. One day and I’ll use your tricks against you.”

“We’ll see,” Spencer smiles, picking up his cards. Yeah, this team is worth it.

Slowly, he gets integrated into the BAU until he knows them all as well as family. Elle joins them and he likes her. She isn’t a huge poker player, but she seems to get amusement out of watching Spencer beat Derek on the plane.

At one point, she says: “We should take you to Vegas, earn some money.”

It’s meant as a joke, Derek laughs, but Spencer freezes slightly. When Derek notices, he immediately asks: “You okay, Reid?”

Spencer knows he can’t very well tell Derek: ‘No, I was suddenly gripped by the fear that you would uncover my illegal gambling and I froze,’ so he smiles and answers: “I’m fine. Just hadn’t realized Elle didn’t know I’m from Vegas. It’s quite a strange thing to hear someone joke about taking you to your hometown.”

That gets the two of them off his back as Elle makes another joke about him having poker genes, but Derek’s gaze stays on him.

Still, the incident is forgotten and life goes on.

When they’re attacked by Randall Garner, Spencer fears for a moment that he’ll use it as leverage against him. It never happens and he later realizes that his mom doesn’t even know what he did for them and that it just slipped his mind in the stress of the case and fear.

Yet the attack sets in motion the reasoning and actions that lead to Elle leaving and Spencer knows he’s going to miss her so much. She’s the first to leave since he’s gotten to the team and he is suddenly reminded of how much is sucks when someone you care about goes.

He still calls her and she still asks if he has beaten Derek at poker recently, but it isn’t the same.

Her replacement is one Emily Prentiss. Spencer is usually a nice, welcoming person, but he has been kidnapped recently and the drugs are still messing with his system and Elle’s departure is still raw.

So, he’s hostile towards her. He doesn’t like her. She tries to befriend him, replace someone he’s missing and he wants to escape both her and the loss.

It’s only when he finds himself at a casino in Quantico, trying to win the extra off the book cash needed to buy the drugs, that he knows he has to stop. He has worked hard to get where he is in the FBI at his age and he finally has a family. Sure, one member has gone, but the others were still there. He isn’t going to ruin that.

He leaves the casino that night and gets sober. It’s a struggle and he isn’t any nicer to Prentiss throughout his withdrawal period.

Derek tries to get him to play, but he doesn’t react. He knows it worries him, but he can’t help but see that casino again and all the casino’s before that and he can’t bring himself. So, he watches, almost from afar as Prentiss says: “I play.”

“Okay,” Derek nods as he starts to shuffle, but his eyes trail over Spencer and he isn’t as enthusiastic.

Prentiss proves to be a good match and Spencer knows that in another time, he’ll have enjoyed playing with her and bullying Derek together, but he can’t bring himself now.

Still, it gets better, for a while. He stays sober and redeems himself as a normal, okay and nice person for Emily, who is also much nicer than he first treated her. She fits in with them all, despite her sometimes distant position. Not that he blames her for that, he knows a defense for abandonment when he sees it. Just because he clings, doesn’t mean, he isn’t aware of the other coping mechanisms.

Then Gideon leaves.

If Elle’s departure has hit him, this punches him in the face and kicks him when he’s down. Gideon is the closest thing he has to a father and the man walking out is too familiar.

It hurts.

He plays chess intensely until he can’t look at a chess board without wanting to throw in across the room. So, when Derek and Emily are playing on the plane again, he says: “Hey, deal me a hand too.”

When Derek smiles a proper smile at him, he feels the weight of Gideon’s departure lighten. Poker is Spencer’s game, he has tied it to good memories with family, no matter how it ends, for years and he isn’t going to stop now.

Emily, at this point, has never seen him play and cockily jokes: “I would worry, Reid. No offense, but I’ve been wiping the floor with Morgan here and my Sin to Win weekends have prepared me for this showdown.”

Spencer wants to counter it, but he sees a mischievous glint in Derek’s eyes as he subtly shakes his head. With Derek he doesn’t feel like a circus trick, but just someone in on the joke after Emily’s cocky statement, which is very reminiscent of Derek’s.

“We’ll see,” is all he says as he sits down. JJ looks up and shakes her head fondly and Hotch looks up then away with the hint of a smile. The only one who looks up curiously is Rossi, who is even newer than Emily and the only other one, who has never seen Spencer play.

He has to admit that Emily is one lucky lady in her draws, but even her luck is mathematically predictable. Especially because she pushes her tongue against the inside of her teeth, which you can see in her jaw, whenever she’s lucky.

Ah, the beauty of behavior andMath.

Spencer beats her and Derek laughs, prompting her to demand a rematch. After five more games, in which, admittedly, she has beat him once and almost twice, she is suitably impressed. Still, she turns to Derek and accuses: “You knew, you fucking dick.”

Derek just laughs and says: “Everyone has to learn the hard way about Reid and poker, okay. If he weren’t already a Vegas boy, I would bring him to start my pension for me.”

That makes Emily laugh and Spencer can also manage a chuckle. Derek thinks him too much ofa doctor for him to realize. It’s all good and he can also laugh at the absurdity that it happened to him, even if the others only laugh at the possibility.

After that it becomes sort of a thing. He, Derek and Emily play poker on the way home from cases and slowly the pain of Gideon leaving disappears as he grows closer to both Emily and Rossi.

At some point, Hotch comments that he remembers Rossi being a poker player, but Rossi holds up his hands and replies: “I’ve seen the blood in the water with them, I’m not swimming with the sharks.”

“You scared, old man?” Derek jokes.

“Of you? No. Of them? Absolutely.” Rossi tells him, making the whole team laugh as well as make Spencer feel a strange sort of pride. As if his poker is an admirable skill, instead of something he’s ashamed about.

He never talks of poker outside the plane rides and no one pushes him. Emily will mention her Sin to Win weekends from time to time, insinuating that Spencer is invited, should he want to come, but he never takes her up on it.

Poker is reserved for the plane. A winding down from stressful cases that is carefully separated from the ground, both in his personal life and professional life. Despite the inaccuracy in the metaphor, he doesn’t see the need to wave a red cape in front of a bull’s eyes. No need to invite conversation where it might lead to an uncomfortable one.

Still, he is Dr. Spencer Reid and life never truly goes his way.

They have been in Las Vegas before on a case, even stayed in a Casino. It was back when Spencer tried to arrest his father, but Spencer wasn’t recognized by anyone, probably since he hadn’t been back in years and it wasn’t one he was hard banned.

He isn’t as lucky this time.

Spencer doesn’t even realize until they pull up. He usually checks with JJ where they go, he does it to every city to check up on the motels to know how much he’ll have to prepare for the grossness, but having been called out of bed in the middle of the night for a series of brutal murders with another one imminent, it had slipped his mind.

So, when they come back from a day investigating to try and get a little bit of sleep before returning to the station, he is faced with The Mirage, a big name in Vegas, which had banned him withquite a scene that has made him terrified to ever return.

The others first don’t realize he pauses outside as he hesitates. If he walks in with Hotch, he isn’t likely to be stopped, but the way he was thrown out, doesn’t bode well for him. And if he just pauses long enough, he can go somewhere else without calling the team’s attention to the fact that he’s avoiding the casino and for what reasons that would be.

But before he can make up his mind, Derek notices. He looks back and frowns. “Hey, Reid, you okay, pretty boy?”

“I mean, yeah,” Spencer replies, already cringing at how out of character and suspicious it sounds.

Immediately the others stop and look back, all slightly concerned. Spencer’s eyes flick between them and the casino, still deliberating. With how closely they’re looking, it doesn’t go unnoticed and Hotch asks: “Is there a problem with the casino?”

Spencer scratches his nose and shrugs: “No, no, of course not.” He just has to hope that Hotch’s Hotch-ness will get him to his room and that him avoiding the gambling area will be enough to not get kicked out in front of everyone.

He practically hides behind Hotch, much to everyone’s amusement, even if it’s colored by confusion and concern about the behavior of their youngest member. Derek in particular is sending him glances with meaningful eyebrows that Spencer avoids in favor of looking if he is spotted by security yet. So far, so good.

They almost make it to the elevator too.

Spencer can almost touch the – probably incredibly germ-y –elevator button, when a Pit Boss, middle management on the floor, spots him. The woman yells: “Hey, you there. At the elevator, turn around.”

The whole team pauses, first unsure if she’s talking to them. Then they see how Spencer is frozen, before he turns slowly as they follow suit, confusion written all over their faces.

Of course Spencer recognizes the lady. Her name is Fiona Quinn and she was the one that threw him out, now already eleven years ago. He was seventeen at the time and had managed to piss off a visiting executive, who was assessing the staff.

She goes livid when she recognizes him. “Get out!” she screams. “Get out of this casino! You know very well you’re not supposed to be here.”

“Miss Quinn,” he starts trying to explain, “I’m not here to bet, I promise. I- I’m here for work and I didn’t book-”

“I don’t care for your excuses,” Fiona fumes. He remembers she was a Pit Boss back then too, probably on the cusp of a promotion that he had ruined for her.

Spencer cowers slightly under her rage and looks helplessly at Hotch, who steps in. He shows her his badge and says: “I’m SSA Hotchner, I’m with the FBI. Can you please tell me why you’re harassing one of my colleagues, who is trying to get to his room.”

That, if anything, makes her even more livid. “That little brat?” she shrieks. “Is he even old enough to be FBI or did you give you a fake ID too?”

Multiple eyebrows are raised as they look at Spencer, who makes a gesture that hopefully conveys: I know, I also don’t want to talk about it. It is what it is.

“Ma’am, I see you’re upset, but SSA Dr. Reid is only sleeping here. He did not even know we would be staying here until moments ago,” Hotch tries to calm her down.

“I don’t care,” Fiona says. “You may be FBI, but you’re not all powerful. He,” she points harshly at Spencer, “is banned here. For forever. He’s not allowed to set a foot in this establishment and should be glad the police let him off with a warning. The ban has not worn off, it was lifelong, not over after a decade.”

“We understand that, ma’am,” Hotch says gently. “But at this moment we just want to go to our rooms. We’re not here to gamble, just rest. We have to go back to a murder investigation in a few hours and we would like some rest. He won’t set foot in here after that, I promise, but can we please stay for the night we booked.”

Fiona regards them for a moment, suspicion in her eyes. However, she also seems to realize she has gained quite an audience and her movements are being watched. “Can I see your badge again, agent?” she asks.

Dutifully Hotch shows her his badge, but not without sending Spencer a look that tells him this will be discussed in length later.

She then looks at Spencer and disgust colors her features as she says: “And your badge, let me see it.” Spencer shows her, feeling very uncomfortable as she studies it. She hums: “So your name is Spencer Reid. I’ll update our ban with the proper name.”

He blushes and nods, apologizing for the inconvenience and mentally beating himself up for not just taking a nap at the police station or leaving the moment he saw where they were staying. But Fiona Quinn is satisfied with their badges and lets them go upstairs.

The elevator ride is quiet for a moment, then, just as Spencer thinks he might get away with staying silent, Hotch prompt: “So, Reid, care to explain what that was about?”

“Uhm, well,” Spencer starts, not really wanting to but knowing he can’t avoid it and praying they reach their floor before it can go somewhere. “You know. Stuff. Happened.”

Hotch slowly raises one brow and Spencer desperately tries not to meet his eyes. Derek elbows him and looks up in surprise. The man smirks, like he doesn’t believe Spencer could have done anything that bad, as he asks: “What did little Spencer do to get himself banned from a casino? Wild 21stbirthday or something?”

“Not- Not exactly,” Spencer answered. “More- well, uhm, can you all- I wouldn't want- It’s just-”

“Dr. Spencer Reid without words, that’s a first,” Emily noted. “Someone call the news.”

“Reid, at this point I think it’s better for you to tell us than for us to make our own assumptions,” Hotch tells him and that’s what pushes him over the edge, he knows what an active imagination can do.

“Promise not to tell the director?” he still checks.

Derek frowns and comments: “Damn, what did you do?”

“It was eleven years ago, alright,” Spencer defends himself before he realizes they can do the mental Math themselves.

“You would have been seventeen and definitely not allowed to be in here,” Hotch says pointedly.

“Kind of exactly that,” Spencer winces as the other’s explode. Still, he stupidly defends himself by saying: “But they didn’t throw me out because of that, they just tried to charge me, but they didn’t. I was fine. They let me off with a warning, sort of.”

“Reid,” Hotch is not looking happy.

Before Spencer can answer the elevator dings, they all get out, but no one moves to go to their rooms. In a last ditch effort to avoid answering for his past, Spencer says: “We should try to get some rest. We still have a case, remember?”

“Yeah, no, pretty boy,” Derek shakes his head. “Just tell us what happened that has gotten you a lifetime ban here.”

“I have more bans,” it slips out and he face palms, before explaining: “I count cards. I can’t help it, my brain does it automatically. I wouldn't have gotten caught if I had been more careful, I always make sure to loose enough rounds to not raise suspicion, but our electricity had gone out and me and my mom don’t do well without light. I just needed enough money for the bills, I didn’t know an executive would be there.”

He hates how he has a front row seat to the revelations on his team mates’ faces as they realize he illegally played poker throughout his youth, just to make sure he and his mom would survive. If it was just the illegal part, he would bea stupid teen, but now he’s just a sob story.

“But that’s over now,” he says, before anyone can pity him. “I don’t play for money anymore and I’ve never been caught. I know that doesn’t make up for it, but my record is clean, I swear, this was the only thing I did. Casino’s make 6 million dollars a year off gambling, they wouldn't miss one kid earning a bit off that.”

“I won’t tell,” Derek speaks up, he thinks it only fair having not mentioned his own past to the team until it got relevant.

Others nod their agreement and a knot loosens in Spencer’s chest. However, Hotch still has to decide and Spencer might still loose it all.

Everyone holds their breath.

“Seeing how far in the past it is and the circumstances, I do not see the need to notify the board,” the unit chief finally decides and Spencer lets out a big sigh of relief. “Now, Reid was right, we do still have a case. Everyone, get some rest.”

They don’t mention it again after that. The next night Spencer sleeps on the precinct couch, promising the others that it’s fine. They solve the case the day after that and are on the plane home in no time.

On the plane, Derek hesitates for a moment, then pulls out their deck of cards, before yelling: “Hey, pretty boy, just ‘cause you can’t play for money, doesn’t mean you’re getting out of this.”

Spencer is glad the other isn’t being weird about it and gladly goes to sit with him and Emily as they start the game.

They’re a few rounds in when Derek says: “Hey, Reid. All those times we joked about taking you to Vegas, huh?” Spencer nods to signal he knows what Derek is talking about. “How much were you laughing at us?”

The question honestly takes him by surprise and he honestly answers: “I didn’t. I was more scared you would connect the dots.”

“Are you banned just in Vegas?” Emily asks then.

“In the area, yeah,” Spencer answers, not seeing the need to list the three towns he’s not allowed to gamble in.

“So, I could still bring you to an Atlanta Sin to Win weekend?” Emily says.

Spencer laughs, he can’t believe she’s still trying that. He grins: “I think we’ll both get banned if I go and I don’t think you want that.”

“Damn, here I thought I got my future fortune,” Emily grins back.

And life goes on. It really isn’t a conversation topic and it gets mostly forgotten as more important things come at them that they need to focus on.

He hadn’t realized how forgotten until they’re in New Jersey, trying to track down a serial killer trying to get good luck. The whole case surrounded casino’s, but no one has turned to him to give him a look or make a dumb joke about it. They haven’t even asked if he knows anything that could help with the case, given his past.

Not that he has.

He’s seen people with rituals trying to get good luck, but he has personally never believed in it and hasn’t encountered something this extreme before. The only insight he could offer is to how a casino works, but that’s about it.

Still, he knew it would come up the moment he saw what the case is about and he’s more surprised it took this long.

They figured out what the unsub wants to win. A poker game. The buy in, 50,000 dollars. Spencer has seen more extreme, but never participated in those games, too risky when you’re technically not even allowed to be here, no matter how profitable.

However, he doesn’t offer himself as candidate. It seems unnecessary when they don’t even have the funds to be allowed to go in. As Rossi sarcastically points out: “I can’t imagine why not. We’re only asking for 50,000 bucks of taxpayer money so that FBI agents can play Texas Hold ‘Em.”

Spencer is about to agree they need another plan, when Emily says: “Hey, what about you?”

“What about me?” Rossi counters immediately.

“You could take us the buy-in,” Emily says.

And honestly, Spencer doesn’t see another option without people getting hurt, so he agrees: “Yeah, you’re a best-selling author.”

“No!” And Spencer can’t really blame Rossi, even if it would be better if the agent agrees with them.

“Why not?” Seems Emily agrees with Spencer on that.

“One, it’s against regulations,” Rossi points out, like they haven’t made rasher decisions in the past to catch a killer. “And I’d like to hold onto this job for a little while longer.”

“It’s a minor administrative violation,” JJ says, saying what Spencer is thinking.

“And two, I prefer to spend my money on actual things, like single-malt Scotch, a fine cigar, beautiful artwork,” Rossi counters further and it ishis money.

“Poker chips are things.” Not that that is deterring Emily in any way and Spencer is really coming up empty on alternative and backs her up: “Maybe just think of it as, like, a new experience. I mean, at your age, how often does that happen?”

“At my what.” Okay, so maybe not the best move.

“Rossi, this may be our only chance to get this guy.” Thank god for JJ and her people skills and quick thinking.

“All right, fine,” Rossi finally gives in. “I’m a decent poker player, but I can’t promise that I can stay in the game long enough to…”

Spencer is mostly fine with letting Rossi go in. He’s the more experienced people reader and they need to find the unsub, not just play poker. Plus it is his money, not Spencer’s, so he’s not presenting himself as player, even if he could stay in the game longer, because 50,000 dollars is a lotof money.

“You know what? I bet you’re a great poker player, but what if we send in Reid?” Seems Emily is more pragmatic and sees no problem in presenting Spencer as option.

“I am banned from casinos in Las Vegas, Laughling and Pahrump, because of my card-counting ability,” Spencer offers. Is it a slightly weird resume? Yes. But he can stay in the game longer and with someone else being the one to present it, he is going to jump aboard.

No one reacts to the other two towns they hadn’t known about, all too busy with the case.

“Look, I know I’m not a genius like the boy wonder here, but poker is not blackjack. It’s about bluffing, reading human nature, head games. It’s not Math,” Rossi says.

And normally Spencer would let things like this go, because it is Rossi’s money and not his call in the end, but he also loves facts and poker is his favorite game. He can’t let Rossislander the beauty of Math that comes along with behavioralanalysis that makes poker such an amazing game.

“That’s not entirely accurate,” he’s out of his seat before he even knows what he’s doing and writing on the whiteboard. “There actually is a Mathematical equation for knowing when to raise and when to fold. If P represents the size of the pot at the time of play, then P times N minus 1, with N representing the estimated numbers of players at the final round of betting-”

“Okay, fine,” he gets cut off by Rossi before he can finish his explanation. “I surrender. Just try not to loose all my money?”

Spencer grins and takes that as a challenge.

Taking the unsub down is of course a priority, but after they’ve explained to the organizers what happened and who they are, Spencer is allowed to gather his winnings, even return to the competition if he wants.

One look from Hotch discourages that idea, so he just collects the chips and goes to get them exchanged, the others on his heels. They all want to see how much he’s won. Rossi even jokingly comments: “You better not have lost too much.”

He doesn’t reply more beyond a cheeky grin, before depositing his wins. He already knows how much he won, but it’s less fun to tell them. As the man at the register counts, Spencer asks: “Hey, Rossi, do I get to keep what I won? I technically earned it and you’ll still get your money back.”

Rossi is a smart man, who merely replies: “We’ll see.”

The registry man can’t help, but nod slightly impressed once he’s done counting and says: “You’ve won 107,580 dollars, congratulations.”

There is a moment of stunned silence, before Derek whistles and Emily hoots, patting him hard on the back. Rossi blinks a few times before grinning and even Hotch shares a small smile with JJ, who looks impressed.

“Damn, pretty boy really does have game,” Derek says as the money is being counted.

“Well,” Spencer blushes. “I had a higher buy-in than I’m used to and we we’re making 8,000 dollar bets throughout. I just played smart and it took me a while before I was at the right table.”

“That’s still impressive, Reid,” JJ says.

“Yeah, you can keep the money you won on that just from extraordinary points alone,” Rossi agrees.

Spencer is in the process of taking the money and quickly goes: “No, no, here, I was just joking, Rossi. That’s your money.

“I’ll take it,” Emily holds out her hand, grinning mischievously as Derek pushes her, before pausing and saying: “I want in too.”

“You know, we’ll split the money,” Rossi says.

“Including Garcia and giving Rossi his orginal 50,000 back that’s still 8,255.71 dollar,” Spencer quickly calculated.

“I will take that,” Emily shakes Rossi’s hand quickly and firmly, before Rossi can back out.

“Aren’t your parents rich, Em?” JJ asks, always having thought those comments were jokes.

Emily shrugs: “They also taught me to never say no to money.”

“I can get behind that,” Derek grins, slinging an arm around Spencer. “Thanks for the money, pretty boy.”

He rolls his eyes, but it’s nice to share his winnings openly with friends, more family, without having to hide or be ashamed. It feels like coming full circle and reclaiming the game he’s always loved for his own and good memories.

Spencer’s game is poker and he can say that with a smile.

A/N:

I love poker playing genius Spencer Reid and there’s honestly not enough content, so I had to do something about that XP

#RR writing #tw: abandonment issues #tw: drugs #tw: childhood trauma #tw: gambling #cm #criminal minds #spencer reid #derek morgan #elle greenaway #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner #aaron hotch #jason gideon #dave rossi #jennifer jareau #spencer reid and poker #spencer reid is a vegas boy

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fiddlepickdouglas · 4 years ago

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Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 6 - Going Home

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, bitter to bittersweet, 2.8k

@trevor-wilson-covington is my bestie who makes me these lovely edits, we stan supportive friends

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

The next morning was uncharacteristically cloudy. It took the boys a long time to climb out of bed. Reggie was sprawled over most of the larger bed, and Bobby seemed to have stolen the covers (and Reggie’s teddy bear) to compensate for being curled up into one corner. Luke was face down on the couch and somehow not suffocating to death. Alex had lain awake for a while, staring out the window and watching the light slowly creep further into the room. He’d tried sleeping more and eventually his head was buzzing with too many thoughts to keep it up any longer.

It already felt like years from yesterday. Everything was this image of beautiful long hair and dark brown eyes that were a world away, and yet they had more gravity in them than he’d ever seen. Alex was ruined for tie-dye and puka shells for the rest of his life. He knew he’d see nothing else but Willie in them. Skateboards were in a whole other category. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d just attached himself to another person besides Luke, Reggie, and Bobby.

He heard Reggie roll out of bed and enter the bathroom, and the motion caused the whole room to stir. Luke lifted his head, and after some confused staring at the arm of the couch, turned on his side and sighed heavily. A tired smile came across his face, and he had that besotted sort of look to him - the one the rest of the guys had associated with ‘Julie on the mind’ - and Alex finally understood. Did he look like that now, too?

Bobby sat up abruptly, a look of sleepy disorientation on his face. Reggie’s bear was clutched tightly to his chest, and he had to look down and realize it was there before gently setting it down on Reggie’s side. Luke simply gave him a puzzled look as he wordlessly climbed out of the bed and went to push Reggie over and share the bathroom sink to shave. Alex absent-mindedly ran his hand over the bottom half of his face, feeling the still-smooth skin underneath his fingers.

The morning was full of light chatter, most of them still too tired to gush about the night before. It was already too late to enjoy the continental breakfast the hotel served, and after each of them finished getting ready and packing, they all looked around at each other.

“You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’, boys?” Luke said. Reggie’s stomach growled loudly in the pause that followed.

“I’m gonna guess we find food?” Reggie responded.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “I’m pretty sure he’s talking about where.”

All three of them looked at Alex expectantly and he blinked back at them.

“Are you guys just gonna stare or are we gonna eat?” he joked dryly.

They all headed down to the lobby and checked out, dumping their luggage in the van. Even though no one had mentioned the diner, there seemed to be the silent agreement that that’s where they were going. Alex briefly considered suggesting that the guys go to the arcade again, but thought better of it. They were all chill with Willie; he didn’t have to hide anything. Sitting at the same table they had the day before, Alex noticed the place was busy this time around.

A tall man with dark hair approached their table. Alex recognized him from the brief peek out the kitchen door, and the reminder from Willie later: Caleb. He had a clean look to him - pristine was perhaps a better word - and he smiled widely.

“Welcome boys! How are we this morning!” he greeted cheerfully. It greatly contrasted Alex’s first impression, but he thought to keep an open mind. Willie hadn’t really said anything bad about him, only admitted that he sometimes put people off, which Alex could understand if he was running a diner. The charisma was unexpected.

“Oh, we could eat!” Reggie said excitedly.

“Music to my ears,” Caleb said, clapping his hands together. “Anything I can get started for you?”

Alex didn’t pay attention to what everyone else said as he skimmed the diner for signs of Willie. Two other servers were going around but neither of them were him. There wasn’t a proper way to peek into the kitchen either, so if Willie were to show up he’d come through the door. The image of him skating up to them instead of walking nearly made Alex laugh aloud. Luke elbowed him in the arm. Looking up, he saw Caleb waiting for him to order.

“Sorry, uh,” he sputtered. “Toast and eggs, with the banana.”

Caleb merely nodded, as if he had expected as much.

“Wonderful. I’ll have those out for you boys in the blink of an eye.” He turned neatly on his heel. Alex tried not to be too obvious as he attempted to glimpse through the doorway as Caleb entered the kitchen.

“He was nice!” Reggie said.

“Doesn’t count,” Alex told him. “He’s the boss.” It hadn’t meant to slip out sounding that way, but there was likely a bit of truth to it. He was just...disappointed he wasn’t who he’d hoped to see. Alex guessed after so many chance meetings yesterday, reality had to resurface somehow.

Bobby shot him a worried look, but got distracted by Reggie pulling out a napkin and trying to make it into some sort of shape. Alex recalled the frog and wished he had kept it. Reggie’s turned out to be a fortune teller, but since he couldn’t write anything inside he simply used it as a goofy sort of puppet and kept trying to snap at everyone’s fingers.

Luke sat up in that way he usually did like a lightbulb had come on in his head, and he grabbed a napkin as well. Then he looked around, grabbed a pen from the host’s counter, and began scribbling words on the napkin as best he could.

“Got some inspiration?” Alex teased.

Luke shushed him as he focused on getting everything down, and then began humming a melody in a low voice, repeating it to himself. Caleb came back with their plates as he did so. As he carefully laid their orders before them, he eyed Luke in curiosity.

“Are we musicians, here?” he asked with piqued interest.

“Yeah, actually we’re Sunset Curve,” Bobby told him.

“Tell your friends!” Reggie added.

“Well, I certainly have friends to tell,” Caleb mentioned. “You wouldn’t happen to have done any gigs around here, would you?”

“We just played at the Pearl last night,” Luke said proudly.

Caleb raised his eyebrows with a slight smile.

“Impressive,” he mused. “Something tells me you could become big. Consider your meal on the house, courtesy of Caleb Covington.”

All of them looked at him in awe.

“Wait, you’re serious?” Luke said incredulously.

“Oh, of course!” Caleb assured. “You boys deserve all the help you can get to make it in the big leagues. If you ever pass this way again, you can count on us to serve you here and have a place in my hotel.”

“Wait, you own the hotel too?” Reggie asked.

“Just a small monopoly in the market,” Caleb shrugged. “All to serve rockstars like you.”

“”Right on!” Luke smiled, digging into his plate.

“You boys call me if you need anything else,” Caleb insisted as he made off with his empty tray.

All of them ate with enthusiasm. Alex tried to shut up the battle in his mind about how he felt over the whole interaction. Caleb was so generous, how could his first impression have been so wrong? Was he irrationally holding it against Caleb that Willie was nowhere to be seen and that was the only thing bothering him? It didn’t matter, he guessed. They had free food and guaranteed lodging any time they were in Vegas now. That was an investment in the future.

Luke continued to hum and tap and write the whole time, which only bothered the couple sitting behind him. Reggie was bobbing his head along and Alex could see the bassline forming in his head by the concentration on his face.

“Okay, I’m guessing we’re gonna jam this one out on the way back, so who’s driving?” Bobby wondered.

“Trick question,” Alex said. “It’s gonna be me so I don’t get carsick again.”

When they all finished eating Caleb came to clear away their plates.

“I rarely see plates this clean,” he commented. “Looks like you enjoyed yourselves!”

“Compliments to the cook,” Luke said. “They make some gnarly pancakes.”

“I hire the best,” Caleb told him. He rested their plates with one arm as they each got up to leave. “Safe travels, boys. And remember, I’m always looking out for you.”

Alex was the last to leave the booth and took a moment as the other three bounded outside. Caleb raised an eyebrow, waiting to listen.

“Um,” Alex hesitated, wringing his hands. “I met Willie yesterday. Could you just tell him Alex said goodbye? I’d appreciate it.” It wasn't even close to what he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure how to go about explaining the entirety of the day before to this man.

Caleb gave a strange half nod, saying nothing in return. Alex guessed it was a silent promise - maybe he knew what Alex was actually talking about and wasn’t about to broadcast it to the whole restaurant? He didn’t necessarily come off as straight himself, now that Alex thought about it. It was slightly comforting. Returning a small smile to say thank you, he ran to catch up with the boys.

Bobby tossed him the keys to the van and they all climbed in.

“Okay, let’s get to jamming that song before I forget the best part!” Luke cried.

Alex started the ignition and felt his chest weigh a hundred pounds as he pulled away from the diner. Everything inside wanted to stay. Or find Willie and take him along. He peeked at intervals through the rearview mirror, hoping to see him running out from the diner to say goodbye. A hand grasped his shoulder and he turned to see Reggie looking at him sympathetically. He’d caught onto more than Alex had noticed. They only heaved a quick sigh as Alex felt his body begin to shake slightly and he focused his eyes on the road. It was going to be a long four hours.

Much later, the guys were gathered again at the hospital Julie’s mom, Rose, was at. The rest of them had their acoustics while Alex carried a cheap little djembe drum. They were dog-tired but Luke was pulling every ounce of his energy forward to keep all of them hyped. Currently, he was on the phone with Julie, verifying how soon she would be there with them.

“Hey, Alex,” Bobby nudged him as they sat in the waiting room. “Ballroom Blitz?”

“Now?” Alex said, looking around at the gloomy nurses and residents shuffling about their business.

“Yeah, as a warm up.”

He couldn’t help the smile growing on his lips.

“Okay, we just gotta keep Reggie in check.”

Bobby chuckled and shook his head, knowing it wasn’t going to happen.

Alex started up the beat on his djembe as Bobby grinned. Reggie sat up as he tried to figure out what they were doing.

“Are you ready Steve?” Bobby began, trying to stay soft so it wasn’t too alarming. Reggie beamed as he realized what was happening. “Andy? Mick? Alright fellas! Let’s goooooo!” He came in with the main riff as residents’ and patients’ heads turned to see what was happening. Luke had gotten off the phone and was already grabbing his guitar

They managed to get calmly through the verse before Reggie couldn’t help but let the energy take over.

“I see a man in the back, as a matter of fact, his eyes were as red as the sun! And a girl in the corner, let no one ignore her ‘cuz she thinks she’s the passionate one! OOHH YEEAAH!”

All four of them came together for the chorus.

“And the man at the back said ‘Everyone attack’ and it turned into a ballroom blitz! And the girl in the corner said ‘Boy, I wanna warn ya it’ll turn into a ballroom blitz! Ballroom blitz!” They were all getting into jamming now, and Alex was lost in the rhythm with the rest of them.

A nurse finally approached them with a loud voice.

“OKAY BOYS!” she cried, an expression on her face that meant serious business. Each of them faltered in the middle of playing and looked at her like chastised puppies. “Thank you, you sound lovely. Unfortunately, there’s a few patients we don’t wanna disturb, so if you could please save it for your little thing later, we would like that very much.”

“Yes, ma’am,” they all murmured sheepishly.

“Thank you,” she smiled exaggeratedly and went on with her business. Once her back was turned, Reggie pulled a funny face and shrugged, causing them all to suppress their laughter.

“You guys, we could hear you from the elevator,” they all heard. Turning around, Julie stood behind them shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Ray and her brother Carlos were only a few steps behind. Luke bounded over a chair, guitar in hand, to meet her.

“We ready boss?” he enthused.

“Yeah, we just need to check in. We told her we were coming, but not you guys.”

Like the dork he was, Luke simply made the shaka sign with his hand in excitement. Alex felt newly energized from the song, and knew that what they were doing meant so much to Julie and her family. Everything that had been weighing on him all day could be set aside for this.

Shortly, they followed the Molinas to Rose’s room.

“Hey, mom,” Julie said tenderly. The woman had a scarf on her head, and she looked so tired and weak everywhere except in her eyes.

“Sweetheart, who’s this?” she asked, pleasantly surprised.

“These are my friends, Luke, Alex, Reggie, and Bobby,” Julie introduced. “They’re a band called Sunset Curve, and they wanted to do something special for you today.”

She looked back at Luke and gave him a nod. He began strumming the intro to Your Song by Elton John and happy tears immediately welled in Rose’s eyes. She looked at her daughter and pride emanated from her being.

“It’s a little bit funny, these feelings inside,” Luke sang. “I’m not one of those who can easily hide….”

Each of them continued to join in as Ray, Julie and Carlos all took turns embracing Rose. She whispered things to them in Spanish and kissed each of their heads, keeping hold of Ray’s hand as the boys continued playing. She couldn’t sing along as she wished, but she mouthed the words to every single song they played. The boys played for only an hour, but it felt like its own little bubble of time. Alex didn’t want to leave by the time it was over.

They had saved Yellow Submarine for last, and it came as a suckerpunch. Even though the song was supposed to be silly and Carlos was doing all the echoes at the end, they could all feel the undercurrent of grief wash through. The words became a metaphor for some fantastical land where nothing was wrong - where Rose was healthy, where each of their lives were fixed, where Willie was with them - a land of simplicity that didn’t exist. But they had created a moment in that tiny hospital room that felt so close to it, and they could all tell.

Alex felt strange that while everyone else had tears in their eyes at this point, he remained dry. He was moved, of course. There was something about meeting Julie’s family and doing this little performance that made him feel warmth greater than anything he’d known in his whole life. It made him wonder what was wrong with him. He watched as Reggie, who was a sniffling mess, tried to comfort a slightly tearful Bobby (which was a rare sight in itself). Luke wrapped his arm around Alex’s shoulders, smiling even with glistening eyes. For what it was worth, the guys made him feel at home and he knew he’d been a part of this just as much as them.

As everyone said their goodbyes back in the waiting room, Julie held out her arms and all the guys came to her at once in a giant group hug.

“You guys, I can’t tell you how much this means to me,” she said, words saturated with gratitude. “I will never forget this. My mom will never forget this.”

They all squeezed tightly before letting go. Luke and Julie’s hands took just a little too long to separate as she followed her dad and brother out of the hospital. Sighing wistfully, Luke watched her go until she was out of sight completely. The image of Willie skating along the street crossed Alex’s mind in a rueful memory. He was definitely going to hammer it out on his drums when he got home.

“Alright, boys,” Luke was saying. “Let’s head out.”

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dreamboatisland · 4 years ago

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abandoned love | d.d.

Summary: When David gets a new girlfriend, you didn’t expect to be forgotten amongst the midst of it all.

Word Count: 1420

A/N: Hey yall, this was actually the first piece I ever wrote for the vlog squad. It’s kinda hard to believe that the first fic I wrote was about David and now I mainly write for Jeff. So, I hope it’s okay! Also kinda satisfying that my first david fic had the word count include 420.

It was no secret that David was in love with you. Well in love was probably exaggerating it a bit. More appropriate would be that he had a giant crush on you. Most of the time it was evident by the way he would always make sure you were taken care of. Whether that be by making sure you weren’t hungry or thirsty or if you were comfortable in the situation you were in. And needless to say, but it was nice. It was nice to always have someone there who actually cared for you. And unknowing to anyone else, you had a crush on him too. Have ever since he accidentally hit you with his camera when you first met him. But keeping your friendship intact forced any thoughts of a relationship out of your mind.

That was until she came into the picture. Her with the dark brown locks. The radiant smile. The glowing skin. She was absolutely gorgeous and a part of you could admit that you were jealous of her. Not all because of how she looked and behaved, but the more for the fact that she slowly took David away from you. Which ultimately wouldn’t have been a bad thing since you were always there to support David, but it led to you being nothing more than a way to get content from him.

It started slowly. Him forgetting you were there when he was filming, which was a small change, but one many around you noticed. Not returning your calls or texts and not responding to your messages, something that was strange to you and realizing you didn’t like. After some time, you didn’t appear in the vlogs as much as you used to, and this was when the fans noticed. They wondered if you guys were still friends. And even though the whole internet could tell that things were wrong between you two, you didn’t pay much attention to it. Mainly associated it with him getting a girlfriend. All you wanted to be was supportive, especially since his last public relationship was a couple of years ago.

The moment it became evident that you really lost him to her was when they all decided to travel to Las Vegas without you. Everyone sent you a text to see if you were ready. What they didn’t realize was that David never told you about it.

So rather than confuse anyone, you told them you wouldn’t be able to go because of work.

But you were upset by this information. Even considered going to his house to confront him about it, but you didn’t want to cause a scene. If he didn’t want to invite you and be associated with you anymore, then so be it.

It was hard to disassociate yourself with someone you once considered a close friend, probably more accurate, a best friend. The posts on social media didn’t make it any better. All you felt was anger when you noticed how happy they seemed. Which then led to you being upset at the fact that you were angry when all you wanted for him was happiness. And he got that. What you didn’t expect was for it to be at the cost of your friendship.

And when they returned from Las Vegas after spending a few days there, it wasn’t a surprise that the only person to contact you was Erin. Always being closer to her in the vlog squad than most of the others.

After much contemplation on your part, you decided to meet up with her after coming back from her trip. She was the first friend you made before meeting all of the vlog squad. They couldn’t really take her away from you.

Which is why you were here, outside your local coffee shop, getting breakfast and catching up with her.

“So, what have you been up to? I know you said you were picking up a lot of extra shifts, but there aren’t that many shifts where you can’t respond to a simple text.”

All you can do is look down at your plate of food. Not wanting to tell her you’ve been feeling left out for a while and decided to cut all ties silently.

“Nothing, but I am thinking about starting my own youtube channel. Sort of a help guide channel for others. But I really don’t know where to start.”

Always being good at directing the conversation away from topics you didn’t want to talk about, that’s what you did.

“Why don’t you come and help Carly and me with some videos. Maybe it’ll help you see how to go about starting?” You can tell she’s being sincere when you look at her eyes. “Well as much help as Carly and I can give you.”

You quickly take her up on her offer and decide to accompany them on their Starbucks taste testing videos they film. Deciding it would probably be the one video that isn’t filmed near David or the others.

But you should have known that Erin knew you pretty well by now. She’s known something has been wrong with you since before the trip. When you started to become distant. Before, she tied it to problems with your job. Until she realized the reason why. David.

So that’s when she decided she would invite David for the video as well. It was time for you to gain the courage to speak your thoughts and for him to recognize what he was doing was wrong. The two of you needed to talk things out. Knowing this would probably upset you, she decided to take the risk. Better to try and salvage your relationship than to have you both lose each other.

It was no surprise to her when she picked you up and your eyes grew as wide as saucers. She was expecting it when your eyes fell upon David in the drivers’ seat. He seemed to be confused and quite shocked as well. Not knowing Erin was going to direct him to you. But he couldn't exactly leave you, so he waited patiently for you to get in the backseat with Carly with Jason in the very back.

All conversation was tuned out from your mind while you tried to get a grip of yourself. Until Carly asked what you wanted from the menu. Putting yourself back in reality you quickly gave her your usual order.

Remembering that you were here to learn from Carly and Erin, you put your focus back on them and what they were filming. Once you focused on just them and how they communicated to the camera, you began to enjoy yourself. There were a lot of helpful tips that were sure to help you both with a camera and how to go about starting a channel.

That was until they left you alone with David. The silence seemed to make him uncomfortable. And you guessed that’s why he began talking to you. “I don’t know if this matters to you, but I broke up with her.” Which caused your eyes to go wide for the second time that day.

“I’m really sorry I stopped all contact with you. I just couldn’t didn’t want this relationship to end exactly like my last one. Ended because we let ourselves drift apart. But I didn’t mean to cut you out. I didn’t even realize what I had done until I came back from Las Vegas and you weren’t there to keep me company while I edit. To accompany me during our late-night drives. Or to cuddle with me when we’re going to bed. I didn’t end the relationship because of you, but I did because I realized something. All along I was looking for someone where support and being there for each other would come naturally. To have someone to hold and to love. And I was looking in the wrong place. I should have realized this sooner. There was a reason why I never dated anyone else. You were that reason. I already had you, but I didn’t realize. And I’m sorry.”

He’s playing with the strings on his hoodie and you can’t help but to tilt his head towards yours and kiss him. Shocked at first, he doesn’t move. Until he feels your fingers glide across his cheek. Softly, his hands grip your waist and he pulls you into his embrace.

And you both don’t let each other go until Carly, Erin, and Jason come back.

#david dobrik #david dobrik imagine #david dobrik one shot #david dobrik x reader #vlog squad #vlog squad imagine

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justapayneaway · 5 years ago

Photo

It took me a while to compile all these Ziam fics, but here we are with a long list of beautiful stories for everybody that is interested in reading Liam & Zayn fall in love or be in love a lot of times!

A big shout out to every single fic writer out there in the world... You’re amazing and I thank you every single day for the amazing stories y��all write!

Enjoy and have a good read ❤️

0k - 20k

There's so Much that We Need to Share by Lovelyziam (1k) The sight of snow didn’t make the cold worth it to Zayn, no. It was this: Liam’s body snug and soft in front of him, pressed tightly to Zayn’s chest while he sat between Zayn’s thighs. It was his arms wrapped around Liam’s waist and their fingers interwoven beneath their pile of blankets. It was the warmth radiating from Liam’s back and slowly seeping into Zayn, making him sleepy and languid despite the freezing press of Liam’s toes against his own.

Sunshine through my window by sunnysideup (2k) Fic idea about Liam being a happy puppy in the sun and Zayn hears him through his window, sees him for the first time and poof, he's in love.

Drive Safe, I Love You by JoMouse (3k) Liam surprises his son with a day at a Motorcycle Bike Show. While there, he finds out about Mini Moto and meets the man who runs a team.

I Know The Sound Of Your Heart by LibbyWrites (7k) Liam always adored the peace and quiet of his neighborhood. Until a new neighbor shows up and turns his world upside down with much more than just loud music.

Most Poetic Ride or Die Death Wish by LetTheMusicMoveYou (10k) Or the one where Niall convinces Liam to join Tinder and a slight miscommunication might make it the best mistake he's ever made.

Get a little bit nervous by louistomlinsons (14k) Ziam farmer's market au where liam, louis, and niall work at the produce stand, harry and zayn work at the bakery stand, and nobody's straight.

Favourite Entertainer by eternallyunleashed (15k) Zayn is a popular YouTuber well known for uploading song covers and original music on his channel and doing podcasts on murder mysteries. He’s amassed a couple million followers and dedicated fanbase. After endless requests from fans, he introduces them to his boyfriend Liam and does the ‘boyfriend does my makeup challenge.'

Just the two of us and a cute little cup of cyanide by orphan_account (17k) An I-accidentally-married-my-best-mate-in-Vegas fic, where Liam's completely oblivious, Zayn's completely in love, Harry's had enough, Louis plays mediator and Niall just wants his best friends to be with each other.

Only Place I Call Home by scottmcniceass (17k) Liam works at a coffee shop; Zayn is a homeless street performer who plays just outside the shop. Sometimes Liam brings Zayn coffee and donuts and in exchange Zayn sings for him.

20k - 40k

We are the quiet ones by englandziam (22k) University AU where Zayn is an English student and Liam is the football captain.

Until you believe it by lizee (23k) Where Zayn and Liam meet at a sixth form party and Zayn offers to tutor him. He doesn't expect himself to fall in love with the kid while he's at it.

Ridiculous by scottmcniceass (24k) They are every cliched high school story. The jock and the rebel. The popular boy and the outsider. They shouldn't fit, and they definitely shouldn't work, but they sort of do anyways.

Wake up the part of me that has fallen asleep by nooelgallagher & yoursongonmyheart (24k) The one where Liam discloses something incredibly personal about his sex life and Louis hatches a plan to help him - which may or may not include Zayn.

Can I Keep You by scottmcniceass (26k) Liam is always trying to do what's best for himself and his daughter, but raising a kid on his own at twenty-two, on top of juggling school work and a full-time job, isn't easy. Zayn just wants a chance to show Liam that he's not going to walk out on them. And Liam's daughter, Emma? She just wants to keep Zayn.

I just can't keep you too far from my thoughts by halleluzayn (28k) The YouTuber AU fic where Zayn is not a beauty vlogger, Liam types like an over excited teenage girl, Louis is a Harry Styles fanboy, Harry is basically Ed Sheeran, and Niall is Liam's video editor that really needs to get laid already.

Down the vista of years by ohthathurt (cloisterrific_221B) (30k) Zayn whispered, “So where do we go from here?”Liam shrugged, seemingly lost in thought. Then he smiled down at his boyfriend, “Forward?”Zayn smiled serenely, eyes twinkling like gold in the sun seeping through the open windows. He nodded, “Forward.”

I'll Be Strong For You by scottmcniceass (30k) When Zayn breaks his leg attempting to skateboard over Harry's car, he ends up stuck in the hospital for two weeks. The only thing he doesn't hate about the hospital is the gorgeous volunteer, Liam, who is almost annoyingly sunny and happy. But Liam's got a secret a secret hidden behind his impossibly bright smile.

It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn by historyziam (30k) At a time in his life when Zayn thinks he has forgotten what genuine happiness feels like, Liam comes into the picture and changes everything.

Somehow I Still Carry On, Burdened By Fears by slashter (31k) Liam's been kidnapped but doesn't remember Zayn and Zayn struggles with loss and love and heartbreak all over again.

You Never Give Up On Me by sunshinexbomb (31k) In which Zayn is an English teacher tempted to write awful poetry about the warm coffee color of Liam's eyes, Liam is a primary ed teacher and single parent who thinks he's too busy to be in a relationship, Niall and Harry are the sickeningly cute newlywed teachers in the school, and Louis is a drama teacher who is not-so-patiently waiting for the day of his own wedding.

The Truth Will Set You Free by loveandbeloved (34k) Zayn wakes up the next day to the news that Liam has taken on the case of the kid, to oppose Zayn and prove that he isn’t a killer.To say he’s pissed beyond belief goes without saying, but somehow he thinks that he should’ve seen this coming.

So let's say, I'll come another day by sophieisgod (36k) Zayn meets Liam in 1999, swinging on the gate in his back yard. Liam meets Zayn in 2010, killing time in McDonald’s on the most important day of his life. They have adventures, conquer the world, and fall in love. A story about fate, timing, free will, wonky genetics, parallel universes, significant tattoos, emotional haircuts, sudden nudity, sex crying, and a Batman t-shirt from HMV.

Be cruel to me ('cause I'm a fool for you) by frenchkiss (37k) The one where Zayn is a stressed out single dad, Liam might just be what he needs, Louis and Niall are always happy to babysit and Harry's a loud snorer.

I’ll never stop choosing you babe, i’ll never get used to you by redsweater (37k) Zayn and Liam are happily married until they're not.

Twisting to the sun and the moon by orphan_account (37k) (2nd part is also amazing!) Liam has three simple, non-negotiable rules when it comes to one-offs. And he doesn't ever fall for someone he associates with hotel sheets and lust. But this kid, Zayn, twists things inside of him he's not expecting. Suddenly, the rules don't make any sense at all.

My Reflection; All I See Is You by taecheeks (38k) (There is a 2nd part too!) This life, it's forever. That's what being immortal means, but Zayn didn't realize it would take him this long to realize it. What good is forever if nothing else is?

40k - 60k

Every Step by taecheeks (40k) Every step Liam takes, it's for her, Lily. And every path he's journeyed has somehow led him to Zayn.

Here I Stand by StormDancer (40k) Zayn lifts his chin, turns so that he’s facing Harry. He doesn’t look at Liam, because he can’t bear to look, and because he’s really not trying to be mean or pointed. Liam can do what he wants. But Zayn drew a line in the sand a long time ago, and it matters. “I’m not hiding, Haz. This is who I am. They can deal with it.”

You're The Shining Distraction That Makes Me Fly by Romancemesomeziam (40k) Zayn is a recently new single father, falling into his role without ease until Liam, his son's first grade teacher, helps him a little to adapt to the new lifestyle.

Lover Dearest by scottmcniceass (43k) "First rule, babe," Zayn says, leaning down. His lips slide over Liam's jaw, barely there, just a soft pressure, fleeting and gone as soon as it came. "Never trust a vampire."He's grinning as he climbs off Liam, heading for the door. Liam watches him go, thinking that he's wrong. The first rule should be to not fall in love with one.

Some moments are rare by orphan_account (46k) Zayn is spending a summer studying aboard; thirty days across Europe, with his best mate by his side. It's always been like this ― Zayn and Liam. And he's always been a bit daft about love, or the fact that Liam's always been in love with him. It's all a bit of a mess, actually.

Until two and two is three by orphan_account (47k) They're perfect for her, Lily, even if she's their best mates' daughter -- except they hate each other. But life plays out a little comically and a lot tragically sometimes. And Liam will never get over how much he loves Lily or how much he hates Zayn, but they're all she has left now.

Like Peter Pan (Or Superman) by orphan_account (48k) Zayn has spent most of his life up until now in a cloud of smoke, hiding from his past, being different. When a firefighter named Liam rescues him from a fire, Zayn starts to realize maybe Liam's saved his life in another way... and he's not quite sure he's ready to be that guy he should've been all along. But maybe, just for Liam, he can?

Good Thing At a Bad Time by scottmcniceass (49k) Zayn prefers to be on his own. It's easier to survive when you don't have to worry about anyone else. Liam leads a large group of people that have taken residence in an abandoned prison. When Zayn wakes up in a prison cell, all he can think about is finding a way out. Liam makes him want to stay.

It keeps my veins hot (the fire's found a home in me) by loveontherocks (51k) The one where zayn survives a fire and falls in love with the firefighter that saved him.

Not Happening by scottmcniceass (53k) Zayn and Liam are roommates. They hate each other. (Most of the time.)

And you take me the way I am by orphan_account (54k) Liam needs a date to a wedding. His family loves to match him up with blind dates. He doesn't want that. He needs a date... and, well, why not Zayn. Pretending to be boyfriends for a weekend isn't the worst idea he supposes. Liam is horribly wrong.

It's You by happily_missy (56k) Liam is a PA for a famous fashion designer and Zayn is their gorgeous new model. Or the one where Liam is in control of everything except for the fact that he keeps getting hard around Zayn and Zayn refuses to admit that Liam might be everything he's been looking for all along.

Your Lips On Mine by zipplekink (56k) The one where Zayn is a camboy, who likes to think about the fit mechanic with a liking for leather jackets and scruffy beards from uni during his shows. And Liam, the mechanic, who realizes his new roommate is Bradford, the man with the smooth skin covered in tattoos that Liam watches late at night with a hand wrapped around himself.

Face to Face by JoMouse (57k) Liam's fiance lost her ring. Zayn found it in his girlfriend's rucksack. What happens when the ring brings them face to face?

Floating On The Water by scottmcniceass (58k) Liam just wants to get through his last summer working at Malik Resort before University without incident. Of course, life is never that easy, and he ends up getting roped into giving the bosses son, Zayn, swimming lessons. That wouldn't be so bad, if Zayn didn't happen to hate him so much.

Hold on When You Get Love (and Let Go When You Give It) by orphan_account (59k) Where Zayn's studying Lit at Uni and Liam is a construction worker who catches Zayn's eye every day he passes by.

Let Me Drown Slowly by fruityoatey_bahhh (59k) The one where Liam's a prostitute, and Zayn just wants to be kept warm at night.

60k - 80k

These Faded Stars Along Our Horizons by ch3stpaynes (60k) Zayn isn't used to this; the buzzing feeling that comes along with pinched grins, cherry red lips and eyes like Sunday morning coffee. He's used to smogged out cities, not enough oxygen between each breath and perhaps a few spliffs with the boys when the weather isn't absolutely dreadful. And Liam Payne may just flip all of his priorities upside down.

Habits Of The Heart by taecheeks (61k) “I’ll be really good to you,” Liam whispers, sliding an arm under Zayn’s shoulder like he is a pillow. Zayn closes his eyes, remembering when Liam had said those same words to him while laying on his chest before they started dating. The same feeling rattles in his chest, the same uncertainty, the same need for his words to remain true.“I know,” Zayn whispers, massaging his fingers through Liam’s hair. “You always have.”Liam pushes up, brows furrowing together as he stares down at him, the humor in his face turning far more serious. “And I always will, Zayn.”

I See You Babe, But We Are Both Blind by SoftlyandSwiftly (61k) One Direction returns to London for a break from their Take Me Home Tour in August 2013, and after an unfortunate run-in at a coffee shop, Liam and Zayn find themselves in a fake relationship. Except, it ends up not feeling fake at all.

Run For the Woods Now by jmcats (62k) (there are other 3 parts to this one so read them all because they are amazing!) Zayn knows some of the best and worst moments start with one of Louis' ideas. Still, it's almost as if everyone knew where this, his life, was going when Harry and Liam moved into Wagner’s old flat, with that stupid plant sitting in the doorway, and too many cigarettes and Justin Timberlake for any of this to have been one of those classically clichéd love stories.And Zayn doesn't do clichés. Not until Liam, that is.

Some Love Wait Till Its Time by wasp (63k) University!AU where heart-in-the-right place but always-trying-to-save-people Liam Payne meets slightly pretentious hipster Zayn and tries to mend his broken heart.

Keep this love (in a photograph) by carissima (64k) The one where Liam's a fireman, Zayn's a photographer and yeah, there's a calendar shoot or two involved.

The bittersweet between my teeth by gaysubtexts (64k) Liam and Zayn grow up together, louis, niall, and harry tagging along later on.

According to your heart (my place is not deliberate) by orphan_account (65k) A university-volleyball au in which Zayn hates the game but he does it for a scholarship. And for Louis. And possibly for the new freshman setter who keeps teaching Zayn new things.

The beauty of this mess by orphan_account (67k) Zayn loves this city, loves his boys, loves the salty taste of the surf on his tongue even though he hates the ocean... but he's not expecting to fall in love with Liam and all of his little secrets, too. Not enough to stick around in this sandy city of teenage dreams.

Let's pretend it's love by wafflehood (68k) Pretend!boyfriends fic in which Liam and Zayn get papped while hamming it up for Louis and Eleanor, and management decides the easiest way to deal with the resulting hysteria is to let it run its course.

Simple truths of belonging by soofyahn (68k) Liam spends ten years building the career for himself that he’s always wanted, and spends the same span of time falling out of communication with the one person he can’t reason why he misses. They find each other, again, stumbling around each other for a moment until they fall together in new, unpredictable ways.

Until the End of Time by theyinlove (68k) Zayn Malik lives a pretty decent life. He’s got an incredible family, a nice little place for him and his three sweethearted dogs, an amazing group of friends, and a good, stable job. Aside from the bouts of depression he may occasionally fall into and the intense anxiety he battles, he feels good about where he is in his life. But what do you get when a hunky fireman, who also happens to be a piece of sunshine on earth, walks into a bar? You get a cautious of love man realizing that, shit, maybe some people might be worth the risk of heart break.

The Prince King by ziamhaze (69k) At twenty, Zayn finds himself a widower and single father of one. It takes everything in his power to raise the three month old alone while also keeping up with his budding career as an artist. Five years later and Zayn’s more dedicated than ever to do whatever it takes for the little boy to have a better life than the one he had at his age. When that includes hiring a professional carpenter to build him a treehouse, Zayn finds himself having to figure out how to win the man’s game of cat and mouse before the structure’s complete, or risk missing out on someone who makes him want to spend the rest of his life mixing oil paints together in order to find the exact shade of warmth that the contractor exudes.

These amber words on our fingertips by orphan_account (69k) Zayn's life in London is about one thing — making life perfect for his son. He's still finding himself in this city, with all of the noise and left behind dreams. He needs to focus and Liam is, well, distracting. He's different. Zayn's always liked that word.

These fading scars by lovely_ziam (69k) Vampire!AU in which Liam falls in love with a human.

But the sun comes up instead by blackwayfarers (71k) Zayn Malik, charming and confident fraternity vice-president, meets shy but achingly endearing high schooler Liam Payne at a kegger and everything just goes straight to hell.

The Only One Who Takes You Home by loveandbeloved (71k) The fluffiest stripper AU in which businessman!Zayn and stripper!Liam have a lot of feelings and they both get more than they expected.

Just let me know by SoftlyandSwiftly (72k - this one has two more parts so read them all!) Zayn wakes up in a hospital, eyes blurry and head pounding, only for a doctor to tell him he's lost two years of his life. And if that's not awful enough, something's different with Liam, off like something has changed, and Zayn doesn't understand. Until he does. And then it's somehow worse.

Money Moves by mmaree (74k) A Fake Engagement AU with Boss!Liam and Secretary!Zayn.

Give love a try, one more time by iwasnthere (75k) Zayn groans, "Liam, do you ever get tired of annoying me?""Nope" Liam replies, popping a chip into his mouth. "Because it's cute watching you lie to yourself""Excuse me?" Zayn looks at Liam bemusedly."You're lying to yourself when you say that ‘I annoy you’.” Liam does the quote unquote thing with his fingers, smiling. “Admit it, you like me.""You've been asking me out for the past year and a half,” Zayn states, “the answer you always get is no, and I'm pretending?" he asks incredulously."Yep." Liam grins, "I'll get that yes one day, Zayn." “Keep trying.” Zayn gets out, trying for snappy but it ends up sounding amused. Damn it.

Through the summertime, winter, spring, and fall by taecheeks (77k) They change with the seasons, burning bright during the summer and biting cold during the winter, but that feeling of being in love Zayn found in the summer clings to him through it all.

What We Become by scottmcniceass (78k) “Nervous?”“No.”“It’s okay if you are,” Harry says seriously. “I mean, I know I would be. Like, if there was ever a date that was destined to go bad, it’s probably this one. Werewolf goes on date with the son of a werewolf hunter, who’s also training to be a werewolf hunter when he’s older, while another pack of werewolves are practically massacring the town, and no one has no idea how to stop them. It's not a question of what could go wrong. It's a question of what could possibly go right, and I'm willing to bet the answer to that is nothing."

80k - 100k

Kick, Push by ziamhaze (85k) World champion street skateboarder Zayn Malik has been on top of the sport’s rankings since he turned pro at 15. So when the Olympic Committee announces that skateboarding will be included for the first time at the 2020 Games, he’s thrilled to take on the challenge while representing Great Britain. There’s just one thing standing in between him and adding another title to the record books: his crippling performance anxiety. But when Team GB Skateboarding’s awarded a physiotherapist with an affinity for experimental therapy methods and a crinkly eyed smile, Zayn thinks he might just have found his ticket to bringing home gold.

Pride by iwanttowriteyouafic (86k) The one where Zayn and Liam strike a deal to help each other through their dirtiest nights, but Zayn's perception of alphas may be preventing him from something purer.

Compartment 451 by ziamhaze (88k) Zayn’s a muggleborn wizard whose parents leave him to fend for himself once he’s made aware of his magical abilities. The Payne’s are an open minded wizarding family, who take him in and provide the boy with a loving home before he and their overly excited son Liam, go off to Hogwarts for the first time.

Tunnel Vision by scottmcniceass (90k) In which Zayn is an award-winning popstar with a knack for getting himself in trouble, and Liam is the bodyguard he didn’t want to hire who has a few problems with staying professional.

Z.A.Y.N. by ziamhaze (92k) For six years, international R&B star Liam Payne has topped the charts with his unique, upbeat songs. Even though he’s proud of where he’s gotten himself, he knows he can’t take all the credit; there’s one particular songwriter that goes by the name ‘Icarus Kalim’ that’s played a huge part in his success. Because of the writer’s ability to craft thought provoking tracks that touch Liam in a way he didn’t even know was possible from afar, the celebrity makes a musical exception for ‘Icarus’, buying the man’s songs for himself, even though he swore he would never put his name on something he had no help in creating. But what happens when Liam finally tricks the soulful poet into meeting him after years of not even knowing what the man looks like? Is ‘Icarus’ really all Liam’s made him out to be in his head or will he be unlike anything the singer could’ve ever dreamt up...

Colour my senses cherry red by thilia (96k) Zayn Malik, closeted gay pornstar.

+ 100k

Lost for Words by AGreatPerhaps12 (102k) The one where Liam has a stutter and zero self confidence, and Zayn has a carefully controlled temper (also starring Louis and Harry as that disgustingly-in-love couple and Niall as the only straight guy around, apparently).

Slow and High Tempo by taecheeks (103k) "I just want you, Liam," Zayn whispers, skating his lips across his. "Can I?"Liam's lips part more as Zayn's do, exhaling slightly as Zayn's words sink in. He doesn't understand what they mean, but he knows he meant it when he said Zayn could have anything he wants. His eyes flicker open to stare up at Zayn's dark ones, filled with a warmth that seems to consume Liam as he waits for him to respond. "Yeah, babe."

Deadpool by rorz94 (111k) Zayn Malik, a multi-millionaire good doer/artist, is targeted by a lunatic serial killer for no reason. Enter hot charismatic detective Liam Payne in the investigation of his case. Payne is assigned to protect Mr.Malik as a punishment from his supervisor but Liam does not think it's such a bad punishment to stay close to the attractive young man.

Permanent by scottmcniceass (114k) At twenty-six, Liam has made a name for himself as one of the best football players of his generation. He's in the prime of his game when a car accident threatens to end his career permanently. Depressed and hating the world, Liam heads back to his home town to take some time off and find himself again. He doesn't expect to find life pretty much the way he'd left it eight years ago, and he definitely doesn't expect to find something that might make him want to stay permanently, but that's what he gets.

Hello kisses sweet as wine by xxcaribbean (123k) Zayn doesn’t expect mr. payne to have all the answers, and he certainly hadn’t meant to leave an impression. So, this isn’t really a love story. Well, it shouldn’t be.

Intoxicate Me, Mesmerize Me, Obliterate Me by eternallyunleashed (280k) There was a certain heat obtained from rebellion that even the actual throes of heat never sparked. Keeping up an image of perfection; being the good kid, the perfect son to the Mayor and Chief of Police, the city of Lincoln’s sweetheart omega, it was all taxing to Zayn. Walking the thin line of danger was exhilarating. Was it coincidental that this danger happened to be an attraction to a certain alpha who was none other than the leader of the South Side Vipers gang, who seemed to despise him and the part of town he came from? Probably not. But when had anything ever stopped Zayn?

Can't Help Falling in Love with You by eternallyunleashed (518k) Zayn is an 18 year old just out of high school who is going to start pre-med in NYU in September. Liam is a 26 year old CEO of a major company and also an ex-football player. Their paths cross when Zayn lands an internship at Liam's company thanks to Harry and their lives are completely thrown off balance.

#ziam #fic rec #liam payne #zayn malik #I really hope you enjoy this #it took me a whole afternoon to do this #help lmao

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imalifegen89 · 3 years ago

Text

A Legacy Left Behind - Chapter - 7 - When the Past Unfurls - Part I

Rating: Mature

Category: M/M

Fandoms: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Hawaii Five-0 (2010)

Relationship: Steve McGarrett/John Sheppard

Characters: Steve McGarrett, John Sheppard, Danny "Danno" Williams, Evan Lorne, Bates (Stargate), Laura Cadman, Alicia Vega, Kono Kalakaua, Adam Noshimuri, PO Higgins (OC), Samantha "Sam" Carter, Jack O'Neill, John McGarrett, Dr. Lam, Catherine Rollins, Wo Fat, Original Goa'uld Character(s), Original Characters

Additional Tags: Action/Adventure, Action & Romance, Military, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Violence, Character Bashing, Not Catherine Rollins Friendly, No DADT, Swearing

Summary :

"Sure John, I'll call," He promised as the SUV came to a stop in front of them. He and Danny both got in and seated themselves. He then gave a short wave to John who was still standing there by the exit watching them leave. Steve hoped what John had told him would be true, that his dad would be able to make it through. He was not ready to lose his only remaining parent. ‘God please, not again! Not so soon ...' His mind was repeating the mantra as Steve let out a weary sigh and closed his eyes."

Steve will find out about what happened to his father, who was involved in it, why it happened and so much more than he ever bargained for...

Hello All, Here's the next part of the series, and it's a two-parter. There are some plot twists on the way and hope you all will enjoy it.

Aethir - Thank you so much for your hard work and for finding some time to help me with editing, commenting, and giving out very helpful tips and suggestions. Idea bouncing and snark is always so much fun with you!!!

Part 1 - Honolulu General

Honolulu General Hospital

Hawaii

The six-hour-long flight in the old and noisy Globemaster had left both SEALs travel-weary and sleep-deprived. Neither had talked much during the flight, trying to catch a few hours of shut-eye, but among the jarring engine noise, the comms chatter, the endless shuddering, and the training maneuvers, that had been impossible. At the end of the flight, they had thanked the crew and disembarked with relief, each carrying their single duffel.

They were both on leave and therefore in civilian clothes, and instead of the usual armory they carried around, they only had their handguns and with extra clips in their bags. Although they were only making a visit to the hospital, neither of them was willing to go completely unarmed.

A short taxi ride brought them to the hospital from Hickam closer to the midday visiting hours. They figured if needed, they could wait in the hospital until they could see John McGarrett.

……….

"Hello, My name’s Steve McGarrett, I got a call last night about my father. Somebody named Curtis called me," said Steve, presenting his credentials to the male nurse manning the reception area of the Outdoor-Patient-Department. The nurse - L. Rider, according to his name tag - gave Steve and his ID a once over and started accessing his system.

"Yes, Mr. McGarrett, your father's been moved from the ICU. He’s in room 308. You can take that elevator to the left," he informed.

“Thanks.”

Steve and Danny both took off towards the given directions.

The room Steve's father was in wasn't hard to find. It was located on the third floor and the room had the number and the name 'John McGarrett' on a plaque clearly displayed. It also had 'Dr. Leonard T. Lester - Cardiologist' listed as his primary care physician.

"I'm going to go look around and find some coffee. Do you need anything?" Danny asked. He was going to give his friend some time with his dad before going in.

"Yeah sure, I could use some coffee.”

……….

During the six long hours he’d had to think about what happened, Steve’s mind had been busy contemplating some horrible scenarios. He hadn’t realized that he had been subconsciously bracing himself for the worst. Nobody in his family had any history of heart attacks and he didn't know what to expect, what to do or how to prepare. Being the trained planner that he was, Steve found the lack of knowledge rather unsettling.

What the nurse at the reception told him, gave him hope though. He theorized that since his dad's already been moved from the ICU to a regular room, his condition shouldn't be that bad.

Steve took a moment to compose himself, watching Danny as he walked away. Then he took a deep breath and knocked on the door before entering room 308.

……….

He stood still by the door to take the scene in.

His dad was lying on the bed and a white and blue hospital gown was peeking out from underneath the white blanket. There was a monitor attached to his chest and Steve could see the leads disappear through the opening of his gown. The apparatus was quiet and its screen indicated a steady rhythm while John McGarrett slept. Steve noticed there was an IV connected to his dad's left hand as well. He scrunched up his nose when the strong odor of antiseptics hit him in the face, contrasting starkly with the smell of gun oil and Old Spice aftershave he usually associated with his dad.

McGarrett senior was sleeping peacefully and didn't seem to be in any pain. Steve was content to let his dad be, preferring to let him wake up on his own. As he stepped further into the room, he saw a chair by the bed and lowered himself to it slowly, mindful not to make a sound. Then he placed his duffel bag on the floor and settled in to wait.

Maybe it was his instincts of being an active duty police officer - John McGarrett surfaced from his slumber knowing that there was somebody in the room with him, within a few minutes of Steve’s entrance. The slight change in the rhythm of the heart monitor alerted Steve to the fact. Not wanting to startle him, Steve leaned forward and addressed his father softly.

"Hey dad," he reached to touch his hand, the one without the IV needle.

"Steve!" His dad's eyes went wide, realizing his son was sitting by the bed. "What are you doing here?" John knew Steve was deployed and he was the last person he expected to see in the hospital this early. He hadn’t even been in here for 24 hours.

"The hospital called me and told me you had a heart attack," Steve explained. He was relieved to see that his dad was speaking clearly and wasn't showing any signs of disorientation or pain. In fact, he looked quite normal. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," John smiled at the raised eyebrow he received from his son at that. So he elaborated. "Just a little tightness in my chest area. But the doctor says it's normal after an attack. Other than that, I really am feeling fine. To be honest, I didn't even know what it was. I only knew I had a heart attack when Dr. Lester told me this morning," He was more curious as to how his son got here so quickly. "Where were you when they called you?"

"Colorado Springs." Steve smiled. He couldn't really get into details about his deployment or his whereabouts other than that, but he was glad that he was in the States to make this trip.

"Hah, and you’re here already. That was quick,"

"Yeah, I got lucky and caught a transport.”

Steve was more than happy to just sit there and exchange pleasantries all day long. But he needed to know what happened first. He got up to go and fetch a glass of water for his father from the bedside table. "Dad, what happened?"

His dad took it and drank some water before handing it back to Steve. Then he turned on his bed to fully settle on his back. Steve put the glass away and leaned towards his dad, giving him his full, undivided attention.

"It was the weirdest thing, kid," said the senior McGarrett, frowning as he cast his mind back to the chain of events that led to his sudden health failure. “I was in that small grocery shop by the filling station near home. I had just finished filling up the tank on the truck and was getting some stuff for the weekend. I remember walking towards the counter to pay and that’s it - for the life of me, I can't remember having any pain or calling for help or anything. I was standing there one moment and was waking up on this bed the next.” He paused to take a deep breath and then exhale slowly. “Then there’s this fellow - Dr. Lester - is telling me how lucky I was to come back from a severe myocardial infarction with no visible damage to my heart,” he made a face, remembering his earlier conversation with the overly cheerful doctor who described the incident in vivid medical detail.

“How’d you get here?”

“He said that the shop owner called for emergency services and sent me here. Apparently, I coded on the way, but they managed to get my heart started again without much fuss. And now, here I am.” John finished recounting the incident.

Steve rubbed a hand across his face, trying to take it all in.

“I wouldn’t obviously know what to expect, it’s not like I’ve had a heart attack before - but I'd have thought that at least you get some kind of a warning sign, you know? Like breathing difficulties, chest pain or something,” McGarrett senior continued after a moment. “Not this going about your normal day-to-day business, and then a complete blackout, followed by waking up in a damn hospital bed - it just doesn't feel normal,” his frown deepened.

Steve didn’t say anything for a long while. He just took his time to sit there and watch his dad who seemed to be doing pretty much okay after going through such an experience. He was immensely relieved and was happy to take his time to enjoy the feeling, letting go of the worry and stress that had built up since the moment he’d received the call.

A knock on the door interrupted the comfortable silence in the room and Danny Williams entered carrying two styrofoam cups of coffee.

“Ah there you are, Cap, how are you feeling?” He asked, handing over a coffee to Steve and coming closer to stand near the bed railing.

“I’m feeling alright, considering,” John smiled crookedly. “Where’s my coffee, Williams?”

“Hey, I don't think coffee is on the approved list for you,” Danny grinned. He was glad to see the man looked healthy enough for someone who had just had a serious health scare, fit to be up and making demands. “Besides, this hospital swill is so bad it might just give you a different problem or three,” he sipped his coffee and grimaced theatrically to prove the point. “So when are they letting you out?”

“Don't know yet, my doctor is supposed to drop by any time now. I don't think I need to stay here any longer at all.” John stated confidently. He was not accustomed to sitting around on a bed all day, especially when he wasn’t feeling different from any other day.

“Let’s let the doctor decide that, yeah dad? As you said, this is the first time something like this has happened to you and they just might need to keep you under observation for a bit - just saying,” Steve cautioned.

He knew his dad and he could see the stubborn man was already planning on going home, to start acting as if nothing happened. He might even insist on going to work unless the doctor gave him strict orders to rest and take it easy for a while.

“Which reminds me, do they know at the station that you are here?” Steve asked his dad before he could start protesting about staying put in the hospital. “I tried calling Kelly before I left, but it went to voicemail,”

“No, I’m on leave - only due back the day after tomorrow,” his dad replied somewhat petulantly.

The room door opened again, this time granting entry to a short, balding Hawaiian native. The name tag embroidered over the chest area of his white coat identified him as Dr. L.T. Lester. He smiled cheerfully at all of them and went to the nearest monitor connected to McGarrett senior.

“So how are you feeling today, John?” the doctor inquired while studying the monitor.

“I’m fine doc, when do I get to go home?” John got straight to the point.

The doctor continued taking readings and making notes with an amused smile on his face. Then he went to unclip the chart hanging on the bed railing and made a few notes on it. After that, instead of answering his reluctant patient, the doctor turned to Steve and Danny to introduce himself. At the end of exchanging pleasantries, he finally turned to address John.

“Well, Mr. McGarrett, I can see you’re doing quite well and your readings are good. But, as I explained to you earlier, what you went through is quite serious and you might have damage to your heart muscle.”

Then sensing the alarm from the visitors of his patient, the doctor hurried to explain. “It’s what happens during a heart attack. The blood flow into the heart gets interrupted and it goes into a sort of overdrive trying to restore the flow. This overactivity can cause damage. Your dad was quite lucky that people near him reacted quickly and sent him to the hospital on time.” The doctor smiled again.

“So, what’s next, doc?” Steve asked.

“We do need to assess the possibility of damage and the cause of the infraction. The most common reason is usually coronary artery disease, which means cholesterol clogging the arteries. There are some instances this could happen if you were experiencing a seizure with severe spasms and contractions. We’ll need to run some tests to determine the cause and then plan steps for the recovery,”

“And how long will all this take?” The McGarrett senior looked crestfallen, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to get out soon.

“I actually have you scheduled for some of the tests now. Some blood work, an EKG, and a scan. An attendant should be here shortly to take you for those,” Then the doctor turned to Steve and Danny. “The tests will take about an hour or so. If you need to step out and have a meal or something, now would be the time.”

An elderly female attendant entered the room quietly, pushing a wheelchair as the doctor finished, and started unhooking Steve's dad from his various monitors. Steve took the doctor's advice and took his leave with Danny, after letting his dad know that they’ll be back once the tests were done.

……….

“Well, I’ve gotta admit man, your dad’s right. That does sound weird.” Danny said after listening to Steve about what happened.

“Why?” Steve frowned.

“My uncle Mario had a heart attack a couple of years ago. The man was moving some heavy boxes around. He’d been sweating buckets and breathing through his mouth for about an hour when my aunt found him and made him take a break. Then he felt pain in his chest and aunt Rea took him to a doctor. The doctor took one look at him and sent him to an ER. He’s been suffering from a heart attack for hours by then,” Danny paused and tried to remember the exact details his mother told him about what happened to his uncle. “He is fine now. He had to have a bypass and has to stay away from all the greasy food and the alcohol, but he made it,” he said inspecting the sandwich he took from the vending machine. They were both seated in the hospital cafeteria with bottles of water and sandwiches.

It was crowded and almost all the tables were full with families huddling together having lunch - most probably waiting for news about their loved ones. It wasn’t that noisy, despite being crowded to capacity - and nowhere near cozy or inviting - as one would expect from a busy dining area. It felt as though the sense of expectation, the sense of happiness, and the overpowering sense of grief had all tangled up together to create a very subdued atmosphere. Even the smell of food mixed with the underlying odors of disinfectant contributed to the gloom that pervaded over the souls lost in their own private worlds.

“Wow, I’ve forgotten how crappy the hospital food is. This doesn't look like a roast beef sandwich man,” Danny sniffed at it. “Sure doesn’t smell like it either.” Then he shrugged and started eating. It didn’t taste much better either, but he was hungry after the long flight.

Steve didn’t say anything as he nibbled on his food. He wasn’t really hungry but knew he had to have something to keep his energy up. He was thinking about his dad’s recounting of the incident. He hadn’t said anything to his dad earlier, but the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. What Danny was telling him also made it clear how unusual the whole thing was. He made up his mind to pop into the shop his dad was in, later when they left the hospital. Maybe he could talk to the shopkeeper and even have a look at their security footage if they had any. He might even find something that could explain his dad suddenly suffering a heart attack. Maybe there was something that his dad had forgotten to mention.

He needed to get in touch with Sheppard as well, to let him know his dad’s condition. He knew that John would worry until he heard from him. Taking the last bite of his sandwich, he decided now would be the best time to make that call.

“Listen, I need to call Shep and let him know dad’s alright. I’m just gonna be over there by that balcony,” he told Danny as he stood up, fishing his phone out of his jacket pocket. Then he walked to the area he pointed, dialing Sheppard. “Be right back.”

………..

The sweet and subtle smell of her perfume reached Danny first, as he realized the lady who was wearing it was standing right in front of him. He looked up and saw the familiar, smiling face of Lieutenant Catherine Rollins looking down at him.

“Well, hello!” He grinned. “Fancy running into you here, of all places,” he gestured at the seat Steve had just vacated. “Take a seat,”

“Thanks,” Rollins smiled charmingly as she sat. “I’m just here visiting a friend of mine. She just had her second baby - a cute little baby boy,” her face took on the same expression all women wore when talking about babies. “I popped in here to get a drink and then I saw you,” she said. “I thought you guys were in Colorado? Is everything ok?” Her expression turned into one tinged with concern.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m here with Steve, actually. We got a call about his dad, but he’s alright. We just saw him,” Danny explained without going into much detail. He noticed the Lieutenant perking up at the mention of McGarrett junior.

“He’s over there, on a call.” he pointed with his head.

Steve was leaning over the balcony with his elbows resting on the railing and busy talking to Sheppard. He didn’t see the new arrival as he had his back to them.

Danny saw the wattage of Cathrine’s smile go up as her eyes ran over the view the oblivious SEAL presented. He hid the grin and blinked at her innocently when she turned back to face him.

“So, will you guys be here for a few days then?” She inquired, her gaze snapping back to where Steve was, almost unintentionally.

Danny knew she was mostly interested in finding out whether Steve was going to be around for a while.

“Well, that depends.” He hedged. “We have to see his dad’s doctor and see how it goes,”

He didn’t want to give any definite answers or any other details without Steve’s say so. He opened his bottle and drank some water, wishing Steve would soon return. So that he could decide what to tell this infatuated Lieutenant who was back to staring at Steve’s ass with a dreamy look on her face. Then something started to nag at Danny about what she said earlier, but he couldn’t place it. He pushed it away to sort out later as he saw Steve finishing his call.

……….

“Yeah, so that’s what happened. He seems alright and man, that’s a relief. Depending on what his tests and scans show, it’ll be a day or two more. But I’ll message you when I find out,” Steve said to John, who was quite relieved at the fact that Steve’s dad was fine. He insisted that Steve take as much time as needed to make sure his dad got all the support he needed. He also made Steve promise to message him with updates and implored him to take care of himself before finally ending the call.

Steve put his phone back inside his jacket with a smile. He very much appreciated the time he was given to take care of his dad. Moreover, he was deeply touched by the way Sheppard sounded over the phone. He had been really worried and the relief that poured over from his lover through the call was almost a tangible thing. Steve made a mental note to send regular updates as promised. It wasn’t something he would have done for anyone else, but he knew Sheppard would stress otherwise. It felt nice to know that he had somebody who cared that much about him.

He felt the good feeling wilt away when he turned back to see the penetrating gaze of Catherine Rollins directed at him. He was pretty sure he caught her in the act of staring at his ass. She smiled brilliantly at him and waved. Steve was somewhat reluctant to wave back and tried his best to summon a smile for her. He was sure it looked more like a grimace instead.

Steve didn’t have anything against beautiful women. He was definitely not opposed to being the subject of desire of one, either. He had gone out with many pretty women and Catherine Rollins, with her long black hair, soulful brown eyes, and radiant smile was exactly his type. But he was very much invested in another hazel-eyed brunet and he didn’t see himself veering off anytime soon - if ever at all. Even if he wasn’t, Steve knew that he still wouldn’t be interested in this particular woman. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something off about Lieutenant Rollins - something that rubbed him the wrong way - that made him want to be on his guard whenever she was nearby.

“Hi, Steve,” Rollins greeted cheerfully as he walked towards them.

Again, he was instantly put off by the overly friendly greeting. They had only known each other for about 48 hours, hadn’t they? He had to make a conscious effort to return the greeting without letting his true feelings show.

“Hello, Lieutenant,” He asked, more or less politely. “What brings you here?”

Danny cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes, picking up on Steve’s discomfort instantly.

Rollins either didn’t notice or didn’t let it bother her because she launched into the story of her friend and her cute little babies with great enthusiasm.

Steve kept the smile plastered on his face as she talked. Then he made a show of checking time and gestured to Danny. “Hey, listen, it’s nice bumping into you here. But Danny and I’ve gotta run. My dad should be done with his tests now,” he said to the woman as Danny got up from the chair to go with him. Steve didn’t want to give her any details about their visit here and hoped Danny hadn’t run his mouth either.

With that somewhat curt parting, he turned and walked out of the cafeteria, with Danny following closely behind.

“So, it isn’t just me, hah? She gives off weird vibes to you too?” Danny asked, turning his walk into a half jog to keep up with Steve’s longer strides. Steve was eager to put as much distance as possible between them and Rollins.

“Yeah, you didn’t tell her why we’re here, did you?” Steve asked while stabbing the buttons on the elevator.

“Nah, not really. Just told her that we’re here for your dad. That’s it.”

“Is she following us?” Steve was staring at the shiny surface of the elevator door.

The reflections on it were slightly distorted. But Danny could discern the shapely figure of Rollins in tight-fitting jeans and green sleeveless top, slowly making her way towards them.

“Forget this,” Steve spat, pressing a few more buttons for various floors on the keypad. Then he swiftly walked away to the nearest staircase and started climbing two steps at a time. He knew his behavior was a bit irrational; she was just a colleague after all, not another enemy combatant gaining on him. Nevertheless, he wanted to get away from her as soon as possible.

When they finally reached Steve’s dad’s room, the man was already there, enjoying his lunch. It didn’t look much better than what they had either. John McGarrett insisted that there was no need for them to hang around since he was just going to take his pills and take a long nap anyway. He could see the boys were tired and wanted them to go home and catch a few hours of sleep for themselves. Steve relented and promised his dad that they’d drop by later around dinner time. He made him promise to call them if he needed anything before that and then finally hugged him fiercely, before taking their leave.

#fanfiction series #stargate atlantis #steve mcgarrett #john sheppard #ao3fic #cross over #hawaii five 0 #stargate #fiction #my writing #writers on tumblr #alternate universe #military #Not Catherine Rollins Friendly #No DADT

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gayforthe13th · 5 years ago

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If you're up for a prompt idea, 13 and the Master end up married (like Vegas 24 hour chapel style) and have no recollection of it happening the next morning

Hi i fucking love thoschei. Thanks for coming to my TED talk

When the Doctor woke up that morning her first thought was, okay, this isn’t my bed. The second thing she thought happened as she opened her eyes and shifted, only to be met with a solid form blocking her from rolling over. Someone’s arm was around her waist. Her fight or flight kicked in almost immediately, she sprang out of the bed within seconds but her actions had caused both her and the other person to fall to the floor in a heap of tangled legs and arms. The groan the mystery man lets out is familiar, too familiar. With a gasp the Doctor untangles herself from him, sitting up and looking down upon the Master’s groggy form as he blinks the sleep out of his eyes and surveys the room. “What..the hell?” he mutters, pulling himself into a sitting position. For a moment it seemed like time had frozen, the two aliens sat on their knees staring at each other in utter confusion, and then the Master blinked, and all hell broke loose.

“What the hell are you doing here!?” the Doctor snapped, standing on wobbly legs. A massive pain spread through her head, she shut her eyes tight and tried to find its source. Hangover, she had been drunk.

“Me!? What about y-” the Doctor opened her eyes and found the Master frozen, staring at the ring on the finger he was pointing at her so accusingly. “That wasn’t there yesterday…” The Doctor gulped, oh no. Slowly, she lifted her hand, her eyes trailed down to her ring finger, and she found herself staring at a matching ring upon her hand.

“We didn’t…” she mutters.

“Oh,” the Master’s confused stare turned into an amused one, a grin slowly spread on his face as his eyes locked with the Doctor’s, “but we did.”

As the Doctor scrambled to grab her things and get away from him as quickly as she could she also scrambled to remember why she was ever there in the first place. The Master was quick to catch up to her as she raced out of the apparent hotel they were in and onto the busy streets of a city she failed to recognize right away. Luckily, the Master had recognized the city, and the planet, and the fact that his last incarnation had been banned from traveling to both. “The gift of a new face,” he said as the Doctor pulled out her sonic and proceeded to try to locate her TARDIS. The Master couldn’t seem any less worried, his anger having faded in favor of glee as soon as the Doctor had begun to get increasingly upset. He followed her towards her ship. She could only hope that her friends were not inside, or worse, lost within the city somewhere.

“How did we even end up here? Where’s your ship?” she asked as she pushed passed people, tugging the Master along by the cuff of his sleeve. The Master merely shrugged, offering no explanation though she was sure he could remember about as much as she could about the situation. As they turned into an alleyway and neared the ship a sudden flash of memory hit the Doctor in full force. She could only see bits and pieces, a small chapel, someone muttering in broken Gallifreyan, the grin of the Master’s drunken face. She came back with a gasp, leaning against the Master’s weight as her vision cleared. Quickly, she shoved off of him. “We got married.”

“Yes dear I’ve gathered,” the Master snarked, there was a bite to his words she couldn’t place.

“No! N-not just married by the customs of this planet but married by Gallifreyan law!” the Master’s ever-present grin seemed to drop almost instantly, his gaze turned cold, in a flash she was shoved against the brick wall of the closest building.

“I cannot be married to you,” he growled, but there was something deeper to his threat. The Doctor tried to get a fix on the hidden meaning of his words but he spoke immediately after, “we need to fix this. Now.” with two hands on his chest the Doctor shoved him away from her.

“We can’t! The only way to do that is at a Gallifreyan court and thanks to someone Gallifrey is fucking gone!” the Master had the nerve to flinch at her words, his gaze fell to the floor. “You think I want this!?” the Doctor continued, “you think I want to be married to you? To be in any way associated with you!?”

If the Master could shrink in on himself and collapse she’s sure he would have, his tough exterior melted before her eyes, his gaze held to the ground as he took a step back from her like her words had punched him in the gut. She felt bad. For a moment, she was staring at her friend again, not the guy who destroyed her planet, but the one riddled with nightmares and fear and a sound he couldn’t escape from. She shook her head, no this wasn’t the friend she once knew, she couldn’t let him get to her like this. Pulling her keys out from her pocket and opening the TARDIS doors she pushes them open and leans against the side of the ship. “Are you coming?” she asks. The Master’s eyes flick from her to the ship, then back towards the opening of the alleyway.

“No,” he says finally, “after all, you wouldn’t want to be seen with me.” The Doctor frowns, reaching out she grabs his arm before he can pull himself away.

“I’m sorry,” she says, sincerity laced her voice, she could feel the Master flinch beneath her fingers. “We’ll figure this out…” she says, leading him gently to the open doors.

“Liar,” the Master says, but he follows her inside anyway. The doors shut once the two Time Lords are safely inside the TARDIS’ walls and the Doctor has made her way over to the console.

“Try to remember what happened as best as you can, maybe there’s something we missed.”

“I can’t!” the Master groans, leaning against the crystal pillars he clutches his head, “it’s just flashes.”

“What do you see?” the Doctor sidles next to him, waiting as he clenches his eyes shut and breathes heavily through his nose.

“Just, you. We were at a club somewhere, you must have found me.” the Doctor nods, waiting for him to continue. “Then, we got drunk. Or, I got more drunk than I already was.” he opens his eyes, shaking his head as if dispelling the memories from his mind. The Doctor sighs, sure she was glad she had found him but giving the current circumstances she’d rather not have. The Master doesn’t meet her gaze, instead, he pushes himself off the pillar and circles the console. “Let’s just pretend this never happened, I’m sure you’ve been married before. Won’t be hard to do it again.”

“Stop that,” the Doctor makes her way towards him, but he avoids her with ease.

“Well we can’t exactly get a divorce so let's just forget it. And if you ever find yourself wanting to get married again just find a nice little planet where they won’t stop you.”

“Master-”

“And I’ll just be on my merry way, and we never have to see each other again-”

“Koschei!” the Master’s mouth shuts with an audible click at the mention of his name. The Doctor finally catches up to him, taking a hold of his hand. He looks like he wants to pull away, her grip tightens. “I thought you weren’t the one who runs,” she teases.

“No,” he bites, “but I’m giving you a chance to.” the Doctor bites her lip, considering her options for a moment. She had him back, and that’s exactly what she had wanted, and maybe this would give them a chance to fix what went wrong to start over. She wanted that more than anything. Gently, she squeezes his hand, lifting her free one to his cheek.

“I’m not running now,” she says as he sucks in a shuddered breath, “we can work this out, you and me.” the Master stares at her apprehensively, his mouth opens as if he wants to say something but he closes it again. “It’s just marriage Master, nothing major needs to change.” Her words are meant to reassure him, but for a moment it seems like they do the opposite. He recoils, pulling his hand from hers. She tries to reach out again, but he’s speaking before she can get anywhere.

“Do you understand how long I’ve wanted this?” he asks. He looks like he’s waiting, maybe for her to yell at him, to be disgusted. When she does nothing, he continues, “all our lives Doctor, that’s how long.” He takes a deep breath, then releases it letting his shoulders relax, “but it’s never me who gets you in the end,” his voice wavers, “I’m meant to be the bad guy. I can’t control how destroying makes me feel, it’s like an itch I can’t scratch,” he scratches his bicep for reference, staring into the space beside her, “you’re an itch I can’t scratch..” the Doctor reaches forward again, placing a hand atop the one on his arm, feeling it settle beneath her. “You’ve always been what I wanted. But I don’t want it like this.”

Before she can think, she’s pressing a kiss to his cheek. It’s soft, barely there, but his eyes widen regardless and he looks to her for an explanation. She takes his hand again, lifting it to her lips to press a kiss to his knuckles, then turning it to kiss the inside of his wrist. Then he’s leaning down and she’s kissing him instead. It's soft, tentative, almost like he’s afraid she won't be there when he opens his eyes. The kiss is slow, his hands find their way to her waist and when they pull apart he’s leaning his forehead against hers with his eyes still squeezed shut. “You know I want you to,” she whispers, her breath ghosting his skin, “always have..we just fell off at some point. I want to get back.” The cold metal of the ring pressed the skin of her waist is a tingling reminder of the life she wants to have with him. She knows he feels it too when her hand is on his neck, and her ring tingles against the nape. When she’s kissing him again, the feeling of their lips is coupled with a pleasant cold against both their skin.

#thoschei #best enemies #the doctor/the master #thirteenth doctor/Dhawan!Master #thirteen/Dhawan!Master

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goldeneyedgirl · 5 years ago

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Twificathon: Runaway

For @volturialice, because she is way too sweet and excited about this fic. (I also found a chunk I have 0 memory of ever writing, but I like it.) This part is really old, and most likely going to be rewritten, especially the part of how mate-bonds work in this ‘verse, because I’m not at all happy with how its discussed here. And with that note, voila!

I could hear Jasper talking to the Cullens as Carlisle examined me.

“I found her wandering in the hills outside L.A,” Jasper said in a low voice. “She seemed to know me, from her dreams, and … begged me, to come with me.” He chuckled humorlessly. “I don’t know why I let her.”

“How long ago was this?” Carlisle asked.

“Three years,” Jasper said.

“Nomadic, I presume?” Carlisle continued. Jasper said nothing, but I felt movement – he must have nodded.

“Pneumonia,” Carlisle said finally. “One of the worst cases I’ve seen. She needs I.V antibiotics. She’s also malnourished and dehydrated. She needs food and bed rest.”

I could feel misery and shame rolling off Jasper. He couldn’t blame himself. It wasn’t his fault. He had protected and cared for me.

“Jas,” I managed.

“Alice.” I felt him take my hand and stroke my face. “It’s okay. We’re with the Cullens. They’re going to take care of you.”

I woke up to daylight flooding the bedroom I was set up in. I was tucked into a giant bed, the softest I had ever been in. I was propped up on a pile of cloud-like pillows. Machines were sitting beside the bed, and an I.V. was threaded into my left arm, oxygen tubes threaded into my nose.

I was wearing a soft blue cotton nightgown and socks. My hair had been brushed and braided.

The bedroom was beautiful – the bed was a white timber creation, made with yellow sheets and a floral duvet. Pretty damask white-on-white wallpaper covered the walls, and the paintings were all lovely watercolours.

A woman stuck her head around the door, and looked at me, beaming when she saw my open eyes.

“Hello, Alice. Edward said you were awake,” Esme said sweetly. “Carlisle is at work but should be home soon. I’m Esme.”

“Hello,” I croaked.

“You’re quite ill, Alice. A bad case of pneumonia. We’ve got you on antibiotics, but you need some rest.”

“I lived with my grandmother,” I said, my voice hoarse, as I picked at my lunch. “When she died, I was put into foster care.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Esme stroked my hair. “How on earth did you end up with Jasper?”

“I had a vision. I couldn’t stay,” I said simply.

“You were travelling with a vampire, kid,” Emmett’s voice is kind.

“My foster father was going to hurt me,” I said softly. “He thought I was retarded because of the visions. He… he would have killed me. When I saw Jasper, there were lots of choices he had to make. He could have killed me, he could have changed me or he could have protected me. I had to take that chance. Once… once I met Jasper and he didn’t kill me, I started seeing all of you.”

Esme was staring at me with horrified eyes. “I wish we’d known.”

“She can’t stay here,” Rosalie said from the door, her arms crossed over her chest.

Everyone looked at her.

“She’s human. She can’t stay,” Rosalie repeated.

The vision swept me. If Rosalie won, and they did send me away, I’d die alone. I didn’t know where Jasper was in my visions, but I was in the street at night, hit by a car. I lay, bleeding in the street, alone. Dead.

Edward looked at me, alarmed. “She can’t go anywhere, Rosalie,” he said quietly.

“Where’s Jasper?” I asked, my voice stony.

I tumbled outside, my socks soaking through as soon as I hit the snow.

“JASPER!” I shrieked. “JASPER!”

“Alice!” Esme and Edward were there, reaching for me.

“JASPER!” I shrieked. He would have been able to hear me. He could hear everything. How many times had he heard my mutters from across a field, and flicked me on the nose, “Don’t sass me, darlin.”

Edward picked me up. “Calm down, Alice,” he murmured. “It’s going to be okay.”

“He left me here,” I cried, gasping and croaking. “He left me and didn’t say goodbye.”

What were his last words to me?

“You need help, Alice.”

I struggled a bit in Edward’s grip, but even I knew that it was futile.

I could hear them outside my room, where I was curled into a ball, in fresh pyjamas and socks, with my I.V. and oxygen tubes back in place.

“I didn’t notice that he’d taken his things,” Esme was fretting. “He said he needed to hunt.”

“That’s all I heard from him, too,” Edward agreed. “A hunt. He was very conscious that we don’t follow the same diet; he didn’t want to cause us any problems. He was very grateful we were caring for Alice. Nothing else. He will come back.”

“He took his stuff, Edward,” Rosalie rolled her eyes. “He’s dumped the girl on us and hit the road.”

“He won’t leave her,” Edward shot back. “He hates himself at the moment – for how sick Alice was. He tried to do his best, but he had no clue what she needed. Apparently, they had a place – part of an abandoned motel in Vegas – that they set up as a home. But he was worried about the covens there, and they became nomads. He thought it would be safer for them. He was changed during the Civil War; he had no idea of how to provide for a teenage girl.”

“So?” Rosalie snapped.

“Every single thing he thinks about, considers, punishes himself for is because of her. There was a fight in New Orleans a year or so ago, and she ended up lacerating her arm - a major artery. He was the one that stitched her up. Without giving in to the thirst. He ripped the ones that attacked her to shreds.” Edward shook his head. “It’s fascinating, in their heads, how they function.”

“What are you getting at, Edward?” Carlisle asked.

“They’re mated,” Edward said flatly. “I tried to work out if there was something else, any other explanation, but there isn’t.”

“She’s human!” Esme exclaimed as Rosalie snarled, “she’s a child.”

“Oh, he’s never laid his hands on her,” Edward said. “He probably doesn’t even know it yet.” I could hear the discomfort in his voice. “She’s human and she hasn’t reached, uh, maturity yet. But the connection is definitely there.”

“I’ve seen it before,” Carlisle sounded tired. “In vampires who were changed young. Their mates protect them and provide for them like family until they are sexually mature.”

“So they essentially groom children,” Rosalie said in a deadly voice.

“No, nothing so sinister. The individuals in question are usually around sixteen or seventeen. It’s a mutual thing, an entirely platonic bond that evolves. It’s a natural progression, and entirely consensual. I’ve never seen it between a human and a vampire before, but Edward’s correct – it has all the hallmarks of a bond.”

“But he left her,” Emmett interjected. “If they were mated, how could he just leave her behind?” He sounded bewildered.

“He’s punishing himself. He thinks she’s safer with us, and he’s not convinced that he can adapt to our lifestyle,” Edward said. “And he adores her, but he has no idea how much he needs her.”

“Alice will stay with us,” Carlisle said finally. “She’s still sick and needs a proper place to live. And if she’s been associating with a vampire, she’ll be safer with us. When she’s better, she can join you all at school.”

“A human,” Rosalie said in a flat voice.

“She’ll help our cover,” Esme observed. “We’ll have to provide her with proper food, and she’ll make friends in town…”

“This is going to be a disaster,” Rose muttered.

“She’ll die if we send her away,” Edward retorted. “She had a vision when Rosalie first told her she couldn’t stay. She’d be alone, without Jasper, and she gets killed in a hit and run. She dies alone on a street somewhere, bleeding into the gutter, trying to call for him.”

“If necessary,” Carlisle began slowly, “we can arrange for her to be sent away to boarding school. She’ll be safe there, and our cover is maintained. The lawyers can write up documents to make sure she’s provided for and kept safe.”

“We don’t even know her,” Rosalie hissed.

“She’s one of us, Rosie,” Emmett said gently. “Don’t you feel it? She’s a Cullen.”

“And even if she were a complete stranger, it would be the right thing to do,” Esme said firmly. “She’s a senior anyway – surely it will be safe enough for her to finish high school with us.”

Edward winced. “Uh…”

“They lied to us,” Rosalie’s voice was back to the ‘I told you so’ tone.

“No. She lied to Jasper when they met. She told him she was almost sixteen,” Edward said. “That would have been the deal-breaker for him, if she’d been any younger. Sixteen was old enough to marry and have a family in his day. She would have seen that.”

“How old is she, Edward?” Carlisle asked slowly.

“She was thirteen when she found Jasper. She’s sixteen now,” he said.

“Poor little thing; she must have been so frightened,” Esme murmured.

“Jasper kidnapped a thirteen-year-old child and bonded to her. Lovely. These are really people I want to welcome into my home,” Rosalie spat.

“She didn’t look eighteen,” was all Emmett said.

Carlisle sighed. “Fine. She’ll be a Freshman.”

#twificathon2020 #my fic #wip: runaway #fic: runaway #alice cullen #jasper hale #twilight fic #the new chunk i found i'm on the fence about #i need to study it anthropologist style for awhile

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songofseraphine · 4 years ago

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Words Shared

Part Eight of The Song of Seraphine

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

Part Six Part Seven

A/N: It took forever but here we are! Thanks for reading!

“I’m going to live forever!” said a young Seraphine as she dangled from a branch of a tree by her legs. Her father was looking up at her from the ground below.

“Is that so? I don’t think you’ll live forever if you continue carelessly walking into danger every chance you get,” he said. He was joking but it was somewhat true. Seraphine had a knack for getting herself into trouble. But she seemed to be luckier than a feline and escaped that trouble rather easily. “And what of your sister? Will she live forever as well?”

Sera nodded. “I will protect her and make sure she does, Papa. We will both live forever!” she said with a large grin. She climbed down from the tree and stood in front of her father.

“Oh, Seraphine,” her father said as he crouched down to her level. As she looked to him his face changed to Ferdand’s. “No one can live forever,” he said then swiftly unsheathed a hidden blade and plunged it into Sera’s stomach.

Sera’s eyes shot open and she took a deep breath of air to calm herself. She quietly got up from the makeshift bed of furs she shared with Geralt. The sun had not started to rise yet and it was very cold outside, cold enough that she could see her breath. She and Geralt had been making camps and falling to sleep under the same furs beside dying embers for two weeks now. To stay warm at night they had to stay close. She quietly began the morning routine of gathering branches and straw for a new fire. She thought about warming some water to wash with but that seemed complicated. What she really wanted was warmer weather or a nice warm bath at an inn. But it was winter in Redanian territory so the warm weather was out of the question and they were trying to save their coin and make it last as long as they could. Sera grabbed her flint rocks from her saddle bags that sat in a pile with their things. She got a spark easily and soon it started a flame. In a short amount of time she was sitting in front of a medium sized fire warming her hands through her thin gloves.

Geralt stirred and after sniffing the air he opened his eyes. He sat up, making the furs pool in his lap and looked to Sera. “Bad dreams again?” he asked and she nodded without looking at him. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

She shook her head while pulling her knees to her chest. “You were sleeping, I didn’t want to bother you,” she said. To this he only grunted. Time and time again he had told her that she was no bother to him and that she could wake him when the dreams were too much. Still, she would look to him and decide that he looked too peaceful as he slept and she couldn’t disturb that rare moment for him.

Geralt stood and began to fold the furs while still looking at her. “What was it about his time?” he asked. His question surprised her. While his overall demeanor had changed towards her after the bandit encounter he still was a very quiet and reserved man that liked to keep most of his thoughts to himself.

Sera shrugged her shoulders and looked at the flames of the fire. “It was a memory that turned into a nightmare,” she said. Her voice was soft, as if she was trying not to be heard by herself for fear she would have to go through the dream again. “I was just a child and I was telling my father that I was going to live forever and that I would make sure Faye did as well. Then his face… it twisted and changed into Ferdand and he killed me.”

Geralt grinned despite what she just told him. “You wanted to live forever?” he asked. She knew what he was doing and knew that he was trying to pull her thoughts away from the rest of the dream and she appreciated that.

She smiled and looked up at him through her dark lashes. “Not wanted… No… I was convinced I would,” she said. When he raised a brow she continued. “When we were children Faye had this horrible fever more than once, I never would get it… I have never been sick. And while I have been severely injured many times I seem to escape death when others see it as inescapable,” she said and wrapped her arms around herself, running her hands over her clothing where just beneath lie several scars. “My mother… when she was alive, she would tell me that I would outlive many. She probably only said that because of how lucky I was. In reality I was probably just taking what my mother said too seriously.”

Geralt grinned in amusement and walked over to where she sat. He then held out a hand to her to help her to her feet and she took it. “Most children probably take their mothers too seriously,” he said as he gave her a swift pull. She lost her balance and stumbled into him.

Sera smirked, supposing he was right, then regained her balance, his hand still on hers. “What was your mother like?” she asked as her eyes landed on his. The question had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. Geralt’s gaze left hers, his hand let go of her own, and he stepped away from her then started smothering the fire. Sera cursed under her breath. “I am sorry, Geralt. Just because I share most everything with you doesn’t mean I should expect the same,” she said while walking over to Vega.

She made sure Vega’s saddle was just right before mounting her and Geralt walked over and passes the reins up to her. “I don’t remember much about my childhood, nor my mother. It was long ago,” he said.

He wasn’t looking at her instead he was looking at his hands that were still holding onto Vega’s reins. Sera slowly placed her hand on his and he didn’t move. “Geralt, I…” she said, beginning her apology.

He shook his head and his eyes landed on hers. “Don’t apologize, Seraphine. I don’t remember it so I don’t have many feelings associated with it,” he said. She nodded and watched as he removed his hand from hers a second time and then walk over to Roach.

They began riding towards the next village where they hoped they would find an Alchemist that knew Sera’s mother. As always they rode in mostly silence, only speaking when they heard something. Seraphine usually used this time to think about her family, her mother specifically, but this time she was thinking of Geralt. She was staring at the back of his head while they rode. She had seen many sides of the man she had been travelling with. He was quiet and calm but when he did speak he had a sharp tongue. She noticed he also has a soft side which he didn’t show until after Ferdand’s death and he only showed that side to her. He was a mystery of a man despite knowing of him for five years.

“What are you doing?” he asked without turning to look at her. “I can feel you looking at me, Seraphine. Stare any longer and it will feel like daggers.”

Sera’s cheeks grew warm but she shook it off. “I’m just curious as to why people believe Witchers have no emotions,” she said. She heard him hum in amusement but he still didn’t turn her way. “Oh come on, Geralt, it can’t be true can it?”

“What do you think, Seraphine? We have known each other for five years or more,” he said while finally glancing back at her. She could see the mischief in his golden eyes and she knew that he was having way too much fun with this. “Do you think I have no emotions?”

Sera thought for a moment, but shook her head. “No, Geralt, I don’t think it’s true,” she said while riding up beside him. He grinned at her and waited for her to continue. “I have seen you angry, annoyed, even worried,” she said with a smile. “I believe it was a rumor created by humans to give them yet another reason to not be involved with Witchers.”

“Is that so?” he asked while raising a brow in her direction.

“Absolutely. In reality, you are the most human individual I have met,” she said. This surprised him and she could see it on his face. She continued. “You’re honest, have a great moral compass and truly, other than Pavetta and my sister, I believe you to be the kindest person I’ve known.”

He let out a harsh laugh. “Now I know you’re lying,” he said with a grin and a shake of his head.

Sera shook her own head in disagreement and locked her eyes with his own. “I wouldn’t lie about that, Geralt,” she said with a serious tone. “You could have let me die a time or two. In fact, the reason I am alive is proof of your kindness. You could have left me behind long ago. Now you’re helping me learn more about my mother. If that’s not kindness, Geralt of Rivia, then please, do tell me what is,” she said.

Geralt only looked at her then nodded. His gaze was soft and Sera could feel her cheeks growing warm again. He gave her a small, but genuine, smile this time which made her heart flutter. He then looked away from her and they continued to ride on. Sera shook her head and mentally cursed herself for what she knew she felt for the man before her.

It took most of their day but as the sun was beginning to set, they finally came across the town of Denesle. It didn’t take long for them to find the tavern and the inn to which Sera was happy to see. She would have done anything for a steaming bath and a warm bed. “It wouldn’t be right to barge into someone’s home at this hour, we should rest and we can go in the morning,” she said as they dismounted their horses and he nodded in agreement. “Here,” she said while handing him a few coins. “I’ll go get us a room at the inn and a table in the tavern, you go board these two.”

“You got too used to ordering people around in Cintra, My Lady,” he said with a grin. He had jokes she had to admit but she rolled her eyes anyways. She turned away from him with a smile and made her way to the inn. There she paid for a room and ordered a bath to be ready in an hour then took their things up before she headed to the tavern where she managed to get a table in the back corner. She ordered two ales and two bowls of stew, which she was far too excited for, then she waited for Geralt. By the time he entered the tavern their food and drinks had made it to the table and as soon as he sat down across from her he began to eat.

“Did you give Vega extra oats as well, stable boy?” she joked. He stared back at her with hard eyes but she saw the corner of his mouth crack into a small grin.

“You’re in a good mood. You’ve been making even more jokes lately,” he said then took a long drink of his ale.

Sera shrugged her shoulders and drank from her own ale before speaking. “Just excited to learn more about my mother, I suppose,” she said. In a way that was the truth. There were many things that had her in a decent mood. The fact that they were staying in a nice warm room with a hot tub was probably at the top of that list next to learning more about her mother. And the fact that Geralt was actually speaking more than a few worded sentences with her made it all even better. “It’s nice to feel like this, it’s been a long time since I have…” she said.

Geralt nodded in agreement and they continued to eat their meal. Sera tried to take her time and savor the meal but, between her hunger and the fact that the hot food was warming her up from the inside out, it was difficult. After they finished their food they took their time drinking down the rest of their ales and planned out the next day. “The White Wolf,” said a man from across the room. His voice nearly silenced the rest of the tavern and almost everyone watched as he stumbled over to the table they sat at.

“I sense a dampering in my mood,” said Sera with a roll of her eyes. She drank down the rest of her ale in one gulp and looked over at their visitor.

“Shouldn’t you be out killing beasts?” the man asked with a slur to his voice. She could smell the ale on his breath and it made her want to gag. “I’ve never had the opportunity to meet a witcher before,” he said. He was leaning on the table and he was too close to Sera for her own comfort. She moved over on the bench seat as Geralt’s gaze settled on her. “Tell me, Witcher, when you have killed all the other monsters do you then off yourself?”

Sera’s jaw dropped at the stranger’s blunt statement. “That’s enough,” she said as she stood from her seat.

The man smirked and looked Sera up and down. “And who are you? I’ve never heard of women traveling with witchers. You his whore or somethin’?” he asked making Sera’s blood begin to boil. She attempted to take a step toward the man but a strong hand placed on her shoulder caught her.

“Leave it,” said Geralt, his voice low and soft and surprisingly not full of anger. She listened and instead of throttling the man she shoved past him with Geralt following behind her.

“Butcher!” the man said as they reached the door. “If that woman had any sense at all she’d not travel with your kind.”

Geralt, ignoring the man, grabbed onto Sera’s forearm and led her out of the tavern. He didn’t release his grip until they were inside their room at the inn. Once inside she tore her arm from his grasp. “Why do you let people speak to you like that? That man should learn how to hold his tongue,” she said but he was only grinning. “You just let them say those things, Geralt, and it drives me mad. They aren’t true.”

He could see that she was truly upset about the matter. “I don’t care what they think, Seraphine, nor what they say. There are only a select few people in this world whose thoughts about me I care about. Strangers in taverns that I’ll most likely never visit again isn’t one of them,” he said and she looked up at him.

“Am I in that select few then?” she raised her brow as she spoke and he grinned.

“Are you taking a bath first or am I? The water is getting cold,” he said, changing the subject.

Sera’s eyes lit up, she had forgotten about the bath she had ordered for the room. “It’s mine! I don’t need you griming it all up!” she said then practically shoved him out of the way and rushed over to where the tub sat behind the scrim.

Geralt smiled and shook his head at the thoughts of that woman. “You are just as grimy as I am,” he said in a low voice and judging by the scoff that came from the other side of the scrim, she had heard him. “I’m going down to the innkeeper to get us a drink,” he said and she only hummed in response, a reply that she was no doubt adopting from him.

Moments later, when he returned with a bottle of wine and a jug of water he could hear her humming. “There is wine and water,” he said and she stopped humming.

“I don’t suppose you’d bring me some wine?” she said, he could hear the smile in her voice. Geralt poured them both a glass and walked over to the scrim. He kept his eyes on her own as to not make her uncomfortable by looking elsewhere. Not that it would matter, the bath was deep enough and the room was dark enough that he would barely be able to see anything. He handed her one of the glasses then sat down with his back against the outside of the tub and his head close to hers.

“I’ve never seen you drink wine,” she said before taking a sip out of her own glass. She then set it on a small table just beside the edge of the tub.

Geralt smirked and took a drink. “We’re not usually in places with good ale let alone decent wine,” he said and she let out a short laugh in agreement. The air smelled sweet like vanilla and patchouli, a scent that Geralt had tied to Sera. Even on the road with days of travel she still smelled sweet and clean. He found himself closing his eyes and nearly sighing at the delight of the smell.

“After this is over I truly wouldn’t care to ever see a winter again,” she said with a laugh while running water up her arms to rinse them off.

“Five years in a nice warm palace will do that to you,” he said with a grin.

Sera smirked. “You like to bring up the fact that I was a member of court an awful lot, Geralt. Are you jealous?” she asked while taking a sideways glance at him. She watched as he smiled when she spoke but he said nothing. “I know, you’re jealous because I had nice hot baths whenever I wanted,” she said. He hummed in response and lifted his chin. “Well, if you pass me my robe you can have your turn.”

Geralt nodded and grabbed her dressing robe from where it sat in a heap on the ground. Why she insisted on still traveling with it he would never know, he only guessed it was because she didn’t want to wear actual clothes when she slept. “It’s about time, the water is getting cold,” he said. He was joking, of course. The water was still just as hot as it had been when she got in. Without looking he held the robe back to her and heard the water slosh around the tub as she stood up.

Sera took the robe from him and wrapped it around her form then stepped out of the tub with her glass of wine in hand. He stood from his spot and she immediately sat down with her back against the tub just as he had done. He undressed at the other side of the tub away from her view and then got in the water, sitting down practically back to back with her. She could hear the water moving and strong scent of lavender soap filled her senses. She thought it was interesting that a man like him would choose lavender as his scent but it was what he always smelled like to her. Lavender, the outdoors, and when he went too long without bathing a touch or Roach. The sound of him grunting pulled her from her thoughts and she turned to see him attempting to wash his shoulders. “What’s the matter, Geralt, are the years of killing monsters finally getting to you?” she asked with a smile. He glanced back at her with a slightly unamused stare to which her response was to reach for the soap in his hand. He said nothing but he dropped the soap in her hand and leaned forward making his back more accessible. She ran the soap over his scarred shoulders and back then set it on the floor next to her. She then massaged the soap over his muscles, getting off the dirt and grime from their travelling but also attempting to release some of the tension he had built up there. From the angle she sat she could still see his face, he had closed his eyes and she noted how relaxed his features looked. “Why lavender?” she asked, the question escaping her lips before she knew it.

He let out an amused chuckle and barely opened his right eye to glance at her. “It’s calming,” he said, his voice was soft. He grinned and she stopped massaging his back to encourage him to say more. “Most women who see my chest and back don’t usually ask about my choice of soap.”

She realized that what he meant was that most women, and really anyone that had the chance of seeing his chest or back, asked about his scars. “We all have scars, Geralt, you more than some. They aren’t something to be gawked at but they do tell stories of your life, you know,” she said, continuing to run her hands over his back. A short hum was his reply. “You should wash your hair, it looks like you have a year’s worth of dirt on your scalp,” she said, now running her fingers through his silver locks. “I’ll do it for you,” she said and he complied, leaning back in the bath again. Carefully, she removed the piece of leather string that tied up half of his hair, letting down the rest of his slightly tangled hair. She cupped handfuls of water and poured them on his head then lathered the soap in her hands before kneading them through his hair.

Geralt let out a deep breath, like a sigh, as she scrubbed the layers of dirt on his scalp. He had never had another person do this for him and he began to wonder how he could live without it now. It was as if her fingers on her scalp were massaging out any tension he had at the moment. Meanwhile, Sera smiled to herself at the thought of her washing Geralt of Rivia’s hair. She looked at his face noting how truly relaxed he seemed. Outside of sleeping she had never seen him so calm. The wrinkle from where his brows were almost always crinkled together was nearly invisible, his jaw wasn’t clenched in annoyance, and his mouth was set in an almost smile. She rinsed out all of the soap but continued to run her fingers through his hair, attempting to get out any tangles. She hummed softly as her hands eventually travelled back to his scalp, wanting him to have a few more moments of relaxation. As her eyes travelled over his features and to his jawline so did her hands. His stubble felt rough under her finder tips but she didn’t stop. Without much thought Geralt found himself leaning into one of her hands, enjoying the feeling of something as simple as a touch. Sera was surprised at this action but that didn’t stop her, instead it encouraged her. Her thumb traced along his jaw and swiped over the corner of his lips as she stopped humming. She then thought about their journey and the irony of it all. Two people bound together in what seemed like a shared fate, one that was followed by destruction and chaos and the other that hunted it down. Maybe that was why their lives were intertwined. Or maybe it was simpler than that. Maybe he was just what she needed and she… maybe for once she was what someone else needed.

Sera’s thumb stopped tracing and began to pull away from Geralt at the thought that had struck her. His hand was quick to catch her wrist, covering it in water making it easy for her to slip from his grasp. But then he caught her again, but this time with his eyes. They reminded her of drops of honey, sweet and tempting. His gaze was much softer than she had ever seen it, making her stomach flip. She finally broke the gaze and stood up, grabbing her glass as she did. “I’m going to add some wood to the hearth,” she said then quickly disappeared to the other side of the scrim leaving Geralt in the bath. She set her glass down on the small table near the bed and ran her hands over her face before walking to the hearth. Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she tossed another log into the fire and took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she leaned against the wall. Geralt was her travelling companion, her friend of sorts, and that was it. That was all it needed to be, or so she was trying to convince herself as she thought of the complete opposite.

She heard him clear his throat followed by the sound of water filling an empty cup. She turned to look at him as he stood by the bed, in only his trousers, and she wondered when he had gotten out of the bath and if he had seen her having a mental fight with herself by the hearth. His eyes were already set on her when she looked at him so it was possible that he saw her internal struggles. They stood there staring at one another, neither one of them planning to look away. “It’s a bad idea,” was all he said.

Sera nodded in agreement, “You’re right, it is,” she said, her eyes still locked onto his. She watched as he took a long drink of the water he had poured himself. “You age much slower than me, it would be a disaster anyways,” she said, taking a drink of her wine.

He hummed and gave her a nod. “My life is too dangerous, chasing monsters,” he said.

“Everyone I care for dies,” she said.

“Then we agree,” he said and she nodded.

“I guess so,” her voice was low. Geralt set his glass on the table and watched her from across the room. She took a deep breath before finishing off her wine. Then she let the cup fall to the ground as she took several bounds toward him and they met in the center of the room just before their lips clashed together. Her kiss was hungry and so was his. They were both accepting something they had been pushing away since Pavetta’s betrothal feast, or even before. And she was relishing in it, all of it. From the feeling of his hands pressed gently to the sides of her face to the softness of his lips. And Geralt was thinking just the same. They had both been dealt a shit hand in the game of life and it was about time they took something they wanted from it. They separated and caught one another’s gaze, both looking for reassurance. When it was granted she raised up to kiss him again, much softer this time, and they moved for the bed. At that moment the only thing either of them wanted was the one standing before them, the one whose embrace they were in.

Tag List: @fire-in-her-veinz @wastingmypotential

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#Geralt #geralt of rivia #geralt fanfiction #geralt x oc #the witcher #the witcher fanfiction #the witcher oc #the witcher x oc #the song of seraphine #burning slowly #Like very slowly

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msjr0119 · 5 years ago

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We Belong

Part 3

Evangeline Bruley returns to Cordonia to take over her families Duchy. She was betrothed to the now King, however he is engaged to Duchess Riley but still has lingering feelings towards his first love. What will happen during her time back in Cordonia?

Just using combined tag list- if you want to be removed let me know as always 😊

@pedudley @kacie-0156 @loveellamae @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @yukinagato2012 @dcbbw @qammh-blog @nz1091 @cordonianroyalty @custaroonie @indiacater @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @princess-geek @jared2612 @desiree-0816 @gardeningourmet @twinkle-320 @queenjilian @forthebrokenheartedthings-blog @princessleac1 @scarletreesex

Warnings: Swearing, Smut 🍋

*****

“I’m so sorry too Drake.”

Drake couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, did she kiss him out of pity? Whilst his mind was battling with these internal thoughts, Evie drove off in a flash. Shit. Getting dressed quickly, he drove to her Duchy- needing to talk to her about their interaction that had just taken place. Knocking on the door there was no response- fuck, please answer. Deciding to go to the palace, he barged through the doors- and headed straight to Liam’s study hoping he would provide him with some answers.

“Come in.”

“Hey Li, I just wondered if you’d seen Bruley?”

“I saw her this morning at her Duchy- she said she was coming to see you. Why?”

“So she hasn’t come here then.... it doesn’t matter. I’ll leave you to it.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Did you both have an argument?” Liam had a little smirk, hoping that he wasn’t going to make a move on Evie. If Liam couldn’t have her, he didn’t want anyone else to.

“Something like that.”

****

Evie didn’t know where to go, she wanted to go and confront Olivia about her malicious meddling for insisting that she returned to Cordonia- but she knew that Olivia was staying at the palace. Deciding to avoid the palace due to Liam being there, as well as Riley- The soon to be queen who hated her in an instant- she decided to pay some other people a visit instead.

“Hello you two, I miss you both so much... if I needed any guidance it would be now.” Placing the flowers on the graves, she sat on the cold floor for what seemed like an eternity.

“I don’t know what to do... I want to be here, this is my home. But all the skeletons are making it hard to want to stay here. Everyone used to call me the intellectual one, as well as Kiara. But right now, my brain doesn’t want to function. I need you both to know that if I decide to run the Duchy from elsewhere- that I will do it and that I will always think about the two of you and your reputation. Maybe in the future I’ll return full time. I’m so confused at the moment. You both know that I never loved Liam.. I love him as a close friend and you both supported me with that- even going against your kings wishes. But now... now I’m feeling close to Drake Walker. I didn’t realise until I returned, how handsome he was. Apparently he thinks I’m beautiful- even though he won’t admit it, I don’t want to stay here if he’s going to break my heart. I love you both, if I stay I’ll come and visit you both more.”

****

A few days later the group was heading to Vegas for Liam and Riley’s joint bachelor and bachelorette party. Olivia had managed to contact Evie, and she said that she would meet them there- hesitating what to do due to Riley’s cold attitude towards her. Between the time of leaving Drakes cabin, and Vegas - Evie hibernated inside the Duchy - not wanting to associate with anyone for a while.

“Welcome to vegassss babyyyy.” Maxwell screeched. The rest of the group seemed less impressed after travelling.

“So Evie’s already here, she’s at the hotel. Apparently she’s organised something for us all when we arrive.”

“That’s great.” Liam said enthusiastically in response to Olivia, as she smiled back at him- she noticed Riley’s resting bitch face.

“What’s up your future majesty? Why don’t you like our friend? Just the mention of her name turns that smile upside down.”

“I don’t know her Liv... I’m just really tired.”

“Or you think she’s going to steal your man.... or should I say men?” Olivia snarled at Riley.

“Liv stop causing trouble.”

“So Drake? How was your kiss with Evie before she ditched you?” The whole groups eyes widened, intrigued to know what had happened between their two friends. “Even though she’s mad with me she still talks to me about personal things... when all you morons can’t get in touch with her.”

“Hey Liv, are you free to talk? Is anyone with you?”

“Just Bastien why?”

“Okay, so I’m really mad with you- really mad. Liam came to see me before and confirmed that I didn’t need to return to claim the Duchy as mine....”

“Oh I must have misunderstood. My apologies Evangeline...”

“Cut the shit Olivia... anyway Liam kissed me, but I left my Duchy before he could elaborate on it....”

“And.....”

“And I went to the Walkers cabin....”

“And.....”

“For fuck sake I kissed Drake...he was so frustrating... just kept saying he was sorry... I don’t know what I was thinking...”

“Evie and Drake- has a nice ring to it... you can thank me later...”

“Liv! I ran away... I drove off...”

“Oh Evie! Why would you do that? Do you like him? I have no idea why. I thought the same about Riley when she had feelings for him.”

“I panicked... I do like him... but we’re just friends... right?”

“Right well changing the subject... we are all going to Vegas for Liam and Riley’s joint bachelor/bachelorette party. Are you game?”

“I’m not sure... Riley hates me, she wouldn’t want me there.”

“You’re part of court, you need to be there. Fuck Riley. She’s changed recently- she hasn’t always been like this. I don’t know what’s up with her. Her mood swings are up and down.”

“If I go I’ll make my own way there, I don’t want her threatening to throw me out of the plane window.”

“You and Evie kissed? I thought you had an argument?” Liam questioned, his previous smirk had now disappeared replaced with anger in his eyes. To Liam it was deja vu, his friend kissing his ‘girl’ and not informing him straight away like he did with Riley.

“It doesn’t matter, as Liv said she ditched me.” They all remained in silence, arriving at the hotel they were greeted by Evie- who had shots and champagne with her.

Evie immediately made a beeline for Riley ignoring everyone else, needing to talk to the Duchess personally.

“Hello Duchess Riley. How was the flight?”

“Tiring.” Evie cleared her throat, noticing that no one was listening to their conversation she took the opportunity to ask her new nemesis a very personal question.

“So I’ve got you a lemonade, if anyone asks it’s got vodka in it.”

“Huh?”

“When is the heir due?” Riley’s face dropped, the colour slowly drained.

“How... how do you know?”

“I won’t tell anyone, but I’m assuming that Liam doesn’t know?”

“No, I don’t know how to tell him. How do you know? You’ve only been here two minutes.”

“Something Olivia said on the phone... my friend at university was the same...Riley I know we haven’t been close, but I’m so happy for the two of you. You should really tell him- you’ll need extra security in case something bad happens again. I’m telling you that as a friend.” Nothing bad will happen, again. Riley thought, they’d already been through enough.

“So where’s my ‘vodka and lemonade’ then?”

“Here, you’ll just have to act a bit tipsy. I’d advise going to bar yourself or just pouring any alcohol in the nearest plant.” Evie winked at her, Riley felt guilty for acting the way she did- Evie seemed sincere and like they could be friends.

“Thank you Evie. I’m so sorry for the way I’ve acted towards you.”

“No worries, look after yourself and that little one.”

*****

“Oh my god! Evie and Riley are actually hugging... what happens in Vegas may actually be true? Do you think they’ll be back to normal ways in Cordonia?”

“Shh Max they are coming over...” Evie smiled at the group of friends, barely containing her excitement about her surprise.

“So guys... I’ve actually got a special guest for you all... Follow me.” They all followed Evie into a secluded area near the slots- seeing the man smirking, they all didn’t know how to react.

“LEO?”

“Hey little bro. Did ya miss me?” Leo pulled Liam and Riley into a tight hug- both were shocked about him being present for once in his life.

“What? How?” Liam whimpered, he had no idea how Leo knew they were in Vegas, but he was pleased.

“Little miss smarty pants got in touch with me..good old social media... who could resist a trip to Vegas?” Leo pulled Evie into his embrace. “Yeah, myself and Leo have had a head start on you losers- so you all need to catch up! I’ll provide the drinks for Liam and Riley, my treat- a premature wedding gift.” Riley shot her a thankful look, knowing she was prepared to keep her secret but was acting as if it was due to it being their night.

****

Evie walked over to the roulette table, Drake watched her shaking his head- knowing she may as well throw her money down the drain instead. Ever since they had arrived, he had wanted to talk to her in private but there was always someone present. Taking this opportunity, he decided to go and join her- possibly give her some tips. Placing his arms around her waist she flinched to begin with, then became less tense.

“So have you been avoiding me?” He whispered in her ear, still holding her.

“No.” Yes

“Really? I think you’re rubbish at this... people say it’s fluke but if you watch carefully there’s a pattern.”

“Really... It’s just for fun.” Yes real fun losing your money the way you are.

“That kiss....”

“Those apologies...” She interrupted, before he could elaborate on their brief interaction from the other day.

“I’m sorry okay?”

“And there you go again...” turning her to face him, he provided sorrow in his eyes.

“Listen, you know I’m no good with feelings. Liam, Leo, even Maxwell can express them no problem. I’ve always liked you but I always believed that you was out of my league so never perused it. So I’m sorry.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Thank you, is that it? I knew that kiss was out of pity.

“So you and Riley seemed close before.” Changing the subject, he hoped to come back to the conversation regarding their ‘relationship’ sooner rather than later. If he was wasting his time, he would rather know now.

“We cleared the air.” Drake nodded, he didn’t know what Evie had said to bond calmly with Riley- but he was pleased.

“So, what else is happening tonight? I was wondering if you and I could talk in private- possibly later on.”

“Maxwell has planned a treasure hunt, men versus women. You know we are going to kick your arses. We can talk after if you want?”

“You wanna bet? Thank you.... Erm... you look incredible by the way.” Evie blushed as he caressed her cheeks, beginning to feel flustered- she also had butterflies in her stomach.

“Charmer. I suppose you’re wanting a compliment back?”

“No. I’m just telling the truth.” Resting his forehead against hers, he pulled her closer- their lips almost brushing.

“Hey you two! Are you ready for the Beaumont treasure hunt?” For fuck sake Maxwell.

“Sure Maxi. I’ll gather the ladies together. You men are going down.” Evie walked off, as she did she turned around to look at Drake- smiling at him, he winked at her along with wearing that infamous Walker smirk.

“You always have perfect timing Beaumont.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing cockblocker.”

“What? Wait! What did I interrupt? I’m sorry Drake.”

“You interrupted nothing, don’t worry- I’m only joking. I don’t think she sees me in that way anyway.”

“You never know. Hey, why don’t you take her ‘sightseeing’ later?”

*****

They all completed the hunt, Liam and Leo was furious when the last item on the list was a crown that the younger Beaumont had stolen from the palace. Relieved that the women had found it before anyone had chance to steal it- they all sat on the rooftop bar, the women celebrating their victory.

Riley snuggled into Liam, Evie’s words kept roaming through her mind. She always knew that Liam wanted a family but she didn’t know how to tell him that she was pregnant.

“So your Majesty, is there anything else you would like to do to complete your bachelor party?”

“I love you Riley, I honestly do... but...”

“But what?”

“I think both you and I should have a one night stand...” Riley looked over towards where Liam’s gaze was. Drake and Evie.

“If you don’t want to, it’s fine.” Liam said noticing Riley’s perplexed expression.

“Maybe when everyone is ready to turn in, we can ask them separately?”

“Yes my Queen. I love you.”

“I love you too my king.”

****

Drake sat next to Evie, they were all slightly tipsy and enjoying their night together- like the old days, but now with the additions of Hana and Riley.

“So I told you we’d win...” Evie wore a smug impression as she said this to Drake, knowing that she was never wrong.

“Well if you was on our team. We’d have won.”

“The clues were just common sense, which none of you men seem to have.”

“Fair point. Do you want to sneak away for a bit? We can go for a boat ride? See the mini Eiffel Tower? It’s Liam and Riley’s night, I doubt they’ll miss us. Besides all these places are open until late.”

“I’ll go first, then you join me. Maxwell especially will be pissed that we didn’t invite him.”

“Erm, it was Max’s idea actually.” Evie turned to face Max, who winked before mouthing you’re welcome. “He will distract them all.”

“Okay then Walker, it better be worth all the drama we will receive when we return.” Drake held his hand out to her, hesitantly she accepted and intertwined her fingers with his.

“Where are they going?” Olivia asked, noticing with her eagle eyes that the two single people were sneaking off- holding hands.

“Erm to the bar.” Maxwell shrugged his shoulders, before smirking at the Duchess.

*****

Drake and Evie walked down the Las Vegas strip, the first sight was the Statue of Liberty.

“Liam should have brought Riley here, it would make her feel like she’s at home.”

“You know New York hasn’t been her home for a long time now. Not since the night we all met her.” Drake explained how they stumbled across a dive bar, and that Riley was their waitress for the night. Explaining briefly what happened during the social season and the Engagement tour, Evie couldn’t quite believe how much she had missed.

“Wow. So Madeleine replaced me then. Poor Liam.” Not meaning to laugh, she knew how conniving Maddy could become. She was the second woman forced to become engaged to Liam who clearly didn’t love him- the difference between her and Evie was that Evie didn’t care about the crown.

Continuing down the strip, the two of them felt comfortable in each other’s presence- the next sight was little Italy, including gondolas.

“M’lady...” Drake held his hand out towards her, as he stood on the edge on the canal in front of the awaiting gondola.

“This is far too romantic for two friends.. wouldn’t you agree?” Drake smiled at her, not knowing what to say- not wanting to push her away again. Evie snuggled up to Drake, resting her head on his broad shoulders as the ride continued. As the trip came to an end Drake stood out of the boat and helped her out, making sure she was safe.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, next stop- Paris.” Walking to the top of the half scaled version of the infamous landmark, Evie took a moment to take in the view.

“I know it’s only a replica of the original, but it’s so beautiful. I’d love to actually go to Paris one day and experience the real one.”

“You know Savannah ran off to Paris. Riley actually helped me find her during the engagement tour.” Of course she helped you.

“Well she picked a beautiful city to run away to. We will have to all go back one day.”

“I’d like that.” I’d like to just go with you though.

“Thank you for the tour Drake, or should I say Maxwell?”

“It’s been nice being away from everyone. Just two friends chilling.”

“Yeah, just friends. We should head back.”

Drake turned to face her, not knowing how she would react- no matter how close they were as children and teenagers, since her return he felt something different towards her- a feeling ever since she had unexpectedly kissed him at his cabin. Pulling her towards him into a hesitant hug- she eventually wrapped her arms around him. Laying her head on his chest she could feel his heart beat increasing as was hers. Lifting her head up to look at him, matching dark eyes were now focusing on each other- both with desire, neither wanting to make the first move. Remaining in that position for what seemed like an eternity- they were both content. Drake decided to take the plunge, crashing his lips onto hers- she didn’t resist, his tongue slowly brushed along her lower lip, before Evie slightly opened her mouth- giving him permission to enter. The kiss began gentle but soon turned demanding, their tongues battling against each other. Evie slowly ran her delicate fingers through his hair, pulling him closer, until there was no breathing space. His hands held on to her petite frame, tightly but in a protective way as they broke the kiss.

“Did I tell you how much of a good kisser you are?” Drake said in a seductive tone, his hands never leaving her hips.

“No... I don’t believe that you did.” Placing her lips back onto his, he picked her up- wrapping her legs around him as he walked her over to the nearest wall.

“I don’t know if it’s the booze, but ever since you’ve come back I feel drunk around you Lina.” Feeling his trousers tighten, she wasn’t sure what was happening between the two of them, not knowing what she wanted to happen. Was it just the alcohol? If they elaborated the kiss, would it just be a one time thing? They were in Vegas after all. Lifting her skirt up, one hand roamed up her thigh- whilst holding her tightly with the other arm.

“Drake... what are we doing?” Placing her back on the ground, he didn’t understand what she meant- believing that she regretted the kiss, believing that he was moving too fast touching her in sensitive places.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have touched you like that.”

“I want you to touch me... just not outside. Who are you sharing your room with?”

“Maxwell why?”

“My room it is then... if you want to... I mean I don’t know what’s happening between us? Is it because we are in Vegas?”

“I don’t want it to just be a Vegas fling, I’ve wanted to kiss you since we were teenagers, now I’ve experienced that- I don’t want to let you go.”

Sneaking up to Evie’s room, they didn’t see anyone on route- not that they needed to explain where they were going. It was nobody’s business. They were both single, even if it was for tonight.

As Evie opened the door, they both stumbled over the threshold- the kisses continued, neither letting go of each other- they became more passionate before Drake pushed her gently backwards laying her on her back on the bed. He paused to take in her beauty as he hovered over her, he wanted to claim her as his- but didn’t want to force her into it. She had only returned to Cordonia recently, and there was some spark there or so he believed. The touch of his body on top of hers, made her feel loved- even if it was just a brief fling. Remaining hovering over her, he began to gently kiss every inch of her body around the skirt and tight top that she was wearing. Finishing kissing her, he placed an extra gentle kiss on her lips before focusing his gaze into her eyes.

“Do you want this... I just need to be sure... I know we’ve been drinking.. I know we’ve never been this close... I just need to know Lina.”

“Yes. I wouldn’t be here if not, I wouldn’t have invited you back to my room... Drake... I... never thought about you, about us this way before. I was so concerned about getting out of the arrangement with Liam that I was blind... as to what was in front of me this whole time. You was in front of me all of these years, I didn’t realise until Olivia confessed what you had said to Bastien.”

“Never trust Bastien with your darkest deepest secrets...”

“I’m happy you told him, because we wouldn’t be here now. I want you Drake, please.”

“I never thought this would be more than a childhood crush. If you change your mind let me know.”

“Drake, just shut up and kiss me.”

Pulling him down back on to her, she inhaled his scent of whiskey. The slightest bit of stubble on his chin rubbed her skin ever so slightly but she wasn’t fussed- he was handsome and his presence felt wonderful and intoxicating. At this moment in time, Drake Walker was her new drug- she was now regretting running away from him, regretting the two of them not being like adults having a true conversation about their feeling. Wondering why she never thought about him in this way before- maybe it was fate?

“Drake, I definitely want you and this.” She pleaded with him, he nodded in response- pulling her off the bed, her heart began pounding uncontrollably. Standing on her tip toes she pulled his jacket off, before working eagerly at his shirt buttons- eventually discarding it to the floor. Admiring him stood in front of her- she bit her lip, instant reaction was to touch his warm muscled abs, placing her lips on his body- he sighed at her soft touch. Feeling his erection against her again, she laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“Does little Walker know that it’s rude to point?”

“Not trying to brag, but who said he’s little? This is what you do to me.. I can’t help it Evangeline.”

Working her way down to his zip- she was eager to see if he was over exaggerating regarding the size of his manhood- Shaking his head, he saw frustration and disappointment in her eyes.

“I’ll do that. Whilst I do, can the beautiful Duchess possibly show me something? I’m going to show you how a commoner can treat a Duchess.”

“Leave the titles out sponger.”

“Ouch! That hurt...” he said sarcastically, making her laugh- he loved her smile. Biting her lip again, Drake found her to be incredibly sexy doing this gesture- she watched him removed his trousers. His erection sprung out immediately as he removed his boxers, her eyes widened, now knowing that he was being truthful. Slowly she removed her vest top and skirt teasingly- Drake watching every move she made, until she stood in front of him in matching lacy underwear. Coming closer to her, her hands roamed her body- his fingers hovered over the bra hooks. “Can I?” He asked, not wanting to unclasp the bra incase she felt uncomfortable.

“Of course you can. You don’t need to ask me Drake..”

“I may be a commoner, but I am a gentleman.” Removing her bra, he cupped both breasts- kissing her neck gently, moving his lips down by her shoulder before licking and sucking both nipples. “Drake...” Drake lead her to the bed, laying her down gently his hands slowly worked their way up her thighs- moving her pants to the side he positioned his fingers and thumb at her entrance- moving them in a tantalising rhythm. The slightest touch in this sensitive spot, made her immediately damp- feeling embarrassed by this, Evie had never felt this aroused before. Kissing her neck, whilst working his thumb over her clit in continuous gentle circles, she tried to contain her moans, “Oh Drake.” She screamed as she flung her head back, losing herself in the pleasure. All her muscles began to quiver uncontrollably. Feeling breathless already, Drake noticed her breathing increasing rapidly- he removed his fingers, removing her pants that were now coated, he replaced them immediately with his tongue instead. “Fuck!” Evie screamed, as she dug her nails in his side as he devoured her. ”You taste so good, baby.” He said before plunging his tongue deeper inside, swirling it around lapping up all of her juices. Removing his mouth, he smiled at her expression, her whole body trembled- pleased that he had managed to keep her by his side for longer than two minutes this time. Licking his lips, he kissed her- the two of them tasting Evie. Pushing him onto his back, she rolled on top of him- thrusting her hips against his erection, teasing him. Moving backwards, she wrapped her hand around his cock- beginning to move slowly up and down but soon increasing her speed. “Bruley, you don’t have to do that.” He could barely say, feeling her do this to him- was more like a fantasy, something he never could have imagined would happen.

“Drake, I want to.” Licking her lips seductively, she stroked his length, before taking it fully in her mouth.

“You’re amazing.” Evie focused her gaze up towards him fluttering her eyelashes- she wasn’t little miss innocent as they all believed she was. Feeling his cock pulsate at every move she made- knowing she was pleasing him, she increased her pace.

“Ev... fuck.” He panted. Pleading with her to stop, he pulled her up- placing a kiss on her lips.

“Who said I was done with you Walker?”

“I can’t wait any longer. I want to feel you.” Brushing her hair away from her face, placing it behind her ear- he gently cupped her cheek, before kissing her forehead. Rolling her over, he positioned himself between her thighs- placing her hands above her head, holding them with one hand- his other hand roamed her body, circled her breasts- before kissing her hard.

“Do you want me to you know, get a condom?” He asked whilst gently rubbing against her entrance.

“I’m on the implant, don’t worry about it.”

“As I said before, if you change your mind just let me know...”

“Drake shut the fuck up. I think we are a bit too far in to back out now. I want you, please.” Kissing her gently on the lips, he slowly slid inside of her. Holding that position, allowing her to get used to him- their eyes fixated on each other. Slowly Drake began to thrust, taking his time wanting to enjoy making love with her. For him, this wasn’t a one night Vegas fling. He had dreamt about her when they were teenagers, but never told anyone due to her past with Liam- now this was happening, he wasn’t going to give her ‘a quick fuck’. “You feel so good, Drake.” She moaned before the thrusts became faster and more passionate, hitting her in that specific spot. “Fuck! Don’t stop! I’m so close.”

“You are so beautiful, fuck I’m a lucky guy.”

“Drake, I’m the lucky one.... you’re such a gentleman... you’re handsome... shit. You’re good at this.... please don’t stop...”

His thrusts were becoming more powerful as their bodies rocked in sync perfectly together- kissing each other, not able to get enough of each other. Drake’s movements slowed down, as he released himself inside her. Feeling his warm seed spill into her, she couldn’t believe what had just happened. Her body was trembling all over, the two of them attempted to catch their breaths.

“You are... wow. Not bad for two friends huh?” Evie opened her eyes, as Drake removed himself off her. Holding his hand, she turned to face him. Snuggling into his embrace, both still breathless, they laid in silence- until she heard him sigh.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing, you’re too good to be true.”

Evie pulled the duvet up to cover her assets once they had both caught their breath, Drake kissed her neck- feeling like he was on cloud nine. Now feeling thankful for Riley choosing Liam in the end. Cupping her cheek, he turned her face so that she was facing him.

“You’re amazing. You know that?”

“You’re not bad yourself, Walker.”

“I suppose I better go, thank you for tonight.” Gripping his arm, she didn’t realise how tight until he flinched- if truth be told she didn’t want him to leave.

“Do you really have to go?”

“No, but I’d need to get my things from my room... if you want me to stay?”

“I do want you to stay.” Smiling at her, he kissed her forehead before standing up- throwing his clothes back on. “I’ll be fifteen mins max.”

“Okay, I’ll get you a whiskey ready.” Kissing her again it was his new hobby.

****

I kissed Evangeline Bruley. I slept with Evangeline Bruley. Is this a dream or reality? No, it’s real. Walking into the elevator, he was still in a daze- the doors opened- he didn’t realise he had company until he recognised the voice.

“Hey marshmallow, I was looking for you.”

*****

Evie climbed out bed, putting her underwear back on- I kissed Drake Walker. I slept with Drake Walker. Is this what my heart wants? Of course it is- i think. Preparing the drinks, she began pacing the room, maybe I should thank Olivia? Hearing the knock on the door, she looked at the clock- he’s only been two minutes.

“You were quick, did you forget something?” She shouted towards the door. “Ohh... Liam... I wasn’t expecting you?” Fuck, I’m in my underwear. Standing frozen she didn’t know what to do, Liam was her friend- he had seen her in the nude once before. Quickly grabbing the bedding which was the nearest thing to her, she quickly wrapped herself up even though it was too late as his eyes had already been scanning her body. Liam held his hands out, releasing the duvet- allowing it to fall to the floor, before Evie could react.

“Evie, I’ve been looking for you... I want one more night with you... and it looks like you are prepared.”

#choices trr #trr fanfic #trr we belong #drake walker #evangeline bruley #drake x evie #drake x mc #liam rhys #riley brooks #liam x riley #drake x riley #liam x evie #liam x mc #duchess olivia #maxwell beaumont #leo rhys

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victorious-rewrite · 4 years ago

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Episode 2: Back in Place SCRIPT

Synopsis: Tori’s first day in Hollywood Arts is proving to be more troublesome as she meets the mean girl, Jade. Trigger Warnings: Arguments, Catcalling, Panic Attacks, Abuse (Toxic Relationship), Bullying

SCENE 1

[The scene begins with the main entrance of the Hollywood Arts. The lobby is filled with kids hanging out around and about during the passing period. Some students were walking in packs to their classroom while others were dancing their way around the hurried students. TORI enters from stage right. She holds a heavy textbook while wearing a hefty opened backpack. She looks exhausted, frazzled, and stressed out. Her hair is a mess and she’s a bit sweaty. She holds up her schedule and looks around for her next classroom. TRINA spot TORI, walks up to her, and swings her arm around TORI’S shoulder.]

TRINA: [Too relaxed] Hey TORI… How’s your first day of school? TORI: [Unstrung] Where’s.. [Reads her schedule] MR.SIKOWITZ’S class? TRINA: [Puts a finger on her cheek, thinking and said with expertise] Oh! His classroom is over- [A group of hormonal charged girls comes up to TRINA, grabbing her by the arm]

GIRL #1: [Elated squealing] TRINA! STEPHEN CRUZ CUT HIS HAIR! TRINA: [Creases brow in disbelief but is low key excited] Wait really? GIRL #2: [Dragging TRINA along] YES! [They attempt to drag TRINA away but TORI grabs her arm at the last second.] TORI: [Irated] Sisters stick together, TRINA!

TRINA: [Looks around in a frenzy] Look, [Points to ROBBIE and CAT] there’s those weird kids you talked to yesterday, you can ask them for directions. TORI: Wh- TRINA wai- [The girls dragged TRINA away from TORI. TORI lets out a huge frustrated sigh and walks up nervously to ROBBIE and CAT who was casually talking while walking to their next class. ROBBIE and CAT notice her and waved.]

ROBBIE: [Friendly] Oh hey TORI, looking for something? REX: [Flirtatiously] Like a boyfriend? ROBBIE: [Grumbles and gives REX a stern look] REX, do not start with that, please.. TORI: [Awkwardly looks around] Um.. Where is MR.SIKOWITZ’S class? CAT: [Escestic] Oh! That’s our next class! We have the same class together. [Grabs TORI’S wrist] We can walk there together, come on! [CAT drags TORI along with her while ROBBIE trails behind, ad libbing a lecture to REX about being a decent person.]

SCENE 2

[They entered MR. SIKOWITZ'S classroom and sees BECK and JADE arguing loudly. BECK, a laidback handsome indian boy, is on stage right while his girlfriend JADE, a gothic merciless white girl, stood in front of him on stage left. The classroom doesn’t contain any desks, but only rows of seats. On the other side of the classroom is a platform made of wood. It has red curtains and a whiteboard at the back wall. TORI, CAT, and ROBBIE immediately walked right back out of the classroom. Arguing can be heard in the background. CAT slowly got on the ground and curled into a ball. TORI stare in confusion.]

CAT: [Slowly crumbles apart and mutters] Under bed.. Under bed.. Warm, cozy, safe..

ROBBIE: [Quickly comforts CAT by lowering down and stroke her back.] [Whispers] Everything’s gonna be ok.. Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be alright.

TORI: [Points to the door with her thumb, looks very shaken up] What’s going on back there..?

ROBBIE: [Looks at TORI while comforting CAT] BECK and JADE have an on and off relationship.. It’s really weird. They get into fights often so it’s best to clear out or else you’ll be dragged into one of their arguments. [The argument dissipates. TORI reaches for the door and looks back at ROBBIE and CAT signalling if they’re ready to enter the classroom. CAT is seen rocking back and forth. ROBBIE is next to her, stroking her back still. REX is watching it happen, his head is cocked. ROBBIE looks at TORI and shakes his head. TORI nodded and entered the classroom on her own. BECK is sitting at the front while JADE sits at the far back. TORI sits next to BECK. TORI puts down her textbook and backpack. JADE death stares at her, but TORI doesn’t notice.]

BECK: [Notices TORI] Oh hey, you’re new, right? TORI: [Is taken aback and blushes slightly] Ya, I was just enrolled here. BECK: [Smiles and takes his hand out] I’m BECK, I’m a sophomore. TORI: [Takes his hand and shakes it, smiling back] Howdy, I’m TORI. I’m a freshman.

[JADE gazes over at BECK with her death stare. He notices, took his hand away quickly, and stares at the ground. TORI, confused, starts to reach into her backpack. ROBBIE, CAT, and other students enters the classroom and take their seats. MR. SIKOWITZ enters the classroom. He is a wacky balding teacher with a horrible hippie fashion sense. He’s holding a coconut with a straw through it in his hand. He stepped up on the platform.]

SIKOWITZ: [Waves coconut around] Ah, we have a new student. Everyone, this is TORI VEGA.

[Everyone stares at TORI. Her face reddens as she lowers down on her seat.]

SIKOWITZ: [Praising] Your performance was quite something.. Haven’t seen that great of an audition since 2 years ago. We’re glad to have you aboard. [Snaps back to teaching mode] Onto the basics of improv! Rule 1: say yes to everything, the show cannot go on if you refuse any questions or prompts during improv. Rule 2: Avoid open ended questions, that means only questions that can be answered with yes or no. Rule 3: emotion is your friend, always act with emotion, it will make your character more believable. Rule 4: it can get overwhelming and that’s ok, just take a step back and breath or go with the flow. And last and final rule, there are no wrong answers. Now let’s start with a warm up game, Wordball! [Commanding] Everyone get in a circle.

[They all got up and gathered around in a circle.]

SIKOWITZ: Alright so.. To play the game, someone has to throw a word.. Like [Pretends to throw his coconut] Dog! And the other person has to catch it, [Pretends to catch coconut] and they have to yell a word that they associate with the previous word [Pretends to throw coconut again] fluffy! And so on and so forth. Warm up starts… Now! [CAT starts the warm up.]

CAT: [Giggling] Puppy! [Throws the word at ROBBIE]

[ROBBIE attempts to catch it but REX steals his turn. ROBBIE looks offended.]

REX: Cute! [Throws the word at TORI] [TORI silently panics as she is caught off guard. SIKOWITZ notices this. He pulls TORI away from the circle and privately talks to her.] SIKOWITZ: TORI, why did you hesitate? TORI: [Panics] I don’t know.. I don’t do well under pressure, it just gets to me. SIKOWITZ: TORI, it’s gonna be alright, there are no wrong answers to improv. There’s nothing to worry about. Just breathe and go with the flow.

TORI: [Slow deep breaths] Ok… Ok.. I’m good now.

[SIKOWITZ and TORI walk back to the circle and the game begins again.]

TORI: Teddy bear! [Throws it at ANDRE] ANDRE: [Smiles] Childhood! [Throws it at JADE] JADE: [Angrily clenches fist] Arguments! [With an open hand she throws it at BECK] BECK: [Angrily yells and bares teeth] Crazy! [Throws it at JADE]

JADE: [Points at BECK and insultingly yells] You! [Throws it at BECK]

BECK: [Walks to JADE furiously and yells] You! [Throws it at JADE] [BECK and JADE broke into a full on argument. SIKOWITZ grabs BECK and JADE and slowly pushes them out of the classroom while they argue.]

SIKOWITZ: [Attempts to brush off the tension] Uh… Students take your seat.

[They began to go back to their seats.]

SIKOWITZ: Now to be a great actor, you must improv a scene. We are going to improv a scene called.. “The Average Sized Mermaid”.

[Everyone in the class groans and whine.] SIKOWITZ: Now now, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. Who is going to be the-

[The lunch bell rings. A wave of relief came over the students as they packed up and left the classroom.]

SCENE 3

[The Asphalt Cafe is located outside, near the student parking. There is a staircase that leads up to a performance platform. The platform has various types of instruments propped up. Below the platform are 16 cafeteria tables scattered about on the ground. To the right is a Mexican food stand ran by a hispanic man in his early 20s. TORI, ROBBIE, ANDRE, and CAT are all seen sitting in the center of the cafeteria. TORI finished with her food but there is a mess where she ate.]

TORI: I’ll clean up this mess. [Gets up]

[TORI walks towards the food stand when she bumps into BECK.]

TORI: [Stunned and stumbles back] Oh.. I’m sorry.

BECK: It’s alright. You’re.. That new kid right? TORI? TORI: Ya, that’s me, good ol’ TORI. [Nervously laughs]

BECK: [Reaches for his hair naturally] Do you want to get snacks with me? [Brushes his hair with his fingers] TORI: [Excited] Ooh.. That sounds fun! Sure I’ll go.

[They walk around the cafeteria area, scouring for food. They walk near JADE’S table. JADE death stares and does the cut throat gesture at the two as they pass by.]

TORI: [Crosses her arms in confusion and irritation] What’s her deal? You both are on your break. BECK: [Exasperated sigh] She acts like a [Raises voice] crazy possessive devil [Lowers voice] even when we’re on our breaks.

JADE: [Yells in the distance offensively, her face is flushed] I CAN HEAR YOU! BECK: [Rolls eyes and raises voice] I don’t care.

[JADE gets up from her seat. TORI, terrified, grabs BECK’S arm and rushes back inside the building.]

SCENE 4

[TORI and BECK enter the empty lobby. To stage right is ROBBIE and REX arguing and blocking the vending machine. ROBBIE is holding up barbeque flavored chips.]

ROBBIE: [Violently throws his arm towards the vending machine] You pressed the wrong buttons on the vending machine! REX: [Crosses his arms and looks away from ROBBIE] No, I pressed the right buttons. ROBBIE: [Gestures at the machine furiously] I asked for sour cream and onions! Not barbeque! [TORI and BECK walk to them.] TORI: [Exhaustly rubs her temples] Guys, what’s wrong?

ROBBIE: [Bites his lower lip and calms down a bit] Well, I asked for sour cream and onions, but REX enter the wrong buttons- REX: [Cuts ROBBIE off] No, I pressed the right buttons. [Insultingly turns his head away from ROBBIE] Who even likes sour cream and onions? ROBBIE: [Exasperatedly throws his puppetless arm up] Me! I like sour cream and onions! REX: [Gags] Sour cream and onions taste like hot trash you leave out in the sun for months.

[ROBBIE and REX continued to argue. TORI, ignoring the two, walks past them to the vending machine and buys sour and cream and onions. TORI throws the chip bag at ROBBIE’S chest. ROBBIE, caught off guard, fails to catch the chip bag. He picks it off the floor.]

ROBBIE: [Holds the chip bag and beams] Thanks! [ROBBIE and REX walk off. REX adlibs an insult to ROBBIE. BECK and TORI both got a snack from the vending machine and sat down next to it, eating their chips.]

TORI: [Inquisitively holds a chip in her hand] Why are you still dating such a gank like JADE?

BECK: [Pops a chip in his mouth and groans weary] She’s not always like this, you know. Some days, [Face softens up wistfully] she can be really fun and cute, but [Face hardens up and becomes emotionless] on days like this, she gets really argumentative and envious. [TORI nods and pops the chip in her mouth.]

BECK: [Chuckles in amusement] Though, it’s a fun game JADE and I play. Making her jealous and possessive like that makes her look pretty cute. TORI: [Apprehension] That’s.. really messed up. Messing with your girlfriend to get her all riled up like that doesn’t sound healthy at all. It won’t help both of you either if you continue to encourage her jealousy. BECK: [Slowly his face turns from amusement to disturbed realization] You.. You actually might have a point. TORI: [Pops the last chip in her mouth] You should talk to her about this.. [Crumbles up bag]

BECK: I’ll try, but I’m not sure how much help it’ll come out of it.

[BECK pops the last chip in his mouth and gets up. BECK offers a hand to TORI and she accepts it. BECK pulled her up. The two threw their chip bags away in a nearby trash can.]

BECK: You want to walk to class with me? TORI: [Beams] Sure! [The lunch bell rings again and crowds of students begin to rush into the building. TORI and BECK walk to their improv class together.]

SCENE 5

[BECK opens the door to the classroom. There were already students in the classroom that are taking their seats. TORI trails behind him as he enters the room. JADE stomps furiously up to TORI. JADE was holding an open can of soda.] JADE: [Furiously stabs her finger into TORI’S chest and yells] WHY ARE YOU WITH MY BOYFRIEND?

BECK: [Blocks JADE off from TORI with his arm, annoyed] I have the right to hangout with whoever I want even if we’re on break or not.

JADE: [Looks at BECK and squints her eyes] I’m not talking to you! [Looks at TORI as she shoves down BECK’S arm] You don’t even deserve to go to Hollywood Arts anyways, you talentless tramp! [JADE dumps the remaining soda on top of TORI’S head. TORI stood there for a bit, shocked, then she walked out of the classroom with tears streaming down her face. BECK looks at JADE with fury in his eyes. BECK attempts to walk out of the classroom but JADE grabs his arm. JADE quickly matches his mood.] JADE: [Lividly shoves her index finger to BECK’S chest] You’re cheating on me with that incompetent tramp! [BECK attempts to get through JADE but she blocks his way.] BECK: [Aggravatedly clenched fists] I am allowed to be friends with people I want to be friends with, even if it’s other girls! [ANDRE sighs and massages his temples. He passes through the both of them. ANDRE walks out of the classroom.] BECK: [Notices that ANDRE left and takes a deep breath. He mutters weakly] You know.. It’s really messed up to make a girl cry like that. [JADE attempts to defend herself but BECK pushes her aside and exits the classroom.]

SCENE 6

[BECK enters the hallway. TORI is crying besides ANDRE who is stroking her back and comforting her. BECK closes the door.]

BECK: [Scratches the back of his head] I’m really sorry for JADE.. You didn’t deserve that at all.. [BECK sits down next to TORI. TORI grabs her phone out.] ANDRE: [Curiously tilts head] What are you doing?

TORI: [Sniffles, distraught] Texting my mom to unenroll me from Hollywood Arts. [ANDRE gets up and yoinks the phone from TORI. ANDRE passes the phone to BECK and BECK holds it high in the air, away from TORI’S reach. TORI tries to jump to get her phone but fails. TORI ends up lying on the floor, face down. The boys stop playing around and sit down next to TORI. BECK attempts to comfort TORI by patting her head.] BECK: [Reassures and softly speaks] You can’t leave Hollywood Arts despite what JADE said earlier.

TORI: [Lifts her head up and weakly speaks] ..Why not? She’s right..

ANDRE: [Matter of factly] No she’s not, TORI. It takes so much talent to even perform like that in your audition, even more impressive was that it was all improvised! You got to give yourself more credit, that performance was amazing.

BECK: Ya, [Pats TORI’S head gently] you deserve to go to this school like the rest of them, maybe even more.

TORI: But, I’m not as unique as the people here.. Have you seen yourselves? I’m so plain compared to ya’ll.

BECK: [Strokes TORI’S back] You don’t have to be unique to be talented.

[TORI gets up and wipes off her tears with her sleeve.] TORI: Thank you.. You guys made me feel so much better. [Open arms wide] Hug?

[They hug each other.]

SCENE 7

[The three entered the classroom while SIKOWITZ was in the middle of a lesson. TORI was drying her hair with a towel as she sat down in her seat. BECK and ANDRE take their seats as well. SIKOWITZ looks at TORI, confused but curious.] SIKOWITZ: What happened to you? Did you get sprayed by the mole rat at the end of the hallway?

TORI: [Tilts head in confusion] No..? [JADE is seen giving a death stare at TORI. TORI looked back at JADE with a smug victorious grin. SIKOWITZ claps his hands and continues with the class.] SIKOWITZ: Alright, so I have a new improv exercise for you youngins called “Ludicrously Lime”. You all have to get on this stage and act like the fruit you are assigned. [Students groan as he gets out a hat and shakes it. There are multiple stripes of paper in the hat. He passes the hat around. Students pick through the hat and unfold the paper, groaning even more when they find out what fruit they are. ANDRE turns around, looking at the clock.] ANDRE: [Points at the clock and whispers] Guys, there’s only 5 minutes left of class. [Points to SIKOWITZ who is too distracted at getting the costumes out of the box.] We can leave.. [The students nod. They slowly leave one by one until SIKOWITZ, in an avocado costume, is left in the room. SIKOWITZ turns around with excitement in his face, but his face drops as the bell rings.]

EPISODE END

#victorious #tori vega #trina vega #andre harris #mr sikowitz #sikowitz #beck oliver #jade west #cat valentine #robbie shapiro #rex #artists on tumblr #abuse /#argument /#catcalling /#panic attack /#bullying /#toxic relationship /

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habibialkaysani · 5 years ago

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The Devil in Star City (Laurel/Nyssa; T) - Part IV

Ships: Laurel/Joanna, Laurel/Tommy

Summary: “My name is Laurel Lance. When I was eight years old I was in a car accident that left me without sight. But in the process, my other senses were heightened.

By day, I am a defence attorney, ready to fight for justice in the courtroom on behalf of those who the law has failed. By night, I am someone else. I am something else.

I am Daredevil.”

Part I

Part II

Part III

A/N: I'm moving back and forth in the timeline a fair amount, but hopefully it's clear when this is set if you've watched the first episode of Daredevil. Essentially Laurel and Joanna are newly qualified as lawyers and their new client turns out to be someone Laurel knows.

Thanks to @amidalas-shadow for helping me when I was stuck.

Read at AO3

“So remind me how you got this case again?” Laurel asked Joanna as they were led through the police precinct to Interrogation Room 2.

Thankfully - for Joanna, that is - she didn't have time to answer. They had reached the room and already the cop on duty was opening the door for them - but only an inch, just enough for Jo to get a glimpse inside.

“I'm in the middle of an interrogation, counsellor.”

“I can see that.” Laurel knew now that Jo was craning her neck to take a better look at the person inside. “You wanna tell me why you think the cuffs are necessary for a man with no priors, Detective Boland?”

“Mr Merlyn was found red-handed at the scene of a murder,” the detective replied. “And I don't mean that metaphorically. So yeah. They're necessary.”

Laurel groaned inwardly - what had Jo gotten them into? Nevertheless, she was a lawyer, she reminded herself, as of twelve hours ago. She had a job to do.

“Did he resist arrest?” Laurel asked.

“Why is that relevant?” Detective Boland shot back.

“Just curious.”

“No, he did not.”

Laurel folded her arms. “Then can you at least allow our client the dignity of being uncuffed while you give us the room?”

“She just rolled her eyes, for the record, Laurel,” Jo said.

“Fine.”

There was a click as the handcuffs on their client were taken off him, and then the detective held the door open for Laurel and her partner.

“Thanks,” Laurel said, but Tina didn’t reply, just huffed a sigh and left the room, shutting the door behind her with a little more dour force than required.

“Dinah? Is that you?”

Shit.

She recognised that voice. Hell, she could have recognised it when he murmured “thank you” to Boland after she took his cuffs off, but Laurel hadn't been paying attention at that point. And to do what she did, Laurel had to pay attention.

Now, though, while she didn't need to feign her surprise, she did need to pretend not to be too annoyed that it was him.

“Oh my God. Uh. Tommy, right? Hi. It's been a while.”

“Wait, you know this guy?” Jo demanded, and Laurel had to mask a slight smile because it almost sounded like Jo was jealous.

“Not exactly.”

“What exactly does ‘not exactly’ mean? And I thought you didn't like being called Dinah?”

“I never said I didn't like it. And it's just what I go by during AA meetings.”

“Oh.”

Laurel could tell Jo felt bad, then, and she was about to say something to her partner, only for Tommy to finally get a word in edgeways. “Who are you?”

“I'm Joanna de la Vega, and this is my associate, Dinah Laurel Lance.”

“We've met,” Laurel said unnecessarily. “And I prefer Laurel. We're your lawyers.”

“I can't afford a lawyer,” Tommy said.

Jo barely skipped a beat. “See, Mr Merlyn -”

“Tommy. Please.”

“Tommy - that would have been a dealbreaker for me, but I have a feeling my partner’s not gonna give up that easily when she’s trying to save the world.”

At this Laurel couldn’t think up a witty remark in time, and Tommy asked, “How did you even find me?”

Laurel straightened a little and nudged Jo with her elbow. “That's an excellent question, Mr Merlyn, one that I'll let my partner answer.”

Jo shook her head and sighed. “Okay, fine - I may or may not have asked the desk sergeant to tip me off if anything interesting turned up.”

“And me being suspected of murder counts as interesting?”

Now Laurel resisted the urge to laugh, because only Jo would do that. “You gave Mckenna’s mother cigars again, didn’t you?”

“It’s a free country, and we need our first client, so unless you have any better ideas, hun -”

“Jo, sweetie, can I have a word with you privately, please?”

“Sure. Give us a second, Tommy.”

Laurel got to her feet and went to the corner of the room with Jo at her heels. “What the hell is this?” Laurel demanded. “I thought the whole reason we left Landman and Zach was because we wanted to do something better.”

“And you know I love you dearly for your idealism, but we can’t live off it. Besides, what happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’? What happened to the idea that everyone deserves representation?”

“But he’s a criminal.”

“How can you know that for sure?”

Laurel couldn’t say anything now, about how she could hear Tommy’s heartbeat going as fast as a jackhammer and she knew he was hiding something, or that she just had a bad feeling about all of this - not when she knew Jo wouldn’t believe a word she said. And even if she did, Jo was right. They needed a first case. One way or another.

“I don't,” Laurel said finally.

“Exactly. Give the poor guy a chance. At least hear him out.”

Huffing a sigh, Laurel knew already that she was going to give in. “Okay.”

Brightening, Jo put her hands on Laurel’s shoulders. “All right! Now, you’re gonna listen to your best friend, and you’re gonna waltz on over and tell Tommy how honoured you are to represent him.”

“Why can't you do it?”

“You have an in with him.”

“It was one meeting, over a year ago, and it kind of defeats the purpose of the whole anonymity thing -”

“And I don’t want to ask you when I know it’s a sore subject -”

“It’s not,” Laurel cut across her.

“Fine. A sensitive one, then. But you have something in common. So use it.”

Laurel groaned. “Why do you hate me?” But still, she straightened up, made her way over to - God help her - their client and said reluctantly, “Tommy, we would be honoured to represent you. How would you like to be our first client?”

“Maybe you shouldn't have led with that,” Joanna said from beside her as she pulled out her chair and sat down.

“Wait, so you've never done this before?” Tommy said. “I thought you said you were -”

“We are fully qualified for the job, I assure you,” Laurel cut across him. “We’re also smart and quick learners. Why don't you tell us what happened, Tommy?”

“I already told that cop, I didn't do it.”

Laurel was surprised. His heartbeat had slowed, enough to make her doubt herself.

“I believe you,” she said before she could think about it, and she knew Joanna was glaring at her now. “We believe you. Don’t we, Jo?”

A sigh, then, through gritted teeth, “Yeah, we do,” from Joanna.

“And we're gonna help you with this,” Laurel said. “I give you my word. But you'll have to start from the beginning, please.”

“I don't know what happened, okay? I - I was meeting Max after work last night. I'd offered to buy him a drink.”

“You're referring to the murder victim, Max Fuller?”

“God, I still can’t believe he’s -” Tommy halted, and Laurel knew that his eyes had tears in them - just another way that he surprised her.

“You cared for him,” Laurel said slowly.

“He was a nice guy,” Tommy said.

“How did you know him?”

“Work. I’m the finance administrator for Union Allied Construction. Max is - was - in the HR department.”

“And why did you meet him?”

Silence. Tommy shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.

Then Jo said, “We can’t help you unless you’re honest with us. You know that, right?”

“We were just friends going for a beer after work.”

“I take it that means you’ve fallen off the wagon, then?” Laurel blurted before she could stop herself.

She regretted it almost instantly, but by then the damage had been done as Tommy scoffed bitterly.

“Probably more accurate to say I was never on it to begin with. Let's just say the programme didn’t really work out for me.”

Silence fell - the dense, deeply uncomfortable kind that Laurel felt she could have cut in half with a knife.

“So what happened?” Jo cut in, to Laurel's relief. “With Max?”

“I don't remember,” Tommy said, his heartbeat steady. “One minute we were talking and the next - everything was spinning and I blacked out.”

“And it wasn't because of the booze.”

It hadn't been a question, but Tommy answered it anyway. “No. I'm long past the point where two beers can do anything for me.”

“What were you talking about?”

“Why does it even matter?”

“A man is dead, Tommy. Surely that's reason enough for everything to matter?” Laurel was guilt-tripping him now, she knew that, but she also knew that there was no way this was the whole story.

There was a sniffle and then Laurel was the one feeling guilty. “You don't need to tell me that.” Then he paused, before saying, “Okay. We were out for a drink because I haven't been at this place long and honestly it's hard to meet people in the city. Especially when you're always working. It gets lonely. So we talked, not a whole lot, about work, about family. He has - had - a wife. Two kids. He was saying how the little one was keeping him up at night. And then the next thing I knew, I was in my apartment, covered in blood. His blood.” Tommy was crying now - Laurel could hear it in his voice and practically taste the salt of tears in the air as he gulped and said, “I didn’t do this. Please. You’ve gotta believe me. I’m not a murderer. And I don't know why you're both here - especially you, Dinah. I mean - Laurel.”

“It’s okay,” Laurel reassured him. “I’m fine with either name. Listen… Jo, can you go get Tommy some coffee?”

“Sure,” Jo said, getting to her feet and leaving the room. Laurel waited for the door to click shut before she took a deep breath.

“How’d you know I needed coffee?” Tommy said.

“You’re restless. Hands shaking. Feet tapping. I can hear it.”

“You must have good ears, then.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Laurel muttered under her breath. “I also think you need to clear your head a bit. Hell, sober up.”

“I'm not drunk. I already told you."

“But you are an alcoholic.” Laurel hesitated now. “Tommy, have you ever been - really wasted? I mean… to the point that you remembered nothing, absolutely nothing, because you just completely blacked out?”

“More than once,” Tommy said, far more readily than Laurel expected.

“Yeah. So have I. And I remember… waking up and feeling so awful, but also filled with horror because I didn't know what I had done during those missing twelve hours. And then - then I felt relief, because I realised I was in best friend's apartment and she had driven me home with me passed out in her backseat the moment she found me in my favourite dive bar in the city. And I realised that even though I felt like shit, I also had someone who could account for my every action even if I couldn't.” Laurel waited, but perhaps it just hadn't clicked for Tommy yet. “I had an alibi. Right now, you don't."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that you're going to be staying in jail overnight because right now things don't look too good for you, Tommy." Her client's sharp intake of breath was audible even to a normal person's ears, so she quickly added, "And I'm saying that if there is anything you're not telling us, anything at all, now is the time to tell me."

At that moment Joanna walked back in and shut the door behind her with a click, bearing a cardboard cup of coffee. The chair scraped on the floor as Jo sat back down and handed the coffee to him, and Laurel knew - or, rather, she hoped - that this time their first client would be more forthcoming with his new lawyers.

More than that, though, Laurel hoped that she could make good on the promise she had made Tommy Merlyn, one she was now doubting she could keep.

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kahayaya · 4 years ago

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04/26/2021

It’s night time bout to head to sleep. Just some updates in life.

Booked a flight to fly to SF on May 14th. Im really excited. I wanted to go back so I can see everyone as I graduate and also celebrate my birthday. I plan on piercing my left ear with double helix. That will be exciting and fun. Honestly idk what I wanna do exactly when Im up there. Aside from set plans from Daniel them, I think I wanna roam around SF. Even though its been 5 months since I left, I have a nostalgic feeling to last year. Just the independence and also struggles of CO-VID. Every place will feel sentimental with associations to that timeline. For sure gonna go to Alamo Square, go to Hayes Valley, and go to Ocean Point. I wanna hop around houses with Jim, Daniel, and Darren’s place, I just need to ask them if I can stay there for one night. But Daniel’s place will be the main place I’ll stay at.

Crazy to look at my calendar and I’ll be graduating very soon. Less than a month and I’ll be done with school. School work has been lax and I don’t have a final. I mostly have projects and they all seem easy to work on.

Unity Final is a project with things we’ve done.

Deploying Software is taking what we learned from this semester and applying it all together with one project.

Filipino Politics/Justice had been reduced from a 12+ pg paper to a 3-5 page paper.

Senior Team Project is just a demonstration of our final product for the semester.

All of those finals are relatively easy and not too hard unlike last semester. Thinking about last semester, I really had a tough time. I hard two of the hardest classes for taking CS and I also had to plan and do my move out. It was the most stressful and I felt dreadful during the last month of that semester. I recall a moment where I completed one of my finals and I felt a weight off my chest lift. As I completed more projects and finals, that weighed felt lifted. It was probably one of my most difficult semester here at USF but a worth while semester. Which made this semester I am in very easy and lax.

As for living here in Vegas, its been chill. Everything is settled on my end and my parents are picking up the smaller things they need to do. Like finding health providers here, organizing our stuff in the garage, and getting the cars that are coming from hawaii. Just today, my mom and I got our driver’s license and registered the Honda Civic, which is a relief cuz that was one of the things I needed to do soon. But on a weekly basis, I’ve been doing nothing much new. I either help my parents run errands or I just sit in the house. Occasionally I would go out for food to try out places. Also going to the gym is another thing I do. I’ve been going 3-4 times a week with or without my friend. My body was sore at first but getting back in the groove really started to not be as bad. I also think since I just moved here, I was trying out soo much food places that I gained some weight, honestly back to where I started before my Keto diet last semester. I weigh about 215 ibs rn, but I think some of that has been the muscle gain from gym’ing. I plan on cutting it down on food and pay attention to what I put in my body now.

Aside from that, I feel excited to what holds in my post-college life. Again like i mentioned before, it will be weird for me because my entire life so far has been centered around schooling and that was my drive in life. Was to go to school and just do well in them. Now with that out of the way, my life will be so open to do whatever I want. Short-term plans I have is getting a part-time job and doing a side-project that will add to my portfolio, while also studying for my interviews. Then when I feel ready, which i plan to be by the Fall of this year, I will start applying around SF as well as job opportunities in Vegas. I think I am looking for Web Based applications or mobile app development jobs, as I enjoyed making them in my senior team project. I defs see the Web Application as a sustainable job market but I will be open to different options that relate to CS. in the far future however, Im not too sure what exactly I want to do. Thinking about being in a relationship but at the same time I’m not inclined to find someone to date. I feel like my goals are not centered to find someone here and Im focusing on myself to make something financially stable to be on my own. I think my role in relationships as of right now is passive, where I would be open but I won’t actively be on the lookout for one.

Life right now feels good but weird. Ever since moving to this house, I’m still in awe and the feeling just doesn’t sit right with me. This house feels like it doesn’t belong to me in a sense that it feels like I’m at someone else's house. I think I’m thinking like this because I’ve never been in a house this big and my family never had the thought of buying a bigger house or even moving out of Hawaii. So I’m still trying to work out this feeling of living in this house and actually calling it home. I definitely like living here in this house and the area I’m in but im still adjusting to the new environment I live in.

As the week slowly approach my graduation I know I will slowly start to feel anxious because that’s how I’ve always operated. I see in to the future of what I think will happen but I will be up at nights when that date comes in closely. It will be a crazy month of May, as so much things are going to happen and I can’t wait any longer to dive into May. Anyways I’ll be updating whenever I am free to write stuff down and if anything significant happens.

Cheers

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my-drowning-in-time · 7 years ago

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holy chips & guac long post

I was tagged by the wonderful @stardustheartbeats to share 10 facts about myself (oh jeez, here we go *finger guns into the shadows*)

I’ve got a pretty moderate-ish (???) fear of heights. I think it might be situational though, like it’s a big NOPE to put me on a 10′ ladder or in one of those gondolas coming down a mountain side (I was a mere seconds away from passing out, no joke) but I’m 100% A-ok with flying. But I’m working on it bc fear is useless and temporary.

The top grad schools I’m looking at for an MFA in Sculpture are: Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I’m aiming for Fall 2019 but we’ll see where life takes me.

My sophomore year of college I got a really serious sinus infection that I lost my sense of taste for a month. The health center at school recommended that I go to an ENT but I was like mmm no thanks, I don’t have time for that, I have class. My friends were curious/thought I was bullshitting them so we played ‘Masterchef’ in the dining hall--it was basically them throwing together literally EVERYTHING in a bowl for me to eat. The texture of it was horrendous (but I’ve always had a thing about texture) but it tasted like nothing. The no-taste thing got real old real fast. Meals became a chore, like I know I have to eat bc this body fuckin needs sustenance to function properly but I could be eating sand rn and not know the difference. But lord almighty, when my sense of taste slowly started coming back I remember crying at the dinner table bc I could finally taste the spices in my grilled chicken. So don’t take that shit for granted bc it can mess with your head.

BatE and I have a shared note in our group chat of a list of places & events we want to go to. A few of them are: SDCC, Bali, ghost tours in Gettysburg, Mendenhall Glacier Caves in Alaska, a Chris Angel show in Vegas, and Portland are just a few. We’ve already been on a few trips together: OTH convention in Chicago, Boston for spring break, and 3/5 of us went to Ireland, England, and Wales in 2015.

I love going to book sales even though I have absolutely NO MORE ROOM FOR BOOKS. But that doesn’t stop me. Seriously tho, it’s turning into a problem. But like most of my problems, I’m just gonna shove that shit in a box, throw it on a shelf, and deal with it at a later date.

I’m allergic to kiwi and peppermint oil. My sophomore year roommate once surprised me with a coffee run while I was studying for midterms. She must’ve spaced that I’m allergic to peppermint so as she’s telling me about her day etc. I’ve already drunk half the damn thing when my mouth and throat starts to feel funny. So I casually interrupt her like ‘Is there peppermint in this??’ and she was like ‘...well yeah! It’s their new holiday special. It’s a pepperm-OH SHIT’. I then spent the next 45mins puking my brains out while she rubbed my back and cried how she’s sorry. I thought it fuckin hilarious then and I still do. Sometimes I still like to tease her about that one time she tried to kill me & she’s a good sport about it so it’s gucci (note-both food allergies aren’t to the extent of using an epi pen but they’re still pretty shitty).

I changed my major 3 times in college: American Sign Language English Interpreting to Psychology to Art and Design. I don’t regret a single moment of it because I’ve learned a lot about myself through that journey as well as made some of the most incredible and supportive friends.

I’ve got a list of names on my phone for future doggos and children. Pretty sure it’s just gonna end up being for dogs but most of them sound better as human names in my head but it’s whatevs, I’ll name my dogs whatever tf I want. And who knows? Maybe I’ll end up an old spinster with only my books as company (and tbhonest that sounds like a pretty sweet deal).

I’ve always been a summer camp kid for as long as I can remember. I’ve been to YMCA day camps, Tiffany Roberts soccer camp, environmental camps, camps through the Boys and Girls Club, and religious sleep away camp. I’ve heard people say that summer camps are “lazy parenting” which I think is a crock of shit. My mum never forced me to go to camp bc she needed “easy childcare”. She worked hard so I could expand my knowledge and grow in new environments. Going to camp helped shape me into the person I am today and who wouldn’t want to give back and make a difference in a child’s life? I’ve worked as a junior counselor/counselor in training, camp counselor, female bunk staff/ceramics instructor and this summer I’ll be the associate director of the visual arts program at my fav camp in NH.

Fall semester during my sophomore year, my biological sister found me through Facebook. She and our brother wanted to surprise our mom for her birthday so we set up a phone call. It was surreal. Even though my adoption was never a secret, it’s still mind boggling to think that they found me through social media. Emotions were everywhere. I was crying, my mom was crying, the roommates were crying, and hell even our RA was crying. It wasn’t my birthday but I had secretly wished on birthday candles for that moment for a very long time. I can’t even begin to imagine how emotional it would be when we reunite in person. We’re still working up to that point but we continue to keep in contact. Just writing this, I’m getting choked up and overwhelmed with emotion.

okay so obvs 10 facts turned out to be 10 dissertations about my life but it’s fine, my dudes. If you don’t overshare on the internet to people you most likely haven’t met in person every once in a while, are you even doing it right? Also I just realized how sophomore yr was a wild time: found the birth fam, peppermint fun, sinus infection from hell, switched my major(s), got hired as an RA for the upcoming year, oH AND I CAME OUT. So definite s/o to 13′-14′ for being a good and transformative year to me even if I didn’t know it yet. Aaaanyways, thanks for coming to my TEDtalk

I’ll tag: @spookybreen, @sutherlins, @danicalicalifornia, @onlinedragon

#shut up kmorgs #honestly wtf the fuck #srsly what it this??#there's so much going on here #bless #about me #personal #soz i don't ever shut up #¯\_(ツ)_/¯#thanks for the tag caroline!!#tagged

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

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11 Useful Items to Keep Hidden Away in Your Freezer

Frozen mixed berries | CLICKMANIS/Shutterstock

From cooking fat to freezer cake, these are the items that make cooking easier for Eater editors

For active home cooks or even those who generally dread the task, the freezer deserves credit for helping get dinner (or dessert) on the table. It’s a place that offers a wealth of shortcut meals and snacks, from exceptional frozen dumplings to nostalgic treats like tater tots. Frozen ingredients like chicken stock or marinara sauce can get a home cook most of the way to a finished meal. As long as people know the best way to store and defrost their freezer items, whether they’re cuts of meat or bagels, a freezer is undeniably an indispensable tool, during a pandemic and otherwise.

Here’s a roundup of the useful items Eater editors are most likely to keep hidden away in their freezers.

Cooking fat: Meat isn’t an everyday item in our house, so when we do cook with it, my partner and I like to save every last bit. That means saving the fat. Grease is one of those pesky residuals of cooking that’s harder to dispose of. It really shouldn’t go directly down the drain. Some people wait for it to cool in a container and then pour it in the garbage. However, I recommend saving that flavor. When you cook chicken, duck, bacon, or anything else particularly precious and tasty, save the drippings in a glass container and stick it in the freezer. Then use it in place of butter or oil in your cooking to impart more flavor. Duck fat is particularly tasty for cooking fried eggs at breakfast time. —Brenna Houck, Eater Detroit editor

Ice cube tray and ice cubes: The most important items in my freezer are my two ice cube trays and the ice they hold. Since shelter-in-place has coincided with my pregnancy, I’m drinking a lot of non-alcoholic beverages, each of which is greatly improved by being even colder. I make cheater iced almond milk lattes by stirring drip coffee with ice and then adding more ice and almond milk. I cool down cups of herbal tea I discover I’ve left on the counter and enjoy iced tea. I drink so much more tap water when I remember to put ice cubes in it. The trick: Refill your tray with water every time you take cubes from it. Just make it part of your routine and it’s never empty. —Hillary Dixler Canavan, restaurant editor

Frozen fruit: My biggest freezer staple is frozen fruit, mostly because I love a good smoothie. Great for breakfast or anytime you feel like you need a Vitamin C boost, the secret to a thick, filling smoothie is to use a fresh banana and frozen fruit without adding ice. I just buy the bags frozen from my local grocery store (even tropical fruits like pitaya are now pretty easy to find), but this is also a great way to store those final few strawberries before they go bad. Other uses of fruit in your freezer: cocktail ingredients, drink garnishes, a snack (especially frozen mango). —Erin Russell, Eater Austin associate editor

Dino nuggets: Why eat boring chicken nuggets when you can eat chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs? It may be childish, but I will never stop getting a kick out of dino nuggets. It’s an easy lunch on a hectic day; just toss them in the toaster oven. Flip once. I guess you could make a side salad if you’re feeling fancy. But the only required side, as far as I’m concerned, is a dipping sauce — ideally barbecue sauce from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que because (a) it’s good and (b) obviously dino nuggets go best with Dino sauce. —Rachel Leah Blumenthal, Eater Boston editor

Homemade gumbo: Gumbo is one of my favorite meals to make at home, but let’s be real; it’s a project, a cooking task that’s going to clock in at a couple hours before it’s done. Luckily, since there are only two of us at home, making gumbo always means gumbo leftovers, and I don’t think there’s a more satisfying freezer meal for me than a bowl of gumbo that I simply pulled out of the freezer (stored in a quart container) to defrost the night before in the fridge, and reheated for dinner that evening. Gumbo doesn’t really deteriorate significantly in the freezer; all you have to do is throw some rice in the rice cooker, and you have an easy weeknight dinner that totally makes up for all the effort you initially put into making a roux, simmering your ingredients, and just having patience for the gumbo to finish the first time around. —Missy Frederick, cities director

Frozen dinners from mom: Being far away from my family is hard, especially now that I don’t really know when I can safely go back home to New York. Thankfully, I usually have deep-frozen containers of my mother’s home-cooking in my freezer, from my last visit home. Whenever I fly home, my mother usually asks me what foods I want to bring back (my favorites: shrimp and potol, a Bengali pointed gourd; chicken with squash), along with biryani. My mom batch-cooks everything and my dad portions out the food into 16-ounce deli containers, labels each one, and carefully packs everything into a disposable cooler with ice packs, ready to be placed in my overstuffed suitcase. This way, I can hold onto tastes of home even though it’s 1,700+ miles away. —Nadia Chaudhury, Eater Austin editor

Banana ice cream: Forget cookies and cream or chocolate chip cookie dough. Banana is the best ice cream flavor, and I make sure to keep a half-gallon in my freezer at all times. Living in Newark, I’m lucky to be within walking distance of the scoop shop that makes it best: Nasto’s. I have three scoops after dinner every night, always with a drizzle of chocolate syrup, and it’s pure bliss. I understand that ice cream isn’t the most exciting thing in a freezer compared to frozen dumplings or mochi, but the flavor takes me back to sitting on my late grandmother’s balcony in Ankara, where we would split a bowl of fruit — mostly bananas — together. —Esra Erol, senior social media manager

Freezer cake: I don’t remember what life was like before I discovered Freezer Cake. I don’t care to look back on that era. There’s something special about knowing a slice of banana upside-down cake or a thick slab of banana bread is waiting there, whispering my name gently from the back corner of the freezer. In these not-very-sweet times, being able to eat a slice of cake without ever cracking an egg or dirtying a bowl feels like a victory. All you need to do is let whatever cake you’ve so wisely frozen defrost slowly on the counter. Because sometimes turning on the oven is just too much work. —Elazar Sontag, staff writer

Stock: The one thing I always try to have in my freezer is stock. Usually it’s chicken stock, either made from the carcass of a roast chicken or from a big pile of chicken wings I dumped in my Instant Pot, because so many recipes call for it, whether a little bit to help finish a sauce or several cups to make a soup or stew. Homemade stock tastes noticeably better, and since it’s easy to keep in the freezer, making up a big batch doesn’t risk any going to waste. To freeze stock, I measure it out into plastic baggies in rough one or two cup amounts, using a ladle with a half-cup measure on it, and then lie them flat in the freezer one on top of the other, so when they harden, they’re easy to stack. When I need to defrost, I zap a frozen bag for 30 seconds or a minute in the microwave and break off roughly as much as I need, or drop the whole cup or two into the pot. I have endured the shame of throwing out all sorts of things from my freezer, but I have never, ever wasted stock. —Meghan McCarron, special correspondent

Homemade pesto: My frozen secret weapon is an ice cube tray full of homemade pesto. Pesto sauce, to me, is a special thing. Basil is a precious, flavorful commodity that seems expensive if you don’t have a farmers market nearby, and it doesn’t stay for very long either. Pine nuts are also quite pricey, so when I do make a big batch from scratch, I make sure to make it last. Pesto is so flavorful that you don’t need to use a lot for any single dish. That’s where the ice cube tray comes in. Filling a tray with pesto and freezing it into cubes is a trick I learned long ago when Pinterest was new on the scene and basically church for those interested in recipe ideas and hacks. Popping out one or two cubes of pesto as needed is a great way to make use of the sauce you may have made months ago when basil was in season, without having to defrost an entire Tupperware. It’s such an easy and fast way to add flavor to a quick pasta dish, some beans, a sandwich of any kind, and even to make into a vinaigrette for a salad on the fly. —Terri Ciccone, audience development manager

Salted caramel ice cream: If it’s freezer junk food you seek, I present Lotus Biscoff Salted Caramel Ice Cream, something I started hoarding during the pandemic. I swear it’s the softest ice cream I’ve ever found. The instructions even recommend leaving it out for five minutes to soften before you dig in. There is a straight Biscoff cookie version, but I like the salted caramel mixed in. I buy it at Target, and do a search before I venture out to make sure it’s in stock. —Susan Stapleton, Eater Vegas editor

Honorable mentions: Fresh herbs frozen in ice cube trays, bags of pre-peeled garlic, brownies, Eggo waffles, tortellini, peas, pierogis, homemade marinara sauce, cooked beans, rice cakes for stir fries, cookie dough.

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Frozen mixed berries | CLICKMANIS/Shutterstock

From cooking fat to freezer cake, these are the items that make cooking easier for Eater editors

Here’s a roundup of the useful items Eater editors are most likely to keep hidden away in their freezers.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3dAswSL via Blogger https://ift.tt/3dBvQNn

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