#Instead this woman goes “we’ll see him in 6-9 months but��� not even sure if he’ll be here by then sooo”

[stuckinapril]

One day I’ll go through med school and then I’ll go through residency and then I’ll go through a fellowship and then I’ll be the most crybaby neurosurgeon you could think of. Bursting into tears if I so much as graze ur hypothalamus with my forceps

[oreoambitions]

Part 10 of ???

Parts 1-3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 5.5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9 // Ao3 "There are only three things in this world that make money on any reasonable scale: sex, drugs, and violence. And you've gone and written violence out of the Luthor Corp equation." Lena purses her lips. Only Lilian could make L-Corp's turn away from military and weapons tech sound like the financial misstep of a fresh business graduate, and only Lena could somehow feel chastised in spite of all that she's accomplished. "L-Corp," she corrects, but Lilian either doesn't realize she's called the company by its old moniker or she doesn't care. In either case she brushes past Lena's words without acknowledgement. "The medical advancements you've made in the last few months are promising, but the simple fact of the matter is that saving lives won't save our bottom line. If you want to be National City's guardian angel, you're going to have to figure out how to pay for it. I don't think you have the stomach for drugs and it could be a risky gambit under Supergirl's nose. So it's sex.”

Lena swirls the bourbon in her glass absently, her eyes on anything but Lilian. "Somehow I don't think I'm stripper material," she comments, "but I'm sure I could find an online class, if you've really got your heart set on the idea." Of course that isn't want Lilian is talking about, but the dry quip falls from her lips almost without her say so. "Please," Lilian scoffs. "You're supposed to be a married woman now; you'll have to grow out of riding on the coat tails of your own sex appeal. I have something better in mind." Lena's hand stills. "Yes," she says, "Because all married women are demure and modest and never capitalize on their bodies for political or financial gain. I grew up in your house; I know how L-Corp's alliances were forged." Lilian's mouth forms a stiff line as she turns away to stand at the window, her own bourbon forgotten on Lena's desk. "It's different for you," she says. "The public breathing down your neck at every minute trying to catch you in a lie. I could almost pity you if you hadn't been the one to drag the Luthor name through the mud in the first place." "That was Lex," Lena mutters. She takes a quick swallow of the bourbon and prays the warmth of it will wash away her temper. "We were a respectable family. That comes with certain freedoms. And now this media stunt with Supergirl of all people-" Lena throws back the rest of her glass. "Not a media stunt, mother, but don't expect her for Christmas dinner; she's allergic to backstabbing and manipulation." "Then it's no wonder she's never seen with you."Lena puts her glass down with a distinct snap. She'd like another pour but too much bourbon is dangerous around Lilian and she's feeling that danger particularly acutely tonight. There can be a third glass, maybe even a fourth, when Lena is safe at home in her apartment. "Supergirl is away handling an urgent family matter," Lena says. It's a rehearsed explanation and she's sure Lilian sees right through it, but she depends on the easy oft repeated words to cover up the fact that her mother has struck too close to home. It's true that Kara hasn't been seen with her. It's true that Kara hasn't been seen anywhere for a month and a half. And it's true that it's Lena's fault. "And I suppose your upcoming court date doesn't qualify as an 'urgent family matter' in her eyes," Lilian sneers. She steps away from the window at last to retrieve her drink. "If you really did marry her, she's shaping up to be quite the negligent wife." Lena reaches for her wedding bracelet instead of the bourbon, rubs her thumb over it back and forth for a long moment feeling the weight of Kara's absence like a vice around her chest. Clark's words echo softly in the back of her mind. She loves you, you know. And of course she does. They're best friends, after all. This day and all days to follow. Isn't that what they swore to one another? So Kara will be there when it matters most, and Lena will be patient and steadfast while Kara is away. "She'll be here when I need her," Lena says aloud, as much to reassure herself as to put Lilian off. "But you didn't come here to lecture me about my marriage." "No," Lilian agrees, her eyebrows raised. "I came here to lecture you about sex. Specifically about William Dey." The name is familiar. Lena can't place it but she's heard it somewhere before in that vague way that she's heard the names of celebrities and political figures thrown about in conversation such that everyone is expected to already know them and so no context is ever provided. Lilian, blessedly, does not wait for an answer. "He'll be accompanying you to the gala, since your so-called spouse remains unavailable. I'll need-" "Supergirl will be there," Lena says, the words more forceful than they might have been if she were actually sure. "She'll want the press to see us together." "For your sake I wish that were true. I'll need access to your schedule so that we can arrange a get-together in advance, let the two of you find your rhythm. We'll want to coordinate your outfits, of course, but subtly. We can't sell him if he's wrapped around your finger; it's important that he seem desirable but not spoken for, you understand? I don't want you to tarnish his reputation." "Be seen with him but don't let him be seen with me, and appear to desire him but not so much that the public questions the validity of my marriage. Got it. Any other impossible demands?" "Yes: you could try speaking to me with a little respect while I try to put your name and your family back together in the wake of your foolishness and the absence of your restraint." Lena looks away. Supergirl will be at the gala. She'll be there and it won't matter what Lilian wants because everything will be okay. Six weeks of silence pound in Lena's head and she can't summon Clark's words or Sam's reassurances. All she can hear is Lilian. Your supposed spouse. Quite the negligent wife. "I'll have Jess get in touch to set up the meeting," Lena says. Her fingers fall from her wedding bracelet. "What is it we're using him to sell?" "Nothing yet," Lilian says. She pours herself another glass of bourbon and perches on the edge of Lena's desk. Lena considers a quip about respect but finds she doesn't have it in her. "If the gala goes well, we'll announce a line of William Dey smart watches by the end of the year." "We manufacture vanity accessories now? Shall we also put out a line of William Dey sneakers?" Maybe she does have a quip or two left in her after all. "The neural lace you're developing downstairs will never move on the market. The public struggles with the concept of vaccination; they'll never trust an implant, and especially not from you. But from a beloved Country star, an attractive young man with all the right press? Perhaps. If they're led to it." "You want to use sex to sell medicine." Lilian raises her glass as if in a toast. "Medicine and smart watches. But Lena? All the money in the world can't buy back your reputation. Do be careful." "I'll win the perjury case," Lena says. "The paperwork is in order. Argo is sending a representative to act as a witness." "There is the court," Lilian replies and then there is the court of public opinion. "Lena finally takes her place at the window, gazing out across the city as Lilian throws back another finger of bourbon and sees herself out. Unspoken words linger heavy in the room. "Where are you?" Lena whispers. She puts a hand to the glass and then, feeling foolish, snatches it back. Too much bourbon, or not enough. Kara will be here when it matters. She will. She made promises, said vows. She'll be there. And Lena has nothing to fear.

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: Haven (24/50)

Summary: They say Resembool is a haven, and they’re right. Lush pastures, quaint country town, farmers’ markets on Saturdays: a bucolic paradise.

But it’s more than that. Resembool is a haven for the runaways, the deserters, the people who don’t want to be found…

The Resembool community knows there’s something odd about Hohenheim, but they’re not going to let that stop them helping him out. This is Resembool after all, a place where no one has to hide and neighbours help neighbours, be they building a fence, chasing a sheep, or trying to save the country from an evil they inadvertently helped release centuries ago…

Or: A series of slices of life in an AU in which Hohenheim never leaves, and several broken state alchemists find hope and home in Resembool.

Rated: T

==

Haven

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18][19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [AO3]

Summary: A traumatised young alchemist on the verge of a nervous breakdown leaves Ishval in the middle of the night. Through a mixture of providence and sheer stubbornness, Roy Mustang finds his way to Resembool entirely by accident. 

Characters: Roy, Hohenheim, Trisha

Content Warning: Suicidal thoughts and PTSD.

I kind of… broke Roy a bit here. Don’t worry. He’ll get better.

==

Roy Mustang was eighteen years and two days old when he was deployed to Ishval as a very newly-licensed state alchemist. 

He was not ready for what happened after that. 

He knows that if he’d been able to follow the path that he’d originally set out - enrol in the military academy and graduate there, complete his apprenticeship under Berthold Hawkeye within the normal length of time instead of getting swept up in the whirlwind of fast-tracked licensing - then things would be different. He would still have had to do all the terrible things he’s had to do, but he likes to think that he would have been slightly more mentally prepared for them. Even just a couple of years as a buffer would have been enough. He would have been fully prepared for everything that he would have been expected to do, and he would still have felt horrible, but he wouldn’t have broken down. He doesn’t think so, at least.

As it is, Roy is now a couple of months shy of twenty-one and it feels like he’s clinging on to his sanity by a thread. The smell of burning flesh won’t leave his nose and he’s lost count of the number of times he’s woken up screaming with Hughes’ concerned face hovering above him. 

Things had been just about manageable until Lieutenant Colonel Sherman vanished. Roy wishes he knew what happened to her. She’d always kept an eye out for him and the other wet-behind-the-ears alchemists barely out of short trousers. Then she’d had one argument with General Abrams too many and then she was gone. He doesn’t know whether she deserted or whether she was shot for insubordination behind a tent somewhere. 

All Roy knows is that if he doesn’t get out of Ishval right now, he’s going to steal someone’s sidearm and blow his own brains out, because he can’t go on like this any longer. He curls up in his bedroll, looking over at Hughes and thinking about Hawkeye just a couple of tents away. He can’t leave them here in the middle of this hell, but at the same time, he can’t stay here either, and surely it must be better to vanish like Sherman did rather than leave them to deal with the aftermath of his very final departure from the world. 

The bombardments are heavy tonight, and Roy wonders privately if it’s artillery or just Kimblee on a spree. 

Still. Whoever it is, they’re providing good cover, as Roy very quietly gets out of bed and pulls his boots on, filching Hughes’ sand overcoat because Hughes is taller and his coat comes down to Roy’s ankles. 

He leaves everything else behind. Uniform, spark cloth, pocket watch, anything that could identify him or slow him down. Roy sneaks out of camp wearing boots, boxer shorts, an undershirt and someone else’s sand coat, and as he continues to creep away, he thinks that he really has tipped over the edge into insanity. Someone’s going to find him gibbering in a ditch in the morning. Maybe he’d get discharged and sent home then. 

Maybe not. 

He has a choice between heading east into the desert or heading west back towards Amestris, and he’s got enough sense left to know that wandering into the desert isn’t a good idea despite how incredibly inviting the notion is. 

He keeps ploughing forward through the contested zone, keeping to the shadows, keeping out of sight, but in reality not caring too much if he’s caught and shot. He’s not sure what sense of innate self-preservation keeps him going whilst his thoughts are spiralling,  but he keeps going nonetheless, not knowing or caring where he’s going, as long as he keeps moving, and keeps out of sight.

X

Roy doesn’t know how long he walks for. It feels like years. 

Once he’s crossed into Amestris proper, it starts raining. Roy can’t bring himself to care. In books there’s the idea of the rain being a purifier, washing away people’s sins and leaving them clean and fresh. Roy can’t see it that way. The rain is just turning the dust and sand of Ishval into mud, making him feel even more stained and broken, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever feel properly clean again, not after everything that’s happened. 

He pushes on, not even sure where he’s going or what direction he’s going in anymore. Maybe wandering out into the desert to die alone would have been a better option. At least it would have been warm and dry rather than cold and wet. 

Maybe dying face down in a muddy ditch is what he deserves, but despite the dark thoughts running through his head, he keeps moving nonetheless, trudging on through the night into the dismal day and back into darkness again, keeping to fields and hedgerows, away from the main roads. 

It’s only when he sees a little house on the top of a hill in the distance that Roy receives a new lease of life, remembering that he hasn’t eaten for a couple of days, and he’s suddenly ravenous, knowing somewhere deep down that if he wanted to die he should have just given up and done it by now. 

He can't really ask for shelter when he’s a deserter and a traitor and probably wanted by the military already, but he’s not thinking that far ahead right now, and as he approaches the house, he can make out an expansive vegetable patch outside it and the smell of ripening tomatoes. They won’t notice a few missing, surely...

Roy crouches down behind the tomato plants as a light comes on in the house upstairs. He can see shadows moving around and curtains twitching, and he stays as still as he can, hoping they can’t see him. With any luck, the pale sand coat is now dirty enough not to be noticeable in the moonlight. 

There’s no luck. More lights are going on and the door is opening, and someone is coming out into the rain.

On instinct, Roy snaps, but he left his gloves miles away and it’s pouring with rain anyway. The figure comes closer, holding out an umbrella over him, and Roy makes out a man with long hair wearing a raincoat and rubber boots over pyjamas. He holds out a hand to help Roy up off the ground.

“You’ve come from Ishval, haven’t you?”

Roy looks down at the drenched sand coat and military issue boots. He can’t really deny it. 

“Well, you’re not the first and you won’t be the last. Come into the dry.”

Roy finds himself in a warm kitchen with a woman in a dressing gown making tea. 

“There’s no need to hide under the tomatoes,” she says, pouring hot water into the pot. “We don’t bite. How long have you been out there? I’ll go and run you a bath, you’ll catch your death. Just leave your wet things in a heap by the door, we’ll deal with them in the morning and Edward, I told you to stay upstairs.”

The woman bustles out of the kitchen, and Roy gets a glimpse of a tousled golden head around the door before she chivvies him away and up the stairs. 

Roy just stands dripping in the doorway for a few moments, not entirely sure he’s not actually lying in a ditch somewhere and this is all a fever dream.

The man brings over a couple of blankets and goes to pour the tea. Elsewhere, Roy can hear hot water pipes clanking and hissing, and he finally realises that he’s very cold and very wet. He strips down completely, reminded that he was so out of it that he managed to walk here from Ishval in little more than his underwear, and wraps up in the blankets, taking tentative steps towards the kitchen table. 

“You seem very calm about all this,” he ventures. “Has this happened before?”

The man shrugs. “You’re the first person we’ve ever found in our vegetable patch, but you’re by no means the first person that the village has taken in on the run from Ishval. Both Ishvalans and military runaways; we get them all and we take care of them all. We always have. War is a horrible thing and we do what we can to mitigate it.”

He looks like he must be in his late thirties, but there’s something in his unusual golden eyes behind his glasses that gives Roy the impression that he’s seen centuries’ worth of violence in his time. 

He gives a tired smile. “My name is Van Hohenheim. Welcome to Resembool.”

X

Whilst Roy has always firmly claimed not to believe in God, and that Ishval only strengthened that lack of belief, when he looks back on his first night in Resembool, he thinks that something outside of normal human power must have happened to have provided this safe haven just at the moment when he was on the knife edge of despair. 

Hohenheim and Trisha let him into their home with no judgement and no expectations, giving him tea and food and a hot bath and spare pyjamas. They give him a makeshift bed in Hohenheim’s study, and when he wakes up screaming from nightmares of Hughes and Hawkeye paying the price for his desertion (Hughes was shot point blank in a phone booth, of all places, and Riza had her throat cut with a sword that looked suspiciously like Bradley’s), Hohenheim just gives him a knowing look from where he’s working on something at his desk. They talk about nothing of importance until the sun comes up and the rest of the family start to stir.

He meets Trisha and Hohenheim’s two boys in the morning, and they’re obviously intrigued by the stranger who turned up under their tomatoes in the middle of the night. Alphonse is more reserved, but Edward has no fear whatsoever.

“Are you an alchemist?” he asks. “We get a lot of them coming here from the east.”

Roy looks down at his hands, remembering everything his alchemy has done and his stomach churns with the memory of that awful stench that still won’t leave him behind.

“I was.” 

Whether he’ll ever be able to use it again without needing to throw up afterwards is another matter entirely.

“That’s enough, Edward.” Trisha’s tone is firm as she flits around the kitchen, getting ready to leave on some kind of errand. Edward opens his mouth to protest, but a look from his mother silences him. 

The other alchemists who’ve arrived in the town probably didn’t arrive in quite as dramatic a fashion and in quite such a hopeless state. He can understand Edward’s curiosity - he could tell from the moment he set foot in Hohenheim’s study that he’s a master of the craft to rival Berthold Hawkeye and Basque Grand - but at the same time, he’s grateful not to have to talk about it, and Edward dutifully doesn’t ask anything more.

A couple of hours later, Trisha returns with a familiar face that Roy has never really entertained the hope of seeing again. 

At least he now knows the identity of at least one of the other alchemists who made their way to Resembool.

Alex Armstrong smiles at him, a smile that’s both sad and sympathetic at the same time. 

“It’s good to see you, Mustang.”

[yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy]

Why So Jaded? Chapter 6

Let’s get complicated. 

Chapter 6

Buddy sent the message to not spring the gilded cage for any reason. Not yet anyway. He needed to secure the second bird first which is what he referred to Violet as and insisted that she was not a threat. And that meant that he had to get all the medical data for Violet’s medication because at this point he had developed a preventative medicine for Violet to take daily to keep the headaches from occurring in the first place. Like heartburn medication but for her brain. One of the downsides to the new meds was even though she took it daily and could still use her powers, she could only use them so much before she felt the headaches come back. But the more she took it and the less she used her powers, the better, like getting ahead of the curve instead of always chasing behind it. Buddy wanted to make sure that Phillip could never, ever hold this over her or use this against her to keep her with him. The other downside was the new meds were slightly toxic, but in small doses, she was ok and would build up a tolerance, but it meant she couldn’t overdose or speed up her own progression of the medicine. She had to stick to the regimen precisely. But it gave Buddy and the medical team time to come up with an alternative. But it would, in theory, cure her, however it would take years and Buddy feared what those toxins would do for her long term but it had been the best solution he could come up with so far.

He hoped and prayed that while they were in Vegas nothing would happen. Because if anything did, it would screw him over from ever breathing the outside air ever again for the next three years.

“Good morning Mr. Pine.” Violet greeted at 9:50 am when she came in to gather him and his things.

“Good morning Ms. Parr.” Buddy answered, damning himself for sweating like a stuck pig.

“Are you ok?” Violet asked.

“I’m just really nervous, I want everything to go well and I don’t want anything to go wrong because I want to be able to breathe outside air between now and three years from now.” Buddy confessed as he used a handkerchief to wipe his brow from the sweat that had accumulated there since the last time he wiped it only a few moments before.

“Alright, we got about two minutes before the others come, come with me.” Violet insisted as she put her tablet and her phone on the counter and took his hand and quickly led him into the apartment side of the space and into the bathroom before pulling him into the shower before putting up another forcefield around them to give them privacy since the shower doors were frosted for privacy.

“Buddy, you are worrying me with your worry. Do you have any reason to believe that anything would happen? That anyone, including yourself is in danger?” Violet pressed as she looked into his eyes both pleadingly yet determined.

“No, I have no reason to believe there’s sabotage or imposter-ing or an attack or anything like that. I’m just...I’m just scared. Cause if anything happens, I get put on lock down and I don’t want to lose the precious few freedoms I have, I don’t want to betray your trust.” Buddy professed as he stared right back into those magnificent violet eyes she had before her look softened and she dropped the forcefield and just hugged him which surprised him at first before he returned it just as tightly. Oh this was heaven. Just hugging her and holding her. She smelled amazing and the hug was so grounding and comforting to him. It’s exactly what he needed.

“It’s going to be ok Buddy. I’m nervous too. I don’t want anything to happen either. And if you say you don’t have a reason to suspect anything then I believe you and I trust you to tell me the truth. If you’ll be honest with me, I’ll be honest with you. Deal?” Violet murmured into the crux of his neck and shoulder.

“Deal.” Buddy answered as he realized that even though he was getting massages and not getting touch starved per say, he was starting to starve for her and now he really hoped that nothing bad would happen. He had her trust. That’s all that mattered. He had it and he needed to keep it. But all too soon she was pulling away from him and straightening up.

“We’ll be ok, you’ll see.” Violet sweetly assured him as she reached out and squeezed his hands with her own.

“Are you ready to leave Mr. Pine?” Violet asked, slipping back into her liaison voice once again.

“Yes.” He confirmed.

“Good, you look great by the way, the cream suit and baby blue shirt suits you very well, so handsome.” Violet praised as she then led them out of the bathroom with his hand still in hers as he looked from her to the mirror to see for himself, giving his reflection a smile because, she said he looked great, handsome even. But once they left the apartment side of the lab and the door opened, Violet quickly let go of Buddy’s hand and hastened her pace to quickly gather her tablet and her phone again before she also opened the watch box and put the watch on his wrist, using her thumb print to lock it into place before taking the pin and putting it on his lapel and then straightening up his other handkerchief that matched his tie that was in the breast pocket and straightened up his tie bar, tie and collar.

“There, picture perfect.” Violet smiled happily once she was done as the security detail gathered Buddy’s luggage and brought it down to the vehicle before another woman came into the room, dressed similarly to Violet. She was perhaps a little taller and more robust than Violet but very professional looking and had the same commanding presence that Violet had.

“Ms. Parr? Is the asset ready?” She asked.

“Yes he is. Mr. Pine, meet your handler. This is Veronica Andrews. Miss Andrews, this is Mr. Pine.” Violet introduced.

“Hello, pleasure to meet you.” She cordially greeted as she shook hands before Violet touched her phone with hers and had her touch the lock on Buddy’s wrist with her thumb print.

“You two are now tethered. Mr. Pine, the distance of your tethering will be adjusted according to Ms. Andrews’ preferences and specifications. Also Nelson, Leland, Soche and Pike will be your security detail. They all know your safety protocol. Ms. Andrews. If you would please state for the record what your safety protocol password is?” Violet urged.

“Pumpernickel.” Veronica answered with an amused grin.

“Mr. Pine?” Violet prompted.

“Shmoke.” Buddy said.

“Excellent, these passcodes will be used until we have a breach in security in which case- the passcodes will be changed. Ms. Andrews, do you relieve me?” Violet formally asked.

“I am relieving you Ms. Parr from Mr. Pine as an asset and am taking control of the asset.” Veronica confirmed.

“I am relieved. See you soon.” Violet bid them before Buddy was taken down to the street to get loaded into a car along with his luggage as Mr. Leland and Mr. Nelson took the drivers and passenger sides of the car, opening the doors for Buddy and Veronica while Violet took the helicopter to the airport to get Phillip squared away herself.

“How was he?” Phillip asked.

“He’s understandably nervous because he has realized that if any tiny little thing goes wrong, it’s his head that’s gonna roll. Who wouldn’t be at least a little anxious? Remember how I was the first time I was in charge of taking you anywhere?” Violet asked.

“Yeah you had six different escape routes for every street and stop light we would either go through or stop at, you had it in your head it was gonna be a 16 blocks kind of mission and you had every conceivable attack figured out and countermeasures taken. Half of my security team threatened to quit if they had to deal with you ever again.” Phillip huffed a laugh before taking another sip of his drink.

“Well he’s equally anxious as I was. I would think he’s gonna get an ulcer by the end of the weekend. Thankfully the only thing he’s responsible for is himself.” Violet mused.

“I still think we should test him.” Phillip said.

“And that’s not fair, to anyone.” Violet insisted.

“When is life fair?” Phillip returned and Violet had a feeling he was going to whether she agreed or not. But she knew full well that Phillip was determined and if he was going to do this. She was at least going to make it worth it.

“You want to make it a proper test and a proper bet?” Violet asked determinedly.

“Yes. If he fails the test. Another year will be added to his servitude.” Phillip began as Violet suddenly liked the sound of that term.

“A year is a fair term. Fine. If he passes. A year off. Breaking and entering for a white male is three to six months usually in the system- with no priors- or a year with. And you’re tripling the timeframe. So I say, when and if he passes. He will only be in your contracted servitude for two years instead of three.” Violet specified before she offered her phone and let her finger hover over the record button. “Do we have a deal?” Violet asked as she offered her hand for him to shake.

“Deal.” Phillip agreed and shook her hand before they repeated the terms and agreed to them on the recording just as Buddy’s car pulled into the lot and he was unloaded from the SUV and put on the plane with them as everyone’s luggage was loaded into the plane as Veronica directed where Buddy should sit, since she spent the entire way there dictating her own rules for her asset which were much stricter than Violet’s ever were but Buddy understood he would have to walk the line. But once he came aboard the jet, he didn’t like the smug grin Phillip had when Phillip looked at him- the way a wolf would look at a lamb but one look at Violet and her simple reassuring smile was enough for him as Phillip immediately set off getting the perfect trap for Buddy.

“Miss Andrews, a word.” Phillip urged her as he got up and straightened up as Veronica practically bounced out of her seat to go with him to the back of the plane as Buddy frowned in confusion after them but another reassuring smile from Violet helped his nerves from fraying completely but he did shoot her a text.

‘What’s going on?’ Buddy asked with a questioning glance to Violet.

‘Nothing you need to be worried about. You told me that I had no reason to be worried and if you are a man of your word, then I believe you and I trust you and I’ll take that leap of faith. So if I’m not worried, you don’t need to be either.’ Violet replied before Phil came back with the smuggest grin on his face as Veronica looked a little blushed herself with a giddy smile but sporting a new pair of very high tech glasses, the same kind of glasses Violet used when she needed to see what the naked eye never could which got Violet to humph as she decided to put on her own before both Veronica and Violet returned to a schooled stoic look before Phillip sat down next to Violet before Violet simply adjusted the angle of her phone in her hand so he could read the text before Phillip huffed a laugh and curled his lip derisively.

“You’re gonna fall on your face.” Phillip sneered lowly.

“We’ll see.” Violet maintained.

“But if she’s on high alert, I am too. Besides, since you’re so sure that he’s gonna run, I have to be ready to apprehend him and take him down don’t I?” Violet pointed out in a low murmur so no one else would hear the conversation which got Phillip to frown and grump himself and look sullenly out of his window as Violet gave Buddy a quick wink and another smile because she knew Phillip played dirty and tried to think of all the ways Phillip was going to sabotage Buddy and what countermeasures she was going to make to even the odds.

After the relatively short and uneventful flight to Vegas, Buddy happily checked into the nice suite that had been arranged for him which was coincidentally right across the hallway from the suite Violet and Phillip had gotten before Veronica put special sensors with hidden cameras all around the suite so that she would know exactly where he was within the room at all times but only told Buddy that it was sensors as Buddy’s gut was telling him that that’s not all they were as he warily stared at them but one of the rules was not to mess with the sensors so he simply unpacked and settled in as he crashed on the bed. He knew something was up. He just had to think of what it was and be ready for whatever it would be then his phone dinged as he picked it up to look at it and noticed it was a text from Violet, inviting him down to the pool and suddenly he felt like swimming as he messaged Veronica, asking if they could go down to the pool and to his delight- she confirmed and Buddy got dressed in his swim trunks and flip flops and waited until Veronica got him and was surprised she was also wearing a bathing suit and a bathrobe and just as they were about to leave Mr. Leland was opening the door for Violet who was just inside the room in her super suit before she hit a button on it and the suit itself vanished, leaving her bathing suit underneath it- the only thing visible on her body and it was Buddy’s turn to be blown away and awestruck and his mouth was suddenly dry before Violet lifted the bathrobe around her shoulders just as Phillip came out, wearing his own swim trunks and suddenly Buddy felt like a big fat hog next to a Greek god. Because Phillip was jacked. How was he supposed to compete with that? Why would Violet ever look at him with lust or desire when she had that at her fingertips? And just like that, his ego was hit and starting to deflate.

And once at the pool, it didn’t let up because once at the pool, Violet shrugged off her bathrobe and revealed she had the most kickass tattoo on the back of her left shoulder and the way that bikini hugged her body was a work of art and the way her amazing, curtain of ebony locks fell down her back before she brushed them to the side to braid her glorious mane under the cabana with Phillip. No wonder most people thought they were an item. He would have assumed as much.  And to see Phillip and Violet put sunscreen on each other while he struggled just to get enough on his own fair self before he burned to a crisp was tantamount to torture. He knew Phillip was flaunting her and his closeness with her in his face and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Need some help?” Veronica finally asked.

“Yes please. Thank you.” Buddy confirmed as he handed her the sunscreen as she dutifully applied it to him just as a seemingly drunk and tipsy girl came and sat down nearby who was happily sucking down her literal bucket of a cocktail.

“Oh my god you guys are such a cute couple!” She gushed in her very thick Long Island accent as she seemed to notice them.

“Oh, no, we’re not together.” Buddy quickly corrected her.

“Then why is she applying sunscreen? Is she your sister?” She asked as Buddy looked at her like she was crazy since Veronica was very clearly black as Veronica snorted a laugh.

“No…” Buddy slowly answered.

“Oh well what is she to you then? Is she a friend with benefits?” She continued to guess.

“No.” Buddy shook his head adamantly. 

“I’m his head of security.” Veronica finally stepped in which got the inebriated girl to gasp in delight.

“You are such a great guy to not only get a woman but a woman of color protect you! Affirmative action for the win!” She cheered.

“Why does she need to protect you? Are you like, super important that people want to hurt you? Are you Jeff Bezos?” She asked.

“No!” Buddy exclaimed as Veronica straight up laughed.

“He wishes. I think you’re going to be ok Mr. Pine,  I’m gonna get a drink.” Veronica decided and Buddy actually whimpered.

“No, no don’t leave me with the drunk girl.” Buddy pleaded but Veronica just laughed as she walked away as the drunk girl came and sat down facing him in the next sunchair.

“Mr. Pine, ooh so important, is it after pine like the tree? Do you own a lumberyard?” She asked.

“No, I don’t own a lumberyard, but yes pine like the pine tree.” Buddy answered as he stared after Veronica and even looked to see Nelson and Leland at a distance chatting with Veronica at the bar since Soche and Pike were in their rooms getting some sleep since they would be taking the night shift.

“Are you hungry? Do you want some nachos? Or do you want a drink? Oh do you want to try some of mine it’s so good!” She gushed as she offered it to him.

“No thanks, I don’t drink and swim.” Buddy tried to politely refuse, even though right at this moment, there was nothing he wanted more but Veronica had a very strict- you will only drink water- policy while she was his handler. Because water was best at showing whether or not your drink was tempered with. But if he absolutely insisted. He could have one social drink a day so Buddy was saving it for later in the evening.

“Are you here with someone? Like a bachelorette party or something?” Buddy tried to get rid of her.

“I like your watch, it’s so fancy.” She said as she grabbed his wrist and pulled it closer to her face so she could see it better.

“Hey, hey, hands off.” Buddy tried to shake her but she had an iron grip and she pulled him with surprising strength until he was leaned all the way over as she used her bucket drink to hide their faces.

“I’m a friend of Violet's, she asked me to keep an extra eye on you. Stay vigilant. That’s all I can say and don’t let anyone else get this close to you other than those who you explicitly trust and stare at any other girl other than her because her current asset is a piece of work and he’s not above punishing her for your offending gaze and vice versa.” She said quickly and in all seriousness, dropping the drunk act in a flash and fixing him with a look that cut him to the core before she slipped right back into the act and got up and pretended to stagger away.

“Well see you around Mr. Lumberyard!” She waived drunkenly just as Violet dove into the pool which got Buddy to turn his attention back to her just as Veronica returned with a drink and a bottle of water for Buddy.

“I thought Miss Drunk Girl stood a chance.” Veronica noticed as she sat in the sunchair and adjusted the umbrella to shade both of them.

“Drunk girls are never my type.” Buddy informed her.

“Good.” Veronica said simply.

“Mr. Sebastian has given the order that if you so wish- you can enjoy the company of a companion of the gender of your choice for a short while, if you’re interested, that’s why he pulled me aside on the plane.” Veronica offered. “They even have call girls whose specialty is to impersonate Super’s and they take requests.” Veronica tempted.

“No thanks.” Buddy firmly refused.

“Well that’s your call. It’s either going to be this weekend, or from what I understand, could be a long time before you get a chance to get laid again.” Veronica mused.

“We’re kind of out in public, could we not talk about such things in such a public setting?” Buddy requested.

“Well if you change your mind, do so sooner than later, because the process of me doing background checks and vetting those companions is a long process and your cut off is 10pm, doors locked, no one in or out which means I have to know by no later than 6pm.”

“Yeah, I’m not gonna change my mind.” Buddy firmly told her because Drunk Girl’s warning was chilling his bones still. If Violet sent her, that meant that Violet knew something was up but couldn’t say anything and the drunk girl did good getting him alone to deliver that message.

She said ‘don’t let anyone you don’t trust get close’. She also told him that Phillip would punish Violet if his ‘gaze was offensive’. Which meant that Buddy couldn’t look at her much or often. All Buddy could do is sit back and fold his arms over his chest and think about this.

But hearing Violet squeal as Phillip played with her in the pool was too tempting of a sight. He was just picking her up and throwing her into the pool before jumping in nearby and chasing her under the water as she tried to get away as she was laughing hysterically from being chased, weaving around the little kids in the shallow end before he noticed paparazzi holding their cameras up and clicking pictures from over the fence.

Every picture they took of Violet could be a threat to her and her identity. Wasn’t she scrutinized enough? But for all he knew, Phillip had placed his own spy right next to him in Veronica and just as Buddy decided to come into the water, Phillip pulled himself and Violet out of the pool and back into the cabana and after a few laps around the pool and feeling his skin practically sizzle, Buddy decided he had enough torture and figured he’d be at least safe in his room, at least he could watch TV or something.

Violet was both relieved yet disappointed Buddy left the pool as she had to come to the realization why she was attracted to him. He was soft. And that wasn’t to say that was a bad thing or a weakness. He had been so comfortable and comforting to hug. While Phillip was sculpted beautifully, cuddling with him was like cuddling with a side of hanging beef. While she was sure Buddy was stronger, he was more function than aesthetic and had a nice ‘dad bod’ but without reminding her too much of her own dad. But who he was as a person, was more attractive than Phillip. Because he was kind, considerate and genuine. It wasn’t a head game all the time.

The next day was the first day of the Expo and Buddy had to keep his distance but thankfully could meet with his work associates and see his old friends and Veronica kept a respectful distance and still acted like his bodyguard and let him bend the rules of allowing to have a cocktail or two with his own friends and associates which she allowed.

“So tell me again, what kind of bet would you make that you would get into such a deal that you would have to live at SEB and work for Sebastian of all people?” Keith pressed since that was the “official story” was that Buddy and Phillip had had a big bet between them. If Buddy had won, Phillip would be working for him for three years, if Phillip won, Buddy would work for him for three years. And Buddy lost.

“High stakes poker. Very stupid bet.” Buddy answered.

“Well, you were never that good at cards.” Greg noted.

“But are you treated well at least?” Keith asked. 

“Oh yeah, like an honored guest, I get a whole floor of the building to myself, most of which is a whole lab with equipment I used to dream of using and then the rest is my own personal apartment, fully furnished. It even has its own gym and laundry facility and full kitchen. Which that in itself is worth millions, especially in the city, and especially in Metroville. And the views are amazing And it’s not like I’m completely cut off from the outside world, I’m here aren’t I? And I have my own security.” Buddy honestly appraised before Phillip arrived with Violet and every guy within sight seemed to become acutely aware that a goddess such as her was in their presence and the way Phillip held her close, like he would a girlfriend was almost challenging. But Violet was still in the glasses, scanning everyone in the room and finding any potential threats to herself, Phillip and Buddy even though Veronica was doing the same but she still smiled fondly as did he when their gazes locked before she forced herself to look away as Phillip took them to the bar and got them drinks.

“It’s like I forget Phillip has that knockout of an assistant every time I see him and then she appears next to him and reminds us of our own mortality.” Keith murmured as he gave Violet his own appreciative glance.

“She’d be an even bigger knockout without those glasses though.” Peter, a friend of Buddy’s appraised.

“I like them. They make her look even more sophisticated.” Buddy shrugged, careful with his words because he had a feeling everything was still being recorded and would be reported.

“Yeah but I hear he keeps her on a super short leash and she works 24/7. She never gets a day off. Is that what you're finding?” Greg asked Buddy.

“No, she's my liaison to Sebastian directly but I only see her Monday through Friday- 9-5. She gets weekends off and vacations like anyone else.” Buddy shrugged.

“But at least you get to see her that much. The rest of us only see her at the expos. What’s she like?” Keith pressed.

“Perfectly professional.” Buddy answered simply, figuring the less he said about her, the safer he would be.

“So she’s all business, well, looking like that, I would think she would have to be.” Greg mused.

“So enough about her, I haven’t seen you guys in what feels like forever, what’s going on? I want to hear what’s going on with you guys.” Buddy suggested before they continued and even got dinner and got to hit the casino a little before Violet and Phillip appeared in the same casino and once again, the attention turned to them as they went to the roulette table.

“Come on, let’s play some roulette.” Keith urged them before they all agreed and Buddy simply hung his head in defeat and followed his friends over to the table and stood on the other side of the table across from Violet and waited to see what Phillip and Violet would do as Violet looked at the game and everyone else around the table and Buddy could tell she was sizing everyone and everything up before she put a chip on the red two, the black three and the red four as Buddy followed and put his chips on hers in equal amounts while Phillip put his own chips on his own lucky numbers.

“Place your bets, place your bets.” The dealer offered as others did the same before he spun the wheel and Buddy wondered why Violet would choose these numbers.

Meanwhile Violet simply prayed to the universe to show her a sign of how long she would have to be in Phillip’s servitude.

“Two!” the dealer called as he gave Violet and Buddy their payouts as Violet blew out a breath of relief before she did the same thing again, only covering it up to five, hoping that the universe would tell her how long Buddy would be in servitude and Buddy was still matching her bets with his own as Phillip continued to do his own thing.

“Two again!” The dealer called out once the ball hit the 2 box and Violet seemed to be especially pleased and relieved before she took a leap of faith and put two chips on both the 25 slot and the 31 and that’s when Buddy realized the pattern. 2- how long she had the contract to work for Phillip, the second two was maybe a confirmation. But he knew Phillip was 25 and he was 31. She was asking who to bet on.

“Thirty one!” The dealer called out and Violet didn’t want to push her luck anymore and quit betting but Buddy simply put his own chips on 24 for the next round as he gave her a meaningful look as Violet was all too eager to see where the ball landed and even he could see Violet breathe heavier as the ball bounced around on the wheel as they shared a meaningful look.

“Twenty four.” The dealer called out and her smile was more precious than any bet’s payout. And after that, Buddy himself stopped playing, taking her own cue before Phillip tried once more, putting his own lucky numbers down but once again- it landed on any number than what Phillip chose before he finally gave up and went around to the other games, losing more and more money while every time Violet was near Buddy, he would do nothing but win as they all found themselves at a high stakes black jack table, only this time they were also joined by Xavier Fissured who was also Phillip’s and Buddy’s second fiercest rival and Violet had her own history with him, specifically his wife who was Ziva, who’s Super name was Razuva since she could control metal but could also conjure blades from the shadow realm and she had a penchant for making things razor sharp daggers and then throwing them at people. But while Violet had been on the Superhero side,  Ziva had been a neutral Super and never signed on with The Agency and instead had been hired as Xavier’s personal assistant and bodyguard and his one woman army. In fact it was because of Xavier’s relationship with Ziva that Phillip felt he needed to imitate it since Xavier had only been following in Buddy’s footsteps with Mirage or Natalia as he knew her. Only Xavier made his relationship with Ziva work flawlessly and it was because of Xavier’s success with Ziva by his side that Phillip was following Xavier’s example of getting his very own personal Super in Violet.

“Bartholomew, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you without Natalia. Although I must say it’s been several years since I’ve seen either of you, where have you been hiding out lately?” Xavier asked as Ziva and Violet exchanged a meaningful look.

“Oh I’ve been around. But Natalia, she, she left me, she got married to Bill Willhouse about seven years ago.” Buddy answered.

“Yeah I did remember seeing that in the paper, don’t you remember me showing you that Dearest?” Ziva noted sweetly to Xavier.

“Oh yes, she has had two children since then right?” Xavier asked.

“Yes, little Billy, and Luca. Thankfully they take after Natalia more than Bill.” Ziva answered with a fond smile as Buddy was torn between feeling sorry for himself, feeling happy for Natalia yet wondering what Violet would be like as a mom while Phillip was looking at Violet and wondering the same thing.

“How are your own children doing Ziva? Are they here with you?” Violet asked, shifting the focus of the conversation for Buddy’s sake.

“They’re doing just fine, thank you for asking Violet, they're at home with the sitters, so it's a couple's retreat of a business trip for us this time. How’s your family doing? Being safe? I understand your littlest brother was almost kidnapped as an infant.” Ziva dug with a smug smirk with a side eye at Buddy as Buddy’s cheeks flushed as did Violet’s.

“Oh how awful. Who would dare steal an infant?” Keith asked.

“Oh I heard it was a Supervillain, Syndrome wasn’t it? But he died shortly after correct?” Xavier asked Violet.

“He did, his cape got caught in the air suction of a jet turbine. That’s why most Supers these days don’t wear capes anymore. Sure they look cool but functionally a hindrance. Of if they do wear capes it’s for press and public appearances only.” Violet answered. “But to answer your question, Jack is doing fine, he’s in the fifth grade now, he’s staying with Aunt Edna during spring break. Helping her design her winter line because Jack loves fashion, my parents think he’ll be the next Ralph Lauren.” Violet answered.

“Aww, that’s so nice and such a safe occupation. I love it when young ones find their calling early and really throw themselves into it, it shows drive and determination.” Xavier praised.

“Yeah, the problem is every time I get to visit home, he wants to dress me up constantly because I’m his only sister and the only one with enough patience to let him use me as a fashion doll. He actually made me the dress I’m wearing tonight.” Violet revealed as she looked down at it. “Wow, he’s very talented, because I was about to ask you where you got it because it’s beautiful, and it hugged you like it was custom made for you, I was about to ask if Edna had made it for you.” Ziva praised.

“And you have one other brother correct? The Olympian? Dash Parr, he’s always the fastest in all of his races, set some world records.” Xavier asked thoughtfully.

“Yep. He runs circles around everyone, that and he practically lives on a steady diet of White Lightning Energy drinks because his idol White Lightning himself, his walls are covered in posters of him.” Violet revealed and Buddy thought hard before realization dawned on him but one look of warning from Phillip and Violet had him keeping his revelation to himself before they were dealt again and Violet got twenty so she stayed where she was. While Phillip was at 17 while Buddy sat at 16 while Xavier was also at 20 while Ziva was at 19 herself. Phillip tapped on the table and got a six of clubs and was out. Buddy decided to go for broke and tapped the table, gesturing that he wanted another card.

“And it’s a five of spades. Black Jack.” The Dealer announced.

“Congratulations Mr. Pine.” Violet offered and even though she lost, she was content that at least Buddy won that hand.

But the very next hand Violet got 21 which made her happy to finally win one before the drunk girl returned. Thankfully less ‘inebriated’ than she was before and gasped when she recognized Buddy. But in reality had been shadowing all of them all night, but just outside of Buddy’s notice. “Mr. Lumberyard!” She exclaimed, her loud, thick Long Island accent cutting through the chatter like a bull horn which got Buddy to drop his shoulders in defeat and groan as Violet, Phillip, Xavier and Ziva all started snickering their laughter which soon infected the rest of the table.

“So what are we playing? Are we playing black jack?” She asked and Buddy had to reach out on both sides of himself to his friends and hold his friends in their seats to keep her from getting too close but she still pressed herself up to his back and Buddy sat as straight as he could to get away from her.  

“Miss, could you please give me some personal space?” Buddy requested, trying to remain polite. 

“Oh, sorry, otherwise your bodyguard over here will body slam me huh?” She said as she backed up just a smidge.

“No but you are still encroaching on Mr. Pine’s personal space, please back away Ma’am.” Veronica urged her as she moved her back even more.

“Ma’am is so formal, I’m Cindy! Oh is this seat open?” She offered her hand for Veronica to shake before Cindy got the last available seat.

“Oh my goodness so much energy at this table, it’s so magnetically charged. You Sir- I’ve never seen a truer neutral energy. You let good things come to you, work for what you truly want and let go what doesn’t work yet you find contentment easy, it’s why you’re so happy and the biggest reason for that is the lovely lady next to you. Is this your wife? She’s stunning. You compliment her so well. You know I can tell she has a razor sharp wit and just a sharp personality, you two, you two got it right, you’re gonna live happily ever after.” She appraised as she sat at the table and waived her hands gesturing to them as Xavier and Ziva smiled happily at each other.

“Cindy was it?” Ziva returned, trying to peg which Super she was because even if the accent was fake, Ziva felt like she knew her and Ziva simply closed her eyes before she saw three shadow figures behind Cindy and that’s when Ziva figured out ‘Cindy’ was Fates. Fates was also a neutral Super but completely independent and only popped up at seemingly random times before she disappeared again.

“Yes, Cindy is short for Cinderella, cause my mother is a big fan of Disney.” Cindy began.

“And what brings you to Vegas Cindy?” Ziva questioned.

“I’m here to see the Amazing Jonathan, he’s doing a special show this weekend.” Cindy answered.

“So are you like a psychic?” Phillip huffed a laugh.

“I am!” She confirmed as Violet just grinned more smugly as Ziva could only do the same.

“Now I can tell that there are three poles at this table, you sir, are the neutral, you sir are the positive one.” Cindy insisted as she gestured from Xavier to Buddy.

“Really?” Buddy asked. Not feeling that way at all.

“But you sir. Uh, so much dark negative energy, because you miss- you have slightly positive but still pretty neutral energy which means you’ll only compliment whoever you’re with, but not him, he is just sucking every scrap of positivity in your life. Is this your girlfriend? Not a wife, I’m not getting wife vibes. I sense so much unhappiness here. You guys are unevenly matched. It’s never gonna work. Honey, cut your losses, maybe get with Mr. Positivity over here, I get a feeling you’d fare better. In fact yes, my spirit guide Mama Momo, she’s telling me that you two have less than five years left in your relationship.” She insisted as she gestured between Phillip and Violet as Violet simply blinked in surprise but bit her lips to keep her smile from cracking her face in half and to keep herself from laughing in utter delight.

“I’m not his girlfriend, I’m his assistant.” Violet answered.

“Oh, thank God, because a romantic relationship between you is doomed. And you sir, the best advice I can give you is you better be changing your energy to more positive energy because once she’s gone, you’re going to have a hard time replacing her. You have been blessed to have her in your life. It took a lot of searching for you to find her and it’s taken so much to keep her but the more you try to lock her in and keep her with you, the more you lose her and drive her away. She is an emerald, a priceless gem with no compare. But you know the thing about emeralds? You drop a diamond, it bounces, but if you drop an emerald, they shatter, they’re more precious and rarer than diamonds, and they look so strong but they’re surprisingly so delicate and fragile and you are asking too much from her. When I look at you Ma’am, all I see is an emerald in a setting that’s too small and too tight. Not the setting for you Doll.” Cindy appraised.

“Hmm, interesting. So you said he was positive? What do you see when you look at him?” Violet asked as she nodded over to Buddy who looked a little alarmed at the prospect.

“Oh, Mister Positivity. He’s like one of those big strong giant trees, like a cedar or pine, he’s grown despite very difficult circumstances and he has turned so much beauty and wonder from his own pain, he’s growing in the mouth of a now dormant volcano, but it won’t erupt ever again, he’ll be safe, he’s hardy and has been pushed and battered by the weather and survived forest fires in the past and after every trial, the world sees him growing stronger because of the trial and learning to bend instead of breaking. And his roots are deep. He’s very nurturing, he’s creative and loves to see the things around him grow and why everything he seems to touch thrives and turns out so well. That’s why his friends find so much refuge with him. look at them, flocking to his sides and supporting him through thick and thin because they find shade and relief near him and sustenance and the birds of paradise find their roosts in his boughs. He’s not the prettiest tree in the forest but he’s the pillar of it, one of the original trailblazers. But I get the sense that something is trying to plant a fence around you to keep you from growing too big while you’ve been dormant for a few seasons. Which is ok, every tree has a dormant season and yours was just longer than you were used to, it scared you and pushed you to extremes, maybe a bad decision or two. But now that you’ve come out of your dormant stage and you’re growing again, you’ll break free of the fence faster than you think you will and you’ll consume the fence and turn it into something beautiful. Miss Emerald, you’d be better off with the tree than the sponge next to you.” She appraised.

“Too bad I’ve signed a noncompete then.” Violet answered with a knowing grin and a playful snap of her fingers in mock disappointment.  

“I’m sorry I’m a what?” Phillip asked Cindy.

“You’re a sponge, you know, like one of those ones you use to scrub your dishes. You’re a nice sponge but your rough side is rougher than the gravel of my driveway, but all you do is consume, it’s never enough for you. You don’t know how to give back or give as good as you get. All you do is consume resources and destroy anything you deem a mess. You’re useful. But you lack substance and you can’t hold the resources you acquire for nothing, like an oversaturated sponge, you poke it and it gushes before it soaks it up again. That’s why you keep consuming all you can. Even now, you can’t be happy for anyone else’s success but your own.” She answered before she went around the table appraising everyone else which was entertaining in itself as they continued to play black jack and the more Phillip played, the more he lost while Buddy and Violet kept winning, Xavier and Ziva simply sat and played a few rounds but were content being observers often trading off and once Phillip was out of chips, he just sat and sulked, and despite Violet’s own winning streak, she knew much more of this and Phillip was going to be a nightmare for the rest of the weekend.

“Ok, we better call it a night. Good night guys, see you tomorrow at the expo again.” Violet offered as she took her winnings and left the table with Phillip, getting her chips in higher values so she wouldn’t have to carry heaping handfuls of chips.

“Yeah, I’m gonna call it a night too.” Buddy insisted as he took his own winnings as well, he was then escorted to turn them in as Xavier and Ziva invited Cindy to do a proper reading on them in a more private setting.

“Would you like for me to call Miss Patrice for you this evening?” Violet offered to Phillip, hoping that would at least soothe his bruised ego if he got to play with some strings instead.

“Yes.” Phillip answered sullenly.

“Ok, do you want me to call Miss Julie too?” Violet offered.

“Yes.” Phillip answered, his tone of voice getting less and less sullen and more agreeable.

“Ok, let me turn these in real quick.” She offered before she stepped and turned in all her chips and got a thick wad of t100 dollar bills and put them into her purse before she noticed Buddy and his friends were all behind her, about to do the same, giving Buddy one last appreciative glance and adoring smile over her shoulder before escorting Phillip back to his room.

“Phillip Dear, stop thinking about what the psychic said, there is nothing about you that has ever been “spongy”.” Violet soothed.

“But she wasn’t wrong about you, you are a precious gem and you’re more fragile than you like to admit.” Phillip countered.

“She could have said that about any woman and been right. What woman doesn’t like to think of herself as a precious gem? Beautiful, valuable but delicate. And if she was really a psychic, she would have seen the fiery jet turbine and all the shrapnel that’s still embedded in Mr. Pine’s body when she was “reading” him.” Violet countered but could tell Phillip wasn’t convinced.

“She was playing to Mr. Pine’s ego, trying to get a private reading, which you heard her when she talked to Xavier and Ziva, a private reading with her was a grand, she was working us and everyone else at that table. She gave you bad reading so you’d get a paid one where she would change her tune. She had to paint someone as the low bar. And to paint Mr. Pine as the high bar- where everyone else could strive to reach it was one hell of a ply. What man doesn’t like to hear that he’s a great big tree with deep roots that all his friends like to flock to, that’s weathered storms and forest fires but he’s still standing tall and proud? Besides she was just a half drunk woman in a casino. Don’t let her words live in your head rent free. That space is too precious and valuable to let trash like her stay there.” Violet urged, feeling guilty for contradicting her friend’s words but she needed to keep her head and her job at the moment but she took Cindy’s words to heart while hoping that would snap Phillp out of this ‘petulant toddler’ phase he was in today and that finally seemed to work as Phillip seemed to be more resolved before Violet made that phone call to Miss Julie and Miss Patrice for the evening for Phillip.

However, when they made it up to the room, four ladies of the evening were waiting for them. Two of them, were obviously hardcore dominatrix queens who were draped in special cords for macramé and who were waiting outside Phillip’s room while the other two were dressed up as Supers, Violet stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the cheap- imitation of herself in her old red and black knock off version of her supersuit and she knew a Mirage knock off when she saw it and they were standing outside Buddy’s room before Phillip hooked his arm behind Violet’s back and brought her forward to their room with the smuggest smirk on his face.

“Let me get changed before you ladies get to work.” Violet offered to Patrice and Julie as she quickly got in the room and got changed into street clothes so she could go where she pleased for the evening and just as she was leaving Buddy was arriving before he himself stopped in his tracks as he stared in horrified shock.

“Miss Andrews, please tell me none of those women are for me because I distinctly remember not wanting any “company” for the late evening.” Buddy tried to say to Veronica as he turned to her as Violet paused as she put on her jacket on in her own doorway before she came over to Buddy.  

“Is there a problem Miss Andrews?”

“Yeah, uh, none of those girls are for me.” Buddy insisted as he was sure his cheeks were going to be permanently red.

“And I made no such arrangements for them either, are they a threat?” Veronica asked.

“Wait here.” Violet offered before she walked up to the “Supers” but gave Phillip’s direction a glare since he had already gone into the room.  

“Hi, Miss Patrice, Miss Juile, Mr. Sebastian will see you now.” She invited as she nodded over to the door before they walked into it, dragging their heavy bags on wheels where they kept the best toys and shut it behind them.

“So, what are your names ladies?” Violet asked the “Supers”. “I’m Invisigirl. And this is Mirage and we’re here to see Mr. Pine.” The first girl said as Violet had never seen a worse- black hair wig in her life.

“Ok, who called and arranged for you to come? Did you get a down payment? What was the credit card used?” Violet asked before the girls got their phones out and gave her the details and Violet did her best to keep her cool and if Phillip wasn’t about to get tied up and whipped, she would be doing so herself.

“Well it seems there is a bit of a mix-up ladies. You see, Mr. Pine has not ordered or authorized your visit and you have not been vetted because Mr. Pine is the kind of client that needs to have an extensive vetting process for everyone around him. Including anyone spending any private time with him. And what’s more is Mr. Pine was not expecting or anticipating your visit and is not willing or accepting of it either, which no offense to you, this was a prank by who requested your presence here tonight. So, there are two options for you. One is, you simply accept the down payment and go to your next client. Or the man who did make the arrangements can enjoy his gift himself and you can receive the other half of your payment for any and all services rendered to him instead.”  Violet offered as the girls looked at each other and shrugged.

“Two?” They decided.

“Then right this way.” Violet said as she then opened her room and led the way.

“Oh Phillip Darling.” Violet called out in a sickeningly sweet tone just as Miss Patrice and Miss Julie were already tying up Phillip who was already naked and ready.

“Mr. Pine is politely refusing your gift. So, instead of letting such a gift go to waste- it’s being returned to you. Ladies- Meet Phillip. Here’s the second half of your payment. You ladies have fun and maybe if Miss Julie and Miss Patrice are feeling generous, they’ll teach you a thing about macramé.” Violet offered.

‘Whip him hard ’ Violet mouthed to Julie and Patrice with a look as she also slipped them a few bills of her winnings as they started giggling as they finished slipping the blindfold over Phillip’s eyes.

“You ladies have fun, I’ll be back in an hour and a half.” Violet cooed before she turned and left the room, her shoes hitting the floor extra hard just in time to see Veronica getting Buddy secured for the night.

“Is Mr. Pine in bed yet?” Violet asked.

“Shouldn’t be. Ms. Parr, I had nothing to do with that, should I be looking into it?” Veronica insisted.

“I know. And no need, Phillip did it. He’s testing out weaknesses, as usual. You and your team were fine. I would like a word with Mr. Pine though.” Violet requested before Veronica opened Buddy’s door for her.

“Hey,” Violet greeted, seeing Buddy simply in his room, putting his winnings away into the room’s safe.

“Hey, listen I didn’t…” Buddy began.

“I know Buddy, I know. It’s ok. The way you handled that particular situation was perfect and that was Phillip’s stunt and there was no breach between yourself and your own security. If you are ever faced with a situation that isn’t right you turn to your handler and your security team. So bravo.” Violet reassured him as Buddy blew out a breath of relief.  

“You wouldn’t by any chance be tired or sleepy right now would you?” Violet asked.

“Not...particularly, I’m usually a night owl.” Buddy admitted.

“Would you want to go on a walk with me?” Violet asked hopefully.

“Is that allowed? Would Miss Andrews be ok with that?” Buddy asked as he paused.

“Yeah, all that needs to happen is for me to take temporary ownership of a different client while she takes ownership of mine for a while so I don't literally strangle him with macramé cords.” Violet answered through a gritted smile and a laugh that conveyed she was being serious.

“Yeah, let’s do it then.” Buddy insisted.

“Miss Andrews, I’m requesting a trade in assets so I don't endanger my own, just for the next two hours. Because they’re going to be an hour and a half and then if you could call housekeeping to change the linens and other things in the room when they're done, I would be much obliged.” Violet formally requested.

“You got it.” Veronica agreed.

“Oh and you’re going to hear a lot of noises, surely you can discern between BDSM noises and actual distress right?” Violet asked Veronica while Buddy did his best not to react too strongly to that and keep his snickering to a minimum.

“Of course.” Veronica nodded.

“Mr. Pine.” Violet invited as she took his arm but waived off the rest of the security.

“Get some sleep and some rest guys. We’ll be ok, I need the space from Mr. 2 Year Old right now.” Violet urged them before they nodded and stayed put and just as they got to the lobby, they saw the paparazzi hanging out which gave them both pause.

“Uh, isn’t there a hotel bar on the roof?” Buddy suggested.

“There is.” Violet realized before they went up to the roof and got a table in the farthest corner away from as many people as they could get.  

“So, what was that down there?” Buddy asked.

“A dirty trick.” Violet answered honestly.

“Pisses me off every time he pulls stunts like that. He was trying to see if one- you would disobey the protocol of having an unvetted person by your side. Your friends were ok because you previously knew them for a long time and trusted them and they posed no threat to you personally. Two- he was testing whether or not you still had feelings or leanings for either Mirage or if you had developed anything for myself which was an especially low blow, even for him. Third, he was out to just plain embarrass you because he has no shame. Fourth, he was giving you a catch 22 because on one hand, he “gifted” those girls and their services. So if you take the gift- he can prove you have “weaknesses” which he himself is guilty of, or if you refused- you’re being rude for not accepting a gift. And all I can do is say- I’m sorry. I’m sorry my boss has the maturity of a 2 year old and if I was not contractually obligated to him- I would have quit tonight and probably asked you for a job if my heart wasn’t so set on retirement and the noncompete wasn’t as long or as extensive as it is. Or better yet, I would have taken the largest horse cock dildo Julie always brings and shoved it up his ass without lube.” Violet spat with a snarl of her own as Buddy eagerly listened to her rant.

“Yeah but then you run the risk of the fucker enjoying it.” Buddy ventured which got Violet to crack a grin as he mirrored her as he was so pleased and relieved that Mr. Greek God had flaws that Violet hated. It gave him hope.

“Although if you would have quit and asked for job, I would have given you one, fuck that noncompete. Honestly I would give you anything you ask for. Problem is I’m kind of under house arrest, only my house is in an office building in the business sector and I’m not allowed out much.” Buddy appraised.

“You have another island compound that’s self sustainable, I could go there and just wait.” Violet shrugged.

“You are more than welcome to and you have my open invitation to do just that. But it’s still under construction. And not quite as big or as nice as the last one. And three years is an awfully long time to wait, especially for me. I’ll be honest, I’m not worth it.” Buddy admitted.

“Don’t sell yourself that short.” Violet returned with a playful grin as their drinks were brought to them as they pulled away to accept the drinks but soon had gravitated back together.  

“What would it take for you to break your contract with him?” Buddy asked curiously before Violet held up three fingers while she took a good long pull from her very strong drink.

“Pregnancy which is neigh impossible for reasons, my death, or his death, but if I fail to protect him from his untimely death within the parameters of the contract, then I don’t get my final payment but if I die in the line of duty, my family gets the final payment, no strings attached.” Violet answered.

“What’s your final payment? Or am I not allowed to even ask that?” Buddy asked as Violet debated whether or not to tell him before she went with her gut and gestured for him to get closer before they each leaned as far over as they could and thankfully because of the small table, they were practically nose to nose before Violet went to his ear and whispered it into his ear.

“A hundred million.” Violet breathed as Buddy guffawed like he had gotten sucker punched in the gut.

“Ok, now I gotta know, what’s the noncompete?” Buddy asked as they both leaned their elbows up on the table and held their chins in their hands, only a few mere inches between them and well within kissing distance.

“The noncompete is I can not be what I am for Phillip for anyone else, I can’t be a handler, an assistant, or part of a security detail for anyone in the same fields Phillip is in- which those are almost too numerous to number- for the next ten years.” Violet revealed, still keeping up their closeness and dropping her voice to a low murmur so that only Buddy could hear her.

“But you could be an advisor, or CEO or something like that.” Buddy tried to point out.

“Yeah... I’ll be perfectly honest with you Bud- after this job, the only way you’ll get me in an office is a bank- to cash a check. I never want to wear heels or pencil skirts and business jackets again unless I absolutely want to." Violet answered.

"Why do I get the feeling you're more of a barefoot, toes in the sand kind of person?" Buddy felt compelled to say.

"I don't know why your feeling is absolutely right." Violet confirmed with a bright smile before she giggled as Buddy laughed at the way she worded that.

"Oh my GAWD It's like you're psychic." Violet teased in her best Long Island accent and laughed so hard when Buddy let his head fall off his chin as he slumped onto the table with a whining, whimpering groan as Violet reached out and held his hand with hers which got him to sit up and once again mirror her body language and was happy when she didn't take her hand away, instead she started to trace the scars on his hand and Buddy simply let her do as she pleased because at this point any touch was welcome, if not sorely wanted.  

"I tried so hard not to laugh when she read Phillip as a wet sponge. I mean she was absolutely right and on point for all of it but jeeze. That was brutal." Buddy admitted.

"Oh I know right? God, do you have any idea how much I had to coddle him after that? She was a little too good and he pouts more than any toddler I know." Violet admitted with a scoff.

“But she did read you well, and me, and everyone else at the table. And she is very good at what she does. Almost like she is totally a real psychic.” Violet said, even though her tone was light and teasing, she was still being serious.

“So what are your plans for when your contract is up? Or can you not tell me or would you prefer not to answer at this time?” Violet asked, remembering that his watch still had a listening device and grateful he wasn’t wearing the pin at the moment because Veronica had taken it off back in the room and never put it back on as she gave the watch itself a meaningful glance.

“No it’s ok, honestly, just...business as usual. But definitely without any criminal elements or activity.” Buddy answered which got Violet to smile happily.

“Good, get on the straight and narrow and never get off of it.” Violet admonished.

“Will do.” Buddy confirmed as they took a moment to finish their drinks and order another one.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Violet prodded.

“Ask away.” Buddy invited as he felt the alcohol completely relax himself and loosen his lips, he was liable to tell her anything and everything.

“Do you think that you’ll ever be able to move on romantically or was Natalia it for you or have you already moved on?” Violet asked in a low murmur.

“Well, until Xavier asked about her, I hadn’t thought about her in a while.” Buddy said before he figured now was a good moment in time to “slip” as he held up his hands to air quote and gave Violet a meaningful look and mouthed ‘for Phillip’ Buddy pointed to the watch.

“Although it’s eerie how similar you are to her and you remind me of her a lot. It’s like you are to Phillip, what she was to me.” Buddy said as Violet could only mouth 'thank you' to him.

“Where there’s a lot of truth in that actually and it’s because of your relationship with Natalia that inspired Xavier to get with Ziva because Ziva has special “gifts” similar to the gifts and talents that Natalia had and they ended up working out and clicking and having off the charts chemistry and fell in love or so she’s told me. And then Phillip wanted his own “gifted and talented” person by his side. Preferably female, preferably the best The Agency had to offer.” Violet revealed as she pulled his hands down and gave him a meaningful look to indicate she was being completely serious.

“The only problem was Phillip went through every other agent that The Agency had available and none of them could stand the gilded cage and quit in rapid succession and every time they tried to find a replacement, they just kept upping the price, trying to make the gilded cage more and more appealing. And the thing was is I had already walked away from The Agency at the time and I had gone into the wind and off the grid, like I only talked to my family through burn phones, because I was healing…” Violet began before emotion choked her voice.

“I was healing from all the horrible things I suffered previously and it was the only way I knew how to survive to keep myself from going supervillain myself. And it gave me perspective and it forced me to be a human being rather than just a Super.” Violet confessed in a very low, small voice that Buddy had to listen up for but it broke his heart all the same.

“And then Phillip gave The Agency an ultimatum, if he couldn’t have his own "Natalia" or “Ziva” rather, he wasn’t going to give them tech or do any business with them and he’d be looking for his own, on his own for a Super who wasn’t with The Agency and they couldn’t chance a villain getting to him and him ‘turning to the dark side’. And that’s when they searched high and low for me, they spent over a million dollars just to find me because I was the last resort and I was the last basket to put all the eggs in. And by that point I had healed just enough to be more or less- kinda, sorta, stable. But I had only healed to the ‘numb’ stage and the ‘I don’t give a fuck anymore’ stage and they both made me offers I couldn’t refuse. The Agency put up 25 million up front, as a "sign on bonus" and this first year I’ve collected an additional ten million, next year- I’ll collect 20 million, and the last year I’ll collect thirty million, just from The Agency, which they are a trillion dollar company, so it’s not like they didn’t have the money and my final payment with them once this contract is fulfilled is 75 million. And then Phillip, matched it and then some. Phillip gave me 50 million to sign on because I was “the best of the best of the best” which The Agency assured and insured that I was and of course he’s matching the increased pay gradient and then of course I got put into bodyguard boot camp for three months in addition to 'how to be an executive assistant and leadership’ courses. And that’s when Mirage got called and pulled back in and she and Ziva themselves trained me in this job. Which was difficult for Ziva because she was pregnant with her son at the time and Mirage had just had Luca. So that’s why I probably remind you of her, because I’m her protégé. I have been her protégé from the age of 16 till now. The last time we talked was a just a week ago when you became an asset and she had some really incredible insights on you, of course her information was a decade old but so far she’s been right on most of it.” Violet revealed.

“That...that explains everything.” Buddy had to realize. “So what has she been wrong about?” Buddy asked curiously.

“Your ego. It’s not nearly as massive and all encompassing as it was a decade ago. And instead of trying to make the world fit you and your vision, you’re the one doing what you can to accept and work with your current circumstances and your willingness to work with everyone else, and be a team player, especially with the medical personnel who actually really like you and I heard a rumor that once you’re done with SEB, if you’re going to stay in medicine, they’ll be sending you resumes because they haven't signed noncompetes. You’re also way less entitled than she said you were. Also the video that got me to see you for you, and to realize that things have changed, I had her watch it when we last spoke. She cried. Like she was sobbing. She was and is so proud of you for all the personal growth you’ve done and she made me promise to help you as much as I could. And I’ve been happy to do just that and then once she watched it, she had all kinds of insights and ideas. Like this outing- going to Vegas and seeing your friends, this was her idea and because it was her idea and because she vouched for you and me to Phillip that Phillip was ok with it. And it’s this aspect of my job that I, surprisingly, enjoy the most. Because with Phillip, I’m clearly babysitting. But with you, I’m just hanging out with a friend and it’s easy and such a welcome break because I feel like...I feel like I can just be Violet with you and I don’t constantly have to be Ms. Parr. If you catch my drift. And that’s only because you’re always just you. Both Natalia and Ziva showed me the importance of being a good mirror. So since you’re just you and you’re being genuine and honest and sincere with me. It’s easy and practically effortless for me to be the same. You’re my favorite part of the job and I’m really going to miss you when it’s all over. And it’s because of that that I am dreading so much the possibility of you breaking your own contract and trying to fly the coop earlier than you should because I don’t want to destroy one of the very few very good things in my life.” Violet professed as she wiped a stray tear from her eyes despite her faltering smile and Buddy both wanted to cry and hug her and kiss her and promise and swear his undying love and loyalty to her and only her for the rest of his life but he couldn't quite get the words past his own mouth.

“I don’t want you to destroy me either. And you are the single, greatest most amazing thing in my life too, at the moment, and you make all of this bearable and worth it. And it will be because of you and only you that I promise that I’ll never try to break free either. At least until your contract is up. Because that’s what friends should do. Help each other.” Buddy offered, damning his own cowardice for not confessing to more which got Violet to smile appreciatively.

“Deal.” Violet offered before she got a call on her phone.

“Yeah?” She answered.

“We have a problem.” Veronica offered.

“Oh for fuck’s sake what did Phillip do now?” Violet groaned in a whimpering whine.

“Cocaine.”  Veronica answered in all seriousness before Violet’s eyes snapped wide open.

“Fuck, I’ll be right there.” Violet said.

“Ok, I’m extending the tether by a thousand feet, that should be more than enough to get you back to your room, settle us up, I’ll pay you back for mine, I gotta go, Phillip’s high as a kite.” Violet quickly offered as she hopped off her high bar stool and left as Violet started jogging down to the elevator.

“Ok, what am I walking into?” Violet asked into the phone.

“He did about two and a half lines of coke off of Invisigirl’s ass.” Veronica answered.

“And?” Violet pressed.

“He thinks he can fly and was trying to leap off the balcony, but Julie and Patrice have him tied to the bed and currently the guards are restraining Mirage and Invisigirl to keep them from untying him because for some reason it’s like they’re brainwashed.” Veronica said.

“Ok, I’m in the elevator, Mr. Pine and myself were thankfully only at the hotel bar on the roof just getting a drink, so at least I didn’t go too far and he’s up there settling us up so I can come down and I extended the tether so he can come later. Fuck. I can’t leave Phillip alone for five minutes. We weren’t gone but what...27 minutes. Not even half an hour. I knew I should have gone through those protocols with them before I left. God fucking damnit!” Violet cursed herself angrily.

“Veronica, this isn’t on you, this on me, this was my lapse in judgement. I knew it was gonna bite me in the ass. At least we have the situation under control and stable right?” Violet furthered.

“We do, for now.” Veronica assured her.

“Good, I’ll get there as soon as the elevator gets me there.” Violet urged before she hung up.

Violet got to the floor and booked it to the room and quickly threw her stuff in a chair as she came over to Phillip who was writhing and trying to hump the air.

“What happened?” Violet put to Patrice.

“Invisigirl brought the MDMA, Mirage brought the coke- He did both in the bathroom when they were “cleaning up” for the second act, he took the MDMA first before we could stop him and when we heard them shushing each other, we knew something was up and we walked in on him snorting coke off Invisigirl’s ass, they had five lines, he did the first two lines and was halfway through the third. That’s when we got the others. I’m so sorry Ms. Parr, I thought they were…” Patrice tried to explain apologetically

“No, I didn’t clear them, I should have, I was too pissed at him and wanted him to suffer more than the usual, so this is on me. Thank you guys for interfering. You did the right thing. Veronica, please tell me you have Narcan.” Violet urged.

“It’s already administered.” Veronica offered.

“Thank God,” Violet murmured.

“Hey, Mirage- what happened?” Violet asked as she came over to her to try to get her side.

“We were just having a good time but Philly needs to fly, we have to untangle him, he needs to fly free!” The girl professed as she continued to struggle against the holds that Phillip’s other body guards had on her and Violet could only look sadly at her because MDMA and cocaine both intensified Phillip's powers and he was using his powers on them to get them to do what he wanted, the weaker the mind, the stronger the effect.

“Invisigirl? What happened.” Violet asked, hoping her mind was stronger.

“Philly paid for Mr. Pine to have the Hollywood treatment and if Mr. Pine didn’t want it, do it once he passed out. But since we couldn’t do it for Mr. Pine, Philly said he’d take it himself.” She answered and if Violet had been pissed before, she was livid now as her eyes once again burned a luminescent ultraviolet.

“How long ago did Philly order this?” Violet pressed.

“This morning.” Invisigirl answered before she noticed Violet’s eyes.

“Woah, are you a Super?” Invisigirl asked before Violet got up and stomped over to a bag she had in the closet.

“I need to secure the Supers in the chairs.” Violet ordered as she got the machine out of her bag and got it set up as the girls tried to fight the bodyguards who forced them into the chairs as Patrice and Julie helped tie them in the chairs before Violet used her device and erased the last 24 hours of their memories and knocked them out.

“Veronica, go down to the front desk, get a room for these two to stay the night in.” Violet urged before the now passed out girls were untied and put on the bed with Phillip who was starting to come down from his high.

“What about us?” Patrice asked as she gestured to Julie and herself as Violet got to her purse and pulled out a few more thousand dollars and handed it to each of them.

“As always, this never happened. Thank you so much for doing everything you did tonight and making sure this didn’t blow up in my face anymore than it did. I owe you ladies. Thank you so much for your services, they’re appreciated.” Violet thanked them before giving them each a hug.

“No problem, anything for you and Mr. Sebastian.” They mirrored as they finished getting redressed and packed their things up and left before Violet went over to Phillip who had finally fallen asleep before she went through untying him. Grateful she knew all these different knots and how to untie them before Veronica came back and was directing the body guards to pick up the other two girls and take them and their things to another room in the hotel just as Buddy was getting back and got to see the two girls being carried out as Phillip was moved to the couch just as housekeeping was coming to the clean and scrub the room of all the evidence as Violet put her device back and gathering the chord they used to tie them all up and threw it away with gloves as she paused when she saw Buddy looking into the room curiously as she came over to him.

“What happened in here?” Buddy murmured quietly.

“Both nothing yet, way too much, I’ll tell you when we get back to SEB, get to bed before anyone sees you snooping.” Violet urged him and once housekeeping was done, she uncloaked her super suit from under her clothes and pulled off a special device that looked like a small spider and put it on Phillip’s chest and pressed to turn it on.

“Scrub Phillip.” She ordered before it seemed to multiply as the nano technology began to clean Phillip from any contamination on the molecular level other than his own biome which had already been programed into it as they all roamed his body as Violet just shook her head as she got ready for bed herself and once it had finished, it chirped at her as it reorganized itself into it’s previous spider shape as she came and got it and put it back into her suit before Phillip’s body guards picked Phillip up and put him into bed before Violet tucked him in and bid everyone a good night before she put another special sensor on Phillip to make sure he didn’t die in the night before she retreated to the second bedroom in the room and went to bed.

Violet found herself on a beach, in a cabana, it felt Mediterranean to her before Buddy came into the cabana wearing just a pair of swim trunks carrying two drinks and passed one to her.

“Aw, thank you Mr. Pine.” Violet found herself saying as she eagerly took it from him.

“You’re welcome Mrs. Pine.” Buddy grinned before he kissed her sweetly and then settled in next to her on the daybed on the other side.

“What I miss?” Buddy asked.

“Nothing much, did you see the news?” Violet asked as she showed him her phone before Buddy whistled lowly.

“Yikes, wouldn’t want to be that guy.” Buddy appraised before he handed it back to her as Violet refocused on her phone to see a picture of Phillip and some blonde girl. It was a paparazzi picture of the two of them trying to get to their sports car as it was reported about a scandal and possible rumors of a divorce.

“Just think Honey, that could have been you.” Buddy teased her.

“Could have. Grateful it isn’t. Much happier right where I am and who I’m with.” Violet cooed as she cuddled into his side, happy to use his arm as her pillow before Buddy used the condensation from his drink to boop her nose, getting the tip of her nose wet which got them to giggle as Violet wiped it off on his chest before they settled back in as Buddy simply stroked her arm with his fingertips, savoring the silky softness of her bare skin as they simply laid there and relaxed.

Then the dream morphed and they were in bed and wrapped up in blankets and each other.

“Easy, easy, sunburn babe.” Buddy reminded her.

“Sorry.” Violet answered as she let up from clawing his back with her fingertips as he was already seated as far into her as he could get before he started up again and while Violet had had sex more times than she could count, this sex felt so much more sacred because it was heartfelt and created out of love instead of lust or boredom or anything like that. Just two in love people making love. And that’s all either of them could ask for.

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Shadow Over Seventh Heaven Review, Part I: Last Night I Dreamt I Went to Maljardin Again

Once, April Tennant had been the greatest screen star of all. Even now that this stunning creature was gone, the victim of a hideous accident, her name still cast a magic glow. And nowhere was her haunting spell more alive than within her great walled estate of San Rafael.

It was here that April had lived in her storybook marriage with famed actor Richard Morgan. It was here that her memory was worshipped still. And it was here that lovely young Jenny Summers came as Richard Morgan's new bride--to discover the terror behind the tinsel in this place transformed from a paradise of the living to a hell of the undead.... (inside front cover)

Welcome, fellow Strangers and all others who happen upon this post. This week, I have decided to begin a new series exploring the Gothic novels written by co-creator and first headwriter of Strange Paradise, Ian Martin, under the pen name Joen Arliss. Mostly, the purpose of this series will be to compare the plot and characters of Strange Paradise and those of his novels and what that may indicate about his original intentions for the overarching story of the soap opera.

I got the idea to start this series while writing my review of Episode 26, after the contents of an article referenced in one of the scenes reminded me of the events in this book. On his now-defunct website Maljardin.com, Curt Ladnier covered some of the similarities between “Here Goes the Bride,” the CBS Radio Mystery Theater drama from which this book was adapted, and Strange Paradise, but I wanted to dive deeper and do one of my characteristic overanalyses. So fly with me to the grand southwestern estate of San Rafael and together let’s explore Shadow Over Seventh Heaven--and let me warn you, there will be spoilers for the entire Maljardin arc of SP.

As noted above, Shadow Over Seventh Heaven is an adaptation of a radio drama that Martin wrote for CBS Radio Mystery Theater. CBSRMT is, perhaps unquestionably, Ian Martin’s most famous work. Created by Himan Brown in 1974 and running for 1,399 nightly episodes, Martin wrote a total of 243 (including many adaptations of literary classics) and acted in 255, typically in supporting roles. He continued writing and acting on the series all the way until his death in 1981 at the age of 69. Given my tendency to procrastinate, which sometimes makes it difficult to write just one episode review a week even when I’m not busy, I envy him for being such a prolific writer. I suspect that all the soap scripts he wrote got him into the habit, and he just couldn’t break it.

Even more extraordinary is that he wrote and published five novels during the same period that he worked on CBSRMT. His first was Nightmare’s Nest (1979), an adaptation of the CBSRMT play “The Deathly White Man” (and not the other drama, also by him, of the same name), which is his answer to Jane Eyre and which also has some interesting connections with SP which I plan to explore in another review series. Next came this novel, and then Beloved Victim (1981), adapted from “A Lady Never Loses Her Head,” which I don’t recall having anything noteworthy in common with SP, but I may need to re-read it to make sure. He also wrote two mystery novels, The Shark Bait Affair and The Ladykiller Affair, for the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series, but those are both very rare now and I haven’t yet read either, so I can’t say anything about them. The book Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction does, however, provide some information on their protagonist, Kate Graham, along with short plot summaries. As someone with two trunk novels from the last decade and about fifty pages of a third--which I mostly stopped working on after I started this blog--I also envy him for this. How on Earth did he find the time?

But I digress. Like that of “Here Goes the Bride,” the plot of Shadow Over Seventh Heaven draws heavy inspiration from Daphne du Maurier’s famous Gothic romance Rebecca, but with some major differences in plot and characterization. The novel fleshes out the radio drama some more, adding additional details and plot twists that aren’t present in the original play, which arguably make it more interesting. One gets the impression that he had a lot of story in mind while he penned the original drama, but knew he could only squeeze so much into a 45-minute radio play and so had to leave many of the most interesting details out.

But that’s enough background information. Let’s begin our analysis and see what Ian Martin’s later work can tell us about his original intentions for Strange Paradise.

Introduction

The face is lovely, matchless....

Opening like some gigantic and exotic flower as the camera zooms in...

It fills the screen, flawless, enticing....

The lower lip glistens, pulled away from those perfect teeth, trembling ever so slightly, promising undreamed-of delights for the man brave enough to taste its forbidden fruit....

The skin glows with an inner light....

The eyes beyond the thick fringe of dark eyelashes shimmer with the deep violet of a tropical night....

The pitiless exposé of the camera is defeated, no matter how close it probes in close-up....

This is beauty without blemish....

This is everyman's dream woman--sex symbol of the nation, and most of the world....

This is April Tennant!

Strange to think of her dead, for on the screen she is captured forever in all her vibrancy and stunning beauty....

Impossible to think of her lying, mangled and bleeding on the rocks, while the hungry sea licks out as if to possess her.

Incredible to think of her cold and in the grave. Which she has been for twelve months--or this story never would have begun (p. 5).

The first page of the novel introduces us to April Tennant, this novel’s Rebecca and also its Erica Desmond. Like Rebecca, she is the first wife of the protagonist’s love interest, whose tragic death will cast a shadow over her former estate. Like Erica, she was a famous actress--probably more so than Erica ever was--but the cause of her death is not the same as the alleged cause of Erica’s. In Episode 5 of Strange Paradise, Erica’s grieving husband Jean Paul claims that she died of eclampsia while pregnant with their son, although evidence uncovered by other characters in later episodes leads them to contest that claim. Instead, April’s death resembles that of Huaco, the wife of Jean Paul’s ancestor Jacques Eloi des Mondes who died when she fell from a cliff on Maljardin, Jacques’ island estate.

In this introduction, we also see what will become a theme of the novel: gaze. Not just the male gaze--the obvious POV of the introduction--but, more generally, the viewing of April Tennant almost exclusively through the eyes of other characters, both male and female. We never learn much about her inner life, even as we learn those of Jenny (our protagonist), Richard, and others. April is largely a mystery, a larger-than-life figure of ideal beauty who, in the eyes of the public, is more a legend than she is flesh and blood. It’s the same mystique that surrounds celebrities in real life that often makes other people forget that they, too, are human--if, indeed, that’s what April was. Or is there more to it? I guess we’ll have to find it.

Chapter 1

The first chapter begins with a detailed description of San Rafael--and by detailed, I mean that Ian Martin spends one and a half pages describing its wall, followed by two on the mansion itself. I won’t type out too many passages from this book for copyright reasons--for, unlike Strange Paradise, this book is still under copyright--but I will include some highlights. The wall surrounding the castle “was thick enough at the bottom to withstand any tremor of the California earth...topped by a corona of jagged broken glass and it ran for a mile and three-quarters in a great semicircle away from the rocky Pacific coast and back to it again” (p. 6). On its gate,

The ironwork swept and swirled in great balanced curlicues, and the frame was heavy and studded. The studs held great sheets of blackened steel, heavy enough to withstand a battering ram, blocking any vision of the grounds the wall concealed. And the vertical members of the scrollwork reared high above the frame of the door and the top of the wall in a bristling array of spikes, sharp as swords, arched forward to further discourage any hardy trespasser who might try to climb their height (pp. 6-7).

In case you haven’t already figured it out, Martin loved his purple prose. If you don’t like Byzantine descriptions of architecture, ironwork, clothing, or anything else, you probably shouldn’t read this book or any of Martin’s other novels. (Nightmare’s Nest is far purpler, however, than this one. There’s an entire chapter in there devoted to describing the protagonist’s lush Edwardian finery.) Fortunately for me, I love this kind of thing and will gladly devour description after description of gates covered in iron curlicues. My literary tastes tend toward “more is more” and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

We learn that San Rafael is a reconstruction of an old Spanish mission, commissioned by April and built in part by Richard himself, “who personally took charge of putting in all the glass that fronted on the sea.” The gardens that surround it give it “a riot of color--bougainvillea, hibiscus, passionflowers, trumpet vines--all enhanced and set off against the majesty of rows of carefully spaced Italian cedar, or Lombardy poplar” (pp. 7-8).

Despite all this radiant beauty--and as one might expect for reconstructed ruins from the era of Spanish colonialism--the estate is believed to be cursed, at least by “the superstitious peons who built the walls” (p. 9).  (That’s what the book uncharitably describes the Mexican builders--some parts of this book haven’t aged well, as you will see.) Two men died while rebuilding it, followed by April herself around a decade later.

Surprisingly, we learn at the end of this chapter that Richard Morgan’s background differs from that of Jean Paul Desmond. An actor himself, he “was king of the theater, and of East Coast entertainment. Their marriage was a royal one, and it vaulted both of them to new and undreamed-of heights of popularity” (pp. 9-10). It was this popularity that drove them to wall themselves in at San Rafael and use the police and guard dogs to keep rabid fans and paparazzi away--which, ultimately, didn’t work and only led to “a new wave of interest and snooping” (p. 10).

Chapter 2

Here we meet Richard’s sister Lisa, who is...well...quite an interesting character. She’s a beautiful woman with short hair, a deep voice, and--most importantly--an unusual, creepy level of attachment to her brother.

Cersei Lannister Lisa Morgan.

Lisa has just received a phone call from the Philippines where her brother is. The call has left her “literally stunned” (p. 11), which means that the modern slang meaning of “literally” dates back 30+ years longer than I thought. Surprisingly, she isn’t drinking wine to calm her nerves like Cersei above, but that’s her loss.

As she gazes at the ocean to the west, her housekeeper, Conchita Aguilar,  enters. Chita (as she is usually called) has not just worked as April’s housekeeper for most of her life, but also "she and her husband, Juan, had quite literally brought up April” (p. 13); as a result, she is fiercely loyal to the family of her deceased mistress. Here is a portrait of her:

Looking at the tiny woman with her bright button eyes, the black Indian hair swept stiffly away from her face, parted in the middle and tidily put away in a tight bun low on the back of her neck, Lisa was surprised at the sudden urge to go and take this familiar person in her arms--or better still have Chita take her in hers.[...]Chita might be tiny, but she was all steel and whipcord (p. 13).

Sound familiar?

Yes, Chita bears a resemblance to our beloved Raxl. They even have a similar background, for Raxl, too, comes from a people indigenous to Mexico, according to Episode 23.  Like Raxl, Chita is very old and has a mysterious magnetism that draws some people to her (which, in Raxl’s case, includes me). There are some minor differences--Chita doesn’t worship the Great Serpent, she uses gratuitous Spanish instead of gratuitous French, she has a living husband and grandson--but they are, in most ways, the same character. It’s clear that Ian Martin didn’t want to part with Raxl, and I don’t blame him one bit.

Also, for whatever reason, he was oddly insistent on both of them having a specific hairstyle. If you read the original script for the show’s pilot, you will see that he was almost as specific about Raxl’s hairstyle, mentioning “her hair tightly drawn over her ears to a small bun,” but less detailed about those of the other characters. Just an odd detail that probably bears little significance, but that I noticed.

Lisa tells Chita that Richard is on his way home with a new wife, a young, very wealthy orphan named Jenny Summers whom he met in the Philippines. This angers the ancient housekeeper, who argues that Jenny can never come to San Rafael

Because there is no place for her here--en la casa de La Señora! Everything here is hers--she still lives here, and will always live here. Her perfume is in every room, her pictures are everywhere, every ornament and ashtray and book I keep just the way she last touched it. There is no room for any other wife here! Oh, she will feel it, she will know it, because La Señora would never permit another woman to take her place (p. 16)!

Lisa insists that, despite the risk that Jenny won’t want to live on the estate and despite her equal displeasure about the situation, Chita keep an open mind regarding her and try not to be such a Mrs. Danvers about the situation. (OK, so she doesn’t actually say the last part; that’s just my paraphrase.) She also tries to pressure Chita into helping her take down the mementos of April at Richard’s orders, which she objects to, both for sentimental reasons and because they don’t have time to have the enormous fresco of April that adorns the former chapel. (Symbolism!)

“It was a breathless and yet terrible beauty. For any woman who stood next to it had to be eclipsed” (p. 20).

Yes, you read that right: they rededicated the mission’s former chapel to the silver screen sex goddess April Tennant. After their wedding, Richard had a giant fresco of her painted there in place of its former altar. This is a clear indication that one or more of the people in this household worship April, whether literally or figuratively. More than that, the portrait glows like that of THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES, and seems, like Jacques’ portrait, to be alive, the living essence of a dead person. “Most haunting of all was the feeling that this was the woman--that she could not have died, that any moment she would step off the wall, and her silver laughter would fill the house again (p. 20).”

I’m sorry, Jacques. ;)

Coming up next: Jenny arrives at San Rafael and tries to adjust to living on an estate where almost everyone but Richard acts like they hate her.

{ Next: Part II -> }

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 4x02-- The Gang Tries to Serve a Subpoena

Under the cut.

This isn’t the first episode of season 4, but since it’s the first episode that doesn’t take place in an AU… it’s basically the first episode. 

Reddick, Boseman, and Lockhart has been rebranded as “RBL: A division of STR Laurie”. Remember when Will tried to rebrand Lockhart/Gardner as “LG”? At least RBL isn’t a well-known appliance brand. But I think this might be the same “sleek” font as the LG rebrand.

The acquisition of the firm has led to a remodel. I enjoy how every season RBL looks a little bit less like the LG set.

This remodel makes the offices look like a spaceship/villain’s lair/cyberpunk nightclub. There is a giant spiky cocoon thing (nope, I don’t have better words to describe that) coming out of the ceiling in the conference room and a new spiral staircase near the name partners’ offices. It looks ridiculous and intimidating (and it is supposed to). 

There are also dogs roaming around off lash.

And neon lights and a giant fucking GARGOYLE outside of Adrian’s office. It’s so huge it looks like it was taken from the Harold Washington Library. (This may be the most authentically Chicago thing in this episode.)

Much like the last episode, the first thing we see after the teaser is Diane arriving at work and being greeted by Marissa. And, also much like the last episode, Diane is disoriented.

As it turns out, there’s been a bit of a time jump since the end of the last episode-- Diane’s been traveling/resting (doctor’s orders), so this is her first day back to work in 9 months. “What happened here?” Diane asks. Does it make sense a name partner would be so out of the loop on major renovations? Nah. We are not meant to spend much time wondering why Diane/Adrian/Liz would agree to an acquisition or how the talks played out. This is the premise for season 4 and we’re just supposed to accept it. I’m usually wary of this kind of re-premising, but this doesn’t bug me too much. We saw last season the firm had no identity (bc when the firm had an identity in season 1 it was ALL BC OF BARBARA KOLSTAD) and we saw them lose their top clients. Diane’s been on leave so she probably wasn’t that involved in conversations, Adrian probably welcomes acquisition because it’s more money, and Liz… has always only been idealistic to a point.

My point is: our heroes aren’t actually, and have never been, heroes. Sure, they’re the underdogs dealing with a big corporation… but also, they sold to the big corporation.

Marissa says the cocoon spike thing is a sunset. K.

Jay’s never been up to STR Laurie’s floor. The dogs running around, however, have been upstairs. Monday and Wednesday are pet days, but the pets always come through the RBL floor instead of the STR Laurie floor. 

The name partners can bring dogs. (How many name partners are there if there are this many dogs and STR Laurie is at most 4 people and RBL is 3 and none of the RBL partners brought in dogs?)

JUSTICE FOR JUSTICE! (Poor Justice is probably not still around 11 years later but I had to say it.)

In the partners’ meeting, even the food everyone’s eating looks more upscale. Adrian officially welcomes Diane back. One of the non-name partners is not so happy to have her back. Or, rather, he’s not so happy the name partners got a ton of money in the deal and the non-name partners got screwed. Fair point.

I guess neither Lucca nor Rosalyn got the partnership.

Adrian expositions that they were acquired because they couldn’t survive after losing ChumHum, and STR Laurie is the 7th largest firm in the world. Got it. 

Diane’s check from the acquisition of the firm is so huge it stuns her. You would think she would have known these details. But we’re here now and this show works better if you look at the themes instead of wanting all of the character motivations to always make sense. I’d probably be chewing this plot out if it happened on TGW-- why would x make y decision!? Why didn’t we get to see it!?-- but with TGF I have an easier time accepting radical changes in tone. 

And TGF did need a change in tone. You can’t get that much mileage out of episodes about 45 (whose name might not even be mentioned this ep? I will try to look out for that as I watch) and clearly no one on the writing staff is interested in small, character driven intraoffice power struggles as the primary plots. If the writers have something to say about massive corporations, I’d rather sacrifice a few scenes of character development for a season that has a POV than sit through a season as uninspired as s7 of TGW.

(Perhaps this is why I’ve always liked TGW season 6 more than others-- it’s messy, but it’s INTERESTING. I like the Kings’ work best when it has energy and say what you will about season 6, but it’s not lacking for energy.) 

There is a dog peeing on Adrian’s office door and he is NOT happy about it (no one would be, but he is ESPECIALLY fed up). One gets the sense he’s not just appalled that it’s happening but tired of the dogs altogether. 

Diane is summoned to go upstairs to meet with the overlords. According to Adrian, Mr. Laurie isn’t bad, but Mr. Firth might be. 

Upstairs, there is a very long, very white hallway. It looks like it’s out of a sci-fi movie. 

I see TGF has finally leaned in to their tradition of casting British actors by just… having STR Laurie be a British firm. 

The set decoration of Mr. Firth’s office looks like it belongs on Evil. It’s over the top, has a piece of art that looks like horns (much like the therapist monster thingy… just watch Evil okay) and light fixtures that are clearly crosses. 

Mr. Firth asks Diane what she wants to do and she says she wants to get back to work. “What work?” he asks. Diane wants to get back to her clients and Mr. Firth tells a story about a poor man who wanted to give everything, even the moon, to a thief. Neither Diane nor I understand. Mr. Firth says this story is about how he’s giving Diane her “moon” by having her head up their pro-bono cases because she shines when she has a goliath to face. True, but what does this have to do with the story!? I legit thought that story was going to be about how Diane gives too much of herself and should learn to accept high pay checks while doing no work and getting out of STR Laurie’s way. Maybe I missed something?

Anyway, Diane is getting the pro bono department with 22 lawyers and 40 cases. This is to keep her happy and to make STR Laurie look good. Feels too good to be true. Diane gets investigator time and partner billable hours, and she’s told this is fine-- make the firm a good citizen no matter how much it costs. WTF is going on here? Is this a trick?

Diane walks downstairs, happy, as Lucca heads up the stairs. Maybe she’s not a partner, but she’s important enough to be summoned upstairs. 

Mr. Firth explains to Lucca that he is “the sorting hat of lawyers.” Lucca explains she’s never read Harry Potter because she doesn’t “like wizard shit.” Impressively brave to say that to your new overlord, Lucca. I have missed you and your give no fucks attitude. 

“Yes, fuck wizard shit,” Mr. Firth responds, somewhat stiltedly. 

Mr. Firth wants Lucca to work on a divorce case for one of their top clients as the client has a personality clash with their head of family law. Their head of family law is, of course, David Lee. Welcome back, I guess. At least David Lee happening to end up at this firm that acquired RBL makes a ton more sense than all the ways they found to keep David Lee relevant to TGW in its last two seasons. 

David Lee hasn’t changed a bit.

Diane’s first client is XIOMARA VILLANUEVA!!!!!! 

But in this universe, she’s a restaurant owner whose restaurant is about to be torn down because of eminent domain. Diane tries one of her usual tricks- asking Xo (I’m sure she has a name on this show and once they say it again I will stop calling her Xo) to bring her food truck outside of the courthouse so everyone can smell how great her food is and be more sympathetic to her case. 

“You’re not the lawyer I expected,” Xo tells Diane. Diane responds, “I’ve changed.” Diane, I am pretty sure that’s not what she meant, but ok!

Lucca and David Lee’s first meeting with Bianca Skye, the high profile client, is a bit awkward, but Bianca instantly takes a liking to Lucca. (“I didn’t know this firm had any black lawyers,” Bianca notes. “Oh, they hide us,” Lucca jokes. But it’s not really a joke when all the black lawyers are the RBL staff and they’re on a different floor…)

David Lee has Bianca tell Lucca her whole case-- which is fairly straightforward-- with way too much detail. Before Lucca asks David if he’s just trying to run up billable hours, it’s clear he’s dragging this out on purpose.

“Oh good, the Angry Black Woman has made an appearance,” awful human being David Lee says after Lucca calls him out. 

David Lee plays rank on her and tells her to watch and learn. Yes, making a racist comment and then being condescending without explaining your strategy is DEFINITELY the way to get the lawyer characterized by her complete lack of interest in being a cog in a machine on your side. 

Adrian, Liz, and Barry are all helping Diane do a mock trial before her first day back in court. It’s fun. 

Adrian is SO over the dogs. His face when a pack of them run past is priceless. 

Diane’s mock trial strategy goes well; the evidence is on her side. And Julius, as luck would have it, is the judge on this case. (Why this is in federal court I don’t know.)

Julius is very happy to be a judge. 

Canning is back. Feels weird to have him here without Alicia. But, honestly, I was prepared for worse. As we’ll see as this scene progresses, Canning is the PERFECT person to have as opposing counsel. If there’s a new rule to exploit, he’d be the first to know about it. If there’s a slimy strategy to use while playing innocent, that’s his schtick. If there’s a corporation doing bad things, he’s your guy. 

Canning tries to explain his condition to Julius. I guess Julius must have been in the New York office when Canning was at LG in late season 5. Diane laughs, knowing that Julius can’t be tricked by Canning. 

Canning probably also knows it won’t work, because he’s already prepared to ask Julius to recuse himself. I feel like this is entirely reasonable. Diane isn’t just an acquaintance… they were partners at the same firm for over a decade.

Diane is TOTALLY the type of white lady to overdo the pronunciation of “chorizo”. 

The delicious smelling food seems like it’s going to work, but we quickly learn that what used to constitute tricky is now just child’s play. The CEO of Rare Orchard, who has been subpoenaed, has decided not to show up. He doesn’t have an excuse. He isn’t delaying. He’s just not going to show up. Like, remember when we thought it was egregious that the CEO Canning was defending in 4x11 kept putting off depositions and Alicia calling the judge was an effective strategy? HA! (Anyone know if this case is based on something or if it’s the writers taking some creative liberties for the sake of plot? My fear is that aspects of it are real because I can’t see the writers being this interested in a plot point they invented.)

Canning says he thinks the CEO doesn’t recognize the legitimacy of the subpoena. Julius reminds Canning that he is a federal judge and his subpoena is legitimate. Canning is all, “yes, I know that’s your position” as though laws are opinions. AAAAAAAAA.

This show loves this kind of thing, just totally taking the basic assumptions away and letting chaos reign. 

This CEO sent Julius a memo telling him to “go fuck yourself.” Eeek.

Diane doesn’t even get to do much lawyering.

Then there is a random cut (which I hate) to a scene of a massive set falling apart during a battle scene. Why the fuck is this here? And what is this from? If I ff to the credits will it tell me? Nope. Dammit. Someone help me out here. 

Credits! Things are exploding again, yay! Aside from the images on the TV, these credits look really similar to S3. I think they may have increased the saturation on the color of the liquids exploding but I could be making things up.

Julius’s outrage at the situation continues after the credits. 

David Lee tries to get Lucca to agree to just be comforting to the client. Lucca is like, no, because I was brought on for a reason I am going to do my job. 

DLee calls this “PC shit” and says something else racist. Bianca answers the door and asks to do the depo prep on the run. What this means is that they’re all getting on her private jet and going to St. Lucia. 

David Lee is TERRIFIED of the private jet. I would be too since I hate small planes (and all planes, but particularly small ones), but I am still enjoying watching him squirm. Lucca is too. 

Lucca DELIGHTS in reminding David they’re in a small metal tube with nothing holding them up. It’s fantastic. 

Bianca offers David Lee a CBD cocktail, because of course she does. This episode is doing a good job of reminding me of why David Lee and Canning were both once really effective characters, so if the writers can use them this way moving forward, I’ll be happy.

Bianca googled Lucca and demands to see pictures of her very cute baby. She then takes Lucca’s phone and starts up Tinder. This is a strange dynamic because it’s friendly but also sudden and also Bianca is paying Lucca for this time. But both of them could use friends, so I’m just going to be cautiously optimistic a real friendship could grow out of this. 

David Lee chugging a CBD cocktail is most definitely something I needed in my life. Thank you writers! 

Our characters are wealthy but everyone they deal with in this episode is ultrawealthy. Like, disgustingly wealthy. Bianca seems nice but holy shit no one needs to fly to St. Lucia for lunch. 

Court stuff happens. This episode is more interesting than just “court stuff happens” but the point is pretty simple-- Julius gets increasingly outraged at the breakdown of the system he believes in, and things keep getting more and more bizarre. 

Julius turns to the corrupt judge Adrian is sleeping with (I think the writers need to tell me what I am supposed to think of her because… I just don’t understand who she’s supposed to be, unless “corrupt judge who creeps me out yet for some reason Adrian is still into” is the point OR unless I am supposed to see her corruption as somehow excusable... ) for advice. She calls their job “shadow play” and says the system is all fake. That would explain why she’s open to bribery, then. She agrees to help Julius get the CEO into court, but I think she’s just helping to illustrate how futile this will be if he tries to resist again.

David Lee also doesn’t like the food on the island. It’s so funny. 

Lucca’s dress is really cute.

Bianca says Lucca must think she’s crazy for flying just to get guava for lunch. Lucca says, “No, it’s just a very different lifestyle from mine.” That’s an understatement. Bianca’s life changed in the last few years, and she’s worried it’s all going to go away (so, it’s implied, she’s living it up now). It seems she has some sort of skincare/cosmetics empire. 

Bianca is worried that in the next recession (oh look at that timely comment), her products will be the first thing people cut back on. Curious to know if this is happening. 

Bianca’s other concern is that she has no friends now because she’s rich. Everyone wants something. “You’re so full of shit,” Lucca says, refusing to pity Bianca. This makes Bianca like her more. 

Bianca talks about a service to matchmake friends. She found it weird, but she doesn’t find “this” (befriending Lucca, even though she is probably paying Lucca WAY more than the friend matchmaker fee) weird. Lucca is always entering into friendships so formally! Okay it’s just two scenes (this one and the one where she and Alicia become friends) but still.

Lucca reminds Bianca she’s also her lawyer.

Bianca asks if DLee is drawing out the case. She’s not stupid. Lucca says David isn’t drawing it out, but I think they both know the answer.

(Question based on what happens later in the ep- if David actually has reasoning, then why in the world would he not tell Bianca OR Lucca about it? And why do they need to have overly long meetings to draw things out? Can’t they just schedule them with large gaps? Idk the whole thing is weird and if David isn’t going to share his strategy that’s on him.)

The CEO finally shows up in court and Julius thinks he’s won. He hasn’t. He says he’s asserting privilege he can’t reveal because it is privileged. The CEO acts like Julius is in the wrong, which pisses Julius off. The CEO gets held in custody and Julius says that the restaurant can’t be bulldozed until the CEO complies. 

Then Julius gets the mysterious MEMO 618. Dun dun dun. 

I know there must be more but I feel like we know what Memo 618 is? Like, no we don’t know who sent it or exactly what it means, but we know the effect of what it does. What is the mystery? Who sent it? 

At night, Julius takes the mystery memo to Judge Hazelwood. She plays dumb because-- as we find out later-- Adrian is within earshot. Adrian’s jacket is apparently very recognizable because Julius spots it. I believe it; Adrian has a distinctive style. 

Adrian talks about taking their relationship public. So Judge Hazelwood bribing people didn’t end the relationship? 

Adrian also asks about Memo 618. He knows she knows what it is. She distracts him by getting on top of him.

Depositions for Bianca’s divorce get contentious but she has the upperhand. Lucca suggests that Bianca settle now and get the ex out of her life-- “balance money with psychological wellness.” Sounds reasonable to me!

At work, Judge Hazelwood is more forthcoming. And Julius did recognize the jacket. Judge Hazelwood tells Julius to let the CEO out and stop asking about the memo. Julius wants to get her on tape, but instead she tells him to get in an Uber and go to an address. She also warns that the court has a program if you break your phone. Sounds like a threat…

Julius finds the Uber easily and then goes on a long journey to the countryside. The driver, it turns out, is a former federal judge who didn’t comply with a mystery memo and he warns Julius to just do what they say or he’ll end up an Uber driver barely able to support his family. (THINK OF YOUR SIX CHILDREN, JULIUS.) 

Lucca wearing heels at her standing desk is… just silly, why would she do this? She wouldn’t take off one heel to stretch her foot; she would have a pair of flats to wear in her office. (This episode is written and directed by men, just fyi.) (Do women actually do this? I hate heels so I would never even consider it, but I feel like everyone hates heels??? Even the people who wear them all the time???) 

David is all mad at Lucca for encouraging Bianca to settle because it has tax implications. Two things: One, if there’s this obvious reason to delay, I feel like Lucca would have figured it out. Two, LUCCA IS ON DAVID’S SIDE. And if he’s allowed to say this out loud now, he could have said it earlier. So… no pity for David Lee. This is why you cooperate with your colleagues instead of antagonizing them. 

Liz-- who has been quite underused in this episode-- is also fed up with the dogs. She and Adrian storm upstairs to say, in Adrian’s words, “they can’t use this floor as a toilet for their motherfucking dogs.” 

They bust through the doors to the long hallway (which in real life would DEFINITELY have a key card reader on it) and push past the receptionist. 

Mr. Firth is holding a very cute dog named Avenger. Mr. Firth also refers to Liz as “Elizabeth”. 

Liz asks that the dogs stop “shitting” on their floor. After all, this was supposed to be a partnership, not an acquisition (does anyone believe that? I think Liz is just using their BS corporate talk against them). Mr. Firth says he will find a way to deal with the dogs. Adrian takes the opportunity to mention that the equity partners need their money. “How do we want to satisfy this?” Mr. Firth asks. “Give them money,” Liz says. Mr. Firth agrees to meet about this next week. He also gives Liz and Adrian access to the executive elevator. He’s just trying to appease them so they’ll be more on his side.

Liz and Adrian both recognize that was too easy, but decide to take the win. I feel like this problem is going to come back…

Julius apologizes and releases the CEO. He recuses himself but says that in the meantime the restaurant will stand. 

Diane knows something’s off and confronts Julius. She’s furious but Julius asks her to leave. I wonder what Diane would’ve done in Julius’s situation. It’s very easy to become complicit…

The restaurant is torn down anyway, making Diane even angrier. She tells Julius it’s on him and he reminds her that he is a judge.

And this is how systems are perpetuated.

That’s the end of the episode, save for the message about the two week break before episode 3 from the cast and crew. I appreciate that they included this, and that they included the whole crew rather than just the Kings and the cast. 

I don’t even recognize most of the crew! I recognize the cast (duh), Dan Lawson (the costume designer), the makeup artist (I think I’ve seen her in various instagram posts), Brooke Kennedy, and the Kings. 

Jonathan Coulton is in the video too (he’s totally a part of the TGF family at this point-- and is one of few people to be on TGW, BrainDead, TGF, AND Evil) to lead everyone in an adorable (but somewhat out of sync) singalong. Awwww. 

[farklelucas]

all about the lesbian sea pirate

ahsjdkflg okay im gonna do the first section above the cut and the rest under

send me an oc and some numbers pls!! | here are my ocs!

Section 1 - About:

1. Briefly Describe your OC: Appearance, personality, role in a story, etc..

okay so!! hana is half-japanese, half-german, she’s got short/spiky black hair and fucking Huge brown eyes. she’s the protagonist of a thus-unwritten pirate love story and i fucking love her. she’s superbly socially awkward (doesn’t get customs like politeness or like asking before doing things asdjkfl), she’s a Romantic romantic, she loves sword-fighting, she was raised by her father (alongside three older half-brothers, though she was chosen as the heir to his ship which hmm pissed two of them off), she’s very much butch/tomboy, she loves adventure and sailing so fucking much, uhhh yeah her.

2. Briefly describe their backstory/childhood

like i said, she was raised by her dad, who she idolizes, along with her three brothers on the sea; she never knew her mother, because her father told her that she died giving birth to hana (or did she….? hm. maybe hana’s dad is just shitty?). she was always super excited to play and go on adventures and fight, especially with her three older brothers (only one of whom actually like. liked her.), and by the time she was old enough to hold a sword, her dad taught her how to. eventually, her dad became ill, and named hana, who was only 16, his successor. her two eldest brothers planned a mutiny to overthrow her, killing the other brother who protested. hana fought them but they escaped with half her treasure, promising to come back and kill her, and she’s spent the past six years seeking them out to defeat them.

3. Describe their family life and friends.

i mean i pretty much nailed her family, but she’s very close to all the crew. i’ll give you a quick rundown: there’s caspian, her first mate/quartermaster (grew up on the ship with her, an orphan who was stolen in one of the raids, searching out his lost family but is also a big time goof), dover, her “advisor”/sailing master (wise, lazy, arrogant, bitchy, basically her pseudo-father because her father was usually off being captain), darya, her gunner (slutty bisexual aromantic queen, runs the artillery AND the under deck gambling ring, always drunk, loyal to a fault especially to hana), and zarya (we’ll get to her later ;)) and the other lower-ranking crew members.

4. What is the world they come from like?

hmmm very mystical and mysterious, very “pirates are bad and suck and we dont like them even though they’re not usually bad” but. you know. hana is still an outlaw of the land. there are mermaids and sirens and cracken and curses so it’s better to assume that if its magical it exists.

5. Are they original or exist in a certain fandom?

original!!

6. Are they an introvert or extrovert?

extroverted babey

7. Greatest fear?

being unable to sail but also, later on, (SPOILERS) being arrogant and greedy and malicious like her father

8. What’s their sense of humor like?

honestly just fucking. stupid. she probably likes puns and like dirty jokes.

9. Favorite pieces of fiction or genres they enjoy?

i dont think she can read???? but her third eldest brother bourne would usually tell her princess stories and she liked those

10. Favorite music genres?

folk ig

11. Describe their vision of a perfect spouse, if applicable.

a tall, beautiful, kindhearted woman, who sees past the pirate savagery and sees her heart beneath; a woman who can rule the sea alongside her and knows how to handle her and keep her in check. (looks at zarya meaningfully)

12. Largest regret?

not being able to save bourne

13. Something your OC would say?

my quote for her in her bio is “what am i without adventure?” but i also imagine her saying to zarya, “you are more celestial than the stars, my love, and twice as beautiful to behold.”

14. Whats their morality like?

technically lawful good but could be a roulette wheel depending on the day

15. Would they live in a city, rural area, or suburb?

oof none but if she had to probably rural

16. Which actor would you like to portray your OC? (Or a voice actor)

sjskdldldl my face claim is jen ruggirello

17. Sexuality? Gender Identity?

lesbian baby!!!!!

18. What inspired you to make this character?

honestly?? probably a lack of rep in romance and adventure novels. i just love her!!!

Section 2 - If…

1. If they existed in another decade, what would they wear? (Asker can choose what decade) (Bonus points if you draw them!)

hmmm ill pick… current day tbh, and i imagine lots of overalls and baggy sweaters!

2. If they were in a RPG, what would be their class?

i have to imagine somewhere between paladin and a fighter, im not sure which.

3. If they received a large amount of money no strings attached, what would they use it for?

i honestly think she would just. go into the nearest village and buy all the local hungry children bread. like she wouldn’t horde it or spend it on herself. she has everything she needs.

4. If they competed on a competitive TV show, how would they approach to winning? (the “mean” one, the one who makes friends, the one who’s there for fun)

hm… i honestly dont even think she would think about it like that dkdkflfl. probably the charming one, the leader, the adorkable one.

5. If they could change one thing about their past, what would it be?

i think she would choose to keep in contact with her mother. not necessarily live with her, because then she wouldnt have her first love which is the sea, but just like. talk to her. know her better. go see her every few months. write her from different ports about their adventures.

6. If you met them, what would they do?

i would honestly probably be so fucking charmed by her. shes got that way about her, a leadership quality you can’t shake, even if shes really incredibly awkward too.

7. If your character exists in another series’ world, what would they be doing/look like?

i kind of imagine her in harry potter as like. this half blood gryffindor who’s So Gryffindor it hurts. on the quidditch team, always screaming about house pride, everyone loves her. and then she goes and falls in love with this muggle born slytherin and shakes the whole school dkdkkrklr

Section 3 - Other:

1. What other OCs would they get along with?

oh… i think it’s kind of cheap to say jack, because they’re both pirates, but honestly i think they’d get on like a house on fire. other than that… definitely michael minkus, who would make an epic first mate, and lucy stilinksi-hale, who she would probably wanna smash.

2. What’s their singing voice like?

bad. comically bad. she tries to sing to zarya sometimes and zarya locks her out of their room.

3. Take a personality test as the character. Post results.

okay so ive already taken a couple for her in the past (ex: gryffindor, entj, the motivator, etc.) so im gonna take a completely benign one off buzzfeed and post the results. so if she were a song off of thank you next she would be “bad idea” skskkdkd

4. What would be their fighting style in a fighting game like Mortal Kombat, Super Smash Brothers, or Street Fighter?

to outsmart her opponent, think two moves ahead of theirs just like in real life. jokes on her no one else is ever thinking skdkkfkfl

5. What are some mannerisms/quirks?

putting her feet up on tables, walking into rooms without invitation, holing up in her cabin for days working, smirking instead of smiling, smoking, docking in random cities for the thrill of adventure, wearing her blouses nearly completely unbuttoned, just taking things and enforcing sharing bc. she’s always shared everything with everyone naturally and she doesnt know to ask djdkfkfk

6. Describe their favorite meal.

honestly she’ll eat anything but just like. a Nice leg of mutton and a glass of beer. that’s it. that’s the dream.

7. What do they do when they’re bored?

her favorite activity is to randomly attack caspian and have impromptu sword fights with him, but she also loves stargazing and telling stories to the town children.

8. How do they express love/affection for someone?

honestly she’s very. nuzzley. soft. like a little kitten. also waxes poetic. at least romantically. platonically, shes usually like a dad friend sjdkkrlr. like im talking “attaboy” and punches on the arm. pep talks. dad voice. the whole nine yards.

9. Most embarrassing thing that could/has happened to them?

honestly, she’s not easily embarrassed ever. i think she’s kind of just like meh over most things. the most embarrassing thing that could happen would be losing the respect of her crew. she would hate that so much.

10. Make a portrait sketch of them!

[marshmallow-phd]

The Experiments

(gif not mine)

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller, Experiment AU

Pairing: Fem!Reader x Exo (????)

Summary: You were a med school graduate who just wanted to help research cures for the world. Instead, what you got was a dream job at EXO Applied Sciences. That is, until you discover the secrets of Level Sixty-Six and the nine inhabitants that are stored down there….

Warning: mentions of abuse

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I 17 I 18 I 19 I 20 I 21 I 22 I 23 I Final

Luhan.

From you had been told, he should have been locked up in EXO’s chinese facility. How was he possibly be here?

He patted Sehun’s back lovingly. “I’ve missed you, too.”

Sehun straightened up, trying his hardest to make his face stoic again.

“How are you here?” Minseok asked the question that was on everyone’s lips.

“Security in the other lab isn’t as tight,” he answered, stepping further into the house. The door closed with a loud bang behind him, making you flinch. “They rescued us first. That was about eight months ago.”

“Are-” Junmyeon stopped, clearing his throat nervously. “Are the others with you?”

Luhan shook his head. “No. After about five months, they were ready to be back into the world. They split up. Tao’s still angry with Kris, blaming him for us being caught. They check in separately every so often, but I haven’t heard from them in a while. As far as we know, they’re doing fine.”

Junmyeon nodded, seemingly simultaneously sad and grateful for the update.

“(y/n).”

When Luhan called out to you, your perked up. Leaning around Jongin’s shoulder, you made eye contact with him. “Yes?”

“Where’s Marcus?”

Licking your lips, you opened your mouth to answer, but Junmyeon beat to the punch.

“He didn’t make it.”

Luhan visibly deflated, shoulders slumping.

You pushed past your barrier, stepping up. Upset or not, you could still speak for yourself.

“He got caught in the crossfire. We couldn’t save him.” You crossed your arms. “I’m assuming you’re the contact he told me about?”

He smiled. “Yeah. I decided to stick with the program and get these idiots out.”

A few chuckles rumbled off from the crowd behind you. Even you grinned a bit.

“You’re late.” The mood in the room was light and you tried to keep up with it.

“I know. EXO isn’t making it easy to move around. We had to be careful so we didn’t lead them to you accidentally.” He glance around the room. “I’m sorry guys. You’ll have to stay here a little longer.” Focus back on you, his face was all so serious. “(y/n), I think we should talk in private.”

Understanding, you nodded. “Okay. Let’s go up to my room.”

Multiple roars erupted behind you, making you jump. You couldn’t decipher who exactly had objected to your suggestion and you were confused as to what the big deal was. Luhan wasn’t a stranger. To them, at least.

“Or not.” You scratched head. “Okay, how about everyone else goes up to their rooms and Luhan and I stay in the living room?”

That idea wasn’t dismissed.

“Okay, then. I’ll call for you guys when we’re through.”

After giving nods of approval, they slowly went up the stairs. Minseok stopped to give Luhan a hug.

“I’m glad to see you safe, Minseok.”

Pulling away, the eldest shook his head. “You’re one to talk.”

Sehun was the last to leave, obvious reluctant to be absent of Luhan’s presence.

“We’ll catch up soon, Sehun,” he promised.

Giving in, Sehun nodded and took the stairs to the second floor two at a time.

“Come on,” you motioned with your head for him to follow you.

Though you had said to conveign in the living room, you didn’t entire trust the guys to stay in their rooms, so you bypassed the reactional room to the breakfast room. Windows made up three of the four walls with a small, round table in the middle, perfect for breakfast at sunrise. It was another one of your little hideaways that the boys didn’t bother you in. With a good deal distance from the second floor and plenty of doors in between, you knew the two of you could have privacy if you kept your voices low.

Once you were both seated, you let out a deep breath.

“Is the part where you tell me that my face is plastered all over every news broadcast as a wanted criminal?”

Luhan shook his head. The small smile on his face was reassuring. He had young boyish features, although from little you could remember from his nearly empty file you’d only glanced at once, he was one of the older ones.

“No. EXO has kept this little jailbreak quiet. They can’t exactly say nine of their human experiments went missing to the public. But they’ve got plenty of manpower to search for all of us without causing a stir in the streets.”

Leaning back in your seat, you sighed. “How much longer do you think we’ll have to stay here?”

The smile faded. “I don’t know. Maybe a week? They only sent me ahead because I was getting restless. We hadn’t heard from Marcus and I didn’t take that as a good sign. He was usually the impatient type. They agreed to let me scout ahead, make sure you guys made it here. I’ll contact my handler and them know you’re safe. From there, we’ll wait for things to die down.”

It would never die down. Dr. Wang herself was a very determined woman. She wouldn’t just let this go. They spent too much time, money, and resources to just shrug and walk away. All of you would be hunted for the rest your lives. Constantly looking over your shoulder, making sure no one was following you for too long, careful not to leave any sort of trace of who you really were.

“How exactly are you going to contact your handler?” you asked, trying to get your mind on something else rather than your future living as a burned spy. If only you were that cool. Or good at throwing a punch.

Luhan dug around his pocket before throwing down a very old and dingy looking flip phone. You didn’t even realize those still existed.

“Burner phone,” he explained. “Untraceable. It’s been specially programmed to only be able to receive calls from one number. Same for any outgoing calls. Only that one number, everything else will fail to dial.”

You raised an eyebrow, impressed. “Nice.”

Leaning forward, Luhan rested his elbows on the table, staring you down and lowering his voice. “(y/n). The reason I wanted to talk to you alone was because I sensed something as soon as I walked into the house.”

“Sensed something?” you echoed. “Like, you smelled something? Or heard?”

He shook his head. “No. You see, my alterations gave me another sense. Not really a sixth sense since humans technically have a few more beyond our normal five.”

You bit your tongue, holding back your snipe. You knew that. You did go to med school.

“But my extra sense….” He paused, trying to find the best way to phrase whatever he was about to express to you. “Well, I guess the closest word to it is empath.”

“Okay,” you chewed on the inside of your cheek, processing his statement. “So, based on my limited knowledge of that word, you can basically feel other people's emotions?” Do not make a reference to that book, do NOT make a reference to that book.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, but yes. I’m so intuned, sometimes it feels like I can read their mind.”

That made you scoff. “Okay, I believe Junmyeon being able to survive underwater without breathing for an hour and I can understand the science behind Yixing’s rapid healing, but mind reading? Seriously?”

Luhan rolled his eyes. “It’s not mindreading. I can just make very accurate assumptions from what I pick up. It’s more like I can smell the pheromones and the chemical changes in your brain and interpret what they mean.”

“That makes more sense,” you replied, although still a bit skeptical. “So, why are you telling me this?”

Clearing his throat, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Take what I’m about to say and keep it to yourself, okay?”

You cocked an eyebrow. “Okay….”

“I can sense the guys are protective of you,” he stated. That was obvious enough, even to you. “Marcus kept us updated on the situation with you. When the thing happened with Sehun-” he stopped, shaking the thought away. “We were able to realize that the boys would be more likely to listen to you than Marcus, so when he informed us that you were in, I was relieved. I figured they’d be attached to you, but-” he took a deep breath. “You understand that their DNA is mixed with wolf genes and that’s altered their way of thinking.”

You groaned. “Luhan, I’m a doctor. I studied their files and their blood for months. I know they are basically now part wolf. They might as well be a pack of werewolves that just don’t actually turn into giant dogs. What does this have to do with anything?”

He smirked. “You’re right. We might as well be wolves. Our instincts are like wolves. Including our mating instincts.”

The air caught in your throat, making you choke. “Mating instincts?”

“Yup.” Luhan gave you a look of sympathy. “They can get attached quickly. In this case, it’s to probably the first female to ever show them kindness.”

“So, you’re saying that those nine wolves have pegged me as their possible mate?” You were in deep trouble.

Luhan shook his head. “No. Not all. Like I said, most of them see you as a sister or motherly figure. Still would fight to keep you safe, but not romantic in any way. From what I could interpret, only about three of them see you as a possible mate.”

Okay. Still deep trouble but you could keep your head above water. Certain instances popped into your head. You were pretty sure you knew which of the boys he was talking about. This wasn’t going to be pretty.

“My advice,” he continued, “make your position known. Keep your distance. If you only want to be their friend, make sure they know it. If there is someone who you might be growing close to, keep it hidden from the others. Wolves are territorial. We’re all brothers, but they won’t hesitate to rip each other’s throats out if they feel like one of them is getting too close to you.”

You slumped in your chair. A face flashed in your mind and your heart sped up for just a moment. Yeah, you were falling for him. He made you feel safe. He calmed you down and always seemed to know just what to say. But how could you even think that way right now? It wasn’t the time or place for this.

“It’s okay to be getting feelings,” Luhan reassured you. “You don’t have to feel guilty. It’s natural.”

Throwing him a look, you tried to look on the bright side. At least there was now some progress on your current situation. With Luhan’s arrival, you finally had a way to contact the private sector if anything were to go wrong. You had someone here who had gone through a jailbreak before and could provide some very needed feedback, particularly on how not to get caught. Focusing on a love subplot to your life was not going to do you any good. Perhaps if you just distanced yourself from everyone equally, you’d be fine.

No. That wouldn’t work. The boys would pick up on it and ask if they’d done something to upset you. Minseok picked up on your issue with Yixing like a hound on a fox. All nine of them confronting you would just be horrifying.

Standing up, you figured your only choice was to play it by ear. Hopefully it didn’t turn into all out war like Luhan was describing.

What were you supposed to do? Sit them all down and say “hey, so I realize that I’m the only female that has shown you kindness in the last fifteen years and you are genetically enhanced males that are now led by by your instincts, but lets all just try and not be controlled by our hormones for the time being”? You shuddered at the thought.

“Hey, don’t stress out about it too much,” Luhan comforted.

You threw him a look. “I’m on the run from a very powerful research lab with practically infinite resources with nine genetically altered man-wolves who might start acting like it’s mating season. Yeah, I have absolutely nothing to stress out about.”

He smirked. “At least they’re all attractive.”

You gaped at him, unable to move as you watched his back exit from the sun room and into the main house.

Coming to your senses, you followed him. At the base of the stairs, you called up to the boys, “Okay! It’s safe to come down now!”

There was a moment of silence before a rumble that challenged a stampede of elephants shook the ceiling above you. All nine boys in a giant blob stumbled down the stairs before not-so-stabley coming to a stop in front of you and Luhan.

“Why don’t you all sit down at the island to catch up and I’ll warm dinner back up for everyone?”

Several of them nodded. Sehun threw an arm around Luhan, holding him back a bit while the others started for the kitchen. As you went to follow them, Junmyeon caught your eye and gave you small, reassuring smile. You returned it before noticing Luhan’s smirk in the corner of your eye. When Sehun wasn’t looking, he threw you a thumbs up and a look that clearly said “nice choice”.

Shaking your head, you pushed past them and tried not to focus on Jongin’s questioning gaze.

Having an empath around was going to drive you insane.

[dailyaudiobible]

01/10/2019 DAB Transcript

Genesis 23:1-24:51, Matthew 8:1-17, Psalms 9:13-20, Proverbs 3:1-6

Today is the 10th day of January. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian like every day and it's great to be here with you like every day and got a nice steaming cup of Windfarm coffee to my left, which is pretty normal, very normal. And off we go forward for our next step forward through the Scriptures this year. This is, of course, our 10th step, so only 355 more steps and we’ll be completing the Bible but this is our 10th step. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Today we'll read Genesis chapter 23 verse 1 through 24:51.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Genesis we’re saying goodbye now to a very, very important figure, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, who bore the son Isaac to Abraham in his old age. She passes away today. And, so, obviously, Abraham is morning and he goes to the Hittites and he needs a place, he wants to buy a place where, you know, he can have his own kind of a burial site for his family. And we get a little bit of a glimpse into the negotiations of the time, right? You know, Abraham's like talking to all the leaders of the city in the city gate saying, “ask Ephron to sell me this”, right? Well Ephron’s sitting right there but this is more of a communal negotiation and Ephron's like, “I'll just give it to you, you can have it”, you know, and Abrahm’s like, “you know, just…just tell me the price.” And, so, we see this negotiation going on and Abraham buys Ephron's field and cave, the cave of Machpelah near Mamery in the Valley of Eshkol. I wish that might all just like a bunch of biblical, you know, site names or something that have no relevance but remember this, remember this day, remember that Abraham bought this cave because as the story goes in a couple of months this particular site will become important. And incidentally this particular site, this burial ground is still in existence until today and can be visited in the city of Hebron, which, you know, at times can be a tense place. And this particular burial site for Abraham and his offspring is one of the most holy sites in the world to people who are Muslim, to people who are Jewish, and also to Christians and those groups of people don't always see eye to eye on things. So, it can be a pretty tense place, which is kind of funny when you think about it. Some of the most holy places in the world are also some of the most contentious places in the world because everybody wants a piece. And as we continue our journey forward we’ll just have to decide whether that's good, it's a good thing or whether it's not, but nevertheless the place actually does exist. The structure that is over the top of the cave was built by King Herod. So it's very, very old. Of course, when Abraham bought it was much more old, it's a very ancient place and you can see this place in the Promised Land films. I’ve mentioned the Promised Land films I think once this year. It’s a great resource in the Daily Audio Bible shop. It’s two DVDs and then you can also download all the content digitally. But it’s over four hours of content letting you zoom into these places. And they’re just short films, like two to five-minute films of the location where you can kind of come in, find out what happened there biblically, but also get a good 360° view, like a good understanding of what that place looks like. So, when we went and filmed we had to, you know, we went into the mosque and had to have permission to go in there and film. Then there’s a synagogue on the other side, we had go through some pretty high security to get in there and, you know, there's lots of soldiers around that place. And as it turns out, we got permission from the military to do some aerial flights over it. And, so, you know, we’re flying a drone and filming and everything but we’ve got guys with machine-guns standing around watching what we’re doing, but we got that footage and it’s some of the only aerial footage from there. So, that's included in the Promised Land films as well as some of the other places like Gerar, we talked about in the book of Genesis today, we’re, you know, Abraham is again saying that Sarah’s his sister instead of is his wife and stuff. That's filmed. Like Beersheba is another place where Abraham spent so much of his time and where Ishmael and Hagar were sent away to wander in the wilderness of Beersheba. Like, these are real places. And, so, if you kind of want to…if you’re curious enough to go, “okay, I'm in, I want to know what these places look like”, the Promised Land is a great resource for that. So, you can check that out at the Daily Audio Bible shop.

Announcements:

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link that’s on the homepage. And I thank you, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you like the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And a as always if you have a prayer request or comment you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today other than other…other than to remind you of two verses that we just read, the last two verses that we just read from the book of Proverbs. Take this into your day. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” Now that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey DAB family, this is Byron out in Florida. I was listening to the podcast on January 3rd on a device that I don’t usually use and long story short, I stumbled onto the Daily Audio Proverbs, which I had totally forgotten about and probably had never listened to before. And I played it, and I was like, “wow this is what I need to hear right now at this time in my life. I’m tired of making mistakes and I need to get on the right path with it.” And, so, I even wrote it down. And like, after I listen to the DAB, I’m gonna listen to the Daily Audio Proverbs. But I listened to the Proverbs and then I went back to the DAB and I got to the prayer requests and lo and behold there’s Joanne from Happy Valley talking about the Daily Audio Proverbs and kind of reinforcing with the Lord was currently telling me to do. And I just wanted to say thank you Joanne for that encouragement. And you talked about praying it with your family and that never dawned on me. I was like, “yes, of course.” And that very night I prayed it with my family. I saif, “we’re gonna do this every night and for as long as whatever, we’re gonna get this wisdom in us.” And, so, I just wanted to thank you for calling, thank you for that encouragement, and let you know that you are a very wise woman and that for the encouragement that you’ve given me, if I can keep this up with my family, there’s going to be a second people that will be around a hundred years from now and they will be spreading that wisdom to the next generation as well. So, thank toy for passing it on. I love you guys, talk you later. Bye.

Hello, brothers and sisters in Christ who listen to the Daily Audio Bible, my name is Treasured Possession and I’m starting from the beginning for the first time this year and I’m very excited about listening. I’ve learned so many things. I love the fact that the Psalms in the Proverbs can be a snack because my husband are trying very hard to show up for God for the first time and learning about how to eat better and treat our temple better. And I just wanted to thank his little Cherrie for praying for my husband because his sleep is getting better. Thank you so much for your prayers and thank you so much for all the work that it takes to put on this program and for just everything about it. It has become such a blessing to me. So, I want to thank Jill for the 2016 More Gathering because she really helped me be myself in a different light and removed a lot of shame for my life. And, so, I pray blessings upon all you women who get to go to that because it’s amazing. Thank you, God bless you all, and I’ll talk again soon. Bye.

Hi everyone, it’s Lisa the Encourager, hope my neighbors are doing great. I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to call a little bit, but I do have a wonderful story that I want to tell you all. And first of all, I’m praying for you, yes, you who hears my voice right now, I am praying for you. I want you to know that. And then also the story. So, this beautiful gift that we all have, the Daily Audio Bible, we don’t want to hide that under a bushel. So, I get so excited at the beginning of the year to share that with others and I have these Daily Audio Bible cards that I’ve gotten from the Daily Audio Bible. So, I ask God, “please tell me who…lay somebody on my heart, who should I talk to this year and tell them about the Daily Audio Bible.” So, my husband went to this store that we don’t normally go to. Long story short, I had to return some items. So, I went in the store and I have the card in my hand and I’m like, “ Ok who am I gonna give this to”, and I went to the clerk and I said, “hey, I’m not sure if you have a New Year’s resolution or not but I want to share something with you.” And she said, “no I don’t”. And, so, I shared the story with her and she was very receptive and was like, you know, listening to me and was excited to hear about it and as I was walking out there was a gentleman sitting and anyway, she took the card and was very happy. I had another card. So, there’s another gentleman sitting at the door and his wife and I looked over at him and I could’ve sworn as I walked by that he was blind but I wasn’t sure. So, I walked up to him and I said, “may I ask you a personal question” and his wife said, “well, what is it”, and I just started right in telling them about the Daily audio Bible and most especially about Blind Tony and how much this has blessed me and that God really laid somebody of my heart and I felt sure it was them, that I would share this wonderful gift. So, I gave him the card and he and she, by the end of our conversation they were so excited. So, I know that’s who God laid on my heart. So, I just challenge you to please take…

Hi, this is Beth O’Brien calling from Delaware. I apologize, I totally drew a blank, but I wanted to wish my love for China and her fiancé. I’m so happy for them. China, we met in Israel together and we had to share the embarrassment of wearing some pants when we went to the Muslim mosque. Anyway, I think of you in praying for you often. I wanted to get to my point now too. Urgently, my daughter Deborah, her best friends brother tried to commit suicide on January 1st. He came to the house and put a gun to his head and thankfully the Lord has saved him. He’s now reaching out, he says he regrets that decision to try to take his life, but he definitely needs prayer. He’s got a lot of reconstruction to do as well as emotional and mental health issues, but he’s reaching…he wants to listen to the Bible. So, I’ve given him the information, sent him all the great news about Daily Audio Bible. So, if you could lift up Stephen in your prayers I would greatly appreciate it. Also, my dear brother Alan, his puppy, little Echo was killed by a car yesterday and my brother Alan, we’re all devastated. The puppy was probably 10 months old and he just lives and breathes for his pets and for Echo. And, so, we just ask that you would comfort him Lord and that he would go to you Lord and seek healing and peace. And lastly, my daughter Deborah is now going off to the University of Delaware in February and we’re all very excited with her, but if you pray for her, because this is really a huge opportunity for her and yet she has a lot of anxiety about what she’s facing and I just pray that you would support her in your prayers that she would make the right choices and she believe in herself and that…

[hrrytomlinson]

here are a bunch of fucking fantastic fics I’ve enjoyed and loved reading throughout the month of october. I recommend that you read these great fics in november, if you haven’t already!! also check out the Reverse Big Bang and 31 Days of Smut!

(all fics with a star are my favorites and if there are two stars then it was a favorite favorite)

1. Damn the Dark, Damn the Light 20k

“Why is this face of beauty ringing so true?” The genuine confusion in Harry’s voice causes Louis’ chest to painfully twinge. “You’re a complete stranger in my eyes, William Shakespeare, but not in my heart. How is that possible?”

Louis wants to live out every romance plot he has ever written in his own life. He wants to be the protagonist of his own narrative, the hero who finds true love and gets his happy ending. Instead, Louis is stuck with only dreaming of such wild fantasies and writing them down. He can create entire romances in his dreams, yet he can never live one.

2. Threadbare 20k**

Harry Styles was eight years old when Louis Tomlinson kept him from falling into a machine in a Manchester textile mill. He was 18 years old when nothing, not even the threat of death, could keep Harry from falling in love with Louis.

3. Don’t Come Down 6k

Louis takes Harry home to meet the family.

4. I’ll Take Your Pain 2k*

Or, soulmates have the ability to feel each other's pain, and Harry finds his after getting his arse waxed.

5. We'll Never Be Lonely in the Dark 6k

Detective Louis Tomlinson keeps getting blocked when he tries to use his psychic gift to locate a missing child. One late night he manages to get through but instead of finding who he's looking for he lands in the bedroom of a mysterious man.

Harry Styles, nursing student, baker, and all around exhausted medium, thinks he's having the best sex dream he's ever had when his fantasy man shows up in his subconscious. But is that really what's going on?

6. Aquarius 6k

Louis realises he's slept with a man of every star sign except for Aquarius, and that just won't do.

7. Forget-Me-Not 26k**

“I- I can't move” the elder one finally croaked out, and with more distress Harry came to see that the vines had wrapped itself around the lad's ankles.

With a dumb nod Harry took a couple of steps forward. He could see Louis flinch with his sudden movement but he tried not to think about it. Instead, he lifted his hands, and tried his best to concentrate, hoping his power would listen to him just this once around the other man and untie him.

Ever so slowly, the vines started to detach themselves from Louis's calves, and soon enough, the man was free. With shaking legs, Louis stood up from the position he was in, and suddenly the air around them got thicker. “You're- you're a witch.” Louis hissed under the harsh wind, making Harry flinch at the accusation in his voice.

Or, where Harry had something he did not wish to have. Louis was just trying to figure him out.

8. Gem and the Hunters: The Treasure of Babylon 34k**

Louis Tomlinson wished, for one thing, his whole life: to find the ancient city of Babylon. After one failed attempt, he swore to never again attempt a search for the city. His friend, Niall Horan never pushed the issue, but when his family finds themselves in trouble, Niall’s only option is to convince Louis to try and find Babylon again.

Niall enlists the help of two famous treasure hunters: Harry and Gemma Styles and their friend Liam Payne. Harry and Gemma love ancient cultures as much as Louis and would give anything to find Babylon. Liam is just along for the ride, running from a shade in his past.

The five embark on the adventure of a lifetime… and find much more than any of them bargained for.

9. I Never Did Believe in the Ways of Magic (Through I’ve a Feeling It’s Time to Try) 54k*

Louis can’t shake the feeling that there’s something in the woods, pressing close and watching him with a heavy gaze. It makes him antsy, fills him with jitters. He wants to run, or scream, but he knows to do so would only put him in danger if there’s actually something out there after all. He’s sure he’s just imagining it, but his heart nevertheless pounds in his throat.

When Louis Tomlinson goes on a songwriting retreat to the Laurentian Mountains of Canada, this isn't how he expects his evening to go.

Or the au where Louis is a singer who has been cursed to never make music again and Harry is a reclusive witch of the Canadian mountains who's going to help him break the curse.

10. Cancel Your Reservations, No More Hesitations 10k

Louis still has his eyes on the bill when he barges into Harry’s room without knocking because he doesn’t want to get evicted and the smell hits him first.

It’s overly sweet and unnatural, and his stomach drops because it smells like an omega. Louis eyes widen and he looks up and - Harry’s on his hands and knees, a half spilled bottle of synthetic omega slick next to him and a huge, knotted dildo pressing into his hole. Harry’s face is flushed and he looks fucked-out and -

“I’m sorry!” Louis squeaks out and quickly backtracks, face red, because he wasn’t supposed to see that and Harry’s an alpha but he - Louis isn’t going to judge him.

Louis is an alpha and so is Harry, but Louis helps him through his rut anyway.

11. Foothold 18k

Louis has crossed the galaxy with a ship full of crystals; they’re the only thing he has to offer in exchange for safe harbor. He thought getting to his destination would be the hardest part, hoping that once he got his family to safety everything would fall back into place; Louis struggles to adapt while his sisters thrive. Louis suspects Emperor Styles may have something to do with it.

12. Don’t Want Shelter 76k*

Louis and Harry have known each other all their lives. Friends as children, they danced around each other as teenagers, and have spent the last twenty-five years either screaming at each other or not speaking at all. Except for that one time ten years ago…

When Hurricane Nicole threatens the coast, they end up stuck together in their families' old vacation home that they begrudgingly co-own.

During the storm, and in the months after, they’re both forced to reevaluate their history and what they mean to each other.

13. Wasted Like a Memory 4k

Six years before Hurricane Nicole forces Louis and Harry together, Fizzy gets married. Harry wrestles with reconciling the different versions of Louis he knows. (Part of Don’t Want Shelter)

14. Taste and Plead 3k

Or, the one where Harry wants something, and Louis' never been one to deny his boy anything.

15. Home For Christmas 22k**

The Shameless Hallmark Movie AU you probably didn't ask for.

Or, the one where Harry didn't think he wanted a family, but with a little Christmas magic (and maybe one Louis Tomlinson) he realizes that he is very, very wrong.

16. A Million Stars 2k

Louis watches Harry perform at the Tower Theater, and the events of the night unfold in an unexpected manner.

17. No One Like You 19k**

Where Liam and Niall are art historians discovering the truth about two nineteenth century painters on opposite sides of an artistic divide.

18. Howls Like A Beast (You Flower, You Feast) 16k*

France, 1754. Château de Versailles.

“You don’t love me,” Louis had said, utterly blasé as he callously fractured the heart of a Harry that was just barely eighteen.

“I do,” Harry had insisted pleadingly, green eyes already watering.

Louis had rolled his eyes, exasperated and flippant in the way only beautiful, young boys could be when faced with the affections of a baby prince. He had run his finger down Harry’s cheek then, had forced him to look into his eyes as he delivered the final blow.

“You’ll change your mind once you’ve seen more of the world,” Louis had teased, pressing a brutally delicate kiss onto Harry’s lovely, pure cheek. “Once you’ve been properly defiled.” He had whispered filthily, delighted by the gasp he heard, the frantic pink blush that had rested high on Harry’s cheeks, the power he had felt at knowing he could make the Crown Prince squirm.

19. You Flower, You Feast 18k**

He's King of the Underworld, but don't assume Louis has it all. He could stand for some excitement in his monotonous, eternal life and maybe, even.....a soulmate.

(Despite not having a soul.)

And along came "Harry".

20. The Dead Things We Carry 25k*

September ‘49

He hasn’t seen him since that day in France, that horrible muddy day where for one terrifyingly long second, Louis really thought he was going to die. He winces with the phantom pain, the hand not holding his cane going to his stomach automatically, remembering the franticness, the tenderness, of Harry’s hands while Louis was bleeding out. This is the man who saved Louis’ life.

For one second, Louis fears Harry won’t recognise him, but his eyes widen when he turns to his left and they meet Louis’. He takes a step forward, reaching for him with a shaky hand before stopping himself.

“Louis,” Harry says with a shudder and Louis doesn’t think his name has ever carried more weight. This is the only man Louis ever thought about kissing for real.

“Oh,” Mrs. Padley says, clearly taken aback. “You two know each other?”

There are some things people never fully come home from. Until, one day, if they’re lucky, home comes to them.

21. Do You Like My Sweater 13k

When Harry's alpha fraternity decides to host a Sadie Hawkins dance, outspoken omega Louis has a thing or two to say about it.

22. Yellow 84k**

The city of Gotham turns blood red with a new, mysterious criminal element, a beautiful woman named the Blind Cupid. She threatens to tear the fabric of the city apart, aided by her deadly protégé, the Cat. Can Batman stop them? Will he resist the bewitching allures of the Cat?

A Batman/ Catwoman AU

23. Things That Go Hump in the Night 6k

Louis goes camping. Something horrible happens. Louis is miserable.

It’s science.

24. This Thing Upon Me (Howls Like a Beast) 8k

Harry and Louis weren’t meant to be together. They’d met when they were put together through their university’s AO MatchUp, a program that set up alphas and omegas based on the schedules of their ruts and heats so they had someone to help them through it. It was pure luck that they were put together.

25. Hands Clasped Tight 44k**

Or the one where Harry and Louis are high school teachers and their students have been playing matchmaker for over a year. Little do they know, Harry and Louis are already married.

26. And the Truth Shall Set You Free (...Maybe) 17k

Betism: A religion based on the belief that the beta gender has been chosen by God to protect and defend the purity and dignity of the human race by resisting and condemning the lustful ways and flawed biology of the alpha and omega

Harry is a Betist and Louis is an alpha who runs with a bad crowd. This is what happens when two worlds collide.

27. (We Will Be) As If Chosen 35k**

There's not a royal in the world who doesn't carry some sort of secret, and Prince Louis has more than his fair share. To protect himself and his family, Louis withdrew from the public eye and tried to live a quiet life, biding his time until his sister Lottie could take the throne in his stead. Unfortunately for him, the national media and the worst person Louis has ever met team up to bring him kicking and screaming back into the spotlight.

Under the watchful eyes of millions, Louis has to figure out how to keep his carefully constructed house of cards from falling, and the first step to accomplishing that is to keep from falling in love with the irritatingly charming Prince Harry, who just won't stop showing up and trying to whisk Louis out of the constraints of his boring life.

Or: the course of true love never did run smooth, because sometimes people are stubborn and sometimes people are scared and sometimes, just sometimes, love can cause just as many problems as it solves.

28. It’ll Be 13k

Louis has always wanted children and he decides he's done waiting for love to come first. However, after adopting a baby girl just days after she's born, he quickly realizes how hard parenting is. Louis hires Harry to be his Nanny, and it all works out great. Until Louis falls in love with him.

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader - 10 Things The Joker Randomly Does That Kind of Prove He Cares

1.   J is in a good mood more often. It strangely happened after he met you: the first year he had two good days the whole year, the second year he had four and this year is about to have the sixth day and the year is not even over yet! A new record.

The King of Gotham calls you Insanity when he’s in a good mood; that’s the signal you can ask for pretty much whatever you want and he won’t say no.

“Hey Insanity,” J greets when you open your eyes in the morning.

You gasp. OMG, he’s gonna be in a good mood today, such a rare occurrence!

“Hi handsome,” you kiss him super-fast and don’t waste a single moment so you start your tirade:

“Can we spend the day at the beach?”

“Yeah.”

Jackpot!

“Can we make love instead of having sex?”

“Yeah.”

Jackpot!

“Can we hold hands more than 20 seconds?”

“Yeah.”

Jackpot!

“Can we say lovey-dovey things to each other?” “Don’t push it, Insanity.”

Crap.

But you remember your secret weapon and sweetly smile. J squirms, uncomfortable. “Ummm…maybe…no guarantees.”

Jackpot!

“Can we make out for more than 10 minutes before you undress me?”

“Yeah.”

Jackpot!

“Can I call you “my sexy Metal Mouth” after you undress me?”

“Don’t push it, Insanity!”

Crap.

Oh no, here’s the sweet smile again and your boyfriend fusses under the covers, uneasy.

“Ummm…maybe…just once…no guarantees…”

Jackpot!

2.   The Joker never buys you flowers but he makes sure fresh ones are delivered for each room at the penthouse every three days. He likes to break a random one from the bouquets and places it behind your ear.

You’re usually reading a book but stop when he does that.

“Thank you baby,” and you smile in such a sweet way it catches him off guard. You go back to your reading and he sits there, staring and mumbling words. “Want me to get you anything?” you offer, turning the page; can’t really tell what he said.

“No, I have stuff to do!” he sulks, slowly walking away. What J actually said was that you look very cute with that flower but got pissed at himself since you almost heard him. A very unique way to give his girl flowers but it counts; gets a solid E for Effort.

3.   He is reeeaaally straining to do something nice for you once a month.

It’s July, 95 degrees out there; scorching hot and The Joker places his jacket around your shoulders. He saw that in a movie once and figured chicks dig it.

“I’m so hot already,” you try to give it back and see he’s getting angry and then it hits: must be that one nice thing he does monthly. “On the other hand, the air conditioning in the car is going to be full blast and you know I get cold easily.” You keep his jacket and J keeps his cool.

For August he plans to outrun every single nice thing he ever did for you: since you can’t swim he’s going to push you in the river, leave you in there for a bit and save you before you drawn. My God, you will love that for sure!

4.   He takes you to casinos because you like to gamble.

His business partners own your favorite so they close out and seal a whole room just for you two to play the slots machines.

“Baby, I’m not winning!” you stump your foot, pouting.

J loses his shit.

“Why is my girl not winning, hm?” he yells at the guys.

“Well, sir, it’s just luck,” one comments and The Clown Prince of Crime is not happy with the answer.

“My woman needs no luck, SHE HAS ME ! If she doesn’t win in the next 15 minutes, you’ll see what happens !!!!” and J hands you over another stack of 100 dollars bills because you like to play maximum bet and you run out of money pretty fast.

Fortunately, you win $100,000 and it makes you so excited you jump up and down, clapping and laughing. The Joker is excited too for a different reason: he keeps on glaring at your cleavage and your boobs almost bursting out of the tight fabric.

You don’t collect the money because you don’t need it: you just like to win. The blue eyed devil just KNOWS you will be this enthusiastic next month also when he will toss you in the river to let you drawn. You will certainly jump up and down after he saves you.

Probably J’s gonna have a huge surprise regarding his plan, but for now we’ll let him believe in his dream; gets a solid D for Delusional.

5.   The Joker goes insane if he only gets a hint somebody is disrespecting his Queen.

Once he shot somebody because the man said “hello” to you and J didn’t like the tone of his voice. Actually, the dude had a cold; that’s why he sounded weird. Oops!

Another time J thought a guy was giving you the evil eye and stabbed him on the spot.Actually, the dude just had corrective eye surgery and was blinking faster than normal. Oops!

Today is legit though. Both walked in at the meeting right when two smugglers were talking garbage about his Princess. They were saying you look average, not that attractive and The Joker could do better.

He absolutely lost his marbles ! Beat them to a pulp while screaming:

“My woman is not that attractive?! By whose standards you pieces of shit ?! Every time I look at her, my pants are getting tighter !! Do you understand what I’m saying?! I like her and that’s the only standard there is!” and he keeps on kicking them and punching them, completely out of control.

After he’s done and your henchmen take bodies away, you have to ice his bruised up hands; the skin is scraped too.

“Thank you,” you kiss his knuckles and emerge them back in the iced water, smitten by his actions. “Nobody did this for me before, you’re my hero,” you point out, drunk on euphoria.

“This town already has a hero; goddamned Batsy takes all the glory! The bastard is selfish, hates to share the spotlight!” J rolls his eyes.

“Who cares about him?! You’re my hero,” you kiss him and have to say: “I think your pants are getting tighter,” and he growls:

“Either I need new pants or I need to get laid.”

“We’ll go with the second option, OK?” you sweetly smile again and he’s feeling warmer even with his hands in ice.

“If you insist,” he sighs, hating the fact that he did two nice things for you this month instead of just one.

6.   The Joker can’t cook but once a week he makes breakfast in bed.  

Takes him an hour and a half to finish and you are famished. Finally shows up with toast, a boiled egg and salt.

“What took you so long? I’m starving!” you whine, seeing there is almost nothing on your plate…again.

“You can’t rush these things, Kitten ! It has to be perfect, OK?” he raises his voice and you realize you talked too much.

“It is very good,” you take a bite of your toast. “You are getting better and better at this!” you praise his aptitudes and strike his ego.

“I am basically a chef,” J concludes and you peck his cheek, mesmerized by how he has such an outstanding opinion about himself.

“And my hero,” you add and he takes a deep breath, pride making his chest go up and down faster. “Batsy can’t even compare to you.”

“Precisely, Pumpkin. He’s just a psycho out of control.”

“Indeed,” you agree, wanting to emphasize that nobody is sexier than your sexy Metal Mouth but you already used the opportunity when he was in a good mood the other day so you shut up.

7.    J is aware you love his purple coat so he custom ordered an outfit for you made of the same crock material, this way you match.

It’s a two piece ensemble: a very skimpy little bra and an equally flimsy thong, only for him to see. You were thinking you’re getting a halter top and a skirt or something? Ha! Forget about it!

8.   The Joker comforts you when you cry.

“Seriously, Kitten, you’re not ugly,” he caresses your hair while holding you in his arms.

“I am ugly!!” you continue to bawl, making a mess of his favorite silver shirt.

“Hey, look at me,” J lifts your chin up, forcing your eyes to meet, this way maybe he can save whatever is left of his shirt also. “When I wake up in the morning and I see you, I don’t get scared. If you were ugly, I would freak out. But I don’t, which means you look fine.”

“You mean it?” you sniffle, squeezing him harder.

“Absolutely. It could be much worse.”

“So now I look bad and I could look worse in the future?!” whaling restarts.

He walked right into this one unprepared.

“Nahhhh, it can’t get worse than this,” he kisses you and then adds since you cry your eyes out. “ What the hell, I’m teasing; calm down woman! Crying makes you very ugly!”

You stop instantly.

I guess he was prepared after all.

9.    He gives you massages even if you don’t ask for them.

For some reason, his hands always slip in your undies.

“That’s not my back,” you utter and J is quick to respond:

“My bad, Pumpkin.”

For some reason, his hands always get to your boobs afterwards.

“That’s not my back.”

“My bad, Princess.”

“Did you just say my Bat?” you tease and your butt gets pinched.

“Hilarious! Want him to come and give you a massage too?!”

“I wouldn’t mind,” the reply makes The Joker turn you around and you get pinned under his body.

“Watch it, you bad girl!” he snarls, smelling your freshly washed hair.

“Did you just say Bat girl?” you giggle and he grinds his teeth:

“Are you starting to get a kink for Batsy?”

“Me?! No way! I like my hero,” you stretch your neck to kiss him and he purrs, wanting to get the most out of it.

“I am your hero; remember that next month in August,OK?”

He is surely referring to that nice thing he’ll do for you when you’ll be pushed in the river to drawn and he’ll save you in the last moment. Oh, yeah, you’ll enjoy it tremendously!

10.   J learns French just for you.

Spent the whole day fussing around with the dictionary, three laptops and five books until he realized he got what he wanted out of it.

“Princess, I’m done,” your boyfriend announces, victorious.

You can’t wait to hear everything, you’re gonna lose your mind. The Joker takes a deep breath and pronounces with perfect accent:

“Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” (Do you want to sleep with me tonight?)

That’s all he knows.

Holy Commissar Gordon! That’s sooo hot because it’s the only French you know too. Plus the answer:

“Oui, (yes)" you wink at him and he is totally turned on.

“Oh my God, Y/N, you didn’t tell me you speak French fluently!”

“Surprise,” you grin, signaling him to come closer. “We gotta compare notes, don’t you think?”

“Definitely,” J licks his lips, ready to comply since his pants are getting tighter.

Hmmm…either he needs new pants or he needs to get laid. I suppose you’ll go with the second option one more time.

 Also read: MASTERLIST

http://diyunho(dot)tumblr(dot)com/post/153664676321/joker-x-reader-masterlist

[maryb121813]

Untitled (a Mystic Messenger fanfic Zen x reader)

Part 9

MC spent the week running errands for either work or home, and making sure she answered her emails at least once every 4 hours. Jumin kept emailing her about the whole Zen thing and she repeatedly told him that it was her choice and she felt she was doing the right thing and if Zen messed up then it would be on him and she will protect her son no matter what, even if that means vanishing off the face of the earth. 

Jaehee emailed her about the last details of the party and asking if Dae-Hyun and her will be attending this year. MC knew it would be a great experience for Dae-Hyun to see what his mom does on the side and to see all the good everyone is doing. MC replied she would think about it since they still had three months left.

The day before they were suppose to meet Zen, MC sat Dae-Hyun down on the sofa, and tried to explain what was happening tomorrow.

“So Dae, tomorrow is a big day for you, do you know why?” she asked him.

“Is Uncle Searan coming to play?” he asked.

“Well, he’ll be there, but it’s something else.”

“Are we going to get a puppy?” he replied.

MC smiled, he’s been asking for a puppy for 6 months now, “No, you’re going to meet your father tomorrow.”

Dae-Hyun’s eyes lit up with joy and he started bouncing on the sofa, “I’m gonna see my dad? Really?”

“Yes, my sweet boy. He wants to meet you and maybe try to be here more for you.”

“Are we going to live with him then?” he asked with pure curiosity.

She smiled bitterly, “No, he and I still have our problems that we need to work on, but you shouldn’t have to worry about that. Just know that whatever happens from now on, we’ll take it step by step till we’re both okay with it.”

“Okay Mommy, can I still get a puppy?” he asked giving her his big ruby red puppy dog eyes.

She groaned and tried to look away but failed miserably, “We’ll see how tomorrow goes, then I’ll think about it, okay?”

Dae-Hyun jumped up from the sofa, hopping up and down yelling, “Yes, yes, yes!”

MC shook her head, smiling at her happy child.

_______________________________________________

The next morning, the day they were to meet Zen at XX park, MC was working on breakfast as she let Dae-Hyun sleep a little longer, when a knock sounded from her door. She looked towards like it was something new to her, till another knock followed after the first. She put down her spatula, turned the heat on her frying pan down and went to open the door. 

Standing on the other side was Saeran, he was an hour and a half early for their meeting, but he stood there with a sheepish smile, his mint green eyes shining with happiness.

“Hey, MC I know I’m early, but I couldn’t help myself.” he explained

She smiled, “It’s fine Saeran, come in, I’m in the middle of making breakfast and I’m sure you probably didn’t eat anything in your haste to get here.” she giigled.

She saw his cheeks turn a slight pink and his stomach gave a soft growl causing his cheeks to change to a deeper pink. She giggle, side stepping to allow him inside her home. Once inside, she went back to the kitchen to check on the food that was simmering in the pots and pans. 

“What were you making?” asked Saeran.

“I was making kimchi-jjigae, rice, scramble eggs, and sundae.” she said with pride.

“Wow, I knew you were a good cook last time, but this is amazing. I’m surprised Dae-Hyun isn’t pudgy.” he joked.

“Didn’t you see him running around at the park the other day? He will never get pudgy. He definitely has more of Zen’s genes then mine.” 

That made Saeran chuckle, “He may have Zen’s looks. but he has your charm and character.”

MC looked over at Saeran, who was now sitting at the table watching her cook, “That’s because he hasn’t been around Zen and has only been around me and your wacky brother. Though it is surprising that he hasn’t picked anything up from Seven is surprising.” she laughed.

Saeran chuckled again, “Yeah.” He started looking around the kitchen and into the living room, “Speaking of Dae-Hyun, where is the little fiend?” he asked.

“He’s still sleeping,” she looked over at the clock, “Oh shit, I need to get him up and ready or else we’ll be late.” she hurriedly shut off all the burners on the stove and ran down to Dae-Hyun’s room.

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

Once MC got Dae-Hyun dressed and fed both Saeran and Dae, they went to XX park where they now sat, watching Dae-Hyun playing with the same group of children, still waiting for Zen to arrive. MC looked at her phone and saw that he was forty-five minutes late from when he said he would be there and was no message saying he was running late.

MC let out a sigh, she should’ve known he would be late. 

“Are we going to wait a little longer?” asked Saeran.

“Yeah. Dae-Hyun and I spend three hours here, just so he can play with children his age rather than sitting in a classroom. And I get R.F.A. business taken care of.” she answered with a smile.

He gave her a smile in return, turning back to watch the children play.

They continued to sit and wait for Zen for almost two hours, when he finally showed with a tall blonde model like woman in tow. Annoyance coursed through MC’s body, she told him that they didn’t need media attention and what does he do? He brings a model to his meeting with his child.

She could see Zen’s light up when he see’s her, a smile was plastered on his face, “MC!” he waved to her.

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her mouth shut, she stood and walked over to him with Saeran following behind her. Zen notice’s the red head behind her, his smile falls and he has a look of hurt in his eyes.

“MC, I thought it was just going to be you, me and Dae-Hyun today?” he asked with a slight whine.

“I thought so too, but he’s here to keep me from killing you.” she said through clenched teeth.

Zen looked taken aback, “Kill me? Why? What have I done?” he asked with pure innocence.

MC pointed a finger towards the silent model, who now was sporting a smug grin. Zen looked towards her, “Oh, you mean Hae-Won? We have a date later today and I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.” he explained.

Rage boiled in MC’s blood, Saeran noticed this and grabbed her hand, giving a light squeeze. Her eye’s glanced over at Saeran, she was now more than ever happy that he offered to come along. She let out a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. 

 “So you thought it was okay to bring an A-list celebrity to met YOUR son for the first time, but you have a problem with Saeran being here? And lets not forget that you are TWO HOURS late, without even so much as a call or text saying you’re going to be late. What were you doing? Having one last romp in bed with her?” She watched as Zen got uncomfortable with that last question, “So that’s it? You were to busy fooling around with her to even think of other people you had waiting for you today.” she shook her head. 

 "Zen, Darling, why are we even here? She’s obviously doesn’t understand your celebrity status and that you don’t have to answer to her. Besides we’re suppose to be going over to XY for barbecue.“ the blonde model, Hae-Won, asked with a sultry voice, wrapping her arms around Zen’s shoulders.

MC squeezed Saeran’s hand tightly, he in turn squeezed back, letting her know he was okay with her grip on his hand. “That’s fine Zen, go on your very important date, but understand this,” she looked at him dead center in his eyes, “You’re only disappointing him, I’ve gotten use to it and that is sad to say, but he,” she points towards the playing child,”he doesn’t understand that daddy didn’t have time for him because a woman came in between them,” her eye’s switched over to the woman, giving her a deathly glare.

“But MC-” Zen spoke but she cut him off.

“No, Zen. I gave you this chance to come on your own and do things right, but you thought of yourself, yet again. The next time you want to see him, things will be done MY way.” she turned and walked away, still holding Saeran’s hand. 

“Dae-Hyun, it’s time to leave sweetheart.” she yelled for him.

“Okay, Mommy!” he shouted back, waving goodbye to all the children, running towards his mother and Saran. He caught up to them, grabbing her empty hand, and his head turned back to look at Zen, giving him a sad smile.

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

Later that night, Saeran had stayed with her all day, Dae-Hyun had gone to bed, without asking any questions about Zen, MC sat on the sofa holding a glass of wine, while Saeran had a beer.

“Are you okay. MC?” he finally asked her.

She looked down into her wine glass, watching her reflection, “It was a scenario that I thought about, but didn’t think it would happen. I thought he had change since he wanted this, but for him to actually have to audacity to choose to play around with a woman instead of showing up for his child, it just makes me sad for him because he missed out on meeting a great little boy.” tears started to form in the corner of her eyes, she bit her lower lip to try and stop them from falling.

She felt a hand on her cheek, turning her head towards the owner. Saeran had placed his beer down on a side table, he took both his hands, his thumbs rubbed against her cheeks, wiping away her tears as they fell. “It’s his loss, just like how he lost you and quiet frankly, I’m glad he messed up with because now I can do this.”

He moved his body closer to her, his hands cupped her cheeks, his face leaned in towards hers, his eyes closing right before his lips captured hers. MC’s eyes widen with surprise, her body slightly tensed up, but Saeran’s thumbs started making slow circles on her cheeks, making MC’s body relax, her eyes closing, giving in to the sweetest kiss she has ever experianced.

to be continued...

[let-it-raines]

Betting on the Bullseye (Part 14)

Summary: Emma Swan loses a bet that means she has to ask her celebrity crush to be her date to her office’s annual fundraising gala. Killian Jones is that celebrity crush. She expects all kinds of humiliation and for her dignity to be completely lost. What she doesn’t expect is for him to say yes.

Rating: Mature 

A/N: I feel like I ended the last chapter on a cliffhanger? Hopefully this resolves that :D

AO3: Beginning | Current 

Tumblr:  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14

Tag list: @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @wellhellotragic​ @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615@mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook@skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @branlovesouat @dreadpirateemma @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @galaxyzxstark @lifeinahole27 @andiirivera @ultimiflos @hollyethecurious @thejollyroger-writer @superchocovian

“I love you.”

For a moment, he’s not sure that he actually heard the words she said, the planes flying overhead and the sound of a car beeping behind them drowning her voice out, but the more he thinks about it, the clearer they become.

She loves him. Emma loves him.

He’s loved her for weeks, months even, and he knew that she cared for him, hoped that she’d love him one day too, but he never would have imagined her telling him now, telling him this soon. He never would have imagined her telling him when he’s pretty sure she’s about to get a ticket for him not getting out of the car quickly enough. That’s going to be quite a fine.

But then again, Emma’s never done anything conventionally, and he thinks maybe this makes more sense than any other way she possibly could have told him.

She loves him.

Bloody hell, he loves her.

Before he even says the words back, he’s cupping her cheeks and pulling her toward him, feeling the soft warmth of her lips on his and hoping that he never has to let go. But then there’s another blare of the horn, and he pulls back, quickly slanting his lips over hers once, twice, three times, until he can’t anymore, until he knows that he has to go.

“I love you, Emma,” he speaks against her lips, staring directly into the depths of her eyes and hoping that she understands just how much he means the words. “I love you so damn much.”

“Yeah?” she smiles, her lips quickly brushing his with the movement.

“Absolutely. I don’t – bloody hell,” he groans when there’s a knock at the window, wishing for all of the world that he didn’t have to leave right now, wishing he could stay here. “I love you. I’m so, so sorry that I have to go. I’ll call you when I land okay? We’ll talk. I promise.”

“Okay, okay,” she sighs, nodding her head against his and pulling him closer for one last long, lingering kiss. “I love you.”

There’s another knock at the door, an airport attendant standing at the window with her lips stretched into a straight line, and he rolls his eyes, smiling at Emma before letting her go and opening the door.

“Sir, you can’t stay here – ”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. Let me get my stuff, and we’ll get out of everyone’s way.” He reaches into the backseat, grabbing his suitcase and pulling it out before waving to Emma, not really sure what else he can do to say goodbye at this point. He doesn’t want to say goodbye. “Bye, my love.”

“Bye, KJ.”

She gives him a small wave, likely matching the meekness of her smile, before he’s closing the door and she’s putting the bug in drive, looking behind her to make sure the road is clear so that she’s driving off into traffic, the yellow disappearing from sight quickly all the while he knows that he absolutely cannot be standing on this sidewalk when he needs to go through security.

Bloody hell. Emma loves him.

And he has to leave.

-/-

The flight feels like one of the longest of his life, but for the first three hours of it, he does absolutely nothing but sit in his seat messing with the watch Emma gave him on Saturday. He could tell she was nervous about her gifts, like she was setting herself up to have to live up to some kind of expectation, but he didn’t expect anything of her, not when it came to something as simple a birthday gift. Her company and the impromptu cake were enough. But she’s gotten him this watch, one that he can wear while he’s working out without worrying about the sweat, as well as a few books she’d found about navigating by the stars. He mentioned it one night a few weeks ago, and she must have done some research into them. He plans on reading them sometime this weekend. The weather is supposed to be nice. He might take the Jolly out and relax. He hasn’t been back on it since he took Emma out and she teased him about the name.

She’d also told him about her past the night, more than just the foster homes, and he’d shared with her the same things that make him feel vulnerable, that still haunt him today.

They’ll have to go out again sometime this summer and have conversations that are a little less serious.

Hopefully she’ll take some of her vacation days before her work quarter is up, and she’ll get to come for more than a weekend. Or maybe she’ll take some, and he can fly back to Boston and not have to deal with her being at work. They tried to talk out their schedules, but it’s difficult to plan in advance when she doesn’t know when is the best time for her to take time off, and he’s still waiting on confirmation of when he has press obligations for Highland Waters or meetings.

Maybe Emma was right this morning. Maybe he should have been freaking out about how they’re going to do this, but he can’t get into the headspace of this long-distance thing being too hard. He just can’t. So he tried not to let Emma. He tried not let her become negative or freak out when they have this good thing going for them. They absolutely have to have this.

But bloody hell, all he wants right now is for this plane to turn around so he can tell her he loves her while making love to her. That’s simply not possible.

He wishes it was.

He eventually gets it together, opening up his laptop and pulling up the email Robin sent him with the information on the Highland Waters reshoots. He’s got to be back at the studio at four, so he’ll have just enough time to go home and shower and make sure that his house is still in place before driving to the studio. From the email, he’s pretty sure they’re reshooting more than one scene, his script on the lengthy side, and he’s got to get his hair and makeup done since his face is supposed to be covered in stitches here.

Bloody production issues.

The flight does eventually land, and he grabs his bag out of the overhead bin before shuffling off the plane and out into the crowds of LAX. He immediately pulls out his phone, pressing down on Emma’s contact name, but she doesn’t answer and it goes to her voicemail, the message he’s familiar with playing in his ear. When he checks the time, he sees that it’s four back in Boston. She’s probably just busy with work.

Emma: In a meeting. I’ll call you later.

Emma: Your flight okay?

Killian: It was fine. Pay attention to your meeting, love.

So he stuffs his phone back in his pocket and heads out the exit to his car, pulling on his sunglasses and covering his face with his hand when he passes the exit, trying to avoid the photographers that are always there whenever he lands. He wonders if they ever go home, if they ever leave this place, but he really doesn’t care, ignoring the shouts and rushing through so that he can be in his car and be away from it all. He loves his job, loves that he gets to do what he does for a living, loves that he gets to be someone else for a little while, but he hates the fact that it means people think they have a right to his private life.

But if there’s one thing he’s learned over the years, it’s that he doesn’t like to let the media define how he lives too much of his life. Yes, he’s careful about where he goes, but he’s not going to hide away, not going to stay locked away like he’s in some tower. That’s part of the reason he went ahead and posted the picture of Emma on Instagram. For one, he wanted to. He doesn’t use it too often, not more than the occasional update, but if he’s going to have to share parts of his life with the world, he can at least choose what he wants to share.

And he can share it before other people do and he’s suddenly being bombarded with questions and emails, Robin having to deal with the headache that is the calls he always gets whenever Killian is seen with a different woman. God, last year he went out to eat with Elsa when she pregnant, and that was a disaster. Elsa found it hysterical, but he had to explain that he was with his brother’s wife…who was pregnant with Liam’s child.

(“Killian Jones seen with pregnant girlfriend. Will he acknowledge his love child?”)

Yeah, Rob is definitely going to kill him when he sees him. He’s sure he’s been getting hell from the past two weeks.

When he gets home, the house is stuffy, dust having collected on some of the shelves, and he shakes his head think of how Will must have literally just come in and watered his plants instead of cleaning anything up. He should have just hired someone. But what’s done is done, and after dusting the shelves and wiping them down, making sure that all of his plants are alive and not wilting, he hurries upstairs to take a shower, letting the water wash away both the feel of the plane and the smell of Emma’s perfume that’s been on the collar of his shirt this entire time.

It’s ridiculous how much he misses her when it’s only been eight or so hours, but he has to stuff it down and get ready to go back to work.

Before he forgets, he texts both Elsa and Liam that he’s home, making sure not to let them think he died in a plane crash like he’d apparently done when he landed in Boston. He’s not going to let that happen again.

-/-

When he walks into the hair and makeup trailer, this one not nearly as busy and crowded as it was when the show was filming, he immediately settles down into the chair, letting Kendall do her magic on his face to make him look like he was just beaten up a few days ago. He thanks her when he’s finished before quickly changing into the wardrobe they’ve left for him and walking across the lot to the studio where about half of the crew is ambling around getting ready.

“Hello, love,” he smiles when he sees his costar Isabelle, accepting her hug before quickly pulling back. “I kind of figured I wouldn’t have to see you again until press.”

“Right?” she laughs, rolling her eyes before fixing the loose strands of her blonde hair that are falling from her bun. “I figured we wouldn’t have reshoots after, you know, the entire extra week of reshoots. But that’s showbiz, doll.”

He chuckles. Her fake old Hollywood accident is far too accurate. “How was your time with your sister?”

“Good, good,” she sighs, looking down at her nails and flicking something off of her dress. “I basically just crashed in her guest room and ate all of her food.” Isabella nudges his shoulder, a teasing smile on her face, and he knows what’s coming before she even speaks. “Did you have fun with your girlfriend?”

He feels the blush rise on his cheeks before he shakes his head and reaches up to scratch behind his ear. “Aye, though our time together sounds oddly similar to yours with your sister, which only worries me a tad.”

“Yeah, well, I’m guessing you guys had a bit more fun than we did. You should bring her to the premiere event. I hate that I missed her when she came to visit set.”

“I’ll have to ask if she can make it or not. We’ve kind of got to pick and choose our dates because of her work. But I’ll see if I can convince her to come out here for it.” “Good.”

They’re called to set then, and it only takes a few hours to get everything reshot, the lights continuously adjusted so that the scenes don’t get messed up again. It’s like slipping back into a rhythm he’s been used to for years, letting his own personality fall away so that he can be someone else, if only for a moment. But this character, Ezra, is one he relates to on a personal level. Things with him are complicated and far from straight forward, even if they’ve calmed in recent months. Frankly, Ezra’s been through hell, but he’s working his way out on the other side. If it’s motivated by love, well, then he sees nothing wrong with that.

He gets to go home around ten, loading up in his car and driving back to his house, actually getting to relax and sit down on his bed without having anywhere to go…except for his meeting in the morning. Bloody hell, he’s got to prepare for the contract negotiations tomorrow, but honestly, his body is still functioning in the eastern time zone so it’s past one in the morning.

Shit. He didn’t get to call Emma.

He didn’t even check his phone. He didn’t have it with him while he was filming, and when he finished, he grabbed his belongings and walked straight off of the lot so he could head home. How the hell could he have forgotten?

Emma: Are you free to talk?

Emma: I wish TSA would let you bring food with you because I went to the gym and then came home and kept eating your cake since it’s just sitting in my fridge.

Emma: I’m exhausted, so I’m going to go to bed. Hope filming is going well. xx

Killian: I’m sorry I missed you. Have a good day at work tomorrow! xx

He feels awful, but this is his life, their life. There are going to be times when they miss each other because of their jobs, but things will go back to normal tomorrow. He’s only busy in the morning, so they should be able to talk. This morning feels like it was days ago when it was really only hours, so he has to remind himself of that. They’ve talked today. They’ve seen each other today. He’s not falling behind.

-/-

“So this is what we’re willing to offer you,” John tells him, sliding a piece of paper over the conference table so he and Robin can look at it. “We have some room for negotiation on your proceeds from the gross, since we know that’s a selling point for you.”

“Bloody hell,” Robin mutters underneath his breath, quiet enough for only Killian to hear.

“What?”

Robin points to the number listed at the bottom of the page, but really all Killian can see is the filming location of Switzerland and the four months that he’ll be there. That’s exactly why he didn’t want to take this. It’s a good script, a good film, but it’s not what he wants, not right now.

“You have to take this, mate.”

He quickly glances over at John and all of the other executives in the room. They’re all watching he and Robin like all of them are hawks and the two of them are prey. He doesn’t like it, doesn’t like the way that his spine shivers, but mostly he knows that he just can’t take this. He’s known he couldn’t for a while, but it was never a flat out no. It was always a maybe.

It’s a no now.

“I can’t, Rob. I can’t leave my home for that long.”

“You’ve done it before.” “Aye, but,” he looks over at all of the people watching them, “can you all excuse us for a minute?”

Every single one of them nods before getting up and leaving the room, like a mass exodus of gray suits and red ties. He idly wonders if that’s the uniform here or if they all simply dress the same.

“So you really, actually don’t want to take this?” Robin asks, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, the wheels of the chair making him roll back the slightest bit. “You love the script, it’s good money, and I’m sorry, but if I could live in Switzerland for four months, I’d take that any day of the week.”

“Roland has school, Rob. You couldn’t just up and leave.”

“Yeah, but I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about you. You could go. You don’t have a kid.”

“I have a life, though. Liam, Elsa, Aiden. They’re all here. And Emma. It’s already complicated enough just being on the opposite side of the country. What the hell would it be like if I was in an entirely different country?”

“Ah,” Robin sighs, his lips ticking up into the smallest of smiles. “I don’t know why I didn’t think about the fact that you’re currently smitten.”

“Why do you sound like you’re out of the fifties?”

“Because I’m a time traveler. Obviously.” He rolls his eyes at Robin’s teasing before looking down and checking his watch, seeing how much time has passed. “Seriously, though. I’m sure Emma would support you in this.”

“I know she would support me in this, but I’d be leaving at the end of October. I’d miss her birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, pretty much every major holiday in the year. Not to mention how I’d miss every day, all of the small moments. I just,” he sighs, running his hands through his hair before covering his eyes with his hands and rubbing the heels into his cheeks, “I can’t do it, Rob. I can’t leave her like that.”

“I hate to say it, but what if you break up? You’ll have missed this opportunity.”

“Honestly, if we break up, the absolute last thing I’m going to be thinking about is how I didn’t film this movie.”

“So no Yours Truly?”

“No Yours Truly. We’ll have to look for projects here, okay?” “Whatever you want.” Robin twists in his chair to look outside the glass windows where everyone is still staring. “You want to talk about the gift Roland is making you for your birthday and make them sweat it out a little bit?”

He smiles. “Absolutely.”

-/-

“Happy birthday,” Emma hums into the phone right after he answers her call, his eyes still adjusting to the sunlight streaming through his curtains. He’d fallen asleep late last night after going for a late-night run, and he didn’t set an alarm, figuring he didn’t have any pressing matter to wake up for anyway.

“Thank you,” he yawns, reaching up to rub the sleep out of his eyes even as he slides down the mattress and tugs his comforter up his body.

“Did you seriously just wake up?”

“No,” he lies even though he knows she won’t believe him.

“Liar. You sound exactly like you do when you wake up. And the yawn didn’t help.”

“Yeah, well, my sleep schedule is all over the place. I’m hoping to get it back to normal soon. Are you at lunch?”

“I am eating lunch, yeah,” she answers, the sound of a container opening in the background. “I made the lemon pepper chicken you left the recipe for, and I’m hiding out from Kathryn in my office so I didn’t go to the breakroom or my spot outside.”

“Why are you hiding out from Kathryn, love?”

“She’s just got a stick up her ass today. Nothing anyone does is good enough, and since she hates me for some reason, I always get the little snide comments that are rude but just vague enough that she’s technically not doing anything wrong.”

“Sneaky.”

“Exactly,” she sighs, humming into the phone again. “This is good, by the way. I won’t be surprised if I get salmonella, but it’s good.”

“You cannot possibly be that bad at cooking.”

“Try me.”

“I’d rather not,” he laughs, rolling over in bed and resting on his side while he puts her on speaker so he can reply to some of the texts that are coming in. “What are you doing today besides avoiding people with sticks up their arse and hopefully avoiding salmonella?”

“Work, the gym, and then I’m going to have an exciting night doing laundry.”

“Are you now a member of the Jersey Shore?”

“I’m pretty sure their phrase had tanning in there. And definitely not work. What about you? How does one ring in being thirty-three?”

“With his family, his manager and his son, and everyone’s favorite friend Will. I think the only thing about the plans that’s changed is that Anna’s husband isn’t coming.” “Why?”

“His project at work is running late or something. But he doesn’t talk much anyways. Between Anna and Elsa being together, none of us really get a word in.” “Well, I bet you guys will have a good time. When are you heading over there?”

“Around noon. Liam’s at work, but I’m going to spend the day with El and Aiden. And Anna, though I’ve been told I’m not allowed to ask about the cake she’s making.”

“Ooh, mystery and intrigue.”

“Aye, I guess you could call it that.”

“Well,” Emma begins, dragging out the word, “keep me updated, okay? I mean, I don’t need a play by play of every word said. That would be ridiculous.” “Completely,” he laughs.

“But I just want to know that you have a good day, KJ. Or at least that it’s more exciting than me doing laundry will be.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Swan. Laundry is the absolutely best way to spend a night.”

She snickers on the other end of the line, the sound basically music to his ears, and it’s the most awake he’s been for this entire conversation, having given up on responding to texts just to focus on Emma. The line goes silent, and he’s so tempted to tell her that he loves her. But they haven’t said the words since he was in Boston two days ago, so honestly, he’s not sure what to do. It wasn’t just a one-time thing, a slip of the tongue. She told him she loved him twice, but he doesn’t want to overwhelm her.

It’s that thought that makes him chuckle under his breath. Relationships are ridiculous sometimes. They’re simple and yet entirely complex, and he wonders just how much time people spend wondering what to say and what not to say.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Us.”

“Explain?” Emma asks, her voice incredulous.

“It’s nothing. It’s nothing, I promise. I just…I love you is all.”

Her breath hitches, but he doesn’t worry about having pushed things too far. “I love you, too. I don’t understand what you’re laughing at, but I love you.”

He can’t even begin to describe how relieved he is to hear the words. “Good. I’ll try to explain all of my craziness later.”

“Sounds like a plan, Stan.”

After he lets Emma go, her lunch hour ending so that she has to go to work, he goes about his normal day…or at least what he thinks he remembers his normal days being. It’s been over four months since he hasn’t been working, so it’s odd for him to leisurely get out of bed and shower, spending however much time he wants letting the warm water hit his skin as he scrubs his hair and washes his body. So he takes his time trimming his scruff and brushing his teeth, heading downstairs in only a robe as he makes himself breakfast. He needs to go grocery shopping or at least order them online to be delivered at some point.

But he’s got enough to make himself an omelet and some coffee, enjoying his breakfast on the back porch so that he can watch the waves roll in as some of his neighbors walk along the shoreline. All of the chill of the spring is fading as May begins, but there’s still a pleasurable ocean breeze blowing up to him, the smell of salt invading his senses. He’s missed this, missed his home, and as much as he truly did not want to leave Boston, he missed home.

If there were a way to combine his home and Emma’s he would, but it’s far too soon to be thinking about any of that.

Right?

Shaking himself out of that thought, he finishes his breakfast and makes his way back inside to get dressed to head over to Elsa’s. He hasn’t seen her in a few weeks, Anna in even longer, so he really should spend as much time with them as he can. Maybe he’ll take them out to eat lunch tomorrow as well.

When he pulls up to their house, he lets himself in, quietly shutting the side door behind him. The first thing he hears is Anna’s voice, the high volume of it probably makes its way everywhere. Seriously, the girl can talk, and she can talk loudly. Not that he minds. He finds her to be a breath of fresh air, someone who exudes positivity all of the time. Seriously, she could be in a burning building and still be talking about how it’s a positive thing.

“No, seriously, Els, that actually happened.”

“Anna, that just doesn’t seem like a real thing.”

“But it is,” Anna groans. He bets she’s rolling her eyes, but he’s currently standing in the archway of the living room with her facing the other way. “I swear to you that a guy called me and asked if I’d be willing to make him a customized costume for some kind of monster where the tail was his…you know.” “You’re an adult who is married. You can say the word.”

“His penis, Els. He wanted me to make him a costume that was tailored around his penis. This is why I should just stick to working for TV shows.” He can’t stop himself from snorting, and that’s when two heads quickly turn his way, the both of them smiling after the shock wears off. “Jones,” Anna squeaks, scrambling up from the couch and running toward him, wrapping him up in a hug that pushes him back from the impact, “happy birthday, dude.”

“Thank you, love,” he laughs, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing tightly before letting go. “So tell me where I can get whatever this bloke was requesting. I think I’d like one of those.”

“Gross,” Elsa complains, sticking her tongue out for a moment, “that is…that is not something I ever want to imagine about you.”

“We’ve talked about this, Elsa. If I have to live with the knowledge that you’ve slept and procreated with my brother, you sometimes have to live with the unfortunate knowledge that I am, indeed, a man.”

“Yeah, whatever. Happy birthday, Killian.” She hugs him, squeezing far less tightly than her sister did. “Nice to see you again. I feel like it’s been forever.”

“Wait. Where have you been? I thought you finished shooting that show?”

“Killian is in loooove,” Elsa teases, and his face immediately goes red. He’s a grown man, thirty-three years old, and he should not be embarrassed by a little teasing from his sister-in-law.

Anna’s lips open and close over and over again, her eyes shooting back and forth between he and Elsa. “You’re lying.”

“I am not. Killian has a girlfriend.”

“No, does he really, Els?” Anna squeals, her voice so high pitched that his eardrums might have burst. “I thought he was taking a vow of monkhood of something.”

“I did too,” Elsa tells Anna, and Killian cuts her a glance to shut the hell up, not that it’ll ever work out. He’s feeling pretty called out by his family right now. “He stopped dating altogether, like a year and a half ago, and before that it was always one date, nothing more. So this one is shocking. I want to meet her. I feel like no one has met her and she’s one of those fake Canadian girlfriends or something.”

“Hey, you talked to her on the phone!”

“But I didn’t see her!”

“You commented on my picture!”

“Which didn’t show her face.”

“That is highly suspicious, Jones.”

“It is not,” he huffs, wondering why the hell he’s being so defensive over this when they’re obviously teasing him. “I can promise you she’s real.”

“Wait. So you’re really in love, Killian?” Anna asks, her eyes bugging out. He can practically feel the energy radiating off of her. “Why does no one tell me anything? What’s her name? Where’s she from? Is she pretty? Of course she’s pretty. Is she nice? Of course she’s nice. What am I thinking? Why isn’t she here? I feel like your girlfriend should be here. Unless she really isn’t real. Which would be a pretty elaborate thing when I’m sure you could find yourself a real girlfriend.”

He chuckles at Anna, her ability to always seem like she’s eaten a box of cupcakes and be on a sugar high uncanny. How she and Elsa are genetically related is sometimes a mystery to him.

“Calm down, Anna,” he laughs, making his way into the living room and sitting down on the couch, stretching out his legs while they join him. “Her name is Emma. She’s bloody beautiful and just as kind. And she’s not here because she lives in Boston, and I told her not to spend money or time on a ticket when I just left her place on Monday morning, though I do wish I hadn’t said those words right about now.”

“Can’t you just pay for her a plane ticket to spend the weekend?”

“Aye, but she doesn’t want me to, which I get. She likes to have her say and be financially independent, but maybe one day I’ll convince her to let me buy her a ticket. It might have to be in the cargo hold, but whatever works. And she’s coming next weekend, too.”

“Well, I want you to tell me all about her since no one ever tells me anything.” She glances at Elsa there who just shrugs. “And next time she comes for, like, more than a day because I know you guys will just use that to have sex, let me know and I’ll fly in.”

His face heats again. The woman won’t say the word penis, but she’ll easily tell him that she knows that he’s just going to have sex with his girlfriend when she visits. She’s not wrong, but it seems like a bit of an odd discrepancy for her. Maybe talking about the man’s penis costume (or would it be a cock frock?) has freed up her speech.

“Maybe. Maybe not. I think we may have to ease her into you, Anna.”

“Hey,” Anna groans, reaching over and slapping his shoulder, “I am very friendly.” “Too friendly sometimes,” Elsa laughs. “But yeah, I want to meet her. You say she’s coming next weekend?”

“Yeah, but we really only get Saturday. She won’t get in until around eleven, and she’ll be exhausted with the time change. And then she’ll have to leave early Sunday afternoon. The bloody flight and airport time is awful. But I can ask if she wants to meet you and Liam, Elsa.”

“Oh shit, I bet she is not going to want to meet Liam.”

“Eh,” he groans, reaching up and scratching behind his ear, “I’m pretty sure she’s ready to yell at him and have the whole thing be over with.”

“Oooh, what happened with Liam? Why does your girlfriend…Emma want to yell at him? I feel like that has to be an interesting story.”

“I’ll tell you later because I heard I was going to have lots of good cake.”

-/-

“I kid you not,” Liam laughs, his rum sloshing around in its glass while he moves his hands with every word, “when Killian was seven he truly did refuse to wear a shirt.”

“This is really not your most embarrassing story, Liam. And shirts are overrated.”

“Oh, well, this is because I haven’t gotten to the best part of the story, little brother.”

“Younger. Bloody hell. It’s younger.”

“Not today it’s not. You’re old now.”

“Says the man who is thirty-eight.”

“Anyways,” Will says, obviously annoyed, “let’s get on with the story. You guys always talk far too long.”

“So Mum and I would always have to trick him into wearing a shirt to school. But one day, Mum gets called to the school because Killian apparently ripped off his shirt and was wearing it around his head as he took his math quiz.”

“Oh God,” he groans as he feels his cheeks flush. He remembers that. He wishes he could forget, but he does remember that. “Why do you insist on these stories?”

“I could tell everyone about the first time I caught you with a girl.”

“And let’s talk about the shirt thing,” he laughs, wishing to change the subject to anything but that. “If I remember correctly, we compromised by letting me wear button downs and only doing a few of the buttons.”

“Oi, is that why I’m always stuck staring at your chest hair?”

He waggles his eyebrows, reaching down and popping a button open. “Jealous, Will?”

“Of the bear on your chest? Absolutely not.”

“I think chest hair can be sexy,” Elsa swoons, reaching over and placing her hand on Liam’s chest.

The entire room groans, every one of them not wanting to see the way Elsa and Liam are looking at each other, especially since they haven’t even eaten cake yet. Robin was letting Roland run around to get out all of his energy, even though the sugar definitely won’t do anything but hype him up all over again.

“Okay, okay,” Elsa sighs, getting up from the couch and wiping down her jeans, “I’m going to go put Aiden to bed. Why don’t you get everyone more drinks, darling? And then we can feed Killian and Roland that cake?”

“Finally,” Roland yells from the corner of the room, getting up and running toward the couch so quickly that he topples over the side and lands on Will’s lap. “I have been waiting my entire life for cake.”

“Me too, Rol.” Will pats him on the back before pulling him up and resting him on his knee. “We’ve got to sing Happy Birthday to Uncle Killian really loudly, though, okay? Loud enough that he hears you with his old man ears?”

“So much for getting treated nicely on my birthday.”

Anna pats his knee. “Maybe next year, Jones.”

He’s honestly relieved that Anna stopped calling him baby Jones because while she may not have realized it, when she typed it out as BJ, all anyone could think of was blowjob. Ah, to be so innocent and yet not at the same time.

In the time that it takes to get his cake out and light the thirty three individual candles (at Anna’s insistence), Elsa’s back downstairs from putting Aiden to bed. So all of his friends and family sing, Roland and Will singing the loudest like the pair that they are, and he blows out his candles before eating cake. Honestly, this is too much for him, all of the birthday celebrations and well wishes. They never had much growing up so these days weren’t big celebrations no matter how much his mum tried, and then the days went away completely when he was in the foster system. But in the past decade, it’s always been big celebrations. Though, lately, he’s toned things down a bit, only celebrating with those closest to him.

Maybe he simply feels odd because this isn’t his only birthday celebration this year. He did one with Emma, now this one, and it all feels like a bit much. But he knows that these people love him, so he doesn’t complain or make a fuss. He simply eats his cake (which is his mum’s recipe so Elsa must have helped Anna make it) and opens his presents, thankful that his life has turned out pretty okay.

Wonderful. His life is wonderful.

“What’d you wish for?” Roland asks, crawling up onto Killian’s knee while he works on his second piece.

“If I tell you, my wish doesn’t come true. That’s how you told me it worked, Rol.”

“But I want to know.”

He hums, chuckling under his breath the slightest bit. Six-year-olds are such fickle creatures. “Okay, but you have to keep it a secret, yeah?”

He sticks out his pinkie, twisting it with Roland’s in their secret promise.

“I wished to be happy.”

“That’s boring. You should have wished for a new car or something.”

He laughs as Roland gets up off of his lap and walks away, going to sit with his dad. Before he can even scoop up another piece of cake with his fork, Liam sits down next to him, wrapping his arm around the back of the couch.

“That was a lame wish. You definitely should have wished for a new car.”

“Oi, my car is fine, and wishing to be happy is a completely respectable wish.”

Liam nudges his shoulder while his lips stretch into a smile. “I’m messing with you. It was a very mature thing to say. Though, I’m about, eh, ninety nine percent sure that your wish was for your girlfriend to be here.”

“Technically, I didn’t wish for anything. Yeah, I want Emma to be here, but all the while we were singing and cutting the cake, I was thinking about Mum. And you. All of us really and how she’d try to make our birthdays as special as possible.” “She was the best,” Liam sighs, resting his head against the back of the couch. “And she’d be damn proud of you.”

“You too, Liam. She’d be proud of you for your job, for your family, for raising me.”

“Aye, thanks. I just wish she could be here, you know?”

“Aiden has her eyes,” he says, thinking of the blue. He and Liam both have blue yes, but they’re light. His mum’s eyes were dark, almost black. They were beautiful. “It’s strange how things like that happen.”

“I mean, basic genetics. I feel like you definitely should have learned that at school.”

“Shut up. You know what I mean.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t tease you. After all, what else are brothers for?”

[serpent-jugheadjones]

The Partner Revealed - Part 7

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

Pairing: Jughead Jones x Reader

Description: Revelations on Jason’s case burn through.

Warnings: None I can think of. But I suck at warnings... 

Word count: 3281

A/N: Wow, it’s been more than a month since the last part was released and this one is more on the short side. Dog Days final part coming soon :)

Y/N’s point of view

Y/N wakes up in fright, heart pounding off her chest, barely breathing. The loud noises that interrupted her slumber are coming from downstairs. She gets up as quickly and silently as possible and grabs the baseball bat her uncle gave her when she turned 14, which has been neglected to the corner of the room ever since. Gathering all her courage, the girl walks down the stairs slowly, avoiding the creaking steps she learned to skip when sneaking out at night, hoping it’s not Jason’s killer, for a 16-year-old with a bat she doesn't even know how to use won’t stand a chance against someone with a gun that has already killed a teenager.

At the bottom of the stairs someone is coming up with boxes covering their face. She gets scared and swings, missing whoever is there by a hair. “Wow. Sweetie, it’s me.” Her father’s familiar voice calms her. He drops his box at the step and takes the baseball bat from her as she still looks distressed. It takes her a few seconds to process she’s safe, but as soon as she does, her arms are around her father. “No love for moma?” Y/N sees her mother, of whom she’s the spitting image, standing by the open front door. She runs down to hug the woman just as tight as she did her dad.  “You guys didn't tell me you were coming.”, she says, happy to see them instead of a killer. “We wanted to surprise you.” “That you sure did.” They all laugh, as that wasn't exactly the welcome they were expecting. “Do you need help unpacking?” Y/N notices the mess everywhere. “No, you go get ready for school. We’ll deal with all this”, her mother instructs, pointing at everything around the living-room with a ‘why did we brought so much stuff’ look.

Y/N gets back to her room without any guilt for not helping them. She’s used to them coming back home with extra luggage. The girl did try to help once, but they just ended up making a bigger mess. It’s a lot earlier than she planned on waking up, so she takes that time to finish her articles for the Blue and Gold. Time flies by and she only notices when her belly roars in hunger. The girl quickly changes out of her pijamas into high waisted jeans and a loose tank top. Reaching the kitchen, she finds suitcases and boxes full of stuff they brought from the trip piled everywhere, making it impossible to eat, let alone cook there. “I’m going to Pop’s for breakfast.”, she shouts grabbing a jacket from the coat hanger. “Wait! We didn't even have time to catch up.” Her mom comes out from behind a pile of boxes. “We’ll do that at dinner, when I come back to this house the way it was before you arrived, young lady.”, Y/N says playfully. “Oh. Bring your boyfriend for dinner.”, Y/F/N requests. “He’s not my boyfriend.” She blushes. “Of course not, you just spend a lot of time with him, talking about him, thinking about him...”, Y/M/N teases. “Ok, I got it. See ya later.” Y/N blows them a kiss and heads out.

The girl is glad to be reminded of Jughead. She texts him on her way to the diner. 

From: Y/N

Wanna have breakfast at Pop’s? My treat.

From: Jughead

Would love to, but I’m heading to Betty’s for breakfast. I’m gonna distract her mom while she tries to find out where Polly was taken to. 

Y/N doesn't reply, perplexed to why she wasn't included in their plan. She’s not mad at Jug, but rather disappointed in Betty. After the memorial, she was sure they were on the same page. Clearly not. Nonetheless, she’s not gonna let that stop her from getting the best milkshakes in town before class.

Jughead’s point of view

The chair in the Blue and Gold office is way more comfortable than his mattress on the floor. Nevertheless, whenever Jughead tries to sleep there, he ends up staying up late, writing. Tonight is one of those nights. Without any major development on the Jason Blossom case, the novelist doesn't really have much to add to the story but editing is just as important. Jug can’t move past the paragraph about the first time he met Y/N by the edge of Sweet Water River just after the body was removed. It’s the way she’s written in, skeptical and cold, that got him stuck, realizing he doesn't relate to that at all. Even so, at the same time, it’s how he felt back then. Since he promised she’d be the first to read his finished work, the writer can’t imagine letting her read those as his first words about her.

After much editing, he’s finally happy with the end result of Y/N’s introduction to the story. The clock on his screen shows it just turned 6 am. He could try and get some sleep, but the boy remembers the long overdue paper he has to deliver and not a single sentence written yet. School work isn't really his forte. Forty-five minutes go by and Jug’s staring at his laptop screen, motionless, not even all the cold coffee left in his thermos flask would be enough to keep him awake, so he decides to take a power nap before leaving for Betty’s. Jughead just slouches back on the chair and crosses his feet over the table. Leaving the office would mean 15 minutes wasted wondering the school halls till his ‘room’ and he can’t afford to lose a single one. He’s woken up by a text from Y/N, inviting him to eat at Pop’s, rather than his alarm clock. 

Of course he would 100 times prefer to have breakfast with Y/N at the Chock’lit Shoppe than with Betty and her mom, but the fate of their investigation could rest with whatever information they can get out of Polly, and for that they need to know where she is. That’s something they can only get from Alice and everything is set for today. Jughead just hopes the Y/H/C girl understands that. He can’t help thinking if she had texted a little earlier he would most definitely have had two breakfasts. 

A couple of waffles in, some OJ and both silent and vocal insults from Alice, Betty gives him the sign to get her mom out of the room, which is as easy as asking for the bathroom. When he returns, the blonde is already waiting for him by the front door with an accomplished look. Jughead thanks Alice for the ‘hospitality’ before they leave hurriedly. He can’t wait to share this with Y/N.

Y/N’s point of view

Y/N uses her free period to drop her finished articles at the Blue and Gold not expecting to run into Betty and Jughead in there. “It's a Home for troubled youths.Where disenfranchised teens will learn such virtues as discipline and respect, enjoying lives of quiet reflection and servitude.”, Jug quotes. “Poor Polly.“, Bets says. “So you found out?”, Y/N asks, reveling her presence in the room. She can see the blonde dig her nails in her palms and go from a hateful to calm face within seconds. “Y/N/N! So glad you could join us. Juggie was very helpful in us finding out where Polly is.”, Betty says on fake-nice tone, stroking Jug’s arm, making him cringe and Y/N’s face grow red. “Where is that?”, the Y/H/C girl inquires, trying to not sound weird out by the whole ordeal. “The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Sounds creepy, I know.”, the raven-haired boy replies. “When are we going?”, Y/N asks enthusiastically, as this would be their first group operation. “I think it’s best if just me and Juggie go. Too many people can call attention.”, the vixen replies coarsely. “I disagree.” Jughead stands up and walks away from Betty. “The more the merrier. If things go south we can create a diversion, plus Y/N can drive us there.” There’s no valid argument Betty could use to explain why she doesn't want Y/N with them. The Y/E/C eyes meet Jug’s blueish ones in gratitude for standing up for her.

The bell for lunch rings and they leave the office to the courtyard. They find the table where Archie is sitting next to Valerie, with a melancholic expression. Betty walks a little faster than them and sits in the corner of the bench, forcing Jug to sit in the middle and Y/N next to him in the other corner. “I think we should do it after school.”, Bets suggests, probably because she knows Y/N has an extra class today. “Sure, that works for me.”, the Y/H/C girl agrees and takes a sip from her soda. Playing Betty’s game isn't really something she wants to do, but she’s not just about to leave Jug alone with her again. “What are you guys talking about? Anything I can help with?”, Archie inquiries, begging to be a part of it, same way Y/N has to fight for her spot in. “What we're attempting is a stealth operation, Archie. If we go in there with the entire Scooby Gang, forget it, we're compromised.”, Jug explains, eating the last of his tortilla chips. The ginger boy looks even more miserable at that, but at soon as Veronica arrives, his gloominess changes, since she offers to play with him at the Variety Show. Y/N understands Jughead’s gestures of asking for her bag of potato chips and gives it to him with a smile, only to watch Betty making fists with her hands once again.

Now that her parents are home, Y/N can’t just skip class so she heads into her classroom acting sick. Lucky for her she’s very convincing and the teacher let’s her out without any problems. She meets Jug and Betty by the front gate so they can walk together to her house where she’ll get her mom’s car to drive them to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy building. The girl asks them to wait on the corner while she gets the car. Y/N’s not in the mood to explain to her parents what they are doing. Not too long goes by and they hear the loud roar of the Impala. “I call shotgun.” Jughead says opening the door so that Betty can seat in the back.

Jughead’s point of view

They arrive at the reception. The place looks more like a prison than a home. Betty hands the nun her ID and she’s allowed in, but Jughead and Y/N have to stay back. “What do you think she’s gonna find?”, the girl asks as they sit on a bench in the lobby. “The truth. Whatever that is.”, he answers. Soon after, they are asked to wait in a room. The doctor insists on them moving, not taking into consideration their attempts to prove they’re fine where they are. “Are we being committed now?” Y/N tries to open the window, to no success. “No. But that may have been a better outcome.” Jug makes her turn around to see Alice Cooper by the door with a furious look. 

They are being escorted out by doctors. Before they reach the door, Polly comes out from a corner. She loses control and start screaming at her mom for not telling her what happened to Jason. Y/N tries to block one of the doctors from holding Betty, so the blonde can hug her sister. “Don’t touch her.” Jughead throws himself in front of the Y/H/C girl as the doctor was just about to pin her on the wall. They all watch as the pregnant mourning girl is dragged out. Jug is met with a different, darker view of what he thought was a perfect family.

At the parking lot, Alice instructs Betty to wait in the car and she walks away with both a grateful and apologetic look. Thanks to them, she got to see her sister, although because of that her mother is just about to lecture them. “I didn't expect this of you, Y/N.” The girl can’t meet Mrs. Cooper’s eyes. “She was doing...”, the boy starts. “Jug...” She nods her head from side to side interrupting him. “That’s right, Jughead. Y/N doesn't need you to defend her. She knows she’s wrong.”, Alice spits with her eyes still watery. “No. Betty has a right to know what’s going on with her sister. And THIS... exiling your own daughter because she’s pregnant. I didn't expect THAT from you.” Y/N opens the car door and gets in without looking back at Alice. Jughead follows her actions and they drive away. 

“Where should I drop you off?”, she asks. Jughead is silent for a while, figuring out the best way out of this. “How about we just go to Pop’s?”, he suggests, defensively. “Sure. After this, all I need is a double chocolate shake with waffles.” Y/N changes their route to the Chock’lit Shoppe. “Waffles? For dinner?” The raven-haired boy laughs. “Don’t judge me, Mr. Coffee-before-bed-ops-I-have-insomnia.”, the girl teases and they both laugh. Y/N keeping her eyes off the road a little longer than she should’ve. Juggie is sure he caught her glimpsing at his lips but this isn't the right time for it so he just focuses on their order. He’s temped on the waffles as well, but the usual burger wins every time.

Of course he stole a few bites from Y/N’s delicious sweet treat, making the girl fake-mad and him fake-innocent. However, a sweet grin vanishes from his face as fast as it appeared since she offered to drive him home once again. “I think I’m just gonna stay here, enjoy the free coffee refills and write a bit.” Jug hates not being able to tell her why he’s not going home. Luckily she doesn't look suspicious to his reasons for staying. “How about tomorrow we have actual food for dinner? My place?”, Y/N asks confidently. “Sounds good.” The boy loves Pop’s, but the thought of real food makes his stomach fluster. The girl slides off the booth and walks out of the diner, leaving Jug wishing there was a white chocolate and ginger milkshake so he could still smell her.

Y/N’s point of view

 Light tapping on Y/N’s bedroom window startles her. “Jug?” She surprises herself as this is the second time she calls him by his nickname. The boy is on a ladder the girl wasn't even aware they owned. “Hey there, Juliet.”, he proclaims, getting in. “You do know we have a front door?”, Y/N asks rhetorically. “There was an unfamiliar car in your driveway.”, he states, looking around the posters on her walls and some of the books on her shelves before turning to face her. “So you decided to climb up?” She waves her hands in confusion. “Could've been the killer. I may as well have saved your life.” Her heart beats faster as he walks closer and closer. “Also...” Jughead breaths in, his eyes switching from her lips to her Y/E/C orbs. He guides his hands to each side of her cheeks. Without hesitation Jug leans in, meeting their lips in a sweet, passionate kiss. Y/N is dazed by his actions and takes a few seconds to kiss back. But their moment is interrupted by her father knocking on the door. “Dinner is almost ready. When is your friend coming?”, he shouts through the hallway. “Soon.”, Y/N replies with a wide smile, looking up at that amazing boy in front of her, who just gave this fortunate overjoyed pleased teen her first kiss. 

They walk down the stairs to the kitchen. “Where did Jughead come from?”, her mother asks, suspiciously. “You know Nightcrawler, right? Ta-da!”, Y/N points at the boy, implying he teleported. “Are you hiding a tail under that flannel?”, her father jokes. “No, I've got my holographic clock on.” Jughead shows his wrist, with a bracelet rather a clock, but the reference to X-Men: Evolution still stands. Y/N’s sporting an amazed look at his knowledge on the series. “Ok, Kurt. you can sit here.” Y/F/N point at the seat next to his daughters usual place and winks at the girl. Laughter and conversation fill the room. Y/M/N shares stories about their travel, Y/F/N talks about some of his less bloody cases, and Jughead gives them movies suggestions. Y/N is loving every second of it. However, as soon as they finish the main course, Jug’s phone buzzes. He shows Y/N the text.

From: Betty

Meet me at route 40 by the Maple Syrup sign. 

Both teens look at each other, knowing they have to go, because it could be about the case they are desperate to solve. “Mom, we’re gonna skip desert, we have to go meet some friends.”, Y/N tells them, seeing the disappointed look in Jug’s face. “That’s ok, honey. Call us if you’re gonna be later than really late.”, her mother says. “Thank you for dinner Mr. and Mrs. Y/L/N. It was delicious.”, Jughead says. “Oh, please. Calls us Y/M/N and Y/F/N and you’re very welcome.”, her father replies, taking out their plates.

Y/N parks the Impala when she spots Betty by the roadside under the pouring rain. She doesn't look happy, and not about being soaking wet, but at the sight of an accompanied Jughead. “How...” The blonde doesn't even have time to finish when Jug cuts her off. “I was having dinner at Y/N’s when I got your text. It, seemed odd you didn't send her one.”, he speaks firmly, making sure this doesn't go any further. “So, why are we here?”, Y/N asks, looking around. “Polly told me about a getaway car Jason had ready for them. I wonder if it’s still here.”, Betty says, handing each a flashlight and directing them towards the sign. Even with the little visibility they have it’s not hard to find the vehicle, covered with tarpaulin and leafs as it has been there for a while now. 

They remove the protective layers and open the trunk, revealing suitcases and Jason’s varsity jacket. “What are those?”, Betty asks, pointing at something in plastic wrap. “Drugs...” Jughead picks one up. “JUG!”, Y/N shouts, making him drop the evidence. “Fingerprints...”, she explains, rubbing everything they touched with the sleeve of her sweater. “This is all evidence, we need to talk to Sheriff Keller and get Polly.”, the blonde girl states. “This whole car is a crime scene.” Jughead takes a few pictures with his phone before they leave to warn the Sheriff about it. 

Sadly, by the time Sheriff Keller arrives at the site, the car is in flames, and Polly isn't at The Sisters of Quiet Mercy anymore.

[realisticallycynical]

Ace

yet another one of @skygemspeaks‘s prompts, this time in the form of a Haikyuu/YOI crossover that actually works really well even though it starts out as completely angst because i have no self control and need to be stopped

part one/prologue (you are here), part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9

“Yuu-ri,” Victor croons, gently running his fingers through his husband’s hair. “It’s late. You’re practically falling over. Let’s go to bed?”

Yuuri protested sleepily. “But my sister…”

“She’ll call later. I’ll leave the ringer on,” Victor assures him, steering him toward the bed.

Mari had promised to be their first phone call of the new year, since they’d landed too late to go home. Their hotel in Tajiri was an eight hour drive from Yutopia, too far to even attempt at nearly one in the morning. Still, Yuuri demanded to stay up and wait for his sister’s call. It’s been a long season; Yurio is getting older, trying frantically to get just a few more record breaking seasons in before his inevitable retirement. They haven’t had a break in months, between coaching and international competitions, so it’ll be nice when they finally get home.

Somehow, Victor manages to wrangle Yuuri into bed, despite his current status as deadweight. Neither of them is overweight, despite being retired; they keep in shape, but they’re by no means obsessive over it the way they used to be.

They’ve only been asleep for maybe an hour or two when the phone rang. Victor feels along the nightstand blearily and slides the green icon to the left, putting the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” he mumbles. “Mari?”

The voice that comes through the receiver isn’t Mari’s. It isn’t even a Katsuki’s voice. The voice that comes through the receiver is professional, but just sympathetic enough to send chills down Victor’s spine. “Is this Victor Nikiforov-Katsuki?”

“Katsuki-Nikiforov,” he corrects automatically. “Speaking. Who are you?”

“My name is Hattori Akari, I’m calling from Fukuda Hospital. I apologize for the late hour, but we need you to come in immediately–” A cry comes through the phone, drowning out whatever she says next, and sending a shard of ice through Victor’s heart. He knows that wail.

“Alisa? Is that my niece– I mean my cousin, is she okay? Where’s her brother? Her parents?” A call from the hospital in the dead of night is anyone’s worst nightmare. But a call from the hospital when he can hear his four year old first-cousin-once-removed (who may as well be his niece) in the background and not anyone to comfort her is his own personal hell.

Where is Karolina? What on earth is the Haiba family doing in a hospital at four in the morning on New Years Day?

Vaguely, he hears the woman saying something that sounds like a sincere but ultimately still pointless platitude and another request that he come in immediately, as the children’s emergency contact (oh god that means little Lev is there too, what the hell is going on, why aren’t they telling him anything, where is his cousin) and everything will be explained upon his arrival for purposes of confidentiality.

He blinks in the darkness after hanging up and feels Yuuri sit up next to him.

“Is everything alright, Vitya? You sounded upset. Is Alisa okay?” He sounds sleepy, but alert.

Victor just looks at him for a moment, feeling helpless, before grabbing his keys.

Not even twenty minutes later, they pull into the parking lot of Fukuda Hospital. Luckily, it wasn’t far from their hotel; the Haibas live in the Kumamoto prefecture, near Victor and Yuuri’s hotel. Victor bursts through the door with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop, disturbing a few people dozing in the waiting room and earning himself a few scathing looks. He can’t bring himself to care, though, as he rushes over to the front desk.

“Haiba Karolina, Haiba Shin, and their children, are they okay?”

He gives his name when prompted, and Yuuri’s too, when he arrives a moment later. They’re ushered through the double doors on the left and Victor is reminded of how much he hates the antiseptic-sick-clean-death smell of hospitals when he’s hit facefirst with it.

The sound of meaningless babbling alerts him to the kids before he sees them. Without warning, he speeds up, passing the doctor and turning the corner quickly.

“Uncle Vitya?” It’s Alisa who notices him first, glossy tear tracks staining her face despite her now dry eyes. But while Alisa is the first to see him, Lev is the closest, toddling over to him on tiny, unsteady feet.

Victor scoops him up into his arms, feeling one of the many weights he’s carrying drop from his chest. Alisa attaches herself to his leg, looking infinitely more relaxed now that there was an adult she trusted in the room. That’s when he notices the look on the face of the nurse that’s presumably been watching them.

He knows, in that instant, what’s happened. Why they called him for the children, and why him, instead of his father.

And Victor knows better than to think he can stop his heart from shattering, from shredding itself into pieces that may not ever be whole again, but he can encase them in ice, stop the pain from showing itself in his face.

Victor may not be good at much, but he’s always been a bit of a prodigy when it comes to the ice.

“Alisochka, love,” he says, being very, very careful to keep his voice steady and, if not cheerful, at least neutral, “I need you to be good for the nurse for a few more minutes, okay? Just a little longer. I’ll take care of everything.”

She blinks up at him and nods, trusting him completely in a way that physically hurts. “Lev too?”

Victor looks down into Lev’s clear green eyes. On one hand, he doesn’t want to let either of them out of his sight; they’re his family and more importantly, he’s their only family for five thousand miles. On the other hand, this isn’t something they should be there to hear.

He looks at Yuuri, sure that his heart is in his eyes in a way that only he has ever been able to read. He can’t make this choice, inconsequential as it is. It’s too much.

Then, as Yuuri opens his mouth to say something, little Lev plants a big, drooly kiss on Victor’s cheek and giggles, blowing bubbles with his own spit.

The tension doesn’t break, and the pain in Victor’s chest doesn’t ease even slightly, but for a moment it’s easier to pretend that everything is fine and his heart isn’t about to overflow.

“Lev too,” Yuuri says quietly, reading Victor’s eyes like a book. He gently pries the baby out of Victor’s arms and passes him to the nurse. Lev wails quietly for a moment before settling down. Victor gives Alisa his phone to watch videos and play games for as long as they’re handling… whatever they need to handle.

The doctor that brought them in leads Victor and Yuuri to his office. As soon as he’s sitting, Victor asks a question he knows he doesn’t want the answer to.

“My little cousin… Is she…”

The doctor shakes his head solemnly, looking apologetic. “The wounds she and her husband sustained from the crash were too severe for us to…”

Victor doesn’t hear him, can’t hear him over the sound of his world crashing down around him. His little cousin is in one of these rooms. His little cousin, the closest thing he’s ever had to a sibling, is lying on one of these hospital beds.

He doesn’t realize that he’s crying until he’s choking on nothing. Yuuri is gripping his hand tightly, looking grim but determined.

“No, the system isn’t an option. We’re their godparents, we’ll bring them home. End of story,” he says simply.

Victor manages to pull himself together long enough to sign the papers that need to be signed. At some point while the paperwork is being processed, Yuri shows up, looking uncharacteristically somber. Yuuri probably called him earlier, Victor realizes vacantly, balancing a sleeping Lev in his arms as Alisa shifts in her sleep momentarily from her seat at his side.

Yuri tells them that he picked up two car seats from some department store around the corner. Victor wants to ask which department store is open this late before realizing that it’s well after six in the morning.

It’s more than an hour later that the immediate paperwork goes through and they can go home with the newest additions to their household.

They get the carseats installed with some difficulty; they’re fairly complicated contraptions and besides getting a little less than six hours of sleep between the three of them (with the lion’s share of that going to Yuri), they’re all pretty badly jetlagged.

But it doesn’t take long to get them home after that; they get back to the hotel in under half an hour and put the kids in the bed. Lev immediately reaches out unconsciously, looking for a body to curl up with and finding Alisa, and Victor is reminded of how little he is. He still sleeps– slept. He still slept with his parents.

That thought is all it takes to break the dam that Victor carefully erected around his heart when he had to be strong for the kids. Yuuri is a gentle presence at his side and Yuri’s hand on his shoulder is grounding. So, clinging to these sensations, Victor weeps.

The three of them fall asleep together on the couch soon after Victor’s eyes dry out. Mari’s call at 8:13 goes unanswered.

[imjustthemechanic]

The Stone Knight

Part 1/? - Two Statues Part 2/? - A Curious Interview Part 3/? - John Doe Part 4/? - Escape Attempt Part 5/? - Making the News Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - More Impossible Part 8/? - The Shield Thieves Part 9/? - Reality Sinks In Part 10/? - Preparing a Quest Part 11/? - The Marvelous History of Sir Stephen Part 12/? - Uninvited Guests Part 13/? - So That’s What It Does Part 14/? - The What and the Where

Once again, our heroes sit down and try to figure out what happens next with their now larger and much more complicated party.

Of course, the same principle applied to their actions as to Totenkopf's – just because they knew what they needed to do didn't mean they knew how to do it.

“So now what?” asked Dr. Wilson. “What do we do, just go to the Orkneys and check all the henges one by one? How many are there?”

“Well, we know we don't need to check the Twelve Apostles because I can already see that's not the one,” said DI Carter. “But yeah, there've got to be dozens. Probably way more that have fallen down and nobody knows about them anymore.”

“Well, there's gotta be a better way than visiting them all,” Dr. Wilson said. “We'll be there until next year! How were you planning on finding it, way back when?” he asked Sir Stephen. “Did you have, I don't know, a mystical druid or somebody who was going to show you the way?”

“No,” Sir Stephen admitted. “As you say, we thought we would simply visit them all in turn until we found the one that matched the map. We think the Red Death had a way to rule them out, but we never knew for sure.”

“We do know a couple of things,” said DI Carter. “We know it's thirteen stones, and we know they're not in a circle...”

“Medieval maps aren't known for their accurate cartography,” Natasha said dubiously, “and we don't even know for sure it's a stone circle. That's just what Sir Steve thinks it is. Maybe it's a riddle instead of a map.”

DI Carter shook her head. “We've got to make some assumptions or it's like Dr. Wilson said – we'll be here for months,” she said. “In the force, if we have unknowns we start with the strictest set of criteria and rule those possibilities out first, and only then do we cast our net a little wider. So we'll start with thirteen stones in an oval.” She looked around at the pictures and bookshelves on the walls. “This is an archaeology department,” she observed. “Do you have, I don't know, some kind of list of henges in the Orkneys? Preferably with maps?”

“Yes!” squealed Sue. “We do!”

Her voice sounded so odd that everybody turned to look at her, and when they did they found her eyes wide and her hands held out, as if she were terrified and grabbing at the one straw of a thing she understood here. “Lau's Enquête sur l'Ecosse Néolithique! I found it mis-shelved in the Spanish section of the faculty library at the end of last term! I'll go get it right away!” she said, and literally ran out the door to find the room.

“Uh... is she gonna be okay?” asked Rushman.

“I hope so,” said Nat. Sue was an organizer – her job as department secretary was to keep things in order for a dozen scatterbrained professors. Her world needed to make meticulous sense and she'd just witnessed something that made no sense whatsover. Nat could only be grateful that she hadn't been present for Zola's transformation, or the poor woman would probably have lost her mind.

“We have it!” Sue shouted through the wall. “Here it is!”

She bustled back into the room with a very large hardcover book bound in blue canvas – if the cover had ever had a paper sleeve, it had fallen apart long ago. Sue put it down on her desk and opened it so she could fold out a map for them. “This should be just what your research requires,” she declared. “Come on, let's get you all comfortable in the meeting room, and I'll see if I can find you some cookies.” Her voice had a high-pitched, desperate edge to it that made Natasha think she was going to pass out at any moment.

Nat went and reached out a hand, but did not actually touch the woman. “Sue,” she said, “I know I'm not the department head, but... why don't you take the rest of the day off.” People had their weirdness threshholds and Sue had clearly reached hers.

Sue grabbed Nat's arm. The relief in her face was obvious, and it was merely a bit of politeness that she asked, “are you sure?”

“Very sure,” said Nat. “Go visit Brandon or something. I bet he misses you.”

“Oh, thank you, Natalie,” said Sue. “I do think I need a break. Yes, thank you very much.”

“You're welcome.” Nat patted her shoulder, and the others made way for her to bustle out of the room.

Natasha locked the office door so they wouldn't be disturbed, and everybody got themselves settled into the library. This was a tiny room behind Sue's office, crammed with bookshelves that just barely left room for a table and chairs. The shelves held everything from textbooks of old English to more archaeological surveys to a disintegrating Penguin Classics edition of the Prose Eddas, and there was a single small window, above the radiator, that looked out on the car park. Through this, Nat could see Sue getting into her car. Hopefully she would be okay. Natasha liked Sue.

There were four chairs in the library, but with Allen Rushman there were now five people in their party, so Natasha parked herself on the edge of the table as she opened the book for Sir Stephen. When she thought about it, the Enquête sur l'Ecosse Néolithique was a perfect piece of the modern world – a book about Scotland, written in French, by a man who'd been born in Taipei. When else in human history would you find something like that?

It was also exactly what they needed – one of the appendices included detailed survey maps of all the larger known stone circles in Scotland, all to scale and with north at the top, and documenting the suspected locations of missing stones. If any trace of their circle still existed, it ought to be in there. She turned to the section with the fold-out maps, and slid it across the table to Sir Stephen. “Look through this,” she told him. “If you find any that look like your ring, put one of these on it so it sticks out at the side.” She gave him a package of post-it notes. “They're sticky.”

“Thank you,” said Sir Stephen, and reverently unfolded the first map. He would be from an age when books were rare and precious, she observed. They wouldn't have to worry about him being rough with them. “I had not expected any part of my quest to take place in a library,” he added.

“I'd say libraries are where most questing goes on these days,” said Natasha.

In order not to distract him, the rest of them filed back out into Sue's office, where there were more chairs and more space not to feel like they were sardines in a book-liken can. Rushman went to pour himself another cup of coffee, the first one having been spilled when Natasha attacked him. Dr. Wilson wandered around looking at the posters and replica artefacts that decorated the room, and DI Carter checked her email.

“Hughes identified the blood from the warehouse floor,” she announced.

“Pierce's?” asked Nat. She wasn't sure if that would surprise her or not. She had a feeling Mr. Pierce, trying to convince her his statues were real, was not merely a victim in this after all... but she was also plenty familiar with people who turned on their allies the moment they were no longer useful.

“No. It's a guy named Mick O'Herlihy. We had his profile because he'd been arrested for breaking into people's cars six years ago. We did community service and we let him go.” Carter frowned. “Why is his name familiar?”

“The Loch Ness Monster guy was O'Herlihy,” said Nat. Could they be relatives? Or was this just a coincidence.

“Oh, right.” Carter nodded. “That's why. Anyway, she says she's gonna work on the shield right away, but it might be a problem getting DNA off of something made of beat-up wood and leather. She's as likely to get a profile for the tree or the cow as for whoever bled on it.”

“Fair enough,” said Natasha. Now they just had to wait for Sir Stephen to find a match, if one even existed. In the mean time... she looked over at Rushman. What the hell was she going to do about him?

He looked back at her, and ventured a timid smile. “So, uh, who are your friends?” he asked uncomfortably. He was trying to sound as if everything were normal. He knew it was not.

Natasha thought of telling him that they weren't really friends, but didn't feel it was worth it. “Well, that's Detective Inspector Sharon Carter from Inverness.”

“Hi,” said Carter.

“Nice to meet you, Inspector.” Rushman stood up straight to shake her hand.

“This is Dr. Sam Wilson, who worked at Raigmore Hospital,” Nat went on.

Rushman shook his hand, too. “That was a terrible thing to hear about,” he said, referring to the hospital falling down. “Any clue who did it yet? Has anyone claimed responsibility?”

“I don't know,” Dr. Wilson said. “I've been pretty busy.”

“We're working on it,” Carter promised.

“And the guy we left in the other room is Sir Stephen of Rogsey,” Natasha finished. “He's a Saxon knight from the eleventh century. Or at least, he thinks he is.” The unspoken corollary hung in the air: like you think you're my father.

“I see,” said Rushman. “And, uh... what are you all doing with the stone circle thing?”

“We're on a quest,” said Carter, in a perfect deadpan. “We seek the Holy Grail.”

Rushman seemed to decide that made about as much sense as any of the rest of it. “I'm not sure what kind of help I can be with that,” he said. “I've only seen the movie... I've been to Stonehenge, though,” he offered, and smiled at Natasha. “That was your Mom and I's second honeymoon, remember? You stayed with your aunt in the city, and she said she took you to the museum...” his voice trailed off as Natasha shook her head.

“I don't remember,” she said.

She felt a little bad for him honestly. In Rushman's own mind, he'd come all this way to see a daughter who'd thrown him on the floor and told him he didn't exist... or had he? Maybe that was just what Zola, or somebody else, wanted Natasha to think? She couldn't shake the feeling that this was deliberately playing on her emotions, giving her something she'd always wished she had in an attempt to weaken her. Maybe to soften her belief in objective truth, the kind she tried to uncover in mossy ruins and smashed pottery, and make her more open to some alternate version of reality. That was what Zola had said in the police station: truth is something we make up. This was certainly an ample demonstration.

“So your parents left you, huh?” Rushman asked.

“I'm sure they had their reasons,” Nat told him. She'd hated them for it once, but since then she'd come to realize that the world was more complicated. “That was during the end days of the USSR, shortly after Chernobyl. Maybe they had no money. Maybe they were dying of radiation sickness.” Either way, she liked to hope they hadn't actually known who they were leaving her with. If they'd believed their daughter had been raised and loved... well, that was just another beautiful lie, wasn't it?

“Well, on their behalf, I apologize,” said Rushman. “They don't know what they missed.”

“They didn't miss anything,” said Nat. “Whatever you remember about me isn't real. I never did any of that.”

“You were never in ballet recitals?” He smiled kindly. “Never built snowmen? You weren't your high school valedictorian?”

Nat shook her head. “None of that,” she said.

“Oh.” He fell silent, and Nat couldn't help feeling like she'd robbed him of something.

For a moment Rushman just stood swirling his coffee. Then he drained the cup and put it down on the table.

“I came here to see you,” he told Natasha. “If you don't want to see me, I guess I might as well just go home.”

Nat's gut reaction was that this was a terrible idea. If he were something Zola had created, somebody they couldn't trust, then she didn't want him out of her sight. Keep your friends close, the saying went, but your enemies closer. Besides, there was another complicating factor.

“Do you have a home?” Nat asked. His address in Manhasset was for an empty lot, and his phone number didn't exist. His credit cards and passport probably didn't either. What would happen if he tried to go home? What would happen when he got there?

“Of course I do,” he said. “I was just there last night!”

“You didn't even exist last night,” said Nat. She sighed. “We'll figure something out.”

There was something else, too – if Natasha wasn't sure she could trust Rushman, then how did she know she could trust Sir Stephen? He seemed to believe he was in the right, but was he? After all, his goal was the same as he claimed the bad guys' was, to find the Holy Grail.

Maybe that was the real reason Nat liked archaeology, she thought. It was full of puzzles and politics, but none of them had immediate consequences. If DI Carter had been investigating the case of a man accused of murdering his two young nephews in order to steal their inheriance, it would be a case with grieving relatives and demands for justice, not to mention the national scandal if they'd been members of the royal family. If Nat were doing it, then King Richard III and the Princes in the Tower were long dead, and historians and archaeologists could theorize however they wanted without worrying that they were ruining somebody's life. When you made it real, it just wasn't fun anymore.