#also promise this is the last garage post since i know none of my followers care about this genre

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Beth’s Template in S11

Okay Bethyl Enthusiasts! Here goes!

I’ve been promising to talk to you about exactly what I think will happen in S11 with Beth’s arc, and that’s what I’m going to do today. I’ve had a basic idea of things for a while, now, but these bonus episodes and their epic symbolism have really kicked things into high gear. They’ve helped me see things more clearly and even helped give me a more definitely (disclaimer: though still somewhat fluid) timeline for how/when it will all happen.

So, of course we all hoped to see her in ep 22. But if he we had, it would have had to have been in a coda. Like a preview of some kind. Because they didn’t quite get to the part of the story where I’m expecting to see her. But I’ll get into that in more detail.

So, we’ve been saying for a while that we think she’ll come through Eugene’s storyline, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on here. Because that’s specifically what I think we’ll see in S11. @wdway has found a TON of Beth symbolism around Eugene. She did most of her investigating and reporting over the long, CoVid hiatus, but I haven’t gotten around to posting much of it. Maybe I still will. We’ll see. There’s been so much to talk about lately.

Let me also state that, while I firmly believe we’ll see Beth in S11, I don’t think we’ll get to the point where Daryl will see her. And yes, that kinda sucks. But they probably won’t have their reunion until the spinoff. I know the Bethyl reunion is what we’re all waiting for, but hey, at least once we see her, we’ll know it’s coming, right?

So let’s start by going through the relevant template.

I’ve mentioned parts of this before, so I apologize if any part of it is repetitive. But it will help you if  you understand not just what I believe we’ll see, but why.

So, let’s return to 6x08/09. At the end of 6x07,  the church fell and all the walkers got into Alexandria. Eugene ends up in a garage with Tara and Rosita. They can’t get into the house connected to the garage because the dividing door is locked. After a discussion between the two ladies about whether they’re going to give up hope or else “do something,” Eugene offers to pick the lock and they get inside.

Inside, Morgan was keeping Creepy Wolf Dude (who I’ll abbreviate CWD) in the basement. He brought Denise (Beth proxy) in to patch up his injury, which she does. Carol wants to kill CWD and tries, but Morgan stops her. He’s on his “all life is precious” kick and ends up body slamming Carol, so she passes out. But when his back is turned, CWD also hits him over the head, so Carol and Morgan are both down for the count.

Just then, Eugene, Rosita and Tara enter, but CWD takes Denise hostage and leaves.

Everyone with me?

Okay, let’s start with Denise. Because of the way she died, Daryl’s reaction to her death, and AALLLLLL the Beth symbolism around her, she’s clearly a proxy for Beth. So what I’m going to argue is that this little sequence is a foreshadow and template for how she’ll be reintroduced into the show. Notice how Daryl isn’t present in any of these scenes. So again, this is how we, the audience will see her. Not how Daryl will first see her. Kapish? Okay.

So, I think Eugene unlocking the door to a new place represents him finding or “unlocking” a new community. Kinda like the one he, Yumiko, Zeke, and Princess are now in the process of discovering.

How did we come up with that? I honestly don’t remember in detail. Like I said, it’s something we’ve discussed for a long time. I think we started with Denise=Beth and worked backward from there. It kind of feels like out of all the members of TF, Eugene will see her first, but then she’ll be taken away from him right away.

Now, he’s in the midst of discovering new people/a new community. A few other pieces of evidence for this:

1)      Before they run into the garage, right after the church falls, Eugene gets on the radio and calls for help. Remember, Daryl hears him? So that parallels to Eugene talking with Stephanie via the radio.

2)      If you go through the dialogue of Rosita and Tara in this scene and compare it to dialogue in the scene in 10x16 between Yumiko and Ezekiel (the scene where his horse dies) the parallels are ridiculous. They aren’t the exact same lines of dialogue, but the meanings and chronology of it is almost exact.

3)      In terms of Denise = Beth, before she patches up Creepy Wolf Dude, she says to him, “show me the wound.” In Rick’s dream in 9x05, we heard Beth’s voice say, “What’s your wound?” It’s almost like they were trying to show us that Denise = Beth and that this template would play out with her return.

Okay, I hope that’s all clear. Shit’s about to get really interesting.

Before we continue, I want to remind you of THIS POST I did about 5x09. If you haven’t read it, I suggest doing so. I talk about the radio voice in 5x09 and how it talks about “attacks against the republic.” We couldn’t have known what that meant before, but now it’s clear that it’s a foreshadow of the CRM and the CRM war, which won’t happen until the spinoff.

It’s super interesting because Andrew Lincoln was the radio voice (he’s currently with the CRM) but he has his English accent. (I’ll tell you why that’s important in a minute. It wasn’t a casual or irrelevant choice on the writers’ parts.) So if that suggests Rick being with the CRM, which he is, it’s kind of interesting that Beth’s voice, singing “Struggling Man” also comes out of the radio at first, before we see her sitting there singing it. That suggests that she, too, will be with the CRM and part of the CRM war. None of Ty’s other death hallucinations spoke from the radio. I’m just saying.

The voice there even mentioned brutal attacks against the republic, including setting people on fire and hacking them with machetes. And that’s important because that’s just what the wolves did at Alexandria, and in the above template, we have CWD taking Denise (Beth). So it’s all interconnected.

But even so, I’ve had a hard time nailing down what it means and what the story line will actually be when Beth return.

Enter episode 10x21 and @bluesandbeth​’s inspired research.

In ep 21, Carol snoops around in Daryl’s room and finds the book “The Golden Age of Piracy.” Now, I’ll admit I didn’t look into this reference very extensively because I THOUGHT I knew what it meant. We had a “pirates” reference between Daryl and Carol in 10x01, when they first discussed leaving together on his bike. Since we already know they’ll be leaving together for the spinoff, that conversation was a foreshadow of what will happen in the spinoff. And if you’ve been following my posts,  you know that I see their whole arc in the bonus episodes (6x18 and 6x21) as a foreshadow of that same story line. So to me it was just another confirmation of the spinoff arc.

Then @bluesandbeth contacted me because she’d been looking into the Golden Age of Piracy book. She looked up the author and found out some interesting things. This author is real and basically wrote two kinds of historical books. (X) Books about piracy, and books about the American Revolutionary War. The author wrote a book called Greene and Cornwallis. (X)

Yikes! Yes, Greene is a real person and a patriot who stood against Cornwallis in the Revolutionary War. But what are the chances the writers use an author who just happens to have written a book with Beth’s last name in the title?

Historically, Nathaneal Greene was George Washington’s top general and right hand man during the war. I’ll come back to him. For now, it’s enough that he shares Beth’s last name.

I immediately hopped online to see what @bluesandbeth​ was seeing and look for more. And boy did I stumble upon a treasure trove!

I noticed a second book by this author called Swamp Fox. (Full title is Francis Marion: Swamp Fox.)

Now, you may wonder why that caught my attention. It’s not anything I ever posted about. It has to do with Leah. While me and my fellow theorists were discussing her and episode 10x18 endlessly, we noticed that Leah often wore a fox-fur scarf:

We conjectured back and forth about what it meant. Foxes, just like most animals, can have many different symbolic meanings depending on what culture you’re looking at. They’re often seen as sneaky and wily and deceptive, so we wondered if it was a reference to the writers “deceiving” us because Leah is a hallucination. But that was about the best we could come up with.

Well, when I saw the title of Swamp Fox, I immediately thought of Leah. And of course symbolically, Leah = Beth. So I decided to investigate.

And guess what? When I started reading about the Swamp Fox book, all the stuff from the S6 template above and the 5x09 stuff about Beth being part of the CRM war started clicking into place so fast, it made my head spin.

The Swamp Fox is about Francis Marion, a real man and patriot who also fought against the British during the American Revolutionary war. He’s the guy Mel Gibson’s character in The Patriot is based on. He faced down Cornwallis (one of the main British generals during the American Revolution) and was awesome at guerilla tactics and staying hidden. You know, in the swamp. Hence, they called him Swamp Fox.

Does that sound familiar to you? Think about what Andy Lincoln/Radio Voice said in 5x09 about Guerilla warfare and attacks against the Republic. You could describe Francis Marion’s military career any better if you tried.

And then I went to Wikipedia to look up general information on Marion and pictures of the British flag are all over the place.

Okay, this is another thing that won’t be very familiar to you because I haven’t focused on it much. In one of the episodes of TWB, Julia Ormond’s character is at home and we see a huge British flag hanging on her wall. Not surprising, given that she’s British. But it was such a huge, blatant symbol, and the camera focused on it for so long, that we figured it had to mean something. We just didn’t know what. The best we could figure is the colors (blue and red) and the fact that there’s both a huge X and a T/cross on the British flag.

Well, I now know what that symbol represents in TWD world. Reading about Marion and seeing the British flag on his Wikipedia page made it all make sense to me.

In short, Francis Marion, a.k.a. The Swamp Fox = Beth. She’s going to be the second-in-command general/guerilla warfare expert against the CRM. That’s why they had all that stuff in 5x09 when we saw her and heard her sing. The reason for the British flag is that Julia Ormond’s character = Cornwallis.

Read up on Francis Marion HERE.

(This is also why I said it’s important that in 5x09, they had Andrew Lincoln use is British accent for the radio broadcast. It’s meant to be from the point of view of the CRM, which symbolically represent the British in the template.)

So they’re using the American Revolution as a loose template for how the CRM war will go.

Back to Nathaneal Greene of Greene and Cornwallis? Yeah, same thing. Greene was George Washington’s direct under-general and right-hand man. Kind of like a…second or new sheriff? In the CRM war, George Washington = Rick and Nathaneal Greene = um, Greene (Beth).

More on Nathaneal Greene HERE.

But here’s the thing. None of that is going to happen until the spinoff. So why am I talking about it for S11? Well, it has to do with Charleston.

You can look this up on Wikipedia for more details, but Charleston was an event that was huge for Francis Marion. It was Charleston, South Carolina in that case. And it was a stronghold that the colonists were holding against the British. Then one day, the British attacked and took everyone there as prisoners of war. Marion WAS stationed there at the time, but he wasn’t there when the attack happened because he’d BROKEN HIS ANKLE in an accident and left the city to recuperate.

Okay. Anyone recognize Charleston in terms of Eugene or TWD world?

When talking to Stephanie over the radio, he got her to finally tell him where her settlement was. Any guesses? Charleston.

Now, in this case, it’s Charleston, West Virginia, but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the writers went with the same name, even if it’s a different state.

So, here’s how I think it will play out.

I don’t think Stephanie’s group is actually the Commonwealth, or at least not the major, Commonwealth city everyone knows from the comic books. They DO have the white storm trooper guys, so I think they’re linked to the CW somehow. Like maybe they’re a branch of the CW in the same way Grady might have been an outlying branch—or at least in communication with—the CRM.

So again, maybe they’re PART of the CW, but they’re not living with the main group.

So, I think Eugene’s group will be taken to Charleston in S11 (that should happen next) and they will see Beth there. I have no idea if Eugene will recognize her or not. Given that we still don’t know what went down during the missing 17 days after Coda, and Eugene was hurt, we don’t know if he actually saw Beth at all or if he was out during that time. I’ve agonized over this a lot, but understanding this new template, I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t really matter. Maybe he’ll recognize her. Maybe he won’t. But either way, he’s not going to be in the same place with her for long.

I think soon after Charleston will be attacked. Now, historically, it was by the British, right? And because Julia Ormond’s character = Cornwallis, it’s got to be the CRM who attack Charleston. And we’ve seen them do this with other communities in TWB, so it makes sense.

But here’s where I had the S6 template wrong for a long time. Because CWD takes Denise, I thought a group would attack Stephanie’s community and take prisoners, and Beth would be taken with them, while Eugene and the others were left behind. 

But because of the Marion/Swamp Fox/Charleston thing, I think the opposite is true. Sounds like Eugene and co will be taken as prisoners by the CRM. Why did they do it the opposite way in S6? Because they couldn’t have had all the Alexandrians taken and Denise left behind. It just wouldn’t have worked for that S6 storyline. The point is mostly the separation. Eugene gets into a new place, briefly sees her, and then they’re separated.

So Charleston will be attacked and all the people (probably including Eugene, Yumiko, and Zeke) get captured by the CRM. If Beth is Marion, then she won’t be there when it happens.

I’m wondering if she’ll be out in the woods, hunting or getting supplies or something, and this is where she’ll step in the bear trap, injuring her ankle. That would fulfill all the bear trap symbolism around her, including Alone when she stepped in the small game trap. Just a guess on my part, but I think it’s highly likely.

Even if I’m wrong about that detail, I think she’ll be away from the Charleston community, just as Marion was, when the CRM captures the people there.

This is why it doesn’t really matter whether Eugene recognizes her or not. If he doesn’t, and they don’t realize they know the same people, she won’t know that Maggie and Daryl are (relatively) nearby. I think at this point she’ll go to try and rescue the people from the community who were captured (if she’s been with them for awhile, there are probably people there she cares about) and that’s how she’ll run into Rick and first cross paths with the CRM.

She and Daryl will meet down the road at a later date.

Even if Eugene DOES recognize her and she knows about TF, I still think she’s going to go try and rescue her friends before attempting to go to D.C. because they’re in more immediate danger and she’ll have some loyalty to them.

So, this is what I think we’ll see in S11. And I have no idea where it will cut off. Maybe the last thing we’ll see with Eugene in S11 is the fall of Charleston. Or maybe that will happen in episode 2. I really have no idea.

But I’m going to mention one other thing before I stop for today. I know this is getting wrong.

Who is Creepy Wolf Dude in this template? I mean, the wolves attacked Alexandria, so we could assume it’s just the CRM, and maybe a particular person in the CRM. Might be.

But rewatching 6x08, something caught my ear.

Morgan and Carol were arguing about whether or not to kill Creepy Wolf Dude, right? She keeps saying he needs to die. Morgan keeps saying no. And then we have a really interesting conversation.

Carol (talking about wolves): They made us kill. We had to stop it. I had to stop it.

Morgan: Where there’s life, there’s possibility. Even if we never let him out—

CWD: I’d get out.

Morgan (talking over him): Even if we never let him out, he could know what he’s done.

Who else killed and made TF kill? And rather than killing this person, they put him into a cell, vowing never to let him out. But he got out?

Negan! They’re basically talking about Negan’s fate after AOW here.

And guys, that’s CRAZY. I think CWD = Negan.

And I have more evidence for this.

In the TTD after 5x09, I remember that Nicotero was on it. And they were talking about how intrigued CWD was by Denise. I think it was Chris who said something like (and I paraphrase), “I guess it wouldn’t be right to say he fell in love with her or anything…”

And Nicotero corrected him and said CWD kinda did fall in love with Denise. Maybe not in a lifelong, deep, abiding love like we see with Bethyl/Glaggie/Richonne/Etc., but he’d never met anyone like her and he was intrigued by her. He fell in love with her as much as a killer like him could fall in love with someone.

Then, in 7x16, we had Sasha’s death. We went on and on about all the Beth symbolism around Sasha in that episode. It was ridiculous! Kind of like these bonus episodes had been. And Negan…kinda liked Sasha. I mean, I don’t think anyone would have described it as falling in love, but he liked and respected her. Said she had beach-ball-sized lady nuts and he truly respected her and was sad to see her die.

So I think these are both templates that point to what will happen next.

(BTW, Eugene was present for a LOT of Sasha’s final episodes.)

The main reason we always thought Beth would show up with the Saviors is because of the Negan (bat, actually) symbolism around her. But if she and Negan have a major arc together or interaction later on, all of that will suddenly make sense.

So again, I’m not sure if we’ll see this in S11 or if it will come later, but I think after Charleston falls, Negan and Beth will somehow meet (maybe he leaves the communities at some point) and have a lot of scenes and episodes together.

All right. I’ll stop there. Do I know any of this for certain? Of course not. As always, it’s subject to change. Especially the details. And the instant I see anything that changes my thinking or makes me realize I interpreted something wrong, I’ll let you know.

But my biggest point is that this really SHOULD be the next thing we see with Eugene’s group. Of course, this is TWD and it might still take us 8 or 10 or more episodes to get there as they have a lot of things to focus on S11. But it’s coming. And soon.

Remember that S11 is scheduled to start in June. So we don’t have long to wait. (Yay!)

Thoughts?

[chibsytelford]

Heartbreak to Happiness

*** GIF CREDIT TO CREATOR ***

Anon asked -  Could you do a Juice x reader where the reader has found out she's pregnant and was on her way to clubhouse to tell him and she walks in on a crow eater all over him, and she runs out once they see each other? And they don't talk for a while, so he goes to get his stuff from their place and the reader's crying and he comforts her and explains? Then she tells him she's pregnant with a girl?? And a maybe a cute reaction?

Authors comment - ok so after saying I wasn’t gonna post anything today I suddenly got some ideas and was able to so here is another request posted. I changed it up a bit to fit the story better but nevertheless I hope you enjoy. Thanks to whoever the anon is for requesting!

Taglist - @agirllovespasta @everyhowlmarksthedead @rebel-without-cause-x @naytraydr @talicat713 @fangirlingaesthetics @starrynite7114 @whyisgmora @jadesamhart @sheeshgivemeabreak ​ @blessedboo​ @lady-pswrld​ @trulysuccubus​ @scuzmunkie​ @angelreyesgirl​ @angelxshiba​

Your phone timer went off which indicated that you could look at the pregnancy test now. 2 lines. Positive. Pregnant. You were so happy and couldn’t wait to tell your boyfriend Juice. You had a feeling you were pregnant due to missing your period which was usually like clockwork, but you decided to keep it to yourself until you found out for definite. The 2 of you had talked about starting your own family for around 4 months now after being together for 2 years. Some people told you it was too soon, but you just knew when you had the right person and he was.

He was currently at the clubhouse having a meeting with the rest of the Sons, but you decided that you couldn’t wait until he got home to tell him, so you put the test in your pocket, put on a pair of shoes and drove to tell Juice. 

The music coming from the clubhouse masked the sound of the door opening so nobody saw you enter. Not Tig who was usually the first one to come over and give you a hug, and definitely not your boyfriend who was sat at the bar with a crow eater sitting on his lap. She was currently tracing his head tattoos with her fingers and then she whispered something in his ear. All you could do was stare, not moving an inch, and then you watched Juice say something back in her ear and smile. You let out a sarcastic and angry laugh which was heard over the music. Juice looked up and you both made eye contact with each other. The look on his face was a mixture of sadness and surprise, and the look on yours was full of disgust and sadness. 

You turned around and left the club house heading back to your car. You heard footsteps getting closer and closer and just before you reached your car the soft familiar touch of your boyfriends hand touched your arm and turned you around. He now looked completely broken which made you almost reach out and touch his face. But then the memory of the crow eater on his lap you witnessed a mere seconds ago pulled you back into reality.

“Y/N that wasn’t what it looked like!” he pleaded with you to listen to him.

“What it looked like, was you were entertaining her and you certainly didn’t look like you were going to get her off your lap” you hissed at him. “Goodbye Juan”.

You got into your car and headed for your house that you shared with Juice. You knew that you should have given him a chance to explain, but you just needed space away from him. You had went from happy, to angry, to heartbroken in the space of a few minutes and you just needed some  time to get your head around it.

You hadn’t moved since you got home and you had ignored every phone call and text from Juice. He had came to the house a few times but you had locked the doors so he couldn’t get in and he eventually gave up and sent you a text saying he would give you space and that he would stay at the clubhouse until you were ready to face him again. 

You had been cheated on in the past by ex boyfriends so it wasn’t unfamiliar territory and it was also the reason why you didn’t let Juice explain his side of the story. You didn’t want to hear that he didn’t love you anymore, so instead you shut your self off from him completely and focused on the baby that was growing inside of you. Part of you knew you should have told Juice that you were pregnant, but you didn’t want him to take pity on you or feel sorry for you. You were doing that enough for the both of you. 

---

It has now been 3 months since you last saw Juice. He still texts you every single day, apologizing and begging you to let him in just so he could explain. Tig came round after the first week and collected Juice’s clothes and toothbrush and other essentials he needed. He told you how heartbroken and sorry Juice was, and even Tig begged you to just hear him out as he was constantly miserable and getting on the guys nerves. Tig had visited you pretty much every day. He was like a big brother to you and you were so thankful for him. You told him you were pregnant but you made him promise he wouldn’t tell Juice or anyone else. You wanted to tell him yourself when you felt like the time was right. 

You were now headed to the hospital to find out what sex your baby was. Tig was driving you there in your car. He didn’t want you to go alone, and you didn’t want to be alone. You promised yourself that after the hospital, you would let Tig drive you to the clubhouse and you would tell Juice you were pregnant. You had a small bump which was visible if you looked closely, and you knew if you didn’t tell him soon, he would notice for himself if he ever saw you, and you didn’t want that. The doctor told you that you were having a baby girl, and she gave you a ultrasound to take home. You held it to your chest and let a few tears fall down. Now for the hardest part.

Tig pulled up in the parking lot and you were suddenly nervous. You hadn’t seen Juice properly in 3 months and the thought of seeing him now, maybe for the last time had you feeling sick. Tig opened the car door and gave you a reassuring smile and put his arm around your shoulder, leading you into the clubhouse. It was quiet inside for once, so this time your arrival was noticed by everyone.

Juice was shocked to see you and didn’t know what to do. You offered him a small smile and he sauntered over, hand stuffed in his pockets. 

“Can we go somewhere private?” you asked him. Juice motioned for you to follow him and he lead you to the garage outside which was empty. 

“I’m so sorry Y/N” Juice spoke first. “It wasn’t what it looked like, I told her to back off and get off me, I wasn’t entertaining her, I love you” he went to grab your hand but you took a step back.

“I watched you smile at her Juan, right after you said something in her ear” you couldn’t believe he was lying to you.

“I smiled because I told her that I have a girlfriend who would happily kill her” he explained.

The look on his face and in his eyes told you he was telling the truth. Your ex boyfriends had really done a number on you and none of them looked as sincere as Juice did when telling you that nothing had happened.

It was your turn to apologize. 

“’I’m sorry too. I should have let you explain instead of being childish and shutting you out. And normally I would have punched that crow eater but I can’t now”. Juice looked confused. “Close your eyes”.

He did what he was told and you took the ultrasound out of your pocket and placed it in his hands. “Open your eyes baby”.

Juice looked at the ultrasound and looked at you with his eyes full of tears. “You’re pregnant” he whispered. “How long have you known?”

“I was coming to tell you that day I walked in on you with the crow eater on your lap, it’s the reason I didn’t fight her then and there, and it’s also the reason I shut you out. I couldn’t take you telling me you didn’t love me anymore, it was overwhelming” you were now crying and this time you let Juice hold your hand and pull you into his chest.

“Shhhh it’s alright I forgive you. I should have tried harder to get you to listen, but the main thing is you’re here now. We’re here now”.

“It’s a girl. I found out today” you told Juice.

“My own little princess” he grinned and he knelt down and kissed your small bump. “I’m gonna love you just as much as I love your mama little one”.

[snarkwrites]

02 pt 2 | m i n e | tim speedle | csi miami

Notes:

I’m not even gonna lie... This chapter took several turns on me. Several. I wanted to post this a day ago, but something felt.. Incomplete. Amiss. Then it clicked as I wrote the smutty oneshot for these two so I banged this out. Any errors in grammar are mine and I own that shit. We fly blind in this house, no betas.

I hope you guys are all enjoying this so far!! It’s been a fun time to write. I think that’s largely due to the fact that it’s kind of..action-y, suspense and still fluff and romance eventually?

Summary:

You never forget the one that gets away. When Sylvie and Tim are thrown together again upon her arrival in Miami, will things finally work themselves out? Can Tim keep her out of danger?

Pairing:

Tim Speedle x OFC, Sylvie.

Warnings:

Stalker tw. Huge stalker tw. Because Sylvie has herself one. There may or may not also be other crime related topics raised here, such as injury/blood, etc.. I’ll try to warn as they come, loves. I’m going to try not to be too graphic so that people can still read this, but given the way this has surprised me thus far, I make absolutely no promises as to what the future holds.

Other Parts:

[ one - two part one - soundtrack ] 

Tagging:

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@twistnet​

Other Links:

[ faq & tag list doc ] 

                                              TWO PT TWO

The wind in my hair, the Florida sun beating down on me and Billy Idol on the radio full blast. I almost felt relaxed as I drove aimlessly along the Keys. I could almost forget for a few moments that I was currently being stalked by some unknown asshole who liked to write me ten page letters detailing his disturbingly vivid fantasies about me. Bragging about what he’d do when he finally managed to get me all alone.

I was coming back from an open air flea market, the spoils of my trip flung carelessly into the backseat. In my cupholder, my cell phone started going berserk. When I saw that it was Rex calling me, probably pissed because I’d stood up a gig he spent two weeks booking after I explicitly told him I wasn’t taking said gig in as many different but firm ways possible, I let it go to voicemail.

The gas needle was getting lower and bearing the thought in mind, I pulled into a little gas station, parking the red Porsche at the pump and reaching down, grabbing my clutch. Taking my card out to swipe at the pump.

I felt eyes on me and almost immediately, I tensed. My eyes darted around and they settled on a man two pumps over. Gaping at me.

I managed a tight smile, a little nod. Because I didn’t want to seem rude, but the way he was staring at me had me immediately getting paranoid all over again. And just like that, my earlier good mood was rapidly vanishing. I sighed and reached for the unleaded pump, inserting the nozzle into the Porsche’s fuel tank opening. Swiping my card and waiting. Tapping my foot because the clerk inside the station wasn’t even paying attention and the man two pumps over was now leaned against his silver BMW, arms folded over his chest, watching me like a hawk.

I realized that I wasn’t going to get away from the situation any faster unless I made my way inside to let the clerk know I needed the pump turned on, so I grabbed my cropped jacket and slipped the hood over my head and pocketed my keys after raising the convertible top on the Porsche, ducking my head as I quickly walked right past the staring man and disappeared inside the station.

“I need you to turn on pump 3.”

“Yeah, let me do that. I’m so sorry. Do you know that guy?” the clerk nodded towards the man who’d been staring at me. I shook my head. “Never seen him before in my life.”

,, he kind of resembles Rex. It’s unsettling.”  the thought came but I shoved it out. The little I knew about Rex, he didn’t have any family. The man was far too selfish for that.

“He’s lurking around your car. You might want to stay in here.” the woman said it in a concerned tone that caught me by surprise.

I swallowed hard, taking a few deep breaths. I could feel the panic starting to build just a little more. I tried to convince myself that maybe the man was just someone who had seen one of my ads or something. Trying to make myself ignore the weird vacant look in baby blue eyes as they roamed over my body, like he was enjoying his view. Way too much. It was almost lewd.

My eyes settled on my Porsche and I gulped when I saw him walking around it, kind of trying to covertly peer in. I took a few deep breaths. Maybe he was just a fan. Maybe Rex was right, maybe I really am paranoid. ,, with every good reason to be, hello, ten page explicit letters? Last month in Paris when the stalker writing said letters actually tried to grab me?” 

The woman behind the counter gave me a sympathetic smile and shook her head. “I’ll go wrangle up my husband Clay. He’s real big, looks mean as hell. Maybe we can get this man outta here and you back on the road, okay, dear?”

I nodded, thanking her. Grateful.

She disappeared to the little garage attached to the back of the station and minutes later, a very tall and menacing looking man wearing a local MC’s cutte stepped out. “We’ll have him outta your hair in no time, hon. You just wait right here with the little missus and don’t worry, alright?”

I nodded, again, grateful.

“ The world’s gone insane these days, I swear.” the clerk spoke up after a few seconds. I don’t know what her husband said to the man with the staring problem, but a few seconds later, all I could see of that silver BMW was it’s tail lights as it made a hasty retreat, going the opposite way that I had to go to leave and that knowledge only relaxed me.

After thanking them both again, I hurried out of the station and got into my car, just thankful to be getting back on the road again. My cell phone showed 3 missed calls. All from Rex. None of which I had any interest at all in taking.

Almost the instant my hotel came into view I relaxed. But only slightly.

Rex was pacing the parking lot, glaring at me when I parked the Porsche and killed the engine.

“Where the entire fuck were you, dollface? I told you specifically, the meeting to discuss the gig I got ya was 8 am sharp.”

“And I told you I wasn’t taking it.”

I side-stepped him and after grabbing my bags from the backseat, I made my way into the hotel and up to my room. Dumping off all my stuff. Digging through one of the shopping bags until I found the red bikini I’d gotten on a whim.

Once I had that on and I’d found a pair of cut offs and a cropped shirt to go over it, I grabbed my phone and the book I’ve been reading and I made my way out the back of the hotel. Wandered down the street until the smells from a local diner wafted to my nose, lingering on the air and reminding me exactly how long it had been since I truly indulged myself.

I wandered in and up to the counter.

And when I heard his laugh from somewhere closer to the back, I found my gaze wandering around the diner.

Settling on Tim.

His back was turned to me. But even without looking at him, I knew it was him. It had to be. I haven’t forgotten the sound of his laugh.

I froze for enough time that the cashier cleared their throat. “Did you know what you wanted to order?”

“I think I’ll actually go grab a booth. If that’s okay?”

The cashier nodded and grabbed a menu for me and I turned, scoping out the diner.

The booth right behind Tim was empty. Did I dare sit there?

My heart was pounding, about to beat right out of my chest. Just like this morning at the gas station, but different.

Excited.

Hopeful, even though I knew in my bones I had no cause to be. Too much time had passed.

Steeling myself, I slunk right past the table Tim and two other men were sitting at, sitting down at the booth of the empty table directly behind his.

I buried my eyes in the menu, pretending to be engrossed. Ordering a soda when one of the servers came around. Then on a whim, ordering the double cheeseburger and a large plate of fries.

And I gazed out the window.. Heart still pounding. Trying to figure out whether or not to say anything. Did I have the right to?

XXX

Almost as soon as the blonde wandered in off the streets, Eric spotted her and nearly choked on his soda. Knowing how the fact that she was in town and it was eating Speed alive was probably the only reason he took it easy on the guy, choosing not to point her out. But his staring so intently at the front of the diner drew Tim and Walter’s attention, and naturally, Tim turned around.

He went quiet, words trailing off mid-sentence.

Eric cleared his throat. “There she is, man.”

“I fucking saw her, Delko, I’m not blind.” Tim muttered, taking a deep breath. It felt like the wind got knocked right out of him. Like slamming into a wall full speed. Everything around him just froze and all he could do was watch her. When she glanced their direction, he looked away quickly. Pretending to laugh, to be caught up in conversation.

Painfully aware of her presence, he gripped the edge of the tabletop. Walter cleared his throat as Sylvie started to make her way right towards them.

“She’s walking towards that table behind us.”

“If you don’t say something, Speed, I swear to God.” Eric muttered. Tim shook his head.

He didn’t even know where to start, for one thing.

She’d settled in the seat right in his line of vision. She was literally almost close enough to touch if he were to stand up and walk over, sit down on the bench opposite the one she currently sat on. But Tim was frozen.

“Ryan was saying that stalker’s still an issue earlier.”

Eric mentioning it had Tim’s eyes darting around the diner. Just wanting to be sure she was okay and that no one followed her in.

Tim took a deep breath.

“One of you has to say somethin, man. This is stupid. Tell him, Walter.”

“Eric makes a good point.” Walter muttered, gazing at Tim. But Tim was totally dazed. Watching her as covertly as possible.

And then, he thought back on the last time he’d seen her.

The day he left New York to take the job here.

“You know what, Delko? You’re absolutely right… But fuck if I know where to even begin.”

“You walk over, sit down and say hi. Pretend like you’re not sure it’s her if it helps, buddy.” Eric shrugged as he dispensed the advice. “Otherwise, Walter and I are gonna shove you into the booth when we all get up to go.”

Tim took a deep breath and stood. Making his way over to her table.

Right past her. Towards the bathroom.

Eric grumbled and shook his head. Walter chuckled, amused by the whole thing.

As Tim came into sight again, Eric watched intently. He’d moved to Tim’s vacant spot, finishing off as many fries as he could, chuckling to himself, shit eating grin on his face as he nodded to the table Sylvie happened to be sitting at.

Tim glared at him.

But he kept walking.

Right as he went to walk past her booth, Eric saw her hand shoot out. Wrap carefully around Tim’s wrist. Effectively freezing Tim in place.

“I didn’t see that comin.”

“Neither did I, man.” Walter mused, taking the final sip of his milkshake as he and Eric shared a look and both got up, leaving Tim behind.

XXX

I’d seen him walk past. For a few seconds, my heart raced. I pouted to myself as he kept going… Not even a glance my way. Disappearing into the bathroom.

I’d pretty much resigned myself to him not noticing me, but then I saw him walk out of the bathroom and knowing he was close enough to touch was too much for me. I snapped. I reached out, tentatively grabbing his wrist.

“Tim?”

“Sylvie?” he raised his other hand and dragged his fingers through his hair. I managed a smile, took a sip of my soda. “You can sit. I mean if you want to..” I trailed off, going quiet.

Heart still a little fluttery.

Not sure at all what I was going to do now that I’d gotten his attention.

,, it’s been years. Ease back into this. There’s a lot of old stuff there, things that didn’t get said. Hurt.” the thought lingered heavily in my mind.

I honestly didn’t think he’d sit down, but he did. My food came and the waitress put it all out on the table in front of me. I inhaled the greasy deliciousness and smiled a little, thanking her as she walked away, my drink in hand to refill it.

Tim eyed my order.

“You realize that’s 3 pieces of meat.. And a ton of grease.”

“Mhm. And I’m about to practically inhale every single bite, okay?”

Tim chuckled, smiling. Muttering something to himself about some things never changing.

“When did you get to Miami? I didn’t even know you were in town.”

“Last week, I think. It was supposed to be my vacation. My manager didn’t get the memo so I’m hiding from the asshole right now.” I frowned, shrugging. Reaching out to grab a few french fries. I pushed the plate closer to him.

“Is this where you get lunch every day?”

“Sometimes, yeah.” Tim shrugged. “The view of the beach is kinda calming. Plus, the cook’s a good friend of Eric’s.”

My eyes wandered out, gazing at the beachfront view in question.

“It’s been a long time.” I muttered, gazing at him. He nodded. Mouth opening and closing like he wanted to say something and then he just didn’t.

“Too long.” I continued, taking a huge bite of my burger almost immediately after having said it.

I was dying to tell him I missed him. That I still loved him, that at least twice a week I found myself either re reading our old texts or dialing his number only to hang up just before hitting the call button.

But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

“It has been too long.” Tim admitted, snagging himself a few more fries. “How long are you in town?”

“I’m actually going to talk to an agent about a beach house tomorrow? It’s just… So much more relaxed here. Plus there’s a school hiring…”

Tim eyed me.

“Thought you were happy with that whole modeling thing?”

I shook my head. “Honestly?”

“I’d prefer it.” Tim answered as soon as I asked.

I took another sip of my Pepsi and answered quietly, “I’ve been miserable for a while now, actually.”

His next question had me nearly choking on the sip I’d taken. “The stalker situation, right?”

I gazed at him and he explained with a shrug, “It was all over the news. Not to mention our moms are always on the phone callin each other.”

“And then us.” I gave a soft laugh. Taking a deep breath, I nodded yes to answer what he’d asked about my situation. “It started before that though. I never actually wanted to get involved with this but then I started and the money…” I trailed off.

“Yeah. I mean I don’t blame ya.” Tim shrugged, going quiet.

The tension settled in all around us. Thick to the point I felt like you could cut the way it lingered with a knife.

“I hate to but I gotta get back to the lab…” Tim spoke up after a few minutes of us just sort of sitting there… staring at each other, deep in thought. He stood and I asked quietly, “Would it be okay if I called you later? Is your number still the same?”

“I’d like that. Yeah.. you know me. Predictable. My number’s still the same.” he gave me that smile and I felt myself smiling back, nodding. 

“Maybe you can show me around sometime…” I trailed off because there I went.. Rushing in all over again. I took a deep breath, making myself meet his gaze. Fully prepared to laugh it off and say that he didn’t have to.

Tim chuckled, nodding. “I was about to say that. I see you’re still a mind reader, baby girl.”

“Just yours, Speed.” I wanted to kick myself because the words left my mouth just a shade too flirty.

And I knew it was much too soon for that.

XXX

“Now who in the hell is he?” the man stood outside the diner, leaned against one of the streetlamps. Watching Sylvie intently through the window as she talked to some guy inside the diner.

When the guy sat down at her booth, his blood began to boil. His hands clenched to fists at his sides and he gave an angry laugh, shaking his head.

“Now this just won’t do. Not at all. Nothin’s comin between me and her. Nothin.”

[thelostandforgottenangel]

Nightmare AU: Part 1 - Escaping the Ward

@under-the-scarlet-reign88 @fyreball66 @betelgeusessonajblog @blossom-skies @narwals14 @bluesakurablossom​ @kokokatsworld​ @midnightrebel669​ @lonelyheart-clubband​ @missbeautyandherbeast​​ @midnight-chocolate-turtle​​ @myheyheyheystuff​ @nikitaboeve​​ @mistyroselove​​ @waterstar2016​​ @nights-legacy​​ @janna-the-breaker​​ @missmagellanic​​ @darksaphire2002​​ @aurora-the-kunoichi​​ @moonlightflower21​​ @queendice98​​ @infintyfandoms @ravn-87​​ @bmntgirl​​ @vixie-chan233 

I will apologize ahead of time! My dreams are very fucked up sometimes and well - this might be a bit jumpy or unclear but for typing it in the middle of a panic attack after finally waking up from this I am just happy I survived this dream *Sighs* It was a bit traumatic so everyone enjoy

Also sorry it took forever for me to post kinda took forever to locate the folder a moved by accident with trying to keep up with kids

Place: New York City, Sack's Institute, Lab D6

Time: 5 a.m.

The small girl looked out past the corner before slipping out into the empty hallway, trying hard to be quiet so as not to draw attention to her. 

A grimy duffle bag was kept tucked under one arm and cradled close to her body while making several soothing sounds under every breath she took to keep her precious cargo quiet as she cried for the loss hanging heavily on her heart

If they wanted to live to see freedom, if she wanted to give the babies a chance to see something besides stone walls and bars the young girl would not be able to break down 

She did not have time or the privilege to stop just yet; her mourning had to be pushed to the back burner.

Still, the tears fell in silent streams while sneaking down the destroyed hallways of the only place she had ever known as home.

After what felt like an eternity of tests that had been run on her exhausted body the night before, she realized there was no more time to waste 

As night had fallen across the city none of them could sleep knowing something was wrong; the atmosphere in the building was wrong. The screams echoing down the halls had each of them nervous to close their eyes even for a moment.

The younger three finally took comfort she would stay awake curled up on her lap as she bounced the babies waited patiently until all the kids were asleep.

Gradually getting to her feet once she was confident the kids were out cold and safe in their nest, the small female turned to slip out through the wall at the back. 

Sneaking around outside wasn't too hard since it seemed quiet tonight, sticking to the dark cast onto the ground of the storm clouded morning until she finally made it to the garage.

There were no guards posted near the yard this early; most were probably at the meeting for the new specimen she had been hearing whispers about for days from the guards meaning she had a lucky break while starting the closest vehicle

It was a slight struggle figuring out how to get it to move but did what she could remember seeing the guards; finally backing one of the trucks just off the edge of the cameras after hitting the building and rolling forward once more, giving only enough room they could get in without being noticed

Now her plot was in motion; she was going to get away from this place if it was the last thing she did. 

Having been here for a few years after her family had sold her into the endless lapse of torture and testing they ran daily were more then enough motivation to make anyone want to run, and if she was going; there was no way she was leaving this place empty-handed

The girl was planning on getting out as many subjects as she could; once she was sure it was safe, she had ducked back under the overgrowth, squeezing through the hole that led outside from their cell only to find when she got through the hidden shaft the kids were gone from their nest 

They had been there when she left, now she worried they were hurting them and rushed out the now open cells to find the babies, not caring for her own life once she was out the cell door.

Entering the silent intersecting hallway made it very clear this was not a typical day within the prison.

The building she had known as her home was in ruins.

Paper files and the medical carts had been thrown about in whatever had ripped throughs rampage.

Noticing too late red gore pooled around the bodies that were being left in whatever had gotten outs murderous path, almost tripping over one as the lights flickered.

 On any other day, there would have been screams of pain from the experiments, the low buzzing of those awful machines; instead, dead silence had thickened the air so much oxygen no longer seemed to exist around her

The closer she got to the labs, the more blood seemed to be smeared over the walls or splattered across the floor from the victims that had tried to run, making it clear whatever had done this found her it had no humanity left and; if located she would be joining the dead at her feet

That only narrowed the list to everything in the building over the age of ten. No big deal!

She finally heard something but not what she wanted; the screech of a terrified woman in front of her made the girl dropped down behind a wall breathing slow as she pressed herself flat just wanting to absorb into the wall as whoever it was bolted past her only seconds later yelling for help, a large black silhouette followed and seemed to be gaining until the screams were cut off

Something akin to fear kept her there until she forced herself to take a breath before pushing her body up - then kept running, praying whatever it was did not hear her leave.

After being sure nothing was there inside the laboratory where she had been tortured since day one stepping forward inspecting the area before getting to the cages. 

This was still done in complete silence, hurriedly searching in a panic, pleading to an unearthly entity willing to listen to the discarded pleas that she was not too late before relief hit her

A sweet little face was at the front of one cage almost instantly “Daenery!” the smiling face through the bars was a welcome sight even as the girl rolled her eyes at the nickname the children had given her 

Since the subject tags were what they were known as she grew used to it, but in secret, they had given each other names to not become like the forgotten. 

It was a way to remember one another if they died-

The thin boy was squinting to see her better as soon as she grabbed his hand that reached between the bars, she knew even though they had messed up his eyes to the point he was close to being completely blind, the boy was still scanning the area watching her back

The mutant held tight to her arm as she jerked the door 

breaking the wrecked joints that looked to have barely held up to whatever was trying to get in after him.

He scrambled out the second she had it open, wrapping the little boy in a tight hug; her voice stayed low promising him it was going to be okay when she saw how scared he was.

He was a few years younger then her and still knew not to make any noise when usually, he was a chatterbox if scared or nervous but in the labs; they had never heard him speak once, their captors thinking the child was mute like a few of the other kids

They had two options here, and even at this age they both knew it was either: they got caught and locked back up in the cells or they would be killed 

Neither was an option.

His big honey brown eyes had started to look around them when she handed him his broken goggles to better his vision but blocked him from looking with her hands whispering under her breath so softly she was not sure he heard her “Eyes stay here – do not look away from me no matter what understand brainiac?” she waited until he finally nodded holding tight to her baggy shirt with his thin fingers while searching holding him close to keep the boy from seeing what she could

It took some time, but eventually, she found another cage still closed with a small form inside lying in a motionless heap with his back to her as she forced the grate open, snapping the lock then reaching in to flip him over; the girl started patting his sliced cheek even if it did her no good

The second boy was a bit bigger then the child she had just freed but still relatively small and looked to be heavily sedated; indicating when they came to take all of the children, he had put up a hell of a fight “Hey hothead… come on, I got you kiddo” the dulled golden eyes shifted a bit just to looked through her, she gathering him up in her arms whispering he would be okay a third child crawled into her view wondering if he had been on the tables when everything went down; like usual he just seemed way too calm “Fearless… oh thank god” happy to see him alive, both hugged him tight for a long moment; finally feeling him squeezing back when it dawned on the kid who was holding him

The third oldest tried to tell her what had happened, how the guards had come in to find she was gone then attempted to take them before she returned thinking one of the night guards had grabbed her but was silenced as she waved her hand consoling him quietly to sound hopeful that it was almost over

She could hear something outside looking up at the same time as the eldest boy grabbing them and pulling the three to hide until the noises were gone.

Her heart was heavy in only locating three of the seven lives she had been assigned no matter how much the girl searched the destroyed lab; knowing they were the last of fifty kids who had been punished for not raising to the expectation of the bosses at the final evaluation seeing the other cages were empty or had been ripped open violently

The only evidence someone had been in there were a few claw marks and streaks with blood.

They might be all that was left-

The last cage on the wall held a small baby – one of the two she had been searching for was long expired after what they had done while she wasn't there to protect the children, the guilt reduced the young girl into a sobbing mess

Gathering the children in the broken state took a minute while trying to pull herself together, hard as it was; there was nothing she could do for her baby sister except keep her promise; carefully wrapping the tiny body in a cloth forming a sling to tie the bundle to her

With the help of both boy's she got the second child upon her back, he was almost too heavy for her to carry they would never get anywhere dragging him down the halls "Stay close and no sounds" she got two slow nods before heading down the corridor hurrying past the breeding room hearing screams from within as something ripped through the room

Reaching the main floor for the building; they all skid to a stop when the girl held up one hand, at first it was just an uneasy feeling until heavy footsteps could be heard coming from somewhere in front of them, immediately pushing both behind the welcome desk before it saw them 

Kneeling to the ground; she somehow managed to keep the two boys focus on her as she waited for it to leave 

A deep growl shook the air right behind them almost pulling a whimper from the youngest before her hand was over his mouth, drawing him close as the other kid shifted silently to protect his back, just waiting until it either found them or took off in the direction they had just come from each of them letting out a shaky sigh when it did the latter moments later grabbing both making a run for it before anything else stumbled across the group

They could not stop moving even if when the thinner male started breathing hard, fighting to keep up as his body started to give in to exhaustion.

Realizing he could no longer keep up made the oldest stop checking for danger as he took him on his back then kept running, staying on her heels the best he could.

She swore she smiled upon getting them to the safe room unseen and undetected handing the keycard she stole off so they could all run in without being seen locking the door behind them 

As soon as she had covered up the boys with a blanket and placed the baby in a small crate, she pleaded for them to stay on the couch and rest; finding a first aid kit she started cleaning the deep cuts that now marred the second boys face, bandaging it to keep any infections from forming

Waiting would be hard; but once the sky grew dark enough for them to get out unseen she would tell them to run for it, there would be no looking back; they would have to be fast and keep going even if they lost someone

Leaving would mean getting out of the city for good and being they could probably not survive for long without food given they made it out - she had to find sustenance to hold them until they reached a safe place to stop

After dumping out boxes to carry everything in she started to gather supplies to run them; breaking the vending machines open, stuffing any food or drinks in sacks and boxes while feeding the kids at the same time letting them indulge in the sweets they were never allowed to have, placing each container close to the door to be taken out 

She felt a slight tug on her gown as she let a few tears fall for her babies looking over to find Leo at her side nuzzling her cheek as she cracked the tiniest bit; that was when the eldest told her the fate of the youngest boy, how they had left his in the far cell as bait after taking the rest of them

They had put one of her babies out there unprotected to draw away the creatures to save their hides even though it looked to have not worked in their favor.

There was no thinking it through, yes it was a stupid move but she just knew he was still alive; leaving him in-charge she made sure they understood that they were not to move from that room before the girl slipped out from the sanctuary of the break room making sure the door latched before taking off towards the cells 

That was the only reason she was out there now- 

If there was even a small chance he was still alive; she had to save him 

Every little sound had her paranoid jumping at anything

Turning one corner only to dropping back instantly, she slipped under a desk as someone came running down the hallway holding her breath when something followed them seconds later, hearing the horrid screams and crunch of braking bones left her trembling and not moving until she was sure it was safe

when she finally crawled back out she had to avoid stepping in the fresh streaks of blood heading back in the direction it had come being so quiet when she noticed it was feeding in the open

They were multiplying in numbers from the looks of things making it harder to not worry she would never make it to the cell or back for the others

She took a slow deep breath waiting until it was distracted before shooting across her steps inaudible as she bolted silently getting down the next hall in no time, her hands shaking when she ducked into the cage just before something passed staying there for what felt like a lifetime hearing it slow then continue on its way, slipping out she went to the furthest enclosure seeing the puddles of blood on the floor 

She was near screaming when she saw a something move in one tiny nest; shooting forward she found the small curled up bundle safe and sleeping soundly under several blankets where they must have left him as if nothing was wrong, gathering him close to her chest she started kissing his cheeks whispering so softly as he yawned then dosed right back off ever the heavy sleeper as always “I’m sorry – I am sorry I didn’t find you sooner Sunshine – but it's okay now I- I’m going to get you out of here”

She may have been too late to save her six-month-old baby sister but she had managed to get to him; finding her bag where she left it she noiselessly dumping out the collection of treasures that it held before making a nest with a blanket placing the four-year-old inside with his torn up bear somewhat happy he was so small even for his age zipping it up leaving a tiny opening to let air in and out before heading down the passageways  

The darkness could hide anything and everything in that moment her body staying low to the floor as a growling came from the left stopping only long enough to be sure it wasn’t coming in her direction before peeking around the corner seeing the figure was halfway inside the room towards the middle of the offices bolting immediately careful to avoid any small objects that could give away the child’s presence 

All the training they put her through; all of them through didn’t seem like much of a burden now, even if the overseers had nearly killed her and the kids each day until they knew each and every torturous lesson by heart

The shadows were her friends, never trust anyone besides the ones in your group, protect the young at all cost, the silence of mouth and body was the key to living, and you screw up once no matter how small; you died-

If only the grown-ups had learned those lessons, they might have survived the attack

Her pale ice blue eyes searching everywhere unsure if anything else had escaped when the cells opened after the alarms started moments after entering her cell; as she made it to the halfway point all the girl was praying for was the slayers were still in the runs out on the yard and not roaming free looking for an easy meal

It was a bit of a journey, but relief flooded her body upon finally making it to the door when she heard a whimpered cry. 

Being locked up there; experiments were trained to not have fear raised to not know safety or the luxury of a secure home yet fear still welled up thinking the tiny life she had grabbed from enclosures was waking up immediately she started to make the soothing sounds again as she peaked in only to realize it wasn’t the child she had just saved 

He was gone to the world - probably dreaming some kind of sweet innocent imagination with kittens and candy in a field of flowers and stuffed animals

Looking to the left as the sound came again she saw her friend Arya cowering down a hallway waving her to hurry and follow her but the girl wouldn’t move leaned on the wall as if something was keeping her cornered

Arya wasn’t one to cower she wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone; coming from a powerful family who ran part of the city after leaving India at one point, she had been raised to be completely independent, of course, that had been before the chemical attack 

She was from money so the woman always dressed nicely; lots of colorful fabrics to her intricate silk dresses, golden chains, and jewelry adorned her hands, her long black hair shined it seemed no matter how little light and her honey tanned skin was something to marvel at coming from somebody who rarely saw the light of day other then through the bars of a small window if she could climb high enough

She had worked there for a little over a year as an apprentice under the superior but was still a kid for being sixteen; sometimes, on her breaks between the experiments, she had come to the containment cells to play with the babies and give food to the caregivers who were never old enough to request simple supplies from the guards but considered mature enough to care for the younger collections

Better than being a breeder, way better than being one of the carriers in any book

She had to be the strongest woman she had ever met yet right then - she looked petrified, her eyes darting from side to side like she didn’t see the small figure, slowly weighing the options and looked behind her being sure nobody had found them the girl slowly left the door her fingers brushing its smooth cold surface scurrying fast towards the woman something in her gut telling her this was wrong but she needed to get to her

She might be the only one who could get her out with the set she had gathered 

She called out under her breath continuing to remain hidden until she could tell the coast was clear, slowly inching out into the light calling out again a bit louder gaining the woman’s attention but when she looked at her she saw something wasn’t right in her eyes swallowing hard as dread settle in her gut knowing she had just ignored several of the rules that had been beaten into her system for years

The woman’s body drooped as she stood up when the girl stumbled back before a small smile lifted the pale lips of her friend, the brown eyes shifted to white and her tan skin took on a sickly gray color as she screeched out a horrid wail

She was a carrier- they had gotten her like all the others

Spinning on her heels the child rushed back down the hall as fast as she could; hearing the thing behind her closing in she made the next mistake of looking back and seeing it was getting closer, realizing now she would never make it to that door but knowing the boys were in there waiting for her screamed she had to unless she wanted them to die right here 

Reaching for her hip she grabbed the heavy firearm she had stolen from one of the guards bodies when she had entered the building through the vent hatch 

Having only wielded one in tactical training she had seen it used on many of the older test subjects that had gotten out of hand if they survived the slayers in the hunting grounds and knew if used right it could hurt anything-

It could kill if needed. 

The young girl didn’t even hesitate when she turned to pull the trigger shooting what used to be Arya between the eyes seeing her friend hit the floor motionless 

Panting and shaking she only turned as she heard the howling bouncing off the walls getting to the door as the body started after her again having gotten on its feet 

The door lock disengaged with the swipe of the keycard slamming the door fast behind her before two heavyweights slammed into it before looking down into her duffle as something squirmed around

The youngest of the boys gave a small cry making her shush him while laughing to herself unable at that moment to believe she had just outrun two creatures while turning to check on the older three before seeing several scientists in the room – and her kids gone 

The gun was loaded and aimed before they could move; growling under her breath not letting them close to her “WHERE ARE THEY!?!” one of the males had started towards her before she fired

It was at this moment she found a fun fact and untold part of the humans who kept them as guinea pigs, they didn’t get up when she shot them, an intern that had hurt her several times tried to grab her having been standing behind by the wall but he didn’t count on her strength

The men never did when it came to her small stature but add in her protective mommy gene of the kid's she loved she threw him to the floor showing no mercy in putting him down hence leaving an older woman and two girls who had to be in their early adultage standing closer to the walls, looking around her wild eyes landed on the three trembling boys along with an older male she had never seen in her time there but it was clear he had been made a pet

Only the higher-ups were allowed to have them

The guy defiantly looked older and was quite clearly not entirely human given the larger size, the white hair, coal-black eyes, and the twitch of furry ears also gave her a clue; also meaning he had to be 

significant if he had not been killed when he reached of age, like most mutants, once you hit the rebellious stage; you were put down for their entertainment unless you were useful 

and usually, that usefulness wasn’t held for long

Being the only one with a gun gave her the upper hand moving forward two of the women in lab coats moved huddling to the side as she checked the kids over; the second oldest was now awake and very much aware of his surroundings growling at the women his nose bleeding from being struck but had stayed protectively in front of the other two boys

Jillian; or rather the blood queen as she had heard the older woman called by the older experiments was somebody the girl knew well and probably the one who had hit the growling boy seeing as his wild eyes hadn’t left her, the wife to one of the higher-ups she had tormented her many times in the darkroom and it was clear by her stance she still thought she had control over the subjects ordering the small girl to give her the weapon

All it got was her holding it higher as the boys pulled the baby from her bag keeping the youngest protectively in the middle of them as the girl drew back the slide; not wavering in her stance to keep her away until she backed down not too happy a freak was defying her orders

She didn’t show it but she was freaking out knowing there was no way to safely get out with the woman and her assistants in the way; going out that door would possibly result in one of them probably shutting her out either without the supplies or the kids, they couldn’t go back the other way without being ripped limb from limb 

Slowly reaching down, she set to undoing the collar around the teenager's neck hoping he wasn’t loyal to the woman; letting it drop to the smooth tiles giving him a small reassuring look before she was tending to the kids once more

Her hand was instantly lifting the darkest of the fours little chin looking him over, taking notice he was going to have a black eye; ripping her tattered gown the girl took great care in gently wiping the blood from his cut face, her cold hands cradling his cheek looking up to see the hard gaze he was giving her, it only made a smile break the corner of her lips knowing the look was not for him being angry towards her it was just the only expression he knew at this age 

This life hadn’t shown him how to smile but getting out had the hopes of that changing soon

Kissing his head the younger mutant shifted nuzzled into her arms, clinging tightly to the female; something he never did around the others nestling into her soft chest while mumbling roughly under his breath they thought she was dead, his voice was so low she was the only one who heard it making reassurances spew from her lips

She wouldn’t die when they needed her

She had to get them out of there and soon this place wasn’t safe at all looking back seeing one of the women knowing she was much kinder when nobody was around understanding kindness wasn’t accepted in this world but it made them trust her a bit more then they were comfortable with 

She had been nuzzling the boys assuring them it was all going to be okay when the male growled threateningly, attempting to push her behind him only to yelp as he was struck with a long stick being rectified for daring to snarl at his master, the girl stiffened pushing the kids back as the elder grabbed her by the hair yanking her away from them trying to grasp for the weapon

The pained cry that left the girl as she tried to escape resulted in the older woman getting her hand cut by the quiet boy looking over finding something she had not seen until now, yet he had to have been holding it the whole time 

A scalpel with a towel wrapped around the broken end he was clutching in his grasp; going for the most damage to make the woman drop their guardian 

the stick she had been clutching swiped at him catching him across the eye hearing the quiet boy yell out in pain; lowering to the ground holding his face as the teen yanked him back a bit too late

The distraction gave the young girl a chance to move even as she was almost grabbed again, feeling the hand tangling in her hair as she started to fall back made her lift the heavy pistol firing without ever looking up than hearing the pained scream as the boys grabbed onto her

The evil woman went down her leg bleeding from the bullet wound, but before another sound could leave her lips the wolf kid was on her; his now sharpened fangs sunk into her open neck, snarling like a wild animal ripping into pray as she screeched for help making the girl scramble keeping the boys from looking as he tore into his master staying over her until the woman stopped moving permanently 

The cold black eyes slowly came up until they were on the silver-haired girl as blood marred his jaws dripping to the floor in thick streams from his now soaked face; none of the children moved as she pushed them behind her when he moved forward, her breath gone from her lungs realizing what she hadn’t before losing her grip on the gun as her hands shook finding a small hand clutching hers the second the metal hit the floor

He was part slayer 

The male sat back down where he had been before not even remotely phased by his actions or bothered by her sudden fear of him leaning in he started nudging her shoulder much like a dog wanting pets and licking her cheek but didn’t speak as he leaned on her making her swallow down the terror gently placing her hand on his head rubbing behind his ears before looking back as the baby boy crawled over them to lay in the males lap giggling as he played with the fluffy tail that wrapped around his hip

If the youngest trusted him it was a sign they could relax her little sunshine had a great choice of characters but she was still on edge; having never been this close to one of the executioners and not almost been ripped apart picking up a shredded cloth she had dropped cleaning his face as he laid his head in her hands licking at her fingers 

Both of the women still standing there looked pale, the blond must have been new and not used to the carnage or had to be a lab tech in the lower building floors, but the other knew; she had seen it been forced to watch it as the young ones were tortured or killed during experiments moving slowly towards the door looking in the two heavily stocked creates of any food the female child could find her eyes lingering on the tiny bundle before starting towards the kids 

The gun barely stop her from approaching as she kneeled carefully pushing it to the side; shushing them as she looked over the six lives knowing what needed to be done before glancing at the other woman making up her mind “We have to go – run as far as we can before that door gives” 

“We will never make it out of the city on foot! Beth; that is suicide we’ll be killed-” the other woman tried to speak up but was quickly silenced as her colleague got to her feet 

Running over to the cabinets unlocking them with her key and pulling everything out “Chelsea; if we stay here we will die either by whatever they unleashed from the lab in that meeting or the boss when he realizes they escaped – I really don’t want to die..." placing it all on the counters in front of her; tossing the boxes on the floor after accumulating anything of use making smaller care packs that would reduce their load then stuffing it in a backpack after pulling out a change of clothes instructing the girl to put them on "Look we get the kids out, nobody will know it was us Everyone here is dead, we aren’t on the clock… we can finally get away from here and away from him-”

Weighing the options for a second longer realizing her friend was right again; the blond finally nodded moving over towards the huddled up kids giving them the blankets and picking up the duffle before helping the other woman pack up medical supplies, stuffing both of their computers in her side pack grabbing anything worth taking including the deceased woman's bag before sneaking over to the door barely pushing it open to look out noticing the outside was clear and that a vehicle was right there 

“We need to get all of this in the truck – Kids go last” the risk of going out now was higher given it was still light out but since she had parked the truck almost against the building it was going to be easy to load the stuff without being seen

“Beth – what if they got outside?”

That had been the whole reason for waiting until nightfall for the girl; in the darkness, she could hide easily but in daylight, she had no chance in hell “We have to take that risk – look just pop one door carefully, it will block you from being seen by the yard the metal door will cover your other side” once the supplies were ready to go the other woman was there helping climbing in the back she pulled it in further as Chelsea placed it in the van peaking around the door whenever she heard a noise being sure nobody had arrived to clear the building before finally placing the last create inside the back “Get the kids I’ll start the engine”

Looking behind her she noticed the kids waiting together; the girl keeping them in front of her after bandaging up the wound over the oldest mutants eye grateful it was just a fleshwound as the teenage boy staying a few feet back watching the metal door tensely; the youngest was clinging onto the eldest boy who scooped him up once she was waving him forward picking both up with ease pointing for him to get in a seat 

The girl shooed the other two forward just as something hit the door behind them hard, bending the metal in almost too easily the teen pushing them forward fast to load the kids in quicker

The youngest female crawled forward when she was shoved inside the van roughly, getting the kids strapped in after placing the cardboard casket beside her before hearing a feral snarl near the back looking out the tinted window seeing a huge fur-covered form before panic filled the woman’s face when a large clawed hand grabbed the side of the door trying to force it forward as she held it tight crying out in fear

“Get her in now!” she moved to help just as the teenager went to pull the woman inside only to see her yanked from his grasp and ripped under the side door having to grab him so he wouldn’t be pulled out too.

The agonizing screams as she begged for help echoed around them before hearing the slayer ripping into her, cringing at the gut-twisting sounds the wolf boy slammed the door before whatever was outside could come back just as the metal door in the room came crashing inward

A horrid screech shook the air before something smashed into the back door yelling for the woman Beth to drive before the truck was peeling out of the institution.

None of them dared to look back, keeping their heads down as she crashed through the gates speeding away from their prison into the barren streets rushing to now escape New York. 

She looked to the kids who instantly reached for her as sunlight flashed into the cab, her eyes momentarily closing from not being used to the brightness that met them.

When she looked back up the half slayer boy was crawling forward. favoring his right arm that was bleeding from several deep scratch marks

Ultimately he had managed to tear his eyes from the massacre on the streets; it was made clear the creatures had gotten out into the city.

She tried to shift going to assess his wounds yet he just curled into her lap as she sat on the floor between the seats so she could see each of the boys.

The last thing she remembered was warmth surrounding her as she leaned on a seat, instantly too tired to hold her head up any longer, then feeling one of the kids petting her hair as passing out

  Let me know what you think and when posted Part two will fill in the blanks and introduce you to the new creepy world!

[raesreadingcorner]

Carry On (SPN 15x20 Fix-it Fanfiction)

Word count: 4.3k Warnings: None, maybe spelling editing mistakes (Only fluff and happiness is allowed at this point in time)

Author’s note: So I haven’t written fanfiction in ages, I blame it on my CW degree and not wanting to spend even more time writing but after that absolute f*cktard disaster of a finale, I knew I had to do something about it. I hope you enjoy my version of how I wished the show would have ended (this is no hate to the acotrs who did a spectacular job and being served what they were given but a huge f u the the SPN writers for queerbaiting us for so long and in the end not giving the fans a satisfying ending (Like there were so many plotholes, what happened to the empty, are Jodie and the girls okay? If Bobby said Cas helped Jack fix heaven does that mean Cas is alive but hasn’t come to see Dean (That would be bullshit and we all know it). 

Let me know your thoughts on the ending or S15 in general, what were some of your favourite moments (*cough* Cas’ confession and only that, also Jack becoming God *cough*) Peace out, Bitches!

Rae

The‌ ‌days‌ ‌began‌ ‌to‌ ‌blend‌ ‌into‌ ‌one‌ ‌without‌ ‌Chuck‌ ‌there‌ ‌to‌ ‌control‌ ‌them.‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌had‌ ‌saved‌ ‌them,‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌people‌ ‌that‌ ‌had‌ ‌vanished.‌ ‌Their‌ ‌family,‌ ‌friends,‌ ‌everything‌ ‌was‌ ‌going‌ ‌back‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌way‌ ‌it‌ ‌was‌ ‌again.‌ ‌And‌ ‌then‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌did‌ ‌the‌ ‌unspeakable‌ ‌and‌ ‌left‌ ‌himself,‌ ‌promising‌ ‌the‌ ‌brothers‌ ‌of‌ ‌a‌ ‌better‌ ‌world.‌ ‌But‌ ‌all‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌could‌ ‌think‌ ‌about‌ ‌was‌ ‌‌him‌.‌ ‌ ‌‌

Cas.‌ ‌ ‌‌

That‌ ‌goddamn‌ ‌angel.‌ ‌The‌ ‌hunter‌ ‌cursed‌ ‌himself‌ ‌with‌ ‌every‌ ‌waking‌ ‌moment‌ ‌for‌ ‌not‌ ‌begging‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌to‌ ‌bring‌ ‌him‌ ‌back,‌ ‌to‌ ‌at‌ ‌least‌ ‌try.‌ ‌He‌ ‌knew‌ ‌he‌ ‌was‌ ‌hard‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌kid‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌past,‌ ‌and‌ ‌had‌ ‌always‌ ‌brushed‌ ‌him‌ ‌aside,‌ ‌but‌ ‌he‌ ‌truly‌ ‌wished‌ ‌he‌ ‌had‌ ‌asked‌ ‌for‌ ‌even‌ ‌a‌ ‌hope‌ ‌of‌ ‌that‌ ‌miracle.‌ ‌‌

As‌ ‌if‌ ‌the‌ ‌words‌ ‌were‌ ‌spoken‌ ‌out‌ ‌loud,‌ ‌the‌ ‌shaggy‌ ‌dog‌ ‌that‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌had‌ ‌picked‌ ‌up‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌gas‌ ‌station‌ ‌padded‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌room‌ ‌making‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌smile‌ ‌slightly.‌ ‌At‌ ‌least‌ ‌all‌ ‌things‌ ‌weren’t‌ ‌horrible.‌ ‌Patting‌ ‌the‌ ‌empty‌ ‌space‌ ‌beside‌ ‌him‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌bed,‌ ‌the‌ ‌dog‌ ‌trotted‌ ‌over‌ ‌before‌ ‌jumping‌ ‌up‌ ‌into‌ ‌Dean’s‌ ‌waiting‌ ‌arms,‌ ‌receiving‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌pets‌ ‌and‌ ‌scratches‌ ‌he‌ ‌could‌ ‌ever‌ ‌desire.‌ ‌‌

“Good‌ ‌boy.”‌ ‌‌

Dean‌ ‌looked‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌dog’s‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌before‌ ‌kissing‌ ‌him‌ ‌on‌ ‌top‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌head,‌ ‌“I‌ ‌guess‌ ‌we‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌wish‌ ‌for‌ ‌everything,‌ ‌huh‌ ‌bud?”‌ ‌ ‌‌

Miracle‌ ‌tilted‌ ‌his‌ ‌head‌ ‌at‌ ‌Dean’s‌ ‌voice,‌ ‌a‌ ‌gentle‌ ‌‘huff’‌ ‌leaving‌ ‌his‌ ‌mouth‌ ‌before‌ ‌he‌ ‌circled‌ ‌around‌ ‌and‌ ‌curled‌ ‌up‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌messy‌ ‌bedsheets.‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌gave‌ ‌him‌ ‌a‌ ‌few‌ ‌final‌ ‌pets,‌ ‌muttering‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌assuring‌ ‌words‌ ‌over‌ ‌again before sitting up.‌ 

‌‌Glancing‌ ‌over‌ ‌at‌ ‌his‌ ‌bedside‌ ‌table,‌ ‌his‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌caught‌ ‌onto‌ ‌his‌ ‌headphone‌ ‌and‌ ‌cassette‌ ‌player,‌ ‌the‌ ‌tape‌ ‌inside‌ ‌being‌ ‌the‌ ‌same‌ ‌one‌ ‌he‌ ‌had‌ ‌been‌ ‌playing‌ ‌on‌ ‌repeat‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌last‌ ‌few‌ ‌days:‌ ‌the‌ ‌mixtape‌ ‌he‌ ‌made‌ ‌for‌ ‌Cas.‌ ‌

‌‌Instead‌ ‌of‌ ‌grabbing‌ ‌the‌ ‌headphones‌ ‌and‌ ‌spending‌ ‌more‌ ‌time‌ ‌in‌ ‌bed,‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌had‌ ‌been‌ ‌doing‌ ‌almost‌ ‌every‌ ‌day,‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌got‌ ‌up.‌ ‌There‌ ‌was‌ ‌no‌ ‌use‌ ‌to‌ ‌making‌ ‌himself‌ ‌feel‌ ‌worse‌ ‌and,‌ ‌he‌ ‌was‌ ‌hungry.‌ ‌

He‌ ‌moved‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌bedroom‌ ‌door,‌ ‌glancing‌ ‌down‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌bowls‌ ‌in‌ ‌front‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌bed‌ ‌checking‌ ‌that‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌had‌ ‌enough‌ ‌water‌ ‌and‌ ‌food‌ ‌until‌ ‌he‌ ‌got‌ ‌back.‌ ‌

‌‌‘I’ll‌ ‌bring‌ ‌back‌ ‌some‌ ‌bacon‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌kitchen‌ ‌for‌ ‌him.’‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌decided,‌ ‌walking‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌desired‌ ‌destination‌ ‌just‌ ‌to‌ ‌meet‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌already‌ ‌there,‌ ‌working‌ ‌away‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌scrambled‌ ‌eggs‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌frying‌ ‌pan.‌ ‌ ‌

Dean‌ ‌moved‌ ‌toward‌ ‌the‌ ‌coffee‌ ‌machine‌ ‌with‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌few‌ ‌dregs‌ ‌left‌ ‌and‌ ‌poured‌ ‌some‌ ‌into‌ ‌a‌ ‌cup‌ ‌that‌ ‌he‌ ‌cherished‌ ‌with‌ ‌every‌ ‌day‌ ‌that‌ ‌passed.‌ ‌It‌ ‌was‌ ‌a‌ ‌simple‌ ‌white‌ ‌mug‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌words‌ ‌‘Good‌ ‌Morning‌ ‌Sunshine’‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌front‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌bright‌ ‌yellow‌ ‌sun‌ ‌placed‌ ‌underneath.‌ ‌It‌ ‌was‌ ‌Cas’‌ ‌present‌ ‌to‌ ‌him‌ ‌for‌ ‌his‌ ‌birthday‌ ‌a‌ ‌few‌ ‌months‌ ‌back.‌ ‌ ‌‌

Dean‌ ‌couldn’t‌ ‌have‌ ‌asked‌ ‌for‌ ‌anything‌ ‌better.‌ ‌‌Sam‌ ‌nodded‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌brother,‌ ‌muttering‌ ‌a‌ ‌quiet‌ ‌‘Morning’‌ ‌before‌ ‌grabbing‌ ‌a‌ ‌third‌ ‌plate‌ ‌out‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌cabinet‌ ‌to‌ ‌divide‌ ‌the‌ ‌eggs‌ ‌onto‌ ‌along‌ ‌with‌ ‌strips‌ ‌of‌ ‌bacon,‌ ‌the‌ ‌normal‌ ‌crispy‌ ‌and‌ ‌greasy‌ ‌kind‌ ‌for‌ ‌Dean,‌ ‌and‌ ‌turkey‌ ‌bacon‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌other‌ ‌two.‌ ‌ 

‌‌Dean‌ ‌savoured‌ ‌the‌ ‌bitter‌ ‌taste‌ ‌of‌ ‌coffee‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌spun‌ ‌around‌ ‌and‌ ‌leaned‌ ‌back‌ ‌against‌ ‌the‌ ‌counter,‌ ‌holding‌ ‌his‌ ‌mug‌ ‌up‌ ‌to‌ ‌greet‌ ‌Eileen,‌ ‌her‌ ‌head‌ ‌buried‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌book‌ ‌about‌ ‌vampires‌ ‌and‌ ‌lore,‌ ‌something‌ ‌she‌ ‌found‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌library‌ ‌the‌ ‌first‌ ‌time‌ ‌she‌ ‌came‌ ‌around.‌ ‌‌

“Morning‌ ‌Dean.”‌ ‌She‌ ‌greeted‌ ‌happily‌ ‌before‌ ‌smiling‌ ‌up‌ ‌at‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌placed‌ ‌a‌ ‌filled‌ ‌plate‌ ‌in‌ ‌front‌ ‌of‌ ‌her,‌ ‌“Thanks,‌ ‌Sammy.”‌ ‌‌

Dean‌ ‌slyly‌ ‌smiled‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌nickname his borther used to hate,‌ ‌bringing‌ ‌the‌ ‌cup‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌lips‌ ‌to‌ ‌drain‌ ‌the‌ ‌last‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌liquid‌ ‌gold‌ ‌before‌ ‌gliding‌ ‌over‌ ‌to‌ ‌take‌ ‌a‌ ‌seat‌ ‌beside‌ ‌Eileen‌ ‌with‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌sitting‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌opposite‌ ‌bench,‌ ‌food‌ ‌in‌ ‌front‌ ‌of‌ ‌each‌ ‌of‌ ‌them.‌ 

‌‌“So,‌ ‌any‌ ‌reports‌ ‌on‌ ‌danger‌ ‌around?”‌ ‌Eileen‌ ‌asked‌ ‌over‌ ‌a‌ ‌bite‌ ‌of‌ ‌scrambled‌ ‌eggs.‌ 

‌‌Sam‌ ‌shook‌ ‌his‌ ‌head,‌ ‌digging‌ ‌into‌ ‌his‌ ‌own‌ ‌food‌ ‌with‌ ‌one‌ ‌hand,‌ ‌the‌ ‌other‌ ‌subconsciously‌ ‌moving‌ ‌closer‌ ‌to‌ ‌Eileen’s‌ ‌that‌ ‌also‌ ‌rested‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌table,‌ ‌“No,‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌been‌ ‌pretty‌ ‌quiet‌ ‌since‌ ‌everything‌ ‌went‌ ‌back‌ ‌to‌ ‌‘normal’,‌ ‌Claire‌ ‌and‌ ‌Jodie‌ ‌caught‌ ‌a‌ ‌case‌ ‌with‌ ‌a‌ ‌werewolf‌ ‌a‌ ‌few‌ ‌days‌ ‌back‌ ‌but‌ ‌nothing‌ ‌serious‌ ‌and‌ ‌nothing‌ ‌since.”‌ 

‌‌“I‌ ‌hate‌ ‌to‌ ‌say‌ ‌it,‌ ‌but‌ ‌I‌ ‌don’t like ‌the‌ ‌silence,”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌admitted,‌ ‌shaking‌ ‌his‌ ‌head‌ ‌in‌ ‌doubt,‌ ‌his‌ ‌brows‌ ‌creased‌ ‌in‌ ‌uncertainty,‌ ‌“It‌ ‌just‌ ‌doesn’t‌ ‌feel‌ ‌right,‌ ‌are‌ ‌‌all‌‌ ‌the‌ ‌monsters‌ ‌laying‌ ‌low?”‌ ‌‌

“I‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌know,‌ ‌I‌ ‌mean,‌ ‌with‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌being‌ ‌the‌ ‌new...‌ ‌God,‌ ‌I‌ ‌guess‌ ‌they’re‌ ‌waiting‌ ‌to‌ ‌see‌ ‌what‌ ‌happens?‌ ‌But‌ ‌I‌ ‌get‌ ‌it,‌ ‌it‌ ‌doesn’t‌ ‌make‌ ‌sense.”‌ ‌ 

‌‌“I‌ ‌think‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌go‌ ‌looking‌ ‌at‌ ‌reports‌ ‌and‌ ‌stuff,‌ ‌see‌ ‌if‌ ‌anything‌ ‌pops‌ ‌up. Iif‌ ‌not‌, ‌I‌ ‌might‌ ‌take‌ ‌Baby‌ ‌and‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌out‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌spin,‌ ‌get‌ ‌them‌ ‌out‌ ‌for‌ ‌some‌ ‌fresh‌ ‌air.”‌ ‌‌‘And‌ ‌get‌ ‌me‌ ‌away‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌happy‌ ‌couple’,‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌added‌ ‌silently‌ ‌to‌ ‌himself‌ ‌but‌ ‌immediately‌ ‌felt‌ ‌guilty‌ ‌upon‌ ‌thinking‌ ‌it.‌

 ‌He‌ ‌was‌ ‌happy‌ ‌for‌ ‌Sam.‌ ‌Happy‌ ‌that‌ ‌he‌ ‌and‌ ‌Eileen‌ ‌were‌ ‌finally‌ ‌back‌ ‌together.‌ ‌He‌ ‌was‌ ‌just‌ ‌envious‌ ‌and‌ ‌hurt‌ ‌that‌ ‌he‌ ‌didn’t‌ ‌have‌ ‌a‌ ‌similar‌ ‌reunion of his own.‌ ‌

 ‌‌“Maybe‌ ‌we‌ ‌could‌ ‌make‌ ‌a‌ ‌trip‌ ‌over‌ ‌to‌ ‌Charlie‌ ‌and‌ ‌Stevie’s,‌ ‌make‌ ‌sure‌ ‌everything’s‌ ‌good‌ ‌on‌ ‌their‌ ‌end?”‌ ‌‌

“Might‌ ‌not‌ ‌be‌ ‌a‌ ‌good‌ ‌idea‌ ‌after‌ ‌how‌ ‌we‌ ‌left‌ ‌Charlie‌ ‌the‌ ‌last‌ ‌time,”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌chided,‌ ‌“I‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌think‌ ‌I‌ ‌want‌ ‌to‌ ‌know‌ ‌what‌ ‌she‌ ‌can‌ ‌do‌ ‌when‌ ‌she’s‌ ‌angry-”‌ 

‌‌“I‌ ‌doubt‌ ‌she’s‌ ‌angry‌ ‌Dean,‌ ‌and‌ ‌even‌ ‌if‌ ‌she‌ ‌is,‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌not‌ ‌at‌ ‌you.‌ It’s‌ ‌at‌ ‌Chuck,‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌life‌ ‌he‌ ‌forced‌ ‌us‌ ‌‌all‌‌ ‌to‌ ‌live,”‌ ‌Eileen‌ ‌said.‌ ‌‌The‌ ‌older‌ ‌Winchester‌ ‌nodded‌ ‌and‌ ‌kindly‌ ‌smiled‌ ‌yet‌ ‌he‌ ‌couldn’t‌ ‌bring‌ ‌the‌ ‌same‌ ‌warmth‌ ‌to‌ ‌reach‌ ‌his‌ ‌eyes,‌ ‌“Maybe‌ ‌another‌ ‌time.”‌ ‌‌

As‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌stared‌ ‌blankly‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌remaining‌ ‌two‌ ‌pieces‌ ‌of‌ ‌bacon‌ ‌in‌ ‌front‌ ‌of‌ ‌him,‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌and‌ ‌Eileen‌ ‌shared‌ ‌a‌ ‌worried‌ ‌glance,‌ ‌speaking‌ ‌silently‌ ‌with‌ ‌one‌ ‌another‌ ‌before‌ ‌she‌ ‌moved‌ ‌to‌ ‌collect‌ ‌her‌ ‌and‌ ‌Sam’s‌ ‌finished‌ ‌plates,‌ ‌“Just‌ ‌place‌ ‌your‌ ‌plate‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌sink‌ ‌when‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌finished‌ ‌Dean,‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌clean‌ ‌up.”‌ ‌

‌“Nah‌ ‌you‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌have‌ ‌to‌ ‌do‌ ‌that,‌ ‌you‌ ‌and‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌should‌ ‌go‌ ‌out,‌ ‌go do‌ ‌whatever‌ ‌kids these days get up to these days.‌ ‌I‌ ‌heard‌ ‌you‌ ‌both‌ ‌talking‌ ‌about‌ ‌going‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌park‌ ‌the‌ ‌other‌ ‌day,‌ ‌why‌ ‌not‌ ‌do‌ ‌that?‌ ‌It’s‌ ‌the‌ ‌right‌ ‌weather‌ ‌for‌ ‌it,‌ ‌so‌ ‌you‌ ‌might‌ ‌as‌ ‌well,‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌get‌ ‌here‌ ‌cleaned‌ ‌up.”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌declared,‌ ‌deciding‌ ‌to‌ ‌save‌ ‌the‌ ‌last‌ ‌two‌ ‌bacon‌ ‌strips‌ ‌for‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌got‌ ‌up‌ ‌and‌ ‌moved‌ ‌toward‌ ‌the‌ ‌sink.‌ 

‌‌“Are‌ ‌you‌ ‌sure?”‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌questioned,‌ ‌glancing‌ ‌between‌ ‌his‌ ‌brother‌ ‌and‌ ‌Eileen‌ ‌who‌ ‌was‌ ‌trying‌ ‌to‌ ‌push‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌away‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌sink‌ ‌to‌ ‌let‌ ‌her‌ ‌clean‌ ‌up‌ ‌but‌ ‌the‌ ‌older‌ ‌(and‌ ‌stronger)‌ ‌brother‌ ‌was‌ ‌having‌ ‌none‌ ‌of‌ ‌it,‌ ‌ ‌‌

“Yes,‌ ‌go!‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌here‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌cases‌ ‌most‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌day‌ ‌anyway,‌ ‌or‌ ‌as‌ ‌I‌ ‌said,‌ ‌taking‌ ‌Baby‌ ‌and‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌drive‌ ‌so‌ ‌you‌ ‌might‌ ‌as‌ ‌well.”‌ ‌‌

Sam‌ ‌was‌ ‌hesitant‌ ‌at‌ ‌first‌ ‌but‌ ‌one‌ ‌look‌ ‌from‌ ‌his‌ ‌brother‌ ‌made‌ ‌him‌ ‌roll‌ ‌his‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌and‌ ‌agree.‌ ‌“Fine,‌ ‌let‌ ‌me‌ ‌grab‌ ‌my‌ ‌coat.”‌ 

‌‌Eileen‌ ‌followed‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌out‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌kitchen‌ ‌to‌ ‌grab‌ ‌her‌ ‌own‌ ‌things‌ ‌before‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌left‌ ‌the‌ ‌bunker,‌ ‌quiet,‌ ‌comfortable‌ ‌laughter‌ ‌emitting‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌doors‌ ‌shut‌ ‌behind‌ ‌them,‌ ‌leaving‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌alone‌ ‌in‌ ‌silence‌ ‌to‌ ‌tidy‌ ‌the‌ ‌kitchen‌ ‌and‌ ‌return‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌room‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌remaining‌ ‌scraps‌ ‌of‌ ‌food‌ ‌for‌ ‌Miracle.‌ 

‌‌                                                      __‌ ‌‌

Sam‌ ‌found‌ ‌his‌ ‌brother‌ ‌hunched‌ ‌over‌ ‌the‌ ‌laptop‌ ‌when‌ ‌he‌ ‌got‌ ‌back‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌bunker‌ ‌without‌ ‌Eileen.‌ ‌She‌ ‌decided‌ ‌that‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌brothers‌ ‌needed‌ ‌to‌ ‌talk,‌ ‌and‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌was‌ ‌willing‌ ‌to‌ ‌agree.‌ ‌

One‌ ‌of‌ ‌Dean’s‌ ‌hands‌ ‌was‌ ‌buried‌ ‌in‌ ‌Miracle’s‌ ‌fur,‌ ‌the‌ ‌dog’s‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌flickering‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌moved‌ ‌from‌ ‌consciousness‌ ‌to‌ ‌slowly‌ ‌falling‌ ‌asleep‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌bunker‌ ‌seat. Dean’s ‌other‌ ‌hand‌ ‌was‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌mousepad‌ ‌looking‌ ‌at‌ ‌recent‌ ‌news‌ ‌posts,‌ ‌searching‌ ‌for‌ ‌signs‌ ‌of‌ ‌anything‌ ‌supernatural.‌ ‌‌

“Anything?”‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌asked‌ ‌in‌ ‌his‌ ‌way‌ ‌of‌ ‌greeting,‌ ‌slumping‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌seat‌ ‌opposite‌ ‌his‌ ‌brother‌ ‌and‌ ‌opening‌ ‌up‌ ‌his‌ ‌own‌ ‌laptop.‌ 

‌Dean‌ ‌was‌ ‌silent‌ ‌as‌ ‌if‌ ‌he‌ ‌hadn’t‌ ‌heard‌ ‌his‌ ‌brother‌ ‌at‌ ‌all.‌ 

‌‌“Dean,”‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌called‌ ‌again‌ ‌making‌ ‌the‌ ‌older‌ ‌brother‌ ‌look‌ ‌up‌ ‌and‌ ‌shake‌ ‌his‌ ‌head.‌ 

‌‌“I‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌know…”‌ 

‌‌“What‌ ‌is‌ ‌it?”‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌asks,‌ ‌leaning‌ ‌forward‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌spots‌ ‌the‌ ‌confuse‌ ‌look‌ ‌cross‌ ‌Dean’s‌ ‌face‌ ‌before‌ ‌he‌ ‌gulped‌ ‌nervously,‌ 

‌‌“I’m‌ ‌not‌ ‌sure.”‌ 

‌‌“Dean?”‌ ‌‌

Dean‌ ‌pushed‌ ‌his‌ ‌chair‌ ‌back‌ ‌quickly,‌ ‌startling‌ ‌both‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌and‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌jumped‌ ‌up,‌ ‌wide‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌refusing‌ ‌to‌ ‌leave‌ ‌the‌ ‌laptop‌ ‌screen.‌ ‌His‌ ‌face‌ ‌grew‌ ‌pale,‌ ‌he‌ ‌tried‌ ‌to‌ ‌open‌ ‌his‌ ‌mouth‌ ‌to‌ ‌speak‌ ‌but‌ ‌nothing‌ ‌came‌ ‌out,‌ ‌until‌ ‌finally,‌ 

‌‌“I…‌ ‌I‌ ‌have‌ ‌to‌ ‌go.”‌ ‌

‌“Dean?”‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌called‌ ‌after‌ ‌his‌ ‌brother‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌ran‌ ‌out‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌room,‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌running‌ ‌in‌ ‌tow‌ ‌behind‌ ‌him.‌ ‌

Sam‌ ‌quickly‌ ‌grabbed‌ ‌the‌ ‌laptop‌ ‌and‌ ‌turned‌ ‌it‌ ‌around‌ ‌the‌ ‌face‌ ‌him,‌ ‌a‌ ‌similar‌ ‌expression‌ ‌of‌ ‌shock‌ ‌greeting‌ ‌his‌ ‌face,‌ ‌“No‌ ‌way.”‌ ‌‌

Kicking‌ ‌the‌ ‌chair‌ ‌back,‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌ran‌ ‌after‌ ‌his‌ ‌older‌ ‌brother,‌ ‌grabbing‌ ‌his‌ ‌jacket‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌coat‌ ‌rack‌ ‌before‌ ‌following‌ ‌the‌ ‌path‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌garage‌ ‌where‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌already‌ ‌had‌ ‌Baby‌ ‌up‌ ‌and‌ ‌running‌ ‌about‌ ‌the‌ ‌leave‌ ‌without‌ ‌him,‌ ‌

“Dean,‌ ‌wait!”‌ 

‌‌The‌ ‌car‌ ‌ground‌ ‌to‌ ‌a‌ ‌halt‌ ‌in‌ ‌front‌ ‌of‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌brother‌ ‌opened‌ ‌the‌ ‌passenger‌ ‌door,‌ ‌jumping‌ ‌in‌ ‌and‌ ‌slamming‌ ‌it‌ ‌shut‌ ‌behind‌ ‌him,‌ ‌“Alright,‌ ‌let’s‌ ‌go.”‌ ‌‌

The‌ ‌drive‌ ‌was‌ ‌less‌ ‌than‌ ‌an‌ ‌hour‌ ‌long‌ ‌and‌ ‌yet‌ ‌to‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌it‌ ‌felt‌ ‌like‌ ‌days‌ ‌went‌ ‌by‌ ‌before‌ ‌they‌ ‌finally‌ ‌reached‌ ‌the‌ ‌barnyard‌ ‌they‌ ‌were‌ ‌searching‌ ‌for.‌ ‌A‌ ‌farmer‌ ‌had‌ ‌sworn‌ ‌he‌ ‌saw‌ ‌lightning‌ ‌strike‌ ‌the‌ ‌ground‌ ‌but‌ ‌that‌ ‌wasn’t‌ ‌what‌ ‌stood‌ ‌out‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌hunters.‌ ‌It‌ ‌was‌ ‌the‌ ‌last‌ ‌detail,‌ ‌something‌ ‌the‌ ‌news‌ ‌brushed‌ ‌off‌ ‌as‌ ‌a‌ ‌coincidence.‌ ‌

The‌ ‌shadowed‌ ‌image‌ ‌of‌ ‌two‌ ‌identical‌ ‌shapes‌ ‌that‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌men‌ ‌knew‌ ‌too‌ ‌well;‌ ‌the‌ ‌large‌ ‌black‌ ‌wings‌ ‌of‌ ‌a‌ ‌fallen‌ ‌angel‌ ‌spread‌ ‌across‌ ‌the‌ ‌dirt.‌ ‌‌

He‌ ‌had‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌here.‌ ‌‌

Dean‌ ‌barely‌ ‌put‌ ‌Baby‌ ‌to‌ ‌a‌ ‌halt,‌ ‌the‌ ‌car‌ ‌still‌ ‌in‌ ‌motion‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌was‌ ‌jumping‌ ‌out,‌ ‌running‌ ‌toward‌ ‌the‌ ‌barn‌ ‌entrance‌ ‌to‌ ‌confirm‌ ‌what‌ ‌the‌ ‌farmer‌ ‌had‌ ‌seen.‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌nearly‌ ‌fell‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌knees‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌spotted‌ ‌the‌ ‌outlines‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌dark‌ ‌wings‌ ‌pressed‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌ground.‌ ‌Instead,‌ ‌he‌ ‌stumbled‌ ‌back,‌ ‌only‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌caught‌ ‌by‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌who‌ ‌ran‌ ‌up‌ ‌behind‌ ‌him,‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌in‌ ‌tow,‌ ‌sniffing‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌ground‌ ‌around‌ ‌them.‌ 

‌‌“This‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌be‌ ‌a‌ ‌coincidence,”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌muttered,‌ ‌more‌ ‌to‌ ‌himself‌ ‌than‌ ‌either‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌companions‌ ‌but‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌still‌ ‌nodded‌ ‌in‌ ‌agreement,‌ ‌head‌ ‌moving‌ ‌around‌ ‌in‌ ‌search‌ ‌of‌ ‌anything‌ ‌that‌ ‌would‌ ‌give‌ ‌them‌ ‌a‌ ‌clue,‌ ‌until…‌ ‌‌

Whoosh‌ ‌‌

Spinning‌ ‌around,‌ ‌both‌ ‌boys‌ ‌stood‌ ‌in‌ ‌shock‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌figure‌ ‌before‌ ‌them,‌ 

‌‌“Hello,”‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌spoke,‌ ‌his‌ ‌signature‌ ‌smile‌ ‌and‌ ‌wave‌ ‌gracing‌ ‌his‌ ‌face‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌boys‌ ‌stared‌ ‌back‌ ‌in‌ ‌wonder,‌ ‌‌

“Jack?”‌ ‌‌

The‌ ‌boy,‌ ‌or‌ ‌God,‌ ‌nodded‌ ‌and‌ ‌grinned‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌two,‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌brightening‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌spotted‌ ‌the‌ ‌dog‌ ‌who‌ ‌now‌ ‌sat‌ ‌beside‌ ‌Dean’s‌ ‌feet,‌ 

‌“I‌ ‌see‌ ‌you‌ ‌brought‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌with‌ ‌you,‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌glad‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌given‌ ‌you‌ ‌some‌ ‌peace‌ ‌in‌ ‌life.”‌ ‌‌

“Jack,”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌spoke‌ ‌hesitantly,‌ ‌not‌ ‌knowing‌ ‌how‌ ‌to‌ ‌say‌ ‌his‌ ‌next‌ ‌words‌ ‌without‌ ‌being‌ ‌offensive,‌ ‌and‌ ‌yet‌ ‌it‌ ‌seemed‌ ‌the‌ ‌words‌ ‌just‌ ‌fell‌ ‌out‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌mouth‌ ‌anyway,‌ ‌“Why‌ ‌the‌ ‌hell‌ ‌are‌ ‌you‌ ‌here,‌ ‌I‌ ‌mean‌ ‌not‌ ‌to‌ ‌say‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌not‌ ‌nice‌ ‌to‌ ‌see‌ ‌you‌ ‌but,‌ ‌the‌ ‌wings‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌ground‌ ‌I‌ ‌just,‌ ‌I‌ ‌thought-”‌ ‌‌

“I‌ ‌know,”‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌nodded,‌ ‌“I’m‌ ‌sorry.”‌ 

‌‌Dean’s‌ ‌shoulder’s‌ ‌slumped‌ ‌in‌ ‌anguish‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌words,‌ ‌expecting‌ ‌the‌ ‌boy‌ ‌to‌ ‌say‌ ‌it‌ ‌had‌ ‌been‌ ‌a‌ ‌mistake,‌ ‌an‌ ‌angel‌ ‌had‌ ‌fallen‌ ‌but‌ ‌it‌ ‌had‌ ‌nothing‌ ‌to‌ ‌do‌ ‌with‌ ‌what‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌was‌ ‌thinking,‌ ‌until,‌ ‌ 

‌‌“I’m‌ ‌sorry‌ ‌I‌ ‌had‌ ‌to‌ ‌make‌ ‌you‌ ‌drive‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌way‌ ‌out‌ ‌here,‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌still‌ ‌trying‌ ‌to‌ ‌figure‌ ‌out‌ ‌my‌ ‌new‌ ‌powers‌ ‌and‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌been‌ ‌a‌ ‌little‌ ‌difficult‌ ‌trying‌ ‌to‌ ‌get‌ ‌everything‌ ‌just‌ ‌right.‌ ‌I‌ ‌wanted‌ ‌to‌ ‌bring‌ ‌him‌ ‌back‌ ‌home,‌ ‌but‌ ‌my‌ ‌calculations‌ ‌were‌ ‌off‌ ‌and-”‌ 

‌‌“Wait,‌ ‌Jack,”‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌cut‌ ‌the‌ ‌boy‌ ‌off,‌ ‌but‌ ‌he‌ ‌didn’t‌ ‌seem‌ ‌to‌ ‌mind‌ ‌this‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌glanced‌ ‌up,‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌shining‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌realised‌ ‌he‌ ‌had‌ ‌been‌ ‌rambling.‌ ‌

Before‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌could‌ ‌respond‌ ‌further,‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌began‌ ‌to‌ ‌walk‌ ‌toward‌ ‌them,‌ ‌ ‌‌“Oh‌ ‌sorry,‌ ‌here,‌ ‌let‌ ‌me‌ ‌show‌ ‌you.”‌ ‌‌As‌ ‌the‌ ‌new‌ ‌God‌ ‌neared‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌brothers,‌ ‌his‌ ‌family,‌ ‌he‌ ‌lifted‌ ‌his‌ ‌hand‌ ‌and‌ ‌clicked‌ ‌his‌ ‌fingers.‌ ‌

A‌ ‌gentle‌ ‌hum‌ ‌flooded‌ ‌the‌ ‌area,‌ ‌making‌ ‌chills‌ ‌flow‌ ‌through‌ ‌the‌ ‌boys‌ ‌and‌ ‌even‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌shook‌ ‌his‌ ‌fur‌ ‌coat‌ ‌lightly.‌ ‌‌

“Jack,‌ ‌I‌ ‌don’t-”‌

 ‌‌“Dean?”‌ ‌‌Dean‌ ‌froze,‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌wide.‌ ‌He‌ ‌knew‌ ‌that‌ ‌voice.‌ ‌He‌ ‌knew‌ ‌that‌ ‌voice‌ ‌all‌ ‌too‌ ‌well.‌ ‌‌

Spinning‌ ‌around,‌ ‌the‌ ‌green-eyed‌ ‌man‌ ‌choked‌ ‌a‌ ‌sob‌ ‌as‌ ‌a‌ ‌black-haired,‌ ‌blue-eyed‌ ‌figure‌ ‌walked‌ ‌forward,‌ ‌trench‌ ‌coat‌ ‌in‌ ‌hand‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌smile,‌ ‌a‌ ‌goddamn‌ ‌smile,‌ ‌on‌ ‌his‌ ‌angelic‌ ‌face.‌ ‌‌

It‌ ‌was‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌who‌ ‌broke‌ ‌the‌ ‌silence,‌ ‌being‌ ‌the‌ ‌first‌ ‌to‌ ‌utter‌ ‌Cas’s‌ ‌name‌ ‌aloud.‌ ‌The‌ ‌man‌ ‌smiled,‌ ‌turning‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌younger‌ ‌brother,‌ ‌

“Hello‌ ‌Sam.”‌ 

‌‌Sam‌ ‌didn’t‌ ‌hesitate‌ ‌to‌ ‌move‌ ‌forward‌ ‌and‌ ‌greet‌ ‌his‌ ‌best‌ ‌friend,‌ ‌hugging‌ ‌him‌ ‌tightly,‌ 

‌“How,‌ ‌how‌ ‌are‌ ‌you-?”‌ ‌He‌ ‌tried‌ ‌to‌ ‌ask‌ ‌but‌ ‌the‌ ‌words‌ ‌fell‌ ‌flat‌ ‌on‌ ‌his‌ ‌lips.‌ ‌ ‌‌

Castiel‌ ‌gestured‌ ‌to‌ ‌Jack,‌ ‌chuckling‌ ‌softly,‌ ‌“Jack‌ ‌made‌ ‌a‌ ‌deal‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌Empty,‌ ‌it‌ ‌would‌ ‌finally‌ ‌know‌ ‌peace‌ ‌and‌ ‌quiet,‌ ‌the‌ ‌one‌ ‌thing‌ ‌it‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌searching‌ ‌for‌ ‌and,‌ ‌in‌ ‌return,‌ ‌I‌ ‌was‌ ‌released,‌ ‌but‌ ‌instead‌ ‌of‌ ‌coming‌ ‌back‌ ‌as‌ ‌an‌ ‌angel,‌ ‌it‌ ‌made‌ ‌me-”‌ 

‌‌“Human.”‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌finished‌ ‌off,‌ ‌meeting‌ ‌the‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌three‌ ‌fathers,‌ ‌“I’m‌ ‌sorry,‌ ‌I‌ ‌wish‌ ‌it‌ ‌could‌ ‌have‌ ‌been‌ ‌different‌ ‌but-”‌ 

‌‌“Jack,”‌ 

‌Dean‌ ‌cut‌ ‌the‌ ‌boy‌ ‌off‌ ‌quietly‌ ‌before‌ ‌meeting‌ ‌his‌ ‌eyes.‌ ‌The‌ ‌look‌ ‌of‌ ‌shock‌ ‌turned‌ ‌to‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌gratitude‌ ‌and‌ ‌relief,‌ ‌tears‌ ‌pricking‌ ‌his‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌as‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌moved‌ ‌the‌ ‌last‌ ‌few‌ ‌paces‌ ‌toward‌ ‌Jack,‌ ‌pulling‌ ‌him‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌strong‌ ‌familial‌ ‌hug,‌ 

‌“You‌ ‌did‌ ‌good‌ ‌kid,‌ ‌you‌ ‌did,‌ ‌you‌ ‌performed‌ ‌a‌ ‌miracle.”‌ ‌‌

Dean‌ ‌tightened‌ ‌his‌ ‌grip‌ ‌on‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌moment,‌ ‌uttering‌ ‌a‌ ‌silent‌ ‌thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌for‌ ‌only‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌to‌ ‌hear‌ ‌before‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌pulled‌ ‌away,‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌nodding‌ ‌in‌ ‌acknowledgement‌ ‌of‌ ‌Dean’s‌ ‌words.‌ ‌‌

It‌ ‌was‌ ‌Dean’s‌ ‌turn‌ ‌to‌ ‌move‌ ‌back‌ ‌to‌ ‌finally‌ ‌face‌ ‌Castiel;‌ ‌his‌ ‌best‌ ‌friend,‌ ‌the‌ ‌man‌ ‌he‌ ‌has‌ ‌known‌ ‌for‌ ‌what‌ ‌feels‌ ‌like‌ ‌hundreds‌ ‌of‌ ‌years‌ ‌and‌ ‌has‌ ‌saved‌ ‌him‌ ‌more‌ ‌times‌ ‌than‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌could‌ ‌count.‌ ‌

The‌ ‌man‌ ‌that‌ ‌confessed‌ ‌his‌ ‌feelings‌ ‌before‌ ‌he‌ ‌leaving‌ ‌to‌ ‌save‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌‌again‌‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌man‌ ‌that‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌in‌ ‌love‌ ‌with‌ ‌for‌ ‌who‌ ‌knows‌ ‌how‌ ‌many‌ ‌years‌ ‌since‌ ‌they‌ ‌met.‌ 

‌‌“Cas?”‌ 

‌‌“Hello,‌ ‌Dean.”‌ ‌‌

Tears‌ ‌flowed‌ ‌freely‌ ‌down‌ ‌Dean’s‌ ‌face,‌ ‌not‌ ‌caring‌ ‌that‌ ‌his‌ ‌brother‌ ‌or‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌were‌ ‌watching‌ ‌them,‌ ‌not‌ ‌as‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌hauled‌ ‌himself‌ ‌forward‌ ‌and‌ ‌collapsed‌ ‌into‌ ‌Cas’‌ ‌arms‌ ‌toppling‌ ‌them‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌ground‌ ‌and‌ ‌yet‌ ‌Cas‌ ‌held‌ ‌him‌ ‌tightly.‌ ‌‌

“You‌ ‌were‌ ‌gone,‌ ‌I‌ ‌thought,‌ ‌I-”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌released‌ ‌a‌ ‌shaky‌ ‌sob‌ ‌before‌ ‌burying‌ ‌his‌ ‌head‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌shoulder‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌angel,‌ ‌“I‌ ‌never‌ ‌got‌ ‌to‌ ‌say‌ ‌it‌ ‌back.‌ ‌You‌ ‌were‌ ‌gone‌ ‌before‌ ‌I,‌ ‌before‌ ‌I‌ ‌could‌ ‌say-”‌ 

‌‌“Dean-”‌ 

‌‌“No,‌ ‌Cas,‌ ‌please,‌ ‌I‌ ‌need‌ ‌to‌ ‌say‌ ‌it,”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌begged,‌ ‌green‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌meeting‌ ‌his‌ ‌blue‌ ‌ones.‌ ‌ 

‌‌Cas‌ ‌nodded,‌ ‌shifting‌ ‌so‌ ‌he‌ ‌only‌ ‌needed‌ ‌one‌ ‌hand‌ ‌to‌ ‌hold‌ ‌himself‌ ‌and‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌up,‌ ‌the‌ ‌other‌ ‌moving‌ ‌to‌ ‌touch‌ ‌his‌ ‌shoulder,‌ ‌like‌ ‌last‌ ‌time‌ ‌instead‌ ‌the‌ ‌grip‌ ‌remained‌ ‌firm‌ ‌and‌ ‌kept‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌grounded‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌finally,‌ ‌‌finally‌,‌ ‌uttered‌ ‌the‌ ‌three‌ ‌words‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌best‌ ‌friend‌ ‌and‌ ‌love‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌life,‌ ‌‌

“I‌ ‌love‌ ‌you,‌ ‌Cas.‌ ‌I‌ ‌have‌ ‌loved‌ ‌you‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌long‌ ‌time‌ ‌but,‌ ‌I‌ ‌was‌ ‌afraid,‌ ‌afraid‌ ‌to‌ ‌ruin‌ ‌our‌ ‌friendship,‌ ‌our‌ ‌time‌ ‌together,‌ ‌I-”‌ ‌‌

Dean‌ ‌was‌ ‌cut‌ ‌off‌ ‌when‌ ‌strong‌ ‌lips‌ ‌pressed‌ ‌against‌ ‌his‌ ‌own‌ ‌and‌ ‌fresh‌ ‌tears‌ ‌began‌ ‌to‌ ‌fall‌ ‌down‌ ‌his‌ ‌face‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌cupped‌ ‌Cas’‌ ‌face‌ ‌in‌ ‌his‌ ‌hands.‌ ‌Both‌ ‌men‌ ‌fell‌ ‌back,‌ ‌crashing‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌ground‌ ‌to‌ ‌embrace‌ ‌the‌ ‌another‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌dust‌ ‌and‌ ‌dirt,‌ ‌not‌ ‌caring‌ ‌for‌ ‌anything‌ ‌but‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌other‌ ‌person‌ ‌holding‌ ‌them.‌ ‌‌

“I‌ ‌love‌ ‌you.‌ ‌I‌ ‌love‌ ‌you.‌ ‌I‌ ‌love‌ ‌you.”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌spoke‌ ‌with‌ ‌bated‌ ‌breathe‌ ‌between‌ ‌each‌ ‌kiss‌ ‌he‌ ‌pressed‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌lover’s‌ ‌mouth.‌ ‌Cas’‌ ‌smile‌ ‌widening‌ ‌in‌ ‌between‌ ‌each‌ ‌one‌ ‌until‌ ‌he‌ ‌encouraged‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌to‌ ‌pull‌ ‌away,‌ ‌ ‌‌

“Not‌ ‌that‌ ‌I‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌love‌ ‌what‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌doing‌ ‌right‌ ‌now,‌ ‌but‌ ‌I‌ ‌would‌ ‌rather‌ ‌if‌ ‌we‌ ‌finished‌ ‌this‌ ‌in‌ ‌private,‌ ‌maybe‌ ‌in‌ ‌bed‌ ‌and‌ ‌without‌ ‌the‌ ‌audience?”‌ ‌He‌ ‌suggested‌ ‌before‌ ‌gesturing‌ ‌to‌ ‌Sam,‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌and‌ ‌Miracle‌ ‌who‌ ‌had‌ ‌retreated‌ ‌back‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌car.‌ ‌Sam‌ ‌was‌ ‌facing‌ ‌Jack‌ ‌talking‌ ‌in‌ ‌hushed‌ ‌voices‌ ‌but‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌looks‌ ‌on‌ ‌both‌ ‌their‌ ‌faces,‌ ‌they‌ ‌had‌ ‌been‌ ‌watching‌ ‌the‌ ‌pair’s‌ ‌reunion‌ ‌both‌ ‌parties‌ ‌smiling‌ ‌endlessly.‌ 

‌‌Dean‌ ‌should‌ ‌have‌ ‌been‌ ‌embarrassed,‌ ‌but‌ ‌he‌ ‌wasn’t.‌ ‌Not‌ ‌now,‌ ‌with‌ ‌Cas‌ ‌here,‌ ‌actually‌ ‌here‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌gritty‌ ‌dirt‌ ‌and‌ ‌smiling‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌pressed‌ ‌a‌ ‌final‌ ‌kiss‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌corner‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌mouth‌ ‌before‌ ‌getting‌ ‌up.‌ ‌

Cas‌ ‌dusted‌ ‌off‌ ‌the‌ ‌trenchcoat‌ ‌that‌ ‌had‌ ‌fallen‌ ‌out‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌grip‌ ‌and‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌ground,‌ ‌before‌ ‌outstretching‌ ‌his‌ ‌hand‌ ‌to‌ ‌Dean.‌ ‌‌Dean‌ ‌accepted‌ ‌the‌ ‌offer‌ ‌without‌ ‌any‌ ‌hesitation,‌ ‌and‌ ‌gasped‌ ‌as‌ ‌Cas‌ ‌pulled‌ ‌him‌ ‌up‌ ‌quickly,‌ ‌smashing‌ ‌their‌ ‌lips‌ ‌together‌ ‌not‌ ‌so‌ ‌gracefully,‌ ‌teeth‌ ‌clashing‌ ‌making‌ ‌both‌ ‌men‌ ‌pull‌ ‌back‌ ‌and‌ ‌groan‌ ‌in‌ ‌pain‌ ‌while‌ ‌laughing,‌ 

‌“For‌ ‌a‌ ‌human,‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌still‌ ‌pretty‌ ‌strong.”‌ ‌‌

“You’d‌ ‌be‌ ‌quite‌ ‌surprised‌ ‌how‌ ‌strong‌ ‌I‌ ‌can‌ ‌be,‌ ‌Dean.‌ ‌Maybe‌ ‌we‌ ‌can‌ ‌test‌ ‌one‌ ‌another‌ ‌out‌ ‌sometime?”‌

 ‌‌“Oh,‌ ‌is‌ ‌that‌ ‌a‌ ‌challenge‌ ‌I‌ ‌hear?”‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌laughed,‌ ‌ready‌ ‌to‌ ‌jump‌ ‌into‌ ‌proving‌ ‌Cas‌ ‌wrong,‌ ‌but‌ ‌the‌ ‌soft‌ ‌shake‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌head‌ ‌and‌ ‌loving‌ ‌blue‌ ‌eyes‌ ‌stopped‌ ‌him‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌angel,‌ ‌or‌ ‌no‌ ‌longer‌ ‌angel‌ ‌replied,‌ ‌‌‌

“No,‌ ‌a‌ ‌promise,‌ ‌to‌ ‌never‌ ‌leave‌ ‌you‌ ‌again.”‌ ‌‌

Dean’s‌ ‌nod‌ded ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌bit ‌back‌ ‌another‌ ‌sob‌, ‌fumbling ‌to‌ ‌say his next new words,‌ ‌“I’ll‌ ‌keep‌ ‌you‌ ‌to‌ ‌that.”‌

                                                        ‌‌__‌ ‌‌

Dean‌ ‌spent‌ ‌most‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌days‌ ‌working‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌garage‌ ‌of‌ ‌their‌ ‌home,‌ ‌under‌ ‌the‌ ‌hood‌ ‌of‌ ‌Baby‌ ‌or‌ ‌any‌ ‌of‌ ‌their‌ ‌friend’s‌ ‌cars,‌ ‌welcoming‌ ‌the‌ ‌feel‌ ‌of‌ ‌oil‌ ‌and‌ ‌grease‌ ‌that‌ ‌clung‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌skin‌ ‌and‌ ‌T-shirt.‌ ‌

A‌ ‌towel‌ ‌was‌ ‌thrown‌ ‌over‌ ‌his‌ ‌shoulder,‌ ‌beads‌ ‌of‌ ‌sweat‌ ‌dripping‌ ‌down‌ ‌on‌ ‌his‌ ‌forehead‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌used‌ ‌the back of his‌ ‌arm‌ ‌to‌ ‌wipe‌ ‌it‌ ‌away‌ ‌just‌ ‌as‌ ‌a‌ ‌shrill‌ ‌voice‌ ‌called‌ ‌out‌ ‌to‌ ‌him.‌ 

‌‌“Dad,‌ ‌Dad,‌ ‌I‌ ‌finished‌ ‌my‌ ‌project‌ ‌for‌ ‌school,‌ ‌do‌ ‌you‌ ‌want‌ ‌to‌ ‌see?”‌ ‌ ‌‌

Rebecca‌ ‌Winchester‌ ‌ran‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌garage‌ ‌through‌ ‌the‌ ‌door‌ ‌that‌ ‌led‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌kitchen‌ ‌and‌ ‌laughed‌ ‌seeing‌ ‌her‌ ‌father‌ ‌coated‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌grime‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌car.‌ ‌

Dean‌ ‌smiled,‌ ‌putting‌ ‌his‌ ‌tools‌ ‌and‌ ‌tweaking‌ ‌to‌ ‌a‌ ‌halt‌ ‌as‌ ‌he‌ ‌used‌ ‌the‌ ‌towel‌ ‌to‌ ‌wipe‌ ‌away‌ ‌any‌ ‌remaining‌ ‌oil‌ ‌on‌ ‌his‌ ‌hands,‌ ‌he‌ ‌smiled‌ ‌at‌ ‌her‌ ‌enthusiasm,‌ ‌‌

“I’m‌ ‌assuming‌ ‌your‌ ‌father‌ ‌helped‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌painting,‌ ‌or‌ ‌did‌ ‌you‌ ‌do‌ ‌it‌ ‌all‌ ‌by‌ ‌yourself?”‌ ‌‌

“By‌ ‌myself‌ ‌but‌ ‌he ‌watched‌ ‌and‌ ‌tried‌ ‌to‌ ‌step‌ ‌in,‌ ‌I‌ ‌gave‌ ‌him‌ ‌a‌ ‌kitten‌ ‌picture‌ ‌to‌ ‌paint‌ ‌instead, it’s up on the fridge npw.”‌ ‌The‌ ‌girl‌ ‌shrugged‌ ‌grinning‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌statement‌ ‌made‌ ‌Dean‌ ‌laugh,‌ ‌ ‌

"That's my girl, okay, lead the way."

Dean chuckled as the young girl eagerly grabbed her father's hand, pulling him from his station beside Baby and up the steps into the kitchen where he noticed it was darker than usual. 

A nervous tick grew in Dean as he reached for a gun that was not by his side, jumping in shock as the lights flickered back on and the unexpected scene was met before him,

"Surprise!"

His friends and family cried in celebration, crowding around the dining table that was full of food and beverages. Streamers were strung up and hung from the ceiling along with balloons and poppers that Dean was grateful remained on the table unpopped.

"Happy birthday!" Rebecca cheered gleefully as others repeated her words. Dean's smile reached his eyes, head buried into his hands as he laughed and took in the faces of all his friends before he landed on the man in the middle,

"Cas, did you-"

The blue eyed man gave a cheeky grin as he walked over to his lover, arms reaching to circle around his waist, pulling Dean closely until his head touched his chest and muttered incoherent words into the oil stained t-shirt. 

Dean gripped Cas tightly around the shoulders before the two pulled away, Cas holding up has right hand to take Dean's own, their two wedding bands glinting in the dim kitchen light.

"Happy birthday Dean," Sam spoke as he handed an opened beer to his brother in celebration. Beside him, Eileen was linked by his side, a hand grazing the side of her waist as both her hands were holding down the bubbling five year old boy who was trying to jump up and be carried by his Uncle De'.

Dean thanked his brother and family, handing Cas the beer for a moment before crouching down to Jonathan Winchester's height, ruffling the boys hair, and lifting him up into the air, spinning him around before placing him back down to the ground. The adults smiled hearing the childs laughter and his pleading words to ‘do it again’ repeated endlessly. Rebecca grabbed Jon's hand and brought him over to the food table instead, and the kid's eyes widening as she asked him what he wanted to eat.

Cas and Dean moved around the room, the two of them glued to one another's side as they talked to everyone who had come to surprise him. Jodie and Donna hugged Dean tightly, both offering words of congratualtions and comfort that made Dean's heart swell. He rolled his eyes, pretending to be offended when Claire made a, not so quiet, comment about his age which had others around them chuckling too, but Dean couldn't keep the frown on his face for too long. 

He moved forward and pulled Claire into a hug that she pretended to fight off before giving up and hugging the older man back, lightly punching his shoulder as they moved away, her hand falling back to hold Kaia's who was standing beside her. Both Kaia and Alex shared brief words and birthday wishes with Dean until the man spotted Charlie and excused himself to meet the red headed nerd who pulled him into a tight hug.

Stevie was next as she hugged Dean and thanked Cas for inviting them. Dean glanced to Cas who smiled offering an 'of course, thank you for coming' just as the doorbell to their house rang. 

Without thinking, Dean shouts that he'll get it, pecking Cas on the lips and squeezing his side before removing himself from his hold as he makes truth on his words, moving toward the front door. His smile couldn't widen any further as he saw the figure before him,

"Hello Dean, happy birthday!" Jack chirpped happily.  

“Hey kid, c’mon in.” Dean responded, opening the door wider and calling to his husband to show him who had arrived at the door.

Although Jack had insisted that he would be excluding himself from the story, to do what Chuck couldn't, Jack knew that his words wouldn't last. Not when it meant not seeing his family. 

It started with the first Christmas of the Winchester's and their lovers being back together. By this point they were still using the bunker as their home until they could find their own respective houses closer to their friends.

Jack had been nervous to knock on the door, some part of him thinking that maybe he wasn't welcome here, but one smile from Sam and a hug barely seconds later, had diminished these thoughts quickly as Sam called for Dean to grab an extra plate, more family had arrived.

Jack shared hugs with everyone, the last being Cas who squeezed him tightly, pressing a kiss to his son’s head before saying they could catch up properly after dinner. Dean cut the turkey, and they all handed each other the many trays and bowls of food to fill their plates and stomachs.

They pulled Christmas crackers which Jack had snapped over from Britain, and wore colourful paper hats, laughing as Dean's ripped and someone made the comment of him having too big a head.

From there, Jack decided to spilt his duty between Heaven and Earth, making sure that everything was running smoothly up top while also spending time with his loved ones with every special occasion that came about, where he could, for once, be at peace and be a kid with his family.

As the years grew on, the brothers moved into a routine, making sure there was a spare room in both their houses just for Jack to stay in even though it wasn't necessary, but Jack liked that he had a place to go if he ever needed to think, or just be, for even a few moments.

He and Dean even went fishing together a few times every year, and Dean still gave Jack driving lessons although the use of a car wasn't needed for the young God anymore but he still appreciated the time spent alone with one of his father's. 

The one time Dean asked Jack if he wanted to see a baseball game with him, the boy was more than delighted to attend, sitting by Dean's side as they ate hotdogs that were too big for their mouths. And even though Jack couldn't understand the rules of baseball, no matter how many times Dean tried and failed to explain them, Jack couldn't think of anywhere else he wanted to be.

Jack was a God, the creator of the new Heaven and protector of all the souls that entered, but he was also a son to his three fathers, a brother to Rebecca and Jon. He was an Angel, he was the son of Lucifer, but most importantly, he was a Winchester.

And when the time was right, and his family grew old, their lives ending in the most peaceful way possible, Jack remembered Cas' words of wisdom about humans; how even though Sam and Dean, and now Cas, were extraordinary, brave and special as humans, that's what they were, human.

And even though they burn bright like stars in the sky, time would be short and one day they would be gone from the earth. Jack was just lucky that even when they died he would be able to see them again, in heaven, with everyone else they loved and missed.

Peace on Earth and peace above, who would have thought it could ever be like this?

[softupshur]

A Patient Wolf: Chapter 9 (final chapter)

<Previous

Read from the beginning

Ao3 link if you’re into that kind of thing

You were early. You had a drink. You don’t know what came next. You wake up in a strange room.

--

For this final update I want to give a quick shout-out to @sumisuchan @abyssuminvocatus and @lobsterkaijin who all read through each chapter before posting and helped me make this work the best it could be! Thank you, truly <3

I’d also like to properly dedicate this work to @sumisuchan forever the Reader Insert to my Edgy Aesthete Ho <3 

--

Chapter 9:

Halfway back to Eddie's house, police lights appear in the rearview mirror.

Initially, Eddie ignores them, gripping the steering wheel even as you gently point them out.

The police turn the sirens on and speed up until they’re riding the bumper.

Though he seems to consider otherwise for a moment, Eddie finally pulls over.

You watch as a cop exits the car and strolls up to the driver's side. Eddie's tight grip on your hand is all that stops you from escaping. You can feel the sweat through your glove as Eddie rolls down the window to greet the officer. He remains pleasant as he asks what the problem is, and if he can make it fast since he and his fiancee must be heading home.

"I'm not your fiancee."

Though Eddie's hold is too tight for you to wring free, information spills out of you. Your name, when you think you were taken, the restaurant you came from, but when the officer is about to ask Eddie to exit the vehicle, he floors it through a red light before the officer can return to the car.

"Eddie, what the hell are you doing!?" You beat at him with useless swipes and punches. He won't hit you back with how much focus it takes to swerve through traffic and run stop signs, pushing the car to its limit, but his efforts mean nothing.

More officers come and it only takes minutes for them to corner Eddie.

The car isn't even fully stopped when you throw yourself out, stumbling from your heels, collapsing to your knees. The blacktop scrapes and bloodies your skin, but you’re laughing until an officer helps you to your feet.

He knows who you are, that people have been looking for you, and promises to take you home. You follow him to his squad car, but it brings no peace.

The windshield offers a front row seat to Eddie's arrest, like a home theater. It takes two officers to bring him down and wrestle him into cuffs. Every shout, every curse breaks through the glass. Even through his struggle, he's looking right at you.

"I'll get you back!" He shouts as the officers struggle to drag him away. "Mark my word, I'll find you and I'll make you pay for this! You won't get away with this, you whore!" A flurry of obscenities follow, cut short only when he's shoved into the police car.

You know he's still ranting. His voice is clear in your mind as if he were sitting right beside you. You shrink into yourself and hold your head as if you could shut him out all the way to the station.

There, they interview you. Answers come automatically, as if someone programmed you to say them, even though you can't remember a single question. Regardless, your answers suffice and they release you.

Your fiancee is waiting in the open doorway. Her eyes have gone hazy and stare at you through dark bags. She's paler than you remember, and her hair is overgrown and tangled. Even her clothes are rumpled and unkempt. You might not have recognized her if not for the shining ring on her finger.

There's so much you want to tell her, but all you can manage is a sob as you crash into her arms. You cry into her shoulder while her tears rain on you.

The days that follow are agonizingly slow. They schedule a trial for Eddie and ask you to testify. It's the last thing you want to do, but you agree. You can hardly recall what you told them, but everyone insisted you were a great asset. It doesn't seem to matter when you find out about the bodies stored in the garage. All the names came from Missing Persons reports; mothers, daughters, wives, all shoved into storage boxes to rot, many so mangled and disfigured that they could only be identified by matching their hair to the locks in the chest.

Most of the remains are returned to family and loved ones, but there are a few with none to claim them. Your heart goes out to those women the most.

Eddie doesn't shed a tear for any of them. He claims they were heartless creatures who deserved to die. He believes he did the world a service.

Then Eddie's lawyer explains his mental health and past. He tells a story of a father and uncle. Men who violated and brutalized a young Eddie, and he has the photos to prove it.

You're queasy as they collect photos of a battered, naked child, tied down, gagged, crying.

The jury pales as the lawyer goes on about the abuse Eddie endured in his early years. He lists conditions that you’ve never heard of and has medical professionals to back him up, claiming no one can function with such trauma infecting the brain.

When Eddie is questioned, he denies these claims. He recalls a home life like "Leave it to Beaver" despite looking straight at the evidence that says otherwise. He's laughing and crying when it's all over.

Your heart might go out to him if you didn't know better.

Not long after, the jury deliberates.

You wait and wait. Your fiancee holds your hand the entire time. Neither of you say a word as the hours pass by, not even when the jury requires another day.

You both return first thing in the morning. Again, you two wait hand in hand.

The jury has reached their verdict.

They find Eddie guilty, but insane or mentally ill, thus he will be sentenced not to a traditional prison, but Mount Massive Asylum for the Criminally Insane.

Eddie looks at you as they escort him out, silently reminding you of his threat. He's going to come back for you. It's not a life sentence. He won't stay in that asylum forever. If he tried, he could charm his way through tests, fool the doctors into claiming him mentally stable.

You weep into your fiancee's arms.

[emmea12]

Making Lists (Steve Harrington x Henderson OFC)

Beth Henderson made lists when she was nervous or anxious. Usually they were scrawled out on napkins or the corners of magazines. They were all over her bedroom and bag. When she was in school her notebooks had been covered in them and her locker had been full of the small scraps of paper. This list was personal, however and was all in her head. It was reciting itself over and over again: get rid of the blood, get him into clean clothes, food, patch him up, sleep.

      Beth makes a list of things to do to put Steve back together again after Starcourt.

Originally posted on AO3 Making Lists

    It was 24 hours since Beth Henderson had heard from her brother, which in and of itself wasn’t something to be particularly concerned with. The kid really didn’t have the forethought or even just common decency to call home any time he made plans with his friends. Everything felt like the end of the world, or the most important thing in the world to kids his age. He had no patience, no self restraint, and no problem doing exactly what he wanted to do at any given time. Beth however, tried to convince herself that everything was fine. His bike was gone out of the garage so he was probably just hanging out with his friends. She ignored the flashbacks of Will Beyers being taken to the Upside Down. Dustin was safe. He had to be.       What concerned her was that it had also been over 24 hours since she’d spoken to Steve, and that was cause for some serious concern. Steve wasn’t the type to break promises. Not now at least. This new, semi-responsible, and largely less of a douchebag Steve at least called when something came up. So when she was left standing outside of the library after her shift on July 3rd, she knew something was going on. Something she wasn’t going to like.     Beth wasn’t in the dark about the weird other dimension events that had happened in Hawkins. Hell, she’d been a large part of it. Dustin got into some deep shit trying to get Will back from he Upside Down and he dragged a reluctant Beth into it. She survived but not without scars and a deep appreciation for the mundane. She also came out with a new family: a bigger, more diverse, and loving family than she’d ever had before. Her bother and mother were great, and her dad and his new family were okay, but this new patchwork of people in her life was the best thing to have happened to her in a long time.       Beth checked everywhere the morning of the fourth: Steve’s house, the kids’ houses, the Palace, and finally the mall, where she found Steve’s car but not actually Steve. She also found Dustin’s bike in the rack at the front of the mall. Something was going on, and she’d be damned if she was just going to sit there and wait for the other shoe to drop. But wait was what she had to do because she searched the mall up and down and found no sign of her brother or her best friend. The manager at Scoops Ahoy said that neither Steve nor the girl he’d been scheduled with had turned up for work. Then why was his car in the parking lot, and where the fuck was he? So she went home and waited by the phone. Her mother was none the wiser to Beth’s fears. She wasn’t a bad mom, but she was the definition of oblivious.     Everything was probably fine and she was just grossly over reacting, Beth kept telling herself. That was it for sure. She had such bad anxiety since Will disappeared and Eleven appeared at the same time the nightmare squad of monsters turned up. That night in the Beyers house had been one of the worst nights of her life. She dreamed about that night every time she fell asleep and thought about it every day she passed by the woods on the way to town or saw a baseball bat sitting in the garage. She’d seen the end of her life dawn before her in the Beyer’s living room with it’s hideous carpet and the horrifically scrawled alphabet painted on the wall.     Darkness fell around nine, and the darkness brought new fears. She contemplated telling her mother a thousand times that Dustin and Steve were missing and that they were probably together and that they were probably doing something she wouldn’t approve of. How much bullshit could one town have? Maybe Hawkins’ was cursed? That had to be it. What mattered was the her little brother was gone, and her best friend was gone, and as much as she wanted to believe the best, she knew in her heart that they were probably tied up in some dumb shit, God knows where, doing God knows what.       The phone rang loudly, breaking Beth from her musings and scared her enough to jump in her seat at the kitchen table.       “Will you get that, Beth. My show is on,” Mrs. Henderson yelled from the living room where the TV was on at a deafening volume.     “Hello? Dustin? Steve?” Beth said into the receiver without giving the caller time to answer until the end.     “Beth, thank God. I was afraid your mother was going to answer.”     “Nancy?”     Beth and Nancy weren’t particularly close. They were friends, sure, but they didn’t hang out on their own, and they certainly didn’t call each other out of the blue. Something was wrong.     “Yeah, it’s me. Listen, could you come pick your brother and maybe Steve up at Starcourt?” Nancy’s voice had lost all of it’s optimism it had held when Beth had answered the phone. Nancy know sounded exhausted and far away.     “Why, maybe Steve? His car is at Starcourt.” She was fully aware that she sounded like a stalker. She really didn’t care.     “I don’t know if they are going to take him to the hospital or not. The paramedic is looking at him now. I would take them but Jonathon and I have to deal with Mrs. Beyers and El.”     “Nancy, what the fuck happened?” Beth said a little louder than she’d intended.   

   She waited for a moment to listen for her mother to stir or ask her what was going on. After it became clear that the television was more enthralling than her teenaged daughter’s phone conversations, Beth repeated herself. “What happened?”     There was a deep sigh and a terse, “Just get to the mall, Beth. Now.” The phone line went dead and Beth’s annoyance grew ten fold.     “Mom, I’m going out for awhile,” Beth said loud enough to cut through the TV. “Nancy is having boy issues and needs to talk.” Her mother waved her away without a second thought and Beth tore out of the front door with her purse and car keys.     The entire drive to the mall Beth feared the worst. Steve was fucked up apparently, and her suspicion that some stupid shit was going on was confirmed. Just how dumb was yet to be determined.     She got an idea of just how dumb when she spotted the flames. “Shit,” she mumbled when she pulled into the parking lot of the Starcourt mall amongst the ambulance, police cars, and firetrucks. The mall was on fire.     “Miss, this area is restricted,” a police office called after her as she flew past him towards the line of ambulances. He didn’t follow her, deciding that an acceptable substitute was to throw his hands up in the air and mumble something about how he tried.     “Dustin!” Beth called. She stopped and spun around in a circle until she saw her brother’s hat poking out of what looked like a walking blanket. “Dustin!” She yelled again and started running towards the ambulance where her brother was standing next to Steve, who sat wrapped up in a blanket at the end of the ambulance with a paramedic shining a light into his eyes. He looked like shit. His hair was a mess. His eye was swollen almost shut. There were bruises littering his face and his lip was spilt. More specially he looked like he’d gotten into a fight that he couldn’t win. Again.     At the sight of his sister, Dustin’s eyes lit up. “Beth, you will never believe what happened.” Before the younger boy could go into a full synopsis of what happened, Beth pulled him to him into a hug.     “Jesus, Beth. Get off of me. Everyone is here.” Dustin tried to pull away from her, but failed.     “Give your sister a hug, dipshit,” Steve said wearily from his seat. The paramedic had moved away for a moment. Steve’s eyes met hers and he cleared his throat, clearly realizing that he was in trouble. Dustin returned the hug quickly and pulled away when Beth let him go. “Do I get a hug?” Steve joked. He winced and reached up to hold his head.     “Depends on if my urge to murder you is gonna waver after you tell me what happened here.” Beth quickly reached out and grabbed onto Dustin’s shirt before he was able to run off and escape the conversation.     “Not likely,” Steve chuckled and then winced when the paramedic touched the side of his skull.     “You aren’t going to need stitches, but you’ve got a concussion. I think we should take you in for the night and observe you,” the paramedic said while taking his gloves off.     “No, no, no, no, no. No hospitals. I’m fine. Don’t be left unattended, wake up every couple hours to make sure I haven’t slipped into a coma, watch out for slurred speech and double vision. I’ve got it,” Steve stood up and crumpled the blanket up to give back to the paramedic.     “Does this happen to you a lot?” the paramedic asked incredulously as he further eyed the damage to Steve’s face.     “More than he’d like to admit,” Beth answered for him while she ignored Steve shooting her a withering look.     “Twice before this that I know of,” Dustin added.     “Once!” Steve corrected.     “Jonathon doesn’t count,” Beth added much to Steve’s surprise. “We don’t count the dumb shit King Steve did.” Steve smiled a little to himself at her words.     “I really must advise that you come with us,” the paramedic tried one last time. He took Steve’s blanket and Dustin’s blanket that Steve had just pulled off of the boy and crumpled up like his own.     Steve seemed okay enough. He was bantering and walking semi straight. Straight enough for the wobble to be blamed on exhaustion rather than the fact that his body was badly beaten. Beth felt confident enough in his ability to stay alive.     “I’ll take him home, sir,” Beth said loudly over both Steve and Dustin starting to protest. At her words the conversation stilled. “If I notice anything weird tonight, I’ll pack him up in the car myself and bring him in. We’ve had some experience with this. I’ll know the signs.”     The paramedic nodded and seemed like he accepted that as answer.     “Should we go?” Beth asked. The smoke from the fire and the sight of Steve’s blood smeared all over his face and shirt was making her nauseous. “We need to get you cleaned up.”     “Please,” Steve sighed. He sounded relieved, and exhausted and in pain.     “I need to go say bye to everyone,” Dustin protested loudly. He ran towards Max and Lucas who stood next to another ambulance before Beth could insist they leave now.       “Hurry up, Dustin!” Beth yelled after him. Beth looked over at Steve and met his eyes. “You want me to get the car? It’s a little walk away.”    Steve shook his head. “I’m fine. Let’s go.” The walk to the car was quiet and strange. There was no banter like usual. His arm wasn’t draped over her shoulders or his hand wasn’t settled on her back as he led her to the car. He was off kilter. When they got in the car, and they waited for Dustin, the awkwardness of the situation really became suffocating.     Things with Steve, at the beginning of their friendship, were strained. He hadn’t yet transformed into this new Steve. They’d gone to school together for forever but she wasn’t the type of person that would garner his attention then. She was smart and a bit of a loser. Not the sort of person that King Steve would bother noticing at all. That wasn’t bad of course. It was better to be ignored than be tormented by his friends.     Then, three years ago all hell broke loose in Hawkins and Beth happened to turn up at the Beyers home while Nancy, Jonathon, and Steve were fighting a monster that looked a little like a walking nightmare flower shark hybrid. Things changed after that. Steve spoke to Beth in the hall and they studied together some. He sought her out at lunch, and they sat in on the kid’s game nights. Not a huge deal. It was nice really. But then Dustin adopted a demogorgon and that demogorgon ate their family cat. So how does Dustin fix it? By dragging Steve and Beth into a grand royal fight with said demogorgon plus several bonus demogorgons and they all almost die. After that, Steve and Beth became closer and closer until they hung out more with each other than they didn’t.       Things weren’t awkward after that. They were family now: inseparable and connected. So this weird sitting-in-the-car-in-silence while the smell of the blood in his hair choked her was a year too late and far too terrible for her to accept. They might as well have been in Geometry class freshman year when Steve was assigned to her as a partner on a project and he said, “who’s Beth Henderson” like he hadn’t been in the same kindergarten class as her.       “So,” Beth whispered awkwardly. “Wanna tell me what happened?” Steve closed his eyes and rested his head on the car window but remained silent.     “Steve?” Beth asked gently when the silence became too much.     “Hopper is dead,” Steve said suddenly with a sigh. It was as if the information had just breached the levee of his will like a river with too much water.       “What?” It came out weak and detached. It lined with what Nancy said on the phone. Why else would she have said that she was going to have to deal with Joyce and El?     “He’s gone, Beth. Dead. Never to be seen again,” Steve snapped a little too harshly. The weight of Hopper’s death was sinking onto him slowly. He was never very upset about the death around him before. This nightmare, the Upside-Down, the Demagorgon, had never taken anyone from Steve that Steve couldn’t survive without. He hadn’t known Barb all that well, and Bob even less. Even Billy, freshly dead and burning inside of the mall wasn’t a huge hit to Steve emotionally. Hopper though: Hop’s death just hurt everywhere. It was the type of hurt that made your stomach cramp and your ears ring. It was all encompassing. Because while none of the other’s had deserved to die, Hopper had deserved it even less.     On the other side of the car, grief flooded over Beth in a giant wave. Hopper, Jesus Christ. “Fuck,” she said as she fought through the tears that threatened spill over. “Fuck.”     Steve reached over and grabbed her hand tightly without looking at her. She saw him wipe his eyes discreetly in the reflection of the window and she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.     “Does Dustin know?” The knowledge that Hopper’s death would hit the kids even harder than it hit them was almost panic inducing. Hadn’t these children been through quite enough?     “Um,” Steve’s voice cracked and he took a minute to gather himself. “I don’t think so. I don’t think any of the kids know yet. Maybe El.”     “Okay.” Beth sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes again. “Not tonight. We can’t tell him tonight.” She squeezed his hand and let it go. Reality hit her all at once though. “He’ll find out tonight though won’t he? Will will find out and then they’ll all know. Fuck, we’ll have to bring him with us to your house.” She was rambling. “He can sleep on the couch. We can unplug the phone and take the batteries out of his radio. Hide his bike. We can-”     “Hey, hey, hey, hey, it’s okay,” Steve said and leaned over to her seat, looking at her for the first time since they got into the car. His eyes were glassy: one swollen almost shut and both red and bloody.     “It’s not okay! He’s going to be devastated. They are all going to be devastated. Fuck. What are we going to do. And Christ, look at your face. Jesus.” Beth placed her hand on his cheek gingerly. “What the hell happened? Where were you? You were supposed to be at the library. We were supposed to go bowling, Steve. Who did this to you?”     Steve shut his eyes and took a deep, steading breath.“I will tell you everything. I promise. Let’s just get Dustin and get out of here,” Steve pleaded. “My head is killing me.”     After Beth nodded, Steve settled back into his seat and rested his head on the window again. His hand however found her’s and held it lightly.     A few tense minutes later filled with sniffling and silence, Dustin appeared at Beth’s drivers window, red faced and watery eyed. Fuck, he knows.     “Do you know about Hopper?” Dustin asked quietly. The kid looked heartbroken. After Beth nodded her head, Dustin sniffled. “We’re going to stay at Mike’s house.” There was no explanation and no room for negotiations. The tight group of friends needed to be together, and that’s all that mattered. Beth could relate.     Beth nodded. “I’ll call mom and tell her. I’m telling her that I’m staying with Nancy but I’ll be at Steve’s, okay? If mom calls, tell her I’m asleep.” Dustin nodded. They’d covered for each other too many times for there to be a debate or conversation about it. They had a mutual understanding. “I love you.”     “I love you too,” Dustin whispered before he hugged her through the open window. “Bye Steve. Thanks for - you know - saving my life again, I guess.”     “I’ll see you later, buddy,” Steve said with a sudden injection of faux energy.     Dustin nodded and turned around to walk slowly back to his weeping friends.     Twenty minutes later Steve and Beth walked into Steve’s parents empty dark home.     “You want me to wash your hair out in the sink or do you wanna take a shower?” Beth asked quietly. She needed to do something productive to keep her mind busy. Putting her best friend back together was just the thing.     “I kind of just want to go to bed.” Steve gingerly lowered himself onto a breakfast bar stool and rested his elbows on the kitchen counter. Beth was unsure if she’d ever seen someone look so exhausted in her life.     “You’ll ruin your sheets,” Beth countered. As if that mattered at all. Jesus Christ, he was a nineteen year old boy. What the fuck does he care about ruining some sheets? “Plus, I think you’ll feel better without all that blood everywhere.” She recovered quickly and gained her control back because that’s what she needed now: some sort of control over the situation that felt too big for just the two of them.     Steve sighed and went to run his hands over his face before he remembered what kind of pain that would induce. Beth could practically see the adrenaline seeping out of his body and his mind registering the pain piece by terrible piece.     “I want to take a shower, but I don’t think I’ll be able to wash my hair. I was tied to a chair and fell so I fucked my shoulder up and I don’t think my arms will go up that high for long enough to wash all of the blood out.”     Beth ignored all of that information because why the fuck was her best friend tied to a chair in the first place? She couldn’t deal with that. That wasn’t the important problem right now. One disaster at a time.       “Okay,” she breathed. “Let’s go up to your bathroom and wash your hair out. Then you can take a shower while I make you something to eat. Then I’ll patch you up and we can go to bed.” Beth Henderson made lists when she was nervous or anxious. Usually they were scrawled out on napkins or the corners of magazines. They were all over her bedroom and bag. When she was in school her notebooks had been covered in them and her locker had been full of the small scraps of paper. This list was personal, however and was all in her head. It was reciting itself over and over again: get rid of the blood, get him into clean clothes, food, patch him up, sleep.     Steve knew this well. He also knew that deviating from that list, especially when she was scared was an unwise decision for the both of them. Bringing attention to the fact that she was doing it was also unwise. So he only nodded and winced when he stood back up from the chair and slowly made his way up the stairs to his bedroom. He was followed closely behind by Beth.     “Why are there so many stairs,” he complained. He was met with absolutely no commiseration from Beth who only followed and looked as if she was ready to catch him at the slightest wobble. As if she’d be able to physically catch him falling down the stairs. Wouldn’t that be perfect? Then he would have killed them both with his sheer inability to stay out of trouble.     When they made it to his bedroom, he flipped on the light and was only a little embarrassed by how messy it all was. Beth didn’t pause as she kicked her shoes and socks off, rolled her pants up and made her way into the small bathroom.     “Sorry about the mess,” he said and tried to pick up a few pieces of dirty clothing off the floor and put them into the hamper.     “Don’t worry about it, Steve,” Beth said tersely. “Let’s get this done and move on. You’ll feel better.” Beth turned on the water to the tub on and he noticed that she carried a plastic cup in her hand to pour water over his head with. When did she grab that? As she waited with her hand under the tap, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath while Steve just stood there like a kid with no place to go.     He kneeled down on the ground where she’d need him to be and watched her.    

   The water was beginning to steam but her hand never moved. The skin turned pink and then red but she kept it under the tap. “Beth,” Steve said. When she didn’t react, lost deep in thought, he reached over and pulled her hand out himself and looked up at her eyes that finally met his.     “Steve,” Beth said weakly before lowering her forehead onto his shoulder and keeping it there for just a moment as she listened to him breathe.     “Hey,” Steve cooed softly. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” He brought his hand up to her hair and stroked gently while she leaned against him. She was cracking a little.       One deep breath later, Beth was back at it. She grabbed a couple towels from the cupboard and laid them on the edge of the tub so the hard porcelain won’t hurt Steve when he leaned against it. “Lean against this. I’ll be quick.” He obliged silently and relished in how gently she poured the warm water over his head and how softly she scraped his scalp with her finger nails, lathering the shampoo. Steve had a front row, perfect view of the red tinged water and suds being rinsed from his head as she poured cup after cup of warm water over his head to rinse it. “I think we’ll skip the conditioner this time around. Your hair won’t fall out. I promise.” She gingerly rung his hair out a little and tapped him on the shoulder for him to straighten up.     “I’m gonna grab you some clean clothes, hold on.” He didn’t protest as Beth stood up and went rummaging through his drawers before finding a tee shirt, and a pair of sweatpants for him.     Steve eyed her movements as she set them on the bathroom counter. “I’m going to go downstairs make something for you to eat and call my mom. You mind keeping the door open so I can hear you if you fall or something? I promise to stay downstairs unless I think something happened.”     Steve nodded and she smiled weakly. “I’ll see what food I can come up with. On a scale of 1 to 10 how hungry are you?”     “Like a 5. I should be starving but the nausea is keeping it manageable.” Steve looked a little pathetic with his bruised face and sopping hair falling into his eyes.     “Good old concussions will do that to you,” Beth tried to joke but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Get cleaned up and yell for me when you are ready for food. I’ll bring it up here so that you don’t have to take the stairs again.”     Steve nodded again and went to take his sailor shirt off as Beth made her escape out of his bathroom and down the stairs to the kitchen that had almost zero food in it but surprisingly no dirty dishes. She made a note on her mental list for tomorrow to drive into town and buy some groceries but tonight she’d have to do her best. Praise God he had a half a loaf of almost stale bread. She made toast and a couple scrambled eggs. Nothing too heavy and nothing too complicated. In the downstairs bathroom, under the sink, she retrieved the first aid kit and set it on the counter next to the plate of food and glass of water.         

   While she waited for Steve to give her the all clear she called her mother quickly and told her that she and Dustin were staying at the Wheelers. Her mother believed her lie without question. Beth almost felt a little guilty.       Four minutes later he called for her. It was a little bit of a struggle carrying everything upstairs in one trip but she managed without spilling anything.     Steve was sitting on the edge of his bed in the clean clothes she’d found him.    

   “Here you go. I hope it’s okay.” She handed him the plate of food and set the water on his bedside table. “Eat while I take a look at your face.” She pulled his towel he had used off of the floor and towel dried his hair gently and brushed it back with her fingers so that it was out of her way. She pretended not to notice his eyes closing when her fingers scratched his scalp.     She dragged Steve’s barely used desk chair to the spot right in front of where he was sitting and lowered herself onto it before opening the first aid kit and pulling out some rubbing alcohol and cotton buds.     “Are you not eating?” Steve asked in-between slow mouthfuls of eggs. He hissed when the cotton bud of alcohol touched his split cheek.     “Shit, sorry, this is going to hurt,” she apologized. “And don’t worry about me. I’m not hungry.”     “Bullshit,” he said. He scooped up a forkful of eggs and held it out for her to eat.     Beth shook her head and pressed the alcohol onto the cut on his lip. “You need to eat that, Steve. How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”     “I had some popcorn out of the trash can like three or four hours ago,” he tried to joke.     “Well, as nutritious as that sounds, you need to eat some real food.” She continued her work, but he didn’t move the fork of eggs away. After thirty seconds of Beth trying to ignore the eggs, she sighed dramatically and let him feed them to her. “Are you happy?” she grumbled.     “Not really, but better than I was 45 seconds ago.” He picked up a piece of toast, took a bite and offered Beth a bite, which she took without argument this time.     They continued like this for a few minutes: Beth silently treating Steve’s broken face and Steve eating while intermittently feeding her.       When the had both finished, Beth took the first aid kit and dishes downstairs and refilled his water glass.     “So,” Beth said when she came back into his room. “Are you ready for bed?”     Steve was still sitting on the edge of he bed with his head in his hands as if waiting for her to instruct him what to do. When he heard her voice he look up and nodded. “Yes, please.” He stood up and pulled the blankets down and crawled in bed while Beth watched.     “Can I get you anything?” She asked softly.     “You can get into bed, Beth, and let me tell you this story,” he grumbled sleepily.     “I think it’s best that I sleep in the guest room tonight. Remember, I kick and I really don’t want to wake you,” she put her hand on his forehead and pushed his hair back but he caught her hand.     “You won’t wake me up,” he insisted. “Change and get into bed.”     There was no arguing with him about this. He’d made up his mind and unfortunately, when Steve Harrington made up his mind, it was resolute. At least when it came to her. “Please,” he added weakly.     Beth changed quickly into a pair of pajamas that stayed in the bottom left hand drawer of his dresser mixed in with his teeshirts and then quietly got into in the other side of the bed. Steve looked like he was already asleep, but as soon as he felt her body weight lower in next to him, he wrapped his arms around her.     “Ready for that story,” he whispered.     “Tomorrow,” she said. “It will be just as exciting and heartbreaking tomorrow. I need you to rest now. Please.” She rested her head on his chest and noticed that he fell asleep almost immediately. ——————————————————————————————————————     The plan had been to wake up every couple hours to make sure that he was still alive. That didn’t happen. When Beth woke up the next morning, or afternoon rather, she found Steve’s alarm clock unplugged and Steve asleep next to her. He was snoring softly, so she figured the risk of him being in a coma was gone.     She’d seen some pancake mix downstairs when she was down there last night, so she went to the kitchen and started making pancakes. After ten or fifteen minutes, a groggy Steve found her in the kitchen.     “Good morning,” she said brightly. She smiled and met him halfway with a plate of pancakes. He leaned over and kissed the side of her head affectionately.     “Good morning,” he repeated. “These look great.” He took the glass of milk she handed to him and two aspirins. “Thanks.”     “No problem,” she leaned against the counter and took a bite of the pancakes on her own plate. “I’m going into town later for food. Any special requests?”     Steve’s eyes fell onto a small notebook that Beth kept in her purse sitting on the kitchen counter with a list already made for the day. It was long.     “Come sit with me,” he sighed and patted the seat next to him. She obliged and he grabbed her hand. “Relax,” he said soothingly. “I’m fine. I didn’t die overnight and everything is okay. You don’t need a list to keep me together. You don’t have to worry about me. I promise.”     “Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Beth said and uncomfortably pulled her hand away from his and stood up again.     “Beth-”     “Steve, drop it. You could have died,-”     “You don’t even know what happened!”     “Yeah, but I can imagine. And I have eyes. People just don’t get beaten to a goddamn pulp while they are safe. That shit just doesn’t happen. Not to mention that the Startcourt burned to the fucking ground last night which I’m pretty sure you and my brother had at least something to do with.”     “This is not the first time something like this has happened,” he argued loudly, his head splitting. “I can handle this."     “Yeah, well this is the first time it’s happened since I’ve loved you,” Beth yelled. She regretted her words the second they left her mouth. The room was silent for a moment, only the echo of her words could be heard.     “You love me?” Steve said in barely a whisper.     “That’s not the point,” Beth argued. “But of course I do, you big asshole.”     Steve stood up and moved towards her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”     “I don’t know, Steve. Fear I guess. I really don’t know. It’s okay. Help me put together a grocery list so that you can eat more than carbs for the next week.” She tired to turn around to go back to her list, but Steve’s hands stopped her. He was a lot stronger than he looked. He leaned down and kissed her, an action that Beth promptly stopped by pushing him gently away.     “Stop, Steve. Please.” She pulled away from him and left him standing there while she went to the kitchen counter. “I was thinking a roast for dinner. You can heat it up for a few nights for dinners.” She pushed her hair behind her ear and added carrots to the list. She hands shook as she wrote.       “Beth.”     “Mashed potatoes too. Those will keep alright in the fridge.”     “Beth.”             “Cereal for breakfast. Milk for sure. You like 2 percent right?”     “Beth!” Steve yelled. His voice cracked and when Beth looked up at him, he looked even more broken than he did last night. “We need to talk about this,” he demanded.     Beth closed her eyes and leaned against the counter.     “Not right now.”     “And why not?”     “Because this is not how I wanted this to go. This is not how I wanted to tell you. That wasn’t how I wanted our first kiss to be. I don’t want you to decide that you want to be with me after our friend died, and you’ve nearly died along with him. I don’t want this to be some emotionally compromised thing that fizzles out when you feel better again, and Hopper’s death doesn’t sting so badly. Then, all we will be left with is what-might-have-beens and a broken relationship that means too much to be to break.” The words came out fast but strong and clear.     “I’m not emotionally compromised,” he argued and took a stop closer to her. “I know what I want.”     “Steve, stop.” Beth put her hand up to stop him from coming any closer. “I’m going to go to the grocery store. Lay down,” she looked at him and tried to contort her face into sternness but failed miserably. She blamed her damn mouth for all of this. “Please,” she begged.     “I want to talk about this,” he said firmly. He could feel his heartbeat in his head as it throbbed in his skull.     Beth closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine,” she said softly. “When I get back. We’ll sit down and talk about it. Will you please rest while I’m gone?” Steve was mad. Beth could always tell with only a glance what he was feeling and she needed even less than that to know he was livid. “Fine, Beth. I’ll see you when you get back.” He was out of her sight in seconds, having completely abandoned his pancakes. ———————————————————————————————————     The house was loud when Beth returned with the groceries. There were children inside, 7 to be exact, sitting around Steve who sat on the couch with a blanket on his lap.     “And then, Erica and I stormed in and saved Robin and Steve!” Dustin said dramatically.     “I can’t believe you teamed up with my baby sister, Dustin. She’s so damn annoying,” Lucas laughed.     “Hey,” Steve protested. “Be nice. She saved my ass down there.”     “I guess I will have to hear that story after all,” Beth said to announce her arrival. Steve’s eyes found hers immediately and then saw the shopping bags in her hands. He went to stand up to help and groaned.     “Steve, I’ve got it. Stay seated.” Beth went to the kitchen without another word, and heard the kids delve into another facet of the story. All of that noise couldn’t be good for the concussed boy sitting on the couch.     “We need to talk.” The words came from behind her as she put the food away, causing her to turn around quickly and drop a box of cereal to the ground.     “Let me put the food away,” she said but a hand came down onto of hers and stopped her from continuing     “No,” Steve said firmly. “Let’s go outside.”     He led her to the backyard, into the summer heat. They sat on the edge of two pool chairs facing each other. Beth let her attention fall to a black inner-tube floating on the surface of the immaculate water.     “We need to actually talk about this,” he gestured between himself and Beth.     “What is there to talk about, Steve,” Beth said.     “Why are you fighting this so hard?”     “I’m not fighting shit. I’m stopping this before it gets too far.”     “It hasn’t gone anywhere.” Steve grabbed Beth’s hand only for her to pull it away and stand up.     “Exactly. That’s exactly what we need. We need to cool it. We need to take a step back and reassess the situation.”     “I’m not even sure that you know the situation. I’m in love with you,” he stated as a matter-of-fact. That stopped Beth in her tracks.     “That’s bullshit, Steve,” she laughed. “I’m not your type.”     “What is exactly my type?” He ignored the pang in his chest at the word “bullshit” coming out of the mouth of a girl he loved.     Beth paused for a moment. “Nancy Wheeler,” she said plainly.     “I haven’t loved Nancy Wheeler in over a year,” Steve protested. “No one since her either. Except you.”     “And when did you realize this? This morning when I accidentally told you how I feel?”     “No. The night Billy almost killed me. Near death experience 2.0 as I like to call it,” he chuckled. “You took care of me after that too. Last night was like deja’vu. Except it wasn’t Billy Hargrove that beat me up, it was a Russian general and his cronies.”     “What the fuck?”     Steve smiled and put both of his hands gingerly on her shoulders. He fully anticipated her to pull away from him, and was a little surprised when she didn’t. “That’s a story for later. This is far more important than that.”     “Are you sure?”     “There are a lot of things I’m not sure of. I’m not sure of what I’m going to do now that my only source of income is ashes. I’m not sure what my dad’s going to say when he comes home and I have to tell him I got into another fight. I’m not sure if tomorrow a demagorgon is going to rip me to shreds. What I am sure of is that I’ve been in love with you for a very long time and I’m not going to just stand here and let you throw it away because you are scared that it’s going to ruin something. Fuck everything else. Fuck everyone else. It’s just you and me. And the kids, I guess. They matter too. So, fuck everyone but the kids.” Beth laughed and stepped closer to him. His hands moved from her shoulders to her head. “Yes,” she breathed. “I love you too.”     Steve pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply. He ignored the stinging pain where his lip was split and the pain in his head dissipated into nothing. He felt better in this moment than he had in months. When they finally pulled away, Steve rested his forehead on hers and caught his breath. “So, we’re going to do this? We’re going to give this a shot?”     Beth nodded and went up onto her tiptoes to kiss him again.     “Hey,” a voice from the house yelled. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” Dustin came out of the house looking furious.     “Shit, dude,” Steve stumbled over his words. His hand nervously went to the back of his neck. “I’m sor-“     “Not you, asshole,” Dustin waved Steve away dismissively and looked to his sister. “What the hell do you think you are doing with my best friend, Henderson?”     Steve paused for a moment and finally let out a barking laugh. Beth stood in shock.     “It’s not funny, Steve,” Dustin argued. “This is serious. There are rules. There are boundaries that must be honored. My sister can not suck face with my best friend.”     “Jesus,” Beth laughed. She ignored her brother and stepped up to kiss Steve again.     “Oh my God. I’m going inside before you two do something that will scar me for life. Try to keep it in your pants, Beth.” Dustin turned around and walked towards the house. “Shit!” he yelled before sliding the door open and slamming it shut.              

[waywardnerd67]

The Family Business School: Chap. 1 - Acceptance Letter

Summary: (Y/N) receives a letter that she has been accepted to The Family Business School. Meeting a few of the staff before school starts she gets a taste of how her days may be there as her past is brought up. Characters: Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer, Charlie Bradbury, Garth Fitzgerald IV, Reader Pairing: No pairing Warnings: Fluff/Slight Angst Word Count: 2361 A/N: I hope you all enjoy the letter and supply list pictures in this chapter. I designed them myself and think I did an okay job. As always this is unbeta so all mistakes are mine. Likes, comments and reblogs are splendid and I will love you doubly for them! Enjoy!

(Y/N) stared at her computer screen not believing she was accepted the exclusive school for hunters. She had applied on a whim thinking there was no way they would accept her. Everyone, who wanted to be a hunter knew her story and now she lived alone in a cabin for away from society. If she happened to hear of a case nearby she would anonymously submit a post on the Hunter Forum a social media page for Hunters. (Y/N) reread her letter and supply list one more time making sure it was really meant for her.

She immediately replied back to the school’s general email confirming she would be there on October 11th. Most of the items she already had on the Supply List but a few clothing items she would need to get before going Lebanon, Kansas. She had read all kinds of stories about the Men of Letter’s Bunker that Professors Sam and Dean Winchester inherited from their grandfather being a part of the organization. She could just imagine what it will be like to live there for a few months while training to become a hunter. She closed her laptop and looked over to the picture of on her bookcase. The only picture she had of her parents was taken a little over a year ago. Now they were both dead and (Y/N) was alone.

“I promise, I will make you proud. I will not follow in the footsteps of my father.” She whispered getting up and heading into her bed room for the night.

The next several of months she worked as much as she could to put in her savings for when she would leave for Kansas. She was taking an extended leave of absence from her book editing job in order to go to school. She was assured that her position would still be there once she came back. A few days before she was set to leave, someone came knocking on her door. (Y/N) grabbed her shotgun and cautiously looked through the peep hole seeing a scrawny man standing on her porch.

“What do you want?” She called out through the door.

The man chuckled, “Bobby said you might be a little jumpy. I’m Garth Fitzgerald IV and Bobby Singer sent me to help you get whatever you may need for school.”

(Y/N) opened her door peeking around it as he smiled and waved at her. “Hi there, I promise I’m not here to hurt you. You can put the shotgun away.”

She opened the door wide enough for him to come in and set her gun back in its place by the door. “Why did the Head Hunter send someone to escort me to school?” She asked.

“Well, probably given your history there will be a little drama on your first day. As much as he comes off as a mean old grump he truly cares about every student coming and leaving the school.” Garth flopped onto her couch.

“Professor, would you like something to drink?” She asked as she walked into her small kitchen.

She heard him chuckle, “Some water would be great, thank you. By the way, I’m not a Professor at the school. I’m the Curator for the building and surrounding area. I also help out Bobby whenever he needs me.”

She handed him a bottle of water and sat down in her oversized chair, “Oh. Okay then.” She wanted to ask more about the school, the professors and the classes. She thought it was best she kept her mouth shut and found out for herself in a few days.

“Are there any items you still need to get?” he asked as his phone started buzzing, “Sorry, give me just one second.”

He got up walking to the other side of her cabin answering his phone, “Hey Dean. What’s going on?”

The mention of Dean Winchester’s name made her heart race. Anyone who knew about the supernatural knew Sam and Dean Winchester. They were legendary hunters having saved the world time and time again. Like a lot of female hunters, (Y/N) found Dean incredibly attractive. He was known for being a love ‘em and leave ‘em but any woman who had been with him said the one night was worth it. Garth’s raspy voice brought her out of her thoughts.

“Yes, I’m at (Y/N)’s now.” He paused for a moment listening. “Okay. Will do Dean.” He hung up the phone turning around to face her. “You should go ahead and pack so we can hit the road.”

(Y/N) got up nodding silently as she went into her room and grabbed the bags she had packed weeks ago. Garth laughed as he opened the door and took one her bags from her.

Shopping with Garth was a lot of fun. (Y/N) had almost forgot what it was like to hang out with a friend. She picked out a couple of pant suits and a comfortable pair of knee high boots. Then Garth took her to an army supply shop for a few of the other clothing items she needed. Their last stop was to a bookstore so she could pick up ‘The Big Book of Urban Legends’ and a journal. Garth had a handful of comics when he found her looking through the journals.

“Can’t decide?” he asked as he flipped open one of his comics.

(Y/N) shook her head looking at all of them. Some were snap closures, no closures, leather, hardback, but none of them stood out to her. Then she saw it. Olive green softbound leather and tie closure called her. She picked it up running her fingers over it and knowing that journal was meant to be hers.

Garth clicked his tongue, “I would get a brown or black one. That way it never draws attention if someone should see it who’s not supposed to.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, but I never completely play by the rules. This journal is meant to be mine.” She said smiling up at him.

He laughed clapping a hand down on her back, “I like your spunk. Though you know Dean will give you all kinds of trouble for that bright green journal.”

She shrugged, “Let him, I’ve been given trouble by far worse people.” Garth nodded as he grabbed the journal and book out of her hands.

“This is on me. A welcome to our school present.” He said as they walked up to the counter to pay.

Once on the road, Garth started blaring ridiculous 80’s R&B and rap music singing to the top of his lungs. She slipped her earbuds in and her favorite playlist soothed her onslaught of nerves flipping her insides around. The next thing she knew Garth was shaking her awake.

“(Y/N), welcome to The Family Business School of Saving People and Hunting Things.” He said proudly as he pulled into an underground garage.

As he parked his car she immediately saw the famous 1967 Chevy Impala. Her mouth slacked opened slightly seeing just how beautiful it was in person. Garth helped carry her bags through corridors that lead into a large library. “Ho-ly crap.” She whispered.

Garth chuckled, “I know it’s pretty amazing in here. Now you wait here while I go see what room Charlie has assigned you.” He walked off down another corridor.

(Y/N) started looking at the books in the library seeing some titles she had never heard before. She was so focused on the books in front of her that she did not hear the footsteps approaching her. She felt the end of a gun pressed against her back and her head shot up.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” said a deep husky voice.

Her first instinct was to disarm him like she had seen online but opted for talking. “I’m a new student here. My name is (Y/N) and Garth just brought me here.”

She felt the gun lower off her back and she turned around slowly. Looking up she was met with the incredibly olive eyes of Dean Winchester who was pursing his lips together in disapproval. Garth and a bouncy red-head with a funny t-shirt on coming running up.

“Whoa, Dean! She’s a student.” Garth called out as Dean turned his attention to him.

“What is she doing here early? She almost got herself shot.” He said placing his gun at the small of his back.

“Dean, I told Garth to go get her. Now, could you refrain from shooting her until this new class of cadets starts.” They all turned to see Bobby Singer standing there.

Dean sighed, “Sorry Bobby, but she was just standing there alone. I thought someone had broken in.”

“That’s my fault since Garth had to come get me. Also,” Charlies stopped and hit Dean in the shoulder, “how dare you doubt my security system.”

Dean rubbed his arm as Bobby approached (Y/N), “I’m Bobby Singer and I’m in charge of all these idjits. It is nice to finally meet you, (Y/N) (Y/L/N).”

She shook his hand as Dean’s head snapped up, “Wait, you’re...” she nodded as he looked up to Bobby with a confused look. “I thought we decided not –”

Bobby held up his hand to Dean, “We can discuss this later. For now, Charlie please show (Y/N) to her room so she can get settled in. You will have a roommate once the other cadets arrive. Welcome to our school.” Bobby smiled warmly at her and then motioned for Dean to follow him.

Charlie hooked her arm with (Y/N)’s smiling brightly, “Well come on, let me give you the tour.” She said.

Garth and Charlie both showed her around the Men of Letters Bunker. She made notes in her small notebook of where the kitchen, bathroom/shower rooms and the stairs leading to the garage. Just down the hall from the kitchen Charlie opened door 24 and revealed a bedroom with two twin size beds, two desks and two small dressers.

“Here is your room. Take your time settling in and one of us will come get you when dinner is ready. No matter what grumpy Dean says please feel free to roam around. Do you have your laptop or tablet?” Charlie asked as Garth set her bags down on one of the beds.

(Y/N) nodded handing her both, “Oh, nice choices. I love my Surface Pro. I’m just going to put some software on these and get them back to you asap.” Charlie turned to leave and immediately turned back around. “Oh, and here, this is your new cellphone. See you later.”

(Y/N) setup her new iPhone and downloaded a few apps to get started with. She turned on her Spotify playlist and began unpacking her things. She was almost done, when she heard voices just down the hall from her room.

“Bobby, how do we know she won’t go evil on us?” she heard Dean said his voice full of concern.

Bobby grunted, “For the last time Dean, I decided to take a chance on her. Jack has turned out to be one of the best hunters we have. I think (Y/N) will follow in his footsteps.”

Dean sighed heavily, “Jack had Kelly and Castiel to guide him before he was born. Then he had Sam and eventually me after a while. Has this check had any support what-so-ever? No, she hasn’t. What she has is a murky past with Lucifer. Which brings up another point, don’t you think she is going to have trouble being around the guy who killed her father?”

(Y/N) had heard enough and walked out into the hallway, “If I did have a problem with you then you wouldn’t have kept that pretty gun of yours when you had it against my back. You know nothing about me or my life after Lucifer. All you know is some hunters’ tales that have been blown out of proportion over the years driving me into seclusion. Before you judge and make assumptions about me why don’t get check your facts! I hear your brother Sam is the best Lore and Research teacher in the country why don’t you sit in on his class and take a few pointers.”

Bobby was smiling from ear to ear as Dean looked at her dumbfounded. She turned to go back into her room and as she was shutting her door she heard Bobby said to Dean, “I like her. I think she will fit in here just fine.”

(Y/N) spent the next couple of days avoiding Dean at all possible cost and staying in her room. Garth and Charlie would stop by to check in on her. Charlie would come by to binge watch superhero shows with her and Garth had brought her a few lore books from his personal collection for her to read. She found out that Sam Winchester no longer lived in the Bunker but just a few miles away with his wife, Eileen, who was a bit legendary herself as a hunter. She had hoped to meet him before him before school since she admired him a lot. Lore and research was (Y/N)’s niche and the whole reason she wanted to come to The Family Business School was to learn everything she could in order to write lore books to help Hunters all over the country.

The morning the other students were arriving Charlie had come to get her so she could be outside when they all arrived. Her stomach tightened at the thought of being around so many people. She kept reminding herself that this was her chance to show people she was not her father. She was nothing like Lucifer. Garth pulled up in to the front entrance of the Bunker in a small bus with ten people on it. (Y/N) watched as the all filed out of the bus and stood in front of all the experienced hunters who would be teaching them.

Dean stepped forward to speak, but before he could a man slightly older than (Y/N) pointed to her, “What the hell is the daughter of the devil doing here?”

So, originally I was going to make this into a one shot but as I was writing this first part I realized there is just too much greatness for a one shot. I decided to make it a four part series. I hope you all enjoyed the first part :)

My Nerd Herd: @waywardbaby @waywardrose13 @carryonmywaywardcaptain @anotherwaywardsister @ladywinchester1967 @dwgrl1903 @akshi8278 @ericaprice2008 @mirandaaustin93 @spnbaby-67 @time-travel-bouqet @1967-essentialghoul @weirdoblogger69 @dean-winchesters-bacon @jensenyourdeanisshowing @destielhoneybee @-lovepeacenhope- @destiel745 @carribear31

[lirlovesfic]

The Choice

A Doctor Who fanfic

Summary: After GitF, the TARDIS brings the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey back to the estate to solve a problem involving the TARDIS herself. But when they see a familiar face, the face of someone who should not exist, they realize the problem is deeper than they thought and could endanger the Doctor’s very existence. Primary characters: Ninth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler. Genres: Romance, mystery, adventure, drama, character study, HN AU, fobbed!Nine, sick TARDIS. Pairings: Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose Rating: Adult

Warning: None for this chapter

a/n: I am currently working on editing this chapter-by-chapter, with the hopes of completing a chapter a day until I catch up with myself. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m doing it to try to get back into the swing of writing and to build some momentum in order to finish this. Also, there have been some tiny things nagging at me for a while (grammar, punctuation, etc.) so I’ll be correcting as many of them as I can find as I go. The story will not change. In fact, most of the changes are going to be so minor that I doubt anyone (besides myself) will notice. But to keep me on target, I’ll be posting it all here as I go, with links to the other websites it’s on. I hope you enjoy it.

Last chapter

This chapter: on AO3, on TSP, on ffnet

Chapter Five—London, 8 July 2007

The Doctor turned back to the image of the fob watch on the floor. "This is bad. And when I say it's bad, it's not just a boatload of bad or a planet worth of bad. This is bad with a capital B.A.D.—a galaxy worth of bad with a TARDIS worth of bad on top."

"Y'know, I'm not stupid," Mickey said, "but I don't know what the heck you're talkin' about. What's bad, and what does a watch have to do with it?"

The Doctor sighed and pointed to the watch again. "That, right there, that contains me. The Chameleon Arch not only changes my species but stores my Time Lord consciousness within that watch for safekeeping."

"Well, if you're there," Mickey asked dubiously, "who's that out there in the garage? You said it was you."

"It is… sort of. A human brain can't contain a Time Lord consciousness. It would burn up from the inside out. That person there in the garage is me… but not me. He has none of my memories, none of my abilities, none of my genetics… everything that would make him a Time Lord is gone." He stood up and walked to the monitor. "The TARDIS will have produced an entire backstory, invented an entire life history for me and integrated me in society. That's who I'll remember, that's who I'll think I am, that's who I'll be… not me. Of course that's assuming…" His voice dwindled off.

"Assuming what?" Rose asked in a quiet voice.

He turned to her. She was standing on the other side of the console with her arms crossed in front of her as if she was hugging herself.

He flipped some switches. The console room's lights turned back on, and the hologram of the previous TARDIS console room faded. "That's assuming that the TARDIS was capable of creating an identity for me at that point," he told her. "It's clear that whatever happened to me was a crisis I couldn't handle on my own. That's why the TARDIS took matters into her own hands, so to speak. But we know the TARDIS had also been injured. The Cloister Bell, the mauve lights… not to mention she locked me out. She wouldn't have done that if something catastrophic hadn't happened to her."

"You told me about the Cloister Bell," Mickey said, "but what're the mauve lights about?"

"Mauve is the universal color of emergencies," Rose told him.

"Mauve? Whatever happened to red?"

Rose shook her head. "Later, Mick." She turned the Doctor. "So, if I understand this right, we have an injured TARDIS, and a Time Lord who isn't a Time Lord anymore."

"And can't change back until we get access to the watch," the Doctor said. "And the real question is: what injured both of us?"

"And why did it take the TARDIS so long to send out a distress signal?" Rose asked. "You said the TARDIS was set to arrive on New Year's, which means it arrived while we were still here. Why didn't we get a distress call then, or while we were at the school?"

"She must have been so badly injured she was too weak to send out a signal until now," the Doctor answered.

Mickey shook his head. "I'm still missing something. Why is this such a crisis? You said the TARDIS can heal itself, so why does it need us? Not only that, but we know you eventually got back to normal. I mean, you aren't still stuck as a human. You're right here."

"Time doesn't work that way, particularly for Time Lords," the Doctor told him. "What is happening to him now is happening. Whatever we do here and now will affect that."

"But wouldn't us doing anything to change what happened create a paradox or something?" Rose asked.

"Yes. Or no," he told her. "I don't remember any of this, so I don't know if we are risking changing things or if we were originally part of events. But things are different for Time Lords. It's possible for a Time Lord to make changes in his own timeline without creating a paradox. Not to mention that the TARDIS herself called us back. That more than anything else tells me that she needs us to help." He shook his head. "I need more information. Rose, you told me that you saw photos of me from events I don't remember. I'm going to have to retrace my steps to get more information."

Rose nodded, and then her brow furrowed. "Hang on. You are going to have to retrace your steps? Don't you mean we have to retrace your steps?"

"No," he said. "I want, no, I need you to stay here."

She stared at him in shock. "What? Why?"

"Rose, I am out there alone," he said. "Physically I might be human, I may even think I'm human, but I'm really not. I need someone to watch over me, make sure I don't get in trouble, make sure I don't hurt anyone, make sure I don't get involved in big, historical events, that sort of thing."

"How am I supposed to do that if I can't even let you see me?"

He gritted his teeth and rubbed his forehead vigorously. "I don't see a way around it. You'll have to get to know me. According to Mickey, on some level I remember you. I'll instinctively trust you. That should make things, well perhaps not easy, but easier."

At the look on her face, a look that was a combination of doubt and worry and nervousness, he suddenly remembered the conversation he had had with her after she had met Sarah Jane.

"You just leave us behind…"

And almost immediately after telling her he wouldn't, he had. And on an abandoned spaceship in the future no less.

No wonder she didn't believe him. Particularly because she was at home. She had to believe he wasn't going to come back for her.

"I'm coming back," he promised. "I told you, I'm not leaving you behind. This is just temporary. And I'm leaving you with me." Despite his words, she still looked doubtful. "How can I prove…" he said to himself. He glanced around the room. And spotted Mickey. He grinned. "Mr. Mickey!"

"What?" A suspicious look crossed Mickey's face.

"You'll help me out, won't you?"

"I guess," Mickey answered slowly.

"There, you see!" the Doctor said. He showered them each with a bright smile. "That solves everything!"

They stared at him blankly.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked. "What does it solve?"

"Mickey can come with me, while you can stay here with, well, me," the Doctor told her.

"What?" she asked incredulously.

At the same time Mickey said, "Now wait a minute…"

"This way," the Doctor continued to Rose, cutting off Mickey's objections, "you know I'll be back. Since you know there's no way I'd ever want to travel with Mickey permanently."

"Oi!" Mickey interjected.

"So while you stay here, keeping me from getting into trouble," the Doctor said, "Mickey and I will be trying to figure out how to solve whatever it is that's going on." He flashed her another bright smile. "Besides, Time Machine. I'll be back before you know it. I can be back ten seconds after I've left."

"If you're going to be back in ten seconds," she said, "why do I need to stay?"

"Well…" He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. He grimaced and yanked on one ear. It was one of his many tells in this body for not wanting to admit something, but it was something he couldn't seem to control. "Just in case I'm late," he said.

Rose stared at him, shaking her head slightly in disbelief. "So when's this all supposed to happen?" she asked.

"As soon as possible," he told her. "Preferably now. No better time than the present, as they say. Now that we know more about what's going on and have a plan of action, the TARDIS should let us take off." He shrugged apologetically. "Sooner we go, sooner we can get back."

Rose nodded. "S'pose I should go… get my stuff."

Troubled by the way the conversation had gone, the Doctor watched her walk out of the room. After she had left, he turned back to the controls, only to see Mickey staring at him incredulously. The younger man opened his mouth to say something, and then abruptly shut it.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

Mickey rolled his eyes. "And you think I'm thick. If you don't know, nothin' I say is gonna change that," he said and followed Rose out of the room.

~oOo~

When Mickey got to Rose's bedroom, she was pulling T-shirts and jeans out of her chest of drawers and tossing them onto the bed.

"Wanna pull my rucksack out of the cupboard for me, Mick?" she asked without turning.

"Is that all you're gonna say?" he asked as he walked across the room. He pulled the bag out and put it on the bed next to her clothes.

"What am I supposed to say?" she asked.

"Uh, I dunno, maybe that he's bein' a stupid twat leavin' you here?"

"And what good would that do?" She opened another drawer and pulled out underclothes and socks. "Besides, he's right. I should stay here."

"You're kiddin', right?"

"No." She crossed to the bed and started to shove the clothes into her rucksack.

"Are you ever gonna stop defending him?" he asked.

"He's got a point. Someone really should be here to make sure he doesn't get in trouble."

"He's been here six months and the planet hasn't blown up yet. What makes now any different?"

Rose didn't answer. Instead she walked into the bathroom. Mickey followed her. From the doorway, he watched as she loaded her makeup into a bright pink toiletries bag.

"C'mon, what makes now any different?"

She ignored him. Once she had finished, she picked up the bag and pushed passed him.

"Rose, talk to me," Mickey urged.

She angrily shoved the bag into the rucksack. "What do you want me to say? That I don't want to stay here? All right, I don't want to stay!" She tried to zip up the pack and the zipper got stuck. "Damn it!" she said as she tried to force it. "It doesn't want to close!"

Mickey gently pushed her away and easily zipped it up. With a heavy sigh, Rose sank down on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands.

"I don't want to stay here," she said again.

"Well, I don't want to go with him."

Rose gasped and finally turned to face him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot about that."

"Y'know, if I don't go with him, maybe he won't make you stay here."

"If he doesn't want me with him, I don't want to be here either, whatever his reasons," she told him. "But he needs someone."

"Sarah Jane said he just wants an entourage to show off to."

Rose shook her head. "She was wrong. 'S more than that. He doesn't just want someone with him. He needs someone with him. He doesn't do well alone."

"Yeah, I've seen how much trouble he gets into when he's with someone. What must happen when he's by himself?"

"Evidently he ends up having to have the TARDIS turn him human."

Mickey began to chuckle. "You realize what this means, don't you? You're supposed to be his carer."

She laughed and bumped his shoulder with hers. "So are you!" she answered. She sighed. "How am I supposed to do this? It's gonna look awfully suspicious if I just start following him around."

"Yeah, you could get arrested as a stalker!" he said, still laughing. "I dunno, Rose. Maybe you could go undercover again, the way you did at the school."

She rolled her eyes. "I really don't think he needs a dinner lady, Mick," she told him. Then she paused thoughtfully. "But you're right. I could go undercover. But not as a dinner lady. Wasn't the garage needing more help in the office?"

"Yeah, they were," he said.

"If I could get a job there, I'd have a way to keep an eye on him without him knowing about it." She laughed ruefully. "Mum would be thrilled to have me back and working at the garage. She's hated me traveling with the Doctor. She even thought the shop was giving me 'airs and graces'."

"Just wait till she finds out that the only reason you're doin' it is to keep an eye on the Doctor," Mickey said. "And not this one either. Maybe I do want to be gone."

She laughed again and then grew serious. "Do you mind staying with him?"

"I have to admit I'm not happy about it," he answered. "But I'll do it. But for you. Not for him."

"Thanks, Mickey."

~oOo~

The Doctor was bent over the controls when he heard Rose and Mickey reenter the console room. "Looks like she'll let us take off now," he told them.

"Then it's time for me to go, yeah?" Rose asked.

He looked up and at the sight of her his hearts squeezed painfully. She had a huge rucksack slung over one shoulder. Not for the first time he regretted the necessity of making her stay. "Looks like you're moving out," he said lightly. "I said ten seconds."

"You also said you might be late," she reminded him. "This is just in case." After an awkward pause she continued. "Well, I guess I'd better go." She made her way out the door, and they followed her out.

Once outside, Mickey gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him for you," he whispered to her.

She pulled him into a tight hug. "Thanks," she whispered back.

As Mickey returned to the TARDIS, Rose turned to the Doctor.

"Ten seconds," he promised.

She bit her lip and nodded and then gave him a forced smile. "Ten seconds. I'm gonna hold you to that."

He smiled back, and they stood there awkwardly for a moment. And then he remembered something.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said. He reached deep into his pocket and pulled out a white cube approximately the side of his fist. He handed it to her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Instructions. Just in case," he said. "There's a tiny button on the bottom."

As she turned it over to look, the Doctor was suddenly seized by an almost overwhelming desire to kiss her goodbye as Mickey had. He shoved the impulse away from him.

"See you later," he said instead.

She looked up and gave him a small grin. "Not if I see you first."

Knowing if he didn't go soon he wouldn't go at all, he turned and rushed back into the TARDIS. As he crossed to the console, the door closed behind him.

Mickey sat on the jump seat, arms crossed, waiting for him.

"I can't believe you're actually doin' it," he said. "You're leavin' Rose behind." He shook his head in disbelief. "And you used to call me an idiot. Who's the idiot now?"

The Doctor didn't reply. Instead, with a jerk on the controls, he sent them into the Time Vortex.

~oOo~

John wandered the aisles of the tiny Tesco Express on his way home from the garage. The selection was limited, but the shop had the advantage of being just down the street from the garage and he rarely if ever needed anything that they didn't have.

It was still fairly early, not quite half three, but he had finished up the repairs on the Vectra and didn't want to start on another car. Tomorrow would be soon enough. Besides, it was supposed to be his day off, so once he had put his tools away—unlike some of the other stupid apes that worked there—he locked up and headed out. He had stopped by Tesco's on a whim because he had been planning on a takeaway curry for tea rather than anything he could get at the grocer's.

He tossed a few more items in the shopping basket to join the tea and milk already there and made his way back to the front of the shop. Thankfully, there was no queue for a change, and he went directly to the checkout counter. The cashier was someone he knew, a pretty brunette somewhere in her mid-thirties. He gave her a grin as he put the basket on the counter.

"John, two days in a row!" she said, giving him a bright grin back. "That's rare for you."

"Unexpected houseguest, Beth," he told her. "Didn't have anything in she might like."

Beth's smile faltered. "She?" she asked.

"Yeah, little black cat," he told her. "Wandered in yesterday."

Beth's grin returned. "You've got a cat? I should have guessed from the tuna and the sardines."

"No, I don't have a cat," he informed her. "She's not staying."

"If you feed her, you won't be able to get rid of her," Beth warned. "Especially if you feed her this stuff. You know we do have cat food."

He shuddered. "Wouldn't feed that stuff to a barnysnape."

"A barnysnape? Is that something from Harry Potter?"

His brow furrowed in confusion. "Is that what I said?" he asked. "A barnysnape?" He shook his head to clear it. "Must be from Harry Potter. Sure sounds like it at least. But I meant to say I wouldn't feed it to a dog."

He paid for his purchases and started towards the door. Then he stopped and turned back. "Beth, I'm looking for a girl," he said.

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise, an expression that quickly turned into a smirk. "Really?" she asked flirtatiously. "Any specific one?"

"Yeah," he said. "I don't know her name but she's yay high," he held his hand up a little over his shoulder, "long blonde hair, maybe a decade younger than you? Wears hoop earrings?"

She scowled. "No," she said shortly. "I don't know anyone like that."

"Well, if you see someone like that, will you let me know?"

"Not bloody likely," she muttered under her breath. At his expectant expression, she let out a huff of frustration. "Okay, all right," she said.

He gave her a wide grin. "Fantastic."

~oOo~

As the sound of the TARDIS's engines echoed through the neighborhood and slowly faded away, Rose watched as the TARDIS disappeared before her eyes.

It felt so wrong for it to leave without her.

"Ten seconds," she whispered. "You said ten seconds, Doctor. One. Two. Three…"

But after ten seconds it stubbornly stayed gone.

"All right, ten more. One. Two. Three. Four…"

Still gone. She felt a wave of empathy for Sarah Jane. Until this moment she hadn't truly understood what the older woman must have felt when she had been left behind. Even the Doctor sending her away from the Game Station hadn't felt like this.

With a rush Rose wondered if this was a little like what her mother felt whenever the TARDIS left with her aboard, wondering if when the TARDIS disappeared whether it would ever come back.

She waited several more minutes but the TARDIS didn't return, so she shouldered her pack and slowly began the walk back to her mum's flat.

~oOo~

As John crossed the courtyard to his building, in the distance he heard the rough sound of engines. He stopped in his tracks. He frowned. There was something familiar about the sound, something he couldn't place. Before he could identify it, the noise slowly faded away.

"Well, whatever it was," he said to himself, "it sure needs a tune up."

[feathersxdreams]

Drastic events call for drastic measures [m.yg] au

Genre: Angst & Fluff Pairing: Yoongi x Reader 

Inspired by a rap line as a SWAT team fanart I saw on Pintrest two weeks ago, but sadly I can’t read the signature. You can google ‘BTS rap line SWAT team’ and you’ll find it, however when you click the link it says ‘No posts found’ -.- 

“You did what?” To say Min Yoongi was angry was an understatement. Completely furious seemed a bit more fitting. Someone messed up and if it wasn’t for Jungkook holding him back by his upper arms he would have attacked the agent in front of him as soon as he told him what made him this angry. Damn the younger for being strong (and brave) enough to hold him back right now. “He said that he would only talk to her.” The agent tried defending himself. This statement only made him more furious. How stupid could an individual be? Or multiple since it was probably decided by a group of people. 

“Did you even bother to check his background?” He glared at the man in front of him. And he kind of hoped a little that the idiot in front of him would start crying because of his angry stare. He looked a little like he was about to.  “How were we supposed to know that he is her father?” The agent asked. An angry growl left Yoongis mouth, while he was still trying to fight Jungkook so he could beat the man in front of them up. The idiot should really thank the younger one later for saving his life. “It’s one of the first things stated in his damn file!” Right when Yoongi said, more like snarled, this Namjoon and Seokjin entered the office. Their team leader looked slightly confused by the current situation but he probably knew what was going on.  “They got a signal from the GPS Tracker they gave her.” He started. “He brought her to abandoned apartment building two miles out of the city.” So, they knew where she cold be right now. If she didn’t lose the tracker in that building. Which meant Yoongi would probably not try and beat the crap out of the idiot who had send her into this. But only if she would get out safe.  “Why is he so angry about all of this?” The agent now looked Yoongi straight into the eye.  “She’s his girlfriend.” Seokjin answered. “And pregnant with his baby. So, trust me, if even the slightest thing happens to her or that baby, none of us will held him back.” The agent looked pretty shocked right now. Under different circumstances he would have laughed at this expression but he was to worried and to angry to do so right now.  “You, get out of this office!” Namjoon looked at the agent. “You’re no longer part of this team. Everyone else get ready to leave. Complete gear. We’re going to storm that building to get her out of there.” It was a good thing that Namjoon said that. Otherwise Yoongi would have gone alone. Even though the idea was crazy, he still would have done it.  “Yoongi?” He was about to leave the office to change and get the rest of his stuff when the leader called him back. “Has she ever told you something about her father?”  “Not much.” He answered truthfully. “She told me he was in prison but never wanted to talk about it really.” He had suspected that it wasn’t something small, like possessing drugs. From what she told him that man had been in jail most of her life. Also, she refused to visit him. He figured that he had done something to her or her mother and just accepted the fact that she wasn’t ready to tell. She would do so, once she felt ready.  “According to the file her mother filled for divorce when [y.n] was four. Her father went kind of crazy when he heard that his daughter would be taken away from him. He bought a gun and robbed a bank together with one of his friends. Both of them killed six people in the process. After that he drove back to his old neighborhood and ‘stole’ [y.n] from a playground. What followed was a 96-hour hunt by the police. When they found them, he threatened to kill both his child and himself if they wouldn’t let him leave the country with her.” Yoongi got even more angry than before, when he heard that. What kind of father was that man to do something like this to a four-year-old child. His own child. And what was that man doing to her and his child right now? Would he be a good father once the baby was born? Suddenly he got a little scared thinking about all the things he could do wrong. Also, his job wasn’t exactly the safest. He could get killed any day and then the little one would have to grow up without a father.   “Hey.” Namjoons voice brought him back to reality. “We’re going to get her back. Nothing will happen to her or your baby.” Yoongi nodded. Even though he didn’t fully believe it yet. He wanted to. And hearing something like this from someone else made him feel a little better. He would send that man back to jail. Where he belonged. How did they let him escape from the safest part of that damn building? That part really confused him.  “Thanks, Namjoon.” He tried to smile before leaving the room.  He changed into his gear like a robot. Since ha started working here he had done it so often it became a routine. He could probably do it while being asleep. While tying his boots up he tried to listen to Hoseok and Taehyung joking around but he couldn’t really concentrate on them. His thoughts kept coming back to you and the little live she carried.  He picked up his helmet and his gun and followed Jimin out of the room and into the garage. He felt Seokjin patting his back while he got into the back of their car. Around them there were other teams getting into their cars. The last ones to take a seat in theirs where Namjoon and Jungkook.  “Do you need help slicing that agents car tire later?” The younger looked at him. “I’ll help you take him done if anything happens to her.” Yoongi couldn’t help but smile a little at that. It was nice to no that his friends had his back. And that someone would help him getting his revenge.  “Why are you so angry?” Yoongi asked.  “That was originally my case.” Jungkook let his head hang low. “The agent who let her go in there replaced me for today because we found something that could led to that gang leader they we were trying to find for the past months. If I wouldn’t have been called in there she wouldn’t be where she is right now. Was she even allowed to work on a case like this? She wanted to step down as soon as we found out that the man we who escaped prison was her father but I asked her not to, because those other profilers are scary and always analyze the people they work with too. It’s my fault too. I’m sorry Yoongi.” He felt bad for the young man next to him. He must have felt horrible since he heard about her disappearing. He didn’t blame Jungkook for this. He had just followed orders. And he couldn’t now that her father decided to call today. And if he would have been there today he would have never given in to his requests.  “It’s not your fault.” He patted Jungkooks knee. “You couldn’t know.” No one really could.  “I still feel like I’m a shitty best friend. And a shitty uncle too. And the little worm isn’t even born yet. If anything happens to her.”  “We all are worried.” Jimin, who sat across from them, interfered. “But we all know, that [y.n] is a fighter. I’m sure she’s scared right now, but she will also do her best and she knows that we’re going to find her and safe her.” His voice was calm. Even in the dark and cold transporter he still managed to bring something similar to light and warmth with him. Sometimes Yoongi wondered how Jimin got into this career. His whole personality was calm and gentle and everything about their job was the exact opposite. But still, he did an amazing job and that was the only important thing.  “Do we know if she’s really in there yet? And if yes, which floor she’s at?” Yoongi wanted to change topic. And also find out where she was and whether or not she still carried that tracker with her. Whether or not they could still find her without having to search the whole city. If not the whole country.  “They are still in there.” Namjoon responded. “Currently on the second floor. We have people all around that building. No contact yet, but she is alive. We have to be quick though. No one knows what he could be able to do.” It meant that they could be going in there as soon as they arrived. And Yoongi was okay with that. The sooner she was back by his side and her father back in jail the better.  “There are two staircases going up, plus a lift. Suggestion is that we take the stairs in two groups, while sending the lift up, filled with smoke bombs as a distraction. So far, her father hasn’t tried anything to prevent someone from entering the building and only shoot when he actually saw someone. It should be easy to take him done. Still we need to be aware. He threatened to shoot his daughter the last time he kidnaped her he might do that again. And he could try to pull through this time. Our main priority is getting [y.n] out their unharmed. So, it’s important to take this man down as fast as possible.” Namjoon explained. Every team member nodded. This wasn’t the first time they were doing something like this. Actually, all of them had faced harder challenges before. But this was the first time they had an actual relationship to the victim.  “Yoongi, I know you will do anything to get your girlfriend out of this but I beg of you to not do anything stupid and risky to get to her.” It was weird to hear his leader say something like this. Him asking him to not do something dumb. He had a reason though. A good one. He could have put it as an order though. It probably was.  “I promise.” He really did. He knew that any stupid move would put a lot more people in danger than just himself. Any move out of order would risk harming a team member or her life too.  “Good.” Namjoons expression was grim. His tone hard. It made Yoongi get a bit nervous. They did not know what weapons the man had. It could go terribly wrong. He knew he was supposed to not think about this but how could he not? How do you push thoughts like this aside while knowing that your family was in danger?  “We’re going to be there in a few minutes.” Hoseok announced. Now he got even more nervous. What if he would mess up?  “And you stop thinking about worse case scenarios.” Apparently Hoseok could read minds. Or his expression said it all. His friends tone had been harsh but he knew he didn’t mean it like that. Maybe he just needed that comment to get himself together again. At least enough to go in there without thought like these.  “Helmets on everyone.” Namjoon was now in complete leader mode. Immediately everyone followed the order. “Where taking the left staircase. Once we reached the second floor we’re going to give the signal so they send the lift up. Anyone who gets a clear view at him aims at the arm he’s holding the gun in and shots. If you got the option shoot his leg too.” It was absolutely reasonable. Still Yoongi was pretty angry that someone tried to take his girl away from him. But he knew that he only had permission to shot that man if there was no other way. Which meant the he would have to pin a photo of him to a punching bag or something like this. It would help take his anger out.  “We’re there.” The double doors at the end of the transporter opened. Seokjin and Namjoon where the first ones who left. Followed by Yoongi and Hoseok. The whole area around the building was cordoned. Which honestly didn’t matter because it was abandoned anyway. They were lead straight into the building waiting for the others at the end of the staircase before going up. Yoongi pulled the black face mask up to his nose and the glasses over his eyes before following Taehyung who had managed to get between him and Hoseok. Again, he went into a slight robotic mode only that he was more cautious then earlier when he put on his gear. They had done it a lot of times. And still he had never been this nervous before. He was slightly shivering now, something else that had never happened before. Not even the first time he did this. They weren’t even completely on the second floor when the lift arrived up there. Yoongi saw smoke slowly filling the giant room and a confused man in his sixties pointing his gun towards the lift. But that wasn’t was he was looking for. Finally, he found her. She was leaning against a pillar in the middle of the room, sitting on the grey dusty floor. Her arms where around her stomach. A gesture that was meant to protect both the baby and herself. He couldn’t really see it but he had the feeling that she was crying. It hurt and angered him. Namjoon still hadn’t given the signal to enter the room, that’s why he let one of his hands wander into the pockets of his pants, trying to find out if the object he had put there earlier was still in there. It was. He wanted to propose to her later this week. It was something that he had planned before he knew that she was pregnant. However, when putting his gear on he had decided to do it as soon as he had her back safe. It was a promise he made and it would be absolutely annoying if he would have lost the small ring somewhere on the way here. Luckily, he didn’t.  “Go!” As soon as Namjoon said those words they all started moving. And as fast as they entered the room it was over. Taehyung was fast enough to shoot before her father had even realized what was happening, hitting both his right hand and his leg. The man fells with a loud scream. He saw some guys from the other staircase towering around and pointing their guns at the man while he rushed over to his girlfriend.  “[y.n].” He whispered while kneeling down in front of her and taking both the glasses and his face mask off. Her eyes widened before she threw herself forwards and into his arms. A small laugh escaped him now that the tension fell of him. She was safe and alive and most importantly he had seen no injuries on her. He would take her to the hospital later to have someone check both her and the baby but for now holding her was all he needed. He didn’t even care that her just dropped his gun. It didn’t matter now.  “You came.” Her voice was rasp and quiet. She must had screamed or cried a lot earlier. “I knew you would.” It was amazing hearing those words. Because it meant she believed in him and didn’t lose hope.  “Of course, I did. I would never leave you.” He pulled her a little closer while at the same time pulling the ring out of his pocket. He slowly pulled away a bit so her left shoulder was leaning against his front before raising the ring so she could see it. “Will you marry me?” He asked directly. No talking around it or something like this. He heard a gasp coming from one of the guys.  “Of course, I will.” Another gasp was heard, followed by loud cheering by the six guys he called his best friends while he gently put the ring on her finger before kissing her with a giant grin on his lips. She said yes. He could finally call her his fiancée and soon his wife. And his baby’s mother. And he would make sure that no one would ever take her away from him again. Another promise he made, while pressing soft kisses to her beautiful face.   

Masterlist                    

[hetmusic]

A conversation with The Big Moon | HumanHuman

The Big Moon are a four-piece band hailing from London, made up of Juliette Jackson, Soph Nathan, Celia Archer and Fern Ford, who all love to make vibrant, energizing noise with their garage guitars, rock drums and a searing vocal lead. Since The Indie Curator discovered this promising quartet over a year ago, The Big Moon have released a breakthrough EP titled The Road and have more recently followed up with tracks “Something Beautiful” and hit single “Cupid”.

Breaking away from the group backstage at The Great Escape, the band’s frontwoman Juliette and I borrow Jagwar Ma’s dressing room for a chat about why she wanted to put a band together, the chemistry between the four Mooners and what their plans for the rest of the year are.

Can you introduce yourself, your role in the band and what you would be doing if you hadn’t followed the music path?

My name is Juliette. I sing and play guitar and honestly if I wasn’t in a band, I would probably be working in a pub because I don’t really have any proper qualifications. I might try to go to university or be waitress or something and probably be really miserable about it.

How did you get started in music?

I was just really desperate to do it. I kind of ran around looking for people to join a band with me and I started writing songs. If it was the old-fashioned way I would have put up a poster in a guitar shop, but I just put a post up on Facebook and asked my friends. I was like, “anyone know anyone who might want to be in a band? With me? If I write some songs?” None of my friends did [laughs], but they had friends who did! We’re all friends of friends.

That’s cool! When you all did meet, was there a eureka moment as the song suggests or was it more of a gradual realisation that you were going to make music together?

Well, there were lots of different people that I met to play music with, but then the four of us were finally together. At first it was just me and Fern, and then Soph joined, and when Celia came along it felt immediately like she was the last piece of the puzzle. I cried a little bit.

I was reading about your first session together and that it was really emotional.

Yeah, it was just really exciting! I’d written four songs or something in my bedroom and it was really exciting to hear them played really loud with other people, so yeah, I got a bit emotional.

“I’d written four songs or something in my bedroom and it was really exciting to hear them played really loud with other people, so yeah, I got a bit emotional.”— Juliette Jackson

Obviously, you started the band, but do you still take control over what it sounds like or is it more of a collaborative process now?

It’s a lot more collaborative now, although I still write the bones of the songs. Well, it varies, because sometimes I’m really specific and will write all the parts and be like, “you have to play the bassline like this!” More and more now I’m just like, “here’s a song, I’ve done words and I’ve got chords and we can make this into something,” which is really nice. It’s sort of as we’ve got to know each other better. Everything happened really quickly after we all met. We got together, rehearsed for like two weeks, we had about five songs, we did our first gig and then we recorded a demo. Once we uploaded that demo online everything went… [makes what I only can describe as a rocket noise.] We’ve only been together for like a year and a half.

It really did blow up very quickly.

Yeah, it was really surprising!

I really love your song “Cupid” with the awesome music video, that must have been pretty fun to make?

It was so much fun! It was terrifying, but really fun. We could only make a mess once and the beginning of the video is really clean and tidy, so the first chorus where the first paint bomb hits me and then loads of shit starts going crazy, we only had one chance to do that. None of knew what it feels like to get covered in paint and flour while playing instruments, so I was just thinking, “got to do it right, got to do it right!” My heart was beating and I was physically shaking, because I really didn’t want to get it wrong, so no matter what it felt like, I just had to keep playing! Louis [Bhose], the director, who was going to throw the first missile at me, he did it twice and he threw it and it was this big, tense moment and it just didn’t explode! [laughs] So it was like, “[gasp] False alarm. [gasp] False alarm again!” Then it finally worked. Yeah, it was so much fun.

That’s one thing that really comes across with your music, is that it’s fun, break free, let loose kind of music. Was that something you set out to do when you first wrote the songs?

I wanted to start a band because I knew it would be fun, but also partly because playing guitar is the only thing that I can really do, so I could either try really hard at that or carry on being a waitress forever. I wanted to have a gang of friends and go around causing havoc, like The Spice Girls. I just wanted to be like The Spice Girls basically. We had a proper Spice Girls moment yesterday actually. I was driving the van to Brighton and all the girls were sat in the back, then I saw someone we knew out of the window and I started beeping and we all rolled down the windows and started going “hey! hi! hi!” I so nearly crashed into someone! [laughs] It was like laughter and then shock as I swerved out of the way of another car. Yeah… it was funny, but also really bad.

You guys clearly have that really fun side, or what I’m going to start calling your Spice Girls side, but I would say one of your more serious songs is “The Road”, which to me sounds like a contemplation of life and possibly a break-up thrown in there. What is that track about?

“The Road” is like that feeling you have at the end of a party. I don’t know if you’ve ever found yourself at a party at like seven in the morning and everyone wants to carry on going and you feel like shit and you know that you’re not doing very good things to yourself. I just felt like I was in a really bad place and I was with someone and I realised that I had to stop seeing this person and I had to stop hanging out with these people because it was really, really bad for me. It was just that feeling at the end of a party where everything is really crap and you don’t why you’re still hanging around and why you’re with those people. I was just like “I’m not having fun anymore, I’m just not having fun.”

That sounds like a huge revelation. Is there anything else that inspires your music?

Everything really. I’ve been writing a lot of love songs lately because I’m very in love. I also like trying to shoehorn really mundane things into songs. I like the disconnection between what you show on the outside of yourself and what you’re thinking in your mind. You could be feeling extremely emotional, really sad or really happy about something, but at the same time you’re in a supermarket doing your weekly shop. There’s all this stuff bubbling underneath but everything around you is just boring and normal.

You’re all currently based in London, but in an era of increased online living, do you think it really matters where you’re based anymore?

I think if you live somewhere like London you have the benefit of there being loads of places to play music. If you’re from a really small town where there’s nowhere to play gigs, then you can’t really be in a band, unless you did it in your house or something. London is so… I hate it, I mean I love it and I hate it. It fucks you over everyday, it’s so expensive. Yeah, I think you’re right, anyone can record anything anywhere and if you’ve got a computer you can put your music online and everyone can hear it. When we put our first song online, everything exploded, and we’d only done three shows or something. I’m really not convinced that it was the shows that we played that led to people paying attention to the song online. I don’t know what caused that.

I guess it was all the online coverage, that seemed to happened almost instantly.

Yeah, like DIY. Bloggers and people sharing the music.

I was actually reading the interview that you did with DIY and you said that it felt like everyone jumped on the “female brand”. Do you find it annoying when people point out the fact that you’re a band made up of four women?

I don’t really find it annoying, because it’s true! It doesn’t really bother me. For me, being a woman in a band, I’ve never felt persecuted. I know we’re a minority, but personally it’s never felt weird. No one has ever being weird about it, maybe that’s because times have changed a lot and I know loads of girls in bands and it’s not unusual at all. I just don’t think it’s a thing anymore. A lot of people ask us the question “do you people treat you differently?”, but it’s always like “no!” I’m a middle-class, white girl in a band and I’m privileged enough to be able to play music for a living. Everything’s great, you know?

“For me, being a woman in a band, I’ve never felt persecuted. I know we’re a minority, but personally it’s never felt weird.”— Juliette Jackson

I was literally going to go on say, do you think anything needs to change in regards to how the music industry treats women? I guess you’re already saying that it’s come such a long way.

We’re still a minority, but I just think it’s not really a point anymore. If you don’t make a point of it, then it isn’t an issue and I think more and more women now play music.

I think it’s because of bands like yourself that get up there and do it and show that it can be done.

Yeah! We’re on the stage and we’re just playing. We are girls, but so what?! No big deal. It’s just not an issue.

You guys wrapped up your tour last month, how was that? Was there a particular standout show?

Yes, we had an amazing show in Hull. We’ve never played there before and it was pretty great! There were loads of boys ripping off their t-shirts and throwing them at us. They had a circle pit and crowd surfers, it was amazing. We also played the 100 Club in London, which is a legendary venue and there’s loads of pictures on the walls of bands like The Sex Pistols. We sold out 100 Club, which is ridiculous! That was a bit of a dream come true.

If you could share a stage with anyone who would it be?

Oh my god… I really want to say Jarvis Cocker, because if I could do a duet with someone, I would love to sing a song with him. Literally sharing a stage with him! Standing next to him, with a microphone each, starting into each other’s eyes and singing a song - I’d enjoy that. We’ve done loads of shows with bands that I love already, like The Maccabees and Ezra Fermin who is a total genius. A lot of the bands that I really love don’t really play anymore, like The Pixies and The White Stripes.

Do you have a favourite song to play live?

Erm… that changes all the time. At the moment, maybe “Cupid”, it’s really satisfying to play. “The Road” is also really good. I love playing “Sucker”, because we always do it last, so it’s like the home-straight and it’s really easy to sing, so I just enjoy it.

Last question and then I’ll let you go, what does the rest of the year have in store for The Big Moon?

This year we’re going to do more touring in the autumn. We’re going to do loads of festivals, bazillions of festivals, which is great because I love those! We’re going to record an album in summer, although we don’t know where or how, but we’re going to do it. That’s the thing that I’m most excited about is recording that, because we’ve only been together a year and a half, but that whole time we’ve been touring. It feels like other bands that started at the same time as us have already put out albums. It’s not a competition, obviously. We’ve been playing these songs for a while and I’m really eager to record them while they’re still fresh. If we keep touring, then what if we get bored of playing them? or we go to record them and we can’t inject any excitement into them? Yeah, we’re going to do it soon.

https://humanhuman.com/articles/interview-the-big-moon-juliette-jackson

[rdgpcg]

“Ouch. Perhaps I better stop and have a look at my heel.” I thought this just after my Garmin clicked off mile 2 of my 5 mile shakeout run. I was shaking out my legs before my first triathlon in nearly two years. My last triathlon was Rev3 Pocono in 2017 shortly before having surgery to fix a torn hip labrum and core muscle injury. Sticking to my new philosophy of not signing up for events until I absolutely have to, I had signed up for the French Creek Triathlon mere days before the event. The weather and my fitness were both miraculously reasonably good at the same time so why not?

Within hours of submitting my payment, I got an urgent e-mail from the race director. The swim was cancelled! Apparently there had been a pending project to execute some critical repairs on the dam that makes Hopewell Lake at French Creek State Park. French Creek State Park is near Elverson, PA and is the race site. The dam project was way behind schedule and they had hoped to put it off until the week after the race but the prediction of four to five sunny days in a row was too much to bear for the engineers and they lowered the lake level 6′. It would be easy to be angry but given the nature of the nearly constant monsoon that Pennsylvania has endured, I can’t really blame them, especially if the needed repair is becoming critical.

The new plan, according to Race Director John Kenny, was a time-trial start 50 meter dash to T1, then the remaining bike and run course depending on whether you were doing the sprint or Olympic distance triathlon. I’m no fool. I ride and run the hills of French Creek State Park all the time. It is a home field for me. I was signed up for the sprint which meant a 20K bike ride and a 5K run. Frankly, I was just happy to have something like a race back on my calendar again after tasting the finish line again at another local 10K a few weeks ago.

The venue was convenient enough. French Creek State Park is 15 minutes from our house and despite the close proximity, it presented an awesome opportunity to spend a weekend with my favorite gal camping in our RV.

Our new vacation home. Wherever we want home to be.

French Creek has an awesome campground. The race would be easy enough to do. I could have a leisurely ride down and back for packet pick up on Saturday, and then just roll to the race on Sunday. There was no need to take the car. I could use my bike for everything. “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. It’s a famous oft quoted saying but entirely appropriate.

The TMACC bike to Work event took place early Friday morning. This involved an easy 8 mile bike ride on the flat Chester Valley Trail.

A ride that shouldn’t cause a flat tire.

The trail is a paved, clean and clear rail trail near work. It is an awesome place to run and ride and the morning went smoothly. But when I arrived home and moved my bike and bike rack from the car to the RV I discovered a flat rear tire. Odd. There was nothing on the trail. No matter. I’ll throw an extra tube in and fix it in camp. Except I didn’t have a tube that size. I was using my Specialized Diverge gravel bike with an extra set of wheels and 28mm road tires. I hadn’t ordered extra tubes and had meant to pick some up. Rats. I decided to run up the road to Skyline Bikes and Skateboards and grab a couple.

Carl: My gravel bike

Have you heard about road construction season in Pennsylvania? It can make a normal 5 minute drive into an hour-long harrowing excursion. Such was my trip to get inner tubes. When I got home, i was running late and frazzled. I hurriedly threw the new tubes, and some clothes in the RV and we left for camp.

French Creek State Park is close by and it didn’t take long to get to camp and get setup. I pulled out my bike tools and set about fixing my flat tire. I removed the tube and examined it for where it might have leaked so I could see if there was something in the tire. That’s when I found a bigger problem. The tube had a very large hole in it. This is not typical. Usually you can’t see the hole unless you put some air in the tube and reopen the leak. But this was the kind of hole that would have involved a catastrophic, noticeable failure and that hadn’t happened while I was riding. I grabbed the tire and found a large puncture through the sidewall. This was disheartening for a couple reasons. First, I doubted I could use the tire. Second, it meant someone at work intentionally jabbed my tire with something sharp while it was on my car at work. The location and size of the puncture would have precluded it from happening while riding. I had ridden to my car that morning with full tires.

Tube with a big hole.

Sabotage!

Fix with a patch failed.

Doubtfully, I put a new tube in and inflated the tire. The butyl rubber squeezed out through the large hole like a hernia. I tried adding a patch inside the tire but the result was the same. I thought about the 38mm tires sitting perfectly inflated in my garage. I didn’t want to uproot camp to go retrieve them. I briefly considered Uber but suddenly had another idea. I texted my awesome friend Jen bush who was also racing tomorrow and explained the problem. Together we agreed she could stop at a bike shop en route and pick up a new tire for me. Problem solved!

So far for race weekend, the swim was cancelled, and I currently didn’t have a serviceable bike. Things were going well. But wait. It get’s better! If you have followed my blog (perhaps as a way to make budget meetings seem exciting), you know the only way I’ve been able to return to running is with a set of custom orthotics and help from Dr. Lee Cohen of Ridley Park.

Dr. Lee Cohen

Well, I hadn’t actually run in my favorite triathlon shoes since getting the orthotics. There isn’t anything super special about the shoes except that they are light, use elastic laces that allow the user to quickly slip them on, and they are designed to be used barefoot. Socks and wet feet don’t get along so barefoot is better in triathlon shoes. Anyway, I decided Saturday morning I’d get a few easy miles in and use the tri shoes with orthotics to see how they were.

The answer was not so good. As noted earlier, I stopped at mile 2 to check on my hot right heel. I pulled the shoe off and saw that I was too late. In just 2 miles I had rubbed a giant blister onto my heel and it had already popped and was rubbed raw. Awesome. Race prep at its finest. I should have worn socks that morning, but in my hurry to pack after the inner tube debacle I had forgotten running socks. I hobbled back to camp and contemplated what to do next. Thankfully, Larry Filtz who is another good friend and was also racing the next day. A short text exchange got me the promise of an extra pair of socks.

Red neck first aid.

I figured between a couple band aids, some duct tape, and a pair of socks I’d be good to go for the morning but I’d have to forego the fast transition and lace on my reliable Hoka Arahis for the run. This would prove to be a costly mistake.

That can’t be right. I’m not that old am I?

Race morning went more according to plan. I washed down a toasted english muffin with a couple cups of coffee and rolled down the hill toward transition. I nearly didn’t pedal the whole way. I was thinking about how much that ride back to camp post race was going to hurt.

At transition, I acquired my chip and got body marked. I was bib number 10. I figured they had saved the low numbers in case any elite athletes signed up but since none had they may as well give one to me. It had been a while and I was a little fuzzy on the whole transition thing but suddenly saw Jen and racked my bike nearby.

Perhaps my greatest selfie attempt ever. Left to Right: Jen. Me. 

Shortly thereafter Larry, my sock savior arrived. We hung out a bit and discussed race strategy for the unique time trial/50-meter dash start. We would be lined up in pairs 50 meters up the trail from transition. From there we would run to transition, mount bikes and set out for the 20K bike and 5K run. We watched as athletes of various abilities prepared. Ultimately we decided we would just don our bike shoes and helmet ahead of time. This worked well for me since I would be riding my Diverge rather than my Specialized Shiv. The Diverge has SPD pedals which use flush mount cleats so it was easy to run. A time trial bike was not going to be an advantage in this event as it was nearly all hill climbing.

SPD style cleats sit flush allowing the user to run, walk, or mosey. 

It is worth mentioning that the weather was beautiful and perfect. It was slightly cool when I took my sweatshirt off and stuffed it in my pack. There wasn’t a breath of wind and, amazingly, no rain. Until now it has almost always rained on Sunday since . . well . . ever it seems.

Around 7:30 we got final words from the race director and lined up 2 by 2 for the start self-seeding by age group. The young men in the sprint would go first followed by us old fogeys and the ladies would follow. After that the Olympic would go off. After the National Anthem, the starter began sending pairs off on their 50 meter dash. “Dash” is relative here considering most of us were wearing helmets and bike shoes.

It was more like a 50 meter mosey although there were a few of the younger bucks who dug in and raced barefoot to their waiting bikes.

  Larry and I were maybe the 12 or so pair. He was one in front of me. I was with a younger but heavier gentleman. When it came time for our start we hammed it up a bit taking a speed skater stance before being sent toward the bikes. It wasn’t an “even” pairing and I left my partner behind and ran to my bike. I grabbed Carl (my Diverge), trotted out of transition and mounted up. I passed Larry leaving the park.

The ride was really fun. This is a home ride for me. I’ve ridden the route many times including last weekend. I knew the gearing I needed. Knew where to shift and knew when to tuck down and let gravity do its thing. It was a simple course. Leave the park (up a hill), turn North on route 345 (up a hill), climb (up a hill) to Shed Road, ride down Shed Road (fun!), turn around and ride up Shedd Road (not as fun), and return to the park (amazingly, also up a hill). Shed road is the stuff of local legend but really isn’t that big of a deal. It is just a long grade where the rider needs to find a good gear to spin. There are places where some gear can be added as the grade declines. It is a couple miles long and is not the worst hill I’ve ever climbed. Still, it felt pretty good to motor pretty handily by the fit-looking 19 year old part way up the hill.

FC Triathlon Bike profile. The hill at mile 10 hurts the worst. 

The 12 miles passed quickly. I checked my Garmin as I headed toward the park entrance and saw 39 minutes with a couple miles to go. I made my way back to transition, and racked my bike in a time of 44:54. Not bad for some serious hill climbing.

And so began the world’s slowest T2. Without my trusty tri shoes and elastic laces, I was forced to sit on the ground and slowly tie on my Hokas. This took approximately FOR EV ER. Other competitors came and went in the 1:27 it took me to put on my shoes and exit transition. At least I remembered to remove my helmet and mirror.

The theme for the French Creek Triathlon is one simple, two-letter word: “Up”. Because that’s where you go be it on the bike or the run. Now don’t get me wrong. I like a hilly course and French Creek did not disappoint.

The theme movie for the French Creek Tri.

We left transition and went up Park road. Then we turned and went up to the crest of the hill on Scott’s Run Lake road. Finally there was a break when we went down, down, down the hill to the lake. But what goes down must come up and, once at the lake, a friendly volunteer with a beautiful white husky said “Go around the cone and go back up”. Right. Operative word: Up.

My goal at the turn was to get back to the one mile mark. The remainder of the race would be all down hill from there. I was mildly thankful I hadn’t signed up for the Olympic. Not only was it two loops of the hilly bike course but a couple more miles of hilly fun on the run. As it was, with a mile to go I could focus on making up time with the downhill. Passing people means nothing in a time trial start but nobody had gotten by me all day and I passed a lot of worn out walking bikers on the uphills.

The run course for the sprint. 

On the way back down that last mile I saw Larry and then Jen both headed up. Jen had started considerably after me and it turns out Larry had dropped a chain somewhere on the bike. As I made the turn for the finish line, a red Toyota with the logo for a pizza place turned as well. He slowed for the competitor in front of him and I began to catch up to his back bumper. He came to a dead stop in the finish chute asking a frantic race official where to go. The official looked at me sprinting for the finish and urged him to hurry up! He sat there and I came nearly to a stop. A quick-thinking volunteer moved a couple cones so I could go around the pizza mobile and make for the finish. I’ve heard people say they race for pizza but this was a first for me.

I finished 18th overall but with the time trial start there were only a few of us at the finish. I congratulated the overall winner and first female who smoked the course. Then I hung out to cheer in Larry and Jen. I saw Larry and then completely missed Jen coming in. I had hoped I might make the podium given the amount of passing I did on the course but it turns out my T2 lace-up was costly. I missed the podium by about 1:30. I was almost a full minute behind third place in T2. He still outran me which smarts a bit considering that is usually where I make up time, but there is always a faster runner.

Racine Multisport handled the timing and were Johnny-on-the-Spot with score updates. They had a QR code you could point your phone at for instant updates. That probably works great in places that are not a low lying lake in a valley surrounded by hills. As it was it didn’t take long to learn I was 18th overall and 4th in age group.

French Creek Racing did a very nice job with the event. They kept us all in the loop on the swim and race changes and even offered a credit for a future event since the swim was cancelled. They didn’t have to do that but it was a nice gesture. (Race Directors, are you paying attention?) I’m not sure the post-race food came together the way they wanted. I’m pretty sure they didn’t want the pizza delivery guy blocking the race course. In addition to pizza, they had boxes of fresh fruit, water, and Heed. But they kept saying a bunch more hot food was coming. I left when the vast majority of sprinters started leaving and more food hadn’t yet arrived. (I wasn’t hungry anyway.) Based on preparations it looked like a lot of food was indeed coming but I doubted too many of the 60 some sprinters hung around for it.

All in all it was a good day. I really hoped to see if I still want to be a triathlete or move on to other things. Given that the swim was cancelled he jury is still out so I’ll just have to tri again.

  Tri’ing Again . . Sort of "Ouch. Perhaps I better stop and have a look at my heel." I thought this just after my Garmin clicked off mile 2 of my 5 mile shakeout run.

[universetwo]

70 Questions

I was tagged by best of the best friends aka @stan-the-best-stan-monsta-x

1. do you have a good relationship with your parents? As an only child, I’m really close with my parents and I share many things with them, especially with my mom. Although recently we get into little more arguments than when I was a teenager. I guess because I start to really shape my own opinion and life thanks to college. 

2. who did you last say “i love you” to? To my bestie (/◕ヮ◕)/

3. do you regret anything? Many things but most recently is how I didn’t study more for the SATs... It’s not that I didn’t get into the college that’s the best for me but at least I could have gotten more scholarships ://

4. are you insecure? Yes... more than I should be.

5. what’s your relationship status? Single and not ready to mingle, because I’m a social flop and I promised myself to fangirling lol

6. how do you want to die? In a way that is not unpredictable like not in an accident, I would rather prepare myself for it and get the best out of my last days (I’m already worried about this stuff why ask a question like this TT)

7. what did you last eat? In Panera Bread, a turkey bacon sandwich and a corn chowder soup 

8. played any sports? Handball (the European kind not the one you play with a wall) in middle school and soccer in senior year of high school

9. do you bite your nails? Sometimes but I know I shouldn’t

10. when was your last physical fight? 2nd grade I was slapped by a girl in my class and later on we became friends lol

11. do you like someone? Not really I mean I have crushes on people in my classes but nothing serious

12. have you ever stayed up 48 hours? I don’t think so, I love sleeping too much so that’s not possible for me lol

13. do you hate anyone at the moment? Hate is a strong word lol I dislike some people in my life but I don’t hate them. I don’t think I ever hated someone

14. do you miss someone? My bestie who is in Hungary and my godmother

15. have any pets?
 Does a stray cat count? She always shows up by mind window and looks at me from the garage’s roof, so I feel a personal connection to her sometimes I even talk to her

16. how exactly are you feeling at the moment?
 I think I’m starting to get sick so I feel a little weak and I’m also stressed because of school (just the usual college stuff) 

17. ever made out in the bathroom? No. Thought about it? Yes lol

18. are you scared of spiders?
 YES, but I really love Spider-Man 

19. would you go back in time if you were given the chance? Yes for my curiosity too to see some interesting events in the past (I’m a Doctor Who trash for a reason) but also to remind myself for some things

20. where was the last place you snogged someone? I guess in the school’s cafeteria lol if you can call that snogging

21. what are your plans for this weekend?
 I’m planning to upload the first HP x KPOP AU and work on school projects

22. do you want to have kids? how many? Yes, and at least two because I know how it feels to be an only child and I don’t want that for my future kid

23. do you have piercings? how many? I don’t but I want to have a nose piercing and have some in my ears too

24. what is/are/were your best subject(s)? English because I guess I’m good in writing but I’m also good in history and art based classes

25. do you miss anyone from your past?
 One of my close friends from Hungary. We still talk sometimes but not as much as we used to ://

26. what are you craving right now?
 Strawberry milkshake although my throat hurts so something icy wouldn’t be the best

27. have you ever broken someone’s heart?
 Yes... 

28. have you ever been cheated on?
 I don’t think so

29. have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry?
 Yes...

30. what’s irritating you right now? Political situation in the US and how I don’t know if I’m gonna get a scholarship for the next semester

31. does somebody love you? I don’t know, but I wish...

32. what is your favourite color? Blue, green, and light pink

33. do you have trust issues? Yep...

34. who/what was your last dream about? Okay it’s weird but I was in a country house and a big bear came and attacked us and I don’t know why but Jungkook was there and he was locked out of the house so I actually don’t wanna know what the bear did to him lol but thank god he is well and alive because he just did a Vlive a few hours after I had that dream lol

35. who was the last person you cried in front of? I don’t like to cry in front of others, not even in front of my mom who I share my feelings with, so I don’t really remember

36. do you give out second chances too easily? It depends on the situation but usually I do

37. is it easier to forgive or forget? To forget. We live in a busy world where important things can be forgotten and only the embarrassing things stay in our heads lol but we as people also hold grudges on others. I do both but I want to forgive easier

38. is this year the best year of your life?
 Not really, but I think it’s still going better than last year in some cases

39. how old were you when you had your first kiss? I don’t really know if I can call that a kiss what I had lol I would still like to live through a meaningful first kiss 

40. have you ever walked outside completely naked? No but I had dreams like that lol

51. favourite food?
 Too many to choose but I like macaroni pasta (the way my mom makes it), anything with chicken, and sushi

52. do you believe everything happens for a reason? Ye, I really believe that

53. what is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night?
 I was working on my HP x KPOP AU

54. is cheating ever okay? No, never

55. are you mean?
 I don’t think so, I hope I’m not

56. how many people have you fist fought?
 Haha none but I imagined a couple of times to punch someone in the face, does that count?

57. do you believe in true love?
 I’m not sure... I hope it exists but I think it’s rare. And to be honest I don’t think I’m going to have that in my life. And I’m generally optimistic but not in this

58. favourite weather?
 When the temperature is between the 10s and 20s and it’s a bit hazy but the sun still shines through

59. do you like the snow?
 Only around Christmas but other times gO AWAY

60. do you wanna get married? Yes but only when I’m in my 30s

61. is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby? It depends on who says it lol if one of my faves would call me baby I wouldn’t mind but I like something more personal

62. what makes you happy?
 Many things because I can be easily amused and I can appreciate even the smallest things. But talking in big terms of course my best friend and my family. And k-pop for sure 

63. would you change your name? I used to dislike my name when I was still living in Hungary but since I moved to the US and realized how unique my name can be, I sort of started to like it. I used to have many different nicknames including Ashley, but I would rather be called by my “official” nickname (Timi) or my full first name (Timea) 

64. would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed?
 I don’t really want to lol 

65. your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? I have friends from the opposite sex, although not as best friend, and it happened before to me. I turned down all of them because I didn’t have deeper feelings for them and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. (it happened to me before that a friendship was ruined because of this so I wouldn’t want that again, unless if I have deeper feelings as well)

66. do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around? Yes I have! Although we don’t meet up that regularly I can still act as myself around them.

67. who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to?
 a friend from high school

68. who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? my mom

69. do you believe in soulmates?
 I have already got mine so yep (＾▽＾)

70. is there anyone you would die for? My parents and my best friend

So that’s all guys! I really enjoyed doing this and I even got to look a little more into myself lol I enjoy doing these sort of things so don’t hesitate in tagging me. Also, I don’t really have a lot of people that I know a little better here so you can always shoot me a message if you would like to. I’m up to knowing my followers better and also for creating more sweet friendships (＾ｖ＾) People usually tell me I’m good at giving advice so if you need help and support in anything, let me know ^^ 

(also let me know if you would like me to tag you if you want to post this on your blog as well!!!)

I tag @hobiplz  (^^) 

[poop4u]

The Best Exercise For a Dog is Using Its Nose

#Poop4U

Maggie, Skip, Jim and I are just back from a lovely hour-long walk this morning. All four of us were serenaded by the songs of a newly-arrived migrating birds, including Yellow and Palm Warblers.

                                             Bird photos from Wikipedia, such a great resource.

Jim and I gloried in the sights of these gorgeous birds, the French-blue sky after a day of rain, and baby leaf buds springing forth, full of life and promise and hope.

While we walked and looked, the dogs walked and sniffed. And sniffed and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed. Yes, they got some physical exercise–especially good for Skip now that he can take longer walks along with his physical therapy exercises. But mostly what they got was brain food, and I can’t think of anything more important for a domestic dog than that. There’s a lot going on between those adorable ears, and we neglect it at our peril. Using their noses engages a dog’s brain in vital ways, and can prevent a raft of behavioral problems.  Lots of interesting sniffing has been critical to keeping a just-turned, three-year old freight train of a Border Collie sane during his extreme physical restrictions. (Not to mention my sanity. Just saying.)

I was reminded of a post I wrote in 2016 titled Take Your Dog on a Sniff, and I thought today would be a good day to repeat it. There are so many people with new dogs out there, along with so many people with dogs/kids/jobs/life/pandemics taking up massive amounts of our time and energy.  The best way I know to tire out a dog out in a healthy way is not to get it physical exercise, but to give it mental exercise. Tricks are one way to do that, but letting a dog use its nose-brain connection is another. You can do that by playing scent games, or going on walks (especially in new places), and the pay off is huge. Skip and Maggie came back to chew on stuffed Kongs, and are now sleeping at my feet while I write.

Here’s the post from 2016, Take Your Dog on a Sniff:

Recently I watched someone walking his dog close to my office in Black Earth. Every ten feet or so the dog tried to stop to sniff the ground, and every time she did, the man at the other end of the leash pulled her forward so that he could continue walking. Ah, the canine-primate disconnect, which never fails to appear if we just pay attention. I wrote an entire book about this, The Other End of the Leash, and yet I’m still discovering ways in which we struggle to merge our ethological needs.

Primates love to walk, at least, terrestrial ones like humans do. Not only that, but we like to walk side-by-side with our friends, to face the world together and exchange the news of the day. While we’re walking we spend a lot of energy looking around—enjoying the view and noting what has changed in the neighborhood. Dogs, on the other hand, primarily want to learn about the environment through olfaction, a sense that we humans are better at than we think, but often pay little attention to. But how many of us insist that our dogs don’t stop to smell the roses, but walk or trot happily by our side? It is why, in Family Friendly Dog Training, I suggest that dogs define heeling as “walk slowly and ignore all interesting things”. This photo, by the way, is Susannah Charleson’s Search and Rescue dog Puzzle, with Susannah in the background. (If you haven’t read her books yet, you’re lucky–because now you get to. Don’t miss them, they’re great.)

Dog owners aren’t alone in ignoring the olfactory needs of animals. Birte Nielsen and colleagues published an important paper in December of 2015 titled “Olfaction: An Overlooked Sensory Modality in Applied Ethology and Animal Welfare.” They argue, compelling, that we do animals a disservice by not acknowledging the impact of odor on their behavior and wellbeing. These odors can both cause suffering or improve lives. Jenna Bueley, DVM, found that air captured from a busy, stress-filled urban veterinary clinic increased stress-related behavior in dogs, reported at the 2012 IFAAB conference. Clark and King, noted in Nielsen’s article, found that olfactory stimulation increased behavioral diversity and activity levels in captive black-footed cats. But note… the same study found that odors had little effect on the behavior of captive gorillas. Ah, that primate thing again.

You don’t need me to tell you how important smell is to a dog. None of us are surprised that years ago, Bradshaw and Lea found that the vast majority of a dog’s interaction with a new dog related to olfaction (1992). But I think we all, me included, need to be reminded of how much “going on a walk” can be defined by us as “walking while looking and perhaps talking,” while to a dog, “going on a walk” means moving from one interesting smell to another.

It is important, but not natural, for us to acknowledge the essential nature of the sense of smell. Examples of its importance abound: Wells and Hepper (2006) found that day-old pups preferred the scent of aniseed if their mother’s food had contained it while they were pregnant. Think about that—it means that dogs can learn to associate emotions, and thus behavior, with a particular smell even before they are born. (Breeders take note.) It also appears that the perception of scent is lateralized in the brain in dogs. Sinischalchi and colleagues (“Sniffing with the right nostril” 2011) found that dogs preferred to use the right nostril when sniffing new scents, and switched to the left when the scent became routine, or non-threatening. Dogs who smelled arousing stimuli (adrenalin, sweat) never switched to the left nostril. Since the right nostril is linked to the right hemisphere of the brain (it’s an exception to the usual switch, left eye to right brain for example—if that stopped you for a moment, it did me too…), this suggests that olfaction in a dog’s brain is lateralized, and that the sympathetic HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, or “on alert!” axis) is primarily mediated by the right hemisphere in dogs.

[Addendum added in 2020: And now we now that a dog’s nose can sense heat. Who knows what else they can do with their noses!]

This all circles around to the title of the blog: Take your dog on a sniff. I’ve written before that dogs need autonomy to be truly happy. I’m arguing here that what they most need is the freedom to use their noses. That is easy for us who can walk our dogs off leash. But leashed dogs need owners willing to compromise—an invigorating primate walk with our dogs trotting alongside part of the time, and the rest includes the dog getting, finally, the freedom to go from scent to scent and all the stimulation and information that entails.

Full disclosure: I’ve been good for years about letting my dogs stop to sniff when we are walking on leash, but lest I sound smug, guess how many photos I have of my dogs sniffing something? Three. Only three. That’s compared to literally hundreds of photos of my dogs playing together or with toys. Ah, that primate thing again. (Happy to say I updated that this morning, in May 2020, when I took a lot of sniffing photos.)

MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Skip is progressing by leaps and bounds, and we got a green light from UW physical therapist Courtney Arnoldy to give him a bit more freedom. Here she is working on weight loading Skip’s back right leg through a series of exercises that we replicate in the garage. (I watch on FaceTime, can’t go into the building. The photo was taken by assistant Haley, who was invaluable in keeping Skip focused while Courtney set up some of the exercises.)

Half of our walk this morning was with Skip on a long line rather than a short leash, so he got lots of time to trot rather than just walk fast. I’ve tried letting him off leash for a brief period of time and it’s pretty much what I thought it’d be: Two seconds of Skip standing still, and then exploding as if out of a rocket for twenty strides–the time it takes me to say Stand! and call him back to me. It’s just impossible to ease a young dog into getting a graduated amount of exercise, but I’m doing the best I can. Our next PT appt is next Monday, and I have hopes that his leg will be sound enough that I really can let him run for a few minutes without causing a set back.

Here are the dogs wearing out their brains while we listen to the birds.

  If you follow the blog you know I love to cook, and I’ve done even more of it since Jim and I are staying Safe at Home as much as we can. Saturday I made the dough for these cinammon date rolls, and Sunday morning I got up early to make up the rolls and let them rise a second time before baking. (Or, “proof” if you’re British, says the woman binge watching The Great British Baking Show over and over and over again) . They look pretty good in the photo for sure, but I have to say, they taste even better. Healthy? Uh, nope. I’m making amends by making a lovely chicken/asparagus dish tonight, but I just picked fresh rhubarb and I have this recipe for rhubarb cake that is out of this world . . .

    Friend and kick ass photographer Stephn Dahlgren came out to the farm last week to take some more photos. We haven’t seen most of them yet, but here’s one of Nellie, who, of course, managed to photo bomb what had been a great opportunity for a Trisha/Skip photo in lovely light. Nellie is highly displeased that twice a day I have to keep her out of the garage to do Skip’s physical therapy. She is making it clear by ripping the hell out of the wooded frame to the garage door, the message being clear: This is MY GARAGE. CAN YOU NOT READ THE SCENT MARKS AND VISUAL SIGNALS?

I hope you are hanging in there during this challenging time. As a dear niece said to me recently, “We’re all in the same storm but in different boats.” I hope your boat is keeping you afloat safely and without too much suffering.

Poop4U Blog via www.Poop4U.com Trisha, Khareem Sudlow

[ronaldmrashid]

Being A Landlord Tests My Faith In Humanity

I’ll never forget what James Carville, Bill Clinton’s lead strategist said to us at our high school commencement, “Always leave a place better than you found it.” His words have made me a more thoughtful person – always trying to pay for the bill, cleaning up after others long after a high school tennis match is over at a public park, and giving consulting clients more time without charging more.

The problem with being a thoughtful person is that unthoughtful people can drive you NUTS. If you want to save yourself from a lot of agitation, I suggest being a selfish person who only thinks about yourself. You won’t go very far in life because nobody will want to help you or do business with you. But at least you’ll be impervious to the negative affects of the selfishness of others!

For the past two years, I’ve had five tenants in my Marina single family house. They seemed like nice enough guys with nice enough jobs to pay the nice enough rent. There was just one problem. They didn’t give a FLYING F*CK about my property or the terms of the lease!

I’m writing this post to warn all of you folks who are considering being landlords that bad things can happen that will test your sanity. Anybody who believes that achieving financial independence early doesn’t take a lot of sacrifice is fooling themselves!

The other reason why I’m writing this post is to encourage myself to STOP trying to buy more physical property. I put in a all cash bid this week for $100,000 over asking for a house with ocean views. I lost because there were 10 other offers and the house was purposefully underpriced. Perhaps this post will help fight my property accumulation addiction!

My Pain In The Ass Tenants

If you haven’t figured it out by now, renting your house to five guys usually equals DISASTER, especially if all the guys were in a fraternity. I knew this when we agreed to the lease, but I also secretly hoped I wouldn’t find blowup dolls, pong tables, and kegs in the house (found them all in the first year!). Hope is a funny thing that makes people go against their best judgment.

Of course my good neighbors texted me to tell me whenever they threw parties way past curfew. Of course I also got notifications when they’d run across my neighbors’ roofs, drunk. If there was a San Francisco Tenant Blacklist, half of them would be on the list for sure.

The First Thoughtless Situation

Out of the 24 months they rented my house, their rent was late EIGHT times. Per the lease, any rent paid after the 4th day is considered late and subject to a $250 per day fine.

The first late payment, I wasn’t sweating it. I wasn’t worried about the second late payment either. But when the third late payment rolled around, I had a heart-to-heart conversation with the master tenant to start being more responsible and considerate since I had my own expenses associated with the house I had to pay every month. He agreed, apologized, and promised not to be late again.

Five months passed and once again they were late again. I asked him what was up, and he told me that his bank had some type of error. Uh huh. I knew he was lying, but I once again let it slide because the rent showed up a day later. Once again, I was too nice to enforce the $250/day penalty.

Then on July 4th weekend last year their rent payment was late again. This time, none of the tenants could get back to me about where the money was because they were all traveling. They finally paid the rent on the 10th, six days past the deadline. I was trying to find someway to get it through to the master tenant’s head that he was being completely irresponsible. So I used this analogy:

Imagine if your employer didn’t pay you on time every two weeks. Imagine if they decided to pay you whenever they felt like it? How would you feel? Because that is how I feel every time you’re late.

Once again, he nodded his head, apologized, and agreed to be more diligent. I forgave him again because I never felt he and the crew would not pay. I just felt they were completely thoughtless.

After the 8th late payment, I had a BRILLIANT idea. I told the master tenant, “Hey man, I know you’re having a tough time paying rent on time because you have to collect rent from four other guys, make sure everything clears, and then pay me at the bank. It sucks you can’t just automatically wire transfer the $9,000 each month. So here’s a solution! How about you cut me a written check and send it in the mail by the first of each month. I’ll wait until the 5th of each month before depositing it so that you’ve got enough money. This way, I’ll feel better knowing that at least I have a check in hand to deposit.”

He told me this was a fine idea, but never followed through. He proceeded to just go to my bank and deposit a check or cash into my account. It wasn’t the solution I wanted, but at least I was getting paid. Then just recently, they finally gave me their 31 day move-out notice, HOORAY!

One tenant needed to save money so he moved back home with his parents. Another tenant’s father bought him a one bedroom condo and will rent out his living room to one of the housemates. I’m not sure about the other two.

The Second Thoughtless Situation

Part of the lease states to maintain the yard and return it in the condition it was originally in. Maintaining the yard meant not letting the yard get overgrown with weeds, regularly watering the fruit trees, and not using it like a dumpster. I spent about $2,500 making the yard look nice a couple years before they moved in. They agreed to hire a gardner to maintain the yard twice a month.

Of course, they did no such thing. Here’s a picture of the yard during their time there.

Thanks guys for littering beer cans, breaking my bench, and letting the yard get overgrown!

They promised to get a gardener to make the yard look good again. But of course, the gardener never showed up four days before they planned to move out. Given they were consistently unreliable, I told them I’d do some leg work to make the yard look good again with my guy Luis, who ended up landscaping the back and front yard at my other single family home.

The tenants said OK. But then balked when I came back with the labor only price of $1,000. Then I told them if they were not willing to pay they should go ahead and do the work themselves, and they finally acquiesced.

After spending $1,400 (including materials) and two days completely overhauling the yard, a funny thing happened. As I was proudly showing the backyard to a leasing agent, I almost stepped in a pile of dog sh*t!

One of the tenants once again didn’t give a sh*t and decided after all that time and money spent, they’d bring a dog into the backyard, let him go #2, and just leave it there. Don’t you just LOVE it when dog owners let their dogs sh*t all over the sidewalk and never clean up after them? It’s infuriating. If you see a dog owner do such a thing, tell them to pick it up with their hands and dump it in their own house.

One tenant fessed up, “Sorry Sam, my girlfriend brought her dog to the house via the garage the other night for probably 5-10 minutes. I had no idea that happened, but my apologies. If not already cleaned up I will do it personally.”

Unbelievable.

The Third Thoughtless Situation

Two weeks before their move out date, I told the tenants to start getting rid of trash asap because the trash man would not pick up tons of extra trash that wouldn’t fit in the bins on their move out date. He might pick up one or two extra bags if he was in a good mood, but not a massive pile of trash.

My tenants ignored me.

Upon the final walk through, they were already running 1.5 hours late trying to get things out of the house. When I saw the mounds of trash on the side walk, I told them there was less than a 10% chance all of their trash would be picked up the next day. I told them to take some trash with them. They refused.

I told them to come back later that evening to get rid of at least some of the extra trash. Leaving so much trash out is a target for human scavengers and raccoons.

They refused. Why? Because I made the cardinal mistake of giving back their deposit. I took 9% off of the $17,000 on top of the $800 deducted for the yard work. Lesson learned: Landlords, wait several days before returning the deposit! You have the power.

Five extra bags of trash and overflowing bins will not all be picked up by the trash man. But my tenants couldn’t give a f*ck.

They added even more trash on the sidewalk the night before. I told them there was no way the trash would be picked up.

So guess what happened the very next morning when I came by to meet my floor refinishing guy and some prospective realtors?

Nothing! All the trash was still there and exploding on the sidewalk. I got another text message from my neighbor with this picture:

I couldn’t believe it. I texted the tenants angrily to get their asses over there to pick up the trash. And in the meantime, because I was so embarrassed with people coming over, I picked up the trash around the trash can.

Of course they didn’t come over. They apologized, and called 1-800-JUNK to pick everything up 2.5 hours after I shot them the picture.

All I Could Do Was Laugh

The way I get through stressful landlord moments is by reminding myself that everything is fixable with time and money. Then I remind myself I have a nice big deposit. If I didn’t cut them their deposit before the trash explosion, I would have felt less stressed. Lesson learned.

All I could do was laugh at the situation. I texted the picture to the realtors before they came and jokingly asked, “will this show well?”

I can unequivocally say this has been my worst landlord experience over the past 12 years. But I’m stronger for this experience. I will do my best never to rent to 4 or 5 guys anymore. Further, I absolutely will not buy another physical property for rental income. Every time I have an itch to buy physical real estate, I will refer back to this post to keep myself in check.

I’m all about simplicity now. Two rental properties plus a vacation property is the maximum I can handle. All new money that I originally planned to use for physical real estate will now go towards buying municipal bonds, REITs and real estate crowdfunded projects outside of San Francisco. A 4% – 12% potential annual gain with no tenants to deal with is good enough for me!

I’m too old for being a hands on landlord anymore. Before I retired in 2012, I thought real estate would pay for my living expenses happily ever after. Thank goodness for online income instead. I’m at the point where I’d rather just keep my house empty like a shady foreigner trying to park illicit money and forgo any rental income. I may even want to sell the rental house, but the 5% commission (~$130,000+) plus $20,000 in transfer taxes keeps me holding tight.

Any landlords out there have horrendous experiences they’d like to share? I need to hear them so I can feel better about myself! 

from http://www.financialsamurai.com/being-a-landlord-tests-my-faith-in-humanity/