#also their kids get along great and Brittany HATES that Caleb brings their daughter to see the vultures

[jacqcrisis]

Okay, this idea compelled me so here's a bad end to Left Turn, but instead of the inciting incident being at the end of the story, it's before it ever even began where Zeke and Caleb never met.

So, Zeke gets caught during his initial escape attempt from his commune and they immediately send him off to one in western Oklahoma for fear he'll try again. There, he's kept on a tight leash, goes through a pretty awful indoctrination re-education, and gets paired up with a local girl once he seems subdued enough. He's absolutely miserable, of course, prone to avoiding most of his new commune and his soon to be bride while also making a few escape attempts that go nowhere and gaining a reputation for being a rude argumentative jackass.

Forced into marriage, he has two kids, the only times he's touched his wife after vague threats from the commune patriarch and copious amounts of alcohol, but something about having children to care for makes him calm a little. On top of that, he's a dedicated husband, doing everything he can to be good to his mate to make up for the intimacy he cannot give her, as it is in no way her fault for the life hes been forced into. Despite ridicule from the other women in the commune and her own suffering in a sexless marriage, Zeke's wife willingly and openly goes to bat for him for being, at the very least, extremely caring and good with the children, something the other women can't attest to.

Despite this, Zeke still has a reputation and a nasty attitude toward the leadership of the commune who have blocked any kind of happiness from him. Hes in constant fights with the patriarch about what he's supposed to be doing and refuses to cooperate at the best of times, but overall, after nearly 20 years of being here, hes been worn down, not constantly trying to run away anymore since he needs to be there for his family. Thus, they trust him enough to go into the nearby have-not town to sell goods with the commune children, with supervision, which he finds a lot of joy in as he enjoys and yearns for the have-not's lifestyle, often daydreaming what it would be like to have not been a changeling and to be able to find a man and fall in love and have that like he's desperate for.

Enter, Caleb, a new physical therapist moving into town with his own three person family of himself, Brittany, and their daughter. Caleb gets pulled into the local witch coven pretty quick considering his regular office hours and his personable nature and his want to be away from his wife as much as possible. Its here he gets introduced to one of the duties the coven take on, which is checking up on the changeling commune monthly where they test out the wards that keep them off the map and recharge the various charms they use to keep up appearances and keep their members in check, including the masking charm Zeke uses to go into town.

And Zeke is enamored with him when they meet one fateful day as Caleb is getting introduced to the commune, never having a witch so boldy shake his hand considering they keep a fair distance, nor had one that attractive has ever looked him in the eye and engaged in small talk. He meets him again when he goes into town to sell, and again during those monthly visits, actively searching for him and not so subtly excited to talk to him, however awkwardly. This Zeke has that hard edge and he hasn't spent all that much time with people who aren't changelings so he comes off as weird and stilted and sarcastic but this Caleb guy takes it, works with, doesn't seem all that bothered (whether because he's nice or a people person or just kind of dumb are all likely possibilities).

They start meeting outside of these standard places, going on walks in the nearby hiking trails and in town as Zeke sneaks away from his handler and the kids selling goods. It's clear there's something between them, but Zekes not the same confident man as he is in canon and maybe the way Caleb is so loose about touching him and putting an arm around him is just how witches are with friends. There's a lot riding on reading it wrong, and Zeke may hate his life, but Caleb makes it better and he doesn't want to lose that even he's head over heels for this beefcake dumbass who likes to spend time with him for some reason.

Of course, it comes to a head, they sleep together, Zeke bites the fuck out of Caleb, there's a confession when Caleb comes back to see him, and together they gotta figure out a way to get Zeke and his family out safely while somehow navigating this new relationship. Idk, but I didn't get a lot sleep last night thinking about it.