#also uh when i found out about the final fight. i thought of janet from the good place and i started laughing hysterically for like a minute

[galarfiend]

im like fully spoiled for all of scarlet at this point and it sucks ass but also thats just more time to draw the characters and cry about songs

[chloelucia13]

Chapter 16: The Sauna Test

Pairing: Jonathan Byers x Henderson!reader

Prompt:  You always thought Hawkins was the most boring town of all, stuck in a vacuum void of excitement and entertainment. Well, it seems that way until the world decided to flip upside down, literally.

Chapter summary: Eleven, Max, Nancy, and Jonathan had all grown more suspicious of you and Billy after what El and Max had seen, but when everyone gets separated, the monster decides to rear its ugly head in more ways than one.

Word Count: 3352

Warnings: some angst, some fluff, some action finally (in more ways than one!!), a lil bit of cheating, language, pretty normal stuff

A/N: And we're finally getting somewhere with the Jonathan and reader plot line!!! I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and as always, my ask box and requests and tag lists are open babies! Love ya!

Tags: @just-my-fandom @nightbu-g

El couldn't let go of what she'd seen.

You being with Billy was weird enough and its strangeness had already burrowed under her skin, making her squirm. But the way you were acting, what she had seen that night when she was messing around, it wasn't right.

But what she had seen of Heather had made her downright disturbed. Sure, Billy was an asshole and she knew not to be around him, but he wasn't a murderer... right?

"Hey, there's nothing to worry about anymore, okay?" Max told her, noticing the way that El had gotten lost in her worried thoughts.

El gave her a doubtful look and let out a huff. "It doesn't make sense," she grumbled.

"What doesn't make sense?"

"Heather. The blood. The ice... Y/N."

"Heather had a fever, so she took a cold bath, but she's better now. And Y/N is probably trying to make Billy a better person or something. That has to be it. I don't know where that blood came from, but... we saw her. We saw them both. They're totally fine."

El stared at the wall, her brows furrowed. "What about Billy?"

"What about him?"

"He seemed wrong."

Max chuckled. "Wrong is kind of like his default. But it's nice to know he's not a murderer, because that totally would've sucked. Hell, maybe he seemed different because Y/N's making him better."

The two girls chuckled, and the conversation fell silent.

***

As soon as panicked panting sounded in the next room, Heather rose to her feet and walked over to the two people you held captive. Heather's parents.

You and Billy watched from afar as she spoke to her father, neglecting his pleas before stepping away and allowing you and Billy to replace her spot. Billy knelt in front of Janet as you knelt in front of Tom, both of you instructing them to stay still.

Simultaneously, you both rose to your feet and the three of you walked up the metal stairs. As you ascended the stairs, you could hear their pleas become drowned out by the guttural growls and snarls.

***

The next morning, you had awoke with a heavy pit in your stomach.

The image of Heather's overtaking was still etched behind your eyelids, and though you hadn't witnessed the other overtakings, you imagined that they occurred very similarly.

But the screams. You could never ignore the screams.

Silently, you slipped out of your bed and walked into the kitchen, pulling the freezer open and staring blankly.

The pint of strawberry ice cream from Scoops still sat there, perfectly untouched.

God, you wanted to sob. You wanted to scream. You wanted to go back to when your life was normal- well, more normal than this. Than being fucking possessed by this strange creature who was dragging you through hell.

You wanted to see your brother and his friends again. You wanted to see your friends again. Steve and Robin and Nancy and Jonathan.

Jonathan.

You were mentally kicking yourself, realizing that you spent the past six months avoiding him and now you don't know if you'll ever see him again.

You closed the freezer and scrubbed at your face, only to realize that tears had soaked your cheeks. Quickly, you swiped away the tears and rushed back to your room, not wanting to risk getting caught by your mother and having that creature take over once more.

After locking the door behind you, you curled up on your bed and pulled the blankets over your body. Maybe if you slept, you wouldn't have to deal with all this pain and guilt.

Just as you were drifting off, the doorbell rang. Immediately, your anxiety shot through the roof, and you contemplated not answering the door, but then the doorbell rang once more. You took deep breaths and slowly creeped out of bed, unlocking your door and leaving your room before stepping up to the front door.

Peering through the peephole, your heart sunk to your feet when you saw who was outside. Jonathan stood there awkwardly, his head bowed and his hands in his pockets.

You began to slowly walk away from the door when Jonathan began to speak, his voice traveling into the house. "Y/N?" he called out. "Are you home? I drove by the pool and you weren't there. I just... I was wondering if we could talk?" He sounded stressed, maybe even upset.

Your emotions took over, and against your better judgement, you pulled the door open. You watched as his eyebrows rose in surprise at the fact that you actually opened the door. "What's wrong?" you hummed. "I thought you had work today."

He chuckled, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, that's uh... That's part of the issue," he coughed out. "Can I come in?"

You nodded, stepping to the side and allowing him to come inside before you shut the door behind him. Afterwards, you stepped next to him and the two of sat down on the couch. "So, what's going on?"

"I got fired. Well, Nancy and I got fired."

Your brows knitted together in confusion. "Fired? How? I thought you were doing amazing at the post!" You tucked your legs under yourself and turned to face him directly.

"I was, and I really liked it there! But..." He let out a sigh. "Nancy had answered a call a few days ago from this old woman, saying that all of her fertilizer was going missing."

Sounds like a newsworthy story," you teased.

"Hey, it's serious!"

You held up your hands in surrender, but a giggle slipped past your lips. "Sorry, sorry. Continue."

He let out a playful huff, a smile cracking at the corners of his mouth. "Anyway, she realized that the fertilizer was going missing because there were rats in her basement that were eating it and the rats... They were getting sick, or something." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Nancy and I went to investigate, and we didn't ask any of the higher ups because we knew that they would tell us that it was stupid. We went, and we realized that she was telling the truth. The rats had eaten whole bags of fertilizer."

"Okay, hold on, you said the rats were different? In what way?"

He shrugged, shaking his head. "I have no idea. It was like they were feral, diseased." He let out a sigh before continuing. "We went back to work the next day and Nancy told everyone about what we saw. Like we expected, everyone just thought we were being stupid. That she was some paranoid and lonely old woman who sucked us into one of her many conspiracy theories so she could spend time with somebody."

Jonathan paused, lost in thought with a deep line set between his brows. Silently, you reached forward and smoothed the line with your thumb, brushing some hair away from his face at the same time. "So you got fired because you followed a potential story?"

He shook his head. "We went back last night, and we found her in her basement. She had eaten the fertilizer, along with a whole bunch of chemicals that we found around the house. She was screaming about how she had to go back." He stared silently at the carpet. "Luckily, the ambulance was able to stabilize her and she's safe at the hospital."

You could tell how much guilt he was harboring, how heavy everything weighed on his shoulders. You rested your hand on his shoulder and squeezed, earning a small smile from him. "You saved her, Johnny. I don't think there's anything you should feel bad about."

A sigh left his lips. "Tom thinks that we abused his trust, and we fed into her delusions. So he fired us."

The mention of Tom gave you flashbacks to last night, but you quickly smothered them and instead gave Jonathan a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."

"I drove Nancy home, and we... we got into a huge fight about everything that happened. About how I needed that job and she didn't, and she fucked it up for both of us. I-I said some things I didn't mean, but..." He returned his gaze to you finally. "I'm just hurt and guilty and confused about how I feel at the same time."

"Well," you sighed, letting your hand drop from his shoulder to his hand, linking your fingers with his. "I know that you both did what you think was right, and I know that you both were so concerned about this because you've seen things that make you worry that it could be something... Out of the ordinary." You scooted a bit closer, looking him in the eye. "But I also know that maybe you let Nancy drag you into this big mess, and you blame her for everything that happened. But Nancy has been going through her own problems, and maybe she felt that she needed to prove herself and her judgement was clouded by that."

He was silent for a moment, letting his eyes search yours as he looked for the words to say. "I should call her. Apologize to her."

You sighed. "Maybe. Or maybe you should let it sit for a bit, make sure you have all of your emotions lined up, because I know you both get a bit hot-headed when you're defending your actions."

He chuckled at that, his eyes dropping to your linked hands and gliding his thumb along your knuckles. "Y'know, Max and El came up to me yesterday, and they said they were looking for you. That they were worried about you."

You resisted the urge to stiffen, instead taking a deep breath and trying to stay calm. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, they said that you were being really weird. That you were even hanging out with Billy. It even freaked me out a little bit. I... I guess that was part of the reason I came here, to talk to you. I wanted to make sure you were okay, and now I feel stupid for even worrying."

Please don't feel stupid. Listen to that gut instinct. Please.

"I mean, it definitely is a little stupid," you teased, nudging his shoulder. "I think those girls just have a bit of an overactive imagination. I'm just fine. Just normal old me."

"Thank god for that," he added, a full smile finally spreading across his face.

You returned his smile before rising off the couch. "Do you want something to drink or eat?"

He shook his head, also pushing himself to his feet. "No, I should probably get going. Thank you, though."

You nodded, walking him to the door and opening it for him. "Of course. Thanks for checking up on me, Jonathan, even if I didn't need it."

He stepped out the door and stood on the porch for a moment, eyes flitting over your face. "I missed you, Y/N."

A small sigh left your lips. "I missed you too. So much. Stay in touch, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay. Bye, Y/N."

"Bye, Johnny." With one final wave, you closed the front door.

***

After seeing Jonathan that morning, you had felt a sort of urge to see him again, a magnetic pull towards that boy who broke your heart.

You knew it was dangerous to see him, not only because he was now in a committed relationship with your friend (though after what he told you had happened between them, you wondered if that label would last), but also due to the fact that you had no idea when this creature controlling you would make you snap and do god-knows-what.

So you locked yourself in your room once more, staring at the ceiling as you laid on the floor and attempted to will this horrible longing feeling away.

To no one's surprise, it didn't work.

Your next idea was to go spend time with Steve, hoping that maybe he would talk some sense into you. You threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater and drove to the mall in the sweltering heat, not wanting to risk letting your skin bubble and sizzle under the sun like BIlly's had.

But of course, neither Steve nor Robin were working, and no one had heard from them.

Under normal circumstances, you would be worried about their wellbeing, but you frankly had too much on your mind concerning your own wellbeing that you didn't fret about it. Instead, you ordered a pint of strawberry and a pint of mint chip from the boy at the counter and hurried out of the mall.

Before you could even stop yourself, you had pulled up (in the

car you had finally gotten fixed) onto the rocky front yard of the Byers' house.

With a few mumbled profanities towards your impulsiveness, you grabbed both pints of ice cream and stepped up the front porch steps that creaked under your feet. You knocked at the front door and shifted awkwardly, turning slightly to glance at the setting sun.

"Y/N?"

You turned around to face Jonathan who stood at the door, now dressed in an olive green tee shirt and a pair of jeans. "Hi!" you hummed, smiling brightly.

"Hi," he chuckled, mirroring your smile. "What are you doing here?"

You shrugged, brushing past him and walking into the house. "I thought you might still be feeling down about today, so I wanted to bring you some ice cream. You still like mint chip, right?"

His eyes followed your figure as you walked into the kitchen and grabbed two spoons for the both of you. "Uh, yeah. Thanks...?"

You finally stopped moving for a moment to take in his confused state. With a sigh, you sat down on the couch, placing the ice cream and spoons down on the coffee table. "And after seeing you today, I realized how much I missed spending time with you. I guess... I guess I just wanted to see you again and catch up."

His look of confusion slowly melted into one of comfort and slight melancholy. "I missed you too. I'm glad you came over." We walked over and sat on the couch, his leg bumping into yours. "And I'm glad that you brought me ice cream."

You nudged his shoulder with yours, giving him a beaming smile. "You're lucky I remembered your favorite. I was just about to get some only for me."

He shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "I don't mind sharing."

"I do!"

He laughed, resting his head on your shoulder as his shoulders shook with giggles. You laughed with him, but you were acutely aware of how close he was to you.

As your laughs died down, the two of you opened your individual pints of ice cream and began to dig in. "Have you talked to Nancy yet?" you asked before shoveling a spoonful of ice cream into your mouth.

He shook his head, letting out a sigh. "Not yet. I'm taking your advice and letting everything settle for a bit," he replied, leaning back on the couch. "I just... our argument made me realize a lot."

"Like what?" you mirrored his position, leaning back on the arm of the couch.

"I mean, I knew that we both came from different backgrounds and we would never agree on some things, but..." He poked his ice cream with his spoon. "I guess I never realized that though we've spent so much time together, she still has this idea that everyone has it as good as she does. That people can just throw away something that doesn't fit them perfectly because they have the money to do so." He lifted his eyes from his ice cream and up to you. "And maybe I'm narrow-minded too, spending time with other people who knew what it was like living without a lot of money."

You frowned as he spoke, slowly leaning forward to set your ice cream and spoon down on the coffee table. "Do you think that it could... hurt you guys in the long run? Knowing what she sees about the whole situation?"

He set his ice cream down as well, pulling his feet up onto the couch and crossing his legs. "I-I don't know."

Silently, the two of you searched each other's eyes with baited breath, a million thoughts racing through your head.

It was at that moment that your judgement took a back seat, and you felt that inky fog lurking in your mind.

You leaned forward and pressed your lips to his. He let out a hum of surprise, but he made no move to pull away from you. Slowly, you moved your hands to the back of his neck and scooted closer to him so you didn't have to crane your neck. You huffed out a sigh of relief as his hands finally rested on your cheeks, his shoulders beginning to lose their tension as he finally relaxed into the kiss.

Just as you were about to deepen the kiss, you felt the familiar surge of black course through your veins, your skin beginning to burn as black veins snaked up your arms and neck.

As the pull towards the creature grew stronger, your lips fell from Jonathan's and you fought the creature for control.

Jonathan gave you a confused look when you pulled away, but he quickly pushed himself away from you when he noticed the inky veins that adorned your skin. "Y/N," he gasped, his eyes wide with panic and fear. You immediately pushed yourself off the couch and rushed towards the door, only for Jonathan to lurch forward and grab your wrist. "Y/N, what the fuck is going on!"

You snapped your gaze to him, feeling that fog slowly take over your mind as you fought to stay awake. "Let me go," you begged. "Please, I don't want to hurt you."

"What?"

"Let me go, Jonathan!"

Your tone startled him, loosening his grip on your wrist just enough for you to slip away from him and out the door before the creature took control.

***

Jonathan began to pace back and forth a few minutes after... Whatever had just happened.

He knew those veins, those pitch black veins that flooded your skin. He saw them when he had to exorcise his own brother, and now another person he cared for so dearly was overtaken by that same creature.

When Will was fighting was controlled by that same creature, though, he didn't seem so... normal. Was it evolving? Learning?

That then made him question if it was even really you. Maybe it had learned your mannerisms, took advantage of the thoughts it had access to.

What if you didn't even want to kiss him, but that thing made you?

He shook the thought from his head. He knew you loved him, that you wanted to be with him. But he also knew that you wouldn't overstep since him and Nancy were still together, even though they had gotten in a fight.

But God, he'd kiss you again in an instant if given the chance.

With a huff, he sat back down on the couch and stared at the two half-eaten pints of ice cream, guilt and worry gnawing at his insides.

He needed to tell Nancy about what happened to you. Just not now.

***

You sat at the landing of the metal warehouse stairs, silently watching Heather patch up Billy's bloodied body as you thought back on what happened just minutes ago.

"The girl, was it her?" Heather asked, gently dabbing a damp cloth over Billy's shoulder.

"Yeah," Billy responded gruffly, his jaw set tight. "It was her. She knows now. She knows about me."

"Jonathan knows too," you voiced silently. "He saw."

He gripped onto Heather's wrist, stopping her actions. "She could've killed me," Billy continued, ignoring your statement.

"Yes. But not us," heather whispered. Silently, she turned to look over the rows of individuals you've sacrificed, people overtaken by the monster.

"Not us," you repeated.

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with bugs

bugs has 40 stories at Gossamer. They mostly focus on Mulder and Scully, but there are also some goodies featuring Reyes and Doggett. I’ve recced some of my favorites of her fics here before, including The Link. She also co-ran WhyIncision, a fun, smart X-Files mailing list that dissected fics like a book club. Big thanks to bugs for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Not really. While I was still in high school, I started watching the then 20 year old OG Star Trek and became a Trekkie of a sort. Starlog magazine, James Blish novels and the other novelizations, and while I was working as a library page, I found fanfiction one day among the periodicals.  Who knows how fanfiction ended up as part of a library's materials, but there it was, this tattered mimeographed collection. The fic that had the most impact on me was one where Nurse Chapel wrestled a giant alien snake to save Spock's life.

So when I got into XF, one of the first things I did was look for fanfic, knowing somewhere out there, Scully was wrestling a big snake for Mulder.

That experience showed me the power of fandom, that even without the internet, how the second generation of Trekkies joined the original group to advocate for the franchise to be revived. I remember sitting in the theater for that first awful Star Trek movie, choked up with what we'd done.

Tragic backstory way to say, no I'm not surprised that a well-produced show like XF would beget future generations of fans, and that they'd be chewing their way through the fanfic archives still being maintained.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

I'm so grateful to the fandom. Literally formed the life I have today through the confidence it gave me. Many of my friends to this day are 'pocket friends' from the various fandoms I've been in, and the longest friendships were formed in XF. I learned how to write, both technically and finding my voice. I learned how to think analytically, more than any college courses.

The two most important things I took away were, write for yourself first and always, and shit ain't that damn important. In the end, it's a TV show.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

YIKES.  I came in at the Fight the Future summer hiatus, so the waning days of ATXC, then we moved to mailing lists, right?  Yahoo Groups was in there somewhere. Finally message boards. Live Journal rose up at the end of the run which began to fragment the fandom even before the show ended, along with the migration off our individual websites to Archive of Our Own, fanfiction.net and such. We went from group discussion platforms to 'come look at my blog for my thoughts'. It was different and I didn't particularly like it, but in the end, when I came back to fandom for a new show....I had to get a Live Journal. That's the most interesting part of fandom, that a platform doesn't mold a fandom; we use the platform and when it's no longer useful to us, we abandon it en mass.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

I've touched on that a bit, but to elaborate, I'm glad I started in the XF fandom. It had such high standards and I hope that I maintain those standards for myself to this day. These days, I don't usually have a beta reader, but that took a couple hundred posted fics to get to that point.

Having seen the same exact flamewars and divides and squabbles over and over, seen how the taste of 'fame' can drive someone to be rather unpleasant, has given me a much more 'whatever' attitude. It's sort of comforting when joining a new fandom to know what's going to happen next in its natural progression.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

There's a meme "I have a type," and XF definitely had that type, but it just took me a while to get there. I was away at college then working on the road when the show started, and wasn't home on Friday nights most of the year. My mother has always been a big sci-fi fan, so she actually was watching before me. I don't like scary things, and would leave the room if it was on when I'd visit her. I was home for Christmas when Christmas Carol/Emily aired and I remember standing tentatively just inside the room so I could flee if necessary, and watched Scully go through the wringer, and ranting, "What the hell is this? Why are they putting that poor woman through this!?" I also saw how the show was doing the big ship tease, and I was like, uh, I don't have time for this. Even by my 20's, I'd been done wrong by so many shows that I'd become bitter. But the first film trailers suggested they were actually going from UST to RST, so I figured I could give 2 hours of my time for that.  And yeah...but I was hooked, and WENT TO BLOCKBUSTER AND RENTED THE VHS TAPES TO CATCH UP....this interview is making me feel very old.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I've always been a shipper and have no shame in that, as I think forming and maintaining a relationship is the most conflict-ridden enterprise humans can attempt, and thus is the most challenging thing to write about. Like many fanfic writers, I'd 'told stories in my head' ever since I can remember about the characters from books, shows and movies. It was just a matter of then writing it down for the first time.

After I was sucked into the show and it was still the summer hiatus, I got on my first computer, dialed up that screeching modem, and went on Netscape to search for that fanfic I knew had to be out there from my Trek experience a decade ago. Like many people, after inhaling much of the delicious fics out there, I decided I can do that. I'm someone who's very methodical on my approach to something new, so I studied what worked/what didn't, the expected formatting, got a sense of the culture I was entering, acquired a critical beta reader, so when I actually submitted the first chapter to AXTC, I was calm and confident.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

I watch from the sidelines, with a vague little smile on my lips.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Yes, I have. Battlestar Galactica had a lot of Philes, but it was still a big step away from the very organized fandom in X-Files. Plus, with so many characters, there could be lots of little groups focused on their favorites. Same in the Downton Abbey fandom. Just a different dynamic.

On the other end of the spectrum, one of my most popular fics is in the Silence of the Lambs fandom which I've never been involved with any other fans or their fandom, if it exists. It just sits out there on fanfiction.net and chugs along with the reads. My current fandom is The Doctor Blake Mysteries which is tiny but mighty--the saying is, we're six people and a shoelace. It's shown me that it's not the size, not the 'fame' possible, but the passion that makes a fandom.

Sadly, at least at this time, I don't think there will ever be an experience like The X-Files heyday. It was such a golden moment of the rise of internet and home computer use by the general public, a large generation of educated women having the time to participate in fandom, and there wasn't the amount of 'noise' that is distracting us all now. I'm so glad that you're doing this exercise to record our thoughts. We've already lost so many of the OG folks. My first beta, Janet Caires-Lesgold; Trixie, way too young; Shari, also too young; Brandon D Ray, leaving his family too soon; and many more.

(Posted by Lilydale on March 9, 2021)

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH29

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

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Chapter 29: Star Death Reality Show (XII) {cw: brief discussion of menstruation}

This conversation between guys didn't last long. After all, Qi Leren and Du Yue weren’t too familiar with each other, and they wouldn't be as casual as with Dr. Lu. It was almost two o'clock in the middle of the night. It was time for Qi Leren to watch the speaker.

The temperature difference between night and day was not much in the polar region, and the sunshine of the polar day fell on the tundra, quiet and serene. If it weren't for the danger stirring, that was spying on these poor lambs, Qi Leren probably wouldn't be as uneasy as he was now.

When he came to the outside of the church, Qi Leren saw Janet’s bright clothes at a glance. She was breathing on her hands. After a while, she pulled thick gloves on her hands: "This damn weather is really enough to freeze penguins."

—It's cold enough to freeze penguins. Someone had once described a polar environment to Qi Leren like this. When Janet’s words, he couldn’t help but think of that. Qi Leren showed a smile: "There are no penguins here, and we have temperature-control suits. We won’t freeze to death."

"Hey man, this is just an exaggerated metaphor. Can you have a sense of humor?" Janet rolled her eyes at him.

Dr. Lu and Alex came out of the church. Both of them were a little sleepy. They went back to rest after the handover with Janet. Janet walked into the church, sat down on the couch, and chatted with Qi Leren boredly: "You and Lara have a good relationship?"

"Not bad," Qi Leren said perfunctorily.

"Uh-huh, I guess you’re being condescending now," Janet said with a smile.

"You’re not a worm in my stomach." Qi Leren refused to admit it.

"Come on, I still have self-awareness. I never wanted to be likable." Janet shrugged her shoulders and said casually, "Let’s change the subject. What do you think about the disappearances these past few days?"

"...It's hard to say, but I don't think this is a ‘script’. The situation has been somewhat out of control." Qi Leren frowned. "I feel that it’s dangerous. A great danger..."

"Interesting. What kind of danger is it?" Janet asked curiously.

Qi Leren glanced at her. He wasn’t sure what this woman was thinking: "In many ways. Although intelligent life on this planet is extinct, there are still large animals alive, the vegetation is well preserved, the air quality and temperature conditions are suitable for survival, and it may be used as a colony planet or sightseeing planet in the future."

Janet was suddenly taken with him and followed along his topic: "I don't want to come to this hellhole again. Unless some discerning producer invites me to be the heroine and let Lara play the villain, then I may think about it, haha."

"You hate her that much?" Qi Leren was surprised. He thought Lara was easy to get along with.

"It’s the war between women, men wouldn’t understand." Janet spread her hands. "Anyway, I just hate the way she carries herself all the time. She acts like she’s the smartest, most powerful, most understanding in the world. It’s hypocritical, but you men eat this up."

Qi Leren declined to comment.

When Janet saw that he didn't speak, she curled her lips in boredom and found a place to sit down.

It was getting late into the night, Janet complained about the importance of beauty sleep, and absently dozed off. Qi Leren had had enough sleep during the day, so now he was very energetic and wandered around the church. This church should be quite old. If it wasn’t in the polar region, it would have been overwhelmed by lush vegetation and become a green ruin.

Looking out from the church window, Qi Leren could just see He Yi's house in the southwest. He suddenly remembered that He Yi had talked about something. On the first night, he saw...

What did he see? Did someone enter the church? If so, who did he see?

Unless He Yi reappeared, it was impossible for him to know.

This night was calm, Janet slept for a while and woke up after a while. At 7 o'clock, she finally got up. She tidied up her hair and complained: "I have never lived so rough in my life, and I have never desired to before!"

Qi Leren was about to speak when he saw Lara coming with Xue Jiahui from the window, so he asked, "How do you feel?"

Xue Jiahui looked at him in confusion and shook her head: "I still can't remember..."

"It's good that we’re returning to our parent star when the program is over. It should be only temporary," Lara consoled.

When the contestants came one after another, Lara pulled the Qi Leren aside when no one was paying attention and whispered, "When you searched for materials a few days ago, did you find anything like cotton and cloth?"

"Yes, I did. What do you want this for?" Qi Leren wondered.

"I don't want it, it’s Xue Jiahui. I saw that she discarded a cloth in the bathroom with blood on it. I think she probably encountered the same problem as Annie," Lara said.

Qi Leren: "..."

"Even I don't think it’s very good. You may not know this, but this physiological condition can be contagious," Lara said embarrassedly.

Qi Leren felt that, as a man, he didn't really want to know this kind of thing. He was a little concerned that Lara didn't tell others, but instead had taken him aside to borrow necessities. Did he look like a "best friend"?

Probably seeing Qi Leren’s depressed expression, Lara added: "I asked Francis to look after her for a while yesterday and went everywhere to borrow something, but unfortunately none of them had anything."

"Then how did you deal with it?" Qi Leren asked.

Lara gave a complicated look and said, "Xue Jiahui cut up her pillow... The pillowcase was used as a liner."

As the two people whispered, the contestants had already arrived one after another. This time, the atmosphere was more dignified than the previous two times. It even faintly appeared somewhat strange, because this time, what would be announced by the speaker was not the person who had won the Best of the Day, but the person who had knocked out Xue Jiahui and left her in the church. And this man was among them.

Time passed, and at eight o'clock the speaker started. The answer they eagerly wanted to know was given in a mechanical voice: "Now broadcasting the voting results. The winner of the Best of the Day is: Mark."

"Mark?"

"How can it be him?"

"Isn't he missing?"

"It turned out to be him?"

They were all whispering in amazement, but Qi Leren was not too surprised. It had seemed like Mark had gone missing at the beginning, but he wasn’t really missing, he was hiding somewhere... He quietly glanced out of the corner of his eye at Annie who was standing in the shadows, and she was expressionless.

……

……

……

The discussion was still inconclusive, so they had to split up again. Qi Leren was in a faint hurry. Today was the fourth day. If there was no breakthrough, even if he risked being seen through by the audience, he would identify the dangerous creature "amphioctopus", or risk being parasitized or injured. He would forcibly enter Annie's house.

Although Annie's own fighting capacity shouldn’t be strong, Qi Leren strongly suspected that she was already a puppet of the octopus, and he doesn't know anything about the octopus’ fighting capabilities. He didn't have the confidence that he could kill an octopus without using a skill card. Fortunately, after listening to the broadcast results, Annie returned to her house and then left the house again with the axe to go look for materials.

After waiting for the opportunity for such a long time, Qi Leren immediately climbed into Annie's house through the window, focusing on searching for the attic. This time, they had a clear goal and had good luck. In less than ten minutes, Dr. Lu found a dark panel on the second floor ceiling, from which an iron ladder could be pulled down after it was lifted.

Qi Leren looked at the dark attic above his head and was excited. His guess was right. Annie's house did have an attic! Mark and He Yi didn’t disappear, but hid in the attic!

After entering the attic, it was dark inside. Under the illumination of the flashlight, the desks, chairs, and bookshelves here all looked grim. Qi Leren noticed that the attic was also like a laboratory, just like the basement in Jing Siyu’s house.

Dr. Lu also came up, looked around to search, and soon felt that there was something wrong with the floor in the attic. Du Yue came up to help and lifted the floor. It turned out to be a straight, dark passage below, leading underground!

"So the structure is like this," Dr. Lu said, looking at this passage "It's not that there’s a trapdoor on the first floor that’s used to enter the basement, but there’s a passage through the attic, which isn’t connected with the first floor or the second floor, but goes straight to the basement. Um... For example, it’s like an enlarged version of a sewage pipe embedded in the wall."

"Why would they have such a design?" Du Yue asked curiously.

"God knows, I don’t have a clue. Oh, it’s also possible that the owner was a hikikomori and hated to see the sun. His scope of activities was the attic and the basement, so when building the house, he simply made such a passageway," Dr. Lu said.

Although he didn’t hear any movement, Qi Leren was a little worried that someone could be in the basement, so when he grabbed the metal cross section and climbed down the pipe’s ladder rung by rung, his heart beat fast and he was extremely nervous. But after reaching the bottom, he found everything was normal and the basement was empty.

"Wow, what is this? Was there an explosion?" Dr. Lu also climbed down and was surprised to see that there was a pile of messy rubble deep in the basement and a big hole punched out of the wall.

"Do you remember that when we were in Jing Siyu’s basement, there was the sound of an explosion outside? At that time, I thought it was the church or something had collapsed, but now it seems that... It happened here," Qi Leren said thoughtfully.

Du Yue also came over. He was more active. He simply rolled up his sleeves and moved the rocks. However, several huge rocks blocked the hole and couldn’t be removed without tools: "No, I can't move them. Can I explode it again?"

Qi Leren looked at the rocks on the ground that had obviously been manipulated but still blocked their way. He could imagine what Annie and Mark had been busy with these past few days… Hey, but where had Mark gone? They didn't see Mark go in or out of Annie's house all day yesterday. Maybe he was here the whole time, or maybe he was outside the whole time.

There came a squeak sound, the hatch that connected the attic to the basement was lifted. Qi Leren immediately turned off his flashlight, as did Dr. Lu.

Deng, deng, deng, the sound of shoes stepping on the metal rungs came, and Qi Leren felt like his hair was about to fall out. He looked in horror at the metal pipe with its iron ladder. Someone was coming down!

"Did we close the attic door when we entered the pipe?" Qi Leren lowered his voice and asked.

"It was closed, I was the last one, I closed it," Du Yue replied nervously.

"Okay, don't make any noise, stick to the wall, I’ll handle it." Qi Leren said after a pause, guessing that the other party didn't know they were in the basement.

After turning off the flashlights, only pure darkness remained in the basement, almost opaque. Qi Leren closed his eyes, stroked the palm of his right hand with his left hand, and silently counted the sound of the steps on the rungs as he readied himself.

He felt as if he had returned to the sea. The sea water was cold, and the pressure from all directions became stronger and stronger with his dive. He forced himself to slow down his heart, because at this time, panic would only make his oxygen consumption faster and make him closer to death.

Just as Qi Leren constantly adjusted his own state and brought himself closer to his peak level, that person had already reached the bottom. When they were about to step off it, the person fumbled in their trouser pocket and took out a flashlight...

The flashlight’s switch gave a click, and in a moment the light lit up the people hidden in the darkness. It was at this instant that Qi Leren shot out like lightning and kicked their calf! Kicked their face down to the ground!

"Ah!" A woman’s voice let out a painful cry and the flashlight fell to the ground. She wanted to look up and see who it was, but Qi Leren swung his hand down like a knife on the back of her neck! The strength was so great that she passed out instantly!

Looking at Annie, who had collapsed to the ground and passed out, Qi Leren breathed a long sigh of relief. He felt that he had returned to the surface from the bottom of the sea and felt renewed life thrum through him.

Thank you Chen Baiqi, thank you diving training, and thank you three-headed hellhound.

-----

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

[thattimdrakeguy]

Prompt: Bruce hugs Tim after Tim fought with Jack

Alright, fellas, gonna be honest. Got way into the whys and hows of the actual fight with Jack over the actual comforting hug with Bruce.

It’s in there, oh boy it’s there, but I’m curious to see if this thing even fits into a Tumblr post cause I don’t know what the limits are actually.

So uh,

Trigger Warnings for: Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Mentions of Drugs, Threats of the Police (is that a trigger warning? cause I feel like it should be nowadays), traumatization, and potentially more. Oh, and Alfred has a gun but idk if that falls into any triggers.

It’s not a “Jack is evil” fiction. I tried to stay away from that. But I didn’t try to not make him do something I did feel like he’d do at the same time. He never hits Tim, I’ll say that.

Hoping it’s not too bad. I feel it’s half decent. So ayy.

Wasn’t sure what to call it.

Maybe “Assumptions and Consequences” idk.

Also probably has lots of typos and grammar mistakes so sorry for that lol.

--

Tim Drake loved his dad. His biological mother had already died, and Jack was all Tim had. Dana Winters was only Jack’s girlfriend who was wanting to become Tim’s mother, but it hadn't happened quite yet. So Tim only had one parent left, and man, did it suck to have a parent sometimes when you’re Robin. All the lying from having to be Robin drove Tim mad some days. Plus neither of them were quite compatible with one another. Honestly how were they even related?

Jack thought Tim was a bad kid. Well, he didn’t, but look at the evidence. Tim kept sneaking out, leaving school early, getting into fights. That was a kid acting out if Jack ever knew, and Jack would blame himself, until he couldn’t be bothered about it. Was it Jack’s fault? Jack had a habit of forgetting it a day or two after an accident. So he never really did improve yet, despite saying he would.

But the thing was, Tim wasn’t a bad kid. He was a great kid; a really great kid. Tim Drake was Robin the Boy Wonder. Not that he was the most talented, or most efficient at being Robin, but Tim filled the job out well. Being a good kid as Robin, meant having to be a bad kid as Tim though. When Tim saw bad things happening, Tim had to disappear, for Robin to take a beating, and for Tim to keep the bruises.

One day it got too much for Jack to handle. Tim wasn’t even home yet, and Jack’s face was red. The man of the house kept pacing back and forth really considering what he had to do to contain Tim this time. In his sea of tension he started biting down on his fist to get out some of the anger but it wasn’t stopping. What would Tim’s mother think of Tim right now? All those years of Janet protecting Tim and coddling him, and all it took was--what a few years for Tim to turn into this? Janet would’ve been so disappointed in him.

Jack sat down in his recliner past midnight to wait for his son, and only seconds after the creaking sound of his chair did he hear the doorknob twisting on the opening door that must’ve been his son. Must’ve been a lazy day for Tim. Normally Tim would come in through the window of his bedroom. Jack was actually listening for a creak on the walls. After a quick sigh that came deep within the chest, Jack tossed down his remote swiftly onto the table making a loud smacking sound, as he stood up and turned around.

It was darkly lit like a shadowy alley way in the house. All Jack wanted to do was scare the crap out of Tim. He didn’t care how small Tim was, or how young he was, if Tim was so willing to let Jack be scared, Jack thought it only made sense for him to scare Tim right back to make it only fair. Jack grabbed a flashlight on the coffee table and shined it in the eyes of the small figure that stood right in his doorway. And he made sure to make himself seem as big as he possibly could. Standing up straight, broadening his shoulders, and holding his flashlight up higher.

He prepared his voice as something similar to Clint Eastwood. All he did all day was watch movies and take phone calls, and it really showed. “Tim, do you mind telling me, why in God’s green hell are you so damn f--” Jack quickly squinted his eyes. This wasn’t Tim he was looking at. It was Ariana Dzerchenko, and she was shaking in her boots, while Jack seemed disappointed it wasn’t his son. “What the hell are doing in my damn house?! You’re telling me at 3 A-#@!@#-M you don’t have anything better to do, then open my door when I never even gave you a key? My son isn’t even here. You trying to steal from me?” Jack went over to grab her arm after the brash accusation. “Get over here, I’m calling your Uncle.”

Ariana moved her arm away and backed outside, still shaking. She stared at Jack scared, and concerned. Ariana could tell he was disappointed for the wrong reasons

“Look, it’s either in my house and I call your uncle, and you take another foot and it’s the police.” grunted Jack. He stopped bothering doing the gravelly voice, but he was still oh-so-damned pissed. After Ariana didn’t bother making any move of any sorts, Jack relented and tried to talk a little more normal. “Do you know where Tim is?” he asked like it was only the afternoon and he happened to pass her in the park.

“N-no.” was the only word Ariana could manage to get passed her lips.

Jack’s brow lowered, and angled. “Then why are you here, Miss?” He took a step closer to Ariana. “And be honest.”

“T-Tim, uh, he, uh, he asked me to bring back this and put it on the kitchen counter.” the girl held up the house key. “And all he said to me was that he was going to be late. Really late, and that he didn’t want his dad to worry again.”

All Ariana could see of Jack was the way the shadows contoured around his aging face. Making him not even look human. It made him look paler, with black eyes and a still face that would barely move except when it got angrier.

“He tell you where he was?” Jack asked again as he turned his head to the left. His left ear was his good ear.

“No, sir. He just sounded...swollen-y.”

“Swollen?”

“Like he just got hit in the face again.”

“Did you hear anything else?”

“A really loud engine and some gunshots later when I called him. Look, Mister, I’m really worried about him too. I didn’t even want to come over here--but I was just--I was just hoping he’d be here again maybe. Do you know what he could be doing?”

“Hell no. At this point my son doesn’t tell me anything. All I can guess is that the son of mine, I spent all that money on, is dealing drugs, like my money isn’t good enough for him.”

“Drugs? Timmy? Drugs? I’m not his parent or anything, I’m just his friend, but Tim would never do anything like that. I think he’s in trouble in another way.”

“That’s what I thought, but somehow every week I’m getting a call from the school counselor telling me that my small-fry son is dealing with a bruise of some kind. They found him passed out in school one time, and I found dirt marks on the outside of his window. What kind of normal former-board-school-student do you hear about ending up like that?”

“But Tim went on for hours one time about how he hates drugs. He saw a kid with a bag of something and wouldn’t stop ranting for what felt like an hour. He--”

“Ari--”

“--wouldn’t ever--”

“You can go home, Ariana! And thank you for your time. I won’t tell the police, or your uncle. But just go home now.”

“I--” Ariana closed her eyes and realized she better just go. “Okay. Okay, I’ll...go. Just tell me Tim’s okay when he comes back. And--if it actually ends up being drugs...tell him--tell him we’re over.” she fled the scene not being able to handle it anymore.

Jack didn’t answer back, but he knew that she knew he wasn’t going to tell her anything that was going to happen. Once he heard a ruffling in the bush right where Tim’s room would be, he knew that the boy came home. Taking another chest deep breath he slowly walked to that wall where he saw Tim, and he used the flashlight on him for real this time.

That middle parted bowl cut, and baby-face were impossible to misidentify. His already large eyes grew larger and he looked like he saw an entire army of ghosts coming for his head. Sneaking into his own house was something he’s done dozens of times. Tim loved sneaky time, but this time he thought he really messed it up. His Robin career and life flashed right in front of his eyes.

Nothing in Jack’s mind resembled pleasant. Everything was fire and disappointment. Actually seeing his son in the act of sneaking around outside, when he should be in bed made everything he thought felt true as the solution to a math problem. Just like the outlaws in the westerns he watched, Jack narrowed his eyes as he paid attention to his target. He really needed to get outside himself fast.

Tim gasped, as his mind had no thoughts besides a realization that his dad finally caught him sneaking in. “Dad?!” he uttered before being grabbed by the collar of his sweater.

“So you finally decided that my house is better than whatever alley you've been laying in every night?” pushing himself closer to Tim, Jack made it so the only thing he could see of Tim was the panic in his baby blue eyes.

Meanwhile, all Tim could see was the anger in his dad’s face. “W-what are you talking about?!” Tim’s voice cracked. He knew his dad thought something was going on, but he never imagined it’d be this intense. He could break the grip on Jack at any time, but would Jack find that even more suspicious? Tim still had Dana thinking he was too small to play football. Could Jack believe Tim would be able to take down someone over a foot his own size?

“The drugs, Tim. The drugs.” The hoarseness to Jack’s voice was painful. If his hand was around Tim’s neck and not just his collar, he’d be strangling the kid. “I've been staying up each night for the past three days waiting for you to come home. To have a fatherly chat, but all I ever hear is you sneaking up the wall, and I’ve had enough of that. I try to be a father, and you just try to treat me like an obstacle. Is all I am to you, is in your way, Tim? I paid for your freaking ninja camp, and it ends within a week of you being there. If the people running the camp didn’t end up in jail, I’d have the mind to ask them what you exactly did there. A fake piercing, and fake stubble to look tougher? I’d be real curious to know where exactly a 14-year-old kid can buy a fake stubble.”

Tim was really doing his best to try and seem calm. If he didn’t everything would get much worse. Then it donned on him that he was treating his own dad like he would a master criminal in the middle of a breakdown. “Dad, I really know this looks bad. I really do. Trust me. But this isn’t at all like what it seems.”

“Answer me immediately: If I searched your room would I find drugs? Narcotics? Booze?”

Booze. Tim could smell the booze in his dad’s breath. If Tim showed up just a bit earlier it wouldn’t have been this bad. And you know Tim would beat himself up over that when he shouldn’t.

“No, you wouldn’t find anything of the sort. I need you to listen,  I’m going to need you to let go of me, and put down the light. It’s hurting me.” Another half second passed where Tim’s brain suddenly tried to process this. And like someone running away from the scene, it hurt too bad to stay on it. “I don’t deal drugs...I--I stop people from selling drugs!” Even in a moment like this, not having to lie for once felt like a weight off of Tim’s shoulders.

The man standing above Tim was about to blind him with that flashlight, but he eventually dropped Tim down onto the wet and muddy grass below them. Where he left him lay and to get mud all over his clothes without any sense of regret. Jack could only think of his late wife. Which seemed rare ever since he got to know Dana better. Strangely, this Janet that Jack was remembering seemed to be a lot more on his side than anyone that knew them back then would remember.

“Don’t talk down to me.” said Jack in an uncomfortably soft voice. “I let you stay in my house because I loved you enough to let you. Your room is my property, everything in there was bought with my money.” The pace he spoke was slow and methodical. His mind was quiet and released. “I am going to look in your room. You’re going to stay here, and when I come back to you. I’ll decide then what’s going to happen to you.”

Should Tim speak? Should he not? What was better right then? When he heard Jack talk about his room, he wasn’t worried about the punishment he’d have to deal with. All he was worried about was any proof about being Robin. That wasn’t just Tim’s own secret to keep. It was a secret he had to share, and was honored to share.

“I--I can’t let you do that, sir.” another voice crack from the kid.

“I bet I know why.” spoke Jack with full eye contact. To him he wasn’t lying to himself. It was a fact he had to find the evidence for. “Let it be known by the way, that I don’t hate you. I’m scared for you. But you also make it awfully hard to love you lately.”

That was one hit Tim couldn’t dodge.

Being 3 AM not too many people were able to witness any of this happening, except for one particular neighbor in Alfred Pennyworth. He was tidying up around the side windows on the second floor when he could see some sort of commotion at the Drake residence. Using binoculars like a bird watcher that exclusively looks for Robins, he saw Tim on the ground and Tim’s dad above him. That wasn’t going to fly past anyone in Stately Wayne Manor.

Very quickly he let Bruce know that Tim needed help and why. It’d only take a few minutes for him to return to his home, but it felt crucial. Tim needed a father figure that felt like he’d protect him, and not vilify him. In no world is Batman the best for the job of dad, but he gave it his best unlike Jack.

Outside it was wet from the harsh rain earlier in the evening. Most of the lights in the neighbors were out, signifying they had gone to sleep. A foot felt like a yard when everything was so quiet and dark.

So though the owner of the manor wouldn’t exactly appreciate it, Alfred brought a small fire-arm in the inner pocket of his suit jacket just in case things went worse. Very quickly he rushed his way over to Tim, making it just after Jack entered the Drake residence again. Tim still seemed in such a shock that he didn’t even try to get himself up.

In his head, Tim meant to go after his dad, but his mental legs just gave out on him. Leaving him to sit in the mud as he panics about what could happen next. He recounted where all of his Robin stuff was. During his messy messy thoughts he was almost certain that it was all on, wearing it under his clothes. Confidence was never Tim’s highest attribute though. Normally it was his perceptiveness, but it was failing him. He was lucky he could still recognize Alfred.

“Alfred?” said a confused Tim who was dazed more and more as the night went on.

“Young Master Timothy, are you alright?” greeted the Butler as he helped Tim up to see his feet. “I didn’t see everything, but I saw everything I needed to.” He quickly noticed a bruise on Tim’s cheek. “Young sir, did he do this to you, or was it another person?”

“Who’s ‘he’?” Tim’s eyes widened and looked past Alfred. “Dad?”

Alfred may have been an older man, but he wasn’t a man you should bother trying to stand taller than. The quiet, noble man turned around promptly and stood his ground and he saw fit. Only reaching his hand in, just in case, with no intent on striking first. When Alfred turned around to see the returning Jack, there wasn’t any cowardice within him. Former British Secret Service agent Alfred Pennyworth could get the drop on anyone if he tried hard enough, besides those with powers. Tim’s dad wasn’t someone with powers, so Alfred had his number ready just in case.

Jack on the other hand only had a vague sense of right and wrong keeping him from hurting anyone. Just sick of the lies, and obvious sneaking around. Whoever thought Jack was a good dad never really saw enough of him.

“Who--Are you--are you Wayne’s butler? Did he call you?” Jack  asked, pointing at Tim. “The kid’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about. He’s just being sensitive.”

“Jack Drake, I want to let you know that I am not a blind man, nor an easily fooled man. And that all I see when I look into the eye’s a man such as you, that all I see is an inner-pain that I’ve seen nearly everyday since my eyes could first see, and my mind could first retain thought. All you do is feel bitter, distract yourself, and in the moments where you can’t, you take it out on everyone else. If I look at the ground behind me, I can see a very brave boy have a fear so bad that he didn’t even want to get out of the mud. Either meaning he’s about to be killed, or he’s being traumatized, and I don’t see a gun in your hand. So sit down and get some rest, and think about it. While I’ll take young Timothy with me where he’ll be safe for the night, sir.”

“You know I’m not going to let you do that.” growled Jack.

“Then allow me to let you know that in my inner jacket pocket I have a firearm that you know I’ll use. Not to aim at your head, but below the waist where, if you don’t already know,  it won’t count for attempted murder.”

“I’ll call the cops on you then, you bum. You’ve freeloaded on Wayne before that man could walk. To this city you’re nobody but the guy that used to wipe Wayne’s ass.”

“I’m mighty gracious I don’t have any worry of convincing you of anything. The reputation I actually do have serves me enough just fine. As for...your reckless statement on the police, I should let you know we have cameras showing everything that happened. You wouldn’t be the one winning in court.” Alfred didn’t look pleased when he took another glance at Tim who was struggling to process any of this. Alfred was there in the same home Tim was in when he found out his mother died. This wasn’t something Alfred enjoyed doing. “You can come with me now, Timothy. We’ll figure this out, alright?”

Surprisingly, Jack let them walk away. Jack wasn’t an evil man. But not being evil doesn’t equal being good. Life was just complicated, and so was he. Did he regret his actions? Well, he isn’t a monster. Of course he did--Well, maybe he did. Who really freaking knew. But did he know why exactly he did if he had? Not quite. Was he going to get better? There was going to be a while before that’d happen.

Inside Tim’s own heart he felt dead. The remains of his biological family seemed to break down into crumbs of dust. Where was home anymore? Jack didn’t say he wasn’t allowed to come back home, but the message was made plenty clear that he couldn’t go back home easily. Actually, Tim didn't know if he wanted to go home after that. Even for such a great detective, Tim had no clue what his dad was going to be like after that.

Mud. Ew, the mud. It was all over Tim’s clothes and hands from his fall. It certainly wasn’t going to help Tim’s mood.

“Young Master Timothy, I think it’d be in your best interest to get a bath and relax. You can give me your clothes for me to wash, and I’m sure we have some of your clothes around here somewhere for you to lay around in.” he stated as he opened the door to Stately Wayne Manor for Tim.

Tim barely said any words, and said none of all during the walk to the Manor. “Oh, okay, Alfie.” Even his tone of voice seemed down on himself.

Seeing Tim so frozen stiff over it was breaking Alfred’s heart bit by bit. He’s seen Tim shake in fear, he’s seen him panic, but never frozen. This really was different. It was obvious it would be, but seeing it in person is always a different feeling. As they went up stairs you wouldn’t know Tim was an athlete. Alfred saw how natural Tim was at acrobatics in front of his own eyes, and now he saw the young boy struggling going up stairs.

Batman wasn’t able to make it till after Tim was in the bath. So he’d have to wait a bit to speak with him. He took off his cowl and how upset he was, was immediately evident. He had a stubble covered frown, and was breathing heavily, which was odd since he came home in the Batwing. As someone who stops domestic disturbances like this when he has to, he was fuming.

“We have to do something about Jack Drake, Alfred.” said Bruce drinking the tea Alfred gave them, as they waited for Tim in the kitchen.

“Something involving the courts may I assume?” assumed Alfred.

Bruce shook his head. “No. At least not yet, unfortunately.”

“Sir, but we have the evidence. There’s no doubt we’d win.”

“He’s still Tim’s father. That means something, and is a bond that’s hard to break, and shouldn’t be broken.”

“If I was only a second or two late, I would say it’s accurate to assume Mister Jack Drake was going to strike Timothy. He reeked of liquor and tossed him onto the ground.”

“But he didn’t hit him. Sounding harsh isn’t my imperative. But accusing a child of doing something they didn’t do, wouldn’t classify as anything that’d allow Tim to leave. And again, Tim and Jack are family. We shouldn’t break a family. That isn’t a good goal to set.”

“Are you really defending a man that didn’t bother to raise his own son, that he threatened with boarding school over something he should be more sympathetic with, and berates him when Tim actually acts his own age? People can change, Master Wayne, but when people are constantly given chances, those chances should run out eventually.”

“What would you suggest, Alfred? I’m doing what's best for Tim in my eyes. If we took him from his dad he’d hate us forever. Once Tim is able to function properly again, he’ll just look at it like another incident in his life. He’ll want to go back whether he wants to or not, because in his heart he loves his father.”

“Please forgive me for what I’m about to say, Master Wayne. But your over glorification of genetic parents because of the death of your own seems to have left you forgetting that whether biological or not, your family isn’t truly who’s related to you by blood.” Alfred sighed having to speak in such a rough way. “You’ve brought in Master Grayson as your ward, and Master Todd as your son. Family is who you bring in close and who you choose to stay with, and if you all care for one another. Sir, you know this best. And I’m not forgetful that they had no parents left when you brought them in, but don’t forget that just because they live right beside your home that damage isn’t being done to a child.”

The chair Bruce was sitting on squeaked as he moved back to stand up. He made his way up the stairs to where Tim was getting a bath. He took a deep breath, and took a moment to consider his actions, and knocked on the door.

“Tim--Tim are you decent? I’d like to speak to you about what happened. Now, it doesn’t have to be right this moment. Take any moment you need. But we need to know if--”

In a quick unhesitating moment, the door opened, and Tim never looked smaller to Bruce. The vulnerable look in his eye mixed with the oversized sweater he had on. The kid was still damp from a poor job drying himself, but it didn’t stop him from leaping at Bruce and putting his arms around him for a hug. Tim rested his head on Bruce’s chest as it was the highest he could reach, and he squeezed as hard as he could. A slight tear went down Tim’s face. Did he hear Alfred and Bruce? In the moment it didn’t matter, and Bruce hugged him back in a fatherly embrace. Neither of them knew what to do.

As the hug continued on longer Bruce lifted Tim into the air in a similar matter as Jack and Tim as Tim went to make sure they were okay during No Man’s Land. Would Tim remember that and choose to stay with Jack? Did Tim still believe Jack would get better? Or would Bruce’s rare act of physical affection convince Tim to tell everything he knew to make a case to stay with Bruce? Did it even matter yet?

It felt like a part of Tim’s life died, but as an era of your life is killed, another is born. Something new you have to make the best out of. Maybe the era will stay and it’ll get better, or maybe not. The future was a mystery, and could be scary. If it wasn’t then people wouldn’t be pretending to be fortune tellers. Sometimes though, it’s best just to remember and focus on the present.

“I love you, R--um, Tim. I hope you know this. I care about you, and want to protect you for as long as I can, and if needed I’m absolutely willing to--” Bruce was cut off by a still tearful Tim.

“I love you too, Bruce.”

[nettles-bo-bettles]

Day 1: Best Friends

Maribat War Day 1: Prompt: Best Friends

Third Person POV:

Tim Drake and Marinette Dupain-Cheng have been best friends for as long as they can remember. It all started when they were five years old. Tim had been running around Gotham at night pretending to be Robin when he found Marinette scavenging a dumpster for food and perhaps clothing.

“Hi! What are you doing in a dumpster?”

“Oh...I’m looking for food and maybe new clothes if I can find any.”

“How come? Why in a dumpster?”

“Well, my parents died or left me before I was born...I’m not really sure but I’ve been a street kid all my life. I usually find everything I need in dumpsters.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t usually get to spend much time with my parents, they’re always busy but they let me do whatever I want and I usually got everything I need at home.”

“I’m sorry too, it’d probably be worse to have neglectful parents rather than dead parents.”

“It’s alright, I still got a roof over my head right? That’s why I feel bad for you. You don’t seem to have a roof over your head.”

“Yeah, I don’t but I’m used to it.”

“Hey! I got an idea! Why don’t you come stay at my house?”

“But wouldn’t that be intruding? And I don’t even know your name or anything about you.”

“Oh, I forgot about that. Well, I’m Tim Drake! My parents are Jack and Janet Drake, though, they’re always busy so you probably won’t see them around very often and I’m trying to figure out who Batman and Robin are!!!”

“I’m Marinette! I don’t know who my parents are or what my last name is and I think you’re pretty cool!”

Throughout the days Tim and Marinette spent together they grew closer, they were almost attached to each other by the hip. The only time you wouldn’t see the two together would be when they went to sleep, had to change or went to the bathroom. They named each other as best friends and swore to never leave the other’s side.

One day when Tim was sick and couldn’t go outside Marinette started wandering around Gotham again. Eventually it turned night and she started to head home, though, she got stopped by three adult men who looked to be drunk and in their mid-thirties, Marinette, at the time was 8.

The men were clearly about to rape her so she got into a fighting stance and got ready to teach them not to mess with 8 year olds, right before she punched the middle guy someone swooped in and knocked them all out. The mysterious person patted down the men, seemingly looking for something. Once the mysterious person found what it was Marinette discovered that this person was most likely only there for stealing valuable items from drunk men.

Although she was right the mysterious figure turned to her and looked her up and down, seemingly looking for signs of injury.

“Are you okay little kitten?”

“Uh yeah I guess I just stayed out too late, who are you?”

“I would’ve thought you would’ve known but I’m Catwoman, and you little kitten seem like you can be quite the feisty one.”

“Well I mean I was about to punch those guys but you got here before I got the chance.”

“How do you feel about me adopting you and you being my little kitten sidekick?”

“Um...I don’t want to leave my best friend. Can I talk to him about it first?”

“Of course little kitten, just meet back here tomorrow if your friend is okay with it.”

“Okay!”

And with that Catwoman left Marinette. Marinette walked back to her home and thought about what Catwoman had said. She went to her room and got ready for bed, contemplating about whether she would even want to accept her offer. A few minutes of thinking about it she decided that she did want to accept it and went to bed.

The next morning Marinette woke up and did her usual routine, grab an outfit for the day, take a shower, go to the bathroom, get changed and meet Tim out in the hallway.

“G’morning Tim!”

“Morning Bean!”

“So last night I ran into Catwoman and she wants to adopt me but I immediately remembered our promise so I wanted to run the idea through you before making a final decision about letting her.”

“I say go for it, we’ll still see each other all the time right?”

“Yeah!”

“Then go for it!”

“I will! I’ll let her know that you said that!!!”

They continued talking while walking down the steps and on the way to the kitchen for breakfast. Once in the kitchen they grabbed their usual breakfast foods, Marinette got her usual froot loops and Tim got his usual yogurt.

The day went on as usual until it was 8pm and it was time for Marinette to go back to the alleyway to meet with Catwoman. She grabbed a good amount of clothes and her favorite pair of shoes along with some slippers and put them in her backpack. She left and said goodbye to Tim, telling him that she’d see him the next day. Little did they know that they wouldn’t see each other until they were 15 due to Catwoman training Marinette to fight and to flirt for when Batman got a new Robin.

It was the day after Catwoman had adopted Marinette and Tim was waiting in his usual spot where he met with Marinette, however, she didn’t show. He went back inside, disappointed that his friend ditched him. He decided to try again the next day, and the next, and the next. This went on for three weeks before he decided to give up. Years passed by quickly and Tim was now thirteen and in the beginning stages of growing into an adult. One day he wandered around Gotham City and bumped into Bruce Wayne, the older man saw something in the young boy and decided to adopt him. Tim’s parents agreed to the adoption, though, they weren’t paying much attention.

When Bruce adopted Tim he told him about all of his nightly activities and asked if he would like to become Robin or to watch everything from the batcomputer. Tim chose to be Robin and Bruce gave him two years of training for it. Eventually it was time for Tim to go out as Robin for the first time and it ended up being against the Riddler. However, a few hours after the Riddler incident there was a robbery going down because of Catwomen who had broken into a jewelry store and stolen thousands of dollars worth of diamonds...at least that’s what she made them think. In reality she just wanted to see Batman and introduce her little kitten to Batman’s new Robin. And it worked. Catwomen’s new apprentice was going to use the tricks that Catwoman had taught her with flirting and everything but the minute she saw Robin she knew it was her old friend, Tim Drake. The one who she would trust with her life with no hesitation, the one she missed oh so much, the one that she would give anything just to see again.

“Long time no see Marinette.”

“I missed you so much, I thought I was never gonna see you again.”

“Me too, that day after you got adopted, and you didn’t show up I- I was devastated. And when you didn’t show up any time at a later date I just gave up all hope to see you again.”

“So...you’ve grown taller.”

“And so have you…”

“This is awkward so I’m uh- I’m just gonna go.”

“Yeah..OH WAIT!”

“Yeah?”

“Can we exchange numbers so we can still be friends?”

“Oh uh sure.”

The two teens exchanged numbers and went on their way, deciding that it was too awkward to continue being in the same place. Soon though, they ended up texting each other every night, they grew closer to each other yet again and the next time they met they ended up becoming inseparable.

One day, Selina decided to bring Marinette to the Wayne’s so she could meet her adoptive mother’s close ‘friend’. When they arrived at the Manor they were greeted by Alfred who welcomed them in. He led the women into the living room where Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake stood. When the youngest of the Waynes saw Marinette he immediately ran up to her and hugged her.

“Um- Tim, buddy why- how do you know Selina’s adoptive daughter?” Dick asked his younger brother.

“Oh, we used to be best friends when we were little until I got adopted by Selina.” Marinette answered for him.

“Yup, she’s my best friend who also happens to be addicted to caffeine and an insomniac just like me,” said Tim with a grin on his face.

Dick and Bruce wanted to get to know Marinette better so everyone socialized for hours until eventually the Waynes had to kick Marinette and Selina out as they had to patrol Gotham soon.

~Time Skip~

It had been a year since Marinette and Tim got reunited and they were hanging out at Selina’s house and talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Soon, however, there was a knock at the door. Marinette opened the door to see who it was and surprisingly it was child services.

“Your name is Marinette Kyle correct?”

“Yes that’s me.”

“I apologize for any inconvenience but you’ll have to come with us because Selina Kyle is not fit for having a minor under her care. A couple in Paris, France has taken interest in adopting you so you will be moving there to be under their care for the next two years until you are a legal adult, you will then be able to move back here if you wish to do so.”

“Wait- WHAT?!?! YOU CAN’T DO THAT!!!”

“I’m afraid I can and it’s going to happen. Please come with me. And, young man if you could please inform Ms.Kyle of what has happened here.”

“I- but- she- she’s my best friend, my only friend you can’t take her.”

“Sir I’ve already explained everything please don’t make me do it again, now once Ms.Kyle arrives back home please inform her of what has happened here today.”

The man grabbed Marinette by the arm and took her with him, he drove to the airport and watched as she went into the plane.

After a long flight Marinette was finally in Paris. She got off the plane and the french couple who adopted her walked up to her and asked if she was Marinette. She said yes and they took her with them to their home, it was a bakery on the bottom floor and an apartment on the top floor. They took her to the room they set up for her, it was insanely pink but she didn’t say anything about it. A few days later she was enrolled in Francois Dupont Highschool, though she made many friends it wasn’t the same as Tim. Years passed and she moved back to Gotham, when she did, however, she couldn’t find her long-time best friend.

Eventually she did find Tim and they became closer than ever before, she met his other two brothers and his sisters and became their honorary sister. It was a few days before Wayne Gala and Tim still didn’t have a date, he told his coworkers who were going to be there that he would have a date but he still didn’t...until he got the best idea, ASK MARINETTE!! And so he did. He asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend for his coworkers and like the good best friend she is, she said yes.

They went to Wayne Gala pretending to be dating and managed to fool everyone, however, during the middle of the Gala when Bruce was introducing everyone, the Riddler decided to show up. He chose Tim to give his riddles to and told him that if he got any of them wrong that he would kill him. Marinette was just hoping that he was going to get them all right.

First Riddle, he got it correct.

Second Riddle, he got that one too.

Third Riddle, he got it again.

Fourth Riddle, and again.

He got them again and again and again. Eventually he was on the 15th riddle, the last one. At this point everyone was holding their breath. He answered it...but he got the answer wrong. It was wrong and before Marinette could even comprehend the fact that he got it wrong, Tim was dead. The Riddler had shot her best friend, he was gone, forever. Her best friend since she was five years old was gone. She would never get to make any more memories with him, all the time she had with him was over, she had too much to say and not any time to say it. He was gone.

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “Fright Night” (the 1985 version)

No I ain’t watching the remake with David Tennant.  ‘Cause I said so.

*does Borat impression while loading the movie on Amazon Prime*

“Sit here beside me on the veranda.”  Is this the... TV show scene?  The show with Roddy McDowall?

SCARE CHOOORD!

“So... luminescent.”  *laughs*

Those were some... horrible kissing noises

I like the out of context implication that as soon as the woman asks the dude to lay on her chest, Peter Vincent’s like “NONE IN THIS HOUSE!”

“IF SHE BREATHES...”

What idiot puts their smelly ass soccer cleats on their headboard?

“We’ve been going together almost a year, and all I ever hear is ‘Charley, stop it.’“  Well then maybe that’s a you problem

Also what the hell is that map thing next to Amy?

“Let’s get into bed.”  *bug eyes*

Amy, that is not the look of someone who is ready to have sex.

“It says right here that the divorce rate is 76% higher among couples who don’t argue before marriage.”  Shut up, Mom.

“Thank you [Amy] for helping Charley with his homework.”  ...I was gonna make a sex joke here but nah.

Oh I hate Charley’s friend in his movie.

Charley’s car, while super nice, looks like a sunburnt cow

“My luck.  He’s [the neighbor] probably gay.”  AAAAAHHH THEY EVEN SAID IT!

I really Charley to slap Teach [Ed] at some point but I know it’s never gonna happen.

For a moment, I thought that the carpenter dude partner was gonna be like Kenny from “The War at Home” but nah.  He probably just uses his teeth a lot.

*silently jamming to the background synth music*

*Charley spots a woman removes her bra in the window*  What was this rated again?

AN:  It’s rated R

*yells when Jerry looks over to see Charley through the window*

*Shot of Jerry’s hand pulling down the window blind*  That... is a lady hand.

AN:  They were actually extensions that Chris wore and he helped apply them himself so that he could just rip them off after a day of shooting

*Charley’s mom ruins Charley’s cover*  DAMN IT MOM

This movie is basically “Who Cried Wolf” but with vampires?

“I’m his roommate Billy Cole.”  Can you believe just that the fact that this movie was made in the mid 80s when the AIDS crisis in the US was getting ready to happen and director Tom Holland and the screenwriter went “YES they’re gonna be GAY and THAT’S FINAL”

“You actually saw the body, Charley?”  Uh doesn’t that tone raise any suspicion from the detective STANDING NEXT TO HIM?

*snorts in hilarity when Billy jokingly does the sign of the cross*

Charley, I would not trust anything Teach tries to tell you.

AND OF COURSE CHARLEY’S MOM INVITED JERRY OVER

OMINOUS SYNTH CHORD

My God, Chris Sarandon...

What’s with the celery?

Charley’s mom is the most oblivious character in this whole movie, I swear

FISH EYE LENS

I forget, do we ever see Jerry in vampire bat form or do we just see him as Chris Sarandon with fangs the entire movie?

Why yes, Charley, use your tiny crucifix.

Doesn’t the whole “enter with permission” count with bedrooms too or just the house in general?  If it counted with bedrooms, couldn’t Charley just put up a sign on his door that said “NO ADMISSION WITHOUT PERMISSION” and that would keep Jerry out?

Jerry is the most casual vampire I’ve seen so far.  Someone would just throw a chair at him and he’ll just No-Sell it like “Listen... I was just saying...”

There’s got to be a logical way to explain this Christmas thing.

We just need a vampire that’s like Catherine O’Hara from “Schitt’s Creek”

I love how Charley’s like 80% out the window and yet he can still reach for an entire mug of pencils

NO WAIT WE SEE HIS [Jerry’s] VAMPIRE FACE NEVERMIND

Valium?!?

Christopher Lee!

THAT FRAMING [of Billy kneeling directly in front of Jerry’s legs] ISN’T OBVIOUS AT ALL TOM HOLLAND

The logic for this movie is something else.  Charley sees someone on TV perform a vampire killing ON A TV SHOW and thinks “YES I’m going to ask him to help me with this vampire situation!” 

This is like asking Drew Carey if he can assist in a vampire hunting

*imitates Peter Vincent shooing Charley away*

*snorts at Teach and Amy walking in on Charley setting holy stuff ALL OVER HIS HOUSE*

Also I absolutely forgot about the weird side plot with Amy being an incarnation of a past love.  What is it with this and Bram Stoker’s Dracula going this route?

Man, Roddy McDowall is just a masterclass in classical acting.  You can tell the different style between him and the other actors.

There’s a bust of Klaus Kinski’s Nosferatu in the glass box!

AN:  *in best Janet from ‘The Good Place’ impression*  Fun fact, Klaus Kinski was actually an asshole

I like the red and black plaid night coat

God, all those clocks going off at once reminds me of the scene in Pinocchio.  That would give me so much anxiety in real life.

WHO TOSSED JERRY THE APPLE?!?

OH AND THEY [Jerry and Billy] WALK OFF TOGETHER OF COURSE

*imitates Peter Vincent saying “Good evening good evening”*

*going through AO3′s Fright Night 1985 tag as Peter explains what he’s doing*  Wow there’s four pages.  I might have to bookmark some of these.

Ohhhh kay, nevermind on half of these.  Not into that.  Nope nope nope.

I forget, is Billy also a vampire?  Or is he like some ghoul?  Werewolf?

...Interspecies romance?

For a fact, I know that if CinemaSins covers this movie, they would award Jerry the “eating an apple because he’s an asshole” sin and I would laugh

Oh he’s [Jerry] gonna go for the hand kiss, isn’t he? 

OH GOD DAMMIT

*has to still register it*

Wait, did Jerry hold the bottle up in front of the fire in case there was actually holy water?  Would heating it up counteract the holy water inside?

WAIT DOESN’T PETER CATCH JERRY’S LACK OF REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR AS THEY LEAVE?

How did they do that?  Did they just... comp Chris Sarandon out or did they have him tuck out of frame but still say his lines?

AN:  Tom Holland originally goofed up the shot I guess but they ran with it

JERRY IS BI HEADCANON CONFIRMED

WAIT HE FOUND THE MIRROR SHARDS

The overhead tracking shot following Ed in the alleyway is actually pretty good.  And the way it slides to a normal shot is great.

Oh they do the creepy Dracula fog!

Wait, this movie came out the same year as Nightmare on Elm Street 2.  Dang.

And that movie also had a weird homoerotic tone to it.

You know what, the way Jerry offers Ed salvation only to attack him was actually pretty solid.  Just good acting from both of them.  I was sold.

WAIT IT’S THE CLUB SCENE!

*Peter presses a cross to Ed’s forehead*  Great prosthetic too, holy crap!

*jams out to the song playing at the club*

Why do Jerry’s dance clothes look like either my pajamas or really lame exercise clothes?

God, it’s [Jerry pacing back and forth watching Amy] like a cat stalking a bird holy crap

NOOOO I DON’T NEED TO WATCH THIS SHE’S LIKE SIXTEEEEENNNN

*jaw drops when Jerry runs his hand up Amy’s leg*  NOOOOOO

Not gonna lie, this song almost sounded like a remix of the Nightmare on Elm Street theme

NOOOOOOOO STOOOOOPPPP CEASE DESIST

Amy’s hair just gets wilder and wilder during this dance sequence

STOOOOOOPPPP

Quick, Charley, start a fight!  Just... punch someone!  Commotion!

*just yells when Jerry steals a kiss from Amy*

*Amy wakes up in a white dress in Jerry’s house*  NOPE

God and he [Jerry] took off his shirt too just *hides face in hands*

*covers mouth with hand in attempt not to say anything*

*Jerry’s dragging finger scrapes off wood on the banister*  Oh that’s just mean

*Jerry drapes his arms over the back of Billy’s shoulders*  HMM

They would be that duo who would pick up a phone and take turns to go “...surprise, Sidney...”

*A wolf walks out of Mrs. Brewster’s room*  WHAAAAATTT?!?

Dang they really just tossed a plushie wolf off the stairs

WAIT the guy that did the VFX for this movie also did “Ghostbusters” if I remember correctly

AN:  Yes

They are just... really dragging out Ed’s death scene

That kinda exasperated look Peter gives the smoking house is great

Wait is Billy a vampire too?  Zombie?  What is he?

I really just want Charley to reach out and just slightly poke dying Billy in the chest so that he crumbles backwards.  That would have been hilarious.

How long is Amy’s hair?

HE [Jerry] DOES TURN INTO A BAT!

Real plot twist would be that the bat bite also starts turning Charley into a vampire so Peter would have to kill three birds with one stone (heal Charley and Amy and kill Jerry)

Boss move:  Peter closing the coffin in front of Jerry

And it ends with the same shot as the opening!

“Oh, you’re so cool, Brewster.”  So is Ed alive?

[three-drink-amy]

Sweet Creature

I have been so touched by the support for this fic! Thank you! 

chapter one - chapter two - chapter three 

chapter four - chapter five - chapter six

Chapter Seven

Weeks passed and Claire still refused to yield. Her feelings were still too raw to deal with Jamie. Joe would occasionally try to tell her that she should reach out, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Giving the check back to Jamie was supposed to serve as a cutting of their ties. And it had worked. After Joe had given it back to him, Jamie had stopped trying to talk to her. There were no more texts or calls that she had to ignore. He’d finally taken the hint. Most of her was relieved, though there was a tiny part of her that was disappointed. 

Ten years was a long time to be friends before letting someone go. But if the action was bad enough, it became easier. She found herself replaying their fight each time she wondered if she should reach out to Jamie. It had been important to Claire to have succeeded mostly on her own. The people that had tried to jump on after she was already starting to be successful pissed her off. But there was always one person who was capable of reminding her that she hadn’t done it all on her own. And until five weeks before, he’d never done so. Even if it seemed silly, even if it was irrational, Claire just couldn’t move past the feeling of betrayal that had been rooted in her since that night. 

So instead of thinking about Jamie, Claire threw all her energy into work. She took on more roles as head baker while also trying to take care of everything she could for both stores. Bouncing back and forth between shops could be draining, but she was determined to do it all. Joe and Mary would often urge her to take a break, but she wouldn’t listen. 

She was sitting in a meeting with the managers of the second store, trying to get a rundown on how things were going. “So things are running smoothly?” 

Both women nodded emphatically. “Och, yes, ma’am they are,” Anna insisted. “We’ve been doing quite well. Even wi’ the influx of orders.” 

Claire quirked a brow, looking at her employee. “There’s been an influx of orders? How many?” 

The two women looked between each other before looking back at Claire. Margaret pulled out a file and looked for the exact number. “They started coming in a few weeks ago. They’re usually quite large. Here it is,” she said, pointing to a specific number. “We’ve had orders three days a week for three weeks.” 

“And actually, I think the second week, there was a fourth order. I believe there have been ten so far. All under the same name, too,” Anna expanded. 

Suddenly, Claire was suspicious. “Wait, it’s all been the same person? Ten orders in three weeks and it’s been the same person?” Both women nodded. “How much has been spent?” 

Margaret went down the page til she found the number. “It’s been 10,000 pounds.” 

Claire’s jaw dropped momentarily. She shook her head as she looked at the two women across from her. “What’s the name for these orders? Is it Jamie Fraser by chance?” 

“No, actually it’s not,” Margaret said, double checking her information. “The name is Malcolm Mackenzie.”  

Claire burst out laughing before quickly stilling herself. “Sorry about that,” she said with a wave of apology. “Let me know if these orders become too much to handle. Or if they continue.” She sighed. “I believe I know who is behind them.” 

“Why do you say “behind them” like it’s a bad thing?” Anna asked. 

Claire realized she must sound ungrateful. Someone had poured 10,000 pounds into her business and she was acting like she wanted them found and beaten. She figured out an explanation to the women before excusing herself from the meeting all together. As she drove back to the other shop, she wasn’t sure if she should be grateful or irritated that Jamie had taken her money and started shoving it right back at her. After her initial shock, she realized it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he was doing so. The man was nothing if not stubborn. 

* * *

Jamie arrived at Lallybroch, a large box of baked goods under his arm. Jenny looked positively shocked at the sight of him at the front door. His hands had been too full to just let himself in. He dropped his bag at the door and placed the box on the dining room table before turning to greet his sister. 

“What are ye doing here?” she asked, staring at him. “Tis been a while since I’ve heard from ye.” 

“Sorry about that,” he said with a shrug. “Been a bit busy.” 

Jenny stepped back, looking at him critically. “Are ye sure? Ye dinna look like yerself, brother.” 

Jamie waved her off. “I’m fine,” he insisted, grabbing his bag and heading for his old room. Jenny followed him up the stairs. Ian walked out in the hallway, stunned at the sight of his brother-in-law. 

“Jamie! I didna realize ye would be here,” Ian exclaimed with a large smile on his face. 

“That’s because he didna bother telling any of us that he was coming,” Jenny replied for him as she still followed Jamie down the hall. “Ye certainly came wi’ a big box of snacks. Tell me, did Claire send any of those for us too?” 

That was the first time Jamie paused since walking in the door. “She didna send them.” He stole a quick glance over his shoulder to see Jenny and Ian exchanging a confused glance. 

“The last time I talked to her, she said she was going to make you bring her here,” Jenny continued to push. “But it’s been months. I’m surprised ye didna bring her this time.” 

Jamie stopped at the doorway for his room, turning to look at the couple trailing him. “That would be because she hasna spoken to me in a month and a half.” He didn’t wait for their response, walking instead to throw his bag down on his old bed. 

“Wait, what?” Ian asked, looking at Jenny to confirm what he’d heard. 

“When was the last time ye talked to her?” Jenny asked. “And why have ye no’ spoken?” 

Jamie threw himself down onto his bed with a large sigh. He sat up to see Jenny standing in front of the bed, Ian lingering near the doorway. “She’s mad at me.” He shook his head. “No, that makes it sound like she’ll get over it in a few days and we’ll be fine. We were arguing and I said the wrong thing. Something stupid. Something that, Christ, I didna even mean, especially no’ the way she thought I meant it. But she hasna spoken to me since.” He looked to Jenny. “I believe it was the last day ye saw her as well.” 

Jenny’s brows shot up as she stared at Jamie. “Are ye kidding me?” He shook her head. “That was so long ago. Twas what, six weeks?” 

Jamie hung his head, nodding to the floor. “Aye, six weeks.” 

“What, uh, what did ye say?” Ian asked, stepping slowly closer. 

Jamie glared at him. “Why does that matter?” 

Ian shrugged. “Curiosity?”

“We might also be able to give ye proper advice if we really knew what happened,” Jenny suggested. “And sometimes talking it out helps.” 

“I dinna want to talk about it,” Jamie grumbled. 

“Well then why even come here?” Jenny asked, throwing her hands up. “Ye ken that we’d be able to see that ye’re miserable. And ye ken that we’d want to do something to make ye feel better. Why even come?” 

Jamie ran a hand down his face. “Because I canna take it anymore. We live in the same bloody building and I still havena seen her in six weeks. She’s gotten quite good at pretending I was never a part of her life. That’s a talent I havena been able to manage. I feel as though I’m losing my mind. Each time I reach the second floor I have to make myself keep going rather than running to her door and begging her to see me.” 

“Well, maybe that’s what ye should do,” Jenny offered. “Maybe ye should try and talk to her.” 

Jamie glared at her, a slight shake to his head. “Ye dinna think I tried that? What, ye think she kicked me out and I just accepted it?” Jenny opened her mouth to reply but Jamie continued. “No, I texted her and called her. I went by her home and she wouldna answer the door. I went by the bakery and they lied and said she wasna there. I tried everything I bloody could, Jenny. Claire doesna want to see me. She doesna want to talk to me. And I’m losing my mind.” He laid his face in his hands. “I want nothing more than to make it up to her. Than to tell her I was wrong and just apologize. Even if she still thinks it’s unforgivable, I at least want her to know that I know I fucked up.” 

Jenny walked over and sat down on the bed next to Jamie. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder, trying to comfort him. “I’m sorry, Jamie. That sounds verra hard.” She was silent for a moment. “Though, I must admit, I’m glad it didna have something to do wi’ what I said to her that day.” 

Jamie’s head snapped over in her direction. “What did ye say to her?” 

Jenny waved her hand, dismissing his question. “Tis no’ important.” 

“Janet, what did ye say to her?” Jamie all but demanded. 

Jenny held a hand up in surrender. “Fine, I said something stupid about how I was always wondering when the two of ye would get together.” 

Jamie stared at her. “Why would ye say that?” 

“Because I did always wonder. There was always only one constant woman in yer life and it was Claire. I always thought something would happen there eventually,” Jenny reasoned. 

“We both did, actually,” Ian admitted. “We’ve talked about it numerous times.”

Jamie gaped back and forth at them. “What, just behind my back?” 

“Well what was the alternative?” Jenny asked. “We ask ye to yer face when ye’re ever going to realize that Claire is a wonderful woman who ye could easily be with?” She shook her head. “We obviously couldna do that.” 

“Seems pointless to mention it now,” Jamie said with a sigh. “It’s been this long, she probably willna speak to me again.” 

Jenny sighed, looking over at Jamie. “And ye’ve tried everything ye can think of?” 

Jamie was silent for a long time, hesitant to reveal the most damning evidence. “She gave me back the money.” 

Jenny’s hand froze where it had been rubbing on his back. Ian’s jaw dropped. “The money? As in the money?” Ian asked. “The money that ye gave her to start her bakery?” Jamie nodded, his eyes closing in his misery. “Shit,” Ian whispered. 

“So I think it’s safe to say that Claire doesna plan on having me be a part of her life any longer. The biggest stake I had in her life, she forcibly gave back to me,” he said, looking down at his feet.

“Well then you saw her?” Jenny asked. “Why not try and explain yourself then?” 

Jamie shook his head. “I didna. She sent Joe.” 

“Joe! What a great lad! How is Joe?” Ian asked. Jenny and Jamie both stared at him, waiting for him to read the mood again. “Sorry, I was just curious. Thought a change in conversation might be nice,” he defended with a shrug. 

“Okay, how about this? What can ye try to take yer mind off of it?” Jenny asked helpfully. 

“Nothing,” Jamie replied. “Believe me, I’ve tried plenty of things and nothing takes my mind off of it. I’m just…” 

“Depressed?” Ian offered. 

Jamie nodded. “Aye, a bit. Nothing really brings me joy anymore if I canna share in it wi’ her.” 

Jenny flashed Ian a look and he shook his head at her, telling her not to say anything. Jamie ignored them. “Wait, so if she willna speak to ye, how do ye have a giant box of her baked goods ye brought wi’ ye?” 

That was the first time Jamie had grinned. “Well, she gave me back the money, but I didna think it was mine to have. I gave it to her for her business and I intended to keep it that way.” Jenny narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ve been doing orders at her second shop under another name. I’ve been putting the money back in the bakery.” 

Ian laughed, nodding approvingly at Jamie. Jenny shook her head, the beginnings of a smile on her face. “Wait, so how much have ye spent?” 

Jamie grimaced. “We dinna need to talk numbers.” 

Jenny rolled her eyes at her brother. “Jamie, I ken yer net worth. Just tell me. How much have ye been spending on baked goods?” 

Jamie looked down at the ground, not wanting to meet her eyes. “Ten thousand pounds.” 

Jenny screeched, standing up from the bed. “Ye’ve spent that much money on pastries? Christ, Jamie!” 

Jamie looked up at her. “It wasna really on pastries. Twas on Claire!” 

“I never wanted to tell ye what ye should do wi’ yer money when ye won, especially when ye decided to do mostly wise things wi’ it. But this is too much, Jamie. Ye need to be more responsible wi’ yer money,” Jenny insisted. 

Jamie rolled his eyes. “I havena had this specific amount of money in five years. I was doing just fine wi’out it. I’m trying to give it back to her wi’out her noticing.” 

Jenny sighed, looking down at Jamie. “So why are ye here?” 

“Because I needed a break from it,” Jamie answered. “Everything in Glasgow reminds me of Claire. The only reason I live there is because she moved there after uni when Geillis blew her acceptance in London. I went there because she was in a bad place and I didna think she should be alone. I’m here because I needed to get away from the building we both live in.” He laid back on the bed. “I’m going to move soon. I canna keep living there.” 

“Where would ye go?” Ian asked. “Here?” 

Jamie sat up and looked at him. “No, I’m no’ about to move home. I dinna ken. Maybe somewhere out here. Somewhere far enough away from all the memories there. I could commute from here. It wouldna be that bad,” he thought out loud. 

“Look, here’s my advice, though I ken ye willna take it,” Jenny started, sitting back down on the bed. “Try to reach out one more time before ye start making all these life changes. A lot of time has passed, even since the last time ye reached out. Try to talk to her again.” 

Jamie looked at Jenny and considered her advice. It made sense, he just didn’t think it would make a difference. Nothing in six weeks had weakened the wall Claire had built between them. He was fairly certain that she’d consider it a breath of fresh air if he left. He nodded to appease his sister, though his mind was still negating her advice. 

His family tried their hardest to take his mind off his misery, but nothing quite did the trick. Just as always. Jamie was sitting in bed that night, when his phone rang. “Joe?” Jamie answered, genuinely surprised by the man’s call. 

“Hey, Jamie! How’s it going?” 

Jamie was silent for a moment. “About as ye’d expect,” he said, trying not to totally weigh down the conversation already. “What’s up?” 

“Well I wanted to call and let you know that I proposed to Gayle! And she said yes!” Joe told him, pure excitement resonating through the call. 

Jamie felt a genuine smile on his face for the first time in six weeks. “Joe, that’s wonderful! Congratulations! I’m so happy for the both of ye.” 

“Thanks, Jamie, I appreciate that. I wanted to call and tell you myself.” 

“Well why worry about calling others now? Ye should be celebrating,” Jamie insisted. 

Joe laughed. “Gayle’s calling some friends so I took a moment to do the same thing.” 

“Ah.” 

“Look, sooner rather than later, I think there’s going to be an engagement party,” Joe said, hesitancy filling his voice. “Gayle was already talking about it before she even called her friends.” 

“Joe, I can tell where ye’re going wi’ this. Dinna worry about me. I appreciate the thought, but Claire was yer friend before I was. She should be there. No’ me,” Jamie replied, though it killed him. 

Joe scoffed. “No, you should both be there. And I want you to be there. You’ve been a good friend to me and Gayle and you have just as much right to be there. I’ll keep you posted on the details, okay?” 

Jamie sighed. “Well, yer call. But that sounds good.” He paused for just a moment. “I’m happy for ye, Joe. Truly.” 

“Thanks, man. And you know, this whole thing -”

Jamie cut him off. “That’s alright, Joe. I dinna need to hear it.” 

Joe sighed. “Alright. Well it was good to talk to you. I’ll see you soon.”

“Likewise,” Jamie responded. “Congratulations again, and give Gayle a big hug for me.” 

“Will do. Bye, Jamie.” 

“Bye.” 

They hung up and Jamie’s mind began to race. There was a strong chance he’d get to see Claire again soon. He hated the fact that he didn’t know if that would end up being a good thing or not. He suddenly had hope in him again, though doubt was right there too. 

* * *

Claire picked up her pace as she spotted Joe and Gayle standing toward the back of the room. She was so excited to celebrate her friends’ engagement. A happy occasion was a good distraction from her own emotional turmoil. She threw out her arms as Joe caught sight of her, wrapping him in a hug. 

“You’re getting married!” she exclaimed. “You really did it!” 

Joe laughed. “Damn right I did. I locked down the best woman in the world,” he said, wrapping an arm around Gayle’s waist. She laughed, rolling her eyes at her fiance. 

Claire looked at both of them, a smile on her face. “I’m so happy for the both of you.” 

Gayle and Joe thanked her before they shared a significant look. Claire wondered what that exchange could mean. A few people had gathered behind her, wanting to talk with the couple of the evening. Joe nodded to Gayle before he pulled Claire aside. 

“Look, Lady Jane, there’s something I didn’t tell you.” 

“Is Gayle dying? Is this a Walk to Remember situation?” Claire asked as a joke. Joe looked at her with a disapproving expression. “Nevermind, you say your thing.” 

He stepped closer to Claire, his voice dropping. “I didn’t want to tell you before you got here because I wanted you to come.” She frowned at him in her confusion. “I invited Jamie. And he said he’s going to stop by.” 

“You what?” Claire asked, her voice shrill. “Why?” 

“Because he’s our friend and we wanted to celebrate with all our friends. I know that the two of you have been...not speaking, but I thought you could put that aside for one night,” Joe suggested. “Or just ignore him and pretend he’s not here. He probably won’t even be here for long anyway. He said he had something else going on but that he’d drop by.” 

Claire scoffed. “Yeah, he probably has some woman to seduce.” 

Joe rolled his eyes. “Can you promise me you’ll be civil? Please. I don’t mean to make it all about me, but tonight is to celebrate my engagement. Gayle has a ton of friends and I only have a handful of good friends and it sucks that two of them aren’t talking right now.” 

Claire sighed, looking up at her friend. “Fine. I’ll be civil. Though I can’t promise I’ll actually talk to him.” 

Joe held his hands up in concession. “I never said you had to. Just so long as you guys don’t argue and start a fight at the party.” He looked back at Gayle before turning back to Claire. “And for what it’s worth, I don’t think he actually has plans after this.” 

Claire’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean, I think out of respect to you, he didn’t want to stay for a long time,” Joe admitted, giving her a pointed look.

She shook her head. “You can’t know that,” she denied, carefully scanning the room to see if he’d arrived already. 

“Well that’s just one man’s opinion then,” Joe said with a sigh. “I gotta get back to Gayle. I’ll catch you later.” Claire nodded, unable to respond. 

She got herself a drink and wandered around to find someone she knew. Someone that wasn’t Jamie. She constantly looked around to see if he was there yet. So far, she hadn’t spotted him. Approaching a group of Joe’s doctor friends that she knew from her brief stint in medical school, she distracted herself with aimless talk. Aside from the obvious reasons to be thankful, she was incredibly thankful her bakery had been a success when she had to talk to former classmates. At least her crazy endeavor had paid off. They couldn’t look down on her as much this way. 

Claire was listening to a crazy surgery story when she heard a loud laugh, one that was painfully familiar. She turned toward the sound and saw Jamie talking with Joe and Gayle. Her heart immediately clenched. Her first instinct was to run to him, but she ignored it. She couldn’t do that. The wall had been put up for a reason. But still, she couldn’t help but stare. It had been so long since she’d even seen him. He looked good. Different in a way, but good. She was now completely ignoring the conversation she had been desperate to be a part of, just minutes ago. Before Jamie could look her way, she excused herself to the bathroom. It was the only place she could find some peace from the raging thoughts and feelings within her. 

After spending a few minutes by herself, taking some deep breaths, she finally reemerged to the party. Claire looked to Joe and Gayle, but they were standing alone, talking sweetly to each other. Scanning the room, she looked around desperately for where Jamie was. She didn’t feel ready to talk to him, but she wouldn’t let herself be caught off guard. A waiter came around with a glass of champagne. It was almost time to toast to the happy couple. Claire stood off toward the side, watching as Gayle’s best friend called the room to attention. 

She could barely listen to the toast. It was kind, to be sure. But Claire was not in the right headspace for it. She finally spotted Jamie over by the bar. He was also holding a glass of champagne, a look of melancholy about him. For the first time since she’d stopped speaking to him, she truly was concerned by how he was doing. There had been many times she’d wondered briefly if he was as miserable as she was. But each time she’d dismissed the thoughts as her anger was renewed. 

Everyone lifted their glasses in toast to Joe and Gayle. The couple clinked their glasses against the others, sharing a meaningful look and a kiss. Claire felt tears burn in her eyes. Happiness was so contrasted with her current emotions. Betraying herself, she glanced over at Jamie again. This time he was staring right at her. They locked eyes for the first time in nearly two months and she felt it. She could do nothing but take a deep breath and stare at him. 

Jamie’s mouth quirked up in a sad smile as he nodded to her, his glass raised. Claire said nothing in reply. All she could do was stare. Her heart and her body were both telling her to go to him. But her mind was the one keeping her in place. What if he just hurts you again? She swallowed harshly, their gazes still locked on the other. Her foot was moving forward when a woman approached Jamie, grabbing his attention. He smiled at her as she talked to him. She stiffened, feeling that familiar jealousy brewing within her. There was no way she could do it all again. Without sparing a look for Joe and Gayle, she left the party, desperate to get away from the pain of it all. 

* * *

Jamie had been hesitant to go to the party, but Joe had been insistent. He’d agreed, saying he probably wouldn’t be there for long. It had been so long since he’d seen Claire. He had no idea what would happen when they were finally in the same room. There was no way he was going to use Joe’s engagement party as his way of apologizing to Claire. That wouldn’t be fair to Joe. So he agreed, though he wasn’t sure what he was in for. 

Just before Jamie walked into the private room, he straightened his tie. Looking down at it, he regretfully realized it was one Claire had given him. She was everywhere in his life. Memories of her in his home and his work even. But she wasn’t really in his life. He knew the moment he saw her, all he would want to do was run to her and beg her to forgive him. It would take all the strength he had to respect her wishes for them. 

Claire was the first person he saw as he walked in. He was frozen in place at the sight of her. She looked gorgeous. Her green dress showed off her body, albeit demurely, while her curls hung around her face. His hands itched to tuck them behind her ears so he could see her face better. A tug of longing struck him from the moment he saw her, but he could do nothing about it. She was caught up in conversation with some people he vaguely recognized. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he proceeded away from her to find Joe and Gayle. They were the reason he was there. 

They were caught in conversation, laughing over one of Gayle’s stories. When talking with them, it was easy to pretend that everything was normal. Their happiness was enough to distract him for a moment. But when others were clamoring for the chance to congratulate the couple, Jamie’s misery had no distraction anymore. He turned to look at Claire again, but she was no longer with the group of people from before. Looking around the room, he didn’t spot her anywhere. He sighed disappointedly, walking off toward the bar. 

Soon, they were calling for toasts and Jamie was handed a glass of champagne. He listened to the toast talking about Joe and Gayle’s love for each other. It was a nice toast, but still made him sad. His eyes inevitably started looking for Claire again. He spotted her this time, standing just inside the door to the private room. There was no way he could take his eyes off her. Her glass face showed so much inner conflict. The voice inside his head reminded him that it was all his fault. If he’d not been a fool two months ago, they could have spent that evening together. 

As he was staring at her, she turned and looked at him. Neither of them looked away. There was no way he could have. For the first time in months, she was looking at him, allowing him to gaze back. A sad smile crossed his face as he stared back at her, with a nod and a raise of his glass to her. He wanted to cross the room and talk to her. Even if it was just painful small talk, it would be better than being this far away from each other, unable to bridge the gap. He was about to move when someone tapped on his arm. Looking over, he saw a woman smiling up at him. 

“Sorry, I wanted to ask you how you knew Gayle,” she asked, looking at him curiously. “Are you Max?” 

Jamie frowned. “No, my name is Jamie. I’m a friend of Joe’s.” 

The woman shook her head. “Och, I mistook you for someone else. Sorry to bother you.” 

“Not a problem,” Jamie replied. 

He turned back to look at Claire and she was gone. Looking around the room like crazy, he realized she had left. He tore out of the room, running toward the sidewalk. Her car was pulling away just as his feet hit the ground. He closed his eyes, breathing out a groan. His best chance had been blown. 

* * *

Claire sat in her office, unable to focus on anything but the night before. It had been a good reminder of what being in Jamie’s life was really like. You could only keep his attention for so long before some woman swooped in and he was focused on her. Even though she hadn’t really wanted to talk to him, she was mad that she didn’t get the chance. Her ringing phone brought her mind back to the present. 

“Hi, Joe.” 

“Hey, Lady Jane. So, how was last night? I couldn’t help but notice you and Jamie both left pretty early,” Joe said, a question in his tone. 

“We didn’t leave together,” Claire quickly clarified. 

“I figured you might have said something if you had,” Joe admitted. “But did anything happen?” 

“No, of course not. The bloody man didn’t even talk to me. The biggest thing that happened was that we looked at each other.” 

“Well isn’t that what you wanted to happen?” Joe asked. “You didn’t seem to want to talk to him.” 

“He just stared at me. The man didn’t even approach me! Who does that?” Claire cried. 

Joe took a deep breath on the other end. “Claire, did you approach him?” 

“No.” 

“Look, I know a lot has gone down between you two, but I think you’re being a bit hypocritical here,” Joe said cautiously. “I love you, Claire, but I really think Jamie was just respecting your wishes. You were the one who made it clear you didn’t want him in your life. So he tried to honor that.” 

Claire sighed. Could Joe be right? Was she blowing things out of proportion? Probably. 

“Look, Claire, maybe it’s time to talk to him again. You clearly miss him. Just take the leap and send him a text or something. You’ll probably feel better once you do,” Joe advised. 

“You think he’ll even want to talk to me?” Claire asked, voicing her secret fears. 

Joe laughed. “Of course he will.” He paused. “But you won’t know until you try.” 

Claire shakily agreed, already wondering what she’d even say. The noises coming from outside her office made it seem like the bakery was pretty busy on that Saturday. She stood up and shut the door. The outside world needed to take a backseat for a minute. 

Pulling out her phone, Claire scrolled way down to Jamie’s name. It had been a month and a half since she’d last gotten a text from him. A full two months had passed since she’d sent him one back. She took a deep breath, trying to think of what to say. “Hey” seemed like far too little. “Can we talk?” somehow seemed to heavy. “I miss you” was all she really wanted to say. But was it enough? 

She typed out a short message, her finger hovering over the arrow to send it. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she tried to make herself push send. 

The door to her office burst open with Mary calling for her help. Claire closed out of the message and set her phone on her desk. Sadly, the outside world couldn’t wait anymore. 

As the bakery grew busier, the tentative message laid unsent. By the time Claire went home, she’d completely forgotten about her efforts from earlier. 

Claire was curled up in her pajamas watching a movie on her couch. The simple pleasure of doing so made her happy. She was hugging a pillow to her chest and nursing a glass of wine when a knock at her door jarred her from her peacefulness. 

He was the last person she expected to see on the other side of the door. “Ian?” Claire asked, staring at him. He smiled tightly in reply. “What are you doing here?” 

“Can I come in?” 

Claire nodded, stepping aside to let him in. “Ian, I feel like I know why you’re here. And before you say anything -”

Ian turned and looked at her. “Ye don’t know why I’m here.” 

She recoiled a bit. “Okay. So Jamie didn’t send you? Or Jenny perhaps?” 

He shook his head. “It wasna Jamie. And Jenny doesna want me to be here. But I thought ye should know.” 

“Know what?” 

“Look, I ken ye and Jamie havena been speaking for some time now, but I wanted ye to know. And I thought he would probably want ye to know. Even if -” 

“Ian, out with it!” Claire urged. 

Ian’s face fell and he looked at Claire with a desolate expression. “Jamie was in an accident.”

Next chapter

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #212: Men of Deadly Pride!

October, 1981

Here they are -- the new Avengers!

But not the New Avengers (the difference is that the hairy monster they have is Tigra instead of Wolverine).

And they are having difficulty.

I don’t know what they did to piss off Galadriel over here (I mean yes I do, she says it right on the cover) but she is kicking their asses.

A dark queen indeed.

Not much to actually say about the cover. Uh, the composition looks neat! There we go. A thing.

So lets jump inside.

Where in a moody dawn scene, Jarvis walks alone through a nearly empty Avengers mansion, little knowing he is being stalked until

RAWWR! IT IS CAT!

Tigra jumps out to do him a startle.

C’mon, Tigra. Be nice.

You’re the only Avenger actually staying in the mansion so try not to terrorize the butler.

And he was bringing you a glass of milk for your breakfast!

Although he says that he’s dealt with a lot of unsettling things and he’s learned to maintain him composure. He didn’t even spill a drop.

Jarvis: “I must say, madame, that I find you rather more unsettling than our previous resident Avengers!”

Tigra: “Oh? You a cat-lover, Jarv?”

AND DON’T FLIRT WITH HIM EITHER TIGRA GEEZ

Poor Jarvis is even allergic to cats which seems to include giant cat women.

Jarvis asks how she got this way, prompting Tigra to give a very laconic backstory that once there was a human Greer Nelson who got almost dead and then the cat-people saved her life by turning her into a cat-person.

Tigra: “And, so, here I am, one pretty kitty! But, c’mon, Jarv, does it matter how I got this sexy?”

Jarvis clarifies that he meant how she got this way as in her upbringing. Like, why you so rude.

I guess I’ll just be grateful that this is just playful Tigra flirtiness as opposed to ‘i must make out with someone 24/7 oh hey a supervillain sure I’ll make you with you’ hypersexuality she’d have while on the West Coast Avengers, in the future.

Elsewhere, Tony Stark is decompressing from his one night stand, Teri. Admiring her very comfy couch, grateful that she’s still asleep so he can sneak out (Tony, you cad), and lamenting being on the wagon. When all that’s left to drink is scotch, bourbon, and half a can of warm, flat Dr. Pepper, you drink that Dr. Pepper if you’re Tony Stark.

Tony calls his secretary to have a janitorial crew clean up after the party and to send up a dozen roses for Teri.

And then he flies out the window as Iron Man, the Man Who Kisses and Runs! as Teri wakes up and is like ‘hey tonykins what the hell was that whooshing sound?’

Tony, you cad.

And elsewhere meanwhile, Steve Rogers wakes up promptly at six o’clock in the damn morning bright as the sun and raring to go. Disgusting. Truly disgusting.

I joked about Steve getting up at 6 to run ten miles and whatever because of him criticizing Beast that time but its sickening to see it in action.

Anyway, after he damn sings in the shower like the perky morning man he is, he bounces out the window to the first Avengers meeting since the roster shake-up, musing how little they know about Tigra and how he’ll have to keep an eye on her because he doesn’t know if she’ll crack under pressure or not.

And then onto, ok wow, we are just having full pages of individual Avengers going about their mornings.

So we’re onto Normal Human Man Dr. Donald Blake reaching the end of the night shift he just pulled at a hospital.

Nurse Wilson pretty blatantly flirts with him (thinking to herself “C’mon, doc! Notice that I’m a woman! I dare you!”). Normal Human Man Dr. Donald Blake doesn’t seem to notice but his thoughts are on her, wishing he could take her out for lunch but that he has important Avengers business.

He then taps his walking stick and transforms into Thor and flies off towards the mansion.

And that brings us to Cresskill where Janet van Dyne aka the Wasp and Hank Pym aka Yellowjacket are going about their morning.

Befitting her blase attitude last issue, Jan just wants to stay in bed longer and cuddle but Hank is desperate not to be late to his first meeting as a newly active Avenger again.

So he’s in costume and ready to go while she’s still choosing which of her many many costumes to wear. Albeit with the ulterior motive that she’s trying to look good for him. She does put in like 90% of the effort into the relationship.

So she’s narrowed her choices down to a red and blue costume and a green and purple outfit that looks like maybe she raided the Green Goblin’s wardrobe. She asks Hank to decide for her.

And he does. In a sense.

He blasts the green and purple number to shreds and yells “Wear the other one!” and when she protests the destruction of her stuff he goes “So what? Like you said you’ve got lots!”

Hmm. We haven’t seen Hank in a while. And he didn’t talk much last issue what with all the Moondragoning. But he’s taken a bit of a level in being a jackass.

And then on the ride to the mansion, the limo gets stuck in traffic.

Yellowjacket: “That does it! You can ride in your blasted chauffeured limo so your two-hundred dollar hair-do doesn’t get mussed -- but I’m flying to Avengers Mansion under my own power!”

And then he ditches. He ditches hard. Leaving Wasp to fly after him begging him to wait.

You’re a bit of a rude, Hank.

Like Hank feared, the two do arrive late to the meeting and he is gently ribbed by sudden class clown Captain America.

Captain America: “Well, look who’s finally here! Now the Wasp has arrived with her new partner -- uh, Yellowjacket, right? We can get started!”

Is funny joke. Its been a time so they’re pretending he’s a new guy and ha ha he’s being described as Wasp’s partner instead of vice versa. What an upset.

And it is an upset. Tigra notices what the other Avengers seem to miss, that Cap’s joke just pissed Yellowjacket off.

And its not helped when Cap mentions that its time to elect a new chairman but Iron Man interrupts to say that he and Thor have agreed that its better for Cap to remain chairman. They did just reorganize the roster and all. Some stability is fine.

Thor: “We choose to waive the elections! Such is our right as founding members!”

And this sets Yellowjacket right the hell off.

Yellowjacket: “Is that so? Well, I resent not being consulted! As the Ant Man I was a founding member, too!”

Iron Man: “uh, of course Hank... you and the Wasp! But you came in late... we’d already decided...”

Yeah! The Wasp too!

But Yellowjacket has some kind of insect in his bonnet and he yells that he’s done being forgotten and treated as a has-been while Janet just silently cringes.  She wonders what’s happened to the man she loves. And why he won’t let her reach him anymore.

The meeting continues but the scene transitions.

To a cottage in an isolated glade among the wooded hills of Virginia. Where the olde talking power couple of Gorn and Linnea wake up. Linnea wants to lay in bed with Gorn a while longer but he decides NAY TIME TO GET UP NOW.

Hey wait.

Hmmm.

I’m sensing... thematic parallels. I’m sure its nothing, though.

Anyway, Gorn is tired of living a quiet idyllic life in a beautiful glade with a woman who dearly loves him, as they’ve done for ten thousand years. His dander is up and he wants battles to fight and glory to win! He’s tired of being safe in the glade, protected by Linnea’s power. He’s a warrior, not a farmer!

(I see no evidence of farming around the cottage, just saying)

And since its either be ditched or go with him, Linnea decides to go with him.

Gorn: “You are beautiful in that gown, Linnea. Men shall again call you Elf-Queen as they did in ancient days!”

Linnea/Elf-Queen: “They also called me witch and devil-spawn! They are ever so cruel to my kind!”

Gorn: “Aye, and once we fled them! This time, if we must, we shall fight them!”

Ah, geez, Gorn. The cover implies this won’t go well for you.

So Gorn and Elf-Queen, him on foot and her on horseback) wander into Washington DC literally looking for trouble.

But before trouble, something to eat. Looking for an inn, they wander into a random restaurant.

Gorn, being Gorn, immediately starts yelling at the maitre d’, who he assumes is the innkeeper.

And here’s a bit of an interesting and not often used touch. Even though all speech bubbles are rendered without <> as is sometimes used to denote someone speaking a different language, Gorn and Elf-Queen Linnea are in fact speaking an ancient language.

Nobody can understand a thing they say.

And they can’t understand modern English.

This is a perfect setup for some farce.

Gorn ends up just yelling that he wants food and the maitre d’ gets the gist even though he doesn’t understand the words. This is Washington DC. A lot of people from other countries wander through. So he shows them to a table.

Linnea and Gorn decide that the maitre d’ is probably the innkeeper’s idiot brother. I mean, that’s probably why he can’t understand normal language, right?

And there’s more culture shock to be had. Linnea is realizing how differently dressed everyone is in this era. None of the men are even wielding swords!

Elf-Queen Linnea: “And the women, Gorn -- ! The way they’re dressed --! Like -- like harlots!”

Gorn: “Aye! Hmmm...” -totally staring at a butt and not paying attention-

Linnea: “Gorn... ?! I-if we stay here... would you like me to dress so? I do not know if I can learn the ways of these women... but for you my love, I would try! Gorn... ?”

Gorn: “Mmm...” -still not paying attention-

Linnea: (Oh, Gorn! For ten thousand years we have dwelt together in solitude, as one in our love! Am I to lose you now, here in this city of temptresses?)

Hmmm.... this reminds me of something.... but what?

A Barry Kaplan interrupts her inferiority anxiety by coming up and trying to hire her as a fashion model.

And neither Barry nor Linnea can understand each other still.

But she senses something of his intentions and warns him that this isn’t a good idea since she’s sitting next to a warrior and all.

Barry is like ‘maybe if I try other languages?’

And then Gorn notices. And Gorn is displeased.

Gorn: “NO ONE TOUCHES GORN’S WOMAN!”

Barry: “I warn you, I’ve had six jiu-jitsu lessons!”

Wow!

So Gorn gets up from that and just bodily lifts the guy over his head (Barry lamenting that he dropped out before jiu-jitsu lesson seven). But if you get the barbarian or warrior dropped into a modern setting trope they’re usually just way better than any soft modern man. So its funny to see this random dink get the better of Gorn, even if its just the preamble to what would have been Gorn delivering a thorough beatdown.

Its just not what you expect to see in this story.

Linnea magics Barry out of Gorn’s hands, trying to defuse the situation but Gorn interprets the situation as her ‘unmanning’ him.

Gorn: “Why, Linnea? Why do you seek to unman me? Is it not enough that your power has preserved my youth and kept me for centuries? Must you now interfere in my battles?”

Linnea meekly apologizes.

And then the maitre d’ comes pissed off that this loud, shouting weirdo started a fight and is going to call the police on them. Until Linnea goes ‘oh right we should pay for the damage we caused’ and gives the maitre d’ a gold and diamond necklace.

And the maitre d’ mentally goes cha-ching and reroutes an order about to be served to give to the big spending non-English speaking weirdos.

When Gorn and Elf-Queen finally leave the restaurant wouldn’t you know it, someone stole their damn horse!

What kind of city is it where you can’t leave a horse tied to a parking meter without someone making off with it??

Linnea once again is like ‘hey lets go home to our nice glade where nobody ever stole our horse’

Gorn: “It is your home, Linnea, where I am but a guest -- nay, a pet kept by your grace. Ages ago, I was a renowed warrior, honored and feared by nations and kings! If I am to be a man in my own eyes I must regain the glory I once knew!”

And then a cop comes up to Gorn because you can’t just carry a sword around Washington DC.

Gorn: “Eh? His words are gibberish but the intent is clear! This blue-clad warrior issues me a challenge! Have at thee scoundr- AHH!”

And then the cop just maces Gorn.

Its not funny like the talent agent tossing him into a salad bowl because: cops. Its still a little funny because: Gorn.

Anyway, while Gorn is screaming and coughing the cop just slaps some handcuffs on him.

And Linnea magics the cop away from her boyfriend and worries over him.

Given this new horrible thing that has happened to them, another in a line of horrible things happening to them once they left their home, Linnea begs Gorn again to give up this quest to fight a random thing to make himself feel manly.

Linnea: “I am so worried, Gorn! The world has grown so strange! There is so much here that we do not understand! Please, let us go back before something terrible befalls us!”

He again refuses and she asks if he would die for his pride.

So he slaps her across the face.

And after all that she’s meekly gone along with his whims and tantrums and whatever else ways to describe Gorn’s exceptionally gornish way of being, she draws the line here.

Linnea: “Go ahead, Gorn -- stay! Win your stupid ‘glory’! I do not care! Farewell!”

And she just walks away into the sky, twinkle, because she can do that.

When she’s too far to hear he whispers an apology but its too late and he sadly trudges off alone into the city.

Wow, that was six pages of just Gorn and Linnea, Elf-Queen. That’s nearly a fourth of the whole issue! We spend a lot of time with these two new characters!

Back at Avengers Mansion, Iron Man and Yellowjacket prep the Quinjet to fly.

Wasp: “You mean we’re going all the way to Washington, D.C. just because somebody there claims they saw a woman walking on air? What’s new about that? I do it every time my sweetie Hank gives me a wink! Then, again, they do have some wonderful stores there! Last time I went there I bought six fur coats!”

Tigra: “Sounds expensive! I’m lucky! Mine’s built in!”

Iron Man chimes in that the air-walking woman also assaulted a cop so clearly this looks like a job for the Avengers.

But when they finish up checking the Quinjet, Yellowjacket says that he’s discovered the ‘sonomodulator circuit’ on his disruptor gun is acting up.

He’s pretty sure he can fix it but Wasp chimes in with a more different idea.

Wasp: “I’ll just ring up Jeeves over at the East Side Penthouse! He can grab one of those doohickies from your lab there and zip right over in the limo! It’ll just take a few minutes!”

Yellowjacket: “You love doing that, don’t you? You love taking every opportunity to flaunt your blasted money! Well, I don’t need your butlers, your cars or your money -- and I don’t need you!”

And Wasp runs off crying that she only wanted to help. Yellowjacket storms into the Quinjet telling the other Avengers to forget Wasp and get going.

Making the other Avengers feel very awkward about witnessing this fight. Cap even feels as if he should do something but doesn’t know what since its a personal matter.

A suggestion? Mandated couples counseling since this kind of thing could affect the team, will be the reason you give? Like. This clearly is something that’s going to cause trouble. Get ahead of it, Cap.

Meanwhile, back in Washington D.C. because yes Gorn didn’t just walk out of the book forever alone. He walked into a very honestly uncomfortably stereotypical gang who decide hey maybe we should mug that guy with the sword, it’ll probably pawn for something.

Gorn still can’t understand a thing anyone says but they’re carrying weapons and finally here’s a situation he understands. And finally he also doesn’t get played for a chump. He just wades into the crowd of six and starts laying them out with his bare hands.

This is what you’d typically see for a warrior type dropped into modern world thing.

Oh and then the cops hear the fight and go hey its that guy with the sword that there was an APB about.

And Gorn goes, hey its guys wearing the same livery of the guy that got me with that stinging vapor. Time to run at them with a sword.

So they shoot him five times.

And he dies.

It turns out that Linnea has been watching Gorn from a distance this whole time, apparently unwilling to actually ditch. So she sees him get gunned down.

She floats down from the sky to his side and realizes that he is already dead. The cops mistake sky woman for an angel (but there was an APB out for Gorn so why didn’t the flying woman warrant a mention?) but if Linnea is, she’s an avenging one.

She turns on the cops with her magic and makes them sink up to their necks into the concrete.

Elf-Queen: “Are you begging? It is for naught! He’s dead! DEAD! My love is dead -- and this city, this world shall PAY!”

And she turns her magic on Washington D.C., blasting a building and a helicopter, lashing out in grief at the world that killed her dickbag boyfriend.

This is when the Avengers finally arrive to the Plot, in this Avengers book.

The Avengers just see someone breaking property and go to stop her.

Captain America: “Avengers... attack!”

Of course, Tony being Tony, and kind of a loose man immediately gets distracted at the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.

Iron Man: “Excuse me, miss! Couldn’t we discuss whatever’s bothering you... say, over dinner at the diplomat club?”

Its... not a bad idea. A little bit of empathy. Its just his motive that’s bad.

And also, his inability to speak ancient languages. Elf-Queen still can’t understand a thing anyone says. She does think a flying man in armor is something Gorn would have liked. But that just makes her mad.

So she magics a railing to wrap up Iron Man.

Thor grabs Elf-Queen from behind, pulling her arm behind her back. Its strikingly reminiscent of the Standard Female Grab Area trope but Elf-Queen doesn’t believe in that trope.

Elf-Queen: “You are strong, jackal! Your strength might have been enough to hold even me -- had you not presumed I was as frail as I appear!”

And she throws Thor into what is probably a monument.

Hmm, Iron Man and Thor got dunked so far because they really underestimated this woman because she’s a woman. Maybe don’t do that?

Meanwhile, Yellowjacket is thinking that this is his chance to prove what a star he is, if he’s the one that takes the threat down with his disruptor blast.

While Elf-Queen distracts herself with the dropped Mjolnir, Yellowjacket tries to shoot her with his disruptor from behind.

But it shorts out again!

Maybe he should have gotten the replacement part instead of trying to jury-rig a repair!

Elf-Queen senses the power in Mjolnir and tries to pick it up to better smash the world but finds she can’t lift it.

She guesses that there’s some enchantment on it since it doesn’t crumble the ground beneath it.

SO

So she magics the ground to form a hand to grab and lift Mjolnir.

And then she hits Thor in the face with his own hammer. Hah.

Another for the list of silly Mjolnir loopholes.

Linnea monologues about her backstory because. Look. She may not be a villain. And people may not be able to understand a word she says. But people in comics have to comic.

Elf-Queen: “I am Linnea, called Elf Queen and great is the power I was born with! It transported my love and me across the ocean to this land ages ago in search of solitude! It preserved our youth! It kept us hidden when civilization spread its taint hither! The forces, forms and sustenance of the world bend to my will -- but all my power cannot help my Gorn now! Now, my gift serves only as a means for vengeance!”

Iron Man manages to tear free of the railing wrapped around him just as Tigra loudly pounces at Elf-Queen.

And Elf-Queen just gestures and sends Tigra flying into the air. High, high into the air. So high, so into the air that Iron Man has to fly after her to make sure Tigra doesn’t end up asphyxiating in space.

With all of the other Avengers out of action (or standing around uselessly like Yellowjacket), Elf-Queen turns out wrath on Captain America.

She blasts a building, sending a whole wall at him.

Cap dodges through the rain of rubble and berates himself. He realizes that he should have attacked sooner but he’s been holding back, trying to figure things out.

She’s speaking a language that doesn’t sound like any he knows of. Her clothes seem to be of ancient design. And he’s wondering if she maybe just popped out of the past, somehow surviving from some age undreamt of.

And hey, relatable, kinda. He spent decades in suspended animation.

Elf-Queen throws a lake of fire between her and Cap and Cap figures hey she’ll expect me to go around. So he jumps over it, doing her a startle.

Cap: “Good! I took her completely off guard! This is a perfect chance -- to show her that we want only peace!”

So he stands in front of her, hands to his side, palms showing. Showing no aggression.

Elf-Queen: “You did not strike when you had the opportunity! I could slay you easily now! Unflinchingly you face death! How like... my Gorn... my brave warrior!”

The fight could have ended here. Could. Could have. Could’ve.

Because Yellowjacket has been focused entirely on fixing his disruptor this whole time and has not paid any attention to how the fight has been going.

So when he gets the disruptor fixed, he doesn’t think ‘oh hey Cap is standing there and nobody is currently fighting!’ he thinks ‘wow this is a really easy shot’ and shoots Elf-Queen in the back.

And turns out that Linnea - a person who can toss Thor around - can also weather a disruptor. So she’s just mad. Furiously.

She figures that Cap’s courage was just a bold ruse. So she’s going to kill him. AFTER she throws a car at Yellowjacket.

Yellowjacket: “Oh, no! My sting’s shorted out again! No time to dodge! I’ll be crushed!”

But before Hank can be crushed like some kind of insect, can’t really think of a specific example, he is saved by Jan, who comes out of nowhere and blasts the car away with all of her might.

And apparently car blasting is under that umbrella.

But it takes it out of her and she weakly flutters to the ground.

Hank has mixed feelings about not being dead.

Yellowjacket: “You -- you saved me! You shattered the truck with your bio-electric sting! You saved me! You! She must have followed us down here... probably chartered a plane! She followed us down here, and when I was dead meat for sure, she saved me! Why her? WHY?”

Where are you in your life where you have to ask that, Hank?

Elf-Queen is like well that just happened but I’m just going to try to kill him again.

But Cap jumps in front of her again and very assertively non-aggressives.

Captain America: “Don’t do it! Don’t you see? It was a mistake -- an accident! If only you could understand me! Don’t kill him!”

Elf-Queen: “You dare stand in my way? Can you not see the rage in my eyes?”

But nonetheless, she subsides. The Avengers all re-assemble, ready to rush her but Cap tells them to stand down.

Elf-Queen Linnea starts crying and just walks away from the team.

Feeling a bit awkward, Cap decides to follow her to see what’s what. And they find her crying over Gorn.

Thor: “A fallen warrior! Her husband, perchance?”

Captain America: “Somehow I -- I think I knew! I mean... I’m not surprised! She seemed... grief-stricken!”

Iron Man: “I -- I wonder how this all came to pass?”

They’ll probably never know. The shot isn’t wide enough to say for sure but I think that if the Avengers saw, they’d say. I’m pretty sure those cops Linnea sank into the concrete have finished sinking. So it goes.

Cap says he’s sorry for what happened, knowing that his words will probably mean nothing to her. Language gap and all.

Linnea: “I hear compassion in your voice, brave champion! Is there such a thing in this cold, cruel place, save in your own heart? I cannot forgive your world for what it has taken from me.. but, for you, who are so much alike my beloved... for you, I will go in peace... for now!”

Yeah. She’s never coming back.

This is her and Gorn’s only appearance.

So despite Tigra wondering if she’ll be back and despite Iron Man’s suspicion that she might be a mutant, it doesn’t matter.

She’s done her role in the narrative and she’s gone.

But as the Avengers try to figure out what this was all about, Wasp looks at Yellowjacket with worry. For the issue ends with him still consumed in bitter thoughts and oblivious to Wasp.

And the big next time teaser says COURT MARTIAL! so. Yeah.

We’re coming on to a storyline that anyone who knows at least two things about Hank Pym knows. You probably already know it or will be able to guess it.

I was familiar with this story but only the moment where Hank shoots Elf-Queen in the back and makes things worse for himself. I hadn’t absorbed via osmosis how much of a shit he was being throughout. And nobody ever talks about Gorn.

Which is a shame.

The title of the issue comes right out and connects the obvious dots.

“Men of deadly pride!”

And that can only be Hank Pym and Gorn.

Much of this issue doesn’t actually feature the Avengers. There’s this long stretch in the middle that just has Gorn and Linnea leaving their home, traveling to the big city, Gorn’s attitude getting worse and worse, and finally his death.

Its clear enough that Gorn represents Hank Pym.

Hank rails against Janet for flaunting her money and emotionally withdraws from her and even becomes angry with her. He rankles at the idea he might be perceived her partner instead of vice versa. Feels he’s not being given the respect he deserves.

While Gorn resents that Linnea is the one caring for him. He emotionally withdraws from her. He perceives himself a pet to her. That he was once renowned and desperately needs to regain his glory.

And he just gets angrier when Linnea has to rescue him from his dumb mistakes.

Much like Jan had to rescue Hank in this issue, something that basically made Hank check out of the rest of the issue.

I don’t know what Gorn may have been like ten thousand years ago that Linnea sees him in Captain America most, but he’s a shadow for Hank Pym.

And what’s interesting is how the story looks at Gorn and his machismo. His obsessive preoccupation with proving himself. The story highlights the problems he creates for himself eventually leading to his death. It shows a person that just can’t live in the modern world.

And then the story looks at Hank Pym. One of the 60s style manly men holdovers. Paints him in much the same light. And seems to ask. “Can you live in the modern world?”

The question is in the air.

Its not particularly deep symbolism. But it surprised me that nobody ever mentions it.

Interestingly, if Hank is Gorn then Jan is Linnea. Their personalities are different enough that this might seem strange.

But they both draw the line in a similar place with their partners.

And there was a What If? based on this issue What If? #35 where Hank did die, much as Gorn did. And Wasp became an avenging angel of her own. Taking the identity of Black Wasp and brutally attacking criminals.

She even contemplates letting Cap be killed by falling debris, blaming him for Hank’s death.

All I can say is that this has been one awkward first day for Tigra.

Follow @essential-avengers​. Like or reblog this post. Stay tuned for more of this sort of thing.

[lemonsandstrawberries]

A Piece of Cheese for the Road

fandom: Stony (Steve x Tony)

universe: Avengers Academy mobile game (high school/college AU), has references to the game

summary: It is the last evening at the Avengers Academy and Steve needs a push to finish some unfinished things with a certain handsome genius. 

length: 2 644 words

a/n: today is the last day when Avengers Academy is still available to play and I never thought that closing a mobile game would affect me that much. sometimes the game was a pain and things were rushed, but there were also many pluses, like beautiful graphics and entertaining storylines and interactions MCU would never give us. this fic is my goodbye and I hope that AvAc universe won’t be forgotten!

——————–

A Piece of Cheese for the Road

"This our last evening together. You know what it means, right?"

Tony made a dramatic pause, surrounded by other students of the Avengers Academy. He prolonged the moment and grabbed the handle of the fridge door, before opening it in a grand gesture and letting everyone feast their eyes on the treasures inside.

"Cheese for everyone!"

The crowd cheered, blocks and wheels of cheese being passed from student to student. It was the evening after graduation and tomorrow everyone would head home and their realities and there was a lot of cheese to eat before that.

Steve leaned over the bar area in the Club A, watching the commotion around Tony and his cheese fridge. He saw Clint biting into a block of cheddar, Lucky jumping around him and demanding a piece, Natasha smearing a piece of brie over a baguette, but the most entertaining was the trail of moving cheese blocks, as Scott used his small friends to get some of his favorite kinds for him, Hope and Cassie without having to fight between always hungry A-Bomb and Hulk. Luke and Jessica were playing pool, forming a team against Foggy and Matt, which honestly didn't surprise anyone anymore as Daredevil didn't have any limits. Not far from them Miss Marvel kept talking to Captain Marvel, and Steve caught some words like 'fanfiction', 'new ideas', 'otp', among many others, and Carol listened to Kamala, nodding her head in agreement. The dance floor was probably the most crowded, people coming and going to grab a drink or a snack, and the one person always present was Loki, dancing all the time, like he kept through the school year, all in rhythms played by DJ Vision and Viv. And at midnight Guardians of the Galaxy were supposed to give their last concert at the Club Galaxy. It was a good evening.

A good, very, very sad evening.

"Steve, you okay?" Bucky asked, stopping next to his friend, holding a package wrapped in silver tinfoil.

"Yeah," Steve smiled sadly. He remembered the day they got Bucky back from Hydra's school. His friend was finally safe and managed to find an outlet for his emotions in rather gloomy music. Speaking of which. "Shouldn't you get ready for your concert?" Steve asked, remembering that Bucky was supposed to play some new songs he and Adam Warlock had created in their 'Winter Warlock' band.

"I still have a minute before that," Bucky answered, leaning against the bar in the same manner as Steve. For a moment, they stood in complete silence, just taking in the atmosphere and watching their friends and teachers mingle. And still, Steve's eyes were always drawn to the cheese fridge and Tony, all dolled up in his business suit…

"What's that?" Steve asked, noticing the silver package Bucky was holding.

"Tony gave it to me," Bucky said, moving the package closer to his eyes so he could get a better look at it, and Steve felt some tug in his heart after hearing the name. "It is a Sainte-Maure de Touraine."

"He gave you cheese?" Steve laughed. Punching Hydra, fighting in the multiverse and knowledge about different types of cheese where what Steve would take with himself from the Academy.

"Not just any cheese," Bucky almost bragged, "it is soft goat cheese, rolled in wood ash. Tony said it matches my style. Maybe I will write a song about cheese," Bucky's voice dropped in thought.

Steve laughed and put a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "I will gladly listen to that, pal," he smiled.

"Hey, did anyone see Captain America?!"

Steve's heart beat faster. He turned around and locked his eyes with the person who was calling him. "Here?" he said, even rising his hand a bit.

"Oh!" Tony paused, lowering his sunglasses. "Sorry, not you! Meant Roberta!"

Captain America 2099. Not him.

"Didn't see her," Steve answered, trying to be neutral, despite some pain in his heart.

"Man, I hope she didn't leave yet. I have a nice piece of aged mimollete I think she will like-"

"I saw her and other 2099 people near the hot tub," Pepper said, holding her own piece of cheese, a rectangle shaped one and Steve could guess it was a piece of some expensive parmesan. Some students had to leave and earlier today Steve and Bucky said their goodbye to Peggy and other Bucky, and even if Steve wanted to ask Tony to stay, he wouldn't hold him back. After all, Roberta seemed like everything Tony ever wanted.

"Ah, Pep, I can always count on you to know everything around here!" Tony brightened. Pepper did work as a school administrator all this time and was irreplaceable. He almost turned around and walked away, when Pepper grabbed him under his arm and twirled around with him.

"Don't you have something to do first?" Pepper said sharply, almost as if disciplining Tony.

"Um, right," Tony admitted, looking away and seemingly distressed. He reached into a paper bag he had been holding which Steve just noticed and took out a medium wheel of cheese covered in red wax and handed it to Steve. "This is for you, something to remember me," he said, smiling and Steve took the offered piece with a stunned look on his face. "It is baby gouda. Mild, soft and boring. Just like you," the friendly smile changed into a pleased grin as Tony delivered his final remark to Steve.

"Gee, thanks, Tony," Steve said, rolling his eyes.

"Welcome! Now, excuse me," Tony wriggled out from Pepper's hold and disappeared among partying students.

"Sorry for him," Pepper turned to Steve with an apologetic look on her face.

"It is fine, Pepper," Steve laughed. As odd as it sounded, he would miss being teased by the snarky genius. He would miss...

"Oooh, I see you got your cheese!" Janet squeezed past Pepper. She was holding a half-eaten piece of colby jack cheese, cheese with two colors, giving it a marble-like look. It wasn't the most expensive kind of cheese, but it was tasty and creamy and brought a lot of joy. Just like Janet. "What are you going to do now?!" she demanded answers in her usual overenthusiastic way.

"Eat it on a cracker?" Steve asked back, unsure what kind of question Jan was expecting. His answer made even Bucky sigh. "What?"

"Hopeless. I have to get ready for my concert," Bucky commented, waving over to get Adam's attention and walking away. Both girls stayed and eyed Steve critically.

"What?" he asked, feeling on edge. "Whaat?"

Pepper and Janet exchanged looks. They had to do everything around here.

"Just go and talk to Tony," Pepper said in her office voice.

"But-"

"Just go!" Janet wasn't that understanding and gave Steve a push, sending him stumbling on his way. He turned around, shooting a confused look at the girls, and saw Jan giving him an encouraging thumbs up and Pepper waving at him to move it. Not understanding and having a wheel of gouda as his only companion, Steve started to navigate through the crowd.

Finding Tony wasn't easy. He passed many students, almost everyone holding a piece of cheese hand-picked and personally delivered by Tony Stark and soon Steve decided to follow the cheese trail, finding the paths Tony had taken. Finally, he found him, near the blasting range and handing T'Challa a piece of Beaufort d’ete, known as the prince of gruyere’ cheeses. Seemed fitting for royalty.

Steve stopped in a distance from them and waited for the talk to finish. T'Challa and Tony shook their hands, and Steve had a feeling that it won't be the last time Wakanda and Stark Industries crossed their paths before both took their separate ways and Tony turned, pausing upon seeing Steve on his path.

"Hey," Steve smiled insecurely, his voice warm and low.

"Hey," Tony repeated, walking and closing the distance. It was quiet around them, the air a bit cold and a starry sky above them. Almost perfect. Almost.

"Thanks for the cheese," Steve said, motioning to the piece of gouda in his hand.

"You already thanked me, old man," Tony said, his characteristic smirk back on his face.

"I know, but - uh, can we talk for a bit?" Steve asked, unsure what he was doing.

Tony looked at him, the smirk disappearing, replaced with surprise before a smile took its place. Steve liked Tony's smiling face better. "Sure. Just a bit though, I have more cheese to give," he said, walking with Steve to the stone bench. It was pretty cold and Steve took off his denim jacket and laid down for Tony to sit on.

"Seriously, Cap?" Tony asked, sliding his sunglasses down considering such gesture completely unnecessary.

Steve only smiled. "Don't want you to catch a cold," he said, and Tony let out a small, irritated huff, but sat down, Steve following. He looked at Tony's profile and pulled his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why are you still wearing sunglasses?"

"Oh, it was pretty bright at the party and my eyes hurt from working and looking at holographic screens. But I guess I can take them off now," Tony said, taking the sunglasses and putting into the front pocket of his suit. "So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, turning to face Steve and Steve's breath stopped as he looked into the brown eyes, in the warmest, most welcoming shade of brown ever imaginable. He always knew Tony's eye color but it was probably the first time he was seeing them so close. Almost hypnotic. When Tony blinked, Steve realized that the other student was still waiting for an answer.

"Um, what do you plan to do after the graduation?" Steve asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know yet," Tony smiled lightly, "probably return to Stark Industries for a while to sort things out. Oh, and I and Jan have this plan, but it is still in the making, so don't tell anyone, okay?"

Steve smiled and nodded, seeing an excited spark in Tony's eyes and hearing his voice rising in pitch as whenever Tony got enthusiastic about something. Adorable.

"We are thinking about setting up a foundation to help kids become superheroes. I have my lab, Jan has her sense of style and there are a lot of people out there who could be heroes, but don't have the right means. I think we could make a difference," Tony explained, a happy smile not leaving his face. Steve listened, feeling his heart swelling with love. He always knew that Tony was generous, but this was a new level.

"That's a great idea, Tony," Steve smiled back, honestly thinking so.

"Of course it is, like all my ideas," and the old Tony Stark was back, and oddly, Steve didn't mind. "What about you? What are Captain America's plans for the future?"

"I wish I would know," Steve sighed, "there is no Hydra left for me to punch," it was supposed to be a sincere complaint, yet Tony laughed like if Steve told a joke.

"If that makes you better, you can punch me," Tony offered with a grin.

"I don't want to punch you, Tony," Steve quickly said, sounding irritated and mellowing down the next second. "Sometimes I wish that we had spent more times on getting to know each other instead of fighting," he sighed again, looking down at his feet.

Tony hummed. There was a lot of conflict between them on numerous occasions but it was also what kept things interesting. "I will have to discuss it with Jan, but if you have no other plans, you could join us. We could use someone with military training and a solid, moral spine. Unless…" Tony's voice dropped down, some sadness hearable, "unless you rather go back."

Steve didn't understand. He looked at Tony, and Tony turned away the second he did so.

"Go back where?"

"Back to your times. To Aunt Pegg- to Peggy and the other Bucky. The portal didn't close yet."

Maybe it was an idea. To hide back in the 20th century, to live his life how it was supposed to be. Just knowing what he knew now, could he go back?

Steve shook his head. "It is not my place anymore," he said, accepting the truth.

"Right. Your place is here."

"Or at least I like to think so," Steve smiled, looking at the sky above them. So many stars.

Tony glanced over at Steve. He bit his lip, wanting to ask something but holding back. He didn't want to make things more complicated and painful.

"You okay?" Steve asked, noticing with the corner of his eye that Tony shivered.

"Yeah," Tony breathed out, wrapping arms around himself. "Just cold."

"Come here," not thinking much, Steve wrapped an arm around Tony and drew him closer. Tony blinked in surprise, but soon leaned into the super soldier, taking in the warmth. Cozy. And Steve smelled good. And Tony really didn't want to lose this. And it was their last evening together. And what the heck.

"Steve…"

"Hm?" Steve's breath stopped, when Tony tipped his head up, his lips pressing to Steve's tight ones in a brief kiss which lasted too short for Steve to properly react. And when Tony drew away, it was the most horrible thing.

"Oh man, I am sorry," Tony went into a chatterbox mode, clearly distressed, "did I read this all wrong? Because I thought we were having a moment and you needed some encouragement and-"

"Tony, shush," Steve ordered, only to put both hands on Tony's cheeks and kissed him properly. Slowly. Soft. Lasting. Only the two of them kissing under the stars.

"FINALLY!"

Or not.

Tony and Steve drew apart and saw half of the academy crowding behind the blasting range, the most noticeable Jan, who was yelling at Peter Parker to take photos and looking as almost crying, and both Tony and Steve got blinded time after time by the flash.

"The heck- get out of here!" Steve yelled, waving his hand as if trying to chase everyone away. Meanwhile, Tony took out his sunglasses and clearly started posing. Those photos would go to a school yearbook for sure. When the crowd got back to the main party, chatting and laughing on their way, Steve still seemed irritated with everyone sneaking up on them like that. Tony didn't mind, laughing and going in for more kisses, finally having permission to do something he wanted for a very long time.

"We should go back. I want to hear the Guardians playing. Also, I scheduled a surprise firework show," Tony grinned, not faltering when Steve sent him a harsh look.

"Did you discuss it with Director Fury?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I discussed it with him," Tony stood up, kissing Steve for the last time. For now. They had like three years of kissing to catch up on. "And I still have some cheese to give away. Do you think Loki will hate me for giving him velveeta? That guy is super hard to please anyway."

Speaking of cheese...

"Tony, why did you give me gouda?" Steve asked, remembering that this whole commotion started after Tony gave him his gift.

Tony paused in surprise. "Because it is my favorite cheese. And the best one for grilled cheese sandwiches," he explained simply.

Steve slowly smiled, finally making a connection. "And you love grilled cheese sandwiches."

"I do love them," Tony confirmed, smiling brighter and more beautiful than the starry sky above them. "Let's go, I want to see you dance Charleston for the last time," Tony urged.

Steve laughed and followed Tony, having some other dance in mind. After all, he and Tony had to make up for the lost time, and hopefully, they would have all the time to spend together very soon.

[linzerj]

Golden Gate’s Heroes -c2

Yo so i finally finished part 2! Sorry it took so long but the dialogue really threw me off and i’m still not sure i’m happy with it. also I’m bad at writing and updating consistently so. uh. yeah please don’t get your hopes up for a speedy update i’m sorry. also sorry about the lack of venom i really just gotta rewatch the movies when i get the chance 

So after that first awkward babysitting thing where they discovered ‘oh hey you have a secret identity I have a secret identity too’, Eddie and Scott met up a grand total of three times. Two of those times were just Eddie babysitting Cassie again, because Cassie really liked him and Venom and they weren’t going to say no to that adorable kid. The first of those times was really just Eddie and Cassie hanging out again, this time at Eddie’s much-less-nice apartment. They did arts and crafts while Cassie asked Venom questions about themself, and throughout the evening Venom slowly acquired more and more glittery cut-out crowns and ribbons. They looked absolutely ridiculous, but it made Cassie happy and Eddie thought it was cute, and so they tolerated the decorations.

The second time, Scott actually invited Eddie out to dinner with him and Cassie after babysitting. It was a bit awkward, but as Eddie recalled stories from his time on The Eddie Brock Show and Scott told him stories about life before and after prison, they found more and more common ground. By the end of it, they weren’t best friends per say, but a lot of the awkwardness and tension had definitely faded down.

The third time they met up, Cassie was still there because she was great at keeping them from being too awkward and weird, but Eddie met them at Pier 39. It was just a casual time hanging out, really, but as they talked in hushed tones about Scott’s experiences as Ant-Man and how Eddie and Venom were still learning to be a functional ‘we’, Eddie figured he would definitely call Scott a friend.

Which was definitely a good thing, given his only other friends were Anne and Dan, and while they were great it was still weird to hang out with his ex-fiancée and her super nice doctor boyfriend sometimes.

Eddie figured he should introduce Scott and Cassie to Anne and Dan sometime. They’d be so proud that he had managed to make new friends, even if one of them was still only a kid who liked giving Venom flower crowns.

But first, he apparently had to meet Scott’s new girlfriend and her parents, the people who gave Scott the Ant-Man suit.

“Dude come on,” Scott was saying. This was now the fourth time they were talking face-to-face, once again after Eddie had babysat Cassie. “They’re super nice, I swear.”

“Man, I still…we still don’t know.” Eddie sighed, scrubbing his face.

“Cassie will be there if that helps, my dude.”

“I mean.” Eddie made a vague gesture. “I guess? But still.”

“Is this about not wanting to make a bad first impression, because believe me, they won’t care that much. I mean they still like me, so.”

Eddie just leveled an unimpressed look at Scott, to which Scott shrugged. “Alright so I may have also mentioned you once or twice to Hope and Hank and Jan and now they really want to meet you.”

“Dude you are the worst. Just give it a bit longer, okay?”

And the conversation effectively ended, at least for a while.

---

As much as Eddie was trying to avoid other superheroes or people who might want to tear them apart, neither he nor Venom were going to say no to Cassie’s birthday party.

We’re going to get cornered here you idiot, Venom was hissing into Eddie’s brain.

“Yeah but it’s Cassie you asshole. You really gonna say no to her?”

…no…

“So we’re sucking it up and finally doing this,” Eddie said, knocking on the door to Scott’s place. They were immediately greeted by their grinning friend.

“Hey, you made it! Cool cool, c’mon in!”

And it was normal, for a bit. Scott’s ex and her new boyfriend reminded Eddie of Anne and Dan a bit, but they didn’t pry about anything – either because they didn’t know or didn’t care. Eddie didn’t know which it was but was grateful either way.

He tried to distract himself with cake (lots of cake, chocolate cake, the best kind of cake, especially if you asked Vee), but was more than well aware of a man and two women watching with mixed looks of curiosity and anxiety from another corner of the room. They were distracted enough by Cassie too, but as the party began to wind down, guests left, and Cassie’s mom took her home, Eddie was left with Scott and the staring trio.

“Well,” Eddie said, directed mostly to Scott, “this was great, thanks for the invite, I’ll just get out of your hair now—“

“Actually, we’ve been waiting to talk to you,” the younger of the two women said, and Eddie groaned internally. He could feel Venom stirring beneath his skin, curious but also ready to protect them if needed.

“Uh, Eddie, that’s my girlfriend Hope, and her parents Hank and Janet,” Scott interjected, seeming as nervous as Eddie felt. “Guys, this is Eddie.”

“Brock, yeah,” Hank said. “Nice work taking down Drake. I knew there was something fishy going on with him but we were a bit distracted during that whole fiasco of yours.”

“Uh, thanks?” Eddie was fairly certain that was not the correct response, but it got a chuckle out of Janet, so that was fine, he supposed.

“But there is the issue of you having been – fused, or bonded, or whatever, with one of those alien symbiotes Drake was experimenting on,” Hope stated, and next to her Scott bit his lip. “The reports you gave after the incident state that you lost it, or it burned in the explosion, but there have been some reports of a large dark figure throughout the city since then – one that occasionally eats its targets. And then Scott told us about you starting to babysit for Cassie, and at the same time he started showing reluctance over tracking down the giant maneating creature. So, anything to add, Mr. Brock?”

“Hope I told you to go easy on him,” Scott muttered as Eddie blinked, and Janet rolled her eyes.

“She takes after her dad,” she said, and Hank looked affronted. But, still.

They know, Venom was hissing in his head, but their emotions were confused, unsure of if they should trust Scott’s friends, or if they should just eat them all.

Not really, Eddie thought back. From what she said, Scott never said anything specific, they all just put the pieces together on their own, and he’s trying to make everything better for us.

Hm. Cassie may like them, and Scott is okay, but still. Don’t know about what they want.

Yeah, well, let’s see, shall we? Out loud, he asked, “What if what I said isn’t true?”

“Well, legally speaking, you’d fall under the Sokovia Accords, like my daughter and this idiot here,” Hank said. Eddie was a bit offended on Scott’s behalf at the idiot comment. “If that alien is still bonded to you, you’d count as an enhanced individual, and if you were going out fighting crime and whatnot on your own, you’d be in direct violation of the Accords.”

“That’s fair. The Accords were put into place with the intention of protecting the general public, even if the first draft was rushed and had lots of loopholes that could be exploited. The current version is more sound and willing to work with the individuals who work under it. But it also requires that anyone who signs the Accords be drafted as an official Avengers member, which, y’know, some people might want to help, but they might not want to be in the spotlight like that, and just stick to what they’re doing.” This, Eddie could do. He was a reporter, after all; he’d covered the story of the original Accords, and the little ‘civil war’ that had followed it. He’d read the documents when they first came out, even if he’d had to have Anne explain the finer points and legalese to him back then. And then with Venom, he’d read the newest draft.

It wasn’t a bad thing, certainly, but they had agreed that they didn’t want to be part of the Avengers. They weren’t cut out for big-time heroics like that, and such a spotlight would make their occasional diet of humans even harder to hide, or justify.

But. Scott had proven he was willing to overlook that stuff after Eddie and Vee had explained that it was an essential part of their diet, their survival. And these people were still involved with ironing out the Accords, and could probably put in a good word on their behalf if they were nice and cooperated. But that was a risk they weren’t sure they were willing to take, at least not yet.

Janet interrupted their thoughts. “That’s why we’re working with Tony and the Accords Panel to add more amendments for people like that. We are also trying to include people who maybe go a bit too far with their vigilantism, who have killed to protect others. Right now the Accords Panel doesn’t think those types of people should be allowed unless they change completely, stop killing altogether, but even the original Avengers members had killed – look at the Black Widow and Hawkeye, for example. They both had impressive kill counts working for SHIELD, and the Widow, at least, has continued to use lethal force since joining the Avengers.”

“She’s an outlier though, Jan, we talked about that,” Hank cut in. “She’s a Russian assassin-“

“What does her being Russian have to do with anything, Hank, don’t let old grudges cloud your judgment we’ve talked about this-“

“Anyway,” Hope said, rolling her eyes at her parents, “The earlier you join, the more … uh, forgiving the Accords Panel will be about any … less than savory things you may or may not have done while trying to protect the planet, the town, your loved ones, or just yourself.”

“That’s still assuming I have the alien, though,” Eddie pointed out, trying not to laugh. Venom was snickering in the back of his mind, swirling around his body, and very much enjoying this game of cat and mouse.

Scott was looking between everyone with nervous eyes. Hank was just staring at Eddie with a kind of blank expression of disbelief; Janet was smiling conspiratorially; and Hope rolled her eyes with a huff. “Yeah, of course.”

“When you assume you make an ass out of you and me,” Scott blurted, and that, at least, earned a chuckle from Hank.

“Scott,” Hope started, but Eddie cut her off.

“Well, look, I’d love to continue this chat, but I actually have stuff to do for my job, so…”

“Yeah, man, let me show you out,” Scott said, clapping Eddie on the back and steering him toward the door. “Sorry about them,” he said in a lower, quieter tone. “I didn’t say anything but they can put two and two together and they can also be super persistent.”

“It’s fine,” Eddie said, even though it didn’t really feel fine. “It was probably going to happen sooner or later anyway. Talk to you later, man.” And Eddie and Venom made their escape.

--

It was another few weeks until Eddie and Venom saw Hope van Dyne again. They hadn’t forgotten about the conversation with her and her family, per say, just… been sufficiently distracted to let it fall to the wayside.

But having Scott walk in with Hope at the end of a day of babysitting Cassie was, well. Unexpected, to say the least. Venom, who had been providing helpful commentary to Cassie as she colored and was wearing no less than 3 flower crowns, made an attempt to duck back into Eddie before being spotted, but it was too little too late.

Hope, for her part, just leveled an unimpressed and expectant stare at Eddie, who just grinned sheepishly back. Scott, bless his innocent self, took one look at both of them and then ignored them in favor of flopping onto the floor next to Cassie and admiring her drawings. Cassie just tossed one of the dropped flower crowns at Eddie and giggled when it landed on his shoulder.

“We, uh, I… can explain?” Eddie said. Scott just shook his head.

“No you can’t.”

“Yeah no I probably can’t.”

“To be fair, I knew from the minute Scott started slipping up that something was amiss,” Hope said, “but you acting a bit weird at Cassie’s party was what really gave it away.”

“So, uh, are you gonna arrest us or something, then? Cuz like, you probably… don’t wanna do that.”

“No, you’re fine,” Hope said. “Although you probably don’t believe that, and I can understand why. But, look, if Scott trusts you, I’m willing to give you a chance.”

Everyone else blinked. “Really?” Scott asked, lighting up like a Christmas tree. “Aw, Hope! You’re the best!”

“And you’re adorable, Scott. Anyway,” Hope continued, turning back to face Eddie, “you and your alien friend or whatever should very much consider reading and signing these.” And with a flash, a huge stack of papers materialized – no, grew – in front of them.

“The freaking Accords?” Eddie snorted. “Dude, I have read them-“

“I’m aware, it’s a legal thing, your ex is a lawyer so I’m sure you understand.”

Eddie made a disgruntled sound. “We really don’t want to be an Avenger,” he said finally.

“Aw, but you guys are a hero!” Cassie piped up, finally tuning back in to the adult conversation. Eddie flashed her a grateful smile, and because they adore Cassie, Venom poked a small head out from Eddie’s shoulder to give her a toothy grin.

Scott gave them an encouraging thumbs up from next to Cassie, and even Hope looked – bemused, perhaps, at all of this. But, still. “We have, uh. Y’know.”

“Eaten people? Yeah, you’re the new local cryptid,” Hope said. “But as has been said, plenty of the Avengers have killed for one reason or another. Whatever, people will deal with it. Also, if you do sign, it’s not like you’re going to be required to move back to NYC or anything – look at Scott and myself, we’re still here.”

“Yeah but they probably will make him go out for an orientation or initiation or whatever they called it,” Scott piped up.

Eddie, Vee said into Eddie’s brain, we know we are reluctant, but also… we should give it a try. We could be better than ever! And we can meet many other superheroes too, get more friends. Eat them if they try to hurt us.

Eddie sighed. “We’ll think about it and get back to you, okay? That’s all I can promise right now.”

---

It wasn’t even a week before Eddie was giving Hope and Scott their signed copy of the Accords.

[takadasaiko]

Demons at the Door: Chapter Ten

FFN II AO3

Summary: Tom and Liz try to find their version of normal on a double date with Samar and Aram.

Chapter Ten: Something Like Normal

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't see. He could feel though.

He felt the salt burning his eyes and his lungs. He felt a hand shoving him under. More overwhelming than even that, he felt the fear that left him frozen there. He couldn't move. Couldn't fight. He couldn't recall a time in his life when he couldn't fight. He had always been a survivor, even in the least likely of circumstances. He'd always managed to come out of it alive, even if not entirely intact.

Finally the hand dragged him up and he coughed and sputtered, still unable to drag the air into his lungs. A figure stood over him, smirking down at him, but slowly morphed into two and he found Scottie and Howard staring down on him. They reached out and shoved him back under.

Then he fought and struggled, but as he broke the surface of the water his eyes focused on an entirely different face. It wasn't Scottie or Howard or even the shadowy man from the beginning. Liz's eyes were wide, startled, and it took Tom half a beat to realize that he was in his own bed and had ahold of her wrist like he was ready to fight back.

He released her immediately. "I'm so sorry," he managed. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No. It's okay."

"No it's not." He reached to her wrist, touching it carefully and making sure he hadn't bruised her. He brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. "I'm so sorry."

Liz pulled away so that she could touch the side of his face, guiding him to meet her gaze. "I usually know better than to startle you out of a nightmare," she murmured. "I'm fine. How about you?"

Tom loosed a shaky breath, sitting back in their bed. He'd gotten in late the night before and had found Liz waiting up for him. She'd wanted him to talk, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to say anything about it. So she'd held onto him, anchored him, and they must have fallen asleep like that. From the looks of it, the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon outside. "I don't know," he said after a long moment.

She let her hand drop, finding his, and their fingers wrapped around each other. "Talk to me?" she begged softly.

Tom closed his eyes, recalling the water and the hands and he coughed, almost like he expected water to be in his lungs. "I have one memory from before Frank and Eva. I don't even know for sure it's a memory. It's a dream I had as a kid and this is the first time in...years, I guess, that it's come back."

"What happened?"

"It changes a little every time, but this time I started under the water. When I came up, there was…. I don't know who he is. Was. I've never been able to make out his face, but he was trying to drown me."

"Same man every time?"

"Nearly. He… changed this time. Into Scottie and Howard."

He watched Liz close her eyes and shifted closer. He leaned into her, feeling just a little safer, a little more grounded with the closeness.

"I read the files after you left," she said quietly. "It's no wonder you feel betrayed, even scared. That's normal, honey."

Tom hummed softly. "I know I don't have the longest history of normal, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing normal about all of this."

She gave him a strained smile and kissed his cheek. "You don't have to do it alone."

"I know."

"How'd it go with Howard last night?"

She hadn't made him tell her the night before, but it looked like his reprieve was over. He supposed that was fair, considering the violent reaction he'd had to the nightmare. He always coaxed her through hers, and now she was trying to do the same. "I'm done," he said at last. "You and Agnes are the only family I need."

"Tom," she whispered, his name leaving her lips with more pain than he would have preferred.

"He used me, Liz. He…. He came into my life for the sole purpose of using me to put Scottie behind bars and taking his company back. I don't mean anything more to him than that."

"I didn't see anything in those files to prove that was the only reason he came back, Tom."

He pulled back just a little from her, but she didn't let go of his hand. "What I saw," she said calmly, "was that your mother was and possibly still is a deep cover operative for an unknown employer. Everything Howard's PI found on her looks like she married him as a mark. Look at me?" She waited until he did. "I love you, but you and I both know how badly I took it after two years of marriage. Thirty? You wouldn't be alive right now."

Her tone was lighter than the words and he snorted, his thumb moving over the back of her hand. "I love you, Liz. I loved you before I married you."

"I know that now. I didn't then, and it was the not knowing that took us down… a really dark path, if you remember."

Tom winced a little at the thought. "I didn't help with that."

"No you didn't," his wife answered and leaned into him, her shoulder bumping his. "I don't know if your mother ever loved your father. I've never met the woman. That's not even the point right now. My point is that people that are hurt by the people they love most do irrational and sometimes dangerous things. Things that they never would have done otherwise. I'm not saying what Howard did was right by any stretch. It was… twisted and terrible and put you in a place you should never have had to be in, but…. Just because he was acting out of hurt doesn't mean he doesn't love you."

"He's known where I was, Liz. He waited until I was useful to come back. I think that says enough."

He heard her loose a breath and she nodded, leaning into him. "Okay."

"Okay?"

A soft laugh escaped her. "We already agreed on just how stubborn you are." She caught his gaze. "And you'll think about it."

"Will I?"

"Yep."

Despite himself, a small smile tugged at him. "And why's that?"

"Because I know you, Tom Keen. You need time to work through how you feel on things. I'm not asking you to go back and talk to him now or tomorrow or even the next day. All I want is for you to take what I said and add it to what you're considering when you make your next move, because kind of like with Reddington, even if we say we cut ties, this is family. There's no running from this, babe."

He couldn't argue that, as much as he wanted to. Running from this would require him to disappear and to take on some new identity. A few years ago, he could have and would have done that without thinking twice about it. Now, though, the thought of leaving without Liz and Agnes left him feeling worse than being used by Howard. "I know."

"You going to be okay today?"

"Yeah. We, uh, still doing the dinner thing with Samar and Aram tonight?"

Liz blinked and Tom saw all the signs that it had completely slipped her mind. "I forgot to call the restaurant."

"Good thing I already did yesterday," he answered with a smirk and Liz broke out into a grin. "Go get ready for work. I'm fine. Really."

She hesitated a moment before leaning in and kissing him. He felt a sense of peace help to push back the anxiety. It wasn't fixed yet. It wouldn't be for a while, but he wouldn't have to tackle this alone. As long as he and Liz faced it down together, they'd be okay.

The original plan had been to meet at a restaurant, but the day had felt like it might never end with one lead after another falling through as they chased Reddington's ghost forger. By the time that the Task Force had wrapped up for the day there was no way they were going to make it, so the location had changed last second to Aram's apartment.

He answered the front door in an apron as if it were the most natural thing in the world and Liz managed to bite back the laugh in favour of the amused smile she gave him. "Hey guys. Glad you made it," he greeted, stepping back to let them in.

"Glad this worked out," Tom answered and held up the bag they had brought the drinks in. "Promise we don't come empty handed. You're a ginger beer guy, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know that?" Aram asked, looking over to Liz who shrugged.

Tom flashed him a grin and moved to set the bag down on the table.

It had been a while since Liz had been in the apartment and things looked different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something a little strange. It smelled faintly of pot, like Aram had tried to cover it up and air it out, but it was an ongoing process. The whole place looked like it had recently been scrubbed down like a cleaner had gotten ahold of it, and Liz couldn't help but think it had to do with Janet. She hadn't pried too badly, but she knew that Aram had given her a second chance and that she'd been the one to sell him out to Gale's grand jury. Liz was the last person to judge on second chances, but she also knew how badly it stung when they didn't pan out in the best way. She and Tom had fought hard for theirs, but it had been a mutual effort that had rebuilt the trust. If Janet hadn't been willing to put that effort in for Aram, a cleanse might not be the worst thing to push past everything that had happened and move on.

"Oh hey! You got here faster than you thought," Aram greeted, pulling Liz out of her thoughts. She turned to see Samar at the door, looking as tired as the rest of them. Aram's face stretched into one of the goofiest grins she'd ever seen. "You look… amazing."

Samar managed a small laugh. "I look like I've been chasing an illusive forger all day and that I barely had time to change into clothes that didn't have blood on them," she managed, but Aram just kept on grinning and she shook her head, her own smile creeping into place slowly.

"Sounds like you guys have had a hell of a day," Tom said from where he was pulling the wine and the ginger beer out of the bag at the table.

"So," Aram cut in before shoptalk took over, "I've got about half the mix for the enchiladas put together."

"You don't cook, do you, Liz?" Samar asked and she turned to look at her.

"Uh…. Not unless it's pasta or one of those frozen meals you just stick in the oven and it it cooks itself." She caught the amused expression on her husband's face.

"Is that what you think it does? That could explain a lot."

She swatted at him and his grin only grew.

"I'm not following," Samar said, head tilted just a little to the side.

"Tom's just bringing up an incident from a long time ago."

"She nearly lit her apartment on fire when we first started dating."

"Oh, is that the story you told at the funeral?" Aram asked.

Liz resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "No, this was a different time."

"You've nearly set the kitchen on fire more than once?" Samar asked, and Liz couldn't tell if she was amused or worried. Aram just looked worried.

"I have gotten better," Liz huffed.

"The noodles were pretty good," Tom admitted.

"See?"

"Yeah, my oven's kind of finicky anyway, so maybe I should just-"

"I'll give you a hand."

Aram gave him a look like he was about to argue, but then stopped and shrugged. The guys started back to the kitchen and Samar was moving towards a cabinet. "This one?" she asked.

"The one just to the left," Aram instructed and she opened the doors to pull out a couple of wine glasses and a corkscrew.

Liz quirked an eyebrow as she watched the other woman open up the bottle and pour the wine into the glasses, handing her one when it was done and walking past her to the couch. Liz followed, a brief glance to see Tom and Aram had already found something to chat about. "Do you not cook either?" she asked as she joined her partner on the couch.

Samar shrugged. "I can, but Aram enjoys it. I take it you haven't had a chance to speak to Tom about Fischer?"

"No, not really. We've barely had a moment to breathe lately."

"I thought maybe he could check with his Halcyon contacts to see if anyone knew of him."

"That's…. complicated right now," Liz murmured, glancing back to see Tom finally relaxing as he and Aram rattled on on what sounded like gadgets used in Bond films. Nope. She wasn't touching that one. "What about your Mossad contacts? Has Levi gotten back to you?"

"Not yet," Samar answered. "We left things in a strange place."

Liz tilted her head, picking up on the undertones. "He knows about Aram?"

"Not by name."

Liz risked a glance back, curiosity getting the better of her. "How's all of that going?"

"All of that?" Samar echoed, sipping at her wine.

"Tom seemed to think that you guys getting together was a long time coming, but you've been at each other's throats so much lately."

"I think we have a long way to get to yours and Tom's level of at each other's throats," the taller woman pointed out, her tone pointed. It took a moment, but she must have realized how it came across. "Sorry. That was-"

"True," Liz answered and took a long sip of her own drink. "Tom and I took things to a whole different level when we hurt each other. I'm not proud of that, but it doesn't make it untrue."

"Aram and I did our own fair share of damage," Samar said softly. "I...I'm not even sure I know what this is, to be honest."

"Have you not talked about it?" She would have pictured Aram as the type of man that would want to discuss every step of a relationship.

Samar stared at the burgundy liquid in her glass, pulling in a deep breath and let her eyes slip closed. "When would we have?"

Liz made a small sound of acknowledgement. Silence stretched between them for a long moment. She let it, considering the woman next to her. Samar was driven and intelligent and passionate, the type of person that once she made her mind up went for a goal fullforce, and as she sat there considering the tension between her two teammates recently, it all made a little more sense that perhaps Samar had finally taken a step only to find Janet back in Aram's life. Liz knew pieces of her past and none of it struck her as something that would have made it easy for the other woman to trust, and being burned like that wouldn't have helped matters. "Trust doesn't come easy for people like us," she said slowly, her gaze drifting over to Samar to watch for a reaction or a sign that she'd crossed a line, "especially when you put yourself on the line."

"I don't want to hurt him," she confessed.

"Or get hurt." Samar startled at the statement and Liz gave her a small smile. "It's okay to admit that."

"After everything, do you trust Tom?"

The question was serious, expecting an honest answer in return. "Yes. It took a long time and a lot of work from both of us, but I trust him. It takes both people putting themselves out there, but someone has to take that first step."

Samar nodded slowly, not answering right away, but instead she sipped on her wine. "I haven't wanted something this simple and this… complicated in a long time."

"It's worth it," Liz told her after a long moment. "That gut-wrenching fear that comes with opening up after you've been hurt. If it's the right person, it's worth it."

"He is."

Liz made a small sound of acknowledgement and sipped on her wine, watching Samar from the corner of her eye. The other woman's expression was still guarded, still hesitant, but if Liz didn't know better, she'd say it was happy too. They all deserved a little happiness after everything they'd been through.

Tom was hit and miss on pop culture - more miss than hit, if you asked his wife - but when he knew something he tended to know it through and through. Aram could carry a conversation all by himself if he'd needed to, but it'd been nice for Tom to get a chance to relax and talk about something other than work or the implosion that had become the situation with Scottie and Howard.

It carried over into dinner, with Liz shaking her head and Aram reminding her about Doctor Who that was, apparently, still saved at the Post Office and ready to be watched during any down time that they might find themselves with someday. Tom found himself grinning at the way Liz struggled to look interested as Aram listed out all the reasons why she'd love it. The conversation carried on, shifting around different topics as they ate. It was strange - the good kind, he thought - how easy it was.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Aram said excitedly, his focus zeroed in on Tom. "I was doing some research online and came across a paper your dad published. It was on ethics and technology and where we're going. The paper was fifteen or so years old, but he called so much almost perfectly. I mean, it was kind of like he had a window into how things were going to play out. It's so cool."

And just like that Tom felt his good mood plummet, but Aram didn't seem to notice.

"The man must be a genius. He had a whole section on ethical hacking and the spy state and responsible use. I wish I'd read it before Agnes' birthday party and I could have asked him about it. It was… How was it working with him? Absolutely amazing, right?"

"He's a piece of work," Tom acknowledged tightly.

"Did something happen?" The question was entirely innocent, Aram's expression even a little worried over the snappy response and Tom closed his eyes briefly, pulling in a breath to help steady himself.

He glanced over to Liz, unsure how much she expected him to share with her team. Strange as it was, they were his friends too, in a way, and part of him wanted to trust them with it, but he wasn't ready to dive into the full chaos right then. "Some new information came up. It's just kind of a mess right now."

Aram gave him a look with more pity in it than Tom cared for. "What happened?"

"Something I should have seen coming a mile away," he answered, a little more sharply than he meant to.

"So, has Agnes taken those first steps yet?" Samar asked, effectively changing the subject and Tom shot her a grateful look.

"Almost," Liz answered, her expression brightening. "She's pulled herself up, but she's still toddling over before she can get that first step in."

"She was doing that at the birthday."

Liz grinned and shot look over at Tom as she spoke. "I think the real thing is that she knows her daddy will carry her wherever she wants to go no questions asked."

Tom shrugged. "She missed me."

The conversation moved away from Howard Hargrave and eased into more neutral topics, allowing Tom to at least shift into a mask of ease. The weight remained, though, Aram's comments about his father's paper that he'd published years before sticking with him. When Scottie had been trying to escape Halcyon Tom had heard her try to remind Howard about a speech he'd made on the subject of Quantum Computing and the ethics of it. She'd seemed to believe - or at least want anyone that was listening to believe - that Howard had taken a stand against it, and there was Aram, talking about a piece that he'd found that Howard had written on ethics.

Maybe Liz had been right and he didn't know everything there was to know about why Howard did what he did. Maybe the pain of finding out Scottie had lied to him had broken him in a dangerous way. He wasn't sure yet, but he needed to be. He couldn't risk making a wrong move again. Too much was on the line.

Notes: I know a couple of people that knew this chapter was coming have been looking forward to it, so I hope it hit the mark! It was definitely one of those chapters that I thought was going to be easier to write than it turned out to be.

Next time - Nez and Solomon try to figure out where they stand, Tom reaches out to Scottie, and the Keens make plans on where to go next.

[bevioletskies]

20 questions [2/20]

characters: peter/gamora, guardians-centric

fandom: avengers academy/marvel cinematic universe

summary: wasp has a new competition in store for the students of avengers academy, and there’s money involved. so obviously, peter and gamora have to pretend to be a couple in order to win. wait, what?

chapter preview: and so, the con begins! peter and gamora discuss the origins of their (fake) relationship, gamora has a girls’ night, and yondu has some tough love to give.  

word count: 4420 | total word count: 118k

a/n: the basic plot of guardians vol. 2 happened in this mashup universe of mine and is brought up in detail here, so spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (but please go watch it, it’s an incredible movie).

ao3 | previously | next | masterpost

To Gamora’s relief, everyone woke up at different times, avoiding any residual awkwardness from last night’s discussion. However, she hadn't counted on Nebula waiting to catch her right outside the shower.

“Nebula - I am in a towel - ”

“What is this nonsense I'm hearing about you and Quill?” Her pitch-black eyes seemed darker than usual. “Have you become too attached, sister?”

“Relax,” Gamora said, her own stomach tensing up. She really needed breakfast, not an interrogation. “It is part of the ploy for units.”

“Is that all?” Nebula said mockingly, an unsettling grin creeping across her face. “You have grown so fond of your Guardians, but Quill in particular has become a fixation of yours.”

“I consider him a friend,” Gamora said carefully. “A friend who I constantly threaten with a blade. Never a romantic prospect, no.” She sniffed, yanking her arm out of Nebula’s grip. “If you will excuse me, I need to get dressed. I have a lecture with the All-Father in thirty minutes, and I have no plans to get locked out of the Bifrost.”

As Peter ambled along the pathways of the Academy, occasionally pausing to twirl in time to his music, he couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching him. He perked up. Could his moves finally be attracting some wanted attention?

“Star-Lord!” someone called. Ooh, a female voice. His head snapped up, a roguish grin plastered on his face as he removed his headphones, and unceremoniously found a microphone shoved into his face.

“Oh, it’s Patsy,” Peter said weakly, trying his best not to sound disappointed. Not that he wasn’t excited to see Hellcat - it was just that he wasn’t planning on getting ambushed for an interview today. He did his best to give her a charming wink and smile. “What can I do for you?”

She seemed unfazed by his switch in attitude. “Is it true that you and Gamora are dating?”

“I - what? How did...how did you hear about that?” Peter awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, wondering if this was a situation he could dance his way out of.

“Pepper informed me that the Guardians submitted their nomination forms this morning - in record time, by the way, I think the only other person more enthusiastic about this whole ordeal was Kamala - and noticed that you all put you and Gamora for Cutest Couple. Even Janet was surprised - she had no idea! What do you say to that?”

“Well.” Peter coughed, fumbling with the buttons on his Walkman. Dammit, he really should know by now how to escape a situation that didn’t welcome combat or his gun-slinging expertise. “Y’know, it’s something we’ve been wanting to tell people - so the ladies know I’m no longer available - but Gamora’s not a super PDA-y person. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to make it known.”

Patsy scoffed a little at Peter’s comment, but gave him a good-natured pat on the arm. “I’m happy for you two,” she said, a genuine warmth in her voice. “Oh, there she is now!”

“Wha - ” Peter spun to find Gamora practically sprinting towards him, her bookbag flying about behind her. He could practically hear the clatter of various knives rattling about inside. “Uh, hey, babe. You okay?”

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Gamora snapped, apparently not in the mood to play. “You were supposed to meet me at the Milano at 4 PM, remember?” She grabbed him by the bicep and dragged, putting on no pretense that she was going to even acknowledge Patsy’s presence.

“Uh - sorry - I can give you a full interview if you call me at - ” But Peter was gone.

Patsy turned towards the camera with a shrug. “Cheese and crackers,” she said, eyes wide. “That was interesting.”

______

Gamora stomped in silence all the way back to the ship, though Peter tried his best (and failed) to get her to talk. When they boarded the Milano, Peter moved towards the communal table, but Gamora clicked her tongue disapprovingly and pointed towards Peter’s bedroom door.

“Well, if you insist - ow!” Peter rubbed at his arm, holding up his hands in defeat. He ambled towards his room. “I’m sorry, Gamora, I totally lost track of time.”

To his surprise, she let out a defeated sigh, the tensing in her shoulders releasing as she followed him in and closed the door. “It’s okay. I just - we needed to talk about the details of this ruse of ours before we officially tell anyone else.”

“Well then maybe, we shouldn’t have submitted the forms so soon. Who did that, anyways?” Peter set his Walkman and headphones down on his bedside table, the quiet strains of Fooled Around and Fell in Love filling the room.

Gamora eyed the Walkman suspiciously as if it were about to bite before settling herself down at the foot of his bed. “My guess is Rocket intends to make this more difficult for us for...what was that phrase you used?”

“Shits and giggles.” Peter nodded seriously.

“That sounds like a disease,” Gamora informed him. “Regardless, we have to come up with a story, quick. I imagine people like Patsy and Janet will want to know how we started dating and for how long.”

Peter settled in next to her, the warmth of his body radiating heat through where their shoulders were touching. Gamora wondered if he was even aware of how close he was. She had never understood the need for tactile interaction until that night Peter had offered to show her one of his films from his childhood, their legs pressed together side-by-side as they had squished into his bed. Ever since then, he had gotten quite comfortable at sitting close to her or touching her arm to get her attention. It was different than the way she grabbed him out of urgency or heat-of-the-moment anger. It was...gentle. Comforting, even.

“Ha!” Peter’s sudden exclamation startled her out of her derailing train of thought. He was holding up his holo-tab to her face, showing her a picture of...was that Ego the Living Planet?

“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked confusedly, though she reached for the tablet regardless.

“Four months ago, we...well, killed my dad.” Peter cleared his throat, suddenly sobering up from his unbridled joy. “It was an emotional moment, obviously. Led me to reflect on the people I had in my life and what they meant to me. Not to mention the most badass woman I know saved me from being used as a freaking battery for the next few millennia. So, after the battle was over, I told you I had a huge crush on you, and somehow, it turns out you felt the same way. We kissed, there was legit fireworks, and boom. Dating.”

Gamora stared at him for a moment before glancing back at the tablet. As requested by Director Fury, they had noted down every last detail of every mission into their reports (sometimes leaving things out to save their own asses, in all honesty. He didn’t need to know what Peter’s favour to Yondu was when they were doing a recovery mission on Contraxia). The most difficult mission the Guardians had taken on so far was bringing down Ego, as the other Academy students were too far away to call on for assistance, leaving them utterly alone. Although they were still apprehensive about their effectiveness as a team at the time, it was the realization that they were stronger as a family that had solidified their relationships with each other. Peter had been emotionally wrecked for at least a week afterwards, and even Rocket had left him alone to grieve for his mother all over again.

It was, in fact, the perfect plan. She could almost see Peter, in his melancholic, reflective state of mind, asking Gamora to meet him on the observation deck at midnight to tell her something important. Something he hadn’t really thought of before, but realized in the heat of the moment, in the seemingly endless void he had briefly been a part of as Ego had suspended him with “the light”. She could also imagine herself responding in kind, as the fight with Ego made her realize how important Peter was to her life, and the capacity in which she wanted to keep him there.

“That is...pretty smart, actually,” Gamora admitted, handing the tablet back. Peter pumped a fist in the air in victory. “It is short, to the point, and emotionally charged. I imagine Janet will cry when she hears it.”

“Exactly,” Peter nodded. “It doesn’t need extra details, it’s got death and tears and fireworks. It’s super romantic, right?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Gamora said quietly. Then she straightened up. “Four months then? Are there other things you think people will ask us about?”

“Knowing Janet? Everything,” Peter laughed. “She’s gonna dedicate like, fifty Instagram posts to us. Hashtag-relationship-goals.” He pulled up Janet’s blog. “What we do for dates, what our favourite things about each other are. I mean, we’re not just faking being a couple to fake being a couple, we have to be the cutest couple. Let’s start a list.”

“What do people usually do on dates?” Gamora asked, leaning over to scroll through the hundreds of posts Janet somehow had the time to make. “When you and I spend time together, it is usually combat training, studying, and missions.”

“We could say those are all forms of dates,” Peter said carefully. “Plus, y’know, listening to music. Watching movies.” His eyes widened so quickly that Gamora became briefly concerned they were to about to pop out of his skull. “I can tell people I got you to dance!”

“I thought we were trying to be realistic here, Quill,” Gamora said, narrowing her eyes at him. To her disappointment, that merely surprised a laugh out of him.

“Wait, are you really going to keep calling me Quill?” Peter said through his chuckles. “We have the opportunity for ridiculous pet names here.”

Gamora turned away in exasperation, only to find Peter’s room catching her attention in the process. She had only been in here a handful of times - Groot and Mantis tended to enjoy hanging out with Peter in here, whereas it seemed too intimate at times for her tastes - but he seemed to have decorated even more since the last time. His collection of 80s memorabilia was neatly laid out on the shelf above his headboard, a stark contrast to the haphazardness of the rest of his decor. Posters, stickers, photos, news clippings, all plastered along his walls, gifted to him from the other Terran students to help him catch up on their culture. The majority of the posters of attractive women, she suspected, were from Stark. On the wall locker Peter used to store his clothes, was that…?

“You have photos of us. The team,” she added hastily. Gamora remembered that day well - soon after being accepted into the Academy, Janet had taught the Guardians about social media and the importance of selfies. Peter was the only one who took interest, and managed to get a picture with each of his teammates. Drax was staring off at the wrong spot, Rocket was snarling at Peter, Groot was waving happily to the camera, Mantis was doing an awful impression of a smile, and in his photo with her…he was looking at Gamora instead of the camera, an odd expression on his face.

Next to that picture was an old, yellowed photo of Peter and his mother. Gamora had never seen it before, though she could recall the moments in which Peter described his mother and how beautiful she was, inside and out. She could definitely agree - blonde curls, bluer-than-blue eyes, and a sunny grin that positively radiated light. She was the light inside Quill, not Ego, Gamora thought to herself, turning back to look at him. “She is very pretty,” she said, gesturing at the picture.

“She was amazing,” Peter replied, smiling fondly. “I uh, don’t know if I ever told you guys this. My mom, she called me her little Star-Lord. I have a feeling she knew what my dad really was, since she told me I came from the stars.”

Gamora’s face softened. “That’s sweet. Although I suppose she would hate to know what your father’s true nature meant for you.”

Peter shrugged. “Not something I really want to dwell on. So, pet names? I’m a nickname kind of guy. I’ll probably just call you whatever pops into my head.”

“I call you Star-Lord sometimes, though mostly out of annoyance. It will not be a stretch for me to use it fondly as well,” Gamora suggested. “If people ask, I can explain its significance to your close relationship with your mother. I wish to honor her in our relationship by calling you that as well.”

He nodded, finally setting down the tablet. “Sure, sure. And uh, favourite things about each other? I can start.” Gamora nodded at him to continue. “Um. Okay. I think you’ve got really pretty hair. I admire how strong you are in battle, and how fiercely protective you are of your team and your sister. You’re also a freaking rockstar when you’re up on stage, even though we don’t have the same taste in music. And also, you’re secretly kind of funny. And nice.”

She felt herself gaping at him in shock, wondering how much of it was true. Gamora had expected him to make a lewd comment about her looks and a throwaway statement about her fighting prowess, not...this, this thoughtful, generous commentary on her as a person. Maybe Peter wasn’t such a hopeless case after all. “And how about me? Too many to count?” He grinned at her. Okay, never mind.

“You are the emotional centre of our group,” Gamora said carefully, staring down at the silver rings that adorned her fingers. She had no desire to put all her cards on the table. “You provide a breath of fresh air to our lives, especially when we have all suffered such hardships. I appreciate your ability to help us feel deserving of redemption.” She paused, letting her words sink in. She could practically feel Peter’s doe-eyed stare again. “You are also not terrible-looking.”

“Score,” Peter said, twirling a finger in the air as if to wave a flag. “I’m not terrible-looking!”

“Hush.” Gamora couldn’t help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. “You have a low standard for compliments, don’t you?” She stood, stretching, in hopes that the conversation could soon be over. She was starting to feel...things. “Public displays will not be initiated by you, only me. People expect me to be distant, and it will be more surprising - and romantic - to see me opting to hold your hand or kiss your cheek. Plus, I don’t want to run the risk of accidentally impaling you if you try to touch me.”

Peter wisely didn’t point out the fact he often grabbed her arm in public already, and nodded. “Smart. Maybe you should run strategy on the next mission.”

Gamora rolled her eyes as she opened the door. “I practically do anyways. Your ‘twelve-percent-of-a-plan’ business was getting old.” The door slid shut before he could protest.

______

Hours later, Gamora found herself standing outside Janet’s dorm room, her hand hovering over the door with a sense of hesitancy. Wasp often hosted “girls’ nights” and had invited the women of the Guardians, but Nebula had predictably said no, and Mantis had to remain on the Milano to look after Groot, who had thrown a tantrum for unknown reasons and required Mantis’s gentle care.

They will definitely ask me about Quill, Gamora thought resignedly. At least our story is straight. Time to campaign for Cutest Couple, starting now.

Before she could knock, the door swung open, revealing the unimpressed face of one Natasha Romanoff. Gamora was slightly relieved, to be honest - Natasha was one of the few non-Guardian friends she had made here, as they shared more similarities than she expected. “Gamora,” she greeted monotonously, stepping aside to let her in.

Janet’s dorm room was enormous, having talked Fury’s ear off until she got an entire four-person bedroom to herself. Not that Janet was selfish, no, she just wanted space for sleepovers and get-togethers like this. Gamora suspected she would become better at negotiations than the Director himself someday. There was a garish amount of yellow everywhere, from the bedspread to the paintings of bees, flowers, and sunsets. It honestly hurt her eyes a little bit.

Upon glancing around the room, Gamora spotted Patsy, Kamala, Jessica Drew, Daisy, and strangely enough, Elektra. Was this secretly an assassin’s club meeting?

Janet burst out of her ensuite bathroom, inexplicably wearing a fluffy yellow feather boa and a straw sunhat. “Gamora, you came!” she said happily. “Oh good, now the party can really get started. Sit, sit.”

Gamora found herself squished between Natasha and Elektra, who was staring at her reflection in one of her sai. “Can we get started already? I’m bored. You won’t like me when I’m bored.” She swung her dark hair out of her face, nearly hitting Gamora in the eye, her multitude of silver bangles clacking away on her arm. “Matthew tells me I’m dangerous when I’m bored.”

“You’re dangerous all the time!” Janet said cheerfully, settling down on one of her enormous yellow beanbags and removing her extraneous accessories. “Alright, ladies. Let’s discuss who we wrote in for our nominations.”

“Is that what this is about? You promised me that Tony had new stingers ready,” Natasha said, frowning.

“Later.” Janet waved a dismissive hand. “Who wants to start? Kamala?”

“I have too many ships,” Kamala said sadly, looking down at the list she had copied out from her form. “It took longer than I expected. But I did write down Captain America and Captain Marvel for Cutest Couple, even though it’s not technically canon.”

“I understood about half of what you said,” Jessica said amusedly, picking at her nails.

“I don’t know if that nomination will count, but it’s a good effort.” Janet clapped her hands together. “What did everyone else put for Cutest Couple?”

“My sister and Luke, obviously,” Patsy grinned. “She adores him, even though she refuses to say it out loud.”

“I didn’t put anyone,” Jessica admitted. “I was more interested in the other categories.”

“Same,” Daisy said quietly, and Gamora felt a moment of pity for her. She seemed oddly distant from the entire student body, even in Gamora’s eyes. Janet had been trying to break her out of her shell since her arrival, but her efforts could only accomplish so much.

“Myself and Matthew.” Elektra tipped her chin forward as if to dare the others to question her. “We have had interesting dates on the roof of SHIELD HQ. You wouldn’t believe the gossip we hear sometimes.”

“Cap and Agent Carter,” Natasha volunteered reluctantly when Janet fixed her with a challenging stare. Wasp then turned to look at Gamora, who felt herself shriveling up inside.

“I wrote myself and my boyfriend,” Gamora said, the word tasting foreign on her tongue.

There was a sudden flurry of noise and movement as everyone leapt up in surprise. Gamora had to duck as Elektra nearly impaled her thigh with a dagger in alarm. A high-pitched shriek emanated from the other side of the room, and she wasn’t sure if it was Janet, Kamala, or both in an attempt to wake up the whole building.

“OTP!” Kamala squealed. “Ohmigosh, you and Peter, right?!”

“I - yes?” Gamora eyed the other girl suspiciously. “Do I want to know what OTP means?”

“You don’t,” Natasha said firmly, patting Gamora’s shoulder. “I didn’t know you and Quill were together.”

“It is something we recently decided to be truthful about,” Gamora said, twisting her rings absent-mindedly as she spoke. “I was apprehensive about making it public since I wasn’t sure if it would last, but I think we’ve proven to each other that we’re a good match.”

“How did it happen?” Daisy’s shy voice caused the rest of the group to fall silent in anticipation.

“Well, do you all remember the mission from about four months ago, when we had to defeat Ego the Living Planet?” Nods of scarily well-timed synchronicity. “Quill was forced to kill his father despite having searched for him his whole life. It took a toll on him, but it also led him to reflect on the people he cared about. Including me.” The words felt thick in Gamora’s throat, unlike the way Peter had first spoke them - with reverence, as if it was a real thing that had happened that he looked back on with fondness. “He asked if we could talk, the night we held a sort of funeral for his father, and confessed that he had a crush on me. I told him I felt the same way but had felt apprehensive about being in a romantic relationship up until that point.”

“And then?” Janet’s eyes were almost as big as Mantis’s at this point.

“And then he kissed me,” Gamora said with a sense of finality. More squealing followed. She cursed her body modifications for providing an enhanced sense of hearing. “We have been together since that night.”

“How sweet,” Jessica smiled encouragingly. “Quill does seem little bit of a...well. But I’m sure he’s a good boyfriend to you.”

“He does still flirt with many women here,” Gamora sighed. “At times, I wish he acted more loyal, the way that Cage does for Jones. Then again, it’s nice to know every Terran doesn’t behave like Star-Lord.”

Janet emitted another high-pitched noise that left Gamora questioning whether she should have been nicknamed after a bat instead of a wasp. “You call him Star-Lord, like, all the time. You must love him a lot.”

Gamora froze. “I think it’s too early for that,” she said nervously. “But it’s the nickname given to him by his mother, so I thought I would honor her by continuing to call him that.”

“And what kind of things do you two get up to?” Elektra purred almost seductively, leaning in far too close for Gamora’s comfort.

“He likes to show me movies from his childhood,” Gamora said, eliciting an “aww” from Janet, Kamala, and Jessica. “I think it brings him joy to share his culture with me, even if I don’t always understand it.”

“That’s not what I was asking,” Elektra said, wiggling her eyebrows dangerously.

“Leave her alone,” Natasha said, reaching around to shove at Elektra’s shoulder. “Not everyone wants to share those kinds of details.”

Elektra shrugged nonchalantly. “Life’s more fun on the edge, dear Widow. Are you telling me that the most dangerous woman in the galaxy wouldn’t be up to no good with her boyfriend?”

“We’re taking it slow,” Gamora interrupted before unnecessary bloodshed could occur, shooting Natasha what she hoped was a grateful look. “I think I’d like to stop talking about this now.”

“Agreed. No further questions,” Patsy piped up. “Who did everyone put for Nicest Abs, because honestly…”

_______

Peter yawned, rubbing at his sleep-weary eyes as he made his way down from the cockpit to the main deck of the Milano. He had managed to fix the nav system without Rocket’s help, but the ship still hadn’t quite recovered from yesterday’s literal crash-and-burn. If Rocket would finally stop arguing with Stark over who was the better engineer, Peter might finally be able to ask him for his help for stuff like this.

“Well, I’ll be.” Peter nearly jumped three feet in the air at the sound of Yondu’s voice. He was sitting on the kitchen counter, holding Peter’s holo-tab in one hand and an apple in the other. “You finally tell Gamora how you feel?”

“Shut up,” Peter exclaimed, darting forward to snatch the tablet back. It was open to Janet’s Instagram page, where she had posted a selfie of her and the other girls with the caption “#girlsnight is buzzing! Gamora’s giving us the latest scoop about her love life and I am atwitter! #besties #cute #squadgoals”.

“You’ve had a crush on her for how long now?” Yondu grinned, baring his rather awful teeth. “Ain’t never seen you been this excited over one girl before. And you finally got your act together.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re just pretending to be dating so we can win the prize money from Wasp’s yearbook thing. You were there when we decided!” Peter exclaimed. “Gamora went to girls’ night so she could establish a story.”

“Come on, now, boy.” Yondu snorted, hopping off the counter with a crunch of his boots. Peter winced, he didn’t want to know what was in there. “You’ve been soft on her since the beginning. S’okay. You’re a Guardian now, after all. If you were a Ravager still, might be a different story.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Peter glanced down at the picture, letting his eyes linger on Gamora’s half-smile for a moment before closing out of the browser window.

Yondu shrugged, tossing his apple back and forth in his hands, nonchalant. “The code, Quill. Can’t have a Ravager moping after a woman for too long, or he ain’t have his head in the game for thievin’.”

“I’m not moping!” Peter flailed his arms around aimlessly. “I’ve got plenty of other things to deal with - the broken ship, the lack of money, school. Gamora’s important to me and all, but not like that.”

“You keep lying to yourself, boy.” Yondu’s steps echoed as his boots clanged about on the metal walkway of the ship. “Don’t come cryin’ to me if you’ve got a broken heart at the end of all this.”

Peter, for once, was speechless. He had no snarky comment to throw at Yondu’s back. Instead, he opted to settle down on the couch and open up Janet’s Instagram account again, staring at the photo posted about an hour ago. The girls appeared to be doing some sort of mud mask, with varying success. Gamora had smeared hers on like warrior paint, emphasizing the silver markings on her face. Her smile, though rather half-hearted, left Peter smiling back. She was kind of adorable when she showed her gentler side, though Peter enjoyed her deadly nature with equal admiration.

Yes, being Gamora’s fake boyfriend could hardly result in anything going south, could it?

a/n: i love my guardians kids but i have a soft spot for avac!janet so she’s probably one of the more prominent “background” characters. also i don’t know if this happened for anyone else, but i hear “score, i’m not terrible-looking!” in andy dwyer’s voice moreso than peter’s haha

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 3--The Encounter

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Lloyd’s POV

I found myself staring up at the ceiling, and my first thoughts were of Janet and her sister.

Janet’s supposed to have a connection with me. How are we supposed to figure that out? And how come she can control the four elements? I thought I was the only one who could. And another thing—Uncle kind of acted weird when Destiny told him she had water. Maybe she’s not supposed to? And if she wasn’t supposed to, then what element does she have?

Groaning, I swung my legs over and dragged myself out of bed to get ready. After I was set to go I went for the kitchen, and the only one there was my dad.

“Hey, Dad,” I greeted.

He looked at me with a smile. “Morning, son.” I prepared a bowl of cereal before sitting down with him. “I heard about the new members you found yesterday. Quite the mystery, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty crazy …” I stirred my food as I became lost in thought. “Do you think … Ninjago isn’t entirely safe now? I mean, we defeated the Overlord and saved everyone, but now Janet and Destiny are here. What else is there to fight?”

Dad looked out the window just as two birds flittered by. “Evil comes in many forms, whether it be in crime in the city or in something as ancient as the Overlord. No matter what, darkness is always lurking. We can only be watchful and remain sharp.

“Perhaps those girls aren’t signaling the coming of a new threat. Maybe they only came because destiny needed them to meet all of you.”

I kept my eyes on my cereal. “I guess you’re right, and maybe all we can do is be on the lookout. Thanks, Dad.” After I finished eating I gave him a quick hug before heading out the door to walk to Dareth’s Dojo (which was surprising not destroyed after my battle with the Overlord). The guys were already inside along with Janet and Destiny. Sensei was there, too.

“Morning, Lloyd,” Janet said. 

“Uh hey!” I said. “So when do we start?”

“First we gotta see exactly how good these two are,” Cole said.

“What, yesterday didn’t count?” Destiny teased.

“Easy there, Destiny. First things first—hand-to-hand combat. Janet, you’re up!”

“And here I thought our days of training were over,” Kai said.

“Whether it is with ourselves or others, training never really ends,” Zane commented. “Something new can always be learned.”

“Wise words, Zane,” Uncle complimented. “One never truly stops learning.”

Janet got into her stance just as Destiny was sitting down, and the guys and I readied ourselves.

“Let’s see what you got,” Cole challenged.

Neither of us moved for the first few moments, but I did make eye contact with Zane. Janet’s eyes looked behind her, and she swiftly flipped to the side to avoid a punch. The rest of us quickly dove in, and she avoided nearly every move we threw at her. She was light and quick on her feet, returning our own punches and kicks without skipping a beat. It’s like she wasn’t even touching the ground!

Kai came in for a punch that Janet leaned left away from, and she spun around to kick him in the back. Jay got her wrist between her shoulder blades, but she slammed her foot down onto his within the next second.

“Ah-ha-how!” he yelped.

I wove between the others as they kept her focus on them, and I was getting ready to pounce on top of her. But the second I made a grunt, however, she darted past me a lot quicker than normal.

On a current of air.

“Huh?”

“Lloyd behind you!” Kai exclaimed. Before I knew it I saw a blur of black, and that quickly became the only thing I saw.

My head was pounding as my consciousness was coming back, and my eyes were slow to focus on the scene before me. Janet had a shuriken and a scythe pointed at her while she was on the ground, and Kai and Jay were behind her with the former pointing a sword at her head.

“You have to be prepared for the unexpected,” Cole said. “That includes surprise weapons.”

“Heh, all right. I’ll remember that,” Janet said. The guys backed off to let her up, and she dusted herself off.

“W-what happened?” I asked, sitting up.

“I uh, kind of knocked you out cold. Sorry about that.”

I massaged my head. “You train rough.”

“Seriously,” Jay agreed. “I think you gave me a bruise everywhere.”

“You could still use a few pointers here and there,” Kai said.

I stood up a little unsteadily. “Didn’t think you could control air, too.”

“Wait. You control air, too? No wonder you were darting all over the place!” Cole marveled.

“You wouldn’t happen to control water as well, would you?” Zane asked.

I glanced over to Sensei and tuned out the conversation. Something in his eyes told me he was uneasy, and he had a sort of dread to him, too. But the look vanished before I could say anything. I’m starting to get some suspicious feelings about these two. But … maybe I’m just getting ahead of myself.

“So, I guess we could start with Destiny now.”

I turned my attention back to the others at Kai’s voice. and Janet’s sister took her place as she stood off to the side.

“Same thing goes for you,” Cole said. “Expect every move possible.”

“The enemy will enact any move,” Zane added. “You must be prepared.”

Cole’s POV

Destiny nodded, and a few seconds after we got into position Kai came in with a sword. She narrowly avoided a high kick from Lloyd and leaned back to avoid a sword swing. Jay sent a flurry of punches that she also narrowly avoided, and she instinctively kicked back, nailing my thigh. That was a little too close for comfort.

Seconds later Kai swung at her once again, and she swooped under the swing and actually slapped his sword hand. And he dropped his sword. Genius, Kai. Genius.

“Ah! Hey!” Kai complained. He was quick to tackle her down during the few seconds Zane was keeping her occupied. “How do you like this?”

Then Destiny switched positions so she pinned Kai down, knocking Lloyd down in the process. "I can do the same thing you can, Spike.”

"Spike? Ha hah, nice one,” Jay said.

Kai fought back a glare. “I’m not done yet.” He pushed her off, and she dropped to the ground to avoid a shuriken before getting up again.

“Really? I thought you were,” Destiny taunted. If that isn’t friction I don’t know what is.

“Keep your head leveled,” Janet warned as Lloyd and Destiny exchanged a few punches.

Kai once again came up behind her, but this time she was expecting it. Or at least, she thought she was. She kicked back against air, but she did leap out of the way to let Jay get nailed with the same kick he had tried yesterday.

“Ah hah!” Kai, again, pinned her down, and this time her legs were held down. “Not so tough now, huh?”

The rest of us stayed on full alert for any tricks she might pull, but nothing really came. They just stared each other down for the longest time, and if looks could kill both of them would be dead.

Her eyes narrowed, and she was about to actually head-butt Kai when the door to the dojo burst open.

“There’s been a break-in at the museum!” Nya reported. “But I have to warn you that—”

“Don’t worry, Nya, we can handle it,” Jay said. Kai finally got off of Destiny as the rest of us slipped our masks on to head out, Lloyd being the first one out.

“Destiny, go with them,” Sensei said. Janet was about to come with us when he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Not you, Janet. Not yet.” She seemed just about ready to protest, but she restrained herself.

“All right, Water Girl, let’s see how you handle this,” Kai challenged, and the rest of us headed out.

“Guys I really think you should—”

“ ‘Water Girl’?! Oh you’re on!” Destiny said, cutting Nya off.

The six of us now outside, the Ultra Dragon was just landing nearby, and Destiny stopped right in her tracks.

“That’s a … that’s a dragon. That is a very big—”

“He’s not that bad once you get used to him,” Jay called as we were mounting up.

After composing herself Destiny ran to catch up with us, and Zane helped her situate herself. Nya was standing outside the dojo alongside Janet and Sensei as we took off, and Destiny gripped a random pair of shoulders as Lloyd directed the dragon to the museum.

“Wow! That’s a grip …”

“Sorry. Just never ridden a dragon before,” she said sheepishly. “Or seen one, especially one with four heads.” It was nice seeing the city from up above. Heck, it was nice having a big mission for once.

“Ahhh, I miss riding this guy,” Kai said.

“It’s only been several weeks,” Zane commented.

“Where was this guy when we needed him up against you and your sister?”

“Oh shut up,” Destiny said, peering down below.

Eventually we came across the museum, and after we landed she was the first one to dismount the dragon. The museum’s director had a frantic expression as we met up with him.

“Oh good! You’re here,” he said. He glanced to Destiny. “Who is that?”

“Uh new recruit,” I replied. “So there was a robbery?”

“Yes. Right.” He started for the doors. “I’ve locked up every exit in the museum to keep the criminal inside. I’m not sure if he’s still in there, so be careful.” After unlocking the door he held it open for us, and the second Lloyd went in he shut the door.

“I guess it’s ‘one way in, one way out,’ huh?” Jay said.

“Okay here’s the plan,” I said. “We go in pairs. Zane and I will stay here while the rest of you try to lure the guy toward us. Lloyd, you’re with Jay, and Kai you’re with Destiny.”

“What?!” the last two exclaimed.

“You heard him,” Lloyd said. “Now come on!”

The others went off in different directions, and Kai and Destiny were already arguing.

“Was that really the wisest pairing?” Zane asked curiously.

“Ahhh it was on the fly,” I admitted. “Besides. Maybe those two might actually learn to work together.

Kai’s POV

I am not going to learn to work with her. She’s been on my nerves ever since yesterday! I bet Cole did this on purpose.

I slipped behind a pillar while she stood in front of me. “All right, follow my lead. We can’t have you getting lost in here.”

“What, you think I have no idea what I’m doing?” she hissed.

“Of course not!”

“Then why are you such a jer—”

“Shh!” I clamped my hand over her mouth upon hearing footsteps, ignoring her muffled scoff. The steps were calm, unhurried. Maybe the guy’s not even concerned about us. Well he should be.

“I know you’re here,” a raspy voice called out. “There’s no point in hiding, Ninjas.”

Destiny yanked my hand away and gestured with her eyes to the guy.

“Don’t even think about it,” I hissed, but she ended up rolling her eyes before walking right out into the open. Are you kidding me?

“Theeeere’s one! Now where are the others?” the guy sing-songed.

“It’s just me,” she spat. I was about to march out there when I heard him walk toward her, and all I apparently could do was watch her walk to him. Even I’m not that hasty! “There’s nowhere to run. Every exit is blocked.” They both stopped.

“You must’ve been let in, so that means there’s actually one exit.” I heard a pair of feet shift positions.

“You want out? You have to go through me.”

“I have nothing in my hands.”

“Your pockets.”

“Not a single item.” More feet shifted as I saw Jay and Lloyd flash by.

“… Then why are you here?”

A slow and almost stalking gait echoed throughout the museum. “I’m looking for someone. Someone very important.”

“And who might that be?”

“Someone you might know. Maybe they’re even close to you.”

I had to sneak a peek from behind the pillar. Behind Destiny and well-hidden were Lloyd and Jay, and she had managed to get the culprit's back to the door. Now that I could actually see the guy, I saw that he was dressed in an extremely dark purple from head to toe, and a hood was over his head. (Assuming this is a guy.)

“Mind giving me a little more of a hint?” she asked, irritated.

The guy took one slow step at a time toward her, and she stood on the offensive. “They’re very powerful, actually. Gold looks nice on them, too.” Gold looks nice on them … ?

Wait a second.

Destiny threw a punch at him that was caught effortlessly, but she kneed him hard before he could throw her fist back. But within seconds she was pinned down, and I could see his gloved hands tighten their grip on her wrists.

“I know you didn’t come alone!” he barked. “Ninjas never come alone!”

With a loud grunt she head-butt the guy and threw him off. She got up with a huff and balled her fists, glaring at him. At the same time the guys and I emerged from our hiding spots, and the four of us had the guy backed up against a wall. His glowing eyes were almost inhuman, and his gaze was livid.

“You’re right. Ninjas never come alone,” I said. “But it looks like you did.”

“And you’re not getting anywhere near Lloyd!” Jay added heatedly.

All the guy did was laugh lowly. “So you think.” The guy darted off towards the door, and the rest of us made chase.

“Zane! Cole! Get ready!” Lloyd shouted.

“Hey way to get him to spill the beans, Des,” Jay said as we ran. “Well kind of.”

“Des?” she repeated.

“Y’know like a nickname.”

“Heh. Yeah I know …” She looked down for a brief moment. “Okay call me crazy, but I was getting some … vibes from him.”

“Vibes?” Lloyd asked.

“Like … he had something dark and powerful to him.” The boys and I exchanged looks.

“Maybe that’s what Nya was trying to tell us at the dojo,” I said.

“We reeeeally gotta stop rushing into things,” Lloyd said.

Two cries of pain from up ahead brought our attention forward, and we picked up the pace. We soon came across both Zane and Cole struggling to get up, and the doors were wide open.

“What happened?”

“Augh, he was so fast! Inhumanely fast!” Cole said as I helped him up.

“I sensed something foreboding about him, and it was almost intoxicating,” Zane said as Jay helped him up.

“I guess Destiny was right about that dark vibe,” I said.

“We have to catch that guy,” she stressed.

“Who just happens to be after Lloyd,” Jay said. “I mean who isn’t?”

Lloyd gave him a flat look.

“Hey I’m just stating the facts.”

“But he also could be after my sister,” Destiny said. A shadow of dread settled over us.

“We better head back and tell Sensei about this,” I said. “Looks like our evil just came out of the shadows.”

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