#and convinces herself every single time that its just roxy being roxy

[monty-glasses-roxy]

does roxy even realize that chica is crushing on her?

There is not a single universe to ever exist where Roxy realises Chica is crushing on her. Not a single one.

In every universe, Roxy is dense as bricks. She can read others so well and yet she's so dense when it comes to crushes and romance stuff. She's got no idea.

[abundantchewtoys]

HS Epilogues, Meat p26 reaction

Well, we unexpectedly went on a little hiatus there, in our liveblogging. It's just one of those things you got to find time for doing, you know?

So, last time in Homestuck Epilogues, Dirk was present for Rose's ascension into omniscience. Although he did state he still had a manner of control over her, and was going to do something to anchor her to her living body. So, you know, they're not on equal footing just yet, in part because Dirk hasn't relinquished control of the narration to her.

I hope the POV switches to John again, but since we just had a page from his perspective, it might be going back to Kanaya? Or Roxy, but Dirk might not want to spent more time around her "unfathomable" mind than is necessary for the plot to advance. It's not something you'd relish, as a supposedly omniscient narrator.

---

"Jade kicks her shoeless feet behind her slowly, as if she’s swimming with the current of the gravitational waves pulling her ever closer to their source." Oh! I didn't think we'd see her again, at least in the Furthest Ring. Thought the Black Hole had already swallowed her up. Though maybe as a Space player, and one with a connection to a seven-year-more-experienced version of herself located outside of canon and thus with more guaranteed conditional immortality than normal, she might be able to... resist getting thorn to pieces, as she crosses the event horizon? Unlike, presumably, every other being sucked into this thing.

"the ruby slippers are gone. She kicked them off hours ago, as if to jettison all hope of returning anywhere resembling a place she used to call home. The fond remembrance of such a place no longer has any pull on her.

Now, something else entirely is pulling her." Welp, guess the Black Hole is kind of hypnotic, ain't it? Or maybe it's Alt Calliope's strong personality.

"Believe me, I’m sympathetic to the temptation. It’s always just there, isn’t it?" To jump into the void? I don't think it's ALWAYS there for everyone Dirk, but thanks for the unique perspective into how your mind functions.

"There’s something about being alone for so long, it makes time feel like it doesn’t exist. She knows this almost better than I do." ... Yes, well, Lonely Jade did, and it seems as if she might have taken over, or melded with, Reload Jade? So yeah, her three years of isolation would indeed have given her some inkling of the feeling of loneliness that Dirk and the cherubs must have experienced, being physically alone all their life. ... Right, of course her childhood on Hellmurder Island would have also done that regardless.

"Jade also knows well enough by now that time doesn’t actually exist in a literal sense, the way we generally understand it. It’s just one aspect of many, and the complement of her own, Space. It therefore can be neutralized by the introduction of her essence. Reduced to white noise or soft light. The continuum of time is therefore demonstrably an illusion. The field of sequential moments and physical conditions that stretch on and on, resulting in the mirage of loneliness, is pure projection from disproportionate attention given to a single side of one cosmic, polar pair of ideas: time." Ah yes, aspect exposition time! To quote the swamp bender: "Time is an illusion", huh? We're going that route? Well, sure, but for most people a rather convincing one, no matter what your Aspect is. Though it would be interesting to see what "disproportionate attention" given to Space would result in... Despite a ravenous Black Hole consuming an entire realm, I guess.

"It’s my way of saying, and thereby alerting her mind to what she already knows, that this feeling of all-consuming solitude and despair haunting her since childhood—it’s in her head." Like, I can only root for Dirk in trying to save Jade from whatever Calliope has cooked up, but he's still manipulating her for his own purposes.

"The ticking of time is a little contrivance in her mind as a byproduct of imbalance, of the vast disparity between her limited self and her Ultimate Self." So, what, his past is as real to Dirk right now as his present and future?

"It lives rent free there the way Dave once did, and for this version of Jade, probably still does." Funny how that points to this still being Reload Jade more than post-canon Jade.

"Maybe Dave broke her heart a little, and he keeps doing it too, no matter how many different timelines they try out." Okay, see? This applies to post-canon Jade! It seems to swing around from moment to moment, the direction the narration points into. Though, I guess post-canon Jade might really benefit from absorbing her pre-retcon selves memories regarding her relationship with Davesprite, to assess how to go about handling Dave on Earth C.

"She slips closer to the event horizon, still making no effort to impede her descent. My persuasion skills are admittedly a little rusty. Bear with me here." So very rusty, so very unused recently. :P But yeah, she's different from Rose AND John, so he'll need a different approach.

"In my experience, there’s something about being alone that can take a person’s limited meat-engine and make it imagine that it can see beyond the confines of its own electrical processes. Make it believe that it is ascending to a place where it can see the four dimensions spread out beneath it like a set of windows." Is he... paraphrasing Jade's current mindset? Or his own, isolated on B2 Earth? Sounds also as if he's describing a medidative monk, kind of.

"Like sheet music. Like a garden, where Jade used to spend so much of her time with her hands in the earth and her head in the clouds, dreaming about flowers that bloomed in six colors and grew when she played them a song. Was that real? It’s hard to tell. But it made her happy, didn’t it?

Isn’t that what she needs now?" Ooh, so he's trying to persuade her to turn around by getting inside her head and trying to figure out what made her most happy. Being omniscient, he might just have a hard time distinguishing the important bits from the trash? He seemed to describe it in such a way, as if Jade might sometimes have been daydreaming in a way it overlapped with dreaming on Prospit! And so, she might have created a space for her dreamself that didn't stick to the confines of the dreamroom.

"Isn’t it reasonable to presume that’s the only thing capable of persuading her to slow her descent—to being invited to imagine, fake or otherwise, that which once made her happy? That which could still make her happy, if only she’d slow down, think about it, and do whatever is necessary to place herself in those surroundings again?" So, he's trying to shake her out of it by thinking happy thoughts. :P

"It’s possible that manning the other end of a suicide hotline, transmitted through pure thought in a metatextual format, may not actually be my true calling." (He actually kind of sucks at this.)

"I’m doing my goddamned best here. She just isn’t slowing down, for some incomprehensible reason." So, uh, what's stopping you from pulling a John and just, like forcefully move her thoughts to where you want them?

"Perhaps my touch is too soft. It wouldn’t be the first time." Said no one ever that ever knew you. :P

"Perhaps the limits of persuasion itself are being tested by the most powerful gravitational force to ever exist?" Now that'd be something! That a pure manifestation of an Aspect could overcome narrators of omniscient inclination.

"Or perhaps it’s true that insistence is just the more effective half of persuasion.

So I’m insisting now." Took him long enough.

"Jade Harley will not go into that hole. She does NOT want us to all to see what happens when she unsettles the spirit residing there." So Dirk also seems to be convinced she's survive? Or maybe he thinks that, adding her to the matter inside the Black Hole, would upset some kind of balance.

Basically, he's like: "No, Alice, don't go into the rabbit hole!" and "No, Dorothy, don't look behind the green curtain at the wizard residing there!"

"she does, though." OOOOOOoooooohhhhhh!!!! Battle of the narrators!

Guess Alt Calliope's eon-long isolation, coupled with her Spacey thing, gave her the same powers as Dirk's. So that answers the question whether ghosts can grow into an Ultimate Self! It has interesting implications regarding Aranea and (Vriska), for one!

"Fucking yikes.

Jade throws on the brakes. I say she does. But by now, the gravity is overwhelming. Is she even trying to resist, or is it just that it’s useless to try? I’m not... I’m not sure I can tell?" Wow, yeah, so here we see what happens when Dirk encounters another narrative force of equal or greater power. He loses the ability to discern everything. But Alt Calliope remains eerily silent, only 2 comments from her so far.

"Jade realizes, preferably before it’s too late, that this is fucking serious. She needs to turn this around. She doesn’t want this. She doesn’t want to die.

she wants to return to me." ...? Eh? Does Alt Calliope see herself as THE Self now, devouring all other beings into some sort of hivemind gestalt? Or does she refer to the time Jade (either version) spent with Calliope (either version)? Seems a bit stupid if she'd mean that. On the other hand, it might be a childish response, a desire for affection so deeply rooted into the main Calliope, that Alt Calliope during her ascension absorbed it.

"All right, I’m done messing around.

YOUR name is Jade Harley. YOU decide, right now, that you do not want to die. You resist the pull of the black hole with all your might. What would killing yourself accomplish? Sure, most of your friends are dead. But John is still looking for you. Do you want to let him down? Do you want to crush his soul? Do you have any appreciation for what he’s going through, Jade? He can take you home. To your new home, Earth C. The home I made for you, Jade. Your friends are all there, alive and well. Rose, Dave, Karkat, slutty adult Jade, Jane, Jake, Roxy, me. You wouldn’t want to disappoint them. You wouldn’t want to disappoint me, would you, Jade?" Well then!! Pffff, I didn't think a Strider could ever evocate "Stern Fatherly Disapproval" like Dad Egbert/Crocker can, but here we are. Let's just skim the implications of taking a teen Jade back to Earth C to live with adult versions of her friends, as well as Dirk's less than gentle tone here, and agree that her survival is definitely desirable, just cuz IT'S ABOUT HER, SURVIVING.

Still, you have to wonder what Dirk's ultimate plans for her are. I'm starting to doubt he'll be successful, though.

"You’re close now, to the ceiling of the cancerous deformity. Too close. Just skimming the edge of this thing’s vicious horizon." It's like he's describing the event horizon as a quantum vacuum decay, which for all we know in science, it just might be.

"You dip your toes through the place where the singularity is snapping everything apart at the seams. It’s so loud that it’s completely silent. You can already feel yourself stretched thin, distorted, pulled out with your descent elongated for all eternity." I suppose there's no one suited for pulling her out at the last second, is there? No chance for Davepeta to make a last-moment re-entry into the epilogues.

Blaperile points out something significant to me: Dirk has attributed Jade the "you"-ness factor! It would be cool to have Jade come on par with John in the epilogues, but I doubt it'll last past this page.

"When you look down, the stripes of your witchy tights go on and on for miles. Please, Jade. Don’t ever say I didn’t try to stop this.

she closes her eyes and lets go." Is... Alt Calliope going to take over the narration for a bit here, on the next page?

We have three potential candidates for taking up narration at this point - and no sight of Andrew Hussie, the author avatar, who could have been a fourth.

Welp. Now Jade's really gone. I have to wonder what this means for post-canon Jade, who fell unconscious with the sight of the Black Hole seared into her eyes. It can't have been a pleasant thing that happened to her, there. I just hope Alt Calliope hasn't taken over her body like a true puppeteer, giving Dirk a run for his money.

[okimargarvez]

SUNSCREEN AND SAND IN THE PANTS

Original title: Sunscreen & Sand in the pants

Prompt: beach, sea, afraid of swimming.

Warning: none.

Genre: romantic, comedy.

Characters: Penelope Garcia, Luke Alvez.

Pairing: Garvez.

Note: oneshot, part 14 of 365 pills of Garvez canon life.

Legend: 💑😘🐶.

Song mentioned: none.

GARVEZ STORIES

SUNSCREEN AND SAND IN THE PANTS

 The arms full of bags, plus the parasol and a portable tent. Even Roxy does her part. They look around for the best place. Not too far behind, near the bins and showers. Not too far ahead, otherwise you risk being in the front row. He seems to have identified something; stops a second and then part decided. Central row, perfect. He opens the parasol and plants it in the sand, while she spreads out the mat and two towels. The man turns for a moment to contemplate her: she is still wearing the purple sundress that makes her skin, white as the milk, stand out tremendously. Special glasses with lenses suitable for fighting sunlight. He points to Roxy where to lie down and the dog performs super obedient. He is not used to certain temperatures, so he hurries to take off his half-sleeved shirt.

Because of the wind the hat escapes her and she turns, just in time to see the boy's shining chest, drops of sweat that run like dew along the muscles. She remains open-mouthed, even if she should know it by now. -Luke, you're...- the Mexican style straw hat falls to the ground. He grabs her by a corner of the sundress and pulls her against his body. The lips blend together, attracted like magnets. He knows what goes through her head and so he made it clear that he is already busy, with anyone in this beach who may have wonder. He has already seen her in the pool, with the costume, but it is not the same thing. In the pool there aren’t the wind, the salty air that curls her hair, the sand and the shine of the sea that make frame for her.

-You look like an angel, but you tempt me more than the devil.- he whispers in her ear, tickles her.

-Remember that we also brought the tent...- a mischievous flicker in her eyes.

-I repeat: don’t tempt me, woman. And don’t make me be the rational half of the couple.- she nods, innocently, and takes off her sundress . -No, wait!- he stops her, with impetus, taking her hands. He seems a bit 'too apprehensive and she is worried, but as usual, thinks the exact opposite.

-Luke, why don’t you want me undressed? You're ashamed of me, are not you?- she doesn’t let him replicate, she's in the "river in flood" mode. -I can understand you, you're right, I don’t have the classic chiseled physique, thin, slender, and yes, maybe my tits are cool, but the rest of my body...- to silence her he needs to make a masterful act. In a moment the man holds her dress in his hands, without having made a single scratch on it.

-Baby, do you realize the stupid things you say? I haven’t told you enough times how sexy you are, how much I would haven't got a care in the world and take you here, bluntly? And how much I have to work hard to behave myself?- more than anything is the serious look that convinces her. She shrugs, nods.

-So, what are you waiting for, boyfriend? I always wanted you to rub on me the sunscreen…- why does every single thing that comes out of that mouth make him think bad? Even now that he is no longer abstinent, indeed. Penelope lies down on her stomach, exposing her back, backside and legs to his eyes. Luke is forced to behave, look for and find the bottle containing the substance that will prevent the woman from becoming a pepper and beginning to spread it with precise gestures along her body.

-But you were referring to the regulatory one or mine?- he whispers in her ear as he rubs her shoulders, tearing out of her a verse of pleasure, practically inaudible.

Roxy barks, annoyed that nothing interesting has been done, not at least from her point of view. -Uh, since we've been together you've become so vulgar...- he chuckles as he takes care of her thighs, considering that this is one of those things that belong exclusively to him.

-Maybe I've always been, but I've never found someone to express it with.- he answers with the same tone, working on her calves and feeling all the tension vanish.

-You're bad, boy. You're lucky, though, that your hands are like this ...- he anticipates her voluntarily, just as he it's about to end with the fingers of each foot. It may seem incredible, but the only time they had managed to go to the lake, she was burned right there.

-Are they cold?- is a clear provocation. They still could not understand why she came up with that nickname, almost a year ago. She hadn’t had the chance to experiment and find out. And maybe that was what she wanted, it was the explanation he had gave himself.

-No! Celestial.- here again is that irrational impulse that doesn’t suit him.

-Mmm.- he takes three long sighs. -You have decided that by the end of the day we will have to lose the badge, I certainly do.- it seems that the joke was liked by her, because she turns to the other side, bursting out laughing, making her chest jump. -Penelope...- he warns her. She merely holds her arms motionless along the body, and he completes the work. If they were on a desert island... Another bark of Roxy forces them to return to reality. -What time is it?- she asks, wearing the sunglasses.

-The time to take a bath!- Luke beckons the dog to follow them and takes the woman with his arms, then running agilely to the shore and continuing until the water doesn’t reach his hips. Penelope clings to his body, leaving marks of her fingernails in his flesh.

-Please, don’t leave me, don’t leave me.- she squeaks, really terrified that man can throw her in the water. Although she knows perfectly well that it is not deep enough to drown (not really true, Spencer would say: it takes only a few centimeters, if a person is fainted) and that above all he would never put her in jeopardy... fear is irrational.

-But sure, baby, I don’t leave you in every sense.- he raises her again to bring her face to the same high of his and gives her a kiss of comfort. -Want me to put you down?- she nods and Luke gently steps her down.

-Damn, it's cold!- Luke can’t help laughing, seeing her shiver. -When stop you to laugh about me?- then the eyes to fall on another physical reaction due to the water temperature. -You're a maniac!- she tries to escape, but it's clear that this is not her element. Her movements are awkward, heavy, it seems that she is walking in the quick-setting cement. Luke doesn’t take long to catch up. Penelope defends herself by trying to squirt it but loses her balance and ends up soaking. When she realizes that she is slipping, panic makes its way, but Roxy appears at her side, providing a grip to hold on to.

After a competition of sketches, Penelope is still meditating her revenge, because you know, it's a dish that should be served cold. Luke has already forgotten, the innocent. When they emerge again, before they can wrap the towel around their waist, she pulls the back of the man's costume and throws a lot of sand into it.

-Penelope!- an almost effeminate cry escapes him.

-Sorry, but did not you say you preferred the mountain?-

TAGS: @theshamelessmanatee @itsdawnashlie @talesoffairies    @arses21434 @jarmin @kathy5654 @martinab26 @reidskitty13 @jenf42 @gracieeelizabeth27 @silviajajaja @smalliemichelle99 @charchampagne14 @thinitta  @skisun  @myhollyhanna23 @thenorthernlytes @garvezz @mercedes-maldonado

[comic-movieheroesranked]

Cinematic Comic Characters Ranked! (Year 2007) Final Part

Seven movies were released during 2007 that make it on our list! Marvel’s debut of Ghost Rider started us off, followed by the incredible action film, 300! Up next was TMNT, the list’s first animated movie as well as the return of Spider-Man 3, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Alien vs Predator: Requiem! Also debuting is the horror film 30 Days of Night. Here’s the Top 20!

*SPOILER ALERT FOR ALL HIGHLIGHTED MOVIES ABOVE*

20. Casey (TMNT)

"Uh, did you forget that all I have is a baseball hat?"

It makes sense that Casey was featured a lot in the movie because out of everyone, Raphael is closest to him, whether the turtle wants to admit it or not. It's Casey who understands Raphael's new alter ego and its Casey who Raphael comes to when he needs help. He's also at a crossroads himself, not knowing if and when he should mature up with his on-going relationship with April. In the end I don't think he needs to change at all, seeing as April is happy with just who he is, except for maybe when they're both in a vehicle.

19. Captain (300)

"No prisoners!"

It's odd we never find out what Captain's actual name is, seeing as he's King Leonidas' right hand man and is one of the best Spartan soldiers there is. He helps command the Spartans with ease and authority and is very much in control of himself until his son, Astinos, is killed on the battlefield. After his loss he fights more reckless with nothing to lose. During the final confrontation, he manages to kill several men as he's butchered by several others.

18. Caretaker/Carter Slade (Ghost Rider)

"I've got one last ride in me."

The original Ghost Rider who stopped Mephisto from collecting the contract of San Venganza. He waits over one hundred and fifty years for the next Ghost Rider to show up and finish what he's started. We don't know this in the beginning, he just comes off as a Caretaker who finds Johnny after his night of fighting demons, but it's just kinda obvious with all the stuff he knows about Venganza and about being a Ghost Rider. I personally thought he wasted his last ride, since nothing really came out of it, but aesthetically it was cool seeing a western version of Ghost Rider riding with the current one.

17. Leonardo (TMNT)

"Attack as one!"

Leo is the oldest turtle and therefore the leader of the team. After Shredder is defeated, Leo goes on his own self discovery, momentarily forgetting about his brothers, which really puts a wedge between him and Raphael. The two clash the entire movie, both not understanding the other's complete opposite personality. In the end, after Leo is rescued, he learns that even though he is the leader, he couldn't accomplish nearly as much without his brothers beside him.

16. Predator (Alien vs Predator: Requiem)

*Predator clicking*

After a predator ship crashes on Earth, this Predator heads down there to destroy all evidence of their existence (which makes no sense as to why it leaves a skinned human hanging on a tree for the world to see) and only realizes things are much worse when it encounters the alien-predator hybrid. He goes solo in trying to take down every single alien creature and mostly succeeds despite the humans occasionally getting in the way. In the final battle between the Predator and the Hybrid, the two end up killing each other before a military nuke destroys everything.

15. Beau Brower (30 Days of Night)

"Nothing I can't handle my own fucking self!"

Beau is a fighter and had been dying to take on the vampires as soon as they started killing everyone in town. Stella and Eben convinced him that the group needed him instead, which is true because he saves them a few times before sacrificing himself so Eben can escape. He ends up taking down more vampires than everyone else in a blaze of suicidal glory. He doesn't end up dying in the flames, Marlow still kills him but I'm glad they didn't eat him.

14. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

"And fifteen years later, I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century."

I will always loathe when movies do these awkward dance scenes to show off a character's power/new look (I'm also looking at you, Spider-Man 3 and Catwoman). Besides that, Mr. Fantastic wasn't as boring as he was in the last film. Like Sue, I struggled to understand why he felt the need to hide things from her, unlike her, I would've really put his durability to the test. They reconcile and Richard goes back to leading the team as they try to stop Galactus from ending the world and, along the way, stop Dr. Doom because he's just a piece of shit. Richard also debuts the Fantasticar, their own private jet so the team doesn't have to fly coach any longer.

13. Roxanne Simpson (Ghost Rider)

"You don't know me, but I love him."

After Mephisto made it clear no one close to Johnny would ever be safe, he ditches Roxie and leaves town without any explanation. She doesn't take offense though, which I love! She knows his dad just dad and that they were just teenagers so she builds herself a career instead and meets up with him again once she's ready. Her patience does have limits though and I'd be questioning my looks/personality too if someone who said they cared about me kept ditching me at all the dates. When she finds out he's Ghost Rider she's full on supportive, even after she gets kidnapped by the devil's son. After everything's over, she's not even surprised that her and Johnny must go their own separate ways, because she now understands the curse he has to live with.

12. Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Spider-Man 3)

"It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right."

I don't know what the hell was going on with Peter in this movie. At the start, he's gotten cocky as fuck. He won't let Mary Jane get a word in without talking about himself saving the day. And HOW did he not see anything wrong with Gwen Stacy giving him a big ol' kiss on the mouth...in the same way him and Mary Jane shared their first kiss...WITH MARY JANE WATCHING!? I would've killed him. Then he gets infected with the symbiote and begins some of the most cringe-worthy scenes I've scene from the movies on this list. The jazz bar scene? The bangs??? I get trying to show that sometimes heroes can be evil too, it's just that, for me, I didn't feel that Spider-Man truly redeemed himself after getting rid of the symbiote. Yeah he saved the day, but Sandman and New Goblin got more redemption than he did by the end of it.

11. Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man 3)

"Everyone needs help sometimes, Peter. Even Spider-Man."

Yes, Mary Jane is ranked higher than Spider-Man. Why? Because the girl fucking deserves it after what that boy put her through. She finally gets on broadway but can't hold a tune so she gets replaced and Peter can't even tell she's upset. Then she has to deal with him kissing Gwen Stacy and still manages to be there for him when the truth about Uncle Ben's death is revealed. She also has to deal with being a pawn in a plot made by people who want to kill Peter. First it's New Goblin, although that quickly doesn't last, and then it's Venom and Sandman. This girl handled everything thrown at her in way that I felt was lacking from Spider-Man, but maybe that's because he was hardly on the receiving end. I'm glad the ending doesn't spell out if she's getting back with him, it only shows that she cares about him enough to give him a dance and maybe a chat afterwards.

10. Raphael (TMNT)

"Man, I love being a turtle!"

Bitter with Leo leaving the team, Raphael continues his life of fighting crime as a new vigilante, but that all changes once Leo returns. Once again Raphael is being told what to do, by someone who he thinks abandoned them so he rebels and two continue to butt heads. They face off in a match of egos and Raphael's temper gets the better of him as he takes things too far which ends in Leo getting kidnapped by the Immortal Generals. He quickly learns from his mistakes and understands that family comes first, rescuing Leo and staying by his side as he leads their team.

9. Kelly (Alien vs Predator: Requiem)

"I'll live."

Coming home from the military, Kelly enters a whole new war between the aliens and the predators. She ends up leading a group of survivors, including her daughter, to safety. She really is the sole reason they all end up surviving. She has the most kill count out of all the humans when it came to fighting the aliens, she was able to drive both the military tank and the helicopter that got them out of harm's way, AND she was the one that realized the military was lying about sending an evacuation plane, saving a handful of survivors from getting nuked.

8. Marlow (30 Days of Night)

"There is no escape. No hope. Only hunger and pain."

Marlow was terrifying. The way he talked, the way he stalked, the way he taunted his victims right before he killed them in the most painful ways he could think of. He was the leader of the vampires and had just discovered the jackpot in the town of Barrow, a town that experienced 30 days without the sun. I will say I was disappointed in the final fight with Eben. He just seemed so powerful but ended up dying by a punch through the face? Like he really walked right into that? I would've preferred them fighting to the death as the sun came up but I get wanting to have closure between Eben and Stella.

7. Susan Storm/Invisible Woman (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

"There's always a choice."

Not only does Sue have to deal with a wedding, she also has to deal with a groom who, for reasons that make no sense, likes to hide things from her. On top of this, a cosmic entity has arrived on Earth in hopes to destroy it. When fighting the Silver Surfer ends up being useless, Sue tries to talk some sense into him and successfully manages to get him to the team stop Dr. Doom and save the world. During the battle she ends up dying at the hands of Dr. Doom, rocking everyone's world until Silver Surfer brings her back to life so she can finally marry Richard in the end.

6. Queen Gorgo (300)

"Come back with your shield, or on it."

While Leonidas fights the Persians, Queen Gorgo has to fight her own battle back at Sparta. She has to convince the councilmen to send their army to help Leonidas as well as watch out for the traitor that is Theron. It almost looks like Theron gets the better of her when he gets her arrested for adultery, but Gorgo is not someone to back down. She kills two birds with one sword, she kills Theron and ends up revealing his alliance with the Persians, which then gets the council to rally behind her. She proves she is in every way Leonidas's equal and now has the country of Sparta to run after he dies.

5. Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider)

"Let's ride."

First, I just wanna say that there would be no complaints coming from me if the guy who played the young version of Johnny ended up just being him the entire movie. Nicolas Cage wasn't bad but there were some cringe worthy moments in there. Anyways! Johnny Blaze ends up becoming the devil's bounty hunter, The Ghost Rider, after selling his soul to save his father. Now that he can't die, he builds a career on doing the most dangerous motorcycle stunts in the world. When Mephisto's son, Blackheart, arrives with a trio of elemental fallen angels to destroy the world, Johnny must turn into the Ghost Rider (which requires him to burn his flesh off his bones) and stop them. He does it pretty easy, hardly ever losing control of the situation and only losing his best friend, which only happened because he wasn't around to protect him. In the end he ends up becoming the Spirit of Vengeance, no longer working for Mephisto, but against him.

4. Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

"To quote a friend of mine: 'It's cloberrin' time!'"

The reckless playboy is back but as the world threatens to end it's time for Johnny to grow up and truly take the responsibilities of being on the Fantastic Four. It's not an easy process and he definitely has a couple of set backs when his powers get messed up by the Silver Surfer and then finding out about Sue and Richard's plans to leave the team, but he does come through in the end. With the power of his teammates, Johnny is able to take down Dr. Doom despite his new silver surfboard.

3. King Leonidas (300)

"This is Sparta!"

The King of Sparta, and he makes sure everyone knows it! Leonidas is proud, loud, and willing to kill any foreign invader that threatens his people's way of living. When he doesn't have the support of his councilmen, he takes his best 300 men and takes off to fight the Persians. They do exceptional and last longer than anyone would have hoped for, but it becomes obvious even to Leonidas that they won't survive the war. Their final battle ends quickly as he's shot down by hundreds of arrows, his wife on his mind as he joins his men in the afterlife.

2. Eben Oleson (30 Days of Night)

"We live here for a reason: because no one else can."

Eben probably didn't expect a bunch of vampires murdering everyone in his town during the 30 days of without the sun, but man does he step up to the plate and handle business! As sheriff he is constantly thinking up plans to protect the survivors in his group and doing the more dangerous traveling by himself. His leadership is full of dangerous decisions including turning himself into a vampire to save his wife. He succeeds in defeating Marlow and debates going after the rest of the vampires but decides to spend his final moments with Stella watching the sunrise, which eventually kills him.

1. Norrin Radd/The Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

"I will no longer serve."

In order to save his own planet, including the one he loves, Norrin Radd becomes the Silver Surfer, a cosmic being that serves Galactus. His job is to find planets with life on them so that Galactus could absorb it's energy, killing the planet and everyone on it. Who knows how many planets Silver Surfer has given to Galactus by the time he reaches Earth, but it's clear there have been millions of lives lost because of him. After the Fantastic Four and the military fail to bring him down, it's actually Sue Storm that starts reminding him of his humanity and also of the woman he loves on his home planet. He decides to make things right and sacrifices himself to destroy Galactus once and for all.

[ngtrend-network]

Secrets to Success and advice for Small Business Entrepreneurs Revealed By Australian CEOs

      AUSTRALIA is now home to more than 2.1 million small businesses, as many budding entrepreneurs strive to try and turn their one idea into a multi-million dollar success.

But no matter what your business idea is, a little help from an expert can go a long way.

News Corp Australia asked some of Australia’s most successful, and up-and-coming bosses from a variety of industries for their advice for entrepreneurs.

NAOMI SIMSON

FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF REDBALLOON

Naomi Simson started RedBalloon, a unique experience gift service from her front room at home back in 2001. Today, her business provides more than 3,000 experiences in every state across Australia and New Zealand. As an entrepreneur, she also stars on Channel Ten’s Shark Tank Australia.

     RedBalloon entrepreneur and star of Channel 10's Shark Tank Naomi Simson. Picture: John Fotiadis

LESSON: Love them or they will leave you

“As a business owner, one of the most important jobs you have is to build a team that you

can trust (and that trust you); to engage people aligned to the purpose and the values of the

business, and provide opportunities, freedom and space to live these out. Purpose and

values influence the culture of the business, and a great culture makes it so much easier to

grow a business and have it thrive. Culture is about the employee’s experience of the business. It’s about the environment you create and they want to participate in. A great employee experience turns into a compelling employer brand — one that attracts people who want to be a part of what the business stands for. That turns into a great customer experience because it means you have the right people doing the right things and giving his or her best for the customer. When we started RedBalloon, I knew happy customers were at the heart of its success. But it took time and few mistakes to learn that a great Net Promoter Score can easily go south if your Employee Net Promoter Score is suffering. (The Net Promoter School is a metric used by many businesses to assess how well the business is performing when it comes to customer experience). So, as the owner or as a leader in a business, consider your employees your first customers. Invest in them. Thank them. Recognise his or her progress and reward them when they do great work. Be intentional in celebrating the wins — and do this often. Don’t just wait until the annual performance review or even your quarterly staff meeting — do it in the moment, and make it meaningful — this is why I am so committed to Redii.com who give me the tools to recognise people regularly and insight into who key players are. We have all heard that ‘people’ are the greatest asset of any business — but you need to prove it. Employees are the new customers. What is the single thing that growing, thriving businesses (especially in Australia’s tech sector) are competing for? Great people to join the team. So do what you can to create a great environment for your people, and the great customer experience will follow.”

DON MEIJ

DOMINOS GROUP CEO & MANAGING DIRECTOR

Don Meij was a delivery driver and a pizza store manager, before he became a Domino’sfranchisee and built a network of 17 stores. In 2002, he became Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd’s CEO. In 2005, he led Domino’s to become Australia’s first publicly-listed pizza chain on the ASX and continues to encourage innovating ways to produce, deliver and order Domino’s pizzas.

   Domino's Pizza CEO Don Meij leads an innovative pizza chain. Picture: Annette Dew

LESSON: Back yourself and push to achieve more

“Without a doubt working hard, surrounding yourself with high quality people and taking responsibility for one’s own actions were the biggest drivers to getting to this place today. Mental toughness is a hard one no matter who you are. Mostly it comes from backing yourself and believing in yourself. We live in a world where everyone wants to tell you why something can’t be done. However, if you really believe in something and you have done your research, then back yourself. Convince others it can be done. And then show them. Over time you will develop a radar that guides you based on learning from your mistakes, taking responsibility for these mistakes, and forming more and more wins. Next time, people will be less likely to judge you and more likely to accept the what if? I have always given 110 per cent of myself in everything that I do. When I started out as a delivery driver for Domino’s at the age of 17, I loved delivering pizzas and found challenges within the role to beat my times, improve my averages and at the time I thought I was a good delivery driver. I really tried my best. This is the same attitude I have taken to every role and therefore it’s hard not to love what you do and continually push to achieve more. Sure the responsibilities increase and consequences can be greater at the CEO level but a similar drive and determination to be the very best version of yourself at every level is important and will shape the leader you become.”

ROXY JACENKO, 

CEO & FOUNDER OF SWEATY BETTY PR, THE MINISTRY OF TALENT

Roxy Jacenko founded Sweaty Betty PR in 2004, a Sydney-based publicity agency that specialises in fashion, lifestyle and beauty. As a regular on the A-list social pages herself, Jacenko’s company has close working relationships with celebrities, models, sports personalities and designers. In 2012, she also founded The Ministry of Talent, Australia’s first management agency dedicated to creative talent and digital influencers.

  Roxy Jacenko, publicist and author, is a savvy entrepreneur. Picture: Chris McKeen

LESSON: Smart growth is about being flexible

“One thing I’ve learnt is the importance of smart growth and adaptability in business. Sometimes growth for growth’s sake, is not the smartest move for business, profitability or productivity. Many business owners are so focused, obsessed even, about the way things should be or the way things used to be that they can’t see new opportunities. While focus is obviously important for any successful business owner, sometimes you can lose sight of the bigger picture and miss incredible opportunities. Several years ago, Sweaty Betty PR were representing about 120 brands and I came to a crossroads. I could either continue to grow and take on more and more brands, which also meant higher staff costs, larger office space — or look at my options to diversify and potentially downsize. At around the same time, the idea for a social media talent management agency, which ultimately became The Ministry of Talent, was in the back of my mind. I started to think how I could leverage the change that was taking place with the growing power of social media, but to do so I decided I couldn’t keep Sweaty Betty PR the way it was — so I downsized the number of clients we had on the books. Social media undoubtedly changed the face of PR. However, instead of fearing the change, I embraced it from a different angle. Without looking at the new opportunities with a fresh perspective, I would never have taken the leap and started The Ministry of Talent. Smart growth is about being flexible. You need to be able to adapt your offering by staying on top of new trends in your area of business. You don’t necessarily have to downsize, but always be thinking about how you can refocus your attention, refine your product or service offering and play to your unique strengths for the best outcome.”

DAVID KOCH 

HOST OF KOCHIE’S BUSINESS BUILDERS

Away from his hosting duties on Sunrise, David Koch also hosts a TV program titledKochie’s Buisness Builders . As a long-time small business owner with his wife Libby, his mission is to support small business owners. He is also an owner of Start Up Daily and contributes to News Corp Australia’s Money Saver HQ.

  Sunrise host David Koch at Channel Seven’s studio in Sydney. Picture: John Feder

LESSON: Give it a go. There’s no stigma attached to failure.

“The new breed of Australian business successes stories are the disciples of disruption. They target old, lazy but profitable business sectors and use technology to turn them on its head with better products, prices and customer experience. If they don’t succeed, they pull the pin. They fail fast and go hunting for the next prey. Welcome to the new world of business. It’s where the fortunes are being made, tomorrow’s big businesses are being built and why every traditional business is under threat. I love small business owners and entrepreneurs. Their energy, their lateral thinking, their courage is inspiring. I’m lucky because my job is covering small business for my TV program and I am an owner of Start Up Daily which reports on these new age digital entrepreneurs. So what do they have in common?

*They focus on traditional profitable industries which have become lazy. Just like John Symonds disrupted the home loan market with Aussie Home Loans all those years ago, he and the banks are now being disrupted by Society One, Moula and Stockspot.

*They are tech savvy and use technology to cut costs and market digitally.

*They are very customer focused. The founders go to market quickly and then let customers refine the product.

*They tend to start life in an ‘accelerator’ which is a sort of start-up boot camp … a co-working space for a group of start-ups which provide mentors and resources to develop.

*They aren’t afraid to fail and if the do, they fail quickly. The mindset is give it a go, and if doesn’t work then move on to something else. There is no stigma attached to failure.”

FRED SCHEBESTA

CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR OF FINDER.COM.AU

Fred Schebesta is Co-Founder of Finder.com.au, Australia’s leading financial-product comparison website that helps consumers compare credit cards, savings accounts, home loans, personal loans, travel insurance, life insurance, shopping deals and more.

  Finder.com.au’s Frank Restuccia with Fred Schebesta, the co-founders of the business. Picture: Supplied

LESSON: Be genuinely passionate about what you’re doing

“Imagine if you won Powerball today and so money was not an issue. What business would you start with your winnings? Whatever it is that you come up with, that is what you should do.

This is the advice I was given by my friend. You know that saying, ‘Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life’? It’s a little like that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all going to be fun and games. But when you’re genuinely passionate about what you’re doing it makes it easier to get out of bed each morning with a spring in your step. I stand by this philosophy. I’m passionate about the internet, new ideas and new ways of helping people. And that’s what finder.com.au is all about. One of the hardest things about building and running a successful business is staying motivated. And that inspiration best comes naturally when it’s something you love. If it’s not, it will feel like death by 1,000 cuts because it’s not one thing it’s many small things that can make starting out very tough. The most important asset at the birth of a new business is yourself. You are the one that will do all of the work, so if you don’t take care of yourself you’re not going to have success. The motivation of your team is critical.”

JANINE ALLIS

BOOST JUICE FOUNDER, DIRECTOR OF RETAIL ZOO

With a reported net worth of $66 million, Janine Allis grew her juice and smoothie empire from her kitchen in 2000 with her husband, Jeff Allis. Boost Juice Bars are now in 17 countries with more than 350 stores. She is also a mentor on Channel Ten’s Shark Tank Australia. In 2007, her husband took over as the CEO of Boost Juice. He then turned the company from the single brand of Boost Juice into a multibrand platform known as Retail Zoo.

  Boost Juice founder Janine Allis, who changed the way we drink smoothies and juices. Picture: Eugene Hyland

LESSON: Know what you want to achieve

 “I get asked for advice often but what people forget to ask themselves about their business more often than not is ‘What is that I believe in for my business?’

As a leader what you believe in is the backbone of your business, it sets the tone and should reflect into every aspect of the business. You can hire consultants to come through your business and tell you what your business’ vision is — but unless you and your business fully live and breathe this then a vision statement is useless. When Boost started I knew what I wanted my business to achieve, this is what guided me through every decision I made — although sometimes I didn’t always get it right I used it as a reference point as something I could always look back and determine how to act and what to do. I can tell you how I hired people, how I managed suppliers and how I expanded my business but the honest truth is that this steamed from one simple belief that we communicated right and is still at the heart and soul of everything we do.”

DAMIAN GRIFFITHS

CEO AND FOUNDER OF DOUGHNUT TIME

Damian Griffiths is a former lawyer turned trendsetting hospitality guru who opened the Limes Hotel almost a decade ago. Limes Hotel was the building block for a precinct he has centred around Alfred and Constance streets in the Fortitude Valley neighbourhood of Brisbane. He is the founder of Doughnut Time, which began as a hole in the wall outlet and is now expanding across Australia. He has also founded Mister Fitz Finest ice-creameries.

  Damian Griffiths outside one of his Doughtnut Time stores. Picture: Chris McCormack

LESSON: Don’t be yesterday’s man, take action

“The heart of my businesses are the people. I can’t do what I do on my own, so investment in the right people is paramount. I think I’ve always built my companies with this in mind. Having trust in your employees, creating that culture and holding on to a team of talented individuals who understand you and share your passion makes such a difference. I’m not the kind of CEO that can just hide out in the back of an office and delegate. My businesses are my passion and when you work with that mindset you want to be there on the ground among it all. I think that’s how the right decisions are made, on the spot then and there. It might sound cliche, but backing my instincts and making quick decisions has always worked for me and that’s the advice I’d give to aspiring young business owners. Don’t be yesterday’s man, don’t rest on your laurels, take action, understand that nothing will be perfect immediately, take the time to travel and be inspired by the world around you. If you’re planning to expand on the success of one or two businesses, assess how you can diversify your portfolio and have them complement each other. My bakery (Chester Street) bakes the bread and prepares the desserts for my Steak Frites restaurant (Les Bubbles), as well as baking the brioche used for our signature pork roll at Alfred & Constance, and in turn we created a Chester Street cake cabinet for the A & C cafe.

I recently decided to the make the decision to put four of my businesses on the market so that I could channel more capital into expanding Doughnut Time and Mister Fitz around Australia and internationally. This was hard (particularly with Limes Hotel and Alfred & Constance, as I’m very emotionally invested in them). They were my start and without them there would never have been a Doughnut Time or a Mister Fitz’s Finest Ice Cream. I realised that I had to see the bigger picture. I’m not selling to ‘cash in’, I’m selling so that I can write more chapters while I’m young enough to take the journey.”

ALYCE TRAN

CEO AND FOUNDER OF THE DAILY EDITED

Alyce Tran founded The Daily Edited in 2011, a an online store stocking personalisable leather goods with business partner Tania Liu. With backgrounds in corporate law, their Australian brand is now available in David Jones and is growing an international following.

 Alyce Tran, founder and director of The Daily Edited. Picture: Supplied

LESSON: Use social media to your advantage

  “There is constantly so much going on with The Daily Edited, whether it be new product lines, new campaigns or general operational issues with our online and bricks and mortar retail booming I am constantly in a state of flux. I try to get to the office as soon as possible in the mornings and go through any emails that might have come in overnight. I then start a to-do list and sometimes this already has item on it I haven’t completed from the previous day and try to knock through each as efficiently as possible. I also like to be very involved in every aspect of the business, whether it be on customer service, order fulfilment, working in our retail stores as I find this is the only way to really know what is going on and to identify and solve any problems that we might be having. Most of my recruitment has been done via our network, whether it be via recommendations from friends or staff. We have also had massive success with recruiting via social media. We have built our whole Melbourne retail staff team from responses to our advertisement posted on Instagram and so far so good. I love to reward my staff where I see an individual go over and above, it’s a two-way street, if you want your staff members to be invested in your business you have to invest in them. I am passionate about creating an amazing workplace and culture, I basically copy Google and Mecca Cosmetica! Google in that I am all about supporting my female staff members and we have a fully stocked pantry and fridge accessible to all at all times and Mecca as I am obsessed with fully training my staff in all aspects of the business. For example, we had our Melbourne retail team up in Sydney for training to experience all of the machinations of our head office so they could see how our retail arm fits into the picture.”

ROBIN MCGOWAN 

CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR OF INSTITCHU

Long term friends Robin McGowan and James Wakefield founded InStitchu together in 2011/12. Their company allows men to create custom-made suits and purchase them online. Customers can also visit their tailors in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Wellington.

  James Wakefield and Robin McGowan, the co-founders of InStitchu. Picture: Bob Barker

 LESSON: Scout around for reliable suppliers

“We decided to start InStitchu when we identified a gap in the market. We were both working corporate jobs and encountered a challenge when trying to build our own professional wardrobes.

Transitioning from the real estate firm, CBRE, into retail / fashion industry and building a new business without any expertise was equal parts exciting and challenging.

From the start we both realised that we needed to upskill to build a brand that now many men are proud to wear. Tailoring is an extremely detailed process. We employed an Italian pattern maker to help us learn about this aspect of the suit-making business and improve our patterns. We also decided to engage bespoke tailors to completely deconstruct our suits and work out what improvements could be made. We created our own course in running a start-up and — with the exception of physically sewing the suits — have become experts in everything to do with tailoring. Finding great suppliers was a challenging and lengthy process as there are very few manufacturers in the world that can produce high quality tailored garments at scale. We reached out to as many suppliers as possible and got them to send samples in. Once we’d narrowed it down to top five, we met in person and set up the integration of our system.

Another important step was to sell our product to friends and family first. This not only tested the market to see if there was a need for our offering, but also allowed us to generate cash flow to fund our businesses growth, which set us up for success.”

JODIE FOX

CO-FOUNDER & CCO OF SHOES OF PREY

Jodie Foxdidn’t love shoes until she could design them herself and customise every detail. She created Shoes of Prey with her co-founders Mike Knapp and Michael Fox in 2009, who were both working at Google and were really excited about the potential of online retail. Her company allows customers to use a 3D Designer to help choose the shape, colour and height of shoes. They custom make designs and ship anywhere in the world in around four weeks. They also relocated to LA.

  Jodie Fox, who created Shoes of Prey and changed Australian fashion. Picture: Aaron Francis

LESSON: Know the market you are in

“I’m a lawyer by trade and started out working at Blake Dawson (now Ashurst), where I worked with amazing people. But, I soon came to realise that my heart just wasn’t in it. The longer I was there, the more unhappy I became. It’s the first time that I realised how important it is to fill your life up with things you truly love. When I fully came to terms with this, I made a list of things that would make me happy. In the beginning, our biggest hurdle was getting other people to understand what it was we were doing. We had to provide a lot of education around the idea. We also had to build our reputations from scratch, as we were three twenty-somethings building a totally pie-in-the-sky idea! We overcame these challenges through perseverance. Shoes of Prey broke even after two months of business, so we were quickly able to prove the demand for the service we were providing. A big part of what we do at Shoes of Prey is make sure that we balance quality with affordability. The main factors to consider are knowing your cost of goods sold, forecasting, market research, and testing price elasticity. Understanding the existing retail market was our first step, as it gave us an initial benchmark for pricing our products. From there, we implemented market research, looked at the different components that went into the design process from start to finish, considered how this could change over time and tested different price points until we struck a balance between quality and affordability.

It all comes down to market research and understanding your customers needs — and finding a balance between the two.”

TIM REED

CEO OF MYOB

Tim Reed became the CEO of Australasia’s largest business management software provider in 2008, after working for five years in management roles including Managing Director of MYOB Australia and Group Product Executive. Before his career with MYOB, he lived and worked in Silicon Valley where he held senior management roles with different companies in global technology and internet markets.

  MYOB chief executive Tim Reed has advice for budding entrepreneurs. Picture: Supplied

LESSON: Have a plan and know your ‘secret sauce’

“Make sure you have a clear plan. So many business owners have ideas, but lack plans. Plans need to include some detail about not just what is to be done, but how it will get done.

Know the three or four key drivers of your business and measure them. If you need to acquire customers via search marketing at less than $50 per lead, know that fact and measure it every day. If your success is relying on the fact one sales person can cover 100 accounts, test whether that is reasonable and then track the level of engagement those sales people are having with their 100 accounts. Know what makes you different. What is your secret sauce; what separates you from the competition? It has to be something that your customers will notice, something that will give them a reason to return. Own the culture, live the culture. If you don’t know-one else will.

Find an objective sounding board. Someone who will be honest with you and won’t let your natural passion and enthusiasm for your business cloud their feedback and judgment. Your accountant may be this trusted adviser. Starting a business, or evolving and existing business invariably leads to lots of moving parts, make sure you always know your priorities and push them to the top of your list. Expanding a great business can be as stressful and tiring as managing an underperforming business, be ready for this and make sure you have great people around you. Cashflow, cashflow, cashflow — there is only one reason a business fails — it’s because it runs out of money. You can’t manage your cashflow too closely.”

  *Please note, comments in this story are of a general nature only and may not take your businesses specific needs or circumstances into consideration. You should seek professional advice about your personal circumstances.

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[okimargarvez]

S. VALENTINE IN RED (BLOOD)

Original title: San Valentino in rosso (sangue)

Prompt: crime case, anonymous courtesy, one night deleted.

Warning: none.

Genre: romantic, angst, friendship.

Characters: Penelope Garcia, Luke Alvez, BAU team, Roxy.

Pairing: Garvez.

Note: oneshot.

Legend: 💑💏😘😈🔦🐶

Song mentioned: none.

A serial killer who kills only once a year: in the period preceding and following Valentine’s Day. His victims are apparently random, they don’t have in common neither gender nor ethnicity, or age, or social class. But the BAU team is forced to speed up the investigation, when their computer technician is in danger of becoming next victim.

MY OTHER GARVEZ STORIES

S. VALENTINE IN RED (BLOOD) 02/14/16

-And those flowers? - the dark man scrutinizes the colorful bunch of carefully placed on the desk of computer technician. The latter glares at him, asking him telepathically probably the reason for his sudden entrance. He had never entered in before. In nearly six months. The thing is quite strange.

-What is it, Alvez, do you think I bought them myself?- her tone is ironic with different bad shades, as always when she talking with him, apart from rarely if the subject of their conversation is Roxy. Yet that draws him far more than if she behaves like with all the others, even with Stephen, the very latest member who was joined their team, with whom she has been since the beginning sweet, cute and loving. Exactly the opposite to him: after all he has committed a serious infringement: he had taken the place of Agent Morgan.

-No.- he answers only. As hard as her is a weird, eccentric person, especially in the way she dresses up her hideout and herself, from what he can see (he doesn’t lose the opportunity to carefully scrutinize every detail of the room, all the pictures - damn, how many photos of her with Derek, them hugging… - cuddly puppets, colored pens), he can’t imagine her buying flowers for herself. She maintains a fixed her gaze in that of man. Always with the same defiance in her eyes, but what’s really at stake? He has some ideas, one, to be sure, but not the courage to express it. But something shines through her manner however: the lips that fold into mischievous way, arched eyebrows, smarting eyes and brighter than usual.

-So, what do you want? - how strong is the urge to take off that grimace of her mouth, once and for all? Enough to fall? Or surrender?

-Anything. But Emily told me that we must work together.- he announced casually, as if he didn’t care the task given by their leader. He really isn’t able to mask the entire satisfaction that he feels, telling her that she’ll forced to endure his presence for many more hours than what she thinks; that she had to got to get over it, seek to cooperate with him. Alone. The woman snorts, whirling around, turning to one of the numerous screens scattered around her bunker and sitting at her desk. Her blond hair flutter wrapping her face. He doesn’t hold a slight chuckle and after a moment’s pause, he approaches her slowly, bending and staying a few centimeters from her neck. For a moment in his mind pass very different images, from those of the case that they should studied.

-I am perfectly able to do my part alone.- she says, her voice firm and precise, not even turning and trying to pretend she doesn’t care the concrete fact that the damn breath of him, warm and… (no!) is brushing her bare and vulnerable skin. She doesn’t know if the man has noticed it, but soon his face is almost up to her shoulder and she can’t help but experience a feeling of deja-vu quite particular, because the male subject isn’t the same of her memories. And this is precisely the problem. She feels the weight of his eyes and embarrassment that tries to make red her cheeks. But she’ll never give this satisfaction to him. But he doesn’t stop to staring her and if she thought good for a moment about it, she would come to the right conclusion. Three coincidences are a proof. And she would have far more to explore.

-I’m sorry, Emily said that we can’t stay alone and you have to get over it, she had entrusted you to me.- he makes a significant pause. She hates when he does that. And then, the choice of terms. Entrusted, as if I were a… No, what Alvez intends is quite different, as if she really need a protection… -You have to learn to be more professional.- isn’t the first time that he gives her a scolding this kind. Once he dared to say that she should be nicer (but in his head, he thought cute) with him. I, the Queen of nice! And he had the gall to respond, Maybe like … the Queen of ice. And perhaps the heart of the matter was that the beautiful dark man wanted to be able to make melted her… in more ways than one.

-Okay, Newbie.- she strongly highlights her favorite nickname for him. -There are papers.- she shows him a huge pile that nearly submerge whole table. -We must digitize each document.- she makes even a break, allowing herself to turn her head toward his. Now they are at the same height. She approaches a bit. A little too much. she seems to see his pupils dilate, but… -Enjoy yourselves.- and she returns to take care of her computer.

Luke passes the next three minutes mentally relive the last scene. What the hell she had wanted to do? Only provoke him, or was there more? Maybe she… knew? And what it was there to know? Here was the real question. So, it’s better if he focuses his resources on those files. And so, he begins with finding a chair, bringing it closer to that of her (but not too much, keep a safe distance) and dictate her those information’s, which turn quickly in brilliantly data from the action of darting and quick fingers of the bespectacled blonde. She is so fast also in other situations? he can’t help but wonder, then he thanks everyone who has made sure that the thoughts remain as such, stored in personal storage and inaudible from other external.

-What’s the matter with you, Alvez? You saw a ghost?- he realizes that he was holding clutching a paper from a long time. She is peering him too carefully. He must recover immediately.

-I was… I was just thinking that today is Valentine’s day.- he shoots the first bullshit that crosses his mind. She doesn’t seem very convinced, but she flies over.

-Uh uh.- she emits verses in television sitcom style -Don’t tell me that Roxy has a rival.- is her convoluted way in order to extract information without him clearly understand that she is interested to know if he is engaged, without her knowing. And maybe something more, but we overlook. This is what the dark man hoped, but not betting on it too many chips. He shakes his head. He is unable to say more, because it would sound something like Actually yes, she is here in front of me. What the hell is this thought? Concentrate on this damn case! But there’s nothing to do. Isn’t destiny that today is a fruitful day.

-It’s eight o'clock at night…- Garcia looks up to a rose clock kitten-shaped, with its tail beating the passing of every second. But he observes the way in which some tufts of her hair fall on the neck, until the neckline. But he can divert his attention before the computer technician being aware of it.

-Well, you can go home, I still have to settle a thing.- after a moment, she understands that he has no intention to carry out her order. -I don’t need a damn bodyguard!- she says, placing angrily already digitized documents in a special folder. Luke asks himself the real reason behind this sudden anger that seems to have possessed her. Even he seems to see a reflection in her dark eyes and some crystals on her eyelashes, as if she had been crying…

-It is useless to try to fool me, Garcia. We can’t be alone until the unsub shall have been catch.- and this thing doesn’t dislike him at all. But he lets her guess this only minimally. Almost there was a game going on, between them, an endless game, destined to remain without a winner. Not at least until neither of them will make a really bold move first. Not until neither of them won’t be willing to reveal his cards.

-But imagine if, with lean JJ blonde with blue eyes, Emily brunette and slender, Tara and her shades of amber… the crazy on duty would kidnaps me! - and how many things can be in a word produced by a single syllable, two only letters? A whole world, immense suffering, an unknown past (but not too). Garcia isn’t unable to restrain herself. She wouldn’t certainly have wanted to make it clear to the agent with whom she has less relation in entire team, that she not considered herself aesthetically worthy of being the victim of a serial killer.

-Except for the fact that they will not stand alone- ugly truth, this (JJ has Will and her sons, Tara her father and her brother, Emily has Mark and Sergio) -what would you mean?- but looking at those so damned dark eyes, in those depths in which she wants so desperately to get lost and not think about the consequences (at least for one fucking time), she realizes that he knows, what, how serious is, no, she doesn’t want to think about it. But he understood everything, or better he understood too much, and the blonde is not able to deal with the repercussions of this.

-What you think- she crosses her arms, defensive -and you not have the courage to say.- now his black eyebrows are raised surprised and concerned. But it’s just her head. It’s not real. -What I’m not beautiful enough to receive flowers from a stranger, nor chocolates… therefore why with all the beautiful women available in the BAU, someone should kidnap me?- and this time there is no trace of irony in her tone, or angry, if not towards herself. They dominate the sadness, sorrow towards what she feels like an absolute truth and impossible to change. -In the movie, those like me are killed only if they are unable to mind their own business.- but she reads too much understanding into those spheres open to scrutinize her. Too much to bear. If it was any other day, but it’s that day. She goes back in many years, when her hair, tied in pigtails, came up to the knees of Luke. When she was really happy, and she hadn’t to strain every day to believe it. She is a positive person. But there is difference between hoping and believe it seriously. One difference platonic, that only those who know the Iperuranio may really understand. Damned philosopher’s exam…

When tears begin to fall, she leaves free the documents, preventing them from stain and get wet with a part of her DNA. While the salty drops continue their path down her face up to clothes, she curses herself for being so weak, so foolish as to start crying right in front of him. She would have so much need of the man who replaced him. He doesn’t tease her. He would hug her, and everything seems better. Bearable. Better than nothing. But unfortunately, when she lifts her eyes in front of her there is always the ex-ranger, tall, dark and bland-some, and terribly sexy, even when he pretending to be concerned about her. If only he hadn’t occupied just that place. If only he hadn’t joined the BAU. If only she hadn’t been so… not his kind of woman. What the hell are these thoughts? She doesn’t like him, dammit, Luke Alvez. She can’t stand him. Every time she tries to take the elevator and believes she can enjoy a minute to herself, he appears behind her and he starts doing questions about her Canadian boyfriend. And then, wretched Emily, although I love you the same, she must stand him indefinitely. Why she had to put him with her? They could all camp out in their offices. But others have their lives outside of here: moms that need help, husbands and sons, boyfriends, ex-wives not too ex… You’re damn alone. And he is no less. Although he has at least a very cute dog waiting for him every night. And heck, how difficult it is to strive to appear unpleasant when there Roxy around.

From the corner of eye, despite hers are grew cloudy, worse than if there was fog on the highway, she captures a movement. The man is always there that stares at her, but now he is really extremely too close. An alarm continues to reverberate in her head.

-Penelope…- finally it’s what comes out of his lips, so stretched out toward hers, colored. She decides to completely ignore the tone of gentleness and understanding in his voice and focus on whatever he may have done wrong.

-Don’t call me Penelope. You’re not…- but this time Luke hasn’t going to wait, to grant her time.

-I’m not..?- and the distance is still reducing. She can’t argue anything. -Derek Morgan?- still no response or sign of life. -It’s his what you meant, or not?- any signs of tenderness disappear from his expression. In its place predominates again that look of defiance that she’ll never caught. -Exactly, I’m not. I’m your partner in this case, and because you don’t…- a moment before he had earned some points and less than a thousandth of a second later, he has already ruined it.

-I don’t have…?- the tears have dried on her eyelashes. The tap is finally closed. Her cheeks are red with anger that has again conquered her heart. -I haven’t anyone?- but it sounds more like an affirmation than one rhetorical question. -JJ has Will, Emily has Mark, Tara her father and brother, Spencer his mother, Stephen his family, Rossi his ex… and I have no one and that’s why I am forced to spend Valentine’s Day with you.- it was not exactly what she wanted to say. It could easily be misinterpreted. -Why I shouldn’t cry?- she stands up and deletes the last traces wet with a sleeves, giving him shoulders, not having the courage to hear his answer, if never will be there. But a sudden grip on her arm forces her to look back at him and in a second their equally dark eyes chained each other.

-I have never said that you shouldn’t cry…- he says so gently that this time even Penelope isn’t able to argue with some pungent phrase, fired at random (but not too).

-Please, don’t try to seems sweet.- she says after a few minutes that remain silent, simply either of them ever distract the eye from the other. -I’ll come home with you, I give up.- she raises her hands imitating the gesture of surrender. And for the second time in a few hours, in his mind pass very different pictures of how he would spend Valentine’s Day with her, if he could. -But I don’t want fake sentimentality.- she is quick to argue before turning off the computer, put on hers jacket (which can’t quite mask her exuberant forms), grab the bag and walk out of her bat-cave, followed by Luke. He raises his eyes to heaven, asking for divine help to survive the evening.

The elevator ride has never been so long. Those few seconds seem immense. Neither speaks. Luke looks at her only in passing, as to make sure that she is true. She doesn’t notice it, intently staring at her shoes. They come to his car in silence. Before he has the time to open the door, Penelope is already seated. Not because she feels at home, but just to prevent him to do some act that could put her even more embarrassed. Neither has the courage to break the ice. Luke thinks of a million ways to start a conversation, but he discards them one after another. Because in the end, the only thing he would like to ask her, is the reason why just a moment ago, she burst into tears. Not only because she doesn’t consider herself suitable to the kidnapping. He is sure. There’s more to this.

Eventually, however, they stop before in front of a house of modest size. But too big for one single person. And this time the blonde can’t prevent that her coworker opens the door to her. But he stays in the doorway, when she gives him a sharp look before disappearing behind the door of her own home. She didn’t intend to share with him this part of her life. She always tried to keep it separate from work, although ten years ago she was being unable to avoid it. After just five minutes she resurfaces with a small suitcase with wheels. She looks up and immediately Luke’s eyes capture hers. Apparently, she doesn’t seem to have moved since she had left him there. He notices the way she looks at him and he understand what she is thinking.

-It’s all worked out.- she justifies herself with a shrug. The man is going to grab it out of her hands, but she avoids him, fleeing toward the car. Left alone he raises his eyes to heaven (for the umpteenth time and probably certainly not the last) before reaching her. It will be a long night, much longer than he could believe. Because when they get closer to his home, where Roxy is awaiting (unaware of the surprise that awaits her), he can’t help but imagine what he would it was going to happen with her. It’s hard to concentrate on driving, having her so close. And when they ’ll behind those walls…

He opens the door and lets her go first; in doing so their bodies brush slightly, by transmitting tremors each other, although both do ignore it. But he is less able to her to play ignorant, and at that exact moment he would reach out his arms and holds her so that the contact between them endure some more. Her perfume, her skin … enough!

The hand automatically finds the switch. Roxy is in crisis because she doesn’t know whether to greet prior the guest or her master; eventually she opts for “attacking” both simultaneously. And in doing so she forces them to stay closer. After another awkward moment, she unexpectedly speaks first.

-Show me where I’ll sleep, so tomorrow morning we’ll be able to get up early and maybe then this story will be ended.- but he takes his time, indeed. He approaches her of a few centimeters to the passing of every minute. And she didn’t move away, but she not even goes meet him. She stays still, as in shock. The last time a man looked at her that way and who behaved in a similar way, she found herself with a bullet near the heart. But he isn’t like Battle. Even if she knows him too little to be able to judge him. But he is a federal, he doesn’t want to kill her. But… why he keeps getting closer and closer? He wants to make fun of her, is the only solution. Or loneliness is playing some sort of a trick with his mind and rather than spend Valentine’s Day alone, he is willing to pretend to be interested in her. In any case, when now only two air centimeters separates their faces, fortunately Luke stops. But his hands come to life and wrapping around her face, caressing her cheeks with both thumbs.

-What… what…- for a moment she isn’t able to ask the question. -What are you doing?- his gaze seems so sweet, as when he talks about his dog. It’s been too long since a man touched her seriously. She is too vulnerable. But she can’t give up at this point. She still has a dignity. And then… she turns red at the thought of showing naked before his eyes.

-Just something I wanted to do for a long time…- he whispers, not leaving the grip, while on his full lips is painted a smile devoid of any kind of irony. Still he can’t believe this is happening. He hadn’t decided a priori that as soon as they were safe within his walls, he would make his move. However, when there was that brief contact, he realized he couldn’t continue to reject the desire the whole evening. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for a while. When he would have another chance to have Garcia to his house? -I desire you terribly… I’ll not pretend it’s not so…- he immediately captures the expression of surprise which appears on her face. -If I were a unsub, crazy and dangerous, I’d kidnap you without thinking twice.- he whispers with a sexy tone that beats any Fifty (but even Hundred) Shades of Gray, Red, Black… is the most strange and absurd compliment that she have ever receive. She can’t help but chuckle, though nervously. -I’m serious, Penelope.- her name… how it sounds on those lips… it is useless that she still to deny. She wants him, she wants him in a way so tragic and intense, to hate herself. She needs him, without knowing why. And then his fingers slipping toward her mouth, touching her lips, opening her mouth, and finally he starts to lean in his direction, making her feel all their height difference. When their mouths come into contact, everything that happened before this moment seems to fade. She doesn’t want to think about the fact that tomorrow morning, definitely, she’ll be in the throes of remorse and repentance. At least for one evening, she wants to live what will happen and nothing else. While the tongues ​​are intertwined, conducting various dances, in the numerous minimum pause for breath, she feels so beautiful, so desired… After a few minutes his hands going to remove her jacket, without letting her, as she had watch only in the movie and this excites her more than she would like. Each button causes her a gasp. Taking courage even her fingers, colored with rainbow colors, getting under his shirt, unbuttoning it and finally meet the skin under it, run through the muscles in length and breadth. She can’t help but smile when she hears him moan with pleasure. -Penelope…- her jacket falls to the ground. The big hands of the man linger a moment, remaining on the ribs, causing her various chills. She has to give him the green light, so he finally can reach her breasts and losing his mind simultaneously. And when he realizes that he can’t really resist more, that his jeans are really too tight… he leads her into his room (where no other woman has ever set foot), making her walk backwards. He takes off her shirt, her skirt, then he is stopped from her hands and her agitated tone.

-We could… turn off the light?- she doesn’t want him to see her how she truly is, without make-up and accessories, out of her role as BAU’s omniscient genius. Without those things, she doesn’t think she can be attractive. And Luke didn’t take long to figure it out. He stares her intently, still stroking her cheek once.

-You don’t need anything else, apart from your soul, to shine before my eyes.- and after a statement like that, even the fears of Garcia falter, enough that allowed him to complete his work.

And before they become one, he looks long at her, with a mix of desire and tenderness, as if to make her understand that yes, he wants her in that sense, but there’s more behind and when he have will the courage to peer into his soul, he’ll prove it. And in that instant, she believes him.

Lying beneath his muscular body and dripping sweat, she still can’t be convinced that it really happened. Sure, she was out of practice, but he’s been… monstrous. Luke remains in this position for a while, raised his body with the arms to avoid crushing her. It was far more than what he could expected, though never before he had dared to imagine how it could be. Yet, though she seems satisfied, remains a shadow that floating on her face, trying to obscure that moment.

-What you’re thinking, chica?- a lifetime had gone by since the last time he had used that nickname for her. She hadn’t realized how much she missed until she hadn’t heard it again. There was a something personal and possessive, in that nickname in Spanish.

-That it was excellent sex, but in a few hours, my crumpled dress will be the only tangible trace of it.- he didn’t expect she would give him an answer so blunt. He is glad she told him the truth, but at the same time he didn’t like her choice of terms, to define their… Close encounter. But, thinking about it, in fact, she’s right.

-This depends on us…- he replies, without yet being able to expose himself. Penelope looks at him strangely. -If you wanted to…- he strives to take courage -…I could show you the difference between having sex and making love…- at this point the blonde pushes abruptly away him and trying to get dressed. When he tries to stop her, she begins to scream.

-Don’t try to make me believe that suddenly you’re in love with me or other silly stories like in C-movie. It’s Valentine’s Day, we found ourselves forced in this situation, I don’t… for a while, and because of the impetuousness that you have shown, I guess you too. Two frustrations have led to a few moments of satisfaction. Now we don’t have to build on this a Disney tale.- the worst is that she really seems to believe in what she says with bitterness and sadness, gradually lowering the pitch up to a kind of resignation.

-Even if I told you, you would think that is a lie, right?- she nods firmly. -So, let me try to use another kind of “speech”. If you were to have right, you just would have to making “good sex” like you insist on defining it…- and if she decides to surrender, it’s mainly because she wants to get to understand why the hell, he still wants to fool her with this story of “there is more than rubbing under the sheets��.

The next morning, they don’t get up at six, like Penelope had expected, but much later, exhausted from the second and third round. In the end he had reason; making love was something else; yet she still didn’t believe him at all, she couldn’t let go herself and risks, yet she was very close to do it. Already the first cracks in her armor of ice were visible without the aid of a microscope. Luke had understood, especially when he had awakened in the middle of the night and he had found her, resting on his chest, her face innocence of a child. But he wasn’t going to push too hard on the accelerator, he would have given her time, now that he had made a significant first step. The street to convince her that he was really interested in her as a person (not just physically), it was still very difficult and tortuous.

Yet only hours after he finds himself again back to square one.

-Where are you?- random question doesn’t seem to have any immediate effect. -Garcia?- she finally turns to him and seems to sense his presence. But she isn’t going to say anything. How she can? She has now admitted herself to be attracted to him, but what happened last night was just a lucky… case, a convergence of situations, definitely not something that will be repeated in the future. With the idea of being forced to spend the evening together, because there was a serial killer on the loose, the distorted thinking that she could become one of the victims… this must somehow have him excited, driven him to do what he did. But it was only a moment, a way to stress that they were still alive, that everything was still possible. But she couldn’t tell him, because she wouldn’t have been able to mask the fact that for her, their meeting wasn’t just sex. -Hey, it’s almost time to go to work. Criminals don’t wait!- he tries a joke that not obtain any reaction in woman. Now he really starts to worry. But when at last their eyes meet, everything becomes terribly clear. -Yet. Tell me I’m wrong, Penelope.- while he talking his tone increases the intensity. -Tell me that you aren’t again convinced that yesterday I was just… caught with the situation.- but she doesn’t respond, and a slight furrow starts to dig between them.

02/13/17

A year after that groove has become a chasm. They continued to work together, as if nothing had happened; a few months after, they start again to exchange jokes in the presence of others; but unlike previous times, there was much more behind, than some expressions two-way. It was as if each blamed the other for what had happened between them. Because in the meantime, the feelings that were unripe, have developed, settling in their souls. And taking with this resentment and regret.

The killer of roses, as the press had dubbed the unsub, which kills during the period close to Valentine’s Day and for the rest of the year will become off the grid, was still active. On February 15 the previous year Penelope and Luke had been welcomed by the dark looks of their colleagues. The name of another woman that night had been added to an already too long list. But she hadn’t been a total stranger. She was a childhood friend of Emily. The chief of the BAU had decided that there wouldn’t be another. And she was prepared to keep this promise at any cost.

To the point that she pushes JJ to give an interview, where she threw a challenge to the killer. And someone didn’t like it.

Garcia winces when she hears someone reach her behind shoulders. She was re-reading for the umpteenth time the note she had received. Like the others, it was signed cryptically. But today it contained one more particular: he tells her to wait for him the next day in the waiting room that preceded the entrance to the main offices of the heads of various departments of the FBI. She had suspected from the beginning that he was one of them, indeed, she had even hoped that could be Luke… but that wasn’t his style and basically it was better that way. She had to find a way to forget. It had been just a damn night; there had been no promises or exchange of important phrases. So why she hated him so deeply? Why a year had passed, and she couldn’t overcome it?

-Look that, we are just waiting for you…- the man was able to give only a sidelong glance at the narrow cardboard between the long fingers of the technician, remaining a bit too long staring her. But he doesn’t have enough elements to make an educated guess. Although, judging by this perfume… it’s certainly something private and … gallant. And it bothers him, a lot. Especially because before entering into Penelope’s bunker, he lingered a few minutes behind the door, hearing her talk to herself. And in this case, he understood every syllable uttered by her full lips. She believes that the type of the cards, damn if I catch you, you’re dead, is also in charge of the flowers she received during all this week… chocolates… books… everything that I gave her, accompanying each gift with a phrase (engraved on each one and inseparable from it) that I hoped would show her who was the “handler”, the “sender.” But I just made sure that the type of the cards earned more points. And I can’t even say anything, because that is going to make me look like an idiot.

-Luke? Now you’re the one lost on moon.- she chuckles slightly. She adores make fun of him and she doesn’t do anything to hide it. When he lifts his head, as always, their eyes chain up, and in those brief moments they confess million secrets, and, as Bukowski said, they make love with eyes. It’s weird how easy it’s to forget that he knows everything, that he has seen her naked in every possible way implied from the term. It’s absurd how easy it’s to continue this farce rather than admit they were wrong.

-Someone has perhaps a secret admirer?- he dares to ask, carefully watching how she arranged the different flowers (why you not go to do a damn search on the internet on their precise meaning?) and as one of the books he gave her, is open in the middle on the table. The blonde raises her eyes, annoyed (because he has no right to ask her about her private life) and yet flattered by his jealousy (because this could mean that perhaps he still feels a little something for her).

-If it was, it’s not your business.- he comes dangerously close, as he had hardly done in recent months. Because kissing her wouldn’t lead to any result, except to meet again in the horizontal position. And once it wasn’t enough, in fact, it has done more harm than good. -I know you think I can’t be worthy of receiving attention from a man, but you’re not always right.- she says it not because she believes seriously (the past year is at least served to find more self-confidence and begin to truly love herself, with or without glitter), but because she wants to force him to contradict her. With the corner of eye, she sees his hands tight a fist, the veins of his muscular arms stand out along with the muscles tense. He bends a little toward her, and, as it happens during accidents, she doesn’t seem to be able to move around and avoid catastrophe.

-I never said you didn’t deserve male attentions, but who or what tells you it’s a boy? Do you know him? You did identified him in some way?- he tries to try to make her understand that, notes aside, the man who has rekindled her smile these days, through various surprises that would show how much he had learned to know her seriously, was none other than the one she had in front of her. But Garcia doesn’t notice the love that he gives her. She just thinks that he demonstrates a kind of very childish jealousy, as if he doesn’t really want her, but at the same time he wishes that no one else feels something for her. She finally able to reactivate circulation of her blood and takes a step, leaving the door ajar. But Luke stops her before she can get out of it completely, grabbing her arm.

-Leave me! Did not you say the team was only waiting for me to expose the case? And then, let’s go. The others will be wondering if we weren’t sucked into a black hole.- but he isn’t going to do the right thing, or at least the most rational, reaching their colleagues and taking care of their work, another day pretending it’s nothing. He lets her go, but he turns towards the flowers, books and anything else that was donated by the “mysterious admirer.” She observes him in shock, unable to understand what the hell he’s doing.

-You might not be able to understand it?- he makes them all fall down in front of her. His dark eyes seem like coated with a thin veil. Might be tears, but it looks little likely. -May. You had tell JJ you liked science fiction novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, even more than the well known masterpieces of Sherlock Holmes.- shock increases more and more in Garcia, as she listening to him talk, associating something she said, maybe in passing, during the last year, each of the objects that she has received this week next to Valentine’s Day. -When you were a kid your favorite color was purple and you dreamed of having a horse.- also the puppet go to reach the pile at the foot of the blonde. When he silent, she remains for a moment to stare him, unable to pronounce the truth in a loud voice: it was him. Luke Alvez knew her better than herself. But… why?

-But… but… those notes… those words… why you didn’t write something that would make me realize that you were behind this?- the Latin sighs, frustrated.

-I never sent you any note.- a shiver runs through the body of the computer technician. Not for pleasure, but of sheer terror.

-So… who did write this?- just then the door opens and Rossi appears, the worried look that turns quickly in surprised and confused to see them like that, all those objects and flowers on the floor.

-Luke, Penelope, we were about to send out the search team…- no one laughs at his joke. -What the hell happened here inside?- it doesn’t take a profiler to note that both are blushing and launch murderous glances at each other. -Where’d this come from?- before he can make time to talk, the man is preceded by Garcia.

-I have a secret admirer. I was arranging this mess, when Luke came to warn me that the meeting was about to begin, and… we clashed. He was giving me a hand to collect everything.- the explanation given is credible enough, but Dave feels that doesn’t properly correspond to the truth. Before entering he felt them shouting each other and neither of them was bent or it was going to resetting… But he decides to overlook. They have already lost too much time. The blonde throws a sharp look at Luke, who wonders why she wanted to cover him, and if he has to positively interpret this attitude or rather the exact opposite. At the end he gives up and follows the other two down the hall to the meeting room. He tries to ignore it, but it’s impossible not to notice the mischievous look of JJ, the confusion of Reid, doubts painted on the faces of the rest of the agents.

Emily rolls her eyes and finally begins to expose the case that everyone knows very well -The last victim was Sasha Ivanova . And I emphasize “last.” As I said a year ago, there haven’t to be others. We have to catch the unsub. We have had more than ten years to take him, he was being free to do what he wanted. It’s time somebody ruins his plans.- anger in her eyes is evident and it’s also transmitted in the way she holding the remote control. -But I have not called you here to reiterate the obvious. There is news.- Luke subconsciously search for Penelope’s eyes and her hand (but not implement his own thoughts). -Chicago police found some interesting details…. Each of the victims under their jurisdiction had received “gifts” from a secret admirer, in the week before the murder.- after the last sentence also Rossi stares Garcia, who looks toward her shoes, hoping to disappear.

-But especially, they found some notes. The hand that had written them is the same in all cases.- now Agent Alvez feels really fear, fear for this woman, so damn stubborn that she would be willing to get kidnapped in order not to let people know that he is the author of the gifts she has received… but not the notes. And she is willing to risk, in order to prove that she has reason: she isn’t a type that someone might abducting, consequently she runs no risk.

-Garcia, can we talk for a moment face-to-face?- the woman takes a second too long to get up. Luke would follow them, but he doesn’t know what excuse to adopt. -All those gifts that I saw in your room… there were some notes to accompany them?- she doesn’t know what to say. Betraying Luke? Or rather betray herself, because what David will think, when he’ll know that she lied about something like that?

Left in the meeting room, Luke can’t concentrate on what his colleagues are saying. Conversations come to his brain as muted, as if he had cotton in his ears or was in a soap bubble. He can’t think of anything other than what they are saying? And the answer comes soon enough. The oldest agent returns alone. Things get worse than he expected.

-What’s going on, Dave?- Emily finally gives voice to what everyone is wondering.

-Penelope received very similar gifts to those you have just described a moment ago.- everyone except Luke, open their astonished eyes. -And even the famous notes. No need for a graphologist for sentencing that were written by the same person.- JJ launches a desperate look toward Reid.

-What? Why she doesn’t told us about it? And where is she?- the young genius puts his arm around the blonde, now in tears. Tara stays more composed, but she is equally worried.

-She is in my office. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and we don’t know when the unsub will hit. Just finished here, I’ll accompany her in the secret areas of the FBI for Witness Protection.- the ex-ranger immediately guess the future: he not see her again for who knows how long, if not forever. It’s not an acceptable perspective. But even the idea that she can seriously become the next victim of the killer of roses. If only she would leave herself to protect by me! He has before him an important choice: are more important his own selfish needs or the safety of the computer technician?

-We can’t even greet her?-  no one could answer negatively the desperate request of the blonde of the FBI. The oldest in the room nods his head and everybody make their way to his office. Luke last, lost in his thought. I can’t let her go. I can’t lose her. Rossi knocks with two shots, then he pauses, and he knocks other three times. The door opens, and Penelope appears that tries to hold back tears, with poor results. The impulse to rush to comfort her is strong, more than any other he has had at this year’s “separation” and abstinence, to kiss her or hold her so their bodies again converging. But yet he resists, with the last of patience grains he’s got. In the room they are eight of them, but, as one of the classic cliché, it’s just them in there. Their eyes are fixed, inseparable, they are seemingly oblivious to what is happening around; they carry on one conversation parallel to the verbal one. She is pleading him not to do what he thinks, and he, in turn, he’s apologizing because he can’t perform what she asks.

-Penelope… Why didn’t you tell us anything?- the women of the team surround their friend, partially interrupting the visual contact between the two. It’s the leader who speaks, while JJ strives not to cry in turn. She thinks of the day that saved her life, shooting point-blank at her attempted assassin. You do whatever it takes to protect your family.

-I… I didn’t think it had to do with the case. I was seeing one of the security officers of the first-floor and… I thought he was just very shy. - Luke feels a sharp pain in his chest at this revelation. But she is saying the truth, or it’s just a way to escape from him?

-No, not again. This time I’ll not allow to happen what happened with Battle.- the brunette says resolutely. Now Tara, Stephen, not to mention the agent Alvez, are even more confused. Meanwhile, the self-control of the latter is going more and more going to hell. -A policeman with murderess hero syndrome…- Prentiss begins to explain, but she is blocked by their own victim-subject of the story.

-I know that you will do everything to stop it.- she glances her very clear. Don’t speak of this matter. She doesn’t want him to know. She doesn’t want he knows this part of her life, this is connecting directly to a person and a series of misunderstandings that led where she is now. It doesn’t matter that for this man (damned the day when Hotch asked him to work with the BAU!) she now feels a much stronger feeling of confusion than a year earlier.

-I hate having to be a spoilsport, but… we have to go.- Rossi changes the subject. Luke observes Penelope, the woman for whom he feels more than he wanted (because this has greatly complicated his life) taking her own bag. He decided that this time he’ll not let her go away, like that day nearly a year ago.

-Wait! I have something to say.- everyone turns toward him. Garcia silently shouts him to stop. We can go on like this. We can pretend that nothing happened. Only you and me, know that. -I’m sorry. I gave her those things. Not the unsub. Except for the notes.- he adds bitterly. He explicitly turns to her and everyone understand the implications at stake. JJ wonders how it’s possible that she not noticed what had happened between her best friend, godmother of her children, and the Newbie. Sure, there were some incidents that had given her to think about, like when he played with the remote control in the meeting room and he had taken time considerable to pass it at her. Not to mention the countless times she had caught him staring at her. Yet she didn’t connect the dots. What stupid! -I’m sorry, Penelope. I know you didn’t want others to know, but I can’t allow you to finish in the witness protection program and disappear forever… just because I’m unable to deal with the complexity of the feelings that you arouses in me.- behold, he had said this. Now there’s no going back. Now everybody knows, including her. She stares him even more astonished than before, if possible.

-This doesn’t change anything, however.- the pure wisdom of Rossi intrudes, he’s not just able to realize that his kitten has a true lover, willing to do anything for her, even humiliate publicly himself or expose himself to rejection. -The writing matches perfectly, meaning that Garcia is still among the potential victims of the killer of roses.- the dark man nods, but he still seems to have something to say. Also, because all the others are still paralyzed by the news.

-I’m aware that she is still in danger, but… I would like to be able to contribute to her security, if you allow me… I participated in several operations of the witness protection program. I know how it works. And if the killer is clever enough, no protection is enough. I also feel that Garcia was chosen for a reason. Her belonging to the team.- finally someone seems to be able to recover.

-I understand what you want to mean. With this press conference, Prentiss has virtually challenged the unsub. Or in any case, it’s what seemed to him.- Reid asserts, while his face assumes the classic thinker’s poses.

-But then why he hasn’t hooked me up?- the chief asks.

-Because Garcia was … the woman most low-risk.- saying this, he knows he hurts her. But it’s better an ugly truth than a pretty lie, but with little lasting and more harmful effects in the long run. -You, Emily, live with your boyfriend… JJ has a whole family thinking about her, while Tara has returned to live with her father and brother… Penelope is simply the only woman in BAU… lonely.- and adding this, he transmits the idea that it’s her fault. It was mainly her stubbornness and her belief that he can’t absolutely like her, what had truncated any possibility of a serious development between them, a year earlier. And he was too confused at the time of their past, to prevent her from doing that bullshit.

-I’m fear you’re right, Luke.- the Italian admits. -And then, what is your proposal?- if he could say exactly what he thinks! Go to my house, make her a special dinner, talk, talk for hours, explain and ask for explanations. Try to find a way to make her understand how difficult it was this long year, because her coldness has hurt me, how I wanted to hold her, even by force, and only tell her I’m sorry, I’m very confused, but not enough to let you go away. How I wanted to try the feeling of having her lips fused with my own, and the courage to ask her if she, too, at least once, maybe before going to sleep, she felt that loneliness hug her, hold her in a vise that is neither liberating nor consoling. And then try to convince her that I’m able to protect her, I can do it, I’ll always be here, whenever she needs it. That I know her more than she would like, but certainly not as much as I would like. That it wasn’t just sex, even that night. And finally, that I haven’t been here for many years of her life (certainly not my fault); but I’m here now.

-I think that if the unsub discovered that she is no longer alone- not all notice the choice of words, the use of present (although hypothetical) which indicates that what follows this verb corresponds to a fact existing and not an uncertain possibility (what really is, in this case) -he’ll change the target. And though this would mean that another woman would run the risk of being killed… I feel I can be partly selfish, this time.- and the sense of his theory is more readily apparent to all.

-You would pretend to be her boyfriend until we take him?- a break. -We may need days as years. This is no light commitment. Or maybe you want to make a back and forth around the time of Valentine’s Day, doing the exact opposite of many males that not want to buy a gift for their lovers and fulfill the duty imposed on them by the capitalist society we live in?- it seems that talking was Reid instead is Emily the one make fun of him affectionately. For Luke the idea of having to protect her for years has certainly not displayed as a burden. Everything is relative, depending on the perspective from which you look at things. As an old man who breaks a mirror: he’ll be happy to have yet seven years (of trouble).

-According to me, you hope, rather, that continue to pretend, Garcia forget what the truth is and fall into your arms!- JJ also helps to lighten the atmosphere. The idea that another woman could be killed tonight and that they will have to investigate her death, now doesn’t even brush them. Even profilers have the right to a little serenity.

02/15/18

He finds her exactly where he thought: standing in front of the monsters’ wall, that is, every unsub that they had captured over the years, since the unit had opened its doors, long before they worked on it, both she and him, or that they met. He vividly remembered the moment Emily had hung that picture, while she was crying, a prayer to her disappearance friend, she, that didn’t believe or didn’t want to believe in any kind of God. Even the woman at this moment in front of him, she had a giant tight in the throat, that day and although she wasn’t able to consume mourning, allowed him to console her, to lay his hands on her shoulders, to embrace her. And she let him shout at her, not wanting to go along her, this time, while repeating like a mantra, before the image of yet another tragic murdered woman, surrounded by rose buds - It should have been me, there. It should have been me. It was no less blurred in his memory the moment when he had called to tell her -It’s over.- and how they had made love, directly to her office, as soon as he got off the jet, exhausted and alone desiring to sleep indefinitely. And as he found the strength for a second round, but this time there hadn’t been a third. But the next morning she was still there, in his arms, and although she was very embarrassed and awkward, she had not tried to escape. She had preferred to hide her face on his skin, which had finally absorbed those tears for too long withheld (for the year they had lost, because she wasn’t been the victim), she had tried to disappear to merge with him. And then she had re-emerged from the abyss and the other side had found right this man, patient as always, determined as never before.

She feels his presence behind. If even she hadn’t recognized his walk or his scent, she hadn’t need to be a profiler, or put a motion detector in his cellphone, to identify the person who appeared behind her. She not turns to look at him.

-I seems absurd that has passed already almost a year. I realize that it’s a banality that doesn’t suit me, but sometimes it’s as if it happened yesterday, others days seem to me full years passed and much more often… it seems it never ended.- he didn’t say anything. He moves at her side, to look exactly the same direction of the woman. His arm around her shoulders and in that single gesture there are friendship, respect, love, understanding, desire, consolation. -And even more comical, or tragic, depending on how you look at it, it’s that I owe my happiness to a serial killer.- she turns completely to him. It’s not need to replicate anything. It’s like this were a conversation made thousands of times, a ritual. Purifying.

-Let’s go home.-

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