#but also i think about him in the pipeline cell with this playing over the speakers one day because team flash lets them listen to music and

[survivoirs]

Youtube pausing and asking me if I am still listening is just rude. Yes. I’m trying to listen to an 80s playlist. Let me be.

[austarus]

Harrison Wells (Eobard Thawne) x Reader Ballistic Confrontations (3/3)

*A/N: The picture/edit/gif belongs to me!

**If you understand what I’m referencing to in the end, well the Kudos to you. You win 85 Stardollars.

***Trigger Warning: Scars from mentioned self-harm

****Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!

Word Count:  6397

Part 1   Part 2

Eobard said nothing. Instead, he disregarded your look as his gaze locked back onto Kara, as the Kryptonian woman threw him a hateful look. The futuristic genius did not care. His baby blue hues jumped back to where you stood before stepping away to the side tables. Now we proceed, the speedster mused to himself, picking up a scalpel and arranging his surgical tools. The stage needed to be set tonight. All the actors were in place, and he needed to complete his role. A delicate procedure, if you will. But he needed to be bought some time. Surely, Barry and the others would be back by now from Earth-X. He was, in essence, reluctant to cut up the Earth-38 Kryptonian for he held no malice towards her. She was just an unnecessary casualty in all this. And after all, if Barry Allen were to die it would be at his hands. Not on some tainted Earth at the firing range. You’re centuries late, Mr. Allen. As always.

You glared at your genius scientist for not cluing you in on whatever it is he had planned now. What was his plan? Play along until ‘Uh oh, it’s too late to turn back’ and ‘Oh, look. We’re doomed’? A grunt caught your attention, Kara was trying to break out of her restraints again. “Kara,” you whispered, now standing beside her. “Save your energy, please.” She eyed the restraints on you before taking a slow breath in. Kara wanted to throw her guts up, but she pushed back the bile caught in her throat.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“Honey, you are looking anything other than fine.”

Kara pursed her lips, feeling fatigue wash over her once more. “Where… where are the others… that were here- at the labs? Are they…?” There it was, always concerned for others when she should be concerned about herself.

“No, no they’re fine. They’re in the pipeline. Iris and Felicity-” You stopped yourself, noticing Eobard’s head snap towards you. A pang of guilt echoed in your body. “They’re being held there too,” you lied, giving her hand two small squeezes for her to indicate the lie. If he held things back from you to entertain the Earth-Xer’s with legitimate reactions, then so would you. Supergirl nodded her head subtly in understanding. You were too focused with Kara; you didn’t notice Eobard move. “You’re going to be fine; the others should be back. They wouldn’t go out just like that.” Iris, Felicity, where’s that help? Just where are you guys? You couldn’t leave if you wanted to. Not with the others lurking around. Not when there was a chance you could tip them off about Iris and Felicity, then there was Eobard. Overgirl would instantly go after him for betrayal.

“I… I really hope not. Alex-” Kara trailed off; her eyes drooping shut as her shoulders sagged. Her hand went limp in your cuffed ones.

“Kara?” You looked up to see a tube in Eobard’s hand with a syringe in it. Empty as its contents have already worked its way into Kara’s system. “What are you doing?!”

“I’ve given her a mild anesthetic,” you pursed your lips as his statement. Eobard sighed, “Not to worry, that should have her out for 30 minutes. Strong enough for a Kryptonian, but not strong enough for too long even with the red sunlight on her.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I needed to talk to you without anyone listening.” You followed how Eobard’s eyes glanced at the door. Outside stood two more Nazi guards.

“You could have just pulled me to the other room,” you whisper-yelled at him.

“No, I couldn’t have.” He crossed his arms at you, replying in his own gravely hushed tones. “I needed to keep up the image of the bad guy in front of Kara.”

“Why? Why, when she could understand that you’re not really with them? Why let her also think of you as one of those heinous monsters?”

“Because her opinion of me doesn’t matter. Not hers, not the Earth-Xers, not anyone else.” Eobard punctuated his words before taking your hands in his, placing a gentle kiss on the back of one. The intensity in his eyes never broke as he spoke once more, “Only your opinion of me matters. You matter.”

You pursed your lips, your eyes unable to leave his heated gaze. Oh, if only we weren’t in this mess. If only we had more time… Kara crossed your mind once more, the ominous thrumming noise that came from the machine that generated the red sunlight. A frown found its way onto your face. “Wait, you said 30 minutes? Shouldn’t she need time to recover from the anesthesia to be given another one?”

Eobard sighed, letting go of your hands. He crossed his arms. You weren’t going to like his answer. “No, not in this case.” Dread welled up in the pit of your stomach.

“What…”

“The General herself requested, more like ordered, me to have our Kara awake during the… transplant.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” You responded slowly. Your eye slightly twitched as anger started to consume your thoughts. You wanted nothing more than to rip your friend’s doppelganger apart.

Eobard very well sensed your feelings, he always hated putting a frown on your face or seeing you upset to this extent. “Look, I don’t want to do it either,” the speedster retorted hastily as he unfurled his arms, his hands gently grabbed your shoulders, “but I can’t defy their word especially with you around.”

“Why? Am I suddenly a liability?”

“Never, but they’ll figure something is up with you here with me. Conspiring against them. You already saw how easily Oliver-X caved to his Kara regarding who you are to me.”

Technically, that’s my own damn fault, but a calculated risk to get to Eobard. I can live with the repercussions. “But that’s technically what we’re doing on the downlow, Eo.” You echoed one of the lessons he taught you years ago. “One weakness is better than none, it can be essential to creating the downfall of another.” He had mainly told you that regarding Eilling, who hadn’t ceased to stick his nose into Eobard’s lab experiments and projects. The general had eyed you as a means to get to him, but in reality you were a strength to Eobard. Not a weakness. And the speedster very well knows you can handle your own; after all, the both of you trained constantly. Pushing each other’s limits. Though where you hesitated to kill, he compensated on that, especially in the right moment. “We can have the Dark Archer on the ropes. If anything, he’s made it evident that his wife is a liability to his rational thinking.”

A proud grin ran along his handsome face. “Exactly, my little bird. But they will hurt you, even if you can hold out against them you can’t take them both on.” Even I cannot, not with where I’m at with my speed. Not with the slight dampener they have on my suit. The potential self-destruction if removed from the emblem by my own hands, is a heavy weight on my chest. If I can get rid of them, I can defuse the detonator.

“I’m not worried about me; I’m worried about you! I can’t- I can’t be the one to lose you again.” Eobard shifted his gaze away from you. “Look it’s not going to come to that.” He knew what you were suggesting. “Ok? Worst comes to worst I cause a distraction.”

“No, over my rotting corpse.” 

That sounds eerily familiar.

“We don’t have a choice, if it buys us time then I’ll be damned not to try!”

“That’s why we adapt to the situation and find alternate routes to keep off their radar. I know what I’m doing.”

“Precisely. Adapting. So let me do what I can if it comes down to it.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!” You bit back a retort at the way he raised his voice. “Just trust me.” He wasn’t asking you to.

“Kinda hard with your track record,” You deadpanned, and Eobard just rubbed his face.

“Have I ever lied to you?”

“Is that a question you seriously want me to answer?” A small cheeky smile made its way to your face. You couldn’t help but tease him right now, of all times.

Eobard huffed out a chuckle, pulling out some white surgical clothes from a drawer. Have those always been there? “Just follow my lead, ok? Whatever happens stay on their side, whatever happens to me stay with Barry and the others.” Eobard gloved his hands while the guards re-entered the medical room along with Oliver-X and Kara-X. Speak of the devil. You pursed your lips and held a stoic expression even as Kara-X sauntered to her respective gurney, smirking widely before a violent coughing fit erupts from her. You didn’t miss how Oliver-X moved towards her, yet you averted your eyes to the protruding machines the other soldiers were bringing in for the ‘necessary’ operation. Two guards held you by the arms where you stood. You swallowed thickly as everything was being sterilized and prepped.

***

Harry caught the ball once more after it ricocheted back to him. He’d been letting his frustration out on it towards the cell wall. Something didn’t feel right. He cursed himself, knowing he should have been carrying some weapon or breaching device to have gotten away from the Dark Archer. Or any intruder for the matter of this invasion. Yes, he pushed the emergency labs alarm, but he still got whacked and dragged to the pipeline. He could have done more damage to these damned Nazi’s, but he was helpless. I should have carried my gun or my pulse rifle, what was I thinking? His hand gripped tightly at the ball as regret never left his side. I should have seen this as a possible attack. It’s a simple strategy. Divide and conquer. Yet they were all too fooled, too hasty to attack to even logically see this move by the Earth-Xers.

“Wait, Thawne’s here?” Cisco’s outburst broke the Earth-2 genius out of his thoughts. Harry cracked his neck and directed his attention back to Cisco’s squabbling from the cell near him. The Wells doppelganger was getting pretty tired about hearing of Thawne. A feeling of dread picked at his insides, his thoughts going to you and what Barry had discussed vehemently earlier.

“Yeah,” Caitlin responded. “I haven’t seen or heard from her. We only briefly got a visit from Iris and Felicity not too long ago. But they didn’t know where she was either.”

“Do you think maybe she… you know?” Cisco made an implication. “I mean, does she know?”

“I don’t know,” Caitlin trailed off. “But Iris had said that she left them in the Time Vault to buy them time. Whatever that could mean.”

“Well, on the one hand, they either got to her and are holding her hostage somewhere or, on the other, she rendezvoused with Thawne and now they're going all Mengele on Kara.”

Harry rubbed his face irritably at Cisco’s words, by now you would have known. There’s a high possibility. Whether it’s from seeing Thawne face-to-face or by overhearing someone. By now, Harry’s sure, you would have made a choice. Where did you go, though?

The lights flickered in the pipeline before shutting off as Caitlin finished. A dull blue tint lit up in each individual cell as the pipeline was divulged into a dim darkness. The emergency lights were the only things on. Every person was on high alert at this point.

“Ohohoho, my girl Felicity definitely pulled that one!” Cisco chirped, making a loud clap.

Dinah tried her canary call again, but to no avail. The cell would not budge. Harry narrowed his eyes; he knew she’d try again. But Cisco had crafted these cells with Thawne cautiously for metas. Practically indestructible unless you’re a Time Wraith.

“I wouldn’t try it again if I were you.” Harry finally spoke. Dinah paused, the silence daring to be her question. “These cells are reinforced to withstand any form of meta-attacks generated within. A backup generator still supplies the power dampeners with energy to preserve the cell.” Harry looked out his cell and towards the darkness. “All we can do is wait.”

***

You took a breath, smoke and blood and electricity filled the air. Your eyes didn’t miss the rush of electricity in the distance. Red and gold, the Speedforce of the only two speedsters here. Swallowing thickly, your attention was diverted to the Waverider being chased by another. Well damn, I think someone’s having a bit too much fun. Raising an eyebrow, you watched both airborne vehicles zig-zag through the air. You hooked up your earpiece and headed for the nearest skirmish to help out. A grin plastered itself on your face when you heard Cisco on the comms arguing with Harry. I guess they’re the ones taking the Waverider for a joy ride.

You pressed the button on your communication device, “Any chance I can hop on?” You sucker punched a Nazi. “Oh, I’ve been wanting to do that all day.” Cisco laughed, weaving through the air as if he’s directing a Strike Fighter.

He’s totally Luke Skywalkering his way through this.

“Girl, where you been?”

“Let’s just say,” you huffed, generating electricity in your palm and slamming it into the chest of another soldier. “I caught some unwanted attention, and they were reluctant to release me.” In actuality, Eobard had sped you away from the Labs once Ray made a dramatic entrance to save Kara. He’d sped you to where the battle would be, at least to where the Earth-X forces would arrive from. Telling you to run and appear at an opportune moment. Meaning, go hide while the battle thickens so your disappearance doesn't bring up too many questions from your friends. “Is Iris with you?”

“Yeah, she’s in the back with Felicity, we’re still trying to maneuver in the best position possible to take down their shields.”

You breathed a sigh of relief, thinking back to her stunt with Felicity to sabotage the surgery. “So, how about that help?”

“Hmm,” Harry spoke up, pushing his glasses up. “Unless you have the capability of overloading and shutting down the entire Earth-X Waverider system without passing out, be our guest.”

“… I mean I could try.”

“No.”

You pouted, punching another soldier, this time in the nose. Someone’s particularly grumpy right now. “It’s honestly not that hard, I would just be out for a couple of days and probably on life support.” The line was quiet meaning that Harry chose to ignore your comment. Rude.

You took in a breath and reduced your being to an electrical form, traveling up some buildings to gauge the situation. Kara and Kara-X were facing off at the moment. Eobard was naturally keeping Barry busy while Oliver and Oliver-X were in an intense hand-to-hand-to-bow combat. Yeah, their fight wasn’t as impressive as the other two. You took in a breath heading back down to the fight, this time getting closer to Mick and Leo Snart, who you found to be the Earth-X resistance fighter and doppelganger to your dead ex-boyfriend.

What goes around comes around.

***

“Where were you?”

Turning back from where you sat, you sent a questioning look to Barry and pointed to yourself when no one had responded. He had specifically prompted you with the question. The look in his hazel-green eyes were distant as he leaned against the front of the Cortex desks. You recognized that look from a few years ago. The silence in the Cortex was sliced amongst the team. DeVoe was still out there, scheming. Some stopped what they were doing to gauge what would happen, others (mainly Harry) kept working away but inclined an ear in case either of you were to do something rash.

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, (Y/N). You’re not that dumb.”

“Excuse me.” You narrowed your eyes at the scarlet speedster.

“Barry,” Iris whispered to him, but he shook her off as he folded his arms.

“Where were you after you left Iris and Felicity?”

Ah, of course he wouldn’t miss that. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse.

“I went to go buy them some time.”

“Buy them some time or buy yourself some time? To see Eobard.”

Your heart hammered tightly in your chest, but you made no move to indicate what you had done. In a sense, you did both. You protected Iris and Felicity while keeping Eobard company.

“Why would I want to see someone who’s allied themselves to a Nazi regime on a different Earth, Barr?”

“Why wouldn’t you do anything to see the one you once loved?”

“Are you talking about me,” you tilted your head to the side, taunting him now, “or yourself?” You referenced the events that happened last year. Barry was more than aware of what you were indicating. Flashpoint. Savitar. Iris’ predicted death, HR’s sacrifice, his time remnant’s downfall. But you’ve been wanting to add kerosene to the flames. “Are you referring to your mom,” you turned your head to Iris, “or to Iris?” If looks could kill, you would have been reduced to ashes under Barry’s gaze. Cisco put down his tools and Caitlin glanced at her friends from where she sat beside Iris. Harry capped his marker but turned his eyes towards you. “Like I said, I caught some unwanted attention, and they were reluctant to release me. How is that any different from the others getting stuck in the pipeline?”

“You left Iris to defend herself.”

“Oh my god! Barry!” You rolled your eyes at his statement, deflecting your own questions. “Iris this, Iris that. Iris is a big girl with nearly perfect marksmanship as Harry. She’s more than capable of taking care of herself. I know that. She knows that. The same goes for Felicity as well. But do you know that?” Divide them, fester the idea of unreliability between those two. After all, it’s because of Barry’s decisions for Iris that everyone gets screwed over. It’s one of the reasons for the resentment and bitterness that grows within you. Only they can be happy, no one else can.

“You left Iris and Felicity while this place was crawling with Earth-Xers just to see Thawne!”

“Fucking prove it, you dickbag,” you screamed back at him, “if you’re so certain. Prove it, because contrary to your belief, I was fighting beside you and everyone else that day in the city once I managed to escape. Ask Cisco and Harry. Ask Sara. Hell, even ask Mick and Leo.”

Barry shook his head with a cruel smile, “Do you wanna know how I know?” The speedster took out his phone and started it up, showing the screen of your location. “Careful what you wish for.” Dread gripped your heart as Barry chuckled to himself. “That’s right. I chipped you, that night I pushed you against the doorframe before leaving for the warehouse fight. I chipped you. I already had Thawne chipped earlier that night. On his suit, when I landed a few hits on him. He doesn’t know or… not until recently.” Barry did a search for any pings, but there were none except for yours. “You asked me for proof, here it is.” He slid his fingers on the screen showing a timestamp and your location pinged with Eobard’s at the labs.

“This means nothing.”

“It means everything!” Barry stepped closer to you, anger in his wake. “You left us for him.”

“Yet I still fought with you guys because it was the right thing to do regardless of how I feel for him. You don’t understand nor will you want to understand. You’d rather label us as 100% on the wrong side without acknowledging that we can dwell in a gray area. The world isn’t just black and white, Barry. Or have you forgotten about your own morally gray decisions?”

Sparks crackled in the air, whether it was from you or Barry, no one could tell. Harry took a subtle step towards you from where he stood at the glass board a few feet beside you. He was the only one that can calm you down from this, maybe Iris too, but most definitely he himself. But Harry wasn’t quick enough because the Cortex monitors went haywire while the room darkened. You and Barry were nowhere in the room.

“Barry!” Iris screamed a second after he had sped you away.

***

Eobard raked a hand through his dark locks, analyzing the future article again. He fiddled with his rightful Reverse Flash emblem in his hands, his fingers tracing over the single lightning bolt. It took the genius a full day to extract the SS emblem from his suit, but with your help he was able to detonate it a safe distance away in some open fields. While the people of Central City slept and you had assured Eobard that the Labs were vacant, the speedster had rushed into his old office and compiled all the documents he needed to keep out of Barry’s hands. He’s honestly surprised Team Flash hadn’t rifled thus far into the records he kept. The only things missing were speed theories and the equation escalation to the Speed Formula. Although, he had solved that issue for Barry two years ago when he had traveled back in time for an answer on getting faster.

Still such a naïve child, not at all like the Flash from my future. Arranging some papers together on his new office desk, without meaning to Eobard had knocked over a picture frame. The breaking of glass caught his attention, craning his neck to see the fallen frame. The frame held a picture of you and him from before the Particle Accelerator exploded around Christmas. Before you had known his secret. But now the frame was adorned with a fierce crack through you. Eobard’s mouth went dry, knowing that superstitions were just superstitions, but he couldn’t exactly place the rush of fear welling in his body.

“Gideon, pull up (Y/N)’s location.” Eobard pulled his glasses off smoothly as the AI did as told. She was at the labs. “Access the live feed cameras.” Gideon pulled up holo-images 8x8 of what seemed to be a further escalating scene between you and Barry through STAR Labs. Gritting his teeth, Eobard summoned his suit and launched himself forward into it. The Negative Speedforce fueled by his anger and hate pumped dangerously in his veins.

Barry Allen will regret the day he dared to lay a hand on you.

***

“You’re a traitor!”

“Speak for yourself.” You grunted against the wall, your electric blade dissipating in your hand. It was getting harder to breathe, to keep up with his movements. With speedsters, you preferred long-range combat, but you had to make due at times. “You’re the one who betrayed everyone first for your own selfish desires. Flashpoint, the cause of so much pain and misery. In the end, there was so much collateral damage, and you were the cause of so many lives lost.”

“Flashpoint should have wiped you away. You should have been thankful. We helped you,” Barry fumed, pressing his forearm harder against your throat. “We stood by you.”

“They stood by me.” You tried channeling your electricity, even to siphon off a lick of his in order to produce a dagger, but to no avail. Only sparks flickered from the tips of your fingers, “You couldn’t stand the sight of me when you brought me in.” You had no grievances towards anyone else other than Barry. Not Iris, not Caitlin, not Joe, not Cisco. Certainly not Ralph simply because he’s new. And not towards Harry and Jesse. Iris and Caitlin were the two people who kept you the most grounded to the world for they understood the loss of a loved one and the process of moving on.

“You’re damn right I couldn’t. I was wrong to have let you stay around after Iris and Caitlin rehabilitated you.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make, now, was it?”

“You’re a monster just like Thawne. You’re not a hero.”

You simply spit blood in Barry’s face. “I’m neither thief nor hero.” You were kind of enjoying pushing his buttons, releasing all those pent-up emotions and frustration over the years. Wiping his face clean with his sleeve, the speedster sped you out of the room, throwing punches and kicks at you. He had run you through the entirety of STAR Labs. You siphoned off passing energy from computers and lightbulbs to throw at him Palpatine-style when there was distance between you two, but there was only so much you could do in your current condition. You were getting tired; you couldn’t keep up. Every burst of electricity that burned him had drained you. Blood continued to trickle from the side of your face and sweat glistened on your skin. You healed fast, but he healed much faster.

“Barry, stop! You’re going to kill her.” Iris shouted with a gun in her hand, the others piling into the room. Cisco threw a wave blast at Barry and Frost aimed a couple of icicles his way, but the speedster had dodged them. The scarlet speedster tossed you to the ground like a bag of peanuts before turning to the others. You skidded to the side, breathing in deeply then coughed up some blood into your fist. Blood continued to trickle from the side of your face and sweat glistened on your skin. You could feel your cheek swell as well as an ache form in your chest, maybe a few cracked ribs. Could potentially puncture your lungs if this didn’t end soon.

“And why shouldn’t I? For all we know, she could be spying on us for Thawne.”

“Barry killing her won’t solve anything,” Harry shot at him with his pulse rifle to create some distance between you two before training it on you. “It’ll just make things worse.” You met his eyes, and you could see the disappointment in them. A tinge of guilt hit you, but you pushed past it as you stood on unsteady feet. Your body felt like it was made of lead, but you continued on. If this is how things are to be, then so be it.. You leaned against the wall, cradling your damaged ribcage, as Harry continued. “Regardless of her actions, she did keep Iris and Felicity safe in her own way, she still stood by us.” You were finding it extremely hard to breathe, to stay conscious. Your breathing slowed, the noise in the room between Team Flash was reduced to murmuring to your ears. Did I burst an eardrum too?

“Are you kidding me, Wells? How can you say that when-”

You blinked before collapsing onto the ground, a streak of red had filled your vision. Eobard pinned Barry to the wall, his hand squeezing at his throat while red hot anger filled his vision. “Good to see you again so soon, Flash,” the yellow speedster drawled with a rough grin in his distorted voice. “It seems like you overstepped your boundaries.” Eobard kicked Barry in the ribs and landed a few speed punches, the scarlet speedster already exhausted from his fight with you. “Isn’t this position nostalgic?” Barry was clawing at Eobard’s firm grip, suspending the young hero in the air against the wall as he had done years ago.

“I- had a feeling... you’d show up, Thawne,”

Licking your bloodied lips, you groaned as you leaned up with hoarseness in your voice, “Eo, don’t.” The man in yellow stopped, slowly turning his quaking gaze towards you. You held his gaze for as long as you could get the message through to him. “Enough.” Eobard retracted a fist that was to make contact on Barry’s face, but not before squeezing the scarlet speedsters throat tightly and throwing him towards the upper part of the speed lab. Eobard took off his cowl and generated his speed to be by your side, eyeing every cut and bruise on your broken skin. Your eyes drooped shut when he brushed the back of his gloved hand against your unwounded cheek. His eyes softened, but his insides clenched. Iris and Caitlin had run to where Barry laid while Harry and Cisco monitored Eobard with caution as he gently scooped you in his strong arms.

Standing up with your limp form, the speedster disregarded Cisco, yet glared coldly at his supposed doppelganger. The future genius then turned to them and spoke, “My love for her is what stopped me this time. Next time,” his eyes landed on Barry, “you won’t be so lucky. Lay a hand on her again and I won’t hesitate to end your miserable life, Flash.” His eyes flashed red as they met Barry’s for the last time before taking his leave in a wake of red electricity.

***

Eobard stopped his vibrational intimidation once he made it to your temporary home, Gideon had already prepared the necessary diagnostic tests that would need to be conducted to assess your health. Laying you on the gurney gently, he kissed your forehead before proceeding. The speedster had cleaned you up, replacing your burnt clothes and scrubbing the dried remnants of blood on your skin. His heart shattered. His blood turned to ice. Eobard’s baby blues scanned every part of your marred skin. Lines that tallied up right after another, scars that were too stubborn to heal correctly as if trying to serve as a reminder. Eobard’s mouth had dried as his thumb made featherlight touches before injecting the needle into the correct vein. The speedster opened his mouth and closed it, but he could not register any other emotion other than anger and guilt. His thoughts funneled fluidly, emphasizing that one certain cause that led to this escalation. His death had been the cost of your mental and physical state.

Never again. The speedster peppered kisses along your arms as all the implied images ran through his mind. A tear slipped out. It fell from his face onto the scarred tissue. My love. He needed to get back to work. With classical music dancing in the background, Eobard conducted a blood transfusion in order to replace the blood you had lost as well as administering IV fluids. He had to steal the materials from a hospital nearby in Keystone. They won’t be missing it. 

“According to my current readings, copious amounts of stress have been exuded onto her heart allowing her to retain a constant distressed state.” Gideon rattled on as Eobard sat next to you with a sleeve rolled up. He glanced over at you as the AI continued. “The X-ray scans have also been completed. She’s suffering trauma in her ribcage, a few cracked ribs, however none are broken. CT results also conclude a mild concussion.”

She’s lucky her lungs hadn’t been punctured. His hate for Barry Allen grew with every second that you laid unconscious.

“How long until a full recovery?”

“Physically it could take up to 3-6 weeks regarding her ribs. The mild concussion will take approximately almost a week and a half. Her heart might take longer. Therefore, she must avoid extraneous activity.” 

“Such as using her powers and so on.”

“Yes. Shall I assist you with anything else today, Professor Thawne?”

Eobard ran his fingers over his lips before taking his glasses off and throwing them onto the side of a nearby table. “Keep tabs on Barry Allen’s movements, I want to be alerted if he comes near Keystone or has any intention of it.” The AI nodded before shuttering away into the plinth. Yes, the speedster had been smart to chip him, something Eobard had easily gotten rid of. But to chip you as well, Thawne cursed himself for not seeing it coming. Too preoccupied with the timeline and it’s malleability. “Hopefully DeVoe will keep him away long enough.”

***

Your eyelids felt like they had been cemented shut, the stinging smell of antiseptic slapped you right in the face. Am I dead or in a hospital? A groan left your lips, your throat dry as a desert and craving any drips of water. I hope I’m not in a hospital, I hate those places. The nice thing was that a light wasn’t blinding you, at the very least not piercing through the darkness supplied by your shut eyelids. It was oddly soothing. Your mind finally processed the dull ache residing in your bones, the softness beneath you and the slight chill in the air. Maybe I am dead. Taking one slow breath in, your blood vessels throbbed louder with each fluid pumped through and the humming of machines finally registered to your ears. You didn’t want to open your eyes; you were content with just laying here.

“…” You frowned, the sound of mumbling coming to you. Who was that? “Gi… ru-… I-.” Death, perhaps? You twitched your fingers, a numb sensation set in both your arms. If I’m dead, how can I still feel? It took a moment for your brain to catch you up on how you’d been reduced to such a state. Barry… killed me? No, that’s- Eo was… You shakily formed a fist only to feel something cool against your skin. Felt like another hand. Not bony. Maybe Death gave the appearance of a human for us to pass.

“Mm,” you tried clearing your throat, but it hurt each time, inducing a coughing fit. Blinking wearily, you looked around, your vision blurry until it settled on the being the hand had belonged to. “Mm, I…”

“Shh,” the deep voice cooed. You could hear much more clearly now but couldn’t make out the image of the being. “I have some water for you,” you felt a straw tap your lips. “Drink up.”

Why is Death being so kind to me? I thought Death was swift. You drank a sip at a time before pulling back and shutting your eyes once more. The somatosensory neurons on your arms brushed against some coarse material. A blanket? That same cool touch caressed your cheek. You blinked your eyes open a few times, dizziness ensnaring your mind, but your eyes met icy blue ones. “Eo?”

“I’m here,” he whispered in a gentle tone, standing up from where he sat next to you.

“I’m not dead.”

“No, you’re very much alive”

“Barry, he…”

“I’ve dealt with him. He won’t ever hurt you again.” You watched as he kissed your bandaged hands, each finger receiving a kiss. Cracking your neck, your realized he had changed you into fresh clothes. The scent of faint lavender hung onto the fabric.

“How long was I out?”

“Two weeks.”

It hurt your head when your eyes bugged out. You patted your temples lightly. “Two weeks? What- I-I need to get back. They were going to confront DeVoe. Harry and-”

“No,” Eobard pressed his palm against your shoulder when you tried to sit up abruptly, “You need to rest. Screw Team Flash. For once, just let them be so you can recover.” The speedster did not ask for what had happened to you, knowing the implications in his mind were too strong to be false. Rather, he’d make sure it would not occur a second time

“It’s not that simple, Eo.”

“It really is,” the yellow speedster sighed to himself, rubbing his face. You gestured to the water, and he handed the cup to you. “You’re in no condition to go back there, not after what happened. Your powers and your fight did a number on you. I-…. Your heart stopped a couple of times.” You almost choked on your sip. “I had to jumpstart your heart and keep it going.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For worrying you.” For being a liability that Barry can use.

“Don’t. This,” he gestured with his hands between you and him, “is not something to apologize for. Ever. If anything, it was smart of him to use you for bait as I had used Iris and Eddie.” You pressed your lips into a thin line as your mind started to wander.

“So, we wait?”

Eobard nodded as you ran a hand through you knotted hair. Need to brush that out asap. “We wait until it’s time to strike.”

“Until it’s time for you to strike. I’m remaining neutral in whatever it is between you and Barry in the future. Even if he might not see it that way.” Tipping the scales, balancing good and evil natures in the forces of the world. That’s what He told me my role in the multiverse is along with...

“I know, my love.” I don’t know how to break this to her. “But until then, rest.” If I ask her to come with me, would what I orchestrate then work?

“Eobard.”

“Hm?” Eobard knew he needed to go back to sort a few things out. Chances of getting caught were roughly 30-70, but not zero.

You shifted over to make room for him, patted the spot next to you. “Stay.”

Or would she become collateral damage?

“Always.” The speedster leaned down to kiss your lips before moving in beside you. You laid your head on his chest, minding the slight tremors of pain. Eobard kissed the top of your head and you shut your eyes. You’d go to the ends of the multiverse for him, but you’d also protect your friends. Being at odds with Barry wouldn’t stop you. He just needed to learn to live with your choices as everyone else has had to live with his.

Eobard’s mind ran through every scenario, deciding it’s best to tell you what he intends to do. He’d rather you decide for yourself what to do. The negative speedster respected the position you held onto. Neutrality wasn’t always an easy feat, but he admired your devotion towards him and the ones you love. Eobard was just selfish enough to only want and care for you. He didn’t need anyone else. He certainly didn’t need camaraderie. Tomorrow, he’d tell you. Tomorrow, he’d make sure to take the first step towards ensuring the future.

Betrayal is a fickle thing, Barry Allen. A lesson you will learn again.

[herpronuonsarefemslash]

Satisfaction Brought it Back - TEASER

The one where Lena ghosted Kara rather than going villain, Kara went into reporting on human rights abuses in warzones and Lena started a project to take medical information for aliens and their anatomy to help human hospitals.

And then volunteer Subject 99 walks in for a full exam and Lena wonders if she can pretend she's doing anything other than "playing doctor" while learning about Kara's unique body. But her traitor heart just wants to play house. SEE THE REST HERE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/56078508 ===== Alana helps the gray-scaled Jorviunan gentleperson down from the exam table. Five genders on a three-pole gradient, the species file says. Subject 98 uses he/him according to the survey. But it's not right. She's gotten enough peripheral glances of herself in a ballroom's mirror, gritting her teeth and using the identity of least resistance when one of Lillian's friends slid a hand around her back. Lena's been in both the human medicine and xenobiology games long enough to know when a word tastes bad in someone's mouth. Or fangs. Or pincers. Or feelers. Or bioelectrically charged water-filtering membranes. Subject 73 was a Vyllnat who rolled in the other day who looked like she belonged on a Wikipedia article about the Dykes on Bikes movement with the zinger being that her partner was checking in for the session in the next bay during the same time slot. Mating for them involves snuggling close and sharing body heat until their physiologies sync up enough to allow genetic material to simply seep through softened skin. What Lena thought was a rather plain leather riding jacket was, in fact, skin that just looked like supple black leather. Membranous flaps that adults use to seal each other's bodies in an airtight embrace during one of these sessions. A mutually embarrassing moment involving Lena stumbling and nearly wiping out with a tray of sharps and some accidentally-spit acid revealed the tight jeans were really fifteen feet of muscular tail as thick as Lena's waist trailing behind 73 in a holographic concealment field. Lena even weaseled her into letting her take 3D scans of all five sets of interlocking fangs and slicing teeth and a venom sample.

Late that night, Lena might have put a few minutes of Clash of the Titans on loop while she got herself off. Sue her. The idea of reproduction by snuggling is even gayer than a race of medusa-ish beings who come in three flavors of what could only really be called female in a human framework.

"Next subject?" Lena asks, looking up at Alana who is tapping some commands to the repurposed attack drone of Lex's they use to burn any biohazards off the equipment.

"iPad," Alana replies, her eyes sparkling a bit too much as she directs three streams of particle-dissolving energy. Lena sometimes gets a distinct whiff of Kate McKinnon's character in Ghostbusters, except that not only is Alana weird and unapologetic and intense, she's also a first-generation immigrant. She tears through American pop culture like Kara tears through potstickers, so Lena's never 100% sure if Alana's showing up in an outfit that looks like business-safe cosplay on purpose or not. Some city in Nigeria is missing their resident mad genius, to National City's benefit. ===== "Uh, hi."

Rude, is all Lena can think at first. She had heard through the 'DEO to Alex to Kelly to the group texts of doctors who deal with aliens' pipeline that Supergirl had gone from on-patrol to emergency use only around the time that blogs gushed about one of CatCo's human passing journalists coming out as alien and then leaving the company. She was trying very hard not to stalk Kara's Instagram at the time so she didn't follow up. Something something independent reporter in the field somewhere somewhere bringing attention to the plight of someone someone.

Lena only avoided full-on alcoholism over the last year by screening out all reminders of Kara's existence, which let her pretend. Which didn't make it hurt any less when Jess came into her office a few months ago and said that Kara Danvers had come by to ask if Lena had gotten a new cell phone. Kara's first thought wasn't Lena being a cruel, overdramatic mess of gay thirst and Luthor trauma. She trusted Lena's good nature, so her first thought was clerical error.

Kara seems to have taken being ghosted in stride because she spent the last six months getting somehow even hotter than she already was, which probably violates some United Nations Convention on placing dangerous pressure on the human body or something.

Her hair is the same length, but it's tied in a hasty ponytail that's tied off with a scrunchy made of honest-to-god paracord the same crimson as her cape. She's let the curl come back in--how did she straighten it, anyway?--so it doesn't look like Supergirl's sheets of gold more suited for a damsel in diaphanous silk than the halo of an avenging angel. What it evokes is a stallion's mane, glossy in the harsh light and waving as the beast moves.

The dresses that never suited her are gone, and the button ups are back but now they're a thick flannel or something worn half-unbuttoned over a burgundy tee shirt that clings tight and reveals the corners of the suit's breastplate underneath. She could trace the glyph through it, which means if Lena could only get her out of the damn suit, it would revea--FOCUS, she reminds herself--and rather than CatCo-required chinos Kara is in black denim that hangs loose at rest but molds to her muscles when she walks over to put her coat across the 'patient clothing' rack. Each flex and tense tells Lena way too much about how powerful her thighs are and also not nearly enough about what it would feel to have the--FOCUS, Lena--and Jesus take the wheel Kara's even wearing combat boots covered in a fresh coat of pale dust that could just as easily be from a hiking trail north of town or a warzone in Somalia.

"It's funny. On the plane, back from Kasnia? I almost told you."

When she couldn't stop fidgeting with her glasses. Her hair was a mess when she escaped from the Eve clones. She had her glasses off and her hair down and she was going to show me... Lena realizes.

She makes a sound she doesn't even recognize and suddenly she's in Kara's arms, her knees sting from hitting the floor before Kara knelt with her. She's slapping ineffectively against the protective firmness around her and watching her own tears fall like it's happening to someone else.

Kara shushes her and rocks her back and forth and doesn't ask before kissing her forehead. Lena doubts she thought about it consciously. Maybe when she is released, she can complain about lack of consent or maybe she'll demand another kiss to make it all better.

=====

"Lena, I really can't do this. Not like this, not with you."

Reality slams down around Lena like the doors in a haunted house closing.

"Of course. I can schedule you with Alana or per-"

Kara molds her hands to Lena's hipbones and pulls her into her arms. She takes her with force, cupping Lena's head and holding her fast. She nips at Lena's lip and uses the moan as a chance to lick into Lena's mouth. Hot and wet and impatient, her tongue seasoned with ginger and orange and grease, cut with the waiting room mints. She kisses like she eats, greedily and curiously and bottomless. Kara hums and holds and presses and licks and nips and sucks. She brings one hand up to Lena's neck and curls around her pulse, rubbing her thumb along Lena's windpipe. She doesn't seem to notice or care that Lena can't do this forever because Kara wants to do this forever and fuck human failings like a need for oxygen. Lena has to bite her tongue to get her to retreat. It would've drawn blood on a human but Kara just moans and pulls back.

"Christ, Kara."

Kara licks her lips lazily. The chilly blue that reminds Lena of ice caps and winter skies is darkened and her pupils are swollen and fucking hell Lena can even see little white crackles in the depths of them, rising towards the surface like caged lightning.

[silver-venus]

Double Trouble

Doctor Light is your doppelganger. Cisco has some concerns. 

Pairing: Reader x Cisco

When Cisco vibed the bank heist going down that day, he had no idea that he’d just seen your doppelganger. She was wearing a black visor over her face after all. It wasn’t until Barry had confronted her for the second time that she revealed herself. Barry couldn’t bring himself to harm his best friend’s girlfriend even if it wasn’t truly you. Doctor Light, as she called herself, took the opportunity to blind Barry and get away. You, of course, were completely unaware of this until you got a phone call from Cisco. 

You were talking with a patron when your phone rang under the desk. Your personal cell phone that you were supposed to have on silent. Shit. You smiled apologetically to the patron who nodded and went on their way. You hurriedly answered the phone and ducked into the supply closet. 

“Cisco?” you asked, surprised that he would call you at work. 

“Where are you? Stay wherever you are! I’m coming to get you right now!” His tone alarmed you. 

“Babe, I’m at work. What’s going on?” You heard bustling over the line and the tell tale sound of the Star Labs van starting. 

“Just...get someone to cover you. I’m coming to get you.” With that he hung up the phone. Okay...

You told Marie at the front desk that you weren’t feeling well and she told you to go home. It was a slow day at the Central City Library anyway. You thanked her and waited outside for Cisco, enjoying the sunshine. When Cisco pulled up with an obnoxious screech, he jumped out of the van and ran for you. 

“What are you doing outside? Are you okay?” he asked. 

“I was waiting for you. I’m fine,” you answered wondering what on earth had gotten into him. He ushered you into the van without another word and jumped back into the drivers side before taking off. 

After a few minutes of silence that you hoped had calmed Cisco down, you asked, “What’s going on? Cisco, you’re kind of freaking me out.” 

He looked at you, then back at the road. He took your hand in his and squeezed it gently. “I’m just glad you’re safe. We’re going back to Star Labs. I’ll explain everything there.” 

You sat back with a slight huff, slightly annoyed that Cisco had uprooted your day, but also glad to be with him as always. You held his hand the whole way to Star Labs. 

When you arrived, you walked into the cortex to find Barry stumbling around in his suit. Cisco had been given the green light to tell you about The Flash months ago and you were a part of Team Flash ever since. Being a librarian meant you were good at research which always came in handy around Star Labs. 

“Um...you okay, Barry?” you asked, reaching a hand out to steady him. 

“You didn’t tell her?” Joe inquired. 

“I wanted to get her here where it’s safe first,” Cisco said, still sounding stressed. “Plus, I think this is something you gotta see to believe.” 

Joe nodded like that was a good idea and you scrunched your eyebrows together. What the hell was going on?

Cisco pulled up some security footage on his computer before turning back to you. You raised your eyebrows at him expectantly wishing he would tell you already. 

“So...we found another breacher today. She was sent here by Zoom to kill Barry, and...she’s your doppelganger,” Cisco rambled off. 

You said nothing as you tried to process what Cisco had just said. He waited a beat and then turned around and pressed play on the security footage. You stepped closer to the screen next to your boyfriend and watched as the meta broke into a bank vault and The Flash showed up behind her. You felt a strange icy sensation down your back when she took off her visor and revealed her face. 

“Oh my god.” 

Cisco took your hand and stroked your knuckles with his thumb. The video ended with Doctor Light blinding Barry and running away. 

“Where is she now?” you asked, looking around the room.

“We don’t know,” Joe said. 

Barry added, “But we’re going to find her.” Considering the fact that Barry couldn’t see, that statement wasn’t very comforting. 

“So,” you turned back to Cisco, “you were freaked out before because you thought she was going to kill me like the others killed their doppelgangers.” 

Cisco nodded and said, “but we’re not going to let that happen.”

You stayed at Star Labs for the rest of the day until Barry left for his date with Patty. 

“Is that a good idea? He can’t see a thing,” you asked Cisco as he took both your hands in his. 

“I have no idea. It’s Barry though. I’m sure he’ll pull it off,” he said then kissed you. Your back hit the wall of the cortex, and you brought your hand up to tangle in Cisco’s hair. 

When you broke apart you asked a little breathlessly, “Please tell me we aren’t spending the night here.” 

Cisco chuckled. “What you don’t want a repeat of that night we...” 

You smacked him on the chest before he could finish that sentence. “We agreed to never discuss that again!” you exclaimed, your ears turning red. It wasn’t your fault Cisco was so sexy when he was intently working on stuff in his lab. 

Cisco grinned down at you and shook his head. “No, baby, Joe set up a security detail outside our place until Doctor Light is captured. We’re good to go.” He pushed off the wall, grabbing your hand as he went. The two of you made your way home and if the elevator provided a good opportunity for more kissing well that was okay too. 

The day’s events had actually exhausted you more than you realized and you fell asleep on the way home. After Cisco parked the car, he leaned over and tapped your nose with his index finger. “We’re home, babe.” 

You scrunched your nose and laughed, lifting your head up and rubbing your eyes. “Okay,” you yawned. 

Cisco chuckled and got out of the car, walking around to your side in time to open the door for you as you were still rummaging around to undo your seat belt and grab your bag. 

“What a gentleman,” you quipped, hopping out of the car and pecking him on the lips. 

“I’ll show you a gentleman,” he said, suddenly ducking down and throwing you over his shoulder, beginning to carry you up to the apartment. 

“Noooo! Cisco put me down!” you squealed. 

“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’ as he continued to walk with you over his shoulder, not even responding to you pinching his ass. He set you back on your feet in the elevator and grinned as you flopped your hair back in place. 

“Not cool!” you exclaimed, but your feigned annoyance was ruined by the smile plastered to your face. 

“What? You were clearly exhausted in the car. I was just being a gentleman,” he said smugly. 

You huffed and crossed your arms over your chest. “Just for that I’m picking the movie,” you huffed. 

“So, we’re watching Prisoner of Azkaban again?” 

“Of course.”

After eating copious amounts of popcorn, you started to doze against Cisco’s chest right when Harry and Hermione were entering the Shrieking Shack. 

“This is your favorite part,” Cisco said softly, stroking your hair. 

“I know, tired...” you said, your eyes falling shut again. You were woken by a loud bang coming from the entryway. You jumped out of Cisco’s arms and off the couch in alarm, Cisco quickly following. 

A woman appeared around the corner into the living room where you and Cisco were standing. “Well hello, gorgeous,” she said to you, pulling her visor off her head to reveal your face. 

“Whoa,” you couldn’t help uttering. 

Cisco stepped in front of you, his arm outstretched behind him to keep you there. “I’m not going to let you hurt her,” he said. 

Your doppelganger laughed cruelly. “Oh, Francisco. You are so sweet on this Earth,” she drawled, “I wasn’t sure when I came here that I could harm the man who shares my husband’s face, but I’ll do my best.” 

She took a stance like she was about to fire at Cisco, and you shouted, “No!” You tried to jump in front of him, but he wouldn’t let you and you were trapped by the coffee table. “I know you don’t want to hurt us,” you spoke to her, watching her hesitate. You realized by her words that she and Cisco were married on Earth 2.

“You said that you were married to Cisco on your Earth?” you said, trying keep talking. The talking seemed to slow Doctor Light down and make her hesitate. You didn’t know if time would buy you anything, but you had to try. 

“If you’re married to Cisco then you know what it means to love him. You know what it’s like to see his face every day and feel so happy that this incredible person calls you his, and how the thought of something terrible happening to him rips you apart every day. You know that if you hurt him, I’m as good as dead too because you know that you can’t go on without him once he’s a part of your life, so please don’t hurt him.” You were pleading now as Doctor Light advanced. 

Doctor Light seemed to be rethinking her attack on the two of you before she lifted her hands again. “You make a good point, gorgeous, but you see, if I don’t kill you and then the Flash, I don’t get to go home to my Cisco. So...goodbye,” she began to fire and Cisco tackled you to the floor, covering your body with his. 

There was a streak of red light in your peripheral vision and then there was nothing but Cisco’s heart beating against your back. Cisco’s phone rang on the coffee table. He picked it up and put it on speaker. Barry’s voice trilled out of it. 

“She’s in the pipeline. Are you guys okay?” You let out a relieved gasp and let your head fall limply to the floor. Cisco let out a whoosh of air and placed his hand on your hip. 

“Yeah, we’re good, thanks Bar!” He spoke with Barry for a few more moments, Cisco asking about his eyes, while you lay on the floor listening to your own heart thrumming in your ears. You almost lost your life tonight. You almost lost Cisco. 

Cisco hung up the phone and pulled you up into a sitting position against him. “She’s locked up, you’re okay,” he kept saying that, over and over, stroking a hand over your hair like he was trying to convince himself of that fact as well. After a long while, after you both had calmed down, Cisco asked quietly, “Did you mean all that stuff you said to her?” 

You pulled back to look in his eyes. “Yes, every word.” 

He leaned his forehead against yours. “Marry me,” he said in a whisper. 

Your eyes sprung open, tears filling them. “What?” you asked, not sure you even heard him correctly. 

“Marry me,” he repeated with more fervor. 

You let out a shaky laugh, a tear trekking down your face and nodded. “Yes, yes I’ll marry you,” you said. 

He pulled you into his lap and held you in the tightest hug you ever felt and you knew you were always safe with him. 

[ghostspideys-moved]

chasing visions of our futures: chapter two

a/n: I meant to have this done much earlier today, but at least I got it finished!

word count: 2k

pairing: barry allen x oc

summary: River Matthews decides to cause some chaos in Central City, mostly for fun, but also for the attention she knows she’ll get from The Flash. When he catches her, and she gets a second chance, she has to decide whether she should take it or if there’s no changing for her. There’s a lot more to her the more Barry tries to dig, and the more he does, the more River’s afraid he won’t like what he finds out.

chapter summary: Team Flash has to decide what to do with River, and with Hawthorne’s help, things might start looking up for her.

Being stuck in the Pipeline for this long was already driving River insane. Maybe not literally, but she was extremely bored, and she didn’t handle her boredom well. Not that she could do much about it if she wanted to. Cisco really had done a good job of designing the cells. 

While the rest of Team Flash - Hawthorne included - was deciding her fate, River was left to hope she wouldn’t be kept here forever. Yeah, so she’d been causing them a lot of trouble for several days now, but they couldn’t just keep her in here forever, right?

Luckily, Hawthorne came back eventually. She held onto the hope she had that maybe they’d let her go. After all, she could have done a lot worse, and River could be fairly persuasive if she tried. Not that she thought it would matter. Whatever they decided, they’d probably be set on it.

“So, I have some good news and some bad news,” Hawthorne said. “The good news is, apparently, they’re willing to let you out of here." 

River, who’d previously been splayed out on the cell floor, shot up to her feet. "Seriously?” Honestly, she hadn’t expected them to actually do it.

“Yes, but on one condition.” That made her pause, the smile she’d had on her face dropping. “I convinced them to give you a chance as long as you try turning a new leaf.”

“What?” River exclaimed. That was practically impossible for her, and she already knew she’d just let them down if she even tried. “What even makes you think I could do that?”

Hawthorne sighed, crossing his arms. “I think you could if you actually tried. You’re not a terrible person, River. Maybe just a bit…misguided.”

That felt like the understatement of the year. She might be worse off than he thought. 

River groaned and pressed her forehead against the glass of the cell. This was a lot to process. “Okay, so let’s say for a second that I even entertain that idea. What have I ever done to make you think I can even change?” Even she had her doubts, and she could imagine it would take some time before the team even trusted her if she went along. On the other hand, it might be a nicer alternative to being kept in the Pipeline for however long. 

“Not much, but I care about you enough that I did what I could to convince them to give you a chance. Because I know what you’ve been through, and I think you at least deserve that chance.” It was clear that Hawthorne meant it, but she was still having a hard time wrapping her head around his words. 

“They’re just stressed out with all the metahumans that are constantly popping up, and they’ve been through a lot, so it might take them some time to warm up to you,” he continued. “But if you just give it a chance, I think you’ll like it a lot better than being stuck with dad for the rest of eternity.”

River sighed and looked away as she let it all sink in. Realistically, she knew he was right, and squandering this chance might be her worst decision ever. “And what happens if I don’t go along with it?”

Hawthorne shrugged, feigning a casual expression. “More than likely, you go to Iron Heights with the rest of the metahumans. Which is just as hard to escape as this cell.”

The odds were stacked against her, and while River could be stubborn and unwilling to cooperate in the worst of circumstances, it was clear to her what her best option was. She’d have to play along.

“Alright, fine. I’ll give it a shot,” she decided. “But I’m not guaranteeing you this will even work.” In fact, she had a very good feeling his misplaced faith in her was only going to bite him in the ass eventually.

“I only ask that you try.”

Hawthorne relayed her decision to the rest of the team, and he came back with Caitlin to let her out. Of course, they were going to watch her like a hawk now that she was free, but River much preferred it to the boring cell she’d be stuck in otherwise. 

“Are you ready for the bad news?” Hawthorne asked once she was free. In her eagerness, she forgot there even was a bad end to all this.

“I suppose.”

“I have my own team to work with, so I won’t be around much. So, as much as I’d love to have you stay with me, I won’t be in Central City to keep an eye on you. I’m a little busy with the Legends,” he explained. “But Caitlin’s agreed to show you around while I sort out everything else I need to.”

Admittedly, the thought of exploring a little was exciting. S.T.A.R. Labs seemed like a pretty big place, and to say she didn’t think it could be cool to look around would be a lie. “Sounds fun,” River said. 

Hawthorne patted her back, giving her a reassuring smile. “I’ll be around for a little longer before I have to head out." 

With that, he left her with Caitlin. River followed her around the building, curiously looking around. Already, she could tell she was bound to get lost on her own, at least for a while. She tried to create a mental map, which was easier said than done. Still reeling from the fact that she was even here, she’d only caught half of what Caitlin was saying in her tour of the lab. Part of her felt bad for not totally listening, but another part of her wondered why she even felt bad at all. Really, her thoughts and emotions were all over the place, but she made a mental note to thank her brother sometime for getting her out of the Pipeline. From what she could tell, he was pretty good friends with everyone on Team Flash, which was probably the biggest deciding factor in her release. Otherwise, she was sure she wouldn’t be following Caitlin through the halls. 

River snapped out of her thoughts as they stopped in Cisco’s workshop. The only other person in the room, though, was another man who was definitely not Cisco. And he was throwing things out of frustration.

"This is Harry,” Caitlin explained, seemingly not even fazed by his behavior. “Don’t worry. This is normal for him." 

It was almost comforting how strange everyone on the team was. At least from her perspective. While she still had her doubts about this working out, she felt a little better knowing she probably wasn’t much stranger than them, or at least that they’d probably accept how different she was if they could accept Harry’s weird outbursts. 

"I can tell,” River said. Not the strangest thing she’d seen. 

Caitlin pulled her away, letting Harry work through his problem as they finished up the tour. “Don’t worry if you get a little lost right away. It take a little adjusting to this place for everyone.”

“Yeah, no kidding. It’s bigger than I thought.” Though she didn’t say it, it was kind of exciting. She could definitely get used to this. And, if she was being honest, she kind of enjoyed listening to Caitlin, at least for as much as she’d listened.

“Well, I’ll be here if you ever need help,” Caitlin assured her. “We’re all supposed to make sure you’re supervised until we can fully trust you, but that wasn’t my idea.”

River wasn’t too surprised, and she wouldn’t have expected otherwise. It was probably a fair call, though. A smart move on their end. No doubt they knew better than to trust a stranger right away, especially someone they’d been trying to catch for a few days now. 

“Speaking of which,” Caitlin continued, “We figured, since Hawthorne’s usually busy, you probably need somewhere to stay. So, I volunteered to let you stay with me for a while.”

Of all the people River could have ended up with, she seemed the most tolerable. Caitlin hadn’t been anything but kind so far, which kind of threw her off guard, admittedly, but it was kind of nice. 

“You’re really sure you want me around?” Caitlin nodded, a smile still present on her face. “Alright, but I’m a lot to handle being around for that long.”

She didn’t seem too dissuaded, oddly enough. “Trust me, I’ve dealt with worse,” Caitlin said.

Seeing as it was getting pretty late, Caitlin wrapped up and let everyone know they were heading out. Everyone seemed worried about leaving her with River, even if they didn’t say. And surely Caitlin knew her friends well enough to see it, too, but she didn’t seem to carry the same unease as the rest of them. She simply dismissed it and lead the way to her apartment.

Caitlin’s apartment seemed nice than anywhere River had ever lived, though her standards weren’t very high. Hell wasn’t exactly a great place, so anywhere might have been nicer. Just from looking around, she could tell Caitlin must be a neat person. Nothing was really out of place, and she didn’t seem to leave many messes, if any. 

Figuring River must be hungry, Caitlin found something for them to snack on in the meantime. Though she’d eaten a little while in her cell, she would never turn down food, and she did often found herself hungry quicker than she knew was probably normal. So the thoughtfulness didn’t go unappreciated. 

It really was strange having someone actually being kind and concerned for her, even if it was just small things. It was just new and different, in a good way. 

Caitlin made sure River was set for the night so she could sleep well. Tomorrow, they’d work on some training and getting her used to working with everyone else, so she’d need as much sleep as she could get. River knew that would be hard with how much difficulty she had sleeping, as if her brain refused to shut off, but she didn’t worry Caitlin with that. She could deal with it herself. 

Once River had a decent layout of the house in case she needed the bathroom in the middle of the night or anything else, Caitlin let her be and went to her room to rest. As she’s expected of herself, River couldn’t sleep right away. Which was fine. It was normal for her. But now she had so much time to herself, and therefore more time to think.

Today had been so strange. Such a whirlwind as everything changed. If it hadn’t been for her brother, she wouldn’t be here right now, and though they had a lot of problems to sort out between each other, she greatly appreciated his help. And Caitlin was probably the first person to show her any kindness in a long time. As strange as it was, River welcomed it. And though she had some concerns and doubts about joining a team of heroes, she was kind of glad they’d even given her a chance. They certainly didn’t have to, though she knew it was mainly to do with Hawthorne. 

This could be the start of something much better. And if she had anything to say about it, she was going to make the most of it while she could. River thought back to what Hawthorne said about her being misguided. By all means, she knew he was right. She might have done some horrible things - things she often regretted when she stop to think about it - but it wasn’t the end of the world for her. There might still be a chance for her after all. 

It was with that small shred of hope that River actually found herself growing tired. It had been a long day, and she was far too comfortable not to feel sleepy. Her last thought before letting sleep take over was, I hope I don’t let them down too much.

[bebepac]

WIP 07.22.2020

Guess what day it is, guess what day it is WIP WEDNESDAY!!! LOL.  Is anyone else wondering where the heck this week went?  Because I really am.  I’m still a little whipped from working 6 days last week,  but this is what I’ve got going on. 

I’m also planning on redoing my tag list on my fics next week, to see if people want to be on and off and shifted around, If anyone wants to be officially perma-tagged as when I started this blog I didn’t know what TF that meant.  LOL.  Also if you are interested in my Ellie Fic,  Chapter 1 is done, so if you would like a tag on that please let me know,  I posted a little more below as a teaser.  

I totally worked on these in the wrong order as inspiration struck me, so the fic I have finished, is the one I for real started last.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.  Because in my mind that made perfect sense.  Blame it on the alcohol yo.

I am leading first with Pop’s Place, as this is the one that surprised some people ALOT with what Liam told Mia about Drake’s relationship he’s still currently in.... apparently.... 

First up: 

Mom’s Birthday

Pop’s Place Chapter 7

*still in the writing process*

"Did you show her the pictures?"

"You were right she didn't even look through them all. If she did she would have realized they were from last year."

"And how did she take it?"

"It really hurt her feelings. I wasn't planning on her crying.  We shouldn't have done this Mollie."

"Oh good grief Liam, don't be a baby and get a conscience now. You’re gonna reap all the benefits, if you play your cards right. The way he broke up with me here, IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!!!!! Neville even thought it was funny.  Drake has it coming.  Where are you?"

"I'm at her place. She went to get us some drinks."

"He was going to ask her to be his girlfriend, when he got home you know.  From the vibe I got, he was pretty sure Mia would have said yes. So you're welcome."

"Thank you Mollie."

"You know we wouldn't have been able to do this to him, if he cared about social media. I'm surprised he even has his cell phone, not that it's working. He's going to walk into a shit show when he gets back.  So if you want to make her yours, you better move fast."

"I'm invited to her Mom's birthday party."

"Get you some!"

"I intend to."

"Damn, she's in for a treat, you're great in bed you know, Liam Rys."

"Oh I know."

Liam quickly put his phone away when Mia came back out of  the house with their favorite apple juice.

*^*^*^*^*^* Next Up *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

The Fight Within

Fast Forward Chapter 12

*still in the writing process*

 Are you happy with the way your life has turned out?"

"Yes My Love. I love you, and our children more than life." He gently touched her stomach. I can't wait to meet our second little girl."

She placed her hand on his. "Can we talk about children?"

"Of course."

"This is going to be our last baby Liam, I don't want any more children."

"Riley why? You are an excellent mother."

"I feel like my attention is so divided."

"Well I know we were both against having a nanny, maybe that would help."

"It won't because, I don't want any more children. We will have two babies in diapers again. Two breastfeeding again. Do you know how tiring it is? Especially when none of them start out wanting to take a bottle? And don't look at me like that Liam, you have always been helpful there. Diaper changes, nightly cuddles and snuggles,  but sometimes babies just want Mommy. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had more than 2 consecutive nights of more than 4 hours of constant sleep? After I give birth, I am going to get a tubal ligation or you're gonna get snipped.  And I can already tell by the look on your face Liam, you don't want it to be you."

"Riley, I carry the royal bloodline of Cordonia."

"So do our children.  When this child is born, I will have given you four heirs Liam."

*^*^*^*^*^*^* Next Up*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Chapter 1: Crown Princess Blues

Ellie (Ali) Rys: Hartfeld University Student

*finished*

She wondered how Nic was going to take the news.  

She walked out of the palace down the walkway to the practice arena.   That is where the Junior Guards were practicing. Being a Junior Guard was a stepping stone to get into the King’s Guard Academy, which Nicolai was planning on doing to follow in his father’s footsteps.  

She always went on Tuesdays when Nico, her mother’s guard, was training them.  

“Your Highness,” he greeted her when she walked in.  

“I wanted to see our future guards in action, that will help defend The Crown someday.”  

“We live to serve The Crown!”  The group chanted, bowing to Crown Princess Ellie.  

She nodded in return.  

“As you were.”  He saw Ellie’s eyes find Nic’s from across the room.  A large smile quickly crossed his face.   He could tell by Ellie’s eyes, which were Riley’s beautiful eyes, she was smiling too, but her mannerisms were just like her father’s.  King Liam had taught her to hide her true feelings very well. But Ellie’s eyes were her mother’s, and they were a dead giveaway.  

Nico immediately saw how his son Nic’s demeanor had changed, and the bright pink flush that was on his face.

After watching them spar for about 30 minutes,  He decided to get them a break, which gave Nic a little time to talk to Ellie.  They quickly disappeared into a secluded alcove.  Nic couldn’t wait to kiss Ellie as soon as he knew it was safe. She ran her fingers through Nic’s hair as she kissed him.  Their kiss was so brief.  Nic leaned in again.

Ellie pecked his lips again softly.  “Save some for later,”  she smiled at him.  

“There’s something I need to tell you. I picked a University.”  

“That’s great Ellie.  Let me guess where.”  

Ellie noticed Nic’s smile start to fade after time after time she said no.

“Ellie where are you going to university?”

“To America,  Hartfeld University.”

The color drained from Nic’s face.  “Break’s over, I have to get back.”  

He didn’t even kiss Ellie goodbye, he just walked away.   He walked away quickly because he didn’t want Ellie to see him cry.

“Nicolai, wait!” Ellie called after him, but Nic walked even faster.  Ellie sighed walking back in the direction towards the palace.      

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* next up *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

At Long Last

150 followers fanfic Giveaway

*still in writing process*

“Are you ready for bed my Love.”  

“Yes, I will be in a few minutes.”  Riley kissed Liam’s lips.  

“Excuse me?”  Jason said.

“We’re getting ready to go to sleep.”  Liam said, he tried to keep his voice level, as he didn’t know what Jason Brooks was getting at.

“Not in the same bed with my daughter you’re not.”  

Liam let out a surprised laugh.  He immediately felt Riley hit his arm.

“You’re serious.”  

“Yes the hell I am.  She’s not your wife yet, you’re not sharing a bed with her as long as I’m under this roof.”

“Dad this is his palace.”

“Jason you have lost your mind. Siri what are Cordonian jails like?”      

“I don’t give a flying fuck.  You’re not married to him yet Jelly Bean, and I want to keep your virtue intact.”  

Riley thought of all the things she had done with Liam… Yep… that virtue has been gone a long time ago.

She watched Liam and her father stare each other down.

Liam’s ears turned bright red, as he turned to Riley.  “My love.  I will have some things moved to your old suitor room.  I  will see to it that it is properly cleaned for you in the morning.”

Liam watched as Riley gathered some of her things, to take to the other room.

He slipped his arms around Riley’s waist.  “Maybe I can sneak down the hall and spend the night with you instead.”  

“Don’t even think about it, I’m a light sleeper.  Do you need any help with your things Jelly?”  

“I got it Dad.”

She settled in her room.   Liam sent her a selfie from the bed with him pointing to her side of the bed, where Chance was curled up.  “We miss you Love.”  

“Still want to marry me?”  

“Of course… but your dad is quite the character.”

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* next up *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

The Indescretions of the Father

Heroes and Villains Chapter 7

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* earlier that day *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

“Love you look upset, what's wrong?”

“Your father…”

“I know I was supposed to be at your confessional and at the last possible second he told me I would not be attending and it would be him instead.”

“That’s not what.. Your father said some really inappropriate things to me.”

“Like what?”  

She went over the things Constantine had said during the confessional about her body and lust.

“My father would never talk to a woman like that.  You have to be taking what he’s saying out of context Riley.  I know you are still upset about the task Riley.  I am too….”

“Are you saying you don’t believe me Liam?”

“No that’s not at all what i’m saying Love.  If you would just cal.…..”

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down Liam Rys!!!!!!!  Your father is disgusting, and talked about you and me together, and he stared at me like I was a piece of ass Liam.”  

“Riley please….”  

“You know what, don’t bother coming by the next couple of nights, I don’t think my schedule can accommodate you this week anyway.”

Liam watched Riley walk away slamming the door behind him.

“He didn’t believe you Riley? How could he not believe you?  I’ve seen the way Constantine stares at you when he knows Liam isn’t looking. King Constantine is a dog.”  

“So you believe me?”

He stroked Riley’s cheek gently kissing her lips.

“Of course I believe you Riley.  I know you wouldn’t be this upset if it didn’t happen.  Prince Liam can’t see who his father truly is because he’s too close.  I’m sorry he hurt you.”

He hugged Riley.

“I know a place that makes the best american cheese burgers and chocolate milk shakes.  Go put your sweat pants on girl, we’re gonna go there and eat until our stomachs are full and happy.”  

“No Greek tonight then?”

“You can have some Greek Meat if you would like later.”

Riley laughed.

“That was dirty Nico.”  

“Yet you’re still laughing.”

Still in the pipeline:  Life of Riley:  Beach Vacation:  It’s in my brain,  just nothing concrete typed out yet.  

*^*^*^*^*^* end of chapter teasers *^*^*^*^*^*^*^

What are you guys working on @burnsoslow @loveellamae @dcbbw @queenjilian @indiacater @hopefulmoonobject @bbrandy2002

Tagging some peeps that really expressed interest or had some very strong responses from the previous chapters of these. @hopelessromanticmonie  @atha68​ @queenwalton​ @debramcg1106 @axwalker @kingliam2019 @kimmiedoo5 @texaskitten30 @sanchita012 @mom2000aggie @gabesmommie1130 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @marshmallowsandfire @jared2612 @cordonia-gothqueen @batgirlassociationofgothamcity @losingbraincellseveryday @mrsdrakewalkerblog @sadlibrahours @cordonianroyalty @blueaster-blog1@choicesficwriterscreations

[sharpen-jadescythe]

Operation Kitten, 1

Part One: The real story of what happened after Sharpen punched Mathias Shaw in the face. Continuation of the other SI:7 Seal story LOL

Jiroki, I’m sorry you had to find out this way. That the problem with Lux’ana Queenwing, a member of your guild posing as someone else? Yes, that can be traced back to me. But one upshot of this situation is, I finally get to be honest with you about something I was holding back. Not because I started things with us in a lie—no I would never do that unless lives depended on it. And they did, actually. I was protecting a lot of people so that’s why I didn’t tell you or anyone the full story, about me. Maybe that sounds like a lie a lover would tell you when he just happens to um, secretly be SI:7. Every time there’s a problem in your romance, he goes ‘Look baby, I had to lie to you in order to save lives.’ And I do know some agents like that. Those guys who use their jobs as an excuse, they’re filth. I guess if you think I’m filth too, I wouldn’t blame you. However, this is the truth. Alessandre and I were both trying to save Lux’ana’s life and the lives of her flock when she walked up to you that day and asked to join the Greyshields like it was nothing. Like Alessandre was just her friend and I had nothing to do with it. But it was part of a much bigger operation, love. Like you wouldn’t believe...

Al instructed me to pretend like I didn’t know Lux’ana, never met her. Al was going to serve as her reference. But now that cover of ours has unraveled some, and so much time has passed? I am going to tell you the truth. The real truth. Okay so, I’ll start at the beginning.

It's dangerous to talk about my work, so usually they give you a story to tell other people instead—not that this is it. I’m telling you everything, even my part in it. I’ve been called a himbo before, that sometimes I make dangerous or stupid decisions. But I see no point in lying to a woman I care so deeply for. I made some promises to you that I intend to keep. Just know that SI:7 gave me another version of my recruitment story, that I failed the swim test. That they threw me in a carriage for punching Mathias Shaw on the beach and sent me home. I embellished a little and said I got to keep the swim trunks. Because I look so damned fetching in that little blue and gold speedo, I guess my vanity sold me out a bit. It was a poor excuse for still having them anyway—as if SI:7, as powerful as that organization is, would let some recruit walk away with their standard issue uniform, even a… choice part of it, just to wear at pool parties. No, you can get picked up and arrested for that, seriously.

There’s a scene I was instructed to leave out, because my situation with them stayed tenuous even after my first mission. Yes, I did punch Mathias actually. That’s still true. But they didn’t give me a free ticket home with no muss nor fuss. That’s the part they asked me to tell my friends. What actually happened is they hogtied me, shipped me all the way out to Boralus which was the center of things at the time, then put me in a holding cell. After leaving me to cool down for a few days, they brought me before the man himself.

They brought me more standard issue stuff to wear, some loose cloth pants and a shirt. I was mad, and wanted some way to mess with them, so I ripped the shirt sleeves off. Which was a bit foolish, I guess. It does get pretty cold in Boralus. Shaw and the others had a barracks set up on the east side of town, close to the damp docks. Close to the Alliance ship docked there and all the cough-cough, handsome fair winds flowing in from the sea, if you know what I’m saying. (Fairshaw’s totally a thing, but you didn’t need an SI:7 Seal to reveal that secret to you. All I’m sayin’.)

To my surprise, they sent me in to see the head man without shackles on my wrists. I had a tight escort—this big Kul Tiran named Big Mack who took up almost the entire hallway, but I did also note that it was just one man and they’d fed me this whole time, treated me well, let me go out into the practice yard for exercise. They just didn’t let me mix with any of the other recruits. And another thing I noticed, all the people I’d trained with were gone. Even that annoying Dwarf guy Hael who couldn’t save himself in the water, let alone from being an obnoxious Dwarf stereotype, being loud and trying to get me drunk the night before the swim test and all that. (In fact, I think I remember telling him that, that he was playing up the Dwarf thing so much I was starting to wonder what he was trying to prove?) So anyway they dropped us all off the coast of Northrend, near Honor Hold, gave us the swim test and they all graduated, even that fool who tried to hang on my back like I was a Night Elf-sized wading board, and drown me in shark-infested waters? Geesh, what a world.

I teased Big Mack, said he looked like he wanted a sandwich. I mean, come on, how big did this guy really need to be?

“Hrmph. Need a third man for that, if it’s a real offer you’re making.”

I blinked. I… was Big Mack coming on to me? He laughed, and yes he did a good job of scaring the pants off me. Let’s not think about me, Big Mack and my pants off. Anyway…

Mostly, I was sullen. I hadn’t shaved in days. My green beard was scruffy and I knew my long dark green hair was kinda bedhead, too. If I didn’t get released right away, I was fully prepared to do something I promised myself I would never ever do, wherever I worked, no matter how tough things got—but damned if I was going to let them lock me up for no real reason, even if it was in the recruit’s barracks. If things were truly rough, then I was going to name drop my sister Wisthera Bane. They knew about her, of course, she was a master rogue in a leading Kaldorei spy organization. But they needed to understand that I was at the point of leveraging my sister and all her connections. Alessandre’s too, if I needed. He was a top assassin as I understood it. He helped run the Kaldorei Rogue Network with her, and they only really reported to High Priestess Tyrande and the Shando, Malfurion himself. Not the Alliance. Well, the Alliance wasn’t their first stop anyways. The Kaldorei people came first.

Big Mack rather roughly pulled out a metal chair for me and pointed with a meaty finger for me to sit. I had a little shock at first, seeing the important man I had punched waiting for me on the other side of the table. Arms crossed, that certain smirk on his face beneath that clipped brunette moustache, but this time, Mathias Shaw had a black eye. Well, it was more of a gray eye by now. The medics had it healing up nicely.

“You don’t just punch a man like Mathias Shaw in the face and get away with it.”

“Well.” I was stunned to be facing him. But I knew from our training that you never showed you were intimidated. However, I’d learned that from before in life anyway. “How do you punch a man like Mathias Shaw? Maybe next time I’ll stand my ground, should’ve stayed standing over you on the beach while you were flat out like a light.”

Mathias uncrossed his arms, sat up right in his chair. “Alright, Seal. You’ve had your word in. I’m letting you have your personality because it’s useful to us. Your freedom of speech in this situation is in my gift—you do get that, right?”

“I’m not an SI:7 Seal. I failed my test.”

“Did you, though?” Mathias cocked his head at me, smirking anew. So this was his revenge, the hitch. Why he was able to smile at me even with that black eye. Mathias was giving me the one thing that I hated most of all.

“I did so fail that swim test.”

“I’m not sure that’s how tests work? Right? I mean… doesn’t the teacher grade you? And if the teacher isn’t sure, then doesn’t the pass-fail decision fall to the headmaster? How exactly do those Kaldorei schools work, that you still don’t know?”

“Interesting line of inquiry, sir. But I’m immune to insults coming out of the mouth of a man that I punched.”

“Hold on now—we’re going in circles. Relax.”

I guess I did have my hackles all the way up already. I let my big shoulders sink down, took easier breaths. I glanced back over to see Big Mack still standing in the room by the door. I gave Mathias a look, that after everything, he wanted a bodyguard in my presence.

Shaw folded his hands on the table. “Yes, SI:7 has a reputation for letting some big arseholes in. Arseholes who bungle missions because they’re really in it for the gold, the chance to retire early after body-breaking work and then start up their own businesses. Security agencies and the like.”

“Yes! After only one year of service! Maybe two? But how does that serve the Alliance?”

Mathias nodded at me, that it was all true. But he also looked weary. That wasn’t a part of his organization, they way it was run, that he condoned. “If men get tired, we have to let them go. We can’t force them. And there’s this pipeline of ex-pats helping their buddies and the sons and daughters of their buddies to join up, just to make even more money. We’re trying to break that down from the inside. No offense, but Kaldorei don’t tend to rub each other’s backs like that. So, we’re aggressively recruiting your people. And before you think of threatening me with intervention from your sister in the Kaldorei Rogue Network, we know all about them. In fact, I made them, Wisthera and Alessandre. And the third triumvir rogue, Mistress Myrielle Fadeleaf? I trained her as well.”

I pointed his way, “Not how my sister tells it.”

He rolled his eyes, “Anyway. You’re young, you’re new to spywork. And seems it runs in your family. We recruited you because of your sister, Sharpen. You’re not going to catch us out with that, it was one of the main reasons. SI:7 didn’t go into it blindly.”

“But you just said!” I floundered for a moment, realizing my parachute was gone. “Corruption, back-scratching is rife in SI:7! That whole recruitment experience—nightmare—is not something I want to repeat in the field. I won’t serve!”

Mathias stayed calm, sucked his teeth and looked up thoughtfully before he spoke. Like he was indulging me. “Now. I don’t want to call you a himbo. I don’t wanna hurt your feelings. But let’s say that, unlike your sister, you are a man who would take orders. You would do it for the greater good, you would be incorruptible in that way. Sharpen, didn’t I just explain to you that I’m sick of the bad guys inside our organization? I want a real man. You.” He pointed at me with both hands, thumbs up like he was attempting to sell me a horse, fast. “You are a real man, Sharpen Jadescythe. A man we can depend on.”

[eleventhdoctorsangel]

And I will pick you up when your whole world shatters

Summary: The night of the particle accelerator exploding changed my life forever. I was one the lucky if you want to call it that people who got powers from that night. That was four years ago. Since then I joined team flash to help keep the city safe. But since Barry went into the speed force to save us all it has been more difficult to keep the city safe. The speed force had just released Barry and created new meta’s. Now we have to find them all.  

It has been four weeks since Barry got out from the speed force.  We have only found two of the thirteen bus metas so far. Caitlin and I stopped by jitters before making our way to star labs. We passed the most scary guy I’ve ever seen in my life in the hallway to go meet the others.  “Why is the scariest person we’ve ever seen roaming our halls?” Caitlin asked as we walked into our normal meeting spot. “Cisco.” Both Joe and Barry answered. “Oh.” Caitlin said. “Why does that not surprise me. “ I said as I handed a coffee to Iris then handing the tray to Joe that also had a coffee for him and Barry. “Okay so I’ve got the coroner’s report for the death of the bus driver but it doesn’t seem like there’s any sign of foul play.” Iris said. “Aisde from him being the one guy that could have told us who else was on that bus. “ Joe said. “They logged his personal effects let’s see.  Credit cards, cash, receipts, um.” Iris said as she started to swipe through pictures. “Wait go back.” Barry said. She went back to a picture of a business card for a guy named Ralph Dibny. Both Joe and Barry gave each other a look. “Ralph Dibny.” Barry said. “I’ll be damned.” Joe said. “Who is Ralph Dibny?” Iris asked. “He used to be a cop.” Joe said. “Dirty cop. He got kicked off the force.” Barry said. “For what?” Iris asked. “It’s a long story.” Joe said. Iris pulled a picture of Ralph and put it on the screens in front of us. Ralph was not like I was picturing him. He looked to be around Barry’s age. He was extremely hot. “That’s him.” Barry said. “Oh. He’s handsome in a square-jawed Oliver Queen kind of way.” Iris said. “For real.” Barry said obviously jealous. “Babe you know I’ve only got eyes for you.” Iris said. “The I.O.U. is dated the same day that I came out of the speed force.” Barry said. “You think Dibny was on the bus that day? Maybe he’s a meta-human now?” Caitlin asked. “Let’s pay him a visit.” Barry said. “Can I come?” I asked. “Sure y/n.” Joe said. I smiled and followed Joe out. We found the building where Ralph works out of. We got to the floor where his office was. Barry was about to open the door when a woman stormed out bumping into Barry and Joe. “This is definitely his place.” Joe said. Joe knocked on the door then we walked in. “Reconsidered huh?” Ralph asked as we walked in. “Ralph.” Joe said. “Joe West. Barry Allen.” Ralph said as he got up from his chair. Ralph did not look too happy to see Barry at all. Then he looked at me. “It’s been a long time rookie.” Ralph said. “Well I’m not a rookie anymore Dibny. You look healthy.” Barry said motioning towards Ralph’s gut. “Yeah. Got the spare tire out of the trunk. It happens. Might even happen to you too one day slim jim. So what brings you boys and beautiful lady to Casa de Dibny?” Ralph asked. “Were you on the 405 bus four weeks ago around noon?” Barry asked with his hands on his hips. “That’s a very specific question. “ Ralph said. “We found your I.O.U. from the deceased bus driver’s personal effects.” Joe said. “Deceased? Hey. That’s one less U I owe. What’s it to you three.” Ralph said sitting back down. “It’s a simple question. Why don’t you just answer it?” Barry said. “You walk into my office after five years like nothing ever happened and ask me for a favor? I smell a mystery.” Ralph said. “It’s not a favor. It’s information. “Barry said. “And how much is this information worth?” Ralph asked. “Are you shaking us down?” Joe asked. “I know something you don’t” Ralph said as he pulled out a donut from his desk drawer. I made a face as hit took a bite of it because I have no idea how old it was. “And you need to know it badly otherwise you’d never swallow your pride and face me after what you did.” Ralph said his mouth full of donut. “After what I did?” Barry asked walked closer to Ralph. “Ralph. The people on that bus were exposed to a dangerous substance.” Joe said. “Dangerous?” Ralph asked as his eyes widen.  He put the donut away. “Dangerous like what? Like…Ebola?” Ralph asked. “Were you on the bus?” Barry asked. “No.” Ralph said. “Okay. Let’s go.” Barry said. Barry gently grabbed my arm leading me out. “Hey I heard you shacked up with that hot D.A. She got a sister?” Ralph said. I couldn’t see the look that Joe was giving him but I knew it wasn’t a nice look. “Okay. Good luck. All the best. Second thought can I get her number. “Ralph said as he motioned to me. Barry quickly pulled me out of his office and the three of us left. We walked out of the building. “That guy hasn’t changed a bit.” Joe said. “You really expect him to?” Barry asked. I deicide to look towards the alleyway. That when I saw Ralph being stretched down from the roof I stop walking. “Um guys.” I said. Both Barry and Joe rushed back over to me As Ralph hit the ground then his stretched out legs. “I guess he was on that bus.” Joe said. “So how are we getting him back to STAR Labs?” I asked. 

After shoving Ralph and his stretched out legs in Joe’s car we headed back to STAR Labs. I sat in the back with Ralph trying to calm him down but it wasn’t working. We managed to get him to med bay but his legs were stretched out of the room. I heard Iris scream. I was standing by Harry helping the best I can.  “Hey guys? What the hell?” Iris screamed as she ran into the room carrying one of Ralph shoe’s.  Ralph was also screaming. In a summary all hell was breaking lose. “Yeah Yeah well you’re welcome.” Barry said. “What happened to me?” Ralph asked. “Breathe okay.” Barry said as he and Caitlin both took a breath in and out. “I am breathing.” Ralph said. “This is interesting. The dark matter has polymerized Dibny’s cells.” Harry said showing what was happening to Ralph on the tablet. “What the hell is dark matter and why is it in my cells?” Ralph asked. “You’re saying the walls of every cell in his body have elasticized?” Caitlin asked. “I’m saying they formed an unbreakable bond at the atomic level. Now you can stretch these cells and stretch those cells.” Harry said.  “Like silly putty.” Caitlin said. “Like silly putty.” Harry said. “I’m silly putty?” Ralph asked with a sad look on his facing pointing to himself. “No.” Barry, Caitlin and I said kindly. “Kinda.” Harry said with no shame at all. “Not helping Harry.” I said. “I’m silly putty?” Ralph asked again but more angry this time. “Ralph. Who were the guys on the roof?” Joe asked. “Is that really the issue right now? Look at me! Allen you and your STAR labs nerds better put me back together.” Ralph said grabbing Barry and pulling him closer to him. “We’re trying to help you.” Barry said. “You’re not trying to help me.” Ralph said. “Shut up.” Barry said which started another shouting match. Caitlin and I managed to break the two up “Come on! Oh come on!” Ralph said. “You can do this later. I just need a sample of blood.” Caitlin said grabbing Ralph’s arm stretching it out. I let out a gasp. Caitlin dropped his arm and freaked out.  Harry grabbed my arm pulling me away as Caitlin accidentally hit a thing of baby powder. Making Ralph sneeze which made his face stretch out shocking all of us. “Oh is that may face?” Ralph asked holding his face in one of his hands. I heard Joe throw up. “Four years seeing this stuff I finally puked.” Joe said. “You lasted longer than I thought.” I said. Now how are we going to fix this. 

I went to go help Barry with add Ralph information to the board of bus meta’s. “I finally calmed him down. Amazing what 50 milligrams of Lorazepam can do when you get it in aerosol form.” Caitlin said as she, Iris and Joe walked in the room. “Is there anything you can do to put him back together?” Iris asked. “Please my stomach can’t take much more.” Joe said. “I think I could stabilize his cells if I had a sample of his DNA from prior to when he was exposed to the dark matter on the bus. “ Caitlin said. “Why? So he can go out and started hurting people like our other friend’s here? I think we should lock him up in the pipeline” Barry said. “He hasn’t done anything.” Caitlin said. “Yet. Trust me. I know this guy. He’s a bad guy.” Barry said. “Barry I took an oath to help people. I’m a doctor. I can’t just leave him in there like spaghetti.” Caitlin said as Barry wrote something on the board. “Villains?” Iris asked  upon see what Barry wrote. “Yeah. Every person that was on that bus is now 1,000 times more dangerous than they were before. Dibny included.” Barry said. “What if he’s changed?” Caitlin suggested. “People don’t change.” Barry said. “I did. When I became killer frost you still believed in me.” Caitlin said. “You’re a good person. He’s not.” Barry said. “Well I don’t believe that. I may not know Ralph but I know that just because someone tells you that someone else is a bad person doesn’t mean they always are.” I said. “Barry how about you and I go back to Dibny’s office? Find a DNA sample for Caitlin? Dad you go back to CCPD see what you can dig up on Dibny?” Iris said. “Yes boss.” Joe said and after. Iris and Barry also left leaving Caitlin and I. “You ok?” Caitlin asked as she put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m fine. I just don’t think that Ralph is a bad guy like Barry is making him out to be.” I said. “I get where you are coming from Y/n I don’t think Ralph is a bad guy either. But do I think that he and Barry have some bad history together yes.” Caitlin said. I nodded. “Beside he is really cute don’t you think.” Caitlin teased.  “I’m sorry.” I said trying to avoid where this might be going. “Oh come on Y/n I saw how red your face got when Iris pulled up the picture of Ralph.” Caitlin said.  “Come on Caty we should start work on the stabilizer for Ralph.” I said and started to make my way to the lab. 

Overall taglist: @the-broken-halo-writer​

[capriswritingnartshenanigans]

Snapshot #2: The Storm (Negan/Carrie -F!OC)

Negan/F!OC, Carrie. SFW. 3,502 words. Warnings: Typical Negan language.

Links:

AO3

Snapshot #1: First Time

Carrie is leaving to help the Kingdom move to Hilltop as the harsh winter has finally done their home in. On return, she hears about what happened between Judith and Negan, and quickly goes to see if they are okay. Includes spoilers for Episode 16 of Season 9, "The Storm".

I pace uneasily as I prepare for the trip to the Kingdom to help them move to the Hilltop safely. With their pipelines only worsening with the impending winter and then finally busting, it was decided they needed to take shelter in another community for the time being. And, I wanted to help. However, that also means I have to leave Negan, and leave him in the hands of the others, namely Gabriel. 

I shiver as I exit out into the chilling air, snow crunching under my feet, my steps quick as I hurry to the said man’s prison. It’ll be weird not coming to sit with him every day, like I had for the last, what, four and half, maybe even five years now? I mean, I go on runs sometimes or I go help when and where I can with the other communities, but it’s been a long time since then. I’d taken over constant guard duty, which involved caring for Negan daily and keeping him company. Even if that’s currently possibly in jeopardy with the last time me leaving him in Gabriel’s hands resulted in Gabriel accidentally giving him an escape. My lips thin at the memory of the talking-to Michonne had given me once I got back. I’d never seen her so angry. 

I shake that thought off as I find the prison’s main door open due to Gabriel already being inside. I try to ignore the eager but also nervous fluttering in my stomach and chest at the thought of seeing Negan. Then the thought of having to say good-bye, even if it’s only for a little while hits, twisting those flutters into something else. As I go down the flight of stairs and approach where Gabriel stands, I hear Negan immediately start up, and it takes all my will not to grin at both that and the droll expression Gabriel is shooting him. “Oh, ho, ho! Gabe, looky here, my boss lady’s done fuckin’ showed up for duty! She’s standin’ attention as we fuckin’ speak, just like I would be if the shitty ass cold wasn’t freezing my nuts off.” 

And, no matter how hard I fight it, I still look over at him, finding a wide grin on his lips and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. My stomach goes wild when my gaze meets his and I find the usual warmth there waiting for me. “Yes, hi, Negan. I see you’re up early. Whatever could have caused that, I wonder?”

“The goddamn cold, fuck. It’s colder than a frosty ass head-nun’s vagina up in here.” It takes all my will to not snort and burst into laughter and I very quickly retract my gaze to Gabriel, who looks completely unamused while my shoulders shake violently at my repressed laughter. 

“U-Uh-huh, I s-see,” I stutter out, trying so hard to keep it together. “Well, uh, Gabriel, you mind giving out fellow inmate here another few covers? To, y’know, keep off the head-nun’s frosting of his cell.” The priest rolls his eyes and deeply exhales from his nose.

“I guess so. The group isn’t leaving yet, stay with him while I go get them, Carrie,” he requests as he quickly leaves, shaking his bald head. I purse my lips, look at the ground for a moment, then turn to Negan again. He’s steadily making his way to the bars, a long smile that shows off his dimples on his face. I approach them too, degloving my hands and wrapping them around the bars. I wince at the bite the cold has given the metal. As he closes in, he gently lays his hands over mine, and brings our heads next to one another, our noses practically touching. 

“Hi,” I reply softly, staring into his hazel eyes. 

“Hi. So, you have to leave today huh?” He tries to sound nonchalant, but I can hear the disappointment and unhappiness he tried to hide. He doesn’t want me to go.

“Yeah. There’s a big storm that’s moving in, and we can’t afford to let the Kingdom get caught in it as is. Hopefully, I’ll be back in a few days, four or five at most.” He seems to deflate further, his smile wavering. 

“Be careful, yeah? Don’t make me have to engineer another fucking escape to come lookin’ for your ass or else you’ll be coming home with some marks on it,” he says warningly, playfully. I grin at such a suggestion. 

“Why, Negan, it almost sounds like you’re saying you’ll spank me.” His smile becomes stronger, turning into a smirk. His voice drops an octave, which sends electricity skittering all through my body. 

“Oh, Miss Grimes, it almost sounds like you might be into such a thing,” he teases back, his eyes twinkling. I can feel a slight blush working up in my face. 

“Mmm, I guess you’ll just have to find out, huh big guy?” I look away for a moment, before taking a more serious tone. “Negan.” His playfulness drops with mine. 

“Yeah?” 

“Please, try to behave. Don’t give anyone a reason to do something stupid with so many of us not here,” I plead quietly, my voice earnest. When he starts to lean away, chewing the inside of his lip, I add, “Not all of them are as nice as me and Gabriel and none of them surely will enjoy your sense of humor for long.” He snorts offendedly. 

“What, you sayin’ I have a shit sense of humor now? Gonna say good-bye, be a good little fucker, and then say that?” 

“I adore you and your sense of humor,” I answer, knowing my look has to be teasing the hell out of him, “but you also have a tendency to antagonize anyone not me or Judith when you’re left alone with them. So, I’m asking you to just play nice until I get back. Please.” His eyes hood slightly and his thumbs begin running circles over mine as a soft chuckle rumbles out of his chest.

“You adore me?” He lightly tongues the inside of his lip. “Well, I gotta say, that’s real fucking cute and sweet of you.” I roll my eyes.

“If you haven’t figured that out by now, mister, then I do think we need to find a CAT scan for you,” I answer a little under my breath, but I know he hears me. One of his hands lift off of mine to stroke my cheek, then tuck a strand that fell from my ponytail behind my ear. 

“Yeah, I don’t know many people who’d sit ‘n argue for, shit, two or three hours just to get a man another table, chair, and candles.” As returning crunching steps filter down to us both, Negan retracts his hands with hesitation, letting me step back from the bars. 

“No, I did that because it’s a basic human right. Same for the showers.” Just then, Gabriel comes down with two more comforters. “Gabriel, if the storm gets bad-” 

“Don’t leave him down here?”

“Yes. Please do what you have to to see he isn’t left here. It’s not right. And if I find out otherwise… Rick’s rage will be nothing compared to what mine will be like,” I promise the priest. 

“I know. I agree,” he answers as he hands the comforters through the bars to Negan. “The group is ready now. You should go join them.” I look to Negan, whose expression causes my heart to squeeze painfully. 

“Please remember what I said,” I murmur, wanting to touch him. God, what I wouldn’t give to hug him right now. Before I leave. You never know if you get to come back. 

“I will,” he answers in a raspy, low tone, his voice sounding thick. 

“Promise?” He nods. I feel my lips press into a line as my heart fights to stay, while my brain knows I need to go. The climb up the stairs feels like the longest staircase I’ve ever had to climb.

~~Four days later, returning to Alexandria~~

“God, when we get home, I’m sitting in front of a heater or a fireplace until I feel cooked,” I grumble from atop my horse, shivering. The storm may be over, but the cold has done nothing more than settle in further. Shadow nickers in agreement, though I’m not sure how she plans to find something like that to be in front of, too. I lightly pat her neck.

“Aghhh, if I have to hear you complain about the cold anymore until we’re home, I will personally see to it you sit outside on the cold ass concrete,” Michonne answers, rolling her eyes playfully. I throw her a filthy look. 

“Them’s fightin’ words, Michonne,” I warn sternly. She chuckles, shaking her head, sending her dreads shifting around her head. 

“We’ll tie her to one o’ the church pillars,” Daryl chimes in, carefully keeping his face from my view. “Won’t have to listen to her ass sit and whine about the concrete.” I shoot him a withering glare and flip him off, which he returns with a low laugh. 

“Like to see you try, Daryl. You forget I’m good with a tranq gun.” Everyone laughs at that, though some roll their eyes or shake their heads. He snorts and it sounds like he mutters, "Bet," under his breath.  

As the gates come into view, I can see two guards in attendance, Kyle and Laura. Then, I can somewhat hear them shouting, something like, “They’re here! Open the gates!” Which is exactly what they do as we approach, heaving snow out of our path as the carriage comes closer to the entrance. Rosita is waiting there, as is a few other residents whose names don’t form in my mind. As those of us on single horses climb off, a few of said unnamed residents come up and take them while Daryl, Rosita, and I round the carriage to get the excess weapons and supplies out to put away. 

I grunt as I heave up a stack of spears and poles and some more wire. “Heavy ass shit.” 

“Best be glad we don’t have you on building rotation or we’d never hear you shut your complainin',” Daryl says with a grunt of his own as he grabs a couple of big boxes. 

“Shut up, Dixon, before your bike has an accident,” I grumble as we head to the store houses, Rosita follows with some stacks of fabric and excess grain from Hilltop. 

“You touch her, you won’t have hands left to keep your prisoner in line.” 

“Oh, who’s gonna take em? You? I can run faster and you have more weak areas pal,” I point out with a dip of my head towards his lower half. He lets out a disgusted noise. 

“Oh, you gonna fight dirty then? Cheap shot.”

“Says the man who prefers headlocks.” We split up as I head to the armory and he heads to the food cabinet. “Don’t trip over anything, Daryl! Hate to think of what that pickle vinegar will do to your vest.” 

“Yeah, hope you do trip over somethin’ and save me a headache later.” We both laugh as we head into different buildings, cut off from each other. Scott’s currently in the armory, checking supplies from the looks of him with a clipboard in hand. 

"More spears?" 

"And gardening stuffs for when planting times come around again," I reply, shifting my arms so he can grab the spears. After he does, I head to the second room back from the armory where all the gardening supplies are placed. While setting everything down, Scott strikes up a conversation.

“You guys just got back, like, now right?”

“Yep.” 

“So you don’t know what happened?”

“No?” I reply, a little harsher than I mean to due to throwing poles up on a high shelf. “Nah, haven’t heard a thing, man. I came here straight away.”

“Well, we were moving to Aaron’s house because the other fireplace just about blew up (since only like two places has fireplaces and shit was freezing), and Dog had been loose earlier, so when he started barking Judith tore after him!” 

“She what?!” I nearly yell, causing several rows of chicken wire to fall down as the row I was adding crashes into them.

“Yeah! And Negan went running like a bat out of hell after her! She’s alright and he is mostly, but he did fuck his knee up- hey! Hey, where are you going?!” I barely pay Scott’s yells any mind as I haul ass out of the building and on to the medical ward. He had best be here or there will be hell to pay, I promise silently as I nearly bust the door down. I turn to see Michonne exiting out of one of the single rooms on the left. She gives me a concerned look. 

“Is something wrong?”

“I just- I heard what happened- where’s Negan?” I speak so fast my lungs hurt in an effort to give my words air they need. She nods to the room behind her as she nears me. 

“He’s in there; he’s alright, but he has to rest his knee for a few days-”

“And Judith?”

“Fine,” Siddiq answers before she can as he rounds from the main room. “She’ll be just fine. A little cold burn, but that’s it.” I nod, relieved, but… I still want to see Negan. 

“I’m going to speak to Negan, make sure everything went well with Gabriel.” Michonne gives me a knowing look, one I pointedly ignore as I enter his room and close the door behind me. I hear his intake of breath, and I turn to him. He’s on a bed with his usual long-sleeved button-up, trousers, and a white t-shirt, with one knee bent and propped up with a pillow. He gives you one of his little grins, the ones with just a touch of wickedness. I can see spots of cold burn on his face, especially his cheeks. 

Before I know what I’m doing, I’m right at his side, cupping his face with one hand while the other strokes his buzzcut hair and the back of his neck. “Well, shit-”

“Thank you.” He stops when I speak, his grin fading a little. “Thank you for saving her. Are you okay? What happened?” He leans into my touch, his eyes closing for a moment as I stroke his brow. 

“I’ll be fine, darlin’. She went after the dog, right into the goddamn storm. I went after her.”

“Only you?” He nods. I feel my lower lip tremble, so I try to stiffen it. And, with one last stroke down his neck, I climb right into his lap, my thighs straddling his on either side, my pelvis hovering over his. A cocky look starts to work its way onto his face and I can see he’s preparing to say something that definitely expresses his interest in such a position, but before he can, I wrap my arms around his shoulders, only pausing to shrug off my militial jacket into his lap. I pull myself tightly to him. 

It seems the action surprised him, as he goes silent for a moment other than a soft stutter in his breath, before one of his hands makes its way under my hair to my undercut while the other splays over my lower back, pressing me into his chest. His face buries into the side of my neck, and I cup the back of his head as he does so. I’ve hugged him a very scant few times over the years as we became closer, mostly when one of us really needed it, or when the lack of touch outside of our hands became too much. Always trying to be careful, so I wouldn’t be forced off of watching him. 

I rub in between his shoulders, working at the tension there, while at the same time lightly pressing my lips right above his ear. We stay like that for a few minutes, before he slowly pulls back, looking in my eyes. His are more green today, beautiful tealish green, with brown only being visible around the edges of his irises. I let my hand drift from his head to stroke his jaw as his moves from my hair to stroke my face. His eyes drop to my lips, then slowly wander back up. He’s asking for permission. I tilt my head, letting my lips open slightly, and I do the same motion with my eyes. He slowly leans in, till his lips are a hair from mine, keeping eye contact even with our eyes hooded.

And when I let mine slide close, his lips press against mine, sweetly, gently. His are a little chapped, and I imagine mine are too, from the damned cold. His hands cup my face, their warmth soaking into my still chilled skin and the calluses scraping in a way that sends a shiver through me. After a few moments, he pulls back, but only slightly, his lips still brushing mine. “Fuck, I was wondering what that’d be like.”

“So was I.” I sound as breathless as I feel, and without thinking about it, I press my lips back to his, pulling his face gently to mine. We share multiples of these softer kisses, always drawing back together near immediately after parting, before they start to deepen and last longer. His lips taste like the fruity pain reliever Siddiq has in his medicine cabinet, and God, they feel amazing against mine.

But, eventually, we do fully part, our breaths a little shaken and mixing between us. There’s a vulnerability in his eyes, one I remember vividly during our talks of everything happening, losing his control on everything, his wife. I give him a small smile, before hugging him again, pressing my cheek gently to his as to not irritate it. “Why, Ms. Grimes, I do think you are sweet on lil’ ol’ me.”

“Mmmmm, why, Negan, you reckon?” I reply with a sarcastic falsetto to his teasing, enjoying being able to feel his low laughter rumble into my chest. “And ‘lil’ nothing, you are about half a foot taller than me, mister.” I pull back, pursing my lips to the side as he gives me a big grin, but not his usual one; this one is more goofy, more playful. It makes my heart feel funny. 

“Shit, I guess I am a blind motherfucker after all, you been hittin’ on me this entire time?” he teases, his tongue tip messing with his lower lip. I try hard not to focus on it and instead roll my eyes as I climb off of him. He goes to protest, his hands lingering on my arms, then slide down to my hands when I’m on my feet. “Wait, where you goin’? You just got here.” 

“I am not going anywhere, but you need rest and no pressure on that knee, as it wouldn’t be propped up if it wasn’t needing rest.” I grab a chair and haul it to right beside his bedside, then take one of his hands. “I am your guard, after all. Gotta keep you safe.” I wink at him, unconsciously drawing my lip between my teeth.

“Uh huh. And that’s why you needed to climb into my lap, make my dick hard enough to hammer in a fuckin’ nail, and then have the balls to be all soft ‘n sweet.” He shakes his head in fake exasperation, trying to not show how his lips are fighting to smile. “Goddamn, I ain’t got a guard, I got a master fuckin’ torturer with my name at the top of her ‘make it as painful as you fuckin’ can, maybe even nostril slitting if necessary’ list. My luck is both higher than a stoner with a weed forest and shittier than a stall with fifteen horses.” 

All I can do is laugh so hard I wheeze at his commentary. I had not been expecting his little speech, and God, I laugh so hard my lungs and chest ache. From what I can see through the tears in my eyes and my squinting, he’s more than happy at my reaction as over the buzz in my ears I can hear a laugh from him too. “Negan- I- what-” 

“Yeah, got your master-fucking-plan down, didn’t I? Figured you all out.” 

“Oh yeah, buddy, you got it,” I let out a few remaining guffaws, raising my hands in the air. “Got me all figured out, I admit to my crimes.”

“You are a lucky ass that I got room in my cell for someone else,” he says with a sigh and a shake of his head.

“Oh? Where am I sleeping in there? Your cot isn’t big enough for two.” He gives me a wicked grin.

“I make a mean fuckin’ mattress in every  sense, if you catch my meanin’, darlin’.” 

“Negan!”  

[sunshinesunsethappiness]

I’m not sure where they’re going with the Eobard Thawne story. It’s Thawne, so I just automatically assume he has some ulterior motive (plus  they’ve likened the relationship between Thawne and Nora to Hannibal Lecter and Clarice) .

However, last episode actually made me wonder if a changed Thawne is the direction they’re going in, so I went back and read some of the interviews given throughout this season after the Thawne reveal in 5x08.

To make this clear, I’m not looking at this from a perspective of if I think that’s the direction they should go or not, but I’m trying to find out what they seem to be building up to on the show.

I will be briefly discussing some filming info, so spoilers!

Interviews

What have they been saying in interview? Right after the 100th episode aired there were quite a few interviews that talked about Thawne:

“It opened her eyes a little bit, you know, it changes her opinion of this guy she’s known in a completely different way than Barry and the team,” he said, explaining that Thawne of the future is not the same as the Thawne we’ve all come to know and hate. “It’s quite a few years in the future, and he’s ben in prison for a while and he’s changed like anybody that’s been in prison for a while.”

(x)

He’s (Todd)  basically saying that Thawne has indeed changed. So we know that being in prison has changed Thawne.  What direction that change is in and how that manifests itself is up for discussion, though. It doesn’t necessarily mean that he is  helping Nora from the goodness of his heart, but it does point to Thawne not necessarily having the same m.o. he usually has.

“We don’t wanna just do the same villain over and over and if we had the exact same attitude with Eobard Thawne, that we’ve seen this whole time, that’s not going to be interesting either.

So, he was part of the pitch from the beginning and I think what we really wanted to do was just see a different attitude from Thawne that we hadn’t, see him in a different light and, you know, there’s a big theme of legacy this season. And so, when we started talking about that with every other character and then we got to Thawne, it’s like, ‘What does legacy mean to him?’ So that’s what we start to touch on in the background.”

  (x)

This seems to make it clear they want to show a different side of Thawne. Seems like Thawne is actually contemplating his legacy. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean the legacy he wants to leave is a good one, but we have already seen the ‘i grew to care for you, but I’ll still double cross you’ side, so what is the new attitude they want to show?

They haven’t really touched on the concept of legacy for Eobard Thawne in depth, but they’ve sprinkled some of it in like in episode 5x10 where he told Nora that he wanted to have a better legacy for Eobard Thawne and the hints he’s given in that and I think at least one other episode, that he used to idolize and want to be the flash. Quote from episode 5x10:

For as long as I can remember, all I ever thought about was myself, and that will not be my legacy. That will not the legacy of Eobard Thawne! Let me help you! (x)

To me Todd’s interview (which was around the 100th episode) hints that this is an actual exploration of Thawne’s legacy, so Thawne might have actually meant that.

Another interview from around that time:

Given that her new ally has a history for doing terrible things, and she herself hasn’t been entirely truthful with her parents, is Nora also not to be trusted? “I think her intentions are good intentions,” Helbing says. “Whether her working with Thawne is ultimately good or bad, you’ll have to tune in to see.” Adds Kennedy: “I think from her perspective, she’s doing the right thing.”

But Thawne is a master manipulator, and Nora can be sweetly naive, so we have to imagine that he could have a bad influence on Barry and Iris’ daughter. However, Helbing cautions that “the Thawne in the future, he’s not a different version, but he’s got a different attitude. You’ll find out exactly what’s going on in prison with him.”

(x)

The first part, I hadn’t read it that way at the time but with everything that happened I think it’s interesting for Todd to say that we’ll find out “Whether her working with Thawne is ultimately good or bad”. He didn’t say we’d find out whether or not she had a good reason to be working with him, but whether actually working with him was ultimately good or bad as if for them that was an actual question. 

And in the second quote he again stresses that this Thawne does indeed have a different attitude.

So to summarize above interviews, according to Todd: Prison has changed Thawne. This Thawne has a different attitude and what they’re exploring with Thawne is his legacy.

From a recent interview:

“In line with Team Flash in all the seasons, they really are into redeeming people or letting people be redeemed,” showrunner Todd Helbing reminds. Just this season, “When Barry couldn’t stop phasing and he was in the Pipeline cell, there was a conversation with Nora about, ‘Can people be redeemed?’ She even asks, ‘What about Thawne?’ and Barry gives his answer that he hopes he can. So we’re playing with whether that’s possible with somebody like Thawne or not.”

“The great thing about having Tom Cavanagh [in the role] is that just looking at that guy, you want to believe him” when he presents himself as caring, Helbing says. “There’s a lot of double speak with Thawne, but at some point he’ll just say what he feels. Everybody will see if he’s being truthful or not.”

(x)

Their intention is definitely to play with the idea of whether he could be redeemed or changed, though that of course doesn’t necessarily mean that he is. I think this does confirm there is some double speak on Thawne’s part. So even if he is genuine to a degree, it’s likely he still has some other agenda, but I suppose he could end up abandoning it.

Slight detour, even though Nora first visited Thawne it’s still possible that he has been planning something for a long time, because of what happened in the 100th episode (Thawne finding out about Nora). Todd did say that there was something from the 100th ep that we’d realize later:

We'll also have to wait to see whether Barry and Nora traveling back in time will have any impact on the timeline. I feel like towards the end of the season is where we’re going to see what kind of repercussions episode 100 had,” Gustin said. Helbing, meanwhile, teased, “There’s something that will happen probably way down the line that you realize but, no, right now we’re not playing it in the same way like that we do.”

(x)

Tom C. did say this:

"I always think if you're fortunate enough to be on a long-running TV show, maybe you don't necessarily have to reinvent but it's best not to get too staged in, you know, what you present to the viewership because I think they know you know an occasional ignition in one way or another," he explained. "I think that with taking the classic villain, keeping him the classic villain, but showing a different error or different side or different aspect, if you will, with it was enjoyable."

(x)

This brings up more doubts, since while he also talks about showing a different side, he also says the ‘keeping him the classic villain’ part.

I have seen some of the bts pictures and videos from 5x22 where both Barry and Nora seem to have a confrontation with Thawne (and possibly everyone on the team), That and the episode description do seem to point at a betrayal of some sort, but without context I don’t think it’s 100% since for all we know it could just be that they think he betrayed them and that’s when they attack and then when whatever it is that happens to Nora he tells them how to save her.

Also, note that Thawne’s hair color in the filming pics is dark, while in prison it has a greyish/sandy color. Could be that having the speed force back de ages him or something, but again without context it’s hard to tell.

Conclusion: i know the general concensus seems to be that Thawne is planning something bad, and while I definitely think there’s something more going on than just Thawne wanting to help, after reading those older interviews I don’t think I can actually fully discount the idea that they’re actually going to have this version of Thawne be a changed person to a certain extent.

Supposedly we’ll find out his intention next episode, so not long now!

[that-shamrock-vibe]

TV Review: The Flash (Spoilers)

Season 5, Episode 9: Elseworlds - Part 1

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the day the episode becomes available to stream online so if you haven’t seen it yet or are waiting for the entire crossover to air before watching then don’t read on until you have done that.

Overview:

I cannot tell you how much I got a kick out of this episode. I have not done any TV reviews for a while because of my university commitments but I did partially review Crisis on Earth-X last year and wanted to review this crossover because of what is promised but also because it’s the big superhero event on the small screen. I love an elseworlds story in any genre and show/movie that I watch, I love it when they do parallel worlds and alternate realities, I love it when they have dream worlds and any situation or story where the characters we know and love are portrayed differently. This wasn’t exactly that, but it was still so good. I loved the comedy, the Easter Eggs, the callbacks to previous seasons and the change in dynamic, but also I LOVED the new additions to the Arrowverse and will be talking about them down below.

Freaky Sunday:

So I was going to call this a Freaky Friday before thinking it would be funnier to say Freaky Monday but then realized this episode would have aired yesterday so am calling it a Freaky Sunday. Anyway the movie I am parodying is referenced by Barry because of the situation that he and Oliver find themselves in at the start of this episode.

At the very start of this episode we have that same clip that played at the end of Supergirl, Arrow and The Flash last week, so this is now the fourth time I saw it, which shows John Wesley Shipp’s Flash who he portrayed nearly 30 years ago struggling over a warzone of Easter-Eggs, I mean dead heroes, and speeding away from a weird man with a destiny changing book. This man is called The Monitor and I will talk about him when he is focused on more.

Fortunately this isn’t all of the opening scene otherwise I would have been very annoyed and the rest is Oliver waking up in Barry’s bed with Barry’s wife Iris calling him for breakfast. Oliver is now Barry Allen and has his life including speed, wife, friends and most likely job. The interesting thing is even though this an obvious re-written reality, the same storylines that have been happening in all seasons are still going on. So Oliver has just got out of prison, joined the SCPD as a vigilante and now finds himself as Barry Allen the Scarlet Speedster of Central City. It was funny watching him grasp this realization and to be fair to Stephen Amell he does allow himself to have some much needed fun this episode after all the doom and gloom he has been through this season.

However, because he’s new to the speedster game, he almost screws up in thwarting a robbery attack on Ivo Laboratories. Whether or not this new reality created Ivo Laboratories in Central City or not isn’t confirmed but this is a place that has never been mentioned in previous episodes.

Regardless, despite giving the wrong vigilante line before stopping the bad guys, he does stop them with an impressive trick shot of his lightning throw. How he knew how to do that without guidance is a mystery but I digress. Also for any comic-book fan that knows Ivo is a reference to Professor Anthony Ivo, they’ll know the robot Oliver’s lightning bolt accidentally hits.

But then we arrive at S.T.A.R. Labs, which has not changed, and Oliver is scanned for abnormalities I’m presuming because his takedown of the bad guys was unlike Barry’s normal quality, yet to all the brilliant minds in that room, as well as Iris and Ralph, no one can deduce that Oliver is not Barry. Oliver and Barry are the only two on their Earth that seem to not have had their memories affected by this altered reality...so naturally Oliver goes to find Barry to try and make sense of the situation.

We then cut to Star City and Barry seems to have woken up in the middle of a sparring match with Diggle at ARGUS. I have to say, I am slightly confused about John’s position at ARGUS, I know Lyla is the director but does that make John the Deputy or Acting Director as Lyla never really seems to be there?

Anyway, Dig thinks Barry is Oliver and Barry knows he is Barry but when he discovers his body has been changed by this altered reality due to his tattoos, he too suspects something is up. However there isn’t time to contemplate this fully like Oliver did because he is told to suit up as Green Arrow is needed on an ARGUS mission...Green Arrow who was almost arrested last week for being an active vigilante before joining the police force as their agent is suddenly allowed to join ARGUS in a mission...logic!

As with Oliver, Barry takes to his new vigilante fighting skills rather well, possibly because the basis of vigilantism is training in fighting and coordination, but after subduing the threat he and Diggle are sped away by Oliver. Diggle throwing up after speeding is still funny but just seems like it is in there as a cheap Easter Egg.

Somehow ditching Diggle, Oliver and Barry go to the disused Arrowcave which made a return last week and while Oliver has his serious face on trying to understand their current predicament, Barry is weightlifting up that old bar pole that my sister used to get a kick out of every time Oliver used it...Barry has used that pole before and with super speed so has done it better than how he is doing it now so why he was so happy with it I don’t know.

I did like how Oliver was trying to get Barry to be serious because it is very telling of the tone the two shows have. Arrow has always been rather dark and like a Batman story whereas The Flash has always been more like a Marvel Movie or Superman pre-DCEU. However on this point I have to say I was on Oliver’s side because the situation is these two are currently not themselves and Oliver wants his life back, funnily enough after Oliver lets slip he woke up with Iris that morning Barry gets his serious face on.

This early mid-section of the episode is where I lose a lot of respect for Team Flash because they know of the multiverse, time travel and Flashpoint yet they don’t quite grasp the fact that maybe something happened to change reality so that Barry is now Oliver and Oliver is now Barry...none of them, you have a biochemist, a mechanical engineer, two detectives and a journalist yet no one has the perception to even conceive that what two people they know rather well is telling them is a possibility?

Also, when this is all over and fixed and Oliver is Oliver and Barry is Barry, Iris needs to sit down with Oliver and talk out their differences because I did not know Iris had this much dislike for Oliver. I can’t even call it dislike because she must like him on some level, I mean she openly admitted to fancying either him as Oliver or the Green Arrow during the Invasion! crossover but here, because of what has happened to Oliver recently, she cannot seem to get her head around loving Barry as Oliver because the Oliver she knows who in actual reality is at this point her Barry is a man of pain and vengeance. I do like how this is picked up with the two guys later but I’m getting ahead of myself. Iris needs to sort herself out.

Because of Iris distrusting this situation she drugs the man she supposedly loves while Ralph knocks out the man he believes is Oliver and they are locked in a cell in the Pipeline. I love the fact that because they’re not really catching Metahumans of the week anymore these crossovers are really the only time we see the inside of these cells.

I love how Barry and Oliver interact in this episode and the prison scene is one of my favourites because they have to play to each-other’s strengths due to the fact they have each-other’s abilities. Barry dislocating his thumb was hilarious not just because of how it looked but also because Oliver was so blahzay in telling him to do it just like it was a walk in the park. “Just break your thumb, your body has been conditioned by Anatoly in this reality so you can do it”. Also Oliver’s reaction to actually seeing a broken thumb was slightly bizarre because surely he would have seen his own thumb before. Oliver phasing through the door was slightly overkill because he hasn’t found the breaks on his speed yet, also why was everyone so confused by phasing in this episode? It’s a cool power to have, it can get you out of prison cells, or stop a plane from crashing into buildings. One thing I didn’t understand is Barry said the cell was designed to dampen powers so how was Oliver able to phase?

Anyway regardless of continuity errors they escape and plan to use the only interdimensional extrapolater they have left, despite Sherloque breaking it I’m guessing they fixed it, to go to Earth Thirty-Eight to get Kara’s help. Iris apparently predicts this and beats them to getting the extrapolater...incase anyone isn’t paying attention I don’t like Iris in this episode, I don’t know why but something about her just seems off.

Barry however finally manages to get through to his wife by recalling a memory only they would know and finishing it off by calling her his lightning rod, which he told Oliver to call her and he called stupid, and agree I agree with him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for sentiment but I never understood the lightning rod metaphor. I guess it’s how lightning conducts to the rod as an analogy for how Barry would always return to Iris but it just never sat right with me. It does with Iris though and she gives Barry the extrapolater and they go to Earth-38.

I laughed with joy at this moment and this scene because entering Earth-38 the episode has Remy Zero’s “Save Me”, also known as the Smallville theme song playing over it. Anyone who keeps up to date with behind the scenes gossip knows they were using the Kent Farm from Smallville as the Kent Farm for Earth-38′s Smallville but with the theme song playing and I think even the tractor is the same. Although on Riverdale last week they also used the Kent Farm in another capacity so maybe the CW, which broadcasts all the DC shows and Riverdale like that set, I know I do. It’s such a feel-good nostalgia trip seeing it. Also that song, I just love it!

We are reacquanted with Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent and, despite not appearing in Season 3 of Supergirl he did easily slide back into the role. I mentioned in my first reaction to seeing Tyler Hoechlin as Superman that I was won over by the acting and look just the choices taken by costuming threw me. Here we see more of Clark Kent then we do Superman and for me it works. However my biggest issue right now is if they are trying to make out as if this Superman is the same one we saw the origin story for during Smallville played there by Tom Welling. With the theme song playing and the same farm being used it does seem that way. I would be very happy if ti wasn’t as that would obviously mean this Supergirl is the same that Laura Vandervoot portrayed and her Kara was more evolved as a superhero than this Kara.

Also, we meet this Earth’s Lois Lane, portrayed by Elizabeth Tulloch. I like her as Lois Lane, I think she has the same level of drive and bite as Erica Durance and Teri Hatcher did in the role and isn’t as wet and dull as Amy Adams. Interestingly enough when it comes to Superman mythos, the small screen seems to get right what the movies get wrong.

Kara is visiting her cousin after being fired from the D.E.O. and is debating whether or not she should have revealed her identity to Clark looking I guess for justification in her decision, Clark obviously tells her she did the right thing because secret identities are there to keep loved ones safe and that is obviously the right thing to do.

Barry and Oliver arrive giving Lois a fright but it seems whatever alternate reality was put in place only affected Earth-1 because Kara still knows them as themselves. Barry and Oliver are formally introduced to Superman at both are a little bit starstruck but handle it in different ways fitting their characters.

Then when it comes to Barry and Oliver training as each other, Barry has to target practice while Oliver runs at him being a moving target.

The only issue with this setup is while is it is done to make an excellent callback to when Oliver trained Barry, Oliver still thinks he is training Barry here and gets very offended when Barry doesn’t take playing him seriously.

Lois is great in this scene as the impartial spectator and calls it how she sees it calling Oliver a dick. Hilarious.

Barry and Oliver then have a heart-to-heart and discover that in order to be each-other they need to embody what makes each other work as vigilantes, Barry is very light-hearted and positive whereas Oliver is very grounded and serious. So for Barry to be the Green Arrow effectively he needs to be grounded and serious while Oliver being The Flash needs to be upbeat. As I said before I love the meta referencing of how the two shows and characters are so different from each other yet exist in the same space, then Kara comes along who is a bit of both, it’s the trinity right here. DC’s original Trinity of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman has been made DOA thanks to the movies so the small-screen has a new trinity of Green Arrow, Flash and Supergirl.

Cisco arrives and tells the group that they need to come back to stop A.M.A.Z.O. and both Kara and Clark tag along for the ride, with Cisco finally meeting Superman.

Ambushing A.M.A.Z.O:

Back on Earth-1 and sure enough A.M.A.Z.O. makes his debut as these crossover events need badly CG’d robots in them. A.M.A.Z.O. as his comic-book counterpart does, is a robot who mimics powers so as he battles he just gets stronger. Here this is done through displaying symbols of each person mimicked on his chest...the only issue with this is while I understand Killer Frost’s symbol I do not get Vibe’s.

After having their asses handed to them, Cisco decides they need Oliver and Barry, but Iris says she let them go due to believing their story and Cisco goes along with it going to Earth-38 to get them. Whether or not the extrapolator knew where Kara was and so ported Oliver and Barry there is one thing but how did Cisco know where they were? I guess he vibed them but it is never shown.

After returning with Barry, Oliver, Kara and Clark what follows is an amazing battle and it’s only the first part of the crossover. Okay yes the CG on A.M.A.Z.O. is shoddy but so was the CG on Red Tornado and Metallo last year, here the focus is really on Barry and Oliver working as Green Arrow and Flash respectively.

They figure out a plan that includes the Super-Cousins as they are used essentially as battering rams to hold A.M.A.Z.O. in place, I am just thrilled to finally see at least 2 members of the original Justice League working side-by-side, I know Martian Manhunter is coming up most likely in the Supergirl part so I cannot wait for that.

Team Flash acquire a virus that would destroy A.M.A.Z.O. because turning him off manually has been made impossible. In order to install the virus, Barry had to shoot the virus at A.M.A.Z.O. but to make sure he couldn’t phase it through, Oliver had to counteract his phasing. So you had Barry waiting for the right shot while the other three held him in place. They succeed and, after a familiar line from the Green Arrow, A.M.A.Z.O. is no more.

Future Repercussions:

This part got me excited, this was Iris, coming round to the idea that Barry is actually Barry, and warning him not to turn into Oliver. Again the girl has some sort of issue with Oliver being dark and miserable all the time and while Barry is playing Green Arrow for the moment, doesn’t want him to become Oliver.

This got me thinking, what if the events of this crossover have a lasting effect on the future of the Arrowverse? What if by learning how to be each other’s vigilante personas, both Barry and Oliver are changed when they return to their respective personas? I would love this crossover to make that possible as I feel it would make both series’ more compelling going forward.

Preluding the Bat:

So at the end of the episode, Cisco mentions a scattered vibe he had earlier in the episode of this mysterious figure who we know as The Monitor. Again I won’t go into much detail here because we are not given much as is but the vibe shows him with this lecturer John Deagan who he gave this all powerful reality writing book to and caused the events of this crossover.

While no one else really knows who the men are, Oliver spotted a key fact as to where they are, a Wayne Enterprises building...tomorrow’s Part 2 episode will bring about Gotham City and more importantly Batwoman who is seen atop a rooftop from a far distance but it is definitely her. I cannot wait!

Easter-Eggs:

So many Easter-Eggs and this is only episode 1. We see a barrage of dead heroes in that opening scene, these include Captain Cold, either Jesse Quick or Speedy, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, The Ray and a Green Arrow who is in the Green Arrow suit used in Smallville.

Smallville is an Easter-Egg cache of itself here due to that cameo plus the theme song and the farm all being used, most likely just fan-service but I loved it.

I don’t really want to rate the separate parts of the crossover and will rate the whole thing at the end of the event but I think this is a great start to the crossover and I cannot wait for Part 2.

So that’s my review of Elseworlds - Part 1, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC TV Reviews and well as other TV Reviews and posts.

[crimsondomingo]

I was thinking about how Eo just happened to carry around a face-stealer and thought of cool idea. Blondie wasnt his first face. Eo was actually a clone of Barry but his creator kept telling him he was a cheap fake that doesnt live up to the original. So he learned to hate his own face to the point he developed a device to steal others, but has to keep changing as over time his real 1 starts to come through again. Only he cant do that from inside his cell when his Wells face starts fading.

(Clone-obard anon continued)... but he turns his OG face to his advantage by taking over Barrys life. Its almost perfect except that Len notices when his secret boyfriend stops showing up to their prearranged dates.

This prompt is AMAZING, anon, sort of another take on Savitar, but Eobard as a clone instead of Savitar being a time remnant, I love it! And the same main backstory applies – if Eo can’t BE Barry, then he wants to be BEAT him.

Yet now, in an AU version of canon where Barry and Len started  a secret relationship after Rogue Air, Barry wasn’t swayed by Eobard’s taunting and never went back in time to try saving his mother, he simply left Eo in the Pipeline to rot.

Which means Eo is slowly losing both his speed and his fake face. Instead of trying to hide it, he uses it. One day, Cisco comes to check on him, and he plays it up that he’s Barry and that Eobard got out and trapped him in there. Cisco of course believes him and lets him out, and Eobard pretends that he’s off to find Eo and will keep Cisco posted.

Instead, Eo uses some old trick or two to steal Barry’s speed to vamp back up his own, locks Barry away somewhere hidden, and resumes his life.

Finally, he CAN be Barry. He should have planned it this way all along instead of trying to be someone else. He’s not even messing anything up or acting strange, he’s just enjoying being Barry Allen and The Flash so no one suspects a thing.

And then Len comes calling.

Barry didn’t show up for their last rendezvous. Barry always shows up, even if late, or he’ll message Len, so Len is worried. He sees Flash on the news though, knows Barry is okay, so…was it something he did? Len of course can’t admit how attached he’s gotten to Barry and how hurt he would be if Barry wanted to end things, so he decides to commit a heist to get Barry’s attention, as is his way.

When Eo shows up, Len can tell something is off. He can’t just banter anymore, he needs to point blank ask Barry what is going on. So he does. And Eobard, who had no idea this affair was happening, doesn’t know how to respond.

Len kisses him to push for an answer as to what is wrong with Barry, and in the kiss, he knows instantly that THIS IS NOT BARRY. He doesn’t want to let on that he knows that though so he keeps playing along, while Eobard tries to play along too but also breaks things off with Len, saying he just isn’t interested anymore.

Fine by Len, he doesn’t want an imposter. So he finishes the fight, gets away, and sets out to find the REAL Barry Allen.

[endangeredspeciesfullfree-blog]

Watch Endangered Species full online

Endangered Species 2021 full - https://endangered-species-uk.blogspot.com/

It's tempting to view M.J. Bassett's endangered species as Lionsgate's attempt to cash in on the revival. The trailer shows a skinny, sweaty, mid-level executive guy on safari with a brood treating him like the pathetic nerd he seems to be. We are introduced to the rebellious teenage girl with the shaved head who despises her own privilege; her new century hippie boyfriend; a younger brother who is probably gay; and a mother who wears pants in the family (even if they look like shorts).

I don't have a problem with shaved-headed girls, gay teens, hippies, or strong women. However, I'm growing tired of the doofus-daddy archetype in entertainment that incongruously portrays straight white men as both hopelessly incapable and as oppressive bullies who have ruined the planet, society, culture. , fashion, etc. Pop culture dads have ditched wisdom typefaces to limping taps that constantly need to be put back in their place - however ill-defined this place is.

Oddly enough, this phenomenon transcends race, but still falls under the rubric "Whiteness". Go figure it out.

If you think I'm reading too much into the politics of this film, consider the following lines of dialogue, addressed (directly and indirectly) to the patriarch of the Halsey family, Jack (Philip Winchester): “The old white men in suits are on the move. screw it up for us ”And“ Violence, corruption, child labor - all for [cobalt cell phone] ”.

Endangered species surface themes are so much on the nose that they might as well be zits. Fortunately, Bassett (and co-writers Paul Chronnell and Isabel Bassett - the director's daughter, who also plays Jack's daughter, Zoe) are interested in more than a regular Colonizer Comeuppance story. Which means there is some cosmic justice for Exxon Jack's executive, but the rest of the family learn ugly truths about the progressive American bubbles they have happily and critically bounced into. on daddy.

From the first minute, things go wrong for the Halseys. Their flight to Kenya is choppy. The truck they hired to visit Amboseli National Park turns out to be a junker (“I asked for a Mercedes,” Jack tells a guide with a smirk). Zoe insists on bringing glass water bottles on the trip - all of which shatter when the family's transport is loaded by a rhino after Jack smashes a security fence in order to disprove his reputation for safety.

Also in glass: the insulin vials that would have been nice to have as a diabetic mom Lauren (Rebecca Romijn) struggles in the sun. In no time, the group broke up and ran into a leopard, ravenous hyenas, and ultimately a team of poachers and their ruthless leader - the truly evil imperialist capitalist that Zoe probably thought her father was up to. that he comes face to face with the real thing.

I won't spoil the details of the Hawleys again. The trailer has done it before - including what is, in context, a really mouth-to-mouth shock that I'm embarrassed to say that made me jump. Bassett and his company have come up with a very effective and lush little thriller, which saves the most contrived plot elements for the last act and instead relies on the primitive fear of helplessness in the face of nature to carry a big part of the story.

What makes the movie a staple, however, is the deconstruction of the archetypes I listed at the start of this review. The film's title obviously refers to the animals that Mitch and his team of locals hunt, slice, and sell on the black market. But it also suggests that the nuclear family, represented by the Halseys, is also in danger of disappearing. Yes, families come in all shapes, sizes, dynamics, etc.

For much of the film, Jack is the stand-in for Friday the 13th Crazy Ralph - the character who warns everyone to use common sense in the face of very obvious peril. The problem is that any authority he could exercise in his job is completely undermined by the people who don't work for him (as well as his own pride). He refuses to acknowledge his discomfort that his son, Noah (Michael Johnston), has a boyfriend, even though everyone can see him. He angrily threatens to cut off his daughter's cell phone and cancel her summer concert tickets when Zoe gives him an attitude.

The other film "Endangered Species", which is endangered by raging animals this weekend, differs from "A Quiet Place Part II" in many ways, especially in that its characters cannot stop jerking - with correspondingly less concern from the audience to survive under extreme stress. MJ Bassett's South African-produced thriller has an American vacation clan doing the wrong things in a Kenyan wildlife sanctuary. Needless to say, to the sorrow of our protagonists, the local fauna quickly notices that there are fresh snacks available in the savannah.

The contentious human dynamic makes this outdoor suspense exercise one where we start looking for the four-legged performers too early. Smooth and scenic, but increasingly silly, in the end it has become perhaps the most preaching nature conservation adventure with a wrong head since the infamous “roar” 40 years ago. Lionsgate is released in digital, VoD and limited-edition cinemas. Blu-ray and DVD will follow on June 1st. Exxon manager Jack Halsey (Philip Winchester) is a Type A who is dissatisfied with his family vacation before it even starts. He would have preferred a beach resort to expensive safari vacationer Lauren (Rebecca Romijn), whom he insisted on. They are sped towards it in a rickety little plane that he is also holding, while the children duly notice that Dad sneaks up alcohol to deal with, while Mom turns a blind eye.

These young adult children also have their own problems with him: son Noah (Michael Johnston) is close to his father, but at the same time feels that his homosexuality is not fully accepted. Daughter Zoe (Isabel Bassett) never misses an opportunity to indict Jack's privilege as a white man or to point out that he is not her "real" parent (Lauren's first husband died when she was a baby) while working on the annoying older one Hippie friend clings (Chris Fisher as Billy) She's invited. Noah's own friend is expressly absent.

Papa complains about the less than luxury rental car they pick up at the airport, but then he has secretly cut corners on the travel budget. (It's not that it's just cheap: Although he neglected to tell her, Lauren accidentally discovers that he just lost his job due to an oil pipeline scandal.) Indeed, Jack has the expensive "Safari." “Part of their safari excursion not booked. So they leave the resort the next day for a "self-guided" tour through the nearby national park, which is hardly recommended. They also evade registration at the entrance gate, leaving park rangers unaware of their identity, medical issues, or itinerary. This is just one terrible mistake among many who can quickly leave the family stuck in the middle of a scorching hotspot with no guide, water, or cell service. Two of them were wounded and their car was turned over by an angry rhino. Diabetic Lauren's insulin supply is another victim. So the only two fully functional passengers, Noah and Billy, set out on foot to get help. Again, this turns out to be a very bad idea, as one party is excluded from an animal attack, which is the only hair-raising interlude here. The happier group crawls back to the van, which has aroused unwanted interest in a pack of hyenas.

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[bountyofbeads]

Week 136 is the longest list so far, with 202 not normal items - no wonder we are all anxious and exhausted! This week Trump manufactured two major story lines: an almost war with Iran, and mass roundups and deportations of “millions” of immigrants.

Week 1: 9 not normal items

Week 2: 18 items

Week 52: 120 items

Week 136: 202 items 👇👇🤔😱😱😱

(no, you are not imagining it)PLEASE READ 📖 AND SHARE this past week's exordinary list of things that happened (you may be totally unaware of many of them because there is so much chaos- by-design of this administration).

By Amy Siskind | Published June 22, 2019 | The List | Posted June 23, 2019 |

Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.

This week Trump manufactured two story lines: an almost war with Iran, and mass roundups and deportations of “millions” of immigrants. The two stories occupied much of the national attention, while Trump continued to stonewall Congressional attempts at oversight.

Authoritarian expert Masha Gessen wrote about “The Unimaginable Reality of American Concentration Camps,” as a national discussion over conditions at border facilities played out. Journalists, who have been given no access to facilities, reported through interviews on the alarming treatment of migrant children, including overcrowding, illness, and lack of basic necessities.

Trump came close to starting a war with Iran on Thursday, and reportedly was prepared and close to launch a missile attack. Of concern, Trump continued to act unilaterally and not seek Congressional approval — notably Speaker Pelosi said Friday she was not informed of Trump’s planned attack, despite being second in line for the White House. Meanwhile, pressure to start an impeachment inquiry grew as 76 House members called for impeachment as public opinion, largely among Democrats, is shifting in favor of it.

On Saturday, NYT reported the U.S. is stepping up cyberwarfare against Russia, using digital incursions into Russia’s electric power gridand other targets as a warning to Russia to stay out of U.S. cyber infrastructure.

The previously unreported deployment of computer code into Russia’s grid has taken place over the past three months in tandem with public actions announced after hacking and disinformation during the 2018 midterms.

These steps mark a shift to going on offense, and being positioned against aggressions. The Department of Homeland Security and FBI have said Russia has inserted malware in U.S. power plants, pipelines, and water supplies.

The actions were taken using new legal authorities quietly slipped into the military authorization bill passed by Congress last summer, allowing the defense secretary to take action without requiring presidential approval.

Two officials told the Timesthat Trump had not been briefed on the moves, which could spark a digital Cold War between the countries, out of concern he might countermand or discuss it with foreign officials.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted, “Do you believe that the Failing New York Times” did a story on increasing cyber attacks on Russia, calling it a “virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story.”

Trump also tweeted the reporting was “bad for our Country” and “ALSO, NOT TRUE!” saying, “Anything goes with our Corrupt News Media today,” calling them “cowards” and “THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

On Saturday, the NYTresponded to Trump, saying, “accusing the press of treason is dangerous,” adding, “We described the article to the government before publication” and “there were no concerns.”

On Sunday, Trump tweeted a poll should be done on “which is the more dishonest and deceitful newspaper,” the NYT or WAPO, adding “they are both a disgrace to our Country” and “the Enemy of the People.”

Trump also again mused about serving beyond the two term limit, tweeting “at the end of 6 years” after America is “GREAT” again, “do you think the people would demand that I stay longer?”

On Sunday, in celebration of Father’s Day, Trump tweeted, “Happy Father’s Day to all, including my worst and most vicious critics, of which there are fewer and fewer,” adding, “KEEP AMERICA GREAT!”

On Sunday, in a newly released part of his ABC News interview Trump chastised acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney for coughing, saying, “If you’re going to cough, please leave the room,” and asking for a retake.

On Sunday, ABC aired the hour long interview with Trump. The interview was a rating bust, coming in third in its evening time slot.

On Sunday, NBC News reported the Trump re-election campaign cut ties with some of its own pollsters, after leaked polling data which surfaced in Week 135 showed him trailing Democratic rivals in many states.

On Monday, Trump dismissed polling by Fox News which showed him losing to multiple Democratic presidential candidates, tweeting, “Something weird going on at Fox,” adding, “More Fake News.”

On Monday, Trump vowed mass immigration arrests, tweeting in the late evening: “Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States.”

Trump also tweeted, “They will be removed as fast as they come in.” Trump praised Mexico and Guatemala, but added, “The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress.”

On Monday, the State Department announced the regime is ending foreign aid for Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador until they take “concrete actions to reduce the number of illegal migrants” coming to the U.S.

Experts warned that cutting off aid will only exacerbate the conditions in the countries which are causing people to migrate. The regime’s plan is likely to face opposition in the Congress.

On Tuesday, WAPO reported Trump and Stephen Miller have recently pushed to remove thousands of immigrants whose deportation orders were expedited. Publicizing a large-scale ICE operation is unheard of.

ICE officials told the Postthey were not aware that Trump planned to make the plan public. Trump’s tweet of deporting millions was also at odds with available ICE budget and staffing.

On Tuesday, government attorney Sarah Fabian argued before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that migrant children sleeping on concrete floors is “safe and sanitary” and they did not need soap and toothbrushes.

Attorneys for the detained children argued the Trump regime is not following the requirements of the 1997 Flores Agreement for humane treatment, even though sanitary items are not specifically mentioned.

The judges appeared stunned by the regime’s arguments, with one saying, “I find it inconceivable that the government would say that that is safe and sanitary.” It is not clear when the panel will issue its decision.

On Wednesday, data obtained by the AP showed an El Paso border facility is neglecting 250 migrant infants, children, and teens, with kids taking care of kids and an inadequate supply of food, water, and sanitation.

Three girls told lawyers they alternated taking care of a 2 year-old boy who wet his pants and had no diapers. Lawyers could not discern where the boy was from or about his family from because he was not speaking.

Many of the children arrived alone, but some were separated from their families. A law advocate said in her 22 years of visiting children in detention, she had “never heard of this level of inhumanity.”

The acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner said CBP is holding 15,000 people while 4,000 is capacity. A psychoanalyst who evaluated 50 parents and children noted trauma causing lasting damage.

On Thursday, Dallas Morning News reported allegations made by acting Department of Homeland Security secretary Kevin McAleenan to Congress that 90% of those seeking asylum were skipping court dates is false.

McAleenan used the data to justify round-ups. Data showed that close to 100% of 47,000 asylum-seeking families with legal aid showed up to court. McAleenan’s data was from 7,000 cases decided in abstenia.

On Thursday, in an interview with Telemundo, Trump lied, saying he inherited an Obama-era policy of separating migrant families, saying, “Obama had a separation policy…I’m the one that put ’em together.”

On Friday, NYT reported on an overcrowded border station in Clinton, Texas, where hundreds of migrant children are being held. Children are wearing clothes caked with snot and tears, and toddlers have no diapers.

Most detainees have not been able to bathe or wash their clothes since they crossed the border. They have not been given toothbrushes, toothpaste, or soap. An advocate visiting described the scene, saying “there is a stench.”

The facility is one impacted by Trump regime not providing basics like soap or toothbrushes to the children. An advocate visiting said the conditions are the worse she has ever seen, with no care for sick children.

In the facility, guards wore wearing full uniforms, including weapons and face masks, to protect themselves from the unsanitary conditions. Children are locked up in cells nearly all day long, and are not getting enough food.

Border crossings have slowed in recent weeks, but remain high compared to recent years. Journalists and lawyers have been offered little access, so the overcrowded conditions are occurring without visibility to the public.

On Friday, HuffPost reported four toddlers under the age of 3 years-old at the Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas were so severely ill, that immigration lawyers forced the government to have them hospitalized.

The four were in the care of teenage mothers or guardians, and were feverish, coughing, vomiting, and had diarrhea. One toddler was “completely unresponsive” and limp, with her eyes rolled back in her head.

On Friday, WAPO reported Trump has directed ICE to conduct mass roundups of family members who have received deportation orders. Raids are expected to begin in the early hours of Sunday.

ICE and DHS refer to the roundup as “family op,” and will target 2,000 families in 10 cities, including Houston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Baltimore, Denver, San Francisco, and New Orleans.

McAleenan has urged Trump to narrow the roundup to 150 families, so as to avoid separating children from parents, and has voiced that ICE resources are better used for the crisis at the southern border.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it will not participate or assist in the roundup. New York AG Letitia James called it a “despicable act of racism and xenophobia that is antithetical to our basic human values.”

On Friday, acting ICE Director Mark Morgan defended the roundups, telling NPR, “my duty is not to look at the political optics, or the will the American people,” but to enforce the law and integrity of the system.

Morgan also repeated the false claim that the “majority of them don’t even show up. And then when they didn’t show up, they received ordered removal in absentia,” adding, “We have no choice.”

On Friday, authoritarianism expert Masha Gessen wrote at the New Yorker “The Unimaginable Reality of American Concentration Camps,” citing “the argument is really about how we history, ourselves, and ourselves in history.”

Gessen wrote: “Anything that happens here and now is normalized, not solely through the moral failure of contemporaries but simply by virtue of actually existing.”

On Saturday, a video posted on social media showed Phoenix police threatening to shoot a black family after their 4 year-old took a dollfrom a store. The incident led to an investigation and lawsuit against police.

On Tuesday, on the eve of House hearings on reparations for slavery, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he was not in favor of reparations, calling it “for something that happened 150 years ago.”

McConnell also said slavery is something “none of us currently living are responsible” for, and added we paid for the “sin of slavery” by passing civil rights legislation and by electing “an African American president.”

On Wednesday, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee sponsored a bill before a House hearing of a 13 member commission which would allocate $12 million to study the effects of slavery and make recommendations to Congress.

Hundreds of spectators filled three overflowing rooms. Republican lawmakers and witnesses said black people should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, saying reparations might damage their psyches.

Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose 2014 article helped rekindle the conversation, responded to McConnell: “While emancipation dead-bolted the door against the bandits of America, Jim Crow wedged the windows wide open.”

Coates also said McConnell was “alive for the redlining of Chicago and the looting of black homeowners of some $4 billion,” adding, “Victims of their plunder are very much alive today.”

On Thursday, Fox News host Laura Ingraham backed Leader McConnell on her podcast, dismissing the idea of reparations, saying there are no “do-overs,” adding, “we won, you lost, that’s that. That’s just the way it is.”

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that new information from hard drives of a deceased Republican redistricting strategist on the 2020 census question in Week 133 merits more consideration.

The case is now with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, but could be returned to the federal judge who said the new evidence “raises a substantial issue,” and could reach the Supreme Court again.

On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Matthew Kacsmaryk to a lifelong federal judgeship, despite his record of hostility towards the LGBTQ community and having criticized Roe v. Wade.

On Thursday, in a major set-back for women’s health, a panel of federal judges ruled that the Trump regime’s abortion “gag rule” can go into effect, making clinics that provide abortion ineligible for Title IX funds.

Planned Parenthood could lose $60 million in fundingfrom the ruling. Attorneys general from 21 states argued the rule undermines the patient-provider relationship and endangers the health of millions of women.

On Friday, Missouri’s health department notified Planned Parenthood, the state’s only abortion clinic, that it declined to renew their license. The judge said his preliminary injunction to remain open is in place for now.

On Friday, Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed four bills that would have restricted access to abortion, implicated doctors who perform abortions, and cut funding to Planned Parenthood.

On Friday, writer E. Jean Carroll came forward in a New York Magazine article to say that Trump raped her 23 years ago in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in midtown Manhattan.

Carroll, now 75, told two friends about the incident at the time.  WAPO  interviewed one friend who encouraged Carroll to go to the police at the time. The episode in the article is an excerpt from her new book.

Trump responded Friday in a statement, calling the allegations “fake news” and repeating his common refrain, “I’ve never met this person in my life.” The article is accompanied by a photo of the two together in 1987.

Trump accused Carroll of trying to sell books, “It should be sold in the fiction section,” and questioned if she was working with the Democratic Party. Carroll is the 16th woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct.

On Tuesday, AP reported U.S. air quality is worsening, after decades of improving. There were 15% more days with unhealthy air in 2017 and 2018 than the average of 2013 through 2016, the cleanest four years.

On Wednesday, Trump’s EPA issued the Affordable Clean Energy rule, the regime’s most significant step towards unwinding federal regulations aimed at addressing climate change.

The new rule cuts carbon emissions from power plants by less than half of what experts said was need to avoid catastrophic climate change. Trump aides and GOP lawmakers celebrated it as a victory for coal companies.

Also, unlike Obama’s 2015 Clean Power Plan, Trump’s rule does not set specific greenhouse gas emissions cuts, relieving pressure to improve efficiency by switching from coal to lower-carbon energy sources.

On Friday, Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Kate Brown sent Oregon State Police to fetch 11 GOP state senators who had fled to Idaho to avoid giving the Democrats a needed quorum to vote on bills to combat climate change.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his cabinet to inaugurate a new community located on the occupied Golan Heights, which will be named “Trump Heights” to recognize his ally.

On Monday, after threats from Trump, Iran warned it would breach limits on stockpiled enriched uranium under the 2015 deal which Trump exited. The White House National Security Council called it “nuclear blackmail.”

The U.S. sent 1,000 more troops to the region on Monday. On Tuesday, Iran President Hassan Rouhani said on state-TV, “Iran will not wage war against any nation,” and Russia called on the U.S. to stop stoking tension.

On Tuesday, Politico reported the Trump regime is laying the groundwork for a possible conflict with Iran, while preparing to do so without needing Congressional approval.

On Monday, Politico reported House Democrats investigating obstruction of justice are considering bypassing Trump’s use of executive privilege by calling for testimony from people outside the government.

Names cited in the Mueller report who may be called include former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and Chris Christie, as well as former top campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates.

On Monday, Politico reported Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are quietly racking up oversight winsagainst Trump in areas like retaliation at the State Department and Trump’s relation with Putin.

Chair Eliot Engel has eschewed cable-TV and other flashy rhetoric, allowing bipartisan cooperation on his committee, with Republicans exasperated with Trump on foreign policy and national security issues.

On Monday, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 to uphold the ‘double jeopardy’ standard. The ruling could blunt the impact of potential Trump pardons for individuals like Manafort, who also faces charges in New York.

On Monday, NYT reported that as Manafort was scheduled to head to Rikers Island, last week Manhattan prosecutors received an unusual letter from Jeffrey Rosen, a top deputy of Attorney General William Barr.

Rosen indicated he was monitoring where Manafort would be held. Then on Monday, federal prison officials weighed in saying Manafort would not be go to Rikers, where most federal inmates facing state charges are held.

Former DOJ officials and state prosecutors said it was highly unusual for the second highest official at the DOJ to take an interest in such a case. The decision is typically made by the warden where the inmate is being held.

On Monday, Daily News reported five undocumented immigrants fired from Trump’s golf courses in New York and New Jersey planned to hold a press conference in Florida on Tuesday, ahead of Trump’s 2020 launch.

On Tuesday, ahead of Trump’s official 2020 re-election campaign launch in Orlando, Florida, the Orlando Sentinel took the unusual step of endorsing “Not Donald Trump.”

The Sentinel cited, “after 2½ years we’ve seen enough” of “the chaos, the division, the schoolyard insults, the self-aggrandizement, the corruption, and especially the lies,” adding he “diminished our standing in the world.”

On Tuesday, while speaking to reporters before heading to Orlando, Trump refused to apologize for his prior call for the Central Park 5 to get the death penalty. Trump said, “You have people on both sides of that.”

Trump said “they admitted their guilt,” and “some of the prosecutors, they think that the city should never have settled that case,” adding, “You better believe that I hate the people who took this girl and raped her brutally.”

On Tuesday, Trump launched his re-election bid, picking up on many familiar themes from his 2016 campaign, promising greatness and invoking many of the same grievances from that campaign.

Trump relished in his victory over Hillary Clinton while the crowd shouted, “Lock her up!” Trump said he was still looking for her missing emails, and teased about having the DOJ prosecute her.

Trump attacked the media, calling reporters in the arena “fake news” while the crowd cheered the familiar refrain, “CNN sucks.”

Trump attacked Democrats, calling them “radical” and saying they are “driven by hatred, prejudice and rage,” and warning, “They want to destroy you, and they want to destroy our country as we know it.”

Trump said immigrants should come on the basis of merit, saying the Democrat agenda of open borders is “morally reprehensible,” and “the greatest betrayal of the American middle class, and frankly American life.”

CNN calculated that Trump made 15 false statement during his 76-minutes speech, many of which he has repeated frequently in the past, including the topics of trade, the environment, Russia, his wall, and Hillary’s emails.

WAPO reported after the rally, Trump flew on Air Force One in the opposite direction of the White House to visit his Doral golf course, his 126th visit to a Trump property since taking office.

Trump also recently suggested his Doral golf course to host the Group of Seven meeting of world leaders. Trump has gotten pushback from the White House Counsel’s Office on the topic but has ignored it.

Trump has reshaped the GOP fundraising schedule, with 23 of 63 fundraisers he attended taking place at one of his properties. Trump properties have also become a vendor for the federal government.

On Thursday, Media Matters reported Sinclair broadcasting is forcing its local stations to run a commentary segment which is akin to an unofficial Trump 2020 campaign ad within a short window after its release.

In one clip, former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn said, “The energy behind President Trump and his “America First” movement is palpable,” praising “crowds that fill up massive stadiums” and social media engagement.

On Monday, Jarrod Agen, Vice President Mike Pence’s communications director and one of his most trusted advisers who held multiple roles, announced he was leaving to take a job at Lockheed Martin.

On Tuesday, Trump announced on Twitter that Patrick Shanahan, his nominee for defense secretary, was withdrawing. WAPO and USA Today reported on incidents of domestic violence involving his family.

Trump told reporters he did not ask Shanahan to withdraw. Trump nominated Secretary of the Army Mark Esper to replace Shanahan, who prior was the head lobbyist for defense company Raytheon.

On Tuesday, CNN reported Katharine Gorka is expected to be named press secretary for CBP. Gorka, the wife of far-right extremist Sebastian Gorka, has been a political appointee at DHS since shortly after Trump took office.

Gorka has stirred controversy over her views on terrorism and has ties to far-right national groups. In Week 40, she helped pull DHS funding for Life After Hate, a group set up to counter neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

On Thursday, Trump appointee Eric Blankenstein, who left the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in May over racially charged online posts from years ago, was hired by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as a senior legal counsel.

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Senate Democrats will prioritize defense amendments to boost election security and keep Russia from meddling in 2020.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blocked the inclusion of Saudi Arabia from a U.S. list of countries that recruit childsoldiers, despite experts’ findings of their use in the Yemen’s civil war.

On Wednesday, a months-long United Nations investigation by Agnes Callamard, a human rights expert, into the killing of Jamal Khashoggi found “credible evidence” Saudi Crown Prince MBS was likely involved.

She faulted the U.S. and other countries for not exerting enough pressure on Saudis, and called for sanctioning and freezing the prince’s assets until a final determination is made. Saudi Arabia would not allow her in.

Pompeo said Trump deplored the killing of Khashoggi, but that the U.S. relationship is too important to be sidetracked by one incident. Callamard called the U.S. response ambiguous and conflicted.

On Thursday, the Senate rebuked Trump, voting to block billions of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Trump had tried to circumvent Congress by declaring an emergency over Iran.

Seven Republicans, including Trump ally Lindsey Graham voted with Democrats in the Senate, not enough to override an expected veto by Trump. Britain announced a similar measure on Thursday.

On Thursday, Reuters reported ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who is being held in Russia over accusations of spying, told reporters he was asking Trumpand the leaders of Britain, Canada, and Ireland for help.

Whelan said he has been threatened and harassed by a Russian investigator. He said, “we cannot keep America great unless we aggressively protect and defend American citizenswherever they are.”

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Trump believes he has the authority to oust Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair and demote him to board governor, saying the Fed had gone crazy” under Powell.

On Wednesday, the Fed left rates unchanged, with a rate cut possible soon. Asked by reporters about Trump’s comments, Chair Powell said, “I think the law is clear that I have a four-year term and I fully intend to serve it.”

On Wednesday, Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to conservative economist Arthur Laffer. In his remarks, Trump said the Laffer Curve is “still, a very, very highly respected economic curve.”

Laffer, along with his disciple Stephen Moore, wrote a fawning book about Trump’s economic policies called “Trumponomics.” Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cuts did not generate more tax revenue as Laffer’s theory posits.

On Wednesday, NYT reported federal prosecutors are investigating if Deutsche Bank complied with laws meant to stop money laundering and other crimes, including handling of suspicious activity reports.

The FBI has contacted former employee Tammy McFadden, who spoke to the Times in Week 131. The investigation marks the largest government examination of potential misconduct at one of the world’s largest banks.

FBI agents are also speaking to Val Broeksmit, the son of Deutsche Bank executive William Broeksmit, who committed suicide in 2014, about the bank’s role with Russian money laundering. Val has provided documents.

In addition to the FBI, the DOJ’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and the U.S. attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn are also investigating the bank, as are two House committees.

On Tuesday, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said in a letter to House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler that Hope Hick “is absolutely immune” from answering questions about her time on the transition team and White House staff.

Cipollone said a White House lawyer will be present for Hicks’ testimony “in order to preserve” Trump’s ability “to assert executive privilege.” The testimony will be private, but a transcript will be released within 48 hours.

On Wednesday, in a series of morning tweets, Trump attacked Democrats, saying they are “unhappy with the Mueller Report, so after almost 3 years, they want a Redo,” calling it “extreme Presidential Harassment.”

Trump tweeted Democrats gave “Crooked Hillary’s people complete Immunity, yet now they bring back Hope Hicks,” asking why aren’t they looking at “33,000 Emails that Hillary and her lawyer deleted.”

Trump also tweeted, “That is real Obstruction that the Dems want no part of because their hearings are RIGGED and a disgrace to our Country!” adding, “DEMOCRAT CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ARE #RIGGED!”

Trump also tweeted if he did not have the “Phony Witch Hunt” and if the “Fake News Media and their partner in Crime, the Democrats” played it straight, he would be “ way up in the Polls right now.”

On Wednesday, Mark Thompson, CEO of the NYT said Trump “isolating journalists, as a group…is a really frankly hostile, stupid but also dangerous thing to do” at a CNBC forum.

On Wednesday, in an op-ed at the Journal, NYT Publisher A.G. Sulzberger said Trump accusing the newspaper of “treason” crossed “a dangerous line” of “accusing the Times of a crime so grave it is punishable by death.”

Sulzberger wrote, “He’s gone from misrepresenting our business, to assaulting our integrity, to demonizing our journalists with a phrase that’s been used by generations of demagogues,” to treason accusations.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reported Trump had tweeted negatively about the press in every day of June so far, marking “the longest stretch since he declared his candidacy.”

The group also found that in the first 18 days of June, Trump had tweeted 44 times, some days up to five times per day, and that since Trump launched his 2016 campaign, he has sent over 1,500 negative tweets.

Later Wednesday, Trump tweeted, “So sad that the Democrats are putting wonderful Hope Hicks through hell,” saying Democrats want a “Do Over,” adding, “Very unfair & costly to her. Will it ever end?”

Trump also asked why Democrats are not “asking Hillary Clinton why she deleted and acid washed her Emails,” adding, “anybody else would be in jail for that,” and “Rigged House Committee.”

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee interviewed Hope Hicks. NYT reported she refused to answer nearly every question about her time working in the regime, citing Trump said she was “absolutely immune.”

Democrats said Hicks even refused to answer about the location of her West Wing office at the closed door hearings. Hicks did discuss her time on the campaign, but with reportedly no meaningful revelations.

Democrats on the committee threatened to take Hicks to court to enforce the subpoena for her full testimony. Hicks was referred to more than 180 times in the Mueller report.

Legal experts said the legal process of compelling former White House officials like Hicks and Don McGahn could take several months or years to wind through the court system. Impeachment would hasten the process.

On Thursday, Politico reported according to a transcript of Hick’s interview released late Wednesday, she refused to answer 155 questions during her House testimony.

The transcript revealed dozens of objections from White House lawyers to prevent her from answering, including questions on Trump’s attempts to restrain the Mueller probe through directives to McGahn to fire Mueller.

At one point, Chair Nadler challenged a White House lawyer’s claims of “absolute immunity,” telling him, “that is absolute nonsense as a matter of law.” Hicks at times became snarky, and remained loyal to Trump.

On Thursday, Chair Nadler told Politico that House Democrats would file a lawsuit within days to compel Hicks and McGahn to testify, adding Hicks’ blanket refusal is a huge gift in the legal battle with Trump.

Nadler said, “We knew this was going to happen. The point of it was to dramatize for the court what the implications of this are.” The committee plans to show courts the Trump regime’s extremist view on stonewalling.

On Thursday, WAPO reported Felix Sater, a Russian-born real estate developer and Trump business partner who worked on Trump Tower Moscow, will testify Friday before the House Intelligence Committee.

Sater said, “I will answer every question without exception” in the closed door session. Sater also detailed what he described as a two-decade-long history of assisting the FBI, the CIA, and Defense Intelligence Agency.

On Friday, Sater was an unexplained no-show for the House hearings. Chair Adam Schiff said, “He agreed to appear this morning. He did not show up. We will have to subpoena him.”

On Friday, Politico reported that Sater’s excuse for missing his scheduled appearance was that he was feeling ill and slept through his alarm on Friday morning.

On Wednesday, the Trump regime reversed its decision to end the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers announced in Week 133, after a backlash from a bipartisan lawmakers, including Leader McConnell.

On Wednesday, Trump called in to Fox News host Sean Hannity for what ended up being a 45-minute long interview. Trump accused two members of Congress of taking photos of Hicks and leaking them to the media.

Trump’s claim was false, but Hannity validated it by saying, “Oh good grief.” Trump continued on a variety of familiar topics, including Russia and his Wall. Trump continued as Ingraham’s show started at 10 p.m.

Trump pushed back on Hannity saying many people would like for Trump to “turn off the switch” and use Twitter less, telling Hannity “you’re not really patriots as much as you want ratings.”

Trump also told Hannity he might live tweet the Democratic debates next week despite his aides not wanting him to, saying “maybe I will now,” adding, “Instead of fake news, I’ll make them correct news. And that’s OK.”

On Thursday, Time released a transcript of its interview with Trump. When asked about the Mueller report, Trump changed topics to threaten a photographer for attempting to photograph his letter from Kim Jong Un.

Trump said, “Well, you can go to prison, instead, because if you use, if you use the photograph you took of the letter that I gave you . . . ” The Time reporter then tried to continue the interview.

Trump added, “confidentially, I didn’t give it to you to take photographs of it — so don’t play that game with me.” Asked if he was threatening jail time, Trump changed the subject to Time’s unfavorable coverage of him.

On Sunday, a WSJ-NBC News poll found 48% of Democrats want to begin impeachment hearings, up from 30% last month. Overall 27% support for starting impeachment up from 17% last month.

The poll also found that overall, 51% of Americans believe impeachment should start now or Congress should continue to investigate, up slightly from 49% last month. Opposition to impeachment remained at 48%.

On Wednesday, 71 House members were for impeachment, including 70 Democrats and Republican Rep. Justin Amash. Notably, only one of the 12 key committee chairs, Chair Maxine Waters, is for impeachment.

On Thursday, Rep. Jan Schakowsky became the 72nd to call for impeachment, but hours later, she qualified her call to say Speaker Pelosi was “ultimately right” in her push to get rid of Trump in the 2020 election.

On Wednesday, tensions grew between the Trump regime and lawmakers of both parties over whether Trump could use the 2001 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) for a military strike against Iran.

Secretary of State Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the basis would be Iran’s connections to al Qaeda, which he called “very real.” GOP Sen. Rand Paul said “there are no credible links” between al Qaeda and Iran.

The State Department’s special envoy for Iran said adding troops was for protection, not a strike. A bipartisan group of Senators said in a letter “Congress has not authorized war” and there was no statutory authority.

On Thursday, the U.S. military confirmed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz, considered international waters, the first direct attack by Iran on U.S. military.

Trump tweeted shortly after, “Iran made a very big mistake,” and when asked about a U.S. response said, “You’ll soon find out.” Iran denied the U.S. version of events, saying the drone strayed into Iranian airspace.

As he met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump said, “We have it all documented. It’s documented scientifically, not just words.” When asked what came next, Trump said, “Let’s see what happens.”

Later, Trump seemed to soften, telling reporters, “I find it hard to believe it was intentional, if you want to know the truth,” adding, “I think that it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it.”

At mid-day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a televised direct line with the Russian public that a war between the U.S. and Iran “would be a catastrophe” and “could have possibly sad consequences.”

On Thursday, NYT reported Trump had approved retaliatory strikes against Iran, and as of 7 p.m. military and diplomatic officials were expecting strikes on a handful of targets.

Trump’s decision came after a discussion at the White House including his top national security officials and Congressional leaders. The strike was set to take place just before dawn on Friday in order to minimize risk.

Secretary of State Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton, and CIA director Gina Haspel had favored a strike. Top Pentagon officials warned it could escalate. Congressional leaders were briefed in the Situation Room.

After the briefing, Democratic leaders called on Trump to de-escalate and to seek congressional authorization before taking any military action.

Later in the evening, Trump abruptly called off the strike, which would have been his third, including two strikes in Syria. It was unclear if Trump changed his mind or the regime altered course for some reason.

On Friday, Trump again attacked the Times, referring to a Washington Examiner story about a 2017 email from a NYTreporter to an FBI official. Trump tweeted about “the Failing and Desperate New York Times.”

Trump falsely claimed the Times“was feeding false stories about me, & those associated with me, to the FBI,” calling them a “Crooked newspaper” and asking, “Is what they have done legal?

On Friday, the Washington Examiner issued a correction, removing the characterization that a NYT reporter ‘fed information’ to the FBI, adding “we regret” the story did not meet our “normal standards and procedures.”

On Friday, in a series of tweets on Iran, Trump said Obama “made a desperate and terrible deal with Iran” falsely claiming Obama bailed Iran out by giving them “150 Billion Dollars plus 1.8 Billion Dollars in CASH!”

Trump blamed Obama for giving Iran “a free path to Nuclear Weapons, and SOON,” adding, “I terminated deal, which was not even ratified by Congress, and imposed strong sanctions” claiming he has weakened Iran.

Trump added after Iran shot down the drone, “We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General.”

Trump added, “10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone,” adding, “I am in no hurry,” and saying, “Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons.”

Trump also tweeted, “Sanctions are biting & more added last night.” CNBC reported the Treasury Department has not issued new sanctions, and a spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

On Friday, Speaker Pelosi told reporters that she was not informed by Trump about his planned Iran strike. Traditionally, House and Senate leadership, and chair and ranking members key committees are informed.

On Friday, Reuters reported Iranian sources said Trump had warned Tehran that a U.S. attack was imminent, saying he was against war and wanted talks. The U.S. State Department denied Reuters’ report.

Trump spoke to Crown Prince MBS on the situation Friday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and fellow EU leaders “are concerned about the situation and support diplomatic negotiations.”

On Friday, WAPO reported key Trump allies had expected him to impose economic sanctions or other nonmilitary punishmenton Iran. The chaos of the response reinforced concerns about the Trump regime’s credibility.

Officials disputed Trump’s tweets, saying he was told the number of possible casualties early in the day, but gave the green light to prepare for a retaliatory strikes.

Later in the day, in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd, Trump changed his story, saying at no time did he he give final approval for any strikes and that no planes were in the air.

On Friday, NYT reported that one of the reasons Trump chose not to strike was warnings from his favorite Fox News host Tucker Carlson not to do so, highlighting the unusual decision-making process of Trump.

On Friday, Rep. William Lacy Clay and two co-sponsors filed articles of impeachment for obstruction of justice, and three co-sponsored a resolution for the House Judiciary to begin an impeachment inquiry.

On Friday, Politico reported Trump’s continual reference to serving more than two terms and comments by Michael Cohen that Trump will not leave if 2020 is close have people in Congress and the beltway chattering.

Concern is Trump would not accept a 2020 defeat, and tie the matter up in court for a long time. Republicans claim at that point they would intervene, and most at the juncture view the possibility as far-fetched.

On Friday, Trump tweeted a video depicting him on the cover of Time as running for president indefinitely. The video was a play on this week’s Time cover titled, “How Trumpism Outlasts Trump.”

On Friday, the number of Democrats calling for impeachment grew to 75 out of 235, bringing the total including Rep. Amash to 76.

On Friday, a newly unsealed filing from the Alexandria court revealed Sean Hannity and Paul Manafort exchanged hundreds of text messages about the Mueller probe in the time preceding Manafort’s criminal trial.

The two regularly communicated, sharing opinions and information about the Mueller investigation. Manafort put Hannity in touch with his attorney Kevin Downing, and Hannity relayed information from Trump’s orbit.

Manafort texted, “I won’t sell out. I cannot allow them to win..it would empower them to go after” Trump and others, adding he planned to work to re-elect Trump. Mueller brought the texts to the judge’s attention.

A gag order prevented Manafort from appearing on Hannity’s show, but he texted him, “Building a plan B.” He also told Hannity he was using information on Fox News for his legal arguments.

Manafort requested to put Downing in contact with Gregg Jarrett, another Fox News host, and set up Hannity with Downing on a phone call in a January 2018 to which Hannity said, “I asked him to feed me every day.”

Manafort said that unlike Gates, he would never cooperate. He also praised the hire of Rudy Giuliani, but repeatedly expressed frustration with then AG Jeff Sessions, whom he called “totally worthless.”

On Saturday, Trump defended the roundups, tweeting, “These are people that are supposed to go back to their home country,” adding, “They broke the law by coming into the country, & now by staying.”

On Saturday, Trump praised Bolton, despite reports of friction on Iran. Trump told reporters Bolton is a “hawk” and he disagrees with him at times, adding, “the only one that matters is me.”

On Saturday, Trump delayed planned deportation roundups scheduled for Sunday, facing a massive backlash from Democrats, activists, and elected officials and law enforcement in the 10 states he planned to target.

Pelosi called the roundups “heartless” and urged Trump to “stop this brutal action.” Trump tweeted, “at the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks.”

The Weekly List podcast is here! You can find more information here by clicking here.

THE LIST — weeks 1–52 of The Weekly List is out as a book! You can order your copy by clicking here.

[thumbkenya76-blog]

AbbVie, Inc. (ABBV) Management Presents at Morgan Stanley 16th Annual Global Healthcare Conference (Transcript)

AbbVie, Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Morgan Stanley 16th Annual Global Healthcare Conference September 12, 2018 11:40 AM ET

Executives

Bill Chase - Chief Financial Officer

Scott Brun - Head of AbbVie Ventures and VP of Scientific Affairs

Analysts

David Risinger - Morgan Stanley

David Risinger

Okay. So thanks everybody for joining us for the session with AbbVie. I just need to refer you to disclaimers at www.morganstanley.com/researchdisclosures. It’s very much my pleasure to welcome Bill Chase and Scott Brun. So Bill is the Company’s CFO. I’m sure many of you are familiar with him and he’s been in the position for several years and has overseen the Company’s execution of delivering results above expectations for the last several years. Scott is currently Head of AbbVie Ventures and Vice President of Scientific Affairs. He was previously the Head of Pharmaceutical Development and has been instrumental in advancing the Company’s pipeline. So it’s my pleasure to welcome them today. I guess I wanted to start off with a question regarding the execution against your plan.

So, clearly the Company has delivered better than expected performance over a number of years. Investors are skeptical about the longer term given the fear of the biosimilar threats to HUMIRA. So maybe you could sort of tackle it two ways. Talk about the financial targets for 2020 and your confidence in achieving those? And then maybe Scott, you could talk in a bit more detail about the pipeline and its ability to ultimately offset HUMIRA longer term?

Scott Brun

Sure. Well, so David thanks for having us. We always appreciate the opportunity to come out to the Morgan Stanley conference. I think as we start with the big picture and how we’re tracking relative to the long range guidance and particularly in light of that concern around what happens post 2022 when you have an LoE for HUMIRA in the U.S. Like the reality is, since even prior to the spin, this company has been preparing itself for what was going to be in an eventual LoE event around HUMIRA and that was known on day one and our strategy that we said internally and with the board was always trying to build the capabilities and the assets within the Company to be able to negotiate that events and remain a growth vehicle. And at that point in time, we said look our aspirations is to be top tier growth.

Now obviously there's two parts of that equation, one is, what is the HUMIRA curve look like and when, and you've seen us execute very nicely with our legal strategy and the settlements around the U.S. events to delay the onset of LoE in 2022, 2023 time period. The second piece though is what are you going to grow with? And that becomes essentially a pipeline question. And we always knew that we needed to have very, very good differentiated assets. We wanted to be a focus company. We wanted to focus primarily in the areas that we knew that play to our strengths.

So we focus primarily on immunology and oncology. And we set about building what we think is one of the most attractive late stage pipelines in the industry. And we can go through obviously in some detail and Scott's got a lot to say on that thing as well. But at the end of the day, what we called out last time, we updated the strategic plan, isn't if you take HUMIRA out of the mix and you benchmark us back to 2017, which is one of the plan was last updated. We had a business when we looked at our pipeline that we felt was -- we felt comfortable saying was going to grow from about $10 billion in sales size up to $35 billion in 2025.

And the way we're going to do that was through some best in category assets and then which Scott will share with you. Our strong franchise we built in HemOnc with IMBRUVICA and VENCLEXTA products like or at least that we are just underway launching and more recently launched like MAVYRET. And when we look at those assets and we look at the de-risk nature as well as the efficacy and safety that they've shown in a very broad clinical trial, we feel very comfortable that they can get into the market in their respective places and deliver upon those gross projections.

And so we remain very, very confident, pipeline is a huge part of the story. And if you look at our pipeline, not only do we have attractive assets, but this is a very diversified pipeline. We're not delivering all that grows just with one or two assets. There is 5, 6, 7 different aspects at play which we also think is fairly unique when we look at our peers.

David Risinger

Excellent. And maybe Scott, you could add a little bit on and since speak to investors pretty frequently which of the pipeline assets are potentially most underappreciated by investors as you discuss these biggest of pipeline contributors, longer term?

Scott Brun

No, absolutely, I didn't focus on that. Again, David thanks for having us. Bill hit on the number of important themes. When we launched AbbVie, now almost six years ago, focus was incredibly important to make sure that we had the right capabilities from discovery through commercialization market access in a few set areas where we really thought that we could differentiate ourselves with both internally discovered and developed assets as well as externally sourced opportunities. I think that’s been playing out extremely well. I mean I could take the rest of the time going through the qualities of the late-stage pipeline, but maybe I can hit on a few high points.

Certainly, in hematologic malignancies, when you look at it IMBRUVICA and VENCLEXTA, these are two first-in-class agents that are transforming hematologic malignancies of several types. I mean we look at IMBRUVICA the fact is in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, first and second line. It’s really becoming a mainstay of therapy. We've also seen significant results in Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. Most recently, we actually had a label update with a study looking in IMBRUVICA combination with Rituxan that again provides us a chemotherapy free option for this particular disease, opportunities in other malignancies like mantle cell lymphoma also tend to build the overall opportunity for IMBRUVICA.

We’re going to continue to progress IMBRUVICA particularly in first line CLL where we think there’s a lot of opportunities in particular in combination with VENCLEXTA first-in-class Bcl-2 inhibitor which have a Phase 2 study captivate to demonstrate the combination of IMBRUVICA and VENCLEXTA can drive to minimal residual disease, essentially no detectable disease by advanced diagnostic methods in 70% to 80% of patients. And so this could really transform the care of CLL away from toxic chemotherapies to a drug combination that could put patients into long-term remission with much less tolerability baggage.

Now talking a little bit more about VENCLEXTA beyond these opportunities in CLL, we’re currently under regulatory review in acute myelogenous leukemia. This is a very devastating rapidly progressive disease that we’ve demonstrated that VENCLEXTA added on to standard-of-care in first line patients who can’t tolerate the harshest chemotherapy can double or triple complete response rates, which led to a breakthrough therapy designation from FDA.

And as I said, current regulatory review that could lead to an approval next year, VENCLEXTA a lot of opportunity in multiple myeloma where we are currently in Phase 3 looking at in combination with Velcade and dexamethasone in second line plus multiple myeloma. We also think there are opportunities in first line myeloma and certain genetically defined population, so a tremendous opportunity is there.

Moving on to our immunology franchise, risankizumab, the partnered assay with BI and anti-IL-23 that has demonstrated some of the highest responses that we’ve seen in patients with psoriasis PASI 100 scores, complete skin clearance on the order of 50% to 60% Superiority versus STELARA, HUMIRA the ability to treat patients who have failed prior TNF inhibitors in a quarterly dosing pattern. And so, risa is currently under regulatory review as well.

Our selective JAK1 inhibitor, upadacitinib, for which we disclosed 5 trials in rheumatoid arthritis. We studied this drug in first line therapy patients who are naive to any treatment, all the way through patients who have failed prior TNF inhibitors. We've lifted Upa with and without methotrexate. We've demonstrated Superiority to HUMIRA. We have over 4,000 patients worth of data. And then every one of these contexts, Upa is performing at the top of the class, certainly directionally, although we have no head-to-head studies directionally better than what we see with baricitinib vs tofacitinib.

I think we've shown from the safety perspective that our rates for venous thromboembolism which has become a point of discussion with this class, really do not differ from placebo and our randomized controlled trials, nor do they worsen overtime, nor do they demonstrate any type of dose response. Certainly, if we want to get into a little bit more of the recent competitive context with recent risa and upa, David during the question we can do that.

ORILISSA, otherwise known as elagolix, the first new therapy for endometriosis related pain in a long time. This disease affects millions of women. They are unsuccessfully treated with combination of oral contraceptives or opioid pain management. We've demonstrated that with this oral therapy that affects the GnRH axis. We can lead to high levels of pain control and do it with a much improved side effect profile relative to show within the nuclear option Lupron.

So, we're in the launch phase of this drug right now. We're in Phase 3 in analysis of bleeding related to uterine fibroid. Another very common gynecological condition where again our two Phase 3 studies that have read out have demonstrated very high levels of efficacy, 75% or so significance of patients had significant reduction in their bleeding.

Again, I could keep going on and on. But I think the point here is as Bill said, diversified assets across a variety of different therapeutic areas that actually have potential beyond these initial indications that I've laid out. And I think as you seen with HUMIRA one of our themes is, to really understand biology and take it to places that it may not have been studied before.

David Risinger

Great. We could just follow up on the competitive landscape…

Scott Brun

We do a couple of announcements over the past year, so…

David Risinger

Yes, could you touch on those?

Scott Brun

Certainly, why don't we go ahead and start with the theme to data and what, I've always got to be careful about talking about someone else who is single study. To sum up what I'll say is based on what we saw from the Phase 2 data in the public domain, I took a Phase 3 data from this first trial or are consistent with that data set?

On the efficacy side both filgotinib and upadacitinib, as I said before directionally appear to provide the potential for improved efficacy relative to baricitinib or tofacitinib. We got to be a careful about our cross-study comparisons here of course especially since we don't know the baseline characteristics of the filgotinib population in total. I would say if you look at the ACR scores, there is puts and takes looking between upa and filgotinib. If you look at some of the DAS scores, which are a high stringent measure of disease control, low disease activity and clinical remission, I can certainly say that, again, all the caveats across study comparisons taking into account that for low dose of upadacitinib is performing every bit as well, if not maybe directionally better than what we see with filgotinib.

So, not seeing clear points of differentiation on the efficacy side, safety is harder to compare because we've got different bits and pieces of what's been shared. I'm glad no patients have venous thromboembolism on the filgotinib trial. But as we know, even patients on background therapy can see VTE. So I think before we can say exactly what that means, we need to see their whole program it's in context. And certainly, we've shared some information on infections, last year so on. I think at this point, it's too early to say that there is any kind of clear signal what differentiation on these low incidence events.

The one thing I do want to point out is that we will be filing an RA with upadacitinib before the end of this year, actually one of the things I must point out, before the end of this year, again, I don't know if Gilead had spoken to their timing when they were just in here. As I understand, the critical path for them is to complete the man-to-male reproductive study to de-risk the 200 milligram dose to see exactly what the benefit risk on that dose is. As I understand that that may put them more than a year behind our current filing timeline.

David Risinger

Got it. That's very helpful. Maybe we could pivot and Bill, you could talk about potential changes in U.S. drug pricing. Obviously, we have to wait and see. And if you could also touch on the notion of rebates going away, it sounds like a pretty big statement. And we'll still need to learn more on what the next steps are from HSS. But it'd be helpful for you to just frame it as you see it currently. And then touch on the rebate issue. Rick had spent a fair amount of time on the 2Q call. So one can refer to that transcript for lots of detail, but still be helpful because it's topic on investors' mind?

Bill Chase

Sure. So look, pricing has been a focus for the industry for the last several years. And it's clear that the administration has made it a focus in these years as well. So we historically whatever we do on our long range plan in the U.S. while we continue to believe the U.S. will remain a price positive environment. We always prudently scale back the rates of increases. So from a long range plan perspective, we've always kind of forecasted because it’s wise to forecast that way that the pricing environment will be getting a little tougher. But beyond the forecast, you've seen actions throughout the industry that have shown the dialogue around price is beginning to have an effect.

So for example, most companies now have moved to one price increase per year. We made a statement couple of years ago that we were doing that. And likewise, price increase is tend to be single digit. We have a statement similar to that as well. And so I think that you are beginning to see an impact through the industry a change in pricing behaviors. And of course, the fall through of those price increases are never in line with list. So I think if you really look at the data right now, you could say on a net-net basis while pricing is still positive in the U.S., it’s probably single-digit fall through, low-single-digit fall through maybe close to medium. But I would say try more like low-single-digits. So it’s clearly having an impact on the industry.

Now, we’re fortunate, we -- our growth is being driven by volume, not by price. If you look at our growth rates this year, they’ve been quite stunning on the top line. Probably last quarter, we had 17% operational growth, I think price overall was about 1% of that. So, when you have new products that are differentiated and you’ve got areas of high unmet need, you can drive impressive top and bottom line performance via volume and that’s what we’ve been doing.

Now, where pricing is going to go from here, little tough to call and obviously we got an initial look at the ideas in the blueprint. But while it was very comprehensive and had some truly creative ideas and we still need to see the details. And so we’re waiting along with the rest of the industry. We haven’t seen major changes to the contracting process to date, because of that. I think it’s kind of, we’re waiting and seeing. Although my guess is, our basic assumption and our long range plan is accurate and pricing will continue to moderate in this market.

In terms of the structural discussion around rebates and the questions that we would need to sort out, I think there’s two really that come to mind. First and foremost is how big, if we move into a paradigm where rebate contracting moves away, right. We move to some other type of contracting. The question is how big of a population of contracts are impacted. The Safe Harbor Provisions directly refers to government business, and the type of contract and that relies on PBM with the government is Medicare. If you look at AbbVie’s U.S. mix about 15% of our business was Medicare.

So, if it just stays within that area, you got 85% of the business in the U.S., which is not impacted. So we need to sort that out and I know some people feel that, it will rapidly move to commercial. We’re not sure, we have to see, how that plays out. That’s an important assumption. But maybe even more important is what rebate contracts are replaced with. We absolutely believe that the government and the market as not going to move away from a scenario, where you can give volume based contracts. It’s kind of a cornerstone of this industry, right. You give contracts based on based on patients under plan, the patient lives under plan and also the ability of that plan to drive compliance via formulary.

And those two things basically add up to a volume based contract. As long as volume based contracting is permitted, we don’t see any reason to believe that it wouldn’t be. It doesn’t really impact our business model. Now, we may need to figure out how you move from a rebate contract to a discount contract. But that’s just, that’s a contract form, it wouldn’t change the overall strategy. So yes, I understand why there’s a lot of concern around this change. But at the end of the day, I think it has less impact on manufacturers then perhaps the PBMs.

David Risinger

That’s extremely helpful. Let me pause there and see if there are any questions before I continue.

Question-and-Answer Session

Q - David Risinger

Okay. So one of the other topics that came up earlier in the year was the co-pay accumulator programs on the part of payers, and obviously, that has some marginal negative impact on reported sales. But could you just recap that and talk about how much of an inflection might be if more payers adopt such accumulators in 2019?

Bill Chase

Yes, sure. So, what we saw play out in the first quarter of 2018 was that there was a significant portion of patients that found themselves on high deductible plans with a co-pay accumulator. That number was roughly 4% to 5% of our commercial business which is about 80%. I'm talking to HUMIRA for example, okay. So if not necessarily not the lion's share, but it's a meaningful portion of patients.

And with this co-pay accumulator, especially did this concept was it ultimately ensured that the patient was on the hook for the full deductible even in the event that the manufacturer was willing to extend a co-pay card. Now, we fundamentally believe one of the issues in healthcare industry is co-pays that patients are burdened with. And so in most cases where we're able to, we offer co-pay assistance in order to alleviate that burden and that out of pocket burden on the consumer, the patient. We think that's absolutely the right thing to do.

What was somewhat perverse about the co-pay accumulators is it essentially could block our ability to do that. And so our view is, it is absolutely a poor contract form. And furthermore, we believe that a lot of people that were in co-pay accumulators may not clearly in plans that had co-pay accumulator, may not clearly understand what the ramifications for those plans were. And we're going to get surprise in the second quarter when they found out that their co-pay assistance have the limited a fixed amount and they now had to pay the deductible. And these deductible could be anywhere at $3,000 or $4,000. So a meaningful hit to your average patient, which in normal course would be covered by co-pay assistance and would not be taxing the patient out of pocket.

So, they get absolutely a horrific insurance form for the patient, it's actually rations their ability to get medications they need. And frankly the medications that we're selling, whether it be HUMIRA or anything else that we've got in our portfolio, these are for life threatening illnesses. And so to basically to private patients of access to that, that therapeutic, based on their ability to pay out of pocket, that was just absolutely the wrong thing to do.

So we recognize that this issue existed, we recognize that a lot of patients might be surprised. It was going to play out in Q2 and Q3 because really frankly, they had to burn through their co-pay cards before they discovered that they're still on the hook for the deductible. And in our Q1 call, we did adjust our HUMIRA guidance number down slightly to account for additional co-pay assistance that we would be able to provide these patients until we were able to sort themselves through this situation.

So, it came up as an issue on our first quarter comp. What I can tell you is it's largely tracking in line with what our expectations were. I think that the measures we've taken have largely been effective. There's been a lot of patient education by patient groups over the nature of these programs. So I like to think that we have wiser patients that will, if to the extent that they can avoid these sorts of insurance constructs in 2019, we certainly think there'll be inclined to do so.

And right now as we forecast '19, we don't see this patient population or the patient population that subject to this form of insurance coverage as expanding dramatically. We think it will largely be contained in a number roughly the size that we're seeing in '18.

David Risinger

Okay that's very helpful. And Scott, maybe we could pivot to IMBRUVICA. So there is an interesting Phase 3 trial in pancreatic cancer that's supporting out soon. Could you just frame that for us?

Scott Brun

Yes, absolutely. David, I mean, again it's better to go back and remind you all the overall strategy when we proceeded with the Pharmacyclics deal. So we felt that, look the foundation of this asset was going to be in the type of hematologic malignancies that I have spoken to particularly CLL. As you progress beyond there, we have increasing levels of risk adjustment that's spoken about some of the other malignancies where we seen great promise. PHOENIX in first line diffuse large B-cell lymphoma didn't measure up the expectations. That's a discrete duration of therapy against difficult effective standard of care, R-CHOP.

But again because of those considerations even the fact that we don't successful there, didn't mitigate our overall expectations for the assay. I would put pancreatic cancer in even another lower bucket with regard to the probability of success that we would apply to that. Obviously, this is a devastating condition for which there exist few good options. And so, we have a Phase 3 trial that is looking at IMBRUVICA added on to paclitaxel gemcitabine. That should be reading out before the end of the year, but again, this is high hurdle, haven't seen the data yet. But certainly, we don't have appropriate expectations for that.

Some of the other trials on IMBRUVICA that will be reading out, well certainly, we talked about CLL and again the iLLUMINATE trial which what's at IMBRUVICA plus GAZYVA versus chlorambucil GAZYVA to continue to enhance our body of data in first line CLL. We top line that and I think maybe able to say more on that at ASH. And then we've got ongoing study that we'll be reading out more in the 2019-2020 timeframe and things like follicular lymphoma first line mantle cell in particular.

David Risinger

Excellent. Well, I think we are out of time. I think we can go on the lot longer, but unfortunately we're out of time. So thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate that.

Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4205875-abbvie-inc-abbv-management-presents-morgan-stanley-16th-annual-global-healthcare-conference?source=feed_all_articles

[radioleary-blog]

Burning Flags and Hosing Native Americans

11/30/16

"Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag," Trump wrote this week, after a college student in New Hampshire burned a flag to protest the election, "if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!"

This from the guy who called for registering Muslims and imprisoning his political opponents. “If these people don’t like things the way they are, they shouldn’t burn the flag, they should do what I did, and burn the Constitution!” Trump said, “You think I could get away with all the crazy shit I have planned for this country if I just burned a flag? No way, I’d be in a prison cell right next to Hillary. So the Constitution had to go. You say flag burning is protected by the First Amendment? Let’s get rid of it. Shoot the First Amendment with a gun from the Second Amendment. A Bill of Rights? They sold you a bill of goods! It’s a Bill of Wrongs, folks, that’s all it was. A Bill of Wrongs.”

Trump released his statement through what has become the official White House press briefing source: Twitter. Oh, he loves his Twitter. Probably because 140 characters is just about the upper limit of his attention span. And 140 characters is the perfect length for saying something stupid, and saying it loud. With a lot of exclamation points!!! Trump loves Twitter because he knows he never has to provide details or logically support his arguments in 140 characters. Of course, he couldn’t support most of his bullshit with logic if he spent ten years writing them into a Russian novel. Hmm, I wonder, what would the title be of a Russian novel written by Donald J. Trump? “The Gulag Mara Lago” ? “One Day in the Life of Ivanka Denisovich” ? “Abortion: Crime and Punishment” ? “War and Pussy” ? Actually, Napoleon plays a prominent role in “War and Peace”, and Trump reminds me a lot like Napoleon. Except Napoleon’s hand is always thrust into his shirt, whereas Trump’s hand is usually thrust into a woman’s pants.

And Trump’s other hand is always on Twitter. And since he’s limited to 140 characters, the Donald doesn’t even have to demonstrate he understands the issues he’s tweeting about. Trump somehow manages to always tweet with the same grandiose level of outrage, bluster and threatening huffy-ness on absolutely any topic, especially when he has no clue what the fuck he’s talking about. Just try him, on any topic:

@surrealDonaldTrump:  “Quantum Theory? It’s a hoax invented by the Australians! Scott Bakula is a great actor!! Why no Oscar, academy? Shame!!

@surrealDonaldTrump:  “Picasso and Cubism? There must be penalties for (so-called) artists who support Fidel Castro’s ideas! Cubism!! And only 90 miles from our shores!

@surrealDonaldTrump:  “Handel’s Messiah at the Met? No gingerbread house! No scene where Handel and Gretel get cooked in the witch’s oven? The Met got it wrong!! Boring - cut funding!!

Of course, what he’d really like to do is get the whole Constitution down to 140 characters or less:

@surrealDonaldTrump:  “We/ people -perfect union, just perfect!! More guns- 2 Corinthians. lower corporate tax rate!! No illegal alienable rights- a selfie evidently: life, liberty, etc.”

Trump is the first Twitter President, but he’s also the first internet troll President, and that’s what’s scary; that a man who is always so angry and eager to get into a Twitter war is now able to get us all into a very real war just as fast, and just as furious. The fast and the furious, or maybe the fascist and the furious. What keeps me up until 3 AM? Worrying about what the hell Donald Trump is up to at 3 AM! He gets up at 3 AM not because he thought of something brilliant to say that couldn’t wait till morning, but because he has to pee twenty times a night. He’s not having a “Eureka!” moment, he’s having a “urea” moment. Because no matter how rich and powerful he is, he’s still an old man, with an old man’s prostate and bladder that are just about as worn-out and unworkable as his economic policies. And both his bladder and his economic plan rely entirely too much on a “trickle down” theory that never, ever provides any relief.

So he wakes up every night in the middle of the night, mad at the world and fully capable of any act of irrationality on Twitter. And now, on the world stage. I’m afraid I’m going to wake up one morning and find out we’ve been at war with China for five hours already. I can see the Joint Chiefs of Staff pleading with him, urging him not to go to war, “Mr. President, we can’t risk a nuclear confrontation, it’s madness! The stakes are too high!” To which Trump replies, “Wrong, General, my steaks are very reasonably priced! Believe me. Very high quality steaks.”

Then our military leaders would be begging him to stop the war. “Please Mr. President, there are 1.2 billion Chinese with a standing army of 200 million men! Our troops are being decimated! We told you hours ago to give the order to retreat! If we are to survive as a nation, you must give the order to retreat!” To which Trump replies, “Wait, you said ‘retreat’? My bad. I thought you said ‘retweet’!”

“But seriously, General, we should retweet. We can still win this on social media.”

Hosing Native Americans

I’m deeply disturbed by what’s going on with the DAPL. To us that stands for Dakota Access PipeLine, but to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, it stands for Damn Americans Plundering Land.

Now I’m a big fan of oil, a really big fan. Fossil fuels? Love them so damn much. They keep me from freezing to death every winter, when New York state turns into the planet Hoth from ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ for five months. More like ‘The Empire State’s Back: A No Hope.’ And even those giant Imperial Walker “AT-ATs” moved a hell of a lot faster than Northway traffic in winter.

So I love oil. I loved dinosaurs as a kid, and now that they’re fossil fuel, I love ‘em even more when they’re driving my ass around in my car. So I understand why we usually look the other way while the robber barons take the land to take the oil, and play the villain in this never-ending Western horse-opera that keeps our lights on. We usually don’t really care that there’s never a Lone Ranger to ride to the rescue and shoot the gun out the villains hand, we’re willing to let the good guys lose if it keeps our cell phones charged. And hey, how the hell did the Lone Ranger always manage to have a non-violent resolution to every conflict...by using guns? I don’t think he ever killed anybody, but he was always shooting and waving those guns around like a guy with flashlights on a runway waving in a 747. It probably was less of a moral stance than the fact that silver bullets were ridiculously expensive. But this really painted an unrealistic expectation for an entire generation of TV-watching kids; that hostile confrontations are more likely to be resolved peacefully once you break out the guns. Everything will be just fine! What could possibly go wrong with teaching kids that random gunfire solves most problems?

And The A-Team? They were an even worse example, they fired guns all day long and nobody ever got hurt. Every episode, the A-Team ended up in a ten minute shoot-out with machine guns at close range, and they still never managed to successfully shoot somebody. These guys were supposed to be ex-military? What branch, the Kiss Army? They must have fired ten million rounds of ammunition over five seasons, but they never managed to kill a single goddam bad guy. Not even accidentally. You’d think someone would at least get hurt tripping over the mountains of spent cartridges. No one ever got seriously wounded or maimed, either. Never a realistic depiction of the awful consequences of close-quarter machine gun fire on the human body. Never a bad guy laying there screaming at the end of the episode, writhing in a spreading pool of blood, desperately trying to cram his intestines back into his body as the A-Team smoke cigars and high-five each other in a freeze-frame over the closing credits. No, when the show was cancelled the body count was still zero. No wonder these guys were kicked out of the military, they were just wasting valuable ammo and helicopter fuel! I guess B.A. stood for Bad Aim. Was it poor eyesight? I think maybe they called them The A-Team because that was the only letter they could read at the top of the eye chart.

But I digress. Back to the pipeline. So the oil companies dig and bulldoze, raze and deforest, drill, lay pipe and pump. That’s where the oil comes from, and we write it all off as Progress. Although, in all fairness, “drill”, “lay pipe”, and “pump” is also where orgasms come from, so let’s not rush to judgement.

The DAPL is a 1,172-mile, $3.8-billion pipeline, which would transport up to 570,000 barrels of oil a day. It’s nearly finished except for a section scheduled to go under the Missouri River. Native Americans of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe are protesting the pipeline, saying any oil spill will contaminate water sources that serve over 17 million Americans. So last week, authorities attacked the tribe with water cannons in sub-freezing temperatures, which put 17 protesters in the hospital. You think we’ve really advanced as a society? In 400 hundred years of Native American relations, we’ve only gone from intentionally giving them smallpox, to intentionally giving them pneumonia. Slightly less life-threatening, I guess, but not a big improvement. Who knows, maybe in another hundred years we’ll only intentionally give them a head cold. Not a bad one, but one that may cause them to call in sick to work and lay in bed all day catching up on TV.

Authorities defended their use of the water cannons. “We warned them repeatedly,” Morton County Sheriff ‘Buffalo Bill’ said at a press conference, “It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again!” Sheriff Buffalo Bill then tucked his penis between his legs and tweaked his nipples for the remainder of the press briefing.

And do we truly appreciate the sheer fucked-up-edness of using water cannons on people who are protesting to protect water? What Federal Agency was behind this? Did they call in the Bureau of Irony Enforcement? What was the plan, was this psychological warfare, to hose the Native Americans until they say, “You know what? Fuck water. I’m going back to the casino. We have towels there, and our odds of winning are better.”

This is like, say, if there was a protest by PETA, and the police came to break it up by throwing cats at them. “This is a legal order to disperse!” Raawr! “You must leave the area immediately!” Mrowwl! “Sir, the protesters are deploying countermeasures, they have balls of yarn!” “Hmm...get me that big tomcat named Pepper, we’ll see how they like it when he sprays!”

This whole situation shows that we as a people can no longer effectively stop large, powerful corporations like the oil industry from doing whatever the hell they want to us and our land. They determine public policy, and they have lawmakers and law-enforcement to back them up. They aren’t even afraid of lawsuits and litigation from this tribe, and this tribe is called the Sue! Sure, they spell it ‘Sioux’, not ‘Sue’, but everybody knows the Sioux were the most litigious of all the tribes. The Apache were the most renowned warriors, but the Sioux were legendary litigators. Man, they were a formidable legal opponent. Their raiding party would ride silently into settlements under cover of the night, and as the settlers awoke, they would hit them all at once...with subpoenas.They were ruthless; issuing restraining orders, ‘cease and desist’ orders, and injunctions (I think that’s actually where the offensive slur injun comes from; injunction).

Then they would tie them up. In court. For years. Led by the great Sioux warrior, Red Tape. They still talk about the greatest Sioux leader, Chief Council, and his partner in the firm, Running Billable Hours. The Sioux were the tribe that successfully negotiated a class-action settlement against the Iroquois League over faulty tomahawks, and they are the tribe that got the zoning variance for the Grand Canyon. They were also, by most accounts, the nation’s first litigators to use peyote to consult a Spirit Guide during jury selection, but Alan Dershowitz later perfected the technique. It’s sad how little of this you learn in school these days.

But take heart! As I write this, an estimated 2,100 U.S. military veterans were bound for the frozen Standing Rock reservation to aid and support the Sioux and their allies battling the oil baron villains. Maybe I was wrong, it looks like there are a whole hell of a lot of Lone Rangers riding to the rescue. Of course, Tonto was really running the show.

If anyone was offended by any of this, please don’t Sioux me.